Ninth Level Ireland

“The Union of Students in Ireland recently held its annual congress in Ballinasloe, Co Galway from the 2nd to the 5th of April. Congress, where delegates elect the next year’s national officer board and debate on motions and policy for the upcoming three years, is the main decision-making event of the USI’s calendar year …” (more)

[Audrey Ellard Walsh, Studenty_Cork, 13 April]

“… But it was the data on emergency admissions that stunned researchers. Despite fewer cars on the road, the number of motor accidents in the South West Thames region spiked from a total of 45 on the six Friday 6ths between 1989 and 1992, to some 65 accidents on the six Friday 13ths in the period – an increase of 52%. The researchers noted that the sample was ‘too small to allow meaningful analysis’ …” (more)

[Independent, 13 April]

“Oxford, Cambridge and other universities have joined the growing disquiet over government plans to curb tax breaks on charitable donations …” (more)

[BBC News, 13 April]

“Queen’s University Belfast has become the first in Northern Ireland to establish a college in China, it has been revealed. Around 1,000 Chinese students will study for degrees in pharmaceutical science at the new campus in the north east of the country …” (more)

[Michael McHugh, Independent, 13 April]

“Friggatriskaidekaphobia, the technical term for an irrational phobia of Friday the 13th, may sound like a joke affliction but it reportedly causes millions of people to stay in bed to avoid trouble …” (more)

[Business Post, 13 April]

“Irish parents will end up offering backhanders to teachers in the hope of getting better grades for their children if teachers are required to assess their own students in State exams, the annual Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland conference has been told …” (more)

[Louise Holden, Irish Times, 13 April]

“Schools will have lost an average of five middle management teaching posts by the start of the next academic year, a survey carried out on behalf of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland has found …” (more)

[Barry Roche, Irish Times, 13 April]

“Secondary teachers are afraid politicians will put pressure on them to change exam results if continual assessment is introduced to the Junior Certificate programme. Teachers are vehemently opposed to assessing their own students as part of state exams because they say it would leave the system open to ‘corruption, scandal and litigation’ …” (more)

[Majella O'Sullivan, Independent, 13 April]

“Postgraduate students (part time or full time) intending to pursue either a taught or research postgraduate programme in a third-level institution on the island of Ireland are invited to apply for the Ray Murphy Memorial Bursary …” (more)

[Irish Times, 13 April]

“Students in fee-paying schools are two years ahead of their counterparts in vocational schools in literacy skills, according to a study which underlines the two-tier nature of Irish education …” (more)

[Seán Flynn, Irish Times, 13 April]

“The students’ union at University College Dublin has run up debts of €1.4m following years of catastrophic accountancy practices. The Revenue Commissioners, which is owed nearly €400,000 in unpaid tax liabilities, have been contacted …” (more)

[Mark Hilliard and Louise Hogan, Independent, 13 April]

“The week after Easter has become synonymous with teacher conferences. In what is normally a quiet week on the news front, the media give extensive coverage to the proceedings and the incumbent minister usually gets a rough time from some of the delegates. This year has been no different …” (more)

[Jim Power, Irish Examiner, 13 April]

“Vince Cable has joined the growing political backlash against Treasury plans to cut tax relief on charity donations, warning that the move could hurt British universities …” (more)

[James Kirkup, Daily Telegraph, 13 April]

“Queen’s University in Belfast is to establish a college in China in partnership with the China Medical University. The announcement comes as leading Chinese politician Liu Yandong continues her three day visit to Northern Ireland …” (more)

[BBC News, 13 April]

“Even in University College Cork’s music building, a former 19th Century monastery overlooking the River Lee, the Seomra Gamelan comes as some surprise …” (more)

[Peter Crawley, Irish Times, 12 April]

“US antitrust regulators have never really been able to find the right place to stick their lever and pry when it comes to the Internet (witness their failure to understand Microsoft’s platform dominance in the 90s). Now they’re going after various publishers and Apple over price fixing …” (more)

[Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing, 12 April]

“I cannot understand how RTÉ slavishly reports every angry, selfish word from a smug, overpaid elite. Yes, I am talking about the teacher conferences …” (more)

[Daniel Crean, Irish Examiner, 12 April]