“One useful thing about having a blog is that I can look through my back catalogue of posts quite easily to remind me exactly when things happened. Doing that over the weekend I discovered that it was exactly a year ago today that I travelled from Maynooth into Dublin to see a production of Fidelio …” (more)
[In the Dark, 22 February]
“Student budgets, like the rest of the world, have been thrown upside down by the pandemic. For some, the costs of living have increased because they’re out of work, still paying rent and paying higher broadband, heat and electricity bills as a result of working at home …” (more)
[Peter McGuire, Irish Times, 12 January]
“It’s bitterly cold in Maynooth today. We haven’t had much snow but it sure is freezing. As I write it’s 1pm and the temperature is only -4°C. I went to put some stuff in the wheelie bin just now but the lid was frozen shut …” (more)
[In the Dark, 9 January]
“I am working from home at the moment owing to Covid-19 restrictions on campus activity but I have been informed by on campus staff that an unauthorized mouse bas been seen in the Department of Theoretical Physics. This is a very serious situation as access to the Science Building is for essential work only and this does not include rodents …” (more)
[In the Dark, 8 January]
“It’s the day before the start of the January examination period at Maynooth University so I thought I’d do a quick post on the topic of examinations or, as they are right now, online timed assessments. First, for readers elsewhere, full-time undergraduate students at Maynooth what is called 60 ‘credits’ in a year, usually split into two semesters of thirty credits each …” (more)
[In the Dark, 7 January]
“Tomorrow is officially my first day back at work after the Christmas break. Not that I’ll be going back to my office on campus in the morning. Thanks to the state of the Covid-19 pandemic I will be working from home for the foreseeable future. It’s looking pretty grim at the moment, and I think it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better …” (more)
[In the Dark, 3 January]
“Dublin City University (DCU), Maynooth University and the University of Limerick (UL) have all decided to remain online for next semester, the Irish Independent reported today. The move is a surprising one, considering the government has yet to publish public health guidelines for next semester …” (more)
[Cormac Watson, University Times, 6 November]
“A number of universities have told students that there will be no general return to campus for the second half of the academic year. It means that some students may not set foot on the campus for the entire 2020/21 year, with lecture halls remaining silent and students logging on to classes from their bedrooms …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 6 November]
“Prisoners at Mountjoy Prison have been granted online access to college lectures and tutorials during the coronavirus pandemic and this could be instrumental in establishing third-level education in Irish prisons in the longer term, a review of a new project involving the Dublin jail and Maynooth University has concluded …” (more)
[Conor Lally, Irish Times, 29 October]
“As we enter a six week period of Level 5 restrictions in Ireland I thought I’d post a quick update about Maynooth University Library Cat just to reassure readers that he is doing fine. Yesterday I passed by his post on the way to my 2pm lecture in Physics Hall …” (more)
[In the Dark, 22 October]
“I came across this video of drone footage of Maynooth and surroundings and thought I’d share it here. There are plenty of shots of the St Patrick’s College and parts of Maynooth University as well as the town itself and Carton House …” (more)
[In the Dark, 12 October]
“The question on everyone’s lips here at Maynooth University is who will take over from Professor Philip Nolan when his ten-year term as President of the University comes to an end in August next year. Over the last few months the current President has had to combine the duties of his office with …” (more)
[In the Dark, 11 October]
“It’s the Saturday after a very tough week. At least I’ve got an excuse for lounging about at home because I’m waiting for a new bed to be delivered. Since I moved into my new house I’ve been sleeping in a single bed, in what will be the spare room, but when the bigger bed arrives I’ll be able to move into the main bedroom. Last week was a tough one at work …” (more)
[In the Dark, 3 October]
“Thinking through the implications of Friday’s announcement for teaching I saw the following advice sent out to students from Maynooth University: ‘For the next few weeks most lectures will move online. You will be invited on-campus for practical classes, tutorials and for the teaching which requires a lot of interaction …'” (more)
[In the Dark, 27 September]
“I spent a big chunk of yesterday assigning students to groups and organization rotations to allow them to attend lectures on campus at Maynooth University in a manner consistent with public health guidelines relating to Covid-19. Then, late yesterday afternoon, the Irish Government announced that all third-level institutions should move practically all their teaching online …” (more)
[In the Dark, 26 September]
“Universities across Ireland have agreed to adopt a set of enhanced public health-protective measures, which previously were only applicable to Dublin-based universities. These protective measures are to be in place for ‘2-3 weeks’ at minimum, however, The College Tribune understands that Maynooth University intends to use the ‘discretion’ agreed upon by the IUA to host some classes in-person, despite the established guidelines …” (more)
[Adam Conway, College Tribune, 25 September]
“More than 100 jobs are currently up for grabs in Ireland’s top education institutions. You could be paid more than €150,000 a year to work in some of the country’s best universities. And while you’ll have to be very well qualified to work in many of these jobs, it always worth having a look as there are some very varied roles available …” (more)
[Sam Roberts, Irish Mirror, 22 September]
“Yesterday’s Covid-19 figures for Ireland were a bit of a shocker, with 396 new cases (241 of them in Dublin). The latest 7-day average is 283.1 new cases per day. We haven’t seen figures like this since April. Here’s the latest log-linear graph …” (more)
[In the Dark, 21 September]
“Maynooth University is to move lectures online and limit on-site teaching, it announced in a statement this evening in response to the lockdown measures imposed on Dublin earlier today. Dublin has moved to Level 3 restrictions due to the number of Covid-19 cases in the capital …” (more)
[Leinster Leader, 18 September]
“Maynooth University students residing on campus accommodation will not be allowed guests, says a statement from the University. The University reopens for first year students on September 21, and for all students on September 28.It closed in mid March …” (more)
[Leinster Leader, 16 September]
