Abortion referendum, free Interrail tickets, Mental health

There are, roughly, 250,000 students in third level, including part-time students. USI says a campus-based voter registration drive which started in September has signed up some 27,000 students who would not otherwise have been registered to vote. Carl O'Brien describes how students may play significant role in determining the outcome of the hard-fought referendum.

Academics in the UK are showing an interest in moving to Ireland because of Brexit, but there is an urgent need to substantially increase investment in Irish third level education, Oxford University vice-chancellor Prof Louise Richardson has said. Kevin O'Sullivan reports.

"I am bipolar. Not the "Oh my God, you were so happy 2 minutes ago, why are you mad now" bipolar, I actually have type 2 bipolar disorder." NUI Galway-based student Jess Ramtahal challenges some commonly-held misconceptions surrounding the mental disorder.

Irish teenagers aged 18 on July 1st are being offered an opportunity to travel across Europe using a free Interrail ticket for a month during the summer as part of a pilot EU scheme. Éanna Ó Caollaí reports.

"I remember not being able to speak English. Growing up in the 1960s on a small island, Inis Treabhair off the Connemara coast, Irish was the everyday language of its dwindling population of about 40 people. Six households in all." Micheál Ó Conghaile on the story behind sayings from 'An béal bocht' to 'Cuireadh fáilte Uí Cheallaigh romhainn'.

The Student Digestive: A few months back, I was shopping for the ingredients to make this recipe. Whilst in the supermarket cheese aisle, a man, around mid-thirties and well-dressed, strode up to me with a block of butter and a tub of margarine in his hands. Deborah Ryan describes her experience as she went about purchasing some halloumi.

There's never been a better time for graduates to stay in Ireland. Job prospects at home, in both the private and public sectors, have not been this good for over a decade. Peter McGuire on how positive economic trends are reflected in employment growth and a good outlook for graduates.

"In a shouty, benevolent rant, my first boss taught me how to be a chancer. As a teenager and young university student, I was unformed and deeply insecure, with neither spine nor exoskeleton." Erin Fornoff on how she overcome her insecurity.