University College Dublin postgraduate student Samantha Tobias is the 2022 winner of the Mary Mulvihill Award. The science media competition, now in its sixth year, is for third-level students and commemorates the legacy of science journalist and author Mary Mulvihill.

Talk to any employer and the conversation almost immediately turns to one thing — staff shortages. From the lowest-paid sectors of the economy to the highest, the post-pandemic period has been characterised by an unprecedented shortage of employees.

What started as a lengthy queue has become a platinum-plated problem for politicians and airport bosses, just before a busy bank holiday weekend. Listen to the Inside Politics Podcast for more.

A remarkable phenomenon throughout the long saga of the Brexit process has been the UK’s loss of self-confidence in its own ability to defend its interests through negotiation.

We begin our scene at the Government tourism brainstorm. It’s a tasteful, if plain, boardroom, plastered with inspirational quote posters – Move fast and break things; Be the change you want to see; Keep calm and give subsidies to developers.

Universities are to receive funding to enrol more autistic students and those with intellectual disabilities under an initiative aimed at boosting access to higher education.

There have been more than 500 queries to a special helpdesk on access to higher education since it was set up last month as part of the response to the Ukrainian refugee crisis.

“Ní fiú píosa reachtaíochta a bheith agat mura mbíonn feidhm phraiticiúil leis agus an chéad dóigh le feidhm phraiticiúil a thabhairt don reachtaíocht seo ná Coimisinéir a cheapadh. Sin é an chéad mhór dhúshlán a fheiceann muid.”

Several of the State’s universities are reporting increased dropout rates and a dramatic increase in demand for mental health support as students struggle with the shift from remote learning to in-person lectures following the Covid-19 pandemic.