The campus may be bleak and most of the students may be stuck-up southsiders, but UCD has an enduring appeal for students and parents. Traditional colleges retain their pulling power in uncertain times, writesEmmet Oliver, Education Correspondent

Last year UCD was the most popular university in the country, attracting 7,743 first preferences - almost a 9 per cent increase on the year before. UCD is hoping to maintain its number one position this year - beating off the challenge of its city centre rival, Trinity, would please Belfield's academic community.

When UCD moved from its Earlsfort Terrace base many years ago, some suggested its popularity would wane. The soothsayers said nobody would want to forfeit the city centre for Belfield. Well, concrete jungle or not, the students came and last year symbolically UCD attracted more first preferences (the most reliable of CAO indicators) than Trinity. UCD - with its all-encompassing selection of courses - is the kind of university students flock to in an economic slump. It offers traditional courses delivered in a traditional manner.

While universities like DCU and UL went heavily into IT in the last five years, UCD has stuck to its traditionalist guns and last year this paid off, particularly as parents took fright at the dot.com crash and steered their children towards Belfield. The university, however, would acknowledge that its location in south Dublin makes attracting students a little easier. "Shooting fish in a barrel" was how one observer described it recently.

Students in middle-class suburbs - such as Blackrock, Rathgar, and Rathfarnham - almost automatically apply to UCD. Call it parochialism, but it has helped UCD hold off the competition from Trinity and DCU. Not that Trinity is a fading star either; it managed to attract almost 6,500 first preferences last year. But crucially, this was a drop of about 1 per cent, whereas UCD stormed into number one position with an 8.6 per cent rise. Trinity's history and campus will always hold an attraction for students and the high points required for its courses also gives the college a certain cachet. Trinity also receives a large number of applicants from Northern Ireland and abroad. Trinity has also managed to secure a lot of private funding in recent years and it has wisely used this money to improve its basic offering to students. The recent announcement by its new provost, Dr John Hegarty, that the college is not planning to expand much further should also take pressure off resources and space.

While UCD and Trinity suffer from severe over-crowding at times, the other universities remain in their slipstream. UCC, however, is not far behind. It easily qualifies as the Republic's biggest non-Dublin university. Its campus has an old world atmosphere and the university is embedded in the "real capital".

Its broad base of courses is also popular with students and parents, and it has managed to pull in the punters from counties such as Waterford, Kerry and Limerick.

NUI Galway has grown in popularity. The artistic and cultural renaissance that has gripped the city over the last decade has had considerable spin-offs for NUI Galway. It is now regarded as trendy, although its policy on the Irish language still alienates some. It is regarded by many as one of the few remaining universities that mixes serious study with a decent student social life.

While UCC, NUI Galway, TCD and UCD are well established, the challenger for the title of most popular university is NUI Maynooth. Last year it recorded a 23 per cent increase in first preferences - a startling performance. The college's marketing has been slick while the student experience at Maynooth is highly rated. The university has character and its faults add to the charm in the eyes of its admirers. It is a small university, but this may be a good thing, argues John McGinnity, admissions officer and assistant registrar.

He says the university's broad base is attracting students and its location in the Dublin commuter belt is a bonus. The M50 means Dublin-based students can get to the campus easily, he points out.

The other two universities - DCU and UL - have suffered recently. DCU, with its emphasis on technology, was rocked by a near collapse in first preference applications last year and unwelcome publicity about its entry policies. It's hoping for a strong recovery this year. DCU is nearing the end of a building programme and this should mean it stages a fightback against UCD and TCD.

UL is in an endless battle with UCC and NUI Galway. While the jaded "stab city" image of Limerick has sometimes unfairly held the university back, a fresh approach has been adopted by Dr Roger Downer, the university's president. The college's success in tapping wealthy American business people has given UL a spectacular campus and the college, while it has its shortcomings, it actually looks like a modern university with plenty of ambition.