Irish universities are struggling to cope with a surge in demand for mental health supports, according to counsellors. A decrease in stigma around mental health, plus increasing anxiety and academic pressure to do well, appear to be factors in the rise in demand for counselling services.
The Department of Health is understood to have first approached Trinity College Dublin over a potential role for Dr Tony Holohan at the university in recent months. The appointment sparked controversy this week when it emerged in recent days that the Department of Health would fund the role and continue to pay Dr Holohan's annual salary of €187,000.
There is a terrible symmetry to the release by Pink Floyd of their first original material since the Division Bell 28 years ago. In 1994, the conflict in the Balkans had unleashed the worst in humanity and Europeans were waking up to the new but also very old reality of war crimes on their door-step.
Ireland has about five days' diesel supply in Dublin Port. A few weeks ago, at the start of the war in Ukraine, this dipped to one day. The authorities scrambled to find more, and vital diesel arrived on the unusually named STI Clapham, a tanker from the UK that provided three days' supply.
A new funding model for further and higher education is due to be announced soon. Third-level funding in Ireland has always been a contentious issue, one that has been "ducked and dodged" for far too longin the words of Minister Simon Harris, and an integrated strategy for fiscal and structural support is sure to be welcomed by those in the sector.
I'm inspired by how science fought Covid-19. Can you recommend a college course?
University College Dublin and Queen's University Belfast (QUB) have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen collaboration and research between both institutions, especially in addressing global challenges.
Ask Prof Peter Shirlow about BBC Radio Ulster's The Nolan Show, and he answers with a story about an elderly man called "wee Archie" who lived at the end of his street. Each weekday morning, the man began a walk at 8.55am, returning exactly 90 minutes later. One day, the Belfast academic asked his neighbour why he did so. "Wee Archie, from a unionist 'prod' [Protestant] background" said, 'Aye, I go out when she listens to Nolan, I'm a happy person'."
Katie McCabe remembers the first time she saw the Republic of Ireland women's football team play. She was 10 years old, and there were only a few dozen spectators on the side of the pitch at the St Patrick's Athletic grounds in Inchicore.
