Trinity College Dublin -
Kerry Information Evening

Senior cycle students together with their parents, teachers and principals were invited to the event, which started at 7:00pm. The evening focussed on the arts, computer science and engineering courses, at undergraduate level offered by Trinity College. The specific topics studied in the course were discussed and the relevant lecturers from the College were on hand to answer questions from the floor.

Well-known Kerry Professor, Brendan Kennelly, who hails from Ballylongford and lectures in Modern Literature at the College, spoke about the Arts courses. "There is a perception", he said, "that there is a wall around Trinity College. The purpose of the Arts is to crash through that wall". He recalled asking a fellow Kerryman on Thursday morning before heading down to Tralee why he chose to attend Trinity? "Ah, sure - it was the nearest to the Kerry train!" was the answer.

Pictured with Prof. Brendan Kennelly at the Trinity College Information Evening in
the Grand Hotel were Maria Kennelly (Castleisland), Billy Ryle (Pres. Tralee)
and Betty Farrell (Moyderwell, Tralee)

The taxing question of why students should choose the Arts over Engineering or other "more practical" subjects was raised, especially in the context of obtaining employment afterwards. However, the College produced data from their 1999 graduates which showed that, regardless of what course they had chosen to study, they had an almost 98% success rate in relation to obtaining employment after graduation.

Finally, a word of advice was provided for this year's State Examination students by Brendan Kennelly: "Stop reading and start writing. At this stage you will have assimilated as much knowledge as you need - the goal from hereon in is to be able to express it in writing".