The University Observer is the paper of record of University College Dublin and is Ireland’s most widely-read student publication with a circulation of 10,000 and a readership of approximately 24,000.
In 2009-2010 I was the full-time Deputy Editor of the paper, having been Online Editor the year previous, and a contributor across a multitude of sections in the three years previous.
When you’ve never properly lived outside Ireland before, moving abroad will always be a daunting experience. One has to worry about accommodation, food, company, often the language… I really could go on. Throw in having to attend a University that works on a completely different modular system than the one being introduced at home and […]
How many of you knew that the World Cup Final was on the same day as the Superbowl this month? Better yet, how many of you knew who was playing, and who won? Or where it was held? No? No idea? Come on, you lot. Get with the times. Everyone in Germany knows where the […]
They say that one of the beauties of being on exchange in continental Europe – especially in a town like Passau, nestled between three central European countries – is the freedom it affords to travel around and see more of this mysterious Europe we live in. What most people don’t mention when they say it […]
So here we are again, another year, another batch of deadline-scraping annals of an Erasmus life in deepest Bavaria for my loyal readers – all four of you – to muse over on every second Tuesday. Here’s hoping that your exam results, if they’ve miraculously appeared by now as due, flattered your workload, no matter […]
You know how you always feel like Christmas is coming the first time you see the Coca-Cola ad on TV? Or the first time you hear Fairytale Of New York or the Penney’s ad on the radio? And you know how every year they get earlier, and privately you long for the olden days when […]
Excuse me for probably seeming a bit groggy but since the last time you caught me things have been just a little bit mad in the Life of Reilly. Recollection will be a challenge, just try and bare with me. First there was a weekend in Berlin for a fellow Belfieldite’s 21st. As if the […]
Now you might think, reading this at the cusp of November, that any well-thinking citizen would have registered at their University a good month-and-a-half ago. Well, before I go on, I should point out that the first semester in German colleges runs from mid-October to mid-February – with a pathetic two weeks off for Christmas […]
So what else do I know about Passau? Well, the town was diplomatically flattened in 1663 and rebuilt by Italian architects specially commissioned from Venice. As a result there’s lots of old cobbled pedestrian lanes and arches all over the place, and at this time of year when the weather is still mild and in […]
First published in The University Observer, October 3rd 2006 (Day of German Unity) So… what do I know about Passau? Well, I know that it has a population of 50,000 and is about the size of Athlone; that it’s home to a University of about 8000; that it was once in Austria, although that’s not […]
There is a moment in every UCD student’s career when he or she will realise that they are a fully-fledged, battle-weary Belfieldite. Reminiscing of a time when catching the 10 into down cost just €1.40, Gav Reilly examines some of the milestones we all pass along the way… 1. You can’t return a UCD missed […]
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