February - 2018

Dishwashing, Dropping out and Delegation: Dear Agony Aunt...

Dear Agony Aunt, I'm living in an apartment of six, with four gentlemen and two not so gentle men. When four of us are away, the two are perfectly capable of cleaning and providing for themselves. However, when the rest of us are here, they seem to expect us to clean for them and leave their mess for us to deal with. How can I tell them that we aren't housekeeping staff and they should be more independent? This is probably best approached in a three pronged attack. I’m a firm

A Week of Welfare

DAY ONE Plan your week! The best advice at the start of the week is to be productive to try and feel accomplished by the weekend. Use pen and paper or Google Calendar, whatever you prefer, to plan your week. Start as you mean to go on! Use your strengths to your advantage; when are you the most productive? Plan your work around those times. What tasks should take priority? Think ahead; if you have deadlines, put them in your calendar a few days in advance to prevent last minu

Rebecca Lalor reviews John Crowley's Brooklyn

Brooklyn is a film that is inexplicably wonderful and superior to many. With a rating of ninety-six per cent on 'Rotten Tomatoes', I simply had to lay eyes on it. Not in a long time has a film worked its way into my heart with such force of a wholesome and satisfying nature. Brooklyn encapsulates this incredible sense of longing to travel; a wit, grit and instilled strength of both character and heart with this portrayal of Irish versus American culture as it was in the year

"I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that can be"- Kate Nol

The Perks of Being a Wallflower was one of the first books fourteen-year-old me downloaded when I got a Kindle for Christmas and it has remained one of my favourite books since. Perks is a journal, written in letter form by Charlie, a high school freshman, detailing his first year in high school (and the friends he made there) as he struggles to come to terms with the immense tragedy that he has faced. It’s one of those books that gets better each time you read it, and one th

The Man, The Myth, The BNOH: Salem Barakat

You may only know him from his plethora of posts in Overheard in Halls (he hasn’t discovered Google yet), or from his unironic use of the word ‘lit’; but there’s so much more to the elusive BNOH that is Salem Barakat than one might think. The 19 year old Law student tells Ellie Guinan more about his Halls experience, love of travel and hopes for the future. Ellie: Tell me about your life at Halls so far, what are the highlights and lowlights you’ve encountered up to now? Sal:

Insta-worthy Study Spot: Lock 6 Café

Located a 1-minute walk from Charlemont Luas Stop, Lock 6 Café is a quirky and quaint, Instagram-worthy spot to stop on your way home from college. Had a bad day? Pop in for their homemade cookies. Have some study to do? Grab a quiet coffee and enjoy the cosy and calm ambience. Want to get a head-start on prinks? This place has got you sorted with wine and other alcoholic beverages. Portion sizes here are v e r y generous (we practically had to roll home). If you’re looking f

An Ode to the Arts

Over the last fifty years, global development has quickened in a frantic fashion. New technologies, breakthroughs in scientific research, and the digitalisation of the Western world have forced the labour market to adapt rapidly in order to optimise economic performance. Fresh-faced university graduates are often attracted to multinational tech giants offering secure jobs and the assurance of constant upskilling. Secondary school students poring over college prospectuses are

Managing Your Money on a Student Budget: A Guide by Colm McGroarty

Assistant Opinion Editor Colm McGroarty offers his tips and tricks for surviving this next semester on even the most meagre of student budgets. There is no doubt that college or university can be the most expensive period of a person’s life, especially in this new modern era that is somewhat obsessed with academic degrees. I believe that the experience of university, whether it is your first time living away from home or you are a daily commuter, is a vital part of becoming a

"I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her": Grace Kenn

Depending on whether you’re a hopeless romantic or a cynic, Notting Hill is a Richard Curtis romantic comedy that will make you reach either for a tissue or a bucket, especially when the words “I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her” are uttered. The plot centres around the divorced Will Thacker (Hugh Grant), whose life changes when he becomes romantically involved with the famous actress, Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) following some chance encounter

Sharon Olorunniwo Reviews Get Out

People who know me know I don’t do horror films, so when Get Out was released I immediately thought “Nope, not for me!” Fortunately the internet bombarded me with multiple articles and reviews praising the film, however I still was not persuaded to go see it until someone convinced me it was a comedy. I left terrified, but it was worth it. It opens with a pre-credits sequence on a suburban street which sees Lakeith Stanfield’s (of “Short Term 12”) character being abducted to