The students of DCFE came out in their droves on Thursday January 28th to support the ‘I love festivals’ gig performed at lunchtime in the canteen. The gig was a fundraiser for the college album that is due for release in 2010.

‘I love festivals’ was organised by PR5B, along with gig coordinator, Berni Dwan. The theme naturally was festivals. There were festival inspired amps in various areas of the canteen, and a cleverly pitched tent with an amp nesting inside it to add extra funk.

Further fundraising took place in the canteen, there was a veritable selection of buns and cakes on sale along with festival inspired t-shirts which were being sold at €10 each.

The gig consisted of four acts, and was hosted by Roxxie, winner of the 2009 talent contest. She kept the crowd and steered them smoothly through the gig.

The first act to take to the stage was a three piece band called The Grungers- John, Tristan, and Chris. They gave us their take on two Nirvana songs, along with a Red Hot Chilli Peppers song. There performance had personality and they kicked off the show well.

Next up was Ciara Madden, although I found it hard to hear her performance, she looked a natural up on that stage and she seemed very content when she was performing.

Third Act up was Kellie Marie, her music was refreshing and her lyrics were stunning. All eyes were glued to centre stage while she performed.

The final act was Brian Conrad. He winded the show to a close with a beautiful acoustic performance.

The gig was mere confirmation that DCFE is overflowing with hot talent. I can’t wait for the next gig, and will be investing in the album!

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The lavish setting of the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire was the location for the 2009 Dun Laoghaire College of Further Education graduation ceremony.

Organised to reward past and present students for their hard work in the 2008/2009 college year,   recipients were given FETAC during the evening’s proceedings.         

Speeches were delivered by prestigious guests including Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mary Hanafin TD who emphasised the value of education in straightened times and praised friends and family of the graduates for their ‘essential support’.

Following the speeches it was the students’  turn to take the limelight.  Cameras were at the ready as the classes lined up cloaked students waited for their names to be called. Each ‘student of the year’ received an engraved photo frame in appreciation of their contribution to the academic year.

One graduate, David Neligan, who graduated from second year Print Journalism  and is now in the second year of the DIT Journalism Degree, stated “I was delighted to graduate with my second year class last Thursday, I'm now in second year journalism at DIT and feel my time at Dun Laoghaire gave me a great basis for a college career".

After the ceremony students and teachers rushed to the many bars of the Marine Hotel for a well earned drink. Plates of sandwiches were passed around and quickly consumed by beaming students and proud family members.

Conversation and drink flowed till the early hours all in all a glorious night out for everyone involved.

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Emer Earls studied Sound Engineering in September 2004 until June 2006. She now lives in Trefforest in Wales. Hoping to follow in her footsteps is first year Sound Engineer Aaron Earls. She is interviewed below by her sister, a present DCFE student of Print Journalism, Vicky Earls.

What course did you do in DCFE and what interested you in it?

-Sound Engineering, I’ve always loved music. One of my favourite things to do is to listen to music, and it plays such a massive part in everyday life. So I wanted to know how it was produced and the process that it goes through to get to the stage of me listening to it at home. How did you find the course and your work experience?

Was your work experience beneficial?

-I did my work experience working with bands in the area I live in; I did gigs for them and assisted a recording session with them. I loved it, it was brilliant. Working at the gigs was my favourite part as it was the buzz and feeling of being in the middle of it all.

Can you tell me how you got to the University of Glamorgan, Wales? And what you needed for that entry?

-I found a piece of paper in the canteen, it said about the links to Glamorgan University. They offered links to two courses; live event technology and sound technology. I decided I wanted to do live event, so I applied and waited for a response. I got an interview at the university which meant I came over for an interview, after the interview I was offered a place pending my results from my diploma. When applying they look at both your leaving certificate results and your diploma results, although your diploma results are the more important ones. Then when I got those results I sent them to the university and here I am now.

Would you recommend the program that allows you to study abroad?

-Definitely, Wales is not that far away from home but it is a different world here. The university life and people you meet are amazing. On the course that I am in, I am working with some of the most talented people I have ever met and if any person is ever stuck we all help out together, it's an amazing experience that I would recommend to anyone. I was here for international student week in my first year and I now have friends all over the world. The grants that you get at home still apply here, and the fees are payable by a loan you can get through the European Union, the loans are automatically taken off your pay once you start earning over £15,000 a year.

Tell me more about your course and the work that you have done already.

-My course is made up of many different modules that are spread over 3 years. In it you learn alot about the live event industry and the different sectors you can go in. Once finished you are pretty much prepared to go into any of the areas within the industry. There are no studio times though, as we only do live sound which is a brilliant module to do. We also study lighting, flying and rigging, video and image tech, control systems design, design of electrical installations, business. We do alot of practical work; there is an area on campus especially built for our course. we organise our own open days which means putting on a big show, we do all the major events around campus, we do some live sound shows (which means going off with our live sound lecturer to gigs), we worked on castles and last night we did a show in an ice hockey rink, we have also done shows in small theatres and coming up we have some corporate presentations to work at. The industry is all about experience and gaining it, the university facilitates that.

It's your final year, what job prospects await you when you graduate?

-When I finish I really want to get into stage management, I also want to do tour management for some time. Tour management is one of the hardest areas to work and do well in. Within the United Kingdom there are only 80 tour managers that actually are making a full time living, so I want to challenge myself with that maybe.

Do you have a preferred job and location when you've graduated?

-Definitely working in stage management as a start off point, I would love to go back to Ireland to work, but I think I may stay in Wales or move to London to work for some time to gain experience first.

The PR and Event Management students at Dun Laoghaire College of Further Education are holding a dance and live music street performance.

The DCFE event will take place on Tuesday the 16th of December at lunchtime (12:30-2:00), beside St. Michael's church in Dun Laoghaire.

Various musicians, which are featured on the DCFE album, will be performing on the day. The musicians will also be accompanied by talented dance artists, who between them have won up to 6 World Dance Titles and 7 European Championship Titles. The genre of dance ranges from modern hip hop, to Latin-ballroom, to contemporary, and it is a privilege to have these up and coming acts perform at our event.

There will be a raffle held on the day, tickets will be available from the students and in the college from Monday the 8th of December and all money raised will be donated to The IMNDA.

Some of the PR5A Students

DCFE 4 SCD 2

DCFE finally emerged victorious in a 6 goal thriller of a local derby against a very skillful and competitive SCD side at a balmy Greystones astro turf pitch on Wednesday 12 November. This game had everything, including a remarkable individual goalscoring feat, magnificent goalkeeping, a penalty, goal mouth scrambles and a very competitive edge. DCFE raced into an early 2 – 0 lead as a result of superb attacking interplay involving Calvin Tapala and Ethan Doyle in particular. Doyle, the newly converted attacker, was the scorer of both, each of which was superb. SCD hit back strongly and pulled one back with an excellent finish from their impressive right winger. They drew level near half time when a penalty was awarded for a jersey pull in the box.

Having finished the half on a high, SCD resumed strongly and created some good chances. From then the game ebbed and flowed as play became stretched, with each team having short periods of being on top. The DCFE goal lived a charmed life as SCD exerted immense pressure during the middle of the second half. On numerous occasions they were only thwarted by the brilliance of DCFE goalkeeper Christopher Buckley and some wayward finishing. They were made to pay heavily for these misses when Ethan Doyle completed his hat trick, with the aid of a large deflection in the eighty second minute. The same player completed a remarkable scoring feat by scoring his fourth goal late on with a superb finish. Great credit was due to both teams for providing such great entertainment in energy sapping conditions.

Derek Gilroy

 From over hanging chandeliers to under lying tones, DCFE students gathered in the luxurious surroundings of the Royal Marine Hotel on Thursday 6th November for their graduation. 

A scurry of black capes and hats, six inch heels and converse trainers, the style was eclectic.  At the end of the day, everyone was there, proud as punch to receive their certificates.   

Speeches were thankfully short and to the point as the bar was beckoning us. Among the speakers were: Mary Hanafin (Minister for Social and Family Affairs), Donal Marren (VEC Chairman) and Michael Condren (Principal of DCFE).  
A collage of possible professions including Print Journalism, Design and Construction, Health and Sport were all part of this proud affair. Student of the year from Print Journalism, Sarah Whiteacre, said “My year in Journalism gave me my stepping stone to where I am now, studying for a degree in DCU.  Coming here tonight has been fantastic, a chance to catch up with everybody.” 

So, students of DCFE, if you are feeling the assignments building up, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  The reward is there for the taking and you will have your graduation to look forward to this time next year!  

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The annual DCFE class rep teambuilding weekend took place on October 11th in Glendalough, Co Wicklow. Behavioural Studies teacher Marie Lonergan got the day off to a start with various ice-breaking exercises and teambuilding exercises, including one involving Play-Doh, bringing us back to our childhood!

After a delightful lunch there was some blindfolded tent building which was quite hilarious for one and all. We followed that by having a leisurely two and a half hour stroll in the hills surrounding Glendalough.

After the delicious meal cooked by our own Sean and Aoife, a few sociable drinks and a traditional Glendalough sing-song took place where some good renditions of popular songs, as well as some excellent guitar skills were exhibited.

All students agreed the next morning that the whole Glendalough experience had been a success with everyone getting along really well with one another. Everyone that attended would like to thank the people who gave up their time to organise and run this event.

P.S. Over the weekend a student council was elected. The officers are as follows: Chairperson: Laura Kavanagh( ITN5)
Assistant Chair: Gavin Hennessy(SE6)
Secretary: Oisin Ryan( SE5)
PRO: Sean Prendergast PR5 and Michelle Brennan SE5.

Michelle Brennan( SE5) and Sean Prendergast(PR5)

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