SU president Sean Reid gives the story on all things Griffith College related...

What's your city/town like?
What’s left to say about ‘The Big Smoke’? Dublin is always buzzing with activity, with different clubs offering different promos every night. Of course, there is plenty here for everyone. There are plenty of music and comedy venues in town always looking to grab in as many students as possible. And with GCD being only a 20 minute walk away from the city centre, we get to enjoy all the pleasures of the capital!

What's the vibe like on campus?
During the day the college is very chilled, with students hanging out in either the SU building or the canteen and bar. It never gets boring though, as there is always something happening. At night the place really gets buzzing, with Arthurs Bar offering drinks promos and the now infamous Monday Night Madness ruining many a Tuesday morning!

Is there a lot to do there?
Plenty. Besides activities in the bar, we have many different sports clubs (Soccer, basketball, cricket, GAA etc.) and societies (Including paintball, comedy, music, LGBT and movies to name a few) to keep students busy throughout the year. We also plenty going on during the big week events such as freshers’ week, RAG week and SHAG week. With so much to do, you’ll find it hard to find any time to study!

Is it easy to get around?
The college buildings all more or less face each other in a square with a green in the middle, making walking between them very easy. The longest you should have to spend going from one to another is two minutes.

What's accommodation like? How expensive is it?
The rooms are bigger than usual on-campus accommodation, with each room having study space for each student. You have access to the internet in every room also. Prices are good considering how close to the city centre we are. Payment is made is one go instead of monthly. You do have the option, however, to pay per term. This works out a bit more expensive however.

What's the "worst thing" about the college?
The lack of an ATM machine is very frustrating, but this is something that the SU is looking to change this year. It may not seem like a big deal, but if you run out of cash during an event on campus, you have to walk a good distance down the road to get to an ATM as the local Spar closes early.

What advice would you offer new students?
College is as much about your social life as it is your academic, so make sure you join up to as many societies or sports teams as you can. Don’t be afraid to speak out about what you like and don’t like here, because it’s always the fresh eyes of a first year who’ll spot problems in the college first, and nothing can change without letting the SU know.

What are campus facilities like? Is there easy access to computers, library and photocopying?
The computer room can get very busy on the day of assignments being due in, so I recommend printing off everything you need the day BEFORE your assignment is due, not that morning. I don’t know how many classes I ended up being late for due to the computer room being busy. Any other day and you should have to wait no more than 5 minutes to get onto a computer, if even. The photocopying machines tend to always be free also.

The library is very well laid out, and the staff is very friendly and always willing to help you out. Just try to avoid getting into a debate over whether DC is better than Marvel comics with certain members of staff!

What kind of sports facilities are there?
Although we have a green in the middle of the college, we tend to do training etc outside of the college. The grounds that we do use are excellent and are not too far away from campus.

We also have a small gym on campus. It’s nothing special, but it’s a start!

Who's who in the student's union?
I myself am the SU President. I am here to deal with any problems the students may have and the overall managing of the SU. My office is always open and students should never hesitate to talk to me. I also act as the Entertainments Officer, which means I organise the events both on-and-off campus for the year.

Jacquie Ryan is our Welfare Officer and she will be looking after problems students may have during their time here. She looks after areas like mental health, money issues and try’s to keep out students in good health. If they feel they are having any problems outside of the classroom then can call into her at any time.

Kieran "Corkey" Hickey is our Sports & Societies Officer, and his duties are easy enough to figure out by his title. He will ensure that all clubs and socs. are running smoothly and is always up for hearing any comments or suggestions you may have for them. If you think there are any societies missing then feel free to pop in and ask for an application form for a new soc.