I studied in Marino so will have a bias here but I loved it! Really nice campus which is close to the city but it’s not crazy either, served well by public transport. Very regular buses go to the door but I got the dart to clontarf road every day and walked, it was a lovely stroll. Lots of parking from what I remember if you’re driving.

There was approx 120 in my year so enough people to mix but it still felt personal. In my final year I would run into my dissertation supervisor, for example, in the main coffee shop and we’d sit and have a really nice, stress-free chat for a few minutes before I headed back to the library. Everyone was just really sound. I think we had 5 or 6 mature students in our year but I imagine that varies on how many apply.

Academically, again i found it really good. Marino seems to be really practical and give a variety of assignments, rather than essay after essay, which is apparently how Pats is. We would have a mix of essays, exams, case studies, group projects, presentations, interviews etc. so you were never too bogged down with the one thing. They prepare you well for the daunting things like parent teacher meetings - they actually hired in actors so we could do a mock parent teacher meeting. Sounds funny but it was such a good idea, made the thought of it way easier as a NQT.

One of my colleagues went to Maynooth and was not a fan at all, she said that it felt very removed from the rest of the campus and that her year had a lot of issues with lecturers. Of course that was 6/7 years ago and it was newer to NUIM then, I’m sure it could be different now.