My semester is now done ... Time goes so fast, I really enjoyed to spend my time in this incredible Erasmus experience! I met a lot of awesome and funny people! I really improved my english during this period but I have to practice again and again. Now, I can speak with an english native speaker without any problems and have a conversation about everything. In fact, I improved my comprehension and my vocabulary but I have to practice the english grammar. To spend one semester abroad is the best way to improve english!

 

Now it's time to work! I'll work during two months in a start-up called Text-me-a-drink in Dublin, and flight back to France at the beginning of August! Thus, I'll spend two more months in this lovely country. 

 

It was GRAND ! Thanks for reading me !

 

 

As you certainly know, Ireland is the nest of many scenes, recorded for the world famous TV show Game of Thrones. Thorough the seasons you can perceive beautiful Irish landscapes, and today as the show is ranked first on the TV show world ranking, Ireland got the idea to promote itself using this golden nugget. The advertising campaign is formed by a set of fun pictures intended to all the Game of Thrones watchers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my opinion, this campaign is very effective and very well found. It invites the tourist to discover Game of Thrones landscapes, but in reality by being a huge fan of this TV show I have took a look on internet to see which landscapes you can visit and recognize, but sadly not many, and the few are not very impressive, because there is a lot of post production modifications. But it stays very beautiful and typically Irish landscapes, overlooked by the greenery.

First thing that I notified when I arrived in Ireland was the « Pub Culture ».

 

This is something that doesn’t exist in France, and this is a shame because this social event is really appreciable.

 

Pubs are (almost) a daily appointment, where many students, workers or friends like to enjoy a fresh and well poured Guinness, at the end of a tough day while enjoying typical music, or watching a Gaelic Football / Hurling / Football / Rugby match on the TV.

 

It is a place where all the generations are melted, where the wood creates a warm atmosphere, where you can speak about business as well as you can speak holidays, it is a unexpected place where you can order great meals worthy of Grand Restaurants, like a «Stew casserole sauce Guinness». That was a big surprise, because I have never seen such places. It really creates bounds with the other generations, with colleagues, and classmates. The Pub is the place to be in Ireland, and creates a unique atmosphere favoring the dialog and the sharing.

 

 

In the pub you have such a huge choice of draft beers but the most famous one is the Guinness. It is one of the most important symbols of Ireland. It was created at the pub Arthur Guinness in 1759 in Dublin. It is possible to visit, the Guinness Storehouse, which is the first Guinness’ factory.

 

 

The building is quiet amazing, there is the factory part which is not allowed to visits, and there is the museum part, where you can discover all the process of the Guinness beer creation from the four elements malt, water, … to the bottling.  At the end of the visit you can go the Guinness Academy where you learn how to pour a Guinness, and this is not as pouring a simple beer, the Guinness because of its density need a two-steps pouring. When you’ve learned and poured your own beer you get a Guinness Certificate (not the one I came for, but it’s not bad). At the very end of the visit when you’ve stepped all the stairs to arrive at the top of the building, you can savor you’re own beer at the panoramic bar with a beautiful view on all Dublin. It is also important for the economy in Ireland. It represents a huge part of the exportations of Ireland: more than 1 million of Guinness pints are sold everyday in Ireland and more than 5 million in the entire world! 

 

 

 

 

Hello my friends!

 

 

Today I will talk about a significant new that happened few weeks ago in Ireland: the referendum concerning the gay marriage!

 

Twenty-two years ago, in 1993, Ireland legalized homosexuality, and on the 22th May, the people of Ireland have exercised their Constitutional right and by direct vote they have said an emphatic ‘Yes’ to equality. Ireland now joins twenty other countries where same-sex marriage has been made possible. It is also the first country in the world to do so by a vote of the people, which added a particular flavour to it. However, the result required ratification in the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland) before going into legal effect, though it is estimated that the first same-sex marriages will take place in Summer 2015.

The "yes" to gay marriage was approved by 62.06% of voters, according to final results. The Irish have voted in favour of the following sentence: "Marriage can be contracted according to the law between two people regardless of gender". For Enda Kenny (the Irish Prime Minister), this is a strong signal to the world that the Irish can be pioneers, even in matters of morals.

 

Paul Higgins (left) and Richard Lucey, who have been civil partners for four years and partners for 19 years, wear t-shirts displaying numbers for Yes voters on George's Street in Dublin.

 

The subject fascinated Ireland in recent months. Posters were hung on all streetlights, and the voter turnout level exceeded 60%, higher than the usual average referendums. The opposition camp has not mobilized as the protests against the "marriage for all" in France have been able to. The explanation is partly political: all parties in power and in opposition have campaigned for gay marriage. The other explanation is the deep change experienced by the Irish society in just two decades. This very Catholic country, where the clergy control almost all the schools gradually abandoned all the taboos of yesteryear.

To the Irish people, to those who voted ‘Yes’, you have done something that should make you forever proud. With that, Ireland could now be a better and fairer place. The referendum changed more than the Irish Constitution, “it has reshaped forever the republic in which we live”, the Yes Equality campaign has said. Moreover, abortion remains an untouchable subject. The law still prohibited it, except in cases of "real and substantial risk" to the lives of women.

 

 

See you very soon with a new article about the Pub Culture in Ireland!

 

 

Hi guys! Today a new article relating to the geopolitics in Ireland!

 

Presentation of Irish’s government

Nowadays, Ireland is a parliamentary democracy.  The Head of the Government is the Taoiseach (Gaelic word which means prime minister). The Tánaiste is the Deputy Prime Minister. The President of Ireland appoints the Taoiseach after being designated by Dáil Éireann, the lower House of Parliament. The Taoiseach and the Ministers collectively form the Government under the Irish constitution, and they hold executive power. The Parliament is called the Oireachtas. Like in France, there are two Houses of Parliament: House of Representatives (it represents the “Assemblée Nationale” in France) and the Senate. 

 

Enda Kenny is the current Taoiseach 

 

The House of Representatives is composed of 166 members, who are elected using proportional representation, and the elections take place every five years. 

The current government was elected in 2011, so the next election will be next year (2016). It is a coalition between "Fine Gael" (progressive centre) and "Labour" (which is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland). The other main political parties represented in the House of Representatives are "Fianna Fáil" (The Republican Party) and Sinn Féin (an Irish republican political party active in both Ireland.)

The Senate is made of 60 members. They are nominated by the prime minister or elected from vocational panels. 

The Senate can initiate or revise legislation, but the House of Representatives can reject its amendments and proposed legislation.

There are also 114 local authorities in Ireland which manage health, transport, housing... This authorities are mainly concerned by the questions of the locality, and don’t interfere with the general politics.

The people directly elect the President of Ireland. Unlike in France, the president hasn't a major role in politics. The current President, Michael D Higgins, was elected in 2011. He's elected for seven years.

 

Michael D Higgins

 

Regional geopolitical political and economical context 

 

In this part I will discuss about some main political fact in Ireland.

 

•       Abortion

The issue of abortion divided the parliament. Before 2012, abortion was forbidden in Ireland. However, after the death of a young woman in Galway in October 2012, a draft law allowing abortion in cases of proven risk to the life of the mother and in very limited circumstances.

Irish people were in favour of the draft law (81%). Yet, the Catholic Church has taken a position against, as well as seven members of the House of Representatives and the Minister for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton. 

Nowadays, in Ireland, women may abort in cases of rape or critical situations. Approximately 4,000 abortions per year are recorded in Ireland.

 

•      Senate abolition:

In 2014, the Irish voted 51.7% against the proposal to abolish the Senate. Prime Minister Enda Kenny was at the origin of this idea, which is part of a policy of institutional reform decided by the coalition.

His idea was simple: remove the Senate to reduce public spending of 20 million € and reduce the number of politicians. The reason was because the senate doesn’t have a core role in the Irish political life.

 

An advertisement for the "yes"

 

•       Gay wedding

The Irish government voted and decided, in November 2014, to organize a referendum in 2015 about gay wedding. The government has said they will actively support the camp of "yes." Thus, we’ll have the issue of this issue soon.

 

 

 

In this second part I will talk about Irish economy and its relationship with European Union.

 

•      Crisis

The crisis has brutally hit Ireland, after the bursting of the Real Estate Bubble.

Banks were facing a major cash crisis. State responded with an unlimited guarantee on bank deposits, causing a significant increase in the public deficit (32% of GDP in 2010). Budgetary constraints have forced the government to request, on 21 November 2010, IMF aid amounting to € 85 billion. Regarding the issue of the reduction of its bank debt, the country has signed an agreement with the ECB.

The corporation tax at 12.5% is an important element of the Irish strategy to attract foreign direct investment.

Nowadays, the economic is recovering, even if it's still weak. Growth has resumed in the second quarter of 2013 (+0.4%). Unemployment has decreased slightly, but remains at a high level (13.3% of the population). Household indebtedness is still a problem to solve. Socially, the young people were the looser of the crisis (28% unemployed person).

 

•      European Union 

Ireland is part of the European Union since 1973. In 2002, Ireland has chosen euro as the official currency.

  

External regional conflicts or tensions 

 

Discreet but active, the Irish diplomacy focuses on three axes: the links with the United Kingdom and the United States, European commitment and the United Nations.

Historically neutral, Ireland makes a defence policy explicit. At national level, the Irish Army provides support to civilian forces. Naval Service and Air Corps Irish monitor the large maritime area, and contribute to the fight against drug trafficking.

Irish defence forces are deployed outside only through multinational peacekeeping or humanitarian operations.

The budget for defence is weak (less than 1% of the global budget) and there are 9500 soldiers. Ireland is very interested in the "pooling and sharing" of the EU initiative.

The Irish development assistance focuses on Africa. In September 2011, during the first Economic Forum Africa Ireland, the Minister of Foreign Affairs presented the "African strategy" of Ireland, to include trade and economic dimension in foreign policy.

 

 

In conclusion we can say than Ireland is neutral, there are no "big" geopolitical conflicts.

However, a lot of Irish are still shocked by the Civil War. 

 

Thanks for reading me! See you soon!

 

 

I’ve already travelled in some part of the country and I can say that this country is amazing, you can go everywhere and you’ll see beautiful landscapes.

 

Dublin  

Dublin is a beautiful capital, not as big as Paris, so it’s very useful to travel and discover the city. You can visit the entire city by walking! I would like to compare Dublin more like Lyon.

 

 

 

 

The International Society of the University offers a lot of travels to the international students. With them and my group of Erasmus friends we’ve done the following trips:

 

Trip to Cork/Ring of Kerry/Inch Beach/Dingle/Cliffs of Moher (3 days) 

 

 

 

Day trip to Kilkenny/Glendalough

 

 

 

Trip to Galway/County Mayo (3 days)

 

 

Trip to Edinburgh (UK)

 

Day trip to Belfast/Giant’s Causeway

 

My girlfriend came during one week, and we’ve done a day trip to the Giant’s Causeway and to Belfast with Paddy Wagon, it was so beautiful!

 

 
Day Trip Giant's Causeway par jbsante

 

Day trip to Howth

 

I’ve also been to Howth with my girlfriend, which is a peninsula at 15 kilometres at the North of Dublin. When the weather is good, it’s amazing!

 

 

Trip with my family (5 days)

My family came during one week, we rented a car and travelled on the West Coast, it was awesome!

 

 

That's it for the trips! In the next article I'll speak about geopolitics! 

 

See you soon!

Hi Folks!

 

Sorry for the delete… I was so busy with the University, I had a lot of essays to write but now I’m back!

Today’s article will be about the social rituals in Ireland, to discover more about the Irish culture!

 

First of all, they are many symbols in Ireland, so I’ll talk about those I most viewed.

 

The National Flag

It is a vertical tricolour of green, white and orange, which was introduced in 1848 by Thomas Francis Meagher.

The green represents the Irish people (Gaelic), the orange is to show the English supporters of William III of England (who was the king of England, Ireland, Scotland, …), and the white symbolises the peace between this two colours.

 

 

The Irish Harp

During the age of bards, the legend said that the harp music drove the warriors stronger, thanks to magical powers. Under the rule of Henry VIII, the harp was the first symbol on Irish coins. Today, this symbol is present everywhere in Ireland. For instance, the harp is today the emblem of Guinness.

 

 

The Shamrock

Once in Ireland, the shamrock was used by Saint Patrick to explain the Trinity to the Irish people. Nowadays, the clover is present everywhere in Ireland, and it represents the luck of the Irish.

 

 

The Leprechaun

A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore. It is usually depicted as a little old man, wearing a coat and hat. They are solitary creatures that spend their time making and mending shoes and have a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If captured by a human, the leprechaun has the magical power to grant three wishes in exchange for their freedom.

 

 

 

Furthermore, we will speak about the different celebrations in Ireland. There are tree important national celebrations: St. Patrick's Day, Christmas and Bloomsday. I had the opportunity to participate at the Saint Patrick day, the 17 March.  

I will talk briefly about Christmas. This celebration begins from December 8 until January 6. It is possible to hear a lot of street musicians and Irish Christmas songs everywhere. On 26 December, Irish people celebrate St Stephen's Day (Christian martyr). 

The Irish Bloomsday celebration is an honour to James Joyce, one of the most famous Irish literary. Some Irish wear typical costumes of the characters from his books. First celebrated in Ireland in 1954 on June 16. 

So now, I will tell you more about my St Patrick experience. Paddy’s day is the biggest celebration in Ireland, and all Irish people are very proud about it. This year, 500 000 persons celebrated the St Patrick in Dublin. In Ireland the 17 March is a one-day holiday each year.

Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland; he came to evangelize the Irish. An old legend says that he drove away all the snakes of Ireland.

I was near to the Saint Patrick cathedral to see the Parade with my family who comes for one week in Ireland. It was nice; there were many musicians, artists, and people in traditional dresses. The first St Patrick’s parade in Ireland was held in Dublin in 1931.

 

 

During the afternoon, we decided to go to temple bar. I had never seen the street crowded like that before; it was awful. Moreover, it was sympathetic and it is something to see at least once in a life.

 

 

Now, we can also speak about some Irish customs and cultural habits:

Sports

Typical Irish sports are Gaelic football, Hurling and Rugby. The Gaelic football is a mix between soccer and rugby. Moreover, I will speak about the Irish sports in the following weeks with an entire article.

 

Pubs

In Ireland, going out in the pubs is part of the cultural habits. The pub is the place where young and old people meet each other to eat, drink, to dance and to listen to music. In other words, it is a great opportunity to meet friends and talk around a good Guinness, or listen traditional Irish music. Traditional Irish music consists of guitar, violin, tambourine, …. In the pub a lot of artists play for free.  The atmosphere is very friendly, the people come to talk to you very easily: you can’t stay alone more than five minutes! My favourite pub in Dublin is “The Quays” in Temple Bar, because you can hear a lot of Irish song.

 

 

 

Irish

The national and official language of Ireland is Irish or Gaelic. The children have to learn this language during the primary school. But the Irish is spoken only in the small town. Nowadays 99% of the Irish people speak English. However both of the language (English and Irish) are using on the road sign and in the LUAS (Dublin’s tramways). 

 

Thanks for reading me and see you soon, the next article will be about my trips all around Ireland!

 

 

 

Hello guys !

 

I started the course at the National University of Ireland, in Maynooth this week, the 2th of February.

The university is located in Maynooth, a city at 20 km from Dublin and half and hour by train.

 

 

 

The town has, at either end of the main street, Maynooth Castle and Carton House : two former seats of the Dukes of Leinster. The castle was a stronghold of the 16th century historical figure Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare better known as Silken Thomas.

This is a beautiful town considered as a « university town » in North County Kildare with a population of 14,000 inhabitants. Maynooth is a major center for the history of Ireland.

 

 

Maynooth Castle

   

 

Presentation of the University :

Maynooth University was formally established as an autonomous university as recently as 1997, yet traces its origins to the foundation of the Royal College of Saint Patrick in 1795, making it, simultaneously Ireland’s youngest university and one of its oldest educationial instiutions.

 

The NUIM offers a varity of courses in different types of school like accountancy, business, history, computing, engineering, humanities, history, sociology, management, anthropology, …

 

 

Above you can discover the South Campus, the oldest and most marvelous part of the University.

This part is mainly constituted by the famous St. Patrick College, wich is a seminarist college where a large part of Ireland priests are formed.

In the South Campus there are beautiful gardens, swimming pools, many important courses departments as the law one, the economy one or the history one.

You can also find in this part of the campus the two NUIM Libraries, the old one and Jean Paul II which is the new library. This building is incredible, there are a lot of new computers, touch screen coffee tables, everything is « state-of-the-art », it is very High-Tech.

 

 

The North Campus is the most recent part of NUIM, it is very huge, there are many accommodations, many services to ensure the student confort.

Each building has one special utility, for example the Art Building, the Sport Building, the Science Building, so amazing !

There are two cafeterias/restaurants where you have a large choice from typical meals to burgers, pizzas, breakfast, and everything for cheap prices. Everything is conceived for the student well being.

 

 

I’m really enjoying the campus, its vastness, all the services its offered me. It’s really comfortable to study here.

 

 

Welcoming and presentation :

 

A week before my first day in class, I received an e-mail from Alena Jurikova (international coordinator), she invited us for an information meeting to explain the course of our semester abroad and a welcome presentation to meet others internationals students

 

We had to choose 6 classes (5 ECTS each).

 

 

Class content :

 

Ireland since 1800 :

This course is a general outline of the history of the period and an introduction to some of the core themes in the political, social, economic and cultural history of the period in Ireland.

It is really interesting to learn more about the Irish history.

 

Early modern Ireland and Great Britai, The 4 nations :

This history module examines the impact of the sixteenth-century Protestant and Catholic Reformations on Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, and the wars and rebellions of the early seventeenth century.

Very interesting but a little bit hard to understand because the teacher goes very fast.

 

The development of the Irish Welfare State :

This lecture is here to provide a summary history of the welfare state in Ireland over the past 200 years, related to periods or phases of development. Also to show how social policy provisions and social policy issues today reflect developments, debates and decisions in the past.

 

International Human Resource management :

This module focuses on aspects of Human Resource Management in multinational firms, such as staffing, human resource development, performance management and career issues. It explores the implications of the process of internationalization for HRM activities and policies, as well as exploring how HRM is practised in multinationals.

 

Political Geography :

Very interesting lesson to undersand politics impacts on people's lives. This module is focus on key themes within the field of geopolitic with specific reference to Ireland (electoral systems, electoral boundaries, ...). The other part of the module, which is international in scope, focuses on the themes of states, nations and nationalism, geopolitics, and the geography of political conflict.

 

English for Academic purposes :

This last module is an English class, to improve my english.

 

 

Student interaction, social life, sports, club : 

During the first week at school, we could enroll in a sport club or in a society for only 2€ per semester. So I decided to join 4 clubs : Internatiol Society, Surf Club, Badminton Club and Hurling Club. But the choice is really, really large, for example you can also join the archery society, the yoga society, the fencing society … And several others.

 

There is also the Student Union. They organize some partys in clubs and a lot of trips all around Ireland. I already signed up for four trips : Cork, Kerry & Cliffs of Moher, Kilkenny & Glendalough, Galway & Mayo, and Belfast & the Giants Causeway. I will tell you my travels in future articles… J

 

 

List of differences :

 

Definitly, we can say that Maynooth University is not like ESDES, and that is a good thing, I guess.

 

 

•  The relationship between students and teachers. In France, it is not that the students are scared of the teachers, but the teachers want to maintain a gap between us and them. In my Erasmus University, it is the opposite : teachers seem more approachable than in France. So the classroom atmosphere is really different : when you want to ask a question, you call directly your teacher by is name, in France it is more like « Mrs/Mr ‘last name’ ».

 

•    The courses are also different. In France we have many hours of courses and in Ireland, you have really few hours of courses, but after those hours, you are left alone to work. The library is supposed to become your best friend !

 

• The ponctuallity. Some students and teachers are often late, but it’s not a problem here. In France, after 5 minutes of delay, you are not allowed to attend the class and in Ireland, you can attend the class. Over here, you are able to leave the class whenever you want, and it is not shoking.

  

•     The exams. I must talk about that, because it is the most important thing in this term, and this is the most stresfull. In Ireland the finals are not the same as in France, we mostly have essays that composed the continuous exams but no finals. And this is scary because you can’t fail your essay…

 

•      The societies. They are really attached to their societies/club in Ireland. It is probably the most important thing in the University and the best way to make friends. The choice is really enormous, you have the choice between more than 50 associations !!

 

 

Thank you for reading me. Stay connected ! 

 

 

 

The Republic of Ireland (Eire) is an island to the west of Europe, member of the European Union since 1973.

This isle is divided between the Republic of Ireland (where I am and is part of Europe) and the Northern Ireland (is part of UK). The Republic of Ireland has 26 counties and Northern Ireland has 6 counties. 

The Population of Republic of Ireland is approximately 4.6 million (2013), including more than 500,000 in Dublin (2011).

National language is English but they also speak Gaelic in small villages of the west coast. That's why we can see the two languages showing on the signboard.

It is written in all the books that it rains at least once a day, but for now after one week it rained only twice and the sun shines… We will see !

 

 

 

 

 

Dublin is the capital of Ireland and is located in the Eastern part of Ireland.

The city is situated in the province of Leinster near the Ireland's east cost. In the City center, there is a lot of historical and cultural sites like Trinity College, Dublin Castle, Saint Patrick Cathedral, ....

I've already been twice in Dublin last week, it is a wonderful city to discover ... 

 

See you soon !

Hello everybody !

I'm Jean-Baptiste SANTE. I'm a french student in second year at ESDES School of management in Lyon.

I'm ready to go for 6 moths in Ireland ! 

I will study at the National University of Ireland (Maynooth, near to Dublin) ! (Early February until early June)

This blog will tell my semester ! 

 

♣ Have a good time ♣