By Fergal Smiddy, Byline Editor And just like that, another academic year – arguably the strangest one to date – saunters itself towards a bittersweet close. They say that the years of our lives tend to go by quicker as they pass, and as I grow older I find this old adage harder and harder to circumvent….

Writes Maeve McTaggart I put off writing this editorial for as long as I could, because doing so means acknowledging that this is the last issue, that we have reached the end of the year and, by some strange occurrence, the end of me being a student at UCC. This time last year, when I…

writes Fiona Keeley ‘We skipped the light fandango, turned cartwheels ‘cross the floor, I was feeling kinda seasick, but the crowd called out for more’ those are the words I use to describe this year at University Express. From the prologue in June 2020 I knew our course of action would be open to our…

By Fergal Smiddy Never in my life, up until now, have I ever have even contemplated engaging in a behaviour as perverted as booking a physio appointment just to have a reason to leave my house. Just to leave my house might be stretching things a bit. Although the cabin fever most definitely spurred my enthusiasm in picking…

I have been running since I was fifteen. Because of COVID-19, I now run alone rather than with those in my club of six years and over the twelve months, I have grown to miss running with other people more and more; chatting makes the miles seem shorter and the long-runs on dark, winter nights…

On March 8th, my various apps and email inbox were alive with ‘pings’ and ‘buzzes’ and that familiar alert of ‘you’ve got mail!’ to wish me a ‘Happy International Women’s Day’, celebrating the value and importance that female voices bring to the table. But through all that celebration one message stood out to me more…

By Fergal Smiddy “Is glas iad na cnoc i bhfad uainn” – “Faraway hills are green”. Something mad, kind of endearing, about seanfhocail, is that they always seem to possess this annoyingly stubborn core of truth that seems impossibly relevant. Now, for the gatekeeping-inclined Gaeilgeoir out there – of whom I hope and believe there are few –…

Writes Maeve McTaggart Once bitten, twice as shy… to hear the Taoiseach recently say “the end is truly in sight,” left me more hollow than hopeful – it’s been a year, it doesn’t surprise me. Quoting Wham! However –  and one of my least favourite Christmas songs in March – definitely does surprise me (and…

writes Fiona Keeley I have been writing long into the evening these days, not for any particular reason but more to set my mind at ease during those twilight hours before I drift off to sleep. The blue glow of my phone screen as I scribble words onto my notepad stings my eyes most evenings,…