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 For students nationally and here in Co Tipperary, the National Parents’ Council-Post Primary Leaving Cert Helpline is ready to offer, both students and their parents /guardians, expert tips on the current Central Applications Office (CAO) process. This help will include queries on Points and just about anything else to do with higher and further education, if contacted this morning.
Members of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors are on hand to offer advice on third-level entry, apprenticeships, grants, deferrals, Leaving Certificate appeals and various other issues that no doubt can cause much confusion.
This helpline is available by telephoning 1800 265165 from 8.00am to 7.00pm today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday), and again until 1.00pm on Wednesday. They can also be contacted via Email: helpline@npcpp.ie
Some 15,000 Leaving Certificate students have already been approved for College Grants this year, and the Central Applications Office (CAO) has issued some 75,500 Round One offers this morning, following on from and based on the Leaving Cert Results, which were announced last week.
Students hoping to study Engineering, Construction and Technology at third-level will however face an increase in Points, with Engineering rising by 75 points, to 490.
Today’s first round offers covers courses at Levels six, Seven and Eight, and applicants will receive offers from the CAO this morning. Some 41,500 students are expected to receive a Level Eight course offer today, with 34,000 similar offers being made for places on courses at Level Six and Level Seven.
Thurles Community Garda Annette Connolly, Tipperary Division, reports on Thurles District School Visits
Attention School Parent Councils; School Principals; Teachers & Parents.
Thurles Community Gardaí are working extremely hard to encourage and increase school visits. They believe (indeed it is their ethos) that school visits by members of An Garda Síochána are the first positive rapport, in building interaction with many young people. “So much can be achieved by this positive contact”, stated Garda Connolly.
 A small section of children & parents who flocked to the successful Thurles Garda Open Day last September. Garda Connolly continued, “Into the future as young people get older they may witness a crime; be an injured party to a crime; or even be a suspect in a crime. They may remember the positive impact that a school visit from An Garda Síochána had and thus assist with investigations. To this end, Gardaí are endeavouring to visit as many Primary, Post Primary and Montessori Schools in the Thurles District as is possible”.
The topics Gardaí cover during these visits are based on the Community Relations approved lesson plans covering Personal Safety; Cyber Bullying; ‘Connect with Respect’; Substance Abuse; Role of the Garda; Vandalism and Road Safety.
They are fortunate and grateful that the Southern Regional Dog unit are assisting them on some of these school visits. Young people always warm to the Dog Unit and are always intrigued how dogs assist Gardaí in their everyday investigations.
Following on from their most successful ‘Open Day‘ last September 2015 here in Thurles; in September 2016, Thurles Garda station intend to hold yet another open day for all Post Primary Schools in the Tipperary Division.
You can contact Thurles Gardaí at Tel: (0504) 25100.
A 25 year old primary school teacher, Mr Kevin O’Riordan, from Killea, near Templemore, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, has taken on the challenge of kicking points at all 1,616 GAA clubs in the 32 counties of Ireland. His aim; to raise money for the children of Kolkata in India, where he will return again for five weeks during the summer of 2016.
Aided by the co-operation of GAA county boards and local clubs, Kevin begins his daily exercise at about 7.15am and ends at 6.30pm. He began his Kickathon on August 29th last, photographing his presence at every GAA club in which he records kicking a point.
Back in June 2014, Mr O’Riordan qualified volunteering to work with the Froebel/HOPE Partnership to help children in Kolkata, (meaning ‘Field of [the goddess] Kali’.) formerly Calcutta and capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Here exists areas of slum-like conditions similar to that experienced by Mother Teresa. Each evening Kevin watched the children being taught under his care, go back onto the streets begging, with every rupee they received being taken off them by supreme overlords skulking nearby.
Having returned to Ireland, Kevin decided to raise money for the HOPE Foundation. Last August he set off to “Kick a point on every GAA pitch over the 32 counties of Ireland”, as well as seek sponsorship from clubs, supporters and the general public.
As stated, Kevin will return to Kolkata in June and you can follow his progress on KickForKolkata Facebook page, while assisting him in his fund-raising efforts at www.gofundme.com/mgx2b8pm.
Three LIT Thurles students have been recognised for their achievements in game design and development at Games Fleadh 2016, an all-island games design and development competition for third-level students.
 Winning LIT Thurles Students; David Morton, Samantha Marah and Samuel MacSweeney at Thurles Games Fleadh 2016. Supported by Microsoft Ireland, EA Games, Ubisoft and the Irish Computer Society, the 13th annual Games Fleadh event took place on March 9th on LIT’s Thurles campus which is home to the B.Sc in Computing in Games Design and Development.
Event organisers reported their busiest year yet with over 29 teams taking part in various game design and development competitions. The entries were viewed, played and tested by over 400 members of the general public who attended the event.
A stellar cast of judges reviewed the entries and scored the students on their creations. The judges included John Romero the creator of Doom, representatives from EA Games and Snozbot.
David Morton, a 4th year LIT student, won ‘Best in Game Play’ and ‘Best Windows Phone Game’ for his game ‘Pirates vs Aliens’. Samantha Marah and Samuel MacSweeney, both 2nd year students, were awarded ‘Best in Original Digital Art’ and ‘Best in Original Story’ for their game ‘Pixel Pirate Defense’.
Speaking about Games Fleadh 2016, event organiser and lecturer at LIT’s Game Design and Development degree in Thurles Dr. Liam Noonan said, “Games Fleadh was a fantastic event and it showcased the emerging Irish game design and development talent out there. We were delighted with the achievements of our Games Design and Development students.”
Visit www.gamesfleadh.ie for more.
Leading game developers, including John Romero, to participate in Thurles LIT/Microsoft event.
 The organisers of “Games Fleadh”, Ireland’s version of the Oscars for undergraduate game designers and developers will welcome some of the biggest names in the gaming industry as they gather at the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) campus here in Thurles on March 9th. They will participate in Games Fleadh 2016, an all-island games design and development competition for third-level students.
Supported by Microsoft Ireland, EA Games, Ubisoft and the Irish Computer Society, the 13th annual Games Fleadh will feature the Game Studio Tower Defence competition and Robocode.
Event organisers say the Irish games design and development sector has recently enjoyed strong growth as evidenced by job announcements from EA, Black Shamrock and ZeniMax, as well as the relocation from Silicon Valley to Galway of ‘Romero Games‘.
“This high profile move to Ireland by John and Brenda Romero; whose title credits include ‘Doom’, ‘Dangerous Dave’, ‘Quake’, ‘Wizardry’ and ‘The Mechanic is the Message’, is an endorsement of the potential of this sector to develop. EA have continued to grow their presence in Galway and with the addition of their QA team, are creating job opportunities for Irish game developer graduates. The recent establishment of the Irish game makers association ‘Imirt’ lends further evidence to the growth and optimism in this sector”, said Dr. Liam Noonan, event organiser and lecturer at LIT’s Game Design and Development degree in Thurles at today’s launch of Games Fleadh 2016.
Speaking about Games Fleadh 2016, Dr. Noonan continued, “Games Fleadh is a fantastic networking opportunity for the Irish game development sector and in many ways it is the Game Development Oscars for our undergraduate students on the Island of Ireland.”
Games Fleadh will feature a keynote talk by John Romero as well as talks by industry professionals from EA, Microsoft and Fungus Games. This year, a new innovation sees the inclusion of start-up sessions, which will provide insight from recently formed Irish start-ups in the game design and development sector.
Games Fleadh will also host a number of competitions on the day including an EA FIFA 2016 and UFC tournaments, with numerous EA titles being provided as prizes for the various competitions. To celebrate the launch of Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s ‘The Division’ on March 8th, the game will be playable at Games Fleadh. Once gamers have had a chance to play, developers at Ubisoft Massive Entertainment will answer any questions and feedback on comments about ‘The Division’. There will also be some great Tom Clancy’s ‘The Division’ prizes in the Games Fleadh raffle.
Commenting ahead of the event, EA Ireland said, “We at EA look forward to meeting the many games design and development students from across Ireland at LIT Games Fleadh 2016 and sharing our experiences in the design and development of future titles. We welcome the opportunity to support game development competitions in Ireland and to work with the various 3rd level Institutions to ensure we have talented graduates to avail of the many career opportunities in this sector.”
Senior PR Manager Stefan McGarry from Ubisoft said, “We are delighted that Tom Clancy’s ‘The Division’ will feature at this year’s Games Fleadh. It’s a great showcase for new games design and development, and we’re very pleased to be supporting such talent.”
Games Fleadh 2016 is open to the public for free. Online registration is available at www.gamesfleadh.ie. For more visit www.twitter.com/gamesfleadh.
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