Hi everyone!  Ed here!

Quite a few things to talk about in this email

Belfast

First, we just wanted to say thanks to everyone that went on the trip to Belfast!  It was the largest weekend trip that we’ve ever done, and we hope that everyone had a good time there.  Also, we wanted to say sorry to the people who were in the two rooms with the broken heating; I’ll get you some drinks to make up for it!  Also, with regards to the Giants Causeway day tour — we did call the hostel in advance to tell them that (the majority of the people in) our group was interested in doing that tour on Saturday and that they should let the bus company know about this. I rang the hostel about this more than a week before we arrived, but either the hostel did not forward our request or the tour company ignored it.

We are now considering writing a formal complaint to the owner of the hostel about both problems.  As we’ve never had any problems with them before (we’ve been staying at the same hostel for several years now) we were very surprised to encounter these issues.  Hopefully everyone that wanted to see Giant’s Causeway got to go, even if it was on the express tour on Sunday.

Newgrange

Just as a reminder, the details for the two trips to Newgrange are as follows:

Saturday-group

Our booking is for 11:00am.  We will leave from Maynooth at 9:45am.  The tour lasts about 2 hours, so we will return to Maynooth at about 2:30 in the afternoon.

Sunday-group

Our booking is for 10:00am.  We will leave from Maynooth at 8:45am.    The tours is 2 hours, so we’ll be back to Maynooth at about 1:30 in the afternoon.

We still have spaces available for both days, so if you’re interested in signing-up, you can e-mail us, or text me at 087 6761959.  Also, we will hold a second chance to sign-up this Thursday evening in the Arts Block.  I will be in the corridor by the computers between 6 and 7 PM for anyone that still wants to go!

Film

Our film this weekend, due to ‘popular demand’, will be the film In Bruges, starring Colin Farrel. The film will be, as usual, in Theatre 1 in the Arts Block, this Sunday evening, starting at 7:30 pm.

That’s all for now; hope to see you all soon!

Ed

Hi everyone, Ed here!

And here… comes the Belfast trip! There are a few things that people need to know when going to Belfast, just some basic information that I should bring to your attention.

1. For those of you from outside the European Union (like myself), please remember to bring your passport or other documents with you, as we are technically going into another country.
2. Remember that they use British Pounds up there (Sterling), not Euros! If you have a bank card from a bank here in the Republic of Ireland or another EU country, you should be able to use that card in the cash machines up there to withdraw pounds with no problems.
3. Please remember to stay together with other people when you are there; don’t go wondering out alone! I don’t imagine there will not be any problems, but please remember that Belfast is not a place you want to start trouble in! And please, whatever you do, do not go into West Belfast by yourself!! The people there won’t necessarily be happy to see you!
4. Our hostel does not provide breakfast, but there is a Tesco and several other shops close to the hostel. There is a kitchen at the hostel for you to cook something!
5. The buses to go to Belfast will leave from in front of the Student’s Union building, this Friday 3:00pm. We will leave from the hostel in Belfast to come back to Maynooth between 4:00 and 5:00pm. We will decide as the weekend goes!
6. If you decide to go on the Giant’s Causeway day tour, which I’m sure most of you will, please go on the Saturday! The tour does not finish until around 6pm, so you won’t make it back in time go home on our bus if you do this tour on the Sunday! Remember, you can sign-up for The Giant’s Causeway and Black Taxi Tours right at the reception desk of our hostel!

Here’s a few of those links again for you to look at about the city and other things (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

That’s all for now! See you all tomorrow for the film!

Ed

The facts again:

Where to

Belfast City

Date

Friday to Sunday, 28—30 November 2008

Departure

3:00 pm on Friday from Student’s Union

Important

Do not forget to bring your passport!

Return

Leave Belfast on Sunday at 4 pm

Cost

55 EUR per person

Includes

Transport & accommodation

Hello, everyone! Ed here!

I should have sent this information to all of you in the last email, but I forgot to do it! It must be my old age catching-up with me…

Anyway, I want to announce sign ups for our last trip of the semester, to Newgrange! Since I’m really bad at explaining exactly what Newgrange is, here are several links that will tell you all about it (1, 2, 3, 4).

We have 2 bookings for Newgrange; each booking allows only a maximum of 48 people per visit! The 2 bookings are for Saturday, December 6 at 11:00am, and Sunday, December 7 at 10:00am. This means we will have to leave Maynooth early to get there!! I will let you all know next week when we will have to leave for each trip. The cost for the trip is 12 EUR per person, and this covers the bus and admission into Newgrange.

Sign-ups will begin tomorrow evening before the film! I’ll be in Theatre 1 in the Arts Block from 7pm! Remember the cost is 12 Euro per-person for everything!

Hi everyone! Ed here!

First off, I’d like to thank everyone that went on the trip to Glendalough! It was a great sucess, and a great day over all! We had excellent weather, and everyone seemed to have a good time! It was also a new record for the International Society: we had 129 people attend the trip, making it officially the largest trip we’ve ever had! Thank you all for participating (and for coming back safely)! There are already plenty of peoples’ photos of the trip on Facebook, so be sure to have a look there! Also, don’t forget to add us all to your Facebook friends lists!

Galway and Train volunteers: As for the trip to Galway, we still need a few more volunteers to go there by train. I will set-up a meeting time tomorrow evening (Tuesday October 14) from 6 to 7pm in the Arts Block for anyone willing to go to Galway by train. I will be in the corridor by the circle of computers in the Arts Block to answer any questions you have about the arrangements and other details, and to give back some of the money if you decide to go by train. If you can’t be there at that time, please e-mail, or ring/text message me at 087 6761959 to make other arrangements for a time and place to meet.

As many of you know, I will give you some of your money back to pay for you travel costs, so you won’t have to pay any extra money! I know there were a few people that I spoke with who said they are interested, so please let me know! Here are the train times timetable for going to Galway on Friday and then coming back to Dublin on Sunday:

Dublin (Heuston) => Galway, 17.10.2008

Leaving: 11:10, 14:35, 16:50 and 17:50
   Arriving: 13:51, 17:15, 19:16 and 20:31

Galway => Dublin (Heuston), 19.10.2008

Leaving: 16:15 and 18:15
   Arriving: 19:10 and 20:57

Please get in touch soon or come to the meeting tomorrow if you’re willing to go by train; I still need about 10 more volunteers! It will really help us all!

That’s all for now; please get in touch if you’re willing to go to Galway by train, or have any questions about it!

Ed

Hello everyone! Ed here!

First off, the film this weekend will be Scoop, starring Scarlett Johannson and Hugh Jackman. This suggested by one of you last week. As usual, the film will be shown in Theatre 1 in the Arts Block, this Sunday evening, starting-time 7:30 PM!

As for the trip to Glendalough, I’m glad to say that we are completely full! Sorry to anyone who won’t be able to go along with us; if there are any cancellations, I can give you a call and get you in! Just a reminder, if there are any problems or anything happens while we’re on the trip, please ring me at 087 6761959.

Update: Since there were so many people ringing and e-mailing about the trip to Glendalough, I just called the bus company and asked what else they had available, so we could get some extra seats, and what they told me is this: They have available for this weekend a double-decker bus that fits 80 people! This will be in addition to the 54 seat bus that we already have! So this means, there are extra spaces now for the trip to Glendalough!! So if you had texted or e-mailed me today or yesterday, and I told you that the buses were full, there are now extra seats available!! Hence, if you are still interested, we can arrange to meet for signing-up! What I will do is this: I will be in the Society ‘Office’ (which is just my apartment on campus, Avoca Hall, Apt 7), tomorrow evening from 5:30 PM. You can come by then and sign-up for the trip, or text me at 087 6761959 if you need to make other arrangements! So everyone that wants to go to Glendalough will now be able to!

And, some details to work out for the trip to Galway. Our issue is this: we will have 1 bus (maximum 54 people) going to Galway. But we’ve also got more people than this going on the trip (over 75), so what we will do is have some people go by train! We’ve done this with other trips in the past, and it always works out fine! If you have gotten yourself a Student Travel Card (which I strongly recommend that everyone gets), we can get very good prices for the train, and we can give you back some of the money you paid to us for the trip to cover the costs of the train and the bus to Huston Station and back. And so, I put out a call for volunteers to go to Galway by train! I will give the full details about going by train to anyone interested; just e-mail or text message me about it! For example, if you have lectures that go later than when the bus is leaving (2:30) that you must attend, you can get a later train! I personally will be going on the train a bit earlier in the day, so that I can be in Galway before the bus arrives. Anyone interested in going at the same time as me on the train can let me know! Remember: only people with a Student Travel Card can volunteer to go by train (otherwise it would be too expensive).

If you don’t have a Student Travel Card, it’s very easy to get one! All you have to do to get one is go to the Students Union Office, fill-in a very small application, they take your photo, and you have your card! It takes less than 10 minutes, and only costs 15 Euro! The card gives you discounts not only on the train, but also many different shops all over the place. I can tell you for sure that if you go on any other long journeys by train while you are here in Ireland, you will save more than enough money to justify buying the card!

That’s all for now! Let me know by e-mail or text if you’re interested in going to Galway by train, and I’ll work out all the details with you individually! And I’ll see those of you going to Glendalough on Saturday! Remember to be prepared in case there’s rain! Dress warm, and bring a lunch with you if you like! There is also a hotel with a restaraunt/pub there, as well as a few snack stands that have food and tea/coffee. And don’t forget about the film on Sunday! ‘Scoop’, 7:30 PM, Theatre 1 in the Arts Block this Sunday Evening!

All the best and hope to see you all soon,

Ed