Rice and Lloyd Webber’s classic Evita, based on the life of Argentina’s legendary Eva Peron was staged by DkIT Music Theatre students last week in the Campus Theatre to considerable critical acclaim. The lead role was taken by final year student, Níamh Kerr, from Rostrevor, County Down. Níamh, who is specialising in Music Education, played the role of the neglected Countess Almaviva in the 2008 production of The Marriage of Figaro. This time faced a totally different challenge, both musically and dramatically in the role of a 20th century icon. She gave a truly magnifi-cent performance, strongly supported by third year tenor Luke Bermingham, in the role of the charismatic Juan Peron.

DKIT’S MUSIC STUDENTS PERFORM EVITA

Pictured above: Dr Eibhlis Farrell Head of Music and Creative Media, Adele Commins Head of Music Programmes, Mr Sofian A. Karim, First Secretary Embassy of Malaysia, Denis Cummins President DkIT, Dr Gerard Bob McKiernan Head of School of

Informatics & Creative Arts at the recent performance of Evita in DkIT.

Niamh Kerr and Luke Bermingham as Eva and Peron.

Continued from front page... The role of Ché was divided between Mayo tenor David Lynn, baritone John Boylan from Skerries and Wicklow man Ruairí Quinn, all third year Performance specialists. The three boys introduced a new dimension to the role, which included the energetic tango ‗Buenos Aires‘ and the famous ‗Waltz for Eva and Ché‘. Another remarkable performance was given by 2nd year Dubliner Dearbhail Downey, who played the Young Evita, seduced by the sleazy womaniser Augustin Megaldi, expertly portrayed by Tipperary man, Fionán Stapleton. Cameo roles were beautifully played by Hannah Casey , (Peron‘s young Mistress) and Alan Kavanagh, who sang The Lady‘s Got Potential. The rest of the cast, including the Officers, the Aristocrats and the Duarte family were excellent and a vibrant and energetic chorus brought the whole story to life. There was also a wonderful children‘s chorus, Maria, Caoimhe, Bronagh, Sorcha, Fionnuala, Aurora, Sarah and Cara, the foundation members of DkIT Cór na nÓg. One of the most remarkable aspects of this production was the wonderful band, under the direc-tion of Mary McCague. Mary payed tribute to the hard work and dedication of Dan Egan and Ricky O‘Neill from Mayo, and Meath men Kevin O‘Brien and David Flood who are all first year music students. Mary herself deserves the highest commendation for her work, along with Siub-hán Ó Dubháin, for DkIT Music Department‘s first major contemporary musical. They were as-sisted by David Slevin, a postgraduate student on the MA in Music Technology, who master-minded the extremely high-tech sound system, and lighting designer Derek Farrell. Congratulations to all involved for another wonderful achievement by DkIT music students.

Development Perspectives Music Competition! Are you a singer/songwriter/musician? Want to write a song about greed or hunger or poverty? Want to win a day in a recording studio? Want to play live in Boyles? Want to play on LM-FM Development Perspectives have just launched an exciting music competition and are looking for singer/songwriters/musicians from across Ireland to enter. All you need to do is fill out an application form and return it to us with your song (either on CD, your phone or as an audio file) by post to Development Perspectives, Barlow House, Narrow West St, Drogheda or by mail to bobby@developmentperspectives.ie. The entries need to focus on or address one of the following themes 1. Greed 2. Hunger (Please see Trocaires Campaign on Hunger – www.trocaire.ie 3. We Do Care Campaign—www.wedocare.ie Six songs will be shortlisted by our panel of judges and the musicians involved will be invited to play in Boyles of Slane on either the 26th of May or the 2nd of June 2010. The winner of both heats will be se-lected and invited to play on LM-FM the following week. Listeners to LM-FM will then pick the overall winner of the competition. The winner and runner up will win a day in a recording studio as well as 50-100 copies of their song on CD. The winning songs will also appear on our website as well as Trocaires. To enter please call Bobby McCormack on 087 0536622 <tel:0870536622> or Margaret Downey on 087 6948715 <tel:0876948715> and ask for an application form or e-mail bobby@developmentperspectives.ie Closing date for applications is Friday the 14th of May 2010 For further information, please visit our website

www.developmentperspectives.ie

Development Perspectives is supported by Trocaire and this project would not have been possible without the support of LM-FM and Boyles

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Editor, Regarding the student union elections and the campaigns that ran through the week leading to the elections, I believe the entire set up was a farce, with some candidates and their campaign teams running amuck throughout the college. However it is not entirely the candidates‘ faults as there are very little set rules and regulations contained within the constitution of the student union, and no limits to the lengths candidates can go to earn or ‗buy‘ their votes as the case may be. The issue of a cap on the amount of money candidates can spend on campaigns was raised by one candidate during the run up to elections. This needs to be addressed before the next elections if we ever want to see the best candidate elected for the job and not the candidate with the biggest budget and most sponsorship, which has happened over the last couple of years. It also seems scandalous that local business can be allowed to use these elections and the student union office to buy their way into the college and secure business for themselves. During the run up to the elections I spoke to many students throughout the college from various departments, a lot of whom were first years, and to my amazement did not even know who the current student union president and vice president were. This to me shows that the changing of the constitution last year by the current president and vice president Luke Mc Gahon and Subhash Khanal was not successful and needs to be looked at and analysed. I am a third year student and until this year have been very happy with the work that Luke and Subhash had done. However as it was destined that following this year Luke and Subhash would finish their term in office, it is evident that they did not carry out their jobs to the best of their abilities, as seen in previous years. (e.g. only one class representative meeting throughout the year). Not only have they let themselves down but also their respective positions within the college. It is my only hope that the newly elected president and vice president will bring about some changes for the good of the 4500 students they represent and not just for themselves, however I do not hold much hope for such changes as it is clear that fairness is not considered important within the student union office. Politics at its best..!!! Name and address with editor

OUR BEST POSSIBLE FUTURE On Monday next 19th of April Dr Sean Healy of Social Justice Ireland will be in DkIT to discuss the future and address the topic of ‗Our Best Possible Future‘. His contribution will focus on the idea of creating a future that is based on civic, justice, environmental justice, community and equality. This talk is open to members of the public. There will be time for conversation and discussion as part of this event. Seán Healy is Director of Social Justice Ireland (http://www.socialjustice.ie/). Social Just Ireland aims to "to build a just society where human rights are respected, human dignity is protected, human development is facilitated and the environment is respected and protected". He was previously Director of CORI. For more than 25 years he has been active on issues of socio-economic policy in Ireland. Before that he worked for more than 10 years in Africa. He holds a Ph.D in sociology. Seán has worked on many government task forces dealing with social and economic policy issues ranging from taxation to the labour market, from housing to poverty, from income adequacy to rural development. He has been a member of the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) since 1997. He has been a leading member of the Community and Voluntary Pillar since that Pillar was included in the social partnership process in Ireland in 1996.

Board Room DkIT

19th April

1.00 pm – 2.00 pm

Mosney Easter Project 2010 is the third year which Voluntary Service International (VSI) has come back to Mosney Accommodation Centre, County Meath to facilitate an activity camp for children of many different nationalities awaiting refugee status. Since 2008, VSI have run six weeks of summer camp with the dedicated help of volunteers from all over the world. VSI is the Irish branch of Service Civil International (SCI) whose aim is to promote peace and social justice and bring about intercultural understanding. From the 6th to the 9th of April 2010, volunteers from five different countries provided some fun and entertainment to over 50 children from over ten different countries. This is the first time the children resident in Mosney have had organised activities for the Easter holidays. From soccer matches, Rounders, basketball and a treasure hunt to a visit to Millmount museum in Drogheda, a visit from a legendary Irish story-teller and a trip to Ardgillan Castle in Balbriggan, the children and volunteers all had a lot of fun! The challenges we face in this increasingly complex and culturally diverse society mean that cultural understandings about society and values we all share are changing. This inevitably brings about conflict, racism and tragedy as we have seen with the recent racist attack in Dublin. The experience these volunteers have had living and working in Mosney which is a culturally diverse community with over 50 nationalities living together, was of an extremely welcoming, supportive environment. After a challenging but fun-packed day with the children the volunteers had dinner with the residents in the on site restaurant and were generously invited for supper by some of the residents. This open, inclusive and supportive environment is a shining example of the benefits and rewards of celebrating cultural diversity and shows us that SCI‘s vision of a peaceful, multi-cultural world is not only possible but in some places it is a reality.

If you would like to know more about VSI and SCI or would like to volunteer in Mosney in the summer camps 2010, call the office on 01 8551011 or visit: http://www.vsi.ie — Emmet Griffin

DkIT sponsors 'The Changing Workplace' in Dublin City FM Graduate of Dundalk Institute of Technology, Peter Kearney has a slot on Dublin City FM 103.2FM www.dublincityfm.ie starting on Thursday 8 April and running until Thursday 1 July from 3 - 3:30pm, called The Changing Workplace. It is sponsored by Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT) and will look at supporting SMEs, in a positive manner, through exploring; * How SMEs can encourage creativity in the workplace. * How SMEs can support a learning culture. The show is mainly aimed at SMEs but there is also a lot in it for larger businesses, employees and those seeking employment. Over the 13 weeks Peter will be speaking to a panel of entrepreneurs, experienced business peo-ple and employees, where each will give us the benefit of their experience and explain how they feel it should be approached. In so doing we will be looking at a number of different areas such as; * Employment Law * Contracts of Employment * Recruitment * Coaching * Work-Life Balance * Performance Management * Training & Learning * Equality & Diversity * Leadership * Aligning skills In his free time he mentors students at Dundalk IT. As a member of the DKIT alumni he is assisting on the DKIT new college strategy. Peter is a HR professional with over 12 years experience working in Ireland and Europe in Training and Human Resource Management. In Germany and Italy he worked on a freelance basis with companies such as Daimler Chrysler and Banca Commerciale Italiane, training their staff in Business English communication. He has worked in Human Resource Management with Dorset College, Meteor Mobile Communications and ADS Ltd. Peter's mission is to promote Creativity in the workplace so employee Potential and Productivity are maximised. He is experienced in doing so for previous organisations through leading business focused Employment Cycle implementation. Peter holds a BA in HRM from the NCI and an MA in HRM & Industrial Relations from Keele University. He is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants & Advisers (IMCA) and holds membership of the IITD and the Irish Computer Society. Peter has been a regular assessor and lecturer on CIPD, JEB, FETAC and ACCA courses covering such topics as Employment Law, Human Resources Management and Communications at Dorset College as well as on in-house training courses at ADS Ltd.

Sports Development Initiative Primary Schools Olympic Handball Tournament for 5th Class

This event held in the JJB soccer dome in Dundalk was the final event to be held by CSL3 this year. The previous events – Car Wash, Blind Date and 50+ activity day were all a huge success and this event also proved to be a huge success. The students of CSL3 can be proud of their achievements this year as each event proved to be a credit to themselves and to the college. There has not been a final count yet but the total money raised for SoSad, the make a wish foundation, the cancer research and education fund in our lady of Lourdes hospital Drogheda and the Haven Partnership is in excess of €5,000. The planning for this event began in January and an immense amount of work was put in by the CSL3 students and the organisers Allen Mc Morrow, Rodney Gorman and Brian Og Corr. The aim of the tournament was to introduce primary school students to a new sport with the hope of developing this lesser known sport in the area and in schools. CSL students began coaching in the chosen schools months before the tournament took place to provide the students and teachers with a knowledge of the sport and the skills required to take part. All the participating schools found the coaching very beneficial and thought the tournament was extremely well run. The 11 participating schools were: Blackrock NS, St Furseys NS Haggardstown, Bay Es-tate NS, St Marys Knockbridge, Redeemer Boys School, St. Josephs NS, Scoil Eoin Baiste, St Nicolas, CBS Primary, Gael Scoil (2teams) and Dromiskin NS. The teams were split into two groups of six with every school getting a guaranteed 6 games as 5 group games and a semi final were played with the top 2 teams entering the C cup, the middle 2 teams entering the S cup and the bottom 2 teams entering the L cup. Each cup then had 4 teams, this meant that every team got a semi final and the winning teams were placed into three finals. The whole tournament was played in Great Spirit and every player had a very enjoyable day. By Una Pearson The results were as follows: C cup finalists: CBS, Dromiskin S cup finalists: Bay estate, St Josephs L cup finalists: Gael Scoil 1, Gael Scoil 2 Winners: CBS Primary, Bay Estate and Gael Scoil.

Students stressed about the looming Semester 2 examinations? Wor-ried about your time management and exam techniques? Do you want to make the most of the study time remaining before the start of your

exams?

Why not attend one of the FREE Study Skills, Relaxation & Exam Technique Workshops?

The lunchtime workshops will take place at 1pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (20

th, 21

st, and 22

nd April) in the Student Development and

Learning Centre (above Student Services Centre). Each workshop will last approximately 40 minutes.

The Workshop is organised by the DkIT Counselling Service and the DkIT Learning and Development Centre and is open to all full-time DkIT students.

For more information or to book your place email tutor@dkit.ie

String Quartet workshop with the ConTempo Quartet

DkIT, supported by An Foras Feasa, is hosting a string quartet workshop taking place next Wednesday, 21st, in the main campus Theatre between 2pm and 5pm.

The ConTempo Quartet from Galway will be the performers and they will workshop 6 student quartets by undergraduate students from around Ireland, including three by our own 4th year composition students. Anyone interested is very welcome to attend as an observer.

Culinary Trip to Lyon Professional Cookery year 2 students have just returned from a memorable visit to France's culinary capital of Lyon. The students enjoyed a three day excursion to sample some of the delights of Lyon including a visit to the highly acclaimed restaurant 'Le Nord' when they arrived. The second day started with an early start to visit 'Les Halles de Lyon' for some breakfast treats. This public market offers customers the finest in local produce with a few unusual combinations! Lunch and a tour of 'Institue de Paul Bocusse' was superb and left the students with some inspirational ideas to bring back to DkIT. ―I enjoyed the trip to Lyon, it was very educational and it was great to taste their traditional foods. I really enjoyed visiting the ‗Paul Bocusse Institute‘ the food there was amazing, inspirational and very well presented. We were made feel very welcome and the tour around the college was eye opening. A fantastic few days‖. - Helen Clarke ―I really enjoyed the trip to Lyon. It was nice to see a different country and sample a different culture and different food from our own. It was very educational especially when we went to Paul Bocusse‘s cookery school which filled me full of ideas to take back to college. We were made feel very welcome and would love to go back again. We had dinner in Le Nord when we arrived which showed us how simple techniques can come together to create great dishes…can we go next year!‖ - Damien Clerkin

Caption CompetitionCaption Competition

Congratulations Turlach CotterCongratulations Turlach Cotter

And next weeks...And next weeks...

Send your captions to editor@dkit.ieSend your captions to editor@dkit.ie

even if the keeper was this big id still score on

him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!