SEDA’s ready for the World Cup with big new student lounge

The new student lounge is on the ground floor, just across

the hall from the reception. It has vid-eo games, several computers with free internet and a canteen. During breaks students can buy snacks at a counter. For those who like to bring their own food there is a kitchen set in the corner of the new student lounge. The kitchen is equipped with a microwave, a sink, cupboards, plates and cutlery, so stu-dents have everything they need to have lunch in the school.

While some people may miss the graffiti of the old student lounge, which was on the top floor of the school, the new lounge has even more colour. Its walls are decorated by pictures and funny comic strips, all developed by SEDA’s own design and IT guru Mar-cio Prudencio.

The central feature of the room is the large TV screen which always has a small crowd of students around it, watching films in the English language. There are plans to install an extendable

screen that would cover the whole wall and mount a projector to show World Cup football matches when the com-petition kicks off in June.

So far SEDA’s new student lounge has been a real magnet for students who wish to meet up after class, catch up on their studies, chat with their family online, have some food or just relax in front of a TV screen. So if you haven’t been there yet make sure to check it out!

SEDA News, Issue 28, March 2014 Copyright: SEDA College | www.news.sedacollege.com

SEDA College has got a brand new student lounge with lots of space, comfy sofas, a snack bar and a big TV screen. Everything is almost set for the football World Cup which kicks off in a few months’ time.

Things to do during St Patrick’s Festival in Dublin

SEDA students take part in

Ven-ezuelan protests in Dublin

Paraguayan students talk

about their country’s surprising connec-

tions with Ireland

YOUR STORY

VENEZUELA

ST PATRICK’SPAgE 7

PAgE 9

PAgE 4

SEDA’s Valentine’s Day party at the Mercantile bar, Dame Street. See more photos on pages 10 & 11

2

NewsSEDA has out-of-class activities

to suit every tasteSEDA keeps expanding its list of ex-

tracurricular activities and now has a full calendar of events to suit every taste. The latest addition to the list is the weekly book club organised by Ali-cia Petit. The first meeting of the club took place last month. Members will now meet every Monday evening in the library. “The book club will cater for all levels,” Alicia told SEDA News. ”The idea is to encourage students to read in English and make it a habit with them. We will read a bit at the meetings and we will discuss the chap-ters that were read at home – so the book club will make students practice both their reading and speaking which

is great! As yet we have not chosen which books to start with, but director of studies Carol is making a list for us – I’m sure there will be lots of interest-ing titles!”

The book club is just one of the many activities that have sprung up in SEDA in the last couple of months. The col-lege also offers free Spanish classes taught by Venezuelan university teacher Miguel Montanez. A cultural exchange is expected to kick off later this month: every SEDA class will pick a country and prepare an interactive presentation about it to other students. Sports activities will follow as soon as the weather improves.

On Saturday, March 22 SEDA stu-dents will have a chance to get in-volved in voluntary activity and help Dublin’s elderly and disabled residents. The college is organising the charity event together with a local voluntary organisation called Serve Dublin. The students will soon have the opportu-nity to choose a particular project and get help.

Apart from these activities there are zumba classes, meet ups, CV clinics, excursions and a lot more – so get in-volved!

Want to be heard? Join the student

council!

New evening course launched

Just 8 of SEDA’s 20+ classes were repre-sented at the latest student council meet-ing last month. Some people who acted as class representatives last year – when the student council was first set up – have either finished their courses with SEDA or are busy with studies, part-time work and internships. SEDA’s admin staff has called for more people to come forward and represent their groups.

The students who were present at the meeting last month raised a number of issues, among which:

• The need to use more oraltesting during placement tests. The school admin said it was already making improvements in this area.• Some problems were men-

tioned in relation to SEDA’s internship programme by a learner with an engi-neering qualification who couldn’t get a placement in his field. School admin re-

sponded that the problem was industry specific and more positions were avail-able in other areas.• Some Venezuelan students

raised the issue of fees that are somewhat higher for them than for students from other countries. School admin explained that this has to do with substantial ad-ditional paperwork required to accom-modate these students because of Ven-ezuelan regulations.• Learners also expressed a

desire to see the introduction of more visuals in lessons. In response the school admin has decided to introduce projec-tors in at least 8 more classrooms and provide teachers with training on how to use them.

The council’s next meeting will take place in March. If you want to represent your class speak to your teacher or Di-rector of Studies, Carol Cregg.

SEDA College has launched a special exam preparation evening course. The 8-week course is intended for those students who would like to prepare for internationally recognised examinations such as Cambridge English exams and IELTS.Thereareover20studentsonthecourse already and the college welcomes more applications. The course involves

classes on two evenings per week for a total of eight weeks. There is also a mock exam at the end of the programme, usu-ally held on a Friday. If you are interested in SEDA’s latest offering ask for more information at the reception or email info@seda.ie.

SEDA News: Ireland’s first newspaper for international students. Circulation: 2000 copies. Editor & Design: Viktor Posudnevsky.SEDA College,68-72 Capel Street, Dublin 1.Ph: 01 473 4915; news@seda.ie; www.news.sedacollege.com; http://www.facebook.com/mySEDA.Ireland

Come along to SEDA’s

St Patrick’s Day party!SEDA College St Patrick’s Day party

will take place on the evening of Thurs-day, March 20, at the Mercantile bar in Dame Street. Entrance will be free for all SEDA students (get your wrist band at the reception to get in) and complimen-tary finger food will also be provided.

Mercantile bar will also have drinks pro-motions especially for the party-goers. There will be a best costume competi-tion at the party and the winner will get two free flights to Scotland. So don’t for-gettowearyourbestLeprechaunsuit!

SEDA students at the free Spanish class last month

3

SEDA students impress Dublin tech firm with “fabulous” skills

One of Dublin’s leading edge tech companies has told the world how it benefited from the skills of SEDA Col-lege students who did their internships with the company. Suntico, which is de-veloping the world’s first enterprise so-cial network for businesses using Sage accounting software, has published a press release praising the talents of its four interns – all of whom were sourced through SEDA College’s internship programme.

The students – Kleber Guedes, Daniela Rocha, Cesar Arias and Julyana Mizael – were employed in the areas of programming, IT infrastructure, mar-keting and data analysis. The company’s head of operations and customer ser-vice Alan Bothwell told SEDA News:

“The students with whom we have worked are fabulously educated and skilled professionals and they help cre-ate Suntico’s multi-cultural and vibrant working environment. Needless to say, at the end of their internship, if a rel-evant paid position is available, then obviously they would be a front runner for that job.”

Students were likewise impressed with working at the Dublin company and all said the experience they got was invaluable.

“I felt very welcome in the com-pany, everyone gave me support with every technical subject,” said one of the interns Kleber Guedes. “The expe-rience was really helpful to my career and to my English. That internship also helped me get a job in my area”. Right after finishing his work experience with Suntico the Brazilian student landed a full-time employment contract with another Dublin tech company.

SEDA College is one of the very few schools in Ireland that offers a free internship programme for all of its stu-dents. The programme gives students the opportunity to get work experience and improve their English language skills in an Irish company. SEDA places

students in internships lasting from 4 weeks up to 6 months in the areas of IT, sales and marketing, accounting and administration, hospitality, media and design, architecture, customer service and other areas.

For more information about SEDA’ internship programme log on to www.sedacollege.com or ask SEDA’s friendly student support staff.

News

Suntico’s Alan Bothwell

The SEDA family has just got big-ger: Samantha, the baby girl of Maria Antonietta Stehlik and Andres Ricardo Tello from Venezuelan student support has entered the world. The little bundle was born on February 20 at the Coombe hospital, Dublin. She is the couple’s first

child. “Samantha is an absolute angel and she would like to say hi to every-body!” Maria Antonietta told SEDA News from the hospital. And Samantha will surely be making an appearance in SEDA soon – get ready! Four SEDA staff have recently com-

pleted a first aid course and got their certificates which are valid for 2 years. Director of studies Carol Cregg and teachers Margaret Beatty, Teresa Nevin and Stephen Cloak have completed the training and are now qualified in every-

thing from dressing wounds to giving the kiss of life. Carol, Margaret, Teresa and Stephen should be the first point of contact for any medical emergency. The lives of SEDA students are in safe hands!

Four teachers complete first aid

course

Samantha is born!

4

SEDA students attend Venezuelan protests in Dublin

News

Many protests have taken place in Venezuela since February 12th , with students at the heart of these demonstrations. Venezuelans living in Ireland – SEDA students among them – organised several events in support of the protests.

The protests started when students de-manded that the Government provide more security inside the Universities, but after the Government’s repressive reac-tion, other groups of society joined the demonstrations, and now there are daily public manifestations causing much dis-comfort to the Venezuelan Government.

In Dublin, the Venezuelan community has held demonstrations in Smithfield Square, beside the Spire on O’Connell Street and on Grafton Street. The protests were organised on Facebook and other social media and they were mostly at-tended by Venezuelan students living in Dublin. The protestors have showed sup-port to the people who are on the streets

of Venezuela these days.

Like most other communities, Ven-ezuelans are divided about these demon-strations: some people support them and others don’t see any sense in protesting. SEDA News went along to a recent pro-test in Smithfield Plaza to find out the opinions of some of our students.

Seven of Ireland’s universities have been named among the global top 200, the Irish media report. The rankings of the world’s best universi-ties were published in the QS World University Rankings by Subject re-port. The grading was done in 30 individual disciplines.

Trinity College Dublin (TCD) re-mains Ireland’s best performing higher education institution: it made the top 200 in 20 of the 30 disci-plines. TCD has the strongest show-ing in the arts and humanities, rank-ing in the top 50 in English, coming in at 25th and also in history, placed at 48th.

However TCD was the only Irish

university to enter into the top 50. University College Dublin (UCD) was ranked the top Irish institution for Chemical Engineering, Civil and Structural Engineering as well as Agriculture and Forestry. University College Cork (UCC) was ranked es-pecially highly in two subject areas: environmental sciences and educa-tion. Ten UCC subject areas overall make the top 200.

The list of subjects in which Ireland does not have a single university in the top 100 includes mathematics, physics, computer sciences, and all four of the engineering disciplines.

There are over 3,000 unfilled jobs in the hotel sector at present as em-ployers face an increasing struggle to find trained staff, Irish media report.

The president of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) Stephen McNally has claimed that there are staff short-ages in all areas of hotel work, in-cluding chefs, bar staff, supervisory roles and housekeeping. The prob-lem is more acute in Dublin, he said.

The hotel sector already employs 54,000 people country-wide and has huge potential to grow along with tourist numbers, Mr McNally be-lieves.

Two-thirds of hoteliers surveyed by IHF said that they planned to take on additional staff over the next 12 months. Around seven million tour-ists visited Ireland last year and the numbers are growing..

Seven Irish universities in global top 200

Irish hotels are desperate for workers

Andrea Peña“Today we are showing here that

even though we are far we are pre-sent. Now Venezuelans can be found in every corner of the world: we are Venezuelans and we came here [to the Smithfield Square demonstra-tion] to support our country”.

Carlos Luis Olmos“I can´t be happy here, just because

I’m in Dublin, while I know that my relatives are facing violence. A lot of people could say that from Dublin you can’t change anything, but yes you can: you change the minds and the souls of many people”.

Eduardo Portillo“I can’t see the point in joining a

protest in a country that is not yours about a situation that happens in a different place. There are many coun-tries where human rights violations occur and the world knows about it and does nothing. It seems absurd to think that a protest in Dublin will make the European Union interfere and try to find a solution to the Ven-ezuelan crisis”.

Jesus Carrasco“We want the Irish people to sup-

port us, our protest here is like a hu-man S.O.S., a call to back our coun-try. We know the Irish can’t meddle in Venezuelan affairs, but there has to be a way to receive their help - as a believer in democracy and a free-dom fighter, that’s my desire”.

Hector Añez“Showing your support and soli-

darity with your family and friends who live in Venezuela is another way of expressing yourself. But protesting against the government from Ireland - I don’t think this will have any ef-fect, so it doesn’t really matter if you do it or not”.

By Roberto ALONSO

Ryanair will sell tickets on flights to the United States for just €10, the Irish airline’sCEOMichaelO’Learyhas said. However, the carrier will have to wait several years before it is ready to fly to America as it does not have the planes capable of doing transatlantic flights.

Speaking at a conference Mr O’LearysaidRyanairwouldoffer€10flights to Boston and New York and US$10 seats back to Europe. How-ever, passengers would pay extra for everything from meals to baggage.

The flights would not operate from

Dublin, but would fly from some 12 major European cities to 12 to 14 major US destinations and a full ser-vice would begin within six months of Ryanair getting the aircraft to do so.

But according to the Ryanair boss, it would be four to five years before this happened as the various state-backed Gulf airlines are buying up all available aircraft, without the same need to get a good price as private airlines.

Ryanair promises €10 flights to US

5

6

Breaking the language barrier – the Colombian way

It is clear that the main goal of most Venezuelans arriving to Ireland with

a suitcase full of dreams and various expectations is to learn English. But Venezuelan people also have many other motivations. So why are there so many Venezuelans and what encour-agesthemtocomehere?Let’s lookatsome of the most important reasons. Learning. Speaking manylanguages is a key to great job oppor-tunities. In a world where there is so much competition for jobs it is essen-tial to learn to speak English. Easy. Ireland is a much more

attractive destination for Venezuelans coming to learn English than countries like USA, Canada or Australia. Getting a visa to these countries is a long and difficult process and there’s never a guarantee that you’ll be granted a visa. In contrast, Venezuelans can arrive to Ireland (and the rest of Europe) with-out a visa and get it here when they start school. Continent. Europe is a con-tinent with huge potential for tourism and very rich in history. It’s also quite compact, so travelling around Europe is quick and cheap. Thus anyone com-ing to Ireland can also get to know many other countries (if their finances allow). The political situation in Venezuela. Nowadays it is arguably

the most important reason why Ven-ezuelans are looking to emigrate. A prolonged economic crisis, coupled with the political crisis after the death of Hugo Chavez, president and leader of the socialist revolu-tion in the country for 15 years, cast Venezuelans into an environment of uncertainty. Because of this many people choose to explore new hori-zons. Besides that, Venezuela has a

high crime rate and Ireland is a very safe and peaceful country for any Ven-ezuelan.

CADIVI For the last 11 years Ven-ezuela’s government has controlled currency exchange in the country. This control does not allow Venezuelans to change their bolivares (local currency) for dollars or euros freely – something that you can do in most countries. All travel, study and import plans have to be approved by the Currency Admin-istration Commission (CADIVI in Spanish). Under this system CADIVI sells currency at a fixed price of 6.30 Bs per dollar for Venezuelan students.

Each currency exchange ap-plication has a limit: for example, Ven-ezuelans wishing to travel can only get $3,000 on their credit card and $500 of cash per year. This system has meant that there is a parallel and illegal “black market” for foreign currency where every dollar costs 79 bolivares instead of 6.30. People who choose to go abroad to study, must apply to the bank and then CADIVI if they want to get euros (or US dollars). In order to do so they need to submit their tickets, passports, study cards, invoices, letters of residence... All of this has to be duly authenticated if they want to get the money for travel expenses. It is a com-plicated system that has harmed and benefited people alike. But studying abroad is a unique and relatively inex-pensive opportunity managed through Cadivi Studies, which offers preferen-tial price for dollars.

What do Venezuelans do in Dublin?

It is easy to recognize Ven-ezuelans in Dublin because they are

always together and have something that identifies them as Venezuelans: baseball caps, shirts with a Venezuelan flag, sweaters etc. Every one of them is proud to be a Venezuelan and wants to show the world who they are.

Venezuelan activities are no different from those of other nation-alities: we like to meet with friends, discuss politics and sports, dance and drink beer. We normally get together for birthdays, New Year’s and Christ-mas to cook traditional Venezuelan food and play our traditional music.

Living in a country that isso far away from home and has such a different climate is not easy, but Vene-zuelans are always willing to make the best of their situation and they are also grateful to Ireland for giving them this great opportunity to progress.

If you study English in Ire-land you probably already know a Venezuelan!

Learning a new language can be a daunting experience, especially when you find yourself in a foreign country where nobody speaks your mother tongue. This is precisely what happened to Kiara Sepulveda from Colombia who arrived in Dublin with hardly a word in English some months ago. Kiara spoke to SEDA News about her experience of breaking the language barrier.

Your story

Kiara Sepulveda (third from the left) and her friends in Dublin

“It was horrible for me,” Kiara says. “When I arrived in Dublin no one spoke Spanish, and from the first mo-ment I had to listen and speak Eng-lish. I felt completely blocked because I did not know what to say, I didn’t know how to ask about basic things and I couldn’t answer other people’s questions. Maybe I was afraid of be-ing in a different country, with a dif-ferent culture and a different language than the ones I was used to. Inside I found myself regretting my decision to come and study English”.

The 23-year-old student was born in Colombia, but is now living with her family in Bilbao, Spain. Kiara worked in a call centre as a computer technician and last year she decided to learn some English as it grew ever important for her career.

“I had never been very interested in

English, but I knew how important it was,” she said. “One day I asked my-self, why not study English? I started my search on the Internet and found SEDA College”.

Her first few days in Ireland were difficult, but Irene and Ferran from SEDA’s friendly student support team did their best to help Kiara. The stu-dent also made some good friends in the hostel where she was staying.

“Fortunately in the hostel which SEDA found for me there were re-ally good people who helped me to adapt to my situation. They taught me where to buy essential food and clothes, which places to visit. Hav-ing them around was a great help and allowed me to feel more at home in Dublin”.

After a while Kiara’s English started to improve, thanks to her teachers at

SEDA. “My favourite phrase in Eng-lish is “Only English!” – it made me laugh a lot because the teachers al-ways repeat it in class, and I think that this sentence has been etched in my mind. Also one of the teachers said that anyone who spoke Spanish had to pay 1 euro, so nobody spoke it in class! It’s fun and at the same time it helped us to learn English fast”.

There are a lot of things Kiara misses in Ireland - her family, friends and… a special brand of peach juice that is not sold here. But overall stay-ing in Dublin has been a happy expe-rience for her, even despite the rainy Irish weather:

“Every day is so different,” the Co-lombian student observed. “For ex-ample, it may rain in the morning, then the sun comes out and then the sky is covered by clouds again. I never

know what to expect the next day, but I think that’s the beauty of Dublin – it’s always surprising us.”

And Kiara will have many happy memories when she returns to Bilbao:

“My experience in Ireland is about to end, the time I spent here was fly-ing, but I had fun, laughed and en-joyed some really good times! I have shared experiences with many people,

so many things came together which made my stay here a very pleasant ex-perience...”

“When I come back home I’m sure I will miss Dublin, and I’m certain that one day I will come back to Ire-land to stay longer. I enjoyed my stay here especially since it helped me learn English so fast”.

By LeopoldoCARRASQUERO

Venezuelans come to Ireland wishing for a better futureMore and more Venezuelan students arrive in Ireland and there are now almost as many of them in Dublin as there are Brazilian students. SEDA News tried to understand what makes Venezuelans choose Ireland and what they hope to achieve here.

7

Alejandro, Juan Carlos, David and Estela Busto are SEDA’s first ever Paraguayan stu-dents. The South American siblings told SEDA News about their country’s rich culture and mentioned some surprising connections that Paraguay has with Ireland.

Tell me about your trip to Ireland – how did you find SEDA and what made you come here?

We are all brothers and sisters and we come from a family of seven children. But just four of us could come to Ireland because the others were busy with school or work. We had to take three planes to get here and the trip was very tiring.

We’re just here for two weeks, so by the time you see this interview in the newspaper we’ll be home. We re-ally wanted to get to know Ireland and improve our English and that’s why we came here. We found SEDA on the in-ternet and really liked it. We were lucky because we caught a bit of snow – it was the first time we saw snow in our lives!

We like travelling and we’ve already beentoLondon,Italy,SpainandtheUSwith our family. We would really like to stay longer in Dublin, but we have to go back to our studies or work...

You don’t meet many Paraguayan people in Ireland – what can you tell me about your country? What is it most fa-mous for?

We have two languages in our coun-try – Spanish and Guarani. Guarani is like Irish here – it isn’t spoken so much and it doesn’t really exist outside the country.

We also have lots of legends, and some of them are similar to Irish legends. For example, the Irish have the Lepre-chaun, but we also have a similar being – a little man who lives in the forest and guards a pot of gold. In Paraguay he is called Jasy Jatere.

The most popular sport in our coun-try is soccer and the most popular player right now is Roque Santa Cruz – he is a striker with Spanish club Malaga FC.

Another big connection with Ireland isthewomanElizaLynch–shewasbornin county Cork in the 1800s and then moved to Paraguay and married our PresidentFranciscoSolanoLopez.SheisknownasMadameLynchinourcountryand she was a very important figure who

brought European culture, music and fashions to Paraguay. She was also active in the war of the Triple Alliance when Paraguay fought against Brazil, Argen-tina and Uruguay. People say she was a bit crazy, but she was very important for our country and she was a big cultural influence.

That’s interesting! And what else?

We live in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, which is a very modern city, with shopping centres, discos and what have you. But outside of the capital there are very traditional towns, they hold car-nivals and other traditional events...

We also have a typical drink called Terere – it’s very refreshing and people drink a lot of it because the weather in Paraguay is very hot – 40-45 degrees. Terere is made of herbs and it is similar to mate – the Argentinean tea – only it’s cold.

But the best thing about Paraguay is the cuisine – it’s very delicious! We have plenty of traditional foods: mbeju – it’s made of flour and Paraguayan cheese and milk. We also have a soup called Vori Vori which is very good. Be sure to try Chipa Guazu as well and Payagua Mascada – Paraguayan tortillas.

What did you think of Dublin?

Dublin is very beautiful, very organ-ised. The people are well behaved and polite. The houses here are very differ-ent from houses in our country – they’re all very similar to one another when in Paraguay every house is different.

But the thing I liked most here are the bicycle lanes. In Paraguay bikes are really popular, but we don’t have special roads for them, so it’s really difficult to

ride a bike in my country. We loved the parks of Dublin: here

you can find ducks everywhere, but in Paraguay it’s not so easy. We also went to Dublin zoo and thought it was incred-ible! Another thing that was surprising was seeing so many singers and musi-cians play in the street – we don’t have that in our city.

And what did you think about your classes?

We went to the morning Interme-diate group and we all thought that SEDA is a very nice college – you don’t get bored here. The classes have a really good friendly atmosphere about them and teachers always keep you interested. Some teachers are really funny!

What else did you do outside of class?

We really liked go-ing to parks and muse-ums here in Dublin. We also travelled to Belfast and a couple of other places around the coun-try. We found that we have an aunt here and we met her for the first time. She was born in Paraguay, but she went to study in Ireland and then met someone, fell in love and got married. So now she’s been liv-ing here for about eight years. She probably won’t become Ireland’s First Lady like ElizaLynch, but you neverknow!

Paraguay’s Irish connectionYour story

Are you over 18? Prove it!

Anyone who is 18 years of age or older can apply for an Age Card which proves that they are eligible to purchase alcohol.

It is also a good identity document for you to carry in your wallet. The Age Card is much handier and cheaper than a passport or your GNIB card. It’s pret-ty simple: if you lose your GNIB card, for example, you will have to pay €300 to get a new one, while the Age card will cost you only €10. So leave these “more expensive” documents at home and carry only your Age Card and you will be fine.

How to Apply for an Age Card:

• Youmustfill out an application formonwww.agecard.ie and you will have to pay a €10 fee by credit or debit card. While entering your details online you will also have to choose a Garda Station to continue with your process. Select one that is nearby your house or on your way to college, for example. To make things easier, you could choose the central ones like O’Connell Street or Pearse Street, but there are lots of Garda Stations around the city.

• An application form with your details willarrive by post to your address. It takes around 3 working days;

• Bring the Application Form to the GardaStation you selected for authentication. You will need to bring a passport-sized photo and two proofs of identity (for example, your passport and your GNIB card). When you go there the Garda officer will check your documents and ask you to sign the application form.

• After that the Garda will send you yourauthenticated Application Form and photo to the company responsible for printing your Age card and sending to your address.

• Nowyouonlyhavetowaitabitmoreuntilthe printers send your Age Card by post. It can take up to 10 working days. You can track your card pro-cess on the same website you requested it from.

Have you ever been stopped from entering a nightclub or a pub because you look younger than you really are and did you have a hard time proving your real age? Well, your Age Card is the only proof you’ll ever need.

By Netania GOMES

The Paraguayan siblings enjoyed their time in Ireland

Eliza Lynch married the Paraguayan president in 1800s.

Jasy Jatere - the Paraguayan leprechaun

8

Shows & Gigs in Dublin

Beyonce

8, 9, 11 & 12 March @ The O2, Dublin

Beyonce will bring her Mrs Carter World Tour show to Dublin next month. Tickets:

from €76.

Laurent GarnierMarch 16 @ The Button

Factory, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

Popular French techno DJ and producer is heading to

Dublin. Tickets: €27.25

FaLL out Boy

March 18 @ The Olympia Theatre, Dame St, Dublin 2

British alternative act will play a show at the Olympia. Tickets: €42

Backstreet Boys1 April @ The O2

American boy band is heading to Dublin for a Greatest Hits show. Tickets: from €49.65

Drake

18 March @ The O2, Dublin

Hip hop star Drake will play a show at the O2, Dublin. Tickets:

from €59.40

uGLy DuckLinG

21 March @ The Twisted Pepper, Abbey Street,

Dublin 1American alternative

hip hop act is coming to Dublin. Tickets: €14.

tommy FLeminG9 March @ Bord Gaid

Energy Theatre, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 2.

Irish singer who achieved worldwide

acclaim for his unique voice and songwriting talents will play a show in Dublin. Tickets: from

€30.

BattLe oF the BanDs22 March @ The

Academy, Dublin 1Local rock and metal

bands will battle it out in this annual competition.

Tickets: €10.

shane FiLan11, 13 & 14 March @ The

Olympia TheatreShane Filan is an ex-member of Westlife, the famous Irish boy band, and he recently

launched a solo album. Tickets: from €33.50.

asiDemainstream

BanDs | GrouPs | sinGers

BsiDeaLternatiVe

BanDs | GrouPs | sinGers

isiDe

irishBanDs | GrouPs |

sinGers

PaoLo nutini

20 & 22 March @ The Olympia Theatre

Scottish singer and songwriter will perform his music in Dublin this month.

Tickets from €30.

Who was St Patrick?

the riPtiDe moVement

4 April @ The Vicar Street, Dublin 8

Irish alternative rock band will play a show at Vicar Street. Tickets: €19.50

tinie temPah9 April @ The O2, Dublin

British rapper to play Dublin’s O2 in April. Tickets: €36.

St Patrick was a preacher who brought Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century and he is consid-

ered Ireland’s patron saint. St Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 – the day of the saint’s death. Most of the facts about Patrick’s life are known from two of his letters which survive to this day as well as from later histories and chronicles.

Patrick was likely born in Britain, pos-sibly to a priest’s family, but at the age of 16 he was captured by Irish pirates and brought to Ireland as a slave. He then worked as a herdsman and spent six years in Ireland tending sheep. In one of his letters Patrick wrote that his faith grew in captivity and that he prayed every day. After six years he fi-nally managed to escape, found a ship

and after various adventures returned to his family in Britain.

But a few years after coming home Pat-rick had a vision. He writes:“I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: “The Voice of the Irish”. As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea – and they cried out, as with one voice: “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.”” After having this vision Patrick de-cided to return to Ireland and to bring Christianity to the people of that land. He arrived in Ireland, mostly pagan at

that time, and baptised thousands of people, converting many wealthy peo-ple and even sons of kings. He also or-dained priests to serve the new Chris-tian communities. Patrick is generally believed to have become the first bishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland. He died on March 17, 460 AD and his body is bur-ied in Downpatrick in county Down (Northern Ireland).

St Patrick and the shamrock

According to a popular legend, it was Saint Patrick who made the shamrock a symbol of Ireland. The story goes that Patrick was teaching the Irish about the Holy Trinity by showing the people the shamrock – a three-leafed plant. The plant was meant to illustrate

how three entities (The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit) could be part of one whole (God). For this reason shamrock became the main symbol of St Pat-rick’s Day and then Ire-land itself.

St Patrick banishes all snakes from

Ireland

Another popular legend connected with St Patrick states that he banished all snakes from the country, chasing them into the sea after they attacked him during a 40-day fast he was un-dertaking on top of a hill. However, most biologists believe that Ireland

never had snakes to begin with, so there was really nothing for St Patrick to banish. Some historians say that the legend involving St Patrick and snakes is actu-ally symbolic (not meant to be under-stood literally) and refers to St Patrick banishing pagan beliefs from Ireland rather than real snakes.

Jason DeruLo

20 March @ The O2, Dublin

American singer/songwriter to

play one night at the O2. Tickets:

from €39.50

uB4027 & 28 March @ The

Academy.American band, famous for the songs Can’t help falling in love and Red Red Wine, is coming to

Dublin! Tickets: €40.

stiFF LittLe

FinGers

13 March @ The

Academy, Abbey

St, Dublin 1

Irish punk rock

band that was

formed in Belfast in

the 1970s. Tickets:

€25.

status Quo12 April @ The O2, Dublin

American classic rock band will play one night at the O2. Tickets

from €49.65

March 17 is St Patrick’s Day – Ireland’s national day and a huge worldwide celebration. But who was Saint Patrick and what are some of the legends connected with this man? Read on and find out...

9

Going Out

St Patrick’s Festival – what’s on in DublinIn March the whole world celebrates Ireland’s patron saint – St Patrick. Every year a series of events happen around the city in a fabulous Festival and this year won’t be different. From 14th to 17th of March, Dublin will celebrate cul-ture, art, history, music and dance. The programme has something for everyone. Check out some the options – let’s paint the town green!

Would you like to know more about the history of Ireland patron saint – St Patrick? Then this is a great opportu-nity for you! The Walking Tour will let you discover the amazing history of the saint and Dublin in his time. The tour will be led by the renowned Dub-linhistorianandauthorPatLiddy.

When: 14th - 17th MarchTime: 11 AM (March 14-16) and 2:30

pm (March 17th)Departure point: Outside Discover Ireland Center (converted church), Suffolk Street (parallel to Grafton Street).Finish point: St. Patrick’s CathedralDuration: Approximately 2 hours Prices: €14 (€12 senior/students) per person. The price includes entrance to St Patrick’s Cathedral.

In the Footsteps of St. Patrick: Walking Tour

Dublin City Centre will be a stage to national and inter-national actors and artists, doing open air performances in the streets. The presentations will include walkabout characters, circle shows, dance performances and the sounds of drums, pipes and song.

When: 15th - 16th March, from 3.30 pmWhere: Various locations in the city centrePrices: Free

Music & Street Performance

Whether you’re young or not, this is a great attraction if you like an adven-ture! From carousels to roller coasters, you are certainly going to have a fun! Take your friends or family and enjoy it!

Merrion Square Dates & Times:Friday 14th March: 6pm to 10pmSaturday 15th & Sunday 16th March: 11am to 10pmMonday 17th March : 11am to 9pmCustom House Dates & Times:Saturday 15h March & Sunday 16th March: 11am to 10pmMonday 17th March: 11am to 9pm

City at Play: Funfairs

The Irish Craft Beer Festival is a fan-tastic opportunity to get to know Irish craft brewing and also celebrate it with live music and amazing Irish artisan food stalls! There’s many other beers in Ireland besides Guinness!

When: Thursday 13 March – Monday 17 MarchWhere: Inside CHQ, IFSC, Dublin 1

Food Market Times & Entry: Daily 10am - 8pm (Free Entry)Irish Craft Beer & Whiskey Bar Times & Entry:Thursday 13th (5pm-10pm), Friday 14th - Monday 17th (12.30pm-10pm)Entry is free before 6pm Thursday 13th & Friday 14th, after 6pm entry is €5€5 Entry Saturday 15th - Monday 17th

Irish Craft Beer Village

One of the attractions of St Patrick’s Day Festival in Dublin will be that many buildings around the city will light up in green and proudly fly the Irish flag to celebrate the National holidays. Check below a list of Dub-lin’s most iconic buildings illuminated green and celebrating the Fes-tival!

When: 14th - 17th MarchTime: From 4 pmWhere: •IrishArchitecturalArchive•Dublinia•TheGibsonHotel• O’Connell Tower at Glas-nevin Cemetery

•TheOdeonBar•TheCustomHouse•ConventionCentre•TheMansionHouse•DublinCityCouncilBuilding,PalaceStreet

greening the City

If you are interested in learning a little bit about traditional Irish dancing, you must go to Festival Céilí. You do not have to be a professional dancer to en-joy the Festival. Expert callers, dances and musicians will be there to guide you along the way!

When: Friday, 14th of MarchTime: 4:30pm – 7:30pmWhere: St, Stephen’s Green, Dublin2

Festival Céilí

“Let’sMakeHistory” is thetheme for the 2014 Festival Parade. The parade will be animated by Ire-land’s leading pageant companies, their fantastical creations and thrilling

performances inspired by the past will enthral and excite. Amidst the colour-ful pageantry, bands from the USA, Germany, Estonia and Ireland will deliver uplifting scores and rousing beats.

The spectacular procession will wind its way through the heart of Dublin city, bursting with colour and theatrics.

Watch out for one of Ire-land’s most notable High Kings, Brian Boru, as Dublin celebrates the millen-nium anniversary of a great and semi-nal historic battle, the Battle of Clon-tarf 1014.

When: Monday, 17th of March. Starts at 2 pm from Parnell Square, Dublin 1. Finishes beside St Patrick’s Cathe-dral at around 3 pm.

St Patrick’s Day Festival Parade

10

Photo Album

SEDA’s St Valentine’s Day party

SEDA’s students (and teachers) at Greyhound racing in Harold’s Cross

SEDA’s students (and teachers) at Greyhound racing in Harold’s Cross

Brenno Queiroz meets the Predator in Dublin

SEDA’s students at the Aviva stadium, Dublin

SEDA’s students at the Aviva stadium, Dublin

Students after a zumba class in SEDA’s new student lounge

11

Photo Album

SEDA’s students visiting Crunch fitness gym in Temple Bar

SEDA’s St Valentine’s Day party Vlander Miranda in Edinburgh Carolina Bernal in Vienna’s State Opera

Busto siblings from Paraguay visiting Dublin Castle

Camila’s internship at Extra Sales

Guilherme Nassim and SEDA students at Guilherme’s CV master classSEDA students attending a seminar in Dublin’s Google HQ

Venezuelan protest in Smithfield Plaza

Students at the opening of SEDA’s new student lounge

12

St Patrick’s Day crosswordA Bit of Fun

Congratulations to CARLOS CRYSOSTOMO who won the previous month’s puzzle! You can pick up your prize in the Marketing office on 2nd floor.

Send your answers to news@seda.ie, or cut this page out and give it to your teacher. If you get the answers right you can win a prize!Your name:________________________________

___________________________________

Your e-mail: _______________________________

___________________________________

Here are the answers to last month’s crossword puzzle:

Note: There are no spaces in

between words

SUDOKU ACROSS

4. Rose8. Valentine’s Day11. Ring12. Cheat14. Seeing15. Break up16. Sight17. Date

DOWN

1. Broken2. Wedding3. Propose5. Fall6. Divorce7. Fiance9. Engaged10. Crush13. Heart15. Blind

2. You won’t find these in Ireland!4. Poetic name for Ireland (2 words)9. Patron saint of Ireland11. Irish capital12. Irish county13. Irish singer/songwriter14. Another name for Northern Ireland15. Capital of Northern Ireland17. Colour associated with Ireland18. Author of Ulysses

DOWN

1. Found at the end of the rainbow3. Symbol of Ireland4. The currency in Ireland5. Irish name for Ireland6. An Irish dwarf or fairy7. Another name for the Irish language8. Popular Irish drink10. Irish rock group15. Lead singer of U216. Irish separatist organisation

ACROSS

SOLUTIONS (FEBRUARY)

For more crosswords log on to: www.englishblog.com