‘This is where it all started’

Hello and welcome to this week’s Student Hub email digest.

This week we have a piece on Conan O’Brien’s visit to his ancestral homeland; we report on the impact increased smartphone usage is having on students; we ask whether the closure of a backstreet in Dublin during the week is the solution to anti-social problems; we have a report on the second anniversary of the murder of Ashling Murphy; Seachtain na Gaeilge has announced this year’s ambassadors; how Dublin’s Element Pictures beat an ‘absolute juggernaut’ at the Golden Globes; we ask the all-important question - are these the best veggie burgers in Dublin? Freaks vs the Reich review: Superpowered circus acts take on the Nazis in this historical monster mash; George McCabe talks about the trauma and heartbreak he has experienced in his life and how he survived it; and why a senior British politician says the DUP should ask ‘why they are no longer the first party’.

‘This is where it all started’: Conan O’Brien visits ancestral home in Limerick - US comedian Conan O’Brien has told of his delight after visiting his ancestral home in Co Limerick.

Student wellbeing sharply declining amid increased smartphone use, conference hears: Students’ sense of wellbeing and belonging to school in Ireland has declined significantly over the past decade at the same time that smartphone use has increased, a conference on education has heard.

Dublin’s unloved lanes: are street closures the solution to antisocial problems? Holidaymakers returning from European cities wax lyrical about the charming little laneways they explored, the warren of quirky shops they found down a tiny alley and the lovely cafe they discovered in a hidden cobbled courtyard.

Flip Burger takeaway review: are these the best veggie burgers in Dublin? For a while, we thought that ultra-processed, plant-based “meat” would be the answer to the planet’s problems, But it seems there is a better, low-tech solution: using actual plants and organic pulses in a way that they are recognisable.

“Don’t be too worried about being 100 per cent perfect, use what Irish you have, give it a go and throw yourself into it.” Gráinne Seoige, Kayleigh Trappe and Aindriú de Paor have been named as ambassadors for Seachtain na Gaeilge.

Ashling Murphy: The primary school where murdered teacher Ashling Murphy taught marked the second anniversary of her death with a special Mass on Friday in St Colmcille’s Church in Durrow, Co Offaly.

How Dublin’s Element Pictures beat an ‘absolute juggernaut’ at the Golden Globes: When Annette Bening and Jodie Foster announced Poor Things as the surprise winner of the Golden Globe for best picture (musical or comedy) at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, two of the four producers who raced to the stage to collect the award were Irish.

Freaks vs the Reich review: Superpowered circus acts take on the Nazis in this historical monster mash: The premise for Freaks vs the Reich, in which a 12-fingered Nazi pianist with the ability to see into the future pursues a circus troupe with superpowers during the second World War, reads as if it could be an offering from the people who brought you Sharknado 5.

My father and brother were murdered. I was surrounded by gangland violence. But I came out the other side: “My father was murdered when I was eight, in Tallaght. My brother was murdered on my 18th birthday, he was tortured to death in Inchicore. I was shot myself in both knees and was in a wheelchair for two years.”

DUP should ask ‘why they are no longer the first party’, says Westminster NI affairs chair: Sitting in his office in Portcullis House across the road from the Palace of Westminster in London, Robert Buckland quickly emphasises that he is not an Englishman.