From September next Colaiste Dhulaigh, Coolock, on Dublin's northside, will be running a new, oneyear hospitality management course. It will be a one-year course and Leslie Gray, co-ordinator of the college's hotel and catering course, says that they can take in up to 25 students each year.
Explaining the new course, Gray says: "We have kept the bones of the CERT course we used to run but have added subjects, brought it more up-to-date and changed subject names to bring them more into line with today's terminology." Name changes mean that cookery classes now deal in the culinary arts. Subjects which have been added to the course include accountancy, customer care, marketing skills and a European language.
As part of the course, students will go on either two or three work placements. "They can go twice for three-week periods or, a better choice I think, take three fortnightly placements," she says. "The latter will allow them see three places instead of two and so give them a broader experience."
Placement areas can range from work at Dublin Airport to small restaurants to, as one lucky student found last year, Planet Hollywood. The course is full-time though some students do take on part-time work.
