Hope you all have a great St. Patrick’s Day!

The Work & Travel Ireland Team

Name: Katherine McDonald.
Age: 23 yrs.
University: Hollins University, Virginia.
Length of time here: 5 weeks.

What job are you doing in Ireland?
I work in the graduate studies department of Trinity college.

Where & Who are you living with here?
I live near the city centre on the River Liffey. I share with my flat with an Irish guy and a French girl.

Whats your social scene like? Where do you go? What do you do etc?
My days off I spend in bookstores near by or shopping in Temple Bar. They have a great food market on the weekend. On nights out I go to local pubs, usually I listen for live music and puck a pub like that.

Your most memorable thing to date in Ireland?
New years eve I spent in the town of Ennis in Co. Clare. Eventhough it was a town and not a big city like Dublin there was still a huge party with the streets filled by the pubs emptying at closing. The party just kept on through the rain and cold while people tried to catch a taxi home.

Can you sum up your experience on the program in Ireland to date?
I’m just settling in now. My time in the beginning was spent job hunting and apartment shopping. Now that I am settled I am able to enjoy the city and spend leisure time in galleries and pubs. I’m more relaxed and meeting lots of new people, many Irish and many international people.

What Advice you would give any students thinking about going on the WII program?
You don’t have to worry to much about pre-arranging accommodation and a job. It is probably better to wait until you get here so you can see things for yourself. Often you will run across a place to rent/job offers that aren’t advertised on the internet.

St. Patrick's Festival 2007 …

St. Patrick's Festival is Ireland's official celebration for our national holiday – St. Patrick's Day. Around the globe on Saturday 17th March Ireland is celebrated with parties and parades but the BIG party is here in Ireland where we celebrate in style with five days and nights of fantastic celebratory events, most of which are free!
From March 15th to 19th there is so much on offer with something for everyone from the worlds most famous St. Patrick’s parade to music, street theatre, family carnivals, comedy, street performances, dance, a treasure hunt and night spectacles ... 4000 performers and 1 million people celebrating Ireland. So whether you are Irish or just wish you were, Dublin is the place to be this March to enjoy Ireland's biggest party.

Van's the Man as he picks up award for contribution to films

Well known Irish singer Van Morrison has been honoured for his musical contributions to film. Morrison was one of three recipients of an Oscar Wilde award at the US-Ireland Alliance in Los Angeles. he has earned a steady living over the years granting permission to directors and producers to use his songs in more than 60 movies. His song 'Wild Night' was featured prominently in 'Thelma and Louise' (though sung by Martha Vandella), and his live duet with Roger Waters on the Pink Floyd classic Comfortably Numb was a memorable part of the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's multi-nominated latest, 'The Departed'.