Griffith College in the Community
Social
The Griffith College community is engaged with projects around the world. We started out lending a helping hand to our neighbours, and before we knew it we were contributing to initiatives as far away as Africa and the Caribbean. Our goal is to help students and communities succeed, and we work towards that goal in a wide variety of ways.
Some of the ways we contribute to our local and national community include:
Innocence Project
Griffith College offers students the opportunity to earn credit towards their degree by working with the Innocence Project, which is housed on-site at Griffith College. There, students work under the close supervision of practising solicitors and barristers to help to analyse case materials and to liaise with clients with a view to exonerating those clients who may have been wrongfully convicted.
The Irish Innocence Project at Griffith College has assisted large groups of persons in investigating their claims of factual innocence and has supported judicial review proceedings to clarify the law in access to evidence for post-conviction DNA testing. Additionally, we have publicised the plight of those who are the victim of a miscarriage of justice, and we helped to achieve a posthumous pardon for Mr. Harry Gleeson – the first such pardon in the history of the Irish state.
The Project itself is an independent unincorporated association managed by a Board, which includes representatives from Griffith College, Trinity College, as well as solicitors and barristers.
Free Legal Aid Clinic
The GCD Free Legal Advice Centre (FLAC) Project is a social and educational initiative of the Law Faculty of Griffith College Dublin in conjunction with FLAC. It has assisted numerous members of the Griffith College community in obtaining legal advice on a wide range of issues in the context of regularly-scheduled free legal advice clinics. It also engages in research regarding the effects of the law on specific groups within society. Additionally, the group run workshops to increase knowledge of certain areas of the law for students.
Donore Credit Union
The first credit union in Ireland to reach their sixtieth anniversary, Donore Credit Union are neighbours of Griffith College's main Dublin campus, and the College is happy and proud to be one of its partners. In 2018, this partnership led to the creation of the Brendan Lynch Scholarship, named after the former Lord Mayor of Dublin and honorary director of Donore Credit Union. The scholarship of €3000 is intended to fund the studies of a Griffith College student who is also a member of Donore Credit Union.
Students from the Business faculty also took the opportunity to help out Donore CU. When CEO David McAuley wanted to increase membership in the fall of 2018, Griffith College students undertook market research to find ways to increase awareness, and particularly to increase the number of young people joining. Since their presentation, Donore has seen a growth of awareness and membership among Griffith students, and Donore is looking into offering more services for Griffith College students!
Griffith Halls of Residence Donations
Our colleagues at Griffith Halls of Residence are equally committed to contributing to the community and are involved with a range of charities of their own. Recently, they have supported Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross and the Alice Leahy Trust, which offers assistance to Dublin’s homeless. They also collect bedding that has been left behind for donations to a local dog shelter, Dog’s Trust, providing much-needed comfort for dogs waiting to be rescued, and left behind electrical items are given to the Sue Ryder Foundation!
Kevin's Hurling & Camogie Club
Griffith College is pleased to support the local Kevin’s Hurling & Camogie Club. The College provides space for the club’s meetings as well as sponsoring flags and banners for matches. The College’s support extends to the technological, as well: Griffith provides camera equipment and training for matches to be filmed and promotes the club’s matches on social networks and in the media.
Military History Society of Ireland
The Military History Society of Ireland, founded in 1949, promotes the study of military history, particularly as it relates to Irish history and Irishmen at war. Their twice-yearly publication, The Sword, is renowned for its scholarly treatment of military history. Griffith College is proud to support the group by providing them with free spaces to host their events.
Friends of the Vocal Arts
The Friends of the Vocal Arts is a not-for-profit charitable body chaired by Griffith College President Professor Diarmuid Hegarty. As organisers of the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition, they oversee a triennial contest with a worldwide reach. The competition, named for Irish singing's grande dame, welcomes singers from around the world, and winners have come from countries as far away as Egypt, South Africa and New Zealand. More information on the 2022 competition can be found here.
Culture Night
Griffith College is pleased to participate in this Dublin-wide celebration of history and culture. Built on the site of the old Griffith Barracks, the main Griffith campus in Dublin sits on ground that has been host to thrilling events and people for hundreds of years. Daniel O'Connell was once imprisoned on the site, and it was even home to the 2nd Cavalry Unit of the Irish Defence Forces for almost 60 years. It is our pleasure to share this exciting history and all the stories it contains with the people of Ireland through the delivery of in-person and virtual tours.
Pieta House Fundraising
Since opening in 2006, Pieta house has helped over 30,000 people in suicidal distress or engaging in self-harm. With thirteen centres and over 250 therapists and administration staff, they provide free aid to everyone who comes through their doors. Griffith College Dublin was proud to support their 2018 FeelGood Week initiative with a campus bake sale. Learn more about the event here. Griffith College Cork, meanwhile, hosted a concert in support of Pieta House's vital work. A joint performance by the Cork Prison Officers Male Voice Choir and HFC Brass Band saw proceeds donated to Pieta House as well.
Cork Festivals
Griffith College Cork is an active participant in local festivals and events, hosting events like Cork’s Street Feast in June 2018 for the St. Luke’s neighbourhood. The campus’ historic chapel hosted several gigs as part of the Quiet Lights festival, including Slow Moving Clouds and Katie Kim and Radie Peat. The campus has also hosted literature & poetry readings in the garden as part of the Midsummer Festival. In 2021, the Cork Midsummer Festival was launched with the ringing of the Griffith College Cork church bell across the city.
Cork Business Community
Griffith College Cork has hosted a number of events for the Cork business community, featuring esteemed speakers like Dr. Niamh Shaw, who spoke about setting and achieving professional goals, Alison Canavan, who led a wellness event and Virgin Media news presenter, Zara King, a panellist at a Network Cork and Griffith College Cork event entitled Outstanding Women in Business. The campus also played host to “Clock Out and Connect,” a Cork Chamber of Commerce business networking evening. Griffith College is proud to be part of Cork Chamber 200 Committee, preparing for the Cork Chamber of Commerce’s 200-year anniversary in 2019. The students volunteer every year to be part of the Irish Cancer Society Daffodil Day collection on the streets of Cork City.
Voices of Cork
Griffith College Cork is host to the Voices of Cork, four-part harmony community choir who meet every Wednesday evening in the Chapel to rehearse and perform. The aim of the choir is to provide choral music within the community with particular focus on people with limited access to such music and to give members of the community an opportunity to participate and become members of the choir, regardless of prior experience.
Cork English Language Students
Putting the language skills they're gaining into good use, English students in Cork have found various ways to get involved in the local community, including preparing and serving food to the homeless & hungry at Cork Penny Dinners and volunteering with the Cork Centre for Independent Living to assist service users with reading, using devices like iPads, painting and more. The students volunteer every year to be part of the Irish Cancer Society Daffodil Day collection on the streets of Cork City.
Education
The Griffith College community is engaged with projects around the world. We started out lending a helping hand to our neighbours, and before we knew it we were contributing to initiatives as far away as Africa and the Caribbean. Our goal is to help students and communities succeed, and we work towards that goal in a wide variety of ways.
Some of the ways we help students achieve their goals include:
Leaving Cert Maths Revision Programme
Every year, Griffith College’s campuses host a free revision course in mathematics for students in advance of the Leaving Certificate exams. It is an excellent opportunity for students across the country to ask last-minute questions about both the Ordinary and Higher Level exam topics. Dr Tomás Mac Eochagáin, Griffith’s Director of Academic Programmes, is the presenter of the course. He has over 25 years of experience of teaching mathematics and securing excellent exam results for students.
STEAM Bursary
Griffith College is aware of the importance of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) to the Irish and global economies. In 2018, the College launched a STEAM Bursary, in partnership with CPL Recruitment, aimed at promoting STEAM subjects in DEIS second-level schools in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. The bursary provided the winning schools with between €2,000 and €5,000 to use towards STEAM facilities and training for students and staff. The initiative was supported by a range of leading firms including Wolfgang Digital, Microsoft and Core, who provided site visits, interview workshops and a ‘day in the life of’ events where students met members of their current teams. Griffith College also donated PCs to several of the winning schools.
Creative Bursary
The Creative Bursary, a partnership between the Faculty of Journalism and Media Communications and the Institute of Advertising Practitioners Ireland (IAPI), has been running since 2019 and aims to inspire young people to consider careers in the creative commercial sector. Griffith College provides the total bursary funding of €10,000 towards improving the winning schools' art departments, investing in equipment and projects to develop their students' creative skills and IAPI member agencies provide the students with an experiential opportunity, opening up the creative commercial sector to them as a possible career prospect in the future.
DEIS Bursary
Griffith College Cork, in partnership with Gaelcholáiste Mhuire AG, offers a full scholarship every year to a Leaving Certificate student for the three-year, BA (Hons) in Accounting and Finance degree programme.
Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival
Griffith College Limerick is a proud participant in the annual Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival, which celebrates learning at all ages with hundreds of events over the course of the week-long festival. Events sponsored or hosted by Griffith College have included “Social Media Marketing for Your Business,” “Beginner Introduction to Mobile App Development” and “Understanding the CAO and Leaving Certificate Points System.”
Cork Lifelong Learning Festival
Griffith College Cork is, similarly, an active participant in the Cork Lifelong Learning Festival. Cork was presented in 2015 with a UNESCO Learning City Award, recognising progress made in developing Lifelong Learning for all. In 2018, Griffith College Cork hosted festival events including "Practice & Improve Your English," "SAGE Accounting," "Introduction to Irish," "Basic Photography" and "Superintelligence - The Future of AI." The Griffith College Cork event for the 2022 festival will be presented by the Law Faculty and will examine the importance of freedom of speech under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Junior Achievement Ireland
In previous years a number of staff members at Griffith College Cork and Dublin took part in Junior Achievement Ireland, whose stated goal is “to inspire and motivate young people to realise their potential by valuing education and understanding how to succeed in the world of work.” The Cork campus has supported the Enterprise in Action programme, which “encourages students to examine the role of an entrepreneur in today’s society.” Griffith College did not take part in JAI this year due to Covid restrictions.
Guidance Counsellor Continuing Professional Development
Griffith College Cork has hosted numerous training workshops for guidance counsellors. In 2015, 2016, and 2017, Gerry Cunningham hosted mindfulness training, and in 2018 Pat Lynch presented Child Watch training. In addition to training, GCC provides meeting rooms to the Cork Branch of Guidance Counsellors free of charge. LinkedIn training was provided to guidance counsellors in 2019. Clinical psychologist, Dr Eddie Murphy presented a CPD training on ‘Managing Anxiety, Stress and Self-Harm in Teenagers’ in 2021. In 2022 GCC and GCD invited Ann-Marie Ireland from Breathing Space Ireland to deliver a training session in self-care for guidance counsellors.
Outreach Drama Programme
A new programme from the Leinster School of Music & Drama will see LSMD instructors helping students prepare for the LSMD Group Drama Examinations. The first school to benefit from the programme is Loreto College Crumlin; Griffith and the LSMD look forward to helping students achieve their goals and build their self-confidence.
Technology
The Griffith College community is engaged with projects around the world. We started out lending a helping hand to our neighbours, and before we knew it we were contributing to initiatives as far away as Africa and the Caribbean. Our goal is to help students and communities succeed, and we work towards that goal in a wide variety of ways.
Some of the ways we use technology to help missions at home and abroad include:
Camara Education
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“I would like to express my gratitude for the donors who provide computers for my school. You have impacted our lives a lot and we couldn't have done this without your help, so thanks for your donation!” - Haregewoin Ababu, Ethiopian student |
Griffith College’s IT department partners with Camara Education, a social enterprise that sends refurbished computers to underserved schools around the world, as well as providing training in digital literacy. Since the start of our partnership in 2009, Griffith has provided over 580 computers that Camara has in turn refurbished and reused in schools and communities in countries including Kenya, Ethiopia, Lesotho and Jamaica, impacting over 7000 learners.
In 2017, Camara worked with nearly 1600 educational institutions and delivered over 14,000 devices – including their 100,000th computer! They supported over 7000 teachers and impacted 434,234 learners. Griffith College is thrilled to work with a group so dedicated to creating and sustaining a lasting impact around the world.
Teen-Turn Partnership
Members of the Griffith College community have served as advisors and mentors in partnership with Teen-Turn, supporting teen girls from DEIS schools taking on the Technovation Challenge, where they create a social enterprise that can contribute to their local communities using an app. A Griffith-mentored team from Limerick flew to London to compete in the BT Young Pioneer Awards 2018 with their app, MindMoodz, which allows young users to take control of their mental health and reach out for help and support.
WEEE Pledge
Griffith College has signed on to the WEEE Pledge, a battery recycling initiative supported by WEEE Ireland in support of LauraLynn, Ireland's Children's Hospice. WEEE Ireland provides battery collection boxes free of charge, which, once filled with batteries, are collected and taken to be sorted and recycled. These batteries can be turned into a wide variety of things, including bicycles, new batteries, and roads. Since 2011, the partnership between WEEE Ireland and Laura Lynn has raised an incredible €285,000.
Scholarships
The Griffith College community is engaged with projects around the world. We started out lending a helping hand to our neighbours, and before we knew it we were contributing to initiatives as far away as Africa and the Caribbean. Our goal is to help students and communities succeed, and we work towards that goal in a wide variety of ways.
Some of the ways we make education accessible to our students include:
Opportunity Scholarships
The College offers six scholarships (to cover a three- or four-year degree programme) annually – four for the main Dublin campus, one for Cork and one for Limerick. This means that at any point in time between 18 and 24 students are undertaking this scholarship scheme. The scholarship covers the cost of the student’s course at Griffith College and is intended to provide an opportunity for more students to attend a private HEI.
"The Griffith scholarship programme has benefited me greatly; without it I would have struggled to afford the cost of College. As a graduate, it has helped open career paths and is something that employers are very impressed by. Being in the scholarship programme also allowed me to create relationships with scholarship winners from other courses. We were all there throughout our degrees to help and support each other."
— Hannah Moran-Jackson, Academic Scholar, BA (Hons) in Fashion Design.
Sports Scholarships
Overseen by the Students’ Union, the College offers a number of sports scholarships to outstanding athletes who show a passion for Griffith College Dublin courses and can demonstrate an ability to play their sport to a very high standard. There are 12 such scholarships available, six each for men and women.
"Studying at Griffith College was one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences of my career as a student athlete. I am grateful for the experiences of living in a vibrant young culture, receiving personal attention with my studies, and having a chance to play the game I love at its highest level in Ireland."
— Juan Ferrales, Basketball Scholar
Leinster School of Music and Drama Scholarships
The Leinster School is pleased to offer the Sheila Murphy Scholarship for music and drama students. Named for former director of the school Sheila Murphy, the award honours her legacy, which included the school's growth from 3,000 students to 15,000 in over 300 centres nationwide. The scholarship is available to LSMD students who have completed their Grade 8 music exams who wish to progress to the Higher Diploma in Arts in Music Education, or their Grade 10 drama exams to progress to the Higher Diploma in Arts in Drama Education.
Sustainability
Energy
The college had a comprehensive energy survey carried out by external auditors in 2022 and has been progressing its recommendations since in our efforts to reduce our energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
We proudly announce a significant step forward in our commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility. Griffith has recently partnered with a leading wind farm, ensuring that 100% of our electricity needs are met with clean, renewable energy. This transition not only reflects our dedication to reducing our carbon footprint but also aligns with our core values of innovation and forward-thinking. By harnessing the power of wind, we are contributing to a greener future and promoting sustainable practices. We are excited to be at the forefront of environmental stewardship, demonstrating our commitment to making a positive impact on the world.
The AF Building Management System and AF boiler have been replaced, significantly improving the efficiency of the heating system in that building.
Upgraded insulation is being installed in the Wellington, Authur Griffith, Daniel O’Connell, and Richmond buildings over the next two weeks. This will result in a CO2 saving of 52.09 tCO2 e.
Our Halls of Residence have invested considerable effort in reducing their electricity consumption through the installation of network-enabled storage heating and awareness campaigns. This has reduced their annual consumption by approx 10% or 66.2 metric tonnes of CO2. Electric Eco heaters are also installed in the CAV building and C block.
Existing gas boilers have been upgraded, and the installation of heating timer replacements on the Dublin Campus has improved the efficiency of the heating system, improving the environmental impact of heating the buildings as we look to transition away from fossil fuels.
Our Facilities team have been installing LED lighting across our Dublin Campus. LED lights are up to 80% more efficient than fluorescent and incandescent lights. 95% of the energy in LED lighting is converted into light and only 5% is wasted as heat. LED lighting has been installed in the AF Building, Halls of Residence, Design Bunker, C Block, E Block and the James Stephens Building.
Solar PV
In May 2023, we deployed our first solar PV array on the Dublin campus, maxing out the roof space on the AF building as a first proof of concept. The installation will produce just under 2% of the campus's annual electricity requirements. However, that installation paved the way for further deployments after its successful launch, with the approval of solar PV arrays for the Cork and Limerick campuses that will provide 24% and 27% of our annual electricity requirements in those campuses. The college continues to evaluate all roof spaces for their suitability to meet 100% of our electricity requirements, if feasible, via future solar PV deployments.
Green Initiatives
Plastic reduction
In tandem with our renewable energy transition, we've implemented a series of complementary green initiatives. This includes the installation of water refill stations across our campus, which is estimated to save 32,000 single-use bottles annually on campus. This is further enhanced by the move away from single-use plastics in our restaurant.
We've also made strides in minimizing plastic waste by providing all staff with reusable 'keep cups' and establishing convenient cup-washing facilities.
These efforts collectively contribute to a more sustainable campus environment, reflecting our ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship and a reduced ecological footprint.
Insect hotels
Here at Griffith College Dublin, one of our initiatives to help the environment and to become a greener college includes the installation of two insect hotels. Insect hotels support biodiversity as insect and pollinator habitats dwindle due to large-scale commercial farming, hedgerow removal and human population growth. Insect Hotels supplement the increasing loss of natural habitats, encourage beneficial insects to help control pests, stimulate ecological balance and offer an opportunity for people to learn about insect species.
Cycle Friendly Employer
Earlier this year, our college achieved a significant milestone in promoting sustainable transportation, receiving a gold-tier certification as a Cycle Friendly Employer by the European Union. This prestigious recognition is a testament to our ongoing efforts to encourage eco-friendly commuting among our staff and students.
Building on this achievement, we are excited to announce an innovative pilot program in collaboration with Brompton and Cycle Solutions Ireland. Through this initiative, we are providing staff access to high-quality folding bikes for six months. This program inspires and facilitates our community to embrace more sustainable and active transport options. By making cycling more accessible and convenient, we aim to reduce our campus's reliance on motor vehicles, contributing to a healthier, more environmentally friendly mode of transportation.
Waste Recycling on the Dublin Campus
Here at Griffith College Dublin, one of our initiatives to help the environment and to become a greener college is to recycle as much of our waste as possible so it does not go to the landfill and can be reused. All across our Dublin Campus and in the Griffith Hall of Residence, we have installed new bins that will help you segregate your waste. We hope all Students, Staff and Residents will support this green initiative.
Restoration Project
Griffith College is committed to the preservation and restoration of our built heritage. As part of this process, the Quartermaster’s House at the entrance to our Dublin South Circular Road campus is currently undergoing significant restoration work. If you are interested in learning more about this and the college’s other sustainability activities, check out our socials!