At the launch of Go Gaelic, Ireland’s newest GAA coaching service, Shannon College international students took part in a fun and interactive hurling and football training session for beginners. Students had an opportunity to meet Anthony Daly, manager of Dublin’s senior hurling team, and get expert coaching from a host of Clare’s top GAA players. Check out the photos below and see if you can spot Davy Fitzgerald (manager of Clare senior hurling team) and Clare players Eoin Vaughen, John Conlon, Eoin Brennan (captain of Clare senior football team) and others!

A group of 38 of our final year students travelled to Belfast last week to visit the new Titanic museum. The trip was organised by Sean T. Ruane, Lecturer in Tourism, and it included a guided bus tour of Belfast City and a trip to the Giants Causeway.

Dark Tourism

So-called ‘Dark Tourism’ is a relatively new phenomenon in the industry and it involves tourist visiting sites of major disasters, battles and political unrest. The students had an opportunity to learn about the city’s history of strife and political unrest, which is now in the past.

Titanic Museum

The new Titanic museum has injected life back into the docklands area of Belafast and is expected to attract close to one million visitors in its first year.

Giants Causeway

The Giants Causeway is one of two UNESCO word heritage sites in Ireland. An interpretive centre is under construction and is due to open this summer.

Creativity Challenge Winners

It has been a busy few weeks for Shannon College students! Not only did we have winners at the IHI Management Game in Dublin (read more here), but also Mark O’Shaughnessy, Year 4 Student, was on the winning creativity team at the recent Young Hoteliers Summit which took place in Switzerland recently. Congratulations Mark!

About the Young Hoteliers Summit

The Young Hoteliers Summit is a three day event hosted by Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, a leading hotel school in Switzerland. The Young Hoteliers Summit is the world’s largest hospitality conference organised by students for students. Over three days, students attended keynote speeches, workshops, company focus groups and a recruitment day focusing on employment and career development for young talents in the hospitality industry. Over 20 hotel schools from around the world were represented at the Summit this year, including a team of three from Shannon College of Hotel Management; Dara Kelleher, Mark O’Shaughnessy and Alexander Muir (pictured below).

Shannon College Team

The Creativity Challenge

The summit participants were divided into teams to compete in the Creativity Challenge. Hyatt Hotels and Resorts provided this year’s challenge which was to design a graduate programme for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts and present their innovative programme to a jury of Hyatt Executives. The winning team of six students from six different hotel schools, included Mark O’Shaughnessy, Shannon College of Hotel Management. The prize includes a trip to Dubai hosted by The Hyatt Hotel Dubai and a shadowing management opportunity for the team at the prestigious hotel.