Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
A FEW MONTHS ago, just days before the whole “lockdown” happened, I was in the hospital with a chest infection for three weeks. Due to the nature of cystic fibrosis, we tend to get recurring chest infections that usually require IV antibiotics in the hospital.
Unfortunately, during that last hospital admission, I had deteriorated and had become quite sick, was left oxygen-dependent and wasn’t able to do much at all. Which, looking back, was quite scary but I overcame that infection and was discharged from hospital.
I then went straight into the Covid-19 lockdown after that and began to “cocoon”. This was before the rest of the country had locked down. I had a feeling Covid-19 may progress and from then on and I just accepted then that my life would be different, for the next while.
About a week after being discharged, I remember reading and waiting for the news to be officially announced by the government regarding cystic fibrosis patients and what they should do, whether we should be shielding ourselves or not.
It came as a surprise to no one that we had to cocoon. I had effectively been cocooning since my latest visit to hospital. However, I did feel more nervous when being told officially by the government to cocoon. I quickly realised, “this is not a joke, it’s actually real”.
Advertisement
My life in a ‘cocoon’
Exercise is vital for someone with CF and at the early stages of the lockdown we were advised to remain indoors. This is bad news for CF patients as they need to be able to move and it usually involves being outdoors. With this in mind, I had to come up with some home exercises so I could remain as healthy as possible.
It was certainly more challenging than I realised because suddenly you are restricted to your house and garden, and that is it. I am very thankful that I was lucky to have an exercise bike, so that didn’t require much organising. But like everyone else, exercise is something you do outside of the home, so for me, I felt very limited.
I began to start to feel a sense of “disconnect” with what was going on outside. All my hospital appointments were cancelled, I could not go out and exercise, or socialise, so my only way of finding out what was happening outside was through my phone and social media.
After I realised this could potentially be my situation for a long time, I started to take the Covid-19 lockdown as a moment to “focus on my health” and put all my efforts into not only making sure I didn’t catch Covid-19 but also that don’t get any other infection. The only way I could achieve this throughout this time has been primarily through exercising and getting myself into good routines.
A new passion for gardening
During this pandemic, trying to stay calm and relaxed was quite challenging. Trying to not look at the news every day and avoid reading Covid-related things was also a challenge until I discovered a new interest that helped me to distract myself from everything – gardening.
I never had any interest in gardening, until everything happened recently and I wanted to get my mind off Covid-19. I started to think of things I could do so I began by painting our fence which is something I really enjoyed. The act of something simple like that meant I only needed to concentrate on the fence and therefore wasn’t thinking about what is going on in the world.
We had planters that we had never used, so I assembled them and planted some vegetables that we had and through doing all of this. I have really enjoyed this and every day I am coming up with other ideas for the garden.
While gardening is weather dependent and we are thankful to have had great weather, I did also take up some baking, as many others did through the shutdown. I always wanted to make some nice desserts and foods for myself so I felt this was the right time.
I began by rooting out some books and reading through loads of them so not only was I learning new things, but I was also able to put them into practice and I never realised how therapeutic I found cooking and baking. So I began by making some delicious cheesecakes and I have since continued on and I find it such an amazing thing to do on a rainy way (once I have all the ingredients).
A positive outlook
I feel something that has helped me through this has been staying positive. I made sure I got myself into the right mindset because I knew if I didn’t that this could be a very long road. I decided that by turning everything into a positive I made everything so much easier.
Related Reads
Five weeks in lockdown in hospital is tough - and the food makes it worse
Opinion: As a Cystic Fibrosis patient, the coronavirus is a major worry for me
Opinion: At 12 I started taking Orkambi as a trial drug and it transformed my life
I could have been sitting at home thinking the worst of everything, doing nothing, and getting myself into bad routines, but I thought of the positive things and I feel that certainly helped me overcome a lot of things, mainly developing good habits during all of this.
My exercise bike became my new friend until I was allowed back out for exercise. So, I was on my bike twice a day and lifting my weights, which I thankfully bought before Covid-19.
I am now feeling better than ever before. I think this is down to the effort to stay fit and having some quiet time at home, which I would not usually have.
Most people would have seen the pandemic as a negative – having to stay at home. But personally, as someone living with a medical condition, I feel it has been great. I could tailor this time to my health requirements. Thankfully the government has said we can go out for walks now and have people over, while we are partially cocooning, which is nice.
Benat Broderick is in transition year in secondary school and is a student activist and advocate for Cystic Fibrosis patients. You can follow him on Instagram.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
TheJournal.ie's Coronavirus Newsletter
TheJournal.ie's coronavirus newsletter cuts through the misinformation and noise with the clear facts you need to make informed choices. Sign up here
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
4 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
You also have to consider that about half of those that go to college in Ireland are in receipt of some kind of grant. Something like 8 out of 10 for those from Donegal and 3 out of 10 of those from Dublin.
The Journal is a bit misleading on this. Cost of 3rd level for me cost €10 for an id card and €75 for i book i never read.. a couple of euro for printing per week. And yes i was covered by Susi. Its means tested system as it should be.. saying its the most expensive system is just tripe. Anywhere from 40%-70% get some sort of financial aid.
@reg its mid income families suffering here. But where can we find those statistics? How many students receive grants from the government?! That would be interesting
So you had no accommodation costs, food costs, travel costs, materials, etc to pay? and you only needed one book for your entire course over however many years it was too?
If fees are free people don’t appreciate the education vs if they have to pay by getting a part time job. People sign up to courses for the sake of it and many are dissatisfied and drop out. At least if there is a fee they will consider whether it’s worth it before wasting their time.
Having said that, I think 3k is too high to pay on a part time job. It was 2k when I went which is much closer to a fair amount. I’d say 1.5k would be a fair level.
James. I agree with you on that one. If you look at Leo varadker for example, he went to a private school paid for by his parents and he doesn’t appreciate how difficult it can be for people less fortunate than himself to get through or even go to college.
I’m sure most of the students who pay the fees get their parents to pay for it, and we don’t have any misunderstanding where the fees come from, and don’t appreciate it fully free few were available. i work my hole off to pay a huge amount of taxes, and every second of overtime is taxed at over 54%. For this, i have to pay over €1000 per year for free secondary education, and €3750 per year for third level. we have just had our daughter tell us she will be joining her sister in UCD, and the free few will leave us with a bill of €8500 to be paid by January. We have no chance of getting a SUSI loan for any component, but still we have to get a new loan every year. both girls work part time to pay for transport and a meagre “predrinks” social life, and it is obvious that this has impacted the quality of their study. At the end of their studies, we will have gathered over €30k in additional debt, and more than likely the kids will have to emigrate to get work. Ifc we didn’t have to fork out such a high amount for education, we would be able to sort them for getting started in either business or a place of their own to enable them to stay, but instead all we have to look forward to is personal poverty and the loss of our kids to entertain. Ireland truly is a kip.
People who drop out are subject to full cost to repeat. That number isn’t so high. The idea that people don’t appreciate it as a blanket statement is rubbish.
Well said Alien8…the financial hardship that 3rd level education inflicts upon middle income families is rarely discussed! Add rent and living expenses to fees and that annual debt more than doubles. I’ll be repaying the (savage) debt accrued to educate my kids until I’m seventy, and all because I earned a little over the upper ceiling for grant aid. So tired of struggling to make ends meet, and I’m a long way off seventy so the struggle continues. And now have the added hardship of youngest child working abroad, not his wish or mine. I would fully support a fair student loan system…I would much rather have the choice to contribute to my child student debt than to be flat broke until I’m seventy, with no opportunity to save for later life!
The fees them selves are high but be manageable it is the cost of accommodation which is the difficulty. If you live a distance from the 3rd level colleges. Students need at least an other 7,000 euro per year for travel accommodation.
600 quid a month for accommodation? what ever happened to students sharing rooms, slumming it etc like everybody did before entitlement Ireland took over?
If you look at some of properties up online, that is what is being asked in rent rates for room shares and digs in cities. And as for Bedsits you would be paying more than that again.
Students shouldn’t have the burden of college fees, the state should cover it as it’s an investment in the future of our country. I would shudder at the thought of where some of the money goes..
So do you think it’s fair for an 18 year old, just out of school to start paying €3000 a year if they aren’t lucky enough to get a grant? I don’t think so.
And Nick, how much of that goes towards the benefit of students and how much of it goes to over-lining the pockets of senior college staff?
Only last year UL was under investigation for misapplication of college funds and paying off staff to keep it quiet. So think before you have sarcastic comments to make
Some Dotrice. Not all. Everyone should have opportunities to do well and study to the level they wish or are able to. It would better benefit society. There are some very hard working students, but as mentioned rightly this week, there is too much of a focus on high academics, when for many a vocational or hands on route would be better, via PLC’s, VTOS, BTEI, Momentum etc… Every course should have work placements, or at the least industry placements, where hands on and soft skills could be solidified, though most workers are terrible at teamwork and problem solving.
Pity Ireland didn’t bring in a similar model to the uk (where the NHS pays for tuition fees uk/eu students doing social work, midwifery, nursing, dentistry and student accommodation for uk students).
If the HSE paid Irish students 3000k fee and guaranteed them a job at the end of the 4 years it would something to keep our young ones from leaving the country to work elsewhere and knowing that they have some of the best education one can receive, on top of that they also speak fluent English and can converse and understand the Irish.
But pigs don’t fly and the HSE aren’t there for the benefit of the general public.
3k per year is only 12k total. How many nurses would choose to stay here instead of moving for a once off payment of €12,000. Very few I imagine. The problem is wages not fees.
Guaranteed job!!! They could always bring in a stipulation they had to work in Ireland for 3 years (thus gaining valuable work experience). It’s win win.
I know my daughter wants to stay here and study but we are looking abroad for alternatives, I know that once she leaves she will never come back.
If the bursary system is still in place in two years time she will be going to university in the UK, in London and it will work out cheaper even when we take into account accommodation as she would be laying the same in Ireland
@Lily
Where the hell are you getting these guaranteed jobs? take for example 1000 students start there course in 2006, 4 years later in the midst of a recession the government now has to take on 1000 graduates when they have no money??
I moved nearly 5 years ago ..its 3 years here for nursing which the NHS pays for ..plus it wouldn’t be 3 k per year as majority of uni courses are 9k per year. There loads of Irish that do the same. The wages here a better as well its cheaper living hence why so many Irish decide to stay.
Steven, there is still a recruitment freeze on front line services, while the admin side is haemorraging with over staffing, double jobbing and general skullduggery. People end up sick, a lot. You shouldn’t put a price on someone’s health, or indeed their life.
Lily, stay here for 3 years? How are you policing this? You can’t force anybody to stay anywhere. That idea is great in theory, but not workable. Also, why should only nurses get it? They are not the only valuable profession….
The abolition of tuition fees in 1996 did very little – if anything at all – to increase the level of students of disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.
Of course it didn’t – because no one who knows their stuff on the subject of HE funding thinks of the funding mechanism as the silver bullet for access solutions. Access is a much, much broader question than how much you pay or don’t pay at the door.
That’s just blatantly untrue Ciaran! Any sources to back that up?
How else do you explain the massive increase numbers attending third level since that time, increasing at a faster rate than the relevant birth rates for those years. It’s because people who couldn’t afford before now could! That means they were disadvantaged to begin with.
DIT economics lecturer Sean Byrne wrote on this website two years ago:
“A report on the operation of the third level grants system was commissioned by, Niamh Bhreathnach when she was Labour Minister for Education in the Fine Gael Labour Government of 1992 to 1997. The 1993 report by Donal de Buitleir showed that the grants system favoured farmers and the self-employed over PAYE workers, whose income was easily determined, while the income of farmers and the self-employed could be reduced by the offset of losses or declining agricultural prices and took no account of wealth.
To solve this problem, de Butileir recommended including assets in the means test. This proposal was vetoed by Fine Gael. The report also showed that many high income parents were covenanting income equivalent to fees to their children and thus lowering their income tax payments.
Niamh Bhreathnach responded by abolishing undergraduate tuition fees, arguing that this would increase participation in third level by students from low-income families. This was a questionable justification for abolishing tuition fees, as students from low-income families who secured a grant had their fees paid. The problem with the grants system was that for PAYE workers, the cut-off income for a grant was too low.
Participation by students from low income families did increase somewhat, but remains low, while participation of students from well-off families is now among the highest in the OECD.”
Bhreathnach’s decision meant that well-off parents were able to spend money on Leaving Cert grinds for their children, thus accelerating the points race.
‘The most relevant part in that passage is
“Participation by students from low income families did increase somewhat”’
But not by much.
There were grants available to students from low-income families before 1996. Of course, some people like to make farmers the scapegoats for problems with higher education.
For those interested :
Easy to find université fees for France : https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2865
184 euros for Bachelors/Degrees
256 euros for Masters
check list in link for fees for medicine, nurses, midwives (sage-femmes) etc…
(all roughly same as above, some slightly higher)
There’s social security fees to add to that (about same as above I think, not sure), some health cover, and maybe another 50 euros for other services like sports access, etc…
If the student is entitled to a bursary they pay less (or maybe not at all).
They year i did my LC in 2001 – the Registration fee was £250. This went up to €750 with the Euro coming in. By the time I graduated in 2006, it was €1250 as far as I recall. Ten years later in 2016, its more than doubled, and has quadrupled since 2002.
We have never had free education in Ireland. For Primary and Secondary, you have uniforms, books, photocopying, voluntary contributions (which are not voluntary in many cases). The government needs to get its finger out and fund education, so schools can afford light and heat (or maybe the energy companies could not charge schools and hospitals – seeing as they are vital to the country?). Like most things it is a token gesture. The politicians we have in power no longer want equity in this country, and even Labour – who introduced free fees – want them gone (possibly brainwashed by their marriage to FG). Some of the happiest countries in the World are in Scandinavia, worse weather, and higher taxes alright, but better public services, and generally a much happier and cheaper cost of living. this neo-liberal “we must pay for everything through charges” is non-sense. Return to a progressive tax system, and stop this stealth tax rubbish.
You can’t pay the lecturers entrepreneurial wages with platinum plated expenses and expect the service to be cheap…ditto for Teachers, Gardai, Nurses, Doctors….except the new ones they have all been screwed by their colleagues above them…
No John, The UK is ruled by the Tories. In NI the DUP and SF are in coalition, and have limited power – basically like Dublin City Council trying to implement things. Limited budget, limited everything.
As Reg above pointed out about half of our students don’t pay anything as it’s covered by a grant so the true average is about $1400. To some extent this will be true for other countries also – not as much I think. For countries with an income contingent loan system (incl Australia, NZ, UK) a significant number won’t pay anything either. The data refers to public universities so omits the significant private sector in the US, generally pricier.
I find that very hard to believe, the USA has easily the highest college fees in the world, in most cases it can cost more per month than the mortgage to keep a child in college.
I mean, fair play for trying. But using GDP as a yard stick for determining affordability? You’re also aware that the OECD is only a fraction of the rich world, nevermind the whole world?
150 rounds of drinks ordered at the Dáil's bars on the day TDs failed to elect a new Taoiseach
23 mins ago
363
6
Dublin
What exactly is 'affordable' housing ... and how much should it cost?
6 hrs ago
2.2k
Darndale
Discovery of human hand in yard of Dublin primary school not thought to be malicious
Updated
12 hrs ago
54.2k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 152 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 104 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 136 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 77 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 37 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say