A Poignant Launch
It was a big week for Gemma as her college experience in UK comes to an end and she tells us all about it in her 'The Good Life' column this week...
This Thursday marked the launch of our student newspaper, The Limerick Voice. The day also marked the launch of the Joe Drennan Memorial Competition.
The paper was always special to our class. From day one we sat in a classroom overflowing with ideas for what we wanted this year's paper to be. Two students made their pitch for editor, Molly Cantwell and Joe Drennan. They stood up and expressed their ideas for the paper, each as enthusiastic as the other. Beyond capable, I knew their dreams for the paper would come true. It was decided, Molly was our managing editor, Joe was our editor in chief. They selected our mission statement, finding ‘Stories that Speak.’ We got to work.
Our focus was to reach marginalised communities whose voices are often not heard in the media. We wanted to improve our online presence and make our work more accessible to all. We sent ideas, first drafts, edits, and suggestions over and back to our editors on Slack. Both editors always encouraged every idea we had. My experience working on this project with Joe, no time was too early or too late to message with an idea. He always had feedback and a follow-up conversation in the next class we had. Our editors created an environment where we wanted to work, to push our limits, to impress them and ourselves. The project was off the ground, we started producing quality content which came with the thrill of being impressed by what we could achieve. We were enthusiastic for what was to come.
On October 13, our editor in chief was killed in a hit and run incident in Limerick. He had just finished his shift in the Italian bistro he worked in near the university. He was waiting for his bus to go home. The following day, a friend on my course rang to say that Joe Drennan had been killed in a car accident. I couldn’t believe it. To think that we had all been sitting together in an investigative journalism class a few days prior and now he was gone.
During this time, each of our lecturers were amazing. The class came together, and we all helped each other. It took some time, but eventually we felt ready to come together and create the paper Joe would have wanted. Our editor spoke about the renewed vigour each of us had. It was true, we had a new purpose in this publication. It was no longer just a group project or a grade, it was a tribute to Joe, to what we would have wanted for the paper.
Each page is dancing with emotion and creativity. It features an interview with Joe’s mother and sister, who speak about coping with the tragic loss of their son and brother. It contains an interview with a Limerick-based Palestinian who has had eighteen family members killed and is fundraising for his family in Gaza. We delved into politics with the local elections and Ireland’s first ever directly elected mayoral election taking place in Limerick. It has an investigative section which looks at vacant property grants, the gender gap in student rental accommodation and more. The sports section contains everything from rock climbing, rugby and an interview with a Ugandan GAA club. It has arts, culture, reviews, among others. Not to sound like an advertising campaign, but we are extremely proud of our work both online and in print.
Launching the Limerick Voice alongside the Joe Drennan Memorial Competition for Inclusive Journalism was poignant. The competition, in conjunction with The Irish Times, is for aspiring journalists who will be required to write a 1,000 to 1,500 word article suitable for multi-media use. Winners will be selected on the basis of impact, originality, news gathering and research, depth of investigations, and quality of writing. They will have their article published in The Irish Times. The winner will be presented with a perpetual trophy presented by members of the Drennan family.
Ireland and Britain Editor of The Irish Times Mark Hennesy came to UL to launch the award, pledging that this competition will be of high standard, the best in journalism. The competition will run annually commencing in Academic Year 2024/25. The deadline for submissions is November 30, 2024.
I can speak for all of us when I say that we are delighted Joe will be honoured in this way. During rehearsals the day prior and throughout the ceremony on Thursday, I couldn’t help but feel that Joe should be in the room, celebrating the launch of our newspaper with us.
* Gemma Good is from Killeshandra and a fourth year journalism student in University of Limerick
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