SEDA helps 30 defrauded students follow their dreams

More than 30 students who were scammed out of their money by a Brazilian language travel agency were accommodated by SEDA College at a 50% discount last month. The students paid up to 10 000 reais (4000 euro) each for courses and accommoda-tion in Ireland and the UK to Brazil’s

Next Intercambio e Turismo agency, which went bust in February this year. The agency did not transfer any of the funds to the schools where the courses were due to take place, and its man-agement disappeared with the money, Brazilian media reported. Some 100 students who fell victim to the scam

are now taking legal action against the company.

“This kind of behaviour by agents does serious reputational damage to Ireland and to student exchange programs as a whole, not to mention that it breaks the dreams of dozens of would-be students,” said SEDA Col-

lege’s head of marketing Tiago Mas-carenhas. “We felt we needed to help these people”.

The College got in touch with the defrauded students and offered them a 50% discount to come and study in SEDA.

Continued - page 4

Issue 16, March 2013. Copyright: SEDA College. www.news.sedacollege.com

Juliana Mantovani and other SEDA students in Belfast. Check out more photos on pages 10 & 11.

SEDA College came to the aid of dozens of students scammed out of their money by a Brazilian language travel agent

SEDA INTERNSHIPSMore than

60 students apply for

SEDA’s internship

programme, with most

getting placements Page 3

LOOKING FOR WORK

Tips on organising

your CV and finding work

as a nanny or childmin-

der

Page 9

ST PATRICK’S DAY

Events in Dublin,

who was St Patrick?

and the truth about

lepre-chauns

Page 12

YOUR STORY

Yvette from South Africa has come to

Ireland in search of her

roots

Page 6

2 NEWS

This month the college newspaper is bigger and better than ever before as it’s got 16 pages filled with stories, interviews and various useful infor-mation. The paper grew thanks to the input of two interns who started working on SEDA News’ editorial team last month. Their names are (drum roll please!) Maiana Chamus-ca and Ligia Garzaro, also known as Lili Chatterbox.

The girls did a brilliant job and you can see the results on the pages that follow. Maiana and Lili contributed some wonderful ideas and saw most of them through. They were respon-sible for the increased amount of content this month and a number of changes to the newspaper. So please give them your support and send your compliments (as well as any ideas or suggestions) to: news@seda.ie

It’s great to be in Ireland this month as March 17 is St Patrick’s Day when everyone wants to be a little Irish! SEDA News has got LOADS of in-formation on St Patrick’s Day: you can read about events that are be-ing planned in Dublin, Saint Patrick himself, the truth about leprechauns and even a vox pop featuring an Irishman who doesn’t drink!

This month we also have two pages filled with useful advice on finding work in Ireland. You will find out how to organise your CV, get tips on finding work as a nanny or child-minder and learn about positions available from Achievers – a recruit-ment agency which is based down the road from SEDA. Students who are looking for work should also note that there will be a free employ-ment seminar in SEDA on March 14 where you’ll have the opportunity to learn about creating a great CV. You will also get to see a presentation by Laura McGrath from the Achievers. The agency recruits many students for kitchen and cleaning jobs as well as positions in multilingual custom-er care.

We also have our regular features, like an interview with teacher Mar-garet about her trip to Las Vegas and a story about Yvette, a SEDA student from South Africa.

I really hope you enjoy reading this month’s issue of SEDA News and if you have any questions, ideas, sug-gestion or criticism then please get in touch on: news@seda.ie

SEDA News editorViktor Posudnevsky

A word from the editor

SEDA News: Ireland’s first newspaper for international students. Circulation: 1000 copies. SEDA College, 68-72 Capel Street, Dublin 1. Ph.: 01 473 4915; news@sedacollege.com; www.news.sedacollege.com; http://www.facebook.com/mySEDA.Ireland.

New classes available on Fridays

Our lovely interns - Maiana Chamusca and Ligia Garzaro a.k.a. Lili Chatterbox

SEDA College’s marketing team is going to a series of student fairs in South and Latin America and will tar-get the Mexican market for the first time. The Expo Estudiar international student fair in Monterrey, Mexico will be held in March and is expected to attract thousands of visitors. “We’ve had some Mexican students already last year, but I think there is a potential to develop this market further,” said SEDA’s head of marketing Tiago Mas-carenhas. Despite the proximity of the United States as a destination to learn English, Ireland is seen as an attractive option for those Mexican students who

want to travel around Europe. “I know that many Mexicans would be very excited about coming here,” added Ti-ago Mascarenhas. “The United States plays a big role in their lives already, but Ireland and Europe is something exotic, so travelling here is a great op-portunity for many students”. Mexican students can arrive in Ireland without getting a visa and that is an additional advantage, which many are unaware of. SEDA’s marketing team will also be present at the Salao Estudante student fairs in Brazil and the Expo Estudiante in Venezuela next month.

SEDA is going after the Mexican market

SEDA has started a new Boost-er course on Friday mornings. The course is targeted at beginner and elementary level students and can be taken in addition to the main course which runs from Monday to Thursday. “We’ve had the free conversation class for a long time now and it’s got a very positive re-sponse, but a lot of students have come in to us and said they want-ed something extra,” said SEDA’s director of studies Carol Cregg. “So we came up with the idea of a booster class based on feedback from our students. The class runs over six weeks every Friday and it’s a maximum of 8 students per class, so you get more teacher in-teraction”. The purpose of the new Booster class is to give students the opportunity to talk about things they didn’t understand during the week, do some revision and en-hance their knowledge of what-ever they studied previously. The

Booster classes runs from 10 am to noon every Friday and students can find out more about them from their teacher or at Carol’s of-fice.

At the same time SEDA contin-ues running its highly successful conversation class which is free to attend for all levels. The class is on at 2 pm every second Friday. Those who are looking for a job can at-tend a CV class which runs on Fridays when there is no conversa-tion class. The next CV class will be on Friday, March 15, at 2 pm, and it will feature a presentation by Laura McGrath from Achiev-ers – a recruitment agency based in Dublin’s Capel Street. Achievers are currently recruiting students for kitchen and cleaning jobs as well as multilingual customer sup-port roles.

National University of Ireland, Gal-way (NUI Galway) has offered three Government of Ireland scholarships to Indian students pursuing postgradu-ate studies from September 2013. NUI Galway is considered one of the best universities in Ireland in the fields of Biomedical Science, Software Engi-neering and Informatics.

The scholarships will be awarded to high-calibre students from India undertaking particular taught-Master’s programmes in the fields of either Biomedical Science and Innovation or Software Engineering and Informatics. The scholarship includes a full tuition fee waiver and a stipend of €10,000 to cover living expenses for one year.

Established in 1845 the university

has 17 000 students, including 2500 international students from over 100 countries. NUI Galway currently hosts a vibrant community of Indian stu-dents, mainly studying at Postgraduate level in areas such as Engineering and Biomedical Sciences.

Applications for the three scholar-ships are welcomed from Indian stu-dents who have been offered a place on one of the following taught Master’s programmes at NUI Galway (starting September 2013): MSc Biotechnology, MSc Biomedical Science, MSc Neurop-harmacology, MSc Regenerative Medi-cine, MSc Software Design & Develop-ment.

To find out more log on to: www.nuigalway.ie/international

Irish university offers scholarships to Indian students

3NEWS

SEDA student Camila Dantas who recently finished her internship in CPM Ireland

More than 60 students apply for SEDA’s Internship Programme

More than 60 students have applied for work placements with SEDA’s

internship programme. The pro-gramme allows SEDA students get unpaid work experience in an Irish company. So far some 45 students have been placed – or have already complet-ed their work experience – with Irish IT, hospitality and marketing com-panies as well as companies in other sectors of the economy. SEDA College currently has contacts with about 20 employers in Dublin ready to offer in-ternships to the college’s students, the internship programme coordinator

Viktor Posud-nevsky said.

“The in-ternship is not a job – in 99% of cases you don’t get paid for it,” said Vik-tor. “But most students love it because it gives them the opportunity to improve their English in a real work en-vironment and that is some-thing that no class can offer. Interns also get

work experience in an Irish com-

pany and that’s great on their CV. Fi-nally, there is a chance of getting paid work in the company if you’re good enough”. He said some SEDA students who have completed their internships have been offered permanent posi-tions.

The internship programme is open to all students whose course in SEDA is for at least 6 months. There are op-portunities in IT, hospitality, sales, marketing, business administration, logistics, engineering, project manage-ment and other fields. The programme coordinator Viktor Posudnevsky said it was easier to find internships in

some sectors than others. “It’s very easy to find internships for someone who has good qualifications and expe-rience in IT, digital marketing or hos-pitality – we have many positions like that,” said Viktor. “For others – like en-gineers, biologists and finance special-ists it’s a bit more difficult, and we’ve never placed anyone in pharmaceutics, for instance. But I would encourage everyone to apply and to apply as early as possible – that way there’s a greater chance that we’ll be able to find a good internship for you”.

Applying for an internship through SEDA is very easy – the student only has to send their English CV to in-ternship@seda.ie Students can also fill out an online questionnaire on: http://sedacol-lege.com/en/ser-vices/internship

“For most internships stu-dents need to have at least an I n t e r m e d i a t e level of Eng-lish because you need to be able to communicate with people if you want to work in an office envi-

ronment,” said Viktor. “There are some opportunities for those with lower levels too, but they would be mostly in catering, room service and such. It also helps if you have good qualifica-tions and experience in your area. The reason is employers get a lot of CVs from people looking for internships and obviously they pick the best can-didates first”.

To apply for an internship e-mail your CV (in English) to: internship@seda.ie

Bilingual Recruitment

Fair is coming to

DublinIf you speak more than one lan-

guage and you’re looking for a job then come along to the Bilingual People recruitment fair which will take place in Dublin on Saturday, March 9. The fair will run in Dub-lin’s Croke Park stadium (Dublin 3) from 10 am to 5 pm.

It will feature some 20 employ-ers from Ireland and other coun-tries offering positions to bilingual and multilingual jobseekers. Some of the companies who are con-firmed to take place at the fair are Allianz Worldwide Care, Electronic Arts, IT Alliance Group, PayPal, EBay and Yahoo! Attending the event is free. You can pre-register at http://www.bilingualpeople.ie. If you are going to the fair do not for-get to bring your CV along!

Friday, March 15 @ 2 p.m.Seminar Room 1, SEDA

You will find out:• HowtowriteagreatCV• AboutjobsavailablewithAchieversrecruitmentagency• TipsonlookingforworkinDublin

CV class &Jobs seminar

With Achievers Recruitment agency

Now recruiting students for cleaning/kitchen jobs & multilingual customer

support

Everyone welcome!

SEDA’s Internship programme is open to all students whose course in SEDA is for at least 6 months. The programme allows students to get work experience in Irish companies.

4 NEWS

Some 3000 people are to get Irish citizenship just in time for St Patrick’s Day. The next citizen-ship ceremonies for immigrants who have become naturalised Irish citizens will take place in the Convention Centre Dublin on Monday, March 11.

Some 3000 people have been invited to attend the ceremonies where they will take an oath of fidelity to the nation, receive their certificate of naturalisation and thereby become Irish citizens.

Citizenship ceremonies which are common in countries like Australia and Canada were intro-duced in Ireland in 2011.

3000 to become

Irish by StPatrick’s

Day

Leonardo Oliveira is happy at SEDA

SEDA helps 30 defrauded students follow their dreams

Continued from page 1

9 students have already arrived in Dub-lin and more than 20 are expected in the coming months.

One of the victims – Leonardo Olivei-ra from the city of Curitiba – said he was very happy with the opportunity. “I paid Next 3000 reais (1164 euro) for a course in Dublin’s Liffey College, but when I con-tacted the school it said it had never got any of that money. So I was very happy when SEDA came forward and offered me a course at a 50% discount. I’m really enjoy-ing my time here and it’s a great school that I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending to

anyone. So in this case the cloud definitely had a silver lining!”

SEDA’s advice to students buying courses abroad via a language travel agency is:

• Confirm that the agency is amember of recognized associations in the sector;

• Always sign a formal contractwith the agency before making any pay-ments;

• Checkthecompany’shistory;• Alwaysaskforanenrolmentlet-

ter from the school;• Trytocontacttheschooldirectly.

A new scenic driving route in Ire-land’s Boyne Valley, which includes Newgrange and the site of the famous Battle of the Boyne, is now open. The Boyne Valley is one of Ireland’s most important heritage areas and it has plenty of ancient sites, castles, battle-grounds and other hidden gems. The new driving route – The Boyne Valley

Drive – runs for 225 km, taking in 22 historic sites in counties Meath and Louth. The route includes the UNE-SCO World heritage site of Newgrange – an ancient tomb which is some 500 years older than the pyramids.

The Boyne itself is famous as the river which yielded the Salmon of Knowledge, source of the Irish kings’

wisdom. The route also includes the Old Mellifont Abbey, Ireland’s first Cistercian Monastery, as well as the beautiful Beaulieu House and Gar-dens.

Lovers of military history can visit the site of the Battle of the Boyne where King William III and his father-in-law King James II fought for their

rival claims to the English, Scottish and Irish thrones. A free guide to the route includes a map and details of opening times and prices for all of the attractions.

For more information visit www.boynevalleydrive.ie.

New tourist driving route open in Boyne Valley

5STUDY IN SEDA

6 YOUR STORY

31-year-old Yvette Koekemoer loves to travel: the South African has already been to Scotland and England, and when she got the opportunity to study business in SEDA she seized it at once. Yvette says another reason to visit Ireland was the family connec-tion: her mother’s ancestors are from this country. “I’ve written to my mum to get more information on my grand-parents and as soon as I get more de-tails I’ll probably go to an archive or library and find out where exactly in Ireland we are from!” says the student in her quirky South African accent.

Yvette says Ireland is not a hugely popular travel destination for South Africans and many of her compatriots do not even know that they can enter the country without a visa. “Almost everywhere we go, we have to get a visa beforehand”, she says. “But it’s different with Ireland and many South Africans aren’t aware of it. That’s why when I first saw an ad about SEDA I thought

it was some kind of a scam. It’s kind of scary that you only get your visa after arriving in the country. When I trans-ferred my payment to Noel Brooks from Study Ireland – a South African

company working with SEDA – I was a bit afraid that I may never hear from him again. But he got back to me as soon as he got the payment and sup-ported me throughout the process. The service was great and it helped me feel at ease”.

Yvette is studying to be a criminal profiler in South Africa, but she works in the transport industry. “There is a lot of crime in my country and I sup-pose I decided to study criminology

because I’d like to know why people break the law before I judge them. The studies are helping me in my line of work too because there are lots of crime syndicates in the South African transport industry”. The student says she enjoys her course in SEDA as it al-lows her to learn about marketing and “reconnect” with maths and statistics that she learned at school.

Having spent two months in Ire-land the South African student is still getting used to the way of life here. “I was in Scotland before, so I’m a bit used to the weather”, she says. “But the people are a lot different. In Dublin there’s a bigger variety of people than in Scotland or South Africa. Most peo-ple I met in Edinburgh were Scottish. But here I don’t know if I have actu-ally met any Irish people yet! I assume I have met some, but I’m just not quite sure any more who’s who and what na-tionality they are...”

“In South Africa we are also used to many different nationalities, but in Europe the nationalities are a bit dif-ferent and with some of them we don’t really have that much contact in my country – Polish, Brazilian, Hungar-ian, Russian and so on”.

In her spare time Yvette enjoys playing action netball – a game simi-lar to basketball, which is popular in South Africa. But she hasn’t had a chance to play it in Ireland yet. The student has recently got a part-time job as a caregiver and is planning to stay in Ireland for another year if eve-rything works out. “I really like Ireland and SEDA,” Yvette told SEDA News. “I’m finding the course very impres-sive and the people are very helpful and friendly”.

Yvette from South Africa has come to Ireland in search

of her rootsYvette Koekemoer from Johannesburg in South Africa is studying busi-ness at SEDA. The student has a special connection with Ireland: like over 40 million people worldwide she has ancestors who were born here. It’s just a matter of determining where exactly they were from, but hopefully Yvette will soon find out just that!

Travel writing competition!Have you been to...

... a new country?

... town or city?

... planet???

Write about your experiences and send the story (and photos of your trip) to: news@seda.ie. The best entries will be published in SEDA News and their authors will win amazing prizes! More information on: www.news.sedacollege.ie

Yvette Koekemoer from South Africa is enjoying her course at SEDA

South African EnglishThe English in South Africa is

slightly different from Englisb in oth-er parts of the world. Here are some common words and their meanings.

Howzit? – What’s up? How are you?

Lekker – cool, great, niceBraai – barbecueJust now – in a little while, when

I get around to itDomkop – idiotRobot – traffic lightTsotsi – a criminal gang memberBiltong – dried meat

Johannesburg skyline

7SEDA PEOPLE

Margaret Beatty has been a teacher at SEDA College for two and a half years

You have been working as a teach-er since 1997. What have you learned from this experience? Do you think that you learn from your students as well?

The biggest thing that I have learned with teaching is that everyone is different, people have completely different approaches to learning and you need to be able to construct your lessons with all the different learning styles in mind.

I learn a lot from my students, about their cultures in particular. It’s interesting to know how they live, what they do here in Ireland and some be-haviors are different as well.

If you were not a teacher what would you like to be?

If I wasn’t teacher I would like to be an author and I hope to make that dream come true someday! I have two ideas but I haven’t started writing yet.

Do you speak other languages be-sides English?

I speak a little Irish and a little French. I studied French at school for 10 years, but I haven’t lived there. I

would love to go to France to practice!

What is your advice for your stu-dents about the best way of studying English?

My advice for my students would be to listen to the radio and watch TV if they can and try to converse with as many native speakers whenever possi-ble. Conversation is so important: you may know all your grammar, but when it comes to having the confidence to speak you need a lot of practice in that area.

What do you like to do apart from teaching?

I love walking my dog! His name is Caesar and he is one. He is a joy to watch and always lifts my mood espe-cially if I have had a hard day!

Do you travel frequently? Is there a country that you haven’t been to, but would really want to visit one day in your life?

Last year I told myself that I was going to travel a lot because I was turn-ing 40 years old and I did. I travelled four times! In June I went to Bulgaria,

in July to the UK, in November Las Ve-gas and for Christmas and New Year I went to Puerto Rico. I had an amazing time over there! It was so good to get the warm climate… If I was to choose a country this year to travel I would love to go to Brazil, but not in the sum-mer time because it would be too hot for me. I would also love to visit Rome, maybe it would be more affordable and the flight is not so long.

Going to Las Vegas is a dream for a lot of people! Tell me more about your trip to this city.

Last year I was turning 40 and my friend 30, so she asked me to go to Las Vegas with her and her friend for our birthdays. There we met up with some Irish girls who live in Arizona. So we stayed there for 6 days and it was com-pletely different from other holidays in the sun or at the beach. Las Vegas is just 24 hours of gambling and partying…It was a trip of a lifetime!

It reminds me of a movie… Was this trip a bit like the film “Hangover”?

It was exactly the same as the movie “Hangover” because we hadn’t stopped to party, but we didn’t wake up like they did in the film... It isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it was one of the best experi-ences of my life! I loved the bright lights and the craziness of the gambling and the non-stop lifestyle.

As my friend loves nightclubs and it was her 30th birthday, we went to a couple of the biggest and best night-clubs. They were amazing – nothing like the nightclubs over here in Dublin or anywhere else I have been!

All the hotels have casinos, so you can’t walk through there without being in a casino. I couldn’t waste money, but when you are in Las Vegas you have to

bet a little! I won probably about ten dollars, but I was playing just on a one dollar machine.

What else did you do in Vegas? Any funny stories to tell us?

We went to really great nightclubs every night. We also went shopping. We got quite a good sale over there

because it was Thanksgiving. I am not one for shopping, but I bought loads of designer clothes, bags and purses. They were the same price as normal shops here in Dublin – you just couldn’t resist it! I want to return there this year to do my Christmas shopping!

Teacher Margaret: “Las Vegas was a trip of a lifetime”Travelling around Ireland isn’t an option for teacher Margaret: when she is on holidays she prefers to run away from the cold and rainy weather. After gaining a postgraduate degree in Education from Trinity College Dublin she has been teaching at SEDA College for two and a half years. In a relaxed interview Margaret Beatty told us about her experi-ences, dreams and gave us details about one of the best trips of her life: Las Vegas!

By Maiana CHAMUSCA

Viva Las Vegas! Margaret and her friends partied “Hangover”-style, but without the unpleasant consequencesHappy birthday! Margaret’s students and colleagues in SEDA

8 LIVING IN IRELAND

Name and contact number

State your full name and contact number at the top. This is the most important part of the CV as it lets the employer contact you if they think you

may be suitable for the job.

Personal DetailsBelow put your personal details

like your date of birth and nationality (however these are optional as laws in Europe prohibit employers to discrim-inate candidates based on nationality and age). It is important here to state your English level. It’s also important

to show what type of employ-ment status you have in Ireland (i.e. if you’re a student you can write that you have a student visa which al-lows you to work part-time during studies and full-time on holidays). If you

have a driver’s license don’t forget to mention that too because it can make a difference in some cases. However, if you’re not licensed to drive it’s better to say nothing.

Availability Are you looking for work full time

or part time? Monday to Friday or spe-cific days? Use this space to be clear about what you are looking for. But if you do not have an exact idea about your schedule, ALWAYS show flexibil-ity about it.

Note: Make sure that this part is updated before you send the CV.

ExperienceIt is very important, but if you do

not have any it does not mean that you can’t get a job. For example, if you are looking for work as a nanny and you have some experience working with

children write a little about that: what you used to do, how long you worked at it, how many children you looked after before etc. However, if you have no experience as an actual nanny, think about some contact with chil-dren that you have had before. Do you have a nephew, niece, granddaughter or grandson? Have you ever looked after any of them? Have you done any voluntary work with children? Have you ever looked after a son or daughter of a friend?

Additional Skills / Information

Patient, careful, full of energy, funny, enthusiastic? If you’re look-ing for work in childcare ask yourself which of your qualities can help you to work with a child and what the family is expecting to hear from you. In case you do not have a good English level, emphasize qualities such as “hard-

working” or “quick learner”, which means you are able and want to learn English.

Why do you want be an au pair / nanny?

Don’t be obvious saying that you like children – it is important, but bet-ter say something else. Show the family that they can trust you with their chil-dren, and that they are going to have a good time with you. Use this space to say how important this opportunity is for you to improve your English and also have a daily contact with their cul-ture and customs.

References If you have referees from previ-

ous work it is important you put their names and contact numbers at the end of your CV.

Laura, can you please tell me about the Achievers?

The Achievers has been in this area for the last 17 years. We recruit peo-ple for roles in hospitality, sales and marketing, retail, facilities manage-ment, telecommunications, human resources, IT, secretarial, accountancy,

finances... I work in the temporary divi-

sion so I meet a lot of students who are looking for jobs. I also recruit for multilingual positions, and a lot of in-ternational students apply for those as well. Some of these positions are very difficult to fill. For example, I find it very hard to get Danish or Norwegian

speaking people, or even Finnish people!

What kind of work would your agency have for international students?

Most of them would be as kitchen porters, cleaners and so on. Sometimes we also have secretarial work. But kitchen por-ter would be the main one – working in the kitchen, cleaning and preparing dishes, cut-lery and other stuff for the restaurant. For ex-ample, we’ve got a lot of students doing these kinds of jobs in IKEA in Ballymun.

I’ve also got mul-tilingual positions in customer care, say, for

people with Spanish or French to work in call centres and customer support centres. These positions come all the time, it’s just a matter of finding the right people to do the job!

Is the work temporary?

We have both permanent and tem-porary positions, but many students go for temporary work because it’s so flexible. For example, in IKEA we send staff in and out all the time. We have a contract signed with our workers say-ing it’s only temporary work. So they only do maybe 3-4 shifts a week. But the students love it because this kind of work pattern allows them to combine

work and studies. And when colleges give holidays they can work more.

Do you have any other positions at the moment?

We also work with hotels, the likes of Druids Glen, O’Callaghan’s Hotel. So if any SEDA students have been studying hospitality in college or they want to get some experience in this area they can always come in and ap-ply.

What advice can you give to stu-dents who are looking for work at the moment?

I know a lot of students are find-ing it hard to get a job, but I think they shouldn’t be afraid to start off at the bottom because they can work their way up, especially if they progress in their studies at college. Loads of our guys started as kitchen porters and worked their way up. For example, one of the students started as a kitchen porter and went on to work in a call centre. And then he got a permanent position in the company’s technical department because he had good Eng-lish and other languages. He started off low and moved his way up. So my advice would be not to shy away from any work and to work hard!

How to find a job in IrelandThe Achievers recruitment agency is based in Capel Street – just down the road from SEDA – and has been here for the last 17 years. The agency recruits many students for temporary jobs such as kitch-en porter or cleaner, as well as multilingual customer support roles. SEDA News chatted to the Achievers’ recruitment consultant Laura McGrath who told us about positions available and gave SEDA stu-dents some tips on finding work in Dublin.

Laura McGrath is a recruitment consultant with the Achievers

The Achievers agency recruits in the following sectors:

o Retailo FMCGo Hospitialityo Sales & Marketingo Facilities Managemento Telecommunicationso Human Resourceso ITo Secretarial/Administra-

tiono Accountancy & Financial

Services

To apply for temporary, mul-tilingual or any other positions e-mail your CV to Laura McGrath at laura@achievers.ie

How to apply

Organising your CV - useful tipsWhen you’re looking for work organizing your CV is the first and most important step. So take some time to do it properly! A simple and clear CV will help you get the job you want.

By Maiana CHAMUSCA

9LIVING IN IRELAND

Are you ready to be a Nanny? SEDA student MAIANA CHAMUSCA shares her experi-ence of working as a nanny in Ireland and gives valuable tips to those looking for jobs in childcare

Starting a life in another country is not easy: you have to adapt to a new culture, customs and even the weather. When it comes to getting work, it can be worrying. “How will I get a job?”, “What can I do?” or “Is my English enough to get in?” However, it can be easier for women than for men to find a job if they are willing to work with

children: there are a lot of vacancies for nannies and most families do not require a high English level!

Most women that come to Ireland already think about working with chil-dren, but when they arrive they do not really know how to start looking for work. One of the main questions is what is necessary to do this kind

of work: “What do the parents expect from me?”.

This article will help you get ready for working as a nanny! We will show you how to organize your CV, websites you need to look at, give you some tips for your interview and vocabulary to help you at the beginning.

If you don’t have a CV ready see page 8 for some good tips on how to start organising one. After you get your CV done, you are ready to apply for jobs! There are some goods websites where you can register for free to look for a fam-ily: www.aupairireland.ie, www.rollercoaster.ie, www.kangarooaupair.com and www.aupair-world.net. I suggest you register on all of them if you are serious about finding work.

If you are looking for or already have worked with children you must have heard one of these names. They are all very common in Ireland and although the jobs can be a little dif-ferent, all these words have the same meaning: a person who looks after a child!

Usually au pair are girls between the age of 18-26 with just a little ex-perience and knowledge about chil-dren. They come to another country to learn the language and work as an au pair to learn more about the culture for around one year. In Ireland it is common to have two kinds of au pair: live in and live out (meaning living with the family or out of the family home). In Ireland the salary paid to an au pair live in is usually around 100 euro per week.

Nanny and Childminder are almost the same. Basically the difference between them is that a nanny usually works only for one family, while a childminder looks after chil-dren from different families. However, some families do not really know the difference between these two and use both names to describe the

same thing. Working as a nanny or childmin-

der requires more experience and in some cases courses about working with children. They may be older and more mature than some au pair. Another difference between a nanny/childminder and an au pair is about the interest: they are not necessarily seeking a cultural exchange. In most cases, they want to build a career in child care.

Get your CV ready and start applying for jobs!

Do you know the difference between Au Pair, Nanny,

Childminder and Babysitter?

A nanny’s vocabulary

Interview tips

Working as an au pair/nanny requires a slightly different vocabu-lary from the one you usually use at school or in another kind of work. Here are some important words that you are going to use constantly.

• Buggy or pushchair: a chair with wheels that you use for pushing a young child in.

• Nappy: a piece of soft trick cloth or paper that a baby or very young child wears around its bottom and between its legs. • Doddy / Soother: a rub-ber object that you put in a baby’s mouth to keep him/her quiet and happy.

• High chair: a special chair with long legs and a little seat and table, for a small child to sit in when eating.

• Baby bottle: Special bot-tle for a child, usually to drink milk or water.

• Baby wipes: Baby wipes are wet pieces of paper or cloth used to cleanse the sensitive skin of babies. It is often used to clear the baby’s skin when they are having a nappy changed.

• Cotton buds: a small wad of cotton wrapped around both ends of a short rod, usually made of plastic.

• Teddy bears: toy that looks like a bear.

• Nap: short sleep that you (or the baby) have during the day.

• Crawl: to move slowly with your baby on or close to the ground, or on your hands and knees.

So you followed all the previous steps and now you have an interview? Great! But… What do you do now? It is very common to get nervous before a job interview, especially if it is your first one. To make this moment a bit easier for you, follow these tips:

• Wear comfortable clothes:this means that you know the kind of work you are looking for and that it requires a lot of exercise. You are going to sit on the floor, play all the time, run around. So you have to wear something that makes it possible to be comfortable.

• Wear small earrings, nailsand hair pins: remember that you are going to take care of babies and we all know that they like to pull and it can also hurt them by accident.

• Confidence:Showthatyouknow exactly what you are going to do. This is very important if you have no experience because you need to show

that even without previous experience you’re ready and able to do the work.

• Interaction: Usually chil-dren are around during the interview, so get the opportunity to be friendly and interact with them.

• English:This can seem likethe big monster for you, but it is not. You have to remember that you are a student and the work will be a very good opportunity for you to improve your English, so the family are not expecting you to be perfect at it. The most important thing here is trying to make a conversation. Find the best way to communicate and if you are not confident enough use a simple vocab-ulary.

• Practicing:Itisimportanttothink about your CV before you go to the interview because the family can ask you about it and if they do, you have to be able to answer them.

10SHOWS & GIGS

GIRLS ALOUDThe O2, Dublin

Saturday, March 16The English-Irish pop group will play songs from their new album Ten in Dublin’s O2. Tick-

ets from €44.05

GUNS 2 ROSESThe Academy (Lower Abbey

Street, Dublin 1)Friday, 15 March

Guns 2 Roses is UK’s longest-running Guns ‘N Roses tribute

act. Tickets: €15.

EELSThe Olympia Theatre

15&16 MarchThe famous rock band are re-leasing a new album in Feb-ruary and will play a gig in Dublin’s Olympia soon after.

Tickets from €35.

VILLAGERSThe Olympia Theatre

21&22 MarchIrish band will present songs from their upcoming second

album. Tickets: €25.

GET BACK: THE STORY OF THE BEATLES

Olympia Theatre, DublinSaturday, March 23

The hugely successful show about the Beatles returns to Dublin’s Olympia Theatre. Tick-

ets: €25.

THE LION KINGBord Gais Energy Theatre,

Docklands, Dublin 2April 27 – June 22

World-famous musical based on the Disney cartoon is com-ing to Dublin for the first time. Tickets from €25 are available

on www.lionking.ie.

LORDIThe Button Factory, Temple

Bar, Dublin 2Thursday, May 2

Finnish rock gods Lordi will play Dublin’s Button Factory in

May. Tickets: €25.

THE DOORS ALIVEThe Academy, Lower Abbey

Street, Dublin 1Friday, May 3

The Doors cover band will re-turn to Dublin on May 3. Tick-

ets: €15.00.

GOING OUT

Tickets to all these shows are avail-able from Ticketmaster outlets.

To book by phone call: 0818 719 300Online booking:

www.ticketmaster.ie

St Patrick’s Festival – DublinIn March the whole world celebrates Ireland’s patron saint – St Patrick. Every year plenty of events happen around Dublin in a fabulous Festival and this year won’t be different. From 14th to 18th of March, Dublin will cel-ebrate culture, art, history, music and dance. The pro-gramme has something for everyone. Check out some of the options – let’s paint the town green!

Would you like to know more about the history of Ireland’s patron saint – St Patrick? Then this is a great opportunity for you! The Walking Tour will let you discover the amaz-ing history of the saint and Dublin in his time. The tour will be led by the renowned Dublin historian and au-thor Pat Liddy.

When: 14th - 18th MarchTime: 2:30 pmDeparture point: Outside Tours and Tickets Office, 37 College Green (opp. Trinity College)Finish point: St. Patrick’s CathedralDuration: Approximately 2 hours Prices: €14 (€12 senior/students) per person.

St Patrick’s Day Festival Parade

City at Play: Funfairs

Greening the City

In the Footsteps of St. Patrick - Walking Tour

Music & Street PerformanceDublin City Centre will be a stage

to national and international actors and artists, doing open air perfor-mances in the streets. The presenta-tions will include walkabout charac-ters, circle shows, dance performances and the sounds of drums, pipes and songs.

When: 14th - 17th MarchDame Court: 6pm-8pmSouth King Street: 6pm-8pmCoppinger Row: 4pm-6pmBarnardo Square: 4pm-6pmPrices: Free

This is Ireland’s Carnival so don’t miss it! The country’s leading pageant companies and marching bands from around the world will make the streets of Dublin come alive in spectacular style on 17th March.

At 11 am there will be a People’s Parade featuring up to 8000 people from around the world. After that at 12:00 the “professional” parade will start with huge colourful pageants, professional performers in spectacu-lar costumes and live music.

The Parade will begin on Parnell Square and continue on to O’Connell

Street and over O’Connell Bridge to Westmoreland Street. It will then wind its way down Dame Street and Lord Edward Street, pass by Christchurch Cathedral and along Patrick Street where it will finish just past St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Whether you’re young or not, this is a great attraction if you like an adventure! From carousels to roller coasters, you are certainly going to have a fun! Take your friends or fam-ily and enjoy it!

Where: Merrion Square WestDate: Friday 15th March - Mon-

day 18th MarchTime: Friday - Sunday 11:00 -

23:00, Monday 11:00 - 21:00Where: Custom House QuayDate: Saturday 16th March -

Monday 17th MarchTime: Saturday and Sunday

10:00 - 22:00, Monday 10:00 - 20:00

One of the attractions of St Pat-rick’s Day Festival in Dublin will be that many buildings around the city will light up in green and proudly fly the Irish flag to celebrate the National holidays. Check below a list of Dub-lin’s most iconic buildings illuminat-ed green and celebrating the Festival!

When: 14th - 18th MarchTime: 5 pmWhere: • Irish Architectural Archive• Dublinia• The Gibson Hotel• O’Connell Tower at Glasnevin

Cemetery

• The Odeon Bar• The Custom House• Convention Centre• The Mansion House• Dublin City Council Building,

Palace Street

Irish Craft Beer VillageThe Irish Craft Beer Festival is a

fantastic opportunity to get to know Irish craft brewing and also celebrate it with live music and amazing Irish artisan food stalls! There’s many other beers in Ireland besides Guinness!

When: 13th – 18th MarchTime: From 12 pmWhere: Georges Dock, IFSC, Dublin 1Prices: Free Entry before 7pm on March 13th, 14th and 15th €5 after 7pm each day and all day March 16th, 17th and 18th

If you are interested in learning a little bit about traditional Irish danc-ing, you must to go to Festival Céilí. You do not have to be a professional dancer to enjoy the Festival. Expert callers, dances and musicians will be there to guide you along the way!

When: 15th of MarchTime: 4:30pm – 7:30pmWhere: St, Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2

Festival Céilí

By Maiana CHAMUSCA

11GOING OUT

SEDA students at the Language Exchange in D2

SHOWS & GIGSERIC CLAPTONThe O2, Dublin

Thursday, May 9The English guitarist and songwriter will present songs from his new album and play old classics such as Layla at

the O2. Tickets from €55.

MEAT LOAFThe O2, DublinFriday, May 17

The American rocker will play new songs and old classics such as I’d Do Anything for

Love. Tickets from €58.70

BON JOVISlane Castle,

Saturday, 15th of JuneBon Jovi’s Because We Can world live tour will come to Ireland in June. Tickets: €79.50.

RIHANNAAviva Stadium, Dublin

Friday, 21 JuneRihanna will present songs from her new album Una-pologetic (including the hit Diamonds) in Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. Tickets from €59.50.

BLONDIEOlympia Theatre, Dublin

Tuesday, June 25The legendary ‘80s band will play Dublin in June. Tickets

from €44.05.

ROD STEWARTRDS Arena

Saturday, June 29British singer will play the RDS Arena as part of his latest live

tour. Tickets from €54.65.

EMINEMSlane Castle, co MeathSaturday, 17th August

World famous rapper Eminem is coming to Ireland’s Slane Castle (in county Meath, about an hour and a half’s drive from

Dublin). Tickets: €79.50.

ROGER WATERS - THE WALLAviva Stadium

Wed, 18 SeptemberPink Floyd founding member Roger Waters will present his live show The Wall in Dublin.

Tickets from €69.50.

Tickets to all these shows are avail-able from Ticketmaster outlets.

To book by phone call: 0818 719 300Online booking: www.ticketmaster.

ie

Do you speak Spanglish?

Oliver, tell me about Language Exchange – what is it and how did it come about?

The Language Exchange was founded by myself and Brian Heavey. We were both Spanish language stu-dents and we wanted somewhere to practice, but none of the other ex-changes in Dublin were what we want-ed. So we came up with this system which is kind of like speed dating. You sit down for 5 minutes, talk and then each speaker moves on to the next seat. This way you get to meet a lot of new people because you don’t spend too long with any one person. We also have a break where you get some food and a chance to chat with other people and then you get back in and do some more moving around, chatting and practising.

So how does it work exactly?

You come in and you register. We then get you in a language group. For example, if your first language is Spanish and you want to practice your English we will put you in the Spanish-English group and you will be sitting in front of English speakers who wish to practice their Spanish. It’s a bit like speed dating: the first five minutes you speak in one languages and the next in a different language. There’s no top-ics, it’s very casual, you can just talk about whatever you want. And when the time’s up you move on to the next person.

Sounds fun! And what languages are available?

The first meet-ups were for English and Spanish speakers only, but soon people started to ask us if we could do exchanges with other languages. So we now have English-Spanish (or

“Spanglish”), English-French, English-Portuguese, English-Italian, English-German and just recently we added Chinese (“Chinglish”)! In the future we’re looking to introduce more lan-guages, possibly Polish and Russian.

How well do you have to speak the language to take part?

No matter what level you are you can benefit from this exchange be-cause you’re learning off native speak-ers. We welcome speakers of all levels!

Do you get a lot of people at the exchanges?

Oh yeah, the system proved very popular and every Monday we get over 100 people. It’s 5 euro in and free finger food is included in the price. D2 also offers drink promotions – just 2-3 euro a pint. It’s cheap and people enjoy it!

We try to keep the balance as much as we can, but sometimes we get more English speakers or more foreign language speakers. If there’s imbalance we organize a 3-way conversation, but never more than that because other-

wise it’s not a quality exchange. Some-times we have to turn people away be-cause there are just too many speakers of that language. So I would encourage everyone to come early!

I suppose some people are attract-ed to the exchange by the speed dating aspect – don’t you think?

Definitely! I think it’s happened on more than one occasion that people met somebody special here. But I can’t guarantee that a man will always be sit-ting opposite a woman, so it depends on the luck of the draw.

Has the Language Exchange helped you learn Spanish?

When I started this exchange I’d done one course in Spanish for a cou-ple of weeks. When I first sat down I

had never spoken with anyone apart from my Spanish teacher. So I couldn’t have a full conversation in Spanish, but in the 9 months I’ve been doing this I improved so much, it’s unbeliev-able! Some people are shocked that I’ve learned so much Spanish just by chatting with Spanish speakers. But that’s the way your mind works – you absorb the language. I don’t think the Language Exchange can be a substitute for learning languages, but it definitely enhances any learning you do because it gets you speaking the language.

The Language Exchange is on eve-ry Monday from 6:30 pm in D2 (Har-court Street, Dublin 2). Entry price of 5 euro includes free finger food. All levels welcome!

SEDA students can win free tickets to the Language Exchange! To be in with a chance to win free entry to Dublin’s hottest language practice session send us a photo of yourself and/or your friends to be published in SEDA News’ photo album (for example, photos of your travels, parties, classes, hangouts with friends etc).

Send all your photos to: news@seda.ie

If you want to practice your English or learn a new language like French, Spanish, Portuguese or even Chinese then Language Exchange is the place to be. This new meet-up for language learners is open every Monday in D2 pub on Dublin’s Harcourt Street (Dublin 2). SEDA News chatted to one of the Exchange’s founders Oliver McCormack.

TICKET COMPETITION!

If you like to have a chat this is the place for you

12 ST PATRICK’S DAY

St Patrick was a preacher who brought Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century and he is consid-ered Ireland’s patron saint. St Pat-rick’s Day is observed on March 17 – the day if the saint’s death. Most of the facts about Patrick’s life are known from two of his letters which survive to this day as well as from later histories and chronicles.

Patrick was born in Britain, possibly to a priest’s family, but at the age of 16 he was captured by Irish pirates and brought to Ire-land as a slave. He then worked as a herdsman and spent six years in Ireland tending to sheep. In one of his letters Patrick wrote that his faith grew in captivity and that he prayed every day. After six years he finally managed to escape, found a ship and after various adventures returned to his family in Britain.

But a few years after com-ing home Patrick had a vision. He writes:

“I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victo-ricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: “The Voice of the Irish”. As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea – and they cried out, as with one voice: “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.””

After having this vision Patrick decided to return to Ireland and to bring Christianity to the people of that land. He arrived in Ireland, mostly pagan at that time, and bap-tised thousands of people, convert-ing many wealthy people and even sons of kings. He also ordained

priests to serve the new Christian communities.

Patrick is generally believed to have become the first bishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland. He died on March 17, 460 AD and his body is buried in Downpatrick in county Down (Northern Ireland).

St Patrick and the shamrock

According to a popular legend, it was Saint Patrick who made the shamrock a symbol of Ireland. The story goes that Patrick was teaching the Irish about the Holy Trinity by showing the people the shamrock – a three-leafed plant.

The plant was meant to illustrate how three entities (The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost) could be part of one whole (God). For this reason shamrock became the main

symbol of St Patrick’s Day and then Ireland itself.

St Patrick banishes all snakes from Ireland

Another popular legend con-nected with St Patrick states that he banished all snakes from the coun-try, chasing them into the sea after they attacked him during a 40-day fast he was undertaking on top of a hill.

However, most biologists be-lieve that Ireland never had snakes to begin with, so there was really nothing for St Patrick to banish. Some historians say that the legend involving St Patrick and snakes is actually symbolic (not meant to be understood literally) and refers to St Patrick banishing pagan beliefs from Ireland rather than real snakes.

Caroline Campbell, an artist living in Dublin who works in cinema and film production said that all the cool Dublin-ers would avoid the city centre on March 17: “My friends and I may go to see the parade if the weather is good, but I would defi-nitely avoid the big crowd on St. Patrick’s. It’s a bit dangerous to get drunk with so many trouble makers around”, she said. “But, obviously, this is not a reason not to have some pints and celebrate somewhere else”, she added.

Despite the fact that most Irish would happily go for pints to celebrate pretty much

anything there are some who wouldn’t drink at all. Believe me, non-drinkers really do exist in Ireland and Brian Gallagher is one of those guys – drink is defi-nitely the last thing he would do to celebrate anything. So for him Saint Patrick’s Day will be a family day at home. “Well, we don’t have any family traditions, but still the day shall not pass without being noticed,” he told SEDA News. “Saint Patrick is a great historic character in our culture and I want my kids to recognize it. So, basically, my family and I would just have dinner together, maybe raise a glass for St. Patrick and watch the parade on the telly. But

we don’t have a special food for the occasion like at Christmas.”

Louise Condren also believes that it is important for her kids to know about Saint Pat-rick, his story and greatness so she bought them costumes and she will take the kids to see the parade “live”.

“I’m very concerned about the crowd, it might be a danger-ous day in Dublin, so I wouldn’t take my eyes off my kids for a minute and after the parade is over I’ll certainly go for a few pints with my husband,” she said. “Although, I do remember when

I was younger I’d take part in the crowd and get really drunk with my friends in town. It was fun days that I had back there. I mean, the best St. Patrick’s Day celebration I ever had I can’t even remember, I was so drunk. (laughs)”

Gary Condren, her husband, added laughing: “What can I say? Saint Patrick did not end all the snakes in Ireland, I’m married to one!” He said it as a joke of course, and admitted to have bought a green hat for the occasion.

Who was St Patrick?March 17 is St Patrick’s Day – Ireland’s national day and a huge worldwide cele-bration. But who was Saint Patrick and what are some of the legends connected with this man? Read on and find out...

Word on the street:How do the Irish celebrate St Patrick’s?As some of you might know, Saint Patrick’s Day is a day when all the streets of Dublin are full of people in costumes and hats, raising glasses to the greatest Irish saint. Most of them happen to be tourists from the rest of the world, but what about the real Dubliners and Irish? Do they mix with the crowd to celebrate St Patrick’s Day or do they prefer to do something else? To answer that question SEDA News took to the streets and asked some real Irish people. We found that, indeed, this big event is much more for the foreigners than for the Irish themselves... But, how come? Don’t the Irish celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Something must be wrong!

By Lili CHATTERBOX

This guy is just for tourists: the Irish are not impressed

13ST PATRICK’S DAY

Saint Patrick’s Day is a big festiv-ity in Ireland. But despite the fact that it’s Saint Patrick’s Day, most people put on their leprechaun (the creature is called “leipreachán” in Irish) costumes and hats to go outside and celebrate. But before you put on your green hat, let’s find out a little bit more about this mystic creature, what legends exist about them and how they became so famous all around the world, appear-ing in several books and movies. In fact, Walt Disney himself became so interested in Leipreachán that he even spent some time in Ireland looking out

for them! A p p a r -ently Leip-r e a c h á n s have been in Ireland for over a thousand years and documents stretching back to the 8th cen-tury have described m e e t i n g s with them.

T h e L e i p -

reachán is a creature from a world of the imagination and the unknown, but many people believe they do exist! Right outside our doors and as the eve-nings grew dark, the land came alive with the people of the fairy world.

The Leipreachán Museum is a great source of information and they explain everything you need to know about this beloved character.

So let’s get started!

What’s a Leipreachán?A Leipreachán is a character of the

Irish Mythology and the word “leip-reachán” comes from the Irish “Lú Chorpain” meaning “small body”. A Leipreachán is about 2’6” (75cm) tall. He is very rich but extremely tricky and if you catch one don’t take your eyes off him, or he will disappear! He is a very slick talker and loves a bit of fun.

Despite having short, thin legs, he is very agile, and moves very quickly through fields and woods; he climbs trees very well, and is a great swimmer. A slick speaker, and a great musician, you might see him resting or playing music on a toad-stool, rock, or on the branch of a tree.

Where did the Leipreachán come from?

Leipreachán came from a mythical land under the sea and when they ar-rived in Ireland they decided to make their home here. The first recorded sighting of a Leipreachán dates to the 8th century.

Where does he live?He lives in a secluded spot, usually

a small hole in the ground, where he has a comfortable little home.

What does he do?By trade the Leipreachán is a

shoemaker, and he provides the fair-ies with their dancing shoes. As the fairies love to dance, he is always busy. The Leipreachán is said to love his pipe, his drink and his solitude, but on occasion he can become social, and when this happens he loves to dance and engage in antics.

How does he have so much gold?He is well paid by the fairies and

keeps nearly all the money he earns in a crock.

Where does he keep his gold?He buries his gold in the ground in

a secluded spot and if you catch him he is obliged to tell you where. If you fol-low a rainbow to the end you will find his treasure.

What clothes does he wear?Leipreacháns like old style clothes

and they have magic red hats which al-low them to disappear and sometimes to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. He has three coin purses in his jacket – one for copper, one for silver, and one for gold. He also carries a spe-cial purse that can never be emptied.

How do you catch a Leipreachán?The best time to see a Leipreachán

is early morning or at dusk. You can sometimes hear him tapping with his hammer. If you are lucky he will be so busy making his shoes that he will not hear you. When you catch him, keep a close eye on him - he is a very slippery customer!

Find out more on: www.leprechaunmuseum.ie

Leprechauns: the truthBy Lili CHATTERBOX

There once was a man who came across a Leipreachán and convinced the little creature to take him to the very bush in which his treasure was kept. This bush however, was in a very large field, which was surrounded by many other bushes. The man (who thought he was so clever) tied a red handker-chief to the bush so that when he came back to the bush with his shovel, he could identify it and begin to dig at once. After only being gone for three minutes, the man came back only to find that the Leipreachán owning the treasure had tied a red handkerchief to every bush in the field!

There was a farmer long ago, and he used to get up very early in the morning and go out to see how his livestock and crops were after the night. One fine morning when he went out, he heard a noise as if somebody were hammering. He looked around and saw a huge mushroom growing. He was surprised at its size and went to take a closer look at it. What should he see under the mushroom but a leip-reachán, who was making a pair of shoes. People say that the leipreachán is a shoemaker. The farmer ran and seized hold of him.

“I have been a long time looking for you,” said the farmer; “and you’ll never leave my hands until you tell me where I can get riches.”

They say that when the Danes were in Ireland, they hid a lot of money in the earth, and only the leip-reachán knows where it is.

“Oh, I can’t tell you that,” cried the leipreachán. “I don’t know where they hid it.”

“You’ll have to tell me,” said the farmer, “or I’ll cut off your head.”

“Well, I can’t tell you,” said the leip-reachán.

The farmer brought him home and put him into a trunk. He left him there for seven years. One day when the farmer was out walking by the shore, he found a balk of tim-ber washed in by the tide. He sold it to another man, and when he returned home, the leipreachán laughed inside

the trunk. The farmer didn’t take any notice of this, but when the seven years were up, he took him out of the trunk.

“I’ll put you in for seven more years,” said he, “and, if you don’t tell me where I can get riches, I’ll cut off your head.”

“Do, if you wish, I can’t tell you where you’ll find it,” said the leip-reachán.

One day soon afterward, a poor man who was passing by came in. The farmer was at his breakfast, and he invited the poor man to sit down and eat something.

“No, thank you. I’ll be go-ing,” said the poor man.

He hadn’t gone far when he broke his leg. The leipreachán laughed again, but the farmer took no no-tice. When the second seven years were up, the farmer went to the trunk again and took out the leipreachán.

“If you don’t tell me where I can get those riches, I’ll cut off your head,” said he.

“Do, if you

wish. I can’t tell you.” said the leip-reachán.

The farmer locked him in the trunk once more. Some time after that, the leipreachán overheard the farmer say- i n g

that he was going to a fair. Now at that time, anyone who had money used to hide it in the earth, fearing it might be stolen from him. There were lots of thieves in those days. (Indeed, we have some, even today.) When the farmer was getting ready to leave, he went

to the hiding place to get some of his money. Weren’t the thieves

watching him taking it! He went off to the fair, and when he returned home, the leipreachán laughed. The farmer jumped up

and took the leipreachán out of the trunk.

“That’s the third time you have laughed since I caught

you,” said he. “What made you laugh each time?”

“There are many things which a person would be better off for not knowing,” said the leipreachán.

“Enough of that coax-ing talk,” said the farmer.

“Tell me why you laughed.”“Well,” said the leipreachán,

“you remember the day you found the balk of timber at the edge of the sea?”

“I do,” said the farmer.“That balk was full of money, and

the man to whom you sold it has been rich ever since.”

“That’s true enough,” said the farmer. “Now, tell me why you laughed the second time.”

“Ah, let me go,” said the leip-reachán.

“I won’t until you tell me,” said the farmer.

“Well,” said the leipreachán, “you remember the day a poor man came in and you invited him to eat something, and he refused? When he turned down the food, he turned down his luck, and he hadn’t gone far when he broke his leg. Had he waited for a bite of food, the danger would be over.”

“Tell me now about your third laugh.”

“I won’t. Better for you not to know,” said the leipreachán,

They stared to argue, and finally the farmer took hold of the leip-reachán’s head and told him that he’d sweep it off unless he told him why he laughed the last time.

“Very well,” said the leipreachán. “When you were getting ready for the fair, you went to the hiding place in the field to get some money. You took some of it with you. But there was a thief watching you, and when you had gone off to the fair, he went to the place and stole the rest of it.”

The farmer jumped up, and out he ran to search for his money. He went around like a madman from one place to another. If he didn’t know that it had been stolen, he mightn’t have lost his reason.

Source: Folktales of Ireland

The Three Laughs of the LeipreachánAn Irish fairy-tale about a leprechaun and a farmer, found and typed up for SEDA News by Lili Chatterbox.

The story of the red handkerchief

14 PHOTO ALBUM

Emerson Rufo and friends Juliana Mantovani in Belfast

Reinaldo Mota and friends Raissa Carvalho in Pisa

15PHOTO ALBUM

Send photos of your parties, travels and

classes to:

newS@Seda.ie

Barbara Souto and Gabriela Flavio

Reinaldo Mota in Kylemore Abbey

16 A BIT OF FUN

The SEDA St Patrick’s Day quiz!1. St Patrick’s Day is celebrated all over

the world, but which city has the biggest pa-rade on March 17?

a. Dublin b. London c. New York d. Moscow

2. It is said that St Patrick banished (or “chased into the sea”) a certain type of animal from Ireland. What animal was it?

a. Kangaroosb. Lionsc. Snakesd. Cats

3. How did St Patrick first arrive in Ireland?

a. He came to Ireland to preach Christianity to the people

b. He was a tourist c. He was born in Ireland d. He was captured by Irish

pirates and brought to Ireland against his will

4. Why did St Patrick return to Ireland for the second time?

a. He had made lots of friends here and missed them

b. He had a vision of Irish people calling him to return

c. He had an Irish girlfriend d. He really missed Guinness

and the Irish pubs.

5. According to legend, St Pat-rick used a shamrock to explain a cer-tain Christian concept to the people of Ireland. What was that concept?

a. The Holy Trinityb. The resurrection of Jesus

Christc. Life after deathd. The immaculate conception

6. Where was St Patrick born? a. Britain b. Ireland c. Rome d. The USA

7. Where is St Patrick buried? a. Dublin b. Galway c. Cork d. Downpatrick

8. What is one of the oldest Irish tradi-tions associated with St Patrick’s Day?

a. Wearing something green and go-ing to church

b. Getting drunk c. Singing Irish drinking songs and

dancing d. Walking around the streets in lep-

rechaun costumes

9. According to Irish myths and leg-ends, what is the leprechaun’s “day job”?

a. He is a goldsmith b. He is a shoe maker c. He is a musician d. He is unemployed

10. How to find a leprechaun’s gold (2 correct answers)?

a. You have to catch a leprechaun and he will be obliged to tell you where the gold is

b. You will see the leprechaun’s treasure if you find a clover with four leaves

c. You have to follow a rainbow to the end

d. You can find it if you pray to St Patrick

Send your answers to news@seda.ie, or cut the quiz out and give it to your teach-er. If you get the answers right you can win a prize!Your name:_____________________________________Your e-mail: ____________________________________

Here are the answers to last month’s quiz:

1. St Valentine was a Christian martyr.2. Cupid is a Roman god usually associ-

ated with St Valentine’s Day.3. St Valentine is also a patron saint of bee

keepers (as well as lovers).4. In Japan on February 14 it is customary

for women to give chocolates to men.5. Gelukkig kerstfeest means Merry

Christmas in Dutch (you could guess that it doesn’t mean “I love you” because all the other options were made up of 3 words).

6. Puppy love is an ironic description of love felt by children or adolescents.

7. “Love” means “nil” in tennis.8. A girl who is in a relationship (but is

not married or engaged) usually wears her Clad-dagh ring on the right hand with the point of the heart towards the wrist.

9. St Valentine is said to be buried in the Carmelite Church in Dublin’s Aungier Street and that is the reason many couples visit the church on February 14.

An English teacher wrote these words on the whiteboard: “woman without her man is nothing”. The teacher then asked the stu-dents to punctuate the words correctly.

The men wrote: “Woman, without her man, is nothing.”

The women wrote: “Woman! Without her, man is nothing.”

In class, the teacher said,“I shall write a sentence on the blackboard. Find the error.”She wrote, “I did not have a very happy holidays.”“What is the mistake Henry?”Henry thought. “Perhaps you needed a boyfriend.”

A teacher was giving a lesson on good manners. “Suppose, by mistake, you step on a lady’s foot. What do you do?”

“I say ‘Pardon me’.”“Very good. Now suppose the lady, to

reward you, gives you a coin. What do you do?”

“Step on the other foot to get a second one.”