Griffith College Dublin

Griffith College Ireland

Coláiste Uí Ghríofa, Baile Átha Cliath
Griffith College logo
Type	Private/Independent Higher Education College
Established	1974
President	Diarmuid Hegarty
Students	7,000
Address	South Circular Road Dublin 8, Dublin, Ireland
Campus	Dublin City Centre Urban, 7 acres (2.8 ha)
Affiliations	HETAC(now known as QQI), HECA, ACCA, King's Inn
Website	http://www.griffith.ie

Griffith College Ireland – Irish: Coláiste Uí Ghríofa – is the largest and longest established private third level (higher education) college in the Republic of Ireland.

About Griffith College Ireland

Griffith College Dublin Clock Tower

Established in 1974, with campuses in Dublin, Cork and Limerick, Griffith College is the largest independent higher education institution in Ireland with a student population of around 7,000 with 1,400 overseas students from over 77 countries.
It is named after the former Griffith Barracks on the South Circular Road in Dublin

Front of Griffith College Dublin

The 7-acre Dublin campus is five minutes from the city centre. Student Halls of Residence are located on campus, close to the library, creative studios, the student bar and restaurant, gym facilities and the Students Union.

Griffith College runs full and part-time degree and higher education qualifications in Law, Accountancy, Business, Computing Science, Journalism, Media, TV Production, Film Production, Design, Fashion, Music and Drama.

The college offers professional accountancy programmes for Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), ACA, CPA and IATI,^[1] Griffith College is a goldStar CPA approved Educator.^[2]
The ACCA has awarded Griffith College Dublin the Platinum accreditation – the highest recognition by the ACCA,^[3] and is also an ACCA CPD registered course provider.^[4]

The Griffith College Dublin campus is the home of the Leinster School of Music & Drama. Established in 1904, the Leinster School offer theory classes in Music & Drama to groups and individuals subject to availability. The Leinster School is also an examining body and have a Theory Examinations Syllabus with levels from Preparatory to Grade 8.

History of Griffith College

The college was established in 1974 by Diarmuid Hegarty and incorporated in 1978 as the Business and Accounting Training (BAT). Originally located on Morehamption Road, in 1991 the Business and Accounting College moved from Milltown Park, Ranelagh, Dublin 6, to the Griffith Barracks site changed its name to Griffith College Dublin.^[5]

In 1979 Griffith College was designated as being an institution under the Irish Government's National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA) Act.
In 1990 the first degree course was offered by Griffith College in Computer Science and it was validated by the University of Ulster. In 1992 it was followed by a Business Studies degree,^[5] this arrangement ceased in 1996 and the degrees were validated by Irish National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA) the predecessor of HETAC.

In 1992 the Tiernan Design School moved to the Griffith Campus becoming the Griffith College Faculty of Design. In the late 1990s Newman College, Dublin became part of Griffith College.

In June 2005, Griffith College Dublin merged with Skerry's College to form Griffith College Cork. Skerry's College had been at the forefront of education in Cork since 1884.

In September 2006 Griffith College Dublin merged with the Mid-West Business Institute to form Griffith College Limerick.

Griffith College Faculties

Griffith College Dublin campus green. (Actual green may differ from photo)

The College is divided into a number of faculties:

• Faculty of Business
• Graduate School of Business
• The School of Professional Accountancy
• Faculty of Law
• The Professional Law School
• Faculty of Computing Science
• Faculty of Journalism & Media Communications
• Faculty of Design
• The Leinster School of Music & Drama
• Faculty of Training & Education
• Corporate Training
• Short Courses
• Griffith Institute of Language

Faculty of Law & the Professional Law School

Griffith College Dublin is home to Ireland's largest law school, incorporating the Undergraduate, Postgraduate and Professional Law Schools. The school was shortlisted for Law School of the Year at the prestigious Irish Law Awards 2012 and was nominated for the 2013 awards (http://www.irishlawawards.ie).

An aerial view of Griffith College Dublin campus

Griffith College Law School Innocence Project

In September 2009, David Langwallner, Dean of Law, founded the Irish Innocence Project at Griffith College.

The Irish Innocence Project reviews claims of wrongful conviction and miscarriages of justice in Ireland.^[6] It is based on the famous Innocence Project in the USA.^[7]

Final-year law students, drawn from Griffith, Trinity College Dublin and DCU, work with qualified and practising barristers, who in turn are working closely with the Griffith Dean of Law, to give post-conviction reviews of cases. Currently there are 20 active files and cases going back before the courts.^[8]

The Irish Innocence Project (Irish: Tionscadal Neamhchiontachta na hÉireann) was launched officially by Dr.Greg Hampikian, director of the Idaho Innocence Project and DNA expert for the Georgia Innocence Project in March 2010.

Science without Borders

Griffith College Dublin welcomes students from Brazil through the Science Without Borders programme. The Brazilian government are aiming to place over 100,000 Brazilian students in higher education institution throughout Ireland.
As part of the Science Without Borders programme, which is partly funded by the Brazilian government, Griffith College is offering a variety of undergraduate courses to the students.

Annual Creative Week

The Creative Week takes place annually and showcase the student work of the creative disciplines, Interior Design, Interior Architecture, Fashion Design, TV & Video production, Photography, Digital Media, Sound Engineering, Journalism and Visual Media.^[9]

International University Collaborations & the Erasmus Scheme

Griffith College is partnered with a number of international universities in Norway, Germany, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Spain, USA, Mexico, Brazil, India, Korea and China.

Griffith College Dublin is a participant in the Erasmus / Socrates mobility programmes.

The Irish Higher Education System & Griffith College

There are seven publicly funded universities in Ireland and 14 Institutes of Technology. There are also a number of independent higher education colleges and universities. Griffith College is one of the latter.^[10]

International Recognition & the Bologna Process

Ireland is a member of the Bologna Process (a European reform process aimed at creating the European Higher Education Area which in turn improves transparency between higher education systems, as well as implementing tools to facilitate recognition of degrees and academic qualifications, mobility, and exchanges between institutions across Europe).
Griffith College is an active promoter of the Bologna Process^[11]

The generic outcomes for Irish degrees are laid out in the National Framework of Qualifications.^[12]

In 2006 Ireland became the first country to verify the compatibility of its national framework with the overarching framework of qualifications for the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and Griffith College’s degree programmes adhere to this framework.^[13]

Validating Partners

Griffith College works in partnership with a number of validating bodies in Ireland and the UK. This ensures that all programmes are recognised nationally and internationally.

QQI (HETAC) validation

The Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC – now part of QQI) is the awarding body for Irish higher education and training institutions outside the university sector.
The international recognition, status and value of HETAC qualifications is assured as the demand for graduates continues to grow at home and abroad.^[14]

HETAC complies with the standards and guidelines set by the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA)^[15]

King's Inns Recognition

In 2004, Griffith became the first independent college in the country to have its degrees (LLB and BA in Business & Law) recognised by the Honorable Society of King's Inns.^[16] for the purposes of admission to its annual entrance examinations. Having successfully completed these five examinations, students may then complete the Barrister of Law degree in just one year.^[17] which is a professional qualification for practice at the bar.

Student Life at Griffith College

Griffith College Dublin Halls of Residence

Overlooking Dublin's famous Grand Canal, Griffith College was originally an Army Barracks dating from the 1830s. Griffith Halls of Residence is located on campus and is a new apartment complex.

GriffFM

During the spring students from the Journalism & Media Faculty operate a radio station from the campus,.^[18] The radio station is licensed by the BAI (and the BCI before that) to broadcast for a couple of weeks.^[19] This year GriffFM broadcasts on 92.1 FM from 1–15 February^[20] ,^[21] and will be relayed online on.^[22] The station airs both hard news and music-oriented programmes produced and presented by second year journalism degree students and postgraduate journalism students.

College & Student Publications

There are a number of college publications.^[23] is the newspaper published by Journalism students, where examples of student work get published. The paper won the award for Small College Publication of the Year at the annual Oxygen Student Media (sMedia) Awards in 2005 and 2006, while Griffiti won in 2007.^[24] The Griff, The Griffin, 90 Degrees and Maverick are other student publications which have been produced by degree, higher diploma and Print journalism students in the past. X-press magazine was produced in 2008 by third year journalism and media students.
Glór uí Ghríofa (The Voice of Griffith) is the official college newsletter outlining college news, developments and campus life.

Griffith College Facilities & Services

The college facilities include Library, Common room, Computer Laboratories (248 workstations across 10 labs), CAD Lab, Photography Lab, Fitness Room, Sound Studios, Shop and Bar & Restaurant. The college also offers students a career advice service there is also a professional counsellor off campus providing an advice and counselling for personal and non-academic issues.

Library & Information Services

The College Library provides research and study facilities to students (and to college alumni), the library holds an extensive range of set course texts and background reading material for all college programmes. Library texts are easily accessed via the online Library catalogue.
As well as the large range of up to date texts Griffith have online books. Online books are a quick way to access the most up to date computing references. Texts not held on site can be ordered through the college's inter-library loans service.
Students also have access to over 15,000 journals, a growing catalogue of multi-media information resources, including CDs, CD-ROMS, VHS, DVD and music scores, and a comprehensive array of on-line databases including Business Source Premier (BSP), ABI-Inform, Westlaw.uk, Lexis-Nexis, HeinOnline, Westlaw.i.e., Emerald, Research for Libraries, Access Asia, Datamonitor, ERIC (fulltext), Communication and Mass Media Complete, Sage Communications, Avery Architectural Index, Design and Applied Arts Index, the ACM.Digital Library (plus SIGs), and Safari Books Online (technical e-books).
Online material is available through moodle, to use moodle students must be fully registered students of the college.

Griffith College Dublin Conference Centre

Griffith Conference Center is located on the college campus and provides modern conference facilities for a variety of uses such as Seminars, AGMs, Meetings, Examinations, TV Studio, Lectures, Training, Product Launches, Corporate events, Summer Schools, Concerts, Recitals, etc. The facilities include a 575-seat Auditorium, as well as smaller Suites and Rooms for hire. The Buildings were officially opened by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in September 2006.^[25] The Conference Centre has been used for a variety of functions such as conventions of political parties, medical bodies, industry groups or for television programmes such as the You're a Star auditions.^[26]

Notable Griffith College Staff & Graduates

• Journalist and Broadcaster Vincent Browne lectured in Journalism and Media at Griffith College Dublin.
• Author Cecelia Ahern is a Journalism graduate from Griffith College.
• Entrepreneur and Griffith College alumnus Padraig O'Feinneadha was elected president of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in 2006.^[27]
• Will Cullen who featured in the Powerade 2007 nevergiveup campaign is a Journalism graduate of Griffith.^[28]
• Mark Butler and Neville O'Boyle founders of BabySkip studied Computing Science at Griffith College.^[29]
• Newstalk reporter Henry McKean^[30] is a Journalism graduate from Griffith College.
• RTÉ announcer Laura Woods is also a Journalism graduate.
• Controversial former Government press secretary Frank Dunlop studied for an LLB in Irish Law, graduating in 2007.^[31]
• Dublin Gaelic footballer Mark Vaughan also studied at Griffith College.^[32]
• Dublin Opera Singer Lucy O' Byrne is a current student of Griffith Colleges Leinster School of Music has progressed to the Final of The UK Voice ^[33]
• Former Greystones Councillor and Mayor, Stephen Stokes is a former Students Union president of Griffith College. Stokes also captained GCD to 1st place in both the Irish University Chess and Irish University Paintball Championships in 2005.^[34]
• Dancer Dearbhla Lennon is a Journalism graduate and 2004 Griffith Student of the Year, toured with Riverdance and won Celebrity Jigs N' Reels in 2007^[35] represented Ireland in the 2008 Eurovision Dance Competition and is a reporter on The Afternoon Show^[36] on RTÉ and An Jig Gig, an Irish Dance talent show on TG4.^[37]
• Griffith graduate Aoiffe Madden was a contestant on the 2009 Apprentice TV show.^[38]
• Some more recent graduates of the LSMD at Griffith College include TV Personality and MTV Presenter Laura Whitmore^[39] and Niall Kinsella, finalist on the Ireland's Got Talent TV programme.
• Eurosong 2010 Finalist, Leanne Moore, graduated with a postgraduate diploma in Journalism and Media Communications from Griffith College.^[40]
• LLB Student Sean O'Quigley won the Christina Murphy Memorial Trophy the individual prize in the Irish Times Debate 2010.^[41]
• Media and Journalism graduate, Maria Walsh (2009) won the 2014 Rose of Tralee International Festival
• Ireland International Rugby players, Sean O'Brien, Sean Cronin and Fergus McFadden attend the college.
• Fine Gael TD Helen McEntee studied Journalism and Media Communications at Griffith.^[42]

Griffith College Dublin Buildings

• Daniel O'Connell Building – North Wing, International Office, Accounts, DIFC, Admissions, Journalism & Media faculty, Business Faculty.
• Arthur Griffith Building – West Wing, Reception, Lecture Rooms, Library, Fashion Design, Law Faculty, Graduate Business School.
• Meagher Building – houses the Griffith College Students Union
• James Stephens Building – Computer Labs, CAD Labs.
• Richmond Building – Photography Studios, Radio & Sound Engineering Studios.
• Wellington Building – Houses the Faculty of Computing Science, IT Department & Computer Labs.
• Cavalry Buildings – Photography Dark Rooms.
• Stables – Video Editing Studios.
• Academic Facilities Building – Restaurant, Auditorium, Conference Centre, School of Professional Accountancy (Opened in 2006)
• Design Studio (Opened in 2007)

Griffith College Expansion and Developments

Over the years Griffith College has expanded beyond its base in Dublin.

Having previously established its Professional Accountancy Programmes in Cork in 2000, offering training in ACCA, CIMA, CPA and IATI, Griffith College acquired Skerry's College Cork in 2005, forming Griffith College Cork the college runs a variety of full- and part-time courses in Business, Law, Media & Communications, Design, Secretarial and Office skills.

In 2006 Griffith College opened in Limerick with the acquisition of the Mid West Business Institute, creating Griffith College Limerick. In 2009 Griffith College Limerick moved into new premises which were officially opened by the Minister of Defence Willie O'Dea T.D. on 23 January 2009.^[43]

There is also one campus based in Moscow which mainly offers accountancy courses.

In 2009 the Professional Law courses were made available completely online – such as the FE1^[44] and IILEX courses.
^[45]

In Spring 2013 Griffith College Cork expanded to a 5.3 acre campus on Wellington Road, Cork City, on the former site of St. Patrick's Hospital and Marymount Hospice.
The Campus is called 'Griffith College Cork, Wellington Road Campus'. Teaching commenced at the Wellington Road campus in Summer 2013 with an English Language Residential School.

Since August 2013 all evening undergraduate, postgraduate, short-term and professional programmes in the areas of Law, Business, Journalism and Media Communications, Accountancy and Drama have moved to the facility.

St. Angela's College, Cork has sub-let the former hospital and hospice areas of the campus for three years, to facilitate a major renovation of their existing school, and the construction of state-of-the-art new buildings, on St. Patrick's Hill.
The St. Angela's Development Plan has been in place for some time, and their architects, O'Donnell and Toomey, have designed an innovative adaptation of the old Marymount buildings. The conversion of Marymount will provide St. Angela's College with extra facilities including more classrooms, ICT and Science facilities. Within the campus Griffith College and St. Angela's will operate as separate entities, having different entrances and buildings.

St. Patrick's Hospital and Marymount Hospice occupied this building until 2011, when, 141 years after it first opened its doors, the much loved institution relocated all of its services to new premises at Curraheen in Cork.

Kevin O'Dwyer, the chief executive officer of the Hospital, said; "We welcome this development as it is an ideal use of a lovely building that has served the hospital so well since 1870."

Griffith College Graduations

The college graduation ceremonies take place over two days each November in the Conference Center. In previous years the ceremony took place in Royal Hospital Kilmainham in 2004 and 2005, and St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin the year before that.
The 2002 graduation was addressed by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Education Minister Noel Dempsey address the 2003 Graduation^[46] and in 2005 justice minister Michael McDowell addressed Law graduates. In attendance are graduates with their families and friends, representatives of Validation Bodies, as well as political and diplomatic dignitaries.
At the graduation ceremony there are prizes awarded such as HETAC Student of the Year Award and Best Academic Achievements for each faculty and school.

Picture gallery

Coordinates: 53°19′53″N 6°16′41″W / 53.33139°N 6.27806°W / 53.33139; -6.27806

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Griffith College Dublin.

• Griffith College – official website
• – Griffith College LinkedIn profile
• – Griffith College Facebook page
• – Griffith College Twitter page