RTÉ presenter Nick Sheridan reflects on time in DCUfm
Nick Sheridan graduated from DCU in 2013 having been an integral part of the news team in DCUfm for several years. He has since worked for TV3 on the ‘Late Lunch Live’ show and is now a presenter and reporter on RTÉ’s News2Day.
I studied Journalism in DCU from September 2010 to May 2013. While my BA ended up being a Journalism degree, there was another course that I took during my time in Glasnevin (or is it Ballymun?). That course was totally free of charge, I met some of my closest friends while studying it, and I would firmly say that it is the main reason I am working in the area I am today. That course was DCUfm, and specifically DCUfm News.
Beginning as a newsreader in 1st year, I then began to co-ordinate news bulletins in 2nd Year, and became one of a number of news editors. Together, we spent some of the happiest moments I had in college. There were long nights,early starts, frantic panics and an awful lot of fun.
Nick in studio with the news team
Hoping to build on the successes that DCUfm had already achieved, we treated the station and our team like a totally professional one. Every Newswire had real-life politicians discussing real-life issues, every DCU Review tackled the problems facing fee-paying students, and every bulletin had to contain the very latest news. I remember one day becoming a bit grumpy that a golf score read out on the sports news had changed by a few shots since the bulletin was written. These were the standards that we held ourselves to, and I expect the current newsteam will hold themselves to those standards.
It’s not as dull as I seem to be making it out to be – the craic was mighty. In the week of the student elections, college basically went out the window. Every minute of every day we were interviewing candidates, writing profiles, taking campus-wide polls, crunching numbers, holding debates and haunting hustings. Those elections are the experience of a lifetime, and I would encourage anyone with a passion for news to take part.
Nick and former DCUfm Manager Ciaran O’Connor interview Michael Martin
OK, so we may not have been the coolest kids on the campus – a Marantz doesn’t scream “smooth” like a Macbook Pro does (those damn Communications hipsters), but the buzz you get from a six hour live Budget Day special cannot be topped for excitement.
All in all, I owe a huge amount to DCUfm, and the people who I met there, all of which are now engaged in full-time employment within the media in Ireland. The very best of luck to Sean, Eoin, Aoife, Tommy and the team.
Walk through the door, put your name down, and prepare for the best three years of your life. And keep an eye on those golf scores.
