Sean Murray
It's a bit of a cliché, but my highlight was really the "college experience". I hadn't done TY so was only 17 starting out in first year at Maynooth, and it was such a world away from secondary school. I went from disliking certain subjects and rote learning in school to fully engaging in what we were learning. The reading list on first year in English felt carefully designed to blow our tiny little minds and make us view books/plays/films very differently to how we had before. That sense of discovering new things sustained me right through the next few years to doing an MA at Maynooth too.
And, of course, the "college experience" also encompasses the social aspects to student life. I really truly embraced all the events all the chances to mingle with others, going to SU events etc. I'd wake up every day looking forward to going into college in Maynooth. And, over a decade on, I still miss it.
The location is truly great. It's a great big college at the centre of a medium sized town outside of Dublin. The town itself has a lovely vibe with great pubs but then the college itself has great facilities and faculty, and none of the hustle and bustle you'd get at the Dublin colleges. But then it's also close enough to travel into the capital quickly enough too with decent transport links.
Just on the facilities, the library is a fantastic resource and I really enjoyed having the majority of my lectures for English in the Iontas Building at the time. The contrast of the old and new across the north and south campuses was something I always really enjoyed.
Something I've absolutely taken into my work life that I started at Maynooth was using the freedom you have to complete tasks in a way that works for me. Having that freedom to decide how to use my time meant I got good at organising it. Again, it's so unlike school. In college, you've essay deadlines and exams on specific dates. I wanted to enjoy my time to the fullest when at Maynooth so when we got a new essay deadline, I'd work really hard on it to make sure it was in well before that deadline. I do the same in work now where I'm able to organise my time effectively to make sure I get what needs doing done.
In English, the kind of critical thinking skills they try to instil in you have done me a great service in my career now too. It's not as simple as reading something and taking it at face value. You've to analyse it. Pick up on the subtext, know the context of what's gone before, and the experience that's gone into creating something.
Throw yourself into it. I hadn't the clearest idea what I wanted to do when I finished school. So I put down an arts degree and took it from there. It may have been topics I wasn't familiar with but I gave everything a go anyway and tried to get to grips with the subjects as best as I could. When you put the time in, you can get so much out of it.
And one regret I have is not getting involved with more clubs and societies while I was there. So please do that. And definitely enjoy the town of Maynooth and making all the new friends you meet there before the few years pass and it's all over.
Details of your career path to date:
I had the unfortunate luck of graduating straight into one of the worst recessions in living memory. I had a vague idea I wanted to write for a living, and there was zero chance of getting paid to do that here so I went on that well-worn path of emmigration.
In London, I got experience writing and editing for B2B publications. I had little interest or grá for the jobs I did, but it was essential to get that experience. All along I was plotting my route back to Ireland and hoping the experience I'd gained for the CV and my academic background would stand to me.
I got a lucky break when I moved home in 2016 and got a job as a news reporter at The Journal, which was doing very well in the online news space having started a few years prior. They took a chance on me, and my career really started to take off. I got to cover all manner of things from referendums to major court cases in my time there. I was also lucky in that the workforce was made up mainly of people in the same boat as me. Mid-to-late 20s arts or media graduates who were mad into the news. I learned so much from everyone there, and it's really stood to me in my career.
From there, and after a brief segway via RTÉ, I ended up at the Irish Examiner newspaper. Here, my career has gone from strength to strength. As a senior news reporter, I've travelled to the likes of the Polish-Ukrainian border at the start of the war, Israel, the US and the UK in my job. I've covered major criminal trials and other court cases. It's a privilege to be able to work here.
Can you tell us of any career highlight to date?
As a journalist, the highlight has undoubtedly been the chance to cover the journey of families of victims and survivors of the Stardust tragedy. The 1981 fire at a north Dublin nightclub is one of the worst tragedies in modern Irish history, where 48 young people died.
I became interested in the story in 2019, when the families were campaigning for new inquests into the deaths of their loved ones. I couldn't believe the details of the case after researching it, and thought a long-form documentary podcast would be a great way to tell that story. And so that became the multi-award winning Stardust podcast later that year, built on interviews with survivors, family members and first responders who rushed there on the night.
I've been lucky that after the inquests were granted, I was able to follow the story to its conclusion with the verdicts of unlawful killing for each of the 48 who died amid emotional scenes in court in April. That all culminated in a book, The Last Disco: the story of the Stardust tragedy, which builds on the work of the podcast to tell the story of what happened right up to the present day. It was a privilege to be given the chance to tell the story, and it's a highlight of my career unlikely to be topped.
What do you find most interesting/challenging about your job?
It's extremely fast-paced and kind of all-encompassing as a career. You have to really be into the news, and then news is always happening. It's getting up early to listen to Morning Ireland, reading through all the newspapers, and catching all the big interviews throughout the day while also keeping an ear out for what's going in the Dáil, and in the courts and elsewhere. It can be a bit exhausting, but also exhilirating and rewarding to be so close what's going on and getting info on things as they happen.
How did you find your current job?
It was an advertisement posted online! And it was a paper I was very keen to work for so it was a no-brainer to apply and, luckily, here I am.
What advice would you give to Maynooth University students entering the job market, either generally speaking or in regard to your specific career sector?
I think in my field, trying to get as much experience as possible while still in college will really stand to you. It could be making a documentary, writing for the student newspaper, or pitching local stories to outlets to try get on their radar. It's a tough jobs' market out there so all the previous examples you can show of you actually doing the role you're applying for can really make a difference.