PR students put theory in to practice at glam ball

SETU’s public relations and media course celebrated 21 years since its establishment with an absolutely fabulous gala ball at the Seven Oaks Hotel on Wednesday 19 November, where students and teachers were presented with awards for their contributions to the programme.

As part of one of their modules, final-year PR and media students were tasked with planning a public relations campaign. After some brainstorming, the 13 fourth-year students, along with some assistance from the SETU’s PR and media programme director Gregg Murphy, decided to host a celebratory ball to mark the occasion.

All decisions regarding the planning of the night were made democratically. The students were assigned different tasks in the lead-up to the event, such as securing sponsorship, designing the layout of the ballroom and the promotional posters and looking after the social media campaign.

Awards were presented to one student in each year group, with lecturers and teachers selecting the winners. Final year student Rebecca Beehan from Freshford, Kilkenny was awarded the Overall Student of the Year prize.

There were also two lifetime achievement awards presented to Dr Irene McCormick and Dr Pauline Flanagan, who were honoured for their contribution to the course over the last two decades.

Over 130 people were in attendance on the night, which was kindly sponsored by several local businesses such as REA Sothern, KCLR, Dan Morrisey and Co and IPL Group.