Trinity will update students and staff on the ongoing closure of College – announced today by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar – in the next 48 hours.
Varadkar today announced that schools and colleges would not re-open on March 29th as planned, and will instead remain shut until at least April 19th.
In an email sent to students and staff, Trinity Secretary John Coman said: “The Minister of Education Joe McHugh has indicated that he will give further details around schools and universities in the next 48 hours. We will write to you with further information once the Minister has made his announcement.”
The College, he said, is set to remain “completely closed” to everyone but a small group of on-campus residents and the staff members who are needed for “essential services”
Students will continue with online learning facilities that have been implemented since the college shut down earlier this month.
Coman said: “It is important to note that lectures are continuing online and we will be carrying out exams and assessments online in the coming weeks.”
This evening, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Ents Officer Judith Robinson confirmed that this year’s Trinity Ball has been cancelled due to the coronavirus.
Speaking to The University Times, Robinson said: “Following the announcement today that was made the Taoiseach that colleges will close, and the extension will be made until the 19th of April, obviously that means that Trinity Ball will be unable to go ahead.”
“Students will be given a full refund if they have purchased tickets”, she added.
“This is very unfortunate as we had a fantastic lineup and a massive amount of work was put into preparing for the ball”, she said, “but it is for the best, as everyone’s health and wellbeing is what’s most important at the moment”.
Last week, when contacted by The University Times, Trinity media relations officer Aoife Carr said that “no decision has been taken as yet” on whether the ball would proceed.
Robinson said Trinity will make a statement this week announcing the cancellation of the ball.
This year’s line-up for Trinity Ball included Eat Everything, Rejjie Snow and DJ Seinfield, and was to be headlined by Tinie Tempah, who also played at the ball in 2010.
