The newly created JCR Café began its opening night shortly before 7 on the 27th of February with a long line forming straight after. The café occupies the space of the Trinity Halls canteen, which is usually used for public forums, election hustings etc. Just past its coffee station, which was being manned by three members of the JCR Welfare Team.
The café has a small seating space complete with a piano, fairy lights and a pool table. The event’s music spotlighted amateur djs from Trinity Hall.
Speaking to the University Times, JCR President Aibhe McBride estimated that there would be around 150 people visiting the Café during the first hour. When asked what prompted the idea for the Café’s creation McBride stated that, “we [McBride and her flatmates] saw a big gap for a kind of active hive of community in Halls and a kind of cozy, welcoming student space.”
Securing the funding from a Dragons’ Den event ran by the JCR that McBride and her flatmates participated in last year and and a further 5,000 euro from the HEA (Higher Education Authority) fund, the Café was well stocked with donuts, Kind Bars and Celsius drinks alongside a choice of coffee, tea or hot chocolate.
Prices in the JCR Café are aimed to be student-friendly, with the starting price for a coffee being 2.50 euro and 1.50 euro for tea.
The Café will open its doors again after Reading Week, on March 10th.
