Have you always wanted to pretend you were in the cast of Friends? Drinking late night coffees on an always available sofa with your mates or rushing into the local coffee house for a quick coffee and a chat before you rush off to work or class. Well for the residents of Trinity Hall they no longer have to pretend, thanks to the JCR Cafe.
The cafe officially opened for business on Monday March 10th and has already proved popular with the residents. Located at Trinity Halls, in Dartry, the cafe is a welcome addition to Halls life, providing its residents with a place to chat, relax, and get their morning fix of coffee. I popped in to try the coffee and chat with some of the JCR Committee about the space. When you enter the Halls canteen, what used to be empty space has been transformed into a cosy social area with sofas, a piano, a very popular pool table and a TV on its way. The space was previously only used for specific events such as prinks for club nights or the Welfare Breakfasts. Speaking with JCR Communications and Marketing Officer, Conor Batory, he explains, “It’s great to have for club nights and stuff like that, but it’s also really nice to have it for a more chilled out purpose as well, like a third space that students can come; it’s not their flat and it’s not college, and they can come here and just relax and have a coffee with their friends.”
The JCR cafe has been in the works for nearly a year. At a Halls Dragon’s Den event, hosted by Trinity Entrepreneurial Society (TES), the current JCR president, Aibhe McBride, Tech officer Joseph McKeon and Welfare Team member Katie McGee first pitched the idea of the JCR Cafe. The team won the Dragon’s Den event. When they took up their positions this year, they worked with the Trinity Hall warden, Nigel Stevenson, and various college staff to get the project on its feet. Speaking on the logistics Taylor comments, “we didn’t know whether it would pull through or not until Christmas was really the time where we were like, okay, we can make this happen properly.”
Before its official opening the JCR held a ‘Beans and Beats’ night to promote the new cafe. The event ran on February 27th and consisted of “chill beats from halls’ resident DJs” and free coffee. What more could you possibly want? The team reckons there were around 150 people at the cafe’s opening. JCR Secretary Mia Taylor said, “Yeah, the queue was out the door for the coffee, it was crazy! We had doughnuts, balloons, and music. We had said the first 50 coffees would be free but we ended up giving out free coffee all night.”
Speaking to the JCR about the new cafe, they noted that first-year students were particularly excited about the prospect of working at the cafe. The committee received over 70 applications for the job, actually having to close the applications early due to the amount of interest they received for the positions. JCR Communications officer Conor Batory stated that one of the team’s goals with the project was to provide employment opportunities for the first years at halls. With the JCR cafe the residents are able to gain experience and training to work in cafes without needing previous experience to get the job, something that is becoming increasingly rare. The JCR Cafe staff were given full barista training for the role, which Batory notes, “it’s something they can take with them so it’s easier to find a job somewhere else next year, which is brilliant.”
As well as the third space the cafe is offering students, it also offers great prices. You can get a tea for €1.50 and a coffee (hot or iced) for between €2.50- €3. For now the cafe is just doing drinks, but the Halls shop and vending machines are just next door if people want to grab a sweet treat with their coffee.
The JCR Cafe is open Monday to Thursday 8 am-12 pm and 4 pm-8 pm and Friday 8 am-12 pm.
