Jane Fallon Griffin| Deputy Magazine Editor
In 1966 students journalists in Trinity News surveyed members of the public in order to gauge public perceptions of Trinity and its students. Nearly 50 years later, we decided to repeat the survey and took to the streets to find out whether or not these perceptions have changed.
See if you can tell the difference between then and now…
1. “I think it’s a very good university. One of the top. Isn’t it?”
2. “I think it stinks of protestantism.”
3. ” A little bit of Heaven in Holy Ireland.”
4. “It’s a breeding ground for affectation and social snobbery.”
5. “It’s a good well , world renowned university, well recognized, artsy more than sciencey”
6. ” Trinity’s getting tamer. Students don’t do the wild things they used to do. It’s a pity.”
7. “Arrogant”
8. “Well I hope everybody from all walks of life and religious persuasion avail of the opportunity to go to Trinity which wasn’t always the case.”
9. “It’s lovely, well I’m homeless so I don’t go a lot they seem alright they’re all nice people never bothered me.”
10. “Well, they are a race and a law unto themselves.”
11. “Some students in there have more money to spend on themselves than I have for my whole family, and there are five of us, I think it’s bloody unfair”
13. “Posh. It’s kind of a museum”
14.” Well, they’re snobs and anti-Catholic, but education is a rare enough commodity in this country, so I suppose they are worth the space they take up.”
15.“They’re nice but they just have a lot of money.
16. ” It doesn’t have enough influence in Ireland. We ought to have a
bloody government from it, instead of that crew in Leinster House.”
17. “Smart people, like loads of points.”
18. ” It’s no different from any other University. Everyone’s trying to be more eccentric than everyone else.”
19. ” There are a lot of snobs. You get an Irishman going there and
coming out talking with an English accent. It’s still a symbol of British
rule.”
20 . “wankers”
21. ”Before I lived in the city I would have thought privileged people but they had to work hard to get in there so”
Answers:
1966: 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 14, 16,18, 19,
2014: 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 20, 21
