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TRINITY VOLLEYBALL MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TEAM WIN STUDENT SPORT IRELAND VOLLEYBALL TIER 1 CUP FINALS Trinity are back-to-back women’s and men’s Student Sport Ireland / Volleyball Ireland Tier 1 Cup champions after victories over UCD and Dundalk IT respectively on 21 March in Maynooth University. First up was the Dublin derby Women’s Final with Trinity College Dublin up against UCD. This turned out to be one of the most gripping, skilful, and entertaining finals over recent years with a high standard of play from start to finish. Trinity took the opening set 25- 20, but UCD won a very close second set 25-23. The third set was an epic tussle between two great teams and with the 2-point winning rule needing to come into play before UCD eventually saw it out 27-25. The out-going champions Trinity, were now in a position where their title was slipping from their grasp but a strong opening to set four saw them get into a winning position and despite a late rally from UCD, Trinity secured the fourth set 25-21. This set up a tie breaker and having gained the momentum in the fourth set Trinity carried it into the fifth set and were crowned champions once again with a 15-4 win in the decider. Buoyed by the success of their female counterparts it was now over to the men from Trinity to try to complete the double when they met Dundalk IT. A very strong Trinity side who have players who were chasing their third Tier 1 Cup title during their studies showed their experience and skill in blitzing Dundalk IT 25-14 in the opening set. Despite being under heavy firing power from Trinity in the opening set, Dundalk IT began to find their feet in the match and showed much more in set two before losing out 25-15. The Louth outfit continued to battle for everything in the third set but with the victory line in sight, strong serving by several Trinity players helped to complete the double on the evening with a 25-18 score line in the third set. MEDALS FOR TRINITY JUDO CLUB AND THE CANOE AND KAYAK CLUB AT THEIR RESPECTIVE INTERVARSITY EVENTS The Judo Intervarsities took place at the University of Galway, Trinity Judo Club competed emerging with several individual medals (see below for the full list). Trinity Judo Captain, Mark Byrd commented after the competition: ‘The team truly embraces the spirit of Judo, and I couldn’t be prouder of their performance. From the beginning to the end, they showcased their skill and determination, leaving nothing on the mat. Even those who were competing for the first time showed remarkable composure and poise, performing as though they were seasoned pros.’ The canoe and kayak club competed at the Kayak Intervarsities and had some amazing results including Aoibhin Ni Bhroin who won the best female paddler, there were also podium finishes in K1, freestyle and a third place in polo. Click here for the full list of results from the Judo Intervarsities.
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Wild, wild orchids Wild native orchids are a feature of the Burren and other rural landscapes, typically woodlands, bogs and mountains, but this flower appeared in the centre of Dublin, in Trinity’s Front Square The month of May has been designated a ‘no mow’ month internationally as part of a global initiative to enhance the environment for pollinators. Trinity, co-founder of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, has been an enthusiastic ‘no mower’ for a number of years now, with campus lawns now left unmowed for a good part of the year. As wildflowers began to bloom across campus in this May and June, Professor Jenny McElwain Chair of Botany spotted something rare and unusual in the lawn immediately inside Front Arch: an orchid called a broad-leaved helleborine growing under a birch tree. And then, she spotted another… This wild orchid, with tiny purple flowers, ten times smaller than those on a cultivated tropical orchid, has made headlines around Ireland. In an interview with The Irish Times , Professor McElwain explained that the helloborine requires very specific conditions to grow, which is why it is so rare: ‘Like all orchids, it can’t germinate unless it has a fungal partner. If it finds exactly the right fungal partner it forms fungi around its roots. It’s most likely that this little orchid is connected by threads of fungus to the birch tree it is under.’ It’s unusual enough to find one helleborine but Trinity’s lawn has two, and remarkably, another orchid called a Pyramidal Orchid, with small pink leaves in a dense pyramid-shaped cluster popped up a few weeks later. Birds, or human feet, or the wind may have brought the orchid seeds to Front Square in the first place, or they may have been here for decades, waiting for the chance to germinate. Although Trinity only stopped mowing in recent years the lawns inside Front Arch have never had nitrogen added or used weed killers or feeds, which means that the soil is in good condition, and when the mowing stopped, the biodiversity came through. More than 35 species of plantlife emerged through no-mow May and June. Professor McElwain points out that ‘if the lawn was mown, you would have a species diversity of one.’ ‘In the midst of a biodiversity and climate crisis’, says Professor McElwain, ‘it is our responsibility to show what’s possible, and this demonstrates how simple measures can lead to really spectacular results. Never in our wildest dreams did we expect this. Fingers crossed, we might see more orchids next year, and then over time we could get a really fabulous show of orchids.’
