 form. It's going to be a hybrid version or a regular leaving set. And a lot of leaving set students at the moment are looking beyond June and trying to see, you know, what options might be available to them come September. And to that end, that a Kenny AT are hosting a virtual information evening tomorrow evening from five to eight, not just four leaving set students because they'll be outlining all the opportunities that are available to mature students and early school leavers and others. Well, Fiona Kelly, who's Marketing Manager at the Kenny AT joins us now and also joins us streaming. Fiona, good afternoon. So opportunities for a lot of different people as they outlined there and the mature students and early school leavers as well as those that are about to set the leaving set. Yeah, so there's a little bit of something for everybody parents as well, John, because we know it's important that we can, I suppose, hit a lot of bases when it comes to our information sessions. We were lucky in November that we got to host an onsite event and we had 1600 leaving sets on campus in November. So they really just before I suppose Omnicron hit, we kind of were in there and had that event happened. So it allowed students really to come in and really get a sense of the campus, see your facilities, check out all of our labs, all of our amazing facilities across all of our discipline areas. But this event then goes a little bit further. It's webinars, they're 30 minutes long each and they have certain experts from L my it delivering talks. So if you're a parent or a teacher or a prospective student, say thinking about a CEO application, there's a talk being delivered by my colleague Tracy Tracy Sheridan on the CEO application process. Maybe you're thinking about full time courses. Well, what does L y it have to offer? There is a specific talk on that that's delivered by Victoria Wilson, excuse, engagement officer. There's a talk then for parents about supporting the transition to third level. And because it can be a very difficult time for a secondary school student to make that move for that leap into third level and Michael Markey, our head of Faculty of Business is delivering that talk. And then Dr. Nigel McKelvey is doing a talk on online and part time courses, as you rightly mentioned, it's not just for leaving certs, maybe people have been impacted because of COVID-19, maybe down to short working hours. There's a little something for everybody now at letter Kenny it and that's where the online and part time programs talk comes in. We also then have a talk by Rashi McCormack, our disability officer on student supports on the higher education access route, which is called here. And then the disability access route to education, which is there. And then I'll be delivering a talk about the Susie grants about scholarships and bursary. So there's a little bit of something for everybody in those six sessions. There is a lot covered over a relatively short period of time between five and eight. Now, and how does it work? Are those all those sessions linked or can you can you go in and pick and choose? Yeah, you can do that table. Yeah, so there's a time table on our website. If you go to lyit.ie forward slash open day, you can see the full schedule. You might be a parent just interested in the transition to third level talk, or maybe you're just somebody who's thinking about online or part time courses. You don't have to attend all of them. You can go on and register on the links or you can attend all of them. But we're also streaming live on our Facebook and YouTube platforms. I suppose like what you have today, you have me online with you here and then live on the radio. So we have to have a hybrid model now at Lyit. Like so many other organizations, we're offering it in a multifaceted way. So say, for instance, if you're an international student, looking out for information and a lot of European students apply to Lyit through the CAO, you can click and connect either on our Facebook or a YouTube channel. Actually, Lyit's YouTube channel is the most viewed in the higher education sector. So we're very proud of that. Great. And in a way, the webinar will suit some people. Others might prefer to be able to go along in person. That's just not possible at the moment. But tomorrow night, you can sit in the comfort of your own home and hear what's being said and you can get a virtual tour of the college. Yeah, exactly. And you can ask questions as well. If you come in via the Zoom link or on social media, you can ask us your questions and our team will then be answering those questions live as well. So look, this is an ideal in terms of not being able to have people on campus. But from the beginning of February, we're hopeful that more people will be able to come back and visit. And you can book a visit to the campus, say if you're a parent, or you're a grandparent, or maybe you're a student with a couple of friends who wants to come on, you can book a visit with either myself or Victoria and we'll take you through the campus. The campus tour takes around an hour and a half. And we'll take you right through the facilities. And again, big times ahead for Lyit, becoming at Donegal University and becoming Atlantic Technological University. So it's a very exciting year ahead for us. Absolutely. That's linking up with Sligo and Galway. That's right. The three institutions, a total of eight campuses will be merged together and there'll be 20,000 students and just under 3000 staff. So it's very exciting. We offer 54 CAO programs at Lyit. And as you mentioned at the beginning, programs such as Access, for instance, for somebody who maybe was an early school leaver who left the education system maybe at 14, 15, 16 years of age. Access Studies is like a pre-degree program, a preparation course. And we're doing a standalone session for that program actually, John, on the 31st of January, as well for anybody who's out there. And we've some amazing people who've come through our Access course and gone on to really great things, having left school maybe early and then returned to education. That's kind of like dipping your toes in the water. Exactly. It's a taster. And it's a part-time course, which is quite flexible. Say if you're a parent at home, we have some amazing people who were part of a campaign that we had there in November. One of our students, Avin Sims, currently a third-year computing student, was a busy stay-at-home mum and wanted to return to education and didn't think she had the confidence to do that and absolutely excelling. Now, one of the top students in applied computing a third year, having done Access. And again, Access gives you that confidence to return to education. So, for those people out there who are thinking, well, God, I could never return to education. That wouldn't be for me. Sure, I wouldn't be able. There are so many people that have come through LIIT, haven't started an Access course, and have excelled. And I just, big believer, returned to education. And I watched my own mother come back to education and study as a nurse. So, I really see the benefits of it. And I can't advocate it enough. And it cost you nothing just to have a look and consider it. And for those who are between jobs, there's plenty of Springboard Plus places as well. Yeah, so Springboard Plus courses are great because not only are they free to people who maybe are on unemployment benefit or receiving some levels of support, people who are in employment only have to pay 10% of the fees in the program that they're choosing. So, you could be returning and maybe considering a master's course. Maybe you're thinking about maybe a conversion course into computing, maybe you previously studied a business degree, or maybe you studied nothing at all and you want to maybe pick something like, for instance, leadership and management or a course in social media marketing. These courses then are funded. And as I said, only 10% of the funding has to be paid for if you're in full-time work. So, again, this is a government initiative, Springboard Plus and the July Stimulus Programs. It's to try and get people into areas that are kind of underrepresented within the market. So, IT, for instance, like social media, leadership and management. So, if you go to LIT's website and you click on Springboard, you'll see the list of programs that are available right now in terms of Springboard Plus and July Stimulus. And Dr. United McKelvey is delivering actually that talk tomorrow as well. And then next week we actually have our first ever post-grad and part-time event. It's happening on Wednesday, the 26th of January. We have around two online events a week happening now for the next 10 weeks with just various activities and events happening. So, there's a little something, as I said, for everybody. And don't discount yourself. If you are, if you've got that notion to return to education, then do consider letter Kenny IT. One and two, Donnie Gull students are now choosing to study at home and choosing LYT. We're very proud of that. So, that's down to offering what our community is looking for. Okay. Well, a lot's happening at the Kenny IT as always. And that includes tomorrow's virtual information evening. It starts at five, continues through until eight. And do you need to register or can you just link in? Yeah. So, if you follow our Facebook page and YouTube page, you just click and connect. You can check at the timetable because maybe not every talk is relevant to you. But if you want to go to the website, lyit.iefort slash open day, you'll see the schedule. And then you can also pre-register on our Zoom links as well. So, live streaming on Facebook and our YouTube pages. But if you want to just specifically link into the talks, there's links there to pre-register on lyit.iefort slash open day. Brilliant. Fiona Kelly, thank you very much. Thanks so much, Don. All the best, everyone. When it comes to searching for a holiday, Atlantic Travel and letter Kenny deal with all the major tour operators from Dublin and Belfast to find you the best deals of