The full-time MBA social committee organised a trip to Leitrim Quay as a last weekend away before we started into our company projects. Unfortunately, some of the guys that signed up were unable to make it, due to course workloads and the MBA rugby world cup that was happening the following week in Duke University (which Smurfit won! Go team!).
However, some of us were able to head down. On the night of Thursday 31st March, five of us headed down to check the place out and, more importantly, grab the nicer beds. We arrived late, so it wasn’t until the following morning that we were up and about and playing with the boats.
One of the Vietnamese girls from the class, Tham Nguyen, had never driven a vehicle in her life. So we decided that a very slow boat on the river Shannon was good place for her to start. And she loved it! We, of course, loved it too because it meant that we could sit back and drink beers while Tham guided the craft for us.
We took a cruise down to Carrick-on-Shannon for our day trip, where I found a chipper that sells battered Mars bars. It was one more item marked off the bucket list and, at 1,000 calories, one large step closer to kicking the bucket. We also visited the Costello Memorial Chapel, the smallest chapel in Europe.
Upon arrival in Carrick-on-Shannon, we noticed a bar with a mooring called Ging’s. Before we took the boat home that afternoon, we decided to stop in there for a pint and some games of pool. Tham had also never before played pool, so it was quite a day for her. She beat both Justin and me before we called it a day.
That evening, more of our classmates arrived down and we ended the night drinking and chatting in one of the houses until the wee hours.
– Jamie O’Connell
