Jarlath Taggart, MSc Communications student, Loughry Campus

Hi, my name is Jarlath Taggart and I am currently half way through my MSc in Communication. It has been a really hectic year to date and with all the assignment deadlines looming over the next few weeks, my social life will definitely be put on hold! One of the features that attracted me to the Communication course was the practical experience on offer. I have really enjoyed developing a promotional pack for a local business, providing interview training for local schools and we are in the middle of organising a major conference to be held at Loughry next month - now is that pressure or what?  So many of the courses I looked at just offered theory based delivery. The mix of theory and real life practical projects on the communication course really is the business and if all goes well over the next few months I am hoping to complete my thesis in Tanzania, where I will be staying with a past student, John Mboyna.  Now that’s what I call real experience.

In class we have discussed the Northern Ireland agri-food industry and the challenges it is facing and we recently had first hand experience of the food industry when we got the opportunity to make apple juice and cider in Loughry’s Food Technology centre. The apples were provided by our course manager Dr Roy Nelson who grows Yarlington Mill and Kingston Black varieties on his farm. We were hoping that perhaps we could get a few extra marks for our efforts but I don’t think Dr Nelson was taking our hints. However, it was good to get this small scale practical insight into food manufacture and best of all we got to sample the results of our hard work”  

Full-time communication students Shauna Harte, Jarlath Taggart and Aileen McElwee hard at work with their apple juice in Loughry’s Food Technology Centre.