Tommy Tiernan Show review: Razan Ibraheem saved for 10 years to afford Limerick course
Razan Ibraheem
This week’s Tommy Tiernan Show saw journalist and activist Razan Ibraheem, who is from Syria, speak about how she worked for 10 years to save for the university fees so she could study in Limerick.
She says she was drawn to study in Ireland because of two things: university rankings and because she had studied Irish literature in Syria.
“I did my undergrad in a university in Syria, English Literature, for four years, but part of it was Irish literature. I studied James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and my graduation project was on Waiting for Godot. I was fascinated by Ireland as a country,” she says.
“At the same time, I wanted to do a Masters in teaching - English language teaching in particular. I was looking at the best courses for that, and UL came at the top of the list.”
However, Ibraheem says she had to save for a decade to afford the fees for the course she wished to pursue.
“I was an overseas student, so my fees were extremely high compared to Irish fees. My dream was to continue my studies, my ultimate dream. I looked at my pockets and I had one euro. And I was looking at the fees, they were €10,000.
“I had nothing to do just to work. I worked for 10 years, saving every year around €800 to €1000. After 10 years, I was able to get my full fees. I paid everything and then I arrived to Limerick.”
Earlier, performance and resilience coach Jack Kavanagh suffered a spinal cord injury in 2012 and spoke about how he has been since that life-changing event.
Kavanagh encountered many people with spinal injuries during his rehabilitation and he says he found great support at that time.
“Everyone's grappling with the same and different [issues],” he says, noting that while there was a range of ages there,there was a large number of younger men there.
“Predominantly spinal injuries happen to younger men, mostly a mixture of car crashes, falls, and so on.” He joked that Tiernan would have thrived in that environment as there was much dark humour among them, but adds that some days were more difficult than others.
“In a really dark way, you’d be in your element because you can say things that nobody else can say and you get away with stuff that just in any other circumstance wouldn't be tolerated. Dark humour becomes a big part of it, but there's days where you just need to pull the curtains and be with yourself and they are the times when someone sticks their head in and says ‘do you want a chat?’”
Kavanagh says he became more grateful as a result and he appreciated the support he got from family and friends.
“Everyone's in different places as well, you've got the guy that has more function than you that you're aspiring towards, and then you have huge gratitude that gee, I'm lucky I'm not in [a worse] scenario as well. You get an appreciation - I had fantastic family support, and I had a lot of friends in college and in Dublin at the time. That all goes a long way.”
Also on the show was writer and actor Clare Dunne, who co-wrote and starred in the film Herself. She spoke about why she writes what excites her and tries not to be swayed by bigger paying but less fulfilling gigs.
“When I'm asked to write something or think about writing something, I just think, cut your head off and imagine there's no such thing as money. As far as I'm concerned, you're gonna lie on your deathbed and go, ‘why did I spend two years doing a remake of that Disney film?’” she says.
“If you can, try and make your choices from what actually gives you a buzz because what gives you a buzz is probably the truth; that's the essence, that's something that you truly want to express.”
