CollegeTribune 12+

The College Tribune is an independent student newspaper based in University College Dublin.

Established in 1989 by one of Ireland’s best known print and broadcast journalists, Vincent Browne, it is UCD’s oldest surviving newspaper. Currently entering in 34th volume. It is the last student newspaper in Ireland that is both editorially and financially independent of its college.

The College Tribune is UCD’s only independent newspaper and has a proud tradition in college journalism. Unlike most Irish student newspapers, the Tribune receives no funding from the Students’ Union. The Tribune survives purely on advertising revenue. The paper has traditionally taken an adversarial and investigative approach to holding the college authorities in Belfield to account.

It has produced a number of high-profile journalists that can be seen in the national media today. Previous editors include Conor Lally, crime correspondent for The Irish Times, The Sunday Times journalist Richard Oakley, Irish Independent soccer correspondent Daniel McDonnell, Roddy O’Sullivan duty editor of The Irish Times, Emmet Oliver, Deputy Business Editor of the Irish Independent, brothers Gary and Fergus O’Shea, both now in The Sun, who were editors in 1996–97 and 2001–02 respectively.

Other past contributors include Dave Kelly, now chief sports analysis writer with the Irish Independent, and Katherine Smyth, a former associate producer with BBC Current Affairs.

In 2016/17 the paper won the Student Media ‘Newspaper of the Year’ award, after breaking several investigative stories in the Tribune and the national media, including a front page story in the Irish Times on the €3 million budget overrun of the Chinese Confucius Centre on campus.

The College Tribune was tied to the national Sunday Tribune through its connections with Vincent Browne, but such links ended in 1999. The Tribune has also been distinguished on several occasions at national student media awards, particularly in sports writing, where it has a strong tradition. The paper won the Student Newspaper of the Year at the first USI/Irish Independent media awards in 1996. Editor at the time Conor Lally was also named as Student Journalist of the Year in 1996. Tribune stalwart Peter Lahiff was a recipient of a Guardian Award for Diversity in 2003.