‘Truly a weekend of firsts’ Limerick Leader intern starts placement at local elections

STARTING a new job is always scary, but starting your first job in a newspaper the week of three elections is a whole other ball game. It is not for the faint hearted.

Day one, it’s straight into a briefing to prep for the busy weekend ahead. We go through the game plan for keeping our live blog regularly updated, announcing each election, and making sure we don’t miss a single piece of news. My job? Help wherever I can with whatever I can.

I take a quick break from the media side of the election to work voting day as a polling clerk. It’s not the most thrilling of jobs, but it's a great opportunity to chat to voters and keep the Leader team updated on turnout figures across the city.

It also was a great source of ‘colour’ - which I’ve learned is journo-lingo for interesting observations - with voters commenting all day on the ballot papers’ length: “This feels like taking the Leaving Cert!”

“We’ll be here all night!”, and, my personal favourite, “Jesus, this is just like reading the Limerick Leader!”
You really can be a reporter from anywhere, so it seems.

Election weekend is undeniably overwhelming. Calming my nerves is the knowledge that the mayoral election is just as new as I am. No one knows what to expect - it is a soothing reminder that everyone is learning as they go.

During the quieter periods throughout the weekend, I discovered the challenge of writing stories when there are no stories to be found. Consistently finding snippets of newsworthy content to prevent dead air on the blog was trickier than anticipated.

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Posting photos of rice krispie buns was not what I expected from election weekend, but I’m happy to be gaining experience in all aspects of journalism - even the less glamorous sides of it.

Then comes the fun part: the spontaneous bursts of chaos each time an election is imminent. I’m in awe to be right in the thick of the action.

The adrenaline rush of frantically analysing the data in an attempt to predict the upcoming results is what got me into this business, and it is what reaffirms my choice of career. The excitement of pressing ‘post’ on a piece of breaking news will never grow old.

It is chaotic and stressful and terrifying, but there is nowhere I would rather be on election weekend than in the media corner with a lanyard around my neck making me look far more professional than I feel.

It may be a ‘baptism by fire’ but it is a creed I will happily follow.