This is a college where the cobblestoned squares and cut-stone buildings are said to attract as many students as its strong academic reputation.

Students' union president Averil Power says: "The college is beautiful. There isn't a nicer college in the whole country. It has 400 years of history and tradition and people have a sense of this, even though they can't quantify it."

The majority of students never attend Commons', where scholars and fellows first listen to grace in Latin, before eating a three-course evening meal, washed down by a half pint of Guinness. Many will be uncomfortable referring to college terms as Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity. But, for all, attending a college whose library is home to four million books (including the Book of Kells) and journals, some 20,000 periodicals and extensive collections of manuscripts, maps and music, is a privilege.

"The library is fantastic, a huge asset to the college. It receives a copy of every book printed in England and Ireland (a right it has enjoyed since 1801). But there has been industrial action in the library for the past five years. Many of the books are in the stacks in Santry and staff will not retrieve them. This affects final year and postgraduate students particularly, as they are often looking for books other than the standard textbooks," explains Power.

The college's new provost, John Hegarty, says resolution of the dispute is a matter of priority. The students' union is also battling on other fronts: there's an ongoing dispute with catering regarding prices and food quality (the union has claimed some recent victories) and on-campus accommodation is severely limited. Sports facilities are not as plentiful as they might be, but a new sports centre is in the offing.

However, the union is represented on almost every committee in the college, including the college board, so the views of students don't go unnoticed. Power says that when it comes to academic issues, TCD is excellent, responding well to students' suggestions, such as online book renewal and online exam results.

There are now almost 15,000 students attending the college's city-centre campus (there are also smaller campuses at St James's Hospital and Tallaght Hospital) and, in recent years, overcrowding has become a problem.

A new library is being built and should be open shortly. Some 800 new residences are being built at Trinity Hall in suburban Dublin and the accommodation on the main campus is being modernised.

There is an ambitious plan for the north-east corner of the campus. The provost says: "We are landlocked so we have to be innovative. There will be a new underground 10,000 square metre sports centre, as well as an above ground IT building and a very large lecture theatre."

Whatever about the benefits to students, local residents are less impressed with TCD's drive for expansion. An ad hoc community group recently told Dublin Corporation that the college had turned its back on the Pearse Street side of the neighbourhood, and had left parts of the area derelict.

Hegarty says the college is planning to appoint a community liaison officer, who will develop a relationship with the local community, Dublin Corporation and businesses in the city. "As we're developing we should also contribute to the development of the city. That's a high priority now."

On research, Hegarty says TCD has a very good story to tell. "We have major strengths in science, engineering, medicine and life sciences. We have the Smurfit Institute of Genetics, the Moyne Institute for preventative medicine. In the humanities we have established an Institute for International Integration Studies, looking at the positive and negative effects of globalisation. Under PRTLI, we got funding for early Mediterranean studies and for Irish-Scottish studies.

"In the physical sciences, nanoscience is particularly strong. IT was funded the PRTLI and Iona Technologies grew out of here." The total income from research in the past year was more than £15.6 million, with more than 50 per cent of this coming, for the first time, from Irish sources. More than 40 companies have been formed since the formation of TCD's research and innovation service in 1986.

"In TCD, we place great emphasis on the connection between teaching and research," says Hegarty. The college has six faculties and some undergraduate programmes, such as clinical speech and language therapy and occupation therapy, are offered solely by TCD. There is a tutor system, whereby every student is assigned to an academic member of staff.

The college has evolved from a Protestant male institution to a mixed environment. Today, 60 per cent of the student body is female. Like other colleges, the intake of socio-economically disadvantaged students is low, but there are a number of interventions in place.

From 1999, the college has up to 70 reserved places each year to admit, as undergraduates, those who due to socio-economic circumstances would not have had the opportunity to attend third level. There are also foundation courses for mature students and for young adults.

"I came to the college for its history, its breadth of disciplines, the emphasis on scholarship, its excellence, its teaching programme," Hegarty says. "I love the ambience. There is a certain belief that TCD is an old inward-looking institution. But we are forward-looking. Look at the success of our research programme. There is a very good culture here, a good buzz." Hegarty has begun a strategic planning process, which will include a "full review of where we are, where we're going, where we want to position ourselves, the steps necessary to do this, and the costings".

By the end of the year, he expects this action plan to be completed.