Dublin, now home to some 46,000 third-level students, has a tradition of student societies which stretches back over three centuries. The University Philosophical Society in Trinity College was formed in 1684, while the College Historical Society was founded by Edmund Burke and a small number of colleagues in 1747.

The tradition and financial clout of `the Hist' has meant it has been able to attract guests such as Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North of Iran Contra fame and former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing. However, some newer clubs and societies in Trinity give their more august counterparts a run for their money.

UCD's most renowned club is the Literary & Historical Society. James Joyce presented a paper entitled Drama and Life to the L & H when a student and ran unsuccessfully for the auditorship.

The society is still the most consistent in the country at producing top class public speakers and the L&H's Friday debates - while uneven in quality and erratically attended - are the centrepiece of society activity in Belfield. Some of the societies rivalling the L&H in terms of membership in recent years are Dramsoc, Netsoc, the Film Society and several faculty-based societies.

The country's largest university has also been home to a number of prominent sports people in the past few years. Jason Sherlock played for the League of Ireland soccer team while studying at Belfield, Meath star Trevor Giles benefitted from the college's Gaelic football scholarship programme, while athletes such as David Matthews and Nigel Brunton have also made the most of Belfield's sports facilities.

DCU also lays a strong emphasis on sport, and the arrival of Tipperary hurling legend Nicholas English led the university to Ryan Cup glory this year. The college's population of would-be journalists and communicators of all sorts had led to a high density of media-related societies.

Recognised societies last year included the Film, Freedom of Information, Publications, Media Production and Journalism societies. Student life in DIT benefits from the fact that its campuses are all close to the city centre. Well over one hundred clubs and societies operate in the institute and its Challenging Times quiz team reached the final of the competition this year.

UCC proved the strength of its debating scene when it won The Irish Times debating competition this year. UCC also scored a major sporting success, winning hurling's Fitzgibbon Cup for the third time in March. They have won the title almost 40 times in all.

Ken Curtin of Cork IT says its students' relations with UCC students are very good and the rivalries of years gone by have been laid to rest everywhere except on the sporting field.

He says the campaign last year for IT status has "killed off the biggest problem in the student body in CIT: apathy."

Relations between students at NUI Galway and the Galway Mayo IT are similarly amicable, with students from both institutions having worked together on a student radio station licensed by the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC).

Students form 15 per cent of the population of Galway and that gets closer to 20 per cent during the city's Rag Week which attracts visitors from all over the country. Student radio is alive and well elsewhere on the West coast. Limerick's Wired FM was one of three campus radio stations to receive provisional approval for a five year community of interest licence from the IRTC earlier this year. UL also boasts a debating society that frequently gives the older universities a run for their money: they won The Irish Times competition in 1997.

However, it's not just in the major university towns that extracurricular activity is thriving. Student union officers in ITs around the country report that the range of activities available to students in rural towns has improved dramatically in the past five years. Students in Tralee have "an amazing amount of choice when it comes to pubs," according to the student union. In spite of this, the institute has had a large amount of sporting success: the Gaelic football team won the Sigerson Cup for the second time in a row this year. Dundalk IT's GAA clubs have had a more controversial year. In 1997, the institute had seven GAA teams which included 11 inter-county players. However, the institute disbanded all their GAA clubs in February of this year after a player and one of the club's officers were suspended in the aftermath of an acrimonious Sigerson Cup clash with NUI Galway. SU president Miles McDonnell says he's hopeful that the GAA club will be up and running again by September.

Sports are not all that's on offer in the ITs. In Carlow, societies cater for enthusiasts of everything from astronomy to traditional music. Student-organised social events in the town frequently attract 1300 people, and on special occasions attendances have even reached 2,000, a figure rarely attained at student events in Dublin.

The activities mentioned here are only the tip of the iceberg. A full list of clubs and societies is often included in college's prospectuses. Student unions and campus sports officers will also have plenty of information on activities in your college.