It's the Marianne and Connell effect.
Hit TV show Normal People may have landed Trinity College in Dublin thousands more applications.
Students have made more than 40,000 applications to study courses at Trinity through the Central Applications Office (CAO) system, an 11 per cent increase on last year.
Dean of undergraduate studies, Professor Kevin Mitchell, admits Marianne and Connell may have something to do with the increase.
''It was such a wonderfully made series from a fantastic novel from Sally Rooney who's one of our alumni, and directed by Lenny Abrahamson who's also one of our alumni.
''So it painted a really positive picture of what being at Trinity is like, and gave a chance for students to see themselves there''.
