More than 500 people attended the Olympia Theatre, Dublin on Friday, 24 March, for the RCSI International Night 2017.

Celebrating cultural diversity, this annual event was the Grand Finale of Cultural Diversity Month, which is celebrated in March each month. The winners on the night, who picked up to coveted Parnell Keeling Trophy was PIBS (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka), who stunned the audience with their performance, which was a beautiful spectacle of colours, sound and dance. 

The audience, made up of students, their families and friends, as well as RCSI staff and Alumni, was transported around the globe in a night of glittering entertainment which saw PIBS steal the show and the winning title from MESA (Middle Eastern Student Association). Students from the vast array of societies such as CAS (Caribbean-African Society), CIMSA (Canadian-Irish Medical Students Association), PMCSA (Penang Medical College Students Association) and the Irish society, performed action-packed dances and musical pieces inspired by their native countries.

The Choral Society, and Musical Trio - Moad Mohtasib, Maimoonah Alghamdi and Abdulrahman Alshammari, provided musical renditions that could hold their own on any stage. Simraaj Powar also gave a Hawaiian Dance lesson to willing volunteers.

The unenviable task of choosing a winner fell to the judging panel which included Professor Hannah McGee, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, RCSI; Philip Curtis, Associate Director of Admissions and Student Services; Professor Cathal Kearney, from the Department of Anatomy, RCSI; and Martin Davey, the Student Union President.

Speaking on the event, Prof. McGee said: "I am proud that over the past three years, our students, along with the Students’ Union and Student Services team, have really embraced March as Cultural Diversity Month and I hope it is a tradition we can continue for many years to come. There is no better way to sign off on our celebration of culture than International Night. This year's show was one of the best ever and the judging panel and I had such as tough decision to make, such is the array of multi-talented students at RCSI, so congratulations to PIBS."

Delivering the night's entertainment is the responsibility of the Cultural Officer of the Student Union, supported by the Student Services Office. This year the arduous task was ably managed by Malak Al-Qubaisi. Congratulations to all the performers on what is most definitely one of the best International Nights to date.