Crossword Genius

Steadfast belief held by left-wing fresher at Irish university (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

faithful

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'steadfast' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'belief held by left-wing fresher at irish university' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'belief' could be 'faith' (faith is a kind of belief) and 'faith' is present in the answer.
'left' could be 'l' (common abbreviation) and 'l' is located in the answer.
'university' could be 'u' (abbreviation for university) and 'u' is located in the answer.
A single letter 'f' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for faithful that I've seen before include "Loyal and true" , "Steadfast and true" , "Steadfast in affection or allegiance" , "Loyal and steadfast" , "Constant and true" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.