The Edition, Thursday, 3 November, 2016

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A Sad Farewell - Pg 7

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Thursday 3 November 2016

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Lack of Gender Neutral Toilets - Page 4

Possible Funding Issue for Grangegorman Student Centre Plans for the inclusion of a multipurpose area and a theatre in the Grangegorman Student Centre have been thrown into doubt due to a lack of funding according to DITSU Matthew Colfer Editor @mcolfer1

The inclusion of a basement in the planned Grangegorman Student Centre has been thrown into doubt in recent weeks due to funding issues with the project according to DITSU. If the finished Student Centre does not include a basement, then the possibility of an adequate Performance Arts Theatre and a Multipurpose Flexible Space, similar to Gleeson Hall Theatre on the Kevin Street campus, may not be included on the Grangegorman campus.

DITSU President, Boni Odoemene, stated: “Roughly

two weeks ago a meeting ‘of the Stakeholders’ was called by the DIT where an update of the next proposed steps regarding the Grangegorman project was given and discussed.

“Here, your Students’ Union, DIT Societies, DIT Sports and the DIT themselves looked at the building of the Student Centre.

“It was at these meetings where it was stated that there is a strong possibility that there may not be a basement as requested by DITSU and Societies in the building of the Student Centre. This possible move leaves an adequate student blackbox [theatre] and multi-purpose space under great threat.”

Continued 4

FEATURES

CULTURE

SPORT

6

USI March in Photos

Bob Dylan Nobel Prize

Ladies Football

6

To Meat or Not to Meat

NEWS Dublin Bikes Grangegorman Expansion

Delay in the bike rental scheme’s expansion to the Grangegorman area

Kevin Street Awards

The School of Computing honoured it’s high achieving students last week

Silly Science

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5

Physics Soc planning to bring the Silly Science Fair to Gleeson Hall

Debate Success

Two Law & Debating Soc members through to national quarter-finals

Karen Killeen and Jamie Sykes in ‘All Washed Up’ which runs in New Theatre, Temple Bar until 5 November. Credit: Douglas O’Connor

Students took to the streets to oppose the introduction of a student loan scheme

How difficult is it to go vegetarian

12

14

Is it literature or is it just music?

Reviews

What’s worth seeing, reading, listening to and playing this fortnight?

15

16

LGFT booked their place in the league semi-final

Soccer Roundup

20 23

Our comprehensive roundup of all the soccer action

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The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

NEWS THE EDITION Editorial Staff Editor Matthew Colfer editor@edition.ie Deputy Editor Sinead Farrelly deputyed@edition.ie News Editor Conor Shields news@edition.ie Culture Editor Olivia Powell culture@edition.ie Sports Editor Cormac Byrne sports@edition.ie Features Desk Aoife Loughnane & Sarah Harford featuresdesk@edition.ie Online/ Design Niamh Haskins online@edition.ie Photo Editor Hajar Akl & Hugo Fitzpatrick photo@edition.ie Contributors Catherine Devane Dan Grennan Donagh Corby

Dublin Bikes Expansion to Grangegorman Put On Hold

Eimear Dodd Gary Ibbotson Henry Ballinger Jessica Martin Katie Walsh Keith Horan Nick Moloney Robert Geoghegan

Apology In the last issue (The Edition 18/10/2016) we inadvertently placed no byline for the feature article titled “Craft Beer & Hipsters”. The individual who worte the piece is Gary Ibbotson. We aplogise to Gary and have taken measures to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future.

Hugo Fitzpartick PhotoEditor @HugoFitzpatirck

The planned expansion of Dublin Bikes which would make the scheme more accessible to staff and students based in the Grangegorman campus has been halted despite the National Transport Authority committing to provide €1.2m in funding

The planned expansion of Dublin Bikes to DIT’s Grangegorman campus has been put on hold due to a lack of funding, despite the National Transport Authority making available €1.2m for the project.

In February of this year, then Minister for Transport, Paschal Donohoe, received plans for 15 new bike stations which would see the bike rental scheme expand up to DIT’s new campus in Grangegorman.

Dublin City Transport Committee Chair, Ciarán Cuffe (Green Party), has outlined that current shortfalls in funding for this expansion are due issuess in regard to the placement of JC Decaux advertising billboards on the streets of some of Dublin’s most desirable and historic areas.

Cuffe also highlighted how currently cycling is less than half a percent of national transport funding and warned that as Grangegorman receives more students in the

coming years cycling provisions in and around the campus will have to be expanded to meet demand.

Transport and Mobility lecturer with the School of the Built Environment in DIT, David O’Connor, agreed, stating that during the planning permission for Grangegorman, an environmental impact statement was prepared which included a mobility action plan highlighting the importance of cycling as part of sustainable transport to and from the new campus.

He also discussed how DIT is “far from the worst” when it comes to student’s cycling to college. The bicycle parking currently available is seen as adequate for current needs, but will need to grow as the move to Grangegorman progresses.

Nine of the 15 planned new stations would operate in the Stoneybatter, Cabra East and Phibsborough areas, all easily accessible to DIT students.

Initially, these stations were planned to be completed and

opened in September or October of this year, but work has yet to start on the expansion due to the funding shortfall.

The NTA’s briefing document from last February stated the locations of individual stations had been identified.

It was expected some of the stations would be built by the end of April this year with the construction of the remaining stations beginning in the summer, according to the document.

The document stated: “Stations will be opened as singles/batches when completed. All stations to be operational by the end of summer 2016.”

Expansion elsewhere in Dublin has progressed at a snail’s pace following the announcement of a 15 phase plan to reach many central parts of the city.

Expansion so far has only completed 2 phases; these have been further into the Docklands, and towards Heuston Station and

Kilmainham Gaol.

In recent months, Dublin Bikes has joined with the LEAP Card in allowing subscribers to tag on with the same card across all public transport.

The popularity of the service is only growing and currently it costs the council €1.9m a year to run the scheme. The subscription and fees for use come to €1.2 million, whilst Coca-Cola covers €310,000 in sponsorship of the system.

The yearly subscription now stands at €20; when it started in 2009 it was only €10, with funding shortfalls and a reliance on advertising pushing some of the cost onto the customer.

In a report compiled last April

by Dublin Bikes Project Manager, Michael Rossiter, a 50 percent increase in the annual subscription rate to €30 was recommended but also stated that this increase would not be enough to fund the planned expansion.

The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

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NEWS

Slow Progress for Cathal Brugha Street Library Matthew Colfer Editor @mcolfer1

The situation regarding the Saturday opening hours of the library in the Cathal Brugha Street campus remains unresolved, as DIT has yet to fill vacant positions which would see the opening hours extended.

Interviews to fill the vacant positions have been conducted according to Melda Slattery of DIT, but nobody has been hired as the Governing Body must meet to approve of the recommendations for hiring.

“The situation is as previously explained and the Saturday opening dates that are on the website are confirmed,” said Slattery, Head of Public Affairs for DIT. “In the meantime, interviews have taken place for a number of positions in different areas of DIT. As is normal procedure, the recommendations for all posts go to the next meeting of Governing Body for approval before candidates can be offered positions.

“As soon as someone is assigned to the post in the Cathal Brugha Street library it will be possible to re-schedule Saturday opening, which we are anxious to do.

“The next meeting of Governing Body is next week, and appointments for all areas will be considered then.”

DIT Students’ Union (DITSU) Vice President for Education, Kieron Pierson, previously stated:

“We’re aware of some issues with the libraries but we find this action [closure of the library on Saturdays] particularly deplorable by DIT because there should be better access to the libraries as we view them as a critical resource to education.

“You’ve got to understand where people might come back and say ‘well if the Cathal Brugha Street students can’t use their library would they not just go to another library on one of the other campuses?’ But the fact is they shouldn’t have to.

“That library is there to suit them and some of the texts and resources are there specifically for courses in Cathal Brugha Street and they won’t get that anywhere else.

“We welcome that DIT are recruiting to fill the staff vacancies but we will be lobbying to expedite these recruitments.

“This year, I’ve made the improvement of library access and resources a part of my work load specifically. Right now we’re specifically focused on having the libraries open on a Saturday, especially in Cathal Brugha Street, while they’re open on a Saturday everywhere else.”

At present, the library in Cathal Brugha Street is scheduled to open during the exam period on Saturday, 3, 10 and 17 December, and 7, 14 and 21 January.

Abseilers rope in over €7,000 Conor Shields

News Editor @SHIELDSYYYYY

DIT students and staff have raised over €7,000 for the ISPCC due to last month’s abseiling charity fundraiser.

Over 30 members of staff and students of DIT decided to take a leap of faith and abseil from the top of Croke Park last month in order to raise vital funds for the ISPCC. Each participant was required to pay a €50 deposit and were tasked with raising €200 each before they were able to complete the abseil.

According to Eddie Corr, Communications Executive with DITSU, although €7,000 has already been raised, it could increase further due to the fact that online sponsorship has not yet closed.

Corr also explained how the money raised from the event will

make a real difference. As little as €10 will pay for 10 text conversations to the Talk Text service while €300 will sponsor a child’s mentoring visits for one month. €500 will help to recruit, select and train a Childline volunteer. DITSU hopes to continue to add to its fundraising total throughout the year.

Speaking about the success of the event, DITSUs’ VP for Events, Diarmuid Cleary, expressed his gratitude to all those who participated in the event.

“I’d like to thank all the students and staff members and friends for taking part in the event. I’m absolutely delighted with the amount raised in such a short time and it’s all down to those who give up their time to help others. From the

Students abseiling from the top of Croke Park. Courtesy of DITSU.

bottom of my heart I want to thank you all”, said Cleary.

Students from all across the different DIT campuses came together for the ISPCC abseil event.

Cormac Dunne, a fourth year Film and Broadcasting student from DIT Aungier Street, described that before the event, he could feel his heart “racing”.

Hollie Fitzell, an Event Management student, told The Edition of how terrified she felt before making the plunge but was sticking to her

guns and was determined to complete this challenge.

“Absolutely terrified. Petrified.

Scared out of my wits. Any words to describe feeling absolute and utter fear.

“I thought ‘when will I ever get the chance to do something like abseil off Croke Park again in my life?’ It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and seeing as it was for a good cause it would have been rude to say no”, said Fitzell.

Following on from their involvement in the ISPCC abseil, DITSU

will be launching RAG (Raise and Give) November on Monday, 7 Novmeber, where students will be challenged with raising funds for charity in their own way.

Cleary has called on DIT students to get involved in this year’s events.

“We are urging students to take part in the month long fundraising event. We want students and staff members to host their own charity events, complete challenges and push themselves in aid of a fantastic cause.”

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The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

NEWS

Inadequate Number of Gender Ne Catherine Devane Plans for DIT to include gender neutral toilets in the new Grangegorman campus have been met with praise, but some students are concerned that there are no such facilities in other DIT campuses.

The new campus will include accessible toilets in each of the buildings, and all future buildings on the new campus will also have gender neutral toilets as well as traditional toilets.

David Beattie, a second year Journalism student based in the Aungier Street campus, who is currently in the process of gender transitioning, says that students should feel comfortable while attending their present designated campus.

“I definitely think gender neutral bathrooms should be everywhere. We live in a world where there is not just two genders, so it’s really important to have the option of gender neutral bathrooms.

“For me I’ve had very supportive friends, so they made it a bit easier on me and would come to the bathroom with me at first when I started using female bathrooms, which is only kind of recent.

“It’s hard to know what to do, I still identify as male and use male pronouns but I really don’t fit in a male bathroom, so it’s way more comfortable for me to use female toilets.

“It’s such a nice feeling when you go into a place and there isn’t a gender on the bathroom.

“I think it is disgraceful that Grangegorman will be the only campus with gender neutral bathrooms.

“If we are in the other campuses for the long run, which we seem to be, there should be at least one bathroom in the building that would help make people feel more comfortable.

I know I would be a lot more comfortable if that happened,” said Beattie.

Brian Gormley, Head of Campus Life, said that “within the Institute we would be conscious of many students who may not feel comfortable with the traditional binary, male/ female definition of gender, and we are doing our best to accommodate and support these students.

“We at Campus Life will be working closely with DITSU and the LGBT Society to deliver these as soon as possible.”

James O’ Connell, Transgender Representative for DIT’s LGBT Society, praised the decision by the institute to include gender neutral bathrooms in all buildings on the Grangegorman campus.

“Steps like this being taken shows the community that we’re being more accepted by others. Having these bathrooms would be a huge help to transgender people who are out and also those who are not out or even questioning their gender identity.

“Something as simple as a bathroom for all would dramatically improve some people’s college life, especially if this idea was to spread to all DIT campuses,” said O’Connell.

Tara O’Brien, DITSU Vice President for Welfare, said that DITSU is passionate about the

Continued P1 A presentation entitled “Accommodation Project: Briefing and update on development of planned student facilities” accredited to Head of Campus Life, Brian Gormley, and Head of Campus Planning, Paul Horan, proposed the size of the “Performance Arts (Theatre)” would be 500sq metres with 200 seats, or five times the size of the Black Box Theatre in Aungier Street, and the Multipurpose Flexible Space would be 700sq metres, capable of seating 500 people, or seven times the size of the current Black Box Theatre.

Odoemene continued: “In the DITSU and DIT Societies Student

current lack of bathrooms and are working closely with the LGBT Society to address the issue.

“DITSU are currently lobbying and working with various different people within the DIT to ensure the availability of gender neutral bathrooms across all DIT campuses. It also reinforces a mandate passed at our student council last year in which the VP Welfare was mandated in association with the LGBT Society, where possible, to create safe spaces for all LGBTQ+ students.

It is my belief as Vice President of Welfare that securing the gender neutral bathrooms for all campuses is a step in the right direction for creating an all-inclusive student experience in the DIT,” stated O’Brien.

Besides DIT, many colleges around the country are continuing to respond to the issue of gender neutral toilets.

Trinity College continues to build upon having more gender neutral toilets available for students with toilets being recently opened in the university’s Arts Block, which previously only had gendered toilets.

DCU are currently working on plans to roll out a number of universal access toilets across all three DCU campuses that will be in place by Christmas.

The University of Limerick was the first Higher Education Institute in the country to have a gender neutral toilet.

Credit: Mike Gifford via Flickr CC.

Grangegorman Multipurpose Are Centre proposal, along with several other things we both requested a basement to be built with the Grangegorman Student Centre which would hold a Student Blackbox for Arts related activities such as drama, music and dance. And a multipurpose space similar to Gleeson Hall in Kevin Street where large events could be hosted, such as formal balls, concerts and large Freshers’ Week events.”

Speaking about the issue, Gormley stated: “There has been extensive consultation to identify the key student facilities that would get the greatest level of engagement, involvement and use on the

new campus.

“The current plan includes a student bar; black box theatre; a multi-purpose venue; gym; art workshops; climbing wall; debating chamber; student media centre, common room areas; and much more.

“Discussions are ongoing with student organisations and with the Grangegorman Development Agency [GDA] about the funding for these facilities, the exact location and design of the facilities, and the phasing of their delivery.

“All parties are committed to the delivery of the best facilities possible, including the Black Box

Theatre and the Multi-Purpose Venue.”

Odoemene continued to outline his understanding of the situation, and said that this possible lack of funding could have a knock on effect on negotiations about a proposed student levy.

“DIT say that this basement may not be included in their final drawings as according to their financial advisers DIT cannot afford it. This is an unfortunate situation in which the students of DIT find themselves in as it has the potential of seriously affecting negotiations around the proposed Student Levy between DIT and the students,”

said Odoemene.

“However, we believe that there is a possible solution to this, that will not negatively affect the student experience of current and future students,” he concluded.

The aforementioned presentation accredited to Gormley and Horan proposes when a student levy would be introduced, who would pay it and how much it would cost.

In September 2018, “The levy to be applied to all full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Any exceptions to this to be agreed in consultation with the Students Union.”

The levy would be split into two

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NEWS Societies Looking North

eutral Toilets

Sinead Farrelly

Deputy Editor @SineadCFarrelly

Salaheldin Akl receiving his award. Credit: Hajar Akl.

School of Computing Awards

Hajar Akl

Photo Editor @hajar_akl

ea Under Threat costs if introduced in 2018 according to the presentation, “Construction Portion” and “Operational Portion”.

The Construction Portion is proposed to be €145 in September 2018, with an increase of €1 each year for September 2019 and September 2020. The Operational Portion would be introduced in September 2019, when the Student Centre is expected to open, and would cost €45 for the first two years of implementation.

The presentation also states: “The levy paid by DIT students is primarily for expenditure on the new Grangegorman campus.”

It is expected there will be 10,000 students on the Grangegorman campus by September 2019 and Gormley insists that the “high-quality outdoor sports facilities” which are already present on the campus will be complemented by more planned student facilities.

“Planning is at an advanced stage to ensure that there will be excellent student facilities for these students. These facilities will also include a large Restaurant/Food Hall, student accommodation for 700 students, a new Library, and student services including a Student Health Centre and Counselling services.”

DIT’s School of Computing hosted their second annual awards on Wednesday, 26 October, where awards were given to a number of students from various computer science courses.

The awards took place in the Gleeson Hall Theatre in DIT Kevin Street and were presented by Robert Ross, a lecturer at the School of Computing.

The awards included Best Results, Best Final Project, and Best Overall Student and the event was attended by representatives of SAP, SAS, AIB, Sales Force, Bank of Ireland, Workday and Ocuco who all sponsored the awards.

“We’ve had a long-standing philosophy to make industry a core part of what we do,” said Dr Deirdre Lillis, Head of the School of Computing, in her opening remarks.

“We’ve upscaled a lot of people over the years and sent them into the thriving industry of information technology. We do pride ourselves in our industry engagement.”

This year’s awards were only the second time they took place. The awards were inspired by the School of Computing Annual Project Fair.

“For the last 10 years we’ve had a project fair in April where the final year students present their projects,” Dr Lillis explained to The Edition, “so because that has gone so well, we wanted a second event to recognise the students that are currently in their study, as a way of motivating and recognising their achievements early on in the programme and ideally then bring industry very early on in the year as well.”

This year, DIT received funding under the Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliance scheme, and is the only college in Ireland to have received this funding.

Being the first college in Ireland to get that type of funding will “put

us on the map internationally,” said Dr lillis “We applied for it this year as the lead partner and we’re the first college in Ireland - university or institute of technology - to actually win that funding. The whole point of it is to connect the major ICT [Information and Communications Technology] sections in Europe,” said Dr lillis.

The awards included students from first year up to fourth year.

Padraig Redmond was the winner of Best First Year Results for Computer Science (DT228).

The second year student said: “I am very happy. It should hopefully work well for when I’m applying for internships and jobs in the future.”

Raminta Zelvyte was awarded Best Third Year Results for Computer Science Infrastructure (DT211C) on behalf of SAP, the multinational software company.

She completed a a six month internship in Arista Networks as a software engineer and is now a fourth year student.

“I’m over the roof,” Zelvyte said, “I’m super excited and super proud of myself. I was shocked, I wasn’t expecting it, so I was very happy.

“Don’t give up. Keep going and keep up with your work. Don’t stress too much and try to keep calm. Do your assignments on time and stay positive,” she advised.

Another current second year student, Salaheldin Akl, won Best First Year Results for Computer Science International (DT282). He went to the awards last year, which was one of the factors that helped motivate him in first year.

“You’re in college to learn skills you’re going to work with so understand everything. Don’t think of exams as a burden, think of them as a way to test yourself and how much you learned. Don’t focus too much on grades, just make sure you understand. That’s what I did.”

DIT societies tend to have one issue which affects them more than their counterparts in other colleges, which is the multi campus aspect.

One group of societies hoping to overcome that struggle is the Nerd Socs who are expanding their events to cover more campuses on both sides of the River Liffey.

The Nerd Societies conglomerate is made up of Sci-Fi, Comic Book, Japanimation, Game, and Harry Potter societies.

Adam Adderley McCabe, the Chairperson of Sci-Fi Soc and Treasurer for Comic Book Soc, claimed he has plans for the two societies to try and appeal to more students.

Traditionally the Nerd Socs have held events mostly in Kevin Street and want to now be more accessible for those studying on the Northside by hosting more events in the Bolton Street campus.

The two societies are collaborating on several new events including “Back to Bolton St”, which will be a Back to the Future marathon over a few weeks ending with a screening of the popular animated tv series Rick and Morty.

This will be happening alongside the normal weekly Monday screening that Sci-Fi Society hold in Kevin Street.

With the Comic Book Society, Adderley McCabe said they will be holding more of their events in Bolton Street, including their comic book library event where comic books are made available for members to read with each other.

Adderley McCabe said they are hoping to increase membership for their societies from Northside based students.

“We feel that increasing activity in the Northside colleges will increase our member numbers significantly as there seem to be a lot of ‘closet nerd’ cases where a student might be interested in what the society might have to offer but would not feel comfortable putting themselves in a completely unfamiliar environment such as a new campus.

“Now I feel is an opportune time for an attempt at an outreach to Northside campuses. It’s quite a rare occurrence that more than one major role in a society is filled by a student who is based on the Northside. And currently in Sci- Fi almost half the committee are based on the Northside with a similar mindset to mine of bringing something we enjoy to our campus.”

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The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

NEWS

Law & Debating Society Members Progress to Silly Quarter-Finals Science Fair Coming to Gleeson Hall Matthew Colfer Editor @mcolfer1

Matthew Colfer Editor @mcolfer1

One of DIT’s newest societies, Physics Soc, aided by the College of Sciences and Health, will host a Silly Science Fair in Gleeson Hall Theatre on the Kevin Street campus from 14 to 19 November.

The event is being run as part of Science Week and aims to show school and college students how science can be fun and interesting.

Speaking about the event, Physics Soc Chairperson, Sufyan Huma said: “The Silly Science Fair is a promo event to show that science is fun, [how] it is used in everyday life, and you don’t have to be studying science to participate, it’s open to anyone.

“We will be exhibiting silly, small, fun experiments like dropping an egg from a certain distance with a parachute on to see if it breaks.

“This event is a promo for our main big event which is called STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] Fair.

“STEM Fair is an exhibition where first and second year students will do a project in their respective field and exhibit it. It is a novel idea and DIT Physics Society will be the first in the country to do it.”

Despite only being established in September, membership of Physics Soc stands at over 300 students, many of whom are studying less-science related courses such as accounting, marketing and culinary arts.

Huma said both the Silly Science Fair and the STEM Fair are ways in which Physics Soc can advertise themselves to the student body and make them aware the society has been established.

“We are mainly careers focused.

Collaborations with different industries and institutes means we will have [a] big enough network so when our members or students are in third year looking for placement they will have enough knowledge and information to find their own placement without relying on anyone else.”

Two members of DIT Law and Debating Society have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Irish Times National Debating Championship 2016.

Mark McMorrow, second year Law, and Michael Fitzgerald, first year Business and Law, competed in the first round of the debating championship in UCD on Saturday, 22 October.

Speaking about the successes of the two Law and Debating Society members, society President, Pierre Yimbog said: “Mark has debated at secondary school level but this was his first time representing DIT at

a competition. Michael had never done debating before this and only begun training in the last couple of weeks, and was his first competition.”

Now in its third year, the society was in a position to hire two debating coaches this year to aide them in their quest to compete with the best third level debaters in the country.

“Both Eoin MacLachlan and Clíodhna Ní Chéileachair are the best debaters in Ireland, and both won this competition [Irish Times National Debating Championship] as individual speakers in the last two years.

“They’ve done fantastic work training students over the last year, which has enabled us to send out

Mental Health Week one for the books

four teams to the Irish Times [National Debating Championship],” said Yimbog.

Mcmorrow will compete on 17 November in RCSI and Fitzgerald debating seven days later in Griffith College.

DIT Law and Debating Society is also applying to host the final next February.

The society hosted one of the heats of Round 1 on DIT’s Aungier St campus on Tuesday of last week.

“In addition, we have four teams competing over the next week in the Irish Mace,” Yimbog added.

The Irish Mace is a British parliamentary style debate which runs from October to March each year and involves teams from various third level institutes across Ireland.

It is the Irish leg of the John Smith Memorial International Mace.

DIT Law and Debating Society were known as DIT Law Society through the 2014/15 and 2015/16 academic years, but amended their constitution at their most recent AGM in a bid to attract more people to join the society and compete in debating.

Yimbog said: “In expanding and debating we’ve been able to attract students from engineering and science and across all of DIT in order to build our society. Then that’s helped by people coming to our events.”

The Law and Debating Society runs weekly workshops every Wednesday in Aungier St from 6-8pm.

Conor Shields

News Editor @SHIELDSYYYYY

Mental Health Week took place last month, aiming to heighten awareness amongst students about the topic of mental health and issues that some students may face.

Organised by DITSU’s VP for Welfare, Tara O’Brien, Mental Health week took place on Monday, 17 October and carried on until Friday, 21 October.

The event was launched by O’Brien in DIT Grangegorman in conjunction with the 3Ts (Turn the Tide of Suicide) organisation with their ‘Share the Load’ initiative which aims to stimulate conversation about the impact of suicide in colleges.

3Ts is an organisation that promotes positive mental health and suicide awareness, hosting a range of workshops for businesses, schools and communities.

DITSU’s Mental Health week took place in a number of DIT’s campuses including Aungier Street,

Kevin Street, Bolton Street, Rathmines, Cathal VP for Welfare Tara O’Brien with students surrounded by 100 backpacks. Courtesy of DITSU. Brugha these issues. that are experiencing mental health Street and Grangegorman.

“It’s important that people issues, and although each student O’Brien brought her ‘Tara start talking about Mental Health handles it differently, everyone in Talks’ workshops to each of these because nothing ever changes by college knows what it’s like to deal campuses to help encourage peer not talking about it. There’s a huge with stress and anxiety caused by conversations about mental health stigma around mental health issues approaching exams and deadlines. and the importance of talking about and by simply talking about them “Young adults are particularly such issues. Activities included we’re acknowledging that it exists, at risk of developing Anxiety, Decolouring competitions, a movie which is the first step to sorting pression and suicidal thoughts. It’s night and couch chatting with free out any issues surrounding it,” important that students are aware tea and coffee provided at each onexplained Freeman. that these are issues surrounding site event.

When asked about the current our part of society and that there DIT’s Mental Health Society vulnerability of college students are help and support networks in also helped organise their own with regard to their mental health, place for them,” said Freeman. event for the week called ‘Keep Freeman pointed out how the presIf you have been affected by Your Head Up: Staying Positive In sure of exams and assignments can any of the issues mentioned in this College’. lead to students developing serious story, please contact The SamariMental Health Society’s mental health problems. tans on free phone 116123 or visit Co-Chairperson, Ciarán Freeman, “College students are indeed http://www.mentalhealthireland.ie/ explained why he feels that it’s a demographic of the population need-help-now/. important for students to discuss

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7

OPINION

A Sad Farewell to TXFM

A champion for alternative music has fallen and it will be sorely missed, writes Gary Ibbotson

At the time of writing this, a very sad thing is happening on Irish radio waves. A station that has been at the forefront of alternative music in this country is preparing to close down after ten years on the air. Yes, on Wednesday, 26 October 2016, TXFM shut down for good.

TXFM originally came on the airwaves as a pirate station originally named Phantom 105.2 back in 1996. The station applied for, and received, their official Broadcast Commission of Ireland (BCI) license in 2004 with Phantom eventually coming on air as a legal entity in 2006. Although the station underwent a rebranding in 2014 in an attempt to revitalise listening figures, the ideals and core values of the station and its DJs never wavered. They were to provide Dublin and the surrounding area with alternative music which was not heard on other commercial radio stations, they would give a platform to young, Irish bands to get their music heard and they were to introduce new, great music to people who wanted to discover it.

In 2010, 30 percent of the station was bought by Communicorp (the company that owns Today FM and Newstalk) and

in a cost cutting measure it was announced in February 2014 that up to twenty staff would be made redundant. Thankfully the station was saved from closure in March of that year when the board of directors agreed to rebrand and relaunch the station as TXFM with many of the presenters returning to their positions.

From March 2014 to only a few days ago the then-named TXFM continued on with Phantom’s work. They continued to provide great alternative music to people who wanted to hear it. In addition to playing alternative Rock ‘n’ Roll, TXFM also introduced hip-hop and dance music to their playlist in an effort to attract a larger listenership. A move that diversified TXFM’s output but unfortunately didn’t gain the followers it had hoped.

However, this isn’t the story of buy-outs and corporate decisions. This is a story about the people on the ground loving great music and wanting other people to hear that great music. When it was unfortunately announced in March of this year that our beloved station was to close in October, the DJs stayed loyal to the listeners and the listeners stayed

loyal to the DJs. The presenters continued to stay true to their values by introducing to the radio-waves music that wouldn’t have got a sniff of airplay on any other station. The people behind the microphone could have thrown in the towel and abandoned their listeners but like so many others, I am oh so grateful they didn’t.

This closure of TXFM could easily be worked into a larger piece about the state of Irish radio and a lack of a platform for alternative music on the island in general but for now, I wanted to focus on the micro not the macro, I wanted to focus on TXFM. This is a very sad time for Irish radio. We are losing an institution that for so long kept alternative music on Irish airwaves. They championed for something more than just the bubblegum-pop line and I suspect, by the time that this piece goes to publication, I and many other people will be sorely missing TXFM and their dedicated presenters.

To Joe Donnelly, Claire Beck, John Caddell, Cathal Funge, Dee Reddy, Kelly-Anne Byrne and many more DJs who have graced my ears for so long I salute and thank you.

You have done some incredible work for alternative radio.

If you have something you would like to share your opinion on please email: editor@edition.ie

THE EDITION

8 | www.edition.ie

The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

HUMANS HUMANS OF OF DIT DIT

Stories

‘‘

‘‘

I have always been a sufferer of depression. It has been the mental health condition that has constantly followed me. I have done an interview about mental health with The Edition in first year and I hadn’t properly accepted that I had this condition and that it was affecting my life as much as I thought. When I was approached to do the interview in first year, I couldn’t give my name, I couldn’t give a picture of myself, I didn’t want to identify myself because I was scared of the stigma that existed and still exists. But if you fast forward to third year, I have been through so much and I have got a lot of treatment for my depression both medication wise and talk therapy wise, so I’m much more confident now to speak out about it. I’m not just mentioning this for sympathy, but this is the thing that I’m extremely proud; that I’m able to talk openly about my mental health because there is usually someone out there who will read this and think ‘yes, I understand, I can completely relate and if she can do it and go get help and fight

I had to repeat last year and at first I was a bit upset about it - having to do another year but I’m actually glad I’m in this class now. I was only about a month in before I quickly realised Computer Science was not for me. I felt a bit forced into that course, like my guidance counselor back in school was telling me to get into more science-y stuff and my dad was telling me there are jobs in that field. For people that are repeating: don’t get bogged down in losing a year. Don’t think ‘I’m going to be such and such older when I get my degree’, I’ve come to realise that age is but a number. Everyone moves at their own pace. It doesn’t really matter. You can’t look at someone else and think ‘oh they have their life figured out at 20. How did they know how to do this?’ I just don’t think it matters. Nobody actually has it figured out. You’re in your course now and this is what you want to do, but maybe five years down the line you might think ‘hmm, maybe this isn’t what I want to do’. And maybe you can come back and do something else.” - Lee Shields

the stigma, so can I’.” - Leanne Salmon

Lee Shields

Hajar Akl caught up with a whole host of DIT students to share their unique experiences Asad Nassir

Leanne Salmon

‘‘

Last year when I was 16 at around March, James Bay came out with an Album called ‘Chaos and the Calm’. There was a lot of guitar music and I really wanted to get a guitar to learn his songs. I learnt one or two of his songs and got used to playing them on the guitar and then ended up learning a lot more songs. Since last week I’ve been playing the piano in Kevin Street between classes. I always wanted to learn the piano. I guess even more than the guitar. It’s a very beautiful instrument and it’s a very different instrument. I always wanted to play the violin as well. I like listening to sad, emotional music. I’m just like my cousin, he likes listening to sad music as well. But I’m a very happy, jolly guy. I love making new friends. But the thing is, I made too many friends so I kind of have to tone it down.” - Ady Sajid

Ady Sajid

‘‘

The most inspiring thing I’ve been given was from my dad. I think it’s safe to say that my dad is officially an old man. I have a lot of siblings and my parents worked hard for us, but my dad was different to any other dad.

He cooked and cleaned for us regularly. I would wake up early in the morning and see my dad cleaning behind the cooker or the fridge. My dad is the parent we all hide from when he gets home because once he sees you, you know you’ll be helping him with painting and redoing the whole house. I remember saying to my dad: ‘Dad you always do extra things. The house is fine. We are fine. Just rest and relax. Don’t stress yourself.’ He looked at me and said ‘Asad, I’ve got my health now, I will use it to its advantage before I lose it. Just take my advice, if you ever do anything and I mean absolutely anything, even if it’s small, do it with perfection. Do it to your fullest ability. Even if no one is watching or no one knows. God is and he knows.’ So ever since that day anything that I do, even if it’s pointless, I remember my dad’s words and do it properly.” - Asad Nassir

The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

A

PROBLEMS? Tell Naggy Nora about them and she’ll give you a very honest answer...

9

Contact me on naggynora@ edition.ie

gony unt

Leaving On a Jet Plane

Dear Naggy Nora, I recently had a relationship with a foreign lad and I got addicted to Latino love.

Unfortunately his visa expired and he had to move home. Well it was that or we had to get married.

Anyhow we both said we were single and I’ve stated dating again. At first I was a disaster I really missed him and still do.

He’s flying back to see me in a few months and we’re going to see how it goes from there.

Do you think I should tell him what I’ve been up to and that I’m possibly falling for someone else? Please help a girlo out and give me some words of wisdom because my life is an absolute mess!!

Emily.

Dear Emily, Why didn’t yous get married?

I’m devo, I could’ve worn my hat.

Latinos are God’s most beautiful creation so do whatever it takes to be with him. Just make sure he’s not using you for a Visa.

True love means that you should both go to the end of the Earth for each other. Which personally makes me feel mushy inside that he’s flying across the world just to see a girlo.

I’m guessing the past few weeks have been extreemely hard on you emotionally but keep what you did sealed. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him and if you were that heartbroken he definitely doesn’t need to know how many fellas you got under to get over him.

For now keep the dating to a minimum and see how you feel when he comes to visit. Reuniting will be the final piece to the jigsaw be it good or bad.

Naggy Nora xoxo

www.edition.ie |

Dear Naggy Nora,

Bekki again, I’m after having a hoop of a week.

I went on the bottle with a few of my gal pals from work and ended up messaging me fella (but not me fella) that I had the feelings for him and dah I thought if we kept a bit of distance it would be better. TBH now, hun, I really just said that so he’d turn around and admit that he loved me and thought it wouldn’t be a good idea. Did he? No, he f****** didn’t. He said he respected me discussion, da f***? I thought I was gunna be the one. He would be so f****** lucky. I’m not even sad lads, I’m really f****** mad. I’m such a morto moth and my brain is melted. What will I do, hun? Will I carry on not talking to him? Or will I go looking for another fella? A REAL fella. Pls help me (again) I’m desperate (again) I have such bad luck with the fellas, they are all tools.

What Nora says...

Dear Naggy Nora,

Dear Bekki, Wow that’s a sticky siutation you’ve landed yourself in there isn’t it? Whi le I’m glad that you listened to me by takin g the lead you could have gone about it in a better way. Alcohol and love mixed is one messed up potion. I’ve heard they call it ‘a disaster’.

You put yourself out there so it’s fair to feel the way you do. What kind of dope is he? Respecting your discussion.

TBH Bekki hun this is a tricky one.

You came on too strong and by the soun ds of it you scared him off - unintentional ly.

As awkward as it is you can’t not talk to him - ye only work together. As well as that

I have this younge r sister who’s alway s out having the sh having much more *ts and giggles pa fun than me. She ha rtying. Clearly s no job or no inten carefree and gets aw tions of getting on ay with it at home. e. She’s super I’m so jealous and annoy her hoping she knows it. I ten it will help her unde d to do things to rstand that things ar that she’s going ou e not as they seem t and coming hom .

Sometimes I feel e at all hours just to ge these hard feelings? t me back. What do Help me please be I do to combat fore it gets out of ha nd.

A drained and jealo us fourth year.

What Nora says...

Dear a drained and jealous fourth year, I bet you feel that the whole world revolves around you too?

First lets establish that you are a really mean person. Going out of your way to make her life a misery is really pathetic and that maybe it is time for you to grow up.

She’s young and she deserves to experience all this, which I’m sure

doing it in front of your co-workers.

Oh my god. I feel for you I really do. I can see them changing your work WhatsApp group chat title to morto moth.

At least you know for your own self not to pursue it anymore he’s clearly wrap ped up in his own issues. I’d say to many people have swiped left on Tinder so his confidence may be down. What I wou ld do if I was you - I would cake my face, back comb my hair, find the highest heels and the shortest dress, hit Coppers and get my hoop out. Play the field and when the time is right someone good will come alon g. I would tell you to look for a real fella but there’s no such thing.

Naggy Nora xoxo

you did too? Or are you one of those both live together it would be best who’s drier than a nun’s knickers to let it lie and move on. who spent their college years in the From the sound of it your sister library. Obviously you can do what is quite the paaaaartay animal. What ever your want, so can she, but you I would suggest you to do is go don’t get to do this and also blame to Tesco buy a whopper bottle of her for “having more fun than you”.

Glen’s and obvioulsy Fanta to mix I think that feelings like these and go on the sesh together. especially towards a sibling are hard Maybe she’ll teach you a thing or to overcome. But, for the sake of two about having fun. Be sure to let the relationship and the fact that you Naggy know how you get on.

Naggy Nora xoxo

10 | www.edition.ie

The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

FEATURES

The Theatre Scene in Dublin is Pulsing with Talent and Creativity Thanks to DIT Graduates Aoife Loughnane

Feature Editor @AoifeLoughnane3

Lorna Costello is quite a force to be reckoned with. A writer, actor and most recently director, the DIT graduate has accomplished more than most for her mere 22 years.

Her latest endeavour All Washed Up - in which she turns her hand to directing for the first time - explores the unusual situation of three young people living together in a onebed apartment under ambiguous circumstances.

I went along to the opening night on Wednesday, 26 October in Temple Bar’s New Theatre not exactly sure what to expect. The setting was perfect; the theatre itself is minuscule and tucked away at the back of Connolly Bookstore. Running for 60 minutes straight, I was promptly sucked into the intricate story woven by the stellar cast - who also

wrote the play. Jamie Sykes (who came up with the original idea) as Fionn, Romana Testasecca as Alice and a superb Karen Killen as Kate sparked off each other easily; both Killen and Testasecca are DIT Drama graduates. Together they formed Rosebuds Theatre Company and this is their inaugural offering...and what an offering it is.

Both Alice and Kate are wandering aimlessly having forsaken family and convention to live with Fionn. The play as a whole is rather ambiguous and as the lights dimmed on the final scene I was left wondering what exactly had happened.

However, in that there lies the play’s charm. I spent the reception afterwards dissecting it with friends and the cast and director

themselves. It seems that it is pretty much open to interpretation, nothing is set in stone, rather like the message that the play is trying to convey – that your early twenties are a period of uncertainty and ambiguity. This is definitely a concept many of us can relate to.

I sat down with the fabulous director, Lorna Costello, to have a brief chat about how she made her way from DIT to directing, the appeal of the play for students, and why writing is the most important thing to do.

Why exactly do you think All Washed Up will appeal to the students of DIT? “All Washed Up is the story of three young people, all lost, who help each other find themselves again. The appeal is in how these very human, relatable characters navigate them-

selves through an un-relatable situation.”

You have previously written and acted in GULP - how was the experience this time round as a director?

“Pretty much the only thing I didn’t do for GULP was direct, so it’s been really fun doing the inverse. The main differences have been the way you have to look at the project. When you’re writing, you’re completely imagining what’s going to be on stage. When you’re acting, you’re in the middle of what’s happening. And then when you’re directing you almost have to look from both sides to bring everything together. Also it’s someone else’s work that I’m responsible for and have to respect, which makes me feel honoured, and want to do the best job I can for the sake of these people’s story.”

What advice would you give to students wanting to get into writing and directing after they graduate?

“Keep writing and writing. Give yourself something to do, build your own platform and do not wait around. Go and see shows, make notes about what you liked, what you didn’t like, make choices, figure out where you stand and what you want to make because it’s what you want to see. Don’t be afraid to be really honest; people love honesty. Make sure your ears and eyes are open always for new ideas. Also make sure whatever you’re making, or working on, you really care about it. That’s the most important thing.”

All Washed Up runs from 26 October to 5 November at 7:30pm each night in The New Theatre.

Tickets are available from www. thenewtheatre.com.

Credit: Douglas O’Connor

The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

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11

FEATURES

On a Mission to Bring Smiles Matthew Colfer Editor @mcolfer1

Sarah Douglas is aiming to raise awareness of Operation Smile and the work it does, and has established Operation Smile Club in DIT Operation Smile is a charity organisation which provides surgery for children who are born with a cleft lip, cleft palate and other similar facial deformities. Children who are born with a cleft are often unable to eat, speak, socialise or smile and in some countries they are shunned and rejected, while in others, their parents are unable to afford the required surgery.

Sarah Douglas, a Musical Theatre student in DIT has been involved with Operation Smile from a young age and this year established Operation Smile Club within the college to help inform students of the work the charity undertakes.

“I was born with a cleft myself and I wanted to start a club because I’ve been involved with Operation Smile since I was a kid and I’m very passionate about it. I want to spread the word about it, not that many people know about it in Ireland but it’s big in America,” Douglas said.

“A lot of students aren’t aware of what it is, they think it’s a mental health thing. Not enough people know about it, they’ve heard the name but they don’t know much.”

In a little under two weeks, Douglas will set off on a mission to China with two Irish secondary school students and an American high school student with Operation Smile. Douglas will be going as a journalist/media person for the duration of the trip.

“I’m going as a Youth Voice so I’m basically like a journalist.

I have to take photos and write stories which will be very hard in Chinese but hopefully I’ll have

The Operation Smile club bake sale. All images courtesy of Operation Smile club.

someone who can translate. We have to do five media posts, I don’t know if I’ll be able to post while I’m there but hopefully I’ll be able to find a VPN. If not, I’ll be posting about it afterwards.”

In order to take part, Douglas’ needed to raise €800 for the mission fee and has held a number of events in the past few months to try to achieve this goal, and has other events planned very soon.

“I’m studying Musical Theatre so I did a little concert for my family and friends and I was a bit nervous because it was such a small room. I raised some money and had some left over which I’m putting towards my mission, and my mum did a bake sale in her staff room in school. We’re going to have a coffee morning during the mid-term or someday. Hopefully we’ll raise the €800.”

This will be Douglas’ second mission as she previously went on a mission to Mexico a couple of years ago. “I was a High School Educator so we just had to educate them [the children]. We learned all the modules at the training such as brushing your teeth, washing your hands, all kind of sanitary stuff that they don’t know about. We’re weren’t allowed to do much like go to orphanages or schools because it was too dangerous and there were people with guns everywhere, it was kind of scary. They didn’t speak as much English as I thought, in the airport one person spoke English to me. It was an amazing experience and I got to play with the kids a lot and take loads of photos as well so it was lots of fun.”

“I was born with a cleft myself and I wanted to start a club because I’ve been involved with Operation Smile since I was a kid and I’m very passionate about it

”

It seems Douglas’ involvement with Operation Smile has led to her undertaking quite a bit of globetrotting as this past summer she travelled to San Diego for the charity’s annual International Student Leadership Conference with the hope of being able to attend next year’s conference alongside some of the 45 members of DIT’s Operation Smile Club.

“I’ll hopefully be going to Rome next summer, we’re going to try organise that as a club and have a few people go over. It’s a lot cheaper than going to America so we should take the opportunity to go when it’s here.

“At the conference there’s loads of inspirational speakers and you get to do service projects. For example, we did sock puppets and the year before it was cards. You have to write in one of the languages,

The Operation Smile club pumpking carving.

you write ‘get well soon’ and stuff like that. You get put into teams and you do team games. We did this thing where we have to come up with a solution to a problem so we had radiation in my group and we came up with all these solutions and we had to present it in front of 600 or 700 people. It was really fun and you get to do loads of cool stuff.”

As well as having ambitions of sending a group to Rome next sum-

mer, Operation Smile Club have a Christmas cookie decorating event and a number of talks planned for later this semester, as well as hosting a pumpkin carving event last week with 16 members in attendance. “I’m doing a talk on going on a mission and my previous mission which was in 2014. I’m going to talk about going to the conference as well and ways to get involved other than just being in the club.”

12 | www.edition.ie

The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

FEATURES

Sutdents’ Demonstrate Support Thousands of students from across Ireland took part in the USI National Demonstration calling on the Government to implement a fully publicly funded third level education.

A DIT student holds up a DITSU sign at the march. Credit Conor Shields.

DITSU President Boni Odeomene addresses the crowd. Credit Hugo Fitzpatrick.

The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

www.edition.ie |

FEATURES Thousands of students took to the streets of Dublin a fortnight ago to object to a proposed student loan scheme that could be implemented instead of a publicly funded third level education system.

The Union of Students Ireland (USI) National Demonstration took place On Wednesday, 19 October with thousands of students hailing from third level institutes across the country.

The aim of the demonstration was to protest against the introduction of a “study now, pay later” loan scheme, and to call on the the Government and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills to choose the publicly funded third level education model as outlined in the Cassells Report.

The demonstration started at The Garden of Remembrance at 1pm and saw students march from the top of O’Connell Street all the way to Leinster House on Kildare Street.

Spirits were high as many of the different colleges’ student unions came prepared with an arsenal of speakers, instruments and lively chants, all aimed towards a united agreement, ‘no to student loans’.

Annie Hoey, President of the USI, greeted protesters in front of Leinster House with an empowering speech in which she called for the abolishment of any form of a student loan scheme, claiming that nobody “should bear the burden of €20,000 worth of debt”.

This proposed loan scheme is one of three solutions that were offered to solve the funding issue that was highlighted in the Cassells Report last July, which said that the third-level sector needs an injection of €600m by 2020.

The other two solutions include both the retention of the current €3,000 registration fee with an increase of state contribution to 72 percent, or a complete abolishment of student fees and an increase of state contribution up to 80 percent.

The event was presided over by MC Blindboy Boatclub of the popular Irish parody hip-hop duo, The Rubberbandits.

DIT students were represented by a contingent of students organised to take part in the march by DIT Students’ Union (DITSU).

DITSU President, Boni Odoemene, and Vice President for Welfare, Tara O’Brien, led these students in the march.

A hard hitting poster from the march. Credit Hugo Fitzpatrick.

Students taking part in the march. Credit Conor Shields

Hugo Fitzpatrick and Conor Shields captured all the colour at the student demonstration.

A DITSU flag held aloft. Credit Hugo Fitzpatrick.

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14 | www.edition.ie

The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

FEATURES Eimear Dodd

To Meat or not to Meat?

Vegetarians and vegans used to be viewed as weird. Why would anyone choose to go without meat, chicken or fish? Their meat-free lifestyle couldn’t last. The siren smells of a Sunday roast dinner would eventually be their undoing.

There is now a wider acceptance of vegetarianism and veganism in Irish society. It’s okay if a dinner doesn’t follow the traditional template of meat and two veg.

However, the responses to recent comments made by former President Mary Robinson about vegetarianism suggest that a lingering suspicion persists: “Eat less meat or no meat at all. Become vegetarian or vegan,” the UN Special Envoy on Climate Change, and former President said.

The controversial comments were made as part of her opening address to the One Young World Young Leaders’ Conference in Ottawa, Canada. Giving up meat was used during her address as an example of how someone might reduce their individual carbon emissions.

The negative reaction from some in the Irish farming community was probably predictable. Agriculture is a huge part of the Irish economy. Some critics pointed out that the former President isn’t herself vegetarian. Nor am I. While I don’t currently intend to make any radical changes to my diet, I recognise that I probably eat too much meat.

Where do I begin if I want to better understand what vegetarianism entails? There is plenty of information available online from blogs, organisations and other groups, and recipes and advice are easy to locate.

As a first step, I’ve decided to examine the kitchen cupboards at home using the shopping guidelines on the Vegetarian Society of Ireland’s website. I’m hoping to get a sense of the changes to my diet that would be necessary if I reduce my consumption of meat.

The Oxford English Dictionary

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But this chip wrapper could have your name on it.

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THE EDITION

Vegetarian tempeh lettuce weap. Credit Stacy Spensely via Flickr. defines a vegetarian as “a person who eats no meat”. We can expand this a little. A vegetarian has a diet of fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts and pulses but excludes meat products. They may eat certain dairy and egg products but will tend to exclude any that are manufactured in ways that may result in animal cruelty.

There are further distinctions.

Some will eat eggs but not dairy products. Others include fish in their diets, commonly known as a pescatarian diet. Still others may occasionally eat meat or chicken and still consider themselves to be vegetarian. This includes people who maintain a vegetarian diet and occasionally indulge in a kebab on the way home after a late night out.

Vegans, however, don’t consume any animal products whatsoever. There are many reasons why someone may decide to give up meat. Ethical concerns about animal welfare in food production can be a factor. In the episode of ‘the

Simpsons’ entitled ‘Lisa the Vegetarian’, Lisa decides she can’t continue to eat meat after meeting a lamb at a petting zoo. Another consideration may be cutting the cost of the food shopping bill by reducing the amount of meat in the diet.

My research doesn’t go according to plan. There are a lot of cupboards. My family are not convinced by the idea that the entire kitchen has to be turned upside down for the purpose of this article.

I settle for a look through the main cupboard where the staple foods are stored. It’s the most used cupboard in the kitchen. There are grains, beans and tinned vegetables here. I find baked beans, kidney beans, chickpeas and couscous.

There is also pasta, spaghetti and rice. So far, there’s a selection of food suitable for vegetarians, but how long can it last?

The marshmallows and jelly would have to go because they contain gelatine. The Parmesan

“It’s okay if a

dinner doesn’t follow the traditional template of meat and two veg

”

cheese, egg noodles and chicken stock cubes can’t stay either. A ready meal package states that it is suitable for vegetarians. However, I’m confused as its chicken flavour.

I decide to be cautious and that this would have to go too.

It proved difficult to source reliable and recent information about the numbers of vegetarians and vegans in Ireland. A 2016 survey carried out on behalf of the Vegan Society in the United Kingdom found that 1.6 million people (about 3 percent of the population) identified themselves as vegetarian or vegan. It may not be unreasonable to suggest that the numbers of vegetarians and vegans in Ireland are probably similar.

It’s not simply a case of eliminating meat and animal products as they are valuable as sources of protein, calcium and other vitamins. Other foods must replace the lost nutrients to maintain a healthy diet. This means eating more nuts, pulses and beans to get all required nutrients. But if you don’t like these foods, tofu and meat substitutes such as Quorn can be alternatives.

It can also be difficult to avoid animal products entirely. A quick Google search provides a list of ingredients that appear suitable for vegetarians but contain animal products. As an example, carmine is a red food colouring used in sweets and other desserts that is extracted from beetles. Is going meat-free weird? Of course not.

It’s tough though. The vegetarian lifestyle requires more thought and planning to maintain. There are hazards that make it more challenging. I’m not ready to give up meat completely. I’ll be more inclined to try the vegetarian option when I’m out for dinner.

Any major changes to a diet can have health implications. Where necessary, support and advice should always be sought from a medical professional.

The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

Sarah Harford Feature Editor @saz_harford

www.edition.ie |

15

CULTURE

Is It Just Music, Or Is It Literature?

In 1966 Bob Dylan created a musical revolution by turning his folk music electric. Fifty years later it seems that he’s making headlines once again – this time for being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The announcement has caused controversy as Dylan is the first musician to receive the famous accolade, which is generally reserved for great authors, playwrights, and poets. Many have questioned whether the songwriter’s lyrics constitute literature, but has Dylan earned his place among the likes of Seamus Heaney, Ernest Hemingway, and W.B. Yeats?

The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded based on a lifetime body of work rather than any single piece, and Bob Dylan has a far more prolific output than most writers. With a career spanning over half a century, he has released 37 studio albums, composed hundreds of tracks, and is still active today. Furthermore, he’s certainly not the first unorthodox recipient of the award – in 1953 Winston Churchill won “for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values”.

By redefining the boundaries of literature, the Nobel Prize committee have made a strong statement about the legitimacy of music and songwriting. If poetry is defined as a “literary work in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by the use of distinctive style and rhythm”, then does it really matter whether it’s written by George Bernard Shaw or

“All I ca

George Harrison? This announcement should create a change in our perception of the art.

So why Bob Dylan? Sara Danius, Secretary of the Swedish Academy, credited the 75 year old “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition,” and compared his works to the epic poems of Homer and Sappho. But such allusions are nothing new. For years Dylan’s lyrics and use of imagery has been lauded by fans and academics alike, and Christopher Ricks, renowned poetry critic and scholar of T.S Eliot and Samuel Beckett (both previous Nobel Laureates), has described Dylan as “the greatest living user of the English language”.

Dylan’s music has always been more than just songs. The sixties was an era when pop music was becoming a more significant medium, dealing with social and cultural issues.

Amidst the threats of Vietnam and the Cold War, Dylan’s music spoke to an entire generation, with powerful lyrics reflecting the changing times, yet which still remain relevant today.

Dylan’s songs are known for their oblique lyrics and surreal imagery, from the angst-filled lists of ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’, to the existentialist ballad ‘Desolation Row’. His work is full of literary allusions, and his relationship with the Beat poets can be discerned between the lines of ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’. But his work is not devoid of emotion either,

Bob Dylan early in his career. Credit Nico7Martin via Flickr.

n do is b

e me, w

hoever t

and the skill with which he blends humour and sadness can be clearly heard in ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright’: “I wish there was something you would do or say, to try and make me change my mind and stay, but we never did too much talking anyway.”

The album ‘Blonde on Blonde’ celebrates its fiftieth birthday this year, and still sounds as good as ever. Blurring the lines between the colloquial and the complex, it’s a very personal album, with detailed character sketches and vivid imagery. The ambitious ‘Visions of Johanna’ is often hailed as one of Dylan’s greatest tracks due to the successful merging of music and poetry, while the epic 11 minute ‘Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’ closes the album in a beautifully tragic manner.

Dylan is rarely talked about in purely musical terms, and if you take the time to read his lyrics, they do hold up on their own, independent of the music. In live performances he is constantly reworking melodies and rhythms and so it’s clear he has no interest in simply recreating album tracks live. His music is forever changing, but his words have remained throughout the years. They are the focus of his extensive creative output, and the Nobel Prize is a testament to that.

Whatever your opinions on Bob Dylan’s music are, as songs or as works of literature, it seems that the times they are a changin’.

hat is”

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The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

CULTURE

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back Robert Geoghegan

FILM REVIEW Film: Jack Reacher: Never Go Back Director: Don Granger Starring: Tom Cruise, Edward Zwick Genre: Action Run time: 1h 58m The subtitle of the new Jack Reacher film, Never Go Back, seems like a subtle attempt by the film marketers to try to keep people from leaving the cinema. They didn’t need it…the film is actually good.

Jack Reacher, played by Tom Cruise, is a former Major in the United States Army Military Police Corps. Reacher quit the military Corps and now roams the United States.

Set four years after the events of the first film, we find our hero Jack Reacher has just been in a scuffle, leaving a pile of incapacitated men in his wake as he calmly waits for the authorities. After a tête-à-tête with the would be arresting officers, both the incapac-

itated men and the arresting police officers are then arrested by the military police as it is revealed that they have been working on some shady deals. Justice gets served the Jack Reacher way.

Reacher develops a relationship with Major Susan Turner, played by Cobie Smulders, who has been working with him on solving cases across the country. When Reacher finally goes to meet Major Turner, he is informed that Turner has been accused of espionage and subsequently arrested.

Reacher is now dragged into a major military conspiracy and needs to help his friend and clear his name.

On the run as a fugitive, Reacher uncovers a potential secret from his past that could change his life forever.

Based upon the 2013 Jack Reacher novel, Never Go Back, by Lee Child, Never go Back brings Cruise and Edward Zwick together for the first time since The Last Samurai.

Unlike Cruise’s first outing as Reacher, this iteration moves away from the tone of the books and away from the style of the first movie. Less of an action thriller compared to the first movie, this works well for Cruise

who seems unable to work well outside of his known movie tropes.

Duality played heavily throughout the movie and it served as an important character distinction. Reacher gave up the military life and yet continues to serve outside of the system that he once believed in. It is the corrupt system that Reacher wants to nail to the wall, but Turner still believes in the ideals represented by her uniform. Sometimes it is the rules and values that hold people back.

These rules and values are not held by Reacher’s enemies and they try to exploit this weakness in Reacher Unfortunately for Reacher’s enemies, they don’t realise that he

is the guy that can blur the lines and will blur them if it means that justice is served.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is surprisingly good. Much like one of Cruise’s other body of work was the pretty decent movie Edge of Tomorrow, it appears that Cruise seems to work better with a strong female character beside him. This appeared to be something that the movie recognises and danced ever so close to the precipice of allowing a strong female character exact her own justice on those who wronged her, and while the film edged towards this possibility it seems that only Reacher will exact his justice.

Forget You Had A Daughter: Doing Time in the Bangkok Hilton Katie Walsh

BOOK REVIEW

Title: Forget You Had A Daughter: Doing Time in the Bangkok Hilton Author: Sandra Gregory Genre: Biography/Memoir

In her truly heart breaking and equally honest memoir, Forget You Had A Daughter, Sandra Gregory documents her time in Bangkok’s Lard Yao Women’s Prison and the events that preceded being transferred back to the British prison system.

Bored of her life in the UK, Gregory headed to Thailand thirsty for adventure. She

fell in love with the thick Thai forests and magnificent mountainsides that she explored early on in her Thai experience. The stunning scenery and peaceful villages were enough to convince her to stay on for longer and she decided to settle in Bangkok.

After spending over a year in Bangkok, illness, unemployment and political unrest were Gregory’s recipe for disaster. Eager to return to her life in the UK but not having the money to do so resulted in a decision that changed her life forever. With a desperate longing to be reunited with her family, she

agreed to smuggle heroin to Japan for £1,000.

Drug smuggling: a seemingly easy and quick way to make a lot of money; this is what Sandra wanted to believe yet she had a gut feeling she’d be caught, and of course, she was correct.

She was x-rayed, the drugs were found and she was sent to a cell in a Bangkok police station for a few days before being sent to Lard Yao Women’s Prison.

Battling the horrific conditions of Lard Yao, going through a trial in a foreign language that she didn’t understand and being

sentenced to death, it is hard to understand how Gregory remained sane.

Having spent seven years at Lard Yao, nicknamed the “Bangkok Hilton”, Sandra was transferred to a prison in the UK following the persistent campaigning of her parents who refused to “forget they had a daughter”; Gregory was pardoned by the King of Thailand and freed in 2000.

Forget You Had A Daughter is a must-read true-story that teaches the fragility of freedom and the harrowing effects one mistake can have on the rest of your life.

The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

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CULTURE

Magic in Something Different In a yearly slate of big budget Hollywood movies of bombastic spectacle and the same hero’s journey repeated to the point of nausea, it’s the small movies that can still surprise you Hugo Fitzpartick

PhotoEditor @HugoFitzpatirck

FILM REVIEW Film: The Land of the Enlightened Director: Pieters-Jan De Pue Starring: Gholam Nasir, Khyrgyz Baz Genre: documentary, Drama Running Time: 1h 27min

The Land of the Enlightened by first time director Pieters-Jan De Pue is something rather unique. Filmed over 7 years on 16mm film in Afghanistan, the movie takes both a fictional and documentary look at the lives of children during the wind down and withdrawal of US forces and the return of Afghan independence.

Narrated loosely by a nomadic scavenger boy in the high mountains near the Tajikistan border, he dreams of the day Afghanistan, “God’s Garden”, can be ruled by a king of its own again, like the legend he tells. He hopes and dreams through his command of a group

of young boys acting as bandits, to make this dream come true. To make a deal with a local elder for an arranged marriage and march on Kabul to find his palace and become king himself.

However this interpretation is far from the non-linear layout of the film itself. Documentary vignettes of the lives of various groups of children, and of US and Afghan soldiers fill the run time with a disorientating and stark portrayal of the harsh lives of each group in Afghanistan.

The soldiers perched on a high base in a valley twitch and over react to the slightest movement of the “coward” and unseen Taliban. Their days filled with routine and exercise, hobby and boredom. Interrupted by frenetic gunfights from all corners, where the viewer and the soldier are never sure what is going on. It is the additional documentary narrative of some soldiers that is the only spoken English in the film.

The Afghanistan Army comrades being trained to take over are referred to by one of the soldiers as “brass bandits” for their habit of collecting spent bullets as they fall, to trade with local kids for pretty much anything and everything.

It is the expended munitions and aban-

doned material of successive invaders that becomes a tradable asset to the children. Children are seen collecting unexploded shells and digging up landmines to sell on to scrap dealers. Even the central hero weighs opium they intercept by balancing a scale full of bullets.

Childhood innocence takes a back seat to some of the bleak realities of a country on its knees. Many eek living in conditions seemingly unimaginable in this day and age. With so much destruction wrought on these lands of flowers and blue stone, children playing

The Long, Hot Summer Olivia Powell

Culture Editor @powell_olivia

BOOK REVIEW Title: The Long, Hot Summer Author: Kathleen McMahon Genre: Fiction The Long, Hot Summer follows the McEntee family through their whirlwind of a summer. We follow each family member individually as they tell their version of events. The story is set in Dublin and the first person we meet is Deirdre – the matriarch of the family.

Deirdre is 80-years-old and not content with her life.

We learn that her husband, Manus, left her after 28 years of marriage for a younger man and her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have their own lives, worries and problems.

Manus and Deirdre have three children – Alma, Acushla and Macdara. Alma works in television and is therefore in the public eye. She is the victim of a brutal attack which, in a weird way, brings the family back together. She is also the ex-wife of MEP Mick Collins – things are not looking too good for him either. The pair have a daughter, Nora, who is traveling the world, not keeping in touch with her parents and landing herself in prison.

Acushla is married to former Minister Liam Collins who is Mick’s brother. They have a daughter Constance, or Connie,

make believe offer some hope. The palace of their dreams is destroyed, but it will be rebuilt.

The rich colours of Afghanistan in the bleak cold are captured wonderfully by the film format and provide a sense of tactile realism in close up moments - a level of dedication and care rarely afforded normal filmmakers in today’s blockbuster digital market. If you long for something different to see this year than check it out for yourself from 11 November in the Irish Film Institute in Temple Bar.

who has two children.

Acushla and Liam have a secret which could affect his career and destroy their marriage.

Lastly, Macdara, who is Deirdre’s favourite, is single and living a very quiet life, however he is working on something extraordinary.

Manus and his partner, Sam, seem to be the only couple in the novel who are truly in love and no drama befalls them.

Even though Manus left Deirdre, the reader feels sorry for her, but in no way does the author persuade us to dislike his character. In fact, we are not drawn to one character, we follow their lives fairly and individually – each family member has their own chapter in the novel. Family, love and loss are certainly the main themes of the novel.

The Long, Hot Summer is full of drama, suspense, family and love. If you are looking for an easy, laid back read this is certainly the book for you.

The Long, Hot Summer is McMahohn’s second novel to date. Her first novel, This Is How It Ends, spent five weeks at number one in the Irish Book Charts. About This Is How It Ends author Maeve Binchy said: “A story of people who are easy to believe in and hard to forget.”

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CULTURE

BIMM Students Organise Charity Gig Olivia Powell

Culture Editor @powell_olivia

The Limits Frontman. Credit Ciara Brennan.

Students from DIT’s BIMM, Ciara Brennan and Niall O’Leary, organised a charity gig in aid of Focus Ireland on Wednesday, October 26.

Originally planned to be held in the iconic Wexford Street venue of Whelan’s, there was a last minute to change Sin É, situated on Ormond Quay.

Speaking to organiser Ciara Brennan, The Edition reports on the highs and lows of the event.

“I feel the gig went very well considering we had many challenges coming up to the actual gig. Unfortunately, we had to change venue which brought about some challenges and we had to make lots of changes to the event itself.

For this reason the gig could have gone better but we had a great time, listened to some fantastic bands, and raised some money for a fantastic cause.”

O’Leary asked Brennan for a helping hand to run the event to which she said she “jumped at the chance”. Brennan said: “It is something that I have been thinking about doing for a long time and I was very happy to help.”

Aforementioned, the chosen charity is Focus Ireland – a charity which helps homeless people.

Homelessness is a massive issue in Ireland at present and this is what motivated O’Leary and Brennan to choose Focus Ireland as the beneficiary.

Brennan said: “To quote Game of Thrones, ‘winter is coming.’ The weather is getting colder and there are many people who are sleeping on the streets, they can’t afford accommodation, warm food or warm clothes. We wanted to raise a bit of money to help ease this time for people who are homeless.”

However, let’s rewind back to the gig, where a total of six bands played on the night – Before The After, The Limits, Contact The Martian, The Felonies, Jailbirds and Buckshot Amber. At least one member from each band is a student in BIMM and all were more than happy to play and raise money for such a great cause.

Wondering whether Brennan had a favourite of the six bands, she said: “All the bands were fantastic, but a standout performance of the night for me was definitely the Jailbirds. They are an amazing, high energy band and they really got the crowd going. Axel [the band’s frontman] was running around the place, he was at the back of Sin É shredding the guitar, it put a smile on everyone’s face.”

The event was organised via Facebook and Brennan was heavily involved in the promotion of the event whilst O’Leary dealt with the venues and both contacted the six bands involved.

The amount raised for Focus Ireland was €120, Brennan said: “I was very disappointed with this amount of money, I felt we could have raised a lot more money but due to the venue change we were unable to charge in and we were relying on people putting donations into the buckets that we placed around Sin É. Some people were very generous and I would like to thank those people, however, I felt we could have and should have raised more money.”

However, Brennan is planning to organise another charity gig for early next year: “I have lots of bands that want to do gigs and I have lots of causes that I would love to raise money for. I feel this gig was a learning curb. I know what I did wrong with this gig and now I know how to make the next one even better than this one.”

The Felonies guitarist. Credit Ciara Brennan.

Buckshot Amber. Credit Ciara Brennan.

The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

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CULTURE Scares, Spooks and Screams Olivia Powell

Culture Editor @powell_olivia

Football Manager 2017 is an upcoming football management simulation video game developed by Sports Interactive and published by Sega.

Keith Horan

GAME REVIEW

Title: Football Manager 2016 Publisher: Sega Developer: Sports Interactive In modern day football, where players often blend into one bland blur of Beats headphones, dab celebrations and sleeve tattoos, it is largely left to managers to provide the colour and controversy that makes the beautiful game what it is.

Think of Klopp, Guardiola and Conte recently putting a fresh spin on life in the dugout in England.

Sports Interactive have followed suit with the 2017 version of their highly successful Football Manager series. The inclusion of social media, vanishing spray and even Brexit result in the most realistic adaptation of the modern game so far.

Each year, improvements to the match engine are among the most anticipated feature announcements.

Having had access to the beta version of the game for the last week, I can confirm that the match engine is the tidiest beta I have played yet,

A Realistic Adaption of the Modern Game with very little in the way of bugs or problems to report.

The supposed crossing bug was a deal breaker for many players last year, with the obvious inability of full backs and wing backs to defend the most basic of crosses making it almost impossible to mould a solid defensive unit. This has been addressed, with defenders now much more adept at not only spotting, but also, reacting to danger.

Obviously I have still scored and conceded from crosses in the beta, but statistically nothing incomparable to real life football. There are 1,500 new motion capture animations which also improve the match engine, meaning you are less likely to see defenders turning with the grace of the 46A, unless their pace and agility attributes suggest they should of course.

A slew of aesthetic improvements also give the match engine a more polished feel. Referees are armed with vanishing spray to prevent players from encroaching closer than ten yards, while the pre-match presentation now shows teams emerging from the tunnel, with pre-match handshakes also included.

The inclusion of a new camera angle, ‘behind goal low’, gives players a close-up view of all the goalmouth action, providing a better picture of what happens inside the box. A new social media feed makes it easier to keep up with developments in the game world, while sports scientists and data analysts have been added as staff members.

The inclusion of Brexit will also have a major impact on the gaming

experience. This will be especially true for those who instruct their scouting network to scour all corners of the globe for potential additions to their youth academies, as work permits and youth player transfers will be affected. Different Brexit scenarios have been programmed, with some beta users even reporting that the game has predicted a united Ireland.

Unfortunately there is no update to training, but that is only a minor quibble for an area of the game that needs subtle tweaking rather than a major overhaul.

These new features should be enough to entice veteran fans of the series and newcomers to purchase a game that always gives fantastic value in terms of money spent, to hours played. FM17 is released this Friday, 4 November.

Album Review: Kings of Leon - ‘Walls’ Jessica Martin Last month, Kings of Leon released their new album, ‘WALLS’, hitting number one in the US and UK in its first week.

The seventh studio album is their first release in three years, following on from ‘Mechanical Bull’. The album title, ‘WALLS’, is an acronym for We Are Like Love Songs following the band’s tradition of having a five-syllables album title.

Released through RCA Records and under the production of Markus Dravs, the four Followills made sure to carry their unique sound with them. All the tracks on the album are written by Caleb, Nathan, Jared and Matthew.

The album has already proven to be a huge success for the band with it reaching number one on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and by 20 October, six days after its release, it earned up to 68,000 traditional album sales. The traditional sales were of 77,000 equivalent album units. The album has also charted at number one in Ireland, the UK and New Zealand.

In first half of the album the band is almost instantly recognisable; although the introduction to ‘Around The World’ could easily be mistaken for a hit by Arctic Monkeys; it’s only when Caleb’s lead vocals are sung, that it’s clearly

Kings of Leon.

‘Muchacho’ is the ultimate interception of sound, the expectation of the listener is discarded and the track could be described as going off-script. It shows Kings of Leon in a whole new light and offers a newly found variety of music by the alternative/indie rock band. The song is a risk and placing it in the middle of the album was a good decision because you either love it or hate it. Followed by ‘Conversation Piece’, their sound is slowly put back into place and reconnected by the time ‘Eyes on You’ is playing.

The final track, ‘WALLS’, sounds like the band are letting

their rock persona guard down and they’re showing an unusual side to their emotions. It’s the song that connects perfectly to the album’s title and ties all of the tracks together while tidying up any loose ends It’s the ideal track to close with and it makes you want to listen to the album all over again.

Kings of Leon have scheduled a WALLS tour which is due to begin on 12 January, 2017. This tour will take them through the United States, Canada, Germany and five different locations in the United Kingdom with growing speculation of an Irish show being added for late February.

The Nightmare Realm is currently held in the RDS, Ballsbridge.

It opened its doors to the daring public on September 29 and will remain open until Saturday, 5 November.

The Nightmare Realm prides itself as being “Ireland’s most terrifying Halloween attraction,” therefore we went along to see what all the fuss is about.

As we arrived at the RDS we queued with the rest of the anxious groups waiting to enter the scarehouse. On entering, you are told not to use mobile phones or take any pictures.

The Nightmare Realm works on a self-guided basis and depending on how many of you there are, you may be put with another group on the tour.

The Nightmare Realm no doubt lives up to its name. As you go from room to room there is something more frightening and more crazy to follow. Some rooms do not even have anything in them, you just walk through a pitch dark room - the worst in my opinion - at one stage, we were given a torch and told “you’re going to need this”.

Whereas with other rooms, a live character will jump out at you and sometimes follow you - unpleasant to say the least.

The Nightmare Realm is spooky, frightening, shocking, breath-taking (not in a good way) but most of all, it is fun and laughable. You can surrender and exit the tour at any time you wish if it’s really not your cup of tea.

The live characters are brilliant and their makeup and costumes are impeccable.

Student tickets are quite expensive at €17 for a maximum of 30 minutes at the event.

Photographs are taken in one room of the tour as I am sure you have seen appear on your Facebook news feed. However, these photographs will only be uploaded to Facebook if you pay for a least one of them. It is €10 per photograph, again expensive after paying the €17 entrance fee.

However, I would recommend a trip to The Nightmare Realm as it is a fun activity and a great laugh.

If you are thinking about attending The Nightmare Realm, take our advice and maybe work up a bit of Dutch courage beforehand, it certainly helped calm our nerves.

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The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

A Busy October for Frisbee Club Henry Ballinger

Frisbee President Henry Ballinger gave The Edition the lowdown of their recent trip away to Liverpool and their opening intervarsity’s event.

On the weekend of 15 October, DIT Ultimate Frisbee Club sent a group of 21 members to Liverpool for a weekend-long tournament.

It took a bus, a ferry, three trains and a walk to get us there, but we eventually arrived.

The 21 members were split across three teams, Open, Women, and Beginners Loose-Mixed.

After having a rather uncomfortable night sleeping on a scout hut floor all three teams made their way to Greenbank Sports Academy on the Saturday morning.

All the teams had a great day, but it was our beginners’ team that really shone, they won every one of their

pool games, but unfortunately lost the crossover which would have secured a top eight finish.

After an industrial neon rave themed party where we danced the night away, we arrived back at the scout hut around 5am for an hour or two of broken sleep. Then, we got up and played ultimate for another day.

All the guys and girls were pretty happy with their overall standings.

After a lot more travelling, we arrived back in Dublin Port shortly after 6am on Monday morning where we dispersed home...or for one poor, brave soul, ventured into college for a 9am start.

That same weekend, another beginners’ team, aided by two experienced players competed in Trinity Tea Party in Trinity College.

After winning one, drawing one and losing two of their group games, they won their crossover to guarantee a top 16 finish.

A victory over Queen’s University Belfast came in between losses to UCC2 and Trinity 1 to leave DIT in fourteenth place at the end of the two day tournament.

The following weekend, a young team of nine made the journey to Limerick for our first intervarsity event of the season, Mixed Indoor IVs.

After several very tough matches, and far too many injuries, we finished the tournament in a respectable twelfth place overall.

Our next tournament is Ladies Indoor IV’s this Saturday, 5 November and will be hosted

by DCU.

Credit: DIT Ultimate Frisbee Club

Ladies’ Footballers Confidently Defeat Rivals UCD Jessica Martin

DIT Ladies’ Football Team overcame rivals UCD on a scoreline of 2:16 to 0:12 on Wednesday 19 October.

With UCD winning the throw in and scoring the first two points of the game, they made an impression on DIT and looked to be a strong side. However, DIT’s defence put in a huge effort to make themselves available for their kick outs and by the end of the game, the The DIT Ladies squad who played UCD. team won an average of 70 percent everywhere. Rock put the ball into of them.

Halton who crossed the ball into The DIT Ladies really showed Connolly who shot for a goal but their determination to win when a was denied by the strong hands of UCD free was kicked into the wing the UCD goalkeeper. forwards, giving them the chance Rock was concentrating hard in to run onto the ball, but DIT’s Lisa the middle of the field and collected Gillman was cleverly out in front every ball sent her way. Coming of her player and swept it into her towards the end of the first half, possession. possession was beginning to even With a strong handpass, Gillman out between both teams. played it into the hands of Lauren The pressure was on DIT when Bedford. They both weaved their UCD burst their way down through way up the field, where the ball the middle channels of the field but was sent on to Amy Connolly, who they couldn’t get at the goal. switched it into Shannon Rock and Shaunagh Harte made a remarkwithout any hesitation put it over able move by blocking UCD’s atthe bar. tempt at scoring and taking the ball Niamh Halton kept herself busy with her. Unfortunately, the ball for the game making the most of ended up going over the sideline every scoring opportunity she had. and UCD scored a point as a result.

With DIT winning yet another From this kickout, DIT regained kick out, Rock and Connolly were control of the game with Halton

scoring a goal just before the halftime whistle.

In the second half, DIT proved to UCD what they are capable of.

There were a few simple mistakes which could be put down to lack of training, but they still kept their composure and there was a change in atmosphere on the pitch as the DIT side had a positive mentality and were hungry for the win.

Early in the second half, Kate Dwyer overturned the ball into DIT’s possession by blocking down her player. Dwyer switched the ball to Halton and she confidently kicked a point whilst being solely surrounded by five UCD defenders.

Sarah-Jane Hecker replaced Rock and she continued with the same style by paving her way through the UCD players with speed, making great runs and

opening up the play.

After a well thought-out kick out by Murphy, Hecker was on the receiving end and in acceleration had sent the ball into Dwyer’s hands who kicked it over the bar.

This upped the pace of the game to a higher intensity.

Lauren Bradford made a number of great interceptions throughout the game which relieved DIT’s full back line. These breaks were the seeding needed for the DIT attacks.

The confidence levels of the DIT players kept increasing and they continued the pressure to ensure the win. They made it evident that they weren’t going home without a win and Hecker had another score on the board after working her way past two defenders to put the ball in the back of the net.

Snow Trip Destination Announced Nick Moloney DIT SnowSports has announced Andorra as the destination for its annual week long ski trip which will take place in January.

This year’s SnowSports trip will be to the snowy destination of Pas de la Casa, Andorra’s ski resort. The trip will cost students €599 euro and that will take them away to Andorra for seven days.

Students will depart Ireland on 14 January and return home on 21 January.

Last year DIT’s SnowSports Club went to Alpe D’Huez. This year it has changed to the massive ski area of Grandvalira, which links the ski resort Pas de le Casa with Soldeu and El Tarter.

The skiers will have access to 210 kilometres of ski trails, and the resort has duty free status meaning there will be good ski deals for anyone who goes.

Any student who is worried about tackling the slopes should rest assured as Pas de la Casa has green routes for the beginners and there are also red and black slopes for the more advanced skiers and snowboarders.

Booking is open since last Monday and must be done through the SnowSports Club who can be contacted through email at ditsnowsports@gmail.com.

Last year there were 141 students who took to Alpe D’Huez and the club hopes to attract similar numbers for this year’s trip.

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The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

Reaching New Heights By Joining A Sports Club Sinead Farrelly

Deputy Editor @SineadCFarrelly

Starting college brings with it many new opportunities for students in all aspects of their lives, for many this can be through new sports.

DIT has over 40 sports clubs ranging from athletics and GAA, to ultimate Frisbee and shooting, so there’s something for virtually everyone.

Joining a sports club in college allows students to try a sport which may not have been available to them previously. The only fee to join a club in DIT is €2, a striking difference to the membership cost of many sports clubs around the country.

Gear will be provided for students when they join and they are then able to work with top class professional coaches who are used to working with total beginners, therefore making it accessible for newcomers who are unsure of making a major financial investment in a sport before discovering it’s not for them.

Final year Baking and Pastry Arts Management student Ally Howard is one of these students who found their calling in a new sport which she took up upon starting in DIT four years ago when she joined the Mountaineering Club.

Since then, the 21 year old has gone from strength to strength and is now the first female Chairperson of the Athletic Council, has climbed the Alps as a part of a team from Mountaineering Ireland and last April she won Club Executive of the Year for DIT. “For myself I never really played much sport as a child. I was a typical Irish kid, played GAA ‘til I was about 12 years old then dropped out the second I got in the doors of my secondary school. I never really saw myself as a sporty person until I reached college.

“It was at Freshers’ Sign Up Week where I was approached to join the Mountaineering Club. I honestly laughed when they asked me to join at first. I thought to myself ‘me and heights...not a hope’

but something pushed me outside my comfort zone and I signed up.

Let alone did I know I was signing up to change my whole future.

“I started going to the training sessions twice a week. To be honest it was mostly the craic and the social aspect that kept me coming back at the start. After a few weeks I started to see a huge improvement

in my climbing skills.”

During Howard’s first year in the club she competed at the Rock Climbing Intervarsties held in Queen’s University Belfast where she finished in the top 30 in the country and has now improved to top ten finishes in subsequent competitions, at both intervarsity level

and outside college.

“I started competing in competitions, first with intervarsities,I knew at this point I was never going back to the unsporty baker girl. I went from this innocent fresher who just wanted to make cakes, to an adventurous, adrenaline seeking climber and it was all because of this club I randomly joined.”

In her third year Howard was recruited

by Mountaineering Ireland for an Alpine Incentive in Switzerland where she climbed six peaks across the Alps in seven days. She also became Chairperson of the club, organising DIT Mountaineering’s first trip abroad, where they ventured to Wales for a long weekend with Cardiff University.

As well as finding new skills with the club, Howard has also proved it to be a prosperous venture for her as she now works as a rock climbing instructor and worked in

America as an instructor on a J1 Visa.

“I also enrolled in my Single Pitch Award, which is a training and exam based course that must be undertaken to become a rock climbing instructor. This is the major factor that has changed my life. A sport that was a hobby is now becoming a job for me. I couldn’t believe that I could turn something I love so much into a job.”

This year Howard was elected Chairperson of the DIT Athletic Council after serving as Secretary last year.

“This year I am the Chairperson of the DIT Athletic Council. We represent the students voice in sport. There I was a normal fresher joining a random sports club for the first time, now I represent all of the students in sport.”

The range of sports undertaken at elite level in DIT are celebrated at the Sport Scholarship Awards which take place tonight.

Speaking after last year’s awards, DIT Sports Officer, Niamh O’Callaghan, said: “That’s the beauty of sport here in the college is the holistic approach we take. There is no one major focal sport but many different teams and sports which students can try out.”

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The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

Business Lecturer Invests in Ladies Football Jessica Martin Seán O’Reilly, a Business and Finance lecturer in DIT has said a double win is in his best interests for the DIT’s Ladies’ Gaelic Football Team (LGFT).

O’Reilly is one of the youngest lecturers in DIT and has had a love for the college since he studied here as a postgraduate.

Shortly after he graduated with his Master’s he worked for PWC and on passing his accountancy exams, went on to become the Director of Accountancy and Finance Tuition Ireland. It was from this that O’Reilly became a lecturer at the age of just 25.

This is O’Reilly’s second year as a lecturer and this year, he made a decision to be more proactive within the college. Since he has become the manager of the LGFT the only thing he has on his mind is, “to win the league and win the Lynch Cup. That’s it, the double”.

He was given his first opportunity to coach ladies football in Ranelagh Gaels as he was out of the game for a year and a half due to an injury. After spending three years there and getting back-toback promotions, they won the Division 5 Cup and League. He said, “I was a bit hesitant at the start but obviously I got into it because I’m obsessed with football.

“Through my connection with Ranelagh, Stephen Davis from Stars na hÉireann approached me and asked would I help him. He was the manager for the Dublin Ladies U14 team last year, and he asked me to be his assistant manager. Now Stephen is currently my assistant manager. Louise Leonard was also involved with the Dublin set up and Denis Doolan was with me in Ranelagh. Having worked together before, I know that having them on board is a huge advantage

to the team.”

The LGFT has reached the final of the Lynch Cup for the past two years in a row and the work and dedication that goes into the organisation of any team is very time consuming, leaving little time to relax. In an effort to make the season more enjoyable as a manager, and to avoid unnecessary stress as a lecturer, O’Reilly explains how he stays in control of it all.

“You can manage your time well with being a lecturer. If you’re dedicated to something you’re passionate about, you’ll make time for it. I plan the structure and content of my lectures in advance.

I make it a priority to organise my time well and this means that after I have prepared for lectures, I have plenty of time to focus on football.”

O’Reilly’s well-organised routine is certainly a factor in

the recent results of the ladies’ competitive matches, winning two out of three matches, and they will now compete in the league semi-final.

Now that the ladies have made an early impression in the season, they hope to make full use out of the very little time they’re allocated on the newly opened pitches in Grangegorman.

O’Reilly said, “Grangegorman has been a hugely positive step forward for DIT GAA. While these new facilities will finally bring DIT together as a club on home ground, in order for DIT to progress even further and cater for the high demand, the facilities will have to be even bigger and better again.”

The Edition would like to wish the management and coaching staff, and of course the panel, the very best of luck for the season.

DIT Players in International Shinty

Cormac Byrne Sports Editor @CMacByrne

October has been a good month for four of DIT’s camogie and hurling players with Ali Twomey, Orla Beagan and Faye McCarthy representing Dublin in an international series camogie/shinty clash against Scotland, while senior hurler, Conor McDonald represented Ireland U21 as they too took on Scotland.

Both teams ran out eventual winners with the camogie team winning the International Shinty Cup on a 12-2 scoreline, while the U21 team secured a comprehensive 4-18 to 2-11 victory.

Both fixtures took place in Inverness.

Lucan woman, Ali Twomey, expressed delight with her recent call up in an interview with The Edition, she was keen to point out the phys-

ical differences between shinty and camogie.

“Camogie’s a lot more physical and faster, there’s a lot more running involved in Camogie, with one scoop the ball flies miles in Shinty because of the size of the sticks.

“It was a great experience, I actually played three years ago too, but I went off after two minutes, I got a whack with a stick early on.

The whole thing was so well organised by both organisations, it was a great weekend.”

It’s been a good season for the DIT camogie team too as they have secured their place in the quarter-final of Division 1 with one game to spare.

Twomey maintains that her experiences over

in Scotland can help better her as a player at all levels.

“All these different experiences better you as a player, Shinty improves your decision making because you can’t catch the ball, I think all these experiences can only better you as a player.

“College camogie has been going well this season too, we’ve got some good new freshers into the squad and we’ve a home draw in the quarter-final of the league.”

The Edition and DIT GAA would like to wish Twomey, Beagan, McCarthy and McDonald the best of luck with their respective counties of Dublin and Wexford in the coming season, and for the remainder of the season.

Water Polo Club Launch Seson in Friendly Series Cormac Byrne Sports Editor @CMacByrne

On Wednesday, 26 October, the DIT Water Polo Club launched their season with a friendly series against Trinity College in both the Male and Female categories. Both teams lost their games on the day, by 1411 and 15-9 respectively.

The DIT team had a hard time adjusting to the larger Trinity pool which is twice the width of DIT’s training pool at Kevin Street. DIT’s regular pool measures 18m by 5m while the Trinity pool measures 25m by 10m, the difference in pool size was a major aspect in the final results of the games as it affects players fitness and general play, however both the men’s and women’s teams performed amicably despite having a mix of experienced and inexperienced players.

DIT ladies player, Rafaela Cristina de Carvalho insisted that the games were very much a learning experience for their teams, the teams were made up of a mix of beginners and regular players, and all things considered, they lost by narrow margins against a vastly experienced Trinity team who regularly compete in the National League for Colleges.

De Carvalho said, “I’m new to water polo, but I did competitive swimming for three years in school.

The game against Trinity was my first ever game and to be honest I was a little confused as it was hard to understand the game, as the game wore on I began to understand it more. I scored a goal too which I was happy with, It was a great experience.”

Water Polo is an upcoming sport in DIT and de Carvalho pointed out that it is a sport which needs, “great team work, strategy and pressure”.

The Edition would like to wish the DIT Waterpolo Club all the best in the coming season. They next take to the pool when they take on UCD on Monday, 14 November.

Trinity College have also expressed interest in organising another game before Christmas.

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The Edition Thursday 3 November 2016

Rugby Team Lose First Game at Grangegorman DIT were comprehensively beaten by the Garda College last week but the game was not without controversy Dan Grennan The DIT Rugby Team tasted defeat for the first time this season, as they ended up on the wrong side of a 36-17 scoreline against the Garda College on Wednesday, 26 October.

In what was the first ever senior rugby game to take place at the Grangegorman Campus, Garda College used their physicality in the pack to dominate the game while DIT failed to utilise their superior backline to full The DIT Rugby team in action effect. lege team responded quickly when pressure after the kick-off The far heavier Garda College side broke down the yielded a Garda scrum deep in DIT territory.

DIT defence with aggressive ball carries and a domination of Jake Connolly picked off the back of the scrum and brushed the scrum. aside the first defender before being brought down by Brian Strong carries from Garda College’s wing forwards Lorcan Collins. Garda College scrum-half Cillian Murray quickly reMurphy, Michael Duffy, Number Eight Jake Connolly, and cycled the ball to Shane Kennedy who ran in under the posts prop Jamie King opened up DIT’s defence time and time and touched the ball down unopposed. again throughout the game.

Number Eight Kevin Dolan made a great break at the 15 The Garda team dominated the scrum with four wins minute mark to take DIT from their own 22 deep into Garda against the head and a try scored by Jake Connolly off the back of a scrum pushed over the DIT try line halfway through territory, however, the ball was knocked forward when Dolan attempted an off-load, undoing his previous good work. the second half which ensured a Garda victory.

A strong wind prevented DIT’s James McGowan from Out-half James McGowan gave a courageous performance clearing his kicks effectively through the first half, and this with lots of exciting plays but ultimately failed to get the most was when the Garda team mounted most of their pressure. out of his DIT backline.

The referee had some big calls to make in the second-half, Dan Mullane scored a try in the opening minutes of the with the Garda team coming out on the upper hand in the game to get DIT off to a dream start, however, the Garda Colmajority of them.

There were calls for a yellow card from the sideline when Garda flanker Lorcan Murphy was repeatedly caught high-tackling his opposition. Instead of a yellow card, the referee gave a two minute break for each captain to talk to their team.

The referee also gave the Garda side two opportunities to retake a penalty which was taken illegally in the midst of the second-half, eventually resulting in a Garda College score.

The Garda College side exploited the wind and their strength in the scrum to score another two tries in the first half which left the score at 19-5 to the Garda going into the second half.

DIT came into the game a little more in the second half but they failed to find an end product with only one try scored while Garda College ran over the line on three more occasions to run out comprehensive winners.

Mixed Month for DIT Soccer Teams Cormac Byrne Sports Editor @CMacByrne

It’s been a mixed month for DIT’s numerous soccer teams with the DIT Ladies Soccer team having found a rich vein of form of late, while The men’s teams haven’t been enjoying quite as much success.

DIT Ladies’ star striker Amy Murphy’s statistics are brilliantly stark. Murphy has bagged seven goals in two games and has led the sides gloriously bold march to the top of the Women’s Soccer Colleges Association of Ireland (WSCAI) Division 2 league table.

The ladies opened their campaign early last month with a clash against GMIT and recorded a comfortable 5-1 victory in which Murphy duly netted all five of the DIT goals.

The most striking aspect of the campaign thus far is the way this side beautifully shut teams out.

Murphy was to the fore again as they put UCD to the sword at Belfield on Thursday, 27 October, Murphy scored twice as her team took an 8-0 lead before the game was blown up 35 minutes early by the referee due to an injury to a DIT player.

After the game against UCD, DIT captain Lisa Donnelly jokingly said, “Amy only scored two today, she’s on seven now with two games, I’ll have to let her away with it.”

Donnelly went on to compliment her teammates’ performances this season, “The players we have are playing at the level they want, a lot of the players could play at a higher level if they wanted, Ladies’ Captain Lisa Donnelly and Men’s Captain Ryhs Gorman. Credit: FAI Press Release the standard of women’s footSix days later the Premier Team were defeated comprehenball at college level is definitely sively at home to DCU, as they ended up on the wrong side of on the up.” a 5-1 score.

Next up for the Ladies team is a tie against Maynooth Ladies first team in the Intervarsity Cup Qualifiers, if they win this tie Next up for the Premier team is a trip away to Dundalk IT on the Wednesday, 16 November. they will secure their place in the intervarsity’s tournament.

The B Team got their league campaign off to a good start Donnelly highlighted the significance of this game, “That’s a when they defeated Trinity College 3-2 at home, howevhuge game for us, if we beat them we’ll be playing in Cork at er they lost at home to IT Blanchardstown on Tuesday, 25 the Intervarsity’s.”

October.

After kicking off their Premier Division North campaign with The Men’s C team opened their campaign with a convincing a 2-2 draw at home to Trinity College, the Men’s Premier 3-0 victory away to National College of Ireland with Adam Team have suffered two disappointing losses.

O’Kelly, Daire O’Connor and Bobby Keating scoring the First up, on 19 October an away trip to UCD saw DIT leave goals for DIT. Belfield empty handed after a 2-1 defeat in which the DIT The C team will next line out against Royal College of Surlads put in a good shift and were unlucky to lose. geons on Wednesday, 23 November.

EDITION T HE

SPORT

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Thursday 3 November 2016

LoI: A Student Friendly League

Donogh Corby League of Ireland footballers have a gruelling schedule. With most clubs only working on a part-time basis, a lot of players have to find time to train with their clubs despite having long hours at work or college.

Mark Langtry made his debut for UCD’s first team in an EA Sports Cup match against eventual League winners Shamrock Rovers deep into exam season in 2010 while studying for a Degree in Theoretical Physics.

He still plays for ‘the college’ in the League despite finishing his Masters in Meteorology in 2014. “I remember when I made my debut.

I was in the library, I headed out to play my first match for the club, came back at about half ten and it was straight back into the library.

“A lot of the lads will say it but around exam time when you’ve maybe some late nights, you’re not eating the best, you’re still trying to train to be at your peak and then you’ve a tough game on the Friday, followed by an exam the Saturday morning. It’s really tough but you build up your ability over your time in college and its really enjoyable to be able to do both.

“A lot of the lads playing for the club now still do it. That’s the culture [for college students in the League]. It’s a great environment to be in, studying and playing at the highest level.”

For many young players, the idea is that the League of Ireland is a backup option if a move to England at a young age doesn’t materialize. Keith Fahey’s comments in pre-season in the Irish Independent regarding life after football for a player who went to England early struck a chord with fans and offi-

Bohemians and Dundalk Town in action. Credit: BohemianFC via Flickr

cials alike. He has recently returned to college after a successful career petered out with an injury-plagued spell with Shamrock Rovers last season.

His former St. Patrick’s Athletic team-mate Ger O’Brien coached the Maynooth Collingwood Cup-winning side in 2014 after the club agreed a sports scholarship programme with the University years prior which allows scholars to get involved in the League while pursuing a degree. “I think there’s a misconception that if you don’t go to England by the time you’re 16 you won’t be a professional footballer,”

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says O’Brien of the stigma around playing at home. “Those days are gone. That was only around when I was coming up through the youth ranks.

“You don’t have to go over so young now. If you’re not selected then I think the next step should be focussing on your education.”

Dundalk’s history-making striker David McMillan has been involved in a fixture congestion which leaves them playing approximately one game every 3 days, but compared to the stress of playing in a relegation-battle game with an exam the next day, McMillan thinks this

run of games is a walk in the park.

“Definitely, the exams were more stressful than this,” he laughed after Dundalk’s impressive home performance against Zenit St. Petersburg.

“I know people get very affected by nerves or whatever but for me this is the experience that I never got to have when lads were playing under-age football in Ireland.”

It would seem that the links between colleges and League of Ireland clubs are a positive step towards keeping young, talented players at home. In DIT’s case, many current and former players have balanced going to college with

DIT Players in International Shitny - Page 22

playing in the League of Ireland.

Roberto Lopes captained Bohemians while going to DIT, while current Longford Town defender Rhys Gorman was the captain for the DIT side that reached the CFAI Umbro Cup Quarter-Final against Letterkenny IT. A football career can only realistically last until a player’s mid-to-late 30s. One particular quote from PFAI President Stephen McGuinness particularly highlights the importance of education for people in this field of work: “One thing is going to happen for sure: You’re going to retire.”

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