SIN Volume 22 Issue 4

N UAC HT

November 17 2020

7

GNÉ -ALTANNA

5

Don’t forget Mental Health Week: 16–20 November! Students encouraged to download Safety App Mary Raftery When we head on a night out into town with friends, we look out for each other and hope we can depend on one another. However, our friends are not always equipped to be able to help when we get into difficulty. The Galway Safe App facilitates this, aiming to prevent tragedies from happening late at night in areas close to the water in the city. Launched in 2017, The Galway Safe App is funded by Galway City Council and The Western Region Drug and Alcohol Task Force and can be downloaded for free. It takes a matter of seconds to set up. You add three in case of emergency contacts, and then you forget about it! It is not an app that will be frequently sending you notifications or constantly tracking your movements. So, don’t worry, Mam or Dad won’t have access to where you are all of the time! The app connects to beacons along the river, one at The Wolfe Tone Bridge and the other at The Spanish Arch. Even when mobile data is turned off, the app will be able to check in as it uses GPS.

If you are lingering around these hotspots between 10pm-6am, the app will send you a notification to check in and ask if you are ‘ok’ and if you would like to talk to any of your contacts. It will also allow you to get in touch with Samaritans or the emergency services. A convenient feature of the app is that it can capture the exact location details of the person in need or of a friend if they have decided to make contact. It will communicate this to the emergency contacts or emergency services as the app can pinpoint the location to about half a yard. This means that emergency services can get to the scene quicker. NUI Galway Students’ Union President, Pádraic Toomey, spoke about how the River Corrib poses some danger and that the app can help us stay safe stating, “The app is a great initiative to keep people safe when around Galway with its waterways. Galway has the fastest river running through a European city and with that comes some danger. It is a good way to stay safe for all our students.” SIN spoke to Neil Wilson of the Western Drug and Alcohol Task Force, who highlighted that this is

NUI Galway Awarded EU Funding to Develop European Online Course for Housing and Property Professionals By Caoimhe Killeen NUI Galway’s Centre for Housing Law, Rights and Policy (CHLRP) has successfully bid for an EU Erasmus+ funding award of €500,000 to develop and create an international online course for housing and property professionals in both public and private sectors. The course will be developed over three years, meaning likely completion by 2023. Its aims are to improve and enhance digital skills for those working in housing, property, real estate, and other related areas across Europe. It is expected that learning will be carried out on a mobile micro-platform. Tools like PROPTECH will be used to achieve this, a term which is used for any technology that makes it easier to buy and sell property. It also facilitates easier online transactions for housing and real estate management. Some modules on the course are planned to be tailored towards specific types of housing, such as tools for professionals who manage apartment buildings or condos. It is expected that learning will be carried out on a mobile micro-platform. Erasmus+ not only provides grants, but also facilitates research, networking, and debates on EU policy as well as providing opportunities for third-level students to study abroad. NUI Galway are partnered with various universities and organisations across Europe in this project such as Spain’s UNESCO Housing Chair and Poland’s University of Silesia.

“This award recognises the European perspective of our work at NUI Galway and makes our expertise and knowledge of housing and property issues available to an EU-wide audience” said Dr Padraic Kenna, Director of the Centre for Housing Law, Rights and Policy at NUI Galway. “Our European and Irish housing and property law expertise at NUI Galway was integral to the successful €500,000 bid. The project will develop state of the art online learning tools to enhance learner engagement, motivation, and participation. The ultimate training will be available for professionals involved in the housing, property and real estate fields, as well as policymakers.” The CHLRP’s aim is to create a space ‘for a free and open discussion, combining research, resource development, advocacy and publications on housing law, rights and policy in Ireland, and internationally’ and has international links such as the European Network of Housing Researchers. CHLRP have also been campaigning for housing rights to be incorporated into the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, especially during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in a series of Briefing Papers released by Dr Kenna this past March. As he puts it, housing is considered to be “a fundamental right and need, on which so many other rights depend, such as health, safety, privacy as home life as Covid-19 has so clearly shown. Access to adequate and affordable housing, for all, is becoming a key test of the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the Union.”

a simplistic but potentially life-saving technology, “You bung it on your phone and you completely forget about it. It just sits there in the background and takes up virtually nothing. The one time, (hopefully never), through college that it might be useful, is when it gives you that prompt to connect in and see how you are. This could save your life.” A third hotspot is currently being added in Galway City, and there are hopes to have more in the future extending up to the university. With NUI Galway’s Mental Health Week currently ongoing organisers have stressed the importance of checking in on friends. Getting those close to you to download The Galway Safe App is one way of doing this, If you or a close friend may find yourselves in a troubling situation near the waterside as a result of an overwhelming amount of stress due to relation-

ships, college, substance abuse or other reasons, remember the following support services are available 24 hours a day: Samaritans 116 123 or Pieta House 1800 247 247

Mental Health Week

Monday 16th November

Thursday19th November

10:00

Mindfulness Workshop

10:00

Virtual Coffee Morning

18:00

Self-Care during Covid-19 Panel Discussion

12:00

Panel Discussion - Mental Health in the Traveller Community

13:00 18:30