Volume 15 Issue 8 by Student Independent News

Free Student Newspaper | VOL 15, ISSUE 8 | 27 jan 2014

News

INSIDE How far will you go? NUI Galway Jailbreak14

Arts

Lifestyle

Hundreds of sick teddies rushed to hospital

Jack Duggan (6) from Corrandrum National School, Claregalway, brings his teddy for treatment at the University’s 9th Annual Teddy Bear Hospital. For more on this story, see page 2. way the furthest in the name of philanthropy. The application process began when aspiring Jailbreakers were asked to submit a video entry telling the world why they would make good competitors in 30 seconds or less. There’s a limit of 40 teams per university. The initiative is all about adventure and civic contribution. Students are often shown in a negative light but according to Mr Kearns, “this is a perfect example of hundreds of students raising money for

charity, taking risks and having some good, clean fun.” Entries can be found and viewed by searching #Jailbreak14 on Vine and YouTube. Successful applicants were selected this Monday 27 January and will be later introduced as your university’s Jailbreak14 representatives. NUI Galway Jailbreak will take place on 22 and 23 February. Updates on the initiative can be found on Facebook at NUIG Jailbreak.

sport

A number of NUI Galway students will try to get as far away from Galway and Ireland as they can in February – but not in the way you would expect. Jailbreak14 has hit Galway as students captured their begging skills on video to enter the country’s craziest charity stunt. Jailbreak14 is a challenge set to encourage competing students to get as far away as possible from their resident college campuses within a 36-hour time limit. The catch however is that the teams are not permitted to spend a cent of their own money. The aim of the game for the students is to “blag” their way to their destination. Trinity College law student, Sorcha McCauley, organised Ireland’s first Jailbreak event in 2013 after hearing about UK colleges successfully completing the grand charity stunt in previous years. Last year’s competitors travelled as far as Sydney, and Malaysia with the winning duo, Clare Cullen and Matthew Hainbach, reaching Buenos Aires within the 36-hour window. The winning team also managed to be interviewed on an Argentinian radio station without a word of Spanish between them. Other stories include a certain team dressing as priests, and applying for a then free job position in Vatican City; as well as another getting Irish musician Chris de Brugh to pay for their flights home.

One team time-travelled as they ended up a day ahead of the rest when they reached Australia, however, they were unable to count their adventure to Oz as they reached their destination a little outside the time limit. Their efforts didn’t go unnoticed as TCD’s coverage of their Jailbreakers went viral online, as participants documented their journey on Twitter and Facebook, including mandatory pictures of landmarks and onesies. One Twitter user humorously responded; “And I thought I had an annoying commute to college”. Participants managed to raise over €14,000 for Amnesty International, and the Society for St Vincent de Paul. This year NUI Galway wants to join in the begging and borrowing alongside UCD, TCD and UCC in the first national Jailbreak competition. To take part in Jailbreak, teams first had to raise €200 for selected charities Draíocht (a Galway-based charity that works in Nepal), St Vincent de Paul and Amnesty. There will be 40 teams from NUI Galway. “There has been a great appetite for Jailbreak already and many teams are really excited for the event. I’m very confident that Galway teams will get very far and have some amazing stories for us afterwards,” said Sean Kearns, NUI Galway Students’ Union President, urging local companies to support the cause. The four competing universities will battle it out to see which winning dynamic duo, and more importantly which college will blag their

Final Word

By Jenna Hodgins and Jessica Thompson

Features

36 hours. No money.

Massive queues for Commerce Ball tickets

Hundreds of sick teddies rushed to hospital

GMIT vote to remain affiliated with USI

Tragic death of 3-year-old in elevator

This week’s Debate

Rape Culture

Society Profile: Journalism Soc

Diary of an Erasmus Student

Wise Words: Roast Chicken

Top Fashion Blogs

Time to get a haircut

The words makeup mistakes

Film Reviews

Sonisphere

From the Library

Guest Writer: Tom Lynch

NUIG Rugby celebrate huge success

Moyes Out

Messi or Ronaldo?

Diary of the Smoky's Pigeon

PhD Comics

2 News

Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

NUI Galway develops super maize to combat malnutrition in developing countries By Jessica Thompson Researchers in NUI Galway have been developing a Vitamin A rich crop that will combat micronutrient malnutrition in Africa. The NUI Galway Plant and AgriBiosciences Research Centre (PABC) has been working closely with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) on the development of more nutritious, higher yielding crops for smallholder farmers in Africa since 2009. IITA, Irish Aid and NUI Galway are engaged with the international Harvest Plus initiative of the CGIAR

(Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) to develop new varieties of staple crops such as maize, sweet potato and beans, that contain higher levels of essential micronutrients such as Vitamin A, Iron and Zinc. The NUI Galway-IITA research has now been published in the international scientific journal BMC Plant Biology. Maize is the staple food for more than one billion people in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin American. While it is high in carbohydrates, maize has low levels of essential micronutrients such as vita-

min A and does not meet the dietary requirements of those who eat it. Every year, up to 500,000 children in developing countries go blind due to a deficiency in Vitamin A, with over half of these children dying within a year of going blind. In Malawi, 73% of children are currently suffering from a deficiency in Vitamin A and the high prevalence of deficiency amongst mothers and children (particularly during the first 1000 days of life) perpetuates cycles of poverty. Vitamin A deficiency in the diets of the poor is currently a global health problem

affecting millions of people in Africa and other regions of the world. A deficiency in Vitamin A retards growth, increases risk of disease and can cause reproductive disorders. PhD student and maize breeder Girum Azmach is working closely with Prof. Charles Spillane (NUI Galway) and Dr Abebe Menkir (IITA) to conduct research on the development of Vitamin A rich maize varieties for African smallholder farmers and growing conditions. Working with IITA’s maizebreeding programme, Mr Azmach has been able to screen and identify maize lines

that recorded up to 17 micrograms of Vitamin A per each gram of dry maize. The usual level is less than two micrograms per gram. These findings mean that IITA and other maize-breeding programmes in Africa now have access to maize lines that have levels of provitamin A that will reduce the levels of Vitamin A deficiency amongst the poor in Sub Saharan Africa. The high Vitamin A lines identified by Mr Girum will be provided to national breeding programmes in countries such as Ethiopia, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

PhD student Girum Azmach inspecting IITA high vitamin A maize lines in field trials in Nigeria. The development of staple crops with improved micronutrient composition and content for African smallholders is set to contribute to both improving smallholder agriculture and prevention of maternal and child undernutrition in Africa.

NUI Galway hosts annual teddy bear hospital Early rise for commerce ball tickets

By Ciara Treacy

NUI Galway held the ninth annual Teddy Bear Hospital on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 January in Bailey Allen Hall, Áras na Mac Léinn. The event was organised by Sláinte Society, the NUI Galway branch of the International Federation of Medical Students Associations, who had up to 200 student volunteers taking part over the two days. This year 24 local primary schools attended the event and over 1,000 primary school children were encouraged to bring their sick teddy bears to the hospital where they were diagnosed and treated for their illnesses. The aim of the event was to create an environment which will help children aged between 3-8 years feel more comfortable around doctors and hospitals. Mícheál Ó Braonáin, a first-

year medical student at NUI Galway and co-organiser of Sláinte Society, said; “We have had unprecedented demand for Teddy Bear Hospital this year, and are delighted that so many teddies and their owners can be accommodated. “This is one of the biggest community outreach programs in NUI Galway, and it always

proves to be a fantastic day, not only for the children but also the students who volunteer!” Upon arrival the children were seated in a waiting room containing jugglers and face painters. Then they brought their teddy bears to visit teddy doctors and teddy nurses for examination. Afterwards recuperating

Lilí Ní Mharascal and Seaic Ó Braonáin (both 5) from Scoil Náisiúnta Iognáid, Galway City with NUI Galway first year Medical student Mícheál Ó Braonáin at the launch of NUI Galway’s 9th Annual Teddy Bear Hospital.

teddy bears received medical supplies from the teddy bear pharmacy, containing healthy fruit provided by Total Produce, along with supplies from Cara Pharmacy. Further sponsorship came from Print That on campus and Medisource Pharmacy. To conclude the day, children had the chance to enjoy entertainment on offer from NUI Galway’s Juggling Society and a bouncy castle. Ríona Hughes, NUI Galway’s Societies Officer, said; “The Teddy Bear hospital is a magical opportunity for the society to invite the children and their teddies to campus and provide a valuable learning experience for all. “Congratulations to Sláinte Society who engage such a large number of our students in this event for such a positive purpose and a rewarding few days for all involved.”

NUI Galway announces Alumni Award winners By Jessica Thompson The winners of the 2014 Alumni Awards in NUI Galway were announced last week and will be presented with their awards at the annual Alumni Awards Gala Banquet on Saturday 1 March. The Alumni Awards programme recognises individual excellence and achievements among more than 80,000 NUI Galway graduates worldwide and boasts an impressive roll call of 79 outstanding graduates who have gone on to honour their alma mater.

Previous recipients of the Awards include President Michael D. Higgins, Ciarán FitzGerald, Sean O’Rourke, Professor Frank Gannon, Dr Luke Clancy and Gráinne Seoige. “Our Alumni Awards programme recognises the many Galway alumni who are leaders in their chosen fields. These awards celebrate the life-long value of an NUI Galway education and recognise individual achievements among the University’s more than 80,000 graduates worldwide.

“I congratulate each of the Award winners and look forward to welcoming them back to campus for the Gala Banquet in March,” said President of NUI Galway, Dr Jim Browne. Recipients of this year’s awards include Norah Gibbons, Chairperson of the Child and Family Agency who will receive the Award for Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies, sponsored by AIB. Helen Ryan, former CEO and Non-Executive Director of Creganna-Tactx Medical, will

receive the Award for Business, Public Policy and Law, sponsored by the Bank of Ireland. Also sponsored by the Bank of Ireland is the Alumni Award for Engineering and Informatics, which will go to CEO of Bord Gáis, Michael McNicholas. The Alumni Award for Medicine, Nursing and Health S ciences, sp ons ore d by Medtronic, will go to Professor Ray Dolan, Professor of Neuropsychology, University College London and head of the Welcome Department of Imag-

By Ciara Treacy On Tuesday 14 January students hoping to acquire tickets for this year’s Commerce Ball had an early start with the first in line arriving at just after 2am. The ball, which will be held on Wednesday 29 January in the Radisson Blu Hotel, is organised by NUI Galway’s Business Society and is an annual sell-out event. The Bailey Allen Hall was opened at 5am and Tom Kelleher, the society’s Public Relations Officer, says that by this time a large crowd had gathered to purchase their tickets which went on sale earlier than the advertised time of 12pm. Entertainment was provided for those in the queue which was warmly welcomed; “There was a great atmosphere there w ith iRadio playing music and handing out freebies. Everyone was delighted when they got their tickets,” said Tom.

Final Year Commerce students had an opportunity to purchase full tickets a day earlier, which were priced at €65. Tickets to the afters of the ball cost €40. There was a maximum of two tickets per person. This year’s ball will feature performances from headline act Duke Dumont, along with Le Galaxie, Smash Hits and DJ Byrno. “The Commerce Ball this year is going to be the biggest and best ball yet. Duke Dumont is a huge act with a bright future and we are delighted to have him along with Irish band Le Galaxie,” Tom said. The after-party of the ball will be held in the College Bar followed by Electric and Halo nightclub with more musical guest appearances. “This year we have gone beyond just the ball and have huge international acts playing the after party in Electric with Zane Lowe and Klingande. We have created a festival and we are sure it's going to grow even further in the coming years.”

ing Neuroscience at the Institute of Neurology, London. Finally, Professor Gerald Jennings, Emeritus Professor in the School of Physics, NUI Galway and former Director of the Environmental Change Institute in NUI Galway, will receive the Alumni Award for Science, sponsored by Aramark.

Following a highly successful sporting year at NUI Galway, this year’s banquet will focus on sport. For ticket and booking information, contact the Alumni Office on 091 493 750 or email alumni@nuigalway. ie. Online bookings can be made at www.nuigalway.ie/ alimni-friends.

News 3

January 27 2014

Editorial: Eavesdropping at its finest...

By Jessica Thompson Since becoming a journalist, I’ve developed a super human ability to listen to things. It’s part of the job – you need to learn to automatically write down everything you’re hearing while also listening to what is being said while you’re writing. I don’t like to eavesdrop, but it’s amazing what you hear when surrounded by large groups of people who have a habit of having very loud conversations and become so engrossed in their chat that they are unaware of or unaffected by who may be within earshot. “She said what?!” “I know! But don’t tell anyone I told you that – it’s supposed to be a secret!” And then they laugh and talk about it some more and exaggerate and speculate about what else this girl may have done, completely unaware that the girl’s boyfriend’s mother’s best friend’s sister is sitting at the next table, listening intently and ready to spread the news. We’ve all played that game, Chinese whispers, where you whisper something to someone and they whisper it to the next person and the next and the next until the very last person says it aloud and the whole group realises that it’s completely different to what it started out as. When I was in school (seems like a lifetime ago), my history teacher once made us pass a dic-

tionary around from person to person. When it got back to him, he slammed it on the table and said “BAM! The bible!” It was still a dictionary to our naive eyes, and we were quick to roll our eyes and think it was stupid, but he was teaching us a lesson – you can’t believe everything you hear because it may have been passed from person to person until it becomes something so far from the truth (like a dictionary becoming a bible), that it could get you in trouble. Only two weeks ago while I got the train back to Galway after a weekend in my wonderful hometown of Taghshinny, I realised my iPod was dead and my headphones were already in Galway so listening to music on the trip was out of the question. My iPad had also decided to die and I had nothing in my bag to read (I usually have a magazine but not this time), so reading was also out. And there’s only so much internet scrolling you can do on a smartphone before you get bored of other people’s Facebook statuses. And so I was left with very little to do but listen to the babble of students on the train with me as they made their way back to Galway after the Christmas holidays. I tried to ignore it. I walked up and down looking for a carriage that didn’t ring with the roars of laughter and the loud mating calls from guys and girls trying to get each other’s attention over the aforementioned roars of laughter. Finally I managed to find a relatively quiet carriage, with just a hum of chatter. So there I was at the front of a carriage, bundled up in a warm coat and trying to relax (I had suffered an awful bout of food poisoning that weekend and still wasn’t 100%).

My attention turned to four girls a few seats away from me. They were the only people talking in the whole carriage so it was impossible not to eavesdrop. They discussed their Christmas holidays and how nervous they were about returning to college because some of the other girls they were “friends” with had caused drama in the last semester and bullied them. “Don’t let her bully you!” one of the girls said supportively. I nodded along thinking “don’t worry girls, they’ll eventually realise that nobody likes a drama queen”, and remembered my own first year at college when I couldn’t bear to be around the drama of my D4 classmates (I was a culchie in UCD... it was never going to work out). The conversation soon turned to living situations and one of the girls started talking about a strange housemate who had moved in with them. Now, I’ve had my fair share of awful housemates. One of them used to pull out loose hair in the shower and stick it like wallpaper to the shower walls. Another vomited in the shower and washed it down the drain. It came back up again when I got in. She certainly got an earful after I screamed and ran out of the bathroom in disgust. A couple I lived with when I first moved to Galway completely ignored me for eight months... until I had friends over and one of them laughed... then the guy came storming in and screamed at us to shut up or get out... He was the one who shut up and got out after I had a go at him. Yes, I’ve seen it all. But this housemate sounded scary. As the girls talked, I heard stories about him that made me feel uncomfortable. I was silently

screaming at the girl who was talking to get the hell out of that apartment immediately; move somewhere else with people you know; forget the deposit – at least you’ll have your life. And then she told the other girls the creepy housemate’s name and I gasped. As they all looked him up on Facebook, I did the same on my phone. And when they said “oh my god, is his profile picture in black and white”, I laughed silently to myself. I knew this guy. From then on, I looked at the conversation in a whole new light. I giggled to myself as I listened to the horror stories, knowing full well that while this guy was a quiet person (for some reason a lot of people think quietness is weird), he was quite harmless and the girl he lived with would be quite safe. But after that conversation, the other three girls would have gone away and told all their friends about the creepy, weird, quiet guy living with their friend. That poor guy. The message to take from this is: don’t believe everything you hear. Sometimes it’s highly exaggerated or told from the point of view of someone who doesn’t really know much about it. They also say don’t believe what you read in newspapers which, considering this is being read in a newspaper, kinda contradicts my whole editorial. If you do still believe me, I assure you that you will read great stories in this issue of Sin. Now go forth and spread the word (truthfully, mind). Until next time,

Jess PS: It’s my birthday today (the 28th). Birthday greetings are welcome to editor@sin.ie or @Jess__Thompson on Twitter (that’s two underscores).

Upcoming Sin Meetings

Sin Wants You!

Thursday 30 January

The team at Sin needs a new member. We’re looking for someone to manage our social media.

Thursday 6 February All meetings will take place at 6pm in the new location of AC215 this semester. AC215 can be found on the Concourse down the corridor on the right just before the Bank of Ireland. Turn left when you get to the end and we’ll be down that corridor.

Everyone is welcome to our meetings and we always welcome new faces and new ideas.

Are you addicted to Facebook and Twitter? Are you a news junkie who shares news stories every day? Are you committed to spending your time online?

Then Sin needs you! To apply, simply email editor@ sin.ie and let us know why you’re the best person for the job.

Editor in Chief: Jessica Thompson editor@sin.ie Layout: Shannon Reeves | contact via Ed.

News Jenna Hodgins | localnews.sined@gmail.com Conor Lane | nationalnews.sined@gmail.com

Features Leigh Ashmore | opinion.sined@gmail.com Michael Finn | features.sined@gmail.com

Lifestyle Ciara Treacy | fashion.sined@gmail.com

Arts and Entertainment Tracey Halloran | artsentertainment.sined@gmail.com Karen McDonnell | arts.sined@gmail.com Shannon McNamee | entsonline.sined@gmail.com Sports Daragh Small | sport.sined@gmail.com Céimin Burke | sport.sined@gmail.com Creative Writing Helen Hughes | creativity.sined@gmail.com Webmaster Valeri Tarassov | web.sined@gmail.com Photography Daniel O'Loughlin | photography.sined@gmail.com

Keep up to date with the latest news from the Sin team: Online: www.sin.ie Facebook: Sin Newspaper NUI Galway Twitter: @sin_news

4 News

Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

Make a splash at the Student GMIT vote in majority Union First Charity Aquathon to remain with the USI By Carla Avenia Koency Do you have what it takes to take part in the Charity Aquathon on Tuesday 25 February? Well, if you don't, now you have an excuse to stick to your New Year's resolutions and get into shape – the pleasure of which is brought to you by your gracious sponsors, the NUI Galway Students' Union. If you're far from being able to swim the 750 metres and run the five kilometres required to cross the finish line, the Students’ Union has uploaded a

very convenient five-week training programme for complete beginners to the event's website. Want to get in the fun? Just stop by the Students’ Union office to pick up your sponsorship card right now. Every participant is expected to raise at least €25, and all proceeds from this fundraiser are destined for two charities – the Galway Rape Crisis Centre and ISPCC/Childline. Every participant will get a free t-shirt and food after the race just for taking part; so it's a win-win no matter how you see

it. If you are more easily swayed by competition, it's worth mentioning that the Aquathon's winners will get special prizes. Still not sure? Here's some more motivation to take part in the SU Charity Aquathon, courtesy of the Students’ Union President, Sean Kearns, who was asked about his swimming skills; “I don’t like swimming all that much, I have only mastered the doggy paddle. So watching me attempt a few laps could be another reason to get involved, if you want a good laugh at your SU President.”

OMG: Gonorrhoea is Trending By Samantha Kelly

ing to raise awareness about this lower, 5-10% of men will have no nasty and most common sexual symptoms. Has anyone spotted the hash tag infection. Gonorrhoea can be prevented #OMGsti around your social media Gonorrhoea is a bacterial by practicing safe sex and using sites? Well with the increase in infection which is passed from condoms or cured by taking antiGonorrhoea lurking about, the one person to another through biotics, it really is that simple. Union of Students in Ireland (USI), unprotected sex. The symptoms This campaign which has been Dublin Aids Alliance, SpunOut.ie, of Gonorrhoea are almost non- funded by the HSE is well on its way HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme existent, and so 70% of women will to informing people in a factual SINThink PGOD Feb 2014 128x170mm_Layout 1 09/01/2014 Pageand 1 humorous way, mainly those and Contraceptive are all try- have no symptoms at all.16:26 A much

By Ciara Treacy Students in Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) voted to remain affiliated with the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) on 5 December, with 1076 yes votes against 1032 no votes. GMIT Students Union had campaigned in favour of a yes vote and welcomed the result; “There hadn't been a referendum on affiliation within GMIT for a number of years so it's great to see the appetite remain amongst our student body to stay as members within USI,” said Students’ Union President Sam O’Neill.

“GMITSU has a proud history of having a huge influence with regard to what takes place on a national level and now will continue to do so.” GMIT is currently the tenth largest member of the USI. On the same day a referendum was also passed to make what has been described as the biggest change to GMIT’s Students’ Union in over ten years. Proposed amendments to the GMIT Constitution received a yes vote of 1017 versus 55 no votes. “These changes in our constitution will give the students of GMIT a louder voice and a stronger Union across all five

campuses,” said Mr O’Neill. “The Education Officer position – which will be put in place at the SU Elections in March 2014 – will provide much needed support to the current work of the Students’ Union, including assisting students with their grant applications, exams, and the Class Representative system.” Other amendments include the renaming of the Castlebar Campus as the Mayo Campus, limitations on the length of time one can be elected to a full time officer position and guidelines for the election of Head Class Reps. The changes will take effect from 1 June 2014.

within the risk group between the ages of 17-29 of the causes, symptoms and solutions to STIs. This campaign was set up after a 33% increase in Gonorrhoea from 2011-2012; worrying numbers right? From 9 December 2013 key messages were sent across social media sites to a large audience. This will continue through 2014.

Dr Fionnuala Cooney, Public Health Specialist with the HSE, said; “our ability to test for gonorrhoea has improved in recent years, and more sensitive tests, and more numbers attending for screening may account for some of the increase, however, we know that unsafe sexual behaviour is a significant driver of the increase in cases of Gonorrhoea and other STIs.”

Getting tested is painless and free at STI clinics such as GUM clinics or can be completed by your GP or in some third level institutions, however small fees can apply. More information can be found on www.yoursexualhealth. ie, or just keep an eye around Facebook and Twitter for the facts about Gonorrhoea.

New resident sean-nós dancer welcomed to Centre for Irish Studies By Jenna Hodgins

POSTGRADUATE

OPEN DAY

11th February

12 pm to 4 pm Bailey Allen Hall, NUI Galway

The Centre for Irish Studies at NUI Galway has welcomed Gearóid Ó Dubháin as Sean-nós Dancer in Residence for 2014. The centre announced Ó Dubháin’s appointment earlier this month. The Connemara-born dancer comes from a long line of seannós dancers including Séamus Ó Dubháin (also known as Séamusín Devaney) and Colm Ó Dubháin. Gearóid’s brother Pádraig was also recognised for his dancing talents as an award-winning sean-nós dancer in his own right. Ó Dubháin believes his family background contributes to his strengths and style in dance. Ó Dubháin has been successful in many competitions over the years such as Oireachtas na Samhna, Craobh na hÉireann, Féile Chóilín Clesham, and various

others including the more recently Féile na Mí in 2012. Ó Dubháin teaches workshops to both young and old dancers specifically in and around Galway; however the dancer also hosts various master classes on a national level. Gearóid’s style is very traditional, encapsulating the older dance styles of his father and he teaches this style throughout the country. Whilst in residency at the Centre for Irish Studies, Ó Dubháin will host a series of workshops and perform at both the Centre and several of other venues in Galway. His repertoire will also be archived at the Centre for Irish Studies. Lecturer at the Centre for Irish Studies Méabh Ní Fhuartháin said; “Gearóid’s appointment as sean-nós dancer in residence 2014 continues the commitment the Centre for Irish Studies and indeed the university has to the traditional arts. The scheme is par-

ticularly important in recognising the essential centrality of these performance traditions to Connemara, and by extension, to Galway and the West. “It’s about bringing those traditions into the university and we are delighted to welcome that. Gearóid will give workshops and be involved in other events throughout the year embedding the traditional performed arts into the university calendar, all of which is positive from everyone’s perspective, I think.” A reception to mark Ó Dubháin’s appointment took place Wednesday, January 22 welcoming the new resident dancer to the Centre for Irish Studies. A five-week course of workshops taught by Ó Dubháin is set to take place at 7pm in the Aula Maxima, beginning on 5 February. All workshops are free of charge and encourage all levels of dancers to come along.

Advertisement ban meets Galway Taxis By Chelsea Tabert

BOOK YOUR PLACE www.nuigalway.ie/postgraduate-open-day

Taxi drivers in Galway have just been informed that all advertising on their vehicles will be prohibited as of March 2015. The drivers have also been told that they will no longer be allowed to display the company for which they are working since this has been the source of much resentment among taxi operators. Galway Taxi Driver Gerry Corbett said that the ban was an absolute disgrace and that many members of the taxi operating

community would lose out in terms of a weekly income. “We have been onto Galway City Council and the taxi regulator in relation to this matter and we have not got a favourable response. “We are told that it distracts members of the public and that there is a health and safety issue involved. But this is nothing short of ridiculous. “We are living hand to mouth at the moment,” Gerry Corbett admitted. “Now they are taking away the potential of advertising which is nothing short of ridiculous.”

Galway taxi drivers have made a submission to the Taxi Regulator’s Office in Dublin opposing the move, however, it appears that the advertising ban has already been agreed upon and will go ahead regardless. As of next year this will mean that no taxi drivers will be allowed to display who they are associated with, be it Big O, Galway Taxis or Hailo, who are still new to the city. In some cases this means that the outraged taxi drivers could lose up to €1000 annually due to the loss of advertisements.

News 5 Eyre Square seats could damage your health January 27 2014

By Jessica Thompson Galway citizens and tourists are unknowingly sitting inches above piles of dangerous, decaying waste and are risking serious problems to their health by doing so. That’s the concern expressed by Galway trader Gerry Devaney who is urging the public to avoid the stone and timber seating located at the top of Eyre Squre. A street trader for what will be 50 years this year, Mr Devaney developed stomach warts and believes his problems are linked to the amount of time he spent sitting on the public seats beside his workplace. Mr Devaney was in hospital three times with his health problems and has said that it developed from the dampness of the seats. “My biggest concern is girls

sitting down on the seats who aren’t wearing jeans and who would be more exposed to the bacteria,” he said. “I’ve been three times in hospital so you can see how serious it is. My son had it too.” The problem originated in 2010 and Mr Devaney contacted the Galway City Council to express his worries. He also erected signs warning members of the public not to sit on the seats. When the City Council eventually inspected the seats in 2010, they found that Mr Devaney was right. After lifting the timber tops off the three seats beside Supermac’s, piles of disgusting waste were discovered inside. The waste included needles, used condoms, human and animal waste, decayed and decaying food and children’s nappies which had fallen or

been stuffed between the timber spaces. Council workers removed the waste and cleaned each seat before sealing off the gaps between the wood with metal strips – a job that Mr Devaney was very pleased with. However, there are 11 similar seats at the top of Eyre Square which pose an equally if not more serious threat as they have been left in that state for three years. But Mr Devaney has said that the council is ignoring his pleas to get these cleaned and repaired in the same way. “I complained to Mayor Conneely. His car was parked in Eyre Square one day and I asked him to come and look at the seats. “He said he didn’t have time now but he’d make an appointment to meet me on Thursday. That was seven months ago,” he explained adding that the

mayor did not meet him. Mr Devaney also said that he had even offered to pay for the work and contacted the contractor who fixed the other three seats, but due to insurance, the contractor was unable to carry out the work. Galway City Mayor Cllr Pádraig Conneely said that he was aware of this “ongoing issue” in Eyre Square that he has always “expressed concerns about the maintenance”, saying that “standards are often let slip”. “Eyre Square is where visitors sit and walk around and spend time. The seats in that space need to be cleaned on a weekly basis. It’s an ongoing issue,” said Mayor Conneely. Mr Devaney expressed surprise and disappointment that the seats have been left in such a state, even though the council are aware of what is lurking inside.

“I understood that the council were so horrified by what they saw but nothing has happened. They were disgusted to see what was under the seats. You can imagine what’s under the others three years later,” he said. “Those seats attract a lot of tourists who just want to sit down for a while and watch the day go by. I’ve contacted the council on numerous occasions but they’ve ignored me. “Something needs to be done for the safety of the tourists coming into this city.” This issue is one that hits home quite hard for Mr Devaney who has worked for 50 years as a street trader and has spent much of his time sitting on the seats. As if he wasn’t dissatisfied enough by his own health problems, his son was hit with the same problems and Mr

Devaney is worried that other families have been or will be affected in the same way. Mr Devaney is very passionate about protecting Galway citizens and visiting tourists from the health hazard that they don’t even realise exists. He compared the seats to “going out to the dump and sitting on the rubbish”. The Galway trader feels disappointment and annoyance at the City Council who he feels are more concerned with potholes; “But I’m for people’s health – not the potholes.” Mayor Conneely told The Galway City Tribune last week that he will pay a visit to the square himself to look at the seats and added that he will be talking to the Parks Department at the Galway City Council this week to come up with “some kind of rota” to keep the seats clean.

Three-year-old crushed in tragic lift accident What drives attitudes about organ donation? By Áine O Donnell Solomon Soremekun, aged three, died after he became trapped in a lift shaft in the Hynes Building on St Augustine's Street in Galway City. The boy accompanied his mother, Omolara Alibi, to Department of Social Protection office along with his sisters as she was completing paperwork involving their recent move to Galway when the accident took place. Solomon Soremekun was buried at the New Cemetery following a prayer service on Saturday 18 January. His mother, Omolara Alibi, was too distraught to attend the service and mourned at home with her daughters. The boy became separated from his family on the first floor of the building when the accident occurred on January 13. Upon discovery of the tragedy, the Gardaí, ambulance and two units of the Galway fire brigade were dispatched to the scene but he was pronounced dead on arrival. The post mortem results revealed that Solomon Soremekun died as a result of crush injuries caused by the lift. The family had lived in Ireland for eight years although their move to Galway was only recent; they arrived to the city in the past few weeks.

All of Ms Alibi’s children were born in Ireland including the young boy who was born in Cavan. The family were living in the Doughiska area of Galway but Ms Alibi was unable to return to the family home after the accident and they stayed in a nearby B&B comforted by family and friends. Ms Jubilee Echefu, president of the Association of Nigerians in Galway stayed with Ms Alibi and her three daughters in the aftermath of the accident. Ms Echefu said Ms Alibi’s grief was exacerbated by online messages accusing her of negligence; “there have been some terrible things said about her, that she must have been negligent. That is not the case.” She also outlined the level of heartbreak Solomon’s mother was experiencing; “she is in bits. It was her only son. She knows nobody here.” Solomon Soremekun was laid to rest after a prayer service in University Hospital Galway. The coffin was followed to the cemetery by members of the African community holding candles; it was Ms Alibi’s wish as Solomon was the “light of her life”. The mourners sang “This Little Light of Mine” at the burial of the young boy. Ms

Alibi and Solomon’s father Ade Soremekun were not in attendance at the burial due to Nigerian customs but Mr Soremekum, a Dublin-based accountant, attended the prayer service which proved too distressing for Solomon’s mother. Pastor Larry Ovie led the mourners and he informed the community of Ms Alibi’s feelings on the tragic death of her son; “his mother told me that the memory of Solomon and his charming life must not die. Physically yes, but the memory of his charming life must not die.” Ms Alibi has taken legal counsel in the form of Gerard O’Donnell. She explained the moments before the accident to him. He disclosed this information in a statement to the press; “the door of the lift opened and the lift was level with the floor. Solomon stepped in but as her daughter went to step in, it snapped closed” and Ms Alibi told Mr O’Donnell that Solomon cried for help, shouting “help me mommy” upon discovering he was trapped. The Health and Safety Authority and An Garda Siochána are both undertaking investigations into the accident to understand how the child gained access to the shaft.

By Jessica Thompson A talk will be held in NUI Galway on Friday 31 January for anyone interested in or affected by organ donation. The event will coincide with a tree-planting event which will take place at the Circle of Life Commemorative Garden in Quincentennial Park, Salthill on Saturday 1 February. Dr Eddie Rooney, Chief Executive of the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland and Chair of the Northern Irish committee on organ donation and transplantation, will speak at the event. His talk will be followed by contributions from donor families and recipients and an

introduction to the commemorative garden by Denis Goggin. The basis of this talk will be the publication of Dr, Rooney’s outstanding report (June 2013) on research commissioned by the Health Minister NI to inform the direction of a public information campaign for the PHA. Anyone interested in, or affected by, organ donation and/ or transplantation and family support is invited to attend and participate in the discussions and light refreshments. Many people involved in the organ donation community in Northern Ireland will be in Galway for the Tree Planting Event the following day and will attend the forum.

Chris whose wife died in childbirth will share his decision. William who waited 16 years and is recovering from his transplant and 24-year-old Neil who after 20 years almost gave up hope will share their stories around organ donation, transplant surgery and the gift of new life for organ recipients and their families. The event will take place in the Martin Ryan annex Theatre at 8pm sharp on Friday 31 January. Tea and coffee will be served afterwards and attendees will have the chance to chat with donors and recipients. All are welcome. Please register attendance for catering purposes by 5pm Thursday 30th January 2014 with michael. heffernan@nuigalway.ie

Travel Smart Card scheme for Galway By Chelsea Tabert For Galway, a new public transport integrated ticketing scheme that operates in Dublin is among the list of priorities the Department of Transport has this year. Leo Varadkar, the Minister for Transport said the LEAP card, the travel card which offers cheaper fares and other benefits to public transportation users in the capital, will now be rolled-out in cities such as Cork and Galway. This is only one of the many priorities that were outlined in the meeting on 6 January.

The LEAP card was introduced in Dublin in 2011, and allows commuters to travel by bus or rail without having to purchase separate tickets. The pre-paid card is similar to a credit card with a magnetic strip, the LEAP card allows train and bus passengers to interchange between the modes of transportation with just one card. The cardholders in Dublin are also offered lower fares than those who are using the ordinary ticketing systems. Part of the Minister’s priority is to “increase the number of

journeys taken by public transport by five million (2%)”. The hope is that introducing the LEAP card to other parts of the country will allow this increase in public transportation. Minister Vardakar also confirmed another priority was to start working on the Gort-Tuam motorway in 2014, a project that has been delayed due to the financial crisis throughout the past years, as well as introducing a bike rental scheme in the city, which will be up and running in Galway this summer.

6 News

Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

New Boston Mayor has Galway roots By Conor Lane Boston’s recently elected Irish Mayor, Martin Walsh, is the son of Irish immigrants from Galway. Mayor Walsh is the city’s 48th mayor. His parents left Connemara in the 1950’s. Walsh’s opponent in the election, John Connolly, is also an Irish American. Walsh won the race with a vote count of 52%. Less than 5000 votes separated the two candidates.

Walsh ran an e lection campaign built upon diversity that transcended race and ideology. Known as ‘Marty’ to his voters, he grew up in Dorchester – a neighborhood with a strong Irish presence – and is the first mayor from Dorchester since 1959. In an interview with the Irish Times he stated regarding his two Irish Aunts that they “put me over the top” as they travelled from Galway and England to help with

his election and witness his victory. Walsh’s late father John was from Callowfeenish in Carna and his mother Mary comes from a parish in Ros Cide, Ros Muc. Walsh used to visit Connemara every year where he’d see the grave of his grandparents on Mweenish which is an island a few miles from Carna. He claims to have a hardworking ethos that he was taught by his parents that

helped him develop “a different dynamic. Walsh was sworn in as the new mayor by Roderick L. Ireland who is the current chief justice of the state Supreme Judicial Court. One of his main pledges is to work on improving rights for immigrants and working on improving the laws surrounding same-sex marriage. Walsh is an Irish speaker and stated that he is “very proud of my Irish heritage”.

202 assisted suicides in 2013 include one Irish resident By Áine O Donnell Dignitas recorded an unprecedented number of assisted suicides since its foundation started with 202 dying by assisted suicide last year. The Swiss-based organisation

SIN Advert Jan 2014.indd 1

revealed that one person who had an assisted suicide was Irish. Since 1998, there have been eight known Irish residents who travelled to Switzerland and died with the aid of the Dignitas organisation.

A representative from Dignitas, Mr Silvan Luley stated; “It does not matter whether six, five or seven patients from Ireland or any other country have travelled to Dignitas. Everyone who is forced to leave his home, his bed,

09/01/2014 15:53

his country, in order to have access to a legal, selfdetermined, dignified and accompanied ending of suffering is one too many.” Mr Luley also commented on the landmark Marie Fleming case in which she went to the Supreme Court to challenge her right to die due to multiple sclerosis, a challenge that she lost and Ms. Fleming has since died in her home in Arklow, Co. Wicklow. He noted; “she was a very brave woman, and so is her family. There should be more people like her who fight the legal path. If politicians are too inhumane to move, then, sooner or later, the judges, if necessary, the European Court of Human Rights will decide over their head.” Suicide itself is no longer deemed a crime in Ireland since 1993 but assisted suicide remains illegal with the Irish law declaring “aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the suicide of another” is against the law and results in a prison sentence of 14 years. Assisted suicide or euthanasia is legal in four European countries including Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. However, Switzerland is the only country that permits people from other countries to travel to partake in assisted suicide. Almost 1,700 people have died by assisted suicide with the help of the Dignitas organisation.

€85m water bill by 2015 By Conor Lane By 2015 Irish Water will have spent a total of €85m on consultancy fees that will assist in the placement of a new water system. Minister for Environment Phil Hogan defended the expenses despite several sources close to the minister claiming that he was unaware of the excessive spending on consultancy. The Commission for Energy Regulation said that it had carried out a review of a submission provided by Irish Water that did not indicate consultancy costs therefore rendering the commission’s evaluation that the costs were seen to be reasonable as not having been able to examine all of the facts. They were seen to be reasonable. IBM, a company worth billions, will receive around

€45m for their services and accountancy, legal and management firms will also receive around €28m. Brendan Howlin, minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has said that Irish Water will be subject to the Freedom of Information Legislation. In the meantime, Irish Water has rejected the idea of any suggestions that the company was not compliant with regulations or the law. Irish Water has said that they may not be able to disclose some “commercially sensitive” information about the contracts that were agreed. This has raised great concern about public confidence in one of the government’s main projects. Meanwhile, consumers will have to pay for water whether they use it or not as the price of maintaining reservoirs and adding chemicals to water is costly.

Rosetta Phones Home By Thomas Murray On January 20, at approximately 10:00am, a switch clicked over 800 million kilometres away. After thirty-one months of sleep, Rosetta had awakened. Launched ten years ago by the European Space Agency (ESA), the satellite Rosetta has been roaming our solar system, flirting with several comets before finding a compatible suitor, comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The hotly anticipated re-awakening of Rosetta had astronomers across the globe on the edge of their seats. Knowing that it would take until 17:45 for the signal to reach Earth, impatient researchers and technicians at the ESA were left biting their nails in the hope of receiving some sign of activity. It wasn’t until 18:18 that a signal finally reached Earth, much to the delight of the worried scientists, who blamed the delay on a glitch. Rosetta had hit the ‘snooze’ button. Now fully awake, Rosetta will essentially “rub the sleep from her eyes” by positioning herself towards the sun, thawing the ice which had collected during her hibernation.

Once Rosetta reaches comet 67P in August, it will orbit the icy rock until November when it will deploy a drill known as the Philae lander. Just as the Mars Rover has been providing us with a wealth of information concerning the Red Planet’s geography, Rosetta’s Philae lander will attempt to understand the state of comets in trajectory as well as the formation of Earth’s oceans. In a world where super storms, tsunamis, and tornadoes are on the rise, it is becoming universally agreed that the search for another habitable planet is integral. Why else would we be looking to Mars to act as a second home? Three Irish citizens were selected recently to be in the running for a place in the Mars One project which intends to send twenty people on a one-way trip to the Red Planet in 2025. But before we can send our hopeful colonisers packing, we must first reach a higher level of understanding about that endless landscape we call the universe. In the coming years, satellites such as Rosetta will be instrumental in this search for knowledge.

News 7

January 27 2014

Predicted spike in bankruptcies with new legislation By Yvonne Clinton An expert in debt restructuring has predicted that an excess of 6,000 people will file for bankruptcy this year – twice the number forecasted by Justice Minister Alan Shatter. A new law on bankruptcy, introduced in December 2013, means a person can be discharged from bankruptcy after just three years – a reduction from twelve under previous legislation. Minister Brendan Howlin described the new law as “an important last piece

of the jigsaw to bring the suite of insolvency measures into force”. Author of the ‘Irish Bankruptcy Guide’, Paul Carroll, believes bankruptc y is now a more straightforward and less costly option to deal with debt than insolvency is. He claimed that bankruptcy is now a “much simpler and quicker process” than insolvency, which he claims lasts longer and has more conditions attached. With bankruptcy, the person is able to get rid of their debt immediately.

A person is insolvent if they cannot pay their debts, or have more liabilities than assets. When determined by a court that they are bankrupt, legal orders are put in place to resolve the situation. Bankruptcy is a way for people to deal with their unsustainable debt. Creditors often don’t receive the full amount owed to them, and the bankrupt individual’s credit rating is severely affected. The new bankruptcy laws were introduced to halt the rise of ‘bankruptcy tourism’. Individuals travelled to the

UK to declare themselves bankrupt, as the term there is usually just one year. Most famously, this included broadcaster and former Fine Gael TD Ivan Yates, who declared himself bankrupt in Wales. The new bankruptcy legislation will also apply to existing bankrupts, who will be automatically discharged from their term after three years. However, the bankrupt person may have to continue making payments to their creditors for up to five years, if directed to by a court.

Abortion numbers on the increase in Northern Ireland By Samantha Kelly In 2013 there was an increase of 16 abortions in Northern Ireland resulting in hospitals carrying out 51 abortions in total. Although this number is not massive, it is still a growing number for concern; especially since Northern Ireland's regulations for abortion are much stricter than the UK's. Though there are some who will argue that abortions should be avoided at all costs, all these abortions were done

within legal and medical reasons. For example: the life of the mother was at risk or that continuing further into the pregnancy would leave the foetus with severe deformities or disabilities. There are even strict assessments done on women regarding mental well-being, following this each woman must consult two clinicians before going through with an abortion. The South Eastern Trust carried out most of these abortions; the majority was to women over the age of 30.

Although some could argue that women over the age of 30 have a harder time getting pregnant and once pregnant there is an increase in problems to mother and foetus. Nevertheless 14 of the 51 abortion were needed for women aged 24 and under. This number proves that complications can happen to anyone at any age; thus sometimes regarding medical reasons, care is needed. However, one should question the rise in these abortions, whether they be for legal and medical reasons or not.

Why was there an increase last year? Should we expect the number to rise again this year? Moreover is there anything that can be done to prevent a rise in abortions? Despite the fact that sometimes abortions, under certain medical reasons, are hard to avoid, women who are planning to get pregnant are encouraged to consult with their GP so as to be made aware of the best care for themselves and their baby to avoid the need for an abortion throughout their pregnancy.

Mexican police start disarming vigilantes in Michoacan By Andrew Brennan Mexican security forces deployed to quench the flames of unrest in the western state of Michoacan, not far from Mexico City and on the pacific coast, have started disarming local vigilante groups. The ‘self-defence groups’ in Michoacan took control of a number of towns on Sunday 12 January after a fire fight, in an effort to drive out members of a drug cartel known as Lo Caballeros Templarios or the Knights Templar who dominate the methamphetamine trade to the US. Two of their members were killed amid a tense standoff with federal security forces after seizing Nueva Italia. The Mexican army moved into Nueva Italia, Paracuaro and Antunez to re-institute state control as vigilantes have occupied towns like Nueva Italia which are considered bastions of the Knights Templar. The Knights Templar has said the vigilantes are a proxy of their rivals, the Jalisco New Generation cartel, something the ‘self-defence groups’ fiercely deny. On Monday 13 January, Mexico's interior minister, Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, urged the vigilantes to lay down their arms or compromise and join the police force.

Leaders of the ‘selfdefence groups’ have given contradictory statements in response to the request of the Mr Chong. The leader of the General Council of the Self-Defence Groups of Michoacan, Jose Manuel Mireles said in a video message from Mexico City that he would “heed the call from the interior minister”. However in a subsequent video, Mr Mireles denied any order to disarm has been issued as he could not give such orders without calling a meeting of the group's General Council. Other vigilante leaders were adamant however that they will not be laying down their arms. Mexico has seen the emergence of vigilante groups since March 2013 when 12 police officers and a local security official bore witness to their detention by 1,500 men who entered the Mexican town of Tierra Colorada on the suspicion of murder. The vigilantes say they have now surrounded and are ready to invade the cartel’s presumed headquarters, the city of Apatzingan. Mexico has suffered staggering levels of violence during the seven-year-long war against the cartels claiming lives between 77,000 and 90,000 people so far.

French President Francois Hollande refuses to comment on affair allegations By Chelsea Tabert After allegations that the French President Francois Hollande is having an affair with 41-year-old actress, Julie Gayet, the President openly admitted to suffering “pain” in his private life, but refused to comment directly on the reports. He also declined to say whether or not his official companion Valerie Trierweiler should continue to be considered France’s First Lady. However, he said this issue would be addressed before the meeting at the White

House with the Obamas in early February. “Transparency” was promised on the subject. “Everyone in his private life can go through ordeals,” President Hollande said. “That is what is happening to us. These are painful moments. But I have a principle that private matters are dealt with in private. This is neither the place nor the time to do so.” When asked about Ms Trierweiler, who was hospitalised shortly after news of the alleged affair, Mr Hollande

curtly said “She is resting. I have nothing else to say.” Aides for the President had hoped his traditional New Year’s conference would set out a plan to reboot not only the French economy, but his own personal ratings. Instead, the initiative has been overtaken by the scandal that even France’s strict privacy laws are struggling to contain. After briefly addressing the accusations, Mr Hollande continued by outlining his new economic vision which includes cutting public

spending by €50bn in 2015 to 2017. “In 2014, this year, we will save €15bn,” Mr Hollande said. Since Mr Hollande was elected in May 2012 as Mr Normal, his popularity rating has fallen to depths not previously seen by presidents of the Fifth Republic. An opinion poll shows that he is now liked by 24 per cent of the voters. According to one interpretation, the French President already knows that he has blown his chances of re-election in 2017.

Visiting the NUI Galway Teddy Bear Hospital was Shea Duke (6) from Corrandrum National School, Claregalway.

8 Opinion

Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

This week’s debate: Despite attempts at softening his image, Pope Francis and the Catholic hierarchy represent an out-dated, discriminatory, abusive, authoritarian belief system that Irish people need to leave behind. YES: Good PR hides the NO: The current Pope is darker side of the Catholic Church a glimmer of hope for the Church By Carla Avenia Koency The increasing presence of the Pope on the media is just part of the circus, or if you're fond of musical references, the razzle-dazzle that is necessary in order to keep the plebs distracted from the fact that the Catholic church is still rife with scandal – and losing an increasing number of disheartened followers every day. Within the past fortnight alone, there have been several articles published about the catholic church, which can be split up into two main groups: those putting a positive spin on critical situations such as the child abuse cases (look, something is being done!) or trying to cast a positive light on the Pope's persona by mentioning some cute thing the Pope said or did, while overlooking the crimes that the church has committed for centuries and keeps committing up until this very day. It is obvious that the Holy See has hired a very good PR team: for every negative article, there are dozens of cute, waffle articles (the equivalent of cat videos) to cover up any negative press. This has gone on for most of Pope Francis' papacy; to the point that most of the public has forgotten worrisome suspicions concerning the former Father Bergoglio's darker past as a priest during Argentina's dirty war. In his home country, many still criticize his turning a blind eye to the pain and suffering of his flock during Argentina's military dictatorship. The information available seems to indicate he was well aware of the government's policies towards the systematic disappearance and murder of civilians, and that he did little to prevent those around him from suffering that fate even though he had the right connections. Not only did priests under his supervision “disappear”, but an island owned by the diocese he was the head of ended up being used as a makeshift concentration camp for civilians accused of dissenting with the military Junta– unbeknownst to Bergoglio, or so he says. Although there is no formal proof of the aforementioned, the circumstantial evidence piles high enough to indicate that he was at the very least, a passive collaborationist – and fully aware of the barbarities that were being committed. This is the head of the Catholic Church. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. Now the leader of an international organisation comparable to any mafia, but with a history of crimes going back for millennia. This very same organisation is doing what most big businesses do when they see themselves in a time of crisis: rebrand. Their fresh coat of paint has a very modern and almost liberal flavour. But scratch

below the surface, and you will see it's all the same, By Maria Keenan just a different colour. No matter all these heart-wrenching images of Redemption is not to be found in selfies or charity the Pope himself coming down from his pedestal to Harley-Davidson auctions, but neither should it help the needy, accompanied by copy reading that be sought in abject dismissal. The Catholic Church he's keeping true to his Franciscan roots, we can't has lured itself into disrepute, and deservedly so forget it's all one big marketing campaign: we're in some factions. being sold what they'd like us to believe. However, to define the Church by a very few Let's not forget that the Catholic Church is still of its members in order to decide its value is a a big business, one that needs our money, just like practice many undertake when feeling negatively any other. The article on his leaving a funny mes- about it and which they neglect when positivity sage on some nuns' answering machine doesn't is a possibility. It is far easier to descend into cynicism withreveal a humorous, happy-go-lucky man: it just shows the power of a good PR team who promote out recovery than it is to feel hope when faced by every aspect of his life. a light of catharsis. Pope Francis has been rouAfter all, what has he really done? Do women tinely pressed by accusations of being a creature in the Catholic Church have equal opportunities? of empty gestures. Does he support women's right to choose, or even His rewards are seen as undeserved and his to learn about safe birth control practices that give position of power incorrigible. Whenever he them control over their bodies while avoiding the blesses those plagued by tumours, invites the spread of diseases? No. homeless to his birthday party or defies his legitiHe might have defrocked some child-abusing macy in judging gay people (though the last is more priests – but how about legally prosecute them instead contentious) he is accused of subversion or deceit. of re-locating them? How about the victims: did they What is often forgotten by his opposition is that receive any compensation? One can't help but to look the Pope is a man, most particularly to those who at the big picture: all he has done since taking up his find themselves already disenfranchised from any post is dress a little differently than most former Popes doctrine or dogma suggesting otherwise. Any one and change the background décor a little bit. man’s power is finite. The finitude of the papacy is two-fold. One, in The Church, through its organisation, still propagates the idea that men are above women, and order to maintain power, the Holy See must attend rightly so; the Church should have a say to what to the demands of the system in which he finds women chose to do with their bodies. himself. Given the pre-existing power structures As usual, their judgment is absolutist and present within the Catholic Church, politics and against all those who think differently from them, their observance are necessary evils. bullying entire governments to follow their lead In spite of golden crosiers, no leader is free from based on an antiquated idea of religious tradition. demands and obligations to those who allow their The Catholic Church doesn't like same-sex mar- status’ maintenance. Two, he is a single entity. Though there may be riage, so, guess what? Same-sex couples in historically Catholic countries don't have a right to it either. Last no practical way for the pontiff to dissemble global time I checked, this type of behaviour was only found capitalism in a single address, the sentiment is one in authoritarian regimes. which can gradually But instead of threatenpermeate the people of ing to send us to Siberia the Church; those who if we misbehave, they act on the word of God. threaten us with Hell. No gesture is empty. We must open our Example is the key to eyes to what this instieducation and Pope tution really represents: Francis ushers towards a vile, domineering, a fine one, at the very misogynist and archaic least. Better yet, his regime intent on dictathistory implies that he ing people's daily lives, by is genuinely committed selling them the promise to this ethos. What do you think of Pope Francis? of a future paradise in The Society of Jesus exchange for their monis an order of priests within the Catholic etary donations now.

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Church whose emphasis is on propagating education from primary level to university. Prior to his election, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was their Provincial Superior in Argentina making him the first Pope from the southern hemisphere. It is difficult to logically assert that his encouragement of the importance of furthering access to education is just an empty threat when this comes to mind. It is more trying still to presume that these values were automatically eradicated in a puff of white smoke. The Catholic Church is habitually defended on the basis of its base values. Faith in faith has become a modern phenomenon. In trying to find some semblance of a defence of passed wrongdoings, the religious appeal to that from which they first found their belief. For some, this is the ethos of “Love thy neighbour”. For others, it is simply knowing that there is more to existence than earthly realms and tedium. The Church must learn where it is not welcome and actively damaging. The separation of Church and State in matters such as reproductive rights and marriage rights outside of the heterosexual binary is necessary. However, revenge is not a necessary addition to this segregation. The evildoings of men within the Church must be wholly acknowledged and the culpable individuals punished, but this does not imply that all members need fall alongside them. While sexual abuse is among the most abhorrent acts one human being can commit against another, the Church is at a prime precipice for reincarnation (displeased as they would be to hear it described as that). Knowledge of problems and the bravery to speak out and tackle them from on high is at the helm of modern times. Pope Francis’ orchestration of a child sex abuse commission is the precursor to this. The re-shuffling of cardinals by Pope Francis, involving the ousting of a large swathe of conservative figures, is also promising. Some call for the immediate surrender of the Vatican and all of its treasures but the world, I fear, doesn’t work on a basis of the powerful agreeing to surrender without incentive or threat. Rather, we (alongside the Church) must depend on the organic generosity and intelligence of its members from the lowest in the pecking order to the highest. Thankfully, the top is a less hidden plateau than it once was. Whether or not one believes that words are merely words to be acted on, Pope Francis provides for both beliefs. His aspirations to augment some structures of the Church are being preached as well as practiced.

Opinion 9

January 27 2014

Racist abuse still a reality in Ireland By Joseph Loughnane In 2009, over a thousand racist incidents were recorded by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. In comparison for the same year only 128 were recorded by the Gardaí. If one were to take this at face value you could draw the conclusion that racial tensions seem to be a lot worse in the North, especially with acts of sectarian violence being commonplace. However, crimes attributed to tensions between loyalist and nationalist areas are recorded separately thus leaving us with one concern – why are acts of racism not being recorded in the Republic of Ireland?

Let's turn briefly to a report entitled “Riding along with racism” which focused on incidents of racial abuse in the Galway Taxi industry. The Irish Centre for Human Rights who commissioned the study found that, of the African taxi drivers who suffered racial abuse – which was almost all of them – the vast majority did not feel comfortable reporting such incidents to the Gardaí. Many drivers said that the Gardaí tended to see such incidents as a case of “your word against theirs”. Some of the drivers who were from countries as diverse as Somalia and South Africa felt that reporting such incidents just brought trouble their way with regard to their relationships with white taxi drivers – who were often the instigators of such racial abuse.

Has Kenny’s visit to the Gulf put money over basic human rights? By Andrew Brennan Mr. Kenny and Minister Richard Bruton led over a 100 member Irish delegation on a trade and investment mission to the Gulf, comprising of company executives for the most part, meeting with monarchs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However when old Bertie travelled to the KSA seven years ago, criticisms came flying like ninja throwing stars from the likes of Pat Rabbitte and ironically enough Enda Kenny. The delegation has waved the human rights issue as an EU prerogative as good business relationships with wealthy countries are all the rage these days. Especially as previous Irish governments allowed leveraged buy-outs and now must pay the debts with assets that Ireland pledged as collateral and sold off. Gulf money is wanted. Fine Gael and Labour have often spoken about supporting the values of democracy and human rights internationally. Labour being the supposed shield of the common worker, their ideology and support for the workers’ rights now seems more of a fable. The ‘modern’ state of Saudi Arabia, founded in 1932 and ruled by the House of Saud since the 18th century, is among the pantheon of wealthiest nations in the region due to its vast oil resources. The KSA follows Wahhabism under the Al ash-Sheikh family, descendents of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahabb the founder of Wahhabism. This ideology should create some unease among the hypocritical Irish politicians? Through Wahhabism in the KSA, women and girls are forbidden from travelling or undergoing certain medical procedures without permission from their male guardians. This country also bans women from driving, certain professions and enforces a strict chic fashion of cloaks from the catwalks of Riyadh, Mecca and Medina of no ankle… or arm, or hair or nose, just eyes – but hey they’re the windows to the soul. Women and girls remain effectively banned from sports within the kingdom. However, in the KSA everyone is moral and law-abiding because all the wealth is shared and not because floggings, amputations and public executions are a social norm for violat-

ing the law and with no written penal code, the judiciary defines crime discretionally. Discretionary examples include Jeddah’s Summary Court convicting a man for hospitalizing his wife through abuse and harshly sentencing him to learning five parts of the Quran and 100 sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. However, Ali al-Asiri was beheaded in Najran province for practicing ‘witchcraft and sorcery’ through ownership of written talismans in 2012. Like lovely old Ireland the KSA also has a blasphemy law; however the act of blasphemy carries a guilty penalty of death. The UAE and Qatar, as the other fetching destinations, are absolute monarchies with Qatar being ruled by the Al-Thani family since the mid-1800’s. The tiny country of just over 2 million – over 50% of which are migrants – is one of the ‘wealthiest’ countries in the world due to its oil and gas reserves. Those same migrant workers must think they’re in the ‘other’ Qatar, for all this touted wealth, wages seem to be lacking and accommodation is luxurious in overcrowded labour camps with no water access. Qatar also implements Sharia law, bans political parties and has no law regarding domestic violence. The UAE is however made up of seven semiautonomous emirates with a total population of around 8.5 million. The UAE’s ethos restricts freedom of speech as criticism of the government and royal families’ results in detainment for jeopardizing national ‘security’. Echoes of American patriotism perhaps? Also voting is something beyond the reaches of meagre citizenry as are political parties. The country has marriage laws forbidding women from marrying non-Muslims while men can retain up to four polygamous marriages. A quality deal for misogynists; all misogynists should head to the UAE. Is a Qatari delegation arriving to Ireland in June to look at investment opportunities worth this hypocrisy and negating of moral decency and ethical philosophy? Mr. Kenny praised what he called “their leadership in terms of moderation... in the Gulf region”. Kenny is able to wave ethics over money with ease.

When a racist incident is reported to the Gardaí, often it is recorded as a different criminal act due to the victim of racism being assaulted or having property stolen. As a result the crime goes down as assault or robbery and yet another act of racism is ignored. At a time when the divide-and-conquer rhetoric of this austerity government is rampant, the last thing oppressed minorities need is their oppression being swept under the carpet. The only way to combat such ignorance is to set up an independent reporting system, which gives the person who was racially abused the comfort of telling their story and knowing that they themselves will not be under scrutiny. Asylum seekers face possibly the most difficult of challenges. With their status in this country set as “not wanted”, the vast majority tend not to call down to the local Garda station to report a racist attack. Our brothers and sisters from around the world who we lock up in detention centres for daring to come here for refuge often face the reality of having their credentials checked rather than the racism committed upon them being investigated. Most live in the knowledge that the Guardians of the Peace are quicker to deport a sick woman and her children than commit hours to finding those culpable of the growing number of unreported racist attacks.

The Roma community could tell us why such a reporting disparity exists. When the HSE and the Gardaí responded to the bigoted intentions of the “neighbour behind the curtain” last year, two children were taken away from their parents but then quickly returned much to the embarrassment of the State. However, the two individuals in Tallaght and Athlone who fabricated concerns solely for the welfare of the lighter children (dark children don't need to be protected apparently) were never named or shamed. Why would you expect the non-white people of Ireland to report racist abuse when such a state of affairs has occurred? In the past year an independent reporting site called iReport.ie has been launched, run by the European Network Against Racism Ireland. They have produced a quarterly report on what they have received and aim to use the incidents recorded to achieve a number of aims. The system will help us understand how often racist incidents occur, to analyse in greater detail who is experiencing racism in Ireland, to devise effective local strategies for combating racism and to inform our arguments for stronger anti-racist policies at a national level. Such a site is a more than welcome replacement for the current system which aims to silence those who suffer racial abuse and propagate the lie that Ireland does not have a problem with extreme prejudice.

10 Opinion

Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

The Culture of Rape By Rachel Masterson When did rape become normal? Since when did something so demeaning, demoralising and so inherently wrong become so common and so accepted that the rapists become the victims and those defending what is right become a target? The 2012 Steubenville rape case has left a stomach-turning, sick stench in the air. Rapists are celebrated and given remorse for the years they will lose for perpetrating this crime. What about the crime? It is forgotten somewhere alongside the real victim, the rape victim, the girl that was carried from party to party like a rag doll and raped. She has now become the victim of another kind: of hate, of abuse and of bullying. What did she do? She got raped, while they laughed and filmed it. Did anyone help? Yes, Anonymous hacker Deric Lostutter who is now being prosecuted and facing more time than the rapists themselves.

When did rape become a culture? We keep seeing everywhere now about the “culture of rape”. What does that mean? Two rapists have been depicted as tragic heroes

as they break down crying in court while their sentence is passed down in what is described as a “very emotional day”. It is emotional yes, until you remember they are rapists who have just destroyed the life of a 16-year-old girl. The story has been covered as if “boys will be boys” and they were just having fun; they didn’t realise they were doing any harm. What kind of world do we live in where people can even think this? That fact that the term “culture of rape” has even been coined makes the whole thing a little more human, like it is just something that happens now. Well it shouldn’t. When friends fall asleep at parties they are bound to get destroyed in marker, makeup, probably an ashtray. However passing out drunk to get raped and humiliated on camera is beyond evil. It is a sad and sorry state of things that teenagers think “being raped and dead” is “not funny it is hilarious”. Sadder again is that those watching did nothing to help just talked about how wrong it was. It was “not cool”. That is right kids, rape is not cool and it is not a culture. If you can stomach it, the video where students are joking about the girl’s rape was leaked by Lostutter under his Anonymous

pseudonym KYAnonymous. It doesn’t show the rape – nobody would want to see that. It shows some guys joking around, like guys do, except this joke is about a girl who they have just seen “dead” and “raped”. It is pretty horrifying to watch because it’s absolutely real. All the while the hero of the story, Deric Lossutter, the digital vigilante who exposed the heinous crimes in a town which fought to cover them up, is being targeted as a villain. While the parties involved in the rape only received the minimum sentence of one year each, Lossutter is facing 25 years for infiltrating the crime thus beginning a revolution against Steubenville.

When did rape become a joke? As far as I can remember, in Ireland anyway, it was around the time Larry Murphy was released from prison. It was like this highprofile rapist got so much media attention he became a bit of an unsung hero. Or correct me on that if you like; perhaps he was a sung hero as there were so many jokes and songs made up about him. I’ll admit to being guilty of it myself. It is like the whole reason for these reports was forgotten; the crime he committed

Rape happens everywhere, every hour of every day. Does that make it normal? Does that make it OK?

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became overshadowed by the broadcasts. The man hunt out for him became a joke like “Where’s Wally” and the media coverage was and still is so widespread that he has become a rapist celebrity. We are told “beware of Larry Murphy, he is dangerous”, when all the while impressionable young guys, like the ones in the Steubenville video, will consider him a hero. Some of them, I’m sure, if they met him would consider it a big laugh and give him a high five. Am I wrong? Watch the Steubenville video. I don’t think I am. Dare I type “rape jokes” into google? Yes, there are loads but are they funny? Maybe, if your sense of humour twists that way. Maybe we are all a little guilty of laughing when we shouldn’t, the “oh Jesus that’s terrible, snigger, snigger” response. Would it be so funny if you got raped? If your daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, got raped? Guys get raped too, is that a big joke? It is a sick, twisted world we live in but hey, I guess that is the “culture”.

When did rape become OK? Rape happens everywhere, every hour of every day. Does that make it normal? Does that make it OK? In the Congo alone, a study has found that on average 48 women per hour are raped. That’s 1152 per day. That is just the Congo! There is a great big bad world out there.

We hear daily of rape reports coming from India. But just how much are we not hearing? What is going on right on our own doorstep? The global statistics for rape reach hundreds of thousands per year and that is just what has been reported. There is still so much that hasn’t been said and even more horrifically what else is going to come out of this “rape culture”? What other abhorrent stories will we hear? What more can the human race do to one another? It is frightening to think that we have to be on our guard no matter where we go. The ideals of living in peace and harmony went out the window, not that they were ever around to begin with. I do often wonder, has the world gotten really bad or has media just gotten better? I mean were these heinous crimes always commonplace but the world just didn’t hear about them? Has media just become so fast in reporting and social media so quick in spreading the report like rapid wildfire that we only think the world has become more dangerous? Were we better off in the dark?

The victim becomes the accused And thus ends another tragedy swept away by tears. The crime doesn’t go unpunished however; it is shrouded in sympathy. The young girl – the one who has been abused – she remains the victim of a bullying campaign, branded a “drunk whore”. Jane Doe was raped and humiliated by these men and if that wasn’t punishment enough, a nasty Twitter campaign blamed her for the whole thing and re-ignited the age old debate of how a woman deserves rape for how she acts and dresses; they just “cry rape” when they are later ashamed of their actions. While this may go on, Jane Doe didn’t deserve what has happened to her. She has asked that people who want to support her donate to their local domestic abuse centre. That screams courage to me. Will the media report her as a courageous, tragic victim trying to make the best of a bad situation by encouraging people to give something to help those in need? I’m not sure but either way their journalistic ethics should be accounted for. What about Deric Lostutter; will he be portrayed as a reckless villain meddling in things that ought not to be meddled in, or will he be recognised for his heroic quest for what is right? Rape is not a culture; it is a crime and one which shouldn’t be glorified. Rapists should not be sympathised with but shunned and victims should not live in fear after being violated. The messages of support for Jane Doe were heart-warming and strong but are they enough? What has to happen for the world to unite and demand that corruption stop? Or will this “culture” just continue on down this destructive path as people shrug their shoulders and say “not my problem”? You decide.

Opinion 11

January 27 2014

Student Exposé: Disconnected

Why the BA Connect programmes aren’t what they appear to be By Ciara Connolly

s a fourth year student I feel that it is my responsibility to inform other students of the so- called “benefits” of the BA Connect programme. The BA Connect programmes are sold in a way that leads students to believe that a Connect degree is somewhat better than a regular Arts degree. It is understood that the Connect programmes run from first year to third year. In third year, one semester must be spent studying abroad while the other is focused solely on a specialist area, aka the Connect. For me this was Irish Studies. Being a student of English and Spanish, I was sent to Spain for my first semester but I was delighted to return at Christmas to start focusing on the last stretch of my Irish Studies Connect. We all knew that we had to write a 10,000 word independent research project from January to April, which consisted of one weekly meeting with our class, and one with our supervisor. In a formal scenario we had to present our significant independent research project to our lecturers, class members and project supervisors – which I wholly support and believe was beneficial at the time.

abroad was not beneficial to me whatsoever as a mature student.” “As BA Connects already have an established four year degree rather than a three year degree, we should be given the option of using our third year marks… because that’s our chosen specialist area,” said Creative Writing student Johanna Stock. Children Studies student Aoife Gleeson said; “Considering the fact that we chose to focus in on a specialism for our undergrad we should have the right to use our third year results as part of our degree calculation – otherwise it’s just redundant. We spent all our time doing 3 subjects for our degree, why should only two be counted?” “I think we should be given the option to choose our second or third year marks. I really hope this will change for future students,” said Kamila Polchowska from Latin American Studies. I think Stephen Ward, former Connect with Film Studies phrased it perfectly when he said; “All this confusion over the Connects just shows there is a lack of information given initially to the students.” And evidentially this is the case as most Connect students are still unaware of the fact that in

signing up to a Connect, they are abstaining from receiving an international degree, despite having studied abroad.

spent a week speaking with former Connect students and one thing became clear to me; there is a serious breakdown in communication between the powers that be, the heads of the Connect departments, and the students themselves. Everyone is being told different information, and no one is certain of what degree they will have in the end, how it will be calculated, or whether it will be an international degree or not.” It appears that all this confusion stems from the fact that a semester was spent studying abroad. But how can one semester abroad add up to a year’s worth of work? Now I enjoyed many aspects of my Connect, as did the rest of my fellow Connects. And maybe this is why we all strived to succeed in our final year of it. We wanted our best marks to be for our specialism subject, for the obvious reason that we chose this to be our specialist area. After my experience in Spain, I really pushed

The BA Connect Explained

o our horror we received this email on the 2 October 2013; “For students in Final Year of BA Connect programmes in the academic year 2013-2014, the new Marks and Standards regulations will not be applied in the calculation of your degree result as you would have completed Second Year prior to their introduction.

Is there a misunderstanding with the BA Connect or are these students right to be angry? Sin Newspaper got in touch with Dr Edward Herring, FSA, Dean of the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies to learn more...

“Therefore, the calculation of your degree award will be based either on 50% of your overall performance in Second Year and 50% of your overall performance in Final Year or on 100% of Final Year depending on which calculation benefits you most. Your performance in Year Three of the BA Connect programme does not form part of the calculation of the overall degree award.” I spoke to students from other Final Year BA Connect programmes to see if they were also left in the dark regarding this matter. What I found out led me to believe there is a level of dissatisfaction across the board amongst current fourth years (former Connects). Children’s Studies student Elizabeth Moon expressed serious concern regarding this issue; “Before our third year some of us went to the Students’ Union for help with this matter and they didn’t even attempt to get to the bottom of it. “I did an assistantship instead of Erasmus and was told that for my third year to count, I would have to pay full fees – even though I was not receiving an education, I was giving one. “I got a 1.1 distinction and now I find out the most difficult and expensive year of my college life is worthless towards my final year marks. I paid fees for the year to count. I was obviously lied to.” Jennifer Arthur from Irish Studies said; “It doesn’t really affect me too much because my third year marks were average. However, I am in serious debt from having to live in Glasgow. “I enjoyed the research project a lot, but the semester

As with the BA (International) degree, third year of the CONNECT programmes, which is devoted to the Specialism, is not taken into account in the calculation of a student’s degree result. This is due to the fact that the programmes were designed, and are marketed, as a two-subject Arts degree, with an additional Specialism stream, which runs through the programme. The two "traditional" degree subjects comprise the majority of the ECTS for the degree programme as a whole. Moreover, there is a wide variety of components that comprise the third year; these range from periods on campus/off campus in either a placement or University setting, international placements/workshops, selfdirected learning/projects undertaken at home and/or abroad. The Programme Directors of the various BA CONNECT degrees were extensively consulted when the means of assessing Third Year was designed and felt that a descriptive result such as ‘Merit’, ‘Outstanding’ performance would be more suitable to describe the student’s performance in this experiential year rather than percentage scores; percentage marks were retained only for academic modules studied on campus. Therefore, Third Year does not provide for the award of honours and is successfully

Does the third year count in the BA Connect?

completed on meeting the requirements of the year which are outlined by the individual programme literature. Studies in the students’ traditional subjects are not undertaken during the third year and are recommenced in Final Year. While honours are awarded in Second Year of the programme and Final Year, due to its nature, the third year like that of Year 3 of the BA (International) programme is set up on a Pass/Fail award at the overall level. The Marks and Standards for the current Final Year students is still based on performance in Second Year and Final Year or Final Year alone, whichever calculation will be of most benefit to the student. However, from 2014 onwards all programmes will come under the University’s revised Marks and Standards where 30% of a student’s overall performance in their Second Year and 70% of the student’s Final Year performance will be taken into consideration in the calculation a degree award. The Specialism modules studied in Second Year will count towards the award of Honours under the new Marks and Standards.

Were students informed of all the details before they began their degree? Programme details are communicated to students by the individual Programme Directors and the literature published by the College. However, details regarding Marks and Standards would be conveyed internally. Such documents are in the public domain but prospective students applying through the CAO for any programme generally do not concern themselves with such technical matters.

myself in the independent research project. I was so close to completing the Connect Programme requirements that I wanted to finish it with my best possible grades. I wanted to show my lecturers and my supervisor that a mature student, who four years ago thought she would never obtain a degree in her life, could actually receive a first in a significant independent research project – one piece of work which was to sum up the last three years of my Connect education. And I did it. I got a 1.1 for my project, only to discover that the entirety of our third year experience will be completely excised from the calculation of our final degree marks. It’s not that we don’t want the option of choosing 50% of our Second Year marks; it’s the fact that we’re not even given a choice in the matter. For some of us our standards of academia have obviously risen; it seems as though Second Year was a long time ago. So rightfully we should be at least able to choose our second year marks or our third year marks. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that new regulations are being brought into practice next year – but what about the current Final Year students who feel they essentially wasted their third year? Will any exception be made for them?

emind me again as to why we chose to do the Connect programme? It’s better than a normal Arts Degree, right? Wrong.

As a language student it has only been a burden. As you can imagine having only spent one semester in Spain, in comparison to the rest of my class who spent the year, you can see how the Connect programme has significantly put me at a disadvantage. Thankfully there is some comfort in knowing there are many of us in the same boat. I believe that if the breakdown of the marketing structure had been made clearer in the Connect programme brochures, I would have had second thoughts about taking the programme over the regular Arts Degree – and I suspect others would as well. Myrn Devaney, former Connect student of Theatre and Performance said; “Well I didn’t go on Erasmus because Theatre and Performance don’t have an Erasmus link set up with Spain. We did the year in Ireland and it was the best year for me yet. “I enjoyed it so much I got a distinction for my 20,000 word dissertation. I based choosing my degree on my specialty, and to find out last year counts for nothing towards my final marks... I’d advise people to do their specialty as a main degree, and not as part of the Connect.” Upon discovering all this information I feel myself thinking third year was a complete waste of my time now. My Spanish was not given the sufficient time to improve; I broke my heart in order to write a thesis which received a 1.1 only to be told it doesn’t count towards my degree; and I also owe money, just like the rest of my Connect programme students who are also trying to pay off their ‘Erasmus Debt’. In hindsight, we could have saved ourselves a lot of hassle had we done the bare minimum to only pass third year. I honestly don’t know why any of us bothered to put the effort in, because evidently it just doesn’t count in the end.

12 opinion

Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

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Irish Water:

Profit over people By Leigh Ashmore The revelation that Irish Water has paid almost €86 million of taxpayers’ money to consultants with major corporations shouldn’t come as a surprise, but as a predictable outcome of the government’s unyielding austerity agenda. The paying of millions to the likes of technology giant IMB is another step towards transferring public wealth into private hands. The debacle of Irish Water finally cripples the tired defensive argument the Fine Gael/ Labour coalition have been using all these years. Whenever anyone’s ever cried ‘corruption’ or ‘broken promises’, government representatives have always shouted back ‘We’re cleaning up Fianna Fáil’s mess!’ Now, acting on their own initiative and free from the constraints of the past, Fine Gael and Labour have shown themselves to be just as willing to cosy up to private business as Fianna Fáil. It’s resounding proof that the establishment parties may differ on rhetoric, but all fall into the same ideological line when cash is concerned. The proceeds of the property tax, which was always marketed as a tax that would be funnelled back into local authorities, was used to set up Irish Water and pay for the financial killings made by billionaire consultancy firms. The appointing of someone like John Tierney to run the project merely adds insult to injury. Tierney, in his previous role as Dublin City manager, was responsible for the disaster that is the Poolbeg Incinerator project, which has stalled completely but still cost the taxpayer ¤96 million. As well as this, Tierney has revealed to the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee that almost 300 of Irish Water’s future staff, who haven’t even been hired yet, are to receive bonuses of around ¤7,000. There have been claims for the government that the introduction of Irish Water and water charges is based on an environmental concern, that it’s to tackle water wastage. Despite this, all the major money for the project has gone on either consultants pay or the installation of the water metres.

Almost nothing has been done to improve the infrastructure of the water system or improve the quality, as tap-water in many rural areas is so tainted it’s brown in colour. Within this scandal shows the hypocrisy of the Irish government. People on social welfare are constantly treated as if they’re workshy freeloaders sucking the life out of the state. They’re faced with benefit cuts that drastically reduce their standard of living, and many of their employment opportunities are in the hands of bogus unpaid internships schemes like JobBridge, where they’re not even considered worthwhile enough to earn the minimum wage. All of this is done with the sanctimonious air of ‘There’s no such thing as a free ride in this country, lads’. At the same time, Phil Hogan has come out saying that it’s not his job to ‘micro-manage’, that he’s in a position to fling literally millions of euros at multi-billion dollar accounting firms like KPMG and Ernst & Young to pay consultants. Yet in the midst of all this waste and profiteering by private companies, the lowest classes in Irish society are being hit with another stealth tax. When questioned, Enda Kenny will pull a stern face and say that money is tight and that water charges are wholly necessary. Despite all the studies that have been done to show the depths of poverty in Ireland; despite the fact that deprivation levels have doubled in the past few years and stand at 22%; despite the fact that we have one of the highest rates of relative poverty in Europe, another austerity tax has yet to be introduced. We are now faced with the privatization of a basic resource: water. Something that people need in order to live will now be turned into some that can be bought and sold, a product, a commodity, under the control of a private corporation by the dictation of the Troika. Ireland has no shortage of right-wing establishment economists in its media, and I recall on statement made by one on an edition of Prime Time recently, that Ireland needs ‘less vision, and more management’. The sad fact is that Ireland is already a business. All the cutthroat policies and back-room deals you’d associate with Wall Street executives and CEOs define how our country is run.

opinion 13

January 27 2014

From the ashes American foreign policy repeats past mistakes By Andrew Brennan You slowly open your eyes to a bright and radiant light breaking through your blinds. The warm air caresses your face through the open window. Already thick and dry yet the sun is barely peaking over the horizon. Arising out of bed, going to the sink to cool and sooth a wizened face, donning light cotton clothes and grabbing at a portion of cold rice in the pot, you kiss your children and wife goodbye as they wake. Your old Peugeot stutters along the bumpy roads as you drive down along a windy road overlooking a valley below hitting the radio as the station is fading in and out and you strike it again and boom, the noise is deafening… Pakistani media report that evening that “Zayeed Ahmed was killed in a drone strike while driving to work. He was a school teacher and had no affiliation to terrorist organisations”. Across the world, American media report on the late CBS News “a combatant was killed in a drone strike today while driving in Northern Pakistan. White House spokesperson Donna Hill says that the ‘drone programme is proving invaluable in proficiency at precise targeting of known terrorists’”.

Sound familiar? This is the near weekly reoccurring story in international media. However these reports are widely nuanced narratives issued from two contrasting parts of the globe. What is perhaps America’s most controversially overt foreign policy programme; Drone strikes are creating a vast blowback among the real ‘international’ community. From Waziristan to Yemen, Somali to Afghanistan, drones are the new preferred policy celebrated as the ultimate tool in ‘fighting terrorism and protecting international democracy’. Drones are the great new asset for policy makers because they replace the soldier who is a PR liability if coming home in a box. Drones never make mistakes. Not even when a drone targeted a wedding party in Yemen on 12 December killing 12 wedding guests, marking the greatest loss of civilian life from a single US drone strike since introduced in 2002. The terms ‘imminent threat’ are used to describe all successfully assassinated people who might or might not have been a threat in any way. It is a legal term that is deliberately vague so to constitute a justification for a strike on a person that has displayed no signs of terrorist affiliation or behaviour.

The word ‘imminent’ can mean ongoing so the ‘threat’ might not be a terrorist today but might decide to be one in a few years, see the power of legalese? The term ‘target’ replaces a name or person to dehumanise the new fatality in this ongoing programme. The drone programme is infallible, it has not targeted ‘Jirga’s’ (tribal meetings to solve problems) killing many civilian attendees. The drone programme has never rained down ‘Hellfire’ missiles on civilian areas because from watching through a camera on the drone, operators can tell are people jeopardizing America’s national security 8000 miles away. Drone operators have never gone home and killed themselves because of the trauma and guilt they feel nor have they never condemned the programme which they say is illegal. If you have heard any of this you more than likely are a ‘threat’ to national security. However, Amer ica is facing a rising tide of hate being fuelled by its actions of assassination among foreign communities. Actions many consider a breach of international law and have led to the UN condemning the droning programme.

Who Was Ariel Sharon? By Carla Avenia Koency Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon passed away on 11 January, but not quietly. His death put him back on the news, as stories of his lifetime of exploits and defeats riddle the media and continue to shed light on his contentious persona. Ultimately, what the public wants to know is: was he a good guy, or a bad guy? The crowning glory of his long and distinguished career for the Israeli government – first as a military officer, MP and a Minister – was to become Prime Minister, from 2001 to 2006. Albeit successful, his professional life was marked by controversy. Forging his political career with the right wing party – par-

ticularly under the Netanyahu government – he took part in the Camp Davis talks in 2000 that sought a solution to the Palestinian conflict, after also contrarily having been responsible for the construction of the wall separating Israel from the West Bank. Although a sporadic peacemaker, Mr. Sharon holds the shameful record of having fought in every single war Israel has been involved in since its creation in 1948. Yet he managed to sway public opinion to the point of confusion by encouraging illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian lands during his early political career, while towards the end of it he commanded the withdrawal from Gaza and of four settlements in the West Bank.

Throughout his distinguished professional life, he acknowledged the Palestinians' right to their own land and committed to cooperating in the creation of a Palestinian state – on his own grounds. As is the case with popular politicians, the very end of his career was tainted by financial scandal. Mr. Sharon suffered a stroke in 2005 and his health was weakened significantly since then, leading to his passing early in 2014. His character comes across as confusing for those who want to remember him, which is why people – rightly so – are divided: he was a defiant national leader, superb military strategist and cunning politician to some, while for others, he was a corrupt government official, enactor of oppression and war criminal.

By targeting the communities of these foreign countries, America is only fuelling the growth of the ever present bogeyman, al Qaeda and all of America’s other enemies. The blowback is coming as people living under the surveillance of drones see their best way of vengeance is to take up arms against America or remain powerless until their house loses its roof. This programme contradicts itself by empowering instead of weakening America’s designated ‘enemies’. America hasn’t learned from its past mistakes or transgressions. In Afghanistan many don’t know why America invaded and see them as a foreign occupier just like in South Vietnam and Afghanistan has been labelled the ‘new’ Vietnam. During the Vietnam War Tens of thousands of Viet-

namese suspected of being Viet Cong or civilian sympathizers were assassinated in the CIA’s Phoenix Program. The Phoenix Programme also included elements of the Australian Vietnamese forces and US special ops. The programme was designed to ‘identify and neutralise’ through capture, terrorism, torture and assassination, the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Viet Cong) or ‘terrorists and insurgents’ in your school history book. The Phoenix Programme sought to destabilise the support for the Viet Cong through targeting Viet Cong or civilians who posed a ‘risk’. The policy was in operation between 1965 and 1972 with smaller elements continuing post 1975 and the ‘Fall of Saigon’ and murdered, at a low estimate 26,000 people.

Saigon’s CIA chief Peer DeSilva implemented the programme believing ‘counter terror’ was a legitimate tool in unconventional warfare and applying it to ‘enemy civilians’ would reduce support for the Viet Cong. At the final day of a US Congressional hearing in 1971, Milton K. Osborne, an Australian historian and witness to the Phoenix Programmes actions stated it was a ‘sterile depersonalized murder programme’. The military command of Vietnam replied that the programme was in compliance with laws of land warfare. Does the terminology of nothing illegal, enemy civilians, legitimate targets sound familiar? The same mistake has been born from the ashes and just like last time, this is a war that America will not win.

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14 Features Suas Global Issues Course Sin caught up with Hanna Phelan from Suas to find out some information about an upcoming Global Issues Course which is starting up in NUI Galway on Tuesday 11 February.

Irish Aid and Europe aid so the participant fee is only 25euro. There is an early bird rate of 20euro if you sign up and pay online at least a week before the course starts. It’s worth is so much more than its cost!

What is the Global Issues Course about?

How else can I get involved with Suas in Galway?

The Global Issues Course is a seven week evening course that provides students with an introduction to development issues.

The Suas society in NUI Galway is a great place to start. Not only does it provide the opportunity to get to know likeminded NUI Galway students from a range of disciplines, but it also provides members with exposure to some really great projects. Last semester the Suas society was highly involved in the 8by8 documentary film festival and had the opportunity to work with award winning documentaries and film makers. Other great projects, that are open to society and non-society members, are the overseas and in Ireland volunteer programmes.

What issues will I learn about if I take this course? Each of the weekly sessions introduces participants to a different global issue. The topics covered include global health, trade and livelihoods, education, environmental sustainability, debt justice and taking action. The sessions are delivered by professionals from the relevant sectors and designed to be as interactive as possible. So if you feel a certain aspect of a topic should be explored further then you can choose to raise it.

How will this course benefit me and others? The course has the potential to be beneficial to the participant, their family and friends and even the greater global community. There is a real emphasis of the change that can be effected by the individual. By participating you have the opportunity to expand your knowledge on global issues, your critical thinking skills and much more. With a heightened awareness in global issues and the effect that an individual can have many participants share this knowledge with their friends and relatives influencing them to act for positive change.

Where do I sign up and how much will it cost? You can sign up for the Global Issues Course on the Suas website at www.suas. ie/take-course. The course it subsidized by

Where can I find more information about Suas? If you have any questions about the Global Issues Course, volunteering overseas or volunteering in Ireland with Suas feel free to send an email to Hanna at globalissues@suas.ie. Or if you’re looking for a more general overview Suas you can visit the website at www.suas.ie.

Anything else I should know? The Global Issues Course provides a great platform for people from any background, discipline or interest level to explore development issues with the help of professionals from the relevant sectors. If you are interested in perusing a career in an organization that is involved in these issues it’s also a fantastic chance to network. Hanna Phelan is a recent graduate of International Relations and French and a past participant in the Global Issues Course. Hanna is currently on a nine month internship in the Suas Educational Development office, Dublin.

Keep an eye out for Journalism Soc By Carla Avenia Koency What's the hubbub? It's the Journalism Society getting ready to take off! This spanking brand new society was founded just two weeks ago after having garnered over one hundred signatures during Socs day – finally giving journalism and media lovers, as well as the curious, a place to come together. The Journalism Society was the brainchild of Claire Stone, now President. The group provides aspiring journalists and writers with a nurturing environment through which they will receive encouragement and guidance within the field, for both their current endeavours as well as for their future careers. And of course – the Journalism Society will be working very closely with Sin.

The Committee's first meeting will take place this following week to discuss the society's activities and events for the coming year. Everybody is welcome to join, contribute ideas and help mould this budding organisation into a buzzing society at NUIG. This society finds itself among the many other media-related societies around campus, such as Flirt FM, Sin, STV and Film Soc. Societies day number two boasted many new societies for all sorts of niche interests, even a society dedicated to Doctor Who. I still don’t know what exactly a ‘Banter Society’ is supposed to do, but I’m sure we’ll find out. Don't miss out! Join the first meeting and become part of something new and exciting on campus. Get yourself on the mailing list by contacting the Journalism Society's President, Claire Stone, at: c.stone3@nuigalway.ie

Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

How not to get your society

banned By Michael Finn

December was a busy time for NUI Galway, with the suspension of the Legion of Mary Society making news headlines all over the world. It sparked a debate over how to deal with well-meaning, but completely misguided rhetoric in the form of ‘gay conversion’. One issue was that in general, gay people don’t like being told that it’s wrong to be having sex with a member of the same gender, and that they should be just as sexless and miserable as they were back in the good old days Another was that NUI Galway doesn’t really condone that sort of carry on. So to avoid further embarrassment, here are a few tips on how not to get your society banned. Ritual sacrifices don’t go down terribly well

You think you have found a great society that shares your interests and you can really hit it off with. Next thing you know, they’re taking all the freshers into a candle lit room with an alter. You refuse to shed blood for The Mighty and Benevolent Túrondór, and they look at you like you’re the eejit? There is a certain amount of banter that the college can tolerate, but if you’re going to make a ritual sacrifice, stick to a good old fashioned goat. Túrondór’s horns and goatee resemble a likeness to the mammal and that pleases the great and benevolent one. RAG Week

It’s a slippery slope of a week. You can see your friends turn into multi-armed womangrabbing cyborgs. If your society is hosting an event, make sure that the committee doesn’t go mad with power and keep the chauvinism to a minimal. We are living in an era where some of your darkest and desperate moments can be caught on a very skinny video (because most plebs with an iPhone don’t know that you are not supposed to film in ‘portrait mode’).

Filming a promo video in ‘portrait mode’

This may not get you banned as a society, but for the love of all that is good and holy, it is not how people are supposed to view videos! I grew up in an era that witnessed the rise of widescreen televisions, and all that innovation has been mocked by a blunder on the part of Apple. If I ever see a promo video from a society that has been filmed this way, blood will shed! Overuse of the ‘KEEP CALM’ poster layout

The ‘KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON’ posters are a relic from wartime Britain, as they were attacked regularly from the sky from Herman Goering’s Luftwaffe. Although I find the variations of that poster to be as funny as a bag of dead kittens, I have noticed a shocking amount to societies using them to promote their society. The worst being ‘Keep Calm and BANTER ON’. Instant ban if I were in charge! There are many other ways to get your society banned from campus. So keep your head down, have the craic and keep the wellmeaning homophobia to a minimum.

KEEP CALM AND

DON’T GET

BANNED

Visiting the 9th Annual NUI Galway Teddy Bear Hospital were Seán Goaley and Jennifer Weir (both 5) from Corrandrum National School, Claregalway.

Features 15

January 27 2014

Alumni Interview: Pat Rabbitte T.D. welc om

u o y k n tha

ir e for the g orldwid in w d i n n fu m lu y in To our a I Galwa cts on campus U N r fo n roje ambitio major p f these many o

stay

Friendship; girls; the Corrib in Summer; Town & Gown easy relationship; extra-curricular activities in particular student politics and the Lit & Deb.

Has NUI Galway changed since you were here?

Do you ever miss NUI Galway?

Yes. Some of the intimacy of 60s and 70s is probably gone. Generally it seems more focussed, more competitive and more professional.

Yes. I loved my years in UCG (as it was) and my time in Galway and I left only reluctantly.

How did attending NUI Galway develop you as a person?

Did you ever get in trouble while you were here?

For good or ill, it made me what I am. It fostered an interest in the society around me and in public and world affairs.

Yes, in a manner of speaking – as the first student nominated to a Governing Body at a tempestuous time, I had some memorable exchanges with another Governor, the never-to-be-forgotten Bishop of Galway, Dr Michael Browne, someone accustomed to getting his own way.

Did you partake in any societies, sports clubs or volunteering at NUI Galway?

connected

Yes, yes and yes. I played football badly, participated in different societies, in particular, the Literary & Debating Society, Drama Soc and the Social Action Movement.

With the Alumni Association and support NUI Galway’s vision for the future For more information on priority projects, events & activities contact Galway University Foundation. Visit us @ www.guf.ie l www.nuigalway.ie/alumni l T: 091 493536 Find us on Facebook and join National University of Ireland Galway on LinkedIn

Wanderlust: Madrid

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea and not the only activity that a student can become involved with but it does shape one’s character and outlook.

What is your fondest memory of NUI Galway?

To a n e of the wly enhan ced c art bu am excitin il g new dings, wor pus with ne ld resea rch p class facil w state rogra mme ities and s for 20132014

GUF SU Diary Advert 148x210_2.indd 1

Do you think the SU is a good way for students to get involved in college life?

Year of graduation: 1970 (BA) 1972 (H.dip. in Ed) 1974 (LL.B) Course at NUI Galway: Arts and Law Current Occupation: Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Labour Party T.D. for Dublin South West Constituency

13/11/2013 18:27

What advice would you give to current NUI Galway students?

It was quite good and eagerly anticipated. Yes I did write for it and ended up a member of the Governing Board.

University for 99% of students is a onceoff experience and should be experienced and enjoyed to the fullest extent possible. Academic qualifications today are more important than ever but not all learning comes from the classroom.

How did your role in the Students’ Union set you up for your career after you left college?

If you could go back and do it all again, what would you do differently?

It helped basic political skills including debating skills, interfacing with the media and how to address educational and social issues.

Youth may be wasted on the young but I don’t think I would have done much differently. You have to make your own mistakes because one was young and without experience.

What was the college newspaper like when you were in NUI Galway? Did you write for it?

By Carla Avenia Koency Although the weather might not be warmer than Ireland's at the moment, it is certainly less rainy. Besides, nothing will be warmer than a dose of good old fashioned Spanish hospitality in this student-budget-friendly city! Why go? Madrid has it all: culture, food, shopping and all night fiestas. If that doesn't scream mini-break, what does? What to eat? A bit of everything, or more specifically: tapas. As you walk into any truly Spanish bar in Madrid, you will find a wide array of tapas on display. All you have to do is point at the beer on draft to get your caña, and then point at the food options that pique your interest. Don't forget to tell your waiter gracias. Some good places to start: Casa de Granada Area: Tirso de Molina A rooftop bar that is a bit hard to find. You pretty much have to find the right doorbell on an apartment building. Once you get in and all the way up, it's the perfect place to start a big night out sipping sangria overlooking all of Madrid.

Bar El Tigre Area: Chueca A classic hangout for some afternoon tapas. But, the thing is: you don't get to pick them. All you do is order your drinks, and whatever tapas they have at the moment are sent out... for free. Yes, that's true. Pay for drinks and get free tapas. The more you drink, the more you eat: the perfect vicious circle. Where to stay? Hostels cost on average €15 per night in a shared dorm room. The best areas to stay in are: Chueca, Tribunal/Malasaña, La Latina, Sol, Opera and Gran Via/Callao. Good to know: San Isidro festival is coming up. On 15 May locals celebrate their patron saint. The whole city goes out on the streets, watches the concerts in Plaza Mayor or Retiro park, followed by the fireworks at Las Vistillas park – and parties all night long! Where from: Fly from Dublin. Daily flights start at €31.99 one way.

Jobs Bulletin & Internship Opportunities Internships Fair: 4 Feb 2014 – Orbsen Building Teaching Fair: 1 Feb 2014 – Orbsen Building NUI Galway’s Career Development Centre brings you a monthly jobs bulletin to assist you in your search. For more information on these & more job opportunities see www.nuigalway.ie/careers/pdfs/ jobsbulletin2.pdf. And don’t forget to log onto Careers Connect via www.nuigalway.ie/careers for a full up-to-date jobs listing. A&L Goodbody: Four week summer internship (Legal). Apply to http://goo.gl/kmGcWI by 21 Feb 2014. AbbVie: (Mechanical Engineering). Three to twelve month internship. Based in Sligo. Apply to abbvie. taleo.net/careersection by 25 Feb 2014 Arthur Cox: Four week summer internship (Legal). Apply to http://goo.gl/s5Vps4 by 14 Feb 2014.

Google: Ten to twelve weeks summer internship (All Disciplines). Apply to http://goo.gl/UXFeA5 by 17 Feb 2014. KPMG: 8-12 week summer internship (All Disciplines). Apply to http://goo.gl/ElnlQ1 by 12 Feb 2014. Deloitte: 6 week and 12 week internship (All Disciplines). Apply to http://goo.gl/XHRwoF by 11 Feb 2014. PWC: Eight week summer internship (All Disciplines). Apply to http://goo.gl/M0pprv by 13 Feb 2014. Goracing.ie: Eight to 10 week summer internship (All Disciplines). Apply to www.goracing. ie by 10 Feb 2014. Matheson Ormsby Prentice: Four week internship (Law and Business). Apply to http://goo.gl/ W3kdxq by 12 Feb 2014.

16 Features

Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

Diary of a Cynical Graduate By Shelly Madden

Week 1: Flying the Nest Bless me Father, for I have graduated. It has been three months since my official graduation from NUIG. In that time, I have received no job offers and continue to worry for my prospective career. If you feel yourself being unceremoniously tossed from the nest, you will begin to understand that the transition from college to the real world is a monumental one. It has been a mere 12 weeks and I already feel entirely removed from the college sphere. I walked through campus recently and while I did experience a warm familiar feeling, this nostalgia was tinged with a bizarre sense of loss. As I watched the first years frolic through the concourse like new born lambs in spring, it became glaringly obvious that I did not belong. I felt like Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed, minus the feathers. As I am only 22 years of age, this shows the devastating effects that being a certified graduate can have on one’s feelings of youthful exuberance. Too bleak?! Worry not, I am exaggerating. But only slightly. When lectures finished, I remained living in Galway City and continued working at my parttime job, which proved a very effective way of prolonging the illusion that I was still in college. The inner nerd longed for the cosy confines of the James Hardiman library, and I remained in my little NUIG bubble. I also

maintained a persistent masquerade as a student on public transport, which seemed fairly legitimate in my book. Sure wasn’t I only commuting to college! Days passed, Masters’ were obtained and emigration claimed a few of the nearest and dearest. I took it all in my stride and reassured myself this was all part of the Big Life Goal. Now was the time to relax and ‘figure things out.’ Last November however, I got a sign from above. It was not a spiritual one, but structural; the roof of my apartment literally caved in and it seemed like a higher power was trying to send a message, encouraging a new life path. Or maybe it was just some rotting floorboards. In any case, I decided to move back home temporarily and embrace my infantile existence in the family nest. I enjoyed a few weeks of laundry service and damp-free walls before reality had to be faced, and I could no longer deny that the student bubble had been well and truly popped. That day came when it dawned on me that I ought to financially contribute to the household and pay a meagre rent to my new matriarchal landlord. It was like that feeling you get when you are the oldest child at a summer camp; the flashing red light that reads CHILDHOOD OVER. I realised that circumstances must be changed lest I end up fulfilling the cliché of the middle-aged creep living in their mother’s basement. To be continued...

Erasmus Diary of an Student By Áine O Donnell My first week back in France is almost over, I would love to say that I have a full timetable and the administration has been a dawdle because I am an experienced Erasmus student now but that isn’t what happened. I am required to take 27 credits this semester and after a week of head hunting and ferocious emailing, I have a total count of three. It also turns out that my one class clashes with something else. Magnifique as the French would say. Although the past week has been less than pleasant, this Friday marks my 21st birthday and my first big event that I won’t be spending at home. I am very lucky to have really good friends on Erasmus and my boyfriend is coming out to visit me but it will be strange not spending it with my friends from home, my college dolls and my family. We have a big party organised (shush don’t tell the landlord) and I am looking

forward to being a mature and responsible adult at least some of the time. While my college life is already circling the drain, I have achieved one of my New Years’ Resolutions to travel. I booked flights to Madrid for the end of February to visit my friend Aifric who is also on Erasmus. I’m looking forward to meeting all her new Erasmus friends and experiencing life in a big city. I’m sure it will be very different from sleepy Poitiers. My second resolution is progressing too. I might not have been to college this week but I have been listening to the news en français and watched La Vie d’Adele, the winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes which has made me realise how beautiful the language actually is. I also learned a new word, bidule, which means “thingy” and I can see myself using it quite a lot as a substitute for the abundance of vocabulary I don’t know. As I embrace my new life as a semi Francophone I bid you: à plus tard!

Rejection By Hazel Doyle

f you’ve never been rejected by someone or for something, then you can stop reading this now, because I don’t really like you, and you won’t be able to empathise with me. So I won’t be offended, but I think you should turn the page and maybe go and read something about sports or politics or something. Over the last few weeks the questions “What are you doing for the summer?” and “What are you doing next year?” have been bandied about entirely willy-nilly. This resulted in my spending a few hours in front of my laptop, typing “What to do after final year?” into google and exploring the search results. Some of these things warranted an application, so I took some positive action and I asked for references and I got the passport photos and I came up with solutions to their hypothetical-scenario questions. Then I started creatively visualising myself in the different roles. For those of you who haven’t heard of creative visualisation, you’re in for a real treat. This is where you start to imagine yourself in a particular role or crossing the finishing line first and start to really believe in yourself. Couple this with all your hard-work and this positive attitude is bound to pay off! Normally, I’m a big fan, buying clothes to ensure I get a new job, or buying shorts to ensure a good summer, but unfortunately, this time, creative visualisation has failed me. Maybe this adds to the rejection. My positive go-getter attitude that I raved about in my applications was shot down like the applications themselves.

ow does one then deal with this rejection? Well, I’m curious as to how a normal person deals with this rejection, because I seem to be in a cycle or getting a rejection email and then trawling through google, emailing people and then getting more rejections (sure it’d break your heart). It’s hard to stay positive in the face of all those “re” emails. I’d love one of those automatic out-of-office replies and I’d programme it to say something like “Sorry, Hazel is busy with her very productive, multi-faceted life and will accordingly get back to you when she is in office-mode. However, if this is a rejection email, she’d like to tell you where to shove it”. But maybe that wouldn’t be great if I happened to need to go for an interview somewhere...

try to buy myself some nice food then, to cheer myself up. Chocolate is always my friend. And I’ll pick out nice clothes for that day and spend a bit longer on the oul’ makeup. If I’m going to keep getting “we don’t want you” emails, then I at least need to look good on the outside. I fear I may run out of organisations and businesses to apply to. Someday maybe I’ll get a nasty email saying “you’ve already tried here twice love and we don’t want you; get over it”. Like those people who come back on those X-Factor/The Voice type shows. They are really brave to keep coming back, but maybe one or two of them didn’t quite get the memo. There’s always the option of just running away. I looked up Ryanair flights to Edinburgh and they’re cheaper than my train fare home. Maybe I could move to the Highlands, and I reckon there’d be dodgy internet connections in the Highlands of Scotland, so I would receive no more “get lost” replies. That’s always an option.

t times like this, for those of you who have never been rejected but braved this column in an effort to feel some semblance of sympathy for your fellow man (although I’m a wo-man, really and the “wo” is short for “wow” because, despite the rejections, I’m still so fab), I would advise you to facebook carefully. This is not the time to congratulate others on their new fabulous internships with KPMG or their acceptance letters for postgrad courses. You can just come back to their statuses later. This is a time to go back over those cringey photos from sixth year, and just be glad you’re not in those horrible uniforms with the dickybows anymore. Sorry, sorry, I mean ties! In times of rejection, think not about how much you’ve failed – just forget about those emails – and think instead about all of the adventures you’ve had over the last few years that you never planned and how little application forms you needed for them. Yours sincerely, Hazel Doyle, Esquire and Rejected (but still a fab wow-man).

THE SU PAGES SU Charity Aquathon – Win tickets to the Sea Sessions! The NUI Galway Students' Union Charity Aquathon takes place on Tuesday 25th of February 2014. The event consists of a 750m swim (30 lengths) in the swimming pool in the Sports Centre followed by a 5km run in Dangan. Participants are asked to raise a minimum of ¤25 to take part and all proceeds will go to the SU Charities: Galway Rape Crisis Centre and ISPCC Childline. We now have an extra incentive to get you involved as the Sea Sessions Surf & Music Festival have kindly given us a pair of tickets for the participant who raises the most money for charity! You can sign up in the Students' Union office and the Sports Centre now and collect your Sponsorship Card. 467 Pro Life Flyer.pdf

Volunteers needed for SU Charity Collection Day

Please email studentsunion@nuigalway. ie if you can help out at any of the following times 11am-1pm, 1pm-3pm, 3pm -5pm on Saturday the 8th of February

20/01/2014

08:22

Pro – Choice 101 Venue: The Kirwan Theatre Date: Tuesday 28th January Time: 7pm

We are looking for volunteers to help out with our SU Annual Charity Collection day on Saturday 8th February. We will be shaking buckets and convincing the good people of Galway to give us their spare change for Galway Rape Crisis Centre and ISPCC Childline.

Comedy Hypnotist – Tickets on sale Monday At 8pm on Monday 10th of February comedy hypnotist Michael McCoy will be back in NUI Galway doing his SeX Rated show as part of SHAG Week.

CMY

PRO-CHOICE 101 WORKSHOP SPEAKERS: Sophie Faherty of Doctors for Choice will be speaking on the legal and medical concerns regarding abortion rights in Ireland. Laura Harmon, USI Equality Officer, will be speaking on the union's role in our pro-choice university.

Sarah McCarthy of Galway Pro-Choice will update you on what has been happening in Galway and how to participate in your local community.

THIS PRO-CHOICE 101 WORKSHOP WILL COVER: Why it is important to be pro-choice. Why the student union is a pro-choice union. Is your 224 euro student levy really paying for abortion on demand? (the answer is no) How each crisis pregnancy is different and trusting women to choose what is best for them in their circumstances is open, honest, and allows for each person to follow their own conscience. How you can make a difference and help women in Ireland gain the right to choose.

www.su.nuigalway.ie

facebook.com/NUIGalwayStudentsUnion

twitter.com/NUIGSU

Tickets are just ¤5 and go on sale from the SU office this Monday 27th of January – this gig will sell out again so make sure you don’t miss out! 2014 SHAG (Sexual Health Awareness and Guidance Week) takes place from the 10th to the 14th of February. To get involved contact Declan on su.welfare@nuigalway.ie

Look Before You Leap: SU Election Information Night 7pm Tues 28th Jan Are you thinking of running for election to the SU for the 2014/15 academic year? Come along to our Look Before You Leap - SU Election Information Night and find out all the ins, outs, ups and downs about running for election. Our current SU Officers will be there to guide and advise you in the Cairnes Theatre on the Concourse from 7pm on Tuesday 28th of January. Remember: Full Time Officer Election Nominations open Thursday 20th of February/close 26th of February. Part Time Officer Election Nominations open Thursday 27th of February/close 5th March. For more information email su.president@nuigalway.ie or check http://www.su.nuigalway. ie/index.php/representation/ item/317-elections.

Nurses Campaign: #everyonelovesnurses NUIG Students’ Union have been working very closely with the Union of Students in Ireland to create an awareness campaign around the cuts to intern nurses pay (who now earn ¤6.49 an hour – lower than minimum wage) and the cut to graduate nurses starting salary from ¤26,000 to ¤22,000. New graduates can expect to stay on this for 2 years before any opportunity for increments. Minister for Health said that Nurses can “emigrate or work in a fast food service if unhappy”. The campaign is multi-faceted: 1. We have created nursing badges with the tagline “Am I worth ¤6.49?” and this will be sent to all institutions in Ireland that run nursing courses for their intern students. The aim will be to create awareness and discourse on the ground in health unit premises. 2. We have an eye catching poster that will be distributed to all institutions to highlight the issues. 3. We added the slogan #everyonelovesnurses and are working a social media campaign around this for twitter and Facebook (everyone knows a nurse and most members of the general public have a positive story of an encounter and we want to get people sharing these stories). We are also using the "Love" concept as we are launching near Valentine’s Day so we are looking to maximize on media. 4. We are producing a comical video outlining the dire situations nurses work in. This has been filmed and will be launched on the day of the campaign. 5. We will have a website and this will have a link to write messages to your TDs. The website will include all the relevant information that is needed. 6. The launch date will be February 6th and there will be a photo shoot outside the Dáil and NUIG SU will be organising buses to the launch. All material will go live from then.

Lifest yle 19

January 27 2014

Wise Words: Roast Chicken By Móna Wise Sometimes sourcing ingredients poses as a challenge for us. Thankfully w e have many friends in the food service industry to turn to for help when we find ourselves hitting a wall. The funny thing about reaching out to fellow foodies (on Twitter) when you are looking for a specific ingredient, is that the Tweets keep rolling in long after you have asked the questions, so have built up a list of new shops to try and ingredients to buy. Initially, one might get a bit disheartened when trying to source essential ingredients but we have discovered that when you are forced to substitute one ingredient (easier to find) for another (more difficult to find) the end result can sometimes turn out divine. Do not be afraid to dabble with a dash or a dollop of a new ingredient when cooking at home. It is by experimenting with foods and flavours that we develop our own taste buds and preferences for unique seasonings and tastes. Several years ago we attended a Slow Food Conference in Waterford. We were shocked (and dismayed) to hear that the skill of roasting a chicken had fallen by the wayside.

The statistics showed that cooking takes too much time and people are too busy to while away hours in the kitchen when they could just as easily buy a chicken hot off the rotisserie at the grocery store. As we trundle along here into the New Year, and if you are unsure of the best way to roast a chicken, we hope you will give this recipe a try. This recipe is a family favourite (Lebanese chicken) but sourcing the key ingredient (citric acid) might prove to be a bit tricky unless you know where to shop. A small tub of citric acid can be purchased at most pharmacies. Enjoy!

Roast Chicken Rub Serves 4 people What you will need: • 1 tsp citric acid (available at all pharmacies) • 1 tsp chili powder • 1 tsp garlic powder • 1 tsp salt • 1 tsp black pepper • 1 tsp thyme • 1 tsp paprika • 1 tsp sugar • 2 Tbsp local honey • 1 whole chicken

How to prepare it: Mix all spices together and rub into the bird. Pierce the chicken with a sharp knife and allow it to sit in the rub for two hours (or overnight for more permeated flavor). If refrigerated, allow the bird to come to room temperature before roasting. This allows the skin to dry out a little and will ensure a delicious crispy skin when roasted. Pre-heat oven to 200ºC and roast the chicken for 45 minutes. It will have a gorgeous golden colour at this stage. Reduce the heat, drizzle the honey overtop of the chicken and cook for another 35 minutes depending on the size (average cooking time is 35-45 minutes per kilo of chicken). Leave to rest for 15 minutes once the bird has cooked before slicing the chicken. This gives the meat and juices time to relax.

Is your future being hijacked? By John Mulry In the last issue we discussed how the short term mentality of searching for quick fixes and easy ways out can lead to a host of disappointment in the long run. Today we’re going to be discussing another key stumbling block – goal-hijacking. This is somewhat related to the short-term cycle. The topic of goal-hijacking is something that I didn’t fully grasp until I interviewed nutritional expert Brad Pilon. After talking with Brad, it became clear to me that this process is actually commonplace in every area of our lives. Goal hijacking is basically allowing yourself to be influenced by outsiders. You start with one goal in mind but, after discussing or meeting with people, whether they are your friends, family, peers, or even experts, your goal gets hijacked and you end up with a goal you think you should follow because they tell you to. The best way to describe goal-hijacking is with a story. I go to a lot of seminars and courses to better myself and my business.

The great thing about these is you get to surround yourself with like-minded people. One of the drawbacks is that goal-hijacking is rife at these types of events. When I first started Expect Success Fitness (before it became the Expect Success Academy), it was never my goal to start a bootcamp or fitness classes. I wanted to train professionals one-on-one. That was my goal. When I went to these seminars or courses, all I heard was, “You need a bootcamp. You have to be doing a bootcamp and fitness classes with groups of 20 or more if you want to be successful.” Even my sister was telling me I should be doing classes and I need to start a bootcamp. The thing is, I didn’t want to do classes and I didn’t want to start a bootcamp. What I wanted didn’t matter because I started doubting what I was doing because everyone else was telling me I should be doing something else. Everyone was telling me that the only way to succeed was to do a bootcamp. So I started thinking about doing bootcamps and classes. After all, people I looked up to and respected where telling me I need to, so I thought I’d better. That was then my goal. My original goal of training professionals one-on-one was hijacked by this new goal. Luckily, I figured out what was going on and stuck to my original goal. Thankfully I did because it has led me to where I am today.

A similar example in college would be that you decide that you’re going to focus on studying for two hours every evening. Then your friends, your class mates, and people trying to sell you on the short term gain of going out and partying start telling you that the only way to pass exams is by cramming. You give in and ditch your goal of studying two hours a night and go for what they’re telling you to. Your goal gets hijacked. Now, whether or not cramming works as well as or better than consistent studying doesn’t matter. What matters is that your goal was to study two hours a night but outside influences led you to abandon that goal. I guess in school our goals are hijacked. When we’re kids we dream of being astronauts or musicians or football players but then these dreams are hijacked by our parents, teachers, or peers telling us to ‘get real’ and that we need to do this or do that instead. Are you starting to see how goal hijacking can affect you? Think back; have you encountered elements of goal-hijacking before? Have your goals been hijacked? In the next issue I’ll be discussing one of the biggest stumbling blocks of all – your self image. The above article was an adapted excerpt taken from John’s upcoming book Your Elephant’s Under Threat. For more information on John Mulry and/or to get two free chapters of his book visit www.JohnMulry.com

The Health Hub How to combat seasonal coughs and colds By Rebecca Sweeney It's that time of year again, back to college and everyone around you seems to be coughing and sneezing. Stock up on these foods for extra flu-fighting punch!

1. Garlic: has anti-fungal and antibacterial properties to help fight against infections. Add to any dinner. 2. Citrus fruits: oranges and lemons. Vitamin C helps increase the production of white blood cells, key to fighting infections. Because your body doesn't produce or store it, daily intake of vitamin C is essential for continued health. Almost all citrus fruits are high in vitamin C and with such a variety to choose from it's easy to add a squeeze of C to any meal. 3. Yogurt: rich in probiotics to help protect our digestive and immune systems. 4. Broccoli: super-charged with an arsenal of vitamins and minerals ready to do battle with any germ or infection. Packed with vitamins A, C, and E, as well as numerous antioxidants, broccoli is one of the healthiest vegetables you can put on your table. The key to keeping its power intact is to cook it as little as possible, or better yet, not at all. 5. Ginger: is another ingredient many turn to after they've caught a cold. But like vitamin C, ginger can also help you prevent that cold from taking hold in the first place. 6. Almonds: When it comes to preventing and fighting off colds, vitamin E tends to take a backseat to the more commonly mentioned vitamin C, but vitamin E is also key to a healthy immune system. Almonds are one of my favourite foods and a half cup serving provides nearly 100% of the daily recommended amount. I eat mine on pancakes with dark chocolate and bananas as a Sunday morning treat! 7. Omega 3: flaxseeds, hemp or chia support our immune system. Check out any supermarket/health food stores for packets of ground flaxseeds and other seeds. I add them to my porridge or granola every morning to stave away runny noses!

20 lifestyle Five blogs we should be reading Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

By Helena Kilbane Fashion and beauty blogs are becoming the latest trend amongst us style and beauty conscious girls. Not only do they provide us with endless tips on beauty and keep us up to date on new cutting-edge fashion statements, they are completely free and readily available with the click of a button. This is perfect for students who have to scrape together their last few pennies for the latest issue of Vogue and I must say that many of these blogs are on a par. Blogs are becoming more and more popular as they show an individual approach to beauty and fashion and my five personal favourites are; Life’s Lust Haves: This is my favourite

blog for acquiring an insight into upcoming fashion trends and Nessa Cotter, the blogs founder, shares her expertise in fashion styling at an affordable price. Nessa shows ‘her lust for all things lovely’ on this blog by enlightening her readers with her stylistic eye and undeniably extensive knowledge of fashion.

With outfits that could match the catwalks of Milan and have even been featured in the likes of Look magazine, Nessa’s blog is an inspiration to followers of fashion and Life’s Lust Haves is not one to miss! Retro Flame: Founder Erika Fox has col-

laborated with Nessa Cotter in Steal My Style events and is presumably one of the best Irish fashion bloggers out there. Erika, who is a graduate of Fashion Industry Practice and Commerce, combines her deep knowledge of fashion with a sophisticated, professional edge and takes a clean-cut, feminine approach to style. Retro Flame is a personal diary of all of Erika’s style adventures from her New York Fashion Week internship to her experiences at London Fashion Week. Retro Flame exhibits numerous fashion forward outfits that are oh-so chic and her wardrobe is certainly one to be lusted after! Penny and Polaroids: This combines

former NUI Galway student, Nuala Gorham’s eye for fashion with her love of beauty. Nuala gives reviews of must have beauty buys and gives us a sneak peek into her daily style secrets. Nuala’s street style is highly glamorous and would give the cast of Made in Chelsea a run for their money! Penny and Polaroids which has been featured in top magazines such as Stellar, Ooh La-La and Xposé is definitely one to follow if you enjoy an all-round beauty and style blog. BecBoopFashionista World: This is

Nessa Cotter (Life's Lust Haves) and Erika Fox (Retro Flame)

another blog that combines all things fashion and beauty. BecBoop (AKA Rebecca Casserly) takes a journalistic approach in her detailed

Fashion at Your Fingertips By Niamh Prendergast Apps, Apps, Apps... they are everywhere, and fashion apps are no exception. It seems we now have no reason whatsoever not to be bang on trend and yes, better still, most of them are free. Here are a few of my favourites. Get downloading! High Street Store Apps: Most high street stores have their own apps which you can download to check if your size is in stock in your local store, which is of course mega convenient. Not only this, but certain high street store apps such as the Topshop and River Island apps allow you to save and share all of your favourite items across social networking sites, so you can get your friend’s opinion on it before you purchase it, without them even being there. I guess it’s like having the entire shop in your pocket! Not to mention you’ll be first to hear about all their latest collections and watch the exclusive make-up tutorials to match your outfit. Bliss! SoSueMe: So it’s not entirely finished and is in mid-design at the moment, but yes, our very own Irish fashion Guru, Suzanne Jackson of the SoSueMe blog is set to release her own app later this year.

In it, she will include sections like ‘Look of the Day’, ‘Buy of the Week’ and ‘What I Wore’. It’s your one stop shop for everything and anything fashion and beauty. Really, is there anything this girl can’t do? We are counting down the days! Style.Com: Also known as heaven. This App covers all the high-end fashion hot trends including the latest runway looks and celebrity looks straight from New York, Paris or Milan straight to the palm of your hand. It shows coverage of all the major fashion shows from Dior to Dolce and Gabanna and the best thing about this app is it automatically updates itself with the most up-to-date fashion coverage from all over the world so you’ll be the first to know what’s hot and what’s not. Modiface: So this one is above all else a bit of fun! It allows you to try out different colours or new make up on your face by uploading a picture of yourself and recreating different make-up looks on your face and experimenting with make-up before committing to a purchase. Hair & Beauty Salons: A lot of salons these days have created their own apps which enable clients to schedule appointments at a time which suits you and be up to date with special offers and discounts before you make an appointment, which means you can shop around for the salon which suits both you and you’re pocket the best!

reviews of good quality yet extremely affordable beauty products and coverage of local fashion events. A co-founder of ‘The Galway Blogger’s Party’, this girl really knows her stuff. BecBoop keeps us up to date on current fashion news and inspires us with her catalogue of edgy street style. Tanya Burr: This English beauty blogger is one of the most popular leading ladies in the beauty blogging world at the moment. A professional make-up artist, Tanya gives detailed make-up tutorials on her blog and YouTube channel that would transform even the most inexperienced girl into a make-up pro.

Tanya’s YouTube is worth a look at as she gives every make-up look imaginable so you too can become your own personal makeup guru and will never have to fork out for a professional again.

Nuala Gorham (Penny and Polaroids)

Youtubers we should be watching By Ciara Harte Sammi: youtube.com/beautycrush Sammi is a 24-year-old Londoner with probably one of the most popular fashion/ beauty channels and she deserves all the credit she gets. As a fashion styling graduate you can see her creativity come through in her video set ups, editing and styling. What to expect: Tattoos, silver jewellery and insanely gorgeous curly hair! Sammi’s style is pretty simplistic with wardrobe staples such as denim, stripes and floral patterns. You may acquire a love of crop tops from this girl. Why you should subscribe: Sammi uploads a variety of different videos from monthly favourites, hauls (showing off the contents of a shopping spree), make-up looks and her lookbooks where you can see her styling knowledge come to the forefront. We Irish gals can easily seek out most of the clothes she features in her videos as she shops mostly on the high street and online.

Jenn: youtube.com/clothesencounters Hailing from LA, Jenn will make you jealous that you don’t live in California. Her vlogs will help you escape the painful month that is January and you may even think about wearing shorts in the near future. Well, maybe not the near future… What to expect: A doll-like face with shimmery eye shadow and a head almost always donned with a great hat! With a great eye for vintage pieces at an affordable price, Jenn could be considered the queen of thrifting. Band tees, cosy cardigans and great lipsticks are constant features too. Why you should subscribe: Her style is so eclectic that it’s quite exciting to see what she’ll put together next. Jenn’s videos are beautifully put together too so you’ll never regret giving them a glance. She also organizes a lot of giveaways with some fantastic online stores. So why not subscribe? You might get a new dress out of it.

Jessie: youtube.com/sunbeamsjess At the moment, Jessie is studying in Edinburgh but is originally from London. One of my favourite things about Jessie’s videos

is that she has some library-friendly outfits, which are still fun and unique; ideal for us students. What to expect: Mermaid hair, ear piercings and a magnificent Jeffrey Campbell shoe collection. Jessie is an expert at layering and clashing prints, whilst her make-up tutorials nearly always include a bold or bright lipstick. Why you should subscribe: If you’re ever caught up about what to wear on a night out, watch Jessie’s videos! She’s so great at pairing casual pieces with more formal items.

Tara: youtube.com/TarMarTales An Irish cailín! Tara is originally from Cork but is currently studying fashion in Belfast. Having worked for Chanel, Tara’s beauty and skincare tips are to be taken into serious consideration. What to expect: Great brows, long shiny hair and the lovely, familiar Irish accent. Tara’s design expertise shines through in the silhouettes she creates with her clothing. Why you should subscribe: Like some of our English friends mentioned before, all the items that Tara features on her channel are extremely accessible to us situated on this little island of ours. Her lookbooks are also a favourite feature of mine in that they are nearly always accustomed to our ridiculous weather!

Barbara: youtube.com/ThePersianbabe Another student vlogger and probably my favourite. Barbara has a simple, classic yet current style. Her videos are straightforward and quite chatty which are easy to watch. Her quick OOTD (Outfit Of The Day) and OOTN (Outfit Of The Night) videos are great sources of inspiration if that constant problem of never having anything to wear pops up again. What to expect: Monochrome outfits, interesting prints and minimal accessories. Barbara is the one to watch if you are in need of a great smoky eye. Why you should subscribe: The ideal channel when you’re on a student budget. The colours she wears are easy to style with and there are several videos on back-to-college outfits. This is all done with immense style and all of Barbara’s outfits are stunning. One of my favourites!

Lifestyle 21

January 27 2014

#instagood – the rise of Instagram Designers to showcase work By Ciara Treacy Mayfair, sutro and sierra may be simple words to some of you, but to heavy Instagram users they represent the life changing decision of which pretty filter to use on your favourite photos. With more than 150 million active monthly users, Instagram is certainly one of the most talked about and downloaded apps to date. It’s not just individuals noticing this, with a $1 billion acquisition of the company by Facebook in 2012 and extensive marketing campaigns by brands such as Starbucks and Nike launched through the app. It has also threatened Twitter’s status as the new trendsetter on the block, with celebrity news now being released through Instagram more often than tweets – over the Christmas, IT girl Olivia Palermo and her fiancé Johannes Huebl announced their engagement via the video sharing option on Instagram. The infamous bum tattoo of Cheryl Cole also made its debut as an instapic, signalling the new hashtag favourite – the ‘belfie’ (bum selfie). In the past month the belfies of a twenty year-old New Yorker Jen Selter have become a worldwide phenomenon through gym pictures she posted as ‘fitspiration’ to us all. The most popular hashtags on the app are #love #instagood and #me, proving that this is the new place to exercise your vanity. Find me an account which does not consist of appetising meals, throwbackthursday pictures of you as a child, motivational quotes or landscapes and I will pledge not to post a selfie for a year. Check out these Instagram accounts to get you started:

Anouska Proetta Brandon (@anouskapb): A

natural beauty with an effortless, sophisticated style, this lady’s account is one you’re bound to creep on time and time again. The talented photography skills of her and her boyfriend combined epitomise what Instagram is all about. Erika Fox (@retroflame): Our favourite Irish

blogger has an equally fabulous Instagram bursting with delightful personal images of her day-to-day affairs, and of course her amazing outfit picks. Delicious food, beautiful interiors and inspirational quotes make Erika the perfect Instagram all-rounder. Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne): This

account shows the real reason for Cara’s rise to superstardom (apart from those eyebrows) – her laid-back, hilarious personality. With quotes like ‘people disappoint, pizza is eternal’, it’s clear this model doesn’t take herself too seriously and likes to have fun with her social media. Emily Ratajkowski (@emrata): The account

of our favourite ‘Blurred Lines’ girl is bound to be one for the men as well as the ladies to enjoy! This model is a fan of travel and is happy to share beautiful images of the places she visits, as well as the talented art work her (many) fans send to her. Holly Carpenter (@hollycarpenter): This

gorgeous Irish model and BINTM finalist will make you feel like a friend with her light-hearted instapics of trips to the gym, her lovable pet dogs and behind the scenes of glamorous photoshoots. Warning: make-up envy upon clicking ‘follow’.

Online Shopping: Fashion only a click away By Ruth-Ann Browne ASOS: ASOS.com is the UK’s largest online-

only style and beauty retail store, carrying over 50,000 branded and own label product lines across women’s wear, menswear and accessories. ASOS.com allows visitors to narrow their search by trends and collection, while also providing an online marketplace where you can buy and sell pre-owned vintage. In addition to ASOS.com’s vast social media presence (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest etc), the recently introduced ‘Fashion Finder’ provides an opportunity for consumers to create and personalise outfits, look books and fashion videos. GorgeousVIP: Formerly known as DropDead-

Gorjess.com , GorgeousVIP.com is an exciting young online fashion boutique which launched in Ireland and the Uk in October 2011. With a wide range of fashion-forward party dresses and statement jewelry, it is a one stop shop for glamouristas everywhere! Launched by Jessica Kelly it is already proving to be a huge success. GorgeousVIP.com brings fun, flirty occasion wear in a wide range of styles and colours to Irish, UK and worldwide customers from figure-flaunting bandage dresses in candy bright shades to flowing, flowery maxis and everything in between.

The affordable price tags make it the go-to brand for young women in search of something new to be seen in. Boohoo: Boohoo is one of the UK’s leading

online fashion retailers, offering trend-led clothing at affordable prices. Boohoo provides a wide selection of celebrity and catwalk-inspired pieces – with lots of new looks arriving daily. Aimed at fashion-forward females, Boohoo offers the very latest styles in clothing and accessories for women that love keeping their look on-trend and affordable. Since the launch in 2006, Boohoo has quickly become one of the most successful online fashion retailers for women’s clothing. As the company has grown, so has the customer base and Boohoo now ship worldwide to countries such as USA and Australia. Iclothing: Iclothing.ie is a 100% Irish-

owned online clothing company. It is a young and vibrant company dedicated in providing the latest high street women’s fashion for less. Iclothing are able to offer huge savings on top labels and brands by selling direct to you from their website. Their warehouse in Dublin stocks hundreds of products at any one time and they continue to add new items to their store every week. Watch out for their regular special offers and discounts in their clearance store.

at upcoming fashion event Bloggers, designers and fans of all things fashion are invited to attend Galway’s Designers and Bloggers Showcase which is to be hosted by the Stock Exchange on 2 February. The event is expected to be the biggest fashion show of 2014 and promises a night of style, creativity and a platform to showcase some o f G a l way ’s most talented fashionistas, including up-and-coming-designers, bloggers and milliners. All proceeds on the night will go to local charity COPE Galway. “I’ve chosen COPE Galway as it’s a charity very close to my heart. I have done the COPE Galway Christmas Day swim for the past six years. My first year doing the swim is probably where it all began. “COPE also do great things for the elderly, domestic violence and the homeless, which are all great causes,” said organiser of the event Sorcha Browne of Sorcha Style’s.

By Jessica Thompson Sorcha is the main organiser of the event is a Galway-based freelance fashion designer, stylist and milliner. She completed her training in fashion design in Galway Technical Institute and says the GTI course was “the stepping stone” for her in her career. “I originally didn’t want to do design; I feel it was fate that design chose me. I then did a day course with Maureen Mooney and from there I did a beginners’ and advanced Millinery course with Jamie McEleney. “I’ve worked with milliner Emily Jean and costume designer Ashling Byrne who designed for Raw, The Tudors and Love/Hate. As of now I’m doing fashion industry practice, hoping to get a cert in styling,” Miss Browne explained. Sorcha will be the main designer, launching her own brand at the event. Other designers spotlighting their designs include Anna Kurylik, Ceri Staunton and Louise Ní Críochnil. Doors open at 6pm and a fashion show will kick off at 7pm. Pieces modelled on the night will be available to purchase at pop-up shops after the show. Hair and makeup consultations will also be available at some of the stalls on the night.

22 lifest yle

Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

Signs you need a haircut By Hazel Doyle

about time to shed those dead ends and go get the chop. Your split ends have split ends: Okay, so you’re

in the library and you’ve discovered that you’ve got a few split ends. You start to play with them, trying to split them the whole way up each hair, just killing time so that you don’t have to start into your next bit of work. But then you notice that a few of those split ends actually have split ends of their very own. It is time to leave the library and go out and find the next available hairdresser.

John D

You have split ends: This

Your side-fringe is more like a layer: When

is probably the number one indicator that it’s time to call up the hairdressers. When your hair starts to split down the middle, it’s

you look in the mirror and you realise that the sidefringe you’ve been sporting since fifth year looks more like a layer you can take

it as a sign that a quick fringe-trim appointment is necessary. Indications that a side-fringe is too long include wondering where the chin-length bit of hair on the other side of your face is, and acquaintances asking “Oh, are you growing your fringe out?” You’ve developed a Christmas-tree-shaped head: For the curly-headed

people amongst us, you know it’s time to squeeze in a hair appointment when that hair-band you threw on your head to liven up your day actually just looks like the star at the top of your Christmas tree. Those layers just don’t grow out well. You have had a series of bad-hair days: Before

it dawns on you that you really just need a haircut. Sometimes it can take a while to sink in that it’s time for a haircut, but hopefully you’ll realise it’s not your fault and you just need to visit the salon before your week is entirely ruined. You can no longer straighten your hair in one go: Because your

hand hurts too much from clenching the GHD. This would be a sign that it time to cut a bit of length off your hair, and cut your hand some slack. You have to tie up your hair to eat: So that it

doesn’t end up in your food. It’s a good idea to eat soup every now and again, so that you can gage whether or not you need a haircut. As you bend down to slurp your soup, if you need to move your hair out of the way during each movement, you need a haircut. Your roots look more like you’ve asked for balayage: but it’s gone

wrong. My dad once asked why blondes dye their roots black. He maintains he was joking, but there is a message here: if anyone’s dad ever asks about hair dye, it is time to high-tail it to the hairdressers! Dads should not notice those things!

Top 5

make-up mistakes By Jenna Hodgins Fellow make-up addicts, amateurs and haters; the one occasion where we can all agree with one another is when we subject one poor unfortunate soul’s mistakes to a satirical article of ridicule for our own enjoyment. I mean… point out some easy make-up mistakes we’ve all been guilty of, and use them for the greater good to write a guide to avoid making said mistakes. Honestly, we all know they exist and I guarantee I can find photographic evidence of ourselves practicing these make-up mistakes prior to any enlightenment from the gods Pixi and Woo. So, let’s relive the cringe together in the top five beauty boo-boos. Tanned body; white face – can you handle it?

Those mismatched foundation make-up mistakes haunt us with just the perfect balance of cringe and pity since first year in secondary school. Oh, the innocence of it all; those days when you jumped between buying the palest and the darkest pigment depending on how angstridden you felt that week. Unfortunately, this makeup no-no isn’t a dying breed. Imagine, scene: Smac’s, Thursday night, 2.30am. All walks of Galwegian life are out and about in their glad rags with their handbags and drag lads, mildly inebriated Dutch courage with the code name Gold. Under UV light their makeup is flawless, but under the merciless fluorescent lights of fast food restaurants appears the dreaded tan line. There’s nothing worse than the big obvious line where your fake tan finishes at your neck, and where the pale foundation begins, highlighting your jawline a la Marlon Brando’s. Spider leg eyelashes

Before you come to any conclusions no this isn’t a naturist’s approach to scrimping fake eyelashes; it’s just bad make-up. Spider leg eyelashes is a look that can be achieved

by over-generously applying more mascara than necessary until your eyelids grow heavy and your lashes are so dense they’d sink the Titanic. Easy on the black shtuff, it’s lethal! Sharpie brows

Filling in your eyebrows is a must; it’s the frame to the masterpiece that is your beautiful face – so don’t mess it up. By all means if you like dark brows, go for it, but please use a pencil not a marker. This new trend of felt tip eyebrows has infested profilers on Facebook, taking facial grooming to a new level: parasitic. Colouring your eyebrows in may be lots of fun, but hosting two chubby caterpillars feeding off your beauty is as said before, parasitic – which isn’t a good look for anyone. You have a beautiful face, show it off instead of drawing (literally) all the attention to the geotropism on your forehead. You’re the oil man’s daughter, eh? Contour me wrong.

So you’ve decided to become an amateur make-up artist and try your hand at some highlight and contouring. However, you skipped ahead on the YouTube tutorial to when it’s finished and decided, “Sure I’ll copy it from here”. Result: Chimney sweep chic. Contouring is usually left to the professionals because it does require a lot of skill, and rice powder. Although, if you’d like to get the K-Dash hollow face look, by all means try it out yourself, but do seek the help of a tutorial on YouTube or else you’ll end up looking like you crawled out of a chimney and forgot your cheeks on the way. Blushing bride, more like a slapped arse.

Are you blushing because you’re embarrassed of that blush, or is that just your blush? Think of blush like sunbathing; moderation is key or else you end up red in the face. The rule with blusher is the cliché, “less is more” ethos. Unless you like the I’mholding-my-breath-look...

Film Reviews 23

January 27 2014

The Wolf of Wall Street 12 Years a Slave By Kenneth Glennon At 173 minutes The Wolf of Wall Street is a marathon of sex, drugs, orgies and greed told with high energy from beginning to end. Chronicling the rise and fall of nineties superstar broker Jordan Belfort, the latest film from Martin Scorsese echoes another cocainefuelled criminal epic in the directors back catalogue. Swap Ray Liotta's aspiring wise guy with Dicaprio's Caligula-esque broker and you have an idea what you're in for. Lighter on the violence but a million times charged with sex and all manner of drugs Wolf plays like a high voltage hybrid of Goodfellas and Wall Street without so much as a sliver of conscientious awareness (the lack of which is played for laughs here) on behalf of the protagonist. It'd all be staggeringly empty if it wasn't so riotously entertaining. From Belfort's humble beginning, accompanied by near total voice-over, as a young broker before the crash of Black Monday 1987 sends him to an obscure penny stock company where he hustles his way up on the shoulders of working class people looking for get rich quick schemes to the inevitable FBI confrontation and collapse. Belfort's story and rise is remarkable. Adapted from the “wolf’s” self penned memoir by Boardwalk Empire and Sopranos scribe Terrence Winter this is not a conventional biopic so much as a sustained three hour assault of excess and opportunistic greed virtually self-generated by the central figures unassailable desire for wealth, more wealth, a little more, then a whole lot more on top of that. With hookers. And drugs. And a really big yacht. And as it turns out Margot Robbie, making a strong impression as Belfort's second wife (making up one of the many scenes featuring a woman stripped down, oiled up and so on, it's that kind of picture).

Unlike previous Scorsese crime epics where an element of operatic tragedy were at hand and characters underwent pronounced physical and intellectual transformations (or got whacked) this film is content to let Dicaprio run entirely uninhabited by a sense of anything other than the need for more. From that he draws a superb central performance, intense (read lots of shouting) but also bizarrely funny both in the casually callous line readings offered and moments of extreme physical comedy. Based on his character’s self-proclaimed drug intake “enough to sedate Manhattan, Long Island and Queens”, there's a lot of Dicaprio flailing around between various stages of self-induced delirium of incapacitation. O ne such highlight i nvo l ve s a n e xte n d e d sequence where Jordan, borderline paralytic on Quaaludes, has to drag himself maybe 50 feet to his car culminating in the most peculiar fight with his best friend and business partner/employee Donnie with both men drugged to the point of not being able to stand up.

On the topic of Donnie, he's played memorably by Jonah Hill (who like Dicaprio was just nominated for an Oscar for his work here). Affecting a nasally accent and a violently unpredictable streak, he's the one who gives Jordan his first smoke

of crack cocaine, producing a vivid portrait of a man who marries his cousin, keeps pace with Jordan in the drugs race, is smart enough to make his millions, masturbates in public, and remains steadfastly loyal to his friend. He provides a memorable turn among a supporting cast that includes directors Rob Reiner (very good as the protagonists father), Spike Jones and Jon Favreau in cameos as well as Matthew McConaughey as Belfort's early days mentor who gets five minutes on screen with one mesmerizing speech about how to succeed on Wall Street. Friday Nights Lights star Kyle Chandler appears as the FBI agent tasked with shutting the party down and Artist Oscar winner Jean Dujardin pops up as a corrupt Swiss banker both of whom squeeze every iota from their relatively limited screen time. Speaking of screen time, Wolf's formidable running time is testing. Potential problems emerge when considering the inherently loathsome nature of the title character. Where Scorsese had made great films about the criminal fraternity, his subject here is nowhere near as engaging or even remotely sympathetic as Henry Hill in Goodfellas or Sam Rothstein in Casino. What he does do is allow us into a world of colossal greed and orgiastic indulgence that packs fiery performances, energetic storytelling and bravura direction. It may not offer any kind of satire on Wall Street but I find it hard to believe that the film doesn't knowingly present Belfort as a degenerate pig, carnivorously living life in need of anti-STD shots and continual chemical assistance all the while smirking to the audience during his monologues all on his way the bank. That said Scorsese makes his story a relentlessly entertaining beast and for that I was glad to sit through it. Twice.

By Odhran Donovan In 12 Years a Slave, one hears the crack of a whip eightyeight times. In other words, an uncomfortable grating of one’s ears for every ninety seconds of film. Include other incidences of hierarchical violence in that number and the ear-ringing to film ratio increases accordingly.

so easily translated to screen in the form of the endeavouring narrative, which unfortunately means that the stoic formula can be ultimately manipulated into a hazardously convenient and misguided crowd-pleasing piece of cinema. Consider Frank Dara bont's The Shawshank Redemption for a moment.

Accompanying these aural violations are some equally brutal visuals. The botched lynching of the film’s protagonist Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) for instance, wherein our hero kneads the sweltering Louisiana mud beneath him for hour upon hour, all to prevent himself from being forever incarcerated by his own lungs. Solomon, a supremely talented fiddler, is the frequent subject of his patron’s libations. Hailing from Saratoga, New York, he operates with a quiet, content pride in his doings whilst maintaining a publically modest character. Yet, in a deceptive crossing of palms and one or two many of those very libations later, Solomon is disarmed of his identity, smuggled from his family and encumbered by the chains of slavery. He is rechristened as “Platt, the Georgia runaway” by his slave masters, an act by which he first attempts to resist externally and murmurs even of spearheading a revolt. Yet, schooled by the institution which imprisons him, Solomon learns that his struggle is to be an internal one, one against the despair which those around him have already succumbed too. Stoicism is a film-friendly philosophy, as its tenets are

Liberal amounts of critical and audience appraisal has elevated the film to the status of the invariable acclaim it enjoys today. Yet, some corners criticize the film for being gilded or schmaltzy, glossing over the 19 year inertia Andy Dufresne endures with a distractingly stirring score and isolated instances of clichéd writing. A criticism 12 Years a Slave will never validly endure. Dufresne may have the pragmatic Red to entertain his chronically hopeful vistas, yet there is no such compassionate reprieve for Solomon. The artistic vision of the film’s director, Steve McQueen, simply does not allow for it. McQueen, of the Hunger and Shame fame, shows a healthy disregard for star quality in moulding the film’s skeletal make-up. Whereas the film’s trailers are commercially spurred with names like, Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti and Benedict Cumberbatch their roles in the film are fleeting, but not insignificant. The entirety of the cast is shaped by their relationship with the custom of slavery, whether they be willing, pulsating organs and perpetuators of the practice (Paul Giamatti), or heartbreakingly obsequious instruments of it like Master Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch).

McQueen gives a master class in storytelling, as the tale of Solomon unfolds in a manner akin to a tragic pop-up book. Characters colourfully explode onto camera, often teasing Solomon with passing episodes of hope or camaraderie, eddy about for some time before another page of the story is turned and the characters retreat back into decorum. One of the film’s few constants is the presence of Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), whom Solomon comes under the ownership of. A pious miscreant, who lusts after the juvenile Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o, in a brilliant cinema debut) Epps attempts to justify his behaviour and misfortunes on Old Testament scripture. Despite his boiling temperament, Epps struggles to find the barbarism necessary to discipline his slaves as expected, even briefly choosing to delegate the lashing of one of his slaves to Solomon towards the film’s conclusion. McQueen, who acknowledges the power of the extended take, allows audio to similarly drag and permeate from one scene to another in order to capture the sweltering tension of a plantation. Whether it be Tibeats (Paul Dano) musically accompanied racial slurs, the wailing of a mother for her children or the painful reminder as to where blues music emanates from (coming from someone who most certainly would not consider himself to have a tin-ear for this genre of music) the technique is repeatedly reused throughout. Like the sound of the whip, the ambient sounds of the Bayou grind against the ears, an irritant forcing one to acknowledge that humanity once allowed this all to happen. It is unlikely that the audience will focus on the lonely moments of charity in 12 Years a Slave when they later recall the film. Lingering shots of Solomon’s quavering tear ducts and disconsolate expression, embroidered by hanging Spanish moss and sweating, overlapping audio is what will resonate with the viewer long after.

24 Music

Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

Sonisphere Festival By Siobhán Whyte For anyone with the winter blues and some leftover Christmas cash now is the time to book your festival tickets; you’ll get the early bird deals and still have time to save for the event itself. When it comes to summer, if Oxegen or Electric Picnic don’t cater to your music tastes, you don’t have much choice. I’m working on finding some festivals for the ALIVEStand.qxd

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rock/metal fans around the country but for a big festival experience, lots of people look towards the UK. It can end up being costly but I think it’s worth it for the sheer number of bands you get to see. I recommend Sonisphere. Sonisphere has Metallica, Iron Maiden and The Prodigy as headliners. Also on the line-up are Alice in Chains, Mastodon, Gojira and many others. There will be something for most rock/ metal fans.

Page 1

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Ticket-holders even get to vote on which songs Metallica will play. The main two stages at Sonisphere stagger their performances so you actually get to see all of the top bands if you wish. There’s no clashes, no tough decisions. They let you in on Thursday and there are bands on all weekend. The reason I think it’s great is because for first-time festival goers, it’s friendly, relatively small compared to the better-known Download, and it’s really handy for flying in to Luton Airport! The absolute best thing? A deposit scheme! So you pay £50 now and pay the rest by April. Simples! So if you’ve spent all your Christmas money on warm socks, you can still go! Oh, but I have no friends that will go… Never fear, Camp Loner is here! Join the Sonisphere festival forum to find lots of weird and wonderful friends. Many festivals have this feature, not just Sonisphere. I did it; people think it’s weird but it’s actually really fun. They’ve thought of everything and everyone! You can take your kids and go for ‘quiet camping.’ For those with wads of cash (I’m out) then you can even pay them to set up your tent, or choose other ‘glamping’ options. If you have a disability, there are even free tickets for your carer/companion on offer! Oh, and yes there are showers, lockers, drinking water on tap and all the practical stuff you need including shuttle buses to the nearby town of Stevenage. For more information, please see www.sonisphere. co.uk

Bruce Springsteen: High Hopes By Tracey Halloran After four decades rambling round the musical block, Bruce Springsteen shows no signs of slowing the pace. At the ripe old age of 64, he has unleashed another compilation to keep his dedicated, double-denim fans ticking over. The man himself admits High Hopes is an album comprised of material that didn’t make it to his long line of albums over the years. Although this fun fact ordinarily wouldn’t rouse an overwhelming desire to tune in, Springsteen seems to think it’s a draw, noting that they are all tracks he just couldn’t shake off over the years, knowing they had potential he could one day use. Seeping with raw testosterone, an essential Springsteen ingredient, the album does not veer off the expected path. It does, however, incorporate some added

spice in the form of Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who plays on seven of the 12 tracks. Morello stirs some enthusiasm in old Brucey boy once again, acting as a catalyst for his energy and adding a drop of youth to the arrangement. The album not only presents us with the gift of B-sides, Springsteen weaved in some covers too. The energetic title track ‘High Hopes’ was first released by The Havelinas and has been adopted and rewired for the record. Bruce also manages to put his own stamp on ‘Dream Baby Dream’, a punk-rock Suicide track. On paper it may sound utterly laughable, but somehow he manages to bridge the gap between himself and the young generation, between his distinctively and commercially accessible rock anthems and the spectrum of other genres.

The man deserves a tip of the cap for his relentless stamina, for remaining passionate enough to close his eyes and sing from his guts. Some high points include ‘American Skin (41 shots)’ and ‘Just like Fire Wood’, that allow you to sink into the intricate bass and guitar lines. Unfortunately, the poetic lyrics that he is renowned for have melted into a pot of clichés and meaningless phrases that fail to lodge in your throat like they once did. Most of the tracks are built on one or two meaningless lines which are lazily sung over and over again until you feel like you are on a merrygo-round of repetition that you can’t get off. It sounds like Bruce, but without the heart behind it, it’s artificially beating. If you have high hopes, you may be disappointed.

James Vincent McMorrow: Post Tropical By Freya Carroll Post Tropical is McMorrow’s second album since his successful debut with Early in the Morning in 2010. Mu c h l i k e h i s f i r s t album, it was recorded in total isolation, this time in a small desert town in Texas on a pecan farm. The new album takes a somewhat drastic change in style from his first album; it is a departure from the Mumford & Sons style of indie that we’ve all come to recognise to the more electro soulful side of indie; something a little more similar to the likes of Alt J.

Hall of Shame The first additions to Sin’s new Hall of Shame are:

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian Why? For his belittling lyrics in ‘Bound 2’, and her response. Suggested by: Samantha Kelly

The opening track, ‘Cavalier’, immediately reminded me of Frank Ocean and his slow soulful ballads, it is quite obvious from the outset that McMorrow is reinventing his sound. In the title track ‘Post Tropical’, his location really comes through; the piano sounds in the background almost sound like birds chirping in the desert. In ‘All Points’ McMorrow’s vocal talents are showcased, his falsetto is perfectly controlled and his ability to layer his own harmonies over one another show his producing skills have become fully honed since his debut, which is perhaps what makes it the most catchy and memorable track on the album. There are some tracks on the album that still resemble McMorrow’s acoustic style, particularly ‘Look Out’ and ‘Outside, Digging’ but they still keep elements of the tropical theme. McMorrow’s folk background doesn’t oppose his new style but instead informs and influences it. All the songs on this album are between three and five minutes long; a rarity in today’s music industry where most songs

are delivered quick and catchy, McMorrow gives you time to mull over what he’s playing for you. He has taken an app roach that leans towards a similar sound of some current indie artists like Foals, Bombay Bicycle club, and Bon Iver, whilst still keeping his own style. Every song on the album is very easy to listen to but follows a very cohesive structure of strong electronic beat leading into a gradual musical build of layered harmonising and ending with a final strong note and fade out, a formula that does become a little repetitive by the end of the album. Having said that, Post Tropical is a truly beautiful listen and definitely not a disappointment following the success of his first album. It is a bold decision to alter your niche following such success but it is one that has paid off for McMorrow in this instance. James Vincent McMorrow is playing live in Seapoint Leisure Centre in Galway on January 30 and his album Post Tropical is available in stores and online now.

Literature 25

January 27 2014

Wattpad: A World of Opportunities and Inspiration By Danni Lynch If you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, or are just completely out of the social-media sphere, you may not have heard of the wonderful online community known as Wattpad. Wattpad is a website dedicated to writing and storytelling. Members of the website can join for free, and upload short stories, books, poems or even just general opinion pieces. These pieces of writing are then open to anyone who is interested in reading them. Readers can leave comments or vote for their favourite pieces. The content on Wattpad includes work from both published and undiscovered authors. It is one of the fastest growing social media sites out there. Wattpad, which originated in 2006, was the tentative offspring of collaboration between Allen Lau and Ivan Yuen.

Less than five years later, it had built up a community of over one million registered members, not to mention the seven million non-members who were taking advantage of the access to free stories. In June 2009, it was announced that the mobile application had been downloaded a whopping five million times. In 2011, Wattpad announced that it had received $3.5 million of funding from its current investors, along with W Media Ventures, Golden Venture Partners, and Union Square Ventures, who also happen to be the same investors in other huge social media successes, such as Twitter and Tumblr. Wattpad holds several competitions throughout the year, the biggest being the Watty Awards. The Watty Awards are divided into three categories: popular, on the rise, and undiscovered. These categories are then

divided into many other subcategories, including fantasy, humour, and even best hero and villain. The Awards often give authors the publicity they need. A second very popular competition is the So You Think You Can Write (SYTYCW) Competition, hosted by Wattpad, in association with Harlequin, the winners of which were offered a two book publishing contract. The competition is aimed towards the young adult romance category. An extremely popular and ever growing literary genre, it focuses mainly on young people between the ages of eighteen to twenty five, generally going through quarter life crises, and almost always finding love by the end of the novel – be it with themselves or with someone else. The SYTYCW competition is taking place again in 2014. For more information visit their website at: www.soy-

outhinkyoucanwrite.com World renowned author and poet, Margaret Atwood claims that Wattpad “opens the doors and enlarges the view in places where the doors are closed and the view is restricted. “Somewhere out there in Wattpadland, a new generation is testing its wings.” Wattpad can offer something for everyone. Its endless supply of free stories and authors is every bookworm’s dream, as well as every aspiring writer’s. So whether you are an avid reader, or a zealous writer, Wattpad can offer you a world of opportunities and entertainment. Do yourself a favour and check out the recommended reading list at www.wattpad. com. Just make sure you don’t have much on for the rest of the evening. One tends to lose track of time whilst on a trip to Wattpadland.

Review: Under the Duvet Review: Beautiful Disaster By Samantha Kelly Marian Keyes was never an author I would have chosen as first pick in the past, but Under the Duvet has certainly changed that for me. The arrangement of Keyes' published (and unpublished) works – mainly written for Irish Tatler around 1999 – makes reading this book suitable for anyone, as there is something different for everyone in each article. Readers can start at the back, middle or beginning, picking this book up whenever they are in the mood for some "me" time, or leaving it down for any length of time. There is no particular storyline to follow, considering it is a collection of Keyes' articles. Under the Duvet is a humorous and honest account of Keyes' experience as a writer starting in London, and moving to Ireland, making it easy for us Irish to understand her sense of humour. Some of Keyes' honesty can have some sensitive readers feeling uneasy, but that is one of the great things about this book: if you don't want to read a particular article you can just move to another.

A personal favourite article is ‘Bah! Givvus a Humbug’, first published in Irish Tatler, December 1999, talks about Keyes' diet at Christmas just before her wedding. This article is so relatable it is just downright funny! The Irish humour behind our mammies spoiling us with home baked treats at Christmas, while Keyes' mother deprives her whole family of the sweet treats so they can look acceptable before her winter wedding is just too funny to miss. However, there were a few articles which I couldn't relate to, such as marital problems; although Keyes' use of humour does make it enjoyable and funny whether it is relatable to or not. This is one aspect which I think many readers will like; it makes the book an easy read. Under the Duvet can be bought for €11.45 in Eason's stores. However Charlie Byrnes book store is selling this book second hand for €3 which is a steal. Now, to give an insight into this book, something which we students will find relatable: "I write alone, in a darkened bedroom, wearing my PJs eating bananas, my laptop on a pillow in front of me."

By Chelsea Tabert Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire is an emotional rollercoaster ride and reads like for 50 Shades of Grey. It’s a story told from Abby’s first person perspective with never-ending emotions and reactions in the foreground. Through her best friend in America, she meets heavily tattooed bad boy, Travis Maddox. Not only is Travis a serious womaniser, but a heavy drinker. Needless to say, he is everything Abby is trying to escape from. McGuire almost has us believe these two polar opposites have a chance at being friends, until their level of obsessive need for one another reaches an all-time high and throws that idea out the window. This was supposedly the climax in the story, but in reality it just goes downhill from there. I don’t know where these online sources came up with 4 stars, but I’m giving it a measly 2 – only because I’m in a good mood today. A good concept on McGuire’s part is to focus in on a ‘steamy love story’ regarding the eighteen and nineteen-year-old college freshmen, but I just can’t wrap my mind around what she’s trying to portray in the story. Beautiful Disaster borderlines the sappy story of Twilight (sorry

not sorry) and the full blown, sexually explicit 50 Shades of Grey. It felt like McGuire just couldn’t make up her mind on what she wanted to write about, and to a reader it makes things immensely difficult to follow and grasp. Aside from that, the entire plot was no better. For example, Abby’s father precipitates a particular plot twist, and then disappears for the rest of the book. I’m not sure if this was a really bad attempt at adding suspense into the novel or if she just forgot to tie the loose ends at the end of the book. Regardless, it was immensely annoying. The attempted twists and “will-they-wont-they” relationship dragged on for far too long. By the end of the book it wasn’t the slightest bit entertaining, in fact I was ready to tear my hair out. Jamie McGuire recently published Walking Disaster, which apparently tells the same story from Travis’s perspective. Quite frankly, I’m too in shock with this book to even attempt to read the next in the series. For those who have read Beautiful Disaster and wish for the book to redeem itself, give Walking Disaster a shot. How much worse can it possibly be?

From the Library: Tony Parsons By Rebecca Hastings The more of Tony Parsons’ novels you read, the more obvious the similarities between them become. The books with which the Essex-born author has enjoyed commercial success over the last decade deal mostly with family life – parenthood in particular – notably the Man and Boy series, My Favourite Wife and Starting Over. His stories usually feature a male protagonist in his thirties, dealing with the pressures of family life. Interestingly, Parsons’ protagonists often cheat on their wives – he seems particularly interested in showing the second side to the story of marital infidelity. And God, it’s good. It’s gripping stuff. As a reader, despite your best efforts to hate these cheating men, you find yourself worrying about them getting found out, and frantically skipping pages to find out what happens next. Parsons himself refers to his genre as “men-lit” – a male version of the ever-popular “chick-lit”. While the term itself is a little bit cringeworthy, he’s got it spot-on. It’s refreshing to see the issues often explored by female commercial authors – heartbreak, family pressures, and children – told from a male perspective. And although he does “Men-Lit” very well, he also proves his ability to write skilfully and sensitively from three female perspectives in The Family Way, a tearjerker of a novel that follows the lives of sisters Cat, Jessica and Megan. Parsons almost certainly draws inspiration from his personal life. His accounts of marital breakdown are particularly poignant when you consider that his first marriage – to fellow NME journalist Julie Burchill – ended in 1984. His current wife, Yuriko, is Japanese, which might explain protagonists’ fascinations with Asian countries and their cultures in many of his stories. He frequently includes role models and love interests from China and Japan,

and both Catching the Sun and My Favourite Wife tell the stories of families who relocate to Asia. Asia is a sort of Utopia in Parsons’ stories: a land to which his characters can escape. The three-part Man & Boy series is perhaps his most successful and memorable work, and a great introduction to his stuff for his new readers. It follows the lives of Harry Silver and his son, Pat, as Pat develops from a toddler into a teenager. The books span over a decade, gripping and endearing readers since the very beginning, and are very much based on his experience of raising his son as a single parent after his divorce from Burchill. It focuses on the fatherson dynamic, examining both Harry’s relationship with his own father, and his relationship with Pat. In an interview with HarperCollins, Parsons said that he wanted to show how “every generation is tested in a different way. It's one kind of test having Germans shooting at you, and it's another kind of test to go through divorce... Harry comes to understand that he can't be the kind of man his father was, he has to be his own man in his own time.” In August 2011, Parsons was appointed writer-in-residence at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, and spent a week living in a hotel beside the airport, interviewing people who came and went. The result was Parsons’ first collection of short stories, Departures: Seven Stories from Heathrow. The collection contains narratives about firefighters, drug mules and fearful fliers, amongst other airport characters – well worth a read. In 2010, he released a nonfiction book, On Life, Death and Breakfast, which was widely criticised for being ‘fluffy” and trivial. Nonetheless, this seems to have been exactly his aim, and his witty, lighthearted reflections make for the perfect train or bus companion. Parsons also works as a journalist, and currently writes for The Sun on Sunday. He can be found on Twitter at @TonyParsonsUK.

26 Arts & entertainment

Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

Guest Writer: Thomas Lynch By Karen McDonnell Thomas Lynch, a Michigan native with Co Clare in his blood, is a poet, essayist, and undertaker. His writings provided inspiration for the cult TV series Six Feet Under and he has been a subject of

documentaries including PBS’ The Undertaking. His work has appeared in the Paris Review and Granta, in the New York Times and the New Yorker. Grimalkin & Other Poems was published in 1994, Apparitions & Late Fictions in 2010, and

in 2012 Salmon Press printed an Irish edition of The Sin Eater: A Breviary – poetry accompanied by the photography of Michael Lynch. Here, Mr Lynch contemplates something very dear to us on these pages: finding the ‘good enough word’.

From Bodies in Motion and at Rest (Jonathan Cape, London, 2000) People sometimes ask me why I write. Because, I tell them, I don’t golf. This gives me two or three days a week – five or six the way my brother was doing it before he had a mid-life crisis and took up roller-blades. But a couple of days every week at least with a few hours in them in which to read or write. They are the same thing to me, reading and writing, twins of the one conversation. We’re either speaking or are spoken to. And I don’t drink. I did, of course, and plenty of it, but had to quit for the usual reasons. It got to where I was spilling so much of it. This gave me two or three nights a week – five or six the way I was doing it at the end – with a few hours in them when things weren’t blurry. With some of those I read and write. And I am married to an Italian woman with some French sensibilities and five brothers, so I am home most nights and when I’m not I call. I sleep well, rise early and since I don’t do yoga or day trading, I read or write a few hours each morning. Then I take a walk. Out there on Shank’s mare, I think about what I’m reading or writing which is one of the things I really like – it’s portable. You don’t need a caddy or a designated driver or a bag full of cameras. All you need’s a little peace and quiet and the words will come to you – your own or the other’s. Perspiration, inspiration. It feels like a gift. Years ago I was watching a woman undressing. The room was lit only by the light of the moon coming through an easterly window. Everything about this moment was careless and beautiful except for the sound of a sick boy in the next room coughing and croupy, unable to sleep. He had his medicine. The Vapo-rub and steam were bubbling away. I was drowsing with the sounds and darkening images, half dreaming of Venice, the Lido and the Zattere, the tall windows of a room I stayed in once, awash in moonlight and shadows, longing for the woman I loved madly then. It was that sweet moment between wake and sleep when the dream has only a foot in the door the day and its duties have left ajar. I wanted always to remember that sweetness, that moment, and knew I could not rise to write the details down – the sick child, the woman’s beauty, the moonlight, the steam bubbling, the balance between the dream and duty, between the romance and the ordinary times – because the slumber was tightening around me. And I was searching for a word, one word that I could keep and remember till the morning; one word only: a key, a password

by which I could return to this moment just long enough to make a poem, a purse made of words to keep the treasure of it in. And I was fading quickly, my eyes were closed, my last bit of consciousness was discerning words then bits of words and finally only bits of noises, the woman beside me, the boy’s labored but even breathing, the bubbling of the vaporizer which became in my dream the vaporetti idling in the Grand Canal, because it was the key – vaporetti – the password, the outright gift of sound whose bubbling and whose syllables sound near enough the same as the vaporizer in the next room that let me traffic back and forth at will between the bedroom in Michigan and the bedroom in Venice and the moonlight and the beauty and the moment awash in ivory and shimmering images. I slept with the word. I woke with it. I rose and wrote the poem down. The women are gone. The boy is grown. The poem sits on the shelf in a book. I come and go to Venice as I please. The language is alive and well. So this is why I write and read. Because I don’t golf, and don’t drink, and I’m married to an Italian, and every day I sit down to it, there’s the chance that I might get another vaporetti, another gift, another of what Hemingway calls the “one true word” that will make some sense out of what we’re doing here. That part about Hemingway I heard on the radio. Keep your ears tuned. Words are everywhere. This morning I was reading the letters of Paul. The one to the Romans is about circumcision, about faith and works, about sin and the law. No wonder he seems to go in circles a bit. He’s telling the Roman’s that they don’t have to become Jews to become Christians. The earliest Christians were Jews, of course, including, it is worth repeating, Jesus Himself or himself, depending on your particulars. Guilt and shame are ecumenical and have always worked for observant Christians and observant Jews. Specifically Paul is telling the Romans that they needn’t be circumcised. This is good news on any given day, at least to the men of the congregation. There’s a concept they can get behind. Then as now women were given to wonder about the things men worry about. The laws about diet and fashions and the observance of feasts are easy enough and all in keeping with the rules of good living. But circumcision is a deal-breaker and Paul knows it so he’s trying to tell them it’s not all that important after all. He’s floating this option of “spiritual circumcision.” It’s a talking point and the numbers look good.

Then too, he doesn’t want to offend the brethren back in the Promised Land who are, it is well known, his kinsmen and The Chosen People. If he devalues the old deal made between God and Abraham, the Old Testament, that early covenant of blood, he’s going to lose the very ones who have bought into his take on the Nazarene – the part about Him being the Son of God. Try telling some client who just had his foreskin removed that it really wasn’t necessary and see what happens. This is where the faith and works come in, the part that is so important to Luther five centuries later when the Reformation begins. By deconstructing that section of Genesis where God and Abraham cut their deal, Paul is able to coax both Gentile and Jew in the direction of his version of things. Here is a man who is able to make both those with foreskins and those without feel good about themselves. It’s a little like watching a game of Twister, but it is a deft little exercise in language. Language, some right thinker said, is a dialect with a navy. Much the same can be said for religions – whatever the word is they need a navy or an army to spread it. Paul is Christianity’s navy. He has some impressive character flaws – he’s pompous, opinionated, opportunistic, misogynist, vexed by sexuality in general, and like any true believer, a dangerous man. No doubt he’ll remind you of someone you know. Maybe your husband or father or the brother-in-law. Today he’d be a radio talk show host or TV preacher, prime minister or lately retired Speaker of the House. Women would be uniformly offended by him and attracted to him, each for reasons unique to themselves, none of which would have to do with circumcision. And maybe today neither dialects nor religions need navies or armies or missionaries as much as they need websites and bandwidth and a lobbyist. Maybe Paul looks a little obsolete, with his horse and epistles and his true belief. The business of foreskins ain’t what they used to be. Still, the deals that are cut between blood and belief, tribe and creed, dialect and sect, colour and kind define the millennia before Paul and since. Then as now we are divided along lines of the haves and have-nots. So maybe the word today isn’t circumcision. Maybe it’s faith or works. Or sin and the law. Those chicken and egg games that Paul rolls out for us to kick around the yard for the rest of history. Maybe it’s not the word today at all.

Maybe it’s a number. The language is full of them. You could start counting now and never finish. Like words, they’ve got us outnumbered. All you can do is hunt and peck for the good word, the lucky number, the truth of the matter. My father’s lucky number was thirteen. He was born on the thirteenth and wore number thirteen on his jersey in high-school and signed his best deals on the thirteenth of the month and died in a condo that was number thirteen. He always said that thirteen was his number. Who could blame him? So I’m looking at the thirteenth verse of the thirteenth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans because my wife is Italian and I’m sober this morning and no one’s coming to take me golfing and here’s what it says there, word for word: Let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Now that mightn’t make the hairs stand on the back of your neck but for me it sounds like the voice of my father. Not that he talked like that, mind you, but still it’s a concept he could get behind. Because he was the kind of guy who wasn’t looking for all the answers. Just enough to get him through the day. Just one little something that rang true enough that he could hang his hat there and find it in the morning. Unlike Abraham he didn’t want to be the father of a nation. Unlike Paul, he didn’t want to save the world. He just wanted his children to outlive him, his wife to love him and everything to work out in the end. It did. Same for me. Just enough good word to get through the day. It’s liable to turn up anywhere – a good book, the bumper of a car, something on the radio, something your true love says, something that comes to you in a dream like EAT MORE FRUIT, ADAM or SAY YOUR PRAYERS which is what my sainted mother says when I dream of her. Or maybe it is something your beloved says, like the time my wife said “everything is going to be alright.” I believed her then, I believe her now. Or maybe it hits you like a bolt of lightning like PREACHING TO BISHOPS IS LIKE FARTING AT SKUNKS. These are words to live by? I don’t know. So what are we to make of these things? You want to get some good words like mine? I say, don’t golf, don’t drink, marry an Italian – it could happen to you. God knows your heart. He knows you want your children to outlive you, your wife to love you, everything to work out in the end.

University Sports Clubs Schedule – Kingfisher Get off the couch this semester!

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Check www.clubs.nuigalway.ie for updates. CLUB

TIME

VENUE

Swim Club

7am - 8.30am

Aikido

1-2pm

Hall 3

Karate

6-8pm

Raquetball Court

Badminton

6-8pm

Hall 1 & 2

Archery Club

6-8pm

Hall 3

Futsal Soccer

8-10pm

Hall 1 & 2

Taekwondo & Judo

8-10pm

Hall 3

Swim Club

8.30pm - 11pm

Mountainbike - Spinning

6-7pm

Fencing Club

6-7.30pm

Hall 1

Ladies Basketball - Varsities

6-8pm

Hall 2

Karate Club

6-8pm

Hall 3

Aikido Club

7-9pm

Hall 3

Maui Thai

7.30-9.30pm

Hall 1

Cricket Club

9-10.30pm

Hall 3

Volleyball

8-10.30pm

Hall 2

Kayak Club

9-11pm

Full Pool

Swim Club

7-8.30am

2 Lanes

Archery

8-10am

Hall 3

Volleyball

1-2pm

Hall 2

Aikido

1-2pm

Hall 3

Archery

4-6pm

Hall 3

Mens Varsity Basketball

5-7pm

Hall 2

Cricket Club

7-9pm

Hall 1

Badminton

9-11pm

3 halls

Taekwondo

7-9pm

Hall 2

Karate & Judo sharing

6-8pm

Sub Aqua

9.30 -11pm

Full Pool

Swim Club

7 – 8.30am

2 Lanes

Frizbee

5 – 7pm

Hall 1

Muai Thai

7 – 9pm

Hall 1

Cricket

9. – 10.30pm

Hall 1

Ladies Basketball – Varsities

6 – 8pm

Hall 2

Ladies Basketball – Recreational

8 – 10pm

Hall 2

Table Tennis & Fencing

6 – 8pm

Hall 3

Taekwondo & Aikido

8 – 10pm

Hall 3

Fencing Advanced

5 – 6 & 8 – 10pm

Swim & Lifesaving Club

9 – 11pm

Mens Basketball - Varsity

11am - 12.30pm

Hall 2

Archery Club

11am - 1pm

Hall 3

Inline Hockey

7-9pm

Hall 1

Volleyball Club

6-10pm

Hall 2

Judo Club & Table Tennis Club

7-9pm

Hall 3

Swim Club - Varsities Team

9.30-11pm

Taekwondo

12 – 2PM

Swim Club

4 – 5.30pm

Fencing Club

2 – 4pm

2 Lanes

Full Pool Studio

Hall 3

Raquetball Court Full Pool

Full Pool Raquetball Court 2 Lanes Raquetball Court

28 Sports

Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

Galway gets into gear for Rally

By Yvonne Clinton Galway will play host to the 2014 Colm Quinn BMW Galway International Rally on the weekend of the 7 to 9 February. The classic event will return to an action-packed weekend format for the 2014 edition. It will be the first round of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship, Ireland’s premier rally championship. 2014 sees the 43rd anniversary of this challenging opening round, first run in 1971. For 2014 Galway Motor Club President Mark Parsons is delighted to announce Colm Quinn BMW as the new rally sponsor. As one of Ireland’s leading BMW dealers Colm Quinn BMW are ideal partners in this exciting event. Colm Quinn, Managing Director stated; “I am delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor the first major sporting event in Galway as it coincides with the opening of my new BMW dealership in a brand new facility on the Tuam Road, Galway in 2014.”

Scrutiny of competing cars will take place at Monaghan’s Skoda garage on the Tuam Road, Galway, from 2pm to 7pm on Friday 7th. This is an excellent opportunity for spectators to get up close to the cars before the event. The action gets underway at 8pm on Friday with a ceremonial start in Eyre Square, with Galway Bay FM broadcasting live with Gerry Murphy. There will be five stages in the Gort area on Saturday, with the first car setting off at 10am. The competitors will return to the wider South Galway area again on Sunday for a further eight challenging stages. Service on both days will be held at Gort Mart, affording spectators the opportunity to see the cars as they are fettled or repaired for each loop of stages. The finish will be held at the Clayton Hotel at 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon. There will be celebrations as the winner of the 2014 Galway International Rally is crowned. The 2013 edition of the popular rally saw an exten-

sive variety of cars and drivers line up at the start line. These included the then-reigning Irish Tarmac Champion, Darren Gass, looking to start his title defence in stellar style and also defend his Galway crown from 2012. Cork’s Keith Cronin competed on the event in a Subaru

WRC, kicking off what would be an excellent year for him. Five times Irish Tarmac Champion Eugene Donnelly was a late entry in a Mini WRC, supported by Colm Quinn BMW. This foray into motorsport clearly whetted the BMW dealer’s appetite for rallying as they

return as title sponsors of the event this year. Gass’ event got off to a poor start, with the Armagh man having an excursion into the Galway scenery on the very first stage. Cronin suffered a spin, leaving him with a deficit of over 20 seconds to make up on early leader Donnelly, and just seven stages to do it. But the flying triple British Rally Champion set about nibbling away at the lead of the Mini man. By the first service he was second overall, and going into the last loop of stages around Ballinasloe. The duo was separated by just 0.1 of a second. Cronin showed his mettle as he attacked Donnelly through the wet and slippery final stages to snatch victory by a mere 13 seconds after a titanic battle. Cronin would go on to narrowly miss out on victory in the WRC-3 class of the World Rally Championship, losing only on a tie-break. Cronin collected several second places on his debut year in the WRC, and took a superb win

on the legendary forest roads and jumps of Finland. This year’s event looks to be just as exciting as last year’s, with 2013 Dunlop National Champions Declan and Brian Boyle entered in their Subaru WRC. The Donegal cousins won five of the six rounds they contested. Defending Irish Tarmac Rally Champions Garry Jennings and Rory Kennedy are looking to make it two in a row in their Subaru WRC, starting between the stone walls of Galway. Runners up to Jennings, Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan are looking to move one step higher on the podium in 2014 in their Focus WRC. Former Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver of the Year Sam Moffett is entered, with James O’Reilly on the notes, but their wheels for the event have yet to be revealed. The Monaghan crew are believed to be looking at a number of top-spec WRC cars. Further information on the event and a list of programme outlets can be found on the rally website www.galwayinternationalrally.com.

NUIG Rugby Celebrate Intervarsity and Academy Success By NUIG Rugby NUIG Rugby is on the up with greater participation and competitiveness at all grades. Uniquely NUIG has achieved double success in both women’s and men’s intervarsity rugby this year, while the NUIG Rugby Academy have made their own piece of history by winning the first trophy for the University at underage level. The men’s team are current holders of the Irish Universities' Rugby Union (IURU) Maughan Scally Cup, and the women’s squad won their Intervarsity honours, the IURU Kay Bowen

Cup, in UCD in November. The NUIG women’s team did not concede a single try during, and remained unbeaten throughout the entire competition, while the men’s team held UCC scoreless in the final of the junior intervarsities in Dangan. Established in 2011, the NUIG Rugby Youth Academy also continues to go from strength to strength. The Youth Academy U13s squad and coaches celebrated success last season, as the first side to win an underage rugby trophy for the University. Containing many graduates from last season’s successful

U13s, the U14 and U15 squads remain unbeaten this season. All this reflects increased participation in rugby in the university. In recent seasons, the Club has grown participation in rugby on campus significantly, and now fields four adult rugby teams, including a second men’s squad and an U20s team that participates in the South West Conference of the highly competitive Munster U20 league as part of an amalgamated team with Corinthians RFC. Significantly NUIG U20s also played in the Conroy Cup

U20 intervarsity competition this year for the first time since 2005 and advanced to the playoff stages. NUIG men’s team’s next Connacht Junior League fixture is to play Sligo RFC in Dangan on Sunday 19th January, kickoff: 2.30pm. There is a pre-match function in the Westwood Hotel for alumni and friends. For prematch function tickets and further information, please contact Club Chairman, Dr Michael O’Mahony, 0868339715 or Club Treasurer, Gearóid Ó Broin, 091-493115.

Pictured (l to r) with the IURU Kay Bowen Cup is NUI Galway Ladies' Captain Hannah Smith and NUI Galway Men's Captain Darragh O'Loughlin with the IURU Maughan-Scally Cup.

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Sports 29

January 27 2014

Melbourne heat too hot to handle 616 Moyes out By Padraic Ward Searing heat, lashings of sun screen, iced towels, mist fans, players fainting and ball-boys collapsing. Yes, you’ve guess it folks – it’s the 2014 edition of the Australian Open from Melbourne. With temperatures reaching a grotesque 42 degrees Celsius causing havoc for players and spectators alike, I ask the question - is it viable to stage such an important event in such gruelling heat? Apparently the answer is yes, according to the Australian Open tournament officials, who, thanks to their extreme heat policy contend laughable that humidity levels are not yet at an acceptable level to deem it unplayable. These modern day players are soft they say. But modern day tournament officials are equally soft I say – soft in the head that is. So why exactly do the tennis powers-that-be feel the need to play the first Grand Slam of the season during the hottest part of the Australian

summer. Is it for commercial reasons? Is it because of television and media commitments that are sacrosanct and cannot be altered? Is it due to scheduling problems that may result in a major reconfiguration of the entire ATP tour? Is it because secretly and disturbingly we as human beings get a sadistic kick out of watching our fellow human beings suffering, fainting and collapsing under the burning sun, while us mere mortals look on in jawdropping amazement? Whatever the reasons, officials at the apogee of the tennis world need to bang their heads together to come up with a solution. One possible answer is to shuffle the ATP tournament schedule slightly and push the Australian forward to start 3-4 weeks later than is currently the case. By such time, temperatures in Australia will have cooled and players will be in a better position physically and mentally to compete. Spectator numbers will also surely increase given

the more pleasant climate. I cannot foresee the players having a problem with such a re-scheduling given that the next Grand Slam is the French Open in late May and early June. Given the entire furore over the weather conditions in Melbourne over the first week of the tournament it is very easy to become sidetracked and forget that there is an actual tennis event taking place. The irony in all this is the game itself has become the sideshow to the real event – the weather. Just as well perhaps, as in contrast to the scorching temperatures, the tennis itself has been somewhat tepid. This cannot be positive news for the ATP or Australian Open organisers, nor does it bode well for the future of Australian grassroots tennis feverishly competing for the attention of the Australian public. Meanwhile on court Serena Williams continues to exert her indomitable control on the women’s draw. At

the time of writing, she has reached the third round, spending just two hours on court with the concession of just six games. Waiting for her in the third round is the in-form Ana Ivanovic who came through a brutal three set match with home favourite Sam Stosur. Ivanovic will surely provide Williams with her stiffest test yet. On the men’s side all the main protagonists’ are still involved with defending champion Novak Djokovic looking as scintillating hot as the midday Melbourne sunshine. Seven of the top eight seeds have successfully made it through to the third round; the sole casualty thus far being the Argentine 5th seed Juan Martin Del Potro in round 2. As is the case in most Grand Slams the real action begins in the second week. With temperatures set to cool by the weekend in Melbourne, let’s hope for some searing hot tennis showdowns next week.

January transfer window By Ciaran McGreal It's that time of the season again, the transfer window is open, and don't we know it! The rumour mill is turning everyday and even the slightest whisper of activity is reported. Sky Sports New have a segment devoted solely to transfer gossip. Not long now till Jim White will be in position on "Deadline Day" keeping us up to date on the transfer activity of clubs from Manchester City to Fleetwood Town. Managers have a chance to bring players in but the constant barrage of gossip involving their players or prospective players must get to them. That said, the January Transfer Window gives clubs a chance to renegotiate with the players they might have missed out on in the summer or give them an opportunity to bring in a player based on their mid-season needs. Buying a player can always be risky. There are

so many factors to be considered. Obviously, there's the financial cost but buying a player on reputation or form does not always guarantee a player's success at a new club. Sometimes players find it difficult to settle at a new club and they can take time to get used to their new surroundings. I'm sure players prefer to be signed in the summer then in January. If they join their new team in pre-season, they have time to get used to their new team's style of play and to their teammates. If they are signed in January, they find themselves catapulted into the first team squad and immediate success is expected of them. January signings are usually panic signings. Ask any top manager as to when they'd rather sign a player: summer or January. I'm confident most would say the summer. They have a chance to get a player fit during pre-season, they can plan tactics to best

utilise the player and they have opportunities to try the player in different positions before the pressure of competitive matches come along. Despite these downsides, some great players have been signed by Premier League clubs in January over the years. The best strike partnership in the league right now, Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, both joined Liverpool during the January Transfer window. Suarez signed for Liverpool back in January 2011 from Ajax. He is currently the League's top scorer and looks on track to claim the Golden Boot. Sturridge signed last year and has been brilliant for the Reds. A year before, the then Chelsea striker was loaned to Bolton in January of that year and he netted eight goals in twelve games to help Bolton to safety. Liverpool seem to have a knack for January signings. Javier Mascherano signed from West Ham in 2007 and formed a brilliant partner-

ship with Xabi Alonso in midfield before moving to Barcelona in 2010. In January 2006, Manchester United made a double swoop for Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra from Spartak Moscow and Monaco respectively. Vidic formed an exceptional partnership with Rio Ferdinand in the heart of the United defence while Evra, after taking a while to settle in, made a name for himself as a marvellous left-back. There have been a number of players who never lived up to their potential (or price-tags) when signed in January: Andy Carroll, Fernando Torres and Jose Antonio Reyes come to mind. That said, the January window can be very effective especially for clubs struggling towards the foot of the table with Sturridge to Bolton an obvious example. Whatever you think of it, the January Transfer Window always brings plenty of debate, the occasional brilliant signing and lots of money exchanged.

By Kieran Kilkelly “The Chosen One” he was called; a new era in Manchester United Football Club was meant to commence; a continuation of what already was there was supposed to transpire. But that is not the case. It is something different to what Manchester Utd fans had imagined. Can you blame Moyes for it though? Really? Now there is little case for his defence because, perhaps, he is doing a poor job. But is that a ‘poor job’ in relation to the high expectations of the United fans or is there something else in it? That is what has to be established and found out, ultimately, resolving debates worldwide about this topic. Man Utd currently lie idle below the elusive Champion’s League places; someway from where the fans thought they might be at this stage. But the fans are fickle and most have only experienced the glory of the ‘Fergie Era’. Very few have seen the team which were relegated to Division 2 in 1974 and more have never even heard of there being a Division 2. It is something to contemplate though, that did Ferguson get out at the right time? I mean, there is pride before a fall, and maybe he took his proud moment with him, left the rest to crumble and departed? In any case, David Moyes is left with the ruins and although Rome wasn’t built in a day it can come down in one. Man Utd and Sir Alex’s epic reign was not created in one day, nor half season for that matter: it took over twenty years to eventually knock Liverpool off their perch. So why shouldn’t Moyes’ contribution to Utd’s history be the same? Does he not deserve time? However, that said, he is doing a mediocre job at best, there is no denying that. The Fellaini signing has proved a massive disappointment, thus far, and there will be, more than likely, no change with regard to that in the future.

But one must realise, though, whatever signing they made, unless that of an unlikely superstar, that the Utd squad would still remain quite weak in comparison to the real league contenders. Anyone that argues with that I will kindly and helpfully bring you to the nearest ‘Specsavers’ or medical opticians, or generally wherever you might be enlightened to the fact that Utd just aren’t good enough. I say this because, Ferguson, yes, he is always going to be referred, but he was worth ten, eleven points, maybe more a season, for the simple reason of his intimidation. His vast experience at mind games with both opposing managers and referees were key to his success. Not to mention his “Hairdryer Treatment”. Yes, there has been no significant addition to any top squad this season (with the exception of Álvaro Negredo of Man City and Mesut Ozil of Arsenal) and yet they Utd find themselves as many points behind the league leaders as they won the title last year. Is that Moyes’ fault though? I know he is accused of being more defensive and not actually ‘going for it’. But what defines going for it? Bringing on Dzeko with 15 to go? Wilshere on the 60th minute? Or maybe Mata at half time? A similarity between all these substitutes is that they would all make the current Utd team. Bringing on Nani or any other player on the Utd bench does not constitute a comparison between any of the aforementioned players. Now maybe it is time for the hashtag #moyesout but one must recognise that it is the players that have to perform and if you haven’t got the players; which Utd don’t; then how can you expect to be successful. If Moyes and Man Utd don’t make ‘Top 4’ it will disappointing for them but don’t blame the manager, blame the people who gain the points on the pitch, or at least try to gain them anyway.

30 Sports

Sin Vol. 15 Issue 8

Messi or Ronaldo? Messi. Wishful Thinking? By Ross Cannon

It is such a pity that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have to play in the same footballing era and suffer inundated comparisons and questions about who is ‘The Best’. In previous years players like Ronaldinho, Kaka and Zinedine Zidane dominated the football sphere for certain periods and played at several levels above their peers to the point where no comparisons could be drawn. Since 2006 football fans, pundits and journalists have had to pose the same question time and time again; “Messi or Ronaldo?” It is by no means an easily answered question as both men are outstanding talents and both are two markedly different players, playing for two different and conflicted football clubs. They play the game in two completely different ways. Messi’s small stature allows him to flow, jink and sidestep his way past opponents all the while the ball is tethered to his foot. Messi can pick out short passes through the eye of a needle and can link up with teammates in astonishingly tight

spaces, something which is now synonymous with Barcelona. In contrast Ronaldo is powerful and muscular, allowing for explosive acceleration and unrivalled speed. No distance is too far to shoot from as Ronaldo’s right foot is a cannon. Ronaldo’s vertical leap allows him to literally hang in the air and dominate attacking set-pieces and corner kicks. One key similarity between both men is their ability to score and exorbitant amount of goals. In the 2012/2013 season Ronaldo scored 55 goals in 55 appearances while Messi managed 60 goals in 50 appearances (goals came in all competitions). What footballers are ultimately judged on are the medals, accolades and honours they win and in the last five seasons Messi trumps Ronaldo in this department. If the FIFA Ballon d’or is how we decide who the greatest player on the planet is in a given season well then Messi has consistently been that player. Messi has four Ballon d’Or’s to his name while Ronaldo has two. Messi won four Ballon d’or’s back to back from 2009-2013 during which he played some of the most jaw dropping football since the

days of George Best and Maradona. At the start of the 2013/2014 season Messi continued to set records, becoming the first player in La Liga history to score 100 away goals in a game against Valence in which he scored a hat-trick. On September 18 Messi scored his twenty-fourth career hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Ajax making him the second highest goal scorer in Champions League history leaving him second only to Raul with 62 goals in Europe. In early November of 2013 Messi suffered his third serious injury of the season which left him side lined until January of this year. Had the Argentinian stayed fully fit he may very have well picked up his fifth Ballon d’Or. While goal scoring, trophies, and accolades all contribute to define a player’s greatness it still comes down to personal opinion and preference. Both footballers continue to push each other to massively lofty footballing heights which can be seen in some of their magical moments on the pitch. Comparisons will persist until the day both men retire and probably beyond, but let us enjoy them for what they are right now, two living football legends.

League an important part of GAA structure By Cathal Mullaney The crown in the GAA’s jewel is obviously the All-Ireland Championship in both hurling and football – thousands of spectators in Croke Park or elsewhere on a summer afternoon, with millions viewing on television, both at home and abroad – a terrific spectacle indeed. However, one must not forget that the preparation for those glamour days in the height of championship season is done in the depths of winter and over the spring period, when the National Leagues take place. Much has been said about the GAA league structures – hurling in particular – but one must agree that they are vital for each and every county team – in fact, in some cases, perhaps more important than the championship. Most players and managers, while dreaming of potential future glories, will picture their captain lifting a provincial trophy or perhaps even Liam McCarthy or Sam Maguire, but a more realistic objective may be a league success.

In a league format, teams are divided by their ability and previous performances, rather than geographical location – therefore, more competitive and interesting games are likely to ensue. One sided encounters, like so many of the early championship rounds, are almost unheard of. Therefore, there is little reason to dismiss the league as irrelevant, and slam its structure. Granted, All-Ireland finalists Cork and Munster Champions Limerick will ply their trade in Division 1B of the Hurling league, but they still have an opportunity to qualify for a division 1 quarter-final. Similarly, if a team feels aggrieved as to their League status, its simple – if you are good enough, you will be promoted. In football, the league structure is in fact what a lot of critics would like to see as the championship format. A ‘Champions League’ style of competition, tiered to suit different counties’ abilities, is the solution for many commentators. Each county gets a minimum of seven games, which is crucial in regard to championship preparation and player development, as well as in monetary

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terms for gate receipts. In fact, the league takes on an even bigger importance in 2014 with the implementation of the controversial ‘black card’ – therefore, this year’s league campaign will be a learning curve for players, managers and referees alike, in more ways than one. It is likely that the league will continue to be a problematic competition for the GAA as counties call for change, particularly in hurling, but in recent years it has proved to be as high profile as ever. Last year’s Division One hurling league was a case in point – such was the closeness of the competition, all six teams in the group on the final day had six points – meaning that every team had a chance to make the knockout stages, or face a relegation battle. Eventually, the competition culminated in a Kilkenny-Tipperary showdown at a packed Nowlan Park in May - the atmosphere was more reminiscent of a championship game, as was the quality of hurling with Kilkenny running out 2-17 to 0-20 winners. Now, that hardly points to a flawed structure, does it?

By Daragh Small As Ryan Crotty breached the heroic Irish defence in the dying embers back in the autumn you could have been forgiven for failing to the see the silverlining that glistened on the horizon. Only a couple months down the road and the 6 Nations looks to fill the hole left from that faithful day. It’s time to face facts, the men in green were bloody good against the All Blacks and the impressive performance of the four province that followed in the Heineken can only add to the sense of expectation for what lies ahead. By the time Ireland line-out against Scotland in the Aviva, Joe Schmidt will have a better understanding of what he has at his disposal and one can only hope that the confidence will be reciprocated. The poor performances against Samoa and Australia can be blamed for the sense of unknown whilst the New Zealand game came down to pride. One part of the jigsaw that has scuppered the preparations however surrounds the injury to Sean O’Brien. The dynamic open side is one of the irreplaceable few within the first XV and Chris Henry won’t be striking fear into the opposition. Prior to dislocating his shoulder against Ulster, O’Brien had looked the ultimate number 7. Henry comes into the competition on the back of an impressive season-to-date, impressive but nothing remarkable. Round 1 offers somewhat of an easing-in process for Ireland as Scotland provide the opposition at home. If the Irish harbour serious ambitions about making a mark you would think this is a dead rubber. The crunch games come later on with visits to Twickenham and Paris while a sizeable victory in the first weekend would lay the foundation for a crack at reigning champions Wales who look beatable despite their favouritism. With the Welsh domestic game in disarray and conflict between the clubs and the WRU it looks the perfect time to lock horns with our Celtic cousins. They face Italy in the Millennium Stadium in their curtain raiser, similar to Ireland’s opening weekend the Welsh face a lose-lose situation yet the will raging favourites when they arrive at the Aviva on the second Saturday in February and this will suit their opponents down to the ground. It’s primed for an upset in my opinion and then comes the big one. St. Patrick’s Day of two years ago still haunts a lot of the Irish team that will lineout against their greatest of rivals. It was the ultimate humiliation on the country’s national holiday in London that we will never forget. The team owe their beloved fanatics a huge performance in Twickenham and the players all familiar with what it takes to beat an English in their own backyard. Maybe securing the Triple Crown in Joe Schmidt’s first year in charge is too much to ask for but why not? It would mean Italy in the Aviva would be the only standing between Ireland and a possible Grandslam decider in Paris. That really sounds quite appetising on Paddy’s weekend.

My Prediction: 1. Ireland 2. France

3. Wales 4. England

5. Scotland 6. Italy

Final Word 31

January 27 2014

diary of the Smokey’s Pigeon I’ve given in and started a diet.

I’ve been avoiding white bread crumbs and I really think it’s starting to show. I even kept away from a ham and cheese Panini dropped on the floor by a grief-stricken drama student yesterday. It was very dramatic. I wish I could say the regulars had the same willpower as I. To their credit, many lasted on salads until Thursday of last week. But I think the Friday morning hangover was too much to fight against… The muffins did well that day. I have also noticed that their presence at 9 o’clock lectures has decreased drastically since the beginning of last semester. Especially with regard to the first years. Who thankfully enough have stopped pointing and Snapchatting pictures of me. I don’t care how funny I look with a drawn on bow tie and a monocle! I just want to eat your left over Bagel in peace! People seem to forget pigeons can be insecure too. Can’t wait to see what the scales say now at Wieghtwatchers on Wednesday! New Year, New Me!

Summer bod here I come!

What do they teach you in college? By Kieran Kilkelly, Arindam Halder and Michael Finn • People say "bless you" when you sneeze because your heart stops for a millisecond. • It's physically impossible for a pig to look up into the sky. • Rats and horses can't vomit. • Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria by 700 times. • A duck's quack doesn't echo. • Like fingerprints, everyone’s tongue print is different. • Ostriches are often not taken seriously. They can run faster than horses and the males can roar like lions. • The longest place name in Ireland is Muckanaghederdauhaulia, in County Galway. • In Scotland, it is against the law to get drunk and possess a cow. • The giraffe has no vocal cords and communicates by vibrating the air around its neck. • A snail can sleep for 3 years at a stretch. • A Hindu temple dedicated to the rat goddess Karni Mata in Deshnoke, India, houses more than 20,000 rats. • An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain. • In New York, the penalty for jumping off a building is: Death

• In Switzerland, it is illegal for a man to relieve himself while standing up after 10pm. • In Victoria, Australia, you need a licensed electrician to change a light bulb. • Taphephobia is the fear of being buried alive. • The narwhal is known as the “unicorn of the sea” due to an eight-foot tooth that sticks out like a horn. • No two zebras have the same stripes. • The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue. • Chocolate can kill dogs, as it contains theobromine, which affects their heart and nervous system. • Most lipstick contains fish scales. • The word “lethologica” describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want. • The word “Checkmate” in chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah-Mat,” which means “the king is dead”. • Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying. • In 2003 Dave Grohl was on the top of the Billboard Modern Rock chart for 17 of 18 successive weeks, as a member of three different groups; Nirvana, Foo Fighters

and Queens of the Stone Age • Leonardo DiCaprio was named Leonardo because his pregnant mother was looking at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in a museum in Italy when DiCaprio first kicked. • A Hungarian man was shot in the frontal lobe during World War 1, making it impossible for him to fall asleep. He continued to live a full, sleepless life. • Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, American Airlines and two other corporations released a movie called Proud American in 2008. The movie featured an overly-patriotic storyline about the wonders of American life. It was a failure, and became IMDB's worst movie of the 2000's. • When ignored by that person whose attention means the most to you, the reaction in your brain is similar to physical pain. • That in 1927 several million people in the United States sent over 100,000 petitions urging Congress to adopt the metric system. Let’s see how that works out. • The Beatles wrote into their contracts for American concerts that they would not play in front of segregated audiences. • While shooting The Lord of the Rings, Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) often spent days hiking to the film's remote locations, in costume and carrying his sword, in order to appear authentically travel-worn. • Sugar Ray Robinson backed out of a fight because he had a dream that he was going to kill his opponent. After being convinced to fight, he went into the ring and killed his opponent. • Quentin Tarantino thinks Death Proof was his worst film and vowed he'll retire before he makes another movie that bad. He was right, that movie sucked! • The actor who played Crabbe, Draco Malfoy’s henchman in the Harry Potter series was arrested for growing cannabis, participation in the 2011 England riots, and possession Molotov cocktail.

ELECTIONS 2014

PRESIDENT, VP/EDUCATION, VP/WELFARE Nominations Open 10am Thursday 20th February Nominations Close 5pm Wednesday 26th February

Election Day Thursday 6th March

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