SIN Volume 21 Issue 5

NUACHTÁN SAOR IN AISCE VOL. 21 Issue 05. 05 NOV 2019

Student Independent News

WINNER: BEST NEWSPAPER AT THE NATIONAL STUDENT MEDIA AWARDS 2019

674-bed facility planned for NUI Galway

By Paddy Henry Plans have begun for a new €60 million student accommodation complex at NUI Galway. The 674-bed facility is due to open at the start of the 2022/2023 academic year, in an attempt to relieve stress on an already creaking housing market.

This is the second development of its type in recent years, after the opening of Goldcrest Village in 2018, which consists of 76 four to six bed apartments. A greenfield site for the new complex was pinpointed north of Goldcrest Village, between the Park and Ride facility and the Bioscience Research Building. It is understood that the project will not impact upon Corrib Village.

The development is expected to cost around €60 million but could rise with additional costs and VAT. The University has invited tenders for the design and construction contracts for the new build, with the deadline for submissions having closed on 1st November. Tenders say that the plan will be delivered in 2 phases, with the completed project ready for September 2022.

The complex will consist of four blocks, with one block ranging from four to eight storeys tall, two six storey blocks, and one four storey block. SIN understands that, like Goldcrest, the new build will be catered primarily towards first years and international students. The new build will also include more communal facilities such as service rooms, refuse storage and covered recycling storage facilities. Courtyards, pedestrian access,

vehicular access and disability parking facilities are also planned for the new student accommodation. Vehicular access will be available through the existing Corrib Village access road. SIN also understands that the new build is expected to include more rooms for disabled residents than the number required.

Students’ Union President, Clare Austick, welcomed the news of the new build, telling SIN, “We absolutely welcome more purpose-built student accommodation, particularly when there is a lack of housing available in Galway City for students.

However, it must be at an affordable price! We have seen it happen in the past where the accommodation complexes built were luxurious and completely overpriced. That’s no good to students, they don’t want fancy rooms. So, we absolutely do welcome it, there just needs to be a provision in place that it’s affordable for students”.

Galway City Councillor and former NUI Galway student, Owen Hanley, also spoke to SIN about the new build. The Councillor, who sits on the Galway City Council’s housing CPG (Corporate Planning Group), welcomed the move, but urged caution, citing the University’s track record on providing affordable accommodation to students. “From my own experience as a recent student, I know the pressures that exist on so many students to find accommodation. The University has failed to provide the provision of affordable accommodation with security of tenure up until now so increased action on this is welcome. As this project goes

out to tender, concerns around cost are crucial to ensure good value for money as well as keeping the accommodation as affordable as possible. There is a growing perspective from the local Council that student accommodation is the responsibility of the University and should be built on student grounds, so that increases pressure to ensure this plan is done right”.

Ann Duggan, the Director of Commercial Services at NUI Galway, also welcomed the news. “I think this a good thing from the point of view of students and their families because I think it’s very stressful for parents. Our catchment area for students spreads from Donegal right down to the south to Kerry, but, increasingly, we’re seeing more students coming from the Leinster region as well because Dublin has become so prohibitive”.

Ms Duggan also explained the reasoning behind Goldcrest Village being primarily catered towards first years, “It appears that, for parents, they all want on-campus accommodation for first years because it’s safer and safety is just paramount for them. There are a lot of other private developments happening. The Westwood intend on opening next year and, as well as that, there’s the Bonham development in the docks and the development at the bus station, so it remains to be seen how that will impact. If you’re 21 or 22 trying to finish a degree, it’s a different story to just starting out in college”, she said.

NUI Galway’s Director of Commercial Services noted that the new development is being rolled out

purely to meet demand, stating that, “Your standard three bed semi doesn’t seem to be available as much anymore, the accommodation offices have seen a huge decline in spaces available, so this is aimed at trying to address that need. We opened Goldcrest in 2018, but we were the only Irish university that hadn’t built over the space of 23 years, we hadn’t built at all, whereas all of the others had, so there’s a bit of a catch up there”.

Ms Duggan disputed critics’ claims that current residences are unaffordable and overpriced and put too much focus on luxury, telling SIN, “Bedroom sizes are 12 metres squared including the bathroom.

You couldn’t really make them much smaller. Having 6 to a kitchen, students coming in would prefer smaller. It’s about trying to specify what people need. We’ve looked at doing non-ensuite. In Corrib Village, we have shared bedrooms, they sell for less than €100 a week, but they’re always the last rooms to sell and the ensuite rooms are always the first ones to sell. When we brought it on in 2018, Goldcrest Village cost 25% less than a private sector village that was brought on stream in Galway, and you know yourself what the rates are like in Dublin.

I don’t believe that there’s anything that we could change in the specification here that would make it more economical to build”.

While the new build won’t be coming on stream for another few years, it seems that any news on increased bed spaces for students is welcome news in the current accommodation crisis.

Two NUI Galway students reportedly died while fighting for Islamic militants

By Mark Lynch Two NUI Galway students died while fighting for Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria, The Sunday Times has reported.

The article, which has since been picked up by various other outlets, including The Connacht Tribune, details that Mustapha al-Hayani, a graduate of NUI Galway’s medical programme, and Tariq Mohainuteen, a visiting Malaysian student, were believed to have become radicalised while in Galway. Mr Mohainuteen was at NUI Galway as part of a medical training programme for young students from Malaysia. Galway Bay FM reports that, according to family and other students, Mr Mohainuteen displayed no signs of radicalisation before travelling to Ireland and was a ‘meek’ individual.

According to several publications, Mr Hayani and Mr Mohainuteen travelled together on the same bus from Galway to Dublin Airport in September 2013. Mohainuteen travelled to Turkey,

and then Syria, but was killed weeks later fighting for Islamic State against rival group Al-Nusra. The date and location of Hayani’s death is unknown, but he reportedly flew directly to Iraq, where he was also killed in fighting.

The Sunday Times article also outlines that students who raised concerns about the whereabouts of the two students were allegedly met with a ‘wall of silence’ at NUI Galway. In response, the University has told SIN, “The University does not comment on individual student affairs as a matter of practice. By way of background, there are a range of policies and supports in place for students should they have concerns about any member of the University community, including the missing student protocol and student collaboration programmes such as Seas Suas, which facilitates student to student awareness through active bystander training”.

Since the article’s release, an Imam (Muslim religious leader) by the name of Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri has told The Irish Independent that Gardaí

should investigate groups that have a history of radicalised members and could still be contributing to the radicalisation of members. Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri, who is chair of the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council, said Gardaí should examine the groups and communities that the two students were involved in before they left Ireland. “To what extent was their involvement? Were they official position holders? And if not, were they active members? These are some of the important questions that need to be investigated by Gardaí”.

In the academic year of 2011/12, both students were on the committee of Muslim Youth Soc at NUI Galway. Mustapha Al Hayani was the society’s vice-auditor, while Muhammad Tariq Haja Mohainuteen was its liaison officer. This is the last academic year in which there are any records of Muslim Youth Soc. In the academic year of 2012/13, NUI Galway Islamic Society came into being as the only society at the University that represents the religion of Islam. The two men also held positions

on the committee of NUI Galway Islamic Society for this academic year. Muhammad Tariq Haja Mohainuteen was the vice-auditor, while Mustapha Al Hayani was the events co-ordinator.

In response to the article, the society released a statement condemning all acts of terrorism and criticising misrepresentation by media. “NUIG ISOC strongly condemns all forms of terrorism, regardless of the perpetrators’ race or faith. We condemn the atrocities that have been performed by ISIS, alongside those who are affiliated with that group”. It goes on to say, “A recent article has emerged about two former NUIG students who joined ISIS in 2013.

We at NUIG ISOC would like to clarify, we have no records of past students’ activities and are unsure how the newspaper was able to obtain and confirm such information. We live in a diverse society where dialogue and understanding lies at the heart of our pluralism, however, with such gross misinterpretation by the press, it causes us great concern for the safety and harmony of our wider Irish community”.

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SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

INSIDE

Arts in Action launches events programme for 2019-2020 4 SU Christmas Day unlikely to be revived this year 5 Minceir Whiden Society makes history for Travellers at NUI Galway 6 2019 Macnas Parade wreaks havoc on Galway’s streets 7 Women’s Aid campaign offers guidance to young women experiencing abuse and harassment 8 Erasmus Diary 9 Irish Blood Transfusion Service seeks fresh blood 10 Dialann Gaeltachta 11 Surjury TV show condemned as “real life Black Mirror” 12 The Fear of Finishing College 14 Is there a sense of hierarchy between certain counties? 15 Your body on pizza 16 Is having a pet in a student house a good idea? 17 Foodie diaries: Almost-vegan chickpea curry 18 Jennifer Aniston and the power of Instagram 19 Beauty Brand Review: MARIO BADESCU 20 Styled by the Show – American Horror Story 21 How to avoid mid-semester burnout 22 What’s on in Galway? 24 An ode to Frank Ocean 25 Theatre review: The Effect 26 Surprising revelations– greatest twist endings ever 27 Should the Rugby World Cup have been held in Japan? 28 Republic of Ireland in dire need of Stephen Kenny as soon as possible 29 Club Spotlight – NUI Galway Ultimate Frisbee Club 30 Competition: WIN €25 SU CARD CREDIT* 31

Good morning/afternoon/evening/ night to all of you lovely readers of SIN. Thanks for picking up this week’s issue, or thanks for taking an issue from me in person. I say it quite a bit, but it genuinely makes all of the work we do so worthwhile when we see the impact we have as a student newspaper, just through the engagement we get with our readers, the students of NUI Galway.

In this issue, we have some incredible stories, both on and off campus.

First, there was the announcement of 674 new beds for the NUI Galway campus. While these won’t be available to students for another few years, it’s refreshing to see that the University are aware of the worrying shortage of accommodation for its students and are taking action to alleviate the problem. Some of the prices that students pay just so they can attend university, whether it’s in Galway, Dublin, Cork or elsewhere, is disheartening for anyone who may want to pursue third level education in the future.

Likewise, the conditions of some of

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extremely entertaining half-satirical/ half-completely true commentary on our various county pride complexes.

Whether you hail from the Pale, or get the ferry from Kerry, this is going to resonate with you. Aaron Deering also gives us a detailed account of the latest on Brexit, as Boris decides that a general election will cure what ails the UK. As well as that, our latest instalment of the Foodie Diaries with Isabel Dwyer will inspire even the least reluctant chefs among us to get cracking with some cooking.

Don’t forget to have a go at our Crossword Competition inside the back cover for your chance to win €25 SU Card credit! In the meantime, sit back, relax and keep reading!

Statin benefits called into question in landmark NUI Galway study

By Paddy Henry

EDITOR: Mark Lynch editor.sin@gmail.com LAYOUT: Shannon Reeves

the places that students must inhabit, simply because of the supply/demand complex, are appalling.

Off campus, there was the remarkable story, which The Sunday Times broke, wherein two NUI Galway students, supposedly radicalised here in Galway, left Ireland to fight for Islamic militants. While it’s a worrying story in its own right, its potentially polarising ramifications are also a concern.

There is now a need for balance between proper investigation into how this could have happened here in Galway, while not infringing on anyone’s right to privacy or freedom of expression. One would have to assume we have not heard the last about this story.

Elsewhere in this issue, we have more riveting diary pieces in the features section. In the same section, Blathnaid O’Dea has a fascinating look at the recent blood donation drive at the Clybaun Hotel, which is a must-read for anyone who has never donated blood. In the opinion section, Katie Barragry has an

Research conducted by NUI Galway has found that there are uncertainties around the benefits and risks of statin use.

Statins are among the most commonly used drugs in Ireland. They were originally intended for patients with a history of cardiovascular disease, but are now commonly used by people with no prior disease, to prevent cardiovascular disease in the future.

This ground-breaking discovery was the product of a five-year study on statin use, led by Dr Paula Byrne and Dr John Cullinan of the J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics at NUI Galway, along with Professor Susan M Smith from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland. Their research has been published in the British Medical Journal.

To date, most studies have not differentiated between the impact of statins in those with and without cardiovascular disease, which makes it difficult for doctors to support patients when making decisions about taking statins.

This new research explores the deficiencies in the available evidence. It shows that considerable uncertainty remains about the benefits of their use for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and that the effects of statins in certain groups, such as women and

the elderly, may differ from effects in middle aged men. In addition, the absolute benefits from statins for low-risk patients can be very small and patients may consider that they do not justify taking a daily medication for the risk of adverse effects.

Currently, almost two thirds of Irish adults over the age of 50 without a history of cardiovascular problems are able to access statins, despite questions marks surrounding the benefits of taking the cholesterol lowering medication.

The research shows that for lower risk categories, many people may need to be treated to prevent one serious cardiovascular event. The authors also highlight that much of the data on the side effects of statins remains unavailable for independent analysis and have called for better data on both the benefits and harms of statins, in particular for low-risk populations, in order to better facilitate shared decision making.

Lead author of the study, Dr Paula Byrne, called on the medical profession and society to change their attitude around statin use, arguing, “Some patients may achieve very small reductions in risk of cardiovascular disease by taking statins. As a result, the individual patient and their doctor need to consider if these reductions justify taking a medication daily and the risk of

side effects. From a societal perspective, we need to ask whether or not statin use in such low-risk people represents value for money in the health sector”.

Co-author of the study, Dr John Cullinan, spoke of the problems that overuse of medicines, such as statins, cause at a budgetary level and called for a change at policymaking level, stating, “In the context of overstretched healthcare budgets, the concept of overuse of medicines and low-value care should become integral to policymaking and reimbursement. We have highlighted one area of drug spending that warrants more careful consideration and would urge those responsible for the implementation of health policy and Sláintecare to seriously consider and deal with areas of potentially wasteful spending”.

Susan Smith from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and co-author in the study, also called on the medical profession to employ more evidence-based thinking and provide clarity to patients when it comes to statin use. “Given the on-going debate on the appropriateness of statin use in primary prevention, it is significant that the evidence to support this use is so limited, particularly for women. Doctors need more evidence on the benefits and harms of statins in low-risk individuals to support shared decision making with patients”.

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November 05 2019

NEWS EDITORIAL Hello again! SIN issue 5 is here! With it comes winter and it has really come in thick and fast.

With the clocks having gone back only two weeks ago, those warm summer days sitting down by the Spanish Arch seem a world away now. Instead, we have the premature Christmas hype with Brown Thomas decorated with dainty baubles and festive robins, with Hallowe’en not even cold in the ground. Luckily for you, you have SIN issue 5 to keep you sane amid all the madness out there in the freezing cold.

This issue features lots of great news stories and I would like to thank all the news writers that contributed to issue 5. This time of year is never easy with assignments, so, for you guys to continue contributing to SIN during this busy time really is a testament to your work ethic and commitment to Irelan’s best Student Newspaper.

In this issue, Rachel Garvey reports from the spooky, yet brilliant, Macnas Parade. Owen Kennedy gives us the lowdown from the brilliant Vodafone Comedy Carnival, which saw thousands flock to the streets in search of a good belly laugh. Blaithnaid O’Dea brings us a story from the launch of the Arts in Action Programme in the college recently, which was opened by the iconic Christy Moore. I bring the big news that a new student accommodation complex is set to be opened in the coming years in NUI Galway, featuring words from Cllr Owen Hanley and Clare Austick, while Mark Lynch tells the fascinating story of the NUI Galway students who fled the country to fight for the so-called Islamic State.

Mark also brings of the latest on whether the NUI Galway Students’ Union Charity Christmas Day will go ahead this year, following its controversial cancellation last year. On top of all that, there are loads more stories inside, including the news of ground-breaking research conducted by the college on the benefits of the use of statins in modern medicine and a story of the University Academic who has received a Distinguished Alumni Award by the Mayo Clinic.

As always, if you want to contribute to SIN or have a story that you feels needs to be told, send me on an email at deputy.sined@gmail. com. We’re always looking for people to give a hand and we would be delighted to have you.

Amy Blaney also takes a look at the disturbing implications of a new reality TV show that offers free plastic surgery to its successful participants.

If you are one of the many people out there who enjoys ripping into celebrities such as Meghan Markle and Greta Thunberg, have you ever wondered why that is? Roisin Mc Manus’ excellent article provides a thought-provoking insight on why we get such a kick out of hating on celebrities. A Waterford Bishop has also received a lot of hate recently after condemning the teaching of yoga and mindfulness in primary schools, which Darragh Nolan explains in his article about the Catholic Church’s relevance in the current education system.

In short, there’s a whole lot to sink your teeth into in the upcoming pages, so get to it!

OPINION EDITORIAL

By Anastasia Burton Hi, all! It’s your girl, the opinion editor! Isn’t it mad that this semester is almost over? It feels like only yesterday October started and we still had, like, two more months to go and lots more articles to write!

Either way, no reason to dwell on the passing of time. Instead, let’s focus on all the fun articles we have prepared for you this issue!

Issue 5 has been a very mixed issue, with different and fresh article ideas sent to my department!

This issue might make you more aware of what you are eating and how it might affect your health. Also, have you heard about Boris Johnson and his Brexit deal? Are you curious about what others think about this deal? Then come right over here, we’ve got a very juicy opinion piece on the topic!

Are you afraid of your life after college or feeling pressured to have your entire life planned out before you? Don’t stress so much! We’ve got the same fears and worries, so don’t worry, and pop over to our section and let’s ease our minds together.

Relating to the previous topic, are we all pressured to attend college in order to get a good

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job? Many have done well without it, however, it is important to have an education under your belt! Or is it? Find out on the pages of the opinion section.

Is there a difference between being from Dublin or Limerick? Cork or Donegal? Apart from our accents, we’re not that different, but is there still a sense of hierarchy between the counties in Ireland?

Many of us associate going out with drinking, partying and dancing. Is there really nothing else for us to do in Galway City? Thankfully, this assumption is said to be false in one of our articles in the opinion section, so why not give it a wee look? Maybe you’ll find something new to do with your mates around our beautiful city!

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT EDITORIAL

By Sarah Gill November has landed and it’s well and truly winter. That familiar chill in the air we’ve been trying to ignore is here to stay and the only option is to get used to it. Cosy jumpers, thermal jackets and an abundance of hot chocolate are the only things that will save us now. Making up the Arts and Entertainment section this time around, we’ve got our usual colourful array of articles, from short stories and exquisitely crafted poetry, to a brilliant book review and the low-down on what’s going on around the city for the coming two weeks. Also appearing throughout the pages of SIN is a great reflective on Spider-Man 3 and a fantastic retrospective piece on Frank Ocean, in light of his latest release. What I love most about this section is the variety of articles that are poured into it by the exceptional and ever-expanding team of writers. Thought-provoking pop culture pieces or artful pieces of creative writing, it’s always a mixed bag of excellent writing. I urge each person reading this to take note of everyone’s byline, because, in many cases, these are

the writers whose words you will be reading way down the line. If you’d like to join their ranks, I for one - am always eager to get some new blood into SIN. If you’ve got an idea or you’d just like to brainstorm, shoot me an email at artsentertainment.sined@gmail.com

SPORTS EDITORIAL

By Darren Casserly Hello again, everyone, and welcome to the latest issue of SIN. Now that Halloween is over and done with, Christmas exams don’t look too far away, but, for now, you can distract yourself with the array of articles on offer in this issue’s sport section.

Darragh Nolan covers how Lebron James has damaged his off-court legacy. Also, following Andy Murray’s inspirational first tournament victory since coming out of retirement, Darragh looks at what some of the other greatest sporting comebacks in history are, including the likes of George Foreman, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.

In the world of rugby, Owen Kennedy writes about where the Irish rugby team go following their premature exit from the World Cup, as well as the departure of both Joe Schmidt and Rory Best. Following the cancellation of several Rugby World Cup games due to weather concerns, I take a look at the growing trend of hosting major sporting in countries that are unable to cope with the stress of major events.

In the soccer section, Aaron Deering talks about racism against players, like in the recent England versus Bulgaria game. Aaron also looks into the underwhelming reign that Mick McCarthy has had at the helm of the Irish national side and what Stephen Kenny can bring to the table when he takes over at the helm.

Finally, we have Alice O’Donnell giving us a guide on NUI Galway’s ultimate frisbee club – an increasingly popular sport that is also one of NUI Galway’s most successful sports teams.

As always, I would like to thank all the writers for their contributions and if you want to write for the paper, or just have an idea for a story, you can contact me at sport.sined@gmail.com.

FEATURES EDITORIAL

By Shauna McHugh Hello, everyone, Welcome to Issue 5 of SIN. Thank you for picking up a copy of this newspaper, now sit back and read on as we make it worth your while!

As always, the contributors have blessed the features section this week with a little bit of something for everyone. Our four regular columnists are back with the latest update on their respective diaries. Mature student Jody Moylan has plenty to teach you in his history-themed diary, and I’d wager it’s a bit more interesting than a lot of history lectures. Meanwhile, Fiona Lee shares her most recent adventures with us from the University of Ottawa. As our first year columnist finishes submitting her first ever university midterm assignments, someone who is all too familiar with them is our final year comedienne, Sadhbh Hendrick.

Blathnaid O’Dea also has an excellent piece on page 10, as she gives us an inside look at the process of donating blood. I’m deathly afraid of not great with needles, and even I am considering donating after giving it a read, as we all should be. Speaking of needles, in this issue

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Galway’s annual Macnas parade delighted crowds with its colour and imagination. SEE PAGE 7

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SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

Arts in Action launches events programme for 2019-2020

By Blathnaid O’Dea Arts in Action, the University’s student arts engagement scheme, has launched its programme of events for this academic year.

The official launch took place last month and it coincided with the University’s annual Jean Ritchie Lecture. This year’s lecture was given by folk legend Christy Moore, who spoke to students about his lifelong research of song material, his songwriting influences, and his career as one of Ireland’s best-loved folk musicians. Arts in Action is celebrating its ninth year and students are strongly encouraged to attend its free weekly lunchtime events, many of which will have a folk theme.

“This year’s Arts in Action programme is especially wonderful!” said NUI Galway President, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh.

He continued, “Strands which stand out include an emphasis on folk music of England, Scotland and Wales, highlighting the bonds which link us to our nearest neighbours. The special focus on the culture of Aran and the Blasket Islands showcase these unique places in the Irish cultural cannon and our physical landscape. 2020 is a special year in our city, when the eyes of the world will look to Galway as European Capital of Culture. It is fitting then in the coming year that some of Ireland’s foremost artists join us to celebrate and acknowledge the Creative Arts in an academic setting”.

“NUI Galway has always played a part in nurturing artistic creativity. From this campus some of Ireland’s most significant cultural organisations and initiatives have begun and flourished - among these, Druid Theatre Company, An Taibhdhearc, Macnas, Music for Galway, and Galway International Arts Festival - each founded and sustained by students and members of the University community. We are determined that our students will continue to have opportunities to access the cultural richness of our region”, the President wrote in the programme’s foreword.

Traditional Irish music and folk culture feature prominently in this year’s programme, and most events are centred around the theme of Ireland’s landscape, heritage, and language, and how these are informed by our island status. These themes are timely, especially considering the country as an island in these uncertain times of Brexit and the possible return to a hard border.

Students and staff alike can look forward to a variety of free events featuring local and visiting artists.

“What has always been important to NUI Galway is the natural connection that exists between the creative arts and the existing academic structures, providing students with access to continuous high-end international and professional arts in all genres, which also creates credit-bearing opportunities in academic modules. This

Bank of Ireland officially celebrated 40 years on campus in conjunction with launching its recently refurbished branch and pictured were students and staff of both BOI and NUI Galway attending the official opening with Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, President of NUI Galway.

year’s programme also reflects the growing collaboration between NUI Galway and the many local and national arts organisations, bringing rich and rewarding performances to the students and staff on a weekly basis”, said Arts in Action’s Artistic Director and Producer, Mary McPartlan.

Arts in Action has teamed up with local Irish language theatre, An Taibhdhearc, to present a Celebration of the Blasket Islands and Airnean Arann, which will celebrate playwright J.M Synge’s relationship with the Aran Islands.

Academic and poet, Dr. Lillis O Laoire, and James Hardiman Library archivist, Dr. Barry Houlihan, have sourced Irish language poems and images of the three Aran islands from the library’s archive to complement the programme.

Young Clarenbridge accordion player Conor Connolly will play, along with some guests, as part of Arts in Action’s ongoing partnership with TG4’s Molscéal.

There will be an opportunity for students on the new MA in Producing and Curation programme to organise an event in the second semester. They will present material from the special archives of the James Hardiman Library and they will work closely with Arts in Action Producer and Artistic Director Mary McPartlan.

In January 2020, the University will host a European Capital of Culture Seminar, curated by Dr Catherine Morris and Mary Mc Partlan, bringing together a panel of artists, cultural practitioners, teachers and students to explore the dynamic role of arts and culture in university education. The event will discuss how creativity features across the curriculum, how artistic practice can be taught, and how to assess artistic creativity in the humanities.

Other highlights include: comedian and actor Tommy Tiernan in conversation with Vincent Woods, a play by Daniel Reardon in association with the Irish Theatre Institute, a series of concerts featuring Irish and international classical musicians in collaboration with Music for Galway, as well as concerts from renowned Irish trad musicians, such as world class fiddle player Martin Hayes, renowned uilleann piper, Paddy Keenan, composers and instrumentalists, Ulaid, and a concert of harp music with harpists Laoise Kelly, Grainne Hambly, and Kathleen Loughnane.

Irish folk legend Christy Moore performs at NUI Galway’s Arts in Action 20192020 Programme launch in the O’Donoghue Centre. Photo: Aengus McMahon

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November 05 2019

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SU Christmas Day unlikely to be revived this year

By Mark Lynch The NUI Galway Students’ Union hasn’t had any contact with the University regarding an official SU Christmas Day, meaning it’s unlikely one will go ahead this year.

The SU Charity Christmas Day last took place in November 2017, when the traditional event at Sult became ticketed with a restricted capacity, due to safety concerns. In previous years, students queued as early as 8am outside the student bar to gain entry for the day-long event. Last year, the University cancelled the event altogether, meaning there were no official SU Charity Christmas events on campus.

Students’ Union President, Clare Austick, who was also on the SU Executive Committee last year, explained the reasons why it was cancelled. “I think it was because it got very busy and a bit out of hand.

I think there were concerns of some serious damage being done to students and their well-being.

Over the years, it kept getting bigger, more people were drinking throughout the day. So, I think it was more about student well-being, making sure that students were safe on campus”.

Last year, in November 2018, while there was no official SU Christmas Day on campus, many

students descended on pubs in the city of Galway throughout the day instead of staying on campus.

Photos of students camped outside the Hole in the Wall bar on Eyre Street from the early morning went viral on social media. While the behaviour of students in the city on that day was criticised by some, Ms Austick doesn’t feel the University should take responsibility for this. “I think they (the University) should have a message of ‘mind yourselves, be careful’, from a harm reduction point of view, but I’m not sure how much damage is caused. Is it bringing it all into town, or is it diluting it because people are in different pubs rather than the one place?”

The SU Christmas Day used to bring in vast amounts of money for charity, yet students are drinking to the same extent regardless of the cancellation of any official, on-campus event. The SU President feels that, while the yearly amount raised for charity has been seriously depleted by the lack of an official Christmas Day, the fundraising aspect had begun to become lost on some students. “It used to make €10,000 for charities. To compare, in 2017/18, we (the Students’ Union) made €20,000.

Last year, we made €11,000 for charities, so a huge amount of money was made for charities on that

day”. She continued, “Last year, we didn’t have any Christmas Day on campus, but we had Christmas jumper night in Electric. Any money raised that day would have been given to the 2 charities. I’m not sure how aware students are of the spirit or ethos of Christmas Day that was there in the past, so, if we were to do anything this year, I would put a focus on the charity element of things”.

This year, the pubs and nightclubs of Galway have taken the initiative in capitalising on the lack of an official SU Christmas Day. An unofficial Christmas Day has manifested for Thursday November 14th, with Electric announcing an event called “Student Christmas Day” for that night. Manager of Hole in the Wall, Darragh Murphy, has told SIN, “Regarding the 14th, we will be preparing for a big crowd and I’m sure we will have something on the night!”.

November 14th also coincides with Graduation Week at NUI Galway, with all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the College of Science due to confer that day. In order to avoid any disruption to that event, Clare Austick says, if the Students’ Union do hold any events to mark a student Christmas Day, it won’t be on that date. “The whole meaning and spirit behind Christmas Day

The SU Charity Christmas Day last took place in November 2017, when the traditional event at Sult became ticketed with a restricted capacity, due to safety concerns. In previous years, students queued as early as 8am outside the student bar to gain entry for the day-long event. is great, you know, raising money for charity, but what has happened and how it’s existing today isn’t necessarily how it was when it started. Graduation Week is so important to so many students, who have graduated after 4 (or more) years of studying, so I probably wouldn’t advise having it on campus during that week, but the week before or after, I definitely would be for (having an on-campus event). I have a meeting with the University President next week, I’ll mention it to him then”.

SIN has reached out to the University for a comment, but it has not responded at the time of going to print.

NUI Galway spin-off firm nominated for prestigious award

By Paddy Henry NUI Galway have received two nominations at the fourth annual Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI) Impact Awards.

Last month, KTI, a business and research support company, released shortlists for their prestigious Impact Award and Achiever of the Year Award. Neurent Medical, an NUI Galway spin-out programme, is among the nominees on a 12 strong shortlist for the prestigious Impact Award, which recognises significant achievements in knowledge transfer and the commercialisation of research carried out in Irish higher education institutions and publicly funded research organisations nationwide.

Neurent Medical specialises in revolutionary treatments for ear, nose and throat conditions, such as rhinitis, and grew out of the Bioinnovate Ireland programme at the University.

The University has fared well at these awards in recent years, picking up 3 nominations last year Initiatives from many of Ireland’s top universities are also nominated, with University College Dublin featuring on the shortlist four times. Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, Dublin City University, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Dundalk Institute of Technology are also among the nominees in the various categories.

The Impact awards will be given out over 5 categories; the Collaborative Research Impact Award, the Consultancy Impact Award, the Licence2Market Impact Award, the Spin-out Company Award and the Knowledge Transfer Achiever of the Year Award.

The Oranmore-based firm’s nomination follows on from other recent successes for the company, with founder Brian Shields scooping Enterprise Ireland’s Founder of The Year Award in June, in recognition of his commitment to building a world class company of the future.

Along with Neurent Medical’s nomination, a member of the University’s technology transfer office has also been nominated for the Achiever of the Year Award.

Entries were evaluated by a panel of international experts and submissions were judged according to criteria such as: the level of the impact delivered, the clarity and succinctness of the entry, the persuasiveness of the submission in outlining what it has achieved and why it is relevant to the category at hand, and the role that the local technology transfer office played in the activity.

The awards will take place in Dublin on the 21st of November in the Alex Hotel.

KTI director Alison Campbell spoke of the significance of these awards: “This is the 4th year that we have held the KTI Impact Awards, and each year it’s an opportunity to showcase the best practice knowledge transfer that is taking place in Ireland. Our Annual Knowledge Transfer Survey, published earlier in the summer, underlined the strength and performance of the knowledge transfer system in Ireland, and the value that businesses place on it. As Chair of the Judging Panel, I would like to congratulate the shortlisted entries and what they have achieved. I would also like to recognise the work that takes place in TTO’s (Technology Transfer Offices) all around the country. The calibre of shortlisted entries we see this year is testament to the work that these offices do”.

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6 NEWS & F E ATU R ES

Revised planning application launched for Newcastle Community Centre

By Keith Faherty A revised application for planning has been lodged for a community centre in Newcastle, Galway City. Regular committee meetings took place to develop the final plans, which were sent to the City Council.

Committee Chairman Seamus Davey observed that the community centre would be beneficial to the residents of Newcastle and the surrounding area of Galway City, which involves individuals of all ages, and community groups. They will have access to meeting spaces, advice, information, guidance and social activities. The committee has been planning for this for some time, working with Galway City Council to put this service in place.

The committee signed a long-term lease with Galway City Council to acquire the site back in 2010. Planning permission was granted by Galway City Council in 2015 to construct facilities, such as a sports hall, meeting rooms, tennis courts and car parking.

Semeus Davey said, “Planning permission was discussed with CEO Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath, to review plans, approved at this stage”. The updated plans have an estimated budget of €2.5 for the development of this centre. This includes the development of the centre, plus the external of facilities - Astro turf, children’s play area and landscaped gardens.

He announced that the activities for this community centre would be beneficial on all estates in the locality.

These estates include Bushy Park Lawn, Dangan Heights, Fairlands Park, Hazel Park and many others.

The committee came up with the idea of carrying out a survey for the locality, to get their thoughts and preferences on activities for the centre. The committee received feedback from the survey carried out earlier in the year, which showed that everyone was on board with getting the community centre developed.

Mr. Davey said, “Feedback that we received has assisted us in enhancing the original plan, as new plans were sent to the Galway City Council three weeks ago, which will hopefully be approved by the end of the year. We hope to hear back from the City Council in six weeks if we have the go ahead”.

He suggested that for funding to happen, they would want the back support of other departments and associations, such as the Department of Housing, Urban Regeneration and Development Fund and the Department of Rural and Community Development.

For the process to be completed, they are exploring opportunities for collaboration with NUI Galway, Croí and other institutions in this area, in order to enable the centre to service the needs of residents and institutions in the locality.

The theme for the community centre development is health and wellness. The committee wishes to prioritise the physical and mental health and wellness in all age groups, from the cradle to the grave, in all activities to be carried out in the centre.

SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

Minceir Whiden Society makes history for Travellers at NUI Galway

By Mark Lynch NUI Galway is home to the first Traveller student society in an Irish university. The Minceir Whiden Society is a society set up by Traveller students, for Traveller students, and for settled students who want to learn more about the culture.

Auditor of the Minceir Whiden Society, Jason Sherlock, explained to SIN how the idea first came into being. “We felt that the Travelling community needed a space on campus where we could be ourselves, free from prejudice and discrimination. We feel a lot of Travellers hide their identity during their time at university and by setting up the society, we hope to change that and let all Travellers know that they can still be themselves in NUI Galway”. Following on from the designation of NUI Galway as a University of Sanctuary, this could be seen as another step in the direction of active inclusion of minorities, specifically Travellers, whose representation at the highest level has seen massive growth in recent times, notably through Dr. Sindy Joyce,

down Travellers. Social media has given people a platform to be racist to Travellers and other ethnic minorities”.

Ríona Hughes, Societies Officer here at NUI Galway, welcomed the groundbreaking move, stating, “As Societies Officer in NUI Galway, I embrace the wide range of societies and the diversity and inclusivity they represent. I am therefore

Traveller Community during their time as a student in the university. It’s also to break down barriers and build bridges with the settled students and other minority groups that are studying at NUI Galway. It is also a space that is inclusive to all students on campus that want to learn about Traveller culture. Minceir Whiden is a space that Travellers can come

Following on from the designation of NUI Galway as a University of Sanctuary, this could be seen as another step in the direction of active inclusion of minorities, specifically Travellers, whose representation at the highest level has seen massive growth in recent times, notably through Dr. Sindy Joyce, who became the first traveller to graduate with a PhD in Ireland back in January of this year. who became the first traveller to graduate with a PhD in Ireland back in January of this year. Despite the increase in travellers in third level in general, Jason feels setting up this society was important to break down the stereotypes that still exist, which, often, can come from a lack of knowledge. “We think this is extremely important because not many people know what Traveller/nomadic culture is. We think this often leads to a bias, mainly portrayed by the media or racist politicians publicly running

delighted that NUI Galway Societies are the first in Ireland to include a society representing the growing number of the Travelling community in third level and the rich culture they represent and I look forward to working with the Mincer Whiden Society and seeing it flourish on our campus”.

Regarding the concrete aims and objectives of the society, Jason has a very clear message; “The aims of the society are to promote Traveller equality, rights and the unambiguous inclusion of members of the

and be themselves without being judged”.

The Minceir Whiden Society will also work closely with the Galway Traveller Movement (GTM), who recently blasted the “sub-standard conditions on Traveller halting sites and group housing schemes in Galway City and county”. The society says it feels that substandard living conditions for Travellers are preventing Travellers from progressing to third level education, adding that, while it doesn’t believe the University has any responsibil-

ity in the matter, “It would be great if the university supported the GTM to put pressure on the council to spend the funds that have been awarded for Traveller accommodation. We feel it is up to the councils to spend the money they have been awarded for Traveller-specific accommodation. Local councils are failing to provide accommodation for Travellers, and we feel this is having an adverse effect on Traveller’s mental health and educational needs”.

As the first Traveller society in an Irish university, the Minceir Whiden Society is something of a trailblazer for Travellers in third level education. Jason Sherlock says it feels good to be part of it, but this is a movement that needs to be built on. “It feels good but we know we have a lot of work to do. We are the first Traveller student society in an Irish university.

We want to do things right and we hope we achieve our goals.

We also hope to inspire other Travellers to set up Travellers societies in their university/ third level institution. ” He continued, “Knowing that Mincéir Whiden is a society set up by traveller students, it might also make NUI Galway feel more welcoming to travellers that want to go on to third level education. Hopefully other colleges throughout Ireland might follow suit and make their colleges more welcoming to travellers and other ethnic minorities”.

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2019 Macnas Parade wreaks havoc on Galway’s streets

By Rachel Garvey The Annual Halloween Macnas Parade, which celebrates its 33rd Anniversary this year, has managed to keep its promise of wreaking havoc once again on the streets of Galway.

The event commenced on Sunday 27th October 2019 at 5:30pm from NUI Galway and included performers from various groups, such as Macnas Young Ensemble, Youth Ballet West, the Macnas Youth Drummers, the Hit Machine and the Public Participation Programme.

In preparation for the event, the city experienced a few alterations, with barriers being put in place, as well as volunteers directing traffic and keeping the public out of harm’s way as traffic was being cleared.

As Ireland’s largest free Halloween event, it drew crowds of an estimated 70,000 people to the city centre, who were all eager to get a taste of this year’s Macnas Parade, with people flocking to the streets as early as 4pm to get a good viewpoint for the parade.

Crowds of people stretched in a never-ending line down University Road, Eglington Street, Shop Street, Latin Quarter and Father Griffin Road where the parade ended. Children and adults dressed for the occasion, with some wearing scary make-up and fake blood, while others aimed to impress with their costumes.

Macnas’s theme this year was “Danse Macabre”. The event kicked off at NUI Galway with a creation of a boy called Conor, as he took the audience through a journey with the ‘Guardians of the Unpredictable’.

The Halloween event lived up to its expectations, bringing the strange and mesmerising to Galway city as they had promised.

Residents and visitors were awestruck by Macna’s giant creations, sculptural images, epic perfor-

mances and unique costumes.

The event was not just enjoyable for the young children, who were beaming with excitement to experience Macnas, but older adults too. SIN spoke to parents and students who were at the event with one parent saying, “It is fabulous, just fabulous. The amount of creativity that goes into this parade is mind-blowing”.

“We have been standing here since 4:30pm to secure our spot, it’ll be interesting to see what this year’s parade will have to offer” another parent shared with SIN, while a young couple expressed their excitement by saying, “We dress up for this every year, we never miss it”.

As the clocks went back at 2am on Sunday 27th October, the days sunlight bleeds out of the daytime skies that little bit earlier, with darkness rolling in during the late afternoon.

Darkness started falling around 4:30pm, an hour before the parade kicked off, which only gave the parade an added bonus to highlight the strangeness and spookiness of it all. The night sky illuminated the colour scheme of the costumes and the mesmerising work which the performers demonstrated with coloured flames of fire. The event proved another successful one and left those in attendance eagerly anticipating Macnas 2020.

NUI Galway Academic receives Mayo Clinic Distinguished Alumni Award

By Mark Lynch Professor Timothy O’Brien, Dean of the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at NUI Galway, has received the Mayo Clinic Distinguished Alumni Award. The award was established by the Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees in 1981 to acknowledge and show appreciation for exceptional contributions of Mayo Clinic alumni to the field of medicine.

Professor O’Brien, also a Consultant Endocrinologist at Galway University Hospital, is an internationally recognised clinician-scientist with expertise in regenerative medicine applied to the treatment of diabetes complications. It’s been remarked that he has influenced a generation of Irish clinicians and scientists.

A native of Cork, Professor O’ Brien received a PhD in medicine and a medical degree from University College Cork. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship as a Mayo Clinic Scholar at the

Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease in San Francisco, and a fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education in Rochester. He completed internal medicine residency at Cork University Hospital.

During his Mayo Foundation Scholarship at the Gladstone Institute at the University of California, Professor O’Brien developed expertise in gene therapy. He then established one of the first gene therapy laboratories at Mayo Clinic and published internationally recognised studies, which explored the role of nitric oxide synthase in modulating the vascular endothelium.

His major scientific contributions at NUI Galway have been delivering first-in-man studies of mesenchymal stem cell-derived regenerative medicine therapies for diabetes complications, including diabetic nephropathy and critical limb ischemia. He has coordinated two multina-

tional consortia, REDDSTAR and NEPHSTROM, funded by the European Commission. Professor O’Brien has also contributed significantly to the local Galway economy through collaborations with medical device companies and start-ups, as a result of his research activity.

Professor O’Brien is on the governing body of NUI Galway and executive management team of the Saolta University Health Care Group, one of six hospital groups in Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE). With these leadership roles, he has influenced and shaped the direction

of higher education and health care sectors, both regionally and nationally. Under his leadership, the NUI Galway campus has seen the construction of new buildings dedicated to biomedical science, medical education, clinical research and stem cell manufacturing.

Furthermore, his links with Mayo Clinic help trainees from NUI Galway and Galway University Hospitals to spend time at Mayo Clinic and for Mayo faculty to spend time in the University and hospital in Galway. He is also a director of the Regenerative Medicine Institute at NUI Galway and is lead endocrinologist at Saolta University Health Care Group and co-director of CÚRAM, the SFI Centre for Research in Medical Devices at NUI Galway.

In addition to these responsibilities, Professor O’Brien has a major teaching commitment to the School of Medicine at NUI Galway and was twice awarded the Pat McHugh Medal for Best Consultant Teacher. He maintains a busy clinical practice in general internal medicine, diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism. He established a Bariatric Medicine Clinic in Galway University Hospitals, one of only two such centres in Ireland.

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SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

Women’s Aid campaign offers guidance to young women experiencing abuse and harassment

By Mark Lynch A Women’s Aid campaign is offering guidance to young women experiencing dating abuse and cyber harassment.

Women’s Aid, a national organisation providing support and information to women experiencing domestic violence and dating abuse since 1974, has launched its #TooIntoYou campaign. The campaign focuses on abuse in dating relationships that many young women may be experiencing and signposts key danger signs of dating abuse.

At the beginning of 2019, new laws brought under the Domestic Violence Act 2018 mean that women experiencing abuse in dating relationships can now apply for Safety and Protection orders. However, Women’s Aid believe that many young women are still unaware of the change or how to go about getting the protection they need. In a national survey on domestic abuse carried out by the National Crime Council in 2005, almost 60% of people who had experienced severe abuse in intimate relationships experienced the abuse for the first time under the age of 25. In an EU-wide survey carried out

by the Fundamental Rights Agency in 2014, 39% of young women (aged 18-29) in Ireland had experienced emotional abuse by a boyfriend or partner.

The #TooIntoYou campaign directs young women who may have concerns about their relationship to the website toointoyou.ie. This website is a vital source of information for young women, as it helps them to spot the 10 key danger signs of dating abuse, take a relationship health check, provides information to combat online stalking and digital abuse and shares young women’s stories. A young woman using these tools may recognise there’s a chance that her partner is too controlling and that her relationship is not healthy.

Women’s Aid is hearing from women using their services about various forms of stalking where technology is being used by abusive boyfriends and ex-boyfriends to monitor and control young women.

Sarah Benson, CEO of Women’s Aid says, “For 45 years, Women’s Aid has supported many thousands of women experiencing domestic violence, and, while harassment/stalking has always been one of the forms of abuse that

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women reported to us, with the development of information and communications technology, new forms of harassment have become common and we increasingly hear about cyber-harassment/stalking and image based sexual abuse”.

Ms Benson continued, “In our experience women who are victims of partner harassment often experience a mix of “traditional” and cyber-harassment, which may target the woman directly and/or indirectly. for example he may follow and watch her, access and modify her on-line data, post graphic and humiliating lies and/or intimate images on the internet without consent, make threatening communications of various types (letters, sms; phone calls, posts), or install spyware on her personal electronic devices”.

Women’s Aid heard 20,722 disclosures of domestic abuse against women and children in 2018, while there were 19,089 contacts with Women’s Aid direct services in the same year.

According to the organisation, “The most common form of cyber-harassment we hear about are harmful untrue rumours being spread about women both personally and professionally, sexually explicit/pornographic pictures of them uploaded both on Facebook and the internet more generally, and advertising them as escorts without their consent or knowledge. Women’s Aid welcomes the current joint Oireachtas justice committee hearings on online harassment and harmful communications which Women’s Aid made a submission to. However, urgent action is needed and this must happen now”.

Ms Benson added, “Abusers also use the internet and mobile phones to monitor where a woman is, what she does and whom she meets, at times even resorting to specific software pack-

ages to spy on the victim and find out about internet and bank account passwords or her whereabouts. Consequences for victims can be very severe both psychologically and practically.

At the time their physical safety may be seriously imperilled. Women need full protection urgently from this insidious and harmful abuse”.

Ambassador for the campaign, Bláthnaid Treacy, RTÉ TV and radio presenter, encourages every young woman to give the quiz a go.

“The dating landscape has changed a lot, even in just the last few years and Women’s Aid has adapted too with the #TooIntoYou campaign. I am honoured to be an ambassador for this campaign as it is specifically aimed at young women.

We want to let young women know exactly what dating abuse is and to be able to recognise the signs, so they know whether or not they are getting into a healthy or unhealthy relationship.

We are encouraging all women to listen to their intuition, because if it feels wrong, then it probably is wrong. The website TooIntoYou.ie has loads of helpful tips including a relationship health check quiz, which is really enlightening, and I think every young woman should take it, whether they’re seeing someone or not. With this campaign, we want to start the conversation and for us all to open our eyes and ears to dating and domestic abuse. We want young women to know that we have your back, so if you need a chat, Women’s Aid is just a free phone call away.”

Women’s Aid encourages young women who are uncomfortable or worried about any aspect of their relationships to contact the Women’s Aid National Freephone Helpline 1800 341 900 or talk to someone they trust.

The Women’s Aid 24hr National Freephone Helpline 1800 341 900 is available 7 days a week.

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Bláthnaid Treacy, RTÉ TV and radio presenter, at the launch of the #toointoyou campaign, for which she’s also an ambassador

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Mature Student Column

By Jody Moylan In the summer of 2018, after my first year at NUI Galway had finished, I went to Paris in search of the old haunts of Roderic O’Conor. The great Irish painter, as it happens, came from the same parish as myself, and, being interested in local history, I’d been writing a piece for publication on him. It was while stood in out of the rain, on a ‘boulevard’ that O’Conor had once depicted, that I noticed, high up on a wall, a plaque dedicated to Marc Bloch. I recognised the name because I had once heard that Bloch was one of those historians who believed in bottom-up history; the recognition that ordinary village people and everyday life matters. Top-down history would never have materialised if the people at the bottom did not exist. Local history recorded properly, in essence, could tell you the real story of the nation. And while some of us are fortunate to have a ‘notable resident’ attached to our locality’s past, almost all — if not every — locality has an interesting story to tell, if we only took the time to do a little digging.

Like most people, I always knew that Ireland’s population dropped dramatically after the Great Famine, but I had never really understood how this national catastrophe affected my own village, specifically. Until, that is, I discovered the NUI Maynooth Population Change Atlas, which has become one of my favourite tools on the internet.

Giving the population data in ten-year intervals from 1841 to 2002 for every parish in Ireland (district electoral divisions to be precise), you can now see how the population of your own area fell off from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. I still can’t get my head around the fact that, in my own village in Co. Roscommon, there lived 2,824 people in 1841, while in 2002, that figure had dropped to the small number of 215; a figure that seems pretty accurate. While this is just the bare bones of a local tale of death and emigration, it is easy enough to get a greater picture of what was happening by rooting through old newspapers, including local publications that are now available online in the Irish newspaper archives (NUI Galway library online). I discovered in one newspaper that the local parish priest, for example, had led parishioners to the Roscommon ‘monster meeting’ of Daniel O’Connell in 1843. To another newspaper the same priest wrote a letter in 1847, stating that almost half the population of his district were destitute.

I was discovering that here was a priest, a people, and a place fighting against the system, but the wheel kept turning; with online data stating the population dropped by some 814 people by 1851.

By looking over early ordnance survey maps, I even discovered a ‘clachan’ settlement that once existed a mile from my house in the late 1830s. By the time of the updated version of the map, in 1867, the settlement had completely disappeared. It had, in every sense, been wiped off the map.* This stuff is not just local history; it is national his-

Hello, everyone!

Halloween is probably my favourite time of year in Galway. The weather is cold, fresh and brisk, maybe a little bit wet, but any excuse to run into a sweet pub, or stay in with a good book or a few friends can’t be too bad. That being said, it’ll be interesting to experience Halloween in another country. I won’t lie though, I am missing Penneys, don’t know what I’m going to do about a costume.

The trees here couldn’t be more in keeping with the season and I’m very glad to be able to see them this side of the world at this time of year.

I went to Gatineau Park for a hike last weekend, weirdly enough with the Ottawa GAA club. I’ve been doing

by the name of Robert Barton. Robert broke from the shadow of the Protestant ascendancy and joined the republican movement, after leaving the British army in 1916. He was the delegate in London who held out to the end and delayed the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, caving in after pressure from Michael Collins, and the threat of war from the English government.

Here was national history, with its roots, and all the weight that was on those roots, reaching back to my own

local past. On that rainy day in Paris, on O’Conor’s ‘Boulevard Raspail’, I noticed that, while Marc Bloch had once lived in the building I’d been looking at, he had died in a field in rural France; executed by the bullets of the Gestapo in 1944 for being a fighter in the French Resistance.

A little place in the countryside with its own unique story. Like so many little places of our own. And each one should have a history society, because endless histories, big and small, are just waiting to be told.

* This settlement — Drimnagh, Co. Roscommon — has since been named an official eviction location on the Irish Famine Eviction Project, after collaboration with coordinator Dr Ciarán Reilly.

Erasmus Diary

By Fiona Lee

tory at local level, and nineteenth to early twentieth century Ireland was ripe with this phenomenon. And it’s all traceable. By searching through Griffith’s Valuation, I discovered that the landlord of the settlement was Thomas Johnston Barton. Then, by seeking out his name on the website for the peerage of England (thepeerage.com), I found that Barton was a staunch Protestant Unionist, and his son after him was the same. Then it got very interesting, for Thomas Barton’s grandson was a man

introductory lessons to ‘Celtic sport’!

Being someone who never got into GAA growing up, I appreciate being able to give it a go somewhere it’s common for people to pick up Gaelic football or camogie in their twenties, rather than before learning to read.

Gatineau Park was gorgeous, there were nice walking trails, beautiful views and a cute tea house too. We even saw a small snake, which was much more of an event for me than anyone else as, for the first time, it was not in a glass box, but poking its head around like any of the rest of us, going about its day.

I feel slightly less agitated to travel after my trip to Boston over reading week, but myself and a group of friends are going up to Montreal next weekend. It’s the closest city to Ottawa and meant to be incredibly

I feel very settled with my group of friends now. They’re not just a nice group of people to wander around Canada with anymore; it’s a support system where I feel trusted and surprisingly comfortable, given that it has barely been two months since I’ve met them. artsy and fun. Going to Boston was my first proper stint at solo travel (as a holiday, I wouldn’t count being in Canada to study), and it was slightly nerve-wracking booking the flights but I couldn’t have been more fine.

As long as you’re good at navigating yourself from one mode of transport to the other, there’s nothing to worry about, and I made some effort to meet people during my very short time there just to make the most of it!

I found an Ultimate Frisbee pick-up, so I got to spend an evening playing a game or two and meeting some lovely Bostonian frisbee players. One girl there even knew someone from my team back home from when she did

a study abroad in Wales, so that was really cool! I found the pick-up on the app ‘Meet Up’, which I would strongly recommend if you ever bop to a new place for a while, or even in Galway! It’s a great way to try new things, or old things, and meet new people, and you can always go on your own. Also, if you’re ever in Boston, definitely do the Freedom Trail self-guided tour, and if you like art, visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. It’s unusual, creative, homey and you could spend a whole day there!

I feel very settled with my group of friends now. They’re not just a nice group of people to wander

around Canada with anymore; it’s a support system where I feel trusted and surprisingly comfortable, given that it has barely been two months since I’ve met them. The prospect of having to leave in December feels much closer now that our midterms are over. I’m very lucky with the people I’ve met here, and, while it will be sad to leave them all behind, I know I have a bed to sleep in in a lot more countries than I did before I came here, and I really hope we manage to plan that trip to Munich for Oktoberfest next year to meet up, all together again. I won’t worry about that yet though, we’re only halfway through!

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SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

Irish Blood Transfusion Service seeks fresh blood

By Blathnaid O’Dea To the uninitiated, a blood clinic can seem bizarrely like a cross between a bingo hall and a tattoo parlour. Walking into the conference room that the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) has reserved in The Clybaun Hotel for the evening, I am struck by how content everyone seems. People check in with two jolly IBTS staff members, before going off to sit on chairs to wait for their names to be called. Further down the room, nurses take blood from donors, who relax and watch the world go by.

Perhaps they sneak a look at the blood draining from the vein in their arm, or at the table that is set up tantalisingly close to them, laden with biscuits and tea and crisps. These will be their reward for donating their valuable blood, and, as someone who can barely sit through a routine blood test without fainting, I think a bit of grub is well deserved.

However, the donors don’t do it for the biscuits. They do it because they are good people and they have a social conscience. Anne Higgins, the district nurse for Galway West, explains that most of the donors she knows – and she knows most of the “regulars” at this

stage – fit donating blood quite seamlessly into their regular routines. They might call in to donate on their way home after work, or they might go home first and eat dinner and then go and donate, she says. This is the reason most blood clinics are held in the evening time between 5.30 and 8.30, although Higgins says they will continue registering new donors until 8.40 some evenings, such is the need for blood in Irish hospitals. “They’re just genuine, nice people that either have a social awareness about the need for giving blood and the benefits it gives patients in hospital, or else they had a family member, or friend, or somebody that has been sick”, she says.

I’m impressed at the IBTS set-up: from the guys at the little table by the door in charge of vetting new donors for suitability, to the nurses who keep a watchful eye on donors to make sure they are okay, both during and after the donation process. It is all very tightly regulated, Higgins explains. “We have very strict criteria for donating and, unfortunately, the reason it is so strict is we have to make sure the blood we give to a patient is safe to be given to them. Sometimes it’s not safe for the donor, and they might feel they’re fine. We always

explain to donors the reason why we can’t take them on that particular night or the reason why they might never be able to donate”.

Luckily, the lifting of the ban on donors who lived in the UK for a year or more during the vCJD scare – or “mad cow disease”, as it is more commonly known – means the IBTS will see more donors passing through its clinics. Higgins says she has already noticed an increase in UK donors since the legislation was amended in early October, but even so, the IBTS is constantly on the lookout for new donors.

“We need 3,000 units of blood a week to keep the blood supplies in the hospital ticking over, and by regulations, we should have a minimum of seven days blood in stock of every blood group for any time of the day or night in case it’s needed”, Higgins says. If, like me, you find these statistics a little hard to stomach, individual donors donate 470 mls at a time, which isn’t even a full pint. Still, easier said than done. Higgins explains the needles look worse than they are, and once they go in people generally tend to forget all about them. Based on my observations, she’s absolutely right: most donors are happy out.

After they’ve finished donating, the nurses chat with them to make sure they are not feeling woozy and only then are they let loose on the snacks table.

The donors at the snacks table say it’s important not to underestimate the power of a good Bourbon – that’s the biscuit, not the drink – in raising blood sugar levels post donation. One young guy I talk to swears by a sugar-hit, but he also says it is the kindness of the nurses that helps donors like him survive the process. “All the nurses and people here are lovely and they’d do anything for you really,” he says. Another woman echoes the signs posted around the room warning donors to drink “plenty of water” before they donate.

Both donors were regulars, and, needles aside, it’s easy to see why they like donating.

There’s the sense of achievement, the community aspect, and the nurses are indeed lovely – they could not be more reassuring and helpful. For anybody who is not terrified of needles or unable to donate because of a medical condition, I’d encourage you to look in to donating because the IBTS is always baying for blood – and not just during Halloween.

First year student diary

Final Year Diary

By Aoife Burke

By Sadhbh Hendrick

Hi, everybody!

At the time of writing this, it is week seven already and the first semester is flying by! I have had a ball so far on this course. I am studying journalism with English and law, and I am the only mature student in first year journalism.

I am happy, as I just submitted my first essay this week and I was told the tutor was looking forward to marking my essay, so it looks promising. As English is such a massive class, it’s easy to feel lost, however, anyone who knows me knows English is my thing. I love writing stories and essays and student diaries. I would like to study a degree in English some day, so who knows?

Halloween is also fast approaching at the time of writing this diary, so I will soon be having a few quiet cans of pear cider, my favourite drink. Trick-or-treaters tend to avoid my house for some reason, I guess they hang out at their friend’s houses. I’ve found it a little stressful getting up for my 9am Wednesday lecture in law, as it means getting the bus at 7.30am. It was cancelled this week but I have yet another meeting in the morning. Pity!

I have been working like a mad thing lately getting assignments done. I finished a 2,000word essay recently, which was worth 60% of the module. Very chuffed with myself. However,

exams are starting to loom over the horizon.

Despite having perfect attendance, I’m nervous because it’s my first time sitting a law or English exam. I have to say the supports for law have been fantastic. There is so much to learn and understand and the tutors and lecturers have been fantastic. My mum has been an amazing support too, we really help each other out as much as we can. I still haven’t managed to find a part-time job, but I will keep looking until Christmas.

The cold weather has set in, but at least it’s a dry cold. I am hoping the rain stays away for a while. I am very lucky that I have an understanding landlady who hasn’t put up the rent, and they give each house they own a crate of beer as a gift every Christmas, so I am looking forward to that! I am finding the cost of food a constant challenge, as there is so much choice in the University and there are only so many noodles you can eat! I was also very happy to see Haribo sweets in some vending machines, as they are really nice. I tend to make pasta bolognese for 3-4 days and just buy my food the other days.

I’m only at the start of my degree but it’s been so much fun. Like a rollercoaster. We went to Claire Byrne Live last week to sit in the audience and I got in the door of my house at 3am! Just like the sort of stuff you should do at college!

Until next time guys!

Aoife x

Dear Diary, Boy, oh boy, has it been a whirlwind of a week.

I’m writing this off the back of three midterms, the submission of two assignments, a multitude of final year project investigations and, well, you catch my drift.

By the time this goes to print, the Student Race Day will have come and gone. I am envious of all of you heading there because your girl here is headed for the reading room… 25% exam on Tuesday and, I’m no Paddy Power, but I don’t think the odds to pass would be in my favour if I were to grace the lands of Ballybrit for the day.

I look forward to seeing all of the Insta stories of the fab outfits and boomerangs of the horses crossing the finishing line. All of them. Every single one of them. I can’t wait. Honestly, I can’t.

Halloween is also just around the corner. I’m curious as to what the Harley Quinn costume of this year will be. Georgie? The Joker? Who knows?

Speaking of The Joker though, goodness me is that a movie and a half. Being honest, I do not go to the cinema wishing to be scared silly leaving. I do not enjoy having to furiously examine my surroundings as soon as I set foot outside the IMC. And for those reasons, The Joker was just not to my taste.

The acting was fantastic and all those other artsy things like cinematography you’re supposed to comment on (@Junior Cert English Media Stud-

ies) were unbelievable. The storyline, however, was simply too eerie for my liking. No hate.

Given the fact today is the first day it has felt seriously winter-y (there’s a bite in it, as the man says), let us have a moment of silence for all of us feeling the next level chill that is student house cold. It really is next level. My bowl of cornflakes this morning was really added to with the generous serving of being able to see my breath. Say what you like, wearing 3 jumpers, putting on the heat and having a cuppa permanently attached to your hands still has nothing on these sub-zero conditions. Probably one of the things I look forward to most when I finish college is housing of adequate and even cosy temperatures.

My latest survival necessity for final year is scented candles. Personal favourite is Rhubarb & Vanilla from Laura Ashley #NotAnAd #DefinitelyNotSponsored #DefinitelyOpenToOffers.

I believe I have perfected the art of creating soft lighting in my student accommodation with desk lamps and candles. They really aid relaxing, when you’re trying to, all of a sudden, dissociate your desk with study and turn your room into a place of peace and rest. I must credit this to years of watching Francis Brennan teach us necessary life hacks. If you missed out, maybe give one of his books a read. Once again, #NotSponosored. I am, however, here to provide fascinating insights and Francis Brennan’s books are chuckle worthy.

Ciao for now, e’r’body.

GRMA, Sadhbh x

N UAC HT

November 05 2019

Gaisce, Going for Gold

By Finnian O’Toole Gaisce, which is also known as the President’s Award, is a personal development programme for people aged between 15 and 25 to fulfil their potential. The award began to flourish under President Patrick J Hillery in the 1970’s and since then, over 300,000 young people have participated in the programme. The award comes in three stages: bronze, silver and gold, each of increasing difficulty and timescales.

Students often begin their bronze award in secondary school and this year many NUI Galway students are taking the chance to complete the award.

The awards consist of 13, 26 and 52-week programmes, taking up three hours of time each week. Through participation in personal, physical and

community challenges, young people feel that it enhances confidence and wellbeing.

Participants must also complete an adventure journey as part of each award. The adventure journey is something that young people particularly enjoy, with students travelling to places such as Kilimanjaro and to undertake the Camino walk in Spain. The sense of achievement when participants finally receive their award drives students to better themselves and their communities.

The programme challenges people to undertake a journey that opens all parts of their lives to self-improvement, allowing them to, not only better themselves, but everybody in their community. Students challenge themselves to learn new skills such as a language, take time to better themselves personally and take up something new, like going to the gym, and also to better their community by doing activities such as volunteering with local groups.

One student who is participating in the award this is Caitlin Brennan, a final year commerce student. Caitlin spent time studying in Canada last year as part of her commerce degree. Prior to this experience, she completed her hours for her silver Gaisce a w a rd . O n e of the areas that Caitlin participated in

was community involvement, in which she volunteered for a couple of hours a week with a local homework club. Caitlin really enjoyed her time volunteering with the kids from the two local schools.

Caitlin said, “I went to the school for an hour or so and I would just chat to the little kids and help them out with their homework, you’d never feel like you were volunteering”.

Caitlin also completed her driving lessons as part of her silver award, which was something very useful to have achieved when she passed her test. This was something she had to do anyways and it’s something Caitlin made a point of when we spoke to her about the award; “Sure, you’re doing half the stuff anyways, so you may as well try get the award while you’re doing it”. She also took up badminton for

twenty-six weeks as part of the physical aspect of Gaisce. This aspect is great for getting students who aren’t otherwise involved in physical activity and it’s a great way to meet new people.

Caitlin currently plans to go hiking and camping in the Wicklow mountains for her adventure journey, which she must undertake to become eligible to receive her silver award, a great achievement for a final year student and something that will really add to her CV as a graduate next year. Caitlin said she would strongly recommend Gaisce, “You’re doing a lot of the stuff anyway and it’s nice to give back as well, working with the kids was something I enjoyed, but then, you were like, ‘well, I have to do the twentysix hours anyway’”.

Another student that is partaking in the Gaisce awards is Ciaran McDermott, a second year electronic and computer

engineering student from Athlone. Ciaran is going for his gold award this year, culminating in a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro next August. He had this to say about his trip, “Next August, I’m going to be climbing Kilimanjaro, leading a team of seven members from NUI Galway. I will be doing it in aid of Meningitis Research Foundation, who I am also doing a bit of work with as part of my community involvement”. Ciaran is working hard with the Mountaineering Club in NUI Galway and he participates in rock climbing every week as part of his physical activity. For the community aspect of the programme, Ciaran is doing a mountaineering course over the course of a few weeks and is also partaking in a residential project for the gold award.

Ciaran is also a keen traditional music player and partakes in playing the accordion as his skill element. He says, “I play with a group every week, in a session in The Crane Bar, which is an enjoyable experience”. Overall, Ciaran also reckons that Gaisce is a good initiative and he says, “It’s a good way to formalise things I have an interest in anyways, like it’s really just hobbies I’d be doing anyways and hopefully I’ll get a medal for doing it”.

Gaisce participants like Caitlin and Ciarán are some of the most inspiring young people of our time. The status of Gaisce is growing year on year, more people are helping themselves and others. This affects all our moral headspace and wellbeing, coupled with the wellbeing of others. There are many ways to improve your community involvement, physical and personal skills and Gaisce is the perfect push to achieve those objectives. I challenge every reader of this article to get involved in a personal goal, and Gaisce gives you that opportunity. When President Patrick Hillary saw a future for Gaisce, he would not have believed how many people it would help. I finish with the words of John F. Kennedy – “Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try” – now go for gold.

The programme challenges people to undertake a journey that opens all parts of their lives to self-improvement, allowing them to, not only better themselves, but everybody in their community.

7

GNÉ -ALTANNA

11

Dialann Gaeltachta Le Conor Brummell Dia daoibh, a chairde! Táim ar ais ag scríobh faoin Seimeastar Gaeltachta arís agus na rudaí atá ar siúl againn. Creid é nó ná creid é, tá an t-am ag druidim isteach orainn anois.

Táimid i rith seachtain a naoi faoi láthair, agus bhí cúpla smaoineamh againn le linn na seachtaine bige anuas.

Bhain mé an-taitneamh as na himeachtaí ar fad a rinneamar sa tseachtain seo caite, ach caithfidh mé admháil go n-airíonn Ollscoil na hÉireann Gaillimh uaireanta uaim.

Nuair atá tú scartha ón bpríomhchampus na hOllscoile, tá sé dosheachanta go mothóidh tú uaigneach ó am go ham. Faoi dheireadh an ailt seo, tuigfidh tú céard atá chuige a bhfuilim.

Cé go bhfuil an Seimeastar Gaeltachta iontach maith, mothaím uaireanta go bhfuil mé ag cailleadh amach ar go leor rudaí cosúil le cuallachtaí agus clubanna san Ollscoil.

San Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta sa Cheathrú Rua, ní go leor aiseanna ann cosúil leis an Ollscoil. Níor cheap mé riamh go ndéarfaidh mé é seo, ach airíonn an Leabharlann Seamus Ó hArgadáin uaim! Freisin, tá an chuid is mó de mo chairde sa bhliain na céime na laethanta seo agus mothaíonn go bhfuil mé ag cailleadh amach ar na nóiméid deireanacha atá againn mar gheall nach bhfuil mé thart chomh minic is a bhí mé sa chéad agus sa dara bliain. Mar shampla, bhí Rasaí na Gaillimhe ar siúl an tseachtain seo caite agus bhí go leor de mo chairde ann don uair dheireanach mar Mhic Léinn agus mhothaigh mé cumhach nach raibh mé in ann dul! Mar a luaigh sa chéad alt a scríobh mé, áfach, tá go leor cairde nua agam mar gheall ar an nGaeltacht agus eagraítear a lán imeachtaí anseo dúinn a bhfuil iontach suimiúil cosúil le cúigear an taoibh, damsha líne, ranganna cocaireachta agus go leor eile!

Ag leanúint ar aghaidh, tuigim anois tábhacht na Gaeilge sa saol laethúil. Tugann sé saibhreas don saol atá agat, agus baineann go leor buntáistí leis saol trí Ghaeilge.

Nuair a dhéannann tú rud nua trí Ghaeilge, bíonn sé agat go deo. Níl insint béil duit, ach nuair a dhéanann tú cairdeas trí Ghaeilge, mothaíonn sé i bhfad níos cumhachtaí mar gheall go bhfuil caidreamh speisialta idir tusa agus an duine eile mar gheall go bhfuil an Ghaeilge i bpáirt eadraibh. Tá go leor stair agus cultúr ag baint leis an nGaeilge agus músclaítear féinmhuinín agus tírghrá i nduine nuair a labhraítear an Ghaeilge. Freisin, mar gheall go dtéimid ar thurais gach seachtain go dtí comhlachtaí Gaeilge ar fud fad Conamara, léirítear dúinn go bhfuil i bhfad níos mó deiseanna fostaíochta againn i ndiaidh na céime. Chuaigh muid go Tuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta, Roinn na Gaeilge, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Ros na Rún, TG4, Europus agus Raidió na Gaeltachta. Ardaíonn sé mo chroí go bhfuil deiseanna cosúil mar sin againn sula i bhfad.

Ag druidim chun deiridh, níl mórán eile a rá agam ach go bhfuil an cúrsa ag éirí go maith. Beidh aistí le déanamh againn faoi cheann tamaillín, agus ansin beidh Nollaig ag bualadh! Beimid críochnaithe sa Ghaeltacht ag deireadh Mí na Samhna, rud atá scanrúil go leor gan dabht. Is maith is cuimhin liom seachtain a haon agus muid uilig a chur aithne ar a chéile! Beidh sé aisteach ag teacht abhaile agus a bheith gan daoine timpeall orm an t-am ar fad, ach tabharfaimid aghaidh ar an deacracht sin nuair is gá. Go dtí an chéad uair eile, slán go fóill a chairde!

12 NEWS & F E AT U R ES

SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

Surjury TV show condemned Celebrities – Why do we love to hate them? as “real life Black Mirror”

By Amy Blaney

By Roisin Mc Manus

Beverly Hills, and Dr. 90210, to name a few. However, the internet lost it when Caroline Flack, former X-Factor host and current Love Island presenter, defended her choice to host a new TV show The Surjury. The whole concept of the show sees a person stand in front of a host of people who suggest what cosmetic procedures the person needs. The jury will then decide which person is most in need of the surgery and grant this person their wish. The show has received heavy backlash on social media for glorifying plastic surgery. It’s no surprise that the controversial show has received such hate, and if I’m honest, I’m surprised The Flack has stooped this low for a gig.

Celebrity Jameela Jamil publicly slammed the show and

The world of plastic surgery is a scathing and mysterious place that, more often than not, attracts a lot of negative publicity, but if we hate it so much, why are we still talking about it? Why do we care so much about plastic surgery? I’ll tell you why.

The number of people receiving cosmetic surgery has risen steadily. When we tune into our favourite shows, such as Love Island and Keeping Up with the Kardashians, we are watching faces that have been cosmetically enhanced. There is no doubt that selfies and social media platforms have greatly driven the desire for plastic surgery. These same faces are then praised as beautiful on Instagram and receive millions of likes. Unfortunately, the audience for these programmes is largely comprised of teens and young adults, who feed into this celebrity culture and preconceived idea of perfection.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons recently announced that nearly quarter of a million more cosmetic surgeries were performed in 2018 than in 2017. For a society that heavily trolls the use of plastic surgery, we appear to be going under the knife a lot more ourselves. The influencer is leaving its mark. Nonsurgical procedures like Botox and fillers are becoming the new beauty norm, with Jennifer Aniston recently revealing that Botox is now a prominent part of her beauty routine. The normalisation of cosmetic enhancements in the media has developed a socially acceptable concept of plastic surgery.

This craze for physical perfection has resulted in a rise in TV Photo by Armin shows promoting cosmetic surgery, Lotfi on Unsplash Botched, Celeb Plastic Surgeons of

compared it to a real-life episode of Black Mirror, while others have called out Caroline for opening up about her mental health struggles while promoting a show that encourages free plastic surgery. Did anyone suggest therapy here? In response to the online backlash, Caroline tweeted, “I’ve filmed it and the people who have taken part are amazing and have been through a lot and life is about individual choice. Mental health is a sensitive subject and as we progress, we are constantly asked to be more open and visible. My feeling towards the show is that it opens up conversations on why some people turn to surgery to help them lead the life that they believe will make them happier”.

The British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) President and surgeon, Mark Henley, said, “We are extremely concerned about the message this programme portrays and its particular focus on young people. It is disappointing that, in 2019, we are still having to remind large broadcasters of the potential harm caused by glamorising cosmetic surgery - particularly when targeting young adults or those with self-esteem issues”.

The thought crossed my mind of whether Caroline’s new gig is a media stunt while Love Island is off our screens, or if she is genuinely an advocate of cosmetic enhancements.

Surely, someone on her team must have raised an eyebrow over the contentious idea of promoting free plastic surgery. Either way, the topic has sparked an interesting conversation.

Meghan Markle’s recent interview for her and Prince Harry’s ITV show, An African Journey, ultimately ended in her receiving a lot of backlash for speaking out about the difficulties she has faced with the British press as a new mother. Many people believe that Meghan is a breath of fresh air in the Royal Family; a divorced American actress is not exactly what one first thinks of as being part of this prestigious family. Yet, despite her positive aspects, her every movement remains to be scrutinised by the masses. It’s almost as if some people are waiting for her to do something wrong and mess up. To ask ourselves why we love to hate celebrities so much, we must first reflect on our own personal relationships with them.

Today, more than ever before, we have 24/7 access to celebrities through social media. Movements such as ‘cancel culture’ have become a recent phenomenon because of this, with celebrities being picked apart and held accountable for something they supposedly did wrong on a near-daily basis. As seen with James Charles and Tati Westbrook over the summer, sometimes we reach conclusions too quickly without knowing the whole story. The question remains; why do we care?

Arguably, modern trends most often come from celebrity culture. We see Dua Lipa wearing Balenciaga runners, we want them; we see our favourite influencer promoting a new brand of fake tan, we want it. You get the picture. We are so heavily influenced nowadays by them that we have started to want to be them and to follow as they lead. This means that when they do something wrong, we feel betrayed by the people we thought we knew.

One of the most prominent examples in recent times that I can think of are the climate change protests – an example of social media being used for the betterment of society. While Greta Thunberg is known worldwide as being the poster girl for this movement, every day we see

people complaining about her on Twitter or telling her to go back to school. A lot of the time, it’s jealousy that causes people to fight back against her, or maybe people are afraid and in denial of the harsh reality that we face when it comes to climate change. Regardless, due to the sheer amount of access we have to those in the public eye, many people feel it is their duty to speak up either for or against something.

Reverting to Meghan, one of the reasons her interview backlashed against her so majorly was because, traditionally, royals didn’t speak about the difficulties that they faced. The ‘stiff upper-lip’ attitude that she mentions in this interview is known to be true for them throughout history, during the scandals they have been faced with.

Are we jealous of celebrities? Do we envy and yearn for the lives they lead?

The most obvious reason we love to hate them so much is because we can. Social media allows us to say what we want about them at any time. We can start a movement against them (or cancel them) whenever they do something that we don’t like. A lot of the time, starting movements online to provoke conversations and make positive changes is for the better, taking #metoo for example. These issues desperately needed to be talked about and the celebrities involved needed to be discussed to ensure that changes were going to be made in the future.

As important as it is to speak up against injustice that we see, either in real life or online, sometimes we need to think as if who we are talking to is sat directly in front of us. Too often, ‘keyboard warriors’ take their words too far and end up hurting the people they are talking about irreplaceably. While I believe that celebrities in particular, due to them often being seen as role models for younger people, need to be made aware of errors that they make, people on the other side of the screen also need to be held accountable when they say things they can’t take back.

Yoga comments further prove the dwindling relevance of the Catholic Church

By Darragh Nolan It’s no secret that the Catholic Church is frighteningly out of touch with broader Irish society. The results in referenda on gay marriage and abortion are indicative of that. The Bishop of Waterford’s recent comments on practicing yoga in schools are yet more proof of that which has been plain to see for years now. The Church refuses to adapt. Modern Ireland is leaving this narrowminded form of Catholicism behind.

Bishop Alphonsus Cullinane lamented that yoga’s “not of Christian origin” in the letter he sent out to schools across Waterford. Regardless of its origins, it’s a great form of physical activity.

It teaches children lessons on mindfulness and mental wellbeing, while keeping them active at a time where young people are known to be getting insufficient exercise.

On the subject of mindfulness, Cullinane insisted that Catholicism implements a form of mindfulness more conducive with becoming “aware of the presence and love of Christ”. This is not to say the Church has no place in society.

Freedom of religion is an important pillar of democracy. But it is this short-sighted, backward attitude that is seeing Irish people increasingly distance themselves from the Church.

It’s certainly not a case of doing one or the other. One could be a devout Catholic and partake in yoga all the same. The Church would be well served to be more inclusive. Catholic practice is dwindling at an alarming rate. The 2016 census found that just 35% of the Irish population attend mass weekly. Bishop Cullinane’s comments are just more of the same from prominent Catholic figures. There’s no wiggle room

for a more reasonable form of Catholicism, one that isn’t so rigid and can fit into a country that has changed so much since the uber-religious 20th century.

An alternative to yoga proposed by the Bishop was saying a decade of the rosary. With all due respect, that just doesn’t benefit schoolchildren the same way yoga would. Shooting down a popular and beneficial pastime just alienates the same people the Church wants to bring back to regular practice.

Overall, this calls the Church’s role in schools into question. It would appear that Catholic values are being prioritised over the wellbeing of children. Indeed, these values seem to come into direct conflict with children’s good health. The mental and physical benefits of yoga are numerous and it’s well known that Ireland’s younger

generations are growing up more anxious.

They’re often in poorer physical health than their parents and older siblings were growing up. If Bishop Cullinane’s words are reflective of wider Catholic belief, perhaps the Church is of more harm in the education system than previously thought.

The Church is painfully detached from reality.

That much is clear. That being the case, is there any justification for so many schools across Ireland to teach religious education, to cover their walls in Catholic symbols? Aside from the fact that this inherently excludes a growing population of kids from non-Catholic backgrounds, Church beliefs may not even have our children’s best interests at heart. If so, there is no place for the Catholic Church in the education system in any capacity.

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14 O PI N IO N

Galway has nothing else to offer? Stop that talk now!

by Rachel Garvey Galway; the compact city known for its nightlife and ancient history, which silently awaits attention from the locals and tourists in the areas of Eyre Square, Shop Street, The Spanish Arch, and The Claddagh. A city is known for its vast selection of pubs and clubs to choose from when you’re on a night out on the town, but we have forced ourselves into an unhealthy habit of thinking that Galway’s pubs and clubs are all that Galway has to offer. I strongly disagree with the statement that apart from pubs and clubs, the Galway nightlife has nothing else to offer. We are underestimating our beautiful city by ruling out all the hidden places that stay tucked away in Shop Street and down the backstreets, but fear not, let me shed some light on a couple of places that are worth the visit whether it’s day time or night time.

Pubs and clubs are great and all, there’s no denying that, but we need to stop thinking they are the only places in Galway to go. Let’s all just rule out the pubs and clubs for a few minutes, just a few short minutes while I take you on a small tour, I promise they’ll still be there when you get back. Let’s start with Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, situated in the backstreets of Galway in the Cornstore. It’s a quiet place filled with brand new and second-hand books at a good price too. It is the ideal place to find your favourite books and get away from the hustle and bustle in the crowded main streets. Now, let’s move on a little further down past the Spanish Arch and we take a right turn down towards the Roisìn Dubh.

Venture past that venue and we will stumble upon The Secret Garden, a cozy little café with cushions to sit on surrounded by fairy lights, and it is the ideal place to go for a quiet cup of tea and a slice of cake, not to mention you’ll be able to chill with their resident cat. Right, back into the city centre and we will head towards the Galway Shopping Centre, to The Planet Bowling Alley, where students can enjoy a free bowling experience.

Every Monday and Tuesday at 7pm, students can enjoy bowling if they purchase a drink at the bar, but it’s on a first-come-first-served basis.

As I said previous, we need to put a stop to underestimating our city. There’s so much to experience if we explore a little more. Take a look at the little things like taking a walk on the Salthill Prom, going for a tasty milkshake or smoothie at Shake in the Eyre Square Shopping Centre, going for Jumbo pancakes covered in Nutella, bananas and almonds in Pascal Coffee House, situated at the back of the Eyre Square Centre. Even taking a stroll down the Claddagh and watching the boats and swans pass by can be quite therapeutic, especially with exam season approaching, as well as the stress of submitting numerous assignments. That pretty much concludes the tour, hopefully it has shed some light on the fact that there’s more to do in Galway other than pubbing and clubbing.

It is perfectly understandable to know that the majority of students prefer the nights out to blow off steam after studying, but for those who want to take a break from the crowds and loud music, then the previous places mentioned are well worth a visit to relax and give your mind some space to think about things that aren’t related to your college course. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather go to Insomnia and down a hot chocolate, not caring if I had a chocolate moustache after it, instead of being in a crowded pub and having some intoxicated person bump into me with their pint of alcohol. Alcohol is no substitute for a nice cup of hot chocolate.

SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

Whether you’re starting to think about whether this college craic was worth it at all, due to assignments piling up and your social life dwindling, or you’re near the end of your degree, scared about what lies next, Aoife Burke and Robyn Kilroy are here to alleviate your worries.

The Fear of Finishing College

By Robyn Kilroy It’s a situation the majority of students have experienced… You’re at a family event, having a nice time catching up with relatives you haven’t seen in ages, telling them all about the wonderful things you’re doing in college. You talk about your favourite class and maybe mention the work you’re doing with the society you’re involved in. Then, the question is dropped.

“So, what are your plans after college?”

Your pulse quickens, you start to sweat profusely and that nervous twitch in your eye begins to act up again. You attempt to remain vague and change the subject, and while you succeed in shifting the conversation onto another topic, you know that it will undoubtedly come up again.

As someone who has already completed a degree in Music and Film Studies, this question terrified me to my core, and I made many attempts to dodge it in my final year of my undergraduate degree. For the most part, finding the career you want after completing an Arts degree is not an easy feat. In my case, the pipe dream of becoming the next Ennio Morricone started to fall wayward in the last two years of my undergraduate, when I realized that I didn’t have the drive to make film composition a career. Turns out you can’t really get a stable career and reputation in that field without experience and knowing the right people, and that doesn’t just happen overnight, apparently. When choosing my college course, my 18-year-old self had no idea of the difficulty that would come once my degree concluded. That was a far-off problem and more pressing issues were at hand, such as the Irish orals and paying for my trip to Kavos with my friends that summer.

Now, I don’t regret my decision to study an Arts degree for one second. I had a lot of fun doing it and ultimately learned valuable skills that I can use in the future. There are benefits to studying Arts degrees over other disciplines. You learn to think creatively and outside the box, something that is a valuable skill when it comes to innovation in companies. The ability to look at something from another angle and be critical is something that, ultimately, will be valued by a future employer. Yet, finding a job that’s perfectly moulded to the skills

are without access to that kind of money, with not many options. However, there’s no need to go straight into masters after your undergraduate; there’s absolutely nothing wrong with saving up for a few years before going back to it.

Something I have realized recently about my fears of entering the big bad world of post-college life is that part of it is thanks to the feeling of having to grow up. I liked being a student. I liked going out on weekdays, society events and the long summer holidays, and there’s certainly a

Taking on a master’s degree is a running trend amongst Arts students and is a great way to narrow your field of study. However, it is an expensive decision to make, with most masters degrees costing between €8,000-€10,000.However, there’s no need to go straight into masters after your undergraduate; there’s absolutely nothing wrong with saving up for a few years before going back to it. that you have acquired is tough, and not to mention the 5+ work years of experience most jobs need you to have.

Once I completed my undergraduate, I chose to ignore the reality of job hunting by taking on a master’s degree. This is a running trend amongst Arts students and is a great way to narrow your field of study.

However, it is an expensive decision to make, with most masters degrees costing between €8,000-€10,000. This leaves students, who

part of me that doesn’t want it to end. And while universities may not spoon-feed or coddle you through your degree, there is a sense of security about being within an institution.

In the end, I suppose we just have to remind ourselves that we’re all in this stressful mess together. While the end of college life may seem daunting, most people do eventually find their way, some just have to be more patient than others.

Is college important?

by Aoife Burke I would tend to disagree with this statement. It was reported widely in the media in Ireland today, 21st October 2019, that wealthier people are more likely to go to college and do high points’ courses such as engineering, medicine, and finance. Judging from my own personal experience only this week, I went into a shop asking if they wanted any part-time staff and I was asked what college I was attending as part of a quick chat with the shop assistant. It is a proven fact that those with college degrees, in particular STEM (science, technology, education, maths) degrees, tend to earn more.

I lived in Dublin for 6 years before college and I was often asked what degree I had. I was told repeatedly to go and earn a degree, as I wouldn’t get a good job without one. I was earning a living as a legal secretary and the pay was nothing to write home about! I

was making tea for people who had degrees and found a sense of snobbery directed towards me, although, at that time, I had almost finished my higher cert in applied social studies from Athlone IT (which I now have!).

College is critical to success in life. Having a degree lets other people know what kind of person you are. It opens doors that would otherwise remain shut and people will connect with you on a professional level. The few that have made it without an education probably never told of the struggle to get there. I’m thinking of Bill Gates of Microsoft and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. These are in a tiny minority and they probably had natural genius and business instincts anyway. If jobs are accepting people with a second level education, then either they are trying to save money, or they are jobs in the service industry. In these jobs, you can get easily fired, badly treated, low pay and long hours, working

tough, menial jobs. Nobody really wants to do these jobs. This is why they are easily available. I believe in treating people with some respect, but I do not allow them to disrespect me either.

College matters, as the grades you earn will affect you for the rest of your life and they are held on record forever. I did not consider myself academic until I saw my old transcripts and saw I had passed exams in law, psychology and social studies. The days of working your way up in a job are long gone. People in management tend to be suited to the role and many possess degrees. Of course, college is expensive, and it tends to divide up the haves and have nots. It shouldn’t. It’s a proven route out of poverty, driving many students and parents into debt in the process. It’s a tough gig getting through college, especially after the recession and the housing crisis. It’s now a case of ‘what cards do you hold’? However you get there, get there if you can.

TUAIRIM

November 05 2019

15

Johnson’s deal in tatters and challenges Corbyn with a general election to solve Brexit impasse

By Aaron Deering On Thursday the 17th of October, Boris Johnson must’ve thought he had finally solved the Brexit problem. A deal was struck late Thursday night, with both the EU and the British government pleased with the outcome. It looked like Johnson had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, but fast forward a week and Johnson’s plan has gone up in smoke. The British parliament was called to sit on a Saturday for the first time in 37 years to vote on Johnson’s new deal. The Saturday showdown in Parliament was dubbed by the media as ‘Super Saturday’, but there was nothing super about it afterward for Johnson.

An amendment by former conservative Oliver Letwin was passed by 322-306 votes. This amendment insisted that the ‘meaningful vote’ on Johnson’s deal could not take place until

all necessary legislation that is required in its implementation is passed first. This completely sabotaged Johnson’s plan of rushing the deal through parliament ahead of the Brexit deadline of the 31st of October. The DUP, who were thrown under the bus by Johnson in order to secure a deal, supported the amendment and effectively withdrew their support of the government. Johnson was now facing a humiliating dilemma, since the Benn Act had required him to ask for an extension from the EU on the Brexit deadline by the 19th of October, if no deal had been passed by parliament by then. Would he admit defeat and ask the EU for a Brexit extension or disobey parliament and push for a hard Brexit and leave on the 31st of October?

He chose the latter and sent three letters to Brussels. One, which he didn’t sign, asked for an extension, and another, which he did sign, outlin-

Is there a sense of hierarchy between certain counties?

by Katie Barragry County origin is a seminal part of Irish society. As an individual, which of the 32 counties do you represent? Were you born in Kilkenny and given a hurl and helmet before a name? Are a proud Cork rebel of “The Real Capital”? Or are you just charming everyone you meet with that gentle, sweet Donegal accent of yours?

Being county proud is often something you are born into. Many find this pride upon moving away from home. Your county is often something that defines you, especially when you make that transition to college life. Where you are from is often the first thing that someone asks you. College jersey night in Galway can go one of two ways; a constant night of abuse because you are from Dublin (deserved), or alternatively, love because you are a fellow Galwegian. In Ireland, you are going to be categorised according to where you’re from, whether you are passionate about your beloved county or not.

You can ask if it really matters which county you originate from and I would have to say it does.

While your county doesn’t define who you are, it often has an impact on your upbringing. As a Dub, you were probably brought up with the idea that everyone outside the Pale is a culchie. As a Cavan man, you learned the art of being tight with money at a young age. As a Laois native, is Electric Picnic being on your doorstep your only claim to fame?

The bias that some counties are better than others dates back generations where such roots of hierarchy, hatred and everything in between were planted. When was Kerry first attributed the Kingdom? When did Dublin decide they were just better than the rest of the country in every aspect?

When did Mayo start believing that they could win Sam someday?

You would have to feel sorry for counties that don’t have much going for them. Your heart would break for those poor souls having an existential crisis because they live on the Galway-Roscommon border and still claim to be from Galway. Or worse, can you imagine being on the Sligo-Leitrim border?

Which is the best of a bad bunch?

Besides being the home of Maura Higgins, what has Longford got to offer? What happens in Carlow or Offaly after the Ploughing Championships have taken place? I am certain someone from these counties can vouch that they actually have more to offer than first meets the eye. They will defend their county’s honour until death. We find dignity and demand self-respect for our home counties.

That’s just the way it is in Ireland. We are proud of our place of origin, be it up Malin Head in Donegal or down in Mizen Head in Cork.

There isn’t any real harm in the old established rivalry that comes crashing to the forefront on AllIreland Sunday between the Cats and the Premier County. Why does it matter that everyone on the Galway border wants to claim county citizenship, and could you blame them? It makes life interesting that the people of Cork divide Ireland into Cork and “Not Cork”. Where would we be if the terrified Dubs didn’t venture into the countryside every now and again, compensating by posting photos in the depths of the Wicklow Mountains in Hunter wellies? Or dramatically posing outside their mobile home on the beach in Wexford? While some counties are undoubtedly more economically and socially progressive than others, they all have something to offer. We must give credit where credit is due and thank Sligo for providing us with Westlife, Derry for giving us Derry Girls and Meath for blessing us with Tayto Park. What state would Ireland be in if we didn’t have an entire theme park dedicated to our renowned pride and joy?

Likewise, when we refer to Limerick as Stab City, we must be aware that, contrary to popular belief, everyone from the county doesn’t actually carry knives. Not all Leitrim men are born and bred farmers. Westmeath might actually have something else to offer besides Niall Horan.

So, whether you’re from wee county Louth, the glorious Hills of Donegal or the outskirts of Dublin, you have a right to be proud of your county and what it means to you. There is evidently a hierarchy between counties and people are always going to think their county is better than yours. I don’t think we will ever end this bias but where’s the harm in a bit of friendly competition providing it doesn’t end in bloodshed on Hill 16?

ing his belief an extension would be a mistake.

This was rather humiliating for a Prime Minister who only last month said, “I’d rather be dead in a ditch” than ask for another extension. Johnson planned once more to push his Brexit deal through parliament on Tuesday but was forced to pull it, since opposition MPs were going to amend the deal to include a possible second referendum to it. With Johnson now seeing no other possible avenue of getting his deal passed, he has decided to table a motion in the House of Commons on Monday the 28th of October, calling for a general election on the 12th December. Johnson claimed this would give MPs plenty of time to scrutinize his deal, in exchange for a general election which finally solves the impasse which the House of Commons finds itself in.

At the time of writing (26th of October), the EU has still not granted a Brexit extension, due to the uncertainty of what’s happening in the UK parliament and EU members are also undecided on how long to grant the extension for, with Macron favouring a short extension. It will be interesting to see if Johnson’s motion for a general election is passed and, if it is, who would win the election.

Johnson has fairly thrown down the gauntlet and issued a challenge to Corbyn, telling him to “man up” and accept a general election, so it will be interesting to see if Corbyn bites. As it stands, Johnson and the Tories are firmly ahead of Corbyn and the Labour party in the polls, but could this change?

The election will also be very divisive and will only highlight the growing tensions and unpleasant scenes we’ve seen in Britain recently. Such examples include when Jacob Rees-Mogg and his 12-year-old son had to be escorted home by police after being heckled by pro-remain protestors, while Diane Abbot was subject to the same treatment by leave protesters. This shows the split Brexit has had in Britain and I fear what will happen during an election or referendum with MPs of all parties getting daily death threats. No one knows what’s going to happen and that’s the problem with Brexit – it changes almost daily. One thing for sure is that everyone, including myself, is getting tired of it dragging on and on and hopefully, there might finally be an end in sight, regardless if it’s Johnson’s deal or not.

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16 OPI NIO N

SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

Stop nagging me about social pressures In NUI Galway, or any college for that matter, there are people around every corner we turn, there is no escaping the world of socialising. Unless you decide to eat your lunch in one of the private bathrooms around campus, then you’ll have no fear of bumping into anyone, but I don’t think anyone does that, this isn’t the time to be plagiarising a scene from Mean Girls.

By Rachel Garvey Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re sitting down somewhere alone, enjoying the company of it being just you and no-one else?

Then, all of a sudden, a group of people sit down near you and they laugh and joke around as if they haven’t a care in the world, and you’re just sat there, alone. Do you ever feel this nagging pressure inside you, where you want to socialise, but at the same time you don’t? I know you guys feel it, we all do. It’s like there’s a cartoon version of yourself perched on your shoulder and they keep prodding you with their pointy fingers, telling you to go socialise, to stop acting like such a loner and you’re trying to resist the temptation to just flick them off your shoulder. Now, I’m not saying that happens to me or anyone else, I’m just trying to make it comical, but is there really a social pressure to make friends so we don’t end up looking like the odd one out?

It’s debatable, that much I know. Some people are stubborn enough to not care about the whole subject of giving in to social pressures and they socialise when they want to, instead of forcing themselves to talk to people when they clearly aren’t bothered. Then, there are the people like me, who force themselves to make friends and socialise in places where people who are alone are non-existent. In all honesty, when you’re alone in

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a place full of groups of people, you do start to feel this overwhelming feeling of self-consciousness because you feel attacked, once again, by those prodding nails. They whisper in your ear, “They’re all looking at you, the loner who has no friends”, and before you know it, the comical version of you blasts into a verse from the theme song of Friends, ending on a final note of them teasing, “but you have no friends, who will be there for you?”.

As college students, it’s like an unwritten rule that we have to break out of our shell and make new friends, because isn’t that what college life is all about? Meeting new people and taking part in new and exciting experiences? The answer is yes, not forgetting college is also about making decisions on where we want our future to be headed, in terms of what course we want to study in. In NUI Galway, or any college for that matter, there are people around every corner we turn, there is no escaping the world of socialising. Unless you decide to eat your lunch in one of the private bathrooms around campus, then you’ll have no fear of bumping into anyone, but I

don’t think anyone does that, this isn’t the time to be plagiarising a scene from Mean Girls.

My personal opinion is to try and balance it out.

It’s okay to want some alone time to yourself, but we can only be alone for so long until we need to break out of the quiet circle and join the outside world again, where noise and chatter and laughter can be heard from every angle. It’s okay to give in to those social pressures. They don’t mean us any harm; they are simply there to get us out of the habit of thinking that we are happier alone. Ha! No, we are not happier alone. Maybe we are in some instances, but the majority of the time, we are happier in a company that makes us laugh and feel appreciated. Like I said, balance it out by hanging out with friends for a bit and then, when you have reached your limit for socialising, then it’s okay to excuse yourself. We are all guilty as charged because we all do it! Isn’t the company of friends better than your cartoon versions’ company? At least you don’t feel the constant temptation to flick your own friends off your shoulder and tell them to shut up!

Your body on pizza

By Stevie Buckley

how much of these we’re putting in our bodies – we eat that pizza and drink that can of Monster anyFirstly, I want to apologise off the bat if I seem way. It’s a wake-up call to see the possible effects of blunt, I just have strong opinions on this topic. what could happen if we live this lifestyle for a long As someone who has coeliac disease and is lac- time, because newsflash: the outlook isn’t good. tose intolerant, I know how important it can be to Bringing back in the topic of food allergies and check every food label. After all, checking the label intolerances, anyone who has these knows the seriof that salad could be the difference between me ous consequences of eating something your body being a functioning member of society and me being cannot handle. For those who don’t know, stuck at home in unbearable pain for at least a day these effects vary from temporary abdomi(possibly longer, depending on what was in the nal pain and discomfort to death in the aforementioned salad). However, even though case of severe allergies. However, many most people don’t have something as severe as of my friends with intolerances and coeliac disease or a life-threatening allergy, allergies just look to see if the food is I think everyone should check their food safe and then eat it if it is, totally dislabels, and here’s why. regarding the health effects beyond Even if you don’t have allergies, your the immediate allergy symptoms. health is of the utmost importance. You I try my best to eat healthily, also might think that your daily pizza or checking the ingredients and burger and chips from the Bialann (or nutritional information for high whichever outlet you frequent for levels of saturated fats, sugars your lunch on campus) isn’t bad for in the case of non-plant-based you. It probably tastes nice and foods and simple carbohythat’s why you get it (can the “probdrates in general. I try not ably” make you tell that it’s been to put anything too bad in a long time since I have eaten my body, even if I do fail anything with gluten in it?), but sometimes. do you know what’s in it? Little So, why don’t people decisions can make the world check labels? There are of difference, like checking nearly as many reasons out the pre-prepared salads as there are people who or sandwiches in Smokey’s – don’t check labels. I’m they have ingredients on the going to give short packet so at least you know responses to some of what’s going into your body! the ones that come to Many foods are laden mind: with sugar and/or satu“But I’m not allergic to anyrated fats, which many thing!” – you’re not invincible, of us rarely check the allergens aren’t the only possible label for, but the facts bad things in foods. are that a high level of “I don’t care what I eat!” – the sugar consumption can occasional treat is okay, but this just sounds cause type 2 diabetes like you have a death wish. later in life and satu“But they’re just numbers!” – yeah, and rated fats can cause 999 is just a number until you get seriously heart disease. Both of ill or injured these food groups can The list goes on… contribute to obesity So, before you buy that large Chicago Town pizza in the shorter term. and a two-litre bottle of Coca-Cola to consume on Still, many of us your own some evening, think “will my don’t care about body thank me for this?”

Photo by Miguel Andrade on Unsplash

TUAIRIM

November 05 2019

17

Is having a pet in a student house a good idea?

By Conor Brummell Pets? In a University house? You must be joking! There’s a fundamental reason as to why landlords often have a ‘no pets rule’ in rent agreements, and it’s because having an animal living with you in your university flat can be a disaster. Don’t get me wrong, a pet can be so beneficial for the psyche – they’re cute, they can be great stress relievers and can become your best friend. However, from my experience of having a pet in college, it just doesn’t work, due to the busy lifestyle students have. The pets were never exclusively mine when in first and second year, but I got to spectate from afar, and can safely say calamity and hilarity ensued at times.

You see, the life of a student is so unpredictable that raising a pet in a house with as many as five to six people can be a bit unstable, not to mention confusing for the pet. Who gets ownership at the end of the year? Who must buy the essentials such as food, bedding, toys – should everyone in

the house chip in, or is it the responsibility of the person who brought the animal into the house to look after those financial burdens? In first year, I lived in student accommodation and my housemate (who was in second year) brought her goldfish, who she had bought in first year, up to the apartment. Maurice, as he was called, was low maintenance and provided many hours of entertainment to everyone who stepped through the front door.

People were in awe at the fact that we had broken the rules of the renting agreement and gotten a pet, and many thought we were so cool because we had a fish called Maurice. The lives of students, eh?

That said, however, Maurice was in violation of our leases and often caused panic when we were in college on days of apartment inspections, when we forgot to hide him in a wardrobe under a towel as not to get caught. With pets who are deemed unacceptable, it carries such a burden, as you could get in trouble over them. This brings me to pet number two, which we had in

second year. I lived with the same housemate who owned Maurice, and because we had gotten away with a fish, she decided to set her eyes on something a lot bigger and a lot livelier: a cat. After weeks of nagging, hinting and outright asking us if she could get a cat, she arrived home with a small ginger and white kitten without our actual permission. Everyone loved her, and she was a lovely cat, but she turned out to be a handful.

She was energetic and, due to no one being there all the time to play with her, she was hyper all the time.

We had to get someone to feed her at the weekends and hide her during landlord visits, as well as putting her in one of our rooms during predrinks and parties. It all came to a climax however; we went home for the weekend and the doors of a roommate’s bedroom were left open. Roo, the cat, wandered up and defecated

After weeks of nagging, hinting and outright asking us if she could get a cat, she arrived home with a small ginger and white kitten without our actual permission.

Everyone loved her, and she was a lovely cat, but she turned out to be a handful.

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Cake Roo the kitten, while adorable, caused some unforeseen issues for Conor and his housemates

in that roommate’s bed. I remember it well; I received a text from the housemate who owned the cat, asking me if I knew the whereabouts of our other roommate. Luckily, he was staying at home that night and wouldn’t be down. When I arrived, the house was like an old-fashioned laundry room, with buckets full of steaming hot bleach water littering the kitchen.

My housemate was frantically trying to wash the sheets, and in the end, we went to the big two euro washing machines in Newcastle. The only good thing that came from that incident was the fact that we got Supermac’s cookies at half one in the morning.

So, there you have it. Pets are brilliant and I adore them, however whilst living in a university house, whether it’s low maintenance (like a goldfish), or a handful (like a new-born kitten from Knocknacarra), it’s probably not the best idea to get one.

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18 FA SH IO N & L I F EST Y L E

SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

Travel Junkie: Ljubljana

The top four things to do in Ljubljana, Slovenia and why you should go

By Aislinn O Connor Honestly, I did not have high expectations when I went there, as it’s not a place you usually hear of people going to but honestly it was so worth it. The dark horse of Europe, Ljubljana does not fail to dissapoint. There are many things to do in Ljubljana, but I believe that these are the top four things to see and do in while you’re there.

VISIT THE CASTLE. This is an absoulte must. It is way different to most castles around the place. It has a long history dating back to 1200BC. You can even see the castle’s history by looking at the walls.

Anicent Roman stones lie next to more modern stones all mixed together to create this beautiful castle. You could even get married there if that’s what you’re into. When we were there, we did the Time Machine tour, which was €10.50 each, and included a tour where

Photo: Sami C via Wikimedia Commons you can meet various actors dressed as charaters that lived in the castle, as well as a return ride in the funicular and access to all exhibitions in the castle. It was well worth it, it was like seeing history in action.

shops and boutiques (which were my favourite). Try some of Ljubljana’s resturants, which I was suprised about. I am a picky eater and I thought I would be living off of chips and salads, but no, the food was so, so good.

EXPLORE THE CITY

STAND UP PADDLING IN THE RIVER

The tiny city has much to ofter visitors.

This include its many, many bridges, including its most famous bridge, the dragon bridge. You should also visit Prešeren Square and stroll along the streets and visit Ljubljana’s cute little

This is one of my all time favourite things and experiences ever. Now, this is a bit pricey and you will need to know how to swim, but, because Ljubljana isn’t the most expensive city anyway, you should definitly try

splurge out on this. The trip itself lasts about two hours but really does show you the city from a totally different angle. The price of the stand up paddling on a surfboard costs €39 and that covers the instructors costs, equipment and photographs. The tour is offered in English and promises you an experience you won’t forget!

GET OUT OF THE CITY Maybe take a day trip to Lake Bled? We took the bus there and it roughly cost €10 return. It took about 30-45 minutes

to get there and the buses were quite frequent. When we were there, we took a boat trip to the island in the traditional Pletna Boat (which are like large gondolas). We walked around the island before returning to Bled itself and taking a walk around the small town.

Ljubljana is a must-see city, especially before it becomes more popular.

The most expensive thing in Ljubljana is probably the cost of the flights, but in the grand scale of things, it is definitely the perfect weekend break, as it is cheap and cheerful!

Foodie diaries: Almost-vegan chickpea curry

By Isabel Dwyer I find curries hard to get right at home.

Usually, they need tons of ingredients and a great deal of cream to get even remotely near restaurant-standard, but this issue’s recipe is both simple and clean. It comes all the way from Beira, Mozambique, where it was shared with me this past summer, and I haven’t met a recipe for curry that I’ve preferred since. It’s an almost-vegan, sweet and salty chickpea curry, with a thick sauce that will succeed in warming you during this very Galway autumn - a difficult feat.

You’ll need a tin of chickpeas, a tin of coconut milk, a butternut squash or a sweet potato, onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder, stock cubes of your choice, honey, and some rice. The honey and stock cubes (even vegetarian stock cubes sometimes contain animal products) are the only

non-vegan ingredients here. To make fully vegan, swap out the honey for maple syrup and take a trip to a health store, like Evergreen, for some vegan

stock cubes. Whether you use a butternut squash or a sweet potato is totally up to you. The recipe calls for butternut squash, but if you’re cooking for just yourself you might find it hard to use up the giant vegetable that it is. As for price difference, both cost more or less the same in Mastersons on Headford Road. You can use fresh ginger (about half a knob) or ginger powder (about four tablespoons); fresh ginger is better, but it’s entirely up to you – and your bank account. Save yourself some yo-yos by cooking your rice from scratch instead of buying those pre-cooked microwavable pouches. Not only is it better for your pocket that way, it’s also more environmentally friendly than to be throwing out all those unrecyclable pouches.

Start by prepping your vegetables. Chop up your garlic, onion, and ginger if you’re opting to use it fresh as opposed to powdered. The amount of

garlic cloves you use is, as always, up to you. If I wrote down the amount that I used, I’d probably be excommunicated. Chop up your veg of choice too, into small chunks.

If you’re using a sweet potato, you can use a whole one, while you’ll only need half of a butternut squash. Don’t forget to peel the squash too.

Heat up your oil in a big enough pot and add the ginger and garlic. If you want to add a bit of heat to the dish, now would be the time to throw in any chili flakes or chili powder you have in the press. After a minute or so, fire in the chopped onion.

Give it a mix and let it turn translucent.

Keep mixing, or everything will stick to the bottom, especially if you’re using ginger powder. Now turn up the heat and add the squash/potato chunks, and the tin of chickpeas (strained). Add a stock cube and lots of curry powder now, about five heaped tablespoons. Mix well, then empty in the tin of coconut milk. You can keep the heat on high for a bit, still mixing, until the veg starts to soften. Then, turn down and cover with a lid, letting the sauce reduce. Sometimes, to help the sauce reach the texture I want it to be, I use a potato masher to smush down just

one section of the contents of the pot, then I mix those mashed bits among the un-mashed. If you want, now would be the time to add any leftover veg that’s close to going off in the fridge, like tomatoes or spinach. Anything goes, there are no rules. Live wild.

When cooking the rice, there should be double the amount of water as there is rice. It should start off cold. Then, bring to a boil. When boiling (big scary bubbles), turn it back down, cover it, and leave it alone to do its thing. Simples.

I like to then leave the curry cooking away on a low heat for ages, just because hard chickpeas are, in my humble opinion, the devil’s children. Once they’re nice and soft, I taste and add a glob of honey for sweetness. Use your instincts and add more curry/ginger powder if needed.

Sometimes, I add a dash of soy sauce here.

This recipe freezes really well, so chuck the leftovers into a lunchbox and try to fit it into the freezer that has been taken over by your housemate’s abnormally large garlic baguette collection.

To free up some space, steal some of said garlic baguette. I won’t say anything if you don’t.

FAIS EAN

November 05 2019

7

Jennifer Aniston and the power of Instagram

By Maeve Lee On October 15th, a day which will probably go down in internet history, Jennifer Aniston joined Instagram. FRIENDS fanatics quickly joined forces and followed the superstar on her brand-new account. In fact, so many jumped to follow the actress, Instagram ultimately “broke”. With her warm welcome to the social media platform came hilarious memes and tweets and the entirety of Hollywood welcomed Aniston with open arms, posting pictures in honour of her debut. Jennifer Aniston had achieved what Kim Kardashian attempted in 2014 with the cover of Paper magazine and essentially successfully broke the internet, without even trying.

Within hours, stories of the star joining the app were widespread and, a week on, Aniston now boasts 15.8 million followers. Of course, the fact that her first post was a photo of the main FRIENDS cast hanging out undoubtedly contributed to the excitement and rumours of a reunion, which soon circulated amongst hopeful fans like myself.

With the hype surrounding her new Instagram account, questions of the importance of Instagram arise, as one cannot help but wonder why even Jennifer Aniston, at 50 years of age, could not help but hop on the “Insta” bandwagon. Even with an estimated $220 million net worth and roughly 42 movies under her belt, the superstar decided to, like millions of others, post her life on the world’s second most popular social media platform. Instagram has morphed into something that is unlike any other social media outlet. Entire businesses and careers exist within the sequences of small squares that is an Instagram profile and it has created new abilities in terms of content creation. Bloggers no longer need a blog, businesses no longer need adverts, celebrities no longer need to go to a tabloid to break news or reply to a rumour; all of this is done from one app.

Instagram is the new business profile that everyone seems to need as is has the ability to showcase style, personalities, products, skills and entire lives, to potentially millions of people. As the second most-used social media platform in 2019, Instagram had 1 billion monthly users this year and so, the potential for reach and engagement is astounding.

For small business and bloggers, an Instagram profile can contribute to immense followings, which often leads to various other opportunities in terms of the media and fame.

Mrs. Hinch, for example, set up her Instagram account two years ago. Her account began small and her content was simply cleaning tips and product recommendations. Since then, “Hinching” has become a popular phrase, coined by Mrs Sophie Hinchcliffe, who now has 2.8 million follows. She also has two books, has appeared on numerous shows such as This Morning and has recently befriended Stacey Solomon.

This success came from her creation of an Instagram profile and is a poignant example of the success and fame which can be found from sharing cleaning tips, fashion inspiration, personal stories, whatever it may be, on the social media platform.

Instagram is the LinkedIn for all content creators - or anyone with a talent or story to share. The possibilities are endless when it comes to this social media giant and it is no surprise that even major celebrities such as Jennifer Anniston have caved and hopped on the Instagram bandwagon. The publicity that can come from a page or “story” going viral is insane, and the opportunities that go hand-in-hand with a growing audience are endless-advertisements, paid promotions, and even partnerships with brands.

Stories take place and develop on Insta-

gram and soon become the most talked about things that day, or even that week.

Jennifer Anniston’s debut saw the world transported back to the noughties with Reece Witherspoons involvement in the fiasco, and the amalgamation of Elle Woods and Rachel Green - two iconic noughties characters. Perhaps it was merely curiosity that pushed Aniston to join Instagram, and maybe it was merely the nostalgia of all things FRIENDS that formed the hype surrounding this story, but, the “breaking” of the internet depicts just how big Instagram is. With her decision to join, Jennifer Aniston became the most talked about person that Tuesday (which was a nice change from Brexit if you ask me) and the possibilities that come with this viral culture of “Insta” profiles cannot be denied. The proof is in the pudding - just one look at the millions of followers some people have, which allows for a brief insight into the possibilities for business, fame, money - whatever the desire may be. Serious success comes from Instagram and its importance in a modern world obsessed with scrolling and flicking through stories and profiles is undeniable. Even Jennifer Aniston could not resist joining the billions other people on one of the world’s most popular applications.

@ jenniferaniston’s first post on Instagram read: “And now we’re Instagram FRIENDS too. HI INSTAGRAM”

NÓ S MAIRE ACHTÁLA

19

Credit - TikTok (@brittanyt445)

Kombucha girl

By Amy Blaney A woman trying a kombucha drink for the first time has sparked a wave of relatable memes – and a brand-new health trend.

The memes began after @ Brittanyt445 posted a hilarious (and super relatable) TikTok of herself trying a trendy Kombucha drink.

We see the uncertainty of the first sip, a pause for thought, quickly followed by a face of disgust, but wait, she appears to be like it, and then, nope, never mind, it’s horrible, before the video ends with a neutral face that suggests she might yet be convinced. With ‘Kombucha Girl’ becoming a viral sensation, the fermented tea drink has become the ‘it’ health product.

Kombucha is a fermented tea drink that originated in China about 2,000 years ago. Time.com says it is made by adding a colony of symbiotic culture of live bacteria and yeast, commonly known as SCOBY, to sweetened tea. The mixture is left to ferment for a couple of weeks until it turns slightly sweet. The drink is then separated from the SCOBY and bottled.

The drink is packed with antioxidants, probiotics and B vitamins, making it a trendy health product.

However, the nutritional value of the drink will depend on the brand, according to Time.com, as many store-bought kombucha drinks contain high amounts of sugar.

The probiotic nature of the drink brings health benefits such as improved digestion and a healthy gut. Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, a dietician in New York, told Time.com, “Some sources claim that kombucha can positively impact

gut health [by] decreasing inflammation and providing antioxidants because of the probiotics, however more research needs to be completed to confirm this claim”. During the fermentation process of kombucha, acetic acid is also produced, which is able to kill many potentially harmful bacteria. However, the health relevance of these antimicrobial properties is unclear.

Many nutritionists claim more research is needed to confirm the health benefits of Kombucha. Since Kombucha is made with tea, the drink contains a small amount of caffeine, but the amount is small compared to coffee or energy drinks. Colleen Chiariello, chief clinical dietitian in the department of food and nutrition at Syosset Hospital in New York, informed Time. com, “About one-third of the tea’s caffeine remains after it’s been fermented”, which the website states is not enough caffeine to have an impact on most people.

The fad drink also contains a small amount of alcohol due to the fermentation process.

The amount of alcohol in the drink is less than 0.5% alcohol by volume and is, therefore, marketed as a non-alcoholic beverage.

The popularity of Kombucha has grown immensely and the ‘it’ product is making its way into other consumable products, such as coffee and ice-cream.

Many people believe that kombucha helps to treat all sorts of chronic health problems. However, human studies on the effects of kombucha are few and the evidence for its health benefits is minimal. In contrast, there is ample evidence for the benefits of tea and probiotics, both of which are found in kombucha.

20 FA SH IO N & L I F EST Y L E

SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

Modest Beauty Brand Review: Fashion MARIO BADESCU

By Anastasia Burton Showing as much skin as possible has become a trend which pushes “modest fashion” out the window, going so far as to call it a way of restricting feminine sexuality. However, showing off your curves and highlighting your assets can be done in a more modest fashion. Many believe that the only way to show off one’s best aspects is by wearing clothing that shows off as much of that asset as possible, which can end up looking more vulgar than enticing.

Skin-bearing clothing also has many flaws, such as giving you very little protection from the cold! Modest fashion by no means indicates that you must wear disfiguring clothes in order to “save the goods for later”. You can still be sexy and do it with taste.

Figure-hugging clothes cannot be worn in pairs, and what I mean by that is: if you wear a tight skirt and a tight top, it might look tacky and senseless.

You don’t have to sacrifice comfort for sexuality! Why not wear a figure-hugging skirt and a looser top? You can fit some of the top into your skirt, creating a contrast which will look very trendy but also very attractive.

In terms of wearing a bralette or a body suit as outer wear, it by no means looks attractive on its own.

The fabric of most bodysuits and bralettes isn’t reliable and can cause wardrobe malfunctions, as well as giving no protection from the cold! A better way of being sexy, but also looking modest about it, would include adding a mesh top onto the mix. The mesh top serves as a barrier between the lingerie bodysuit, making it look fashionable rather than distasteful. There is a lot of pressure on women to dress in a way that would make them stand out, however, showing more skin hasn’t made anyone stick out since Miley Cyrus released wrecking ball. So, why not surprise people by combining sexy and collected?

With celebrities and fashion retailers like ASOS trying to bring back the modest fashion trend, it’s become easier for women to dress modestly and not be judged for it. Be sexy, be different, be in some ways modest, but do so in style. Play around with different designs and different ways of complimenting your body type and your assets while also respecting your own morals and even religious views!

By Ewelina Szybinska

Looking for a trusted skincare brand? This might be just the one for you. I have been looking for a good brand for quite some time and to find something reasonably good can often be costly. It’s like a lottery, really, a hit or miss. That’s the thing with skin, not all products will suit. Some will work for a while and you’ll think – ‘Great! Got my brand’, but soon realise it stops working and back you go to the starting point. Let me introduce you to Mario Badescu, a brand for sensitive skin that has veganfriendly options too. The brand does not test their products or ingredients on animals and does not ask for these to be tested on their behalf. So, what is the hype about this brand?

Badescu prices are (AllasMario seen on beautybay.com )

DRY/SENSITIVE SKIN

UNEVEN SKIN TONE/TEXTURE

Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe Herbs and Rosewater will become your best friend! There are many facial sprays and which you will choose all depends on your needs. People are obsessed with this product; it’s refreshing and seen to improve appearance of blemishes. Feel refreshed and stay hydrated. You can even set your makeup if you wish. It can be seen as ‘unnecessary’, but if you’re feeling extra, it’s definitely something to consider.

Oil has so many benefits that people are simply not aware of. Rose hips oil heals scarring and uneven skin tone. Over time, it also improves the overall skin texture. Simply wash your face and pat dry.

Then, apply a drop or two of the Mario Badescu Rose Hips Nourishing Oil and massage gently into the skin. It absorbs instantly and is high in vitamin C, which regenerates your skin and aids healing.

You can also apply the oil under your daily moisturiser to keep hydrated and improve skin texture.

• €11.95

• €24

BLEMISH & ACNE PRONE SKIN A d e r m at o l o g i s t should always be the first point of c o nt a c t w h e n i t comes to breakouts.

Hormones, stress and the contents of our diet can often lead to acne. We try out everything and anything but with no effect. Well, don’t give up just yet. Start with a new skincare routine, keep it simple! Using too many products might worsen the situation. Mario Badescu has an acne-prone line of products which also heals any blemishes. Before you go to bed, wash your face with lukewarm water and make sure the water is warm enough to open the pores. Deal with breakouts with a spot-on treatment. Mario Badescu Drying Lotion is designed to treat emergency breakouts by reducing the swelling and the redness.

Simply dip a cotton bud into the product and apply directly to the area.

• €19 in glass bottle /€17.95 in plastic It is recommended to deep cleanse twice a week, but, you see, this again depends on the person. I would recommend starting with a drying mask once a week. Mario Badescu Drying Mask fights excessive sebum and open pores. It also successfully removes dirt and acts as a preventative for future breakouts. In addition, it fights the existing acne.

• €20

Dry skin? Autumn/winter months don’t help and it’s a no brainer that a good moisturizer will solve the issue. Grab a bottle of Mario Badescu Buttermilk Moisturizer! A cute bottle of blue magic, with Carnation Oil and Allantoin, an anti-inflammatory botanical ingredient, that doesn’t clog pores. Suitable for combination and sensitive skin types. Use it before going to sleep and in the morning. As its non-pore clogging, it will not cause acne. It’s a secret weapon for a dewy, slick surface ready for foundation application. Otherwise, just wear it on its own to rock a semi-glow!

• €19.50

Treat your morning routine to this gentle Mario Badescu Orange Cleansing Soap. Get ready for the day feeling refreshed. It protects the face from drying out, so the chilly weather won’t be an obstacle. The product contains orange extract (Alpha Hydroxy Acid) to rejuvenate dull skin by reducing the build-up that causes blackheads and pimples.

You’ve got it all in one! Its price allows for it to be a regular purchase which will last for weeks. I really enjoy this product myself.

My skin is very sensitive and reacts quite easily due to allergies. I can safely use this knowing my skin approves. If you are prone to allergies, do test a drop of every new product you purchase.

Use your hand and discontinue use if you see a rash or feel any burning sensation. Mario Badescu focuses on sensitivity and aims to produce highquality items to suit your expectations.

• €12.25

If you’d like to have a product reviewed, email us!

FAIS EAN

November 05 2019

7

NÓS MAIRE ACHTÁLA

Styled by the Show – American Horror Story

By Anastasia Burton

American Horror Story: Coven had the biggest array of breathtaking fashion statements. I believe everyone will agree that Sarah Paulson was rocking the season with her looks. With the sleek and flowy dresses, the figure-hugging skirts and fabulous accessories, she might as well be the ambassador of high fashion.

Throughout the show, most of the witches wear black, which is a universally complimentary colour. However, in the first few episodes of the Coven season, Cordelia (the character played by Sarah Paulson) wears flowy summer gowns, which followed a very 1950s theme.

The show follows a certain elegant style, which is easy to recreate even on a student budget. Another regular clothing piece worn by the character would be a floral skirt, which compliments Sarah’s figure by hugging her waste, but then flows outwards at the bottom like a ballgown.

Paulson is also a fan of wearing simple blouses and is seen wearing variously designed ones with office trousers or pencil skirts. Most

of the blouses worn by the actors in the show are following a black and white theme to suit the witchy atmosphere. Again, black and white are very complimentary colours and suit the complexions of the diverse cast of the show. It is important to keep in mind that the style of the blouse best suited to you depends on your body structure. For example, you must judge whether you believe a V line or U line would complement you best, or whether the sleeves should be long or short. Maybe you would rock a turtleneck or a sleeveless blouse? Thankfully, Cordelia is seen wearing all the aforementioned styles, attracting attention to her figure with the looks that best suit her.

The accessory worn by Paulson most often would be a set of pearls. This can be bought in any accessory store since pearls are always in fashion (of course, depending what they are matched with). Gloves are always a nice touch, as well as the black hats worn by the witches in this season. The hats are a very Parisian touch to the New Orleans scene.

Overall, Paulson and the rest of the cast of American Horror Story: Coven, were dressed according to modern day witches. They followed the jazz theme of the New Orleans setting and included a very diverse team of stylists to work with the cast.

Since the show is based around student witches, the outfits they wear are easily found in affordable clothing stores, or lookalike items might be in your wardrobe already!

Boohoo.com (€12)

New Look (£6)

Boohoo.com (€22.50) Boohoo.com (€20.25)

New Look (€32.99)

New Look (€29.99)

21

Boohoo.com (€22.50)

22 FA SH I O N & L I F EST Y L E

How to avoid mid-semester burnout

By Aislinn O Connor It happens to us all. The mid-season burnout.

Assignments are being submitted, the novelty of being away from home and with your friends has worn off and it’s time to knuckle down. To make things even worse, exams are creeping up on us faster than we would like. We all hate this time of the semester, its neither here nor there.

However, there are many things that you can do to help tackle that mid-season burnout.

Take some time for yourself Take a mental health day – just one, treat yourself. You got this far in the semester, it’s just before exam time and you deserve it. You need to give your mind and body a chance to catch up with everything and recuperate. Now, don’t take it over the top and give yourself a mental health week, just take a day to rest, and, you know, buy yourself something nice.

A bit more sleep should do the trick Even an hour more sleep can make all the difference sometimes. Instead of going to bed at midnight, why not try and go to bed one hour earlier? You can watch that episode on Netflix another day.

Have a good ol’ clean up You’re midway through the semester now, it’s time for a clear out. Tidy your notes up and find a more creative way to study that will make studying a little less boring for you. Having a clean space and a creative way to study can be the something different that could just about help you avoide that mid season burnout.

Water Look, I know, everyone always says “drink more water”, but it actually works. When I don’t drink enough water, I get dehydrated and tired. I burn out easily and that’s just not what you want for this time of year.

Plan, Plan, Planning Just sit down for a few minutes and plan your day/week/month. This leads to having an organised head about when you’re going to the library and when you have ‘you time’. Avoid cramming around this time of year because it will just make everythig seem worse. Late nights and early mornings just won’t help your mid-season burn out. Another thing in this department that could help you is if you got yourself a planner – a small one, that you can just throw in your bag and take out whenever you need it.

And finally... if it’s not benefitting you, ditch it.

If those nights out are leaving you worse off the morning after, then forget it. There is no point wasting a whole day to a sore head and a sick stomach. If there is that one friend that constantly leans on you and pressures you into going out and not going to the library to study etc., then, I’m sorry, but you might want to take a break from them.

It is really easily to get burned out at this time of year and it’s inevitable that you will feel a bit burned out every now and then, but if you can follow some of these tricks, you can avoid feeling burned out 24/7. Best of luck!

SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

SOCIAL SPACE:

NUI Galway’s own planet By the WELL Crew students The Hub is a social space for all students and staff.

It is a welcoming and helpful environment for everyone to enjoy on campus. It’s a place to chill, cook and socialise during the week or at the weekends.

The Hub is managed by the friendly and eager to help WELL Crew, along with our health promotion officer and Societies Office, who strive to deliver a happy, safe and healthy space for you to benefit your health and wellbeing.

The Hub is a supportive space to develop personal skills and strengthen the university’s social community. Its facilities include a fully equipped

kitchen, which supplies free tea, fruit and biscuits (which never last long), a large selection of board and card games, pool and foosball tables, a massage chair, couches and bean bags for your comfort, as well as information on student services, activities and events both on and off campus.

The WELL Crew looks forward to getting to know you over the academic year, with various events from Monday to Sunday, including T.G.I. Fridays (5pm-8pm) and Sundays Potluck dinner (4-7pm). Check out our Instagram (@ thehubnuig) for more information on these and make sure to call to one of these events before Semester 1 ends!

Find all the information you need below: The Hub can be found on the ground floor in Áras na Mac Léinn (Student building beside SULT). The Hub is opened 7am to midnight seven days a week. The Hub Office and Kitchen is opened Monday to Friday 8:30 am-8 pm, Saturday 12pm-6pm, and Sunday 4pm-7pm.

Hub Central can be found in the Concourse (beside Smokies), which provides bean bags to chill (get them quickly), bookable rooms along with information on extracurricular activities and services. Hub Central is opened Monday to Thursday 9am-7pm and Friday 9am-4pm.

We look forward to seeing ye all in the coming weeks…

The Well Crew 

grinds REGISTER

ROOM

SU CLOAKROOM

e Skills

grinds REGISTER SU

SU

Life Skills

Enrol now for the following reduced ents’ Union price courses in the Students’ Union Office: Students’ Union

NTS

ENTS Second Hand

• Sign Language BOOKSTORE • First Aid Responder

SEOMRA CÓTAÍ AN CHOMHALTAIS

AN CHOMHALTAIS

AN CHOMHAL

Clár Scileanna Saoil Clár Scilea Chomhaltas na Mac Léinn

Siamsaíocht an Chomhaltais

Second • AnHand Teanga Chomharthaíochta

BOOKSTORE

• An Gharchabhair Oibre • Céad Fhreagróir Cairdiach

• Child Protection Training

• Oiliúint sa Chosaint Leanaí

• Applied Suicide Intervention Skills

• Oiliúint i Scileanna Feidhmeacha

• Mixed Martial Arts for Self Defence

Idirghabhála i dtaca le Féinmharú • Ealaíona Comhraic Measctha i gcomhair Féinchosanta

• Anti-Racism

Chomhaltas na Mac

Cláraigh anois do na cúrsaí seo a leanas ar phraghas laghdaithe in Oifig an Chomhaltais:

• Cardiac First Responder

Training (ASIST)

clár DIANCHEACHTA

SEOMRA CÓTAÍ

• Disclosure Training

• Frithchiníochas

• Yoga

• An tIóga

• Barista Skills Course

• Scileanna an Barista

More information at www.su.nuigalway.ie or email studentsunion@nuigalway.ie

Tuilleadh eolais le fáil ag www.su.nuigalway.ie nó seol ríomhphost chuig studentsunion@nuigalway.ie

www.su.nuigalway.ie

facebook.com/NUIGalwayStudentsUnion

twitter.com/NUIGSU

www.su.nuigalway.ie

facebook.com/NUIGalwayStudentsUnion

twitter.com/NUIGSU

Siamsaíoc SIOPA LEABHA

an Chomhaltais ATHLÁIMHE an Chomhaltais

24 A RT S & E N T E RTAIN M EN T

SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

CREATIVE CORNER The Spectacular SpiderNew home? Man Trilogy: Spider-Man 3

By Rachel Garvey I woke up slowly, letting the black dots clear from my vision.

I was in a lot of pain, but I don’t know why. I was lying in an unfamiliar bed, I sat up. Someone walked in, but I don’t look to see who. I screamed when the person turned to me.

“What the hell?! Get away from me… somebody help me!”, I screamed, tumbling to the floor in shock. He, she or it, was a skeleton. A live skeleton.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay, Sam,” a female voice hushed. How does she know my name? “My name is Martha, I’m head nurse here at Foreclosure Basin, do you remember what happened to you?”. “N... no”, I hesitated.

“Foreclosure Basin is where our beings continue to live after death. Each being is assigned a job in the portal, Foreclosure Basin, and some of us even get to be assigned as house spirits. If you haven’t a l re a d y s e e n yo u rs e l f. . . then…”, Martha explained, and she held up a mirror to my face. I recoiled back in terror.

My eyes were hollow, my nose looked like two blunt triangles cut into my bone structure, I could see ribs, bones, bones everywhere. I had died, but

When I Lie Beneath The Sky

by Jake Bond Stars swim out around the moon When I lie beneath the sky.

Sailor’s sign, horizons wine, I know tomorrow will be as fine When I lie beneath the sky.

Rockets soar for bluer skies When I lie beneath the sky.

Space men dive, the poets thrive, In deep azure they come alive When I lie beneath the sky.

Brains submerge in wishful dreams When I lie beneath the sky.

The quiet controls, Aurora unfolds, The Kraken falls to Atlantis souls When I lie beneath the sky And I see it all with galaxy eyes When I lie beneath the sky.

All is yellow and all is blue, I see your smile and all the stars too When I lie beneath the sky.

how? I couldn’t remember what happened. Martha sensed my frustration and explained my memory would be back in a day or two.

“Here, sweetie”, Martha said, as she handed me a booklet. I opened it and read the contents: Welcome to Foreclosure Basin, the portal of the undead.

PORTAL RULES: 1. Do your part here 2. Humans strictly prohibited

in the portal 3. Skeletons must have training

to be a house spirit 4. Only the house spirits leave

the portal I closed the booklet, promising myself to read it later.

Until then, I need to get my head straight. How did I die?

If I’m here, does that mean I have unfinished business?

How many others are here?

My questions are answered when permission was given for me to leave the room. Martha is right behind me. I stepped out into the light and I stepped back, my hollowed-out eyes widening in circumference.

The portal stretched up 500 metres to a bright light where the portal entrance is, and all the way down are different levels of floors with shops, dormitories, workstations and dozens of skeletons, both tiny and tall, scurrying about the place and going about their daily business.

“Our ruler, Lord Malevolence, will meet with you shortly.

Reaper, his assistant, will be along soon to escort you to his Lord’s realm situated at the base of the portal”. I looked down to see other levels and then another bright light. I nodded, still unable to talk.

This was my new life now; I didn’t know was it temporary or permanent.

“Also, Sam, we don’t use our real names here. Only the officials, like me, because I’m a nurse and it makes newbies feel more at ease… so, would you like to pick a new name?”, Martha asked, giving a small smile.

I hesitated. “I... uhm… call me Fright!” I half smiled wondering how my own new smile looked. Martha jotted down my name in her notepad and smiled back. “Fright, welcome to your new home”.

By Owen Kennedy

Spider-Man 3 Directed by Sam Raimi Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, Bryce Dallas Howard, James Cromwell, Rosemary Harris, J. K. Simmons So, here we are, the big finale of the Raimi Spider-Man trilogy. And… it is a mess. This movie is legitimately the hardest review I’ve ever had to do.

Whilst there are some legitimately fantastic elements, there are also some really, and I mean really, bad elements (the less said about ‘the dance’, the better). So, what exactly makes this film so polarising?

Let’s start off with some of the things Spider-Man 3 does well. This film deserves to be commended in its bravery to make its hero, Peter Parker (Maguire), an unlikeable jerk. We see Peter has let the fame of being the hero of New York City go to his head. His relationship with Mary Jane (Dunst) begins to strain, as he compares her ongoing problems with the problems he has to face as Spider-Man. Speaking of unlikeable protagonists, it’s a hot take, but I think the inclusion of the Venom symbiote, Klyntar if you wish, isn’t that bad. Whilst Venom the character, who I will get to shortly, isn’t executed very well into the story, the symbiote is great for developing Peter as a character, as it unleashes all his negative emotions and guilt that he’s been holding inside for the past two movies.

Whilst symbiote Peter is on screen, it’s clear who the real villain of the film is.

It isn’t until Peter hits Mary Jane that we see him reject the powers of the symbiote and return as Spider-Man. Speaking of villains, this movie thought having three at once would be a great idea. Let’s start with Flint Marco/ Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), because he is probably the best executed out of the three. Sandman’s motivations are simple and understandable. He’s a petty crook who is carrying guilt for the manslaughter of Uncle Ben, but is desperately trying to save his terminally ill daughter. Sandman’s CGI and fight choreography in the action scenes he’s in are also really good, with the Birth of Sandman scene masterful, thanks to very well aged effects and an excellent score. Moving on, we have Harry Osborne (Franco) who is a mixed bag. Harry had been built up as the villain over the past two films, with his urge to avenge his father being a prominent motivation in Spider-Man 2 and we do get it in this film, or a version of it at least. Harry is shown to be messing with the same chemicals that turned his father crazy in the first film, but, after he gets amnesia after a fight with Peter at the 15 minute mark, Harry and his threat as a villain are completely side-lined for half the film, until the middle of the second act, when he regains his memory because he gets rejected by Mary Jane.

Now, to be fair to Harry, when he regains his memory, he actually becomes pretty devious and is even redeemed when he comes to save his friends in the final act.

Then, there’s Venom. It’s a well-known fact that director Sam Raimi doesn’t like Venom as a character and was forced into the movie at the order of the producers. And it’s evident in how poorly executed Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) is.

Firstly, Topher Grace is badly miscast.

Eddie Brock in the comics is a big, large threatening jock figure and Topher Grace is the exact opposite, which can be seen in full when we hear his voice whilst he wears the Venom suit. In all fairness to Grace, his performance isn’t bad, and he is putting in good work into the role.

Venom, however, is ridiculously rushed.

He doesn’t appear in the film until the 1 hour 45-minute mark. Symbiote Peter had more screen time than him.

In conclusion, Spider-Man 3 is a cluttered mess, but by god, if it isn’t hilarious. I highly recommend you watch this film. Is it a disappointing conclusion to the Raimi trilogy? Yeah, I can definitely see why some would think that, but is it enjoyable? Wholeheartedly. You won’t find a more ironically excellent superhero film any time soon.

6/10

WHAT’S ON IN GALWAY?

Tuesday 5 November – Monday 18 November

By Sarah Gill

THURSDAY 7 NOVEMBER

RTÉ 2FM Rising at the Róisín Dubh Back in January of this year, RTÉ 2FM weeded out twelve of our island’s finest musical acts to make up their 2019 Rising list. It’s basically pin-pointing the ones to watch for the year ahead, and every artist on the list is phenomenal. Three members of the list – LAOISE, JyellowL and Chasing Abbey will be taking to the Róisín for a night of epic proportions.

Tickets are only €1, so make sure to get yourself down there pretty promptly.

the mountains to Galway City to hear some of this iconic singer’s tunes in the flesh. From ‘No Frontiers’ to ‘Katie’ and ‘A Woman’s Heart’, you’ll be surprised just how many lyrics you know yourself!

SUNDAY 10 NOVEMBER

Whenyoung at the Róisín Dubh If you haven’t already heard of this Limerick trio, you better head straight to Spotify!

For those amongst us who have a love for alternative indie-pop, they’ll be right up your street. Their nostalgic, euphoric sound is enhanced by their stunning aesthetics and, having supported the likes of The Vaccines and Declan McKenna, they’re well able to get the crowd going.

SATURDAY 9 NOVEMBER

Mary Black at Town Hall Theatre Yeah, okay, she may be more your mam’s cup of tea than your own, but wouldn’t a Mary Black concert just do the soul good? Invite the aul’ pair down from

SATURDAY 16 NOVEMBER

GASH w/ DJ EGG & DOUBT at Electric Returning to light up the dark confined of Factory once again with two of Ire-

land’s finest in tow, GASH Collective are experts when it comes to left-field electronic sounds. Accompanied by Cork’s DOUBT, you can expect some raw yet considered tunes, layered drums and a sweat-drenched crowd. Also making an appearance is Limerick’s DJ EGG, who’ll be banging out a mix of UKG, Bassline, Juke and Footwork.

SUNDAY 17 NOVEMBER

Damien Dempsey at the Róisín Dubh One of Ireland’s most important and unique voices, Damien Dempsey is an instantly recognisable figure in the Irish music scene. With 5 top 10 albums under his belt, his searing live shows are part and parcel of Dempsey’s appeal and his recent collaborations album Union includes features from Sinead O’Connor, Imelda May and Finbar Furey, among other great Irish names.

C U LT ÚR

November 05 2019

“My act is more like an exaggerated version of who I truly am” Owen Colgan talks to SIN about comedy, being a Hardy Buck and his bodybuilding parents.

By Paddy Henry For many of us rural dwellers, nothing epitomises the trials and tribulations of the life of a young person growing up in the middle of nowhere like Owen Colgan. The Mayo man has delighted and entertained audiences ever since he shot to fame playing the hilarious Buzz McDonnell on RTÉ’s hit comedy Hardy Bucks in 2008.

Since then, Colgan has gained a loyal following over his social media channels, amassing over 70,000 instagram followers and 150,000 Facebook likes, with fans obsessing over his musings on daily life, from jambons to crows and pigeons. Owen played the Vodafone Comedy Carnival last month and spoke to SIN about his life as a social media comic and his path to fame through the iconic Hardy Bucks.

“There’s no better feeling than drinking cans on the bypass”, said Colgan randomly at the beginning of the interview, which proved to be an accurate summation of the character of the man. Many of Colgan’s fans and followers would describe his act as a parody of the beloved Irish culchie, playing on the

used to, but I’m more kind of just trying to be myself up on stage and just tell real life stories about whatever the hell is going on in life in my silly little brain”.

Colgan’s route into comedy was far from conventional. Having initially set out to study nutrition, he fell into his big break after growing tired of the technical aspects of his course; “I actually went to college in Galway, I was doing a private nutrition course in Oranmore.

I like nutrition and all the other stuff, but I don’t like it when it gets to the scientific level and the boring level they brought it to. So, then I thought, ‘what else can I do?’. Then, I stumbled into Hardy Bucks. A few of my friends were making videos, so then, when we got onto TV, we were getting paid, we got paid for some of the YouTube stuff too, so it kind of naturally progressed, as opposed to me thinking ‘I better get into this’. So, it was a natural sort of accident”.

Owen believes that Hardy Bucks’ popularity was linked to its off-the-cuff nature and relatability, claiming, “I think, if you’re from a small community, you can put the characters into any situation in the world, but, I suppose, it was just because we were being

the new medium and how it compares to the more traditional form of his art. “I think there’s definitely a different tone to online comedy”, he remarks. “Hardy Bucks was real life because we weren’t thinking about the bigger picture of it being on the internet. We were just trying to make each other laugh, but now, with social media, you tend to make jokes that seem to be a bit different to the jokes you would make in everyday life”.

Colgan also acknowledges the challenges associated with his act getting such widespread coverage online, such as keeping his punters happy. “The thing about social media is that you’re constantly under pressure to create new stuff, and you see other people creating stuff and you’re like, ‘I better do something’, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Everything becomes a bit too generic then”.

Colgan cites his parents, both of whom are bodybuilders based in the city as a key influence for his comedy. “They are professional bodybuilders out in Galway City gym. They’re in there all the time selling steroids!”, he said chuckling. “My parents are very funny without trying to be funny. They just do things and they do it for funny reasons, just nor-

We were just trying to make each other laugh and to have a good time and if it got onto camera, then so be it, and if not, then no worries at all. It wasn’t scripted at all, we used to have a few drinks and a couple of smokes to take the edge off and that’d make us funny. So, the thing is, there are a lot of very funny groups of lads out there – we just happened to get it on camera”. funny stereotypes so closely associated with those of us living outside the urban confines of bustling cities, but the Hardy Bucks star feels his act is something more genuine; “I would see myself as a professional actor who satirises headers!”, he quips.

“My act is more like an exaggerated version of who I truly am, I suppose, is the best way to put it. I’m not really aiming to be like anybody, I’m just saying things that are in my head that I think could be funny if I had an ulterior character to do it through. It’s like an alter ego that I have. I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself a stand-up comedian because that’s a different world that I’m not really

raw, we were having the craic, we were trying to make each other laugh and we weren’t trying to show off or anything like that. We were just trying to make each other laugh and to have a good time and if it got onto camera, then so be it, and if not, then no worries at all. It wasn’t scripted at all, we used to have a few drinks and a couple of smokes to take the edge off and that’d make us funny. So, the thing is, there are a lot of very funny groups of lads out there – we just happened to get it on camera”.

Seen by many as a pioneer in a new era of comedy, largely centred around social media, Colgan spoke of the challenges that surround

mally, to be naturally funny”.

Fans desperate for another season of the culchie cult phenomenon will be delighted by Colgan’s revelation to SIN that the show may be returning to our screens in a few years’ time. “I’m only going on instincts, but I’d say there probably will be another series down the line, but it might be a few years from now.” he said.

Owen will be going on tour in the new year and, on top of his usual musings on crows, jambons and the return of the boom, he will be sampling new, sure to be hilarious material, with details to be revealed on his Facebook page.

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An ode to Frank Ocean

By Jonny Browne The anticipation is in the air again. Frank Ocean is beginning to tease us with new material, with the release of his latest single ‘DHL’ - a moody and boastful track, where he sings about his power over general pop culture, whether that’s in the music or fashion industry. The former Odd Future member launched the track at his first queer club night PrEP+ in New York, where no photos were allowed, the dancefloor was just for dancing and there was a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination.

This is the first song Ocean has released since his cover of Aubrey Hepburn’s ‘Moon River’ in 2018 and he hasn’t released an album since his critically acclaimed album ‘Blonde’ in 2016. The release of ‘DHL’ has put the internet into a frenzy with excitement over the possibility of new work. Ocean first came into prominence with his mixtape ‘Nostalgia Ultra’ in 2011, with his fusion of R&B, rap and electronic music, with songs like ‘Novacane’ garnering a lot of attention and hype online for a full album.

This came with his first full-length album ‘Channel Orange’, which was widely considered album of the year by numerous publications, like the Guardian, who recently ranked it the 12th best album of the 21st Century and Pitchfork ranked it the 10th best album of the 2010’s. The album also gave Ocean his first Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album. The album was such a success, as Ocean told a beautiful story of how he fell in love with a boy one summer a few years back and, thus, publicly came out as bisexual. His bravery and honesty really connected to this millennial generation and made him somewhat of a cult hero among them.

Songs like ‘Pyramids’ and ‘Forrest Gump’ became cult classics among this current generation, with their forward-looking, genre-less style and emotional vocals really attracting acclaim.

After the success of ‘Channel Orange’, fans couldn’t wait to have more music from Ocean soon and that’s what people thought they were going to get, after Ocean confirmed he was recording his second studio album in early 2013. What came after was a long haul for fans, as Ocean all but disappeared from the limelight. Months would go by without any public sightings or word from Frank, as he became less and less active on his famous Tumblr page and fans hung on his every word, however rarely they came out. Four years go by without anything coming out and then came the video album ‘Endless’, which was released exclusively on Apple Music. He released ‘Endless’ in order to get out of his record deal with Def Jam Records, who he claimed he had no relationship with, just a deal.

Thus, he was able to independently release ‘Blonde’ a day later to much fanfare. ‘Blonde’ was arguably more successful than ‘Channel Orange’, with more top ten rankings worldwide on the charts and with critics ranking it in the top 5 albums of the year at year’s end, but ‘Channel Orange’ does have a higher Metacritic score. Ocean went for a more stripped back style, with less electronic music in place for more traditional singer songwriter, less glamourous music. But with this came raw emotion and beauty, as Ocean conveys his vulnerability for all to see. Fans were empathetic with Ocean and related to him while on his journey of self-discovery and love.

Now, fans have been waiting for an album for three years but have been distracted by a splattering of singles like ‘Chanel’ and ‘Lens’, but with the release of this latest single and teases of two more, another masterpiece from Frank Ocean could be on its way.

26 A RT S & E N T E RTAIN M EN T

SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

THEATRE REVIEW: The Effect

By Eimer McAuley As I enter the Bank of Ireland Theatre to see this production of Lucy Prebble’s ‘THE EFFECT’, a play centred on an anti-depressants drug trial gone wrong, I’m confronted by a clinical, minimalist, white set bathed in soft atmospheric blue and pink lights. The actors are frozen onstage in moody poses, a doctor and two patients, and there is a shot glass on my seat containing a tic-tac. So far, so student theatre.

The stage manager announces a running time of two and a half hours – making me wish I had gone to the loo beforehand. It’s safe to say that my expectations of the production at this stage weren’t too high. It’s a good thing then, that, unlike the doctors who run the trial in the play, I can admit when I’m wrong.

In the first scene of the play, we meet two volunteers for the trial. Connie, an English girl with a sharp wit and

Oisin Doyle and Claudia Glavey’s production of ‘The Effect’ is an impressively accomplished and daring interpretation of the play, that cuts to the core of the questions it poses: are the effects of anti-depressants really just placebo? Does that matter at all if they work and help people? If we can reduce happiness to a matter of chemical reactions and balances – then is that also the case for love?

The arguments for and against anti-depressants are fleshed out in the play through the opposing views and tumultuous relationship of Toby and Lorna. The performances of both actors, Fionn McGlacken and Shannon O’ Flynn, come alive in these clashes.

The romantic history of these two characters is less sharply written and, at times, feels like an irrelevant distraction within the play, a problem with the writing moreso than with this production. Both actors have stand out monologues on their own.

find out that she herself suffers from bouts of severe depression and refuses to medicate, and then that she herself is on trial. When Lorna finally cracks under the pressure, O’ Flynn steals the show with a bruisingly pained monologue filled with anger and desperation.

As Tristan, Matty Loane is convincing and charismatic in equal parts, and his comic timing is impeccable - he gets more laughs out of this script than you would think it merits upon first read. It’s a brilliant performance and the most confident of the play. Loane’s Tristan more than meets his match in Pauline Smith’s Connie. Smith’s performance is initially understated and subtle, but as the play intensifies, her ability to transition from the comedic and tender scenes to the more dramatic and tense scenes of the play carries the entire production towards its crescendo, as Connie needs to know if her feelings for Tristan, and his for

Oisin Doyle and Claudia Glavey’s production of ‘The Effect’ is an impressively accomplished and daring interpretation of the play, that cuts to the core of the questions it poses: are the effects of antidepressants really just placebo? Does that matter at all if they work and help people? If we can reduce happiness to a matter of chemical reactions and balances – then is that also the case for love? a reserved nature, with a boyfriend waiting on the outside and her whole life planned out, and Tristan, a cheeky Belfast boy who volunteers for these trials to fund his exotic travel habits.

They flirt in between having their blood taken and get to know each other while being swabbed for their DNA. The chemistry between the two actors is so palpable and so engaging that I entirely forget I ever needed to pee.

Mc Glacken is gleefully sinister when performing Toby’s cynical corporate speech, which sees him holding what is supposed to be his own father’s brain over a steel bucket. I only wish he had gone further with the physical comedy, as he affectionately patted the gooey pink mass in his hand, and stuck his hand right in. O’Flynn has a lot of heavy dramatic work to do over the course of the play as Lorna, as we

her, are chemically induced.

Doyle and Glavey’s slick direction, but also Conor Mc Laughlin’s impressive use of lighting, makes the montage sequence that shows Connie and Tristan falling in love moving rather than cheesy, and their visceral fight and break up, and Tristan’s over-dose later in the play, equally convincing. This production is so successful because the directors

have recognised that, at its core, it’s a love story, one that makes its audience laugh and cry.

However, it’s also successful because it leaves many of the questions it poses unanswered. This isn’t a production that’s going to offer you much closure on the anti-depressants debate. Even as Lorna finally swallows a pill in the final scene of the play, it’s open to interpretation as either

an act of recognition that medication is necessary, or a hopeless act of desperation. Doyle and Glavey told me after the show that they didn’t want to tie the action up in a neat bow, they wanted to have their audience continuing the debate as they walked out of the theatre. This is student theatre at its best, ambitious, and unafraid to ask questions without supplying all the answers.

BOOK REVIEW: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

By Cody Campbell “Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever.”

I was in my local bookstore one weekend, and from the corner of my eye, I caught sight of the last copy of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

It was on sale, and I grabbed it, having heard nothing but praise. The book was the recipient of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and won the 2015 Andrew Carnegie Medal.

So why was I afraid of starting to read it? Usually, when I open a book and there are pages of glowing reviews before the first chapter, it means I am in for a treat. Yet, I feared all of this positivity surrounding the book would make it overrated. Such fears were entirely unfounded.

The book opens in August 1944, and then moves back 10 years before the outbreak of the war. Our protagonists are introduced: the blind Marie-Laure living in Paris with her father, and the German orphan, Werner, with white blonde hair and unparalleled inquisitiveness. The book flips through time with effortless fluidity, where, eventually, Marie-Laure and Werner’s lives intersect at the finale. The characters and their perceptions of their respective worlds are both mesmerising; Werner’s Nazi Germany, and MarieLaure’s vivid world without sight. The book’s short chapters, sometimes being less than a page long, make it easy to fly through the story, despite its 531 pages.

This is not just any other story about the terror and loss that occurs during war. It is a profound, engaging attempt at

understanding our own species. Doerr’s writing is poetic and hazy, dreamlike.

His characters are tangible, with little idiosyncrasies that come across as purely human. This is not limited to Werner and Marie-Laure, side characters overflow with intense realism, such as Jutta, Etienne and Volkheimer, among others. The characters were so real, in fact, that once I finished the book, I wondered if this was based on truth (it’s not).

What I particularly enjoyed was Doerr’s ability to emphasise the fault and beauty in humanity, with what is ultimately a very simple story. There were no epic battle scenes, or tunnel organisations, no purely bad people, and purely good ones. There is complexity in every decision made by the characters. Doerr writes in a way that makes us realise how easy it can be for all of

us to be caught in dangerous situations, be enticed to organisations that are bigoted and ruthless and to end up where we never wanted to be, but should be.

Life is short, and that is true. This novel made me feel a strange kind of nostalgia for a world I will never know, and characters who only exist in Doerr’s world.

If you loved The Book Thief, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The English Patient or Man’s Search for Meaning, you will adore All the Light We Cannot See. I highly recommend this book, not only because it left me devastated, in ugly tears at 3am; not only because I am now rummaging through Easons for something that will elicit my emotions in the same way, but because it is a powerful, haunting story about people, and how we try (and sometimes fail) to be kind to one another.

C U LT ÚR

November 05 2019

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SURPRISING REVELATIONS – greatest twist endings ever

By Owen Kennedy The movie twist is one of the most culturally influential aspects of cinema. A single twist in a movie can completely change the shape of pop culture, as we have seen throughout the years, with many of the more impactful twists lasting decades after their original release. You can almost call this piece an appreciation post to movie twists. Also, this goes without saying, but spoilers. For everything.

Star Wars – Empire Strikes Back (1980) Kicking things off we have the grand-daddy of movie twists. With four simple words, “I am your father”, pop culture was changed forever. The bone-chilling delivery by those words by James Earl Jones, with the tension between Vader and Luke, and the entirety of the film as a whole, is, at its highest, evidence enough to show how this twist is still so effective and has lasted for nearly four decades in pop culture. If you get a chance, look up videos of little kids reacting to the revelation for the first time on YouTube to see just how impactful this surprise is. Still, the twist used in Toy Story 2 was better, though.

Avengers – Infinity War (2018) I went into Infinity War having already read Infinity Gauntlet (1991). I was fully expecting Thanos to win against the Avengers and, yet, I was still floored by

the words, “You should have gone for the head”.

There’s a reason many call this movie this generation’s equivalent to Empire Strikes Back. I’m willing to argue that the twist is even more impactful, due to our heroes having several chances to stop him, but they let their emotions get in the way, with good examples being Quill losing it over Gamora’s death, everyone’s refusal to destroy the Mind Stone kill Vision and Thor’s thirst for revenge for Heimdall by going for Thanos’ chest. By the time our heroes are ready to sacrifice others for the good of the universe, it’s already too late. Thanks Time Stone.

Citizen Kane (1941) Long considered one of the greatest films of all time, Citizen Kane also ends with an impressive surprise.

Of course, because this movie is rightly considered one of the greatest of all time, you already know what the twist is. Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) died at his palatial mansion of Xanadu, with his last word being “Rosebud.” What was Rosebud? The journalist tasked with finding out isn’t able to get an answer, no matter how many of Kane’s old colleagues he asks. It’s only in the very last shot when we learn, “Rosebud” was the name of Kane’s childhood sled, last seen being burned to a crisp. This twist doesn’t change everything, but it raises a lot of questions that Welles, who co-wrote and directed the film, refuses to answer. A novel ending to one of the greatest films ever.

That’s dedication

By Sarah Gill There’s no doubt about it that the recent release of Joker has been on everyone’s lips. Whether you were shocked and appalled and fled the cinema before the midway point, or you thought it was hands-down the movie of the year, it’s attracted a whole lot of attention. Joaquin Phoenix’s stunning portrayal of the Joker was devastating in all its glory, but I cannot help but be reminded of Heath Ledger’s performance in the 2008 film, The Dark Night – a performance the actor never got to see on the big screen, as he died shortly after filming had ended due to an accidental prescription drug overdose, which gave rise to its fair share of controversy.

The masses were quick to assume that Ledger’s death was somehow a result of his immersion in his penultimate role, a reckoning that was quashed by his sister Kate, who stated that “every report was coming out that he was depressed and that [the role] was taking this toll on him, and we’re going, honestly, it was the absolute opposite. It couldn’t be more wrong”. Still, and with all, the level to which actors submerge themselves in a role and essentially become the character they’re portraying is something to be marvelled.

Drastic weight loss is part and parcel for a lot of roles and there are a number of actors that spring to mind in this instance. Christian Bale is one of the most well-known method actors to grace our screens, with his most prominent transformations seen in The Machinist, where he lost in excess of four stone to embody the role of an insomniac and later went on to gain nearly three stone for

the role of Dick Cheney in Vice. Tom Hanks shed almost four stone for the emaciated leading role in Castaway, while Matthew McConaughey lost nearly three and a half stone to play the character of a HIV patient in Dallas Byers Club, for which he later won an Oscar.

Moving away from weight loss and into the realm of more frightening transformations, it’s rumoured that Jared Leto never broke his portrayal of the Joker for the duration of filming for Suicide Squad.

In order to fully descend into the role of the villain, Leto took method acting to a new level by sending co-star Margot Robbie a love letter accompanied by a live rat, while treating his other cast mates to a head pig and thoroughly terrifying a number of the cast and crew.

It seems the villainous character of the Joker is one that demands the highest possible level of dedication. Heath Ledger locked himself up in a room for weeks on end in order to fully galvanise the role, placing himself in exile to understand the dark psyche of the character. In Joaquin Pheonix’s incarnation of the role, the Joker seemed to come from within. Having studied those who suffer from pathological laughter and learned the contortionism involved in his signature dance, the majority of the understanding of the character came while filming.

Would any of these films pack the same punch if their starring characters were not so aptly embodied by their dedicated actors? Would they leave the same lasting impression on the viewer? To watch an actor mould themselves into an array of disparate roles and so fully immerse themselves in the part is truly something to be admired.

Planet of the Apes (1968) Some pop-culture creators are synonymous with twist endings. One of the all-time greatest would have to be Rod Serling, creator of the iconic TV series The Twilight Zone. On that show, Serling would often weave sci-fi stories with a gut-punch finale. So, it stands to reason that Planet of the Apes, the 1968 science-fiction film he co-wrote, would similarly have a shocking twist ending, and boy, did this live up to that expectation. You don’t even have to know this movie to know what happens in the end thanks to how iconic the ending is. Charlton Heston’s astronaut is shocked to learn that he didn’t land on another planet, but on Earth, just in a future where humanity has been mostly wiped out and subjugated by humanoid apes. It’s a bleak, unexpected ending that made the film memorable.

The Sixth Sense (1999) M. Night Shyamalan’s breakout hit really did break out because of how it ended. Fortunately, the film that came before the finale held up, once the writer and director revealed the unthinkable. Our stolid hero, Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), didn’t just get shot in the opening scene of the film. In fact, he was shot and killed in that scene by a disgruntled

ex-patient of his, who, coincidentally, was plagued by the same supernatural ability Crowe’s newest patient, Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) has, i.e. the ability to see dead people. Shyamalan has made a lot of movies with a lot of twist endings since The Sixth Sense, but this remains his best ending yet because it simply made sense. There’s no playing false, everything lines up with the ending.

Fight Club (1999) Surprise identity is a commonplace twist in movies, and few movies get it so creepily right like David Fincher’s adaptation of Fight Club. The 1999 thriller features Edward Norton as a nameless narrator, and Brad Pitt as the lively, charismatic and wouldbe revolutionary Tyler Durden. Durden begins to build up a cult of men committing terroristic acts around a major city, to the narrator’s shock. That is, until the narrator realises something in a violent way. He and Tyler Durden are the same person.

The narrator has essentially divorced himself from reality by not accepting his own identity, and he only does at the end to hopefully stop a devastating explosion. It doesn’t work, but regaining his identity is enough of a victory at the end of the nihilistic thriller.

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SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

The social activist in LeBron James shrank in the biggest moment

By Darragh Nolan When Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey took a stand and spoke out in favour of democracy in Hong Kong, the political fires were truly lit within the NBA. Previously, the league had set itself apart from other major American sports organisations by meeting issues of social justice head on. Basketball’s greatest and most well-known figures have been outspoken for years now, on everything from the election of Donald Trump to issues of police brutality, like the killing of Trayvon Martin, as well as Colin Kaepernick’s protest movement.

However, not until Morey’s controversial tweet did the basketball world come to a moral dilemma. There’s no questioning that players and NBA executives deserve to be heaped with praise.

Commissioner Adam Silver was only months into his tenure when the Donald Sterling tapes leaked, and he handled that crisis perfectly.

This time, there was money on the line. Silver’s deputy commissioner claims that over 300 million

Chinese people play the game. Over 500 million fans in China watch NBA basketball, according to ESPN. Forbes values NBA China at over $4 billion.

The stakes have never been higher.

Morey’s now deleted post simply read: “Fight for freedom. Stand with Hong Kong”. It’s easy to see why the NBA made such an issue of the tweet, despite the fact that Morey’s undoubtedly right to champion democracy and free speech. They stand to lose their biggest market outside of the United States if they upset the Chinese government.

Criticism was to be expected from the suits in charge of the league, but, again, the NBA’s players have famously spoken out on divisive issues like this. As such, it was quite jarring to hear the greatest, most influential of all criticise Morey rather than support him.

LeBron James mused that Morey was perhaps “uneducated” on the events in Hong Kong. James accused Morey of thinking about himself and “not thinking about others” when he made that post.

Houston’s GM inarguably had nobody other than the protestors in Hong Kong on his mind. The “others” in question were the NBA and the Chinese government.

Morey’s now deleted post simply read: “Fight for freedom.

Stand with Hong Kong”. It’s easy to see why the NBA made such an issue of the tweet, despite the fact that Morey’s undoubtedly right to champion democracy and free speech. They stand to lose their biggest market outside of the United States if they upset the Chinese government.

Morey offended the league and the government and clearly caused LeBron some sort of discomfort. ‘The King’ has just as much skin in the game as anyone else. Basketball’s popularity in China translates into shoe sales, endorsement opportunities and social media following. He has scope to line his pockets with Chinese money, much like the league’s owners and executives do.

Although James and his team did some very obvious damage control in the wake of the backlash which he drew, it’s simply not enough. In a tweet of his own, James said there was no “consideration

for the consequences and ramifications” of Daryl Morey’s post. Said ramifications were him putting his livelihood on the line in the name of free speech.

It’s time to put a stop to the comparisons between LeBron James and Muhammad Ali when it comes to activism. Ali gave up his career in protest against the Vietnam War and faced the possibility of imprisonment without question. LeBron couldn’t spare a few words in support of protesters in Hong Kong because he was worried it would hurt his bank account.

Muhammad Ali was a hero. LeBron James is a sell-out.

Scene from street protests in Hong Kong. Photo: Studio Incendo via Wikimedia Commons

Should the Rugby World Cup Irish rugby – where to now? have been held in Japan?

By Owen Kennedy

By Darren Casserly There is a growing trend of hosting major competitions in more extreme climates. Most people would consider Japan to be a modern, first-world country. The problem is holding a competition, like the Rugby World Cup, during typhoon season, which, by any metric, should not happen. Yet, there was a need from rugby officials to hold the tournament in what they would consider an ‘emerging market’, with their goal of trying to grow the game in Japan.

Even with their good intentions, organising the event for four years, just to host it during the worst weather period, is not just idiotic, but careless. No World Cup game should ever have to be cancelled and the fact that there was no back-up venue in case of any emergency has a disastrous effect on rugby’s governing body’s reputation.

Another problem with the cancellation ordeal is the lack of respect given to smaller countries, which was astounding. There was no clearer example than the New Zealand versus Italy game. Italy captain Sergio Parisse made a good point when he asked, would it have been cancelled if New Zealand needed a bonus point victory? You would seriously have to doubt that. The fact that this has not been a much bigger story is puzzling to me. If the same thing was to happen in the FIFA World Cup, there would undoubtedly be outrage from all corners of the globe. The fact that it’s rugby, and not nearly as globally popular, has let the governing body off the hook to a certain extent.

However, the running of World Rugby is near saintly when compared to the disaster we know as FIFA, with their granting of the World Cup to a country virtually unknown for football, in Qatar. It was one of the most obvious fixed events in sports history, with very little resistance to the claims of corruption, which ultimately spelled the end of the Sepp Blatter era in FIFA. Now, it looks like, despite human rights violations, player welfare concerns and holding the event in winter, the next World Cup will take place on Qatari soil, or, more accurately, sand. This, unfortunately, is nothing surprising for most sports fans, with fewer and fewer major sporting events being held in traditional locations in an attempt to chase untapped markets.

Up until recently, this trend had not been of much concern until the Rio Olympics, with the stream of constant problems being one of the major stories from the games. This was very much the same story with the IAAF championships in Qatar this year, with the Women’s Marathon taking place at midnight due to the unbearable conditions. At some point, though, you’d have to consider the needs of the athletes. Even with air-conditioned stadiums, the conditions are dangerous, and it wouldn’t be inconceivable for it to cause serious damage to the athletes.

This is a problem that all sports are going to have to deal with and we are potentially looking at the future for most major sporting events. The question is how far will we go in the name of profit.

After the end of one of the most sobering defeats in the six-year reign of Joe Schmidt, the optimism of the Irish team has not been doused by the raging fire that was New Zealand. They charred the hopes of a team who had never made it beyond the last eight, hoping to finally spring past and make it to a semi-final for once. “It is hard enough playing New Zealand with your A game, never mind the D version”, said the Ireland wing Keith Earls. Earls is one of the players whose international careers may have ended, along with that of the captain, Rory Best, who, at a time of high emotions, gave a measured response to a defeat Ireland had not expected, never mind the size of it. “We just seem to shoot ourselves in the foot in the quarter-finals of a World Cup”. The priority for Ireland is to ensure all the gains they made under Schmidt are not undone by a defeat to a team who have, down the decades, been the masters of invention and single-minded resilience.

They have opted for continuity with Andy Farrell, the defence coach who oversaw the only two victories against New Zealand in the last four years, taking charge.

It will be new territory for Stuart Lancaster’s former right-hand man with England.

What marks out the very best coaches, such as Steve Hansen, Warren Gatland, Eddie Jones and Schmidt, is their ability to make the right selection calls far more often than not, a vital quality

that Australia’s Michael Cheika ultimately lacked.

Farrell will have to make decisions over players such as Johnny Sexton, Earls, Rob Kearney, Peter O’Mahony and Cian Healy before the next Six Nations. Does he blood a new generation or make changes gradually? What he does have is a nucleus of players aged 24 or younger who have international experience. They should be in the leading figures in the team come 2023, such as Garry Ringrose, Jordan Larmour, Joey Carbery, Jacob Stockdale, James Ryan and Andrew Porter.

Ireland under Schmidt did not play like a New Zealand team. He applied a tight rein from the start, instructing his players not to offload unless the act carried a minimum of risk, and unlike Hansen, Gatland and Jones, he was reluctant to expose young players early, preferring to wait until they were embedded in his system. What players such as Carbery, Ringrose and Larmour provide is the means for a more expansive, bolder approach, while retaining the abrasion they developed.

Schmidt reflected that he carried his scars more than his successes and the latest wound would cut deepest. It was not the finale he or Best had dreamed of, but, as he appreciates as well as anyone, there are very few happy endings when New Zealand are the opposition. Ireland supporters heading back to Shinjuku had only praise for a man who had touched their dreams with belief, the romantics turned realists. That may be Tokyo Joe’s greatest legacy.

SPÓIRT

November 05 2019

29

Republic of Ireland in dire need of Stephen Kenny as soon as possible

By Aaron Deering Irish football fans had high hopes going into the two UEFA EURO Championship qualifiers against Georgia and Switzerland. Unfortunately, those hopes were quickly dashed, after a poor 0-0 draw in Tbilisi against Georgia.

This meant Ireland had to get a win out of their last two games, against either the Swiss or the Danes, if they wanted to qualify automatically.

We looked to Tuesday hoping a draw would at least do and instead, we were outplayed and deservedly lost 2-0 to Switzerland. In both games, all Ireland could do was go long and we could barely string more than three passes together.

Mick McCarthy’s side only had to get a draw and a win out of our last three games, and they couldn’t do it. In reality, it only came down to two crucial games all qualifying campaign, against Georgia and Switzerland and McCarthy failed the test miserably. The Georgia game was the more important, as,

on paper, we’re the better team and Georgia offered the most realistic chance out of the last three games of a win and three points.

McCarthy was quite happy to get a draw against Georgia even though a win and three points would’ve made qualifying so much easier. McCarthy said after the game “It’s a point gained”, and that, “Had you offered me four points from two games against Georgia prior to the competition, I’d have taken it”.

We couldn’t even score against Georgia, but Gibraltar were able to score two against them only three days later. So, anyone that says that Ireland don’t have the quality or ability, needs to have a good rethink because, if you’re trying to say Gibraltar are a better team than Ireland, then I’m sorry, they’re not.

McCarthy has effectively been Martin O’Neill in disguise. The football hasn’t improved and the so-called spirit in the team was always there under O’Neill, even though the players didn’t show it in O’Neill’s last few games.

Murray triumph the latest in a long line of inspiring comebacks

By Darragh Nolan Andy Murray’s first tournament win in singles tennis in over two-and-a-half years defied all expectation. Earlier this year, yours truly joined the sporting world in seeing him off into retirement with a career tribute. Now, he’s the reigning European Open champion, having seen off Stan Wawrinka.

So often does sport produce stories that capture the imagination and inspire millions. Perhaps the greatest story of all is that of the comeback. From the gruelling rehab of major injuries to the inevitability of Father Time seeing a great off into the sunset, the very best athletes somehow find a way to climb to the top once more.

These are some of the greatest returns in sporting history.

close to getting two draws against Zenit St. Petersburg. Axel Witsel, a Belgian international and Zenit player, stated that Dundalk were ‘’the best we’ve played’’ after Dundalk’s two games against Zenit in the Europa League.

Kenny’s Dundalk team, similar to Ireland, lacked the resources and calibre of player compared to these other teams and yet still performed well and played attacking football. Kenny also will bring a much-needed freshness to the international team by changing up the personnel of the team, because, unlike McCarthy, he owes none of the players any loyalty. The truth is players such as Seamus Coleman, James McClean and Glenn Whelan are all well past it and should be dropped. It’s tough to say this about these players since they have been great servants to the national team, but they had their time and it’s time to give others a chance, such as Matt Doherty.

McCarthy won’t make these tough calls as he shows too much loyalty to these players, despite their poor performances throughout the whole campaign, and not just in recent games. Regardless, if we qualify for EURO 2020, McCarthy needs to go, as we haven’t improved whatsoever under him and the time is right for Stephen Kenny to come in and bring a much-needed change of personnel and style of football to the team.

secutive rings. The 1996 edition of Jordan’s Bulls remains widely regarded as the best NBA team ever assembled.

GEORGE FOREMAN Aged just 28, Foreman certainly left the door open when he first hung up the gloves in 1977. However, re-entering the ring ten years later at 38, no one would’ve been blamed for pointing out that ‘Big George’ was past his physical prime. This was not a boxing revival akin to the big money events that Floyd Mayweather puts on, though. Foreman racked up 24 consecutive victories and earned a crack at Evander Holyfield, coming up just short.

He later became the oldest heavyweight champion in history by stopping Michael Moorer, and who knows? Maybe the world is without those beloved grills if Foreman stays retired.

RANDY COUTURE

TIGER WOODS

As a defining figure of the UFC’s early days, Couture appeared to be fading away after a KO loss to Chuck Liddell in 2006, but just over a year later, ‘The Natural’ captured gold for the sixth time in his illustrious career, dominating Tim Sylvia over five rounds. From the very first punch of the fight, when Couture dropped Sylvia, to the last sounding of the horn, it was incredible watching the 43-yearold be in such control. The noise from the crowd was deafening, Couture’s infectious smile shone in victory once again and legendary commentator Joe Rogan was like a little boy in the octagon, as he declared ‘Captain America’ his “hero”.

Tiger had turned into something of a joke during his seemingly endless downward spiral. Numerous attempts at a comeback saw him missing cuts, picking up new injuries and putting up some truly embarrassing shots. The worst moment of all came when he was arrested for driving under the influence. Yet, Woods persisted in making it back on the course again, at last putting together his first win in five years at the 2018 Tour Championship. From there, we were blessed with the sight of Sunday Tiger donning another green jacket at Augusta. His first major in 11 years at the 2019 Masters was a joyous occasion.

MICHAEL JORDAN

Everyone remembers Lauda’s improbable return to the track, just six weeks after suffering horrific burns at the 1976 German Grand Prix. But he also spent two years away from Formula One before joining McLaren in 1982. Success was far from a sure thing with Alain Prost in the other McLaren seat in 1984, but Lauda took five race wins on the way to his third and final F1 World Championship.

The late, great Niki Lauda was certainly one for a comeback.

NIKI LAUDA The greatest player to ever grace a court bowed out from basketball on top, having just completed a three-peat championship run in 1993.

He retired in the wake of his father’s death just weeks later. MJ’s pursuit of a career in baseball never got off the ground and he made his return to the Chicago Bulls in ’95. He was as dominant as ever, winning two MVPs and three Finals MVPs on the way to another run of three con-

The fact is the European Championship has become one of the easiest football tournaments to qualify for, after the expansion from 16 teams to 24 teams for the final tournament. Even if we lose to Denmark in our final game, we still have a chance to qualify through the play-offs and could possible face Bosnia, Slovakia or Northern Ireland as our opponents.

To be honest, we don’t even deserve to qualify through the back door for the standard of football we’ve played all tournament and that style of football comes from the manager. Stephen Kenny can change this style of football to a slick passing and attacking style of football. Those who argue that League of Ireland fans, such as myself, have exaggerated how good Kenny is obviously haven’t seen the fantastic style of football the U21s have played, or how he turned Dundalk’s fortunes from relegation candidates to 4-time winners of the league during his reign.

Anyone that also says that Kenny wouldn’t be able for big international games, or wouldn’t be able to get the best out of a team lacking ability or skill compared to most opposition teams, should know about Dundalk’s European run in 2016.

Kenny’s Dundalk team were completely inferior to AZ Alkmaar, Zenit St. Petersburg and Maccabi Tel Aviv on paper and yet still got 4 points and came

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SIN Vol. 21 Issue 05

Club Spotlight – NUI Galway Ultimate Frisbee Club

By Alice O’Donnell Ultimate, also known as Ultimate Frisbee, or simply just Frisbee, is a relatively new sport that is one of the fastest growing across the world.

Started in 1960s America, ultimate is a mix of hippy ideology and serious sportsmanship, making for an unusual and highly enjoyable sport. It boasts elements that can be related to a wide range of sports, from offensive cutting, like in soccer, to scoring in an endzone, like in rugby. Ultimate is a sport that offers something for everyone.

NUI Galway is the home of one of Ireland’s oldest ultimate teams, known as the Panteras.

Founded in the late 1990s, NUI Galway’s Ultimate team has gone from strength to strength, and now has active members across all college disciplinaries. Many NUI Galway students have gone on to represent Ireland in ultimate across the world, with Panteras players being on the Irish Women’s squad that won the European Championship this year.

Ultimate is a great way to travel across the country and meet new people. Each semester, there are approximately 5 tournaments held around Ireland, which are either women’s, men’s or mixed. Tournaments that fall in semester one are indoors, while semester two tournaments are held outdoors. While still the same sport, indoor

and outdoor games have different-sized pitches and a slight variation on rules. Both versions of ultimate emphasise different strengths in play, and cultivate different skills, such as short clean passes in indoors, compared to longer throws in outdoors. Throughout the year, the Panteras club hold trainings outside in Dangan and inside in the Kingfisher to make sure their players are able to play in both competitions to their fullest of their ability.

Women’s Captain Catherine Sheeran believes that the NUI Galway Ultimate club is so attractive as it is so diverse, saying, “It can be played as competitively as you like”. The club has a wide range of players, from people who have never held a disc before, to national team players. While beginners are coached separately for the first few weeks, games in training are played with teams made of mixed experienced levels, meaning new members get to know their teammates quickly.

Catherine also places an emphasise on the social aspect of the club, talking about what a “welcoming community” the Panteras Club is.

Similarly, Club President Ricardas Kaminskas also points out the friendly atmosphere that is present.

“The best part of frisbee to me is the community, how friendly and kind everyone is. You can always depend on people to give you a hand”. Social nights are organised each week, and teammates quickly

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bond over a tournament weekend. While many Erasmus students only play with NUI Galway for a short time, they quickly make lasting friendships with their fellow teammates.

Alexis Helgeson, from California, says she joined the Frisbee club as it’s a non-contact sport, and she’s had “too many concussions!”. Having never played ultimate before, she’s amazed at how much fun the game is, saying, “I joined frisbee to meet new people and have some fun, while also accidently working out from time to time. Everyone on the team is super supportive, [and] I am definitely hooked now; frisbee is so much fun!”.

Beginners are thrown into play, with Alexis playing for NUI Galway twice already in this semester.

Ultimate is perhaps an unusual sport in terms of its emphasis on good sportsmanship. As a selfrefereed sport, fairness and honesty is vital in a game. An element called “spirit” is hugely impor-

tant and encapsulates fair mindedness and respect for both your players and the opposition. At the end of each match, each team ranks each other on their level of spirit, and at the end of each tournament, an award is given to the most spirited team, and the most spirited player on each team. In this way, ultimate is a sport which encourages holistic development, and not just pure winning.

The Panteras Ultimate Club encourages every student to try out frisbee at least once during their time at university. Women’s Captain Catherine Sheeran described how the training sessions are so refreshing after a day stuck in lectures or the library, while the Club President says, “I think it’s a sport that everyone should try out in college and you never know… You may end up loving it!”

NUI Galway Ultimate Frisbee training is on Tuesdays from 5 to 7 pm at Dangan rugby pitches and Thursdays from 5 to 7pm in Kingfisher Hall 2.

UEFA’s failure to tackle racism is destroying the game

By Aaron Deering Racism has become a major issue in football and has been rampant in recent months. The main reason for this is because of the inability of organisations (like UEFA) to take appropriate action. The most recent incident occurred in the UEFA European Championship qualifying match between Bulgaria and England.

I watched the game and was disgusted to hear and see what was happening. The game was stopped twice due to racist monkey chanting, while there were images of Bulgarian fans projected on our screens giving fascist salutes.

Raheem Sterling, Tyrone Mings and Marcus Rashford were all targeted with racist abuse.

The first stoppage in the game came on the 28th minute, and after lengthy discussions, the authorities followed UEFA’s protocol for dealing with racism. A stadium announcement warned fans to stop the racist chanting or else further sanctions would be applied. The game was stopped again just before half-time, when further discussions took place between referee Ivan Bebek and England boss Gareth Southgate. If the racist chants continued, the second step of UEFA’s protocols would be initiated, which instructs the referee to remove the players from the field of play.

Another announcement would also be made calling on the racist chanting to stop. If this all failed, then the third step of UEFA’s protocol would’ve taken place, which instructs the referee to abandon the game. In fairness to the Bulgarian captain Ivelin Popov, he tried speaking to Bulgarian fans at half-time in attempt to stop the chanting. The game continued after half-time and England went on to win 6-0.

To hear the Bulgarian manager Krasimir Balakov in his post-match comments refuse to acknowledge the racist chanting during the game, because he was too busy concentrating on the game, was an utter disgrace. The day after the game, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov forced the Bulgarian FU’s president Borislav Mihaylov to resign, while the entire Bulgarian FU executive committee also resigned in solidarity with Mr Mihaylov. This has left nobody in a position to govern Bulgaria’s domestic and international games. Then, three days later, Bulgarian football manager Balakov resigned in solidarity with its President.

The Bulgarian Interior Ministry has said that police have identified 16 people who took part in the racist abuse directed at the English players.

One thing that stands out is that UEFA did none of this. The hypocrisy by UEFA is unbelievable.

They are against governments or states getting involved in their national football associations, but will happily let the Bulgarian government do the dirty work for them, yet they stopped the Irish government from getting involved with the FAI and its poor governance.

UEFA did charge the Bulgarian FU with four offences: racist behaviour, the throwing of objects, disruption of the national anthem and replays on a giant screen. These sanctions imposed by UEFA are worthless. It’s an absolute outrage that UEFA have continued to fail to deal with such a serious issue.

Their protocols are a joke. UEFA allow for thugs, not football fans, to have 3 goes of racist abuse directed at players before they abandon a game. UEFA should enforce tougher sanctions on countries and clubs who get involved in this sort of behaviour.

Once is enough and the game should be immediately called off, with the other team getting a 3-0 win and 3 points. After this, they should be forced to play behind closed doors for the rest of the tournament or league to send a clear message that this sort of behaviour isn’t acceptable. UEFA won’t do this, as they’ve shown through their protocols that all they’re interested in is the money and the games continuing despite racism occurring in matches.

One important point made by sports journalist Philp Egan was that people are forgetting the lessons of WWII and this was evident throughout the Bulgaria vs England game, with the Bulgarian fans using the Nazi salute. People have forgotten the meaning behind that gesture and the horrible history that is behind it and it’s worrying to see this creep back into, not just football, but society in general.

Lazio fans marched through Glasgow doing the Nazi salute before their recent game against Celtic in the Europa League. Again, UEFA failed to act. This type of behaviour cannot continue and it’s time UEFA stood up and took responsibility for what is going on because the world’s eyes are watching and we’re not happy, and the blame will firmly lie with UEFA for failing to act.

CO MÓ RTAS

November 05 2019

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