NUI Galway updates students on Coronavirus

Cillian Murphy launches new Empathy Action programme with NUI Galway

By Caoimhe Killeen

Actor Cillian Murphy has launched a new programme with the UNESCO Chair Professor Pat Dolan at NUI Galway that aims to introduce empathy education to second-level students across Ireland. The programme was launched on January 23 rd and is part of a body of work carried out by the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre (UCFRC) based in NUI Galway.

The “Activating Social Empathy” is intended to form part of the Junior Cycle’s Wellbeing Programme, with four key modules to target student learning: Understanding Empathy, Practicing Empathy, Overcoming Barriers to Empathy, and Putting Empathy into Action. It has now entered its evaluation stage, which is being carried out on over 2,000 students in 25 schools nationwide.

The evaluation will assess students’ empathic attitudes and interpersonal links, with the full programme being available as a free resource to schools from September 2020.

The programme is a result of research that was conducted by UCFRC on teenagers that showed the need to focus

more on social values and developing an aptitude for empathy in secondary schools.

The launch was also attended by youth advocates for empathy educa tion and provided an opportunity to showcase the Youth as Researchers Video Resource Library for Schools and Community Groups. It was developed in collaboration with Foróige, and narrated by Cillian Murphy, who is also a Patron of UCFRC. He also commented that as an actor, empathy is an important acting tool and that in “supporting this education programme which we are launching today, my hope is that it will help young people see that everyone has a different story and everyone’s story is valuable”. John Gaffey, a UNESCO Youth Researcher and second year Creative Writing student at NUI Galway, got involved with UNESCO last year by a “mix of volunteering and luck”, after finding himself as stand-in MC for the night at an event. John adds that the “UCFRC has a good ethic of having youth events be youth-led and that was largely our purpose on the day as hosts”, giving credit to Professor Pat Dolan and researcher Charlotte Silke, as well as praising Cillian Murphy’s work as patron. He says that, “He is a great patron, because of course, he attracts interest to events but more importantly, he has something to say, he strongly believes in the work that the UCFRC does and brings his own anecdotes of his childhood and his experiences with the Leaving Certificate”.

UNESCO supports the Child and Family Research Centre at NUI Galway on a range of international collaborations on education programmes and policy initiatives. The Centre also undertakes its own research, education and training in the area of Family Support and Youth Development, as well as focusing on practical and community-based approaches for young people. UNESCO Chair and Director of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at NUI Galway, Professor Pat Dolan, added that the programme is intended to “equip young people with vital skills in social emotional learning as well as offering them opportunities to engage in active citizenship.” He further commented that education like this is needed “to curb hate speech aggression and racial and other forms of negative profiling” and called for the new incoming Minister for Education and Skills to consider empathy education alongside Maths and other STEM subjects.

Pictured are Ella Anderson and Jack Gaffey, UCFRC Youth as Researchers, with actor Cillian Murphy and UNESCO Chair Professor Pat Dolan, Unesco, Child and Family Research Centre NUI Galway. Picture Jason Clarke.

Pictured with actor Cillian Murphy is Charlotte Silke, Post Doctorial Researcher UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, NUI Galway and UNESCO Chair Professor Pat Dolan, NUI Galway. Picture Jason Clarke.

NUI Galway updates students on Coronavirus

By Rachel Garvey

As the Coronavirus becomes a worldwide fear, NUI Galway has been putting safety guidelines in place to ensure the safety of all students inside and outside the University. NUI Galway has been updating its website to bring students the information that they may need in order to keep people calm as well as offer advice if symptoms are showing. “The healthcare staff in the Student Health Unit are all fully briefed on the most up-to-date guidance regarding the current advice for students/visitors who have travelled to Ireland from China, as well as on all of the assessment/management algorithms for any potential suspected cases, should one ever come to their attention at any stage in the future”, says Dr McDonagh of the Student Health Unit.

The Coronavirus, now officially named COVID-19, is a large group of viruses that can cause different types of illnesses, the majority of them being a common cold. In this case the virus is leading to severe illness like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). However, this Coronavirus seems to have a new strain, known as the “novel coronavirus” and it has never been seen in humans before. Symptoms can include a fever of up to 38°C or higher, cough, breathing difficulties, shortness of breath and sore throat which can take up to fourteen days to appear. These symptoms can be treated, however there is no specific treatment yet for the novel Coronavirus. “The NUI Galway page is being updated whenever any new informa tion is received from either the HPSC and/or DFA. There have been email circulars issued to all students and staff informing them of this ‘alert page’, and regarding the information contained therein, with additional email communications being issued whenever there are any new updates, as and when they occur”, says Dr McDonagh, as he gave us insight about future updates.

It is also advised that students and staff in China should return to Ireland and that all other travel plans to China should be postponed. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have also updated their warnings, advising people to avoid non-essential travel. They commented, “In Hubei, where the situation is still developing, increasingly strong containment measures are coming along. Travel within the province is tightly contained and all tourist facilities have been closed. Under the circumstances, Irish citizens are strongly advised not to travel to the province of Hubei”.

People who have travelled to China or have been in contact with a person who is diagnosed with novel coronavirus have been directed to phone their Local Department of Public Health for further advice, but they are advised that there is no need to quarantine themselves. Work and school can be attended as normal and they must also monitor themselves to see if symptoms arise. If they do, they are urged to immediately phone their GP or the Student Health Unit. Those who

are suffering from the symptoms listed previously are advised to stay at home, to avoid public places, to sustain from attending university or work.

Guidelines have also been posted with how to protect yourself from the novel coronavirus, which include washing hands with soap and water, covering your mouth when coughing and sneezing and throwing used tissues away into bins and washing your hands afterwards. They also advise to avoid any close contact with anyone who is displaying symptoms of a flu or cold and to check the travel advice online from the Department of Foreign Affairs prior to arranging travel abroad.

At the time of going to print, there are still no confirmed cases of the virus in Ireland.