SIN Volume 22 Issue 12

NUACHTÁN SAOR IN AISCE VOL. 22 Issue 12. 04 MAY 2021

Student Independent News

WINNER: BEST NEWSPAPER AT THE NATIONAL STUDENT MEDIA AWARDS 2019

Record Turnout sees NUI Galway return all female Full-Time Exec team

By Caoimhe Killeen and Paddy Henry Over three thousand NUI Galway students took to the polls on April 22nd to elect their new full-time officers for the upcoming Students’ Union Executive of 2021-22.

The elections, which were held virtually this year for the first time, saw increased voter turnout through the online voting system.

Sitting Vice-President for Welfare and Equality, Róisín Nic Lochlainn, Second year History and Globalisation Studies student, Cora Clarke, and former Convenor of the School of Business, Public Policy and Law, Clodagh McGivern, were elected to the positions of President, Welfare and Equality and Education Officer respectively.

Nic Lochlainn won out in a crowded field featuring James Pope, Joe Mee and arch-rival Simeon Burke, but swept to victory with 1,877 votes from a valid poll of 3,681, just exceeding the quota of 1,842 on the first count.

Speaking to SIN, Nic Lochlainn thanked her supporters and pledged to get straight to work on working on the issues that matter most to students; “I want to thank everybody that came out and voted for me, and it’s absolutely fantastic to see an increasingly engaged campus. We had record turnouts this year and turnout went up last year too.

I’m really looking forward to implementing what I set out to do in my manifesto and working with students on issues that matter most to them. We’ve seen students left behind during the pandemic and it’s important that we stand up for students next year. We have a fantastic, women led team this year with Clodagh and Cora and I think we’re well placed to continue standing up for students like we have done this year” In her race, Clarke received 1,816 votes which equated to 54% over the overall vote, exceeding the quota of 1,674 on the first count and finishing ahead of her rivals Erin Mac an tSaoir and Conor McWalters.

Clarke’s manifesto focused on a wide range of topics from sexual health and consent, students with disabilities, diversity and inclusion as well as handling dropping out and the transition back to campus.

When speaking to SIN for the election special, Clarke placed a huge emphasis on mental health through promising to work on tackling student burnout, increasing awareness around male suicide prevention, comprehensive training for the Student Health Unit on diagnosing people with ASD, ADHD and ADD, drug testing kits and non-judgmental education on drugs and alcohol.

“Firstly, I want to thank everyone who voted for me and supported me throughout this entire experience and to congratulate everyone who ran, it takes so much to put yourself forward so everyone should be super proud!” stated Clarke on her victory.

Clarke also extended her congratulations to her fellow incoming officers McGivern and Nic Lochlainn before promising to do her best to support the student body in the coming academic year and making it the best year that it can be for students.

She also promised a fair reallocation of funds, following the levy referendum result which voted to give more money to clubs and societies on campus by cutting the amount payable to the Kingfisher Sports Centre, but at the expense of the Áras na Mac Léinn fund and the Student Project Fund which are set to face cuts.

“In relation to the levy referendum passing, Róisín, Clodagh and I will be working together to make sure the reallocation of funding benefits students as much as possible, and I look forward to getting as much input after exams as I can from the student body.”

Continued on page 2

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INSIDE NUIG top brass in €22k expenses spending spree 4 Aontú rep and NUIG student Silke calls for reform of SUSI scheme 5 Increased engagement seen in CÉIM peer learning programme during pandemic 6 Head of Discipline of Journalism and Communications at NUI Galway leading head of global foundational course to challenge fake news on migration 7 The Plight of the Postgrads: Unpaid, unsupported and under immense pressure – What’s happening now? 9 Safe Things to Do This Summer. 10 At what stage would you speak up about abuse? 11 Mol na Meáin 12 The Greatest Television Event of 2020 13 The rise of a new Irish pop singer 14 The groundhog days of addiction 15 The whirlpool of attention surrounding Seaspiracy 16 Video games: the same moral panic with a new spin 18 What’s in a name? Quite a lot 19 A review of the year in trends 20 Cheap and Easy recipes 21 Tips and Tricks to battle Anxiety 22 My 30-day “New Me” Challenge 23 Students are always the first to be blamed in this pandemic and it’s unfair. 24 RTÉ needs to give young people a chance 25 There is a lack of responsibility among those in power in Ireland 27 Fresh scope for optimism as gaelic games dates revealed 28 SSE Airtricity Women’s National League 29 SSE Airtricity League First Division 30 Galway athlete makes history at the European Gymnastics All-around finals 31

An bhfuil rud éigin le rá agat?

Cur litir chuig an Eagarthóir chuig editor.sin@gmail.com

Find us online:

www.sin.ie EDITOR: Paddy Henry editor.sin@gmail.com LAYOUT: Shannon Reeves SPECIAL THANKS: Ellen O’Donoghue

SIN Vol. 22 Issue 12

EDITORIAL For the last time during this academic year, a warm welcome to this issue of SIN. Hasn’t it just flown by? Twelve issues, thirteen if you include our election issue done and dusted during a year like no other in NUI Galway. I think it is fair to dedicate this editorial to everybody that has put pen to paper for SIN this year. What a year we have had on campus, despite having rarely set foot on the NUI Galway turf, and our writers were there to cover every bit of it. So as I prepare to leave office, or in this case my bedroom desk.

I want to extend a sincere thank you to everybody who has gotten involved in the paper this year. I’ll avoid doing an award ceremony-esque thank you reel but to our wonderful sub editors; Caoimhe, Ellen, Saoirse, Alice, Anastasia, Darren , Oisín, Valerie, Paris and Fiona, we would not have had the year we had without your involvement. I know from experience the hard work involved in creating and writing content on a voluntary basis under normal circumstances, to do it in the almost post-apocalyptic circumstances put before us this year deserve high praise indeed. You have done a fantastic job, and don’t just take it from me, our nomination for Student Media Outlet of the Year at the Student Achievement Awards says enough. Another person that must be acknowledged is our graphic designer Shannon, who has worked behind the scenes making the paper look as fantastic as it does issue in issue out. I hope

he doesn’t cut this when he is laying out page two, but even if he does I can rest safe in the knowledge that I haven’t forgotten his work.

Now, away from the sentimentality, this issue is, as usual packed to the rafters with great stories for you, the reader to get stuck into. Some of you may have been aware of a few small political decisions that the student body had to make late last month, and we have the full lowdown of al the Students’ Union elections within our thirty-two pages. Congratulations to all the elected officers, and those who ran for election. Also inside is full coverage on the passing of the referendum on the student levy, which passed by the kin of its teeth at the end of last month. Plenty of stories like this and more inside and online at sin.ie .

While this may be the last issue of the paper until the autumn, fear not, SIN will not do a Sopranos style cut to black ending once you turn the final page in the paper this week. We will continue to keep you informed on all the important student issues through our social media and online channels, so keep an eye out there for updates.

On a final note, and no, I haven’t started playing “Time to Say Goodbye” while writing this final paragraph.

When I assumed this role back in the summer of 2020, I set out to do a few key things, inform the student body, engage audiences and to act as a student newspaper that covers a wide range of issues fairly, accurate and to a profes-

sional standard. To a fault every one of our writers has lived up to my lofty expectations this year, despite all the external pressures and stresses that the University of Blackboard Collaborate has brought. After a year in this role my faith that the future of print journalism is in safe hands could not possible be any stronger, and that is the highest compliment I can give you all, and I am sure this sentiment is echoed among our readers. So as you speed read my last few lines of waffley ramblings and begin to avert your eyes away from my big culchie head in the top right hand corner, I want to wish all of our readers the very best in the lead up to exam season, and for the summer ahead I wish you a relaxing and enjoyable few months hopefully without restrictions, so for one last time, keep the faith, it has been an absolute honour and privilege to serve as your editor this year!

Record Turnout sees NUI Galway return all female Full-Time Exec team Continued from front page Clarke also stated her desire to get stuck in on training for the Welfare and Equality role after her exams, and that she will be most focused on a transition back to on-campus learning when taking up office.

“After exams, I can’t wait to begin training and dive straight into the job during summer to start working on the many issues we face! I imagine by that point; we will begin preparing to transition to on-campus learning…I would say that issue will be the most pressing one when I begin.”

In the Education officer race, McGivern received 1,684 votes from a valid poll of 3,284, exceeding the quota of 1,643 on the first count.

Her manifesto focused on introducing a reading week, a 48-hour cancellation policy for labs and lectures, an earlier release of exam timetables for students, securing paid placement for student nurses and midwives, a direct employment of an education accessor for NUI Galway, “Back to Education” classes for mature

students, and working towards elective modules in Irish.

McGivern thanked all of the students who voted for her and promised to do “her absolute best for every student in NUIG.” She also promised to talk through manifesto ideas from her opponents Neasa Gorrell and Conall McCallig to try and incorporate some of their manifesto ideas and find a balance.

“I know that there are many students that voted for Conall and Neasa, as their manifestos resonated with them, so I hope in future once my term starts to set up a Zoom or meet up with the other candidates and hear from them and talk through their manifestos” stated McGivern.

“I always want to thank them for being such good sports throughout the whole campaign, and I wish them all the best in their future endeavours. I’m really looking forward to starting on July 1st, and I can’t wait to see what we achieve with amazing people like Róisín and Cora working alongside me as well as the part-timers who are soon to be elected!”

Implementing a reading week into the academic year is the first priority from McGivern’s manifesto that she hopes to tackle when she takes office, as it needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.

“I am going to try my absolute hardest with this, as I understand how exhausting it is for students to be on a laptop for so long every day, and with blended learning being a possibility next year, I feel that it is necessary. After that, it’s a big thing for me to make education equal, fair and accessible to all.”

Outgoing Education Officer Emma Sweeney also stated it was fantastic to see an all-female Executive for 2021/22 elected for the upcoming academic year.

“It’s fantastic to have three women elected to run the Students’ Union for 2021/22”, stated Sweeney. “They have great plans for the Students’ Union and the University for the year ahead.

“All the election candidates and their teams ran fantastic, engaging campaigns which were reflected in the record voter turnout. Even though our students might not be on campus they are still invested in how their Students’ Union represents them.”, she finished.

NUACHT

May 04 2021

NEWS EDITORIAL

FEATURES EDITORIAL

By Caoimhe Killeen

By Saoirse Higgins

Well, here we are at Issue 12, the final issue of the academic year. I can’t believe how quickly time has flown, although time has become a concept that has dragged out for us all this year. It’s been quite an isolating year, mostly carried out in the confines of our own homes or accommodation in front of a laptop screen, all day long. For first year students, it’s brought none of the excitement of making new friends in person or exploring all that Galway has to offer. For second year students like myself, it’s made our future even more uncertain with precarious placements looming over our heads, as we try to ignore the daily cases but knowing that they ultimately determine the entire course our degree takes from here on it.

As for myself ? I never imagined that I would be writing an editorial for SIN in the middle of a pandemic in my second year. One of the few highlights 2021 has brought so far has been able to contribute to this wonderful publication and see it grow.

To our editor Paddy, thank you for steering the paper through what has been an unprecedented year and guiding all us sub-editors through. To Conor, thanks for allowing me to take on this role and give it all I have. To my lovely co-editor Ellen, you’ve been an absolute star to deal with me stressing over edits and sending emails with memes as the subject line (as all professional journalists do!) It’s been amazing to work with you these past few issues, and I’m proud of all we have achieved.

To our other sub editors Saoirse, Darren, Oísin, Anastasia and Alice, congratulations on the amazing work you’ve done these past 12 issues and to our online editors Valerie, Paris and Fiona for really boosting our online presence this semester. And so, for the last time this year, here’s what you can expect from the news section this issue.

Of course, there is the cover story in which Paddy, and I put together the lowdown on the outcome of this year’s full-time officer Student’s Union Elections (all-female exec!)

I have also written a story on the Moore Institute’s partnership on decoding digital literature in partnership with other European universities.

My co-editor Ellen has written up how the last Student Council of the year went, on increased CEÍM engagement despite the programme being run online and on how the head of the school of Journalism, Media and Communications at NUI Galway is leading a global foundational course to challenge fake news on migration.

Neasa Gorrell writes for us on how postgraduate students have been under immense pressure this year during the pandemic, and finally Ewelina Szybinska tells us about the College of Nursing and Midwifery achieving an Athena SWAN Bronze Award.

With that, I wish you all a somewhat smooth sailing exam season and end of semester.

The last issue of SIN has finally arrived. I can’t believe how fast it’s come. This year has simultaneously felt a hundred years long and like it has barely begun. I want to thank everyone who has written for features this year. It has been an absolute pleasure to read all of your work, we truly have talented students here in NUI Galway.

So, for the last time, grab a cup of tea and strap yourself in for the last issue of SIN for the year 2020/2021.

In features this week, our regular columnists say goodbye and share their final thoughts.

Thank you Aine, Cormac and Tom for your contributions this year. All of you have truly made me laugh reading your stories.

Then for articles this week, I tell you what Covid-friendly things you can do this summer. I also spoke to several students and one lecturer about their year online and what they thought about it.

Ilke Denker also delves into the issue of domestic abuse in a sincere and well-written piece.

Thank you to Paddy for this experience, it’s been a pleasure. The sub-editors have been so great this year and I wish them the best. I’ve loved working alongside all of them. Have a lovely summer and I’ll see some of you next year.

ARTS AND ENTS EDITORIAL

By Alice O’Donnell Welcome to the last issue of SIN for this academic year!!! I know, I have no idea where the time went either – I swear it was only last month I was (admittedly wishfully) thinking I’d be back on campus by Christmas. And yet here we are – Issue 12!

It has been an honour to be the Arts and Entertainment subeditor for this year.

From brainstorming article ideas, to reading writings to finally seeing the articles in the formatted paper, it’s been such a pleasure.

I’m so grateful to our wonderful editor Paddy, with whose expert guidance the paper has moved from strength to strength during such tumultuous times. Thanks Paddy for giving me this opportunity – I’ve had a blast! Thank you also to my fellow subeditors; to Caoimhe, Ellen, Conor, Saoirse, Anastasia, Darren and Oisín – I’ve been so lucky to be surrounded by such a wonderfully talented bunch.

What would a paper be without writers?

The volunteers who manage to carve out time to not only write an article, but write an article to the highest degree. Reading your views and takes on facets of pop culture has been such a highlight; thank you to those who wrote a single article and to the people who regularly contribute – ye are all simply the best! Thank you for entrusting me with your writing, and thank you for helping make this section one I am continuously so proud to present. Both as a reader and editor, it has been an honour to read your articles every issue, and I wish each and every one of ye all the very best in the future ahead.

This entire year of SIN has coincided with lockdowns and restrictions. I am especially aware of how stressful this year has been – truly a time like no other. Online lectures, virtual tutorials, Zoom classes (the stress alone from my dodgy internet was more than the last three years’ worth of stress combined!), the list goes on! I hope SIN has been able to add some semblance of normality to life, and I’m sure it will continue to be a college constant for many years to come. Hope you enjoy this packed issue, and thank you all again!

Much love, Alice x

FASHION & LIFESTYLE EDITORIAL

By Anastasia Burton Hello again beautiful people! Can you believe how quick the 12 issues have flown by? It’s almost as though it was yesterday, we had our first meeting for issue one and we were all working hard to deliver brilliant pieces for you guys to enjoy during a very difficult time in our lifetimes. This issue may be the last for some of us and I want to thank all our wonderful writers and readers for supporting us with your creativity and interaction with our work. Within the pages of the Fashion and Lifestyle section you will find our usuals: Budgeting advice, Cheap and easy recipes, Beauty bag review as well as a few new pieces

by Aine McGee, the return of summer as well as Stephen Holland’s Tips and Tricks to battle anxiety. Some other pieces in there to catch your eye and give you something to smile about for about 400-800 words.

Thank you for another great issue SIN team and SIN readers! Good luck in your finals and (although it’s a little early) May the force be with you.

Lots of love Anastasia

OPINION EDITORIAL

By Darren Casserly Hello for the last time readers and welcome to this issue of SIN , our final issue of the academic year. We have a great issue as always with plenty for you to enjoy. The opinion section has a great range of articles for you to read with everything from Irish people’s love of Reeling in the Years’ to wondering what this summer will look like for us.

As mentioned above, Katie Barragry writes about what it is that Irish people love so much about Reeling in the Years, and for me personally I don’t really know what it is, but I still love it.

I also give my thoughts as to why RTÉ should give young people a chance and I also ask whether your online friends are really your friends, and the short answer is mostly no.

I give you my thoughts on what exactly our summer will look like and the answer, from a optimist’s point of view anyway which is pretty hopeful of a good one but then again you can’t predict anything nowadays but fingers crossed anyway.

We have this and a lot more for you to look forward to in this issue.

As always, I would like to finish up by thank-

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ing all of our contributors for making the paper what it is and if you would like to write for us next year or just have any questions you can email me at opinion.sined@gmail.com. I would just also like to thank SIN editor Paddy Henry for giving me the opportunity to work for this fantastic paper and hopefully there will be some well-deserved recognition at the end of it.

SPORTS EDITORIAL

By Oisín Bradley Hello one and all, and welcome to the final Issue of SIN! Once again, the year has flown in and, for all of us final years, this represents the end of an important period of our lives. When I walked through the doors of Áras na Mac Leinn in September 2017, I certainly didn’t envisage the effect that NUIG would have on my life.

I, like countless others, have learned a lot about myself during my years in this University, and despite the peculiar manner in which the last year has played out, I feel like we have learned even more about ourselves. To make it through this, the most difficult of years, displays resilience in itself on all of our behalfs, so regardless of what grade flashes up on the screen in the coming months, we should all take great pride from our ability to stay the course.

Now, onto the sports. It has been a hectic time in every sense of the word for the world of soccer, with leagues cross-channel wrapping up and those on our own shores only getting going. Meanwhile on the continent, some proposed ‘super’ leagues aren’t even getting off the ground at all.

We’ll have everything Galway WFC and United-based, as well as how a review of how Galway’s prospects in England have fared over the season. Aaron Deering has also given his views on the collapse of the self-proclaimed ‘Super League,’ and the importance of supporting your local now more than ever.

From one novel competition to another, the Rainbow Cup in rugby got underway, and Michael Bolton was on hand to give us the low-down on what it means for Connacht as well as the other provinces.

While Kate Slevin has been putting in exceptional performances for Galway WFC on the pitch, her sister Emma has been doing so on the gymnastics front too, with an excellent showing at the European Championships all-around finals.

Finally, GAA fans will be ecstatic with the news of the return of competition in the coming weeks, starting with the hurlers heading to Westmeath this weekend.

And that, I suppose, brings an end to SIN for this year. It has been a pleasure to write for the newspaper during my time studying here, and an honour to keep the candle burning in such a challenging year for sports coverage.

I’d like to thank everyone who has both written articles and engaged with the content this year. My goal has been to return the section to a more campus and locally oriented approach, and I hope that I have done just that.

Most of all, I’d like to thank my editor and dear friend, Paddy Henry. It was an honour be given this job, but even more so to get to know you as a person and as a friend over the last four years.

Over and out!

4 N E WS

SIN Vol. 22 Issue 12

NUIG top brass in €22k expenses spending spree Vice-President’s spending on international travel, transport and restaurant dining amounts to almost €14,000 since 2018.

By Valerie McHugh & Paddy Henry Spending between the President of NUI Galway Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh and Vice-President and Registrar Professor Pól Ó Dochartaigh has amounted to €22,173.10 over the last three years, according to documents released to SIN under the Freedom of Information Act. Professor Ó hÓgartaigh receives an annual salary of €201,155 per annum, while Vice-President Professor Pól Ó Dochartaigh takes home a yearly rate of €165,406.

Professor Ó Dochartaigh, who has been in the role since 2014, during the Presidential tenures of both Professor Ó hOgartaigh and Dr Jim Browne, claimed €13,979.10 over the three year period.

Foreign travel took up a substantial proportion of Ó Dochartaigh’s expenditure with claims from trips to Ljubljana, Potsdam, London and Canada included on the Vice-Presidential tab.

The Languages Professor’s Canadian exploits saw him run up a bill of €1,525.28 on a trip to the Jewish Public Library in Montreal.

Also included in the Vice-President’s spending since 2018 was mileage costs, public and private transport and restaurant dining.

A spokesperson for NUI Galway said that Mr Ó Dochartaigh’s expenses were consistent with the fulfilment of his role and that with his research into the representation of Jewish people in Irish literature;

“The Deputy President and Registrar incurred expenses in the normal course of carrying out his role, largely for transport and mileage in order to attend conferences and meetings and for official engagement with colleagues across the further and higher education sector regionally, nationally and overseas.

“While working as Deputy President and Registrar, Professor Ó Dochartaigh continues to pursue important research on representations of Jews in Irish literature. On the back of that he was invited to give a lecture at the Jewish Public Library in Montreal to mark Bloomsday 2019 as part of an ongoing engagement with the Irish Studies team in Concordia University, which includes the hosting of an international conference planned for next year at NUI Galway.” they said.

Professor Ciaran Ó hÓgartaigh, who assumed the role of President in 2018, spent €4,158.08 in his first year in office including over €1,300 on public and private transport over his first 12 months in office alone.

Controversial Levy referendum passes Paddy Henry Editor A reduction to the cost of the student levy paid by every student in NUI Galway is on the way, after a referendum on its reduction was passed late last month.

Students were asked whether or not they approved of the cancellation of the current Student Levy of €224 and further approved its replacement with a new Student Levy of €140.

The referendum passed by the slightest of margins with 51.52% of respondents voting in favour of reform, The referendum was held in conjunction with the elections for the three full-time Students’ Union officer roles, and brought high turnouts, with 3, 682 voting on the levy question, a record high turnout for an Stufents’ Union referendum in NUI Galway, Polling by SIN in the week leading up to the decision had the election as something of a foregone conclusion, with over 80% of respondents on campus stating that they would vote yes to the question posed to them at the ballot box.

However, as members of societies became aware that a yes vote on April 22nd meant a cut of €14.23 to the Aras na Mac Leinn fund, which finances the running of the building a campaign led by the University Societies Coordination Group (USGC) ro “Save Áras Na Mac Léinn was launched.

The campaign argued that the fund, which was used to fund the renovation of facilities in the building such as the Hub and the development of acoustic rooms would be “gutted” by a yes vote.

USCG members also criticised the lack of consultation form the Students’ Union claiming that they were caught “unawares” by the referendum announcement and that they were “never contacted” about the proposals.

SIN reported in November last year that a referendum on the student levy was set to take place in April.

Following the referendum’s passing and two well-contested campaigns that was at times fractious, outgoing Students’ Union President Pádraic Toomey, who supported the levy reform spoke of the importance on maintaining a” good relationship “with everybody involved telling SIN ; “The important thing now is that we make sure that this is a levy for everyone. This levy was an important part of the work that the Students’ Union have done this year and I think that it’s important now that we work with the University that this is the baseline for the levy and we work towards a good relationship with everyone.”

The outgoing President also spoke of the need to recognise the importance of the services made available to students and expressed the necessity of maintaining and adding on to these services; “I think it’s important that all services are taken care of and that we have all the services that we have as students. It’s important to recognise that we do pay enough but every service that we have is needed, and needs to be maintained and need to ensure that services are constantly added to make life for students better.

Asked if he felt that there may have been an error in communication within the yes campaign Toomey highlighted the complicated nature of the levy, but acknowledged that the yes side may have misjudged where the key talking points were going to be during the referendum.

“The levy is a very complicated thing because of all the different parts of it, it was always going to be difficult to get every part of it. I’d say what we thought was going to be the main focal point of it (the campaign) wasn’t always the main talking point which was the main thing that drove the levy, but it’s important that we recognise that each part is important and that’s why students pay that money.”

The new student levy comes into effect ahead of the 2021/22 academic year.

One such example of transport spending saw €200 accrued on two taxi fares on the same day during a trip to the British Irish Chamber of Commerce in May. Travel expenses claimed by the President increased in 2019 to a sum of €2101.41 and included claims from trips to China.

Additionally over €2,000 was spent on Irish public and private mileage costs in 2019.University mileage expenses are calculated using the Irish Car Mileage Rate per Mile algorithm, which sees those on University business entitled to claim 37.95 cent per kilometre on trips equal to 5,500 kilometres or less than 5,500 kilometres and 21.36 cents on journeys longer than that.

In 2019, the University was engulfed in a Presidential expenses scandal which revealed that Ó hÓgartaigh’s predecessor Dr Jim Browne spent over €100,000 on business-class international travel, cross-country taxi trips and luxury hotel accommodation through expenses claimed through the University’s official fundraising charity, the Galway University Foundation.

“While working as Deputy President and Registrar, Professor Ó Dochartaigh continues to pursue important research on representations of Jews in Irish literature. On the back of that he was invited to give a lecture at the Jewish Public Library in Montreal to mark Bloomsday 2019 as part of an ongoing engagement with the Irish Studies team in Concordia University, which includes the hosting

of an international conference planned for next year at NUI Galway.”

The exorbitant spending was deemed as being “inconsistent” by the charity’s regulator at the time.

The former President’s spending included thousands of euros incurred in the name of Dr Browne’s wife, including over €7,965 on flights.

Students’ Union President Pádraic Toomey emphasised the importance that expenditure from people in public office is monitored, telling SIN; “It’s really important that we keep an eye on the expenditure of people who are on the public purse.

It’s very important that we make sure that they’re not overspending.”

What €22,173.10 could get you at NUI Galway A single bedroom in Corrib Village for four years, with a handsome €2,073 left over The payment of the new student levy of €140 for 158 students, with a leftover €53.10 The payment of the €295 repeat exam fee for 75 students, and a remaining sum €48.10 The cost incurred by the University to hold in-person repeat exams for 2,019 students, with a remainder of €4.48 A one-year student membership for the Kingfisher Gym for 88 students with additional €173.10 left in your pocket

Students say yes to referenda on sustainability and Independent Council Chair and Part-Time positions filled as NUIG goes to the polls for the second time in a week Ellen O’Donoghue A referendum on the appointing of an Environmental and Sustainability part-time officer has been passed with an overwhelming majority of 898 votes for, and 87 votes against.

Another referendum, this time on the appointing of an Independent SU Council Chair, instead of a student being voted into the position, was passed with 427 voting in favour and 246 voting against.

All but five part-time officer candidates ran uncontested this year, with their only competitor being the infamous Re-Open Nominations (RON).

Second-Year Computer Science student, Kirsty Moran has been re-elected Clubs’ Captain after a lacklustre year for Clubs owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

She received a total of 15 votes, with RON receiving none.

Final year Gaeilge student, Eimear Nic Oireachtaigh has been elected Oifigeach na Gaeilge for the 2021/22 academic year as she goes into a Masters’ degree in Digital Marketing.

She won with an overwhelming majority of 927 votes, more than double the quota of 427.

Niamh McGrath has been elected Disability Rights Officer, having won with 923 votes, leaving RON with 54.

Anne Marie Ward has been elected Ethnic Minorities Officer, beating RON with 868 votes against 58, to become the first traveller woman appointed to the Students’ Union executive team.

Orlaith McCabe has been elected Gender and LGBT+ Rights Officer. McCabe received 806 votes, with RON receiving 106.

The position of International Students Officer has gone to Matthew Connolly.

He received 595 votes against his competitors Abhiraj Sharma and RON, who received 210 and 27 votes respectively.

Michelle Mitchell failed to be re-elected as Mature Students Officer, losing out marginally to Anita O’Halloran, who received 334 votes, whereas Mitchell received 328.

Faye McDonnell was elected Convener of the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies, receiving the vast majority of votes.

She received 268 votes, beating Fionn Sexton and Nicole Browne, who received 65 and 35 votes respectively.

Krystian Bachan has been elected Convener of the College of Business, Public Policy and Law, following in the footsteps of Vice-President Education Officer-Elect, Clodagh McGivern, who held the position for two years.

Convener of the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences went too Jack Collins, who won against Orlagh Cleary.

They received 174 and 73 votes, respectively.

Sai Gujalla was elected Convener of the College of Science and Engineering, beating Laura Ilupeju with 247 votes against 212 votes.

Ethan Wilkinson has been elected Societies chairperson, winning with a majority of 21.

Shane O’Connell won the race for Postgraduate Research Officer with 92 votes after running uncontested with RON receiving 5 votes, whereas Martin Smyth has been appointed Postgraduate Taught Officer with 62 votes against 11 for RON.

NUACHT

May 04 2021

5

Aontú rep and NUIG student Silke calls for reform of SUSI scheme

By Paddy Henry Aontú representative for Tuam, NUI Galway student Luke Silke, has called for an immediate update from Minister Simon Harris regarding plans for reform of the SUSI grant scheme.

Following the release of documents from the Department of Further and Higher Education obtained by the party under the Freedom of Information Act it was revealed that students whose parents have died, students who are homeless and students who are single parents had been refused SUSI grant payments and wrote to the Minister about their situation.

Third – Year student Silke, a Parliamentary assistant to Aontú leader Peadar Toibín said that the emails make for “sad” reading; “I’ve read all of these emails which the Department have released to us and they make for sad reading. I knew the situation was bad, but the knowledge that homeless students or students whose parents are dead are being refused assistance is just incredible.

Among the emails, seen by SIN was testament from a student who cares for his father suffering from Dementia and Parkinsons’ Disease while himself suf-

“I’m aware of cases where a number of siblings from the same house applied for the grant – some qualified, some didn’t – this doesn’t make sense, all the variables are the same – distance from the college, parental income, etc.

fering from a chronic respiratory illness who had application to SUSI was refused on the grounds that the course they had applied for was listed as an online course.

The release of these emails follows the withdrawal of funding for 2,050 students who had additionally qualified for the SUSI grant scheme last summer, 154 of which were from Galway.

Tuam native Silke highlighted the need for reform of the SUSI scheme and criticised the government for not understanding the urgency of the matter at hand; “SUSI needs to be reformed, and the government accepts this, but they don’t seem to understand the urgency here. There is something deeply wrong with the system if homeless students are being refused assistance. I’m aware of cases where a number of siblings from the same house applied for the grant – some qualified, some didn’t – this doesn’t make sense, all the variables are the same – distance from the college, parental income, etc. Most cruel is the red tape thrown in the paths of students who are estranged from their parents – the lengths these students must go to in order to prove estrangement are inhumane. The process, I believe, involves Gardaí and solicitors letters” he stated.

Silke criticised the SUSI scheme for what he described as the aggressive withdrawal of funding from struggling students and said that many students are being “left behind” due to flaws in the system; “There are many students who are being refused a grant because they’re repeating the year, or because they have dropped out of a previous course and changed University. These students are

deemed by the system to be ‘not progressing in education’ and are refused funding. In cases where SUSI are withdrawing funding, from over 200 of those students they are seeking repayments – in a manner which I can only describe as aggressive. The system does not take into consideration this year’s income, only the previous years’. Given this flaw, many people who are struggling at the moment are being left behind “, concluded Silke.

Threshold welcomes Student accommodation Bill Paddy Henry Housing charity Threshold has welcomed a Bill put before the Dáil last week, which they claim will have a “transformative” effect on the student accommodation sector.

The Residential Tenancies (Student Rents and Other Protections) (Covid-19) Bill 2021 proposes a number of protections for students in relation to housing including a requirement for landlords to refund rent to students in purposebuilt student accommodation if they

are unable to occupy their accommodation due to public health advice, limits to rental payments in student accommodation to one payment a month, meaning a landlord can no longer charge several months rent upfront and an allowance for students in purpose built accommodation to issue their landlord with a notice of termination, in accordance with the required notice period of 28 days should they wish to end their tenancy.

The Bill which is currently in before the Dáil was drafted with the involvement of the Union of Student Ireland (USI) and Threshold and was sponsored by representatives from Sinn Féin, Labour, the Green Party and People Before Profit and has been signed by 56 opposition TDs. Sinn Féin spokesperson on Further and Higher Education urged the government to support the Bill and said that students and families were being put under severe financial pressure by accommodation providers; “There’s three reasons this Bill is really important. The first is with the notice of termination , if this Bill passes through, a student can terminate the agreement in 28 days for purpose built student accommodation and that’s really important. There’s no reason why student renters should be treated

in a different way to other renters. But it also allows for the prompt refunding of accommodation fees if the accommodation isn’t taken up or vacated due to public health reasons as we saw last year. It also recognises that many student accommodation providers look for rent to be paid a full term in advance, and that put severe financial pressure on students and on families as well.”

The Mayo TD also warned against the Bill, which has reached committee stage getting delayed in the Parliamentary process telling SIN that “Justice delayed is justice denied”.

“It’s great that this has gone to committee stage, but we see in many pieces of legislation that they go to committee stage and then they get held up from there, so we need to make absolutely certain that committee stage is done effectively, efficiently, and timely so that this legislation is brought in before students start to book accommodation again. Justice delayed is justice denied and all the TikToks in the world aren’t going to help students when they are being robbed on the other hand. Students wanted to be treated fairly, they want fairness and they want equity. “ CEO of Threshold, John-Mark McCafferty described it as “ludicrous”

that students should be expected to pay for homes that they are not living in and said that this Bill rectifies this issue; “Our advisors saw students and their families hit very hard when many accommodation providers refused to return rents at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. It seems ludicrous that students should be out by thousands of Euro, forced to pay for homes they cannot not live in. This Bill rectifies this situation.

“The portion of the Bill which prevents landlords from requesting more than one month’s rent at a time will be transformative for the student accommodation sector as a whole. Many students have been put in impossible situations where it is demanded that they pay anywhere between two and six months’ rent upfront – this adds unnecessary stress during what is already a time of great upheaval and change. We are hopeful that the Bill will be passed and that these positive changes can take effect very soon.” he continued.

6 NEWS

SIN Vol. 22 Issue 12

Increased engagement seen in CÉIM peer learning programme during pandemic

By Ellen O’Donoghue NUI Galway Students’ Union have revealed that since moving online due to Covid-19, the CÉIM peer learning programme’s engagement levels have jumped to 83%.

The CÉIM peer learning programme was initiated by the Students’ Union in NUI Galway in 2013.

It is a run as a partnership between students, academic staff and the Students’ Union, and receives funding from the University.

The programme offers free weekly peer learning sessions to students who are in first year to help them transition successfully to higher education, make friends, develop a sense of belonging, gain a greater understanding of coursework and ultimately progress to second year.

The idea of the programme is to help students feel more welcome and to help make their struggles with the change from second level to third level that bit easier.

Students’ Union Education Officer, Emma Sweeney praised the increase in engagement, saying, “CÉIM has definitely grown in popularity this year, I think in terms of it was the one definite way where students could connect with their peers in an easy and accessible manner.

The programme offers free weekly peer learning sessions to students who are in first year to help them transition successfully to higher education, make friends, develop a sense of belonging, gain a greater understanding of coursework and ultimately progress to second year.

“I think It was super accessible to everyone this year and it was a great way for people to connect and make friends, it was one of the only ways. It’s much easier to make friends in a smaller group than in the big live lectures and that’s really the only opportunity people had. So, I think CÉIM was an integral part to learning this year,” she finished.

Second and third-year students who sign up receive training to become CÉIM leaders to enable them to be as helpful as possible to first years.

On the matter, Students’ Union President, Pádraic Toomey said, “Our CÉIM peer learning sessions are delivered by trained second and third-year student leaders who have shown great resilience and generosity this year in supporting first year students in very challenging times.

“The feedback from students has been fantastic again this year with students saying that CÉIM sessions made them feel part of the University community in this isolating year. It has been a key opportunity for them to meet their classmates in an informal manner.”

After an external quality review of NUI Galway was conducted in 2019, the CÉIM peer learning programme was commended, and it was recommended that it be mainstreamed.

As a result, in September 2021, the programme

will begin a pilot in the School of Science, bringing the total number of students offered CÉIM yearly to approximately 1900.

Students’ Union CÉIM Director, Amber Walsh Oleson said that “CÉIM provides an informal peerto-peer environment to ask questions and deepen understanding of coursework.”

She further added, “CÉIM leaders have strived in sessions this year to support first year students to interact with classmates who they have never met in person.

“Developing skills for online learning and supporting positive health have also been key focus areas for the programme in this unusual academic year.”

For more information about the CÉIM peer learning programme, visit www.su.nuigalway.ie/ceim.

Smooth sailing at seventh and final Comhairle na Mac Léinn of the year

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Nine motions were discussed, accounts were gone through and officer reports were read without many blips as the Union sat for their final Council of the 2020/21 academic year.

The name of Students’ Union Council had been changed to Comhairle na Mac Léinn at a Comhairle previous.

After standing orders were adopted, containing leniency for the use of Gaeilge by students, General Manager of the Union, Chris Newell, went through the Unions’ accounts from 2019/20.

The standing orders passed with a 97.22% majority.

The first motion was brought to the floor by Vice-President Welfare and Equality Officer and President-Elect Róisín Nic Lochlainn.

Nic Lochlainn proposed that the Vice-President Welfare and Equality Officer goes through consent awareness training, image-based sexual abuse and disclosure training at the beginning of their term.

The motion also mandated that Active* Consent training be facilitated to all class reps, clubs and societies at the beginning of each semester, on top of survivor support campaigns being introduced.

This motion passed with a 97.64% majority.

Barry Sugrue brought the next motion forward, mandating Gaeilge classes for full-time members of the Executive team.

This motion passed with 91.55% of students voting in its favour.

Conall McCallig proposed the next two motions, one of which was dependent on the Levy referendum which took place on April 22nd, falling and another based on the referendum pasing, the eventual outcome.

As the referendum passed, this first motion was automatically deemed to have fallen.

His next motion was to mandate the Union to support the fight to ban conversion therapy.

This passed with a 96.34% majority.

Faye McDonnell was next, bringing a motion forward that would mandate the Union to continue with the online format of Comhairle in the 2021/22 academic year.

92.31% of student reps voted in favour of this motion.

Orlaith McCabe was next to bring forward a motion regarding a spending limit on election campaigns in the Students’ Union.

Students’ Union President, Pádraic Toomey, called a procedural motion 9B on this, as candidates receive a €100 reimbursement from the Union if they receive a minimum number of votes.

This procedural motion 9B passed with an 82.67% majority.

Erin Mac an tSaoir, Oifigeach na Gaeilge, brought forward the next motion, this time mandating the Union’s officers to change their email addresses, and any other email addresses associated to the Students’ Union to their Irish version, i.e. from @ nuigalway.ie to @oegaillimh.ie.

This passed with a 76.47% majority.

Convener of Science and Engineering, Aoife Buckley, brought the final motion of Comhairle 2020/2021 to the floor.

This motion was to mandate the Union to change the name of College councils to their Irish counterpart.

This motion passed after some corrections, with a 79.37% majority.

After this, Vice-President Education Officer, Emma Sweeney, and President, Pádraic Toomey, took some time to discuss exams with students before Róisín Nic Lochlainn proposed the possibility of a Full-time Oifigeach na Gaeilge being appointed with extra funding having been allocated to the Union for the promotion of the Irish language.

NUACHT

May 04 2021

7

Head of Discipline of Journalism and Communications at NUI Galway leading head of global foundational course to challenge fake news on migration

By Ellen O’Donoghue An international partnership of NUI Galway, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Irish Aid is to offer media training on migration and misinformation.

A new global partnership has been established, involving NUI Galway and the (IOM), with the support of Irish Aid, to tackle fake news around migration.

The Global Migration Media Academy is an initiative led by the IOM, involving media literacy programmes to train students and journalists to identify, challenge and debunk misinformation.

The project is co-funded by the IOM Development Fund and Irish Aid, with the development of the global foundational course being led by NUI Galway’s own, Tom Felle, Head of the Discipline of Journalism and Communications.

“It is a real feather in the cap for NUI Galway to be the lead academic partner working with the United Nations migration agency the IOM on this incredibly important global project, co-funded by the Irish Government through Irish Aid and the Department of Foreign Affairs,” Felle said, adding that “So-called ‘fake news’ around migration has reached endemic proportions, and it is having a detrimental impact on the lives of migrants globally.

Disinformation is spread all too easily on social media and in the mainstream press, often created by right wing groups and populist political parties, and viewed by millions of people worldwide.

“The Discipline of Journalism and Communication at NUI Galway will be leading this project and working with partners in four pilot countries – Mexico, the Philippines, Morocco and Serbia – to train journalists and journalist stu-

dents on how to recognise and debunk false information, but also on how to report responsibly on migrants and the migrant experience.” He finished.

President of NUI Galway, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, said, “Projects such as this speak directly to two of our core values: respect and openness. By championing respect and openness, we hope to have a transformative effect on society, in Ireland and internationally, setting a positive example of excellence beyond our University.

“Our journalism academics are international experts in media literacy, and it is an honour for them to work with the IOM on this vitally important international project, as supported by Irish Aid, which will have far-reaching positive learning for society,” he finished.

The European Policy Centre has previously stated that “false narratives have and continue to be created and shared widely on social media, in populist political parties and among far-right groups in an attempt to sow division and to influence public opinion – alarmingly with serious political implications.”

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies in Brussels has carried out research on harmful content relating to migration in a number of EU countries.

Fear and lying in the EU: Fighting disinformation on migration with alternative narratives, reported that harmful content widely shared online and on social media platforms around migration was rampant.

16% of the content was outright false, 26% being unverifiable, with 34% classed as misleading and 23% seen as distorted. .Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney, has come out in support of the partnership, saying, “The last 12 months have shown us all how important our news and news sources are for keeping us informed and educated. While fake news is a danger that more and more people are aware of, countering it or revealing it isn’t something that many know how to do. Therefore, I warmly welcome this important initiative from NUI Galway and Irish Aid to tackle misinformation and fake news being spread about migration.”

The Global Migration Media Academy will develop e-learning and training material to tackle fake news.

The Academy is a unique platform to standardize and mainstream media training on migration and strengthen ethical and accurate reporting.

There will be a focus on misinformation and disinformation around migration, including training students on identifying and tracking harmful content, digital forensics and verification techniques, and data journalism.

Courses are to draw on migration research and data, as well as exploring how unfolding global developments like Covid-19 influence migration and public attitudes.

Students at both established undergraduate and masters’ programmes in Universities will be encouraged to explore the complex topic of migration from different perspectives and publish compelling, nuanced and evidence-based stories.

NUI Galway also plan to host a Summer School for participants in 2022.

Further information about the IOM is available at https://www.iom.int/about-iom

NUI Galway School of Nursing and Midwifery New resource project launch focuses on decoding literary secrets Achieves Athena SWAN Bronze Award By: Ewelina Szybinska NUI Galway’s School of Nursing and Midwifery has been awarded an Athena SWAN Bronze Award for their commitment in progressing gender equality through the department and creating cultural change in the University.

Ireland introduced the Athena SWAN Charter in early 2015.

This initiative aims to provide help in addressing gender equality in higher education with the help of funding from the Higher Education Authority.

The figures show that around 10% of undergraduate students in nursing and midwifery are male.

In addition, the 2020 HSE staff report highlights that only 9.5% of nurses and midwives are men.

NUI, Galway has engaged with local secondary schools and the HSE Nursing and Midwifery Professional Development Unit to represent those courses as an opportunity for all.

Furthermore, the University engaged with individuals to improve the understanding behind this department.

This award represents NUI Galway’s strong commitment to promoting equality within courses.

The school undertook initiatives to highlight underrepresentation of men in the discipline and underrepresentation of women at senior grades.

The Athena SWAN Gender Equality Charter was made to provide encouragement and recognition to women’s careers in STEM fields.

Following this achievement, Professor Dympna Casey, Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery, said: “I look forward to supporting the implementation of our Action Plans to generate an environment where all staff feel they have opportunities to reach their potential irrespective of gender.”

Nurses and midwives make up more than half of the global healthcare workforce, she said, and approximately 90% of nurses are women.

“However, gendered issues continue to impact our professions – for example social gender norms, gender bias and stereotyping hinder women taking on leadership roles, while gender norms, biases and stereotypes also hinder the recruitment of men entering the professions”, said Professor Casey.

By Caoimhe Killeen

The University pursues to promote gender equality in nursing and midwifery.

“We therefore need to address both male under-representation and female progression. This award marks the school’s engagement with both the ‘leaky pipeline’ of female senior leadership, as well as increasing male student intake into Nursing and Midwifery.” she added.

NUI Galway has previously been awarded with School of Medicine Bronze Athena SWAN award.

Professor Tim O’Brien, Executive Dean of the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, said: “I am very proud to have the School of Nursing and Midwifery awarded the Bronze Athena SWAN award. This is a clear recognition of our college’s commitment to inclusion and diversity, and to increasing equity in both healthcare education and practice.”

The pandemic proved not to be an obstacle. NUI Galway Vice President for Equality and Diversity, Professor Anne Scott, said: “I am absolutely delighted to hear of the awarding of the Athena SWAN Bronze Award for colleagues in the School of Nursing and Midwifery. To have managed to get the Athena SWAN application successfully completed and submitted was a significant achievement in a really difficult year for many.”

NUI Galway’s Moore Institute has collaborated with 12 other European institutions that aim to aid digital approaches to the study of literature.

Computational Literary Studies Infrastructure (CLS INFRA) is a four-year partnership that will focus on building a shared resource of high-quality data, tools and knowledge needed for literary studies using artificial intelligence and other computational methods.

The project is being supported with €5 million funding from the European Commission.

Dr Justin Tonra, Lecturer in English at NUI Galway, whose work in the project will focus on bridging the gap between computational and traditional literary studies, has stated the project will shed light on various topics that are represented in European culture.

“When studying literature, we often focus on a small number of books by a small number of authors”, stated Dr Tonra.

“With the aid of computers, we can ‘read’ literature at a scale that opens windows onto topics like gender, language and colonialism, and how they are represented in our shared and varied European cultural heritage.”

CLS INFRA is also intended to add to rapidly evolving computational literary studies and provide a heavily data-focused approach to literature.

It will aid scholars to detect patterns which show what literary genres were prevalent at certain times, and whether the movement of literary style can be mapped across time and space.

CLS INFRA will also identify and map specific requirements of researchers who wish to study literature using technology and AI.

A further aim of the project is to open Computational Literary Studies to more researchers, enabling investigation into Europe’s multi-lingual and interconnected literary heritage and cultural diversity.

Support services and training will be provided to researchers who are new to the use of AI for literary study, with support also provided for independent scholars and scholars from under-represented regions and languages.

Institutions partnering with the Moore Institute for the project include the Ghent Centre for Digital Humanities in Germany, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Netherlands and the Institute of Polish Language at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland.

Dr Maciej Eder, Director of the Institute of Polish Language at the Polish Academy of Sciences and Principal Investigator of CLS INFRA, said: “This is a very exciting project which promises to make great advances in how we use computers to study literature.

“One of the great challenges to Computational Literary Studies is that the landscape of digital literary sources is very fragmented, as scholars and readers struggle to find texts that are made accessible and reusable in standardised ways. CLS INFRA will address this deficit in a way that will allow the field to flourish.”

Dr Tonra added: “The partnership of 13 European institutes will also foster systematic and meaningful cooperation across national borders and linguistic boundaries, as well as disciplines of study.

“The emergence of information and communications technologies has given us an unprecedented opportunity to share, compare and understand this legacy across national borders and linguistic boundaries.”

NUI Galway Students’ Union Ents Presents/Cuireann Comhaltas na Mac Léinn OÉ Gaillimh

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Every Wednesday @nuigsu

NUIGalwayStudentsUnion www.su.nuigalway.ie

NUACHT

May 04 2021

The Plight of the Postgrads Unpaid, unsupported and under immense pressure – What’s happening now?

by Neasa Gorrell At the beginning of the 20/21 academic year, Postgrad Research Students at NUI Galway formed the Postgraduate Workers Alliance NUIG in response to the exploitative guidelines set out in the NUI Galway Guidelines for Research Degree Programmes. These guidelines require postgraduate research students to undertake 120 hours of unpaid teaching work per year for three academic years.

Postgraduate Workers Alliance NUIG sent a letter to NUI Galway President, Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, the Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris and Michael D. Higgins, the President of Ireland, stating that the conditions of the guidelines are “exploitative and unjust.”

In light of this, Postgraduate Workers Alliance NUIG stated that “we have no option but to make it clear that we do not recognise any expectation of unpaid work as legitimate.” Further adding, “We hereby declare our intention to refuse to carry out any work which is not remunerated at the existing collectively bargained rate.”

At the time, the group got media attention and support from NUI Galway Students’ Union, but we have to ask ourselves; what has happened since? Are Postgrad research students being supported?

Speaking to SIN, Postgraduate Research Officer Seb Bierema said,; “Nothing has changed; all of the same problems still exist. The one thing the university has done in terms of negotiating things was to set up a working group led by the Dean of Graduate Studies, with representation from the Students’ Union through the Postgrad Research officer. Apart from that, the other group members are made up of staff from all of the colleges in the University.”

Although things seemed hopeful with the establishment of a working group, this was not the case; as Seb explained, “The first step of this working group was to collect data within the University in order to see the scope of the problem, so to see how many students are working without pay and how many hours they are having to work without pay. We would then compare it to other Universities in Ireland and potentially to those in Europe to benchmark where NUI Galway stands compared to everyone else. Yet, this alone has not been achieved.”

Bierema accused the University of implementing “stalling tactics” and not keeping track of the scale of the problems facing Postgraduate studentsl “This (working group) was set up roughly six months ago at this point, and the longer it goes, the more it seems like a stalling tactic.”

Despite submitting several FOI (Freedom

of Information) requests to determine the extent of the problem, to both the University and the individual Schools and Departments, they all responded stating that the “data did not exist” according to Seb, to which he added, “So they are just not keeping track of the scale of this at all.”

This seems somewhat is implausible, as the University and departments should have some information available about which classes or modules Postgrad research students are lecturing or tutoring in, especially considering there is somewhere in the range of over 700 postgrad research students at NUI Galway.

Seb added that for his Sociology and Politics course, his entire class signed a letter and submitted it to the University, stating that they will not be doing the work unless they were going to be paid. In that singular case, they were successful.

Seb also revealed that postgraduate students in the Mathematics department who tried to do the same and managed to negotiate their unpaid working hours to be reduced from 120 hours to 60 hours.

On the universities logic behind enforcing the unpaid work, Seb stated that NUI Galway argues that “As a PhD student, you are learning to be an academic. So, the logic is that (through unpaid work) you are learning to teach.”

However, he pointed out the many ways in which this is flawed.

“There is barely any support made available for students to learn how to teach, and another thing that makes us question their argument is that the University ends up relying on unpaid teaching through the Postgrad research students; they wouldn’t be able to deliver as many classes if it wasn’t for PhD students actually doing the teaching.

Postgraduate Workers Alliance NUIG stated that “we have no option but to make it clear that we do not recognise any expectation of unpaid work as legitimate.”

On this, he added, “They may well be using the argument that the unpaid work is for our own good because we’re learning, but at the same time, they are definitely benefitting from that process as well.”

With regards to the stipend and the scholarships offered by the University, Bierema added, “The amounts offered by these scholarships have not increased since they were set up more than a decade ago, and obviously, in the meantime, the cost of living in Galway has gone through the roof. So, now, we have a whole bunch of students spending half of their stipend on rent. Many are struggling to get by so often they need part-time jobs so that they can afford to keep studying, and on top of all of that are still expected to do unpaid teaching work.”

The Students’ Union Officer criticised the “insane” workload that is placed upon PhD students and said that conditions faced by Postdoctoral students are setting them up for failure; “The sheer amount of pressure on PhD students due to this entire workload is insane.

The data showing the number of students dropping out before completing their research is on the increase. Considering we are in the middle of a pandemic; research is really difficult. We don’t have access to the college or to the spaces where we’re carrying out our research, and then you add the financial pressure on top of this – so mental health-wise, it’s almost as though we’ve been set up to fail.”

For more information, or to support the Postgraduate Workers Alliance NUIG, you can find their accounts online at @pgwanuig on Twitter and ‘Postgraduate Workers Alliance – NUIG’ on Facebook.

To contact that Postgraduate Research Officer email su.pgresearch@nuigalway.ie

9

Diary of a week at the WIP (Washington Ireland Programme) By Órla Masterson This week I had the privilege of joining a WIP forum online to discuss issues which may arise in our (hopefully soon to be) post Covid-19 world. The WIP (Washington Ireland Programme) promotes leadership and personal development through debate and discussion. As their website states, the programme is founded on a key principle of supporting leaders committed to building a future of peace and prosperity for the island of Ireland. Last month, their April Forum was held online and focused on issues surrounding the core theme ‘Sticking Together, staying apart Social Cohesion in a post Covid era’.

In preparation for the forum which was set to take place over four days the forum organisers ensured all participants were well informed on the upcoming topic. They encouraged us to select one of the proposed themes on which to focus for our time working with the forum. This would allow participants to be separated into different groups in order to work together and cooperate on solutions for their theme in question. Having read through the preparation material, I selected to focus on Theme One: ‘How might we best support at risk groups facing high levels of unemployment during the next financial crisis post Covid?”

We also were sent some inspiration material such as images of volunteer work which took place during Covid to encourage ideas which we reflected on in our first forum meeting.

While everyone is starting to feel tired at the prospect of Zoom calls, the forum was designed to ensure engagement and promote participation amongst attendees. I logged onto Monday’s first call after what felt like the Monday-est of Mondays, not knowing how exactly a forum of almost 80 participants were going to work together to collaborate on new ideas for social cohesion. However, the organisers had ensured this first workshop focused solely on inspiring participants and facilitating discussion to allow us to get to know each other.

Using MURAL (an online collaborative whiteboard), we were able to create sticky notes and shared poster boards to discuss certain issues. This interactive platform even allowed for a digital ‘walking debate’ with light-hearted statements such as ‘Pineapple doesn’t belong on pizza’ (it does!) to more serious issues like ‘people who aren’t vaccinated shouldn’t be allowed to travel internationally’. The walking debate allowed us to express ourselves and hear the opinions of others, perfectly establishing relationships and respectful discussions which would prove helpful throughout the week.

Tuesday and Wednesday’s forums focused on innovation.

Our group was helped along by our facilitator Margaret who divided us into groups of three or four to work on our ideas.

Members of each group proposed ideas and then provided feedback to each other in a ‘round robin’. This allowed us to narrow down our focus area. My group chose to look at the arts, and technician workers in particular, who have been badly impacted by the Covid pandemic. Our group all agreed that it has been frustrating to see the treatment of arts workers, so we wanted to tackle the absence of a unified group to represent workers in this sector. We proposed a cooperative called TechEIRE to represent this at-risk group of workers and also to allow them to diversify their income streams through ad-hoc work within the organisation.

Thursday was pitch day, in which we came together put forward our ideas and listen to the innovations of other groups.

Four groups in total spoke on the theme of supporting at risk groups, while four others spoke on the theme of continuing goodwill post pandemic. Using google slides to bring to life the ideas, each group had clearly considered the long-term benefits of their projects and the specific people who would benefit from the initiatives. It was remarkable to see the development of ideas in just four days from inspiration to pitching.

The next WIP forums will take place in August and September later this year, and I thoroughly recommend anyone with an interest in social issues and developing their own initiatives to apply to take part!

For more information visit: https://wiprogram.org/

10 F EATU R E S

SIN Vol. 22 Issue 12

Safe Things to Do This Summer

By Saoirse Higgins With exams looming over many of us, summer can feel like a million years away. However, in a month’s time you will be free from the grip of those mind-numbing essays. So, how are you going to spend your time this summer?

Covid-19 has made this question significantly more difficult for most of us. To ease your worry, SIN has the answers to a Covid-friendly summer.

Camping in Achill Island Under the idea that travel restrictions will be lifted by summertime, Achill Island is an ideal spot for many campers. There are several campsites across the island for you to enjoy. A beautiful island with

many scenic adventures to share, it is ideal for those who want to stay safe from Covid-19 but also enjoy their summer. If you go with a limited number of friends or family members there is no reason why camping in Achill shouldn’t be on your list this summer.

Connemara National Park – Diamond Hill A bit closer to home, I urge people to go out West and witness the beautiful scenery of Connemara.

Since April 26th , outdoor amenities such as parks and zoos have been open to the public. I visited Connemara in November and the sight was something to behold. Even a drive around Connemara is breath-taking in its own right.

Wind Down SEACHTAIN SCÍTHE CHOMHALTAS NA MAC LÉINN

Week 2

R e l a x , U n w i n d, D e -St r e ss a n d B r e at h e F a i g h fao i s e a m h ó n s t r u s ag u s l i g d o s c í t h Mon 3rd – Sat 8th May / Dé Luain an 3 Bealtaine – Dé Sathairn an 8 Bealtaine More information from / Tuilleadh eolais ar fáil ó studentsunion@nuigalway.ie

@nuigsu

NUIGalwayStudentsUnion www.su.nuigalway.ie

However, if you want to keep it more concise, I recommend visiting Connemara National Park.

Within the confines of Connemara National Park is Diamond Hill, a mountain 500ft high that rises above the town of Letterfrack. Stunning views can be captured from the top as well as along the trail. Not only will the views be magnificent, but it will be a great bit of exercise for you and a small number of friends.

Cliffs of Moher There is never a better time to see the main tourist attractions in Ireland than now. With a lack of tourists due to Covid-19, I recommend going to see the Cliffs of Moher. Only a two-hour trip from Galway, the Cliffs of Moher offer amazing views over the

Atlantic Ocean. Along with the view the Cliffs of Moher offer, if you follow the trail out it brings you out to the quaint town of Doolin. With its colourful houses, it’s the perfect place to grab a takeaway coffee or some food if some places are open.

Drive-In Movies Depending on where you’ll be this summer, there are loads of Drive-In Movie places popping up over the summer. Since April 26th, Drive-In Movies are allowed to operate as normal. The Retro Movie Drive-In is the company that largely offer the service and they have seven locations around Ireland. Although currently only offering Drive-in movies in Dublin, it is likely they will start popping up somewhere near you in the summer.

One Year On: Lecturer and Students Share their Thoughts on Online Learning

By Saoirse Higgins March 12th 2020 marked the date that in-person lectures ended for most of us. Since then, we have been subjected to Blackboard lectures, breakout rooms and trying to read the blurry words of an E-Book on laptop screens. However, the question must be asked. Did we love it or hate it?

This answer seems to be mixed across the board.

SIN conduced a Twitter poll back in February of 2021 that showed, out of 153 respondents, 80% found exams more stressful this year than previous years.

That same poll showed that out of 148 respondents, 77% believed that their final grade would be worse than previous years due to online learning.

Final year arts student, Tom Molloy, reflected these sentiments, “I was just getting assignments done rather than learning anything. I found it hard during the year to have a routine.”

However, some students who spoke to SIN felt there has been some positives to virtual learning.

“I find that with all teaching methods there are always advantages and disadvantages. My personal experience with online learning was positive. I found it to be efficient and mostly flexible in terms of time. I was able to replay some of the material and work more hours at my job as a result. My college attendance has dramatically improved,” explained third-year arts student, Michelle Gallagher.

Third year science student, Sarah Molloy, similarly found positives in online learning, “one thing I do like about online teaching is that our lectures are recorded.”

In saying this, Michelle also pointed out the issues she encountered, “I did experience a few drawbacks.

For example, when my WiFi connection wasn’t stable, the sense of isolation from being distanced from peers and campus, and the lack of tutorial classes.”

Lecturers have also had to adapt to this new online experience and law lecturer, Eoin Daly, shared his thoughts, “Overall, I liked online teaching and found it to be a good learning experience for me as a teacher.”

Eoin explained that being forced to teach online changed his teaching style, “It prompted me to adopt a ‘flipped’ format, i.e., where the students get asynchronous materials in advance and the ‘live’ sessions are spent on consolidation, application, and discussion.”

Sarah Molloy expressed that she has liked the approach that many lecturers have taken to online learning, “I have been really impressed with how my lecturers have gone above and beyond to make this year engaging and interactive. They have been just as disappointed with how this year turned out as we have, and I feel very lucky that they’ve dedicated so much extra time to us.”

Sarah and Eoin both shared the opinion that the issue with this year online has less to do with online learning and more to do with other factors.

“It has been a difficult year for students,” Eoin explained, “but in my view that is probably more due to the social isolation than to the teaching format.”

Sarah felt the issue lay more within the University, “I feel totally let down by the University management. We’ve been given so many false promises and have been totally abandoned.”

Overall, the students and lecturer Eoin Daly would both like to see some online learning formats like recorded lectures adapted into future teaching.

“I did enjoy my experience of online learning,” Michelle concluded, “and I hope that colleges will use both methods of teaching synchronously in the future.”

GNÉ -ALTANNA

May 04 2021

At what stage would you speak up about abuse?

By Ilke Denker A viral Instagram post caught my attention this week. A girl who decided to speak up against her abusive boyfriend, calling him out for who he is, even though she had received threats from him and his family.

She posted picture of her wounds and talked about months of emotional abuse.

“I didn’t deserve any of this”, she ends her post.

What interests me about this post is who shared it, who commented and who showed support. I admire the victim for her bravery of speaking up and I am thinking about all the people out there who do not speak up about gender-based violence, sexual assault and emotional abuse. I am talking about both victim and bystander.

So, my question is a simple one: At what stage would speak up?

Would you speak up if the victim was your friend/mother/sister?

Things are always different when they hit close to home. If someone who was truly close

to you was abused sexually or emotionally, would you speak up about it? Would you name and shame and make sure that the world knew about an abuser that dared to lay hands on someone who is close to your heart?

Would you speak up if the abuser was your friend/brother/father?

There’s this attachment we have to abusers who are connected to us by friendship or blood. So, if you knew that someone in your close circle was abusive, what would you do?

Would you speak up about it? Would you cut ties and would this action be enough?

Would you speak up if you were the victim?

If someone assaulted you sexually or gave you emotional abuse, would you speak up about it? Would you feel like you had a safe place in society to say, “I was hurt by this person, it is not right, and he should be punished for it”?

Whether it was someone you did not know on a night out or if it is someone who is in your own home or close to you, would you speak up?

What is society saying about the topic “abuse”?

From the bottom of my heart, I wish we would live in a society where the topic of abuse was not left in the shadows and the perpetrators were not left to roam and abuse more people.

In the Instagram post the girl wrote: “I’m not here to tell my story simply because I’m hurt that he emotionally abused me all throughout our relationship but because I cannot sleep at night knowing that other women’s lives might be in danger too.”

Isn’t that one hell of a reason to be speaking up? To protect each other, because at the end of the day, any of us could be the victim.

If we keep on being quiet about abusive people, aren’t we putting others in danger? This includes bystanders of any form as well. No attachment should be strong enough to keep you from speaking up if you know an abusive person.

I am not blaming one single person who has been abused but has not spoken up. I am blaming society who has not created a safe environment for a victim to come out and speak their truth.

We are all to blame.

Marine protection legislation – Equality for all life.

By Amber Gilgan Warning: This story contains imagery that some viewers may find upsetting By now I am sure that most of us have either watched or heard of the new Netflix documentary ‘Seaspiracy’, and are deeply disturbed by what it reveals. In this documentary Ali Tabrizi highlights the issues of pollution, the act of ‘whaling’ and commercial fishing, sending viewers into stages of shock with the gruesome exposure to footage of whales and dolphins being brutally killed. As many of us are from constituent countries of the European Union, it is of interest that we try to understand marine protection legislation in Ireland and the EU, and what exactly is being done to implement effective measures so that our marine life is protected.

In Ireland, the Whale Fisheries Act of 1937 was the first piece of legislation that aimed to protect marine life however it only applied to Baleen whales. It was not until the Wildlife Act 1976 that certain flora an fauna in Ireland were protected under legislation with marine mammals such as dolphin species, seal species and whale species all finally being included.

When looking at marine protection legislation and the European Union’s standing, the EU Habitats Directive is of high importance to every member state within the EU, as it relates to the conservation of threatened animal and plant species. Under this particular directive, member states must report to the EU commission about improvements that have been made regarding the Habitats Directive. Such directives put pressure on the member states to actively partake in marine protection and it may be argued that without such a directive they would be less inclined to give much consideration to the issue.

Although the legislation and directives that are in place sound brilliant in theory, the problem of pollution around Ireland that is killing marine life is still of major concern.

In 2018 a Marine Protection motion was held

by Ms Grace O’Sullivan in which she hoped to tackle Ireland’s failure to protect oceans and seas around the nation. She spoke of sound pollution, which is caused by human activity such as industrial shipping or oil exploration, which has a massively negative impact on sea life.

The treatment of the whales and dolphins in ‘Seaspiracy’ is what may have troubled viewers the most. ‘Whaling’ is defined as the occupation of killing whales and extracting commercial products from them, such as using whales for their meat and blubber. In 1995 an International Whaling Motion was held in the Seanad in which Mrs Madeleine Taylor-Quinn spoke of the importance of using this convention to publicly condemn the Faroese Government for how the whale hunt and kill is carried out.

The Faroe Islands are a group of tiny islands under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Denmark, that allow for whale hunting and killing for food purposes.

A shocking news article from the BBC told the story of Alastair Ward, a student at Cambridge University, who witnessed the local ‘whale driving’ himself and took images of the violence. He was disturbed by what he witnessed and the methods of the whale killings telling Triangle News Agency that “The squealing from the whales was horrible” as they hacked them with knives.

This event was said to have turned the sea red, and footage of these hunts have recently resurfaced in ‘Seaspiracy’ with viewers getting so upset by what they saw that they have vowed to not eat fish again.

But will the airing of this documentary and the revelation of the dangers marine life face as a result of human activity be enough to influence society to do more for marine protection? Possibly, however, more equal budgeting from the government is needed towards conservation projects and more active participation and mindfulness from the public in raising awareness of the issue. We need to utilise the shock we experienced from the exposure to such gruesome imagery and footage and allow for it to help us make a difference before it is too late.

11

NaMSoc’s first ever event tackles the issue of period poverty head-on

By Saoirse Higgins The Nursing and Midwifery Society’s first event started off with a bang with the head of Homeless Period Ireland donating period products to NUI Galway to help combat period poverty.

The Nursing and Midwifery Society (NaMSoc) held their first ever event in late March.

They ventured into the topical discussion of period poverty with two speakers taking the stage, Claire Hunt of Homeless Period Ireland and NUI Galway Students’ Union Welfare and Equality Officer, Róisín Nic Lochlainn.

Auditor of NaMSoc, Hannah Flaherty, began the talk explaining their choice of topic; “For our first ever event, we knew we’d want to address important topics”.

Plan International recently released statistics that showed that 50% of girls in Ireland aged 12 to 18 have struggled to pay for period products. 55% of girls said they felt embarrassed by their period.

“I remember I wanted to go to India to address period poverty over there, when it’s literally on my doorstep,” Hannah added.

Claire Hunt then began her talk, explaining the work of her volunteer organisation Homeless Period Ireland. At Homeless Period, they donate period products to the likes of food banks, women’s centres, and Direct Provision centres.

“Period poverty affects more people in our communities than we realise,” Claire explained.

Claire argued that it was ridiculous that period poverty existed in Ireland in this day and age, “it’s so wrong that in 2021 people are thanking you for getting them pads”.

Róisín Nic Lochlainn then took over the talk and discussed how period poverty is present in NUI Galway.

Róisín explained that period poverty very much exists within the confines of college campuses; “There are several measures in place to help with period poverty in NUI Galway already, such as if you email the Students’ Union, they will send you a period pack. However, all agree that this is not sufficient.

“Currently these period packs are funded by the Students’ Union, which is funded by the student levy fee. Róisín calculated that it would cost somewhere between €200-400 a month to provide free period products in bathrooms across NUI Galway.

“There is no reason NUI Galway couldn’t pay this, it’s the cost of one repeat fee,” Róisín remarked.

“Students are by no means rich, NUI Galway has the highest amount of SUSI recipients in the country,” she continued.

Róisín went on to explain simple things that could be done to face the issue of period poverty, ranging from surveys to education sessions.

At this point, NUI Galway’s Societies Officer Riona Hughes chimed in to show her urgency on the issue of period poverty, “the time for talking is over, let’s have it as a priority,” she argued adamantly.

She expressed to Róisín, and to all of those at the virtual meeting, that it was better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission and thinks that action should be taken as soon as possible.

She argued that someone should seek out a means whereby period products are stored on campus and can be easily accessed.

Claire Hunt loved the idea and to get the cause started she said she would donate period products to the Students’ Union, “I’m happy to donate sustainable products and kickstart the campaign”.

Róisín also added that she and a member of the University Management Team are currently working on a proposal that details the actions the University should take to eradicate period poverty on campus. The proposal will be submitted to the University Management Team in the coming weeks.

“I hope this year we will see things go in the right direction,” Claire concluded.

12 F E ATU R E S

Mol na Meáin

By Eímear Nig Oireachtaigh Do mo cholún deireanach, bhí deis agam labhairt le Máire Treasa Ní Dhubhghaill. Is láithreoir spóirt í ar TG4, agus ba mhúinteoir bunscoile í roimhe sin. Mar sin, cosúil le go leor duine eile, bhí sos aici nuair a tháinig an phaindéim anuraidh. Is é an post is ansa le go leor duine é, agus nuair a chonaic Ní Dhubhghaill go raibh TG4 “ag reáchtáil éisteachtaí le freastal ar chúrsa láithreoireachta”, thapaigh sí a deis!

Piocadh í le freastal ar an gcúrsa le seachtar eile, agus tar éis sin bhí sí roghnaithe chun dul ar Cúla4. Tharla sé sin go léir i 2007, agus tá sí fós ann, ceithre bliana déag ina dhiaidh.

Cé go raibh sos de dhíth ag beagnach gach duine nuair a thosaigh an dianghlasáil, d’éirigh gach duine braon de tar éis cúpla mí. Bhí Máire Treasa díreach mar an gcéanna. De ghnáth, bheadh sí amuigh gach deireadh seachtaine ag cluiche rugbaí éigin. “Theis tamaill bhraith mé uaim go mór é! Bhí mé an-sásta nuair a tháinig Rugbaí BEO ar ais Mí Lúnasa seo caite.” Cosúil le gach duine eile, d’airigh sí uaithi a gnáthshaol, agus bhí sí in ann cuid den saol sin a fháil ar ais nuair a thosaigh an rugbaí arís.

Mar a luaigh mé, ba bhreá le go leor duine an post atá aici, ach céard é an rud is fearr léi faoi? “Is breá liom an éagsúlacht a bhaineann le láithreoireacht; d’fhéadfá a bheith ag déanamh agallaimh le haisteoir lá amháin, nó ag surfáil amuigh ar an bhfarraige agus ansin ar pháirc Rugbaí ag an deireadh seachtaine! Castar go leor daoine éagsúla ort agus is aoibhinn liom an ‘buzz’ de bheith beo ar an aer!”.

Tá sé soiléir, agus í ag obair le TG4, go bhfuil an Ghaeilge mar chuid lárnach dá saol. Dúirt sí féin go bhfuil sí “thar a bheith bródúil go bhfuil Gaeilge agam agus gur tógadh sa nGaeltacht mé le Gaeilge.” Maidir leis an rud is fearr léi faoi, bhí an méid seo le rá aici: “Is linne í agus tá sí mar chuid d’oidhreacht mhuintir na tíre seo. Sílim go bhfuil nasc fíor speisialta ag pobal na Gaeilge agus tá ár gcultúr agus ár dteanga tábhachtach dúinn. Ní gá a bheith líofa sa nGaeilge, níor gá gur tógadh le Gaeilge thú, bain úsáid as an mbeagán atá agat agus bí bródúil aisti! Ní bheadh mise tar éis na seansanna ar fad a fuair mé le TG4 a fháil murach go raibh Gaeilge agam. Osclaíonn sí doirse!” Nach bhfuil an ceart aici!

Ní bheadh an colún seo agam mura mbeadh an Ghaeilge agam féin.

SIN Vol. 22 Issue 12

First Year Diary

By Aine Fogarty Well it seems we’ve reached the end. If I’m being honest I didn’t think I would even make it this far with the diary but I’m grateful I did.

When I first started I was worried I would regret it but most of that worry was due to being scared. This experience has been my first with a newspaper and I’m proud and thankful for the experience. It doesn’t feel like it’s been six months since my first entry but now I’m writing my last for you to read and I’m nearing the end of my first year of college.

To put it simply, this year has been rough. Experiencing my first year of

college from my kitchen table through a laptop screen has been a struggle more often than not but writing for SIN and developing my confidence as a writer has been a life saver. I’ve enjoyed telling you all my thoughts and my concerns and most of the time just my rants. I’m sure you’ve all got sick of my complaining in these entries but I appreciate you all for giving them a read.

The next few weeks will be a rollercoaster for us all and my exam timetable is not looking good so far. The only thing keeping me relatively sane is the knowledge that summer is just around the corner and even though we will be limited with what we can do, a few months col-

lege free will do me, and hopefully you, the world of good. The excitement of summer is a little less exciting with the necessity of a summer job. I’m sending out CVs left and right lately hoping for a reply. I won’t keep boring you with my trials and tribulations any longer. I’m sure you’ve heard enough over the last 11 issues.

To end this final diary entry, I want to thank features editor Saoirse Higgins for giving me this opportunity and allowing me to write whatever came to mind.

This experience has helped me further my writing and I can’t wait to continue next year with some new articles for you all. I wish you all a stress free and fun filled summer!

Final Year Diary

By Tom Molloy Hey all. It’s my final Final Year Diary of a what can only be described as a bizarre academic year. Final exams and assignments are on the horizon, vaccines are imminent, and the sun is shining. Freedom is near.

It’s been an absolute pleasure to share my thoughts with you this year and I hope you enjoyed it too. From my point of view, it was a nice distraction from Final Year stress.

Although this is the final year of my undergrad, it’s not my final year at NUIG as I’m doing the PME Masters in September so, who knows? I could be back writing here again. They might have a postgrad column or something.

At the time of writing, it’s Saoirse’s 21st in a couple of days so I’ve also been distracted trying to think of presents and something to do for the day. It’s incredibly hard to think of something special when you can’t travel abroad

for a weekend or something. I’d tell you what I eventually got her but, as she’s the sub-editor, it would spoil the surprise. Anyway, we’ll make the most of it, lockdown or no lockdown.

Speaking of which, the government might announce a roadmap for the re-opening of the country this week.

I am not joking when I tell you this, I am dying for a haircut. My hair doesn’t even grow down, it grows out, so it just looks unmanageable. Drastic measures might have to be taken. We might get to have a few pints in a beer garden if we’re very good, according to Micheál.

I feel like once a large number of us are vaccinated, a lot of the lockdown tension will ease as cases begin to drop.

People will be in better form when they do eventually get their pints and their haircuts.

By the time this is published it will be over and done with, but I’ve taken to watching the World Snooker Championship in the background while I

study. I find it so cathartic. Ronnie’s been knocked out so I only assume Judd Trump will get it done. Such an underrated form of entertainment. I used to watch an unhealthy amount of snooker as a child so there’s also that nostalgia factor.

Back to the matter at hand, if you had told me this time last year that we would’ve have spent the next year of college completely online, I wouldn’t have believed you. I genuinely thought we’d be back on campus before summer exams. I’ll be honest, I found online learning extremely tough. I just don’t feel engaged because I can’t really learn anything this way. All the signs point to college next year being on campus is some form, so we have to stay positive.

Anyway, like I said, It’s been an absolute pleasure doing this column for the last year. I hope to see you on campus in September. Good look with final exams and assignments and enjoy the summer as much as ye can.

Mature Student Diary

By Cormac Culkeen Good morning, afternoon, or evening fellow college folk, wherever these words find you. So here we are, last issue for the college year, last diary. I hope that you got through Paddy’s Day relatively unscathed. I tried to guzzle a few beers, carry on like it was a regular St. P’s but the tolerance is well and truly gone. Three to four cans is where the wall lies, so in one small way this bloody pandemic has been good for something. As I write this, we’re all in the middle of our mid – term break. Some of us have heavier workloads then others with numerous essays or projects. In all sincerity, I hope they all go well for you. Real life has been severely truncated and that brings enough pressure without the added woes of time sensitive assignments. Hopefully you’ll all get the results you deserve after putting the work in. So, what else is new? It lifts

the spirit seeing trees and bushes getting greener with each passing day, the first splashes of colour from the first flowers gently peering up through the grass. The course itself, third year in the BA Connect for Creative writing, has shot by. It’s been an absolute blast, the work has been highly enjoyable, and I’ve had the added input and support of a great tutor and classmates.

I’ll be sad when it’s over. On another note, I can hear some whoopin’ n’ hollerin’ upstairs. The neighbourhood has been far from quiet these last couple of weeks. Now, I’m not an antisocial grouch (yes you are, my better half says) but constant noise, shouting, slamming doors, the thump of drunken bodies on the floors above, shrieking, breaking bottles, vomiting, chants to summon Belial to this earthly plane, has gotta stop. I’m worldly enough to know and accept the partying at 3a.m., if I was nineteen or twenty I know full well I’d be right in the middle of something similar. On the other hand,

there is a very real likelihood that anybody driving through Terryland will see bodies nailed to the balconies of several apartments, Sicario style.

Folks, no matter where you’re living bear in mind that there are other people around you with their own lives and clocks to run by. Flouting regulations simply puts you and your group in danger, or worse, endangers your neighbours. Or has me knocking on your door holding a hammer and nails. Anyway, I’m getting off track a bit. I hope the remaining weeks are good to you all and that the work left doesn’t exert too much pressure. I hope you prevail. To any first years or second years reading this, hang in there. Get yourselves over the line and hopefully this rank bastard of a year will be behind us soon. Thanks for reading, and thanks to Saoirse, Tom and the good folks at SIN for allowing me to witter on. And disregard the stuff about crucifixions. I was just ­kidding. Or was I?

GNÉ -ALTANNA

May 04 2021

13

The Greatest Television Event of 2020

By Ryan Coyle The greatest television event of 2020 didn’t fit into any traditional 21 or 41 minute time slot. With a budget of $16 million, there were no expensive action set-pieces, computer-generated imagery or Golden Globe winning actors. Just a static image with contrasting colours. Although it didn’t break viewership records like the M*A*S*H finale, it had an audience of 7.6 billion. The greatest television event of 2020 wasn’t the Waystar Royco cruise ship scandal or the wedding of David Rose and Patrick Brewer. The greatest television event of 2020 was the 59th quadrennial US presidential election.

The audience of 7.6 billion fell into one of two categories. Invested viewers and uninvested viewers. Invested viewers followed the election closely, maybe learned a few fancy elections terms like “electoral college” and kept up to date on any advancements in the polls. The other, much larger category of audience being the uninvested viewers. These are the people who didn’t really follow or give the election much thought. A lot of these audience members weren’t from the United States and found it pointless following other country’s politics so closely. Then why do so many non-US citizens like me, get so much entertainment from a large blue and red coloured map? How come something

that is always so boring and slow in other years, feel like a satisfying slow burn last year? This article isn’t about the victory of Biden and the freedom of the American people from the reigns of former President Trump. This article is about the excitement in the boring. It’s about the mundane process of switching from one chapter to another, the people who carried it and the television networks that broadcasted it.

The election results coverage premiered on November 3rd and didn’t cut to credits for another four days. The longest US ballot count since the BushGore fiasco in 2000. The anticipation for November 3rd started back on November 8th, 2016. Ever since it was announced that Trump would be the Republican candidate for 2020, the world stood still anticipating the identity of his Democrat rival. On the red team, Donald Trump: media personality and businessman and on the blue team, Joe Biden: a competent applicant for Presidency. Every four years, like clockwork, America along with the rest of the world braces themselves for the new leader of the free world.

Unfortunately for Biden, his spotlight was dimmed as 2020 had its own star, the coronavirus. (I won’t dwell on Covid19 for too long, it already affects our lives so heavily already I don’t want to give it the satisfaction of infecting this article.)

Back in May, a large amount of misinfor-

mation and conspiratorial online posts surfaced. These online posts had a heavy anti-democratic agenda and spread lies about the virus and the dangers of postal voting. Fortunately, most people above the age of six know not to believe online rumours with no existing evidence to back it up. Unfortunately, you don’t have to pass an IQ test to register to vote in America. The Trump administration seemed to hit every wrong note in the months leading up to November, especially with their response to the Black Lives Matter protests.

With an impeding unmovable date for polling ahead and postal voting on the rise, a nationwide campaign was formed. The campaign was to encourage every American citizen above the age of 18 to register to vote. The campaign was hailed by both Republicans and Democrats and was endorsed by any celebrity vain enough to do so. The campaign was a success as over 21 million more Americans voted in the 2020 election against the 2016 election.

Tuesday, 3rd of November 2020: As the polling offices closed, tellers across America prepared for the long week ahead while the tellers in Nevada prepared not to be shot, the most exciting part of the election was underway. American news channels like ABC, CBS and NBC streamed the counting of the votes

on their YouTube channels internationally for the whole world to view. The glow of the red and blue map luminated the room, only to be interrupted by spliced in footage of the votes being counted and the occasional banter from newsreader to newsreader. That’s it. What I just described was what was broadcasted for four days straight. My only friends were two little counters constantly increasing,

making minuscule differences to the overall outcome. So why do I consider these little coloured patches on the American map to be the greatest television event of 2020? It’s not what colour those little patches ultimately land on, it’s what those little coloured patches represent. Along with the updated counted votes, the infographics also showed which states were “Blue States”, “Red States” and “Swing States”. Seeing each state being filled in, in real time, revealed how these states changed from four years ago. It showed us how the past four years affected these

states and how current events, especially how they were handled, affected their political position. We saw eight of the eleven swing states turn blue, a shocking turn from just four from the previous election. Republicans were punished for their past actions and the Democrats reaped their votes. Heroes emerged, like Stacey Abrams, a voting rights activist who swung the state of Georgia from red to blue. There was audience interference as voters stormed counting stations in Michigan and Nevada.

There were unforgettable monologues as Biden delivered his speech on the state of the election. There were laughs as Trump addressed the nation on election night. All culminating with Biden’s victory, the greatest pay off for any die-hard viewer. With 73 million recorded television viewers and a countless number of spectators around the world, the 2020 US presidential election reminded us how great television can be.

My advice for anyone interested in the next election, American or not. Keep an eye out for important news stories happening right now and how each party reacts and deals with them. Vote based on issues and not by parties. Voting makes a difference, and it may just be the difference between good television and great television.

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14 A RT S & E NT E RTAIN M EN T

The rise of a new Irish pop singer

By Kiani Hildebrandt

Covid-19 and lockdown have changed millions of lives, but one life that has been drastically changed for the better is Lea Heart.

The 20-year-old from Kildare has just released her second hit single ‘IDK Why’. Her first single ‘Older’ was released in October and has surpassed 1 million streams online.

“It was only a couple weeks ago that I released my second single and the support has been insane,” said Lea. “It’s been a crazy six months.”

That is how quickly her life has changed – Lea took a chance and put her music online for the first time.

It was through these music accounts that her current manager, Brian Whitehead, found the young Irish musician on TikTok. Working under LBW Music Management has been a great learning lesson for Lea. “It’s crazy to think back on how far I’ve come. I am really new to the industry and I’m learning something new every single day.”

‘Older’, her first single, is described as an “upbeat pop song.”

“With the first single, no one knew what to expect.

I didn’t know what to expect.”

Since its release, the song has remained strong in the Top 50 of Spotify Ireland Charts.

‘IDK Why’ the second single, has brought even more notice to her first song.

“My first ever single ‘Older’ will always be my baby.

It was my break into the industry and I couldn’t wait for everyone to hear that song. It has massive meaning for me and I can’t wait to play it live.”

As Irish pop keeps becoming more popular this passionate young woman is one to watch out for. She will be releasing more songs throughout 2021, so keep an eye out for her on all the music platforms.

Lea said, “There will be so much more to come, and I can’t wait for everything if I’m honest.”

Here are some excerpts from the interview, you can listen to more of it on the Flirt FM website under Wednesday Morning Lie-In with Kiani and Sarah.

How has your life changed since you first released your first single in October?

It’s been a crazy six months. It’s crazy to think back on how far I’ve come. I am really new to the industry and I’m learning new every single day. It was only a couple weeks ago that I released my second single and the support has been insane.

Would you have noticed the difference between the first single and the second single for how you were feeling?

I suppose with the first single, no one really knew what to expect. It’s such an upbeat pop song and we don’t have that in Ireland at the moment coming from a female artist.

I was nervous to release the first one. For the second one I was just really able to enjoy it and able to take it all in. Ever since I released ‘Older’ my first single came out last October the support has been insane. More than I ever thought. I couldn’t wait to release my second one and see what everyone thought of that one as well.

SIN Vol. 22 Issue 12

The gaping gap in the film industry – the issue with age difference between romantic leads

By Alice O’Donnell In 2015, Maggie Gyllenhaal revealed that she was told that she was “too old” to play the romantic lead opposite a man who was 55-years-old. She was 37. Yes, you read that right. Apparently an 18-year age difference wasn’t quite enough for Hollywood. And if only this was a once-off, it would be bad enough. But the film industry has a deeply rooted habit of casting female actresses far younger than their male romantic co-stars.

Casablanca is movie royalty. Even if your professors or parents haven’t dragged you to watch the black-and-white film, there’s no escaping the reach of its fame (the fact that “Play it again, Sam” is actually never said in the film never fails to amuse me). Made in 1942, it is now firmly lodged in the heart of Hollywood classics, from its story of neutrality in wartime to the theme of sacrifice running throughout.

However, it would be remiss not to mention the age difference between the two romantic leads. Humphrey Bogart was 47-years-old and his romantic co-star Ingrid Bergman was in her twenties. Now, this could be forgiven in the face of the era it was made, but the fact it still remains such a major part of films to this day just highlights how long Hollywood has harboured this habit. This recurring casting technique is seemingly as old as the saying Lights, Camera, Action!!!

On the surface, there seems to be nothing wrong with age differences between co-stars – if they’re both consenting adults, what’s the harm? And I would’ve agreed with you after the first few films I watched when I noticed a glaring age gap between romantic co-stars.

But after the next hundred, I was getting a bit sick of it. And after the next hundred after that – it was all I could notice when I sat down to watch a film.

It’s frustrating how accepted it has become, how Edge of Tomorrow (2014) made more headlines for the fact it (in a weirdly confusing manner I will admit) was marketed with two titles, than the fact in its heart is a 20-year age difference between the 51-yearold Tom Cruise and his romantic lead, the then 31-year-old Emily Blunt.

Director Woody Allen (who I can’t fully believe is still accepted in Hollywood but hey, that’s a rant for another article!) is a prime offender of this age difference between his romantic leads. The biggest age gap in his films is a whopping 40 years, in both Whatever Works (2009) and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010). A career spanning over 50 films and nearly six decades, Woody Allen is nothing if not consistent – nearly all his films involve an age difference (and beyond weird are films like Manhattan (1979) where the then 43-year-old Allen wrote himself as the male romantic lead opposite the then 17-year-old Mariel Hemingway – eugh).

Despite the fact his films have spanned over half a century, the prevalence of age difference in his movies has not changed throughout the decades. His second-most recent film A Rainy Day in New York (2019), is a romantic-comedy with a 25-year age difference between Elle Fanning and Jude Law (to be fair to the actors, three of the main cast have come out and apologised for working on the film), while his 2014 film Magic in Moonlight has a 25-year-old Emma Stone playing a woman romantically interested in a 53-yearold Colin Firth.

The practise of casting a male lead with a significantly younger female love-interest is a habit of Hollywood which has somehow managed to scuttle away from the searchlight of the MeToo movement. There’s something perversely wrong that actresses beyond the age of 30 are left to languish in the role of sexless mothers and teachers, while their male counterpoints can play romantic leads well into their sixties (see Jack Nicholson in As Good As it Gets (1998), a role which bagged the 60-year-old an Oscar nomination while he acted opposite his romantic co-star Helen Hunt, who just so happened to be 26 years younger than him).

Meryl Streep famously revealed that the year she turned 40, she was offered three different roles to play a witch. In Hollywood, it seems to be an exact cut-off for female actresses – their times as a ‘maiden’, the young, desirable character with which the male gaze is allowed

to linger on. Once an actress seemingly goes beyond her 30s, she is curtailed into roles of either the ‘mother’ or the ‘crone’.

As Huffpost says in their 2013 article ‘Why We Should Care About The Massive Age Gaps Between A-List Actors And Their Love Interests’, while the likes of Julie Roberts manage to escape and slip by the expiry date of being desirable in Hollywood, with Roberts playing love interests well into her forties, she is most certainly an exception. And how does that make every woman over 40 who isn’t the perfect image of Julie Roberts feel? If the issue was solely impacting the industry itself, that would be one thing – but instead, as all pop culture tends to do, its influence has leached into our society.

There is also the question on how do the actors and actresses themselves feel about playing these roles? In 1957, renounced actor Cary Grant mysteriously turned down the main lead in the rom-com Love in the Afternoon, despite being the production’s teams first choice. It later emerged he was uncomfortable with the 25-year age gap between him and his would-be co-star, Audrey Hepburn.

There must be something undeniable uncomfortably with playing a romantic lead opposite a man old enough to be your father.

Alternately, the idea of acting in love with a woman many decades younger than yourself should be equally as disturbing.

Age differences in films are outdated. They feed into a concept of desirability and sexuality that is principally linked to only a certain point of a woman’s age, and is a trend that should have most certainly be left behind in history. The film industry in a fluid organisation, ever-changing and adapting to an equally shifting world. The concept of change is not a foreign one, and as the industry works to repair deeply troubling flaws that have come to light in recent years, it should also work towards ironing out massive age differences in films. Romantic leads close in age not only benefits society, but also benefits the actors themselves.

And finally, please, Hollywood, I beg, stop hiring Woody Allen.

C U LT ÚR

May 04 2021

7

SIAMSAÍO CHT

15

The groundhog days of addiction CREATIVE CORNER

By Caroline Spencer

The following article deals with themes of an adult nature which some readers may find upsetting.

During an interminably long lockdown, I’ve run a gamut of challenging books, both fictional and biographical. There is something magnetic about people who never compromise.

Despite the hard realities that comes with it, the do or die approach to life is fascinating, and unsettling, to behold.

Over the past few months two books have stayed in my mind. Disparate as they are from each other, they all concern people who have no other way of being anything but themselves, for better or worse.

The most recent book was the Booker Prize winner Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. Set in 1980s working-class Glasgow, the novel follows the titular Shuggie, the sensitive child of Agnes. After her abusive husband leaves her, she falls further into alcoholism and abject poverty.

Sexual violence, and its casual dismissal by

others, is a constant. As Agnes tries to remember the details of a savage attack the night before, she shows the bruises on her arms to her friend and neighbour Jinty. Jinty coos faux sympathetically, “To do that to a defenceless wummin? What is this world coming to? The way people take advantage people.”

In a beat she asks Agnes, yet again, to go and find some money for alcohol, the only reason Jinty stopped by her home in the first place. The scene somehow gets worse when Jinty later makes Agnes, now in a dazed, drunken state, dance with the man who provided the booze.

As she recoils away from him, Jinty, seeing how she can take advantage herself, shouts “Oh don’t mind her. She was just a bit unlucky in love last night”, says Jinty, knowing full well that Agnes was raped. This is a world where people don’t see others as friends or people deserving of love or respect, but as opportunities to use and abuse.

Exploitation is another constant in the non-fic-

In love with some poetry

By Sophia Hadef Today in a marginal literary production and almost non-existent in terms of media advertising, poetry is nonetheless at the source of our literary history with the Homeric poems (The Iliad and the Odyssey), the Aeneid of Virgil and The Metamorphoses of Ovid. These four founding texts take the form of long poems.

From a poetic golden age, and from the medieval to the romantic: whether it is the 11th century with the song of gesture, the 16th century with the poets of the Pleiade or, later, of the romantic poets in the 18th century, the poetic genre was dominating the world of literature before the romantic form changed it all... Such a turnaround gave poetry a special place within contemporary literature: now an ancient art reputed to be tricky to access and yet a world of all possibilities.

Rather than attempting the impossible definition of modern poetry (as this genre is polymorphic and cannot be confined to this or that artistic flow), it seemed wiser for me to present to you some important figures of contemporary French-speaking poetry: an opportunity for all to enter gently into the complex works of some of my most beloved poets.

Here are two of my favourite poems that I have translated as best as I could. Paul Verlaine is my favourite poet, his art is so gloomy and moody but desperately beautiful.

My familiar dream,

by Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) published in Poèmes saturniens.

I often have this strange and penetrating dream Of an unknown woman, and whom I love, and who loves me And which is not, every time, not quite the same Not quite another, and loves me and understands me.

Because she understands me, and my heart, ­transparent

For her alone, alas! stop being a problem For her alone, and the wetness of my pale forehead, She alone knows how to refresh them, crying.

Is she brunette, blonde or redhead? – I do not know.

Her name ? I remember it is soft and loud Like those of the loved ones whom Life exiled.

Her gaze is the same as the gaze of statues, And, for her voice, distant, and calm, and grave, she has The inflection of dear voices that have fallen silent.

Baudelaire is another favourite of mine, his style is unique and exquisite.

Meditation by Charles Baudelaire Wise up, Sorrow. Calm down.

You always lay claim to twilight. Well, here it is, brother, It descends. Obscurity settles over the town, bringing peace to one, worry to another.

The restless crowd, whipped on by pleasure— our dogged torturer—carry their hearts’ raw remorse with them as they serve their vapid leisure, while you, my Sorrow, drop by here, take my hand, and draw me apart from them. We watch the dying years in faded gowns lean out from heaven’s balconies, as Regret rears, smiling, out of the deep dark where the dead ones march.

Dragging its long train—now a shroud—from its early light in the East, the sun goes to sleep under an arch.

Listen, Sorrow, beloved, to the soft approach of Night.

Poetry is a gift. It teaches us patience, it sounds like music for the soul, it lets us share our feelings in the most truthful way possible, it helps us to find our inner voice and most of all, poetry is exploration.

tion books. In Songs They Never Play on The Radio, writer James Young describes his time as a bandmate of Nico. Nico was a German singer and actor whose fame peaked during her time with The Velvet Underground. Her publicly long-running heroin addiction became better known than any sort of artistic endeavour. Which is a shame as her incredible music went on to inspire artists after her like Siouxsie Sioux, Elliott Smith, Robert Smith of The Cure and Bjórk.

The book depicts the last decade of her life with dark humour and cleareyed lucidity. The band travels all over Europe not to be successful, but to feed her debilitating habit. While she falls further into addiction, her peers succeed with the same substance issues.

Addiction seemed to give male artists like Lou Reed or Brian Jones a more rock and roll, glamourous image. For women like Nico, it was a black stain against her, a failure of femininity.

What stays in the mind the most from these books, read so close together, is the view of the female addict, as written by sympathetic men.

In these books she is a figure caught between an uncaring society and their own demons. The repetitive nature of addiction; the nausea, the purge, finding the funds for a binge, gives the reader a hypnotic insight into the life of a person stuck in their own stasis.

Galway, April 2021

By Alice O’Donnell Flowers bloom and burst, petals of pink and hues of spring scatter on westerly winds.

Salthill blooming: sunhats and glasses that shimmer like sun on a still ocean.

Buntings bud and sprout down Quay street.

Tendrils looping and twisting as flags the colour of fresh flowers dance in a summer breeze.

We are in this together.

Weʼd like to say a huge thank you to You - our customers and supporters, both loyal and occasional.

Thanks for dropping in to see us; for picking up a cup of lovely Fairtrade coffee or a salad; thanks for being there. It means a lot.

Weʼre all battling through unprecedented times, weʼre fighting to stay alive and to keep some staff at work.

Thank you also to our hard-working staff, for keeping us all safe.

Itʼs taking longer than weʼd all hoped, but we are getting there.

And weʼre getting there together. #StayHome, where possible. Chins Up #SupoportLocal & #StaySafe.

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

SIN Vol. 22 Issue 12

Save Ralph: a plain-spoken, sad and eye-opening short film

By Charlotte Lavin

The whirlpool of attention surrounding Seaspiracy

By Niamh Casey Seaspiracy is a documentary film that recently premiered on Netflix and is about the environmental impact fishing has on the world and on our seas. The film, starring and directed by British filmmaker Ali Tabrizi, attracted immediate attention from the international audience, and has left many discussing the topics highlighted.

The one-and-a-half-hour feature plays out in a way comparable to a google search that turns into a late night internet deep dive; it jumps from one topic to another, with what can feel like rapid succession, and suddenly you forget the original question that you started with. However, that certainly does not mean that the documentary is not extremely interesting, it’s just a whirlwind of a journey.

In the opening scene we see Tabrizi talking about his love for all things sea related as he goes about cleaning up beaches, explaining that he is passionate about protecting the world’s oceans. His initial intent of the documentary was to find out more about “sustainable” fishing, whether it actually exists and just how effective it is. However, by following various leads, it leads Tabrizi to discover numerous different sides to the commercial fishing industry.

The main focus becomes showcasing the negative environmental impact fisheries have on the marine ecosystem, including the mass dumping of fishing nets, the Taiji dolphin drive hunt in Japan and even the modern slavery occurring within the fishing industry in Thailand. These facts naturally deliver a sense of shock to viewers, as for many it is their first time hearing of such scandals that take place in order to put fish on shelves in shops.

The film also makes a point of criticising several marine conservation organisations, including the Earth Island Institute and its dolphin safe label, as it does not actually guarantee that no dolphins were harmed. It also calls out the sustainable seafood certifications of the Marine Stewardship Council, pointing out their misleading nature to consumers and their lack of efforts to highlight issues such as the ghost nets in the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’. The documentary likes to use a lot of shock factor to stun the audience with what they are seeing, and this led to criticism with some arguing that the issues raised throughout had a tendency to be sensationalised, which might be true to a degree. Seaspiracy is a huge advocate for marine reserves and the elimination of fish consumption, saying that it is the only actually sustainable and ethical way of protecting marine life. Quite a statement to make.

This stance, paired with the film’s use of the bombshell method of relaying disturbing facts, has garnered criticism from a percentage of viewers, as well as the The National Fisheries Institute itself, which appealed to Netflix ahead of the film’s release to “distinguish between legitimate documentaries and propaganda”, stating “audiences will not recognize the film’s true agenda as a vegan indoctrination movie”. Though the statement is extreme, it is not totally outlandish as once you watch the film you do understand where they’re coming from.

However, on the flip side, many environmental groups, such as PETA and Greenpeace, are praising the film for bringing attention to problems, namely overfishing and dolphin killings, that undeniably exist within the commercial fishing industry. There are so many points mentioned throughout the film, Seaspiracy nearly acts as an overview of the many issues there are within the multi-billion dollar industry, and you could honestly dedicate a documentary to each of them. Hence the many discussions that have followed its debut, and truthfully speaking, it is often a good sign when a feature causes this much debate. Overall, the documentary is definitely worth a watch.

A collaboration between director Spencer Susser (The Greatest Showman, Hesher) and The Humane Society International (HSI) has resulted in the stop-motion animation work Save Ralph, a four-minute animation piece following Ralph, a tester rabbit, and his explanation of a typical day at the lab.

The project, released on April 6th, 2021, features international stars Ricky Gervais (the interviewer), Taika Waititi (Ralph the rabbit), Zac Efron, Olivia Munn, Pom Klementieff and more.

The animation piece is set as an interview: we follow Ralph, a middle-age tester bunny, from the start of his workday as he gets ready, until he leaves work, blind and hurt. Ralph does not complain, he explains. Ralph is like all of us: impressed by the camera, and grateful someone is interviewing him. Ralph does not want to whine about his job: at least he has one.

Susser brilliantly uses this day-to-day setting and this average Joe protagonist to draw us into the story. I felt instantly protective of Ralph, and his very timid excitement about being in front of the camera. “It’s like in the movies.”

Waititi (nominated in 2020 for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance in the Primetime Emmy Award for his voice-over of IG-11 in The Mandalorian), with his impersonation of Ralph, impressed me once again.

The range of emotions his voice can carry makes him the perfect’s main voice for this stop-motion animation and allows the choice of anthropomorphism to carry HSI’s message all the more powerfully. ‘’My dad was a tester, my mum, my brothers, my sisters, my kids, all testers, and they died doing their job! Like I will! And it’s okay.

It’s what we were born to do!’’ This cynicism is sustained throughout the whole video, making us brutally confront our flaws. And Susser has not forgotten to add a touch of humour, too. To the statement that he is doing his job for the “superior” human race, Ralph adds: “They’ve even been to space. Have you ever seen a rabbit in a rocket ship?” It is dark humour, and it is effective. The whole video climaxes with the image of Ralph, hurt, blind and disorientated, talking to the camera after a day of work, but still not complaining.

“Without you and countries that allow animal testing, I’d be out of a job!” With this, the HSI and Susser ask us: if you do not allow for humans to be treated like this, why would you think it is okay for animals? If other humans should not suffer for our benefit, why should animals?

HSI is an animal advocacy organisation part of the Humane Society of the United States. Its main goal is to outlaw animal testing “once and for all”, by engaging consumers and policy makers. The Save Ralph project serves as a reminder that animal testing is, in 2021, only banned in 40 countries across the world, and legal everywhere else.

Susser said: “When you see the horrifying reality of the way animals are treated, you can’t help but look away. What I was hoping to do with this film was create something that delivers a message without being too heavy handed. I hope that the audiences fall in love with Ralph and want to fight for him and other animals like him, so we can ban animal testing once and for all.”

I definitely fell in love with Ralph, and I hope you did too.

The Bridgerton series – will Rege-Jean Page’s absence impact the series in Season Two?

By Anastasia Burton Firstly, let me tell you I read every single book written by Julia Quinn the author and creator of The Bridgerton’s including all specials. Something I think people forget is that this is a historical romance series with each book focusing on the love story of each sibling starting off with Daphne the eldest daughter and finishing with the youngest siblings.

The first novel includes Daphne Bridgerton and the Duke of Hastings and follows the pair as their romance develops, however in the following novels you will rarely see or hear about the Hastings apart from an occasional appearance or mention about their family and their love story.

This is why it was so surprising to me when I heard reviews and read tweets about people going as far as to claim the second season is ruined without Rege-Jean Page and that they will boycott it. Like... The whole point of the series is not to follow the two characters until they age but rather to explore the love story and growth of each sibling. The second season will be focused on Anthony and his new love interest. I must admit that Anthony’s character development and love tale was one of my favourite aspects from the eight novels and of course it makes sense that Rege – Jean Page will not be present, as at

the time of Anthony’s tale the Hastings are at their estate away from London living peacefully, while Anthony as the head of the family decided it is time to find a wife and therefore enters the next London season.

It’s a little upsetting to hear people be so critical of the series just because they are unaware of how the book series plays out and what the whole Bridgerton series is about. It’s about finding a love similar to that of Lady Violet Bridgerton and Lord Bridgerton who were the biggest influences in their children’s lives. Don’t drop the series just because our favourite Duke and Duchess of Hastings will not be as prominent as before, instead look on the horizon of all there is to come for the Bridgerton series. I’m sure we will have more heartthrobs and storylines that we fall in love with. Just strap in, grab a few books ahead of the second season and enjoy the ride. I promise the Bridgerton series will not disappoint.

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SIN Vol. 22 Issue 12

Video games: the same moral panic with a new spin

By Donagh Broderick The following article deals with themes of an adult nature which some readers may find upsetting.

Video games are a young medium but have still managed to attract their fair share of controversy.

Six Days in Fallujah was first teased back in 2009 and is based around the titular battle during the Iraq war. Backlash at the time saw it thrown into production hell until this year. The game no doubt hoped to tap into the same success that Spec Ops: The Line had generated. Despite not doing well on release, Spec Ops has gone on to become a cult classic anti-war game that proved despite what some may think, there is a market for such games.

While this controversy has been minor and mostly

blown over by the time of writing it is still interesting to see why Six Days in Fallujah is catching controversy now.

Historically, it was mainly the right who attacked video games. Lawyer Jack Thompson became infamous for claiming games were “murder simulators” and absurdly asserted that the vibrations that newer controllers made were conditioning gamers to want to murder. Right-wing news outlet Fox News attacked the first Mass Effect game back in 2007 for “promoting lesbianism” because players could engage in a same sex relationship with an alien female character. Bioware, the developers of Mass Effect, recently admitted that the backlash they received over this caused them to scale back the same sex romance options in the sequel. Donald Trump has made similar claims about video games promoting violence, but you know who else did? Left wing politician Bernie Sanders.

Something has changed as time has gone on. No longer is gaming simply scolded by the right but now moral busybodies on the left are coming for gaming too. Where the right is worried games will make children violent, the left is worried games will give children bigoted or regressive attitudes. Mortal Kombat was perhaps the first game to irk both sides’ wrath

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and can almost single-handedly be held responsible for modern game age rating systems. Gory deaths will turn your kids into murderers! Those women in revealing outfits will turn young boys into misogynists! Because, as we all know, society was incredibly peaceful and egalitarian prior to video games. Six Days in Fallujah was first lambasted by the right as the battle had only recently taken place and was considered disrespectful to the troops that served there, now it’s the left complaining that the game is an “Arab murder simulator”, and have called for its removal from online stores.

This bipartisan panic has extended beyond video games too. Where once it was mainly the religious right burning Harry Potter books now the moral busybodies on the left are attempting the same ever recent transgender comments made

by J.K Rowling. Lauren Orsini, writing for Forbes, claimed liking “anime porn” makes you a Trump supporter. Diane Abbott, a member of the UK’s Labour party, laughably blamed porn and video games for an increase in crime. Megan Condis in The New York Times made the somewhat bizarre claim that the popular free to play game Fortnite was being used to recruit people to the far right.

Columbine, Christchurch, and a slew of other shootings have all been blamed on video games.

While the link between violent video games and real-world violence has long been debunked at this point, anyone who has handled firearms can tell you how poor video games are as a guide to using them.

Now I’m not here to defend gory violence or skimpy outfits in Mortal Kombat, or J.K Rowling’s comments. I’m not even here to defend Fortnite.

What I hope to show you is that the moral panic they generate is absurd and baseless at best and, as Bioware has shown, a threat to artistic freedom at worst.

Part of this is that millennials, who tend to lead these new moral panics, were once the counterculture have now gotten old enough to have become the dominant culture and do not realise it, which is why young people are rejecting them. The fact that previous moral panic generators like John Lydon, the singer ‘Johnny Rotten’ from the Sex Pistols, are now conservatives should be an indication of that. Edgy jokes are not ‘rising fascism’ most of the time it’s young people rebelling against the moral busybodies who seek to tell them what they can and cannot find funny.

This moral panic is nothing new. Pornography, comic books, TV, radio, the internet, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, The Sex Pistols, dime novels, Dungeons & Dragons, radio dramas, every form of media has been subject to a form of moral panic, the only thing that has changed is the medium in question, the absurdity of the panic and the baselessness of the worries themselves remain the same.

Helpline: 50808 is a free 24/7 text service which offers support for people going through a mental health or emotional crisis – big or small.

Making currency out of controversy

By Caroline Spencer 2021 YouTube was not made with me in mind, and rightly so. According to my cultural advisor and 12-year-old niece, I am “an old”. There’s no stopping it, I never was and never will be down with the kids.

I got a searing glimpse into this recently while playing a game of keepy-uppy with advisor/niece (same person!). I asked about the recent David Dobrik’s scandal and his ‘vlog squad’. Her eyes glazed over, she literally dropped the ball and said “Vlog squad?

Jesus Christ…” Apparently it’s really old hat to refer to Dobrik’s group.

I felt the hand of Mother Time pat me on the shoulder, gently intoning me to sit the next few rounds out.

All of this is to say that perhaps I am not the best person for expounding on Youtuber drama.

The niece may be better but she’s at school right now and education is very important. Stay in school, kids.

What I am good at is spending countless hours watching videos about various beefs between Youtubers I’ve never heard of and care little for. The effect is hypnotic. I put these on in the background while cooking, cleaning, painting decking, watering plants, filing taxes, anything. Something about the intricately detailed breakdown of humans with more wealth than sense soothes my frontal lobe.

D’Angelo Wallace is a champion at this. It was through his meticulous oratory that I even know why certain Youtubers are in hot water. There seems to be an abundance of it lately. Ever since Tati Westbrook released ‘Bye Sister’ two years ago, Youtuber drama has become a major algorithm booster.

“Cancelling” can have a dramatic effect on a creator’s platform, pushing them into bigger and better financial heights. Once James Charles bounced back from the initial backlash, his success kept growing. He broke out from the beauty bloggers and into the mainstream.

And like a pendulum he’s gone back to cancelled.

Due to recent instances of inappropriately messaging underage children, Charles has been demonetised.

The same accusations by Westbrook have come back to haunt him and this time there are receipts.

It remains to be seen whether Charles will bounce back from this. While this is happening fellow creator, David Dobrik is facing allegations of enabling sexual abuse and endangering staff members. A clip circulated recently showing a former associate gravely injuring himself at the behest of Dobrik. The legal ramifications of this could be detrimental to his public platform.

All these scandals are unfolding in front of a young, impressionable audience. In the case the injured party was egged on to take part in a dangerous stunt. The more outrageous, the more clicks and views for the creator. With clicks being the true currency of YouTube, some creators have grown a God Complex; they are separate from the unwashed masses. They feel a greater freedom for ‘expression’ because their audience allows it.

Scandal and callouts are not just a hindrance; they can be monetised. They can create content out of their controversy. Yet the tide is hopefully turning. With the waves of scandal facing the likes of Dobrik, James Charles and Jeffree Starr, their market audience may start to unsubscribe and look elsewhere for content from a less problematic source. My cultural advisor has already grown tired of it all, so the hope is there.

C U LT ÚR

May 04 2021

7

SIAMSAÍOCHT

19

What’s in a name? Quite a lot

By Caroline Spencer On her first acting credit Thandiwe Newton’s name was misspelled. It remained that way in every acting role she had for the next three decades. Her Zimbabwean name was anglicised by the film industry, against her will.

Women in the film industry face challenges, to say the least. For women of colour the industry is even more brutal. Thandiwe recently recalled turning down a lead role in the 2000 film Charlie’s Angels. The producer Amy Pascal asked her to not play her role as an Angel as college educated, signifying that a college-educated black woman in a mainstream film was “not believable”. This is a film where Crispin Glover is a hair snatching fetishist with kung-fu master skills. Tim Curry, or Dr Frank N Furter as he is known in my heart, wrestles Bill Murray in a sumo costume. If this movie was aiming for believability, I must have missed it.

The issue is not ‘believability’ as feckless white people like Pascal may think, but a clear example of racist micro-aggression. An incident not egregious enough to be classed as out and out racism, but an act that subtly minimises the worth and dignity of a person of colour. With her name being misspelled for years, Thandiwe is taking back some power that has been siphoned off from incidents like these.

Name pronunciations can also be a site of microaggressions. A famous example of this could be seen in an interview between comedian Hasan Minhaj and Ellen DeGeneres on her show in 2019. As he sits down, Ellen mispronounces his name. He quickly corrects her. Then she corrects him correcting her, as if he doesn’t know how to pronounce his own name. He then hits her and the audience with the indelible line “If you can pronounce Ansel Elgort, you can pronounce Hasan Minhaj.” Ellen laughs

awkwardly and the interview continues. Thankfully, it was the last time Ellen ever displayed a shifty attitude. Cue the collective sigh of relief.

Minhaj shone a light on how white people treat names that fall outside of a predetermined “traditional” naming paradigm. White people with unusual names are treated as ‘cultured’, ‘exotic’, like Timotheé Chalamet or just a little more interesting than plain old John Smith.

Black and brown people are mocked with derision or simply ignored over their own names.

During the 2020 US election, Republican senator David Perdue referred to future Vice President Kamala Harris as “Kah-mah-la or Kah-ma-la or Kamala-mala-mala, I don’t know, whatever”. He later excused the insulting comment as a simple mistake. Harris had been a co-worker of this man for four years at that point, in the US Senate. Claiming that he couldn’t pronounce her name is simply facetious.

Harris is the first woman of colour to hold the position of Vice President. She was born to

C

The Mole Agent review M

Y

By Stephen Holland The Mole Agent is a 2020 documentary directed

by Maite Alberdi. It tells the story of an 84-yearold man named Sergio who is hired by a private investigator to go undercover in a nursing home in Chile. What starts as a quirky take on hardboiled detective fiction turns into a profound meditation on isolation and loneliness.

The private investigator has been hired by the daughter of a resident in the nursing home. She believes that her mother is being abused by the staff and that they are stealing from her. In order to get to the bottom of this the detective hires Sergio to go undercover in the nursing home for three months.

Sergio is recently widowed and says that wants some excitement back in his life, he needs a reason to get up in the morning, he longs for purpose.

Sergio is stylish and elegant, kind and considerate. Once he enters the nursing home, which is almost all female, the residents nickname him ‘The Gentleman’ and everyone is intrigued by this new resident.

“He seems lucid,” one of the patients remarks, giving us the impression that most people who enter this home are no longer with it, dropped off by their family who don’t want to deal with the burden of their catatonic responsibility.

This documentary gives us a glimpse into the lives of those

CM who have been left behind by society.

Sergio enters their world and brings comfort and secuMY rity. We meet an elderly woman in the late stages of dementia who is trying to hold back all her fear CY and confusion, Sergio tells her not to hold it back and that it is okay that she is afraid, CMY he holds her in his arms as she sobs. We encounter an AlzheiK her long dead mer’s patient who waits everyday for mother to come visit. We also meet a patient who falls head over heels in love with Sergio and excitedly speaks with the staff about the possibility of a wedding in the nursing home.

As the film progresses it becomes obvious this documentary is no longer about the investigation, but about what it means to be alive. How it is never too late to begin a new chapter in your life, to make new connections, to start anew.

The staff of the nursing home knew that there was a documentary being made, but they thought it was about the everyday workings of the home, they were unaware that Sergio was secretly filming and keeping a diary of all the goings on in the facility.

The film was nominated for an Oscar in the best documentary category. It really caught me off guard with the level of depth and beauty. It will tug at your heartstrings, but will also make you rethink how we treat our elderly and those who are most disenfranchised in this world. I highly recommend The Mole Agent.

an Indian mother and Jamaican father. Mocking DL flyer [blue].pdf 1 12/10/2015 her name was a clear attempt to other her, make her seem ill-equipped to represent real (read: white) Americans. It is through nefarious acts like ‘mispronunciations’ that powerful people can express racism without having to fully face consequences. Just enough plausible deniability to attack a person.

In a system like this, the power of a name can 16:25 hold a person back or forward. But times are changing; people are growing aware of the insidious nature of racism and how it manifests through micro-aggressions and ignorance. This culmination point is may be why it’s so powerful and positive to see Newton claim back the name that was lost to her due to ignorance.

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

SIN Vol. 22 Issue 12

A REVIEW OF THE YEAR IN TRENDS

By Alice O’Donnell

October – The Ghost Photo-Shoot January – TikTok Musicals

Arts and Entertainment Editor

The ghost photo-shoot! Although I never actually got around to taking part in this, I adored seeing the photos of strangers all around the world. In case you missed it, the concept is super simple. All you do is don a white sheet and your coolest pair of sunglasses, and go around with your friends and have a photoshoot. It admittedly sounds a bit wacky, but it’s a few hours of entertainment and some pretty cool photos have come from the trend. Plus, there was something undeniably child-like about it, and I think the main reason it went so viral was how wonderfully nostalgic it was.

Ahhh! The daffodils are blooming, the sun is shining, students are stressing; it can only mean one thing – we’re nearly at an end to this academic year!

How? Like, how is this scientifically possible?

Which Doctor Who has been meddling with time and making it speed up so quickly? I swear last week was February – how is it May already?

As the academic year comes to a conclusion, I decided to have a look back over the trends which marked the year (if only to prove to myself I actually experienced these past few months and didn’t just fall into an alternative reality!)

September – Cloud Bread.

Cloud Bread. Please, I beg, pause reading and google ‘cloud bread’. It’s exactly as unreal as it sounds. And you can get different coloured cloud bread! Ahh I just love cloud bread so much. My first week back in Galway, I gave the recipe a go. Sadly, I did not get a ‘cloud’ consistency… More like tired, burnt leather.

To be fair, I didn’t have an electric mixer and regrettably I don’t think my weak attempt at hand mixing was enough to get the air needed into the mixture.

However, I haven’t given up hope on this trend, and as soon as I’m home (and with my mother’s high-tech way-more-powerful-than-my-puny-arms electric mixer) I’m giving it another go.

November – Celebrity Beef “Does anyone have any, like… wicked random celebrity beef?” I dare you to read that sentence and not hear that girl in the car. A quality question, and boy did the internet provide. For maybe like two months, TikTokers were spilling tea left, right and centre on much-loved celebrities. If I’m being honest, it probably wasn’t the most wholesome thing (because I mean, there was no proof and the celebrities couldn’t even defend themselves) but boy was it entertaining.

It was finally Trisha Paytas’ time to shine.

December-Singing Snowmen The ‘Snowman’ Singing trend. Not only was this trend mildly entertaining, but I managed to find a new song to add to my Christmas playlist! Sia’s ‘Snowman’ was popular and covered by many different singers. Someone on TikTok sliced lines from covers and put them together to form one audio, and people would choose different topics and would imagine who sang what lines. It sounds weird, and frankly pointless, and to be honest it was. But it was also madly entertaining, especially when people would say which letters of the alphabetic they would imagine singing certain lines, and… it strangely made sense?

TikTok musicals. In what was either a wonderful movement of cross-national unity to create art, or just a bunch of drama-grads bored in quarantine, TikTok became the wildly surprising origin of fan-made musicals. First, we were blessed with Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical (complete with choreography, staging, and even a Broadway-style programme). Then we had the sadly short-lived Up musical, and the next musical trend to sweep TikTok was a Bridgerton musical, written and found on Abigail Barlow’s TikTok (@abigailbarlowww).

is put the block of feta and the tomatoes in an ovendish with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. While that’s baking away, cook some pasta. Once they’re both done, combine and mix! It sounds crazy simple, but the dish really is delicious.

April – Chic Chicken Fake chicken… made by flour and water? I will put my hands up and say I have not tried this cooking trend (yet!) There just seemed something wildly implausible about starting with a bowl of all-purpose flour and a jug of water and finishing with vegan chicken.

February – Come Dine With Me-In Quarantine Come Dine With Me – Quarantine style! I’ve seen so many photos and videos of people trying the hit TV show concept with friends or family. With restaurants closed, it’s such a fab idea to spice up a week of otherwise typical dinner. When some UK universities locked down their student accommodation, many students who lived in the same block and were Covid-19 free gave it a go and uploaded the results of each night online.

The funniest ones were the dinners with a definite theme, like Mamma Mia! or 1950’s. Once restrictions lift, I can’t wait to give it a go with my friends.

March – A Feta fixation Baked tomato and feta dish that somehow managed to take over the world. Admittedly, I did manage to miss this trend on my own until my flatmate fished out a pack of pasta, a vine of tomatoes and a wedge of feta cheese, and announced she was going to give it a go. I would really recommend anyone who is at a loss of what to cook to give it a chance – all you do

However, the dish is very real, and is called “seitan”, originally a Chinese meal. Apparently, by washing the flour mixture repeatedly you remove the starch until all you have left with is wheat gluten protein. I’ve heard mixed reviews, but one of the main things to keep in mind is that while the texture is similar enough to meat, there is no similar flavour, so if you do give this trend a go, make sure you flavour it a lot… As in a lot.

When I was researching this article, I came across the whipped coffee trend – which was nearly exactly a year ago! Where has the time gone? To be honest, trends have managed to keep the monotony of lockdown at bay, and I can’t wait to live through another year of new and mad trends to obsess over.

The Return of Summer

By Aine McGee As soon as the evenings stretch longer, and the sun begins to shine, I can feel a weight lifting off my shoulders. With a tough winter over us, the returning of nature and sunshine is beginning to feel like the return of normality. There’s no longer the worry of trying to get out for a walk before 4p.m. or risk walking in the pitch black or the dullness of looking out at the blank lifelessness outside.

As we see colour returning to nature, we are also seeing a rise in colourful clothing in fashion.

I think this bright colour trend is reflective of people’s mood. We have been trapped inside for a year with little to look forward to and little to spend our time on. This year people need a little more colour in their lives and bright eye-catching clothing is a great way to achieve this. The bright colours we are seeing everywhere this summer make a large contrast to the bleakness of winter and is the pick me up everyone needs.

For students it has been a particularly difficult time, most of us are stuck inside all day doing our college work from our bedrooms. Summer approach-

ing and the possibility of people getting vaccinated and things beginning to reopen is a thought that has gotten many people through this particularly hard winter. While at the moment it isn’t safe to meet up with large groups of people, I think the sun returning is a great reminder of better days ahead where we can finally enjoy the beach with friends or meet up for a walk in the sun. With the reintroduction of county-wide travel and plans for intercounty travel in the coming months, when the days become longer we can begin to remember what a beautiful country we live in. With beaches and mountain walks beginning to open the summer brings the possibility of more adventures and days out and more of a chance to explore our beautiful country.

While we aren’t always blessed with warm weather here in Ireland, it makes the odd heatwave even more special. For me, the first day above 15 degrees is a sign to pull my shorts back out. You can feel a change in atmosphere on nice days, mainly in people’s mood. A nice day in Ireland is so drastically different to the winter days it’s beyond serotonin inducing and you can feel the change everywhere.

While we can’t get away on holiday this year, we

can bring the holiday to Ireland by getting out and enjoying our local scenery and availing of the local attractions that will be opening back up in the summer.

While this has been a tough winter for many on so many levels, the return of the sun and long evenings is a reminder to everyone that better days are ahead.

FAIS EAN

May 04 2021

7

NÓS MAIRE ACHTÁLA

21

The Chopping Block: Salad Days Paul Lewis

Washing Lettuce and Leaves

And so, as is customary, term’s end and the warm weather are upon us, and summer, somewhere on the post-exam horizon, stretches tantalisingly out ahead. Salad will get us there, and when we arrive, keep us refreshed. Salad can be simply a few dressed leaves; alternatively, it need not contain any leaves at all. They can be cooked or raw or combine all the shades in-between.

Salad is an appetiser, an accompaniment, an edible garnish, or a meal in itself. A world of temperatures, flavours and texture is at our fingertips. Salad is almost always best dressed and tossed in a bowl before serving – drizzling dressings and vinaigrettes over salads on the plate sells us short.

Avoid supermarket ‘washed’ bags of mixed leaves. Look around, make your own – radicchio, cress, rocket, butterhead, endive. Be gentle. Don’t run under the tap.

Place lettuce leaves whole (in the case of tight heads such as iceberg, shred first) in plenty of cold water. Allow to soak in the fridge or with some ice-cubes awhile.

Gently agitate to dislodge grit. As well as cleaning, this cold-soaking will refresh and replenish any tired leaf and increase crispness enormously. Don’t pour the water out of the leaves and return the grit to the leaf; take the leaves out of the dirty water and place to drain. If the salad was quite muddy to begin, repeat this process until almost clear water is left behind. Spin carefully, or cup a few leaves in your hand and carefully do the

salad shake. The leaves will crisp up even more if placed in the fridge and drained further a while longer. This transformative crisping method can apply to any raw vegetables that have been sliced for a salad – carrot, radish, celery pepper, scallions..

Chop or tear washed leaves as required.

Salad Dressing There are no rules when it comes to making a dressing. Take some time with it, maybe make it first. The principles are that it contains fat (olive oil, sesame oil, mayonnaise, yoghurt, crème fraiche) and acidity (any kind of vinegar or citrus, tomato juice even). Try grapefruits, orange, or pickle juice. Classic dressing contains three-parts oil to one-part vinegar, but this is not set in stone. Honey, sugar and any other kind of sweeteners balance out acidity, saltiness or perhaps spiciness in a dressing. The better the quality of the oil or vinegar, generally the less we intervene. Consistency is another factor when worth consideration – do we want a split or emulsified, a thick or a thin dressing – should it stick heavily to the salad ingredients (like honey-mustard on carrot, celery, apple and walnut), or just gently coat them (balsamic and oil on rocket). Unless we are making the likes of coleslaw, Russian salad or potato salad, usually we are dressing at the last minute. Noodle salad (chilli, peanut butter, lime, ginger, scallion, soy, honey, fish sauce..), or tabbouleh (herbs, spices, lemon juice, olive oil), both benefit from chilling and soaking up the dressing a little while.

Dressing is about balance and bringing ingredients together.

Salad as Garnish When we hear a dish is garnished, who doesn’t imagine the earnest chef, with a long tweezer, delicately placing upon the plate a wildflower petal or micro-herb in the manner of a cartoon Picasso in a chef’s hat instead of beret. This kind of garnishing is little more than decoration and should be avoided. Instead, decorate with something that adds texture and flavour, that enlivens the dish – a crisp little salad, made of combinations of leaves, raw vegetables, herbs and flowers, crushed, crunchy, salty and spiced things like nuts and seeds, dressed accordingly. You have made a delicious curry for example – slice very finely, at an angle, some spring onions and strips of red chilli. Soak in ice cold water with picked coriander leaves and chopped stalks. Drain and shake, lightly dress with a little sesame oil, rice vinegar and toasted sesame seeds, artfully place on top of your curry and rice. See and feel the flavours and colours of the dish lift up to new levels.

Salad Without Leaves Roast a red pepper under the grill, until the skin is charred all around. Cool, peel skin, remove seeds, and tear into rough strips.

On a medium-hot pan, grill a courgette that has been cut into thick wedges and tossed in a small bit salt, pepper and oil.

Combine roast pepper and grilled courgette and dress with a little red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, chopped toasted almond and mint leaves.

Eat alongside grilled meat and fish, or add grilled aubergine and have with fresh cheese, couscous and flat bread.

Salad as a Meal Steam waxy potato, cool, cut into good-sized cubes and season with salt and parsley.

Boil quickly in salted water some green/runner beans or mangetout that have been cut in half. Plunge into cold water to instantly cool.

Consider using cucumber –it is always better finely sliced and crisped or lightly salted awhile.

Open a can of fancy tuna and a tin of anchovy.

Chop your favourite black olives.

Dice a ripe tomato into cubes and season with sea salt.

Remove some crisp lettuce leaves from the fridge. Do the salad shake.

In a spacious bowl, place together potato, beans, flaked tuna (and some of its oil), a few torn anchovies (and some of their oil), olives, tomato, lettuces and leaves and possibly cucumber (or fine red onion, carrot or radish).

A simple dressing of olive oil, a touch of Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar and lemon juice, sea salt and black pepper is applied. The elements of this Salade Nicoise are gently tumbled around in it and the bowl is brought to table. A roll is buttered, wine and water are poured..

Cheap and Easy recipes

By Anastasia Burton Hello again and welcome to cheap and easy recipes that we all can make on our humble student budget. Since this is our last piece of the year lets include a couple more for some future culinary experiments. Try these out and post some aesthetic pictures on your feed because this issue is going to get yummy.

Cilantro, Lime and Pasta INGREDIENTS: • 8 oz. farfalle pasta, cooked (use gluten free if needed) • 1 1/2 cups corn, cut off the cob (this can be fresh or frozen) • 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced • 1/2 of a red onion, chopped • 2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped • 1-2 small avocados, diced

STEPS: 1. Add all of your salad ingredients to a bowl & toss it with your desired amount of dressing. Keep it chilled in the fridge until you’re ready to eat!

Toasted chickpea crunch sandwich INGREDIENTS: Chickpea crunch filling: • 1 tin chickpeas, mashed with a fork • 1/4 red pepper, finely diced • 3-4 tbsp yogurt • 1/2 lemon’s juice • 1/2 tsp mustard • salt + pepper • handful of fresh dill Mix all those ingredients together in a bowl and season to taste

Toasted bread: Cilantro Lime Dressing Blend together: • 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt • 1/4 cup lime juice • 1/4 cup cilantro • 2 garlic cloves • 1/2 tsp salt • 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne

• 2 slices sourdough (or any bread) • A dollop of butter

STEPS: 1. Spread a thin layer of butter onto one side of the bread

2. Heat a frying pan on medium and then place both pieces, buttered side

down, on the pan and press lightly on to them so you hear them start to sizzle 3. When they’re golden underneath, add the chickpea filling.

Banana Pancakes

4. Cook until bubbles form and then flip the pancakes until both ides are golden brown.

Gluten-free oatmeal raisin breakfast baskets INGREDIENTS:

INGREDIENTS: • 2 ripe mashed bananas • 2 tsp baking powder • 2 cups almond milk • 2 cups flour (oat flour OR Gluten Free All Purpose 1:1 Flour) • Dairy free butter or ­coconut oil for frying

Add-Ins: • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract • 1 tsp Cinnamon • 2 tbsp maple syrup

STEPS: 1. In one bowl, mash the ripe bananas, mix with baking powder, almond milk, and any optional add ins.

2. Stir in flour and mix until combined.

Batter will be slightly lumpy.

3. Heat a skillet on the stove to medium and once it’s hot, add a little butter and spoon in about 3-4 tablespoons of batter per pancake.

• 1 tbsp coconut oil • 2 ripe mashed bananas • 1 1/2 cups gluten free rolled oats • 1 tsp cinnamon • 1 tbsp maple syrup + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract • pinch salt • 1/3 cup raisins

STEPS: 1. Preheat oven to 180C. Mash the bananas, add coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and mix well.

2. Mix in the oats to the batter and stir well. Stir in raisins.

3. Using a tablespoon fill in a muffin cup and then press down with your fingers to make a basket shape.

4. Bake for 15 minutes.

5. Let it cool and fill in with yogurt and bananas for bananas and cream basket, peanut butter and jam (mashed & microwaved raspberries for jam), bananas, yogurt and blueberries.

Pesto, tomato and mozzarella pasta salad INGREDIENTS: • Rotini pasta, cooked & cooled (use gluten free if needed) • Cherry tomatoes, halved • Mozzarella pearls • Red onion, sliced thin • Fresh basil, sliced • Salt & pepper, to taste

Kale pesto Blend together: • 1/2 cup basil • 1/2 cup chopped kale leaves • 1/4 cup grated parmesan • 3-4 tbsp olive oil • 2 tbsp pine nuts • 1 tbsp lemon juice • 1 garlic clove along with salt and pepper, to taste

STEPS: 1. Add your pasta, tomatoes, mozzarella, onion and basil to a large bowl and pour your desired amount of pesto over the top. Toss the salad until it’s fully coated. Season with salt & pepper to taste & chill until you’re ready to eat!

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

SIN Vol. 22 Issue 12

BE AUT Y BAG G RE VIEW: M AYY

By Anastasia Burton Hello, my fellow make-up lovers, and welcome back to my beauty bag review where I tell you about the products I have in my project pan and how I feel about the products and their performance. Project panning is a great way of using up old products and learning self-control. Nobody wants to be a make-up hoarder trust me. Not only will project panning and decluttering used up products give you satisfaction from seeing yourself actually use up make-up you own but you will also notice how much money you are saving on unnecessary goods!

So, let’s take a look at what’s going on in my beauty bag this month!

2. Beauty Bay Pastel palette –using This palette is underwhelming. It is by no means fallout proof and does not blend well. It takes a lot for the colour to show and look good. It’s ashy and lacks pigment. Nevertheless, if you have the time to work with your eyeshadow then go for it! It’s not the worst palette considering the price.

3. Essence Tattoo coverage concealer – using

1. Essence volume hero – using

Yes, you may remember this from my previous project pan articles this concealer was one of my backups. I love the way it brightens my undereye and how it performs throughout the day. For the affordable price it’s a great addition to anyone’s collection.

This mascara is neither good nor bad, it’s average.

It adds volume but not necessarily colour I think it has about a month left in it and I can’t wait to use it up.

4. Jeffree Star Blood Lust palette – Using The more I use this the more I love it. The pigment is crazy especially the shimmer shades. It I very easily blended and pigmented. Value wise, it is definitely worth it as the quality and performance is there.

5. Blush: #Proartist blush I used this a few more times over the last couple of weeks and I have to say it’s just not good. The colour is way off and too barbie for my face. The formula is weird and chalky and I would definitely not recommend it.

6. Lipstick: Jeffree Star Leo liquid lipstick I still love this lipstick it’s so comfortable and does not come off easy which is important since I have snacks and coffee breaks more than life and God help me, I’ve eaten more lipstick than food in my life. Again, Jeffree Star is a controversial character but his cosmetics really are among the best in the industry for a reason. It’s a sucker with customs but if you can get your hands on a mystery box definitely recommend!

Tips and Tricks to battle Anxiety

By Stephen Holland

Stitch

Bitch FUÁIL IS FUADAR

Join our knitting group for chats every Tuesday

Glac páirt inár ngrúpa cniotála agus comhrá gach Máirt

All crafters welcome!

Fáilte roimh gach cniotálaí!

More information from / Tuilleadh eolais ar fail ó studentsunion@nuigalway.ie @nuigsu

NUIGalwayStudentsUnion www.su.nuigalway.ie

I used to let anxiety consume me. I was always worrying about how I was being perceived, or that I was doing the wrong thing, or that nobody liked me. It was draining, it was upsetting, and it was just so common. One thing that has surprised me ever since I started to talk openly about my anxiety is just how many other people are going through the exact same thing. Anxiety is a universal issue, maybe some people have it worse than others, but I think we all have it to some extent. The trick is not to let it take over, not let it become you, not let it define you.

Anxiety Is Something That Happens To You This is something that took me a long time to really take in. No one is defined by their emotions. You are not sad, you are not angry, you are not anxious.

You just feel sad, or angry, or anxious. Emotions come and go and that is normal. They are not tied to your identity and just because you are feeling particularly anxious in a certain social situation that does not mean that it always has to be this way. This is just a feeling that you are having and if you let yourself sit with it for a while, trying to get the root of why you are having this emotion, then it will pass.

There is an old Buddhist proverb that says we are like a river, and our emotions are the water flowing through us, you cannot stop the water, and it would be foolish to even try, just stay calm and let it flow through you. Enjoy it when it is nice and try to learn from it when it’s bad. Your emotions are a tool to help you, and you can stand outside of them and observe.

Ask Yourself: Does It Even Matter?

I often find myself in social situations worrying about the silliest things, second guessing everything I have done or said. But then I ask myself. Does it even matter? What is the worst

thing that can happen in this situation? Maybe the person I am talking to thinks I am weird.

Great. Good for them. I am a little weird. Very astute of them.

Get Active This is the one I know everybody hates, as if exercise is a fix all solution and people just need to get active, and all their problems will magically disappear. It is definitely not that, but I know in my own experience I notice the difference between when I stay in bed the whole day or when I start it with a run. It wakes your body up, it releases endorphins, it relieves tension.

Talk About It Anxiety is a strange thing; it can all be smoke and mirrors and once you feel like you’ve got a hold of it, then it disappears. If you can talk to your friends, your family, your support system, if you can tell them what makes you anxious, I’m sure you’d be surprised how much people can help. My problem was I always kept it inside, I always tried to wish it away, pretend it wasn’t happening. But once you realise it’s nothing to be ashamed of, that every single person on this planet feels that way from time to time, then it gets easier. Some days I feel worse than others, and some days I don’t feel anxious at all. But I know that if things ever get really bad, I can talk about it.

Get Help There are different types of anxiety, and there’s different levels of seriousness. Sometimes it can all be too much, and people need to get professional help. If you feel that your anxiety is unusually high, and you think you cannot deal with it, then speak with a doctor. While the social stigma surrounding open discussion of mental health issues is disappearing in Ireland, it is still there to some extent, and there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of when asking for help, it is more common than you think.

FAIS EAN

May 04 2021

7

NÓ S MAIRE ACHTÁLA

23

My 30-day “New Me” Challenge

By Anastasia Burton Fashion and Lifestyle Editor So, some of us may have already fallen into the “I hate the way I look, and bikini season is coming” phase where we get inspired at three o’clock in the morning to start a 30-day squat challenge. I have come to confess I was the first one to jump headfirst into that phase and began searching for effective ways of losing weight. Now if you also fell into that phase, please be careful in your weight loss journey as it can bring many more insecurities and eating disorders than you think. For example, before lockdown I weighed 65kg. During lockdown like many I stopped moving as often and began searching for an effective birth control option. I started with the bar and then with the pill and the injection.

Now I weigh 77kg. You can see how that can really affect one’s mental state, when I looked in the mirror, I saw nothing but flaws and disappointment.

So let me tell you about my 30-day “New Me” challenge which I took on with my friend. This challenge was run by an Instagram nutritionist and well-known personal trainer and body builder in Ukraine where I am originally from. The programme consisted of fifteen different menus consisting of about four to five food intakes as well as video guidance workouts and advice from the trainer. My friend had also gone through the phase of really wanting to lose weight fast and has heard about this woman from her friend in her hometown in Ukraine.

The month marathon cost about 600 hryvna which is in and around the 20-euro mark. Cheap, right? But I thought

why not? What could be the worst that could happen. At that point before beginning this challenge I had already begun a calorie deficit program and used the app Yazio to track my daily calorie intake.

The first week of the programme started off in the following manner: We were asked to send in pictures of ourselves from different angles as well as send her our measurements. If you thought this makes one hate themselves more, you are correct. Looking at the images made my eating disorder and my body dysmorphia act in ways which made me afraid to look in the mirror. It was horrible! She sent us all an invite into a group chat and that is when I smelled fire. There were twelve other women in the group all looking to lose wight. All of us different ages and different body types. Although I had told her I do not eat meat and prefer to a lead a vegetarian diet she was constantly including meats in our meals. When I tried asking what I should replace them with to make them vegetarian friendly I was told to eat what I am being instructed to eat and to do everything as the trainer says... Sketchy!

During my first week I struggled. The food was horrid, and it was causing me to feel constantly drained and hungry. I was not used to eating so much and so often it made me extremely sick. I once missed one meal out of the four and I got bullied in the group by the trainer! She said “If you think you will lose weight quicker by not eating, you’re wrong” ... Very motivating and understanding. She was aware that I struggled with Bulimia for about seven years now falling in and out of my Eating Disorder every couple of months.

I also quickly noticed that the workouts she was giving us were prerecordings from 2019 where some of the exercises were already outdated and proven to not be effective. I was disappointed. We were also instructed to have at least 4,000 steps a day and up to 10,000 for us to lose weight quickly.

Let me tell you that was a lot of bull. Yes, staying active is important but forcing people to walk in horrible weather just because you said they must be a bit cruel. Not everyone can walk 4,000 steps every day and with a diet like that you wouldn’t have the energy for it either.

This lasted for four weeks. Although the group chat was a bit of motivation it was also super toxic with women bragging about their weight loss or bragging about what foods they make and how long their exercises were. Almost as though they really wanted to be the best in the group when this is not a competition this is just a programme to help you get into a routine of eating healthier. The trainer also put a lot of

pressure on us to send a collage of all the foods we ate that day to make sure we were eating exactly by the menu. This of course made me paranoid as this entire challenge was beginning to sound like a competition and dictatorship rather than a supporting group for women trying to lose weight together and work on their own goals. I stopped sending in my meal photos once I began receiving messages about the fact that my portions looked small and lacked meat or “real food” even though I already specified, I’m a vegetarian!

Each week proved to be harder than the last not only with the menu becoming increasingly more basic, bland, and filled with useless ingredients like avocado which SPOILER ALERT has zero benefit to your ability to lose weight as they have truly little to no nutritional value, only natural fats. So, if you are eating avocado with everything hoping to lose weight, do not waste your time and stop torturing your tastebuds. It will not help you.

In the end out of the twelve women only three remained. The challenge was not a complete failure as I did lose about 2kg, but I did cheat a lot and ate mostly what I usually ate I just moved more. So, in conclusion, do not trust instagram nutritionists and trainers they copy and paste their menus from other sources and charge you money for just bringing your self-esteem down. This of course does not apply to all the trainers and nutritionists you find on the gram but please be careful and do not let yourself be pressured or controlled. Weight loss is different for everyone and sometimes it is best to figure things out slowly and do it correctly to keep the weight off rather than jumping headfirst, destroying your metabolism, and creating an unhealthy relationship with food.

Speak to a specialist to see what nutritional balances work for you, what kind of exercises are effective for you. Do this for you babe and do not let others force their body views on you.

rushed her to the vet. Ever since her life was saved, Emmy has become Axelle’s’ most loyal friend and cuddle buddy!

“She always knows when I feel sad or lonely, she’s like a superhero cat! She’s my best friend and its weird but I feel like she understands and listens to me when I’m upset”.

and family or even my therapists but with my dogs I can just be myself. I’d be lost without them!”

Therapy dogs have been used since the 1960s with great breakthrough findings of animal abilities to influence the mood and wellbeing of their owners. So, don’t feel crazy for loving your dog more than people!

my everyday normal and the excruciating loneliness was my best friend.

When Ricco came into my life I was at an all-time low, but he like other animals mentioned in this article, could feel that I was in pain. We began our bonding experience almost instantly and within just a couple of days of being together we fell in love; he gave me a reason to live and strive to do better. Hedgehogs may not seem cuddly, but their tummy is extremely soft, and their spikes feel more like little massagers. Of course, when the hedgehog is groggy it will huff and puff but that goes away very quickly.

The purpose of this feature was to share how animals bring joy to the people around them and even if they do not talk back to us or really understand what is going on with us, they still care and want to make us feel better. Mental health support animals are on the rise in Ireland and are even being introduced in schools and Universities to help students under high pressure and stress to calm down. Many workplaces are also bringing in animals, even if they’re small, to help the atmosphere in their buildings.

So why not go to your local shelter and adopt a little pooch?

Pooches and Smooches

By Anastasia Burton Most of us who have pets are wholeheartedly in love and attached to them. They greet you when you come back from work or even a night out and offer you their excitement. To your pet there is nobody like you and that would make anyone feel special!

Animals are known to be beneficial to people’s mental health and that is why there is an annual increase of mental health support animals as well as pets being brought into retirement homes and workplaces as well as schools and some establishments. Seeing a fluffy dog or a small kitten will make even the grumpiest of people exclaim “aw” and smile unknowingly!

Axelle and her dog Hidylle.

Hidylle is a spaniel who not only brings her family joy but also all the humans she sees while on her daily walks.

“I feel like she’s always protecting

us even though it might sound ridiculous, because she isn’t a very big dog!

But when I’m with her I’m not afraid of anything, which is a miracle because I suffer from anxiety every time I step outside”. Hidylle had also helped Axelle and her younger sister deal with their parents’ divorce which caused great grief to both girls “it’s like she knew and was like ‘don’t worry human I’m going to kill your depression with my love for you when you feed me!’”

Emmy and Axelle.

E m my w a s Axelle’s first pet who is very special to her because she was a rescue kitten after her sister and mom died. “Emmy has some serious trust issues which is completely understandable considering what she went through. When I heard what happened to her family, I really felt for her and I knew she needed me.

She was never mean or nasty she was just timid and jumpy and quite antisocial”. Axelle’s’ relationship with Emmy changed when one day Axelle found Emmy very badly injured and

Emma and her two beautiful pooches!

Emma is a strong believer that dogs are a person’s best friend and protector.

“Dogs are simple and friendly creatures and they help keep my grounded. I suffer from both depression and anxiety disorders and find great comfort in the presence of my two dogs. In my opinion the bigger the dog the better the cuddles!” Dogs are very sensitive to human emotions and do their best to try and be there as support. Many people who suffer with anxiety and depression find comfort in the warm embrace of a fluffy pouch. “Being the owner of my dogs helped me feel like we have a very special bond and I feel like they can read my emotions. If I’m feeling low, they cuddle and comfort me. I find it hard to share some of my emotions with my friends

Ricco Valentine and I. Ricco is a mental health support hedgehog, which might sound weird to some since hedgehogs don’t seem very cuddly.

Ricco is an African Pygmy hedgehog, a special breed of hedgehog which can be domesticated and are very popular pets among people living in smaller apartments and Asian countries. African Pygmies live anywhere between five and seven years and are fantastic pets. I suffer from severe ADHD, depression and anxiety disorders. Before I adopted Ricco.

Panic attacks were

24 OPI NIO N Students are always the first to be blamed in this pandemic and it’s unfair.

By Darren Casserly Opinion Editor There is a saying that every generation thinks the next one is the worst ever, and it remains very true to this day. If you were to go by the description on Twitter, you’d think that the world was a perfect utopia before we came along. You’d think that young people caused the housing crisis, we’re too stupid to save money to buy a house, we’re too easily offended, and we complain about everything. Of course most of this is a complete lie and I’m not sure if I’m too naïve, but most people don’t believe it either, but it’s put forward by enough people for me to bielieve that there is a feeling among older people that we’ve ruined everything and that’s incredibly unfair.

It’s not easy being a young person in Ireland today, college is more expensive than ever, finding a place to rent is hell and never mind a job or mortgage. On top of this it looks like a lot of us will be graduating into a recession. A one-way ticket is starting to sound appealing when I list all the problems out like this. Of course I’m not saying that all young people are completely blameless there are plenty of young people out there who don’t care about the pandemic and are having parties all that, but the overwhelming majority have sacrificed a lot in the past year and it has always been overlooked when people criticize the actions of young people on social media.

The main gripe I have with it is there are people of all ages breaking lockdown restrictions, but somehow the blame is put on one group of people and it doesn’t seem fair.

College students have been forgotten throughout this pandemic, it’s something that a lot of us having been since day one of this awful state of affairs began. There doesn’t seem to be any kind of push to improve things for students. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Simon Harris has more interest in making it big on TikTok than in helping students.

This pandemic has hit students as hard as anyone else and there is no consideration given to any kind of improvement for us, especially first years who have had a lot of important milestones taken away from them. The only hope is that next year will be the return to in-person learning, remote learning has been better for some, but awful for the overwhelming majority. There has been very few benefits given to students this year and yet we are blamed disproportionately for incidents during the pandemic and it needs to stop.

SIN Vol. 22 Issue 12

Cancel Culture: A Step Too Far? Claire Sammon Upon scrolling through Twitter recently, I made an observation which filled my heart with sadness. Twitter once was an app renowned for its light-hearted and funny nature. However, the timeline and trending page are now almost constantly bombarded by keyboard warriors who simply never have anything nice to say about anything or anyone. It appears celebrities are being cancelled left, right, and centre for at times, the most minor things. Terms such as ‘woke’, ‘snowflake’, and ‘cancelled’ are now becoming an everyday addition in the vocabulary of many social media users.

In recent years, cancel culture has become a global phenomenon within the media. Is it justified for public figures to become ‘cancelled’ overnight?

What exactly does the term ‘cancel culture’ entail?

Were you to look in a dictionary, it would tell you that cancel culture is a modern form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles – whether it be online, on social media, or in person. The concept of cancel culture has one aim, that aim being to end one’s career – mercilessly and quickly.

It seems to me that nowadays, many individuals are, to put it bluntly, obsessed with being politically correct. The reality is, we are currently living in a time where political correctness outweighs pretty much everything else.

One act of deemed immoral behaviour can have a detrimental effect on one’s career, causing them to know longer be viewed as a person of positive influence.

For example, successful social media influencer and makeup artist James Charles has lost a significant number of subscribers, and

therefore losing out on a significant amount of brand deals after a recent indiscretion.

We need to consider who exactly is deciding that these people need to be ‘cancelled’. It appears to me that it is the keyboard warriors who frequent social media sites such as Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, etc.

Once the idea is expressed on one of these

Many individuals are, to put it bluntly, obsessed with being politically correct.

The reality is, we are currently living in a time where political correctness outweighs pretty much everything else. sites, things start to snowball.

Shares spread ever so quickly, and before long, a person and their career can face obliteration. Often, these people are not given an opportunity to present their side of things, and the facts are not considered.

Sensationalism is the key word here. Is this right? Is this where we have come to as a modern society? I think it is something we need to seriously think about.

In our modern democracy, we constantly declare that we believe in the principals of freedom of speech in the expression and of opinion, and that a person is innocent until proven guilty. These principles are the foundation of all modern democracies. Unfortunately, I feel that all too often these important principles are forgotten about in the rush to denounce and ‘cancel’ individuals.

When I listen to the radio, or turn on the television, I frequently hear about the importance of mental health or wellbeing, particularly in these difficult Covid times. We have all become acquainted to how fragile mental health is, and the importance of offering a helping hand to those who may be suffering in silence.

The irony of this, is that a lot of the time, the same people who hopped on the ‘be kind’ bandwagon, often jump at the opportunity to ‘cancel’ someone. Many individuals have had suicidal thoughts, or have self-harmed, or have been left with no other option than to resort to medication. This is something that as a society we cannot be proud of.

The tragic death of the television presenter Caroline Flack sent shockwaves through social media forums. Flack took her own life as a result of being constantly scrutinised by the British tabloids and by social media trolls.

Moving forward, I would hope that we would begin to examine this desire to cancel individuals. It is my opinion that this trend is not healthy and is of no benefit to society or to the individual. As Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough”.

Are online friends really your friends?

By Darren Casserly This last year has led to a rise in social media use and for a lot of people they have made more connections through social media. Everyone knows to be at least somewhat weary of calling people you don’t know offline a friend, but this has changed in the pandemic. When all you can only talk to your friends online, the distinction between your ‘real’ friends and online ones blur.

While it can be said that you don’t really know your ‘real’ friends, you have a better understanding of them by comparison to the ones you only know online. There have been countless studies which show that social media is addictive and has a negative effect on mental health. Personally, I would feel more isolated without it over the course of the last year, but it is something that I have used too much, there really isn’t much more to do now.

Social media has been great for this last year in particular when there wasn’t much to do but, it can be just awful, particularly Twitter and it is just what happens when people think they have their identity hidden even when it’s not. There definitely is a sense that there are a huge number of people whose online personality and their ‘real’ personality are completely different, and, in most cases, the online personality is closer to the truth.

This was an issue that has been talked

about for years, ever since people had hundreds of ‘friends’ on Facebook. It really has not changed that much since it’s just that the platforms have changed and it’s all about mutuals and for some people about trying to find a community in a year where people are feeling more isolated than ever. Knowing what kind of people they are in that community when you don’t share that much is hard.

Of course, the same could be said for these same kinds of people in person also, it just

is easier to create a more tailored persona online as people see and hear less of you.

Don’t get this wrong, I am sure that there are people who have made plenty of online friends who would actually be better ones than those that they made in person. But the fact remains, there should still be a level of weariness around people that you meet online. It is a different form of friendship and you should be really sure of a person before you should call them a friend.

TUAIRIM

May 04 2021

25

Reeling in the Years – Captivating a sense of nostalgic bliss

RTÉ needs to give young people a chance

By Katie Barragry

Recently RTÉ launched a series by the name of Iarnród Enda where former Taoiseach Enda Kenny travels around old Irish railroads. I disliked the idea of a man like Enda Kenny getting to host a series like this with no prior experience of hosting.

Another reason for my feeling is the fact that many of the closures of the lines he travels are as a result of governments that he was a part of.

It’s no secret that RTÉ have been struggling financially for some time and one has to wonder how much does it cost to hire a man like Enda Kenny and would it not be used better elsewhere. They could have still made the series with a less expensive host and the quality would not be much different.

This is, however, part of a larger problem, RTÉ doesn’t give young people a chance. Any of the shows that the broadcaster has made in the last decade has been met with very little positive reaction. Yet they continue to go down the same trodden

It goes without saying that RTÉ’s Reeling in the Years has been a firm family favourite for years. As a country that boasts such a rich heritage, it’s hardly surprising that Ireland would pass up the opportunity to relive history through this weekly nostalgic documentary. While it reflects on years gone by, viewers find themselves enthralled in memories and the personal stories associated with seminal moments in history. Even the theme song evokes a strong sense of nostalgia and excitement as you sit back and reflect on the events of the selected year.

After several successful seasons and countless repeats, the new series of the programme focuses on the 2010s and seems to have been welcomed with open arms by many. But what is it about Reeling in the Years that appeals to the Irish public? Is it the overwhelming sense of nostalgia? Is it recalling where you were at a particular moment in time? Or, as a nation, are we just obsessed with recalling the past?

I asked a friend of mine the same question to which she replied, “It’s just so Irish!” which sums the series up perfectly. I wonder if other countries have a programme devoted to recalling the formative moments of their country’s history.

There is something really special about sitting around the TV watching the series with your family and friends. With every episode accompanied by a playlist of number ones, it is an instant conversation starter as you begin to recollect the years gone

by. All of a sudden, you are discussing where you were when you heard the startling news of Bloody Sunday, the Twin Towers, the Haiti Earthquake, or the election of a new President. Next, you’re racking your brains to remember who won the All-Ireland that year and trying to remember who was Taoiseach at that particular point in time.

The programme provides a platform of discussion and nostalgia that seems to appeal to every generation. Ireland is a nation renowned for its storytelling and giving a programme like Reeling in the Years a platform gives Irish people a chance to share their own stories of times gone by. It gives us the optimum opportunity to share our experiences and this valuable storytelling is then preserved for future generations.

From high profile Royal visits to the depths of economic depression, the series highlights both the positive and challenging moments. Many will agree that the series instils a sense of pride in what our small country has endured and has overcome in the past. There is a feeling of accomplishment as the programme demonstrates the resilience we have shown and the developments we have made throughout the decades. Whether it is a world news story or smaller local event there is a moment of time that will resonate with everyone for one reason or another. We are a proud nation and Reeling in the Years gives us an opportunity to celebrate and showcase our past accomplishments. Isn’t it worthwhile reflecting on what we’ve overcome as a nation and how much we’ve achieved? I think so.

By Darren Casserly

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path again and again. It is not a case that there isn’t the talent available all you have to do is look at the adaptation of Irish writer Sally Rooney’s novel, Normal People, made by and starring mainly Irish people, yet it was financed by the BBC. This has happened time and time again, Irish people have to go abroad to get an opportunity, from Father Ted to The Young Offenders most people would say that they are Irish shows, and, in a way, they are, but they in truth are not. It’s time RTÉ give people like these a chance more often than once every few years. Stop making people have to go abroad to make their dreams come true do it here and maybe then they would not have to rely on buying most shows from abroad.

I know some of you might say there are some RTÉ player exclusives that are giving Irish creators a platform and yes, while it’s great that their doing this, the player has been heavily criticized in the past for it’s poor quality in terms of video quality and others complaints like this. Player exclusives are a start, but that’s all it is and more backing needs to come in the future.

The young people of Ireland are talented and while RTÉ may have a few problems one that when solved would be of huge benefit to the broadcaster is believing in the talent that is here and giving them the backing that they would get abroad. It has worked in the past with shows like Love/Hate and Hardy Bucks and it can happen again.

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TUAIRIM

May 04 2021

There is a lack of responsibility among those in power in Ireland

By Ian Casserly “In stage one, we say nothing is going to happen.

In stage two, we say something may be going to happen, but we should do nothing about it. In stage three, we say that maybe we should do something about it, but there’s nothing we can do. In stage four we say there was something we could’ve done but it’s too late now.”

The above is the transcript of a short clip from the BBC’s satirical political comedy series “Yes Minister” that aired back in the

1980s. The clip sees two fictional English civil servants Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne talking about how the Foreign Office typically responds in a time of crises. Whilst obviously a comedy, by labelling it a documentary it wouldn’t be too far from reality.

That clip was brought back into the spotlight last year when these four steps somewhat matched the government’s response to the pandemic around Christmas.

From their promise of a “meaningful” Christmas, to doing nothing when warned about the repercussions of the said “meaningful” Christmas, to the imminent spike in cases fol-

lowing this “meaningful” Christmas to finally the admittance that a “meaningful” Christmas shouldn’t have happened, but nothing can be done now, the government followed these steps nearly ad verbatim.

This attitude around a Christmas reopening during the pandemic encapsulated many parts of the “sure-it’ll-be-grand-ism” of Ireland. This attitude has pestered Ireland and especially Irish politics over the past decades. From recent examples of Government approved financial institutions breaking financial legislation to Anglo Irish Bank and its reckless lending practices, the lack of any major consequence to these scandals have been nothing short of a major scandal.

This problem is not new and has existed for years upon years in Ireland and Irish Institutions. This problem was even a running joke in the Irish show Father Ted with Father Ted himself being sent to a parish on Craggy Island as punishment for using money designated for sick children to visit Lourdes on his own extravagant trip.

This “sure-it’ll-be-grand-ism” has reared its head again with the numerous scandals originating from the government’s vaccine rollout programme. As reported in national media a certain hospitals CEO allegedly broke HSE protocol by allegedly appropriating vaccines to groups who were not in line to receive doses but were related to the CEO in some way.

The outcome of this? An independent review conducted on behalf of the non-executive directors of the said hospital.

This lack of punishment or accountability is not contained to any one political party or institution but nearly every institution within Ireland.

Typically, the most accountability one will face is an independent review or an infamous tribunal.

These Tribunals were also the victim of jokes about their ineffectiveness. Take for example a famous Irish Politician and former Taoiseach who was involved in corrupt payments relating to political decisions in Dail Eireann back in the 1990’s. This alleged corruption resulted in a 15-year, €300 million tribunal in which he was found to have partaken in this corruption. The repercussions of this finding? He stood down from his job.

The lack of accountability and prosecution in Ireland over blatant criminal offenses is shocking but not unexpected and if not dealt with, it will continue to be a problem.

If only we could’ve done something before it was too late…

What will this summer look like?

By Darren Casserly It has been a year to forget for most people in the pandemic with very little lockdown measures lifted in that time. Now that there is an end in sight with vaccination numbers beginning to climb you can’t help but wonder, will this summer be different?

Most Irish people have found it hard over the last few weeks, looking across the Irish sea to the UK with their pubs and their hairdressers. Being jealous of the British is an awful feeling for most Irish people. The quicker things reopen the better, not just to use them, but also it would be great to stop feeling jealous of the Brits.

The government hopes to have 80 percent of vaccinated by June and while the government is not something that you can blindly trust, the ramp up in vaccinations is something of an indication. It really has come at the right time particularly for college students, who for the most part have been forgotten about this year and left to try and work from home which isn’t great in the best circumstances never mind what most college students are living in. It’s been a lonely year with very little benefits and the last few months have definitely been the worst with us passing a year in lockdown and doing so through the coldest and darkest part of the year has been near unbearable but the sun

has come out a bit and so have the people and it can only get better from here.

It has unfortunately been confirmed that foreign holidays have been taken off the table this year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a great holiday in this country. It’s something that I feel most people agree with, reports that holiday homes in Connemara have been fully booked for June and July, there are plenty of places around the country that make for a great holiday. Whether it be a weekend stay in Dublin or a week in a holiday home in Wexford.

The phased reopening plan is also something that I will be keeping an eye out not just for barbers and hairdressers even though that would be at the top of most people’s lists after more than four months of home cuts and everyone knows those are two completely different things. The other thing that is on the top of most people’s lists would obviously be pubs and with the price of cheap alcohol going up. It doesn’t feel that much cheaper to drink at home these days and it’s a far worse experience.

There are an endless list of reasons why people want this to be over, from bad hair to missing friends the only thing in common is that everyone just wants this to be over.

Better weather brings better moods and no matter how your year in the pandemic has been this summer definitely looks like it will be the first bit of normality that we’ve had in a long time.

27

Has Equestrian Sport run its race?

Clions Ní Laoi I’d like to pose a question of how sustainable equestrian sports are going forward? PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) does not stand with equestrian sport. They state “horses deserve to live their lives as nature intended. We can connect with horses in our care and have a meaningful and mutually beneficial relationship with these sensitive animals without climbing on top of them.” Recent events have brought a very noble industry into disrepute. The acts of a handful should never reflect poorly on an entire industry.

It is understood that equestrian sports will be under intense scrutiny going forward. The sport claimed a spot in Olympic competition in 1912 & its risks have been a point of ongoing controversy ever since. In the discipline of eventing, periods of rider deaths worldwide (including 12 between 2007 & 2008) caused those at the core of the sport to voice ambivalence about these hazards, casualties, and fatalities.

In 2008, the President of the FEI warned that equestrian sports might not make it into the London 2012 Games. The International Olympic Committee had very reasonable and legitimate concerns about eventing safety. We see that everyday there are more eyes on our sport, be it from experts or ‘armchair activists’, they are all welfare concerns.

There is concern looming over the welfare of competition horses. What is sufficient grazing time? Is it morally reprehensible to back yearlings in the racing industry? Should we aspire to ride bitless, ‘bridleless’, with no artificial aids? On reflecting on this, the truth is that these animals are living in better conditions than humans in third-world countries A push for further visibility is advised, whether it be further live streaming, more television coverage, and a greater understanding in the general public. Irish Equestrian Sport received a massive boost in 2020 after the Horse Sport Ireland Show Jumping Masters was televised on RTÉ. Thousands of people took to a sport that rarely received such a platform. We saw, the truth is that the vast majority of equestrians sport great horsemanship, they love their animals, treat them well, and they don’t adopt any practises that could be considered abusive.

We must continue to build awareness and accessibility to the greater public. It is a complex sphere, it does take time and explaining. It’s necessary to take time to educate others when you have the opportunity. There are steps that we can take going forward to make it better for our horses and the longevity of the sport.

There are measures being taken to modify the sport itself to make it safer. The UK has pioneered research into frangible pins, designed to prevent ‘rotational’ falls. Since 2006, BE required the use of frangible pins which are designed to collapse. The FEI is in the process of developing a comprehensive database of eventing horse injuries and deaths, so that we can get to the root of the issue and modify the sport for welfare enhancement.

Regardless of personal opinion, this area has valid arguments on both sides. We accept that we will be under intense scrutiny for years to come. What needs to be done is that we continue to build awareness and accessibility to the greater public. There are steps that we can take going forward to make it better, for our horses and the longevity of the sport.

28 SPORT

SIN Vol. 22 Issue 12

Fresh scope for optimism as gaelic games dates revealed

By Oisín Bradley Sports Editor As the regular hallmarks of summer come into clearer effect and plans for a return to normal life post Covid-19 pandemic seem all the clearer, the sense of optimism in gaelic games circles has been sharpened in recent weeks by the prospect of a return to competitive action.

The GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association have begun to release their plans for the commencement and format of the inter-county calendars, with dates given and targets set for all of the Galway senior sides following the finalisations from GAA HQ. Here, we’ll give you the lowdown of all of the fixtures revealed for the four sides.

Galway Mens’ Gaelic Football: For Pádraic Joyce and the Galway Mens’ footballers, it appears that the Allianz League Division One will be taking on more of a condensed format to that in years previous. The campaign will be run in two regional-style conferences, with sides from the North and South of the country divided into groups of four.

The winner of each group will go into the final. The Tribesmen face a daunting first task, with the arduous prospect of a trip to Killarney to take on reigning League champions Kerry.

Roscommon follow a week later in Pearse Stadium, before the reigning All-Ireland champions Dublin make the trip to Tuam for the last of the regular League fixtures. From there, it’s out of the frying pan and straight into the fire, with a trip to face near-neighbours the Rossies in the Championship semi-final.

Championship clashes between these two in recent campaigns can only be described as unpredictable, and although the other big side in the province, Mayo

made light work of the men in yellow last season, that by no means makes them an easy opponent this time out.

Allianz League: • 15/5: Kerry vs Galway • 23/5: Galway vs Roscommon • 30/5: Galway vs Dublin

Connacht SFC: • TBC: Roscommon vs Galway

Galway Camogie: Galways’s camogie stars will be out for blood this season, having relinquished their grip on their All-Ireland crown at the last hurdle in the All-Ireland final to Kilkenny. That said, it will certainly not be easy, with plenty waiting in the wings and looking to cause an upset.

The Littlewoods Ireland Division One Camogie League will be first and foremost, with three regionalized groups of three the format for the 2021 campaign following the cancellation of the competition last year.

Galway will kick-start their season on home turf against Clare, before making the trip down the M18 to take on their Limerick counterparts a fortnight later.

From there, the best two first-placed teams advance straight to the last four, with the other and the three secondplaced teams playing two quarter-finals.

As of yet, there has been no indication from the Camogie Association on how they plan to run off the 2021 Liberty Insurance Camogie Championship, whether be in the tried and tested group format or something else. The date for the start of the Championship is still not known. However, one thing is clear: Cathal Murray’s charges will have their sights clearly set on redemption.

Littlewoods Ireland League: 15/5: Galway vs Clare 29/5: Limerick vs Galway

Galway Ladies’ Football: Gerry Fahy will have an enormous job in his debut campaign as Galway manager along with the likes of Donegal, Mayo, and Cork if they are to usurp the stranglehold on Ladies’ Football. The girls in maroon have made steady progress in the last few years, and will have an even greater burning passion to return to the same stage as last season where they were so unfairly wronged.

As with the other two codes, a regional league format is being brought in, with Westmeath, Mayo and Donegal making up this side of the draw. First up is a trip to face local rivals Mayo, before hosting Westmeath on home turf seven days later.

Finally, it will be Donegal making the trip to the banks of the Corrib to take on the women in maroon on June 6th, before the knockout rounds of the League.

It is as of yet unclear as to what format the LGFA will adopt for the Championship, but if a provincial system is to be implemented, then provincial honours must be the goal. Mayo will be likely to provide a stern test on that front, given the re-introduction of some of the Carnacon girls back into the fold.

If this is not the case, and the group stage-style format is adopted by the asso-

ciation, then at the very least a return to the semi-finals should be the objective.

The magic is certainly in the boots of these footballers, and last season proved that, on their day, any of the sides in the chasing pack can put it up to the Dubs.

National League: • 23/5: Mayo vs Galway • 30/5: Galway vs Westmeath • 6/6: Galway vs Donegal

Galway Hurling: There is certainly a modicum of room for improvement for the hurlers this season. The Tribesmen can be content with making it as far as the All-Ireland semi-final last season, having proved that they can mix it with the best in the country given narrow defeats to both Kilkenny in the provincial decider and eventual All-Ireland winners Limerick.

They have proven themselves and integrated fresh talent from the club scene into their ranks last season, with the likes of shot-stopper Éanna Murphy settling well. However, they will need to find another level and elevate themselves if they are to right the wrongs of last season and bring Liam MacCarthy back to the City of the Tribes.

The Allianz Hurling League will be ran off in the same pattern as old, with what looks a fairly simple task to kickstart the campaign for Shane O’Neill and his men. Galway travel to Mullingar to take on Westmeath this weekend, with throw-in at 2pm. After that, it’s the turn of Limerick to visit Galway in a repeat of the host’s last Championship outing.

Then, it’s a trip to Thurles to take on Tipperary, before rounding off the campaign with clashes against Waterford and Cork.

Whoever emerges from the Leinster Senior Hurling quarter-final between Dublin and Antrim will be looking to upset the apple-cart in the semi-finals, where Galway will be looking to hit the ground running. By the looks of things, it will be either Cody’s Kilkenny or Davy’s Wexford who await in the decider, with Galway out to claim the crown for the first time since 2018.

ALLIANZ LEAGUE: • 8/5 Westmeath vs Galway • 16/5 Galway vs Limerick • 22/5 Tipperary vs Galway • 6/6 Galway vs Waterford • 13/6 Cork vs Galway

LEINSTER SHC: • TBC Dublin/Antrim vs Galway

What can we expect from the Rainbow Cup?

By Michael Bolton After long consideration and many changes to the format of the competition, the PRO14 Rainbow Cup gets

underway this weekend. This competition was originally planned to be a first glimpse for fans to see South African opposition against European sides ahead of the Lions tour in the summer and the

PRO16 next season. However, due to safety concerns, inter-continental games will not take place due to restrictions by the South African government, meaning they will not be part of the competition.

This will be disappointing to fans for a number of reasons. The Cell C Sharks, DHL Stormers, Emirates Lions and Vodacom Bulls were set to participate in the competition, playing each other in the first three rounds before taking on European sides, possibly the Irish provinces. This would have seen World Cup winners such as Makazole Mapimpi, Steven Kitsoff, Lukhanyo Am and Springboks captain Siya Kolisi play in the competition, adding some much-needed quality to the PRO14.

The league received criticism after poor performances by some of the sides in Europe, with Scarlets and Edinburgh at the receiving end of heavy losses to Sale

Sharks and Racing Metro respectively. The accommodations that were made for this competition meant sacrifices had to be made for the previous campaign. As a result, both Connacht and Ulster suffered as they received no reward for finishing second in their groups, with the final contesting of group winners Leinster and Munster. Ulster fly half Ian Madigan recently spoke on the House of Rugby podcast over his frustrations of this outcome, as his sides only two defeats coming to champions Leinster.

Despite the setbacks this competition has already faced before it kicks off, there is still plenty to look forward to, especially for the Irish provinces. The competition kicks off with inter provincial derbies, which always bring a competitive edge to the game, with international and even Lions spots up for grabs for some players.

It should also be noted the rule changes that will be implemented through this tournament. For Red Cards, the team will be able to replace the dismissed player after 20 minutes. Red cards have been topical recently and this will be interesting to see if this leads to more dismissals within the game. For players held up over the line or defending players touching the ball down in the in goal area, a goal line drop out will be given.

For challenging referee’s, teams will be given one captain challenge per game. The captain can challenge the referee on try scoring or foul play incidents, or any decision in the last five minutes. Similar trials are being seen in the Super Rugby in New Zealand and Australia, perhaps showing the PRO14 to be an open, attractive watching league in Europe, rather than the physical dominance of the English premiership.

SPÓIRT

May 04 2021

SSE Airtricity Women’s National League Shelbourne FC vs Galway WFC

Tolka Park, Saturday @2pm It’s been a fascinating start to the SSE Airtricity Women’s National League for Billy Clery and all at Galway WFC, and they’ll be looking to maintain their encouraging start to the campaign when they head to Tolka Park to face off against Shelbourne.

Both sides are on similar trajectories so far this season, with mostly positive results on their record since the offset of the season, and both will have aims of being near the top of the pile by the time the season meets its conclusion.

Billy Clery’s charges have proven to be excellent on their day since the season got underway, with their attack up there amongst the most potent in the division. When looking at what has clicked so far for the Tribeswomen, there is no way you can look any further than Rachel Kearns, who may prove to be one of the shrewdest additions to any side in the league.

Kearns has decided to offer her services to the Eamonn Deacy Park outfit for the current campaign, and her prolific nature in front of goals for the Mayo gaelic footballers has translated perfectly onto the soccer pitch for Galway WFC. She is leading the line on the goalscoring charts at the time of writing, and has shown herself to be a handful for any defence so far. The Crossmolina native terrorized the Cork City defence on the opening day of the season, constantly pressuring them and earning the hat-trick in the 3-3 draw.

In her side’s 4-1 trouncing of Treaty United last weekend, there was some consternation as she hobbled off of the pitch minutes before the full-time whistle, having already scored in the first half.

That said, it seemed to be more precautionary than anything as she returned to the squad for the most recent clash with Wexford Youths.

The defence of the visitors has been relatively solid thus far in the season, however solving the enigma of keeping the totemic attacker Kearns quiet may prove to be a bridge too far.

The added dimension of Dave Bell in the Galway WFC dugout is not one which can be ignored either. Bell will have a knowledge of his opponents matched by few in the league, having been in the

hot-seat in Tolka Park for back-to-back secondplaced WNL finishes, as well as winning the 2019 WNL Cup. He will know the traits and attributes of Saturday’s opposition better than anyone, and will be looking to tap into that well of knowledge to mastermind a defeat for his former side.

One of the players he did not have the opportunity to work with during his time as Shelbourne manager however is sharpshooter Saoirse Noonan. Noonan is someone who excelled for both Cork City and the Cork gaelic football team in the past, however having given up playing GAA and moving to Dublin to focus on her soccer career, there is potential for her to improve even further upon her frightening statistics from the 2020 league campaign.

Noonan netted twice in the season opener on her return to face her former side, with the first goal displaying her potency in finding the net.

If the Galway WFC defence offer her anywhere near the same level of breathing room, there ball will only be going one place, given her unerring accuracy.

This game will certainly not be one devoid of entertainment, with both sides favouring an offensive philosophy and a penchant for goals. Both sides have excellent quality to compliment their key strikers, with Lynsey McKey and Ciara Grant among the standouts for Galway and Shelbourne respectfully. Home advantage may prove important for Shels as well. However, with the sheer attacking quality which the women in maroon have in their ranks, I see them just edging this clash.

VERDICT: Galway WFC.

LAST FIVE GAMES: LAST CLASH: 7th October 2020, FAI Women’s National League Phase 2 Shelbourne FC 5-0 Galway WFC It was a comprehensive victory for Shels on their home patch in their last home game of the 2020 season. Savannah McCarthy missed an early penalty to open proceedings in the fourth minute, before Pearl Slattery, Izzy Atkinson and Ciara Grant put WFC to the sword before the changeover.

The goals didn’t stop there, with Jessica Ziu and an Atkinson penalty rounding off a miserable day at the office for Saturday’s visitors.

L

Peamount Utd 2-1 W Shelbourne FC

Galway WFC 4-1 Treaty Utd

W

C o rk C i t y 0 - 3 Shelbourne FC

L

DLR Waves 2-1 Galway WFC

W

Athlone Town 0-2 Shelbourne FC

W

Galway WFC 3-1 Bohemians

W

DLR Waves 0-4 Shelbourne FC

D

Galway WFC 3-3 Cork City

KEY PLAYERS: Shelbourne FC: Ciara Grant Galway WFC: Chloe Singleton

RESULTS: Shelbourne won 2-1 against DLR Waves and Galway WFC lost 5-0 to Wexford

29

Media Influence in Female Sports: From Negative to Positive?

Aine Cleary Sport has historically been culturally dominated by men, frequently used as a means to exhibit masculine physical attributes such as strength and stamina. The contrast that forms between male and female sports are often based on these physical attributes, with the female sports often being perceived as ‘slower’ and ‘of lower skill’ when compared to their respective male counterparts.

Obviously, this is an arbitrary comparison cultivated by the media, who reinforce this by using the terms “sport” and “women’s sport”, rather than men’s sports and women’s sport or in the demeaning reference to women pursuing sports as ‘tomboys’ or ‘masculine’. In addition, media outlets have been guilty of diminishing female athletes, particularly in the overt sexualisation of their coverage that overshadows their skills and achievements.

Positive media coverage is essential to change the gender stereotypes that exist. The 20x20 campaign ran from 2018 to 2020. Its aim was to create a cultural shift and a change in attitudes towards women in sport. HerSport is Ireland’s only media platform dedicated to women in sport. It creates a platform to celebrate the skills and achievements of women.

Irish athletes such as Sonia O Sullivan, Cora Staunton and Katie Taylor have also changed how women in sport are perceived and showed that there is a place for women even in elite sports.

Sonia O Sullivan is one of Ireland’s greatest ever athletes having won five Sportsperson of the Year Awards, more than any other athlete. In 2019 Cora Staunton became the first female GAA player to write an autobiography and the Katie Taylor documentary released in the same year showed massive progression in interest and respect for female athletes. Despite this it remains clear that women must achieve the extraordinary to gain recognition.

The primary issues for women in sport are; the fight for equal treatment, equal pay and equal opportunities. According to an Irish Examiner report, just 5% of sport print media coverage was focused on women in 2020. This is despite the fact that 40% of participants in sport are female. Sport Ireland has set out targets under the ‘policy on women in sport’ including increased female participation in coaching, officiating and leadership.

Gender pay gaps still exist in many sports, including soccer and golf. Professional female soccer players earn just a fraction of the fee earned by male players. The argument is often made that the media coverage represents the interest levels, and that the higher wages are due to the higher commercial value. However, without increased visibility and access to women’s sport it is impossible for women’s sport to reach a similar level of interest to men’s.

Gender equality in sport would ensure that all children have an equal chance of succeeding in sport regardless of their gender. Increased female participation would have benefits for both mental and physical health. Gender equality would also be economically beneficial for all stakeholders in sport, increased female participation and interest in sport creates a larger market. Women’s sport is an untapped market with a lot of potential.

Investment in women’s sport is essential to ensure equal access and equal opportunities becomes a reality. The media has a huge role to play, it is difficult to create more interest in the women’s game without media coverage and recognition.

30 SPORT

SIN Vol. 22 Issue 12

SSE Airtricity League First Division Galway and Bray lock horns in must-win clash Galway United vs Bray Wanderers Eamonn Deacy Park, Friday @7:45pm

By Oisín Bradley Sports Editor It has certainly been a bizarre start to the 2021 League of Ireland season for Galway United and John Caulfield, however they will be looking to put that to bed when Bray Wanderers make the trip to Eamonn Deacy Park this Friday evening.

Both the hosts and the Seagulls would’ve been aiming high with the league trophy in their sights, and based on the current run of form such aspirations seem very far off.

That said, both sides will see another struggling club as a prime opportunity to claim a big scalp and will be hoping that victory will light the touchpaper and get the ball rolling.

The men in maroon had a dominant end to last season’s campaign following the installation of Caulfield to the hot-seat, and only just fell short in their bid for promotion to the top tier. However, all of the momentum which was seen as the season drew to a close has seemingly evaporated in the off-season, with few offering the hosts any chance of lifting league honours based on the opening performances.

Bray Wanderers are another side who look to be devoid of any momentum that was present last season as they dramatically relinquished their grip on top spot in the final games of the regular league season, allowing Drogheda United to sneak in at the death and claim the title. The visitors were winless in their first five encounters, and will be looking to atone for such a slow start on the road.

One player who will be looking to make an impact for the hosts under the lights this Friday night will be Wilson Waweru. Waweru has been

looked to as an impact sub this season, having not played a minute of first half football this season.

He may have shown inaccuracy in the Athlone Town defeat earlier in the season, but was on hand to capitalize on ex-Tribesman Michael Schlingermann’s error and fire home to take a bit of the edge off of the result.

In the Treaty United game, it would be the wily 20-year-old who latched onto the ball in the midst of a defensive scramble at the death to fire home and spare his side’s blushes in another derby clash, earning his share of the spoils. Whilst it is clear that the management team view the youngster as an impact substitute, should he continue this goalscoring form in future games, he’ll have to be considered from the off.

Bray will be acutely aware of Waweru’s ability to seize upon an error giving his heroics in last season’s play-off semi-final on their own turf.

In terms of the men from the Carlisle Grounds, Brandon Kavanagh is the jewel in the crown of this side. Underage international Kavanagh has proven himself to be a handy asset since he joined the club on loan from reigning Premier Division champions Shamrock Rovers, and the goal-fest vs Shelbourne was a prime example of his skill.

His first goal was a simple tap-in to level proceedings at 1-1, while he turned assister with a pinpoint through ball for Ryan Graydon to level the match at 2-2 once more. In the 57th minute, the youngster stepped up to the plate with an absolute peach of a strike which curled into the top right corner to put Bray into the lead in a clash which eventually ended 3-3.

If the men from the West are to stand any chance of success on Friday evening, it can only be seen as imperative that the brakes are put on this wily sharpshooter. That said, it will be easier said than done.

Ultimately, this has all the hallmarks of a tight and intriguing affair, however Galway will need to be at their ‘A’-game to stand a chance of dispatching this Bray side making their way across the country.

VERDICT: Bray Wanderers.

and ultimately that was how it proved as they look set to finish the season rooted to the bottom of the Championship. Horgan has showed glimpses of his ability in a struggling side, and once Wanderers return to the third tier of English football following their brief cameo in the second division, it is expected that the likes of Horgan and co. will find their groove at what is, in truth, their level.

Former Salthill Devon man Horgan has seen his minutes slashed in recent weeks by Gareth Ainsworth and his management team, however he will be hoping that his game-time will be less sparing in League One next season.

North End at the Liberty Stadium, with Manning in at left back for the full 90 minutes, however bounced back to winning ways with a 3-0 win over Millwall on the road at The Den, where the Galway man played the full match.

Manning was in from the off in a 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday, but was taken off in the 75th minute for Jake Bidwell.

LAST CLASH: 31st October 2020, SSE Airtricity League First Division Play-Off SF Bray Wanderers 0-1 Galway United After dramatic scenes on the last day of the season which saw Bray drop out of top spot and Galway just about edge their way into the play-off places in bizarre circumstances, the stage was set for a climactic end to the season.

An evenly contested first half saw very few chances for those tuning in, however the visitors to the Carlisle grounds upped the ante in Act Two and the pressure buckled, with Wilson Waweru pouncing on a rebound off of keeper Brian Maher to keep the fairy-tale alive for the away side.

LAST 5 GAMES: D

Galway Utd 2-2 UCD

D

Cobh Ramblers 1-1 Bray Wanderers

D

Galway Utd 1-1 Treaty Utd

L

Bray Wanderers 1-2 Athlone Town

W

Cabinteely 0-3 Galway Utd

D

UC D 0 - 0 B ray Wanderers

L

Athlone Town 3-1 Galway Utd

D

Shelbourne FC 3-3 Bray Wanderers

W

Galway Utd 4-0 Cobh Ramblers

D

Cork City 0-0 Bray Wanderers

KEY PLAYER: Galway United: Wilson Waweru Bray Wanderers: Brandon Kavanagh

Tribesmen Abroad The Football League season cross-channel is nearly over, and with only a handful of games left to play, there is still plenty of teams with their futures on the line for next season.

In this article, we’ll be looking at how the men from Galway in the upper echelons of the English football pyramid have fared so far this season, as well as what the future may hold for the Tribesmen and their current clubs.

Greg Cunningham – Preston North End It is looking nailed on that Preston North End will be settling for another season of mid-table mediocrity in the second tier of English football, however since Cunningham has signed on loan, and later on as a permanent transfer, from Cardiff City he has settled in with little-to-no fuss and proven his worth providing he can keep himself free from the shackles of injury.

Based on his performances so far, it is clear that he has become a key player in the squad at Deepdale during his second stint, with interim manager Frankie McEvoy favouring him in the on the left of a back five when fit. The former Manchester City youth player was out of the squad for six consecutive games, but made a return and played the full 90 minutes of a goalless draw against Stoke City on the road. In the following game, Cunningham also played the full game as Preston swept Derby County aside in a 3-0 win at Deepdale.

Aaron Connolly – Brighton & Hove Albion It’s been a tough season for both player and club in this instance, as Aaron Connolly and Brighton and Hove Albion have struggled to make their mark on the 2020/21 Premier League season. Whilst it seems that in the end that Albion will have enough to just evade the watermark for this campaign, it is a stark indication that there must be significant improvement from both parties if they are to have a future in the top-flight.

Connolly has really struggled to break into Graham Potter’s side all through the season, with the likes of Danny Welbeck and Neal Maupay preferred over the young Irishman to lead the line for Albion.

This season, Connolly has only contributed two goals and one assist in his lowly 16 league appearances. If Connolly truly wishes to play regular first-team football, perhaps a stint outside of the top-flight may be necessary to boost his minutes.

In the last ten games for the Seagulls, Connolly has made two appearances, with his most recent coming in a 1-0 defeat to bottom side Sheffield United. Connolly came onto the pitch in the 67th minute for Jakub Moder. Unfortunately, the youngster couldn’t have the desired impact on the scoreboard.

Daryl Horgan – Wycombe Wanderers This historic season was always going to prove to be a difficult one for the side from Adams Park,

Ryan Manning – Swansea City The Swans have been one of the sides who have taken the Championship by storm this season, and will be well in the mix when the regular season winds up and the Premier League promotion playoffs kick-start in a few weeks’ time.

Manning has shown glimpses of his ability when game-time has been afforded him by Steve Cooper, with three assists in as many FA Cup games, as well as two assists in his 16 league appearances.

However, should the men from South Wales reach the holy grail of Premier League football, then the 24-year-old might be forced to consider a move, potentially a loan one, back to the Championship to give himself a chance of regular first-team football.

Swansea did fall to a 1-0 loss at home to Preston

Conor Shaughnessy – Rochdale Rochdale are in a very precarious position at the moment, and are five points adrift of the relegation zone in League One. That said, their form in the last while has been extremely encouraging, with three wins in their last four games.

Shaughnessy has been given limited game-time

by Brian Barry-Murphy in recent weeks, with a sizeable decrease in playing time from his first few months at the club following the Leeds United transfer. However, if anything the introduction of a fresh Conor Shaughnessy at the end of games seems to be working even better for The Dale.

Shaughnessy was on hand to capitalize on a goalkeeping howler and fire the ball into the empty net in the 89th minute, having only been on the pitch for a minute of the 3-1 victory over Accrington Stanley. He also got an assist with a fine through ball to square the game in a draw on the road against Crewe Alexandra after coming on in the 85th minute.

SPÓ IRT

May 04 2021

Super League farce proves football is no longer the beautiful game

by Aaron Deering The European Super League fiasco has shown many football fans around the world that the game of football is no longer about sport or the fans, but instead is about the product and consumers.

According to Florentino Perez, one of the ESL’s founding members and Real Madrid President, the European Super League was supposed to ‘save football’. The idea is almost laughable. The ESL was nothing but a greedy attempt by 12 owners and Chairmen and Presidents to make more money.

Cast your mind back to Leicester’s historic win of the Premier League title in 2016, and you’ll find that is when the idea of the ESL was really born.

The traditional ‘Big Six’ saw another club challenging, and the owners did not like that one bit.

That is why the ESL was going to be a closed league in which no one gets relegated or promoted and the 12 founding members are always in it. The threats of West Ham, Leicester, and Everton to the top four this season had only compounded the idea to the traditional ‘Big Six’ clubs that something had to be done because the status quo had been threatened.

The American owners, especially the Glazers (Manchester United) and John W. Henry’s Fenway Sports Group (Liverpool) cannot understand the idea of relegation because it means there is no security financially and in order to stay in the top 4 and qualify for the Champions League you have to spend money something which means less dividends they can suck out of their clubs.

Perez cried about how between the 12 clubs they have lost €650 million last year and stand to lose up to €2.5 billion this year due to the Covid19 pandemic. These clubs generate millions every year regardless of the pandemic and the owners are all multi billionaires and yet they want us to feel sorry for them? What about all the people who have lost their jobs due the Covid-19 pandemic and no longer have any income but yet were expected to have sympathy for Perez and his cartel of cronies?

The penny has finally dropped for many Irish fans that follow the ‘Big Six’ that these owners do not care about them. Just look how John W.Henry and the Glazers were going to just dismiss the history of their clubs in the Champions League. The famous 1999 treble for Manchester United and the 2005 Istanbul comeback for Liverpool meant nothing to the Glazers or Henry. They were quite happy to completely destroy their own club’s history all just for money.

Maybe it is time for these fans to stop wasting their money on their English club’s merchandise and match day trips because all it does is fill the pockets of owners who do not care about the fans and it has no benefits to Irish football. I barely recognise the game I fell in love with as a child as it becomes more and more dominated by money rather than it being about the enjoyment of a beautiful game and sport but then Sligo Rovers offers me that glimmer of hope.

Many will feel I am telling these Irish Premier League fans to stop supporting their clubs and to instead follow a League of Ireland club, but I am not because the simple answer is you can do both. I support both Manchester United and Sligo Rovers. I am proud to support Rovers because it benefits Irish football but also because they are a fan owned club.

Rovers can never be sold without the consent of the fans while Rovers’ ground the Showgrounds can never be sold as it owned by Sligo Rovers and it is fans.

I can still follow Manchester United during the year but once the League of Ireland season starts in March then Rovers takes dominance, and it is that way until the season ends in November. If there is one positive outcome of this whole ESL fiasco, it is that there is an opportunity for Irish football fans to support their local League of Ireland club which they will be able to recognise the features of the beautiful game, we all fell in love with rather than wasting their money and efforts on English clubs who owned by people that will never care about them and sees them only as consumers of a product rather than fans of the beautiful game.

31

Galway athlete makes history at the European Gymnastics All-around finals Ethne Tierney Galway gymnast Emma Slevin was a part of history in Basel, as she finished 19th in the European Championships all-around finals, making her the first female athlete to take part in a final for an Olympic qualifier event.

17-year-old Slevin, from Renmore Gymnastics Club in Galway, performed admirably on the continental stage to achieve an AllAround total of 49.833, seeing her break into the top 20 at the event.

Slevin had not competed in 18 months due to Covid-19. but she managed to get a final score of 50.432 in the previous round to see her through into the finals. Such a score saw the exciting young talent compete in the All-Around Final as one of Europe’s best late last month.

Speaking on the achievement of qualification for the finals Ciaran Gallagher, CEO of Gymnastics Ireland commented: “A superb day for women’s gymnastics in Ireland!

Emma’s performance cements her position as one of the best All-Around gymnasts in

Europe and again a history maker as our first senior AA women’s finalist.”

Slevin competed alongside first reserve for Tokyo 2021, Meg Ryan who competed in three of the four apparatuses in Women’s artistic gymnastics. The successful performance on these championships did not come easy to Slevin, who is still only a teenager.

Competition and progress are one of the main motivations for athletes. Slevin, however, has no major competition nationally, showing her determination and strong will to advance. During the pandemic training became a challenge with all the restrictions in place and the halt of any international competition.

A statement from Gymnastics Ireland extended congratulations to both Slevin and Ryan on their achievements in qualification.

“On behalf of everyone at Gymnastics Ireland huge congratulations to Emma & Meg, their coaches Sally Batley & Emma Hamill and our Performance & Technical Manager Sally Johnson.” they said.

We are in this together.

Ba mhaith linn ár mbuíochas ó chroí a rá libh uilig: ár gcustaiméirí dílis agus lucht tacaíochta ó am go chéile.

Go raibh maith agaibh as bualadh isteach chun cupán caife cóirthrádála nó sailéad a phiocadh suas. Go raibh maith agaibh as tacú linn.

Tá muid ag déileáil le athrú as cuimse, tá muid ag troid le fanacht slán agus ag déanamh iarracht roinnt den fhoireann a choineáil ag obair.

Buíochas mór dár bhfoireann dhíograiseach atá ag déanamh iarracht muid a choinneáil slán.

Tá sé ag tógáil níos mó ama ná a cheap muid, ach tá muid ag dul sa treo ceart le chéile. #fánsambaile #fánslán

Coiste Gno EXECUTIVE

COMMITTEE

Vice President / Education Officer Leas Uachtarán / Oifigeach Oideachais

2020 -2021

Vice-President / Welfare and Equality Officer Leas-Uachtarán / Oifigeach Leasa agus Comhionannais

President / Uachtarán

Emma Sweeney

Pádraic Toomey

su.education@nuigalway.ie 086 385 3658

Róisín Nic Lochlainn

su.welfare@nuigalway.ie 086 385 3659

su.president@nuigalway.ie 086 385 5502

Mature Students’ Officer Oifigeach Mic Léinn Lánfhásta

Gender and LGBT+ Rights Officer Oifigeach um Chearta Inscne agus LADT+

Disability Rights Officer Oifigeach um Chearta Míchumais

Erin Mac An tSaoir

Michelle Mitchell

Maeve Arnup

Patricia O’Mahony

091 493 570 su.gaeilge@nuigalway.ie

085 853 7011 su.maturestudents@nuigalway.ie

091 493 570 su.lgbt@nuigalway.ie

085 212 0689 su.disability@nuigalway.ie

Oifigeach na Gaeilge Irish Language Officer

Postgraduate Taught Officer Oifigeach na nIarchéimithe Teagasctha

Postgraduate Research Officer Oifigeach na nIarchéimithe i mbun Taighde

Sebastiaan Bierema

Martin Smyth

087 781 0130 su.pgtaught@nuigalway.ie

091 493 570 su.pgresearch@nuigalway.ie

Convenor of the College of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences / Tionólaí Choláiste an Leighis, an Altranais & na nEolaíochtaí Sláinte

Evan O’Flaherty

Kirsty Moran

Claire McHale

085 882 4797 su.clubs@nuigalway.ie

091 493 570 su.arts@nuigalway.ie

Convenor of the College of Science and Engineering / Tionólaí Choláiste na hEolaíochta agus na hInnealtóireachta

Societies Chairperson Cathaoirleach na gCumann

Barry Sugrue

Fionn Sexton Connolly

087 775 0227 su.scienceengineering@nuigalway.ie

087 155 5949 su.socs@nuigalway.ie

085 225 2185 su.council@nuigalway.ie

Aoife Buckley

091 493 570 su.medicine@nuigalway.ie

Convenor of the College of Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies / Tionólaí Choláiste na nDán, na nEolaíochtaí Sóisialta & an Léinn Cheiltigh

Clubs Captain Captaen na gClubanna

SU Council Chairperson / Cathaoirleach Chomhairle Chomhaltas na Mac Léinn

Convenor of the College of Business, Public Policy & Law / Tionólaí Choláiste an Ghnó, an Bheartais Phoiblí agus an Dlí

International Students Officer Oifigeach na Mac Léinn Idirnáisiúnta

Niamh Quinn

Cheyanne Nwaonukwube

085 732 8570 su.business@nuigalway.ie

087 659 1874 su.international@nuigalway.ie

087 606 5095 su.ethnicminorities@nuigalway.ie

Victor Igonin

@nuigsu

Ethnic Minorities Officer Oifigeach na Mionlach Eitneach

NUIGalwayStudentsUnion www.su.nuigalway.ie