F ree student newspaper , vol . 1 2 , issue 1 1 , 2 2 . 0 3 . 2 0 1 1
General meeting decides not to hold gym membership referendum
Photo: Melissa Mannion
By Richard Manton
On 9th March, a general meeting of the Students’ Union was called to discuss the proposal for universal gym membership. The meeting decided that the issue would not be put to a referendum this academic year.
Connolly, Healy and Grant elected to SU Exec
By Méabh McDonnell
The meeting was called by Clubs Captain, Eric Coleman-Brockie, by gathering a petition of 200 student signatures. The proposal called for a €100 increase in the student levy to cover universal student gym membership in NUIG and the meeting discussed whether a referendum should be held immediately.
On Friday 11th march, Emmet Connolly, Conor Healy and
The count to elect the VP / Education Officer followed.
Brian Grantwere elected to the Students’ Union Executive
This was the election with the largest amount of
Coleman-Brockie argued that the proposal
2011/12 in the positions of President, Education Officer
candidates – five: Conor Healy, Conor Stitt, Conor Kelly,
should be put to referendum immediately
and Welfare Officer respectively. The total number of
Paddy Melia and David McLoughlin. The first count saw
and (should it pass) be introduced
votes cast was over 3,300 - a higher poll than that of last
Stitt, Healy and Melia within 150 votes of one another.
immediately. SU President, Peter Mannion,
year and potentially the highest ever.
The decision to eliminate RON, McLoughlin and Kelly
argued that the idea is premature and that
was taken, those having the lowest amount of votes.
the issue should be revisited in the future.
VP / Welfare Officer was the first of the positions to be
Following the distribution of their transfers, no candidate
counted, with Brian Grant, Conor Keane and Abby Noyce
reached the quota, and therefore the next lowest polling
Coleman-Brockie raised points such as the
as the three candidates. Following the elimination of
candidate, Melia, was eliminated and his transfers
possibility of further increases in student
RON, the candidates stood with Grant at a considerable
distributed between Stitt and Healy. Although in second
fees next year resulting in decreasing
lead, Noyce in second and Keane in third position. After
place on the first count, Healy benefitted from transfers
student numbers, the urgency of gym access
the decision was made to eliminate Keane, his votes
and was deemed elected on the third count.
and the possibility that if the referendum is
were transferred over to Grant and Noyce. The transfers
Finally, the count of the votes for President took place.
not held immediately, that it may never be
gave Grant enough votes to reach the quota and he was
The first count placed the candidates in the following...
held.
deemed elected.
continued on next page
continued on next page
SIN NEWS continued from page 1
Connolly, Healy and Grant Elected to SU Exec Finally, the count of the votes for President
the third count and was deemed elected.
took place. The first count placed the
Going to College project continues through semester two By Meghan O Brien, Máiréad Campbell and Aimee Lyons
candidates in the following order: Emmet
The three sabbatical officers are full-time paid
Since the previous article on
with a recruited number of
Connolly, Paul Curley, Joe Loughnane, Patrick
positions. Connolly, Healy and Grant will take
the ‘Going to College’ project,
individuals who illustrated their
Conboy with a margin of 126 votes separating
up their positions on 1st July. Elections for the
the group has observed the
support for the project. These
Connolly and Curley. After eliminating and
six part-time positions on the SU Executive will
potential accessibility issues
included Edel Tierney, National
distributing the second preference votes for
take place this week.
affecting the prospective
Federation of Voluntary
students during the project’s
Bodies, Marie Wolfe, advocate,
initial open day on November
Ger Minogue, Graduate &
16th. A number of areas
Advocate, Peggy Ryan, Parent
were highlighted such as
Representative, Professor
heavy doorways, steps up to
Edward Herring, Dean, College
buildings, uneven surfaces,
of Arts, Social Services &
General meeting decides not to hold gym membership referendum
poor signage and apprehension
Celtic Studies, NUI Galway,
around attending lectures.
Lorraine McIlrath, Community
We are hoping to address
Knowledge Initiative (CKI),
these issues by preparing
NUI Galway, third year
Mannion pointed out that the current contract
After a discussion with contributions from
an accessibility report with
occupational therapist student
with Kingfisher will not expire for another 18
the audience, the matter was put to a vote of
recommendations around
representative Aimee Lyons,
months and that the introduction of universal
registered students in attendance. The result
resolving these concerns.
Padraig O Céidigh, Patron and
membership not would compromise the SU’s
was 45 in favour of an immediate referendum,
All three students delivered
Aer Arann and Tina Roche,
bargaining position in the future. Mannion
73 against. There were 2 spoilt votes.
speeches to the individuals and
Patron and Business in the
was supported by Keith Warnock speaking on
their parents on that of a typical
Community.
behalf of the university.
day here in NUIG.
RON, Conboy was the next to be eliminated. This was followed by the elimination of
See page 6 for full count details
Loughnane. Connolly reached the quota on
continued from page 1
The group was joined by Bruce
Referendum on new SU constitution passes comfortably By Richard Manton
On 10th March, while voting for the Students’
Officer position will be removed. Other
Union sabbatical officers, students also voted
changes include the creation of a Students’
in a referendum on a new SU constitution. The
Union Council, a Board of Trustees and a
referendum passed comfortably with 2692
Finance Committee.
votes in favour and 554 against. There were 136 spoilt votes.
There was some confusion between this constitutional referendum and the proposed
The new constitution will come into effect 30
referendum on universal gym membership
days after the passing of the referendum – 9th
(see page 1). In the run-up to the vote, posters
April. The new constitution will introduce a
were erected around campus clarifying the
part-time Mature Students Officer, five College
referendum and its lack of impact on the
Convenors and a SU Council Chairperson
student levy.
to the Executive. The Student Development
On January 17th, 2011,
Uditsky and Anne Hughson,
the Going to College pilot
two prestigious university
programme was officially
professors from the Alberta
launched by Professor Nollaig
Association of Community
Mac Congáil, Registrar &
Living and the University of
Deputy President of NUIG.
Calgary, who shared their
The launch took place in the
twenty years of experience of
Bailey Allen Hall, and was
inclusive third level education.
hosted by TV presenter/Irish Times columnist Conor Pope.
A final instalment on this
The former NUIG graduate
project will summarise the
entertained the large crowd
project, including the findings
of approximately 150 people,
from the questionnaire, the
making the day thoroughly
chosen eight students, and a
enjoyable for all. The launch
brief overview of the report.
commenced with a brief
For further details contact
overview of the project and
Breda Casey on breda.casey@
its aspirations by Professor
nuigalway.ie, Aimee Lyons
Pat Dolan, UNESCO Chair
on a.lyons10@nuigalway.
in Children, Youth and Civic
ie, Mairéad Campbell on
Engagement and the project’s
m.campbell6@nuigalway.
coordinator Breda Casey. A
ie and Meghan O’Brien on
panel discussion was held
m.obrien14@nuigalway.ie.
SIN NEWS ‘Be a Hero, Be a Donor’ event signs up 200 donor-card holders By Síle Johnson
Choral and Trad Soc Concert for Japan Choral soc and Trad soc are putting on a concert in aid of the Japanese victims of the earthquake and tsunami. The concert will take place in the Cube Theatre, Áras na Mac Leinn on the 23rd of March at 8pm. The night will include music from Choral Society and toe-tapping treats from Trad Soc. The tickets cost €3 and are on sale from the Socsbox. All proceeds go towards the Japanese relief effort in the wake of the series of natural disasters which have left many in a state of acute need.
College Bar was alive to the tunes of the
questions students had with the organ
incredible DJ Byrno on Thursday, 10th of
donation process. They have also visited
All support will be greatly appreciated. For more information email choral
March, supporting the NUI Galway group
local schools to make as many students as
soc, nuigchoralsociety@gmail.com.
‘Be a Hero, Be a Donor’. The group’s goal
possible aware of the campaign.
ALIVEStand.qxd
is to educate students of the university
These NUI Galway students have been
about the importance of organ donation
studying the statistics, procedures and
and the huge difference the process
real life stories on organ donation for
makes to peoples’ lives. The night in
the last number of months, but it was
College Bar aimed at raising money for the
only when they met Angeline Cooke that
leading organ donation awareness group
the importance of the campaign really
in Ireland, the Irish Kidney Association,
hit home. Angeline received a kidney
while also encouraging party-goers to
transplant nine years ago, and has been
become organ donors themselves.
enjoying the benefits of a second chance
The night was a huge success. Over €500
of life ever since. Prior to her surgery
was raised and more than 200 organ
Angeline had to endure the inconvenience
donor cards were picked up by the crowd.
of dialysis for three months, and she was
The Connacht Rugby branch has endorsed
one of the lucky ones. Another woman,
the ‘Be a Hero, Be a Donor’ campaign, and
Ruth McCann has been on dialysis for
two young stars, Eoin Griffin and Shane
the last nine years and is still waiting for
Conneely, came along to the event to lend
a kidney. Angeline told the group of her
their support to the campaign.
gratitude to the family that allowed their
By becoming an organ donor, you
loved one’s kidney to be donated so that
could save, or dramatically improve the
she would live: “You never forget your
quality of life of up to 40 people while
donor.”
simultaneously changing the lives of
Meeting these women inspired the
hundreds of their friends and family. Could
group members to make the campaign
there be a greater gift than saving lives?
as successful as possible, and they have
You could do this, simply by carrying an
not been disappointed with the results.
organ donor card, but remember - You
The night in College Bar has potentially
must sign this card, and inform you
harvested 200 additional organ donors.
next-of-kin of your wishes, otherwise it is
These heroes can go on to save, or
invalid.
dramatically improve the lives of up to
The ‘Be a Hero, Be a Donor’ campaign
8000 others. Many more students have
found that 60.5% of non-organ donors are
greater knowledge of the organ donation
so, simply because they haven’t gotten
process, and are now aware of the benefits
around to getting a card. 43% of those
of such a life-saving gift.
who are not organ donors said they would
If you missed out on the night, organ
be more likely to become one if they had
donation cards are available in the Student
more information on the process, thus
Union and Student Health Centre. Organ
proving the importance of this groups’
Donation Awareness Week takes place
work. Members of the ’Be a Hero, Be a
from April 2nd to 9th.
Donor’ group were on hand to answer any
16/8/10
10:28 am
Page 1
NUI Galway Presidential Award for Volunteering
The ALIVE Certificate Reward Recognition Celebration Awarded annually by the President of NUI Galway to students in acknowledgment of all extra-curricular volunteering. Unique opportunity for NUI Galway students to achieve recognition for their voluntary commitment to communities. A prestigious achievement celebrated at the annual ALIVE Certificate Ceremony.
Apply online today at www.yourspace.nuigalway.ie
SIN NEWS Draíocht to hold Pre-Exam Ball and ‘Jockathon’ By Anne-Marie Fitzgerald
Draíocht Nepal are to hold a pre-
home in Talamarang, which they
exam ball on 29th March in the
hope to move onto their own
Galway Bay Hotel. Entertainment
land and make self-sufficient in
will be provided by ‘Joe and the
the next five years. They were
Legends’ and DJ Byrno. Tickets
involved in opening a community
cost €50 from the SocsBox and
school that now has over 500
include a summer punch and
students and they hope to open a
chocolate fountain reception and
permanent health centre.
dinner with wine. Afters tickets cost €25. All proceeds from the
The society are also planning
night are going to Draíocht Nepal.
a charity Jockathon, in which a group of volunteers will strip
Draíocht is a charity that addresses
down to their undies and climb a
poverty in Nepal and won the
mountain! Contact draiocht@socs.
‘Best New Society’ of 2009. The
nuigalway.ie for more information.
charity has leased an orphanage
Students asked to reduce noise in the Library By Laurie Greenfield
NUIG to host volunteering photographic exhibition NUI Galway will host a photographic
programmes in Limerick and Cork, to
exhibition entitled We Volunteer!
Karate coaching in Newry.
to celebrate and recognise student volunteering across Ireland from 28 March
Speaking about the exhibition, Lorraine
to 1 April. Third-level institutions from
Tansey, Student Volunteer Coordinator
north and south have come together to
at NUI Galway, said: “This collaborative
develop the exhibition in celebration of the
exhibition is a great opportunity to visually
European Year of Volunteering 2011 and
demonstrate how volunteers get involved,
to recognise the tremendous contribution
make a commitment and bring about
which student volunteers make to the lives
change as well as making an impact in
of their communities.
Galway and beyond.”
The steering group for the exhibition
The exhibition will be the main feature
consists of NUI Galway, UL, LIT, DIT, TCD
of this year’s ALIVE Certificate Ceremony,
and DCU. We Volunteer! will provide an
which will see 1,000 NUI Galway students
opportunity to showcase the wealth and
receive Certificates from the President
diversity of volunteering and community
of NUI Galway, Dr James J. Browne, for
organisations across Ireland. The exhibition
their volunteering with Childline, Youth
will also highlight the myriad of benefits
Work Ireland, Foróige, and Positive Mental
students experience from volunteering and
Health, to mention a few.
inspire more people to volunteer.
Nicola Brassil, NUI Galway student
The exhibition is travelling around Ireland
volunteer with the GSPCA and Clare Youth
to college campuses and internationally
Service, features in the exhibition and said:
during the European Year. The exhibition
“I learned that people of all ages can come
showcases the work of student volunteers
up with very real and useful ways by which
from twenty Higher Education Institutions
to make their community and country a
across Ireland with diverse organisations
better place.”
Through surveys, email,
Not everyone shares the same
ranging from the Christina Noble
conversations, the Library
taste in music, especially if it is a
Foundation in Vietnam, to Chrysalis
Members of the public are welcome to visit
Facebook page and Blog,
particularly irritating, tinny noise
Community Drug Project in Dublin, from
the We Volunteer! exhibition in the Foyer,
many students have expressed
emanating from headphones.
the Galway Society for the Prevention
Áras na Mac Léinn, NUI Galway. For more
frustration at the amount of noise
Some students may be using the
of Cruelty to Animals, to community
information on the exhibition visit www.
they experience in the Library. As
noise from their iPods or laptops
enterprise in Belfast, from peer mentoring
wevolunteer.ie.
exams and assignment deadlines
to drown out extraneous noise
approach, it becomes imperative
and thus aid their concentration
that the Library is a place where
levels, however, these students
students can come and study in
are being asked to turn the sound
peace.
down.
Students want to be able to
Students are also being asked
association with the Mayfly Theatre Company. The play is directed by Andrew Flynn and
concentrate on their work and not
to place their phones on silent
is a story of murder, mystery, fairy tale and tragic love. The play is set on the border of
be disturbed by someone else’s
and not to conduct phone
Northern and Southern Ireland where family feuds are passed down through generations.
conversation about their social
conversations in the Library, rather
The story is told using the pagan ritual of the mummers’ play as a metaphor for Ireland at a
life or the previous night’s TV
in the stairwells or outside.
time where people laughed at a wake and cried when a child was born.
BA Connect students to perform ‘At the Black Pig’s Dyke’ next week The BA Connect in Theatre and Performance are to stage ‘At the Black Pig’s Dyke’ in
programmes. Even a whispered
At The Black Pig’s Dyke will perform at Nun’s Island Theatre from Monday March 28th -
conversation can be distracting.
Sunday April 4th at 8pm . For booking information call 091565886.
LETTERs
editor@sin.ie
Dear Sir, I am writing in relation to the demonstration that was conducted by the Life Society yesterday (8th March – International Women’s Day, ironically enough). I passed this demonstration as it was being set up, and saw a group of people planting little white crosses in the ground. Initially, I assumed it was some kind of war memorial or remembrance garden for students recently deceased. What a nice gesture, I thought to myself. Later in the day, a friend of mine informed me of its actual meaning which, apparently, had only been revealed later in the day. The plaque standing beside it informed passers-by that it was created in memory of the unborn lives lost through Irish women having abortions overseas. I felt sick. I don’t intend for this letter to become a pro-choice argument. Though I am pro-choice, that is not the issue here and I don’t wish for personal preference to come into this. Everyone has their own beliefs. We are entitled to that. What happened today, though, went way beyond the realms of freedom of speech. I found it offensive, distasteful and cruel. Such demonstrations are not allowed to take place if they are thought to pose a threat to a person’s physical health. Given the recent growth in health-promotion campaigns on campus, aimed at raising awareness of mental health, I find it more than a little strange that this would not be taken into consideration by those who allowed this spectacle to take place. The Life Society’s profile page says they’re “non-religious and nonpolitical”, but this is a cop-out. Of course it’s a political issue. They say: “We pledge ourselves to do all in our power to prevent the destruction of innocent human life whether it be by abortion, abortifacients, embryonic stem cell research, in-vitro fertilisation, euthanasia, or assisted suicide.” So regardless of suffering or pain, they’re all about the sanctity of human life. Compassion seems to have fallen by the wayside.
The choices women have when faced with an unplanned pregnancy are complex. Similarly, the options facing someone sentenced to spending the remainder of their life in pain are complicated and difficult. Deciding to have an abortion, or deciding to escape suffering by ending one’s life through assisted suicide, are never easy choices to make. What justifiable explanation could there be for presuming to know how it feels to be in that situation, and judging the decisions of those who are? We are each entitled to our own thoughts, opinions and beliefs. Women facing these decisions, or those who may face them at some point in their life, have the right to make their own mind up. They have the right to make this decision without being confronted with graphic images of unborn foetuses (as were used in a recent protest on Shop street), without being harassed or made feel uncomfortable talking to someone about their options (as has been happening outside Family Planning Clinics nationwide). Pro-choice advocates don’t go to the Vatican waving condoms in people’s faces. People who are ‘pro-life’ and opposed to abortion are absolutely entitled to their own opinions. But that is all it is, an opinion. I am all for free and open speech and for informed debate on these topics, but forcing your beliefs on other people is not only misguided, it is decidedly wrong. In conducting demonstrations like these, the Life Society are targeting an already vulnerable group and posing a serious threat to their mental health. If such demonstrations are allowed to take place, where do we draw the line? C.S. Lewis said that “those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience”. Seems apt. Yours sincerely, Rachel Carey.
Dear Sir, The campaign of attempted intimidation directed against NUIG Life Society and individual members has reached new levels in the last few months. In previous semesters, abortion supporters have left revolting images and crude messages on online sites or scribbled graffiti such as ‘Eat your foetus’ on the university footpaths. For the past few years, posters have routinely disappeared, sometimes within half an hour of posting. Another typical tactic is ringing security or guards even though Life Society members have broken no laws or regulations. Their complaints usually begin, ‘I’m in favour of free speech but….’ At the monthly street information sessions, individuals arrive to scream at pro-life students distributing literature on stem cell research, abortion, or euthanasia. At one session, a fellow stood with a sign saying, ‘Abort the pro-lifers: it’s never too late’. Last year a female student followed a Life Society committee member to a child minding job and used loud aggressive language, frightening the children coming home from school. This month, however, has seen an escalation in incidents. An SU officer picketed the Pro-Life Chalk Day with a sign targeting Life Society and advertising pornography. During the SU elections, people posted signs such as ‘Life Society needs to get laid’. Then on St. Patrick’s Eve, Wednesday 16 March, after the Literary and Debating Society’s Stem Cell Research Debate ‘That This House Supports the Use of Embryonic Stem Cells for Scientific Study’, Life Society committee member Evelyn Fennelly was followed home by a male student who supported the motion. It was late, the streets were dark, and Evelyn had just delivered an eloquent speech opposing the motion. ‘I was very frightened,’ Evelyn said the next day. ‘I found it very invasive and I no longer feel safe in my own neighbourhood. These people label themselves as the true defenders of women’s rights. I’m a woman: where were my rights on Wednesday night?’ In the past month Life Society has held several high profile events including the memorial service and Cemetery for the Unborn on 8 March. Yours, Maria Mahoney
Election vote counting
SU Part-time Election Candidates 2011 Oifigeach na Gaeilge (Irish Language Officer) MacAOIDH, Senan O’FLAHERTY, Maria RON Equality Officer NOLAN, Sharon O’BRIEN, William RON Student Development Officer CARR, Ronan COATES, Eoin MORAN, Cian RON Postgrad Officer BURNS, Richéal RON Societies Chairperson ADEBARI, Dami McCALLION, Claire O’CONNOR, Paul STOCK, Johanna RON Clubs’ Captain FLYNN, Eamonn RON RON = Re-open Nominations Voting to take place on Thursday, 24th March – see pages 8 and 9 for details.
President: Emmet Connolly deemed elected 1st Count 2nd Count 3rd Count Connolly 1222 +175 1401 +253 1654 Curley 1096 +116 1123 +132 1345 Loughnane 485 +38 523 Eliminated Conboy 389 Eliminated RON 16 Eliminated
Education: Conor Healy deemed elected 1st Count 2nd Count 3rd Count Stitt 910 +148 1058 +366 1424 Healy 853 +279 1132 +371 1503 Melia 778 +168 948 Eliminated Kelly 513 Eliminated McLaughlin 213 Eliminated RON 60 Eliminated
Welfare: Brian Grant deemed electe 1st Count 2nd Count Grant 1599 +333 1932 Noyce 893 +315 1208 Keane 778 Eliminated RON 52 Eliminated
Interview:
Emmet Connelly, incoming SU President What do you hope to achieve during your tern as NUI Galway’s SU President? By far the biggest issue facing the SU is the proposed cuts to student grants made by the outgoing government. These proposed cuts - if implemented - would likely see up to 400 NUIG students having to drop out of college having had their grants cut by up to 60%. I’ve already met with some of our local Labour and Fine Gael TDs on this issue, including Derek Nolan, Colm Keaveny and Paul Connaughton, as well as the new Minister for Education, Labour’s Ruairí Quinn TD. Mr. Quinn said the proposals were unfair and that Labour would not unduly hit student grants, so I want to make sure he keeps his word now that he’s the man who will either sign off or scrap these proposals in June.
Do you plan to make any significant changes to the way the SU is currently run? The new constitution, which I wrote large parts of and was approved by the students in last week’s referendum, will see major changes to the operations of the SU. As someone who was closely involved in deciding what changes should be brought it, I am very focused on making sure they are fully and properly implemented to ensure the SU is accountable to the students it represents. Among the main changes are a Board of Trustees to independently hold the assets of the SU in trust for the members of the SU; an independent Finance Committee to approve large-scale expenditure proposed by the elected officers; a Mature Students Officer to give this growing demographic proper representation in the SU; and a major reform of class reps and the executive committee to make them more open and accountable.
Do you believe it is really possible to affect change in the college and the SU, given that the term is only one year long? I think the year is what you make of it. As I’ve served as a Vice President for 20 months now, I feel I’m well accustomed to how to work with management to get things done for students - and how to work around management if things are not progressing as well as we’d like. A year does sound like a short time, but I believe all the elected officers will get to grips with their areas of responsibility during the summer months and we’ll all be ready for go for September. What do you believe will be your greatest challenge this coming year? Again, the greatest challenge I’ll be facing is the issue of student grants and how we can lobby the new government to not implement the drastic proposals that were handed to them by the outgoing government. With a yawning deficit in the public finances, I know this will not be an easy task - but it is a vital task that we as a Students’ Union must undertake - so we will do our best and work the other SUs and the national Union of Students in Ireland (USI) to try and protect our students as best we can.
How do you feel your previous experience in the SU will benefit you in the role of President? I think having two terms as a Vice President under my belt will benefit me in that I’ll be moving my files from one office to another and then I’m ready to go from day one. I’ve already met the main players in university management and I know all the USI officers already, as well as the staff in the SU offices, so there’ll be no ‘settling in’ period when my term begins. This will allow me to focus on the bigger issues and prepare for the September rush.
If you could name one thing you would like to accomplish during your term as president, what would that be? One of the most popular ideas on my manifesto was to look into whether we can set up a Student Dental Service in NUIG. There’s a few options we have to look at here, and I’m not going to make false promises to students about what is achievable, but I plan on working very hard on this idea during the summer and hope to have a plan for such a service in place for September.
How do you plan to further the SU’s campaign against financial problems facing students? Our Welfare Officer deals with a lot of one-on-one cases of financial hardship and advises students on how to make weekly budgets, how to save money, and where they can apply for financial help. Our big task this year on a national level is to protect the Student Assistance Fund from cuts. In NUIG we’ve seen a surge in applications to this government fund and our job here is to make sure all students are aware of the fund in the first place, and to stop any cuts, which would affect those already hard-hit by financial problems. On a smaller level, the SU as an employer is trying to freeze or lower prices in our Commercial Services on campus and to hire more student staff.
Finally, this will be your third year involved with the SU, what changes have you seen over the years? There’s been some pretty big changes over the past few years: we’ve secured a renovation of the SU offices in Áras na Mac Léinn, we’ve kept dedicated and knowledgeable staff which really helps in developing an institutional memory in any organisation, we’ve refurbished the Student Health Unit, expanded the services of SU Commercial Service like the recentlyopened Wall Café and have more expansion plans on the way, we’ve won more student seats on management boards here, we’ve passed a new SU constitution which brings in massive changes to the management of the SU, the class reps council and the number of elected officers we have. Overall, the Students’ Union has steadily become a more reliable, betterresourced, more credible organisation for representing students with the local and national media, the university and the government as well as offering more services to our students.
By Méabh McDonnell
The SU Sessions: Keywest The SU Sessions present Keywest <http:// www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event. php?eid=163085010407551> on Tuesday 22nd of March at 6pm in An Bialann (The Canteen). They are currently finishing off their debut album “Messages From God” with legendary producer in Los Angelas. To date, Keywest have performed at high profile events such as the Vodafone Mainstage at Oxegen 2010, The Late Late Show, and Mainstage Rose of Tralee to name but a few.They have also been busy with a nationwide College / Schools tour which has seen them perform to over 40,000 students
Students’ Union Elections 2011 Full Time Officer Election Results Congratulations to the three newly elected Full Time SU Officers who will take up their positions on the 1st of July for 2011/12. They are: President - Emmet Connolly, Vice President/Education Officer - Conor Healy, Vice President/Welfare Officer - Brian Grant. The new SU Constitution was also passed in the Referendum held on the same day. Elections for the Part Time Officer Positions will take place on Thursday 24th of March in the following locations: The College Bar 10:00 - 21:00; An Bialann 10:00-20:00; Friars, the Cairnes Building 11:00-14:00; Ácadamh, An Cheathrú Rua 12:00-13:00; Clinical Sciences Institute UHG 12:00 - 14:00
Please note: Clubs’ Captain Election will be held at 13:00 in the Sports Centre Boardroom - only Clubs’ Captains or their proxy may attend and vote in this election. Societies Chairperson Election will be held at 17:00 in Meeting Room 1 in Áras na Mac Léinn - only Society Auditors or their proxy may attend and vote in this election. Vote Count: 10:00 onwards Friday 25th March 2011 The Hub, Áras na Mac Léinn Please remember you need your College ID with you to vote. Only Postgrad students may vote in the Postgrad Officer Election.
already in 2010 with more to come next term. Keywest have already had successful releases in the Irish charts, most notably “Miss You Most” which went in at No.6 and was the 33rd biggest Irish seller in 2009. The debut album “Messages From God” is due for release early 2011. The SU Sessions are a free weekly music event bringing the best in new music to Campus.
Blood Donation Clinic Sláinte Soc in association with the IBTS will be holding a Blood Donation Clinic <http://www.facebook.com/event. php?eid=176077199104919> on Tues 29th and Weds 30th of March 12pm -3pm both days in the Cube and the Stage Áras na MacLéinn. Please come along and donate as more donors are always needed. It’s a really great thing to do and something that’s vitally important to so many sick people all over Ireland.
Meeting with University Sports Clubs The recent General Meeting to discuss a proposed referendum to increase the student levy in order to fund universal gym membership highlighted many concerns of those who are involved in sports clubs. The Students’ Union is therefore holding a meeting for all students to discuss any issues or ideas relating to sports facilities. This meeting will take place on Wednesday 23rd of March at 1pm in The View, Áras Na Mac Léinn. All students are welcome. If there is anything in particular you would like to discuss please email su.president@nuigalway.ie.
USI Rally for Environmental Justice On Wednesday, March 23rd at 1:30pm, USI in association with Young Friends of the Earth will be outside Dail Eireann to demand a better use of Ireland’s natural resources, clean energy usage and sustainable job creation. They will march on to the Department of the Environment to demand that this new government will take the environment seriously. For more information email Tara at environment@usi.ie.
College Week 2011 Many thanks to everyone who got involved and helped out with all the fundraising efforts during College Week and we have managed to raise over ?22,000 for the College Week Charities Ability West <http://www.abilitywest.ie/> and Alan Kerins Projects <alanhttp:// www.alankerinsprojects.org/> with some more bits and pieces still to come in. You can see what some of the Skydivers got up to last weekend here. <http://www.youtube.com/user/Sky diveireland2007?feature=chclk#p/u/5/yr4_JzZ1cWc>
Seanad Elections: Meet the Candidates On Monday 4th of April NUI Graduates will have a chance to meet some of the 27 candidates nominated to contest the Seanad Éireann Election in the NUI Constituency. This informal evening is being held in the Bailey Allen Hall, Áras na Mac Léinn from 6pm onwards and is open to all who wish to meet and question the candidates. All NUI Graduates are entitled to vote in these elections provided they appear on the current Register of Electors. Further information for Electors can be found at: http://www.nui.ie/elections/votersFAQ.asp
Exam Timetables The Semester II/Summer Exam Timetables are now available on the Exams Office website here: http://www.nuigalway.ie/exams/ timetables/sem_two.html
The way we wear
It could be the recession, it could be a postmodernist movement in fashion, or it could be a new-born appreciation for the history of clothes, but vintage is back with a bang! The best way to get inspiration for modern outfits is to look at the most successful fashion trends of the past. Today, a picture of the modern woman is brought to life by the biggest fashion houses in the world. This woman represents femininity, sophistication and subtle sexiness. To capture the essence of this woman, the typical fashionista will look back at the fashion chapters of the past and put a new twist on their trends. The 1920s was women’s fashion premier into the modern world. Coco Chanel was the first icon to cut her hair, wear trousers and reject the corset. The typical 1920s look was a short bob hair style, cloche hats, flapper dresses and midi (mid-calf ) pencil skirts. The 1950s was the era to celebrate a woman’s sexiness by highlighting the hourglass figure. This was done by structured clothes. We’re talking tight bodices with poof or pencil midi skirts, high heels and sexy lingerie. Today, the 1950s era still stands as the sexiest and most flattering fashion era of all time. With the popularity of hit shows like Mad Men, the 1950s style has made its way back into the modern world of fashion. The 1960s was the decade when Jackie Kennedy stepped into the limelight, adored by fans across the globe for her elegant, lady-like style. She was often photographed supporting the pillbox hat along with pastel coloured suits and over-sized buttons. The beehive hairstyles and false eyelashes from the 1960s icon Twiggy have been reinvented by Vogue for their best 2010/2011 looks. Bump-its are available in Claire’s accessories. They give you the perfect beehive hairstyle without the damaging effects of back-combing.
By Fiona Ní Mháille
Although vintage is definitely back with a bang this season, it is important to pick the best trends of the past that will work well on your figure. If you’re very curvy, flared 70s jeans won’t work well on you. Aim instead, for a Mad Men-esque 1950s feel in your wardrobe. If you’re tall with legs that go on forever, always remember, if you’ve got it, flaunt it! Invest in a pair of high-waisted shorts that will make your legs look even longer and show off those pins! Nude heels are also a great accessory for elongating your legs. We can learn so much from the pages of vintage fashion, for new ideas on the future, just take a quick glance at the past! Irish women have to be the best dressed women in the world. I’ve lived in France, the States and been to all of the fashion capitals of the world. Generally speaking, Irish women, seem to really understand their bodies, and what suits their shapes. Irish men, on the other hand, won’t be on the ‘best dressed countries’ list anytime soon. The average Irish man thinks a GAA jersey and a pair of ‘fat-mans’ (baggy sweat pants) is the height of chic. God love them. Hoodies are fine once and again, but shouldn’t be the main feature of a man’s wardrobe. In a few easy steps, I’ll tell you how to transform the average Frankenstein into a Frank-infine! A shirt under a fitted jumper á la Ralph Lauren is a classic look that looks great on every man. It can be worn in the office, in the pub, in college and for a date. It takes two minutes to put together but looks like you made an effort. Make-up is a big no-no. If Russell Brand can’t pull off eyeliner, then no man can. End of.
Scarves are the best accessories for men. They bulk up every frame and look great. Instead of wearing lots of layers to fill out your frame, a fail-safe outfit is a fitted t-shirt teamed with a scarf for perfect understated style. Scotch & Soda and Diesel are the coolest lines around when it comes to fashion for men, and are available at Brown Thomas. Skinny Jeans or pipe-legged jeans are great on slender men. Steer clear of super skinnies, you don’t want to look like you have chicken legs. Straight-leg, dark denim jeans are classic, you can’t go wrong with a pair of these bad-boys. You can team this with a smart white shirt under a blazer for the perfect office look. Faded jeans are more casual than dark denims but can look good with a smart shirt or a fitted t-shirt. Boot cut jeans are another classic cut, they will suit every time of frame and, as you can guess from the name, can be worn with chunkier footwear, such as boots. Check out the denim bar at Brown Thomas Galway for more ideas! Horizontal stripes suit every man. They fill out their frames. On slender men, they make them look broader. On broad men, they make them look buffed. Result! In the line of cardigans or fleeces, the duffel style fleece is hot-to-trot this season. This is usually a hooded fleece with buttons joined by 3 or 4 rope or leather ties at the front with wooden buttons. The duffel fleece is warm, chic and practical in the Irish weather. If it’s too cold to wear just a t-shirt, a loose tartan shirt thrown over it is bang-ontrend and so cool this season.
For more ideas on how to re-vamp your wardrobe, make sure you come along to The Brown Thomas Style Lock-In! This is the hottest event to hit the NUIG calendar this year. It will take place the 30th March in Brown Thomas Galway from 6.308.30. There will be a fashion show, complimentary beauty make-overs, music from DJ Byrno, and there might even be some sports stars in the audience! This event is open to the students in NUIG and there will be complimentary drinks on the night, including passes into CPs afterwards. Brown Thomas’s biggest experts will be there presenting straight-off-the runways style and ideas. I will be giving the season’s hottest fashion tips from the most popular lines with students, including Lipsy, Selected Femme, Guess, Miss Sixty, Laundry Room and many more. For guys, we will reveal what to wear and how to wear it with collections including Farah, Fred Perry, Scotch & Soda, Diesel, and Superdry. With interactive games including ‘Beat the Pro’ there is loads to look forward to.
BROWN THOMAS GALWAY invites you to a
STYLE LOCK IN WEDNESDAY 30TH MARCH 6.30PM - 8.30PM
Enjoy a night of fashion, beauty and entertainment Fashion Shows Complimentary Beauty Makeovers Tunes by DJ Byrno Spot prizes 15% Student discount* Access to CP's After Party R.S.V.P. to rsvp@brownthomas.ie Subject: GALWAY BROWN THOMAS GALWAY. 18-21 Eglinton Buildings, Galway, Ireland. T. 091 565 254 W. www.brownthomas.com * Exclusions apply. Please ask instore.
Spring Into Style
Spring has certainly sprung, the daffodils are out and there’s a grand stretch in the evenings. It’s time to divest yourself they duffle coats, ban the boots discard the scarves... unless you happen to be in the reading room where you’ll need to wear every layer you own or freeze mid-essay. We saw the shows, read the magazines and ogled the merchandise in-store when the new lines were introduced, and now that it’s finally less arctic it’s an ample time to invest. From the designers to the high street there’s almost too much to love, here’s a quick reminder of a few hot trends to carry you into warmer weather. Going Dotty: Polka dots are big news for this season, and add a fun and girly vibe to any outfit. Seen on the catwalks of Moschino and Max Mara, this vintage print has definitely come full circle. Monochrome or brightly coloured, from tops to tights, it’s easy to incorporate a spot of polka into your wardrobe. Ahoy Sailor: Nautical chic remains firmly anchored on the springtime runways again this year, with many designers such as Betsey Johnson and Christian Dior sweeping the decks with their sea-faring fashions. Get on board with notes of navy, striking stripes and anything that makes you say yarrrrr. Wooden legs and parrots are optional. Leopard Love: Get in touch with your inner feline and get spotted in leopard print on campus. This trend has carried on from Winter 2010 and is extremely wearable. For the uberglam a Leopard print trench is a great way to wear the trend if all other accessories are kept simple and the one colour— this is not a look you can colour-block unless you want to be mistaken for Kat Slater/Liz McDonald/any aging barmaid featuring on a soap. Leopard print pumps, scarves and bags can brighten up an otherwise uninspiring ensemble.
By Aisling Scally
Disco Stu: Make like Springfield’s golden oldie and get your groove on with 70s style fashion. Don’t be afraid to flare up- the wide-legged jean is back for more. Platforms are no longer reserved for trains, D&G and Marc by Marc Jacobs stood out from the crowd with wedge heeled sandals. Channel your inner Fonz and don’t forget the peace signs. Dabadee Dabadie: They didn’t know it then, but Eiffel 65 predicted a serious trend for spring/summer 2011 when they released that song back in ‘99. When Kate Middleton showed off her stunning sapphire engagement ring wearing a wrap dress by Issa London in a similar hue, she gave a new meaning to the term royal blue. While none of us can afford her bling we can at least cash in on the cobalt colour. Nudes: Flesh tones and neutrals were abundant on the catwalks of Chloe and Versace and provide an excellent palette for accessorising. They were also combined with lace by many other designers. Nude was also big news in make-up, with many models in the shows sporting natural shades of war paint in favour of an understated look. Note: this trend is not an excuse to run around CPs in the nip.
And Finally: “Florals for spring? Groundbreaking”- the withering words of Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. Springtime doesn’t only bring flowers to your garden, this print can always be seen blossoming on seasonal runways and is a fun and fresh way to brighten up your wardrobe. Dior and De La Renta had the pick of the crop, and emulations can be seen all over the high street.
The Race for the Park
Just when we all thought all the electioneering was finally finished the rare occurrence of the presidential election is on the cards for October. On many occasions in Irish history the major parties have all settled on an agreed candidate. This occurred most recently seven years ago when the incumbent President Mary Mc Aleese was re-elected as an independent candidate. Mrs. Mc Aleese of course won the Presidential Election in 1997 as a Fianna Fáil candidate. This time however we may be faced with an election. With the changed make up in the Oireachtas it has now become possible for a candidate to be selected outside of the major parties; this is due to the large numbers of independents who have formed themselves into a technical group. In order to secure a presidential nomination a prospective candidate must secure the support of 20 members of the Dáil or have the backing of four county councils. So.... what candidates are already in the field? The most talked about candidacy is recent months has been that of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, with the recent backlash against Fianna Fáil in the General election it would seem that the onetime “Teflon Taoiseach” has become too much of a sticky proposition for the Irish electorate. It seems likely now that Cork based MEP Brian Crowley is likely to be the Fianna Fáil candidate unless they agree to an all part nomination.
The Government party Fine Gael has had a number of candidates linked to it in recent months. MEPs Sean Kelly and Maireid Mc Guinness have been mentioned as possible candidates. With his background in the GAA, Sean Kelly would seem as an ideal choice for the party. His role as GAA president was seen as being hugely progressive and he is widely regarded a mass of great integrity. Also for Taoiseach John Bruton has been speculated to announce his candidacy. However, when questioned about his intentions on the Late Late Show he remained tight lipped. With his role as President of the IFSC and EU ambassador to the United States he could possibly transform the role of President in this time of economic crisis. The Labour party also boasts two very strong candidates. Fergus Finlay of Barnardos is seeking the Labour party nomination. He was involved as director of elections for Mary Robinson’s successful campaign in 1990. His prowess as a public speaker would ensure that he would make a great choice as our foremost ambassador. Likewise Labour Party President Michael D. Higgins has confirmed his intentions to seek a nomination. Michael D. was perhaps one of the finest orators that ever graced the Dáil. He has sought to run as a candidate in the past, a champion
of the Arts he would also transform the office of the President. In terms of Independent candidates the most vocal and visible candidate has been Senator David Norris. Senator Norris played a central role in the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland; he is also a renowned Joycean scholar. Senator Norris is known as one of the Senates finest speakers. He has signalled that his intentions if selected are to promote issues of equality and mental health. There is also a possibility of Sinn Féin running a candidate. Mary Lou Mc Donald and Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams have been mentioned as possible candidates. Lesser known candidates such as Senator Mary White have announced their intention to run for the office. The role of president has largely been a ceremonial one. The first President of Ireland of Ireland Douglas Hyde was an agreed candidate. His presidency was seen very much as a gesture to the southern Protestants of the newly created Irish Free State. Eamon De Valera established the office as that of a ceremonial one preferring to be mainly visible at state functions and events. This was a role that was further developed by Dr. Patrick Hillary. The
By Marc Mc Menamin
role of President really came into its own when Mary Robinson was elected in 1990. She in her own oft quoted words attempted to ‘rock the system instead of choosing to rock the cradle. Mary Mc Aleese was president at a crucial time in Irish history. She dedicated her 14 years in office to building bridges with the Unionist community in Northern Ireland. This occurred at a crucial time in Irish history in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. This was significant because that was essential in Irish history at that point. Our troubles have significantly changed in recent years. No longer do we have problems in terms of politics and sectarianism; we are now faced with problems in the economic sense, perhaps it is time for the role of the presidency to change once again. We are more in need than ever for an international ambassador to fight for Ireland on the global stage. We are now more in need than ever before in our history for someone to stand up for Ireland in Europe and the wider world and to help begin the process of rebuilding our reputation internationally. Surly it is time to modernise our presidency and make it an office which will voice the concerns and aspirations of the Irish people on the global stage.
1981 Hunger Strikes
30 years on MA in History, Paddy McMenamin was a Political Prisoner in Long Kesh in the 1970’s and Chairman of his local H Block Committee in Donegal during the momentous events of 1981 which led to the deaths of 10 men on Hunger Strike including Bobby Sands MP & Kieran Doherty TD, both of whom he knew personally.
But nowhere was the influence of Thatcher felt like in the cells of the H Blocks and on the streets of Belfast. The Iron Lady had donned her Conservative Unionist hat on taking office, she made no bones about it, she wasn’t neutral, the 6 counties was part of the UK, once famously commenting, “Belfast is as British as Finchley”! Another time when Garrett
‘In the twilight of my last morning i will see my friends and you, and I’ll go to my grave regretting nothing but and unfinished song’.
Fitzgerald produced a plan for greater Southern influence in running affairs in the 6 counties; “No, No, No,” as she defiantly rejected Irish opinion. The battleground was set, it was going to be played out over 8 long months
Nazim Hikmet, Bursa Prison, Turkey. 1933.
during 1981 which would see 10 prisoners die within the gaol, and many soldiers, policemen and civilians die on the outside. It was the saddest most depressing period of my life as one
30 years ago, on 1st March 1981 Bobby
Argentine sailors, and the destruction of
Sands began a Hunger Strike in the
Mining villages in Scotland and Wales.
H Blocks, Long Kesh, which would
Thatcher as a modern day Bodicea, sent
eventually lead to a Herculean struggle
an Armada half way around the world to
between hunger striking political
defend the indefensible, a sheep ridden
prisoners and the British Govt. It became
island off Latin America, the Malvinas
a battle of wills and determination
(Falklands) fiasco was a throwback to the
personified on the one hand by the
worst days of colonialism.
dignified poetic defiance of Bobby Sands, and on the other, the rigid, not
The Mining villages in South Wales,
for turning, Iron Lady herself, Margaret
Yorkshire and west of Scotland became
Thatcher. 30 years ago seems a long
a final battleground of the industrial
time ago if you are a 1st year Undergrad,
revolution. Proud, defiant communities,
essentially it’s history now, but for a
with generations of commitment to
generation who lived through those
industrial Britain, found themselves
dark days in the early 80’s, it’s just like
in the frontline as Arthur Scargill’s
yesterday.
Unions clashed with the full force of the state. The mining communities were
The 70’s had witnessed a full-scale guerrilla
devastated, divided, and defeated. The
war between the IRA and the British
modern face of capitalist adventure
Army; civil rights protests had developed
politics had tramped over whole
into street conflict, which merged into
communities of working class people;
armed resistance to a despised regime
the Mines were closed down just the
at Stormont. As the 70’s turned into the
same as the Shipyards before them, and
80’s, the stage was set for a monumental
the factories before that. The new way
collision between protesting prisoners
brought Yuppie apartments along the
and the Iron Lady. She had embraced
Clyde and Tyne, ultra modern shopping
the leadership of middle England with
malls where the factories used to stand,
gusto and was prepared to face down
and tree lined areas, museums and
the challenge of anyone who stood
interpretative centres where the mines
in her way. The early 80’s are strewn
once produced ‘black gold’!
with the deaths of the hunger strikers,
by one the prisoners succumbed, the death watch was horrible, the agony for mother’s and father’s watching their son’s slowly die must have been horrendous. Thatcher had chosen to make confrontation rather than compromise her modus operandi. She seen the prisoners as the weak link in Republican resistance, she saw it as a chance to defeat the IRA and was prepared to meet them headlong, suggesting they were playing ‘their last card’! Airey Neave, WW2 hero and her personal friend had been assassinated in 1979; Thatcher was in no mood for compromise. She resented Cardinal O’Fiach’s claim that the H Block’s were like the ‘slums of Calcutta’. She dismissed Garret’s overtures and later Haughey, and echoed Labour’s Roy Mason; “we will squeeze them like toothpaste…”! This was the scenario that Bobby Sands faced in January 1981. There was no mood for compromise within the establishment, several weeks previously the 1st Hunger Strike had ended, called off by Brendan (the Dark) Hughes with Sean McKenna on the verge of death. Good faith then would probably have changed Irish history and most people would never have heard of Bobby Sands. But the British Government and Thatcher, as
many a British administration before
It was a most depressing time, a time of
wasn’t the sort of decision you would
them over the centuries, found the red
unemployment and social exclusion, a
be requested at the end of a Seminar
mist when faced with the Irish problem.
time to re-examine just exactly what was
or Tutorial or a Job interview, it was life
life all about, not dissimilar to the present
threatening, it was, as our upcoming
day. For the trendy young things of today
Royal visitor might say, ‘ Annus Horribilis’.
After 4 long years of protest on the Blanket, no visits, isolated, continuous
with the Ipad or Iphone, it was pre Celtic
lock-up, the dirty protest and the 1st
Tiger days, pre mansions of houses and
Hunger Strike, British duplicity had
3 cars in the driveway and a villa in the
might have been singing about a
presumed weakness in the humanitarian
South of France! It was even pre Jack
‘Summer in Dublin’, while others were
decision to save McKenna and end the
Charlton and we had never experienced
marching on the British Embassy
first fast. Their insincerity would have
that wonderful feel good factor of World
in Ballsbridge. Mark Chapman was
disastrous results for all concerned,
Cup qualification and hence being
reading ‘Catcher in the Rye’ before he
and their inability to understand the
proud to be Irish again. That was all in
murdered John Lennon just before
determination and commitment of an
the future, we were all doom and gloom
Bobby Sands would become another
individual who refused to be classified as
(sounds familiar), reeling from economic
iconic name in history. It seems such
an ordinary criminal was palpable.
depression in the South and violence in
a long time ago now, we’ve had Gulf
the North, there just seemed to end to
Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, Good Friday
either and in the middle of it all was the
Agreement and Mandela freed, Tsunami,
life and death struggle in Long Kesh.
Earthquakes and Nuclear threats, 9/11,
To try and capture the scenario for the present day University cohort, 1981 was a dreary, dark year in the memory. We were in the middle of the previous
1981 was indeed a horrible year, Bagatelle
a Black President, World Cups and Ryder Bobby Sands at this stage 30 years ago
Cups, Tyrone and Sam, joy and sorrow in
recession and boatloads of young
was half way through his fast, he would
equal measure. We still haven’t got the
people were heading to England and
succumb to the inevitable result of
world ‘without greed and hunger’ that
the US similar to now, our senses were
intranigence by, in my opinion, an evil
Lennon sang about, we still have the
subjected to another Royal wedding,
woman, after 65 days. The body turning
obscenity of Gaza and our own Bankers.
48 young people died in the Stardust,
in on itself, the slow agonising wait for
Bobby Sands may ‘have been a dreamer’
Kerry were on a roll with ‘Sam’, and it
death by bedside parents, the agony
as well, but he ‘wasn’t the only one’,
was a time of elections (5 in all in the
for all concerned, the turmoil on the
sometime our dreams come true.
80’s), and the Hunger Strikes impacted
streets outside, the associated deaths
dramatically while a previous FG/Labour
become statistics in the conflict, all
Coalition didn’t survive the economic
victims everyone. I knew Bobby Sands
difficulties!
personally, an ordinary guy, a good footballer and athlete, he should have
From March to October there was only
been going to University and letting his
one show in town, despite feverish
obvious talents with a pen reap rewards
attempts by some in RTE to downplay
in an academic sense, but at 27 he chose
its significance, it was just impossible
a path that very few would have the
to concentrate on the price of a loaf or
capacity or inclination to take. He was an
a gallon of petrol when just 100 miles
ordinary guy who did an extraordinary
up the road we had 10 young men
act, he never had the chance to live to
dying on Hunger Strike. No matter
see his parents grow old or take the
what your political affiliation or none,
grandchildren for walks in Donegal or
this was one issue which Irish people
read them some of his poetry.
found empathy and which English Govt Ministers couldn’t fathom. The ancient
When we adopt our positions regarding
custom of rectifying a wrong on your
any issue we are usually coming from a
family by hunger striking outside the
well defined political posture, we never
home of the perpetrator, images of
really look at events with a cold clinical
Terence McSweeney and Tom Ashe, all
eye, no-one is neutral, no student, no
had a subconscious influence on the
Historian, no Politician. But looking back
Irish psyche. It was personified by the
at this event in recent History if you allow
sounds of thousands of tramping feet
your mind to wander into a small cell in
throughout the length and breath of
the H Blocks, 6ft by 12ft; no furniture;
the country. It wasn’t a support for the
no books; no radio or TV; no clothes bar
‘armed struggle’, far from it, it was just
a blanket; cell smeared in excreta and
the realisation that the issue could
urine; no visits by family and occasional
be resolved and lives saved but Mrs
beatings by ‘screws’ and forced bodily
Thatcher ‘wasn’t for turning’, she had
searches; if you can imagine this horrific
an agenda and despite the diplomatic
image and consider it was for every
efforts of many Govts, Churches and
minute of every day for 4 years, over
even the Pope, the Hunger Strike would
1400 days of your life and with no end
be played out to a world-wide audience
in sight, that was the scenario facing
during that long summer of ’81.
Bobby Sands on 1st March 30 years ago. His decision was made in that light, it
“H Block has been brought to the forefront of the struggle, therefore the risk in fighting that struggle should be no different to that freely accepted by the Volunteer in the street….i accept this although I don’t enjoy saying it…. it’s not bravado, egotism or foolhardy in any way. I realise and accept the consequences of death and I believe there is victory in death….”. Bobby Sands.
あ の 日 の 変 更 日 本
T h e
D a y
t h a t
C h
Friday, 11th March will be remembered for the twin disasters that struck and destroyed Japan in an instant and left a devastated and shocked population in its wake. Japan, one of the richest countries in the world, was hit by an earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter Scale. It was soon followed by a tsunami, which swept through the north-eastern coast of Japan with waves reaching up to 10 meters in height. It became apparent that further tsunamis could hit the coast of other countries in the pacific and warnings were placed in Australia, California coast, Hawaii and Taiwan, fortunately it didn’t have as devastating impact as in Japan. The images of the violent megaearthquake and tsunami were shown all over the world, and the majority of Irish people awoke to hear the news of the horrific natural disasters which hit Japan and viewed images of skyscrapers shaking violently in Tokyo, to giant waves gushing through coastal towns carrying in its wrath cars, boats and houses.
a n g e d
J a p a n
When the reality of these tragedies began to sink in, more clips and images appeared either via the media or YouTube, such as whirlpools which were on the verge of engulfing boats and the before and after images of the town of Natori which had been completely erased by the tsunami wiping out an entire population. The uneasiness felt by viewers is nothing compared to the dismay of the Japanese citizens so far over 10,000 people have been confirmed dead and it is believed that this death toll will increase up to 11,000.
The rescue mission has been made more difficult by weather conditions with snow and heavy rain. If you would like to help or give a donation towards the Japanese tragedies, please visit www.redcross.ie
Some town crematoriums are unable to cope with the amount of bodies being brought in daily and has asked the larger towns and cities for help and due to damaged infrastructure and transportation officials are unable to confirm the safety of 15,000 people. It has been estimated so far that over 550,000 people have been evacuated where possible, however there are still high numbers of those who are stranded and out of reach of food and water. The effects of the earthquake and tsunami could be long term as the earthquake, tsunamis and numerous aftershocks caused fires to break out in the reactors in the nuclear power station in Fukushima. Despite the precautions put in place by the Japanese government in anticipation of an earthquake, no-one could predict the scale of disasters which have occurred.
The workers at the Nuclear Plant have attempted to cool reactors however they were unable to prevent the explosions which have occurred in the reactor cores which have emitted harmful radiation into the atmosphere. The radiation levels reached such high levels within the plant that workers were forced to leave, people who lived within 20km radius of the Nuclear plant were evacuated immediately. Yet those who live within 20km-30km are forced to stay indoors with increased health risks, as services are unable to access them.
The explosions within the plant have set people of the north coast of Japan into a state of panic, when radiation levels were detected in Tokyo, with many attempting to escape, however all flights have stopped leaving Tokyo and many landings are being diverted elsewhere. The Japanese fears were increased by the announcement by Emperor Akihito expressing concern at current nuclear crisis, and lack of information doesn’t help to ease worries. There are particularly strong fears for the elderly and the children, particularly when the wind will change direction and blow levels of radiation over Tokyo and further parts in Japan.
The fear of radiation is not taken lightly that once it has been absorbed into the bloodstream it can linger for years in the bone marrow or liver which can lead to cancer. It is evident that the world is horrified to watch the continuing disaster in Japan and the uncertainties that lie ahead for the Japanese. It has also brought about debate on the safety of nuclear power, leading many countries to question the future of their nuclear stations.
By Grainne Coyne
The Faculty of Law at University College Cork has an outstanding record of research and publication and a wellestablished programme of postgraduate education. Taught Postgraduate Opportunities in Law
•
LLM (Child and Family Law) This brand new LLM is the first such course in Ireland. Taught by national and international experts, it will equip students with knowledge of child and family law in theory and practice.
•
LLM (International Human Rights Law and Public Policy) This degree is taught by academic staff with extensive academic and practical experience in human rights law and public policy and will engage students in the practice and policy context of Human Rights Law.
•
LLM (Intellectual Property & E-Law) This LLM builds upon the Faculty’s considerable research and teaching expertise in Intellectual Property and E-Law, including the annual E-Law Summer institute hosted jointly with the University of New Hampshire School of Law, USA.
•
LLM (Criminal Justice) This specialist degree includes an innovative clinical programme, which offers students the opportunity to combine theoretical inquiry with observation of the practical reality of criminal justice.
•
LLM This general LLM degree provides students with access to a broad variety of legal subjects and the opportunity to pursue a thesis in an area of interest.
•
LLB The LLB degree is a one year postgraduate law degree offering students the opportunity to expand their portfolio of legal knowledge across a wider area of law in preparation for specific practice or for further study. Applications are made online at www.pac.ie. Closing Date 1st May 2011 – this may be extended at the discretion of the Faculty of Law. Scholarships Up to two fees scholarships will be awarded on a competitive basis for the above programmes. A partial fee bursary funded by the E-Law Summer institute will be awarded on a competitive basis for the LLM (Intellectual Property & E-Law).
Research Degrees UCC’s Faculty of Law is home to a thriving PhD programme and reflects our international reputation for research excellence. The PhD programme now hosts more than 40 international graduate students, many of whom are the recipients of prestigious scholarship awards. PhD and LLM by Research applications for a September start must be submitted by 30th June 2011. See: www.ucc.ie/law/postgrad/applications PhD Scholarships Based on applications received by 30th June, up to three graduate tutor scholarships of €15,000 p.a. will be offered to support full-time PhD studies. See: www.ucc.ie/law/postgrad/schol_fund/ A scholarship of €7,500 sponsored by Ronan Daly Jermyn Solicitors is available to support a research LLM in the business law field. See: www.ucc.ie/law/postgrad/schol_fund/RDJScholarship/
For further information see www.ucc.ie/law/postgrad/ or contact Veronica at v.calnan@ucc.ie.
SOCIETIES PAGE Pictured are the recipients of the UCG Spirit of 78/80 Socs
Winners of the new NUI Galway Societies Bursary Announced The first ever ‘UCG Spirit of 78/80 Socs Bursary Final was held last Wednesday night. There were fifteen performers battling in three categories for the chance to win €1000 bursary. There was incredible talent on show and the judges were dazzled with the performances from dancers, jugglers, actors, poets, music groups. Also on the night Riona Hughes, Societies Officer and Lorraine Tansey ALIVE Officer, announced the winner of the Civic Engagement/Charity Volunteering category and the winner of the category presented a spellbinding collage of photos and video clips from their experiences volunteering over the last few years. At the end of the night the judges announced the winners from the performance categories and the recipients of the bursaries were:
Soloist Category: Isaac Burke from Castlebar, Co. Mayo. Groups: Orna Ní Bhroin from Foxrock, Dublin and Diarmuid Scahill from Coolough Road, Galway. Performance Category: Dave Rock from Kinvara, Galway (If you want to see Dave perform he has a gig on the 29th of March at 9pm in the Crane Bar) Civic Engagement/Charity Volunteering: Julie D’lima from Tirellan Heights, Galway. Audience Choice: Adam Guinane from Limerick City; Borja CatellanValladolid, Spain; Joe Junker from Ballymore Eustace, Co. Kildare, James Frawley from Mervue, Galway; and Meaghan LaGrandeur from Ottawa, Canada. Judges Choice: Joint winners: Aaron Hegarty from Inniscaragh, Co. Cork and Teresa Brennan from Barrow House, Co. Laois. Speaking after the Final Ríona Hughes, Societies officer said ‘the evening was a huge success with an amazing array of talent we are delighted that the Alumni are supporting and helping to nurture our future artists and activists’ To find out more about the Societies Bursary visit www.socs.nuigalway.ie. For more information on the Graduates of 1978-1980 visit www.ucggrads7879ers.blogspot.com
Societies Awards 2011
Bursary.
The Annual Societies Awards will be held on the 30th of March in the Bailey Allen Hall. After the huge success of Societies in NUI Galway this year the awards will be very exciting. The categories are: Best Civic Contribution Best Cultural Contribution to the University Best Departmental Best Fresher Best Individual Best Media Publication Best New Society Best Poster Best Small Publication Best Society Best Society Event Best Website Most Improved Society Most Soccessful Society Phoenix Award All current NUI Galway societies are welcome to apply for the awards. The awards application deadline is on the 23rd of March at 3pm. Many of the societies that win awards will go on to represent NUI Galway in the (BICS) National Society Awards.
The Ghosts of Revenge A page from my diary as an interpreter… By Ndrek Gjini
He gave Besnik the address of another Albanian man where he had to go and get a revolver “for free”. He said to Besnik that he couldn’t live with shame. Kanun, revenge, blood feud, killing, many of those words were fired like bullets towards Besnik’s ears that night. He was feeling dizzy. The last words, he heard from his father were: “Listen to me my son, if you are not going to do this right now, I will kill myself tonight. Everything is ready, everything, Ok. You have to do it. I cannot take the shame any longer. Go. If you are my son, go now, now, Ok”. Besnik started crying. He went to a shop, bought a bottle of whiskey, and drank it. Got a taxi went to that Albanian man, got the revolver, and after that straight way to the Johnnie Fox’s pub. He entered the pub, ordered a double whiskey and sat on a table. “Is there an Albanian barman working here?” he asked a young waiter. “Yes”, replied the waiter pointing at a tall man behind the bar. Besnik Biba went there. “Are you Murat Duda’s son?”, he asked. “Yes, I am indeed”, replied the man behind the bar with a big smile on his face. “I am Besnik Biba”, said Besnik vociferously, and took out the revolver, shooting at him five times.
25th August 2005. It was 1:20AM when my phone rang. A lady from ‘Lionbridge’, a translation company in Dublin, after apologizing for the inconvenience at this late hour of the night, asked me if I could take an assignment at 9:30 in the morning at Stepaside Garda Station in Dublin. She said that a young man from Albania had handed himself in to the police after he killed a barman. “The detectives want to question him, but he has a very little English. We need your help please”, she said. “Yes”, I replied, “I’ll take it”. I woke up early and arrived there at 9:15AM.
for my family, and even shame for all our tribe”. This was Besnik Biba’s father talking to Besnik, when he was just sixteen years old.
A young Irish lady was waiting outside the front door of the Stepaside Garda Station. “I am Kate, Kate White, are you the Albanian interpreter?” she asked. “Yes”, I said. “Can you please give these cigarettes to Besnik Biba”, she asked me. “I am not allowed, but I will ask the police officer to do so”, I answered. A police officer waiting there on the front door announced, “Take, take them, and give to me, I will bring them to Besnik, no problem”.
After eight months, Besnik rang his family telling them that he had settled very well in Rome. His mother cried every time she talked to him. Besnik’s father was always very blunt with him. He, always blamed Besnik for the shame that he brought on the family by being not brave enough to kill one of Murat’s sons. He never forgot to finish by saying that he is still being served coffee and brandy with a bullet in the cup or glass. These words were a nightmare for Besnik.
I spent four hours inside the Stepaside Garda Station, but I cannot disclose what was said in there. Instead, I will tell you Besnik’s story:
After working for many years as a builder, last year Besnik started studying architecture in Sapienza University in Rome. There he met Kate White, a first year Irish student from Dublin. They fell in love. When the summer exams were over, Kate invited Besnik Biba to Dublin for holidays. He spent nearly two months at her house.
“You should go and kill Duda’s son, ok, you should! You are a man now, do you listen to me or not! We can’t live any more with this shame. The entire village is talking about how we are not brave enough to fulfill the obligation of Kanun. Revenge is blessed by God. Murat Duda had murdered two of your brothers. I resent being served coffee and brandy with a bullet in the cup or glass. This is shame for me, shame
“No”, Besnik had said, “No. Never”, and his eyes were covered in tears. “I can’t, you know that Murat Duda only has two sons. After Murat was put in jail, one is gone abroad and the other one is my close friend, we went to school together. I can’t, believe me, I can’t.” He stood up, walked towards the door and left. He had disappeared.
Yesterday, Besnik got a call from his father. He told Besnik that Murat Duda’s oldest son works as a barman in Johnnie Fox’s pub, situated in Glencullen on top of the Dublin Mountains. He said he has arranged everything for him.
“At least my father will feel proud of me now”, he murmured to himself, and ran to the taxi, which was waiting outside. He told the taximan to bring him as soon as he could to the nearest Garda Station. Besnik handed himself in, gave the revolver to the Gardaí and told them that he had just killed a barman in Johnnie Fox’s pub. When I finished interpreting, while walking towards my car, parked outside Stepaside Garda Station, I saw Kate White again. She was still there outside, waiting…. Kate White was pregnant. “A baby is going to be born soon”, I said to myself, while entering my car. “He will have Albanian blood, but not the Albanian ‘blood feud’. Maybe, he will hold an Albanian name, but not the Albanian revenge. Perhaps he will learn the Albanian language, but not the Albanian Code of Kanun. He will never be served with coffee or brandy with a bullet in a cup or glass. Thank God for this”. I was lost, talking to myself, without even realising.
She pushed back slightly so she could catch his gaze again. Within a moment he slid his fingers beneath her chin, tilting her head up so their lips could meet. Hah! I knew it. Oh wow we’re really all alone it’s so quiet out here I can hear the bass splashing in the Hudson they must be hungry for flies and oh the mosquitoes, I can even hear the mosquitoes pinching and biting and itching my legs…Oh what’s going to happen? He has to go back he told me he couldn’t stay and then I won’t see him oh why am I doing this –because I want this– what am I thinking, what’ll happen next? He’s leaving at the end of the summer and then we both go away but oh what if, what if... Well what if the next several weeks flew by in a whirl of forbidden nights in the community pool guardhouse and long afternoon hikes that ended with them naked on the dirt and leaves? Of revisiting their childhood playground and sharing cones of Double Chocolate Brownie ice cream; of tasting tours through the cotton candy and funnel cakes of the county fair; of playing in the kitchen, teaching him to make her mother’s tabouleh between the tickling and kisses; of dinners with her folks and lunches with his?
Looking Forward
She looked up. His eyes readily met hers and she searched his face for reassurance. Oh no…I just, I don’t know I don’t know… She looked down again, feeling safe but unsure. She breathed slowly as she inhaled the surrounding smells of stale mud and rusted metal, mingled with his soapy clean sweat. I want him. I do. Well why not? Why can’t I? Shouldn’t I? I can make it happen. All I have to do all I need to do is look up again. I just need to look up one more time…
By Chelsea Bakalar
“Oh man, I really hate freight trains,” he mumbled. A piercing whistle and thunderous rumble trailed his words and she turned around in his arms. He held her close as she leaned her forehead against his chest and shut her eyes against the grayed-out trees and tangled brush that shielded them from the tracks. Now would be perfect… right? Is a first date too soon? And too soon after Jacob? I barely know him I know I should be careful I shouldn’t look up shouldn’t look up I know, because if I do…
What if the weeks after that rushed by as quickly as the Amtrak Acela Express that could take her to D.C. to stay with him? Weeks filled with hours at the pool where he worked; with getting caught in the rain and trying to stay dry under his worn suede jacket; with comfortable wordless drives with the windows down, not needing to fill the silence? With impromptu bedroom dance parties as Pandora picks their favorite songs; with Thai dinners and Chinese take-out eaten in his bed while watching B-grade movies; with dirtying his sheets every morning and midnight? Weeks that closed with a hopeful six-hour ride back to New York?
What if in the following weeks, time slowed as her days were passed waiting to hear the muffled ring of “Rah rah, ah ah ah, roma roma ma…” from the bottom of her purse, letting her know it was him calling; waiting for her cell to stop teasing her with each vibrating alert that heralded a message not from him? Weeks marred by days full of empty Rosé bottles and nights spent alone in her hammock studying the starscapes she had fallen in love with when she had shared them with him?
And what if it all led to an eternity of seconds spent staring at the Top News informing her that “. He is now in a relationship with That Skank-Ass Barbie Ho Who Fucked His Friends and Trampled His Heart the Spring Before”? If she had guessed what might possibly follow their kiss by the train tracks, would she have looked up anyway?
By Lisa Jackson
The Adjustment Bureau
American screenwriter George Nolfi has turned his hand to directing with The Adjustment Bureau. For his first attempt it’s not bad. It’s not great either. The Adjustment Bureau tells the story of David Norris (no, not that one!), played by Matt Damon, a ‘Jenny from the block’ type running for the United States Senate. Immediately following his first unsuccessful attempt at office, Norris bumps into Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) a free spirited contemporary ballerina who steals more than a kiss from the Brooklyn politician. Their brief meeting inspires Norris to deliver the ultimate concession speech which rockets his political profile. Enter creepy suit-types who monitor Norris to keep him away from Sellas. These men are part of the Adjustment Bureau, a group of men who ensure that people’s lives run according to a grand plan. They have a special future in mind for Norris and in order to preserve it, plot to keep him from Sellas. If the pair are allowed to be together, their relationship will derail the grand scheme of the man upstairs. Norris refuses to accept the hand that he’s been dealt and sets about changing his fate. We follow him over a period of years as he attempts this. The main men in the bureau watching Norris are Harry Mitchell (Anthony Mackie) and Richardson (Mad Men’s John Slattery). Their roles are pretty two-dimensional but Mitchell displays more emotion and sympathy than his co-workers in his interactions with Norris.
By Christopher Cosgrove
Tech: Microsoft launches IE9
The central idea of the film is brilliant. The concept of lifting the veil to show us the men who police fate could have been really interesting. Also, the use of doors throughout the film is brilliant and you never know where the next one will lead you. Having said that: There’s something missing. Some concepts are not followed up on. For example, near the beginning of the film we see Norris’s co-workers ‘frozen’ by the Bureau. This aspect of the Bureau then disappears from the film. Also, some of the film’s ideas are not explained adequately. We are supposed to feel a certain sense of confusion to mirror that of the central characters but this never fully lifts and the result is a dissatisfying ending. The Adjustment Bureau begins as one film and then branches in a totally different direction, treading dangerously close to romcom territory in parts. It feels like they set out to make two stories and then tied them together in a shaky summing up speech delivered by Mitchell. Lastly, if you’re out and about, have a look at The Adjustment Bureau movie posters. Blunt is wearing a fetching red dress as she runs alongside Damon. Try as I might, I cannot remember any red dress in the actual movie! If you can find it, please let me know. Actually, that kind of summed up the whole movie - lacking in attention to detail and a bit puzzling. Mildly entertaining though.
On the 14th March, Microsoft finally launched the long awaited update to their signature browser Internet Explorer. Microsoft launched the campaign ‘beauty of the web’ to promote the new browser and allowed various users to download a beta edition of IE9 to allow them to explore the wonders of their new web experience and also work out any kinks or glitches in the program before its official launch. After much testing and tweaking to their browser, Microsoft were confident that they utilised the most effective and efficient aspects of surfing the web and applied them to their new product. The result of this is a browser which claims to have the best features of the various other browsers along with a speed and efficiency that apparently has no comparison with at this time. The truth behind the matter is that Microsoft have seemed to borrow bits from the other popular browsers (like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox) and implemented their designs and functions into their own patented brand. IE9 is set up to be a completely new way to surf the web and by utilising the popular aspects of its competition it would appear that Microsoft have cleverly examined the browser market and developed their new browser with the user in mind.
New aspects of the Internet Explorer 9 browser are HTML5 support, Performance advisor to assist speed and use of the browser, new tab pages (similar to that of Google Chrome) and the handiest of these features is the ability to pin your favourite sites to your taskbar. This feature is a definite positive for the new browser as Windows 7 users can have quick access to their sites straight from their taskbar and the browser interface even changes colour and the icons of the site appear on your taskbar to make it easy for navigation between various windows and sites. These advantages and highlights of the new browser are exactly what the old interface needed to make it more user friendly and accessible. Popularity for the browser can be seen through the amount of times it has been downloaded in the first 24 hours of its release – a whopping 2.3 million downloads. However, only time can tell if Microsoft’s new browser will fit into the niche of popular browsers but one thing is certain, Microsoft have examined carefully their competition and provided for the user a new way of exploring the web.
By Shane Leonard
Album Review:
The Strokes - Angles
After the Strokes announced their hiatus the world moved on without them. First Impressions of Earth was met with mixed reactions and you could tell from the songs that the Strokes were at the end of their tether. Following on from various solo albums and a comeback gig at the Isle of Wight festival from 2010, The Strokes return with their new LP Angles (Released 22nd March). Album opener ‘Machu Picchu’ is a brilliant and glowing start, it certainly matches any of The Strokes finest work. It’s funky and has a mix of clean glossy guitars, impressive vocals and piercing bass. The general sound of this song replicates the 80’s vibes of the album. If anything this is one of the songs that was worth the wait. Lead single ‘Undercover of Darkness’ is also upbeat. It ticks all the right boxes and sounds like the Strokes having fun. The song captures the warmly textured guitars that characterised the sophomore album Room on Fire. According to lead singer Julian Casablancas, the song is about a relationship between a soldier in the army and a waiting girlfriend. The song is ambitious and is an example of the democracy of the band, all five Strokes had writing credentials on this song. ‘Two Kinds of Happiness’ marks the first real departure from the signature strokes sound. The drums almost sound processed or as if they were created using a drum machine. The vocals are also varied from anything released form the strokes before. Julian’s voice sounds like it could
actually break at any second as he ascends to the highest notes of his range. ‘Your so Right’ is penned by bassist Nikolai Fraiture. It’s a grower and can take a few listens before you accept it. Filtered and distorted vocals give the song a dark atmosphere. Some may feel in this case the band sacrifices their ability to pen a catchy tune for a more democratic or interesting song. ‘Taken for a Fool’ is one of the albums highlights. Fast tempo rhythms and interlocking guitars give the song a busy atmosphere and there are definite electronic and digital influences. The indie floor-filling sensibilities, for which the Strokes have long been known, are once again exemplified here and the song should provide significant mainstream airplay for the band for some time to come. ‘Games’ is not as instantly fulfilling, it is a little more repetitive and the melodies can become redundant. For the majority of the song the guitar sounds like a synth, subtle and delicate in nature. ‘Call me Back’ follows route as it lack’s an immediate appeal. This new sounds for the band will certainly divide opinion between fans. Generally speaking anyone who was a fan of the solo work of the various Strokes will be less shocked by the changes. ‘Gratisfaction’ is more a return to roots, straightforward in its essence its full of twists and turns and captures the stop-start technique that the Strokes made use of so well. ‘Metabolism’ has an eerie presence with haunting vocals and evil sounding guitars the song is probably the closest the band will come to sounding like space rockers Muse. Finally closer ‘Life is Simple in the Moonlight’ has a laid back appeal and features tranquil guitars. The basic conclusion would be that while the album has high and low points it’s a much-welcomed return. The new sound is also probably something the Strokes fans should get used to as they have completely revolutionised their writing process.
By Shane Leonard
The Vaccines - What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? Album Review:
Possibly one of the most hyped bands in the last while are The Vaccines who released their LP on 14th March. A strict divide exists between people who feel they are unoriginal and others who feel they will pioneer a guitar revolution for this generation. Reaching a profile in a matter of months from heavy press and word of mouth the Vaccines had a lot to prove. One of the most eagerly awaited albums this year, ‘What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?’ starts with a bang. ‘Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)’ comes in strong and sounds like textbook Ramones. Its short and sweet and is the kind of song that gets people up and dancing. ‘If You Wanna’ holds a vibrant energy, its chaotic and has a simple charm. However ‘Lack of Understanding’ is a bit more melancholic, lead singer Justin moaning about having “too much time on my hands” he sounds hurt and the message is personal. Echoing guitars amplified with heavy reverb drive the song on through the washy lyrics. Dance-floor friendly ‘Blow It Up’ starts with strange heavy guitar lines while a chirpier guitar forms some melody. The drums sound militaristic and repetitive lyrics give the song a pop appeal. As the album progresses we familiarise ourselves with a certain writing formula, The Vaccines attempt to bridge the interesting and the exciting. ‘Wetsuit’
builds up like any anthem, starting slow and quickening in pace as the song develops. However the song never actually kicks off and leaves you feeling a bit flat. ‘Noorgard’ wakes up the listener with choppy lightning quick guitar strumming, it’s a typical rock and roll song about a guy and a girl. ‘Post Break-Up Sex’ is definitely one of the catchiest, most original and authentic songs on the album. The song gives a nod to themes of insecurity, relationships and youth. While the lyrics may be cynical the song still retains an up tempo dynamic. Other songs like ’Under Your Thumb’ are held together by a rattling base and pounding drum lines. While the song itself doesn’t stand out it compliments the consistent tones of the album. The album feels cohesive as the more breathtaking songs are supported by songs that show off how The Vaccines have engineered a trademark sound for themselves. ‘Wolf Pack’ gives the album a fresh breath of life as the album gets de-energised. While ’Family Friend’ has no definitive moments there is a secret track at the end featuring pianos and soft vocals. The album will most likely still leave questions unanswered but with this in mind it would definitely be interesting to see if they could sustain their hype and maybe record a more charged sequel. With every listen of the album the band grows on you and their sound is a welcomed change, which brings a fresh energy to the world of guitar music.
Interview:
Ben Goldacre Ben Goldacre is writer of the Guardian’s weekly column ‘Bad Science’ and the bestselling book of the same name, as well as being a doctor, broadcaster, and crusader against media misrepresentations of science. His second book, on the pharmaceutical industry, is due out next year. On a brief visit to Ireland last week, he spoke on the interaction between science and the media. Nuala Kane interviewed him at the Atlantic Conference in Tullamore:
Why does the media misrepresent science? It is different for every story but there are some recurring themes. Firstly, the culture of newsrooms is that journalists tend to be humanities graduates, people who are interested in politics, economics, history, at best sport, but not usually science; they don’t feel it in their belly. They don’t have any understanding of what a good or bad science story looks like, but also they don’t have any enthusiasm for writing about fun and interesting science stories, so it’s a much harder sell. I think also they have a much lower expectation of their audience and I think they are wrong to have a low expectation of their audience’s ability to understand science stories and also their audience’s interest in science stories. People in mainstream media are often very patronizing about their audiences. And that is a particular problem for nerds because it means that nerds are kind of neglected, and you neglect your nerds at great cultural and economic cost. Is there an onus on the scientific community to stand up for science? You have to remember, it is a big ask for a scientist. Although it’s important to communicate with the public and it is desirable overall that the scientific community does, I can perfectly understand that there are scientists out there who say: ‘Well why would I talk to journalists? They just twist your words and misrepresent you’. People will often say to me: ‘I’ve been misquoted, my
friends have been misquoted, why would I bother doing that again?’ I’ve got a lot of sympathy with that. I think it is important that there are enough scientists willing to communicate with the public. Also it is important to remember that these days communicating with the public doesn’t just mean communicating through journalists who report secondhand what your work was or what’s been happening in your field. These days anyone who wants to can set up a blog or record a video. For anyone who is an undergraduate anywhere, everyone knows that there are four lecturers on your course who are funnier and more charismatic and clearer that any of the others, and anybody can grab - most phones have got a video camera on them that’s good enough to record a five minute interview about how muscles work or how food is absorbed in the gut, just record it and throw it up. I think universities can be much better at making their own websites facilitate publications where people who are working and teaching in their institutions can communicate directly with the public. In Ireland at the moment, there is the prospect of graduate unemployment and increasing university fees. Do you think this might cause students to shift toward science degrees? I think there’s nothing wrong with the principle of a broad scholarly education just for the sake of being educated, that’s fine. I think it is strange that for a lot of people that neglects science. I don’t think that you would only study science because you thought that there was a job at the end of it. I think that you would study science because it was fun and interesting and clever and beautiful and for those reasons alone for the same reason that classical history is worth studying, its something that’s worth doing.
trials which show that it does work. You get a systematic review which describes not just the results but also describes its own strategy in looking for the results, so you can be sure you are getting a representative view of all of the evidence altogether. I think that ideas like having a systematic approach to gathering evidence and weighing it up is one you tend to get more in the sciences.
With adverts it is very difficult because when you half-heartedly regulate the content of adverts it gives them more credibility. Regulation plays into the hands of the people making dubious claims, because people look
In the media, we constantly see what is purported to be scientific evidence making claims that, for example, Lucozade makes top athletes go 33% percent longer. Should there be some sort of statistics police for advertisements?
Does a science education give you something different to what a humanities education does? A science degree is probably a risk factor for getting a set of views and values about the world including the importance of evidence, the difference between the evidence and the theory, and a degree of thoughtfulness about the extent to which the results of an experiment support or challenge a given hypothesis or theory. I think you can get some of those broad principles from all kinds of education but at same time there are certain core values in science that I am still amazed haven’t percolated through to other disciplines. When you look at how politicians try to talk about evidence, when they are trying to talk the talk of evidence based policy, they talk about evidence very much in the way that a lawyer would talk about evidence. They seem to have the idea that it is acceptable to build a case by only giving half of the story. Whereas in science and particularly in medicine, if you are looking at the data on for example whether a drug works or not, you don’t cherry pick only the
How does that fit into politics and policy-making? It think it’s fine if politicians say ‘We’re going to implement this policy because we’ve decided that it’s a good idea’, for moral or ideological reasons. It is when they misrepresent evidence or they make sweeping claims like: ‘The evidence supports this policy and the evidence doesn’t support that policy’. That is when I think it is fair to dive in and say, however politics is supposed to work, whatever the internal rules of your game, now you are pretending to play by the rules of science. You are putting on the cloak of scientific authority, and people want to do that often as politicians because it gives you a kind of fake neutrality as well as a sort of false authority. If you can say well the evidence is why we are doing this, you abrogate the responsibility for it yourself. You are pretending that it is this kind of neutral inevitability and I think that can be very misleading if the evidence doesn’t support what you are claiming.e scientific community does, I can perfectly understand that there are scientists out there who say: ‘Well why would I talk to journalists? They just twist your words and misrepresent you’. People will often say to me: ‘I’ve been misquoted, my friends have been misquoted, why would I bother doing that again?’ I’ve got a lot of sympathy with that.
at adverts and say well they couldn’t say that if it wasn’t true, because it is regulated, surely they wouldn’t be able to get away with that. I think there is an argument for harm reduction in the same way that people prescribe methadone for heroin addicts as a form of harm reduction. There’s an argument for harm reduction in adverts, where you could have a box at the bottom of every advert, the Bullshit Box where you just say: knock yourself out, say whatever you like, you can say literally whatever you like, and it’s clearly labelled as bollocks but you just go for it, you know, say what you want. I think you could spend huge amounts of money in policing every single utterance but I suspect you’d never do it perfectly. But you have to choose, you should either do that or you should give people the Bullshit Box. I think the current system of halfway houses is exactly what industry wants. I’ve been reading textbooks on regulation, written by people within corporate regulatory training, because that’s how interesting I am, and the classic one starts with a really memorable line, it starts with ‘No sensible industry when offered the opportunity to be regulated should turn that down’ because they very, very correctly view it as an opportunity rather than a threat. It is an opportunity to boost your credibility, it’s an opportunity to capture government and distort
their activities to your own ends by building relationships with them, because you are forced into a relationship with them in the same way that arguing couples are in a relationship still, they pretend that they are battling all the time but actually that’s just how they roll. Is there any role for universities in wresting power from big companies research-wise? No, because big companies have all the money. One of the tragedies is that universities get caught up in contracts where they do research and collaboration with industry but all of the dice in the contract is stacked against the university, and the company is allowed to bully researchers into not publishing results when they are negative and unflattering. I’m not some sort of crazed extremist, I’m not an anti-corporate campaigner per se, I don’t think the pharmaceutical industry is inherently evil. I think we should have a regulatory framework for medical research in particular, where doctors and academics could feel enthusiastic and positive about collaborating with industry. But that requires that you have very, very, very clear ethical regulatory and contractual frameworks that actually stop it from going tits up, and at the moment it is constantly going tits up. So is being a nerd finally becoming cool? I don’t care. You know I think the really great thing about the internet is the death of the monoculture; people can be into whatever they want to be into, and they can find other people who are interested in the stuff they are in to, and that’s really great. It doesn’t matter if being a nerd is cool anymore, but I think people suffer and lose out if they don’t understand how the natural world around them works. People suffer and lose out if they don’t understand how evidence works, because it is important and useful, but also because it’s fun and interesting, and actually if people want to deprive themselves of some of the most important and interesting ideas of the past 200 years of intellectual history, then fine, knock yourself out.
By Damien McEvoy
Who wants be a Manager? The harsh reality of being a football manager is becoming more and more volatile as the football season progresses. Roberto Di Matteo is just the latest in a long line of football managers who have been given the sack in recent months.
an appointment that never needed to be made. Newcastle are a club going nowhere as a result. Managers need time to build a team with a winning mentality and a team spirit to match. This cannot be achieved in 6 months or a year.
How are managers supposed to win trophies, or even compete for trophies or European places if they are only given a year or less to make their team their own? How are young managers ever going to emulate the likes of Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson if they only get a short period in which to show their credentials?
In the current season of 2010/11 a total of 34 managerial changes have been made to date. This is total nonsensical, players are given time to bed in to new surroundings, getting to know their new teammates, some their new country, food and climate and all that goes with the changes of a transfer. Dimitar Berbatov is now in his third season at Old Trafford and is finally showing his potential. If he had been given the same time limit to prove his worth if he were a manager, where would he be now? Managers need the same time to show their worth.
Liverpool, after months of wanting rid of Rafa Benitez, only give Roy Hodgson, his successor, six months to turn them around, get in decent players and get rid of those who no longer shape up. If Alex Ferguson had been given six months to change things around when he took charge all those years ago, where would Manchester United be now? Would they have won all they have done? Newcastle United are by far the joke of English football when it comes to hiring and firing managers. Since the shock resignation of Kevin Keegan in January 1997, the club have had no less than 10 managers’ pass through St James Park, up to the appointment of current manager Alan Pardew, which was
Players take the glory when things are going well, managers take the flak when things go pear shaped. This idea among football chairmen needs to change rapidly for the game to maintain its popularity among supporters. Wolverhampton Wanderers chairman, Steve Morgan recent statement that under pressure manager Mick McCarthy’s job was safe even if the club get relegated, was a welcome statement, but sadly there’re are few willing to follow suit.
By Conor Lane
Champions League: All English teams through bar Arsenal
It was quite an astonishing sight to watch Barcelona make the Premier League’s best passers of the ball look like a school side. Arsenal were totally outplayed and yet would have gone through if Bendtner had taken a better touch when he was presented with their last great chance of the match. The Catalans were majestic and every player played his part in completely outmaneuvering and outwitting the Gunners for most of the match. Messi opened the scoring just before halftime which was quite demoralising for Arsenal as they had held out well until that point but Cesc Fabregas had a night to forget as he gave the ball away in a terrible place. Arsenal were back in it when Busquets headed the ball into his own net but it wasn’t to be Arsenals night as Van Persie was sent off in an extremely harsh manner; one second had passed between the time he kicked the ball and the referee blew his whistle. Messi scored a penalty and Xavi scored a fantastic team goal soon after to help further Arsenal’s nightmarish fortnight. Tottenham played out a rather cagey 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane. Harry’s side were visibly wary of conceding an away goal and on the whole Tottenham did not play a great match but they did what they had to do reach never-before-seen lands of European competition in that particular area of London. AC Milan missed some great chances with Gallas clearing the ball off his own line to rescue his team. Spurs are a side that not many would like to face at this point as they have already exceeded all expectations. They’ll just be hoping they don’t get Barcelona, along with everyone else. Manchester United booked their place in the quarter-finals after beating Marseille 2-1 with Javier Hernandez continuing on with his impressive debut season. He scored both goals with one in each half. Marseille looked like they might cause an upset for a brief period after Wes Brown headed the ball into his own net with 15 minutes to go but it wasn’t to be for the French side as the Red Devils progress into the last 8. Chelsea played FC Copenhagen in a match that somehow ended up 0-0 on the night. The tie was pretty much over as Chelsea won the reverse fixture 2-0 and Copenhagen simply did not have the quality to trouble the Blues, although they did hit the post with a great free kick in the first half. Drogba, Anelka and Zhirkov had great chances but failed to capitalise on them as Ancelotti’s side moved on to the next round in an unperturbed fashion.
Josep Guardiola
By Ciaran Kelly
Barcelona’s greatest ever Arrigo Saachi, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho have gone down as some of the best football managers of the modern era yet Saachi and Mourinho never played professional football while Wenger made just 11 appearances for RC Strasbourg. In contrast to this, few renowned footballers have been able to replicate their glittering playing careers in management with the likes of Sir Bobby Charlton, Hristo Stoichkov and Roy Keane having disappointing managerial careers. This is what sets Pep Guardiola apart. At just 40 years of age, Guardiola has guided Barcelona to an incredible eight trophies in two seasons to go with the sixteen (including six La Liga titles and one European Cup) he won as a player there from 1990-2001. As he struts along the touchline in his trademark Armani suit and designer stubble, you would be forgiven for forgetting that Guardiola was a gangly teenager when he arrived at Barcelona’s infamous La Masia Academy in 1984. One of the hallmarks of Johan Cruyff’s eight year reign (1988-1996) at Barca was his conversion of Guardiola from a nippy winger into one of the best defensive midfielders in the world. He went on to become the fulcrum of Cruyff’s ‘Dream Team’ which was made up of the likes of Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Stoichkov and Romário. The ‘Dream Team’ would go on to win four consecutive La Liga titles from 1990 to 1994 and a European Cup in 1992 Rinus Michels, the inventor of ‘Total Football’, managed Cruyff both at Ajax and the Netherlands in the 70s and the tactic left a lasting impact on him. ‘Total Football’ created large amounts of space due to players constantly switching positions. When effective, it resulted not only in fluid and scintillating football but in undoubted success too as seen in Ajax’s three consecutive European Cup wins from 1971 to 1973. Cruyff further developed ‘Total Football’ with his tiki-taka passing style which would change Barcelona’s footballing philosophy forever. Guardiola thrived under the tactic with its legacy living on in Sir Bobby Robson’s (1996-1997) and Louis Van Gaal’s (1997-2000) reigns. Although Guardiola left for Brescia in 2001, there was a feeling that the Catalonian would one day return. He duly did when he became manager of Barcelona’s B team in 2007. They were in the fourth division of Spanish football when he took over and the role acted as an ideal propeller for him into eventual management of the first-team. The B team plays at the 15,000 capacity Mini Estadi and during Guardiola’s tenure, the squad contained quality young players like Bojan, Sergio Busquets and Pedro. Tactically,
Guardiola used the blueprint of Cruyff’s ‘Total Football’ and tiki-taka style but fused it with his own high-intensity pressing system. He excelled and in his rookie season, won the Tercera Division. While Guardiola’s stock was rising, Frank Rijkaard’s five year reign at Barcelona was coming to an end. Rijkaard had rejuvenated Barcelona with five trophies (including two La Liga titles and a Champions League) after a barren spell from 2000-2003 where Barca had four different managers and did not win a single trophy. However, the team was in decline with no trophy in two years. Partying habits were beginning to affect some players’ form and Barcelona finished an incredible 18 points behind La Liga winners Real Madrid in the 2008 season. Realising the club badly needed discipline and inspiration, club president Joan Laporta appointed Guardiola in the summer of 2008. A massive overhaul of playing staff took place with Ronaldinho, Deco, Gianluca Zambrotta and Lillian Thuram among ten players who left. Six players joined Barca including Daniel Alves, Gerald Piqué and Seydou Keita while Sergio Busquets and Pedro were promoted to the first-team. Guardiola transformed the mentality and work ethic of the team from Rijkaard’s laidback style into a disciplined unit who worked as hard without possession as they did with it. He developed a better team chemistry and balance with the hungry Piqué and Busquets brilliantly complimenting the resurgence of Victor Valdes, Carles Puyol and Thierry Henry. Added to this was Guardiola’s shrewdness in building the team around Lionel Messi in an effective way. Without the inhibitions of Ronaldinho and Deco, Messi was given a free role and dazzled with an amazing 38 goals and 18 assists in 51 games. Barca cruised to the 2009 La Liga title - winning it by nine points and they also won the Copa del Rey (after a 4-1 triumph over Athletic Bilbao). An unprecedented treble was on the cards when Guardiola led Barcelona to their first Champions League Final in three years against Manchester United in Rome’s Stadio Olympico. While it might be tempting to question how Guardiola could fail with such a brilliant pool of talent, Rijkaard’s Barca had faced United in the semi-final only thirteen months earlier. Much of that squad had already won the trophy in 2006 and they seemed to lack the desire and motivation, under Rijkaard, to regain the trophy and were defeated. The core of that squad remained but there was no danger of them lacking motivation under Guardiola.
Prior to the match, he helped produce a seven minute video which mixed rousing clips from the film Gladiator with footage of the squad. This was shown to the squad before kickoff and it proved to be inspirational. Every member of the squad had their efforts recognised with reserve players like Sylvinho, Gabriel Milito and Aleksander Hleb getting just as much airtime as stars like Xavi, Henry and Samuel Eto’o. The closing track of the clip, Luciano Pavarotti’s Nessun Dorma, left some players in tears and Guardiola did not have to give a teamtalk. A 2-0 win over United followed with both goals coming from Messi. Success continued with a 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup in August, a 1-0 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Super Cup in September and a 2-1 triumph over Estudiantes in the Club World Cup in December. Guardiola became the first manager to win a sextuple after just nineteen months at the helm. He could easily have demanded a new long-term contract but Guardiola never rests on his laurels (as seen in him only ever signing one year contract extensions) and has continued to inspire his team to new records. He has managed Barca to a record five straight wins over Real Madrid in El Clásico (including a 5-0 win in December 2010), an unprecedented La Liga title win of 99 points in the 2009-2010 season and a record sixteen straight victories in La Liga from October 2010 to February 2011. Johan Cruyff has gone down as Barcelona’s greatest ever manager with eleven trophies but Guardiola will surely go on to eclipse that feat. Barca remain on course for a third consecutive La Liga triumph, are in the final of the Copa del Rey and are Champions League favourites. Guardiola’s modernisation of ‘Total Football’ and the creation of his own ‘Dream Team’ have set new precedents in the glittering history of FC Barcelona.
The Belfast Telegraph and the ‘Eligibility Row’ By Ryan Kelly
On 4th March 2011, the Belfast Telegraph saw fit to run several stories on the much publicised disagreement (popularly dubbed the ‘Eligibility Row’) between the Irish Football Association and FIFA along with the Football Association of Ireland. There was, it seemed, no apparent catalyst for this sudden flurry of articles, as it was a dispute that was supposedly settled in the Summer of 2010 when the IFA foolishly took the FAI and FIFA to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, and lost. Indeed, they lost emphatically so, and it was a foregone conclusion for all, except the IFA. One article, by Stuart McKinley, was entitled ‘Northern Ireland anger as Republic pick Celtic’s George’. Paul George, who had previously represented the IFA schoolboys, opted to declare for the FAI several months ago and the tabloid newspaper the Irish Star covered the story at the time. Around that time, it was Derry-born Shane Duffy and Belfast-born Daniel Kearns who dominated the headlines with their decision to change association, so perhaps that is why the younger, more obscure, Paul George slipped under the Belfast Telegraph’s radar. Some days after McKinley‘s article was published, the FAI under-17 manager John Morling announced a squad which included George. Evidently, it was this relatively minor, and I hasten to add, completely legitimate, event which sparked ‘anger’ in the Belfast Telegraph headquarters. Indeed, this supposed ‘anger’ seems to have been fairly restricted to the employees of the Belfast Telegraph, because there was very little, if any, reaction elsewhere. McKinley has consistently shown himself to be rather lazy in his reporting of the ‘Eligibility Row’. Although FIFA’s statutes governing national team eligibility have been repeatedly and painstakingly explained, with the IFA’s reading of them dismissed as incorrect, McKinley continues to trot out the same old ignorance in his articles - a strange thing indeed. For example, in his most recent
article, McKinley writes: “The world governing body gave the FAI the green light to cherry pick players born in Northern Ireland, despite FIFA’s own statutes dictating that either a player himself, one of his parents or a grandparent must be born on the ‘territory of the relevant association’ in order to play for that country.” One might be forgiven, considering the unexpected nature of the articles, for thinking that such misleading reportage was part of a deliberate attempt to ensure that the supposedly settled issue remains an ongoing one, plaguing Irish football. Certainly, it might even appear, to those of a more cynical hue, that the Belfast Telegraph was shamelessly trying to create an escalation of tension before the upcoming Carling Nations Cup fixture between Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland in May. It is, of course, difficult to be sure. Nevertheless, what is sure is that the decision of an Irish national to play for the Football Association of Ireland is not particularly newsworthy stuff, especially now that the matter has finally been resolved by the highest known authority. To persist with the issue at this stage is to flog the proverbial dead horse. Trevor Ringland also had an opinion piece printed on the same day, presumably to complement McKinley’s flimsy article. Ringland’s piece boldly asserts the view that the FAI ‘are in danger of making Northern Ireland a Protestant team - instead of a mixed team - by taking away these young players’ - a staggeringly ludicrous claim without foundation in reality. Indeed, there is absolutely no indication or developing trend which points to the conclusion of an exclusively Protestant Northern Ireland team. The FAI have been selecting northern-born Irish nationals since the mid-1990s (Belfast-man Ger Crossley and Derry-man, Mark McKeever, for example) and in 2011, we still see a ‘mixed’ Northern Ireland team. Ringland, who is a former Ireland rugby star and unionist politician, is carelessly placing
the blame on the FAI for what is simply the socio-political reality of Northern Ireland society. Ringland claims that the stance of the FAI ‘is undermining the good work of so many others’ in relation to football in Northern Ireland. One wonders that, when Ringland refers to ‘good work of so many others’, does he mean the continued use of ‘God Save the Queen’ as an anthem by the FAI? Or, perhaps, the insistence on using an unofficial and divisive flag to represent the team? It is not the FAI who is in danger of making Northern Ireland a Protestant team, it is the IFA. Ringland’s understanding of the situation contradicts his normally liberal attitude. In fact, one could argue that Ringland misunderstands the whole scenario. His ’initial reaction’ demonstrates a fundamental ignorance: “Extreme disappointment would be my initial reaction to this latest development. It’s like an Ulster player deciding to switch to Munster or a Down player deciding to switch to Tyrone.” Ringland’s analogy is applicable only in the sense that the players in question have made a switch to a team that, only to those like Ringland, is perceived to be a rival; for the players in question however, unlike Ringland, the FAI team represents a natural choice of national team. In the spirit of progress and in appreciation of identity, this is a fact that must be respected. I’ll conclude with what I deem to be a rather interesting observation. For one reason or another, the Belfast Telegraph did not include an alternative viewpoint on the matter. With articles accusing the FAI of strengthening social division, the lack of balanced viewpoints is disappointing, for, while the newspaper is recognised as moderately unionist in political alignment, it would surely be in the interest of proper integration to offer a ‘mixed’ view.
Report:
NUIG SnowSports IV 2011 By Martin King
On the 26th of February, 30 NUIG SnowSports members marched to the dry slopes of Dublin with 1 goal in mind – take down as many of the Dublin colleges as possible. With bindings tightened to the point of cutting off circulation and boards waxed to an almost frictionless state the Snowsports inter-varsities kicked off. 10 colleges from around Ireland competed in slalom, dual slalom and freestyle to rack up points for their colleges while spectators roared from the slope side. Upon arrival, NUIG were greeted by their old friends from down south, our Cork counterpart UCC who hadn’t been seen since we parted ways up in the French Alps back in January. With the goal of taking titles away from Dublin colleges well embedded in everyones mind the skiers began their intermediate slalom race placing 1st thanks to the speedy run of our Captain Kevin Fitzgerald and Aaron Barry placing 2nd. Saidbh Sharkey snatched 3rd in the female slalom helping NUIG catch up to UCD & Trinity. Next the advanced crew took their spots at the top of the slope itching to show the well-experienced Dublin colleges that they now have a serious rival from the west. While the sun began to set over the mountains the DJ perked up and decided it was time to rise and shine and began pumping out the tunes as the Snowboarding A team worked their way up to the finals of the dual race against Trinity. Breakneck speeds and perfect technique resulted in an extremely tight race unfortunately Trinity finally got the better of us by a couple of inches. However the night was only starting and both the competitors and spectators were only now getting pumped for the highlight of the
day – the freestyle event. Tensions ran high as competition increased as the slopes were equipped with jumps, grind rails and boxes. Galway spectators roared and chanted louder than any other college in hopes of ensuring a victory as the intermediate freestyle began. Safety equipment on and hearts pounding the individuals for each college faced down the black slope carefully analyzing which feature to hit and what tricks to perform. Michelle Barkers landed herself in 1st for the female intermediate ski freestyle. Colm Bradley walked away with bronze for his advanced ski run. I myself entered the boarding freestyle placing 3rd with UCC in 2nd. After an intense day, the 10hour Intervarsity event came to an end and all equipment was replaced with BBQ grub and beers. Each college gathered round as the overall results were calculated and read out. In 1st place was Trinity, walking away with 2nd place was UCD and in 3rd came NUIG making NUIG the 1st college outside of Dublin to place in the top 3! A great achievement for a club in its forth year running so I wanna take this opportunity to thank both the competitors and spectators for representing and supporting their college. NUIG Snowsports club welcomes everyone and anyone onboard. We are having our AGM in April and are looking for a new committee so if you feel you can help out and want to get actively involved come along. For more information on ANYTHING related to our club you can visit our website www.nuigsnowsports.com
Photo: L-R Ken Kavanagh U.D.A.I. Secretary/Treasurer, Mark finneran, Jack Maye & Seamus Maye, Stiofán de Lundres Ó Dálaigh, Front: Gary Concannon, David Concannon, Chris Clyne. Photo credit: Stiofán ‘DANGER’ de Lundres Ó Dálaigh & Ellen Kelly, Sports Unit
NUIG win All-Ireland University Darts Teams’ Championship In a nail biting finish, Darts Club Captain David Concannon hit D5 to capture the David Maye Memorial Cup for the 1st time defeating neighbours GMIT in a thrilling final on 5th March in Carlow, hosted by I.T. Carlow Darts. NUIG fought back from 3-0 down and although they were the favourites they had to dig deep to grind out the result. Club Secretary/PRO Stiofán “DANGER” de Lundres Ó Dálaigh was the highest placed NUIG student in the All-Ireland University Darts Masters as he was narrowly beaten 3-2 (best of 5 legs 501) by GMIT’s Paul Gallagher who took bronze. However, the battle between these two ensued in the European Singles and Masters with Paul defeating Stiofán 5-1 (best of 9 legs 501) in
European Singles’ Final & Stiofán captured the European University Darts Masters’ 3-1 (Best of 5 sets 501) against Andy McCuddon of IT Carlow. The UDC WUDC II will be held in Manchester, UK on November 11th & EUDC II in Alkmaar, The Netherlands on March 12th. Tonight (22nd March) sees the return leg of the UDAI sanctioned Corrib Challenge Darts Cup at 7pm in the College Bar. NUIG have a 9-3 lead from the 1st leg held earlier in February in The Library, GMIT. There will be complimentary food, players’ walk-ons, World, European & All-Ireland Champions in action and there’s a raffle!
e h t in
l e t o H e s u o 1 1 H 0 n 2 u h a l t i 4 d 2 r A ch
r a M y a d s r u Th on
6 n o i t p e c e R s . k n m i . r p D 0 3 . 7 r e n Din y b d e w c o i l l s o u F M & s d r a Aw 0 3 â&#x201A;Ź s t e k c Ti
. m . p .45
e l a s n t o i s n t e U Tick e Sports h t m fro
sports NEWS
NUIG Fencing Club hosts IV For the first time in its history, NUI Galway’s Fencing Club hosted the fencing intervarsities on the weekend of the 26th and 27th of February. The weekend was a huge success and praised by many as the most well-run fencing intervarsity in recent years. On Saturday, Alexandra Christy led a team comprising of Frances Dennehy and Fiadhnait McDonough in women’s foil to 5th place with Trinity coming away with first place. Also on that day, the men’s epee team led by David O’Riordan comprising of Brendan Masterson, Igor Karaganov, and Darrell Healy finished 8th with Queen’s University Belfast coming out on top. On Sunday, Fionn McGowan, Finn Krewer, Barry O’Leary, and Cian Blaix made up the NUIG men’s foil team, with the latter being the captain, and finished an excellent 3rd. They finished with the same amount of wins as 2nd place UCD but were seperated based on indicators. In the other weapons, Trinity won women’s epee, women’s sabre and men’s sabre and won the overall trophy. NUIG finished 7th of 12. Recognition has to go towards Josephine Duggan who sacrificed her weekend to be the Director Technique of the competition. Also, a special mention has to go towards Aibhlín O’Leary who not only sacrificed her weekend and a chance to fence but also many hours prior to the competition to ensure that it ran as smoothly as possible. Its success is mainly thanks to her. Photo: Egidijus Truksinas
Back row: Mary O Callaghan (Limerick), Helena Bulfin (Limerick), Maureen Henneghan (Derry), Triona McDonald (Offaly), Evelyn Glynn (Clare), Maureen Dolan (Offaly), Richard McNicholas (Trainer) Front row: Siobhan Coen (Galway), Emer Clarke (Westmeath), Bridie Scully (Galway), Chloe Morey (Clare), Aisling Dunphy (Kilkenny), Caitriona Lee (Galway).
NUI Galway National Fresher Shield winners, and Northern Fresher Cup winners 2011
Swimming Club represent NUIG at National Swimming and Lifesaving Varsities In late February, 18 NUI Galway students from the Swimming, Waterpolo and Lifesaving Club travelled to Maynooth, as 12 colleges battled for the prestigious title of National Swimming and Lifesaving Varsity Champions 2011. Friday evening and Saturday morning saw NUI Galway make it to 12 finals and clinch 2 medals, despite the stiff competition from much larger and well established teams like NUIM and UCD. James Caulfield convincingly
secured 2nd in a gruelling 200m Individual Medley, while Michael Henry cruised to victory in the 200m Backstroke. Emer Hurley had a very successful first varsity, making the finals in both her events and only narrowly missing out on bronze in the 50m Freestyle. Molly Slavin, a visiting student from the US, did NUIG proud by also reaching both her finals and securing 4th in the 200m Breaststroke.
Lifesaving, however, is where the club really excelled. The men’s 200m obstacle relay team were pushed to second at the last obstacle by TCD. Shauna Curtin, Tahlia Britton and Lisa Scully crushed all opposition for a 1st 2nd 3rd in the women’s 50m Manikin Carry. Cathal Codyre got third in the men’s event while Henry got 5th in his first ever lifesaving event. Scully went on to snatch second in the 100m Rescue. The Rope Throw relay finished off the day, with
the women’s team, working with military precision, driving home in 1st, while the men’s team earned a medal by securing 3rd. The Swimming Club caters for all levels, from absolute beginner to a competitive swimmer. They train in the Kingfisher on Monday and Thursday nights 9:30 to 11pm, Wednesday mornings and Saturday evenings. For further details, contact swimming@ clubs.nuigalway.ie
Boxing Show to take place in NUI Galway After many years, live amateur boxing returns to the NUI Galway campus .NUI Galway Boxing Club are proud to present “The West vs. the Rest” Fight Night on Tuesday March 29th. This event will include up to 20 bouts of amateur boxing featuring novice boxers from NUI Galway and our senior intervarsity squad against
boxers from UCC, UCC and others. The objective of the event is to raise funds to purchase a full size competition ring so the club can host more events on campus, promote boxing as a spectator sport within NUI Galway and continue the club’s development.
Tickets cost €5 and are available from the boxers, the Sports Unit and the Socs Box. Enquiries for tickets can be made by email to nuigboxing@gmail.com. Tickets will also be sold at the door on the night, but spectators are asked to purchase early to avoid disappointment.
For all your student banking needs Drop into the Kevin and Kevin Advice Centre in our NUIG branch Email: Kevin_A.Burke@boimail.com Kevin.Broderick@boimail.com Call:
(091) 524555
Bank of Ireland is regulated by the Financial Regulator.