Ireland's Big Issue 262 (April 2021)

Digital Edition April 2021 Is 262 Vol 19

Sexual Harassment Enough is Enough The Global Fight to End Cat-Calls

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Page 14

Sexual Harassment: Enough is Enough

Children Paying a Heavy Price Children born under Islamic State era still excluded and abandoned.

Charlotte Brunea reports.

Young women worldwide are pushing to outlaw public sexual harassment. Lin Taylor reports.

Page 16 Hollywood: The Saga of the Sign

Page 6 Letter to my Younger Self – Darragh ‘The Menace’ Ennis The Chase quizzer has a word or two with his teenage self.

Page 22

Page 8

Wikipedia at 20

QAnon & Conspiracies: What’s going on?

What’s next for the world’s biggest collection of information?Steven MacKenzie reports.

We’re living in strange times: conspiracy theories are becoming increasingly popular so journalist Alexandra Guellil takes a closer look at the far-right’s QAnon, which has been described as a cult.

Page 28 John Millington Synge It’s 150 years since the birth of poet and playwright John Millington Synge. Liz Scales takes a look at the life of the author, best known for his play ‘The Playboy of the Western World.

Page 34

Page 10 Interview: Sophia Loren “We get back from society what we put into it.

Like in a marriage.” Steven MacKenzie reports.

Follow us on Twitter

One of the world’s iconic symbols, identifies the entertainment capital of the world and serves as a metaphor of hope and dreams of success but the sign has led its very own interesting existence. Shaun Anthony reports.

Page 12 Is Bill Gates Too Powerful & Why is he Buying So Much Land?

Should the fact that Gates is one of the most powerful men in the world be cause for concern? Sineád Dunlop reports.

@BigIssue Ireland 3

Royal Bust Up! Fallout from the celebrity interview divides opinion. Sinead Dunlop reports.

Regulars

20/21 – Photo World 26/27 – Screen Scene 32 - Book reviews 36-37 - Women’s World

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Talking Point

Sexual Harassment, Enough is Enough: The Global Fight to End Cat-Calls

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rom wolf-whistles to unwanted advances, young women worldwide are pushing to outlaw public sexual harassment. Lin Taylor spoke to females in Britain and beyond who have joined a multi-generational, multinational campaign to tackle the problem.

Maya Tutton was 12 when men started noticing her. Even her school uniform didn’t deter their explicit gestures or lewd comments.

These feelings were reflected in their research. Britain has legal protections against workplace sexual harassment, and in 2019, an ‘upskirting’ law was passed to prosecute people who take intimate photos under women’s clothes without their consent. But women’s rights activists have long called for more protections, which already exist for race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and transgender identity and can lead to harsher penalties for those convicted. In September, Britain’s Law Commission called for misogyny to be made into a hate crime in England and Wales,

It wasn’t until her sister Gemma started getting the same unwanted attention at the age of 11 - that Tutton decided enough was enough, and launched a campaign with her sibling to outlaw street harassment in Britain.

The pair joined what is a growing global movement to tackle public sexual harassment.

She and Gemma, now 16, co-founded Our Streets Now in 2019, and have since collected more than 220,000 signatures in support to make streets more femalefriendly.

‘Fed up’ Nearly 20% of females suffered physical or sexual violence in the last 12 months, according to UN Women.

The UN agency said less than 40% of the females who had experienced violence report their abuse, and less than 10% turned to the police for help.

In Ireland

“Affects the way you navigate the world ...you feel unsafe, especially if you’re on your own.”

Photo: Elyssa Fahndrich on Unsplash

“We’re just fed up with (street harassment) being accepted and normalised. We all deserve to feel safe and currently the legislation there is really lacking,” said Tutton.

Global fight

France outlawed such street harassment in 2018, opening 20% of females suffered physical up cat-callers & lecherous or sexual violence in the last 12 individuals to on-the-spot months according to UN Women. fines of €750.

Transition year girls at Maryfield College, Drumcondra recently carried out a poll with the assistance of Amárach market research as they were tired of unwanted comments when they were running or merely walking down the street in a hoodie.

They discovered that 60% of girls had been catcalled (through whistling, jeering or sexual comments) during the previous week. Of those, 50% said it occured on multiple occasions during the week; 24% said between 2 and 5 times, while 6% said more than 5 times. Student Elene Bujiashvili, who is one of the pioneers of the project said that catcalling,

Other countries with similar laws include Belgium and Costa Rica Policing cat-calls But Anais Bourdet, a French feminist, said implementing laws and issuing fines did not address the root cause.

“We are seeking to penalise without asking the question of why. If a new offence is created it should not happen in a vacuum. Other efforts are needed to address this, starting from the top ... police and prosecutors would need to be educated into taking this seriously.”

Additional reporting by Sophie DaviesCourtesy of Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation / INSP.ngo

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Issues Life

Letter to my Younger Self Darragh ‘The Menace’ Ennis

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ach issue we ask a well-known face to write a letter to their 16-year-old self. This issue Dublin-born Darragh Ennis (40) better known as The Menace on ITV gameshow The Chase has a word or two for his teenage self. Darragh is a postdoctoral research at Oxford University - and yes, he does look like someone you’ve seen before - he was a contestant on The Chase back in March of 2017 when he successfully took on Paul ‘Sinnerman’ Sinha. Sinha would later refer to Darragh as “the best player” he’d ever faced on the show.

Despite the fact that I know him better than anyone could, I know my 16-year-old self would not pay any attention to this letter. If there’s one thing 16-yearold Darragh (or Bones as almost everyone called him) didn’t do, it was follow advice. Looking back, I think my teachers deserved some sort of award.

But in the unlikely event that I would have listened, this is what I’d tell Darragh in action him.

Don’t worry about what other people think. For so long I got lots of stick for being such a nerd. The books I read, the things I liked were (unsurprisingly) very geeky and this made me the butt of a lot of jokes. I tied myself up in knots trying to pretend I was cool (and believe me I really, really wasn’t and never have been even remotely cool) instead of accepting that I was a know-it-all nerd.

I didn’t realise it at the time of course but a bright future as a professional nerd lay ahead of me. Little did I know being rubbish at football but being good at science would actually be the way forward.

Sixteen-year-old me was unfortunately well aware that he was smart, and was very quick to point it out. I cringe with embarrassment at the seemingly countless

occasions when I was far too eager to point out if someone was wrong about something. I would love to convince myself to be a whole lot less obnoxious at every opportunity. To be completely honest, 25-yearold me could really have done with this advice too.

But I wouldn’t be completely critical of my younger self. I had good qualities that would play a vital part in setting me on to the unlikely path I’ve found myself on.

I was always very curious with an insatiable need to know how things worked. I spent a week with my Auntie Ann in her house in Ballymun in Dublin when I was around 9 years old. The never-ending stream of questions led her to buy me a book called ‘Tell me why’. This wonderful book, which I’m sure she bought to stop me from driving her up the wall, told me why the sky was blue, why eclipses happen, how aeroplanes fly and about a thousand other things I wanted to know. My amazement at the answers to all of these seemingly impossible answers has never really stopped.

When I realised that there were questions where no one knew the answers yet, I was hooked. It’s that all important ‘yet’ in the last sentence that is what drives people to work in research and I really wanted to know new answers. I would love to convince my younger self that being a scientist is making a career out of finding out how and why things work.

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lot of quizzes these days and I am nowhere near the Luckily it happened almost by accident when an exasperated careers teacher suggested science in response best quizzer at almost any of them. There are people to my “I dunno what I want to do” at out there with a breadth of knowledge on the strangest topics that would blow your our appointment. That started Making mind. For the vast majority though, if me on a trip to Maynooth fun of each other was you put them on camera and asked University to study and almost a way of life, and in meet my future wife, then them to trade well-meant insults and jokes with someone and they eventually to Oxford, via those pre-SmartPhone days it all Montreal, to my current would freeze. So I’d be sure to had to be done very quickly and encourage my younger self to keep job as a research scientist. in person. that up with his friends and siblings, And in Oxford, my friend it would turn out to be a thoroughly John Conway asked me to unexpected vital life skill. I would also tell fill in on his pub quiz team which started a whole new chapter of my life. him to be thankful for his friends, many of whom are still in touch almost 25 years later.

My 16-year-old self was very fortunate in a lot of ways.

So my 16-year-old self: Keep asking questions, keep I grew up in a wonderful home with a family and group having fun and corny as it sounds, be yourself, you don’t of friends who prepared me, little did they know it, for really know how to be anyone else so stop kidding my life on TV. Making fun of each other was almost a yourself. Also, learn more about cricket, it always comes way of life, and in those pre-SmartPhone days it all had to be done very quickly and in person. I do an awful up and you know nothing about it.

Follow Darragh on Twitter

To find out more about the scientific research Darragh works on visit www.ilandavis.com

@bones_giles

Watch The Chase on weekdays at 2pm on Virgin Media One. 7

Issues: Current

QAnon and Conspiracies: What’s going on?

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e are living in strange times: conspiracy theories are becoming increasingly popular and a supporter of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory has just been elected to the US Senate.

Although conspiracy theories allege that certain “plots” have been orchestrated, most often by the political and media classes, these theories often lack logic and evidence when we interrogate them more closely. Journalist Alexandra Guellil takes a closer look at QAnon.

The story begins in December 2016 in Washington The anonymous individual at the centre of the QAnon DC, when conspiracy claimed a gunman to be a secret agent burst into a affiliated with the restaurant, army. They convinced announced that a that he was gigantic operation stopping a was underway to paedophile arrest Trump’s ring. He political and media was a user opponents and, of of online course, Democrats, forums and and that it had been was among secretly ordered those who by the President believed that himself. It was John Podesta, alleged that the the former suspects were part campaign of a satanic cabal A supporter wearing a hat with the QAnon logo holds a child as U.S. manager that controls the US President Donald Trump addresses a campaign rally. REUTERS/Leah Millis for the then government, and presidential possibly even the candidate Hillary Clinton, was part of a vast network entire world. Q accused several of them of corruption that kept children captive in restaurants. This event was and paedophilia. According to Q , in the days and weeks part of the conspiracy theory that would become to come, Donald Trump would fight this clandestine known as “Pizzagate”. war and his opponents would be arrested, brought to justice, sent 33 per cent of those who identify On 28 October 2017, an to Guantanamo or executed. as Republican believe that the encrypted message was published by a user who Q’s prophecy did not come QAnon theory is generally true. called themselves “Q” in true. Regardless of this, in the political section of the November 2017, the theory 4chan forum, which was known started making its way into the for being used by the American far-right. mainstream with the broad and unfiltered The post raised several questions about US domestic publication of Q’s messages on sites such as Google policy, the president’s behaviour and the country’s Drive, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Although Q’s military commitments. The result was like a virtual prophecy forced its way into the American presidential version of the snowball effect: the post was spread on campaign – Trump was asked about QAnon in the town other internet forums and gained a committed following. hall hosted by Savannah Guthrie of NBC on 15 October Together, “Pizzagate” and the posts by Q gave birth to – its claims remain unfulfilled three years after Q made the “QAnon” movement. their original post.

8

continue.

If Trump had won, it would be seen as proof of the fact that the fight has been effective.

The birth of a cult?

Victor BardouBourgeois, a researcher at the Center for United States Studies QAnon is at Université no longer a du Québec à group on the Montréal, has fringes of been keeping society a close eye on because this new supporters conspiracy of QAnon movement. have the gift “What’s of bringing special about together QAnon,” other Supporters wearing shirts with the QAnon logo, REUTERS/Leah Millis he explains, groups of “is that it individuals is increasingly being referred to within the Republican – some more extreme than others, such as Boogaloo or Party. The party signals its approval of the movement, the Proud Boys – that end up pledging allegiance to Q. and it shares content produced on the internet, but when “What is special about QAnon is that it is a movement journalists ask questions, they change the subject.” open to new members without restriction,” Bardou-Bourgeois The QAnon conspiracy may says. seem like a far-fetched It is incredibly worrying story, but it should be when armed militias start “Q promises that each taken seriously. It targets to believe more and more in individual will do nothing Democrats and members of less than contribute to these theories.” the Never Trump movement the renewal of America by (Republicans and conservatives remaining an actor, by doing who have turned their backs on his or her own research.”

Trump), and it is riddled with significant inconsistencies. The first is that the hero of the story is According to the Pew Research Centre, about threethemself part of the American elite; the second was that quarters of American adults (76 per cent) are convinced everything was very focused on the next election, which that nothing about the QAnon conspiracy theory is true, would signal the end of Q’s mandate. while 23 per cent say they have heard and read a lot about it. 33 per cent of those who identify as Republican “Whenever the president winks at them, it’s like sweet believe that the QAnon theory is generally true. validation for [believers in QAnon],” Bardou-Bourgeois says. “This belief is a very biblical way of interpreting “It is as if we are entering a new cultural chapter,” the world.”

Bardou-Bourgeois concludes. “There is no longer agreement on how we interpret the world. It is incredibly The result of the election – which was called for Biden worrying when armed militias start to believe more and on 7 November and whose vote tally is over 80 million more in these theories.” ­– doesn’t matter as far as Bardou-Bourgeois is concerned.

Despite the outcome, QAnon members will see Translated by Louise Wilson something in it that legitimises their belief anyway. For example, Joe Biden’s win could be seen as proof of the Courtesy of L’Itinéraire / INSP.ngo fact that the fight against the so-called “deep state” must 9

Issues: Interview

Sophia Loren:

“We get back from society what we put into it. Like in a marriage”

I

n her latest film The Life Ahead, screen legend Sophia Loren plays a woman befriended by a young Senegalese orphan. She tells The Big Issue it’s a role that brings together her past and her politics. Steven MacKenzie reports.

The Life Ahead, Sophia Loren’s first film in more than a decade, arrives at a time when the life ahead of us all has never been more uncertain.

“I grew up during the Second World War, the world was very uncertain then, believe me,” she points out.

Sophia Loren was born Sofia Villani Scicolone in Rome in 1934, her mother Romilda left destitute after her father effectively disowned them. They moved to Pozzuoli, a poor suburb of Naples, where the harbour was targeted by Allied bombing. During one raid Loren was struck by shrapnel that left a scar on her chin.

Now 86, the screen icon plays Madame Rosa, a Holocaust survivor who runs de facto day care for the children of prostitutes in the southern Italian city of Bari, and is starting to suffer from the creep of dementia.

As remarkable a role as it is, Madame Rosa is typical of Loren’s most memorable characters who always had as much grit as glamour – pride and passion simmering just below the surface ready to erupt.

From the back streets of Naples to the highest heights of Hollywood’s golden age to her current home in Geneva, Loren believes the hardship of her childhood helped more than hindered.

“Children are more resilient and resourceful than adults because they live in the present,” Sophia Loren in The Life Ahead [La vita davanti a sé] (2020)

Take Cesira in Two Women, a single mother trying to protect her daughter from the horrors of the war, for which Loren won an Oscar 59 years ago – the first Academy Award ever given for a performance in a foreign-language film – beating Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass and Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Six decades apart, Cesira and Madame Rosa share the same DNA, and both are rooted in Loren’s own upbringing.

“It is who I am. It made me who I am,” Loren says.

“It was extremely tough and painful but I wouldn’t trade it for anything because it made me appreciate life so much more and it gave me this drive that helped me throughout my life.”

Are children resilient in a way that adults are not?

“Children are more resilient and resourceful than adults because they live in the present,” she says. “They are not encumbered by the weight of the past or the future, they live in the now and that allows them to tackle problems in a very different way, maybe in a more honest way.

“They are also more open than adults and that openness allows them to get out of their own heads and solve 10

problems sometimes more readily despite the fact that they sometimes might lack experience or perspective.”

So looking back, when you were growing up during the war, was it easier to be a child than it would have been to be a parent?

“It was impossibly difficult to be both,” Loren says. “War is the great equaliser. Whether young or old, a parent or a child, the hunger is the same, the fear is the same, the insecurities are the same.

“As a young girl I felt as much responsible for my mother and sister as they did for me.”

“It is a vicious cycle that needs to be disrupted. We get back from society what we put into it. Like in a marriage.”

The Life Ahead is adapted from a book by French author Romain Gary written in the 1970s, but its themes of intolerance, discrimination and who does and doesn’t belong in society are timely and universal.

“This is not an Italian problem or a French problem or a European problem, this is a global problem that requires all hands on deck to tackle,” says the film’s director Edoardo Ponti, one of Loren’s two sons with her late husband, the prolific producer Carlo Ponti.

Part of the reason Loren decided to make The Life Ahead were the aspects of her mother that she spotted in the script.

“The issue of immigration has been used by all governments to polarise people, power-grab and raise money on the backs of people’s fears and prejudices. It is a shame when the plight of people’s “I was immediately struck by how certain survival is used as a political aspects of Madame Rosa’s character football instead of an reminded me of my own “The less we are loved, the less urgent issue to fix. mother,” she explains. we know how to love.

The less we “Just like Madame Rosa, “Right now, I are recipients of compassion and my mother had this am afraid, it is combination of resilience empathy, the less we know how to more lucrative and fragility, of moments show it to others,” she says. and politically of high drama but always advantageous for seen through the lens of irony. political parties around the globe not to solve the “She was also rather tough and issue, it’s red meat for the base.” irreverent on the outside, but quite a softy in the inside.

I miss her every day.”

That is why, he says, humanising the stories of people like Does embodying a character who reminded you so much Momo is so important: of your mother give you fresh insight into her?

As we move into awards season, The Life Ahead is picking up nominations and there’s buzz that Sophia “When you play a character, their hopes and dreams Loren could be in the running for another Oscar. It is the become your own but also their problems and pains. industry and storytelling itself that interest her most.

Every character helps you grow as a person, as a human being but also as an active member of this global “Once the heart is touched, it is hard to look away from community we live in.” a problem,” she says. “Your heart nudges you again and again to do something about it and roll up your sleeves In the most family-centred of societies, The Life Ahead and get involved in some way.” re-examines what family means. At the film’s heart is the relationship between Madame Rosa and Momo, a That’s a message that will serve us well in the uncertain 12-year-old Senegalese orphan. Though the characters days ahead. What was it, in the uncertain days of the could not be any more different – and the same can Second World War that allowed the light to start shining be said for the cinema legend cast opposite first-time though? actor Ibrahima Gueye – they discover they have much in common: both defined by loss and suffering; more “Little by little, you see the light at the end of the importantly, both survivors. tunnel,” Loren says. “In the beginning, it’s not a light, it’s a tiny little ember, then the ember turns into a glow and As societies around the world grow increasingly the glow grows into a light. suspicious and hostile to outsiders, Loren knows what the consequences are for children who are treated “That light is the hope within you that things will get thoughtlessly. better, that there will be once again balance in the world and the more you believe it, the more you can manifest “The less we are loved, the less we know how to love. it.”

The less we are recipients of compassion and empathy, the less we know how to show it to others,” she says.

Courtesy of INSP.ngo / The Big Issue UK bigissue.com 11

Issues: World

Is Bill Gates Too Powerful and Why is He Buying So Much Land?

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ith Bill Gates buying land like a fat kid in the sweet shop on pocket money day, we have to ask - why? And is he becoming so powerful that we should all be more concerned? Sineád Dunlop reports.

“Control oil, and you control nations; control food, and you control the people.” (Henry Kissinger, Former U.S. Secretary of State)

Microsoft founder, Bill Gates is the second richest person in the world and the top private owner of U.S. farmland with a staggering 242 thousand acres across 18 states in his portfolio.

Should we be worried about this given the fact that farmland in the U.S. is shrinking by three acres per minute?

Farmer Bill’s Interests

Bill Gates has investments in GMO crops, seed patents, synthetic foods and artificial intelligence including robotic farmworkers, he also holds senior positions in the world’s biggest companies such as Unilever, Coca Cola, Kelloggs, Proctor & Gamble, Whole Foods and holds a commanding position in many multinationals that For those control the world’s unaware, chemical pesticide and farmland petrochemical fertiliser has markets. Many people decreased by 31 million acres over the past 20 years are concerned that a man with this fortune - around according to the American Farmland Trust (a territory $130 billion can have so much power over our future equivalent to the state of New York!). To and the direction of our planet. Are we put into context, the U.S. lost When Bill Gates forced his right to be concerned? After 11 million acres of its best all, farmland is decreasing ‘rescue’ technologies on Indian farmland to the expansion and the world’s population farmers, the only one to benefit of towns and cities and has has now soared beyond was Gates and his multinational also absorbed agricultural 7 billion, so Gates, as a partners. land for commercial, residential businessman knows that as food and industrial development. demand is growing, farmland and freshwater will become increasingly valuable resources.

Henry Kissinger, the former U.S. Secretary of State once It’s basic business and nobody knows how to make a bob said, quite like this big“Control oil, and you control nations: control food, and tech billionaire. you control the people.”

Some of the more cynical, or inquisitive minded Right now, small-scale food producers feed 70% of the (depending on your opinion) amongst us are wondering world’s population, producing food for local markets - is Bill Gates attempting to control the masses by and communities using ecological techniques, but this is controlling the world’s food supply? Sound like the stuff under threat by the growing dominance of corporations of a sub-Reddit conspiracy page? Well, let’s take a look at in the global food system. Global agribusiness is grabbing what we do know. more land (Gates isn’t alone - Elon Musk, Liberty Media 12

owner John Malone etc are doing the same), pushing privatised seed and promoting mass usage of expensive farming chemicals - and obviously, as big business profits, small farmers struggle to keep control of land, seeds and their way of life. We can already see the issues facing farmers in India, following the new farm laws that open up the country’s vast farm sector to private buyers.

Farmer, Sukhdev Singh Kokri recently told BBC Punjabi, “This is a death warrant for small and marginalised farmers.

This is aimed at destroying them by handing over agriculture and market to the big corporates. They want to snatch away our land.”

Gates has displayed an interest in mass farming for years now. I remember reading an article a few years ago on how he believed the way ahead was farming through Artificial Intelligence and he claimed displaced workers could get jobs working with the elderly (isn’t it always nice when someone tells you what you can do? Scratch the fact that farming is more than a job for many, it’s a tradition passed down throughout the generations of a families).

Indian scholar and environmental activist, Vandana Shiva has warned American farmers to be careful, “When Bill Gates forced his ‘rescue’ technologies on Indian farmers, the only one to benefit was Gates and his multinational partners. He gave money to the government and a company called Digital Green and made extravagant promises to digitally transform Indian agriculture. Then with the cooperation of his purchased government officials.”

Gates decided he wanted to take his Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa based on new seeds to the continent, claiming they would raise nutrition levels, reduce poverty and would basically be the answer to every African’s prayers, thanks to the claim of doubling crop productivity and boosting incomes for 30 million small farmers by 2020, whilst cutting food insecurity by 50%.

This sounded great, but did it work?

Sadly not! The 2020 study ‘False Promises: The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa’ concluded that the number of Africans suffering extreme hunger had increased by 20% in the 18 countries Gates had targeted with his scheme and rural poverty metastasised dramatically and the number of hungry people in these nations rose to 131 million!

Gates also said that African farmers needed digital technology, or at the very least, a mobile phone as he claimed this helps them look at market prices and the weather but when mobile phones were distributed amongst the Indian farmer, Vandana Shiva stated this has nothing to do with the implied benefits, but that,“Bill Gates put cameras and electronic sensors in the homes and fields of Indian farmers. He used their cell phones, which he gave them for free, and his fibre optic and 5G installations which he persuaded the Indian Telecom Company to finance - to catalogue, study and steal farmers’ crop data, indigenous practices and agricultural knowledge for free. The he sold it back to them as new data. Instead of digitally transforming farms as he promised, he transformed Indian farmers into digital information. He privatised their seeds and harvested the work of the public system. He ripped out their knowledge assets and heirloom genetics, and installed GMO seeds and other ridiculous practices.

His clear agenda was to drive small farmers from the land and eventually mechanise and privatise food production.”

These countries - and every country deserves food sovereignty so that communities have control over the way food is produced, traded and consumed. America, India, Africa and every nation deserve to have a system that helps people and the environment rather than making Bill Gates even richer and more powerful because there really is no doubt that someone wielding this much influence and power and having access to billions has the capacity to make big changes - and so far his input in farming has been less than admirable. In fact, it’s been downright frightening for many.

13

Issues: Real life

Children Paying a Heavy Price Excluded, abandoned: Children born under Islamic State era still paying heavy price. Charlotte Bruneau reports.

Excluded, vilified and sometimes simply abandoned: such is the price paid by thousands of children in Iraq born to suspected Islamic State militants.

At the Hassan Sham camp for displaced people in northern Iraq, five-year-old Aisha, whose father disappeared after joining Islamic State, is pestering her mother because she wants to go to school.

“She’s always crying, saying she wants to go to school.

But I tell her she can’t: she doesn’t have the nationality,” says her mother, declining to give her name.

Like thousands of other children born to parents who lived in areas governed by Islamic State between 2014 and 2017, Aisha has no official birth certificate, and no easy way to obtain one.

“They don’t have civil documents, which excludes them from their basic rights as Iraqi citizens,” he said.

INRC estimated that around 45,000 undocumented children were living in Iraqi camps.

To register Aisha with the authorities, her mother said she must first be given security clearance to rule out any ties with Islamic State.

A maze of bureaucracy awaits her, involving local authorities, courts and security agencies, as well as administration fees she says she cannot Displaced Iraqi children play at Hassan afford.

Sham camp, in al-Khazer, Iraq November In another tent, a 22, 2020. REUTERS/Amina Ismail mother of eight says she worries most about her grandchild, Dima, who was born at the camp but whose parents were married by Islamic State mullahs in their community in Salahuddin province.

Not only is Dima without an official Without birth certificate, papers, basic but her parents did not get a valid marriage services including education licence - required by Iraqi law for the ...fear and hatred of Islamic State and health care are registration of every child. persists and children whose fathers difficult to access. In “There were no certificates had links to the groups are treated as 2018, the Ministry issues by the courts, by the outcasts, preventing their reintegration. of Education issued government.

And the ISIS a directive allowing certificates don’t work for the undocumented children to government.

We tore it into pieces and threw register in schools, but humanitarian it away,” the grandmother said.

NGOs say this is not consistently applied on the ground.

“There are a lot of complexities about registering children born during the years ISIS ruled. Many have not been registered yet,” said Karl Shembri, the regional media advisor of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)

Social stigma The Iraqi authorities are aware of the children’s plight.

The Ministry of Interior said that the government has 14

established an inter-ministerial committee tasked with addressing the issue.

Spokesman for the Ministry of Migration Ali Abbas said they counted around 400 families in camps in northern Iraq with children lacking civil documents.

a man back in her hometown in Salahuddin province.

However, her husband-to-be asked her to come without her children, three and five, and she agreed to leave them behind with their grandmother at the camp.

“She left the children and went to remarry. Her new “Children born under ISIS have husband doesn’t want them, a problem,” Abbas said. he says they are ISIS The crying children calmed down “When there is no children,” the when they were given sweets, unaware marriage certificate, grandmother said. how do we know that that their mother would not be back.

This is not an isolated a woman is truly the case, senior researcher at mother of the child?”

Human Rights Watch, Belkis Faced with this legal impasse, some mothers are Wille, said. forced into difficult, sometimes unbearable, choices.

“Many times women will say that their new husband “A common practice to resolve that is for the woman to will refuse to take in the new children because they are marry someone else as an adoptee, or marry someone in perceived as ‘contaminated with ISIS blood’, so these the family, like the husband’s brother,” said senior Iraq children get left behind with dwindling services, no analyst at Crisis Group, Lahib Higel. education and away from their mothers,” Wille said.

But fear and hatred of Islamic State persists and children whose fathers had links to the groups are treated as outcasts, preventing their reintegration.

In a tent nearby, the 24-year-old mother of two undocumented children is packing up. She received a marriage proposal, an unexpected opportunity for her to leave the camp and start a new life as the second wife of

Holding back the tears as she hugged her children goodbye, the young mother climbed into the taxi that would take her to her new husband. Neighbours soon gathered, promising to help out. The crying children calmed down when they were given sweets, unaware that their mother would not be back.

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Issues: Tales of Hollywood

Hollywood

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The Saga of the Sign

he Hollywood Sign, one of the world’s iconic symbols, identifies the entertainment capital of the world and serves as a metaphor of hope and dreams of success but the sign has led its very own interesting existence. Shaun Anthony reports.

One of the most recognisable - not to mention culturally iconic landmarks on the globe, the Hollywood Sign, which overlooks Hollywood, Los Angeles has stood proudly since 1923 as a symbol of the pizzazz of the film industry - yet the sign’s tale, like that of many a promising young star, has had it’s own share of drama and almost ended up on the scrapheap.

The Sign’s Genesis

the sign became the talk of the town - and an instant landmark, despite the fact it was only supposed to be up for 18 months. With the rise of American cinema in LA during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the sign became an internationally recognised symbol and was left there for the next ten years, becoming known as a symbol of the city’s promise of big things for would-be actors and actresses with stars in their eyes, arriving in the city from all over the world.

In 1923 real estate Tragedy struck developers Woodruff and Shoults spent On 16 September 1932 $23,000 on erecting a the sign (and the wider temporary billboard community) were struck by on the hills of Mount sorrow when Hollywood Lee, overlooking the hopeful, 24-year-old Peg The sign started out as ‘Hollywoodland’ to advertise an Hollywood district Entwistle climbed up the upscale new development of Los Angeles, canyon, ascended the ladder advertising an upscale on the back of the letter new development, ‘Hollywoodland’, marketing it as H and jumped to her death. Entwistle had broken a a, "superb environment without excessive cost on the theatrical contract to be in a movie ‘Thirteen Women’, Hollywood side of the hills.” They contracted the but when most of her scenes were left on the cutting Crescent Sign Company to erect thirteen south-facing room floor (due to strict censorship codes and hints of letters on the hillside. The sign company owner, Thomas lesbianism) her studio contract was dropped and she Fisk Goff designed the sign. Each letter was 30 ft (9.1 m) was viewed as an unreliable pariah in the theatre world. wide and 50 ft (15.2 m) high so one can imagine the Believing she was finished professionally, she took her impact. own life on the sign she had viewed as the metaphor of everything she had dreamed of.

Bring on the Glitz Caretaker of the sign Albert Kothe, a German In December of that year the sign was fitted with immigrant was driving, up to do some maintenance on a almost 4,000 light bulbs and flashed in segments: lightbulb on the letter ‘H’ whilst intoxicated, lost control ‘HOLLY,’ ‘WOOD,’ and ‘LAND’, and then as a of his car and drove off the cliff directly behind the letter. whole - ‘HOLLYWOODLAND’. Below the sign was a While Kothe was not injured, his car and the letter H searchlight to attract even more attention. Unsurprisingly were both destroyed. Kothe, who lived in a tiny wooden 16

shack behind the sign had the tedious job of changing the lightbulbs every time they went out. This was no mean feat and involved climbing a ladder behind the letter in question, perilously balancing on a horizontal pipe closest to the burned out bulb and making the swap.

An “eyesore” becomes an iconic symbol of possibility The following year, the real estate company that erected the sign dissolved and were no longer paying for maintenance. As windstorms came over the years, letters fell down and finally, it was nothing short of a blight on the landscape.

Due to public pressure, the company that built the sign paid to repair it but immediately donated it to the City of Los Angeles (so that they would no longer have to maintain it).

The city failed to preserve the sign and soon, wealthy locals complained that they wanted this “eyesore” and “detriment to the community” torn down. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce intervened and said they’d pay for the upkeep so long as the word ‘land’ was removed, but decided against illuminating, deeming the replacement of bulbs and electricity required, too expensive. So in October of 1949 a huge ceremony was held for the new Hollywood Sign. Although the sign was by no means perfect as the letters’ unprotected woodand-sheet-metal structure continued to decay.

Maintenance lapses yet again By the early 1970s, the first O had splintered and broken, resembling a lowercase u, and the third O had fallen down completely, leaving the severely dilapidated sign reading ‘HuLLYWO D’. Locals were not happy but no one seemed motivated to carry out the necessary repairs.

Danny Finegood and some friends made their way to the Hollywood sign with $50-worth of black and white fabric, which they used to make it read ‘Hollyweed’ in celebration of a state law that essentially decriminalised the possession of small amounts of marijuana. He did this as part of an art project for which he reportedly received an A. Finegood would go on to change the sign three more times: once to read ‘Holywood' at Easter, once to read ‘Ollywood’ in protest of Oliver North’s Iran-Contra testimony and once to read ‘Oil War’ in protest of the Persian Gulf War. Countless other pranksters have changed the sign over the years prior to football games, and to express support for political parties. In addition, people have both dangled from the letters and vandalised them. As a result of such shenanigans, public access to the site is prohibited and security cameras have been installed, along with a razor-wire fence, motion sensors and microphones.

The sign in it’s most decrepit state yet By 1978 the sign had become a complete monstrosity - in its most decrepit state yet. All of the letters would have to be replaced and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce refused to pay but said they would start a campaign and if they raised the necessary funds, the sign would be restored. Stars like singer Andy Williams, Alice Cooper and Playboy tycoon Hugh Hefner threw tremendous funds into the pot and saved the sign once more. The new letters were 45 ft (13.7 m) tall and ranged from 31 to 39 ft (9.4 to 11.9 m) wide.

The new version of the sign was unveiled on 11 November 1978, as the culmination of a live CBS television special commemorating the 75th anniversary of Hollywood's incorporation as a city.

The sign has had it’s fair share of pranksters On 1 January 1976, Cal State Northridge student

Refurbishment, donated by Bay Cal Commercial Painting began again in November 2005, as workers 17

stripped the letters back to their metal base and repainted them white.

important. The Hollywood Sign represents the dreams of millions. It’s a symbol. It is as the Eiffel Tower is to Paris.

It represents the movies.”

The sign faces a new threat In 2010 the sign came under a different kind of threat.

Developers had bought 138 acres around the sign and planned to cover the hills with luxury properties (countless film studios, actors and foundations were furious). You see eccentric businessman Howard Hughes had bought the land back in 1940 with the intention of building a mansion there for himself and his girlfriend, the actress Ginger Rogers. Those plans were abandoned, however, after Rogers broke up with him and nothing more happened with the land until 2002, when Hughes’ estate sold it to a Chicago-based investment firm.

A nonprofit organisation, The Trust for Public Land made efforts to stop the project but the developers gave them a deadline to come up with $12.5 million to buy the land back. With just 10 days before the deadline The Trust was still $900,000 short - and once again, Hugh Hefner came forward donating the remainder. Hefner would state afterwards that, “It’s like saying let’s build a house in the middle of Yellowstone Park…There are some things that are more

When the original Sign was built in 1923, no one could have imagined that what was conceived as a temporary billboard would endure to become one of the world’s most recognisable landmarks Today, as it approaches 100 years of stardom, the Sign is poised to play its signature roles for generations to come: a celestial fixture above a city of constant change, a dazzling marquee for an industry perpetually announcing its own gala premiere, and a beacon for aspiring stars from all walks of life, conjuring a parade of dreams and desires with nine simple white letters: H O L L Y W O O D

Hollywood Sign Trivia

Peg Entwistle threw herself from the H when she became disapointed with The stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent the industry.

Depression during the 1930’s halted real estate development. Since lots were no longer being sold, illuminating the Hollywoodland sign was no longer a priority. Times were tough, so caretaker Albert Kothe stripped the copper wiring from the sign and sold it for scrap.

The benefactors for each letter were as follows:

For your own FREE downloadable booklet on the sign: https://hollywoodsign.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/10/HollywoodSign-Brochure-FINAL_102918.pdf

H - Terrence Donnelly (a newspaper publisher) O - Alice Cooper (rock star) L - Les Kelley (businessman) L- Gene Autrey (singer and actor) Y- Hugh Hefner (founder of Playboy) W- Andy Williams (singer) O-Giovanni Mazza (Movie producer) O- Warner Bros. Studios D-Thomas Pooley Because the sign is perched on a very steep hill and because the city of Los Angeles doesn’t want to be sued, visitors are no longer allowed to hike right up to the sign.

The city might be worried that they will plummet to their deaths, get bitten by a rattlesnake or start a brush fire that will consume some of the expensive real estate below the sign.

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Town of Limone sul Garda on Garda lake view, Lombardy region of Italy

Wikipedia at 20: What next for the world’s biggest collection of information?

W

ikipedia is a multilingual open-collaborative online encyclopedia, which is how Wikipedia is described on the Wikipedia page about Wikipedia. The English-language version contains 6,227,517 articles, which were viewed 269 billion times last year. As it marks its 20th anniversary, The Big Issue speaks to co-founder and frontman Jimmy Wales, and Wikimedia Foundation CEO Katherine Maher, to find out about the challenges that come with controlling the biggest source of information on the planet in a time of fake news and dangerous views. Steven MacKenzie reports.

On 15 January 2001, tech pioneers brimmed with optimism about the potential of the information age, including 34-yearold Alabama-born Jimmy Wales.

He had a vision at once simple and preposterously ambitious: “To create a free, high-quality encyclopedia in all the languages of the world.”

Two decades later, the world has changed but Wikipedia has remained largely the same. How can it be though that we live in an age where more information about everything is available to “ first rule of anybody, but ignorance is not Wikipedia that only widespread but has been neutrality is non- weaponised? negotiable,” “Wikipedia tries really hard to be that place you go for quality, “That was a really big thoughtful information,” idea back then and it’s still Wales says. “But, of course, a really big idea today,” not every place online has the Wales, now living in same values. I believe we are London, adds. seeing a real problem with There are versions in an advertising-only business around 300 languages, model for social networks, relying on a community giving them a real incentive to of volunteer contributors Jimmy Wales at Wikimania 2015 (Wikimedia Commons) create addictive products that – currently 280,000 – to generate outrage, dispute and generate and moderate content, with 597 new articles anger. Because that keeps you on the site longer; it keeps added daily and 350 edited every minute. They follow you there long enough to see more ads.” policies that emphasise neutrality and sourcing facts, Wikipedia is run as a non-profit organisation. If Wales which have improved its reputation for accuracy over the had decided to sell out (conservative estimates value the years. site at $10bn+) and Wikipedia’s aim was to make as “I set down as one of the very first rules of Wikipedia much money as possible, it would look very different. that neutrality is non-negotiable,” Wales says. “Wikipedia Algorithms would tailor articles to match your digital would and should not become a vehicle for any one profile. That’s effectively what YouTube, Facebook particular ideology or point of view. Which of course, in and others do by curating content it can predict you’re its own way, is an ideology. But it’s a very enlightening interested in, even if that’s posts by flat Earth anti-vax one.”

UFO abductees.

In retrospect, how did Wales know people would get behind the idea?

“I’m a pathological optimist,” he replies. “I always thought, everything’s going to work out fine, but I was very pleased to see how many people are actually quite thoughtful and really try to work together. I think Wikipedia does represent the optimistic, hopeful side of what we can do as humans on this planet.”

Mis- and disinformation has stoked division and polarised viewpoints. The real-world consequences of this became starkly clear when insurrectionists stormed the Capitol in Washington earlier this year. So how does Wikipedia handle such a complex and incendiary event?

Within minutes a Wikipedia article about the event was created. Over the next few days, it grew to 14,000 words, 22

with 480+ sources, edited 4,500 times by 800 people. It’s this collaborative process that ensures consensus on even the most divisive issues.

“We might not all agree on everything about the world,” San Francisco-based CEO Katherine Maher says. “And it’s not just the political, with any matter of sensitivity, you have a range of people pushing from all sides. What that ends up doing is pushing the articles into something that approximates agreement.

“An article itself evolves over months or years but we only get to see a single version of it, which means that we don’t get to fall into rabbit holes of our own political persuasions or ideas.

pursuing information in order to make an important life decision, or because you’re curious about the world and are looking for a diversion, whether it is serious scientific information, or whether it’s just about pop culture, knowledge really matters to people.”

In 2017, Wales set up WikiTribune to “save journalism”.

It didn’t quite do that job and has evolved into WT:Social, a “non-toxic social network” to provide an alternative to Facebook and Twitter with no adverts and users able to flag misleading Katherine Maher, Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation. March, 2016. posts.

(Wikimedia Commons)

“I think that’s the really fundamental difference between us and other social platforms with individualised, personalised feeds that have a tendency to sort of pull you further away from consensus.”

“It’s a pilot project,” Wales explains. “Everything I’m doing there is focused on trying to completely reinvent what it means to be in a social network. I’m having fun building it.

“I think the public is quite dissatisfied with the current state, saying, you know what, let’s start looking for alternatives.”

of social media space?

Somebody looking for an alternative social media platform may be Donald Trump. How would he have to behave in a different kind

“Well, I mean, I have a pretty strong feeling that if he behaves the way he normally So unlike pretty much every behaves on social media, the other major or minor We’ve been blocked in China community would vote to website, Wikipedia for a very long time now and while that’s ban him quite quickly. has no interest in particularly disappointing, we want to make collecting data sure that doesn’t spread, that censorship does “My view is, in order about its visitors. to solve the problems not continue to grow. of social networking, it’s “We don’t track our not about simply changing users because we’d never their top-down centralised policies, it’s want the data about who they are or what fundamentally rethinking how the whole thing works. they believe because we think that it’s just so tempting Stop thinking about a model in which the general public once you have it!” Maher admits. that’s using the platform is disempowered entirely from “And it’s why we don’t want to ever be a commercial having any say in how it’s run. It’s not easy, but my belief entity because we would be tempted to make decisions is that that’s what we have to try to do.” like that, because that would be, you know, potentially Twenty years from now, Wales believes Wikipedia good business. will look very similar to how it does today. “It’s an “We’re not taking positions on politics or matters of encyclopedia, we’re not going to become TikTok or social disagreement, what we’re trying to do is present anything. We really want to be here for the long haul. the information so that people can come to their own “A lot of the changes will be invisible to most of us conclusions. because it’s going to be about Wikipedia in the languages “We just know that no matter where you are in your life, of poorer parts of the world as we welcome the next two whether you’re a student or you are older, whether you’re billion people online.”

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Maher adds: “For example, India is a country with at least 24 Wikipedia language versions.

And we want to be able to serve the hundreds of millions of people who live in India, who speak one of these 24 languages.

important today to have skills at determining what is quality information, or what isn’t,” Wales says. “If you believe every random nonsense that you see floating around on social media, you’re going to end up with a very poor state of understanding of the world.”

“On the flip side, we look at countries where we worry about the risk of censorship, which we think is increasing around the globe. We’ve been blocked in China for a very long time now and while that’s particularly disappointing, we want to make sure that doesn’t spread, that censorship does not continue to grow.”

Human beings have remained unchanged for thousands of years, he adds, but our environment is evolving rapidly.

Nowadays to be the smartest person in the room you just have to be the fastest on a smartphone. Has the internet and unlimited access to information changed the meaning of intelligence? It’s no longer about knowing information, it’s knowing the value of that information.

“I think it was always important, it’s probably more

Wikipedia has more than 55 million articles in more than 300 languages Wikipedia is edited by more than 280,000 volunteer editors every month around the world Wikipedia is edited 350 times per minute and read more than 8,000 times a second Wikipedia is accessed by 1.5 billion unique devices every month and read more than 15 billion times every month Roughly 89% of articles on Wikipedia are in languages other than English Most vandalism (edits that do not meet

“We’ve always had conspiracy theories but people do get sucked into it. How could you believe, for example, that 5G is the cause of coronavirus? I mean, it’s a completely stupid thing to believe, right? If you told people that 100 years ago, they wouldn’t have a very easy way of going to check that. Whereas now they do. You can just go on Wikipedia and it takes you 10 minutes to go, oh I see that makes no sense whatsoever.

“And a lot of people don’t. I’m not sure what the answer is. People should read more Wikipedia.”

Wikipedia’s reliability and neutrality standards) is addressed within five minutes on Wikipedia Wikipedia is supported by nearly 7 million donors, with the average donation being about $15 You have been searching for…

Most-viewed Wikipedia articles for the last five years: 2016 – Donald Trump – 77,303,239 views 2017 – Darth Vader – 35,032,106 views 2018 – FIFA World Cup – 34,993,993 views 2019 – Avengers: Endgame – 44,433,140 views 2020 – COVID-19 pandemic* - 81,929,961 views 24

Proud Supporters of Ireland’s Big Issue & Homeless Street Leagues

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Screen Scene

Thunder Force***

The Mosquito Coast****

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Jason Bateman, Octavia Spencer Streaming on: Netflix Run Time: 105 mins.

Release Date: 9 April 2021 In a world terrorised by supervillians, one woman has developed the process to give superpowers to regular people. But when scientist Emily Stanton (played by Oscar winner Octavia Spencer) accidentally imbuses her estranged best friend Lydia (played by the extrordinarily funny Melissa McCarthy) with incredible abilities, the two women must become the first superhero team. Now, its up to Thunder Force to battle the super-powered Miscreants and save Chicago from the clutches of The King. To be fair it isn’t Identify Thief or The Heat but well worth a view.

Starring: Justin Theroux, Melissa George.

Streaming on: Apple TV+ Run Time: 8 x 1hr.

Release date: 30 April 2021 Based on the book of the same name by Paul Theroux (Justin’s uncle) and starring The Slap’s Melissa George and Annabelle’s Gabriel Bateman, The Mosquito Coast follows an idealist inventor, Allie Fox (played by Theroux)who uproots his family and moves them to Latin America when they find themselves on the run from the United States Government. The Mosquito Coast of course was originally published in 1981 and was previously adapted into a film of the same name in 1986 (starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren). This series from Apple TV+ will not disappoint fans of the book or the film. Perfect for those of you who love a bit of adventure (and who doesn’t yearn for some during lockdown!)

Fir Bolg *** Starring: Sean McGinley, Peader Cox, Streaming on: TG4 Run Time: 6x 1hr Release Date: Currently streaming This authentically Irish 6-part comedy drama series tells the hilarious, if troubled story of a vintage traditional music group who have a history - but little future! However, that all changes on the day of a funeral when the band reluctantly agree to get back together for a one-off gig. As preparations for the gig get underway, the Fir Bolg find themselves dragged into more gigs and more controversy as skeletons begin to fall out of the closet. In the absence of their founding member and leading light, the road to a happy reunion is far from smooth.

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One Tree Hill *** (Seasons 1-9) Starring: Chad Michael Murray, James Lafferty Streaming: Channel 4 Run Time: 187 x 42 mins Release Date: Streaming permanently on Ch4

Them **** Starring:Shahadi Wright Joseph, Deborah Ayorinde, Meloday Hurd, Alison Pill Streaming: Prime Run Time: 10 x 1 hr Release Date: 9 April 2021

One Tree Hill which was first aired in 2003 (can you believe it?) is set in the fictional town of Tree Hill in North Carolina and initially follows the lives of two half-brothers, Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) and Nathan Scott (James Lafferty), who compete for positions on their school’s basketball team, and the drama that ensues from the brothers’ romances.

The series premiere was watched by 2.5 million viewers back in September 2003 and the following week shot up to 3.3 million and there’s a reason for that, like Friends and other series based around real people, with real problems and experiences, we find individuals we can relate to and grow with episode by episode. Will it appeal to those over 25? I don’t think so, but for its target audience, a whole new generation of fans have a great treat ahead of them.

atching right w e g in b e ’r u o Tell us what y now sueIreland Is ig B @ r te it on Tw

The first season of Little Marvin’s highly-anticipated horror anthology series, Them! is available to stream from 9 April. This limited anthology series explores terror in America. The first season, subtitled “Covenant,” centres on a Black family in the 1950s who moves from North Carolina to an all-white Los Angeles neighbourhood during the period known as The Great Migration. The family’s idyllic home becomes ground zero where malevolent forces — next-door and otherworldly — threaten to taunt, ravage and destroy them. Perfect if you love to be scared silly. Not for the faint hearted!

Grace Harte *** Starring:Kate Nic Chonaonaigh, Dara Devaney, Eoin Dubhghaill Streaming: TG4 Run Time: 3 x1hr Release Date: Currently streaming If moody Gaelic noir is your thing, Grace Harte is well worth putting your feet up for. This 3-part drama series is set in a dilapidated hotel in the West of Ireland and centres around a love triangle that ends tragically. Grace and Leo Harte, both in their 40s, run a crumbling hotel, Ostán Harte, a fixture on the landscape for many years. Danny, a young and ambitious surfer, sets up a surfing school on the beach adjacent to the hotel. Grace meets Danny and tells him how trapped she feels and that at times she wishes she was rid of Leo. Danny grants her wish and conspires in Leo’s murder but as events unfold, the intended victim is not the main casualty.

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Issues: Historical

John Millington Synge:

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“The greatest dramatic genius of Ireland.”

his month it’s 150 years since the birth of poet and playwright John Millington Synge. Liz Scales takes a look at the life of the author, best known for his play ‘The Playboy of the Western World’.

John Millington Synge was born on 16 April 1871 in Newton Villas, Rathfarnham - the youngest of 8 children born to upper-middle-class Protestant parents, John Hatch Synge, a barrister (who came from a family of landed gentry in Glanmore Castle, Co. Wicklow) and mother, Kathleen, nee Trail. John’s life may have been short (he died aged 37) but few people have lived a life so full as this Rathfarnham man, who had an innately insatiable appetite for knowledge and spent every waking hour in the pursuit of knowledge and enlightenment.

provided a more than ample income. Kathleen moved the family to the house next door to her own mother’s in Rathgar, County Dublin for emotional support as John was often very ill and one can only imagine what it was like losing a husband and 3 children in a matter of months.

John showed a great interest in music from a young age and was home educated with occasional spells in schools in Dublin and Bray and went on to study music theory and counterpoint at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

He then travelled to the continent to study music, but changed his mind and decided to focus on literature. Kathleen moved the family to the suburb of Kingstown (now Dún John came from a Laoghaire) in 1888 and Synge’s fascination with stalwart evangelical Synge enrolled at Trinity the spirit of the people of family with strong College, taking lectures Wicklow was apparent in roots in the Church the following year. He of Ireland (in just graduated with a BA in his writing… three generations, 1892, having studied the Synge family Irish and Hebrew as well produced five as continuing his music Bishops for the COI). The Synges had been in Co. studies and playing with the Academy Orchestra in Wicklow for a century. Francis Synge, John’s greatthe Antient Concert Rooms. During his degree Synge grandfather, had acquired his estate in 1796 along discovered the writings of Charles Darwin and Karl Marx with a large house then called Glenmouth which was and despite the concerns and the attempts at conversion picturesquely set overlooking the Glen with sea views to to Christianity by his mother, he was not convinced the south-east and transformed it into the large castle it and the course of his life was set. Kathleen found this became. very difficult to come to terms with, but her son said he was, “Trading the Kingdom of Heaven for the Kingdom John never knew his dad who had died of smallpox and of Ireland.” Despite having always planned a career in was buried on his son’s first birthday. Kathleen was left music, John felt that writing would be the best medium with 5 kids (tragically, 3 children died during baby John’s for expressing his cultural appreciation. first year). The family were not left in the financial penury as similar families would have been, as they owned an Despite not seeing eye-to-eye with them in most topics, impressive estate in Galway and rental properties that John loved to holiday with his family in Wicklow (and 28

always considered himself a Wicklow man, despite an actress. Under her stage name of Maire O’Neill he being a Dubliner by birth) and at Tomriland house, ensured she treaded the boards regularly in Abbey near Annamoe, he would draft his first trilogy of plays: Theatre productions - securing her place in theatre Riders to the Sea, In the shadow of the Glen, and The history by being the first actress to interpret the lead Tinker’s Wedding. Despite living with bouts of chronic character of Pegeen Mike Flaherty in The Playboy of the illness, he loved to walk - usually around 20 miles a day Western World. as he felt “inspired” by the people he met on his strolls.

The Playboy Riots Synge’s fascination with the spirit of the people of The Playboy of the Wicklow was apparent in Western World his writing, not to mention caused riots when it his political and religious was first performed views, which would cause on 26 January great dismay amongst his 1907. Even before family, at variance with the opening night, their intrinsic conservative trouble was brewing. ascendancy outlook. John Synge’s relationship and his kin agreed on with Nationalists had very little politically as always been troubled. he was a political radical They hated the who immersed himself frenchified themes in the socialist literature of his earlier plays of William Morris and in (like The Shadow of his own words, “wanted the Glen) where a to change things root frustrated wife in the and branch.” Much to the Wicklow mountains distress of his mother, he walks away from went to Paris in 1896 to her marriage into become more involved in the arms of a tramp radical politics (his interest whose name she in the topic lasted until his doesn’t even know.

Illustration from The Playboy of the Western World dying days when he tried to Nationalists also engage his nurses on topics resented the such as feminism). implication behind the Abbey project that there could After running in to W.B. ever be an Irish Much to the distress of his mother, he Yeats in Paris, John national literature went to Paris in 1896 to become more would, at his new friend’s in English, the involved in radical politics… recommendation, further language of the develop his graphic style coloniser. Synge by immersing himself in Gaelic believed that there could, culture with visits to the West of Ireland albeit in an English as Irish as it and the Aran Islands which would be the setting for is possible for it to be. So he created sentences in which his pièce de résistance, The Playboy of the Western English was reconfigured by peasants who were thinking World. Synge became very close with both W.B. and his still in Irish. Despite thinking this would appease his brother Jack B Yeats, in fact he and Jack took an epic critics, protesters against The Playboy of the Western journey around Mayo and Galway which John described World uttered “vociferations in Gaelic”, according to as, “more strange and marvellous than anything I’ve newspaper reports. dreamed of.” The social observation accompanied

by Yeats’ haunting drawings were published by the The play tells the story of Christy Mahon, a young fellow Manchester Guardian to call attention to the extreme running away from his farm, claiming he killed his dad. deprivation of the people living there.

Patricide was a shocking enough subject but the play also mentioned ladies underwear (a shift). At the time, a shift In 1905 Synge fell in love with teenager Molly Allgood, was known as a symbol representing Kitty O’Shea and a 19-year-old shop assistant who dreamed of becoming her adulterous relationship with Charles Stuart Parnell.

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The Nationalists viewed this content to be an offence to When the play opened in Philadelphia in January 1912 public morals and an insult against Ireland. A section the rioting started yet again (despite the more risqué of the audience at lines being removed). The local Clan the opening rioted, na Gael leader brought an injunction causing the third against the production on the grounds act to be acted of indecency and the actors were out in dumbshow arrested. New York lawyer and Irish (gestures used to American patron, John Quinn, won convey a meaning the court case and the tour continued or message without to Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and speech; mime).

Chicago.

The disturbances continued for a Throughout Ireland, in the aftermath week, interrupting of the Playboy riots, local councils the following passed motions condemning the performances. Sinn Abbey. Catholics took particular Féin leader Arthur offence at the way in which a writer of Griffith described Protestant Ascendancy background the play as “a vile and causes the Playboy, Christy Mahon, to inhuman story told in utter such sacrilege as: the foulest language “With the help of God, I killed him we have ever listened surely, and may the holy immaculate to from a public mother intercede for his soul.” platform.” He also But others were incensed too. Some perceived it as a slight writers who had applauded Synge’s on Irish womanhood. earlier work felt that now he had gone The Freeman’s Journal too far. “It is not against a nation that described it as, he blasphemes,” wrote Patrick Pearse “an unmitigated, in a journal of the Gaelic League, “so protracted libel upon much as against the moral order of Robert Sheehan as Christy Mahon The Irish peasant men, and the universe.” The Irish Times’s critic Playboy of the Western World worse still upon Irish identified one cause of the trouble: girlhood”.

“It is as if a mirror were held up to our faces and we found ourselves hideous. We fear to face Of course, within two years the thing. We scream.”

Synge was dead but his a timid and shy man, who play was well on its Synge had so much more to offer way to becoming the world, in terms of his writing “never spoke an unkind word” a global success. and his desire to change hearts yet his art could “fill the streets However, by 1911, and minds, but sadly, despite with rioters” when the show went plans to marry Molly Allgood, the up to New York, it seemed wedding never took place due to his that little had changed. Projectiles illness, Hodgkin’s disease, which, it was discovered were launched at the stage, potatoes, stink bombs and was inoperable and he passed away, aged just 37 at Elpis rosaries were just three of the items hurled in rage at Nursing Home in Dublin on 24 March 1909. the stage of the Maxine Elliott Theater as a riot again engulfed the auditorium and police threw out protestors. Yeats described Synge as a timid and shy man, who Standing up front and centre of the audience, Lady “never spoke an unkind word” yet his art could “fill the Augusta Gregory told the actors to, “Keep playing”. The streets with rioters” and as “the greatest dramatic genius founder of the Abbey Theatre and patron of WB Yeats of Ireland”. secured triumph two nights later when she arranged for Theodore Roosevelt, the former US president to attend Synge, it could be argued was born too soon and his the performance. Roosevelt and views too progressive for his time, his name and work, Lady Gregory were old friends. The audience applauded however, will live on in Irish history and litreature.

Roosevelt and his enjoyment of the play won them over.

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s e k Jo

Because laughter is the best medicine!

A young businessman had just started his own firm. He rented a beautiful office and had it furnished with antiques. Sitting there, he saw a man come into the outer office. Wishing to appear the hot shot, the businessman picked up the phone and started to pretend he had a big deal working.

He threw huge figures around and made giant commitments. Finally he hung up and asked the visitor, “Can I help you?”

The man said, “Yeah, I’ve come to activate your phone lines.”

A pair of chickens walk up to the circulation desk at a public library and say, ‘Buk Buk BUK.’ The librarian decides that the chickens desire three books, and gives it to them...and the chickens leave shortly thereafter.

Around midday, the two chickens return to the circulation desk quite vexed and say,’ Buk Buk BuKKOOK!’ The librarian decides that the chickens desire another three books and gives it to them. The chickens leave as before.

The two chickens return to the library in the early afternoon, approach the librarian, looking very annoyed and say, ‘Buk Buk Buk Buk Bukkooook!’ The librarian is now a little suspicious of these chickens. She gives them what they request, and decides to follow them.

She follows them out of the library, out of the town, and to a park. At this point, she hid behind a tree, not wanting to be seen. She saw the two chickens throwing the books at a

frog in a pond, to which the frog was saying, “Rrredit Rrredit Rrredit...”

A man observed a woman in the grocery store with a three-year-old girl in her basket. As they passed the cookie section, the child asked for cookies and her mother told her “no.” The little girl immediately began to whine and fuss, and the mother said quietly, “Now Ellen, we just have half of the aisles left to go through; don’t be upset. It won’t be long.”

He passed the mother again in the candy aisle. Of course, the little girl began to shout for candy. When she was told she couldn’t have any, she began to cry. The mother said, “There, there, Ellen, don’t cry. Only two more aisles to go, and then we’ll be checking out.”

The man again happened to be behind the pair at the checkout, where the little girl immediately began to clamor for gum and burst into a terrible tantrum upon discovering there would be no gum purchased today. The mother patiently said, “Ellen, we’ll be through this check out stand in five minutes, and then you can go home and have a nice nap.”

The man followed them out to the parking lot and stopped the woman to compliment her. “I couldn’t help noticing how patient you were with little Ellen...”

The mother broke in, “My little girl’s name is Tammy... I’m Ellen.”

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My Mother taught me LOGIC...”If you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can’t go to the shop with me.”

My Mother taught me MEDICINE...”If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they’re going to freeze that way.”

My Mother taught me TO THINK AHEAD...”If you don’t pass your spelling test, you’ll never get a good job!”

My Mother taught me ESP...”Put your sweater on; don’t you think that I know when you’re cold?”

My Mother taught me TO MEET A CHALLENGE...”What were you thinking? Answer me when I talk to you...Don’t talk back to me!”

My Mother taught me HUMOUR...”When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.”

My Mother taught me how to BECOME AN ADULT...”If you don’t eat your vegetables, you’ll never grow up.

My mother taught me about GENETICS...”You are just like your father!”

My mother taught me about my ROOTS...”Do you think you were born in a barn?”

My mother taught me about the WISDOM of AGE...”When you get to be my age, you will understand.”

My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION...”Just wait until your father gets home.”

My mother taught me about RECEIVING...”You are going to get it when we get home.”

And, my all-time favourite JUSTICE...”One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like YOU -- then you’ll see what it’s like!”

Issues: New Book Releases

Patricia Scanlan’s Book Club Patricia Scanlan was born in Dublin, where she still lives. She is a #1 bestselling author and has sold millions of books worldwide. Her books are translated in many languages.

Patricia is the series editor and a contributing author to the award winning Open Door Literacy series.

This issue, Patricia brings her favourite books of the moment.

Make Yourself At Home - Ciara Geraghty (Harper Collins)

In Make Yourself At Home, Ciara Geraghty’s poignant, uplifting eight novel, we are instantly immersed in her protagonist, Marianne’s rock bottom experience. Following her marriage breakdown, loss of her much loved, immaculate house, job, and well ordered existence, she returns to her childhood home and her exuberant, somewhat eccentric, recovering alcoholic mother, Rita.

Having left home at fifteen, following a harrowing experience that has coloured her life ever since, Ancaire - the ramshackle seaside house perched high on a cliff - is the last place she wants to be. But there she is and there she has to stay.

The author brings an enormous authenticity to her characters, and the snippy dialogue between Rita and a truculent Marianne, tells the reader how difficult life was for her, growing up with a ‘drunken brawling,’ alcoholic mother. When, on Marianne’s first morning, in her old bedroom, Rita barges in, yanks open the curtains, and offers to make her daughter an avocado and blueberry smoothie, Marianne retorts tartly ‘It’s hard to believe you used to count the olives and lemons in your vodka-tonic, as two of your five a day!’ and the page hums with the ever present antagonism between them, with reconciliation seemingly impossible.

Make Yourself at Home is peppered with a diverse cast of intriguing characters. Aunt Pearl, ‘a collection of rigid bones that poked through the thin blue film of her skin and ‘who’s tone is as pointed as the collar of her blouse,’ - tries to smooth the rough edges of Rita and Marianne’s turbulent relationship.

Rita runs an alcoholics recovery programme, Get Well Soon™ (she’s not a fan of AA’s ‘perpetual aspect.’) for Freddy and Bartholomew, a gay couple who are going through a rough patch, blue rinsed, elderly Ethel, whose drunk driving left her victim in a wheelchair, and Shirley, a sharp talking, edgy single mother of two little boys.

Written with Geraghty’s trademark humour and keen sense of observation, we go on a rollercoaster journey with this motley crew as truths are revealed, old hurts are confronted and dealt with, and the bonds of love and affection that develop between them are strengthened and deepened in unexpected ways. A deeply satisfying read.

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Boy 11963 - John Cameron (Hachette Books Ireland)

John Cameron a respected and much loved school teacher for thirtyfive years, was also known as Boy 11963, when at eight years of age, he was incarcerated in Artane Industrial School, having being abandoned in a Dublin orphanage, and fostered out as a child labourer by the age of three.

In Boy 11963 he gives a harrowing account of a life of, cruelty, savage assaults and sexual abuse, as, along with other children, he battled for his life against the heartless adversity of the Church, and the emerging Irish state. Boy 11963 is a shocking, gritty read but the reader is left inspired, and overcome with admiration for John Cameron’s quest to unravel the truth of his origins, and find peace.

What Matters Now - Gareth O’Callaghan (Hachette Books Ireland)

Radio presenter, best selling author, psychotherapist, Gareth O’Callaghan one of Ireland’s best known personalities, had a busy, fulfilling life until, in 2018 he was diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy –a neurological disease that is both progressive and incurable, and ultimately fatal. In What Matters Now, he charts his journey out of the darkness of diagnosis, to coming to terms with a new way of living. With his trademark empathy, insight and honesty, he writes inspiringly that no matter what the circumstances, every life must be lived to the fullest. An uplifting, motivational read.

Exciting Times - Naoise Dolan (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

A new wave of female Irish writers has taken the literary scene by storm with Trinity graduates Sally Rooney and Naoise Dolan leading the pack.

Exciting Times, Dolan’s debut, garnered glowing reviews. She writes about 22 year old Ava, who leaves Ireland to go on a gap year to Hong Kong, where she teaches English grammar to rich children. The vibrant richness of that multicultural city, the fusion of East and West, is only lightly sketched. Ava could be in any city, and perhaps this is deliberate.

Her relationships with wealthy, Julian - shallow and narcissistic - and Hong Kong born, lawyer, Edith, who exposes an unsettling vulnerability in Ava, are deftly depicted.

Like Rooney’s novels, the naval gazing excavations of millennials as they explore intimacy, sexuality, self-affirmation and their place in society, are astutely, wittily and thoughtfully observed, in a spiky, cerebral style that perfectly captures the voice of Dolan’s generation.

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Issues: Topical

Royal Bust Up!

.

Fallout from the celebrity interview divides opinion, Sinead Dunlop reports. no longer do we arrive at decisions and opinions in Piers Morgan recently faced a tirade of vitriol from this way - now, based on someone’s background, their Twitter for claiming Meghan Markle’s contribution to ethnicity, their sexuality, we’re expected to believe them Oprah Winfrey’s interview was a “diatribe of bilge”. because those facets of their being is what makes them Because of his declaration, Morgan is viewed as a automatically right. We all see life through the filtered contemptible man who must be racist and lack empathy lenses of race, sex, age etc but surely we need to get towards someone who battled mental ill-health. When back to did we become a deciphering A Touch of Irony: Millionaire Royals & world where a TV Billionaire celebrity discuss oppression! facts anchor, who is paid objectively for his opinion, - nobody is not allowed to wants to air it and must be called a unconditionally racist or a accept everything bigot, but a public figure we’re doing states, simply society no because they’re favours by emotionallybelieving sensitive subjects everything and the person is a a person woman of colour? says just because of On Twitter I the sensitive noticed a very subject popular school matter. of thought - that white people have no right to doubt Markle’s account and if they do they’re racist! Nana Acheampong, a black journalist who writes in The Sun wrote, “If Meghan is telling you that she suffered racism in the Palace, then she did. Anyone who suggests otherwise is not black.”

Is it a case of being forced by the woke brigade to believe everything Meghan says because she is mixedrace, female and made accusations of racism and a lack of compassion around mental health in the Monarchy - injustices most decent people naturally feel incensed about? Are we in a world where those of us who don’t believe all of her story are viewed as alt-right bigots?

It appears we no longer use logic to arrive at our reasoning. Once upon a time we knew why we were, for example, pro-life or pro-choice (for want of a better example) - we’d done our research, perhaps were swayed by our religious beliefs or life experiences and arrived at our verdict, but

As a viewer watching the interview, a couple of issues I noticed that were difficult to believe (and so made me question her overall honesty) were that she and Harry had been married 3 days before their public wedding (although we now know this is not true). I also found it difficult to believe she could not source mental health help considering the Royals have their own on-site medical team - why didn’t Harry get her help?

We have to ask - what was the actual purpose of this interview? Revenge? Publicity? A marketing strategy to enhance future prospects in America? Royal experts believe that Meghan hated playing second fiddle to Kate and despised the fact William was further up the line of succession than Harry, and that the thought of Kate and William one day being king and queen would be a real sore point for her. Markle was also incredibly miffed that the Queen would not allow them to move in to Windor Castle but instead gave them Frogmore Cottage (which was given a £2.4m makeover - at the cost of the taxpayer). Meghan was not impressed and felt the castle 34

was better suited to their needs!

their life was.

Meghan appears self-obsessed with a fragile ego and has whipped Harry along for the ride.

It’s difficult to understand why anyone, much less Harry would so publicly scorn his family; what family is perfect? Educated, fed, financially secure, a position in society; poor Harry, so hard done by! It is hard to see how he could hope to reconcile with his family after his needless public condemnation of them.

It’s very difficult to feel sorry for them - they come across as stroppy teens who didn’t get their own way and are now out to destroy.

The Backlash Piers Morgan called Markle a liar but Meghan, on the other hand filed official complaints to ITV & Ofcom; vindictive and designed to stifle criticism. Markle is no fool and wants to dictate the narrative

Does this mean I disbelieve everything she said in the Oprah interview - no, I don’t doubt for one moment that life, especially at the hands of the unforgiving paparazzi Oprah at Meghan & Harrys wedding in May 2018 was difficult at times, what I do disbelieve is that this And as for Oprah (Meghan’s professionally trained actress, who carved out a successful friend and neighbour) conducting the interview - none career for herself in the entertainment industry was of the important questions were asked, it appeared a bit not a victim by any stretch of the imagination - in fact, too cosy to be impartial and seemed to follow a carefully this self-serving interview was carefully managed and choreographed format, in line with Meghan’s ‘poor me’ appeared to have one aim - to use emotional issues to get narrative. one up on a family and a system she feels betrayed by.

The fawning Winfrey simply became a pawn in Markle’s game - but then again, who hasn’t that’s crossed her It’s very hard to take Harry and Meghan seriously. path?

They are faux victims, but add in the virtue-signalling Have your say on Twitter @BigIssueIreland (lecturing the public on climate change while they jet around the globe), and using a visit to the poorest of the poor in Africa to moan to the press about how miserable

Ironic Musings of Celebrity Wokes In the Immortal Words of John McEnroe ‘You cannot be serious’

1. I don’t read the tabloids but they are so unpleasant I had to leave the country 2. The racism in Britain was so bad we’ve come to the United States 3. For security reasons, it’s better to live in a country where everyone has a gun 4. As a mere A-list actress on a top-rated show, I was totally unprepared to enter the media spotlight 5. We wanted our son to be a Royal Prince even though Royalty is a gilded cage that makes people trapped and unhappy 6. As an American actress and friend of Hollywood celebrities, I did not have the phone number of a therapist.

7. My letter to my father is deeply private, Harry’s unanswered phone call with his father should be shared with the world.

8. My family cut me off financially, my inheritance is only in the region of €10 million.

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Issues: Women’s World

B

Beauty at Gunpoint?

ig Issue Australia vendor, and one-time beauty queen, Anita G finds empowerment in words – and, at 75, uses them to fight against an ageist, looks-obsessed world. Anita G reports.

I was devastated. The man behind the counter ignored me when I tried to attract his attention. He attended to the young woman who stood next to me, even though I was first. When I tried to protest, he walked off mid-sentence – it was as if I became invisible overnight.

when I choose to do so. This excludes cosmetic surgery, which can be disfiguring and even cause death.

But our value does not lie in looking decorative. We have far more to offer, though it’s hard not to internalise society’s messages about what makes a woman desirable. When I was growing up, there were few career choices for girls. Teaching, secretarial work and hairdressing were guaranteed paths to obscurity and insignificance, or so we thought. Most girls I knew dreamed about becoming film stars or at least models.

This went on until I decided to fight back.

It’s best to harness the energy sparked by your righteous anger into achieving your personal goals. How can you ignore an old lady who stamps her feet, yells and waves her umbrella around?

I haven’t been snubbed lately.

We do live in an ageist society. Unfortunately, it’s particularly unkind to us women. We may live longer than men, but generally women have a shorter shelf life as desirable romantic partners.

The other day a friend was crying on my shoulder because her husband cheated on her – her rival was 20 years younger.

“If you want monogamy, marry a swan,” I told her, as the writer Nora Ephron wryly counselled.

At the age of 19 I had my own brush with glamour. A friend dared me to enter a beauty competition. So I did. It was sponsored by a radio station and prizes were a transistor radio, a beach towel and enough makeup to last two years.

After being crowned as Miss Elwood Beach, I was a blissed-out babe for about five minutes. They probably chose me because the two runners-up were absurdly young. That didn’t stop me feeling like Miss World. Pathetic, I know…

The beauty and cosmetics industries have a lot to answer The next day, I came down with a thud. Life for. They brainwash women into went on as before. thinking we are saddled with a We do live in an ageist lifelong personal appearance society. Unfortunately, About this time, I discovered words: tax if we want to remain their power, their possibilities, the magic acceptable. They suggest it’s particularly unkind they can weave. I read voraciously, that looking old is a crime, to us women. looking for role models who were high or perhaps a deep, dark secret, achievers without relying on their looks. At the and at the very least we should cover same time, I also noticed that older women were edged up any signs of it. I’m all for improving my out of the job market and were treated with far less appearance, given the limitations of my age, but only 36

respect than their male peers. I channelled my anger into ambition, deciding to become a writer of short stories and novels. This was a passion that would age-proof me from the inside.

I sent a review of a book on child psychology written by experts to The Age, without being commissioned. To my astonishment, they published it. Next, I sent a short story to a New Zealand literary magazine. This was published too.

If only young women had been encouraged to risk trying new things instead of languishing in dead-end or incompatible jobs; who knows how many could have led more fulfilled lives?

Sigmund Freud famously asked, “What We may live longer than men, but generally women does a woman want?” We want autonomy. We want to be in control have a shorter shelf life of our lives, to be respected when we as desirable romantic become old. We want things men take partners. for granted.

It’s time to normalise looking one’s age. In future, I insist on my right to leave home barefaced if I want to.

The cosmetic industry has no right to bully me into using their products. What is this, beauty at gunpoint? And if anyone gives me a disdainful glance, I will stare them down with the subliminal message: “This is what being 75 looks like. Deal with it!”

Thousands of published articles later, I reflected on how lucky I was to pursue writing in my spare time while holding down a regular job – what enjoyment this gave me. After a couple of years, I walked into the office of a suburban newspaper and asked them to take me on.

They let me start immediately as a C-grade journalist.

Courtesy of The Big Issue Australia / INSP.ngo

This led to more full-time jobs in magazines and newspapers.

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Freephone 1800 296 296 Outreach to Dungarvan on Thursdays.

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Word Power

A

Over the next few issues we’ll be attempting to increase your word power. Have a look at the words below and afterwards see if you know their meaning.

Word

Pronunciation

1. Acumen 2. Apocryphal 3. Banal 4. Capricious 5. Caveat 6. Chicanery 7. Equivocate 8. Iconoclast 9. Myopic 10.Patrician 11. Specious 12. Sardonic

Ak-you-min Ap-ok-riff-il Bin-aul Cap-ish-us Cav-ee-at Shik-ain-er-ee Ek-quiv-o-kate Eye-kon-oh-clast My-op-ik Pat-trish-un Spee-shuz Sar-don-ik

Answers 1. Quickness of perception or discernment.

2. Of doubtful authority.

3. Commonplace; trivial.

4. Whimsical.

5. A warning or caution.

6. The use of trickery to deceive.

7. To be deliberately ambiguous.

8.One who seeks to overthrow traditional ideas of institutions.

9.Lack of discernment in thinking or planning.

10. A person of refined upbringing.

11. Apparently right; but not so in reality.

12. Bitterly sarcastic.

How did YOU score?

10 or more – Perfection!6-9 Brilliant.

3-5 Well done.

0-2 Must do better.

How did you do? Let us know on Twitter @BigIssueIreland 38

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f) Help children feel safe and secure

e Enable children to achieve their full potential Develop

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