Motley Magazine January 2016 by Motley Magazine

Student Loans Deirdre O’ Shaughnessy Spring STYLE Inspiration Belinda McKeon

Colm O Gorman ON WHY STUDENTS SHOULD SUPPORT A REPEAL OF THE 8TH AMENDMENT

HANSARD

TALKS LEAVING BEHIND LOVE SONGS AND 2016 GRAMMY NOMINATION I S S U E N O5

JANUARY 2016

CURSAI SA GHAEILGE LABHARINTNHA DO MHIC LE

2015 2016 COURSES IN SPOKEN IRISH STFOURDENTS

Would you liKe to improve your ish? SpoIfkeson, dIr o a course!

FAILTE GACH

ROIMH EINNE

ISSUE No5 - JANUARY 2016 CULTURE | NEWS | OPINIONS | FEATURES| FASHION MOTLEY.IE

WOMAN ON AIR

EIMEAR MCBRIDE

NEVERLAND

COLM O’GORMAN

Hannah Kingston leads a Q&A session with Deirdre O’ Shaughnessy.

Laura Hussey meets with author of ‘A Girl is a Half Formed Thing’, Eimear McBride.

Neverland: Youth photography by Hayley K. Stewart.

Ellen Desmond asks Colm O’ Gorman why students should support a repeal of the 8th amendment

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M U S I C

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From Ireland, with love We Don’t Need Feminism - Leah Driscoll This month Tries life without social media - Hannah Kingston Robbie Byrne lays out his top picks of 2016’s acts to watch An Update on the new Student Hub development by Colm Cahalane Defeating Daesh - Brian O’ Connor Afterword with Natalie B. Coleman

A C T S

T O

W A T C H

CATWALK STYLE INSPIRATION 30 Rachel Muckley looks at the trends that will be making an impact in the new year

Student Loans Deirdre O’ Shaughnessy Spring STYLE Inspiration Belinda McKeon

3 6

ACTS TO WATCH

Words: Robbie Byrne

As another year comes around, a new batch of artists come lining up for your choosing. Standing out from the crowd takes serious talent, and with that in mind, we’ve chosen the acts that we believe have what it takes to make it in 2016. ROCK Spearheading Madrid’s burgeoning DIY rock scene, Spanish quartet, Hinds, build on 2015’s relentless touring schedule by kicking off the New Year with their debut LP, Leave Me Alone. A melding of delta blues-rock, monochrome charm and Mediterranean sunshine, it’s the soundtrack to Pete Doherty and Jack White’s romantic package holiday getaway. Closer to home, Dublin-based outfit OTHERKIN strut a brand of balls out quick-fix rock and roll with the songwriting chops to pardon a growing reputation as chaos makers. But if getting sick on Alt-J’s tour bus doesn’t convince you that these guys are Ireland’s next gen rock stars, perhaps Reading and Leeds festival slots, a support tour with Ash, and a recent label deal will. Boasting the best name in the business, Bitch Falcon penned 2015’s biggest riff in TMJ. But there’s far more to the Irish outfit than stadium-sized riffage. Torn, strained vocals courtesy of 20

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Lizzie Fitzpatrick add an unmistakably Irish flavour, resembling The Cranberries at their most potent. Stir in some fantastic hooks, industrial-infused percussion and production assistance from the man behind Muse, and voila, a mouth watering grunge-based, rock-garnished dish destined to impress. PSYCHEDELIC & SHOEGAZE There is something in the water down under. With the likes of Tame Impala, and King Gizzard to thank for our current psychedelic rebirth, you’d be forgiven for thinking that a certain hallucinogenic is being slipped into the diets of the nation responsible for Kylie Minogue. The cream of those vying for the 2016 Aussie psych crown is Melbourne quartet Flyying Colours. Contrasting sweet shoegaze melodies with reverb soaked guitars and fuzzed-out bass inspired in equal parts by My Bloody Valentine and Tame Impala, Flyying Colours debut EP, was one of the standout debut EP’s of 2015. Nothing sounds quite like the Isle of Wight ‘s Plastic Mermaids. A world where grandiose, orchestral sweeps battle against quivering vocals, soft harmonies and bugged out synths, Plastic Mermaids guides you along a fantastical odyssey built on hazy insecurities. About as pop a psychedelic gets, Mancunians Blossoms reach for the classic songcraft of The Kinks and The Doors as much as their local brethren The Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets. Ready for radio nostalgia, all Blossoms need is the right hit at the right time.

QUAM IN NOSSI DI ANDIPICIL INUS NONSENITAS QUASPED EXERIORAERIS EOS DITIS ADIS SI ABO. NEMQUIST OPTI O. IPSAM ARCI VOLUPIS ENITAE DOLOREST QUATIS ET, ET VOLO TEMPERUPTATE PRAAXIM RENTIS ENI VERUM ET QUIAT VENDELE CAERUME PORE AUDANDUST REPERSP ITATEMO ET PLABOREM SIMUS RE PELLAOS NULLORUM QUATES RE LICIUMQ UODIAM EXPE ESEQUI BLACCULLEST ADI VOLUPTAT FUGA. ICATQUAT VIDEMPOR MAGNATA

“Git fugias ilique odis mo dit a quia culparc ime nusda acer Otatio magnate sequi vonder” ELECTRONIC & DANCE No sound moves quite like electronica. Like the brostep it succeeded, that slick brand of retro-fixated house peddled so effectively by Disclosure is dead. Now in transition, electronica finds itself clutching onto what the house evolution failed to tap into, while reaching out towards more complex sounds. The most prominent crest on this new wave, nineteen-year-old Mura Masa, brings a sonic palette to the table that belies his age. With the exception of some stellar guest vocalists, Masa’s music lacks a stable centre—constantly pitching between the organic and synthetic, whilst remaining undeniably catchy. Which, given the experimentation at play, is probably his finest achievement. For sheer ambition, Iglooghost earns his keep here. Initial comparisons to electronica oddballs Flying Lotus and Rustie fail to do this smorgasbord of insanity justice. ‘Chinese Nu Year’, his sole glitch-inflicted offering to date, tells the tale of a hat wearing gelatin worm that travels through black holes. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is all you need to know. Twin brothers Formation are a far less baffling proposition. Taking post-punk cues from LCD Soundsystem and Bloc Party to the computer screen, Formation’s music is custom built to make bodies move.

R&B & SOUL After numerous false starts Awful Records finally struck gold with Atlanta native Abra. Having already called out none other than Drake for stealing writing credits on his track Diamonds Dancing, Abra’s music provides an unashamedly bedroom-based lo-fi electronic backdrop to damn perfect old school R&B vocals. Having already topped several album of the year lists with his debut LP ‘No Now’, producer, vocalist, and multi instrumentalist Clarence Clarity is the ultimate one-man band. Compared by one critic as the sound of “Justin Timberlake caught in Alcatraz’, Clarity offers a twisted take on early-00’s top 40 R&B. Still under the radar, but not for long. Some artists are destined to make it. With distinctive vocals and off-kilter production reminiscent of FKA Twigs, London’s Nao is the embodiment of future soul. Having shunned major labels by opting to establish her own label Little Tokyo, it seems the maverick soulstress is destined to make waves in 2016. POP UCC graduate and tutor Talos could well be Ireland’s brightest music hope for 2016. Managed by local label Feel Good Lost, Talos’ music revolves around his brooding falsetto, where glacial bleeps march towards walls of layered, heaving synthesized waves in a nigh-on perfect vision of how contemporary pop should sound. Expect a debut album this summer. Time is pressing for West Londoner Shura, who after four years is still keeping fans waiting for a debut full length. An update on 90s R&B with a decidedly contemporary pop twist, the singles released so far has been met with viral insanity. Has there ever been a band as tailor made for the festival circuit? Nimmo, a once unknown bar band, recently picked up by DFA associate Tim Goldsworthy, play sun soaked electronica based on loose house-driven melodies. With an album slated for early 2016, expect their sound to be embedded inside the cranium well before Electric Picnic comes knocking about. HIP-HOP Despite having just a single track to their name, Dublin duo already Dah Jevu are rapidly rising to the top of Dublin’s flourishing hip hop scene. In ‘Incubus’ Bobby Basil and Far Eye grow a menacing flow into iconoclastic proportions. Guitars and hiphop have never sounded so good. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

welcomes letters from readers, emailed to editor@motley.ie. is published by Motley Magazine, G.06 Áras Windle, University College Cork, Cork. Printed by Walsh Colour Print, Tralee Road, Co. Kerry. Copyright 2015 Motley Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. All efforts have been made to ensure that details and pricing are correct at time of print. Motley magazine does not take responsibility for any errors incurrred. This magazine can be recyled either in your green bin kerbside collection or at a local recycling point.

ON THE COVER 26 “I decided I wouldn’t use the word ‘love’ or ‘heart’ unless there was absolutely no other word out there that would work in the context. Words like ‘heart’ and ‘love’ for a songwriter are easy words.” -Glen Hansard

Colm O Gorman ON WHY STUDENTS SHOULD SUPPORT A REPEAL OF THE 8TH AMENDMENT

HANSARD

TALKS LEAVING BEHIND LOVE SONGS AND 2016 GRAMMY NOMINATION I S S U E N O5

JANUARY 2016

ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

J12016 USA

Book online

www.j1.ie SAYIT Travel Celebrating 20 years providing the best J1 Programme

FOREWORD

EDITORIAL TEAM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLEN DESMOND DEPUTY EDITOR HANNAH KINGSTON

ART DIRECTOR CATHAL O’GARA

CURRENT AFFAIRS FEATURES & OPINION ENTERTAINMENT & CULTURE FASHION & BEAUTY

EDITOR-AT-LARGE CLAIRE FOX

ELLEN DESMOND EDITOR

Dion Davis Rachel O’Shea Adam O’Reilly Rachel Muckley

HEAD STAFF WRITER Eoghan Scott STAFF WRITERS Hassan Baker Robert Byrne Leah Driscoll Sorcha Lanigan Anna McCarthy Eoin McSweeney ONLINE TEAM Colm Cahalane Maria Hennigan

CONTRIBUTORS Max Farrell Kyle Malone Killian Down Jonathan Gernes Sara Wolf Jane Farrell Brian O’Connor Hayley K. Stuart

Will we just cancel it?” they asked, all looking at me for a decision. It’s been a year to the day since Storm Rachel tread on the dreams of UCC Cancer Awareness Week 2015. I looked out the window and bit my lip, as a melodramatic flash of lightning bounced around the room. But the work had been put in, why waste all those hours? The then committee of the UCC Cancer Society stood outside the library, in hail, rain and (at one point) snow, handing out flyers in an attempt to convince people to come to our week’s events (and they came, albeit in varying numbers…). A year later and I’m faced with the same decision: “How will we print a Motley January issue? We’ll have to start designing it on New Year’s Eve!” As is evident from the fact that you are now reading the January issue of Motley, it’s clear that I for one haven’t changed a bit in the past year. (My New Year’s resolution should be learning when it’s best to call it a day). Yet, this month’s magazine is all about people who have the ability to change and make progress. I had the opportunity to interview Colm O’ Gorman for this issue, and we spoke at length about the importance of student activism and student voices in prompting change. According to O’Gorman: “I think the conversations that happen within

IN DEFENCE OF THE

SMALL VOICES

NEXT YEAR’S

WORDS AWAIT ANOTHER VOICE I N N OV E M B E R , U C C ST U D E N TS VO T E D I N A CA M P U S W I D E R E F E R E N D U M T H AT T O L D U C C ’ S ST U D E N TS ’ U N I O N T O CA M PA I G N O N T H E I R B E H A L F T O R E P E A L T H E 8 T H A M E N D M E N T O F B U N R E AC H T N A H É I R E A N N . E L L E N D E S M O N D A S K S C O L M O ’ G O R M A N , EX EC U T I V E D I R EC T O R O F A M N EST Y I R E L A N D, W H Y T H I S I S A N I S S U E ST U D E N TS S H O U L D E N GAG E W I T H I N 2 0 1 6 .

ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

Student Loans Deirdre O’ Shaughnessy Spring STYLE Inspiration Belinda McKeon

Colm O Gorman ON WHY STUDENTS SHOULD SUPPORT A REPEAL OF THE 8TH AMENDMENT

HANSARD

TALKS LEAVING BEHIND LOVE SONGS AND 2016 GRAMMY NOMINATION I S S U E N O5

JANUARY 2016

Students’ Unions, the USI and the leadership that we see from student leaders generally drives debate forward in this country and that’s, I think, always been the case.” O’Gorman’s words will be a welcome comfort to those annoying peppy student leaders, with their unabashed enthusiasm that we’re all so sick to death of witnessing. But I don’t think those are the only people he’s referring to. I don’t think you have to have the top student leadership

roles on your CV or the best debating skills to be one of those driving voices; I see passionate people around me making interesting changes every day. O’Gorman and I went on to discuss the importance of “small conversations.” It’s his belief that respectful one-on-one conversations and passionate story sharing were what won a yes vote in the 2015 Irish Marriage Equality referendum. While in this new year we’ll all at some point undoubtedly be faced with an uphill struggle, or fail to live up to an ambition, I think it’s nice to remember that idea. Sometimes there’s just no point investing everything in a thousand impossible New Year’s resolutions, or listing a thousand ridiculous life goals, when it’s often the smallest conversations and decisions that can be the cause of making equally passionate change. Our abysmal 2015 Cancer Awareness Week might not have changed the world, but it’s safe to say we all shared more than a few worthwhile moments along the way. “This issue is dedicated to the memory of Louise Clancy. Louise was an ambitious student journalist, and one of Motley’s most versatile and dedicated contributors. Not just an immensely talented young woman, Louise was also a brilliant friend to many and an important voice around UCC. She will be sorely missed.” - Editorial Board, Motley Magazine.

ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

DEC E M B E R 31 ST 2 0 1 5

HI MAX,

fiction O P - E D

HOPE ALL’S WELL

I KNOW YOU’RE BUSY WITH COLLEGE WORK AND FINISHING THE BOXES OF ROSES BUT IS THERE ANY

CHANCE OF GETTING YOUR MONTHLY COLUMN? EDITOR, ELLEN DESMOND

s UCC - along with society as a whole grumbles under the continued pressure and constraints imposed by previous budgets it seems that, as much as politicians will beg to differ as a result of October’s 2016 budget, the most deprived in society are to pay the highest price. The ever-increasing cost of education coupled with previous tax hikes have the biggest effect this year on those students from low and middle income families who are endeavoring to achieve an education. It seems that our government is intent on manufacturing a dumbed-down population without the capacity for critical thought and questioning. They are making it nigh-on impossible for those from poorer backgrounds to achieve their goals and gain a university education. Along with this continued attack on students, which is led by the ever increasing registration fee, our university seems content to degrade the level of education attained by those few who are fortunate to attend the college. Our academics are undermined by the interminable 06

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bureaucratization of the university system. As layers of management expand needlessly and decide what and how academics should research and teach, it’s the students of UCC that suffer. The understaffing of many departments, tightening control of academic freedom, a lack of adequate books and opening hours in the library, along with their stalker-like obsession with university league tables is resulting in our college devolving into a pedestaled secondary school. Our education at UCC suffers every time an academic retires and isn’t replaced. It suffers every time postgrads and tutors choose to leave Ireland to pursue studies abroad because of the restrictions they face here. It suffers each time a student chooses not to progress their studies, or even start them in the first place, owing to financial pressures and familial burdens. If you take a step back and examine the daedalean education system we partake in, it becomes hard not to wonder exactly what value and manner of education it is that we are obtaining? Should we, the future workforce, deliminate ourselves to the parochial type of education that teaches us to obey and reiterate the views that are presented to us, or should we be encouraged to expand our ability for critical thinking and question the conventional wisdom that we are given? Unfortunately we find ourselves in the former situation. This neo-liberal managerialist approach to education will most likely continue until large corporations begin to complain of the quality of graduates being produced.

J A N U A R Y

FILM

F E E L I N G

N E W

DIGITAL DETOXES

THE DANISH GIRL

DIETS

The past meets progressive in 1920s Denmark. Directed by Tom Hooper, a moving love story with a twist is set to win a plethora of awards and rightly so. It’s still acceptable to binge watch movies. With half price cinema tickets in Mahon Point on a Tuesday, grab a mate for a movie date.

Ever the trier, Mahon Point this year again brings ‘Cork on Ice.’ It’s only a bus away from the city and is the perfect Christmassy day out when paired with Nando’s and the cinema. However, one broken wrist later, this writer is undecided on if it’s worth it. Ice skating at Christmas is always great in theory...

FASHION MODEL HEALTH LAWS Hurray, we’re one step closer to looking at the media and not wanting to kill ourselves because we don’t look emaciated. The French government has passed a bill decreeing that models working in the country must possess a medical certificate deeming them fit to work, in a bid to prevent the use of “excessively thin” models. *A sigh of relief passes the lips of all men and women.

ACCESSORIES TRAVEL MUGS Let’s face it, you’re broke after Christmas. It’s time to reign in the Starbucks intake and start paying your bills. Yes, it’s that miserable time year (packed lunches and scrimping), BUT with super stylish four euro travel mugs in Penneys, you can’t go wrong. Suck it up, caffeine is caffeine.

BEAUTY FACE MASKS Want to feel those “New Year, new me” vibes? Put on a face mask, men, women and children. The weather is still nippy to the point of a ruby red nose, our skin is dry, our lips are chapped. There’s a month of this left. Want to keep the glow? One of the best voted face-masks of 2015 was surprisingly Simple Deep Cleansing Mask at a student friendly four euro. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

C U R R E N T

A F F A I R S

WHAT WE’LL BE TALKING ABOUT IN

2016

CURRENT AFFAIRS EDITOR DION DAVIS HAS SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR WHEN YOU NEED TO SOUND KNOWLEDGEABLE IN THE COMING YEAR

IRISH GENERAL ELECTION Beware, in the next few weeks an election will be called. There will be a knock on your door, a leaflet underneath or a familiar figure standing outside asking for your vote in one of the most highly speculated elections the country has seen. Spring will hold the answers to the questions on everyone’s mind. Who will lead the country into the 1916 centenary year?

1916 COMMEMORATIONS Easter will bring with it chocolate and commemorations, remembering the martyrs that died for our country and the events surrounding 1916. The centenary year will be celebrated not only in Ireland, but also in far afield places such as, Argentina Australia, Brazil and Japan. History will be brought to life this year, on ,the television, in schools and local communities as the list of commemorations reach near and far. 08

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FINDING DORY The inner child from 2003’s Finding Nemo is ready to embrace this spectacle which will grace our screens in June 2016. The tension is building, the excitement palpable, and the fingers are at the ready to pre book those tickets. Enjoy.

OLYMPICS Russia’s doping scandals have not dampened the spirits of the multitude of Olympics fans and participants around the world. The games are to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil commencing on fifth of August with 206 countries expected and only one winner. Ireland has 52 competitors in 9 sports; here’s to hoping that our chef de mission Kevin Kilty will lead team Ireland to success.

J A N U A R Y

UEFA EUROS 2016 Euro 2016 will be watched closely by Irish fans in the coming year as we have qualified to play in France this Summer with the championship beginning on the 10th of June and ending on the 10th of July. Spain are the two-time defending champions but for the first time, the championship final tournament will be contested by 24 teams. The winning team will compete at 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup hosted by Russia. #COYBIG.

CONCERTS US ELECTIONS THE KARDASHIANS I do not know why or what the reason will be but The Kardashians will most likely be a topic of conversation or a headline at some stage of 2016. Rumour has it there’s a way to block them entirely from your newsfeed, if you find it please send it to currentaffairs@motley.ie MAEVE HIGGINS

GIRL BAND

ASH

LOUISE O’NEILL

MARK HUBERMAN

AMITY STYLE EDIT

The Irish General Election won’t be the only one to watch as the coverage of the American Presidential election; due to be held at the end of this year, has been anything but boring. Donald is Trumping the polls; Hillary is still defending her email security issues however is sweeping the Democratic floor according to opinion polls. The only opinion that matters is the one that comes out and votes on polling day. America, may the odds be ever in your favour. STUDENTS’ AMBER FLAG AWARD

Tiis pore cus

CAMPUS CONSEN T

2016 is set to be a year of musical greatness with a variety of acts already confirmed to take Irish fans by storm. Adele, Justin Bieber, Rod Stewart, Rihanna, Muse, The Stone Roses, Andrea Bocelli – to name but a few. There really is something for everyone this year, and if standalone gigs aren’t your thing then there are plenty of festivals during the Summer. Electric Picnic, Longitude and the recently launched Ravelóid - a celebration of Irish culture and everything that goes with it!

conseque nulliquunt

ut accuptae

volectius.

GARY NUMAN Stetson

Colin & Sarah Neufeld

belinda mckeown

eimear mcbride Talks RuPaul’s DRag Race anD heR new show RoloDex of haTe

TROYE sivan I S S U E N O3

NOVEMBER 2015

DRIVING US

HANSARD CORRUM FUGA. IS AUT EX ESTIBUS EOS ESSIT OMNIHICIL

I S S U E N O5

O ISSUE N 2

5 OCTOBER 201

JANUARY 2016

THE UNEXPECTED 2016 will bring an array of opportunities to you and your friends, no I am not Mystic Meg but there will certainly be a few surprises along the way in the next twelve months. Learn from your mistakes in 2015, make new friends, go out and enjoy yourself, join a club or society, be safe but most importantly continue to read magazine... ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

C U R R E N T

A F F A I R S

SIX THINGS WE DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IN

2016

RILEY COMPILES A LIST OF SURPRISINGLY POPULAR THINGS WE NEED TO LEAVE IN THE PAST

DONALD TRUMP PUGS

The world is pretty much jaded with headlines of whatever fresh hell Donald Trump has most recently unleashed on the world. But the only thing more annoying than Trump himself is talking about Trump. Opinions are very black and white when it comes to Trump; you either vehemently agree or disagree with what he’s at, and it’s all just an argument not worth having.

I’m all for cute animals but I think the “pug themed everything” that’s happening right now needs to be ditched. No one needs a pug on a travel mug, pugs on the side of sunglasses or pug iPhone cases. The memes aren’t great either. Please remove that pug themed calendar from your wall and let it die.

TAYLOR SWIFT & HER LAWSUITS She’s either suing or being sued and it’s all getting that little bit tacky and, at times, hypocritical. To be honest, we don’t really care if she stole the lyrics “haters gonna hate” from someone or not, we’re going to keep on hating.

MARIJUANA SOCKS It should be a given that you’re doing yourself no favours when sporting marijuana themed anything, really. Yet, marijuana socks crept into stores last year and hopefully they stay just there, in last year. 10

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STAR WARS I want this trend to die like Hans Solo does at the end of The Force Awakens.

GEL SHOES Gel Shoes are one of those things that are a great idea for about a minute. We all thought they were alternative and cute for an instant, before realising what a terrible life decision they are. Spare us and leave them in 2015, please.

H U M O U R

‘NEW YEAR, NEW UCC’ WORDS: KYLE MALONE anuary is traditionally a time for a fresh start, whether that means joining the leaderless rabble storming the Mardyke or getting yourself in gear for your academic coursework. New Year’s resolutions can be tough, daunting and very often short-lived. My resolution this year was to provide better content for readers, but as you can see I’ve already fallen off the wagon. Out and about on campus once again, I found out some of the more unusual promises UCC students are making for 2016. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Boole Not much can be said about Q-1, mostly because few who venture there ever return. For those who do, their babbles are hard to discern, and none of them are ever the same again. This term, 22 year old Arts student Ryan O’Connor has set himself the challenge of venturing to what many consider “The forbidden corridor” of UCC, to find out exactly what is going on down there. Many foolhardy or brave students have gone down there in such of buried treasure, but O’Connor denies this as a motive “Some say they bury our capitation fee down there, but I don’t believe it,” he said exclusively to us. “That being said, if rumours of plugs as far as the eye can see are true, I will bring back what I can,” he added. Maze Runner: The ORB trials For years UCC students have stood at Coffee Dock, staring into the void that is the ORB, wondering what mystery lies

beyond. First Year student Amy Summers is adamant to find out when she sets out into the labyrinth, hoping to supersede the efforts of fellow student Jack O’Donovan, author of the recently published “Around the ORB in 80 days.” “I’ve packed enough chicken rolls to last me a month. I know – it’s probably not enough.” Amy declined to comment on rumours that the ORB harbours a monster, which some say is half-English lecturer, half-negative marking. Saving Private Ramen Physics student Tara Olden is set to pit her New Year’s resolution will against the undisputed heavyweight champion of DIY Ramen ice-cream this year when she challenges the very nature of the “6 before 6” special offer. “I just think we can do better. Basic math tells us that 6 is before 7, not 6. If we then apply the 7 ate 9 principle of 1924, we can deduce your average “6” should come before 8.” (Group) Project X Of all the resolutions, the claim of BIS student Jeremy Davis is perhaps the most outlandish. Davis has claimed his next group project will be an instant success, causing outcry amongst supporters of theories such as “there’s always one” and “I’ll do it the night before.” Davis boldly said he will not be employing the “sure we’ll set up a Facebook chat” model made popular in 2010 by UCC Commerce students, and instead claims he will rely on a Q+2 Group Study Room and the “Divide and Conquer” tactic pioneered throughout history by figures such as Julius Caesar, Joseph Stalin and the Neptune Invigilator. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

O P I N I O N

FROM IRELAND, WITH LOVE Sara Wolf and Jonathan Gernes, current visiting students at University College Cork from the United States, reflect on our recent article concerning impressions of America from a global perspective. As writer Eoin made his “harrowing journey” across the Atlantic to study in Philadelphia, we too endured the ten plus hour plane ride to reach the lush country of Ireland. What we knew to expect: rain, sheep, beer, and lots and lots of green. We found plenty of those things (especially the beer), we also found the most friendly people we have ever encountered and some of the most richly historical sites on the planet. When traveling, one can always expect to be awed by the newness of a place; one can always expect to find differences. Is that not why you go abroad? ; To immerse yourself in a culture so unlike your own? This submersion is supposed to lead to an appreciation of that culture, not criticisms; though admittedly, there are always some bumps along the way. The annoyance of tipping vs. the annoyance of poor service When we sat in one of our many orientation sessions, we were reminded: “You don’t need to tip!” We were glad to hear that since it meant saving a few bucks—studying abroad is expensive. At home in the states, I too am annoyed often by the necessity of tipping. Sometimes the service is so terrible that I want to give a ten-cent tip, but I grit my teeth and give the customary 15%, because it is the right thing to do. Many Americans are in favor of abolishing tipping all together and raising the wages of service workers so their pay will be stable, and I am all for that if it means better working conditions. However, after eating in my fair share of pubs while being here, I am now starting to appreciate the nature of tipping. Those overly present waiters are the best part of going out for us Americans. As soon as our glass is almost empty, it miraculously fills up again. If you find yourself without a clean napkin, or you dropped your fork on accident, a server will get another for you stat. Here, I can barely get a waiter to come over to take our order, and as soon as our food arrives, there is no way we will see that waiter again. It would be more likely to see someone swimming in the River Lee than even catch another glimpse of them. So, whether you are having to tip for poor service, or receiving no service because waiters’ earnings are not linked to their skill, grin at the person sitting across from you and shrug your shoulders. It’s all part of the experience. Yes, lots of people are Irish. It is amazing how even when you are halfway across the world, you can still find ways to connect with people. After hearing that I am from the University of California, Santa Barbara, one 12

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of my UCC professors told me that he had attended a conference there not two years ago. “It’s a beautiful campus,” he shared with me, and I smiled, thinking back to my wonderful home. Part of the appeal of traveling is meeting new people, and I am always glad when I strike up a conversation with someone on an airplane or in a pub and find something in common with them. Oh, and by the way, around 1.5 million people emigrated from Ireland to America during the 19th century. So yeah, there are a lot of Irish people there. Traditional Irish Breakfast, anyone? America….the land of the obese, or, so people like to remind us. I won’t deny that Americans struggle with devastatingly high rates of obesity and heart disease. However, these rates are not directly linked to our sugary cereal and diner food. They are more closely related to income, poverty, and access, but that is a much longer discussion, for another day. Bottom line, you can find unhealthy and healthy food wherever you go. Yes, America has some pretty unhealthy habits (google “Epic Meal Time”), but, depending on where you live, we also have a very wide variety of fresh, local, and healthy food options. Good luck finding kale or spinach in your local Tesco. Besides the shortage of vegetables here in Ireland, you folks consume an awful lot of unhealthy stuff too. I mean, have you seen a “Traditional Irish Breakfast,” and do you have any idea how many calories you consume on an average night in a pub? Proudly Made in Ireland We Americans are quite the patriotic bunch. We fly our flag proudly on the fourth of July, we drive our American-made trucks, and we fiercely support our troops. Pointing out that our nation is only 300 years old only serves to emphasize how much we have achieved in that time. And being a melting pot is our culture. While we are “proud to be Americans,” I have witnessed a good amount of Irish patriotism as well since I have been here. The most prominent example: the word “Irish” is written on EVERYTHING. From milk to potato chips, beers to water, the grocery stores are packed with items proudly proclaiming their origins. It makes me giggle every time I bite into a slice of my “Mild Cheddar Irish Cheese.” The Irish people I have met are incredibly proud of their heritage, their music, and their history. And to be honest, I would be too if I lived in a country so friendly, wholesome, and beautiful. But, I am grateful to even have the opportunity to visit and study in such a welcoming place, and experience authentically all the aspects of the culture, both positive and negative. To all the readers out there, I sincerely hope you have the opportunity to travel abroad in the future, and when you do, I encourage you to approach it with open-mindedness. The world is a vast and diverse place, filled with millions of people who all do things a little bit differently. Go out and explore it.

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LEFT: WITH ALMOST 1.2 MILLION VISITORS A YEA, THE FERNSEHTURN IS A TELEVISION TOWER THAT GIVES A 360 O VIEW OF THE SURROUNDING CITY

ACHTUNG BABY!

KILLIAN DOWN GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF HIS GRUELLING EXPERIENCE IN BERLIN, A BRIEF STOP ON A SUMMER BACKPACKING TOUR OF EUROPE. warned them. I did, I warned them. Taking a nine-hour night bus from Krakow to Berlin would be a mistake; a sleepless, neck-cricking error that we would pay for the next day. Yet, there I found myself, a victim of the frankly overrated system of the democratic vote, stuck in a space that a sardine would decry as a violation of its rights. Leaning against the window pane in search of sleep, jarring vibrations buzzed along the glass and jangled through my head. I shifted uncomfortably in the musty seat and placed my forehead against the cool plastic backing of the seat in front of me, my folded arms tucked tightly against my chest, parcel-like. Opening one eye I glanced down at the zig-zag, helter-skelter pattern of the seat visible between my legs, the frantic design another reminder that sleep would not come easy. Morning came skin-pinchingly slowly. The excruciating cycle of moving my head from the headrest to the window pane to the seat in front of me continued until the sun torpidly raised its head above the horizon and shed groggy light on the early morning streets of Berlin. I felt sand-papered from head to toe, having gotten no more than 45 minutes of sleep. Knowing that our trip to the German capital would be a fleeting one night stay, I resigned myself to a half-hearted, bleary-eyed visit. I desperately hoped the Bradenburg Gate would open to reveal a Bradenburg bed; prayed that Charlie wouldn’t deny me a quick kip at his checkpoint. Then, the hostel. Consistent in its dire reviews, it had caught our eyes and wallets with a ten euro-a-night price tag, a tag not found dangling from any other Berlin hostel. Upon arrival, we could understand precisely why; if the polished city-centre hostels were mink furs, the hostel that

stood before us was a tattered anorak in a discount bin. Grey and cold as Dickensian gruel, the garish building stood five or six storeys high. Groups of scruffy men loitered lethargically around the entrance, a cloud of cigarette smoke forming a hazy ceiling above them. “A room for five, please,” and a darting run to the stairs. It seemed some residents had deemed the fabric lining the stairs to be an interactive fresco - globs of gloopy purple jam lay half-trodden on the floor. Other additions were an unidentifiable brown, clinging anonymously to the carpet. Unlocking the dormitory door, only two beds were free. A ‘clerical error’ the manager assured us, hurriedly shifting clothes and tobacco pouches to the floor to free up unmade beds. Sharing a trepidatious sideways glance, my four friends and I each climbed atop a bunk, using our backpacks as pillows to dissuade the itching fingers of would-be Fagins. Minutes passed before two teenagers entered the room. Eschewing niceties, they warned us in stern tones to keep our belongings close for the night. Only the previous morning their friend had been robbed of nine-hundred euro by a fellow guest in this, our room. In the style of the skulking Scooby-Doo character later to be revealed as the villain, the taller of the two advised us to ‘leave while you still can.’ Gripping my backpack, I asked about the shower facilities. Gone they said, stripped from the walls to be sold for parts by one of the hostel’s more entrepreneurial guests. Leaving the room, one pointed to the wall next to my head. “What a grothole,”scrawled in black marker. “Five tickets to Amsterdam, please” and a darting run to the train. I warned them. I did, I warned them. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

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A WOMAN ON AIR HANNAH KINGSTON LEADS A Q&A SESSION WITH 96FM’S DEIRDRE O’ SHAUGHNESSY Your LinkedIn profile is like a perfectly balanced chemical equation. Did you have a path from A to B when it came to building your career? That’s an interesting way of putting it! I really didn’t have a plan. I wanted to be a journalist but I was open to other things too, that’s why I studied law, although I quickly realised it wasn’t for me. I’ve been very lucky at every step that I’ve found aspects of the job I’ve loved, and gravitated towards them, bringing me to the next step. Being a woman in the media has always had a notorious reputation for being exceedingly difficult. What do you think? I think it can be difficult to be a woman in any job, it depends who you are working with and for. I was lucky in my first job that I had a boss who encouraged me and saw my potential and that gave me huge confidence. I think in most industries the difficulty for women arises when children come on the scene and I haven’t met that hurdle yet. People say for many working in the media is a pipe dream, do you agree? I think people need to be realistic about working in the media. You’re not going to walk in somewhere and get Graham Norton’s job, so you need to start off looking locally, looking at small places with low profiles and jobs that involve a lot of slog! Recycling press releases is the reality for a lot of people, and if you have your eye on the prize you really just have to suck it up for a while, work hard and take every opportunity. If journalism hadn’t worked out, what else did you have on the agenda? I wanted to be a diplomat, an aid worker... funnily enough, a lot of things that involved long-term travel, which I’d be no good at. I think these days nobody has just one career, so who knows what could still be ahead. What are your future goals? To keep telling stories and to live by that old adage of shining a light into dark places in my work. To find something in every day that makes the job worth doing. What advice would you give to students you are aspiring to work in the media? Work hard and take every opportunity you get. Don’t be an idiot on social media, it will come back to haunt you. 14

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FONDLY KNOWN AS DESHOCKS, DEIRDRE O’SHAUGHNESSY (PICTURED LEFT) DELIVERS ADVICE ON HOW TO PULL THROUGH IN THE MEDIA MINEFIELD

What are the best and worst parts of working in journalism? The best is when you know you have helped somebody to tell their story and to be heard, and when you know it has really reached people. The worst is often dealing with very tragic stories, particularly tragic deaths, or dealing with something you know is preventable, like the homeless problem at the moment. If you could interview one person who would it be? Terry Pratchett. Best moment? Being able to give a forum to important issues like mental health. I was very privileged to edit a column by John McCarthy, who campaigned for many years to end forced electroconvulsive therapy on mental health patients - the bill he worked on recently passed through the Oireachtas. Worst moment? Have you ever made a serious faux pas? Too many to count What would you say to Deirdre aged 18 if you got the chance? Keep the faith. Enjoy the couple of years you have left without hangovers!

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WE DON’T NEED FEMINISM L E A H D R I S C O L L A D D S F E M I N I S M T O T H E L I S T O F U N WA N T E D T H I N G S T O L E AV E BEHIND WITH ALL YOUR OTHER REGRETS IN 2015. hird wave feminism has ebbed and flowed since the nineties, but in the past year or two the wave has been more like a tsunami. We’re pretty much drowning in calls for equality, seeing as everyone from Malala to Miley is a feminist these days. Equality is a nice idea, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself a feminist. Is there really that much more to do? Women battled for the right to vote nearly a hundred years ago, and the job has basically been finished since then. It’s just like how the fight against racism in the US ended as soon as Barack Obama was elected president. It’s a bit ungrateful to be asking for more at this stage; I think us gals should really quit while things are going well, before we get on anyone’s bad side. Feminism belongs in the past, and here is why: Firstly, people complain about the influence of gender on advertising, but really it is quite practical. Gender stereotyping an ad makes life far more convenient. The ad breaks during Grey’s Anatomy can show me the most successful way to remove limescale from my kettle. Ad breaks during Top Gear can show my Dad a deodorant’s ability to magnetically attract bikini-clad women half his age. It’s helpful that the media understands our gender-based priorities. Moving from advertising to purchasing power, feminists are beginning to get a bit too frisky in fiscal matters. Their main complaint is that tampons are taxed as a luxury good. It’s clear that using a tampon is far more of a treat than buying deli food (which is taxed at a lower rate). Women are being taxed more for their periods than for buying a hot chicken roll, and that’s fair because we should all definitely be mildly punished every month for not carrying out our primary role of bearing children. Speaking of bearing children, women in Ireland have rights over about 90% of their bodies, except for the part that creates life. 90% is a fair amount really though. I know that men have full autonomy over their bodies, but women have ovaries and it’s probably better that the government decides what happens with all that. Taking my physical and mental well being into consideration in the process would only get in the way, really. Feminists can’t even listen to music without complaining. Nothing makes a song catchier than a hook with an aggressive innuendo. Throw in a few vague sexual threats and

you have a guaranteed floor-filler. Sure, no means no, but get low means get low-- they know we want it. The glass ceiling is probably a main point of contention for feminists, but women, at least in Ireland, receive an equal education and that’s enough. It doesn’t matter that statistically females perform better in school than males, yet males occupy the majority of high-level roles in most professional areas. That’s not due to the immense difficulties women face when returning to the workplace after having a child, nor is it due to the readiness to label a woman ‘bossy’ for acting in the same way in a professional situation as an ‘assertive’ man. Women just can’t handle real-life working environments and that’s why we should all be teachers or stay-at-home mothers. Glass ceilings give women the privilege of seeing the potential beyond their reach and they will practically sparkle after I try out this great new window cleaner I saw a lady use in an ad the other day. Most importantly, we don’t need feminism because plenty of women don’t even want it. Sure, some pretty respectable women and men like Emma Watson, Tina Fey, Ryan Gosling, Helen Mirren, Benedict Cumberbatch and Joseph Gordon Levitt consider themselves feminists. Amy Poehler even chimed in on the idea of women renouncing feminism: “That’s like someone being like, ‘I don’t really believe in cars, but I drive one every day and I love that it gets me places and makes life so much easier and faster and I don’t know what I would do without it.” These people are allowed to have their opinion, but how can you deny the rock solid arguments of people like Kelly Clarkson, who has decided to forego the campaign for gender equality because she likes “being taken care of ” and having “a man that’s a leader.” Similarly, Meghan Trainor doesn’t believe we should look for equality, saying instead that we should all “love ourselves.” I suppose if we love ourselves 14% more than men do, then it will make up for the 14% gender wage gap that exists in Ireland. Perhaps these women’s biggest fear in calling themselves feminists is that they will alienate men and be labelled a ‘feminazi.’ We need only look at how repulsive men find a feminist like Beyoncé to realise that their fear is justified. Even if women aren’t equal with men, the very fact that we can’t unanimously agree upon that fact probably means it’s not that important. This wave of feminism just is not worth riding. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

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TRIES NO SOCIAL MEDIA D O T H E A P P S O F O U R G E N E R AT I O N M A K E U S I N S E C U R E A N D L E S S FOCUSED? WELL YEAH, AS HANNAH KINGSTON DISCOVERS ocial media mediates every aspect of our lives, including our interpersonal relationships. Such vast developments in technology have the ability to both strengthen and weaken our bonds. This is shown in a plethora of case studies. Sherry Turkle, psychologist and author of Alone Together argues that our obsession with technology is not the glue that binds us together but the catalyst of an enlarging gulf between the real and the virtual world. This is because the 21st Century allows us to constantly be “somewhere else.” We have access to different virtual realms like never before. The mobile phone is a distraction; an escape and has become a comfort to many. In fact, 1 in 5 Irish people state that they feel anxious if they are cut off from their smart-phone. In 2014, Facebook carried out a survey that showed that the first thing 80% of us do in the morning is check our phone. Therefore it can’t be denied that while technology ensures the continuation of relationships and intimacy, it also damages the bonds we retain in the here and now. Not only that, but it makes us less focused when we’re alone. In a way, we’re constantly connected, a mere snap, message, poke, like, away. It’s gotten to the point where we never really say good-bye to the people we interact with. Day One with no social media access “Woah, are you actually uninstalling all the apps right now?” Two minutes into pitching this column plan and they’re gone. “Yes, I’ll need you here for moral support. We’ll say a month, actually no, three weeks, okay no; I’ll die, two weeks.” Two weeks it was; no Facebook, Messenger, Snapchat, Instagram, Tinder, Twitter or Yik Yak for a fortnight. I was going back to how our elders interacted. Prior to the social media ban, my mates and I sat with our coffees all scrolling through various news feeds, of course we were catching up but only between finding out what the Kardashians called their next baby. (“Saint”, really?) What it really boils down to, is yes, we are a new generation, yes, with that comes technological advances that will probably serve a greater good. Nonetheless have we become so reliant on our smart phones and all their applications that we’re losing ourselves in our online personas and forgetting about the truly important things that are happening around us? Well that is what I kept trying to tell myself as I sat there, jittery, constantly checking my phone but for what? No one texts these days. I felt so bored and alone and unloved. That’s when I realized I had an addiction. Day Three Some people say it takes three weeks to get over an addiction, some people say it’s three days. I haven’t logged onto anything but my fingers are twitching. This energy is channeled into assignments and low and behold, I finish the ones I’ve been whingeing about on Snapchat for the last three weeks in just 16

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SNAPCHAT WAS CREATED IN 2011 BY EVAN SPIEGEL, BOBBY MURPHY AND REGGIE BROWN WHEN THEY WERE STUDENTS AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY

three days. I’m amazed. (Fun fact: The average smart-phone user checks their device 110 times a day; and we’re surprised it’s taking us so long to get through our daily tenuous tasks?) Day Seven I’m sleeping better. No more bedtime candy floss for the brain means I have a blissful slumber, minus weird dreams about someone who popped up on my news feed and who I haven’t spoken to in over two years. I finally read that book that’s been on my bedside table since September, and I feel like my mind has been given a spring clean. Day Ten I only talk to people who have my number and it’s refreshing. It’s more of an effort but it’s an endeavor that both parties are willing to make. I feel like I have more time on my hands to do practical things like sort out what I’m going to do with my life. Spotify wasn’t banned; and neither was weeping about one’s potentially failing future adult life. (Thank you Hozier. Thank you Pink Floyd. Thank you Adele.) Despite my initial break-down, the lack of social media makes me feel like a clear-headed adult in their roaring twenties who will eventually figure it all out. Past Hannah would have looked up people of her age who have achieved so much more and feel terrible about herself. Present Hannah begins brainstorming post-graduate courses and thinking about herself, as opposed to others. Day Fourteen I have read six books, watched eight movies and even went for a run (well a jog, well a power walk...to the hummus.) I paid more attention. I looked up. I made real-life connections and cared more about maintaining the ones I already had, minus Snapchats of me in the bath with the caption “On holidayz gurl, wbu?” I am thankful for this Tries because it allowed for the headspace that I needed. By the end of this year, it’s predicted that 90% of Irish people will own a smart-phone. That’s not a bad thing, they’re the future, but for your own sake, make sure you stay in the present.

BEFORE WE BEGIn FOLLOWING THE RECENT CLOSURE OF THE SAVOY THEATRE, VILLAGERS WILL NOW PLAY THE EVERYMAN PALACE THEATRE ON 24TH JANUARY AT 7.30PM.

IT’S THE FIRST STOP OF THEIR 2016 TOUR AND TICKETS BEGIN AT €25.

VILLAGERS LP Where Have You Been All My Life? is available from 8th January 2016. This new compilation is a collection of songs that distills five years and three albums of Villagers’ songwriting into one flowing narrative and is their strongest LP to date.

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EDITED BY RILEY @Adamm_Rileyy

Lana Del Rey & The Weeknd:

Celebrity Big Brother:

Siren of soul Lana Del Rey collaborated on The Weeknd’s new album on the track ‘Prisoner’ and it’s pretty intense. The two are known to be close friends of around five or six years, unsurprisingly, as both incorporate the same sort of bad kid aesthetic that we all love to cry about.

Finally CBB is back on our television screens just in time to help us get through those January blues. After one of the most explosive seasons last year that saw Teen Mom’s Farrah Abraham cause devastation throughout the household producers are trying to replicate the previous season’s success with an explosive lineup which includes: Gemma Collins, David Gest, Scotty T, Tiffany Pollard and Kardashian alumni Jonathan Cheban. Big Brother is notorious for it’s clever mind games to create drama and they have really hit the nail on the head with this year’s celebs.

Earlier last month during The Weeknd’s ‘The Madness Tour’ stopped in Los Angeles the pair performed the song for the first ever time live. The prospect of the two making more music that lets you cry while you dance makes us very happy.

Music Coming In 2016: Last year was a pretty good year in music with some stellar records from Lana Del Rey and Adele but the future is bright. In the coming months we can expect music from Rihanna with her new album ‘Anti’ getting its share of promotion on the star’s social media. We also have a new record on the way from American Horror Story star Lady Gaga and we’re all hoping it’s a pop record, because another jazz album is pushing it. Also the voice of a generation Christina Aguilera is coming to reclaim the throne this year, and it’s about time.

THE WALKING DEAD The series follows leader Rick who guides his people through the dangers of a zombie apocalypse and it was great television. It was a trailblazer which reignited the undead genre but the show seems to have lost its spark. The past few seasons just seem the same to me there’s nothing new to get us stimulated. Zombie attack, kill zombie, death of a secondary character who no one cared about and repeat. The producers need to spice it up a little if they are going to keep me as a viewer. Maybe a celebrity cameo like Kim Kardy eating one of her sisters?

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‘Out of the Woods’ Taylor Swift

David Bowie (Blackstar)

Words: Claire Fox

Words: Eoghan Scott

Over a year since the release of the phenomenal 1989 record, Taylor unleashes yet another show stopping single, ‘Out of the Woods’. An album highlight for many listeners with a rapturous and repetitive chorus, and a live track that was a force to be reckoned with during her 1989 tour, the music video was much anticipated. Did it disappoint? No. Taylor never disappoints. But did she play it safe? Yes. From opening the video standing forlornly on a beach strand, not unlike a scene from Home and Away, to fighting her way through a snow storm and mud bath, ‘Out of the Woods’ lacks the story and passion that fiercer videos like ‘Blank Space’ and record smasher, ‘Bad Blood’ possess. Whether the end of the video is yet another “In your face” message to Harry Styles or a feminist statement is your choice but for a different take on ‘Out of the Woods’ check out Taylor’s acoustic performances of the track on Youtube which do justice to the track and Swift’s underestimated vocal ability.

On the 8th of January 2013, the world was greeted with ‘Where Are We Now?’ the first single from The Next Day and Bowie’s first new musical release in a decade. The single heralded an extraordinarily consistent and exciting album that followed, perhaps the best thing the artist had released since his 80s commercial heyday. Two years later, and (pronounced ‘Blackstar’) proves that the 68 year old chameleon has no plans to slow down anytime soon. Bolstered by The Next Day’s commercial and critical success, the former Ziggy Stardust has seen fit to revisit the creativity and experimentation found on the likes of his celebrated “Berlin Trilogy” with one of the most challenging yet innovative and rich releases of recent years. Title track ‘Blackstar’ is a epic nine minute bizarre journey into Bowie’s ever-changing mind. Referred to as “aggressively experimental” by some outlets, many of those reeled in by the spectacular return to form of The Next Day may be taken aback by Blackstar’s experimental leanings; however, the album boasts much to enjoy, especially upon repeated listens. Second single ‘Lazarus’, also the title track from a new stage musical based on his music, is lush in its production and easily the most gorgeous track on the album, a slow-burner that reels the listener in the longer you listen. The album is not without it’s faults, however. Compared to the crowd-pleasing success of The Next Day (which, to be fair, it is very difficult not to compare), the new album does tend to lag a bit in places and in truth it’s hard to say whether or not public opinion will fall as favourably on this one as the 2013 release. That would be a crying shame however, because it’s rare for any artist to be as bold or daring in their work as Bowie has been on Blackstar.

Justin Bieber ‘Love Yourself’ He may have lost out on the Christmas number 1 spot, but Justin Bieber stormed back to number 1 this week, securing himself the title of 2016’s first chart topping track. ‘Love Yourself’ is the song that sees Bieber back at the top of the summit, and like his December chart toppers, it is from latest album Purpose. ‘Love Yourself,’ isn’t as much of a nightout banger as ‘Sorry’ or ‘What Do You Mean.’ It’s more of a headphones-friendly track, but it’s a better production all round than previous weeks’ releases. The accompanying music video is the real success; it’s mature and much more visually interesting than usually more mainstream and lazy video productions from the superstar. As with the rest of Purpose, this track is going down a treat with, well, just about everyone. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but the hypnotic beats will have listeners in a trance and reaching for the replay button.

Coldplay A Head Full of Dreams Words: Claire Fox While Coldplay’s 2014 album Ghost Stories was a journey into the darkness following Chris Martin’s much documented divorce from actress Gwyneth Paltrow, their latest effort A Head Full of Dreams is very much a journey into the light. Containing enough uplifting phrases and bird chattering choruses to fill a self-help book, the quartet’s seventh album may not appeal to the dedicated Coldplay fan who has put up with their whimsical experimentation for the last decade. Highlights from the album include the carnivalesque lead single ‘Adventure of a Lifetime,’ which although a busy song is sure to enliven fans during the band’s upcoming 2016 tour. ‘Everglow’ provides a much needed glimpse into the past melancholic and pensive style which once symbolised Coldplay and is a refreshing retreat from less than memorable collaborations alongside Beyoncé and Tove Lo. Produced by Stargate who is responsible for forgettable S Club 7 and Atomic Kitten records, long-suffering Coldplay fans will be disheartened as the band descend further into the depths of mainstream, manufactured music and away from the enchanting vocals, tight guitar riffs and captivating lyrics which once defined their earlier career.

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ACTS TO WATCH

Words: Robbie Byrne

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1. OTHERKIN 2. NIMMO 3.IGLOOGHOST 4. DAH JEVU 5. BITCH FALCON 6. TALOS 7. PLASTIC MERMAIDS 8. CLARENCE CLARITY

“Now in transition, electronica finds itself clutching onto what the house evolution failed to tap into”

POP UCC graduate and tutor Talos could well be Ireland’s brightest music hope for 2016. Managed by local label Feel Good Lost, ELECTRONIC & DANCE No sound moves quite like electronica. Like the brostep it suc- Talos’ music revolves around his brooding falsetto, where glaceeded, that slick brand of retro-fixated house peddled so effec- cial bleeps march towards walls of layered, heaving synthesized tively by Disclosure is dead. Now in transition, electronica finds waves in a nigh-on perfect vision of how contemporary pop itself clutching onto what the house evolution failed to tap into, should sound. Expect a debut album this summer. Time is pressing for West Londoner Shura, who after four while reaching out towards more complex sounds. The most prominent crest on this new wave, nineteen-year-old Mura years is still keeping fans waiting for a debut full length. An upMasa, brings a sonic palette to the table that belies his age. With date on 90s R&B with a decidedly contemporary pop twist, the the exception of some stellar guest vocalists, Masa’s music lacks singles released so far has been met with viral insanity. Has there ever been a band as tailor made for the festival a stable centre—constantly pitching between the organic and synthetic, whilst remaining undeniably catchy. Which, given circuit? Nimmo, a once unknown bar band, recently picked up the experimentation at play, is probably his finest achievement. by DFA associate Tim Goldsworthy, play sun soaked electronica For sheer ambition, Iglooghost earns his keep here. Initial based on loose house-driven melodies. With an album slated for comparisons to electronica oddballs Flying Lotus and Rustie fail early 2016, expect their sound to be embedded inside the cranito do this smorgasbord of insanity justice. ‘Chinese Nu Year’, um well before Electric Picnic comes knocking about. his sole glitch-inflicted offering to date, tells the tale of a hat wearing gelatin worm that travels through black holes. And HIP-HOP Despite having just a single track to their name, Dublin duo that, ladies and gentlemen, is all you need to know. Twin brothers Formation are a far less baffling proposition. already Dah Jevu are rapidly rising to the top of Dublin’s flourTaking post-punk cues from LCD Soundsystem and Bloc Party ishing hip hop scene. In ‘Incubus’ Bobby Basil and Far Eye grow to the computer screen, Formation’s music is custom built to a menacing flow into iconoclastic proportions. Guitars and hiphop have never sounded so good. make bodies move. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

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BLOOD ON THE PAGE JUST DAYS AFT ER SU BM I T T I NG TH E FI N A L D R A FT O F H E R S EC O N D N OVE L TO T HE PUBL ISHERS, EIMEAR MCBRIDE S P O K E TO L AU R A H U SSE Y A BO UT TH E S UCC ESS O F HER DEBU T NOVEL, HER U NIQ UE WR I TI N G STY LE A N D WH Y TH E S EC O N D B OOK H AS B LO O D O N TH E PAGES . lthough it took the better part of a decade to get her first novel, A Girl is a Halfformed Thing, published, Eimear McBride never did consider changing her experimental first novel. “I always thought that the book was right even if it was deemed to be unpublishable. But I certainly lost hope that it would be published and after about five years I put it in the drawer and started to work on the second novel, so it certainly wasn’t the case that I believed all along that it would work out, I didn’t at all.’ The linguistic courage and stream of consciousness style in A Girl is a Halfformed Thing indicates a refined skill in manipulating language. McBride admits: “I never completed any work before I had finished Girl, I had done a lot of writing over quite a few years. I had always been working towards the idea of a novel but I never had actually sat down and written anything that I thought would have been a novel. Previous to that had more been about teaching myself how to write, learning the discipline. I was experimenting with language, definitely but I don’t think anything that I had written up until that point had been quite so focused. It was really only in writing Girl that everything came together and I understood what I was doing. And I think that just made everything much sharper.” The process of composing such as experimental and successful novel seemed to emerge spontaneously, once the voice of ‘Girl’ was found. “Well, when I sat down to write the book I had a very different idea in mind so I really wasn’t expecting to write the book that I did, but I did have an idea about the style, the kind of writing that I wanted to achieve in it and I knew I wanted to give the reader a different kind of reading experience to make them feel very close to the character so I knew the language would have to work in a different way in order 22

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to achieve that. When I sat down, I was certainly experimenting with language but working away towards this other idea which I couldn’t get to work at all. After a couple of weeks, I suddenly hit on the first words of A Girl and at that point, I understood that the novel was going to be something very different. And from that point on it was all about trying to follow my instincts and go where the language took me.” The composition of the novel was done in three drafts across 6 months but McBride claims that the essence of the novel was really all there in the first draft. “Certainly all the structure was and the following two drafts were really only about tidying the language up. So I think the fact that I had to write it in such a short space of time kind of adds to the sense of urgency of the book but it wasn’t something that I worked in consciously I think it just sort of occurred naturally.” McBride has also recently been included in the much anticipated anthology of Irish women’s writing The Long Gaze Back, compiled by Sinead Gleeson (2015). The Long Gaze Back is a compilation of thirty short stories by some of the most gifted Irish women writers. It was interesting to hear how it felt for such a new writer as McBride to have her story included among such greats as Elizabeth Bowen and Anne Enright. McBride seems flattered by the experience. “When Sinead asked me it was quite a long time ago, it was about two years ago, so the book still wasn’t particularly, I mean it had been getting some good reviews and I think maybe it had won the Goldsmith at that ABOVE: EIMEAR MCBRIDE, WHOSE DEBUT NOVEL, A GIRL IS A HALF-FORMED THING, WON THE INAUGRAL GOLDSMITHS PRIZE IN 2013 AND THE 2014 BAILEYS WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION

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SINEAD GLEESON’S ANTHOLOGY OF IRISH WOMEN WRITERS FEATURED MCBRIDE AMONG SOME OF IRELAND’S GREAT FEMALE WRITERS

point but it hadn’t become the thing it became afterwards and so it was really flattering to be asked. I knew she liked the book, she reviewed the book and she’d interviewed me but she took a leap of faith on me and it was a really nice thing to be asked to be part of.” Once again, quality and not quantity defines McBride’s experience with short story writing, having explained that “the first short story I ever wrote was for the Dubliners 100 book last year.” In terms of her peers, McBride cites a number of contemporary writers whose work inspires and intrigues her, including Cork natives Kevin Barry and Sara Baume. “There are so many Irish writers it’s impossible to say. I love Kevin Barry’s writing I think he’s a really fantastic writer and I love his linguistic courage. Equally I love Anne Enright

for the courageous way that she writes about women. Sarah Bowens book Spill Simmer Falter Wither was a really great first novel. There are lots of writers I love in lots of different ways. And of course George Buckley was a huge influence on me right from the start.” 2016 will prove to be another great year for Irish literature with McBride announcing that she has just finished her second novel and hoping that all going well it will be published in the next year. After the critical acclaim of her debut novel, the second novel brings with it a host of expectations and McBride explained the differences between writing the first and the second novel. In comparison to A Girl, McBride found the writing process very difficult. “They’re not joking when they say the second novel is the difficult novel! It’s taken me the best part of eight years to write it, as opposed to six months for A Girl. So there’s a lot more blood and guts on the page.” McBride’s second novel is expected to be released mid2016. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

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AND COOKED UP JA N E FA R R E L L M E E TS W I TH ‘TE N DE R ’ AU TH O R B E LI N DA M CK EO N .

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B E L I N D A elinda McKeon, journalist, Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Rutgers University, and twice published novelist, has recently edited a short story collection titled A Kind of Compass: Stories on Distance. This latest publication features stories by Kevin Barry and Sara Baume and contributes to Ireland’s ever-increasing claim to a land most fit for the short story form. McKeon’s novels are firmly Irish in both style and subject and interrogate the tension between traditional rural and educated urban Ireland – grandiose stereotypes but ones which are fitting for analysis, and which McKeon does successfully and without bias. McKeon’s debut novel Solace (Piacdor, 2011) won the Faber Prize that year and was voted Irish Book of the Year as well as being shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Her second novel Tender (Picador, June 2015) was shortlisted for novel of the year at the Irish Book Awards. Her essays and journalism have appeared in the New York Times, the Paris Review, the Guardian, A Public Space and elsewhere. With such a list of accolades, I was interested to engage McKeon in a discussion about the craft of writing. The writing style she admires most contains “integrity; not gimmickry, not sloppiness, not rushed and getting away with it. Regardless of whether it’s mind-reeling experimentation or crinkly-eyed lyrical realism, I want to see that the writing has cooked, that the author is certain and clear-eyed about what they’re putting down on the page. And that there’s a serious mental and emotional engine behind it, but not one that shows up on the page – rather, its effects do.” The emotional energy of her own work attests to her own diligent pursuit of such a style. McKeon cites Zadie Smith when asked for the best advice she could give a writer: “write on a computer that is not plugged into the internet.” With this, McKeon adds a quote from Alice McDermott: “at a certain stage of the process, your novel or story will begin to show you how to finish it,” modifying the quote to include that it will also “begin to show you how to write it.” In terms of worst advice, a John McGahern interview from 1997 is resurrected: “if you like it, take it out.” McKeon concedes that this advice paralysed her for years. “My own version of liking something was already so wan and watered-down that this left me with nothing,” she says. “Anyway, I got over it. Now I can see the sense of the advice in a different way; if a line or idea is something you’re just a bit too proud of, it’s probably a dud line, or something artificial and inorganic with the piece, and it needs an objective eye or for you to sleep on it. Usually when you take that kind of line out the next day, you’ll be relieved and can replace it with something better.” Of course, with McKeon’s role as Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, she recognises, and is familiar with, the benefit of such courses for the development of a writer. “I think a fiction workshop can be really helpful to a beginning writer (and every writer is in some sense a beginning writer) in lots of ways. Just by seeking out and, most of all, committing to a workshop like this, you’re committing to your desire to write, and to do something about it rather

M C K E O N than just think about it. That can be a more important step than people realise.” The decision, once made, is clearly not one which can be regretted, in McKeon’s opinion, “once in the workshop, you learn how to be a better reader and editor of your own work in progress, and you’re forced to produce work because of deadlines.” Of course, the suitability of such courses is not something she thinks is universal, McKeon grants that some people prefer to structure their own writing, but to do so requires “the willpower and the confidence to structure your own working life to make room for writing. I wasn’t able to do that in my mid-twenties; I was a busy journalist, and my own work was receding. Workshops helped a lot. When I teach, I see ABOVE: all levels of writers. Every one of them spends ‘SOLACE’, the semester writing and reading, and I think MCKEON’S DEBUT NOVEL that’s an invaluable experience.” No further recommendation is needed. In terms of themes, if we can attempt to pigeonhole her work into them, McKeon grants that her novels are set “pretty firmly in the Irish mould,” a cast that doesn’t need elaboration. Solace is a “the story of a father and son, a farmer in the midlands and an academic in Dublin, and of the tensions between them.” Parental control and abandon create a dichotomy familiar to those in such familial constructs. Whereas in Tender, “the protagonist is a young woman who becomes obsessed with her closest friend, a gay man who’s having difficulty coming out. The two main characters, Catherine and James, are both from rural Ireland and have moved to Dublin, but for me, the rural-urban tension is much less a part of the novel than the tensions of the human mind and the human heart.” The “cultural inheritances” we have assumed have ingrained young Irish people with fearfulness in regards to striking out for a unique identity. These fears, and the psychological perturbation that goes hand in hand are the main subject of this novel. Reading the story transfers these anxieties into a self-reflexive engagement with contemporary Ireland, to what extent are we more free now with recent developments in this regard. Denial is something which McKeon’s work treats with sensitivity and complexity. The reader is twisted into a mosaic of emotions which is often torturous but illuminative. Theatre is another avenue with which McKeon is familiar: “I’ve written for the stage a few times – I’m on a deadline to get a new play to the Abbey commissioning department by the end of this year.” In fact, John Boyne has suggested Tender’s suitability for the stage. As an art form, they’re “entirely different beasts” but when reading the novel, it is easy to imagine how successful an adaptation could be. Upcoming work for McKeon includes an essay on “guiltily sneaking in to hear posh Anglican choirs in New York churches in the first issue of the new arts anthology Winter Pages (edited by Kevin Barry and Olivia Smith)”. If interested to pursue this author and her work, her twitter (@belindamckeon) and website (www.belindamckeon. com) provide ample intelligence and information to satiate that appetite. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

P I CTUR E D: O S CAR WINNER GLEN HA NSAR D CL AIMS H E ALWAYS FORESAW A LI FE O F MUSIC BUT H IS MANY AC CO L ADES HAVE BEEN D EEPLY UN EXPECT E D 26

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GLEN HANSARD: RAMBLING ON THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED F R ES H F R O M H I S U S A N D I R I S H T O U R S , C L A I R E F OX C H AT S W I T H A C A D E M Y AWA R D W I N N I N G S I N G E R S O N G W R I T E R , GLEN HANSARD, ABOUT ABANDONING LOVE SONGS, THE IRISH MUSIC SCENE A N D T H E U P C O M I N G G R A M M Y AWA R D S .

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In Ireland, it’s hard to explain, but we have a thing to do with tribe. It’s very tribal. The way we connect with our artists and the way we connect with our community has so much more depth, there’s no need to go throwing medals on it.” In the last decade however, it seems like all the world does is throw medals on Hansard’s lyrical genius and song writing skill. From an Academy Award win to a recent Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album with latest record Didn’t he Ramble, Glen Hansard is leading the Irish ‘tribe.’ Following the success of his debut solo album Rhythm and Repose in 2012, Glen set himself an admirable lyrical challenge when composing the songs for what is now, Didn’t he Ramble. Instead of falling back on worn out clichés and safe rhyming phrases, Glen decided to make this album devoid of love songs and in particular the word ‘love.’ “I just wanted it to be unique,” says Glen of the record. “I built restrictions. I decided I wouldn’t use the word ‘love’ or ‘heart’ unless there was absolutely no other word out there that would work in the context. Words like ‘heart’ and ‘love’ for a songwriter are easy words. They fall out of your tongue, but when you think about what those words are, I mean the heart is an organ in your body but most of the time when used in songwriting it’s meaningless.” “I heard someone say recently which was very smart that the English use English to describe how they feel whereas the Irish use English to hide how they feel. In Ireland we are very lyrical and it’s almost like you’ve to practise decoding what we are actually saying, so that’s another reason why I did it.” At the age of 46, with a smattering of grey slashed across his signature red beard, Hansard is aware that his songwriting has developed since his early years as lead singer of Dublin outfit The Frames, whether this change has been for better or worse is up to the listener to decide. “My writing has changed. Whether it’s progressed or digressed, you can be the judge of that, people can decide if it’s better or worse but for me I felt in this record I connected more with the craft. Generally in the past I would sing a line, I wouldn’t really know the sense of it, but knew deep down it meant something. Sometimes it was based purely on the shape and the noise that it makes. But on this record I wanted to write every record and I wanted to mean it. If I don’t mean it, it shouldn’t be there.” “I wrote songs for my family,” the Dubliner continues as he muses. “My dad passed away five years ago, but it seems I only began to deal with it now through writing this album and performing the tracks.” Although his songs contain a unique emotional and personal edge, Hansard admits that as a songwriter he has to stand back from the song to prevent it becoming drowned in his own personal experiences and losing its artistic beauty. “For me when I put too much of myself into my songs I find I don’t like them as much. I need to step aside and get out of my own way and let the good stuff come through if that makes sense.” Rustic fretwork and songwriting prowess aside, Hansard feels indebted to producer Thomas Barlett for providing a critical eye to his two solo albums. “He’s an incredible musician whether he opens his mouth or says a word or not he has an influence on the record simply because he’s a great player. It’s good to be 28

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around people who challenge the song and challenge the music. Thomas is a great person to sit down with and have a conversation with about what the song is.” Taking over a year to write and record Didn’t He ramble, Glen admits that the process of making an album is at times a tedious one waiting for the creative juices to flow. “It’s usually done in very brief spells, it’s done very quickly but over a long period of time. It can be a year and a half of going in and working for three or four days here and there. So it is quite broken up when you look at it like that. It depends on what it is you’re trying to achieve really. Some songs blossom and take more time. Other songs suffer then by spending too much time on them so you need a balance” While Hansard may not have issued any solo album until 2012, as lead singer of The Frames he was no stranger to recording an album or the songwriting process. So is there an integral difference between writing songs for a one man folk band and a rock quartet? “There’s a massive difference. The one main difference being that in a rock band there’s a man with a guitar, there’s drums, there’s bass wanting to make one big great sound. Often times a song is built around a noise that’s made. Clang, boom, boom” says Glen mimicking the familiar instruments’ sounds “It’s built out of a construction of noise and the lyric gets drowned. But when I’m writing by myself I’m interested in the emotion in the song. I’m not driven as much to the sound. I’m interested in it but not very concerned” Emotion is a word synonymous with Hansard’s blues style with the Irish Times labelling Didn’t he Ramble as an album of “intimacy and honesty” and his “best work yet.” What’s more, this second solo effort has been nominated for a prestigious Grammy award for Best Folk Album. Having pined and ploughed through the music scene for over 25 years, I ask the Dubliner whether these accolades and positive critical reception mean much to a man who has achieved so much already? ABOVE: HANSARD FAMOUSLY EXPERIMENTS WITH BUSKING, RECEIVING A DIFFERENT RESPONSE ON EACH OCCASSION

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“Ah yeah, of course. It’s a wonderful thing to get recognition. I was proud of the record but it was nice. The record industry is bizarre, so it’s nice to know what the hell you’re doing and if you’re doing ok. It’s nice to get a nod from the Grammy organisation. They’re an interesting organisation. The charity work they do is very interesting, so it is great to get recognition. It’s pleasant after working hard to be recognised. You don’t need it, or live for it, or plan for it, but it’s nice.” Hansard’s Grammy nomination is perhaps reminiscent of his Academy Award nomination (and win) in 2007 for Best Song, with the plundering piano ballad ‘Falling Slowly,’ the lead track of Irish indie film, Once. However, for Hansard the comparison is vague admitting that that period in his life was “unimaginable” and “very strange.” “What happened there was very, very strange wasn’t it? That was a chapter in our lives that nobody really understood, but this (the Grammy nomination) in a way we

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could imagine.” Once is now a multi-award winning musical, including Best Musical at the renowned Tony Awards and earning success at both Grammy and Laurence Oliver organisations. Hansard is not connected to the musical in any form, but admits that he is proud of it what it has achieved and its sold out run in Dublin’s Dame Street Olympia Theatre last summer. “I never envisaged it and I never liked the idea of it but it happened and it worked. My instincts would’ve been to say ‘Ah jaysus what are yis at?’ But when I saw it I thought that’s got nothing to do with me and it’s really good. I just don’t feel any responsibility or connection towards it in any way. And I’m not connected to it. I’m not a producer, they just use my songs.” With acting in Once and Irish cult film, The Commitments under his belt, garnering international success as The Frames frontman and now for his solo efforts, Hansard took his first tentative steps into the music industry at the tender age of 13, leaving his school books and native Ballymun behind to busk on Dublin’s city centre streets. Organising Grafton Street’s annual Christmas Eve busk in aid of the Simon Community, this year Glen was accompanied by none other than Bono, and members of Dublin bands The Coronas and The Script. For Hansard busking is “devoid of ego” and is the ultimate way for a musician to keep their feet on the ground as nobody is as judgemental as the pedestrian on the street. “If I go out in the streets of Barcelona and play, I might make a couple of quid and I might not. It really is down to my mood and the mood of the people passing by and how generous they feel depending on their energy or their money. You can have a successful career and all that but when you go out to the public and busk you are playing for ‘the everyman.’ The nature of it is that one day you’ll be noticed and one day you won’t.” Forever pensive and honest in his answers, Glen believes that the path of the wandering minstrel musician was one destined for him. While at age 13 singing his heart out on the bustling street corners of a different Dublin city to the one we know today Hansard never envisioned worldwide glory, the role of the travelling troubadour was one he was always infatuated with. “I guess in my deepest self I would’ve had a sense of it. I think everybody has a sense of destiny to do with what you want. If you had said to me where do you see yourself, no I never would’ve been able to describe or envisage Grammy nominations that stuff wouldn’t have came into my head.” “But the vision of travelling the world and BELOW: playing for a bunch of human beings all of DIDN’T HE RAMthat I could’ve probably seen. Just the idea of BLE ARTWORK the troubadour- traveling and singing. So I did imagine that sort of existence. When we dream we create the path in front of us, as kids we visualise it.” In the words of stand-out 2015 track ‘Grace Beneath The Pines,’ borrowed from American poet Robert Frost, at age 46 Hansard has achieved “grace upon the road less travelled.” With a marathon run of gigs in Europe ahead and on the verge of Grammy success, 2016 promises to be another year of dream catching and destiny fulfilling for Hansard. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

MEET 2016 FASHION: C O M B INING TH E DECA DES

A L EXA N DE R M C QUE E N R O M A N T I CI S M GUCCI EM OT I ON

A GRAND-SWE E PI N G LOVE AFFAIR OF DARING ADVENTURES RAC HE L MUC KLEY ’ S SPR I NG/ SU M ME R RUN WAY RUN DOWN. ne of the most hard-hitting qualities of what will be ‘in’ this year is intensity. The master ship that is Vogue explains this new format as “Gucci’s estate sale fantasia to Marc Jacob’s exuberant ode to Old Hollywood revues, the idea that emerged as most central to fashion’s new mood this season was emotion.” Visually this affects the new collections with strong colour through classic designs. Gucci has its tousled, over-dramatic neck bows and oriental printed bomber jackets and Lanvin has its gilded effect and its bronze-on-everything aesthetic in full swing. What’s clear is this is a season unbashful in combining 80s innovation with a 50s sense of style. Who knew flash and elegance would get along so well? The whimsical is still gripping on to the world of fashion. We confirm this with the nod of Marc Jacobs himself. Mustard yel30

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low, cobalt blue and daisy chains made sophisticated through fine, sheer material. An interesting note is the insistence of large bellowed sleeves and waistcoat-esque bodices in achieving an almost circus-like feel. At least one that embodies a 1967 memory of high fashion. The paisley print, a favourite of the folk trend of 2015, will live on. Erdem and Etro make an impressive bid for the trend with floor-sweeping dresses of alternating designs, layering and contrasting materials. A huge hit on the runway was the bedroom-based, yet now street-appropriate lingerie-inspired clothing. Mostly adapted through slinky silk dresses, lace inserts and the finest of fine details, this trend will be a hit with the guidance of Céline, Givenchy, Alexander Wang and Calvin Klein, who have worked it into their new collections. While the basic representation of the style is neutral colours on exquisite fabrics, Saint Laurent have opted for a brighter decorum, with hues of red, blushing pink and warm beige. Marc Jacobs puts his high end twist on the trend by challenging structures and adding more daring lengths to give a futuristic feel. It shouldn’t surprise us, considering the main SS theme’s

we’ve discussed so far, that romanticism and the general pursuit of florals will become a main focus of next season. Having been rebuked last year in our attempt to androgenize the androgynous (shirts reigned supreme!), the romantics are having their hot minute. Alexander McQueen sees long, pleated, loose skirts, Austenian necklines and sleeves making their way back on to the market. While Tory Burch favours a white palette, clean and crisp and Spring-approved, Gucci makes a move towards a darker spectrum carrying on festive metallics against earthy tones, sometimes with hints of deep plums or burgundy. Isolated blooms, as recognised by Oscar de la Renta’s new line, work wonders in conjuring up the sentimentality behind this trend. Tah tah 2015, you served us well. Through flared jeans and satin blouses, drawstrings and the prolonged death of the bodycon – we’ve come out the other side, and on top form too. Taking our cues from the latest New York runway spectacles, it looks like we’ll be hanging on to our sparkling and yesteryear creations for another day. The elegance thing – well, we’ll apply some more MAC Peachstock and hope for the very best. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

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B O O K I S H PHOTOGRAPHY: ANNA MCCARTHY MODEL: ADAM MULCAHY M U A : L A U R E N C E K E AT I N G C R E AT I V E D I R EC T O R : R A C H E L M U C K L E Y ON LOCATION AT BOOKSHELF CAFE CLOTHING: SALINGERS, WINTHROP ARCADE

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Hayley K. Stuart is a twenty-year-old photography student in IADT, Dun Laoighre, specialising in fine art, portrait and fashion photography. More of her work can be seen on: facebook.com/HayleyKStuartPhotography HayleyKStuartPhotography.com ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

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INSIDE THE STUDENT C O L M CA H A L A N E D O C U M E N TS EXC I T I N G A N D P R O M I S I N G D E V E LO P M E N TS W I T H U C C ’ S N E W EST B U I L D I N G. n previous articles for Magazine, I’ve spoken about a lack of resources available to students for access to creative spaces and in access to IT services. With the construction of the new Student Hub, UCC hopes to be able to resolve a few of these problems, and it seems rather promising. The Student Hub is a new project that seeks to build onto the Windle Building to create an open space for student activities and services; a project that has been in planning stages since before the publication of UCC’s Sustaining Excellence strategic plan in 2013. The headline “Student Hub in financing stage” was seen in the UCC Express in 2010, and a presentation on the Hub was made to class council in 2012, initially intended to be completed for 2014. This time, however, we have concrete progress to indicate that the plans are being made reality; planning permission has been submitted for the new building, with enabling works to hopefully commence during the upcoming year, on-site work commencing during the summer, with hopes to the building opening during the 2017/18 academic year. At a presentation to staff and students on December 15th, the design team explained many of the challenges that led to these delays; the Windle Building is a protected historical building, so there are issues with obtaining planning permission and developing a design that focuses on conservative refurbishment. There are specific construction requirements that are involved with building on a live campus, and the design team is trying to aim towards a “zero-energy” building. The Windle Building has had a number of extensions built on to it over time, so creating an effective design was difficult; architectural drawings going back as far as the original version of the building had to be obtained and carefully examined. The new design is rather striking; a space is to be carved through the existing Windle, providing a new path to the Kane Building, while the new student hub is to extend seamlessly onto and above the existing Windle. The entrance to the new building is to be bordered by the new UCC 98.3FM studio, with an open window onto the entrance; bringing the radio station right into the centre of student life. There’s also plans to create a covered canopy space outside, and a new grove of trees, to make the area around the hub more accessible and friendly to students, with plans for lighting to make it an attractive space at night. The existing Windle Building lecture theatre is to be designated as an events space, with an interesting design replacing the rows of seating with steps, and the plan is for this area to be made available to students for events. Another interesting aspect of the building is to create an open “market hall” to serve as a centre-point for the building, which 42

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can be used to set up stalls and stands for events like careers fairs, and is promised as another way the building can adapt to different types of events. Original plans for The Hub held the concept of five “zones”, however in recent drawings these five concepts share space throughout the building as a whole: 1. Welcome Zone 2. Success Zone 3. Teaching/Learning Spaces 4. Employability Zone 5. Student Services The Welcome Zone and Success Zone are described as a “one-stop shop” for student help and information, containing elements of student services such as the exams office, the records & examinations office, and the international students office. Creating a united, accessible space for these services are most welcome. Notably, while introducing the concept of these zones, Head of Student Experience Dr. Ian Pickup indicated that the student hub development would be met with an improvement in student IT services, with the point of view of creating a similar “one-stop shop” for online student services. Also to be included in this are promising ideas of an open kitchen for students, with access to free tea and coffee, microwaves etc. in a new common space. This is something that offers immense benefit to students, and one that indicates a bright future for The Hub. Teaching/Learning Spaces are to be opened throughout the building similar to the Library’s meeting rooms, to be available to students throughout the day. Finally, spaces are to be opened throughout The Hub for campus media, the Students’ Union, Clubs and Societies similar to the existing Societies Hub, consisting of some closed office

C A M P U S

HUB

‘THE STUDENT HUB IS A NEW PROJECT THAT SEEKS TO BUILD ONTO THE WINDLE BUILDING TO CREATE AN OPEN SPACE FOR STUDENT ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES’

spaces (for administration) and open-plan desk spaces for student use. There’s clearly been a lot of thought gone into the development of the building from the point of view of design and functionality but there’s still a sense of something missing. While there are a lot of spaces available to help societies, clubs etc, it’s looking like there may not be many spaces opened up for actually holding student events. The new events space in the former lecture theatre seems like a welcome addition, but there’s still a fear that it won’t play out exactly as planned in practice. Áras Na Mac Léinn was initially proposed as an open building for students, but in order to be properly funded and operated has acted as a private business (SFS Ltd.), with spaces like Devere Hall being too expensive for students to use for events. There’s an immediate fear that the University seeking external funding for the Student Hub could have similar impact. In 2014, the then-President of the Societies Guild Padraig Rice outlined “I don’t know if we can support [the student hub] given what happened with the Student Centre”. However, if the University engages with students to identify use cases and guarantee students access to the full potential of the new Hub, it could have fantastic outcomes for students and lead the way for student-organised activities on campus. Currently, the SU President sits on the Hub Steering Committee and together with the SU Comms Officer represents students interests with the Hub, however, holding further open forums and presentations to students as the Hub develops would be a welcome step to opening the process to the student body as a whole.

O P I N I O N

LOANS FOR LEARNING H A S SA N B A K E R TA K ES A LO O K AT T H E R E A L I T Y B E H I N D P R O P O S E D ST U D E N T LOA N S C H E M ES In recent times funding for education has been decreased, while costs have continued to increase. This is due to the cuts made during the recession, as well as an increase in demand for places in third level institutions. The number of entrants into third level education is expected to rise from 41,000 to 54,000 in the next 10 years, and the total number of learners is expected to rise by about 20,000 to at least 210,000 by 2028. This increase in students is due to certain aspects of the Celtic Tiger era, where there was an increase in the birth rate, as well as an increase in international students, mature students and postgraduate students. To tackle this issue, an income-contingent student loan scheme has been proposed, which means that borrowers only pay when their income reaches a minimum level. If earnings fall below this threshold, you stop paying, until they rise above it again. The loan is then written off after a certain amount of time, approximately 30 years. A student funds scheme is vital as Irish college fees are the second highest in Europe, but this specific scheme raises a couple of concerns. However other countries, such as Australia, the UK, and New Zealand have adopted this PAYE scheme. In Australia, it is approximated that about 15% of students never repay in full, as their lifetime incomes are insufficient. One of the concerns is that unless a proper means of sustaining the system is created, the government could face a large debt in the future due to loans that are written off. Currently, the main concern with this scheme being adopted in Ireland, is that students from lower-income rural backgrounds may end up having to pay more, as most will have high maintenance fees for rent and transport. It has been estimated that some of these students will end up paying €25 a week. The president of USI, Kevin Donoghue has said on the matter: “Any implementation of the new proposed loan scheme for students would disproportionately affect those from rural and agricultural backgrounds, deter them from applying to college, and widen the gap between urban and rural opportunities. People from rural backgrounds are more likely to be on 3rd level grants and so are more likely to be affected by the new proposals.” A further remark made by Kevin Donoghue included; “This system did not work in the UK, Australia or America … It would desecrate Ireland, tearing it apart and converting it from the Land of Saints and Scholars into the Land of Corporate Greed and Economically Paralysed.” This statement highlights the risks involved. This is one possible solution, but whether raising fees, and then having students take out loans to pay for that increase in costs is the right solution is of course questionable, risky and volatile to the economy, no matter how clever the loan scheme is. The likeliness of this scheme passing in the lifetime of the current government is slim, however with a general election around the corner other parties might take a different stance on the matter. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

NEXT YEAR’S

WORDS AWAIT ANOTHER VOICE I N N OV E M B E R , U C C ST U D E N TS VO T E D I N A CA M P U S W I D E R E F E R E N D U M T H AT T O L D U C C ’ S ST U D E N TS ’ U N I O N T O CA M PA I G N O N T H E I R B E H A L F T O R E P E A L T H E 8 T H A M E N D M E N T O F B U N R E AC H T N A H É I R E A N N . E L L E N D ES M O N D A S K S C O L M O ’ G O R M A N , EX EC U T I V E D I R EC T O R O F A M N EST Y I R E L A N D, W H Y T H I S I S A N I S S U E ST U D E N TS S H O U L D E N GAG E W I T H I N 2 0 1 6 .

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Why do you believe that repealing the 8th is an issue students should care about? I think first and foremost it’s a human rights issue and if it’s a human rights issue, it’s a students’ issue. You know, the 8th amendment which is the reason why we can’t have human rights compliant abortion laws in this country, was adopted in 1983. So in 1983 people decided that women shouldn’t have and shouldn’t be able to fully enjoy their sexually reproductive rights; that women should be forced to continue with pregnancies no matter what serious risks it poses to their rights or to their health; regardless of if the pregnancies arose from cases of rape or incest, or whether there’s a severe or fatal foetal abnormality – those are the minimum human rights grounds upon which rights to abortion should be available, to all women and girls. That was decided in 1983, so 32 years ago other people decided what limits should be placed on your rights, and on the rights of every other woman and girl living in this country. That has to be an issue for students living in 2016.

There are those who say that they don’t understand why a Students’ Union should campaign on the 8th amendment. Why do you feel it’s a SU’s place to represent a diverse student body on such a controversial topic? Well, it’s not for me to tell the SUs how to go about doing their own work; unions are well able to do that themselves, so that particularly isn’t for me to comment on. But, you know, universities have always been a place of debate and discussion. Challenging conversations, very often, that people aren’t prepared to have outside of universities, happen within these institutions. It’s vitally important that Student Unions are part

of driving forward the kind of conversations the country needs to have. I’d like to get to a point where we start talking about abortion rather than shouting about it, and I think that’s started to happen, and I think the kinds of discussions; the kinds of conversations; the kinds of debates that happen within Students’ Unions generally can have a huge part to play in all of that. For the last 30 years or more, 40 years or more, people who spoke about abortion have been likely to be shouted down and called all kinds of things. This debate has been hijacked by those on an extreme end of the debate. We have to move beyond that. And I think Students’ Unions and universities have a huge part to play in that.

COLM O’GORMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, IRELAND.

have. I’d like to get to a point where we start talking about abortion rather than shouting about it, and I think that’s started to happen, and I think the kinds of discussions; the kinds of conversations; the kinds of debates that happen within Students’ Unions generally can have a huge part to play in all of that. For the last 30 years or more, 40 years or more, people who spoke about abortion have been likely to be shouted down and called all kinds of things. This debate has been hijacked by those on an extreme end of the debate. We have to move beyond that. And I think Students’ Unions and universities have a huge part to play in that. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

Do you think that the voices of Students’ Unions and student campaign groups are heard and respected enough to make an impact outside of a university’s walls? Well, look at the Marriage Referendum. Yes, of course I do; on every level. I think it’s both patronising and wrong, it’s ridiculous really, to see Students’ Unions as some sort of incubation space for our future political leaders. As a matter of fact, I think it’s very often the other way around. I think the conversations that happen within Students’ Unions, the USI and the leadership that we see from student leaders generally drives debate forward in this country and that’s, I think, always been the case. I was at an event in another university about a month ago talking exactly about this issue, and Claire Daly was there, the TD, and she was talking about her experiences as leader of a Students’ Union, in her college, at that time, you know, 20-25 years, debating and pushing forward this issue. So, not only are students’ voices heard outside of universities, they are powerful voices. I think they can have a huge impact. The Marriage Equality Referendum is an example of that. I know a lot of people talk about how that referendum was won by the youth vote. Well, I actually don’t agree with that; I think it couldn’t have been won without, not just the youth vote, but youth activism; student societies and unions and what they did was an incredibly important part of the pubic campaign. So, it couldn’t have been won without students and that’s one of the most recent examples of the impact student voices can have. How do you think that students who are passionate about this issue can best get the message across to political parties that they need to take a stance on this? Tell them. Them repeatedly; loudly, clearly, forcefully. But respectfully. And be part of the conversation. One of the things that Amnesty are really eager to do, and I think we’re really seeing some impact, is to open up a conversation, rather than screaming shouting debates on this issue. 81% of people in this country want to see human rights compliant laws on abortion, that’s based on a national opinion poll that we commissioned Red Sea to carry out for us in May of last year. So the majority want to see significant progress in this area, but you wouldn’t have known that from the debate or discussions that have been happening over the last 30 years or so. So we have to move beyond all of that and that requires us all to get involved in that conversation; to tell our political representatives and to tell this government or whoever the next government will be, that they need to show some leadership here. It is bizarre that yet again we’re in a situation where politics and the political system and the political establishment is so far behind public opinion 46

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A here. You know, if you listen to the Taoiseach about 8 months or so ago saying that he didn’t anticipate that the question of repealing the 8th amendment would even be addressed in the lifetime of the next government. Now, a couple of months ago he shifted and he said that he didn’t anticipate that but that he was listening to what people were saying, so there’s been some progress there. But with 81% of the population saying that they want to see progress? With the UN Human Rights Committee, the UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural rights, and others, repeatedly telling Ireland that they are in breach O’GORMAN IS THE FOUNDER of their obligation to human AND FORMER DIRECTOR OF rights law? With international ONE IN FOUR, AN IRISH CHARITY criticisms and condemnations GROUP THAT SUPPORTS MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE of humans’ rights that are the SUFFERED SEXUAL VIOLENCE result of our laws on abortion – AND/OR ABUSE they still haven’t moved. I had someone from one of the political parties say to me about six months ago, and this is someone by the way who would like to see a repeal of the 8th amendment and would like to have human rights compliant abortion law in this country, they said to me that this wasn’t an issue that either won or cost votes for their particular party. And whilst, they were in favour of progress, it wasn’t seen as an issue that people decided how to vote on. Now, if that’s what politicians think, if that’s what they are hearing, then we need to change that. If 81% of people in the country want to see the 8th amendment repealed, want to see our laws changed, then the 81% are going to have to make it into a major political issue. So we are going to have to get clearer. We are going to have to get effective. When I say more forceful, I don’t mean in terms of shouting but I just mean in terms of articulating and amplifying that message to political parties, particularly as we head into a General Election period, that this is an issue that they can’t ignore.

“Tell them. Them repeatedly; loudly, clearly, forcefully. But respectfully. And be part of the conversation. One of the things that Amnesty are really eager to do, and I think we’re really seeing some impact, is to open up a conversation, rather than screaming shouting debates on this issue.”

C O L M

O ’

One of the things I have come across the most from speaking with other students is that people are conflicted about how far along in a pregnancy an abortion should be allowed. What would you say to these people? I would say that in order to comply with their obligation under international human rights law, that states must ensure safe and legal access to abortion, for all women and girls, at a minimum in cases where there is a real substantial risk to the health of a woman, in cases where the pregnancies result from rape or incest or in cases of severe or fatal foetal abnormality. But in ensuring access, legal safe access, on those grounds, the state can also impose reasonable restrictions, including gestational limits. That’s a matter for the state to decide, but essentially, it’s a medical question. It is reasonable for the state to decide that there should be gesticulation limits. But equally, if you allow a termination of a pregnancy in a situation where a woman’s life is at risk, do you apply gestational limits there? When legislating for something as complex as a medical intervention in pregnancy, law is not necessarily the best place to deal with this. So, yes, absolutely, the state can put in place gestational limits, but for those to be written into a constitution is a huge issue. It’s an obscure one to answer, I’m not being careful here. It’s just that if the state for instance were to say that we’re going to apply a limit of 23 weeks or 24 weeks, so viability or no viability, well, viability can change. It can shift over time. And again, equally, does that mean in a situation where a woman will die without an abortion being performed that that then is the inevitable consequence of putting in a limit. So, deciding things like gestational limits, the state needs to be very careful that it doesn’t put laws in place that don’t allow doctors to advise their patients effectively and for women to be able to make their decisions in their individual case and exercise their own personal autonomy. There’s also a lot of concern from those who are Pro-Choice that something worse may replace the 8th if it is repealed. Do you think that this is a possibility? Well, it’s entirely possible that anything could go into the constitution if the people decide that it might. My own view, and Amnesty’s view, is that we should repeal the 8th amendment. You know the difficulty of putting constitutional provisions on complex issues such as this is that, the unintended consequences of this, or

G O R M A N the unforeseen consequences can be extraordinary, and it’s not that the consequences of the 8th amendment weren’t foreseen. I mean, they were, look at the debates that Mary Robinson took part in. I mean the debate that she had with William Binchy where she absolutely laid out exactly what the consequences of the 8th amendment would be and we’ve seen it. Think about what those consequences are: a brain dead woman who is clinically dead being kept alive against her family’s wishes, because she’s 15 weeks pregnant as her brain decomposes. And doctors having to go to court to get permissions to turn off life support. You know, effectively, a cadaver being turning into an incubator, it was obscene. So, putting in place provisions like this in a constitution, very often have, extraordinary consequences that aren’t seen at the time. That is why it is our belief that this is not a matter that belongs in the constitution. As a matter of fact, we don’t believe that abortion should be criminalised, we think it’s crucial that it’s decriminalised. So we want to see the 8th amendment repealed; not replaced with anything. Just repealed. In the recent case of the Marriage Equality referendum, a lot of people said had it taken place even two or three years ago, that they don’t think it would have passed as successfully – if at all. Do you think Ireland is in any way ready to repeal the 8th? I think it’s absolutely the case that when you want to change the constitution, and I think that this is an important point, it’s critical that we respect that it’s something people take very seriously. So if we’re going to ask people to change the constitution, we have to do the work, to both convince people that that’s necessary and to work through and address any concerns that people have. So, it takes time. In the same way with the Marriage Equality referendum, had it taken place five years ago, I don’t know what the outcome would have been. If it took place next week, or next month, or next year, I suspect it might pass by an even more overwhelming majority. That’s the nature of progress. Are we ready for a referendum to repeal the 8th? Yeah, it’s beyond time. The government now, and all of the political parties, should be committing to holding a referendum as soon as possible. We have work to do, yes. You know, we have to be ready for that conversation. We have to be having it now. That’s the point that I made earlier on about the role of Students’ Unions, but that applies to everybody, I think right across our society. We need to be having conversations about this issue because it’s a critical issue that we failed to deal with up to this point and it’s causing huge suffering and trauma, to many, many thousands of women and girls in this country. So, it’s beyond time that we should deal with it. Abortion is a very different issue to the question of if you will allow two people to marry regardless of their gender. But some of the same issues arise. The fact that some people will hold very principled objections, an idea that will very often be based on religious belief, that needs to be respected and engaged with. It’s a complex issue, but 81% of people say they want a framework in this country that would absolutely require an appeal of the 8th amendment. So we have work to do, but I would hope to see an referendum on repealing the 8th amendment secured and won within three years. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

P O L I T I C S

DEFEATING DAESH:

THE FALL OF RAMADI

N O W T H AT I R A Q I G O V E R N M E N T F O R C E S H AV E F I N A L LY TA K E N C O N T R O L O F T H E I R A Q I C I T Y O F R A M A D I , B R I A N O ’ C O N N O R G I V E S H I S TA K E O N W H AT CHALLENGES LIE AHEAD IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DAESH. or almost two years, the entire world has watched as Daesh (also known as ISIS) have gained control of more and more territory, which is now roughly the same size as Great Britain. The news coverage involving the group is shocking but widespread. We have all seen the news footage. Whether it involves the infamous Prisoners in orange suits, Daesh’s black uniformed platoons on Toyota trucks or even the radical organization’s influence being fulfilled in the terrible attacks in Paris last November, it would be safe to say that Daesh has made an astounding impact on the media in recent months. While the world has not been shy of its disgust at Daesh’s actions, its response has mainly involved airstrikes on Daesh’s territory. This strategy is something that involves a whole other debate, but is the Iraqi government’s capture of Ramadi the beginning of the end for Daesh? Since Daesh took control of key cities in Iraq and Syria in 2014, there has been an ongoing debate about the nature of Daesh itself and how to combat it. What one has 48

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to understand is that war, with all of its common images of death, destruction and chaos throughout history is an evolutionary concept. Back in the age of Napoleon, Clausewitz and Wellington, war may have been as simple as conquering territory and simply moving on. But in the 21st century, war is not as simple as it used to be in spite of its common themes. We have seen this fulfilling itself even as far back as 2003 when the American military forces devastated Saddam’s regime in a relatively short period, but ultimately failed in it’s occupying of Iraq soon after. (See the outstanding documentary No End in Sight for greater context). But in this day and age, with a perpetual source of information, propaganda and ideology, retaking territory using military methods is just the start, not the end of the struggle against Daesh. Because military and politics, in spite of the normal and constitutional viewpoint that they are separate are actually getting closer and closer to each other. Authors such as Emile Simpson will do a greater explanation of this concept than I ever will in an article such as this, but Simpson’s

D A E S H

“As long as there are disillusioned, uneducated and unemployed Sunnis, Daesh will have the opportunity to radicalize and recruit more members”

book War from the Ground Up is a good place to start. It is understandable to be ignorant of the conflicts surrounding Daesh. The nuanced nature of the multipolar conflict can be very difficult to explain, never mind understand. But in very basic terms, Daesh affiliates itself with Sunni Islam. The Iraqi government based in Baghdad is affiliated with a Shiite Islam. However, it has been recently revealed that Iranian Shiite militia in the capture of Ramadi has not aided the Baghdad forces. This is significant because while the Iranian militia have been useful in aiding the Iraqi government soldiers previously, this may be detrimental in the long run as it may alienate and stigmatize the re-occupying forces from the Sunni population in cities such as Ramadi. This is justified given the fact that the Iranian Shiite militias have been looting, murdering and pillaging the Sunni population according to Human Rights Watch. If the Iraqi government truly wants to defeat Daesh, it must be both effective with its military strategy and prudent with its political decisions. This may involve expelling if not pacifying the Iranian militias in the aftermath of a military ABOVE AND BELOW-LEFT: THE IRAQI AIR FORCE HAS DEALT HEAVY BLOWS TO THE REMAINING POCKETS OF DAESH TAKFIRI TERRORIST GROUP IN THE CENTRAL CITY OF RAMADI, THE CAPITAL OF IRAQ’S ANBAR PROVENCE

victory. Believe it or not, this is exactly why Daesh is winning. They have been effective in their military insurgent tactics and their soft methods of selling their so-called Islamic Caliphate. What is incredible is that as early as 2007, this strategy was drawn up as a concept known as smart power. In other words, it involved both effective “hard” military power and “soft” power which involves selling your side to the local population. If the Iraqi government can re-legitimize its authority without coercion, it will have one another front in the battle against Daesh. This could involve job creation, investment in education, infrastructure redevelopment and providing free medical services but to name a few. War is expensive, but protecting the peace can also be the same. I hope that the Iraqi government and bureaucracy in Baghdad can realize this. However, even if the Iraqi government does not have the foresight to employ this strategy, then perhaps NGOs such as the USAID or Medicins Sans Frontiérs could do some of this. If hope can be given to the people of formerly Daesh occupied cities such as Ramadi, then one can be confident that Daesh will be eradicated. As long as there are disillusioned, uneducated and unemployed Sunnis, Daesh will have the opportunity to radicalize and recruit more members. Baghdad must recognize the cultural and religious nature of the population within cities such as Ramadi and act accordingly. Should they repeat the mistakes of the past under the likes of the Al-Malaki government; then Daesh will continue to thrive in Iraq much to the fear and discontent of the world. ISSUE No5 JANUARY 2016

I N T E R V I E W

AFTERWORD NATALIE B. COLEMAN (FASHION DESIGNER) WORDS: CLAIRE FOX

You set up your own label in 2011. Was this something you always wanted to do? I always had a vision for myself. For me there was always a story behind clothes from when I was very small and how they made me feel. I liked wearing clothes but I didn’t really think about fashion in particular. As the years went on, I realised it was always in me to start my own label. I did get asked to work for a few different companies and collaborate with them, but I always wanted to be my own boss. How would you describe your label? It’s feminine, romantic and fun. All my clothes have a story behind them. Lots of print. It’s quite girly too. Anything and everything inspires the clothes like, what my friends are doing, and that sort of thing. My current collection is based on Enid Blyton books and childhood moving from one world to the next. Everything is handdrawn as well, so it’s quite a mix. Jade Thirlwall from Little Mix, Angela Scanlon and Marina and the Diamonds are just some of the well-known faces who have worn your pieces. What’s it like seeing your designs on celebrities? There’s always very different people wearing my clothing. It’s great to have the support. They’re all very stylish women. It means so much to me someone supporting the brand and buying the clothes. It’s always very exciting when you see somebody walking down the street looking fabulous in one of your pieces. You worked and studied in London, what’s it like moving from the British fashion industry to the smaller Irish one? I did my MA in London and worked there for a while, and New York. I don’t feel part of an Irish fashion industry. I’m based here, but I show in London and I show in Paris. It’s probably better in the UK and there’s definitely more support in the UK. There’s very little support for design in Ireland, but at the same time, the internet has opened up so many different ways to reach your client. You’re an ambassador for Microsoft in Ireland. Do you enjoy this role? I hugely enjoy it. I’m using their new Surface Pro 4 at the moment. It’s very handy, it just slots into my handbag. Before I used 50

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“My current collection is based on Enid Blyton books and childhood moving from one world to the next. Everything is handdrawn as well, so it’s quite a mix.” to carry a lot around. You can draw on the screen with this special pen they have too. There’s an app called Fresh Paint, it’s great for doing sketches. I love working with them; they’re a very progressive company. Your work has featured in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. Is this the ultimate aim for a designer having your work displayed in such household magazines? Everything that gets your work out there and allows people to see it is always good. When you’ve the right photographers and stylists and models it shows off the designs even more and helps build the story with the clothes which is what I’m all about. What can we expect from your Spring/ Summer 2016 line? So, for Spring/Summer we decided it would be called “Support Your Local Girl Gang.” It’s going to be another fun line. I’m working with designer Derek Lawlor at the moment too which is great and I’m getting ready for London and Paris in the next while, which is exciting.

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