Volume VII Issue 5

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IT’S MORE THAN A WORD

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lot has been said about the definition of homophobia in the past few months. People have twisted it in such a way where it only counts as homophobic if it’s violent but homophobia exists daily in tiny manifestations. Just as with sexism, it goes largely ignored and unchallenged.

Openers Page 4

This issue’s edition sees a photo special with José Manuel Barroso’s honorary doctorate conferring, UCC Memories and Relay for Life

Current Affairs Page 8 Luke Luby examines the situation in Ukraine, David Coen looks at Margaretta D’Arcy’s case while Current Affairs & Sport Editor Dylan white interviews George Hook

Sport Page 17

Eoin McSweeney looks at Belgium’s chances in the World Cup, David Coen gives a look back at Michael Schumacher’s career, Current Affairs and Sport Editor Dylan White interviews Rugby player Dave O’Callaghan and Cork GAA legend Seán Óg Ó’hAilpín

Arts & Culture Page 27 Elaine Malone reviews the award winning movie Her, Current Affairs and Sport Editor interviews Home and Away star Dan Ewing, Kieran Doyle looks at the rich history of Sir Henry’s and Imelda Hehir catches up with Cage The Elephant

Features Page 35

Leah Aftab gives us her top tips for planning a J1, Adam O’Reilly interviews Youtube sensation Tyler Oakley, Ruth Lawlor reminisces on her recent trip to India, Louise Clancy looks at the Burrito crazy and Áódhán Ó’Húla-Hóóp is back after a cheap sun holiday in Magaluf.

Kieran Murphy Editor editor@motley.ie Designer Luke Crowley-Holland Current Affairs & Sport Editor Dylan White currentaffairs@motley.ie Arts & Culture Editors Eimear Hurley Ruth Ní Leannacháin artsandculture@motley.ie

Opinion Page 42

Stephen Cunningham talks about the importance of local councils while Emma McCarthy shares her experience with plastic surgery

Fashion Page 46

Fashion Blogger Margaret Urbanowicz shows us how to style boyfriend jeans, Fashion & Beauty Editor gives us the lowdown on contouring and you can just call us queen bee in this month’s photo shoot.

Ireland is set to vote on equal marriage in the coming months and while the majority of the population is in favour, the minority who are against it are of course the most vocal. However we have heard all the arguments before, like that it’s unnatural and will tarnish the sanctity of marriage. These same arguments were used in the 60s when America overturned a ban on interracial marriages, something which we couldn’t imagine nowadays.

Marriage gives partners many rights and protections, such as legal status as a guardian, visitation rights in hospitals, joint property ownership and just so much more. When we deny gay people the right to marriage, we deny them so much more as well.

Features & Opinion Editors Dean Murray Leah Driscoll features@motley.ie Fashion & Beauty Editor Laurence Keating fashion@motley.ie Public Relations Officer Emer Harrington pr@motley.ie Webmaster Luke Luby web@motley.ie

Contributors

Special Thanks

Very Special Thanks

Denise O’Regan, David Coen, Eoin Mc Sweeney, Jordan McCarthy, Simon Bracken, Elaine Malone, Úna Hennessy, Aisling Lydon, Imelda Hehir, Elaine Murphy, Kieran Doyle, Adam O’Reilly, Hannah Flynn, Michelle Murphy, Ciara O’Regan, Ciara O’Sullivan, Louise Clancy, Ruth Lawlor, Leah Aftab, Stephen Cunningham, Emma McCarthy, Margaret Urbanowicz, Donna McCarthy

Aisling Twomey, John Murphy, Michael Lehane, Bridget Fitzsimons, Emma McCarthy, Owen Kirby, Annie Hoey, Stephen Cunningham and Valerie O’Leary at WebPrint.

Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, Dan and Marni Ewing, Red Carpet Agency, Dave O’Callaghan, George Hook, Orla Gartland, Tyler Oakley, Origin Hair Design and Red Bull for fueling this issue.

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JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSO RECEIVES HONORARY DOCTORATE FROM UCC ABOUT JOSÉ: • Born in Portugal in 1956 • In his 9th year as President of the European Commision • Has 15 Honorary Doctorates • Had the sense to not walk across the quad • According to scientists Barroso has a balanced personality.

Photo

Credit:

Daragh

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McSweeney/Provisiona

Students Walking Across The Quad After Conferring In 1950

P r o f e ss o r

M R

a r y y a n

Appointed in 1910, she

was

the

first

f e m a l e professor in

both

Ireland and

the

United K i ngd om .

Photos: UCC Memories

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Relay for Life, UCC Cancer Society

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CURRENT AFFAIRS

Obama On Weed Luke Luby reflects on Barack Obama’s interview with The New Yorker’s David Remnick, where the U.S. president openly talks about experimenting with recreational drugs.

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ith the marijuana being legalised in a number of states in America - some for medical reasons and others for recreational uses - U.S. president Barack Obama weighed in on drug in a recent article by The New Yorker’s David Remnick, suggesting that he views tobacco as worse than weed, and that he sees marijuana as no worse than alcohol. As Obama said to Remnick: “As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol”.

Obama continued by stating that, in his opinion, marijuana in better than alcohol for a person “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer,” but also added that he does not encourage the use of the drug.

Indeed, much of the studies done on marijuana has shown that, while not entirely safe, marijuana has significantly less impacts on a person’s health than both tobacco and alcohol, as well as an incredible ability to assist in lessening the symptoms of certain medical ailments. For these reasons, a number of states in America as well several countries have legalised it for medical reasons, or have allowed certain medical products containing chemicals only found in marijuana to be sold and used.

Obama, in his interview with Remnick, also suggested that he agreed with the recent changes

‘Only two states, Washington and Colorado, have legalised marijuana for recreational use. Beyond them, 20 states have either legalised it for medical purposes or decriminalised it to the point of near legalisation’

in legislature in Colorado and Washington, and seemingly advocated changes in legislation in the rest of the country. He noted that “it’s important for it to go forward,” but added that legislation is going to be a “challenge” He added: “when it comes to harder drugs, the harm done to the user is profound and the social costs are profound. And you do start getting into some difficult line-drawing issues”. He then went on to provide what he thought would be some other results of marijuana legalisation, speculating that some may hypothetically call for the legalisation of “a negotiated dose of cocaine that we can show is not any more harmful than vodka”.

Obama’s remarks, even though they were cautious to the point of near ambivalence, could still fuel momentum for legalisation at the state level, especially since he endorsed that approach. Only two states, Washington and Colorado, have legalised marijuana for recreational use. Beyond them, 20 states have either legalised it for medical purposes or decriminalised it to the point of near legalisation.

The Obama administration already seemed to aid state marijuana legalisation efforts. In the president’s first term, the administration told federal prosecutors that when they encountered medical marijuana situations where federal laws were stricter than state laws, they should defer to the states. The administration’s guidance was something of a muddle, according to some criminal defence experts.

One Year On Denise O’Regan looks back at Garda Adrian Donohoe’s death at the hands of a two-car convoy in the car park of Lordship Credit Union on the Cooley Peninsula on 25th January last year.

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ust over a year ago, in a small unassuming car park in County Louth, Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe was fatally shot during the botched robbery of a credit union by an armed gang of five individuals. He was providing a routine armed escort for staff transferring a large sum of money from the credit union to a bank. The unknown gang took off with €4,000 and a stolen car to the so called ‘bandit county’ of South Armagh.

The crime that shocked the nation has led to one of the largest investigations launched in Ireland in recent years, with detectives following leads to the US and Australia, having received assistance from the FBI, Europol and Interpol.

The case sounds like a storyline from a crime drama such as Love/Hate, but unfortunately it is an on-going investigation which has been met with a wall of silence by suspects and local gang members who are making sure no one talks, protecting them from justice in the hopes of thwarting the murder investigation.

The investigation began with detectives gathering and examining CCTV footage from County Louth and neighbouring border County South Armagh, and continues to this day north and south of the border. The cross-border nature of the investigation has been cited as a major obstacle; intelligence on the gang is low and due to the negative policing history of South Armagh, the PSNI do not have the means to obtain information from the public or

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from criminal sources. It is the first murder investigation into the death of a Detective Garda since the fatal shooting of Detective Jerry McCabe by the IRA in Adare in 1996. Those working on the case state that they wish to find those responsible and bring them to justice to honour the memory of their trusted friend and colleague, a man who has lovingly been described as a ‘gentle giant’ by those who knew him best. Detective Donohoe was a husband and a father to two young children under the age of ten.

To date, five suspects, all in their 20’s, have been identified by Gardaí and the PSNI in the course of the investigation. Detectives are currently waiting to question suspects who are due to return from Australia and the US when their visas run out. Justice Minister Alan Shatter has said that the entire gang will receive a mandatory life sentence of 40 years in a maximum-security prison if they fail to hand themselves in. The gang are suspected to have strong links and connections to dissident republican paramilitary organisations with a number of suspects having previous criminal convictions as well as being implicated in other criminal investigations. The horrific crime has not only had an effect on Donohoe’s colleagues and members of the force, but also on their families and countless communities in a country where Garda deaths in the line of duty are extremely rare and unforeseen.

Infected Culture Luke Luby takes a look at the drinking culture that is tarnishing young people’s reputations today

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ore than 100 people were treated by paramedics for the effects of alcohol and, in many cases, drugs at a DJ Hardwell gig in Belfast in early February. Termed a “disaster zone” by many, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service also declared the scene outside the concert as a “major incident” due to the amount of resources they had to devote to the venue.

Throughout the night a total of 17 people had to be hospitalised after seeking medical help at the concert due to the seriousness of their conditions; three of which came from inside the venue.

This figure is only a fraction of the 108 people who needed medical attention throughout the night.

According to police, 300 of the 10,000 ticket holders were refused entry to the concert due to their high levels of intoxication, many of which may have been under the influence of narcotics. A statement from the Odyssey Arena general manager revealed that those who were intoxicated were not allowed into the arena and were treated by paramedics outside the venue.

However, it was later confirmed that more patients were treated inside the venue than outside its doors, with 68 people being treated inside the arena and the remaining 40 seeking medical attention after being refused entry.

Joe Hyland, the chief executive of the SOS Bus NI charity, noted in an interview with BBC Radio Ulster that “it was like a disaster zone, but that was primarily because of one factor - it was a compression. There was a period of about 45 minutes where we had something like 19 young people - 14, 15 years old, who were extremely ill. Some of them were very, very ill - life-threateningly ill, where they had over-indulged. We recognised an increasing threat to their life. We started to bring in paramedics, the ambulance service.”

Hyland continued by saying of the staff that were at hand: “Their resources were limited, they had something like seven ambulances tasked for the evening and when they realised that they were in a danger of not being able to cope they brought in their senior people, who I think made the very best decision.”

According to sources, parents of many of the concert goers were unable to contact their children, with many turning up at the arena near the end of the gig and waiting outside.

The events in Belfast coupled together with the recent ‘neknomination’ craze, highlighting the dangers of drinking, as well as the problems Irish people have with alcohol. As has been widely reported, many teenagers and people in their

‘These recent trends have brought the Irish people’s often distorted relationship with alcohol, something which seems to have gotten steadily worse and worse over the last few years, into the spotlight yet again.’ early 20s have started to video themselves quickly drinking an alcoholic concoction and then nominating two friends to ‘one up’ each other. Those nominated have a countdown of 24 hours in order to answer their nomination, and then nominate two more friends to do the same, before posting the video on social media websites. The ‘game’ which has been branded as dangerous and idiotic has, so far, claimed a number of lives, due to either the alcohol itself or the stunt the many partakers choose to do after downing their drink.

To date, it has even been reported that children as young as ten are downing cocktails of booze as part of the drinking craze. A boy of ten at a school in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, in the UK was left ‘violently ill’ after being nominated by friends to down some alcohol. He filmed himself drinking a glass with shots of vodka, Nando’s sauce and mayonnaise in it. A source claimed that “the boy’s mother was in tears that her son would try such a thing. He was fine in the end, apart from feeling sick as a dog.”

So far the game has been described as “Neck your drink. Nominate another. Don’t break the chain, don’t be a d***. The social drinking game for social

To date, it has even been reported that children as young as ten are downing cocktails of booze as part of the drinking craze.”

media! #neknominate. Drink Responsibly.”

President of the Union of Students in Ireland, Joe O’Connor, commented: “I know from my own Facebook feed how quickly the game has taken off. Last week most people hadn’t heard of it and now videos of ‘neknominations’ are all over the internet.” The USI has noticed a trend in the Irish abroad taking part in the game and nominating their friends back home. He added: “The trend has become really popular among those who’ve emigrated. I suppose many people get a kick out of seeing their friends back home, some of whom they might not have seen in a while, take part.”

The game is thought to have been started in either London or Australia, where Irish emigrants started to partake and passed it on to friends back home.

Those who have denied joining in the game have often been ridiculed, with many deeming the game as a form of online bullying.

These recent trends have brought the Irish people’s often distorted relationship with alcohol, something which seems to have gotten steadily worse and worse over the last few years, into the spotlight yet again. ‘Neknominations’ in particular highlight the extreme levels that teenagers and young adults are willing to go to in order to enjoy themselves. As the several deaths in recent weeks have shown, this unhealthy relationship has seemingly been taken too far.

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Garda Whistleblowers Luke Luby takes a look at the recent on-goings regarding the whistleblowing scandal within An Garda Síochána.

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ecent reports from Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin have shown that several more whistleblowers have stepped to the fore in regards to Garda malpractice, in addition to the claims made by Sergeant Maurice McCabe.

Sergeant McCabe’s whistleblowing has shown that many Gardaí have wiped a number of people’s penalty points from their record, or decided not to give out penalty points to certain people, most notably friends and family members.

Minister Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin justice spokesman Padraig Mac Lochlainn have both said that they were contacted by a number of people with regards to Garda misconduct, while their reports make it clear that these whistleblowers are not the same person.

Mr. Martin has said that he was contacted by both a male and female whistleblower, while Mr. Mac Lochlainn has said that he was only contacted by a female whistleblower, although it is currently not clear if the female whistleblower in each case is the same person.

Speaking on Monday, February 24, Mr. Mac Lochlainn said he had yet to be furnished with documentation from the whistleblower but would pass it on to Taoiseach Enda Kenny once he had, for further inspection.

Talking to Pat Kenny on his Newstalk show, Mr. Martin said that “when something like this happens, a lot of people contact you”, referring to

Sergeant McCabe’s whistleblowing. He continued by stating that: “I met another whistleblower on a separate issue completely within An Garda Síochána, on a different case completely, and met the person for about an hour and a bit and he handed over a dossier to me in relation to another murder case he feels wasn’t properly dealt with.”

He continued: “This person would have got compensation by the way in the High Court on the basis of wrongdoing done to him which was admitted but the material [was] then locked up in a confidential agreement. This whole thing about ‘deal with it in the courts’, ‘deal with it in mediation’.

That’s what worries me about that trend, the stuff doesn’t get out then in the end.”

Mr. Martin has also called for the full report of the inquiry into the penalty points scandal, which was brought to light by Sergeant McCabe, to be published for the public to see, as well as expressing his opinion that Minister Alan Shatter should apologise for claiming in the Dáil that Sergeant McCabe had not cooperated with the inquiry. Mr. Martin’s comment for an apology comes after it was revealed that Sergeant McCabe had not been “offered the opportunity... to submit any evidence or other relevant information”, as Minister Shatter put it.

Sergeant McCabe has told the minister that he was “never afforded a right of reply or a right of response” after he complained about alleged

widespread abuse of penalty points cancellation by members of the force, according to recent reports.

Minister Alan Shatter’s claim that Garda Whistleblower Maurice McCabe did not cooperate with an internal inquiry into his allegations was based on a briefing from Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan.

Gilligan Gunned Down Motley’s Luke Luby takes a look at the recent attempt on the life of notorious criminal John Gilligan.

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ormer drug kingpin John Gilligan is currently recovering in a public hospital ward surrounded by armed Gardaí after an attempted assassination on Saturday March 1st 2014, the hospital chaplain, Father Dan Joe O’Mahony, has said.

It is understood that at the time of the shooting, Gilligan was at his brother’s house not long after a family christening.

Father O’Mahony has also stated that Gilligan, who was released last October after serving a 20 year sentence for drug-trafficking, was given his last rites when he was brought into the hospital.

According to the Gardaí’s reports, the 62-year-old was shot at seven times by two masked gunmen, suffering bullet wounds to his upper chest area, stomach and hip and also another bullet wound in one of his legs. A bullet also grazed his forehead.

The Gardaí have also said that his injuries, following surgery, are no longer considered life threatening, although hospital staff have described his condition as critical, but stable. The notorious criminal is currently accompanied at the hospital by a number of armed Gardaí.

The Gardaí have also asked for witnesses to

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come forward and have called in two men who attempted to assassinate Gilligan last December.

In that attempt on his life, the gunmen arrived at a different pub than the one that Gilligan was drinking in. Gardaí have reportedly said that these two would-be assassins are the prime suspects in the recent shooting.

A source for the Irish Independent has also come

forward to say that Gilligan’s daughter and granddaughter were waiting for him in a car outside the property when the gunmen entered the house, and that, afterwards, they drove off in a silver 4x4.

So far, it is unknown whether Gilligan had let the two men in or if he had let the door unlocked.

According to the source, Gilligan’s daughter, Tracey, was waiting to drop him to Jessbrook when the incident occurred.

The source added: “The poor little girl is an awful state -what she would have seen is horrific in the extreme and then there was all the chaos in the aftermath of the shooting.”

When the Gardaí arrived at the scene, they were reportedly met by an angry mob of more than a dozen who verbally abused and threatened the officers, leading to a call for reinforcements.

Gardaí have all but said that Gilligan, who was still conscious at the time, remained relatively calm.

So far, speculation has arisen that Gilligan was trying to re-establish himself as a career criminal and his efforts to raise money since he was released for Portlaoise have not gone unnoticed.

It has been reported that he was pressuring old friends into giving him “contributions”.

A Force of Habit

As intense diplomatic efforts continue to try to defuse tensions in Ukraine, Luke Luby assesses the events so far.

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n “act of aggression” is how the United States Secretary of State John Kerry labelled Russia’s invasion of the Crimea region of Ukraine, and has said, while condemning the move, that Moscow is looking for a pretext to invade much of the rest of the country.

The comment came as Kerry was visiting Kiev, intending to show support for Ukraine’s new political leaders. He expanded on this by adding that: “The United States reaffirms our commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity according to international law. We condemn the Russian Federation’s act of aggression. It is clear that Russia has been working hard to create a pretext for being able to invade further.”

Kerry’s comments show how much of the western world view Russia’s hostile takeover of many military installations and other buildings in Crimea, a peninsula where Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has a major base.

To date, Russia has been unsuccessfully pressured into withdrawing its fleet or face economic sanctions and diploma isolation. Nonetheless, Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far resisted and said that he reserves the right to use force as a last resort in order to protect his, as he termed it, fellow compatriots in Ukraine.

The invasion of Crimea comes shortly after Viktor Yanukovich, the Moscow backed former President of Ukraine, was deposed as President in February. This was followed by the installation of acting President Oleksandr Turchinov, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, and Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia, each of whom seem to favour a working relationship with America, rather than Russia.

In the last number of weeks, Putin has said that there was no need to send Russian troops into Ukraine yet, but has not ruled out any more military action. Speaking to a Russian news conference, he said that he reserves the right to use “all means” available to protect his citizens in Ukraine and described the toppling of ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich as an “unconstitutional coup and armed seizure of power”. This

statement was the first that Putin had released since the takeover of Crimea.

Putin has also claimed that Russian speaking citizens in Ukraine are in danger, but Kerry has said that, so far, there is no basis to support this kind of statement. Speaking at the press conference, Kerry noted: “Russia has talked about Russianspeaking ordinary citizens that are under siege.

They are not. And in fact this government has acted remarkably responsibly.”

He then went on to criticise Putin and the rest of the Russian leadership, who have also come under fire in recent months due to their discrimination of the LGBT community. Kerry continued: “It is not appropriate to invade a country and at the end of a barrel of a gun dictate what you are trying to achieve. What we are looking for here is a responsible way to meet the needs of the parties of Ukraine.”

During his visit, Kerry also announced an economic stimulus package and what can be seen as technical assistance to the new Ukraine government. Since the invasion of Crimea, gas

‘Russian military action is not a human rights protection mission. It is a violation of international law and a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the independent nation of Ukraine, and a breach of Russia’s Helsinki Commitments and its UN obligations.’

- Samantha Power, United States Ambassador to the UN

markets have become spooked at the possibility that Russian troops that are being built up on the border could enter eastern Ukraine, as many of the gas pipelines that feed into France, Germany and Italy all pass through Eastern Ukraine.

At a UN Security Council Meeting on Ukraine, Samantha Power, the United States ambassador to the UN, summed up the general opinion of the western nations regarding Russia’s invasion of Crimea:“It is a fact that Russian military forces have taken over Ukrainian border posts. It is a fact that Russia has taken over the ferry terminal in Kerch. It is a fact that Russian ships are moving in and around Sevastapol. It is a fact that Russian forces are blocking mobile telephone services in some areas. It is a fact that Russia has surrounded or taken over practically all Ukrainian military facilities in Crimea. It is a fact that today Russian jets entered Ukrainian airspace. It is also a fact that independent journalists continue to report that there is no evidence of violence against Russian or pro-Russian communities.”

Power added: “Russian military action is not a human rights protection mission. It is a violation of international law and a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the independent nation of Ukraine, and a breach of Russia’s Helsinki Commitments and its UN obligations.”

“The central issue is whether the recent change of government in Ukraine constitutes a danger to Russia’s legitimate interests of such a nature and extent that Russia is justified in intervening militarily in Ukraine, seizing control of public facilities, and issuing military ultimatums to elements of the Ukrainian military. The answer, of course, is no.

Russian military bases in Ukraine are secure. The new government in Kyiv has pledged to honour all of its existing international agreements, including those covering Russian bases. Russian mobilisation is a response to an imaginary threat.”

The tensions involving economic relations in the region, especially regarding gas flow from Russia to both Ukraine and Europe, continue to increase.

Germany is perhaps the best example of this, as described by Noah Barkin of Reuters: “Heavily dependent on Russian gas and closer to Moscow than any other leading western nation, Germany faces a major policy dilemma as the Ukraine crisis descends into a Cold War-style confrontation of titfor-tat threats and ultimatums.”

There have also been heated debates between the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN and the Russian counterpart about how many troops are legally allowed enter another country, according to a number of UN treaties. At least 16,000 Russian troops have entered Crimea since February 26th, with the Ukrainian ambassador claiming that Russia has far exceeded the 11,000 troop limit. However, Russia’s ambassador says that treaties allow for 25,000 troops to enter another country.

It looks unlikely that Russia’s military will be pulling out of Crimea in the near future as long as Putin perceives his citizens at risk.

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“

Stop fucking around and just go”

Motley’s Current Affairs and Sport Editor Dylan White talks to Irish media personality George Hook about honesty, emigration and building up the courage to believe in one’s potential.

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ome have described him as the greatest broadcaster since Gaybo.

But nothing upsets Hook more than being labelled the rugby equivalent of Eamon Dunphy. “I’m not remotely like Dunphy. He has a long record of saying things for the sake of being controversial. I say things because I’m an argumentative bollocks and I’ve been an argumentative bollocks ever since I left [the Presentation Brothers College in Cork] at 18 years of age. I’m proud of the fact that what you see on television is me, what you hear on the radio is me and what you read in the Irish Independent is me. You can be very popular by saying what the mob want and I’m not terribly interested in what the mob wants,” he tells Motley Magazine exclusively.

His rise from poverty, a catastrophic 30 years trying to feed off a catering profession that lacked produce, only to be reborn as a national broadcasting icon speaks volumes. The family-man, the friend and the legendary broadcaster that continues to polarise the nation with his views-George Hook. He does not speak in one or two lines. He ruffled a few feathers recently when he dared to suggest that there should only be three provinces playing Irish rugby. “People don’t like views I hold. Half the same population in Irish rugby realise that we can’t afford four provinces but you can be very popular by saying what people want to hear”. Hook is a firm believer that honesty is the name of the game but laughs: “I thought when [someone] asks you a question you’re supposed to be honest. I suppose it’s because so many people aren’t [honest] that people are surprised”.

‘Ireland is about nodding and winking. I’m only amazed that people are surprised by it’ Allegations surrounding the national police serve of Ireland, An Garda Síochána, have been rife in recent weeks. A number of TDs have described Justice Minister Alan Shatter’s position as ‘untenable’ and have called for him to resign in the wake of the controversy over alleged surveillance at the Garda Ombudsman and the handling of a Garda whistleblower. Hook says he was “astonished” that a serving Garda would shred his career regardless of how he felt about it and believes whistleblowers are “different” from the rest of us. “Typical of Ireland we get it arse ways. We send it into the Public Accounts Committee where all you’re seen now is politics at its worst. Shane Ross and Alan Shatter are in the same constituency, a constituency I feel will lose its seat in the next election. Every single politician is only angling for coverage”.

But Hook says he hasn’t lost faith in how the country is being run: “I’ve never had anybody fix penalty points or a summons for me and that is the general feeling in the Irish people. 15 years ago the instinct reaction in Ireland would be that we are a little shit country off the western coast of Europe that is

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unimportant, has an exaggerated opinion of itself and has no understanding of rules. [Take cyclists for example]. They think red lights are green. That’s why people park motor cars on double yellow lines and don’t pay their taxes.

Ireland is about nodding and winking. I’m only amazed that people are surprised by it”.

Hook openly admits to suffering from depression and believes that worry never solves a problem. However, in the current economic climate, he understands how damaging unemployment can be to a young person’s psyche.

“Depression is a very difficult topic. I don’t believe in medication and tablets.

They’re too readily available. I suffer from depression today but I’ve learned to control it and know the things that trigger it. Unemployment for a young person is much more damaging. He/she comes out of college with the expectation of work. He/she has never worked. This is the next step in his/her life, the idea of earning and getting a cheque on a Friday”.

Hook believes this generation has to do what he did and emigrate in order to have a decent standard of living. He also feels that emigration should be seen as a positive thing. “I was 19 years of age and went out to the airport, got on a plane and went to London because I wanted to work. If you want to work you have to go. They talk about the wandering Jew but I essentially think that when God made Ireland he created the wandering Irish. Since the famine we have been moving. Australia isn’t the arse end of the world anymore. America is only hours away. I see more of my daughter in London than I do my daughter in Dublin so I don’t think emigration should be seen as something negative.

There’s no question that you’re going to be more valued abroad than you are here because when you go abroad you’ll find that the competition is worse. It’s going to be much better for you and you’re going to do better”.

Hook says young people have to “stop fucking around and just go”. He added: “I see kids playing rugby and there stacking shelves. Why would you stack shelves? There’s no future for you stacking shelves”.

Hook made the transition into journalism “very late” in life and admits that he only found what he was good at when he was 55 years old. “I was always good at it but I didn’t have the confidence [when I was younger]. I never had the confidence to write a letter of application to RTÉ for instance for a job.

My whole life was a kind of preparation for it in that I was mad about sports.

I was a debater, so I had good language skills. Since I first picked up The [Irish] Examiner at about 7 years of age I had been reading newspapers every day. It was a pretty lousy way to prepare: 30 years of failure as a businessman, as a father and as a husband”. The 72 year old admits that he only became the “finished article” 18 years ago and says he would be an “unbearable prick” today if he had been given the opportunity at 25.

The number of former professional sports people going into journalism and the media when their careers come to an end has been telling in recent times. Hook says that the “vast majority” of their articles are ghost written and understands why young journalists get “pissed off when they see some former half-ass sportsman’s” name on their work. He added: “When the [Irish] Independent first rang me in 1997/1998 they said ‘look, when the match is over we’ll get a reporter to call you. He’ll do a report and we’ll put your name on it’.

I said ‘no you won’t, I’ll write it’. The guy in the Independent they asked me if I could do that and I said ‘I went to school didn’t I’? I wrote it and to this day I write every single word”.

‘I honestly don’t think I’m arrogant.

It’s to do with confidence and the younger you are the harder that is because what can you base your confidence on?’

The veteran broadcaster says the first cheque he received for television was“25 quid” and the same for the Irish Independent. “I had a hole in my trousers but I was made up to be getting 50 quid. I worked my ass off to get better. I work harder now than probably anyone else doing the same job that I do. I do 7 days and 100 hours a week at 72 years of age. How many 72 year olds do you know doing that?”

Hook says aspiring journalists must have “opinion” and be passionate about what they’re writing. “Nobody pays you to say on the one hand and on the other. There’s no point in going into a newspaper and saying I’m a journalist. You’ve got to be an expert in something. Believe it or not, I was an expert in rugby. That’s what gave me the break”.

The controversial pundit claims there is a difference between being arrogant and “not giving a shit about opinion”. He also says he is “not paid to please people” and that young journalists must “learn their trade”. He explains: “I honestly don’t think I’m arrogant. It’s to do with confidence and the younger you are the harder that is because what can you base your confidence on? Even though I had 30 years of failure I could at least base it on something. It’s harder when you’re young.

The big problem with modern young people in journalism is that they don’t want to start at the bottom. They want to start half way up and they want title. You must start at the bottom [and work your way up]”.

Hook recently announced that he will retire from television after the 2015 Rugby World Cup which takes place in the autumn of next year and will call a halt to his radio show, The Right Hook, a year after that in September 2016. In what has been deemed the longest goodbye in the history of Irish broadcasting, the outspoken broadcaster says that the announcement was not for the benefit of the public. “It’s for me. I have the dates now and there set in stone. I’m not going to change my mind. I’m going!”

The host of Newstalk’s drivetime talk show says he’s optimistic about the future and says “the country is its people, not its politicians”. He explains: “The government is not going to change.

Politicians are politicians. As [Nikita] Khrushchev, the Great Russian politician, said: ‘Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build bridges even when there are no rivers’. [Irish people] are special. We only fuck up in our own country. We don’t fuck up when we go abroad. What we have to do is realise how good we are because we’re bloody good”.

But has Hook any plans for the future? “I’m going to write a book of fiction this year. [If that goes well] I’ll write another one. I love writing. I have six grandchildren so they should keep me active”.

However, Hook says his main objective is to get his grandson “George the forth down in Carrigaline” into Presentation Brothers College in Cork. He added: “I hope I’m around in 8 years’ time to see him walking in the gates in his Pres blazer. That is what I want to see more than anything”.

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The High Price of Fame Following Coronation Street star Michael le Vell’s recent confession that he took Class A drugs when he was at his ‘lowest ebb’ and struggling to cope with sex abuse allegations, David Coen examines the price to pay for being in the public eye.

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eing famous is something a lot of people seem to desire, yet, once they acquire this, the obvious disadvantages associated with celebrity culture can prove to be both overwhelming and dangerous. There seems to be a motivation to gain position, money and power that often conceals the reality of having such stature. There are several adverse side-effects that can be attributed to this level of fame. Let’s assume one becomes highly well-known to the general public and transforms into a household name. Loss of privacy would be the main disadvantage here; the inability to go shopping in peace or to step outside your own front door are elements of fame that are all too forgotten in the pursuit. Personal mistakes and errors are placed under the magnifying glass, highlighted for humiliation by the public.

had been a pendulum swing after the Jimmy Saville situation”. Operation Yewtree saw Jim Davidson (Comedian), Mike Osman (radio presenter) and Ted Beston (BBC Producer) all arrested, a police investigation fuelled by the Saville case. The example of this case certainly had a prominent influence in proceedings at Preston Crown Court, where Roache was standing trial. Louise Blackwell, who was defending Roache, claimed that the trial was haunted by the “spectre” of Savile and also suggested that the Court was compensating for their failure to identify Saville’s abuses with cases such as Roache’s. The tension surrounding child abuse in the wake of Saville’s concealed history can only fuel the slightest suggestion of abuse by those in the public eye.

This, in a case of innocence, is hugely damaging to a celebrity’s career and self-esteem.

In the case of Pop Icons you are encouraged to be someone you really aren’t, and display the worst of your characteristics for the public’s pleasure. A recent example of this would be Miley Cyrus, who seems to have completely altered her persona from a few years ago to represent a change in musical direction.

The extent to which she had to do this was the most worrying element of the story. The likes of child stars such as Justin Bieber are now, in reaching adulthood, feeling the consequences of their fame.

Public attention soon switched from Roache himself to the holes in the prosecutor’s case. The woman who accused Roache of sexual abuse in the 1960’s had, according to the defendant, never met him. Perhaps the most revealing piece of information involved that of a husband belonging to one of the accusers. He had contacted the tabloids via a ‘sell your story’ website link before contacting the police. This speaks volumes with regards to the nature of the complaint. Lawyers have now claimed that the Roache verdict will increase the scrutiny on the Crown Prosecution Service when it decides to charge other celebrities over sexual abuse accusations. The privacy that these cases eliminate is something that needs serious altering. Either the court should establish solid facts on the defendant before accusing them of sexual crimes, or the public nature of the trials, through media coverage, should be dramatically reduced. These would prevent innocent victims of celebrity culture, a trend recently intensified by paedophiles such as Savile and Watkins, from being wrongly accused on a world stage.

In the past two years in particular, news headlines have demonstrated how this celebrity lifestyle can also allow those with such power to conceal wrongdoings. Ian Watkins, singer from the Welsh band Lostprophets, was jailed for 35 years after camouflaging his sexual abuse of children under the veil of an adored rockstar. Did his status in society prevent people from speaking out? The other clear example would be TV personality Jimmy Savile, whose crimes only emerged into the limelight following his death. This prolific case has managed to influence other similar litigation, such as the trial of Coronation Street star Bill Roache. The cases of Roache (who plays long-running character Ken Barlow in the ITV soap) and fellow Coronation street actor Michael Le Vell (Kevin Webster) were both similar in the sense that they both highlighted another dangerous element of celebrity lifestyle: being wrongly accused through a witch hunt that was a result of previous celebrity cases.

The obvious public nature of these proceedings, exemplified by 24/7 news coverage on our televisions, heightens the pressures placed on celebrities in such trials.

Roache himself told a reporter in New Zealand, almost a year ago, that “there

On 12th September of last year, the House of Commons granted approval for cameras to be allowed in English courts for the first time. Filming is now allowed at criminal and civil hearings in the Court of Appeal during legal argument and judgments. This is limited; there are no plans as of yet to show defendants or witnesses, unlike America. However it does underline this sense of public surveillance which seems to be growing with regards to court cases, and also in many other areas of modern life. If camera’s can now capture court proceedings for the viewing public’s interest or entertainment, one can only imagine the negative exposure that celebrities (who are already placed in the limelight) receive from being wrongly accused.

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Margaretta D’Arcy Imprisoned David Coen examines elderly playwright Margaretta D’Arcy’s jail sentence for refusing to stop protests over US military flights at Shannon airport.

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argaretta D’Arcy, an Aosdana member and Peace Activist, has been held in Limerick Prison for a three month suspended sentence. D’Arcy, who is also currently undergoing treatment for cancer, was jailed for refusing to sign a bond to uphold Irish Law. This law concerns the right of the establishment to prevent people from access to unauthorised areas.

On October 7th 2012, the Peace Activist was reprimanded for illegal incursion of the runway of Shannon Airport in opposition to US military use. She sought to oppose war crimes and Ireland’s participation in such atrocities; two million US soldiers have passed through Shannon airport on their way to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Conditions of Limerick prison have interestingly been brought into question through this case. Her son, Finn Arden and two fellow peace activists; Edward Horgan of Shannonwatch and Niall Farrell of the Galway Alliance Against War (GAAW) have, through their visits, developed an understanding of the substandard quality of D’Arcy’s environment.

Shannonwatch described D’Arcy as deeming the conditions as “unsatisfactory” and as claiming that the impact on women who are imprisoned is something “that needs urgent attention.” The aforementioned GAAW have issued a statement in relation to their visits to Margaretta, and through this have announced that D’Arcy will only sign a bond to keep the peace if there is no direct reference to Shannon Airport. This proclamation conveys D’Arcy’s primary idea; that “criminal acts are being committed at Shannon on a daily basis through the presence of a US military hub there, which is deeply involved in waging war in foreign countries that continues to result in the deaths of many innocent people.”

She has subsequently received many visitors to her temporary abode in Limerick. Áras an Uachtaráin have recently confirmed that Sabina Higgins, wife of President Michael D. Higgins, visited D’Arcy in Limerick Prison. Her supporters in Shannonwatch have been frequent visitors, with prominent members Zoe Lawlor and John Lannon recently being in the presence of the imprisoned activist. D’arcy was told of the great support for her cause, as well

as written articles and photographs surrounding the furore that has been caused by her actions. Through Shannonwatch, D’Arcy was said to be “pleased that the issue of the US military use of Shannon was being highlighted, and expressed her thanks to everyone who has shown their support.”

The importance of women’s role in conflict was also addressed by D’arcy in her meeting with Shannonwatch. Her reference to the UN Security Council’s resolution 1325 is important to considering her initiative at Shannon Airport.

The resolution refers to the disproportionate and unique impact of armed conflict on women and recognises the contributions women make to conflict prevention, peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peace-building. Indeed the former UN assistant secretary-general Denis Halliday has appealed to Minister for Justice Alan Shatter, claiming that Darcy’s refusal to sign a bond is based on her belief in the Nuremberg Principle of 1945 whereby “individual citizens of any country have international duties and responsibilities that transcend national and domestic obligations of obedience to local law”.

Guardian Faces Action over NSA Documents Luke Luby takes a look at American whistleblower Edward Snowden’s exposure of the systematic wrongdoing by Western intelligence agencies.

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ournalists working for The Guardian newspaper could be facing criminal charges for their part in publishing documents leaked by former NSA agent Edward Snowden, according to a senior British counter terrorism officer.

Cressida Dick, an assistant commissioner at Scotland Yard, has confirmed that her officers are looking into potential breaches of a specific anti-terrorism law which makes it unlawful to publish information relating to British intelligence agents. The journalists, if charged and found convicted, could face a ten year sentence.

Details of the inquiry show that The Guardian’s editor, Alan Rusbrigder, has confirmed he has sent un-redacted copies of many of the 58,000 leaked documents to news organisations abroad. He also stated that only one per cent of the documents leaked by Snowden have so far been published by the newspaper and defended the paper’s reputation by claiming that it is not a “rogue newspaper”, claiming that other newspapers have also published many of the documents.

Rusbrigder told a Commons’ home affairs select committee that “in stuff that was transmitted we did some cleaning up but we did not clean up every one of the 58,000 documents”.

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When asked if he “loved his country”, he answered positively and claimed that his journalists were “patriots” in publishing the documents.

Whilst also at the Commons’ home affairs select committee, Dick also noted: “It appears possible, once we look at the material, that some people may have committed offences. We need to establish whether they have or haven’t. That involves a huge amount of scoping of material”.

When asked by Michael Ellis MP if her team was investigating possible offences under a section of the Terrorism Act 2000 which makes it illegal to “elicit, publish or communicate” information

Alan Rusbrigder

about members of the intelligence services, Miss Dick said: “Yes, indeed, we are looking at that as a potential”.

The files that Snowden leaked contained names and other personal details about British intelligence operatives, including information about the country’s spying techniques and capabilities.

It is on this basis that security service chiefs have expressed concern that lives would be put at risk if the information fell into the wrong hands, and warned that terrorists and criminals are learning how to avoid detection thanks to articles which The Guardian has published based on Mr Snowden’s disclosures.

Earlier last year Andrew Parker, the MI5 director general, warned in a speech that revealing details about the work of GCHQ, the government listening post, was a “gift to terrorists. Last November, Sir John Sawers, the MI6 chief, said terrorists were “rubbing their hands with glee” at the Snowden disclosures. He said: “What I can tell you is that the leaks from Snowden have been very damaging, they have put our operations at risk. Al-Qaeda is lapping it up”.

So far no charges have been brought against any of The Guardian’s employees.

SPORT

“I’m totally opposed to rugby” In this special report, Motley’s Current Affairs and Sport Editor Dylan White talks to Irish broadcaster, journalist and rugby pundit George Hook about the need to educate our top athletes about brain damage and life after sport.

The governing bodies stand indicted to not caring about the health of the people who play it. They’re still farting around about concussions and tackling at head on. If anyone suggests that half of this Irish team hasn’t been concussed that’s nonsense. Anyone who watches television can see these guys wandering around like they don’t know what day of the week it is and it’s not just applied to rugby. We’re not talking about broken legs here. Broken legs heal but if you get brain damage you’re talking about something else entirely.

In America there is terrible evidence of guys blowing their brains out, of marriage break up, of guys just being incapable of functioning”.

Hook claims that the reason for the grave lack of concern for our players on the field is because we have been professional for too short a time. “We have no body of evidence. There are no 50 year old former professional rugby players.

Years ago players were suffering brain damage which was glossed over from heading a football. Like in practice soccer player would head a football 40 or 50 times. That football was like concrete so you were essentially heading

Many words immediately spring to mind when you think of George Hook. Ambitious, complex, controversial and even lovable can all be used to describe the failed businessman turned esteemed journalist. He clearly “couldn’t give a shit” about his public image and whether or not people agree with his opinions. “If they think they upset me on twitter by calling me ‘a fat fuck’ or ‘get off the television you know nothing’ or ‘you’re an ejet’ [then they’re wrong]”.

But there are many issues that are high on the host of Newstalk’s drivetime talk show, The Right Hook’s, agenda. University sports play a pivotal role in college life and Hook believes they are very important but claims that they are not as strong today as they were around forty years ago due to the waning influence of medics. “Medics were very much the core particularly in rugby.

You had guys playing for Ireland and playing for UCC. Nowadays, the medical corps in rugby is gone because there are more women than men in medicine,” he tells Motley Magazine exclusively. Hook also says that the CAO points system doesn’t necessarily help talented sports people who are lacking intellectually. “The student population has increased but the sporting part of it has been spilt”.

<< According to Acquired Brain Injury Ireland approximately 13,000 lives are shattered by the trauma of an acquired head injury each year >> Former Ireland and Munster rugby coach Declan Kidney was appointed as the Director of Sport and Physical Activity at UCC at the beginning of the 2013/14 academic year, earning a reported salary of up to €100,000. “The appointment of a quality guy like Kidney is very important because it’s an indication that UCC are serious about sport. There making a commitment to sport by getting a top guy and you can’t seriously expect to get a top guy for nothing”.

However, the veteran broadcaster believes the high powered collisions sustained by young sports people may do lasting damage to our top athletes.

Take the iconic Brian O’Driscoll, an extraordinary physical specimen, but whose encyclopaedia of injuries can be seen as an orthopaedic surgeon’s worst nightmare. The dangers of repetitive concussions and its link to longterm brain damage have gone completely under the radar in recent times. The evidence from America is compelling and supports this fact. NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers legendary centre, Mike Webster, is a classic example of a guy who struggled to adapt to life after football. After Webster’s death (aged 50), a pathologist described Webster’s brain as one of “boxers, very old people with Alzheimer’s disease or someone who had suffered a severe head wound”. As a result, Hook says he is “totally opposed to rugby” due to its ferocious physical risk.

According to Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, who are currently running their Bake for Brain Injury Week (10th-16th March), approximately 13,000 lives are shattered by the trauma of an acquired head injury each year. Hook notes: “I don’t want my grandchildren to play rugby. Rugby is a very dangerous game.

a rock. The only sport that has made a serious attempt with regards to brain damage is boxing where they looked at professional boxers and that’s why the amateurs wear helmets. The rest of sport is just brushing it under the carpet”.

Hook feels that players retiring from rugby have no futures, and suggests that Brian O’Driscoll should have been thinking beyond the end of the current Six Nations campaign six years. “There is no preparation [for life after rugby].

If you’re Wayne Rooney who left school at [a young age] and probably can’t spell his name, it’s ok because he’s getting [£300,000 a week] and so therefore he has money stashed. The problem with rugby players is that they probably haven’t got money stashed. I’ve seen BOD’s latest accounts. He’s got three million or something, but he’s 35 has a reasonable life expectancy of 85. That three million has to last him 50 years which it can’t. He has to get a job”.

Hooks claims that the vast bulk of rugby players are untrained for life and will struggle to get a job in modern commercial Ireland when they retire from the game. “They have never sat in an office, added up a column of figures or sold a gallon of petrol at their local station. Who is going to pay them €200,000 grand a year? The answer is nobody”.

He added: “It drives me fucking mad that nobody is talking about what faces these rugby players on retirement. Players are not thinking about it. I chaired a module at the concussion conference, and I had rugby players and Gaelic footballers on the panel that had no knowledge about concussions or a job in after life”.

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SPORT

Life after UCC

Current Affairs and Sport Editor Dylan White talks to graduate of University College Cork and promising young Munster rugby player Dave O’Callaghan about cramming for exams, representing Ireland at two World Cups, preseason banter with Munster and his plans for the future As he sat in a Commerce lecture in the Boole basement, Dave O’Callaghan saw a vision beyond the books, the college bars and the bench pressing in the Mardyke gym. Now at the age of 24, it is fair to say that Youghal-native O’Callaghan has achieved what some of us can only dream about and he is thankful to the coaches and the people of his hometown for their support. “I started playing rugby when I was seven with Youghal RFC. It gave me a good grounding in rugby and I had some great coaches there”.

O’Callaghan attended Midleton College, a well-regarded academic institution, but by no means a heavyweight in terms of schools rugby. His journey reached its next stop when he was sent along to Munster Schools trials. “We had a good core in fourth, fifth and sixth year for the Munster Senior Cup. We qualified for it when I was in fourth year but were hammered by Christians [Brothers College]. But it defiantly stood to us. A few of us were sent along to trials. I was selected for the Munster Schools when I was in fifth year and that was lot different to what I was used to. I was playing with fellas for Pres and Christians who’d trained a lot more than us and competed in the Senior Cup every year so it was a step up”.

[in UCC]. We would train nearly four times a week but at the same time it was good craic and I made a lot of friends. I started off playing at under 20s level and won an All-Ireland with UCC. It’s a brilliant standard. We were playing fellas from Leinster and Ulster who were also in academies and were hoping to play professionally”.

However, despite his outstanding talents on the field, balancing college life with rugby proved problematic for O’Callaghan. “I would not be the most organised person naturally. I’d have to leave off the nights out and try study when I could. Often I would have national camps and Munster camps, and that would mean missing a few RAG weeks.

That’s sacrifice there,” he tells Motley Magazine exclusively.

O’Callaghan was playing for Ireland under 20s when he was in his second year in UCC and admits to being “missing for weeks on end”. He explains: “I would have loads to catch up on so it was a scramble when I got back. I had a few dark days coming up to exams in my final year. I had three exams on the trot and I had no study done”. He also regrets having not got involved in societies in UCC, in particular the Commerce Society, but says “it was

However, O’Callaghan was not overawed by the high profile, international capped players around him when he first broke into the Munster set-up.

“I was playing alongside guys like Paul O’Connell and Ronan O’Gara. I wanted to impress them and show them that I was a good player. I had to be on top of my game. It wasn’t so much intimidation, but I wanted to show them I could play at that level”.

After spending three years at the Munster Rugby Academy, he was added to the Heineken Cup squad in the 2011/2012 season. This was just reward for the impact O’Callaghan had made at British & Irish Cup level and on the number of occasions that he featured in RaboDirect PRO12 games. The UCC graduate had to wait until the end of 2012 for his first Heineken Cup start, shining in a pool win over Saracens at Thomond Park. He concedes that there were a few injuries and was lucky to be selected, but made the most of the opportunity. “It was huge for me. I was playing in Thomond Park in front of a packed crowd and the occasion spurred me on. It was an ideal game for me. The pressure was off because it was at home and there were great players around me. You might think it was a big game to come into but it was the perfect game for me”.

O’Callaghan is no stranger to the international scene either. He got a call up to a pre-Six Nations squad just over a year ago, but it was training with the Irish schools that made him realise he was hoping to make a career out of rugby. He represented the Ireland under 20s in two Junior World Cup campaigns, in Japan in 2009 and in Argentina

UCC Director of Rugby , Gary Byrne, on Dave:

<< Dave contributed significantly to a very successful period in UCC Rugby’s recent history and we hope the early exposure to All Ireland League rugby, U21 success coupled with the coaching , academic support, sports scholarship scheme and top class facilities were formative in Dave’s development as a player and person. It’s great to see him doing so well and not surprising >> Being one of the stronger players in Midleton College gave O’Callaghan a great deal of confidence, which stood to him as he went up the levels. “It gave me belief in myself and in my ability.

I had a lot of confidence from that. In terms of my game I was big enough for my age which helped.

But it wasn’t drilled into me like Pres and Christian fellas. I was lacking on the skills side of it, so that kind of stuff had to be honed [into me]”.

O’Callaghan’s first senior club was University College Cork, which he claims is a “brilliant breeding ground for rugby”. Initially playing second row, Dave broke into the senior squad in his first year helping the club finish 3rd in their first season in Division 1. He played U21 with UCC RFC when not playing senior and won an All-Ireland U21 medal with the club in 2010 beating excellent UCD, Shannon and Lansdowne sides on route to UCCs fifth national title at this level since 1997. He added: “You get that professional outlook on rugby

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nearly impossible [to get more involved] not being around with rugby”. Nonetheless, O’Callaghan graduated from UCC in September 2013 in what was a crowning academic achievement in a life already glittered with sporting success.

The transition to the professional game was a huge step up for O’Callaghan, and he found the physical demands “massive at first”. At 1.96 metres tall and not shy of seventeen stone, O’Callaghan has the ideal presence to intimidate even the sturdiest of opponents and make his own presence known to the opposition. “At underage and at amateur level I would have been one of the bigger fellas.

But as I went up the ranks, it meant I had to get my weight up. That meant more weight sessions and eating loads in order to compete at that level. I was playing against fellas a lot bigger than me and I’d notice it in the impacts that I wasn’t running over fellas anymore. I had to be that bit sharper”.

SPORT in 2010. “In my first year we went to Japan for the World Cup. We had a very tough group against Argentina, New Zealand and Uruguay and we were up against it. I got a bit of time off the bench against New Zealand which stood to me being one of the younger players in that squad. We didn’t qualify from our group but we ran New Zealand very close and we beat Argentina so in terms of our own development as players it was brilliant.

In my second year under 20s we won the Six Nations. We had some tough games. We lost to France over there narrowly but we managed to beat England. We then went to the World Cup in Argentina. That’s another thing about these under age teams; you get to travel the world”.

Although O’Callaghan isn’t well versed with the training methods of the Joe Schmidt era, he still feels that Ireland is a team in transition. “You can see that Joe Schmidt is planning for the future and looking at a lot of players. It might be a bit experimental in the Six Nations. Obviously he will be looking to compete but if it’s the case that we don’t win the Six Nations but come out of it knowing more about the ability of our players; that will be a success”.

On 24th November 2013, a nation’s chance at history was snatched from its grasp when Ireland narrowly lost out to a last-grasp Ryan Crotty overtime try and a Aaron Cruden conversion, securing a 24-22 victory for New Zealand, and stamping the All-Blacks place in history as the first professional-era team to record a 100 per cent campaign.

“From talking to a few of the lads, it was sickening not to finish it out after such a good performance.

[The mood amongst the players] was mixed really.

Some were devastated and hurt; they had it and went so close. But it’s a recurring theme in Irish rugby, to get that close and then not to get over the final hurdle. It would have been a memorable victory but they couldn’t close it out in the end,” he notes.

To date, O’Callaghan has not received any negative press, but he understands the pressures more high profiled players are subjected to by the media. He explains: “Players with a celebrity status in rugby receive it more. But for the most part rugby isn’t as glamorous and as cut throat as professional soccer. We’re told to be honest and not to take too much notice of the press. [It’s all about] the next game”.

But where there is negative media attention, there also is positive press. In the summer of 2013, the Munster squad were involved in a team-building exercise as part of their pre-season schedule termed the amazing Munster Race. The players were put into groups and left off to their own devices around the province, with the intention of meeting in Youghal for the local rugby club’s 50th anniversary celebrations. “It was brilliant and off the beaten track. It’s what Rob Penney’s about; he’s not just a coach. He’s always looking at community [values]. He sees Munster as a province and is intent on bringing the whole community together and spreading rugby throughout Munster. [We enjoy] meeting people and connecting with communities, spreading the love for the game around areas that might not be synonymous with rugby.

We met some great people [on the journey],”

he said. O’Callaghan also notes that it was “very special” to have the squad meet the people of his hometown.

O’Callaghan believes a combination of “Rob Penney’s experienced methods” and Munster’s “never say die attitude” could be pivotal if they are going to have success this year. “Rob Penney is very popular amongst the squad. His door is always open to go in for a chat. He played in a similar position to me and he’s available for advice.

He’s very hands on and constantly in the thick of it getting across what he wants from you,” he said.

O’Callaghan plans on putting his best foot forward when called upon and appears very determined in becoming a regular in Munster’s starting lineup. “I am in the middle of a two year contract with Munster and my primary focus is to establish myself in the team,” he added.

However, he acknowledges that he may have to consider his options in the future and appeared open to a move abroad. “I’ll have to see how it’s going. At the moment, I’m happy with Munster but I have to make sure I’m getting a few more games.

My priority is to play and to play well. I don’t look further than the next game. In terms of playing abroad, it is something that most players would like to do at some stage in their career. My dream is playing for Munster because it is where I’m from and it’s my dream club. I want to become a regular here but if I had to move it would be to a warm climate,” he smiles.

Rugby expert George Hook on Dave O’Callaghan:

<< I don’t know [if he will make it in terms of earning big money]. 24 is too soon.

He has a chance; it’s a 50/50 chance. Its not a question of me calling whether or not he can do it. The game itself will determine that >>

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SPORT

Schu-in For Success

David Coen looks at retired German racing driver Michael Schumacher’s career to date.

Michael Schumacher, 44, is regarded as one of Formula 1’s greatest-ever-drivers after achieving seven world titles during his career. Even at the age of four the German was destined to make a career out of motor racing.

Rolf, his father, possessed a karting track which Michael quickly grew passionate about. He, like any other person desirous of building a career out of what he loved, worked with tenacity and determination to achieve his goals.

Schumacher crashed his first motorised kart, which was built by his father, into a tree. But by the age of 18 Schumacher had won both the German and European kart championships. His quick development as a racer indicated that a distinguished and remarkable career awaited him.

His first drive for Jordan at Spa in 1991 awoke the racing world to Schumacher’s exceptional talent as a racing driver. As a relatively unknown entity, he qualified seventh on the grid at one of the well-regarded circuits in the world. In

flag to begin with. The year 1999 presented Schumacher with a career threatening injury. His right-rear brake failed on the Hangar straight at Silverstone on the first lap of the race. He consequentially broke his leg when the car plunged off the track at Stowe, hurtling head-on into a barrier.

The first half of the year 2000 was marked by the overwhelming dominance of Ferrari and Schumacher. He won nine races in 2001, and added another 11 in 2002. Schumacher even set a new record by winning the world championship with six races to spare. An interesting development in 2005, which saw tyre changes banned during races, ceased Schumacher’s complete dominance over F1. This alteration to the technical rules of the sport forced tyre companies to build harder compounds. As a result of Bridgestone’s failure to adapt initially to the new technology, Schumacher won only once in 2005. He retired for the second time just last year following a three year return with Mercedes. His seven world championship wins, two with Benetton and five with Ferrari, remains his most remarkable achievement.

Currently, Schumacher resides in a critical condition following a skiing accident in France. He suffered a severe head injury whilst skiing off-piste in the French Alps. Whilst his future appears bleak with regards to fully recovering from this accident, Schumacher will always be remembered as a worldwide sporting icon and a highly successful sportsman.

<< Schumacher crashed his first motorised kart, which was built by his father, into a tree. But by the age of 18 Schumacher had won both the German and European kart championships >> 1993 he successfully prevented the dominant Williams team’s grip on success with Benetton. This victor is known as the first of a unique, record-smashing 91 wins. Aryton Senna’s death at Imola, as well as the retirement of recent champions provided Schumacher with the opportunity to establish himself in history. By the end of 1994 Schumacher had won 9 of 16 races. His career, as well as being distinguishable in terms of success, was also marked by controversy. His Benetto team were constantly accused of cheating.

Evidence was discovered of an illegal traction control system on the car. He was disqualified from the British Grand Prix after he overtook Damon Hill on the formation lap, and was furthermore banned from two races for failing to heed the black

Cheltenham 2014 As the excitement ahead of the 2014 Cheltenham Festival reaches fever pitch, Jordan McCarthy assesses the big contenders for glory.

It is that time of year again. The time when thousands of Irish punters make the annual pilgrimage across the Irish Sea to a racecourse situated on the Cotswolds of Gloucestershire. The greatest festival in the calendar year, the most talked about venue in sport, the Olympics of horse racing, the phenomenon that is-Cheltenham.

The Champion Hurdle has been talked about since the autumn, and if the race lives up to the hype then it will be the race of the season. Hurricane Fly, the 19 times Grade 1 winner, takes on the best of last season’s novices. The New One, My Tent Or Yours, Jezki and Our Conor are the young pretenders but Hurricane Fly will have to be at his absolute best to fend them off. Something he has not quite shown at Cheltenham despite landing two hurdling crowns. It would be quite a story should the Montjeu gelding land a third Champion Hurdle. Jezki however,

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could be the one to stop him from doing so.

Whatever the outcome, it should be a very entertaining contest.

The defection of Sprinter Sacre has obviously robbed the festival of the best horse in training. The Champion Chase does have a more competitive look to it, however. Sire De Grugy is the one that punters seem to be warming to in absence of last year’s winner, and the Moore’s will feel that they can land the two-mile Championship event. Captain Conan and Al Ferof (should he run) will need to be feared though. The former could compensate for the Henderson team, the latter loves Cheltenham. Whoever is going to step-up and claim the title, they will all have to beat the veteran Sizing Europe. ‘The Sizer’ has been a great servant to connections. He has won an Arkle, a Champion Chase and placed in two further Champion Chases. What a star!

Thursday is World Hurdle day and the mighty Big Bucks is back to reclaim his title. There is less confidence in the horse from the public this season than there has been in years gone by but can we really write him off? Annie Power, getting 7lbs, will be the main danger and she looks a superstar in the making. Throw in At Fishers Cross and Zarkandar and you have got some race in prospect.

The Gold Cup is the Blue Riband event in racing.

2013 Champion Bob’s Worth looks like he could retain his crown, although connections of King George winner Silviniaco Conti will fancy their chances as well. The Giant Bolster could run into a place again at a big price. Last Instalment looks the best of the Irish challengers. It doesn’t look the strongest of renewals but Bob’s Worth can outstay them all.

As for the rest of the week, the queen Quevega bids for a sixth consecutive victory in the Mares Hurdle, Golantilla has a rare second attempt in the Champion Bumper and Willie Mullins has a squad of superstars to go to war with.

Belgian Delight

Eoin Mc Sweeney assesses Belgium’s chances of success at this summer’s World Cup in Brazil.

Shot after shot rained down on the goal as the Belgian national team tried again and again to break Turkey’s resistance. As the host nation of the UEFA European Championship in 2000, expectation was high that a team that had qualified for five successive World Cups could dent the hopes of various European giants and maybe even lift the Henri Delaunay Trophy themselves. Willed on by a home crowd of 48,000, Belgium were dominating the match and looked to be heading to the quarter-finals of the competition, but then disaster struck. Hakan Sukur scored a goal in each half to leave Belgium third in the group and eliminated from the competition at the first stage. They were the first host nation to exit so early in the competition. On that day, people thought that Belgian football had hit rock bottom, but things only got worse.

developed. Underage success soon followed. In 2007, a squad containing Hazard and Benteke to name a few reached the semi-finals of the U-17 European Championships for the first time.

They also reached the semi-finals of the Beijing Olympics (a tournament that is basically an U-23 competition), losing to an Argentine side containing Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero.

To make the team even more unique, they have decided to connect to their fans and thank the people who have made their entire journey possible. After qualifying for the World Cup, stars such as Eden Hazard, Nacer Chadli, Simon Mignolet and Romelu Lukaku have been doing household chores for fans in order to thank them for their

SPORT mean that there will be a huge support for them, even in Brazil. “I knocked on the door and asked if there was anything I can do,” Eden Hazard explained. “I put a poster up on the wall for a boy and washed some dishes. It’s okay but I prefer being on the pitch.”

The list of high profile names that they have is also very impressive, with the likes of Hazard, Kompany, Benteke, Mignolet, Vermaelen, Mirallas and Lukaku lighting up the Premier League in recent months. They traditionally produced great defenders while their more attacking players, like Enzo Scifo, were overlooked. In terms of transfer fees, the starting XI is estimated at €180m, the third highest after Brazil and Portugal, and this was before Witsel’s massive €40m move to Zenit St. Petersburg.

Be afraid. Belgium are going to be a handful for any team at this summer’s World Cup in Brazil, and while not being branded as one of the favourites, they will certainly have a say in the destination of the greatest prize football has to offer. They are a

Although they competed at the World Cup in South Korea in 2002, they failed to qualify in 2006, making it the first time the country was absent from the World Cup since 1978. They also failed in 2010 and have not played at any of the intervening European Championships. They were 71st in the FIFA World Rankings in 2007, an all-time low, and they lost to Armenia in 2009. Hope was non-existent in what seemed like a dire situation for Belgian football, a nation with a proud footballing past.

Fortunately for the country, and football fans everywhere, the tables have turned. A new ‘Golden Generation’ of footballers have graced the national side and they impressively qualified for this summer’s World Cup. They rose to 5th in the World Rankings in 2013, their highest ever position on the table. Many pundits have tipped them to be dark horses at the competition, with their beautiful footballing style winning over many neutrals.

So what changed?

To find the answer we have to go back almost 14 years to that defining night in Brussels. It was around that point that Michel Sablon, the national director of the Belgian FA, felt that a change was needed. He decided on a 10-year plan for the emerging generation to create a new golden age for Belgian football.

<<Although they competed at the World Cup in South Korea in 2002, they failed to qualify in 2006, making it the first time the country was absent from the World Cup since 1978>> “In 2001, we established a new vision to develop young players in Belgium,” Sablon said. This vision involved among other things giving all the clubs “a brochure which detailed how to best manage player development”. This involved nearly every club adapting to the changes and at every national age group, where the likes of Mirallas and Dembélé were discovered, teams would play with the same style.

Every player would have an understanding of exactly what their role in the team was from an early age and a fluid, flexible 4-3-3 system finally

support. YouTube videos have sprung up of the players washing and drying dishes or babysitting, and children going wild with delight after seeing their heroes in their kitchen. It is part of a new initiative set up by the Belgian FA to bring players and fans (who spend thousands of euros to support their team) closer together. Fans were chosen by entering a competition in which they completed a task for charity and in return a star player did something for them.

young team with promising players, a burgeoning fan base and a bright future. They may not be up there with the likes of Spain and Brazil just yet, but they have certainly come a long way since 2000. They are the dark horses in that they are loved by neutrals, play an exciting brand of football and are a team full of mavericks and masters of football. Their next defining moment may well be Vincent Kompany lifting the FIFA World Cup in the Maracanã on the 13th of July. Who would bet against them?

While it may do nothing to improve performances on the pitch, it is a fantastic idea that will certainly

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SPORT

<<You have to make the most of life for what it is and that’s whatI’vedone>> Current Affairs and Sport Editor Dylan White talks to the iconic hurler of his generation, Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, about his recently published autobiography.

It goes without question that Seán Óg Ó hAilpín (or Seán Halfpenny as he was known until he was seven) is a one-of-a-kind Irish sportsman and a legendary figure in the eyes of GAA fanatics across the country. Now, he tells his own story in his own words - a story that is not essentially sporting but essentially Irish. “[Now that I am retired], I saw it fitting to write my autobiography. I know with the best will in the world you could come out with one during the playing days but it’s very hard to stay focused when you’re talking about the opposition. The last thing you want to do is to give anyone that you’re playing against ammunition, so the fact that I was retired and away from the game gave me a lot of freedom and scope to express my views and opinions,” he tells Motley Magazine exclusively.

But all of this would have seemed unlikely when Seán Óg was born in 1977. He was raised in Fiji and Australia, before moving to Ireland when he was eleven.

“There were only five of the siblings who grew up in Sydney; the youngest (Étaoin) was born in Cork when we came here. I would have had an excellent relationship with my brother Teu. I slept in the same bedroom with Teu for years. We lived in a smallish house in Sydney and with a growing family we had to bunk in together”.

Seán Óg alludes to the fact that his relationship with his parents was quite different. His father is from Rosslea in County Fermanagh, while his mother is from Rotuma- neither a hurling stronghold. “I had a much better relationship with Mum [growing up] because Mum was a very kind and loving person. Dad was a product of an era generation of Irish dads who didn’t give much praise to their kids. They probably loved their kids but couldn’t show it to them. For me the difference between Mum and Dad, although I do love the two of them to bits, is that I would consider Mum a very good friend. I don’t know would I consider Dad [in the same way]”.

Growing up in Sydney had a big impression on Seán Óg and he was a devastated kid when he moved to Cork in 1988. He grew up playing rugby league and had taken a liking to Sydney’s “tremendous climate”. Suddenly, it was all taken away from him and he was a stranger in a new place. His mother’s background and their features also stood out and drew some unwanted attention in Cork in the late 1980s. Seán Óg recalls the racial abuse his family received as being “brutal” for the first two years in Cork in particular. “You have to realise that there weren’t many different ethnic families settling in Ireland or Cork at that time. I don’t think they were prepared for half black people coming to Cork”. He admits to being the victim of racism while playing under age GAA, but says it was more on the streets and views sport as a sort of “saviour”. “I look back at sport and my day joining Na Piarsaigh as the ice breaker. When I started getting involved in sport a lot of the racism started to reduce. It still happened but not as much as you’d get on the streets”.

He also mentions experiencing racial abuse in a senior inter county match against Clare. “Whatever about other levels but adults should have some bit of cop on and when you get it (racial abuse) it’s disappointing”. Although racism has gotten better for Seán Óg as a result of his success with Cork, he feels that the normal day person living in Ireland still suffers. “Through hurling people got an understanding of how difficult it was to leave Australia, coming to Ireland and to pick up a culture. I’ve seen a shift in attitude in the early years playing with the club. After a couple of years I was treated like I was one of

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their own. Only for that I’d hate to think what my life would be like because there is still damning reports that racism is rife in this country and city”.

Seán Óg admits that there was “a good chance” he would have left Ireland if he did not break into the Cork squad. “Obviously playing at the top level in this club and going on to represent Cork did help me and it made my family feel more welcome. There was a lot of appreciation from people here for what I was doing. But if you feel you’re not welcome in a place why stay there?”

Seán Óg thought he had his college years mapped out, but his failure to get Business Information Systems in UCC resulted in a move to the capital to study Fiontar (business degree through Irish) at DCU. “UCC is a mega institution for hurling and to be involved in a hurling establishment like that would have enhanced me better. I went to DCU and I don’t knock my four years there; they were great years especially being away from home. From a hurling perspective, it would have suited me and benefited me greatly if I had gone to UCC but having said that going to DCU was probably better for me socially and for my own self-development”. Seán Óg says there were “opportunities to party” but he was committed to getting a degree and focussing on hurling in order to nail a spot on the Cork senior hurling panel.

Seán Óg was “a very raw undergraduate in hurling” when he first got drafted onto the Cork Senior Hurling team. For a hurler who didn’t want to hurl for many years, his trademark barnstorming solo runs from left wingback led him to an impressive five Munster titles, three All-Irelands and three All-Stars as a Cork hurler, as well as one Munster title as a footballer. He was also named Hurler of the Year for 2004, and in 2005 he captained Cork to the All-Ireland title. He views each triumph as important as the other, but admits that’s it’s “always nice to win your first one [in 1999]”.

Cork’s success on the field became somewhat overshadowed by the bitterness of the strikes of 2002, 2007 and 2008. These were no backroom disputes, but rather traumatic occurrences which brought over 10,000 people onto the streets of Cork to support their beloved Rebel teams. Seán Óg says that his “only regret around the strikes is that it happened”. He explains: “I wish it didn’t happen. It would have been easier for everyone involved if it didn’t happen. Unfortunately it did. We were involved in three disputes but the one in 2009 going into 2010 was probably the worst ever [because it lasted the longest]. [The 2002 strike] got very bitter because personal stuff was brought into play and there were some casualties”.

Seán Óg notes that when Gerald McCarthy first came into the Cork fold, he “got on ok with him” and the pair would have had a “good relationship” on a personal level. He respected the fact that McCarthy was a Cork hurling hero in his own right and proud winner of five All Ireland medals but there were doubts about his management and training styles. Seán Óg says that players began to raise their concerns about McCarthy’s “outdated” methods. “His training was going backwards rather than forwards and other counties who we were beating easy a couple of years ago were just surpassing us. I felt as a county we were stagnant. The longer we went on like this we weren’t going to see any silverware. McCarthy wasn’t the ideal person [to take us forward]”.

Denis Walsh took over after the 2010 strike and Seán Óg became a casualty.

“I didn’t agree with him [when he said I should retire]. Even though he said it was a hurling decision I knew deepest in my heart of hearts that it wasn’t. It was the complete opposite. Denis never liked me from day one. I just got that vibe. Even when I look back over the two years that I played under him, I don’t recall me doing anything untoward or out of the ordinary to piss him off”.

Seán Óg made the brave decision to come out of retirement in 2011 but struggled to break into Cork’s starting line-up. “When I’d ask Jimmy [Barry-Murphy] how he’d describe my year, he’d give me a glowing report. [I took] his words at face value whether he meant them or not but he said they were building for two to three years’ time and they didn’t know if I’d still be playing at that stage.

The likes of me getting a game was going to be lynched”. And with the way the game is evolving, Seán Óg has his reservations about whether there would be any room for a 36 year old in the Cork set-up and would say “no” to a recall if the opportunity arose.

In June 2011, Seán Óg was awarded the Freedom of the City of Cork, capping off an illustrious career and epitomising everything that we admire about the amateur ethos of the GAA and the professionalism of players who want to perform at the very highest capacity. As he walked down the steps of City Hall in Cork, off to the right beyond the office of the Harbour Commissioners, he could almost see Kent Station where the Ó hAilpín’s had first arrived in Cork, way back in 1988. “Until that stage I was an adopted Corkonian but the fact that I got it was concrete. The proudest moment in my life outside of playing was getting that award and it’s even more prestigious when you look at the people who have won it beforehand. It was truly humbling and I was honoured”.

Seán Óg’s story is one every GAA fan has been waiting to read. Full of honesty and insights about his life, his struggles, and about his mentors and teammates

MAIN FEATURE

<<I look back at sport and my day joining Na Piarsaigh as the ice breaker. When I started getting involved in sport a lot of the racism started to reduce. It still happened but not as much as you’d get on the streets>>

from his playing career; it is truly a journey like no other. “When people see my life they think that I had it easy being part of winning teams and in the paper every day. Those kinds of things are not handed to you. I wish they were but they’re not. You have to make the most of life for what it is and that’s what I’ve done. Let’s put it this way; if I was at Sydney Airport as an eleven year old when I described leaving and not knowing what was ahead of me, I wouldn’t have hopped on that plane. I would have run away or I would have called Childline. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone what I went through”.

Seán Óg described himself to me as a “very loyal” family man and an “unselfish” player on the field. He admits that Dónal O’Grady was the best manager he ever played under, with John Allen coming a close second. He has no immediate plans to go into management, but “wouldn’t rule it out” in the future.

He intends on playing for his club Na Piarsaigh for one more year, with the intention of bowing out after twenty years of service. He is “optimistic” about Cork’s chances in the up and coming campaign and encourages aspiring intercounty hurlers to “dedicate” themselves to the game as it will repay them back. But why should we buy his autobiography? “People would associate me with sport but it’s not a sporting book. If anything it’s more than a sporting book,” he added.

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SPORT

Destination Miami for Beckham David Coen takes a look at the next step in David Beckham’s illustrious career.

David Beckham, 38 years old, has remarked to the press that “he is living a dream” with the recent purchase of an Major League Soccer franchise in Miami. His initial plans have proved to be highly ambitious; the “best players” will be recruited for the initiative, and a world class stadium is to be built to represent the club. Beckham has already commented that players of a high quality have expressed an interest in moving to Miami and joining the club, which is a highly positive start for the club’s ambitions. Particular emphasis is to be placed on a youth academy; Beckham is said to be incredibly desirous of expanding and developing the quality of young American footballers.

The national game is another aspect of American soccer that Beckham wants to improve.

His business will represent the 22nd team in the MLS. 2015 will see two new teams; Orlando City SC and New York City (partly owned by Manchester City FC), join the nineteen clubs already in the division. The last Miami soccer club folded after being in existence for four seasons. It finally lost the battle against low attendances and revenue in 2001, creating the void that can now be observed in Miami soccer. Interestingly, Beckham’s option to purchase the franchise is said to have been part of a clause in his contract at LA Galaxy, signed in 2007. Therefore it is highly possible that Beckham had decided upon this career move several years ago. Basketball superstar LeBron James is also in talks with Beckham over being a financial advocate for the club.

Rumour has it that Beckham is planning to give the club a ‘retro’ style. ‘Miami

<<Beckham, who enjoyed a lengthy playing career at clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, Paris St-Germain and AC Milan, desires to transform his team into one of heightened global appeal>>

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Vice’ has circulated on the Internet as a leaked name for the business, as well as an aqua, pink and gray colour scheme. Although fans of the hit 80’s TV show Miami Vice will be pleased to hear of such an initiative, Beckham’s publicist Simon Oliviera has announced via Twitter that “not one part of [the story] is true”.

Beckham, who enjoyed a lengthy playing career at clubs such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, Paris St-Germain and AC Milan, desires to transform his team into one of heightened global appeal. Beckham has recently been described by Alex Ferguson in his recent autobiography as “the one player I managed who chose to be famous”. Perhaps this seemingly intrinsic desire to gain worldwide recognition and acquire prominence on a global stage will now be represented through Beckham, ‘the owner’. From a business point of view, this can only be seen as a good thing. Although American soccer is said to be improving at an international level, the standard of club level soccer in America pales in comparison to its English and Spanish counterparts. The desire to attract players of the highest quality and build a stadium to be compared with the best in the world can only assist the MLS brand in affirming its grip on relevance.

Orlando FC has established a rivalry with Beckham’s new club even at this early stage. In response to Beckham’s announcement, they tweeted a map of Florida with the words “David, Welcome To Our State” emblazoned upon it.

Although the message was playful in sentiment, it is possible that a rivalry may develop between the two football clubs based in Florida. The American state would welcome such a contest; two failed MLS sides are the only elements that have documented Florida’s recent soccer history. Perhaps this would inject much-needed life back into the sport. The Florida Marlins stadium fiasco would possibly be the most prolific sporting failure in Florida. This left Miami-Dade taxpayers responsible for a reported 1.4b dollars. This amount consists of repayments and interest on the stadium, of which the owner rapidly sold players when the building work was complete. The project has indeed become emblematic of sporting public funding disasters. Beckham has touted the Florida Marlins stadium as a temporary arena for his new team during the building of the envisioned location. He has also announced that the stadium won’t be built with public money, an announcement that proved to be a catalyst for the favourable reaction in America towards the project. In light of recent financial disasters, Beckham’s decision is not only admirable but also hugely necessary to guarantee the support of the people of Florida.

Beckham, and world renowned manager Simon Fuller, are said to favour a downtown PortMiami location with a privately-funded stadium built on publicly-provided land.

The Beckham group has viewed over thirty locations for the new stadium.

This list has now been whittled down by investors to the most favourable six locations. The aforementioned PortMiami is owned by a single government, allowing for the group to sign only one land deal. Crowd congestion, however, has been feared by local politicians, who have noted the close proximity of the intended site for the new stadium and the American Airlines Arena. Another area suggested is next to Marlins Park. The main benefit for attendees here would be the numerous parking lots surrounding the stadium. The other argument reminds the planning group that investors would have to negotiate with the City, where politicians have dealt with the fallout of the unpopular public-financing deal for the Marlins. There has also been a suggestion to place the stadium next to Miami International Airport; one main advantage being it being in close proximity to the Metrorail service and its position as a central location in Miami. Negotiations will continue over the following weeks with Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s administration. Now that the media frenzy surrounding Beckham’s announcement has subsided, the time for real work to be carried out on the project has arrived.

The next few years will demonstrate how successful this global soccer icon, the most famous soccer player of our generation, is in the next stage of his illustrious career.

SPORT

Does It Really Mata?

Simon Bracken takes a look at what Manchester United’s record signing Juan Mata can bring to the Red Devils.

A January transfer window which threatened to pass without incident, much to Sky Sports News’ horror, in the end threw up one of the most surprising deals in recent memory. Juan Mata’s move from Chelsea to Manchester United for £37.1m was undeniably the story of the month. The move had been talked about for weeks but few believed that Chelsea would actually sell to one of their rivals in England.

Ever since Jose Mourinho returned to Stamford Bridge, Mata’s future has been in doubt. It looked from the outside that Mata’s injury in preseason may have been the most unfortunate of his career. By the time he regained fitness, Mourinho seemed to have made up his mind that Mata would have to play second fiddle to Oscar and Hazard.

Mourinho a l s o

Still United?

Eoin Mc Sweeney looks at Manchester United’s deteriorating form under David Moyes.

So Manchester United’s fall from grace is finally complete. That loss against Olympiakos in the first leg of their round 16 tie of the UEFA Champions League has followed a litany of poor results and firsts for a once mighty club.

This season, Swansea won at Old Trafford for the first time, the first home loss to Newcastle since 1972, the first time that they have lost three games in a row since 2001 and now, the first time that they have ever lost to a Greek side in a European competition. It has incurred a running joke that David Moyes is breaking records left right and centre in his first season in charge.

There are still a number of unwanted achievements that he could accomplish though; the last time United failed to play in the Champions league was 1995, the last time they failed to break the top three was 1991 and it has been 83 years since Newcastle have recorded a double over them, with the Magpies playing host to David Moyes’ team on the 5th of April. With the rise of Man City, they are not even the best team in Manchester anymore.

Is there still hope for one of the biggest clubs in the world? Roy Keane recently said that “United need five or six players” to “rebuild” the team. So who are these players? A new centre-back is certainly needed with the impending departure of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand looking more and more culpable. Ferguson was a fan of the Real Madrid centre back Raphael Varane and tried to poach him in 2011 and the Frenchman has since had two excellent seasons, but has since lost his place in the team. However the 20-year old may yet be too young to be in what would be an inexperienced United back

managed to spread the myth of Mata’s “suspect work-rate” through the media and justify his phasing out of the two times Chelsea player of the year.

Unsurprisingly, Mata became restless having so quickly become surplus to requirements at the club he previously ruled.

The theory from Chelsea’s perspective is that they have already played United twice, while the other title contenders all have to play the Red Devils again, so Mata’s move could help their cause by taking points off their rivals.

However, that is an extremely short term view. They have supplied Moyes with a playmaker of the highest calibre to feed an already devastating forward line of Rooney and Van Persie. This is the kind of transfer that could easily backfire on those from the King’s Road.

<<What United have needed for years is a traditional central midfielder to replace Paul Scholes and Mata certainly won’t solve that problem>> United and David Moyes have gone all in on the Spaniard, spending a record fee and reportedly doubling his wages and they will almost certainly install him as a guaranteed starter. But where does Mata fit into the United side?

What United have needed for years is a traditional central midfielder to replace Paul Scholes and Mata certainly won’t solve that problem.

A major clear-out is expected at Old Trafford in the summer with a number of aging and out of favour players expected to be moved on.

Moyes’ plan for the side will be clearer after that. The most likely end result is a move away from the trademark wing play of United to a narrower 4-2-3-1 system.

One thing that seems certain now Mata has signed is that Moyes will be in the dugout next season regardless of where United finish. It seems ludicrous to allow h i m to make such a marquee signing and not allow him to build a team around Mata. The next 18 months at Old Trafford will be crucial. At Stamford Bridge, however, Mourinho and Chelsea may just be regretting leaving the talented Spaniard join what looks already to be a revitalised Manchester United.

<<Is there still hope for one of the biggest clubs in the world? Roy Keane recently said that “United need five or six players” to “rebuild” the team>> four. A better option may be the 25-year old Borussia Dortmund player Mats Hummels, who has been superb for the German side in recent years. The team’s fortunes haven’t been good of late and an exodus of talent has already begun. Evra is also getting older, but 18-year old Southampton defender Luke Shaw would could be an option.

Another area that needs to be fixed is midfield, with the partnership of Cleverley and Carrick lacking creativity. Borussia Dortmund may be another hotspot of talent in this area with Illkay Gündoğan looking for a move and heavily linked to United. Toni Kroos, the Bayern Munich and German international, would be a perfect acquisition.

Finally, a forward is needed. Robin Van Persie does not look content at OT this season. Marco Reus of Dortmund and Atletico Madrid goal predator Diego Costa have been mentioned but whether United will be able to get any of these players without Champions League football is questionable. However, the recent acquisition of Juan Mata from Chelsea and Rooney signing a new five-and-a-half-year contract seem to shed some light on what has been a dark and miserable first season for the red half of Manchester.

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Saturday Night at the Movies?

The F Word

Arts & Culture Editor Ruth Ní Leannachain examines the way women are presented in cinema today

L

ong gone are the days when the word feminism struck fear into the hearts of the public - now it it seems to be everywhere.

Newspapers and magazines like The Guardian, Vice and Elle are giving the topic 2 page spreads, blogging sites like Tumblr are inundated with ‘Femblogs’ questioning women’s roles in society, and the once shocking Lena Dunham is on the cover of Vogue. Even mainstream musicians, who may have shuddered at the thought of being pigeonholed as ‘hairy men haters’ are jumping on the bandwagon. Suddenly being a feminist is kind of cool. While the version of feminism we’re exposed to, the kind that comes flashing on our televisions and computers may be simplified and problematic in itself, the fact still remains-feminism is no longer an outdated word for burning your bra. It seems like every aspect of our liberal society is joining in, but in the last few months, with the impending releases of a plethora of critically acclaimed films, one cannot help but notice an alarming trend. While the rest of the media wants to utilize feminism, film just can’t keep up.

The film industry has never been overly concerned with gender equality. The majority of blockbuster movies and cult classics are based around white, western men, with minorities and women as their sidekicks, there simply to fill in whatever gap has been left by the handsome, strong, and all round admirable lead. If this sounds extreme, look at the arguments and statistics. While a poor representation of women in video games has long been blamed on a majority male fan base but men make up only 35% of the cinema audience.

Despite this fact, it’s men who were cast as protagonists for the 25 biggest movies of 2013. Unfortunately, the outlook doesn’t seem much better for the future, because while the last few months have already been praised for the high standard of film, with The Oscars, The Globes and The Screen Actors’ Guild awards struggling to choose between indie romance, hard hitting , and simply outrageous, most of the nominees are still lacking dimension when it comes to strong female roles.

For lack of female roles and a poor depiction of women, look no further than The Wolf of Wall Street, praised as one of the best films of the season, has somehow avoided the public outcry that Robin Thicke made famous.

Women exist in the film only as accessories to further enhance their male counterparts’ stories.

It’s 3 hours of wife replacing wife, disposable hookers and one sided characters who are simply incapable of saving their husbands from drug abuse and

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excess and as a result are portrayed as almost helpless. Even the single female broker with lines, who works alongside the boys appears only to talk about the great deed Jordan Belfort did for her, saving her from her poor life and giving her everything. The Wolf of Wall Street is fast, exciting and amoral, and because of that, the misogyny seems ‘of the time’ and acceptable even though it’s set in the early 90s, however, The Wolf of Wall Street succeeds in making women commodities and celebrates gender stereotypes.

All is not lost, however, because not all of this seasons award grabbers are void of female roles.

Jennifer Lawrence has been widely praised for her role in American Hustle, almost stealing the show from her cast mates, not only is Lawrence a critically claimed actress who has been grabbing strong female roles left right and centre, but she’s a feminist herself, having discussed at length, the dangers of the media. Despite this, however, American Hustle too falls short, creating female leads who are concerned primarily with men and who are portrayed as back stabbing and catty.

The most famous dissection of sexism in film comes in the form of the Bechdel test, which states that to pass, a film must have at least t w o named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man. The Bechdel t e s t sounds like it sets the bar low, but when one consid-

ers that The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Star Wars movies, and all but one of the Harry Potter movies fail this test, it’s painfully obvious that there is something rotten in the state of Hollywood. In fact, this is a tactic currently being used by the Danish government to cut down on misogyny in movies. The Danish government have even attempted to introduce the test as a way of rating

_ The film industry has never been overly concerned with gender equality.

The majority of blockbuster movies and cult classics are based around white, western men, with minorities and women as their sidekicks_ popular films and as a way to encourage writers, directors, and producers to examine their work more closely for sexism and dangerous female stereotypes.

At any rate at which the movie industry is going, it seems that equality in ‘real life’ will come faster than it will in the cinemas. While society seems to have moved away (even if only ever so slightly) from sexism of the past, films are much slower to lose their roots and the depiction of females as man obsessed and one dimensional characters are still being excused because it’s what we’ve become so accustomed to, desensitised to, and most worryingly, used to. While it seems extremist to ask for a total overhaul of the industry or quotas to ensure women are portrayed as human beings.

But the fact is, women are more complex than just crying into their ice-cream after a break-up, or spending their lives as ‘cold hard bitches, who get shit done’ only to be later ‘saved’ by the love of a good man and this should be reflected in the cinema. Without strong female role models we risk teaching generation after generation that women are not leading roles, their support acts.

Saturday Night at the Movies?

HER

Elaine Malone looks at Spike Jonze’s tale of love in an age of artificial intelligence Set in the near future in a Los Angeles that has evolved into a high-rise technological utopia, Her is a compelling and melancholy love story for the modern age. There is no whimsy or eyes meeting across or crowded room. Imagine loving an intangible person - never touching or seeing them. Her is a meditation on the realities of social connections forged by the internet without any physical basis. We live in a time where relationships can be formed without ever meeting each other. Spike Jonze’s future (interestingly filmed in contemporary Shanghai) is clean cut and is imbued with efficiency.

Theodore Twombly is a letter writer, the hope of the inarticulate. A new technology has been developed, like an updated Siri, artificially intelligent operating systems or OS. They read your emails for you and give you reminders, but they also think for themselves. Her has the potential to be a sci-fi tale of warning, but It’s one the best things I’ve seen in a long time. Although this year’s awards season has had an onslaught of strong films, cinema hasn’t been this exciting in

Dallas Buyers Club Úna Hennessey delves into the dark world of the underground HIV drugs ring of the 80s

Dallas Buyers Club is the true story of a bigoted, whiskey swilling redneck and his growth as a human being after he learns he has ‘full blown’ AIDS and is forced to come to terms with his own mortality. Set in mid-80s America at the height of the AIDS crisis, Ron Woodruff, played by an intense and emaciated-looking Matthew McConaughey discovers that he has been infected with the HIV virus and sets out to get anything he can to treat it. Deserted by his unforgiving friends, Woodruff is despairing but soon rallies his wits to fight, instead of giving in to his death sentence.

He soon discovers that the newest drug being tested in human trials is toxic, and sets out to seek alternative medicine. He starts a business selling membership to the eponymous club in exchange for more effective, unapproved medication, with the help of a transgender woman called Rayon.

Originally told by doctors he had 30 days to live, his methods improve his symptoms and add years to his life. Constantly thwarted by those who seek to destroy him, he ruthlessly fights on to gain the right to treat himself as he sees fit.

The main driving forces of the film are the performances of the two leading actors. McConaughey delivers a sterling enactment of the straighttalking, drug abusing Woodruff, and Jared Leto is fascinating as the wily, spirited Rayon. Jennifer

a decade. Jonze doesn’t miss a beat and has truly established himself as an auteur with this film.

Visually beautiful and stylistically retro-futuristic, with an electric soundtrack of Arcade Fire, Karen O and Aphex Twin, the film is astounding.

Her’s brilliance lies in its subtlety, and particularly in the performances of Scarlett Johannsen and Joaquin Phoenix. Phoenix is well out of his late brother’s shadow and is in incredible form. He plays Theodore with an understated grace in his emotional turmoil. Her would not be the same without the vocal talents of Scarlett Johansson, who replaced Samantha Morton in the final stages of filming. Usually, the actress relies on sexual presence on screen but in portraying this abstract character she is wonderfully delicate.

Spike Jonze has a small body of cinematic work shows the intensity of his vision. Bringing such an idea to life is wrought with difficulty but Jonze has surpassed his music video notoriety and is flourishing as a credible director There is a sense of cynicism in the film, on one level about the reliance of man on technology in false social networks, and the film also criticizes the nature of love itself.

While real relationships fall apart, artificial ones survive. The film looks at love and technology with sincerity and tenderness. Occasionally, self-indulgence takes precedence over necessity, as with the scene featuring a regenerated Alan Watts.

However, if you like romantic comedies that don’t make you want to kill yourself, then this is for you.

Her is set for release in Irish cinemas on February 14th.

_ Visually beautiful and stylistically retro-futuristic, with an electric soundtrack of Arcade Fire, Karen O and Aphex Twin, the film is astounding_ Garner is perhaps miscast as the concerned, gentle doctor who acts as a sort of love interest for the doomed Woodruff.

Her scenes are uncomfortable as her performance and suitability for the role is weak.

The film certainly highlights the devastation that AIDs wreaks on the bodies and lives of the its sufferers, and the relentlessness of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and the pharmaceutical giants who eventually provoke the change of law which makes the unapproved drugs illegal.

Woodruff embodies the films tagline: ‘Dare to live’, travelling to Israel and Japan to get the medicine he and his fellow sufferer’s need. This isn’t a sentimental story however, besides his own welfare, Ron only cares about money and sex, and the attempt to set up the film as an inspiring story with a carpe diem message somehow falls short.

There are some moments of brilliance, which unquestionably make the film worth watching. Ron threatens to give Rayon the sex change she’s always wanted by way of a bullet to the groin, and a superb short trick in a strip club. Woodruff is deserted by his unforgiving friends in a great bar scene, and Rayon flounces into Ron’s car working her flamboyant charm on the unsettled “homophobic hetero.”

The film has been nominated for various awards including the Best Picture and Best Actor nods to McConaughey and Leto, with the latter rumoured

_ McConaughey delivers a sterling enactment of the straight-talking, drug abusing Woodruff, and Jared Leto is fascinating as the wily, spirited Rayon._ to be a shoe-in for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar after his win at the Golden Globes. While a promising and entertaining film, Dallas Buyers Club seems unclear about what tone to bring to the table.

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Music Review Artist: Bombay

Artist: Warpaint

Bicycle Club Album:

Album: Warpaint

So Long,

Rating:

See You Tomorrow Rating: The 4th offering from Bombay Bicycle Club comes after an extensive wait, and there are no disappointments here. So Long, See You Tomorrow is a mix of enchanting rhythms, from eclectic sounds from every corner of the world. The album is a musical Grand Tour, with surprising similarities by unsuspecting influences from The Avalanches to Cocteau Twins, and to pick out ‘Home by Now’ to give certain RnB vibes.

The mellowing harmonies and a healthy selection of brass and strings infuse together like tea leaves, to make the finest cup of tea - THAT cup of tea you’ll remember. This album is the perfect cure the January blues, as it will get you itching for the summer, and seeing it performed at a festival under an idyllic blue sky. Special spots on the setlist should held for ‘Feel’ and ‘Whenever Wherever’ (it’s better than any Shakira cover could be), in case Jack Steadman is reading this, and needs help planning it. Anyway, go get this album, listen to it, fall in love with it.

Final Word: Let Bombay Bicycle Club take you on your own Grand Tour, even if it’s only to Mallow.

The second and self-titled album from Warpaint expands on their ethereal trend of indie California snake-hip feels and makes you want to both hold all of their hands and get groovy out on the flo’. Following up on the band’s 2010 album, The Fool, this album has been much anticipated since the teaser of the single track ‘Love is to Die’ was released last year on a Calvin Klein advert.

With shadowy guitar and bass, ‘Love is to Die’ is a perfect example of the hazy minimal approach taken by the group on this record. ‘Go In’ and ‘Biggy’ are equally as dreamy, floating through the speakers and leaving you bemused and bewildered at their nonchalant beauty. The more forthcoming and playful group vocals and chant-like phrases on ‘Disco//Very,’ give the album a bit more structure.

Not unlike the sound of the Cocteau Twins, the smooth, smokey peace of Warpaint leaves the listener in a daze that’s hard to shake off.

Final Word: If love is to die listening to these ladies, I say, no biggy.

_Imelda Hehir_

Artist: Nina Nesbitt

_Aisling Lydon_

Artist: Augustines

Album: PEROXIDE

Album: Augustines

Rating: Nina Nesbitt is a gem and she hasn’t lost her sparkle in her new album Peroxide. For those not familiar with her work, think of her as this generation’s K.T. Tunstall. Her music reflects the thoughts and experiences of this generation, the surefire hit ‘Selfies’ is an example of this, where Nina tells us in her own quirky way how selfies solve every girl’s problem. As the old saying goes: when in doubt, pout and peace out. This is a song certainly to help you laugh about yourself and one to listen out for.

Furthermore, the whole album is a success in storytelling. She’s like the Scottish Taylor Swift, evoking previous relationships through her songs such as ‘Tough Luck’ and ‘The Hardest Part.’ One thing is clear: the girl isn’t afraid to express her emotions and that in itself deserves some credit.

While Nina Nesbitt is comparable to other female artists, she stands her own ground, all the while guiding us through a wave of emotions.

Final Word: Fake hair but no fake emotions here. _Elaine Murphy_

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Rating: Augustines is the sophomore release from the New York trio formerly known as We Are Augustines. This is a much more uplifting offering than their debut , Rise Ye Sunken Ships, which charted the mental illness, incarceration, and suicide of singer and guitarist Billy McCarthy’s brother.

Chock full of rousing guitars, rolling drums, McCarthy’s gravelly vocals, and soaring choral refrains, this album has some of the finest examples of arena rock you’re likely to hear this year. Singles ‘Cruel City’ and ‘Nothing to Lose But your Head’ epitomise this, but there are softer moments within ‘Weary Eyes’ and the album opener ‘Intro (I Touch Imaginary Hands).’

In terms of style, there is plenty of similar stuff to Augustines around at the moment. But these guys balance American rock ‘n’ roll grittiness with a sense of sincerity about them that sets them apart from the seemingly endless amounts of folk rock bands dominating the music world. Co-produced by Peter Katis, famed for his collaboration with The National and Interpol, the record packs a pretty hefty sonic punch, but it doesn’t feel contrived.

Final Word: Paint by numbers indie music _Eimear Hurley _

Níos Mó Ceoil

Success Gartlandteed

Motley’s Current Affairs and Sport Editor Dylan White talks all things music with “ginger nutcase” Orla Gartland.

O

rla Gartland is a 19 year singer/songwriter from Dublin, known for her brilliantly original brand of quirky folk pop, bursting with personality and catchy melodies. In her early teens, Orla went to her “fair share of awkward sweaty teenage discos, with girls on one side of the room and boys on the other”. However, little did she know that she would be selling out gigs across the UK and Ireland a mere seven years from the time she first started off performing. “I started singing at age 12 and I started playing guitar then. I didn’t want to be playing just classical fingerpicking pieces on the guitar. I wanted to play what I heard on the radio.

I never went to singing lessons, so it became kind of a natural thing”.

With over 57k Facebook likes, 21k twitter followers and a staggering 10m plus views on her YouTube account, Orla feels “very grateful” to have such a fan base, considering she is yet to sign a record label.

She says it’s something she’ll look at in the future and is concentrating on just selling out shows and releasing music for now. “[It just shows] the power of the internet. I have a love/hate relationship with YouTube. It’s done so much for me and where would I be without it? In the other sense, I never wanted to be considered a YouTube artist because it can become a weird label and a bit of a novelty.

I just want to be a real musician”. Orla remains intent on keeping grounded and enjoys meeting “everyone after every show to say thank you personally”.

excitement for music. “Hozier Kodaline, Little Green Cars, Villagers and the Heathers [are class]. I went to see Villagers in Vicar Street before Christmas and they had an orchestra with them. It was so cool. These past few years for Irish music have been ace”.

Orla believes that TV shows such as ‘The Voice of Ireland’ and ‘The X Factor’ are suited to people with a powerful voice that are willing to sing other artists songs. “They want wow moments, high notes and what I’d consider the over sing [of music]. It’s not an after care process or a life changer. It’s a TV programme so I wouldn’t go for it myself but it’s good for some people”.

Orla also questions Louis Walsh’s influence on the music industry today, and feels people “just take the piss out of him”. She added: “Poor Louis. He’s not representing the Irish very well”.

Up and coming talented musicians with a rapidly rising profile tend to attract a great deal of media attention, but Orla feels she doesn’t fall into that category. “It all comes down to what kind of music you play. [Take Laura Marling for example]. She’s like a super folky, guitar woman that sells out huge shows with thousands of people. The fame and success element is there but there is something about the music that makes her not a tabloid person. She’s not on the front of a magazine. She went out with Marcus Mumford and it was never written about anywhere.

People just accepted it”.

Orla believes that “the more poppy your music is the more of that kind of tabloid gossip stuff that comes out”.

She noted: “My kind of music is quite poppy but there’s weirdness to it and I’d like to think that it’s going in the direction that no matter what happened I wouldn’t be in that position”.

One recording artist who has most certainly been making the headlines as of late is Miley Cyrus. Miley strikes Orla as “someone who isn’t dumb and knows exactly what she’s doing”. She explains: “Miley is part of a major worldwide deal and she has a lot of men in suits that are getting filthy rich from her shaking her booty. She knows that being very controversial is the way to create a talking point and it’s indirectly a way to make people come to your shows. It’s not necessarily a value I agree with but it has worked for her”.

Orla has no plans on following in Miley’s footsteps, and would say no to shortening her skirt and acting in a more seductive manner on stage. “You have to be straight with people from the beginning and set out rules. ‘Ok we can sign this but on my terms. I don’t want in three years to have to have to do Strictly Come Dancing and I’m a Celebrity’. It’s not like I’d ever be at that level but you have to be really clear about what you will and won’t do from the beginning. People respect you more if you’re on the same page”. Orla also says money wouldn’t talk as she’s used to being “super skint”. She added: “When I’m in London I’m living very much a student lifestyle, just scraping by. Luxuries like going on holidays and going to festivals you essentially get for nothing [being involved in music]. [This summer], I’ll go to a couple of festivals for the entire weekend and I’ll count them as my holidays”.

Orla feels the Irish music is currently witnessing a revival and is in a golden generation, and says we need more venues to facilitate peoples growing

Orla is moving to London very soon and has plans to go to LA in April. She is currently working on another EP, following the success of her first EP ’Roots’.

“You need to know who you are before someone comes along and tells you.

I have to figure that out. It takes time. [Take a band called London Grammar for example]. Their journey is similar to a lot of people’s journeys in that they locked themselves away for two years and worked on a sound, developed it every single day meticulously and then came out with it and it’s theirs. I feel I’m in that development but I’m doing it more publically because of the internet. But I’m certainly not a finished product”.

Orla is the oldest of three and admits that her “super supportive” Dad drives her around for all the Irish tour dates. She says the loud and interactive crowds at her recent gigs in Cork and Dublin are “tip top never going to forget kind of days”. Orla embarrassingly admits that she sometimes forgets the words of her own songs on stage and says she has a habit of eating Doritos cool original before she performs which dries up her voice. She once had a guy at a gig in Leeds ask her to sign his “manboob” and girls wanting her autograph on their backs. She would love to do a gig in UCC if the opportunity arose and encourages aspiring musicians to utilise websites like YouTube, but not to put all their eggs in one basket. “Focus on gigging.

[Set up a YouTube account] so people have a place to access your stuff. [But more importantly], taking every open mic, every small gig, all the dingy, horrible ones, and then you’ll progress”.

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Music _ One of the biggest deals though has to be the universally loved and appreciated Outkast, who have announced forty summer tour dates this year after a seven year hiatus_ As we make the summer our prime focus to get through the three hurricanes a week we seem to be undergoing weather wise at the moment, festivals and deluded thoughts of prancing as though we are a 3D representation of the topshop website set up. But as well as this what will come along with the summer is who will reform and hit the road for our delight, and well UCC exclusive, The Smiths have confirmed they will be also taking stage in Marley Park this summer like everyone else, including that oasis tribute band you didn’t know your mother was involved in.

Messing aside 2014 is going to be definitely one of the best summers for anyone to tick a band off their bucket list. The first up after a brief tour in the States last summer, European love is coming from cult heroes Neutral Milk Hotel for summer 2014. A lucky few will see Jeff Magnum and Co unleash the timeless, and heartbreakingly beautiful ‘In an Aeroplane Over The Sea’ in Vicar

COMEBACK KIDS Imelda Hehir looks at the big names that are going to make a splash a second time around in 2014

St in May, but it is Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival which has the band topping the bill where fans from every corner of our continent will be catching ‘The King of Carrot Flowers Pt One’ in an idealistic festival climate. I mention Primavera Sound with such focus, as it made big news with the announcing of their line up last week, and bring me to another reunion, announcing Slowdive, nineteen years after the release of Pygmalion. The 90s show glazer band have only one other show announced for London as of yet, it seems the Spanish are knocking it out of the ballpark ahead of other festivals, leaving us like eager Jack Russell’s for what will happen closer to home.

with excitement. The band at the moment will be playing the O2 wireless festival in London, but for us, the Irish it’s their announcement for ‘Bestival’ (September 4th to 7th) that has fuelled most interest, it’s too convenient not to be getting notions that perhaps one of the coveted forty dates could be for Electric Picnic.

One of the biggest deals though has to be the universally loved and appreciated Outkast, who have announced forty summer tour dates this year after a seven year hiatus. The news had every spotify account busting ‘Idlewild’

These, the reunions are just one flavour for the summer season before we get lineups for Body and Soul, Electric Picnic, and many more. If you’re not J1ing it this year, we’ve got you covered.

While we’re on tenterhooks for good old fashioned hip hop, Eire will be subject to a healthy delivery of Seattle rock with the Pixies making appearances in both the Marquee in Cork, and as guests to Arcade Fire at the end of June for anyone who had their Vicar St gig go over their heads.

Sir Henry’s Kieran Doyle takes a look at the rich history of Sir Henry’s

_ The appeal of an alternative to the grim realities of life afforded by the hypnotic combination of heavily perspiring strangers and dance music every Thursday and Saturday was not lost on Cork’s younger population_

Had a look at the Boole library’s exhibition space recently? Probably not, but you should. Currently there is an exhibition of artwork by Liam Ó Broin inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Inferno. The faces of a thousand dead souls contorted in eternal agony is some pretty freaky shit to be confronted with as you move towards the main stairwell, as well as being relatable to whatever internal angst your latest assignment is giving you. But who really cares about Dante? Even Italian language students will be more concerned about the more pressing issues of college; sex and booze.

Maybe it’s a misstep, then, that an exhibition which celebrates the cultural and social impact of one of Cork’s most influential night time venues, Sir Henry’s, will be shown between July and September, when most of us will be on our J1 holidays or holed up at home, cursing those who are.

Opening in 1978, Sir Henry’s functioned mostly as a rock’n’roll club, playing host to guitar-music deities such as Phil Lynott, Sonic Youth and Nirvana. But Sir Henry’s true legacy is that of leading dance music venue through the late 80s and 90s, when dance music was a much more important thing than it is now. The club had its inaugural Sweat night in 1988, in the middle of a period of economic depression and mass emigration. The appeal of an alternative to the grim realities of life afforded by the hypnotic combination of heavily perspiring strangers and dance music every Thursday and Saturday was not lost on Cork’s younger population and the night soon became a ‘religion’, according to Sean

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O’Neill in the Sir Henry’s documentary 120bpm.

Comparable to Manchester’s legendary Haçienda club, Sir Henry’s spent much of the 1990s as one of the most exciting venues in the world. Compilation tapes were released on a monthly basis to an eager public, which served to disseminate the Sweat way of life into the regular lives of the broader Cork community. One notable instance of Sir Henry’s permeating the broader culture of the city is the long-standing popularity of Romanthony’s Make This Love Right, colloquially known as The Ball and Chain, which caused a minor sensation when it gained popularity in the late 90s.

The club closed in 2003, having ‘run its course’

(Jim X Comet, 120bpm), but its influence still leaves a mark on the city, Sir Henry’s regulars Stevie G and Fish Go Deep still have an iron grip on the Cork music scene, regularly playing nights in the Pavilion. A modern day equivalent may have been the Bróg of a few years ago, before they turned it into Quasar, but even that comparison proves inadequate against the testimonials of 120bpm.

In July, the poor hell-bound characters of Dante’s Inferno will be replaced by images of the crushed, sweaty, MDMA-fuelled revellers at Cork’s most influential night spot. A like-for-like swap, some might say. But rest assured; the crowd at Sir Henry’s had a much better time than you ever will.

Níos Mó Ceoil

Cage the Elephant Imelda Hehir talks to Michael Schultz of Cage The Elephant ahead of their gig in the “pirate ship” that is the Olympia

F

orming in Bowling Green, Kentucky in the great old US of A back in 2007 from the ashes of Perfect Confusion, Cage the Elephant burst on to the music scene across the pond with the help of the New Musical Express, Zane Lowe’s Gonzo and a whole host of English DJs from the BBC to the beloved Xfm. The group have gone on to release three albums, tour with the likes of Muse and had guest drummers appear on stage with them in the form of Dave Grohl. Motley meets with Matthew Shultz, the front man of the group, after many ‘mishaps’ along the way, finally sees the group make their Irish debut 7 years into their career.

After joining me in a duet of ‘Last Christmas’, Schultz explains that the band often take for granted their European adventures after two years living in London, which they later labeled “the dark days of London” for the just simply crazy, and bonafide rock N’ Roll experience they were. The band has two new musicians who have never set foot in Europe.

The show the night before was a success, and Shultz describes the experience as a thrill to play somewhere new, and how he almost prefer in a weird way the shows where his group are exposing themselves to new crowds, unfamiliar with the group. The exhilaration of starting a set to innocent ears, and seeing the “first fruits of interest after the first or second song.” He’s a modest man, as the first three people queuing outside the venue as I entered were primarily for Cage the Elephant, and not the headliners Foals. Not to mention a young girl the day previous tweeting Phantom FM promising she’d get a Cage The Elephant tattoo on her arse if she could get into the wonka factory like ticket event.

Of course even you reading this are probably familiar with ‘Ain’t no Rest for the Wicked’, or may have been exposed to 2013 acclaimed Melaphobia which saw the band use various techniques to really come into their own sound. Shultz states whilst it’s impossible to cut out all other musical influences, the group wanted to avoid “direct influences”, the studio essentially would not be a cauldron of other peoples sounds, casting a “great Harrison tone”. The free spirited frontman also confirms that he “just

loves the melodies of all Christmas music” which can be noted in their song ‘Halo’. This shows the band are not shy to make the music they want, with no desires to stick to the norms of the industry, or what needs to be done to “cater to cool”. Shultz’s focus for his writing is that “music in its barest form is meant to communicate” and he and his group are happy to shy away from the preconceived rules of what should be communicate. Clear to state he doesn’t believe that the entire industry is part of a “heartless” domineer but doesn’t want to fall into the safety net and “to write a song to sound poetic or artistic” and fit in “with images that have already been deemed socially accepted”.

With those aims in his songwriting, Shultz also wants to have music which gives a sound which give immediate visual images, be it an “imaginary gaunt wizard” or a “lounge with go go girls”. It’s this theory, the groups duet with Kills front woman Alison Mosshart, ‘It’s Just Forever’, which instantly creates a “red blanket of light” over whatever the listener envisions. This in turn sees me and Matt twisting our hands as he describes the song is one of two lovers “grossly obsessed”, it’s his take the classic tale of being obsessed in an unrequited love, for example “I put a spell on you”. And a prime example of the theatrics in which there sound has grown, and what will be demonstrated tonight on stage.

The group take the stage shortly after eight that night, and if winning a crowd over is the thrill, these gentlemen have perfected the chase, with stage presence to make one think this was their headlining show and a setlist to obtain the attention of even the most hard to get audience member, they did what they came to do, and if Shlutz has his way with his booking agent they’ll return this summer to a festival near you. Melaphobia was recently released in the Irish market so if you can get hold of a copy, and then you can “come a little closer and you’ll see” just why besides Shlutz charms, and floral patterns as to why you need to give this band a chance. Who knows next time it could be you tweeting tattoo threats.

_After joining me in a duet of ‘Last Christmas’, Schultz explains that the band often take for granted their European adventures after two years living in London, which they later labeled ‘the Dark days of London _ 31

Coffee & TV

“A lot of actors are quiet people and it can be a bit full on but it’s great for me” On a recent trip to Ireland, Australian actor Dan Ewing takes some time out to ring in the New Year and chat with Motley’s Current Affairs and Sport Editor Dylan White.

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nightclub packed full of adoring females and some very envious boyfriends wondering what all the fuss is about. Home and Away bad boy, heartthrob, model, husband, soon-to-be father and maybe one day Irish resident (you can at least dream ladies), Dan Ewing, better known as Heath Braxton, was in town. A Heath wave had clearly taken over the country in the middle of winter.

Having managed to drag him out of a VIP area that included his wife Marni, and fellow cast members Nic Westaway (on-screen brother Kyle Braxton) and the stunning Rhiannon Fish (Home and Away’s April Scott), I managed to get a few minutes to chat with Dan on an emergency exit staircase. And then I was given the green eyed monster treatment by his Irish fans for taking the main attraction off set, for want of a better word.

Black jeans, skin tight shirt, and a whiskey and coke in hand; Dan’s ready, so let the recorder roll and the interview begin. So why did Dan decide to get involved in acting? “The reason why I got into acting was because my cousin did a TV commercial. I always did it in High School but I never thought of it as a career. He suggested I give it a go and I really enjoyed it”. Dan says it was a natural progress for there on in: “I managed to land a few commercials and a few speaking roles [and then I got the role] playing Heath Braxton on Home and Away”.

One storyline that certainly gripped viewers was the death of on-screen couple Heath and Bianca’s baby, Rocco, from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Dan says it was “really tough” playing that role and was intent on showing it respect and doing it justice. SIDS tears apart more than 3,000 Australian families every year. “When you’re playing someone who is sick or if you’re playing a character that has lost a child, that’s something you can’t mess with. Lisa [Gormley, who plays Bianca Scott] and I done a lot of research and spoke with parents to make sure we did a good job. All the feedback has been amazing and we’re very touched by the families who are writing in and making sure to let us know how much respect we did with the role. We really appreciate that”.

On the back of that tragic storyline, Dan became an ambassador for SIDS and Kids, a charity dedicated to saving the lives of babies and children during pregnancy, birth, infancy and childhood and supporting bereaved families.

In addition, the 20 To Go initiative is an appeal that is in great support of the SIDS and Kids foundation, and is the brainchild of his wife Marni. “Marni has a great public relations mind and events mind. She thought there was something more that we could do, so she instigated the 20 To Go campaign and helping out with the kids”.

_Home and Away is a massive show and one of the longest running shows in Australia. In Ireland it’s slightly bigger.

You guys are mad for it and we love you guys for it _ But this wasn’t Dan’s first time appearing in the hit soap opera. He initially starred in the series as Reuben Humphries during 2007, before returning in 2011 as part of a trio nicknamed the River Boys, a surfing group with dodgy reputations from the fictional coastal town Mangrove River. “I came back a second time because I guess there are only so many actors in Sydney. I’d been off it for a couple of years. When I played Reuben I hadn’t done any sort of formal training, drama school or anything like that. I went back to basics, got some training under my belt and its paid dividends so far”.

With such a large cast and a variety of storylines each and every week, the Summer Bay hit show has something for everyone. Dan says that there is always a good atmosphere on set and that everyone gets on “really good”.

He added: “The only one regret we all have is that we can’t hang out more often. In a show where there is so many casts, you never get to work with everyone in the storylines. Therefore, it’s really good to get to work with new characters and just hanging out at Christmas parties and birthdays when we all get to catch up”.

Many have suggested that the River Boys were inspired by the real life Bra Boys group, an Australian gang founded and based in Maroubra, an eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, which gained notoriety through violent clashes with members of the public and police dating back to the 1990s. “Alot of people make that connection, but there are a number of surf brotherhoods up and down the Australian coast. People connected the Bra Boys and the River Boys because the Bra Boys are quite well known”. Dan says the Bra Boys are “really good fellas” and have been “really accommodating” with the River Boys coming on the show.

Home and Away is viewed worldwide, but how is it perceived Down Under?

Dan notes: “Home and Away is a massive show and one of the longest running shows in Australia. In Ireland it’s slightly bigger. You guys are mad for it and we love you guys for it”.

The Home and Away favourite also notes that he had to do some research in order to prepare for the role as Heath Braxton, a character famed for his short fuse, hot temper and ‘bad-ass’ tattoos. “My voice is a bit different to Heath Braxton. As Australians say, he’s a little bit bogan. So I visited a couple of local towns where Heath would be from and represent as a character. I researched the guys down there and it’s been great fun [playing Heath],” Dan tells Motley, in his more refined Aussie accent.

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Dan says he really enjoys visiting Ireland, and credits Red Carpet Agency for giving him the opportunity to come and meet the huge Home and Away’s fan base over here. “They [Red Carpet Agency] contacted my manager. I don’t know how they do that; message a pigeon, twitter, Facebook, email or whatever happens these days”. However, Dan acknowledges that these sorts of appearances are not for everyone and says Steve Peacock (who plays on screen brother Darryl “Brax” Braxton) isn’t really into the nightclub scene.

“Alot of actors are quiet people and it can be a bit full on but it’s great for me”.

But how does Marni deal with fans throwing themselves at her husband?

The Home and Away star explains: “Marni is so great and has such a mind for this sort of thing. The fans are fantastic. Marni has a huge following on Instagram and twitter, and she does a lot of work with young women and

Coffee & TV helps them out with depression and things like that.

She’s very receptive and if you like the way she is you won’t get any sort of fan backlash. She’s so lovely to them so there’s no reason to give her any slack”.

While on promotional tour in Ireland, Dan and Marni found out they are expecting their first child, months after the couple were left heartbroken when Marni suffered from a miscarriage. The basketball and fitness fanatics have recently made the move Stateside, after Dan announced that he was leaving Summer Bay when his contract expired in March 2014. Dan has signed to talent management company, Silver Lining Entertainment, but says he “cannot confirm or deny any exact dates” with regards future projects. “I’m a very ambitious person and I really want to do American film and television. Home and Away has been a really great experience and we really appreciate all the Irish fans”.

Irish fans can expect to see Dan play out his final scenes as Heath Braxton in the coming months. Dan is said to love his new home in L.A. and even had a basketball hoop set up in his backyard. It’s only a matter of time before we see him slam dunking some leading roles on the big screen.

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Coffee & TV, History, I've seen so much, I'm goin' blind. And I'm brain-dead virtually...

HOUSE OF CARDS SEASON TWO REVIEW Hannah Flynn binge watches ‘House of Cards’ 2nd season on Netflix House of Cards is a compelling drama-thriller with a darkness which is addictive. Any followers of the show will know that the Netflix original series returned for a second season on February 14th. Given the quality of the first season, there was never much doubt that season two would keep up the high standard and it definitely does not disappoint.

Season two picks up with Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) after he has successfully manipulated his way into the Vice Presidency and follows him in his new position as he continues to scheme for more power and influence.

_ Their twisted powergames and subtle manipulation of those around them are as fascinating as they are disturbing_

Robin Wright once again puts in a brilliant performance as Underwood’s equally powerhungry wife, Claire. The relationship between Claire and Frank is a large part of what makes this show so enthralling to watch. Their twisted power-games and subtle manipulation of those around them are as fascinating as they are disturbing. This season keeps the viewer glued as Claire and Frank repeatedly tear down those who stand in their way, while they themselves appear untouchable.

Elaine Malone chats to Donal Gallagher about Kickback City, the latest tribute to his brother, Rory Rory Gallagher will forever be known as one of the greatest guitarists ever to exist. He died at the age of 47 due to complications from a liver transplant, leaving in his wake a fantastic legacy.

During his lifetime he released fourteen albums, was asked by the Rolling Stones to be their new guitarist and was dubbed the greatest living guitarist by Jimi Hendrix. Many tributes have been paid to Rory and his music from numerous festivals to statues, yet the newest venture of homage is that of collaboration of Scottish crime novelist Ian Rankin and Rory’s brother, Donal.

Kickback City is a double disc box set combining Gallagher’s music with crime-noir, featuring a novella penned by Rankin and graphic art by Timothy Truman. I spoke with Donal about growing up in Cork, Rory and how Kickback City came to be. Donal told me about Rory’s nature as a child. “He was the person I could trust all the time. By any standards he always had a certain level of wisdom and intelligence.” Cork, it seems, was a fertile ground for the blues. Crowley’s Music, which is sadly now defunct, was where Rory bought his trademark Stratocaster – a model originally intended for another local musician,

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Season two also introduces and develops a number of sub-plots which are promising for future seasons. The characters of Jacqueline Sharp, Underwood’s replacement as majority whip and his apparent apprentice of sorts shows she can be as ruthless as Frank. The mysterious computer hacker Gavin Orsay circles around the truth about Frank. It is unclear what role these characters will play in the grand scheme of the series but their roles are welcome additions and it will be interesting to see how they feature in Frank’s future.

Overall season two keeps you gripped and immediately catches your attention with a tense and shocking opening episode, from there you can’t help but to watch one episode after another.

Releasing all thirteen episodes at once Netflix gives you the perfect excuse to binge watch this series over a lazy weekend, and if you haven’t done so yet you’re missing out. Season two shows that House of Cards is one of the strongest shows currently out there and with plenty of loose ends to be tied up after the finale, it will be interesting to see where season three takes us.

Kate Mara briefly returns as the ambitious journalist Zoe Barnes, more determined than

Rory Gallgher: Kickback City

ever to expose Underwood’s crimes from season one, but Underwood seems to always be one step ahead. Underwood is a villain you love to see at work. You enjoy both his successes and his failures and exposures as the corrupt politician he is. He appears to always dodge justice, but season two creates the sense that this cannot last forever. There is a constant atmosphere of tension as both Claire and Frank masterfully deceive the public, but meanwhile their enemies are hovering around them and we get the sense that their house of cards must fall: it is only a question of when.

showband member Jim Connolly.

Rory’s musical interest flourished in the time spent between Cork and Derry which had been an American Naval base. “At a very early age – I’m talking six or seven – Rory was hooking into the radio up there, listening to jazz, which frightened me to be honest. In the jazz hour they used to broadcast blues, Chris Barber’s jazz band, their banjo player was a guy named Lonnie Donegan…he was a big influence because he was the guy that introduced Ireland, the U.K., Europe, whatever you want to call it, to Woody Guthrie, Ledbelly… He was really largely responsible for folk and blues. Chris Barber brought Muddy Waters to these shores. They would be key influences, my father himself was a very talented piano-accordion player, so the gene that was in the family went to Rory …His first love on the guitar goes back to the cowboy Roy Rogers from the comics. He was the singing cowboy” Rory’s legacy has grown into a cult following.

Kickback City is a beautifully imagined work that celebrates all aspects of the musician’s life. The advent of the collection came from Gallagher’s fascination with crime novels, which he always took with him on the road. After his death, Donal began reading them and stumbled across one of Rankin’s books that was laden with references to Rory. The collaboration combines rarer tracks with classics to accompany the noir-themed novella. The beauty of the box set is its interpretation of the music to form an eloquent and artistic story, without losing the vibrancy and depth of the music. The artwork is representative of the blues-infused world created by Gallagher’s innovative and powerful

turn of phrase and fiery licks. Donal remains very involved in the preservation of Rory’s legacy and he has done it great justice with this release. Rory will be remembered for his immense talent and inventiveness. An urban myth has it that, when asked what it felt like to be the greatest living guitarist, Jimi Hendrix replied, “I dunno man, go ask Rory Gallagher.” Even if it’s not true, it’s quite wonderful.

Kickback City is available on Sony Records

FEATURES

Tyler Oakley: Up-close and Personal Adam O’Reilly chats to Youtube star Tyler Oakley about his rise to fame

W

ith over three and a half million subscribers and growing daily, Michigan born Tyler Oakley is taking the world of online media by storm. From hosting live streams for the Oscars to sitting down with One Direction this self-proclaimed Fangirl has achieved so much in a short amount of time. We decided to give the quirky Vlogger a break from interviewing for once and let us ask the questions.

Oakley who first started making YouTube videos as a college freshman in 2007 tells Motley that initially “I started making videos on YouTube with no intent other than to keep up with my friends from high school…when I hit 75,000 subscribers, I realized I could fill my university’s entire football stadium.” It was at this point where Tyler claims he knew he was onto something.

As a die-hard fan of One Direction I just had to ask Tyler what it was like meeting the boys, on more than one occasion! Tyler attended two One Direction concerts in 2013 and tells us that he was overwhelmed when the whole stadium started chanting his name, and if that wasn’t enough he was personally invited by the group to take part in the official ‘1D Day’ where he hosted a live stream for the British heart-throbs. Of course I struggled to remain professional during the interview and desperately fought off the urge to ask him everything from what they were wearing

to what they smelled like. After composing myself the ever so humble YouTuber responded by saying “I feel so fortunate that with my career, I’ve had so many opportunities to meet so many people who I find talented and influential”.

Needless to say Tyler Oakley has become somewhat of an icon in the LGBT community with his work with the Trevor Project, an organisation where he acted as an intern several years previous. The Trevor Project is an American non-profit organization founded in 1998 and the leading national organization focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. Through a toll-free telephone number, it operates “The Trevor Lifeline”, a confidential service that offers trained counsellors. The project also provides guidance and vital resources to parents and educators in order to foster safe, accepting and inclusive environments for all youth, at home and at school. In 2013 Tyler co-hosted ‘TrevorLive’, a Gala fundraising for the Trevor Project, which live streamed all over the world and had the young star interviewing celebs such as Jane Lynch and the cast of Glee as they walked the red carpet. Tyler continued to thank his Irish fans for their continuous support and told Motley that one of his fondest memories was an impromptu trip to Dublin. The up-andcomer also congratulated the people of Ireland on reaching the point of voting for marriage equality in 2015.

“I feel so fortunate that with my career, I’ve had so many opportunities to meet so many people who I find talented and influential”

In 2013 Tyler had the chance to play Lady Gaga in the YouTube Rewind and also starred in the half-time commercial introducing Beyoncé to the stage at the Superbowl, so I had to ask, which album he preferred: ‘ARTPOP’ or self-entitled ‘Beyoncé’. I knew straight away this wouldn’t be an easy decision for him as on several occasions he has announced his undying love for both artists and replied, “Oh my GOSH that’s a hard question!” Unable to make up his mind Oakley responded saying “I love both albums, as both Beyoncé and Gaga are my queens”. The twenty four year old refused to tell us his favourite song as he claimed it was impossible!

Speaking to Motley the online personality stated, “When it comes to ARTPOP, I can’t pick just one song, so I’ll give you three of my favourites: Swine, MANiCURE, and Gypsy. As far as Beyoncé goes, I’m currently in love with Partition, Flawless, and Grown Woman. Both albums slay me, though.”

Like any young star in the in the spotlight controversy is never far behind. Earlier this year Tyler found himself in an online feud with One Direction’s Liam Payne after the singer tweeted his support to Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson after making homophobic statements in an interview. Tyler received a massive backlash from fans of the boy-band but told Motley that “[he] feels good and it’s always important to stand for what you believe in, despite the backlash it may cause. Even if it was a misinterpretation of his message, questioning it may have helped him come to clarify it”. A somewhat turbulent relationship still remains between the online personality and a large amount of the bands fan-base.

Before I could let Tyler go I just had to ask did he have any tips for our readers on becoming successful in the world of online media. Oakley shared some wisdom with Motley and told us, “Don’t give up. I’m in my 7th year as a YouTuber, and it’s only now that the ball is really rolling. Be yourself - even though you’re going to be influenced by whoever you watch, there’s a reason you (and many, many others) love them. If you try to emulate them, you’ll only end up being a second-rate them - and why would anyone subscribe to that if the first-rate version is available?” If Tyler did it so can you!

After spending the last seven years watching everything Tyler Oakley had to offer I feel blessed to be able to welcome him to the Motley family and with the continuous support of his fans Tyler has raised over quarter of a million dollars in aid of LGBT teens around the world. Be sure to check out www.youtube.com/user/tyleroakley to find out how you can help to make a difference.

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Stories of Hope Features & Opinion Editor Leah Driscoll talks to Gary Hanrahan who wrote the inspiring ebook ‘Stories of Hope’, created in association with Aware.

Running for the chance to be an escort in the Rose of Tralee in 2011, Gary Hanrahan was about to be inspired by two people- Michelle Ryan and Siobheal Nic Eochaidh who were in the competition itself. After seeing the two women share their personal experiences of depression, Gary himself decided to work with them and another friend Aimee Keane and continue the sharing of these experiences. The final result was the ebook Stories of Hope, which was released in early January.

Stories of Hope is a compilation of accounts of people’s own struggles with depression. Gary describes how they collected these stories: “We used Facebook and Twitter to look for the stories with them all been sent to our email account. Luckily through the help of online sites like Journal.ie, Joe.ie and Her.ie we got increased exposure and interest.”

Created with the support of the charity Aware, Stories of Hope clearly aims to have an inspiring influence “The aim of the ebook is to increase awareness of mental illness in Ireland, with the main aim showing those who do suffer from depression that there is light at the end of the tunnel. It might not be easy but they can overcome their depression.” Gary describes one story which he found particularly memorable, entitled ‘Nubbins’- an account by a mother whose life had been turned upside down after giving birth to a stillborn baby “The story tells how she has gotten through that difficult time with such a positive outlook on life now.

Reading this story makes you realise how precious life is and you should make the most of every day.”

“There is light at the end of the tunnel. It might not be easy but they can overcome their depression”

Mental health is an issue coming to the forefront of discussion recently, thanks to people like Conor Cusack sharing their own struggles, and Gary feels there is more to be done “I feel it’s something that needs to be discussed at secondary school level. Modern day Ireland is not an easy place for a teenager to grow up, we have seen this with an increase in cyber bullying, pressure how teenagers girls to look and dress a certain way, etc. Maybe if teenagers are educated on how this affects people it might go some way to changing people’s attitudes.”

In the few weeks Stories of Hope has been released, it has raised €600 for Aware through sales as well as having been well received by the public “We have received some lovely feedback from people who have related and learned from some of the stories in the ebook which is great to hear as this is what we wanted.” Gary and everyone else behind Stories of Hope are aiming for an increase in sales over coming weeks as word spreads. With that hope, Gary leaves us with a quote from the ‘Nubbins’ “My advice to all is simple: be kind to yourself, talk to those who love you and appreciate all that’s great in your life” Stories of Hope is available to download from the Amazon ebook store for just €5.

Erasmus Diaries

Half way through her Erasmus, Michelle Murphy talks us through her experiences so far As Dorothy said when she clicked her ruby slippers together “There’s no place like home”. This may be true but after hitting the six month milestone of living in France there’s plenty that I’ve learned while abroad as well as some things that I’ll truly miss when I wander back to Ireland.

When travelling, the cheapest route is not the shortest and it generally isn’t the most pleasant. Sometimes it is better to fork out that little bit extra for a direct route rather than wait on a cold platform for two hours in torrential rain. There’s no easy way to figure this one out but asking around with locals does make a difference and it can save a lot of hassle I was warned coming over that the nightlife is very different to back home; pubs and clubs are smaller with a lot less toilets and the dress code is also

very different. Most students put more effort into their daytime closets and many girls come to class with heels and giant handbags in suit. Guys are groomed to an inch of perfection and there isn’t a tracksuit in sight. After a few nights out on the town in became apparent that jeans are completely acceptable in a club on both genders but not wearing nice shoes is just unacceptable. The tradition among Irish girls of bringing flats out for the walk home at the end of the night is unheard of here and one confused French friend asked a group of us why we didn’t just wear “comfortable” heels. The notions!

I also have to mention the lack of Penneys. I can no longer blow my grocery budget on cheap and cheerful dresses nor can I buy affordable dry shampoo. While the January sales in French franchises like Pimkie have been extremely successful they can’t quite match the bargains found in a Penneys’ sale. Instead I am forced to follow the European lead of buying small amounts of good quality clothing for a higher price. The environment is probably thanking me but that won’t stop me blowing a hole in my bank account upon my return!

“The tradition among Irish girls of bringing flats out for the walk home at the end of the night is unheard of here and one confused French friend asked a group of us why we didn’t just wear “comfortable” heels.”

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You Know You’re a Student Nurse When...

2nd us

Year Intellectual Disability Nursing an insight into the glamorous life

student Ciara of a student

gives nurse.

PEOPLE SAY THAT BEING A NURSE IS A VOCATION, SOMETHING YOU WERE BORN TO BE AND DO. BUT I DON’T REMEMBER EVER BEING CALLED UP AND ASKED IF I WANTED TO WIPE BUMS AND HAVE BACK PAIN FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. IF I DID RECEIVE THIS ANONYMOUS PHONE CALL THEN I WAS MOST CERTAINLY DRUNK SAID TO SAY I AGREED TO IT. DESPITE THE SEXY SMELLS, ACHES FROM LACK OF SLEEP AND PATIENTS WHO ARE MOST DEFINITELY OUT TO GET YOU, BEING A STUDENT NURSE HAS CHANGED HOW I SEE PEOPLE AND MORE IMPORTANTLY THE WORLD. I AM MORE OPEN MINDED AND I LAUGH AS WELL AS CRY A LOT MORE OFTEN THAN I USED TO, BECAUSE EVERY DAY I WORK IN A WARD OR UNIT I SEE SOMETHING THAT SHOCKS OR AMAZES OR CHANGES ME. I HAVE LEARNED TO HAVE A THICK SKIN BECAUSE NOT EVERYONE YOU MEET WILL TIPTOE AROUND YOUR FEELINGS, BUT ALSO THAT SOMETIMES BEING A SOFT AND VULNERABLE MOTHER-FIGURE IS ALL YOU CAN DO FOR A PATIENT.

Every one of my nursing books makes an attempt to define nursing and my role as a student nurse – but none have really hit the nail on the head with regard to the social and personal side of nursing but here are some home truths.

You’ve said farewell to your social life and your friends no longer think you’re dead after two weeks of not seeing your face – they now know you’re on placement and the only way they’ll see you is if they show up on your ward with an illness.

Your shoes are your new best friends.

Nurses are on their feet every minute of every twelve hour shift and before long you become attached to the comfort of your hideous clogs. You shop in Skechers, Barratts or Crofts, and steer clear of Schuh or Footlocker because in all seriousness anything they have to offer is too fashionable and far to cool for you now.

You’ve wiped other people’s behinds more times than your own. Let’s think about that one for a second.

One of the first things you notice about a new guy friend is not “how sexy his hair looks pushed back” – it’s what beautiful, cannula-friendly veins he’s got.

You think it is acceptable to use the words “penis” and “vagina” in a normal, everyday conversation. Even with strangers and new people. Maybe even with your parents.

Your eyes glow green with jealousy when your friends talk about hour long lectures and going home from college at 3pm. Two hour lectures and 9-5 (sometimes 6) college days are classic nursing student woes.

You now own in the history enough to be uniform, then

the most unflattering ill-fitting pants of the universe. If you are unlucky in a hospital that has an all-white you are well acquainted with the

giant white monster herself – the Granny Panty.

You know the names of all the sweets in the Cadburys Milk Tray. Patients love giving gifts to say thank you, and it would be terribly rude of you to let them go to waste.

Besides, let’s face facts, you have no self-control.

One of the first things they tell you is that documentation and charting are of vital importance. ‘If it isn’t charted it didn’t happen’. So documentation and reflection are now your favourite pastimes. Actually they’re your only pastime, because don’t forget you have no life anymore.

Your friends give you weird looks when you laugh at Grey’s Anatomy. Ninety percent of the things doctors do on the show are things that nurses do in real life. And there is very rarely time to sit in patients’ rooms and chat like that.

Tea and coffee are your greatest allies. Not only will they keep you awake (as well as being your ‘lunch’ on many occasions), but sometimes all the patient, as well as their family and friends need, is a cup of tea. It helps to soothe almost all dramatic and traumatic situations.

Friends and family members call you for advice on medications and diagnosis, even though you’re only in second year. And you, glad to help (more like glad to feel cool as fuck), oblige by cracking out the stethoscope to listen for abnormal bowel or lung sounds. You also ask them to rate their pain on a scale of 1-10.

Your backpack weighs more than you; sometimes you even wish it was socially acceptable for someone your age to use a wheelie bag. Let alone the fact that three of your books together cost more than your laptop.

Last but not least, you know that KY Jelly (lube) is a great friend to all nurses, and not for any of the right reasons.

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Bia With Ciara: Potato Dishes

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here are fewer vegetables more versatile than the humble potato. The average Irish person eats over 143 kilograms of spuds every year, and it was the first vegetable to be grown in space! Cheap and packed with nutrients, potatoes are the perfect accompaniment to any meal. These delicious dishes use everyday ingredients make your money go further, and stops your apartment turning into the Hunger Games!

Potato Gratin France is one of the most famous culinary countries in the world, and gratin is a sure-fire way of impressing your friends with a simple ‘pommes de terre’. Light and luxurious, the gratin is celebrated comfort food after a hard day of skipping lectures!

INGREDIENTS **

1KG POTATOES – SLICED THINLY WITH THE SKINS LEFT ON FOR ADDED FIBRE!

**

400 ML. MILK

**

1 TSP. FRESHLY GRATED NUTMEG

**

1 TSP. DRIED THYME

**

1 TSP. SALT

**

1 TSP. PEPPER

**

1 EGG

**

5 CLOVES OF GARLIC – FINELY CHOPPED

**

50G BUTTER – CUT INTO SMALL

CUBES **

225G GRATED CHEESE – I CHOSE A MIX OF MOZZARELLA AND CHEDDAR BUT OTHER CHEESES LIKE GRUYÉRE WORKS TOO

**

A LITTLE BUTTER TO GREASE THE DISH

METHOD: 1.

PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 180OC

2.

SLICE THE POTATOES THINLY

3.

MEASURE OUT THE MILK IN A JUG AND ADD THE NUTMEG, THYME, SALT, PEPPER AND CHOPPED GARLIC

4.

ADD THE EGG TO THE JUG ALSO AND WHISK

5.

GREASE YOUR GRATIN DISH

LIGHTLY WITH BUTTER 6.

LAYERHALFOFTHESLICEDPOTATOES IN THE DISH, POUR OVER HALF THE MILK MIX AND SPRINKLE WITH HALF OF THE CHEESE

AROUND THE TOP – THESE WILL MELT AND GIVE A LOVELY GOLDEN BROWN COLOUR 9.

BAKE IN THE OVEN FOR1HOUR AND20 MINUTES

7.

MAKE ANOTHER LAYER WITH SECOND HALF OF THE POTATO, POUR OVER THE REMAINING MILK AND ADD THE LAST OF THE CHEESE

10.

COVER IN TINFOIL FOR THE FIRST HOUR, THEN REMOVE FOR THE REMAINING COOKING TIME TO ALLOW THE COLOUR TO DEVELOP

8.

DOT THE CUBES OF BUTTER

11.

VOILÀ

Mexican Cheesy Chips The perfect party food, these peppery portions of chips add a bit of spice to your evening! Put them on the table with a side of sour cream, salsa or guacamole (or all three!) and let things heat up as the drinks flow. They’re also great served with burgers, to make a meal of it.

INGREDIENTS **

FOR TWO PEOPLE

**

¼ TSP. CAYENNE CHILLI POWDER

**

1 PLUM TOMATO – CHOPPED

**

500G POTATOES

**

½ TSP. GROUND CUMIN

**

½ RED ONION – CHOPPED

**

½ TSP. GROUND GINGER

**

1 TSP. DRIED OREGANO

**

2 GARLIC GLOVES – FINELY CHOPPED

**

¼ TSP. CINNAMON

**

1 TSP. SALT

**

JALAPENOS

**

1 TSP. PAPRIKA

**

3 TBS. OLIVE OIL

**

CHEESE

METHOD: 1.

PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 180OC

2.

SLICE YOUR POTATOES INTO THICK CHIPS

3.

PLACE IN A FLAT LAYER ON A BAKING SHEET

4.

MAKE YOUR MEXICAN SPICE MIX BY COMBINING THE GINGER, CINNAMON, PAPRIKA, CAYENNE CHILLI POWDER, GROUND CUMIN, DRIED OREGANO AND SALT

5.

DRIZZLE THE OLIVE OIL OVER THE

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6.

7.

8.

POTATOES

9.

SPRINKLE ALL OF THE SPICE MIX OVER THEM ALSO AND TOSS UNTIL FULLY COATED

REMOVE THE CHIPS FROM THE OVEN AND SPREAD THE FRIED ONIONS ON TOP

10.

SPRINKLE WITH AS MUCH JALAPENO AND CHEESE AS YOUR LITTLE MEXICAN HEART DESIRES

PLACE THEM IN THE OVEN FOR 20 MINUTES

11. PLACE THEM BACK IN OVEN FOR 7-8 MEANWHILE, FRY THE ONIONS, MORE MINUTES UNTIL THE CHEESE TOMATO, AND GARLIC IN LITTLE IS MELTED OIL FOR 6-7 MINUTES, STIRRING 12. ÁNDELE, ENJOY! CONTINUOUSLY SO THE GARLIC DOESN’T BURN Let us know how you enjoyed your spuds

via @MotleyMagazine

The Rise of Burritos Sick of your usual take away? Louise Clancy takes a look at Cork’s latest food fad Over recent years students have discovered a wide range of foods to enjoy and to survive on including pizza, Chinese takeaways, chips from either KC’s or Lennox’s (depending on preferences), and the much-loved chicken rolls.

However, there is another student delicacy that has become more and more popular lately: the burrito.

To those who have no idea what it is, a burrito is a foil wrapped, hand crafted tortilla wrap filled with rice, beans, seasoned meat or vegetables, cheese, lettuce, salsa and guacamole. The burrito originated from Mexico in early 20th century but became hugely popular in the west coast of America in the 1960s. The folk history is that of a man named Juan Méndez who sold tacos in a street stand, using a donkey as a transport for himself and the food. To keep the food warm, Méndez wrapped it in large homemade flour tortillas underneath a small tablecloth. As the “food of the burrito” (i.e., “food of the little donkey”) grew in popularity, “burrito” became the name for these large wraps. In recent years, Mexican food has become steadily more mainstream in Europe, including Ireland.

Since there are more Mexican cuisine restaurants opening up here, there is a good choice of burrito bars/tapas restaurants to eat in Cork city. On Washington Street, there is El Banditos which is reasonably priced and offers a student discount of €6 for a burrito and a can of your choice (though you will need your student card

as proof). They also have the option of the burrito bowl (everything you expect in a burrito minus the tortilla wrap) and other smaller dishes if you wish for something less filling.

Café Mexicana on Careys Lane is the best known and longest running Mexican cuisine restaurant in Cork city. They have an extensive variety of Mexican food with a selection of European dishes (so it is not just burritos that are served). It is a suitable place for dates and for eating with friends and family, but the price range is slightly higher.

The newest burrito bar in the city is Burritos & Blues on Paul Street. This restaurant has become an expanding franchise as it is the fourth Burritos & Blues restaurant to open in Ireland and the first one outside Dublin. They too have a decent selection of burritos, tacos, side dishes and quesadillas (toasted tortilla with cheese and fillings). The unique selling point of Burritos & Blues is that you can choose what is put into your burrito as well as the size and how spicy you want your an absolute star for food advice which was great! I found that I was cooking at a lot more as through her recent home opposed to ordering a take-away or getting a something from a deli or café. I tried a huge amount of recipes and got to make some really healthy soups, stews, and fantastic desserts. I started following a page on Facebook called “What Fat Vegans Eat” where people post up their vegan recipes and mouth-watering photos of their yummy vegan meals. Cork is probably one of the best cities to maintain a vegan diet in the shops are well stocked, there are so many restaurants that serve delicious veggie and vegan foods and cater to every dietary requirement (I’m going to give a glowing mention to Iyer’s on Popes Quay here, an absolutely amazing veggie restaurant that serves up some delicious South Indian dishes at student friendly prices). My absolute favorite part of doing the diet was finding out the “accidentally vegan” foods these include Oreos, Koka Noodles (including the

My Vegan Diaries Abigail Daisy Woods takes us experience of Veganism At the end of January I set out to pursue a sixweek vegan diet for several reasons; firstly I had gotten a bit too fond of take-away and wanted to learn some new and healthy recipes, secondly I wanted to see if it would make any difference to my health, and finally I wanted to explore the

“There are lots of foods that I loved that were totally off limits: milk chocolate, Haribo jellies, garlic mayo, honey and seafood just to name a few” possibility of maintaining a vegan diet with a busy lifestyle. I’m also a sucker for new experiences, so I bit the bullet and went for it. While I only lasted four weeks on the diet I learned a lot about the pros and cons of a vegan diet.

Overall people were very supportive about it which was refreshing; my friend Heather; who has been vegan for more than a year now was

“Café Mexicana on Careys Lane is the best known and longest running Mexican cuisine restaurant in Cork city.” burrito to be. Burritos & Blues also have a lower price range so it is student friendly.

If you want a healthier, delicious and extremely filling meal that’s good value for money, head on down to a burrito bar in the city and experience the newest taste sensation for yourself!

chicken ones which I found rather unsettling), and beautiful, wonderful Lennox’s chips.

Maintaining a vegan diet can be difficult in terms of health, especially for ladies who need to keep an eye on their Iron levels and may become quite anemic if they don’t (this is why I didn’t last the full six weeks). You can purchase Iron supplements but you really aren’t getting the same Iron levels as you would be getting from red meat. A vegan diet requires a lot of commitment and home cooking, which may not suit everyone but I really have to admire people who are vegan full time and take the time to come up with new and exciting ways to make meals that are 100% free from animal products. There are lots of foods that I loved that were totally off limits: milk chocolate, Haribo jellies, garlic mayo, honey and seafood just to name a few and I know I wouldn’t be able to part ways with them for good. I’m going to mention the chicken koka noodles again in cons because it made me really uncomfortable.

Overall it was a really positive experience that I enjoyed, I experienced something new, learned some new recipes, lost 4 pounds, and discovered how fantastic avocados are!

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Out

of

India

Ruth Lawlor looks back on her recent trip to Chennai, India for the World Universities Debating Championship

T

here are some moments in your life that resonate, reverberate like sounds or invade like smells, still-frames or snapshots that stay with you. They capture the beauty and the absurdity all at once. I imagine that those moments are the ones that will endure, that will play themselves before me as I die, not as a reflection of my life but of life itself, that strange thing we cling to.

There were lots of moments in India; lots of wonderful, wonderful moments.

There was the first day when we arrived and I felt like I’d stepped back in time about thirty years. Ten paces into the new territory and it could have been another world. India is loud and hot and busy. It’s like Europe enhanced: bolder, brighter, bigger. The people are very welcoming and they laugh when you grin and say nundri for the dinner, and they laugh when you try to put those liquorice-tasting seeds in your milkshake because of course you’re supposed to lick them from the palm of your hand to settle your stomach after the spicy fore-course.

Then there was that trip to the lighthouse that was 10 rupees for everyone and 50 rupees when we came along. That day we went to the temple and children followed us around to wish a Happy New Year and have their photograph taken with the visitors. An old man with face-paint and a loin cloth told us about his life and a wizened religious devotee gave his blessing with a breath of smoking incense in return for a silver coin. Meanwhile our friendly tuk-tuk driver remained loyally besides, translating every now and then, refusing to accept payment for his kindness. We bought saris that day too and asked if we could try them on – the shop assistant said sure thing and looked at us expectantly. Of course we were bewildered so she did it for us; by that stage quite a crowd had gathered and we left both excited and bemused with purchases in hand.

We gate-crashed an Indian wedding, but the Muslim one down the road looked a lot more fun. And I went paragliding and emptied the contents of my stomach when I landed because the food is tough going after a while, and I never really liked rice that much anyway. In Delhi I thought I might have reached Land’s End, the end of the line, because the fog was so heavy and through it weaved the shadows of men and monkeys, the men in strange turbans and the monkeys on chains. And some of the monkeys wore make-up and clothes, and I was sort of thankful for the fog because I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what lay beyond.

I wish I could write you, India, but you are not a place made for words to fit you. As a country, India is so diverse: there is no national language, no unifying language – so how can words ever possibly complete it?

It is larger than vocabulary; it moves faster than etymology and encompasses all the things you could possibly ever want to say.

It is not beyond description but certainly evades it. Perhaps that is because India is more than a photograph or an essay – it is a life, an intimacy and understanding.

The food is like perfume; you can feel the flavours mingling on your tongue and smell the delicacy in your mouth. The streets are broken and rubbled in parts, and you try to step over the potholes in your flip flops and at first you avoid eye contact but then you look around and everyone is glancing curiously at you and talking to you and smiling at you, or laughing when you try to cross the road. Because there are no traffic lights, and why should there be?

Nothing slows the pace, nothing changes the direction – you have to pick your destination and run for it, and hope they swerve to avoid you. It’s only if you waver that you might get hit.

There were lots of wonderful moments in India. We were travelling by bus one

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“ I wish I could write you, India, but you are not a place made for words to fit you. As a country, India is so diverse: there is no national language, no unifying language – so how can words ever possibly complete it?” morning; I turned my face towards the breeze. The streets are always busy in Chennai, so many people. One billion people, or so they say, but it’s hard to really imagine it until you go there. Across three lanes of traffic, each filled with cars honking, not out of any sense of indignation but just sort of as an expression of “Hey, I’m here, look out for me”, there was a man lying on the pavement, wrapped in newspaper like swaddling clothes on the dirty street. Above him was a concrete wall, and the wall had a sign on it; there were lots of signs, side by side, red writing on white background. And this one said: The life you live will soon be past, but the things you do for love will last.

And that was the moment.

J1s Made Easy Former J1 student Leah Aftab gives her top tips for organizing the best three months of your life.

So you’ve booked it, you’re flying off to the land of the free, where bigger is better and where ‘half past nine’ becomes nine thirty. It’s a far cry from this small island, where ‘having the craic’ is seen as fun, and crossing the road before the green man is given. Yet, as soon as you arrive in this patriotic country, the differences become clear and you wish you had someone to give you tips and advice on how to live without your darling mammy! So to make your summer as easy as possible here some easy tips.

CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS WISELY Although this may be too late for some of you, it’s worth noting. After all, you’re due to spend up to three months with these people, and whilst you do get on with them after a few drinks or in lectures, ask yourself if you could get on with them sober, and for more than one hour? Consider the idea of having little to no privacy for three months with them, think of their habits, are they clean? Will they help out in the house? Are they likely to get in trouble with the cops and have you come bail them out? Remember, it’s not so much the place you go to, rather its people that will make or break your J1.

“15 people all sleeping on the floor is far from ideal once reality sets in, neither is your landlord evicting you from the property following a noise violation!” hours. And remember, America demands an added tip for any service provided; you may need to deal with the same company on another occasion so start on a good footing.

ACCOMMODATION Though it is possible to have accommodation sorted prior to getting settled, the vast majority of people rely on direct marketing lists and word of mouth. As such, you may not have secure accommodation for a number of days and while you may have thought of embracing the ‘life’s a beach’ mantra, you can’t actually stay there overnight. There are a huge amount of motels, hostels, and hotels which accept deposits on card for small to large groups. There may be varying standards of hygiene and comfort but with luck you’ll only be there for a short stop. In terms of finding accommodation, start your search as soon as possible, and decide how much you are willing to spend weekly on rent, without forgetting that with groceries to pay for, nights out, and possible day trips, you may in fact not have all the dollars.

“It’s not so much the place you go to, rather its people that will make or break your J1” ORGANISE TRANSPORT Once you’ve passed the dreaded airport security with your stash of Barry’s tea bags and Holy Water, the real trip begins. Organizing transport from the airport to your new home-away-from-home is essential. There are websites where you can make contact with reps and companies who offer affordable deals before you get to the country, but never give money until you make it safely to the country. Make sure to have copies of e-mails or any form of communication you make with businesses to ensure they don’t try to charge you extra than originally planned. Ensure that the bus has enough room for your group before going ahead with the company for everyone and has air-conditioning and breaks if you’re travelling for more than three

Also, be wary when signing contracts; you may be obliged to pay extra for rubbish removal or for wifi, or you may be required to leave the property at a certain time. Along with this, don’t take on too many people to live with to keep down costs on the sly; 15 people all sleeping on the floor is far from ideal once reality sets in, neither is your landlord evicting you from the property following a noise violation.

JOBS

So you’ve made it this far and are still surviving on the ‘J1 fund’, but with a pepper costing $4 and mammy and daddy being less than pleased over your considerable laziness, maybe you should find yourself a job, I mean how hard can it be? The difficulty of finding employment varies between states, with some having group interviews and ‘possible scenario’ tests.

Yet, the sought after jobs remain constant: with restaurant and bar work providing good wages with the benefits of tips. Managers want to see one paged resumes that outline your skills as a worker and past work experience. Some may ask for references, and though you could lie and use a family friend as your ‘employer 2011-2013’, make sure you’ve approached the alibi on their role just in case. Once you have successfully got a job, set aside some money each week for the possible traveling you may do at the end, or if you’re really intelligent, save some for when your return home.

Your J1 is the most amazing experience, with America being as crazy as you had imagined, full of #have a nice day’ people, with larger than life personalities and who will go above and beyond to be accommodating.

From high rise buildings and old country roads, the place has it all, just remember to enjoy yourself on this once in a lifetime experience.

41

Opinion

The

Heart

of

Sinn Féin local election candidate for Cork North East Stephen Cunningham talks about the importance of local councils The question of the importance of local councils is a simple one. Local councils up and down the island serve as the bedrock of Ireland’s system of government, and indeed, of our society.

Councils have two key roles – an operational role and a representative role, both of which are intrinsically bound together.

First, let us examine the representative aspect of councils. Local councils are fronted by a group of Councillors, most of whom are democratically elected by the people of their local areas, or constituencies. These Councillors are granted certain powers on behalf of their respective local authorities, which they use, more often than not, to represent the residents of their communities. This allows them to engage their constituents in dealing with local issues. It allows them to endow residents with an ability to express their local identity through engagement with the political process in order to improve and enhance their communities. These newly mobilised communities may in turn become involved in a process of change through the use of ‘people power’.

“

Local councils are vital to ensure that we do not have a wholly centralised government, who hand down orders to citizens as well as local organisations and businesses without understanding local issues, needs and concerns.

If we look at Cork City in recent times, for example, and the proposed closing of Scoil Mhuire Fatima in the North Monastery, parents and local Councillors were able to work in solidarity to lobby the Edmund Rice Schools Trust (ERST) to overturn their proposal to close the school. These plans were promptly overturned. There is no doubt that the work of Councillors, as well as the motion passed in Cork City Council calling for the school to remain open were instrumental in influencing the decision of ERST. When we look at the operational role of local councils, we see a process which is crucial to ensuring that representation is backed up with actions.

The Councillors have regular meetings where they vote on whether to fund local initiatives, have the power to vote on the yearly local authority budget and can grant an assigned amount of funds to community organisation and sports clubs. All of this is essential to ensuring meaningful, efficient, transparent and enforceable representation is given to people in regards to local issues.

Recent floods in Cork City lead to an outcry from councillors across Cork City to address the issue, which resulted in an allocation of over €50 million of government funds to address the issue; yet another incredibly vital success on behalf of Cork City Council. Without pressure from Councillors this may not have been the case if left to TDs and a centralised national government.

When we examine the importance of local councils from a more practical perspective, we soon stumble upon a number of issues that are of utmost importance for the maintenance of local councils.

42

Community

Local representation from councils allows people to become familiar with their local politicians; their ideals, ideologies and track record. This imparts citizens with knowledge of who their local representatives are and, if these Councillors decide to stand for a General or EU Election in the future, allows for these citizens to ‘vet’ these representatives based on their past actions and local Councillors.

Local councils are vital to ensure that we do not have a wholly centralised government, who hand down orders to citizens as well as local organisations and businesses without understanding local issues, needs and concerns.

Such a centralised government would struggle to cope and would provide inadequate governance through insufficient micromanagement. This centralised government would be incapable of dealing with local housing issues, granting planning permissions and so on across the island.

When we look at the future of local councils, there is cause for concerns.

Recent government actions have threatened an already weakened local government system. 2012’s local government reforms are shaking up the system of local government entirely. After May’s local and EU elections, all 80 town councils will be abolished, leaving us with just 31 city and county councils. This may threaten the very fabric of local government in its operational capacity and has been a cause for real concern across the island since the reforms were first proposed. Citizens in small, isolated towns and their surrounding communities will be lacking in the vital representation that they need.

Anecdotal evidence also shows a further stripping away of power from local councils in the form of the Local Property Tax. The so-called Local Property Tax was first proposed by the Government with the guarantee that the funds raised from this tax would be pumped back into local services. However, it has since transpired that the funds will be used by the Government to do as they wish. Regardless of your views on whether or not the Local Property Tax is right or wrong, it is virtually unheard of for a local tax to be used for national means, as opposed to for local initiatives and development.

As more and more power is taken out of the hands of local councils and put into the hands of the Government, the common people lose out more and more. Local councils are vital to ensure that people are represented sufficiently not just on a national level, but on a local and regional level too. Further deterioration of the power of local councils only diminishes ‘people power’ and further disenfranchises people from the political process and local issues. We, as a people, must take more interest in supporting and engaging with our local councils to ensure that they work with us and, infinitely more importantly, for us.

Local councils are at the heart of everything we do in our communities. Let us ensure that we strive to keep them open, accountable and strong.

Mirror,

Mirror

Emma McCarthy discusses how beauty isn’t in the eye of the beholder and shares her own experience with plastic surgery When I was seventeen, I got a breast implant. Not breast implants in the plural but just one. When I was eighteen, I got a breast reduction. On the other breast obviously, getting it on the one with the implant would have been more than a little superfluous. The reason I had to get these two surgeries, and I think you’re smart enough to know where I’m going with this, is because between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, I had a condition known as Breast Hyperplasia. In simpler terms, the cells in my breasts were distorted and that meant my right breast was a DD and my left breast was non-existent. It made my life, to be blunt, hell. People stared, I had to go to several doctors and specialists and when I turned the ripe old age of seventeen, I was wheeled into an O.R., and again when I was eighteen. It was incredibly painful, my emotions were all over the place, I still have visible scars at the age of twenty-three and it was beyond traumatic. Would I do it all again? Dear God, yes.

Just because I had a condition that most girls don’t have does not validate my experiences with plastic surgery any more than anyone else. There are constant jokes about the likes of Victoria Beckham, who chose to get a boob job, or Wayne Rooney and his hair transplant but when I interject with my own experiences, people say it’s different for me. Why? My issue with my body wasn’t life-threatening and I still get pains sometimes so the surgery didn’t fix that. The main reason I got those surgeries was because I wanted to look better than I did. In my case, I wanted to look normal but so does the girl with the crooked nose who thinks she doesn’t look normal or anyone who wants to get their ears pinned back because they don’t think it’s normal. We all have our own insecurities and our own issues and if you’re strong enough to live with yours then I commend you but some of us just can’t help but look in the mirror and be so severely unhappy. Why criticise a person for trying to make themselves more likeable to the most important person in their lives; themselves?

I know we now live in an age of Glee where common lessons are ‘Love yourself, no matter what!’ or ‘The things that make you different make you special!’ but there are huge problems with these self-affirming sayings.

Special can be a hugely ugly word, a simply lilt in the voice can make it the most negative of descriptions, not to mention ‘Love Yourself!’ is more of a vague command than anything and some people’s brain just don’t work that way. When I looked in the mirror, I couldn’t love myself and it was too taxing to try. I hated myself. I hated my stupid body and I hated God or genetics or whatever made me the way I was. Why sugar coat it?

I was a sad little girl who lived in her bedroom and dreamt that I wasn’t the person I always woke up still being.

The only way I could have loved myself was to not look in the mirror, something that is impossible for a teenage girl. I had doctors take photographs of just my lopsided funbags, or funbag I guess, and show it to a conference room of other doctors because it was such an interesting case.

I lay in a hospital bed the night before my first surgery, having never actually been in hospital before, with marker drawn all over my torso indicating where a doctor would be cutting into me in the morning. I didn’t do that for fun and I didn’t do it on a whim.

want that surgery for; they can’t always use a prosthetic to help themselves believe they don’t need to be insecure like I could. People who get liposuction get called lazy but it’s common knowledge that liposuction or gastric bands are mainly gotten by people who have tried to diet and exercise routes and come up empty-handed. And anyway, if someone wants to save their money and go to a plastic surgeon, what is it to you? Why do you care what someone else does?

“

Special can be a hugely ugly word, a simply lilt in the voice can make it the most negative of descriptions, not to mention ‘Love Yourself!’ is more of a vague command than anything and some people’s brain just don’t work that way.

There has always been a giant consensus of people criticising others, turning it into a vicious cycle of insecurity. If someone hates that they have a small chest and feel insecure so they get a boob job only to be subsequently ridiculed, it means their insecurity can never go away. First it was their body they hated but now it’s their weakness and the fact that they can’t seem to love themselves as easily as others do. Why not? Why can’t I just get over my stupid, stupid anxieties? The insecurity goes from physical to mental and nothing gets better. No one is helping with their faux caring routine which is really an excuse for them to get up on their soapbox. I don’t like soccer, I think the players are paid too much and it’s a boring game but I’m not going to judge anyone for shelling out over a hundred euros on a ticket. Why would I? It’s not my business what one does with their money and if they enjoy it, let them enjoy it. Same with fashion or music or several other things. If you judge someone on such superficial things, you earn the right to be judged on much deeper levels. If someone wants to make themselves happier and it takes a plastic surgeon to do it, what’s so bad about that? If they end.

That’s a huge problem with people who criticise plastic surgery; they think the person who gets it just isn’t trying hard enough to accept themselves.

But they are. We try very hard. We look in that mirror and we hate that we don’t like looking at ourselves. Who would like that? I had to buy a special bra with a pocket and a special gel boob (fake nipple and all) to put inside it just so people wouldn’t stare at me. I was so insecure; I slept with that gel boob every night and woke up one morning with a burst mammary. I couldn’t face taking it out before that though, I couldn’t face looking at myself without it. With it, I could pretend I was normal looking. The people with big noses or thin lips or whatever they

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DON’T VOTE Motley’s resident ray of sunshine Aódhán Ó’ HúláHóóp is back to give his opinion on SU elections Do you want to pad out your CV with an important sounding title?

Well, you’re in luck. It’s that time of the year again. The time when the pointless political landscape of colleges is forever changed, but not substantially. This is the time when the candidates for the student elections turn the journey through campus into an overly friendly warzone with crap lollipops and refreshers strewn all over the ground.

Garish posters with the smiley face of the candidate are plastered upon buildings and every step you’re asked, have you voted yet?

These supporters will diligently recite the main points of the manifesto that is presumably thrown away after Election Day. If you’re smart you’ll avoid campus altogether but if you’re a student that shouldn’t be too unfamiliar as you probably haven’t seen the Quad since September, which does not make you smart.

The people who run in the elections are largely interchangeable and look like nice shop assistants.

They range from the one with pushy parents to the seriously political one to the hot one. It’s usually unclear what the hot one is running for but they’re attractive so obviously they’re the front runner. Each campaign will have its own Facebook page, twitter, Tumblr, and tinder and you will be worn down by mutual friends until it consumes your news feed.

Ultimately none of this matters.

The candidates may preach and promise of hope and change but this proves to be too difficult so the status quo is maintained. Student government is a lot like a house of cards. An actual house made up of playing cards not the TV show starring Kevin Spacey. It’s mildly interesting for a bit but it is essentially as useful and cool as half of a wet sock.

The Irish government have begun to make a conscious effort towards getting young people interested in politics by offering it as a subject that won’t be picked for the Leaving Cert. Student representatives always cite the incident of the elderly getting back their medical cards to show how protesting can be successful. However, when you factor in that the elderly are the ones who do the voting in this country it’s not that surprising.

Last year much to the chagrin of the established order Russell Brand declared that young people shouldn’t bother voting because politicians don’t care about them.

A strategy that is the political equivalent of playing hard to get.

Now you have to understand that I’m not saying this is a bad thing.

Young people not taking part in the political process is a good thing. Think for a second. I bet there is least 10 of your Facebook friends that shouldn’t be allowed decide who wins X factor never mind who should be the leader of the nation should be.

CAMPUS UPDATE FINAL YEAR ARTS STUDENT TO LIBRARY FOR FIRST

GOES TIME

Kate Westfall, a final year arts student majoring in English from Bishopstown was said to be “shocked with the amount of books” inside the Boole Library. Kate admitted that she never really needed to go to and had she known what it was like in the UCC library before now she would have fared better in her previous summer exams.

Describing the last 2 years Kate stated that they were spent in her pyjamas watching Jeremy Kyle on TV3, drinking copious amounts of tea followed by a trip to Opera Lane for a “sconce”. Kate had always wondered what that big building was and just assumed it was “some boring daytime nightclub”.

Now however Kate feels more confident of becoming a teacher and passing on her values of hard work.

COMMERCE HOUSEMATE’S

STUDENT BLOWS RENT ON CHELTENHAM

John McGuiney, a Commerce student from Waterford lost over €2,000 of his and his housemates rent money on the first race of the 2014 Cheltenham horse racing festival. Sources indicate that the landlord of the college road house for reasons unknown had not collected rent for a few weeks and tensions were brewing amongst the housemates.

McGuiney, a hopeless gambler with online accounts with several major betting companies, defended his actions by claiming he had received a good tip. The tip allegedly came from a beer bellied balding man in the bookies who claimed that the 26/1 shot Sgt Reckless was a “certainty” in the Supreme Novices Hurdle. McGuiney has stated that even though the horse barely finished, it would have been “unreal” if it came off and has reportedly told his housemates that “it’ll be grand”.

“I CAN EASILY DO 2000 WORDS IN THE MORNING” STUDENT REGRETFULLY SAID LAST NIGHT “It was only supposed to be one quick drink but it escalated so fast”. At one point or another, every student has uttered these words and Carol Brennan was no different last Tuesday. The 19 year old Geography student was dragged to the New Bar by her friends despite her protestations that she had an assignment to finish. Carol admitted that one minute she was having bottle of Bulmers over a chicken curry and the next she was all dolled up and downing shots of tequila to the deafening sounds of electro-pop in some random night club.

“It was at 03:30 a.m. that it dawned on me that my assignment was due in less than 10 hours and I had 2,000 words to do. Unfortunately, my head was hovering over the toilet bowl while I was dry heaving”. Carol managed to get an extension on the assignment by killing off her already dead grandmother.

STUDENT SURPRISED HE GOT IN LAST NIGHT CONSIDERING THE STATE OF HIM At a little past 4 p.m. last Thursday, Engineering student Alan Moore announced his intention on Facebook to engage binge drinking in celebration of just about passing his an important exam. The 22 year old from Clonmel started by drinking cans of Tennants mixed with whiskey and playing Grand Theft Auto to the sounds of house music. “I was in the mood to just get absolutely mangled” Alan later confessed.

Tragedy struck at about 9:30 p.m. that evening when it became known that his housemate s were not joining him in this “session” and accused them of being “dry as f**k”. Distraught, he stumbled out of the house to meet up with college friends in town. “Still can’t believe they let me in the nightclub, I’m sure I was horizontal walking up to the bouncer”.

The bouncer has reportedly stated that even though the Tipperary student was barely conscious his money was not something they were about to turn down.

44

FASHION

Boyfriend Jeans

I

Blogger Margaret Urbanowicz readers how to style boyfriend

know the boyfriend jeans may remind you of tired mothers of two from the 80s, but then think again wasn’t Cher rocking her jeans as a mom of two in Mermaids? I’m going to show you three

shows jeans

ways I like to style my boyfriend jeans and hopefully convince you that they can be very versatile and super fashionable too.

The look is a sporty one; you might wear this for a walk or to a shopping trip. Jeans add a bit of sophistication to sporty jumper and runners making it a perfect sport luxe look.

Motley Icon: Cara Delevingne Donna McCarthy tells us fashion’s current it girl is a true icon Who else is more influential in her style than fashion’s front woman, Cara Delevingne.

Shaking up the fashion circuit since her arrival in 2011 when she featured in Burberry’s Spring/ Summer campaign. It soon became impossible to ignore this British Beauty and her trademark eyebrows. Since then Cara has been the face of H&M, Zara, Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana and Chanel to name a few. The twenty-one year old possesses a young and free attitude as well as bold courageous style. Her laid-back model attitude compliments the way she dresses perfectly however, she does pair most of her outfits with a crazy face adding to her appeal. Cara’s style is incredibly influential as she dresses in a way our generation can relate to. Unlike the designer clothes she models at New York, Milan and Paris fashion week Cara tends to tone down her style off the catwalk. Judging from her Instagram page Cara shows us how she is just as comfortable in yoga pants like a regular 21 year old. Opting for a cool high street style as oppose to the typical flashy designer model attire encourages fashion lovers to own their style. She proves a simple beanie can be just as chic and stylish as the new designer bag for the season.

I teamed my boyfriend jeans with an elegant blouse, white pointy heels and finished it off with a small quilted handbag.

I love the laid- back Californian vibe of this outfit. It is perfect for casual parties, date or coffee with the girls.

Here I paired the jeans with a woollen polo neck sweater, pair of black loafers and big cream tote bag. Comfort is the key in this outfit, you can easily wear this look to college or work. Big bag will fit everything you need and loose fitting of the sweater and jeans will keep you comfortable.

Cara shows us on numerous occasions that she doesn’t take herself too seriously in the world of fashion. When she is not gracing the pages of the elite Vogue her makeup matches her casual look by never being too overdone. Cara inspires us to realise we don’t need to present ourselves as 100% picture perfect all of the time. Less is more and can be just as fashionable as a ‘dress to impress look’.

A PIECE ON A WOMAN WHO YOU FEEL IS INFLUENTIAL WITH FASHION AND STYLE THROUGH WORK OR GENERAL ‘LOOK’

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Fashion Motley

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It is evident that Cara dresses how she wants to dress which enlightens us to the supermodel’s unique sense of style. This supermodel of the year 2012 represents what style is all about in general, discovering more ways to express your character through fashion. Cara will continue to influence people around the world with her amazing wild child, unpredictable, style. One can only wonder what she has in store for us in the rest of her career.

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FASHION Making It Up: It’s All About the Shape

Fashion & Beauty Editor Laurence Keating teaches you the not so secret art of contouring

This month here at Motley we’re taking you through the ever elusive act of contouring. Previous to about four years ago, this was not a common word outside of makeup counters, backstage at Fashion Week and Drag shows. However, with the advent of YouTube and the millions of tutorials uploaded daily and the stellar success of RuPaul’s Drag Race, everyone wants to know how to carve out killer cheekbones and add some definition to the face.

To begin with, the first choice is whether you prefer cream of powder formulations. Creams are fantastic for those with drier skins, those who prefer a more natural effect, or those who like to layer. Powders work on pretty much everyone save those with an extremely dry skin.

There are a multitude of products available at your local Pharmacy, and more still in department stores and online. What you’re looking for is a product in your preferred texture (cream or powder) that is two to three shades darker than your skin tone. The idea is to create and or define shadows on the face and to really add dimension that can be lost when one is wearing foundation. Two things to keep in mind when choosing products is are the products matte and is there any red in the colouring? You want a matte product with little to no red undertones as any shimmer or sparkle will completely negate the point of creating shadow and any red in the product can look muddy and dirty.

This is where using your regular bronzer to contour can really let you down as bronzers are designed to warm up the face and add a little colour whereas a great contouring product is more in the cool tones. A bronzer that works phenomenally well however is Benefit’s cult bronzing powder Hoola, (available from Boots, Debenhams and Brown Thomas) which is a deeper shade that works well on most skin tones depending on how much or little you apply.

Sleek Makeup, an incredible brand based in the UK offer several contouring kits which consist of either a contour and highlighter duo (€7.99) or a trio of the contour and highlight powders with a complementing blush shade (€12.99, both available at www.sleekmakeup.com) Finally we have Illamasqua, a brand almost synonymous with contouring as their visuals often feature face changing contouring work. Their cream pigment in Hollow (€20.88) is an utterly fantastic product (and kit essential for makeup artists) that works so well for light to medium skins as a natural looking contour. Illamasqua have just launched a Sculpting Powder Duo (€31.02) featuring a contour and highlighting powder that is fantastic and will last you absolutely ages. Illamasqua also create blushes that are perfect for contouring for almost every skin tone (as well as amazing foundations in a massive shade range) so I would highly recommend having a browse on their site www. illamasqua.com or through their store on www.asos.com.

Now for the how to! This step is done after foundation and if using a powder contour product, it is best to lightly powder the area with some translucent powder first to avoid any

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muddiness or streaking. Taking (my personal favourite brush for contouring) the Real Techniques Contour brush dip the pointed tip into your chosen powder or cream. Either dust the excess powder off by tapping the brush or remove the excess cream on the back of your hand. To find the hollows of your cheeks, feel your cheekbone with your finger and directly beneath that is where you want to apply the product. Apply the product in circular motions from the back of your cheekbone (just above the earlobe, if you get me) and blend upwards.

Don’t go any further than where your brows end, the idea is to create a natural shadow and its best if you can’t see it when looking directly into a mirror. The pointed tip of the brush picks up product and the surrounding hairs blend the product so it really is a brilliant little brush (available as part of the Base set with 3 other brushes from Boots). If you feel you’ve over applied, or that it looks a little like the dreaded Snickers On Your Face look, take your foundation brush and go over the edges of the contour to soften any harsh edges.

You can also take the remainder of the product on the Contour brush around the hairline and under the jawbone and chin (great for adding definition to this area) and that will help give a little more structure to the face.

If you feel it necessary or if you just feel like it, you can take a smaller fluffy brush like a MAC #224 or No. 7 eye blending brush and dip a small amount in the product, sweep it down the sides off the nose and just under the tip for a more defined nose, a favourite of Kim Kardashian and Drag Queens alike. Just be sure to blend!

g Duo Sculptin

ROYALS

Blazer: Miss Daisy Blue Tank: American Apparel Crown: Burger King

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Jacket: Miss Daisy Blue V- Neck: American Apparel Hat and Necklace: Topman

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Vest: River Island

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Vest and Tee: American Apparel

Models: Ken & Luke (www.youtube.com/goopery) Location: Origin Hair Salon 021 4270155 Photography, Grooming and Styling: Laurence Keating

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UCC’S OFFICIAL CLUBBING VENUE

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