The Print APRIL 2010
The Print Volume 1 Issue 6
The New Face of Education
•Pullout Poster •Murder of Crows •Recipes •Clubs and Socs
Cabinet Re-shuffle The Galway Cycle is finally here and much, much more...
The Print
Speakeasy CafĂŠ NUIMSU Bar Check out the Bar and Speakeasy for daily specials on the cheapest, most student friendly food on campus
The Print
T h e Pr i n t Contents
April 2010
Union Your Union
What we’re doing
Features Features
Useful stuff
Ents Ents
Editorial Letters to Editor President’s Report Students Get Political Student Services
p4 p5 p6 p7 p8
Canteen Correspondent Gaeilge 2.0 & Eye On The Life of Brian Galway Cycle Recipes Story General Whimsy
p9 p11 p12 p13 p14 p15 p19
Reviews
p20
Making the most of your time off
News News
NEWS USI OPINIONS
What’s happening
C&S Clubs/Socs
News from Clubs and Societies
Things to do around campus Editor in Chief: Eoin Byrne Design: Eoin Byrne, Editor: Eoin Byrne
Contributors: Erin Barclay, Andre Bolter, Dennis Bowes,Eoin Byrne, Joe Byrne, Susan Caldwell, Aisling
Clarke, Tara Clarke, Caoimhgin O’Caolain, Brian Dillon, James Joseph Emerald, Donal Fallon, Louise Feaheny,Martha Kearns, Roisin Kelly, Aengus Ó Maoláin, Cal McDonagh, Gemma McGrorry, Brian Murphy, Jack Napier, Stephen Staines, Bernard O’Rourke, Aidan Rowe, Gillian Tsoi, Lorcan Walsh.
The Print
To be honest, I’m a little unsure as to what my editorial should be about this issue. So many big events have taken place over the last few weeks from The Gathering to the Dail Re-shuffle, from Politics Week to Pride Week. March was a pretty busy month. April, though, will prove to be a little more relaxed as far as I’m concered, with the Easter break, the Beach Ball and the National Society Awards (BICS) who I’m still waiting to hear from to see if I get to judge again this year. I understand that it’s coming up to the eleventh hour as far as exams and studying is concerned so let me at this point wish you all the best of luck with any outstanding assignments that are due over the rest of the semester. As far as I’m concerned, though, my favourite night of the year is almost upon us, The Clubs and Socs Awards. The night we award the most active and imaginative groups on campus. By the time this issue gets released, the night will have just passed, but we will have a full round up of the winners on a local and (hopefully) national level for the next issue. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I realised recently that my New Year’s Resolution has fallen by the wayside. I suppose Lent would have been a great time to really up the ante as far as Eoin:2010 was concerned but it’s only just hit me that my master plan stopped mid-February so now I’m going to bring it back with a bang. Again, anyone who has any ideas of something new and/or cool I should try, drop me a line and if it’s within reason, I’ll give it a go. At the time of writing, I’m sitting in my office listening to the debautchery of one of my friends’ nights out as he plans a surprise fancy dress birthday party for his brother. Yes, it’s ludicrous but that’s just the kind of guy he is. I’m presently trying to figure out a way to convince his brother to fancy dress without letting him know that it’s even mildly party related. It’s actually harder than you think it is. Seeing as it’s Seachtain na Gaeilge on the week of release so we’ve had a few article submissions as gaeilge. So if you’re into Irish artists and can decipher our native language, you’re in for a treat on pages 20 and 21. Well, I guess I’ll leave you guys to perouse the rest of the penultimate issue of The Print for this year. I’ll catch you at the end of the month. Be safe Eoin
L e t t e r s to the E d i t o r Defence of Freedom of Speech Editor Upon reading the two responses to my article I have a couple of short points to clarify. I accept Mr. Kleijweg’s response that Geert Wilders is on trial for several statements, however his movie Fitna is the main reason and as such I concentrated on that. Mr. Kleijweg then corrects my point on making generalisations. Mr. Wilders constantly states that the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful people so I cannot understand how Mr. Kleijweg can then conclude that Mr. Wilders generalises all Muslims. Regarding the “headrag tax”, I don’t see why Mr. Kleijweg takes the terminology from a white separatist group, other than to drag Mr. Wilders down by association. We are discussing Geert Wilders so use his terminology, not a racist group’s, thank you. Mr. Moctar’s piece also prompts some correcting. He tries to claim Geert Wilders brands all Muslims as violent. Wilders has said time and time again he does not believe this and you all should type “Geert Wilders press conference October” into You Tube to find out what he himself thinks instead of believing this scare mongering that he is racist. Can Mr. Moctar show me in Canon Law where it calls for the torture in the Spanish inquisition or the Crusades? No he can not. Whereas I can show in sharia law where it calls for the stoning of adulterers, the inferior status of non-muslims and how it makes it near impossible to prove rape. Even if he could, it wouldn’t matter, not one nation on earth uses Canon Law for civilians (not even the Vatican !) whereas many Islamic nations use sharia law. Although there are extremists in all religions, non-state terrorism on a global scale is overwhelmingly Islamic. Mr. Moctar tries to claim Wilders has not made a productive purpose, I’m sorry but that is irrelevant. He can say what he wants once he does not call for anyone to be harmed in a physical way. There is no law to say that people must not be offended. Mr. Moctar claims I am “airing [my] views on Islam”. What I aired (apart from my estimate) was fact, not opinion. Regarding Mr. Moctar’s claim of “thinly veiled (excuse the pun!) racism” can he please remind me: What race are Muslims again? No fear mongering piece is complete without the obligatory “out-ofcontext” example and quote; and Mr. Moctar’s piece had both! His example that it would be wrong for me to call for Muslims to be removed from NUI Maynooth and equating it with the reason why Geert Wilders is now on trial is simply ridiculous. When has Wilders ever called for all Muslims to be deported? His quote is also out of context: “I call them colonists. Muslim colonists. They haven’t come to integrate, but to take over, to subjugate us”. Wilders here was referring to Muslims who refuse to accept Dutch society, and ironically they themselves claim that they are in the west to colonise us! On a final note, being tolerant does not mean you accept intolerance, tolerance would cease to exist if that was the case. I advise you all to look at that video I recommended to make your own minds up on what you think about Geert Wilders. Regards, Stephen Staines
The Print Sex doesn’t sell Dear Editor, I would like to express my disappointment at the SU’s promotion for ‘Jelly Wrestling’, involving posters of semi-naked women grappling with each other. It’s plain to see that the objectification of females for male gratification is not yet a thing of the past. Regards, Roisin Kelly
Pondering Protesters To whom it may concern, As I was par-ambling into college this sunny morning of 9th of March, I chose to walk in I via the South Campus, which is always lovely in the sunshine. as I approached the gates I was met by a small protest group made up of two men and a black Labrador cross. Having time to spare as I was unusually early I pause to ask them the intent of their protest. I feel I should highlight that the two fellows and their canine associate where nothing but respectful and decorous. There was no slogan yelling of aggressive sign waving merely two men a dog a poster and a clip board with a petition. Strangely enough one of these men, whilst we were discussing the aim of their protest and petition, raised a point which my thesis had been dancing around for some many months.
This was the issue of culpability. To paraphrase this mans words, “Surely if one is aware of an injustice and in a position to correct said injustice by raising what they know to an authority that can resolve the issue they should and if they do not their omission makes them an accomplice to the aforementioned injustice.” In a much shorter way, is an omission of certain truths equivocal to a lie in terms of social morality? Now in the case and point, with regard to the certain cases these men highlighted, I felt moved to sign their petition and wish them luck. However upon returning to my days studies I found i could not leave the notion of culpability and lying by omission behind. I began imagining, as I am want to do, a world where no one committed anything and it frightened me. Which is worse a world ruled by “don’t ask don’t tell/ if you can’t say something nice do not say it at all” or a no holds barred thought not unlike a real life twitter where we all reveal our inner most thoughts and opinions, what we knew and what we were thinking at all times pure and un-filtered? I understand that the latter is an irony on my part a this is exactly what I have done in writing to yourself. Sincerely, One who has over indulged in food for thought
NUI Maynooth announces details of research scholarship funding worth up to €1.5m. NUI Maynooth has announced details of over 30 scholarships for PhD students, with a total fund valued at just under €1.5m over 4 years. The John and Pat Hume Scholarships are awarded annually to high achieving students commencing their PhD from October 2010. Each scholarship provides a stipend of €5000, plus fees paid for four years of a PhD. In some cases, this is further supplemented by departments, who provide €3000 on top of the stipend in return for tuition duties. 34 scholarships are available in departments across all three faculties, with a deadline of 7th May 2010. The scholarship scheme is named after Nobel Prize winner, and Maynooth graduate, John Hume, and has been running since 2005. Since its inception, the scheme has funded over 120 research students. Application forms and Terms & Conditions are available from http://graduatestudies.nuim.ie.
STUDENT SERVICES
Your views could win you €100! Complete the Student Services online survey and you can enter a draw for one of four €100 vouchers from One4all (www.one4all.ie). Go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NUIMStudentServices for more details
The Print
PRESIDENT’S REPORT [ ]
Your Students’ Union
from
Brian Murphy
SU President Brian Murphy lets you know what he’s been up to and keeps you up to date with all you should know about student life.
President Brian Murphy Office Hours: 9.30-5.00 Monday-Friday 01-7086436 president@nuimsu.com
USI March
VP/Education and Welfare Liz Murray Office Hours: 9:30-5.00 Monday-Friday 01-7086808 vicepresident@nuimsu.com VP/Communications and Development Eoin Byrne Office Hours: 9.30-5.00 Monday-Friday 01-7086249
ECDL Although I brought this issue up in a previous president’s report, there are still a huge number of students who are obliged to complete their ECDL, as part of their course, by the end of term. If you are one of those people, I urge you to contact the computer centre immediately. If you do not complete this module you will not pass your year.
communications@nuimsu.com
Entertainment Officer Jeff Greene Office Hours: 12.00-2.00 Monday 01-7083946 ents@nuimsu.com
Space Usage
Finance Officer Brian Dillon Office Hours: 3.00-5.00 Monday 01-7083946 finance@nuimsu.com Cultural Affairs & Irish Language Officer Joe Byrne Office Hours: 10:00-12:00 Monday 01-7083946 culture@nuimsu.com Keep up to date with all that’s happening in your union nuimsu.com
bebo.com/nuimsu
facebook.com/nuimsu twitter.com/nuimsu
USI have informed us that they intend to hold a protest march to show student’s disgust in the cutting of the back to education allowance for mature students. This march will take place in Dublin in early April. Although there is no date set yet, I will let you know by all student email as soon as I know it. I will also send out all the details of the march itself.
I am currently looking into NUIM’s space usage, particularly our social space as I feel we are not utilising it to our best at the moment. The area I concentrating on most is the arts block but I also plan to come up with ideas for the new humanities building and the new Library plaza, when it is completed. I want this to be a group effort from students and if you have any ideas on how to make our social areas more student friendly, please let me know. I intend to compile all of our ideas in to a presentation which I will give to the senior University staff.
Seachtain na Gaeilge Seachtain na Gaeilge is taking place this week. Even if you don’t speak fluent Irish, I urge you to get involved. This year we have really cool wristbands and t-shirts so make sure to pick up them!
Beach Ball Our now annual Beach Ball will take place on April 29th and as always there will be plenty of sand, buckets and spades (and hopefully sun)! Tickets go on sale on April 19th.
Extra Curricular Awards Every year, the Students’ Union and University award extra curricular awards to acknowledge students who have excelled in extra curricular pastimes. The idea behind them is that the Maynooth experience is more than just books and grades but also getting involved. If you think you meet the criteria, make sure to pick up the nomination form from the SU and be thinking about you will get as references, as you will need two (one academic and one non academic). This award will be awarded alongside your degree and applies only to final year students.
USI Congress USI congress will be taking place this week in Ballinasloe and NUIMSU will be sending representatives. In effect, this is like their AGM. At this, USI will be electing their new officers and voting on policy change. There’s a short round up of what will be happening in the News section but we will make you aware of the decisions that were made in the next edition of The Print.
Keep up to date with Brian at www.twitter.com/ nuimsupresident
Students Get Political Blue-shirts, partitionists, reactionaries, people who knit their own weetabix and communists... oh my!
NUI Maynooth’s inaugural Politics Week took place from the 8th to the 11th of March and involved an eye-watering number of political groups on campus and no less than three members of the Oireachtas discussing an extraordinarily diverse range of issues, ranging from LGBT rights to whether Éamon Ó Cuív can spell his own name. The launch of the week was ‘political chess’ which, due to numbers, was renegotiated as ‘political draughts’ and played between the forces of an unlikely government (Fianna Fáil, the Greens, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin) and the opposition (Labour), with myself taking the role of opposition chief whip and Ógra Fianna Fáil’s Thomas Carroll as my opposite number. For the record, Sinn Féin won, and if anyone from FF disagrees there’s an ArmaLite and a ballot box to prove it. The debate was high-minded as the Greens’ Tara Clarke being ‘queened’ by Naoise Ó Cearúil provoked some juicy inferences as to whether Mary White had ever found herself in a similar pose with Seán Haughey, and countless renditions of the ever hilarious ‘F*ck you, Deputy Ó Maoláin.’ Sigh. That evening Gemma McGrory (Fianna Fáil), Oisín Nolan (Fine Gael) and I presented our parties’ policies on LGBT rights in a lively and amusing debate. Tuesday saw Labour Youth’s proud presentation of Party education spokesperson, former party leader and Minister for Finance Ruairí Quinn, TD at a disgustingly early hour in the morning. Deputy Quinn spoke for about half an hour and took questions on a dazzling array of topics, impressing the cross-party assembly with his grasp of Labour, opposition and government policy, as well as being forthright in his own assertions, even when they differed from the party line. Most memorable was his closing remark, when asked about his opinion of the aesthetic qualities of the North Campus: “It’s not unlike something just outside of a small town in Latvia or Poland just after the fall of the Berlin Wall.” Ouch. In the evening Senator Alex White (also Labour) chaired a vibrant discussion on the future of the Seanad and faced down stern questioning from many in attendance as
this issue is clearly one which divides even party colleagues. More inter-student discussion on a range of issues took place under the heading of the Mock Dáil, or M’áil to use it’s correct name, before Wednesday evening’s Help Haiti Gig which featured bands of all political stripes and none. Particularly impressive was the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Hassan Ould Moctar’s frighteningly accurate Jimi Hendrix tribute. After most of a week dominated by opposition politics, Ógra Fianna Fáil managed a considerable coup in convincing a member of the cabinet to come to Maynooth, in Éamon Ó Cuív, TD, Minister at Craggy Island (ahem, the Department of Rural, Community and Gaeltacht affairs), recently promoted to Minister for Social Protection. The Minister, although defensive under questioning and a shade condescending is due praise for braving a public meeting in NUIM, as every other Fianna Fáil minister seems to be terrified of the place, and his description of the weekly routine of a Minister was intriguing, while the content of his brief is... not. The less formal end of the event was more enjoyable as the ‘Donnybrook Culchie’ proved an engaging and friendly man in person. Politics Week, co-presented by just about every political party on campus was a greatly enjoyable week and I certainly hope the initiative shown by those behind it extends to a change of Government, sorry ... repeat ... next year.
The Print Clubs Officer Donal Spring Office Hours: 2.00-4.00 Tuesday 01-7086436 clubs@nuimsu.com Societies Officer Lydia Farrell Office Hours: 2:00-4:00 Tuesday 01-7083946 societies@nuimsu.com St. Pat’s Representative Sean Dench Office Hours: 1:00-3:00 Thursday 01-7083946 stpatsrep@nuimsu.com
First Year Representative Louise Feahany Office Hours: 11-1 Tuesday 01-7083946 firstyear@nuimsu.com
Post Grad Representative
Donnacha Gayer Office Hours: 1.00-3.00 Wednesday 01-7083946 postgrad@nuimsu.com
To make an appointment with any member of the Executive, get the cheapest photocopying on campus or to pick up your student travel card, call into Mary MacCourt in the Students’ Union front office
Aengus Ó Maoláin
We here in the Students’ Union wish you all a happy Easter and hope you enjoy your week off
The Print
News from Student Services Reconciliation Service in Preparation for Easter Monday 29 March at 7.30pm in St. Joseph’s Church, SPCM (enter via Trocaire Arch). Individual confession available. All Students and Staff Welcome!!
Holy Week Wed 31st Mar. 7.30pm Evening Prayer in St. Mary’s Oratory. 10pm Night Prayer Holy Thursday 7.30pm Eucharist of the Lord’s Supper in College Chapel Good Friday 3pm Celebration of the Lord’s Passion in College Chapel 7.30pm Way of the Cross in College Chapel. 9.30pm Prayer around the Cross in St. Mary’s Oratory Holy Sat. 5pm Evening Prayer in St. Mary’s Oratory. 10pm Easter Vigil in College Chapel Easter Sunday 7.50am Morning Prayer in St. Mary’s Oratory. 9.30am Celebration of the Eucharist in St. Mary’s Oratory.
Sunday Evening Mass 9pm Invitation to lecture: Challenging the sex education orthodoxy: What really reduces teenage pregnancy and sexual activity?” A Talk by Professor David Patton Venue: Davenport Hotel, Dublin 2 Thursday, 25th March, 8pm Admission free Chair: Sean O Fearghail TD /Professor Patton holds the chair of Industrial Economics at the Nottingham University Business School. His research on the determinants of teenage pregnancy has been discussed in the House of commons and House of Lords and has been the subject of considerable press, radio and TV coverage and has published a number of articles on the topic.
Workshop Relaxation and Stress Reduction: Managing College Life through Mindfulness Tuesday 30th March 12.30 – 2pm Meeting Room 3 - 4 Students Centre Facilitator: André Bolster – Student Counsellor. To Register for Workshoplease contact Kay 7083554.
Kildare Volunteer Centre Outreach Office. If you would like to find out more about volunteering opportunities our office is located in the Students’ Union. Open three days per week: 9a.m.-5.p.m. Closed for lunch. Contact: Doreen 01-7084712/086-8740709 doreen@volunteerkildare.ie or visit our website at www. volunteerkildare.ie
Quiet Room Take time out to drop into the Quiet Room in the Arts Building any time for peaceful reflection. When you enter the Arts Building from Hume, take a left and the Quiet Room is down at the end of the corridor.
Pioneers for You If interested drop into Chaplaincy office in Arts Building or ring Seán 086 165 1219
Daily Mass St. Mary’s
Daily Mass (Mon – Fri) at 12.05 in St. Mary’s Oratory during term-time.
The Student Services Building is located behind the John Hume Building and is home to many of the facilities for students on campus
The Print
Canteen Correspondent He’s opinionated, he knows better than you and you’re going to listen to him whether you like it or not: it can only be the Canteen Correspondent As the year starts drawing to a close I notice the usual plethora of posters advertisng “Balls’ or “Dinners” or “End Of Year Shows” and once again I’m reminded of how long I’ve been around this college. The Fish Bowl, as usual, is full and although I don’t have to share my table, I get the feeling that the room is a little too small for the expected capactity. “I can’t believe it’s the end of March already” I hear from a gaggle of students behind me. I’m not even going to bother looking around as their peers agree in unison. Year in and year out this conversation becomes as predictable as the return of the daffodils to the South Campus. It’s a rite of passage for almost everyone on campus: the students stress over the workload ahead of them, the lecturers and staff long for the three months in the near future when there are 7,000 less people clogging up the corridors or complaining about the lack of facilities they only use at this time of year and your dear old CC is pining for the days he could do his crossword in peace and quiet.
In the meantime, though, we have two more student-filled months on campus. Now, your intrepid reporter is merely a man who seeks tranquility in the wrong places. Today, the Fish Bowl seems to be one of the worst places to have set up base. The chatter behind me seems to be reaching a cresendo as one of the girls, or pre-pubescent boys, exclaims about a late anthropology assignment and proceded to bolt out of the room. Now androgyny seems to have hit campus in a big way so if CC sees a pair of skinny jeans or a ridiculous cowboy scarf, he turns away because the gender line has blurred so much here that it’s no longer worth my effort to look. Anyway, as this “individual” whirlwinds out of the building at breakneck speed while “their” compatriots laughed and returned to conversing about the banalities of their lives and their plans for inebriation that week. Gone, it would appear, are the days of hitting one of the town’s public houses, sneaking in a naggin and going home with the first
person who shows the mildest inclination of interest in you. Now the social norm is to get ready for a night on the town, have a load of people over to “pre-game” the pub and then end up not going out. They now seem to be choreographing how they plan on seducing young gentlemen at this event of theirs so I think it’s time I cut this article short. What a world we live in...
Want to let him know how you feel? Facebook.com/ canteencorrespondent
April 21st: ‘Look to your Future’ Day an information fair on:
* Career planning * Travelling abroad to work * Teaching English as a foreign language * How to make your CV outstanding workshop * Job searching workshops * Excelling at interviews workshops * Study skills and stress management workshop * Information for students with disabilities integrating into the workplace * Volunteering information from the kildare volunteer bureau
look out for posters as more information to be confirmed
The Print
Gaeltacht 2.0 The Gaeltachtaí are shrinking. Fewer and fewer native Irish speakers are living in the designated areas of the West of Ireland that have traditionally been the anchors of the Irish-speaking community. This is a cause of great concern for Irish conservationists and revivalists. However, in recent years things have begun to change. Not in the Gaeltachtaí, but, surprisingly, in the great urban centres of modern Ireland. It began with the Gaelscoileanna: these Irishspeaking schools have become the hub of many Gaelic sub-communities over the past decade or so, with 38,000 students now studying at primary and secondary level through Irish. These schools and other factors like the younger more dynamic image of the language presented in the media by TG4 and other outlets has laid the ground for a new social phenomenon that is increasingly being mentioned in the Irish language community: Gaeltacht 2.0. No longer tied to geographic restrictions - such as those of Gaeltacht areas - the future of the Irish language is in the ability of speakers to interact in a real way across the country without all living in the same area and the explosion of “Web 2.0” in the early 21st century has provided the necessary fertile ground for Irish to spread outside the schoolroom into people’s daily lives. Web 2.0 describes the second incarnation of the internet as a collection of user-created and user-shared content: YouTube, Wikipedia, social networking sites (like Facebook, Bebo and MySpace) and Twitter are all prime examples of the democratisation of the web that has been the decade-defining social revolution. The presence of the Irish language on the
web has subtly grown over the last few years to such a level that the term Gaeltacht 2.0 has been coined in recent months to describe this new style of Irish language community. Surprisingly, though, this prevalence can be almost invisible to those not taking part in the process. A range of useful websites such as focal.ie, a terminology database, and Gaelport.ie, a website that keeps a calandar of all Irish language activities across the world and relevant media reports, have made Irish-language concerns accessible to all online people. Popular websites such as Google and Facebook allow user to operate in Irish and in the latter case, the translation project is still ongoing and actively encourages user-participation. On Facebook, in particular, this new “Gaeltacht” can readily be seen and anyone can potentially be part of it. A wide variety of groups are set up relating to Irish-language events or concerns. National organisations like Conradh na Gaeilge, Rith 2010, Seachtain na Gaeilge and Raidió Rí-Rá maintain an active online presence and interact with fans, friends and members frequently and moreover one can develop a network of contacts, all of whom are passionate about or use the Irish language frequently in their online lives. This interconnection and overlapping of groups can only occur in an environment as dynamic as the web and has given the language a new lease of life among our net-rooted generation. “Gaeltacht ár linne, Gaeltacht ar líne/The Gaeltacht of our time is the Gaeltacht Online”
Joe Byrne, Oifigeach Gnóthaí Cultúrtha agus na Gaeilge.
The Little Way Cancer Support Centre, Clane
NUIMSU’s Charity 2009-10 10
An Eye
For many students being a member of any political party on campus, but most of all being a member of Ógra Fianna Fáil, is a thought that is about as appealing as having ones eyes gouged out. Ógra Fianna Fáil sends out the image of a group of people who support each and every governmental decision and does little to reflect upon the vitality of the organisation itself. Contrary to popular belief, Ógra provides a channel for lobbying and has the power to influence change. Here in Maynooth, the Seán Lemass Cumann does a lot more than sit around a room discussing what was talked about in the Irish Times and in the Dáil Chamber on any given day. The cumann meet every Tuesday night from 6pm in meeting rooms 3&4 in the Students’ Union Centre. We are focused on providing a strong and decisive voice on student issues and also seek to promote them to the national body of Ógra in order to directly influence change. Leaving the serious political things to the way side, we are viewed on a national level to be the party cumann and boast a very active social life. This is something I discovered really quickly when I first joined in 2007. We trace our roots here back to Mary Hanafin, who founded the cumann in the 70s. For many years now, the cumann has been in decline on campus. This year, however we were determined to come back with a bang! We generally try to focus on the lighter side of things and a few of us can usually be found in and around the bar. We try to make
In our last issue we’ll be focusing
of on
The Print
On...
The Life of Brian
Each issue we’ll be casting an eye on a specific club or society on campus. This issue we’ll be covering Ógra Fianna Fáil
politics a bit of a laugh and try to get people interested. On a national level, Ógra is the largest youth wing of any political party in the country and have branches pretty much nationwide including in the north. The organisation itself is focused on influencing change through policy and campaigns at a national level and through giving something back to the community at a local level. Ógra, unlike many other youth political parties actually have the power to change and not just talk about doing it. As regards what we’ve done events-wise this year, we had visits for ministers Mary Hanafin and Éamon Ó’Cuiv. We attended three national weekends and we were the idea behind Politics week. We also did some boring things like formulate policy which was included in national policy, visited the Dáil and Stormont, campaigned for the Lisbon Treaty and debated with FEE and protested on a few governmental issues to name but a few instances. We in the Seán Lemass Cumann are committed to providing Maynooth students with a voice and helping them influence change and having a laugh along the way. If you feel you want to be a part of the action, then drop into our meetings on Tuesdays at 6 in meeting rooms 3&4 (above the juicee Luicee) and we promise we won’t bite! Failing that you can email us on fiannafail@nuimsu.com and we’re always open to suggestions so drop us a line!
by Gemma McGrorry
The the
Print NUIM
for this Fencing
year, Club
The train carriage rolls slowly and deliberately into Connolly Station, its wheels dripping with the excess of having made its first voyage in over a year. I step out of the driver’s carriage, shield my face from the dazzling sunlight and then…… realise it is actually quite dark. They said I was mad going into the city on my own. “No one has come out of there alive for months now!” They screamed and they pleaded. They begged relentlessly but I knew what had to be done. I knew that she was still alive. You may be wondering what is happening. You may be reading this and thinking “What daring adventure has our intrepid hero got himself into now?” Or you may be thinking “What a fucking gimp?” Either way it doesn’t change the fact that I have received certain information. As a great man once said “Some new shit has come to light”. I happen to know that in the months ahead our beloved capital city, The Dublin, will become a festering pile of horrific. The full effects of the swine flu vaccine will come to light very soon as the people of Dublin are mutated into insidious, flesh-eating, zombie pigs. Luckily, the anti-vaccine will be distributed among the rest of the country but due to the dense population of the capital the whole city will be cordoned off. Ground Zero. Nobody goes in and nobody (or nothing) gets out. Back to the present day. As I creep through the deserted streets I pass the ruins of what was once Busáras. The level of its ruination gives me goosebumps. Ever since the city was closed off wild reports have been circulating throughout the country regarding the characteristics of the monsters. “Ten foot tall, with teeth like surfboards and a propeller on the back” was the outlandish claim made by one somewhat inbred Cork hurling fan who had missed the news for
the last four months and visited Dublin for the All-Ireland. When interviewed on CNN he stated that he had “barely escaped with my langer in one piece, boy.” Suddenly, I hear a slight rustling coming from a sidestreet, like the sound of a badger eating Buffalo Hunky Dorys. Then, I see it. “What is this?” I cry with a mixed feeling of anger, disappointment, fear and joy. “You’re just a man in a pig mask!” “Shh, be quiet” the monster/ man in pig mask replies, “We don’t want anyone to know.” “What are you doin’ here anyway” he asks, with some agitation in his voice. “I just came to get my uncle’s cat. He left her in his house in Phibsborough when he escaped” I replied with some equanimity. “Your uncle must be from the country.” he replied and this I pondered. “Ok, go get her.” “But please don’t tell anyone about this alright?” the pig man asked of me. I told him I could keep a secret but I had to ask him one question: “Why this elaborate hoax?” “Well,” said the pig man “us true blue Dubs just got sick of all the culchies comin’ here for Christmas shoppin’ ya know?” “So we pretended we all became zombie pigs.” “Fair enough.” I replied. I hope my tale has amused you but it comes with a valuable lesson. Good people of Dublin, don’t hate your country compatriots. I know we’re not as cultured or as welldressed as you. I know we haven’t got fancy cars and microwaveable soup but you have got to give us a chance. All I ask is for peace to reign supreme in Ireland, so that the culchies and the townies can live together in perfect harmony. Is that too much to ask?
Tune in again next month to find out what random nonsense Brian will pour onto this page
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The Print
Over 120 cyclists and another 100 collectors and support crew are in final preparation for the marathon charity cycle that will see them cycle from Maynooth to Galway and back over the last weekend in March. This is the 23rd year of the Galway cycle and they have gone from strength to strength each year. During the past five years alone, over €340,000 has been raised for a number of worthy charities including The Irish Kidney Association (2005), The Laura Lynn Children’s Hospice Fund (2006), Stepping Stones ABA School (2007), Headstrong (2008), and The Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland (2009). This year, the cyclists are hoping to raise vital funds for the Galway-based National Breast Cancer Research Institute. “When we decided last October to do our cycle for the NBCRI, we were very excited by the important ground breaking work they were doing,” Ciarán Pollard of the organisers Maynooth Students for Charity explained. “And then in December they announced that they had developed a blood test
A brief history of one of Maynooth’s calendar highlights and the charity they’re working for On the last weekend of every March, over 200 intrepid cyclists and collectors depart at 6am on the Friday morning from the National University of Ireland (NUIM) grounds with the aim of raising money for a different worthy cause every year. The event, which was started by a group of 10 student cyclists 23 years ago in 1987 has now grown into a yearly adventure for approximately 120 cyclists, 100 collectors, four buses, six vans, Gardaí, Civil Defence and a host of amazed and generous passers-by. Originally an organisation for Maynooth students only, the cyclist and collector ranks have grown in both size and variety, with a large number of alumni, friends, family, and relations now taking part.
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which is going to revolutionise how breast cancer is detected and treated. So now we’re even more excited and eager to help this great cause!” Ciarán said. The support from the students, alumni and friends of NUIM couldn’t be more evident. There has been a huge amount of support for all of the events that have been hosted so far. Record amounts have been raised at the annual table quiz, carol singing in Donadea forest park at Christmas, the annual soccer competition, the tag rugby blitz, the book sales, the band night and who could forget the epic tractor run in Donadea organized by former SU (and Galway Cycle) president Paul Mullally. The group, consisting of the maximum allowed numbers of 120 cyclists and another 100 collectors and support crew, will leave NUI Maynooth before daybreak on Friday morning, March 26, and arrive into Eyre Square around 5pm that evening.
“We’ve been doing this for 23 years in a row, and every year when we go to Galway we try to create a fun atmosphere in the city centre. Between collectors, buskers and jugglers, we generally make a nuisance of ourselves!” Ciarán said, but added “and every year the people of Galway astonish and humble us with their generosity for the good causes we have collected for. “Without fail, they give us a little more every year, and we believe this year will be no different.” The following morning, Sunday, March 28, the cyclists climb back on their bicycles in Eyre Square and head back to Maynooth, a total trip of 250 miles or 400 kms. “Over the years we’ve always had a great welcome in Galway and we certainly enjoy ourselves while, at the same time, raising hundreds of thousands for very important causes,” Ciarán noted.
The following morning they will take to the streets in their distinctive hoodies to collect money for the charity.
The National Breast Cancer Research Institute (NBCRI) is a voluntary based charity located at the Clinical Science Institute, University College Hospital, Galway. Launched in 1991, the key objective of the National Breast Cancer Research Institute is to conduct relevant, ethical research into the biology of breast cancer, to determine the cause of this disease and improve the treatment for patients. The National Breast Cancer Research Institute also works to raise awareness of breast cancer and fundraise to provide improved breast cancer services for women throughout Ireland. Up to 2,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in Ireland each year. As yet, breast cancer cannot be prevented. Its incidence can only be reduced by early detection. The cause and mechanism of action
For more information see www.galwaycycle.ie
of
breast
cancer
remain
unknown.
Treatments are available for breast cancer but ongoing research is essential to ensure the optimal treatment for all patients, to reduce their side effects, improve their quality of life and, primarily, increase their chance of survival. The research team at the The National Breast Cancer Research Institute are currently investigating the presence of biological markers involved in the detection, development and spread of breast cancer. The NBCRI funds postdoctoral scientists and postgraduate researchers and provides financial support for the running of the research laboratory. For more details, contact Conor McHugh on 087-8235822 or Lorcan Walsh on 086-1765577
Hungry?
The Print
For decorative nonsense, go buy a Delia Smith book. For recpies that are useful to the students who pay for this magazine, look no further for meals that are cheap, fast, healthy and sexy. Veggie: Students make up the highest percentage of vegetarians. Only fair.
Fast: These meals are simple and made in no time.
Healthy: Grow a little with the following recipies. These meals are junk-free.
Recipe #1: A simple and delicious snack that’s filling and Baked Bacon & can be made between ad breaks or study breaks, depending on the time of year. Cheese Potato
Sexy: Hide your incompetence from your girlfriend that little bit longer with one of these.
You will need: One Jacket Potato
1. Using a knife cut two deep slits into the potatoe
Grated Cheese
2. Microwave for about 3-4 minutes depending on the size of the potato. Check after the first 3 minutes by sticking a knife in to see if it softens. If it’s not, microwave it for another minute and check again and so on.
2 pieces of bacon
3. Grill two slices of bacon and grate the cheese.
(For vegetarian option,
4. When the potatoe is done in the microwave pop it into the oven for 10-15 mins until skin starts going brown on the top.
peppers)
replace bacon with red
5. Once bacon is done, cut it up into rough strips and mix it with the grated cheese 6. Once Put the mixture into the potatoe’s slit pockets and microvave for one more minute until the cheese melts
Recipe #2:
You will need:
Pizza Bagel
Butter
Words by Jack Napier
A substitute for the traditional toasted sandwich or if you’re a tad on the poor side or the chipper is closed and you fancy a pizza
A Bagel Tomato Puree Cheese Your favourite pizza toppings
1. Cut your bagel in half and toast under a grill until light brown 2. Spread tomato puree on the bagel 3. Mix your toppings of choice together with grated cheese in a bowl and put on top of the bagel
4. Place under preheated grill for a couple minutes till cheese is melted and just starting to brown 5. Enjoy.
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The Print Stay tuned for how this story continues next issue in The Print
T he M u r d er o f C r o ws
by James Joseph Emerald
“The Murder of Crows” is a serialised story about a murder in the John Hume Building, with a new installment in every issue of The Print. The Print accepts no liability for anyone that mistakes it for a true story and calls the Gardai. Click. Nothing. The gun didn’t go off. Max had frozen in place. Rufus pulled the trigger again. The chamber turned, but the revolver didn’t fire. They both stared at it. What did it mean? Then Max realised: it was a singleaction revolver, where the hammer had to be cocked manually. Sam preferred them that way; said they had more finesse. Max just hoped Rufus didn’t figure that out.
back at his own head, trying one more time, in vain.
“Oh, I see,” Rufus said, cocking the hammer. He’d figured it out.
“As I said,” Rufus said, walking away, “nobody can help.”
“Wait,” Max pleaded, “maybe things look bad. Maybe you really have hit rock bottom. In that case, why not let me help?At least try to--”
Max turned to follow him, then jumped back in surprise. Someone else stood between the two men.
“I have tried. I’ve fought and struggled and nothing ever comes of it but misery. There is only one way out I haven’t tried.” “You’ve got plenty of chances to kill yourself, but only one chance at life. What do you have to lose by staying alive just a bit longer? Nobody is doomed. It can only get better. Maybe I can make that happen for you.” “Spare me the canned psychobabble. The forces at work here are far outside of any mortal man’s control. Nobody can help. I cannot be saved.” Max shook his head, and was about to say something, but as soon as he broke eye contact, Rufus pulled the trigger. Crack. The hammer struck one of the rounds in the chamber. Nothing happened. Just the sharp sound of metal on metal resounding around the chapel. Rufus tried again. Again, nothing. Then, an explosion of sound that was so loud Max felt his teeth rattle. He’d never heard a gunshot before. Rufus had fired at the ground. Then he aimed it
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“Even Death himself has forsaken me,” Rufus said, dropping the gun. Max scooped it up. The barrel was hot. “Youreallyarecursed,”Maxsaid,incredulous,examining the decidedly real gun.
“Sam? I thought you were dead!” “That’s stupid, Max,” Sam said, lighting a cigarette, which flicked up and down in her mouth as she talked. “You need to snap out of this.” “Wait,” Rufus said, coming back to stand next to Sam. “Max, you can see her? Talk to her?” Max was confused. “I’m confused.” “Damn right you are,” Sam said. “You’ve gone off the deep end. It’s a bit worrying, and I frankly don’t have time for crap like this.” “You’re a medium,” Rufus said. “That explains quite a bit.” “No,” Sam said. “Max, you’re sleep deprived, and stressed, and have been getting progressively less rational this whole time. Then, to top it off, you just saw
a young boy blow his brains out. Your mind cracked, the instant that kid pulled the trigger, creating some kind of delusional alternate reality or something. Get it?” Rufus shook his head. “She’s projecting her delusions on to you, Max. It happens a lot, when people die suddenly, in a strange way: they can’t accept it. So they remain here, trying to make sense of a senseless death. Sam is a ghost, as they say.” “Bullshit! I’m not dead, Max. People don’t just drop dead for no reason. I know it, you know it. What happened, is that you tricked a disturbed young boy into killing himself, and now you’re going mad with trauma and guilt. Doesn’t that make more sense than curses and psychic powers?” Max hesitated. Was it really just a nightmare? The idea comforted him for a moment, until he thought about it. If all this was a construct of his imagination, built by himself for his own protection, then the real world was probably even worse. Could he handle it? “Max,” Rufus said. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe you can help me. But I need you to focus on something else. You’re drawing Sam’s spirit with your thoughts. You need to let go of her.” “Max,” Sam said. “Don’t leave. Don’t let go. I, well, I don’t want to lose you. I mean, I was partnered with a civilian. If they suffer a nervous breakdown on my watch, that goes down on record, you know. The kid is dead, Max, you need to let go of him.” Max felt sick and tired. “I just... I don’t know what to believe any more.” http://www.facebook.com/people/ James-Joseph-Emerald/
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The Print
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The Print
S
n
“Sein 16
Seachtain na Gaeilge The Print
nn é arís, a Sham” 17
Seachtain a n Gaeilge The Print
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The Print
General Whimsy SUDOKU
The first correctly completed sudoku to be returned to the VP Comms office will win two free tickets to the 3rd Annual Beach Ball
Congratulations to Sarah Kennedy who returned the first correct crossword from our last edition. For those of you who spent your February pondering over the answers, you can find them below this issue’s crossword
Crossword solution issue 5. Across: briefly, beers, sneeze, cruise, miss, westlife, nailed, insane, descends, deli, awaits, hairdo, amend, parents. Down:bestman, ice, fizz, baritone, eliminate, swede, bee, shipshape, repeated, editors, add, drma, pair, run.
The Beach Ball Returns April 29th Tickets on sale April 19th FAO Students of the School of Business & Law For students taking MH402, MH404, MH405, MH406, and MH407, ECDL IS a required module. A required module means that it must be passed in order for you to progress to second year. It is therefore imperative for students on any of the above degree programmes to complete and pass ECDL this semester. Any student on one of the degrees mentioned above who does not complete ECDL cannot progress to second year. For students taking MH101 ECDL IS NOT a required module. If a student currently in first year MH101 transfers in second year to MH115, MH404, or MH406 they will be required to take ECDL during second year. For students year. It will
taking MH115 ECDL IS NOT a however be a required module
required module in first in MH115 second year. 19
The Print
Book: Skippy Dies by Paul Murray Ruprecht Van Doren and his roommate Daniel ‘Skippy’ Juster are probably the two biggest losers in Seabrook College for Boys, a high class Dublin boarding school. Ruprecht is an overweight genius whose hobbies include very difficult maths and the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence. Skippy is on the swimming team, but mostly likes to play Nintendo – that is, until he falls for Lori, the Frisbee-playing Siren from the girls’ school next door. Nobody thinks he has a chance, especially since his rival happens to be Carl, the sinister school drug-dealer. While his teachers battle over modernisation, and their own disastrous personal lives, Skippy, in the name of love, is rapidly heading towards a showdown in the form of a doughnuteating race that only one person will survive… Skippy Dies is the second novel from Irish writer Paul Murray. It is a sublime comedy, as well as a dark tragedy, as Murray brilliantly captures the turbulent lives of his early-teenage characters. The result is something a little bit like a cross between Ross O’Carroll Kelly and South Park, a course, vulgar reflection of society, but one that is
terrifically funny. The novel picks up on the various interweaving stories of teachers and students at Seabrook College, each caught up in their own world of problems. The students talk constantly about sex, video games and the day to day problems of growing up. What they don’t talk about, their fears of the post-school world, the adult world which is fast approaching, dwells ominously in the background. Murray presents a magnificent portrait of a single moment of adolescence in the novel, and the youthful mockery (like French teacher Father Green who is popularly known by the translation Père Vert) is at all times combined with the darker side of youth. The novel is a long, sprawling, 660-page epic. This is both a good and bad thing, as the novel does seem to lose its way towards the end. The comedy fades out and the playfulness of the early chapters transforms to serious, even sombre digression. The major plot point is given away in the title, and this may be the point, that after Skippy dies the novel stops trying to make you laugh. The childish nature of constant joking fails as the novel reaches its tragic conclusion. The book, literally, grows up, and takes the reader along with it.
Albaim: Ceol ‘10 le cheoltóirí éagsúla aitheanta a bhfuil aistrithe go Gaeilge. Téann an airgead go léir i gcóir déirc ‘Barnardos’ do pháistí faoi mhíbhuntáiste.
Tá Seachtain na Gaeilge orainn anois agus mar sin tá Ceol ’10 amuigh sna siopaí. Tagann CD Gaeilge amach gach bliain le amhráin atá aistrithe go gaeilge. Má tá suim agat sna dlúthdhioscaí Ceol gaeilge, is é an ceann seo an ceann is fearr (go háirithe muna bhfuil na cinn eile agat). Tá Ceol ’10 foirfe duit (is íorónta a bhfuil ‘Foirfe’ mar ainm an chéad amhrán) lán le amhráin
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Is bailiúchán é Ceol ’10 de na amhráin is fearr ó Ceol ’06- Ceol ’09. Tá ceoltóirí mar Swell Season ann, leis an amhrán cáiliúil sin ón scanáin ‘Once’, tá Bell X1 lena amhrán ‘Bladhm’, the Coronas le amhrán iontach ‘Taibhse nó laoch’ agus go leor amhráin eile ó Declan O’Rourke, Mundy, Mick Flannery, Saw Doctors, Gemma Hayes, agus go leor eile. Tá amhrán nua ag The Coronas freisin ‘Éist a ghrá’, amhráin iontach a bhfuil sna cairteanna Éireannach. Ceapaim go bhfuil na hamhráin seo a bhfuil aistrithe go Gaeilge an-suimiúil d’éinne atá ag foghlaim na Gaeilge faoi láthair, ag dul chuig an gaeltacht nó fiú éinne atá suim acu inár teanga náisiúnta.
Léirmheas le Aisling Clarke
Review by Bernard O’Rourke
Films: Alice in
The Print
Albaim:Ceol agus Amhráin Rann na Feirste le Cheol Cheann Dubhrann
Níl aon dabht go bhfuil oidhreacht na nGael iontach láidir i Rann na Feirste in Iarthar Thír Chonaill. Tá traidisiún ann a chiallaíonn go bhfuil saibhreas ceoil, filíochta agus amhránaíochta san áit bheag sin ar chosta an chontae. Thar na blianta, bhí na milliúin albuim díolta le ceoltóirí timpeall na háite sin; ina measc Enya, Clannad, Altan agus ar ndóigh, Daniel Ó Dónaill, agus tá cuid mhór daoine eile. Rinne albam speisialta nua le ceoltóirí áitiúla an cheantair sin, cuid acu atá cáiliúil thart an domhan, ar fad ar son mhaitheas an chomhluadar ansin.
ar an dlúthdhiosca, seachas beirt bhean speisialta atá ar na gaobhair le Rann na Feirste, is iad sin Máire Ní Bhraonáin agus Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh.
Is é seo an dara bailiúcháin ceoil ó mhuintire Rann na Feirste. Ceol agus Amhráin, a thaifead Gael Linn in 1972 ab ea an chéad cheann; agus tá ceathrar den mhuintir ar an dlúthdhiosca nua seo ón chéad cheann. Tá taobh traidisiúnta ag baint leis an albam. Mar shampla, tá sé rian as naoi déag ann atá sa stíl seannós, atá á gcasadh le daoine sinsir an bhaile. Ach tá meascán nua-aimseartha ann chomh maith, a chuireann go Tá na hamhráin agus an seanchas mór leis an taitneamh a bhaintear as. fá choiscéim dá chéile, bíonn an siúl céanna leo, ag inse scéal a bpobail Chuir Coiste Cheol Cheann Dubhrann seo agus is mór an fiú é don agus is amhlaidh an cás sa chnuasacht an dlúthdhiosca seo le chéile le luach sin! Tá sé le fáil ar shuíomh Iar-Chonnachta’: www.cic.ie ceoil agus amhrán seo, Ceol Cheann ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar shaibhreas ‘Cló Dubhrann. Tá an bailiúcháin bunaithe ceoil a muintire. Rachaidh an phroifid ar rogha amhrán a cumadh i Rann na uilig a dhéanfar as an tionscnamh Feirste agus amhráin eile ar ghnách seo chun sochair do Bhunscoil leo a cheol ariamh anall ar an bhaile. agus d’Áislann Rann na Feirste. Léirmheas le Is bunadh an bhaile amháin atá Tá costas de €15 ar an cheirnín
Caoimhgin O Caolain
Wonderland Director: Tim Burton Writers: Lindda Woolverton (screenplay) Lewis Carroll (books) Staring: Mia Wasikowska Johnny Depp Helena Bonham Carter Anne Hatheway
Following the recent visual success of James Cameron’s Avatar, I was dubious as to whether or not Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland could compare. However, I entered the cinema with an open mind (and an empty purse after getting ripped off by the prices in Liffey Valley’s Vue cinema.) As I watched my favourite childhood tale being unveiled before my eyes, I have to admit- I was slightly disappointed. The casting for some of the lead characters was somewhat of a letdown. Mia Wasikowska who plays Alice, appeared to have one expression and one emotion during the entire film- indifference. Johnny Depp came across as an extremely paedophilic Mad Hatter- mirroring his character in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a few years ago. Ann Hathaway quite frankly terrified me as the White Queen.
Tim Burton succeeds in turning Wonderland into a very dark and terrifying place under the reign of the Red Queen. I found the combination of Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass to be a bit much in the one film, but Burton said himself that he intended to transform the film into a linked series of events, rather than a sequence of Alice meeting with different characters. The special effects of the film do have to be given some credit as they were stunning in parts and made the audience question where the line was drawn between CGI and reality. However, if you want a pretty film, go to Avatar instead. Tim Burton: Fail.
Review by Louise Feaheny
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NEWS The Print
Re-shuffle brings jokers to the top of the deck On the 23rd of March, An Taoiseach Brian Cowen announced the details of the Cabinet reshuffle that we had been eagerly awaiting for some three weeks following the shock departure of Willie O’Dea TD and Martin Cullen as Ministers of Arts, Sports and Tourism, respectively. The results of the reshuffle have caused ripples of shock to descend down upon most of us. The details of the reshuffle are as follows: · Mary Coughlan is now Minister for Education and will remain as Tainiste, - Batt O’Keefe is now Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, - Mary Hanafin is now Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, - Éamon Ó’Cuiv is now Minister for Social and Family Affairs - Pat Carey has become Minister for Community, Rural &Gaeltacht affairs. This role will now take responsibility for the Equality portfolio. - Tony Killeen has become Minister for Defence. - Dermot Ahern will remain as Minister of Justice and Law reform, but is no longer responcible for Equality. - Brian Lenihan will remain as Minister for Finance, - Micheál Martin will remain as Minister for Foreign Affairs, - Noel Dempsey will remain as Minister for Transport, - Mary Harney will remain as Minister for Health and Children, - Brendan Smith will Remain as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, -
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John Gormely will remain as Minister
for Enviroment, Government,
Heritage
and
Local
- Eamon Ryan will remain as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. Whilst this reshuffle sees the end of Batt O’Keefe’s regime as Minister for Education, it seems we will again remain disappointed as our new minister is none other than an Tainiste Mary Coughlan. At least in Education she won’t have to deal with any Michael O’Learys so she may cause less damage. It also seems that Mary Hanafin was served another kick in the teeth as she saw herself take a second demotion to become Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism. She was seen leaving Cowen’s office in floods of tears on the day in question. As bad as this may be for her career, as one of the hardest working and most competent ministers in the cabinet at present, if anyone can make money with the department, it’ll be Mary Hanafin. Batt O’Keefe’s incompetence will now be thrust upon the department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. It seems his unpopularity wasn’t apparent to everyone and the constant stream of protests against him went unnoticed. Éamon O’Cuiv will now take over from Mary Hanafin as Minister for Social and Family affairs. The man himself is highly uncontroversial so it would seem he was moved to soften the blow of Hanafin’s demotion. Cowen also failed to appoint a member of the Green Party to Ministerial office, a move which can only further weaken the already trembling Government. All in all, while I thought that the reshuffle would perhaps stifle off any further criticism of the Government, it appears to have opened the cabinet to even more ridicule. Let us hope that the new ministerial appointees have better luck than their predecessors and let us hope that those who were reshuffled take to their new portfolios with greater ease and let us pray that this will be the final shake up it the government benches until 2012. God knows what we need most of all at the present time is stability.
by Gemma McGrorry
NUIM Barnhall RFC
NUI Maynooth and Barnhall RFC have announced a strategic partnership which sees the re-branding of the club to NUIM Barnhall RFC. This partnership will ensure the further development of the rugby academy at NUI Maynooth and the addition of 18 new rugby scholarships. Since 2004 NUI Maynooth together with Barnhall RFC has placed a high priority on the development of rugby in local schools. This formal development paves the way for a continuum of playing opportunities for people in the locality from age 6 through to All Ireland League level. Newly appointed NUIM Barnhall RFC Rugby Development Officer, Dennis Bowes, former Edinburgh rugby captain, is confident that this will bring success to the Club & University, “The focus will be on increasing the calibre of player entering the scholarship programme”.
NUIM Crusaders on the way up!
The rugby club have experienced great results of late with the mens senior, fresher and ladies team all recording well deserved wins in recent weeks. Wednesday, 11th of March sees the mens side go head-tohead with Waterford IT with a place in the All-Ireland semi-final up for grabs after an impressive 48-24 win over Limerick IT last week. Freshers have already booked their place in theAll-Ireland semi-final which is due to be played in the coming weeks. Finally, the ladies showed just what they’re made of with a stunning 2nd half comeback to snatch victory after falling 20 points behind. The only way is up for NUIM Rugby and we started with a scrum clinic hosted by former Ireland international and Leinster captain Reggie Corrigan. Reggie was capped 47 times by Ireland and helped pass on his experience to the NUIM pack on Thursday, March 4th. For more information on the NUIM Rugby Club and rugby scholarships contact Dennis Bowes, rugby development officer for NUIM at Dennis.Bowes@nuim.ie
The Print
EC study:
Ireland produces most highlyemployable graduates International recruiters believe that Ireland produces the most highlyemployable graduates in the world, according to a European Commission study of third-level education. Universities in other countries have rated Ireland’s universities as ‘‘excellent’’ in the report, which was prepared for the Commission’s Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs.The release of the report comes just after a review into ‘grade inflation’ at Irish third-level institutions, following comments from some multinational business leaders to education minister Batt O’Keeffe about the quality of Irish graduates.
The EC report was based on a study of the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending on tertiary education. It found that Ireland was the top of the list of countries, which recruiters found were producing the ‘‘most employable’’ graduates. Ireland was well ahead of Britain, which was in second place. Ireland came second, behind Finland, in the list of countries that was rated by their peers as having the best universities. ‘‘Considering their size, Finland, Ireland and Sweden are the countries with the more universities pointed out by peers as being excellent,” according to report. In analysing the efficiency of the various third-level systems worldwide, it found that Ireland, Japan, Sweden, Britain and the Netherlands were top of most efficiency lists. ‘‘In some cases, this was essentially due to excellent scientific production (Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands), whereas Ireland attained its position due to the graduation output, which is not only high in number but also the best in perceived quality,” the report read. In contrast, another group of countries – including Bulgaria, Spain, Hungary,
the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Portugal and Greece - were labelled as being‘ ‘highly inefficient’’.The US also came out as being‘ ‘quite inefficient’’, although the study did not consider private education institutions, which would be an important aspect of the US third-level system. The report also found that some EU member states, such as France, Germany and Italy, were ‘‘far from efficient’’. It also noted that ‘‘Ireland, Lithuania and Britain have a good performance both in the number of graduates per 1,000 inhabitants and per member of academic staff’’. Ireland came top of the list of countries with the highest number of graduates per 1,000 inhabitants and second in the list of countries which have a high graduate throughput compared with the number of academic staff. Ireland had double the average rate in this category. In terms of expenditure on higher-level institutions, Ireland is just below the average spend of 1.2 per cent of GDP. Finland is the highest with 1.73 per cent spend, while Japan is the lowest at 0.49 per cent.
Martha Kearns
Green Week 2010: A Review Green Week this year was a huge success. Even though Students Union elections were on at the same time, that wasn’t going to stop us! Our first day went off to a flying start, we had information stalls scattered all over the Arts Block. We were joined by Oxfam Ireland, Friends of the Earth, Climate Camp, Energise (which is our wonderful health food store in the town) and our very own Amnesty society took part also. While everyone was learning more about our environment, the African Drummers were making a lot of amazing beats for Climate Justice. Some of you took part and learned a little about African Drumming and the culture around it. Let’s keep our world’s diverse cultures and stop climate change disasters happening in these developing countries. That evening OxJam joined us for an Acoustic Night for Haiti. Everyone had a great night, with Trad Soc, Gypsies on the Autobahn, The Casey and Prendergast experience and a Christy Moore act that took us all by surprise. Everyone got to take part and sing along and we managed to raise €182 for Haiti.
Tuesday was Renewable Energy day. The CEO of Wavebob and a speaker from The Irish Wind Energy Association came to the college to give a short talk about Renewable Energy in Ireland. That evening was Body and Soul in the Common Room. Everyone that took part got to experience how great it was. We had Playdo giving workshops in glass painting and manga drawing. The jugglers were as impressive as ever. The Yoga society gave us some beginner lessons in yoga and we had a full selection of herbal teas to enjoy as well as relaxing music. That was definitely an event that we would love to hold again. Wednesday was our Fairtrade Tea and Coffee day in association with Fairtrade Fortnight 2010. We coffee lovers got to enjoy some delicious coffee from our Bewleys in the Arts Block and talk about the importance of fair trade. Did you know that NUI Maynooth is completely Fair Trade? Well, it is! That evening was our Movie Night, showing “The Cove” which was a mind-blowing story about how the dolphins in Japan we cruelly slaughtered for their meat
and skin and the hard work that activists from all over the world put in to stop this. Thursday was the end of our Green Week, we thought we’d finish off with a debate on “this house believes that renewable energy is an unnecessary expense” We were joined by our special guest Bronwen Maher Labour MP, who gave an inspiring introductory speech about the importance of investing in renewable energy. To our delight, the opposition won! It was a tiring week for the hard working organisers but there were plenty of highlights to make up for it, we got to meet Thornton’s waste company about getting recycling in Maynooth from a disappointing 57% to a more acceptable 99% and found more eager students interested in helping with our Climate Campaigns. Hopefully by next year, NUI Maynooth will have a chance to win a Green Flag and become a sustainable University!
Tara Clarke
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The Print
NEWS
Ó Broin plans to s c r a p officers in campaign Trinity Students’ Union President Cónán Ó Broin has been nominated as a candidate for the Deputy Presidency of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), an organisation he is openly critical of. Ó Broin is running on an unofficial joint ticket with Presidential candidate and current UCD Students’ Union President, Gary Redmond, although both posts will be elected independently of one another. Current USI Equality Officer Linda Kelly is also vying to be elected President at the USI Congress, which takes place from 29th March to 1st April. Both Redmond and Ó Broin support a motion by Students’ Union Presidents to downgrade the full-time role of USI Equality Officer and LGBT Rights Officer to part-time roles within the Union. They also plan to replace the four Area Officers with a single Constituent Organisation Liaison Officer. Ó Broin says the job description for the role of Equality Officer is “too vague”, failing to impact the life of most students. The candidate for Deputy President also says that there is no longer “enough policy material” for a full-time LGBT Rights Officer, but says USI-organised Pink Training will continue to be run. The job of the USI is “to protect students’ interests”, Ó Broin says, “not to save the world”. Ó Broin, who describes the current structure of the USI as “woefully inadequate”, will be competing against Southern Area Officer Jono Clifford. The Trinity Students’ Union Council has mandated its 22 USI delegates to vote “ReOpen Nominations” for the Equality and LGBT Rights Officers and to support any motion to amend these roles, as well as the role of Area Officer, in accordance with Redmond and Ó Broin’s design. UCDSU delegates are
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also authorised to support such a motion. Ó Broin considers such restructuring to be important for generating continuity in the USI. He argues the employment of a full-time lobbyist, a researcher and an administrator would provide the USI with better value for money than Officers who only serve for a year-long term. Presidential candidate Linda Kelly also wants to employ an Administrations or Operations Officer and says that her experience within the USI will allow for a degree of continuity which “Gary Redmond can’t offer”. Kelly, however, is opposed to what she describes as her opponents’ policy of “If we can remove X officer we can employ Y staff,” adding, “I don’t think a permanent strategist or lobbyist is the best use of resources.” While the “strategic lobbying of key politicians and public bodies” is central to Redmond’s manifesto aim to “end the threat of tuition fees for once and for all”, Kelly says that the USI should not rely too much on hiring lobbyists, pointing out that the enactment of legislation which has already been passed, such as the Student Support Bill, should also be a priority. While claiming to recognise the “enormous potential” of the USI, which uniquely provides student representation on the Higher Education Authority, Cónán Ó Broin says the USI requires modernisation in order to wield greater political influence. He openly criticises USI leadership in the campaign against third-level fees, calling it “not nearly as effective as it could have been”, attributing much of the work done to individual Students’ Unions. The manifestos of both Presidential candidates lay out plans for developing strong inter-union communications. The role of Liaison Officer, according to Redmond, would be conducive to “getting our Constituent Organisations and members involved in all of the USI’s work”. Kelly also says “there is a lot to be said for creating a national Liaison Officer”, suggesting that the positions of Area Officer “never fulfilled their potential”. USI was unable to provide comment on restructuring proposals because they are “a policy decision”.
Cal McDonagh
USI Urges New Minister for Education to Prioritise the Student Support Bill
The Union of Students in Ireland is urging the newly appointed Minister for Education, Mary Coughlan, to ensure that the Student Support Bill is processed as a matter of urgency. It is critical that the issues affecting the students of Ireland are not put on the backburner during this transitional period brought about by the reshuffling of the Cabinet. The Student Support Bill has been continuously sidelined as a result of previous Cabinet changes. Since the publishing of the bill in 2008, there have already been two education ministers, who both failed to implement it. As a result, thousands of students were left without grant payments due to enormous delays in the processing of grant applications this year. USI believes that the introduction of the Student Support Bill is essential in streamlining the inefficient grant application process. USI
President,
Peter
Mannion,
said:
“We welcome the new education minister, but urge her to work closely with the USI to solve the problems associated with the meltdown in the student maintenance grant system. If the Student Support Bill is not implemented swiftly, Minister Coughlan will face serious issues from next August, when more students will be applying for the maintenance grant, putting even more pressure of the system. USI looks forward to meeting with the minister in due course to discuss the issues surrounding student grants and working closely with her during her tenure as Minister for Education.”
Gillian Tsoi
The Print
USI Congress/ Comhdháil Bhliantúil AMLÉ 2010 USI’s National Congress takes place on the week of March 29th and lasts until Friday. This is the first Congress that we’ll be able to attend since 2001 so this is our first opportunity to have our voices heard. Granted, we don’t get a vote until we’re paid members but we will be granted speaking rights. Maynooth Students’ Union will be sending a group to attend and a report will be made available in the next issue of The Print. As it is the Congress, a number of important issues will be dealt with, including the election of next year’s officers. Some of the topics you will read about in greater detail next issue will include changes to USI’s constitution. Some of these will be Changing Presidential term limits to two years and raising their wages in the second year - The reduction of the LGBT and Equality Officers to being part time instead of full time staff Restructing Area by Regional
covered Officers
- Seek policy to be renewed after three years rather than five Proposed alterations Stay
working
Presentation tuned
for
of all
groups accounts
the
results.
Relaxation and StressReduction: Managing College Life through Mindfulness Tanzan amd Ekido, two Zen monks, were travelling companions on a muddy road during a storm. On their way they met a lovely young girl in a silk kimono who was unable to cross the intersection. Tanzan lifted her in his arms and carried her over the mud putting her down on the other side. Many hours later in the lodging temple Ekido confronted Tanzan. He said: ‘We monks are not meant to go near women. To carry such a young and lovely one was wrong. Why did you do that?’ Tanzan replied: ‘I left the girl there... Are you still carrying her?’ (Reps, 1971: 28) From time to time, we all find ourselves ruminating over the past or future, thinking events through over and over again in our minds, in the hope of finding a solution to our current problems. Nevertheless, more often than not, we find ourselves psychologically trapped within our heads, unable to move beyond our thoughts and to live our lives meaningfully in the here and now. Noting that such intellectual strategies generally escalate rather than alleviate our sense of distress, mindfulness advocates focusing on the present moment as the most adaptive means of managing stress. As such, mindfulness has to do with refining one’s capacity for paying attention, for sustained and penetrative awareness, and for emergent insight that is beyond thought. Strictly speaking, mindfulness is not a technique or method, although there are many different methods and techniques for its cultivation; rather, it is more aptly described as a way of being or a way of seeing, one that involves coming to one’s senses in every meaning of the phrase. This includes intentionally suspending the impulse to characterise, evaluate, and judge what one is experiencing, as doing so affords multiple opportunities to move beyond the well-worn grooves of our highly conditioned and largely habitual and unexamined thought processes The ultimate aim of mindfulness is to help
the individual to make a radical shift in their relationship to the thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations that contribute to their stress, and to do so through changes in understanding at a deep level. If you are interested in finding out more about mindfulness, why not come along to one of the relaxation and stress-reduction workshops run by the Student Counselling Service.
Andre Bolster Student Counsellor
Venue: Room 3 and 4 of the Students’ Centre Dates: Tuesday, 30th March & Thursday, 22nd April Time: 12:30 – 14:00
Information on NUIM Counselling Service The Counselling Service at NUI Maynooth offers a confidential counselling service to all students attending the University. Counselling provides an opportunity for students to discuss in private any issues or concerns they feel are impacting on their academic performance or personal wellbeing. Counselling is offered on a one-toone basis and is short-term in nature. It is provided free of charge. Confidentiality is assured to all who avail of the service. The Counselling Service is open Monday to Friday 9.30. a.m. to 5.00 p.m. It operates on an appointment basis. Self-referral to the service is welcomed and encouraged. Deciding to speak with a Counsellor can be a positive step towards making life better for you. Appointments and further information can be obtained by contacting Reception on (01) 7083554.
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NEWS: OPINIONS The Print
Why did Belfield RON The Vote? Seven
candidates,
five
positions.
Believe it or not, this was the state of affairs at Belfield Campus recently for the Student Union elections there. Here, a small campus of about 7,000, we saw a record turnout on election day and people literally queuing up with their peers to cast their ballots, with only one position going unopposed. A sad day for RON (his full name of course being Re-Open Nominations), but a bloody good one for democracy. To call the Maynooth election campaign of 2010 exciting would be an understatement and a half. We had posters aplenty, The Battle of Facebook, chalk all over the place like a playschool in revolt and some amazingly entertaining Hustings. We’d a dancing candidate, a candidate with a guitar, and a tense count you weren’t getting in to unless you knew someone who knew someone who eh… ran for election. So, seven candidates and five 5 positions. 22,000 students. What happened? There is a real lesson in the UCD elections, that other University students would do well to learn from. An unopposed presidential candidate, no stranger to the Union, walking into a job is worrying. Student Unions are no different from Trade Unions. If the membership don’t engage with the
Union, the Union becomes distant and people distance themselves from it in turn.
2,819 students voted in favour of the sole Presidential candidate, while 1,300 voted for RON. Combine the two, and it doesn’t bode well for confidence in the Student Union structure. Out of 22,000 students, that turnout is quite appalling. A recent poll carried out by the UCD paper, The University Observer, explains some of RONs great showing on the day. Only 39% of students could name the Union President, with only 16% able to name their Education VP. How much more disconnected from each other can a student body and a Student Union be? Voting RON isn’t really proposing an alternative however, rather it is just a sign of discontent with what exists at present. The solution is the same as it would be within any Union - engagement. Why did we see such competition for Sabbatical positions here, yet Union Council can struggle to reach quorum? To reform a Union, things have to begin at the bottom. This years Union made a good effort of getting people to Council, but you can’t drag people through the doors. The Unions can only really work when more students make an active decision to get involved with them. All the Unions can do is encourage people to do this. In 2008, DCU faced a very peculiar
situation where its three sabbatical positions went unopposed, with one student putting themselves forward for each. How exciting that must have been. The student body, like members of any Union, are the rank and file who elect and PAY for their Union. Such a healthy level of debate as witnessed during our recent elections and referendum is fantastic to see. If I am paying money to other students to carry out a job, a situation like that in DCU even possibly emerging is most worrying. The task now, for our Student Union, is to take the fantastic spirit shown here last month to a national level at the Union of Students in Ireland. There was a time the Student Union movement (and even the USI at a national level, as anyone who glanced over The Lost Revolution, a recently published study of the Workers Party will tell you…) were essentially in the hands of members of youth wings of political parties and were something between being an avoidance of the Dole and a stepping stone to the Dail. It’s up to us to ensure our Union (both on campus and nationally) works for us, at every level from Council to Sabbatical. If we become detached from it and disengaged, we might yet end up going out to eh…RON The Vote.
Donal Fallon
Making The Same Mistakes Again
In the mainstream news media, virtually all of the discussion on Ireland’s economic crisis has focused on “getting ourselves out of this mess”. We mustn’t waste time, they say, playing “the blame game”, which is the term used to refer to any attempt to understand in any depth the reasons why we are experiencing such a crisis in the first place. The problem with this kind of “moving on” is that unless we understand the background to this crisis we are doomed simply to repeat the same mistakes again.
The picture given to the public is that the greed and corruption of propery developers and bankers caused the system to collapse. Under this narrative, the fault is entirely with individuals, rather than with the system; consequently, government policy has been to attempt to wind the clock back five years (by pumping taxpayer money into the banks) and hope we don’t mess it up this time.
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While it is certainly true that greed and corruption among wealthy elites existed and contributed to the collapse of the economy, the overwhelmingly larger problem is that Ireland’s economic system doesn’t work in a way that benefits the majority. While Ireland experienced unprecedented growth during the Celtic Tiger years, capital simply wasn’t allocated in a way that bore any relation to social need. Consequently, we now have a surplus of 300,000 empty houses around the country (although the construction industry insists that these are all holiday homes) and families living in half-empty unfinished estates with no infrastructure. All this extra money did nothing to create increased social equality; at present, the top 1% of the population own a staggering 34% of the wealth. For the homeless, the only change is that they now sleep in the doorways of fancier
shops, despite the surplus of idle houses. Rather than trying to reinflate the property bubble, through the sleight-ofhand of NAMA, the government should be creating an economic stimulus that will really benefit the ordinary person. We should be employing people to build schools, hospitals, flood defences, renewable energy technology, public transport infrastructre and other projects that will benefit society. But this kind of social investment will not come as a gift from above; people must be prepared to inform themselves about the direction their society is taking and to demand an economic system that works for them, rather than benefitting a small elite. Otherwise we will see the same failed policies employed again and again, with the same disastrous results.
Aidan Rowe
The Print
Lack of Social Space on Campus Being Replaced with Library Facilities?
It’s getting to be the time of year when students begin to panic about their workload. The assignments are piling up, finals are just around the corner, and the Library has become a beacon of academia. They flock to the building, swipe their cards so the imaginary gate opens, and are welcomed into the wonderful world of learning. Assuming, of course, that they don’t mind the oppressive heat or constant barelywhispered chatter of friends who apparently can’t find anywhere else to catch up. And you only get to enjoy these things if you can find somewhere to sit. If you need a place to plug in a laptop, best of luck to you. Unless you’re getting there before 10am or are willing to do laps of the first and second floor until someone leaves, you’re better off staying at home. And don’t worry about getting ahold of that book you needed - if it’s not been stolen by an overzealous colleague of yours, the library’s probably lost it. Now, I understand that the University is aware of the overcrowding problem. And I’ve also heard that the extension leads that have replaced in the in-floor jacks are the best they can do without blowing every circuit in the place. The heat, I’m sure, is another thing that nothing can be done about, especially with the mercurial weather. But as a postgraduate student in the middle of trying to write a thesis, there are three things that the Library could stand to improve upon, without the need for renovations or rewirings. First of all, while I understand that maintaining a massive collection of books
is a challenge. Even the Dewey Decimal System can’t accounts for absentminded students leaving books on tables or reshelving them in the wrong place. But when I have a book in my hand on Tuesday, put it on the cart to be reshelved, and return on Wednesday to find it isn’t where it’s supposed to be, that’s frustrating. When I ask the librarians for suggestions and am told to “look on the tables and carts,” I’m willing to do that once, but not every subsequent day for the next week. After three days, I submit a hold request. When I hear nothing back by the weekend, I follow up, and they have no record of it. So I submit another hold request. I’m still waiting. And this is for a book that I know exists. Nevermind the ones that show up in the catalogue without having any apparent real-life counterpart. Again, I understand that it’s hard to keep track of hundreds of thousands of books. But when my only course of action is to “have a look around at the tables” because “it must be around here somewhere,” it’s a little frustrating. Secondly, there is no real accountability for how we use the space. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not advocating Library Police who ensure that everyone is operating at his peak brain function all of the time. But when I walk through the floors, desparately seeking a spare outlet for my laptop, and see only one in five people NOT on Facebook, it’s irritating. Same goes for the people who, as far as I can tell, only come into the library to socialise. I always end up sitting next to the most popular individual in the building, who is interrupted every fifteen seconds by friends who absolutely MUST pass on the latest gossip. A little bit of personal judgement
would go a long way; the people who are wasting their time in the library are wasting everyone else’s time, and that’s just not cool. Perhaps a designated space - maybe one of those seminar rooms that only very, very rarely has people in it - for thesis-writers, or postgrads, or people who have applied for access would help. They’re not the biggest spaces on campus, but if I knew there was a place where I could swipe my card and not have to fight with undergrads dossing on Facebook, I’d be far less terrified of going on. Finally, the hours the Library is open are fairly appalling. For something as simple as returning an overdue book, if you don’t have it in by late Saturday afternoon, you’re out of luck until Monday. Closing at ten may seem late, but when you’re on a deadline it’s actually quite early. And closing on Sundays is nothing short of ridiculous. Sometimes, students keep different hours than the rest of the world. A 24-hour zone perhaps the first floor only - would give us a place to finish our essays without worrying about impending closing time. And those quarter-hourly announcements might seem less obnoxious if we aren’t also pushing to get our word count in before we are evicted. If a certain amount of our fees every year goes to library services, shouldn’t the library seek to improve to suit our needs? Just because we’re building a new space without these problems doesn’t mean that we aren’t dealing with the same problems *now*. Don’t ignore the current students for the sake of the future ones - we need a space to learn in, too.
Erin Barclay
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The Print
Clubs and Socs News
Keeping you up to date with all our clubs and socs on campus. Don’t forget that your Clubs and Socs Officers can be found to answer your questions on Tuesdays from 2-4pm in the C&S Room upstairs in the Students’ Union
Trampoline Club
French Soc he French Society as the name suggests is a society that celebrates everything French including language, cuisine, music and culture. One of our main aims is to encourage French students and Irish students studying French to speak French together. The French notice board in the Arts Block is where you will find details of out upcoming events posted as well as other French-related information. So far this Semester, we had a cinema evening when we watched the movie ‘Welcome’ aswell as our hugely successful French-A-Thon. For this event, les Francais et les Irlandais devoured a delicious lunch, listened to French chansons and of course spoke French for 3 hours! Not to mention the fact that we raised a sizeable amount for ‘Little Way’ Clane in the process, which was an added bonus. A big thank you to all those who participated. For those that couldn’t attend we will hopefully be hosting another one in the next couple of weeks so keep an eye on the notice boards. In the meantime if you have a passion for French or even just an interest do not hesitate to send us any suggests or join our mailing list at: French@nuimsu.com. Merci!
Young Fine Gael What activity
has YFG been hasn’t been order
doing this year? We of the day, but change
know that is coming!
Our AGM is on the 24th March 2010 @ 7pm in the SU meeting room 2. Here we will put together the royal flush of anarchists, activists and politicians to plan the next year before this one ends! On the 21st April, Senator Frances Fitzgerald will be popping in – from 1pm in the SU Venue, you can question the Leader of the Senate on anything you wish! Dr Khalid Jabbar April will be giving
(Deputy a talk
State in the
Pathologist) on world of drugs
the 26th and crime.
In the final week of the semester, we are planning a table quiz for all you general knowledge guru’s. Keep your eyes peeled for further information on this! The proceeds will be going to the Rag Charity of the year – Little way Cancer Support Centre in Clane. If you have any ideas on events, debates or anything else – get in touch with us @ youngfinegael@nuimsu.com!
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Maynooth tramps jetted off to Scotland on the last weekend in February to compete in SSTO, in an international event, and once again our tramps done us proud with Sinead Lillis and Paul Maher both placing 11th in their advanced routines. Scott Stevenson also made a brave attempt by being the 1st ever elite to compete for the university. On the 9th of March we done our part for RAG week by raising over €600 in our 24 hour bounceathon. Spiderman made a special appearance on the trampoline when he wasn’t DJ’ing. Whether it was racing around the hall in sleeping bags or ripping Avril’s bra (Thank you Jemma) apart there was always a dedicated tramp bouncing and we are glad to say that we completed it without failure! And not a paramedic in sight, new record! Now the tramps are off on yet another venture, to Belfast for ISTO. Wish us luck! And then we are off to our big formal ball, the Bouncy Ball. Don’t forget our AGM is the 14th of April in JH1. We will be voting for our new captain, secretary, treasurer, PRO and ents officer. Come along for fun night. Tramps out!
The Print
Drama Soc
Howdy folks. Fresh off our winning of 2 out of the 3 Irish Student Drama events for the year we come to you willing and able to provide fresh Drama for your entertainment and enjoyment. This week we’ll be celebrating the fourth year of our Black Box festival from the 30th of March till the 1st of April and the usual high standard is definitely being maintained so don’t miss out. This year we are presenting ‘Bash’, ‘Roshamons Gate’ and ‘Don’t Dress for Dinner’. Three immensely enjoyable shows that you would have to be mad to miss. Following that
Ógra Shinn Féin Soc
Would you like to see the president of Sinn Féin Nuim have his long hair shaven off for charity? Well now you can. Sinn Féin Nuim presents the Shinner shave on the 29th of March in the SU bar, all proceeds go to Haiti. The night will consist of traditional music and some rebel ballads being played and of course as always €3 drinks and an Irish favourite an oul raffle. It will then finish off with the almost inevitably embarrassing head shave. We will be around campus to ask for donations, please be generous as Cathal’s hair is very precious to him, and after all it is for charity. The week of the 29th will also be the week to wear your Easter lillys to honour Irelands patriot dead. All donations towards Easter lilly’s will also go to Haiti, and they will be on sale in the SU bar on the night as well as around the campus. Sinn Fein Maynooth would like to thank all who signed our Flag petition in the last few weeks we are currently only about 150 names short of our goal of 1000. We will no doubt get the final names and we can all watch proudly as the tri colour is hoisted on our empty flagpoles, Beir Bua mo chairde.
The Beach Ball Returns April 29th
we’ll be having our new writers festival so for any of you out there who have written a short play, sketch or just a few scenes and you’d like to see what people think of them contact us at Drama@nuimsu.com. But wait there’s more. We’ll be running another Gumball Rally soon so anyone who didn’t get slapped or written on last time and feels like they missed out come along and show us what you’ve got. Finally we’d like to invite you to our production of Aaron Sorkins ‘A Few Good Men’ in the Aula Maxima on the 27th till the 29th of April.
Juggling Club This year, for Charity Week, the Juggling Society decided to hold a 24-Hour Juggle-a-thon to raise money for The Little Way. So, the date was picked, the Common Room booked, the posters made and the Jugglers organised. We assembled outside the Common Room with our charity buckets and began to muggle people (that’s Juggle mug) for their change as they came out from the Art’s Block with their coffee. The 24-hours began at 12 Midday and we juggled outside until 5PM when the Common Room began to empty. There were plenty of balls, poi, rings, clubs, gladiators and unicycling for everyone passing to watch and anyone was welcome to give anything a shot if they wanted (Unicycling proved most popular). As the overnight section of the Juggle-a-thon progressed, things got increasingly surreal, culminating in three of the lads being given a full “make-over”. By 3AM all normality had been thrown out the window and the “juggle dancing” began involving such favourites as the Macarena and the YMCA. As dawn broke, the juggling was still going, it was weakening but we were still plugging away. We moved outside again at around 8AM as people began to arrive on Campus. A much sorrier sight, we kept at it, completing the 24-hours at 12 Midday to the tune of “The Final Countdown” The 24-hour Juggle-a-thon was a fantastic event. It was a great opportunity for us as a Society to do something for a really worthwhile charity and have loads of fun doing it. We raised quite a good amount of money and it’s definitely something that we’ll look at doing again next year.
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The Print
Dance Soc The Dance Intervarsities is a competition held every year for college dance societies throughout Ireland. It is a huge success every time with most of the Irish universities
competing in various different styles of dance. Within the competition there are four categories. Hip Hop, Irish Dance, Overall and Mixed, all judged by three dance professionals. This year, NUIM competed in all categories, entering the overall competition with a ballet routine and also entering the mixed competition with a fusion of irish dance, hip hop, jazz, tap dance and
salsa. NUIM placed second in Irish dancing and all other dances were extremely well received by the crowd. All colleges performed well in all dances, including the dance battles that took place later on that evening. A huge thank you to everyone involved and who helped out, particularly Katherine Oliver who with an incredible amount of work, made it all possible.
Swimming & Water Alt Music It was the first year NUIMPolo had entered a team into the waterFor most students, study week brought with it a day that will never be remembered. You probably spent this day, also known as Saint Patrick’s Day, in your hometown reminiscing with old friends about other similar times you don’t remember. You probably pretended you were having fun for a while but eventually you found yourself wondering why you had left the safety of the underground Utopia which is Maynooth. You probably developed withdrawal symptoms as your body tried to adapt to the thinning of ‘Nooth in your blood stream. You probably felt like you were going to die… Thankfully Monday arrived and what better way to be welcomed back into this academic animal kingdom after a week of withdrawals then to attend the Alternative Music Society’s long anticipated ‘Ravey Rave’ in the Student’s Union Venue. Although no one in the society is willing to take the blame for the unfortunate labeling of the gig as “Ravey Rave”, credit is definitely due for the event’s success with the masses who attended. The society managed to convince the excitingly talented DJ Tesco to headline the show. This fresh piece of talent of course drew attention from music lovers outside of Maynooth, and bouncers had to turn away many at the door. Inside however, the crowd had forgotten reality as DJ Tesco was magically weaving a sonic net, capturing everyone’s attention and finally seting them free in a frenzy of hypertonic, spatial exploration. For one brief moment, the audience became one and DJ Tesco took one step closer towards the abyss of infinity…I wasn’t there, that’s just what I heard. For those of you who are singer songwriters, poets, musicians or casual appreciators of any of the above, the Open Mic Circle is the place to be. It is held in Classhall F in the Arts Block on the North Campus on most Thursdays from 7.30. For upto-date info regarding upcoming events, contact altmusic@nuimsu.com to be added to our mailing list.
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polo inter-varsities since the days of Gary Barlow, The spice Girls and Irish soccer success. Yes, the polo-devil had been absent for a good while, awaiting his release into the one of the most powerful, exhilarating, hardcore and sheer manic games in the world, water-polo. His day had come. The team had trained hard up to this point subjecting themselves to the grueling fitness regime of ironman Spitz on a Tuesday and Thursday, and then churned up the NUIM swimming pool on Sunday under the mastery coaching of Goeff the ‘Magnificent’ Massey. The polo-devils had honed their skills in the mighty Leinster League Third Division, competing against the sagacious veterans of Irish Water-polo and challenging themselves to overcome the hardship of defeat on a few too many occasions. But their exploits where not just contained within the confines of the pimple NUIM pool. No, in conjunction with their swimming brothers and sisters they extended a challenge to the Rugby club. The challenge was one game of the rugby followed by a game of water-polo, all with a main aim of raising money for cancer research. They raised over 300 for the charity and in the process squashed the rugby team. Booya! Back at inter-varsities they started the competition with a win against a non-existent UCD team and a close 53 battle against a monstrous DIT outfit. Unfortunately the foundation they formed from the solid morning performances were washed away by a Trinity team, who, like a Tsunami destroyed any hope of a place in the final. But the polo boys bounced back the following morning with an enthralling display of grit and determination to claim a draw against the eventual tournament winner UL. I have heard some commentators suggest that because of the draw, the Devils have one hand on the trophy. Boomshika-wha-wha! More officially, however, the Polo-devils walked away with a well deserved third place missing out on a final by only goal difference and were delighted with their first time exploits. The team will know look to build on this result in the next year with the intention of claiming the top spot in next years Irish WP inter-varsities!
Seachtain a n Gaeilge The Print
29ú Márta - 2ú Aibreán 31
The Print
, MSU s 3rd Annual
Beach Ball
April 29th
Tickets E10 (E12.50 for non students) available from April 19th
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