COLLEGE TRIBUNE Volume XXVI Issue 1

COLLEGE TRIBUNE Volume XXVI

Issue 1

11th September 2012

Independent Student Media Since 1989

BLAKE ANDREWS EXAMINES IRELAND'S ATTITUDE TO ALCOHOL

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INSIDE

Page 8

Builders' alleged debt puts bar on hold Sarah Doran Chief Writer

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oubt has been cast over the official opening date of the new UCD Clubhouse bar as the building company that was carrying out the construction work has allegedly been declared insolvent.

A notification that appeared on InsolvencyJournal.ie on September 6th claimed that an insolvency notice had been issued for Noel Thompson Builders Limited. A firm of chartered accountants and registered auditors, Michael Higgins and Co, was listed as auditor for the company.

The Dundrum-based building group’s logo and name still appear at the site of the old Forum Bar, which was closed for renovation toward the end of the first semester in 2010.

The post on InsolvencyJournal.ie claims that Noel Thompson Builders Limited last filed accounts on July 31 2012 and says that its creditors will meet on September 21 to appoint a liquidator.

Suspicions about the future of the student centre bar were raised when several students commented that building work at the site of the old Forum Bar seemed to have stopped completely. One student remarked that when they passed the site during Orientation Week it appeared to have been abandoned.

The College Tribune has obtained images, which reveal that although the metalwork is in place and there are some materials on site, the construction of the Centre Club still appears to be in its early stages.

UCDSU Ents Officer Eoin Heffernan expressed his disappointment with the situation. “I think it's a shame that construction on the bar has been put back. It leaves the

University with no bar on campus for the foreseeable future, which isn't great”, he told the College Tribune.

“I know a bar on campus is not a necessity but I think it’s a huge addition to any campus. Not only did it supply food and entertainment including pool tables and music, but it is also a great social outlet for students especially for bonding early in Semester 1”, Mr Heffernan added.

The only other bar on campus, the UCD Student Bar, closed earlier this year for financial reasons.

Staff opted for redundancy following what had been termed a ‘temporary’ closure of the facility. The future of the building is still unclear.

Attempts to negotiate the reopening the bar for Black Monday failed, leading many students to arrange alternative events on social networking sites.

The official UCD Sport and Fitness website describes the envisioned Clubhouse as modern, funky and hip. “There will be a number of screens, showing a range of different sports at the same time and UCD sporting images of success, celebration, action and participation will be prominent throughout.

Upstairs there will be a more traditional style room where old framed images, trophies and captains boards will be placed to remember the fine athletes, teams and sports people of UCD throughout the years”, it says.

It is not known how long it will take to finish construction of the Centre Club and it is still unclear whether another company has been appointed to complete the work.

Continued on page 3

Above: Construction work ceased in new student bar

Restrictions on gym entry for students Thomas Cullen Deputy News Editor

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CD Students have been informed that access to the Student Centre gym will be restricted from 6.15 until 8.15 on weekday evenings during term time. Concerns have been raised by students about these restrictions as they will be in place during popular post-lecture times for usage of the gym.

UCD students have paid a student centre levy as part of their registration fee since 2006, helping to fund the building of the new student centre, which includes an Olympic sized swimming pool along with the 150-piece gym.

However despite current students paying the levy, which is currently €183, for the last several years, only private members will have access to the gym during peak times on weekday evenings.

A final year Science student spoke to the College Tribune about the opening hours stating, “I’m annoyed as I thought it was a student

centre for students. To be stopped from entering the gym at certain times of the day because of outside members is a bit disappointing" Rachel Breslin, President of UCD Students’ Union spoke to the College Tribune about the issue.

When asked about the restrictions she replied, “I don’t agree with it.

I don’t think that it’s the best way of doing this. I see the need for restricted numbers during that time because there is going to be such a rush. You do have to balance; you can’t have zero private members being able to get access at those times either. So I think there’s a need for better balance there”.

Breslin also stated that she believed it was necessary to meet with the management to assess what is happening weekly, so that they could take into account the scenario. She further added, “I think that will be reviewed quite soon and if it’s not working the management certainly seem very willing to change it, but

I intend to ensure that if this isn’t the arrangement that works that it is changed over the coming weeks” The news about the opening hours comes at a time when students have raised concerns about the two weeks waiting time for members before they can use the gym. This is due to the induction that all members must undertake before using the facilities, despite some students claiming that they have used the gym all summer without such an induction. A number of recent graduates of the university who have contributed to the student centre levy have also claimed to be disappointed by the discount that they have been offered on gym membership, as it is still more expensive for them than other gyms in the surrounding area.

The gym management were unavailable for comment on the issue at the time of print.

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE

25thOctober October2011 2011 11th September 2012 11th

INSIDE THE TRIBUNE

COLLEGE

TRIBUNE

NEWS UCD introduces new academic contracts Page 3

NEWS IN FOCUS We need to talk about Abortion

Are academics being sidelined by bureaucrats within the growing managerialism of the university?

James Grannell Editor

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growing managerialism and bureaucratisation has been a continued feature of the Irish university over the last number of years, tracing its roots, in part, to the Universities Act 1997.

The Act introduced a number of innovations that resulted in an ever-growing obsession with quality procedures and, more alarmingly, rankings which serve as a kind of external validation of the “quality” of the university. Such rankings have been treated as important indices of quality by both university management and would-be students. Considering their typically crude methodology, this is a baffling scenario.

With the credentials of the university being put under such a harsh spotlight however, it is perhaps no wonder that the bureaucratic machine has kicked into gear with an aim to enforce “efficiency” on the typically chaotic university structure.

Public attitudes towards academics no doubt play a part in allowing the university to push through a more streamlined agenda. The university is frequently portrayed as a gravy train, staffed by unworldly or otherworldly types who would be incapable of surviving outside their privileged environment. Academic research, especially within the Arts, is often viewed as either self-indulgent or non-existent, something which has led to calls for universities to justify

their existence by assuming a larger teaching load while simultaneously reducing staff numbers.

In an aim to combat such opinions and to present the image of a more efficient institution, a growing bureaucratic monster has been allowed to creep into our university. This many-layered beast has wrapped itself, like a parasitic vine, around the administrative structures of the university, slowly chocking dissenting voices in an aim to justify and reify its own existence.

Accusations, from those outside the walls, claiming that the university fails to give “value for money” have resulted in pressure towards workload models and full economic costing of activities. Although at face value this may seem a positive

step, it nevertheless opens the way for an even more detailed bureaucratic control of each academic’s activities. When academic freedom is affected so too is the learning experience of each and every student within the university.

Should the university continue on this managerialist bureaucratdriven path she might well see her halls empty of any real, lively and substantial intellectual and scholarly debate. The obsession with the current business agenda may well be the downfall of the institution as academics and students alike flee from its suffocating grasp to more liberal institutions elsewhere. It is, after all, difficult to create “global minds” without world-class academics.

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FEATURES Ireland's secret sex trade Page 7

TRAVEL Into Iceland: hitchhiking under the unsetting sun Page 10

REGULARS Overheard in the College Tribune office Page 13

SPORT Making waves at the Games Page 20

Apathy & advocacy Cathal O'Gara Editor

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university in full-swing is a sight to behold. Students bustle between classes with notes and novels in hand. Unfortunately, few know about the inner workings of their university, and even fewer appear to possess interest.

This blasé attitude is in part owing to the over exposure created by a union that seems to have confused it's function with that of a media mogul. Students' interest remains dormant until an issue comes up within the university that directly affects their day-to-day life.

The majority of students are reactive creatures of habit and seem to dislike anything that disrupts their routine, such as bar closures

or the reduction in library hours.

However, when this happens, there is a question of where to turn to.

Aside from the obvious advantages of encouraging a well-informed and opinionated student body, the university newspaper also has another purpose: to be Cerberus.

At the first editorial meeting of the College Tribune in 1989 it was agreed that, as holding institutions of power to account is one of the central purposes of journalism, one of the functions of the College Tribune would be to apply this to the power centres at UCD. The main purpose of this university newspaper is thus to cut through the vines of bureaucracy in order to provide clarity for both students and staff alike.

This benefits not only the stu-

dent body, but the university herself, who gains through constructive feedback on decisions they have made regarding the future of the university. The student newspaper provides vivification to an otherwise separated and uninterested student body.

A healthy university newspaper acts as a medium for students to voice concerns, air complaints and expose injustices done upon the student body. Student media also enables an open forum for the exchange of ideas.

If students are well-informed they have the ability to establish well-informed ideas. This is essentially one of the main purposes of the newspaper.

A university newspaper becomes a liability when it is positioned as the propaganda organ for a minor-

EDITORS' CHOICE ity of the student population. In most circumstances, these minorities are aggressive groups with the goal of propagandizing and promoting their stature, both internal and external of the university. One of the most vital organs for the survival of a healthy student body is the university newspaper.

It is easily infected and even more easily vitiated. Problems occur here when this minority push an agenda that is counterintuitive to working towards an organized and well-informed student body.

The newspaper thus becomes toxic and its purpose negated.

If it is the role of the student newspaper to hold institutions of power to account, then it is the role of the student to become concerned and aware. Apathy, be gone!

Politicians play blame game in Phoenix Park fallout

By Blake Andrews Page 8 The life aquatic

By Amy Eustace Page 19

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE 11th September 2012

YFG to support campaign for disaffiliation James Grannell Editor

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n an interview with the College Tribune the chair of UCD Young Fine Gael has confirmed that they will take a stance against the UCD Students’ Union’s continued affiliation with the Union of Students in Ireland in the referendum to be held later this semester.

Lorcan Nyhan, Chair of UCD YFG spoke to the College Tribune, stating, “we don't feel that we [UCD] should be affiliated, because we think that [USI’s] stance on fees is not representative of the majority of students... The way they undertook the preferendum vote was orchestrated in such a way that it showed a bit of disdain for the opinions of regular students with

the timing”.

“We will have a campaign around the time of the vote and we will make sure that students know our views... and we'll put our point of view to the students and hope they will agree… we'll be hoping to open up debate on this,” continued Nyhan.

Nyhan stated his belief that the USI have not done a good job representing students and that it was difficult to justify the fee paid to them.

The move follows a motion put forward by UCD YFG at the first annual Garret FitzGerald Summer School held in Killarney this June.

The motion called for the Universities Act 1997 to be amended to

ensure that membership of a Students’ Union or the USI is no longer mandatory for third-level students.

In the current situation all thirdlevel students automatically become members of their local Students’ Union upon registration. It is then up to the members of each local Union to decide whether or not to be affiliated with the USI. Rachel Breslin president of UCD Students’ Union has confirmed that a referendum on USI affiliation will be held in the first semester.

NEWS

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Builders' alleged debt puts bar on hold Continued from front page A representative for the Buildings and Estates office had yet to reply to the College Tribune at the time of going to press.

According to the building company’s website, Noel Thompson Builders Limited had previously worked on several projects in UCD, including the Zen Garden at the main restaurant, the Virus Reference Laboratory and the School of Architecture.

The College Tribune made several attempts to contact a representative for the company but each proved unsuccessful.

See page 5

UCD introduces new academic contracts James Grannell Editor

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cademics within UCD are to see their contracts revised resulting in a series of changes to how they operate within the university.

Some academics have voiced concerns regarding potentially restrictive working time expectations and have highlighted the potential of the new contracts to lead to a weakening of tenure.

Section 6 of the revised contract reads, “save as necessitated by the efficient exercise of your duties or approved absence, you will attend at your place of work during the working week and for the duration of the college year which is of 12 consecutive calendar months duration.

It is understood that your place of work will principally be at the university at campus but that it may be varied from time to time to include other locations consistent with the requirements of your work”.

The contract also makes reference to the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. This may essentially require academics to be present on

campus from 9am to 5:30pm both term-time and vacation-time alike, a move that some feel will have implications on their ability to conduct adequate research.

A spokesperson for UCD stated that, “The revision of the academic contract was provided for under the Public Service (Croke Park) Agreement and is one of the terms of compliance for the third-level sector…The revised contract was negotiated centrally by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and was balloted on and accepted by IFUT as part of their entry into the Public Service (Croke Park) Agreement”.

Regarding concerns raised by SIPTU in UCD, they stated, “SIPTU in UCD has indicated that it does not accept the terms of the new academic contract.

UCD's position is that the new academic contract has now been accepted as part of the Public Service (Croke Park) Agreement and any challenge to this will have to be determined by the dispute resolution mechanisms of the Public Service (Croke Park) Agreement”.

Budget cuts bring end to 7 day service Sarah Doran Chief Writer

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he James Joyce Library will be closed on Sundays for the first seven weeks of the semester, only offering a seven-day service for the last five weeks of term.

“The reasons for this are budgetary cutbacks and the five per cent cut that they’ve been asked to take, as have all departments in the University”, Students’ Union President Rachel Breslin stated.

The library had operated a seven-day service since the 2010/2011 academic year following a successful UCDSU campaign for Sunday opening hours. Ms Breslin said she understood why these hours had been re-examined, given the lower demand for the service on Sundays.

“This measure doesn’t impact on all students or some students who will never study on a Sunday.

We acknowledge that and the numbers are certainly a lot lower on a

Sunday than they are at any other time.”

However she said the Union is concerned about the impact the cutbacks will have on those students who do avail of the service.

“This actually targets those who want to focus most on their academic work, those who see themselves as having to study every day or balance maybe a part time job during the week with studying at weekends. So they’re hitting the students who most want to achieve, who want to study on a Sunday, want to study on their own weekends.”

Ms Breslin said that the sevenday service was “key to students studying patterns, to balancing out your workload and key to the reputation of the University”. She cited the reduction in the library’s book budget over the past few years as another issue of concern.

“We are aware and we understand that there have to be some cuts in some areas but we feel that targeting the library in this way isn’t in any way proportionate to the benefits the library accrues to students”, Ms Breslin stated.

The Students’ Union will be reexamining the plans that were put forward to secure and fund the seven-day library service in 2010/2011.

These plans included proposals to hire unemployed graduates free of charge as part of the Work Placement Scheme run by FÁS, employ students part-time and increase ‘Super Fines’ for late returns during exam time.

A study carried out by UCDSU at the time revealed that UCD and Trinity College were the only two Universities among the top 100 that did not have a library which opened on Sundays.

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NEWS

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE

11th September 2012

NEWS IN BRIEF Peter Hamilton 2012 Paralympic athlete graduates in absentia from UCD As UCD students begin to return to college while others are graduating, Helen Kearney was competing in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

Helen, who has a progressive degenerative disorder finished with a bronze medal and a score of 78.45% on her horse Mister Cool in the para-equestrian individual freestyle event.

She is also the holder of a silver medal from the individual dressage grade 1a competition and the bronze medal in the team event. Helen Kearney graduated in absentia from University College Dublin with a Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) on 04 September 2012.

17 UCD courses increase by 25 points or more.

Points for most courses at UCD have risen, with 17 courses increasing by 25 or more points.

This reflects the impact of the extra points for higher maths but also the rise of over 10% in first preferences for UCD among applicants this year.

Economics and Finance and Computer Science made the biggest increase both rising by 60 points. The largest arts entry program in the country has not changed with its points still at 355. “It will take some time and analysis to fully understand the impact of bonus points for higher maths across the range of degrees offered in UCD as the addition of this further variable adds more complexity to an already complex interaction between courses across the different universities, available places and student preferences,” said deputy registrar, Mark Rogers.

‘Chuck’ Feeney honoured

by Irish universities.

The universities of Ireland, both North and South, have jointly conferred an honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD) on Mr Charles F. “Chuck” Feeney founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies. Since 198, The Atlantic Philanthropies have donated almost €800 million to universities on the island of Ireland. An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD and the Minister for Education and skills Ruairí Quinn TD were guests of honour at the ceremony.

Cameras in residence UCDSU accused of unfair dismissal Rachel Carey Reporter

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recent development in UCD’s license to reside has been the introduction of point 23 which states that residential assistants can now bring cameras into residences. This first became an issue last year when security guards started to use cameras in houses. The issue was then raised with last year’s executive.

The change was imposed without any notice to students, residents or the Students’ Union.

The licence changed from Friday 31st August and was shown to the SU on Monday 3rd September when the new point was added.

This is in keeping with the terms of the licence which can be changed at any moment.

The Students’ Union are consulting the Student Legal Service on the best way forward. They are also consulting students in all residence blocks before launching an official campaign against the move. Welfare officer, Mícheál Gallagher told the College Tribune, “we are managing the situation very closely”. He also added, “rest assured if this is

not resolved satisfactory then there will be a campaign” calling the move “hugely unethical”.

SU President, Rachel Breslin also voiced her concerns regarding the matter, stating, “Personally as President and as a resident for three years I have great ethical and moral concerns around the introduction of CCTV in students' homes in Residences”. She also assured the Tribune that action would take place in contacting residents and this year’s executive adding, “I think it is important to do this speedily so that we are fully understanding and representative of students' views on this and can take action from there”.

This move again raises questions regarding the rights of students living in residences. It also questions how comfortable students will now be living in on-campus accommodation with Mícheál Gallagher saying “If I knew that someone could come into my house...I would not live in residence, I wouldn’t be comfortable”.

Peter Hamilton Reporter

A redundancy package has been given to the unfairly dismissed staff of the Copy-Print bureau, which was closed last year during Pat De Brún’s presidency of UCD Students’ Union.

In a Labour Court hearing on May 30th 2012, the Labour Relations Commissioner said that the SU hadn’t considered the options in front of them or the question of seniority across its staff and thus the termination amounted to an unfair dismissal, according to former Copy-Print bureau worker Jacqueline Carey.

Carey informed the College Tribune that she had been working for the SU since 1988 and only one other staff member was more senior than her. The finding of the Labour Relations Court hearing was that Jacqueline and her colleague would be awarded “€5,800 or eight weeks pay”. Although the labour relations commissioner said that UCDSU hadn’t considered the option of making the bureau viable,

Union president, Rachel Breslin, said “UCD Students’ Union were found to be justified in the actions that they took to close the bureau.”

Breslin said that the Union is offering redundancy packages and that they are welcoming staff to come to them and give their opinions on the redundancy packages.

She maintained that the Union “are not looking to make any staff redundant” and went on to say, “in terms of the SU, I would like to have more staff.”

These comments come months after the Union appeared in the Labour Relations Court on the back of the closure of one of its outlets.

Breslin confirmed to the College Tribune that she is in a position to release the Students’ Union accounts “at the first council”, which will be held in October. She agrees that the finances are problematic but says that she was elected to eradicate the financial situation of the Union.

UCDSU to hold USI affiliation referendum No room in the inn for UCD students Rachel Carey Reporter

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ver the course of the summer and coming into the start of the new academic year student housing has become an increasing and complex problem.

Many UCD students are finding it difficult to get accommodation around Dublin with a large number still without residence.

The problem, which has always been present for those students moving to Dublin, seems to be only increasing.

This is being put down to an increase in the price of renting; with prices in South Dublin rising by nearly 10%.

More young professionals are also choosing to rent rather than buy and therefore driving students out of the already competitive market.

Second year Arts student Riona Cleary has been searching for accommodation in South Dublin for the past two months and is still

without a place to live. She told the College Tribune, “every landlord so far has blown us off or made me travel to Dublin for a viewing and then when I get there I call them asking for the address and they say the apartment is already gone”.

The Students’ Union has been trying to help those who are still struggling by setting up a guide on their website with links and tips. It has also employed an accommodation officer who students can go to for advice and help.

A Facebook page has been set up for incoming 1st years encouraging them to liaise with each other and find larger accommodation for house sharing.

Welfare officer Mícheál Gallagher told the College Tribune, “in the last couple of days people are coming into my office who are literally homeless” and made the assurance that the SU were doing their best to help students.

Peter Hamilton Reporter

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CD Students’ Union will hold a referendum in November regarding its affiliation with the Union of Students in Ireland (USI).

At a date yet to be confirmed, UCD students will be given the option as to whether UCD SU should continue to pay over €100,000 to stay affiliated with the USI. One of the functions of the USI is to challenge government policies on a national front however UCD SU’s affiliation to this organization has come into question on the basis of their differing stances on fees.

During the last academic year, UCD students voted to keep the current method in which fees are paid, that is student contribution.

In contrast, the USI is fighting for a situation in which students don’t have to pay any fees for their third level education.

Should UCD students decide to disaffiliate from the USI it will then be “up to the sabbatical team, executive team and council to assess what are our needs on a national level” stated Rachel Breslin, president of UCD SU. “I do believe that we need some sort of representation on a national level. It’s certain-

ly easier within USI…but we have to see how we can relate on a national level” she continued.

Breslin informed the College Tribune that the SU would not be taking a stance on the referendum however she was adamant that a national organization is preferable when challenging government policies.

Another important function of the USI is to liaise with the Higher Education Authority (HEA). The USI are the sole student representative body with a seat on the HEA and disaffiliation will mean that UCD no longer have access to that seat, according to Breslin.

The loss of access to the HEA leaves the future very uncertain and “that will be difficult if students choose to [disaffiliate] but I respect that and I will certainly make sure that we work to provide a solution in that area” commented Breslin.

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE 11th September 2012

NEWS

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UCD Freshers' Ball Lineup Announed Thomas Cullen Deputy News Editor

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his years Freshers Ball will take place in the Academy nightclub this Wednesday 12th of September, with a lineup featuring well known Irish acts such as The Original Rudeboys and The Dead Prezidents.

The lineup, which was announced during Orientation Week, also contains DJ Ahmed, Dj Simon Says and DJ Fred Gilbert. Radio Station Spin 103.8 and the Notorious DJs from the Button Factory will also feature at the event.

UCD Students’ Union Ents officer, Eoin Heffernan, spoke to the College Tribune about the event, stating, “We are doing a hip-hop vs house music night. The upstairs room will be hip-hop, with the Original Rudeboys headlining,

and downstairs will be more of a dance one. We have released early bird tickets for a fiver, theres 200 of them, and the rest will go on sale for ten euro. We are really trying to bring the cost down compared to previous years”.

When asked about other upcoming events that may interest students, Heffernan confirmed that a Mystery Tour will take place on September 26th and that tickets will cost around €15. He also commented that the Mystery tour is “the kinda real fun event of the year, so we are looking forward to that one as well”.

Tickets for the Freshers Ball cost €10 and are available from any UCDSU shop or from the UCD Ents website.

Above: The Original Rudeboys are set to perform at this year's Freshers Ball

Unions call for University pay cuts Sarah Doran Chief Writer

“S

top targeting students and their families.” That was the message Union of Students in Ireland (USI) President John Logue had for Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn last week.

He was responding to an interview in which Mr Quinn supposedly signaled a ‘clamp down’ on grants and an increase in college fees that could see families pay fees of €3,000 per child by 2014 was published in Dublin’s Evening Herald.

“Top-tier academics and senior staff earning over €100,000 should not be immune to the difficulties facing the sector while middle and lower income families struggle to give their children the educational opportunities they always thought would be available to them,” Mr Logue argued.

“The increase in fees, coupled with further cuts to the grants system, will drive thousands to look for student loans, which will result in the accumulation of millions in student debt. USI calls on the Minister to stop targeting students and families. 79% of the education budget is spent on pay and pensions, yet this remains untouchable under the Croke Park Agreement”, he stated.

UCD Students’ Union President

Rachel Breslin echoed his sentiments, arguing that paying senior staff or academics such high wages at a time when students were paying more each year wasn’t fair, right or justifiable.

“Ruairi Quinn has suggested that the student contribution will go up to €3000 over the next 3 years and that simply isn’t justifiable. Students can’t accept that, we cannot afford to spend a single cent more whilst this huge budget spent on pay, is untouchable”, she said.

Earlier this year UCDSU presented a motion to USI opposing the Croke Park Agreement for several reasons, one being that it protected the pay of top-level senior civil servants.

In 2011, a review carried out by the Higher Education Authority showed that estimated payments to senior university staff across the country during the period June 2005 to February 2011 were of the order of €8.1 million in excess of ministerially approved rates.

UCD had overpaid senior staff by €3.61million.

Breslin said that she understood the University was now beginning the process of reinvesting that money in student services.

“It’s up to us this year to make

Above: Ruairi Quinn TD Minister for Education and Skills sure that does happen”, she said.

“Now that this report is finalized and is public and everybody knows what happened and the HEA is aware that we are following up on it, the University is aware that we are following up on it, we’re seeing movement on it, we’re seeing pro-

posals being made.

“It seems now that the University are submitting proposals on where that money should be spent and looking at areas such as the Health Center, so what we’re trying to do is ensure that happens”, she stated.

Mr Logue argued that expenses, overpayments and excessive wages are issues that need to be addressed by the Minister for Education. “Students will not be targeted again to raise money for a sector that cannot control its own spending” he said.

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NEWS IN FOCUS

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE

11th September 2012

We need to talk about Abortion With abortion a hot topic in the news, Sarah Doran examines the background of the contentious issue

TIMELINE 1861: Offences Against the Person Act 1861 criminalises abortion.

1983: Referendum on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution is passed. Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution is inserted to read: "The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right."

1988: Ban on dissemination of abortion information from the Supreme Court. This is appealed.

1992: The X Case Mr Justice Costello grants a High Court injunction preventing a 14 year old, pregnant as a result of rape, from travelling to Britain for an abortion.

The Supreme Court rules in Attorney General v X that a 14 year old girl, known as X, pregnant as a result of rape, faces a real and substantial risk to her life due to threat of suicide and this threat could only be averted by the termination of her pregnancy.

Two referendums pass and amend Article 40.3.3 to protect the rights to travel and information.

1995: Legislation to provide for abortion information and the right to travel introduced.

1996: The Constitution Review Group recommends the introduction of legislation covering matters such as definition of the "unborn", protection for appropriate medical intervention, certification of "real and substantial risk to the life of the mother" and a time limit on lawful abortion.

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bortion. In the past few months it has been difficult to pick up a newspaper or turn on the radio without reading or hearing about it; or reading and hearing that we’re not talking about it.

In December 2010 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Ireland failed to properly implement the constitutional right to abortion where a woman is entitled to one where her life is at risk. The ruling put the issue of abortion back on the political agenda and seemed likely to force the Government to introduce legislation or official guidelines on access to abortion for women whose lives were at risk.

Almost two years later, that legislation is still not in place. But have we not, in reality, been waiting 20 years for it?

Article 40 of Bunreacht na hÉireann, our Constitution, “acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right”.

The equal right to life of the mother was considered in a 1992 Supreme Court ruling. It established the right for Irish women to have an abortion if the pregnant woman's life was at risk because of pregnancy, including the risk of suicide. The now infamous X Case centered on a 14 year old girl who was raped by a neighbor, fell pregnant and allegedly became suicidal.

The ruling in the X Case resulted in the proposal of three amendments to the Constitution. The 12th Amendment proposed to roll back the X Case and remove suicide as a grounds for an abortion in Ireland.

It was defeated. The Irish people

voted in favour of the 13th and 14th Amendments which gave women the freedom to travel outside the state for an abortion and the freedom to obtain information on services that were available outside the state.

However no legislation was put in place to deal with situations in which the “real and substantial risk” to the life of the mother would be considered justification for an abortion within the State. What constitutes a “real and substantial risk” has yet to be defined by the powers that be.

This doesn’t mean Irish women aren’t having abortions. The idea of ‘going to England’ is one that’s deeply rooted in our society. Thousands of Irish women still make the trip every year. Figures released by the Department of Health in the UK revealed that 4,149 women providing Irish addresses had terminations in England and Wales in 2011.

In 2007, an Irish Times Behaviour and Attitudes Poll found that 54 per cent of women believed the Government should act to permit abortion. In 2010, an Irish Examiner/Red C Poll found that 60 per cent of people supported legal abortion and three in five people aged 18-35 believed abortion should be legalized.

Yet in 2002, Irish voters narrowly rejected the Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy) Bill, which would have removed threat of suicide as a ground for abortion and increased the penalties for helping a woman have a termination. A margin of less than 1 per cent between Yes and No votes illustrated the truly divisive nature of the issue among those who actually turned out at the polling sta-

tions.

10 years later, groups on both sides of the abortion divide continue to lobby on the issue. The Irish Family Planning Association believe “access to safe and legal abortion services is a human rights issue” and state that several international human rights bodies have expressed concern about Ireland’s abortion laws. Youth Defence is dedicated to keeping Ireland abortion free and claims that abortion is “the greatest destroyer of life today”.

In April 2012 four women came forward to tell their stories. Their unborn children were, in their own words, “planned, loved and cherished” but “incompatible with life”.

The decision to abort was made on medical grounds but they were forced to travel abroad for their terminations.

They watched the debate on the private members’ bill proposed to give effect to the “X” case, introduced by TD Clare Daly on behalf of herself, Joan Collins of People Before Profit and the Independent TD Mick Wallace. The Bill was thrown out by 109 votes to 20 and Fine Gael TD Clare Mulhern brought fornication back to the vernacular.

Five months later, the Government has yet to legislate for the “X” Case. No matter whether they are Pro Life or Pro Choice, there are people who want to express their democratic right and engage in a real debate about abortion. The issue is already proving internally divisive among political parties.

Regardless of the outcome, there’s only so long the Government can avoid sitting down and having ‘the talk’.

1998: The Government establishes an Inter-departmental Working Group on Abortion.

1999: Green Paper on Abortion published, laying out options for reform.

2000: An All-Party Oireachtas Committee on abortion publishes its report and fails to reach consensus.

2001: Plan for a referendum to allow abortion where a woman's life is at risk from pregnancy, but not suicide.

2002: Referendum to roll back the Supreme Court decision of 1992 defeated by 50.42% to 49.58%..

2005: Pro-Life Campaign says it intends to lobby for another referendum 'to restore legal protection to the unborn' Irish Family Planning Association launches campaign to demand legal abortion services in Ireland.

2007: A 17-year-old woman known as Miss D with an anencephalic pregnancy goes to High Court to force the Health Service Executive to allow her to travel to obtain an abortion. The High Court rules that she has a right to travel.

2010: In the case of A,B & C v Ireland, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights unanimously rules that Ireland's failure to implement the existing constitutional right to a lawful abortion in Ireland when a woman's life is at risk violates Applicants C's rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Court also ruled that the three women challenging Ireland’s ban on abortion did not have an effective remedy available to them under the Irish legal system in theory or practice.

features@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 11th September 2012

FEATURES

7

Ireland's secret sex trade With the launch of the Turn Off The Red Light campaign, Elizabeth Martin delves into the murky world that is Irelands secret sex trade.

I

t’s a Wednesday morning, its 11am. You’re probably late for your lecture in Arts, half asleep on the 39a into college or staying in bed “cos first week in semester they don’t cover much anyway…” It’s a fairly average day for most 18-24 year olds.

However, this morning, according to one “Escort” website there are 550 Irish female prostitutes and 42 Irish male, currently on standby for a call to somebody’s home. Their average “screen age” is 24.

These are not “sex nymphos”

mountain of health problems associated with working as a prostitute.

Sexually transmitted diseases are a standard norm, while the dangers of sexual assault, physical violence and rape are imminent risks taken by these women with each and every single client.

We tell our girlfriends to get taxis home in dodgy areas after nights out, or never to get taxis alone, imagine them walking straight into these dodgy areas to essentially rent their sexual organs for half an hour.

The effect of all of the above cou-

"These are not alien-like creatures, these are someone's sister, daughter, girlfriend, best friend, or mother." and can’t possibly be “horny and gagging for it”, every day this week, from 07:00-23:00 (as their profile will typically describe them).

These are women and men who are trying to pay off the debts they owe from travelling to this country, or pay for their child’s living expenses back home, or who simply couldn’t find a job in a cafe.

Some of you reading this may still believe these, mainly young girls, enjoy what they do, as if this is some sort of career choice or a freedom over their own body, you should however consider whether you yourself would enjoy being available from 7am this morning for “rimming”, “domination” and “deep throat”, and if that doesn’t seem too bad, how about doing it again, and again, and again, up to eight to ten times today, with complete strangers, who could essentially do anything to you in the privacy of their own homes.

If that still doesn’t sound too bad, start to imagine your own loved ones undergoing these things, locked behind the doors of complete strangers houses.

These are not alien-like creatures, these are someone's sister, daughter, girlfriend, best friend, or mother. 40% of migrant women attending the HSE Women’s Health Project are mothers.

Apart from it not being the most pleasant experience, there is a

pled with financial pressure, stigmatisation and feelings of isolation inevitably results in drastic mental health effects, and in many cases strong drink and drug dependencies.

According to the Women’s Resource Centre statistics, 75% of women become involved in the industry when they were still legally children.

Prostitution is rarely a “choice” for these women with 9/10 surveyed saying they would like to leave but feel unable to.

How is this happening? Why is nobody going to help the one

thousand women who at any one time are giving up their mental and physical health in incredibly dangerous situations?

Currently, the law in Ireland makes it illegal to pay for sex with a trafficked victim (they must prove you were in full knowledge of their trafficked status).

Since the 1990’s it has been illegal for women or men to solicit in public or sell themselves on street corners, which is why we don’t see prostitutes very often.

Essentially the industry has “moved indoors’’ in the last decade.

The law forbids the organisation and encouragement of prostitution, meaning pimps are illegal.

Finally, it forbids anybody else to live off the earnings of another or manage a brothel.

Under the criminal law as it stands, it is not an offence, in itself, to sell sex and in general it is not an offence to purchase sex, either.

Consequently, neither party of the transaction is currently criminalised.

In terms of policing, at the moment we are one of the few European countries who do not have a national strategy unit for tackling criminality in the sex industry.

Since the Human Trafficking Act 2008 we have a Human Trafficking and Co-ordination Unit in the Gardai, although there seems to be very few, if any convictions directly made by this unit. However last year alone, Ruhama – just one

of many organisations, was approached by 91 women (WRC statistics), who were trafficked and exploited into prostitution.

Those numbers encompass only the findings of one such organisation, for just one year, only including women who approached them and who were involved in prostitution.

So why do so many women turn to prostitution or find themselves forced into it? How can it be making this much money? It is because there is demand for prostitutes?

One in fifteen men buy sex here in Ireland. They are middle aged, with middle incomes, highly educated and employed in professional backgrounds.

61% of these men are married or in a serious relationship. These men, like most of us, are also victims to an ideology, that this is okay or “It’s the oldest profession in the

If we believe that these women and girls deserve a better option than prostitution then we need legislation in this country to show it.

Legislating however has proved to be incredibly tricky. Most advocates against prostitution are in favour of the Swedish model.

Legislation introduced into Sweden in 1999 criminalized the purchase of sex, and not the sale - the goal being to cut the demand, and subsequently the sale, and to do so without criminalizing the victims of prostitution i.e. the prostitutes themselves.

According to a report a decade later it was successful in many areas, street prostitution had been halved and although it was not the direct intention of the legislators, the ban seriously stemmed the inflow of human traffickers in Sweden.

There are critics of the Swedish

"One in fifteen men buy sex here in Ireland. They are middle aged, with middle incomes, highly educated and employed in professional backgrounds. " World”. Each payment adds to a demand for the massive industry of buying and selling young girls and women all over the globe.

model however. In practise it was difficult for police to prosecute until the sexual act had begun, which led to less convictions than expected.

Such legislation would however be a fantastic start, even just to change public opinion relating to the legalities of selling girls for sex.

It would also make our country an inhospitable environment for traffickers, hopefully mirroring effects in Sweden, Norway and Iceland. Although Ireland has very little street prostitution left to tackle, if we eliminate trafficking we would in turn eliminate the danger of many girls working on the street.

With the advent mobile phones and the Internet, the red light district is more clandestine than ever and something further will be necessary to protect women and girls from exploitation.

Much more attention to this issue is urgently needed.

88

FEATURES

features@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 11th September 2012

Politicians play blame game in Phoenix Park fallout In the wake of this summers Swedish House Mafia concert in the Phoenix Park, Blake Andrews takes a closer look at the blame game and our attitude towards alcohol.

T

he recent Swedish House Mafia concert in Dublin entered the media spotlight for all the wrong reasons. In the wake of the concert, which saw 9 people stabbed and 2 people die of drug related illnesses the music industry, promoters, gardaí and politicians struggled to place the blame, while the majority of commentators blamed modern youth, drugs and electronic music. The story was in circulation for days across national media and gained widespread attention.

and it’s availability to young people and blamed the Gardaí for not strictly enforcing open container laws in Ireland saying, “The law of the land is, you cannot drink on the streets. But people were.” In further developments this week MCD released a 188-page report that blamed the Gardaí for reducing the amount of on duty officers at the concert, 206 were planned, only 145 were there.

Eventually the Garda report concluded that the venue had been unsuitable for electronic music, and

"We do binge drink more, suggesting that although we drink less frequently, we do drink more excessively."

Taoiseach Enda Kenny was among to the first to muse the idea that the type of music was to blame “Whether it’s in relation to the sort of music that is played there or not, in any event, it’s tragic for the families involved here.”

Fine Gael TD Derek Keating called for airport security style checks at certain concerts selected by “comprehensive risk assessment that takes into account the profile of persons likely to attend any event.” Fianna Fail TD and Justice Spokeperson Niall Collins referred to the gig while calling for a Dublin task force to be set up to deal with armed violent crime.

MCD Productions boss Denis Desmond blamed cheap alcohol

that in future artist and musical genre should be specified on license applications and a risk assessment should be carried out on the “type of audience likely to attend.”

Is it fair to place almost the entire weight of the blame on an entire demographic?

In truth the evidence in Ireland would suggest Irish youth actually drink a little less than our peers in Europe. We do binge drink more, suggesting that although we drink less frequently, we do drink more excessively. In the fallout from the concert various public figures, including the head of MCD suggested the actual price of alcohol in Ireland was the problem. Counter intuitively Ireland is actually the most

expensive country in the European Union to buy alcohol according the latest EU Goods and Services prices survey, conducted in June.

But is alcohol actually the problem? Seven of the stabbing victims at the Phoenix park concert were stabbed by one man. The man was intoxicated when he stabbed them, but he wasn’t intoxicated when he left his home that day with a knife on his person. That’s not to say we should ban knives of course. There is an unfortunate truth that every now and then a person decides, without reason or logic to attack people around them.

In 2006 thirty-three people were stabbed after an event in Berlin Germany. Unsurprisingly the Berlin police force didn’t attempt to blame the performers at the event or the demographic of attendees.

The event in question was the opening of the new Berlin Hauptbahnhof (central train station). Speaking were Angela Merkel and a number

on duty numbers and look at the atmosphere of the concert. It was rough, hostile even. For many people almost the entire crowd was an

"There is an unfortunate truth that every now and then a person decides, without reason or logic to attack people around them." of other political figures. The young man who committed the crime was 16.

Despite this I don’t believe that the demographic are blameless. I think MCD and the Gardaí need to go beyond the stabbing headline, beyond metal detectors and

alcohol fuelled mosh pit. Within elements of that crowd there was certainly panic and fear.

We need to ask ourselves why we go so wild at concerts and festivals, because it’s beginning to become a problem.

features@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 11th September 2012

TRAVEL

9

Australia Inside Out: a look at the realities of Irish emmigration Down Under With the growing concern surrounding the emigration of Irelands youth, Silvana Lakeman explains why life in Oz might make you realise there’s no place like home.

I

f you were around at all last week in UCD, you will have probably noticed that behind the masses of UCD volunteers, peer mentors and excited new students, graduation ceremonies were underway.

I couldn’t help wondering what number of those in caps and capes would stay in Ireland, as so many graduates over the past few years have left the country in favour of what they see as a better future elsewhere.

As someone who lived Down Under for seven of my most formative years, I’d always thought I’d had it better than most by living in Australia. I grew up in Townsville, a city much further north than most travellers and exchange students care to venture and small enough to be left off most backpacker’s itineraries.

None the less I have fond memories of my childhood, filled with activities most would associate with life in Australia – swimming after school, camping at the weekends, living on a largely barbequed diet.

I never looked out the window before school to see if I’d need to take an umbrella, and I didn’t even own a pair of jeans until I moved to Ireland as the temperature rarely dipped below 20 degrees.

However as much as I look back fondly on

my upbringing in North Queensland, this summer things were different. I went back to stay with my Father in New South Wales for ten weeks, and although the last time I visited was a couple of years ago, I wasn’t prepared for how much everything had changed.

My doubts began before I even boarded my flight - instead of receiving almost twice as many dollars for my Euros when I exchanged them, I only got an extra twentyfive cents per euro.

My disappointment deepened and turned to shock when I noted how expensive every aspect of life had become. Who would pay the equivalent of three euro for a can of Coke?

It was almost impossible to find any kind of lunch under ten dollars, and as for the job prospects... don’t expect anything on a plate – if you choose to emigrate to Australia to search for work, you will be competing with peers who might have a lot more work experience than you, as fourteen is the legal working age.

My experiences this summer showed me how much home had changed. I noticed a definite influx of Irish people. At the only job I could find, which was in promotions, seven out of the ten other workers were Irish.

So if you don’t mind taking your

chances and ending up like myself doing a spot of work you could have done anyway (I know I’m not the only one who gets daily Facebook notifications from promoters of various night clubs), then by all means plan your year down under.

Just be aware that the pub culture is nothing like here in Ireland - the only people you will find in the local pub are people you would want to avoid.

Although Australia managed to dodge the recession, you would be hard pressed to find well paid work right now, particularly if only going for a term or year.

Most Australian employers will keep your CV on file for three months then review all the CV’s

STATISICS in 2011, at least 17970 Irish emmigrated to Australia as of August 2012 the Australian unemployment rate was 5.1% as of August 2012 the Irish unemployment rate was 14.7%

they have. There is of course some truth to the job rumours.

If you are studying engineering, Australia is a literal gold mine, as fossil fuel and mining specialists are in demand to tap Australia’s rich natural resources.

However, such jobs require a thick skin. An enormous organisation titled ‘Lock the Gate’ has hosted rallies, petitions and protests, with whole towns getting involved in a united effort to stop coal seam gas extraction.

The method for extraction is to drill deep into the ground at the source and pump chemicals and water at high pressure into the coal seam – a process nicknamed ‘fracking.’

It’s difficult to find a home in much of rural New South Wales and Queensland that doesn’t have a yellow ‘Lock the Gate’ (against the government) sign, as the Australian Government has gotten into the habit of bulldozing on land without permission from owners in their hunt for gas.

On the topic of the Australian Government, note that coming to Australia for any degree of permanency and work can be complicated.

The system in place isn’t unlike that used in the United States – if you aren’t an Australian or New Zealand citizen, you’re going to have to obtain a visa and/or work permit.

However, if you are set on go-

ing, just go! Australia is a beautiful country, so large that you can experience tropical weather up north, snowy winters in Victoria and Tasmania, and everything in between.

Don’t expect to be able to surf everywhere you go as the Great Barrier Reef blocks good waves above Brisbane. Do expect a culture shock – depending on where you go you will find yourself surrounded by people from almost every corner of the globe.

I would highly recommend if you are planning on going to obtain your driver’s licence before you leave, as there just isn’t any other way to cover the massive distances between towns due to lack of decent public transport outside of major cities.

Domestic flights are horrifically expensive because of this, so make sure you choose your destinations well if you choose to travel around whilst there.

I’m aware not everything I have said agrees with what you may have heard about Australia. Nowhere is perfect, and although Australia and the relaxed lifestyle I had growing up there are wonderful, if you decide Australia is the place for you, whether it be for a working holiday, Erasmus, or for work after graduation, don’t get so excited that it’s a letdown - like the Debs often are after all that anticipation! Although it’s larger than most of Europe, it is only one (very beautiful) nation, after all.

10

TRAVEL

features@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 11th September 2012

Into Iceland: hitchhiking under the unsetting sun Michael Phoenix heads north to explore the Land of Fire and Ice.

“N

o luck. No luck... No luck.” Cars and sleepy minutes crept by under the heatless morning sun. Folded out thumbs bent up towards the middle of nowhere Icelandic sky. I looked up at the mountain, frozen melting northern glaciers, woolen jumper itching. Waiting on a ride.

Making our way around Iceland: where giant spidering monster trucks will never give you a ride; where little fish on one kroner coins wink valueless eyes; where hot water smells of sulphur and carnivorous is an honest word; where the sun doesn’t rise or set but just hangs or hides and time is defeated.

It all started on a toy airplane to

Really there is no one in Iceland, but its streets are louder than you think. They’re very clean too and all seems to lead to water somehow. A storm blew in while we were there and roared at the worried wooden houses.

We stayed in a friend’s house for two nights and saw everything there is to see but Iceland is not about its cities and we made for the road. I carried our little fold up triangle house on my back and she carried our food. Two warmish sleeping bags too. (Not warm enough - Iceland) Route 1 circles the country in 1,400km. It phases between strong black tarmac road leading out of

"Really there is no one in Iceland, but its streets are louder than you think. " Reykjavik full of hot pink air hostess uniforms shimmying down the aisles kindly asking us to remember to stop screaming if we found ourselves falling through the sky to an almost certain watery grave, and to admire the fashionable cut of the hopefully never (ever) to be used emergency life jackets. That’s quite exactly how it went. We flew with Wowair, a new budget airline.

When we escaped we walked out into the fluffy bearded hug of Iceland’s capital city. It’s a circle in the south west corner of the country that makes up 200 000 of its 320 000 population.

Reykjavik, and falling failing mountain paths made of brown dirt that trickles down the eastern fjords.

We followed it the whole way, through and past amazing unpronounceable places carried in the cars and vans and the chicken smelling trucks of kind strangers and pressed upon tourists and crazed lunatics who in the end just let us and helped us live.

We stood at road sides and wondered upwards and on cliff sides gazing downwards, all the time making our way somewhere with thumbs and sandwiches and chocolate bars and strong liquid night

time spirits.

On the south coast we sat crosslegged and happy waiting an hour for a ride looking up at Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier. In the north we crowded in back seats huddling knees, and leaned down from the mountains into ice water near Akureyri.

In Iceland we often found ourselves alone on the road, but eventually we always got lifts, and

the trick is to know or at least believe, that you always will in the

Along the way we searched for whales and found them well-hidden

"If you stopped at one point in the Icelandic countryside and just stayed, you would get lost where you were and forget about everywhere else." end. Sometimes there would only be one or two cars every half hour and while you wait the country surrounds you and you notice.

We were two, but we travelled with the heaving geysers and the black sand beaches and the devil cut towering mountains and the waterfalls that fell from them.

If you stopped at one point in the Icelandic countryside and just stayed, you would get lost where you were and forget about everywhere else. It happened to us in two nights, with our tent door opening to Lake Myvatan. On the third day we stumbled upon the road again and realised we had to keep moving. Momentum is important on long hitch hiking journeys. If I could do it again I wouldn’t take a return flight.

so broke promises not to eat them.

We found tied up locked in hot water springs made up of crushed black stones and foamy milk blue water that smelt until we got used to it.

We stood at the bottom of wind tunnel valleys and asked silent farmers for food and rode a single 300km lift where she slept in the back seat whilst I sat in the front exhausted and wanting to but instead having to talk and so found out things and told her later: stories from the Viking saga’s; planned visits to sadly emigrated children - married and working and never coming back to Iceland; and the names of all the mountains, which are the only things I from the adventure that I ever expect to forget.

features@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 11th September 2012

POETRY

Sleeping Bag Saved Eyebrows arched eyes angry. Unhappy man. “What is that around your neck sir?”

“A cape!” Almost shouted – laughed out back at him.

“A cape, sir?” All the same. Unmoving (going to have to move).

Toothy smile “Indeed!” The fool survives. “Is there some problem?”

Maddened eyes – power at stake you see. “It is a bit unorthodox, sir.”

Reply immediately. No time for him to blink breathe think. “Unusual would perhaps be more accurate!”

He leans over to his left. Shirt sweating tie suffocating. Half the gateway opens. He eyes me afraid. (He should be). Muffled whispers with an accomplice of his. Quite justified – he’s in trouble. Stand with my hands on my hips, elbows triangled out, feet shoulder width apart. A superhero.

He makes small steps back to face me. Heavy steps. Feel a bit sorry for him just then. Looks at me for a moment, straight, then moves to the side and without moving his mouth lets out “Ok, go on through sir.” I look at him and he looks past me. Hoping wishing pretending I had never arrived.

Time for a celebration. “Thank you sir! Have a great day!” Giant spread out smile. He stares ahead. I wag my head up and down before him, eyes closed. Stride through the gate then. Spin round on my heel.

Fling my cape out – big wide red sleeping bag circle. He’s already moved on to the rest of the queue. Good men. Good women. All plainly ignoring him. Looking at me and grinning.

I strike a pose, hoist a merry middle finger in the air aimed at the sad back turned to me, and walk on to the plane.

Amor matris The sun is here, soon to go, A fleeting time to admire its glow, Full of glory for all to see, We adore your rays - as do the leaves.

Walking alone upon the shore, I wait until you are no more, For now, everything appears so beautiful The sea and sand and squawking gulls.

O what a wonder is this Earth And you, my sun, hold the vital berth.

Bringer of light and life where'er you go, The only God I wish to know.

Hail now, beneficence! - at times malign: Scorched earth, hunger, drought and dying.

But I, suffused by the warmth that you endow, Still choose, now, here, to kneel and bow.

- Jonny Baxter

(For all my known and unknown friends and enemies who have fell fowl of some small mind airport luggage inspecting bastards – tyranny) - D.M.

Page Eleven Poetry is a new permanent creative writing section of the College Tribune searching for submissions from students.

Alongside poetry, we are searching for short stories, serialized pieces and extracts from larger works.

Joseph O’Connor, Brian O’Nolan, Meave Binchy and James Joyce all walked through our college as young writers developing a literary tradition that should not be allowed to become extinguished.

Remember no rules and write how you want - there is no certain set way that writing should be, and no set form it should follow. For those who believe differently, this section hopes to break your concepts and save you from your years of sad misconception.

Send submissions to features@collegetribune.ie with the header ‘Page 11’

Two Hundred Thousand… two hundred thousand soldiers, with axes and wolves, and angry bears, are chasing after me. and I’ve stopped just for a second (as I see them in the distance getting closer, and crosser) to write this to tell you that they will. never. catch. me. because, I can do anything, crazy as I am. and so I will. and I will and I will that I will.

- NJ

11

It’s Satire, STUPID!

INSIDE Tickets to a Coldplay gig would cost you an arm and a leg Homosexuals denied right to give blood as glitter blocking up the tubes Lonely Gynaecologist gets in touch with his inner self Socialist removed from KFC After demanding for only left wings Deaf people talking in sleep resulting in rise of Domestic violence cases

UCD 'ruffles feathers' with new contract

T

he future of the UCD swans is under threat as the University attempts to impose a new contract on our feathered friends.

It is understood that not all UCD swans have as of yet signed the contract.

Some intend to enter negotiations with the relevant authorities, that is, as soon as they figure out which sub-committee of a senior management committee under the relevant authority they should be dealing with.

The Turbine has learned that under the new contracts all swans will be expected to be present on their island on UCD Lake from 9:00am until 5:30pm.

They are also obliged to submit full cost analysis for their avian activity. They will no longer be allowed to swan about on other lakes and must conduct all swan business within the university.

A number of swans see this move

as intolerable and not in keeping with natural freedom, something they hold very dear. It is feared that should the contracts be pushed swans will begin to leave the Lake and fly abroad for better opportunities.

This move comes on the back of a series of redundancies taken by ducks during the summer months.

Many of the ducks in question had worked both on UCD Lake and in other areas of the University for a long period of time.

The reason given for their redundancy was that they had been operating on a financial loss for a number of years. A loss that had seemingly gone unnoticed by anyone during the period in which it was accumulated.

The true state of these financial issues emerged last year when a certain seagull flew the coop, following a bad case of bird flu, leaving a wave of devastation behind.

SU attempts to bug the College Tribune office...

Guiney claims his tight clothing are a ‘rape prevention measure’ If I had a nickel for everytime I heard a chemistry pun.....

SU

Ph ot

o Of

The W eek!

D E T N A W

The seagull in question had failed to conduct its business in an open transparent manner; in fact it seems not to have conducted its business or any business at all.

Attempts have been made by various bodies both inside and outside the university to contact this seagull and compel it to answer for its actions; such attempts have however been unsuccessful thus far.

Which fat geese this seagull worked under and was answerable to is yet to be established as details around its employment are as murky as the Lake itself.

features@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 11th September 2012

Ceád míle fáilte, welcome.

Elizabeth Coote

H

ere in Ireland we have a saying, which means one hundred thousand wel-

comes.

This greeting comes from the College Tribune, student newspaper of University College Dublin to every student arriving for the first time through the gates of the university.

This includes our overseas students, our Irish students and all students who are returning after the summer break.

I was approached by the staff of this newspaper and invited to write a small article for the first edition of the current term.

There are approximately 25,000 students and 2,000 staff on campus and I hope that a huge majority of you will read this first attempt by me to write for a college newspaper.

It may sound corny, but I will write from my heart and be passionate about all that concerns stu-

dents within the walls of this university.

I hope that my words will support and help all students, but most importantly of all, the first year students, both those who have just completed their school years and those who are a tiny bit older and are returning to perhaps complete a course they never finished, or who never had the opportunity to go as far as third level education before.

Both of these categories are as important as each other and both have so much in common.

There is no barrier when it comes to education. Age does not and never will be a division.

When you go to class and meet your colleagues, forget about the age gap and see each other as equals, wishing to get the education that you have worked and aspired to acquiring all your life.

Go to your classes and tutorials and listen to the finest lecturers in

Ireland. They are the teachers who share their knowledge with us and it is you the student and they the academic staff who are the most important people within this university.

Your first week is so exciting, wonderful and joyful, but for some it may be fearful and you will experience a great deal of anxiety.

Believe me, I have been there and understand what you are feeling, but it is in your hands to make your time here the most wonderful happy time of your life.

Smile, say hello, and talk to your fellow students. Have no fear of asking for help and support, it is available, and wonderful staff are waiting and willing to give such support.

Be strong and courageous and get that support if you need it. No one is higher or lower than anyone else. We are all equal.

REGULARS

CT

Overheard in the College Tribune office James - "Some call him #VinB, but around here we just call him Dad." Cathal - "Thanks for sending in your article, you're fired."

While listening to the Baywatch theme tune..

Cheryl - "I feel like Pamela Anderson right now LOL JK I always feel like her!"

James - "Cathal, can we do rock-the-boat?"

Cathal - "Right here? That's not rock-theboat, that's tantric sex."

TRIBOKU Puzzle 1 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.59)

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2

1

6 4 6

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goldfishgraveyard.wordpress.com

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What the SU has done for you over the Summer EDUCATION • Rate my Tutor on GrindsFile • Debt Carryover for continuing students • Additonal facilities in RDS for Exams • Careers, Internship & Erasmus Fairs

C&C

• Marriage Equality Campaign • Meal Deals on Campus • Volunteership Schemes • Summer Job lists for students

PRESIDENT

• Clever Cuisine • LGBT Campaign • Continuing work on finances & restructuring commercial activities • Preparing for year ahead - training Sabbats & Exec, planning our calendar and events for the year.

WELFARE

• SU Sexual Health Strategy • Coming out hour with LGBT Soc • CBT sessions with AWARE secured for campus • Welfare Crew recruitment

ENTS • Freshers Ball • Mystery Tour • First ever ENTS Bible • Join the ENTS Crew!

editor@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE

11th September 2012

Road to Recovery?

H

RESPONSES

lationship to prices, have dropped sharply.

Yields on Irish nine-year debt last week dropped through the 7 per cent level for the first time since the country was rescued by the European Union and International Monetary Fund in November 2010.

Several big international investors bought Irish debt last year, including California-based Franklin Templeton Investments and giant asset manager PIMCO. This signals confidence that Irish debt is overpriced and is a hugely positive sign for the Irish macro economy.

Irish bond yields began to decouple from Greek and Portuguese yields last July when EU leaders agreed to cut the interest rate Dublin was charged for bail-out loans, saving the country €1bn a year in debt servicing costs. They also reassured investors that the “haircuts”, or losses, proposed for Greek bondholders were an exception and other troubled countries, including Ireland, would pay their debts in full.

Ireland, though, is not in the clear yet. For a start, it has a small bond market, which means that just a handful of big funds deciding to sell could reverse sentiment, and therefore the direction of bond yields, quickly. Second, Ireland needs to boost its anaemic economy with metrics such as unemployment and investment figures of paramount importance.

House prices are continuing to fall, which is a drag on consumer confidence and a worry for some investors. Its export-led recovery, moreover, could yet be knocked off course if there is a further deterioration, as many economists expect,

15

COLLEGE TRIBUNE Editor: Cathal O'Gara James Grannell editor@collegetribune.ie

UCD Investors & Entrepreneurs Society ello and welcome back to all new and continuing UCD students from the newly established Investors & Entrepreneurs society. As the premier society for students interested in banking and financial markets we felt there was a need for a weekly financial column in the university papers this year in order to keep up with these turbulent times for Ireland’s economy.

We will discuss current financial and economic topics weekly in the College Tribune. Ireland’s position in the Eurozone and the EU/ IMF bailout package is of imperative importance at the forefront of economic thought recently and will be the focus of this series of articles.

Since the collapse of the US sub-prime market in 2007 and the ensuing world financial crisis, Ireland has been gripped by recession and austerity. The government’s decision to burden the tax payer with the mistakes of the banks has forced the nation to accept a bailout package in order to maintain current expenditure. However in many people’s eyes, Ireland has turned a corner and is on the road to recovery as sovereign bond yields slowly fall.

Irish sovereign debt has enjoyed one of the strongest rallies in bond markets since July, when Dublin, after a banking crisis that led to a bail-out, had looked like it could follow Athens towards probable default. Over the past eight months investors have become increasingly convinced Ireland is committed to reforms that will turn round its economy. Yields on government bonds, which have an inverse re-

BUSINESS

News Editor: James Grannell news@collegetribune.ie Deputy News Editor: Thomas Cullen News In Focus Editor: Dawn Lonergan Features Editor: Michael Phoenix features@collegetribune.ie Turbine Editor: Candi Wilde

in the wider Eurozone economy.

A further potentially divisive domestic issue in Irish Government policy is how to handle Irish household indebtedness. Over one in five Irish households are in negative equity and some key decisions over mortgage forgiveness and restructuring need to be made in the near future.

Perhaps the biggest worry for Ireland is contagion, as troubles elsewhere knock sentiment across the Eurozone. The spark for contagion could come from further complexities in the Greek rescue package or more poor data out of Spain and Italy.

However this risk was mitigated to a certain extent when the European Central Bank on Thursday sent capital markets its strongest signal yet that it would deploy unlimited monetary firepower to save the single currency.

Mario Draghi, the central bank’s Italian president, said the ECB

would offer to purchase Eurozone countries’ short-term bonds in the secondary market in a programme dubbed outright monetary transactions that would address “distortions in financial markets”.

The last quarter of 2012 is a crucial period for our nation with the impact of the US Presidential election and reaction to the second budget of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition at the front of investors thinking.

Much depends on the European macroeconomic developments for the remainder of Ireland’s bailout tenure and certainly the Celtic Tiger will be licking its wounds for years to come with full recovery taking more time but, on fundamentals, Ireland surely remains the best recovery play in Europe.

We look forward to keeping you up to date on this topic along with other economic, financial and political developments in the coming academic year.

Sports Editors: Conall Devlin Amy Eustace sport@collegetribune.ie Chief Writer: Sarah Doran sarah@collegetribune.ie

The Siren Music Editor: Ciaran Breslin music@collegetribune.ie Fashion Editor: Róisín Sweeney fashion@collegetribune.ie Arts Editor: Conor Fox arts@collegetribune.ie

Regulars Designer: Cheryl Flood design@collegetribune.ie

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11th September 2012

Bord na Gaeilge UCD www.ucd.ie/bnag

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sport@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE

11th September 2012

SPORT

17

The Wesht Is Alive Conall Devlin takes a look at Connaughts chances of taking home two All Ireland Senior Championship titles.

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onnaught has been privy to droughts over the course of history, none less than in GAA All Ireland Senior Championship success, but as this year’s campaigns draw to a close at the end of this month, the defiant Galway hurlers and tenacious Mayo footballers aim to flip the script on the status quo of recent times. The opportunity to be freed from the choker tags with which they have been so infamously associated has never been greater.

In the Hurling, the King and Prince of the game have to do it all again. Kilkenny’s Henry Shefflin and Galway’s Joe Canning proved why they are considered the top two talents in the game as they led an intriguing shootout in Sunday’s final that ended in an honourable truce, 0-19 2-13.

The marksmen rattled up 0-12 and 1-9 respectively and with the game on the line Canning nervelessly guided over a free like a faded golf shot to ensure that the tie go to a replay, the first for an All Ireland Hurling final since 1959.

It was not as flashy as some of the outstanding finals of recent years, but Shefflin and Canning were instrumental in delivering upon all the hype of the occasionthere were contentious frees, contentious points, a relatively tentative Kilkenny rattled at times in the first half by a defiant Galway before Shefflin almost single handedly turned the game around.

The dirge of clichés in sport when the game ends in a draw that

‘neither team deserved to lose’ in all too loosely applied, however even as Kilkenny legend DJ Carey admitted, it was a relief to see Canning slot over the equalizer to avoid the heartache of sporting regret and ensure that this epic battle be concluded on another day.

Not even the most partisan of Kilkenny supporters would have wished the fledgling career of hurling’s finest to suffer such blemish.

Despite the 10 point victory over Kilkenny in the Leinster Championship, many doubted Galway’s ability to match up the experience of one of the greatest Hurling teams of all time.

Many doubted that man of the match Iarla Tannian would break even the likes of Brian Hogan.

However, few would now doubt that Galway, the young pretenders, have the beating of this Kilkenny side and can reclaim the Liam McCarthy Cup for the first time since 1988.

UCD students and Kilkenny panelists Cillian Buckley, Wally Walsh and Willie Phelan will hope Liam returns for another year.

Meanwhile in the Football, UCD’s Chris Barrett was a late replacement for Colm Boyle in the Mayo defence for the surprise deposition of reigning champions Dublin in the semi final. Barrett nullified the threat of the roving Paul Flynn and with Dublin on the verge of a historic comeback made a last ditch goal line block on Bernard Brogan to ensure Mayo held on.

Barrett’s performance was indic-

ative of James Horan’s blueprint on the county. A level headed manager with old style gravitas, his pragmatic approach has paid dividends on the county’s performances. A stale Dublin side came up against a team in Mayo that had the temerity to tear them apart, standing up to their physical strength and running game.

However, they will encounter a different animal when they march into Croke Park on the 23rd Sep-

tember looking to claim their first Sam Maguire since 1951.

Ulster champions Donegal have been the best team in the country this year and Mayo will need a new level of elusiveness, skill and intelligence to outmanoeuvre their powerhouse opponents. Cork, Kerry, Down and Tyrone have all been outfought and outsmarted by Jim McGuinness’ team this year and Mayo have not come up against players in as good form as Karl

Lacey, Mark McHugh and Colm McFadden to date. Dublin had the dreaded slippage of hunger and standards so endemic from winning an All Ireland where Donegal have the same thirst as Mayo for making history.

For all of the above, it is a novel pairing for an All Ireland final- two counties who have reinvigorated the football championship.

So for two more Sundays in early autumn, Jones Road will be flooded full of hope, the eternal disappointment and scepticism a thing of yesteryear, the years of yearning for their day out in the sun just 70 minutes away.

It will either be immortality for King Henry or Prince Canning, Jim McGuinness or James Horan, Paddy McBrearty or Cillian O’Connor.

18 18 SPORT

sport@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 11th September 2012

A Summer in sport Anthony Strogen Sports Writer

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year ending in an even number is always music to a sports fan’s ears. That may seem odd, but it means that during the summer there will be at least one major sporting event to go along with the already packed schedule of events.

First up was Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. Compared with the World Cup, the Euros tend have a much higher standard of football due to the absence of weaker nations, and this year’s edition was certainly no different.

It was a magnificent tournament with very few poor games and an infinite number of talking points.

Spain flattered to deceive all the way through, and then produced an exhibition of perfect football in the final. Italy had a shock renaissance, which flew in the face of the doomsday predictions offered by pundits pre-tournament.

The Irish public were treated to the dismal fairing of our own national team. Outclassed in each of our three group games, it’s scant consolation that both finalists came from our group, as a cocktail of simple errors, poor management and a

lack of adventure saw us perform even below the most conservative of expectations.

Every leap year the world fixes its eyes on one city for the Olympic Games and this time it was London hosting the pinnacle of global sport.

Michael Phelps bowed out of swimming with a golden swansong, there was déjà vu on the track as Usain Bolt once again destroyed the competition, while Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis lit up the stadium with awe-inspiring hometown performances.

The Irish took heart from the fantastic success of our boxers, who took home four medals. Katie Taylor’s gold will no doubt go down as a treasured national memory.

There was also success for Ireland in the Equestrian arena, with Cian O’Connor producing a stunning last day surge to earn a bronze.

Summer had been preceded by concern in GAA circles that the national games might be cast aside by the two major international events taking place overseas. This was certainly not the case, with both codes enjoying fascinating years.

In football, there was a genuine

sense of evolution and a changing of the guard at the top table. Teams like Kerry and Tyrone which have dominated the landscape for so long were significantly weaker, allowing new pretenders to the crown in the form of Donegal and Mayo.

The Seanie Johnston transfer saga dominated the early months of summer while defensive play, gamesmanship and cynical fouling became the topics du jour for the umpteenth championship in a row.

Hurling had a fine championship too, with abiding memories including Galway demolishing Kilkenny in the Leinster Final and Tipperary’s Lar Corbett playing follow the leader with Tommy Walsh for 70 minutes, oblivious to the fact that his teammates were being beaten out the gate. Cork, Limerick and Clare all showed strong signs of a return to glory being on the cards, while Tipperary, Dublin and Waterford took big steps backwards.

Scrappy play continued to be a sore point. Hurling fans always take pride in the fact that it is “a man’s game” and are unlikely to pour scorn on anything short of decapitation. However, even the

most ardent fan would admit that the constant rucking and physical scraps are ruining the spectacle of what used to be a free flowing and skilful game.

Elsewhere, the horse racing summer was once again lit up by the brilliance of Frankel, who staked his claim as one of the alltime greats. In golf, Rory McIlroy returned to the peak of his game in August to claim his second major.

Bradley Wiggins and his Team Sky machine completely dominated the Tour de France, becoming the first British man to win the race.

als Scott Sinclair and Jack Rodwell were also signed.

Antrim man Brendan Rodgers was faced with the unenviable task of rebuilding a Liverpool squad already crippled by overspending and low confidence but the Anfield faithful have had little to celebrate in the off-season.

The lunacy of allowing €44m Geordie Andy Carroll to join West Ham on loan without signing Fulham’s Clint Dempsey or any other replacement forward for that matter boggles the mind.

The Reds bizarrely waited all

summer to move Carroll out but could not wait an extra forty-eight hours to confirm his replacement and must now rely on the often goal-shy Luis Suarez and the unproven Italian Fabio Borini up front until January at least.

Meanwhile, in north London, Luka Modric’s €41.5m move to Real Madrid allowed new Tottenham boss André Vilas Boas to snap up Moussa Dembelé (€19m) and Clint Dempsey from Fulham, Dutch defender Jan Vertonghen, Icelandic attacking midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, France national goal-

keeper Hugo Lloris and the permanent transfer of controversial former Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor from Manchester City.

Arsenal, having also lost Alex Song to Barcelona, prepared well for the loss of RVP with the early import of two strikers, international (though perhaps not yet club) star Lukas Podolski and Frenchman Olivier Giroud as well as Malaga’s winger Santi Cazorla, a player who Real Madrid tried to sign two years ago and is already earning himself devoted fans.

With the traditional summer sports coming to an end, we can now look forward to the start of new seasons in club soccer and rugby amongst others. All in all it was a great summer of sport… but what else did you expect?

Window shopping Thomas Hobbs Sports Writer

T

he ironic thing about the club soccer summer hiatus is that it can draw in the more passive fans as the transfer madness replaces it, engrossing millions while perhaps continuing to earn the disapproval of the more cynical.

Here we will take a brief look at the outcome of the Premier League’s more eye-catching offseason movements, the hefty fee payers, the value and non-value in the market and the culmination of hype made so unnecessarily but entertainingly tense by Sky Sports News’ Jim White on transfer deadline day.

Neither UEFA’s parental device of Financial Fair Play nor the worldwide recession have truly hampered the flow of the market. Hardcore spending by Qatari-backed Paris Saint-Germain and the Russian Anzhi Makhachkala and Zenit St. Petersburg has not necessarily initiated direct reverberations within England, there is certainly a growing mentality of financial competitiveness among teams in European competition.

Premier League clubs did not quite emulate the 2008 record of €630m but the €12.5m they were found shy of this gargantuan total points towards widespread activity.

Chelsea, still extravagantly backed by oil baron Roman Abramovich,

have sought to build on Champions League success and the loss of the explosive Didier Drogba by spending just over €100m largely on an exciting new attacking line including the much lauded Belgian maestro Eden Hazard for €40m, the Brazilian Olympian attacker Oscar (€32m), German winger Marko Marin and Wigan’s Nigerian forward Victor Moses.

Nor were Manchester United strangers to the cheque book, which is somewhat unusual given that Sir Alex Ferguson has historically tended to not spend big despite seasons of little on-field a success.

United have bought German league and cup champion Shinji Kagawa (€21.5m) as well as Premier League Player of the Year Robin van Persie (€30m).

The latter signing, agreed over a persuasive call from Ferguson to Arsene Wenger, is seen as a major boost to title credentials at Old Trafford and a blow to champions Manchester City who were uncharacteristically reserved in their spending.

City completed most of their business on deadline day with the capture of Javi Garcia (€20.2m) replacing the AC Milan bound Nigel de Jong. Serbian defender Matija Nastasic, veteran right back Maicon and England Under 21 internation-

sport@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE

11th September 2012

UCD RFC - 6

Amy Eustace Sports Editor

Lansdowne RFC - 18

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Robert Shanley Sports Writer

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The home side found a way into the game through an excellent 40m penalty from Stephen Murphy on 35 minutes, and it seemed half time came at a good moment for them, only 6-3 down with plenty of the match to play.

Unfortunately, it was Lansdowne who struck first after half time when Matt Healy took a short ball from his out-half to strike under the posts. Ronaldson converted.

UCD made good in roads into the game through full back Dan Costello and centre Alex Kelly, but couldn’t make it stick. They can be grateful for the resulting defensive displays of Danny Kenny, Eoin Joyce and Shane Grannell for keeping them in the game.

However, Lansdowne still managed the next score although they failed to convert. One more Murphy penalty saw the score line finish 18-6.

The Irish knights rise Ciaran Carey

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Making waves at the Games Continued from back page

Sports Writer

hannel 4 asked us to “Meet the super humans” in their fantastic coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic games; an apt narrative to shape in a summer where comic books dominated the silver screen. Many of the competitors were once mild mannered civilians whose lives were changed in an instant and they must struggle with what was before and what they are now able to do.

Others were born into the life they lead and the differences between them and others.

If they began the games as super humans many of the Irish team, through their fantastic performance, surely return as super heroes. The assembled squad of super men and wonder women performed marvelously bringing home sixteen medals including eight gold.

Top of the league for Ireland is the fastest paralympian in the world Jason Smyth who w o n both the 100m and 200m in world record breaking times.

Westmeath speed racer and UCD graduate Mark Rohan also won double gold on his bike in hand cycling. Ireland’s third double gold winner was the incred-

19

The life aquatic

Lansdowne retains Sutherland Cup

he weather was kind to the crowd of a few hundred who came down to watch the inaugural Sutherland Cup match between UCD and Lansdowne RFC in the Belfield Bowl on Saturday.

The sunshine was not the only thing to be grateful for as the two sides gave an excellent display of running rugby in the sweltering heat to kick off the college term.

Lansdowne opened the scoring through two Craig Ronaldson penalties after some keen early pressure. UCD found it difficult to get momentum in a half where the rustiness of the first games of the season was still evident.

Nonetheless, UCD were able to stay within one score of parity.

Andy Cummisky found himself sinbinned on nineteen minutes after an infringement at the breakdown near the try line, but UCD held on throughout.

SPORT

ible Michael McKillop who won his medals over both 800m and 1500m.

It was V for victory at the aquatic centre as girl wonder Beth Firth left them for dead in the pool winning her 100m backstroke race and aqua man Darragh McDonald flashed by the competition in his 400m freestyle race.

The main characters of this particular novel are always going to be those that added to the medal tally, especially if with gold, but every athlete has been through their own pains and come out the other end the hero of their own story.

As the time passes the heroics may fade for the rest of us

as the Paralympians return to the day to day, the mundane, under the cover of anonymity, but inside the Olympic fire will burn and they themselves and those close to them will know, for those two weeks, they were indeed super.

It is easy to get carried away with this narrative of the different; the special; the other but of course what is more important is sameness that connects people. Sport has a special magic of its own to melt away the clutter that is appearance and bring to the fore the universalities of pain and joy and everything in between.

Whether super heroes or super humans or merely just humans at some level we are all infected with the need to compete, grasping at the notion of improving ourselves, trying to be a better me.

Now, Annalise is looking to the future, and to improving on her feats in the English capital. When asked what stands between her and Rio in 2016, her answer is typically frank: “Another four years of hard work.”

“In the last four years I’ve come on a huge amount. I was a youth sailor back then and I feel like if I could improve ten percent on how much I improved in the past few years that could be enough. It’s really difficult, it’s quite competitive; it’s the biggest sailing fleet to be in and there’s people competing from every country, so it’s a hard class. I just have to keep on working, not let anybody else get ahead of me.

“Obviously I have to qualify again, and it will be a difficult qualification process but I’m hoping that with a bit of unfinished business with the Olympics, next time I can change that. I might not be there anyway, but I’d like to think I can.”

Having reapplied to the CAO this year for a course with a lighter workload, Health and Performance Science, Annalise is a freshfaced first year again. No doubt, whether there are medals in her future or not, the next few years have a lot in store for Ireland’s brightest young sailing talent.

ith Freshers Week only around the corner and a veritable plethora of sports clubs at students' disposal for the year ahead, the College Tribune takes a look at one of the many options on offer - the Scuba Club.

We spoke to Cathal O'Feargail, a member, who got a taste for scuba diving in more exotic waters in Thailand. "I didn't know what to expect when I joined UCD Scuba Club on my return, or indeed if diving in Irish waters could compare to the colourful warm tropical dives abroad, but the first weekend away with the club certainly answered my questions with a bang. Don't let anyone tell you there is nothing to see when diving in Ireland!"

According to Cathal, Ireland is an ideal spot for diving thanks to its premium position on the edge of Europe on the Continental Shelf.

"Our waters provide dive sites of varying quality and standards to encompass all individual requirements," he explains. "Due to its small size, it is relatively easy to travel from one part of the country to another, giving divers the opportunity to travel for one, or more, days' diving."

Penniless students need not fear.

Compared to training commercially, joining the scuba club would prove far more economical. "Training is offered in all aspects of diving and once you have completed your basic qualification, the world is your oyster and you can expand your dive experience by training right up to Instructor level."

"The club also provides equipment, and anything else you need can be borrowed off senior members until you are ready to make the commitment to purchase your own. Costs of weekends away are kept to minimum, while never scrounging on the banter!"

Diving takes place all along the coasts of Ireland and weekly dives are organised in Dublin Bay over the summer months. For Cathal, the social aspect is just as important as the diving.

The Scuba Club is always open for new members and will be represented at the upcoming Sports Expo from the 17th to the 20th of September, where prospective divers can have their questions answered.

Visit their website: www.ucdsac.ie

http://

20

sport@collegetribune.ie

TRIBUNE

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 11th September 2012

SPORT

WINDOW SHOPPING

Thomas Hobbs discusses the madness of this Summer's transfer window PAGE 18

Above: Annalise Murphy competing in the 2012 London Olympic Games earlier in the Summer

Making waves at the Games Amy Eustace Sports Editor

F

or the casual observer, Annalise Murphy – Ireland’s surprise Olympic sailing package – was an unknown quantity before her London 2012 surge to stardom.

In reality, Murphy’s road to the Games started back in 2009, when she postponed her UCD science degree to focus on sailing.

“I kind of had to make a decision. If I’d stayed and tried to do both, I probably would have been disappointed with both. I might not have done quite as well in sailing as I would have wanted to do, and maybe I would have done terribly in college. I was away 270 days last year, I wouldn’t have had time to

think never mind go to college. It definitely paid off.”

A second generation Olympian, Murphy’s mother Cathy featured for Ireland in Seoul in 1988. 24 years on, the Rathfarnham native captured and set alight a somewhat dormant Irish interest in sailing with a stunning performance in the Women’s Laser Radial Class that saw her finish an impressive, but rather cruel, fourth place.

She put in a mesmerising display to lead the race overall for much of the week. By the medal race, she had dropped to third, but still had a good shot at a medal and could, at worst, finish fifth. In the end, it was

not to be for the Irishwoman, who left London having come tantalisingly close to the podium, but with plenty of new experience and a fine showing under her belt.

Annalise knew she had it in her.

“I thought that everything went right for me I could definitely be in with a chance of winning a medal,” she explains. “I had won a bronze medal in the World Cup event in Weymouth (the Olympic venue) a month beforehand, and everyone that was going to be competing at the Olympics was there.”

As for the disappointment of the final race, she has adopted an impressively mature view. “People

have been asking me how I feel, and I just feel that I couldn’t have done anything more. In the three years before it, I feel like I did everything I possibly could have to prepare.

I went into it quite relaxed and thinking that whatever happened, whether I came first or last, I had put everything into it.”

“I had an amazing Olympic experience. It was incredible going there and meeting so many incredible athletes. It was disappointing for me in the end. It’s not going to take away from the fact I had a great Olympics, but it is hard to get over.”

Outside the competitive arena, one couldn’t help but get the im-

pression that the Olympics were a blur of activity for everyone involved. For Annalise, the highlight was the camaraderie between athletes. “I really enjoyed the opening and closing ceremonies. We had the Jamaican team behind us, and got pictures with Asafa Powell. It was so cool to see these global superstars and you’re able to go up to them and nearly chat with them.

They kind of have a sort of mutual respect for you. Talking to the likes of Bradley Wiggins, who was just a normal guy, and he’s just won the Tour De France!”

Continued on page 19