College Tribune Issue 11

COLLEGE TRIBUNE Volume XXVI 23rd April 2013

Issue 11 Independent Student Media Since 1989

LAURA CULLEN CONSIDERS THE ROLE OF A MENTOR IN THE LIVES OF IRISH STUDENTS PAGE 9

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INSIDE THE SIREN

Problems with UCD Ball location known last Summer Ronan Coveney News Writer

Provisional Booking made last Summer with RDS Primarily Garda objections that forced Ball off site Delay in lineup announcement due to “Language barriers and contracts slowing things down.”

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provisional booking was made by former UCDSU President Pat de Brún with the RDS as far back as last summer, following concerns that the UCD Ball would not be allowed on campus this year.

The provisional booking was made following a debrief meeting which took place after last years UCD Ball where serious issues about the event were raised. It is believed this is in relation to Garda concerns about excessive drinking at the event.

In her address to Union Council on the matter, UCDSU President Rachel Breslin stated; “after the ball there is always a debrief meeting with the statutory authorities, after this meeting there were serious issues about the event... the then SU President and General Manager investigated outside venues and made an individual booking with one of those.”

Speaking to the College Tribune, Breslin stated that, “Prior to my taking office but after the debrief meeting from the 2012 Ball with UCD and the Statutory Authorities the President [Pat de Brún] looked at off-campus venues and took steps to book the RDS. However when I took office I did not pursue

this booking and Eoin [Heffernan] and I focused instead on working to try and have an on-campus Ball.”

Efforts to hold the Ball on campus continued until March 27th of this year when a Garda written objection was received by UCDSU. A site had been found on campus that would accommodate the ball, however due to the written Garda objections, this site was unavailable, Breslin outlined that “I met the [UCD] President specifically about the Ball and outlined the situation regarding the Ball, he gave his approval and support for an oncampus Ball and we then secured a location - the car-park behind the Student Centre.”

There were also plans in place last November for a smaller capacity three night marquee festival on campus, however this type of event was deemed unfeasible financially for the Union primarily due to the reduced capacity. Breslin stated that the Union considered “moving the Ball into a marquee, but the largest marquee that can fit on available space in UCD would only accommodate 2000 people.”

UCDSU made a number of suggestions, however none were successful. Some of these included moving the ball to a Saturday, reducing the capacity of the ball by up to 46% and the closure of some parts of the N11 UCD flyover.

Breslin stated, “the Gardai’s request that the event be indoor is certainly a change, but we believe we can deliver a great event on the last day of term for everyone to celebrate and enjoy.”

The release of the line up was delayed due to negotiations between music agents being slower than expected. After many students

Photo: Judge Judy Sheindlin with Rachel Duffy, newly elected Auditor of UCD Law Society, and students who attended her talk at University College Dublin complained of the delays in the announcement of the line up, UCD ENTS Officer Eoin Heffernan took to twitter to say “Language barriers and contracts slowing things down.

This stuff takes a bitta time!”.

In relation to the financial aspect of this year move off campus Breslin asserts, “I expect the Ball to

break even. When we exceed break even we will reinvest the profits in the production around the event to make it even better.” Breslin continued “I'm delighted at how fast tickets are selling, I didn't expect demand to be so strong given the short run-in....We sold over 1/3 of our total capacity in the first two days of ticket sales.”

At the time of print some of the major acts confirmed included This Club, Gigi D'Agostino, Passanger, and Hudson Taylor. The UCD Ball takes place this Friday in the O2, with all early bird tickets sold out, tickets are now on sale for €35 in SU shops on campus or online at www.ucdents.com

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editor@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 23rd April 2013

25thOctober 11th October2011 2011

INSIDE THE TRIBUNE

COLLEGE

TRIBUNE

NEWS Unions reject Croke Park II deal Page 5

FEATURES Fighting for a lost cause

Was it for this?

Cathal O'Gara and James Grannell Editors

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s the academic year draws to a close the end of an era fast approaches. As North Korea posture with threats of nuclear war and the iron lady corrodes away, we, your most august editors of College Tribune volume XXVI, must relinquish our grip on independent student media. The UCD administration and Students’ Union will, no doubt, sleep soundly in their beds in the knowledge that the terror is soon coming to its inevitable end.

As we go on to bigger and better things we would like to take this time to thank some of those who made College Tribune volume XXVI possible.

To the news team - we thank you for being the biggest dirt diggers and filth peddlers UCD has known. Your dedication to raking up dirt, door-stopping celebs and creating inventive lies when news was slow was second to none. We’re sure you’ll all go on to have glittering careers in the Daily Mail.

To Dawn, for her focus on all things newsy - whether it be the Eurovision, abortion, or Catalonian independence, you always gave us so much to think about.

To Michael our features editor and travel writer extraordinaire - not only did you do us proud in bringing home the first Smedia in four years, but you gave our paper a literary and philosophical edge that will surely go down in his-

tory. We wish you luck in your South American adventures.

To the guys in the business section - because of your work our paper has, perhaps for the first time, been read in Quinn. It is our hope that someday your drunken daughters will be recorded in a chipper telling everybody how much you earn in KPMG. To Daire and Cormac in the Irish section - we have no idea what you were writing about, but we’re sure it was good.

To our sports team headed by the amazing Amy and Conall - your commitment and enthusiasm shone through the section. They say that the best hurlers are on the ditch, but we know the best sports team are in the Tribune.

To Conor in the Arts section – you have no idea how much we will miss those production weekend drawings. You kept us artsy and you certainly kept us entertained.

To Ciaran in the music section – we’ll never get those pictures out of our head… never. Your knowledge of music never ceased to amaze us.

Especially James, who know nothing past Baroque.

To Roisin in the Fashion section – thank you.

Thank you for creating the most savvily nonchalant section that the paper has seen in years - We even hear Grace Coddington's an avid reader.

We’d also like to thank our many writers and contributors who helped make the paper what it is. In particular, Robert our illustrator who put into pictures what we couldn’t put into words – for fear of a lawsuit. Thank you also to our regular columnist, Elizabeth Coote.

Elizabeth, you are an inspiration to us all.

Your tireless campaigning for the students and staff of UCD fill us with the hope that things can get better and that the truth will shine through.

We hope your relationship with the university and the College Tribune carries on for many years to come. Your knowledge of and stories about UCD have both helped and entertained us. It has been an honour to have you write for our paper this year.

May we also take the opportunity to thank those academics and staff members in UCD who helped us throughout the year. We need not name you, as you will know who you are – and we hear they’re setting up a gulag for dissenting voices. Thank you for the chats, the advice and the work that you are doing within the univer-

sity. It is heartening to know that when so many are silent about the realities of college life, there are those who are not afraid to stick their heads above the parapet and make their voices heard.

A huge thanks to Trina and all in Datascope – your patience is much appreciated. It would be hard to find anyone who could get a paper printed and delivered in the space of a few hours as you managed time and time again.

Perhaps the greatest thanks must go to our wonderful designer Cheryl. You’ve been with us through production weekends and near mental breakdowns. We’ve laughed (often inappropriately) and cried - at 6am on a Monday morning when the paper still wasn’t finished. You’re simply the best, better than all the rest Cheryl. We’ll miss our fortnightly bants most of all.

Thank you to our family and friends for being there through the good and the bad. Without your support we might not have made it through.

Most of all we’d like to thank you our readers.

If you didn’t pick up the paper there would be little point in our existence. We hope that you have found the College Tribune to be both informative and entertaining.

Next year our paper will be 25 years old. It is an impressive achievement that, without any financial backing other than our advertisers, we have lasted so long. There have been times when there were calls to shut us down, to throw us out of our office or to reign us in; thankfully all have been unsuccessful. The College Tribune, founded in 1989 by Vincent Browne, has been a living witness to the changes that have taken place in UCD over the last quarter century. We hope that it will continue for as long as there is a UCD. Editors are often reminded of the foundational purpose of our paper - to hold the powers that be to account - and it is our hope that we have done that this year.

But now the time has come to stop the presses, to clean up the office and to pass the keys on to another. It has been the best of years, but all good things come to an end and we must move on – Cathal to his unending quest to take over Vogue and James to his revolutionary writings in the Avant Vanguard.

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BUSINESS Strategic default: what’s going on?

Page 12

GNÉ - AILT Cad atá ar siúl? Radharc ar an ardchathair L 14

SPORT Box office Di Canio winning relegation dogfight Page 17

REGULARS Slán Leat –Goodbye Page 15

EDITORS' CHOICE Amongst the tide of resource nationalism Page 8

Always remember – love is like a pineapple: sweet and indefinable.

Cathal Says:

COLLEGE TRIBUNE STAFF Editors: Cathal O'Gara James Grannell editor@collegetribune.ie News Editor: Ronan Coveney Deputy News Editor: Thomas Cullen News In Focus Editor: Dawn Lonergan

Features Editor: Michael Phoenix

Communities Editor:

Illustrator: Robert MulPeter

Music Editor: Ciaran Breslin

Eagarthóirí Gaeilge: Cormac Breathnach Daire Brennan

Fashion Editor: Róisín Sweeney

Sports Editors: Conall Devlin Amy Eustace

Peter Hamilton

Arts Editor: Conor Fox Art Director: Cheryl Flood

Contributors List: Matthew Farrelly Sam Kane Stephen West Amanda Ouellette Laura Cullen Tomás Ó Loingsigh Niall Conroy Éilis Nic Aodhagáin Susan Byrne

Elizabeth Coote Thomas Hobbs Luke Harrington Mark Keane Ceithrean Murray Anthony Strogen Benny O’Regan

Amanda Ouellette discusses African governments' seeking of more ownership in the mining industry and their threat of losing long-term investors.

COLLEGE TRIBUNE Scan the QR code to visit collegetribune.ie

news@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 23rd April 2013

Students may face debt collectors for medical bills Ronan Coveney News Writer

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CD students have been faced with threats of debt collectors over unpaid bills from the Student Health Service.

One student who was contacted, Suzanne Lee, was called on her mobile by the UCD Student Health Service during the mid term break. During the call Lee alleges that she was told they would be in touch again and the next call she will get from them “will be to inform me that the debt collectors are coming.”

Lee says she has built up a bill of around €700 and that she has used the service for psychiatric appointments and contraceptives.

She continued, “the reason the bill is so high is because psychiatric appointments are 40 euro a time and I had to go because I attempted suicide.”

Speaking to the College Tribune, Lee said “if I don't pay the bill I was told the debt collectors would come, that's grand, I don't have anything for them to take anyway”.

A spokesperson for UCD confirmed to the College Tribune that “a member of staff at the Health Centre is currently contacting students who owe outstanding monies to the Health Centre to remind them of the monies owed and to encourage them to pay the outstanding monies.”

Meanwhile plans are still in place by UCD to employ a debt collection agency to deal with unpaid fees. A tender process began earlier this year for what UCD call the “collection of outstanding monies”. It is unknown how much the tender will be worth to the

winning contractor.

Speaking to the College Tribune about the situation UCDSU Welfare Officer Mícheál Gallagher stated that “although it's understandable that money owed to UCD needs to be paid, asking for payment needs to be done in a sensitive manner. College fees have risen exponentially since the year 2009, the year in which most final year students started their degrees and students' changing circumstances need to be taken into account.”

Gallagher continued, “Anyone who would like to raise this as an item of discussion is more than welcome to do so at Students’ Union Council, Thursday 25th April 6pm.”

NEWS

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Newly-elected Graduate Officer speaks out Matthew Farrelly News Writer

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n 11th April Dylan Gray was elected, uncontested, to the position of UCD Students’ Union Graduate Education Officer by 62% of those who cast a vote.

The total poll was only 68 people.

In an interview with the College Tribune the new Officer outlined his plans for the coming year, and the challenges of taking up a position when, out of 10000 students eligible less than 1% voted.

When asked as to why he believes he is the right man for the job considering the results of the election, Gray stated that he possessed an outsiders view of the Students’ Union, having never been involved in the Union before. He went on to say that, “Most people I've spoken to since the election have been supportive despite the poor turnout, and think that I've a great opportunity to show how useful this position in the SU can be.”

Gray refused to attribute the blame for the poor turnout on any one factor, instead believing that due to the previous elections that had been held this semester, students were suffering from election fatigue. However, he stated that “Many final years don't care about the SU as they feel that they won't be around in UCD to benefit from it next year, and subsequently don't vote. As for post-grads, they have typically not benefited hugely from the SU in the past, and as such don't have much interest in elections.”

When asked how he could justify the € 20,000 salary when there was such a low turnout Gray remarked that, “I will be working full time in this position, and my results at the end of my term will hopefully justify my salary for me. “ Speaking about his plans for the year ahead, Gray said that he will be meeting with the other Sabbatical Officers after exams to discuss their aims for the year, how to go about them, and whether or not they are

feasible. “Despite not knowing for certain exactly what issues I will be working on, defending students who can't afford college will be a top priority.”

He did however state, when asked about the current situation regarding Graduate Nursing, that, “I know that the SU introduced a motion on it at the last session of Council and will be running a campaign. Whether or not this is the prime time to start a student led campaign remains to be seen, as many students are extremely busy with exams and will be going away for the summer. However, I think it is good that steps have been taken and I am sure it is an issue which will be addressed again in the year to come.”

Finally when asked, what would he tell those who are still unsure as to whether to apply for a post graduate course this year, Gray stated, “For people considering continuing their study at post-graduate level I would urge them to fully think it through. Graduate level study can be a fantastic opportunity, but is a big commitment financially and in terms of how long they can take.

The careers office in UCD is fantastic and anybody thinking of postgrad courses should talk through all their options with the people there before rushing into anything.”

The position of Graduate Education Officer was created under the new UCDSU constitution in 2012, the reasoning behind it’s creation was to divide the work load of the previous Education Officer position and take responsibility for dealing with issues of academic interest, including access to education and the maintenance grant, quality assurance, the library, overcrowding and resourcing, anonymous marking, assessments and examinations and the general academic advancement of the graduate student body.

COLLEGE TRIBUNE Please note: Applications for the position of Editor close on May 1st.

Applications can be sent to editor@collegetribune.ie

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NEWS

news@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE

23rd April 2013

NEWS IN BRIEF SAM KANE Adolescents binge drinking weekly by sixth year According to studies lately almost a quarter (24%) of adolescents binge drink by the time they reach sixth year.

Research published in the spring edition of 'Psychiatry Professional' in 2013 reveals that 16% of adolescents in their senior years between the junior certificate and the leaving certificate consume alcohol regularly enough and have injured themselves or someone else in the process.

6% of the 16% have reported that an adult in their lives has expressed concerns for them.

These studies may convey a lack of awareness from adults towards their adolescents 'social life and behavior'.

Studies involved over 6,000 adolescents ages 12 to 19 across 72 post-primary schools. Binge drinking was defined as six or more drinks at one session.

Judge Judy honored by UCD Law Society Former US family court judge Judy Sheindlin Known for her tough talking and wisdom on the hit US TV show 'Judge Judy' has received the award of Vice-Presidency from the UCD Law Society.

Judge Judy conveyed how grateful she is was. “Being in such distinguished company is a thrill and extremely meaningful. I have been extremely fortunate to have had two careers- one in the family court and the other in the television court - that I have loved.”

Previous awardees’ of the UCD Law Society include: former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson; former Chief Justice of the Irish Supreme Court, The Hon Mr John L Murray; Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, Antonin Scalia; and the Hon Mr. Justice Diarmuid O'Scannlain of the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.

Exams information Term ends Friday, 26 April.

Revision week Monday, 29 April – Sunday, 5 May. Semester 2 exams Tuesday, 7 May – Saturday, 18 May

High increase in Computing / Technology CAO Applications Thomas Cullen News Writer

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significant increase in the amount of CAO applications for science, technology and engineering has been praised by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) in Ireland. There has been an increase of 51% in people selecting computing programmes as their first choice on CAO applications, whilst there have also been high increases in Science and Engineering applications.

John Hennessy, the chairman of the HEA, has welcomed the increases, stating that; “Science and technology are providing and will provide major opportunities for Ireland. We need to ensure that we continue to grow the number of world class graduates who not alone can work for tech and science based companies but who will also set up companies of their own as well as contribute to the wider society.”

Hennessy further added that he wanted guidance counsellors to “actively encourage” students to look at careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and also stated that it was important that schools, higher education institutions and industry interact with each other to make students aware of any emerging opportunities.

These findings come from an analysis of CAO preferences that was carried out by Dr Vivienne Patterson and Valerie Harvey of the

HEA. The analysis found that the total amount of CAO applicants in 2013 is 71,151, a decrease of 1%, which reflects demographic trends.

It was also found that 3.3% of all applicants this year are from Britain and Northern Ireland, which is similar to 2012. In total there have been 1,223 applicants from Northern Ireland.

According to the analysis there has been a 2% decline in level 8 first preferences from 61,846 in 2012 to 60,739 in 2013. Technology courses remain strong in 2013 constituting 20.5% of all first preference applications, whilst engineering and science first preference applications constitute 4.6% and 7.5%, showing an increase from 2012. Computing applications have remained stable at 6.6% and construction applications continue to decline but are starting to stabilise at 1.7%. Healthcare courses are now around 7.3% of the total first preference applications.

At level 6/7 the amount of first preference applicants has decreased by 7% from 40,168 in 2012 to 37,399 this year. Technology courses received the highest applications with 34% of all level 6/7 first preferences. It was also found that the amount of Education first preference applications went up by 75% in the past 5 years due to increases in the provision of Early Childhood Education Courses.

Irish lead the way with 3rd level qualifications Ronan Coveney News Writer

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igures released this week have shown that over 50% of Irish men and women between the ages of 30 and 34 have a 3rd level qualification, making Ireland the only country in the EU to surpass the 50% mark.

The data, which was released from Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, shows that 58% of Irish women in the same age bracket have finished third level education, while 44% of Irish men have as well.

This shows a growth from 2002 when just 32% of 30 to 34 year olds had a degree. The figures show a growing difference between some of the most forward thinking countries in education, with Finland in 2002 having a rate of 41% which in the past 10 years has had a small increase to 46%.

Coming just below Ireland in the ranking include countries such

as Cyprus (49.9%), Luxembourg (49.6%) and Lithuania (48.7%), with the lowest figures recorded in Italy (21.7%), Romania (21.8%) and Malta (22.4%).

Meanwhile, figures released for 2012 by Eurostat show that Slovenia and Slovakia observed the lowest proportions of population aged between 18-24 who had at most lower secondary education and were currently not in further education or training with figures of 4.4% observed in Slovenia and 5.3% in the Slovakia, with the highest in Spain and Malta.

Along with this, the proportion of early leavers from education and training decreased overall in the past 7 years in all EU Member States, except that of Poland and the United Kingdom.

Pictured above: Joan Burch in the Engineering shop, one of the places on campus where donations for the Student Hardship Fund are collected. The fund provides loans for students who find themselves in financial difficulty. It was begun a number of years ago by the former manager of the Students’ Union shops and current College Tribune writer Mrs Elizabeth Coote after a student working in the shops found herself unable to cover her rent.

UCD partners with Mater in HIV Screening programme Stephen West Writer

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new HIV screening programme that was recently launched in the Mater Hospital Dublin has seen over 2,250 patients take part to check their HIV status. Recent reports suggest that just under 30% of those who have HIV in Ireland are undiagnosed, with this project aimed at those who might not take a test for HIV. The test, which gives results in just 20 minutes, is being offered to those who present themselves at the emergency department of the Mater Hospital Dublin. In collaboration between UCD and Jacobi Medical Centre in the Bronx New York, the project is directed by Dr Paddy Mallon, Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Associate Dean at the UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science. With a high participation rate in the screenings of 75% Dr Mallon described this as “very encouraging and proof that the majority will check their status when given the opportunity.”

With most tests returning a negative result, this new screening programme gives those with positive results quick access to lifesaving treatments. Dr Ger O’Connor, an Emergency Medicine doctor and project leader with the new screen-

ing programme, says that “linking patients with immediate, expert care is essential. We are hoping to reach people with the early and symptom-free stage of HIV, so that they can get the most benefit from treatment and monitoring.”

Dr O’ Connor continues, “treatment and management of HIV has reached the stage where patients who are diagnosed early and receive appropriate treatment can realistically expect a normal lifespan. The message from this project is clear: know your status.”

According to Dr Mallon, it is essential, from a public and individual health perspective, that patients with HIV are diagnosed and given access to expert care at the earliest possible stage.

“This project shows that voluntary screening, within emergency departments provides a feasible and acceptable method for HIV testing in the general population.

A broad screening programme of this nature also helps to normalise HIV testing – everyone should know their status, whether positive or negative. We will use the results of the project to push for implementation of this model throughout Ireland’s emergency departments.”

news@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 23rd April 2013

NEWS

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Unions reject Croke Park II deal James Grannell Editor

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he Croke Park II proposals to cut the public sector pay bill have been rejected by Union members.

The deal was comprehensively rejected after two of Ireland’s largest Unions, SIPTU, which represents many lecturers in UCD, and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, voted against the proposals.

The rejection of the proposal, which included pay cuts, increment freezes and longer working weeks for no extra pay is seen as a major blow for the government who must secure €300 million in savings from the public sector pay bill this year.

Following the results of the ballot, SIPTU president, Jack O’Connor warned the government not to press ahead with legislation for pay cuts, which he said would

inevitably precipitate a major, mutually destructive confrontation.

Members of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) also rejected the proposals in the Croke Park II agreement. The proposals were rejected by a margin of three to one. A total of 704 members voted against the proposals while 235 voted in favour.

IFUT General Secretary, Mike Jennings, said that following this decisive vote, he will now be consulting the IFUT Executive to decide on the union’s further approach and action on the issue.

The National Executive of IFUT had called on members to vote no to the agreement.

IFUT argued that there was a gross misconception that academics are highly paid, pointing out that the starting salary of a Lecturer is €34,386 and the job requires at

least 8 years of post-Leaving Certificate education to qualify for.

They stated that their members had already suffered a reduction in their earnings of the order of 25% and that significant numbers of staff in the universities and colleges face the threat of compulsory redundancy. They further stated that IFUT has been forced to fight all such threats on a case by case basis and that the Department of Education refused point blank to insert any wording whatever into the new proposals which would give more job security to academics and researchers.

Many academics were concerned that the cutbacks proposed in the revised agreement would have a seriously disproportionate effect on higher education staff because of the massive amount of extra work they have had to take on arising

from historically high enrolment numbers combined with reductions in staff numbers.

In 2008 there were 4,795 academics and 89,650 students. By 2011 the number of staff had fallen to 4,426 while the number of students had soared to 106,448.

It was also stated that the proposed cutbacks would have a disproportionate effect on lower paid academics and that the proposed agreement showed a lack of understanding of the working schedule of their members.

Opposition TD’s have said that the result represents a rejection of the government's austerity program.

Following the rejection of the proposals the Executives of Ireland’s three main teacher’s unions, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI), the

Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI), and the country’s largest teacher union, the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), have decided to ballot for industrial action.

In a statement, union leaders said that industrial action would be triggered in the event that the government proceeds to impose pay cuts or worsen working conditions for their members. The ballots will be for industrial action up to and including strike action.

The ballot will take place next month. ASTI president Gerry Breslin has, however, ruled out any interference with the Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate exams and it is likely that any such action would take place at the beginning of the next academic year in September.

6 TAUGHT MASTERS BURSARIES 3 FOR SEPT

NUI MAYNOOTH GRADUATE SCHOOL

Closing Date: 5th July http://graduatestudies.nuim.ie/ scholarship

2013-14 MASTERS PROGRAMMES ARTS, CELTIC STUDIES & PHILOSOPHY

Ancient Classics Celtic Studies English, Media & Theatre Studies History Modern Languages, Literatures & Cultures Music Philosophy The Language Centre An Foras Feasa

SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

Biology Chemistry Computer Science Electronic Engineering Experimental Physics Mathematics & Statistics Mathematical Physics Psychology Hamilton Institute Institute of Immunology Callan Institute National Centre for Geocomputation (NCG)

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Adult & Community Education Anthropology Applied Social Studies Business Economics, Finance & Accounting Education Geography Law Sociology Innovation Value Institute (IVI) National Institute for Regional & Spatial Analysis (NIRSA)

Contact us or call into our office Graduate Studies Office John Hume Building, North Campus NUI Maynooth, Co. Kildare Email graduatestudies@nuim.ie Tel 01 708 6018 Web http://graduatestudies.nuim.ie

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NEWS IN FOCUS

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE 23rd April 2013

Boston Bombings: Innocent until proven guilty?

Dawn Lonergan investigates the legal morality of the hunting of the suspected Boston Bombers.

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ne suspect of the Boston Bombings is dead and the other is in custody without any trial or charges laid.

But what if the authorities have been mistaken as to the Boston Bombers? As is widely known now, the event itself took place on April 15th, on Boylston Street in Boston’s City Centre. The first explosion was outside Marathon Sports at 671–673 Boylston Street at 2:49:43 pm EDT, and the second, one block farther west at 755 Boylston Street at 2:49:57 pm.

What struck many people was that there was no warning that the attacks woud take place – indeed, this has become common practice in the growing number of terrorist attacks on the United States. Government officials stated that there had been no intelligence reports that indicated such a bombing would take place.

Representative Peter King, a member of the White House Intelligence Committee said: "I received two top secret briefings last week on the current threat levels in the United States, and there was no evidence of this at all.”

In contrast to many terrorist attacks globally, no group or individual came forward to claim responsibility for the attacks. Additionally, the event itself did not seem to have the aim to achieve a high death rate. It neither happened at the start nor the end of the race where they would have been a greater opportunity for an increased death rate.

The suspected bombers are Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnae who are Muslims of Checnyan ethnicity. Controversially, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was not given Miranda warnings as the federal law enforcement officials invoked the public safety exception. United States Senators Kelly Ayotte, Lindsey Graham, and John McCain, as well as Representative Peter T. King, suggested that Tsarnaev, a US citizen, should be tried as an unlawful enemy combatant rather than as a criminal.

This would potentially prevent him from obtaining counsel to represent him at trial. Alan Dershowitz, an American lawyer, said that the senators’ suggestion “show[ed] absolute ignorance of the law.”

Dzhokhar has sustained injuries to the throat and tongue with suggestions that he might not actually be able to give evidence. These injuries are also rumoured to be the result of a suicide attempt. How will they ever ask him why he carried out the acts he did in order to identify his intention - something which is key in any murder trial? In an interview on Sunday, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino said “we don’t know if we’ll ever be able to question the individual,” referring to Tsarnaev.

Did his injuries also cause him to forget how to read and write? Oral communication is not the only form of communication. The investigators can communicate with him through writing. It may be more difficult, but it is still possible.

The whole man hunt raises many questions. One could say that if he was innocent, why would he run? It has been revealed that they had other attacks planned, but did they not still deserve justice? He is an American citizen by naturalisation. Is he no longer one if he breaks the law? If you break laws, should you still be protected by them? Should we look to Benjamin Franklin and think that “Those who surrender liberty for security, shall in the end have neither”? Does his age - he is only 19 years old - have any effect on his innocence? Could he have been pressurised into carrying out this heinous act it by his older brother and have ran away in fear once the FBI came after him?

Is the death penalty a viable punishment for him? Taking into account the horrible crimes that Tsarneav is accused of committing occurred on US soil and that, no matter how heinous the terrorist acts Tsareav is alleged to have carried out, he remains an American citizen with all the rights that

come with the status.

Also, keep in mind that, in theory, we are all innocent until proven guilty. Glenn Beck, a famous American businessman tweeted, “I despise this terrorist and all he has done but we must not lose sight of who we are. HE IS AN AMERICAN. Read him his rights! We are not in Russia.”

American studies student Darragh Ó Tuathail believes that the media has an effect on the concept of being innocent until proven guilty - “Not since the Red Scare or the Salem Witch Trials have humans been so brainwashed and programmable. Modern media makes it near impossible for someone to remain innocent until proven guilty. 24 hour news cycles have made certain that our attitudes, opinions and prejudices are dictated by ratings.” Microbiology student, Kevin O’Leary agrees - “’innocent until proven guilty’ is a thing of the past, it’s been replaced by 'innocent until the media decide otherwise'” Colin Scott, Dean of Law at UCD, believes it is important to retain presumptions of innocence. He believes that “Not to do this, creates serious risks of miscarriages of justice, as occurred in the convictions in a number of cases relating to IRA activity in England in the 1970s. The most high profile case is that of the Birmingham six in which the convictions of six men were overturned after 16 years when it was accepted that key evidence had been fabricated by the police and confessions had been secured unlawfully. A further risk is that the policy may pursue a strategy of summary justice and prioritise the killing of suspects over their apprehension.

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A third reason it is important to sustain the presumption of innocence, and to follow procedures properly, is to ensure that any valid prosecution is not imperilled by procedural defects.

It is, of course, perfectly normal for the police to seek to track down and arrest suspects where a serious criminal offence has been committed.”

Law with Politics student Killian Breen, on exchange in Minnesota agrees with the Dean. “We need them because it’s the only way to show those who feel that they have legitimate grievances with the state conducting the trial, that although those differences might be both real and justified, this is still at heart a state that is committed to upholding the rule of law in the face of extreme provocation. We must show that though the threat might make us feel vulnerable, though we may be confronted by an enemy implacable in its hatred of us, we will remain equally unflinching in our allegiance to those principles that elevate us above the very monsters they may portray us to be, and just as importantly, the monsters they have become in their perverse and misguided attempt to attain their mutilated idea of justice. Every time we refuse to treat them in the same way we deal with those amongst our own citizenship that attempt heinous acts, we elevate their conflict into something it is not – a war between two competing armies. If they're going to harm us, let it be because they are twisted and let it never be because we stooped to their level” Overall, it seems that many questions still remain unanswered.

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE 23rd April 2013

OPINION

7

Fighting for a lost cause Michael Pheonix discusses the direction of third level education as a whole in Ireland, questioning whether we should strive for quantity over quality

T

he academic arm of the American-left recently visited UCD. Amongst the torrent of facts highlighting intrinsic contradictions of capitalist society and liberal ideology, something pertinent was said about education. “Take my own university” said Noam Chomsky, Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at MIT, “no one there pays attention to tests.”

What did Chomsky mean? In interview at the LWF (Learning Without Frontiers) Conference in 2012, the American linguist claimed that there were two approaches to take towards education: enlightenment or indoctrination - “You train for passing tests, or you train for creative inquiry.”

Chomsky argues that there has long been a swelling tide sweeping the indoctrination conception forward. Indoctrination of what exactly?

Elsewhere, Chomsky writes: “There have been many measures taken to try to turn the educational system towards more control, more indoctrination, more vocational training, imposing a debt, which traps students and young people into a life of conformity.” This, he argues is contrary to some core elements of human nature creativity, liberty, dignity, etc...

How does UCD fair under this critique?

On the UCD website, it is written, “Education is about individuals, about you.” Later on it is stated: “The UCD experience aims to be a holistic journey of discovery.” These statements seem to reconcile smoothly with the enlightenment approach to education, which Chomsky advocates. However, even if we are able to accept these aims at face value, the conditions pervasive within the university testify that something, somewhere, has gone wrong.

According to the enlightenment doctrine, education is supposed to illuminate and to stand as a space for creative flourishing and empirical development. Such a space is extinguished when a university’s focus centers upon the ‘administration’ of education as opposed to the ‘quality’ of education.

When funding for a particular school is dependent upon the number of students who pass the modules therein, there is a

problem. When financial survival is the goal much shall be compromised. It forces lecturers to restructure priorities.

The situation within the education context, leads to the ‘watering down’ of grades at an undergraduate level and therefore, the reducing or weakening of overall degrees.

Rather than being encouraged to think critically and develop cognitive skills, students are being told to accept perceived wisdom, repeat platitudes automatically, and so, pass exams. When we write an essay without reading the book, what is the common result? A passing grade, one more assignment down, a step closer to grasping that piece of paper which testifies to all that amounts to, which is little more than that same printed accreditation. The relationship between the university and the student has taken on something of the form of purchaser and vendor. Degrees are bought by the students from the university who sells them.

When a student is faced with six modules a term, with each concluding in an exam which makes up the significant portion of their assessment, and when these are temporally piled on top of one another, it results in the repression of our instinct

for discovery. Substantial interaction with a topic is precluded by the pressure of the exam based system. Quantity is preferred over quality. Often the time to look closely is just not there.

This in-and-out, goods and services approach dominates the university landscape in Ireland in our time. A university education has become a marketable commodity.

Degrees have become tickets into the system of production. Furthermore, such a system is inherently resistant to change. It is in the economic interests of the university to continue down this road. So, as long as these are the primary interests, the current wave will not be overtaken.

I n t h i s sense, the curr e n t treatment of 3rd level education is analogous to the hand l i n g of the banking crisis.

The goal is to bec o m e e c o nomic a l l y viable above a l l else. Of course, it is argued that this is the necessary precondition for all other forms of societal flourishing, and within the current state that may be the case - but the question to ask here is, need it necessarily be? On what grounds did economics seize this territory? Should it not be occupied by

However, even if we are able to accept these aims at face value, the conditions pervasive within the university testify that something, somewhere, has gone wrong.

some form of understanding of human nature?

An alternative would be to look to the Scandinavian model, where at the undergraduate level students take on less modules, graded largely based on continuous assessment, with any exams staggered, and the change reflected in weighting of credits.

The model allows for students to become authentically engaged with subjects as the assessment demands it and the structure allows it. As opposed to providing for passing, it enables learning, meaning that it encourages curiosity, interaction and creation.

The growing trend in the discussion surrounding education is a pull towards access.

The rationale here is obvious: if entry into 3rd level education is barred, then the quality of that education is a secondary problem. This dominates on both a national and a student political level. The perception is that it makes little sense to discuss the quality of the show if you can’t afford the ticket. Yet, perhaps an inversion of sorts needs to be undertaken. The arguments on 3rd level access are in danger of stagnating in their political and economic camps. A re emergence of the core ideas of education what Chomsky calls ‘enlightenment’ - may have to come from the inside out.

A choice has to be made. Four years at college can be spent riding the conveyor belt straight out into the economic market where students are transformed into a different sort of commodity - graduates, and are thenceforth subject to the same forms of alienation and repression, simply on different terms. It is the east option to take, however, there is no joy to be found in being a cog in a corrupt system. Once an awareness of these prevalent conditions is realised, the responsibility lies in the hands of students to hold the university to account and demand the holistic journey of discovery which it promises, and if this falls on deaf ears, to refuse to be beaten down by the incessant tide of exams and essays, and to pick up the unread books, write the searching essays and to discover by ourselves, for ourselves.

88

FEATURES

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE 23rd April 2013

Amongst the tide of Resource Nationalism Amanda Ouellette discusses African governments' seeking of more ownership in the mining industry and their threat of losing long-term investors.

A

frica is the worlds second largest continent. Unsurprisingly then, it is rich in minerals. As a result of these vast amounts of resources, it attracts the top mining corporations from around the world.

South Africa is home to the greatest mineral wealth at a whopping $2.5 trillion. The country is currently considering a 50% windfall tax on mining super profits and 50% capital gains tax on sale of prospecting rights.

“Ernst & Young’s survey of business risk in mining shows clearly how concerns about resource nationalism has increased since 2009. In that year the industry ranked resource nationalism ninth out of 10 risks to doing business; it rose to eight in 2010 and peaked at the number one in 2012,” stated in an article done by Mail & Guardian.

Due to the recent global financial crisis, every country is faced with revamping current financial standards and developing more efficient plans for economic growth. As the mineral industry plays such an overwhelming role in Africa, here is where a large focus lies for the continents countries. Recent bumper profits have enticed the mineral prosperous countries to reach for larger portions of the wealth. Resource nationalism is not a new topic, but it is becoming more prevalent in today’s current economic situation. African governments are aware that they do not have the capability to extract the minerals themselves, however, they realise of the increasing demand for the jewels beneath Africa’s soil and thus want more for allowing others to do so.

Minerals are a non-renewable resource leading the countries to want further entitlement. What is a fair share of the pie? Who is to decipher this? And so, the issue prevails.

Debswana is an extremely profitable private partnership, owned 50% by the government of Botswana, an 50% by De Beers. The partnership is in it’s fifth decade and the venture makes up for a third of Botswana’s GDP, 50% of government revenues, and approximately 75% of all export earnings. Botswana is a leading hot spot for mining companies because of its reputation of stable governance and rich land. With the combination of proper government management and cooperative 50/50 negotiation, Debswana has been able to serve wealth to its locals in a fair manner while still respecting the desires of the mining company. Why can’t they serve as the picture perfect model? The truth is that every country is unique and has a specific procedure to follow, but rarely will they be similar. There are differences in size, population, mineral composition, business predictability, government stability, and current economic status.

Not all countries have been quite so careful in their transactions, Zimbabwe being at the top of this list. They have been struggling to establish a financial plan, while remaining attractive to future investors, and are currently gasping for air. Due to the current indigenization laws being mishandled, the country is facing an array of issues that is driving them further into a debt crisis. The recent trade deficit of exports at $524 million versus imports of $1.3 billion since January has merely highlighted the lack of domestic rich products.

Indigenization has wreaked benefits for the political elites, but what about enriching the local people of Zimbabwe? Thousands are losing their jobs as the economy

continues to lose guidance. Along with the indigenization laws, the government passed a law in 2010 stating that foreign companies transfer 51% ownership to a local partner selected by the state. Naturally this has proved unattractive for foreign investors.

According to The Economist, Zimplats, Rio Tinto and Anglo Platinum – current big miners in Zimbabwe – are

have a history of such action, and Zimbabwe runs the risk of attracting this type of ‘investor’. Long-term investment is the goal for this industry. and miners are not opposed to negotiating. It may be the case that Zimbabwe is seeking to move too fast, and although their current financial situation seems to demand it, a short sighted approach will ultimately prove detrimental.

Resource nationalism sounds appealing at the surface, but underneath the flashiness there is a tough reality. Although ownership can lead to more wealth, it leads to more responsibilities. Responsibilities lead to higher risk, and risk, if mismanaged, results in negative consequences.

Countries should be cautious and consider all aspects of ownership before diving right in. If all goes under, they must be willing to take on all of the debt that comes long with it. The mining industry is unpredictable, which makes resource nationalism such a sticky topic.

Africa being a developing continent, it is only natural that they want a larger share of its own wealth in hopes of modernizing. Each country is looking to further invest in their individual ventures, but should keep in mind the overall welfare of Africa. If they want to keep competitive with the rest of the world, countries should be working together. Ernst & Young stated that Botswana is on the rise of attraction for miners, but in doing so, it takes away from South Africa which has slipped 18 places since 2008 in an annual survey of mining-investment attractiveness conducted by the Frazer Institute. Competition is healthy, as long as it isn’t at the complete expense of other countries. The effort must be co-ordinated Resource nationalup against doubling royalties on platinum as well as a new ism is not a government policy, but still leaves miners ban on raw platinum exports, causing them to build a reconcerned. Higher taxation is another approach to receive finery for approximately $2 billion. Zimbabwe started off more income, but has the same effect on potential demanding a small portion at 10% ownership, but this investors. figure flew to 51% in a matter of days. The instability and There is no clear and concise way to look at resource naunpredictability does not portray a stable or trustworthy tionalism. It is all about finding a balance. Countries should environment for business, nor is it conducive to the imfirst seek to have a stable government. African countries are provement of the conditions of life of Zimbabwe’s people. largely still developing, and faced with a complex situation, Botswana and Zimbabwe portray two exceptionally there is a need for knowledge and experience. Increasing different situations, but show how resource nationalism taxation or imposing royalties on production may be the is not necessarily the answer for all African countries. answer, but it should be progressively introduced, perhaps Botswana’s characteristics of being a small, extremely with initial moderation. Looking to the future, perhaps the mineral-rich, good governance country give it the platAfrican National Congress will come out with a guided outform for a successful venture in obtaining a larger share line when it comes to negotiating terms. It could serve to of the wealth. reap the most benefits in a business agreement, but not at Although this works for Botswana, Zimbabwe - the the cost of breaking trust or hurting long-term investment. next-door neighbour - should not be so quick to utilize the Africa wants to be needed. They should not give up all same method. With the new ownership laws, miners could their resources in such a quick sweep. Mineral resources potentially be put into partnership with locals that are not provide a strong sense of self-identity for these African suited or knowledgeable about the business leading to countries and should work to benefit the locals in the best difficulties. Matches need to be made carefully. The way possible. Getting too anxious to fix the economy may country is looking to reap immediate benefits, but face the hurt the local people in the end. Patience is a key piece to chance of foreign companies investing to merely extract this puzzle. as much as they can and get out. Many Chinese companies

With the new ownership laws, miners could potentially be put into partnership with locals that are not suited or knowledgeable about the business leading to difficulties. Matches need to be made carefully.

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE 23rd April 2013

FEATURES

9

A MENTORING ROLE Laura Cullen considers the role of a mentor in the lives of Irish students

Y

ves Saint Laurent is a name that can be uttered with recognition through much of the western world. In a recent Irish Times article the writer explored the people who influenced this fashion mogul most along his electrifying journey from Algeria to Paris. When he was 18 years old one of his mentors was Christian Dior – an equally monumental figure in the world of fashion.

Yves once said of Dior’s influence “I never forgot the years I spent by his side”.

When a biography of a famous figure is read what is nearly always included is the presence of a particular mentor whose influence during those formative coming-of age years was of great significance. Most students of UCD, both former and current, will acknowledge the importance a particular mentor played in their lives. And it is in college that a mentor’s influence is most necessary and most affecting. These stories, unlike those of celebrities, are not told - it seems about time these anonymous mentors were acknowledged in some way.

But this article wants to dig deeper into the essence of this fascinating relationship. These mentors are people who we deeply appreciate, respect and hold inestimable gratitude towards. In many cases, a good mentor shapes the character of a person. What is it however that is so powerful about this relationship?

The word ‘mentor’ originally came from the Greek poet Homer. Mentor was a character in the epic poem The Odyssey. He acted as a wise guide for young Telemachus, using all his experience to reveal to Telemachus the potential he had inside himself. A potential that just needed someone to alert him to its existence. That seems to be the case with potential - it is nearly always there but just needs someone with perspective to draw it forth.

That is what a good mentor does. He or she recognises the possibilities we cannot see in ourselves, and helps nurture these possibilities, turning them into something tangible. But most importantly however, what Mentor understood was that experience is only valuable when it is passed on and in this way, shared.

The mentor/mentee relationship is a special, all be it, peculiar one. Usually, the mentor is not specifically chosen but rather arrives into a young persons life. There are special qualities a mentor has within himself or herself that the young mentee sees and admires, something mysterious and attractive. Perhaps it is a value or a world-view, a passion or knowledge – whatever it is, these inner resources are the reason this young person is drawn to this mentor.

That is precisely why the relationship is a special one. It is a meeting of minds, a meeting of convictions and a meeting of instincts.

In a university full of young people standing on the brink of their futures, the mentor who helps them edge towards the next stage in their lives is a very important figure indeed. And their role in a university setting is a special one. They are the intellectual guides that help students along the paths of their learning. Knowledge is gratifying when it is discovered, and the true mentor makes these discoveries possible within their mentees. In this sense, they are emancipators, who free the imagination.

It is easy to write about the ‘academic’ mentor because UCD is full of them.

Another equally important role the mentor plays, however, is being that source

of repose for the student; that person who they go and have coffee with and who kindly helps them remember that university is more than the 5 blood curdling assignments they have due next week. Their own experience gives them an inobtrusive authority. It affords them the closeness yet distance one needs in order for perspective to grow.

A wonderful example of the power this relationship embodies is to be found in the letters of the American author James Agee to his life-long friend and mentor Father Flye. Uncovered in his letters is the beauty and depth of the mentor/mentee relationship. When Agee was 10 years old his father died leaving the young Agee’s world, as he knew it, broken. As he crumbled to his knees in despair an Episcopal priest and teacher in his school pulled him off the ground and stood him up.

Despite the enormous age gap between the two, a profound relationship of trust developed. In fact to most people they would appear an odd pair – Father Flye was a quiet and humble man, while Agee was a somewhat wild bourgeoning writer, but sometimes the mysteries that join one to another cannot be explained. These instinctual friendships bear their own internal truths.

Socrates and Glaucon are probably the most famous mentor/mentee example. Socrates used his philosophical knowledge to guide his young protégée in the right direction. In Socrates’ heart were Glaucon’s best interests. That is the warp and woof of the relationship. A mentor has his or her mentees best interests at heart.

Another great example of the mentor/mentee relationship is the beautiful film Cinema Paradiso which is so tender and precisely because it reveals how not even time can separate the emotional closeness between an experienced mentor and his young apprentice. For students leaving UCD this year for good, this film perhaps reverberates a similar sentiment when they think about leaving those who have influenced them most; those who have advised them carefully and truthfully. Because it is with great care that one gives advice – personal or academic – to another.

John McNerney wrote that needing another person’s help, friendship or closeness is not a sign of weakness or poverty, but rather it comes from a rich self-communicative abundance. Unfortunately, in our culture, it is not unusual to hear the words “neediness” and “dependence” uttered in a denigrating way. Our culture views them negatively, placing a ‘conditional’ aspect on love. But if anything, they are signs of strength. They show a person’s comfort with themselves and an understanding that in reaching out to another we are in a sense becoming more fully human.

Most people who look back upon their lives hold a great deal of gratitude toward a particular person. The memory of that friendship will have etched itself permanently into the fabric of that life. Quite possibly, for some, it could have been a certain piece of advice given, a book recommendation or a great lecture. Perhaps for others it was a profound friendship or a fleeting encounter. Whatever it was or was not, a lasting impression was made. That is the significance a mentor can have. What does the mentee owe their mentor? Maybe as the year draws to a close, the student can say to their mentor, like Yves Saint Laurent said about Christian Dior, that the years spent by their side wont be forgotten.

That seems to be the case with potential - it is nearly always there but just needs someone with perspective to draw it forth.

10 ESSAY

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE 23rd April 2013

Is Nietzsche what’s wrong with Everything?

By Tomás Ó Loingsigh

E

very damn radical you meet who’s read a little philosophy will talk to you about Nietzsche (the guy who told us God was dead) and when they’re finished with that they’ll start talkingabout Zizek (the most dangerous philosopher in the West right now, according to the quote on the cover of the book in front of me). They’re the two philosophers that people still like to quote. But Nietzsche and Zizek are fundamentally opposed to each other and if you can’t see that then you’re missing something very damn important - Nietzsche is the Philosopher of Freedom and Zizek is the Philosopher of Love. And Love and Freedom are directly and totally opposed to each other, honey, because the more you love your woman the less free you are to come stumbling home with a prostitute on either arm.

Nietzsche tells us that we can do anything, to let nothing hold us back, that no laws and no morals should tie us down. Sure, he ain’t talking to everybody (he says that most people are just there as a scaffold for the great to stand on so that we can reach new heights) but he IS talking to SOMEBODY and today a lot of people are listening, whether they know it or not.

He’s saying that if you wanna be the Superman - ‘the Übermensch’ - you gotta make your own rules, live your own way, do what you want. Christianity is a morality of slaves because it favours humility and pity and charity and tells us that pride and strength and selfishness are evil so don’t let it or any moral system tell you what to do – make up your own damn morals.

Dean Moriarty from On the Road – he’s the Nietzschean Superman, drinking and screwing and driving his way across the long American night, unconstrained by any laws or conventional morality, free to do whatever the hell he wants (“he only stole cars for joy rides”). Hunter S. Thompson, twisted and crazed on a cocktail of hallucinogenic drugs, scamming his way into a Vegas hotel room he’s the Superman. This is what Oscar Wilde and Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson and all the postmodernist philosophers like Foucault and Derrida and Deleuze were talking about – the freedom to do what we want to do and to be who we want to be, and to hell

with anybody who tries to control the way we live. And this is what the hippy movement in the sixties was all about, this demand for freedom, this turn away from the dictatorial grayness of Soviet Russia and the demands of the old worn-out commies for social justice, because who cares about social justice at the end of the day when you could have the freedom to do whatever the hell you want. Yeah – this is what the hippies were demanding with their acid and their Sexual Revolutions and personal freedoms - it was such a dangerous and revolutionary idea that the Establishment that they were fighting against had to incorporate this total Nietzschean freedom into itself or collapse under the force of their demands and so the counterculture became part of the very thing it was fighting against. The revolution was bought.

We’re living in Nietzsche’s world now – modern liberal democracies are the most permissive societies we’ve ever seen and we’re free to do whatever we want and any blow against this system is already a part of the system. Rebellious youth movements are turned into edgy advertising campaigns. We’re all consumers now we want all these things and then throw them away as soon as we have them; everything exists only to satisfy our own short-term desires – not just the products we buy, but ur dreams, our lifestyles, our relationships. Our jobs are precarious and flexible - nobody expects or wants to stay in the same one all their lives any more. Our friendships are ‘single-serving

friendships’ where we drink and laugh together and everybody knows that when we move on to the next city and the next thrill we’ll never see each other again. In the past you would have had one partner, one job all your life – now we have to keep changing our very identity to match the changing circumstances of our lives. No religious or political system tells us how to live anymore – we make up our moral system ourselves and change it as we go. We travel around the world, us children of the West, chasing our dreams and not letting anybody share them because everybody else has their own dreams and we don’t wanna get in the way of their dreams in case they then get in the way of ours, and nothing holds us back, we don’t let ourselves get close enough to people to hold us back, we’ve no rootedness anymore, we’ve no community, we’re just individuals, free to do what we want so long as we . don’t try to stop anyone else doing the same.

This is Nietzsche’s world and Zizek hates it. Zizek tells us that if you’ve always wanted to see the stars in a foreign sky and so go to see them, if there’s nobody there to see them with you then there is no goddamn point! Forget freedom, he says – choose love.

If you go to a festival with your friends and you wanna see one band and one friend wants to see a different one and somebody else wants to see some dubstep act and somebody just wants to sit and drink in the tent and you all go and do what you want like Nietzsche would have done you’re not going to have

Our friendships are ‘single-serving friendships’ where we drink and laugh together and everybody knows that when we move on to the next city and the next thrill we’ll never see each other again

anything like the fun you’d have if somebody takes charge and tells everybody what to do and you all go and dance like drunken dogmen in some dirty tent. Somebody isgonna have to take charge and tell people what we gotta do here, in this world. You wanna drive through South America with your friends in a rusty car but you know they all have their own plans their own dreams and you can’t force your plans on them… but damn that, we need to stop treading so softly for fear of treading on each others’ dreams. We’re afraid to let people into our dreams because if we do then they might let us into theirs and then we’d lose control of our dreams and we might end up having an adventure instead of just ticking things off our goddamn lists. We’d lose freedom but we’d gain something more.

Sure, Nietzsche hated liberalism and equality (he hates Christianity for the same reason that Zizek likes it – because of the revolutionary and emancipatory sword that Zizek says Jesus brings down, shattering the old order and offering salvation to rich and poor alike, because if we all have an immortal soul we must all be equal in the eyes of God), sure, he never meant this for everyone, but today everybody is a Superman, living as they choose, and this is what we get. Nietzsche tells us to live for ourselves, to do what we want. But Zizek tells us to act for the common good, to subsume our individuality into the collective - he bites the bullet and accepts that if that makes him a fascist (a left-wing one) then so be it. For Nietzsche, anything that’s true or good or right to you is true or good only to you and everybody else should have their own truths. But for Zizek if you really believe something to be true then by definition you believe it to be true not just for yourself but for everybody, and you’re prepared to act on that belief. Zizek offers us the only way out of this relativism that Nietzsche kicked us into - where we can do anything we want and none of it means anything.

In this Nietzschean world there are no great collective myths anymore that drive us to act for anything outside ourselves. Nobody wants to kill you or hold you back because of who you are, because of what race or class or gender you are. But nobody wants to save you either.

11 Poetry

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE

Page Eleven Poetry

A minus you

Untitled

rip out your throat your legs are on backwards pulling you over the make-up doesn’t suit this dark side of you the stillness of your eyes as you weep scares those drinking in their homes

There’s glitter on the grass And I have no plans Summers stretching out like a rainbow Pots of gold, but no end.

I’ve got a new favourite word and its called perspective.

Just in case your wondering why I’m a little cautious Like a blind man with a stick going Tap tap tap I don’t want to trip on any cracks or stand on something nasty

its not fair for you to love brush back your knotted tongue sit loudly with no music eat from the candle holder and don’t forget to smile mind all the young children they do not know your ways

so rip out your throat your legs are on backwards oh what did you do that for - Ellen O’Leary

surrounded A lonely year, where I tried not to go to bed, thing’s too damn big.

Two bloodshot eyes; big bags und’rneath the women took their lungs elsewhere...

Was so drunk then so low and sad and sweetly drunk the sharks no more with me shot pool, they stopped ev’n tak’n my money...

But I could never stop my heart dreaming And it sails away without me, To a ballroom in a yellow dress Planning lives and stories that will never happen But it's my experience now, the true joy is in the planning of these things that never happen I think she’s very cool, Well measured and cold Stylish and thin She’s not like me at all Which is good because I don’t like her.

funeral there hung ghost suit black tie missing no cufflinks neither shoes scuffed there under ragged laces

Please don’t try and take from me things I can’t give you, It would only make us both feel sad, Like my heart or my spirit But I’ll sit under a bridge with you Like Jack and Rose And we can dream dreams If you want to?

- Gracey Maloney

poor suit: stain on the sleeves stain on the collar... too big at the shoulders too heavy old fashioned there hanging... a foot of space ‘tween it and the floor where near goes nothing tomorrow it’ll lurch over and take me where we want not to go

searched the cracks of the pavement ‘til I woke up covered in piss

and I will place my blood filled hands and into it’s shallow pockets as dirt falls down the curved face of the coffin fitting down slowly into the ground

- D.M

- M. Phoenix

Kicked out sometimes wndered the brickwalls whisslin, cold...

Page 11

I like you, I like your face and the way you make me feel, Your clever and I trust you I can be good, I promise I’ll look after you Like a kitten I found in a back alley You’re the best things thats come my way in a while, So I promise I’ll try and be good.

you’d take me there with you but my lipstick doesn’t match when your milk teeth fell your madness consumed the air of you, damn it teach me to look left and how to say goodbye endless distracts to worry your promises do you know how to keep them cover yourself in glittery light but you don’t know what to do

big hands to cover butterflies does that feel right? can you see the world from down there in the stable are you tired of writing your will yet on the news they said your dying don’t make them tell the truth don’t tell yourself in that sweet place how your all alone

23rd April 2013

Untitled Timber concrete grey Holding up walk ways Of human candle lit smoke Sweeping hang overs a way.

Each a babbling emoticon With your headphones on Though Janus hinges with work Speaking words not from song “Eggs un-hatched”, a sad joke For you ‘n I; Who hath thou not failed, but Those hidden under walkways.

- Matthew H. Farrelly

Send submissions to features@collegetribune.ie

12

BUSINESS

editor@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 23rd April 2013

Strategic default: what’s going on?

Niall Conroy

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iven the severity of economic conditions here for the last 5 years, it should come as little surprise that some are struggling to meet their debt obligations.

Higher unemployment, increased taxation and reduced or frozen wages have left people with lower net incomes. So it would be expected that individuals will struggle to pay the mortgage.

The latest Central Bank figures show that 18% are in arrears on their mortgage. Perhaps even ore worryingly 10% of people are in arrears of over 6 months. If you combine mortgages in arrears with those who are not in arrears but have been restructured (paying interest only, arrears capitalisation etc.) you get a figure of 24% of all mortgages. Clearly this is a huge issue for the people and the banks. It was hoped that the new personal insolvency regime would help remedy this problem by forcing the banks to write mortgages down to sustainable levels sooner rather than later.

However looking at the graph, it seems that Ireland has an usually high level of mortgage arrears, even when compared with fellow basket cases Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Given that Spain and Greece have unemployment rates almost double ours (26.8%) it seems strange that our mortgage arrears are so out of line with these countries given that our economy seems in much better

shape. Why is this the case?

Many now believe that the answer is strategic default. Strategic default is when someone has the capacity to pay some or all of their debt but chooses not to. Essentially people who can pay but don’t pay. Why would someone not pay their mortgage if they could? Perhaps they are hoping they would get some of their mortgage written off if they claim that they cannot pay, taking advantage of the banks being overwhelmed by bad mortgages. Perhaps people are choosing to pay other debts they have, credit union loans, credit cards and car loans.

Many would think that people would first pay their mortgage and then attempt to pay other loans. However unsecured creditors like credit card companies have become very aggressive in their pursuit to get their money back. Also these unsecured loans at charged at a much higher interest rate, so people want to get rid of them ASAP. Also, mortgage holders know they face no immediate threat to their family home.

Apart from the natural aversion to evictions/ repossessions the banks now know that there is a legal impediment to some repossessions due to the Dunne judgement. This is to be removed later this year but until then mortgage holders now the bailiff will not be knocking down their door any time soon. There is a

much higher repossessions rate in Greece, Spain and Italy which may be convincing mortgage holders to pay the mortgage first.

The issue of strategic default is not unique to Ireland. In the US mortgage market most mortgages are non-recourse i.e. if you get a loan for $300,000 and the house drops in value to $200,000 and you default you have no responsibility for the other $100,000.

Strategic default has been estimated to be well over 40% in some cases in the US, par-

ticularly where house prices have fallen substantially. Gregory Connor, professor of economics at NUI Maynooth has estimated that about 35% of Irish mortgage arrears could be classified as “strategic”. Naturally this is an attempt to measure something which can not be truly measured, it does give us some idea of how many could fall into the “Won’t pay” category. While strategic arrears may be a political hot potato, it must be considered when addressing the mortgage arrears crisis.

14 GNÉ - AILT

gaelige@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 23rd April 2013

Díchoiriúlú Drugaí: Tionscadal nuálach nó a mhalairt? Éilis Nic Aodhagáin Scríbhneoir

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s annamh a osclaítear nuachtán gan alt nó dhó a léamh faoi choir atá bainteach le drugaí. Tá taithí againn ar an gcineál saoil seo agus géilltear dó go forleathan mar fhadhb gan réiteach, ach ar cheart dúinn é sin a dhéanamh? Tá beartas maidir le drugaí ag gach rialtas ar domhan ach is minic nach mbíonn a bpolasaithe dírithe ar na gnéithe uilig a bhaineann le fadhb na ndrugaí. Is léir nach néiríonn le coiriúlú drugaí, ach an éireodh níos fearr le díchoiriúlú drugaí? Is fiú breathnú ar chás na Portaingéile chun an cheist sin a phlé.

Sa bhliain 2001, bhí an Phortaingéil ar an gcéad tír san Eoraip a chuir deireadh le pionóis choiriúla maidir le seilbh phearsanta drugaí. Anuas air sin, chuir siad córas i bhfeidhm ina socraítear teiripe iomchuí do dhaoine óna gcoigistítear drugaí.

De réir taighde, sna céad chúig bliana tar éis an díchoiriúlaithe, tháinig laghdú mór ar úsáid drugaí i measc déagóirí agus ar rátaí SEIF (AIDS) i measc na n-andúileach. Tháinig laghdú 50% ar líon na mbásanna a raibh baint acu le mí-úsáid hearóine agus mhéadaigh líon na ndaoine a chuaigh ar thóir cóireála leighis faoi dhó. Tá seachaint an fhéindochair ar cheann de na príomhaidhmeanna atá ag an gcóras seo. Faoin Scéim um Mhalairt Steallairí, a cuireadh ar bun sa bhliain 1993, is féidir le haon duine dul isteach i siopa poitigéara agus seansteallairí a mhalartú ar chinn nua. Chomh maith leis sin, tugtar maingín dóibh ina mbíonn coiscíní agus leabhrán faoi chosc SEIF agus faoi choireáil leighis do handúiligh.

Is cosúil go bhfuil ag éirí go

maith leis an mbeartas seo sa Phortaingéil, ach b’fhéidir nach mbeadh an toradh céanna ann i gcás tíortha eile. Faoi láthair, tá sé ar intinn ag Ruth Stella Correa, an tAire Dlí agus Cirt sa Cholóim, drugaí sintéiseacha (an eacstais, an cócaon agus an cannabas ina measc) a dhéanamh dleathach. Is fadhb mhór sa Cholóim é an gháinneáil neamhdhleathach i ndrugaí agus tarlaíonn an-chuid coireanna foiréigeanacha dá bharr. Ba chinneadh cróga é díchoiriúlú a dhéanamh ar dhrugaí sa stát guagach sin ach b’fhéidir go néireoidh leis. Tá an seans ann go ndéanfaidh an tsaoirse a bhaineann leis an díchoiriúlú maitheas do shaol an phobail ann.

I gcás na hÉireann, ní dóigh liom go mbeadh a leithéid de pholasaí oiriúnach. Ní féidir le muintir na tíre seo aon rud a dhéanamh go measartha: ólaimid an iomarca nó ní ólaimid ar chor ar bith; ithimid gach sórt bia míshláintiúil atá le fáil gan aon aclaíocht a dhéanamh agus ansin i Mí Eanáir téimid ar aiste dhian bia agus caithfimid uair an chloig sa spórtlann chuile lá go dtí go n-éirímid bréan de, agus ansin téimid ar ais chuig ár sean-nósanna. Má smaoinítear ar Ré an Tíogair Cheiltigh, tugfar faoi deara go raibh (agus go mbíonn i gcónaí) an claonadh iompraíochta ann dul ó mhaol go mullach. Nuair a bhí airgead sa bhreis ag muintir na hÉireann den chéad uair riamh, chuaigh siad thar fóir agus chaith siad é gan smaoineamh ar an todhchaí. Mar gheall ar an gclaonadh seo, is dócha go gcruthódh díchóiriúlú drugaí fadhb níos mó ná mar atá againn cheana féin.

Mar fhocal scoir, ba mhaith linn buíochas a ghabháil le na scríbhneoirí go léir as ucht ailt a scríobh agus cabhair a thabhairt dúinn i mbliana. Bhí píosaí suimiúla againn gach seachtain agus ba mhaith linn caighdéan an tsaothair a mholadh, go raibh míle maith agaibh, Cormac agus Dáire.

Bronnadh Bonn Óir an Chumainn Ghaelaigh ar Eoin Mc Aodh Bhuí as a ndearna sé i mBeirlín don Ghaeilge

Cad atá ar siúl? Radharc ar an ardchathair Susan Byrne Scríbhneoir

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á clú ar Bhaile Átha Cliath mar bhaile cóisire, agus tá clubanna oíche ar gach cúinne ann. Ach ní gá spéis a chur sna clubanna chun taitneamh a bhaint as an gcathair seo. Caitheann Susan Byrne súil ar imeachtaí eile a bhíonn ar siúl, dóibh siúd a bhfuil suim acu i gcúrsaí liteartha, teangacha difriúla, agus mórán eile.

Mar is eol do chách, is áit chultúrtha é Baile Átha Cliath, ach is annamh a aimsítear áit amháin ina bhfuil cúig nó sé theanga á labhairt in aon seomra amháin. Ach sin go díreach an rud atá i gceist le Germanglish, á reáchtáil ag Language Exchange Ireland. Bíonn sé ar siúl gach Luan, in D|Two ar Shráid Fhrearchair, ag 6.30. Samhlaigh go bhfuil scóráil sciobtha (speed-dating) ar siúl, ach go bhfuil teanga dhúchais dhifriúil ag an duine atá os do chomhair. Bíonn Béarla, Gearmáinis, Fraincis, Spáinnis, Portaingéilis á labhairt, agus cloistear roinnt Sínise uaireanta fiú. Tosaíonn tú ag caint ar feadh cúig nóiméad i mBéarla (nó do theanga dhúchais) agus ansin ar feadh cúig nóiméad eile sa teanga eile – b’fhéidir go bhfuil suim agat an teanga a fhoghlaim, nó go bhfuil cúpla focal agat agus tá tú ag iarraidh iad a chleachtadh agus a choimeád. Deis iontach é seo do dhaoine ag teacht ón meánscoil, agus caighdeán maith acu i dteanga Eorpach éigin, nach mbeidh an deis acu í a dhéanamh sa tríú leibhéal.

Bíonn bia agus craic ann ar chostas €5. Deir an Language Exchange nach gá a bheith líofa, go bhfuil leibhéal difriúil ann do gach duine.

Tá tuile eolais ar fáil ar an leathanach Facebook Germanglish (más iad Gearmáinis agus Béarla an dá theanga atá ag taisteal uait), Spanglish (má theastaíonn Spáinnis uait) etc. Buail isteach agus bain triail as!

Milk & Cookies an t-ainm atá ar imeacht a bhíonn ar siúl gach mí i mBarra an Teampaill. Chuir an t-imeacht gleoite seo na seanscéalta Gaeilge agus an béaloideas i gcuimhne dom, toisc go bhfuil sé mar aidhm bhunúsach aige scéalaithe a thabhairt le chéile ag insint scéalta. Suímh pearsanta, cairdiúil atá i gceist, cé go n-athraíonn an áit gach mí. Faigheann tú tae, nó an bainne atá luaite san ainm, agus brioscaí, agus ansin tá ort cathaoir uillinne nó spás ar an urlár a fháil, agus tosaíonn na scéalta. Seasann gach údar nó scéalaí suas, ar feadh deich nóiméad, agus bíonn scéalta éagsúla ann. Scéalta grinn uaireanta, agus cúpla ceann ag baint le cúrsaí morálta agus sóisialta fiú. Ach an rud is fearr liom ná an bealach ina n-insíonn gach údar na scéalta, ar bhealach chomh pearsanta.

Uaireanta is cosúil go mbíonn an t-údar ag insint rúin duit. Idir an bainne agus na cookies iad féin, na scéalta agus na soilse ildaite, bíonn atmaisféar álainn san áit. Tuigim go gceapfá gur tháinig grúpa paistí le chéile chun ‘sleepover’ a bheith

acu nuair a chloiseann tú an t-ainm Milk & Cookies ach tá níos mo na sin i gceist – tógtar an caitheamh aimsire idéalach a bhí ag an-chuid daoine nuair a bhí said óg, agus cuirtear casadh air. Tá sé saor in aisce agus tá níos mó eolais ar fáil ar ExchangeDublin.ie, bain trial as – ní bheidh díomá ort!

Ar an gcéad Déardaoin de gach mí bíonn First Thursdays ar siúl – siúlóid thart ar shuímh chultúrtha na cathrach, idir dhánlanna, mhúsaeim agus mórán eile nach iad. Má tá suim agat i gcúrsaí ealaíne, tá an t-imeacht seo foirfe duit. Bíonn an clár le feiceáil ar TempleBar.ie ionas go mbeidh an grúpa in ann bualadh le chéile in áit amháin, agus ansin buaileann siad ar aghaidh timpeall na cathrach. Cúpla ceann de na háiteanna atá páirteach san imeacht seo ná Gailearaí de hÍde, An Gailearaí Eolaíochta i gColáiste na Tríonóide, agus Dánlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann. Seans iontach é seo chun ealaín nua-aimseartha nó ealaín chlasaiceach a fheiceáil nó a cheannach, agus bíonn grúpa mór daoine ann gach mí.

Mura bhfuil suim agat in aon rud atá luaite anseo, tá seans go bhfuil rud éigin eile ar siúl atá foirfe duit, agus tá sé ar fáil ar TempleBar.ie.

Suíomh úsáideach é seo toisc go mbíonn beagnach gach rud atá ar siúl le feiceáil air. Déan iarracht rud amháin a thriail, is cinnte nach mbeidh aiféala ort!

editor@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 23rd April 2013

REGULARS

15

Slán Leat –Goodbye Elizabeth Coote Writer

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his will be my last article for the College Tribune and I wish to thank all of the staff for 2013, but in particular to Cathal and James. Had they not given me the opportunity to write the articles and encourage me to keep going these would never have been attempted. So my sincere good wishes for their future (which I am very confident will be very successful) and some prayers from me to the founder of this University, John Henry Newman, for them that all of the above will come to pass.

At this moment in time, I am writing my current article on Saturday 20th April 2013, the day my granddaughter Clare is marrying Stephen her beloved - who she met while attending school 10 years ago when they were both 16 years of age. Ten years almost to the day they are getting married and both my husband and I are so blessed to have lived to see our first grandchild born and now being married.

We have another 18 grandchildren yet to come, and hope that the good Lord will let us live to see all of them married, which I am sure will take a miracle, the youngest grandchild is 4 years old and we are both ancient. No regrets we have had a wonderful life.

That wonderful life has been given to us through many blessings, good parents, children, grandchildren, great grandson, family, friends, neighbours, and work colleagues. All of this has made for us a wonderful life, which I wish all of you who read this newspaper would also be given in your lives.

If you have read any of the articles I wrote during this current year you will understand that the reason I wrote them stems from a deep and lasting love of this University. As a child I ran through the fields of Belfield, my great grandfather worked in Ardmore house, which is located beside the Dr. Michael Tierney Building.

I have so many happy and joyful memories of those days and also of my days working for the Students’ Union and being part of a team of fantastic work mates and young student staff.

This article has to be short

for many reasons, firstly because of Clare’s wedding today, and secondly because my husband Walter Coote (Wally to his friends at UCD where he also worked as a Security Officer) is in hospital - doing fine thank God - after a knee operation at 80 years of age, more blessings from the man above.

My final piece of advice to anyone who loves UCD is to get back to basics and start putting people first - not money.

If there are no people only machines, we all have lost the plot.

The biggest changes that I have witnessed in my forty years working and studying in UCD are the systematic erosion of the staff in so many vital areas of the College and their being replaced by machines.

Technology is a wonderful and powerful thing, but nothing replaces the human being for common sense who has feelings of care and compassion. If your staff are treated properly and given dignity and respect they will work harder and better than any machine.

If people are badly treated in their work place then you never get the best that they are capable of giving.

My message for the incoming President of the SU and his officers is to start using your God given brains, run your business well, ask questions of any one in authority, speak out, and demand fair play, from those at a higher level.

Just because you are young and only learning how to manage the SU does not mean you are unable to do a fantastic year of work.

My message to the College authorities is similar, play fair with all your own staff, and give the SU officers, who have been elected by the students, the respect and support they deserve.

The huge difference I have seen in the last 13 years is a

lack of accountability by those who the College employed to take care, watch over, and support the SU. The SU is sometimes treated like a second class citizen within the walls of the College.

In the past they were supported and encouraged to have their shops, copy office, trap, etc. all of which would be good for the development of young officers.

This was Mr. Joseph Mc Hale’s policy and this policy supported Mr. Gerry Horkan who served as SU administrator for 24 years.

Mr. McHale was one of the finest bursars UCD ever had, he was an example to all of us. He made sure the students had control of their own affairs, however, he saw to it that they were accountable for the management of the businesses they were allowed

My final piece of advice to anyone who loves UCD is to get back to basics and start putting people first - not money.

run within the walls of UCD. Yearly accounts were asked for and given, the responsibility for this was the administrator who had to summit them.

In later years, after Mr. Horkan retired, I believe the full responsibility was passed on to the Vice President whoever she or he was. This kept records straight and staff of SU were secure for the following year in their employment.

I finish this article by stating to all of you there is one area of the SU that is a haven for students, just as it was in the past that is the Engineering Shop, managed and run by Mrs. Joan Burch, how lucky you students are to have such a personnel and caring service, almost a thing of the past both in UCD and in the wider world outside the gates of UCD. There I leave it - UCD is a microcosm of the world we now live in. I hope all of you energetic young people continue what was began by many people who came before you.

Do the very best to play fair and treat people as you would like to be treated yourself.

It’s Satire, STUPID!

INSIDE " Due to his strict 'must be able to dance' policy, Men Without Hats vocalist has no friends whatsoever" " Most earthquake damage caused by shaking" " Garda raid gun shop and find weapons" " Insects flying around with wings are flying insects says biologist."

"12 remain dead in morgue shooting spree." " Midget sues grocer, citing belittling remarks."

God bless America

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n a show of goodwill to the world, the United States of America has once again stepped up to the mark by continuing their condemnation of nuclear weapons.

This time around their eyes are set firmly on North Korea who have been very naughty with their continued threats of missile strikes against their neighbours.

The naughty North Koreans are still aggrieved that the USA interfered in their unification of the peninsula back in the days of the Cold War. The Americans are reported to believe that they should get over it, forget their military action and stop threatening independent nations.

The USA has long been against the idea that nations of the world would launch military action against other countries. This injustice riles them so much that they have even been known to launch military attacks on any “rogue” nations that dare launch military at-

tacks on other nations.

The world super power has, since the end of the World War II, taken it upon itself to ensure that the nations of the world stop bombing one another.

As part of this effort they have bombed, or backed the bombing of, the following countries since 1945, when they dropped the atomic bomb on Japan: Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia, China, Congo, Cuba, El Salvador, Korea, Guatemala, Indonesia, Laos, Grenada, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Somalia, Sudan, Vietnam, Yemen, and Yugoslavia.

Altogether this compromises about one third of the global population.

So dedicated are they to world peace that they have intervened in many countries to oust communist governments when people have, in a moment of collective insanity, elected those same governments.

It is this determination to help

people make the right choice that allows the rest of us to sleep soundly at night.

We can be further reassured by US backing of the Israeli apartheid state – after all, we don’t want those pesky Palestinians getting all up themselves – as well as numerous dictators around the world and throughout history.

Now that the worlds largest holder of nuclear weapons is ready to make sure others don’t obtain or even create nuclear weapons we can be assured of peace. It’s well

known that you can’t trust “rogue” states such as Iran and North Korea. After all, they may not have attacked anyone yet, but we’re sure they’re thinking about it. Also, many countries opposed by the USA have notoriously bad history when it comes to human rights and war mongering. This is of course in contrast to countries like Israel, which is supported by the USA, and is well known for its kind and generous treatment of the Palestinian people, oh, and Ethiopian Jews too.

sport@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 23rd April 2013

SPORT

17

Box office Di Canio winning relegation dogfight Thomas Hobbs Sports Writer

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uesday night’s 0-0 with Charlton Athletic brought a happy end to Cardiff City’s seemingly perennial quest to exit the second tier of English football in achieving Premier League status.

The Welsh outfit have become notorious for strong showings throughout the guts of recent campaigns before invariably faltering at the final hurdle.

In the parallel Premier League universe, Wigan Athletic have typically spent vast periods of the season in the relegation zone only to ultimately sway fortune when it mattered.

Curiously, this term there is greater momentum than ever before behind the belief that the cessation of The Latics’ top flight séjour will coincide with Cardiff’s arrival: a 2-0 defeat to West Ham on Saturday afternoon leaves Wigan three points adrift of safety with five games to play.

Relegation would mean the end of an extremely successful era for the modest Greater Manchester club although the latest figure of £60m allocated for four year parachute payments (marking a £12m

increase) makes it difficult to label this an unhappy ending.

As FA Cup finalists, Roberto Martinez’ side are one of only three professional English clubs still involved in two competitions – a commendable feat – but even the most romantic among us would admit that Wigan would trade victory at Wembley for league survival.

Martinez has delivered attractive football to the DW Stadium with a diverse side featuring hot Irish prospect James McCarthy.

Yet Wigan have starved their fans of consistency; characteristically lackluster performances against the teams around them have not been allayed by upsets versus the big teams as they have produced in recent years.

The remarkable turn-around generally produced this side of Easter has seemingly deserted Wigan and their run-in includes clashes with Europe-chasing Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal as well as relegation rivals Aston Villa where they might have preferred more opponents like West Brom and Swansea who have little to play for at this stage.

Despite being seven points adrift of 17th position at the time, bookmakers offered relatively short odds of 5/4 on QPR to remain in the Premier League for the 2013/2014 season ahead of February’s home game against Norwich City.

January transfer window spending was rash and economically inefficient: rumors circulated of inflexible contacts which did not provide for wage reductions in the case of relegation.

Nevertheless, high profile additions such as Loïc Rémy seemed to bless the West Londoners with too much quality not to dig themselves out of trouble, especially under the guidance of the vastly experienced and influential Harry Redknapp.

But the wand of Harry ‘Houdini’ appears to have malfunctioned this time; a 2-3 loss at Villa Park in March in a game which QPR led on the back of two consecutive wins proved a decisive blow to Rangers’ momentum and consigned them to battling it out with Reading for the league wooden spoon with Nigel Adkins’ side bottom on minimal goal difference, 10 points from safety.

A trip to hapless Rangers proved remedial for Stoke City as they eased relegation fears with a 0-2 success. The Potters’ recent fortunes have reacted badly to a philosophy shift with the influx of flair players seemingly deviating the team away from its hard-to-beat nature and consequently cracking the long time fortress of the Britannia Stadium. Paulo di Canio’s rejuvenated Sunderland join Stoke on 37 points after two wins from the Italian’s opening three games

including a towering Tyne-Weir derby victory against Newcastle who also have 37 points, six above the relegation zone.

Aston Villa face the championselect at Old Trafford on Monday evening with the current table suggesting a dual between Paul Lambert’s inexperienced team and Wigan for 17th place. Wigan entertain Villa both teams’ final fixture of the season in what could prove to be a classic Survival Sunday.

O’Sullivan returns to entertain Luke Harrington Sports Writer

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he end of April may signify the coming of the UCD Ball in these parts, but to snooker fans worldwide, it can only mean one thing; the beginning of the World Championships at the Crucible. This year, there is an added spark surrounding the event as Ronnie “the Rocket” O’Sullivan makes his return from a self-imposed exile regarding him signing a player’s contract that has seen him play only one competitive match since winning the World Title in 2012.

Ronnie has often been described as “the most naturally talented snooker player in the history of the sport.” He turned professional in 1992 as a 16 year old and immediately began making an impact on the game winning his first 38 matches as a professional. He became the youngest ever player to qualify for the World Championships at 17, and later that year became the youngest player to ever win a Ranking Event when he won the UK Title by defeating Stephen Hendry in the final. Throughout his career, he has won 24 Ranking Titles including 4 World Championships and 4 UK Championships as well as 4 Masters Titles; he has achieved 11 maximum breaks in professional competition (a record

he jointly holds with Stephen Hendry) and has accumulated over £6 million in career earnings. However, this success isn’t the reason for his huge appeal to fans. His ability to excite fans and do the extraordinary captivates audiences in ways that have never been seen before, and probably will never be seen again.

For instance, in the 1997 World Championships, he set the record for the fastest maximum break ever made at 5 minutes 20 seconds, at an average of a shot every 9 seconds. Few thought they would ever witness anything as brilliant ever again, but they were wrong.

At the 2010 World Open, whilst playing the final frame of his match against Mark King, Ronnie pots the first red of the frame and immediately pauses to ask the referee Jan Verhaas is there a prize for getting a maximum break in the tournament. After a slight pause in play whilst Verhaas finds out that there isn’t such a prize, Ronnie proceeds to clear the table and chalks up the 10th 147 break of his career, playing some exquisite positional shots along the way. However, after he pots the final pink, he proceeds to leave the black on the table while shaking hands with the stunned King and proceeding to leave the

arena. Verhaas then convinces him to pot the black “for the fans.” He duly obliges by rifling in the black to a tumultuous reaction from the crowd and leaves the arena to conduct one of his famously cryptic post-match interviews, where he reveals that he knew that there was no prize money for obtaining a maximum and states that he did it for the “challenge” and for a “buzz”.

Amongst all this however, Ronnie’s career has been blighted by of lows which make his achievements all the more remarkable. He overcame a charge of bringing the game into disrepute when he started to play frames with his “weaker” left hand, though this charge was later dropped. His father was infamously given a life sentence for murder when Ronnie was just 15 (he was released 2 years ago); at the 1996 World Championships he was found guilty of assaulting a match official; he was disqualified from the 1998 Irish Masters after a drugs test found cannabis in his system; in the quarter finals of the 2006 UK Championship against Stephen Hendry, Ronnie was 4-1 down in a best of 17 frame match when he ran out of position and missed a tough red into the corner pocket, he promptly conceded the match and walked out of the arena,

something for which he was fined £20,000; and at a press conference at the 2008 China Open, he invited a member of the press to perform fellatio on him. He has also notably suffered from depression and drugrelated problems throughout his career but appears to put most of these problems behind him.

Despite having been off the competitive circuit for a year, Ronnie’s status in the game means that he comes into these Championships as the favourite for the title. A few names leap out as being serious contenders to him on his return.

Neil Robertson is a past winner of the title, and the Aussie comes into these championships in good form having already won a ranking event this season. John Higgins is also a 4 time winner of the event and is a superb player over the long format of the game and a possible quarter final meeting with Ronnie could well decide the eventual winner.

Judd Trump is seen by many as the natural successor to inherit snookers’ “entertainer” tag from Ronnie and has already reached a final at the Crucible. He has the capability to pot balls from anywhere on the table but this strength has also proven to be his downfall of late as his over-aggressive nature has cost him matches, notably the 2nd

Round of the Worlds against Ali Carter last year. However, Mark Selby has to be seen as Ronnie’s major threat as he has already won the Masters and UK Title this season and is aiming for snookers “triple crown” in the same season, something which even Ronnie has never accomplished.

On Saturday last, the re-launch of “the Rocket” saw Ronnie stroll comfortably into the second round of the World Championships with a comfortable 10-4 victory over Scotland’s Marcus Campbell. He strutted into the arena to his walk on song “Let me Entertain You” by Robbie Williams and proceeded to do just that. Whilst the accuracy of his long potting was shaky at times, and aspects of his safety play could have been a tad more precise, it would be nit-picking to suggest that the defending champion’s performance was anything less than remarkable given his chronic lack of match practice. Although he was gifted a number of easy chances

by Campbell, his break-building appeared as fluent as ever and the rustiness that many expected never materialized. He himself reckons that “it might take [him] two or three tournaments” to get match fit but that it should be “fun”. We can’t wait. Entertain us Ronnie.

18 18 SPORT

sport@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 23rd April 2013

Snowsports Intervarsities 2013 Mark Keane Sports Writer

O

n Saturday 6th April, the UCD Snowsports Club competed in the annual USAI Intervarsity’s. With college clubs traveling up to the Kilternan dryslopes from all corners of the country, the Monster Energy sponsored event was sure to be a big one. The club managed to bring the best talent on the day to secure the Intervarsity’s cup and continue an astonishing seven year winning streak.

With practice sessions being held early in the day, it became clear that the three Dublin universities of UCD, DCU and Trinity were all in contention for top honours. The first event was ski slalom, which saw competitors make three high speed runs on the Kilternan main slope. Two UCD students were a step ahead of the competition with Cillian Worrall taking the win with a blisteringly quick time of 12.43 seconds just ahead of Matthew Mitchell.

Third best on the day was Trinity’s Ian Irvine. Next up was snowboard slalom and once again it was the best of three runs. The spectators were brought to their feet with positions constantly swapping and competitors being separated by only a few hundredths of a sec-

ond. UCD once again came out on top with Killian Comerford setting a time of 17.43 seconds, narrowly beating DCU’s Ciaran Martin and Bren O’Friel.

The freestyle competitions followed shortly after, with an impressive set-up of pipes, boxes and kickers on Kilternan’s snowflex slope. With competitors getting seriously big air and pulling complex tricks, the judges would face some tough decisions. In men’s ski freestyle DIT’s Conor Keane Kennedy took home the gold ahead of Colm Bradley from NUIG. An impressive performance from UCD’s Carl Fitzpatrick secured him third spot.

In women’s ski freestyle, Trinity’s Ellevyn Irwin had the better of UCD student Aoife Smeaton and DCU’s Lisa McShera. UCD also made their mark on the intermediate ski freestyle with Aidan Daly claiming second place.

Arguably the best showing from UCD students was in snowboard freestyle. The top end of the results was dominated by UCD with Shane Given, Michael Clarke and Mike Schuster finishing in the top three positions. In the intermediate category UCD claimed the top two places with Paddy Jordan finishing

Gilroy High Continued from back page

"I think from whichever country you are from, you would maybe favour someone from your own country. And so I think there's no better man to lead the Lions than Brian O'Driscoll," he said.

While the international season went awry in March, Ulster's campaign has also been derailed somewhat in recent weeks after the Heineken Cup defeat to Saracens at Twickenham.

Gilroy will return to the Ulster backline for this weekend's clash with Cardiff Blues, and Gilroy -who turned 22 last month -- believes that the province can achieve redemption through the Pro12.

"If you look at the Leinster game (in the Pro12), I thought it was the best performances not only this season, but that I've ever been involved in in an Ulster jersey. The Saracens game was disappointing, because we have the players," he admitted.

"The Heineken Cup may be regarded as a bigger premier competition but the Pro12 is not something we would see as second best at all. We'd love to go the whole way and finish the season on a high.

"I'm dying to get something.

Photo: Conor Kennedy from DIT (previously of UCD), Mens Freestyle Winner We've put in a lot of work in the last few seasons and have come so far as ahead of Kenny Conway. made for a thoroughly enjoyable a team. I think we deserve it."

Impressive results throughout day, which was no doubt followed Going to Australia as a Lion may all categories saw UCD awarded by a night of celebrations for the be beyond Gilroy this summer, with 11 medals and earn the overall UCD team. Be sure to join the but having endured some growing Intervarsity’s win to bring the cup Snowsports Club next year for your pains, club and country continue to home once again. Fierce competi- chance to be part of this inspiring foster hope in the 22 year old and his meteoric rise. tion and an electric atmosphere team of enthusiasts.

Schmidt happens

Ceithrean Murray considers the Leinster coach’s candidacy for the difficult Ireland post

L

einster’s Joe Schmidt is expected to know by the end of the week whether he has been successful in his bid to be appointed Head Coach of the Irish national side. It is understood that Schmidt was the last of three candidates to interview for the position, the other contenders being former Australian prop, and current Queensland Reds coach Ewen McKenzie, and current Irish attack/defence coach Les Kiss. The latter is possibly prejudiced by his inability to spark a backline containing some of European rugby’s most dangerous back;, and the former is expected to hang around Down Under to tender for a potential vacancy which may arise should Robbie Deans fail to secure a series win against the British and Irish Lions.

Schmidt is favourite to get the job and was as short as 8/15 to do so with Paddy Power before betting was suspended on Friday. Speaking on the Late Late show when questioned about his desire to be the successor to Declan Kidney, Schmidt alluded to the fact that at this stage in his life, coaching in the national set up might suit his circumstances in that he would have more time to spend with his young family; specifically with his wife caring for their young son Luke

who has epilepsy.

Joe Schmidt is revered among the Leinster faithful, a man who has presided over a period of unprecedented success at European level, and has introduced a game plan predicated upon intense physicality and sometimes extraordinary high skill levels. However assessing his prospective appointment, regardless of his personal circumstances, one wonders if this is a good career move for the man.

We have seen a number of world class coaches, of which world cup winning coach Jake White is the most recent, ostensibly distance themselves from the position. The Irish coaching position is in some respects a poisoned chalice. One only needs to examine the manner in which the previous coaching tenures of O’Sullivan and Kidney came to a close to understand why.

Under Eddie O’Sullivan, Ireland played a fantastic style of structured attacking rugby and our error count was laughably low. We went into the 2007 World Cup undercooked, with insufficient match practice, and were acrimoniously dumped out of a tournament we were fancied to do quite well in, in the group phases. Eddie O’Sullivan is now the coach of the Cypriot National team.

Declan Kidney is the most suc-

cessful coach in Irish history, in 2009 people were touting him has a potential Lions coach; since his sacking he hasn’t even been rumoured to be linked with any vacancies.

Both of Ireland’s previous coaches were victims of fundamental changes in the way the game was played, at crucial times in their careers. With O’Sullivan in 2007 it was the alteration of the breakdown rules which incentivised increased kicking, a game his team wasn’t comfortable with, and for Kidney it came in the last World Cup, when Wales came to the quarter final with a backline, three of which were as big as the Irish back row.

There are serious questions to be asked regarding the ability of the Irish team to remain competitive internationally. At club level over the last 10 years, Munster initially and Leinster more recently, owe their success predominantly to their ability to field at least 10 international players per game in Europe; a luxury which only the other a handful at that level can afford.

Joe Schmidt is an excellent technical coach. Leinster and Cleremont under his guidance have played some of the most attractive and precise rugby has ever seen at club level. It is indeed true that in recent

years the error count of the Irish team has been appalling but the fundamental problem is that from 11-14 we are too small physically to compete in the modern game internationally.

If Joe Schmidt is indeed ap-

pointed head coach he will need to implement an attacking game that can make space for the Irish three quarters, because god knows they can’t make it for themselves, and everyone in the world has seen Sean O’Brien at this stage.

sport@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE

23rd April 2013

Here comes the sun J

Jim Gavin’s first year as a senior manager and the pressure cooker situation of late summer games is a brutal way to find your feet.

Mayo will be there or thereabouts again, and a longer and harder Connacht campaign than usual will serve them well.

Down south, the kingpins of Kerry and Cork will be hungry to reassert their claims to Sam. Kerry seemed to be in difficulty early in the league, but the return of their heavy hitters saw them improve significantly and their challenge won’t be brushed aside lightly. Cork as always, have been monotonously consistent but the loss of Colm O’Neill is massive and their lack of creativity could be their undoing again.

Kildare are still the fittest team around and have a very stingy defense but if their inability to up the conversion rate on the massive amount of chances they create is not rectified, Kieran McGeeney may find himself leaving the Shortgrass with a sense of underachievement.

The most improved county since last year, Tyrone, can beat any team on their day but their relative inexperience in championship may mean that it may be a few years more before they mature into serious contenders.

Come September, it would be a major surprise if there was a team from outside those mentioned at the top of the pile.

Their strength in depth and attacking prowess combined with a hunger to reclaim Sam may see Dublin crowned as champions again.

In the small ball world, the league final will see Kilkenny and Tipperary square off again yet again in a national final.

Rather unfamiliarly, Kilkenny will enter this final without Brian Cody, who is recovering from heart surgery.

This shouldn’t have a massive impact on the game however, and if they play half as well as they did against Galway on Sunday, they will once again be league champions. As is typical with the Cats, the league has been a testing ground with the ruthless intensity of the summer missing, as well as some of the most talented hurlers in the country. It says a lot for the county that they still looked the best team throughout the campaign.

Tipp had a strange up and down campaign, yet found themselves at the top of the table. After an almighty hammer-

ing against Cork in the opening game, they looked in trouble, but they recovered well and looked as if they were perhaps rediscovering the flair they had when Liam Sheedy was in charge.

Whilst neither team will give much credence to the result of the final, players will be eager to nail down a jersey for the summer and the higher level of competition in Kilkenny may be the difference on Sunday week.

In terms of how the hunt for Liam will pan out, Kilkenny will be the team to beat as has become the norm. The gap between the top 3 of Kilkenny, Tipperary and Galway has definitely narrowed in the last few seasons, and the championship is much the better for that.

The comparative lack of success at underage level looks to be weakening Kilkenny year on year, but in saying that they still are the best side going. Galway have an immensely talented squad packed with natural hurlers. However their mental strength is still their overriding weakness, and until they can overcome that, they will continue to be known as a team of squandered opportunity.

Tipp are more than capable on winning another All-Ireland and are a very well rounded side.

However they don’t always hurl to their strengths and

19

SPORTS IN BRIEF BENNY O’REGAN Aer Lingus clinch Men’s Volleyball title

Anthony Strogen previews what is bound to be an exciting summer in Gaelic football and hurling ust like the clocks going forward and the impending doom of exams, the finals of the GAA National Leagues are a sure sign that summer is nearly upon us.

While any success is always welcome, in reality teams hope to reach the latter stages of the league in order to squeeze one last competitive game out of the spring as much as they would like a trophy.

First up are the football finals, where the showpiece will be the meeting of Dublin and Tyrone. Both were highly impressive in the round robin phase and were head and shoulders above the rest. The continued renewal under Mickey Harte continues in the Red Hand county, with yet another injection of young stars making this team almost unrecognizable from the last All-Ireland winning side. That is not to say the philosophy is any different, with the new generation retaining the traditional grit and calculated approach of the golden era.

Dublin’s first campaign under Jim Gavin has begun by showing the rest of the country what the phrase ‘strength in depth’ really means. The sheer amount of quality players on show for Gavin in the league has been astounding and at times, they have looked unstoppable going forward. The final is tough to call, as it is unclear how both managers will approach their last proper fixture before the championship. Tyrone had the edge when they met last month, but that may yet go against them. Dublin will be eager to prove that result was an anomaly and won’t be short of motivation. The fact that they haven’t won a national league for all their talent and success in the last decade might see the boys in blue over the line.

Looking ahead to summer, it’s difficult to see a winner coming from outside Division 1.

The reigning champions Donegal have been somewhat of an enigma thus far. Patchy league form saw them relegated, but most will acknowledge that Jim McGuiness is on record saying that he gives little or no value to league matters, save for conditioning and blooding potential squad players.

Dublin look unquestionably strong and are by far and away the most balanced team in Ireland and look best placed to knock off Donegal. The only thing which may go against them is the fact that this is

SPORT

their tendency to engage in physical dogfights could again be their undoing. Cork will be eager to continue their path to prominence and a Munster title would be a perfect way to punctuate their return to national contention. Their relegation is a concern though and could weigh heavy entering summer.

Dublin seem to have lost the momentum they had in the last few years and it is difficult seeing that changing dramatically enough to challenge for honors this year.

Limerick are a very intriguing side and could very well be the surprise package of the summer, although their inability to see out victories in past season is a concern. Clare were quite surprising in the league, picking up decent results against more established teams.

They are a young team with massive potential, though they may just be at a slightly early stage in their growth to create major waves this championship.

It is incredibly difficult to look beyond Kilkenny when examining potential champions and the only team which can truly match them is Galway. For the sake of the game a western breakthrough would be fantastic, but the smart money says Kilkenny will retain Liam.

UCD may have won the battle, but Aer Lingus won the war. The visitors acquired the two sets needed to claim the Men's Premier League volleyball title off the Boys in Blue on Sunday.

Both teams went toe to toe in the first set, with big hits coming from both sides. The atmosphere was electric in the UCD Sports Centre with the partisan crowd present cheering on their teams. It was still nip and tuck with no team gaining any advantage. It intensified once the scores reached 23-23 but it was AEL who squeezed through 25-23 courtesy of two individual errors called by the first referee.

UCD upped the tempo and started to play with more conviction, adapting to all situations better than their opponents. It looked like the Boys in Blue had swung the tie in their favour as they showed the stronger mentality, edging it 26:24, 27:25 to take a 2-1 lead.

However, Aer Lingus didn't succumb to the added pressure of going behind. The 4th set was now winner-takes-all and it was tight, both teams trading blows in attack and equally defiant in defence until a few errors in attack mid way through the set allowed AEL to open up a 22-17 lead. UCD rallied back but AEL could sense the title was theirs and eventually made it to the magic 25 with 5 points in hand.

There was nothing but pride to play for in the 5th set tie break.

It was another tight affair but the buzz had left the game, the pace dying down slightly. UCD took it to the newly elect champions and managed to clinch the match 1614. Although both teams ended up with 12 wins and 2 losses, AEL had the better points total having gained that extra point taking to the tie break.

UCD made it a tough contest and never gave up in the match despite losing their crown but huge congratulations must go to Aer Lingus who claim their first title of the decade.

UCD Men’s Handball secure first league win UCD picked up their first league win of the 2012/13 season with a comfortable victory over their north-western rivals, lifting off the bottom of the table and avoiding the wooden spoon.

Although nothing was at stake bar bragging rights, it was UCD who dominated most of the game with a higher efficiency rate on target; cutting down on the silly mistakes evident in previous league games.

Sligo IT were gallant and competitive but were always playing second fiddle to UCD. Nic Hopper was top scorer with 6 goals UCD 28 - 14 Sligo IT

20

sport@collegetribune.ie

TRIBUNE

COLLEGE TRIBUNE

SPORT

23rd April 2013

SNOWSPORTS INTERVARSITIES 2013

PAGE 18 INSIDE TRIBUNE SPORT

Box office Di Canio winning relegation dogfight p 17 Ceithrean Murray considers the Leinster coach’s candidacy for the difficult Ireland post p 18

PLUS Anthony Strogen previews what is bound to be an exciting summer in Gaelic football and hurling

p 19

Hardened by failure, Gilroy looks to end year on a high Conall Devlin Sports Editor

T

he last three months have been a steep learning curve for Ireland and Ulster winger Craig Gilroy.

Coming off the back of his explosive arrival on to the international scene last November against Argentina, the hype surrounding the 22-year-old knew no boundaries.

Coach Warren Gatland instantly propelled him to Lions tour contention after his superb debut, and the raw injection of attacking flair he and Munster's Simon Zebo promised on the wing were heralded as the hallmark of a dynamic new Ireland. Six weeks later, though, he was picking himself up from the Roman ruins.

The Six Nations offered renewed optimism for a faltering golden generation. Day one went to plan,

with the young pretender standing firm alongside Brian O'Driscoll when Irish backs were against the wall, his try-saving tackle on Leigh Halfpenny preventing an improbable Welsh revival late on.

But after Cardiff, it all went downhill as, one by one, key players -- including Gilroy himself, who missed the France game -- succumbed to a succession of injuries.

Bar his try against Scotland and a fine performance against Italy, the shackles were largely stifled for a battle-hardened Gilroy.

He describes the injury toll the players and coaching staff endured as "surreal", and admits that the Italian defeat was a real low point, but overall the youngster enjoyed his first campaign and was sorry to see the team's struggles cost the

coach who gave him his chance his job.

"We knew we couldn't win the competition (in Rome), but with the talk of it being a few players' last game, we really wanted to prove something. It was probably the biggest disappointment," he explained.

"I loved the Six Nations, despite not doing as well as we should have, I feel I had a lot more to show and prove, and still have lots to show in the future.

"It's a fantastic competition, one I never thought I'd be playing in, and getting the opportunity to play with the likes of the guys that I did-the O'Garas and O'Driscolls -- was a great experience.

"I was privileged to play under Declan. He'll always be that coach

for me who gave me a chance, which is special."

Having made the step up into Ireland colours this season, the Bangor native has been touted as a potential Lion, something he is playing down -- although he admits the thought has crossed his mind, even if the summer tour to the USA and Canada may be a more realistic target.

"Who knows who he (Gatland) is going to pick? I honestly wouldn't put myself in the frame; there's definitely a lot of talent," he said. "It is every rugby player's dream to go on a Lions tour. It's very special and great to be a part of.

"A lot of players don't want to talk about it for fear of jinxing it, or don't think they'll get on it. There are some amazing players out there

at the moment, both young and old, and the competition is very high."

And so while he will watch with intent Gatland's squad selection on April 30, Gilroy is also galvanised by the prospect of the Irish tour in June.

"If I thought a few years ago that I would be involved in a North America tour, I'd think you were crazy. It'd be great to travel the world, and would be a good learning curve as a player."

While speculating on his own prospects is something he is reticent to do, Gilroy believes that his fellow Ireland back O'Driscoll should lead the tourists Down Under this summer.

Continued on Page 18