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Why Voting to Repeal Would Not Be Democratic

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UCD Residences Under Fire Over Lack of Adequate Mental Health Facilities Aaron Bowman | Politics Editor

• • •

T

RAs concerned over lack of out-of-hours support for students in UCD Residences.

3 RAs and 1 SRA have already quit their roles this year.

Some SRAs unhappy with level of training provided to handle mental health issues.

he lack of adequate mental health facilities and out-of-hours supports for students living on campus has been criticised as a major growing concern by numerous Residential Assistants (RAs) who spoke to the Tribune. These sources have illuminated a system whereby between the hours of 6pm and 8am the RAs and Senior Residential Assistant (SRAs) are in effect the final decision makers regarding the mental wellbeing of students in Residences, with no mental health professionals on call and the front of house staff described as ‘not adequately trained to support [RAs]’ and not found to be helpful. The best assistance that RA’s are able to contact in the course of the night is the Campus Services Duty Manager whose training is only as

advanced as that of SRAs. A number of the RA’s who spoke to the Tribune highlighted that they while they did receive various forms of training to address student mental health issues such as Safetalk and ASSIST, this was not comparable to having a professional counsellor available out of hours. RAs have described stories of dealing with students who were suicidal, in the mists of panic or anxiety attacks, or even being attacked by residents.

Despite these instances being reported by RAs and requests made for additional resources to address these problems, no services have been made available. There is a sense among the RAs that there are no changes being made despite promises made 4 years ago when a resident took their own life. The options RAs and staff have are limited. They can either refer

residents to Student Advisors or ask them to attend UCD counselling services, both of which are not available after 5pm or during the Christmas break.

RAs themselves are not assessed for mental health issues, despite the fact that they are frequently required to work with and look after students who are experiencing serious mental health issues. This has in the past resulted in RAs who are struggling with mental health issues being responsible for students who are also struggling. Compounding this situation is the fact that UCD Counselling services are currently overbooked to the extent that many students won’t be seen till late into this semester, as reported by the University Observer, with no signs that this demand for services is slowing.

Continued on page 3.

Issue 06 Volume 31

CT.

0631

Editors

Cian Carton Rachel O’Neill

Section Editors News.

Cian Carton

Politics.

Aaron Bowman Features.

Rachel O’Neill Film.

Muireann O’Shea & Ciara Dillon Music.

Adam Bielenberg Fashion.

Shannon Doherty Arts.

Holly Lloyd LifeStyle.

Ciara Landy Science.

Editorial.

Rachel O’Neill Editor

W

elcome back to a new semester in UCD where this Editor is hoping we don’t have to cover another impeachment. I simply just don’t have it in me.

I’d also like to welcome the Burkean Journal to UCD. Apparently the College Tribune isn’t proviidng enough conservative viewpoints because according to most people, we’re communists. Go figure.

On a serious note, the lead story in this issue is something that’s quite important. The accusations from a number of RAs who came forward to the Tribune alleging a lack of mental health training being provided to them. This is quite stunning.

RAs and SRAs have allegedly been expected to deal with students who are suicidal, in the midst of panic attacks or who are simply unable to cope with little or no support coming from above. This is a huge undertaking on the their part.

RAs and SRAs are not trained psychologists or psychiatrists. They are students doing their best

Aife McHugh

to get themselves through college as well as working a stressful part time job. They should be appreciated but they should be trained properly and not be expected to handle serious situations such as a suicidal student by themselves.

When I was a 1st year in UCD, I lost a friend to suicide.

She was a psychology student and we’d been in secondary school together. We were in UCD together too but we’d lost touch as we both tried to adjust to college life. Suicide has touched nearly all of us in some way and we all struggle to deal with it.

Imagine you were an RA and were responsible for the welfare of a student who was suicidal. You’re trying to help them as best you can but you haven’t got the proper training and the UCD counselling service is overbooked. What can you do for that student other than monitor them and try to be there for them? That takes a huge toll on someone and shouldn’t be the norm.

UCD students deserve better. It’s as simple as that.

Samaritans: (01) 671 0071 NiteLine: 1800 793 793

Cian Carton Editor

U

CD President Andrew Deeks recently went public with a call to protect university autonomy. His letter published in the Irish Times was somewhat restrained, possibly after some of his previous comments over education funding landed him in a spot of bother with UCD staff.

Back in November, he heavily praised the Chinese government’s willingness to give additional funding to their universities, while letting the universities decide on how to use the money themselves. He made the original comments in his Presidential Bulletin to staff, following his trip to the 7th International Conference on World-Class Universities in Shanghai.

In the Bulletin on November 14th, Deeks noted that China unveiled its programme to develop its universities the previous week. Unlike the global trend of reduced government funding for third-level education, alongside increased calls for tighter control over how universities spend the that money, Deeks said that ‘China is a sharp contrast to this general trend.’

45 top Chinese universities are set to receive an additional €13 Billion in additional funding

over the next 5 years under the programme. Deeks explained how he met President Lin at Peking University, and ‘he told me there was no prescription of how this money was to be spent, but that there would be evaluation of the performance of the university and an expectation that performance would increase the leadership teams of the universities are expected to decide how to best apply the additional money to increase performance.’

Deeks then stated, ‘If only the Irish government would recognise the wisdom of the Chinese approach!’ This was the particular comment which drew the wrath of staff members in UCD. In his following Bulletin, Deeks noted that ‘I suggested that the Irish government could learn something from the Chinese approach.

I subsequently received feedback from a number of colleagues interpreting these comments as my endorsing the overall Chinese approach to universities. Let me be totally clear: I was commenting specifically and solely on the new World-Class Universities programme, and not suggesting that the Irish government should follow other aspects of the Chinese approach to universities.’

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Mark Jackson Features Niall O’Shaughnessy Music Caoimhe McParland Music Aisling Brennan Science Danielle O’Rourke Science Daniel Forde Law Oisin Magfhogartaigh Gaeilge Philip Mignon Turbine Seán Farbuckt Turbine Jack Stokes Sport Aoife Brady Sport George Hannaford Design

Editorial Note 0631 On This Day: Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated by Nathuram Godse on this day in 1948.

30.01.2018

*Cover Continued UCDNEWS. p.05

UCD pays tribute to Peter Sutherland.

Politics.

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The mechanics of an 8th Amendment Referendum.

Features. p.11

The homelessness crisis, a modern day tragedy.

Music. p.15

Film. p.17

Breaking down music ownership.

A breakdown of the Oscar nominations and the likely winners.

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Trends to watch out for in Men’s Fashion Week.

A preview of “Where We Live” the new programme from THISISPOPBABY.

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How to be more sustainable in the new year.

Science. p. 26

Busting the myths surrounding the Aussie flu.

A further concern of RAs who spoke to the Tribune is the lack of training that replacement RAs or SRAs are given, despite high turnover in the roles. So far this year 3 RA’s and 1 SRA have quit their roles, and it remains unclear if their replacements have been given the complete training required by the role.

RAs who spoke the Tribune expected more RAs to resign as the year goes on.

This would require UCD to identify replacement RAs and have them undergo training in a short space of time. In the past there have been cases where new RAs brought in part of the way into the year do not undergo training and are simply put in rotation.

A 2017 report shows that last year only 50% of SRAs who started the year remained by the end, and that their replacements had not undergone Occupational First Aid training, something that was normally a requirement for SRAs. This problem with training has been exacerbated this year as a result of the unprecedented increase in the number of RAs, which has nearly doubled from last year. SRAs present at the training said that the attempt to bring such large numbers in was poorly thought out, and reduced the overall effectiveness of the training. The poor format of training was also highlighted with many RAs being given Safetalk suicide prevention training before hearing their job description from SRAs. This resulted in a number of RAs wanting to quit before they had even completed training.

Procedure

Currently the procedure for addressing students with in mental health crisis outside between 6pm and 8am is for a RA to contact an SRA who will attempt to address the situation. If the SRA feels they are unable to adequately deal with the issue, then they can contact the Front of House staff in Merville or UCD Campus Services, who will in practice arrange for an ambulance.

This system was criticized by SRAs in a meeting with UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU) last year as the Front of House staff were described as ‘not adequately trained to support’, and Campus Services were described as ‘not taking responsibility’, and that they ‘frequently called RAs to ask about security [and to] flag issues with residents’ as opposed to addressing them themselves. This was in part believed to be the result of a high turnover in the Front of House staff and the fact that there is no clear divide between the roles of RAs and the Front of House staff.

Furthermore, it was highlighted by RAs that calling an ambulance to a situation where a student was in mental

Gaeilge. p. 28

2018, Bliain na Gaeilge.

UCD SU Welfare Officer Eoghan Mac Domhaill said UCDSU has highlighted the need for a 24 hour counselling service for residents.

distress was not always the answer, despite the fact that this is a common action taken

by Campus Services. While they agreed that in certain cases this was appropriate due to the fact that students may have been at risk to themselves or others, RAs stressed it was not suitable in all cases. They believe the vast majority of serious cases could be adequately addressed through the intervention of a professional counsellor on campus, without the difficulties of convincing a student to get into the ambulance and attend A&E. This was viewed as especially important as it is possible for individuals to refuse to attend A&E if upon the arrival of an ambulance the emergency services do not believe they represent a significant risk to themselves or others.

Recommendations

Following comments made by former SRA Dylan Quinn McMahon at the 2017 UCDSU Presidential Hustings, a meeting was arranged between SRAs and UCDSU. After this meeting a submission was made

by UCDSU to the UCD Residences Review Working Group, which was in turn to report to the UCD Governing Authority about any necessary changes to be made to the running of UCD Residences. This submission, which was obtained by the Tribune, outlines the issues that RAs and SRAs have been facing alongside the suggestions that the SU and RAs put forward to improve the situation for them and students staying in residences.

UCDSU suggested that UCD change its out of hours policy for addressing mental health difficulties, including the provision of a hotline or on call professional for both the residents and RAs in UCD Residencies.

It called for better training for the Front of House staff in UCD Residences to ensure that RAs were more effectively supported in their duties. It also requested for a seat to made available for RAs on the Residences Review and any other relevant groups and boards, ideally with this seat to be taken up

Business.

p.30 The Law and

Politics Behind PESCO.

by a Senior RA.

Management Several RAs highlighted management issues as a possible reason that the situation in Residences has been allowed to continue as long as it has. A number of RAs who spoke to the Tribune said that while that their immediate managers were sympathetic to the issues faced by residents and RA’s, they seemed unable to affect change in overall UCD. Overall Manager for UCD Residences, Richard Brierley, was said to be uninvolved in the day to day operations of Residences and was believed by RAs to only appeared when there had been a serious incident.

UCDSU Welfare Officer Eoghan MacDomhnaill said in a comment to the Tribune said that UCDSU have ‘highlighted the need for a 24 hour counselling service for residences with various working groups and UCD stakeholders including the Res Review Committee and President Deeks. This has come on foot of recommendations submitted last year in which out of hours support was identified as the most essential support going forward.’

He also emphasised that he himself had advocated for the introduction of a full time counsellor for RAs with the University Management Team on numerous occasions and would continue to do so. The Tribune contacted UCD for comment on these issues at the beginning of January, but has still not received a reply at the time of going to print.

If you have been affected by any of the topics in this piece please contact: Samaritans 116 123 or email jo@samaritans. org Aware 1800 80 48 48 (depression, anxiety) Pieta House 1800 247 247 or email mary@ pieta.ie (suicide, self-harm) Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19) Childline 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s)

Turbine

Sport.

p.32 Satirical takes on p.36 hamsters, Pascal Donohoe, and more.

20 Year’s on from the Bosman Ruling. p.3

UCDNEWS.

UCD Gym Under Fire For Student Class Timetables Conor Capplis News Writer

T

he UCD Sports & Fitness Gym has come under fire from students complaining about the high demand for the limited fitness classes each week. The gym located in the Student Centre provides over 90 classes each week from trained instructors, but seem to be struggling to cope with the numbers.

One student who wished to remain anonymous spoke to the College Tribune on the subject, saying: ‘This is a major issue for the particularly popular ones such as Body Pump which fill from the online enrolment in less than a second - refreshing the page and clicking ‘book’ immediately once available is rarely successful.’ They went on to claim that the UCD Gym service is continuing ‘to tailor their timetables for

private members to draw in more money from subscriptions. This is a welfare issue and also a moral issue - these facilities were built and paid for by student money and are run day-to-day with student money’.

There has been an increased interest in gym usage and fitness overall and the UCD campus is no exception to that. At the time of construction in 2012, the Student Centre was designed to facilitate predicted numbers attending the gym classes.

Speaking to The College Tribune, a communications representative from UCD Sports & Fitness has stated: ‘The facility has adapted competently, year on year, providing an excellent service offering and environment where students can achieve their fitness goals under the

guidance of industry experts.’

Over the last few years, the gym has seen increasing numbers, giving Student Services a tough time with managing the high demand.

Though the fitness classes maybe be having difficulty accommodating the students, the overall sports and gym facilities prove to be functioning well: ‘the facility can account for over 20,000 student visits per month whilst also accommodating

over 8,500 student sports club members per week with access to halls, studios and an exclusive team gym to fulfil their sporting aspirations at UCD.’ The overall student opinion on the facilities is not in question and many students seem content with the service being provided, the issue coming into the crossfire is their inability to cope with the numbers. UCD Student Services acknowledged this saying: ‘Due to the high-qual-

ity service offering, participation levels throughout these outlined channels have indeed grown, and pressure is being heavily placed on studio and training space within the facility. The success of the service and shift in campus culture has evidently become our Achilles heel’.

Fortunately, there seems to be some traction on improving the facilities and fixing this issue. The UCD Sport & Fitness Communications Officer had some positive news for those awaiting a much-needed solution: ‘To accommodate and future proof the physical wellbeing of our student body, we can report that a capital development plan is in works and provisions for expansion are being developed to ensure we can scale to meet and deliver on our student’s aspirations.

We look forward to sharing these provisions with you and the entire student body in the near future.’

Government’s Changes to Education Funding Could Undermine University Autonomy Cian Carton Editor

U

CD and UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU) have both expressed concern that the government’s new plan to exercise further control over education funding may impact on the autonomy of Irish universities.

UCD President Andrew Deeks went public with a message promoting the protection of university autonomy in a letter published in the Irish Times on the 22nd January. He called on the government to ‘entrust university leaders, within the existing oversight mechanisms, to make decisions in the best interests of our students and our wider contributions to society.’

Similarly, Robert Sweeney, UCDSU Education Officer, told the Tribune he believes that ‘stripping back of autonomy is not a good decision for the Irish university sector. Universities are equipped with multiple levels of governance and should be entrusted to govern themselves.’

The issue is in the news again after the Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, and the Minister of State for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, recently unveiled the government’s plan to link the provision of funding to national objectives in the sector. The proposals will centre on the creation of 3-year ‘System Performance targets’ with each www.collegetribune.ie

institution.

There is a concern among university management that tying funding to government chosen objectives for universities will restrict their ability to use the money in the best possible way.

Deeks cited certain HR functions being removed from university governance in recent years, only for there to be continuing uncertainty over which person or group now exercises control Despite the government’s aim to alter the funding model, there has been no sign of additional money. Deeks wrote in his Presidential Bulletin to staff that he expected any changes to their allocation to be ‘very modest. Consequently these changes will not affect our planning and budget process currently underway.’ He stated that UCD was ‘well advanced in accomplishing objectives put forward in the new Performance Framework.’ However, he noted that ‘there is currently no indication of additional funding’ despite the Independent Expert Panel’s view that Ireland’s increasing student numbers cannot be sustained without increased investment.

Sweeney echoed this sentiment. He also cited the Independent Expert Panel’s report on the need for additional funding, then commented, ‘as such Government statements of having the best education sector in Europe by 2026 are not only unrealistic but are more akin to a Trump like statement.’

0631

UCDNEWS.

UCD Pays Tribute to Peter Sutherland Jennifer Garrett News Writer

U

CD figureheads have paid tribute to Peter Sutherland, the former UCD student and influential businessman, who passed away on the 9th January at the age of 71. An important figure in both Irish and international political and business spheres, he helped to shape the modern world through his work.

Sutherland studied law in UCD before beginning his career at the Bar. He became the youngest ever Attorney General at 35 in 1981, and later became the youngest ever European Commissioner on his appointment to the role in 1985. Sutherland’s business career included roles as a non-executive chairman of AIB, Goldman Sachs, and British Petroleum.

He was the director-general of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) from 1993-1995 and then became the founding director-general of the World Trade Organisation in 1995 when it replaced GATT. Through his leadership in both GATT and WTO, Sutherland oversaw many trade deals aimed at opening markets.

One of Sutherland’s greatest achievements was the proposal of the creation of the Erasmus Programme as a European Commissioner in 1985. Since its inception, more than nine

30.01.2018

million students in Europe have been able to study abroad as pat of their degrees.

Imelda Maher, Dean of Law, described him as ‘a great friend of UCD, unstinting in his support and advice to successive Presidents, Deans of Law and many others.’ His contributions to UCD led to the creation of the Sutherland Chair in European Law in 2005. Maher was originally appointed to the position.

He donated €4 million to the fundraising project for a new Law School, which was subsequently named after him when it opened in 2013.

UCD President Andrew Deeks described Peter Sutherland in a statement as ‘a great friend and supporter of the University throughout his life.’ Deeks described each interaction with him as ‘a powerful and helpful experience’, and noted he ‘will miss his direct and wise counsel.’

In recent years, Sutherland served on Deeks’ Presidential Advisory Board, the School of Law Development Council, and the Smurfit School of Business Advisory Board. Outside of UCD, he was involved in charity work, was Chair of the Court of Governors of the London School of Economics, and served as Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations for Migration since 2006

p.5

Sponsored.

The World’s Biggest Climate Innovation Summer School Returns to Trinity College

T

he Journey is a fully-funded climate innovation summer school run by EIT ClimateKIC, Europe’s largest climate innovation agency.

The programme enables 300+ students and professionals from all over the world to travel to some of the best universities in Europe during their summer break, for climate briefings, expert masterclasses, field visits and climate entrepreneurship coaching.

The course offers a unique combination of climate knowledge and hand-on business experience, and has been held up as a bestcase example of Innovation in Higher Education by the OECD. After running one of the most successful ‘legs’ of The Journey in 2017, Trinity College Dublin will again host 40 Journey students this summer.

More than 260 climate-positive business ideas have been generated by almost 1500 Journey participants since 2010, with an increasing number of students successfully

continuing on to Climate-KIC’s climate-positive business creation programmes, such as the Greenhouse, Start-up Accelerator and ClimateLaunchpad.

The 40 students hosted by Trinity will start their Journey in Dublin before moving on to Trondheim in Norway and Valetta in Malta. During their final week in Valetta, students take part in a pitch competition to present a climate-positive business idea, which they will develop during their two weeks in Trondheim.

Journey participants interact with researchers, start-ups, government officials and large corporations, get up-to-date briefings on the latest climate change science and policy, and learn about cutting edge adaptation and mitigation technologies and solutions.

The Dublin Journey Quentin Crowley, Associate Professor in the School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin is planning to set up a series of expert lectures, workshops and innovation field-

visits. While in Dublin students will learn about: The circular economy Nature-based solutions Climate and society Highlights of last year’s Dublin Journey included an address by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and UN Commissioner for Human Rights and site visits to local community organizations.

‘This is a great opportunity to meet likeminded people who are interested in taking action against climate change. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from some of the leading experts in climate innovation and entrepreneurship, while working in interdisciplinary teams towards a common goal.’ Quentin Crowley, Associate Professor and co-lead of Climate-KIC at TCD. Students complete The Journey by pitching a business venture To prepare for the pitch competition in their final week, participants will also take part in venture creation workshops and pitch training, and learn to work in multidisci-

plinary and international teams to ideate and deliver a climate-related business plan.

Entry into one of the world’s most exciting Alumni associations Graduates from EIT Climate-KIC Education programmes, which also include a range of climate innovation-focused Masters Label and PhD Label programmes, and the preincubation Greenhouse programme, gain entry into the innovation community’s prestigious Alumni group.

Follow The Journey on Social media Climate-KIC UK & Ireland will tweet about the Dublin leg of The Journey from @ ClimateKIC_UKI. The Journey in Dublin is hosted by the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin. Follow their blogs @TCD_NatSci, @ TCDOnTheRocks and @Planetgeogblog.

To follow all EIT Climate-KIC Journey news across Europe, and to follow the pitch competitions for all 320 participants, follow #climatejourney18 this summer!

Apply today at https://journey.climate-kic. org/how-to-app.

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Climate-KIC Journey 2018 Join Europe’s largest summer school for climate innovation Apply online today at journey.climate-kic.org Applications close18 February 2018

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Opinion.

Why Voting to Repeal Would Not Be Democratic Peter Hoy Politics Writer

30.01.2018

termination of pregnancy without restriction should be lawful. Although this was not an explicit vote to repeal the 8th, we will use this as an indicator of support for repeal among members. 64% of the members seems like a substantial victory for the Repeal campaign, however, if we break down the numbers, the 36% who voted against this proposal would actually win in a referendum.

Which stage that the termination of pregnancy should be lawful In the above vote, even though the majority of members voted implicitly for some form of repeal, it is obvious that there is not a clear consensus on what form repeal should take.

Even breaking down the 64% of members that voted for some manner of repeal, in no instance did even half of them agree on a single form of repeal. The above vote illustrates the great range of views within the Repeal campaign, a range of views that cannot be represented by a simple vote to repeal or not to repeal.

Unfortunately, due to the binary nature of our referendum system it would not be currently possible to give voters multiple options.

As per the current system, a Bill must be passed by the Oireachtas proposing a specific amendment to the Constitution. The people are then asked a simple Yes/ No question on the proposed amendment.

One solution would be to hold a preferendum, which is a referendum that offers a choice of several options.

However, to be able to hold a preferendum, we would first have to hold a referendum to amend Article 46 of the Constitution to allow for a preferendum. Preferendums have been used in the past in countries such as Switzerland, New Zealand and Sweden.

If the 8th is repealed then, although it may be an unlikely outcome of a repeal decision, a political decision may be made to hold a 2nd referendum deciding on the particulars of our abortion laws. If that occurs after a successful repeal campaign,

then the pro-life view would probably not be considered or represented in the subsequent campaign.

I fit into the category of people who will vote to retain the 8th if the Oireachtas puts a proposal to the people which removes the right to life wording without replacing it with constitutional restrictions such as a 12-week limit. Voters might not trust I fit into the category the Oireachtas to limit abortion to their specific beliefs. of people who will vote to retain the 8th if After all, politicians are not renowned for keeping their the Oireachtas puts a campaign promises. For example; the 7th Amendment proposal to the people passed in 1979 (which enabled which removes the right the Oireachtas to extend the to life wording without Seanad election franchise to

“

replacing it with constitutional restrictions such as a 12-week limit.

“

T

he upcoming referendum on the 8th Amendment of the Irish Constitution is likely to occur in May or June of this year as indicated by the Taoiseach. The repeal campaign should be congratulated for advancing this debate as much as they have, ensuring that we are to have this much needed referendum. However, I do not believe that we should vote to repeal the 8th Amendment even though I am pro - choice.

The Repeal campaign appears to focus on a 2-horse race, either to keep the 8th or to repeal it. You are either for or against the Repeal campaign. Everyone who believes that abortion should be allowed up to 12 weeks or 22 weeks or with no limitations are pushed together under one label, the Repeal campaign. However, I do not believe that it would be reasonable to carry out such a sensitive referendum that has so many grey areas in such a manner. The opinions on abortion within the repeal campaign are notably different and diverse.

Let’s use these figures (as seen in the graphic above) from a vote carried out during the Citizens Assembly to illustrate why carrying out a referendum in such a manner may not be democratic.

64% of the Members have recommended that the

graduates of more third level institutions) has still not been implemented, 38 years later. What reason have we to believe that they if we simply repeal the 8th that they will in fact implement the promised limitations?

This subject is being put to the people to decide for a reason. We have been given to power to decide, let’s not hand this power away. This power would be retained if the outcome to the referendum was a vote to amend.

Under Irish law, changes to the Constitution can only be made by means of a referendum. Therefore, any amendments made would have to be done by a referendum decided by the people.

If we highlight this issue now and garner national attention for an Amend campaign in a similar fashion to how the Repeal campaign brought about this referendum, then we could ensure the inclusion of several amendment options into the upcoming referendum and make redundant the possible need to hold two separate referendums on the same issue. Let’s not march to repeal, let’s march to amend. p.8

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p.9

Features.

Section.

Billon Dollar Politics: How Capital, Charm & Celebrity Mean The World Mark Jackson Features Writer

30.01.2018

the traditional workplace no matter the country or region. Many are calling her speech ‘presidential’, which is sadly no longer regarded as an abnormality.

The general public’s admiration of such figures as Oprah Winfrey is understandable. She is a remarkable journalist, chat show host, interviewer, actor and author. According to popular culture she is vying to break her way into politics and become the President of the United States, hence the speech. Certainly, she would have enough capital to fund her own political agenda, as she was the world’s first multi-billionaire female African American. Does this necessarily mean, however, that she would not only be a good politician but also a good President of the United States of America? In my humble opinion, it does not.

Electing a celebrity with no political experience to lead the free world is naturally quite foolish and actively dangerous. We have seen it backfire once before when a male candidate with a known history of chauvinism, bigotry and racism was elected to the highest seat in American politics, a person with no political experience whatsoever, neither regional or national. That person did not have to go through the various political hoops to even become a presidential candidate, his celebrity influence alone garnered that privilege.

It is stereotypically common to be fooled by charisma and confidence.

It is, in fact, exceptionally similar to the election of the classical dictator. Now,

more than ever before, the potential leaders of our world have a significantly larger audience who spend the majority of their day on a platform which is trifled with political propaganda.

A candidate can portray themselves in a better light at the cost of their opponent with no immediate counterpoint.

By also consuming our news via social media, we are giving a certain credibility to the platform which it truthfully does not deserve.

Social media was traditionally used by the general public and celebrities. With a certain former celebrity who is now also a politician actively using social media,

the public are beginning to view politicians and celebrities as one and the same.

The people who strive their entire lives for the betterment of their community and country are regarded as equals to the outrageously wealthy film and television personalities of the twentyfirst century.

The audience at their disposal is, in fact, continuing to increase. According to the CSO, in Ireland in 2017, 93% of 16-29 year olds are most likely to access the internet for social media purposes. Of the 16-29 year olds surveyed, a staggering 92% accessed the internet every single day. This is compared with 77% of

“ By also consuming our news via social media, we are giving a certain credibility to the platform which it truthfully does not deserve.

“

I

n our modern world, celebrity re i g n supreme. For decades, it only dominated the world of cinema, television and popular culture. However, in this post-Trump era, the world of celebrity has begun to seep into international politics through the widening popularity of social media platforms.

Obviously, with celebrity comes a substantial amount of wealth, charisma and societal influence and many fear certain celebrities will become the new policymakers in a world where superficiality is unreservedly worshipped.

Naturally, there are many influential celebrities who are charitable and are major social activists.

Oprah Winfrey, for example, has helped establish many charities and has been involved in philanthropic pursuits throughout her career, ranging from helping build schools for children in developing countries to helping raise awareness for ovarian cancer in the United States.

Winfrey’s speech at the Golden Globes Awards this year was undeniably inspiring and heart-warming.

Undoubtedly, she is an idol for many young women of all ages from various ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. According to her, women are set to ‘become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say ‘me too’ again’.

Naturally the speech has received masses of attention and has given women confidence to continue to speak out against abuses not only in the film industry but in

16-29 year olds in 2011.

Young people throughout the world are becoming more and more dependent on social media, in fact we are vicariously living our lives through social media.

Our idols are now those who are the most prominent on that platform, whether celebrity or politician or both.

The question is obvious; how will the younger generation be affected by this modern superficiality which has even entered the world of politics? A world were men and women feel free to discuss the appearance or attractiveness of a political leader such as Angela Merkel or Theresa May. Is there no refuge? Is there no profession untainted by celebrity and free from the scrutiny of the public eye?

Perhaps young men and women will stop striving for roles in government, when it becomes apparent that the highest positions are reserved only for the widely admired and enormously affluent elite. They say there is nothing money can’t buy and it seems that the saying has now taken on a sickening reality. p.10

Features.

Homelessness: The Absurd Truth of Modern Day Ireland Mark Jackson

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omelessness. A silent echo of a hundred horrific images. Men and women lying on the streets of Dublin, our capital city, helpless, hungry and without a grain of hope. Just as the rain and frost cannot stop its descent to spare the innocent heads of our homeless, the bustling public cannot and will not stop for a moment, not even to smile, to talk, to give.

A faceless multitude ignores these threats, as they are indeed threats, threats to our own national image as a kind and charitable people. Often regarded as an added burden on our shoulders, these homeless have no place at all, not even in our hearts. We talk casually about them in passing as though they were a fleeting menace. The 30.01.2018

truth evades us and in turn, we seek to evade the truth.

After all the truth is indeed absurd, almost a morbid caricature. According to Focus Ireland 3,333 out of the 8,857 homeless people across Ireland who were living in emergency accommodation during November 2017 were children. Unfortunately, 2017 saw an increase of 16% in young people under the age of 25 living in emergency accommodation. On the streets of Dublin alone there were 184 rough sleepers that same month according to Focus Ireland. For many people this is everyday life, living on the fringes of society, alone and desperate to survive.

The statistics alone cannot adequately convey the torment these people must endure. At a presentation by Dublin Simon I

was shocked by the sheer volume of their various hardships. Men and women with addictions can find themselves using contaminated needles which in many cases results in the contraction of hepatitis or HIV and in some cases, death. Around 50 homeless people die every year in Ireland.

Only for the outstanding work of voluntary bodies like the Simon Community, SVP and the Peter McVerry Trust, the death rate of the homeless population would be far greater.

The statistics available to us, however, are slightly inaccurate as many homeless people in this country never even enter emergency services so they are never recorded, meaning of course that the ‘official’ homeless count pales in comparison to the true figure. They are out there alone

‘The question poses itself; why are so many people living on our streets, and what can we do to halt this epidemic’s rapid progression?’

and without even the security of national acknowledgement.

The question poses itself; why are so many people living on our streets, and what can we do to halt this epidemic’s rapid progression?

Narcotics, alcohol abuse and mental disorders are among the main causes of homelessness.

However, surely it is the lack of affordable housing that is one of the most realistically addressable causes of homelessness in this country. For many social housing is the only option to escape poverty and lead a semi-normal life. Due to the recession, between the years of 2008 and 2012, social housing expenditure was cut by a staggering 72%. According to Focus Ireland, one in five households now live in privately rented accommodation, whereas in comparison, ten years ago, one in ten households lived in privately rented accommodation.. This has, in turn, put enormous strain on the private rental market, increasing rent and making it ever harder for people to find a social housing solution. This is a needless, and in my opinion, a senseless reality because of the sheer magnitude of vacant properties in Ireland, which could be legitimately used to house the homeless.

According to the 2016 CSO Census there are 183,312 vacant dwellings scattered across the country which exist either as houses or apartments.

According to the Peter McVerry Trust, there are eleven vacant dwellings for every homeless adult in Dublin, while in Galway there are eighty-two.

These figures are baffling and what is even more baffling is the inaction of the government to utilise these vacant residences for homeless housing. This is no Apollo House scenario, these dwellings are not owner occupied because, in many cases, there is no owner. They are unoccupied and gathering dust when they could be saving lives. Without immediate action, a proportion of our people will continue to have no home, no security and no hope.

For us students, home and stability are prerequisites in all our lives. We thoroughly take it for granted that we should have somewhere where we can be ourselves, somewhere safe and devoid of judgement. We possess the advantage of the ability to act. We need not stand idly by and watch this senseless epidemic continue to unravel. There are things we can do right now to help dampen the blow of homelessness on the individual.

In UCD alone there are numerous voluntary organisations such as St Vincent DePaul and ‘UCD in the Community’, to name but two, which work tirelessly for the homeless community in Ireland.

During December of last year ‘UCD in the Community’ ran a ‘care package appeal’ in conjunction with Dublin Simon and Transition Year students in Ringsend College for the rough sleepers of Dublin city. Students were asked to contribute essential items for the homeless such as toiletries, warm clothes and various other items which would prove useful to the rough sleepers during a long and bitter winter. The turnout was great and the items went directly to the homeless people on the streets, providing them with a new-found hope.

There are ways we can make a difference for the man or woman on the street. It doesn’t take much, share a smile, have a chat, join a voluntary body or make a small donation but we must stop ignoring the truth. p.11

Features.

Loot Boxes & Accumulators: How Gambling Has Saturated Society

www.collegetribune.ie

mality. When discussing sports betting being advertising during games one child said ‘They shouldn’t be allowed during sport because lots of kids watch it. Ads pull you in, it’s bad.’ Another pointed out that the TV stations should be more careful with the sponsors they choose saying ’They choose sponsors, they could pick other ones’.

Parental responses ran in a similar vein with one parent saying, ‘They shouldn’t advertise – they shouldn’t run odds at games or apps, and not have ads on websites’. Another parent was afraid of the implications of famous players being associated with this kind of adverting saying ‘They need to advertise outside the game. Children idolise their players and they see it flash up all the time, it’s going to impact them.’

Gambling has moved on from the dark, dingy shops where older men stay to watch horse race after horserace.

Gambling has flooded the market and is easily accessible from bingo to casino games to your sports odds. Today, you can bet on pretty much anything in an instant. One particular favourite of mine is every year there are odds on whether or not the UK will receive any points in Eurovision.

So why is any of this important? If you look at something a little closer to home, you might see why. In the Premier League, as of the 2017/2018 season, 9 out of the 20 teams are sponsored by betting companies. One particular example is Stoke City who play their home games in the Bet365 stadium. The stadium was originally named the Britannia Stadium for 19 years before being renamed in 2016 following the naming rights being sold to their shirt sponsor Bet365 for 6 years in a deal which netted around £30 million for the club.

Given the popularity of the worldwide popularity of the Premier League, the influence of betting companies cannot be ignored. If you begin to watch football regularly at the age of 6 with your parents how many gambling ads have you seen by the time you’re 10? How many betting companies can you name by the time you’re 10? Given the amount of sponsorship these companies get, it could easily be 6 or 8 companies. That sort of normalisation is worrying and could have many consequences for children in the future.

In fact, we’re already seeing some of the consequences in the gaming world.

Anyone familiar with gaming knows the problem of loot boxes. For those unfamiliar, a loot box is essentially where you pay real money to try and win exclusive or hard to get content via regular gameplay. It’s a very subtle form

“

Gambling has flooded the market and is easily accessible from bingo to casino games to your sports odds.

Today, you can bet on pretty much anything in an instant.

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ow many betting companies can you name? One? Three?

Five? At 23 years old and being an avid sports fan so I’ve seen a lot of gambling advertising in the 15 years I’ve been watching sports on television and online. If I sat back and asked myself to name betting companies I would get to between three and five.

According to an Australian study from 2016 over three-quarters of children aged between 8-16 correctly recalled the name of at least one sports betting brand. Just over one-quarter of children were able to identify four or more sports betting brands. Think about that for a second. There are 8-year-old kids who can name more sports betting brands than you can. Surely that is completely abnormal?

Some of the attitudes of the children who were surveyed reflect this abnor-

Rachel O’Neill Editor

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of gambling that people of all ages are being exposed to.

This danger has been spotted by Chinese and more recently Belgian authorities. In November 2017, the Belgian gambling authority said that these ‘microtransactions’ within games are harming children and should be banned as they’re a form of gambling. This followed on from Hawaiian politician Chris Lee (pictured) declaring that the loot boxes within the new Star Wars Battlefront 2 game were a ‘Star Wars-themed online casino, designed to lure kids into spending money’. As of 2017, Chinese authorities now require game developers to release the probabilities of loot boxes to players, so they can make informed decisions about whether it is worthwhile to pay for them.

Gambling is fun, there is no question about that. The rush when you place a bet is quite exhilarating and the feeling of winning is pretty good too. As we know that rush of 30.01.2018

adrenaline and that hit of dopamine is quite addictive. Gambling like drugs or alcohol can become an addiction quite quickly.

In our brain, we have the reward pathway, a system where when we do something pleasurable such as eat good food or have good sex, dopamine, a neurotransmitter that makes us feel good is released. This dopamine release is a reward which makes us feel good and we seek to get that reward again.

The problem as documented with drugs like heroin or cocaine is that you start to need bigger and bigger hits of the substance to get the same dopamine release. You build up a tolerance and your connections between the frontal lobe which controls our behaviour are decreased. This decrease leads to what we call drug seeking behaviour where people begin to behave in ways which will get them the drug again such as stealing money from loved ones to feed the addiction.

Now I am not for one second suggesting that 12-year olds buying loot boxes while playing Overwatch is going to lead to them developing a gambling addiction. What is concerning is the normalisation of gambling from advertising during sports events to loot boxes within games. The permeation of gambling into many aspects of our lives it not a good thing and given our brains don’t fully develop until our mid-20s, the effect particularly on children cannot be overstated.

In fact, we may be able to see some of those effects now. UCDSU Welfare Officer Eoghan Mac Domhaill spoke to me about the impact of gambling in his home county of Monaghan where he feels it has become a big problem for young people.

‘I’d view it as a big problem among my own cohort of friends. It becomes a culture of talking. They talk about the odds and accumulators. I’ve never placed a bet in my life, yet I can tell you what an accumulator is.’ Incidentally according to Gamblers Anonymous, consistently talking about gambling is one of the signs that someone may have a gambling addiction.

Mac Domhaill also mentions how the framing of gambling is particularly concerning ‘I’ve stories of friends who come in after the weekend who talk about how much they won on an accumulator, but they’d never talk about how much they lost. There’s many of them who I know have lost a lot more than they’ve ever won. That causes a problem for them when they get into college because then they get to casinos and we’ve casinos at home so it just kind of stretches on because of that. It becomes that point where their social identity and all they talk about is gambling.’

The legal age to gamble in Ireland is 18 and it’s also illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to be in a betting shop. When asked when his friends started gambling, Mac Domhaill paints a slightly different picture. ‘It started in transition year and we got away with it because sometimes it was a small independent bookie or else the bookies didn’t care because they were getting money’.

If you think you or someone you know is suffering from a gambling addiction, the SU, in particular the Welfare Office can help.

‘Generally, I get in touch with head of counsellors because there are addiction counsellors and gambling is an addiction. You’d be referred onto a gambling addiction counsellor who would be external to UCD because none of the current set of counsellors from my knowledge are gambling addiction counsellors.’

At the time of writing there is currently no SU policy on gambling and it’s easy to see why. It’s a very difficult topic to design a policy around but the SU does remain conscientious as Mac Domhaill explains. ‘The SU from my

The percentage of Australian children who could name 4 or more sports betting brands.

knowledge, the closest thing that we do as a commercial entity we have never, and I would be strongly against collaborating with a bookie or an online gambling company to advertise with us. Whereas we advocate for safe use of drugs, when it comes to gambling a small win can lead to an addiction and maybe enough studies haven’t been done on it but from my own feeling I would be very uncomfortable with promoting gambling services.’

There is only so much an SU can do but given that gambling seems to be becoming more prevalent in our society, it’s something we need to be aware of. According to a recent report, 40% Irish students are in severe financial difficulty. If students feel desperate enough they could see gambling as a last ditch attempt to help make ends meet and that is a dangerous path to go down. Raising awareness is one thing but knowing the signs of gambling addiction can also help. Gamblers Anonymous Ireland have a self test questionnaire on their website and links to other helpful resources.

SpunOut also have some material around gambling and addiction in general which is also very informative and helpful.

If you want to have a bet here and there, then you should but be aware dopamine hits are incredibly strong. Don’t underestimate them.

If you have been affected by anything in this piece then please contact: UCD Welfare Office: welfare@ucdsu.ie Gamblers Anonymous Ireland: info@gamblersanoymous.ie p.13

Music.

Dolores O’Riordan: A Life That Defied Expectations

Unpacking Ownership & Music How responsible are we as consumers for Spotify’s explotation of artists?

Niall O’Shaughnessy Music Writer

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Adam Bielenberg Music Editor

n essence, the Cranberries were a band that defied expectations. They emerged when Britpop was the zeitgeist in Britain and the same could be said for grunge in America. The Irish quartet didn’t fit the mould of either of those genres yet still left a massive mark on the era. Therefore, they transcended the formula for success.

Frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan tragically passed away on January 15 at the age of 46.

She was a rock icon whose memory will live long through her music.

If Ireland was seen to be ‘punching above its weight’ in the realm of music then the first half of the nineties were the golden period for that – the Cranberries rivalled U2 in terms of international fame. Their very early work had a tincture of shoegaze to it but they turned to a more refined, more commercially palatable rock sound. It seems as though critics and those in the industry didn’t anticipate their breakthrough which occurred as they were supporting Suede – a band who never made it as big across the seas.

Their debut album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We went platinum Australia, Canada, the US and the UK. Globally, their second effort No Need to Argue sold 17 million copies and made it platinum seven times over in America. So it’s easy to forget how globally revered O’Riordan’s output was In many ways, the success came too thick and fast for O’Riordan. She grew up in the remote townland of Ballybricken in Limerick and was suddenly catapulted into startlingly www.collegetribune.ie

different surroundings – playing in front of 30,000-strong crowds; globetrotting across continents. After a slew of less successful albums, the Cranberries went on a hiatus in 2003 before reforming in 2009. During this gap, O’Riordan put out two under-appreciated solo albums. She also collaborated with the Smiths bassist Andy Rourke in a project called DARK. Over this period she battled with depression, bipolar disorder and anorexia.

The time has come to revel in the sonic aura of her voice. Its shrill tonality was unparalleled and deserves its place in music history.

Her singing glided over the drums and guitars like a jet drifting through fluffy clouds. It had a noticeable Irish tinge to it characterised by the dreamy embellishment and melisma she attached to her notes which were stretched to fine lengths.

Of course, the triad of hits – ‘Linger’, ‘Dreams’ and ‘Zombie’ – have had remarkable longevity continually gracing our stereos.

Believe it or not – O’Riordan penned ‘Linger’ at the juvenescent age of 17 – a track inspired by her first kiss. ‘Dreams’ is a love song with a euphoric, oneiric quality to it while ‘Zombie’ was written as a response to the IRA Warrington bombing in 1993.

According to Rolling Stone, O’Riordan recently spoke to guitarist Neil Hogan about recording a new album and going on tour so she had plenty of potential left in her at the time of her passing. Almost 25 years since the height of her fame, Dolores O’Riordan’s music is as relevant as ever.

recently read two great pieces about cultural appropriation that reminded me of a minor music news story from last year, Kenan Malik in the New York Times and Briahna Joy Gray’s response of sorts for Current Affairs.

2016’s second best DJ (according to Resident Advisor), Jackmaster (pictured), aired out some grievances about other DJs lazily basing their playlists off his sets in a sincedeleted Facebook post.

Jackmaster does not own any of the songs he feels have been stolen from him, his control over the music in question is as limited as the control you have over what’s in your iTunes library. Comparatively, the African American community do not own the original version of ‘Hound Dog’ that became Elvis’ biggest selling song, the central example of cultural appropriation employed in the articles mentioned above.

Jackmaster bases his claim off the hours spent trawling through unorganised crates of records, or visiting the darkest, loneliest corners of Discogs, following the trail of potential material left by labels of bygone eras. His work ethic derives from a deeply passionate and proud place, and the offence taken is understandable since those on his coat-tails are undermining his hours spent uncovering and curating. Similarly, Big Mama Thornton’s vocal performance in her 1952 original ‘Hound Dog’ is undermined when Elvis waters down the lyrics about not feeding the dog ‘no more’- a euphemism for her cheating boyfriend - to some nonsense about a rabbit, making the song about an actual dog, repurposed to appeal to a wider pop audience.

For Jackmaster, the ‘lazy’ DJs that walk the path he furrowed are exploiting his hard work and benefiting financially from it, while he himself has to stand idly by in frustration, gaining nothing. For Big Mama Thornton and the wider AfricanAmerican community, a white artist took a non-white piece of art, repackaged it for a white audience and made millions, with none of the profits making their way into the hands of

“While a single figure monthly subscription clears our conscience, it goes very little way to ensuring music remains a viable way to earn a living.“

Album In Review:

Fall Out Boy MANIA Caoimhe Mc Parland Music Writer

CT Rating 6/10 0631

those responsible. As Gray alludes to in her Current Affairs piece, exploitation should be the focus of the discourse. Building on the work of influential artists is integral to the wider progression of music, an obvious example being sampling in hip-hop, but when the actual creators are demoted to the periphery time after time, future victims are entitled to object.

There exists a phenomenon in everyday music fandom that makes the gripes of DJs and disgruntled cultures a little more relatable. Picture the scene, you play your friend a song you discovered after falling down the ‘related artists’ rabbit hole, who subsequently has the audacity to then play it for someone else. You feel betrayed; this was done without your consent, without even crediting your contribution, it is your friend who is allowed to bask in the satisfaction of the third party’s approval. You can’t articulate your offence to

the thief because you know you have no claim.

It is a somewhat inexplicable, sunken feeling, because you do not own the song. There are no available means of legal recourse. Just as your work in uncovering that song has been exploited, so has Jackmaster’s to a greater extent, and a whole cohort of people when we talk about cultural appropriation, in a more systematic and unrelenting way.

Recently, the industry dominance of Spotify has almost severed the connection between music fans and artists. While a single figure monthly subscription clears our conscience, it goes very little way to ensuring music remains a viable way to earn a living.

As of last year, an artist would only manage to earn $100 after 703,581 streams, according to a report published by Audiam. Major licensing deals between Spotify and Universal, as well as Warner Bros, means all of the industry’s biggest players are profiting from Spoti-

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ania is an album that is trying to be too many things. You can almost hear the struggle between the band and their music in every song, as they try to retain some semblance of authenticity while also producing music that sells. A prime example is ‘Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)’ which sounds so breezy and upbeat it could feature in a T.V commercial. In contrast with this tune are the quintessential FOB brand of emo-punk lyrics - ‘I’ll stop wearing black/ when they make a darker colour'.

The album was somewhat doomed from the beginning, with the band scrapping their first draft in July and pushing the release from September to January so they could rewrite

30.01.2018

fy’s surging subscription figures, while those creating the product are actually getting paid less per stream than they did two years ago, in spite of Spotify’s huge revenue increases. To the artist, Spotify is essentially an advertising space, where they can showcase the material they will play live, as they tour relentlessly to maintain a modest living.

Which is why, now more than ever, the music fan needs to be a conscious consumer.

The feeling of entitlement and attachment we have to the music we love is healthy. It is what ignites an artist’s career, opens new venues and fosters subcultures and scenes. However, when our quest is dictated by paywalls and algorithms, we not only lose our only justification for feeling protective, but we undermine the work done in the studio, leaving our favourite artists unsupported and exploited. What it means to ‘own’ music has never seemed so unclear and yet been so significant. the whole thing. As well as that, the first two singles, ‘Young and Menace’ and ‘Champion’ failed to even chart in the Billboard Top 100 back in the summer. These are two of the songs that survived the rewrite, but frankly they should have been scrapped as well.

Half of the album consists of EDM infused synth-pop, while the other half returns to FOB’s usual punk-rock sound, although they somewhat miss the mark. Pete Wentz provides his trademark outlandish lyrics across the board, which explore the anxiety he has continued to struggle with over the years.

The message he is trying to send doesn’t really ever ring clear due to intense over-production.

Patrick Stump’s vocals are back and as strong as ever, and his unique sounds are what makes it a

FOB album. Individually, most of the songs are respectable, not something to scream about, but also not terrible. However, the album as a whole is incoherent, a loud cacophony of screaming and instruments that fail to pull together at any point.

Fall Out Boy have divided opinions for the past decade, and typically present a mixed bag of an album, leaving it up to the audience to make sense of. Honourable mentions go to ‘Heaven’s Gate’ and ‘Hold Me Tight or Don’t’ which are the finest tracks on the album, but the cheerful R&B vibes are not what you would expect or necessarily want from FOB. All-inall, there are a few songs that I hope will be released as singles but in general Fall Out Boy’s seventh studio album disappoints. p.15

Film.

Oscar Predictions Film Editor Muireann O’Shea cast her eye over the nominees and picks her favourites so you don’t have to.

Muireann O’Shea Film Editor

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ward season is well and truly underway. With the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards in every cinephile’s rear view window, the Oscars will soon be upon us. The prevailing theme of this year’s award season is that every films nominated is getting a little piece of awards pie; there is no singular film expected to win awards across the board. Though attempting to predict how the Academy will vote may be futile, here is a summary of the apparent leaders and lovable underdogs of the main Oscar categories.

Best Picture

2018 was an annus mirabilis of diverse and divisive films and no category epitomises this better than Best Picture. This time last year, the category was a definitive stand off between Moonlight and La La Land. This year, however, there is no definitive leader of the nominations pack. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won at the Globes, while The Shape of Water triumphed at the Critics Choice Awards. Dunkirk and The Post are typical Academy favourites. Get Out, Lady Bird and Call Me By Your Name have stolen hearts on their long journeys from the festival circuit to theatrical release. Although Darkest Hour and Phantom Thread seem like the least likely winners, it’s been too unpredictable an award season already to rule any film out entirely.

Best Director

Jordan Peele and Greta Gerwig have already made history with their nominations, becoming the fifth African-American man and the fifth woman, respectively, to ever be nominated for Best Director. This is Christopher Nolan’s first director nomination and he may become the Leonardo DiCaprio of 2018; voted for, not specifically for his work on Dunkirk, but rather because his entire filmography is deserving of an Oscar. Steven Spielberg and Martin McDonagh were surprisingly snubbed in favour of Paul Thomas Anderson for Phantom Thread. But Guillermo del Toro has picked up this award at nearly every show, and giving beautifully passionate acceptance speeches, making him the most likely winner.

in the lead, Ireland’s own pride and joy Saoirse Ronan in a very close second and Oscar icon Meryl Streep coming in third. Sally Hawkins is the dark horse of this race, having given the most stunning and emotive performances of the year as a mute woman that falls in love with a sea creature in The Shape of Water.

Lastly, Margot Robbie fills out the category for her role as Tonya Harding.

Best Supporting Actor

In the past, the Academy has been hesitant to acknowledge young male actors, but it’s clear that Oscar habits are changing.

Hollywood’s new It-boy Timothée Chalamet is only twenty-two years and the youngest lead actor nominee since 1944. Fellow nominee Daniel Kaluuya is only six years older. But these young faces are nominated alongside some titans of the industry; Daniel Day-Lewis, the only actor to win this category three times, Denzel Washington, who has been nominated eight times, making him the most nominated African-American actor, and the likely winner Gary Oldman for his raucous performance as Winston Churchill.

Hollywood loves Sam Rockwell, despite the controversy of his character in Three Billboards. The nomination of his cast mate Woody Harrelson signals that Rockwell is the likely winner. But his main competition comes from Willem Dafoe, who has become the face of the beautiful underdog film of this awards season: The Florida Project. The category is filled out by the formidable Richard Jenkins in The Shape of Water and Christopher Plummer, who replaced Kevin Spacey in All The Money in the World, who is now the oldest ever nominee at 88 years old. The double nomination for Three Billboards in this category means that critical favourite Call Me By Your Name’s Michael Stuhlbarg, sadly, did not get a nomination.

Best Actress

Best Supporting Actress

Best Actor

Possibly the most competitive category this year, critics have been finding it tough to decide between the myriad of superb performances by female actors last year. The current, but potentially fickle, rankings see the ferocious Frances McDormand www.collegetribune.ie

Octavia Spencer’s nomination means that she is now tied with Viola Davis as the most nominated black actress, while Mary J Blige’s (above) nomination makes her the first person to ever

be nominated for an acting performance and song in the same year. Ultimately, this category is a two person race between I, Tonya’s Allison Janney and Lady Bird’s Laurie Metcalf, with Janney holding a slight lead.

Best Original Screenplay

Last year was dominated by original screenplays, so it was heartwarming to see Indie romcom The Big Sick get a nod in this category. It’s chances of winning are slim as it’s up against four of the best picture nominees: Get Out, Lady Bird, The Shape of Water and Three Billboards, Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Jordan Peele’s racially driven psychological thriller deserves this award, but Three Billboards, outside Ebbing, Missouri might just steal it from him.

Technical Awards

Mudbound’s Rachel Morrison (pictured) is the first woman to ever be nominated for cinematography, though she is not likely to win, it’s a monumental achievement in itself. Baby Driver was a surprising and deserving addition to the editing category, even though the technically exquisite Dunkirk looks set to win all the editing and sound awards. Ireland’s own Consolata Boyle is nominated in this category for her work on Victoria and Abdul, Phantom Thread is expected to win. Make-up and hair will most likely be awarded to Darkest Hour for the feat of making Gary Oldman look like Winston Churchill.

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Film.

Three Billboards: Awards Season Darling Or Controversial Mess?

With the Oscars fast approaching Film Editor Ciara Dillon takes a look at the latest offering from Martin McDonagh.

“ In an attempt to narrate an important and current societal issue, which I believe he does very well, McDonagh does seem to almost toy a little bit insensitively with other social issues that wind up not being addressed correctly throughout the film.

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artin McDonagh is known for his rather twisted, dark comedy style of film, as seen in the 2008 crime drama-comedy, In Bruges. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, also carries this unique style, but this time around McDonagh is working with a far more serious (and in the current climate in Hollywood, topical) social issue.

The film centres on bereaved mother Mildred Hayes (played exceptionally by Frances McDormand), whose daughter Angela was raped and murdered about seven months prior to the events of the film. With zero progress being made in her daughter’s case, Mildred is sick of waiting around. She rents three large billboards on the edge of the town of Ebbing, Missouri, and writes a rather blunt message to the Head of Police, Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson). While Willoughby manages to deal with this issue rather gracefully, his colleague Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell) does not take it sitting down. He engages in an all-out war with Mildred as he feels her actions are painting the police in a bad light (but no doubt also because she calls out his rather questionable treatment of black people in the past). The film centres mainly around a brash and often humorous back-and-forth between Mildred and the police, that ultimately tells quite a powerful story about how sexual assault cases so often go down.

First of all, it is important to highlight that in what the film was trying to do (or at least what we can assume it was trying to do), and that was to draw attention to how poorly handled rape cases can be. While the police may think about the situation rationally, in that they cannot be bogged down by this case where evidence is futile, that attitude is of no help to a grieving mother who knows that some vile human being roams free who not only murdered her daughter, but sexually assaulted her in her last moments. McDonagh’s mother character was powerful and McDormand brought everything that was required to the role. Mildred Hayes is, for lack of a better phrase, a badass. She takes no crap from all the people (mainly men) in her life trying to tell her to move on, and that her ‘stunt’ was a waste of time, and that she is being too brash about the whole thing. She is the perfect illustration of a woman who is no doubt hardened by her tragic loss – she is cold and bites back ferociously when anyone attempts to shut her down. However, her hope that someday she will find justice gives her just enough humanity to push her on. Mildred is far from likable, but McDonagh managed to create a realistically gritty woman who is brought to life incredibly by McDormand. She balances a sharp tongue, with an incorrigible attitude and a huge heart, in spite of some of her more questionable antics in the film. You stand with her throughout, hoping just as hard as she does that justice will be found for this tragic case that strikes home with so many of us.

As mentioned already, the film seemed to do what it was supposed to do,

and it did that very well. From my interpretation, it was supposed to draw attention to sexual assault cases that are left open, that remain unsolved or lack the evidence needed to convict anyone. It was also supposed to draw attention to how people tend to turn a blind eye to these cases, whether the police, or regular people who think it’s not something that should be discussed. The general reaction to the billboards seems to suggest that most people are not too keen on having the words ‘Raped while murdered’ displayed so plainly outside their humble town. In this regard, the film succeeds. The controversy arises from other social problems that seem almost dismissed. And this is where things start to go downhill for Three Billboards.

Officer Dixon, played admittedly very well by Sam Rockwell, is the source of the controversy surrounding this film. Mildred Hayes’ in her take-no-crap manner, is not shy to call him out on his treatment of black people in the past. However, that seems to be the only attempt to ‘call out’ this issue. There is no doubt that Dixon is problematic, and of course no doubt that this is deliberate. It is him who reacts quite viscerally to the billboards, while Officer Willoughby who is named and shamed on them, seems to take it in his stride, and this kind of lands Dixon in the role as the antagonist. He wants Mildred Hayes stopped, and the lengths he goes to are questionable. The issue with this film is not, however, the horrible things that Dixon does or is said to have done, but rather this perceived idea that the audience are supposed to move on from what he does without question, as a result of his moment of redemption. Without giving away too much, there is a degree of forgiveness expected for this character for doing something admittedly important, but arguably expected, and definitely not enough to simply write off all his previous offences as a racist, violent, bully of a man. This leaves a lot hanging as while it is important for directors to deal with topical issues tastefully, is it acceptable to use other, just as volatile issues almost as part of the comic relief, and then ultimately dismiss them?

In an attempt to narrate an important and current societal issue, which I believe he does very well, McDonagh does seem to almost toy a little bit insensitively with other social issues that wind up not being addressed correctly throughout the film. It is important to say that taking this film at face value, which I did upon watching it, I found it to be powerful, darkly funny, and an excellent summary of a static case that doesn’t seem to be progressing forward any time soon. I guess the question to ask in regards to this film is did it achieve what it was trying to do well enough to simply let it away with the controversial moves it made. For me, given that these issues did not initially register with me upon watching the movie, I would have to say that it did. However, a bigger question then arises – should a film receiving this much critical acclaim be allowed to get away with this behaviour? It will never be a quiet year at the Academy Awards. p.17

Fashion.

MEN’S FASHION WEEK AW 2O18 TRENDS 1. UTILITARIAN CHIC

4. LOCO LOGO’S

2. DADDY COOL

5. BELLIGERENT BRANDING

Designers such as Prada are working in the workwear trend into their autumn collections for later this year, and wood wood who showcased their first show in London this men’s fashion week and their show featured multi pocket worker jackets and lumberjack shirts. Fendi went so far as to have a model wearing a workingman’s jumpsuit stamped with the Fendi logo push a luggage carrier down the runway - which looked rugged yet effortless. Every look at Prada donned a bucket hat, with some yellow bucket hats thrown in reminding us of a builders hard hat to intensify the overall utilitarian image that was created.

High waisted trousers with tucked in tees were all the rage on the runways for Autumn 2018. Rottingdean Bazaar made very sure to include a statement tee with the slogans “we do big sizes” and “we do small sizes” which was modelled by one of the creative directors’ fathers at Men’s London fashion week.

Dad shoes were most definitely a thing with clunky hiking boots going absolutely nowhere this season - just ask Versace, MSGM, or Ermenegildo Zegna.

3. ABOUT A BOY

This theme of boyhood and manhood being separate entities has swept mens fashion week. There’s been an underlying theme in many shows of a transition from being a boy to becoming a man; in the shows of Commes des Garçons, Marni and Versace. Versace’s tailored plaid suits and co-ords were reminiscent of school days. But not our school days, more like the school outfits we longed for as we watched the ever stylish Chuck Bass on Gossip Girl.

Last season we saw that logos and slogans were everywhere. And although typography seems to have been a trend that has stuck for this coming season, it’s not as commercialised as what we’ve seen in previous collections (which is a relief). There has been a recurring theme with typography and that is the theme of reform. Reform against certain political standpoints and reform against social discrimination. This can be seen in Jeremy Scott’s show for Moschino. Venturini collaborated with a graphic specialist for this collection and the print that they created appeared on t-shirts, umbrellas, and technicalwear.

At Fendi and Prada, the designers hyped their brands motifs by plastering it all over every look walking down the runway. Models at Prada wore ID tags with polaroid headshots clipped to their clothes which featured the new Prada logo. Not only were the clothes at the Prada show strewn with their signature logo, but their venue was also plentiful of their branding techniques with wooden pallets displaying their logo.

6. DESIGN DIVISION

Forget colour-blocking and meet it’s trendier younger sibling. Every runway embraced this look, from Louis Vuitton to Prada to Versace. A mish-mash of prints on jackets, shirts, scarves is the way forward this year. The more it clashes, the better. Looks had a combination of two or more patterns, which although rather confusing at first glance - it works!

Shannon Fashion Name Doherty Here Fashion Writer Editor

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1. UTILITARIAN CHIC FENDI

2. DADDY COOL VERSACE

4. LOCO LOGO’S MOSCHINO

3. ABOUT A BOY COMMES DES GARCONS

6. DESIGN DIVISION LOUIS VUITTON

5. BELLIGERENT BRANDING PRADA 30.01.2018

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Fashion.

SHOULD GENDER NEUTRALITY BE DISTENDED TO THE RUNWAYS? Shannon Doherty Fashion Editor

Name Here Fashion Writer

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PLEASE PLACE A BY LINE HERE IN FONT BULTER LIHGHT SIZE 16PT WITH LINE SPACING OF 18PT

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here have been some major changes with fashion weeks in the past couple of years as a result of many fashion houses attempting to keep up with the times and host combined men’s and women’s shows during the main ready-to-wear fashion month. Of course, in the past couple of years we have seen many fashion houses begin this process of combining menswear and womenswear into one runway show.

Burberry was the first “big name company” to make the drastic change of having a genderless show in late 2016, and now it appears that most places are following suit. But does this mean that the end is near for men’s fashion weeks?

Mixed-gender shows have many advantages for fashion houses, including the basic, logical things such as simplifying the organisation process and avoiding the hefty costs of holding two separate fashion shows.

It also makes sense due to the fact that most designers’ collections for menswear and womenswear belong to the same theme, and the same ideas have provided the basis for both collections. So in terms of creativity and the designers’ creative standpoint, mixed-gender shows can offer a better way to show off their creative vision.

Gender neutrality is also a hugely important aspect in modern day society, so it seems only fitting that these runway shows comply with present day ideals. Who’s to say that women can’t wear men’s clothes and viceversa? It is an extremely positive consideration that designers are adapting to the fact that pre-conceived gender notions are something of the past and that they understand that pieces of clothing categorised by a certain gender can be appealing to the opposite sex.

In terms of efficiency, if the fashion industry can make it work then it most definitely would make some sense to combine the two. However, there is also the issue of buyers, editors, journalists and celebrities that needs to be considered. Fashion week in New York, Milan, London and Paris are jam-packed without a full merge having taken place so where will everyone stay? There are menswear and womenswear magazines which are completely separate entities, so could this mean that fewer journalists will have to be employed by different magazines to cover a wider range of shows? Not to mention travel, will there be enough cars or taxi’s to hire? In terms of seating at the venues - who gets priority? These are few of the many questions posed that may cause organisational difficulties in the future.

Most of the big luxury fashion houses do produce both menswear and womenswear clothing, but what will be the fate of the fashion labels that are involved

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in the sole production of menswear clothing? It seems inevitable that the fashion industry is steering in the direction of debuting both lines together however this will definitely lead to overpopulation of the women’s fashion weeks, which are all very densely packed with shows as it is. It’s important to consider the fact that houses such as Gucci, Vetements, and Alexander Wang pull in a lot of the media attention as well as the attention of the public, so without them showcasing their menswear collection on its own and bringing in huge publicity this could lead to less issuance of menswear runway shows in general, thus meaning the end of men’s fashion weeks as we know it. Of course, that is jumping the gun just a tad as we are definitely not there just yet.

In saying this, there is also another issue that comes to mind when thinking about the decision to join men’s and women’s fashion shows. Which is that although houses may stock both menswear and womenswear, the designers of each respective line can differ. For example, in the case of Dior: Maria Grazia Chiuri is the creative director of Dior, yet Kris Van Assche is the creative director of the menswear division Dior Homme.

Does this mean that if they were to combine shows they would have to select one overall creative director?

Moreover, would one of the creative directors want the job of overall creative director if their vision is solely based on one gender’s clothing?

Some surprises in terms of the men’s fashion week lineup this year include Philip Plein, Topman Design and Tom Ford all disappearing from the lineup, and it hasn’t been confirmed whether they too are going coed or not.

Balenciaga, although only hopping on the menswear fashion week show bandwagon by launching their first menswear show during mens Paris fashion week in 2016, have opted to join other fashion houses in combining the two shows and showcasing it during the ready-to-wear PFW show. However, Gvasalia opted to introduce a Pre-Fall collection which was shown in men’s Paris fashion week, following in the footsteps of Dior Homme and Off-White.

JW Anderson will no longer be showcasing two separate runway shows, and Anderson’s first coed show will debut in the ready-to-wear London fashion week.

Similarly, A.P.C. will also be changing to a mixed-gender show during the ready-to-wear Paris fashion week.

It will be interesting to see the fate of the menswear shows in the future, but until then lets enjoy what we’ve got while it lasts so here's a breakdown of the key trends that have been found in this years Autumn/ Winter 2018 runway shows.

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Arts.

In The Loop Holly Lloyd Arts & Events

Made In Dublin 7th-18th March. Free entry.

Created by Eamonn Doyle, Niall Sweeney, David Donohoe Built around Doyle’s photography, with drawings and sound by Sweeney and Donohoe, Made In Dublin is an immersive installation, in sound and vision, constructed as an unravelling coil of events played out by the movement of people caught up in time and place. And that place is Dublin.

THISISPOPBABY Where we Live is presented by THISISPOPBABY with St Patrick’s Festival. Production house THISISPOPBABY are taking the idea of what it means to be Irish as the basis of the 10 day curated program ‘Where We Live’ as part of the festivities, from 6th- 18th March .’Where We Live’ is described as a ‘Kaleidoscope of stories’ and will take on a mix of performance, storytelling and partying, to combine tales of what Irish live is now in an effort to connect with the everyday citizens of Ireland.

As well as a 2 week program of performances through many mediums such as live art, theatre and dance , there will be a dimension of politics to the program, which includes storytelling by artists of the dispossessed, members of the homeless community, refugees and the travelling community in Ireland, and will aim to strike up the conversation of basic parts of our lives and the extremes to which they differ for different members of the community.

This is an opportunity to disregard the so called ‘social norms’ and set aside the prejudice often fuelled by media sources, in an attempt to have 2 weeks of true discussion among people from different backgrounds.

THISISPOPBABY are a group who excel in breaking the norms of performance, and last year had great success with their show ‘RIOT’, and have proved that their progressiveness as a performance group can and should be reflected in everyday parts of Irish life.

Co-directors Jenny Jennings and Philip McMahon said ‘Where We Live’ aims to challenge the prevailing narratives fed to us by the media, the government and increasingly, the algorithms and echo chambers of social media.’

The programme includes:

Money 12th-15th March 6:30pm. Tickets €15.

Written and performed by Peter Daly, directed by Phillip McMahon.

Peter Daly performs this piece on the tenth anniversary of ‘the cheapest bailout in the world’. As well as being an acclaimed performer, he is a chartered accountant and will discuss what happened.

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Not A Funny Word The Mouth of a Shark 11th March 6:30 pm, 12-15th March 8:30 pm. Tickets €16.

Directed by Oonagh Murphy and composed by Maeve Stone this piece contrasts real life stories of asylum seekers her and Irish immigrants abroad. www.collegetribune.ie

6th-8th March 8:30 10th March 9:30pm. Tickets €15 Written and performed by Tara Flynn / Directed by Phillip McMahon / Composed by Alma Kelliher.

Tara Flynn, activist, actor and comedian will share her account of travelling to england for an abortion in a brave and funny performance. This will be particularly interesting during the current debate on the 8th Amendment.

Town Hall Sessions Curated by Willie White A furious and incendiary talks programme that amplifies and contextualises the works in Where We Live, curated by Willie White from Dublin Theatre Festival. Programme to be announced in early 2018.

Tickets are available at thisispopbaby.com 0631

Thursday 25 January 2018, 6.00pm, Johnston Suite, IMMA, FREE Artist Conversation & Preview / Brian Maguire & Sarah Glennie Artist Brian Maguire discusses the IMMA exhibition, War Changes its Address: The Aleppo Paintings with Sarah Glennie. This talk explores Brian Maguire’s research and recent visits to Syria, as it relates to the artists ongoing interests in social and political situations and approaches painting as a gesture of solidarity.

CallOut For Performers If you would like to get involved in the production, THISISPOPBABY are issuing a callout for those who would like to perform during WERKHOUSE, described as ‘a mixtape of moments snatched from the city’ on saturday 17th March. They are appealing to those of any background, particularly of a minority group , The proposed performance may be in any style and must respond to the theme, ‘Home and how it feels to live in Dublin and Ireland today.’

The performance should be between 3-8 minutes long and be technically low-fi. If interested, send a proposal of maximum one page to tomorrow@ thisispopbaby.com by Friday 2nd February.

Friday 16 March 2018, 1.15pm, Meeting Point - IMMA Main Reception, FREE Curators Lunchtime Talk Series

The proposal should include: Your proposed performance piece How it responds to the theme Technical requirements Brief blogs including links if relevant

Curators Lunchtime Talk Series Ben Stafford, Exhibitions, IMMA presents a gallery walk through of the exhibition Brian Maguire, War Changes its Address: The Aleppo Paintings.

Successful applicants must be available for a technical rehearsal during the day of March 17th.

Thursday 1 March 2018, 6.30pm, Lecture Room, IMMA, FREE Seminar / Civil War – Historical & Contemporary Perspectives Speakers include Ghiat Ibraheem (Photojournalist, Syria); Paddy Woodsworth (Author, Journalist, Irish Times); Colm Laighneach (Member of Hidden Voices, An International Conflict Resolution Body based in Ireland) and others.

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Brian Maguire at the IMMA The IMMA presents a series of new works by artist Brian Maguire, ‘War changes its address, the Aleppo paintings’. The exhibition is based on the continuing conflicts and struggle for power in Aleppo, Syria that Maguire has both seen and captured in photographs. His exhibition links to the displacement of people and the destruction caused, all amounting to the refugee crisis which is affecting most of Europe.

Maguire has created this exhibition through true engagement with the affected areas .

Along with Paris based artist John Lawlor, they mimicked the route that many refugees take along mainland Europe, France Italy, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Austria. Visiting many of the cities across the overland journey from Greece to Germany. He then visited Damascus and Aleppo with Colm Laighneach, where they undertook workshops and engaged with the locals.

His new works all share the title Aleppo, and along with some bursts of colour have a palette of washed out browns, blues and greys. This colour represents the destruction caused and lack of detail and vibrancy left in the architecture of the city , as well as the lack of life surrounding these buildings. The title ‘War changes its address’, lends itself to the never ending cycle of war. The exhibition is presented in the Courtyard Galleries at IMMA from 26th January – 6th May 2018 There are a number of free Associated Talks and Events, but booking is required.

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LifeStyle.

In Review:

Flight Deals Ciara Landy LifeStyle Editor Iceland Winter is the best time to see the famous Northern Lights, a good deal on flights is essential as accommodation in Iceland can be rather pricey! Flights from Dublin – Reykjavik 19th-24th November 2018 are €110 return with WOW air.

New Year’s Resolution: Sustainability LifeStyle Editor Ciara Landy gives her top tips on how to become more enrivornmentally friendly over the next 12 months..

The new year is a time when traditional goals like losing weight, hitting the gym and subsisting solely on cold-pressed juice, are common and rarely adhered to. Why not do something a little different this new year by committing to a more sustainable 2018? Here are four easy ways to reduce your waste and environmental impact.

I Toronto Treat yourself to a post-exams trip to the 6 and check out Niagara Falls, less than a two hour drive from Toronto.

Indirect flights (through Reykjavik) with WOW air are €349 return from 22nd-31st May 2018.

Get Reusable! n Ireland, we consume more than 500,000 non-recyclable coffee cups daily, along with 2.5 million plastic bottles that never see a recycling bin! To save some funds and reduce your plastic footprint, invest in a reusable water bottle and coffee cup.

This one, from littlegreenshop.ie, is BPA free and made from stainless steel which will keep your drinks warm for 4 hours and cool for up to 20!

350ml water bottle €19.95, available at littlegreenshop.ie

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f you don’t have 20 quid to spend on a bottle, Penneys have brought out a range of sports bottles, varying in price from €3-€8. Check out this infuser bottle, with a perforated core for flavouring your water with lemon and other fruits.

Marrakech Visit the vibrant souks of Marrakech and experience the incredible architecture and culture of Morocco! If you’re feeling adventurous why not take a day trip to the Atlas Mountains and go quad biking or sandboarding? Flights from the 17th-28th June are €90 with Ryanair.

M ie for €12.95

any coffee outlets on campus now offer a 10% discount if you use a reusable cup – capitalise on this by investing in a quality coffee carrier such as this 12oz Keepcup available at coffeeshop.

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f you’re looking to take your eco credentials up to the next level why not get some reusable straws? Stainless steel straws can, when properly cleaned, last for years, saving you money and reducing your plastic output. These stainless steel straws from littlegreenshop.ie are €12.95 and come with a brush for easy cleaning.

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LifeStyle.

The Best of Groupon Ciara Landy LifeStyle Editor

Reduce Your Meat Intake

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nimal agriculture is a major contributor to climate change – in Ireland agriculture is the single largest contributor to our overall emissions, at 33% of total carbon emissions. Cutting back on meat consumption can have a huge positive effect on your carbon footprint. If you’re thinking of making a change, Lidl have now started stocking meat alternatives such as Quorn mince, which can be easily substituted for minced beef and contains 14.5 grams of protein per 100 grams.

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Avoid Palm Oil alm oil plantations are a leading cause of deforestation worldwide, resulting in biodiversity loss and climate change.

There are human costs to palm oil plantations in developing regions, with some large-scale production sights linked to human rights abuses and child labour exploitation.

Palm oil is contained in numerous everyday products and foods, from processed baked goods to shampoos and lipsticks. Where possible avoid purchasing products that contain palm oil, or at least check that that Get four Shivam Yoga classes for one at Shivam Yoga Dublin, the manufacturer is using Roundtable on Sustain- located just a short walk from St. Stephen’s Green. For just able Palm Oil (RSPO) certified palm oil sources. €15 you can drop-in on four beginner yoga classes, each lasting around an hour. Note that booking is required for your first session and once the first class has been availed of the remaining classes must be attended within 30 days.

For €39 treat yo’ good self to a full body massage or sonophoresis facial for €39. The coupon price includes access to the day spa and Jacuzzi (pictured), conveniently located on the Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge.

Buy In Season

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y purchasing your fruit and veg in season you avoid the carbon emissions associated with transporting produce from far-flung regions. Buying locally helps the environment and the economy! To check what’s in season visit bestinseason.ie, a Bord Bia website that clearly breaks down the optimal times to purchase various fruits and vegetables.

Head into Trinity for a two-day beginners’ climbing course for just €29. The centre boasts an 11 metre climbing wall, suitable for all abilities.

Indulge yourself in a cocktail making class in Sam’s Bar, Dawson St. For a mere €15 you will enjoy a one-hour mixology lesson and two cocktails!

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Science.

The Big Science of 2017 o here we are, a month into the new year, a brand-new semester, and it’s pretty safe to say we’re not exactly missing 2017. Politically, environmentally and morally exhausted, it is very easy to view those 12 gruelling months as humanity being stuck as the worst possible timeline, especially in the realm of science Flat-Earthers, Climate-change deniers and parents against vaccines seemed to dominate headlines and governing bodies throughout the year. Antarctica lost a chunk of ice bigger than the entirety of Donegal, the Sahara keeps spontaneously getting snow, and just in case you were feeling sheltered here in Ireland, scientists reckon that planet Earth is up to 13,000 years overdue for a super-volcano eruption.

However... let’s not dive headfirst into the Yellowstone caldera just yet! With media so often showing us the worst of global affairs, it’s possible that you missed some of the coolest scientific breakthroughs and discoveries of the past year!

We invented a robot that can do a backflip!

A battery that can run on human stomach acid!

And closer to some of our hearts, a drip-free wine bottle! As a matter of fact, a lot of pretty incredible things happened in between the soulcrushing world events. Pandas and manatees are no longer endangered! New breakthroughs in human-pig embryos (no longer limited to B-list sci fi) mean organ transplant waiting lists could become a thing of the past. And thanks to a worldwide reduction in CFCs and aerosols, even the hole in the ozone layer is starting to heal itself.! Here are some of the positives from the world of science in 2017, just to show you that humanity’s not (entirely) going backwards.

Health & Medicine Health wise, humans are a lot better off with the last year’s research. Inventions like newbornsafe MRI machines and an artificial womb that successfully sustained premature lambs for 4 weeks, will safeguard our smallest strugglers.

The newly patented SkinGun can spray burn wounds with stem cells, growing new skin in just 4 days! Even a cure for cancer could be in the cards, with personalised CAR T-cell immunotherapy being FDA approved for testing, and two baby girls confirmed to be leukemia-free, 12 and 18 months after a novel genetically engineered white blood cell treatment!

For the millions of HIV tpositive people worldwide there was a double-whammy of hope: A new type of antibody was developed that could possibly fight 99% of HIV strains, and other researchers discovered a ‘functional cure’ which draws the virus down to levels so low that it can’t be transmitted to another person. www.collegetribune.ie

It was a doubly good year for blood as well, with gene therapy trials making promising headway into a possible cure for Hemophilia, and Komodo dragon’s blood looking like the future cure for bacterial superbug antibiotic resistance!

Magical and mysterious, the komodo dragon has a dense biodiversity of bacteria populations, living innocuously in its mouth. Researchers found the antimicrobial compounds which allowed both microbe and monster lizard to coexist, created synthetic versions and placed them in a petri-dish fight to the death with two superbugs, including MRSA, where the synthetic peptides removed all trace of the bugs.

Biological Sciences

The Life Sciences have been living it up the past year, with 381 new species confirmed discovered in the Amazon rainforest alone; a new species of Sumatran Orang-Utan; and a new therapy in the Netherlands reversed the effects aging in mice! In neurology we saw a cybernetic brain implant that allowed a paralysed man to move his fingers for the first time in six years, and a study that revealed why people are born left or right handed. This handy research found that asymmetry forms in early development of spinal nerves, most likely caused by prenatal environmental factors instead of genetics, as was previously thought.

Incredibly (and controversially), scientists successfully edited a human embryo, using CRISPR technology to genetically ‘delete’ a heart-disease gene from the single-cell embryo. This is the first research to conclusively demonstrate that genes linked to inherited diseases can be efficiently, and safely, corrected! On the wackier side of life a spinach leaf was transformed into beating human heart tissue, we named a sonicboom punching pistol shrimp after a rock band (Synalpheus pinkfloydi), and mosquitoes may be on their way to losing their title as deadliest animal family in the world, as malaria rates have dropped 60% since 2000!

Physics & Astronomy

It has been a massively impressive year for physics, both closer to home and (incredibly) far away. In just one analysis the Large Hadron Collider revealed the existence of 5 new particles! A new metallic state of hydrogen that’s never existed on earth before was created! And astronomers witnessed a neutron star merger for the first time ever!

The collision of the two stars lasted over 100 seconds and showed that gamma-ray

“ The Life Sciences have been living it up the past year, with 381 new species confirmed discovered in the Amazon rainforest alone.

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Aisling Brennan Science Writer

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Mythbuster: The ‘Aussie Flu’

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bursts, the heaviest elements in the universe (like platinum and gold), and maybe even black holes, could all be the result of these kinds of phenomena! Nearer to our galactic neck of the woods, our solar system had it’sits first recorded interstellar visitor, with star-gazers around the world racing to study the football-field-sized spinning object, before it spun back out of our system.

Jupiter was visited by Juno, a probe sent to investigate the moons, magnetic fields and huge red “storm” of the gas giant. The Cassini probe, which orbited Saturn for 13 years continually sending back invaluable photos and data, took it’s final, preordained, plunge into the clouds.

In similar space news, NASA has started using reusable booster rockets, saving approximately $18 million each time they successfully land a booster, rather than letting it follow its predecessors into the ocean.

Earth Sciences

The planet was rocked by so many underground discoveries this year: Human remains were found in Morocco that are 100,000 years older than any others found before! We detected a giant mysterious cavern inside of the great pyramids of Giza using subatomic cosmic particles! And a 99-million-year-old baby bird was found fossilised in amber, proving that there were feathered birds long before the dinosaurs went extinct!

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In Antarctica, the oldest ever ice core was drilled, in remote parts of Brazil scientists with drones found new ‘Stonehenge-like’ monuments, and oh yeah there’s probably an 8th continent: Zealandia! Research suggests that New Zealand isn’t just an island chain, but the remains of a 4.9 million-squarekilometer block of continental crust that’s mostly submerged, east of Australia!. Fossils found suggest that millions of years ago this massive landscape was likely covered in all sorts of novel plants and animals, thriving above sea-level before it’s Atlantis-esque descent into the waves.

So, it’s not all doom and gloom coming out of 2017, at least not for science, and there’s plenty of things to look forward to as well!

Europe’s first mission to Mercury is launching, China is putting a satellite in lunar orbit, and the most powerful rocket operating on the planet, the Falcon Heavy Rocket, will blast off!

It’s only January and we’ve cloned monkeys, created “muscular” cell-sized robots, and unveiled the first bionic hand with a sense of touch possible to wear outside a laboratory! Last year we had the world’s first ‘completely unhackable’ quantum video call, and huge leaps in quantum computing like the 51-qubit computer, so imagine where we could be this time next year. I’m sure we’ll have so much to talk about!

Danielle O’Rourke Science Writer

ecently released data by the HSE shows that this year’s flu season has been particularly rough, and there are a lot of questions floating around about the so-called ‘Aussie Flu Outbreak’.

The ‘flu’ is an infection caused by the influenza virus. Symptoms include a fever of 38C, chesty cough, headache, muscle ache, and fatigue. A visit to the doctor is not required, unless there are secondary complications, or the individual is part of an at-risk group (Over 65s, young children, people who already have other medical issues), as these individuals have weaker immune systems and therefore are at a higher chance of developing complications.

The most common complication is a bacterial infection that occurs due to the lowered immune defences of the flu patient.

There are many different strains of the influenza and different ones circulate each year.

The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (known as the CDC) release a recommended vaccine against what is predicted to be the most likely strains to circulate each year. Influenza viruses mutate rapidly, so administering a new flu vaccine each year provides the best protection.

Flu strains may be categorised by origin and by whether they are caused by influenza virus A, B or C. The trivalent (or, ‘containing three strains’) 2017/18 flu vaccine, which is the most common in Europe, contains protection against three strains of the influenza virus, an A/Michigan-like virus; an A/Hong Kong-like virus; and a B/Brisbane- like virus. This Brisbane virus may be the root of the Australian association with this year’s outbreak. The moniker is misplaced, however, as the strain that has been affecting most the Irish people this year is a B/Yamagata-like virus. The quad-

rivalent (‘containing four strains’) flu vaccine contains protection for this strain, too, but the trivalent version was more commonly administered.

This flu season has indeed been more severe than usual, both in terms of numbers of infected individuals and the severity of the infections. In Ireland, the number of patients with influenza-like illnesses has been above the baseline threshold for 5 consecutive weeks and above medium threshold for 2 consecutive weeks, at the time of writing. This higher level has been seen across all HSE areas, with the level being described as ‘widespread’. GP out-of-hours calls that mention influenza-like symptoms are the highest they’ve been since 2010/11 – during the swine flu outbreak. There have been 463 hospitalizations related to the flu in just the first two weeks of 2018.

People can mistake a bad cold for the flu, but there are many differences between the two.

The common cold develops gradually, is not severe, and mainly affects the nose and throat.

Flu symptoms arise suddenly, include fever and muscle ache, stopping you from doing normal daily activities.

Influenza viruses are spread easily, as an individual can be infectious a day or two before symptoms arise. The virus can be spread in airborne water droplets from coughs and sneezes. These droplets can be inhaled directly by another person or picked up by touching common surfaces. While the virus is not dangerous for most people, it is still unpleasant. For that reason and for the sake of the more vulnerable members of our society, flu vaccines exist. Taking precautions such as vaccination, maintaining good hygiene practices, and avoiding large groups of people greatly decreases your risk of flu, outbreak or no.

p.27

Gaeilge.

Tábhacht Teanga Oisin Magfhogartaigh Scríbhneoir Gaeilge

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e linn an bhriseadh Nollag, chuaigh mé thall chuig Londain chun freastail ar an gceoldráma nua, ‘Hamilton’ le mo chlann. Is gaeilgeoirí uile iad mo chlann, ach is iad mé féin, mo mham, agus m’aintín na t-aon daoine a bhaineann úsáid rialta asti.

Thaispeáin an turas seo dúinn, áfach, go bhféadfaí leis an dteanga bheith chomh úsaideach, fiú is muid thar lear. Labhair mé Gaeilge le mo chol-ceathracha go minic is muid amuigh ar sráideanna Londain, bhí an-bhród orainn ár dteanga a úsáid i suíomh iasachta. Bhíomar saor chun ár rogha ruda a rá gan aon bhaol go dtuigfí éínne muid.

De réir go ndeirtear gurb í

Londain ‘melting pot’ cultúr éagsúla, b’iontach an rud é go raibheamar in ann ár gcultúr féin a chuir ina measc, go háirithe ós rud é go bhfuil stair suimiúil, dathannach idir Éirinn agus Sasana.

De réir a chéile, thosaigh mé ag smaoineamh faoin dtopaic de theanga í féin. Ní hamháin an Ghaeilge, ach an tábhacht a bhaineann le teanga sa domhain go ginearálta. Is rud iontach, compléascach agus tar a bheith suimiúil í chun féachaint ar an tslí gur tháinig teangacha chun cinn.

Is deacair an rud é le tuiscint conas ar fhorbair teanga thar na mílte bliana chun bheith mar atá sé inniu. Ina theannta sin, is muidne an t-aon ainmhí ar domhain

a n-usáideann teanga sa slí ina dhéanaimid. Tá go leor taighde agus staidéir déanta ar an dtopaic seo agus is mór an spéis dom iad a léamh. Dar liom gur rud dochreidte é go raibheamar in ann foghlaim conas labhairt ar an gcéad dul síos, ach níos dochreidte fós go bhfuil na mílte teangacha ar domhain agus modhanna chun cumarsáid béil a dhéanamh.

Tá teanga chomh tábhac-

tach dúinn, ach de gnáth déanaimid an talamh slán de.

I mo thuairim féin, osclaíonn teanga dorais chuig an t-am atá imithe thart, agus chuig an todhchaí, agus de bharr sin, leithníonn sé ár gcuid tuiscint orthu. Is í buaicphointe teanga, áfach, nuair a bhaineann sí an dá fheidhm sin amach le chéile. Is é sin cad a dhéanann an seó gur mheall chuig Londain mé i dtosach báire. Úsáideann

‘Hamilton’, le Lin Manuel Miranda, teanga nua-aimseartha chun scéal faoi am fadó a insint. Níl aon amhras faoi ach gur fear an-chliste é údar an cheoldráma seo. Is féidir leis focail éagsúla a phiocadh agus iad a chuir le rithim i mbealach a chruthaíonn rím bhinn, éadrom agus chliste.

File é, le cumas amhránaí i ndáríre. Ní léirmheas é a t-alt seo ar an seó é féin (cé go dtugaim ard-mholadh daoibh éisteacht leis nó, más féidir, í a fheiceáil), ach is staidéar é ar an úsáid iontach a bhaintear as teanga tríd an gceoldráma ar fad. Is í an chumas agus ordú teanga a léiríonn Hamilton a spreag an t-alt seo ar dtús báire.

Is léir dom féin, gur rud fíor-thábhachtach í an teanga inár saolta. Is rud nach mbíonn an gnáthduine ag smaoineamh faoi go ró-deimhin go laethúil, ach is léir nach mbeimid in ann feidhmiú gan í. Is litir oscailte í an t-alt seo ag gabhadh mo chuid buíochais d’ár sinsear don bhronntanas iontach a thug siad dúinn, agus ag gabhadh buíochais dóibh siúd a bhíonn ag cuir béime ar an gcumhacht atá ag an dteanga, ag taispeáint dúinn ar fad gur eochair í a osclaíonn doras chuig domhain nua, iontacha.

2018, Bliain na Gaeilge Erin Nic An Bhaird Eagarthóir Gaeilge

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é cuimhneachán 125 bliana gluaiseacht athbheochán na Gaeilge i mbliana, agus tá idir an Roinn Cultúir, Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta, Conradh na Gaeilge, agus Foras na Gaeilge tar éis teacht le chéile chun clár náisiúnta d’imeachtaí a eagrú chun an Ghaeilge a chéiliúradh is a chur chun cinn! Beidh na himeachtaí bunaithe ar théamaí ar nós ‘cruthaíocht na Gaeilge’; ‘beocht na teanga’; agus ‘rannpháirtíocht an phobail’.

Anseo i gColáiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath, tá an Ghaeilge chomh bheo i mbliana is atá sí i gcónaí. Beidh An

30.01.2018

Cumann Gaelach, i gcomhar le Bord na Gaeilge agus Scoil na Gaeilge, an Léinn Cheiltigh & an Bhéaloidis, ag seoladh Bliain na Gaeilge go hoifigiúil i rith ‘Seachtain na gCumann’ ar an Máirt, 30 Eanáir ag 3pm sa Seomra Dearg. Tá fáilte roimh gach éinne a bhfuil suim acu eolas a fháil ar na himeachtaí trí Ghaeilge atá ag druidim linn sa choláiste.

Má tá tú ag leanúint Scoil na Gaeilge, an Léinn Cheiltigh & an Bhéaloidis ar Facebook, seans go bhfuil físeáin nó dhó feicthe agat le blúirín beag eolais faoin nGaeilge.

Beidh siad ag cur físeán in airde gach uile lá chun Bliain na Gaeilge a chéiliúradh agus

chun fíricí suimiúla a roinnt faoinár dteanga dhúchais. Ní mhaireann gach físeán ach cúpla soicind, ach bíonn rud spéisiúil le foghlaim iontu i gcónaí!

Rud eile taobh amuigh d’UCD atá go mór i mbéal an phobail ag an staid seo de Bhliain na Gaeilge ná an haischlib ‘nílsécgl’ (níl sé ceart go leor) a thosaigh múinteoir Gaeilge Ciara Ní É. Úsáidtear an haischlib chun aird a tharraingt ar iompar diúltach, aineolach agus drochbhéasach i leith na Gaeilge, agus chun dul i ngleic leis an bhfadhb seo. Léiríonn an feachtas na míthuiscintí choitianta agus na gearáin gan bhunús atá ag daoine áirithe i slí greannmhar

agus cliste. Is í an aidhm atá leis an haischlib ná chun an chaint dhiúltach timpeall an Ghaeilge a athrú agus chun dearcadh nua a thabhairt do dhaoine uirthi.

Is é an spriocphobail atá ag Bliain na Gaeilge ná daoine líofa, pobal na Gaeltachta, agus daoine gan ach cúpla focal – mar sin, má tá suim ar bith agat sa teanga, níl aon dabht ach go mbeidh imeacht ar siúl uair éigin i rith na bliana a n-oirfeadh duit!

Coimeád súil ar www.peig. ie/2018 le haghaidh níos mó eolas, agus ná bíodh faitíos ort freastal ar ceann de na himeachtaí Gaeilge anseo in UCD – tá fáilte roimh chách i gcónaí. p.28

Law.

Chief Justice Frank Clarke Discusses Court Reform Law Editor Daniel Forde looks at the key aspects of Chief Justice Frank Clarke’s Speech on Court Reform.

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n a seminar hosted in NUI Galway on 17th January, Chief Justice Frank Clarke addressed the topic of reforming the court system. In the speech, Chief Justice Clarke remarked that the approach to reforming the courts had been ‘overly piecemeal’, where in the past reformers had often looked to solve individual problems rather than improve the system as a whole.

Mr. Justice Clarke firstly identified judicial training as an area in strong need of reform. He said that the current estimated budget for judicial training was €300,000, which would need to be ‘quadrupled’ in order for a proper training programme to be implemented. In fact, according to the Chief Justice, the cutbacks in budget had forced Irish judges to travel to Scotland in order to receive proper training; he commented ‘Scotland, a jurisdiction broadly of our own size and with a similar financial clout, had a much more sophisticated system of training than anything we could offer, requiring Irish judges to obtain much of their training abroad,’. He also expressed some puzzlement over the appointment system in the District and Circuits Courts, primarily in how the government makes the appointment rather than the president of the relevant court.

Mr. Justice Clarke also focused on the appeals system as another structural problem within the courts. The Chief Justice determined the many different types of review to be the underlying cause of the appeals system’s slow processes. He in fact himself stated that the large amount of different procedures potentially made the system ‘unnecessarily complex and wieldy’. Clarke then went on to recommend that the Law Reform Commission should find some way to streamline applications and should also examine how tribunals make statutory appeals to the court system. The Court of Appeal has recently come under strain due to an increasingly burdensome number of case applications. Mr Justice Clarke even suggested last December allowing four Supreme Court judges to sit in with the Court of Appeal’s judiciary to reduce backlog.

Another area Mr. Justice Clarke called attention to in his speech was the need for increased judicial and

30.01.2018

Image Above The Hon. Mr. Justice Frank Clarke.

quasi-judicial resources. He stated that ‘the public might well be surprised to learn how little a judge assigned to hear a case in very many parts of our system will know about the case in advance’, before outlining how the Courts Office actually holds little documentation upon certain cases. He observed that some judges who presided over specific jurisdictions seemingly had more time to consider the cases before them. He used the example of the Commercial Court, which in his view not only had fewer cases than the High Court, but also frequently gave its judges a day prior to the actual case to read upon matters likely to surface during proceedings. However, Clarke also qualified that this greater judicial involvement would only be possible if more resources were available. He commented that ‘time means not just time sitting in court but time reading into the issues in advance so as to reduce the amount of court time taken up’. The Chief Justice also suggested that one quick solution to this would be to employ some senior and legally qualified court officials in order to reduce pre-trial work. He outlined that the High Court currently has 40 judges but only one master and a few deputy masters to assist them. In contrast, the Northern Ireland High Court has six masters to assist its 10 judges. Clarke stressed that these masters would be largely responsible for pre-trial work and would have little input into the final decision.

Similarly, the Chief Justice also discussed how little use was made of the research teams available to the judiciary. In keeping with the common theme of his speech, he emphasised that for true reform to take place, there had to be more effective use of these research teams in order to have a well-functioning court service. Clarke noted that in Ireland’s Supreme Court, one judge would often have to share one researcher with another judge. Meanwhile in other

jurisdictions of similar size, a single Supreme Court judge could have two or three assistants assigned specifically to them. Clarke recommended that the number of researchers available to the High Court be increased. He listed reading documentation and correlating uncontested evidence, as some examples of activities that researchers could help with.

Mr Justice Clarke repeatedly asserted that there were no ‘magic bullet’ which would instantly solve the problems in the court structure. He emphasised ‘No one ‘big idea’ is likely to provide a courts system with which everyone will be entirely happy.’ But the Chief Justice also stressed that it was important to focus on areas which were in need of reform. In his opinion, this would incite debate which would lead to actual reforms begin implemented. But the real problem Clarke said, lies in the details, the exact lines along which new structures will be drawn. He did suggest that the simplest solution was to integrate already existing resources to an even greater degree.

This would lead to swift and significant changes.

Court reform has become an increasingly important matter in the last few years. The Judicial Council Bill and the Judicial Appointment Commission Bill were launched in the Dáil last summer. At the time of writing these have yet to be implemented.

Further back then that there was the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 which overturned the old ward of a court system, and the establishment of the Court of Appeal following the 33rd Referendum. It appears wide changes are slowly growing more and more likely. As of yet, it is uncertain if it will be to the degree Mr Justice Clarke requires. But the courts systems must function efficiently in order to properly deliver justice, and while solutions may remain elusive, debate would certainly be the first step towards improving the system. p.29

Business.

The Law & Politics Behind PESCO

T

Cian Carton Editor

he Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) is the way in which EU Member States will work closer together on security and defence issues. It will build on the EU Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy (EUGS) and has been summarised by the EU as aiming to ‘jointly develop defence capabilities and make them available for EU military operations’, in order to ‘enhance the EU’s capacity as an international security partner’, contribute to the protection of Europeans and ‘maximise the effectiveness of defence spending’. PESCO is being built on binding commitments, based on voluntary participation.

The matter seemingly came out of nowhere last December as the government secured Irish participation in it by a Dáil vote. However, it is part of an ongoing trend which has accelerated in the past two years, but which derives its power from the Lisbon Treaty. At a European level, the Council established PESCO on the 11th December 2017. It’s decision formally listed all 25 participating Member States, its governing structure, supervision, assessment and reporting arrangements, financing, and provisions to allow for outside participation The Commission and Council have been the driving forces behind the move. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, gave his State of the Union Address in September 2016 which included a warning about Europe’s defence. Following on from Juncker’s speech, the Commission announced the European Defence Action Plan in November 2016. It set out three main aims; the creation of a European Defence Fund, fostering investments in defence industry suppliers through mechanisms like the European Investment Bank, and the strengthening of the Single Market for defence through new directives.

The European Defence Fund June 2017 saw the Commission launch the European Defence Fund. Announced during Junker’s State of the Union Address in September 2016, he warned that Europe ‘can no longer afford to piggy-back on the military might of others’, and called for the Fund to ‘turbo boost research and innovation.’

The Fund has two strands, for research and acquisition. €90 million was set aside for research until 2019, with the first €25 million used in 2017. The big change will begin in 2020, 30.01.2018

with €500 million per year begin allocated for research annually to facilitate the EU becoming one of the biggest defence researchers in Europe. The Commission is set to propose a ‘dedicated EU defence research programme’ this year which will shed further light on how this will work.

Development and acquisition projects between co-operating Member States are open for co-financing from the EU budget and ‘practical support’ from the Commission. Examples cited by the Commission included developing drone technology, satellite communication, or bulk buying equipment to reduce costs. €500 million will be spent on these projects in 2019 and 2020. Increased funds are being made available in 2020, with an estimated €1 billion budget each year to expand the programme.

The Commission wants to leverage national financing by multiplying effect of five, to generate a total of €5 billion per year.

Intention & Notification Member States drew up a list of common commitments in September 2017, and signed the common notification in November to begin formally setting up PESCO. 23 Member States signed it, with Ireland and Portugal being the two which agreed to join the following month.

The Notification mentions all the key Treaty provisions, as well as developments in other branches of the Union. It cited the European Council’s re-affirmation of its commitment to strengthen European co-operation on defence in December 2016, and its June 2017 call on Member States to ‘fill the existing major shortfalls and develop the technologies of the future.’

At the signing ceremony of notification by interested Member States last November, High Representative Federica Mogherin remarked that they were ‘signing something that, just one year ago, most of us and most of the rest of the world considered impossible to achieve’, for what was a ‘historic moment in European defence.’ As High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Mogherin co-ordinates the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.

Annexed to the Notification were the principles of PESCO. The principles continuously reference the binding nature of the project. It also speculates as to the future; ‘A long term vision of PESCO could be to arrive at a coherent full spectrum force package - in complementarity with NATO, which will continue to be

the cornerstone of collective defence for its members.’

The penultimate principle issued somewhat of a warning. While PESCO is to be ‘inclusive’ and ‘modular’, it ‘must not lead to cooperation being levelled down’, as the aim of an ‘ambitious’ PESCO requires all participants to ‘comply with a common list of objectives and commitments.’

The Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) is the way in which EU Member States will work closer together on security and defence issues.

The Lisbon Treaty

The Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy is enshrined in Article 42 of the Lisbon Treaty, which includes the ‘progressive framing of a common Union defence policy’, with a recognition of certain Member States who owe obligations under the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

Article 42 (3) states that ‘Member States shall make civilian and military capabilities available to the Union for the implementation of the common security and defence policy, to contribute to the objectives defined by the Council. Those Member States which together establish multinational forces may also make them available to the common security and defence policy.’

Member States ‘shall undertake progressively to improve their military capabilities.’ There is an obligation of ‘aid and assistance’ by all the means in their power, in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter’ on Member States if another is attacked p.30

Three projects, Military Mobility, EU Training Mission Competence Centre (EU TMCC), and Deployable Military Disaster Relief Capability Package, relate to military logistics. Another three, Maritime (Semi-) Autonomous Systems for Mine Countermeasures, Harbour & Maritime Surveillance and Protection, Harbour & Maritime Surveillance and Protection, and Upgrade of Maritime Surveillance, are all naval-based. The other project is for a Cyber Threats and Incident Response Information Sharing Platform, which aims to increase the sharing of intelligence through a networked Member State platform, while developing new active measures to combat cyber threats.

PESCO & Ireland Irish neutrality is a long-standing government policy, and PESCO is the latest, and potentially gravest, issue which could undermine it. Sinn Féin previously proposed Bills to call for a referendum to insert a neutrality clause into the Constitution in 2015 and 2016. The Thirty-Fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Neutrality) Bill 2016 was rejected by a government motion. At that time, Charlie Flanagan, then Minister for Foreign Affairs, commented that any such move could undermine the effectiveness of the executive to conduct foreign affairs, while Enda Kenny, then Taoiseach, said that Irish neutrality had been protected with the Lisbon Treaty.

Article 29 of the Irish Constitution covers international relations. The Twenty-Eight amendment to the Constitution amended Article 29 to allow for the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. The current version of Article 29 (9) reads ‘the State shall not adopt a decision taken by the European Council to establish a common defence pursuant to Article 42 of the Treaty on European Union where that common defence would include the State.’

PESCO Projects

PESCO is beginning with seventeen projects. Over the coming months, all 25 members will have to agree on governance rules for individual projects, and exactly how third States would be able to participate in projects.

Ireland is interested in seven of these initial projects.

“ Irish neutrality is a long-standing government policy, and PESCO is the latest, and potentially gravest, issue which could undermine it.

“

on its own territory.

The key to PESCO is Article 42 (6). ‘Those Member States whose military capabilities fulfil higher criteria and which have made more binding commitments to one another in this area with a view to the most demanding missions shall establish permanent structured cooperation within the Union framework. Such cooperation shall be governed by Article 46. It shall not affect the provisions of Article 43.’

Article 45 covers the role of the European Defence Agency (EDA). Article 46 sets out the procedure under which permanent structured co-operation is established within the EU, as mentioned in Article 42 (6). Protocol 10 of the Lisbon Treaty contains three Articles annexed onto it which further expands upon Articles 42 and 46. Article 1 sets out objectives, Article 2 covers ways in which they will be achieved, then Article 3 gives the EDA a role in assisting in the regular assessment of Member States’ contribution to these objectives.

In theory, this could block Ireland from joining PESCO. Richard Boyd Barrett confirmed earlier this month that People Before Profit would not bring a constitutional challenge after obtaining advice, with the lack of clear definitions over key phrases likely to defeat a claim.

A Dáil motion to approve Ireland joining PESCO was passed on the 7th December 2017 by 78 votes to 42. Simon Coveney, Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, explained that ‘at all stages it was clear to partners that Irish participation was subject to a Government decision and Dáil approval and this is why Ireland did not sign the notification at the Foreign Affairs Council last month, when many other countries did.’

Lisa Chambers, Fianna Fail spokesperson for Defence, spoke in favour of the motion and described the defence budget as ‘paltry.’ Sinn Féin’s Aengus Ó Snodaigh said that PESCO would undermine Irish sovereignty and independence by having other Member States and said Ireland would become ‘dependent on an EU military programme that will not be under our control.’ Eamon Ryan, leader of the Green Party, noted TDs were not criticising Denmark for remaining independent and outside of PESCO, and said the EU ‘would be stronger by having a certain level of diversity in terms of its approach to security and defence issues, in particular.’

The issue of Irish involvement also spilled over into military expenditure on the 12th December. Clare Daly asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence whether there will need to be an increased defence budget when Ireland joins PESCO. Paul Kehoe (pictured), Minister of State at the Department of Defence, said that joining PESCO would not bring any additional costs to the Exchequer, but that ‘additional costs may arise in respect of participation in specific PESCO projects similar to the case where the Defence Forces participate in European Defence Agency projects.’

These costs would be ‘incurred in the normal course and will therefore be met from within the Defence Vote.’ He noted that Ireland’s defence spending would increase over the next three years, as per the latest budget.

A back-and-forth between the pair saw Daly claim ‘there has hardly been a single article in the press or any coverage in the media at all. If one were to randomly stop people on the street, even people who are usually very well informed have an incredibly low level of knowledge about PESCO, what it means and our involvement in it.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the reason it was rushed through in such an unorthodox way was to avoid that type of public scrutiny because the Minister of State knows well that Irish people do not want to be part of a European army.’ Kehoe previously mentioned he had heard ‘outrageous comments’ about Ireland joining an EU army, but said these comments were incorrect. p.31

Turbine.

The Turbine A lway s S ati r ical - O c cas ional l y H u mou rous

Letter to the Editor: Millennials

Hamster Starting to Think Playing Dead Prank Was a Bad Idea

Dear Editor,

Philip Mignon Turbine Writer

I am writing in to tell you how SICK I am of hearing and seeing MILLENNIALS whining about life and how they struggle to afford basic human necessities. They are GREEDY AND UNGRATEFUL and I am SICK of hearing their complaints.

SICK of them!

BACK IN MY DAY, I worked in a TOILET FACTORY and earned £5 an hour. I worked at NIGHT in a CAGE, cleaning old broken toilets and if I messed up, I WAS SET ON FIRE! Working conditions nowadays are so good you could basically live in an Tesco. Which I hear some people are actually doing.

Anyway, I always see MILLENNIALS complaining about how minimum wage is not a ‘living wage’. As if £5 an hour was a living wage…. Granted, everything costed less and I could afford my first home after saving for 6 months. I could also afford medical care and education was free… but that’s beside the point. If MILLENNIALS want all these things so bad, then all they have to do is, essentially, cease to exist for a few years.

Forego unnecessary spending on ‘food’, ‘water’, etc and after only about 2 years of hard work you will have saved enough to pay half of one month’s rent and maybe afford a decent toothbrush too. So stop complaining MILLENNIALS, if you work your fingers to the bone till you’re dead you will be able to afford a slightly comfortable life. Like the one I had before you ruined the ECONOMY! Sincerely, O.M*

‘Initially I thought it would be hilarious you know, playing dead to freak out little Mary and her poor parents for a while”, Hammy the Hamster said in his exclusive interview with the Turbine. ‘And, you know, to be fair, it was! The girl was totally freaking out and crying, and her parents were really bewildered because they had never had to deal with a dead pet before. I honestly had to try so hard to not laugh so I didn’t ruin the gag.’

Hammy explained that he ‘must have fallen asleep or something, because the next thing I knew I was in this dusty shoebox about two-foot under the ground in the back-garden.

I must have been quite convincing if they actually thought I was dead! Although it’s clear the prank was funny and a great success, this is not an ideal position for a hamster to be in. I heard the neighbour’s cat sniffing around up on the surface earlier, but thankfully he didn’t start digging, so I really dodged a bullet there.’

‘Right now I’m just hoping that Mary and her parents saw through my brilliant prank, and just buried me in the back garden in order to get back at me, perhaps just to scare me a bit so that I don’t pull a prank as good as this one again.’’ He confessed ‘...they [Mary’s parents] have scared me, and I think they may have gone a bit too far. So, if you’re reading this, John, Sue and little Mary, this would be a really good time for you to dig me up and put me back into my nice warm cage.

Please… this prank was such a terrible idea.’

*Editor’s note: ‘This letter was written on the back of a Werther’s Original packet, which was tied to a Nokia 3210 and thrown through my bedroom window’.

Government Receiving Horrific Abuse on Social Media Seán Farbuckt Turbine Writer

This last week has been described as being tough for the government with many of our crazed citizens taking to the internet to express their dissatisfaction with its performance.

A litany of disparaging messages were sent to the Facebook pages of many government ministers which can only be described as (and I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say this), virtual terrorism. Fine Gael TD Paschal Donohoe claimed that he received vile abusive messages such as ‘Do your job and take care of homeless people’’, ‘’Why are there never enough hospital beds?’ and ‘Could you please let me know when the local food bank is open next? I haven’t eaten in 3 days’. He commented that such vitriolic attacks should not be allowed in a 21st century democracy. A sentiment which I totally agree with.

Even An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, received one particularly disgusting message from a man who demanded that he ‘...actually start doing what needs to be done instead of

www.collegetribune.ie

ignoring and downplaying our problems while you vilify the working class as a hobby’. Varadkar could not comment on the incidents as he was attending a rugby match in Argentina. Not for fun, but to try and bring us home some FDI, (Foreign Direct Investment for the layman), from some of the air hostesses on his private jet or from the waiters in the 5 Star restaurant who served the buckets of gold lobsters and diamond caviar. People can be so quick to judge...

It is clear to see from these recent incidents that we expect too much from our government. Unnecessary things like basic human rights, a justice system that doesn’t let rich people off for everything and condemn the poor for trivial misdemeanors, and various other nonsensical demands unworthy of mentioning like an uncorrupt police force etc etc… We have a lot of things to thank our government for, and if you bothered to close your eyes and cover your ears, you’d be able to see and hear all of them. You scroungers!

0631

Sport.

Be the difference We’re looking for young entrepreneurs with powerful and innovative business ideas that can be put into practice for a good cause. Can you be the difference for the Jack & Jill Foundation a charity that makes a difference for others, every day?

How to get involved We want teams of 3 people to submit their groundbreaking business ideas in no more than 150 words to paula.gaffney@ boi.com by the closing date of 15 February 2018 at 5pm.

We’re looking for creativity, ease of activation, low financial risk and cost effectiveness.

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The winning team will be given the opportunity of summer placements at Bank of Ireland; All participants in each of the twelve shortlisted teams will benefit greatly from being able to include ‘Shortlisted Candidate for the 2018 Bank of Ireland & UCD Social Entrepreneur Challenge’ on their CVs; You will have done something full of good. p.33

Sport.

Opinion: Shane Lowry Would Be Better Served On the European Tour Jack Stokes Sports Writer

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hane Lowry’s worrying decline over the last two seasons has culminated in him making a major decision to relocate to the USA for the first half of 2018. Lowry has experienced a sharp downturn in his form that has seen him fall from a career-high world ranking of 17th in October 2015 to as low as 89th in December 2017. This nosedive in ranking is directly correlated with Lowry’s decision to accept full PGA Tour membership for the 2015/16 season.

From this time, Lowry attempted to juggle both the European Tour and the American Tour by playing an even-split of events on both circuits. But these efforts, involving frequent long-haul, transatlantic flights, hindered Lowry’s golf game. By balancing two Tours, he greatly reduced his chances of performing well on either money list. This is typified by the fact that Lowry has failed to make the

FedEx Cup playoffs in both of his seasons on the PGA Tour. Meanwhile his Race to Dubai standing plummeted to a lowly 30th, position in 2017, considerably down on his 10th and 5th placings in 2014 and 2015 respectively, when he was more focused on playing European Tour events. To Lowry’s credit, he recognised at the end of last season that a change in approach was required for him to rediscover his best form, noting in an August interview that ‘’playing both tours has been very hard…/I feel like that has been my downfall.’’ However, Lowry is mistaken in his proposed solution.

The Offalyman, in choosing to focus even more on the PGA Tour in 2018, will play even fewer European Tour events this season. This move will dramatically worsen his chances of making the Ryder Cup team and could well lead to a further decline in his world ranking.

As Lowry ponders a crossroads in his career, he would be well served in examining the blue-

print laid down by his good friend and compatriot, Padraig Harrington. Harrington, himself a three-time major champion, made the switch from the European Tour to the more lucrative PGA Tour in 2005. At the point of switching, Harrington had already amassed eleven career victories and played in three Ryder Cups. He was an established star player looking to kick on to the next level. Lowry, in contrast, has a mere two professional victories to his name and has yet to play in a Ryder Cup. He is a player who must become more accustomed to contending regularly in tournaments and winning events before he can progress to the truly elite level of the game. Playing fulltime on the European Tour absolutely represents Lowry’s best chance of doing this. For example, in 2017, Lowry had three top fifteen finishes out of the twelve events he played in America compared with six top fifteen placings out of twelve European tournaments.

Furthermore, European courses are far better suited to Lowry’s game. They provide broader scope for creative, links-style shots and enable a natural golfer like Lowry to utilise his full array of skills. The same cannot be said for virtually all PGA Tour events, which lend themselves to ‘target golf’ and conclude with total winning scores bordering on obscene. s touched on earlier, by moving to the United States, Lowry is considerably reducing his prospects of making the Ryder Cup team. The Ryder Cup qualification system consists of a ‘Race to Dubai Points List’ (based on points garnered from European Tour events) and a ‘World Points List’ (based on points attained from PGA Tour tournaments). By prioritising the US Tour, Lowry is channelling his selection efforts through the much more competitive ‘World Points List’, where he will have to fend off the challenge of the likes of Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia.

Were Lowry to play full-time on the European Tour, however, he would face the far more manageable task of finishing above Matthew Fitzpatrick, Joost Luiten, Andy Sullivan and so forth. Essentially, Lowry’s relocation to

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America means that, barring a minor miracle, he will not make a Ryder Cup team that he otherwise would have an outstanding chance of qualifying for. Thus, he will miss out on all the benefits that playing in such a prestigious event would bring, not least accelerating his player development and massively raising his profile.

When playing in Europe, Lowry is treated as somewhat of a marquee player. He is predominantly given favourable tee times, high profile playing partners and significant television coverage. The Irish golfing public can enjoy watching his rounds and build up a connection with Clara native. But, when Lowry tees it up in America, he is given completely different treatment. Placed in groups with journeymen pros, viewers are lucky to catch one glimpse of the Irishman throughout the week as the cameras fixate on US icons like Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth. Such is Lowry’s anonymity, that some American commentators cannot even get his name right, referring to him on occasion as ‘Steve Lowry’ and ‘Shane McLowry’! This is further proof that Lowry, for the sake of his own marketability, should stay in Europe for another couple of years and build up his profile.

In conclusion, I would urge Lowry to at least delay his move to America until he has notched up more tournament victories or sampled at least one Ryder Cup. By departing prematurely, he risks following the illfated paths of Nicolas Colsaerts and Gonzalo Fernandez Castano, and turning his dip in form into an all-out slump. He is in the fortunate position of not having to follow the increased monetary rewards of the PGA Tour, having already accumulated €10,372,089 from the European circuit. The leap of faith he is taking in moving to the US appears a gamble that offers little benefits and could backfire spectacularly. For the sake of his career, some more patience and willingness to accept incremental progress is required, just as Harrington demonstrated all those years ago. I fear that in packing his bags for America, these qualities are absent from Lowry’s thought-process.

Here’s hoping I’m wrong.

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Sports.

6 Nations Preview Conor Lynott Sports Editor

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ast year, I tipped Ireland to win on the basis of England’s injuries at the time and the performances of the provinces at that stage last season.

This year, the tone of the Irish mainstream media is similar: Leinster have won six from six in their pool and Munster did what they had to do to reach the knockout stages of the Champions’ Cup. There has been talk of a burn out in the English squad.

England coach, Eddie Jones is encouraging that talk in perfect Jose Mourinho style.

Ignore Jones. England are still the team to beat and will probably win the championship. Owen Farrell has hit

form at the right time and they have adequate cover for the loss of Vunipola with names like Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, George Kruis, Dylan Hartley and Chris Robshaw. All these players will ensure that, in order for England to be denied the championship, an opponent’s’ lineout and scrum divisions will need to be welloiled because England’s strike plays are deadly.

Ireland, despite having thirteen players injured, are in rude health as a squad.

Ireland’s well-known halfback pairing in Sexton and Murray are fit, along with fellow European Player of the Year and Lions Star, Tadhg Furlong. Ireland also have

two form fullbacks in Rob Kearney and Jordan Larmour.

In all honesty, Ireland’s game plan probably isn’t going to change too much in terms of being collision focussed and letting the backline operate intelligently in gaining territorial advantage. Schmidt’s argument has always been: There’s nothing wrong with the game plan.

If it’s executed correctly we will win. Ireland could and

should do well in this tournament with the personnel available. They won’t win the title though. Twickenham is a real pressure zone and the English will be fired up.

Welsh rugby is on an 11-year high. Scarlets are the first Welsh side to reach the Champions Cup Quarter Final. The Scarletts play a brand of rugby that is difficult to defend against.

Warren Gatland has a differ-

ent game plan, however. Yet with so many internationals like Leigh Halfpenny now playing rugby at home, Wales are sure to have a better showing than last season’s finish in fifth place.

I could well be eating my words during Easter Week because I predicted a fourth place finish for the Scots.

They were the team of the November internationals this season, having torn Australia to shreds and run the All Blacks close. When Stuart Hogg hunts space with the hunger of a fox hunting rabbits, it takes a very fit defence to live with them for 80 minutes.

France, I believe, could be making a fatal mistake naming a squad with so much inexperience and it is doubtful that their new coach has fully implemented his blueprint yet. I expect the French to finish fifth. Whereas, I don’t see the Italians finishing anywhere but bottom because of the sheer gulf in class in the skills of the backline.

Britain-Bound UCD Volleyball Serve Up Another Inter-Varsity Win Chris Foley Sports Editor

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ast November saw a strong and confident UCD women’s team travel to The Mardyke arena in UCC last November to compete in the most anticipated Irish InterVarsity Volleyball competition of the year, hoping to end 2017 on a high. The team had trained hard in preparation for this event which they have a superb track record in, winning outright in 13 out of the last 14 years. UCD were placed in Pool A which consisted of two other student teams, NUIG and TCD. UCD stormed through pool A coming out as group winners, with the home team, UCC, finished top of pool B.

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The semi-final saw the side drawn against Trinity College who put up strong resistance, but UCD reigned supreme and went on to beat them comprehensively, not allowing Trinity to take more than 10 points from them. This set up a tense match-up with hosts UCC in the competition’s final. In what was to be an emotionally charged encounter, the girls set off nervously but soon found their rhythm.

The game went point for point for most of the first set with both teams hitting the floor, putting their heart and soul into what was a truly exciting game of volleyball for the neutral, with UCD even-

tually coming out as winners.

The collective spirit of the UCD team was visible on the day, with their superior drive and determination shining through in the end. With this victory, UCD have secured a spot in the English Varsities taking place in Norwich in February. Special recognition was reserved for setter Oriane Hammerli, who took home the MVP award in recognition of her outstanding individual performance. She also won the ‘best women’s setter’ award for the competition.

Following on from this success, January has seen intense preparations begin for the competition, which will take place on the 3rd

and 4th of February. This competition is very much the highlight of the club’s calendar, and the team will be eager to live up to their pre-tournament billing. The pool draw will see UCD pit themselves against Essex, who are the reigning champions of the competition, as well as Sheffield and Bristol, both sides with strong intervarsity sporting traditions. Over the last couple of editions of the competition, UCD have given a good account of themselves without being crowned champions, so this year they are hoping to take a step further towards victory, and return to the Emerald Isle bearing much sought-after silverware. p.35

College Tribune.

Sports & The Law: In A League Of Their Own Aoife Brady Sports Writer

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t has been over 20 years since a relatively unknown Belgian footballer faced the toughest opponent of his professional career and succeeded in changing the world of modern football forever. Jean Marc Bosman’s plea to the European Court of Justice in 1990 stemmed from his dissatisfaction with FIFA restrictions that prevented him from making a transfer to French club Dunkerque, despite his contract having already expired at Belgian side RFC Liege.

The 1995 decision by the European court was a win for Bosman on a personal level, however the ruling has had far-reaching consequences since, giving leverage to players to demand huge signing-on fees and salaries to make up for the absent transfer fee. The record breaking €222million transfer deal of Neymar from Barcelona to Paris St. Germain in 2017 would never have come about if it wasn’t for the aforementioned court ruling. Sport, in general, has been afforded the platform to self-govern, preventing the interference of the ordinary courts whose rulings could profoundly change the nature of the sport. But when does the law intervene? What recourse do players have in circumstances of dispute? Is sport a law unto itself?

Sport and the law have historically been considered as ‘natural enemies’ and the Government has been reluctant to intervene www.collegetribune.ie

in the self-regulatory nature of national sporting organisations. Sporting regulation has predominantly fallen outside the realm of national private law as its nature sits uneasily with pre-existing norms in societies that forbid certain activities. For example, assault is a punishable offence, however, the sport of boxing endorses such violence. Consequently, the Government has respected the advantages of affording sporting federations the platform to self-govern and enjoy limited interference from the State. This is largely due to the historically recognised personality of sport, deemed to be best regulated by those who are truly invested, with the most expertise, and in the most appropriate position to protect the integrity of the sport and its players. In a broad sense, there are many advantages associated with self-governing authorities like Just Sport Ireland and the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA) such as; internalising cost, efficiency and technical advantages relating to expertise.

Along with the practical advantages of avoiding the ordinary courts, it also limits State interference in matters that could profoundly affect the nature, traditions and personalities of different sport. The 1990 Bosman ruling in the European Court of Justice changed the nature of the Champions League on an international level. The Belgian midfielder challenged the Article 17 restriction in the

FIFA regulations, arguing it was a breach of the European Union right to free movement of people, as he was not permitted to transfer to another club without the grace of his existing club. Bosman was coming to the end of his contract at Belgian side, RFC Liege. After an unstaisfactory two-year stint with the club, the midfielder was offered an improved contract

by French second division side, Dunkirk.

Before the Bosman ruling, a player could not leave at the end of their deal unless that club agreed to let him go on a free transfer, or if that club received a previously agreed fee from the buying club. Liege demanded a fee, far out of reach for Dunkirk, and when the deal fell through, Bosman's wages at Liege were cut by around 75 per cent. After a 5 year legal battle, it was decided that leaving fees were effectively infringing on players’ right to free movement, a decision that was to be a game changer for the sport of football.

Pre-Bosman, clubs were under a "threeplus-two" rule in European competitions, meaning they could name no more than three foreign players in their squad for games on the continent, with an additional two who had progressed through the club's academy.

The impact of the Bosman ruling has resonated throughout the world and shaken up the entire nature of the game. Before the Bosman ruling in1994, with UEFA ruling that Welsh and Scottish players counted as foreigners to English sides, then-Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson was infamously forced to replace first-choice goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel with Gary Walsh in the 4-0 defeat

by Barcelona at the Nou Camp in the Champions League group stages. Post-Bosman, clubs were free to play all EU players, and back at the Nou Camp in 1999, United completed a historic treble, by fielding eight players who would have been considered "foreign" just four years previous. Sir Alex Ferguson commented "Once the European Court of Justice ruled that

clubs no longer had to pay transfer fees after the expiration of a player's contract, all hell broke loose. Suddenly it was a free-for-all."

Sport, at both amateur and professional level, like any area of society, is not without internal conflict. But given the increased commercialization of sport, the stakes, in monetary and professional terms, are higher for those invested in the sport, both as an athlete, shareholder and as a spectator. With such heightened interest, follows an influx of litigation and a demand for fair hearings and judicial process. Disputes arising from contested GAA suspensions to club relegation all require an authority to intervene and mediate. The European Union recognised the ‘special nature’ of sport and has supported national sporting federations to resolve disputes within their own organisations without the need to resort to the ordinary courts barring specific circumstances where the fairness of procedures are challenged Each organisation and local club are subject to the rules of that sporting federation which may extend beyond national boundaries to continental authority in certain sports ie.

UEFA. Most of these organisations insert a clause in their regualtions that any dispute relating to on field tackles, suspension, membership etc. will be referred to Just Sport Ireland or the DRA (or their own national equivalent). However, doping appeals are referred to the Court of Arbitation for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne upon exhausting all domestic dispute resolution remedies.

These platforms are affordable for amateur and professional players, and mean that the ordinary courts do not have to interfere in sporting matters whereby rulings could potentially alter the whole face and nature of the game as was the result of FIFA’s loss in 1995 before the European Court. Sport regulation it appears, is best left in the hands of those who truly understand the rules of the game.

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