The College View - Issue 2 - Volume XVIII

www.thecollegeview.com

Vol. XVIII, Issue 2

Features: From cyber stalking to coercive control, abuse has many forms Read more on page 13

Opinion:

Should the private lives of politicians stay private?

Read more on page 10

Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

Sport: Conroy report highlights league of Ireland’s plight See back bage

THE COLLEGE VIEW DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY’S ONLY INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1999

Welfare Officer, Domhnaill Harkin bonds with a Peata dog on campus in honour of Mental Health Week Credit : Deirdre OʼSullivan

Undergrad emails in disarray Katie Oʼ Neill Deputy Editor

@_Katie__ONeill1

IMPORTANT beginning of year emails failed to sent to the undergraduate email list of over 10,000 students due to a technical glitch in the updated email network.

On October 2nd, the Information Systems Services (ISS) desk circulated an email to undergraduate students informing them that technical difficulties with the mailing list meant that some students had not received emails sent to them.

“An unexpected issue arose where messages were not getting delivered to all students

on our largest mailing list - all registered undergraduates. We were made aware of this when some students reported to the Students’ Union that they had not received some messages,” said Justin Doyle, teaching and learning and research services manager with ISS. “Once brought to our attention we discovered that the Google infrastructure placed an automatic limit on this list due to its size. Messages to this list were getting delivered to approximately half of the students,” Doyle continued.

The Students’ Union were the first to raise the issue.

“When it happened originally was when Domhnaill (Harkin) sent out his welfare email and during class rep period, there was a mix up. We would have

contacted everyone and let class reps know,” said James Donoghue, Education Officer.

Donoghue added, “We were aware of the problem, we tried as best as we could to make sure every student was notified of what was going on. Lists have been updated and they’re probably more modern than they would have been in the past so there was a few glitches.”

Emails from the Students’ Union that students failed to receive include an information email about the March for Choice in Dublin on September 26th and an email detailing the class rep candidates for each class group and the time and venue in which voting for the reps would take place.

Students also reported thatthey failed to receive emails

from some lecturers at the start of the semester detailing the module description and module logistics.

The problem was quickly rectified when brought to the attention of ISS who liaised with Google to get the issue resolved as quickly as possible.

The undergraduate mailing list went through a significant upgrade this year to resolve various software issues. The ISS desk advised all relevant bodies that would typically email undergraduate mailing lists to resend any emails that were sent during the time period in which the mailing list was down.

INSIDE THE SUSS

THE SUSS COVERS RYAN ADAMS: 1989 HARD WORKING CLASS HEROES REVIEWS OF LEGEND AND SCREAM QUEENS

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

2

Editorial Catherine Devine Editor-in-Chief

@CatherineDevin1

DCU students Lauren Crowley and Niall Kearney cuddle a PEATA puppy in DCUʼs Oldbar Credit: Chai Brady

Credit: standpoint.ie

SHE’S the loudest person in the room, the one who everyone’s eyes are on, all laughing along with her as she talks about the coolest of people in the music industry.

Then she puts up a vlog about how she has been dealing with mental health issues and you’re left stunned. How could this talented and confident girl feel this way?

And more importantly, how did we not notice?

So many people close to me have recently spoken out about struggling with their mental health. Family members have broken down in front of me, best friends and people who are even just acquaintances have all raised the flag that they’re not ok. It’s becoming more common for people to talk about their mental health and rightly so.

Last week in DCU it was mental health week, and we raised an amber flag in honour of it. DCU is becoming a place where the stigma is being removed from mental health problems and proactive campaigns are in place. Last week the SU brought a massive key around the campus, asking people to find the key to their own happiness.

It’s campaigns like this that make students realise that maybe other

people can relate to them and will understand how they’re feeling.

Gone are the images of people with their head in their hands, sad faced, eye-twitching, with that might pounce at any moment glance. The people who are suffering are our siblings who are struggling with stress, parents who have serious financial issues or our friends who just haven’t bounced back after a bad breakup and are struggling to stop their minds from spinning into dark thoughts. There’s not one person I’ve met who hasn’t experienced something that makes them feel depressed or have lost their confidence in themselves.

We all have mental health problems but maybe today ours aren’t as severe as others, maybe today is our day to listen so that we will have the support when we need it.

It’s not uncommon that I’ve looked at people who have the world in their hands, who are absolutely amazing people in every way, and yet they’re suffering with self-worth. The more we talk to each other about what we’re going through, the sooner the stigma about asking for help is removed.

To acknowledge mental health week, we have a feature on page 15 of a student’s struggle with mental health. He decided to be courageous and for the week that was in it, he posted on his blow-

with his recent struggles. I almost fell off my chair reading it. He is a perfect example of someone who you’d never know was struggling, a funny, popular lad whose mind wandered across way-outs for a brief moment. It’s people like him and others who have reached out for help and shared their stories who are changing the face of mental health and making it ok to say that things are not ok.

We’ve all been there, or will be there in the future. I just hope that if the time comes that you need someone that you will reach out and communicate. It will seem like the hardest and most embarrassing thing in the world, but you’ll feel better the moment that you do. Your mental health is something that should be taken as seriously as your physical health (says the one who should put down the cupcake and go for a jog every so often), and the more we talk to each other about what’s going on the sooner we’ll all start to feel like ourselves again. There is hope out there and the hope is in the form of help.

The student-based initiative, Please Talk urges students to understand that talking is a sign of strength, not of weakness, and if you’re experiencing problems while at college, there are people there who you can talk to.

Editorial Team Editor-in-Chief: Catherine Devine

Opinion Editor: Lisa Oʼ Donnell

Arts Editor: Fionnuala Jones

Deputy Editor: Katie OʼNeill

Lifestyle Editor: Aoibheann Diver

Deputy Arts Editor: Stephen Keegan

Production & Layout Editor: Scout Mitchell

Features Editor: Megan Roantree

Chief Arts Contributor: Ryan McBride features@ thecollegeview.com Images Editor: Chaitanya Brady opinion@thecollegeview. com Deputy Images Editor: David Clarke gaeilge@thecollegeview. com Online Editor: Kevin Kelly sports@theccollegeview. com Deputy Online Editors: Hannah Moran & arts@thecollegeview.

Stephen Murphy com

Deputy Production & Layout Editor: Niall Connolly Production & Layout Assistant: Daniel Troy News Editor: Katie OʼNeill Deputy News Editors: John Casey, Hayley Halpin, & Aura McMenamin

Deputy Features Editor: Rebecca Lumley Irish Editor: Aíne Marie Monk Deputy Irish Editor: Aoife Mitchell Sports Editor: Aidan Geraghty Deputy Sports Editors: Aaron Gallagher & Cormac OʼShea

Contacts editor@thecollegeview. com news@thecollegeview. com

Chief Sub-Editor: Jamie lifestyle@thecollegeview.

Concannon com

Printed By Datascope, with the DCU Journalism Society Thanks To Sportsfile, SLC, Office of Student Life

C N

W 5

t

o

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

Students want SU referendum on cannabis

News

3

Two votes for DCU set for November David Clarke Deputy Images Editor

@thecollegeview

d r

-

t . l

t ,

h

l d o e

s

Credit Google images

Conor Sheehan News Reporter @thecollegeview

OVER 500 DCU students have signed a petition calling on the Students’ Union to hold a referendum on their stance on the legalisation of cannabis.

For the SU to hold a referendum, a petition must have been signed by 2.5 per cent of SU members. With around

13,000 students, the quota of approximately 325 signatures appears to have been surpassed.

An anonymous survey by the Students for Sensible Drug Policy DCU (DCUSSDP) at their booth during clubs and socs week revealed the majority, if not all, of the student body surveyed know someone who has taken an illegal drug. DCUSSDP Chairperson, Dan Kirby said that although they are still analysing the data it is clear from the survey of student drug use that almost

100 per cent of students know someone who has taken drugs.

The survey asked whether participants had taken illegal drugs, and whether they knew anyone who had taken an illegal drug. It also asked why students have taken drugs and whether current drug laws act as a deterrent to potential users.

The illegality of drugs was not a major deterrent for the respondents who said they took drugs.

They cited their reasons for drug use as enjoyment and curiosity.

The respondents who said they did not take drugs said that they had no interest. Kirby said that the results of the petition and the data collected indicate that current drug laws are failing.

The organisation are still analysing the data which they expect to publish on the DCUSSDP website in the next few weeks. However they say that it is clear that a majority of people in DCU are in favour of legalising some drugs.

A referendum will be held in November asking students to vote on a proposed change to the DCU constitution that will allow for the creation of a new Students’ Union.

The constitutional amendment would see the amalgamation of the DCU SU and St. Pat’s SU into a single entity. Both constitutions will be merged and the referendum will ask students whether or not they accept the change. The finer details are yet to be decided on by the Class Rep Council (CRC).

Two separate votes are set for same date, one of which will see the vacant Clubs’ Officer position filled. The opening comes following the departure of Thomas O’Gorman who stepped down from his role at the start of the semester after dropping out of the university.

His resignation will lead to the first SU by-election since 2009.

Returning officer, Steven Conlon, said: “Under the constitution I am allowed call a referendum at the earliest opportunity. For logistical reasons this will be the earliest opportunity.”

The CRC have the option to appoint an interim Clubs’ Officer until the a new officer is elected, but it remains to be seen whether or not that right will be exercised.

Students will also be asked to elect two members to the Office of Students’ life body.

Following no interest last year, Conlon has decided to reopen the vacancy.

Social dems seek student vote Aaron McElroy News Reporter

@thecollegeview

COMMUNICATING with Students’ Union presidents and young people is the way to build a hard policy for education, according to Social Democrat TD for Wicklow/ East Carlow, Stephen Donnelly.

Donnelly was speaking in Trinity College Dublin at an information night for third level students on the Social Demo-

crats youth branch. He said that over the coming weeks he will meet with SUs across the country.

Also speaking was the party’s Youth Development Coordinator, Joe O’Connor and other two candidates from the party, Cian O’Callaghan and Glenna Lynch. O’ Connor said that he was surprised by the response from students to the newly-established party. According to him, five universities in the country set up Social Democrat societies, with another two in the process of being formed.

O’ Connor said that their Galway candidate is actively help-

ing young people to register to vote, as well as informing them on what support is out there.

“It’s a very small practical measure where hopefully we can help elevate some of the burden that’s out there”, he said.

Candidate for Dublin Bay South, Lynch spoke about the ambitions of the party in the current political system, “we will build a national movement, a party of its time, not one that we inherited,” she said.

The discussion of the meeting was heavily dominated by the recent Marriage Equality referen-

dum where many young people got involved in politics for the first time, because of this the party says they are not creating an individual youth group for young people to get involved in, but integrating young people into the running of the main party, just as they would for mental health or rural issues.

The party made their position clear on issues such as taxation and public service funding.

Donnelly referenced the Nordic model where they have adopted a socialist political system and always rank highly in global surveys on education, well-being and

happiness. He said that Ireland has the ability to change the faults in the system immediately but what it needs is a party with the political will to do so.

The Social Democrat Party has developed a budget document as well as manifesto of policies that is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

The party was set up in July of this year and is jointly led by the three founders, Stephen Donnelly, Catherine Murphy and Roisin Shorthall.

4

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

News

Amber flag, boost to mental health week Andrew Byrne and Katie OʼNeill News Reporter @thecollegeview

LAST week, the Students’ Union hosted Mental Wellbeing Week which saw various events and activities put on to highlight the importance of positive mental health, reduce stigma attached to mental health and to reduce the stigma attached to mental health issues.

Welfare Officer, Domhnaill Harkin, was largely responsible for the running of the weeks events. Harkin said he wanted to make students aware that doing things they enjoy is crucial for one’s mental health. Sleep is the key to his happiness, he shared, “there’s nothing more that I like to do to have a relaxing day than sleeping in.”

The week began with Eve Kerton, last years Welfare Officer, raising the Amber Flag in The Hub on Monday. The Amber Flag is an initiative organised by suicide aware whose main goal is to promote a culture of positive mental health in the education system and among other organisations. “I’m delighted

Credit: Sarah Magliocco

that we got the flag,” said Kerton.

“I was so so happy that they asked me back. I actually thought it was up during the summer.

We got the actual flag at the end of May so I presumed they put it up. So when they asked me back

for it, I was absolutely delighted.”

Kerton shared that she hopes Harkin will place a continuous focus on mental health awareness.

“I hope that he’ll create a structure for the year because with the amber flag, it wasn’t just a week, it

was something we worked on all year long, it kept us focused. So I’m going to have a chat with him later on and I’m going to see what his long term goals are,” she said.

On Tuesday Peata brought their dogs to DCU for the day to

give students time to relax and enjoy the company of the dogs.

Education Officer, James Donoghue, was among those in attendance saying: “Our main aim for the week is to encourage people to know who we are and if they need to avail of services they can. We want to encourage a more active approach to mental health such as the petting farm, beat the blues boxing session in the gym, the morning walk and with the Peata dogs.”

The Enactus society took to the campus during the week to hand out free homemade lemonade. The event was a huge success, according to Lucy Mangan, headstARTs manager of Enactus.

“We bought over 200 cups and they were all used up and all our lemonade was also gone.”

Rachel Green, first year student, said: “My favourite event was the farm animal event because I’d never seen an alpaca before up close and personal and I got to stroke it, which was nice.”

Other events organised throughout the week included; free ice cream in the Hub, active listening workshop and Foosball, among others.

Over 350 attend campus blood donation clinic 10,000 students

register to vote for General Election

Keava OʼLoan News Reporter

@thecollegeview

OVER 350 people attended DCU’s blood donation clinic, which took place in The Hub last week.

The pop-up clinic, which takes place twice a year, is part of a long-running partnership between the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) and DCU Students’ Union. The IBTS arranges these clinics with the majority of third-level institutions across Ireland to encourage young people to donate blood.

The clinic ran from October 6th to October 8th, with 365 students attending. Around a third of students who turned up were ineligible to donate, mostly due to lifestyle factors.

Stephen Cousins, a manager from the IBTS, stressed the importance of links with college campuses.

“Having a clinic on campus means it’s convenient for potential donors but also increases our presence - hopefully bringing the idea of blood donation to the forefront of young people’s minds,” said Cousins.

“In the future, we hope to further develop our links with college campuses, possibly with ideas like a blood society for each campus

Brein McGinn News Reporter

@thecollegeview

DCU nursing student Lara Doherty donates blood in DCUʼs pop-up clinic.

Credit: Chai Brady

that could promote and encourage potential donors,” he continued.

More than 3,000 blood donations are needed in Ireland every week, with one in four people needing a blood transfusion in their lifetime.

At present, only 3 per cent of the Irish population donates blood regularly. The IBTS is keen to deveop links with young people in the hopes that they will become lifetime donators.

To be eligible to give blood, you

must be aged 18 to 60 and weigh between 50kg and 130kg. Smokers should wait at least an hour after their last cigarette before donating. Like the majority of blood donation services, the IBTS does not accept blood donations from men who have had sex with other men.

Rachel Hoey, a second year student, said: “It’s an easy process and because I have a universal blood type, I know it will help a lot of people.”

THE target of registering 10,000 student voters was surpassed on the National Day of Voter Registration, according to the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) President, Kevin Donoghue.

The campaign dubbed ‘Education Is’ aims to increase the number of students on the Register of Electors prior to the upcoming General Election and to put pressure on the next government to increase expenditure for students and to defend the student interest.

Some 24 colleges across the country participated in the programme which had its main registration day last Tuesday, however registration was encouraged throughout the week.

Donoghue believes the students who are registering will be voting for the politicians who have students’ interests in mind.

“Education shouldn’t be a

privilege for those who can afford it” Donoghue said, “It should be a right for everyone. Students will vote for politicians who campaign for this right.”

He added, “Government investment in third level education dropped from over €1.6 billion in 2005 to €939 million in 2014. We are calling on the Government to increase funding and accommodation for students and reduce the registration fee of €3,000”.

The number of DCU students registering is not yet available, but Donoghue feels the drive was a success.

“This was a big ambition for a short period of time and we are well and truly pleased with the numbers that have registered,” he said.

The last time the USI partook in a registration drive was prior to the Marriage Equality referendum which saw a large number of student registrations registering 27,633 new voters.

W 5

d . s n

e d

o

g g ”

,

s

t -

d ;

,

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

News

5

DCU launches art bursary John Casey Deputy News Editor @thecollegeview

THE Office of Student Life, supported by the Educational Trust has invited DCU undergraduate students to apply for a limited number of arts bursaries.

The aim of these bursaries is to encourage students to participate and excel in artistic and cultural pursuits. It achieves this by granting financial aid to students who demonstrate a strong commitment to their chosen field.

“Officially our main aim is to encourage cultural excellence and activities in the arts,” says Dr. Mary Shine Thompson, a board member of the Educational Trust, “but what we really want to do are enhance the overall student experience.”

The bursary is available to

students pursuing a diverse selection of artistic endeavours.

These are listed under three broad categories, visual arts, performing arts and media practice.

The grant was established in the 2009/2010 academic year.

Over 50 students have successfully applied for the bursary.

Applications will be judged

by Thompson, as a board member of the Educational Trust and

by Una Redmond as the manager of the Office of Student Life.

Around eight or nine awards are granted each year. While there is no set limit on the amount that can be granted to students, the awards are usually small.

“The awards are relatively modest,” says Thompson “but we find that even a modest amount of a bursary can really help a student by giving them a sense of the importance

E Soc smash target sign ups

of the work they are doing.”

The bursary can be renewed each year if the student is continuing their studies at DCU. The students work, both academic and artistic, will be reviewed to see if they are entitled to keep receiving the grant.

The Office of Student Life ensures that the arts bursaries are used for the purpose intended.

Recipients are asked to produce proof of how the money was spent.

“You can only use the award for what it was granted,” says Ms Redmond. “We know if people have used them or not. Receipts are required for every purchase.”

Applications should be sent to arts.bursary@dcu.ie. The closing date for entries is October 16th.

Dr. Mary Shine Thompson explains the Arts Bursary fund to students Credit: Deirdre OʼSullivan

Former Welfare Officer stuck in welfare queue Alison Ring News Reporter @alisonringrang

Jamie Concannon Chief Sub-Editor

@jamie_concannon

AN estimated 2500 students joined DCU’s Enterprise Society this year, an increase of 56 per cent from last year, according to the society chair, Shane Carter.

Last year, E-Soc won best society event with Beg Borrow Steal, which set students on a trip to Edinburgh in aid of the Donal Walsh Live Life foundation.

“It definitely helps when you are trying to convince people to sign up that we won DCU’s best event last year. They might look at that and say ‘wow, I don’t think other societies’ events offer anything like this’,” he said.

Carter said they greatly exceeded their own expectations, as they initially set a target of 2000 students between the Glasnevin and St Patrick’s campuses.

“We thought 2000 would be a good mark to aim for, so to absolutely blow it out of the park puts us in a place where we have to deliver on what we promised,”

Credit: Sonja Sjorgen

said Carter. “Such a great response leaves us under pressure to perform, which puts us in good stead for the year.”

“Every event has to be massively up-scaled. During clubs and societies week we ran enterprise talks with Paddy Cosgrave (Web Summit) and Jay Bregman (Hailo). We hosted them in the Henry Grattan building, in which we usually do okay, but we ended up having to turn around about 100 people and send them back,” he said.

Carter acknowledged that a lot of the society’s members hail from School of Business.

“We need to try and break into other Faculties, and although we haven’t quite completed that process yet, there is still much scope for growth,” he said.

“The people we have involved in the society now are better than ever before, and while I think every society is improving, it’s just one managing to do it at a slightly quicker rate right now,” concluded Carter.

THE number of Irish people claiming social welfare is now 332,801 according to the Live Register on October 2nd, 2015.

Of this figure 45,173 claimants are under 25 years of age.

Graduate unemployment was highlighted again in recent weeks, when former DCU Welfare Officer, Eve Kerton, published an article in The Irish Times documenting her struggle with joblessness.

“I’m usually abuzz with positivity, but I’ve lost my sparkle.

I don’t think I’m too good for social welfare,” the piece reads.

She goes on to say, “There definitely aren’t enough, if any, efforts being made to bridge the college-to-work gap, and I feel this is the case in colleges across the nation. I was lucky enough to sit on committees as Welfare Officer, which gave me access to wisdom, guidance and advice, yet still I remain unsuccessful in my pursuit of a job.”

Speaking to e College View after the article was published Kerton said, “I think there are issues with unemployment across the nation, in all fields and all skill sets. I think we need to create intra/work experience across the board for all courses, as it is far easier to secure internships/jobs with experience and contacts in the field you’re interested in.”

Eve Kerton graduates from DCU with Ronan Ó Dálaigh Credit: Eve Kerton

When asked about the backlash the article has received online, Eve replied, “I was contacted by nearly 300 people of all ages, all qualifications, all skill sets, either in the same boat or out the other side offering their support and advice and even a simple thank you for starting a conversation they felt too embarrassed to speak about. If lifting the shame is the only outcome of the article, I’m proud of that.”

Last week, the Journal.ie published an article in the same

vein as Kerton’s, focussing on three graduates who have failed to gain employment, one of whom is emigrating to Australia.

Emigration remains the biggest influence on unemployment figures in Ireland with the CSO reporting that 39,800 graduates have left Ireland between April 2014 and April 2015.

6

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

News

Abortion not ok in case of rape - says pro-lifer chair Paul Dwyer News Reporter @thecollegeview

ABORTION should never be con-

sidered a viable option in any circumstance, even if the cause of an unplanned pregnancy is rape, according to the chairperson of the Pro-Life Campaign, Cora Sherlock.

The Pro-life campaign held a questions and answers conference with Sherlock in UCD last Monday entitled ‘Stump the Pro-lifer’.

Students who attended the event were encouraged to ask challenging questions about the Pro-life campaign.

“No matter how horrendous the crime of rape, we cannot ignore the fact that abortion involves the taking of an innocent unborn life and exposes the woman to emotional hurt and possible long-term psychological harm,” said Sherlock.

She added that she hopes a referendum on repealing the 8th

Journalist for the London Evening Standard, Melanie McDonagh talks at a Pro-life conference in the RDS Credit: David Clarke

amendment does not go ahead as recommended by the United Nations several months ago, because so many women experience “hurt and regret” after they have

an abortion.

Abortion in Ireland is illegal unless it occurs as the result of a medical intervention performed to save the life of the mother.

USI figures show cost of college causing anxiety

Hannah Kelly News Reporter

@thecollegeview

ALMOST three quarters of students experience depression and anxiety because of the cost of university, a USI survey shows.

USI president, Kevin Donoghue said this was an “alarming percentage” of students experiencing problems with their mental health because of the cost of third level education, which has grown in the last few years. If this continues to rise, 63 per cent of student won’t be able to afford to go to college, the survey shows.

The USI believe that by reducing the financial strain on students, their mental health will benefit. “We are calling on the government to raise grants, reduce the registration fee of €3,000 and address the student accommodation crisis,” Donoghue said.

Jill O’Herlihy from Mental Health Ireland spoke about stress being a factor in everyone’s lives, especially students. “The most important thing to review is

Credit: Wikipedia.org

how you’re handling this stress, to make sure everything else in your life reduces it, such as sleeping for eight hours, eating healthy and exercising,” he said.

USI vice president, Annie Hoey told The College View: “If

students would like to talk to someone about their stress, USI recommends that they speak to their welfare office at their Students’ Union or speak to the college counsellor.”

This law was only introduced in 2013 after the case of Savita Halappanavar sparked controversy in the Irish media. Doctors in Galway University Hospital, de-

nied Halappanavar’s request for an abortion as she began suffering from a miscarriage, which ultimately lead to her death.

When asked if she thought that women who have illegal abortions should be punished, Sherlock said she thinks that they should not be, but the doctors who carry out the procedure should face punishment.

“I don’t think women should ever be prosecuted for having abortions. I do think that the abortionist who performs the abortions should be prosecuted,” said said.

“Abortion is very serious. It ends the life of an unborn child so there must be some deterrent in the law.”

The human rights organisation Amnesty International has launched its own campaign named #NotACriminal which is calling on people to sign their petition to legalise abortion in Ireland.

Further information on the Pro-life organisation can be found on their website and also by using their Twitter hashtag #prolife.

Just one in five sports scholarships in universities awarded to women Hayley Halpin Deputy News Editor @HayleyHalpin1

AS few as one in five sports scholarships at Irish third level colleges are being awarded to women.

New figures show that male students are receiving the majority of sports scholarship programmes at third level institutions throughout Ireland for GAA and Rugby. Universities included in the research include Dublin Institute of Technology, Trinity College Dublin, Maynooth University and National University of Ireland Galway.

A significant discrepancy in the awarding of sports scholarships to female rugby players has emerged in the new figures.

NUIM offered 28 scholarships to male rugby players this year and TCD offered 30 last year. However, in both cases no female rugby player received a scholarship.

Less blatant divides appeared in Dublin City University, University of Limerick, University College Dublin and Waterford Institute of Technology, but males continue to receive the majority of the sports scholarships.

According to several universities, scholarships are idependently awarded based on

each sporting body’s specific criteria, including performance levels and available resources in male and female clubs.

Concerns have been raised among women’s sports advocates and student sport representatives.

The main concerns include a systematic funding imbalance for sporting women at hird level, high drop-out rates among teenage females in sports and a lack of the promotion of available scholarships to high performance female athletes.

Emer Ní Éafa, a Dublin Senior Ladies Footballer and DCU student said: “It’s difficult, I didn’t even get an interview for a sports scholarship the first year I applied, but I am aware that you have to be playing at the very top level to get one.

“From a young age, I’ve learned that if it’s a choice between a boy and a girl that tick all of the same boxes and have the same goals, the boy is going to get it more often. It’s not fair but it’s something you have to deal with as an athlete,” she said.

Student Sport Ireland (SSI), the governing body of third level sport, said the number of sports scholarships given out to students seem to reflect the gap in participation levels of females compared to males.

c r s

i v f

d a h S a l

i u

a a I

W 5

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

g

Aura McMenamin Deputy News Editor @aurajalapeno

t t -

g e e ”

n

-

e d

News

7

Calls for fraud investigation into language college closure

TRANSPARENCY Ireland has called for a fraud investigation to refund €500,000 in fees owed to students from a language school.

Shelbourne College shut its doors abruptly last November, and never refunded fees paid by students abroad “We were contacted by a student who had suffered a loss as a result of the advanced fees he had paid to the college,” said Susheela Math, legal counsel at Transparency. The student lives in India and paid €5,000.

“Students were getting increasingly distressed and that’s what led us to release the press statement.”

Transparency International Ireland is a whistleblower and anti-corruption advocacy group.

It made an appeal to the Garda

Bureau of Fraud Investigation (GBFI) to investigate the closure but has received no reply.

Around 150 were affected by the closure and 17 schools have closed since 2014.

“Most of these colleges have a requirement of students to pay upfront fees. It’s an easy way to make a lot of cash,” said David Moore from the Irish Council for International Students (ICOS).

Moore had the role of being one of the few voices for international students who lost money during the domino-fall of private colleges last year.

Last year he told the College View: “Shelbourne’s model was the most....we’ve never seen a college before that focused its efforts so squarely on recruiting students from countries that required them to obtain a visa first.”

A statement by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration

service in January in response to Shelbourne’s closure said: “A college taking money from students pending a visa application is fully aware that they have no entitlement to those funds until the student is confirmed as being allowed to come to Ireland as a student.

However, without legislation that places students’ fees in protected accounts, more colleges closed and kept the money or gave it to creditors .

Shelbourne director Adnaan Wahla is believed to have left Ireland.

“Walking away is entirely possible under Irish law. It’s a neat way to avoid financial scrutiny,” said Moore.

The building that once housed the Shelbourne College on Camden Street Credit David Clarke

DCU Alumni awarded Tipperary’s Best Young Entrepreneur

Australian student loan system recommended for Ireland Credit ed.gov

Hayley Halpin Deputy News Editor @HayleyHalpin1 DCU Alumni, Sam Pearson, was awarded the Best New Idea award in Tipperary’s Best Young Entrepreneur for his start-up Doodledale’ last week.

Doodledale won a total investment of €50,000 through the Local Enterprise Office Tipperary, as part of the €2 million Ireland’s Best Entrepreneur competition (IBYE).

Aimed at children between the ages of five and eight, Doodledale is an interactive storybook app that allows the child to become part of the storytelling experience, through drawing the main character and other key elements in the story.

Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur is open to any person under the age of 30 with an idea for or an existing start-up business. The competition is part of the action plan for jobs and is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, through a network of 31 Local Enterprise Offices.

The winners of the 2015 County Tipperary’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition were announced at a ceremony in Thurles. Awards were given for best start-up, best new idea, best existing business and best young entrepreneur in the county and were presented by the Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County

Chai Brady images Editor @thecollegeview

Sam Pearson was part of the Doodledale team who were awarded ʻBest New Ideaʼ in Tipperaryʼs Best Young Entrepreneur Credit Doodledale

Councilman, Seamus Hanafin.

“It is incredibly exciting for Doodledale, and me personally, to have been awarded Tipperary’s Best Young Entrepreneur in the Best New Idea category. When you spend so long on a project, you can sometimes feel like you might be going down the wrong track and to have this kind of validation is really reassuring,” Pearson said.

Doodledale was also shortlisted for the 2015 European Youth Award (EYA) on September 3rd.

The EYA has been awarded each year since 2012 in a bid to motivate young people, social entre-

preneurs and start-ups to produce digital projects that could have a beneficial impact on society.

Speaking about the future of Doodledale, Pearson said: “The focus for Doodledale now is on the release of our first product.

IBYE’s investment and our work over UStart has put us in a really good position but there’s still a lot of marketing and promotion work to be done. That is the focus for us now and how Doodledale develops over the next year will depend on the growth of our first product and its reception by consumers.”

FUNDING for higher level education is in question if a government report finds Australia’s student loan system better suited, which is due at the end of the year.

Australian students can choose to take out an income contingency loan (ICL). This means they begin repaying it once their income rises above a set minimum threshold after they graduate, which the government sets.

“If at any point you drop below that minimum income you stop paying until you rise above it again, after 30 years the debt is written off,” said Dr Charles Larkin adjunct lecturer in Trinity College and lectur-

er in economics and finance in Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Larkin cautioned that unless they develop a proper means to sustain this system they could face a large debt in the future, due to written-off loans.

The economist Proffessor Bruce Chapman who helped set up Australia’s ICL in 1988 said: “About 15 per cent never repay in full because their lifetime incomes are insufficient”, according to the Irish Times in relation to studies in Australia.

The system would reduce the debt of many who have to carry the burden of student loans after they graduate from college. It would insure that only those who can afford to repay, do.

NAMA propose huge student complex build 8

News

Andrew Ralph News Reporter

@Thecollegeview

A receiver in NAMA has proposed Dublin’s largest ever off-campus student accommodation development.

Declan McDonald of PwC (PriceWaterhouseCooper) has requested permission to convert land owned by Wintertide Limited (under NAMA receivership) and CIE near the 3 Arena into a student accommodation complex – with a capacity for 970 students.

McDonald said that the planned site of development is in an “excellent location”.

McDonald added that the development would be in a “prime docklands site, that is within walking distance of the National College of Ireland, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin Institute of Technology and a number of private colleges.”

The proposed Point Village location will contain two blocks of up to six and eight storeys and feature five to eight bed spaces, in addition to twin and single units for study.

Due to the proximity of the Point Village Luas line, McDonald believes that students will have “easy access to Cherrywood, Tallaght and the Grangegorman Student Campus as soon as the Luas Cross City project is complete.”

Both DTZ Sherry Fitzgerald and other unnamed stake-

Credit: dcuie

holders are involved in the proposal as property advisors.

“Given the well documented issue of the lack of supply of student accommodation in Dublin, this initiative will bring high quality and extra capacity at a time where it is much needed,” said Brendan McDonagh,

the Chief Executive of NAMA. The accommodation development is being designed by TP Bennett Architects, a firm that has a speciality for designing student housing units.

DCU’s welfare officer, Domhnaill Harkin said: “I think it is a great idea – there is such

a shortage of suitable housing for students and an initiative to provide much needed accommodation is a bonus.”

“We can’t keep burying our heads in the sand and any solution should be supported,” he concluded.

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

DCU led research group highlights way forward for dementia prevention Conor OʼDoherty News Reporter @thecollegeview

AN EU-funded, DCU-led dementia research and deterrence project aims to raise awareness on how people can prevent the onset of dementia later in life.

In-MINDD (Innovative, Midlife Intervention for Dementia Deterrence) is a project partnered

by DCU, Maastricht University, Glasgow University, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, and Pintail Ltd., a company that facilitates academic/industry collaboration.

Dr. Kate Irving of DCU’s School of Nursing is the leader of the project.

Ciaran Clissmann of Pintail Ltd. said the multinational aspect of the project is essential.

“A broad European perspective is critical - a solution that works in only one country is of limited value.”

The project identified twelve major factors in assessing and reducing the risk of dementia including depression high blood pressure, social activity, diabetes, obesity, smoking, heart disease, and diet.

In-MINDD met on October 1st and 2nd in Stephen’s Green Hibernian Club to discuss making dementia prevention techniques part of national policy.

Dementia is estimated to affect almost 50, 000 people in Ireland alone.

In-MINDD’s goals are to create online tools for doctors to assess a person’s lifestyle, to create personal plans for lifestyles that prevent dementia, and to provide online support for making dementia deterring lifestyle changes.

DCU start-up businesses win Investigator appointed in UL pay-off scandal titles from Ryan Academy Clara Hickey News Reporter

@Thecollegeview

THREE start-up businesses founded by DCU students won reputable titles from the DCU Ryan Academy in a pitch session on October 1st.

DCU Ryan Academy consists of the Propeller Venture Accelerator and UStart programmes, which provide early stage funding to start-up companies. To date, Ryan Academy has provided more than €800,000 in funding 29 start-up businesses, with the 24 Propeller alumni companies raising over €9.5million in follow-on funding.

Theo Lynn, Associate Dean Industry Engagement and Innovation in DCU, picked up the award of Propeller Company of the Year 2015 on behalf of the Rendicity team.

Stephen Murphy Deputy Online Editor @thecollegeview

Rendicity designs and develops software solutions that allow users to schedule processing capacity in the cloud on-demand, then deliver it to customers. This software services the 3D component of computer-aided design (CAD) market, used by architects, engineers, and in animation studios.

Liam Sexton, a DCU Biomedical Engineering graduate, won UStart Company of the Year for his mobile app PhotoCAD. The app is capable of generating a computer-aided design (CAD) drawing file of an object captured using a phone’s camera.

This new technology aids the product design process by allowing a team member to create electronic drawing files quickly while out of office and then send the files to the desktop team for further work.

Colm Byrne, a recent graduate of DCU Ryan Academy, won the award for UStart Most Innovative Company. Byrne’s business, DaysE (Donate as you save Energy) serves as a platform to raise funds for projects using energy saving measures. The funds raised are donated to social enterprises and charities involved in energy saving.

The CEO of DCU’s Ryan Academy, Eoghan Stack, said that the connection between their two programmes this year showed “a strong indicator of the entrepreneurial potential and appetite for ongoing support required in this country”.

THE Higher Education Authority will appoint an external investigator to look into claims of financial mismanagement at the University of Limerick.

The announcement follows a meeting between Tom Boland, the HEA’s chief executive, and Leona O’ Callaghan, a former staff member at the finance department at UL who left her role after making claims of irregular expenses in 2012.

O’ Callaghan welcomed the news – “it’s great, because I don’t want them to take my word for anything—All I want is accountability.”

Some of the details of the allegations are that some staff members claimed expenses on travel and that on one occasion, a staff member claimed for the delivery of a fitted kitchen to their home.

“All I wanted was a sense of fairness. For the ‘joe soap’ and students it’s extremely strict for expenses. It was all to do with who the person was claiming, not what was claimed for”, O’Callaghan continued.

It was revealed a few weeks ago that two employees claimed they were offered nearly €60,000 to resign from their jobs at UL after they raised concerns about inappropriate spending and mismanagement.

The employees raised these concerns in 2013 and described the years that followed as “torture”.

The final straw was on a night in 2014, when they were physically threatened by a colleague.

UL said it appointed Deloitte to look into the two employees’ claims and launched an independent investigation but that no information had been received to corroborate their account.

UL strongly denied the allegations and vowed to fully co-operate with the HEA inquiry.

T s

T

w q h t d t m q h t t

s d l

u fi l c w a t u t f

t p t t t F f o

W 5

-

-

a

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

Opinion 9

Tattoos & Piercings - A style statement or obstacle to work

Rebecca Keane argues that tattoos and piercings should never be used as an excuse to dismiss employees from the workplace.

l

. f

. l -

e

e

-

.

n .

0

-

s o e

THE growing social tolerance towards tattoo culture was recently questioned when Claire Shepherd, a retail merchandiser from the UK, was fired from a new job due to owning intricate hand tattoos. Far from the conventional method of hiring, the company in question, Dee Set, informed Shepherd over the phone that she had the job, without a face to face interview.

One can only imagine the shock and anger she felt on her first day, upon learning she was being let go for having visible tattoos.

In 2015, style and fashion are undeniably hard concepts to define. Trends come and go as quickly as the weather changes, clothes can be changed and removed without bother. However, tattoos are often forever, given the fact that laser tattoo removal can cost up to thousands of euros – not to mention it is extremely painful and damages the skin greatly.

With the explosion of the notion of self-improvement and appearance in the 21st century, tattoos and piercings have come to the forefront of our society’s aesthetic. Celebrities such as Megan Fox and Rihanna are all renowned for their tattoo collections, and others such as Katy Perry and

FKA Twigs wear their piercings with pride and joy. These tattoos and piercings become a personal trademark of a celebrity – if so many fans are rushing to imitate their favourite celebrity, why are employers so disapproving?

Those against tattoos will argue that they are dangerous and impulsive. People as young as 18 years of age can pay between €50 and €100 for a permanent design on their skin. We hear notorious stories about teenagers going on holidays to party islands such as Ibiza and Magaluf, and getting tattoos while intoxicated, coming home with something they’re not sure they wanted or even remember getting in the first place.

Many argue that tattoos in the workplace constitutes not being taken seriously and some look distasteful or, depending on the tattoo, are offensive to customers or fellow colleagues. Some are so visible that they cannot to be covered. However, is it really a legitimate excuse to fire an employee?

In 2015, times and style have evolved hugely. Diversity and different cultures are encouraged in society, with the acceptability pretty much completely granted that he/she can wear what they want.

We can chose how we want to ap-

“

Part of selfexpression not only lies in clothing but also in the area of tattoos and piercings

Credit: Sarah Magliocco

pear with little to no questioning from our peers and parents, and creativity and self-expression is recognised massively. Part of self-expression not only lies in clothes and accessories, but also in the area of tattoos and piercings.

We have celebrities to thank largely for the growing acceptance of tattoos as a form of beauty and art. Models such as Rebecca Fox and Ricki Hall are highly en vogue today, and owe their entire career to their tattoo collection.

In some cases, many tattoos correlate a battle within a person’s life, with many cancer and depression survivors choosing to commemorate their story with a tattoo. Their tattoo shows achievement, survival and strength, and could mean a great deal to this person.

Piercings are a fashion statement, and whether visible or not, it’s a sign you are standing out from the crowd and you are confident to appear how you like.

As a tattooed person, it’s hard to read stories like Claire Shepherd and not feel pangs of anger and disappointment. When I chose to get tattooed, many questioned me on things that never even crossed my mind when I thought of tattoos before. “Will you still be

able to get a job?”,” Can you cover them?”, “What about when you get married?”, all just because I was choosing to get two little pieces of ink tattooed onto my body.

Back when I was 16-yearsold, I had my nose pierced and removed it in an effort to get a job, and when I look back I can’t help but feel disappointed that I didn’t try and stand up for my piercing, for my mode of self-expression, for my sense of pride in my own appearance.

Piercings and tattoos are a person’s choice and it shouldn’t have anything to do with an employer.

Appearance is only a tiny percentage of a person – separate from qualifications, skills, talents and everything else that makes a decent employee. When I see a tattooed or pierced person working in a shop or company, it makes me more appreciative of the business as it is clearly open-minded and promotes diversity. It embraces this person fully without modifying what they look like.

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

10 Opinion

Should the private lives of politicians be kept private?

“

Lisa O’Donnell discusses whether the public put too much of a focus on the personal lives of politicians.

IT was a story that momentarily dominated news headlines. In a scandal that became known as ‘pig-gate’, David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was accused of carrying out an obscene act on a dead pig during his time at Oxford University.

Despite Cameron’s spokeswoman refusing to ‘dignify’ the claims by giving a response, the bizarre story was splashed across news sites worldwide, sending Twitter users into a frenzy and inspiring a flood of comical memes.

This story had absolutely no relevance to Cameron’s role as Prime Minister, yet ironically it attracted more attention from the media and general public than most issues relating to his post would have.

This reaction, however, is not surprising, as despite the comical nature of pig-gate, it is just a reminder of the tremendous degree of focus the me-

Credit: The Oslo Times

dia and public put on every aspect of a politician’s private life as opposed to their actual job.

But should we weigh such importance on the private lives of those we elect to power?

This is a question that does not always have a clear cut answer.

Politicians, as figures we democratically choose to represent our country, do have a certain responsibility to lead by good example and to behave in a manner which doesn’t embarrass the country.

However, the majority of news stories involving a politician’s private life evolve around things

that have absolutely nothing to do with their political work, for example, the many extra marital activities that have been exploited by the media over the years, such as the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Once it is not being funded by taxpayers money or doesn’t involve illegal activity, I do not think that we should care about the personal life of politicians, be it their relationships or, as in Cameron’s case, foolish acts they performed on a drunken college night out.

Firstly, these stories do not correlate to their posts, and sec-

ondly it is not fair to put their family through the humiliation of dragging private personal details through the media.

But such personal decisions by politicians can destroy political careers, or at the very least have a major negative impact on public support.

For example, when French president Francois Hollande was exposed as having an affair, his approval rating fell below 20 per cent, the first sign of decreasing popularity since he had been elected.

Irrelevant revelations involving their personal lives should

But should we weigh such importance on the private lives of those we elect to power? never impact on the public’s opinion on them. After all, we are supposed to elect candidates based on their ability to execute the best policies that will have a maximum positive impact on our country.

So instead of dwelling on how politicians handle their personal lives, we should concentrate more on the surveillance of how they handle the job they were elected to do.

The Disposable Fashion Generation is crippling the environment Sarah Magliocco explains why we should be more ethically conscious when purchasing and disposing of clothing.

OUR generation has grown up with the concept of ‘disposable fashion’, where you pick up something cheap and cheerful from Penney’s or Forever 21, wear it for one night, and then banish it to the back of your wardrobe in favour of the next trending garment that can be picked up for a fiver.

We are all guilty of this. In our grandparents’ generation, a ripped shirt elbow would have been patched or old jeans cut into summer shorts. Nowadays, however, cheap clothing is massively available, and so the need for a patch or a needle and thread has diminished.

Disposable fashion junkies are the kind of people who buy ten bikinis for their holiday but bring few to none of them back, with the intention to purchase

new ones again next year. After all, “they were only from Penney’s”.

However, it frustrates me that these people are oblivious to the fact that their nonchalant attitude towards dumping clothing is contributing to what has become a critical waste issue.

Ninety five per cent of unwanted clothing is recyclable, and yet only a fraction of these fabrics ever see themselves being used for anything else after being worn a few times and discarded.

And let’s not forget the human element of the situation - many clothing items are mass produced on a huge scale in overseas factories by real people who work ungodly hours for very little pay. Often the companies do very little to support the local communities they exploit in the name of cheap labour.

Discarded items can easily be brought to the local charity shop, where their sale will contribute to supporting Oxfam, St Vincent de Paul and many other causes.

The problem is that charity shops have a bad reputation for being musty and filled with dusty ceramic cats and grainy Disney video tapes. But in reality, they are filled with hidden gems, from legitimate vintage coats and bead-

“

Many clothing items are mass produced on a huge scale in overseas factories by real people who work ungodly hours for very little pay

ed dresses to a handy Grandad jumper for chilly walks to college.

H&M is one of the few high street giants who aims to be an environmentally sustainable fashion company, with the launch of its H&M Conscious range, which features clothes made of recycled materials. Over 20 per cent of H&M’s cotton is organic, recycled or grown under the Better Cotton Initiative, and they aim to have increased this to 100 per cent by 2020.

Fashion should be ethical as well as an exciting part of everyday life, and should work to benefit the factory workers and also minimise negative environmental effects.

Next time you are having a wardrobe clear out, consider recycling, repurposing or donating

Credit: Google Images

your well-worn threads rather than throwing them in the trash.

Recycled clothing can be regenerated into clothes and housing insulation, giving the textiles a new purpose rather than languishing in the dump.rounds the topic, cultural appropriation is never going to disappear.If you are going to wear an

item inspired by a culture that isn’t your own, consider the context and educate yourself in the meaning of what you are wearing. Another persons culture is not there to be sexualised or worn for a cheap laugh, but instead should be approached with the respect that every ethnicity deserves.

W 5

-

t m

e y d

t d

t h -

Gaeilge le Glam Blag le Difriocht THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

Gaeilge 11

Tá neart ábhair Ghaeilge le feiceáil ar líne le blianta beagaa nuas. Chuaigh Megan Roantree i dteagmháil leis na scríbhneoirí a chuireann cúrsaí faisean chun cinn trí mheán an Ghaeilge ar ‘Gaeilge le Glam’ Megan Roantree Features Editor @@MeganRoantree

Tá an neart blaga ar an idirlinn faoi lathair, agus go sonrach, raidhse blag faisin agus áilleacht.. Mar sin tá sé an-deacair seasamh amach ón slua agus tú ag scríobh do cheann féin.

Ní raibh aon fhadhb áfach, ag ceathrar múinteoir as Gaillimh nuair a thosaigh siad a mblag ‘Gaeilge le Glam’ ; ceann go an t-aon blag faisin and áilleacht scriobtha go h-iomlán in ar dteanga náisiúnta.

Thosaigh Roseann Uí Fhlatharta, Gearóidín De Bhailís, Aisling Ní Chormaic agus Síofra Ní Bhriaina an blag tóir seo i mí Lúnasa agus chéan fein tá os cionn trí mhíle de lucht leanúna acu ar Facebook .Labhraíonn an ceithre cailini ón gceathair rua faoi gach rud atá suim acu iontu, ó mbutaisí go dtí Bikram agus ón oidis go dtí eadaí, tá na cailiní ag clúdaigh an iliomad topaicí.

Bhí deis agam labhairt le Siofra le gairid chun an tionscnamh Gaeilge le Glam a phlé.

‘Tá muid ar fad ag leanúint

“

Ba mhaith linn a thaispeáint gur féidir na rudaí céanna atá na blagálaithe eile a dhéanamh, a dhéanamh trí mheán na Gaeilge

Credit:: Google Images

blagálaithe agus daoine mar iad le bliain anuas, daoine ar nós Edel Cox ó The Beauty Dial agus Orla Sheridan. Thug muid faoi deara go raibh ‘niche’ anseo dár dteanga mar go bhfios dúínn níor tháinig muid trasna ar aon bhlagálaí Gaeilge eile. Ag tús mí Lúnasa chuir Síofra glaoch orainn ó Mheiriceá ag cur ceiste orainn an mbeadh suim againn i mblag a bhunú trí mheán na Gaeilge.’ Míníonn Siofra, nuair a d’iarr mé orthu cé a tháinig suas leis an smaoineadh i dtosach. ‘Is cairde muid a oibríonn le chéile chuile shamhradh i gcoláiste Gaeilge agus tá suim againn i réimsí éagsúla ach an paisean is mó atá againn ná an faisean, agus níl aon bhealach níos fearr chun an faisean a phlé ná trí mheán na Gaeilge’ Deirionn sí go magúil Cosúil le aon tionscnamh nua, ceapainn Siofra go raibh siad neirbhíseach ach go raibh neart sceitimíní ann freisin.

‘Ba mhaith linn a thaispeáint gur féidir na rudaí céanna atá na blagálaithe eile a dhéanamh, a dhéanamh trí mheán na Gaeilge agus tuigimid anois go bhfuil

spás ann do Gaeilge Le Glam.’

Leanann Siofra ar aghaidh ag rá go raibh sí an-tógtha leis an aiseolas iontach a bhfuair siad. “Caithfimid a rá go raibh muid ag súil go mbeadh tacaíocht againn ó Ghaelgoirí na tíre agus ó bhlagálaithe eile freisin. Ach níor thuigeamar go mbeadh gaelgóirí, blagálaithe agus foghlaimeoirí na Gaeilge chomh flaithiúil leis an tacaíocht is atá! Tá muid thar a bheith buíoch dóibh ar fad.”

Cé go bhfuil an scriobhneoireacht an rud is fearr a thaithníonn le cuid is mo de leitheoirí, is é an cairdeas (agus bhfeidir an siopadaireacht!) an rud a thaithnionn le na cailiní “is cairde muid ar fad agus tugann an blag seo gach deis dúinn an cairdeas sin a fhorbairt agus muid ag tabhairt aghaidh ar an aistear dochreidte seo atá amach romhainn. Agus dar ndóigh tugann sé leithscéal dúinn a bheith ag siopadóireacht agus muid ag coinneáil suas chun dáta ar chúrsaí faisin. Ár bpócaí bochta” Ó thosaigh an bhlag tá neart deiseanna iontach faite ag an grupa cairde ‘tá mír againn ar chlár

raidio Bláthnaid Libh a bhíonn ar siúl ar Raidió na Gaeltachta idir 11-12 gach Satharn. Agus luaigh Holly Shortall ‘Gaeilge Le Glam’ ar a ‘Hot List’ an deireadh seachtaine beag seo san Independent.

Tá sé seo dochreidte agus gan muid ach dhá mhí ar an bhfód.”

Tá Gaeilge le Glam ag dul ó neart go neart agus nil siad ach ag

tosnu amach, agus tá neart plean acu fós,ach na cuir ar na cailiní, mar a deartar déanann ceann ciallmhar béal iata’.

GLUAIS blagálaithe: bloggers Tionscnamh: project Ar an bhfód: in existence

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

12 Gaeilge

A g sp re a g a dh spóir t

Ciara Ní Chába Scríbhneoir @thecollegeview

domsa mar bhí mé in ann feabhas a chur ar mo chuid scileanna.

Ag brath ar an bhfoireann a imNUAIR a thosaíonn tú an olls- ríonn tú le, bíonn turais nó in áicoil, tá go leor rudaí nua le feiceáil teanna difriúla sa tír chun cluichí agus le déanamh agat. Bogann a imirt agus páirt a ghlacadh i cuid mhór daoibh as bhaile agus gcomórtais difriúla. Mar shampla, faoi dheireadh, mothaíonn tú mar I mí Feabhra 2014, mar gheall go fíordhuine fásta. Níl do mháthair bhfuaireamar áit sa leath-cheanann chun ordaithe a thabhairt nais den Ashbourne Cup, bhí an duit nó tabhairt amach duit. Is deis againn dul chuig Béal Feirste tusa do shaoiste féin. agus ba dheireadh seachtaine ionRud amháin i mo thuairim gur tach é. Chuamar ann ar an Aoine ceart do chuile duine a dhéana- agus d’fhanamar in óstán, bhí an mh ná dul chuig ‘Lá Clubs and leath-cheannais in aghaidh WIT Socs’ agus a bheith i do bhall den ar an Satharn agus fiú gur chailmhéid clubanna agus socaithe is leamar, bhí oíche den scoth againn féidir leat. Tá go leor buntáistí ag amach mar fhoireann le chéile. baint leo agus is fiú é an airgead In éineacht le sin, fuaireamar a chaitheamh. Muna dhéanann éadaí spóirt nua álainn freisin. tú é seo, tá seans go mbeidh tú Bíonn oícheanta amach tar ag suí sa leabharlann nó d’arasán éis cluichí i rith na bliana agus leat féin le faic le déanamh sea- tá an craic ar an mbus go dtí chas glaoch a chur ar do mhuin- an cluiche agus ar an mbealach tir - go réadúil, cé atá ag iar- abhaile thar bharr. Sin an t-am is raidh an méid seo a dhéanamh? fearr le haghaidh ‘team bonding’!

Nuair a bhí mé sa chéad bhTá sé tábhachtach spóirt liain, d’íoc mé an ceithre euro a imirt in aon chor toisc go chun a bheith i mo bhall den ndéanann sé maitheas don chorp. fhoireann camógaíochta agus ba Cabhraíonn traenáil chun do é sin an cinneadh is fearr a rinne scíth a ligint tar éis lá breá fada mé. Bhuail mé le go leor daoine sna léachtanna agus glanann sé nua agus fiú go raibh mé ag co- do cheann má tá drochspionn m4aitéireacht gach lá, bhí cairde ort. In éineacht le sin, is ócáid déanta agam ó thús na bliana. shóisialta é mar fheiceann tú do Imrím spóirt sa bhaile agus mar chairde agus do chomhimreoirí. sin, bhí níos mó traenáil agam mar Tá a fhios ag gach mac máthair bhí an fhoireann camógaíochta ag go ndeireann na dochtúirí go traenáil faoi dhó gach seachtain ndéanann tú níos fearr i scrúagus tar éis cúpla seachtaine, tho- daithe más rud é go bhfuil réim saigh na cluichí. Bhí an caighdeán chothrom bia againn agus i mo ard go leor ach bhí seo go maith thuairim, tá an ráiteas seo fíor. Ní

Credit:: Google Images

féidir linn ár bhfócas a choinneáil sna leabhair ar feadh uaireanta gan sos a bheith againn. Má thógaimid sos chun dul ag traenáil nó fiú le haghaidh siúlóid beag san oíche, cabhraíonn sé go mór sa chaoi seo.

Tagaimid ar ais agus muid athnuaite agus réidh le haghaidh uair nó dhó eile staidéar, mar.. cé atá ag iarraidh teacht ar ais chun na scrúdaithe uafásacha seo a dhéanamh arís? Tá uair amháin dona go leor!

Mar sin, molaim daoibh chun a bheith i bhur mball de go leor leor foirne spóirt agus clubanna. Ní bheidh aiféala ort!

Mo thaithí - ó obair dian chuig an mhic léinn dífhosaithe Sinéad Nic Chumhaill Scríbhneoir @thecollegeview

‘THOSAIGH mé mo chéad post part-aimseartha nuair a chríochnaigh mé mo chuigiú bhliain sa mheánscoil. Sé bliana déag d’aois, cailín éirimiúil agus lán sásta m’airgead féin a thuilleadh, thosaigh mé ag obair taobh thiar den gcuntar i siopa cuimhneachán sa cathair. Le mo neamhspleáchas féin and airgead ag líonadh mo chuntas bainc don chéad uair riamh bhí mé ar mhuin na muice.

Thóg mé gach uair a bhí lé fáil; ró óg chun dul ag taisteal, chaith mé leath den airgead ar eadaí ach i ndairíre bhí an sábháil tar eís tosnú.

Lean mé leis an phost seo ar feadh trí bhliain. Bhí mé compordach le mo chuid airgead, agus ní raibh mé greamaithe riamh.

Thaistil mé ar fud na hEorpa, ag dul chuig trí déag tíortha thar ceithre seachtain. D’íoc mé as mo ranganna damhsa, as turais go Baile Átha Cliath agus as na

costaí nua i mo shaol; costas saol na gcumann. Chuaigh mé amach uair nó dhó gach seachtain, i gcónaí le hairgead i gcomhair mo thascaí agus deoch. Níor cheap mé é ag an am, ach bhí mé saibhir i gcomparáid le mhic léinn eile.

Ansin, tháinig an smaoineamh.. b’fheidir rachaidh mé ar J1.

GLUAIS aiféala: regret Ag comaitéireacht: commuting Réim chothrom bia: balanced diet

GLUAIS I bhfiachas: in debt Iontaofa: reliable Iasacht: loan

Smaoineamh bídeach a bhí ann ar dtús ach tar éis cúpla mhí, bhí iarlais íochta agus eitilt curtha in áireamh chuig Chicago. Tar éis cúpla mí eile, d’fhág mé mo phost agus bhí mé i m’aonair.

Ar aghaidh liom ar aon nós. an sult as mo shamhraidh mar Shocraigh mé isteach i mo phost óstach i mbialann le móréileamh. nua gan aon stró agus bhain mé Thiomáin mé chuig iarthar na tíre mar pháirt den turas: Vegas, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco agus ansin thar an ilchríoch chuig Nua Eabhrach. Chaith mé gach uile phingean gan aiféala ar bhith. Bhí uaireanta ann agus chaith mé níos lú ná €5 in aghaidh an lá - bhí mé i bhfiachas, agus bhí sé ag fáil níos measa gach uile lá.. ach bhí mé chomh sásta.

Bhí mé ag fáil táithí shaol iomláin nua, ag déanamh cairde nua agus taisteal an domhan. Beidh mo phost ag fanacht dom nuair a fhileann mé abhaile , nach mbeidh?

Ar an drochuair, bhí mé go hiomlán mícheart. Is cuma cén taithí a bhí agam, agus bhí go leor agam, ní raibh aon post le fáil i mo shean áit oibre. Tar éis Credit: Google Images trí mhí ag cur airgead amu, bhí

mé abhaile, gan phingean rua. Le iasacht le híoc ar ais ón gcomhar creidmheasa, bhí me i bponc.

Agus mí níos moille, táim dós greamaithe sa deachracht céanna.

Níl mé ag lorg slí bea tha a íocann tuarastáil fláithúil.

Táim ag lorg post part-aimseartha ionas go mbeidh mé in ann taitneamh a bhaint as mo thréimhse sa choláiste agus mo iasacht a íoc ar ais. Oibrím go dian. Táim díograsach agus iontaofa, le taithí maith agus thar a bheith sásta sealanna fada a dhéanamh. Ach tar éis na céadta dubha CV’s a tabhairt amach, táim tuirseach.

e -

s .

a

-

s t

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

Features 13

From cyber stalking to coercive control, abuse has many forms

Women’s Aid Ireland launched a campaign for young women, to help them recognise potential warning signs

Credit: : theirishtimes.com

Megan Roantree Features Editor @MeganRoantree

been working in Ireland since 1974 launched a campaign called ‘2in2u’. The campaign is aimed at helping young women in relationships to be aware of what is safe and what is sinister.

THE internet is never shy of an The ‘2in2u’ campaign has its awareness campaign, one of the own website of the same name, latest, the black dot campaign which provides a list of danger ,was at first glance a positive signs and a case study of a young campaign to highlight domestic woman’s abusive relationship to abuse. Sufferers of such would help others to recognise harmful draw a black dot on their inner behaviour. palm to let people subtly know ‘2in2u’s’ website also provides that they are feeling unsafe or are an online quiz which asks short in trouble, however many people questions about your partner’s pointed out that in creating a behaviour to determine whether huge social media campaign, the you have a healthy relationship. subtle dot could cause far more Margaret Martin, the director of harm to anyone whose partners Women’s Aid, explained how the saw the campaign along with questions were chosen. “There their partners inked hand. The were a number of focus groups campaign was quickly shut down with women who had been after this realisation, adding to abused, so the questions were the list of fad awareness camgarnered from real life experiencpaigns that often last less than a es.” Martin goes on to explain that month. many women in different situaIn Ireland alone there are tions take the quiz simply because much more effective, long-lasting they are curious of the questions. campaigns and organisations that “A lot of young women have told aim to help people in abusive me that they’ve taken it and were relationships, and these types really happy to see their relationof campaigns are the ones that ship is fine. For other women, should be getting coverage. they might take the quiz because Women’s Aid, which has there is something they’re con-

The “influence

financial and emotional abuse.

Martin stressed that women should know that abuse doesn’t have to be physical as “coercive control means controlling behaviour and isolation, a partner saying ‘you shouldn’t really wear that dress’ or ‘you should be wearing shorter skirts’ or, ‘don’t go out with your friends tonight stay in with me’ which leads to friendships being eroded.’’

With the campaign being aimed at young women in particular, there is a large focus on the influence of social media in relationships and how it can often become another platform for abuse. The website lists ‘having phone calls and texts monitored, being stalked on social media by current or ex boyfriends, and being photographed and filmed without consent, sometimes having sex, and having it uploaded to the internet’ as some of the abuse women have disclosed to Women’s Aid in recent years. cerned about and that helps open It is important to create up an awareness that something’s awareness and protection for not right,” she explained. By ask- young women. Because many of ing questions about attitude and them are in what is referred to behaviour, it helps young girls as ‘dating relationships’ they do to know that there are so many not have the same protection as forms of harm including mental, women who are, or were living

of social media in relationships can often become another platform for abuse

with their partner or have a child with their partner. “We are continually trying to bring this to the attention of people who can change the legislation, it’s about recognising the pattern or situation where there is abuse and you have to provide protection into the future as well as dealing with what’s happened in the past,” Martin said.

‘2in2u’ seems to strike a chord with women of all ages. “A lot of women in twenties, thirties and forties and fifties have said, ‘I really wish there was a campaign like this when I was younger’ and it makes such a difference for us to know that,” Martin said.

Women’s Aid have an aim to protect and inform women of all ages about domestic abuse and have done so for over 20 years.

Across their website is reassurance that they are there for you, and written several times on their site are the words ‘if it feels wrong, it probably is’. Because in reality we are meant to feel happy and safe in all of our relationships and if you don’t feel that way, those feelings need to be addressed.

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

14 Features

Inspirations: Hazel Robb Alison Ring discusses her mother’s strength and why she looks up to her

Alison Ring Contributor @alisonringrang

MOST people would probably agree that listing my mother as someone who inspires me is a cliche, but you haven’t met Hazel Robb.

Quiet and shy, her dry sense of humour often surprises people. She’s stern when she needs to be but she’s incredibly fair.

She’s thoughtful, generous, and exceptionally humble.

Her hobbies include choir, walking, book club, going for coffee with Anne and Jean, messaging people on WhatsApp (she recently got a smart phone), ringing her sister Avril and, of course, napping.

She’s 5ft2 with cropped brown hair. She has soft brown eyes, sallow skin which welcomes the sun, and her smile is contagious.

She never changed her name when she got married, something which I’ve always admired.

She’s a self-made woman.

She inspires me for a number of reasons, but I’ll give you the highlights. She’s resilient. She’s the queen of ‘sucking it up, and getting on with it’. She’s generous with her time and the most selfless person I’ve ever met. She’s independent, and she’s been through it all.

“

Mum was left alone in Sligo with three kids under the age of 6. She got on with it

My dad passed away when I was two years old after a short battle with cancer. Mum was left alone in Sligo with three kids all under the age of 6. She got on with it.

Without a doubt she had help from family and friends but with all our extended family living in Dublin, she did a lot herself.

She didn’t wallow. She went back to work. She expected a lot from herself and a lot from her kids. We played tennis, hockey and did gymnastics at a high level, we did tap, ballet and jazz dancing, and we at least attempted some instruments. School was important, good exam results were expected, university was a certainty.

She gave us everything we ever asked for, and we were so lucky to have such a complete childhood.

When she wasn’t looking after us, she was up and down to Monaghan visiting her brother

John who has special needs. He lives in a Camphill Community - life sharing communities for people with disabilities who live and work alongside volunteers.

Mum treats John like a king, and to this day is always taking him for weekend breaks in Sligo, buying him new CDs and clothes, and aiding the community where he lives in any way that she can, with help from her sister Avril.

When her own mother’s Alzheimer’s became unmanageable for my granddad, she came to live with us in Sligo as an alternative to nursing home care. She drove her back to Dublin every weekend to see him.

She volunteers at a girls’ group in Sligo town called the Girls’ Brigade.

She donates to every charity she sees.

She is an everyday hero, and I’m proud to say she’s my mum.

y p h u H b

n h o t o i

t e e

t t a c t

100 great minds think alike

Rebecca Lumley Deputy Features Editor @RebeccaLumley1

WHEN Declan Egan created a start-up by the name of 100minds, he couldn’t foresee that it would raise over €400,000 for charity in just over two years.

This year the he wants to make a million.

The organisation, as a concept, is simple but genius. It aims to link students to professionals and get them working together in the name of charity. This year 100minds will give to Childline with funds being used to maintain their nightline service.

Each student who is involved is tasked with raising €1,000 and daunting though this may seem, DCU student, Jordan Kenna, says there is plenty of help on hand.

“You’re assigned a mentor and they’re your support. It’s a real family project and everyone works together,” he says.

“Most people hit that €1,000 target because there is so much support there.”

Of course, contact with mentors is one of the major draws

Credit: Alison Ring

100 minds is a social enterprise focusing on students achieving big goals in a short time of the project and can provide students with opportunities after college if utilised correctly.

Ireland, after all, is a country reliant on networking, and famous for helping out that “friend of a friend”. 100minds boasts a choice of 140 mentors from 90 different companies.

“If you can think of a big company in Ireland, we have a mentor from it,” Jordan said, citing Google, Twitter, Paddy Power and KPMG, to name but a few.

Mentors are all recent graduates and are chosen for you based on the industry you hope to work in, be that marketing, technology

or even journalism. If nothing else, it’s access to somebody who knows what it’s like to be a young person in your chosen field.

Connections aside, Jordan maintains the hands-on experience of working with 100minds is invaluable. Apart from studying Marketing, innovation and

Credit:: Bernardos

technology on campus, he was a finalist in UStart 2015 and is currently competing for the title of “Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur”.

“All of that has not even come close to how much I’ve learned from being involved in 100minds,” he says, after spending the summer interning at their office, based in the IFSC. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done in my life, honestly.”

With such positive advocates, it’s a wonder the organisation hasn’t received more student attention. It currently has only about 300 members. This year, however, 100minds is focusing on attracting people from different fields in a momentous drive to gain 1,000 new members and hit the desired million mark.

The social altruism of 100minds is perhaps the key to its success. Unlike normal fundraising efforts, it offers students real skills and incentives in return for their time, dedication and effort. For any interested parties, founder Declan Egan will hold an information evening on Thursday, October 15th at 6pm in DCU.

h t l t t

f d m a I w b

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

Features 15

There’s no easy way to say this Sometimes the hardest part of dealing with mental health issues is openly recognising your problem. It takes courage to speak up but when you do, it’s worth it

John Ivory Contributor @thecollegeview

‘’IT’S weird when you realise

you’ve got a problem. It’s not physical so it crept up on me. It hit me like a train and I re-evaluated a lot of things. Who was I? How did this happen? When did I become depressed?’’

There’s a fragility to his voice now. I’ve been with him for an hour, chatting about all sorts of things and you’d never think that this guy, who is the picture of confidence, has this struggle inside eating away at him. ‘’I’d be feeling down. Your thoughts are consumed by whatever it is that’s upsetting you, and everything else stops. ‘’You can’t function. You feel tired from it. But you walk past the doctors or counsellors office and think, ‘they’re too busy, I’ll come back’, like you can see through the walls or something.’’

It took a while to get help but he believes you need to be ready to get better before you will. Tackling depression head-on was big, that’s clear. The sooner he started the sooner he’d be better. ‘’I didn’t want to shy away from my problems, but maybe I deal with them too thoroughly in my head? I didn’t want to have any scars from my experience.

I wanted to be able to move on with my life and not carry any baggage with me.’’

So what happened? What’s the thing that gets him trapped in his own head, thinking and rethinking so many things he does on an almost daily basis? Apparently, it’s inconsequential. He can’t control it, but he can control how he reacts. ‘’It’s not about what happened to me, really. It was a combination of things. I got hurt, but pointing fingers or holding grudges won’t solve anything. I’m not blaming anyone for what happened or where it left me. Sometimes people make decisions and others get hurt. Do I wish it didn’t happen?

Of course, but it did and you need to deal with reality. ‘’I certainly could have dealt with things better. I made plenty of mistakes. It’s about six months down the line and I’m moved on, but I’m just not healed fully. One of the hardest things is realising that six months, even a year, isn’t that long. There is no time-frame for recovery. That’s tough. ‘’You want to be better.

Healthy. But along with counselling, cathartic activities and whatever else, you need to give it time. Be patient with yourself.

What I’m trying to do is find peace with those who hurt me.

An apology probably wouldn’t hurt, I don’t know. But I’ve come so far without that, and I know I’m getting better.’’

He speaks about his ‘train hitting’ moment of realisation.

Stood by a pedestrian crossing,

waiting for the lights to change, he realised death was about three feet in front of him. The lights changed. So did his outlook.

The room was quiet. Quickly, he assures me that it wasn’t a thought he planned on acting upon, but still. That thought made the reality of his life at that specific low point come into focus. ‘’I had shut myself off. I wasn’t eating right, sleeping well, or really doing anything. It was definitely a turning point and even though it was scary, it got me to deal with things.’’

He knows he’s nowhere near being a perfect person. He holds himself to high standards and regularly doesn’t meet them. He’s hypocritical and self-righteous at times. He’s a work in progress, and he believes no matter how bad things seem, if you keep going, trying to do right, things pick up. ‘’What really counts is how you react to the bad things that happen. You can go a few ways.

Be bitter. Blame others for it, and let your past define you. You can skirt around the problems. Do everything you can think of to ignore them, whether it be a relationship, drugs. Anything. ‘’You can bury your head in the sand, repress your feelings and it might work for a while. You can function, get by through ignoring it but I just don’t buy that.

I feel at some stage, everyone will end up needing to talk things out.

“

Stood by a pedestrian crossing, waiting for the lights to change, he realised death was about three feet in front of him. the lights changed. So did his outlook

It’s perfectly okay – normal even.

It’s painstaking, and I don’t wish it on anyone, but it is the best way to heal. ‘’I used to suffer from depression, but now I live with it and that’s very different. I can look forward to so much and have already done a lot that I wouldn’t have been able, or confident enough to do if I hadn’t gotten help. ‘’There are hard days, but there are lot of good days and so many places to get help. I’ve told other

people that before I needed the services. Then I doubted it myself, but it’s true. If you have the courage to help yourself, others will row in behind you. It’s been hard, I’ve made it hard, but I’m sure it will be worth it.’’

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

16 Features

Instagram versus the female nipple Alana Laverty Contributor @thecollegeview

A hashtag, a movie and a movement. Alana Laverty tells us why going topless means so much to so many women

THE #FreeTheNipple movement has recently been battling against a very popular app. Instagram has come under great scrutiny for its censorship policy, which forbids users from posting photos of topless women, in particular, their nipples.

Instagram is currently rated appropriate for people aged 12+ and is claiming that Apple’s App Store allows nudity only in apps rated 17+. Therefore, any photos posted displaying female nipples are taken down as soon as they’re brought to the attention of Instagram.

However, male nipples are not included in this censorship policy. To the extent that women who photoshopped male nipples over their own and uploaded the pictures were not found in violation of the policy. Orange is the New Black actor and gender equality activist, Matt McGorry, showed his support to #FreeTheNipple by uploading his own topless image to Instagram. In which he photoshopped the nipples of Miley Cyrus and Chrissy Teigen, both of whom had topless photos removed, over his own.

His photo remains, untouched by

Instagram’s policy.

“We know that there are times when people might want to share nude images that are artistic or creative in nature, but for a variety of reasons, we don’t allow nudity on Instagram,” the policy reads. “It also includes some photos of female nipples, but photos of post-mastectomy scarring and women actively breastfeeding are allowed. Nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK.” Miley Cyrus is very familiar with Instagram’s censorship, having had several topless, nipple exhibiting pictures removed in the last year. This hasn’t stopped her, if anything it has poured fuel on her fire. She made a record for the ‘Free the Nipple’ movie and told Jimmy Kimmel that people who wear clothes are “kind of assholes”.

Rihanna didn’t return to Instagram for six months after being temporarily suspended for showing her nipples. Kendall Jenner had a photo removed which showed her nipples through a sheer top walking her first ever catwalk. Chrissy Teigen took to Twitter saying, “the nipple has

A D

s

w m t t p p

Credit:: Instagram

temporarily been silenced but she will be back, oh yes, she will be back,” after a photo of her posing for W Magazine’s “Privacy Settings” social media spread was removed. Ironic. #FreeTheNipple means so much more than the protection

of topless Instagram photographs, it strives to abolish society’s objectification of women and the oversexualization of their breasts. Men’s nipples are not policed how women’s are. It is the same body part treated in two drastically different ways.

Surely women deserve the same treatment as men, considering they nurture a child with their “offensive” and “graphic” nipples.

A nipple is just a nipple. It’s time to let them be free, accept them and the body they belong to, regardless of its gender.

The values of volunteering in college Hannah Kelly Contributor @thecollegeview

WHEN starting something new and unfamiliar like university, it is important to feel like you belong. There are many different ways of achieving this, through clubs and societies, being on the class representative council, or volunteering.

My experience of volunteering with both Suas as a literacy mentor and with DCU Access, have helped me to adapt to university life and gain a lot of confidence. It helped me to learn about having a leadership role and my own responsibility. It taught me valuable skills such as time management and organisational skills which I could transfer to my work ethic in college.

Becoming an active member by volunteering can help in more ways than one. A major factor, that you can’t deny is that it looks great on a CV. When you graduate there will be thousands of people going for the same job as you, while having a great degree is important, it won’t make you stand out. Having a background in volunteering gives you something different to talk about in interviews which will

Hannah Kelly looks at the numerous benefits of giving a helpful hand and why college is the perfect time to do it

“

group you can think of, there’s an organisation that will suit you.

While it is still work and can be tiring, it’s a really enjoyable and rewarding experience. Knowing you’re making a difference in someone’s life leaves you feeling happier and like you’ve done something worthwhile.

Some might think you wouldn’t have the time to volunteer, or that it would get too stressful coming up to exam season. That’s the great thing about volunteering though, it’s completely up to you when and for how long you do it. If you can allocate ten hours a week, that’s great, if it’s only one, any organisation would be delighted with another pair of helping hands.

It’s a really valuable experience for both you and the organisation you choose and I can’t urge people to try it out enough.

f t

o p t e

s fi A B Th f

e b o

h a U 0 l t

By engaging in volunteering, you make friends and important contacts more easily

help give you an edge over your competitors. It also helps to show you are a dedicated person who is willing to go that extra mile and that you are passionate about making a difference.

Being in first year can be daunting and the prospect of how to make new friends outside of your course can seem impossible. By engaging in volunteering, you make friends and even more importantly, contacts more easily. You are thrown into work situations with other people from all different walks of life and by working alongside them, you inevitably become friends. This can be a great asset in the future when trying to make connections with people for work.

One simple, but valid reason to help out is that it’s a lot of fun.

Whether you are interested in working with animals, children, elderly people or practically any

w W b l fi q p m Th

c w

i f b s l t c

D n v s b

b p b w g f t The welfare group in DCU Credit: Deirdre OʼSullivan

i t a

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday 14 October, 2015

Sport

17

Steady progress, but not out of the Woods yet Aaron Gallagher Deputy Sports Editor @AaronGallagher8

“BUT you’ve every right to be upset?”

“That’s just the way it is. You wouldn’t really dwell on it too much thinking ‘what’s the point if there aren’t 80,000 fans?’ We got through our whole league campaign, county and college with just parents and family watching us.”

Dublin’s All-Ireland Under-21 winning corner-forward Siobhán Woods won’t budge. Ladies football faces an abundance of problems – low average attendances, finals being re-scheduled, poor quality pitches, not even the opportunity of a curtain-raiser for men’s games - none of it matters.

That’s how Woods views it anyway.

Head up, eyes fixed in the face of uncertainty and play the game. That’s her model.

“It doesn’t play too much on our minds from my own experience anyway,” she says of the low attendances at women’s National League games.

“If you can get greater consistency in attendances across fixtures and then build up to the All-Ireland final it would be better.

But it doesn’t bother us too much.

The main worry is when it comes to funding rather than attendances.”

Woods is fresh from her travels abroad and is ready to settle back into another year of Psychology and Gaelic football at DCU. She added another medal to her collection during the summer as Dublin retained the All-Ireland Under-21 title by beating Cork 0-14 to 1-08 in the final with last year’s captain Woods tagging two points onto the scoresheet.

“It definitely shows what’s coming through in Dublin with the Under-21s”, she said.

“Training with the seniors is a really good learning curve for younger players who hadn’t been involved with the senior setup before so we’re definitely delighted to have retained that title but it is a building process towards the seniors as well.”

On matters closer to home, DCU’s 3-16 to 0-09 O’Connor Cup Final loss to the University of Limerick last March still lingers in her memory, but only as a motivating tool.

“All you can do is learn and build on it again. We put in a good performance in the semi-final to beat University College Cork and we felt confident going into the game the next day. We held on for the first twenty minutes but then kind of fell away from there.”

Woods knows the hurt of losing major finals having been on the pitch this time twelve months ago when Dublin lost to Cork in

“

Eithne Connolly, Bank of Ireland DCU, and Michael Kennedy, DCU GAA Academy Director, Jonny Cooper present a DCU GAA scholarship awards 2015 to Siobhán woods Credit Sportsfile

You’re chasing that big buzz of the win but you kind of lose that more quickly than you would the sting of the loss

the 2014 All-Ireland Final, explaining that she understands the hurt her team-mates are going through this time around with Dublin again losing to Cork in this year’s final 0-12 to 0-10.

“It was strange. A few of us went away for the summer so we went in together to watch the game – I wasn’t involved with the seniors this year.

But being in Croke Park definitely brought back the memories from last year. We knew how hard it would be for the girls so we were really hoping they’d win but unfortunately it wasn’t to be on the day.

“This year Cork were probably more experienced and although Dublin drove them right to the end you couldn’t really argue with the result at the end of the day.”

However, she insists that although they play the game to win titles and the silver taste of victory is indeed sweet, big final losses do have a lasting effect on players.

“Maybe not for Cork, but for the rest of us it’s always more losses than wins. You tend

to remember them a lot more than the wins,” she continues.

“When you do win you really appreciate it at the time but the memory of the wins fade away quicker than the memory of the loss. You’re chasing that big buzz of the win but you kind of lose that more quickly than you would the sting of the loss.”

As for looking forward, Woods says that under the management of Steven Maxwell and Niamh McEvoy, DCU can push on for 2015/16 in search of that elusive O’Connor Cup. “We’ve new management coming in this year so it’ll be interesting to see what that brings. So far we’ve trained a few times and it’s been really good.

“As much as we played attacking football last year there’s a change of personnel and a change of players but hopefully it’ll be a similar brand of football so we’re looking to drive on under the management and be positive.”

She asserts that sport, driven by emotion and the adrenaline of fear and conquest, has to be a

practical game with tactics and more than anything a game plan.

One must look to learn from mistakes and push on to the next challenge.

“As much as a win or a loss drives you, you don’t get hung up on it emotionally. You can’t be upset about it forever so you have to use it as a driving force but not in an emotional way.

“You have to learn from the facts of the game. Learn what you did right and what you did wrong and not make those same mistakes again.

“As traumatic as the experience of a loss is, you have to be able to put it behind you and move on because it’s only ever going to be a tool for moving forward if you use it correctly.”

Head up, eyes fixed in the face of uncertainty and play the game

18

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 14 October, 2015

Sport

Eagles soar as Saints taste defeat in season opener Cormac OʼShea Deputy Sports Editor @CVSports

THE DCU Saints lost out in their opening game of the National Premier League season to the University of Limerick Eagles in Limerick on Saturday, October 3rd.

The game finished 74-57 and Saints Head Coach Joey Boylan admitted he was “not expecting to lose by that big a margin”.

Trailing 39-31 at the half, the Saints were kept at arm’s length for the remainder of the game by Paul Kelleher’s Eagle side.

Graham Brannelly (12) and Martin Neary (11) led the scoring for DCU in what was a disappointing start to the season for Boylan and his team.

“It wasn’t the start we were hoping for but we were down a few players. We actually gave seven players their debuts so we were kind of up against it from the start,” Boylan told The College View.

“We played well in stages but we kind of went out of the game at important times.

We got it back to four at the start of the second half but just gave up 11 points (in a row) which made it very tough.

“In fairness, (UL) did play well but it was just a case of ‘if we had played better at certain stages’ it would’ve been a lot closer and could’ve won it,” he added.

Boylan still looked for positives in defeat. “We did give seven players their debuts and some of them played very well. Conor Gilligan played very well for his first game and hopefully we will

“We have a

very young team this year and without an American it will be tough get more out of them as the season goes on.”

After finishing eighth last season, Boylan says the Saints are looking to consolidate once again this campaign.

“We have a very young team this year and without an American (each Premier League side is allowed one) it will be tough against a lot of teams but we will try and make a push for the top four if we can,” Boylan said.

DCU Mercy, the women’s team affiliated with DCU, on the other hand got their campaign off to a winning start against Maxol Waterford Institute of Technology Wildcats.

Mark Ingle’s side overcame WIT on a scoreline of 73-54 away from home in an impressive performance.

Chelisa Painter led the scoring for the Mercy with 21 points and was ably assisted by Aoife McDermott and Maleeka Kynard who scored 15 and 11 respectively.

Credit: DCU saints

Freshers hurlers prove too strong for Maynooth Andrew Byrne Sports Reporter @CVsport

GARY Tynan stole the show as DCU freshers dominated NUI Maynooth in their opening match in the 2015/16 Freshers A Hurling league last Thursday night, October 8th at St. Clare’s.

The wing-forward scored 1-3 from play and five frees along with multiple assists and build up plays putting heavy pressure on the Maynooth back six.

Maynooth suffered an early loss with their number 7 going off after a strong challenge forced him to the sideline, an early sign

of DCU’s physicality playing a huge factor in the outcome of the game.

Tynan scored the first of three goals early in the second half giving himself all the time he needed as his marker paid the price for granting Tynan that extra yard.

DCU corner-forward Aaron Kinsella threatened the defence throughout the game and was unlucky not to get a goal in the first half as the ball slipped over the full-back straight into Kinsella’s hands but he tapped it to the side of the goalkeeper and the ball bounced straight onto the post, to be cleared by the Maynooth defence.

However, Kinsella found the net in the second half after a se-

ries of intricate plays from DCU as Tynan thread the ball through the Maynooth back line reaching Sean Hickey who in turn slipped the ball into space. Kinsella wasted no time in slotting it home.

Tynan and Hickey linked up after 52 minutes for the latter to score the third and final goal of the game.

Maynooth rarely showed signs of challenging in the first half but as the game progressed and legs tired, cracks started to show but unfortunately for the Maynooth forwards, fatigue kicked in and they couldn’t take their chances.

Paul Kelly struggled early on with his catching and dropping short with a shot but worked him-

self into the game scoring the first of five points in the tenth minute followed by a point minutes later with his boot after losing his hurl.

The DCU defence was controlled by centre-back and Kilkenny under-21 star Conor Delaney who led by example, dominating his man as well as helping his wing-backs when under pressure.

The game ended with a Maynooth shot from midfield hitting the upright and going wide, which summed up their game as a whole with a disappointing display from the Kildare men.

Final score: DCU 3 – 19, Maynooth 0 – 8

DCU 1. Mark Cullen 2. Seán Quinn 3. Ciarán Pender4. Gavin Kenny 5. Ciarán Brady 6. Conor Delaney 7. Robbie Gillen 8. Liam Fahey 9. Cathal Doran 10. Sean Hickey 11. Owen Roberts 12. Gary

Tynan 13. Aaron Kinsella 14. Paul Kelly 15. Darragh Brennan

SUBS 16. Eddie Murphy 17. Eimhin Gillman 18. Cathal Gibbon 19. Killian Linnane 20. Michael Waters 21. Rudhán O Bearra 22. Ruirí McCarthy

THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday 14 October, 2015

Sport

McGraynor sets sights on Sigerson double

19

Can domestic soccer be fixed?

Aidan Geraghty Sports Editor @aido1895 Continued from back page

McGraynor celebrates scoring the winner in the 2015 Sigerson cup final Credit Sportsfile

Aaron Gallagher Deputy Sports Editor @AaronGallagher8

“IT

was just unbelievable. I couldn’t believe that the ball had actually gone over the bar.”

Conor McGraynor doesn’t do pressure. Rewind the clock seven months to a cold, misty afternoon at the Mardyke to this year’s Sigerson Cup final.

Then forward the clock again through extra time, minus two minutes.

DCU had drawn level with UCC through goalkeeper Tadhg Lowe’s point from forty-five meters in the third minute of injury time, to keep them alive and in with a chance of this year’s Sigerson.

David Culhane’s goal inside 10 seconds of the second half of extra time looked to have sealed a UCC win, but only for a late rally from Niall Moyna’s DCU side with points from Conor Daly and Donal Smith, recent history could read a very harrowing chronical around Glasnevin.

Except that DCU had two strokes of luck that afternoon. Going into the final having not lost a single Sigerson final in three, and having the right boot of forward

Conor McGraynor on the pitch to fire over what would be the winning point with seconds remaining.

“I was actually surprised to still be on the field at that point in the game,” he says modestly.

“I had got very few touches of the ball throughout the game myself.

“Luckily the ball just landed back in my hands and I was fortunate enough for the ball to go over the bar. Ultimately it was the score that won the game but there were so many scores before that and so many more important plays.”

The win saw DCU claim their fourth Sigerson title in as many finals – 2006, 2010, 2012 and now 2015 – with McGraynor insisting that self-inflicted pressure was the only motivating tool required for the team.

“There was just such a strong team bond there that we were never going to lie down. We had been in such tough situations throughout the year where we were down in games.

“So there probably wasn’t as much outside pressure but we put pressure on ourselves to do the job for each other.”

February’s win saw DCU manager Niall Moyna claim his third Sigerson title, with McGraynor lamenting his manager’s ability

“I was actually

surprised to still be on the field

to bond massive panels of players together into a winning team.

“It is a difficult task for Niall but he really is the magician when it comes to getting lads to play together and to play to his style,” he said.

“This year we didn’t just have a team-sheet, we had a panel. There were fifty lads training throughout the year and I’d say at least twenty counties were represented.

“That success of course comes down to the coaches (Moyna) has with him, Dermot Sheridan, Mick Bohan, Martin Conroy and Tony Diamond, who have all had a huge part to play in getting lads to play a certain way.”

McGraynor insists this style of play is reinforced by the constant and familiar relationship the panel of players have as a team unit.

“On a personal level we all just gel together between so-

cial nights out, training sessions and living together.

“And even those lads that didn’t live with us would pop in regularly for cups of tea so it was done both by the players and by the management together.”

As for DCU’s chances at retaining their Sigerson title in 2016?

“Yeah it’s going to be a difficult task. Out of (the current panel) I think Tadgh Lowe is the only one who is moving on so everyone else is still available.

“We will have the same guts as last year’s panel. We also have a strong Freshers’ team and of course there’s the option of one or two mature students coming back so we will have lots of strong, big-name players.

“There will be a lot of pressure going forward next year but if we can just do what we do and enjoy our football like we did last year, the wins just seem to come.

There will be a lot of pressure, but I don’t think we’ll feel it.”

Return to the Mardyke on that misty February afternoon. The ball flies over the bar, the scoreboard reads 1-14 to 2-10 and it’s DCU’s name on the Sigerson Cup for the fourth time in nine years. Pressure doesn’t come into the question.

So theoretically, the 7thplaced team could finish the season with more points than a 4th-placed team and miss out on European football the following season.

If the League is to improve, the First Division needs to be abolished.

When it was created in 1985, it served a purpose. It aided the transition of clubs like Bray Wanderers, Cobh Ramblers and Monaghan United into professional football. Now, its purpose is to simply exist so the League meets UEFA requirements.

To solve this problem, a 16team League of Ireland must be created. The 2016 First Division can be used as a qualification campaign of sorts.

The top four teams would gain promotion to the expanded league in 2017/18, which would revert to the traditional football calendar in order to align with the provincial senior leagues.

The remaining four First Division teams would join their provincial senior league for the 2017/18 season.

Beginning in 2017/18, the 15th and 16th-placed League of Ireland teams would be automatically relegated, and the champions of each provincial senior league would enter a round robin to decide which two teams gain promotion to the League of Ireland.

This structure would satisfy UEFA’s requirement which states the National League must not be ‘closed’.

More importantly though, it creates a league pyramid, meaning there is a path of promotion and relegation between the top tier and bottom tier of club football in the country.

To make this structure sustainable, the FAI must divert from the course it has chosen with regard to prize money for League of Ireland clubs. In 2009, Bohemians received almost €300,000 for winning the Premier Division.

Just two years later, Shamrock Rovers received €100,000 for winning the same league. FAI Chief Executive John Delaney’s salary (€360,000) amounts to more than the total prize pot for Premier Division and First Division clubs combined (€314,500).

In conclusion, there is no doubt that Mr. Conroy’s efforts to ignite a complete overhaul of the League of Ireland are genuine, but one must question his methods and his findings.

It would appear he consulted with the same parties who were consulted before the release of the Genesis Report, 2006, which failed spectacularly. As a result, the Conroy Report is destined to follow the same path and be just another wooden horse in the merry-go-round that is professional football in Ireland.

Sport

INSIDE

THE COLLEGE VIEW

Wednesday,14 October 2015

www.thecollegeview.com

Freshers hurlers victorious in season opener Read more on page 18

Captains of the 8 First Division teams Credit: Sportforbusiness

Conroy report tells us nothing we don’t already know Aidan Geraghty Sports Editor @aido1895

ON Wednesday, September 30th, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) released the SSE Airtricity League Consultation Process 2015, or the Conroy Report, as it has been dubbed in media circles.

The 75-page report, produced by Declan Conroy who played a major part in the FAI’s bid to host a UEFA Euro 2020 game in Dublin, has

been described by FAI Chief Executive John Delaney as “the most comprehensive and thorough review of senior domestic football in Ireland,” but this simply isn’t the case.

Mr. Conroy concludes that the League of Ireland should adopt the following structure, beginning in 2017: •A two-division league, consisting of ten teams each.

• The last-placed team in the Premier Division is automatically relegated and the First Division champions are automatically promoted.

• The 8th and 9th-placed

teams in the Premier Division play a round robin tournament along with the 2nd and 3rd-placed teams in the First Division, with a possibility of between one and three clubs changing division.

• The Premier Division splits into the top six and bottom four after three series of games. The top six play five more games and the bottom four play three more games.

This sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it? Since the turn of the millennium, the Premier Division has changed its structure four times between ten teams

and twelve teams (2002, 2004, 2008 and 2011).

At present, there are 12 teams in the Premier Division and eight in the First Division.

While on the surface it makes sense to even the divisions, anybody who follows the League of Ireland knows the only difference it will make is to subject two extra clubs to First Division purgatory.

The suggested split after three series of games is also ludicrous. The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) uses this approach and it hasn’t improved the standard of football at all.

It also creates an incentive for teams to deliberately lose games. If the 6th and 7th-placed teams are close in points approaching the split, both teams would naturally want to be seventh when the split happens so they have an easier final series of games, helping them finish sixth and earn more prize money. To combat this issue, the SPFL has introduced a system wherein the 6th and 7th-placed teams cannot swap positions after the split, regardless of points.

Continued on page 19