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Vol. XVIII, Issue 9
Features:
The end is far from over for McGregor
Opinion:
Europe, don’t turn your back on refugees now
Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
Sport: Defeat for DCU in O’Connor Cup semi
THE COLLEGE VIEW Read more on page 14
Read more on page 9
See back bage
DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY’S ONLY INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1999
The national flag is raised on the DCU campus in recognition of Proclomation Day on Tuesday, March 15. Credit: dcu.ie
Emergency CRC meeting elects new Returning Officer Claire Prenty News Reporter @thecollegeview
FOUR-TIME Returning Officer, Steven Conlon, has stepped down from his role just days before the DCU Students’ Union election campaigns begin. An emergency CRC meeting was held last Tuesday to elect a replacement Returning Officer. We need somebody who ‘can hit the ground running’ with the upcoming elections, said Conlon. Conlon himself nominated Cat O’Driscoll to fill the vacancy. Cat is currently the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Quality Assurance in the USI (Union of Students in Ireland). He stated
that O’Driscoll is ‘intimately familiar with student democracy’ calling her his ‘ideal replacement’. Education officer, James Donoghue, seconded the nomination, saying ‘she is brilliant’. When put to the CRC, each member of the council was in favour of O’Driscoll’s election. Conlon stated that it “has been an honour and a privilege” to serve as the Returning Officer and that it is with “huge regret” that he announces his departure from the role and from DCU. Conlon stepped down from the position as he has been offered “an opportunity of a lifetime in Washington.” He will be Head of Creative at a communications technology business, though he was not at liberty to reveal the company name.
Before Conlon officially stepped down he made an emotional speech in which he spoke about the importance of student politics. He thanked his “friend, confidante and leveller”, Sean Cassidy. Cassidy said Conlon has been “a singular force of change in DCU”. He described him as passionate, generous and intelligent. “He has had a profound influence on me and many others.” Conlon was greeted with a standing ovation from the council as he stepped down from the role. Speaking afterwards Conlon said “I would like to say that I’m hugely grateful to the students of DCU for placing their trust in me as Returning Officer and I only hope I served them well.” Throughout his time in DCU,
Conlon founded the Journalism society, was Director of News for DCUfm, was News Editor and Editor-in-Chief of The College View, President of DCU LGBTA, leader of two successful ‘Yes’ to USI referendums and was advisor to multiple class councils and Union executives. SU president, Kim Sweeney, said “It will be a great loss to the Union with Steve leaving. I have known Steve for my whole time here at DCU and he has been a pleasure to work with this year, providing me with the support I have needed over my time as president. I wish him the best of luck in his future.” She went on to welcome the new returning officer and said “I am assured she will do a great job in the role.”
INSIDE THE SUSS
THE SUSS COVERS THE 1975 ALBUM REVIEW EUROPEAN FESTIVAL FORECAST VISIT IRELANDʼS GEMS REVIEW OF NATHANIEL RATELIFF AND THE NIGHT SWEATS AT THE OLYMPIA THEATRE
THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
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Editorial Catherine Devine Editor-in-Chief @CatherineDevin1
AS we raised the tricolour high
The DCU entrance then and now: 1916 and 2016 Credit: twitter.com - @dcuconnected
above DCU and read the proclamation of 1916, we began to look at what the proclamation would be for our generation. Students across the country were asked to deconstruct it and see what was still relevant today. While Pearse and Connolly could not have known what Ireland was to face in the next 100 years, many of the issues they addressed are still at the fore of Irish society today. While its most quoted phrase was aimed at the equal recognition of unionists and nationalists in a new republic – “cherishing all the children of the nation equally”– it can be made relevant today to our equality battles such as the one for same-sex marriage. The 1916 proclamation was also hailed by female activists as it was addressed to “Irishmen and Irishwomen” and had promises of suffrage and equality, in a time when women couldn’t vote. 100 years on and women are fighting for the right to control their own bodies in the fight to repeal the 8th Amendment. If a new proclamation was made today, it would likely contain points on homelessness, immigration and the health and housing crisis, some of the biggest issues facing us today. As one child in Cork said in her visionary proclamation: “We believe in an Irish Republic where
everyone is entitled to a place they can call home. We see homelessness and hunger as a thing of the past. We wish Ireland to be a place where everyone is kind. We will welcome immigrants and returning emigrants and we want to ensure that just like the Celts, the Vikings, the Normans and Saxons of old, they will too become as Irish as the Irish themselves.” Celebrating the centenary of 1916 is a joyous time for us as a nation. While we struggle to form a stable government, the 1916 celebrations remind us of a time when we had strong political leaders with visionary ideas, who were willing to die for our freedom. Have a read of our debate- “2016 is a time to celebrate and reflect on the Easter Rising”- on page 15 where we talk about if it’s an event worth celebrating and spending money on. While we’ve come so far in 100 years, the elitist voting system remains as the Seanad elections takes place this month, with DCU still excluded from voting. Although a referendum took place in 1979 that gave the vote to all undergraduates, only Trinity, NUI Galway, NUI Maynooth, UCD and UCC students are eligible to vote. We’ve the full story and a lookback at the history of the Seanad’s voting process on page 4. I hope you enjoy the issue, the next issue of the paper will be out on April 6th, which will be our last issue before we hand you over to the new editorial team for 2016/2017. Catherine
Editorial Team Editor-in-Chief: Catherine Devine Deputy Editor: Katie OʼNeill Production & Layout Editor: Scout Mitchell Deputy Production & Layout Editor: Niall Connolly
Deputy News Editors: Paul Dwyer, Hayley Halpin, Hannah Kelly & Aura McMenamin
Aoife Ní Mistéil Sports Editor: Aidan Geraghty
Opinion Editor: Lisa Oʼ Donnell
Deputy Sports Editors: Aaron Gallagher & Cormac OʼShea
Lifestyle Editor: Aoibheann Diver
Arts Editor: Fionnuala Jones
Features Editor: Megan Roantree
Production & Layout Deputy Features Assistants: Daniel Troy Editor: Rebecca Lumley & Oliver Deane Irish Editor: Aíne Marie News Editor: Katie Monk OʼNeill Deputy Irish Editor:
Deputy Images Editor: David Clarke Online Editor: Kevin Kelly Deputy Online Editors: Hannah Moran & Stephen Murphy
opinion@thecollegeview. com gaeilge@thecollegeview. com sports@theccollegeview. com arts@thecollegeview. com lifestyle@thecollegeview. com
Chief Sub-Editor: Jamie Printed By Datascope, Deputy Arts Editor: Concannon with the DCU Journalism Stephen Keegan Society Contacts Thanks To Sportsfile, Chief Arts Contributor: editor@thecollegeview. SLC, Office of Student Ryan McBride com Life news@thecollegeview. Images Editor: Chaitanya Brady
com features@ thecollegeview.com
Corrections: Issue 8 photo credit on page 2 goes to Colin Tonge
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THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
News
The Helix increases booking fees to ensure sustainability
Hayley Halpin Deputy News Editor Hayley Halpin1
THE Helix has increased booking fees across the board to ensure the future sustainability of the venue, according to General Manager, Michael Brady. All rates were individually assessed and realigned based on their previous level, and their percentage discount of external rates. “As a result, there wasn’t one standard increase but rather a number of separate increases implemented in order to apportion a fair and balanced approach across all our venues,” Brady said. As a growing demand for the venue and as a result of market prices, external and corporate rates were also increased. However, the DCU student body will not be affected by the by the increased booking fees. Brady has stated that students will continue to be offered a “favorable rate” which will facilitate Club and Society events without
compromising the financial and operational viability of the Helix. Student rack rates have been revised since the beginning of 2016, leaving the current student discount rate at 40-50% for both the Mahony Hall and the Theatre spaces. The Helix provides some spaces to the university’s Clubs & Societies, for training, workshops and rehearsals. The basement area is also allocated to Clubs & Societies to be used as storage for all property and props of their possession. These services remain free of charge to students. The Helix regularly invests in its facilities, requiring considerable capital expenditure and continuous upgrading. The venue is committed to funding the upgrades out of its own resources, according to Brady. “It is critically important that the venue continues to invest in its facilities in order to maintain and promote itself as a world class arts, conferencing and events centre, for all its on and off-cam-
The Helix - Credit Shirley Donlon
pus
customers,” Brady said. The Helix is managed by UAC Management Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of DCU. The university provides annual sup-
port of €500,000. All profits that are derived from the Helix activities are returned to DCU to support its strategic objectives. All decisions in relation to op-
erational matters concerning the Helix are taken by the General Manager in conjunction with the Board of UAC Management Limited.
SU positions to be shared between DCU and St Pats’ campuses Lisa OʼDonnell Opinions Editor lisao_donnell
TWO of the five Students’ Union sabbatical positions will be based on DCU’s St Pats campus next year, under the new structure of the SU. Speaking to The College View, current Welfare officer, Domhnaill Harkin, said that the union’s President, Welfare officer and Academic Affairs officer will be mainly based on the Glasnevin campus, while the officer for Education and Placement and the officer for Engagement and Development will both be working from St Pat’s. However, Harkin stressed that while the officers will be based in one set location, all positions will be obliged to divide their time between both campuses. “They will have to float and work together, as they are one sabbatical team,” he said, “In regards to how often, it’s hard to say yet, but it will be quite regular. “It won’t be until the positions are elected and we start training them in summer that we’ll know exactly what’s going to happen.” The amalgamation between DCU,
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St Pat’s and Mater Dei has led to the creation of two new sabbatical positions – Engagement and Development Officer and Academic Affairs Officer. Former SU Returning Officer, Steven Conlon, said that the introduction of the role of Engagement and Development Officer is a result of DCU’s increasingly engaging electoral and class rep system. “When you have a council like that that has an immense amount of power, you need somebody to ensure that it is being engaged properly, being trained properly, and that everybody is getting what they actually want to say, said,” he told The College View. The engagement officer will also liaise with clubs and societies, as well as external and internal groups within DCU, in order to involve students in politics and civic engagement issues. The other new sabbatical position, Academic Affairs officer, was created to dedicate a role to practice based learning, as the number of students participating in work placements has increased significantly since the amalgamation. The reform will also see the introduction of three new part-time reps and officers, including an Irish Officer, Education Faculty rep, and a Post Grad rep.
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THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
News
Seanad election sees no change to voting system Aura McMenamin Deputy News Editor @aurajalapeno
THE elitist voting system remains as the Seanad elections takes place this month, despite years of promises to reform the upper house. Currently only graduates from TCD and the National University Ireland (NUI) constituency can vote for the six university panel seats. The NUI constituency is made up of NUI Galway; NUI Maynooth; UCD and UCC. This makes an electorate of 160,000 people. The university panel candidates include TCD SU president Lynn Ruane and former USI president Laura Harmon. “The whole thing is mad really. There’s no justification for it,” Brian Hayes MEP told the College View. Hayes was vocal about abolishing the Seanad during the 2013 referendum. “I don’t see how you can justify letting graduates vote, and excluding people who aren’t. Then you have this even more anachronistic thing where not all universities can vote.” Technically, students from DCU, UL and countless institutes of technologies should be allowed to vote. The Seventh Amendment to the constitution was introduced in 1979, opening up the right to vote for all graduates of higher education. Unfortunately, no government since has bothered to invoke the amendment despite promises from Enda Kenny to do so. The system for the 54 remaining seats is just as exclusive with 11 seats appointed by the Taoiseach. 43 seats belong to ‘vocational panels’ which are elected by current TDs, Senators and councillors. These candidates must represent either agriculture; education and culture; industry and commerce; labour or public administration. Other candidates include ousted Labour TDs such as Aodhán Ó Riordáin, Joanne Tuffy and Kevin Humphreys. The Seanad is routinely criticised for being a “talking shop”. It shares minimal powers with
the Dáil such as being able to impeach the president, declare an emergency and remove a judge. However, it can only delay a non-money bill for 90 days. If the house rejects a money bill, it has three weeks to make recommendations. This is futile as the Dáil has the power to overturn their decision in both cases. The 2013 abolition referendum was narrowly defeated by 51.73 per cent to 48.27 per cent. The turn-out was a low 39 per cent. Brian Hayes was elected to the Seanad in 1995 and 2002, serving full terms for both. Before his move to Brussels, the former Fine Gael TD stated that getting rid of the Seanad would show the public that Fine Gael was serious about political reform. “When I was there the second time, it was in the opposition. We put together what I thought was a very, very honest reform package. “It did not contain any constitutional change. It recommended keeping the university seats but extended it to all graduates. This was in 2006. I don’t think it’s reform-able, quite frankly.” Those who supported the house said it was a place for independent opinions and would preserve democracy. The No side disputed Fine Gael’s claims that it would save €20 million a year, putting the true figure at about a third of that. It claimed to be a space for minority voices. The Democracy Matters group made up of senators like Katherine Zappone, Fergal Quinn and John Crown vowed that a reformed Seanad would serve a purpose. Three years later and no reform has been seen. The Manning Report was the result of a Seanad working group created by Enda Kenny in December 2014. Since then, it’s been gathering dust on a shelf. It recommended granting suffrage to any Irish citizen for the majority of the vocational seats. As another Seanad election looms, reform is added to the list of unkept promises from the government.
Students Against fees wants to “finish the year with a bang” Hannah Kelly Deputy News Editor @thecollegeview
came to support the movement, SU president Lynn Ruane attended and expressed that “we’re completely behind you, I’m here to hear what you guys want.”
Leadership
TCD Students Against Fees held a meeting on Tuesday to decide on The group agreed that they their structure and the action they wanted the leadership to come should take. from the group and not their StuAmong the members who dents’ Union, but that it would
be a “wasted resource” to exclude However, this mandate did not them. include student loans. Ruane said that a big resource “I feel like the mandate is was the group itself, “depending what’s sticking us”, Ruane said. on what our strategy is, small Social media numbers can make a difference”. She believed the next best SU support steps for the group would be to Last year a mandate was follow up on USI involvement and passed by the TCDSU that ensured get academics who oppose fees inthe group exists with SU support. volved.
While discussing future actions one member of the group mentioned how crucial social media is and said “social media campaigns don’t work without engagement”. The group did not decide on any future events but agreed “we need a tangible, physical action… we need to finish the year with a bang”.
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THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
News
Women in Leadership encourages female SU election candidates
Emma Duffy News Reporter
@thecollegeview
A ‘Women in Leadership’ event in the Old Bar last week encouraged female students to run in the upcoming DCU Student’s Union (SU) election. The student level programme ‘Inform’, ran by Women For Election was developed to tackle the problem of lower participation by females in politics. They adapt their training to encourage females to run in SU elections and take on leadership roles. About 30 students attended the two hour workshop ran by Una Power and Hannah Deasey from the organisation. “Women for Elections’s “Inform” SU programme can really offer an awful lot to the colleges that get involved because it can increase the number of women that run for SU election and the more likely those women are to take leadership posi-
tions at university, the more likely they are to take leadership positions later on in life,” Deasey said. “I think it’s a great contribution to student life. It’s unfortunately still a very male dominated environment and from that point of view, talking to young women and telling them leadership is something that is not hard to achieve and leadership is not male, or gendered male, I think can be really positive,” she continued. Topics such as leadership, goal-setting and self management were discussed throughout the interactive session. The programme is designed to engage female students and develop their leadership skills while networking with other politically minded female leaders. Women for Election is a non-profit organisation, founded in 2012 to train and mentor females in politics. Credit DCU SU Facebook The ‘Inform’ programme has also been carried out in UCD, CIT while they also held a USI Wom- dents from all over the country. and was hosted by the SU. A follow-up The event was held last Tuesday workshop takes place next week. and Queen’s University Belfast, en in Leadership weekend for stu-
Proclamation Day: Huge crowd gather in DCU to celebrate 1916 Andrew Byrne News Reporter
@thecollegeview
DCU marked the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising on Proclamation Day, March 15th, by hosting a special flag-raising ceremony. In the week following Seachtain na Gaeilge, the university joined schools and colleges across the country in marking Proclamation Day. Professor John Doyle, Executive Dean, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, hosted the ceremony. Alastair Dennehy, DCU Drama Society’s Education Officer, re-enacted the reading of the Proclamation to a crowd of around 150 people. Following the reading Doyle and other DCU staff members raised the tricolour to cheers from the crowd. During the ceremony Doyle explored why the Irish people pay homage to the people fighting in the 1916 Rising but neglect to annually commemorate the day the state declared its independence in 1922. He followed by comparing the Irish people with the French who celebrate Bastille Day, an important event in the French Revolution, instead of celebrating the declaration of the Fifth Republic. The ceremony concluded inside the nursing building with refreshments. Thousands of schools participated in the day with almost every schoolchild playing a part in drawing up their school’s proclamation. Hundreds of tweets were posted
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Alumni to return for one last session in the Aidan Delaney News Reporter @thecollegeview
Padraig McKeon of the DCU Alumni office said; “We’re holding the event because the Old Bar is a part of the history of DCU and a part of DCU’S Old Bar in the Hub is to play people’s memories of going here.” host to a massive last session before Fond Memories it is knocked down later this year. The event was set up by the SU and An event page on Facebook for the DCU Alumni office and will take the event currently shows that over place on 21st May. Former students 950 people are going to the event are encouraged to celebrate one final with a further 1,500 interested. night in the venue which acted as a Education officer James Donopredecessor to the current Nubar. ghue said “the Old Bar walls hold a host of memories for those who Construction have passed through, the last sesThe venue is to be knocked sion post has has rekindled some of down as part of the Hub re- those fond memories and for those development which is due who come they will have a chance to to take place in the summer. walk down memory lane with disSpeaking about the event, tinct fondness.”
Raising of the tricolour in DCU for Proclamation day Credit: Andrew Byrne
with the hashtag #ProclamationDay to mark the occasion. The event was part of the 1916 Commemorative Programme and was their biggest event so far. The programme’s next major events will take place on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday with a commemoration ceremony and parade outside the Gener-
al Post Office on O’Connell Street. Other events taking place are wreath laying ceremonies in Kilmainham Gaol and Glasnevin Cemetary and a State reception in Dublin Castle where around 2,000 relatives of those who took part in the rising are invited to join the Taoiseach and other state figures to “remember, reflect and reimagine”.
Credit: Michelle Martin
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News
THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
Dart talks aim to avoid strike as Luas stoppage looms
Future students could pay as much as €20,000 in loans
Chai Brady Images Editor
Jennifer Purdy News Reporter
@thecollegeview
@thecollegeview
TALK’S are set to get underway this Monday between Dart train drivers and Iarnrod Éireann in relation to the increase in number the of hours employees will be expected to work starting from next month. Unions representing Dart drivers have warned of strike action if Iarnród Éireann moves ahead with plans to introduce a higher frequency service from early next month without their agreement. The announcement of potential strike action has come at a bad time as the Luas workers are still threatening to strike if their pay and condition demands are not met.
More services The Dart employees voted unanimously in favour of taking strike action if Iarnrod Éireann introduced a higher frequency service this year. The introduction of the new Dart service is one of Iarnród Éireann’s key goals for 2016. SIPTU’s Paul Cullen has criticised Iarnród Éireann for the way they have tried to deal with internal company disputes in the past. He said, “The failure of the company to effectively engage in such productivity discussions resulted in industrial action by all train drivers in Irish Rail during October and November 2015.” Staff have raised a number of ber of drivers required to operconcerns over the plan, including ate the higher frequency service. proposed rosters and the numA spokeswoman for the Depart-
ment of Transport said on Sunday that every effort would be made before Thursday to encourage fur-
FUTURE graduates could face tuition loans of between €12,000 and €20,000 which they would begin to repay once their earnings reached a certain threshold. In a report received by the Department of Education on how a loan contingent scheme could operate in Ireland, the €3,000 student contribution would be abolished. This would make third level education free at point of access. The report also mentions possible sanctions on graduates who plan to emigrate. They would be required to pay a minimum of €1,000 a year while abroad with suggestions of tax agreements with other countries like the UK, the US and Australia so debtors could pay off their loan to the Revenue in the same way as if they were still living in Ireland. The report gives three possible schemes with all three involving an increase in state funding and an improved grant and support system. The first would see the state; fund sixty per cent of higher education. Under the second proposal the €3000 contribution fee would be abolished and higher education would be mostly state funded. The final option would see the state contributing eighty per cent toCredit: Ciara Tamay del Grosso Bates wards the cost. The report acknowledged that while this option would ther talks between Luas drivers and be the easiest option, it could be management in a bid to avert the unfair to those citizens who do not receive third level education. planned stoppage.
Another brick in the wall; increase in CAO construction applications Aoife Geary News Reporter @thecollegeview
THE number of CAO applications to construction related courses is up by 16.2 per cent, suggesting a confidence in the economic recovery among school leavers. Figures from the CAO show applications are up 2.2 per cent from last year, with the biggest percentage increase being in built environment courses such as civil engineering and building surveying. Applications to architecture courses have increased by 14 per cent from 2015. Business/administration and law applications are also on the up while applications to science courses are practically unchanged, up from 53,353 applicants to 53,355. Arts and Social Science remains the largest category in terms of demand for places but has seen a decrease in applicants for the second consecutive year.
Credit: Shuttershock
While nursing applications Other healthcare courshave seen the third biggest in- es have also seen a decline of crease of any course, up by 10.75 3.27 per cent since last year. per cent, applications to medicine This category includes prohave decreased by .6 per cent. grammes such as speech and
language therapy, optometry and human nutrition. Education courses remain a popular choice and are up 2.16 per cent.
Agriculture and horticulture courses show the biggest drop in demand with applications down almost 25 per cent from last year. Overall, applicants to level 8 courses have risen by 1,900 where level 6/7 applicants have dropped by 640. Male applicants have increased by 516 and female applicants have increased by 1,141 since last year. Careersportal.ie says students can expect that courses which have shown significant growth in demand will also see a jump in points required, due to increased competition for places. Similarly, courses which have fallen in demand may see a drop in the required points. The final number of applications is expected to be slightly higher as leaving certificate students have until May 1st to submit their preferences. Figures may also change as students use the “change of mind” facility which allows them to alter their course choices up to July 1st.
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News
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News
The time of your life; Green Day musical set for DCU Fionnuala Jones Arts Editor @tFinstewlaJay
DCU Drama Society will hold their annual musical next week over three nights, with this year’s being a new musical based off the music of Green Day. Green Day’s ‘American Idiot The Musical’ follows the journey of three best friends, Johnny, Will and Tunny, as they desperately try to find meaning in their lives. Set post-9/11 in Jingletown, USA; a new generation is rising up against the mindless, TV-saturated world they live in. This is the first Irish amateur production of the show. Speaking to The College View, director Colin Hughes says the show is “a very different kind of musical. “Obviously American Idiot is a very new show, so it’s exciting doing it. It’s shaping up really well and rehearsals are going great. It’s definitely someone people should get to see.” Lauryn Gaffney, a former St.
Pat’s student and member of DCU Drama, acts as musical director for the show, after the success of her original musical, Big Shot. “Everybody in the show adds something to different to the
show. The music is exceptional, and the direction is so original and new,” she said. Chairperson of the Drama Society, Aoife Ryan, explained why the committee chose American
Idiot as their musical this year. “It’s such a charged show, and it is such a good show for students. Rights only became available at the beginning of 2015, so we hopped on that and got them
Credit: DCU Drama
over the summer to make sure we were the first production.” American Idiot plays March 29th, 30th and 31st in The Helix. Tickets are available from The Helix box office and online.
Free education NUIG staff recount culture of ‘misogyny’ and is viable at ‘bullying’ in workplace third level-USI Emer Handly News Reporter @thecollegeview
FREE education is a viable option at third level, according to the Union of Students in Ireland. The USI has stated that politicians can no longer pretend free third level education is not viable. “We always thought it was viable and campaigned as such. The difference we’re pointing to this time is that the Cassells’ group report has included state funded education as one of three options available to the next government,” said Kevin Donoghue, USI President. Many politicians have claimed that free third level education would be great if it was viable.
Paul Dwyer Deputy News Editor @thecollegeview
“Sweden can do it, Germany can do it and now the Cassells’ report is saying we can do it. The writing is on the walls and in the paper – free education is a viable option and not the pipe dream so many people would make it out to be,” said Donoghue. The USI is calling on political groups to ensure a move for free third level education is incorporated in programme for the next government. “Considering our reliance on a highly educated work force for economic growth, the value it brings in a social and economic sense, and the opportunities it creates where there otherwise might be none it is crucial that we secure investment in the sector now,” said Donoghue.
AN internal survey carried out by NUI Galway has shown that a number of female full time and part time employees were subjected to bullying and misogyny in the workplace. Almost 1,000 part-time and full-time academic, research and support services staff at NUIG were surveyed as part of its application for the Athena SWAN bronze award last year, a prestigious award given for equality achieved by universities, which the university subsequently failed to win. Survey asked whether the staff members agreed or disagreed with 12 questions relating to workplace questions at NUIG, and participants were encouraged to give their views on the relevant themes in comment sections below the questions. Almost three-quarters of female respondents disagreed that women and men were equally visible in leadership roles in NUIG, while a quarter of females and almost one-in-five males disagreed that they were confident their head of unit would appropriately manage complaints about gender harassment or bullying.
Credit: NUIG
When asked if staff were treated equally irrespective of gender, 59 per cent of female respondents disagreed. This fell to 37 per cent of male respondents, and the majority of participants from both genders disagreed that the ethos of the university was one that supports equality of opportunity. The authors state that of the 146 comments provided regarding workplace culture the majority were critical, saying “the culture was generally regarded as not being supportive of equality of opportunity”. Excerpts of comments were also provided, where mostly female respondents described gender discrimination and others lamented a “culture of sexism” and “cronyism”. One female respondent said, “When I started in college I was hugely proud of the university; in the last
few years I have been totally embarrassed by the goings on here.” Gender equality has been a headline issue at NUIG since a 2014 Equality Tribunal ruling found that Dr Micheline Sheehy Skeffington had been discriminated against in being passed over for promotion by the university. Members of staff have held protests against the alleged failings in NUIG’s gender equality policy over the intervening period, and the university has since set up a task force to look at the issue. In addition, it recently appointed Prof Anne Scott to the newly-created role of vice-president for equality and diversity. The results of the questionnaire have been published as part of a report on the university’s website.
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Opinion 9
Europe, don’t turn your back on refugees now
With crisis talks in place to resolve the refugee crisis, Opinions Editor, Lisa O’Donnell discusses why Europe cannot outsource the problem.
Credit: incamerastock
LAST September, the world was horrified when images emerged showing the body of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi washed up on a beach in Southern Turkey. While we had been fully aware of the thousands of Syrian people flocking to Europe for some time, the publication of this photo sparked something amongst the public. IN him, we saw our son, our brother, our nephew. The death of this little boy finally gave the world the wake-up call that it desperately needed, as we finally began to view the refugee crisis as the humanitarian emergency that it is. Flash forward to six months later. This initial sympathy and support has long dried up, along with the empathic Facebook posts, cries of support, and pledges to give a refugee a bed. Not only have these powerful statements of support for migrants largely declined, but has, in many cases, transformed into hatred, with anti-refugee parties such as Alternative fur Deutschland in Germany gaining popularity over the past few months. Closer to home, anti-Islam group Pegida have gained enough followers in Ireland to recently launch a branch of their organisation here. The public are fickle, and while many people have grown tired of the issue, as they eventually do with many major news stories, this crisis is as alarming as it was when everyone jumped on the sympathy bandwagon last summer.
We are less than three months into 2016, and already more than 135,000 refugees have arrived in Europe. By February of this year, 409 people failed to complete their journey to European shores, drowning in the Mediterranean. While the crisis continues to unfold and more lives are lost, European leaders continue to hold drawn out talks and debates over which nations should accept responsibility for the migrants. The most recent of these solutions was the closing of the Balkan corridor, meaning that the borders of Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia are now shut to refugees. During an EU summit in Brussles, Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu suggested a controversial solution that has appealed to many leaders. Under the proposal, all migrants arriving to Greece will immediately be sent to Turkey. For every person sent back, the EU will accept a refugee, while those returned to Turkey will go to the back of the asylum queue. However, there is a catch, as Turkey are seeking heavy concessions in return, demanding that steps be taken towards the nation becoming a member of the EU. This suggestion has many flaws. Firstly, it is illegal, as the mass expulsion of foreigners is prohibited under the European Convention of Human Rights. Secondly, international rights groups have spoken against the plan, stating that refugees in
“ We finally began to view the refugee crisis as the humanitarian emergency that it is
Turkey are living in unsuitable conditions, and some have even been forcibly sent back to Syria. The fact that this plan is being viewed as a solution to the crisis, along with the closing of the Balkan corridor, shows that Europe is now willing to do anything to outsource this problem. They are willing to take any action to divert this problem from Europe, because refugees have quickly become too much of a load on the great nations of the continent. They are quick to use the defence that they are merely sharing this burden with Turkey, but this plans sounds as though they are trying to shift the burden completely. I am not suggesting that Europe opens its borders and immediately takes in every refugee arriving on its shores without question. To believe that this is a valid solution would be naïve, as accepting such an overwhelming number of migrants presents many obstacles. Where are they going to live? How are nations, some of which are already struggling financially, going to fund the arrival of tens of thousands of new citizens? Plus, the fact that the migrants are from a radically different culture to Europe means that integration will be a slow process, and one that should not be treated delicately. However, this does not excuse the state of limbo that has been forced upon the thousands of refugees who are living in slums such as the infamous Calais ‘Jungle’, a
refugee camp in Northern France which has existed in various forms since 2002, but has grown rapidly in the past two years. The camp, which inhabits 5,500 thousand people, is now being partly bulldozed by the French authorities. The dismantling of the camp has sparked uproar amongst residents, with many sewing their lips closed in protest. As long as there is a delay in creating a plan to manage the situation, this catastrophe is generating even more dangerous activity. Criminal gang are making a huge financial gain through trafficking, while in order to survive, female refugees are forced into the sex trade. Meanwhile, Europe continues to procrastinate. It would be so much easier to stand by the side line and watch as this chaos steadily gets worse. But it is time to accept that while there is no simple solution, swiftly pushing the problem on to other countries is not going to solve anything, and is most certainly not in the best interests of the people who turned to Europe when their lives were in danger. It’s time for both the leaders and citizens of Europe to face this humanitarian challenge with the same compassion we showed when we first saw those images of Alan Kurdi. The time for procrastination has passed – we now finally need to act.
THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
10 Opinion
Lone traveller – Would the fear get in your way?
Travelling alone often poses many dangers, especially for women, but Sarah Magliocco explains why the risk will never prevent her satisfying her wanderlust. TRAVELLING the world is the stuff of dreams. Just about every person has at some point envisioned what their perfect getaway would look like, or compiled a bucket-list of places to see before they die. Some people, like Natasha Murtagh, chose to combine their work aspirations with their wanderlust, and set out on a journey of worldly and self exploration. However, as a woman travelling alone, she faced muggings, assaults and attempted rape, which she detailed in an article in the Irish Times. As a woman, I can completely relate to Natasha’s experiences. I travelled to Spain last summer to work in the very glamorous promo girl trade, plying drinks and clubs to tourists. While I originally set out with a friend, two became one early on and I was soon working alone with complete strangers in a country I barely knew. Working in the tourism trade is difficult enough, but adding alcohol to the situation made for a distasteful medley of groping, where sweaty young fellas out for a good night thought that I, along with the drinks, was fully up for grabs. Every single one of the wom-
en I worked with faced some level of sexual assault while working as promo girls, and we were expected to smile and accept it as part of the lads holiday culture, be that crude remarks about our bodies or having men attempt to drag us down alleyways and demand sexual acts from us. Luckily, we were looked after by our club’s security, and these situations never escalated very far, but the experience of being forced down a side street and having a man attempt to choke me with his bare hands after I told him where to go will certainly stay with me forever. While victims of rape and sexual assault are almost always female, along with women being 60 per cent more likely to experience criminal harassment, these statistics and stories cannot scare women away from travelling alone. These statistics are from the UK, and these facts are probably as true for a woman walking out of her front door in Dublin City or strolling down a country lane in Guatemala. You don’t have to travel far to be the victim of sexual harassment. Just head down to Coppers and see how many times your ass gets grabbed by sleazy nineteen year olds, just out for the ride.
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You don’t have to travel far to be the victim of sexual harassment
Credit: Getty Images
Women cannot let the fear of bad people and experiences hold them back from unforgettable, once in a lifetime adventures. The world is always a hybrid of danger and beauty, and positive and negative experiences, and it is the bold endeavours which make life worth living. Natasha Murtagh finished her
article by saying that “there are more good people out there than bad; you just have to watch out for the bad ones,” and that is how I will finish mine, along with saying that travelling alone is one of the most poignant and memorable experiences a person can have, so go for it girls.
It’s time to stop complaining and just accept water charges With water charges at the centre of discussions surrounding the formation of a new government, Aoibheann Diver asks if the nation is putting too much of a focus on the issue. A few weeks ago, I joined the audience of Claire Byrne Live in RTÉ with a few of my friends. When I got the email informing me that water charges was one of the topics up for discussion, I immediately rolled my eyes and thought, “here we go again”.
For some weeks, the election took over the Irish media and water charges were (almost) forgotten about. Now that GE16 is over and the politicians are arguing amongst themselves about who is going to take charge of
Credit: Michelle Martin
the country, people are complaining about water again. We Irish are great at whinging. There are people who paid their water bills and continue to do so, people who paid initially but have since changed their minds and want their money back, and there are people who have continually refused to pay. Some are saying we have the lowest charge for water in Europe, while others are saying the opposite. Some people blame the government, and others are blaming Irish Water. It seems like nobody has a clue what is going on, and we are all just jumping on whatever bandwagon we see fit. In 2014, everyone suddenly became obsessed with water. So much so that there were protests about it all around the country. When water charges were first mentioned, there was absolute mayhem. People stressed about having to give away more of their precious money, and we students wondered if we were going to have to start paying for a glass of water in pubs. No matter how much of it is around us, water is actually a luxury. There are people in the world who have to walk long distances just to get a lit-
“ No matter
how much of it is around us, water is actually a luxury
tle drop of water, which can be filthy. Yet we are complaining about a charge on the clean water we have such easy access to. Of course there are places around the country where the water isn’t as clean as it should be. But where do we expect to get the money from, to improve that water? Now obviously Irish Water was a bit of a disaster, there’s no denying that. But it’s a work in progress. Rome wasn’t built in a day. A better idea may have been to introduce a fixed rate for each household, or to create a tax that will incorporate a number of things: water, refuse and sewerage, for example. But the way the government introduced water charges was just unstable and messy. Yes, it may be easy for me to say all of this because I am still a student and have never had to pay for water. But I still don’t think water should be free. We’re not the only country in the world that decided water should be paid for. I think it is about time to stop giving out about the water tax and just accept that it can no longer be free. The tampon tax in the UK, however, is one to complain about.
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THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
Gaeilge 11
Ag Rith ar son na Gaeilge
e n r l t t r
Credit: Cumann Gaelach Facebook
Caoimhe Ní Chathail Scríbhneoir @thecollegeview
“ORÓ Sé Do Bheatha ‘Bhaile…” focla an Phiarsaigh ag ardú i dtreo na scamall ar lá breá gréine i lár príomh-chearnóg Choláiste na Trionóide agus Seo Linn ag canadh. Sin an áit ar tháinig deireadh le Rith 2016. Áit nár éirigh le lucht an Phiarsaigh fáil isteach ann i mí Aibreán 1916 ach áit ar chruinnigh na Gaeil ar an 14 Márta chun ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar chríoch Rith 2016 agus ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar an Ghaeilge. Tá atmaisféar agus fuinneamh ar leith ag baint leis an Ghaeilge agus ag baint le pobal na Gaeilge. Cén dream eile sa tír seo a dhéanfadh cinneadh rith fríd 32 chondae na tíre in 11 lá ar son na cúise? Tá tréith ar leith ag baint leis an Ghaeilge agus sin an chomrádaíocht atá le braith uaithi. Is pobal láidir muid. Níor chaith mise ach an lá deireanach de Rith 2016 leis an ghrúpa ach chuir an t-am ar chaith mé leo gliondar ar mo chroí. Thosaigh mé ar an rith isteach go lár
na cathrach leo ó Bhaile Munna agus Cumann Gaelach Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath liom. Shoilsigh an grian aníos orainn agus muid ag rith linn fríd bóithre Thaobh Ó Thuaidh. Tháinig scoil indiadh scoil ar bord linn gach ciliméadar. Chuir achan scoil úr le hatmaisféar spreagthach gach ciliméadar agus na páistí ag caitheamh a ndúthracht leis. Bhí achan pháiste dírithe ar an dúshlán rompu; a bheith ag rith ar son na Gaeilge fríd sráideanna na tíre agus a bheith mar an reathaí is gasta más rud é go raibh an cumas sin nó fiú an dúil sin acu! Chuir na páistí fuinneamh athnuaite faoi na daoine fásta ar fhoireann Rith gach uair fosta. Cinnte nach amháin an Ghaeilge a spreag foireann Rith ach na daoine a bhí sásta teacht amach agus rith ar son na Gaeilge chomh maith. “Éiríonn na laethanta fada nuair a thagann an tuirse chun cinn, ach is cuma faoi sin nuair a thagann dream amach chun reatha agus bíonn meangadh mór gáire orthu, póstaeirí lámhdhéanta acu, amhrán foghlamtha go speisialta acu nó a leithéid. “a deir Bairbre Ní Chonchúir, ó fhoireann Rith 2016. “Tuigeann tú gur fiú an
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Nior chaith mise lach an lá deireanach de Rith 2016 leis an ghrúpa ach chuir an t-amar chaith mé leo gliondar ar mo chroí
ciliméadar sin a thugann ardú meanman duit agus na haigheanna úra os do chomhair amach lán le fuinneamh agus sceitimíní. Is pribhléid í é sin a fheiceáil arís is arís eile lá i ndiaidh lae agus muid go léir ar an mbóthar toisc go gcreideann muid sa Ghaeilge, a tábhacht, a todhchaí... ár dtodhchaí, ár dteanga.” a deir sí. Is iad na páistí seo leis an fhuinneamh ar fad agus iad i mbun Rith 2016 a bheidh mar an chéad ghlúin eile de Ghaeilgeoirí na tíre. Iadsan a bheidh ag caomhnú agus ag cur chun cinn na Gaeilge sa todhchaí. Déanann imeachtaí ar nós Rith iarracht an todhchaí sin a dhéanamh níos dóchasaí dóibh. Éireoidh go maith leis an Ghaeilge má choinníonn pobal na Gaeilge ag tacú léi. Níl aon dabht agam ach go gcoinneoidh. Tá paisean dochreidte ag baint leis an Ghaeilge agus meon tacúil ag beagnach gach duine a labhraíonn í. Ní bhíonn muid ag gearán i gcónaí, cé gur sin tuairim choiteann. Den chuid is mó, bíonn muid ag ceiliúradh na Gaeilge, ag cur chun cinn a beocht, a spiorad agus a hoidhreacht. Tá muid fíor-bhródúil aisti. Sampla den bhród sin nó Rith 2016. Measaim nach ra-
ibh eispéireas chomh mothálach agam riamh agus a bhí agus muid ag rith síos Shráid Uí Chonaill ar lá deireanach Rith. Agus muid ag comóradh 100 bliain ó tharla Éirí Amach na Cásca 1916, tá éifeacht agus tábhacht ar leith ag baint le tada a chuireann chun cinn na féiniúlachta measaim. Ag rith síos Shráid Uí Chonaill, chuaigh muid thar Ard Oifig an Phoist. Is foirgneamh é lán siombalachais, go háirithe in 2016. Bhí ardú croí agam agus muid ag canadh agus ag scairteadh ar son na Gaeilge agus muid ag rith trasna an áit ar fhógair siad Poblacht na hÉireann lán féiniúlachta. Ag rith ar son na cúise a bhí muintir Rith 2016. Don chéad uair riamh, rith siad fríd 32 chondae na tíre. Chonaic muintir an oileáin ar fad iad ag rith ar son na Gaeilge. Chonaic muintir an oileáin ar fad go bhfuil paisean, fuinneamh agus neart ag baint leis an Ghaeilge.Is léiriú infheicthe é Rith 2016 don tír. Léiriú go bhfuil beocht, fuinneamh agus tábhacht ag baint le pobal na Gaeilge agus an teanga féin go fóill. Léiriú go bhfuil glúin eile leis an Ghaeilge ag teacht inár ndiaidh agus go mbeidh muid ag rith go deo ar son na Gaeilge.
THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
12 Gaeilge
Féilte na Samhraidh - tá an comhaireamh síos tosaithe
Credit: allevents.in Ali Spillane Scríbhneoir @thecollegeview
LE cúpla seachtain anuas foilsíodh an chéad sceideal don Phicnic Leictreach agus fógraíodh go raibh na ticéid go léir díolta don fhéile samhraidh bhliantúil. Má bhí an t-ádh ort ticéad a fháil, is dócha go bhfuil tú an-sásta leis an chéad sceideal. Tá meascán deas ann chun gach duine a shásamh, le Lana Del Ray, Chemical Brothers, Years & Years agus Gavin James i measc na hainmneacha is cáiliúla ann. Anois, le tús curtha leis an gcomhaireamh síos don chéad deireadh seachtaine i mí Meán Fómhair, tá an t-ullmhúchán faoi lán seoil. Tá pubaill
nó lóistín le heagrú, éadaí le pleanáil agus deoch le ceannach. Mura bhfuil ticéad faighte agat don fhéile i gContae Laoise ná bí éadóchasach. Tá neart féilte eile ar siúl i mbliana. Tá an féile úrnua cheoil agus chultúr Gaelach- Ravelóid ar siúl idir an 10-12 de mhí an Mheithimh. Beidh Dolerentos, Seo Linn, The Riptide Movement agus Kíla ag seinm i gCaisleán Ard Giolláin BÁC le linn an deireadh seachtaine Níl ach €99 don ticéad deireadh seachtaine. Chomh maith le sin tá féilte níos lú cosúil le Forbidden Fruit, Life Festival, Body & Soul, Sea Sessions agus Longitude ar siúl. Tá Longitude ar ais arís i mbliana i bPáirc Mharlaí. Tá an fhéile seo oiriúnach le haghaidh daoine nach dtait-
níonn an champáil leo - ní féidir campáil ann agus mar sin, bíonn ar dhaoine lóistín áitiúil a fháil. Is féidir ticéad laethúil a cheannach chomh maith. Tá Kendrick Lamar, Major Lazer agus the National mar ceannlínte ann. Tá Body and Soul i mBaile an Locha Contae an Iarmhí iontach ó thaobh naww healaíona agus an chultúr de. Is deireadh seachtaine draíochtúil é i mí an Mheithimh chomh maith. Bíonn blas beag den Body and Soul le brath ag an bPicnic Leictreach chomh maith. Mura bhfuil an t-airgead agat ticéad a cheannach ná déan dearmad gur féidir leat obair dheonach a dhéanamh ann. Is féile difriúl é Sea Sessions os rud go bhfuil sé suite ar an trá i mBun Dobhráin. Tá Tinie Tempah agus Primal Scream i
measc na mórainmneacha atá ag seinm ann i mbliana. Is ar an bPáirc CLG atá an t-ionad campála oifigiúil. Má tá tú i do bhall de banna ceoil atá ag iarraidh a bheith cáiliúil, is iad na Unsigned Sesions ar an Satharn agus an Domhnach an deis is fearr an aidhm sin a bhaint amach! Tá comóradh 10 mbliana á cheiliúradh ag Castlepalooza i gCaisleáin Baile Fearainn an samhradh seo. Beidh Caribou, Villagers, Jurassic 5 agus Cat Power i dTulach Mhór idir an 1ú agus an 3ú lá Iúil. Bíonn atmaisféar réchúiseach deas le brath timpeall na háite le linn na féile. Tá sé mar ceann de na suíomhanna fhéile is áille in Éirinn. Beidh Bell X1, The Kooks, The Strypes agus Hudson Taylor ag seinm ag Indiependence
i gCorcaigh. Tá tús curtha le feachtas Festi Huts i mbliana nó ‘glamping’, mar a deirtear. Beidh cith agus leithreas ann agus gan an bhrú sin ort puball a cur in airde chomh maith. Uaireanta, bíonn costais ollmhór ag baint le féilte ceoil. Chun é a dhéanamh níos éasca ar do phóca, bí cinnte go dtosaíonn tú ag pleanáil go luath. Bíonn pubaill agus cathaoireacha ar díol ar phraghasanna ísle i Lidl nó Aldi ó am go ham. Má tá tú ag dul thar lear nó fiú cara atá ag dul déan cinnte go gceannaíonn tú do chuid deoch san aerfort nó thar sáile, áiteanna ina bhfuil sé i bhfad níos saoire. Agus cuir do chuid airgéad i dtaisce le linn an tsamhraidh chun é a dhéanamh níos éasca nuair a thagann an t-am!
Bhí foireann a chumasú ann le múnla trasinscneach Andreja Pejic, gníomhaíoch dearfachta Ashley Graham, múnla íocónach sna seachtóidí Pat Cleveland atá 65 bliain d’aois agus a hiníon Anna Cleveland. Chomh maith le sin, bhí na mainicíní móra Jourdan Dunn, Devon Windsor, Taylor Hill, Freja Bhea Erichsen, Natasha Poly agus Amber Valleta in éineacht leo agus an dream go léir á gcreimeadh gach norm rúidbhealach. ‘Mhothaigh sé nádúrtha dúinne chun múnlú ilghnéitheacha a bheith againn, meabhraíonn sé na luachanna, na chomhghleacaithe agus na custaiméirí atá againne’ Ann-Sophie Johansson, an stiúrthóir cruthaitheach H&M. Is iomaí teach faisin éagsúla ann a bhfuil drogall orthu chun múnla gorma ann, ach tá H&M Studio ann a chur mainicíní trasghnéasacha, ‘mórthomhais’ agus thar 50 bliain d’aois san áireamh. ‘Theastaigh uainn neart na mban agus áilleacht an meon neamhspleách le brath, agus bhí sé tábhachtach dúinne é a fháscadh agus mná cumasacha a nochtadh ar an ardán taispeána, tríd meán na héagsúlachta agus eitneacha’ Thar aon rud eile, bhí teachtaireacht bhunúsach a bhí iarradh ar dhaoine teacht air. Foireann
a raibh gach uile aois agus méid san áireamh. Cinnte, is inmholta an beart seo toisc go bhfuil láithreacht dhomhanda ag baint le H&M agus iad a chur in iúl go baclainn iad le daoine de gach saghas. Bean, a nochtann nach bhfuil aois ach uimhir agus gur amaitéaraigh iad Gigi Hadid is Kendall Jenner ná Iris Apfel, íocón na seachtaine. Dearthóir intí 94 bliain d’aois a bhí i bPáras chun a taispeántas ‘Iris in Paris’ agus siopa pop up ag a lainseáil. Bhí sí i gcomharbas cathrach an tsolais, sraith thosaigh ag Dries Van Noten, ag breith air Karl Lagerfield is ag ól cocktail leis an
taidhleoir Fraincis Jane D.Hartley. ‘Bainigí triail as rudaí nua. Ná lig d’aois agus d’uimhreacha thú a scanrú. Tá ort d’aoibhneas féin a aimsiú, is a bheith is bunúla is féidir, nach dtéann leis an tréad.’ Ní féidir a shéanadh nach raibh na dearthóirí i mullach na seiteanna. Tháinig Jonathon Anderson ag Loewe claochlú ar cheanncheathrú na Náisiún Aontaithe go seomra suite teolaí compordach lán le healaín agus troscáin lár aoise. Bhí gach uile duine gafa leis an seit seo agus mothú go raibh siad croí lár seomra suite bailitheoir ealaíne. Na cathaoireacha seó a raibh ina
ciúbanna le brat óir orthu, cearnóga marmaracha agus boscaí follasacha lán le hacraí tí mar rásúir phlaisteacha agus Brillo Pads. Aisteach, neamhchoitianta, corr agus éalárnach, gach rud ina phraiseach ach a thaitin le chuile dhuine ann. Nuair a thuirling Coach i bPáras chun bhur siopa flagship a lainseáil, thóg siad prom Meiriceánach leo chomh maith. Cóisiúr High School curtha I gcríoch le balúin, liathróid dioscó, boird pheile agus ar ndóigh, babhláil punch. Agus mar, coróin ar cheann an Prom Queen, bhí aoi ceoil ann, Debbie Harry mar is fear aithne uirthi ná Blondie.
An tSeachtain Fhaisin Parás is Cumhachtaí Riamh Hannah Sullivan Scríbhneoir @thecollegeview
EASCRAÍTEAR faoi dhó gach bliain, ag lonrú dhorchadas na cathracha a thiteann sí air. Músclaíonn sí fuinneamh is spiorad i measc lucht na cathracha. Tugann sí seans do daoine teacht le chéile, le rud amháin acu go léir - grá an fhaisin. Seachtain Fhaisin I bPáras, nuair a éiríonn na sráideanna Párasach ina rúidbhealach féin. Is baolach gurbh é an tseachtain faisean i mbliana an tseachtain is mó tionchar a bhí riamh. Bhí Jaden Smith ag Louis Vuitton ag caitheamh éadaí ban. É ag glacadh páirt i ngluaiseacht Gender Fluid, ag cur in iúl go bhfuil laethanta heitrearnormatacha ar an dé deiridh. An lá roimhe, d’fhógair Zara go mbeidh siad chun líne faisean inscne neodrach a chur ar fáil agus bhí Jaden ina suí sraith thosaigh ag caitheamh a seaicéad ón mbailiúchán ban. Níl aon ionadh an dealramh seo, toisc go raibh sé roghnaithe ag stiúrthóir cruthaitheach Nicolas Ghesquière féin chun a bheith i bhfeachtas LV Earrach/Samhradh. Bhris daoine i mbun caibidle de réir an tseó H&M Studio, a léirigh rúidbhealach éagsúlachta.
Credit: aulifestyle.yahoo.com
Credit: Alan Pace Fushion Shooters
THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
Features 13
Don’t blame yourself if your counsellor doesn’t suit your needs
Are too many people missing out on vital help due to a mismatched service?
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Credit: www.studentpund.au.com
Megan Roantree Features Editor @MeganRoantree
ATTENDING counselling is one of the bravest and most honest things that a person in need can do for themselves, and for the people around them. The agreement of going can be followed up by regret, dread, fear and a huge mixture of other emotions due to the vulnerability of laying yourself bare to a professional stranger. Going to counselling might feel wrong or scary initially. You may even dread going to your first few sessions, but for the majority of people the fear eases of and the attendee realises that it is of huge benefit to their mental health. But for some people that discomfort doesn’t wear off, and if it does still bother the person being counselled after two or three sessions, it is important to look at whether your you and your counsellor are a good match. There is a huge amount of support out there for people with mental health issues or those
who need to deal with grief. Due to high demand, budget cuts and lack of staff to facilitate the demand, people are seldom asked if the counsellor they have been matched with, after being on a waiting list for months, actually suits them. The biggest problem with the idea of you and the person counselling you not being right for each other is that you are already vulnerable. You may be suffering from a combination of low self-esteem, depression, anxiety and often full of self loath or anger. Sitting in a room with a professional helper that doesn’t seem to ‘get you’ can often make those seeking help feel even more down, anxious and self-doubting, because you might blame yourself. You might think that, if a professional can’t help you, you must be a hopeless case. This is never the case, every person can benefit from counselling but what people never tell you before you attend is that maybe your counsellor just won’t be right for you. This is no one’s fault, but it is something that can be fixed. Your counsellor has most likely heard things that no one
“ People never tell you before you attend is that maybe your counsellor just won’t be right for you
else has heard people say, so you telling them your relationship isn’t quite right won’t have a huge affect on their life, but it could make a big difference in yours. Throughout my life I have attended counselling, due to several deaths among my close friends and family, mental health problems and anxiety. I have spoken to numerous different people about the issues I felt only counselling could help with. Among all those people, I have had an experience where I felt as though my counsellor underestimated my intelligence, patronised me and I never quite felt comfortable in her office. This was not due to her lack of qualifications or her not being a capable worker, looking back now if anything she was just trying to treat me like a young person. I was being faced with very grown up issues and she was trying to treat me like the other people my age were being treated. It probably would have worked on many young people whose dad had just died, but it didn’t work for me. Other counsellors have annoyed me by taking notes instead of listening to me, or saying things
in a way that I didn’t like, but none of these things are a fault on their part, rather a conflict of personalities. A brief chat at the end of a counselling session could make all the difference, a simply phrased question ‘did you feel supported during our chat?’ ‘was their anything I said or did that you didn’t like’ or ‘do you think these sessions are helping?’. Counsellors have heard it all. They have been built up and trained, but no amount of books, training or even time working in the field can force two people to work well together in a small room in which one of them shares their deepest or saddest thoughts. I truly believe more counsellors should take the time at the end of a session to ask people whether it is working, and people should feel more comfortable in changing counsellors or meeting them for a trial run before deciding on who they are going open their hearts up to on a regular basis. I believe these measures, these simple questions, could help save someone’s life.
THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
14 Features
Inspirations: Teresa Lynn
Áine Monk Gaeilge Editor @thecollegeview
SELDOM do I stumble upon an individual who inspires me to work hard in my areas of interest; Irish and technology. Then again, seldom do I meet someone like Teresa Lynn. Purely by chance, I met Teresa whilst on an internship in the ADAPT Centre in DCU last summer. Teresa, a former student of Sacred Heart School, Drogheda, and graduate of DCU, recently completed her PhD in Computational Linguistics. She worked in the areas of technology, project management, machine translation and language technology after receiving her undergraduate degree in in Applied Computational Linguistics in DCU in 2002. As a “returned-Gaelgeoir”, she has a great interest in Irish, consistently putting great emphasis on the language within her work. Her PhD included the development of the Irish Dependency Treebank and the first statistical parser for Irish text.
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As a “returned-Gaelgeoir”, she has a great interest in Irish, consistently putting great emphasis on the language within her work
What prompted me to write about her was my recent viewing of the recording of her TEDxTalk. The talk itself took place in February, where Lynn detailed the manner in which “social media breathes life into minority languages.” In particular she highlighted the Irish language as she described the
research she did on the use of Irish on Twitter while on a Fulbright Scholarship to St. Louis University in the US. This aided the decision I had to make in relation to the topic of my undergraduate thesis, which will not be half as interesting or engaging as Teresa’s presentation. Teresa has also demonstrated that working with the Irish language is not limited only to those who are native speakers. There are areas of language technology that only require specific skills in a language - in this case Teresa applied her knowledge of syntax and grammar to developing a tool that can analyse the linguistic structure of an Irish sentence. Like many Irish people, Teresa did not use her language after Leaving Cert until she moved to Australia in 2007. In Melbourne she joined the Cumann Gaeilge na hAstráile which enabled her to build up her confidence in spoken Irish in a relaxed, non-pressured environment. It was after this return to the linguistic community she decided to apply her technology skills to the preservation of the language and pursue her PhD - which was jointly awarded by Macquarie University in Sydney and Dublin City University. Teresa is also the co-founder of
Credit: twitter.com
the Celtic Language Technology Workshop - an academic forum where researchers on language technology for Celtic languages can meet, collaborate and share knowledge. She also collaborates with the wider community of international researchers in minority and less-resourced
languages. Teresa is a true inspiration, working hard to keep a minority language alive through technology and the development of new ideas. She really is someone to look up to, and her achievements can surely be viewed as aspirations.
Defeat is just another step on McGregor’s Journey He was surprisingly humble in his recent defeat but the MMA fighter has no plans of stopping.
David Clarke Deputy Images Editor @thecollegeview
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McGregor came from nowhere - a
BEHIND all the talk and all the egotistical antics, Conor McGregor emerged from his first UFC defeat with a great deal more integrity than most predicted he would when he was eventually humbled. The brash-talking, fighting pride of Ireland has a way with words, as he declared a type of mental warfare with his opponents before the fight takes place. Usually never afraid to cross the line, McGregor had set himself up for an almighty fall. Instead, his humbled reaction in the aftermath of UFC 196, where Nate Diaz marred his then unblemished record in the UFC was refreshing to see - and was correctly met with praise throughout the sporting world. The legitimacy of MMA as a sport has been widely discussed and questioned in Ireland since Conor McGregor put it on the mainstream map, and that’s probably not going to change. Regardless of what people think of the sport, the Conor McGregor story proves you can do anything when you put your mind to it.
young man with a dream; an aspiration to go somewhere that had never been done before in Ireland His story is nothing short of remarkable. McGregor came from nowhere - he was a young man with a dream; an aspiration to go somewhere that had never been done before in Ireland, and rise to the UFC’s summit. Most would have laughed at him back in 2007 when he decided to pursue a career in MMA. Even his father raised concerns at the time and said that he “knew nothing about the
Credit: theirishtimes.com
career that he could possibly get out of it.” Videos have been surfacing on the internet that were recorded back as early as 2008, with a young McGregor predicting he will be UFC champion one day. Who would have believed back then that it would actually happen? He talks quite a bit, and therefore there’s certainly not a shortage of quotes - but his analogy that it was an obsession with
his craft and carried him to the top and not talent is inspiration in itself, especially when you look at where it got him. McGregor has acquired a huge fan base worldwide, many critics believed that once he lost a fight, he would also lose his fans. But if his last defeat is anything to go by, it would seem that his fans are as determined and proud as the man himself. “This is an obsession. Talent does not exist, we are all equals
as human beings. You could be anyone if you put in the time. You will reach the top, and that’s that. I am not talented, I am obsessed.” His journey will not just inspire a generation of Irish MMA fighters, but anyone who is looking for motivation in any way should look to him. He proved that if you want something bad enough, there’s is nothing stopping it from getting it, nothing but yourself.
The Great Debate
THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
Features 15
“2016 is a time to celebrate and reflect on the Easter Rising ” Does the centenary warrant ongoing celebrations or should we be focusing more on the future?
FOR Catherine Devine Editor-in-Chief @CatherineDevin1
THOSE who say we shouldn’t celebrate the 1916 rising are seriously lacking in Irish pride. Many say that we could put the money to better use, or that it will cause sectarian feuds. However, countries throughout the world celebrate their independence days every year, like the 4th of July or Bastille Day. It’s the first ever centenary celebration for the 1916 rising and we should embrace this once in a lifetime celebration. While we struggle to form a stable government, the 1916 celebrations remind us of a time when we had strong political leaders with visionary ideas, who were willing to die for our freedom. Politicians who strived for greatness not mediocracy, and could work with each other through the toughest times our nation has seen, unlike Micheál Martin and Enda Kenny who can’t seem to put their differences aside to solve anything. Celebrating in 2016, the centenary of the 1916 rising is also important to acknowledge all those who fought and died for our independence. Both men and women such as Pearse and Markievicz alike should be celebrated for their bravery and achievements. We need not forget the atrocities but embrace the events of 1916 and relive one of the greatest stories of our nation, small yet mighty fighting against the British for our independence. Last week, schools and third-level colleges across Ireland celebrated Proclamation Day, commemorating events of Ireland in 1916 and creating a vision for the country in the future. It’s important to teach the children of our nation the struggles and triumphs we faced. But the celebration is not just about history. The programme for the centenary has seven categories; State Ceremonial, Historical Reflection, Cultural Expression, Community Participation, Global and Diaspora, An Teanga Beo, and Youth and Imagination. The number seven reflecting the number of signatories on the 1916 Proclamation. The 1916 celebrations are about so much more than our history,
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Both men and women such as Pearse and Markievicz alike should be celebrated for their bravery and achievements.
they’re about embracing our culture and looking to the future. We’re a country that prides itself in its rich culture, the Irish language, traditional Irish music and the famous Irish writers that romanticised Ireland. It would be almost hypocritical of us to not celebrate such an important date in our history. While some of us engage in singing old rebel songs in the wee hours of the night on the way home from Coppers, the 1916 celebrations are a more tolerant approach to our cultural pride. It comes around every one hundred years and is a celebration of us, our history, culture and future. What’s not to like?
AGAINST Glen Murphy Contributor @MurphyGlenJR
FOR as long as I can remember Irish history has been the confusing, constantly splitting of something and notoriously difficult essay writing subject I was spoon fed in school. With the centenary celebrations of the 1916 Easter Rising just around the corner the subject has naturally been on my mind. My thoughts on the anniversary will differ from most of you reading this. I find it very difficult to care about something that happened 100 years ago. I’ve only read about the actions of ghosts, of those who’s ink in the history books dried off long ago. I can never put myself in the rebels’ shoes. I’ve never heard malicious gun fire and I’ve never seen anyone mortally wounded. The closest I’ve ever felt to the Rising is seeing the bullet marks still visible on the pillars of the GPO on O’Connell Street. Even after all those chapters for the Leaving Cert and documentaries I find it very difficult to feel a great deal towards those who fought for us. I know of no family members who took part in those bloody events and I don’t know of any related events that may have taken place in my hometown of Newbridge, Co. Kildare. Of course ignorance is bliss but the simple fact is I’ve never felt the curiosity to delve any deeper. Of course I don’t believe we should’ve simply rolled over and stayed with the Kingdom. Ireland grew from that day. Through the Civil War and economic depression and through the darkest days of the Troubles, beautiful moments emerged. From Italia ’90 to the Good Friday Agreement there is more than conflict to be proud of. Practically speaking the argument of focusing on the present remains. The cost of the celebrations will undoubtedly add up the hundreds of thousands, most likely millions. The only actual problem I have with the celebrations is the cost. There are numerous more pressing issues within Irish society at present more deserving of the funds. Housing, mental health care and state of Irish Water are more worthy of our attention and finances. It is not that I am not grateful. I do thank them. I do know I can look up at the flags and listen to the speeches gratefully, but a
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There are numerous more pressing issues within Irish society at present more deserving of the funds; Housing, mental health care and state of Irish Water are more worthy of our attention and finances year spent discussing and celebrating the actions of history could have been a year spent working towards the future rather than looking back.
Credit: ambassadordublin.ie
THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
16 Features
University degree holders more likely to get married and have kids
Times are changing, more university graduates are choosing to settle down. Rebecca Lumley Deputy Features Editor @tRebeccaLumley1
COLLEGE students have always been pinned as some of the most progressive in society. Universities attract bright people, who, for the most part, are ambitious and motivated to work. They are places that foster political activism and encourage liberal stances on social issues. Just over a month ago, an overwhelming majority of DCU students voted in favour of the SU taking a prochoice position on abortion. It may come as a surprise then, that highly educated people are re-adopting traditional values. Today, a person with a university degree is more likely to be married than one without. According to the Pew Research Centre, 65 per cent of people
aged 25 or over with university degrees are married, compared to 53 per cent who completed secondary education. These figures are the polar opposite of what was seen in the 1990s. Additionally, it found that degree holders were almost twice as likely to have a marriage lasting twenty years or more than those who did not attend college. The probability of this was calculated based on marital history data in the US. While the study could not definitively pinpoint a reason for this, it did point out that couples who attended college generally married later and were more financially stable. Increasing marriage rates go hand in hand with a second surprising trend affecting graduates; more children. In 1994, 35 per cent of women with a masters or Ph.D. were childless, compared to 20 per cent today. Six in ten have two or more children, up from 51% in ‘94. The number with
three children or more rose by a whole six percentage points. In a nutshell, college grads are having more kids than ever before. Though the figures are clear, it is impossible to pinpoint what is steering educated women, almost counter-intuitively, back to traditional social norms. Perhaps women feel that there are greater services at their disposal to facilitate both parenthood and career progression. This could well be the case in the US or other European countries, but may not stick here given our famously high childcare costs. It has often been argued that this pricey service inhibits women, not helps them. It could also be argued that, despite college students’ generally liberal views, we are influenced by conservative, traditionalist backgrounds. Most people attending University in Ireland come from some sort of advantage and generally conventional childhoods. Given Ireland’s deep Cath-
Credit: Getty Images
olic roots, it is likely that most of our parents are, or were at some point, married, and may have greater influence over our actions than we consciously realise.
Reasons aside, if this trend continues, the average college student could be looking at the prospect of marriage and 2.98 kids in the not so distant future.
“True religion should never produce violence” - Chaplain Orla O’Drioscall talks to Chaplain Philip Mc Kinley about his understanding of religion. Orla OʼDrioscall Contributor @thecollegeview
CHAPLAIN of the Inter Faith Centre DCU, Philip McKinley, doesn’t quite fit the mold or box one might imagine. He is a vibrant 34-year-old with a penchant for coffee and a sincerity and warmth that becomes both infectious and captivating, very quickly. His plan was to study film but a trip to Uganda at the age of 20, while the country was fighting the terror of Joseph Kony the Lord’s Resistance Army, became life altering. A phone call from his mum to say he had enough CAO points to get his college place put his choices into perspective. When he told him mother he planned to study Theology, she said: “Get back here right now, you are mad.” McKinley, who was appointed last November as Chaplain of the Inter Faith Centre at DCU, said understanding religions and not boxing people into categories, is a vital component of progression: “Northern Ireland, is that a religious problem? I would argue that it’s a negative mixing of religion politics, social and culture, you can’t try and say issues in Northern Ireland have nothing to do with religion, its archaic because the evidence is clearly there, an example being
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It’s the little things that catch you out and have you in awe at the realisation that it sounds like something your mum would say
Philip McKinley, Fr Séamus McEntee, Archbishop Michael Jackson, Professor Brian MacCraith and Dr Anne Lodge Credit: Lynn Glanville
the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) whose motto is ‘For God and for Ulster.’” Asking if religion is part of the problem of terrorism, McKinley said it is the wrong way to look at the issue: “I think the question then becomes, if religion is part of a problem and you then have to find what that problem is and it differs in different ways then how can it also be part of the solution.” He questioned how as a society we can address and develop an understanding of what he calls ‘The other’. “We can’t get locked into
caricatures. On the other hand it is naive to say there is not a problem between traditional religious values and western European secular liberalism, there are cultural divides and they express and manifest themselves in different ways, and a very extreme manifestation is something like Charlie Hebdo, with one area of violent radicalised men who claim to be Muslim, versus one very particular expression of freedom of speech,” he said. McKinley is a realist and knows religion has caused violence, but
that true religion should never produce violence as at its core it’s about peace and light. The Inter Faith Centre and the people who occupy it allow the conversation to move across different beliefs in a very real way. “One of the fundamentals of interfaith dialogue is the dialogue of life, we drink coffee together, we play jigsaws or games, its real life people sitting around a table. Every hour in here there are stunning examples of the dialogue of life. Because your attitude is profoundly different once you know ‘the other’,” he said.
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THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
Maxwell reflects on successful first year in charge Aaron Gallagher Deputy Sports Editor @AaronGallagher8
GOOD things come to those who wait. At least that was the case for DCU ladies Gaelic football manager Stephen Maxwell. After waiting three years to get the call up to manage the college he finally made the cut along with assistant Niamh McEvoy to take the reigns in Glasnevin last year. They have overseen a successful first year in charge with their efforts bringing home a Division One league title as well as making the O’Connor Cup finals weekend in Tralee this past week. He had just last year brought the Kildare ladies to the final of the All-Ireland Intermediate Cup on top of winning a Lynch Cup title while at Trinity College before making the move to DCU. Lecturing sports education at Bray Institute of Further Education, he describes teaching as an engaging day-job - but that GAA was always the hobby. This past week saw his side exit the O’Connor Cup at the semi-final
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and by that stage we were chasing the game, but it was already gone.” Distraught DCU bodies littered the field following the final whistle along the scenic mountains of Tralee, as its teams continues to try and match the heights which saw the college win three consecutive O’Connor Cup titles in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Five players will now leave the college without the all elusive O’Connor Cup medal, but manager Maxwell retains that it had still been a successful year for the side. “It was a long journey this year. We started in the last week of September. There were girls who would have lost the O’Connor Cup final last year who were looking for payback and there were a few girls who were in their last year of college who were looking to win something before they leave. But unfortunately the likes of Bríd O’Sullivan, Carol Hegarty, and Michelle Farrell will be leaving DCU without the O’Connor Cup. “The aim from the start of the year from the girls’ point of view was to win the O’Connor Cup. One of our targets from the management side was to win the O’Connor
“I don’t do something unless
I’m committed 100%, I want to be here for the long term
stage, losing to familiar opponents in the form of the University of Limerick by a score of 3-4 to 1-8, with DCU also falling short in last year’s final to UL in a bitterly disappointing defeat. DCU went into the break 0-6 to 1-2 ahead this time around, but ruefully missed scoring opportunities combined with a strong second half showing from UL ended the evening in defeat. “To be honest, after the game on Friday everybody was absolutely gutted,” admits the DCU manager. “We had a great start to the match. After five minutes we were on top. We had three or four wides in the opening five minutes so although we were on top, we didn’t take our chances. “We were pretty happy going in at half-time being a point up. We had created a lot of chances throughout the game but sadly we just didn’t take them. (In) the first five minutes of the second half UL got their second goal but we were still on top. “All of the UL kick-outs were under extreme pressure and we were very happy about that. They struggled to get out of their own half in the first half but in the second half they got the first early goal which knocked our confidence a bit. We struggled to get into the game until the last ten minutes
Cup but obviously we also wanted to win the league title and take it off UL, which we did. “That was a major boost because UL had not lost since November 2013 and DCU were the first team to beat them so we knew beating them was a huge psychological barrier to overcome. We then went on to beat UCD in the league final but maybe UL in the championship this year was a step too far.” Now in the hot-seat he has waited years to call his own, the DCU manager says he is in it for the long haul at the college and explains that preparations for next season had already begun months ago. “Basically I had been looking to manage the team in DCU for the last three years,” he explains. “There’s a committee within the college and unfortunately last year wasn’t my year but they finally said yes this year. “Preparations for next season more or less began in September. I’m working with the Dublin minor girls as well which gives us the opportunity to see the Dublin minor ladies who are doing their Leaving Certificates, as well as all the other inter-county minors. We see the good young players coming through and if they want to come to DCU, the opportunity is there.” His side featured some outstanding highlights throughout
the course of the season, becoming the first side to beat the now former O’Connor Cup holders UL in over two years en route to bringing home the Division One league title versus finalists UCD in Belfield. The manager is keen to add to this year’s accomplishments, taking on board DCU’s longing for O’Connor
Cup glory to bring home the title this time next year. “First thing’s first and that would be to retain the league and then maybe go one step further and make the O’Connor Cup final and lift the trophy next year,” he added. “I don’t do something unless
I’m committed 100%. I want to be here (for the) long-term and that was the aim at the very beginning. I made sure everybody understands that but it’s up to the committee to decide. Up until the very last minute I’ll be doing everything I can for the teams.”
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THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
Sport
DCU women’s Four DCU Mercy players M football team called up to Ireland squad defeated in First Division final
DCU UL
4 6
After extra time
Cormac OʼShea Deputy Sports Editor @CVSports
DCU’S women’s football team was beaten in the Women’s Soccer Colleges Association of Ireland Division 1 final by the University of Limerick on Wednesday, March 16th. UL saw off the Glasnevin college in a thrilling encounter that ended 6-4 after extra time as UL proved too much in the extra period for their opponents in their home ground to lift the First Division title. McKenna Davidson opened the scoring inside the first ten minutes for the Limerick side before doubling their lead on 35 minutes with another well taken goal. An Emma Boyle free kick moments before half-time brought it back to a one-goal game and came at an important time as DCU went in optimistic at the break that they could claw the lead back and go on to win the game. A goal from Katie Hurley inside the first ten minutes of the second half stretched out the lead yet again before Áine Bennett struck DCU’s second a few minutes later. In a close fought game McKenna Davidson of UL was the standout performer and on 63 minutes she got her just rewards scoring UL’s fourth and making sure she went home with the match ball as she completed her treble. The prospect of a comeback looked bleak for DCU at that stage but Grace McAuley Ryan’s
team didn’t give up and when Róisín Cafferty pulled a goal back with just over 70 minutes played they were right back in the tie. DCU continued to push for another goal in the final 15 minutes and with 82 minutes gone Kyla Gillen got her head onto the end of a corner and sent the ball into the net levelling things up with less than ten to play. Both teams pushed for a winner in those final few moments but neither could find the net as the game ended 4-4 after regulation time and headed for extra time. Goals from Cassidy Davis and Claire Keating in the extra period gave UL the win in the end as DCU ran out of steam. The North Dublin side did however have plenty of positives to take from the game, a strong performance from the DCU women contributed greatly to a fantastic game of football. DCU: Shauna O’Brien, Denise Callinan, Joanna Byrne, Fiona Treacy, Kyla Gillen, Kaniesha McKinney, Aoibhinn Webb, Emma Boyle, Sarah Sweeney, Rose McGahan, Áine Bennett. Subs: Aideen Coyle, Natalie Sweeney, Róisín Cafferty, Hayley Moore, Shauna Kendrick, Maria Byrne. Manager: Grace McAuley Ryan. UL: Laura Fitzgerald, Áine O’Connor, Niamh McCormack, Michelle O’Regan, Keara Cormican, Megan Carroll, Katie Hurley, Sarah Ryan, Claire Keating, Cassidy Davis, McKenna Davidson. Subs: Orla Barry, Jennifer Dimos, Laura Mannion, Caroline Gunning, Julie Kelly, Kristen Delcellier, Megan Foley. Fionnuala Toner (light blue) of DCU Mercy will be part of the Ireland squad Credit: Sportsfile
Aidan Geraghty Sports Editor @Aido1895 Four DCU Mercy players have been called up to the Irish national team for the Fédération Internationale de Basketball (FIBA) European Championships for Small Countries. The tournament, to be held in Gibraltar, will run from June 26th to July 3rd, 2016. Ireland has been drawn in Group A alongside Moldova and Wales. Aoife McDermott, Mairéad McNally, Fionnuala Toner and Sarah Woods will represent DCU on Ireland manager Mark Scannell’s squad of 27 players.
This is the first time the national team has competed in this competition, as teams may enter only by invitation from FIBA. The full squad is listed below: Michelle Clarke (Killester) Sinéad Deegan (WIT Wildcats) Gráinne Dwyer (Glanmire) Casey Grace (Glanmire) Cathy Grant (UL Huskies) Sarah Kenny (Glanmire) Caro Lloyd (Meteors) Eimear Máirtín (Meteors) Aoife McDermott (DCU Mercy) Meghan McGuinness (Meteors) Áine McKenna (Glanmire) Mairéad McNally (DCU Mercy) Lauren Murray (NUIG Mystics)
Áine O’Connor (Courtyard Liffey Celtics) Danielle O’Leary (Brunell) Megan O’Leary (Brunell) Orla O’Reilly (CB Bembibre) Stephanie O’Sullivan (Keyano Huskies) Claire Rockall (Glanmire) Helena Rohan (WIT Wildcats) Jessica Scannell (Melbourne Tigers) Clodagh Scannell (Boston University) Emma Sherwood (Killester) Edel Thornton (Quinnipiac University) Hannah Thornton (Killester) Fionnuala Toner (DCU Mercy) Amy Waters (Brunell) Sarah Woods (DCU Mercy)
THE COLLEGE VIEW Wednesday, 23 March, 2016
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McCarthy wins cross country gold in Sligo
The field in the mens cross country intervarsity and David McCarthy representing Ireland (inset) Credit: Sportsfile
Cormac OʼShea Deputy Sports Editor @CVSport
DCU’S David McCarthy won the
University Intervarsity Men’s Cross-Country race in Sligo on Saturday, March 5th as DCU were the overall winners of the competition for the third year in a row. McCarthy won the race comfortably in the end and said he was confident from the off that he could win the race. “I would expect to win a race like that, I’ve been training for a long time,” McCarthy said. “Going into it with the few weeks of training I had done I was feeling good. I did think before the race, ‘I could win this today’,” the 27-yearold added.
Injury The race was McCarthy’s first real outing in over a year having missed most of 2015 through injury as he had stress fractures in his lower back but is happy to be back healthy and running again. Though he was con-
fident, McCarthy admitted that he wasn’t quite sure how the race was going to unfold when he got out there having been out for so long with injury. “I just sat in the middle of the pack at the start and I started working my way up along. I knew by the second last lap I could win it. “I started off on the side of caution because it was quite a mucky course and I think a lot of people underestimate running hard in the muck so I tried to conserve as much energy as possible, the last lap then I just moved on,” McCarthy added. DCU were overall winners of the cross country championships for the third year in a row and McCarthy pinpointed a number of reasons w h y D C U t e n d to win m o s t competitions, having won the i n d o o r champio n s h i p s early in the year, including the fact they
“The beauty of running is that you
have to educate yourself with all aspects of the sport whether its strength and conditioning, nutrition, recovery, training or flexibility. They are all the little one percenters that make a difference.
“simply have the numbers”. “We have the better athletes in the country in terms of colleges and I think it’s a case of once you are winning you kind of tend to keep winning,” the West Waterford man said. Confidence is also a key to DCU’s success according to McCarthy who believes that once you have a reputation for being the best and winning everything that they “kind of believe it and that helps in itself ”. McCarthy is currently doing a Masters in sports science with Professor Niall Moyna having previously gone to America on a sports scholarship to do his undergraduate course. He finds balancing his train-
ing and college work “pretty good” and says “if anything it helps”, it’s both his running and course work. “When you are just doing a couple of hours a week of college it makes you develop a routine around it. Sometimes if you’re not doing anything at all you tend to be a bit lazier. “You’re better at getting out and doing that morning run if you have to go to classes, your structure is just better when you have a part time job or a bit of college work,” McCarthy said. As with most athletes McCarthy is very conscious of what he eats and thinks the time off through injury has helped him become even more knowledgeable about the nutritional side of his trade.
“I am very aware of everything I eat in terms of helping me recover stronger and healthier. I’m very conscious of what I was eating and if I was eating I’d make sure it was the most nutritious beneficial food for me,” McCarthy said. As a sports science student McCarthy is also well drilled on the strength and conditioning side of sport and thinks it is a vital part of being the best he can possibly be. “The beauty of running is that you have to educate yourself with all aspects of the sport whether its strength and conditioning, nutrition, recovery, training or flexibility. They are all the little one percenters that make a difference,” the Dungarvan man said. As for what’s to come from McCarthy in the next couple of months, he doesn’t have “specific goals in terms of races” but is instead concentrating on keeping fit and not getting any more injuries. “My goal is just to stay healthy and the results come from that,” he said. Having represented Ireland at European level in the past McCarthy is hopeful of getting to that level again, saying that “the dream is to keep representing your country at the highest level. “That’s where you get the real buzz trying to compete with the highest level of competition. It’s such fun when you are heading off with the Irish team whether it’s Europeans or hopefully worlds (championships),” the 27-year-old said.
Sport THE COLLEGE VIEW
Wednesday, 23 March 2016
INSIDE DCU Ladies Football manager Stephen Maxwell speaks to The College View
www.thecollegeview.com
Read more on page 17
DCU fall to UL in O’Connor Cup semi DCU UL
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Aidan Geraghty Sports Editor @Aido1895
DCU’S senior ladies Gaelic football team was defeated in the O’Connor Cup semi-final by the University of Limerick (UL) in Tralee on Saturday, March 11th. The Glasnevin side was leading 0-6 to 1-2 thanks to an impressive first half performance from wing-forward Éabha Rutledge but a Niamh O’Dea-inspired comeback had the Shannonsiders in the ascendency at the final whistle. “It was a really difficult and frustrating game,” Rutledge said, speaking to The Coll e g e View.
DCUʼs Sarah Rowe Credit: Sportsfile
“I thought we were the better side in the first half but UL were a very physical team and I think that gave them a slight advantage.” Although UL continued to keep the score ticking over throughout the second half, the killer blow came shortly after the interval. O’Dea, who already had a goal to her name, scored 1-1 to put UL in front.
Under Pressure The difference between the teams could have been bigger but DCU goalkeeper Emer Ní Éafa dealt well with some heavy pressure. The most notable of which being a pointblank save after Aileen Wall looked to put the game to bed. Dual soccer and GAA player Sarah Rowe found the back of the net to give the Dubliners a lifeline in the dying moments but the reigning champions held out t o
Eabha Rutledge on the attack for DCU Credit: Sportsfile
book a meeting with University College Dublin in the final. Despite UL’s dominance of the ladies’ game in recent years, DCU will by no means have expected to taste defeat in this contest having beaten the Limerick side in this year’s league final. Kilmacud Crokes star Rutledge claimed that in the league final “we just had nothing to lose.” Speaking to the College View, she said: “Going into that game, nobody gave us a chance so we were able to just play our natural game. Whereas in the championship, we weren’t necessarily the favou-
rites but they (UL) knew we could beat them and so did we. “That might have been our problem. Before we beat them in the league, they hadn’t lost a game in over three years so I wouldn’t blame them if they wanted to get us back.”
On he right track When asked what needs to be improved for DCU to win the O’Connor Cup next time around, Rutledge seemed quietly confident. “That’s a tough question. It’s tough because I think we were good enough to win it this year. I suppose this year was Maxi (Stephen Max-
well)’s first year and there’s always a bit of a learning curve with a new manager but I honestly believe him and Maccer (Niamh McEvoy) have us on track to have an even better go at it next year. “We’re definitely good enough but those of us who will be third years next year have to step up and be leaders. “I think we’re losing eight or nine senior players this year and in college football that’s something every team has to deal with but for those of us who will still be here we have to transition from being younger players to being leaders very quickly.”