The College View Issue 7

Wednesday February 21st 2018

www.thecollegeview.com

. Est. 1999 .

Stress levels rise with rent increases, says housing charity Shauna Bowers & Kyle Ewald Editor-in-Chief & Deputy Editor

@thecollegeview

RENTING causes financial and emotional distress, according to the CEO of a housing charity.

John-Mark McCafferty, CEO of Threshold, a charity that aims to secure rights to housing, said past rent figures are an indication of how distressing the Irish rental sector is.

“The increasing level of calls received by Threshold on an annual basis – over 70,000 in 2016 – is indicative of the financial and mental distress experienced by those living in the private rented sector, where there remains an acute shortage of supply.”

According to the latest Daft.ie Rental report released last week, tenants faced another year of double-digit rent increases in 2017.

This can be compared with an increase of 13.5 per cent in 2016, 9 per cent in 2015 and 10.7 per cent in 2014.

Rents outside of Dublin have increased by 52 per cent on average, compared to 81 per cent in the capital. Cities such as Cork, Galway, and Limerick also have higher rent

DCU President Brian MacCraith addresses competitors at the American Chamber Future Leaders’ Hackathon 2018. The event brought together over one hundred of the organisation’s up and comers to share ideas and develop a service, product or innovation that facilitates Ireland to be the best place to live and work.

averages than the national level— with increases of about 65 per cent in each case.

The report attributes these changes to the “structural shifts at work in the economy”, particularly Ireland’s convergence to its economic peers in Europe and other countries, shifting away from agriculture and manufacturing and into services, and therefore a shift into cities.

McCafferty said families and students are suffering the most from not being able to afford sufficient living space.

“Families and individuals who are studying, living on minimum wages or embarking on the first steps of

their career following graduation find themselves in dire situations as competition for homes at the lower end of the rented market has led to the emergence of overcrowding and falling standards,” said McCafferty.

The Threshold CEO said while he acknowledges that the Government is introducing measures to tackle the rent crisis, “much more” needs to be done to protect tenants, especially students.

“Who protects students from rent increases on campus residences?

Accommodation costs in a TCD off-campus residence in Rathmines now exceeds €5,000, while standard costs in UCD range from €6,000 to

€10,000 (Roebuck Castle) and in Galway students can also pay over €5,000,” said McCafferty.

“One doesn’t need to be a genius to realise that education is fast becoming a privilege instead of a right.”

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) believes that the increase in the cost of rent year on year will eventually become a deterrent for students to attend university.

“USI believes that students are being forced out of college because of rapidly increasing rent costs. Escalating cost of rent is forcing some students to take leases they cannot afford, sleep on friends’ couches,

Credit: Kyle Ewald

live in poor quality accommodation and undertake long commutes to college,” said a spokesperson for the Union.

“The accommodation crisis and the increase in rent will deter some students, especially those from rural areas, from going to college in Ireland, and long commutes will negatively affect the quality of their college experience.

“Meanwhile, other students are putting themselves into debt to afford to go to college because of their drive and determination. But, they will be saddled with debt and trapped as a renter for the rest of their lives as a result.”

Pro-life group stages graphic display of abortion in DCU A GRAPHIC pro-life “educational display” was set up outside the entrance of DCU intending to catch students attention as they entered the college.

The display which featured three graphic images of an abused child, and two aborted fetuses, was erected last Tuesday.

The group behind the protest, Irish Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform

(ICBR), say that the images are necessary for students to fully understand the reality of abortion.

“The pro-life movement in Ireland has various events and vigils and rallies with balloons and smiley faces,” said Christian Hacking, a representative from ICBR. “I guess we were unconvinced that this was going to help educate the Irish public on what abortion really is.

“Especially with the referendum coming up people need to know what they’re voting for. We’re not a polit-

ical group, we’re just telling people what abortion is,” he said The DCU display was the first of several planned for Dublin colleges, including UCD, Trinity and Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology [IADT].

Niall Behan, President of DCU’s Students’ Union, commented on the protest saying, “universities are where conversations and differing opinions are encouraged, but I don’t believe that there is a need for sensationalist protest in modern debate and would question the benefits or mind-

set of those engaging in this type of shock factor movement.”

“The DCUSU has a Pro-Choice stance that has been voted twice by the students and I know there were many students affected by the graphic displays outside the gates,” he said.

The feminist society in DCU also commented saying, “FemSoc doesn’t agree with these kinds of tactics. It’s trying to intimidate and shame people with information and pictures that are not factual or accurate.”

“There are people on this campus who have made the difficult choice to

have an abortion and they shouldn’t be subjected to this kind of graphic propaganda. FemSoc’s focus is on facilitating an informed and constructive conversation and we will not be interacting or engaging with this demonstration.”

Lauren Carville, the Head of the ‘It’s Time’ campaign for DCU’s Amnesty International society advised students not to engage.

“They are not interested in providing proper information, but rather tactics of fear and shame. DCU students are better than that.”

Features

Sports

Opinion

Gaeilge

News

O’Connor reflects on the end of the road with DCU

The expense of experience for students

Fionnuala Walsh News Editor @fionnuala_walsh

All the Wild Horses Page 14

Page 19

Page 10

Vótáil100 - Comóradh céad bliain vóta na mban

Page 12

Taoiseach plans more jobs for students post-Brexit

Page 6

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Editorial

INSIDE The Hype

Editor-in-Chief

Film/TV

Shauna Bowers

Derry Girls Review Read more on page 3

Editor’s piece

Fashion Religion in fashion: holy necessity or holy vanity?

Read more on page 11

Facebook: TheCollegeView Twitter: @thecollegeview Read more on our website; thecollegeview.com

Editorial Team Editor-in-Chief: Shauna Bowers Deputy Editor: Kyle Ewald Production & Layout Editor: Daniel Troy Deputy Production Editor: Amanda Ward Production Assistants: Kyle Ewald, Elsa McEvoy, Fionnuala Walsh, Méabh Riordan & Sam Roberts

Video Editor: Leanne Hanafin Illustrations Editor: Laura Duffy Social Media Editors: Michelle Townsend & Colleen Brady Chief Sub Editor: Niall O’Donoghue

Sub Editors: Leigh McGowran, Edina Zejnilovic, Emily Sheahan, John Morley, News Editors: Kyle Ewald & Fionnuala Orla Dwyer, Aoibhin Bryant, Brendan Walsh Kelly, Emily Donnelly, Róisin Cullen, Deputy News Editors: Elsa McEvoy, Courtney Fitzmaurice, Daniel Phelan, Shauna Coen & Callum Lavery Bridget Fitzhenry, Niamh Dunne, Colin Gannon, Katie Caden, Gabija Opinion Editor: Megan Conway Gataveckaite, Béibhinn Thorsch Deputy opinions Editor: Gabija Gataveckaite Contacts Lifestyle Editor: Katie Gallagher editor@thecollegeview.com Deputy Lifestyle Editors: Adam Daly & Rachel Farrell news@thecollegeview.com Features Editor: Orla O”Driscoll Deputy Features Editor: Arthur Velker Irish Editor: Ali Spillane Sports Editor: Alex Dunne Deputy Sports Editors: Gavin Quinn & Christy Dunne Arts Editor: Emer Handly Deputy Arts Editors: Ian Mangan & Ally Daly Images Editor: Mark Carroll Deputy Images Editor: Daria Jonkisz Photographers: Tara Shiels and Sarah O’Neill

features@thecollegeview.com opinion@thecollegeview.com gaeilge@thecollegeview.com sports@thecollegeview.com Printed by Datascope, with the DCU Journalism Society Thanks to Sportsfile, SLC, Office of Student Life Logo design by Lauren McConway

University students are painted with the same brush. They are all the same. They enjoy partying and drinking and not going to lectures. That’s what older people tell me anyway. While that aspect of college life does exist, and so it should, there are so many more intricacies to college life. There have been many days when you walk across the campus and see students who look downright downtrodden.

Their shoulders are slumped, their eyes dim and their facial expressions make it appear as though they have the weight of the world on their shoulders. One of biggest, if not the actual biggest, cause of stress for students is financial worries. It is without a doubt that one of the biggest factors that lead to this stress is finding the money to keep up their rent.

I have spoken to students who detail their struggles with having to decide whether to go to their lecture or whether to take up the offer for the extra shift in work just so they can afford to have proper food for the week. According to the Daft.ie quarterly report which was released last week, rent in Dublin is €380 higher a month than it was during the Celtic Tiger. Everyone remembers the Celtic Tiger when money was aplenty and sense was hard to come by. But now, people and students especially are forced to fork up more for rent when there is less money and more pressure.

It doesn’t look like this situation is about to get better anytime soon either. Average rents in Dublin are likely to hit about €2,500 a month before the market starts to taper, a new survey shows. How can students or recent graduates afford to spend surplus of 2 grand a month on rent. For people who

are on a full-time, minimum wage job that is quite literally an impossibility unless they’re sharing with someone. Even with sharing with someone, it would require a lot of purse tightening to make it through each month.

The state of the rental sector, particularly in the capital, has always been a well-known fact. Everybody knows about it, everybody complains about it but does anybody ever do anything about it? Our lead story this issue details the amount of distress that renting can cause. I think it was always just assumed that renting caused undue stress and it was just widely accepted that it was the case. However, the CEO of Threshold believes that this is not something that should just be accepted.

The number of people coming forward with mental health issues rose last year. It’s great to see that the stigma around mental health is being removed and that people are feeling more comfortable coming forward about mental anguish they are dealing with. However, perhaps the next step in dealing with that is looking at what is causing this mental anguish. Stress has a huge impact on your health but physical and mental. It seems like a no brainer to try and reduce the trigger for that stress.

Young people and students are a vulnerable sector of the country. They’re only beginning to find themselves and are taking the first steps towards being fully independent. The current rental prices make taking these first steps feel more like mountains.

More needs to be done to reduce the ever-growing prices for renting. This is more than just a student problem. This is more than just a Dublin problem.

Action needs to be taken.

News

Students reporting mental health problems rises by over 45 per cent

Fionnuala Walsh News Editor @fionnuala_walsh THE number of first year students with reported mental health conditions rose by 46 per cent in the last academic year, according to a new study.

This increase is most likely linked to improved supports and reduced stigma on college campuses, as reported by the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (Ahead).

“Supports are improving at second level, meaning more students are coming through and a positive change in public attitudes to mental health is resulting in students feeling more comfortable in disclosing to support services on campus,” said Ann Heelan, executive director of Ahead.

Numbers of students reporting problems with mental health are growing at a significantly faster rate than general students with disabilities, Dara Ryder, the Digital Media Manager for Ahead, told the College View.

“We’ve only been tracking disability by type since 2005/06.

“Since then we’ve seen a 476 per cent rise in the numbers registering with disability services as having a mental health condition, in comparison a 250 per cent in numbers of students with disabilities in general,” said Ryder.

“In 2005/2006 students with a mental health condition made up 8.4 per cent of the disabled student population in comparison to 13.9 per cent now,” he added.

While the increase of students reporting mental health problems may pose a challenge to colleges, continuing to fund campaigns is very important, according to Podge Henry, Students’ Union VP for Welfare and Equality in DCU. “I think mental health funding is something that we can never get enough of,” said Henry. “The more supports you have and the more campaigns you run, the more encouraging you are to people opening up, there needs to be more supports

Free GP service does not cater for mental health

Elsa McEvoy Deputy News Editor @elsamcevoy

The increase in reported mental health cases could be due to improved supports, according to Ahead.

available.”

“I reckon that the culture on campus is changing and people are becoming more open about mental health and being more encouraging towards others opening up about their mental health,” he said.

“There is an increase in supports at a local level around campus with the student support and development office, counsellors service, financial and disability service as well. At a national level there are suicide prevention hotlines such as Pieta House and Samaritans,” he said.

Credit: Getty Images

There is also a 70 per cent increase in numbers with ADHD, which is down to increased awareness of the condition and therefore, better diagnosis, according to Ryder.

“20 years ago, the condition was non-existent in the public mind and so it went untreated or misdiagnosed in many cases. That has changed radically. This along with better supports at second level means there are more students coming through as registered with ADHD,” said Ryder.

Fears of sexting dangers heightened by media says DCU researcher

Kyle Ewald Deputy Editor @kyle_ewald THE media plays a large role in the negative reputation of sexting among older generations according to a researcher at the DCU Anti-Bullying Centre.

Dr. Mairéad Foody is currently conducting a pilot study involving 500 students aged 15 to 18 on sexting practices and popularity. Sexting is defined as sending sexually suggestive or explicit photographs, videos, or messages via mobile phone, social networks, apps or other technologies.

The DCU researcher said for something that has such a negative connotation from older generations, sexting is actually quite a normal and expectant phenomenon for an adolescent. “[Sexting] fits in with the profile

Sexting is a normal phenomenon for a modern adolescent

of an adolescent, where they are exploring their sexuality, they are exploring partners or potential partners, and they’re also spending a lot of time online and a lot of their social networks are completely online,” said Dr. Foody.

The prevalence of online relationships and research that shows most adolescent sexters are sending such content to a boyfriend or girlfriend that have consented to the sending or receiving of sexts can be overshadowed by heavily-reported cases where sexting really damaged someone according to Dr. Foody.

“Very often [older generations] assume that sexting goes hand in hand with some of the other very scary cases we see in the media, for

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example when someone exploits a young person online, or are grooming them online so they can send photos that would be categorized as child pornography,” said Dr. Foody.

“There is a big difference between a 14 or 15-year-old boy and girl that are courting or in a relationship as opposed to an old man asking nine year olds for pictures of themselves,” said Dr. Foody.

At the moment, The Child and Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998 states that the creation, sharing, or receiving of a sexually explicit image is illegal, but strict regulation and consequences to this law can have its flaws warned Dr. Foody.

She said the regulation can work to a certain point, but will also might

Credit: Daria Jonkisz

scare young people into not talking about the subject.

“You could probably regulate for things like consent, and we could probably penalize people who have done something without consent, but we can’t really penalize the sharing of images between two people only if it’s part of a relationship, well I mean we can, but I don’t understand how that would be productive in any way,” said Dr. Foody.

Dr. Foody said schools should create more awareness about the topic, without scaring teens into not talking about it, through digital citizen modules that will give students an understanding of privacy settings, digital responsibility and consent paired with freedom of expression and voice.

NEW VideoDoc initiative does not cater for those seeking help for mental health despite students waiting up to six weeks for one to one counselling.

Third level students now have access to free GP care after Ireland’s leading digital healthcare provider, VideoDoc teamed up with the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) earlier this month.

VideoDoc is a subscription based online GP service which normally costs €20 per consultation with a registered GP but is currently available free of charge to students from Monday to Sunday between the hours of 8am and 10pm.

However, despite alleviating the pressure of health services on campus, VideoDoc does not offer help to those seeking help for mental health issues despite students waiting up to 6 weeks for one to one counselling on campus.

USI president Michael Kerrigan said that “VideoDoc is a GP Service with no immediate plans to roll out a mental health service”.

“However, GP Doctors are often the first point of contact for mental health issues,” he said.

DCU’s Vice President for Equality and Welfare, Podge Henry said that there are more students opening up about their mental health which in turn calls for a need of more resources to deal with this increase.

“We did have a peer to peer volunteer video counselling initiative last year which didn’t gain as much traction as we would’ve liked,” explained Henry on how the SU is dealing with this lack of resources.

“But those kind of initiatives are great because they take the strain off the counselling services,” he said.

Speaking at the launch of the free online GP service for students, CEO and co-founder of VideoDoc, Mary O’Brien said, “Our experience of general practice is that about 70 per cent of all GP visits can be treated online. Students who need to see a Doctor but are far from their family GP, or too busy to attend a surgery between regular nine to five working hours can now log on from anywhere and be treated within minutes.”

“VideoDoc is delighted to make this service free of charge for the next 5 months to the USI to celebrate Healthy Living Week with a view to becoming part of the everyday health solution for students,” she said.

News

4 News in Brief DCU will be the host of the World Anti-Bullying Forum (WABF) 2019 after Dublin secured a bid to house the worldwide event.

DCU will host the event following a competitive process led by the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre located on the St Patrick’s Campus. The event will be organised in collaboration with the US-based International Bullying Prevention Association.

The successful bid was supported by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mícheál Mac Donncha, the Department of Education and Skills and Fáilte Ireland.

“We already know that the City of Dublin is one of the safest cities in the world and we are hoping that by hosting the WABF here in 2019 it will be another step towards making the Dublin a bully-free city,” Mac Donncha said at the launch

Influence on state run primary schools by the Catholic church is clearly represented in research by the School of Education at NUI Galway.

The study revealed that 90 per cent of people in the primary teaching profession identified as Roman Catholic in contrast to the 78 per cent of the rest of the Irish population. A lack of religious diversity in primary teaching is evident as 96 per cent of national schools in Ireland are denominational.

“There’s no pressure to explicitly state that you are but there’s definitely pressure to imply that you are,” said Claire Yeats, a primary school teacher studying in St. Patrick’s College, on whether she would feel the need to suggest she is religious in job interview

DCU Professor criticised for fishery DCU doubles spending on figures used in Irexit conference private firms

Colin Gannon Contributor @thecollegeview DCU Professor Dr. Karen Devine has been heavily criticised for resurfacing “fantasy” figures about Irish sea fisheries at a recent Irexit conference in the RDS. Organised by European Parliamentary group Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD), a multinational Eurosceptic alliance chaired by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage, the event’s speakers are calling for a referendum surrounding Ireland’s continued membership of the EU. Devine , who specialises in teaching EU politics and Irish foreign policy, gave a speech advocating for a debate on Irexit, repeatedly referring to a €200bn figure that she says the EU stole from Irish sea fisheries between 1975 and 2010.

The figures were first presented

by Devine to an EU Joint Oireachtas Committee in 2012 and have since been the subject of dialogue and politicisation among Irish and European critics of the EU. Ciarán O’Driscoll, a prominent Irish fisheries economist, questioned the legitimacy of the figures, particularly considering her area of expertise.

“They have not been reviewed by fellow academics for publication in an academic journal, or indeed, published elsewhere that I could find. I would like to think a serious

error was made.”

O’Driscoll, who is part of the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit in NUIG, identified three distinct rebuttals to the €200bn figure; incorrect geographical areas, no reference to point-in-time value and an overly simplistic method of valuing fish based on a ‘rule-of-thumb’.

“These are fantasy fish figures.

They include fish from areas which are not even in Ireland’s own 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), such as areas off Britain.

“By applying prices for fish in 2008 to all fish all the way back to 1975 allows for the figure to be inflated beyond understanding,” O’Driscoll said. “Are changes in inflation, production costs, labour costs taken into account? It’s just too simple a means to arrive at such a huge figure.”

Dr. Karen Devine told the College View that although the €200bn is an estimate, she wholly stands by her analysis. She said O’Driscoll’s assessment of her methods were “nonsense”.

“Whenever you’re giving a long-term estimate, you always give it in today’s prices because it makes no sense to give it prices from 100 years ago.”

Brian Lacey, a Professor of International Finance in TCD, also called for a more rigorous analysis of the figures. Lacey replicated the method used by Devine and found the same three anomalies as O’Driscoll.

“Extraordinary claims require

As RAG week kicked off across the country this week, numerous institutions have distanced themselves from the event.

RAG (Raise and Give) week has not been an official college event for NUI Galway or the Galway-Mayo institute of technology for several years, while University College Cork has clamped down on anti-social student behaviour by introducing new fines and restrictions.

The week tends to have a negative reputation as it is often associated with anti-social and drunk and disorderly behaviour from students.

However, DCU aims to dispel the myths and negativity associated with the week. “Our RAG Week revolves around a completely different set of values than what other colleges have,” said Seanie Germaine, Chairperson of DCU’s Raising and Giving society.

For full stories visit thecollegeview.com “Fantasy” figures about Irish Sea fisheries were criticised at an Irexit conference at the RDS

extraordinary evidence,” he said. “It would economically calamitous on a scale that is almost incalculable, so anybody that is proposing it should be presenting a very, very clear cost-and-benefit.”

One of Ireland’s foremost fishing industry leaders and Chief Executive of Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation, Sean O’Donoghue, commented Shauna Bowers that he sees no factual basis for the Editor-in-Chief figures and described their use as @shaunabowerss “dangerous”.

“This [200 bn] is total myth.

DCU doubled their spending on Anybody who is involved in the private consultancy firms between negotiations and the people I work the years 2011 and 2017, according and deal with daily know there is to a report by the Higher Education no substance to these figures and Authority (HEA). they will simply ignore them,” said DCU spent €865,771 on private O’Donoghue. “Unfortunately we live firms in 2011 which increased to in a world of fake news and this is €1.7m spent last year in 2017. one of those fake news stories.”

DCU did not provide a response Devine questioned if either to a request for comment on why the O’Driscoll, Lacey or O’Donoghue spending increased across this time were paid by the EU and said they period. should deflect their criticism to both Across the seven universities, the EU and the Irish Government spending on consultants and legal who she says also arrived with the fees have gone up from €11 million same figures for a similar timea year in 2011 to €19.4 million last frame. “If they’re saying the figure year, an increase of 70 per cent. is wrong, then what is the figure?”

The report highlighted that she asked.

The University of British Colum- legal firm Arthur Cox was paid €13 million from colleges and univerbia in Canada, estimated that the total amount of fish caught in Ireland’s sities over the seven years, while Deloitte were paid €10 million from EEZ from 1973 to 2014 came to 21 million tonnes, worth approximately educational entities.

Between universities and In€25.9 bn. O’Driscoll commented stitutes of Technology (IoT), some that these findings are “anchored in €150 million was spent on external scientific assessment and academic legal and consultancy firms across analysis. the six years.

DCU was one of the colleges who spent the least amount on consultancy firms while Trinity spent the most, accounting for €36 million of money spent.

The fees to private firms can be broken down into consultancy work carried out on construction projects, strategy, internal auditing, research projects and legal work.

The Higher Education Authority found surplus of 120 cases where colleges brought in private or external firms to conduct invesyigations and review staff complaints.

The issue of third-level institutions spending money on such things has been criticised by the Dail Public Accounts Committee who requested the review of this expenditure.

In an article by the Irish Times, Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane expressed his dismay that taxpayers’ money is being spent on these consultancy firms.

“This is taxpayers’ money, and parents are forking out more money for college fees. I think we have to ensure we’re getting value for money here,” he said.

Credit: Conservation.org

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News

Taoiseach plans more jobs for students post-Brexit “It’s so different when you go to other countries, such as Germany or Netherlands, where people can very commonly speak two or three languages. I think we’re really losing MORE third level students will be encouraged to learn foreign languag- out in that regard,” Varadkar said.

“To be honest post-brexit we’re es and go on Erasmus programmes really not sure how things are going in a new government plan.

The 2018 action plan launched by to pan out,”Anne McEvoy, communications assistant at European Parthe Taoiseach hopes to build closer liament in Ireland told the College links with Europe post-Brexit.

View.

Students with native English and “I believe that there will always a working EU language will be at a be a demand in Brussels for English greater advantage foe employment speaking staff. Mother tongue Enwhen the UK departs from the EU. glish will certainly be an advantage,” “Most people in Ireland can only she said. master one language,” said TaoiseMcEvoy emphasised that there are ach Leo Varadkar at the launch of the many avenues of work for students action plan. in Brussels with a second language, Encouraging foreign languages such as in finance, admin, law, lanand access to Erasmus placements guages and translation. are positive steps, according to the “It’s not just exclusively for peoTaoiseach.

Fionnuala Walsh News Editor @fionnuala_walsh

ple with languages, there are a lot of opportunities for employment. But it is important to have that second working language as well,” McEvoy said.

She encouraged post graduates to apply for traineeships in the European Institutions, especially the Robert Schuman traineeship.

“It is five months paid and you can apply to work in different areas, like communication, finance, international law. There are also translation traineeships that are seperate,” she said.

“If you’re studying languages you could apply to the translation services in the parliament in Luxembourg and they also offer traineeships,” McEvoy said.

The Taoiseach said that there would be opportunities for Irish young people after the UK leaves

Irexit: The next political movement?

A working EU language would be a great advantage for graduating students

the EU. “One of my big regrets is that I didn’t take that opportunity to study in Paris, Berlin, Madrid or Barcelona,” he said.

“One of the few upsides of Brexit is that British universities will not be part of Erasmus anymore, meaning

Credit: Daria Jonkisz

that more Irish students studying in Manchester or Birmingham will hopefully take the opportunity to study in continental Europe.”

The education action plan also includes a school excellence fund and the introduction of Physical Education to the Leaving Certificate.

Housing expert says colleges should be running a course on housing policy ence. Of those members, Northern Ireland has 113 chartered members compared to just 16 in Ireland.

McManus stressed the importance COLLEGES should offer housing of the course as the sector becomes management courses to combat the increasingly more complicated: housing crisis, according the CEO of “Better training, and encouraging the Irish Council of Social Housing. more young people to join the sector CEO Donal McManus told the at a young age, is vital to ensure Irish Independent that the lack of any housing management and policy in housing management or policy cours- Ireland continues to improve.” es contributed to the low number of DCU currently offers no courses experts in Ireland. within the sector of urban planning.

Magee College dropped its housTherefore, it is unclear which ing management course in 2016, and faculty would take on a housing since then no such courses have been management course. The former Maavailable on the island. gee course was run by the art, design McManus proposed a four year and the built environment faculty. course with one year spent working According to the executive dean on the job to improve the growing of DCU’s Business School, Anne industry, which has “gone from Sinnott, housing policy would best 8,000 people working in the sector to fit under the school of law and 32,000.” government.

Having graduate in housing in “Within the Business School areas the Northern Irish University of such as economics, strategy and Ulster, McManus also emphasized management would be relevant,” the disparity between the number of said Sinnott, “I would say that the housing experts in Northern Ireland majority programme proposals that and Ireland.

I have experience of have received According to figures from the approval.”

Chartered Institute of Housing However, she mentioned that the (CIH) given to the Irish Indepenapplication process is thorough and dent, Northern Ireland has 411 CIH that market research would need to members while Ireland only has 145. be done to see if a demand for such a That’s an almost 65 per cent differcourse exists.

Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque

Contributor @thecollegeview

The possibility of Irexit was debated at the “Irexit: Freedom to Prosper” conference at the RDS

was the most positive about membership of the union.

Over 600 people gathered in RDS for the ‘Irexit: Freedom to Prosper’ conference with Nigel Farage, former UKIP leader, the main speaker.

The conference examined the possibilities presented by an ‘Irexit’ and showed that there is some public appetite for an exit from the EU Shauna Coen like in Britain.

Deputy News Editor Farage argued that Ireland @Shauna_Coen had “paid a very big price” for its membership of the EU. THE possibility of Irexit would DCU student, Luke O’Connor atbe “madness” according to a DCU tended the event and identifies as an lecturer. economic nationalist, an ideology Dr. Eoin O’Malley, Associate Professor of political science at DCU adopted by Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist. doesn’t foresee Irexit becoming Speaking to The College View, the next political movement in this the media and politics student said, country.

“Following the conference, the “It would be madness. Ireland grassroots have connected on social tried isolating itself and tying itself media and we’re well established.” to the British economy in the past, Arguing that the EU has “killed and that ended spectacularly badly” democracy” on the continent, he he said. hopes that Eurosceptics can form a A survey carried out by the Euparty or run independent candidates ropean Commission last year found in the European elections in 2019. that, out of all EU nations, Ireland

Credit: Irish Tech News

“If you can get people like Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan elected in this country, there’s surely a place for a coordinated group of Eurosceptics,” he said.

The student and self-confessed “big Trump guy” claims people in certain areas of Ireland have been left behind because of the EU. “People in telecommunications and fisheries, their jobs are gone and have been replaced by higher class jobs. It’s the effects of globalisation,” he said.

While the conference received a positive reception by those in attendance, Irexiters may have a challenge on their hands.

Brexit and Donald Trump’s presidential campaign were broadly viewed as a sort of populist uprising against the political establishment.

Since Britain voted to leave the EU, Eurosceptic parties have sprung up across Europe. In Ireland, little had been heard from the far right until an Irexit event earlier this month.

Housing expert says colleges should be running a course on housing policy

Credit: Independent.ie

News Are you getting it? - USI launches safe sex campaign

Credit: PhilCare

USI launches “Are you getting it?” campaign

James Nolan Contributor @thecollegeview THE Union of Students in Ireland launched a Sexual Health and Awareness Campaign last week, in collaboration with the HSE’s Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy initiative.

The campaign, containing the “Are you getting it?” tagline, was introduced during Valentine’s week in third level institutions and aims to encourage students to seek guidance in relation to STI information, testing, getting contraception and consent.

Ahead of the launch, USI President Michael Kerrigan emphasised the importance of sexually active students looking after their sexual health.

“This year, we are asking students ‘are you getting it’ when it comes to STI tests and consent. It’s important that every student who’s sexually active looks after their own sexual health,” said Kerrigan.

“This means getting tested regularly, using condoms to protect you from the risk of contracting an STI,” he added.

Helen Deely, who is head of the HSE’s Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme, encouraged students to think ahead before engaging in sexual activity and to practice safe sex.

“We would actively encourage people who are thinking of having sex or are sexually active, to think ahead and practice safer sex. Using a condom will help limit the risk of

contracting a sexually transmitted infection and an unplanned pregnancy,” said Deely.

Health Protection Surveillance Centre provisional records state there were 5200 cases of young people diagnosed with either, chlamydia, gonorrhoea or genital herpes, which represents an increase of 11.2 per cent of STIs on the 15-24 age bracket when compared to 2016 figures.

In 2017, the HSE, in partnership with the USI, distributed 40,000 condoms and lubricant packs to students as part of the #SHAG2017 campaign.

The Johnny’s Got You Covered Campaign was on site at IT Carlow, Waterford IT and NUI Maynooth University during Valentine’s week, while the SHAG road show continued up to Queens University Belfast.

Additional funding for clubs and socs who engage with Alumni

7

clubs and societies… who can use that funding for events and initiatives where they’ll invite DCU graduates to re-engage with the university.”

Some clubs and societies are tying the programme into events they have already organised like DCU Men’s Rugby who ran an event with ten past alumni around their All-Ireland quarter final match.

Callum Lavery Sorcha Murphy, the Chairperson Deputy News Editor @callum_lavery of Mental Health Soc has said that they have also planned to engage EXACTLY 10 clubs and societies with past graduates: “Our largest have applied for additional funding event of the year is a fundraiser under a new initiative organised by concert in Whelan’s called Craicin’ the DCU Alumni Office.

Up. We have a former committee The initiative invited clubs and member performing on the night and societies to engage with past gradthe event is open for the first time uates through events in the second ever to DCU alumni.” semester. €200-500 was up for grabs Along with the initiative, the DCU for each of the successful clubs and alumni office has also organised societies. two brand new awards centered on Engineering Soc, Snowsport Soc, clubs and societies who engage with Mental Health Soc and MMA were graduates. One for the best event that among the ten that applied for the engages with alumni and one for the additional funding. Ross Munnelly, best alumni participating in clubs the Director of Alumni Relations in and society events.

DCU said the aim of the programme The Alumni Office is also looking was to provide and enhance the for students to join the alumni engagement opportunities for graducouncil which aims to work with ates and DCU. DCU to provide a better platform to “DCU has approximately 80,000 engage with graduates. “We’re very graduates, who are the only perkeen to make an impact with our manent university community, so students, when students graduate it’s once you graduate you are part of not the end of the road it’s the start our alumni community for life… of a lifelong relationship with DCU,” we have a certain amount of budget, Munnelly concluded. that we are making available to

DCU increases discount to reusable cup users

Aine Campion Contributor @thecollegeview COFFEE and tea will now be discounted by 20c if you bring your own cup to any DCU café, due to a scheme implemented by Trispace Catering DCU and the Sustainability office.

The reduction, an increase from last semester’s discount of 10c, aims to promote sustainability and recycling in DCU. Speaking to Samantha Fahy, sustainability officer in DCU, the campaign to discount cup uses has been implemented as 700,000 single-use coffee cups are used in DCU each year. “3,080 coffee cups are used each day in DCU, and this discount aims to help change habits of students”. The Sustainability office is promoting the use of reusable cups by also working with Trispace, the regional waste office, the SU and the USI. “A promotional campaign will be launched by students where posters will be put up at each coffee station.”

Going forward, the sustainability office will argue whether to implement a levy rather than a discount.

“As the plastic bag levy was an overnight success in Ireland, DCU would

be ahead of everyone by piloting a single-use coffee cup levy,” according to Ms Fahy.

As two million single-use coffee cups a day are going to landfill, it takes just 15 coffees for a reusable KeepCup to break even with disposables.

There are also plans to “go green” on St. Patrick’s Day in DCU. Plastic cups beside water fountains on campus will be removed to reduce plastic waste and promote the use of reusable water bottles. Furthermore, the Students’ Union is planning to include a sustainability clause in their policy document and propose ethic and sustainable methods of consumption.

These actions by DCU come as Ireland is facing a huge problem regarding its waste. Single-use plastics, including disposable coffee cups, straws and takeaway packaging will be banned across the EU by 2030. Plastics make up 85 per cent of beach litter globally, with 5-13 million tonnes ending up in the ocean. There are concerns that plastics are being found in food and in 2017, it was revealed that plastics were found in Irish drinking water supplies.

The supermarket Iceland has de-

DCU offers 20c discount for sustainable cups

cided to eliminate plastic packaging from its own-brand products by 2023. Replacing plastic with paper and pulp packaging will allow the packaging to be recyclable through domestic waste bins. “Plastic-free”

Credit:Daria Jonkisz

aisles in supermarkets have also been petitioned for Ireland. However, there are still challenges regarding our recycling problem, including a lack of clarification regarding the correct recyclable materials, and

contaminated items inserted into recyclable bins.

DCU’s KeepCups are available in the Students’ Union for a subsidised price of €6 and reusable water bottles are available for €5.

8

News

University of Cambridge admits it has ‘significant problem’ with sexual misconduct Ellen Fitzpatrick Contributor @thecollegeview

THE University of Cambridge has admitted there is a ‘significant problem’ with sexual misconduct on campus, receiving 173 complaints since last May. They are the first university to reveal these figures, which were recorded through an anonymous reporting tool. It also found that 119 of these reports were made against other students.

Along with this, two students filed complaints against staff members, with seven staff members filing complaints against co-workers.

Accusations of the same nature have also been discovered in University College Cork, where investigations have commenced after figures were released under the Freedom of Information Act stating that allegations were made by staff members last year.

“It is great to see that the likes of the Cambridge anonymous reports system working and that the misconduct allegations can be reported but unfortunately there is bound to be incidents that have not been reported. It is the same with the allegations in UCC. We can only hope that necessary steps will be taken by both Universities to combat and prevent any further sexual misconduct. In DCU, we are working hard to make each student feel safer and prevent sex-

The University of Cambridge is investigating sexual misconduct claims

ual misconduct,” Podge Henry, Vice President of Welfare and Equality, said.

UCC have declined to comment on these allegations, but it has been confirmed that investigations are under way.

“I haven’t heard of any allegations lately, they don’t exactly advertise when things like that happen you know? They have sexual awareness posters and things that get people

DCU Professor recognised in European Commission report

to be aware of looking out for each other, so nothing happens,” UCC student Helen Sweetman said.

All colleges across the country have their own systems in place for dealing with sexual misconduct before any type of formal investigation is decided upon.

“I think supporting people who have experienced sexual harassment is necessary when

Credit: Mark Carroll

of inclusive systems in and around schools in Elsa Anderling Contributor Europe. @thecollegeview According to Downes, it’s important to recognise systems and how they can get A DCU Professor’s research on the importance changed, and stretched, to prevent bullying of emotion in education for preventing bullyfrom happening. “It’s quite scary when you’re ing and its long-term mental health impacts, looking at the long-term consequences [that was cited in a recent set of top-level European bullying can evoke]”. reports.

The reports were written along with Dr. Paul Downes, Associate Professor of Ed- Professor Carmel Cefai from the University ucation (Psychology) at the School of Human of Malta, and according to Downes, it didn’t Development, DCU Institute of Education, come as a shock when they got cited in the was cited in a European Commission report European Commission. “It’s very good that that recognises the importance of social and social and emotional education is being recemotional education. ognised,” he said.

To Downes, the core of social and emoDownes has formerly been involved in tional education is being able to communicate various expert advisory roles for the Europeyour emotions to yourself and to others and an Commission. He is currently a member of according to him, empathy is a key part of it. the Network of Experts on the Social Aspects “Involving emotion is a great way for children of Education and Training and Chairperson to learn,” he said. of the Steering Committee for the GrangegorIdentifying emotions and expressing them man Area-based Childhood Programme. can be a good way to stop aggression, Downes To Downes, social and emotional education said. could be integrated into various subjects and The other reports Downes was cited in dealt “is all a part of life”. with ways to tackle bullying and developing

allegations like this are coming to light, as is ensuring fair process. It highlights the need for more protected ways of reporting misconduct, stronger policies on handling reports, and more emphasis on teaching people what sexual harassment is, consent, and preventing sexual harassment and abuse in the first place,” Isha McDonnell, chairperson of DCU’s Femsoc said.

Phone usage on roads at ‘ridiculously high levels’ Elsa McEvoy Deputy News Editor @thecollegeview

DCU’s Doctor Paul Downes lead research on the importance of social and emotional education

Credit: Crimson Education

A fifth of female drivers say they’ve applied makeup behind the wheel while one in 12 drivers admit to using their phones while driving, according to recent research.

Earlier this week the Gardaí also tweeted that two women had been fined that morning for applying makeup while behind the wheel.

The tweet read “Roses are red violets are blue, €80 fine making its way to you. 2 drivers left heartbroken after being fined this morning”.

They later tweeted that one of these drivers was caught trying to drive while curling her eyelashes.

This is not uncommon among road users. A study conducted by women’s motor insurer Diamond revealed that one fifth of female drivers admit to touching up their mascara while driving.

A survey by AA car insurance showed that out of 4,000 female drivers surveyed, young women between the ages of 17 and 24 are the most likely to apply cosmetics while driving

and are the most liable to crash their car as a result.

“You’re seven times more likely to crash if you use your phone while driving,” said Vice President for Welfare and Equality Podge Henry.

“When your concentration is off the road you’re putting yourself and others in danger,” Henry added.

Almost two thirds of drivers admitted to using their phones at a red light according to the survey.

“Phone use by Irish drivers is at ridiculously high levels,” said Conor Faughnan, the AA’s director of consumer affairs.

It is currently illegal to use your phone while driving and is punishable by a €60 fine and three penalty points which will remain on your license for three years.

Women applying makeup while on the road will also be fined €80 if caught in a bid to encourage road safety.

When thinking about using your phone or needing to touch up your makeup while driving, Faughnan says, “put the bloody thing away and watch what you’re doing.”

A fifth of female drivers say they’ve applied makeup behind the wheel

Credit: Pinterest

9

Opinion

The fight to vote

Brónagh Kelly argues that registering to vote needs to become a much simpler process.

Brónagh Kelly Contributor @thecollegeview

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here is something ironic about there being more clarity in a contraceptive pill pamphlet regarding missing a dose than in state-provided information about registering to vote. Many of us are trying to do the latter in preparation for the Eighth Amendment referendum.

My heart sank when I could not find my name on the register. Was my name written with or without a fada? Was my Eircode entered incorrectly? RFA Ones, Twos and Threes, visits to the garda station, (contradictory) advice from peers, and a lack thereof from my local council mean that I am still unsure of having an input in this life changing vote.

I also know that I am not alone in this predicament from speaking to others – but what if there are hundreds, if not thousands of young adults which share my confusion?

Let me emphasise that I am not the passive, politically complacent twenty-something stereotype either: It’s not as if I haven’t looked into how the registration system works. In fact, after my first failed attempt to register, I approached my council for advice on future proceedings.

In retrospect, the email reply I received three months ago was a bluff, perhaps even a

cop-out - my query was forwarded to another department to respond to ‘directly’. I have heard nothing since.

One DCU student had similar difficulties when seeking professional advice: “In trying to find out how to register properly, each of the three voting-specialised employees to whom I spoke at the GPO gave me different information.

In addition, all three told me they were unsure that their advice would actually work.” This uncertainty among “qualified” and authoritative figures is unnerving, especially when such an important question is going to be asked of Ireland in the coming months.

There is no simple explanation on how one registers to vote. Government websites use vague and sometimes contradictory language, with an air of indecision similar to that seen in aforementioned professionals. They provide a single year-round cycle of procedures rather than refreshing advice each time a new period of registration begins.

There is no friendly diagram or animated YouTube video, á la the “School of Life” to explain do’s and ‘don’ts. This isn’t even covered properly in CSPE. It is shocking that such small changes have not yet been made to keep up with the widely well-educated and technologically literate demographic.

You can apply for an Irish passport online.

You can create a Revenue account online too, and thereafter receive a letter of confirmation in the post. Yet to confirm voting registration, you

Students often find it difficult to register to vote in Ireland.

must have the agency to search the archaic and badly organised Check the Register website.

Gráinne Fallon, an Offaly Social Democrat, argues that the impenetrability of voting information provided is no mistake. With only a small percentage of the Irish electorate actually registering (30 per cent) and then voting (30 per cent of that previous 30 per cent portion), government leaders may fear what the currently non-voting electorate has to say.

Fallon rightfully reasons that a form of official identification alone should suffice to enact one’s vote.

Credit: Click2Housten

To make our country truly democratic, it is natural to argue that our registration system needs to come up to speed. If we are not careful, conversations and developments on this issue may be stalled for another thirty-five years due to inaccurate representation of the younger voting generations.

I strongly encourage everyone to register to vote on the Eighth Amendment; which I believe you can currently do by filling out an RFA2 form – good luck and be persistent.

Does university prepare students for life after college?

Amy Rohu discusses the pressure students face when deciding whether to continue in their education or begin their career.

Amy Rohu Contributor @thecollegeview

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he idea that university prepares you for life after it is quite frankly, impossible. Nothing can prepare you for the sudden realisation that you are out on your own, in a job, earning money and answering to someone who could potentially sack you for no good reason.

That being said, university has many benefits.

It develops your social skills, gives you a new independence that you didn’t have before and the most obvious thing it gives you is an education.

In Ireland there is a certain snobbery around the idea of getting a masters and then a PhD and becoming a total beacon of knowledge before you step foot in the work place and while this is all well and good for some people, the reality is it isn’t most people’s cup of tea. If you have a gift for learning and it is something you are

passionate about, then university can serve as a tool for you to expand on this to a high level.

However the idea that you must have a million different certificates to prove how smart you are won’t always cut it in the workplace. Unless the job requires you to study further, then there isn’t much point in doing a masters because all your friends are doing them.

University gives students a great foundation, but it really is up to the individual to make the most out of it and perhaps to visit a career guidance counsellor instead of spending yet

“

In Ireland there is a certain snobbery around the idea of getting a masters and then a PhD and becoming a total beacon of knowledge

You learn more than academia in university.

Credit: noredos.com

another afternoon in the college bar. Students who take advantage of the free CV advice and information days by prospective employers are the ones who will excel and while university provides this, everyone graduates with the same degree at the end of the day.

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg all dropped out of college and they have been some of the most successful people in the business history, with no education to back them. The reason for this was that they had exceptional gifts in their fields and were able to use their own initiative to create global brands, but not everyone can do that and that’s why most of us need university to get our foot on the ladder.

College serves as a great stepping stone to a career and having a degree will open many doors for you that may have remained shut if you had decided not to do your studies. However, college can’t prepare you for the workplace.

Nothing can prepare you for that until you walk into your first “adult” job feeling like a first year all over again. The only thing that can prepare you for life after college is the belief that you can do it, and that whatever gets thrown at you, you’ll be able to handle it. Sure you just went through three or four years of hard education with more late nights and cramming sessions than you thought was even possible, didn’t you?

The workplace can’t be as bad as that.

Opinion

10

The expense of experience for students

As DCU students prepare to go out on work placement, Cathal Mc Cahey discusses the hard cost students are faced with.

Cathal McCahey Contributor @thecollegeview

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hoose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”, a quote from Confucius most of us are familiar with. Although most of us will have to work for free and pretend to love it to try leave a lasting impression on potential future employers.

Most third level courses require you to partake in some form of placement, no doubt an incredible opportunity to apply what you have been learning over the course of your degree.

Two months of placement is required for me to complete my degree and as that approaches, the prospect of working for free also looms.

While a lot of employers offer some form of remuneration many simply don’t have the budget. This is understandable to an extent but it’s simply not right to let students work for free while expecting a high level of work. On the other hand, it’s also fully understandable as to why some employers don’t offer their full wage, at the end of the day you are not yet fully qualified.

But that’s a fact some employers seem to hang on to and push. This ‘you are not fully qualified yet and you need us’ mentality. It leaves us students in a weird sort of limbo, we can’t quite expect full pay for our placement because we do need them and it’s because we need them that we can’t demand payment either. That

Students are often required to go on unpaid work placement for their course.

being said it would be nice to be able to pay for expenses as, you know, life continues and life is expensive.

For those who live close to where their placement will be have it easier. Between living at home and the help of parents you probably will be able to get by the duration of your placement, you’ll be broken but you will get by. It’s the students who have to rent and live independently that will really feel the effects of working for nothing.

For most in that situation, working on top of placement will be the only option. It’s not uncommon to find a student who is between the two, working full hours during the week and keeping up a weekend job on top of that. Some

“employers While a lot of offer some form of remuneration many simply don’t have the budget

Credit: Shauna Bowers

might almost describe this as a sort of ‘rite of passage’, earning your stripes by jumping in the trenches and fighting your way out. But this isn’t a war and we need to buy some food.

At the end of the day it’s not only a matter of being able to get by but a matter of principle.

As students we’re constantly told that we are the future of whatever industry we’re looking to get in to and that our work should be valued, but how can we believe that when we’re also told that we may have to work for free? If we truly are the future of our chosen career paths, then getting paid enough to even cover expenses should be a given.

Can we keep up with how fast technology is evolving?

Emer Handly looks at whether or not developments in technolgy are beneficial or dangerous for society.

Emer Handly Arts Editor @thecollegeview

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echnology is constantly evolving.

Television was invented less than one hundred years ago. The internet came into our homes less than 40 years ago. These breakthroughs have enhanced our lives and they just keep coming, fast. A little too fast perhaps.

Boston Dynamics are currently developing lifelike robots, SpaceX launched the ‘Falcon Heavy’ rocket recently and autonomous cars are being tested in several countries. Technology is moving at a faster pace than ever, but it seems society is having trouble keeping up.

In 2017, 16 per cent of people in Ireland never used the internet, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office. If we are struggling to use technology that has been out for years, how can we possibly keep up with newer, more

advanced ideas? The bottom line is, we won’t.

We must find a way to understand and keep up with technology, or else we will get left behind.

Change that is too fast can be troublesome.

Technology is advancing faster than society can handle, with only the people creating these advancements being able to understand them. If only an elite can keep up, the rest of us will become increasingly confused about how technology works. How will we ever be able to understand nanotechnology or quantum mechanics if they keep accelerating away from us?

“Technology is moving too fast for governments to keep up,” admitted Ken Gabriel, former chief of the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency in an interview with computingweekly.com.

With the like of Google and Facebook

“Technology

Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy.

Credit: SpaceX

is advancing faster than society can handle

becoming so prominent in our everyday lives, some people now care more about their technology and social media profiles. As Albert Einstein once said; “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”

However, it’s not all bad. Technological advancements can be really beneficial to society.

New medicines and treatments are being created, there are more efficient and eco-friendly ways of producing products, developments are improving education, the web is a new world full of knowledge, we have access to important things at the click of a button. Technology has become an integral part of humanities survival.

There is so much innovation surrounding technology that is creating a world we couldn’t even have imagined just a few centuries ago.

Technology is helping society to progress.

It has literally helped us reach the stars. As technology evolves, so does society, but at a lesser pace than most would like. A balance must be found to keep pushing technology forward while keeping us up there with it.

Otherwise, humanity’s own genius will be the architect of its own downfall.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic,” said famous author Arthur C. Clarke.

I think it’s important to note that while technology can be terrifying, it can also be very exciting. Maybe what technology really needs is a ‘not-so-fast’ button.

Gaeilge

11

Sin m’ainm - Tábhacht an fhada Míníonn Méabh tábhacht an fhada in ainmneacha Gaeilge agus ar a taithí pearsanta ag déileáil leis.

í feidhm an fada guta a fhadú, ach don chuid “ Isis mó dealraíonn sé go gcruthaíonn sé níos mó

Tábhacht an fada léirithe i bhfeachtas Coca-Cola le déanaí

Méabh Riordan Scríobhneoir @thecollegeview

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s aoibhinn liom m’ainm. Go híorónta, ciallaíonn sé: í cé a chur le gealaigh, ina theanta le ceangail a dhéanamh leis an mBanríon dhiongbháilte Medb. Mar a fheictear tá réimse rogha litrithe don ainm – Medhbh, Maedhbh, Maebh, Maeve, Medb, Méabh – ach roghnaigh mo Mham an ceann deireanach. An ceann maisithe leis an bhfada. Feictear fada agus ar an toirt ceaptar is ainm Gaeilge é nó í. Is í feidhm an fada guta a fhadú, ach don chuid is mó dealraíonn sé go gcruthaíonn sé níos mó fadhbanna ná dúspéis sa teanga é.

Tá an leabhar ‘Motherfoclóir’ le Darach Ó Séaghdha á léamh agam faoi láthair. Sa chéad caibidil míníonn agus labhraíonn sé faoina hainmneacha Gaeilge fréamhacha sa teanga, agus thug mé faoi deara abairt amháin ar leith. Cuirtear ceist oscailte orainn maidir leis an gcinneadh chun roghnú ainm Gaeilge d’ár bpásití: ‘what impact will the name have on the thousands of first impressions that child will make in life?’ Smaoinigh mé siar ar bhun mo thaithí féin, le m’ainm féin. Ar na hidirghníomhaíochta le háireamh bunaithe ar cheal tuiscint nó suim san ainm, nó insan teanga go bunúsach.

Bhí cuimhne agam ar eachtra áirithe amháin a tharla an bhliain seo chaite,

Credit: Blue Sky Daze

fadhbanna ná dúspéis sa teanga é.

i mí Nollaig.

Mo lá bhreithe is fiche ab ea agus bhí mé i mbun bailliú mo bhronntanas ó Mham agus Dhaid. Ba muince ainm é, mo ainm, agus bhí mé ar scamall a naoi ag fánacht air. (Bualadh bos a dhéanamh dona léitheoirí cé a thuig an nasc idir an rogha don muince ainm agus an ceann ag Carrie Bradshaw ón gclár Sex and the City. D’aithin mé an nasc ó tús.) Shroich mé ar an siopa agus d’iarr mé ón bhean, go tosach an deaisc, an raibh sé déanta acu. Lean an cómhra ar aghaidh le ceist uaithi faoin ainm gur raibh an muince cláraithe faoin. Ansin, chuir an bhean an cheist ormsa; ‘conas a litríonn tú é sin?’ Is gnáthcheist é seo le hainm cosúil le ‘Méabh’. Mar sin de, thosaigh mé is gnáth – ‘M-E-fadaA-B-H’. D’fhreagair sí le ‘ah bhuel, ná bác leis an bhfada! An féidir leat é sin a rá arís?’

Bhaintear preab asam. Níor creid mé an dearcadh a bhí aici. Dearcadh gur cuma leis an bhfada. Cinnte go mbím i Starbucks ó am go ham – ní cailín Starbucks mé, geallaim daoibh!

- agus nach litríonn m’ainm i gceart go riamh! Ach tarlaíonn sé sin leis na hainmneacha is simplí; is scéal greann é sin anois agus tuigeann

fórmhór do lucht ólta Starbucks ba chúis é an t-am agus an luas nascadh le cupán caife Starbucks. Ach sa chás seo, cás mo bhronntanas breith-lae, ní raibh cíos cás ná cathú ag an mbean seo conas a mhaslaíonn sí mo rogha ainm.

Cloistear na leithidí Saoirse Ronan agus Domhnall Gleeson, fite fuaite sna suíomh Hollywood ag spoicadh as na Meiriceánaigh agus a gcuid fuaimniú ar a hainmneacha Gaeilge.

Chonaic mé Saoirse Ronan ar an gclár Graham Norton ag an deireadh seachtaine ag insint scéal faoin amhrán greannmhar a chruthaítear chun cabhrú leis a cuid litriú. An tseachtain ceanna chonaic mé an t-alt ag Daily Edge faoin foighne Domhnall Gleeson á bhrisiú ag Sundance Film Festival - ‘D-O-MH-N-A-L-L IT’S F*#KING EASY!’ Spreag an dá haisteoir míshásta dom mo frustrachas féin a chur in iúl. Agus cinnte le tosnú Bliain na Gaeilge ann go bhfuil slua dúinn cé go mothaíonn mar an gceanna. Taispeántear sin san eagrán deireanach nuair a phléigh Alison Spillane an fuilibiliú bainteach leis an haischib ‘nílsécgl’.

Mar a dhúirt Alison táimid fós ag díriú ar an gceist ceanna sna meáin –

an tseandíospóireacht faoin nGaeilge: an í beo nó marbh?

Muna chuir tú súil ar an bpíosa déanta ag Alison ar an bhfeachtas tosaithe ag Ciara Ní É, #nílsécgl, ba buaic an feachtas ná: ‘daoine le Gaeilge ag roinnt a gcuid scéalta faoi míthuiscintí atá ag daoine le Gaeilge agus a dtaithí ag déileáil le maslú faoin dteanga.’ Tá orm an dá shampla sin ón bhfeachtas a chur isteach mar bhí mé sna tríthí iad a léamh: 1. ‘How is English a modern language when it doesn’t even have its own word for croissant?!’ 2. ‘The conditional tense is so stupid. I mean when would anyone use it?’ Labhair ceannaire an feachtais Ciara Ní É leis The Irish Times faoin maslú mothaithe ag daoine agus cuirtear an ceist reitriciúil ar daoine cén fáth ba chóir aon duine a mhíniú a rogha teanga?

Tháining mé ar irisleabhar foilisúithe ag an gCumann Margaíochta Meiriceánach ag phlé brandáil iasachta agus an tionchar ar thuairimí agus dearcthaí na dtáirge.

Léirigh triail amháin go raibh tionchar mór ar dhearcthaí de bharr fuaimniú Fraincise ar an ainm branda. Thosaigh mé ag smaoineamh an mbeadh cosúlachtaí idir an triail sin agus ar

ainmneacha iasachta – ainmneacha Gaeilge. Thóg mé an seasamh go raibh tionchar ar dhearcthaí na hainm agus iad trí Ghaeilge. Ag breathnú siar ar na ceisteanna rialta, ‘céard é an Bhéarla é sin?’, ‘cén fáth nach litríonn tú é sin trí Bhéarla?’, ‘an gá leis an bhfada?’, is léir nach bhfuil meon dearfach ag fórmhór do dhaoine ar ainmneacha Gaeilge; ag comhlachtaí móra – ní féidir liom m’ainm a líoniú ar fhórmhór d’iarratais ar líne ar son unicode lag; mo phas bordála san áireamh. Fiú ní tugtar an stádas don litriú Gaeilge ar Fhorais Rialtais – táim fós ag faighiú litir ó Revenue chuig ‘Meabh Riordan’.

Thosaínn ag glacadh leis an slí níos éasca. Thosaínn ag rá ‘ná bác leis, ní litríonn aon daoine é i gceart.’

Thosaínn leis an díomuach go ndúirt fear i Raidió na Life é seo dom: ‘Is cuma leis an bhfada. Is é d’ainm.’

Tá an-tábhacht do fheachtas ar nós #nílsécgl. Feachtas cé a thugadh stádas don teanga agus cé a chur í i mbéal an pobail níos leithne.

Dá mba rud é go bhfuil sibh fiosrach faoin muince ainm, rinne mé cinnte go mbeadh fada ann agus tá ann.

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Gaeilge

Glantachán Earraigh - Cuir cuma eagraithe slachtmhar ar do theach, d’aigne agus do shaol Tóg am amach as do ghnáthlá chun smacht a chur ar do chursaí

Ali Spillane Eagarthóir Ghaeilge @thecollegeview

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n t-Earrach buailte linn agus tús curtha le Carghas níl am níos fearr glantachán earraigh a dhéanamh

ar do shaol.

Seo cúpla nod daoibh chun do shaol a eagrú agus díthocsainiú a dhéanamh. Uaireanta bímid chomh gnóthach leis an gháthshaol nach mbíonn seans againn ár gcuid cursaí a chur in eagar agus bheith chomh eagraithe mar is cheart dúinn a bheith.

Glan amach do sheomra leapa.

Is tús iontach é seomra glan a bheith agat. Uair sa tseachtain nó fiú gach coicís déan iarracht do seomra a ghlanadh. Má dhéanann tú go rialta é, ní jab mór é. De ghnáth bíonn an oiread sin bruascar agus rudaí

randamacha ann go mbíonn cuma salach air. Tar éis oíche amach, idir an ullmhúchán agus an deireadh bíonn mo sheomra féin bun os chionn agus cuid mhaith den am fanann sé mar sin ar feadh lá nó dhó. Má tá seomra glan eagraithe agat, beidh tú i ndeaghiúmar.

Glan amach do vardús. Déan é.

Ná caith seachtain ag smaoineamh faoi agus é fágtha ar an méar fada.

Tóg cúpla uair sa lá, b’fhéidir sa maidin, agus déan é. Bí réidh le triail a bhaint as gach rud mar beidh go leor éadaí ann a bhfuil dearmad glan déanta agat orthu. Ach is maith an rud é sin mar gach seans go mbeidh outfit nó dhó nua agat ar deireadh.

Cuireann sé iontas orm an méid éadaí a bhíonn agam i gconaí nuair a bhíonn glantachán earraigh á dhéanamh agam ar mo vardrús féin.

Faigh dialann. Chun do cheann a ghlanadh amach agus do chuid smaointe a chur in eagar is iontach an áis é dialann maith a bheith agat. Idir tascanna ollscoile, sceideal oibre agus do shaol sóisialta bíonn saol gnóthach ag mic léinn agus déanann dialann an saol i bhfad níos éasca. Is cosúil le glantachán earraigh don intinn a dhéanamh.

Ceannaigh boscaí agus fillteáin.

Chun do chuid rudaí a choinneáil go deas néata bíonn boscaí agus fillteáin éifeachtach. Bíonn na céadta bileoga agat nach bhfuil tú ag iarraidh caitheamh sa bhruascar ar eagla na heagla go mbeadh sé úsáideach lá éigin i do shaol, ach atá caite sa chúinne le fada. Le fillteán, tá cuma néata eagraithe orthu agus bíonn sé níos éasca teacht ar cheann áirithe nuair atá sé uait. Is féidir boscaí a fháil nach bhfuil costascach. Má tá rudaí randamacha ag luí timpeall do sheomra cuir i mboscaí iad agus beidh ionadh ort an méid spás a bheidh agat chun níos mó imeachtaí a dhéanamh i do seomra.

Agus tú ag déanamh do ghlantachán earraigh déan i gceart é, faigh an scuab nó an húvar agus glan ó bhun go barr é. Ó mo thaithí féin bím drogallach i gcónaí mo sheomra san Ollscoil a ghlandh mar is cheart.

Bíonn sé de dhíth go dona nuair a déanaim é. Ach má dhéanann tú go rialta é ní thógann sé mórán ama agus bím cuma deas slachtmhar air.

Ná cur nóiméad níos mó amú, tosú anois agus beidh seomra, aigne agus saol deas néata eagraithe agat go luath. Is fiú go mór é gan dabht.

Glantachán Earraigh

Credit: bccp.org

Vótáil100 - Comóradh céad bliain vóta na mban Sa bhliain 1918 tugadh cead do mhná na hÉireann vóta a chaitheamh don chéad uair

Ali Spillane Eagarthóir Ghaeilge @thecollegeview

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Vótáil 100

a bhliain 1918 tugadh cead do mhná na hÉireann vóta a chaitheamh don chéad uair riamh. Chun an comóradh céad bliain a cheiliúradh,

tá tithe an Oireachtais ag reáchtáil clár imeachtaí. Is í an aidhm atá leo ná chun béim a leagadh ar stair na gluaiseachta ceart vótála agus ar na ceannairí a bhí bainteach leis agus ar thionchar na gceart vótála ní ba leithne.

Dar leis an Seanadóir Denis O’ Donovan atá mar Chathaoirleach

Credit: Oireachtas

Seanad Éireann, tá súil aige go spreagfaidh an ceiliúradh seo dul chun cinn agus forbairt i rannpháirtíocht sa daonlathas, sa saol poiblí agus i gceannaireacht na tíre amach anseo.

Is í an Seanadóir Ivana Bacik atá mar Chathaoirleach ar an gcoiste Vótáil 100. Agus í ag caint ar an gceiliúradh luaigh sí gur chomóradh ar na sufraigéidí a bhí gníomhnach sa ghluaiseacht chun vóta na mban a fháil amach é os cionn céad bliain ó shin. Ach go mbeidh béim ar ionadaíocht na mban sa pharlaimint go dtí an lá atá inniu ann freisin.

Mhínigh sí chomh maith go bhfuil súil aici go spreagfaidh an clár níos mó mná i dtreo na polaitíochta agus go gcuirfidh sé i gcuimhne daoine an tábhacht a bhaineann le ceart vótála. Ó 1918 nuair a bhí Constance Markievicz an chéad bean tofa chun na Dála tá neart dul chun chinn déanta ag mná na hÉireann. Ó 1% de an Teachtaí Dála i 1918 go 22% den Dáil iomlán i 2016, is léir go bhfuil neart fás agus forbairt déanta i réimse na polaitíochta ó tréimhse ceart vótála do mhná céad bliain ó shin. Ach níl ionadaíocht inscne cothrom bainte amach go fóill. Ó tugadh cuotaí inscne isteach san olltoghchán i 2016 tá líon na mban sa Dáil tar éis neartú go mór.

San olltoghchán i 2011 (roimh na cuotaí) bhí 25 mná tofa chun na Dála

“spreagfaidh an clár níos mó mná i dtreo na polaitíochta

(sin 15% de na Teachtaí Dála go léir).

Ach san olltoghchán deirneach i 2016 tá an céatadán sin dúbailte le mná mar 30% de gach pháirtí polaitíochta sa tír agus mar 22% de na Teahtaí Dála go léir tofa chun an rialtais.

Tá clár imeachtaí iontach curtha ar fáil le linn na bliana mar chuid den chomóradh. Tá neart ócáidí spreagúla curtha ar fáil, orthu siúd atá; Léacht sa Dáil ag Máire Geoghegan-Quinn i rith Seachtain na Gaeilge, taispeántas ar shaol Constance Markievicz i nGailearaí Náisiúnta na hÉireann, Díospóireacht na nÓg i Seanad

na hÉireann le daltaí idirbliaine ó chuile chearn den tír ar oidhreacht gluaiseachta ceart vótála do mhná.

Tá imeachtaí eagraithe ag an Roinn Cultúir, Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta chomh maith. Beidh taispeántas i gCaisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath ag tosú i Samhain 2018 chun cheiliúradh a dhéanamh ar rannphairtíocht na mban sa saol polaitíochta ar feadh 100 bliain.

Má tá níos mó eolais uait faoi #Vótáil100 téigh chuig www.Oireachtas.ie/vótáil100

FEATURES

There is something about Mary

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Women down through the ages, Ireland has seen some amazing women, it just happens some of them were called Mary

Women have created diversity, and change, not just on the worldwide stage, but here in Ireland.

Upon publishing their ‘Chains or Change’ manifesto in 1971, IWLM members appeared on the Late Late show in 1971, using their status to talk about feminism and act as a rish Women won the limited voice for Irish women. right to vote 100 years ago, Vivion de Valera, then-editor of and today, women have a the Irish Press, described Kenny and voice and are treated as first the other female employees as “the class citizens in almost all wild wild women” as they covered countries. Here are the some of specific topics like deserted wives the most powerful women who and sexual pleasure, as well as influenced the society we live in. interviewing prostitutes.

The quaint Ireland of the 1960s She was not the first, but her work may seem trite or melancholy when told those who doubted that women compared to social media and the had a voice. internet connectivity of today, but Another Mary gave hope to all in 1969, Mary Kenny was a voice for change and liberation at the Irish on the island of Ireland, specifically in political circles, when in 1990 Press. president Mary Robinson became the Editor for the women’s pages, first female to hold the coveted office the agenda for news production for of President of Ireland. women in 1969, seemed to suggest In her victory speech, she spoke that women only cared about clothes, of the women of Ireland, who, she food, knitting patterns and home famously said, “Instead of rocking shopping tips. Outside matters like the cradle, rocked the system.” politics and religion, were seen as Robinson believed that women male topics. But Mary was detercould be independent, speak for mined to put them on the public themselves and talk about poliagenda. tics. She was passionate about the Kenny was one of the founding Irish liberation movement, divorce members of the Irish Women and contraception. Hers was a voice Liberation Movement (IWLM) in that told the women of Ireland there 1970, a group of female journalists were no limits to what they could that met weekly to discuss social achieve, and in a decade creeping issues for women in Irish society.

Amy Donohue Contributor @thecollegeview

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“Instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system

from recession, her voice was welcomed.

Prior to becoming president, Robinson served as a senator and in 1971 she was instrumental in trying to introduce the first bill proposing the legalisation of contraception in Ireland. Robinson also worked as a legal adviser in the campaign for the reform of homosexuality laws.

In the same way that one can wait for a bus for hours and two come along at the same time, yet another Mary was to take centre stage in the political landscape of Ireland.

Just as Mary Robinson replaced Mary McAleese in the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform, Mary McAleese would take the mantel and serve as the 8th president of Ireland from 1997 to 2011.

Like Robinson before her, McAleese came with a legal

background and a fierce amount of backbone and gumption.

She served for a time as a professor of criminal law at Trinity College in Dublin and for a very brief time she worked as a journalist and announcer for RTÉ.

Mc Aleese, the first woman from the North of Ireland to serve as president, was always a supporter of her own religious upbringing. However, she was no wilting violet when it came to calling the church out and did so on a number of issues.

Upon her re-inauguration for her second term, McAleese said: “The theme of my presidency, the eighth presidency, is building bridges. These bridges require no engineering skills but they will demand patience, imagination and courage for Ireland’s pace of change is now bewilderingly fast”.

Image Credit: Aiobhin Bryant

However, McAleese recently found herself at a burning bridge, following the Vaticans decision to rescind an invitation to her as a speaker for the International Women’s Day conference.

Mc Aleese, like the Mary before her, is a strong supporter of LGBT rights. Her son Jason, who is gay, has been both her inspiration to illicit change, and her strength to fight on.

Mary Lou McDonald became the new Sinn Fein President last week, taking over the role from Gerry Adams.

She won her Dáil seat back in 2011 and retained it in 2016. Mary is a dedicated, driven politician who is no stranger to controversy and pushing the rights of women in Ireland.

Her great uncle was executed by the Free State during the civil war, and she says this and the hunger strikes during the ‘troubles’ awakened her to the injustices suffered by northern Catholics.

She has made no secret of her desire to see a united Ireland, and her public speaking skills have won her the respect of many.

Known for her outspoken views, and like the Mary’s before her, a woman who does not fall at the first hurdle, but believes in facing the challenges of politics, and life straight on.

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FEATURES

All the wild horses

A horse tethered to a chain with no water suply at a park, Darndale, Dublin

Credit: Orla O’Driscoll

The horses of the wild west, have seen their Irish counterparts decrease, but where are all the wild horses going?

Orla O’Driscoll Features Editor @Dublin_Called

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suggest it gave credence to urban cowboys, and the implosion of wild horses, dotting the landscapes of many deprived Irish cities.

In a 1997, opinion piece for the Independent, Fintan O Toole said: “In colloquial speech, horse is another word for heroin. And in the bleak outer suburbs of Dublin, horses are a substitute for heroin, an alternative source of cheap thrills for bored, alienated kids.”

Horses grazing on community greens, ridden bareback on main streets, or racing in large groups carrying unfettered youngsters, became not just accepted, but at some levels commonplace.

House or flat, caravan or tent, the ability of the owner to have a place to hitch a horse was not a deterrent to owning one.

At this point in history, Ireland boasted the highest ownership of horses per head of capita across Europe; so many of those horses were enduring horrific conditions, very few were tended by vets, and fewer still were getting the care required.

While smoking in cars, in bars, in workplaces was still very much a thing, and the internet had yet to offer social networking for those looking for new addictions, drug abuse and drug related crime was at endemic rates around many larger cities.

ssie was the most handsome traveller that ever lived and the princess told him that he was too handsome to ever grow old. She took him away over the sea to the Land of Eternal Youth. And there they stayed for a thousand years (from Into the West).

Dublin in the early 1990s, was an emergent city, finding its feet, and looking for a route out of misery and recession.

Those who had financial security feared the ever shifting tides. Those who did not, scraped out an existence to make ends meet.

The roar of a tiger, mythical, or Celtic had yet to be felt.

While the release of the 1992 The Wild Horses movie ‘Into the west’, showcasing And so, a sub culture of likethe journey of two young boys and their horse, Tir na nOg, may not have minded youngsters became a norm of sorts, the ownership of a horse; shattered cinematic history, some

symbolic of their ability to rise above the poverty of their surroundings.

For so many of the young horse owners, ownership came with a single goal, the thrill of the ride, the race to pit the ability of one animal against another.

Horses and horse related accidents stopped being new news, and the ISPCA and other horse welfare organisations found themselves inundated with reports of lose horses, straying horses, abused horses, or dead horses.

Government, under the office of the Department of Agriculture, later to be Agriculture, Food and the Marine, (DAFM) designated responsibility for the control of horses to each council area. Implementation took a number of years for Councils to complete, and now, according to

a Dublin City council representative the issue with unlicensed horses in areas which have not been designated is under control.

People living in areas where horses still stray beg to differ, with one Darndale resident saying: “It’s not as bad as it was years ago - but there are horses across the main N2 road, at Darndale, and they are in bits.

They are kept on ropes but you can see some of them are just going mad walking around in circles”.

According to The Control of Horses Bye Laws (2010) “Horses seized for offences under the Control of Horses Act 1996 or Dublin City Council’s Control of Horses Bye laws 2010 are transported to the City Council’s officially designated pound. A detailed description of the horse is taken, and it is also scanned

for a microchip. The vet issues any treatment deemed necessary. If the horse does not have a microchip, one is inserted”.

However, Dublin City council representative Marie Mc Cauley noted that most horses are not reclaimed by the owners: “[They] can’t or won’t pay the fine. If we can’t determine who owns the horse, or if the fine is not paid, the horse is sent to the pound, and ultimately the horse will be destroyed and sent to the knackery.”

Buy and sell pages, predominantly run through Facebook and other online sites, offer swaps of a horse for a quad bike. Or posts from predominantly young boys and men asking for: “Anything cheap going have €50.”

The cost to licence a horse is

“She took him away

over the sea to the Land of Eternal Youth

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FEATURES €31.74, so the additional cost for that and money to lay away for vet bills, cover, bridle, shoes, also needs to be applied. However, as so many in the business of trying to rehome or rescue horses are quick to note - not all unlicensed horses are uncared for, but most stray horse that come into rescue have suffered at best a lack of care, or at worst have suffered animal cruelty.

The current cost of reclaiming a horse is €700 per horse plus an additional €20 per night per horse for horses held over and above the statutory seven day period.

are unlicensed.”

The Control of Horses Act 1996 was introduced to address the risks posed to the public by stray and abandoned horses.

According to the legislation, local authorities have responsibility for implementing the act, and the Minister for Agriculture may provide financial assistance to the local authorities towards expenses incurred in control of horse activities.

In 2016 the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine provided funding of €725,000 to local authorities towards expenses incurred by them under the Act. The My Lovely Horse Department continues to engage with My Lovely Horse Rescue, local authorities on an ongoing basis (MLHR) a voluntary group says the in an effort to achieve savings and problem with fly-grazing (horses efficiencies in operation of the Act. being left on public land without safe Dublin City Council received or correct provisions) has not gone €59,825 for their expenditure for the away. recovery, or destruction of horses.

They see cases of animal neglect They seized 193 horses, three of far too often: “We regularly get calls which were reclaimed by owners. from all around the city, horses will The council re-homed 12 and euthbe hidden in gardens, in make shift anized 176. A total of 91.2 per cent stables, so they are not always easy of horse seized were euthanized, by to spot. Owners simply don’t under- Dublin City Council alone. stand or are not aware of the dietary/ The DAFM also says the funds veterinary/dental care required by are towards community, leadership horses and in some cases, we believe and education in responsible horse it could also be owners/keepers are ownership for young people. not prepared to cover the costs for South Dublin County council were same when they arise or not expect not in a position to say how many such costs.” horses had been licenced through The number of horse licences them for the year 2017, however issued last year for Dublin City their DAFM funding was €103,625. council was only 15, and, the council They seized 266 horses, just three notes they “unfortunately have no of which were reclaimed by owners. way of knowing how many [Horses] They re-homed 12 and euthanized

A horse in a field N2 Dublin grazing among rubble and plastic banding

The gentle creature who wanted to pose for the camera

251 animals.

The problems do not lie in the responsible horse owners, though there are many who would argue that in order to be responsible the cost of looking after the animal, the facilities and the appropriate accommodation for the animal must first be met.

The problem lies in the amount of young people purchasing a horse, using it for a short period of time, swapping it for something else, and in many cases abandoning the animal.

Credit: Orla O’Driscoll

Credit: Orla O’Driscoll

Licence applicants must satisfy the local authority of fitness: “to keep a horse and that the horse will be properly maintained and stabled.

If a person under 16 owns a horse, the head of the household in which they live is considered to be the owner, as horses may not be sold to anyone under 16 years of age”.

A scroll through Facebook pages will categorically determine that many of the horse owners, who take these horses on roads, are not over the age of 16.

Suzi surrendered to MLHR Summer 17. Emaciated but wearing new

Anyone permitted to have a horse in a public place must ensure that it is wearing a bridle and is under adequate control. It is illegal to allow a horse to graze, feed, stray or remain in a public place without the consent of the local authority.

The seizure and removal of horses is contracted out from each council, and there are apparently new tenders in place for a new seizure company.

The location of the horse pound is shrouded in mystery, the councils say due to fear for employee protection, however, a pound that does not have transparency seems at odds with the funding the control of horse’s legislation receives.

The issue is not just Dublin-centric, according to the Irish Field; of 1,177 horses and ponies seized in the State in 2017 only a fraction – less than 10 per cent – were reclaimed by their owners. The cost to local authorities and the DAFM, to deal with unwanted horses and ponies seized under the Control of Horses Act stands at €4.5m from 2014-2017.

MLHR has called for: “Enforcement of equine ID laws and proactive and speedy enforcement to deter owners from FlyGrazing,” Minister Michael Creed, who did not comment when contacted, previously noted, in an interview with The Irish Field: “Even one case of animal cruelty is one too many.”

For those that have encountered horses straying, they know all too well the dangers posed by a terrified horse running through traffic.

And, the fact remains: “They shoot horses, don’t they?”

Credit: MLHR

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FEATURES

Time to switch off

The rise of the zombie nation, as more people walk with heads down, terrified life on the phone might pass them by Cáit Caden Sub-Editor @thecollegeview

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yan Tubridy sparked a national conversation on whether we have fallen too far down the rabbit hole of social media into all its filtered wonder and forgotten how to interact with our fellow human. Tubridy fuelled this debate while doing a segment during a recent Late Late Show on how easy it is for paedophiles to contact children through social media. Although it is worrying that the unbridled use of technology by children can be dangerous, it is a fact we are familiar with. Instead, people are starting to examine the relationship between people in general and technology and just how dependant we are on it and how much of ourselves we give away while using it.

Kylie Jenner exemplified how intrusive social media can be lately as she recently removed herself from the limelight while she was pregnant with her daughter, in order to give herself complete privacy. As Jenner

has grown up with the majority of her life on camera, removing herself from the public eye displays how valuable yet scarce privacy can be.

The need to remove oneself from the social media sphere also indicates that too much online activity can have detrimental consequences to your health.

Our world is built around technology as multinational technology firms such as Apple and Google employ up to 10 per cent of Irish people and it seems people working there could be using their employer’s products and services while on the job. As everything else around technology is evolving around it, there is a lack of legislation around to deal with online issues which, at the moment, are brought straight to the courts instead like that of hacktivist Max Schrems.

“We are at a stage where technological advancements are rapid and legal frameworks are catching up,” said Paul Sweetman, Executive Director of Technology Ireland.

In an article on Independent.ie last year, a report by the Royal Society for Public Health was quoted stating

“

Kylie Jenner exemplified how intrusive social media can be that “the platforms that are supposed to help young people connect with each other may actually be fuelling a mental health crisis.”

However, this can be said not just for children. According to a study by Ipsos MORI, a market research organisation for the multinational professional services network Deloitte, 90 per cent of Irish people have a smart phone. The number of those over 60 years old with with a smart phone has risen to over 54 per cent.

This may seem innocuous until William Fry, an Irish corporate law firm, found that 78 per cent of people go online at work.

The Pew Research Centre indicates the most common reason for this is to “take a break” while at work. If this is the case the average person is rarely switching off from the chaos of public life and the correlation between the rise of the smartphone, social media and mental health cannot be ignored.

The Irish government seems to acknowledge Albert Einstein’s theory that “it has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity,” as there is currently talks in the Oireachtas of setting the digital age of consent to 13 years.

The walk of the zombies tells its story, the blinding fear of FOMO. Image Credit: Deirdre Kelly

This race is no drag

RuPaul brought the drag race to reality, DCU brings the reality to drag Gabija Gataveckaite Deputy Opinions Editor @thecollegeview

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uPaul’s famous catch phrase has echoed around the world and will now echo in the halls of St Patrick’s College Dublin: “Gentlemen, start your engines and may the best woman win”.

Following the enormous success of RuPaul’s Drag Race, DCU Drag Race returns for the fifth time for its annual show. The competition sees student drag queens and kings take part in a pageant-style contest, similar to the format of the television show. Drag culture has exploded in popularity all over the world in the recent years with the help of the Emmy-nominated show which now sees spin offs in gay clubs and university campuses.

Dean O’Reilly, Chairperson of LGBTA society, excitedly explained the latest instalment of DCU’s very own race, with all proceeds donated to BeLonG To: “Drag Race was started initially to bring a spotlight to drag culture and artistry in DCU.

The race to drag for all the humans, DCU, brings inclusion and laughter.

Image Credit: Megan Hannan

As time has gone on, it has evolved into the largest student-organised drag competition in the country.”

“It is the premiere venue for the display of student drag talent and the only large-scale LGBTQ+ fundraising event that takes place in DCU,” O’Reilly added.

Drag comes in all shapes and sizes - bio queens and drag kings are encouraged to also take part, which involves cisgender women either dressing up as a heightened female

or as a heightened man. “DCU Drag Race warmly welcomes any drag performers, whatever that means to the individual. We have had bio queens, drag queens and drag kings - all varieties of drag,” O’ Reilly explained.

Hosted by Victoria’s Secret, one of the biggest name in Dublin drag, the show takes place on the first of March in St Patrick’s College Auditorium. It will see eight performers battle for the crown, with names

including Avoca Reaction, Scarlet Phoria, Valeria (Val) Au Vent and Nikkie Stones. “You’ll have to watch social media for the reveals, but I can tell you currently that Pixie Woo will be judging. We also have Meth, a London based queen, flying over to judge on the night,” O’Reilly said.

Bonnie Ann Clyde recalls on her experience in taking part in the first ever DCU Drag Race. “I had such an amazing time performing.

As a newbie, it really helped to put myself out there. I got to meet some amazing people and I got to stroke my ego with my second-place win,” she explained.

“I’d recommend anyone to try it, even if they’re not drag kings or drag queens right now,” she said.

Drag culture isn’t only perpetrating universities, but mainstream media too.

Ireland’s Got Talent launched just a few weeks ago on TV3 and sees Michelle Visage judge. Visage is also the main judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race and is known as the Simon Cowell of the drag world for her firm and honest critique.

Courtney Act, a season six finalist of RuPaul’s Drag Race, just won

“

It is the premiere venue for the display of student drag talent Celebrity Big Brother UK a few weeks ago, being the first drag queen to win any series of Big Brother.

Drag is not only bending gender, but it’s incredible success sees it now breaking society norms.

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“Small mistakes” cost DCU Force in narrow defeat to IT Carlow Valiant performance falls just short against Brendan Johnson Cup favourites

IT Carlow displayed their stremgth in their victory against DCU

Sam Roberts Production Assistant @thecollegeview

DCU Force 3 IT Carlow 10 Brendan Johnson Cup quarter-final

I

T Carlow narrowly edged out DCU Force in their quarter-final clash in the Brendan Johnston Cup on a cold Wednesday night in Coolmine RFC. Defending champions Carlow ultimately made more of their opportunities in what was an extremely evenly-matched tie.

DCU started slowly, with their scrum immediately under pressure from an enormous Carlow front row. Sensing this weakness Carlow won the ball against-the-head, and with the DCU defence not set they managed to exploit space on the blindside.

Quick hands from the Carlow forwards set winger Seamus Curran free, and despite the best efforts of his opposite number Sam Murphy he managed to touch down for the opening try of the game, which flyhalf Aiden McDonald failed to convert.

Despite conceding early DCU settled into the game, and began to dominate both possession and territory.

The Force found themselves camped in the opposition 22, but mistakes at key moments repeatedly killed hard-earned momentum, although credit must go to a welldrilled Carlow defence.

A loose Carlow kick and beautiful balanced footwork from DCU’s Adam Swann brought the Force back into Carlow territory, and after eventually bringing the fullback down Carlow were penalised for not releasing. Scrumhalf Peter Wright converted to bring the score to 5-3, and gave DCU their deserved reward for a long period of pressure.

The remainder of the first half was scrappy and error-strewn, with both sides repeatedly handing back possession to the other through knockons and cheap penalties. Neither team could threaten a score before the interval, leaving DCU trailing by

Credit: World Rugby Shop

two at half-time.

Carlow started the second half as strongly as they did the first, and scored their second try following a period of sustained pressure on the DCU line, with fullback Rhys Davies crossing to put Carlow 10-3 ahead.

DCU were let off the hook as Carlow missed three kickable penalties in the space of ten minutes, which, if converted, would likely have put the defending champions out of sight.

It made for a compelling finish however, as the Force sensed their opportunity to cause an upset with only one converted try separating the sides and launched wave after wave of attacks on the Carlow line.

After some strong carries from the forwards, the ball was spread wide to David Molloy who looked certain to score in the corner, but excellent, desperate Carlow defence forced the winger into touch just short of the line.

The pressure was relieved as number 8 James O’Dea was penalised for not rolling away and, as so often on the night, a poor mistake appeared to kill DCU’s momentum.

However, O’Dea immediately redeemed himself, stealing the ball from the resulting line-out and giving DCU another opportunity to attack.

In a frantic final few minutes possession changed hands several times as neither side seemed able to exert control on the game.

With time nearly up, the Force found themselves with a lineout deep inside the Carlow 22. The ball was gathered at the front by replacement prop Morgan Mooney, but the throw was deemed to be crooked by the referee, handing Carlow a scrum and with it likely the game.

Carlow safely negotiated the final scrum and kicked clear to secure their victory and a spot in the semi-final.

Despite the loss DCU Force coach Eoin Sheriff praised his side’s performance against formidable opposition.

“I can’t fault anything really,” Sheriff said.

“We were up against a college who have a designated rugby course.

Carlow are the reigning champions, they probably train together three times a week, we’ve probably trained twice since Christmas.”

“Small mistakes are going to happen when you’re not used to playing with each other, that familiarity probably showed in the end,” Sheriff said.

“To be fair to Carlow they took

their chances off those scraps, and that’s the sign of a good team”.

This was a sentiment echoed by Carlow boss Corey Carty “I think we took our opportunities, especially in the first half,” he said.

“DCU definitely showed that can play with the ball, and their attitude was definitely not to give us the ball.

I think we’re going to have to get a little bit smarter about that, and definitely we’re going to have to work on that for the next game.”

DCU: Eoin Ferry, Conor Maguire, Luke O’Callaghan, Michael Gordan, Eoin Lewis, Oisin Rowe, Matthew Keane, James O’Dea, Peter Wright, Elliot Stone, David Molloy, Ger Young, James O’Kane, Sam Murphy, Adam Swann Replacements: Koh Seonsa, Morgan Mooney, Ryo Nakagawa, Patrick Thornton, Jorge Cordoba, Eamonn Walsh, Michael Savage IT Carlow: Martin Mulhall, Ntinga Mpiko, Ola Ogunkoya, Jack Nolan, Joe Carley, Ronan Scott, Michael Russell, Nick Doyle, Isaac Daly, Aiden McDonald, Seamus Curran, David Murphy, Patrick Connors, Calum Finnegan, Rhys Davies Replacements: Shayne Fleming, John Murphy, Graham Brennan, Calum Murphy, Idris Rqibi.

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DCU strong enough to be champions in Gavin Kearney’s last year While a first Collingwood Cup final eluded them this year, it won’t be much further away

Alex Dunne Sports Editor @alexdunnesf

G

avin Kearney missed out on DCU’s penalties loss to UCD in the CUFL Division One Semi-Finals due to a concussion.

He picked up the injury just a day after returning from the Collingwood Cup defeat in Belfast while playing for his club, St Mochtas.

It’s part and parcel of the life of a student athlete, fixture pileups and injures are inevitable. Kearney also missed their League quarter-final win over UL due to a hip flexor injury.

But defeat this year has not gotten DCU’s captain down, who firmly believes the senior side are good enough to bring home major silverware next season. To lift a trophy in his final year, his first since his Harding Cup success with the university, would be some way to go out.

“Well, going into final year my main aim is to get my degree under my belt,” Kearney began.

“But as it is my final year playing football for DCU, I’m really confident of going and winning one of the competitions, if not both.

“We’re strong enough to do it - and the addition of some new freshers will strengthen our chances.”

Self-belief has never been lacking in Declan Roche’s panel. Despite the

The DCU Senior Soccer team, with Kearney as captain.

defeat to UCD in the Collingwood Cup semis, they could put that defeat behind them and draw inspiration from their league victory in Belfield.

“The lads went to Belfield confident as we had already beaten them 1-0 there in the league stage.

“I was following it myself and it was tough to take, especially conceding the equaliser so late in the game.

“But the lads were excellent against a strong UCD side who had only put us out of the Collingwood the week before, and to respond and fight like they did shows just how good a side we are,” Kearney said.

The side fell at the semi-final hur-

Credit: DCU Soccer Club.

To respond and “ fight like they did

shows just how good a side we are

dle in both competitions for the second year running, but it never once shook Kearney or the group, who maintained their mental toughness to the end.

The coaching staff posted a note up in the changing rooms before the Collingwood clash, and it would be the last thing the players saw before taking to the field.

Among the many instructions and well-wishes scribbled down, the one word that jumped out, written in block capitals and encircled in the centre, was “believe”.

Belief is something the side never lost, and Kearney thinks they’ve made massive strides forward this season in terms of their confidence - and while a first Collingwood Cup final eluded them this year, it won’t be much further away.

“I think we were excellent in the Collingwood this year.

“Obviously, a great start on the Monday against Ulster University, and then to go out to UCD in the semi-final was hard to take but it was one of them games which could’ve went either way.

“We had opportunities to take the lead before they controversially scored and had we taken them it would’ve been a very different game.

“Unfortunately we went out of both competitions at the same stage last year, to UCC, but I think the main difference was the belief we had in ourselves.

“We had a strong league campaign this year including beating UCD in Belfield, and we finished two places better than last year giving us home advantage in the quarter finals.

“We strongly believed we could go and win both competitions this year but unfortunately it just wasn’t meant to be in the end.”

DCU Athletics dominate IUAA indoors 27 gold medals shared between the all-conquering DCU men’s and women’s teams

Hugh Farrell Contributor @thecollegeview

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CU had a very successful run in the IUAA indoor varsities in Athlone IT on February 9th, winning golds in both male and female categories.

DCU men’s team won their twelfth consecutive title and the women won their eleventh, with a total medals haul for DCU of 27.

Overall, 15 were won by the women and 12 by the men.

DCU men’s team put an impressive 101 points on the board, with UL only managing 43. The women’s team also dispatched of UL with a scoreline of 115-45. Beyond the collective success DCU enjoyed, they also had three members break IUAA records.

Elizabeth Morland set a new combined events record of 3985 points, Garry Campbell won the 3000m in 8.16.81 and Matthew Behan beat the 60 metre hurdle record, clocking in at an impressive 7.97.

Many went to support the support the team and Sophie Becker, who finished 1st in the 400m, said: “Everyone is so supportive.

“Even if you’re injured or not competing, most people involved in DCU athletics make the trip to Athlone to support the team and it’s amazing the atmosphere that creates and how well everyone performs.”

Many of the DCU athletes had DCU flew to the top of the medal charts Credit: John S O’Connor/Irish Universities Athletics Association been performing well going into the happy with my result. event and were confident going into going into it. fast times so we were confident of a “But once the gun went off, all of “Most athletes had already com- good result and retaining the titles,” it. Middle-distance runner Lauren Tinkler said: “It was my first time rac- my nerves went away. I finished 5th peted in competitions before varsities Becker added. ing the 3k so I was a bit apprehensive overall in a time of 10.44. I was really and had shown great form and ran

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19

Disappointing start costs DCU in Sigerson quarter-final exit

DCU 1-09 0-16 UCD

Continued from backpage DCU fought back and was back in the game thanks to the excellent awareness of Diarmuid O’Connor who took a quick free.

He drilled a pinpoint diagonal ball over UCD full back Cillian O’Shea and into the hands of Diarmuid Murtagh who rifled it home to make it a one point game.

However, DCU weathered the storm in the second half, as points from Paddy Durcan and Eanna Ó Conchúir were eclipsed by that of O’Carroll’s accurate free takes which made UCD look like the more assured side. DCU’s cause was not helped by the dismissal of Ciaran Boylan on the 53rd minute as UCD marched to a four point victory.

TURNOVERS

Mayo’s Diarmuid O’Connor confronted by Evan O’Carroll during DCU’s 4 point loss

Credit: Mark Carrol

Mayo’s Diarmuid O’Connor reflects on the end of the road with DCU O’Connor sits down with Gavin Quinn to discuss the years he’s been through with DCU

“

It’s the only opportunity you get really to play with lads from all over the country and just the craic we have on and off the pitch umph at the Mardyke in 2015.

Diarmuid was part of DCU’s most recent Sigerson victory that saw Moyna’s men capture the crown after extra time against UCC. itting in an empty DCU “I love playing Sigerson [Cup], canteen on a cold evening, since my first year that I started I Diarmuid O’Connor griped was lucky enough to win it out but his coffee cup as he stared at it’s unreal just playing with lads the empty table. He had just the same age as you in college and played his final game for DCU. from different counties, it’s a great The Mayo star had just been opportunity,” he said, almost bearing through a war. A four point Sigerson a smile.

Cup quarter-final defeat at the hands Preparation this year hasn’t been of UCD was not the way he enviideal, a lot of players are tied up with sioned ending an ‘unreal’ four years inter-county commitments. with Niall Moyna’s team.

DCU’s cause wasn’t helped as Yet Diarmuid reminisced about third level institutions were not better days and four years of success- involved in this year’s O’Byrne Cup, es and memories. which meant it was difficult to keep He loved being part of something the team together. different, and the opportunity to “It is tough to pull everyone play with players from all over the together, especially not playing in country at Third Level. the O’Byrne Cup this year as well,” “It’s the only opportunity you get he said. really to play with lads from all over “We haven’t played together that the country and just the craic we much at all.” have on and off the pitch, yeah, it’s a The new year is a busy time for great competition,” he said young GAA players, as club compeHis memory drifted towards trititions conclude before the Christmas

Gavin Quinn Deputy Sports Editor @gavinquinn97

S

break and preseason competitions kick off just days into the new year, but it’s something that makes the Sigerson Cup challenging in Diarmuid’s eyes.

He reflected back on the game. UCD faced the same problems. There’s no room for excuses at such a high level.

“Yeah obviously it’s a tough competition,” he said. “There’s lads being pulled in every direction with their county under 21’s and county seniors. Even at the end of last year, there’s club under 21 and club senior as well. “[Players are] getting pulled in all different directions, so it’s tough to have everyone committed from the start to the end.

“I suppose it was the same for UCD as well, we can’t be making too many excuses but it is tough.”

Diarmuid looked up from the table, and let go of his coffee. The Ballintubber man has had an excellent career with Mayo and DCU so far and undoubtedly will go on and achieve more success, but he will

Credit:Mark Carrol

UCD

16

DCU

23

“I suppose the first half was very disappointing,” O’Connor said, as “the first 25 minutes we were very slow to get going. I think we found ourselves seven or eight points to no score, but we dug deep in the end of the first half and we got right back into the game.

The second half, there was nothing in it but we just made a few silly mistakes and UCD punished us and probably deserved to go on and win the game.”

ATTACKS

UCD

32

DCU 24

Diarmuid O’Connor chanllenges Kerry’s Jack Barry for possession.

always remember his time in DCU fondly.

He’s disappointed to finish his time in DCU with defeat but also hasn’t lost sight of how much he has enjoyed his four years with DCU. “This is my final year in DCU so you know it’s disappointing that we can’t have everyone together as long as we would have liked,” he said.

“It’s a great competition, the Sigerson Cup, I really enjoy playing it.”

UCD: Charlie Manton, Luke Fortune, Cillian O’Shea, Conor Mullally, Peter Healy, Stephen Coen, Jimmy Feehan, Barry O’Sullivan, Jack Barry (0-1), Liam Casey (0-1), Conor McCarthy(0-1, 0-4f) , Brian Byrne, Tom Hayes (0-1), Evan O’Carroll (0-3, 0-1f, 0-1 ’45), Eoin Lowry (0-3f) Subs used: Liam Silke, Larry Moran, Brian Ó Seanacháin, Patrick O’Connor DCU: Evan Comerford, Ciaran Boylan, Fintan Kelly, Declan Monaghan, Dessie Ward, Shairoze Akram, Paddy Durcan (0-1), Stephen O’Brien (0-1), Caolan McGonagle, Diarmuid O’Connor (0-1), Shane Carthy, Dessie Reynolds, Micheál Bannigan, Diarmuid Murtagh (1-1, 0-2f), Éanna Ó Conchuir (0-2,0-1f) Subs used: Cian Breheny, Conor Bradley, Michael Hall, Thomas Galligan Referee: Brendan Cawley

SPORT

INSIDE Kearney ready to taste final year success

DCU second half scoring spree takes them to their first ever Fitzgibbon Cup final DCU pulled away late to win by eleven points

John Morley Contributor @thecollegeview

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CU booked their place in the Fitzgibbon Cup final with an eleven-point victory against Dublin rivals DIT last Tuesday evening in Parnell Park.

Dublin’s Donal Burke got DCU off to a flyer with a beautiful goal in the opening moments.

A high diagonal ball was flicked along the ground by centre forward John Donnelly to Burke. Burke soloed into the edge of the square from the stand side and finished across DIT skipper Warren Kavanagh.

DIT responded immediately with a free from Niall O’Brien, who doubled his tally in the next play with an easy point.

Both DCU corner forwards got in on the scoring with Patrick Curran hitting the ball into his hands and striking over.

Kilkenny’s John Donnelly added to Curran’s effort, which left Burke’s goal as the difference between the sides.

The first half was congested in the middle of the field with a lot of interceptions, turnovers and fouls. Curran roaming to midfield along with other forwards on a rotational basis contributed to this.

DIT’s Niall O’Brien took advantage of DCU’s indiscipline to knock over two frees while Burke did the same for DCU adding another free to his tally.

Fergal Whitely then came on for Na Fianna’s Paul O’Dea. Another DIT foul allowed Donal Burke to put DCU ahead 1-4 to 0-4 eighteen minutes into the half.

DCU could have gone roaring ahead but a great save from Kavanagh with the hurl denied Donnelly a goal.

Burke then continued his free taking exhibition for DCU with a huge free from the sideline 50 yards out.

Curran asserted his dominance up

front yet again by striking a high effort over while running across the 45 towards the centre of the pitch.

DIT’s runners created free taking chances for O’Brien who added another two easy points to his tally.

DIT’s skipper had to run out to deny Donal Burke a second goal as Burke’s attempt at a chip was blocked

by Kavanagh’s hurl.

A 65 from Burke and a free from DIT’s O’Brien left a goal between the sides at the break, with DCU leading 1-7 to 0-7.

Things began to open up in the sec-

ond half, as a DCU scoring blitz all but ended the DIT challenge with six unanswered scores.

John Donnelly got proceedings underway, swinging over from the 45.

First half DCU substitute Fergal Whitely proved his worth hitting over a point on the run from the wing.

Burke picked up from where he left off in the first half with three pointed frees in a row.

John Donnelly cut across two DIT men and hit over a nice point from the right of goals.

Derek McNicholas ended the DCU

The Fitzgibbon Cup final will take place on the 24th of February 2018.

tide of attacks by hitting over a point from outside the 45. DCU lead by 1-13 to 0-8.

Things went from bad to worse for DIT as newly introduced DCU substitute Peter Hogan cut into the square from the stand side and finished past DIT keeper Kavanagh.

Thanks to the defensive display of Delaney at centre back, a certain point was blocked moments after DCU’s second goal.

Paul Kelly impressed off the bench as the forward sprinted out to the 45 near the stand, before turning back

inside past two DIT defenders to pop over a score.

Whitely added to Kelly’s effort to give DCU a 2-15 to 0-8 lead going into the last ten minutes.

O’Brien would not let DIT go down quietly as he added a free and a point to DIT’s tally.

Defender Delaney produced perhaps one of the best points from play all day as he hit a humungous effort from 70 yards out over the bar.

Wexford’s Joe O Connor came into the game in the latter stages picking off a fine score from 65 yards out the field.

DIT, determined not to be beat, got a late consolation goal. O’Brien did a quick one-two with Justin Cahill before burying the sliotar past a stream of DCU men.

Points from Joe O Connor and Donal Burke forced DIT to go for goals.

The DCU skipper Oisin Foley made two fine late saves on Cian O’Donoghue and O’Brien, the second effort of which slowly spilt across the goal before spilling out for a 65.

DCU victory over DIT means they will face the University of Limerick next Saturday in Cork for their first ever Fitzgibbon Cup final.

Joe O’Connor was thrilled with the win and heralded it as “a great achievement considering DCU were playing Ryan Cup in 2015”.

“It was a scrappy game in the first half but thankfully things started to open up for us in the second half,” he said.

O’Connor then gave his insight on their Fitzgibbon Cup final opponents UL. “We haven’t met them yet this year.

They’re obviously a good squad with around fifteen county players, but we’ll be well prepared for them.”

DCU and UL will meet in Mallow, Cork on the 24th of February at 3pm for what will prove to be a historic day for DCU hurling.

Credit: EóinNoonanSportsfile

Disappointing start costs DCU in Sigerson quarter-final exit Niall Moyna’s side failed to recover from lacklustre opening quarter DCU 1-09 UCD 0-16

D Gavin Quinn Deputy Sports Editor @gavinquinn97

CU crashed out of the Sigerson Cup at the hands of bitter rivals UCD on February 7th, after a poor start saw Niall Moyna’s men seven points behind after just twenty minutes in St Clare’s.

UCD raced to a seven point lead before DCU could register a score, but despite a strong DCU fightback in the middle quarters, UCD kept the

hosts at arms length to cruise into a Sigerson Cup semi-final.

“Obviously we left ourselves with a lot to do, probably too much to do but we came out strong in the second half and we still could have won the game,” DCU’s Diarmuid O’Connor said after the defeat.

The opening stages were dominated by UCD as Kerry’s Jack Barry, Conor McCarthy and Evan O’Carroll terrorised the DCU defence. DCU’s opening score came after the 20th minute courtesy of captain Stephen O’Brien.

Continues on page 19

UCD held off a DCU fightback to record a 0-16 to 1-09 victory.

Credit: Mark Carrol