The College View Issue 9

Wednesday March 21st 2018

www.thecollegeview.com

. Est. 1999 .

Over 13 per cent of Undergrads failed an exam last semester Callum Lavery News Editor @callum_lavery

Credit: Sarah O’Neill DCU Drag race took place on Thursday the 15th of March. The event, which was supposed to take place last month, was postponed on account of Storm Emma.

DCU Gender identity policy in final stages Colin Gannon Contributor @thecollegeview

A GENDER Identity and Expression policy for DCU is currently in the final stages of development and can be expected later this year, the head of the University’s Equality Office has said.

This follows similar policies in TCD, UCD and UCC to raise awareness of gender identities and ensure campus-life is welcoming for non-binary and transgender students

Features

Giving while living - the billionaire’s story Page 14

OVER 13 per cent of undergraduate students failed an exam in DCU in the first semester, according to information retrieved under the Freedom of Information (FOI) act.

Data released to the College View through the Freedom of Information Act has revealed that 1,698 undergraduate students out of the 12,781 currently studying in DCU failed at least one of their exams.

Students who are unsuccessful in their examinations must resit the exam and pay the college a fee of €190.

Students who fail to do so risk failing the module and the course.

The Institute of Education faculty [IoE] had the lowest number of failed exams last semester with only 63 students out of 3,485, less than two per cent of the faculty failing their exams.

“Our failure rates might be lower because Education programmes tend to have year-long modules so status at June will give a more accurate picture,” said Pádraig Ó Duibhir, Deputy Dean at the IoE. “Also, students may have only one high-credit placement module in a semester.​​The programmes are intensive in terms of class contact time and this may have a positive impact on continuous assessment and examinations,” said Duibhir. In

and employees.

Sandra Healy, Head of Diversity and Inclusion for DCU, told The College View that the implementation of such a policy is to ensure LGBT+ students and staff have “the same inclusive experience and are supported as any member of our community is on their life journey”.

In collaboration with DCU based gender studies expert Dr. Tanya Ní Mhuirthile, DCU’s LGBTA committee, along with national organisations Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) and Shout Out, Healy

recently finalised the development of the policy document itself.

The hope is to also build a best practice toolkit for the university to accompany the policy document which will include key gender identity terminology, external support links and HR contacts.

“We need to keep raising awareness of the key issues, ensuring LGBT+ people are visible, supported and accepted in all aspects of our society,” Healy said.

She could not provide an exact time frame but said industry part-

ners had been informed.

Dean O’Reilly, chairperson of DCU’s LGBTA committee, welcomed the impending policy as being “intrinsic to queer acceptance”, saying that such freedoms are a byproduct of small victories arising from tireless student activism.

“We can forget that the general public are not as informed or as knowledgeable as ourselves and this can cause friction. Policies such as this help alleviate that friction.”

O’Reilly said.

Despite this, O’Reilly argues not enough is being done for transgender students.

DCU has yet to introduce a

Sports

Opinion

Gaeilge

DCU take home O’Connor Cup after dramatic late winner Page 20

Why are students so disengaged from student politics?

Page 10

Aireachas - Is cuid lárnach dár sláinte é Page 12

comparison, students under the subset of the Business Studies/Humanities and Social Sciences group (DCUBS/ HSS) namely, the economics, politics and law students had the highest fail rate with 91 students out of 296 failing an exam. This is 30.73 per cent of the faculty.

Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning of DCU Business School, Caroline McMullan said that it is important to be “aware that the results are provisional and may change quite significantly once the PABs [Progression and Awards Board] meet in June and pass by compensation etc. is applied. They also contain many instances whereby students may have been absent through illness or otherwise deferred.”

Data also revealed that 15.45 per cent of students changed their module choice this semester.

Nearly 98 per cent of students changed before the change of mind free period ended, with 57 students doing so afterwards.

Changes to optional modules for Semester two could be made free of charge from January 29th to February 12th 2018.

Changes made during the late change of mind period were liable for a late change fee of €60 and are subject to approval by the Programme Chairperson and Registry.

mechanism by which trans students can have their student IDs altered to match their gender identity, O’Reilly used as an example.

“I know of trans and non-binary students who have asked their lecturer to call them by their preferred name and the lecturer has blatantly ignored this request.”

This comes after UCC became the first Irish university to fly the Trans pride flag on campus last week.

For Healy, flying a flag is an act of support and solidarity that shows real progress but she feels more can be done to increase support for the trans community in DCU.

News

Vito Moloney Burke elected DCUSU

Page 3

Editorial

2 INSIDE The Hype

Editor-in-Chief

Film/TV

Shauna Bowers

Ladybird Review Read more on page 3

Editor’s piece

Lifestyle

Last week the actions of Trinity students took the majority of the nation by surprise. They took control of Trinity’s dining hall in protest of the supplemental exam fees that the university were planning on implementing.

Volunteering in Africa 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, Daniel Deputy opinions Editor: Gabija Troy, Sam Roberts, Amanda Ward Gataveckaite Contacts Lifestyle Editor: Katie Gallagher Deputy Lifestyle Editors: Adam Daly & editor@thecollegeview.com Rachel Farrell news@thecollegeview.com Features Editor: Orla O”Driscoll Deputy Features Editor: Arthur Velker features@thecollegeview.com Irish Editor: Ali Spillane

opinion@thecollegeview.com

Sports Editor: Alex Dunne Deputy Sports Editors: Gavin Quinn & Christy Dunne

gaeilge@thecollegeview.com

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

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

Their protest ended on Thursday with a massive rally on campus and eventually the university agreed to review their plans on the implementation of the €450 fee.

Students were locked inside the dining hall during this time without any access to food, water of bathrooms. It was a stressful time for many. However, what this action has showed is that students are a sector of the population that is not be trifled with.

Students are far too often overlooked in society when in truth, they shape the future of society. If you are unhappy about the actions of an authority which affects you then you should take action.

Airing your grievances on social media is not sufficient. If you want to see change then you need to act on it.

If you are unhappy with fees, the waiting list for counselling services, placement or anything that has a serious impact on your life; then now is the time to act. Stop waiting on somebody else to take action.

It is up to you to enact change. Nobody cares about your future as much as you will.

News

3

Vito Moloney Burke elected DCUSU President despite 40% fall in voter turnout

Fionnuala Walsh News Editor @fionnuala_walsh VITO Moloney Burke was elected DCUSU President on March 9th, after securing over 80 per cent of the votes in his favour.

Vito ran uncontested for the position of President of the DCU Students’ Union and secured 2446 of the votes.

A total of 2984 valid votes were counted for the role of President, a 40 per cent drop compared to Niall Behan’s election last year, which had the highest voter turnout in DCUSU history of nearly 5000 votes.

Speaking to The College View just minutes after the results, Moloney Burke said it was “probably the best day of my life.”

“I’m completely overwhelmed

to be honest, I’ve imagined standing here, probably having this interview, for quite a while, it’s every emotion under the sun,” he said.

“Still mixed emotions because some of the fantastic candidates we’ve been working with on the ground for the last few days are very good friends of mine and didn’t get it. I suppose that’s always going to happen, but I’m feeling ecstatic,” Moloney Burke said.

DCU also voted in favour of supporting the reunification of Ireland, winning with 76 per cent of the votes.

A total of 1,494 students voted in support of the motion.

The Students’ Union also voted to support working towards the elimination of single-use plastics across all three campuses.

The petition for referendum was put forward by DCU’s Sustainable Living Society and passed with 94 per cent of votes in support of the removal of single-use plastics.

Craig McHugh was elected VP for Education and Placement, despite neither candidate reaching quota on the first count.

Adam Hanlon was eliminated from the race in the second count and the option to reopen nominations

Recently elected DCUSU President Vito Moloney Burke with current president Niall Behan.

received 1031 votes, compared to McHugh’s 1498 votes.

The sole candidate for the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs Callaghan Commons secured the position with 1,917 votes.

Karl McGovern was announced VP for Engagement and Development, beating Aaron Harper for the position.

Jason Nesbitt was defeated by Aisling Fagan, who was elected

VP for Welfare and Equality for 2018/2019.

Current DCUSU President Niall Behan commented on the low voter turnout, saying: “I think there was a few things that hopefully next year won’t be there like the snow was a huge impact on the campaigns to get any actual momentum going”.

“Obviously the building, the student centre not being finished yet is a huge loss but in general I think there

Credit: Fionnuala Walsh

are really good positive vibes down here and I’ve got great expectations for next year’s team,” he said.

Speaking about his successor Vito he said he has “great aspirations.”

“I think that he’s heavily involved in all aspects of society life, I think that he’s very well connected which means that next year he has the students behind him,” Behan said.

4

News News in Brief

ESU to give grants for projects reducing hate speech Grants of up to €12,000 will be given to student groups for projects aimed at reducing hate speech towards refugees, according to the European Students’ Union (ESU).

This ‘Together, Moving Forward’ scheme was first introduced in 2016 and is now taking applications for a second round of grants.

The ESU say the scheme will fund student and refugee-led initiatives at a local, national and international level. Funding of up to €10,000 (€12,00 for international campaigns) will be given to successful applicants.

“We encourage student-led groups, especially ESU members, local students’ unions, as well as refugee-led or migrant-led organisations to apply for a grant.

If you are an informal group of students, you can contact a local or national union of students, or another established organisation and ask for their support,” said project manager at ESU Francesca Bragagnolo.

Two students hospitalised over bad batch of drugs Two NUI Galway students were hospitalised after taking a “bad batch” of drugs.

The alarm was raised by NUIG’s Students’ Union, who posted on twitter asking for any information on the students who were reported missing.

“A bad batch of drugs have been taken on campus. Two students are currently missing,’’ NUIG Students’ Union tweeted on March 7th .

When the students were found, they were brought by ambulance to the nearby University Hospital Galway.

Record number of CAO applicants for DCU primary teaching

Fionnuala Walsh News Editor @fionnuala_walsh DCU St. Patrick’s Campus received a record number of applications for primary teaching, according to recently released CAO figures.

Over 1,300 students chose a Bachelors of Education as their first choice in the CAO application process.

Across the board the latest data from the CAO shows a 4 per cent increase in first choice application for overall education courses.

First choice applications for primary teaching undergraduate courses are up by 8 per cent, while the number putting second-level education as their first choice has risen by 4 per cent.

There was a total of 72,643 applications to the CAO on the 1st of February, a decrease of 3,443 from last year.

The level 8 degrees which saw

Students walking to class on the St. Pat’s campus

the biggest decline in applications were Physical Sciences down by 26 per cent, Environment down by 20 percent, Arts down by 12 per cent and Journalism down by 17 per cent.

Commenting on the increase in applications for primary teaching in St. Patrick’s Campus, lecturer Andrea Cleary from the Arts Education and Movement department said that the demand may be due to its incorporation with DCU. “The fact now that instead of the college being seen purely as an education college, perhaps there is

Credit: Mark Carroll

a greater draw for students to have the wider university appeal,” Cleary said. “There’s bigger choices in terms of facilities as well.”

When asked if there were enough teaching positions to facilitate the increase in teaching graduates, Cleary said: “Our numbers are controlled by government, so we can only take on a certain number of students.”

“Within our remit we are dictated to by the government, so the government assess the amount of posts that are required and then they release the places that are available across Ire-

land according to that,” Cleary said.

“The appetite is certainly there and from my experience in art education our students have all been employed within the following year,” she said.

The overall increase in DCU’s Institute of Education also comes from a sharp rise in applications to the Bachelor of Religious Education, which is up 27 per cent and to the secondary teaching degree programmes, which are up 13 per cent.

Route to qualifying as secondary school teacher is ‘too long’

Resistance from local residents over student accommodation New student accommodation due to be built in Gillian House on Farranlea Road in Cork has experienced some resistance from local residents, who fear that the development will lead to “student gangs” in the area.

Locals have expressed concern to councillors, saying that that locating student in a residential area is not appropriate and that it will likely lead to anti-social behaviour and noise pollution.

It may also be a consideration for students when making a CEO application to specific universities, as the price of accommodation in Dublin for both students and the rest of the general population is considerably higher than the rest of the country.

Free contraceptive pill could be introduced

The Irish Government are drawing up proposals to examine the possibility of introducing free contraceptive pill for Irish women. This has come after the Dáil debated the Oireachtas Committee’s recommendation on the Eighth Amendment. With Ireland’s abortion referendum approaching, Minister for Health.Simon Harris is trying to facilitate this scheme, whilst the government must consider the cost and scope of introducing this, the Irish Times reported on March 10th.

Shauna Coen Deputy News Editor @Shauna_Coen THE 6-year route to qualifying as a second-level teacher is too long, too expensive and needs to be revised according to a school leader.

Antoinette Nic Gearailt, president of the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools (ACCS), said that there can no longer be an assumption that teacher training will automatically attract sufficient numbers as the length and associated costs of training are “turning young people off.”

Most second-level teachers obtain a two-year postgraduate qualification after doing an undergraduate threeyear or four-year degree.

The two-year Professional Masters in Education (PME), which costs around €5,000 a year, replaced the one-year HDip, in an effort to provide more training and experience.

While the upgrading of the teacher education programme to masters

Secondary school students talking while in school.

level was welcomed by some organisations, there is a deep concern over the financial burden.

Karen Moran, a DCU student, hopes to start the PME in September but the length of the course had initially deterred her.

“I’ll be 24 soon and the thought of two more years in education was really impacting my decision. I just want to be a teacher but it’s so frustrating,” she said.

David Duffy, Education Research Officer with the Teachers Union of Ireland, said: “you’re training for longer, you’re paying more money

Credit: Rosemont Secondary School

to train, you’re losing out on a year’s salary and when you do come out, you’re on a different salary.”

According to Duffy, second-level schools are struggling to recruit teachers in a number of subjects including, maths home economics and foreign languages.

Luke Uniacke, an applied languages graduate, is applying to the PME in modern languages but due to the cost of the master’s coupled with undergraduate fees, he is considering working abroad to pay for the course.

“The cost is crazy. I’ve always

wanted to be a second-level modern language teacher since doing my Leaving Cert but I couldn’t become one as there’s actually no undergraduate course,” he said.

According to the Executive Dean of the Institute of Education in DCU, Anne Looney, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Institute of Education are currently in the process of developing a new undergraduate teacher education programme in Irish and modern languages.

6

News

USI concerned over referendum date

swiftly there may be a change in date for the referendum to early June.

“While we welcome the simple wording of the referendum question, we are concerned students sitting state examinations, going on J1s to the States or on work placement in June will be unable to vote,” said Kerrigan.

The Eighth Amendment was introduced 35 years ago, acknowledging Gráinne Jones “the right to life of the unborn” equal Deputy Podcast Editor @grainnejones_ to that of the mother’s in the Irish constitution THE Union of Students in Ireland “Millions of our young people (USI) are concerned that any delays have not had the opportunity to vote finalising the wording of the Eighth on this issue, and arguably it affects Amendment referendum would mean our future generations more than any that students will be left unable to other,” he added while speaking after vote. the Dáil debate on the issue.

The USI fear that if the wording According to DCU Students’ of the referendum bill is not passed

Union President Niall Behan, “the June date would be detrimental to the vote itself - as young people all across Ireland and in the majority of institutions have voiced their support of repealing the 8th”.

Students are also worried, as many have organised their J1s and other summer commitments around the initial date for the referendum, May 25th.

Second year teaching student, Méabh Ní Bhraonáin, said: “I specifically booked flights after the 25th because I thought it totally improbable that the referendum would be set for such a time that we will all be missing”.

“The student population plays such a huge role in the push for repealing the Eighth. In the 80’s it

€7.6 million mental health fund aims to help over 8,000

Students are taking this referendum very seriously and fear being

was the student unions that doctors referred women to for information about abortion. When no one else would speak about the issue, it was the voice of students that lead the way.

“The Eighth Amendment does not

The West, South and East recovery college services will each have a broad catchment area across Ireland/ Northern Ireland to provide access THE EU has funded €7.6 million in to those geographically or socially an effort to improve mental health isolated. support across the country, the HSE The project time-frame is four announced on March 9th. and a half years with 2021 being The Innovation Recovery project dated as the expected completion will feature three cross-border recov- stage. It is funded through the ery college networks set up in order European Union’s INTERREG VA to assist people in taking greater Programme, managed by the Special control over their own mental and EU Programmes Body, and match emotional well-being. funded by the Northern Ireland ExThe recovery colleges will provide ecutive, the Irish Government and education as a route to recovery, the Scottish Government. with courses devised and delivered DCU Mental Health Society have collaboratively by people with their said that they are extremely happy own experience of mental illness to hear of this new programme along with mental health profession- coming into place. als.

“The Society welcomes the This approach will allow people investment with tremendous joy. I to be supported in recovery and let have great hope that the initiative them create a satisfying and meanwill help the process in breaking ingful life for themselves down the stigma that surrounds

Christopher Cannon Contributor @thecollegeview

Credit: Pixabay

mental health here in Ireland and will continue the process of opening up the conversation of mental health and well-being,” said society chair, Sorcha Murphy.

“Education is key and this move has been long awaited, I am looking forward to seeing the results it will bring,” she added.

The programme hopes to reach support to over 8,000 people in order to support their recovery. Minister for Mental Health and Older People, Jim Daly, said it was a massive bonus for Ireland to get this programme at the launch event.

“The Innovation Recovery initiative is taking a community-based approach by supporting people to better understand and manage their mental health within their own localities.

The recovery ethos is one which the Department wholeheartedly embraces and is reflected in current policy and practice,” he said.

reflect the values that young people in Ireland hold today. If this referendum fails it will be because students were not given the same chance to have their voices heard as every other citizen,” she added.

New Google scholarship for DCU students Bridget Fitzhenry Sub Editor @thecollegeview

DCU Mental Health Society say that they are extremely happy to hear of this new programme coming into place.

Credit: Orla Dwyer

A NEW DCU scholarship program for people from disadvantaged backgrounds will “help a lot of people”, according to the DCU Senior Access Officer.

Senior Vice President of Global Marketing at Google Lorraine Twohill announced she will sponsor an endowed scholarship to DCU on March 9th.

Twohill earned an Honours degree in International Marketing & Languages from DCU before joining Google in 2003. She has acted as head of global marketing for the tech giant since 2009.

The Carlow native is establishing the scholarship to offer financial support to students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Twohill’s scholarship will be named after her mother, Teresa, who passed away 20 years ago.

Twohill discussed the scholarship as she was presented with a Distinguished Leadership Award at The Ireland Funds Gala Dinner in San Francisco on the 9th of March.

Speaking at the event, she reflected on her time in DCU and emphasised the importance of education.

“My parents were both teachers and I have been fortunate enough to have a great education. DCU gave me the confidence and passion for a

career that I have loved. I would like to make sure that other girls get the same opportunities,” Twohill said.

The Access Service is “completely reliant” on philanthropic funding for scholarships, according to Senior Access Officer, Cathy McLoughlin.

The DCU Access programme aims to create equality of access to third level education by providing financial and academic support to students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. There are currently 1,300 Access students in DCU. 85 percent of graduates who passed through the Access scheme are now employed in an area directly related to their degree, according to the DCU Access Service.

“When people like Lorraine and companies give money, what it allows us to do is send out a very strong message to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to say that college and third level education is financially viable for them,” McLoughlin said.

The university will use this funding from Twohill to support at least one Access student per year, according to McLoughlin.

“Because of her own employment at Google, I think Lorraine probably has a natural leaning towards the STEM area, so we’ll be really promoting that message about women in STEM, and particularly women who come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds going into STEM.”

Lorraine Twohill with DCU President Brian MacCraith

Credit: Dublin City University

News DCU research creates glossary for Irish sign language

7

Trinity students lock in to protest supplemental fees Ellen Fitzpatrick Contributor @thecollegeview

Dr Elizabeth Mathews, DCU, with Minister John Halligan, TD.

Amy Murphy Contributor @thecollegeview DCU Research is creating an Irish sign language glossary for maths education.

A new project, led by DCU Researcher Elizabeth Mathews, is creating a glossary in Irish Sign Language (ISL) to help develop a common resource of mathematic terms.

“I know that teachers, when delivering maths lessons, will occasionally come across a term that they just don’t have a sign for. So, I knew that this was a problem, and decided to apply for funding to develop a glossary that will help teachers,” said Mathews.

The project, which started in January, is being funded by the Science

Foundation of Ireland’s Discover programme and will be 1 year long.

“We’re at the stage where we’ve gone through all the primary and secondary school curricula and we’ve extracted all the maths vocab. But we have way more words than we’re going to be able to include, the glossary will have about 200 words,” said Mathews. “We’re going through it all to try whittle that down and eliminate words. We’re trying to maximise how beneficial this particular glossary will be.”

Mathews, who specialises in deaf education and has worked in the area for over 15 years, said that they’ve decided to start with a maths glossary, as maths is the foundation for many of the other science subjects.

“The scope of the funding we’ve

Credit: Jason Clarke

applied for is very restrictive, so we decided to go with a very specific subject and a very specific number of terms. We would hope, when we learn how to do this through the process of the next 12 months, that we will be better equipped to then extend our glossary.”

Mathews says the team have taken inspiration from other projects that have been done internationally which have developed into a vast area of subjects.

“The project that I have looked most closely at is one in Scotland.

They started with 80 maths terms in 2005, and they now have thousands of terms. They’ve got physics, astrophysics, geography, geology, so this is just a starting point.”

The glossary will be open access and available online by early 2019.

SOME sixty Trinity students occupied the Dining Hall last Wednesday in an ongoing protest over supplemental fees of €450 being introduced for re-sit exams.

The movement calling itself ‘Take Back Trinity’ secured the building at 5pm on Wednesday, with access to water, food and toilets being cut off shortly after. Students were free to come and go as they pleased but were locked in later, with emergency alarms being activated.

This action comes after students blocked entry to the Book of Kells and Front Arch over the weekend and protests were held the previous Friday. A protest rally also occurred on Wednesday at around 1pm at the Front Square, where students gathered to fight these fees.

“Access to the bathrooms has been restored. What we hope to come of this is that the supplemental fees are removed - college promises to not increase postgraduate or international fees and the college promise to introduce affordable on-campus rent,” Sarah, who is campaigning with Take Back Trinity, told The College View in an email.

Students also held a concert and rally on Thursday at the Front Square

to mark the end of the occupation of the Dining Hall which was attended by guest speakers, acts and the Student Union members, which lasted several hours.

Trinity College Dublin announced in January that a €450 fee for resit exams was to be introduced for all students, despite a referendum showing 82 per cent of students were against these fees being implemented. The poll represented 3,504 students attending Trinity.

They have also increased the costs of student accommodation. A press release from Take Back Trinity stated: “Trinity’s decision to introduce supplemental exam fees is evidence of their continuing disregard for students, their opinions, and their welfare”.

“DCUSU would rally against an increase such as this that blatantly squeezes students of extra currency.

Education and access are incredibly important, and as soon as it becomes more of a commodity it runs the risk of not being easily accessible by those from marginalised backgrounds”, DCUSU President Niall Behan said.

TCDSU President Kevin Keane was unavailable for comment.

DCU to partner with Europe’s largest co-working network

Alex Dunne Sports Editor @alexdunnesf EUROPE’S largest co-working network will open their new digital innovation hub in the DCU Alpha innovation campus in Glasnevin in September – the first partnership of its kind in Europe.

Talent Garden (TAG) believe they share the same “entrepreneurial DNA” as DCU, making the choice to set up their co-working university partnership an easy one.

While the Italian network said they “cannot talk about businesses involved in the project yet”, the campus will offer lots to DCU Business School students.

“We will deliver digital skills bootcamps through our Innovation School, in collaboration with DCU Business School,” commented a TAG spokesperson.

“They will focus on areas such as

digital transformation, artificial intelligence, growth hacking, augmented reality and virtual reality, coding, and blockchain.

“Morever the campus is an open space where we will organize meetups, hackathons, festivals and other kind of events on digital and technology.”

The campus will provide work space for 350 people, with an emphasis on entrepreneurs and and both early-stage and middle-age start-ups from the digital sector linking with large corporations.

TAG have established eighteen campuses across Europe, with large companies such as BMW, Google and Electrolux availing of their facilities, and DCU’s existing facilites and reputation for innovation perfectly suit what TAG are looking for, according to founder Davide Dattoli.

“The existing DCU Alpha community of digital and IoT innovators is the perfect home for us, while the University partnership will help us to scale our innovation school offering globally” Dattoli said at a meeting with DCU President Brian MacCraith at the TAG Milan campus earlier this month.

Talent Garden currently have facilities stationed all across Europe, in places such as Milan, Vienna,

Talent Garden (TAG) believe they share the same “entrepreneurial DNA” as DCU.

and Barcelona, and have recently announced another new facility will be developed in San Francisco – providing a global networking link for both Irish start-ups stationed in the facility and the DCU students working with them.

“Talent Garden Dublin goes way beyond co-working as it is currently understood in Ireland, and into the fields of accredited digital skills training, corporate digital transformation, as well as creating international connectivity for Irish

Credit: Express

startups looking to scale up in other markets,” commented MacCraith.

“This exciting partnership with Talent Garden places DCU firmly at the epicentre of the technological transformation taking place in this country and across Europe.”

8

News

Graduate nurses consider emigrating in search of better pay Mark Carroll Image Editor @thecollegeview GRADUATE nurses consider emigrating in search of better pay as they are struggling to afford the rising costs of rent in Ireland, according to the INMO. Graduate nurses find themselves in a health service that is chaotic, according to Neal Donohue, the student graduate officer at the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO). He highlighted the difficulties nurses face in relation to the rising cost of rent, particularly in Dublin.

Donohue made reference to the Daft.ie report released last month. According to the report, the cost of renting in Ireland has increased by 10.4 per cent in 2017. Since 2010, rent in Dublin has increased by an average of 81 per cent from their lowest point.

“Of course they will consider working abroad with better pay, better working conditions and incentives to help them get started,” said Donohue. “I don’t believe they threaten

The youth scheme is set for the second quarter of 2018

emigration. I believe they realistically have to consider it, but they do so with a heavy heart.”

In a survey conducted by INMO last year, 42.44 per cent of intern nurses surveyed said they would consider staying in Ireland with improved staffing levels and working condi-

DCU students rally for life without official representation

Credit:Shutterstock

tions. 39.05 per cent said their priority was an increase in pay if they were to avoid emigrating.

“The reality is we have a deficit of over 3000 nurses and midwives and there needs to be an incentive for them to stay,” said

DCU students get Twitter accounts suspended under new rules Ellen Fitzpatrick Contributor @thecollegeview

Tens of thousands took part in the anti-abortion march in Dublin city centre

Michelle Townsend Social Media Editor @michelle_t95 A DELEGATION of pro-life students from four of Ireland’s universities took part in the recent Rally for Life march in the city centre.

Members of pro-life societies in UCD, Trinity College, NUI Maynooth and NUI Galway all marched on the streets of Dublin in protest of repealing the eighth amendment.

Robert Kelly, a member of Maynooth ProLife Society, believes the rally was reassuring for those who oppose voting to repeal Ireland’s abortions laws in the upcoming referendum.

“I felt really proud that day. It’s quite a change to be surrounded by openly pro-life people, especially since my time is spent on a university campus where the default is prochoice,” he said.

Alexandra Brazil from UCD’s Life Society believes that student representation is important for the pro-life side.

“It is very important to have a pro-life voice on campus. This is to ensure that there is a balanced debate, but also we view it as a human right issue we feel strongly about”, she said.

Pro-life society members from Trinity College and NUI Galway were also happy with

Credit: The All Ireland Rally for Life

the rally’s turnout and are feeling confident that a “no” vote will win in May. “Thanks so much to all our members who continue to help us advocate for women and babies,” wrote Students For Life Dublin TCD on their Facebook page. “Let’s renew our commitment to honest, open and considerate debate and advocacy in the run up to the referendum.”

NUIG Life Society wrote on their Facebook page, “we are confident that the silent majority of Ireland is on the side of life, and that we will win a NO vote this referendum in May”.

DCU students were believed to have attended but not as part of a delegation representing DCU’s Life Society, according to Chairperson Elaine Sheehan.

“As far as I know, students from DCU joined the Students for Life group in the march”, she said. “I along with a number of others volunteered as stewards so I guess we were not really seen to be representing DCU on the day.”

Despite not marching together as a society, Sheehan insists that they are “feeling very confident” about the referendum.

Donohue. “At the time of the 2017 survey only 16.25 per cent had been offered permanent contracts, but 70.2 per cent of the respondents had been approached by overseas recruiters.”

“In the meantime, we continue to lose nurses through retirement. We need to make up the deficit.”

While many nurses opt to leave the country for financial and professional reasons, there are some graduate nurses who see it as an opportunity to develop personally.

“I’d definitely consider moving abroad for a year or two but my reasons are because I have always wanted to travel and I chose nursing as a career because I wanted to help people and travel at the same time and nursing allows me to do just that,” said Aine O’Rourke, a psychiatric nursing student.

“In saying all this, I always see myself returning to Ireland as it’s where my family is and I have always had great experiences working in various placements here and have met some truly amazing and inspiring nurses throughout my four years in college so why wouldn’t I want to return to work full time with them?” O’Rourke said.

TWITTER is going through a process of suspending accounts that they believe have stolen content from others in order to go viral or generate a larger following.

Twitter are aiming to reduce spam on their website by monitoring accounts engaged in ‘tweetdecking’, the practice of mass re-tweeting posts on TweetDeck to generate artificial popularity, according to The Telegraph.

Twitter has been tracking stolen content through TweetDeck, an app that allows them to monitor shareable material that has been republished.

Popular accounts with millions of followers such as @dory, @SoDamnTrue and @CommonWhiteGirl have all been suspended due to this new action being taken by twitter.

This process is happening across the board and is affecting DCU students, especially those who rely on Twitter as a work platform.

DCU student Eva Price, @evaprxce on twitter, had her account suspended and had thousands of followers on it.

“Despite the fact that TweetDeck is actually an app developed by the creators of twitter,

Twitter is disabling users’ accounts.

twitter have recently updated their terms of service and altered the spam rules and regulations so unfortunately the majority of accounts that were linked to the app were automatically suspended and are all under review because people abused the app,” Price said.

“I recently joined a deck after my twitter started grossing loads over summer and there’s about 40/50 members in it, 15 accounts have been suspended permanently and the users are not allowed to join twitter for a certain length of time,” she said.

“I appealed my account because I don’t mass follow, use automated tweet apps and all of my content is original. But the deck I’m in reckons that all users are going to be banned permanently so instead of getting back on the twitter buzz they’re growing their Facebook and Instagram followings as a lot of them use twitter as a platform for work”.

TweetDeck became successful when big brands and outlets began paying the administrators of TweetDeck groups for access.

Twitter claims: “spam is generally defined on Twitter as bulk or aggressive activity that attempts to manipulate or disrupt Twitter or the experience of users on Twitter to drive traffic or attention to unrelated accounts, products, services, or initiatives.”

Credit: The Independent

Opinion

9

Are students disengaged from students’ unions?

Following the recent DCU Students’ Union election, Gabija Gataveckaite looks at students engagement with their elected representatives.

Gabija Gataveckaite Deputy Opinions Editor @thecollegeview

W

eek 6 of semester 2 in DCU saw the new Students’ Union team elected. Vito Moloney Burke was elected President of DCUSU with 2,446 votes.

A total of 2984 valid votes were counted for the presidential vote, a low turn out compared to 17,000 students in the whole of DCU. Only 14.4 per cent of the entire student population that voted for our new President.

However, low voting numbers are a common trend across universities, because students are simply disengaged with student politics.

Perhaps some students simply don’t care.

Perhaps some believe that the individuals running for certain positions aren’t capable of the job (in that case, they should vote for RON - re-open nominations). Maybe some are dissatisfied with the mere idea of an SU or have been let down in the past. Speaking to The College View last week at election and

referenda results, current president Niall Behan stated that “the snow [last week] was a huge impact on the campaigns to get any actual momentum going”.

Perhaps Storm Emma did have an effect on the voting turnout - nearly 5,000 people voted for the posistion of president last year, an alltime high. Regardless of the weather, surely more students would have voted?

The sad reality is that students don’t appreciate SUs anymore. SUs, with the right sabbaticals, do a lot for a university as a whole - they may organise parties, but they also provide a plethora of support to those that need it.

Those that don’t make use of these facilities at their time at university may perhaps take them for granted - clubs and societies are a small part of the university experience, but for a lot of students, provide excellent opportunities to focus on something other than academic study.

“

The verdict is out on

whether SUs are merely popularity contests, but it’s clear that students do vote on issues they are passionate about.

DCU Students’ Union on Glasnevin Campus

I think that people do forget the sheer importance of an SU - a great team can work wonders, but it’s up to students to elect that team. I believe that there is definitely a need for a students’ union in every single university, regardless of direct student engagement.

The verdict is out on whether SUs are merely popularity contests, but it’s clear that students do vote on issues they are passionate about.

UCD’s infamous impeachment referendum of last year saw one of the highest turnouts in polls - 20 per cent of students voted to impeach Katie Ascough.

Having said that, DCU saw 11 students running for a postgraduate officer position this year, also a new high. So perhaps it’s true to say

Credit: Mark Carroll

that undergraduates are the students who are disengaged. This seems realistic - normally, undergraduates are more carefree and so don’t spend much time pondering which sabbatical officer to vote for.

To engage students, I believe that the key is awareness and advocacy. Talk to students, ask them why they didn’t vote - did they not find the time, do they know how to, or did they simply not care?

It is up to the SU to involve all students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, in a university. That is the only way we’re ever going to guarantee successful elections, achieve the goals set in manifestos - and most importantly, ensure happy students.

Age is just a number

Orla O’Driscoll discusses the decision to go back to college and life as a mature student.

Orla O’Driscoll Features Editor @DubinCalled

I

f life, thus far, has taught me anything, it’s the truth of never knowing what waits around the next corner. I believe the universe has a plan; we are the pattern.

I didn’t go to college after my teenage education ended abruptly - instead, I learned from life, I travelled; sometimes I knew enough, other times street education was dire.

I lived through the highs and survived the lows of being self-employed for many years and somehow, less glossy and with just a modicum of sanity, I got out alive. I blame Dutch courage provided from a microscopic Italian

vineyard and the delusional self-belief one attains at 2am for the University idea.

And so, 2015, September.

Having watched lives I loved leave this world and watched lives I could never imagine loving so much arrive, I know fear – on my first day at DCU I was terrified. I stood leaning against a door frame, in a line, in a corridor, my stomach a cauldron of junked out butterflies, as others chatted. Some students seem distrustful of the mature student face in the crowd, almost questioning if it’s a plant, a spy, to catch them out before they become reckless or group up.

There is a herd mentality of younger students clubbing together, finding a common denominator.

So, scared, unsure if I could juggle kids, life (the mammy bit), life (the other bit) and turn in an assignment and stay sane, I took on DCU. The mature student meme; screams, front and centre, always eager, always wanting to answer questions even though the class may be in danger of going into extra time, or lord forbid penalties. Guilty, but mature students don’t go to college to parade their vast cache of knowledge, we go to learn.

In first year, the library was my stomping ground, not entirely due to a desire to gain

knowledge, it was mostly an exercise driven in trying to look like I fit in. The effort made me stand out like an Emu in a strip club. I found defence inside a shell. In three years I rarely took a day off. I am lucky, my husband has been my fall guy. I was not sure year two would happen.

But, I outed myself. I used the one thing that has always been my go to - I wrote. Somehow, people liked how I strung a sentence or evoked an emotion and I worked with the college newspaper and people stopped looking at me like I would tell the teacher the dog didn’t bloody eat

Mature Student

their homework.

The journey has been the education. And, now, just one month to go, my fear is not of standing out, but of not standing with my peers.

I don’t go to Shite Night, or the 12 pubs, or dorm parties, but that’s not exclusion, that’s reality. Like all students, the mature student is battling through, we are not the spy, we are just like younger students, with less contour.

Life begins when you let it – age is simply a number.

Credit: Rosie Mcgagh

Opinion

10

Are vigilante paedophile hunters hidden heroes?

Callum Lavery and Hugh Farrell debate whether or not paedophile hunters benefit society.

Vigilante groups are unjustifiable Callum Lavery News Editor @callum_lavery

L

et’s get one thing straight first - I fully support the punishment of anyone who feels it is justifiable to corrupt the innocence of children. While I do understand the reasoning of many members of the public trying to intercept such criminality, I feel that the self-styled ‘paedophile hunters’ we see on social media today are at best detrimental to the conviction of predators and at worst a risk to themselves and others. Here’s why: The biggest problem with these vigilante groups and how they gather evidence of paedophilia is that they do not lead to a conviction. To date, there have been 110 cases of ‘paedophile hunters’ handing over evidence to police in Northern Ireland, out of these, only three people have been charged. In fact, after reviewing 15 of the 110 cases of alleged paedophiles brought to the police by vigilante groups, prosecutors decided that there were insufficient grounds to charge any of those identified.

A clear example of this was in January this year when one group posed as young girls online to lure 49-year-old Mark Presley.

Presley sent hundreds of gratuitous messages the underage decoy. But in court, when Presley admitted attempting to incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity, he was spared jail. Judge Andrew Woolman said there were ‘no real victims’ in the case and so Presley received a three-year community order, a noncustodial sentence.

The Gardaí have deemed their actions useless to law enforcement. A recent Garda

statement said: “The activity engaged in and the manner of confrontation between such groups and their targets has the potential for violence and could result in harm to persons present.”

“The manner in which such groups operate and how they interact with their chosen targets prior to and during the arranged meeting has the potential to affect future criminal proceedings.”

By getting involved, these groups can indirectly aid these criminals to escape justice.

There have been cases of vigilante group members facing the possibility of arrest.

Last month, BBC reported that a member of a group in Northern Ireland was to be charged with assault, disorderly behaviour and false imprisonment after confronting an alleged sex offender. Similarly, in Belfast, three men accused of targeting suspected sex offenders have been banned from any further paedophile hunting activities.

People have been targeted mistakenly- a man from Armagh took his own life, the partner of another man they ‘stung’ had to quit his job for his own safety while two other men were beaten by a gang and had to flee their home.

Finally, I would argue that the culture surrounding ‘paedophile hunters’ has led groups to continue stings for the fame that it brings them on social media.

Online views reach the tens of thousands and while they say the purpose of the videos is to shame the predators, it’s quite clear that the reputation and power that comes from being an online vigilante is welcomed.

And so, while I commend the groups for their attempts, low convictions, interference with law and risking their lives and others are the reason I find vigilantes such as these, unjustifiable.

These groups are definitely effective and organised but are they beginning to take the law into their own hands?

Vigilante groups are a fair solution Hugh Farrell Contributor @thecollegeview

T

he idea that paedophile hunting groups are needed is definitely not ideal but unfortunately, they seem to be. What can be seen from To Catch from Predator N.I and other similar groups, is that they can take these criminals off the street by building a case against them.

I’m referencing this Northern Irish group is because it’s where I saw this trend begin to grow. There was a case of a man based in the Midlands who moved up north and was caught by this group.

He allegedly used to work in a shop and get drinks for teenagers and invite them over to play Fifa. The police knew nothing of this or if they did, they weren’t doing anything about it even with a wide array of cases where he attempted to groom the adolescents. He moved away and within a short period of time, was caught by this group.

These groups are dedicated to the idea of catching predators and it’s the only item on their agenda so they can aid the police if they follow the law and gather the appropriate evidence.

In the case above, the Northern Irish branch explained the alleged paedophile “groomed and sent naked images of himself masturbating and having intercourse with another man to who he believed to be a 14-year-old boy.”

In the attached video their style of confronting him was perfectly executed. They had gathered proof, organised a meeting, asked him what he was there to do and allowed him to explain himself before calling the police to take him into custody. All of it was on video for proof and no violence occurred.

While all of this may make it seem straightforward, there are reasons why there is a divide in support for them. The biggest of which, according to some news organisations, being that they could be jeopardising police work.

There may be a worry that if the police are investigating a case and they tip off the criminal in advance, the suspect can know people are onto him and delete the evidence.

The issue here is that social media is a double-ended medium - it has proof on both sides and social media databases have everything recorded.

Another complaint is that hunters fall too deep into a hunter mentality and end up turning the people they go after into victims. The burden of proof is on them and if they don’t build a strong enough case, they end up being the bad guys.

They can be found guilty of assault, entrapment and libel if they let it get to that point. This is a genuine concern especially with the level of emotion involved.

A fair solution to both of the above issues could be an affiliation group. If the groups were to remain voluntary and worked in affiliation with a police branch they could still do what they do to help the police, not interfere with ongoing investigations, receive legal and procedural training and advice on individual cases and also help them in a quality assurance perspective to the public.

Credit: The Daily Beast

Gaeilge

11

Aireachas - Is cuid lárnach dár sláinte é Déanann Méabh cur síos ar thábhacht an aireachais sa saol

Aireachas

Méabh Riordan Scríobhneoir @thecollegeview

D

eirinn go leor mar pháiste le mo sheanmháthair go raibh tuirse orm.

D’fhreagraíodh sí le: ‘má dheirtear go bhfuil tú tuirseach, beidh tú tuirseach!’ Níor thug mé an ráiteas, géar, seo faoi deara riamh.

Ach, dé Déardaoin d’fhreastail mé ar chomhrá socraithe ag RTÉ Lifestyle cá luaíodh corr-rud éigean den chineál céanna. Ba taifead podchraolta ar siúl ar son ceiliúradh ar Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan, agus é a chur i láthair le Taragh Loughrey-Grant. Bhí trí aoi páirteach don chomhrá, ceann dena mná darbh ainm Siobhán Murray. Is síciteiripeoir í, le scéal slí bheatha bhríomhar, ag díriú ar an gcoincheap aireachais agus cumas na teanga – ‘má dheirtear go bhfuil tú tuirseach, beidh tú tuirseach!’

Labhraímid faoin gcumas na teanga agus déantar tagairt do chlárú néaraitheangeolaíoch nó ‘neurolinguistic programming’. Níor aithin an téarma seo liom. Mar sin de, agus mar is gnáth, chuaigh mé ar chuairt go vikipéid. Mínítear an tsuíomh ‘iontaofa’ gur cur chuige i leith na cumarsáide, foráis pearsanta agus síciteiripe é. Bunaíodh sna seachtóidí le Richard Bandler agus John Grinder. Fiú go raibh a mhíchlú ar an gcoincheap ó thaobh an eolaíocht,

eile luaite leí agus ceangailte le “ Bunsmaoineamh clárú néaraitheangeolaíoch ná an fhéinmhuinín

Credit: Women’s Health

agus na teoranta a cuirtear leí.

creditear go bhfuil nasc láidir idir smaointe, teanga agus iompraíocht agus go gcuirtear iad i bhfeidhm ar a chéile. Cheaptar go bhféidir linne iad sin a hathrú, smaointe diúltacha, agus ina theanta le sin, éirigh lenár gcuspóirí saol. Go bunúsach, dá mbá rud é go n-athróimis an meon go bhfuil tuirse orainn, ní bheadh tuirse orainn.

Labhair mé le dlúth-chara liom ag déanamh staidéar ar fisiteiripe agus d’aithin sí feachtas chomhchosúla leí. Tugtar an t-ainm ‘talk your patients better’ air. Chuir sí an-bhéim ar chás pian droma ainsealach agus an tábhacht le húsáid teanga cheart.

Mar shampla, má úsáideann tú focail ar nós damáiste nó an téarma caitheamh agus cuimilt spreagtear imní ar daoine a bhogadh – agus moltar go leanúnach ba bhfearr lena gcás le cabhair an gníomhaíocht gluaiseachta. Creideann sí céad faoin gcéad go n-oibríonn an meon agus an corp in aontacht, go bhfuil said fite fuaite lena chéile.

‘Pain isn’t just physical. Pain is interpreted by the brain, and your interpretation of pain is affected by your emotions, your stress levels, how much sleep you’ve had, what

you believe the pain to be…’

Níor stop Ms Murray leis an gcomhairle saoil agus conas a thugadh an t-aireachas isteach insan saol. Cuireadh an tionól faoi gheasa ag a focail mar mhínigh iad croí-lár an coincheap aireachais. Fiú d’oscail mé féin mo nótaí ar an bhfón poca agus mé i mbun notaí a ghlacadh air!

Bunsmaoineamh eile luaite leí agus ceangailte le clárú néaraitheangeolaíoch ná an fhéinmhuinín agus na teoranta a cuirtear leí. Labhair Siobhán faoina nósanna atá againn ár mianta a dhiúltaigh. Tháining mé ar sliocht a thabhairt Louise Hay, scríobhneoir spreagúil Meiriceánaigh, ar an gcomhrá cé a chur solas mealltach ar an gceist – cén fáth go ndéanfaimid é sin dúinn féin.

‘We learn our belief systems as very little children, and then we move through life creating experiences to match our beliefs.’

Léamh mé an t-alt, cá fuair mé an sliocht luaite thuas, ar an suíomh psychologytoday.com agus thug sé léargas spéisiúil dom faoin réasúnaíocht taobh thiar den idé féinmhuiníne. Cuirtear teoranta ar ár roghanna nuair a cuirtear teoranta

ar ár bhféinmhuinín. Cruthaíonn ár roghanna cruth an duine agus cruth gach uile rud nó deis a thógaimid.

Cuirtear coisc ar na deiseanna a fheiceann tú agus a rugann tú gréim air lena teoranta seo. Ach céard iad na teoranta a thugann tú chun cinn chun do mhianta nó féidearthachtaí a chur in éadan?

De réir scríobhneoir an t-alt Matt James, is iad na deamhain seo ‘rud ar bith ráite duit féin cé a dhlisteanú an fáth nach bhfuil an tasc ag oibriú amach duitse.’ Is múinteoir ‘neuro-linguistic programming’ é Matt agus labhair sé san alt ceann dena céimeanna chun tosnú ar do fhéinmhuinín a bhaint amach.

Scríobh síos an theorainn. Lean agus dean fiosrú ar do chuid smaointe agus mothúcháin agus iadsan a bhfuil ag cur i gcoinne ort.

Tuig céard atá fíor agus céard is creidiúint í. Tagann rogha isteach sa phictiúir anois. Is féidir leat do sriantaí a chosaint nó do sproicanna a cur i gcrích.

Bain triail as credúint nua. Mar shampla, aithin an srian ach faigh conas a cabhraíonn sé le d’aidhm.

Céard a d’fhoghlaim tú ón aithint sriain?

Tóg aicsean nua bunaithe ar d’aithint nua. Tá an molta seo beagnach a rá dean aithris ar an duine a theastaíonn tú uait a bheith mar.

Céard a dhéanfadh an duine sin, cén beart a thógfadh sé nó sí agus an ceacht nua faoina t(h)eorainn chaite foghlamtha aige nó aicí.

Mar focal scóir, is é an rud is fearr ná gníomhacht, nó iarracht gníomhacht a thosnú. Ná bác leis an teip. Dá mbá rud é go smaoineann tú ar theip ort féin ba chóir duit breathnú ar mhíniú an focal ‘teip.’

Bhí sainmhíniú níos doimhne agus níos nuálach ag Siobhán Murray ar céard is teip ar rud éigean. Is tuairim é teip. Is tuairim é faoin conas atá muid ar aon lá amháin, tuairim ar cé chomh maith is ar éirigh muid le rud éigean.

Is tuairim é ar céard é an ráth pearsanta laethúil atá againn. Mar sin de, is féidir linn an meon agus an dearcadh atá againn ar ár saol pearsanta, ár sonas agus ár ndóchas saoil a hathrú go simplí agus go héasca lena focail cearta. B’fhéidir go mbeadh tús maith é an focal ‘teip’ a sheachaint! Agus rud éigean amháin deireanach; tá an ceart ag seanmháithreacha i gcónaí!

12

Gaeilge

Sneachtain na Gaeilge 2018 Bhí coicís le himeachtaí den scoth mar chuid den fhéile i mbliana

Ali Spillane Eagarthóir Ghaeilge @thecollegeview

N

í raibh tús iontach bríomhar ag Seachtain na Gaeilge i mbliana nuair a bhí orthu an mórshiúil BEO-Gaelach agus Bródúil a chur ar athló de dheasca na drochaimsire.

‘Sneachtain na Gaeilge’ a cuireadh air, don céad cúpla lá agus gach duine sáinnithe sa teach. Ach ní cuireadh sin isteach ar fhuinneamh ná rath na féile.

Dar le na heagraithe féin; “Is féile idirnáisiúnta Ghaeilge í Seachtain na Gaeilge, atá ar an gceiliúradh is mó dár dteanga agus dár gcultúr dúchais a bhíonn ar siúl in Éirinn agus in go leor tíortha eile

gach bliain.”

I mbliaina ba iad na hambassadóirí Sheachtain na Gaeilge ná Noel McGrath, Caitlín Nic Aoidh agus James Patrice. Spreag siad na mílte idir óg agus aosta chun páirt a glacadh sna himeachtaí a bhí eagraithe timpeall an domhain agus leas a bhaint as a gcúpla focal le linn na coicíse.

I mbliana lean an fhéile ó 1ú Márta go dtí Lá Fhéile Pádraig. Tá Seachtain na Gaeilge ar bun ó 1902 agus anois tá an branda sin aitheanta go forleathan. Agus an fhéile ag dul ó neart go neart, d’fhás tréimshe na féile ó sheachtain amháin go tréimhse coicíse.

Le Bliain na Gaeilge faoi lán seoil bhí clár imeachtaí den scoth i mbliana. Ceann de bhuaicphointí na féile ná Rith 2018. Idir an 11ú Márta agus an 17ú lá glacann na céadta Gaeil idir dáltaí scoile, cumainn, grúpaí pobail agus eile páirt ann. Is cursa os cionn 500km leagtha amach chun ollrith sealaíochta a dhéanamh ó Bhéal Feirste go Ciarraí.

Freisin rinneadh nasc leis an bhfeachtas Vótáil100 atá á cheiliúradh i mbliana le roinnt de

Seachtain na Gaeilge 2018

na himeachtaí a cuireadh ar siúl.

Bhí turais súilóide i mBaile Átha Cliath bunaithe ar an ngluaiseacht chun cheart vótála do mhná a bhaint amach céad bliain ó shin. Thit Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan le linn na coicíse agus rinneadh ceiliúradh Gaelach air le hocáid litríochta i dteach an Ardmhéara.

Bhí sár-fheachtas ar bun ar líne i mbliana agus ar na meáin shóisialta ach go háirithe chun aird a thabhairt ar aidhm na féile – Bain Triail Aisti.

Credit: Conradh na Gaeilge

Cuireadh eolas ar fáil ní hamháin faoi na himeachtaí a bhí ar siúl ach faoi conas do imeacht féin a eagrú.

Freisin bhí pobail éagsúla timpeall an domhain ag roinnt físeáin agus pictiúrí le chéile chun líonra domhanda na nGael a tharraingt le chéile.

Is é an comhlacht Energia a dhéantar urraíocht ar an bhféile. Dar leo tugann siad urraíocht don fhéile chun muintir na Gaeilge a thabhairt níos gaire dá chéile agus chun

cheiliúradh a dhéanamh ar theanga álainn.

Muna raibh seans agat bheith páirteach san fhéile i mbliain tá an t-ádh leat go mbeidh seans agat fós.

Beidh féile Beo ar siúl ar an 14ú Aibreáin anois agus níl Bliain na Gaeilge críochnaithe go fóill. Má tá tú ag iarraidh teacht ar himeachtaí i do cheantar nó fiú do imeacht féin a chlárú téigh chuig Peig.ie.

Ag ceiliúradh 10 bliana de gheabaireacht na nGael Bhí Raidió RíRá le cloisteáil ar FM chun 10 bliana ar an bhfód a cheiliúradh Hannah Sullivan Scríobhneoir @thecollegeview

F

Vótáil 100

Credit: Oireachtas

ad is a thagann Seachtain na Gaeilge chun críche, cuirtear deireadh le ceiliúradh bhreithlá an stáisiún cairtchláir Raidió Rí-Rá. Ar an 3ú Márta, nuair a bhí lá an sneachta ar bhuille na huaire, thosaigh Raidió Rí-Rá ag comóradh deich bliana ar an aer.

Bunaíodh an stáisiún i mBaile Átha Cliath chun Seachtain na Gaeilge a chomóradh sa bhliain 2008. I gcomhpháirtíocht le 2fm, tugann an stáisiún ardán do cheoltóirí móra Gaeilge a thaifeadadh ar a ndlúthdhiosca CEOL a eisítear gach bliain. Réaltaí móra mar Picture This, Walking on Cars, Gavin James, Matt Simons, Delorentos, Gabrille Aplin, The Coronas a bhíonn páirteach ann.

Go hiondúil, is féidir éisteacht leis an stáisiún ar an gcóras DAB, ar an aip agus ar an suíomh idirlín.

Ach le linn Seachtain na Gaeilge i mbliana, bhí Raidió Rí-Rá beo ar FM i mBaile Átha Cliath, Corcaigh, Gaillimh agus Luimneach.

Tháinig pobail na Gaeilge le chéile chun an ócáid seo a chomóradh. Tháinig an iliomad

“

Bunaíodh an stáisiún i mBaile Átha Cliath chun Seachtain na Gaeilge a chomóradh sa bhliain 2008. ceoltóir tríd doirse Conradh na Gaeilge, daoine cosúil le Tim Chadwick, Exiles, Oisín Mac Giolla Bhríde agus IMLÉ. Bhí aoiláithreoirí iomráiteacha ar an aer a bhíonn ag obair sna meáin Gaeilge.

Ina measc siúd, bhí Micheál Ó Ciaraidh agus Gráinne Bleasdale (láithreoirí daoine óga ar TG4), Daithí Mac Suibhne (aisteoir Fair City), Seán O’Baoill (aisteoir Ros na Rún) agus cuid d’fhoireann Raidió na dTreabh agus NÓS. Ag caint le NÓS, dúirt Niamh Ní Chróinín, bainisteoir an stáisiún gur “cúis bhróid” é seo di féin le bheith ag ceiliúradh deich bliain de Raidió Rí-Rá.

Iarrtar ar €1.6 milliún ón gceadúnas teilifíse chun stáisiún Gaeilge FM don aos óg a dhéanamh den stáisiún idirlín.

“Táimid 10 bliana ar an bhfód & táimid réidh an chéad chéim eile a thógáil. An sprioc a bhí ag Raidió Rí-Rá ón tús ná go mbeadh an stáisiún ag craoladh mar stáisiún lán-aimseartha FM. Tá gá le seirbhís raidió Gaeilge ar FM atá ag craoladh ar fud na tíre & atá ag díriú ar dhaoine óga.”a dúirt Niamh.

Fad is a bhíonn Raidió Rí-Rá

ag freastal ar phobail an t-aos óg Gaelach, bíonn stáisiún eilemar Raidió na dTreabh i nGaillimh, Raidió na Life i mBÁC agus Raidió Fáilte i mBéal Feirste chomh maith.

Raidió phobail iad siúd a mbíonn cuspóirí pobail ina gcodanna bunúsacha d’fhealsúnacht na seirbhíse clár.

Tá raidió pobail ríthábhactach chun seirbhís a sholáthar a fhreastalaíonn ar dhaoine a labhraíonn Gaeilge. Tugtar guth dóibh, ón gcainteoir dúchais go dtí an foghlaimeoir. Déantar cinnte chun réimse mór leathan spéise an phobail uile a chlúdach sa tseirbhís chlár.

Oibrítear do phobail na Gaeilge, lucht labhartha na teanga, eagrais Ghaeilge, daoine le spéis acu sa Ghaeilge agus daoine go dtaitníonn réimsí éagsúla ceoil leo. Cuireann na stáisiúin seo cláir nua-aimseartha os ár gcomhair a bhriseann an íomhá traidisiúnta a shamhlaítear i dtaobh na Gaeilge go rialta.

Is féidir cluas a thabhairt do Raidió Rí-Rá ar www.rrr.ie, Raidió na dTreabh ar www.rnat.ie, Raidió na Life ar http://www.raidionalife. ie/en/ agus Raidió Fáilte ar www. raidiofailte.com.

FEATURES

Giving while living: The sharing billionaire

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The digital repository of Ireland will show in the archives the great that one man achieved, by giving to his fellow human beings

Chuck Feeney - The billionaire who believes in giving while living

to advance higher education, human rights, and improve services and policies for young people and older adults. Globally his giveaway is over €6.5 billion.

Dr Caroline McGee is the Project Lead at the Digital Repository Ireland (DRI) for the Atlantic Philanthropies Archive , a project to enable people whose lives have Orla O’Driscoll been touched by philanthropy grants Features Editor to contribute personal ‘objects’, and @DublinCalled associated insights, to the digital collections. he rhyme says sharing These insights, will be hosted is caring, but billionaire online and also through a series of Chuck Feeney exem‘Lifelines Story Box’ events. plifies the concept: “I According to McGee, the digital cannot think of a more personally rewarding and appropriate archive is multipurpose: “It is in the use of wealth than to give while one spirit that philanthropic investment on such a grand scale has impact that is living,” Feeney says. He is the is far reaching and substantial.” sharing billionaire.

Her hope is it will be a clear and While others speak of doing, accurate platform to highlight the “kindness giving birth to kindness” many exemplar projects Atlantic has was the concept of Greek philosopher Sophocles, Feeney, to borrow a helped.

“This archive project has the slogan, just did it.

Feeney says: “It is their call, what ability to bring people together and put a face on the work and accomthe rich do with their money, but they will get more satisfaction giving plishments of Atlantic grantees. People whose lives have been forever it when living, than when dead.” changed, or whose paths found a difHis message is not idle chatter; ferent course because of this funding. globally, over a 30-year period, Feeney and his Atlantic Philanthropy Those who were changed personally and those whose communities were fund have invested €1.6 billion in changed, are the people we are lookIreland, including Northern Ireland,

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ing to be a part of this.”

In a Forbes interview, Feeney says his funding model had to be different to what came before: “The people had to work to understand it,” says Feeney. “The advantage from our point of view was that the money was promptly available for the desired activity. Our giving is based on the opportunities, not on a plan to stay in business for a long time.”

DCU historian Eoin Kinsella is researching the work of Atlantic.

“Feeney adopted anonymity as a course of action,” Kinsella says, referring to the fact that Feeney never publicised his philanthropy until it became impossible not to.

“Without this funding, which was put in place with a Government agreement that they would match the donations, DCU might not be the success it is today.”

Kinsella is researching the impacts on recipients: “I want to bring that story. I want people to have a better recognition of the name, and how much was done. To step back and get a look at the bigger picture; until then you can’t really get a sense of how wide reaching the funding is.”

Credit where it’s due Many organisations credit the Irish-American for their longevity.

Barnardo’s says: “Through Atlantic’s

“

Image Credit: TrBusiness.com

This archive work has the ability to bring people together and put a face on the work and accomplishment of Atlantic grantees funding, Barnardo’s was able to develop its research and best practice to enhance service design and grow the delivery of our Children’s Services across Ireland, to the scale it is today.

“This has in turn resulted in increased emotional well-being and improved learning and development for the children we work with every day, as well as the positive influence Barnardo’s advocacy has had in improving life outcomes for all children in Ireland.”

Unlike other philanthropists, Feeney’s name does not appear on buildings, and the true extent of his investment may never fully appreciated.

The Children’s Rights Alliance also credit Atlantic: “They [Atlantic] gave us our first core grant & played a key role in our development. Their input was vital in growing sustainability & helping us purchase a building in Smithfield – our forever home,” a spokesperson said.

In her diaries Anne Frank wrote: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single minute before

starting to improve the world.”

Feeney’s legacy has inspired others to follow suit, including Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, and their contributions are accomplishing improvement.

Prof. Barry O’Sullivan Founding Director of the Insight Centre for Data Analytics says: “For me, Chuck Feeney is right up there with St. Patrick in terms of his impact on the creation of what Ireland is today.

He literally gave away more than a billion euro of his own money to projects, he did so anonymously. He believed in giving while living, and appreciated that he only needed a modest amount of money to lead his own life.”

McGee hopes the legacy of philanthropy and how it has funded projects for social change in Ireland, might allow others to consider philanthropy as an option and think “wow that’s something I can buy into.”

Personal reward as an ideology?

Or as Sophocles says, kindness giving birth to kindness.

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FEATURES

Where words fail, music speaks

Music as therapy is being used when conventional therapy and words can not change the outcomes

Fionnuala Walsh News Editor @fionnuala_walsh

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ow do you comfort a child who has received impossible news? Sometimes words are not enough, but music is, according to Gráinne Hope, founder of Kids’ Classics, a non-profit organisation which brings professional music in partnership with the National Concert Hall into hospitals and local communities.

Gráinne recalls one teenage patient she met in cancer treatment who was keen to meet the musicians, even though they were scheduled for an important test that day.

When they arrived to the ward the musicians were told that the patient had received difficult news, but that they still wanted them to visit.

The teenager had received news that they would start a new drug trial the following day and as a result plans to attend a St. Patrick’s Day parade, with VIP treatment would have to be postponed.

“They knew what that meant, we knew what that meant, so as we walked into the room everyone understood,” Hope said. “I love the Hans Christian Andersen saying, ‘where words fail, music speaks’, and what could you say? There were no words to say other than to play music and drumming was their thing, being a drummer in a rock band outside of hospital.”

“They did this brilliant little riff and I asked could I capture that in a recording on my phone,” she said.

“I was listening to it recently and noticed a little giggle at the end of it, I think we all landed on a different chord, it is a lovely memory to have.”

“Tragically they have since passed away. When I look back now, that musical interaction was like gold dust to me, where music was so important in that teen’s life,” Hope said.

“Someone at sixteen knows the gravity of a treatment trial that they are about to start and they still wanted music. You can’t say no to that.

For me, I would play music with this teen over performing on a concert stage because you just see what it means to then and family.”

The idea for Kids Classics began in 2008 owhen Gráinne was studying for her Masters in America; she participated in a community performance at a local hospital.

She brought the idea to Ireland with her, hoping for a couple of weeks of funding. Kids’ Classics

“She’s not around any longer.

KidsClassics - music for the ages - a lyrical effort in the hunt for cures

now approaches its tenth birthday and is officially a non-profit organisation.

The six person team consists of two classical players, including Gráinne who is a cellist and a flautist, two traditional Irish players, playing Uilleann pipes, whistle, mandolin and banjo, and two folk singer/ songwriters.

Hope says for many families, a visit from Kids’ Classics is an escape from a ward, like “a walk outside in your head when you can’t leave your child”.

She recalls one family who had a small child in long term care, and three other little siblings who watched one of their hospital performances.

“The mum said to me after, that’s the first time we’ve ever done anything as a family. The younger child had always been in hospitals since they were born. It hit me what some people take for granted, going to a panto at christmas or going to the cinema as a family.”

Image Credit: Gráinne Hope

When I look back now that was like gold dust to me

“I just thought, wow, if we can do this, the meaning that this visit has to a family, isn’t it amazing,” she said.

Kids’ Classics run several community programs; Musical Memories in nursing homes, Twinkle Twinkle Little Ears for maternity hospitals, and Medical Notes in general hospitals.

“When we play Twinkle Twinkle in a ward, we can often play it ten times. But for every child, when you play it at their door, in their room,

it’s for them and that’s what makes it special,” Hope said.

“At the other end of the spectrum of music programmes we deliver, we visit Nursing Homes, connecting through songs of the older generations. To see somebody living with dementia who is beside their family and might not know their daughter or their son’s name, but all of a sudden can sing a verse or all the verses of a song word perfect from beginning to end, is something special.”

“I remember a Director of

Nursing once saying that live music can help give a voice to a child in a situation where they feel have very little control of their environment. If they decide to say no to music, that it’s okay and can be very empowering for that person.

“It’s funny because you see a child say no I don’t want it and more than soon after they’re down following us around the ward, but for that minute they got to control their situation. It’s lovely when I see that happen because music can help them have their voice,” says Hope.

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FEATURES

A healthy fear of dying Grief unites so many, and support in loss is vital when dealing with death

Sarah Murphy Contributor @thecollegeview

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here are two things you can be sure of in this lifetime; you are born, and you die, and while it’s not easy talking about death, there are occasions when the taboo seems a consistent confrontation.

Understandably, people keep the idea of the inevitable at the back of their mind, the reality is there is nothing they can do about it and quite frankly it’s depressing food for thought.

It’s tough to face the conversation of dying, finding the right thing to do or say can be quite difficult, the inherent fear of death and engaging in conversation on the topic seems uncomfortable, risky, and too scary.

Anxiety, depression and stress are symptoms of grief, and its important to note that consolation from friends and family is one of the major helpers in any loss.

This support also comes from

those working in the industry who have learned throughout the years to deal with death the best they can, despite its primary position in their lives.

The grave diggers, the caretakers, the undertakers. These are the people who have to see others heartache and vulnerability when a loved one is taken away.

“Watching families suffer is probably one of the most difficult things to deal with, you have to be understanding, caring and do whatever you can for these people, but, at the end of the day there’s no one else who can get up and get on with it other than themselves.

It’s important that you chose your words carefully, you don’t want to the person to be upset even more” Said Teigue Murphy, a grave digger in Cork City Centre.

Everyone has their own ways of dealing with death, some are effected more than others and some haven’t had to deal with the horrible loss of a loved one at all.

The pool of grief continues to grow as we get older, which means

Credit: The Spruce

Death can be a hard concept to come to terms with.

we get a bit wiser, yet the pinch of death still has the same crippling effect.

Grieving is a difficult and slow process, once the initial shock has worn off people grieve physically, emotionally, mentally, behaviourally, socially and spiritually.

Murphy has been in the industry for more than ten years and says “I am lucky to be alive. Seeing losses

everyday can put things into perspective for you. It makes you realise what other people are going through, I thank god everyday things are okay, but that can change very quickly.”

“When you see so many people dying, it does affect you,” He says “I am going on fifty and seeing so many young people especially dying is scary, it makes you think what is going on with the world?”

“I try not to bring it home, when you’re going out the gate leave all of those thoughts in there too.” He advises.

If you have recently lost a loved one or know someone who has you can go to Bereavementireland.com which provides support and counselling which enables people to deal with their grief.

Procrastination - avoidance at its best Rachel Farrell looks at methods to avoid the true art of avoidance - procrastination

being present and enjoy what they are doing at that moment,” explained Counselling Directory member Peter Klein.

A gold standard accredited therapist in the UK and the official therapist of the German Embassy, Klein explained that every day procrastination can turn into a chronic problem.

“People who procrastinate can Rachel Farrell start worrying about tasks that Deputy Lifestyle Editor @rachelvfarrell they have to complete and this can prevent them from being present and enjoy what they are doing at that rocrastination. A fifteen moment. Chronic procrastination can letter word that’s almost as difficult to spell as it is therefore drastically increase stress and anxiety levels which can lead to to overcome. Everybody numerous physical and mental health experiences it, but the problems. major impact it can have is often “It can often lead to lowered overlooked.

Procrastination is “the act of put- self-esteem as people start overting off important tasks such as study estimating the difficulties of the tasks they are avoiding. This in turn or work in favour of less important makes it more likely that individuals things,” according to Spun Out. Whether it’s falling into the dark hole procrastinate which sets off a vicious of Netflix or simply sitting with your spiral.”

For most people, procrastination phone for hours, procrastination can impact students more than they think. can be overcome by setting small goals, says Klein. Finding motivation “Procrastination is affecting can be difficult with important tasks people’s lives due to modern socito do, but the key is having a goal ety’s increase in demands. People who procrastinate can start worrying at the end of the job that needs to be done. about tasks that they have to complete and this can prevent them from But for others, the key to over-

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“The act of

Procrastination can often lead to a feeling of productivity despite not completing the work you had planned to do.

coming chronic procrastination could be in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

Veronica Walsh, a Dublin-based specialist cognitive science therapist, described CBT as awareness and self-management.

“It’s illogical to procrastinate, it’s irrational. CBT teaches rational thinking, realistic thinking, planning, and designing new ways to think, so it fits really well with procrastination,” she explains.

“The avoidance behaviour is always the harder road. The more we

Credit: Megan Hannan

put off studying, the more we worry and build a feeling of dread.

“When that feeling of dread stops you studying, you get caught in a vicious circle. If some people have actual panic attacks, others feel they’re overwhelmed and can’t cope, that’s typically when they’ll go to a GP or a therapist.” Walsh says.

Setting goals, removing distractions and starting new habits are just some of the ways students can overcome procrastination at exam time.

“It’s 2018 and there’s too much out there to overwhelm us. Avoid

putting off important tasks such as study or work in favour of less important things information overload, because when you’re overwhelmed, you run away because it’s stressful.”

Walsh advises: “Create a good environment for yourself to study in, with nice pens and nice notebooks. Reward yourself, whether it’s cappuccino and a muffin or a holiday when it’s over.”

Whether it’s a chronic problem or a bad habit, procrastination can be a hindrance- but one that can be solved with the right mind-set.

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FEATURES

Storm Emma: Assessing the cause of Europe’s peculiar weather spasm

Climate change and the polar vortex might sound like a sci-fi, but now is the time to pay attention

Arthur Velker Deputy Features Editor @tweetofarthur

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s the slabs of hard snow on the ground melt away, so do Ireland’s memories of the peculiar March whiteout – some good, some not so much, and one in particular involving a stolen digger and a mangled Lidl supermarket.

But though the country has seen an apparent return to business as usual, events farther up north suggest environmental volatility is rising to an unprecedented scale.

Events to which our snowstorm was only an apt prelude.

The atmosphere in the aftermath of Storm Emma seemed peculiarly cheery, with the return of seasons being cited as the cause of the nation’s enthusiasm. But research suggests this is far from the fact; scientists in the Arctic reported the highest temperatures on record this winter, with some reaching as high as 35 degrees Celsius.

On the other hand, figures from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) reported an increasing unnatural display of cold temperatures in tropic regions in the past two years. In 2016, east Asia experienced several cold cyclones that swept as far south as Thailand. The same year, the Guangzhou region, located in southern China, experienced its first snow since 1967.

This month, Rome—a city unaccustomed to cold winters—saw a heavy snowfall while temperatures fell almost as low as minus eight degrees. Our own storm caused a sharp disruption in transport networks and the closure of most stores and public buildings, outlining Ireland’s unpreparedness for weather extremes.

In a freak trend, warm regions were hit with cold temperatures while their natural hosts were immersed in blistering heat. It shows that a climatic change is clearly evident, says Jari Liski, climate system researcher at the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

While it underlines the inevitability that warm and cold conditions exist simultaneously, recent events

“The day of judgement

KidsClassics - music for the ages - a lyrical effort in the hunt for cures

showed that in regions around the world they are being interchanged.

“In winter some places are warm, so that means other places have to be cold – so in that regard we should be worried,” Liski says.

This anomaly is being attributed to a polar event that is rooted in human causes. Scientists believe the blanket of air preserving cold temperatures in the Arctic—otherwise known as the polar vortex—is gradually deteriorating, sending the cyclone outward.

It’s erosion is believed to be caused by the outflux of greenhouse gasses into the earth’s atmosphere.

Data collected by NASA shows that carbon dioxide levels have been clambering in the past four centuries, reaching their now-highest point— significantly higher than that in the Industrial Revolution era, when burning of oil and coal escalated to unprecedented proportions across Europe to fuel the machine manufacturing process.

The emissions released into the atmosphere have resulted in a virtual barrier, trapping the heat from the

lifetime, says Met Eireann climate scientist Aidan Murphy. “It’s very hard to pin that down to a particular trend or climate change,” he says.

And he’s right—what is or is not a product of climate change remains an open question. However, organisations dedicated to researching the field are confident we are likely to see continuing increases in global temperatures, and a pertaining chain of effects that range from plant and animal shifts to prolonged droughts the world) in just over two decades. that have potential to harm food To put it in context, the cold crops. waves experienced by Europe this The question that dominates month were precipitated by the scientists’ minds is that if climate increasingly warming temperatures change is a slow-developing phehappening globally, which are nomena and we are now seeing the sending wild cyclones across areas aftermaths of 18th or early-19th where they would not be a customary century industrialism, what will we occurrence. see 50 to 100 years down the line?

Consequences of this erratic disThe day of judgement may not placement are difficult to predict—as come by way of a Biblical flood it is to attribute the freakish events to but one thing is sure: we won’t get the wider issue of climate change. redemption by maintaining a mindset Disagreements among intellectual of purposeful ignorance. Also, we climatologist discussions remain rife: may want to dig out those long-foran event like the one we seen only gotten parkas. has the capacity to happen once in a

may not come by way of a Biblical flood

Earth’s surface and raising temperatures globally. NASA research estimates that temperatures have risen by about 1.1 degrees Celsius on a global average, with most significant changes occurring in the past 35 years.

These effects are most evident on polar ice caps, where land and sea ice levels are continually seeing record lows on a year-by-year basis.

September last year, Arctic sea ice made up an area of 4.8 million km²—a shrinkage of 2.8 million km² since 1996. It has seen the loss of a landmass measuring the size of Argentina (the ninth biggest country in

Image Credit: Shuttershock

SPORT

17

DCU complete clean sweep at cross country championships DCU’s unprecedented success at the championships continues with a fifteenth Best College title in 16 years

Ian Brennan Contributor @thecollegeview

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CU retained all three of their Intervarsities Cross Country team titles last week at the Trinity Sports grounds

in Santry.

The respective team victories for men and women ensured that DCU convincingly won their fifteenth Overall Best College title in the last sixteen years, an unprecedented level of success.

They finished ahead of UCD in second with hosts Trinity College Dublin in third.

DCU dominated the event, which was rescheduled due to Storm Emma, with 12 athletes finishing in the top 20 in the women’s race.

The men’s team, having been severely weakened with the loss of six senior members in the build up to the race due to both injury and travel arrangements, placing six athletes in the top 20.

The men’s team narrowly retained their title from last year by just four points from UCD with NUIG a good way behind in third place.

Meanwhile the women’s team were far more dominant, with UCC a long way back in second and Trinity rounding out the top three.

Una Britton led home the ladies team with an astounding second place finish, with Elizabeth Carr also coming in the top five.

Close behind Carr was Avril Deegan in sixth, with fourth highest member of the team Niamh Kelly all but confirming the team title in eighth.

There was room for one more top

DCU’s cross-country team

ten result with Nadia Power sneaking in, the first in a series of five DCU athletes in a row, including Claire Fagan in eleventh, Niamh Corry finishing twelfth, Sinead Lambe coming in thirteenth and Lauren Tinkler fourteenth.

The college set a record number of athletes to finish in the top 20 of a race with Ciara Cummins 17th, Laura Whitelaw ending in 18th and Zoe Carruthers concluding the top twenty.

First year Cathal Doyle put in a

“

Credit: DCU Athletics Club/Facebook

The respective teams victories for men and women ensured that DCU convincingly won their fifteenth Overall Best College title

stellar effort finishing fifth in the field in the men’s race, with Padraig Moran finishing a place behind.

Team captain Michael Carey finished in ninth with Cormac Dalton closing out the top ten finishers, an impressive performance considering his recovery from injuries.

Adam O’Brien, Jonny Whan, and Garry Campbell finishing in 19th, 20th and 22nd rounded off the top six team members, confirming that the men’s title would return to DCU for the twelfth time in 16 years.

This success was achieved without the services of established international athletes such as Eoin Strutt, Pierre Murchan, David Scanlon, and Brian Fay. The women’s race was won by defending champion Shona Heaslip of IT Tralee by ten seconds ahead of Britton.

Heaslip is also the national senior cross country champion and was the favourite going into the race for the top spot and duly delivered. Jessica Coyne finished in third for UCC. Damien Launders of NUIG also had a ten second advantage over his nearest rival, Tom O’Keefe, of UCD who just managed to pip college mate Paul O’Donnell to the line by three seconds.

The next competition for the DCU Athletics team is the Intervarsities Outdoor Championships, taking place on April 13th and 14th with Queens University Belfast hosting the event at the Mary Peters Track.

Karate success in Cork for DCU DCU Karate Club continue to perform well with 8 gold medals, 10 silver and 10 bronze

home turf.”

The competition was split into two categories, kata and kumite. Kata is a pattern based competition while kumite is sparring. Beyond those two CU enjoyed a successcategories the competition was open ful run in the 2018 to team events.

All-Ireland Intervarsity Each of the events were also in diKarate Championships visions depending on gender and belt finishing second in UCC ranking. DCU performed especially on March 10th. well in the female competitions Following on from a successful winning 11 medals between the team previous year in the competition and and individual events while Keelan great results from the Inter-ColleGannon won a silver and bronze for giate cup in November, DCU Karate the men.

Club continue to perform well with 8 DCU won gold and silver in the gold medals, 10 silver and 10 bronze women’s brown and black belt team in team and individual events. kumite, bronze in the mens black Orla McNabola, the Events Officer belt team kumite, silver in the mens for DCU Karate Club and winner of black belt individual kumite, silver two gold medals at the event, said: and bronze in the female black belt “Overall, the tournament went really individual kumite, bronze in the well. female black belt individual kata and “There was a lot of hard work and gold and bronze in the female brown dedication given this year by all team and black belt team kata. members.

The junicompetitors also per“I’m confident in saying that we formed well having won two silvers will be back again next year, stronger and a bronze medal. again, proud to be fighting on our “We are extremely proud of each

Hugh Farrell Contributor @thecollegeview

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DCU’s Keelan Gannon is victorious at the karate All-Ireland Intervarsities

of our members who showed great fighting and team spirit, especially those who competed for the first time,” said Claire Flynn, Chairperson of DCU Karate Club.

“We look forward to our members competing again for us in future.

“We are also very proud of the support each and every one of our members gave to one another on the day of the competition.

“It was fantastic to see that anybody competing on the floor always had someone cheering them on from

Credit: DCU Karate Club

the side.”

The event is considered to be “a real highlight of Ireland’s third level karate year” according to this years hosts, UCC. DCU are now set to host next year’s event.

18

SPORT

Thornton reflects on “amazing” tries as Ireland Students power past Scotland The away side defeated Scotland 33-17 in Peffermill

Getting two tries was amazing, I don’t score very often so it was a welcome surprise

Alex Dunne Sports Editor @alexdunnesf

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wo tries from DCU’s Patrick Thornton helped the Ireland Students side to a 33-17 win over their Scottish counterparts at the University of Edinburgh on Sunday.

Thornton powered past two Scottish challenges on a cold day in Peffermill for the opening try, before notching his second in the second half to push out Ireland’s lead to eleven points.

Ty Chan also grabbed two tries as the away side raced ahead in the second half, and Thornton believes it was down to the team not having played together in a competitive game before this.

“I think it took us a while to settle into the game,” Thornton said. “Not having played together before, and the Scots having home advantage may have played a part in that.”

“As we settled in things started to come together a bit more and the tries started to come.

“Getting two tries was amazing, I don’t score very often so it was a welcome surprise,” he said.

Thornton and team-mate JJ O’Dea both represented the university on an impressive weekend for the DCU

“

Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Thornton (right) in action for his club, Terenure

Force, as the Men’s Sevens side won the European University Sevens title in Lille, and the DCU Women’s side came through their SSI Cup semi-final to set up an All-Ireland Final date

on 21st March in Athlone.

A strong foundation is bearing fruit across all sides in the university, Thornton thinks, and he commends the work of both the students and the

higher-ups for the top week they’ve had, despite the stresses of their outside commitments.

“I think the organisation and level of coaching is fantastic in DCU,” the

Terenure clubman commented. “[DCU Rugby Development Officer] Aidan Kearney has done a great job on building on the already good foundations in the rugby club, along with that the participation and enthusiasm shown by the students - that leads to its success.

“The standard is right up there up with the AIL. Most of the guys involved would be playing week in week out on first or second teams with their clubs - although I feel guys don’t get to train with their college teams as much as they have club commitments.”

Ireland Students coach David O’Mahony was in agreement with Thornton, and called the game a “great showcase” for the players.

“This was a highly competitive match, with a high degree of skill and intensity demonstrated throughout,” he said, speaking after the game.

“It was a great showcase for third level rugby, and the great work being done with regards to player development in the universities and colleges of Ireland.”

DCU defender Ross Taheny nominated for Colleges International Player of the Year Taheny is one of three players nominated for the prestigious FAI gong Rudi Kinsella Contributor @thecollegeview

kept busy, he also lends a hand to the DCU ‘C’ team, who are based on the St. Patrick’s Campus in Drumcondra (where Taheny conducts the majority of his studies).

This attitude differs to that of many student athletes, who seriously struggle to balance their studies and their sport, but he made it clear he appre-

D

CU student Ross Taheny has been nominated for Colleges and Universities International Third Level Football Player of the Year.

The Ballinamallard United defender says that being nominated for such a highly regarded award is right up there with the finest moments of his career.

“I’m absolutely delighted, playing for your country is always going to be the highest honour for me, personally, so for me to be nominated for player of the year at an international level tops off a fantastic few years of college football,” Taheny told The College View.

The young man who is currently studying for his Bachelor of Education degree in DCU, is also playing for his club team at the top level of

for “yourPlaying country Tahey is currently studying for his Bachelor of Education degree

Northern Irish football and representing his college at the top level also.

The Mallards, Fermanagh’s only professional team, currently sit bottom of the NIFL Premiership, but Taheny’s spirit for the game is unbreakable, and he illustrated that he enjoys

Credit: Ballinamallard United

football most of all.

“Placement involves long, tiring days and looking at the laptop for hours each evening,” he said. “So the football is a great way for me to get a break and enjoy myself”.

Obviously not opposed to being

is always going to be the highest honour for me

ciates every opportunity he gets to be involved in football.

“Being involved with the DCU senior team was great, as the training and games give you time to focus on something other than work placement,” he commented. “It’s a great chance to meet up with the lads and relax.”

His love of the game is as clear in these words as it is on the football pitch itself.

He isn’t the only Taheny family member who has had recent sporting success, as his younger sister Erin was recently capped for the FAI Schools Interprovincial team, but this came as no surprise to Ross himself, who reckons his little sister is destined for greatness.

“Erin has a bright future ahead of her,” he said. “Whether it’ll be football, GAA or athletics is the big question.”

Taheny is up for the award alongside UCD’s Dáire O’Connor and UCC’s Sean McLoughlin.

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SPORT

Peter Wright proud to leave DCU “in a better place” as Force men become Sevens champions DCU Force took on and defeated Dauphine, a Parisien team, in the cup final their top try scorer with eight tries in six games.

“As much as it kills me to say it, Adam Swan was the player of the tournament,” he admits. e may have just led the “He’s great in attack and he never DCU Force Rugby Sev- gives up, he’s constantly working.” ens team to a European The tournament featured teams University title in Lille, from several European countries, but club captain Peter including England, France, Spain Wright remains humble. and Switzerland, with organisers “It was a great team effort and wanting the tournament to be a that’s what won it for us,” Wright sociable event. told The College View.

“We didn’t know the exact trans“It was everybody not shirking lation, but they gave out an award to that defensive effort. a player for what we thought was for “What we don’t have in size and the best craic,” he said. speed, we make up for in playing “And they gave that to Ger Young, with structure.” our vice captain for the tournament, DCU Force took on and defeated just because they wanted all the Dauphine, a Parisian team, in the cup cultures mixing and for everyone to final with Wright saying “the final have a good time.” was definitely our biggest chalWhile DCU Force were the lenge.” eventual winners of the tournament, The conditions in Lille were Wright was pleased to see that all the terrible, with the pitch essentially teams went out after the tournament turning into a mudbath by the end of and celebrated with them. the tournament, but this only made “The celebrations went long into Wright more proud of his team. the night,” Wright said.

“What would’ve suited us were “Luckily there was an Irish bar the conditions we had last year so a few Guinnesses were had. The sunny with hard ground - because good thing was that all the teams we’re smaller than most teams and were there celebrating. can sidestep and go around them,” “There was a bit of ‘argy bargy’ he noted. between some of the teams during “That’s why I was so proud, you the games, but we got on with evshould’ve seen some of the hits in eryone and played rugby the way it the final. should be played.”

“Adam Swan, god bless him, is He said he hasn’t had much only about five foot six but he was success with DCU Force in the past driving players back.” but he’s happy that he can go out Wright gives high praise to his on a high. He was confident that teammates but singles out Swan, DCU was ready to put a difficult

Eoin Harte Contributor @thecollegeview

H

DCU Force captain Peter Wright with the European Universities Sevens trophy

past behind them and look to a more successful future.

“It’s probably my biggest achievement in rugby, and I’m glad

I’ve done it with DCU because I’m leaving college this year,” he said.

“We’ve had a hard time at it for a while, but I’m glad that I’m leaving

Credit: Peter Wright

DCU Rugby, as captain and as chairman, in a better place now than when I started.”

DCU Ladies Rugby secure All-Ireland Final berth DCU book place in Athlone against UL after thumping victory over IT Carlow

Roise McGagh Contributor @thecollegeview

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CU Ladies Rugby team have made it through to Student Sport Ireland’s All-Ireland Rugby final where they will play the University of Limerick Wolves on March 21st at 5pm in Buccaneers RFC, Athlone.

After posting a huge margin of victory, 54-14 scored against IT Carlow, on 7th March, the girls are counting down the days to the final in which they’re hopeful for a win.

Team captain Ciara McDonnell, a student of Education and Training, feels that the team are ready for the game after some intense two hour sessions in recent weeks.

She started playing rugby herself three years ago with Westmanstown RFC and is confident about the team’s abilities but said: “We have only played against them [UL] once before.

“We lost by one point and that was our first game in the league, so we don’t know what they’re like now.”

UL Wolves Ladies team won 36-10 against NUI Galway in their semi-final game and their division two team is also in the final this year.

This is the first year DCU Ladies Rugby have reached the All-Ireland final, which Ciara said is exciting for

“We lost by

one point and that was our first game in the league the club.

They have rapidly progressed since they were founded only four years ago. In their first year, they won the division two title and progressed up, making the division one semi-finals last year.

They have kept the forward momentum going this year on a wonderful weekend for DCU rugby after JJ O’Dea and Patrick Thornton earned themselves Ireland Students caps. As well as that, the Men’s Sevens side became European Champions.

There are 33 members on the rugby squad, coming from all three DCU campuses.

There will a supporter’s bus for the final leaving from St. Pats and DCU around 2:30PM.

The DCU Ladies Rugby team

Credit: DCU Ladies Rugby Club

SPORT

INSIDE Clean sweep at cross country for DCU Athletics

Agony and ecstasy for DCU at Giles and O’Connor Cup weekend Contrasting fortunes on ladies finals weekend as DCU lose heavily in the Giles Cup final before a late dramatic winner in the O’Connor Cup final

Gavin Quinn Deputy Sports Editor @thecollegeview

I

n the dying moments of a game destined to end in a draw, DCU needed a hero. Aisling Maloney stepped up and her strike brought the O’Connor Cup back to Glasnevin for the first time in seven years.

Just two hours earlier, a disappointing performance saw the defending champions lose their Giles Cup crown to the tune of twenty points at the hands Waterford Institute of Technology.

DCU sealed the O’Connor Cup in Abbotstown on March 12th with a 2-12 to 0-17 victory over University of Limerick but failed to retain their Giles Cup crown, losing 4-16 to 0-08.

In the O’Connor Cup, captain Aisling Moloney of Tipperary returned to the field of play from the sin-bin to set up a penalty, which Mayo’s Sarah Rowe converted to bring DCU back into the game with minutes to go.

Moloney then scored a point off the right at the depth, which put DCU a point ahead and ensured that they won their first O’Connor Cup since 2011.

Strong performances from senior players like Moloney, who scored seven points, Sarah Rowe, Leah Caffrey and Aishling Sheridan was enough to get DCU over the line in what corner forward Sheridan described as an “unforgettable moment”.

“It means so much to everyone and

Aishling Sheridan of DCU action against Fiona McHale of UL during the O’Connor Cup Final

the management,” Sheridan said.

“This year, I don’t think the team has ever been as close.

“Hard work and the bond between the team just helped us get over the line and when the final whistle blew, it just felt like ten stone was lifted off my shoulders, just the relief and everyone bursting into tears of joy. It

“Just with all the girls,

we’re all really close, some of us best friends in college. We all are committed and when we’re together we all want the one thing

was just an unforgettable moment.”

Sheridan praised Moloney and her teammates; describing Moloney’s last ditch point as the perfect way to win her first O’Connor Cup in her last competitive game for the university.

“I knew when she was coming on that she was gonna do damage and she helped set up the penalty and then her taking that final point, there probably was no-one better to take that point,” she said.

“Even when we went a player down, we had gone a player down in the semi-final so we didn’t panic and I suppose we had to try and remain composed.”

Sheridan, an accomplished inter-county player with Cavan, compared third level football to that at inter-county and the different experience it brings to the table for young players.

“Just with all the girls, we’re all really close, some of us best friends in college. We’ve all so much going on outside with our counties and stuff but we all are committed and when we’re together we all want the one thing,” Sheridan said.

DCU and Dublin goalkeeper Emer

Credit: Eoin Noonan/Sportsfile

Ní Éafa added: “You’re playing with players that would (at inter-county level) be on the opposition. Sarah Rowe and Niamh Kelly, I played against them in the All Ireland Final last year.”

The goalkeeper still has a year left at DCU. She recalled the closing moments of the game and also discussed her future plans with DCU. “I actually didn’t know that the final whistle had gone and I was still roaring at the girls to get back into position but then once I realised, I just couldn’t believe it!” she said.

“It was just such a tight game, I can’t even describe the feeling.

“At times you can nearly see a game slipping away but once Aishling Moloney came back on she just got on the ball and that turned it around for us and we managed to get them scores and get over the line.

“We’ll take the days as they come never mind the year. We’ll see how we get on but hopefully, we’ll be back there next year.”

Hannah Mc Skeane captained DCU to the Giles Cup final and told The College View what went wrong for her side against WIT. “In the game, we didn’t perform,

we’d been performing all year,” she said.

“We lost a few players as well to be able to tog out for the O’Connor Cup game so that probably didn’t help the situation.

“A lot of us are freshers so probably the big day got to a lot of people.”

Looking forward from a DCU perspective, the majority of the Giles Cup team, including McSkreane, were freshers. Meanwhile, Niamh Rickard and Amy Gavin Mangan were called up to tog out for the O’Connor Cup final.

DCU will lose several players to graduation, such as Aishling Sheridan and Sarah Rowe, but Sheridan maintains that DCU is in a great place to continue to succeed for years to come.

“This will only be the start, I don’t think we’re ever gonna get weaker and now that we have the win and that mental block gone,” Sheridan said.

“I think there’s nothing stopping us and especially with the Giles (Cup) team, there’s some phenomenal players there.

“There’s nothing stopping them now from progressing onwards and taking our place.”