The College View - Issue 9

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

thecollegeview.com

On-campus accommodation almost doubled since 2014 . Est. 1999 .

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he price of on-campus accommodation in DCU has nearly doubled since 2014 according to Cut the Rent.

Back in 2014, Hampstead apartments cost 4,284 euro while College Park apartments were 4,824 euro. They have since increased to 6,327 euro and 7,001 euro respectively.

This is an increase of 47.69 per cent for the former and 45.13 for the latter. Or an annual average increase of 7.735 per cent - which is almost the same as the yearly increase in rent prices in the overall market.

However, the Residential Tenancies Act which was brought in last year only allows student accommodation to be increased by a maximum of four per cent per year. Over the past month, several universities have announced they will be increasing their on-campus by three to four per cent - including DCU. Back in September, DCU’s Chief Operations Officer Declan Raftery told The College View: “I think it’s a bit unfair we’ve been penalised now with

the residential tenancy bill that now our rates are capped despite the fact they’re way below the market rate.”

Last week, DCU Students’ Union (SU) protested outside the U building against the 4 per cent rent increase.

Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin told The College View that is exactly what students’ unions across the country should be doing.

“I think students are right to be angry at the university and right to be angry at the government for failing to address this,” he said.

The Dublin Mid-West TD met with DCU President Brian MacCraith on February 24 to discuss how to fund student accommodation in a way this both “sustainable & affordable”. This is part of a series of meetings he’s having with university presidents.

On his meeting with MacCraith, Ó Broin said: “He was very interested to hear how new financing of social affordable housing is taking place and certainly he indicated a willingness to work with others.”

“Whether all the university presidents take the same view we’ll have to wait and see obviously,” he said. “And even if they were all to embrace some alternatives, ultimately that would require action from the government.”

As for rent strikes, Ó Broin said that

they came with a high level of risk.

“I think before you get to that level, every avenue needs to be exhausted to try and get a resolution to this.”

The Cut the Rent campaign canvassed for rent strikes back in October.

In their most recent statement in regards to DCU, they said they were

completely against the “exploitative” increase in rents.

“These increases are simply not fair and act as a barrier to education by locking people out based on their ability to pay, threatening to exclude students from all backgrounds, particularly working class students,” they

said. Ó Broin echoed a similar sentiment.

“My concern is that, increasing student fees is the easy option,” he said.

President Brian MacCraith could not respond to The College View in time for publication.

Credit: Shauna Burdis

Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque | Editor-In-Chief @BrendanFKP

Referendums to be rerun as part of SU elections Jamie McCarron| Contributor @thecollegeview

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wo Students’ Union referendums that originally ran last December and were declared void due to due to low voter turnout, will be held on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

One of the referendums is whether DCUSU will remain affiliated with the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), the national representative for those in third level education.

Highlights

For a referendum to be declared legitimate, a minimum of 10 per cent of the student population must participate.

This threshold of 1,740 votes was not reached last December when only 909 votes were cast on USI membership, with 785 votes to remain affiliated and 124 votes against affiliation.

A vote to change DCUSU’s constitution, replacing the current sabbatical roles with new ones, is also being held again after being declared void with only 814 votes cast - 684 in favour and 130 votes in opposition.

The four new positions are: Vice Presidents for Academic Life, Wellbe-

ing, Diversity and Inclusion, and Community and Citizenship.

These will be brought in if the referendum passes, with the current roles being retired.

Despite low voter turnout in the past, DCU’s Democracy and Development Officer, Podge Sheehan isn’t concerned this week.

“These referenda are being held alongside the candidate elections which should be much more engaging.

Naturally, as these elections involve people, there is a lot of excitement and engagement across campus which sees our students really engage in the dem-

ocratic processes in the Union,” he told The College View.

Of the three referendums from December, the question that was most voted on by students was on whether tobacco products and e-cigarettes should be sold on campus.

However, it will not be voted on a second time and instead will be implemented by DCUSU alongside DCU Healthy as part of a smoke-free policy on campus.

Meanwhile, Sheehan explained that USI membership must be voted on every three years according to the SU constitution.

DCU has had a love-hate relationship with the USI in the past; after voting to leave the Union in 2001 DCU students rejected re-affiliation in 2010 and in 2013 the result was declared ‘null and void’ because the DCUSU had not promoted awareness of the referendum.

In 2014 one single vote led to DCU rejoining the organisation when the results came to 726-Yes and 725-No, while in 2016 94% of voters supported remaining in the USI. The voting period will begin at 7am Wednesday via Loop and end at 9pm on Thursday, with results being announced at 10pm.

News

Comment

Features

Sports

SU election 2020 special

There’s only one way to beat Trump

China’s Uyghur camps

Gold target hit by DCU archers

Read up on all the candidates pgs. 6 - 10

Focus on the issues, not Trump pg. 14

Muslim minority under attack pg. 17

DCU won four medals pg. 23

Editorial

2 News SU Elections pg 6 - 10

Don’t Rock the Boat

Contents

Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque, Editor-in-Chief

Comment Dating apps vs IRL pg 11 Features An unfamiliar love story pg 18

Sports Gold for DCU Archers pg 23

Inside The Hype Arts Birds of Prey pg 6

Lifestyle Energy drinks pg 9 Editor-In-Chief | Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque Deputy Editor-In-Chief | Áine O’Boyle News Editors | Tadgh McNally & Aoife O’Brien Deputy News Editors | Shauna Burdis & Megan Jones & Sally Madden Production Editor | Sally Dobie Production Editor | Jonathon Lynam Features Editor | Róisín Phelan Deputy Features Editor | Béibhinn Thorsch Arts Editor | Áine O’Boyle Deputy Arts Editors | Aoibhín Meghen & Peter O’Neill Lifestyle Editor | Róisín Maguire Deputy Lifestyle Editors |Shauna Power & Niamh Quinlan Irish Editors |Beth Molloy & Naoise Darby Sports Editors | Conor Breslin, Shane Brennan & Courtney Fitzmaurice Comment Editors | Clara Kelly & Calum Atkinson

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his week, DCU students will be going to the polls to vote for a new students’ union. This election season is proving to be a bit more exciting than usual as there’s no clear front winner in several of the races.

Hopefully the next students’ union will be able to engage students more than this current one.

Rents are set to increase by four per cent in DCU’s on-campus accommodation, and DCUSU naturally organised a protest in response to this.

Said protest was more than lackluster; a rather small group of students camped outside the student centre in tents and chairs for a few hours. As of yet it doesn’t seem to have produced much - if any - change.

Perhaps the students’ union protesting outside their own offices isn’t the most effective form of bringing about change.

It’s easy to avoid, and if anything, it looked more like a fun day outside than an angry demand to bring about change.

I do not wish to speak out of place. I am not a member of the

students’ union, and as such I do not pretend to know everything their job entails and the limitations that come with it.

But one of the reasons I don’t is due to the lack of communication between the union and The College View. For various reasons, the SU have had a policy in place since the start of this academic year that all College View questions should be asked by email.

What’s more, they have requested that all emails should be sent to the DCUSU president first, regardless of whether or not the questions are actually for her. Only after she’s reviewed them will she forward them onto the appropriate person.

From a purely practical point of view, this is simply not sustainable. It can take days to receive a response via email, particularly if it has to go through someone else first. The College View has a print deadline and this delayed response has affected many stories.

Even more importantly though, the students’ union should be accountable to the student body.

And student media is a vehicle to scrutinise the union. By only answering questions via email, the union is effectively ensuring

they avoid any uncomfortable or difficult conversations.

While it would be easy to take this breakdown of communication personally, it’s clear now that’s not the case. The poor turnout for their rent protest is evidence of this. DCU students are not being effectively mobilised.

The SU also held two referenda on the last week of semester one.

Both referenda failed to meet the minimum number of votes needed to be accepted. It’s not that the union isn’t speaking to student media, they’re not speaking to students period.

And this is not to ignore the important work the SU does. I’m sure they have helped improve the lives of many individual students.

But the student body as a whole has been largely ignored.

The SU were supposed to hold an event to break the world record for the largest “Rock the Boat”, but it was cancelled by bad weather. With the failure to pass two referenda and the small turnout of their rent protest, one can’t help but wonder if the weather saved them from what could have been an otherwise embarrassing event.

This issue’s sub-editors: Lauren Allen, Alex Barrett, Shauna Burdis, Sarah Burke, Seán Comber, Emma Costigan, David Cotter, Róisín Cullen, Ruth Delaney, Courtney Fitzmaurice, Shauna Ledwidge, Jayde Maher, Daniel Mannix, Tara McGahan, Conor Mckenna, Aoibhín Meghen, Jane Moore, Kinga Piotrowska, Rachel Power, Niamh Quinlan

et g o t Want ved? invol

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News

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Shortage of HRT in Ireland leaves women in distress

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shortage of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is causing great distress for a number of women across the country, say the Insitute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

According to the Health Service Executive, HRT is a treatment used to replace the female hormones that a woman’s body is no longer producing due to menopause.

HRT can also be used by transgender women to induce physical changes in the body and promote the matching of gender identity to the body.

The Institute said that the shortage of HRT in Ireland is causing “distress and inconvenience for those women affected.”

The Health Products Regulatory Authority released a statement saying

that the medicine shortages have been a global problem for some time now.

“HRT shortages have impacted multiple countries over the past year and are not restricted to Ireland,” they said.

“The suppliers have stated that the causes of the shortages relate to both active substance availability and manufacturing delays”.

Liam Butler, a pharmacist from County Offaly told Midlands 103 radio station that he believes there is a shortage of HRT as pharmaceutical companies are not producing it because it is not as profitable as other medicines.

He said that he has had to turn patients away who are looking for the medicine and fears that this may continue for a number of months.

Similar shortages are also occurring across the UK, with The Royal College and Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the British Menopause Society stating that it is unclear as to why these shortages are occurring.

RCOG President, Dr Edward Morris said earlier this month that the supply situation should begin to improve as the range of products which supply 70 per cent of the HRT patch market will be reintroduced back onto the market.

“However a number of HRT medications and contraceptives remain unavailable, some until the end of this year, and some with no timeline as to when they will be back on the market,” he said.

The HSE has recommended some alternative treatments to HRT such as lifestyle changes, Tibolone, which is a synthetic hormone that can be used as an alternative to HRT, and antidepressants, some of which have been proved effective in treating hot flushes in women.

The HPRA is strongly advising any patient who is concerned about their medicine and access to HRT to contact their doctor or pharmacist to discuss their treatment and explore their options.

Messaging service launched for women suffering dating abuse

DCU student warns against the dangers of rapid weight loss in sport Roisin Maguire | Lifestyle Editor @roisin_maguire1

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Aoife O’Brien | News Editor @obrienaoife1

W Credit: Sathisha Mohan

CU student and boxer Terry McEntee warns people over rapid weight loss techniques in sport.

The practice of rapid weight loss in order to either make a certain weight in sports competitions is a practice followed by many athletes but is a cause for concern, according to McEntee.

“With boxing, rapid weight loss can be a big factor in the sport”, said McEntee He also said that he has witnessed “time and time again in boxing where people with little experience will dehydrate too much for weigh ins and will end up feeling sick and dizzy as they don’t understand the concept”.

He mentioned that DCU’s boxing society “don’t encourage anyone to drop weight quickly” and they would prefer if their boxers managed their weight over a period of time through cardio.

Research from Dr Brendan Egan of DCU’s School of Health & Human Performance is also being conducted over this practice. A survey on 30 male mixed martial arts fighters was conducted, 15 being professional and 15 being amateur.

Egans research states that “Water loading and hot salt baths are amongst the most commonly used methods of RWL despite little research on these methods for body mass reduction or effects on performance in weight category sports.”

His research also mentions that coaches and mentors were “more influential” when giving such advice compared to medical professionals.

“Fellow fighters and coaches/

Credit: Pixnio

Aine O’Boyle| Deputy Editor and Arts Editor @aineoboyle99

mentors were “very influential” on RWL practices of these athletes, with doctors, dietitians, and physical trainers said to be “not influential”.

His report states that the most common form of RWL is water loading, hot salt baths and fasting for 24 hours. “Water loading and hot salt baths are amongst the most commonly used methods of RWL despite little research on these methods for body mass reduction or effects on performance in weight category sports.”

However, when speaking to Egan,

he said that he has not yet discovered the safety risks associated with RWL. He said, “there are several evidencebased approaches that an athlete can use to safely lose weight during a training camp, and then in the 48 hours or so engage in so-called rapid weight loss practices. The majority of these practices/methods relate to manipulation of gut contents and hydration status so having a wellformulated recovery (i.e. weight regain) plan from weigh in until competition is key to performance.”

omen’s Aid has launched a free instant messaging service for women suffering from dating abuse or who feel unsafe or worried in their relationships.

The service was launched as part of Women’s Aid three week long #TooIntoYou National Public Information and Awareness Campaign which is running from 14th February to International Women’s Day on March 8.

Recent new laws under the Domestic Violence Act 2018 mean that women experiencing abuse in dating relationships can apply for legal protection from abuse.

However, Women’s Aid believes that many young women are still unaware of the change or how to go about getting the protection and support they need.

To help combat this they are distributing a free ‘The Law is On Your Side’ guide along with the new messaging service.

While the instant messaging service is only available from 7pm -10pm on Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s on www.tointoyou.ie, women who fear for their safety can also call the Women’s Aid 24hr National Freephone Helpline 1800 341 900 which is available 7 days a week.

According to CEO of Women’s Aid, Sarah Benson, “Dating abuse is a significant issue for our frontline support services and research has

shown that while young women can be at even higher risk of abuse in a relationship than their older counterparts, it can be difficult for them to see what is happening to them as abuse.”

She pointed to EU research which shows that one-quarter of women in Ireland have experienced physical and sexual abuse, while 39% of women aged between 18 and 29 have experienced emotional abuse by a partner.

“A stark reminder of this risk is that one in every two women aged between 18 and 25, who were killed in Ireland since 1996, were murdered by their boyfriends or exes,” Benson continued.

Women’s Aid are also concerned about the “slow pace” of political action to address the harmful use of technology and image based sexual abuse in intimate relationships.

“We are calling on whoever forms the next Government to immediately address the need for a real legal solution to issues like image based sexual abuse often incorrectly referred to as ‘revenge porn’. Until this happens, young women remain unprotected by law,” Benson siad.

To young women who might feel unsafe or worried in their relationships Benson said “your partner does not have the right to control and abuse you. You should not have to worry about how he will react to what you do. Dating abuse is wrong and no one deserves to be threatened, beaten or be in fear for their safety.”

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News

Radio waves from a nearby star could help scientists discover new habitable planets

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stronomers have discovered unusual radio waves coming from a nearby star according to a paper which was co-authored by DCU’s Dr Shane O’Sullivan from the School of Physical Sciences and the Centre for Astrophysics and Relativity.

The discovery was made using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope which combines signals from more than 100,000 individual radio antenna dipoles. This unparalleled astronomical data collection forms a ‘dish’ of 1900 kilometres in diameter and spans seven European countries.

The unusual radio waves detected by the LOFAR radio telescope are produced by aurorae caused by the

interaction between the magnetic field of this star and an exoplanet beyond our solar system.

The star, a red dwarf called GJ1151, is located in the Ursa Major constellation and is almost 25 light years from Earth according to the paper published in Nature Astronomy.

This is the first time astronomers have seen these types of radio waves from a star-planet interaction.

Dr. Harish Vedantham, the lead author of the study at the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) said “Our work has put us on an intriguing path by demonstrating that LOFAR is sensitive enough to detect the long-predicted radio waves from a star-planet interaction.

This discovery provides a new opportunity to discover exoplanets in the habitable zone and to study the environment they exist in.

The red dwarf star GJ1151 which

was discovered to be emitting these unusual radio waves is a class of stars smaller and cooler than the Sun but with intense magnetic fields Red dwarfs are the most abundant type of star in our Milky Way and are likely to host potentially habitable planets.

However, such planets will have to orbit much closer to the star compared to the distance between the Sun and the Earth and will be strongly affected by the intense stellar magnetic field.

This magnetic interaction can heat and even erode the exoplanet’s atmosphere.

According to Dr. Vedantham radio observations are one of the few tools available to study the magnitude of this effect.

“We want to use future radio observations to figure out how detrimental this interaction is to exoplanets and what it means for habitability.”

Dr. Shane Sullivan said, “This is an exciting time for radio astronomy, as the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) is providing the opportunity for many new discoveries such as this one.

DCU is part of a consortium running the I-LOFAR station located in Birr, Co. Offaly and the Irish station forms part of the International LOFAR Telescope that made the observations.”

Credit: Pikrepo

Aoife O’Brien | News Editor @obrienaoife1

DCU Professor says Facebook Overuse of should not be blamed for spread inhalers is causing of child sexual abuse imagery

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DCU professor has said that Facebook is not to blame for the spread of child sexual abuse imagery.

The comment comes after concerns were raised about Facebook’s decision to encrypt their messaging system, a decision which was made partly in response to ongoing public criticism of the platform’s regard for privacy.

As of now, Tech companies such

as Facebook and Google are legally required to report images of child abuse when they find them, but are not required to look for them.

In 2018, there were 18.4 million reports of child sex abuse imagery -which included over 45 million images and videos- reported to America’s National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Facebook was responsible for 12 million of the 18.4 million reports.

However, Alan Smeaton, a commuting professor in DCU says that although encrypting Messenger may

Credit: Joy Nwagiriga

Sally Madden | Deputy News Editor

provide hiding spaces for perpetrators, it is still imperative that they do so.

“They have to.. When you and I have a conversation on WhatsApp or a conversation on skype you’re assuming that there’s nobody listening because well, there isn’t supposed to be. It doesn’t matter if it’s a video call or text messages,” he said.

“The spread of these images is not entirely the platforms fault. The reason there is that material is a combination of many things. It is the fault of camera makers, it is the fault of the internet, it is the fault of society. Facebook is just one part of the issue,” he said.

“But there are many bells you can’t unring. You can’t stop selling camera’s because there are child sex photographs. Banging Facebook for it isn’t unfair, but is a narrow perspective,” he added.

“There are many advantages to having open-conversation, where anything anybody has ever said to anybody on the internet should be available for everybody else. There would also be a huge amount of disadvantages, and society finding the sweet-spot between there is the issue at hand,” he said.

According to Smeaton, the technology needed to protect privacy and also protect children isn’t there yet, but he believes that will someday be possible.

“I think in some years we’ll look back at 2020 and think “Jesus that was a free for all, anyone could upload anything they wanted to the internet and could do it in anonymously”... we’ll look back and we’ll think Jesus that was a terrible time,” he said.

serious side effects

Roisin Phelan | Features Editor @_roisinphelan

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verusing an inhaler could be dangerous to your health, according to the Asthma Society of Ireland (ASI).

The ASI has recently announced their concern over asthmatics overusing their prescribed reliever inhalers.

They say that this overuse can lead to health issues such as exacerbation and even death.

According to the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), “if you use three or more inhalers a year, it is an indication that you care at risk of a severe asthma exacerbation. While the use of 12 or more a year is an indication that you are at risk of an asthma-related death”.

The inhalers, which many people will recognise, are used to treat and relieve the symptoms of asthma. 12 per cent of the Irish population are diagnosed with asthma however the number of individuals who suffer from “asthma like symptoms” is thought to be higher.

According to research done by hmR Ireland in 2019 three out of ten individuals who use inhalers are at a risk of asthma related death due to overuse.

The research also shows that within five years of diagnosis half of the asthma population are over reliant on their inhaler for relief. Indicating that

asthmatics are developing an over-reliance over time rather than upon initial diagnosis.

CEO of the ASI, Sarah O'Connor has said that this research is “stark and very worrying”.

“As people with asthma get older, their rate of over-reliance increases, resulting in increased levels of uncontrolled asthma. A key point at which people become over-reliant on their reliever inhaler is between year one (year of diagnosis) and year two,” she said.

The recommended usage of different inhalers varies substantially with the HSE recommending usage of a bronchodilator inhaler every 30-60 minutes for up to three-hour periods if symptoms require it. However, for steroid inhalers they recommend only four uses per day, two in the morning and two in the evening regardless of symptoms.

The HSE also suggest that “any patient using more than two reliever inhalers in a year have their technique and compliance checked.”

The ASI are calling asthmatics to get their asthma “under control” and recommend that they download an Asthma Action Plan from asthma.ie and speak with their healthcare professional specifically about their asthma medications to ensure that they are not under or overusing them.

News

Trinity said campus rent increases were never on the agenda despite reports and students protests Sonja Tutty | Images Editor @SonjadeJourno

Credit: Sonja Tutty

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lege View, “The decision to withdraw the increase from the upcoming Finance Committee is clearly linked with the protest and student mobilization that has been happening on campus.”

Scholarship and 20k bursary for newest masters programme Tadgh McNally| News Editor @TadghMN

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CU’s Business School has announced a new masters programme in association with Bord Bia for the next academ-

ic year.

The programme, called MSc in Insights and Innovation, will include a full scholarship, as well as a tax-free bursary of 20,000 per successful applicant per year.

The aim of the programme is to improve the innovation within the Irish food, drink and horticulture sectors.

According to the programme descriptor, the programme will last 18 months. It will be divided up into an intensive study course from September to December, which takes place in DCU and Bord Bia. The second half, beginning January 2021, will be placement within a Bord Bia company.

Micheal Murphy, Bord Bia’s Organisation and Industry Talent Director said of the programme: “The MSc in Insights and Innovation complements our existing suite of programmes which focus on marketing, sustainability and international business and will enable us to expand the industry’s strategic capabilities as we work towards our ambitious growth targets.”

Applications for the programme are now being taken, with closing dates be-

ing May 15th.

Executive Dean of DCU’s Business School, Professor Anne Sinnott said that the school was delighted to be working alongside Bord Bia on this programme.

“There are few companies where innovation is not right at the top of the corporate agenda and this is even more evident in the food and beverage industries where the threat of Brexit and intense competition make innovation the number one priority,” said Professor Sinnott.

The programme itself is part of Bord Bia’s Talent Academy, which currently has 69 students taking part in five programmes in universities across Ireland.

This comes as Bord Bia recently announced that Irish food, drink and horticulture industries have hit record exports at 13 billion Euro in 2019. This is an increase from 12.1 billion in 2018.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Micheal Creed said it was due to the world class quality of Irish exports.

“2019’s record performance for Irish food and drink exports is testament to the resilience and dedication to sustainability and world class quality amongst our indigenous producers,” said Minister Creed.

According to Bord Bia, this is the tenth year running where exports have been growing. The total increase has been 67 per cent, or the equivalent of 5.6 billion euro.

But despite being removed from the agenda, Beston is sure rent will still be increased. “It is highly likely, in fact, almost certain that rents will rise due to the language that the college have

used.” She said referring a quotes from Thomas Deane, a media relations officer in Trinity.

She went on to say that students should be made aware of rent increas-

es, and that they should be taking action. But, she is hopeful that by the time discussion in Trinity starts in May, a new government will have formed.

“If the rent increases do go forward we will, along with grassroots groups on campus, escalate our actions as far as necessary. As this meeting will not take place until May we would hope that a government will have formed and will encourage assistance from the relevant minister and parties with policies that reflect what the students demands are.”

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) Dublin Region Vice President, Craig McHugh told The College View that these rent increases are in response to a lack of third-level education funding. But, universities need to be spending more time trying to address the lack of funding rather than putting more of the cost burden on students.

“Realistically, this will do nothing to help the institutions funding issues.”

McHugh added, “All it will do is put students down and kick them while they are down.”

Nine Irish colleges join online system to report sexual assault Calum Atkinson| Comment Editor @CalumAtkinson

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ine Irish colleges have signed up to an online system that will allow students to anonymously report experiences of

sexual assault.

Trinity College Dublin, NUI Galway, Maynooth and the University of Limerick are among the colleges that have entered the €80,000 scheme, which is funded by the Department of Education.

The system is being developed by Psychological Counsellors in Higher Education in Ireland alongside the nine participating colleges. It will be available on each of the colleges’ websites and will resemble an online form. The

system is due to be up and running by the start of the next academic year.

DCU is not one of the third level institutions taking part in the initiative.

DCU Students’ Union Vice President for Welfare and Equality Aisling Fagan explained that for now, “the university is taking steps independently to combat the issue on campus.”

“The Students’ Union and other university representatives are members of the national advisory committee for the Ending Sexual Harassment and Violence in Third Level Education (ESHTE)” Fagan said.

“We work alongside all other higher education institutions, as well as the National Women’s Council of Ireland, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, the Gardaí, the USI, and others who are involved in initiatives to combat this

Credit: Sonja Tutty

rinity rent increase was never on the agenda, but is still likely to happen said Trinity’s head of Public Affairs and Communications.

The 4 per cent rent increase in Trinity’s student accommodation was never on the Financial Committee’s agenda, but will have to happen at some stage.

“There is a strong feeling that student accommodation has to pay for itself.” he said. “It is not on any agenda, but [Trinity] believes it is an important principle.”

While the spokesperson said the rent increase was not on the agenda, Trinity’s paper The University Times reported, “A proposal to increase the cost of Trinity’s accommodation by four per cent, which had featured on a Finance agenda seen by The University Times…”

This proposed rent increase caused student upset and led to a USI led protest in Trinity on February 20.

Trinity Student Union (TCDSU) President Lauren Beston told The Col-

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issue nationally and locally,” Fagan continued.

Fagan also explained that the SU was ensuring the implementation of the ‘Ending Sexual Violence and Harassment in Irish Higher Education Institutions’ framework that was issued by the Department of Education and Skills last year.

This document was launched in April of 2019 by Minister for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor, who lost her seat in the recent general election.

The paper, which was assembled by an expert advisory group offered suggestions and guidelines for Higher Education Institutions in “developing a comprehensive, yearround proactive response, with the aim of preventing sexual violence and promoting positive, active consent”.

The document called on the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education to support Irish colleges to “develop processes for recording and reporting on incident of sexual harassment, assault and rape on third-level campuses”.

Mitchell O’Connor made consent a key issue during her tenure as Minister of State for Higher Education.

“Sexual harassment and violence is a part of the higher educational experience for all too many students and particularly girls and women,” Mitchell O’Connor said. “We pride ourselves in providing excellence in education but we must also pride ourselves in providing a safe learning environment,” she added.

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News

STUDENTS’ UNI

SU Elections 2020 - President: Evan Faul campuses and things like clubs and socs are solely based on Glasnevin and there is very little to do on Pat's and All Hallows during the day,” he said.

Faul said that his involvement in clubs and socs in DCU has been hindered by the fact that he would often have to travel to the Glasnevin campus to attend events which was not always possible when his lectures were on St Pat's campus.

“If you miss meetings then you start to feel less included in the society... I would like to work with clubs and socs events and possibly introduce mandatory events on Pat's,” he said.

Faul also believes that the SU has to become more visible to students so that engagement can be increased and student issues can be resolved.

“As a Pat's student you feel that there is very little representation of the SU on Pat's, so I would like to improve that presence and make them

more approachable,” Faul said.

“I think it's the students' union's responsibility to have a presence, especially with the college media and to have transparency with the student body as to what they are doing and what they are trying to get done,” he continued. He noted that this increased transparency and coverage would further increase engagement.

Also appearing on Faul’s manifesto is the aim to improve facilities and provide more convenient appliances including microwaves and phone charging stations which would particularly benefit commuters.

This idea of a commuter hub has been raised in numerous manifestos both from this year's candidates and in previous elections.

However, according to Faul this is achievable and just hasn’t been prioritised enough in previous years.

“Since gaining my nomination and

voice is represented in all meetings related to on-campus accommodation.

She said rent strikes could be effective, however they may not work for DCU students due to payments being made in two lump sums.

Fay said although she has a good relationship with DCU President Brian McCraith and President-Designate Daire Keogh, they do not agree on the issue of the recent rent increases. Fay said “I am confident in my ability to discuss and make progress on these issues with both individuals.”

On the current SU President, Christine Farrell, Katie said she believes Farrell was a strong leader and accomplished a lot of her goals, but hopes she can put “[her] own spin on things”.

During her time as VP for Engagement & Development, Fay planned to employ a member of staff full-time to work on events. There is currently a part-time events officer, and the SU are looking for a full-time Marketing

& Events officer to work in the Office of Student Life.

She also wanted to hold in-class class representative elections this year, but now says the online loop elections are a “fast and efficient way to get as many class reps elected in a short time frame at the beginning of the year,” so as to be inclusive of part-time and distance-learning students.

Included in her manifesto for this election is further development of the class representative system. Fay said she plans to work with the VP for Engagement & Development to raise staff awareness of the class rep system, and plans to possibly broadcast representative meetings.

In Fay’s campaign video, she mentions working with the Sustainable Officer and the Sustainable Living society, and hopes to continue work on sustainability if elected. DCU’s Sustainable Living Society replied to her campaign video, posted on Instagram, and said despite supporting

her initiatives, they did not think she had a “dedicated enough partnership with the society this year” for them to be mentioned in the video.

Last year Fay was competing against candidate Helen Wade, a mature student based on St Patrick’s Campus In this election, Fay will be running against three other candidates: thirdyear Arts joint honours student Evan Faul, Science Enterprise Computing fourth-year Fearghal Lynch, and fellow SU officer Olivia Forde. Forde is currently VP for Education & Placement.

As a SMART Consent facilitator, Fay wants to continue to implement the consent framework. Also covered in her manifesto is the University of Sanctuary scheme, which Fay hopes to improve through government lobbying.

Roisin Maguire | Lifestyle Editor @roisin_maguire1

students with an opportunity to explore other courses DCU has to offer and equips them with the knowledge needed to change courses, both inside and outside DCU”. This will be called “Find Your Path Week”.

He stated that Commons has been “a juggernaut for the SU [Students' Union] in the past two years and that his drive, productivity and positivity” will serve as an inspiration to him if he is elected.

Flynn stated that the current President of DCU, Brían MacCraith has “in his tenure, been an excellent representative for DCU” however his reputation is “tainted” by his parting act (the recent rent increases in DCU accommodation).

He said, “I don’t know how much he supported these decisions as they are not his to make alone but as president, he maintains accountability” and that Dáire Keogh (the next DCU President) must understand that he is not becoming the president of a “profit-making organisation” but of an “institution that provides a human right”.

Flynn said that in order for students to maintain their rights, students' unions are vital. “There is no strength without unity, and that is [as] important to society now as it ever was.”

When asked how he would tackle unpaid placements if elected, he said that he would “spearhead campaigns that push for legislation ending this

Aoife O’Brien | News Editor @obrienaoife1

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inal year Bachelor of Arts Joint Honours student Evan Faul will make increasing engagement across all three DCU campuses a priority if elected DCU students' union (SU) President for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Having studied between St Pat's and All Hallows campuses during his time as a student in DCU, Faul said that these campuses can often feel neglected in comparison to the main Glasnevin campus.

According to Faul the lack of representation from clubs and societies on these campuses is a main contributing factor to this.

“We have three amazing

talking to students I am hearing microwaves, microwaves, microwaves.

It has been a recurring topic over previous elections and I would make it a priority to make sure there are better facilities across all three campuses,” Faul said.

Reflecting on the work of the current SU in this regard Faul said, “Christine and the rest of the current SU might have their priorities set on other things than improving the facilities, improving placement, improving clubs and socs and introducing better exam infrastructures whereas that's what I'm focusing on,” he said.

“She has her own agenda and I have a different one to her in my opinion,” Faul continued.

Despite this being his first venture into student politics, Faul said his lack of experience won’t hold him back because he knows the issues that are affecting students and how to fix them.

SU Elections 2020 - President: Katie Fay Credit: Evan Faul

[This candidate did not accept an in-person or phone interview with The College View and thus had time to prepare a response to questions via email]

Sally Dobie | Production & Podcast Editor @Sarah_or_Sally

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residential candidate Katie Fay plans to focus on student welfare and sustainability if re-elected to the students' union (SU) next

week.

Fay, who is currently the Vice President for Engagement & Development and was previously both Chairperson of the Science & Health Society and Representative of the Science & Health Faculty.

Accommodation is one of the issues mentioned in Fay’s manifesto - she said she hopes to ensure the student

Credit: Katie Fay

VP for Academic Affairs: Cormac Flynn

F Credit: Corman Flynn

inal year economics, politics and law student, Cormac Flynn plans to extend the “Don’t Drop Out, Drop In” initiative if elected for VP for Academic Affairs.

Flynn has experience of working with fellow students as Chair of Class Representative Council and realised that his “passion is fighting for students”.

Flynn’s main plan is to expand Callaghan Commons' current initiative called “Don’t Drop Out, Drop In” to make it easier for first years students to change courses. He said he wants “to extend this so it provides first year

unfair system” and that he plans “to work closely with the USI [Union of Students in Ireland] and other institutions to take a united stand”.

Part of Flynn’s manifesto mentions how the the vast difference between feedback given to students “is not acceptable in a large university”. He aims to work with the Teaching Enhancement Unit within the university to provide a feedback framework that lecturers must follow.

Another idea that Flynn has is an “Up Your Game Week” where students can learn skills they can’t receive in the classroom. “Students will be asked what classes they want to see, but some examples are CPR, cookery, first aid and maybe even sewing”.

News

7

ION ELECTIONS

President: Olivia Forde

f elected President, Olivia Force wants to introduce commuter hubs, comedy nights and a "Know your Rights" campaign across DCU’s three campuses.

Forde is the current students’ union (SU) Vice President for Education and Placement and ran unopposed for the position this time last year.

“I think Christine is doing a superb job as president, but if elected,” Forde said, “I would try to be on the ground with students more and be more visible.”

Forde told The College View that she believes the rising cost of higher education and accommodation is the most pressing issue for students at the moment.

“I do not think the college should be building the barriers to education by putting up the prices of accommodation, especially as we are working so hard along with USI [Union of Students in Ireland] and all the other colleges in Ireland to stop this rent increase.”

To tackle this issue, she said she would continue the process of having the SU and the USI together, “lobbying the government to break down the barriers to higher education.”

Forde’s manifesto details a “Know your Rights” campaign which would aim to inform students of their rights in regards to “accommodation and the working world.”

“There is a lot of areas that students may not know when or where or even

the right questions to ask are. I know myself that as a first year I had no clue what sort of questions to be asking a landlord or lady. I want to educate students who might be looking for accommodation and what exactly their land people should be doing for them or what to ask them.”

“I also plan to launch this campaign in other areas regarding work place too, to make sure our students are equipped with the knowledge that they need,” she said.

In her campaign for VP for Education and Placement, Forde said she wanted to introduce teacher appreciation weeks, teaching and nursing fairs and first aid and manual handling courses.

So far in her tenure Forde has not implemented teacher appreciation weeks however she says she instead had, “a few smaller events for students for them to enjoy.”

Forde did organise two days of CPR

so I’m aware of the prices and the steady increase from when I was in Larkfield in first year, to College Park this year and it is ridiculous,” said Lynch.

Lynch sees working with the USI for the rent strikes as a good thing, saying that “there’s strength in numbers”, and that current protests are just the start of action against rent increases.

Surrounding direct provision, Lynch hopes that situations like Save Our Shepherd and We Wish for Mehwish don’t occur again next year, but does say that he would work to fix the problems if they do arrive. Improving facilities across all DCU campuses are a key aim in Lynch’s campaign, with a particular focus on the libraries in Glasnevin and St. Pat's.

The toilets in the O’Reilly library in Glasnevin are on Lynch’s agenda, with a focus on implementing new hand dryers. “If you got Dyson Airblade

hand dryers, the toilet paper wouldn’t clog up the toilets,” said Lynch, saying it would be easily implemented.

In Cregan library on St Pats, Lynch wants to look at fixing the broken plugs. “They’re not the things you really see, but they’re of huge concern to people,” said Lynch.

Another facility improvement proposal from Lynch is establishing commuter hubs in both Glasnevin and St Pat's, with kitchen facilities made available in both. According to Lynch, it wouldn’t happen overnight but due to the work of previous SUs, it would be easier to implement.

A mindfulness hub is also on Lynch’s list of ideas, with this being available online as part of Loop. He wants it to contain both physical wellbeing and mindfulness tips.

He wants it to be supplementary to the counselling services available in DCU, due to the delays that can be

experienced by students who want to access counselling.

“If there is something that is in the middle that can help people in that lull period, that’s kind of what I’m doing it for,” said Lynch.

Implementing more college wide events is also important to Lynch, with him wanting to hold both a Halloween Ball on All Hallows, as well as a three stage festival on Albert College Park.

With this, Lynch wants to see a return of the DCU-St Pat's House Cup to encourage friendly competition between the two campuses. While this won’t be exclusively sport, it’ll be used to bring together the two communities according to Lynch.

“They’re two separate campuses, and I want to bring them together,” said Lynch.

part-time for the past two years," he said.

"In my role in Londis, I have interacted with thousands of DCU students in small but often meaningful ways. I feel that that is something I shouldn’t take for granted… I think its really given me an interesting outlook, on how students live within the DCU environment and how they could benefit from greater SU [students' union] support," he added.

"I’ve met so many people at their best and at their worst. I’ve really gotten a sense of the things that people find difficult, the things that people enjoy about college and I think that I have a great mass of experience that I’ve built up," he continued.

Waugh-Daly said he wanted to stand up for needs of students academically as well as students workers who need to balance college with employment.

"This is something the SU needs to focus on," he said.

In his manifesto, he commits to subsidised work-skills workshops, which would provide students with barista training, bar skills, retail skills, etc. As well as a part-time job fair, which would be an annual opportunity for students to connect with potential employers.

"We would be able to match students with jobs so that more students would be able to work in jobs that they feel are actually not going to drain them or take away from their studies,"

[This candidate did not accept an in-person or phone interview with The College View and thus had time to prepare a response to questions via email]

Roisin Phelan | Features Editor @_roisinphelan

I Credit: Olivia Forde

training, “as first aid is a longer extensive course so I thought CPR would be a better initial starting point. The response from the CPR classes were fantastic too.”

Forde’s manifesto also mentions commuter hub, daytime activities, the promotion of sign language, an increase in water fountains on St. Patrick's Campus, the promotion of sustainability and comedy nights and engagement on all campuses.

The commuter hubs would offer students who commute a safe place to store their bags and belongings during the day.

The increase in water fountains, Forde’s manifesto says, are needed as “the queues to use them are ridiculous.”

The comedy nights would be monthly and would provide students some “laughter and lightheartedness”.

“Laughter is the best medicine, so they say,” wrote Forde's manifesto.

President: Fearghal Lynch

Tadgh McNally| News Editor @TadghMN

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earghal Lynch is a final year Enterprise Computing student running for the DCU students' union [SU] presidency. Facility improvements, college wide events and a return of the DCU-St Pat's House Cup are just some of his proposals if he is elected as DCUSU President.

Speaking to The College View, Lynch wants to carry on the work that DCUSU has done this year. “I can’t fault them, and that is my main goal is to push forward and continue on the good work they’re doing,” said Lynch.

Surrounding the four per cent rent increase for campus accommodation, Lynch has seen the effects that rising rents are having on students. “I’ve lived on campus for the last four years

Credit: Fearghal Lynch

VP for Academic Affairs: Lucien Waugh-Daly Sally Madden | Deputy News Editor

L

Credit: Lucien Waugh-Daly

ucien Waugh-Daly feels working in DCU’s Londis has given him a distinct outlook in his run for Vice President of Academic Affairs.

"I think I have a really unique perspective coming into this election. That is that for the past three years I have been a student here, I have been heavily involved in society life but I have also been working campus

he said regarding the jobs fair.

He also aims to educate DCU students on the importance of trade unions by running a trade union information campaign, which would involve inviting major Irish unions to hold talks, events and workshops in DCU, on the benefits of trade unions.

He also feels the SU needs to promote itself as a union, as past SU members have remained quiet on issues, such as unpaid internships within DCU itself.

"It’s important that our SU is more proactively political. That we do not conform to the university management, it will always take the side of students."

8

News

VP for Education & Placement: Chloe McMorrow [This candidate did not accept an in-person or phone interview with The College View due to illness]

Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque | Editor-In-Chief @BrendanFKP

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Credit: Chloe McMorrow

or the second year in a row, only one candidate is running to be the Vice President (VP) for Education and Placement.

Chloe McMorrow is running for the positions in DCU students’ union (SU) for the 2020/2021 academic year uncontested.

McMorrow is a fourthyear student and is cur-

rently studying Bachelor of Business Studies with INTRA. Last year, the current VP for Education and Placement, Olivia Forde, was also the only candidate to run for the position. She won the race with a total of 2,101 votes.

At the time she said that: “I’m delighted… I know it’s only a solo race so I was a bit surprised at the amount of people that did vote.” With no scandals under her belt, McMorrow may repeat history.

Before Forde, Craig McHugh served as the VP for Education and Placement. He’s currently the Vice President for the Dublin region for the Union of Students Ireland. Interestingly enough, he also ran uncontested in said USI election.

Last year, McHugh spoke about how the INTRA portal system had not been updated due to a lack of funding.

The system itself was last updated

over 12 years ago according to a Freedom of Information request.

Various SU candidates for Education and Placement have promised to update the system - including McHugh - but as of yet, it remains the same.

The INTRA portal is a system for students to upload their CVs and apply for placements for their course. If a student successfully gets an interview, they must check the INTRA website to find out. Students are not notified via email or any other method.

Additionally, while students can apply for as many positions as they’d like, they must take the first position offered them.

McMorrow was suffering from a chest infection and as such was not available for an interview with The College View. Therefore, it is not yet known whether she also intends on updating the INTRA portal.

Castlebar native McMorrow showed

her support for two other candidates running for SU election on Facebook; Presidential candidate Fearghal Lynch and Welfare and Equality candidate Kate Stafford.

As McMorrow is running unopposed, there are only two ways in which she would lose.

If she were not to receive the minimum number of votes necessary to be deemed elected or if more people voted to re-open nominations than had voted for her.

VP for Welfare & Equality: Cian McBride [This candidate did not accept an in-person or phone interview with The College View]

Sonja Tutty | Images Editor @SonjadeJourno

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ian McBride promised condoms, tampons and pregnancy test kits free of charge and available 24 hours a day in bathrooms across DCU campuses, if elected as Vice President for Welfare and Equality.

22 year-old Athletic Therapy and Training student, McBride’s manifesto originally promised vending machines to provide these products. But, due to costs, will have them in baskets in bathrooms and will have them filled weekly.

Alongside sexual well-being, he

also hopes to run weekly mental health well-being workshops which will focus on stress management, identifying mental illness, and assisting peers with mental health problems. Additionally, he wants to support and develop mental health week.

The final year student has been chairperson of DCU Athletics club for the past two years and wants to improve physical health on campus. If elected, he aims to organise weekly runs in Albert College Park and reintroduce "Give-A-Go" week which focused on events organised by active clubs and societies.

Regarding diversity, he said in his manifesto he would work closely with existing cultural clubs and societies to organise new events. “I plan on working hard to encourage students in DCU to embrace the diverse culture we are fortunate to have in our university,” his manifesto said.

He added that he would improve accessibility for students with disabilities on all campus, but did not expand on what actions would be taken to meet this goal.

With DCU raising the cost of student accommodation by four per cent, it is no surprise that accommodation was mentioned in his manifesto.

He said he would work with Campus Residence to address fines given to students, but did not go into detail as to how these fines would be addressed.

Additionally, he said he would implement a second security entrance to Glasnevin campus and introduce a review section on DCU accommodation’s online page.

As past Welfare and Equality officers have also done, he will have an open door policy. He said in his manifesto, “I would like for all students to know my office is a place where they can come to me with any issues or

experiences, which will be dealt with in confidence and utmost respect.”

Lastly, he wrote in his manifesto that his promises and goals may change over time as he communicates more with students.

Credit: Cian McBride

VP for Engagement & Development: Thomas Dorian Shauna Burdis | Deputy News Editor @ShaunaBurdis

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homas Dorian, candidate for Vice President of Engagement and Development, plans to introduce democracy hubs across DCU campuses and improve engagement between the students’ union (SU) and students.

The democracy hub aims to empower students to become more aware and get more involved in campaigns and events. A hub would be opened on both the DCU Glasnevin and St Patrick’s camCredit: Thomas Dorian puses.

Speaking about the potential hubs, Dorian said: “The idea behind it would be whatever campaign it is that students would be able to go in and use the facilities in it to make banners, to research and contact different colleges.

“We have this huge building and there is still so much potential with it and on the St Pat's campus. There is scope across the two SU offices to have that space.”

Dorian's manifesto places a large emphasis on improving the Class Rep Council. He aims to have biweekly faculty meetings to make the position of a class rep more effective and create a stronger engagement between the SU and students.

“One of the biggest issues is, I don’t think the SU utilized the part time officers and the class reps as much as they could.

“Generally, the class reps are the leaders on the ground for the SU and

I think over the past couple of years the SU teams have lacked being on the ground a lot,” he said.

Next year Dorian plans to get the SU more involved with students to get their support for strikes and general events.

Dorian's manifesto also states his plans to put more emphasis on sustainability, by reducing the prices of vegan food on campus and making eco-friendly products more available.

“I want to take the prices down because it is extortionate, and I feel at the moment companies will put the price up because they know it’s a niche product.

“As well as promoting eco-friendly products, I’ll also be working with our campus stores and food vendors like Nubar to broaden the range of vegan products at a lower cost.”

Speaking about DCU’s decision to increase campus rent prices, Dorian

stated that he would support the SU in lobbying against it.

“We are paying colossal money and I think its something that the government definitely have to work on.

“The USI [Union of Students in Ireland] especially are lobbying the government to work on it. Even though this isn’t something in the engagement and development remit, I will be working as hard as I can with other sabbaticals,” he said.

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9

VP for Welfare & Equality: Dean O’Reilly inal year psychology student, Dean O’Reilly, is running for the position of Vice President for Welfare and Equality and wants to impact students' lives on a practical level.

Speaking to The College View, O’Reilly said that the role of VP for Welfare and Equality has always played a major part in his experience in DCU. Throughout his time in DCU, O’Reilly has worked

closely alongside the students' union (SU) as the former chair of DCU LGBTA society and the current chair of the Mental Health society.

Reflecting back upon the work of former VPs for Welfare and Equality, O’Reilly believes that more can be done to make a daily difference to students that has a lasting impact on their overall experience.

While also focusing on broader campaigns such as Rainbow Week, of which he helped establish two years ago, and consent workshops, O’Reilly also hopes to focus on more localised issues that would make a daily impact in the life of DCU students. For example, removing hot water charges and introducing microwaves and cereals onto campus so that the growing commuter population can make food for themselves throughout the day.

O’Reilly stated that over the years he has benefitted from knowing the

VPs for Welfare and Equality, but that this is not an experience shared by the entire student population.

“If somebody has never met any of the VPs, why would they think they are advocating for them?

“I really think the students’ union could do more to be on the ground as much as they possibly can, making appearances at the events as much as they can, trying to be out of the office as much as they can,” he said.

In ensuring that campus is accessible for students with disabilities, O’Reilly is currently working on an accessibility policy with the Society Life Committee to ensure that societies are accessible.

He noted that the elevators in the U Building open up to double doors, making them inaccessible for students with disabilities. He said he would work alongside DCU Estates Office to find a solution to this problem.

She also wants to provide students with information on how to manage college expenses, including information on potential schemes they may be eligible for and help students who are struggling to balance work and college.

Stafford, who declined to speak to The College View, is in her final year of Business Studies in DCU. She has been very involved in sport in DCU so she is putting an emphasis on women’s sport in her campaign.

Stafford says she will “aim to provide better opportunities for women in sports in terms of scholarships and greater exposure” according to her manifesto.

She also proposes establishing a campaign in DCU similar to the 20x20 campaign to encourage more participation in sports.

Although in her manifesto she says that she wants improved equality for

Erasmus and international students, it is unclear what actions she plans to put in place to achieve this.

Similarly she wants to make DCU more equal and accessible for people with disabilities however her plans on how to do so are not included in her manifesto.

Other actions and initiatives proposed by Stafford include improving student well-being by introducing designated areas on campus where students can “rest their mind and take a step back” according to her manifesto.

At the beginning of the campaign Stafford posted on her campaign Facebook page Kate 4 Welfare that, “welfare is something that we often neglect and [she] would love to see improvements being made in it” According to her manifesto, if elected as VP for Welfare and Equality, Stafford will have a similar open door policy as her predecessor in this role,

Aisling Fagan.

She will also maintain and build the close relationship between the SU and the LGBTQ+ community.

Aine O’Boyle| Deputy Editor and Arts Editor @aineoboyle99

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Credit: Dean O’Reilly

O’Reilly believes that he would make the best candidate for the position of VP for Welfare and Equality as he has experience implementing policy in DCU, working alongside DCU staff to make changes and his manifesto includes a series of points that are achievable in both the long and short term.

“When it actually comes to what I am working towards, everything I have mentioned is achievable,” he said.

VP for Welfare and Equality: Kate Stafford [This candidate did not accept an in-person or phone interview with The College View]

Aoibhín Meghen | Deputy Arts Editor @hereisaoibhin

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his candidate for Vice President for Welfare and Equality wants an equal playing field between men and women in sport and to increase student well-being.

Kate Stafford, is running in the current students' union (SU) election. Included in her manifesto are proposals for a campaign for equality between men and women within DCU sports, making DCU more accessible, as well as introducing a self-care initiative in DCU.

Credit: Kate Stafford

VP for Engagement & Development: Dylan Mangan Shane Brennan | Deputy Sports Editor @ShaneBrennan247

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rom culturally diverse events, to an improved shite nite - these are just some of the ideas Dylan Mangan, candidate for Vice President for Engagement and Development, brought with him to his meeting with The College View (along with a Tupperware container containing chicken curry).

Along with his lunch, the third year communications student also brought an election promise for commuters.

"I would try and make sure that there are Credit: Dylan Mangan spaces com-

muters can go to and feel like it is specifically for them. I want to make sure that commuters feel like they have the opportunity to get involved in college by running more daytime events. You definitely have a two-hour gap in between lectures where you kinda go 'oh God, what do I do now?'."

His manifesto’s four-point plan includes an initiative to promote "culturally diverse and inclusive events" and promises to "use [his] connections with the music and entertainment industries to bring in up-and-coming artists to shite nite."

Mangan added that SU events currently are "very one-dimensional".

"Don’t get me wrong, I love going to shite nite, having a can of Jack Slat's and listening to early 2000 tunes more than anyone else, but when that’s all there is to college nightlife...

[I] think that the events that we run should do a better job of representing

the whole diversity of cultures that we have: ethnically, interest-wise, music, film, whatever it is."

Mangan is the chair of the Media Production Society, and he was a class rep in his first year, where he recalls that "it took the first year a group a while to understand that class reps were the system to go through." In order to improve this, Mangan proposes to create an online class rep portal, where students can access the contact details of their reps, read the minutes of CRC meetings and where elections can be run through.

In terms of transparency, Mangan sees improvement in the students' union's (SU) approach to being open, but feels the need for more face-toface connections between students and their representative body.

"I think this year it has been made very clear what the SU is about. I think they’ve been very transparent

with everything... But people involved in college life are in a bubble, and people outside the bubble probably don’t know who the sabbats are," he said. "I’d like to talk to students about issues in the place where they can’t avoid me - their classrooms."

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News

DCU Business School Faculty Representative: Charlie Kinsella

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usiness School Faculty Rep candidate Charlie Kinsella is running for election to reduce the business faculty week to

four days.

The 20 year old Accounting & Finance student says a five day week is unnecessary.

“Within the business faculty, there’s no reason why we should have a fiveday week. Most courses have 12, 15 or 17 hour weeks. A four-day week is more appropriate,” he said. “Even from a sustainability point of view, you’re saving a fifth of the commuting costs.”

Referring to comments he made during his campaign last year in which he compared DCU students to American civil rights activist Rosa Parks, Kinsella said he was not taken

DCU Business School Faculty Representative: Kate Goodman

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as literally as he should have been.

“My point was at the time not to make light of what happened because I’ve studied that period of history quite extensively,” Kinsella said.

“Rosa Parks was a microcosm of segregation and what I saw here was a government who was handing out monopolies, power to companies, private companies.

“If I want to be home to Drogheda at a particular time and I need to be on that four o’clock bus, that bus is driving straight past me because the bus is full,” he said. “Students are literally being left in the cold.

“If that’s controversial, fine. I wouldn’t like to see it taken out of context and it might have been. But it’s what I said and I stand by it.”

Credit: Charlie Kinsella

Humanities & Social Sciences Faculty Representative: Caitlin Grant

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aitlin Grant is running as a part-time candidate for the Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty Representative position for the college year of 2020/2021.

Grant is currently in her first year of a Bachelor of Arts (Joint Honours) degree where she is studying Law and French.

Grant's key policies aim on supporting students throughout their studies in DCU.

She aims to work with those in the faculty to “debate and discuss what they want for the coming year to ensure everyone enjoys their experience and ensure they feel supported afterwards too.”

Caitlin plans to develop career guidance for those in the Humanities and Social Sciences faculty with CV assistance and promotion of events, opportunities, internships and careers that focus on the future of students after their degree.

Credit: Caitlin Grant

Credit: Kate Goodman

ate Goodman is running for the position of Business School Faculty Rep to improve infrastructure in the business school building.

The third year Aviation Management student and student ambassador said despite DCU Business School being in the top five per cent in global business standards, the building and facilities are outdated.

“The lecture halls could definitely be improved,” she said. “I’ve been in DCU for three years

and the ground floor water fountain has never worked. We’re a sustainable university so we should encourage a reduction in single use plastics.”

The 21 year old says she aims to address the high failure rates in business modules.

“25 per cent of my course didn’t get into second year,” she said. “For the modules with high failure rates, lecturers should be encouraged to sit down with class reps and have an open discussion about course content.”

Goodman plans to address the disconnect students feel from DCU when on their INTRA placement. She says she will push for a staff member to be assigned to each student to check in every two months.

Education Faculty Representative: Ellen Quinn

Credit: Ellen Quinn

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llen Quinn is running as a candidate for the Education Faculty Representative position for the college year of 2020/2021.

Ellen is currently in her second year of a Bachelor in Religious Education degree.

The role of the Education Faculty Representative is to communicate with students and staff of the faculty in addressed issues and resolving them with solutions.

The position is on a part-time basis unlike the President and Vice President positions in the students' union.

If elected, Ellen will be able to continue her studies while holding the position as representative.

She is the only student nominated and running for the position in the upcoming elections.

Ellen was contacted by The College View regarding her running in the election but did not provide a comment in time for publication.

Oifigeach na Gaeilge: Postgraduate Officer: Isabel Aust Cian Hade

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ian Hade is running as a part-time candidate for the Oifigeach Na Gaeilge Representative position for the college year of

2020/2021.

Hade is currently in his third year of a Bachelor of Civil Law degree.

Throughout his time in DCU, he has “come across people with all sorts of different levels of Irish

ability,” but says that it is “rare that I hear those who do not have fluent or close to fluent Irish speak it.”

As a result, his key policies focus around the promotion of the Irish language in daily life DCU. Hade aims to increase the visibility of and developing existing supports for Gaelgóirí of all levels on campus. If elected, he will work with faculty, clubs and societies to encourage students to use the Irish language in new spaces.

Credit: Cian Hade

Engineering and Computing Faculty: Edy Nastase

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dy Nastase is a first-year common engineering student and the only candidate running for the position of Engineering and Computing Faculty Rep. “I want to represent DCU’s next generation of STEM students and offer them the opportunity of becoming the best at international level”, said Nastase.

If elected, Nastase wants to get more Credit: Edy Nastase certifications for

Engineering and Computing students, that “would be extremely useful and crucial if you intend to apply for a programming job.” Nastase also aims to hold a series of events aimed at linking companies with engineering and computing students, providing them with opportunities like summer internships.

He wants to increase the number of competitions based on engineering and computing, offering the students a chance to reveal their potential.

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quality of access, participation, and outcomes for postgraduate students in DCU are three subjects on the agenda for Isabel Aust, who is running uncontested for the position of Postgraduate Student Officer in the upcoming students' union elections.

Aust plans to implement the USI-SIPTU Postgraduate Student

Rights Charter, to end precarious with a disability, and/or those experiworking conditions and to address encing socio-economic disadvantage. the crisis in the standard of livShe also aims to be a strong ing and extortionate housing voice for postgraduate students in costs. the National Postgraduate WorkAust also plans to increase ing Group (USI) and advocate for access to part time and the rights of postgraduate students blended learning options for all in DCU and at a national level. postgraduate students, improve Isabel Aust did not respond for access for parent and comment in time for publicarer students, those cation.

Credit: Isabel Aust

No one running for Science & Health Faculty Rep, Clubs Officer & Societies Officer

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here are no candidates running for the positions of Clubs Officer, Societies Officer or Science and Health Faculty Rep in the upcoming DCU students' union (SU) elections.

“The position of Clubs Officer is highly valuable for student representation”, DCUs’ Club Life Committee (CLC) said, “unfortunately no student has put themselves forward for the

role in this current election.”

However this is not unusual as the position does not get as much exposure as other executive positions, according to the CLC. The Clubs Officer’s and Societies Officer’s primary role is to support clubs/societies in DCU. Whereas, the Science and Health Faculty Rep represents the six schools within the faculty.

The CLC said, the election will be run again in semester one of the 2020/2021 academic year. In the meantime, the work of the Clubs Officer will be carried out between the incoming Vice President for Engagement and Development and the CLC. The College View didn't receive a comment from the current Science and Health Faculty Rep in time for publication.

Candidates Charlie Kinsella and Kate Goodman were covered by Ryan Carrick Candidates Caitlin Grant, Ellen Quinn and Cian Hade were covered by Rachel Power Candidates Isabel Aust, Edy Nastase were covered by Shauna Power The remaining unfilled part-time positions were covered by Shauna Power

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Dating apps are impacting our ability to form relationships in real life

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he era of technology is undoubtedly upon us and we’re using it in more ways than one. Not only do we use our phones to chat to friends, send emails or work, but now we use them to find relationships through dating apps. Apps like Tinder and Bumble have risen in popularity, with thousands of people using them to find relationships and friendships with others. However, while they’re useful for finding love and friends for us on occasions when luck is on our side, a greater amount of the time they seem to be causing us all more harm.

With relationship trends like ‘ghosting’ on the rise, they can have a huge impact on our mental health, self-esteem and ability to trust others when we actually do fall into relationships.

Relationship expert David Kavanagh said that “with dating apps, there’s now the awareness of the ability to

Rachel Power discusses the pitfalls of online dating

just go on [an app] the night after a break up and connect with other people in different ways.”

“The social norm and acceptance of how quickly we can meet other people is more affecting these issues in relationships,” he continued.

And it’s true. We all know that within a few minutes of setting up an account, adding a few pictures and

a couple of swipes later we can be talking to someone new, and ultimately moving on far more quickly from previous connections than we used to.

Being aware of this puts doubt in our minds when we find someone we like. We might start to think whether they’re talking to someone new, and if they are, whether that person is better than us.

Image credit: Wikimedia

Rachel Power | Advertising and Marketing Executive @Rachel_M_Power

Having these little doubts has a huge impact on our self-esteem. We begin to look at ourselves differently and focus more on our flaws than our perfections. We critique ourselves more often and while noticing little things that might not be perfect isn’t harmful in its entirety, it can be dangerous if we do it too often.

These doubts then affect our mental

health as we form a negative image of ourselves. We automatically look at what we don’t like about ourselves and mull over it for minutes or even hours on end.

This, of course, means we lose our confidence. And confidence is such an important thing in relationships, which are then affected in turn.

These self-doubts spiral and result in us finding great trouble in forming healthy relationships. Our underlying awareness of the easy accessibility to forming connections with others means we might tend to be more distrustful towards our partner.

Dating apps are great for getting experience in communicating with other people and we can find so many friends from them too. But we need to be aware that we can’t let our self-doubts flourish and develop trust issues from apps like Tinder.

The most important thing is keeping in mind that we’re all made the way we are, and any flaws we might have are perfections in their own right.

There’s only one way to beat Trump focus on the issues, not the President Shane Brennan | Deputy Sports Editor @ShaneBrennan247

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s a U.S citizen, I want to see the back of Donald Trump’s presidency.

I don’t really like the idea of spending the summer training to fight in Iran or Korea or wherever the hell he tweets war threats to this week. So, I’ve taken a break from reading about the stalemate of Dáil discussions to have a look at the race to become the Democrats’ nominee in November’s election.

One thing struck me from the start, beating Trump seems to be more important than fixing problems. How else could you describe the candidacy of Mike Bloomberg? I’m not really sure what his policies are, nobody is.

I watched all two hours of the Nevada debate, the first to feature the former Republican Mayor of New York, and I was still none the wiser.

His candidacy is a symptom of a desire to win at all costs against Trump. A New York Billionaire who was once affiliated with the other

party, looking to beat a New York Billionaire who was once affiliated with the other party. Bloomberg knows he can buy his way into relevancy by pledging $1 Billion in ads for either himself or whoever is the nominee.

It’s not just “Mini Mike” who’s selling himself as the best anti-Trump candidate. They’re all at it.

Former Vice President Joe Biden’s first quote of the debate was that, he was best placed to beat Trump.He had nothing really relevant to say after that. Elizabeth Warren was on full attack mode during the debate, basing her pitch on being the only viable candidate to beat the president while attacking Bloomberg on his record of non-disclosure agreements with women he allegedly harassed.

Amy Klobuchar is still in the race based on her status as a Midwestern woman who can win in states like Wisconsin and Michigan, while Pete Buttigeg is playing a similar Midwestern card while attacking Bloomberg and Bernie Sanders for not being lifelong Democrats, a move evidently designed to shore up the establishment vote.

In 2008 Barack Obama offered

hope. In 2016 Donald Trump offered a chance to send a message to Washington DC that the system isn’t working for them. Now, in 2020, it seems that the Democrats have only one candidate that can deliver a similar message, Bernie Sanders.

Sanders is everything Biden or Clinton are not. He didn’t spend a huge chunk of the debate attacking the current president, but offered his vision for the future. The others are painting Sanders as a dangerously left-field candidate (sound familiar Mary Lou?), yet voters in Nevada overwhelmingly backed his vision for tackling the problems America faces, problems far bigger and more disturbing than what we face here in Ireland.

On the day this edition is released we will be seeing the results of Super Tuesday, and I expect Democratic voters to side with the man who bases his belief on what he sees in front of him instead of the debates he wants to have with the opponent. By focusing on problems instead of on Trump, maybe then we can kick the commander-in-tweet out for good, and I won’t have to learn how to use an AR-15.

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I’m not really sure what Bloomberg’s policies are, nobody is

Image Credit: Flickr

Shane Brennan takes a look at the candidates as the Democratic primaries heat up

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Comment

The INTRA system puts the students last Béibhinn Thorsch discusses the problems with the INTRA system

Beibhinn Thorsch| Deputy Features Editor @BeibhinnJourno

Credit: Sonja Tutty

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f you’ve come across the INtegrated TRAining internship programme, which is a way of academically assessing students in a workplace relating to their chosen field, you will often hear them debating over a bad job (that pays) or a good job (which doesn’t, and which you are unlikely to get a permanent place in after working for them).

Of course, it isn’t the fault of INTRA that so often these positions pay little to nothing - it’s legal not only in Ireland but in many countries. Interns most often don’t even make minimum wage, or sometimes anything at all.

It’s a running joke known world-over, I guess it’s come about as a sort of way of laughing through the pain as is common with so many issues.

My position is that it shouldn’t be legal to pay anyone below living wage (which is still plenty high above Ireland’s minimum wage), let alone below minimum wage. Those who live in Dublin (where almost every placement is) or who are more financially secure, are higher up on the ladder from the get-go as they can secure the higher quality placements and maintain them for the long term.

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My position is that it shouldn’t be legal to pay anyone below living wage, let alone below minimum wage

INTRA takes place outside of term time, and so students who may have been eligible for student assistance funds and grants, such as the HEAR or SUSI schemes, are no longer able to avail of these. For many, receiving these grants is the choice between attending higher education or not.

Disregarding payment, INTRA is unrepresentative of the real working world, and not only because you are being academically assessed and paid peanuts.

Students are not given the choice of choosing from their job offers. The argument can, of course, be made, that why on earth would you apply for a job you did not want? INTRA is high-pressure for students, and as previously mentioned we are being

forced to choose between a job you really want but which doesn’t pay, or a job you don’t want but would pay you enough to be able to eat dinner or afford rent.

A student cannot revoke an application even in the seconds after they have clicked to apply, and cannot rearrange interviews or contact the employers directly. If they want to cancel or rearrange an interview, and their reasoning behind this isn’t good enough, they are “locked out” of the INTRA system for two weeks and are not given any further job offers for that time. Being “locked out” is the highest punishment, and is a way of treating students almost as if they are children on a time out.

Students in their final year who are made to avail of INTRA placements as part of their assessment are practically fully qualified individuals.

They should be treated as such. They should be able to choose a job which best suits them, from a range of offers, as this could very well be a step in determining their career path as well as their final grade in their degree.

I don’t fully blame INTRA for this array of issues. However, they do put students last on their list of priorities. But only because they are at the mercy of employers, who are legally able to do whatever they want.

Health crisis is more than just numbers, patients are suffering Calum Atkinson talks about his recent experience waiting in an emergency department

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he election exit poll showed that when people were asked what issue was most important in deciding how they voted, 32 per cent of people said health.

This meant it ranked as the most important issue even ahead of housing and homelessness. This was quite a surprise to me as it didn’t seem like the topic got much airtime in many of the debates or was much discussed.

The issues within the health service have been going on for so long with no signs of improvement that the situation has almost become normalised.

Is it really the RTÉ evening news if there isn’t a story about long waiting lists or the amount of trollies in the corridors of hospitals up and down the country?

As someone who is fortunate enough to have stayed relatively healthy in my life, the problems within the health sector always seemed so abstract to me. I struggled to comprehend the severity of the situation.

But this changed quite a bit last week when I visited the GP in the student health centre here in DCU. After the examination, the doctor told me to go straight to the emergency department in the Mater for further tests.

On arrival, I saw a nurse within 20 minutes for an initial assessment. Then I returned to the waiting room to wait my turn to see a doctor.

I waited and waited, and waited some more. Luckily for me, I had the

time to wait as I didn’t have anywhere else to be. But I saw patient after patient leaving before they even had the chance to see a doctor.

Long waiting times have been linked with negative health outcomes and pose a risk to patient safety. But this was a level above that, with patients leaving before being fully examined so they were going home without having their problem fully treated.

One case in particular sticks in my

Credit: PxFuel

Calum Atkinson | Deputy Comment Editor @CalumAtkinson

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I saw patient after patient leaving before they even had the chance to see a doctor

mind. A man came to the emergency department after being knocked off his bike. He appeared to have a broken arm but had to wait several hours to see a doctor. In the fifth or sixth hour, he gave up and left as he had to catch the final bus home.

The 2019 National Inpatient Experience Survey shows that 70 per cent of patients were not admitted to a ward within the Health Service Executive's target waiting time of six hours. Four per cent of people waited 48 hours or more before being admitted.

I was eventually seen by a doctor after nine hours of waiting. Luckily for me, I was discharged and did not have to stay overnight on a trolley in the hospital corridor.

The whole experience of going to the emergency department though was truly exhausting, so I can only imagine the experiences of those who have to go to the hospital more regularly.

I should add that all of the staff I engaged with were incredibly helpful and were doing the best they could.

But the fact of the matter is that the system is severely under resourced and patients are suffering as a result.

Comment

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What Europe’s increase Should we be in terror attacks means able to opt out of joining our for Ireland Ryan Carrick unpacks the recent surge in terror student unions? attacks throughout Europe

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gunman killed nine people in “two apparently racially motivated shootings” at shisha bars in Hanau, Germany on 20 February. The German BILD newspaper said that the perpetrator, Tobias R., had expressed extreme rightwing views in his confession letter.

Although there is a lack of agreement on the definition of “terrorism”, it is typically understood to be the use or threat of violence to achieve political, ideological or religious objectives.

So why is there a seeming reluctance to label white shooters or perpetrators, including Tobias R., as “terrorists”?

In mainstream media coverage of such events, you won’t hear white attackers being labeled as “terrorists”.

Instead, these attacks are usually blamed on mental illness and efforts are made to humanize the perpetrator.

After the killing of nine African Americans at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina in 2015, the narrative was that the suspect Dylann Roof was probably suffering from mental illness.

Roof was convicted of hate crimes.

Following the killing, he wrote of how he did not regret his actions and did not “shed a tear for the innocent people” he killed. While it was clear that Roof’s motives were racist, the Wall Street Journal said the “system and philosophy of institutionalized racism identified by Dr. King no longer exists.” Instead, the publication blamed an inevitable evil that “stalks humanity.”

According to a study conducted at Georgia State University, terror attacks carried out by Muslims receive 357 per cent more media coverage than those carried out by other groups. The study also states that the “members of the public tend to fear the Muslim terrorist while ignoring other threats.”

The perpetrator involved in the killings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019 had spewed his hatred for Muslim immigrants, praised Trump as a “symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose", and decried the “decaying” of the white, European, Western world.

The Daily Mirror was criticized for whitewashing the terrorist who carried out the killings. The paper reserved most of the front page for a photo of Brenton Tarrant as a young child, re-

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these attacks are usually blamed on mental illness and efforts are made to humanise the perpetrator

Credit: Wikipedia

Ryan Carrick | Contributor

ferring to him as an “angelic boy who developed into an evil far-right mass killer.” The use of the term “angelic boy” and “working-class madman”, as he was referred to in the Australian Courier Mail, either intentionally or unintentionally, masks his Islamophobic motives.

Many cited and compared the Mail’s coverage of the Daesh-related shooting in an Orlando nightclub in 2016.

The headline for the story referred to Afghani-Pashtun origin Omar Mateen as an “ISIS Maniac.” It is no wonder that people question as to why these terrorists are referred to as such in the media while white terrorists are called “mass killers.”

Caution is exercised in media organizations when there is a white perpetrator involved while the term “terrorist” is easily placed into headlines when the perpetrator is Muslim.

This media stigma and bias have devastating impacts on the lives of Muslims and shape an unfair narrative about who should be feared and who shouldn’t, depending on race. Being white should not protect a terrorist from being labeled a terrorist.

Cian Dunne weighs the pros and cons of the compulsory student union joining levy

Cian Dunne | Contributor

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n extra levy is included in all student’s fee’s when joining DCU and other colleges, making students automatically members of their Student Unions.

Despite not having made any use of the Union facilities as of yet, the fee is enforced, leaving a number of students asking whether this should be the case?

With an increase in accommodation fees, along with the already extreme financial strains many students are faced

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The added cost of the student union levy only increases their financial strain, and therefore a case can be made for the levy to be optional

with, is the student union levy an additional burden that is unnecessary?

UCD held a student referendum on April 1st and 2nd 2019, on whether the student union levy should continue beyond 2023. The students of UCD voted overwhelmingly to extend the levy, which will be used to fund an expansion to the existing student centre services on the west side of campus, as reported by The University Observer.

In 2017, students of Trinity College also voted to accept the student union levy of €30 per year, which was for the construction of their €7 million student centre, reported by the Univer-

sity Times.

It is clear to see that despite being forced to pay the levy, the majority of college students understand the vast benefits of a well-funded student union. With extra facilities and services available, and when given the choice, students continue to vote for the levy.

DCU’s new state of the art student union centre was opened on 27th of September, 2018. The €15 million centre was completely self-funded through €8 million raised through the student levy, and the balance provided

by Tony Ryan Trust, Bank of Ireland, and DCU Commercial activities.

President of DCU Prof Brian MacCraith spoke on the day of the ‘U’ opening, about the influence that student donations can have.

“Today’s opening of ‘U’ represents a major milestone for everyone associated with DCU, a day where our commitment to the personal and professional development of our students is reflected in a magnificent facility”, said Prof. MacCraith.

“Today is also significant because it demonstrates what can be achieved by partnership and generosity. The ‘U’, which was totally funded by philanthropic donations, with the majority coming from our own students, will transform the lives of tens of thousands of students for many decades to come”.

Regardless of the benefits of new student centres and well-funded unions, many students are already faced with financial concerns, through college fees, accommodation and cost of living. The added cost of the student union levy only increases their financial strain, and therefore a case can be made for the levy to be optional.

This will only lead to further difficulty for these universities in raising funds for their developments and launches of centres and other services, which will then, in turn, benefit the students of these colleges.

The student union levy will continue to split opinion among students.

Weighing up the benefits of facilities and services that come with the levy, versus the added financial cost imposed on students, will always be a topic that is heavily debated.

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Comment

Do students still feel comfortable turning to their parents for advice?

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Aoife McMahon | Contributor

s you grow older the relationship you have with your parents can change dramatically. Sometimes it’s easier to develop good relationships with your parents as you reach adulthood.

Are students more comfortable asking their parents for advice or help in difficult situations now than when they were younger? From my own personal experience and from what I see with most of my friends, students are happy asking for their parent’s input into their lives.

I have always been extremely lucky as I have always had a great relationship with my parents. In more recent years I’ve noticed that I feel more comfortable turning to my parents for advice.

My most recent example of when I asked my parents for help was when I made the decision to do a Masters.

This was an expensive and difficult decision for me, that I kept going back and forth on, but one that my parents

helped me decide after many long conversations.

The older we get the less our parents have to “parent us”. When you’re younger it’s easy to just see your parents as the people who won’t let you have sleepovers every weekend or go outside when you still have homework to do. Now that I’m more independent, I find that I enjoy hanging out with my parents and they are just as much my friends as they are my parents.

My mam and dad know me better than anyone in the world, they’ve seen me at my best, and they’ve seen me at my absolute worst.

My parents sometimes give better advice than my friends do, simply because they are older and have more life experience. Our generation is lucky as our parents are the first group of parents to really understand mental health and who aren’t embarrassed to talk about it.

When I was younger and went through hard times, I never told my parents about it. But now that I’m older and know they can empa-

thize with me, I tell my parents everything, even if it’s just a slight inconvenience I’ve experienced.

In my friend groups, I have friends who are fortunate enough to have great relationships with their parents and friends who aren’t. One of my friends said, while they don’t tell their parents every detail of her life, they would be the first people she turns to for advice.

She said her parents have yet to give her bad advice. She feels the older, more mature she gets, the easier talking to her parents is as they can be more honest with her and not have to sugar coat anything.

Having someone older than you to turn to for advice is a great asset in life. Even if you don’t have the best relationship with your parents perhaps try to talk to another relative or any older adult you trust.

My parents might still nag me to clean my room and to stop fighting with my sisters but at the end of the day, they’re the first people I go to if I need advice.

Credit: Pikrepo

The older students get, the more they reach for their parents advice says Aoife McMahon

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Even if you don’t have the best relationship with your parents perhaps try to talk to another relative or any older adult you trust

Anti-Irish sentiment was always present in Britain, Sinn Féin’s success just highlights it Sinn Fein’s election results have brought to light the UK’s anti-Irish history once again tells Clara Kelly

Clara Kelly | Comment Editor @Clarabkelly

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Credit: Pxfue

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hroughout the 1970s to 1990s Ireland and Britain’s tumultuous relationship, was no secret. Further back in British history comes an even rockier relationship, which can seem to some, a thing of the past.

Stereotypes of the Irish people were prevalent, with the term Paddy coined to express disgust for Irish citizens.

IRA violence was talked about as if it came up from nothing, and British violence was almost completely ignored.

Up until recently, it would seem that all of this hostility has been left in the history books, but, unfortunately, the recent election proves, this is not the case.

When the republican-socialist, left-leaning, party Sinn Féin topped the poll against incumbents Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

Fianna Fail ultimately collected more seats, however, Sinn Féin obtained 2 per cent more first-preference votes than any other party. People were lashing out against right-wing governments who have garnered

Up until recently, it would seem that all of this hostility has been left in the history books, but, unfortunately, the recent election proves, this is not the case

outrage from citizens with numerous faulty policies, contributing to the housing crisis, homelessness and many other mainstream, hot topic issues.

The election results meant that some members of the British press were able to showcase their anti-Irish mentality, or perhaps, simply their anti-Sinn Fein mentality, which could be in part due to the parties’ IRA related roots.

According to the Irish Times, The Daily Telegraph dismissed the Irish electorate as succumbing to “dangerous” populism. Meanwhile, another British journalist wrote in the Washington Examiner even surmised that Ireland had “stepped back from democracy” on account of Sinn Fein’s roots with the “IRA Marxist insurgency”.

Sinn Féin has been in government on and off for over 20 years in the north of Ireland and were even encouraged by the Tory government to retake their seats after the collapse of Stormont.

Also, virtually every mainstream party in Ireland was at one time or another also associated with paramilitarism, the difference is that when it comes to Sinn Fein, the idea that it

was linked with the IRA have stayed firmly in the mind of the masses.

Britain seems to possess a genuine fear of countries that move away from the accepted norm of right-wing centrism and look towards left-wing ideology.

This combined with their distaste for Sinn Fein and it’s IRA roots (which have long since been denounced by the parties, current leaders) as well as the turbulent history between the United Kingdom and Ireland, seem to be just some of the many reasons that British headlines have been un-kind in the aftermath of the Irish General Election.

It takes just one look at Brexit, the leader of the current UK government, or the treatment of Meghan Markle to see how anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and racism are still flourishing in parts of the country. Meaning it can hardly be a surprise to see that it’s outdated ideals towards Ireland are still prevalent too.

Part of the problem is likely the lack of colonial history being taught in the UK school system, and the willingness to ignore the countries rich history of colonialism in the process.

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An tóir agus tábhacht atá bainteach le sobaldrámaí Tá sobaldrámaí go hiontach!

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s aoibhinn liom sobaldrámaí, gach oíche ag a seacht a chlog bíonn cupán tae agus cúpla brioscaí reidh agam ag fánacht le haghaidh ceol aitheantais ‘Emmerdale’.Tá siad dochreidte agus thar fóir, pléasach agus uaireanta coscrach.

Nuair a bhí sobaldrámaí thar a bheith móréilimh sna hochtóidí agus na nóchaidí bhí na figiúirí féachanna le haghaidh ‘Eastenders’ timpeall fiche milliún nuair a bhí eagrán tábhachtach ar an teilifís. Bhí an pósadh mí-ámharach idir Mel and Ian i 1999 ar scáileán mór cosúil le cluiche peile, ní raibh daoine ag iarriadh é a chaill!

Ach dáiríre píre, tá siad an údarásach, nuair a bhíonn daoine ag rá go bhfuil éagsúlacht ar iarraidh i na scannán mór i gcás eitneacht, reiligiún nó gnéasacht níl sé seo le feiceáil sna sobaldrámaí. Tá gach eile duine le feiceáil ar an scáileán go háirithe i ‘Eastenders’. Tá siad ríthábhachtach i gcás tuiscintí daoine a athrú. Bhí snáithe scéil faoin siondróm easpa imdhíonachta faighte (SEIF) go hiontach mar bhí siad in ann léiriú do dhaoine go raibh an aicíd ag go leor daoine agus go raibh a lán mífhaisnéis agus ainbhios timpeall na háite. Bhí grá mór ag daoine do Mark Fowler.

I mo thuairim féin tá an eipeasóid

Nollag ná cionn is fearr gan aon dabht, bíonn siad i gcónaí lán le dráma agus le cúpla nóiméad go dtí an deireadh, tá casadh sa scéal. Bíonn do chroí ag preabadh i do chliabh go háirithe nuair a bhíonn gunna ar an radharc.

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Ach dáiríre píre, tá siad an údarásach, nuair a bhíonn daoine ag rá go bhfuil éagsúlacht ar iarraidh i na scannán mór i gcás eitneacht, reiligiún nó gnéasacht níl sé seo le feiceáil sna sobaldrámaí

Credit: Wilimedia

Naoise Darby | Irish Editor

Tá siad fós fíor móreilimh, bíonn na sobaldrámaí ag treochtáil ar Twitter go minic. Tá an caighdeán aisteoireacht agus scríbhneoireacht scéalta an-ard.

Tá an fócas i gcónaí ar rudaí práinneach i gceantar lucht oibre. Tá daoine in ann iad féin a fheiceáil sna charachtair agus tá sé seo cúis an dílseacht atá acu ar na sobaldrámaí difriúil.

Féach ar ‘Coronation Street’ tá an dráma seo fós beo tar éis seasca bliain, ach níl an chlár seo sáinnithe sna 60í, tá na hábhair ábhartha agus fíor. Le roinnt blianta anuas

tá scéaltaí faoi sláinte mheabhrach, marbh-bhreith agus gáinneáil. Tá scil acu iad seo a léiriú i mbealach nach bhfuil éigeantach, is féidir le an lucht féachanna smaoineamh faoi na rudaí seo agus tugann siad an misneach dóibh chun labhairt amach.

Tá sé seo tabhachtach agus ancabhrach do dhaoine, níl go leor clár teilifís nó scannán in ann é seo a dhéanamh. Is compord iad na sobaldrámaí seo don lucht féachanna go mór mór seandaoine.

Bíonn go leor daoine ag rá go bhfuil

siad gruama agus nach bhfuil aon rud sona i rith na tríocha nóiméad ach níl an smaoineamh seo féaráilte, tá David Platt agus a mháthair bocht Gail cáiliúil agus níl tú in ann ach meangadh nuair a bhíonn siad ar an scáileán. Bíonn daoine in ann braith ar na sobaldrámaí seo, má bhíonn lá fada agus crua acu tá siad in ann smaoineamh faoi rud éigin eile ar feadh cúpla nóiméad. Is bealach é le dearmad a dhéanamh ar chúrsaí an tsaoil agus ag an am céanna tá siad thar a bheith siamsúil.

Tá Love Island críochnaithe - cad anois?

Cad a dhéanfaimid anois nach bhfuil Love Island ar an teilifís gach oíche?

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in é! Tá an chéad séasúr de Love Island an gheimhridh críochnaithe anois. Bhuaigh Finn agus Paige an comórtas agus ár gcroí. Caithfimid fanacht go dtí an samhradh don chéad séasú eile sa samhradh. Cad a dhéanfaimid anois nach mbeidh sé ar siúl gach lá ag a naoi a chlog? Seo roinnt clár teilifíse a líonfaidh bearna Love Island i do shaol.

Ar dtús, an chlár Love is Blind ar Netflix. Tá an chlár seo fiáin! Go bunúsach, titeann grúpa fear agus ban i ngrá gan a chéile a fheiceáil riamh. An chéad uair a fheiceann siad a chéile, tagann siad lámh is focal dá chéile. Tá dhúshlán roimh na iomaitheoirí agus déanfar mionscrúdú ar a gcaidreamh.

Tá gach clár lán le drámaíocht agus grá. Beidh sé suimiúil chun a fheiceáil cé l a bheidh ag siúl chun na haltóra le cheile. Agus an gcónóidh siad go sona sásta go brách?

Celebs Go Dating, sin chlár maith freisin! Nuair fhéachann tú ar an gclár

seo beidh tú sna trithí gáire! Thosaigh an séasúr nua an 24 de mí na Feabhra.

Tá foireann scothaisteoirí ag an séasúr nua. Tá réaltaí mar Amy Hart ó Love Island, Dean Gaffney ón Eastenders, Olivia Bentley ó Made In Chelsea agus Joshua Ritchie ar an chlár. Beidh sé suimiúil chun a fheiceáil má thiteann aon duine i ngrá. Beidh an chlár seo ar siúl ar Channel 4 gach Luain.

Ansin, First Dates Hotel. Thosaigh an chlár seo i mí Mhean Fómhair ach tá sé fós ar fáil ar Channel 4 Catch Up. Tugann an seó seo deis do lánúineacha seiceáil isteach in óstán má bhíonn gach rud i gceart. Tá an óstán suite san Iodáil.

Tá Back with the Ex ar fáil ar Netlix. Is sraith seacht gcinn é agus rinneadh scannánú san Astráil.

Leanann an seó ceithre iar-lánúin.

Déanann siad cinneadh dul ar ais le chéile nó fanacht singil. Is féidir leat é seo a fheiceáil in aon suí amháin. Tá an chlár seo lan le drámaíocht agus mothúchán nádúrtha.

Tá Dating Around ar Netflix freisin.

Tá an chlár seo andúileach agus tá ar-

dmholadh tugtha ag na léirmheastóirí dó. Scaoileadh an chéad séasúr anuraidh agus thosaigh scannánaíochta ar an dara séasúr. Tiocfaidh sé amach níos déánaí i mbliana. Taispeánann sé lánúineacha ar coinne chéadaithne.

Tá an seó fíor agus nádúrtha agus taispeánann sé daoine fíor.

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An chéad uair a fheiceann siad a chéile, tagann siad lámh is focal dá chéile

Credit: ITV

Beth Molloy | Irish Editor

Ansin, 90 Day Fiancé. Leanann an seó seo daoine as gach cearn den domhan agus taistealíonn siad go Meiriceá ar víosa 90 lá. Is féidir leat féachaint air ar Hulu. Beir ar an gran rosta agus éirí compordach mar tá an chlár sin andúileach!

Tá súil agam go líonfaidh na moltaí seo an bearna Love Island i do shaol.

Mar sin féin, ma tá tú ag iarraidh bheith sna scannáin tá Love Island agus Pulling With My Parents ag lorg don daoine dá séasúir nua!

Gaeilge

16

Comhairle chun díthocsainiú ó na suíomhanna meáin shóisialta a dhéanamh An bhfuil díthocsainiú ag teastáil uait?

Naoise Darby | Irish Editor @

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lacann an cuid is mó do dhaoine an iomarca am ar ghutháin phóca, tá sé andúile dúinn go háirithe nuair a éiríonn daoine gafa le rudaí go han-éasca.

Uaireanta bíonn sé deacair do scíth a ligean tar éis teicneolaíocht a húsáid.

Tá imní ort agus bíonn tú beagáinín cantalach chomh maith. Tá an teicneolaíocht ag dul i gcion ar gach gné den saol, i mbealach dearfach agus diúltach. Béidir go bhfuil sos and scíth ag teastáil uait, tá cúpla nod thios má tá díthocainiú ag teastáil uait.

Caithfidh tú dul san fhiontar: Tá sé aisteach nuair a bhíonn tú ag smaoineamh faoi an díthocsainiú a dhéanamh

agus gach duine eile sáite leis an teicneolaíocht agus is cinneadh maith é. Tá an mothúchán ar fheabhas, níl ceangal ná cuing ort agus níl réamhfhógraí ag pingáil gach uile nóiméad gan teip. Déan cinnte rabhadh a thabhairt faoin bplean seo roimh ré ionas go bhfuil a fhios ag do chuid chairde. Bíonn imní ar dhaoine nuair a bhíonn a chairde tostach sa comhrá grúpa!

Bí cinnte plean gnímh a chur le chéile: Tá leadrán fadhb mór nuair a bhíonn tú as na meáin shóisialta, bíonn an am saor ait agus cuireann sé míshuaimhneas ar dhaoine agus mar gheall ar sin éirionn siad as an triail laistigh de cúpla uair an chloig. Caithfidh tú an constaic seo a thuar chun do rath a mhéadú, béidir gach uile uair go bhfuil an bearránach á mhothú, seas

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Tá sé aisteach nuair a bhíonn tú ag smaoineamh faoi an díthocsainiú a dhéanamh agus gach duine eile sáite leis an teicneolaíocht agus is cinneadh maith é

suas agus thosú rud éigin eile cosúil le aclaíocht nó báicéireacht. Caithfidh tú dearcadh dearfach a bheith agat, ní bheidh sé éasca agat ag an tús.

Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach a rá nach bhfuil sé iomaíoacht nó rás in aon chor. Is cinneadh pearsanta é seo agus ná bí do do chéasadh féin faoi. Tá go leor daoine clúiteacha nach bhfuil ar na meáin shóisialta agus is féidir leo rudaí a dhéanamh agus labhairt le daoine. Féach ar Kristen Stewart and Keira Knightley, aisteoirí iontach gan aon Facebook, Instagram nó Twitter.

Níl aon strus ort é a dhéanamh go deo ach béidir go mbeadh rud éigin dearfach agat tar éis an tréimhse, táimid an-tóghta leo ach cúpla bliain ó shin ní raibh an só seo againn. Smaoineamh faoi!

Na laethanta saoire gearra is fearr in Éirinn

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í fada uainn anois an seachtain léitheoireachta agus b’fhéidir gur mhaith leat dul ar laethanta saoire ar feadh

cúpla lá.

Anois an t-am is fearr chun pleananna a dhéanamh. Seo roinnt smaointe maidir le tréimhsí saoire in Éirinn.

Ba chóir duit dul ar cuairt ar Gaillimh. Is cathair spleodrach í agus tá an oiread sin le déanamh ann chun tú féin a choinneáil gnóthach. Tá an chathair mheánaoiseach lán de bhialanna agus tithe tábhairne iontacha. Más beadaí thú, beidh do rogha agat de na

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suíomhanna cócaireachta is fearr sa tír. Tá féilte iontacha ag an gcathair freisin. Is áit iontach í Gaillimh le cuairt a thabhairt uirthi le cairde nó le do pháirtí.

Is áit eile é cathair Chorcaí. Tá go leor staire ag baint leis an gcathair. Tá siopaí agus bialanna iontacha ar bhruacha abhainn Laoi. Níl aon turas iomlán gan cuairt a thabhairt air An Margadh Sasanach. Tá draíocht ag baint leis an gcathair agus i rith an féile Snagcheoil, sin an t-am is fearr le dul ann.

Tá Port Láirge ar cheann de na cathracha is sine in Éirinn. Chomh maith leis sin tá sé ar na bailte is deise in Éirinn. Tá bialanna iontacha ann agus tá an oiread sin le déanamh agus le feiceáil sa chathair. Tá músaem

meánaoiseach iontach ann agus músaem Waterford Crystal den scoth ann fresin.

Má tá rud éigin difriúil á lorg agat ná sos cathrach, is áit iontach é Conamara. Suite i lár na tuaithe agus in aice na farraige, is féidir leat éalú ó shaol na cathrach i gConamara. Tá go leor le déanamh san áit seo. Is áit iontach é le dul ag spaisteoireacht taobh amuigh san aer úr.

An bhfuil fonn ort codladh faoi na réaltaí? Má tá a fhonn sin ort breathnú ar Finn Lough i bhFear Manach. Tá ballaí trédhearcacha ag a dtithe saoire.

Is féidir a aithint air go bhfuil rud éigin difriúil faoi agus áit iontach is ea é le do scíth a ligean.

Má tá rud éigin difriúil á lorg agat ná sos cathrach, is áit iontach é Conamara

Credit: Wikimedia

Beth Molloy | Irish Editor @BethMolloy8

Credit: Shutterstock

An bhfuil tú ag lorg ar inspioráide? Leanúint ar aghaidh!

Credit: Flickr

17

Explainer: China's Uyghur camps

Uyghurs are a minority population of Muslims living in the province, and in recent years have been placed in “re-education camps”,where they allegedly have their “thoughts transformed”

Sally Dobie | Production & Podcast Editor @Sarah_or_Sally

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n December 2019 the European Parliament awarded Ilham Tohti, an economics scholar and activist, the Sakharov Prize for free speech. Tohti is currently serving time in a Chinese detention centre on charges of separatism.

“My father, like most Uyghurs, has been labelled a violent extremist, with a disease that needs to be cured and a mind that needs to be washed,” said Tohti’s daughter, Jewher Tohti, while collecting the award on his behalf.

“It is under this false label of extremism that the government has put one million people – probably more – into “concentration camps” where Uyghurs are forced to give up their religion, language and culture, where people are tortured and some have died."

Tohti is an advocate for the rights of Turkic Uyghurs living in China’s Xinjiang Province. The province shares a border with Asian countries like Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan among others.

Uyghurs are a minority population of Muslims living in the province, and in recent years have been placed in so-called “re-education camps”, where according to one BBC source, they would have their “thoughts transformed”.

In December, just a few days before the European Parliament debate, The Irish Times reported two camps had shut down because “all the students

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probably the most serious human rights violation taking place in the world right now had graduated”.

In these camps, the “students” learn Chinese, cleanse themselves from “unhealthy thoughts”, and are under round-the-clock surveillance in a facility with guard towers and alarms.

The camps first opened almost three years ago, and Tohti was first detained in January of 2014. His family hasn’t seen him since 2017, which is against the once-a-month visitation rights laid down in Chinese law. His family do not know his current whereabouts.

When the China Cables documents were released on the 24th of November 2019, the Uyghurs camps were once again brought to the fore of the media. First released to the International Consortium of Investigative

Journalists (ICIJ), the documents supposedly came from a Chinese government source, and described the constant video surveillance, biometric security and “ideological transformation” the Uyghurs in the camps were faced with.

Another worrying statement from the document states not to allow “abnormal deaths”, which many believe suggests the practice of torture within the camps.

Phil Bennion, Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament and member of the subcommittee for human rights, called the camps “probably the most serious human rights violation taking place in the world right now” during the debate in December.

Bennion said “We’re going down a very dirty and awful path…we don’t think anyone is being killed in these camps but this is a forced removal of people’s identity, and being forced into homogenisation.”

He also mentioned the import of certain brands of Christmas cards, believed to be a product of forced labour in the camps, was halted last month.

This comes after the committee decided to stop trade with China.

Vice-chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee of Human Rights, Irina Von Wiese, said journalists played a role in the uncovering of the facts, “particularly some really brave undercover journalists…who have put their lives at risk to see the real situation.”

Independents 4 Change members Clare Daly and Mick Wallace were

also at the debate in December, and put forward the argument that the recent interest in the camps may be due to “geopolitical reasons”.

“The defence of human rights around the world as a weapon to undermine particular states is not the way forward,” said Wallace, suggesting Xinjiang had become a focus of America in their attempt to destabilise the region and stop the Belt and Road initiative.

“I’m not a conspiracy theorist,” said Bennion, “I don’t think it’s got anything to do with geopolitical reasons, I think if this was happening in any country in the world this would be a huge issue.”

When speaking in January, Bennion said Wallace sometimes “over-interprets”.

The Belt and Road initiative (BRI), also known as One Belt, One Road, was a plan announced by President Xi Jinping to connect almost half the world in a “belt” of land roads and a “road” of maritime shipping paths, and, according to the Guardian, is estimated to cost around £760bn.

Initially, Trump seemed on board with the BRI, however later in 2017, he expressed his disapproval in a Pacific Rim leaders’ summit in Vietnam.

He called the BRI and others like it “state-directed initiatives that come with many strings attached”.

The US went on to set up an alternative in the form of an “infrastructure development programme for the Indo-Pacific region and a revamp of a finance agency to strengthen its financial support”. The project was

worth $113 million, reported the South China Morning Post.

Clare Daly suggested during the debate that the China Cables documents could be fake, and that it may be more than a coincidence that they were released not long after the Iran Cables, detailing Iran’s actions in Iraq; and soon after followed the death of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

“Human rights violations and terrible things are happening all over the world, but human rights has kind of become politicised it’s being used as a stick to beat certain countries with and then ignoring severe violations in other countries, and we’re getting a bit sick of it.”

Speaking to Daly in January, she said it’s “doubtful” that the documents leaked from an alleged Chinese government source really exist, pointing out the timing and that they were leaked in English.

On Daly’s comments about the documents being suspicious since they were leaked in English, Bennion said “It’s not unusual that things get leaked in English because basically it is the global lingua franca.”

An Amnesty International article published earlier in February spoke of the Uyghurs outside of China also receiving threats and being intimidated by the Chinese government, often to stop them speaking out or occasionally to recruit them as informants.

With the publication of these latest reports, it seems that although the Uyghurs are no longer making as many front-page headlines, their plight is far from over.

Features

18

An unfamiliar love story Sally Madden | Deputy News Editor

k Pi ck Pi it:

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For us, sex work can be so much fun, and it’s something we enjoy doing together

Cr ed

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ddy and Lea finish each other’s sentences. They both still exclaim with excitement when they see each after a day at work. Spending everyday missing their other halves.

Addy and Lea have been married for 11 years and they’re both sex workers.

Addy and Lea's surnames have been omitted to protect their identity.

They first met in 2007 on Craigslist when they both lived in Florida. Lea was a fan of the personals and would read through them to see how people would sell themselves to others.

“Some people go straight in with “I drive this car and I have this much money,” and I’ve always just found them really interesting. A lot of them are really badly written,” she said.

“Then I saw this one ad and it was really well written, and it was really funny and dirty and I thought “that’s so funny.” I thought it was so cute.”

She had never responded to a personal ad but she decided to respond to this one, which been written by Addy.

“I wasn’t even trying to get a date but then she wrote me back,” said Lea. “After that, it was pretty instant,” Addy added.

They tell their story together, Addy voicing a thought and Lea finishing it. Their first real date involved a trip to Universal Studios with Addy’s two children and a car accident.

It was raining and the four ended up in a small car accident after sliding into a minivan.

“The woman in the other car was a soccer mom and at first she’s looking at Addy sideways because of all the tattoos. But then they start talking babies, and then they’re just hitting it

Addy and Lea have been married for 11 years and both work as dominatrices, but because of Ireland's laws they and all other Irish sex workers have to work seperately and alone

off. By the time the police got there, I was thinking “this woman was gonna take her”,” said Lea. “After that, we were just inseparable,” said Lea. “But in the beginning, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to date Addy because I was afraid I’d fall in love with the kids and that they’d fall in love with me and that it would get messy,” continued Lea. “From the very beginning, the kids have been involved. Every date we ever had was with the kids,” Addy added.

Both had worked as sex workers on and off before they met. Addy, originally from Tallaght and born intersex,

says when she was young, sex work was her way of surviving after being ostracised by her parents for not fitting the male role she was assigned at birth.

Now, they both work as dominatrices. A dominatrix is a woman who controls her partner sexually.

While the practices are sexual, dominatrices, on the whole, do not perform sexual acts on their clients. However, due to Ireland’s current brothel-keeping laws, which prevent sex workers from working together, Addy and Lea are unable to work together.“For us, sex work can be so much fun, and it’s something we enjoy doing together.

But for other workers, this is about safety. In what other profession do you split up people so that they have to work alone? It makes no sense, and it puts us at risk,” says Addy.The couple face added issues, due to Addy’s gender identity.

“People ask me about Addy coming out as trans like; “When Addy came out was it like having a new spouse?”

And I think it’s really weird when people say that, because like Addy has always been Addy, she has always

been the person she’s been. I think it’s weird to be with someone that you know so little about that them coming out as trans is a different person,” said Lea. “Is that because they hid so much of themselves that you ended up knowing a whole different person?

How much of themselves did they have to hide to make you happy?” she said.

“Honestly that isn’t even an unusual kind of relationship. A lot of people pretend. A lot of people that we see as sex workers, especially as a dominatrix, are people who pretend. They come to see me and they want to do simple things like getting spanked, but they absolutely cannot tell their spouse that they want to get a spanking, or they want to dress like a girl or be bossed around. They can’t tell the person they have decided to spend the rest of their life with that. That seems crazy to me,” she continued.

“There’s a lot of people who see sex workers and it’s obvious that for them their relationships involve a lot of lying, and not being honest, and denying and not even talking,” she said.

“A lot of our clients don’t want anything apart from to dress up and wear a bit of makeup. To wear something soft and silky and not be judged,” added Addy.

While many people would be intrigued to hear about how sex work changes the dynamic of a relationship, Addy says: “Our work as sex workers is one of the most uninteresting parts of our relationship. It doesn’t even come up. Most of the time we’re sitting together in matching robes watching sh*tty TV.”

Features

The price of a family

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On average, birth rates due to IVF are between seven and 30 per cent however, with each successive attempt, the chances of conceiving lower and the price increases Niamh Quinlan | Deputy Lifestyle Editor

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One third of those who did not successfully conceive through IVF were unable to afford further treatment as a result of previously purchasing these addons

Credit: Piqsels

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or the estimated one in seven couples who experience infertility and the one in four who struggle to conceive, there are many options available in today’s day and age. Medication in the form of fertility pills, artificial insemination and In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) are just a few of them.

If you Google the latter treatment, a list of informational pages and support groups will come up. With them, come the suggested questions that the search engine gives you.

The first of which is “How much is IVF in Ireland?”. The answer cited the treatment to be between 4,500 euro and 5,000 euro in most private clinics in the country. And that’s excluding add-ons.

These “add-ons” are described by the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA), in the UK, as “optional extras that you may be offered on top of your normal fertility treatment, often at an additional cost.”

Some of these treatments are experimental and have not shown any conclusive proof to show making a difference to a couple’s chances of having a baby.

The add-ons include embryo glue, to improve the chances of the embryo sticking to the uterine wall, and artificial egg activation [using calcium ionophore] to increase the chances of activation when a sperm is introduced to an egg.

The HFEA have a red-amber-green rating system as to how effective these add-ons are. The most effective addons are labelled as green, of which there are none, and the two mentions above are rated amber.

Access Fertility, a fertility clinic chain that have clinics across the UK and Ireland, have the prices of such add-ons on their website. Embryo glue is an extra 150 euro on top of the 3250 euro cost of the IVF cycle.

The National Infertility Support and Information Group (NISIG) say that the decision to get any of these addons differs from person to person and couple to couple. “Each [add-on] is a decision thought out carefully by the patients,” said Niamh Magee, a team member of the NISIG Administration.

“Some people decide to do pre-implantation genetic screening as they have had previous recurrent miscarriages and cannot go through the pain of the positive pregnancy test followed by the utterly painful upset of a miscarriage.”

A pre-implantation genetic screening, which allows the determination of either too few or too little chromosomes in the embryo. This is rated by the HFEA as red, being one of the least affective add-ons, for days three

to five of embryo development. It can cost about 2700 euro.

In April of 2019, The Irish Times published a survey they conducted with 38 couples who received IVF treatment. One third of those who did not successfully conceive through IVF were unable to afford further treatment as a result of previously purchasing these add-ons.

On top of this, 62 per cent of these couples were not made aware of the lack of scientific evidence to support these add-ons boosting the chances of conception.

“We have heard that some clinics feel that some couples are offered add-ons when they are very vulnerable and not given a whole lot of context in terms of success rates associated,” said NISIG. “Some clinics have a policy of addons whereas other clinics don’t stand over the lack of research and don’t believe in them.”

When searching the prices of anything online, the first thing to come up, above the top results, are the ads that have paid to be there. One of the top ads recommended are for IVF treatment in clinics abroad.

Clinics in Spain are one of the advertised countries, where treatment costs about 5,000 euro and can increase to 8,000 euro with certain packages.

Invicta Clinics, a chain of IVF clinics in Poland, price their standard

IVF treatment at 1,625 euro. According to their website this is a straight exchange from 6,500 Polish złoty as at the time of writing, 1 Polish złoty is worth 23 cent. The price increases with add-ons, the most expensive treatment costing from 6293 euro.

“Treatment abroad is cheaper in the long run; however, you also have to factor in the additional costs of going abroad,” said the NISIG. A lot of additional factors need to be taken into account, such as holiday spending, time off work, flights, etc.

For some couples, depending on their income, the organisation doesn’t think it could be a feasible option.

The biggest question with any treatment as expensive and meaningful as this will always be: is it worth it; and will couples walk away with financial and emotional loss? For those who can’t afford another IVF treatment because their first one failed, both factors are equally important.

But many companies do offer a full refund in the event that conception does not occur. Access Medical, for example, will refund someone, provided they haven’t had over three failed cycles.

Other clinics can also provide deals and discounts through links with health insurance providers. ReproMed, who’s IVF treatment costs upwards of 4,500 euro, offer discounts for those who are with VHI healthcare.

The provision of IVF treatment by

public health services in Ireland (the HSE) is not currently available, unlike in the UK, where citizen women under the age of 40 can receive publicly funded treatment.

Ireland’s absent public service IVF funding is due to the lack of legal framework, but it is not against the law.

In 2018, 1 million euro was given to the HSE to fund the development of new legislation to provide for publicly funded fertility treatment. However, it was delayed due to the development of the abortion legislation, which was being conducted by the same team.

But there are charities and services in Ireland who provide financial aid to those who need fertility treatment.

The Merrion Fertility Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in Dublin 2, “provide financial assistance to those who require assisted fertility treatment and who are unable to afford it.” However, their funds do not cover initial consultations and patients must pay 500 euro towards the treatment.

A woman must also have been referred to the foundation by a doctor in order to receive funding, and the foundation has said that previous failed IVF most likely won’t have an effect on eligibility.

On average, birth rates due to IVF are between seven and 30 per cent, depending on age. With each successive attempt, the chances of conceiving decrease and the price will increase.

Features

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Gluten: Don’t grain on my parade The gluten free diet has grown exponentially in Irish society, among those who are coeliac, and those who aren’t Róisín Cullen| Contributor

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Just because something is labelled as “gluten free” does not mean it magically becomes a weight loss solution Well-meaning celebrity comments run the risk of a medically advised diet becoming labelled as a “fad” diet popular among millennials. An added concern for those with a life-long disease where consumption of gluten damages one’s intestines and leads to a higher risk of bowel cancer, infertility and malnutrition.

Carelessness can lead to cross-contamination. When ordering a gluten-free sandwich in a café, the now-standard question is asked: “Are you a coeliac?” If the answer is yes, separate utensils are used, plastic gloves are changed, care is taken to ensure the customer does not become unnecessarily ill.

This question is a welcome addition in the quest to distinguish those who choose not to consume gluten by choice from those who do not consume gluten through medical necessity.

Paul Stenson of The White Moose Café in Phibsborough exasperated by “guests following a gluten-free fad”, famously announced that the café’s gluten-free food would no longer be served to those that did not present a doctor’s note.

Bord Bia’s “A Consumer Insight into Gluten-Free in Ireland” report in 2017 compared the number of calories in gluten-free snacks on Irish shelves as akin to the number found in the standard chocolate bar.

Just because something is labelled as “gluten-free” does not mean it magically becomes a weight loss solution.

Safefood found that three-quarters of

Credit Isabella Finn

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recent survey conducted

by Safefood revealed that 92 per cent of consumers of gluten products did not have a gluten related disorder or coeliac disease.

Globally, the market for such products is predicted to reach 43.65 US dollars by the year 2027. The unprecedented surge in interest for these products is believed to be largely fuelled by those who believe that a gluten-free diet can be a weight-loss method.

It is the people who ask for gluten-free pasta in busy restaurants before complaining about the lack of a garlic bread basket that fuels this industry and also risk distracting from the seriousness of the everyday struggle of a person living with coeliac disease or those with a severe intolerance to the stretchy protein.

Up until recent years, searching for gluten-free products meant a trip to the pharmacy or the local health store.

Now, entire aisles of Irish supermarkets are dedicated to such products.

Some researchers credit modern Ireland’s difficult relationship with gluten to a sudden change in the diet of our ancestors. Studies by Associated Professor of Biochemistry and Director of Microscopy at University College Cork, William Reville, report that wheaten bread only became an Irish household staple after the Famine.

Oats and potatoes are traditionally what Irish stomachs would have been accustomed to before a sudden change led our diet to become far more like that of other Western societies. Gluten is a relatively new phenomenon in our everyday lives.

The method in which our bread is made has also changed dramatically.

The early sixties saw the end of hours spent slaving over a stove and the introduction of sliced pans, mass production and a quicker, cheaper process.

Regardless of the reasons, the need for gluten-free products in our food market is clear and the rewards for the companies that vow to include those who exclude gluten are clear to see.

Celebrities and social media influencers alike have promoted the gluten-free diet as the diet to end all the diets, the ultimate solution to all of your problems that you can use to write several cookbooks and multiple witty tweets.

Miley Cyrus declared that “Gluten is crapppp anyway” and Katy Perry dedicated “The One That Got Away” to the gluten-filled pizzas she would never get the chance to taste in her third concert tour.

The Kardashian family of influencers had their say with Kourtney expelling all products containing gluten from her household in 2016. “I have always felt fine before when eating dairy and gluten, but I do believe that we have one life to live and I would like to live it feeling my best.”

all gluten-free snacks were also high in fat. Dr Andrew Chan of Harvard Medical School stated that “The promotion of gluten-free diets among people without coeliac disease should not be encouraged.”

Yet, our country rests in the middle of a worldwide scale. Francisco Manuel Ares Seijas has coeliac disease.

He recently moved to France from Spain and is appalled at the difference in the range of gluten-free products.

“In Spain, we have a lot of gluten-free varieties. The difference is huge. Here you have to find it in the ingredients section but in Spain, there is a gluten-free label. And also in terms of fast-food - McDonald’s, Burger King, Domino’s Pizza etc.; they have gluten-free options.”

Gluten-free living as a lifestyle choice is a rising phenomenon not just unique to Ireland. Seijas mentions that a large number of Spanish people eat gluten-free products by choice rather than by necessity. “But mass media try to persuade these people not to consume gluten-free products because they can produce diabetes, which is false”.

When asked if these people are problematic to those that require to follow a gluten-free diet for medical reasons, Seijas replied – “The problem is manipulation and mass media.”

Yet, gluten-free fad diets and celebrity endorsement can certainly set a precedent of associating gluten-free diets with Instagram hashtags, difficult customers and the influence of American capitalist society.

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Gluten-free living as a lifestyle choice is a rising phenomenon not just unique to Ireland

The answer to a “sans gluten” request in France is often a quite blunt “Non”. The public perception does not immediately associate the request with a very real disease but rather a personal preference.

Breton Shanone Kurca-Lopes was surprised at the prevalence of gluten-free products in other Western states in comparison to her native country.

“I honestly am at loss in saying what could or couldn’t be gluten-free; I always used to believe it was a trend people were following because of celebs since I knew you couldn’t be “allergic” to gluten but then found out that you can be highly intolerant just as you can be lactose intolerant and now I feel for people who are because it’s crazy expensive in France for no valid reason.”

Researchers continue to investigate the long term side effects of excluding gluten from your diet. In the meantime, care should be taken to distinguish those who can have serious reactions to crumbs of bread from those who buy gluten-free pasta as a weight-loss tactic. While in an ideal world, everyone could enjoy a gluten-free lifestyle, preference should always be given to those who were born without the luxury of a choice and will forever be bound to one particular aisle of Tesco. Perhaps, products that are naturally gluten-free (rice, fruit, nuts) may be a healthier alternative to own brand cereal bars that are pumped full of sugar before being branded as gluten-free for all involved.

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DCU lift Best College title at Weightlifting Intervarsities Amy Flynn was awarded Best Female Lifter

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Courtney Fitzmaurice| Sports Editor @courtneyfitz100

Credit IDCU Weightlifting

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CU Weightlifting won Best College Team at the Weightlifting Ireland Intervarsities on February 22nd at Waterford Institute of Technology, amassing more medals than any other university.

“This year was the first time that a college was actually rewarded for getting the most medals,” said weightlifter Taka Hession, who came in fifth place in his weight class.

Environmental science and technology student Amy Flynn was named best female weightlifter overall and came in first place in the 55kgs category.

Flynn was one of the lightest female competitors to lift the heaviest weight.

“I was delighted to be best overall lifter. I really wasn’t expecting it. My goal was to do well in my weight class.”

Flynn told The College View. “ Flynn did incredibly well considering it was her first time at the Intervarsities. “It was an exciting new competition for me,” she said. Flynn joined DCU’s weightlifting club at the start of the year. She mainly focuses on CrossFit, which she trains in five times a week in CrossFit Bua in Santry.

She has been weightlifting and doing CrossFit for the past four years. There’s a few competitions on the horizon for her, including the Junior Nationals in weightlifting and the Midlands Throwdown and the Powerful Invitational in CrossFit. Rachel Reidy won a gold medal in the 76kgs category, while Abby O’Regan earned a bronze medal in the 64kgs

category in her first ever Intervarsities.

Tomas Brady bagged a silver medal in the 81kgs category. Although weightlifting is an individual sport, Hession said there’s a great team atmosphere in the club.

“Even in training, coming up to competition preparation when we start lifting heavy, all the team would stop and look at the one person lifting and en-

Knowing that you’re not there yet but it’s still in your reach, it always motivates me to just keep going

courage them to do their best,” he said.

“Same in competition, let’s say one of the weightlifters is coming up on the platform, we’d all cheer him or her on.

“Weightlifting has benefits other than strength building. “It’s good for the mind and the soul as well. Some people would rather go for a walk, do studying, that will get them in the mood.

“I used to do bodybuilding, but when I transitioned into weightlifting it just gave me some spark because it’s a very hard sport to get the technique right,” he said. “Even though I’ve been doing it for two years, I’m still way off where I should be.

“Knowing that you’re not there yet, but it’s still in your reach, it always motivates me to just keep going,” he said.

Seven members of DCU’s weightlifting club competed at the Intervarsities. They train together twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays, and separately on Mondays. Although the Intervarsities was the last official college competition this year, DCU weightlifting are hoping to compete at the U23s competition.

DCU handballers shine in Lone Star State Courtney Fitzmaurice | Sports Editor @courtneyfitz100

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CU’s Fiona Tully and Meadhbh Ní Dhálaigh won the Open Doubles final at the 68th USHA Collegiate Championship on February 23rd in Texas, making it a clean sweep in handball doubles for this season.

They beat Ciana Ní Churraoin and Maddie Kennedy in the final 21-5 2117, which was satisfying for the pair as they lost to Ní Churraoin and her old partner last year. At one stage in the second game, they were down 17-10, but they kept their focus together and pushed on to win.

“We always knew playing against Ciana was gonna be tough,” Tully told The College View. “Because we lost it last year, it was our main aim to get it back this year. We got it back, so it was great.”

Despite the duo’s success, they were wary going into the Collegiate Open because they’d heard that University of Limerick’s Niamh Heffernan and Clionadh O’Connell, who they beat in the semi-final, were playing well. Tully and Ní Dhálaigh had never faced them before.

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Because we lost it last year, it was our main aim to get it back this year. We got it back, so it was great

“I guess we had more experience and we were more confident playing,” she said. They won 21-9 21-12.

Tully and Ní Dhálaigh became partners in their first year of college. “We gelled really well and we get on really well, which is even better.”

The pair have only lost one of their nine matches together, losing in a tie breaker match last year in America.

“We were actually fairly disappointed with that, but we’ve won everything since together, so I guess that’s an achievement in itself.”

Tully made it to the final of the women’s open for the third year in a row, beating Megan Mudd, O’Connell and Heffernan.

Tully faced Ciana Ní Churraoin in the final, the same girl she lost out to last year. Ní Churraoin is more experienced than Tully, and she lost by 21-11 21-3.

“She is a bit ahead of me at the minute,” she said. “Getting to the final was my main aim, and then playing against her was another aim. I did play well, but oh well.”

“Any time I play her I do get nervous, which I shouldn’t. I know she’s better, but I just need to get rid of the nervousness.”

Ní Dhálaigh won the ninth place playoff, beating NUIG’s Aisling Mul-

Credit DCU Handball

Doubles pair Fiona Tully and Meadhbh Ní Dhálaigh have only lost one of nine matches

len. DCU came in second place in International Team of the Year, as they had many players in the open grades who did well.

Six other DCU athletes travelled to Texas, Aoife Holden, Niall Joyce, Oran Kiernan, Cillian Hogan, Colm Parnell and Kevin Diggins. Holden made it to the women’s open quarter final before losing out to Heffernan, while in the men’s competition Diggins lost out

in a tie breaker 10-11 to CIT’s David Walsh.

In the men’s doubles, Joyce and Diggins reached the quarter final, as did Kiernan and Hogan who unfortunately lost by 21-12 21-13 to CIT’s Walsh and Adam Heffernan.

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Jessica Woodlock | Contributor

CU Ultimate Frisbee captain Helen Barron is calling on more women to get involved in the club after DCU’s ultimate frisbee team competed in the mixed outdoor Intervarsities.

After gaining wins on two occasions against UCD’s first and third team, the second day of matches were unfortunately cancelled due to the bad weather conditions. However, captain Helen Barron, who is in her final year of business studies, is hopeful that when the matches are rescheduled it will be another victory for DCU. Having grown from a club with just three girls to 12 in the last few months, Barron

emphasises that they are hungry for success and looking for success.

“This year we are challenging for medals, challenging for final places and challenging for trophies,” said women’s team captain Helen Barron.

The women’s team have made headway this year as they look to enter the upcoming ultimate frisbee women’s developmental’s for the first time in four years. Developmental rules dictate that out of the seven players playing, two must be in second year and five in first year, so there is a huge emphasis on new players. With the men’s team having got to the final in the past two years, the club are looking forward to good results.

Entering a women’s team is a great success for DCU and a product of the

Credit: DCUUltimateFrisbee

“This year we are challenging for medals”: Frisbee Captain Helen Barron

work put in by players and coaches alike. Fiona Mernagh, who plays for Ireland’s ultimate frisbee team , has been instrumental in the development of the team, according to captain Helen Barron.

“She (Fiona Mernagh) brings a focused nature to the team and has

helped us bring in people who are interested in the competitive nature of ultimate frisbee,” said Barron.

Having captained the Irish U24 mixed ultimate frisbee team last year, Helen Barron is no stranger to success, but for her, having a women’s team this year in DCU means just as much.

“It has been frustrating in previous years not having the numbers to compete. When there is a lack of girls on the team, it effects the whole club. We’ve a great group of girls this year and we are all now experienced in playing together, its brilliant,” she Barron.

Shels star Mooney dishing out the goals for DCU

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helbourne star Kate Mooney is hoping to guide her DCU team to success at the intervarsities tournament in March, after coming off a superb achievement of netting 30 goals in her last seven games.

The 20-year-old nursing student has just recently signed a new contract with Shelbourne for the coming season, but is also focused on bringing silverware back to the Dublin University as they travel to Waterford IT in a weeks’ time for the Women’s Intervarsities competition.

Speaking to The College View, Mooney said that while she has had a fantastic goalscoring run, her primary focus is to win trophies for both club and university and also to bounce back from DCU’s surprise defeat at the hands of Maynooth in the cup, as the college lost out on a score-line of 5-2.

“We didn’t play overly well that day but in fairness we had a number of key players missing. Niamh Farrelly was up with the national side so couldn’t

play and a player like that makes all the difference,” Mooney said.

Since the Maynooth clash, DCU have been entered into the plate and will line out in the final after overcoming Trinity last Thursday. In a

close battle both teams finished level 4-4 after 90 minutes of action which resulted in extra time being played.

The following 30 minutes saw Trinity almost collapse on their feet as DCU took the game by the scruff of

the neck to come out victorious, scoring three goals in extra time to leave the final result at 7-4, with Mooney scoring two goals.

Having been deployed as a left back at club level, Mooney is reveling in

Credit: KateMooney

Conor Breslin | Sports Editor @ConorBreslin10

a role at DCU that has seen her play further up the pitch at centre forward, a role she believes has allowed her to have the maximum effect possible.

If Mooney can keep her recent goal-scoring feats up, it will surely catch the eye of coaches at the senior international level, a goal that is in sight for a player who has represented her country at youth level and has earned two caps throughout her underage career.

DCU Soccer Twitter page summed up Mooney’s recent performance stating, “A 30 goal a season striker is every manager dream but when you get one that reaches that total in just 7 games, then you never want to wake up.”

Mooney however stated she has no time to focus on achievements and is looking to the future with DCU and Shelbourne where she is hoping to win all trophies possible as she continues to work diligently towards her goals.

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Conor Breslin | Sports Editor @ConorBreslin10

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CU GAA Ladies manager Peter Clarke was overly satisfied with his teams’ performance last Thursday night as DCU defeated Ulster University by in the final group game of the O’Connor cup.

Speaking to Clarke after the match, he spoke of the level of commitment

and teamwork his side brings to every game and that experience saw them through to the O’Connor cup semi-final, but the focus is to learn from this win and bring it into the next match.

“We’ve been in situations like this many times before where we build up big winning margins. The focus now is not to get ahead of ourselves. University Ulster are a team in transition, they won the B championship last season so a lot of credit goes to team in competing at this level and putting

up a fight,” said Clarke.

DCU started the match on a high as they kept Ulster University scoreless for the first 10 minutes of the game.

The metropolitan University couldn’t have started off in better fashion kicking three goals in the opening two minutes of the match with Lara Curran, Muirewn Atkinson and the star of the hour Aisling Moloney all get the final touch as they bolted through the heart of the UU defence to fire it past UU goalkeeper Niamh Barr.

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Credit:Conor Breslin

Ladies dish out 28-point hammering of Ulster University in O’Connor Cup group finale

DCU kicked on from this proving to powerful in the attack with follow up points from Aoibhinn Cleary, Jennifer Quinn, Ciara Finnegan and Emma Lawlor with Moloney creating the set pieces from centre-half forward.

University Ulster eventually got the name on the scoresheet from a free hit over by Clair McCafferty, however, the Northern Ireland college were pleading for a penalty claiming she was taking down inside the DCU box.

UU would eventually receive a penalty at the start of the second half and slot it home from full forward Caitlin Kerry, however the margin was by far to great at this point for University Ulster to recover with the half time score sitting at 7:07 to 0:04.

The penalty on the 4th minute of the second half would even be University Ulster’s final score as DCU kept their domination in the match to run out worthy winners and place themselves in the O’Connor cup semi-final with a final score of 8:12 to 1:05.,

The focus now is not to get ahead of ourselves

Gold target hit by DCU Archers in Cork Conor Breslin | Sports Editor @ConorBreslin10

Credit:DCU Archery

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CU Archery club were once again on top of their game as they were the winners of four medals, made up of two gold and two silver at the Student National Championships.

Niall O’Hanlon and Tara McMullan both were victorious at the National Championships as O’Hanlon placed first in the barebow class, whilst McMullan placed first in the compound women’s class.

DCU’s Archery teams were also on the podium with the recurve team and compound team of archers, both placing second in the competition. For many of the beginner Archers, it was their first competition with DCU. The National Championships was held in UCC with hundreds of Archers from Universities all around Ireland taking part. Even with the wide range of Archers taking part, DCU came out on top in four events on the day.

Archery chairperson Hasmik Grigoryan spoke to The College View about the club’s success saying, that the range of archers was huge at the

Nationals, ranging from professionals to beginners, making the competition difficult.

“We went very well. The competition in Cork was good practice, both

as shooters and for experience but also by watching others shoot,” said Grigoryan.

DCU Archers Karen Clarke and Kealan O’Connor were also happy with

their scores as they both received new personal bests in their heat. Clarke went from a score of 385 to 461 whilst O’Connor went from a score of 521 to 529.

Grigoryan also took part in the Nationals. This was the first time she participated at intermediate level, before this Hasmik was competing in the beginner’s category.

“It was very exciting for me because it was the first time I shot in an intermediate competition. Previously I was a beginner, so it was a 40cm target and now it was free spot target, so it was new for me,” Grigoryan said.

Unfortunately, the Law and Government student from Armenia did not place but was still happy with her score of 306, as she and only had three days to practice for the competition as she was in her home country.

“I think I could do better but for me it was still good because I only practiced three days before the competition,” the Armenian native said.

DCU Archery club are now in preparation for the GMIT IV that will be held in Galway this weekend.

Hasmik said DCU Archery Club are training hard for this competition and how she is “trying to improve” before the competition.

“It’s thanks to my couches and teammates that I manage to improve and get better,” Grigoryan told the College View.

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INSIDE

Shels star Mooney dishing out the goals for DCU pg 22

DCU claim Mixed Intervarsities title in Belfast for the first time Katie Lowry | Contributor

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in history.

DCU, who travelled up North as underdogs, were up against home side Queens University of Belfast in their opening game in the group stages of the tournament, winning comfortably 3-1 with goals coming from Alan O’Malley, Shane O’Brien and Ella Caird.

Next up were Technological University Dublin, who proved too strong for the Metropolitan University and unfortunately lost 4-0, however Fionn Delaney made some incredible saves in goals and deservedly earned DCU’s player of the match.

After a tough defeat all was not lost as DCU made it out of their group in second place and faced rivals University College Dublin in the semi-finals.

It was a neck-and-neck battle from the first whistle with UCD edging ahead slightly to make it 3-1 at half time. A heroic comeback from DCU in the second half saw impressive goals finished off from Katie Fearon and

Credit: DCU Hockey

he DCU hockey team clinched the winning title of the mixed intervarsity tournament at Queens University for the first time

Pierce Hendy to end the result in a tie at 3-3.

This brought it to sudden death 1v1’s where DCU’s O’Malley shone

once again scoring on the first go.

Fionn Delaney showed courage and talent in goals saving UCD’s first shot, meaning DCU secured their spot in

the final where they would meet TUD who they previously lost to in the group stages.

A nervous but excited DCU side

on the recovery and dangers of concussion increased awareness in the county on the issue.

St Rynagh’s Niall Wynn is currently suffering from concussion following a number of head injuries. Scales said the 27 year old should be playing the best football of his career, but now it’s uncertain if he’ll ever play hurling again.

As a result of Wynn’s injury, “there’s without a shadow of a doubt a satisfactory level of awareness” regarding concussion. However, Scales said that “if it didn’t come to our club’s doorstep,” he’s not sure they’d be as aware.

Last year, following a minor head injury to a St Rynagh’s player, a temporary substitution was made by the management team. Three minutes later, the temporary sub came off the pitch. The lionsman regarded St Rynagh’s as having made two substi-

tutions because “the lionsman saw no blood.”

Scales fears that in a closer game, losing a substitution like this could have a huge impact on the final score.

“If a player stays playing they’ll increase their chances of significant injury,” he said.

Scales mentioned the pressure on medical staff on the pitch when treating head injuries. “If the medical staff are under duress, that has a huge impact on the game,” he said. “They’re not getting adequate time.”

Scales said it must come down to the referee and not management teams to decide if a substitution is warranted.

“In the National Football League at the moment at county level, there’s a lot of play-acting at the end of matches.” He doesn’t want teams to use head injuries as a delay tactic.

Scales feels “very strongly (the motion) will go ahead,” barring if

the GAA medical committee weren’t happy with it.

Scales said people have much more knowledge of concussion now than in the past.

In recent years, there’s been an increase in awareness and guidelines around head injuries in sport. The Football Association have banned under 12s from heading the ball in training.

Patrick Trehy, former chairperson of the Dublin and District Schoolboys League, said the banning of heading footballs was discussed as far back as 2004.

Trehy said children should be shown the correct way to head the ball as “it depends on how you’re taught.” He said the ball has become much lighter over the years, as in the past they were laced shut.

Gareth, a spokesperson for the Physical Education Association said

stormed the pitch looking for revenge from the group stages and eager toclinch the title which was going to be a tough task after their previous loss.

A rebound off the UCD goalkeeper left O’Malley in the perfect position to hit it right in the back corner, giving DCU an early 1-0 lead.

The second half proved deeply defensive for DCU as they tried to not concede any goals, with few chances on the counterattack. That all changed as excellent skill from Katie Fearon resulted in a goal with 8 minutes to go.

Even though TUD were able to get on the scoresheet with a goal of their own, a mixture of sharp saves from goalkeeper Delaney and strong tackles from the defence managed to get DCU over the line and triumph 2-1 to clinch the Mixed intervarsity title for the first time in DCU history.

“It was so great to share this win with this truly deserving team who worked so hard throughout the year and to end with such a big win makes it all worthwhile,” said team member Lisa Walsh.

Men’s captain Will Eickholt summed up the victory saying, “the team go down as one of the greatest in Irish Hockey History.”

Concussion should be top priority for GAA says St Rynagh’s chair Courtney Fitzmaurice | Sports Editor @courtneyfitz100

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hairman of Rynagh GAA Paddy Scales said the welfare of players in concussion must be a top priority for the Association.

St Rynagh’s, along with the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) will propose to Congress that a temporary substitute should be allowed in the case of a head injury or suspected concussion.

Scales said that if in a referee’s opinion he has “a genuine reason to be concerned,” a head injury assessment should be carried out then the player should be taken off the pitch and a temporary substitution allowed.

Scales said a Tullamore College Young Social Innovators (YSI) project

that at primary and secondary school level, there is a lack of communication between coaches, which is dangerous when a child is recovering from a head injury. Children often play more than one sport under different coaches, so it’s important that schools are in close contact with parents.

“Making people aware of how concussions can happen” is very important, he said.

“It’s the second concussion that can cause a lot of damage,” he said.

Gareth advises teachers and coaches to try to treat the injury as best as possible by applying ice, sitting the child down and letting them rest. The child’s parents should be contacted by the school and the parent should monitor the child for the following 24 hours at home.