The College View Issue 5

Wednesday November 28Th, 2018

www.thecollegeview.com

. Est. 1999 .

RAG Rumble delivers a knockout performance

Alison Clair & Donal Corrigan Images & Deputy Video Editors @thecollegeview

DCU Raising and Giving society (RAG) hosted its annual rag rumble in the wright venue, where over 500 people attended to see dcu students compete in white collar boxing.

The society raised over €6,000 in aid of local social projects such as the aisling project, respond housing and the special olympic football team.

“Rag Rumble is so much more than just a bunch of boxers in the ring.

Everyone contributes to our social projects without even realising the difference it makes. From the boxing club, to boxers, to students, to anyone attending the event in general. It’s one big family that came together to celebrate something amazing,” said emily mcnamara, rag events manager.

The 28 amateur boxers put on an explosive show, despite having only eight weeks of intense training completed with the help of dcu boxing club trainers.

In an unexpected turn of events, the audience saw one dislocated shoulder and two knockouts, which is the first time there was a knockout in rumble history.

The first fight saw a turbulent beginning with Hayden Guy dislocating his shoulder. Despite the injury, he finished

the round and the match was stopped when the trauma was flagged.

The night concluded with the main event, a fight between James O’Kane and Rob McGreevy. It ended in a shocking second-round knockout which saw o’ kane secure the final win of the night.

Radu Anastase, who was fighting jack ormond in aid of trocaire said that “training was mental”.

“Early mornings, long runs in the park and the coaches weren’t going easy on us, but when we finally started sparring in the ring i knew it was worth it,” he said.

Anastase also commented on the final knockout fight saying: “next year i want to go against james, the other guy who had a ko and see who gets who.”

Pippa Ryan, a final year communications student who fought on the night also commented on her experience saying that “the whole experience was tough and very, very unlike me. I would have never thought that i would have the dedication to miss my midweek nights out to wake up at 7am for training twice a week.”

She also mentioned how on the night she was “extremely nervous and there were definitely moments that i didn’t think i could do it, but the feeling after the fight is indescribable, as there was a lot of hard work and dedication put in,

Credit: Alison Clair

Amy Russell strikes Aisling Rock at Rag Rumble 2018. S

and all for a great cause.”

One of the projects that rag rumble funds is respond housing on grace park road in drumcondra, which helps families in emergency accommodation.

Project manager of respond housing, anna mcgreal said: “it is very difficult to put into words how grateful highpark family hub are for the donations

received and the dedicated volunteers who have given their time to assist us in the family hub. [RAG] have made a lot of parents and children smile at a very difficult time in their lives.”

The Wright Venue were wary of the event as they recently had a bad experience with another college. They have since told RAG that they were delight-

ed with DCU and the society were a pleasure to work with.

The annual ‘Raggy Power’ was held again in which pundits pay for a slip and predict the winning boxers.

The person with the most successful predictions was awarded two nights stay in Hotel Westport and Sense Spa in Co. Mayo.

Students charged triple as elderly residents move out of “not fit for purpose” housing Emily Sheahan News Editor @ emilyaine_s A housing charity is moving elderly residents out of a housing complex deemed not fit for purpose and moving 18 students in, charging them over three times the rent the previous residents were paying.

Nine single residents have been moved out of their flats in the James McSweeney House in Phibsborough, built in 1984, and were replaced by 18 students.

The Catholic Housing Aid Society (CHAS) Chairperson Micael McGovern told The College View that the house was not fit for purpose for elder-

ly residents, listing some of the problems including the lack of elevators and sufficient insulation.

“There’s no lift in it and it’s five floors,” said McGovern. “It’s not that it’s not inhabitable, it’s just that it’s not right for elderly people,” he said.

The elderly residents were paying €238 per month in rent. The students moved in are currently being charged €800 per month, a 70 per cent increase.

McGovern said that as there are people who need accommodation all over the place, it would be silly to leave properties lying empty.

He said that €800 in rent was a reasonable amount and there was no sophisticated analysis done to decide on

Features

Sports

All work and no play

Volleyballers fail to spike victory

Page 17

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that figure. He said they thought it was going to be considerably cheaper than what anybody else was offering.

McGovern said that CHAS got permission around three years ago from Dublin City Council to start moving people out because they had planned to demolish and rebuild it with 38 senior citizen apartments.

“Some of them moved in as early back as ‘84. Over the time, they’ve got older but the facilities haven’t got any better,” he said.

He said that the majority of the students were language students who were on three-month courses, so a shortterm accommodation stay would not be a problem.

Opinion

Keep your filthy laws off my silky drawers Page 13

“We’re not doing it to make money, we’re doing it so that we can fund our other activities as a charity,” McGovern said it was a temporary solution that suited both parties.

“I thought it could have been fixed up other than having it all knocked down, any cracks or dampness in it can be all sorted out instead of going through all this hassle,” one elderly resident told The College View In my personal opinion, it should be just left the way it is and get workmen in to do it all up inside,” he said. “I think everyone would be happier.”

Another resident said she didn’t know where she was going to be moved to but wanted to stay in the local area.

Gaeilge

Rath do Kneecap Page 16

McGovern said that they were looking into the private rent sector in order to accommodate the remaining residents who wanted to stay close to the church.

Dublin Councillor Mannix Flynn said he put in an objection on behalf of a number of residents and himself, saying there was no reason the residents couldn’t stay there until planning permission was granted.

He said there was no genuine reason to remove the building, “other than, as far as I’m concerned, a kind of profit or greed”.

Flynn said he wants an apology issued to the residents, full accountability and transparancy and proper sustainable planning for the area.

News

Irish drinkers are at high health risk Page 10

Editorial

2 INSIDE The Hype

Deputy Editor Gabija Gataveckaite

TV & Podcasts Making a Murderer Read on Page 6

Film & TV Widows Read on Page 5

Deputy Editor’s piece

Arts & Stories

Caravaggio Read on Page 8

Facebook: TheCollegeView Twitter: @thecollegeview Read more on our website; thecollegeview.com Editorial Team Editor-in-Chief: Callum Lavery, Deputy editor: Gabija Gataveckaite,

Illustrations editor: Roise McGagh,

News editors: Cáit Caden, Ellen Fitzpatrick & Emily Sheahan Deputy News editors: Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque, Catherine Gallagher, Roisin Phelan,

Images editor: Alison Clair, Deputy Images: Mikey Walsh

Production editors: James Nolan & Rachel Halpin Features editor: Gabija Gataveckaite, Deputy features editor: Ciara O’Loughlin, Arts editor: Aoibhin Bryant, Deputy arts editors: Sarah Barrett & Aine O’Boyle, Lifestyle editor: Lorna Lawless, Deputy Lifestyle editors: Beibhinn Thorsch & Eoin Harte Gaeilge editor: Clíona Hughes, Deputy gaeilge editor: Jordan Hussain,

Chief Sub-editor: Roisin Cullen,

Podcast editors: Lucien Waugh Daly, Niamh Dunne & Ian Brennan, Website editor: Eoin Cooke, Advertising and Marketing: Eoin Cooke, Sub-editors: Ellen Butler, Róisin Phelan, Sabrine Donohoe, Clara Kelly, John Morley, Eoin Harte, Dave Kelly, Alex Barrett, Emma Costigan, Becky Ferris, Anja Zauers, Roisin Maguire, Shauna Burdis, Ruth Delaney, Sara Rountree, Dáire Denby, Tara McGahan, Lauren Allen, Natasha Lynch, Thomas Hamilton, Contacts

Sports editor: Gerard Grimes, Deputy sports editors: John Morley & Hugh Farrell,

editor@thecollegeview.com

Opinion editor: Orla Dwyer, Deputy opinion editor: Clara Kelly,

features@thecollegeview.com

Social media editor: Amy Louise Donohoe & Roise McGagh,

gaeilge@thecollegeview.com

Video editor: Lauren Timlin, Deputy video editors: Donal Corrigan, Dara Browne, Jenny Wong, Sathishaa Mohan

news@thecollegeview.com

opinion@thecollegeview.com

sports@thecollegeview.com Thanks to Sportsfile, SLC, Office of Student Life

And so, in colourful leaf bustling glory, we have arrived at the end of November.

I, alongside my fellow final year students, am asking myself where the hell time has gone.

As deputy editor, I cannot believe how incredible these past 10 weeks have been. The College View, in my opinion, has never looked better- in terms of production, sub-editing, editing, our website and of course, our journalists.

Journalists are what make any newspaper great. The quality of objective reporting, in depth research and a representation of all sides to the story is what turns a mere article into a piece of journalism. For student journalists, who are in the early stages of their career, it can seldom be tough to always carry out objective reporting- but that’s when an editorial team comes into play. Collaborative effort pulls the entire show together- from pitching of stories, to gathering sources, to writing, to then editing and uploading, production and finally, revelling in our work at the podcast. Every single member of any paper has a crucial role, everybody is important and needed.

Our role as a student newspaper is that of covering student affairs and we try and do that in the best possible way that we can and we would be lost without our editorial team. This issue, like every other issue, student issues are at the forefront. Online news editor Emily Sheahan wrote one of the lead stories this

week, which sees students being charged more than three times for accommodation that previously housed elderly residents. Once again, we see a news story that highlights possibly the biggest student issue of all time- accommodation. Over the years, The College View has reported on this issue time and time again- from former News Editor Hayley Halpin’s first big breaking story being St Patrick’s campus accommodation being brought up in price but not in standard, back in 2017, which then made all the national papers. Emily’s latest article is yet another example of the barriers students face in simply living.

Our gorgeous arts and lifestyle supplement The Hype has never looked better- not just in design and layout, but in content too. The supplement acts as a breakaway from the breaking news and commentary, a getaway of sorts.

I was especially excited when Aoibhín Bryant was appointed Arts Editor at the end of last year as she is a fond lover of art. This issue is yet another example of her specialist area spilling over into the supplement- journalist Craig Shaaban discussed one of the Great Masters, Caravaggio’s work, who’s masterpieces we are lucky enough to have hanging in our own National Gallery.

In your hands you hold yet another issue of The College View- we’ve poured another dose of blood, sweat and tears into it; so enjoy yet another slice of excellent student journalism.

News

Students applying for post-grad teaching course in DCU and others only need to do one Irish Oral

Aine O’Boyle Deputy Arts Editor @ainyerrrr CHANGES have been made to Irish oral examinations in the four state-funded postgraduate primary school teaching courses in Ireland.

Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh announced on November 13th, 2018 that the previous three Irish oral examinations required for entry into post-graduate primary school teaching programmes will be reduced down to one.

The changes will be implemented from February 2019 onwards and will be regulated by the Centre for Irish Language Research, Teaching and Testing in NUI Maynooth.

The current higher education institutions that require oral Irish examinations to gain entry into the programmes include DCU, NUIM, Marino Institute of Education and Mary Immaculate College.

Previously when students acquired the minimum entry requirements for the post-grad programmes they then had to complete three Irish oral examinations on the same day as an inter-

The changes to Irish oral examinations will be implemented from February 2019.

view for their chosen institution.

The day consisted of considerable stress for students with a fail in the oral examinations resulting in the possibility of their interview being discounted.

The new system will see prospective postgraduate students take the examination at the Centre for Irish Language Research, Teaching and Testing in NUIM and upon news of success, they will then apply to their chosen institution.

According to the Executive Dean at

DCU’s Institute of Education, Anne Looney, with the new changes, “students who don’t pass [the oral examination] won’t be interviewed.. saving students time and money”.

Previously they were interviewed before they knew their oral exam result,” she continued.

Minister of State for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor welcomed the changes.

“This is a positive development for students. I welcome the collaboration and coordination by the higher edu-

Credit: Twitter

cation institutions for this new oral exam which will reduce stress for students,” she said.

“Students attending for the interview should have a better experience all round. However, this is a course where there is a high demand for places. For the DCU programme, there are 10 applicants for every place available,” said Looney.

The high demand for these programmes insinuates that levels of excellence and proficiency in the Irish language will still be required by stu-

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dents in order to progress, despite the changes to the system.

Those applying for these post-grad courses will have to pay a €65 fee towards the Irish oral examination, but those applying through the PATH programme will be refunded these costs.

I’m glad to see the commitment from institutions to refund the oral exam fee for students on a PATH programme,” said DCUSU VP for Education and Placement, Craig McHugh.

“Alongside that, I believe that one standardised Irish oral will do a lot to help reduce anxiety and pressure and help prospective students give their best,” he continued.

The certificate granted to students who are successful in their oral examination is valid for two years and is useful for the applications to other jobs.

The oral examinations are administered using the Teastas Eorpach Gaeilge (TEG) test, linked to the Common European Framework of References for Languages which sets the guidelines to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasingly, in other countries.

DCU Dr Wins Science Foundation Ireland Concerns over proposed Grangegorman student Research Image of the Year Award

accommodation

Callum Lavery Editor-in-chief @callum_lavery A DCU researcher has won the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Image of the Year Award.

Dr Sithara Sreenilayam Pavithran won the award for her image ‘Liquid Crystal Seashore’ on November 12.

The announcement was made at the annual SFI Science Summit.

Dr Pavithran who currently works as the centre manager of DCU’s Advanced Processing Technology Research centre (APT) said that she was honored to win the award.

“I feel honored that my work on liquid crystal has been recognized. The feeling of winning an award is really exciting. I was really thrilled to receive this recognition, it was a great day for me. It makes my hard work on liquid crystal research all year more worthwhile.”

Pavithran has been working in the area of liquid crystal since 2009, devoting her PHD and three years of a postdoctoral fellowship in Trinity College Dublin to the area.

The prestigious award celebrate images captured by SFI funded researchers during the course of their research.

Pavithran’s image shows a seashore like features in the liquid crystal (LC) material “at the isotropic to nematic phase transition.”

The part in yellow colour is the pre-transitional region which looks like shallow water, while the orange coloured region is the orientational order of molecules spontaneously aris-

Roisin Phelan Deputy News Editor @ _roisinphelan

Pavithran has been working in the area of liquid crystal since 2009, devoting Credit: Dr Sithara her PHD and three years of a postdoctoral fellowship in Trinity College Dublin Sreenilayam Pavithran to the area.

ing below isotropic to nematic phase transition appearing as deep water.

The colour of the image depends on the temperature, shape of LC molecule and sample thickness.

The science awards were established to recognise key leaders in the Irish Research Community. Over 350 members of the community attended the ceremony to celebrate contributions to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Several awards were given, such as SFI researcher of the year, awarded to Professor John Boland of Trinity College Dublin for his work on nanoscale materials.

Other awards such as SFI early career researcher of the year, industry partnership award and best interna-

tional engagement award were also presented at the event.

Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland, Professor Mark Ferguson, congratulated the award winners, saying “Every year the Science Foundation Ireland Awards provide an opportunity to highlight some of the excellent impacts and achievements of our research community. I want to congratulate the winners on their dedication and the contribution they are making to Ireland’s economy and society. I am confident that their success will be a source of inspiration to their peers and, more importantly, to the next generation of researchers in Ireland.

PROPOSED Grangegorman student accommodation will be unaffordable for students, according to Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) Students’ Union and Dublin City Councillors.

There are concerns about both the expense of the accommodation and about the concentration of students already living in the area.

NTM Capital, who describe themselves as “a leading alternative fund manager in the student accommodation sector” have already begun construction on the North Circular Road site.

An application has been made to An Bord Pleanála for the land NTM desires to use for the build, however, as Dublin City Council owns some of this land, they will have to agree to the sale of it before any construction on it can begin.

Councillor Janice Boylan and Councillor Christy Burke have voiced their opinions on the amount of student accommodation in the area already, with Burke voicing the growing anxiety of elderly residents in the area and Boylan describing the student accommodation as an “over-concentration.”

DIT SU President Pierre Yimbog said he understood why the Councillors may try to block the building of

more accommodation for students as “there are loads of student accommodations being built around the Grangegorman campus where all the DIT campuses will be moving to.”

New private student accommodations have been appearing across Dublin city this year. Yimbog said that these accommodations built by private developers are “totally unaffordable for students.”

He said DIT SU have “informed the likes of Aparto, Uninest and Swuite that we don’t approve of their prices and how they treat students,” and that students are forced to “rely on whatever is available in a vastly overpriced market.”

Workers’ Party Councillor Éilis Ryan has said that students will choose not to live in the new apartments that INM are building, due to their expense.

Green Party Councillor Ciarán Cuffe said, “There’s concern in Dublin’s north inner city that we’re seeing a lot of student housing, but almost no family homes being built.”

Cuffe said residents worries are “suggesting that a limit be put on the percentage of student housing in the area.”

This all comes after the recent National Housing Protest where thousands of people took to the street to demand fair and affordable accommodation for all.

News

Referendum campaign for Palestinian solidarity announced after ambassadorial visit

Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque Deputy News Editor @BrendanPalenque DCU Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) society launched a student union referendum campaign to mandate the SU to adopt a stance of solidarity with Palestine.

The referendum would also affiliate the SU with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement, which is a boycott of Israeli goods due to the state’s treatment of the Palestinian people.

The announcement was made just days after the Palestinian ambassador to Ireland Ahmad Abdelrazek visited DCU upon SJP’s request to discuss the future of Palestine.

Abdelrazek is a Palestinian refugee who was born in Lebanon. He’s been living in Europe for 43 years and became the Palestinian ambassador to Ireland back in 2013.

The ambassador described the Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories as “Swiss cheese” – holes scattered throughout the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. He condemned the continued expansion of Israeli settlements and said no country should recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“Gaza is the biggest open prison in the world. Two million people cannot move,” he said.

Abdelrazek went on to say that many people in the west still view Israel as the victim due to the Holocaust.

This sentiment was shared by one of the guest speakers at the referendum announcement, Ronit Lentin.

Lentin is the chair of Academics for Palestine and is also an Israeli Jew who was born in Palestine before the Israeli state was officially established.

“The Holocaust was used and abused,” she said. “Israel is a racist enterprise.”

She called out several universities for having ties with Israeli universities and academics – including DCU. However, she singled out Trinity College as being the possible worst offender, as she said they have several programmes with an Israeli institute which involve developing drones and security systems.

Lentin said that the BDS movement is not a boycott of individual Israelis, rather it’s a boycott of the Israeli institution.

The other guest speaker at the event was Fatin al Tamimi, the chairperson of the Ireland-Palestinian Solidarity Campaign. Al Tamimi was banned from returning to her home country of Palestine and has been living in Ireland for 30 years.

She also supports the BDS movement and was happy with the recent news that Airbnb would stop running listings in West Bank settlements.

DCU SJP Society chairperson Stephanie O’Toole (front row centre) said that there is a lot of sympathy for the Palestinian cause in DCU.

“Boycott is a very effective moral way of ending apartheid,” she said.

“If you believe in justice you have to believe in justice for every human being.”

She said that in 1948, Palestinian people became the largest refugee population in the world. Ambassador

Abdelrazek said that the US only recognises 40,000 Palestinian refugees as living in the States, despite the fact there are more.

The ambassador told 21 students back on November 15^th that the BDS movement was inspired by the movement to boycott South African

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Credit Sami el Sayed

goods during its apartheid regime. He mentioned how a small group of people in Ireland – the Dunnes Stores workers - helped to make a difference.

“If there is one person or 200 persons – it’s the same,” he said.

Eoghan McDermott discusses mental health difficulties in The Hive Amy Donoghue Social Media Editor @amydonohoe1

MENTAL health ambassador Eoghan McDermott met with DCU’s Mental Health Society members in The Hive on November 20th.

McDermott spoke about his mental health difficulties he faced when he was 26 years old. He lived in London and worked in Xfm, at the same time he just got out of a long-term relationship.

“I was never emotionally tested before and I found myself in an isolated bubble,” said McDermott.

He was in a new place with no friends and had was under pressure in his new job, “I felt lonely, isolated and embarrassed.”

“I was more willing to harm myself than to talk to someone,” he said, but now he is “not defined, but wiser from it.”

He opened up to a friend who was in a similar situation and he gave him great advice and since then, he has taken care of his mental health and he became an advocate for Pieta House.

“It was great to get such a modern approach to mental health. It was something I’ve never witnessed before.

Eoghan clearly had been in the same shoes as us so he understood the student lifestyle and how mental health waivers when we get to this stage in

Eoghan McDermott discusses mental health difficulties in The Hive

life,” said DCUSU Humanities and Social Sciences Representative Adam Healy.

“For me specifically, it was real-

ly encouraging to get some first hand experience from such an established mental health advocate,” he continued.

McDermott went onto say that there

Credit: DCU Mental Health Society

is a lack of effort put into children’s mental health and that charities such as Pieta House “pick up the slack” for the government’s lack of work.

“There is a difference between your mental health and a mental illness,” said McDermott, explaining that mental health can be impacted by a reaction to a period in one’s life, meanwhile a mental illness needs to be looked after the same way a physical illness is.

He also said that physical health is easy to deal with when mental health can be difficult and embarrassing to get treated.

McDermott said that he interviewed Taoiseach Leo Varadkar recently and he described the negative comments under the interview as being a reason as to why he doesn’t use social media as often as he used to.

He also said that the generation of younger people who have grown up with mobile phones, are dependent on the amount of likes they get and this can impact their mental health. He believes that they need to understand the difference between virtual lives on social media and reality.

He encouraged students to seek literature about mental health and to learn about it and understand it more. He also told the students from the Mental Health Society to “do good things in the world.”

The 2FM broadcaster has a degree in politics and Irish. He is also the voice of Love Island Australia.

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News

Trans Day of Remembrance vigil held in DCU Amy Ní Cholgáin Contributor @thecollegeview A ceremony of remembrance was held on DCU’s Glasnevin campus to commemorate the transgender and non-binary individuals who died as a result of violence this year.

International Trans Day of Remembrance took place on Tuesday, November 20th. Vigils and protests took place globally and several took place in Dublin.

The vigil was led by DCU LGBTA Society and attended by a small number of students, as well as DCUSU President, Vito Moloney Burke and VP for Welfare and Equality, Aisling Fagan.

Fagan said: “It was very important to the SU to be at the vigil today on International Trans Day of Remembrance to remember and pay our respects to all of those who we have lost due to transphobia and transphobic violence. We want to show our support to all of our trans students.”

DCU students in attendance gathered under the small arch between the McNulty and Marconi building to stay out of the rain at 6pm. Candles were handed out in shades of blue, white, and pink, (the colours that make up the trans flag) and the students lit each one of them and attempted to keep them lit in the bad weather.

Avery Ildefonse, DCU LGBTA society’s trans and non-binary officer, spoke about the importance of remem-

A protest and vigil were also organised in Dublin’s city centre by Transgender Equality Network Ireland

bering victims of hatred and transphobia and about the need for allies both outside and within the LGBTQ+ community. They then read out a list of names and locations of each of the 369 victims this year.

“Trans Day of Remembrance is important to make people conscious of

what is still happening and of the need to work toward making the world a safer place for the community,” they said.

Name after name was called out, with the majority being female names.

Hearing the names of the transgender and non-binary people killed in the UK, in Latin America, or the many vic-

Credit: Alison Clair

tims from the United States showcased the reality of transphobia.

By the end, most of the candles had gone out, though the students held on to them anyway. When asked afterwards about the importance of the day, Avery Ildefonse said: “While the quality of life of many people in the LGBTQ+

community has increased and many cultures are growing more accepting, Trans and Non-Binary people still face high levels of violence and struggle to access appropriate healthcare even in more accepting countries.”

NUIG undergo potential Court ruled student filmed snorting data breach sugar be allowed to return to school Róisín Phelan Deputy News Editor @_roisinphelan A lost USB stick has caused a potential breach of student data in the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG).

NUIG’s Data Protection Officer said, “the device was mislaid and is now presumed lost.”

According to a statement published on the university’s website by the officer, “the University is unclear on the contents of the portable device, it may have held a file containing names of approximately five per cent of the student body, their student number and exam results.”

“The University has taken into account the seriousness of the issue” and has reported the matter to the Office of the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, who has “issued guidance” to NUIG. The five per cent of students who may have been affected by the breach have been contacted by the university and made aware of the matter.

In response to the loss of USB and potential data breach, the university is planning to, “undertake a review and then implement further measures to

seek to ensure that such an incident does not occur again.”

NUIG Students’ Union President Megan Kelly said, “We are going to ensure that students are part of the review process so that a breach like this doesn’t happen again.”

NUIG’s potential breach comes soon after a data breach at Trinity College in which the personal information of 168 students was accidentally attached by an email. The students were sports scholarship applicants and the breach of their data meant recipients of the email could access information about the applicant’s abilities, faults and status in the programme.

TCD also reported this incident to the Office of the Irish Data Protection Officer.

Computer Science student at NUIG, Jennifer Murray told The College View, “I think a lot of the student body are unaware of breach of data and the consequences that could come if it landed in the wrong hands”. She added that NUIG should, “issue a major apology… and make adjustments to ensure a mistake like this won’t happen again with our data.”

Niamh Quinlan Contributor @thecollegeview TWO Leaving Certificate students facing expulsion have been allowed back to school by High Court ruling.

The students were facing expulsion after a video was taken of one of them snorting a white substance which turned out to be table sugar.

A student took the video of the other boy during a class and it was spread around social media by fellow students.

A concerned parent informed the principal disciplinary board and actions were taken.

The students were suspended from school and their expulsion was debated by the board of management. The board said that their decision as to whether the boys may return to school will be finalised by November 23rd.

However, the students felt that these measures were too severe and challenged the board’s actions through the courts, arguing that not only is expulsion illogical but is also a constitutional injustice. Mr Justice Max Barrett of the High Court ruled on November 21st that the two boys should be allowed to return to school.

A video was released of the students snorting table sugar.

Dr Leonard Condren, GP, found in his practice that “more students appear to be developing illness in the lead up to their state examinations.” These include, but are not limited to, depression, anxiety, tension headaches and even a relapse of asthma.

A similar case happened in the state of Virginia, USA in 2015. The 11-year old student was found with what the school authorities believed was a mari-

Credit: Orla Dwyer

juana leaf in his backpack.

The boy was immediately suspended for the rest of the school year and local authorities became involved. However, the “drug” was tested three sperate times and each time it was found to be a maple leaf. However, the school refused to let the boy return to school until the end of his suspension. The child had panic attacks and suffered depressive episodes after the incident.

News

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FOI reveals drop in fines paid to DCU libraries Emily Sheahan News Editor @emilyaine_s THE amount paid in library fines across the DCU Glasnevin and St Patrick’s libraries decreased by over €6,700 from 2016/2017 to 2017/2018.

A Freedom of Information request showed that the amount paid in fines decreased from €60,608.21 in 2016/17 to €53,822.72 in 2017/18. This is a decrease of €6,785.49, or 11.2 per cent.

DCU Director of Library Services Christopher Pressler said that the fines are re-absorbed into the library’s “non pay budget to pay for costs such as book, journals, and eresrouces”.

Both libraries, as well as the online resources, saw decreases in fines. The John & Aileen O’Reilly Library on the DCU Glasnevin campus saw a decrease of 20.4 per cent, with the fines dropping from €26,657.67 in 2016/17 to €21,214.02 the following year.

The Cregan Library on the DCU St Patrick’s campus saw their fines drop from €15,408.74 to €14,099.8, an 8.5 per cent decrease.

The online fines fell from €18,541.8 to €18,508.9. This was a decrease of 0.18 per cent.

Overdue one week loans and three week loans are charged at 50 cent per day. Overdue short term 48 hour loans are charged at 50 cent per hour. Overdue DVDs see fines of €2 per day.

Borrowing restrictions are imposed if a person has charges exceeding €10 on their account, or where charge of any amount has been in the account for a longer than one month. Long term loans can be renewed, short term ones cannot.

Library fines can be paid online, but only if the fine is €5 or above.

Aoife O’Brien Contributor @thecollegeview

The amount paid in library fines across the DCU Glasnevin and St Patrick’s libraries decreased by over €6,700 from 2016/2017 to 2017/2018.

Politics and Media student Rebecca Breene McDonnell said the “fines are far too steep”. McDonnell once paid a €60 fine to the O’Reilly Library.

She was also charged with another €35 fine, but it was written off. “I was really sick so I wasn’t around to bring another one back so they wrote the fine off for me because I emailed them the

circumstances”. ”Most students would bring the book back if it capped at €5 I’m sure,” she said. ”There’s no need to be charging €60 for a book being two or three days late”.

DCU undergraduate students and alumni can borrow up to 14 items at a time. Taught postgraduates, research

Credit: Rachel Halpin

postgraduates, Open Education students, and staff can take out up to 20 items at a time. Alumni cannot take out short term loans.

All items on loan from the libraries are subject to be recalled at any times.

DCU O’Reilly and Cregan libraries were unavailable for comment.

Athlone IT draw on mental health for inspiration

Aine O’Boyle Deputy Arts Editor @ainyerrrr

STUDENTS in Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) have created a series of mental health illustrations as part of the ‘Now We’re Talking Mental Health Campaign’.

The campaign is running in conjunction with Lyons’ tea and Pieta House, with this particular project posing the AIT students with real mental health challenges to base their illustrations on.

Hot Press adjudicated this project by choosing specific illustrations that represented the technical and conceptual aspects of the topic well and announced an overall winner among the students.

The students based many of the illustrations on their own understanding of mental health, drawing on their own

USI aim to ‘ReCharge’ students’ mental health

The drawings were based off of personal experiences

personal experiences in life for inspiration.

The students’ designs featured illustrations that visually represented the difficulties that people have in communicating how they are feeling with

Credit: Nick Farrell

regards to their mental health.

The winning illustration by Gosia Kosel featured a man made out of clay that was photographed and given a stark black and white filter, with scrawled, childlike writing above the

candle-wax-man reading “i’m fine”.

Outside of this project, AIT is working towards reforming mental health services across colleges in Ireland, with their Students Union calling on the government to invest €3 million in mental health counselling to reduce the strain on support services on third-level campuses.

They have also called on the government to invest a further €55 million annually to tackle Ireland’s growing mental health crisis.

On October 10th, 2018 they organised a demonstration to coincide with World Mental Health Awareness Day. AIT SU Vice President of Welfare and Accommodation, Aine Daly said: “While our institute has been extremely proactive in trying to meet the needs of our students, competing demands for limited resources are making it extremely difficult.

A national student mental health campaign ‘ReCharge’ and the ‘+Connections’ app were launched by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) in University College Cork (UCC) on Monday, November 12th.

The campaign was launched with the support of Minister Jim Daly, who has special responsibility for mental health and older people, alongside the HSE, in response to concerns over student mental health.

It aims to empower and encourage students to seek support and take time to recharge their mental health by focusing on the three aspects of student life that most commonly affect it; sleep hygiene, exam stress and alcohol consumption.

In a survey conducted by the USI which asked students if they had experienced mental health difficulties in the past 12 months “1084 (32 per cent) said that they had often and 568 (17 per cent) said all the time. A whopping 24 per cent of those surveyed said they were unawareon-campusmpus services for mental health,” USI President Síona Cahill said that The +Connections app aims to reduce this percentage with the ‘Mapping Feature’ which links into the phone’s GPS and directs students to the location of the services available to support their mental health.

It provides information for students on approaching a friend if you are worried about their mental health as well as hosts a blog where students can discuss mental health and how it relates to themselves.

Speaking about the campaign which aims to deliver on commitments under the national suicide prevention strategy, Assistant National Director for Mental Health Operations, Jim Ryan said “We wanted to work with USI to create a campaign that would not only signpost to available supports and services but would focus on building resilience.”

The USI Vice President for Welfare, Damien McClean said students often know that support services exist but they feel like their problems are not serious enough to warrant using them.

“Students across Ireland have limited amount of energy due to college and work commitments, and we are saying it’s okay to take time to recharge yourself,” he said.

Minister Daly spoke at the launch to thank the USI for the work being done on mental health at third level. While he acknowledged the need for serious conversation about where we are going in the area of mental health he said the “USI have shown great leadership today in launching this app (+Connections) and providing a tool for every student to direct and signpost them to the appropriate services available.”

8

News

University of Limerick recognised for leading the way on gender equality

Rachel Halpin Production Editor @RachelHalpin_ WITH the highest percentage of female professors in the country, University of Limerick (UL) has been recognised for leading the way on gender equality.

This recognition came after the launch of the government-financed action plan ‘Accelerating Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions’. The report, published by Minister for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor, is to address the slow progress that is being made towards gender equality in higher education.

Currently, 33 per cent of their profes-

sors are female, this has risen by two per cent since November 2017. UL received the Athena Swan Bronze award in 2015 for their work in advancing gender equality, an award that DCU won in 2017.

“This is just one of the myriad of initiatives that will address and improve the paltry proportion of women in senior third-level positions,” said Mitchell O’Connor.

With this action plan, she aims to have 40 per cent of female professors within Irish institutions by 2024 and that by 2026 Ireland will be a ‘world-leading country for gender equality in higher education’. But according to the report, if the progress continues at the slow pace it’s at currently, then it could take 20 years to reach this percentage.

To tackle gender inequality in universities, the government is to fund 45 women-only professional positions over a three-year period. By September, 15 of these positions will be in place and the rest implemented by 2021. Annually it will cost the government €4.7 million.

“This is one part of an overall pack-

UL have the highest percentage of female professors in the country

age to help universities, but I also believe it is up to the presidents of the Irish universities to respond to the challenge,” said Pat O’Connor, who was the first woman to be given a professor position at the University of Limerick.

UL President Dr Des Fitzgerald said, “I am delighted that after years of UL and other third level institutions work-

ing on gender equality, the government has recognised that this important work needs to be resourced.”

Eight out of 12 members of the Executive Committee in UL that have senior leadership positions are female and the two Vice Presidents in UL are female. In 2017, Dr Fitzgerald appointed a Special Advisor on Gender and

Credit: PixaBay

Equality.

There has never been a female president in any of Ireland’s seven universities, though there has been 14 in technology institutes. According to the report, women make up 51 per cent of teaching jobs in the university sector, but only 24 per cent of professor posts are filled by women.

Elderly patients remaining in hospital instead of transferring to nursing homes Mary Ryan Contributor @thecollegeview

A large number of elderly patients are remaining in hospital instead of transferring to nursing homes they are eligible for, a new report has found.

According to the 2018 Independent Expert Review of Delayed Discharges, published by the HSE, 8,125 patients left in unnecessarily in hospitals from 2017 to 2018. Of this, 90 per cent were elderly people.

The executive report states that lack

of engagement by families of elderly patients with the Nursing Home Support Scheme, or ‘Fair Deal’ scheme, is a major cause of delayed discharges in hospitals, with 1,159 such cases reported between June 2017 and June 2018.

“Some may not provide the correct information, while others will refuse to send their relative to a number of nursing homes despite the patient having been accepted to the nursing home,” the review stated.

The working group pointed to a number of factors causing lack of co-operation with the Fair Deal Scheme,

including lack of a cohesive approach by health providers in communities, delays getting home-care packages, restricted application timeframes in care facilities, and a lack of rehab beds, particularly outside of Dublin.

The group also acknowledged that many find the Nursing Scheme System “complex” and “daunting”, and need time to process the “life changing” decisions associated with moving a loved one to a nursing care facility.

The report also highlighted the need for a public campaign to dispel the cultural misconception that a patient is

‘safer in hospital’.

“Unnecessary delays in hospital can have a detrimental effect on a patient’s health which can profoundly affect the patient socially,” the report states.

“The longer a patient remains in hospital the more dependent they are likely to become and the more likely their discharge will be delayed.”

“The Minister for Mental Health and Older People Jim Daly, who ordered the report, said his aim was to reduce the number of delayed discharges and transfers of care, “ensuring that social care measures are effectively deployed

to enable older people leave hospital and return to a more appropriate care setting, including their own home, as quickly as possible, with the supports they need”.

The Fair Deal scheme, introduced in 2017, is for patients who require long term nursing care after being discharged from hospital.

The scheme assesses a patients ability to contribute to the cost of living in a nursing home. If their contribution is less than the nursing home fees the government will pay the rest of the cost.

Up to 800,000 people in Ireland with neurological conditions could benefit from new research initiative

Gerard Grimes Sports Editor @gerardgrimes11 A new €13.6 million SFI Research Centre has been launched at the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI) by Minister for Business, Enterprise and Inno-

vation, Heather Humphreys.

FutureNeuro is aiming to translate breakthroughs in the understanding on brain structure and function to transform the patient journey for people with neurological diseases.

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) have awarded the new FutureNeuro Research Centre €10.3 million of the funding, with the further €3.3 million coming from industry partners.

SFI now have a network of world-leading research centres across Ireland. These centres are undertaking research with the aim of helping to transform the lives of approximately 800,000 people in Ireland who are affected by neurological disorders.

Initially focused on epilepsy and

ALS (Motor Neuron disease), FutureNeuro connects national and multinational industries with key academics and clinicians based in leading hospitals, providing diagnostic, therapeutic and eHealth solutions.

In Ireland alone, 40,000 people have epilepsy with a near 30 per cent not responding to current treatment methods.

Professor David Henshall, the Director of FutureNeuro and also a Professor of Molecular Physiology and Neuroscience in RCSI hopes the research can someday lead to a cure for certain brain diseases.

“Brain diseases such as epilepsy and Motor Neurone disease have a profound impact on people’s lives and until we understand the underlying caus-

es, we are not going to be able to find cures or improve treatments,” Henshall said.

“By bringing together scientists, neurological clinicians, patient groups and industry partners we hope to transform the patient journey for people with epilepsy and Motor Neuron disease to result in faster, more precise diagnosis and fewer hospital and emergency department admissions.”

“Ultimately we hope that the research at FutureNeuro will someday lead to a cure for certain brain diseases,” Henshall said One in five emergency department admissions are due to a neurological problem with epilepsy accounting for 6,000 hospital admissions per year,

with over 95 per cent of these coming through the emergency department.

FutureNeuro is hosted by RCSI but will bring together a network of internationally recognised neuroscientists, clinical neurologists, geneticists, cell biologists, computer scientists and material chemists from RCSI, DCU, NUIG, Trinity College and UCD. “I am very pleased to welcome FutureNeuro to the network of world-leading SFI Research Centres, which are agents of positive impact and growth in Ireland’s economy and society.

“Excellence in healthcare is a priority for the Irish Government, demonstrated in the €10.3 million we have allocated to the project,” Minister Humphreys said at the launch.

Science and Health

9

National Energy and Climate Plan influenced by DCU students Aine O’Boyle Deputy Arts Editor @ainyerrrr DCU students created a collaborative submission to the government’s public consultation on Ireland’s National Energy & Climate Plan 2021-2030.

Students in the Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society masters programme have responded to the government’s consultation document, calling for input from various institutions and the public on the matter.

The plan is currently operating under considerable time restrictions as under EU regulations, all member states must submit a draft National Energy and Climate Plan to the European Commission

by December 31st, 2018.

The NECP that Ireland submits must contain detailed policy measures to demonstrate it is doing its part to meet EU energy and climate targets”, according to the Institute of International and European Affairs.

Assistant Professor in the School of Law and Government in the university Diarmuid Torney spearheaded the DCU students proposals to the government plan.

“Our submission contained ambitious proposals for how to strengthen Ireland’s response to climate change,” said Torney.

According to MSc Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society student, Sascha Boden, he believed that they got across the “urgency of the topic that is currently not being addressed by the Irish government” within their submission.

The MSc programme iis one of a kind in Ireland, in that it focuses primarily on the response of societies to climate change, and adopts a social science and humanities perspective to this challenge.

Among the submission from DCU students to the government were sub-

The urgency of climate change is not being addressed by the Irish government according to DCU student, Sascha Boden

missions from other stakeholders such as lobby groups and member of the public.

“We believe we produced a compelling submission and we very much hope that the Government will take on board our suggestions,” said Torney.

“The Irish [government] will certainly consider some of the points, but... I don’t think they will implement them because the discrepancy between what the government is doing right now and what has to be done, in our opinion,

is really big,” said Boden, referring to their submission.

The process of preparing the submission involved collaboration among the master students involved in the submission and academic staff.

Students were allocated a theme and questions to research. They then participated in a workshop in which the various themes were discussed and responses were developed into seven pressing questions that they wished to address in the submission.

“The process was student-driven, but facilitated by staff,” according to Torney.

Five students took part in the process with each student addressing and researching two to three pressing questions outlined within the government’s consultation document and coming up with solutions.

A consensus was adopted among the group, that Ireland should consider another method of benchmarking economic output other than Gross Domes-

Credit: Wikimedia

tic Product (GDP) which measures the value of goods or services produced in Ireland during a period of time.

They said that Ireland should use the Genuine Progress Indicator on top of that of GDP, as alone GDP doesn’t reflect energy efficiency standards.

GPI accurately reflects energy efficiency standards by deducting harmful pollution such as the burning of fossil fuels from GDP, explained Boden.

VAT introduced on food supplements Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque Deputy News Editor @BrendanPalenque HEALTH shops are unhappy with Revenue after the announcement of a potential VAT rate of 23 per cent on food supplements.

Currently food supplements are zero-rated, which means they are still VAT taxable, but customers are charged zero per cent.

“There are concerns that while elements of the industry apply the cor-

rect rates, others have a competitive advantage by applying the zero rate to products that are properly liable at the 23 per cent VAT rate,” said the Department of Finance Paschal Donohoe.

The Department of Finance said that they considered placing a standard tax rate on food supplements in the 2018 finance bill.

However, after consultations between the Department of Health, the Department of Finance and Revenue, there were reservations about the implications that would have had.

Donohoe said he would ask officials to address the matter in the Tax Strate-

gy Group 2019.

The group is not a decision-making body though, instead, they simply provide options and issues which should be considered in the budgetary process.

Matt Ronan, the spokesperson for Health Store Ireland (the trade association for health stores in Ireland), told The Irish Times that this could hurt people who require food supplements in order to stay healthy.

For example, people with anaemia who need iron supplements.

“This is a tax on the health of the people of Ireland,” Ronan said.

“It is a tax on the elderly, the young

and the vulnerable,” he continued.

DCU student Lucien Waugh-Daly, who takes B12, said an increase in price could affect him.

“It’s expensive living in Dublin as a student and extra costs definitely cause additional strain and stress,” he said.

A similar sentiment was also expressed by DCU student Béibhinn Thorsch, who takes Engevita (a nutritional yeast).

Thorsch stated that “if the price of the Engevita was increased significantly enough I can see myself foregoing buying it.”

She also pointed out that vitamin D

deficiencies are quite common in Ireland, and this could potentially affect a lot of people. According to researchers from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing at Trinity College, one in eight older adults in Ireland are deficient in vitamin D. Revenue said that food supplements are zero-rated if they are vitamins or minerals (in solid or liquid form) and fish oils which are consumed orally.

However, substances marketed specifically for the purpose of improving bodily sculpting or weight reduction are not zero-rated.

Science and Health

10

Pharmacists warn against the overuse of antibiotics Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque Deputy News Editor @BrendanPalenque ANTIBIOTIC resistance is becoming a serious threat to public health, according to the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU).

The IPU said that there has been an increase in antibiotic-resistant infections due to an overuse and misuse of antibiotics.

Daragh Connolly, president of the IPU, said that antibiotic consumption in Ireland has increased. Irish people take seven per cent more antibiotics now than they did 15 years ago.

“If this problem isn’t tackled, the antibiotics used to treat infections today will become ineffective or may stop working altogether in the future,” he said.

In terms of overuse, the Centres for

Irish people take seven per cent more anitbiotics now than they did 15 years ago

Disease Control and Prevention stated that between a third to a half of all antibiotic use in humans is unnecessary or

Credit: Mikey Walsh

inappropriate.

Antibiotics are often misused when they are given to treat a viral infection.

According to the Mayo Clinic, antibiotics shouldn’t be taken for common viral infections such as colds, flus and most coughs.

The clinic also said that there are around two million infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the US every year. 23,000 people die as result.

Aside from death, antibiotic resistance can also lead to longer recovery times, more frequent or longer hospitalisations and more expensive treatments.

The IPU also emphasised the dangers resistance could pose for people suffering from chronic diseases. Many surgeries could be made impossible.

The HSE recommend listening to pharmacists to ensure antibiotics are taken properly. Some need to be taken on an empty stomach, while the opposite is true for others.

In addition, the HSE also stated that it’s important to finish the full course of antibiotics. If not, some bacteria may remain in the body, grow stronger and

thus become antibiotic resistant.

Antibiotic stewardship, the appropriate use of antibiotics, is recommended by the Mayo Clinic.

Stewardship involves not pressuring doctors to give an antibiotic prescription. Instead, doctors should be asked on how to treat the symptoms.

The service also advises that good hygiene should be practised, children should be vaccinated and never take leftover antibiotics or antibiotics prescribed for another person. Additionally, reduce the risk of food-borne bacterial infections by not drinking raw milk and cooking foods at safe internal temperatures.

Connolly also pointed out that while antibiotics will not cure a flu, the virus could still be dangerous and patients should be proactive. At-risk patients (such as the elderly) are recommended to get the flu vaccine which is available in local pharmacies, including DCU’s pharmacy.

Trinity professor Irish drinkers are at high health risk awarded Researcher of the Year

Aoife O’Brien Contributor @thecollegeview

A world leading researcher on nanoscale materials from Trinity College (TCD) has received the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Researcher of the Year 2018 award.

Professor John Boland of TCD and the SFI-funded AMBER research centre received the award for his accomplishments as an SFI-funded researcher who has contributed significantly to the Irish research community throughout 2018 and his career.

Boland came to TCD as an SFI Research Professor following his BSc degree from University College Dublin and PhD from the California Institute of Technology. He has since received three SFI Investigator awards and is Ireland’s first Advanced ERC grant awardee in the Physical Sciences. His current research involves the electrical and mechanical properties of nanoscale materials, and the exploitation of nanoscale connectivity in device applications.

He is a leading researcher on neuromorphic computers, which are predicted to power the next evolution in artificial intelligence and machine learning.

At the core of these computers are nanowire networks, which mimic the singular and multiple connectivity pathways found in the human brain.

They will have the ability to carry out ultra-fast sensory processing, im-

age recognition, and motor control, prompting movement tasks which are natural to the human brain.

“These results point to the possibility of developing and independently addressing memory levels in complex systems, which we expect to have important implications for computers that operate in a more brain-like fashion,” Boland said.

The next goal of the research is to understand how to engineer this single or multi-path behaviour, and to develop systems for cognitive signal processing and decision-making.

On receiving the accolade, Prof Boland said “I am delighted to accept this award from Science Foundation Ireland.

“Being recognised as Researcher of the Year is no small accolade and I am deeply honoured to receive it. Alongside my own work on nanoscale material,s there are many diverse research projects ongoing across Ireland, and it is wonderful to see representatives from those being recognised.”

Acknowledging the 11 award winners, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Ms Heather Humphreys TD, said: “I am pleased to see the outstanding work of the Irish research community acknowledged through these SFI Science Awards…. their discoveries will bring economic growth and societal development in Ireland.”

48 per cent of Irish alcohol users are drinking at a level that is putting their health at high risk.

Lauren Allen Contributor @thecollegeview ALMOST half of the Irish drinking population are at risk of health issues, according to new research by Drinkaware.

The research was launched during the sixth EU awareness week oalcohol-relateded harms and showed that up to 48 per cent of Irish alcohol users are drinking at a level that is putting their health at high risk.

“B&A were privileged to conduct this national study for Drinkaware on Irish adults’ attitudes and behaviours in relation to alcohol,” said Director of Behaviour & Attitudes John O’Mahony.

Short term effects of drinking include disturbed sleep, anxiety and stress, memory loss, blackouts and ex-

cessive mood changes as stated on the drinkaware.ie website.

While drinking over a long period of time can cause serious long term effects such as alcohol dependency, high blood pressure, liver, disease, cancers and mental health problems.

The research was conducted by evaluating the attitudes and behaviours of drinkers. The results revealed that Irish drinkers are concerned about the lasting impact of their drinking habits and patterns with 24 per cent considering it likely that they will have increased health problems in the future if they continue to drink at their current drinking level.

The research also found that 23 per cent of adults do not drink alcohol and 44 per cent drink alcohol on a weekly basis. This is estimated to be around 446,000 of the Irish population.

19 per cent of Irish drinkers con-

Credit: Alison Clair

sumed more than six standard drinks on a single drinking occasion each week in the last year.

Only 2 per cent of people could correctly identify the low risk alcohol guidelines provided by drinkaware. 21 per cent of drinkers think they should cut down how much alcohol they are consuming and this statistic increases to 32 per cent for those under the age of 25.

16 per cent of people have already made small changes to their alcohol consumption. While 74 per cent of people believe that drinking to excess is “just part of Irish culture.”

The findings highlight the extent of our culture’s pre-disposition towards the over-consumption of alcohol. From the results of the study, “an encouraging finding however is the willingness of key target groups to amend their behaviour in the future,” said O’Mahony.

11

Business and Tech

Irish Girl Guides invent sustainable water solutions with Lego Aoife O’Brien Contributor @thecollegeview IRISH Girl Guides (IGG) used Lego Robotics materials to showcase their solutions to tackle the issue of water sustainability at an expedition in DCU on November 17th.

Over the space of five weeks, 200 members of the Brownies, all aged between seven and ten, worked in teams of four to six to research the issue of water sustainability and explore innovative ways to preserve water.

Each team designed, built and programmed a motorised Lego conservation model. They also designed a ‘Show Me’ poster that illustrated diagrams of their solutions and the research they engaged in.

Irish Girl Guides National Programme and Training Commissioner Jenny Gannon said the organisation was delighted to undertake the project with Brownies from Meath, Louth, Cavan, Monaghan, Cork and Carlow.

“Earlier this year 200+ Brownies from Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare took part in the first phase of Irish Girl

Guides Innovatively Engaging with STEM (IGGIES) and it’s been great to give another 200+ Brownies from other counties the same opportunity,” she said.

Dolmen Brownies leader Laura Kirwan, oversaw her unit of 28 girls take part in the expo.

“A new initiative was introduced this year to allow Brownies to earn engineering badges...elements of the (IGGIES) program could be applied to this initiative so it was easily incorporated into the Brownies program,” she said.

IGGIES is a partnership with DCU’s LearnIT and LEGO Education Innovation Studio (LEIS) and is sponsored by Science Foundation IreOver 200 girl guides across Ireland designed land. water conservation models out of lego

Since LEIS was established in February 2017, a programme of annual events for learners in primary, post-primary and third level have taken place, including FIRST LEGO League Jr. LearnIT and LEIS invited IGG to apply for scholarships to take part in FIRST LEGO League Jr 2018/2019 and a team of 18 girls were selected. They now have to prepare projects on space for the exhibition that takes place at the end of January 2019.

Chief Commissioner of IGG and current DCU student Helen Concannon said “The teams travel from all over Ireland to DCU to make use of the wonderful Lego studio. In between, they Skype and communicate virtually to ensure their projects are Credit: The Irish Girl Guides progressing.”

“This partnership has enabled hundreds of Irish Girl Guide members to develop new skills, learn new technologies and work together to solve global issues. Both adults and girls alike have enjoyed the projects and valued the connection with DCU,” she said.

Head of digital learning at DCU’s Institute of Education, Professor Deirdre Butler believes IGG are uniquely positioned to positively affect gender imbalance in STEM disciplines and careers.

“Encouraging these young girls to ask questions about the world, to problem solve, and to use natural creativity through play, creativity, and experimentation we believe can lead to them engaging in innovative STEM related careers in the future,” she said.

President of DCU and Chair of the STEM Education Working Group Professor Brian MacCraith said, “DCU’s Institute of Education strives constantly to be at the vanguard of innovations in learning” and hopes initiatives such as FIRST LEGO League Jr will ignite a lifelong passion for STEM subjects within children at a formative age.”

UCD professor wins Entrepeneur of the Year

Shauna Burdis Contributor @thecollegeview

UCD professor and researcher Eoin Casey was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year at Science Foundation Ireland Awards 2018.

Professor Eoin Casey, the Head of UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering was “delighted to accept the 2018 SFI Entrepreneur of the Year Award” on November 12th at the SFI Science Summit.

The awards ceremony rewards Ireland’s contributions in the field of science, technology and engineering.

Over 350 members of the Irish research community were present at the event. The recipients of the SFI awards are among Ireland’s top researchers in their fields. The Science Summit honour those who have made significant breakthroughs in their areas of work Casey is a principal investigator at the Beacon SFI-funded Research Centre.

He spent one year as a research assistant in the Bioprocess Engineering research group in Vienna, and was appointed as a UCD Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering lecturer in 2002. He is currently

head of the school.

As a leading researcher in water treatment process, Casey developed a new technique for treating rainwater waste which is nearly 75 per cent more energy efficient than current methods used.

In UCD, Casey leads a large research group that focus on the exploitation and control of bacteria biofilms in water treatment process.

According to Casey, receiving the award was a great encouragement for his team to be recognised for the work they had done.

“I would like to acknowledge the excellent and innovative work by the researchers in my group over the years and this Award helps showcases that curiosity-driven research can, in the long term, have a tangible impact on society,” said Casey.

In 2013, Casey co-founded the UCD spin-out company OxyMem with Dr Eoin Syron and Wayne Byrne. It is involved in 30 major water treatment projects worldwide and employs a staff of 25 people.

Funding enabled OxyMem to establish a base in Athlone, Co. Westmeath, where it completed trials of its technology.

In regards to the company’s achieve-

ment, Casey recognised the assistance of the SFI, stating “the commercialisation of OxyMem technology would not have happened without the support of SFI funding research in my laboratory.”

Other awards presented at the ceremony included, Researcher of the Year, SFI Early Career Researcher of the Year, SFI Industry Partnership Award, SFI Best International Engagement Award, SFI Outstanding Contribution to STEM Communication, SFI Best Reported Impact and SFI Research Image of the Year.

Casey and his team presented their advanced technology at the WaterEnergyNEXUS conference in Salerno, Italy last week.

The conference provided an international platform for key topics on water and environmental issues, to be discussed through presentations with natural based solutions and advanced technologies. With the global demand for food, energy and water beginning to rise, natural resources are becoming scarce.

Casey’s research was supported and funded by the SFI, the European Research Council, Irish Research Council, Horizon 2020, Enterprise Ireland and the Industry.

Casey developed a new method of treating rainwater waste

Credot: UCD

12

Naiad win UCD Start Up of the Year award

Alexander Barrett Contributor @thecollegeview A 3-D BIOTECHNOLOGY company

have won the UCD Start Up of the Year award at UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme Awards, netting €32,000 worth of prizes.

Six UCD Start-up companies competed on November 21st at the UCD Nova centre as part of the UCD Venturelaunch programme, which aims to “support the creation and to accelerate the launch, of sustainable and profitable new ventures based on intellectual property emerging from UCD.” Naiad is a UK-based company which focused on a liquid based 3d bioprinter which will help researchers fabric 3d tissue models

that better mimic the complexity of human tissue, from the schools of Biomolecular Science and Physics.

The start-up companies, Illumino, Gogii, Naiad, Output Sports, Pace-Man and Proveye are seeking €6.5 million in funding between them. Each made elevator pitches to an audience of prominent members of Ireland’s industry, tech and business communities as well as representatives of many state agencies.

Kogii are currently developing a smart bike light, with the intention of reducing accidents involving cyclists by monitoring the environment around the bike and triggering different lighting patterns to maximise visibility. One of the founders is a PhD student in the school of computer science.

Illumino are developing a light therapy and sleep-aid technology with a virtual window, from the UCD school of Psychology and the school of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy.

Output Sports created a single sensor to track multiple components of an athletes performance by “combining rich data sets, signal processing and machine learning to assess all components of athletic performance using a single wearable sensor to create systems, built on a foundation of scientific validity”.

Pace-Man is an adaptive training and racing platform to aid runners in training and pacing for races, all through a single app. They also allow training for a specific event, such as London Marathon.

ProvEye is are working on advanced software to analyse photos taken by drones to help farms make more informed decisions, coming from members of the School of Biosystems and Food Engineering.

They were judged by an external examination panel, and the winner Naiad received a cheque for €10000, alongside a professional services package to the value of €10000 as well and an incubation space at NovaUCD, valued at over €12,000.

Naiad was founded by Professor Brian Rodriguez and Assistant Professor Emmanuell Reynaud.

Technology model to launch in three Dublin secondary schools Niamh Quinlan Contributor @thecollegeview A NEW school model, Pathways in Technology (P-TECH), will launch in three schools in north-east inner-city Dublin to provide the students with more opportunities in the workforce and access to third level education.

The P-TECH model is a six-year public education initiative that combines secondary school education with elements of third level education and work experience such as apprenticeships.

The model is designed to give participating students the qualifications and work experienced required to get employment in the digital economy or as an aid to move on to further or higher education.

Three schools in Dublin’s northeast inner-city sector will take part in the pilot initiative, Larkin Community College, Marino College and St Joseph’s CBS. The programme has no entrance exams or requirements and the starting stage of entrance will be open to second year students.

P-TECH was first developed in Brooklyn, New York in 2011 to create a link between second level, third level and career in IT. The

Varadkar hopes communities will benefit from increased opportunities to access third level education

model was created with the intent of giving public schools access to jobs in private industries.

These industries partners back the programme and the students to give them more working opportunities.

In Ireland, the three secondary schools will work with the National College of Ireland as the first third level partner. IBM, Virgin Media and Cisco are among some of the initial industry partners who

will back the programme.

Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh, said at the launch and announcement of the programme on Friday November 16th that these students are “getting a unique opportunity through the pilot P-TECH model.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar also expressed his delight at the model being launched in schools in this area.

He hopes that “the entire community will benefit” from the student’s

Credit: MerrionStreet.ie

participation.

Enrollment for the model opens in March 2019 and the first classes of the pilot will begin in September of that year in the three participating schools.

Ireland houses many of the top technology firms in the world including Apple, Facebook and the European Headquarters of Google.

Business and Tech

3,000 people attend Dublin Games Festival in RDS Mark Sheridan Contributor @thecollegeview THE Dublin Games Festival took place on November 24th at the RDS, where up to 3,000 gaming enthusiasts attended the convention, making it the biggest event of its kind in Ireland.

The festival featured a variety of multiplayer video games such as Fortnite, League of Legends, Overwatch, Rocket League, CS:GO and Smash Bros. 4. Teams of players competed on the day for cash prizes of up to €2000.

John Romero, creator of games such as Doom and Wolfenstein, made an appearance at the event. Romero held a Q&A and meet-and-greet before challenging fans to beat him at his own game in “Doom Deathmatches”.

The main event festival-goers watched the various tournaments play out live, as up to 100 gamers battled it out for cash prizes. Tickets for the Fortnite and Overwatch tournaments sold out in advance of the date itself, the former filling up within a week of box office opening.

For those interested in the pageantry and roleplaying aspect of it all, prizes for best cosplay were handed out across four categories – Pro, Intermediate, Beginner and Judge’s Choice – with winners taking home a €1000 prize.

In a novel showcase of domestic talent, over 30 Irish streamers played live to an audience, demonstrating not only their individual aptitudes but the appetite for gaming-based entertainment and esports in Ireland.

The Dublin Games Festival organisers seem committed to fostering this potential, having held the more industry-focused Dublin Games Summit in July of this year.

The rise of esports as not only a phenomenon but a legitimate sport has escalated in the last few years, facilitated by streaming services such as ‘Twitch’ which allow for an interactive experience in which professional gamers can broadcast their skills to a vast audience.

ESPN featured streamer Tyler Blevins, otherwise known as ‘Ninja’ to his fans, on the front cover of their sports magazine.

This marks the first time an esports personality has received such mainstream coverage.

Blevins rose to prominence playing Fortnite, a free-to-play online multiplayer game, on Twitch and broadcasting it to his followers, which now number over 12 million.

Fortnite itself attracts around 78.3 million players per month, according to publisher Epic Games.

Opinion

13

Keep your filthy laws off my silky drawers

Bringing up a person’s underwear in rape trials as an indication of their consent is ridiculous and degrading, writes Orla Dwyer.

Orla Dwyer Opinions Editor @orladwyer_

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sing a person’s underwear in a rape trial to insinuate their consent is outrageous and should never be allowed. The recent Cork trial in which this occurred is a reminder that it needs to come to an end.

The case involved a 27-year-old man accused of raping a 17-year-old girl in a laneway in Cork. He was found not guilty of rape at the trial in November.

The case drew attention from all over the world and protests were held across Ireland with participants holding up their underwear and signs saying: “This is not consent.”

The underwear was brought up by barrister Elizabeth O’Connell in her closing address to the jury in the trial, according to the Irish Examiner.

“Does the evidence out-rule the possibility that she was attracted to the defendant and was open to meeting someone and being with someone? You have to look at the way she was dressed. She was wearing a thong with a lace front,” O’Connell said.

Protestors in Dublin holding up their underwear after the Cork trial verdict.

Would a man’s underwear ever be shown in a rape trial? A lawyer would never stand up and say in court: “You have to look at the way he was dressed.

He was wearing a pair of boxer briefs.”

The type of underwear a woman wears does not reflect her status of

consent. A hint of lace is not a verbal agreement. Although the reaction has been uproarious around the country and world, it is another reminder that issues surrounding consent still exist.

In 2016, a Eurobarometer survey showed that 9% of Irish people be-

Credit: Niall Carson / PA/AP

lieved a person voluntarily going home with somebody or wearing “revealing, provocative or sexy clothing” justified sex without consent, according to TheJournal.ie. People may disagree with using underwear in court, but it is still pertinent to remember that clothing in

any form is not indicative of consent.

The rugby rape trial in Belfast earlier this year also drew controversy over the way in which it was dealt and a recent review has been published about the handling of sexual assault cases in Northern Ireland as a result. In this case, the alleged victim’s underwear was also brought forward in front of the court, according to the Irish Times.

The hashtag ThisIsNotConsent has been used by people across the world showing their underwear online. Ruth Coppinger TD also held up a thong in the Dáil to further the message. As a result, real change is being considered.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said on This Week in Politics that “we have asked a very eminent person to examine, particularly around the rules of evidence as to what kind of evidence can or cannot be admitted in court”.

There should have been no need for any protest or uproar because it should have never been allowed in the first place to use underwear as evidence of consent in court.

Although outrage at this sort of thing is good and necessary, real change is needed in the courts system in terms of not allowing underwear to be used as a proof of possible consent. A lacy thong does not equal a consensual yes.

Tackling gender imbalance from the ground up Funding for women-only professorships is an excellent initiative but more work needs to be done in earlier education, writes Aine O’Boyle.

Aine O’Boyle Deputy Arts Editor @ainyerrrr

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new initiative has been introduced to tackle gender imbalance within professorships in Irish universities. If the education system needs to be reformed, it needs to begin at the grass-roots level with girls and young women being encouraged into areas in which they are currently under-represented.

The government will fund a project worth over €6m that allows for female-only candidates to apply for a professorship in particular sectors. The initiative was announced in November

by Minister of State for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, and aims to create up to 30 posts for female senior academics.

The ‘women-only professorships’ have been the subject of much debate over the past week as people question whether or not it is the best solution to eradicating gender imbalance in academia. As it currently stands, women make up just over 50 percent of university lecturers but only count for 24 percent of professors in Ireland.

The seven Irish universities have welcomed recommendations of the

Gender Equality Action Plan 20182020 and have “[committed] to working with the Department of Education to accelerate progress in gender balancing” according to Director General of the Irish Universities Association, Jim Miley.

This plan recognises that certain sectors within universities require extra measures to ensure adequate female representation among senior academics, for example, areas such as engineering and science will see ‘fe-

male-only’ professorships proposed.

Among other measures to be adopted by the plan is the ambition to achieve gender balance among the pool of candidates considered for all academic positions, where quotas are not met, candidates will also be head-hunted by third-level institutions.

The main argument currently unfolding on this issue is that the discrimination of men is being used to eradicate the discrimination of women.

As it stands this argument is valid but flawed, as the main reason for this in-

itiative being proposed is to eradicate gender imbalance within disciplines significantly lacking in female representation.

Engineering will be a discipline affected by the female-only recruitment as it currently only has 15 percent representation of females in academic positions. The same rigorous processes of selection and recruitment will remain in place for these female-only professorships that exist at present.

The initiative will attract female academics at the top of their game into

Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor announced funding for women-only professorships

Credit: Karl Jordan on IrishMirror.ie

positions in which they are currently underrepresented. The opportunity for men to progress within academia will not be hindered, it is simply an introductory measure to ensure a culture of equal opportunities is created to benefit future generations of academics.

It is estimated that without the introduction of female-only professorships, it would take two decades to achieve gender balance in senior academia with an increase of one or two percent success rates in female professorships. The female-only initiative simply just accelerates this ambition, so that one day, equal opportunities will be the norm.

Despite these being positive developments within academia, the issue of under-representation of women stems from further down the educational path - post-primary school. Within the secondary school education system, an emphasis is placed upon certain subjects as being more suited to girls than others.

Many all-girls schools don’t even offer subjects such as engineering or construction studies, this discourages young women from these disciplines from the early stages of their education. For a reformation of the education system to work, it should start from the ground up with young girls welcomed and actively encouraged to join areas in which they are underrepresented.

14

Opinion

Is it wrong to wear the remembrance poppy?

The remembrance poppy is a controversial choice for Irish people to wear, writes Cáit Caden.

Cáit Caden News Editor @AreYou_Caden_Me

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Canadian doctor was in a Belgian field just over 100 years ago and was surrounded by death when he noticed a bruised shaped, vibrant red flower growing around the bodies.

After the Second Battle of Ypres during World War I, Dr John McCrae wrote one of the most famous war poems to date called Flanders Fields, in which the poppy flower was prominent.

Consequently, the poppy became the British symbol to remember World War I and the lives lost during it as the poem was apparently first published in a British magazine. In the relationship between Ireland and Britain, it also became a contentious symbol.

Flanders Fields also bled into Irish culture and gets a special mention in one of the most beloved songs on the Emerald Isle Come Out Ye Black And Tans. Although the song is not specifically about the poppy, the reference in this particular song is indicative as to why there is hostility around Irish people wearing the poppy during the buildup to Remembrance Day. The tension

has definitely heightened since Irish football player James McLean refused to wear the poppy.

“I admire him for that,” said Canon Peter Campion at last year’s annual Service of Remembrance in Dublin’s St Patrick’s Cathedral.

Campion added that he himself wears the poppy to remember his “grandfather and his two brothers fought in World War I.” He continued during the sermon to say that McLean is a “national hero” for choosing not to wear the poppy.

Ever since moving to England to play League football in 2011, McLean from Free Derry has refused to wear the poppy on his shirt unlike other Irish celebrities such as Graham Norton.

However, there is not as much conversation about Norton, another Irish man actually wearing the poppy than there is about McLean not wearing it.

From this it appears that Ireland has no problem expressing respect providing it is returned. The reason McLean is respected by many for not wearing it is because by doing this he shows his remembrance for the lives lost due to Ireland’s heated relationship between Britain, particularly in the North. If we can respect the Irish wearing it then the British need to respect our right not to wear it.

The red remembrance poppy has been a cause of controversy in Ireland.

Mclean stated that “if the poppy was simply about World War One” he would “wear it without a problem.”

“It stands for all the conflicts that Britain has been involved in. Because of the history where I come from in Derry, I cannot wear something that represents that,” added McLean when explaining why he refuses to wear the flower.

Ireland contributed to one of the most famous wars in history, however for years our contribution was overlooked which could have added to the animosity towards the poppy.

Campion talked in his sermon about his grandfather and granduncles saying that “upon returning from World War I” they “did not receive a hero’s welcome in Ireland, quite the opposite. He was

Credit: Wikimedia

often derided and scorned for his decision to enter the British Army”.

Ireland is lately showing its pride for Irish people’s contribution to the war by erecting monuments all over the country from Mayo to Dublin where recently a statue soldier made of metal was unveiled to commemorate World War I.

Is veganism achievable for everyone?

Going vegan is becoming more and more normal, but Clara Kelly questions whether everybody can afford to do so.

Clara Kelly Deputy Opinions Editor @Clarabkelly

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ow more than ever people seem to be turning away from meat eating and looking toward a plant-based lifestyle, but is veganism manageable for everyone?

Veganism undoubtedly has many benefits, from health-related reasons to environmental ones, but it can be difficult to actually maintain.

It can have long-term positive health benefits and it means less risk of ingesting harmful antibiotics or hormones from livestock, as well as avoiding animal welfare abuses and eating in a way that doesn’t use as many environmental resources.

Veganism can be cost-effective for some but good alternatives are not always easy or affordable to find.

It is easy to see why people would want to move towards a vegan lifestyle when we look at the injustices a meatbased diet can inflict. The way we treat animals is objectively unfair.

Such as it being EU standard that non-profitable male baby chicks can be ground up alive or the many animals abused through the dairy industry, animal testing in the beauty industry or even the treatment of mammals in

Credit: Alison Clair

places like SeaWorld.

When you combine that with the environmental reasons for becoming vegan, it becomes hard to reason against it. Especially when looking at the fact that animals raised for food produce approximately 130 times as much excrement as the entire human population, meaning it often ends up in lagoon areas eventually flooding into rivers and lakes.

However, veganism can often forget the many people who simply cannot afford to not eat animal products, for many different reasons.

From allergies, medical conditions, people who live in food desert areas devoid of many healthy options, and those who simply cannot afford it monetarily.

A vegan diet might not be expensive if you just consume vegetables, fruit, lentils and nuts, however this could be a very difficult transition to make if you’re used to sustaining yourself on cheap meat-based foods.

Yes, a carb-heavy vegan diet is possible but through eating things like potatoes, pasta, vegan alternatives and junk food replacements, but not everyone can afford to do this.

There are foods like Oreos that are cheap and already vegan but only a very small percentage, brands like Ben & Jerry’s do offer dairy-free substitutes but these alternatives are not affordable for some.

Places like Aldi and Lidl also have dairy-free ice creams among other vegan ranges at more reasonable prices but not everyone has access to these type of shopping facilities nearby.

For some low-income families, it is simply not manageable to shell out extra cash, time or resources on sustaining a vegan lifestyle, when it seems more affordable to grab the quicker and cheaper options.

Food availability would go up by 23 percent according to a US National Academy of Sciences study as humans could then eat the plants used to feed the animals, there would be more food available for everyone and an increase in humans getting certain vitamins.

Although, this neglects to discuss how blaming individuals for not being vegan could seem redundant when it’s the large-scale corporations who are contributing most of the harmful impacts.

However, a vegan lifestyle could also lead to developmental problems with infants and create a deficiency in calcium and other vitamins that we currently get from animals.

It would also ignore people with allergies and medical conditions which make veganism near impossible for them.

Veganism is undoubtedly very beneficial for numerous reasons, it just may not be manageable for everyone.

15

Gaeilge

Dea-bhéasach i gcónaí

Pléann Róisín Ní Chuillinn an difear ar fud an domhain ó thaobh dea-mhúineadh

Bus Átha Cliath

Róisín Ní Chuillinn Príomh-fho-eagarthóir @thecollegeview

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m Béising bhí troid idir tiománaí bus agus paisinéir. Thit an bhus isteach san abhainn Yangtze agus bádh na paisinéirí ar fad.

Tá an scéal seo dochreidte dúinn mar Éireannaigh. Fiú nuair atá daoine óga ar meisce ní bhíonn siad drochbhéasach dona tiománaí bus.

Nuair a bhí muid ag fás aníos in Éirinn chuala muid na rudaí céanna arís agus arís eile. Tá Daidí na Nollag ag coimeád súil ghearr ort. Téigh go hAifrinn. Bígí béasach. Bígí deas le do thuismitheoirí, do dheirfiúracha, do dheartháireacha, do mhadra, do chat.

Deir “go raibh maith agat” agus “más é do thoil é”.

D’athraigh gach rud. Is cuma linn faoi thuairim Dhaidí na Nollaig. Tá an Eaglais Chaitliceach sa tír seo scriosta.

Credit: Mikey Walsh

Bíonn argóintí againn le chéile faoin teilifís, faoin airgead, faoin síobanna atá ag teastáil ag 3 a chlog ar maidin.

Ach sin an gnáthrud i ngach chlann.

Ach, seasann rud amháin amach, an píosa moladh is tábhachtaí. Deirimid “go raibh maith agat gach am a thógann muid an bhus.

Go stairiúil sa tsochaí in Éirinn tá ceannairí agus na daoine a leanann iad go dílis: sagairt, múinteoirí, dochtúirí, Gardaí. Ach is iad na gnáthdaoine a fhaigheann an chuid is mó den mheas sa lá atá inniu ann; an tiománaí síob amháin atá ag fanacht ar Shráid Grafton, an tiomanaí bus ar an 13 a thagann in am nuair atá tú faoi bhrú traein a fháil. Dar le Aoibhín Ní Fhionnagáin, mac léinn Gaeilge i gColáiste Phádraig tá dea-bhéasa agus buíochas tuillte go maith ag an tiománaí bus. “Ní fhaigheann na tiománaithe bus leath an mhéid buíochas gur cheart dóibh a fháil. Is post deacair é lán le strus.

Bíonn siad ag déileáil leis na milliún daoine achan lá.”

Laochra neamhghnách inár dtír?

Bhuel, gan amhras déanann cuid de na tiománaí i bhfad níos mó ná atá luaite sa sainchuntas poist. “Ná déan dearmad ar na mic léinn a mbíonn ar meisce gach oíche ag dul chuig na clubanna oíche ag canadh ‘The Fields of Athenry’ ar bharr a nguthanna. Cad faoi na turasóirí nach bhfuil focal Béarla acu. Tá sé deacair ar na tiománaithe cumarsáid a dhéanamh lena leithéid.

An bhfuil sé an rud céanna i dtíortha eile. An léiríonn daoine meas do na tiománaí bus nó an bhfuil rud fíor Éireannaigh é? Ní thógann sé ach nóiméad amháin as an saol. Tá sé soiléir nach raibh na béasaí céanna léirithe ar an mbus i mBéising roimh an timpiste thragóideach thuas luaite. Tá na heachtraí seo ag méadú gach bliain sa tSín. De réir tuairisc ón “Justice Big Data Institute” bhí 223 cásanna cóiriúla a bhain le paisinéirí agus tiománaí, go hiondúil faoi shonraí fánracha- táillí agus na háiteanna a bhfuil an bus ag stopadh mar shampla.

Cad faoi Mheiriceá? Tá ionsaithe ar thiománaí bus in Atlanta ag dul i méid de réir staitisticí nua. Tá méadú soiléír i Nua Eabhrac freisin. Tá na tiománaí bus dúdhoite de. Níl siad sábháilte ina n-áit oibre.

An bhfuil páistí i 2018 go hiomlán drochbhéasach nó an bhfuil an líne idir ceart agus mícheart ag athrú? An bhfuil níos mó saoirse acu nuair a bhí againn nuair a bhí muid óg? An bhfuil droch-thioncar ag an mheáin, ag clár teilifíse, ag gutháin cliste ar na páistí.

Gan dabht ar bith, bíonn tionchar acu ar an gcaoi a n-iompraíonn daoine óga iad féin.

Ní bhíonn tuismitheoirí agus páistí ag caint le chéile ag am dinnéar, nuair a bhíonn siad ag taistil sa ghluaisteán fiú nuair a bhíonn siad ar laethanta saoire chon “sos” a thógáil ón saol gnóthach.

Tá sé deacair an difríocht idir ceart

agus mícheart, maitheas agus olcas a thuiscint nuair atá tú ag féachaint ar scáileán lá i ndiaidh lae, seachtain i ndiaidh seachtaine, bliain i ndiadh bliana.

Tá sé deacair a bheith béaseach nuair atá tú ag foghlaim nósanna ón gcarachtair sna cláir teilifíse a bhfuil tú gafa leis. Tá a lán buntáistí ag baint leis an nuatheicneolaíocht, gan dabht ar bith ach tá sé fíor tábhachtach béasaí agus nósanna a spreagadh. Úsáideann páistí forainm a máthair in ionad “Mam”. Úsaideann siad forainm a ndearthair in ionad “Dad.” Sna Gaeilscoileanna, tá an chuid is mó den mhúinteoirí ag úsáid a bhforainm in ionad “Sir” nó “Ms”. Tá muid críochnaithe lena laethanta lán le heagla agus gothaí.

Tá gach uile duine ar an leibhéal céanna fiú na páistí inár sochaí. Blianta ó shin, bhí eagla ar pháistí nuair a bhí a n-athair sa chistin. Ach, anois tá siad in ann caint leis ar leibheáil céanna. Tá siad áblta a dtuairimí féin chur in iúl.

Níl siad dofheicthe anois.

An bhfuil áit don chúirtéis in aois a bhfuil muid ag iarraidh comhionannas deiseanna? An bhfuil sé fós ar an bhfear an bille a íoc tar éis béile blásta? An bhfuil sé air doras a oscailt? An bhfuil sé sean-fhaiseanta, rud a dhéanann níos mó dochair ná maitheasa? Ach, tá rud níos tábhachtaí ag fáil bás inár sochaí.

Ní chuireann daoine a suíocháin ar fáil do dhaoine atá gortaithe, ag iompar clainne nó faoi mhíchumas. Tá seandaoine ag seasamh ar gach bus, gach

traein, gach Luas. Níl sé cothrom ar chor ar bith.

Tá orainn dea-bhéasa a mhúineadh.

Tá orainn dea-bhéasa a léiriú. Is sampla iontach é an “cheers” a deir tú leis an tiománaí bus. Tá sé tabhachtach é a choimeád in aigne an Éireannaigh.

Is rud Éireannach é an “cheers” nuair atá muid ag fágáil an bus. Is rud Éireannach é an “Are you busy?” nuair atá tú ar an mbealach abhaile ón Coppers I dTaxi. Is rud Éireannach do cheann a claonadh nuair a bhualadh tú le strainséir ar na sráideanna. Tá na rudaí seo, na nósanna seo greamaithe inár tsícé. Ach, bheadh an domhan i bhfad níos fearr dá mbeadh sé na nósanna i dtíortha eile. Leis na hathruithe atá timpeall orainn, tá rud amháin cinnte.

Bí béasach, bí deas, bí cairdiúil. Tá sé fiú níos tábhachtach nuair a fheiceann tú ar an ngráin, leithcheal, ciníochas agus gnéasachas inár domhain i 2018.

Bailíonn brobh beart.

“

Ní thógann sé ach nóiméad amháin as an saol

16

Gaeilge

Rath do Kneecap

Insíonn Ruairí Egan dúinn faoi ghrúpa rap a bhfuil i mbéal an phobail le déanaí Fógraíodh an camchuairt ‘Gael-Gigolos on Tour’ díreach roimh an Oireachtas agus tá an-éileamh ar thicéid go dtí seo, le dáta Baile Átha Cliath díolta amach chomh sciobtha sin gur cuireadh dáta sa bhreis leis nach mór láithreach ina dhiaidh. Is léir go bhfuil KNEECAP ag dul ó neart go neart i bpobal na Gaeilge agus níos faide i gcéin. Coinnigh súil amach an samhradh seo chugainn ag féilte ceoil do bhlas na Gaeilge a chloisteáil trí mheán an rap. Seans maith go bhfuil cúpla focal sa bhreis le foghlaim agat as!

Tá ticéid ar fáil faoi láthair don gcamchuairt ‘Gael-Gigolos on Tour’ ar eventbrite.

Róisín Ní Chuillinn Príomh-fho-eagarthóir @thecollegeview

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e déanaí, sheinn grúpa darbh ainm KNEECAP ag DCU Fest, an chéad ghrúpa riamh ar stáitse sa Venue úrnua.

Ach, is cinnte gur coincheap nua é grúpa rap trí mheán an Ghaeilge.

Cé hiad an grúpa seo agus cad atá ar bun acu sa réabhlóid i saol na Gaeilge faoi láthair? Is iad Móglaí Bap agus Mo Chara an bheirt a bhíonn mar scéalaithe sna hamhráin aoracha atá acu. Is é DJ Próvaí a fheiceann tú ag cúl an stáitse agus a chuireann an ceol le chéile réidh do liricí na beirte.

Eisíodh ‘C.E.A.R.T.A.’, an chéad singil a bhí ag KNEECAP, i Mí na Nollag seo caite. Agus an t-alt seo á scríobh, tá os cionn 120,000 duine tar éis breathnú ar an bhfís atá ag gabháil leis ar YouTube, éacht mór cinnte.

Is as iarthar Bhéil Feirste do KNEECAP a d’fhás aníos le hiarmhairtí na trioblóidí le feiceáil ina mbaile dúchais agus iad timpeallaithe leis an aighneas atá fós suntasach sa lá atá inniu ann. Déanann siad cur síos ar an saol atá acu thuas ansin ar bhealach atá taitneamhach, aorach agus cinnte greannmhar. Chomh greannmhar sin gur ndearna cinsireacht orthu ar RTÉ

grúpa rap Kneecap

Raidió na Gaeltachta de bharr ‘teanga gáirsiúil agus tagairtí do dhrugaí’.

Is cinnte gur spreag seo an t-amhrán ‘Incognito’ ina molann siad don éisteoir: “ná f***in éist le RTÉ”. Is as an mixtape ‘3CAG’, a eisíodh ag deireadh Mí an Mheithimh i mbliana, do ‘Incognito’. Is fada an lá ónar feiceadh grúpa nua ag teacht chun cinn trí Ghaeilge le tionchar chomh mór seo. Is féidir rá go cinnte go mbeidh duine óg ar bith i saol na Gaeilge ábal-

Credit: Youtube

ta na liricí do churfá ‘C.E.A.R.T.A.’ a rá leat ar éileamh da n-iarrfá orthu, agus seans maith go mbeadh roinnt de ‘Incognito’, ‘Amach Anocht’ agus ‘Tá na Baggies ar an Talamh’ acu anuas ar sin. Ónar eisíodh ‘3CAG’, tá an grúpa tar éis an-chuid ceolchoirmeacha a dhéanamh, DCU Fest ina measc, agus le déanaí bhí siad ag seinm ag Oireachtas na Samhna, an fhéile is mó i saol na Gaeilge. An rud is mó

nach gceapfá go bhfeicfeá riamh ag Oireachtas na Samhna ná grúpa rap ó Iarthar Bhéal Feirste le hamhráin lán le tagairtí do dhrugaí agus cúpla magadh anseo agus ansiúd faoi na trioblóidí. Ach cé a shiúil ar an stáitse sa bhálsheomra oíche Dé hAoine ach Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara agus DJ Próvaí le lucht leanúna dílseach ag screadadh, dá gceiliúradh agus fiú ag dreapadh ar stáitse ag an deireadh le haghaidh ‘C.E.A.R.T.A’.

“

Is fada an lá ónar feiceadh grúpa nua ag teacht chun cinn trí Ghaeilge

Straitéis nua ag údarás craolacháin na hÉireann Pléann Jay Gorman an straitéis athbhreithnithe um sheirbhísí craolacháin atá ag an BAI digiteach trí thonnta raidió in ionad an tsean bealach analógach.

Freisin, teastaíonn cúrsaí raidió digiteach níos fearr uathu le craoladh idirnáisiúnta a cur ar fáil go héasca.

Oibríonn formhór na stáisiún sa tír le teachtaireachtaí analógach fós.

Tá deachrachtaí le feiceáil sa tionscal maidir le cothromaíocht a coimeád idir an éagsúlacht a theastaíonn uathu agus an taobh gnó de. Tá súil acu déieáil le seo i gcúpla bealach; na costais ceadúnach a coimeád síos, cumarsáid oscailte a coimeád le gach comhlacht a oibríonn siad le, agus ualach rialacha nach gá a laghdú.

Déanfaidh a t-údarás gach iarracht na spriocanna seo a bhaint amach roimh 2022.

Jay Gorman Scríbhneoir @thecollegeview

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‘fhoilsigh Údarás Craolacháin na hÉireann straitéis athbhreithnithe um Sheirbhísí Craolacháin ar an 7ú lá inár dúirt siad go bhfuil craolachán trí mheán na Gaeilge mar aidhm acu, i measc rudaí eile.

Riailíonn an tÚdarás craoladh ar fud na tíre agus cuireann siad toilleadh ábhar ar fáil taobh amuigh de sheirbhísí RTÉ, TG4, srl. Air barr sin cruthaíonn an tÚdarás rialacha maidir le craoladh in Éirinn.

Foilsíonn siad straitéis um Sheirbhísí Craolacháin gach trí bhliain.

Leagann an straitéis amach conas go mbeidh siad ag déileáil lena seirbhísí don céad téarma (cúig bhliain) eile.

Deir siad go bhfuil siad ag iarraidh “Cláir Ghaeilge d’ardchaighdeáin a chothú agus a chur chun cinn”. Ach tríd an doiciméad níl mórán le rá acu faoi conas go mbainfidh siad seo amach.

Go príomhúil, pléann an straitéis pleannana ceadúnach don udarás.

Tá pleananna acu i dtreo próiséas níos tapúla agus níos éasca chun ceadúnachán a fháil a chruthú.

Aidhm ollmhór atá acú ná éagsúlacht a cur chun cinn sna meán.

Credit: Scannain.ie

lógó Údarás Craolacháin na hÉireann

Creideann siad go gcabhróidh an straitéis go mór le seo agus beidh siad ag cur stáisúin nua raidió tráchtála ar fáil taobh amuigh de réigiún Baile Átha Cliath mar pháirt de sin.

Mar pháirt don éagsúlacht seo tá siad ag lorg réimse leathan tuairimí agus guthanna ar an aer. Beidh pleanana ceadúnach curtha le chéile ag tabhairt ard ar an sprioc seo de réir an straitéis.

Rinne comhlacht neamhspleách taighde ag féachaint ar threochtaí

margadh agus ag déanamh iarracht smaointí a cur le chéile faoi todhchaí an margadh agus cad a bheidh ag teastáil ón Udarás sa chéad tréimhse eile. Thuig an staidéar seo go bhfuil athraithe taghtha i dteicneolaíochtaí agus i ndaoine.

Tiocfaidh athraithe maidir le teilifís agus raidió ag leanadh an taighde seo, chomh maith le cúrsaí gnó agus airgeadais.

Cuirfidh siad béim ar éisteoirí óige agus iad ag lorg deiseanna nua raidió.

Ceapann siad go mbeidh fás mór go leor i gcúrsaí podcraoladh agus titim bheag in éisteoirí raidió beo thar an chéad cúig bliain eile freisin.

Tá titim ag teacht ar líon na ndaoine ag féachaint ar teilifís bheo ach níl dochar mór tagtha dó. Beidh teilifís bheo fós an príomh bealach teilifíse i 2022 ach caithfidh siad á suas le hathraithe sa mhargadh.

Go teicniúl, tá siad ag lorg DTT a cur I bhfeidhm sa tír. Is éard is brí le sin ná teachtaireachtaí teilifíse

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Cláir Ghaeilge d’ardchaighdeáin a chothú agus a chur chun cinn

Features

All work and no play

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70 per cent of students work part time to fund their third level education and everyday expenses.

Róisín Phelan Deputy News Editor @_roisinphelan

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hen you picture a ‘student lifestyle’, the appeal of nights out, student accommodation and freedom springs to mind, but behind the scenes this ‘freedom’ comes at a cost.

According to the Irish Examiner, nearly 70 per cent of students work part time to fund their third level education and everyday expenses.

For many students the burden of working part-time and doing well in college is tough to balance. Unknowingly to themselves, the balancing act of college and part-time work becomes less of a refined art and more of a juggling act where assignments, lectures and study fly aimlessly above head, waiting for the chance to fall apart.

For Aisling Murray, a student at Marino Institute of Education, this sensation is all too familiar.

“Juggling commuting 20 hours a week, being in lectures and placement for 21 hours a week and working, give or take 25 hours at the weekends is really tough going,” she told The College View.

Costs for students vary in type and amount but they exist in some form for all students. For students that commute like Murray, who takes four buses a day to get from Dublin to Wicklow, there is a continuous cost that has to be paid for somehow. This cost led Murray to take a part-time job in a bar.

Although the late night shifts enable her to earn just enough money to cover her daily expenses, such as her transport costs, they unfortunately don’t pay for as much as one might expect.

Maeve Gallagher, a DCU student, has to battle the cost of accommodation in Dublin alongside the cost of fees and social expenses. For Gallagher, this cost forced her to work over 30 hours a week last semester.

“It probably nearly killed me and I definitely burned myself out come summer,” she explained.

“My focus was too much on the money I was earning to pay for college and not enough of my time was spent actually going to college. It’s a massive contradiction,” she added.

In many cases fitting in part-time work means sacrificing time for recreational activities such as nights out and society events.

“I turned down a lot of society events and trips to be able to work which limited my engagement in student life,” Gallagher explained. She said this lead to feelings of isolation.

The ultimate aim is to find the perfect balance between work and college. Working enough to afford college but not working so much as to lose the point of it.

Lucien Waugh-Daly, a DCU student, has found the key to balance in finding the right job. He said that his part-time job on campus is as “con-

venient as you can get” and means that he can “make it from a lecture to a work shift in minutes.” Crediting the generous flexibility of his workplace, he has been able to still enjoy society activities and involvement.

Although, this sort of convenience is rare, Waugh-Daly raised the point that having to balance work and college has forced him to increase his productivity.

“I’ve started to value my free time outside of class and work a lot more,” he added.

Melanie Mynhart, a Carlow Institute of Technology student, agreed with this sentiment saying: “I feel like I work better under these pressures at times, but it is very tough juggling it all.”

This opinion is reflected in a study done by The National Centre for Education Statistics. It found that on average students who worked one to 15 hours per week got better results than students who didn’t.

It may be theorised that these better results are a consequence of

many things, with the most important being the relief of having a steady reputable income. As well as the experience and skills that are learned in the

workplace, which may not be taught in college.

Working under pressure and under the rule of management is an example of one of these claims, both valuable skills that will benefit students when they take part in internships or pursucareers after their degree.

“

Like the majority of students, not working is not an option for me.

Marita Burke, a Carlow College student felt that working in a petrol station has made her more personable and said, “I feel like working and meeting the public has actually made me a confident person and I could keep a conversation going about the weather all day.”

Though the benefits of working part-time are clear, they do not extinguish the stress it puts on students who are already attending lectures and working on assignments and exams.

Aoife Gawley, primary teaching student described how the looming stress felt.

“It’s definitely stressful because every time I’m at work I’m thinking of all the work I could be doing for my course.”

Working part-time has its benefits, yet working part-time on top of coursework is stressful. At the end of the day, for most students these facts have no impact on whether they work part-time or not. Whether students like it or not, if they want to go to college, they have to earn money.

DCU student Niamh Dunne put this fact simply.

“Like the majority of students, not working is not an option for me.”

Whether part-time work and college work are balanced is a priority that

Credits: justlanded.com

falls far behind the need for a sustain-

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Features

Lecture notes, lullabies and nappies Students with children perhaps carry the heaviest burden out of us all

Students who have children are often overlooked by university supports.

Gabija Gataveckaite Deputy Editor @gabysayshey

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he image of the typical student is associated with heavy books, overdue assignments, spontaneous nights out and little money.

However, not many think of students who also happen to have a child on their hip, who also needs to be fed, changed, bathed and clothed.

While student parents are often overlooked, their struggles are often double that of a regular student- the priority is often not the assignment that is due the next day, but caring for a child.

Childcare is often the biggest worry for any parent, student or not. Earlier this year, Minister for Transport Shane Ross proposed a €1,000 annual payment for grandparents who care for their grandchildren, nicknamed the ‘granny grant’. This saw backlash from the childcare sector, as créches claimed a lack of funding for the childcare sector was proving difficult to sustain themselves.

On the student front, student parents are often forgotten about and universi-

ties tend to not prioritise these students.

Most Irish universities, including DCU, have créches on campus both for staff and students, but there is little other support for students who have children.

Lauren Byrne had her son, Hyland, when she was 15. Hyland is now four years of age and this motivates his mum to get a third level education.

“Since becoming a mother, I was more determined to go to college than ever, I want to set a good example for my boy and act as a role model for him,” she told The College View.

However, setting this example is easier than it sounds. Byrne admitted to experiencing many struggles in her studies. Currently, she studies social care in the Liberties College but wishes to do psychology instead.

“I find it really hard to find a college with an access route because I didn’t get enough points in my Leaving Cert,” she explained.

Finding the best course isn’t the only barrier to a third level education- childcare poses many challenges for her as a single mother.

“There have been a lot of doubts on my mind recently, I really struggle with childcare as Hyland doesn’t qualify under a scheme because he attends an Irish créche in the morning and a different créche until I get home as the Irish one finishes at 1.15pm.

“On Mondays in college, I leave to collect Hyland and drop him to the other school and then go back to college, which I find really stressful,” she added.

Full-time college courses prove little

Credit: Deirdre Kelly

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It’s impossible in final year to dedicate yourself when you have a child possibility to look after children while at college. The only solution is child care; however, this comes at a hefty price.

“This year Hyland didn’t qualify for extra funding, which meant I had to get a job to help pay for childcare because it’s €92 a week just for the evenings in his English créche,” Byrne explains.

“Having to juggle college work and home life is even harder this year compared to last year as I had more support in college last year,” added Byrne.

“The college I am in now doesn’t really offer much support, but my tutor said if I need an extension to let her know, which is helpful,” she added.

When her son was younger, small necessities like breastfeeding proved to be a struggle. “I breastfed Hyland when he was younger and I had a small room at the side of the office that I could use to express milk at lunch, I couldn’t have received enough support when he was younger,” she recalled.

Byrne believes that colleges have room for improvement when it comes

to catering for student parents. “They could catch up more with students who have children and make sure they are okay and provide a time where they could work on their assignments in college because it is extremely hard trying to do college work after being away from your children all day,” she explained.

For DCU journalism student Sean Power, becoming a father meant putting his studies on hold. Leaving his wife at home to take of their baby during the day when he was in college was unsustainable, which led to him deferring his final year.

“When my wife got pregnant I originally planned to do final year this year, we moved to Arklow, County Wicklow, over the summer and I planned to commute,” Power told The College View.

“I attended my first day of final year and it was very difficult. I had to travel and [my wife] was isolated at home as she doesn’t know anyone in the area.

So at the moment, she’s gone back to work and I’m a full-time daddy,” Pow-

er laughed.

He advises young couples to wait off until graduation before planning a family.

“It’s impossible in final year to dedicate yourself when you have a childand it’s not fair to leave one parent with the child either,” he said. “I would advise waiting until you’re finished and have a job to start a family.”

Even though fatherhood has meant putting his studies on hold, Power has enjoyed the break from college.

“It was tough when we lived in Dublin as I had to juggle college and work and I had no break. I’ve now had time to get to know my daughter,” he added.

The crèche at DCU provides a ‘professional day-care service for infants and young children of students and staff’, according to the Student Support and Development website. The fees for the 2018/2019 academic year are as follows: €923 per month for ‘babies and wobblers’ and €858 per month for ‘toddlers and Montessori children’.

However, full-time students who wish to use the crèche on a full-time basis may obtain a subsidy from the Student Financial Assistance Fund, which is means tested.

Power admits that childcare costs, once he returns to college, will be one of the main sources of worry for him.

“I’m definitely worried, I’m uncertain when I can go back to finish the degree as I’d say we’ll have to save up for a year before I can go back,” he explained.

“I definitely want to finish the degree though, because I don’t want all my hard work to go to waste.”

Sport

DCU do the business in Euromasters

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A team of DCU Business Students competed at the Euromasters in Germany, winning the Basketball title.

Gerard Grimes Sports Editor @gerardgrimes11

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team of DCU business students travelled to Germany recently, competing in the WHU Euromasters.

The WHU Euromasters is Europe’s biggest sports event for Business Schools and is organised by WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, based in Vallendar, Germany.

DCU had teams in four competitions, men’s soccer, men’s basketball, mixed relay race and cheerleading, winning the basketball title.

“I was one of the organisers for this year‘s Euromasters which is the biggest sports event for business schools in Europe,” DCU’s Benedict Feyer told The College View.

“Every year, the event takes place in Vallendar with over 2000 students and is organised by the WHU, a wellknown German university.”

“It was the first time that DCU got accepted for 4 different competitions, soccer, basketball, mixed relay race and cheerleading,” Feyer said.

The basketball competition saw 14 teams compete against each other for the title, which DCU won, while the soccer tournament had 24 teams competing for the trophy.

The relay race saw two men and two women from each team run two consecutive 400 metre laps each on a

course that ran along the banks on the River Rhine.

The cheerleading competition on Saturday evening then brings an end to the competitive side of Euromasters.

The 2018 Euromasters took place between Thursday, the 8th and Saturday, the 10th of November. The DCU team flew to Germany on Thursday,

“We came first in the

group stage in soccer and basketball with competitions beginning the following morning.

“We flew to Frankfurt on Thursday during the reading week where a shuttle organised by WHU transported us to Vallendar, where all the different universities met for the first time.

“After checking-in and dancing to some live music, we already went to

bed quite early since the competitions started very early on Friday morning,” Feyer said.

On the Friday, DCU won the group stages in both soccer and basketball and later competed in the mixed relay race near the River Rhine.

“Friday was a very successful day in all competitions. We came first in the group stage in soccer and basketball.

“In the evening, the relay race took place near the River Rhine and a rowing competition between other universities,” Feyer explained.

Saturday saw the soccer team’s competitions come to an early end, as they lost to the eventual Swedish finalists while the basketball dominated, going unbeaten as they won the competition, with results such as a 46-14 win over TUM from Munich.

“On Saturday morning, the soccer team got beaten by the finalist SSE (Stockholm School of Economics) and the basketball team beat every other

university without any problems.”

“In the basketball final we faced ESADE, a university from Barcelona, which was very close, but a deserved victory,” Feyer said.

“We’ve been told by WHU that overall we made an amazing impression and that they would like to have us there again next year.”

“All the students were very grateful for the opportunity and had lots of fun and don’t want to miss it next year,” Feyer said.

The DCU team have been told by the organisers that they would be welcomed back to the competition next year and also received an invite from Maastricht in the Netherlands to the Royal’s Cup. “Even some people from Maastricht have invited us to the Royal’s Cup, another sports event, in May.” “However, I’ve already told them that DCU students have their exams during that month,” Feyer said.

Volleyballers fail to spike victory

Benny O’Regan talks about the clubs performances in the recent Indoor Volleyball Intervarsities. versity Ulster in the semi-final before losing 24 points to 10 to Cork IT in the Plate final.

When talking about Irish volleyball in DCU, O’Regan said “The reliance on Erasmus students comes from young children not being exposed to the sport at a young age like they are with sports that are on grass like GAA or soccer.

“DCU are not in the Volleyball All Ireland League because a lot of the time we deal with a revolving door of new people, it’s not an Irish based sport.”

O’Regan stated that Irish volleyball is not even near the same level as other European countries such as the French, the Italians or the Spaniards who come out of proper schools and clubs who live for the sport and also have a much larger population.

“All you need is one team to make something special happen

Conor Breslin Contributor @thecollegeview

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CU Volleyball will return to the drawing board and hope to rebuild on their recent defeats at the Intervarsities

DCU Volleyball at the Intervarsities

indoor championship in UCD at the weekend.

While the DCU Ladies team powered their way to the Plate final and finished in 5th place overall, the DCU Men’s team unfortunately ended their weekend in second last place with defeats to UCD, DIT, Carlow IT, and GMIT, securing just one victory over

Credit: DCU Volleyball / Facebook

Tallaght in a last place match.

The DCU Women’s team on the other hand got off to a shaky start drawing all their pool matches against Trinity, Sargent’s College and NUIG, losing their first sets to all three teams.

According to DCU Volleyball coach and Irish international Benny O’Regan he claimed it was better that the Wom-

en’s team were put into the Plate and not the cup because the UCC team looked like they were never going to be stopped as they walked their way to the cup final with a team made up of mostly US and Canadian All-Stars.

DCU ladies luckily overcame Athlone IT by one point in the quarter final, coming from behind to defeat Uni-

DCU now will play a tournament in Kilkenny on the last week of November in their final competition before the college closes for Christmas.

In early 2019 they will take part in the UCD Mixed Blitz which is a competition made up of 24 teams before preparing themselves for the Junior and Intermediate Championships later in the semester.

“We try and partake in as many matches and competitions as we can.

“The sport in DCU hasn’t truly developed much in my time here but all you need is one team to make something special happen,” said O’Regan.

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Sport

O’Sullivan raises the bar with three records Aoife O’Sullivan talks to The College View after setting 3 new Junior national records.

Hugh Farrell Deputy Sports Editor @HughFSports

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he IPF Juniors & Masters National Championships finished earlier in the month with DCU’s Aoife O’Sullivan placing first in the female U23.

O’Sullivan is a member of DCU Powerlifting and set 3 new Junior national records.

She talked on the result and said “It felt absolutely deadly. That was my final competition competing as a junior competitor so to leave the juniors with the squat record, deadlift record and overall total record is a pretty deadly feeling. It’s the best feeling in the world when hard work pays off.”

“I’m always driving myself to become stronger and when the results show I’m literally on cloud 9!,” O’Sullivan said.

“It’s been tough with training the last few months as I’m working almost a full time job while doing my masters so dragging myself to the gym late at night has been a struggle to say the least. All those late nights training paid off for sure.”

“Unfortunately I have been training pretty much fully alone for the last few months since starting my masters and the job. I had two training sessions with my coach about a week and a half out from the competition.

“When you have a crazy busy schedule you have to just fit training in when it suits you and make the time for it yourself,” O’Sullivan told The College View.

The big issue here for her was the lack of accompanying guidance during a session.

“Not having my coach there to tell me what I am doing wrong was a big bummer.

“Also training did become quite difficult at times when you have nobody there to push you during those sessions when the gym is the last place you want to be.

“I really had to dig deep to find the motivation during those hard training sessions. Not being able to see my coach over the last few months has definitely affected my progress,” O’Sullivan said.

“Progress has most definitely been slower than it should be and what I would like it to be as a result. Nonetheless I have still been improving and

Aoife O’Sullivan

that’s all that matters.

“I really would love to get out to the group training’s but sadly I just cannot fit it in 99% of the time. My masters and job are my priority right now,” O’Sullivan said.

The difficult preparation wasn’t the only speed bump for O’Sullivan, she also suffered an injury in the lead up to the competition.

“I was actually injured going into nationals which I just competed in approximately two weeks ago. I got three bad falls on the same knee (very unfortunate) approx three weeks before the competition.

“Pretty sure I fell once on each separate week. Let’s just say I’m rather clumsy!

“I was literally limping on one leg about 9 days out from the competition and didn’t think I would be able to compete.”

“I went for a few physio sessions and got some dry needling done and that definitely helped a bit. The knee miraculously held up on the day,” O’Sullivan said.

“I think there was so much adrenaline running through my body that it almost mentally blocked out the pain.

Credit: Irish Powerlifting Federation / IPF

Also two years ago I was meant to travel to South Africa for the World University Powerlifting Championships but I had to pull out last minute due to a back injury.”

“The injury was totally self inflicted as I had done a severe cut for a competition and was extremely dehydrated.

As a result some of the muscles in my back ended up spasming up and it was not pretty to say the least.

“I also had a stubborn lingering ankle injury that affected me for a while but that sort of went away on its own accord.

“Thankfully other than that I have been lucky enough that I have avoided most major injuries.

Despite the recent success, O’Sullivan has realised the act of juggling the competitive element of power-lifting with work and college.

“To be honest the extremely competitive side of the sport is over for me.

Any competitions I do from now on will just be to see where I am at with my own training. I will continue to lift more so for my own enjoyment now more than anything.”

“Moving up to the seniors is a different ball game altogether and unless

you have a lifestyle that allows you to devote the time that you need to training and also to go and train in a team environment, then excelling at senior level is extremely difficult.

“I had an absolute heap of fun in my time as a junior and I am extremely grateful for every opportunity that

year but I have turned down the invite as I will not have time to train properly for it.

“I also have a lot of imbalances that I need to work on so I am now taking a bit of an off season to work on those.

“All going well (work and masters wise) I intend on doing Intervarsities

“I’m always driving myself to become stronger

arose, but for now I am at a different stage in my life where I have to prioritise work and my masters.”

While she won’t be competing any time soon, O’Sullivan intends to keep up her passion until she returns.

“I have been invited to compete at Nationals as a senior competitor next

next year so I’m really looking forward to that. It’s always great to compete for your university.”

“Powerlifting is more so a lifestyle for me than anything. It helps me keep structure in my week and allows me to always ensure I take time out of my day to focus purely on myself.”

Sport

DCU rookie fencers impress in Cork

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DCU Fencing captain Brigita Armonaite speaks to The College View about their performance in the Schull Novice Cup.

Gerard Grimes Sports Editor @gerardgrimes11

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CU Fencing recently took part in their first competition of the year, travelling to Cork to compete in the Schull

Novice Cup. The Schull Novice Cup is a competition for beginners who have less than two years fencing experience, with DCU having seven fencers competing.

“Every fencer must have a total of less than two years of experience to give beginner fencers a chance to fence people of a similar skill level,” Brigita Armonaite, captain of DCU Fencing Club, told The College View.

“We were all very pleasantly surprised in the end. In total, we had 3 female fencers and 4 male fencers competing at the Schull Novice Cup. “The highlights of the weekend came from our men’s and women’s épéeists during the poules. Kevin Ledwith was ranked 6th out of 23, and Clodagh O’Donnell was ranked 3rd out of 17.

“Both fencers were total beginners,

DCU Fencing competing at the Schull Novice Cup

so naturally we were all absolutely delighted with their results,” Armonaite said.

The club itself have a mix of beginners, the likes of whom competed in the Schull Novice Cup, along with more experienced fencers.

Most fencers in the club are beginners though, largely due to fencing not being a very common sport.

“We have a good mix of both total beginners, and experienced fencers.

Fencing isn’t a very common sport unfortunately, so most of our fencers are absolute beginners.

“As a result, our coach runs our weekly lessons by starting everyone from scratch,” Armonaite explained.

Credit:Jehdil Dizon

Armonaite explained what their lessons consist of, from a warm up, fencing moves, to practice bouts.

“The first few lessons of the year consisted of the absolute basics: a proper warm up, footwork, the correct fencing stance, lunges, and how to parry and riposte (a defensive action followed by a counterattack).

“The lessons end with a series of practice bouts, where beginners get a chance to try out what they learned, and observe more experienced fencers,” she said.

DCU do have fencers who fenced before coming to college, and Armonaite explained the role they can play in the club and the level of competition

they compete at.

“We also have a few more experienced fencers who have fenced for years before college. It’s always fantastic to have them around simply due to the invaluable advice they can provide.

“They also represent DCU at higher

“

Our main goal at the moment is to work towards the Intervarsities

level competitions, and at the Intervarsities,” Armonaite said.

The Intervarsity Fencing Championship, held in March in NUIG is the biggest event of the year for DCU Fencing, while they are also looking to host their own competition, The Winter Blade.

“The biggest and most exciting event of the year by far is the annual Intervarsity Fencing Championship, which will be hosted by NUIG in March.

“Having attended the Fencing Intervarsities for the past two years, I can definitely say that this particular competition is a must for any student fencer,” Armonaite said.

“Other than that, we’re looking forward to the two Novice Cups in Maynooth and Galway, and the East of Ireland Open.

“We’re also interested in hosting our own competition, The Winter Blade, however that is still a work in progress at the moment,” she said.

Club captain Armonaite explained that their main goal is currently working towards the intervarsities, in NUIG, a competition DCU have performed well at previously.

“We have a fantastic coach, and a great team lined up.”

“We feel quite confident about our experienced fencers, and are excited to see how they’ll perform in future competitions.

“Our main goal at the moment is to work towards the Intervarsities. We have performed quite well in the past, so here’s hoping.”

Trampolining success for DCU Claire O’Connor talks to The College View about the club and the recent intevarsities in Cork.

Eoin Harte Deputy Lifestyle Editor @EoinHarte98

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hile trampolining may be seen as a daunting sport to some, co-captain of the DCU Gymnastics and Trampolining Club Claire O’Connor has urged beginners to come along and join the club.

While O’Connor understands the apprehension potential newcomers might have, she explains that most people in the club are relatively inexperienced themselves.

“Well a lot of people see, when they’re in the gym doing TRX, they see everyone flipping around the place.”

“There’s more beginners than there

are people who are experienced, my co-captain she’s a novice as well, so that’s like the basic level and everyone asks at sign ups ‘do you have to be good at it’ no, not at all,” O’Connor explained.

While O’Connor has been involved with gymnastics for many years, she had never experienced trampolining before coming to DCU. “I’ve been doing gymnastics for a good few years and I started coaching when I was like 16 but I had never done trampolining.”

“Then I joined in 2nd year in college and in 3rd year I did my first competition and in this year, in final year, I decided to go for captain.”

The club competed in the intervarsity tournament in University College Cork a fortnight ago, with competitors from six different colleges attending.

“Friday is just podium training so you’re getting used to the trampolines

“

They see everyone flipping around the place

DCU Gymnastics & Trampolining competing in Cork

in the different venue,” O’Connor said.

“Saturday is you have an individual competition for yourself and then there’s a second bit for tumbling, which is like the long kind of acrobats, which is more like gymnastics side.”

“Then on Sunday its synchro which is a lot of fun because you’re on this trampoline and someone else is on the other one and you do a routine synchronised, and then there is DMT which is a

mini-trampoline where you do just two tricks,” O’Connor explained.

“We brought home a good few medals compared to the other clubs and we promote it hugely as a bonding weekend, because November is the start of the year for most people joining cos people don’t come to like week five and week six.”

While it is mainly women in the club, there are men involved too and

Credit:DCU Gymnastics & Trampolining

tend to do quite well according to the club’s co-captain.

“Women do better at novice which is the lowest, cos there’s a lot of control and then men do really well at the top ones because you’re really throwing yourself into it.”

“Men don’t really fear as much on the trampoline as women, so they do a lot better at the higher levels.”

SPORT

INSIDE

DCU Gymnastics and Trampolining Club co-captain Claire O’Connor speaks to The College View after their intervarsity tournament in Cork.

Athletics on the winning road in Maynooth DCU claimed their 15th Irish Universities Road Relay Championships Title recently in Maynooth.

Ian Brennan Podcast Editor @IPJBrennan97

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CU Athletics had another strong showing at the 2018 Irish Universities Road Relay Championships in Maynooth.

DCU retained the Overall Universities title for the 15th time, underlining the dominance they have had since Director for Athletics Enda Fitzpatrick took charge in 2005.

The college had five women’s teams competing that finished in the top ten, coming in 1st, 4th, 6th, 7th and 10th, with the winning team setting a new record for the course since it was changed in 2015.

The men’s teams finished in first, second and third with the fourth team finishing just outside the top ten in 11th.

The phenomenal result for DCU in the men’s race is the first time a college has been present on all three steps of the podium in the Road Relay.

Michael Carey, who ran the DCU ‘B’ Team that finished second, was ecstatic with the performance of both teams.

“The championship was a fantastic day for DCU and by winning both titles in the men’s and women’s races, DCU regained the Overall Universities title for the 15th time.”

Carey also recognised the signif-

icance of what the men’s team had achieved. “This has never been done before by DCU or any other college and is a massive triumph for the college,” he said.

“The event demonstrated the strength of Athletics within DCU and the calibre of athletes within the college, none of which would be possible without the constant hard work and commitment from the athletes’ coaches, our women’s coach Anne Buckley, and especially that of our Athletics Director Enda Fitzpatrick.”

Fitzpatrick himself was full of praise for both the men’s and women’s teams

“

I don’t think that will ever be achieved again that competed, noting in particular the men’s result.

“A 1, 2, 3 in the Men’s competition highlights the depth of the program and where we are.”

He also gave thanks to those who travelled to support the athletes who were running.

“We have a real team ethos, which I think is huge. We had supporters who weren’t running who came down to

DCU Athletics after winning the Road Relay title.

support the team which is huge,” told The College View It was more than just the athletes who travelled to support those competing that Fitzpatrick had to thank, though.

“Thank you to their coaches, our club supporters, loads of parents travelled to the event and they witnessed a historic day for the college.

“I don’t think that will ever be achieved again, where you do a 1, 2, 3.

That would be most unlikely that that would ever, ever happen again.”

Credit: DCU Athletics

Fitzpatrick was also optimistic for some of his athletes that have a chance to qualify for the European Cross-Country Championships in Tilburg in The Netherlands.

Athletes compete in the National Cross-Country Championships in the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown on November 25th for a chance to make the team and travel to Tilburg to represent Ireland in Senior, Under 23 and Junior levels.

Many of the men’s team, includ-

ing Brian Fay, Andrew Coscoran and Conor Duncan will be hoping to make the senior team, according to Fitzpatrick, with others like Jamie Battle and Cormac Dalton also looking to make the trip to Tilburg.

On the women’s team, athletes such as Avril Deegan, Una Britton and Emma O’ Brien will also have a chance to impress at the National Cross-Country Championships in Abbottstown in order to book a ticket to the Netherlands.

D Archery On Target For Success DCU Archery won six medals at the recent Intervarsities in Carlow.

Hugh Farrell Deputy Sports Editor @HughFSports

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CU Archery took home six medals in the Carlow IV competition in I.T Carlow on the 11th of November.

The DCU team had three gold and three bronze medal winners individually in the event with the compound and mixed teams placing first and the recurve team placing third.

This was the first in a set of five IV events to take place over the indoor season. Four of these competitions will count for final scoring, with DCU hosting one.

One of the gold medalists, Niamh Merry, was competing in her first competion in over a year.

“It was my first indoor competition in over a year and I managed to set a new Personal Best score of 555 (out of a possible 600) and came first in my category, so I was really pleased with that.”

DCU Archery in action at the Intervarsities.

“We’re all really looking forward to DCU’s own IV this weekend and hoping to achieve an even better result than in Carlow.”

Merry was also competing with a shoulder injury during the competition.

“There was a stage when I wasn’t sure if I should continue shooting. So,

“

Everyone on our team is extremely talented

Credit: DCU Archery

I was honestly really glad that I even managed to make it to the end of the competition.”

“Although I feel like I could have done better had I not been dealing with an injury, I was really happy to score as well as I did.”

Kealan O’Connor, who also won

gold, is a new addition to the team and spoke highly of the competition.

“First of all the competition was brilliantly organised by Carlow themselves, they took good care in making it as professional as possible.”

“It was my first indoor competition and my first competition with the DCU team,” O’Connor said.

“This was an amazing experience for me as everyone on our team is extremely talented,” “Even though I’m only new to the team I felt as if I was already a welcome member of the team,” O’Connor told The College View.

“Overall I myself performed quite well taking to gold medal for my category, a position I hope to hold for the upcoming shoot on Saturday in DCU itself and ultimately the league as a whole.”

The second event took place in DCU at the weekend, with all scores being added on as the series continues.

Results from the intervarsity leg taking place in DCU were not available at the time of writing.