The College View Issue 6

Wednesday, December 12th, 2018

thecollegeview.com

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All teachers want for Christmas is a Gaelteacht grant Cáit Caden News Editor @ AreYou_Caden_Me A national campaign to get a Gaeltacht grant for student teachers was launched by the Union of Students (USI) Ireland on December 4th.

Following the launch of the #GaelFees campaign, DCU Students’ Union will join the ‘All I want for Christmas is a Gaeltacht grant’ rally outside the Dáil on December 13th, organised by the USI and Conradh na Gaeilge, to oppose the Gaelteacht fee for student teachers.

“We already have the second highest fees in Europe,” said USI Vice President for Gaeilge Aoife Ní Dhéisigh, who spoke to The College View about the extra finances some students have to pay on top of this such as placements, work materials and expenses to go to the Gaeltacht which is mandatory for many student teachers.

“For primary teachers, you’re talking two terms probably at a cost of €1,500 per term,” said Ní Dhéisigh and added that some secondary school teachers “have to spend two months in the Gaeltacht to register with the teaching council.”

Primary teaching students must go to the Gaelteacht in first and third year according to the USI Student Teachers Placement Report. In this report, 89 per cent of current students and 79 per cent of graduates state that the compulsory Gaelteacht fee is too high.

In 2012, the Department of Educa-

Media Production Society raised just over €8,000 during this year’s annual DCUtv 24 hour broadcast which was in aid of the Aoibheann’s Pink Tie charity.

Credit: DCU MPS

tion abolished the subsidy for Gaeltacht Placement which eased the financial strain on students. In 2017, 42 per cent of student teachers considered dropping out of college due to financial pressure, according to the above report.

The cost of going to the Gaeltacht is “ridiculously expensive,” said final year student teacher on St Patrick’s campus, Katie Breen.

For the campaign, the USI created a petition to get students directly involved with trying to bring back the Gaelteacht grant.

“I was talking to teachers that graduated a decade ago and they said it

was subsidised so they’d only be paying like €250 for it,” said final student teacher Philip Kiernan about the financial support for going to the Gaeltacht which used to be provided to student teachers.

“We’ve done a cost analysis on this.

It really would only cost the State €2 million to bring it back so it really is just a drop in the ocean,” said DCUSU Vice President for Education and Placement Craig McHugh.

McHugh said the if the government brought in a Gaeltacht grant it would be more of “an investment” instead of “a cost”.

This issue was raised in the past during parliamentary questions by the USI, however the then Minister for Education, Richard Bruton “had no interest in this,” according to Ní Dhéisigh.

Ní Dhéisigh added that Bruton said money was not available for the grant.

“I’m hoping that we’ll be quite fortunate in that the fact that we have a former minister [ Minister for Education Joe McHugh] for the Gaelteacht in the position now. He really does have a passion for the language that’s quite clear and especially as its Bliain na Gaeilge, it would be absolutely brilliant to see more investment in the lan-

guage,” continued Ní Dhéisigh.

Although they are not connected, the campaign comes after DCU’s first Student Appreciation Day. “We got an email there about the Gaelteacht and fees for that, and he’s (Craig McHugh) is telling us all about marches and stuff and everything for student teachers, but it’s a bit late for us cos we’re finished. I think certainly this year, I’ve seen more of an effort put in to looking into the lives of student teachers and really just their place in DCU,” said Kiernan.

AN additional €75,000 was allocated to the DCU Counselling Service budget to contribute to the establishment of a line for DCU students to contact 24/7, 365 days a year, said Director of Student Support and Development, Dr Claire Bohan The new service, launched on November 19th, aims to provide students with the opportunity to call at any hour and schedule an appointment with a counsellor near them within three days.

Bohan said the service could also provide “potentially immediate access

to a counsellor” if needed. She said after hours counselling has never been something they were able to do, and weekends and nights were a period of concern.

The pilot programme which has been in the making for six months is the first of its kind among Irish universities.

“The new service will be of huge benefit for DCU students and will do a huge deal for the waiting times that currently exist,” said DCU Students’ Union VP for Welfare and Equality Aisling Fagan.

“This service will also help our students who go out on placement in particular who may be based in a different county and who can’t access services

they might need between the hours of 9-5,” she said.

As of Friday, November 30th, 100 of the 170 people that were on the waiting list to see a counsellor have been given appointments. Bohan said that they wanted to ensure those already waiting were seen to as soon as possible.

DCU have hired an organisation called Inspire Students, which in turn, hires offsite counsellors, who would have their own practices. The management of the service is through the Head of Counselling, Helena Ahern.

“We have a counselling network throughout the entire country,” said Bohan. She said the initiative would be especially beneficial for students on

placement who don’t have direct access to the counsellors based in DCU. “If a student is on teaching placement in Kerry they potentially have a counsellor on their books that they can access in Kerry.”

Queens University in Belfast has a similar system, however, its based on outsourcing. Bohan said they were keen to keep the system within DCU. The Counselling Service currently has 12 counsellors on site some part-time, some full-time. Students receiving offsite counselling will receive the same, free service that onsite counsellors offer, said Bohan.

“All of them have access to and information about and training about all

of our services here in the institution,” she said.

Bohan said GDPR issues set them back by around two months, however, they have completed the process with full compliance.

She said other institutions will be watching to see if the initiative is successful in reducing waiting lists. “I can’t but think it has to help,” she said.

Bohan said the issues with waiting lists come at “peak” times. “It’s the peaks that we wanted to deal with and that’s kind of the big thing here”.

She said the service will aim work around the needs of the DCU student body: “If they need more they will take on more”.

Features

Sports

Opinion

Gaeilge

News

Happy little pills

DCU Karate kick it up a notch Page 24

Controversial Iceland ad did more good than harm Page 13

Laura Loomer agus toirmeasc Twitter Page 16

Online physiotherapy service to be rolled out in Ireland Page 9

DCU launch 24/7 counselling service to tackle waiting lists

Emily Sheahan News Editor @emilyaine_s

Page 17

Editorial

2 INSIDE The Hype

Editor-in-Chief Callum Lavery

Film/TV You’re a nice one, Mr.Grinch Read on page 7

Food

Grub Guide: Wishbone Read on page 14

Editor’s piece Music

Mumford and Sons new album impreses fans at exclusive listening party Read on page 3

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 edit: Michael Walsh

Production editors: James Nolan & Rachel Halpin Features editor: Gabija Gataveckaite Deputy features editor: Ciara O’Loughlin Arts editor: Aoibhín 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, Róisín Phelan, Sabrine Donohoe, Clara Kelly, John Morley, Eoin Harte, David 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

Follow our journalism online:

Facebook: The College View Twitter: @thecollegeview Website: thecollegeview.com

T

Having a vocation does not mean being exploitable.

hose who decide to pursue difficult fields such as nursing, teaching etc… are often said to be drawn to the position, have a calling to it or say that their career choice is a vocation.

However, way too often their enthusiasm and eagerness to undertake these important careers is abused and appropriated as a willingness to do so with little pay and much less thanks. Such is what we are currently doing to the student nurses and teachers within Irish universities, who are feeling more uncaredfor than ever before.

We simply cannot allow these brilliant students who wish to pursue such challenging future careers to struggle economically at the level we are currently allowing them to do so. In this week’s College View news editor Cáit Caden and sub-editor David Kelly have both written pieces on the struggles and challenges these students face.

From Caden’s coverage of St Pat’s students seeking their ‘Gealtacht Grant’ to alleviate the costs of young student teachers and their planned march for assistance tomorrow, December 13th.

To Kelly’s piece on students nurses being asked to work 35 unpaid hours a week with nothing but €20 in commuting expenses to support themselves.

As these nurses say themselves, they are now being forced to pay to work for free. Working part-time jobs to support their full time unpaid hours.

The good fortune we have to have such hard working individuals still entering the job market of such difficult, important sectors despite the lack of gratitude they receive is astounding, while the fact that our government and our universities refuse to assist these students is baffling.

DCU nursing student Emma Murphy said in Kelly’s article “We’re paying €3,500 to work for free. It’s something like 1,200 hours we’re doing this year, and then we get a €20 travel check, which is just a slap in the face.”

As we approach the end of term and the christmas period and enjoy our break from deadlines and assignments. We acknowledge that nobody will appreciate this time of respite more that the young student nurses and teachers returning from a chaotic placement.

We hope that they are able to rest up and are praised before returning to working for free in fields we as a nation have continually underappreciated.

This is our last edition of the year here at The College View we would like to thank our staff, contributors and readership for a successful first term and look forward to continuing to share the student voice online over the holidays and in print in the next term.

Enjoy your time off, good luck in your exams and Merry Christmas.

3

News

Postgrads go an entire semester without an elected Officer on the SU

Cáit Caden News Editor @AreYou_Caden_Me STUDENTS’ Union extended the nominations for the Postgraduate Officer by-election until Monday, December 10th.

Postgraduates have not had an elected Officer represent them during Class Rep Council (CRC) for the entire semester as the previous officer elected had to relinquish his role in August.

“We do not know why the by-election for the position has been delayed until now,” said DCU Postgraduate Society Vice Chair Sean Quinn.

The new officer was announced on December 11th, during the fourth CRC. Out of 400 class reps, there are 31 postgraduates reps. As the byelection is taking place at a CRC, “postgraduate students will only have 8 per cent of the say in who is elected their representative,” added Quinn.

Therefore undergraduates will be electing the Postgraduate Officer by majority vote.

Peter Brennan was elected the Postgraduate Officer during last year’s SU elections however his contract finished with DCU and could not keep the position, according to the DCU Postgraduate Society.

He “gave notice of resignation on 10th September, before the academic

term commenced, for resignation to be effective on the 24th of September,” they continued.

“I think it’s disgraceful. There are so many decisions being made that will affect postgraduates, especially at the beginning of the year by various Bodies, that the position should have been filled as soon as the previous Officer stood down,” said former Postgraduate Officer Allan Stevenson.

DCUSU Returning Officer Podge Sheahan emailed the student body of DCU late in November about the byelection. Voting originally closed on December 6th.

Sheahan was unable to give a comment to The College View before publication.

The Postgraduate Society released an official statement to this newspaper about the lack of representation they get during a CRC. It stated that they are under the impression that “this issue has not been seen as a major problem and has been delayed until the end of the semester, despite the fact that the postgraduate officer is the only postgraduate representative.”

“Postgraduate students represent roughly 20 per cent of the student population in DCU and have only one representative on the students’ union,” the society stated.

The Postgraduate Society also provided a screenshot of an email

Postgraduates have gone an entire semester without official representation during Class Rep Council

notification about the third CRC, in which it an upcoming postgraduate election would be announced. Class reps were given less than 24 hours notice to attend.

The agenda for this CRC did not say this issue would be addressed, “so there was no appropriate opportunity

to prepare a motion or query the decision not to allow postgraduates to vote for their representative,” the society continued.

The society also expressed concerns about how the role of Postgraduate Officer, which involved “a considerable amount of work (6-8 hours per

Credit Alison Clair

week, an estimate that only accounts for meetings and not including the others tasks involved in representing students).”

They believe this “is not a viable alternative for the proper representation of postgraduates.”

New module to be introduced to increase student’s grades Brian Mahon Contributor

@thecollegeview

A new type of academic module, which can discount lower grades received from continuous assessment in favour of a better result in an end-ofterm exam, will be introduced by DCU from next September.

The module type will have a continuous assessment element to it, to encourage participation in classes.

Poor grades received during the continuous assessment period of the module will not harm a student’s final grade.

A student who can demonstrate in the final exam that they have successfully understood and can apply the learning outcomes of the module will be able to claim the higher mark from the final exam. The score from the continuous assessment will be disregarded in this instance.

Deputy Registrar and Dean of Teaching & Learning William Kelly confirmed the new module type had been approved by Academic Council and would be introduced for use in the 2019-2020 academic year.

“Suppose I am a student on a maths module and I undertake a class test on, say, solving a quadratic equation and score very badly on that test. This amounts to feedback to me that this is

This new module allows those who are better at continuous assessment or those who are better at exams, to keep the grade for the part they did the best in.

an area that I need to address. I take this feedback on board and set about to improve my understanding of this topic,” said Kelly, when using an example to explain the new module type “If in the final examination, I show clearly that I can solve quadratic equations satisfactorily, should I be penalised by the earlier class test score? The

new module type says no,” he continued.

Kelly said that the overall score for the module should be the better of the final examination mark or the CA and examination mark combined.

“If my CA mark is higher than the final exam mark, I get the benefit of the CA mark; if the CA mark is lower than

Credit: Alison Clair

the final exam mark, the overall score is given by the final exam mark,” he added.

The new module type was discussed at the University Standards Committee on September 6th and approved by Academic Council, the chief decision making body in relation to academic affairs in the university, on October

3rd.

Asked whether he thought this new module type would lead to grade inflation, DCUSU Academic Affair’s officer Callaghan Commons said: “No, I do not think that this will lead to a grade inflation and a decrease in the value of the degree overall as the students who engaged with the formative exercises throughout the semester will still benefit as they always did.”

“The only difference will be for those who struggled with the module content during the semester as they will not be affected by a low CA mark in their overall grade. As a result, their overall grade will be slightly higher than what it would have been without this new module type but not majorly so as the continuous assessment element percentage is so small,” he added.

The module type would only be used in circumstances where the following conditions apply. All the learning outcomes of the module can be assessed appropriately by a terminal examination. The continuous assessment elements of the module address a subset of the module learning outcomes assessed in the terminal examination. Finally, the continuous assessment element has a weighting of 20 per cent or less.

The module type will be reviewed on an ongoing basis for the next three years by the University Standards Committee.

4

News

Held seats to be cleared in Cregan library during busy period Orla Dwyer Opinon Editor @orladwyer_ SEATS held by students and left vacant in Cregan library on St Patrick’s campus will be cleared as part of a pilot scheme launched on December 3rd.

The initiative will take place in the Cregan library until January 18th.

Seats abandoned for more than 45 minutes will be cleared by seat monitors and items will be left in a box under the desk. If successful, it will be extended to the O’Reilly library on the Glasnevin campus for semester two exams.

“We planned a wide-ranging information campaign to flag this campaign in advance… Our staff in Cregan are pleased to report a decrease in people leaving desks vacated,” said Shauna McDermott, Public Services Manager in DCU Libraries, three days after the pilot was launched.

This is the first year such a project has been launched. The library ran a survey last April and a common complaint was students holding seats for hours in both DCU libraries.

“We have hired seat monitors who will patrol the floors during the busiest

A survey showed that a common complaint was students holding seats for hours in both DCU libraries

times of the day, observing if seats are occupied or left vacant with personal items left behind to hold them,” said

McDermott.

“This was a complaint that came through strongly in our recent survey

DCU’s St Vincent de Paul Society sleep rough for homelessness Roisin Phelan Deputy News Editor @_roisinphelan DCU students slept rough for 24 hours to raise money and awareness for homelessness.

Members of the university’s St Vincent de Paul (SVP) society carried out their annual 24 hour sleep out from 12 noon on Tuesday, December 4th, until 12 noon the following day.

Members of the society spent the day and night on cardboard, with only sleeping bags and blankets for warmth, the aim being to mimic to the best of their ability the daily experiences of a homeless person.

The participants spent the full 24 hours outside the Henry Grattan building on the Glasnevin campus.

They told The College View that they, “want to raise money for homeless people and raise awareness for homelessness.”

Though numbers were extremely low on Tuesday afternoon, by the evening they had increased to about eight people.

Members said they expected to be joined by more as the evening progressed further.

The DCU SVP Facebook page informed people that they could, “do as many or as few hours as you want,” and emphasised that they should “Make sure to wrap up.”

The society strategically chose to run the event in conjunction with the Nubar’s weekly ‘Shite night’, in the hopes to catch students on their way to and from the event.

Credit Alison Clair

so we are pleased to be able to react with such a well-planned project,” she added.

DCU exams to be held before Christmas break from 2020 Ciara O’Loughlin Deputy Features Editor @ciara_olo

The students’ aim was to raise both money and awareness for the homelessness crisis.

When joking about being bombarded with a swarm of drunken students, the SVP members said, “that’s the point.”

Donations of food and drink were given to the group throughout the day and night from other clubs and societies, Nubar and DCU Students’ Union to keep the group going.

St Vincent de Paul, “The largest voluntary charitable organisation in Ireland”, has been around since 1844, and carries out several different charity events in aid of homelessness in the run-up to Christmas.

The charity is also involved in DCU’s SU Christmas tree, featured in

Credit Alison Clair

The U. The ‘giving’ tree is already surrounded by gifts that will be given to people who struggle with the costs of the Christmas period.

It allows people to take a tag that gives them a description of the person they need to buy a gift for. For example, a tag that reads ‘Girl 8-10’ can then be replaced with a present suitable for the description.

The total figure raised by the sleepout will be announced on the society’s Facebook page. In the past, they have raised upwards of €1000 and have high hopes to do the same again this year.

Other complaints in the survey regarded library opening hours on the weekend, which has recently increased in both DCU libraries with Sunday openings and extended Friday and Saturday hours.

The scheme was piloted in Cregan as it is smaller and easier to control on a pilot basis than O’Reilly, according to McDermott. The campaign is titled Share the Chair.

Second year B.Ed student Rebecca Tully said she believes students will now be less likely to leave their belongings behind when leaving for a period of time.

“I think people now are more afraid that if they leave their stuff like a laptop or something behind, that when they come back it won’t be there,” she said.

“Coming up to exams and especially now with assignments due, there are certain times where you wouldn’t actually be able to get a seat at all.

Lunchtime or in the evenings in particular,” said second-year B.Ed student Charlene Maguire.

McDermott said they have “already learned many useful lessons in how to run it effectively” which will help to scale it up for the O’Reilly library next year.

THE DCU academic calendar is on the road to change in 2020 when semester one exams will take place before the Christmas break as opposed to afterwards, according to DCU Students’ Union VP for Academic Affairs Callaghan Commons.

“The academic calendar working group is planning on moving the calendar around so that the exams will be before Christmas. If the plans go ahead we will start earlier in semester one but semester two won’t change,” Commons told DCUfm’s Newswire.

“Some students say they enjoy having the extra time after Christmas to study and others say they would prefer to have them before Christmas so that they can enjoy the break,” he said.

The idea was first brought to the SU by the academic secretary last year and has been an ongoing debate since, with members of the academic working calendar expressing varying views on the change.

DCU currently have their semester one exams after the Christmas break in early January. According to Commons, the calendar is currently the way it is to accommodate students who have placements over the break right up until week one of semester two. He said that Science, Arts and all the Education courses have place-

ments like this so the current calendar works out for them.

The change will effect students on placement and it also means that students will only have one study week before exams. However, it will give students a study-free period over the Christmas break.

DCU and Maynooth University are the only two universities in Ireland that hold their semester one examinations after the Christmas break.

“Having exams before Christmas is much better because then you can chill out and enjoy Christmas and not be worrying about exams in January.

Also, the material from the modules is much fresher in your mind,” said Hayleigh Murphy, a Sociology and Politics student in UCD. “I have exams before Christmas and I think it’s way better. At least when you are stressed in December, you know you have a break in January. If I had exams after the break I think I would be stressed right through Christmas,” said Product Design and Technology student in UL, Jasmine Hales.

“Myself, as a science student, I saw the consequences of having only one study week and having assignments up until week 13, you would be drowned in assignments and studying at the same time so it would be quite a struggle. But, I would like to have exams before Christmas to be able to enjoy Christmas,” said Commons.

6

News

Gardaí warn of driving the morning after a session Cáit Caden News Editor @AreYou_Caden_Me AN Garda Síochána, as well as the Road Safety Authority (RSA), have warned all road users of the dangers of driving the morning after heavily drinking the night before.

This year there were a total of 6,890 Driving Under the Influence (DUI) arrests from January 1st, 2018 to November 22nd. Alcohol was involved with 6,483 of these and the rest were drug detections. 1,745 of the arrests this year happened on Sunday morning.

“Please don’t risk it, keep your loved ones and our roads safe this Christmas and New Year,” said Assistant Commissioner of Road Policing David Sheahan when speaking about how drivers ability to drive the next morning could be impaired by alcohol they consumed the night before.

An Garda Síochána statistics indicate that 6 per cent of all DUI arrests to date this year have taken place between 7am and 11am. The highest number of DUI arrests reached 104 and occurred on a Sunday morning. This is closely followed by the second highest amount of DUI arrests happening on Mondays, reaching a total of 90 arrests.

Former paramedic John Clair described one event where he was called out to where he and the rest of his crew had to assist multiple people who were injured in a collision involving alcohol.

“A tourist had turned his rental car on the road to drive back the way he came

Road users are being warned by the Gardaí about the long lasting effects of alcohol in the system.

on the wrong side. Coming against him was a group of motorbikes,” said Clair.

“Within 10 minutes” one of Clair’s patients on the scene went into “cardiac arrest.”

“Of the other four casualties, two were discharged that night. The couple spent the next month in hospital. The man had a broken and dislocated left

Thousands march on anniversary of homeless man’s death Cáit Caden News Editor @AreYou_Caden_Me ON the fourth anniversary of homeless man Jonathan Corrie’s death near the Dáil, thousands marched in Dublin to protest the country’s housing crisis, on December 1st, 2018.

During the protest, which was organised by the umbrella National Homeless and Housing Coalition (NHHC), there was a minute silence to remember Corrie’s death.

“I was there because I wanted to see the people who are taking action against this crisis. I’m a student who’s paying upwards of 9 grand for my accommodation in Shanowen [a purpose built student accommodation complex opposite DCU), I want to see the people who are helping stop that extortion,” said DCU science student Daniel Cox. Approximately 10,000 people took part in the march, which is estimated to be the amount of people currently homeless in Ireland this Christmas.

Child homelessness has risen to 35 per cent since Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy first took office, according to an article by The Journal.

Various other groups marched alongside the NHHC including the Union of Students Ireland (USI), People Before Profit, Inner City Helping Homeless,

the Irish Traveller Movement and more.

“I was there near the end of the march so I only saw two speakers but they were both great. TJ Hogan was a great speaker as he talked about the difficulties the travelling community are facing in this housing climate,” said Cox. “Travellers consistently get a raw deal in Ireland, and now with everyone being affected by this, they are once again feeling one of the hardest blows to their community,” he continued.

Ailbhe Smyth was another speaker at the march who spoke about the amount of homeless children who are writing to Santa for Christmas this year with no address to put down, on their letters, to deliver presents to.

“This is a housing crisis that doesn’t just affect students, doesn’t just affect people living rough on the street and doesn’t just affect travellers. It affects everyone in one sweeping go and that’s why we have to join together and fight this as a group,” said USI Vice President for the Dublin Region, Colm O’Halloran.

“When people come together to fight for things they get change,” he continued.

In March of this year, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar declared that the homelessness and housing crisis is a national emergency, in front of an Oireachtas Committee.

shoulder, he also had fractures to his left tibia, fibula and ankle. The woman had bilateral fractures to her wrists and two fractures in her spine,” said Clair.

“The driver of the car was unhurt but was found to be over the limit even though he had not had a drink for five hours since lunch,” added Clair.

“Drink driving is a behaviour that

Credit: Deirde Kelly

must no longer be tolerated in our society and for that to happen people need to know all the facts,” said Chairperson of the RSA Liz O’Donnell.

“If you have been on a drinking session the night before and got to bed very late you could still have alcohol in your system,” she continued.

Although many road users are aware

of the dangers of driving the night of consuming alcohol, Director of the Medical Bureau for Road Safety Professor Denis Cusack believes “some people often overlook the potential dangers of driving the morning after drinking the night before.”

DCU Ability Scheme introduced during Diversity Week Alison Clair Images Editor @aliclair_ A new scheme called DCU Ability was introduced during Disability Week with the aim to better equip people with disabilities for the world of work.

The DCU led project, alongside St Michaels House Services, aims to build skills and confidence and improve the employability of people with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 29.

Dr Deirdre Corby, a spokesperson for the project, from the school of Nursing and Human Sciences said: “If people have got a block or a barrier that they are facing trying to find employment we are going to help with that. It is going to be a 12-week programme, where each person will get an individual assessment to see what they need to improve on, in order to give them a better chance at finding a job.”

Young men and women with disabilities are eligible to apply to participate once they meet certain criteria. These include being a recipient of the disability or invalidity pension, in receipt of illness benefit for more than three months and attend DCU’s Disability & Learning Support Service or St Michael’s House Services.

These could include both graduates of DCU or undergraduates who are going to be looking for employment in the near future. Alongside this scheme being introduced across all three cam-

. DCU celebrate this year’s International Day of Person’s with Disability during diversity week by lighting up the DCU sign purple as part of the Purple Light Up campaign.

puses in DCU, they are hoping to offer this initiative nationally. This means young people may also be referred to the project by other organisations that support young people with disabilities.

Anne O’ Connor, the Head of Disability and Learning support services in DCU welcomed the idea and stated she thinks “it is a wonderful initiative and is key to ensuring our graduates are supported to ensure they get the most out of their qualification here in DCU.” Catherine Gallagher, a final year student in DCU who has scoliosis said she welcomes “the news of this new programme.”

“I am happy to hear that this is also

Credit: Cait Caden

more of a ‘person-centred’ approach.

Employment for people with disabilities is one of the biggest challenges at the moment. We talk a lot now about the rate of unemployment overall going down, which is great. However we don’t talk about unemployment for people with disabilities,” she continued.

The project was launched during Diversity week in DCU, which took place December 3rd- 7th . Diversity week is a dedicated week where different events are held to celebrate the mix of backgrounds and cultures of the students in the university.

News

DCU launch ANAM Festival 2019 with preformance from Little Green Cars

Shauna Burdis Contributor @thecollegeview

DCU’S ANAM cultural arts festival was launched on Thursday, December 6th with a live performance from Little Green Cars.

The Irish indie band officially kick-started the festival in the U Student Centre to a packed audience on the Glasnevin campus.

The band also took the opportunity to encourage students and staff to get involved in DCU’s ANAM Talent Search, which urges students to audition for an opportunity to perform at the upcoming festival in April.

Speaking at the launch of the event, President of DCU Students’ Union Vito Moloney Burke said that ANAM “will see many students get involved, either as a performer, helper or promoter and further engage the student body with the North Dublin community around us. We are all truly excited to see an exhibition of culture displayed from DCU’s brightest and most passionate

DCU’s ANAM festival for music, drama, film, literature and poetry returns on April 3rd and 4th 2019.

talent.”

DCU’s ANAM festival for music, drama, film, literature and poetry returns on April 3rd and 4th, 2019. It is a two-day celebration of culture hosted across DCU’s three campuses, the Glasnevin campus, St Patrick’s campus and the All Hallows campus. The fes-

Java Café goes under construction

The cafe was in need of an upgrade as it hadn’t been renovated since 2014/2015 and is used extensively by students

Rachel Halpin Production Editor @RachelHalpin_ JAVA Café on DCU’s St Patrick’s campus is set to go under renovations to upgrade and refresh the social space, said DCU Chief Operations Officer Declan Raftery.

Work will start in early January and they hope the renovations will only take four weeks and will end in late January, though may keep going on until early February.

“Though the renovations are taking place during the exam period, it shouldn’t have too big an impact on the students, as usually the café shop is closed and the seating area is the only part available during exams,” said Raftery.

The renovations to Java is the latest in high-level projects in DCU, the last being the U building on the Glasnevin campus.

“After finishing the U, they looked at other facilities across the three campuses to see what needs help and wanted to do something on St Patrick’s campus, which they decided would be Java Café,” said Raftery.

“This is the main hub for social space and is a popular spot for the stu-

tival is curated and produced by South Wind Blows.

The ANAM programme brings together talented students and staff from DCU along with other leading Irish artists, musicians and writers through culture, song, poetry and social gatherings. The festival connects North

Credit: DCU

Dublin communities while showcasing a variety of creativity and culture through a range of performances.

ANAM will mark DCU’s first steps to play a central role in developing a North Dublin Quarter, which is placing a greater emphasis on culture and creativity in the university and community.

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As an integral part of DCU’s Strategic Development Plan, ANAM will aid the commitment to foster the creative and performing arts in the North Dublin Community and DCU. Speaking at the launch of ANAM 2019, President of DCU, Professor Brian MacCraith said, “DCU is firmly committed to contributing to the creation of a new cultural quarter by opening up our spaces and sharing our cultural assets”. ANAM celebrates “culture and creativity that build deep connections with local community groups through a process of creative engagement,” he said.

Last year’s inaugural event included several memorable performances from award-winning Irish acts and some of Ireland’s most famous musicians, performing with DCU students and staff in a celebration of culture.

The 2019 showcase will be produced by director Philip King and South Wind Blows.

DCU honours Seamus Heaney with new theatre

Credit: Alison Clair

dents of St. Patrick’s College, so the renovations and upgrade for the café was needed as it hadn’t been renovated since 2014/2015 and has been used extensively by students over the years,” said Deputy Chief Operations Officer Martin Ward.

“It’s good that Java is getting a bit of an update, it really needs it. The furniture isn’t great and it’d be good if they could make more efficient use of the space because the amount of seating areas in Pats don’t equate in the slightest to the number of students,” said Aileen Ryan, a third-year DCU student who is based on St. Patrick’s Campus.

Raftery told The College View that the upgrade of Java has been on the to-do list of the faculty and Students’ Union and they happily embraced the project.

He said they started looking into the project eight weeks ago, and it was quickly scheduled as they wanted to be able to do it during the Christmas break as the next opportunity to do it would be the summer holidays. Everything in Java is getting upgraded, from the lighting to the furniture, though it won’t be getting a bigger space.

The SU reached out to the students so that they have a say in the name and design for the new Java. The students decided to keep the name ‘Java’.

The late Seamus Heaney received an honourary doctorate in DCU while he was alive. In his death, DCU honour his memory with the opening of a new theatre.

Mary Ryan Contributor @thecollegeview A lecture theatre named after renowned poet Seamus Heaney was officially unveiled in St Patrick’s Campus on Tuesday, November 27th.

At a formal ceremony attended by Heaney’s wife Marie and children Catherine, Christopher and Michael, DCU President Professor Brian McCraith opened the Seamus Heaney Lecture Theatre in the Cregan Library.

A portrait of the late poet by, drawn

by Belfast artist Colin Davidson, was also unveiled at the ceremony and will hang outside the lecture theatre.

Heaney’s daughter, Catherine, told the assembled audience that her family

was “so grateful” that DCU had chosen to “honour” her father by naming the lecture theatre after him.

“It is a fitting tribute to someone who was a committed teacher for over 40 years, and it marks his long association with St Patrick’s College and DCU,” she said.

Professor McCraith, speaking at the unveiling ceremony, said that they had not considered naming the “most prominent” lecture theatre on the campus after anyone but the former Nobel Laureate, who fulfilled the theatres “driving principles” of “excellence, inspiration, and connection.”

“I am very grateful to the Heaney family for allowing us name the lecture theatre in honour of Seamus,” he said.

“It will serve as an inspiration to

Credit: DCU

many, many thousands of students and remind them not only of the beauty and power of his art but also of his affinity to teaching and the institution in which they study.”

McCraith said the college made the decision to hang a portrait of the beloved poet outside the lecture theatre, in order to “attract the passing student or visitor by its power and beauty.”

Heaney, who died in 2013, had given permission for his name to be used in a lecture series established by the college in 2000 and held every two years with a different theme.

He also received a honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from DCU in 2011, where he commented that “over the years” he had “come to feel at home in St Patrick’s College.”

8

DCU delegates hold workshops at 26th Pink Training

News

DCU discusses: What do we do with the Church’s hurtful past?

“We made the dependent and vulnerable ones the problem,” said Dr James Gallen at the Kingdom Cafe event.

David Kelly Sub Editor @thecollegeview “Pink Training provides an invaluable resource, in that it provides people the space to see other people like them.”

Beibhinn Thorsch Deputy Lifestyle Editor @BeibhinnJourno THE 26th annual Pink Training was held in NUI Galway over the last weekend of November, where 21 DCU delegates attended alongside VP for Welfare and Equality Aisling Fagan, who acted as the SU Support Officer.

The event is hosted by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) and began in DCU in 1992. The weekend-long event has risen to 300 students in attendance.

It focuses on issues in the LGBTA+ community and how to get involved in activism regarding these issues.

“The weekend is the perfect example of intersectional representation,” said Chairperson of DCU LGBTA Society, Dean O’Reilly. “Pink Training provides an invaluable resource, in that it provides people the space to see other people like them... It’s a crash course on the LGBTI+ community, but a crash

course in empathy too.”

During this year’s event, there were eight workshops which took place over Saturday and Sunday. These included “Gay and Angry in Northern Ireland”, “The Intersextion: Disability & Sexuality” and “Re-writing the Narrative of Gender”, among many others.

Two of the DCU delegates delivered their own workshops. Gillian McInerney has been studying in DCU since 2013, and has attended Pink Training six times. McInerney’s workshops dealt mostly with non-binary issues and identities within the LGBTA+ community.

This year, they facilitated six hours of workshops. These workshops included “The +101”, “Alphabet Soup”, “Queer Safe Space” and “Self Care”, as well as facilitating one of the ten “Coming Out” workshops.

“It’s a true privilege to meet the delegates and provide space for them to learn, ask questions and just re-

Credit: Oissine Moore

lax,” McInerney said. “Although we have seen a major shift in acceptance of LGBTQIA+ people in the 26 years since Pink Training began it is still something most delegates experience in both positive and negative ways and this space cannot be undervalued.”

Dean O’Reilly gave two workshops this year, one which dealt with the running of an LGBTA+ Society in third level education and the other which discussed the different attitudes to nude images. When asked what inspired this latter workshop, O’Reilly said “One of the things I’ve become increasingly interested in is the weird relationship society has with the naked body…. people didn’t validate my nudes enough.”

Looking towards next year, O’Reilly said that “at Pink Training this year, we saw an amazing array of workshops on trans issues. Next year, I can imagine we’ll speak heavily on Marriage Equality in Northern Ireland.”

DR James Gallen spoke of the need for a truthful examination of the Catholic Church’s past to regain the trust of the faithful in light of the abuse scandals, at a talk hosted by DCU Kingdom Cafe on December 4th.

Gallen, an expert law advisor on the Mother and Baby Homes issue, spoke at the event titled: ‘What do we do with the Church’s hurtful past?’. Gallen, a Catholic, opened with a reading of the Gospel of Mark.

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea,” said Gallen, quoting Mark 9: 38-50.

Gallen used this sermon to analyse the failings of the Catholic Church to help these ‘little ones’, the vulnerable in society. The Church abused those in society that needed help; single mothers, children born out of wedlock, young students, he said.

He noted that Jesus used incendi-

Credit: Kingdom Cafe

ary, provocative language to highlight the importance of truth when holding the failings of those in power accountable; that being honest about the past is deeply Biblical; that the arc of the Bible is the repetition and recovering from mistakes.

“We made the dependent and vulnerable ones the problem,” said Gallen, with regards to the abuse scandals. Gallen spoke of how people like to think back on the glorious aspects of Irish history, such as the War of Independence, rather than the dark parts.

Gallen spoke of the need to break Church taboos regarding sex, that as the scandals centred around sex, it is no longer acceptable to avoid that subject.

He condemned the Church’s response to the scandals, noting that they have only contributed 13 per cent of the redress.

Gallen mentioned the Papal visit and how he felt, as a Christian, the better place to be was at the Stand for Truth march, showing solidarity with the ‘little ones’ that Jesus spoke of. He urged the attendees to check out the ChurchToo hashtag on Twitter. The hashtag is used by abuse survivors.

Irish Rail funded over €100,000 for extra security over Christmas period Catherine Gallagher Deputy News Editor @Cather_i_ne UP to €115,000 in funding for Irish Rail to provide additional security over the Christmas period has been allocated by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

In the allocation, €100,000 will go towards additional security for passengers, staff and property. There will also be extra security patrols on evening Dart and commuter services between Dublin city centre, Howth, Maynooth, Kildare and Greystones.

There has been a 43 per cent increase in the past 18 to 24 months of anti-social behaviour on public transport.

There have been repeated calls from the National Bus and Rail Union for additional security on certain routes, including calls for a dedicated Garda Public Transport Policing Division.

A spokesperson for Irish Rail Jane Cregan said, “We do recognise there

There has been a 43 per cent increase in the past 18-24 months of anti-social behaviour on public transport.

has been an increase in anti-social behaviour. However, it should also be noted there were 45.5 million passenger journeys in 2017 and a projected 49 million in 2018, the overwhelming majority of which occur without incident.

“Our security patrols 2016 vs 2018 have increased by 35 per cent as we en-

hance general security cover, and provide for enhanced security patrols for major events,” said Cregan.

Irish Rail has previously expressed concern about the cost of removing graffiti from carriages. The remaining €15,000 will subsequently be aimed at targeting this.

Credit: Gillian Hogan

University of Limerick student Laura Murray spoke to The College View of her experience travelling on the Westport to Dublin train over the summer.

“A fight broke out as a result of an older man slapping or hitting a young woman for looking at him funny.

The fight broke out at the end of my carriage and all we could hear were screams and shouts and men jumping out of their seats to help the driver.

“It was extremely unsettling to see the lack of security here and that the driver himself had to handle the situation - the guards were called and the man was arrested. I don’t think I realised how bad the security was for Irish rail until that incident,” said Murray.

A DCU student who wished to remain anonymous said, “I’ve been offered drugs, seen people sexually harassed, homophobic comments to staff which were not dealt with by management, had homeless people looking for money.

“The overbooking of trains is a serious safety issue,” they added, “the number of people being left standing in carriages on intercity trains is a disgrace.”

Earlier this year, the company banned the consumption of alcohol on certain services to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Science and Health

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Waiting list for trans and non-binary healthcare over two-years long

Trans and non-binary people in Ireland must go through three medical professionals before starting Hormon Replacement Therapy.

Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque Deputy News Editor @BrendanPalenque

THE waiting list for trans and non-binary people to receive a psychiatric diagnosis is now 25 months long, according to the This Is Me – Transgender Healthcare Campaign.

Trans and non-binary people must

Credit: PsychCompany

first get a psychiatric diagnosis in order to receive Hormone Replacement Therapy from an endocrinologist.

UCC student Sam Kelly has been on the waiting list for two years and he explained how this is all the more frus-

trating considering how few resources there are for trans people in Ireland.

“In the span of two years, I have received one letter regarding my wait,” he said. “If I could actually see any of them [psychiatrists] that would be fantastic. Instead, you get bounced around from person to person before anyone will tell you anything.”

DCU student Seán Finley said that due to the lack of education on trans people in medical professions, there is only one gender clinic in Ireland. The clinic, Loughlinstown gender clinic, only deals with patients who are 18 or over.

“If you are under 18 you cannot transition in Ireland – you are referred to England who have a better transgender healthcare system than Ireland,” he said.

He also explained that people under 18 in Ireland can get a psychological assessment though. However, he described the whole medical process as a “conveyer belt system”.

“This system does not work,” he said. “Medical professionals do not see trans individuals as humans - they seem them as medical issues and want to deal with them as quickly as possible. Get them in and out of the system.”

DCU LGBTA society’s Trans and Non-binary Officer Avery Ildefonse said that the lack of medical professionals in Ireland who are qualified to treat trans people creates long waiting times. “I think the long wait is unfair

and even life-threatening in some cases,” they said.

Kelly shared a similar sentiment and said that the extra time can be the difference between life and death. He explained how these issues affect trans and non-binary people in rural areas in particular.

The lack of information available also caused him frustration.

“Besides TENI [Transgender Equality Network Ireland], there are no resources and the information you can find is usually far too vague or completely inaccurate. My own GP, while very supportive and helpful, had no idea how to help me,” Kelly said.

He said that before being put on the waiting list, he was sent in the direction of four different people. One was retired while another no longer gave out diagnoses.

“I felt ridiculed, being sent on a wild goose chase to find this elusive list that other people somehow manage to be put on,” he said. “And then once you’re on there, you might as well forget about being treated for two years.”

Finley said that waiting lists seriously affects the mental health of trans people, and can cause depression, anxiety, self-harm and even suicide.

To solve this, he proposed that the HSE should set up a transgender healthcare sector and gender clinics which are composed of a medical team specialised in trans healthcare.

Online physiotherapy service to be rolled out in Ireland Catherine Gallagher Deputy News Editor @Cather_i_ne AN online physiotherapy service is set to be made available in Ireland by the country’s leading online doctor service.

VideoDoc is an online healthcare service that operates on a web portal and mobile app. It has been providing online GP on a 24/7 basis to users in Ireland since 2014. They are now aiming to expand their services by providing physiotherapy.

The online physio service will be brought to users by specially trained physiotherapists via the VideoDoc platform, with a focus on musculoskeletal medicine, ergonomics and occupational health.

Ross Tomkins, Clinical Lead for the videoDoc physiotherapy service said, “Our service is appropriate for a wide variety of patients, ranging from simple back pain, to pre or post-surgical advice, and those with more complex longer-term issues.

“As there is no travel time or associated cost involved in using a remote based service, this enables expert advice to be within easy reach for a wide patient demographic,” said Tomkins.

In 2016, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) found that the predominant types work-related illness reported by workers were musculoskeletal disorders which include issues relating to muscles, tendons, liga-

Videodoc has been providing online GP on a 24/7 basis to users in Ireland since 2014.

ments, nerves, discs, blood vessels etc.

Stress, anxiety and depression were also reported.

Michelle McGinty is a qualified physiotherapist at MiPhysio in Newport, Co. Mayo. She says that face-toface interaction with patients an important element of treatment.

“I feel people need that hands-on

treatment to help alleviate their pain. I also use dry needling and this obviously has to be done in person. It enables me first and foremost to begin to develop a rapport and trust.

“If I were to do a Skype type physio session the subjective (what the patient tells us) could still be thorough and movement testing could be completed

Credit: Mikey Walsh

but palpation of the joint or muscles and special testing would not be able to be completed. The palpation and testing allows me to educate the patient with regards their particular injury and also prescribe their home program,” said McGinty.

Of the 10 people who spoke to The College View who have experience

with receiving physiotherapy, opinion was split 50/50 as to whether they thought an online service was a viable option. However, most who agreed that it is added that cannot replace hands-on assessment.

“My first reaction is being vary because there’s so many varying physio plans and approaches to each condition,” said disability activist and Trinity College student Róisín Hackett.

She added, “I think it sounds great for textbook physio, such as hip replacements, surgery recovery, breaks and sprains. This would be revolutionary and it would mean more (hands-on) physio slots could go to disabled people and for more complex cases.”

Alannah Murray is an award-winning student filmmaker and blogger. In January of this year, she gave a Tedx talk at Dublin Institute of Technology about her experience with life as a wheelchair user.

“I have regularly attended physiotherapy over the years both to keep me in shape and for rehabilitation purposes. This sounds like an absolutely wonderful initiative. Particularly for students who are obviously under serious pressure financially with the economic climate; disabled students even more so. Whether class is keeping them in, whether they can’t afford to visit a physio or whatever reason they may have,” Murray said.

Science and Health

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Syphilis on the rise across Ireland Amy Donohoe Social Media Editor @amydonohoe1 THE number of syphilis cases has risen to record levels according to the HSE. It has risen by 31 per cent since 2016, according to the HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) among both men and women.

“Another reason STIs (Sexually Transmitted Illness) may be increasing is that there may be more awareness of STIs, so more people are getting tested,” a said a HSE spokesperson.

The HSE said young people often have more sexual partners than older adults and may be less likely to use condoms, which make them vulnerable to getting an infection.

There were 398 cases of early infectious syphilis last year and this year there has been 408 cases of the disease, more than in the whole of 2017.

The vast majority of cases are among men who have sex with women (96 per cent) and men who have sex with men (87 per cent).

Four of the 16 women diagnosed with syphilis were pregnant; there was also one case of congenital syphilis in a male infant whose mother was visiting Ireland at the time of his birth. The

Syphiis is curable with antibiotics however if left untreated can have long lasting negative effects.

boy was treated at birth and referred for follow-up upon return to his home country.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection that can cause serious health problems if it is not treated. You can get it by direct contact with a syphilis sore

during vaginal, anal, or oral sex.

Syphilis is divided into stages (primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary), with different signs and symptoms associated with each stage.

A person with primary syphilis generally has a sore or sores at the original

Credit: Radio NZ

site of infection. They’re usually firm, round, and painless. Secondary syphilis symptoms include skin rash, swollen lymph nodes, and fever.

The signs and symptoms of primary and secondary syphilis can be mild, and they might not be noticed.

Tertiary syphilis can affect the heart, brain, and other organs of the body.

Syphilis can spread from an infected mother to her unborn baby. Without treatment, syphilis can spread to the brain and nervous system (neurosyphilis) or to the eye (ocular syphilis).

Neurosyphilis symptoms include; severe headaches, difficulty coordinating muscle movements, paralysis and dementia.

A total of 11,078 sexually transmitted infection diagnoses were reported.

There has been a 6 per cent increase in STI diagnoses overall when comparing the figures to January to November 2017, and overall there have been 441 cases of Syphilis, 6,739 of Chlamydia, 1,989 of Gonorrhoea, 1,383 of Herpes, 19 cases of Lymphogranuloma and 53 reported cases of Trichomoniasis.

A blood test is used to test for syphilis. Some health care providers will diagnose syphilis by testing fluid from a syphilis sore. Syphilis can be cured with antibiotics however, treatment might not undo any damage that the infection has already done.

There are free STI and HIV testing clinics around the country, or you can also attend your GP to get tested.

Consumers warned against purchasing online DNA tests Alex Barrett and Sabrine Donohoe Contributor and Sub Editor @thecollegeview AS the Christmas period approaches, calls for people to avoid ethnic breakdown DNA testing kits as gifts have come once again.

Last week, reporter Karlin Lillington from The Irish Times asked people to be mindful of exposing their sensitive and valuable data and to avoid DNA tests altogether, citing Facebook as the prime example of data sharing mishaps.

British Pharmaceutical powerhouse GlaxoSmithKline announced in July a €300 million partnership with genetic testing company 23andMe to gain access to their genetics database from consumers’ DNA as a guide for developing new medicines. A med-tech company owned by Google is planning to buy data from ancestry.com.

Personal data is sold to third parties without explicit consent and without any legal obligations to detail the intended use, recipients, or accountability if something goes wrong. Icelandic companies are currently under fire for said ethically questionable act.

According to ancestry.co.uk’s terms and conditions, “you grant Ancestry a sub-licensable, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, copy, publish, distribute, provide access to, create derivative works of, and otherwise use such User Provided Content to the extent and in the form or context

we deem appropriate on or through any media or medium and with any technology or devices now known or hereafter developed or discovered”.

Domestically, Genomics Medicine Ireland aim to gather DNA from 400,000 Irish residents for medical research, which secured 350 million from the Irish Strategic Investment Fund.

Lillington noted that announcements were concerned with the 600 new jobs it will provide rather than the promotion of citizen DNA scraping.

More legislation may be necessary to ensure the compliance of companies with GDPR, as the New England Journal of Medicine recently referred to the current system as a “wild west environment”.

This week, Gardaí announced their aim to share forensic DNA with other European police forces to solve cross-border crime and fight terrorism.

This includes non-EU members Iceland and Norway.

The national DNA database system under Forensic Science Ireland helps to match DNA with the profiles of criminal suspects, convicted criminals, and former offenders.

Since the start of November, the database contained 16,361 DNA profiles of convicts and individuals under investigation, as well as 4,971 crime stain profiles.

The forensic DNA matching system has an effective rate of 36.7 per cent, as 1,825 crime stain profiles have been matched to individuals. So extended sequences of DNA from consumer test kits can be linked back to the individual

British Pharmaceutical GlaxoSmithKline announced a €300 million partnership with 23andMe to gain access to their genetics database from consumers’ DNA as a guide for developing new medicines.

without great difficulty.

The forensic DNA sharing has been approved by the EU Council, and al-

though there may be less concern about data leaks, the potential for ethnic profiling remains.

Credit: MaxPixel

The Garda Press Office did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

Business and Tech

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DCU and Microsoft team up for Hour of Code 2018 Aoife O’Brien Contributor @thecollegeview MICROSOFT Ireland has partnered with Dublin City University (DCU) to enable over 450 final year students to introduce computer coding to primary school students.

The partnership is part of the company’s plans for Hour of Code 2018 which is held annually by Code.org during Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek).

CSEdWeek is a global program with more than 100 million learners in 180 countries and is dedicated to inspiring students to take interest in computer science. Microsoft’s partnership with DCU will see this program introduced to an additional 10,000 primary school students across Ireland.

During CSEdWeek which ran from Dec 3rd to Dec 9th, Microsoft encouraged primary schools across the country to get involved through the company’s new interactive Hour of Code video session and sent 200 of its employees to various schools to deliver face to face Hour of Code sessions.

However an Hour of Code can be held at any time of the year and Microsoft’s partnership with DCU helps to ensure that student teachers are equipped to use digital technologies to consolidate children’s learning from other subjects across the curriculum.

The Hour of Code professional learn-

DCU student teachers learned about Hour of Code in the new Minecraft Studios

ing experience for student teachers in DCU was hosted in the new Minecraft Studio, which was officially opened Nov 29th 2018.

Microsoft has invested in this Studio as a learning space for student teachers in DCU to explore how innovative vir-

tual and physical learning spaces can transform the curriculum and engage young people with new educational environments.

Speaking at the launch of the Hour of Code plans at DCU, Joe McHugh TD, Minister for Education and Skills, said:

Credit: Mikey Walsh

“As a Government, we are committed through the STEM Education Policy Statement and Implementation Plan to position Ireland as the best in Europe in STEM education by 2026. Initiatives such as this announced today will play a key role in not only developing key

STEM skills amongst primary school students, it will provide our future educators with the tools to turn that passion into a life-long career.”

Final year BEd student, Avril Moran said that while they already have digital learning classes once a week, the introduction of the digital strategy for schools 2015 – 2018 means that partnerships like this are a great addition to the course.

“The majority of students in their early 20’s wouldn't have much experience with Minecraft so it's really a great opportunity for us to develop our own skills so we feel confident and competent next year when we're all teaching in schools,” she said.

President of DCU, Prof. Brian MacCraith echoed this saying that the facility will enhance student teachers understanding of coding.

“DCU places a strong emphasis on STEM Education in many ways, and we recognise that the preparation of teachers for both Primary and Post-Primary Schools…plays a critically important role in that regard,” he said.

Speaking at the launch, General Manager of CoderDojo, Rosa Langhammer said initiatives like this are important to “attract more girls to coding, dispel stereotypes associated with the tech industry, provide access to relevant role models and get young people excited about a career path in technology.”

Dreaming of an expensive Christmas

Sabrine Donohoe Sub Editor @DonohoeSabrine IRISH households will spend €2,690 this Christmas, according to a report by Retail Ireland’s Christmas Retail Monitor.

The average cost of spending will rise by €866 than any other calendar month, with a €150 million increase in total sales. Sales over Christmas are to increase by 3 percent in 2018, from €4.5 billion to €4.65 billion.

The report found that Irish shoppers tend to purchase on overseas websites, particularly with the recent Black Friday sales. Consumer trends now tend towards brand-names, particularly in men’s clothes.

“Rising disposable incomes, record numbers at work, and falling prices have all combined to give consumers greater spending power than ever be-

fore,” Retail Ireland’s Director Thomas Burke said in a press release.

But on the DCU campus, students say they struggle to set aside money for Christmas presents, although they work part-time.

Even so, some still purchase luxury items. Some prefer online shopping as a time-saving method and to get better deals.

History and Geography student Shane Walker said “[I spend] less than €100… it’s usually cheaper to purchase online”. “[I purchase luxury goods] but it wouldn’t be clothes as much as techy stuff.”

Law and Media student Dáire Bartley said, “I probably spend about €150 to €200… I usually go in-store because I don’t really have an idea of what I’m getting so I just look around.”

Media and English student Ciara Byrne said “[I usually spend] into the hundreds... being in a relationship there’s pressure to get a good present for them and now that I’m a working student there’s also pressure to buy presents for family.”

“You have to pay for a bus, some students have to pay for rent and it’s hard to save when you can only work parttime.”

“I usually buy online just because being a working student I don’t usually have time to go in-store.”

Journalism student Emily Clarke said “I spend about €50 or €60 on presents [in the city centre] … I do Secret Santa

Households this year will spend €2,690 this Christmas, on average, putting an extra strain on Christmas shopping for students

now with my friends, just to bring down the budget”.

“Last year I didn’t have a job and I found it really hard to have enough money for Christmas – this year I have a job and I still find it hard.”

Journalism student Roisin McGuire

said “I usually save for most of the year for Christmas… I only do 17 hours a week and I need to plan for driving lessons and insurance.”

Discounts are happening further away from the festive period, particularly on alcohol and confectionery.

Credit: Mikey Walsh

Online sales growth is exceeding traditional outlets by 10 times, but a 40 percent increase in online book sales over Christmas is expected to return to the high-street after December.

12

Eamon Ryan calls for Metrolink to be extended to UCD James Nolan Production Editor @JamesNolan97

GREEN Party leader Eamon Ryan has made calls for the planned Metrolink to be extended to UCD ahead of the deadline for a final plan of the route.

The Dublin Bay South TD believes the plan for the Metrolink, which is provisionally set to connect Sandyford in Dublin South to Swords on the Northside, needs to be revisited.

“We need to rethink Metrolink. It makes real sense to think big about public transport in South Dublin. By continuing the tunneling machine, either to Terenure/Tallaght or UCD Sandyford, we can keep the LUAS green line open and spreads the gain to other suburbs,” said Ryan.

Rethink Metrolink, a community group who oppose the current plans which would see a 19 minute commute from Dublin City Centre to the airport, claim that the development of the Metrolink along the green line would

New IOS feature shows time spent on apps Orla Dwyer Opinions Editor @orladwyer_

TD Eamon Ryan is calling for the Dublin Metrolink to be extended out as far as UCD.

leave it shut for at least 9 months to 2 years.

The group have previously compared the current proposals to a “Berlin Wall”, believing it would ruin communities and cause commuter chaos, while instead campaigning for the metro to remain underground on the south side with a route going through UCD to Sandyford.

UCD student Patrick Finnegan says that it is a great idea as it connects the north and south sides.

“I think it is a very good idea. It would connect the north and south side a lot better. To the best of my knowledge you have to get two buses to get from north to south Dublin. Metros are generally more efficient and regular than buses with the added comfort so it would be worthwhile,” said Finnegan.

The MetroLink project is an estimated €3 billion in cost and would see the development of a northside-southside rail service in Dublin, connecting areas such as the airport and the city centre

Credit:Metrolink

on a proposed route between Sandyford and Swords.

The project has already experienced turbulence in the north side of the city with a stop being relocated from Na Fianna’s GAA grounds to underneath Home Farm FC’s playing fields.

The MetroLink is scheduled to open for service in 2027 and would see a 19 minute commute from the airport to the city centre.

Irish citizens to be granted thousands of US visas

Áine O'Boyle Deputy Arts Editor @ainyerrrr THE US Senate is currently working to secure a bill that will grant Irish citizens the right to access thousands of US visas every year.

Currently, the E-3 visa exists only for Australian citizens with a cap of 10,500 visas available every year.

With Australia never reaching its cap on the E-3 visas, it leaves up to 5,000 visas per year, which are currently being proposed to be given to Irish citizens who wish to apply to work and live in the States.

The Australian government in Canberra initially had concerns regards the bill and the possible detrimental effect it may have on their own citizens, but have since decided to work alongside the Irish Embassy to secure improvements to the current scheme.

The bill will not be passed into law until it receives unanimous support from US senators.

As it currently stands, three senators remain undecided on the bill, with efforts being made to persuade them to agree with the implementation of the bill so that matters can further proceed.

The vote on the bill was put on hold whilst Washington DC fo-

Business and Tech

Irish citizens are being granted access to thousands of US work visas after the introduction of a new bill in the US Senate.

cused on memorials for the late George Bush.

The E-3 visas last for two years but can be extended indefinitely.

They also allow for the spouses of the visa recipients to work in the US, but not their children.

In an effort to secure access to these visas for Irish citizens, earlier this year the Irish government eased off on restrictions on US citizens retiring to Ireland.

Those that wish to qualify for the

E-3 visa will be required to hold a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in a specific field. They must also acquire sponsorship from an employer in the US. According to immigration lawyer Fiona McEntee “Irish candidates are really attractive to American companies. It’s a really well-educated workforce and I find that employers will be willing to sponsor people if they find the right candidates.”

Credit: Alison Clair

At present, the visa that most Irish people apply for to work in the US is the H-1B visa, of which also requires sponsorship by a US employer.

“It is my ardent hope that in addition to creating future flow Irish immigration to the USA that many undocumented Irish will also qualify for this scheme,” said Independent Senator, Billy Lawless.

A recently added feature on IOS allows users to monitor how much time is spent on their phone with results broken down per app.

Screen Time was added as a new feature on IOS12 in September. It can be activated in Settings - Screen Time, just under Do Not Disturb.

Once set up, it will give a daily report on use of the phone, apps and websites. It also shows how many times users pick up their phone per day.

“My main observation is the paradox of having to rely on our phone in order to cut down the time we spend on our phone,” said Eugenia Siapera, chair of the MA in Social Media Communications in DCU. “I would be inclined to say that not all phone use is equivalent and that users may be better off reflecting on the type of use they want more of as opposed to the one they want less,” Siapera added.

Apps can be given a daily time limit individually or by category such as social media, entertainment etc. Once a user reaches their limit, they will be told and given the option to set a reminder for later or ignore the warning.

For students entering study and exam time, the feature may be useful for getting less distracted by screens.

Third-year business student in DCU Eoin Treacy owns an Android and said the feature would benefit him if made available.

“If at the end of the day you get a notification that breaks down your screen time and you realise you spent more hours on Reddit than you did actually working, a little bit of shame might go a long way in keeping me in check,” said Treacy.

Treacy added that a high number of screen time may not always be a bad thing.

“Screen time on Map My Run or the calculator is obviously not the same as screen time on your social media app of choice,” he said.Apps for limiting screen time and blocking apps during certain parts of the day have previously existed on IOS and Android but many were not free.

Siapera added that screen time was useful as it allows users to distinguish between time spent on each app.

“Users should also rely on themselves and on setting their own criteria about their phone use rather than use someone else's,” she said.

Opinion

13

The troubles of toxic masculinity

Although mental health is discussed more now in Ireland, toxic masculinity still has a strangehold on our society, writes Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque.

Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque Deputy News Editor @BrendanPalenque

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rish society has become better at discussing mental health issues. However, men across the country are still suffering and are largely being ignored. Last year, men accounted for 79 per cent of suicide deaths last year. That’s 335 men who took their lives. Why are so many more men dying of suicide than women in Ireland?

A part of it may be the toxic masculinity which still exists in Irish culture.

Toxic masculinity is often seen as only negatively impacting women, but that’s not accurate. It impacts every member of society, regardless of gender.

Of course, the way it impacts different genders is not the same, and typically the focus is placed on how it affects women. This makes complete sense as women are often on the receiving end of violence as a result of toxic masculinity.

However, in order to truly eradicate the harmful attitudes that toxic mascu-

linity present, it’s important to get men on board. And one of the best ways to do this is by showing its adverse effects on men.

Essentially, toxic masculinity reinforces strict gender roles – men are hardworking, confident and logical, while women are nurturing, caring and emotional. Even though many of the attributes that are associated with men are positive, they can still have negative impacts on male psyche.

Take for example, the idea that men are supposed to be strong. On the surface level this is a good thing – it provides men with certain advantages in society as they are seen as being able to handle a variety of situations.

Of course, the reality is that men are human, and they are no more capable of dealing with every situation than anyone of any other gender. This stereotype can hurt men as it intrinsically ties manhood with strength.

Thus, any man who is not stereotypically strong is not a “real man”. Attitudes like these pigeon hole men into

Toxic masculinity is damaging.

Credit: Orflaith Carragher

certain expectations which they can never truly achieve.

Toxic masculinity inherently poses femininity as the opposite of what it means to be a man, and therefore, it’s seen as bad thing.

Being emotional, expressing how you truly feel, sharing your worries – all of these are locked out as a result.

It’s difficult to say what exactly can combat this. It’s one thing to tell men that they need to be more open and honest with how they’re feeling – it’s another thing for them to actually be more transparent with their emotions.

Children should be made aware while they’re young that there are far more similarities than differences between men and women. The whole idea of a gender binary only serves to reinforce outdated ideas on how people should act and express themselves.

Emotions should not be gendered.

More importantly, the way in which we deal with these emotions should not be gendered.

Men need to be able to express their

“

It impacts every member of society, regardless of gender emotions through more than just anger because, although it may be cliché to say, underneath all that anger is a lot of pain.

That, of course, does not justify the emotional or physical abuse that is committed by some men. Rather, it’s the exact opposite.

We need to hold men accountable when they react in an unhealthy and unproductive manner. What it means to be a man needs to be completely reconstructed to be more inclusive and less aggressive.

Controversial Iceland ad did more good than harm The Iceland ad banned for being “too political” has been called a PR stunt but it brought attention to an important issue, writes Aoibhín Bryant.

Aoibhín Bryant Arts Editor @aoibhinbryant_

A

few weeks ago, uproar was caused after the frozen food supermarket, Iceland, dropped their Christmas advert on Facebook and other social media platforms. Note, dropped online, not on television. This is because the organisation that gives the greenlight to most television advertisements, Clearcast, banned the ad because its creator, Greenpeace, is “too political”.

An animated short from the non-governmental organisation, Greenpeace, which campaigns for environmental issues, the cartoon features a cute baby orangutan, called Rang-tan, who tells a young girl (voiced by Emma Thompson) about the damage deforestation has done to her home, the rainforest.

The reason for the man-made forest fires is to make way for more land to harvest palm oil. It ends with Iceland announcing that they will not have palm oil in their range of Christmas products.

The advertisement is moving and sheds light on an issue that not many people know about, the environmental consequences of extracting palm oil,

The controversial ad for Iceland that was allegedly banned for being too political.

which is in so many day-to-day products – from food to shampoo. However, the message might not have gotten across as well if the advertisement wasn’t banned.

In a world where online dominates, television doesn’t have the same authority and influence anymore. Around 47 per cent of people aged 22 to 45 are not watching television on its traditional platform anymore, according to a study by Omnicom Media Group agency, Hearts & Science.

Not only that, but now Iceland’s ad-

vertisement has been slapped with the controversial “banned” label, immediately attracting gratuitous attention from both the public and the media.

Many commented that it was outrageous that the advertisement was banned on political grounds while recruitment ads for the UK military are still aired. Iceland were able to take the role of the victim and by posting it on their social media, they defied being censored. Because the advertisement was banned, it made it more appealing to watch, feeling like you were rebel-

Credit: Plantbasednews.org

ling against authority.

If anything, being barred from television airwaves almost allowed it to gain more traction.

The cynics cry that this is merely a PR stunt by Iceland, trying to get into the public’s good books as a progressive and socially aware company. Although, it’s true that many corporates try to use the revolutionary image as a way to entice customers.

Many clothing retailers’ advertisement campaigns feature female models with hairy armpits or LGBT+ couples

with motivational words of be “be bold” written across the screen. All the while, the clothes are still made by someone in a sweatshop somewhere in the developing world, quite the opposite of progressive.

Last year, Pepsi found itself landed in controversy when their ad focused on a protest and was slammed for treating social action as cool or trendy.

Although, Iceland’s ad campaign seems different from that. Yes, the end goal was probably money because it is an advertisement, not a public service broadcast. However, this ad is doing more good than harm.

It’s brought awareness to the destructiveness of palm oil extraction to our ecosystems, how the fires in rainforests have contributed greatly to greenhouse gas emissions. The effect it has had on the natural wildlife of the rainforest, including the cute orangutan, which is predicted to be extinct from the wild in less than 10 years, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Palm oil is so prevalent in products, it’s about time we scan the ingredients before dumping them in the shopping cart. Iceland’s ad has made people more aware, money-hungry or not. Being banned just let it widen its scope even further, without having to pay broadcasters to feature their ad.

14

Opinion

Genetic editing has the potential for greatness Gene editing has been fully banned in many countries but its possibilities could change the world, writes Orla Dwyer.

Orla Dwyer Opinions Editor @orladwyer_

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ene editing has hit the headlines lately after a scientist in China claimed to have made the first pair of genetically edited twins. Although this has not yet been proven, it brings to light the misconceptions surrounding the issue of genetic editing. It may not be as scary and dystopian as many believe.

Genetically editing DNA is a hugely complex topic with consequences, both good and bad. It is not all about making blonde-haired blue-eyed babies and eugenics taking over the reproductive world (although this is an unfortunate potential).

At the end of November, a Chinese scientist claimed to have created the first set of genetically edited twins - a set of girls born earlier that month. The researcher, He Jiankui said he altered a gene in the embryos before they were implanted in the womb.

The topic of gene editing must bring in CRISPR which is at the forefront of gene technologies, primarily because it is extremely specific and cost effective

compared with other technologies.

Gene editing is already taking place every day in our food. Genetically Modified Organisms. GMOs are present in a range of foods such as corn, squash and potatoes. The editing can make them last longer and prevent certain diseases.

One of the biggest potentials for CRISPR is to eradicate mosquitoes that were spreading malaria. London scientists planted a deadly gene in mosquito DNA to spread through generations quickly. In the experiment, they annihilated an entire group of insects through gene editing in the lab. In 2015, scientists used CRISPR to cut the HIV virus out of living cells in rats and mice.

The reaction to this fear of what could be has been a total ban on gene editing in many countries. In Canada, human germline editing is banned and criminalised. Banning gene editing outright is not the solution. The European Union has an established framework of aims to keep the development of GMOs safe. It is banned in the US but not in China.

A 2016 poll in France showed that 67 per cent of respondents were concerned about the acceleration of human genome research. 91 per cent of people

Gene editing has a huge number of possibilities but there are also great risks.

said they did not know what CRISPR was.

The term ‘designer babies’ is brought up when it comes to gene editing. Currently, children can receive a one up from the rest of the world as they grow older through money, looks and social status. But what if some of these benefits could happen before they are even born?

This idea that the perfect child could

be crafted using their DNA for those who could afford to do so is certainly a problem facing the technology.

If genes could be edited to make life eternal but only those with money and power had access to it, the entire human race would rapidly be whittled down to the one per cent in power forever.

Of course, it could go terribly wrong, but like modern medicine, why deny its good aspects? Vaccines have some

Credit: Shutterstock

negative side effects, but most people get them for the greater good and the huge benefits we enjoy as a result of not dying from a curable disease at a young age.

Like anything, there are many sides to the story of gene editing. The potentials for catastrophe and uncharted success are endless, but banning it outright is the wrong answer to a complicated problem with vast potential.

The perils of a social credit system for democracy The social credit system in China has been criticised for its Orwellian tendencies and potential effect on democracy, writes Ross Boyd.

Ross Boyd Contributor @thecollegeview

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he phrase ‘’better to say nothing than anything bad’’ is extremely misleading, yet, since the inception of Mao Zedong’s communist victory in China, this policy has effec-

tively been used since 2014. It is being expanded further into the 21st century with the development of the social credit system by 2020 in China which gives a score to every citizen based off a rubric of loyalty and good behaviour and punishing those with low scores by restricting their freedoms in travel, education and fast internet speeds.

It should lead to a decrease in crime with the increased fear of punishments,

yet a further censorship of individual liberty in order to be the perfect member of society should be looked at with fear in democracies, rather than awe in increasingly controlling states.

The usage of CCTV and cameras is especially terrifying. I visited China in 2014 and you knew what you could and couldn’t say, but being watched was rarely a problem, although this was the case before Zi Jinping’s ideas

Citizens with a high social credit score would be rewarded with the best travel, education and internet speeds.

Credit: Alison Clair

“

A further censorship of individual liberty were fully realised. However, in order to evaluate your performance as a citizen, cameras would be placed in every public space with the ability to track faces, clothes, car registrations and the similarities with wanted criminals.

A video of this recently went viral on YouTube, yet people were dazed with awareness about how quick and effective it was, ignoring the scary truth how this could be soon daily life in the name of safety.

This wave of being more secure is fuelled by the recent media frenzy of terror attacks being closer than ever to our safe-haven of home. The simulated terror attack in DCU only a few weeks ago helped to escalate this realism.

To respond to this frenzy, govern-

ments in Europe have replaced slower, inefficient police forces with the use of CCTV and monitoring systems to allow a quicker response to crimes.

While this may seem good, it has had the opposite effect of increasing crimes as the lack of staff has led to few investigations and responsibility for crimes, with incarceration for only the most serious crimes, with even systems for tracking criminals failing frequently to stop repeat offenders.

A system that tries to stop crime by monitoring would not just be a failure for society as a whole, it could lead to a new wave of secret state politics and significantly less transparency than today. It could give rise to disobedient crimes and more activism and protests waking the populace as it did for the water charges and Jobstown six.

In Ireland, if the government had the power to deem if a citizen trustworthy, it would be a defeat for our country. I spoke with political candidates, who said simply by sending letters from TDs to doctors, this would give preference to constituents immediately despite endless waiting lists.

Imagine this power if, simply by a letter, your enemy could be tarnished to have no control of their life and no way to have any public services bar money.

This would be the life a social credit system could have in Ireland.

15

Gaeilge

Nollaig mar mic léinn DCU Is am an-suimiúl é an nollaig do mic léinn ollscoile.

Tá am nollaig an-difriúl de mic léinn ollscoile.

Jordan Hussain Leas-Eagarthóir na Gaeilge @thecollegeview

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s í am na Nollag ceann de na tréimhsí is fear sa bhliain dar le roinnt daoine, tá am na Nollag mar mic léinn difriúl ná am na Nollag mar páiste, déagóir nó duine níos sine. Mar dalta DCU tá an bhrise Nollaig ag teacht go luath ar an 15ú Nollaig.

Níl na scrúdaithe go dtí mí Eánáir agus mar sin beidh a lán am ag mic léinn staidéar a dhéanamh don scrúdaithe, is rud conspóideach é seo le déanaí de bharr go bhfuil coláistí eile le scrúdaithe roimh nollaig. Is rud maith é a bheith roimh agus tar éis nollaig dar le daltaí éagsúla. Tá formhór na measúnachtaí agus obair leanúnach

Credit: Mikey Walsh

do na modúil i DCU roimh an Nollaig agus is na scrúidithe iad féin an príomh obair a bhfuil ann thar an nollaig. Níl a lán imeachtaí ar siúl ag DCU don Nollaig agus is é post na cúrsaí iad féin imeachtaí a eagrú mar shampla ‘Na 12 teach tabhairne de nollaig’ Séard atá i gceist le sin ná oíche amháin thar an nollaig théann grúpa amach chuig 12 teach tabhairne ar oíche amháin agus bíonn deoch ól amháin no dhó acu ag gach ceann. Tá a lán imeachtaí ar siúl ar fud Baile Átha Cliath do mic léinn thar an tréimhse nollaig mar bhrise don staidéar agus an obair go léir ó semistear 1.

Níl an Nollaig ach faoi deoch ól agus staidéár áfach, tá an spioraid de Nollaig timpeall na háite go léir. Do daoine a bhfuil ón tuath nó ó tíortha eile is am íontach í an Nollaig dóibh dul abhaile agus a chlann a fheicéail de gnáth, rud a bhfuil suaimhneach tar éis seimeastar fada agus strusmhar. De gnáth is atmisféar é níos fearr do staidéar do theach féin seachas theach a bhfuil ar cíos agat i mBaile Átha Cliath. Ceann de na rudaí is mó faoin ócáid go léir a bhfuil timpeall an nollaig seachas an gné reiligiúnach a bhfuil ann do daoine ná ag thabhairt brontannas don chlann agus don chairde. Níl sé fíor de gach duine ach in Éireann is tradisiún mór

é do formhór na teaghlach. Mar mic léinn ar an ollscoil go háirithe na mic léinn a bhfuil ag íoc don táillí ollscoile iad féin nó atá ag cónaí i teach nó arasán ar cíos is ócáid costasach é an nollaig go háirithe do na daoine ó tíortha eile a bhfuil orthu eitleán a fháil abhaile.

Do mic léinn a bhfuil ag obair go páirt aimseartha is féidir leo sabháil a dhéanamh ag dul suas go dtí mí na nollaig agus é sin a úsáid chun na bronntanais agus gach rud eile a cheannúint.

Tá tradisiún eile in a lán cúrsaí ar an choláiste agus is é sin an ‘Secret Santa’. Séard atá i gceist le sin ná tá grúpa chairde nó daoine ón chúrsa céanna ar an choláiste agus chuireann siad ainmeacha isteach i hata nó i babhla agus thógann gach duine ainm amháin, an ainm den duine a thógann tú amach caithfidh tú brontannas a fháil dóibh (de gnáth bíonn sé faoi costas €15) agus tá sé go léir faoi rún. Níl sé ach timpeall 20 nó 15 euro ach is costas breise é sin do mic léinn freisin má bhíonn siad ag glacadh páirt ann.

Do mic léinn a bhfuil ag obair go páirt aimseartha is é an Nollaig ceann de na tréimhsí is gnóthach don bliain.

Bíonn na teach tabhairne lán agus bhíonn gach duine ag rith isteach sna siopaí chun an brontannais a fháil ag an

nóimead deireanach. Mar sin na daltaí a bhfuil ag obair thar an tréimhse nollaig ní bhíonn a lán am acu spioraid an nollaig a cheilúiradh go dtí lá nollaig de gnáth.Is ócáid costasach é gan dabht ach de gnáth dúirt formhór na daltaí a chuireadh faoi cheistiú go raibh an chéad bliain don choláiste an chéád bliain a raibh néamhspléach iomlán acu ó thaobh an nollaig chun bronntanais a cheannach don chairde agus do chlann, rud a dúirt siad a raibh an deas de bharr gurb fhéidir a lán smaoineamh féin agus grá a chur isteach i gach bronntanais a cheannófar.Do mic léinn a bhfuil ina gcónaí i mBaile Átha Cliath nó a bhfuil ag dul abhaile don Nollaig, is feidir leo bheith ag siúl le béile mhaith a bheith acu ar lá an Nollaig go háirithe do daltaí ag chónaí i áit a bhfuil ar cíos i mBaile Átha Cliath is athrú mhaith é dóibh tar éis seimeastar 1 a chaitheamh ag ithe núdal agus arán.

Is é béile Nollaig ceann de na tradisiún is fearr de Nollaig dar le daltaí agus is t-am mhaith é a bheith le do chlann go léir más é sin an bealach a itheann tú é.

Ar an iomlán is é an Nollaig tréimhse íontach do mic léinn do gach choláiste agus i DCU de bharr an t-am a bhfuil na scrúdaithe. Is am é do mic léinn a bheith sa bhaile, brontannais a thugadh agus a fháil ó chlann agus

chairde, chun deochanna ól a fháil agus an scíth a ligint go ginearálta. Is brise an-tábhachtach é o thaobh meabhairsláinte do daltaí tar éis 12 seachtain de obair strusmhar agus a lán staidéár.

Beidh sé deacair mac léinn a fháil nach bhfuil sásta faoi bhrise an nollaig agus am chaitheamh lasmuigh den choláiste.

Tá imeachtaí timpeall an domhain don nollaig ní ach do mic léinn i mBaile Átha Cliath agus is féidir le gach mic léinn i DCU spioraid an nollaig a thabhairt leo aon áit a bhfuil siad that an tréimhse nollaig seo.

“

Tá am na nollaig ceann de na tréimhsí is fearr dar liomsa, ach is ócáid costasach é do mic léinn

16

Laura Loomer agus toirmeasc Twitter

Gaeilge

Is í Laura Loomer an duine is déanaí chun toirmeasc a fháil ar Twitter. faoi toghchán a cheap twitter a bheidh míthreorach tá formhór na toirmeasc bainte le rudaí olca agus ráiteas fuatha, rud a cheapann a lán daoine ar Twitter a bhfuil ceart go leor toirmeasc a fháil de bharr. Níl a lán díospóid ó formhór an pobail nuair atá duine ‘olc’ nó duine a roineann ráiteasaí olca nó ciníocha curtha ar toirmeasc ar formhór na meáin sosialta. Tá na rialacha de Twitter an soléir faoin cosc a chuireann siad ar na rudaí sin agus daoine a bhriseann na rialacha sin de gnáth tá toirmeasc ina todchaí.

An príomh cheist leis an scéal seo le Laura agus gach scéal eile faoi na toirmeasc ná arís an bhfuil Twitter ag déanamh an jab is fearr a bhfuil siad in ann chun na rudaí ‘olca’ seo a coimead as Twitter chun sampla maith a chur suas don meáin a bhfuil acu seachas ligint é a thitim isteach in áit uafásach.

Jordan Hussain Leas-Eagarthóir na Gaeilge @thecollegeview

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á Laura Loomer ina gníomhaí polaitiúla i Meiriceá, ach dar ndóigh tá níos mó gnó aici le teoiric comhcheilge ná aon rud eile na laethanta seo dar le Twitter agus is ó seo a thagann an conspóid nua le toirmeasc Twitter.

Tá na céadta daoine curtha ar toirmeasc ó Twitter gach lá ach na laethanta seo tá níos mó aird á thabhairt air de bharr go bhfuil pearsana poiblí i gceist. Tá na toirmeasc ar Twitter an cosúil lena chéile, tá formhór dóibh faoi iompar fuatha, mar atá i gceist le ceann Laura.

Séard a tharla le Laura ná gur chur sí rud suas ar Twitter faoi polaiteoir i ‘Minnesota’ darbh ainm Ilhan Omar a cheap Twitter go raibh olc ag bhaint leis. An fáth a bhfuil níos mó nuacht ag

Laura Loomer, gníomhaí polaitiúla.

baint leis an scéal seo i gcomporáid le gach scéal eile faoi toirmeasc ar Twitter ná gur chuaigh sí chuigh ceanncheathrú Twitter agus cuir sí í féin i nglais lámh le ceann amháin de na doirse ag iontráil an foirgneamh. Ní raibh aon fhadhb ag daoine le seo de bharr gur chuaigh siad isteach an dorais in aice léi agus ar an iomlán is rud greannmhar é do dhaoine ar Twitter agus Twitter iad féin a dúirt

Credit: NBC News

nach raibh aon fadhb acu léi a bheith ansin agus is féidir léi fanacht chomh fhad is a thaitnigh léi.

Tá formhór an pobail ag rá gur scéal greannmhar é ach thugann sé rud chun cinn a bhfuil tábhachtach féachaint ar, an bhfuil Twitter ag déanamh a post ceart ag chur toirmeasc ar daoine ‘olca’ ar Twitter? An toirmeasc is mó roimhe seo ná an láithreoir raidió Alex Jones.

Tar éis toirmeasc ó Facebook , Youtube & meáin sosialta eile chur Twitter stop leis freisin faoin fáth ‘A lán sarú de rialacha Twitter’ agus ceann eile mór le rá an blian seo ná James Woods, aisteoir i meiriceá ach rud difriúl ó na dhá cásanna eile ná nach raibh an toirmeasc seo seasta.

Seachas James Woods a fuair a cuntas faoi toirmeasc de bharr rud a dúirt sé

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An bhfuil Twitter ró dian ar na daoine seo?

Rómánsú ar dúnmhafóir srathach

Pléann Clíona Hughes pobal ar Tumblr a bhfuil suim amhrasach acu ndeir siad gurb iad na dúnmharaithe ‘is fearr’ atá acu agus iad ag caint - níl sé sin i gceist i ndáiríre agus déanann siad iarracht léargas a thabhairt do dhaoine a bhfuil suim acu i gcoir conas iad féin a chosaint chomh maith le coirscéalta fírinneacha a insint i bhfoirm spraíuil.

Is trua é nach bhfuil an láimhseail céanna ag gach duine maidir le hábhar chomh fíneálta agus is rud tábhachtach é meas a léiriú do chlainne na híospartaigh i ngach cás maidir le dúnmharú ina labhraíonn muid faoi.

Clíona Hughes Eagarthóir na Gaeilge @hughescliona

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s rud thar a bheith spéisiúil é an choir fírinneacha agus is rud thar a bheith normálta é chun taitneamh a bhaint as cláir faisnéise faoi choir agus a leithéid ach is beag atá idir taitneamh a bhaint as agus rómánsú a dhéanamh ar dúnmharfóra srathach.

Thug roinnt daoine faoi deara sna meáin go bhfuil marsantas á dhíol a dhéanann rómánsú cinnte ar dúnmharfóra srathach le daoine ar nós Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson agus John Wayne Gacy orthu. Tá sé seo neamhfhóirsteanach, cinnte toisc go dtaispeánann siad tacaíocht do na daoine seo, nach dtaispeánann siad?

Caithfear t-léine le Beyonce air chun a thaispeáint go mbaineann tú taitneamh as a cuid saothar, is cinnte go léiríonn

Tumblr: an áit ina mbíonn an pobal seo den chuid is mó

t-léine leis an dúnmharfóir stoidiaca scríofa air an tacaíocht chéanna dá ‘saothar’.

Creid é nó ná chreid, tá lucht leanúna ag cuid de na dúnmharfóra srathach móra ar suíomhanna ar nós Tumblr.

Ar na postálacha Tumblr seo, bíonn ainm úsáideora acu ar nós ‘Mrs (ainm an ndúnmharfóir)’ ina gcuireann siad postanna faoi dhathúlacht an dúnmharfóir nó ina dhéanann siad ceiliúradh ar bhreithlá an murdaróir fiú ag iarraidh iad a scaoileadh ón bpriosún. Sula fuair Charles Manson bás i Mí Dheireadh Fómhair 2017, bhí haischlib á úsáid ar nós #freecharliemanson. Taispeánann

sé seo go bhfuil fadhb ann maidir le meon daoine óga ó thaobh dúnmharú de, go háirithe dóibh nach raibh beo i rith an bhfaitíos a bhí thart nuair a bhí na murdaróirí seo ar an bhfód nuair nach raibh siad gafa. Cinnte, tá an síceolaíocht taobh thiar de na daoine seo thar a bheith suimiúil, ach caithfimid stop a chuir leis an rómánsú atá á dhéanamh orthu le déanaí.

Chuaigh mé i dteagmháil le ceann de na blaganna seo, ach d’iarr an cailín taobh thiar den bhlag a hainm a choimeád go rúnda, dúirt sí “I think I can speak on behalf of most in my community when I say this, I like to think

Credit: FontsInUse

that I could have fixed these broken individuals and like to think that I could have prevented them from causing such destruction if I had been there for them.”. Cé go ndéanann an ráiteas sin ciall ar bhealach, an bhfuil sé fós míchuí tacaíocht ar bith a léiriú do na daoine seo?.

Bhí an podchraoladh clúiteach ‘My Favorite Murder’ i mbun conspóide agus iad díreach tar éis an tseó a bhunadh toisc go raibh ainm cineál mí-oiriúnach roghnaithe acu. Léirigh Karen Kilgariff agus Georgia Hardstark, a bhfuil mar láithreoirí ar an tseó gur podchraoladh grinn a bhí ann agus cé go

“

Tá lucht leanúna ag cuid de na dúnmharfóir srathacha ar aipeanna ar nós Tumblr

Features

Happy little pills

17

Poorly funded mental health services have reached a boiling point in the sector

Mental health services in Ireland still have a long way to go when it comes to funding.

Aoibhín Bryant Arts Editor @aoibhinbryant_

T

he conversation surrounding mental health is no longer conducted behind shut curtains or with hushed voices.

In the past couple of years, between international and national campaigns, the conversation surrounding mental health issues has finally emerged from behind closed doors. The stigma surrounding the topic is slowly melting away as we start to share our problems and wear green ribbons.

This encouragement to accept mental health issues as valid health issues has probably contributed to the increase in antidepressants prescriptions by two thirds since 2009, according to The Journal.ie.

Mental illness is no longer to be ignored. However, although more people are medicated for mental health issues, other services in the country lack behind. The HSE currently spends €400 million on medication for mental health, but only €10 million on counselling services, a report by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Future

of Mental Healthcare has found. Medical professionals have felt the strain on the services when treating patients.

“When it comes to medication versus therapy it’s important to remember that it is never one or the other, it’s dependent on the person it can be a combination of both,” said Dr. John Hillery, President of the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland.

“I was prescribing people medication to make up for service deficits,” Dr. Hillery said on the A Lust for Life podcast series, “so I was trying to make people safe, by putting them on medication it might help their anxiety and their agitation when I knew really that the main thing was environmental change or other interventions that aren’t available.”

A recent report conducted by children’s charity Barnardos found that 2,403 children are on the waiting list for mental health therapy. Fiona Birdy, a trained counsellor, believes that the HSE does not employ enough therapists.

“Because of this, I do think that GPs are more inclined to prescribe antidepressants than to refer patients to a therapist – because there’s simply not enough working for the HSE. A lot of therapists are expected to work voluntarily for charities, which can be emotionally and financially draining,” she said.

A lack of services comes into play in relation to patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). BPD is a disorder which cannot be treated with antidepressants, although many BPD patients also suffer from depression and anxiety. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders lists

the BPD symptoms such as fear of abandonment, recurrent suicidal behaviour and self harm, impulsivity and a chronic feeling of emptiness. The current recommended treatment for BPD is Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT). Daniel Flynn, the Clinical Lead for the National Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Implementation Project in Ireland, explains although one per cent of the population meet the criteria for BPD, this jumps to 20 per cent in the mental health population.

“

Credit: Sabrine Donohoe Home Economics but still not knowing how to cook, I still didn’t know how to implement anything.”

Another person who wishes to remain anonymous due to the personality disorder’s stigma, was first diagnosed with BPD seven years ago and has yet to start DBT in Ireland.

“Ultimately I needed and still do need DBT. I cannot find places to do it privately, and when I do it’s so far from affordable,” they told The College View.

Problems aren’t miraculously solved when you tell someone how you’re feeling

“DBT is a relatively new form of therapy,” said Flynn, “Particularly in Ireland, it’s only been around for the past 10-15 years. We have recently trained 23 new teams.”

Despite the introduction of and further efforts to expand DBT services, many people with BPD across the country are still on waiting lists for the therapy.

Kelly Ahern was put on the waiting list after her BPD diagnosis in March 2017 but she has heard nothing back since then. In the meantime, she was given worksheets to do herself.

“It felt like doing all the theory in

“Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is so common and it’s great so many people are getting behind it, but DBT is never talked about. I’ve been medicated for anxiety/depression since I was 17, I’m 24 now and I’m still medicated. I can’t help but feel like although medication is keeping me functioning, the real problems are just being buried due to the lack of resources that are available here”.

There have been many mental health campaigns throughout the years, encouraging people to talk about their issues. Jess Harte, who was first prescribed antidepressants at 13 years of

age, believes that although these have raised awareness on mental health, little has been done to remedy these problems.

“I think the onus is on people themselves to improve their mental health a lot of the time, by practising mindfulness or sharing what’s bothering you,” she added. “But your problems aren’t miraculously solved when you tell someone how you’re feeling. If I had Chron’s disease and opened up about it, I’d still have Chron’s disease. I’d still have to get treatment.”

It’s important to clarify that antidepressants can vastly improve peoples’ lives and allow them to function from day to day. Isobel Dunne, who suffers from anxiety and depression, has found an ultimately positive experience with the antidepressant (SSRI), Sertraline.

She found counselling on its own merit was not improving her mental health.

It was when she was prescribed antidepressants from her GP that Isobel finally saw an improvement, not only in her life but in the benefits of therapy.

“I had a much better experience with counselling this time because I was much more open to getting help after things got dire and my mind was a lot clearer. I think meds have genuinely changed my life for the better, I still have anxiety but it’s easier to deal with and is no longer an overwhelming presence in my life”.

Antidepressants can treat mental illness, they can be the ultimate saving grace for many, helping them to get out of bed in the morning and live a normal life. But in cases where medication was not the right remedy, these people have been left behind, largely to fend for themselves in the current system.

18

Risky business: sex sells

Features

68 per cent of students hold down a part time job to sustain themselves while at university - some choose to sell sex

Gabija Gataveckaite Features Editor @gabysayshey

T

he streets of Holbeck are dark, dodgy and ominous. The pavement is wet, the temperatures are low. Seldom, a car passes by. Seldom, a car stops.

A drunken silhouette stumbles down a road.

“You looking for business, love?”

Sammie-Jo yells at the figure, who’s down the street. The figure mumbles incomprehensibly.

She repeats his question, confusion in her face: “What’s business?”

“Sex,” she yells back and smiles.

Her face is ashy, her eyes are sunken; but her eyes are sparkling and her smile is cheeky.

The figure mumbles again in the distance.

“Let me go see him,” Sammie-Jo tells the camera crew and the sound of stiletto follows her as she walks down the street to the wanderer.

Sammie-Jo is a sex worker in area of Holbeck in Leeds which is nicknamed the ‘legalised Red Light District’. Here, sex is sold legally for a regulated time period each day and is managed by the police. Workers are mainly collected by clients in passing cars and dropped back. In a documentary series for BBC3, the series documents the lives of Sammie-Jo and other workers from ‘the beat’, which has become the main source of income for the women to fund their long-term drug addictions.

According to The Student Sex Work Project, a body of research conducted in the UK, an estimated 5% of students sell sex. However, Ireland does not have legalised work zones and selling sex, by legal definition, is decriminalised, while buying sex is illegal.

Although the traditional definition of a ‘prostitute’ may be associated with working on the streets and while this

is portrayed in the BBC documentary, working outside is rarely the case in Ireland. The majority of sex workers take to digital platforms to sell their services - be it webcam work, explicit photographs or meeting a client and exchanging sex. Sites like Escort Ireland are very popular and as they are hosted outside the country, they avoid being taken down. They allow a platform for workers to build a profile and a clientele.

In a quiet, sheltered room in the Henry Grattan, Aoife Bloom sits with her arms crossed and speaks about her work in a soft tone.

Selling sex has been pivotal in sustaining herself through her third level education.

She is currently an arts student in TrinityCollege and has relied on sex work to sustain herself for three years now.

Bloom explains how sex work be-

“

they’re able to as at other times they may not be able to.”

“Just getting into college with my mental health in the state that it was was a struggle in itself,” she adds.

Choosing to sell sex is not an easy decision for anyone and Bloom was no different. For many workers, it is just ‘any other job’.

“Plenty of people choose sex as they can dip in and out of it and balance it with other jobs. It’s not really black or white,” she explains.

“It’s just like any other job for people, they may make a career out of

I feel more afraid walking down dark streets in Dublin late at night than I do in my own apartment when I’m working came one of the only few options due to depression.“I needed a job where the hours were flexible and also that I could make enough money to live on in a relatively short period of time to allow for being mentally ill,” she explains.

“I think that’s very typical of a lot of people that get into sex work, it’s about kind of convenience, in terms of being able to work for themselves and being able to work at times when

it as it may be the best option available to them at the time.

“I was always aware that my attitude towards sex, casual sex and open relationships and stuff like that that on an emotional level, I wouldn’t have any issue with that kind of work,” she says.

“I did quite a lot of research and trying to find info online and from other sex workers as to what safety precautions to take and then I just posted an ad.”

For trans women, fear can be a major issue when working in sex after reports of violent attacks against trans workers last year. Even though she is transgender, fear is not something that Bloom encounters often.

“I feel more afraid walking down dark streets in Dublin late at night than I do in my own apartment when I’m working,” she explains.

“There is a lot of fetishisation in the area of sex work that I am in; guys are coming to see a trans sex worker and a lot of them, because it’s a fetish, do

not want to use condoms, that’s the biggest danger that I’ve faced.”

While a small percentage of the population dabble in sex work, an even smaller percentage of these are students. Bloom explains that grey areas are common, so it can be difficult to distinguish between a sex worker and and someone who just works in the sex industry.

“It depends on how sex work is defined and how people identify,” she says. “Men and women may not identify as sex workers, as it’s done so very rarely, but numbers have increased.”

Bloom is a member of Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) and actively campaigns for change in Ireland’s legislation regarding sex workers. Under Irish brothel keeping law, it is illegal to make a profit from somebody who sells sex.

This includes two sex workers sharing an apartment, as they would split the rent and would be seen as both being proprietors and victims.

The law also means that a sex worker working alone and hiring a bouncer would see the bouncer guilty under brothel keeping laws, as they would be earning wages, or profiting, from prostitution.

“In my ideal fantasy scenario, several sex workers could get together and rent a house together and have a co-op and wouldn’t be working for anyone else and could chip in to hire a bouncer or a receptionist,” says Bloom.

In the meantime, while current laws stands, sex workers are forced to work on their own, which may leave them endangered in the case of a violent client.

However, hiring security personnel is not a solution.

“If I hired a bouncer, that person would be charged as a pimp because they are living off the earnings off prostitution,” Bloom adds.

“Also, if you’re a sex worker who lives with a partner, you can be charged with being a pimp living off the earnings of sex work; essentially it’s nearly a criminal offence for a sex worker to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend living with them, never mind security to keep them safe.”

While the current law stands, students face many challenges in surviving while working in sex. Activism from organisations like SWAI and UglyMugs.ie may see this legislation changing, but at the moment, current laws see student sex workers leaving their work between the sheets.

Credits: The Daily Dot

19

Features

The forgotten Florence Nightingales of our generation Underpaid and overworked, student nurses are looking at emigration right after graduation

Student nurses nationwide have launched a camaign fighting for paid placements.

David Kelly Sub-Editor @Dave_Kelly__

N

ursing is perhaps one of the most altruistic professions a person can enter. It is a vocation that calls for empathy, compassion, commitment, passion, skill, selflessness and humanity.

Student nurses endure four exhausting, demanding years of university and placement so that they can help those in need.

A profession that is composed of the brightest elements of humanity is subjected to the toughest challenges. Student nurses enter a system that is not only incredibly challenging, but employment after graduation is left to mere chance.

Last year, research showed that 70 per cent of nursing interns were approached by recruitment firms abroad, while only a third were offered jobs in Irish hospitals.

“If you’re put in a position where you’re looking after someone’s loved one who’s sick and you want to make a difference to them, you want

to be that person to help contribute to somebody going home, well and happy, to their family,” said Emma Murphy, a third year student nurse in DCU on why she entered the course.

“And, I suppose, growing up close to my granddad, and, he’s like, older, I feel like when he’s old enough that he can’t look after himself, that I might be able look after him, after he looked after me for so many years.”

On placement, student nurses work 35 hours a week. The work is extremely taxing, both physically and emotionally, yet it is unpaid. They receive a commuting levy of €20, despite it often costing between €30 and €50 per week.

“You get eight weeks of theory and then you’re back on placement. We’re paying €3,500 to work for free. It’s something like 1,200 hours we’re doing this year, and then we get a €20 travel check, which is just a slap in the face.”

Often, student nurses need to do parttime work on their days off to cover their living expenses. However, while the roster for placement is supposed to be circulated two weeks in advance, it is often only circulated a few days before it begins, making it difficult to provide employers with their availability to work.

“What’s getting me about this semester is that I’m in debt and paying bank overdraft fees to cover my student fees, and what am I paying for? The luxury of being free labour, covering the gaps in the hospitals where there is nursing and HCA staff shortages. Working 35 plus hours for free and then trying to work on your days ‘off’ just to pay for

Credit: The Irish Times the costs of placement; petrol, car park, lunches, etc,” said Emer O’Connor, another third-year student nurse in DCU. The stress doesn’t end with placement, as student nurses must commit to academic work too. When on placement, student nurses are given a practical assessment record (PAR). This involves a student nurse doing a comprehensive self-assessment of what they have learned on placement.

Third-year student nurses receive two days off from placement, but have

“

A study from the British Journal of Nursing shows us that nursing students tend to be high in the personality traits agreeableness, conscientiousness and extroversion. These characteristics are perfect for their profession in theory, but these traits are in danger of being extorted in practice.

“I had to go home last week, I had two days off, and I didn’t put myself into work, because every day I come home from placement, I was ringing my mam and crying on the phone. Sometimes

work you’re doing. You wouldn’t even want minimum wage, just the smallest amount of money to get you by, so that you don’t have to work when on placement,” explained Murphy.

Recruitment and retention are problems that plague nursing, with the IMNO currently voting on whether or not to go on strike because of it.

The General Secretary of the IMNO, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, has said that hospital overcrowding has become worse, reaching up to 500 people per day.

I have no intention of staying in this country once I’m qualified

to contend with assignments during this time. Combined with part-time work at the weekend, the chances of a social life disintegrate. A student nurse’s life often becomes one of isolation and exhaustion.

“Having zero social life because friends work opposite shifts to you during the week. Then you are working on the weekends, so you hardly ever see your friends or family. Also, the lack of respect is awful, given your roster on the Monday for that week, doing ‘scut work’ for other nurses. It’s not fair,” said Emilie Aucher, a third-year student nurse in the university.

you’re like; is it even worth it? You’re so tired and you don’t get any thanks for it, and all you want to do is cry,” said Emma Murphy.

According to the Irish Nurses and Midwifery Organisation (INMO), 80 per cent of student nurses would consider staying in Ireland if offered a full-time position, yet only 16 per cent receive this offer. Out of the 70 per cent which are approached by overseas agencies, 30 per cent are offers from the NHS in the UK, whom almost only offer full time positions.

“It’s so far-fetched, but even if you’re getting the smallest bit of money for the

Nurses are leaving their home country, not because they lack compassion, but because there is simply little chance of employment. This leaves our sick and injured in an impossible situation.

“I have no intention of staying in this country once I’m qualified. There’s no point staying in a country that doesn’t respect you… not the government anyway. If you want to have a better quality of life, you have to emigrate. I’ll be gone once I finish,” said Murphy.

Once graduated, newly qualified nurses are faced with an awful dilemma; help those abroad and prosper, or help those at home and suffer.

20

DCU’s favourite shopkeeper

Features

The supermarket on-campus is home to one of the university’s most popular faces Lucien Waugh-Daly and Sally Dobie Podcast Editor and Contributor @thecollegeview

A

n observant student wandering around the DCU campus on a chilly winter morning may notice a handful of friendly pensioners from the local area making their way through the crowd to reach the front doors of Londis.

Some are here for their morning walks, but most are here for their daily newspapers, and to see their friend: the man, the myth, the legend, Dave.

Dave Walsh has been an employee in the Glasnevin campus for close to two decades. Since he was recruited to the former Spar in August 2001 as a store assistant, he has won the hearts of DCU students and staff with his irrepressible wit and excitable personality. He’s on a short list of contenders for DCU’s most well-known and well-liked face, and this is a badge he wears with pride, having on more than one occasion referred to himself semi-facetiously as “The Legend”. His tenure in the shop (he joined seven months after it first opened) has lasted through the Spar era and continued into the recently-rebranded Londis, which has been open since June and has attracted attention in the retail industry for several of its groundbreaking innovations.

Every morning, as Dave starts work,

he’s one of the first people to arrive on campus, making the short journey from his home nearby. He opens up the shop, lets the waiting deli staff in, turns on the lights and puts out the day’s papers.

As the crowds arrive, there’s a friendly community atmosphere in the shop as young students and local residents interact while Dave jokes about the bad weather or the length of the queue.

Although born in London, Dave is both a proud Dub and an avid Liverpool supporter, while his personal heroes include Paul Weller and Belgian cyclist Eddy “The Cannibal” Merckx.

He has two nieces attending university in Spain and gets on extremely well with students (something that can be attributed to his youthful exuberance), especially those who work part-time in the shop. “It’s good for them to get that sort of experience.

They’ll have a better outlook as a result,” Dave tells The College View over lunch upstairs in The U student centre.

“Dave has made me feel really welcome,” s a y s Isabelle O ’ To o l e , a first year student who

recently started working part-time at Londis. “He’s always checking to make sure I’m getting on okay”.

Credit: Róise McGagh

Dave has fond memories of taking part in student projects in his role as something of an unofficial campus mascot, referencing a 2014 video by the RAG Society that featured him dancing to Pharrell Williams’s ‘Happy’, that amassed over 11,000 views.

The opening of the new Londis on the ground floor of The U was a welcome change for Dave and the other staff after a year working in the temporary Spar, previously home to The Venue behind Nubar. Dave recalls, “the basement was freezing. The winter was pretty bad, but [the location] did serve its purpose. We couldn’t exactly go out on the grass in a tent.”

Did the basement ever flood during any storms that hit Dublin? “Nope, it never flooded,” he answers.

“But there was a really cold wind tunnel down the steps.” Dave is glad to see The U open to students, a bright, modern space where he likes to eat his lunch most mid-mornings.

“It’s great for them, and good for the shop, it definitely attracts trade.”

Dave feels that just like students see Nubar as

‘their’ bar, the shop should be something they feel proud to have on their campus.

“

The support of students is very important and we always try to cater to their need “The support of students is very important and we always try to cater to their needs and listen to feedback.”

When he started working here, DCU was much smaller but the shop was just as busy. The arrival of cafés in the nursing, business and library buildings has dispersed the crowd somewhat, but the shop remains an essential part of college life, with Dave - once known as ‘The Man From Spar’ and now as ‘The Man From Londis’ - at the till every day.

Explainer: why does DCU hold its exams after Christmas?

Exams may ruin the festive season and DCU is one of the few universities to hold theirs after Christmas

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Rachel Halpin Production Editor @thecollegeview

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he semester one exam period in DCU is coming up.

The two week period starts on the January 7th and finishes on the 19th, where over 16,000 students will sit exams.

DCU is one of the only two universities in Ireland that holds their semester one exams after the Christmas break, starting in early January. The only other Irish university who holds their exams in January is NUI Maynooth.

However, this is set to change. The College View reported this week that the academic calendar will change for the 2020/2021 academic year, with Semester One examinations being held before the Christmas break. According to Students’ Union VP for Academic

“DCU is one of the only two universities in Ireland that hold their semester one exams after the Christmas break”

Affairs, Callaghan Commons, the new calendar will bring the university more in line with other third level institutions.

“The proposed changes to the academic calendar is to make DCU more in line with the calendars of other universities around Ireland such as Trinity , UCD and NUI Galway as well meaning that DCU will have their exams before Christmas,” he said.

“I believe that the changes to the calendar would be a great thing as this means that students will be able to enjoy their Christmas without the stress of exams hanging over them. However, there is a few kinks that will have to be worked out before the changes can be implemented such as the effect this will have on courses that have placement, the amount of study weeks that students will have before the exams and and various other factors. Ultimately, I do think it will be a benefit to students and I would welcome this change whenever it takes place,” he added.

The current system sees complaints from DCU students that as their exams are held in January, they are concerned that they will have a stressful Christmas, as they will be studying and preparing for the exams through the holiday and not have any time to enjoy the festivities and relax.

Although students have more time to

study between classes and exams, the looming examinations they face in the New Year is likely to put a damper on celebrations.

Eamonn Mackey, a second year Economics, Politics and Law student in DCU, has experienced having exams before and after Christmas as he has previously done a year of study in UCD. Having experienced both, he said he prefers to have exams after Christmas.

“I think that there are good and bad things about both ways but having exams after Christmas gives people more time to prepare themselves for exams and while you may be stressed during the holiday period, it’s a manageable stress because of how much time you have to study,” Mackey said.

“The problem that I had with having exams before Christmas was that I found myself with nothing to do after Christmas, there’s no college for another month so unless you have a parttime job you may start to feel extremely unproductive. Last Christmas I had only started my current job and was working four/five days a week, which, along with assignments, left very little time for me to study for my exams and so I ended up feeling extremely stressed and entirely unprepared,” he added.

Besides DCU and NUIM , all other

universities in Ireland have their semester one examinations scheduled during the early weeks of December.

These universities are Trinity College, University College Cork, UCD, NUIG and University of Limerick.

As their exams are scheduled before the holiday, their academic year starts earlier than DCU and NUIM who have theirs scheduled after the break.

Having exams before Christmas can be full on for students as everything is happening so close together. However, on the other hand it gives students the advantage to have everything completed before the break.

Emma King, a third year General Science student in NUIG, has her semester one exams before Christmas.

She feels as though having her exams before Christmas puts a lot of pressure on her as there is less time to prepare and she is trying to balance her assignments and classes with studying for the exams all in the one semester.

“Personally, while I find having exams before Christmas stressful due to lack of time, once they are finished it means I’m free to enjoy the holidays/ break without having to worry about studying. It has it problems however with regards to the “run-up to Christmas” as I feel like there are times when I miss out on the festivities,” she said.

Sport

21

McCullagh represents Ireland Seán McCullagh spoke to The College View about representing Ireland at the World University Championships in France.

Gerard Grimes Sports Editor @gerardgrimes11

F

irst year actuarial mathematics student and DCU Tennis player Seán McCullagh recently represented Ireland at the World University Championships in France.

Ireland finished fourth at the tournament, beating China, before losing to eventual champions USA in the semi-final and then Germany in the battle for the final space on the podium.

Clontarf native McCullagh was a late call up to the squad, coming out on top of a four player play-off tournament to secure his place in the squad, after a member of the original squad had dropped out.

“I never had the honour of representing my country (at junior level) so when I made the Irish team for the World University Championships I was over the moon.

“I was slightly fortunate as I originally was not picked but due to a late withdrawal, four guys, including myself, were given a chance to take that vacant spot on the team,” McCullagh told The College View.

“To decide who would take that spot, there was a playoff consisting of two semi-finals and a final.

“I was the youngest of the four and had never beaten any of them so I knew it was going to be very tough.

“However, I managed to play some of my best tennis to come through two tight encounters, even saving two match points in the semi-final,” McCullagh explained.

The 19-year-old flew to France three days later, soon after completing an exam on the morning of the team’s flight to Lyon.

“Those matches were played just three days before the team left for France so it was a quick turnaround to get myself ready to leave.

“I had an exam the morning of the flight so it was straight to the airport after that to meet up with the team.

“We flew to Lyon and then took the train to Grenoble where the event was held,” McCullagh said.

There were eight nations represented at the championships, with all teams consisting of six players, three male and three female.

The Irish team was made up of McCullagh, Dan O’Neill, Dan Moloney,

Credit: Etienne Jeanneret

Seán McCullagh in action at the World University Championships.

Julie Byrne, Amy Bowtell and Sinead Lohan.

The quarter-final draw saw Ireland, who were unseeded, avoiding the two favourites, and eventual finalists, the USA and Great Britain.

Ireland were instead drawn against China, with two men’s singles, two women’s singles, a men’s doubles, a women’s doubles and a mixed doubles match seeing each tie decided from a best of seven matches.

“We were unseeded meaning we could be drawn against the two favourites in the quarters, USA and Great Britain.

“Thankfully we avoided them and got China, who were probably the weakest of the four seeded teams. We were quietly confident, although we knew it was still a big ask,” McCullagh said.

While McCullagh lost his singles match, 7-5 6-3 to an ATP ranked player five years his senior, Ireland won the tie 4-3 overall to progress to the semi-final for the first time.

“In the tie against China, we came out on top in both women’s singles but lost both men’s singles.

“I played second singles and, although I lost, I felt I did myself proud losing 7-5 6-3 to a guy who was five years older than me and had an ATP ranking,” McCullagh explained.

“It was a similar story in the doubles with the women’s doubles coming out on top and the men’s losing meaning it was down to a deciding mixed doubles.

“In the mixed we were comfortable from start to finish meaning we won the tie 4-3 and reached the semi final for the very first time,” McCullagh said.

Ireland were hoping to finish in the

as all four singles were close encounters with two of them going to a third set.”

Ireland faced Germany next in the bronze medal match but lost out, finishing fourth overall, with McCullagh facing “It proved to be a step too far and we were simply outplayed. In singles

“I had an exam the morning of the flight

top three, and come home with a medal, but were drawn against favourites, and eventual champions, USA. USA, who have this competition eight times in the last ten years, beat Ireland 6-1 with the mixed doubles team of Dan Moloney and Julie Byrne claiming Ireland’s point “In the end we were well beaten 6-1, with the mixed doubles collecting our only point.

“I felt that slightly flattered the USA

I played a guy ranked 470 in the world which was a big step up for me.

“I lost 6-1 6-2 but it was a great experience playing a guy of that standard.

We did get a consolation win in the men’s doubles which was a nice way to finish.”

The teenager expressed his pride at having had the chance to represent his country, and thanked coaches Garry Cahill and Jamie Pilkington for the opportunity.

“Overall, it was an incredible few days. I think this experience will help me get better as a player as it is the highest level of competition I have experienced.

“It was an incredible feeling to represent my country and filled me with great pride.

“Thanks very much to the coaches, Garry Cahill and Jamie Pilkington, for giving me that opportunity and thanks to my teammates who gave me great support during my matches.

“Hopefully I can make the team again next year and do even better,” McCullagh said.

McCullagh has represented DCU already this year, in October’s National College Championships in Rathgar.

McCullagh was knocked out in the quarter-final stage by his international teammate and eventual champion, Daniel Moloney.

“I lost in the quarter final in singles to the eventual winner Daniel Moloney of UCC, who was also a member of the Irish University team.

“I also made the semi-final in doubles. Going forward, the Intervarsities are in February in Glasnevin Tennis Club just across the road from the DCU campus.

“DCU have not won it in a few years so it would be nice to get over the line this time around,” McCullagh said.

Sport

22

Ladies Rugby lift Division One title Emma Lackey spoke to The College View after DCU Ladies Rugby Club beat IT Carlow to seal a first Division 1 title.

Eoin Harte Deputy Lifestyle Editor @EoinHarte98

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he DCU Ladies Rugby Club stormed to a first ever SSI Women’s Rugby Division 1 title with a convincing win over IT

Carlow The team comfortably won the league, with bonus point victories in each of their five league games.

DCU LRC flanker Emma Lackey spoke to The College View about why the team were so successful in their campaign.

“We’ve been really lucky with the first years we got in this year, they’ve made a big difference. I think we just gelled as a team really well this year.”

UCD posed the main challenge to DCU in their challenge for the title, but DCU crucially beat them 37-25 in the third round of the competition to put them in pole position for claiming the league title.

“When we were coming up to them on points difference we knew they’d be the closest because they’ve quite good backs. So yeah that was our

toughest game,” Lackey said.

The team had an impressive campaign last season but fell at the last hurdle, losing to the University of Limerick in the Cup final.

Lackey felt that last year’s loss helped to drive the team to success in this season’s campaign.

“We’re still a bit hurt from the loss last year. That was in the cup, so we did win the league last year but there was no official cup the way we won it this year. We lost the cup last year to UL. “There’s a lot of girls still here from last year which really helps because we’re all on the same page from last year on wanting to win,” Lackey explained.

The side have also improved upon their training regime from last year, and Lackey believed the added intensity at training sessions was crucial to the side’s success.

“It’s quite serious for college sport.

“

It’s quite serious for college sport

DCU Ladies Rugby

We’ve obviously started doing gym sessions down in St Clare’s in the high performance gym so it’s kind of like stepping up a notch from last year definitely in training.

“Eddie (Fallon) is our main coach and he puts so much time and effort into it. We also have one of the Irish girls helping out this year (Elsa Hughes).

“She’s scrum-half for Leinster, she

Credit: DCU Ladies Rugby

does a lot of backs work while Eddie does forwards work.”

Lackey was full of praise for her teammates and stated that the seriousness with which the team approached the season was an important factor when it came to winning the league.

“We’ve Emma Hooban who’s on the Irish senior team, this year she played against England and Australia and then we’ve Anna Doyle, a sevens

player, she’s really good, Eimear Corri.

“There’s not like really any key players, like they’re all unreal, I can’t pick out a main one,” Lackey said.

The season isn’t over yet for the DCU LRC with a semi-final clash in the cup next on the agenda. The side are in a good place to go one further than last year and claim the cup title.

DCU Ladies 7’s hopeful for Tokyo Ireland had four DCU representatives across the senior and development women's sides at the Dubai 7s.

Joshua Freeman Contributor @thecollegeview

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he Irish women's team impressed at the Dubai Rugby 7’s tournament, with DCU well represented, on the weekend of November

30th.

Ireland had a senior and development team represent them at the tournament with four DCU players between both teams.

Brittany Hogan played for the senior team, while Anna Doyle, Lucinda Kinghan, and Molly Scuffil-McCabe kitting out for the development team.

With both teams winning two of their three group games the players are looking to the future with high hopes.

“Our squad is aiming to qualify for the Olympics in 2020, this is a huge goal for everyone involved and if we keep improving the way we are I think it’s well within reach,” said Doyle.

After the senior team finished 8th and the development team 6th, their claims would seem justified and the DCU link is something that is definitely playing its part along with the incredible drive for success.

“Myself and the girls train together four times a week within the sevens programme so we’re close and I can definitely call them all good friends of mine which makes playing together on the pitch that bit sweeter,” said Scuffil-McCabe when asked about her DCU team-mates.

It was Scuffil-McCabe’s second Dubai 7’s and the feeling of excitement only seems to be growing. “It’s always an amazing tournament!,” she said.

“So many people attend the venue and you always have Irish people who tend to be there and spot you playing and decide to stay and cheer you on which makes it all that bit better!,” she added when speaking of the Irish support abroad.

The team this year had some great young talent who really put their mark down out there on the pitch and showed what they’re worth,” she said on the younger players coming through for Ireland.

In the tournament itself the senior team beat Russia 26-0, and Kenya 2712. Following which they lost to overall winners New Zealand, 24-17, in their group, before losing to eventual runners-up Canada in the quarter-finals 24-7.

In their final two games they lost 22-

Anna Doyle in action for Leinster

17 to England and then fell to a 17-5 defeat to France sealing their 8th place finish.The development squad lost to the Tribe 7’s 12-7 in their first game before going on to win</span> 29-17 against the Phoenix 7’s and comfortably winning Germany 33-0.

They went on to play the Arukas Queen Kumagaya team in the quarter finals, losing 19-0 and finished with a 42-12 loss to the Delta Drones in the 5th and 6th place playoff.

Credit: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

The next round of women’s 7’s series takes place in Sydney from the 1st to the 3rd of February 2019 with three tournaments in Japan, Canada and

“

Our squad is aiming to qualify for the Olympics

France to follow.

Ireland will be hoping to qualify for the Toyko 2020 Olympics by aiming to finish in the top four of the world series.

If they fail with this route, they will have a chance to qualify through either the regional association tournament or at the World Rugby Olympic Repechage tournament with DCU’s young guns up for the challenge.

Sport

23

DCU Ultimate lose to Trinity

DCU Ultimate impressed in the recent intervarsity, eventually losing to Trinity in the final.

John Morley Deputy Sports Editor @JohnMorleysport

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CU Ultimate Men’s Frisbee team lost the Men’s Intervarsity final to Trinity in the Sports Centre, DCU. The second seeds put on a powerful campaign to make the final, losing out to a Trinity team star studded with Ireland players.

“The Trinity first line on the team would have five players who have all played for Ireland,” said DCU Ultimate Chairman Dean Mc Creary.

“They beat (favourites) Cork by one point in their semi-final,” he added.

From their first-round encounter meeting, the Trinity side had been bolstered by two strong additions.

“Jack McNamara and Andrew Cleary, two absolute animals,” said Mc Creary.

The two U24 Ireland players added a class that the DCU side admitted they found hard to match at times.

“The way they played, it was incredible to watch how good they were,” said DCU Ultimate Secretary Mark

Cunningham.

“It was a really good final because anytime we did score it was because we really had to play out of our skin,” said Mc Creary.

Club Treasurer Seán Fitzpatrick also acknowledged the step up in quality the two Ireland veterans brought.

“The team we played Saturday, we felt like we could beat in the final,” he said.

Even though the DCU side lost out they were given commendation by opposing teams for their side’s focused tactics.

“We were getting compliments like ‘oh you’re so well drilled’,” said Mc Creary.

The lads gave credit to their coach Fiona Mernagh for their astute tactical play.

“At the moment she’s coaching us to coach beginners,” said Fitzpatrick.

Reflecting on the tournament, the side were pleased with their run to the final, but also reflected on some personally satisfying moments like the win over UL in the semis.

“When we played UL, we dispatched them,” said Mc Creary.

“I’d never beaten UL before, Mark had never beaten UL before, so for a lot of us it was our first time,” said Fitzgerald.

“Even though we got to the final of mixed, I don’t think a lot of people were expecting us to be at the final of men’s because our girls did a lot for us,” he added.

The DCU Ultimate women’s team ranked third in their respective in-

DCU Ultimate in action against UL.

tervarsity.

“They didn’t expect to come third.

They came out and lost to Trinty in their first game.

“It was a close game, they went a lot closer than they thought they would,” said Mc Creary.

“They came out of that game feeling

“

It was incredible to watch how good they were

Credit: Daniel Tutty

like they should have won,” he added.

Fitzgerald commended the brilliant nature of the ladies’ tournament run given the fact that they only had one rolling substitute on their team.

“We’re always looking for more players and the ladies did great considering how few there were,” he said.

“In the rest on the tournament the only other team that beat them was Cork who are far in a way the best team in the country,” said Mc Creary.

“No one had any doubt in their minds that weekend that Cork were going to win.

“They have a really good youth programme down in Cork, so all the girls

go to UCC,” he added.

Mc Creary highlighted the great effort given the blitz nature of the tournament and the relentless resolve on the girls with merely one roll on sub.

“The three girls Hellen, Áine and Alex. They really stepped up and other colleges were impressed by them,” he said.

“DCU don’t normally do that well, especially in women’s,” he added.

The DCU Ultimate club added that they are open to new beginners and have both mixed and men’s and women’s training, both in the sports hall and on the astro pitches throughout the semester.

Coaches key for avoiding injury

Cillian Duffy and Vito Boronenko talked to The College View on their experiences with injuries in powerlifting.

Hugh Farrell Deputy Sports Editor @HughFSports

I

njuries in Powerlifting generally require a long rehabilitation period and happen to even the most seasoned athletes. Cillian Duffy and Vito Boronenko talked to The College View on their experiences.

In Boronenko’s case, the injury that has been holding him back has been recurring.

His lower back has been the issue on two occasions.

The main cause of it came from lifting too much and playing basketball on top of his training.

Boronenko said his coaches instructions would have helped him avoid the fatigue that led to his injury.

“On the days I felt good and strong

Cillian Duffy in competition.

in the gym, I was going heavier than what was written on the program and with basketball adding extra fatigue my body I wasn’t able to keep up and I ended up injuring my lower back while squatting.

“It was 100% my fault for not following my coaches instructions.”

Boronenko had his chance for a comeback and started preparing for the

Credit: Neil Campbell

Junior Nationals ten weeks out. Once his lower back started to feel better he followed his coaches instructions and began beating his own personal bests.

“It was definitely my fault for being so arrogant, thinking I knew better than a coach who has been coaching powerlifting for over ten years.”

He remained open about his mistakes and explained the rationale he

had at the time.

“I kept lifting heavier than what he

“

It was 100% my fault for not following my coaches instructions

had set out for me.

“As an inexperienced lifter I believed that is what would make me stronger, which is definitely not the case,” Boronenko told The College View.

Vito wasn’t alone in this as Duffy also admitted that his injuries were his own fault.

“In my case it’s entirely down to being stupid, not focusing on prehabilitation and pushing myself too hard.”

He also said that injuries “are a vicious cycle because they prevent you from training or playing sport and if you rush your recovery you end up delaying your return to the sport.”

“My knee issue is from over-training and lack of stretching.

“If you train correctly you shouldn’t have any issues.”

Duffy explained that the issues don’t usually arise from lifting too heavy on a random occasion saying that injuries generally appear after prolonged periods of poor training habits.

He warned against the idea of training with weights that are too heavy and said that technique and weaknesses need to be examined first.

“Build the weight back up with good form and you’ll be stronger in the long run.”

SPORT

INSIDE Brittany Hogan, Anna Doyle, Lucinda Kinghan and Molly Scuffil-McCabe all recently represented Ireland at the Dubai 7s.

DCU Athletics dominate awards

Elizabeth Morland and Matthew Behan were named IUAA University Athletes of the year.

Ian Brennan Podcast Editor @IPJBrennan97

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lizabeth Morland and Matthew Behan were presented with their awards for winning the IUAA Women’s and Men’s University Athlete of the Year.

The presentation took place at the Bank of Ireland in The Street in the Henry Grattan building on Tuesday with Branch Manager Jaqueline Ewing making the presentations to the two athletes.

Athletics Academy Director Enda Fitzpatrick, DCU Athletics Club President Mickey Whelan, and Chairman of the club Cian McBride also in attendance.

Morland set new competition records for the Combined Events at the Indoor Intervarsity’s held at Athlone IT in February, winning the competition in the process.

Meanwhile, Behan followed suit, breaking the competition record for both the 60m hurdles in Athlone, running under eight seconds.

He continued his form to the outdoors in April at the Mary Peters Track in Belfast, where he broke the 110m Hurdles competition record, adding the outdoor title to his indoor one for the year.

Both athletes also received recognition for their achievements from

Matthew Behan and Elizabeth Morland after being presented with their awards.

Athletics Ireland during the week, with Morland winning the University Athlete of the year and Behan winning the U23 Athlete of year, where all four nominations were DCU Athletes.

Behan was honoured to have won the award for Male University Athlete of the Year, saying “I’m absolutely delighted, and I just want to thank everyone behind me, cause it’s not just me, even though I’m the one out on the track.”

The Sports Science and Health student is grateful for the support he has, telling The College View, “The sup-

port team behind me, my parents, my coaches, everyone in the institute of sport and even down to my training partners.”

Morland was also very grateful to have received her award, saying, “I’m absolutely delighted, universities have so many strong athletes across Ireland, and to win and to get all the titles last year, it’s definitely an honour and especially to do it for DCU because we have such a strong team, it’s great.”

Fitzpatrick was full of praise for the pair of athletes, saying, “Two very deserving recipients for the award for

Credit: Ian Brennan

University Athlete of the year.

“Matthew is a 110m hurdler and has had a superb year. Broke records indoors, broke records outdoors. Definitely knocking on the door for Tokyo 2020, that’s his main ambition now.

“

Two very deserving recipients for the award

DCU Karate kick it up a notch

“Elizabeth Morland from Cushinstown in Meath, (will be) the first Irish girl to go over 6000 points probably in the heptathlon.

“If you put all of her personal bests together right now in the seven individual events, she would have a qualifying score for the Olympic games,” Fitzpatrick said.

Morland, who is an Education and Training student at DCU Institute of Education has her sights set on the next couple of years.

“Future goals would be European U23s next year, it’s definitely going to be a strong field with younger athletes coming up and the older athletes ahead of me so that’ll definitely be an aim”, she said.

“Of course, Tokyo 2020, it’s going to be a big ask. The Heptathlon is so strong across the world, but hopefully I can get there. It’ll be hard, but I’ll try my best.”

Similarly, Behan has his future goals in place, including Tokyo 2020.

“Yeah definitely, it’s kind of become a bit real now that we’re at the halfway point in between two championships, so, I’ve fully transitioned into senior championships now.

“I’m hoping now for a European indoors with a couple of changes this year, bring down my indoor time and aim for that championships but the sights are definitely on the world universities in the summer, see where we go from there.”

DCU Karate took home 15 medals, including two gold, from the recent Intercollegiate Cup. Hugh Farrell Deputy Sports Editor @HughFSports

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CU Karate walked away from the recent Inter-Collegiate Cup coming second overall with 15 individual and

team medals.

The cup, which was held in UCD on December 1st, saw the team gain two gold medals, seven silver and six bronze. Órla McNabola and Misha Maxwell were the gold winners in the senior ladies’ kata and junior men’s kumite respectively.

McNabola is also the club captain and said “I’m immensely proud of our team and our overall performance this weekend.

“Every team member, from white to black belt battled it out with a commendable energy and enthusiasm, and played a key role in reaching our success on the day.

“It is no lie that our strong team

spirit shone through the roof in UCD on Saturday, the roars of coaching and support could probably have been heard from space.”

She also spoke on the club’s next steps. “The next few weeks will involve a lot of intense preparation for the All-Ireland Karate Intervarsity Championships. We have our sights firmly set on bringing the S.M.C. Perpetual Cup home to DCU once again.”

McNabola also mentioned that Ted Jenkins received an unfortunate facial injury in his first bout that prevented him from competing in the rest of the tournament.

Jenkins received the kick to his face in his first round of his kumite competition and said “it hurt but I wasn’t concussed thankfully. I got super lucky,

“

It hurt but I wasn’t concussed thankfully

Ryan Doyle in his bout against UCD

it wasn’t broken that we could tell and it’s healing like it wasn’t.”

He also noted that the medics on site were fantastic as well as saying that “DCU put out a really strong team for the day, we’ve come on so well together over the last couple months.”

Credit: Ahmed Siddiqui

DCU Karate chairperson Claire Flynn was also happy with the performance saying, “I’m immensely proud of all the members of the club that participated in the competition on Saturday.

“It was a great day for the club and it

was fantastic to see the support we all had for each other on and off the mat.”

DCU Karate train on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The All-Ireland Karate Intervarsity Championships will also be held in DCU on 6th April.