The College View Issue 7

Wednesday Febuary 6th, 2019

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Nurses and midwives strike out Cáit Caden News Editor @AreYou_Caden_Me MINISTERS proposed immediate talks with the Irish Nurses and Midwives Association (INMO) about staffing levels rather than pay, as they prepare for their third 24 hour strike.

Last week the government threatened over 30,000 nurses and midwives with financial penalties for participating in the first of the planned all-out strikes, over the lack of pay parity.

Psychiatric Nurses Association are also taking industrial action today over pay and staffing retention.

“What we’re trying to say to the government is that they really come out with a rhetoric about respecting nurses but we really need them to demonstrate that in a practical way,” said INMO representative Kate O’Halloran at the Rotunda picket line.

“Pay restoration and pay parity with other allied healthcare professionals” would be an effective way for the government to do this, however “they keep telling us there’s no money there but we know there’s money there, it’s about how they spend it,” according to O’Halloran.

A lack of pay parity, also known as equal pay for equal work, in Ireland is the main reasoning behind the number of nurses trained in Irish universities going abroad for work. This leads to understaffing and consequently a risk to patient safety, according to the INMO. “[the Irish government are] training nurses and midwives. They’re putting a lot of investment into their education and training and they’re losing that,

and other countries are getting the benefit of these wonderful trained professionals because the environments that they provide in their healthcare sectors are safer and the pay is better,” said O’Halloran.

If nurses and midwives continue to strike, it is possible that the government will impose financial penalties such as freezing pension benefits.

“The nursing unions are seeking a significant increase in pay over and above all of the benefits of the current Agreement (Public Service Stability Agreement) seeking parity with other health professionals,” said Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure, Paschal Donohoe.

“Concession of this pay claim, even if possible, would have serious consequences for the public finances and for public pay policy generally with estimated costs of €300 million annually,” he continued.

Thousands of patients were affected by the first labour strike on January 30th and it is estimated that around 50,000 medical appointments were cancelled because of the work stoppage on February 5th.

The INMO agreed with the HSE that ‘skeleton’ staff be provided to “ensure emergency and life-preserving care” was still delivered to patients, as stated by an INMO spokesperson who added that “the HSE has agreed that any staff working shifts will be paid fully for their time” during the strike.

Despite the impact on outpatient appointments, the nurses and midwives received growing support online as the hashtag ‘#StandWithNursesAndMidwives’ trended on Twitter and many people changed there profile picture to display the slogan ‘Stand with Nurses

Features

Sports

DCU leading the way in sepis research

DCU Athletics run towads Athlone track and field

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. Est. 1999 .

DCU purchased rodents for scientific research Brian Mahon Contributor @thecollegeview

Credit: Cáit Caden

Nurses plan to strike again on the 7th of February in the third of six planned all-out labour strikes.

and Midwives.’

Those on the picket line at the Rotunda were cheered on by drivers of Dublin Bus and were joined in solidarity by the Irish National Teacher’s Organisation (INTO).

“I think for the most part the public respect and support us but understaffed areas make it difficult to give these patients the care they deserve,” said Deirdre Ruane who has been working as a nurse for 40 years predominantly on the Special Care Baby Unit.

Opinion

Millennials are not to blame for all the world’s problems Page 13

This is the second time in 100 years that nurses have gone on strike and many of the messages on the placards at the picket lines remained the same as they did in 1999, such as: “Dispute on here.”

“One has to wonder is it a historic presumption around it being a vocation and not a profession,” said O’Halloran when asked why the conditions have not improved in nursing according to the INMO.

THE university bought 1790 mice and rats between 2016 and 2017 for scientific research purposes, The College View has learned.

Mice took up the majority of the purchases with 1,296 of the 1,790 rodents.

The other 494 were rats.

DCU also declined to provide the name of the supplier of the rodents stating; “the use of animals in scientific research is an emotive topic and there have been cases in the past where organisations that use animals for legitimate scientific purposes have been targeted by activists who have damaged premises and intimidated staff.”

When asked whether DCU staff have been threatened or attacked for carrying out research on animals, a spokesperson declined to comment.

“The use of animals for medical research in Ireland is governed by legislation… and is highly regulated by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA).

“DCU promote the principles of the 3Rs - Replacement, Reduction and Refinement - in terms of the use of animals for medical research and are subject to inspections by the HPRA to ensure we are complying with all relevant legislation,” the spokesperson added.

Speaking in response to the figures, Laura Broxson, from the National Animal Rights Association said; “we are 100 per cent against any animal testing, for any reason. Not only is it unethical, but it is scientifically flawed. You cannot predict how a pharmaceutical drug, for example, will react in a human body by testing it on a mouse or rat.”

Broxson also said she hadn’t heard of companies which used animals for research purposes being intimidated by animal rights activists.

However, she went on to say “it depends on the action - some people find peaceful, legitimate protests ‘intimidating’. I would need to know the context of the question more before commenting further.”

“I would also add that if they have

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Gaeilge

News

Saoirse Ronan: Stór na hÉireann nó pian inár dtóin?

DCU construction hoped to be finished by September

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Editorial

2 INSIDE The Hype

Editor-in-Chief Callum Lavery

Film/TV Bandersnatch Read on page 4

Travel

Wanderlust: Budapest Read on page 13

Music

Azealia Banks Read on page 2

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 Sports editor: Gerard Grimes, Deputy sports editors: John Morley & Hugh Farrell Opinion editor: Orla Dwyer, Deputy opinion editor: Clara Kelly Social media editor: Amy Louise Donohoe & Roise McGagh

Chief Sub-editor: Roisin Cullen

Podcast editors: Lucien Waugh Daly, Niamh Dunne & Ian Brennan 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 editor@thecollegeview.com news@thecollegeview.com features@thecollegeview.com opinion@thecollegeview.com gaeilge@thecollegeview.com sports@thecollegeview.com Thanks to Sportsfile, SLC, Office of Student Life

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

Follow our journalism online:

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

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Editor’s piece

s strikes continue for Irish nurses, it is The College View’s stance that support of the cause is justified and warranted.

This stance has been taken by the paper regardless of personal opinion of writers or members of the editorial team, but instead taken to represent the large number of student nurses within the university.

It is The College View’s policy to support its readers and represent the student voice on the campus, this instance is no exception.

Our news editor Cáit Caden has written in depth coverage of the ongoing protests in today’s paper, with further updates and information going online during this tense time.

It can be difficult to support causes that may adversely impact our daily lives while they are underway. 50,000 outpatient and community medical appointments being cancelled as the nursing unions plan a major escalation in their industrial action, being a current example.

However, the fact is that equal work requires (and now demands) equal pay, and support for fairness and compensation is reasonable.

The USI pledged their support for the nurses strike late last month as they recognised

the need to back the student nurses of Ireland, now it is our responsibility to do the same.

There is no denying that nurses are paid substantially less (in the region of €7,000) than other healthcare professionals, such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists.

Ironically there is also a common acceptance that they regularly go beyond the call of duty. While we occasionally talk about how society would not function without their hard work, we then quickly return to assuming that those who work in a caring profession will just get on with it.

The reasoning for this is simple; we do not value carers in this country.

In one hundred years of labor, nurses have refused to work in protest of working condition only twice, so when they do so in these coming weeks, we must take heed.

The College View will continue to provide fair and accurate reporting of this issue and any other issues facing the student body alongside thoughtful comment, art and lifestyle news and reviews, and sports coverage.

From all of us here at The College View, we would like to welcome everyone back to the second term of DCU and wish you all the best of luck with exam results and future lectures.

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Continued from Page 1... to concoct stories to evoke sympathy, as a means to excuse the horrific things they are doing to animals, perhaps they should consider a different career,” she added.

DCU stated the purchase of animals is not centralised and as such claimed the cost of purchasing the animals was not ‘readily available’. It did, however, confirm there were at least 30 such purchases during this time period.

Previous reports in the national media, however, indicate the university spent €44,000 on mice, rats, chickens and rabbits for research into cancer, diabetes and other diseases from 20112013.

A 2016 policy document on the use of animals in research at the university states “Dublin City University considers that it is desirable to replace the use of live animals in procedures by other methods not entailing the use of live animals but recognises that, given the present state of scientific knowledge, the use of live animals continues to be necessary to protect human and animal health and the environment.”

The policy also notes that anyone who wants to use animals in their research must receive prior ethical approval from the University’s Research Ethics Committee.

The policy is up for review this year.

Registry and others not made aware of new pilot timetable Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque Deputy News Editor @BrendanPalenque_ REGISTRY and the ISS library helpdesk were both unaware that an alternative timetable system existed.

The day before semester two was due to start, Sunday, January 27th students were unable to access the normal timetable system. According to VP for Academic Affairs Registrar Aengus Gordon, the timetable experienced a technical glitch over that weekend.

“This was resolved before start of business on Monday morning,” he said. He added that there would be no change to the timetable system.

The alternative timetable system, Public Open Timetable (PTO), is being piloted by DCU, according to their website. The normal timetable will be available alongside PTO. Several students were affected by the timetable going down the day before the start of the second semester and the PTO was not a perfect substitute for everyone.

Global business student, Avery Il-

defonse, knew something was off with their PTO when it said their Spanish module would only last one hour when it was supposed to be three hours long.

They asked several people in their course, but they had no idea what was going on either. After emailing a former lecturer, who forwarded them on to their module co-ordinator, they finally got an answer.

“Turns out the one hour that was written on my timetable was for a group that I wasn’t a part of and none of my Spanish hours were on my actual timetable,” Ildefonse said.

They mentioned how only three people showed up for a 9am Global Business (France) lecture. Their timetable had changed and most people were unaware as the normal system was down.

Communications student Eimear Kelly was also affected. “The delay in getting timetables made it hard to plan my work schedule around college,” she said.

However, she added that as she lives closer to DCU than most students, it didn’t affect her as much as others.

A member of the ISS helpdesk in the library was aware that the normal time-

Signs of DCU enabling deaf people to become primary teachers Cáit Caden News Editor @AreYou_Caden_Me DCU’s Institute of Education introduced an entry route that will enable people who are deaf or have a hearing impairment to become primary school teachers.

The entry route will facilitate those who are deaf or hard of hearing and want to become primary school teachers by providing the Bachelor of Education programme through Irish Sign Language (ISL).

“I have to say I was delighted when I heard,” said Deanna Cairns, a spokesperson from the organisation Happy New Ear. Deanna is the mother of a child who is deaf and added that “the more ISL around the better.”

“The numbers of students using ISL in primary schools is quite small, but since there has been no avenue into teaching for deaf people who use ISL before this, there is a lot of interest in the pathway,” said lecturer with the School of Inclusive and Special Education, Elizabeth Matthews.

There is an estimated 70 to 140 children who will be diagnosed with a hearing impairment each year following universal new-born hearing screening, according to the HSE’s National Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Programme.

The degree offers job prospects to those with hearing impairment but also provides trained professionals who will be able to teach children with similar hearing difficulties with the skills

BleeperBikes will be discontinued due to the unsustainable cost of the scheme.

table system wasn’t working before the semester started, but he was not aware of PTO’s existence.

He also speculated as to how safe the PTO website is. “I’m not sure like, is this secure? Anyone can see the timetable,” he said.

The Registry was similarly confused

of every other graduate in the B.Ed course.

“Deaf and hard of hearing children should be able to leave school with levels of educational attainment that are on a par with their hearing peers of similar ability,” stated Chief Executive Teresa Griffin in the forward to the 2011 National Council for Special Education’s (NCSE) seminal policy document on deaf education.

DCU’s pathway offers an opportunity to become a primary school teacher to those who were exempt from Irish but could converse in ISL. Usually, a higher level C3 in Irish is a requirement to study the B. Ed programme.

The course has been in development since 2011, however, this new pathway is currently being launched on a pilot

Credit: Roise McGagh

basis from September. If successful, the course will officially be available to incoming students in 2023 on wards.

There has been no specialist course to train teachers how to educate deaf children since UCD stopped providing one in 2002.

Although this pathway is specifically designated to those who are deaf or have a hearing impairment, core modules will be delivered while studying the B.Ed through this entry route with the addition of some modules specific to deaf education which will be delivered as a specialism.

The four-year, full-time undergraduate course also includes a 30-week school placement.

to learn that PTO existed and said they do not have access to timetables.

A registry worker said that ISS is typically in charge of informing students about IT changes. She added that: “Each faculty is responsible for email or for students’ access to a timetable.”

DCU undergo changes to public transport Ellen Fitzpatrick News Editor @elinfizpitryk

The launch if the ISL pathway into primary has been in progress for over seven years.

Credit: Daria Jonkisz

CHANGES have been made to public transport within DCU and for those commuting into DCU. The 104 bus has undergone changes in its timetable, the 220 route has been introduced by Go Ahead to serve DCU and the shared bike scheme has been ‘retired’.

DCU have also made significant changes to bicycle schemes on all three campuses, including the shared bike scheme, BleeperBikes.

DCU’s shared bike scheme was said to be popular across all campuses but costs are unsustainable and cannot be continued.

“While this scheme was well used – the administration times and maintenance costs are not sustainable and with the introduction of the Bleeperbike scheme no longer necessary,” Samantha Fahy, Sustainability Manager, said in an email to students.

In previous semesters, those in DCU were able to use the BleeperBikes app to control bike locks across campus and cycle between them.

“The bike scheme that is being discontinued was predominately used by staff and I believe that the service available with the Bleeper Bike share scheme is superior as you can take the bikes from point to point rather than having to return them and also you can

use them right across Dublin City,” Fahy said.

With the removal of this scheme, the bikes are no longer available and have been donated to various other places.

“We have donated bikes to the worthy causes, including DCU SU,” Fahy said.

The free bike clinics have re-commenced for the second semester, which will run on a first come first serve basis.

“Following some major issues in Semester I, the bicycle rails in the undercroft on the St. Patrick’s Campus are being changed to Sheffield stands in the coming weeks,” Fahy said.

The 104 bus that serves Clontarf to The Helix has been taken over by Go Ahead and has seen changes to its timetable, allowing for buses to come and go from DCU every hour.

Go Ahead have also introduced the 220 bus from The Helix to Lady’s Well Road which serves the surrounding areas north of DCU towards Blanchardstown. This bus also comes and goes from DCU every hour.

All increases in public transport connectivity to DCU are welcome and we hope that these changes while small will enable more staff and students to use a sustainable form of transport to commute to DCU. We continue to work with the National Transport Authority (NTA) to improve DCU’s connectivity,” Fahy told The College View.

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News

Secondary school teachers threaten strike action Dave Kelly Sub Editor @Dave_Kelly_ SECONDARY school teachers have announced their intention to strike if the primary school teachers’ strike action goes ahead.

Following the government’s rejection of proposals to end the two-tier pay system for teachers recruited in recent years, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) has said that they may ballot for strike action.

At a recent meeting of the ASTI’s central executive council, the following motion was adopted: “intention to conduct a ballot for industrial action in parallel with the primary teachers’ union (INTO), should the INTO proceed with a ballot”.

Last November, the ASTI also rejected the government’s proposals, as they did not adequately address the pay equality issues. The government has estimated that the solution to this issue would cost nearly €200 million and would be solved by 2020.

“It is unacceptable that in 2019 we expect a cohort of teachers to do the same work as their colleagues for inferior pay which will lead to substantial losses over their careers. We are committed to ending this discriminatory treatment,” said Breda Lynch, ASTI President.

The INTO has said that before they trigger a ballot for industrial action, the union will enter into “constructive dialogue” with the government regard-

ASTI also rejected the government’s proposals, as they did not adequately address the pay equality issues.

ing the pay issues. These pay issues affect teachers who began work between 2011 and 2014.

“The ASTI has already taken strike action as part of its campaign to achieve equal pay for equal work. We will continue to stand in solidarity with our lower paid colleagues until full pay equality is restored,” said Lynch.

In a recent press release, the INTO has said that they enjoyed a constructive meeting with the oversight group of the Public Sector Stability Agreement. It was agreed that further engagement with the oversight committee would continue in the coming weeks.

The rejected government proposals, a part of the Public Service Pay Plan,

rials that are more difficult to recycle but can be used as a more sustainable fuel source instead of adding to landfill waste.

You cannot make cement without the intense heat inside the cement kiln, which is required to, literally, melt the raw materials,” added Gilmore.

As the need for cement mix remains, plants will have to burn materials to create it. SRF enables cement kilns to burn waste already created instead of burning fuel such as coal. <span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Some of the materials in SRF are wood, paper, textiles however other materials include plastic.

The main goal of using SRF is reducing waste in landfills while using an alternative to fossil fuels for the manufacturing of materials that require a lot of heat such as cement.

Using recyclables as a replacement for fossil fuels in such things as cement factories is what is done throughout Europe, explained Gilmore.

Although this is standard practice in Europe, Ireland still remains one of the worst offenders for emissions in the EU. Progress has been made to reduce the country’s release of carbon emissions such as divesting from fossil fuel investments.

However, the implementation of a major plan by the government to tackle climate change in Ireland may be “paused” due to Brexit

Callum Lavery Editor -in-Chief @callum_lavery

Credit: Alison Clair

would see newer teachers receiving an average pay increase of over €3000.

The proposal was rejected by the ASTI by a margin of six per cent.

“I think it’s absurd that I could potentially be teaching the same amount of children, for the same amount of hours a day and putting in the same amount of planning as another teacher

in the classroom next door to me, but just because they qualified prior to 2011 they would be earning significantly more than me for the exact same job,” said Laura Jane Guing, a student primary teacher in DCU.

University converts 2018 waste Wicklow school wins Learnit and DCU into an alternative to fossil fuel FIRST LEGO League Leinster final Cáit Caden News Editor @AreYou_Caden_Me DCU converted the majority of its waste across campuses into an alternative to fossil fuel last year, according to the results of a Freedom of Information Request.

Over 89 per cent of the waste generated in DCU was separated into ‘recovery’ materials which were then used to produce solid recovered fuel (SRF) in 2018.

Based on the ongoing recovery in the construction sector here in Ireland, we expect the demand for cement to continue to grow with an associated increase in the need for fuel,” said Communications Manager at Irish Cement, Brian Gilmore.

DCU uses Thorntons Recycling which provides SRF to cement firms to help with manufacturing, as some cement kilns now use SRF as a more environmentally friendly substitute to coal. <span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Thorntons is licenced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to handle 250,000 tonnes of waste a year Unlike refuse-derived fuel (RDF), SRF is made from the shredding and processing of commercial waste. Both RDF and SRF convert waste to energy, however, SRF is made up of mate-

A team of pupils from Wicklow Montessori Primary School have been crowned the winners of the Learnit and DCU FIRST LEGO League Leinster finals.

Over 20 teams from Leinster competed in the competition following four months of preparation, including the designing, building and programming of their own automated robots.

Wicklow Montessori Primary School were crowned the 2019 Learnit &amp; DCU FIRST LEGO League Champions and will now go forward to represent Ireland in the UK Finals in the University of the West of England, Bristol on Saturday, February 16th.

Teams were tasked with developing a research project based on identifying a human, physical or social problem faced during long-duration space exploration within the Sun’s solar system and devised solutions to combat this.

‘For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology’ (FIRST) and the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) encourages children to think like scientists and engineers, developing practical solutions to real-world issues.

The FLL is an international competition involving students aged 11 to 16 from 80 countries. Teams of up to ten students and two adults can participate.

Irish education specialists, Learnit, have introduced the FIRST LEGO League to schools in Leinster and Munster in recent years. DCU LEGO

DCU hosted the Leinster Lego Robitics League Finals on January 26th.

Education Innovation Studio (LEIS) works in partnership with Learnit with the aim of increasing STEM awareness in young people.

Executive Dean of the Institute of Education Dr Anne Looney said that she was excited for DCU to hold the event this year.

“DCU Institute of Education is delighted to host this event and to be associated with the FIRST LEGO Leagues. Working with our unique Lego Education Innovation Studio gives our student teachers a chance to work on practical robotic challenges, and to develop skills they can take with them into their future classrooms and a problem-solving mindset that can inspire the next generation of STEM learners,” she said.

“The opportunity to be centrally

Credit: Pixabay

involved in this initiative contributes to our goal of creating an interactive learning hub that will help DCU student teachers and Irish schools develop innovative and creative approaches to designing learning environments which ignite a passion for learning STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering &amp; Maths) concepts and skills from early childhood education right through to third level,” said Professor Deirdre Butler of DCU LEGO Education Innovation Studio.

“By adopting Lego®’s playful learning tools, with a ‘Hands-on Minds-on’ mindset, in a supportive learning environment, all students can develop key competencies such as creative thinking, problem-solving, team-working and communication,” she added.

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News

DCU construction DCU SSDP launch new drug policy hoped to be finished for new semester

by September Ellen Fitzpatrick News Editor @elinfizpitryk

Construction on the green began in November 2018 and has caused some disturbances on the Glasnevin campus

Roise McGagh Illustrations Editor @roisemcgagh THE Main Mall renovations on Glasnevin Campus are hoped be finished for September 2019, according to the Office of the Chief Operations Officer.

The space between the front of the Henry Grattan building and the Labyrinth will be replaced by a large open plaza to compliment the new Student Union that opened at the start of October 2018.

Construction on the green began last November and has caused some disturbances on the Glasnevin campus.

“Living on a construction site all the time and working on a construc-

tion site brings its challenges, but I suppose if DCU wants to rapidly evolve and rapidly grow, construction is something that will come hand in hand with that,” said DCU Students’ Union President Vito Moloney Burke.

The plans include new seating areas and sustainable open spaces. There will be over 125 native semi-mature trees planted and 2,000 metres squared of new shrubs and grass planted in the space, which will be around four times the size of a basketball court.

Over 9,000 square metres of public space will be refurbished as part of the University’s Campus Development Plan 2016-2021. The Business School Square and the South Access Road will also be refurbished.

The Ballymun Entrance Avenue will be improved to provide pedestrian

Credit: Rachel Halpin

access to the U building, Sports Centre and Student Residences.

“Realistically there will always be something happening in DCU. There will never be time where there is no construction happening on campus and that’s a positive in my eyes,” said Burke.

DCU announced its €230m capital development plan in April 2016 which includes transformation on all campuses.

The work included improvements on the F Block on St Patrick’s Campus and the Stokes Building Extension on Glasnevin. A Future Tech building for STEM students and new student residences are both at the design stage.

Funds for the plan came from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank.

DCU Students for Sensible Drugs Policy (SSDP) have launched a new drug and alcohol policy, after a review of the existing drug policy was renewed.

This new policy takes a more compassionate and supportive stance to drug use, drug users and drug dependency, according to SSDP. The new policy acknowledges the need for DCU to attempt to help students with drug dependencies rather than punishing them or ignoring the consequences.

“We reached out to members of faculty including Claire Bohan and Caroline Mahon earlier in the academic year to discuss the existing Drug Policy on campus, which took a far more limited, punitive stance towards drug use, drug users and people with drug dependency,” a spokesperson from DCU SSDP said.

The new policy will be finalised and published documentation will become available in the coming weeks.

“DCU’s Students for Sensible Drug Policy had the opportunity to voice opinion and recommendations on the new policy, specifically relating to the language used and the supportive message undercurrent to the document.

We are overjoyed that the university were willing to allow members of its student body take part in such a process and to hear our voices heard,” the spokesperson added.

The policy states how the university approaches drug-related incidents and issues with their students or on the campuses.

“What it essentially means for students is it will affect how they are regarded by the university around the area of drug use and possession,” the spokesperson said.

“While drug use and possession still remain illegal activities under the Misuse of Drugs Act, the university acknowledges that students still need support.”

“We expect the policy to be well received by the student body, as its one of the first policy changes of its kind in a third level institute in Ireland,” they added.

Michelle Byrne and Damien McClean of USI were at the launch and have been working alongside the SSDP “to develop a drug policy reform and harm reduction framework for USI member institutes across the country,” the spokesperson said.

At the event, the RTÉ Documentary The Hardest Hit with Philly McMahon was screened, which highlights the effects of drug use in Ireland.

“We screened the documentary following a panel discussion at the launch and in parallel, we have launched DCU SSDP’s Decriminalisation campaign for a referendum we hope to hold in conjunction with the SU elections this semester,” the spokesperson said.

“The launch was an amazing success and we are so happy to have had so much support from staff, faculty, and other organisations and individuals.

The new policy acknowledges the need for DCU to attempt to help students with drug dependencies

Credit: Wikipedia

NUI Maynooth set to construct its first student centre Rachel Halpin Production Editor @RachelHalpin_ MAYNOOTH University has finalised plans to construct a new student centre and in conjuction with Maynooth Student Union (MSU) the first stage of construction was signed off on January 23rd.

The student centre will be built as part of Maynooth University’s cam-

pus development plan. The plan aims to meet the needs of students, staff and the wider community by providing important campus buildings and infrastructure.

In a Facebook post, MSU said: “It has taken years to get to this point, now we need to see through the completion of a much needed social, recreational and representative space for students on campus.”

According to a press release on the

university’s website, the student centre is to serve as a hub for student life on campus and be a ‘home-from-home’ for students. The centre will house the MSU, clubs, societies and events.

The university and MSU announced in April 2018 that they had appointed a design team to begin work on the centre. The centre is being designed

by Scott Tallon Walker Architects, who also worked on the library, Iontas and other buildings for the university.

The centre is to be built and operated to the highest sustainability standards. It will include an outdoor living room, which will be under an environmentally friendly canopy, the aim of which is to create a unique space and resource for student life.

“The new Student Centre will provide a proper home for the Maynooth student experience, one that reflects the ambition of our students and the type of experience we want them to

have while studying here,” said Maynooth University President, Professor Philip Nolan.

The budget of the construction is €7 million and will be finished within five years. 88 per cent of Maynooth University students voted in favour of paying a €30 levy to help pay for the student centre.

The construction of the new student centre is set to be finished and opened for use to the students by early 2021.

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DCU SU host SafeTALK training for students Amy Donohoe Social Media Editor @ amydonohoe1

THE Students’ Union ran SafeTALK training to teach students how to prevent suicide.

Students learned the basic steps to recognise people with suicidal thoughts and how to connect them with resources that can help them.

The talk was facilitated by Fiona Lavin from the 3Ts, Turn the Tide of Suicide.

3Ts promotes positive mental health and suicide alertness. Their facilitators provide information talks and training workshops.

When asked about the importance of the event, Aisling Fagan DCUSU Welfare and Equality Vice President

said, “getting the message across that one conversation really can save a life, is essential.”

She continued to say that, “It’s so important to give students the opportunity to receive education and hopefully gain confidence in the area, as it can make a huge difference to someone’s life.”

Lavin opened the workshop by asking students to imagine they are a glass vase. When trauma is experienced they sustain a large crack in the vase, but are still intact and as life goes on there may be another horrible event causing more cracks to develop. She emphasised the importance of looking out for these cracks.

The DCU students were trained to move beyond common tendencies to miss, dismiss or avoid suicide but instead to identify people who have

thoughts of suicide and apply the TALK steps to offer help.

The TALK (Tell, Ask, Listen, and KeepSafe) is a step by step guide on how to connect a person who has suicidal thoughts to suicide first-aid intervention caregivers.

The workshop is available for anyone over 18 years of age who wants to help prevent suicide and is prepared to become a suicide-alert helper. Students were advised not to participate in the workshop if they’ve lost someone through suicide in the last 12 months.

The students were warned to “Expect to be challenged. Expect to have feelings. Expect to be hopeful,” during the sensitive workshop.

They were informed about why it is important to be suicide alert in a modern society, especially with the pressure of social media.

Statistics show areas of increases of reported crime in Ireland

The statistics deal with changes within reported crimes rather than actual crime rates, something of which is difficult to measure in its entirety.

Aine O’Boyle Deputy Arts Editor @ainyerrrr RECENT crime statistics have revealed that robbery, extortion and hijacking have considerably risen over a single year.

The highest increase of reported crimes occurred within the offence category of robbery, extortion and hijacking, increasing by almost 23 per cent according to the Central Statistics Office’s annual Recorded Crime Statistics.

The statistics were released on December 20th, 2018 and examined the increases and decreases in crime within several offence groups, with such crimes ranging from homicide offences to damage of property and the environment.

The second highest increase in re-

Credit: Max Pixel

ported crimes occurred within sexual offences which increased by 11.7 per cent from 2017 to 2018.

The statistics deal with changes within reported crimes rather than actual crime rates, something of which is difficult to measure in its entirety.

In early 2018, a number of deficiencies within the Gardai’s system of reporting crimes came under the limelight, particularly concerning the gross overestimation of alcohol breath tests and the classification of homicides.

Such deficiencies in the reporting of crimes mean that a true picture of crime rates in Ireland cannot be achieved.

Olive Loughanne, Statistician with the CSO stated that concerns exist regarding “the quality of the underlying data”.

According to Sergeant Jim Molloy of the Garda Press Office, “In November 2015, An Garda Síochána

introduced Operation Thor... a new approach with a large number of units across a wide range of different areas and disciplines working together to prevent and detect burglaries based on analysis of crime trends and intelligence to target criminal gangs and repeat offenders.”

“We have heavily publicised crime prevention advice through our ‘Lock up and Light Up’ campaign,” he continued.

According to Molloy, these developments have seen residential burglaries reduced by 34 per cent and non-residential burglaries reduced by 23 per cent since November 2015.

The CSO statistics also noted a decline in burglaries and related offences by 6.4 per cent in 2018.

Noted decreases concerning burglaries and damage to property and the environment, which reduced by 7.4 per cent, are indicative of economic growth in Irish society.

During the Celtic Tiger era, crimes tended to focus on fraud, deception and related offences rather than property crimes such as burglaries.

The increase in fraud, deception and related offences by 8.8 per cent in 2018 are reminiscent of “boom” time crime statistics.

According to Molloy, the focus of ongoing Gardai patrolling and checkpoints aim to deal with criminal gangs and repeat offenders, rather than other criminal offences that are on the rise.

“It is vital that people report crimes,” said Molloy.

The SafeTALK training was held in the U building on DCU’s Glasnevin campus.

They were encouraged to ask questions and enter discussions throughout the process. They learned how to deal with a suicidal person in a difficult situation and were given clear and practical information on what to do.

Clubs Officer Thomas Dorian said, “It was a fantastic workshop and our

Credit: Amy Donohoe

facilitator Fiona was so engaging and made us really think about the issue of suicide and how to spot somebody who might be thinking of taking their own life. I was so inspired by the workshop that I am considering to become a facilitator for the 3T.

Hundreds of UL students may have received wrong exam results Emma Nevin Contributor @thecollegeview

HUNDREDS of University of Limerick students may have received inaccurate exam results that could have impacted their degrees, the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard on January 24th.

The university commissioned an unpublished Deloitte report in 2015, which highlighted the weaknesses in UL’s academic scoring system. The details of this report were released to the Dáil last week and UL President Dr Desmond Fitzgerald faced questions from the PAC on these controversies.

The report detailed the problems with the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) method the university uses to calculate results that have been in place since 1998. It also showed that a full review of both the system and previous student records will cost UL between €15 million and €20 million.

A whistleblower, who is currently employed at the university, known as “Person G”, expressed their concern to a private session of the PAC. Person G is said to have made numerous attempts to bring attention to the flawed system in place that could have potentially given multiple students understated degree results over the last 20

years.

This was described by Sinn Féin Deputy David Cullinane as “a very serious allegation.”

Fitzgerald was questioned by Cullinane in the Dáil regarding what the university was doing about the concerns raised by Person G. “When I came into the university, one of the first things I did was to meet with the head of IT to ask about our IT systems. He made me aware of a report that was critical of those systems.”

“At that point, we put an additional amount of money into IT, spending about €2 million in the first year,” Fitzgerald said.

The university is facing further scrutiny due to the revelation that two senior members of staff received top-up pensions totalling €1.2 million.

Final year UL student Kevin O’Donnell said that “the news of UL staff claiming huge expenses shows the darker side to the university”.

“As a fourth-year student, this news is very concerning as I am close to graduating and this has a real potential to affect my results,” he said.

Commenting on Fitzgerald, who became president of UL in May 2017, replacing Don Barry, O’Donnell said that he “is aiming to eradicate these problems”.

“As a student, I have belief that he will succeed,” he said.

A full review of both the system and previous student records will cost UL between €15 million and €20 million.

Credit: Flickr

8

News

Bystander intervention programme launched for UCC students Orla Dwyer Opinions Editor @ orladwyer_

AN online bystander intervention programme against sexual harassment and violence was launched in University College Cork on January 28th.

The programme was launched by Minister for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor. It is an online project taught through six one-hour workshops available to 22,000 UCC students.

“This programme will help build a culture of zero tolerance to prevent and combat sexual harassment and violence, both on and off campus,” said Mitchell O’Connor.

The programme introduces students to the idea of an active bystander - a

person who recognises an objectionable event or behaviour and intervenes in some way. It will teach the key issues of consent and the boundaries surrounding sexual assault, rape and abusive relationships.

The programme was developed by Dr Louise Crowley from the UCC School of Law and funded by the UCC Student Charges and Fees Forum.

“By raising the conversation amongst peers, we hope that there will be a greater awareness of the absolute unacceptability of unwanted behaviour, and the expectation of zero tolerance at UCC,” Crowley told The College View.

“At present, the programme is voluntary. Students can self-enroll through the UCC Blackboard platform. We will pilot this approach for a year and review,” she said.

Five of the workshops are available to be taken individually by students online and the final one takes place in small student groups with a UCC staff member present.

“The bystander approach engages with all participants as bystanders, persons not directly involved but who, if properly informed, educated and upskilled, can make an educated and appropriate decision to make a safe intervention to stop or adjust the behaviour and actions of others,” said Crowley.

Students are required to answer questions and share their reflections over the course of the programme. After the final session, participants must submit either a 1,000-word essay, a piece of creative writing or a piece of art such as a painting which reflects their learning from the programme,

“This programme will help build a culture of zero tolerance to prevent and combat sexual harassment and violence, both on and off campus.”

said Crowley.

“We regard the bystander intervention programme as unique in a number of respects. Most importantly, it regards both the issue and some of the possible solutions as a societal matter,

Credit: Pixabay

something that everyone can play a role in addressing,” she said.

A mural was also unveiled against sexual violence in colleges on January 28th in UCC as part of the university’s first Bystander Intervention Week.

NUI Galway researchers launch consent programme for TY students Niamh Quinlan Contributor @thecollegeview NUI Galway are developing a new national initiative that will give secondary schools access to sexual consent workshops for transition year students.

The workshop will be for students aged 16 and upward will focus on what ‘active consent’ is and how to identify it. It will be tailored to each individual school it takes place in.

The project is headed by Dr Padraig MacNeela of the NUIG Psychology department, who also leads the SMART Consent project. This initiative was the first of its kind, a workshop introduced to third level schools in 2016 about sexual consent.

The objective of the new workshop is to explore “all the different dimensions of consent” and to define it clearly where some may be unsure if the answer is yes or no.

MacNeela said that they believe ‘active consent’ is defined as “freely given, verbal or non-verbal communication of a feeling of willingness to engage in sexual activity”.

Over the course of the next four years, researchers will be working with a range of schools and other organisations to perfect the workshop before implementation.

MacNeela said that the same steps

of SMART Consent will be applied, however, they plan to “carry out original primary research with students in schools who are teenagers, and build a whole new set of materials and activities that meet the needs and opportunities in schools”.

Researcher Dr Siobhan O’Higgins said that the aim of the workshop is to move away from passive consent and towards active, and to reinforce what is a clear sign that means “yes”.

“Passive consent is too confusing,” said O’Higgins. “You don’t know that it’s there.”

They aim to do this by finding out from the students what they feel is important with regard to intimacy of any kind and reinforcing the workshop from a “sex positive” point of view. The workshop will not only highlight how to respect the boundaries of others but how to respect and discover one’s own boundaries, which the young student may not have even considered before.

MacNeela explained how it’s just as important to introduce workshops such as these to second level students also.“We have in mind to be unique in having a consistent message in schools and colleges, which will be linked to people’s needs at these different times in their lives.”

The overall aim is that these skills of identifying consent stay with the students for life.

The workshop will be for students aged 16 and upward will focus on what ‘active consent’ is and how to identify it.

Credit: Twitter

Climate case hears that the National Mitigation plan violates human rights Marianne Foody Contributor @thecollegeview FRIENDS of the Irish Environment, an NGO, have taken High Court action against the State over the 2017 National Mitigation Plan, which they claim breaches EU, UN and Irish law.

The case, which began on January 22nd in Dublin’s Four Courts and was heard by Mr. Justice Michael McGrath, was in procession until Friday the 25th and is not expected to reach a verdict for four to six months.

Senior Counsel for FiE, Eoghan McCullough opened by saying: ‘’An outstanding fact of this case is that there is no dispute about the effects of climate change.”

“Ireland has the third highest emission rate per capita in the EU”, he said.

Ireland is “directly and disproportionately’’ contributing to climate change and a potential 2°C rise in global temperature, according to McCullough.

The FiE argued that the approval of the NMP 2017 was in violation of Ireland’s Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, as well as human rights obligations. It also falls short of the steps required by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change 2015.

According to the IPCC report, to keep the global temperature rise well below 2°C, Irelands needs to reduce emissions by 25-40 per cent by 2020 on 1990 levels. The NMP outlines that Ireland will reduce CO2 emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. ‘’The State appears to think it’s enough to reach this target by 2050,’’ said SC for FiE McCullough.

This argument was based on the fact that it is the cumulative sum of emissions into our atmosphere that causes warming.

As Carbon is a stable chemical compound and doesn’t decompose for thousands of years, short-term reductions are necessary to avoid the costs and risks associated with a rising global temperature.

A crowded courtroom 29 heard that

Ireland is ‘’completely off course’’ regarding EU mandated emission reduction targets and because of this, Ireland is likely be hit with substantial fines.

McCullough pointed out that this fact has been proven by the States own appointed advisory panel. The Climate Change Advisory Counsel (CCAC) referred to Ireland’s 2018 position, with rising levels of GHG emissions, as a ‘’disturbing’’ trend in its most recent report.

The court heard various reasons for concern laid out in the 5th IPCC report, such as impending extreme weather events, risk of death and flooding in low lying areas and the global South, loss of life, destruction of biodiversity, extinction of species and severe poverty for millions of people.

The case is the first of its kind in the history of the State and Friends of the Irish Environment have said they took inspiration from the Dutch ‘Urgenda’ climate case which saw an NGO and 900 Dutch citizens take a successful case against the Dutch government.

Science and Health

9

New Irish movement set to advocate for women, trans and non-binary people living with disabilities Catherine Gallagher Deputy News Editor @ Cather_i_ne A new organisation that advocates for the rights of women, transgender and non-binary people living with disabilities in Ireland held its first event of the year in Dublin on 26th January.

Disabled Women Ireland (DWI) held an open meeting in Dogpatch Labs to populate their working groups that will steer the next steps in the organisation’s movement. The group found each other and gained momentum in March 2018 through online platforms during the campaign of the Eighth Amendment.

Maria Ní Fhlatharta is one of the co-founders of DWI and also a lawyer who has specialised in disability law and policy. She said that the discussion and advocacy of reproductive rights for disabled women was one of the driving forces for them to form

DWI. “We were being disadvantaged (with having access to abortion) disproportionately. And we were in every sense of the word. You just have to travel on a London tube or go through airports to see it. Airports are the biggest barrier to abortion and they are the worst place to be disabled. It’s one of the things that unites the spectrum of disability,” Ní Fhlatharta said.

She continued, “We started functioning as a DPO last March. We’ve been oscillating between very specific campaign issues. There was also legislation going through that has barriers on disabled people. For example, the three day waiting period, lack of providers, lack of a guarantee of access and some real lack of clarity around the guardianship laws.”

Eleanor Walsh, Louise Bruton, Clíona de Bhailís and Rosaleen McDonagh were among those who held panel discussions on legal capacity

and guardianship laws, solidarity, sex and dating as well as specific gender issues in relation to autism.

Information was also shared on the working groups that will help to drive the group’s progression in areas such as policy, communication, campaigns, policy on outreach, development and membership as well as fundraising and finance.

“The disability rights world can be very much dominated by men or issues could be taken from a very hetero-normative point of view. I think it comes down to that it’s ours, we own it as disabled women, transgender and non-binary people. We do have an ally problem in Ireland. We have had a problem with non-disabled people speaking for disabled people,” she said.

Since its formation, DWI has also worked through Twitter discussions to attempt to de-stigmatise language surrounding disability that may be

Sinéad Burke is an Irish writer, broadcaster and academic who often advocates for rights of people living with disabilities.

avoided.

Ní Fhlatharta said it is wrong to assume that people with disabilities want to avoid identifying as disabled.

“In other countries, we’re better at accepting that disability is not something that is wrong with us, it’s a form of oppression. Having a disability and being disabled links us into a huge history, community and culture and it’s what makes us rights holders. We are subjects of rights, not objects of charity,” she explained.

Alannah Murray is an academic and another co-founder of DWI. They explained the importance of having a space to allow people to come together to discuss these issues is crucial.

“I was sat at the back of the room during one of the breaks and every-

“Dying from the flu” Alison Clair Images Editor @ aliclair_ THE total number of flu-related deaths has risen to 21 in the last week, although hospitalisations for the virus have decreased.

According to the latest influenza weekly report from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, the A (H1N1) strain, also known as swine flu, and related strains have been on the rise over the last few weeks.

“I have a lot of elderly patients and many decline the vaccine so as not to get the flu. I administrated about four hundred vaccines this winter, but I should have given over a thousand,” said Dr Tomás Ó’Ceallaigh, a GP in Foxford Co. Mayo.

Dr Ó’Ceallaigh also added how in his experience “students usually aren’t interested in receiving the vaccine as they feel they will never get the flu, but in a close contact environment like college they really should be.”

It has been reported that there have been a total of 767 hospitalisations of patients with flu related symptoms during the 2018/2019 flu season.

Although the report says the influenza virus cases are decreasing, 215 of these cases were reported in the last week, and the majority of these hospitalisations were associated with influenza A (H1N1) and related strains.

Seventeen per cent of the cases where flu was detected, the patients were found to be co-infected with another respiratory virus.

As flu deaths rise, the numbers in people receiving vaccines are not according to a rural GP.

This flu season there have been increases in all age groups with the highest number of cases reported among 15-64-year-olds. However, as of last week influenza like illnesses (ILI) rates increased in children aged less than 5 years and decreased in older children and adults. As of now, children less than five years old are most at risk of contracting the flu.

Credir: Flickr

Medical card users and HSE employees can avail of the vaccine for free, while private patients will often pay around €20, as an administration fee to receive it.

These charges can be the reason that vaccines become inaccessible to people who cannot afford it, such as students, and people in a lower income bracket.

“As pharmacy students, espe-

Credit:Twitter

one was in different groups having so many different conversations and it just felt surreal that we had managed to bring all these people together.

“It was a real watershed moment for me that it really registered what we were building together. I suppose what really sets us apart is that while we are of course building a movement, what we’re really building is a family of sorts,” said Murray.

In the immediate future DWI plan to organise events in leadership training and raise further awareness of the implications that the straw ban will have on their members. They also hope to contribute to the Sex Education Bill.

cially if we’re working in a care setting, we’d definitely opt more often than not to get vaccinated,” said pharmacy student in Trinity College, James McLaughlin.

“Any health care worker is particularly vulnerable and getting them is often good for the safety of the staff and any other vulnerable patients in that healthcare setting,” he continued.

He went on to say that vaccines should be given to all health science students, but “seasonal flu vaccines should ideally be left for vulnerable groups because they are expensive and for the most part unnecessary for you average student” plus each year it’s a different seasonal flu vaccine so requiring everyone to get one I don’t think it would be necessary.

Influenza activity is increasing in Europe and in other countries, with the HSE advising people to receive the flu vaccines following reports of three influenza outbreaks last week. Two of these were in hospitals and one was reported in a HSE nursing home.

Science and Health

10

DCU delves into black holes Lorna Lawless Lifestyle Editor @thecollegeview THE researchers from the university’s centre for Astrophysics and Relativity have been key in the breakthrough discovery of a new pathway for the existence of massive black holes in the universe.

For 13 billion light years, the intense light from the most distant black holes in the universe is able to reach our telescopes, allowing us to look back to the early universe according to the researchers.

“It became clear that there were certain factors in the results of the stim-

ulation where we thought that’s a bit weird,” said Prof. Turlough Downes on how they came across the discovery.

“I feel like the most significant scientific discoveries happen from going ‘oh that’s peculiar and looking into it’,” he added.

Dr. John Regan and Prof. Turlough Downes from DCU, in collaboration with a research team from Georgia Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, the University of California at San Diego, the San Diego Supercomputer Centre and IBM made this incredible scientific discovery.

This research is conducted by simulating the formation of galaxies using

supercomputers.

The work done by all of the teams shows that when galaxies assemble at an extremely rapid pace and sometimes violently, it can lead to the formation of a large black hole.

The rapid assembly of gas occurring leads to embryonic stars becoming puffed up by hot gas which leads to the formation of a “supermassive” star instead of the formation of a normal star.

These “supermassive” stars can only survive for a short time before collapsing into a large black hole.

The new study combatted the long-accepted belief that massive black hole formation, which occurred in the early universe, only happened in

regions bombarded by powerful radiation from other nearby galaxies.

This scientific discovery turns that model upside down, and opens up a whole new area of research, according to Dr John Regan.

Professor Downes spoke about the importance of this for the university by stating that DCU “is operating at a world-class level in this area and this makes DCU attractive to future student and staff.”

“The team’s findings were funded

by NASA, the EU and the US National Science Foundation and their research was published in the journal ‘Nature’, the most prestigious scientific journal,” he continued.

Credit:Wikipedia

Drug used by Phelan to become more available Eoin Harte Deputy Lifestyle Editor @EoinHarte98

CERVICAL cancer patients will now have access to the drug Pembro, which Cervical Check campaigner Vicky Phelan believes saved her life.

Phelan, who has been a vocal critic of how the HSE has handled the Cervical Check scandal, criticised the government for not making the drug readily available.

The drug is now being made available on an exceptional basis to cervical cancer patients in public hospitals on a case by case basis.

Pembro (Pembrolizumab) is used in cancer immunotherapy that blocks a protective mechanism of cancer cells and thereby allows the immune system to destroy them.

For those paying privately, Pembro treatment costs €8,500 every three weeks. Common side effects of the drug include fatigue, rash, itchiness, diarrhoea, nausea and joint pain.

However, Phelan believes these pale in comparison to the side effects that most traditional forms of cancer treatment come with.

“I’ve no side effects but some pains

Pembro, or pembrolizumab, cost up to €8,500 for patients with cervical cancer

in my arms and hands, but that’s peanuts compared to what you have to put up with chemotherapy,” she said.

Phelan spoke to the Oireachtas last year about the changes she would like to see in the HSE to ensure another scandal like the one cervical cancer patients endured would not happen again.

“The big thing for me is patient’s safety. I’m not here for revenge, that’s not what I’m here for. I do want to see accountability and I would like to see

a legacy.

“A legacy that this will never happen again to any woman, man or child in this country.

“If I do die, I want it to not be in vain and I want to make sure that there are protocols put in place, sanctions for people who make these mistakes and are held accountable and that the HSE is overhauled, and I mean overhauled from the ground up,” she said, The Cervical Check screening scandal came about when women with

Credit:Wikipedia

cervical cancer were not told that the smear test results showing them to be in the clear were in fact inaccurate.

Screenings, which are commonly confused with diagnostics, differ as screenings are used to detect potential disease indicators while diagnostics are used to establish the presence or absence of a disease.

January was Cervical Cancer Awareness month and donations can be made to the Irish Cancer Society to fund research on the disease.

New ambassador appointed to Crumlin Mary Ryan Contributor @thecollegeview

RUGBY player Dan Leavy has been appointed as the new celebrity ambassador to CMRF Crumlin.

The 24 year old Dublin man, who plays for both Irish and Leinster senior rugby teams, said he was impressed with the work done by the Children’s Medical and Research Foundation, as the principal fundraising body for Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital and the National Children’s Research Centre (NCRC).

“The staff at CMRF Crumlin are amazing with all the fundraising they do for these children and their families, and the doctors, nurses and play specialists all make the experience as nice as possible for the sick kids,” he said.

In a statement released by CMRF Crumlin, Head of Communications Fiona O’Malley said she was “delighted” to welcome Leavy as the latest ambassador for the charity.

“He’s a real-life hero for so many of the children in the hospital and it’s great seeing their faces light up when he visits with his colleagues.

“We’re looking forward to working with Dan on future campaigns with CMRF Crumlin and continuing the great work he’s already done,” she said.

The announcement came two months after the appointment of former Cork camogie player Anna Geary as the latest celebrity ambassador in November.

Leavy joins Leinster teammates Rob Kearney and Johnny Sexton, as well as footballer Robbie Keane and television presenters Ryan Tubridy, Karen Koster and Baz Ashmawy as celebrity ambassadors for the foundation, which was set up in 1965.

Celebrity ambassadors are vital to the work of charities, such as CMRF Crumlin, in order to raise awareness and support for their research and fundraising efforts.

CMRF Crumlin raised €11.5 million through fundraising alone from February 2017 to March 2018.

On average, 150,000 children will visit Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin every year, with an average of 185 children staying in the hospital per night.

Business and Tech

11

DCU to maintain ties with controversial tech company Huawei

Aoife O’Brien Contributor @thecollegeview DCU is maintaining links with Huawei, despite top universities globally severing connections with the company.

Despite recent concerns over the firm’s cybersecurity DCU, Trinity College, University College Cork and University College Dublin, who have significant academic linkages with Huawei, intend to continue these partnerships, according to The Times UK. Huawei is one of the world’s largest investors in research and development, investing 15 per cent of its annual revenue of around $93billion in research and development both internally and in collaboration with universities and research centres.

With Huawei now the world’s largest provider of telecoms equipment, the US government has been raising concerns over the company’s presence in its smartphone market for several years and has declared the devices to be a potential threat to its national security.

However, it’s not clear whether the company represents a genuine threat or if this is a geopolitical issue.

Following the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which was signed into US law in August, the University of California at Berkley and San Diageo became two of the first schools to temporarily sever ties with the telecommunication giant in order to avoid losing federal funding. The new law is part of a broader strategy

to counter what the US government sees as China’s growing threat to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security.

Queens University in Belfast and Oxford University in England have since become the latest universities to suspend Huawei as a research sponsor but this decision does not impact existing research projects.

Queens University currently has one project with the company while Oxford University’s contracts have combined funding of £692,000.

Some 17 UK universities receive funding from Huawei and despite the moves of Oxford and Queens Universities a number of UK universities with Huawei-funded collaborations have reiterated their commitment to Huawei contracts. They include the University of Edinburgh, the University of Surrey, Imperial College London, the University of Manchester and others.

According to Huawei, their Huawei Innovation Research Program (HIRP) which was launched in 2010 has funded some 1,200 research projects in over 20 countries from more than 300 third level institutions, including projects from most of the world’s top 100 universities.

This includes a collaboration with the ADAPT Research Centre, led out of Trinity College Dublin and incorporating researchers at DCU, UCD and DIT. With the support of Huawei, the centre won the ‘Outstanding Academic Achievement of the Year’ category at the 26th Annual Technology Ireland Industry Awards in

Huawei’s equipment has been accussed of being a possible tool for espionage

November of last year for their advert creation system.

Despite countries such as Australia and New Zealand, banning Huawei from competing for their 5G networks, they appear to be continuing with university research collaborations including a new joint academy with

Southern Cross University which opened in December 2018.

When asked whether the Government here is considering following other countries on the issue, a spokesperson for its Department of Communications said the statutory independence telecoms regulator

Credit: Wikipedia

Comreg, is responsible for compliance in this area.

However, a Comreg spokesman denied the agency’s responsibility saying that Huawei does not fall under its authorisation procedures as it does not operate a telecom network or service in Ireland.

Facebook plans to merge Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram chats Ellen Fitzpatrick News Editor @elinfizpitryk FACEBOOK have confirmed that they are planning to connect Messenger, Whatsapp and Instagram and allow for integrated usage of the apps.

The merging of these apps is said to allow for encrypted missives to be exchanged despite which of its services are being used.

Facebook, the network behind each of these three independent messaging apps, now aims to merge all three so messages can be displayed across all platforms and each can be further integrated.

“We’re working on making more of our messaging products end-toend encrypted and considering ways to make it easier to reach friends and family across networks,” a Facebook spokeswoman said in reply to an AFP inquiry regarding a New York Times report about this new development.

This essentially means that messages could be linked and exchanged between each app but would be coded to allow messages and their contents, to remain private and confidential to each user.

“As you would expect, there is a lot of discussion and debate as we begin

Messages could be linked and exchanged between each app but would be coded to allow messages, and their contents, to remain private

the long process of figuring out all the details of how this will work,” the spokesperson added.

Credit: Mikey Walsh

Facebook stated that they wanted to “build the best messaging experiences we can; and people want messaging to

be fast, simple, reliable and private.”

Each messaging app will continue to stand alone as an individual app but the inner workings of each will be merged to form one and the technical infrastructure will be altered, four people involved in the transition said.

It is set to be completed by the end of this year or by early next year and it requires thousands of Facebook’s employees to figure out how Whatsapp, Instagram and Messenger work on a basic level and go from there, employees involved also said.

Many have expressed concern for this new plan that Facebook is planning.

Privacy advocates have shown questions of the potential creation of a unified identity for people across each of the messaging platforms, meaning each message goes to the right place.

The Irish Data Protection Commission have also expressed concerns, asking Facebook to have an urgent briefing on this plan.

“While we understand that Facebook’s proposal to integrate the Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram platforms is at a very early conceptual stage of development, the Irish DPC has asked Facebook Ireland for an urgent briefing on what is being proposed,” the Irish Data Protection Commission

said in a statement.

“The Irish DPC will be very closely scrutinising Facebook’s plans as they develop, particularly insofar as they involve the sharing and merging of personal data between different Facebook companies,” it added.

“Previous proposals to share data between Facebook companies have given rise to significant data protection concerns and the Irish DPC will be seeking early assurances that all such concerns will be fully taken into account by Facebook in further developing this proposal.”

Facebook attempted to secure and share personal details and user data that got from Whatsapp in 2016, but was cancelled shortly after following an investigation by the UK data protection.

As of now, Whatsapp’s messages are end to end encrypted by default but Messenger allows for “secret conversations”, while Instagram doesn’t offer any of these for their chats.

Plans for this merge are still in the early stages and not much has been announced as to how this will develop further. This move in the company could increase the ease and number of secured conversations online.

12

Female employees less likely to receive pensions Aoibhin Bryant Arts Editor @aoibhinbryant_

FEMALE employees are less likely to receive pension and bonus payouts compared to male employees, according to a survey conducted by Aviva.

However, women are more likely to seek the chance of flexible working hours in comparison to men.

It was found that 49 per cent of working men receive a pension contribution, but only 39 per cent of women do so.

28 per cent of men have access to a work bonus scheme, while this statistic drops to only 20 per cent of women.

This research sought to look at benefits that are currently offered to Irish workers by their employers. It was conducted from a survey of 393 employed adults and was carried out by Behaviour and Attitudes’ online panel Acumen, for Aviva.

Karen Gallagher of Aviva stated that “the findings support the widely held contention that women have fewer financial provisions than men – particu-

Students the largest group to access the internet Sabrine Donohoe Sub Editor @thecollegeview

49 per cent of working men receive a pension contribution, but only 39 per cent of women do so

larly when it comes to pensions”.

The survey also found that only 15 per cent of employers pay any sort of health insurance contributions and only four per cent pay Income Protection premiums.

“This is concerning because less than half the workforce have private health insurance and far fewer have Income Protection — which leads us to believe that there is a high level of financial exposure when it comes to illness in Irish households,” said Gallagher.

The survey also revealed that work-

ers are more inclined to look for a greater degree of flexibility in hours and where they work, more specifically in millennials (under 35's).

21 per cent of millennials’ first preference would be flexible hours, this lowers considerably when looking at the 34-50 age demographic, at 17 per cent.

It was found the employees also tend to prefer long-term financial benefits such as pensions and health insurance over short-term rewards like bonuses and subsidies for travel.

Other findings in the survey include

Credit:Pixabay

that 45 per cent of employees are provided pension contributions by their employers.

The other main benefits from employers are flexible hours, an annual or performance bonus and canteen subsidies, with 20 per cent of workers having access to a canteen.

Over a quarter of employees do not receive any benefits outside of wages.

Only four per cent of employees are guaranteed income protection by their employers.

NUIG research centre involved in development of key health devices Róise McGagh Illustrations Editor @roisemcgagh AN NUI Galway research centre will be involved in three major industry projects in medical devices worth €4.8 million.

The funding for the project will come from the recent announcement of the government’s Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund.

Two of the projects will be focused on treating a trial fibrillation (AF), a quivering or irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots, stroke and other heart-related complications.

The Science Foundation Ireland Centre for Research in Medical Devices (CÚRAM) will work with the industry as well as Aurigen and AtriAN Medical, two projects working to treat AF. “We are developing new ablation technologies which essentially blocks stray electrical signals in the heart, permanently curing Atrial Fibrillation and drastically reducing the risk of stroke,” Dr Martin O’Halloran, Director of the Translational Medical Device (TNM) Lab at NUI Galway told The College View AF is the most common heart rhythm disturbance in the US and Europe. According to the Irish Heart Foundation, 1 in 4 people over the age of 50 are at risk of developing AF. TNM will work with AtriAN Medical

Business and Tech

According to the Irish Heart Foundation, 1 in 4 people over the age of 50 are at risk of developing atrial fibrillation.

and Smart Cardio as well as AuriGen Medical and Tyndall, a UCC technology research centre, on the two projects.

The other project, Ardent II will create a therapy for rhinitis, an inflammatory disease which presents as nasal congestion, sneezing and itching.

Neurent Medical Ltd and the Biggs lab at CÚRAM will work on the project.

They will use an innovative neuromodulation approach. Neuromodulation is the alteration, of nerve activity by delivering electrical or pharmaceutical agents to a target area.

“The commitment of the Irish government to the development of forward thinking disruptive technologies has the potential to place Ireland at the forefront of biomedical engineering research and development,” said CÚRAM's Dr Manus Biggs.

The Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund aims to finance projects that tackle national and global challenges while creating and securing future jobs and is part of the art of the Project Ireland 2040 capital investment plan.

The projects will employ 10 senior re-

Credit: Wikipedia

searchers from the TNM Lab and a similar amount in the partner companies.

“Longer term, the goal is that this funding will allow these companies to scale, and provide 50 plus hires in each as their companies grow,” said O’Halloran.

“This funding of €4.8 million to CÚRAM research labs is a strong recognition of our pivotal role in the development of the next generation of medical devices and implants that target chronic illnesses,” said the Scientific Director at CÚRAM, Professor Abhay Pandit.

STUDENTS accessed the internet the most last year, according to the ICT usage by households 2018 survey, published by the Central Statistics Office.

A grand total of 99 per cent of students accessed the internet several times a day, while 92 per cent use the internet for social media.

Students also used the most cloud storage online, at 76 percent. The figure lowered to 62 percent among other people in the 16-29 age group.

“A lot of times you have group projects and you want to be able to have a central place where you can always access or edit files,” said 18-year-old David Mokogu.

“After losing a few files I’ve had to start using cloud,” said 20-year-old Hannah Ní Sceacháin.

“Lecturers prefer us to use Google Drive,” said 19-year-old Rebecca O’Reilly.

A portion of 29 per cent of students took free online training or self-study to improve their IT skills, compared to just 12 per cent of non-students in the 16-29 age bracket. Just two per cent did not use apps.

Internet connection was the highest in Dublin at 90 per cent, but lower outside Dublin at the border (69 per cent), and the midlands (67 per cent).

“Sometimes my Wi-Fi at home just goes off for a couple of hours and at least once a month it does that,” said Mokogu, who lives in Dublin.

“Sometimes the internet on my phone just does not work, especially when you’re on the bus. I’d say that’s where I have the worst internet connection”. “[At the border in Monaghan] the connection can be really bad,” said Ní Sceacháin.

Mobile internet access was lower among the very affluent compared to the disadvantaged and the very disadvantaged, at 43 per cent, versus 63 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, 94 per cent of the very affluent used a smartphone, compared to 90 per cent of the very disadvantaged.

But social media usage was similar among income quantiles, at 76 per cent for very affluent households, 70 per cent among the disadvantaged, and 75 per cent among the very disadvantaged.

A total of 28 per cent of internet users arranged accommodation through a dedicated website or app like 'Airbnb', whereas 1 in 10 did so via social networks like Facebook or other websites.

'Airbnb' has come under fire in recent months for its short-term letting provisions, which harm the domestic rental market and make access to long-term housing more difficult.

On average, 89 per cent of households had access to the internet at home last year. Of the 11 per cent without access, 40 per cent said they do not need internet, while 6 per cent said the internet is not available in their area.

13

opinion

Students deserve to be paid for their time

Expecting any person to work for free as part of their degree is unjust and damaging, writes Orla Dwyer.

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Orla Dwyer Opinions Editor @orladwyer_

npaid internships are an unjust way of separating those who can afford to work for free and those who need to pay rent.

They should not be legal and offer an unfair advantage to those who can live above their means for an uncertain period of time.

Many people can afford to go a few months surviving off little or no income, especially if they live at home and have kind parents who don’t charge rent. Even for those who don’t live at home, many parents still contribute to rent and other expenses. However, this is only one portion of the student population.

Around 84,000 students each year receive some sort of SUSI grant out of the 225,000 students in higher education in Ireland, meaning roughly one third of students receive a SUSI grant.

A lot of people in college survive on

continue to be the norm in many fields including humanities. Students are told to work for free for exposure and to get their foot in the door, which is all well and good for those who can afford to do so.

To not subsidise interns in any way and not pay at least minimum wage is creating a workforce full of people who can afford to work for free. Middle and upper class students get the leg up by doing the free grunt work while those who can’t afford this get left behind.

To expect students in any degree to work fulltime for little or no pay while also working part-time to afford

grants, part-time jobs and other odd bits of income. Many are living from pay check to pay check and have a small amount of savings in the bank, due to the high cost of living in Dublin, with only some left over for pints at the end.

Pharmacy students recently held a protest outside Leinster House to remove the ban on paid internships required as part of their degree. The ban was subsequently removed which is wonderful for these students, especially considering recent fee increases for the final year of their degree.

However, unpaid internships Students should be paid for their internships.

Credit: Sabrine Donohoe

this luxury is obscene. Success stories of people from lower or working class backgrounds working hard to rise to prominence are inspiring and riveting.

However, they are generally few and far between.

Far more common are the stories of people who worked hard to climb the ladder while also having their parents’ money as a backup support system.

They could focus all their energy on the job instead of affording food and rent.

It should not be the norm to work seven days a week full-time in various jobs just to stay afloat while on an internship as part of a college degree.

Unfortunately, this is the case for many students. Third level institutions should stand up to employers and work to get basic human rights for their students.

No student should enter a degree with the preconception that they must work for free for a significant portion of their entry into the workforce. It is an unsustainable system and one that will lead to a burned out and passionless workforce.

Millennials are not to blame for all the world’s problems Young people may have changed a lot of things in society, but not all changes are for the worst, writes Clara Kelly.

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Clara Kelly Deputy Opinions Editor @clarabkelly

he words ‘Millennial’ and ‘Gen Z’ have become dirty words used to describe how my generation is killing everything from the napkin industry to Harley-Davidson in cold blood.

A Millennial is typically someone born between 1981 to 1996, with a Gen Z usually being classed as anyone born from 1996 to 2015.

It is admittedly hard to choose just one pet peeve about the way in which people speak of my generation. A large aspect is the claim that we are a generation of special snowflakes just because we are more likely to call out problems such as toxic masculinity when we see them. However, if I had to choose, my biggest pet peeve would be the constant use of the word Millennial in such a negative way.

The blame focused on our generation is apparent, it seems far too often there is a new headline leading with “Millennials are killing”. Millennials are killing the concept of starter homes, but perhaps this is because the generation before has impacted the economy in ways that mean Millennials can only afford to rent for long periods of time.

News outlets have written articles about how Millennials are killing the napkin industry because they are opting for kitchen towels instead. I find it a little ironic that this is an issue deemed newsworthy at all.

Of course, as with any generational shift, there will be changes, such as fewer young people using cash in comparison to cards or using cash apps to pay in shops, or even the rise of online shopping.

My generation may be killing the napkin industry, but the generation before has killed things too, leaving it up to our generation to try to fix the significant damage past generations have left on the earth, both in terms of global warming and global economy.

Undeniably, Millennials have impacted certain industries. This is a pattern that occurs every time a new generation with new interests emerges.

But they have been left to try to work in

Millenials and Gen Z cannot be blamed for everything wrong with the world today.

a world in which both political unrest and global warming are at incredibly high levels.

Our parents may have been able to find employment straight out of college, and in some cases manage to acquire decent work without even attending college or getting a degree at all. This is, unfortunately, a luxury we do not have. Although, a more informed generation who is more in touch with other cultures and societies

Credit: Sonja Tutty

“

As with any generational shift, there will be changes than those before, due to social media and the internet, is not a bad thing.

The way in which the Millennial has become associated with weakness is problematic. Yes, Millennials are lashing out at the system, but perhaps that is because the system is flawed and has not been so kind to them in comparison to some of their predecessors. They may have had to work harder than past generations to get a foot in the door of industries and try to afford what past generations acquired much easier.

Our generation may be changing some things, but a lot of things needed changing and have for a long time. The opportunities past generations so fondly remember were often only so easily acquired for the male, the wealthy, and the white. And although this is still a huge problem today, hopefully it is another thing that Millennials can work on killing.

14

Opinion

Ghosting: heartless or harmless?

The process of ghosting romantic interests is a topic of great controversy in the online sphere, writes Roisin Maguire.

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Roisin Maguire Sub-Editor @roisin_maguire1_

hosting, for those who have not experienced it, is when someone who you believe is interested and cares about you ends a relationship by disappearing from contact without any explanation. No goodbye phone call, or even a text.

According to Psychology Today, 50 per cent of people have experienced this type of behaviour. People who ghost avoid the awkward part of breaking up with someone with whom they are in a relationship. These people are concerned with avoiding their own emotions and discomfort while not thinking of how the other person feels.

The more people ghost, the more they may become desensitised to the feelings of others and will use it as a way of breaking up with every person they date. Ghosting has branched out into subsets such as benching where a person occasionally checks in on a person to keep their options open but not fully commit and zombieing, where

an ex-ghoster pops up out of nowhere with that “you up?” text.

For many of those who have been ghosted, they feel they have been disrespected while others may feel like a fool for having feelings in the first place. Ghosting is harmful because it leads a person to think they are not good enough which can lead to insecurity and self-consciousness.

One of the most insidious aspects of ghosting is that it doesn’t just cause you to question the validity of the relationship you had, it causes you to question yourself. Why didn’t I know this was going to happen? Could I have done something better?

People often ask themselves how do they prevent this from happening again which is dangerous as this may prevent someone from opening up to someone new again, or prevent them from going back to the dating scene for a long time.

Ghosting is the ultimate form of the silent treatment, a tactic that has often been viewed by mental health professionals as a form of emotional cruelty.

It renders a person to have no other option but to answer their own questions,

Ghosting may be as spooky as the name suggests.

Credit: Mr. Cute Cartoon Drawing Club

which can lead to the conclusion that it was not the ghoster’s fault, but the fault of the person who is being ghosted.

If you have been ghosted, you may want to forget about this person but you may also wonder what they are doing with their life without you, especially if you had a strong relationship with this person. Sitting and scrolling through Instagram and Facebook will wreak

someone and block them within 60 seconds.

Ultimately, no one wins when it comes to ghosting. The ghoster will have this weight sitting on their conscience unless they are completely cold hearted. Ghosting may even cause problems in future relationships.

Think before you ghost, it’s better to face your problems head on.

havoc on your mental health.

The important thing to remember is that being ghosted says nothing about you or how worthy you are, but more about the person who is doing the ghosting. With the rise of technology, ghosting has become an easy scapegoat. Technology makes communication easier but it also makes disappearing easier when you can delete

The self-driving car conundrum

“

Fear of self-driving cars should not be used to ignore a revolutionary idea, writes Ross Boyd.

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Ross Boyd Contributor @thecollegeview

he idea that self-driving cars are a new danger on roads already carrying cars, cyclists, public transport and pedestrians is a preposterous notion. Fortunately, it is being used less and less as an excuse to

ignore a revolutionary idea.

Self-driving cars will likely not completely eradicate deaths on roads or give Shane Ross further excuses to place regulations on an unknown medium, which is not even correctly identified by most people.

Self-driving cars have not yet reached Irish roads and it will take at least a few years for them to take to the streets. While some may see Tesla’s

Self-driving cars are just another addition to roads already packed with danger.

autopilot as some sort of self-driving capability, it is officially considered to only have an autonomous level of two, with human only control being zero and fully self-driving cars being five or six.

It must be noted, however, that Tesla’s rather lacking autopilot has saved many crashes from occurring, as can be seen through a quick search of the technology automatically avoiding crashes

Credit: Alison Clair

by human error. Human errors are the predominant reason for crashes with roughly 90 per cent of car accidents by this alone. Distractions, drunk driving and speeding are the most common despite measures in Ireland to severely punish those caught by these errors.

What about the 10 per cent? Surely this would be because of the technology failing? It most likely is, although not exclusively. In 2018, one of Uber’s self-driving cars ran over and killed a pedestrian. However, it also emerged that the car had a safety driver and that the safety driver was distracted by their phone before the accident occurred and was ‘entirely avoidable’ according to the investigation report. In a new study of self-driving car accidents in California, all but one of thirty-eight accidents were caused by humans.

The major argument of the cars self-driving capabilities though, is that they are not tested in more extreme conditions, such as rain or snow. Indeed, many companies accept this as being as problem, as the conditions to achieve this are rare and face many more variables in the technology for self-driving cars.

In an Irish context, Lero and Valero announced a collaboration to develop technology for the cars in the rather familiar place of Galway and the West coast of Ireland as its testing grounds with NUI Galway.

Challenges of both city and rural obstacles

It can allow cars to better deal with fog, heavy rain, darkness and even animals that can commonly stray along the long, winding roads of Galway and Mayo.

While ideas can be thrown around, and innovation is scary for both people and politicians alike, it seems again that people and their willingness to play with their new toys and create an argument for natural selection proves fruitful, with some even climbing into the passenger seats or on the roofs of cars.

Even with the challenges of both city and rural obstacles, from nature both in the sky and on solid ground for the technology, it seems likely that the quicker we remove humans from the equation, rather than limiting self-driving cars capabilities, that we can have safer roads for all road users, by intention or otherwise.

15

gaeilge Saol an Mhic Léinn Lánfhásta Leabhraíonn Clíona Hughes le mhic léinn lánfhásta agus na buntáistí atá bainteach leis an rogha seo

An obair a bhíonn i gceist

T

Róisín Ní Chuillinn Príomh-Eagarthóir @thecollegeview

á míchlú faoi leith ag mic léinn lánfhásta. Is minic a chloistear duine a rá nach fiú é, dul ar ais go dtí an ollscoil agus gur chaill na daoine seo a seans blianta ó shin chun gairm bheatha faoi leith a bhaint amach.

Caithim féin a admháil go raibh mé díchreidmheach faoi cé chomh fiúntach agus éifeachtach is a bhí ag filleadh ar ais ar an ollscoil agus tú i do thríochaidí, dhaichidí nó fiú caogaidí, go háirithe nuair a bhfuil post agus páistí sa bhaile ag an duine cheana féin.

Suntasach nó amaideach? Sin an cheist atá agam féin.

Labhair mé le Helen Dunne, iarmhac léinn lánfhásta a bhain céim shíceolaíocht amach agus d’iarr mé uirthi míniú dom ceard é a bhí chomh tarraingteach faoin bhfilleadh ar ais ar ann ollscoil.

“Bhí mé 40 bliain d’aois agus mé díreach i ndiaidh histireachtóime, bhí fuinneamh agus saoirse nua faighte agam. Bhí mé ag iarraidh rud éigin fiúntach a dhéanamh le mo chuid ama

Credit: Alison Clair

chugam féin a shásamh.” A dúirt Helen go maoithneach.

“Bhí cúrsa FETAC déanta agam cheana, ach bhí a fhios agam go raibh mé ag iarraidh bogadh ar aghaidh go dtí rud éigin níos dúshlánaí.” A dúirt Helen. “Cheap mé go mbeadh Baitsiléir Eolaíochta sa tSíceolaíocht oiriúnach dom, toisc go raibh suim agam i gcúrsaí mar sin agus mé i mo thuismitheoir.”

Is minic nach mbíonn an seans ag daoine óga dul go dtí an ollscoil ó thaobh cúrsaí airgid de. Ní fhaigheann roinnt daoine an t-airgead a bhíonn ag teastáil chun céim ollscoile a bhaint amach go dtí go bhfuil siad aosta le páistí. Is é sin an fáth nach bhfuair Helen Dunne a B.Sc sa tSíceolaíocht go dtí go raibh sí 44 bliain d’aois. “Bhí brionglóid agam a bheith mar mhac léinn san ollscoil agus mé óg, ach, faraor, ní raibh mo thuistí in ann íoc as na táillí agus bhí orm post a fháil.”

“Cheap go leor daoine go raibh mé ‘bonkers’.” A dúirt Helen agus í ag gáire. “Phléasc roinnt daoine amach ag gáire nuair a dúirt mé go raibh mé ag dul ar ais ar scoil chun staidéar a dhéanamh. Níl an luach céanna ag go leor daoine don oideachas nuair nach bhfuil tú óg, is mór an trua é sin. Creidim go bhfuil fíorthábhacht ag baint le hoideachas. Bígí bródúil as d’oireas

agus do shaineolas mar is rudaí an-luachmhar go deo iad nach féidir le haon duine a bhaint asat.”

Cé go raibh daoine amhrasach faoina cinneadh, lean Helen lena brionglóid.

Agus tú i mbun céime, caithfidh píosa staidéar a bheith i gceist agus is dócha gur deacair an rud é, staidéar a dhéanamh nuair nach bhfuil mórán taithí agat ar an ábhar ar feadh fiche bliain anuas. “Cinnte, bhí orm foghlaim arís conas staidéar a dhéanamh, agus bhí go leor staidéar i gceist i gcéim shíceolaíochta.” A dúirt Helen. “Bhí orm go leor taighde a dhéanamh agus chun an fhírinne a rá, ní raibh clú dá laghad agam conas é sin a dhéanamh!”

A dúirt sí agus í ag gaire nuair a smaoinigh sí faoi. “Thóg sé tamallín beaga chun taithí a fháil ar an gcoincheap nua sin, ach tar éis an gcéad téarma bhí mé go breá.” Ag deireadh an lae, thaitin an chuid foghlaim go mór le Helen, agus is í sin an fáth gur lean sí leis an oideachas. Is léachtóir í OE Má Nuad faoi láthair. “Lean leis an oideachas, má tá an suim agat ann, tá na mílte deiseanna maidir leí agus bainim taitneamh as mo chuid oibre a dhéanamh, níl mórán daoine in ann é sin a rá.”

“Is breá liom ag dul ag obair agus daoine cosúil liomsa, a bhfuil suim acu

san oideachas agus a chuireann ceisteanna ar gach rud timpeall liom.”

Dúirt Benjamin Franklin “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Cad a cheapann Helen faoi seo? “Aontaím leis an ráiteas go huile is go hiomlán, cé go raibh deacrachtaí agam maidir le láimhseáil agus an oibre a bhí i gceist le mo chéim, bhfiú gach uile ghné de. Táim i ghairm bheatha a bhfuil suim agam ann agus tá sé sin ríluachmhar.”

Le blianta beaga anuas, tá níos lú mic léinn a bhfuil fásta i gcomparáid le líon na ndaltaí a bhfuil díreach amach as an meánscoil. Tá seans ann go leanfaidh an pátrún seo ar aghaidh toisc gur féidir le níos mó teaghlaigh íoc as an ollscoil ar son na bpáistí na laethanta seo, agus tá líon mór daoine a bhfuil céim acu na laethanta seo. Cuidíonn eagraíochtaí ar nós SUSI le daoine le deacrachtaí íoc as an ollscoil le deontais a thabhairt dóibh.

“Is rud ó neamh é SUSI, ní féidir liom é a mhíniú i mbeagán focal. Agus mé ar an meánscoil, cheap mé nach mbeinn ábalta freastal ar an ollscoil toisc go raibh mo mháthair thinn agus toisc nach raibh m’athair ach ag obair cúpla uair in aghaidh na seachtaine” a dúirt Áine, mac léinn a bhfuil fíorbhuíoch as an gcabhair a thugann SUSI do

dhaoine cosúil léi.

Níor chuala mé faoi SUSI ar dtús, ba rún faoi leith é ag an am, níor luaigh mo mhúinteoirí é. Seans nach raibh gá leis é a mhíniú toisc go raibh a lán daoine le hairgead i mo scoil ag an am” Tá Áine in ann freastal ar an ollscoil anios agus tá a thuismitheoirí an-bhuíoch as an deontas chomh maith.

Ar ndóigh, tá na mílte cosúil le Helen faoi láthair agus iad ag cur agus ag cúiteamh faoin gcinneadh cinniúnach a dhéanamh faoi chéim a bhaint amach agus iad pósta le páistí beaga.

“Is féidir é a dhéanamh cinnte, gan stró. Ba rud deacair é ach táim an-bhródúil agus an-bhuíoch go deo go raibh mé in ann é a dhéanamh.”

Arsa Helen agus miongháire mór ar a haghaidh.

“

“

An cinneadh is fearr atá déanta agam

16

Gaeilge

Saoirse Ronan: Stór na hÉireann nó pian inár dtóin?

Insíonn Lauren Ní Chatháin dúinn faoi Saoirse Ronan agus an rath a bhí aici le déanaí

L

nach í - cosúil liom agus le mo chairde agus tá sí chomh rathúil ná Julie Andrews, Joan Crawford agus Greta Garbo agus níl sí ach 24 bliana d’aois.

An rud is tábhachtaí, i mo thuairim, ná úsáideann Saoirse a cháil chun solas a chur ar chúrsaí sóisialta agus polaitiúil in Éirinn. Nuair a bhí an daonra ag déanamh díospóireacht ar an t-ochtú leasú den bhunreacht, bhí sí ag stocaireacht ar son chearta na mban - ar son Aisghair. Bhí sí ag caint le Lorraine Kelly roimh an reifreann agus chuir sí solas ar “dháréag mná gach lá”. Bhí sí i bhfíseán le cúpla daoine cáiliúla roimh an reifreann i mí Bhealtaine ag iarraidh daoine vótáil TÁ ar son aisgháir a chaitheamh.

Lauren Ní Chatháin Scríbhneoir @thecollegeview

e blianta anuas, Baineann Hollywood leas as ár gcultúr, mar dhaoine Éireannach - níl Saoirse Ronan difriúil in aon chor. Caith súil ar an scige mhíchlúiteach ar Saturday Night Live maidir le hAer Lingus.

Is aisteoir den scoth í Saoirse Ronan, ní féidir le haon duine é shéanadh.

Tá creidiúint tuillte aici de bharr a bhfuil bainte amach aici. Ach, in ainm Dé, cuir stad leis na paddywhackery, a Shaoirse.

I 2016, ainmníodh Saoirse do Dhuais Acadamh tar éis a léiriú i Brooklyn (bunaithe ar úrscéal le Colm Tóibín, scríofa i 2009). Insíonn an scannán an scéal faoi Eilis Lacey, bean óg ag dul ar imirce ó Loch Garman go Nua Eabhrac sna caogaidí. Is scannán thar cionn é Brooklyn mar insíonn an scannán do ghlúin na himirce, Diaspóra na nGael agus an fhírinne a bhí in Éirinn ag an am. Sin é an fíorscéal dár n-oidhreacht mar dhaoine Éireannach.

Is léir go bhfuil sí an-bhródúil as a hoidhreacht féin mar bhean rathúil Éireannach - agus tá gach ceart aici a bheith bród aisti féin. Níl sí ach 24 bliana d’aois agus ainmníodh sí do trí Dhuais Acadamh – dochreidte. Ach is dócha go bhfuil sí níos gafa le Holly-

“ Saoirse Ronan

Credit: Today Show

wood agus an tuairim ann faoina hÉireannaigh ná an cultúr Éireannach.

I Samhain 2017, bhí páirt ag Saoirse i Saturday Night Live. Is cuimhin leis an iomarca daoine an scige faoi Aer Lingus (chaill sibh deis iontach le Ryanair, leaids). Tháinig na seanrudaí

céanna: scéal grinn faoina hÉireannaigh agus prátaí - topaic caite. Bhí sí ag déanamh agallamh le Vanity Fair agus an chéad rud a rinne sí ná chuir sí Mrs Potato Head ó Toy Story ar an mbord chun an áit a dhéanamh “níos Éireannach” - i ndáiríre Saoirse?

(B’fhéidir go bhfuil éad orm.

B’fhéidir.)

Ar ndóigh, is bean láidir, éirmiúil í ó aois óg - ainmníodh í do Dhuais Acadamh nuair a bhí sí 12 bliana d’aois. Tá sé sin dochreidte mar is cailín Éirean-

Cuir stad leis na paddywhackery, a Shaoirse.

Galar an Gheimhridh

Insíonn Róisín Ní Chuillinn dúinn na deacrachtaí bainteach le neamhord mothachtálach séasúrach Róisín Ní Chuillinn Príomh fho-eagarthóir @hughescliona

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uair a éiríonn tú ar maidin, bíonn sé dorcha.

Nuair atá tú ag siúl abhaile ón léachtaí fada, deacair- bíonn sé dorcha. Nuair atá tú ag seasamh i scuaine ar Sráid Fhearchair, ar meisce agus ag crith leis an bhfuacht- bíonn sé dorcha.

Baineann an focal “Eanáir” le dorchadas. Tá siad ceangailte le chéile agus b’fhéidir beidh siad go deo na ndeor.

Ach, cén fáth go bhfuil Eanair an mhí is brónaí sa bhliain? Cén fáth go dtarlaíonn “Blue Monday” (an lá is gruama sa bhliain) ar 21 Eanáir? Bhuel, tá a lán fadhbanna ag baint leis an fhadhb seo. Dar le Dr Cliff Arnall síceolaí in Albain- is iad na cúiseanna is mó ná - Fiacha tar éis am Nollag (an iomarca) - Achar tar éis an Nollaig (rófhada) - Laethanta atá daoine ag fanacht le haghaidh a seic pá (an iomarca) - Spreagadh tar éis na Nollag (nó easpa spreagadh) Agus ar ndóigh an t-ábhar comhrá neamhchonspóideach sna siopaí ar fud na tíre- an aimsir uafásach. Báisteach, fearthainn, ceobhrán, brádán, ceathan-

An obair a bhíonn i gceist

na, múrtha, schrabanna báistí, breacbháisteacha, seadbháisteach, seadbhraonta, spéachbhraon, fearthainne, batharnach, clagarnach, dallchairt, forlacht, gleidearnacht, peatar , caidhleadh, liagarnach, rágaille… leanann an liosta ar aghaidh… Cé mhéad focal atá againn nuair atá muid ag caint faoi laethanta fluich i ndáiríre? B’fheidir níos mó ná atá ag na eskimoes nuair atá siadsan ag plé cúrsaí sneachta.

Bímid ag magadh an aimsir uafásasach agus gach uile rud inár

Credit: CarrieMcMullan

gcoinne ach le haghaidh daoine eile tá sé i bhfad níos dáiríre. Táim ag caint faoi neamhord mothachtálach (Seasonal Affective Disorder), galar a bhuaileann duine amháin as gach cúig dhuine dhéag. An gcúis? Easpa solas na gréine. Cuireann sé isteach ar do mhéid séireatoinn. Is iad na siomptóim SAD ná dúlagar, neamhchodladh, córas imdhíonacht fiú easpa libídeo. Bíonn sé i bhfad níos measa sna míosa is dorchaNollaig, Eanáir agus Feabhra. An bhfuil aon leigheas ar an ngalar uafásach

seo seachas imirce? Déanann cuid de na daoine “phototheraphy” cóireáil de sholais UVB. Ach tá sé sin costasach agus glacann sé go leor ama inár saoil gnóthach.

Mar sin, conas gur féidir linn ár meon a fheabhsú agus é fuar agus brónach taobh amuigh? Dar le Dr Cliff Arnall- Is ea 20 Meitheamh an lá is sona sa bhliain. Feicimid na cúiseanna ón gcothromóid seo – O + (N x S) + Cpm/ T + He O – outdoors (am a chaitheamh tao-

bh amuigh gan do ghuthán póca) N- Nature (nádúr, ag féachaint ar na bláthanna álainn agus crainnte na coille) S- Socialisation (ag caint le do chairde nó fiú do chlann) T- Temperature (an teocht, tá súil againn go mbeidh sé i bhfad níos fearr) HE- Holiday Expected (ag tnúth go mór lena laethanta saoire atá roimhe) Idir an dá linn, féach ar ár meon. Cén fáth go bhfuil an duine bocht, fuar ag ithe Pot Noodles inniu chomh difriúil ón duine fláithiúlach a bhí sna tithe tábhairne go ham dúnta ag canadh in ard a chinn is a ghutha Oíche Nollag. Cinnte, níl aon airgead againn. Cinnte, tá billí le híoc. Ach, cén fáth nach bhfuil muid in ann spiorad an Nolliag a choimeád le haghaidh na bliaina ar fad? Cén fáth nach bhfuil muid in ann an draíocht, an grá agus an comhluadar a léiriú i rith na míosa is measa? Sa bhaile, Lulea, sa Sualainn- fanann soilse na Nollaig ar na tithe agus na cráinnte go dtí an t-earrach. Sa bhaile seo níl ach trí huaire don solai/ na gréine. Tosaíonn an dorchadas ag a dó a chloig gach iarnóin. Tá gach uile duine ar an domhan seo ag iarraidh níos mó solas in ár saoil. Is bealach iontach iad na soilse Nollaig é ár ndóchas a léiriú sa ghnáthshaol. Is bealach íontach iad chun galar an gheimridh a laghdú. Cuir suas an crann Nollaig, oscail na boscaí milseaín atá faghta sa seomra suite agus bí ag féachaint ar Ryanair chun eitlití saoire a cheannach.

features

17

The Irish safe haven for LGBT Brazilians Seeking acceptance, not refuge: in a modern world, Brazilian queer people come to Ireland to escape violence.

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Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque Deputy News Editor @BrendanFKP

n a busy day in Parnell street, a lost Giovanni Vieira de Lima checked Google Maps on his phone.

Thugs purposefully elbow into him, causing him to drop his phone - shattering its screen.

De Lima is a gay immigrant from Brazil and he said that racist situations such as these are not uncommon in Ireland. Despite this, life is better for him here than in Brazil.

“It’s easier to suffer with xenophobia than homophobia,” he says. Growing up in a rural town in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, being openly gay was not an option for him.

For this reason, de Lima and many other LGBT+, or queer, Brazilians moved to Ireland. Thirty per cent of Brazilians in Ireland are LGBT+, according to a survey done by the Brazilian Left Front (BLF), a social justice organisation of Brazilian citizens in Ireland.

Census figures from the Central Statistics Office show that there were 13,640 Brazilians in Ireland in 2016.

Thus, the BLF survey would suggest that there are over 4,000 queer Brazilians in Ireland.

However, BLF said that it can be difficult getting more centre-right politically minded people to respond to their initiatives, so the data may not be entirely accurate. They were also unable to confirm how many people took the survey.

De Lima explained that it’s a lot harder being gay in rural Brazil than in the big cities – you have to be very careful to make sure you “don’t act too gay”. While his family knows he’s gay, he doesn’t have a good relationship with his father. He added that in his opinion, things were getting better in Brazil.

Brazil’s only openly gay congressman, Jean Wyllys, left the country after receiving death threats

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This sentiment was not shared by other LGBT+ Brazilians. Volmar Oliveira – a gay immigrant from the state of Rio Grande do Sul – believes that Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, is dangerous.

He describes him as a populist who says exactly what people want to hear. “It’s not that people are more homophobic – it’s that they don’t hide it now,” he says.

According to Jessica Tenorio, the Brazilian right-wing are trying to justify their demonisation of queer people by saying it’s to protect children. She fears they’re using the queer community as a scapegoat to distract from the real issues.

“We [LGBT+ people] are the bait in the hook… the water is getting polluted in the lake but they’re saying: ‘look at the bait’,” she says.

Tenorio is an intersex woman who works with ABRAI, the Brazilian Intersex Association. Intersex people have reproductive anatomy which doesn’t fit in with the typical definitions of male or female.

She’s been living in Ireland for three years now and is an activist for intersex people both in Brazil and Ireland.

Tenorio grew up during the military dictatorship in Brazil and, like many intersex people, didn’t find out she was intersex until she was older.

“When I was like 16 or 17, I looked like I was 12. You can imagine it made

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you have to be very careful to make sure you ‘don’t act too gay’

Credits: Brendan Fernando Kelly Palenque

me really easy to be bullied,” she says.

Tenorio wants to bring awareness to intersex people and stop the genital mutilation of intersex children – which is still legal in Ireland and Brazil. Intersex children as young as two-years-old often receive cosmetic “corrective” surgery to give their genitals a more “normal” appearance.

She thinks that many LGBT+ Brazilians come to Ireland because it’s one of the safest English-speaking countries for queer people. She also notes that Ireland has an easier visa process than many countries.

Oliveira came to Ireland two years ago for work and he describes Ireland as a broadly accepting place. He mentions how there are very few queer spaces in Ireland compared to Brazil.

“This is a good sign because you can be gay in any pub [in Ireland].

You have a few traditional pubs like the George and Panti bar… but in Brazil you can find much more places because you have to go to a gay place,” he said.

His mother is happy that he came to Ireland, as Brazil is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for queer people. According to Gay Community News, Brazil has the highest trans and gender non-conforming murder rate in the world, with 179 murders in 2017.

This kind of violence against trans

people in Ireland is rare. Tenorio recalled when a taxi driver in Ireland once assumed she was a sex worker and asked her for sex.

Oliveira explained that violence against transgender people in Brazil differs between social classes. The trans people he knew from lower classes have all died, but the ones who are from a higher class are able to survive thanks to their resources.

Back in March 2018, city councillor for Rio de Janeiro Marielle Franco was murdered. Franco was a lesbian activist who was a member of the socialist party and died after being shot at nine times. In January of this year, The Guardian reported that Brazil’s only openly gay congressman, Jean Wyllys, left the country after receiving death threats.

With Bolsonaro’s recent election, Ireland may be seeing more Brazilian LGBT+ immigrants. “Only this year, I have one friend that is a transman who came here. I have one gay friend who is coming at the end of the year… I have another friend who is LGBTI who is coming,” Tenorio said.

While the xenophobia that de Lima faced is clearly despicable, a shattered phone screen is a small price to pay to flee from the violence in Brazil.

Ireland has provided many queer Brazilians with safety, security and serenity.

Features

18

Dublin’s heartbreak: cheap hotels replace iconic clubs Donal Corrigan disccuses how the city’s famous club culture is slowly on its way out, with one club after another handing in their closure notices.

Dublin nightclubs, including District 8, are being demolished and replace by hotels.

Donal Corrigan Deputy Video Editor @thecollegeview

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building can mean different things to different people.

The same four walls can be a home for one person and a profit machine for another. The famous District 8 club in Merchant’s Quay is just one of the many blueprints on some fat cat’s table. D8 and the conjoined Tivoli Theatre are nothing but a sheet of paper in a folder of investments and planning permission.

For partygoers, it is a cathedral of disco, house and techno where the outside world was forgotten and problems were left at the door where tough bouncers stood. However, it will soon be nothing but a pile of rocks. A hotel will be erected in the place where youths shared interests, made friends and escaped reality for a few hours.

District 8 is the latest venue in the capital that has been demolished and replaced by hotels or apartments, with Hangar being the latest on the list. It is the latest development in a series of iconic closures that the city has seen, which is slowly transforming into a serious music venue crisis in Dublin.

With District 8 closing, the city will no longer have a techno venue that can cater for just over 1,000 people. This means that there is no middle ground venue between The 3Arena and small clubs like Wigwam, leaving a vacuum.

In a city that many young people cannot afford to live in, some of them soon won’t be able to enjoy themselves in it either.

However, this is not the first time that Ireland has experienced a venue crisis. Looking back to the small town of Effrinagh, Co. Leitrim during the War of Independence, a local man named Jimmy Gralton built a music venue on his parent’s plot of land following The Black and Tans burning down Leitrim’s dance hall.

After emigrating to America, Jimmy returned home to Ireland in 1932.

He brought with him a gramophone, which was the first one for the area.

People travelled from far and wide to go to Jimmy’s dances, where they danced to ‘outrageous’ jazz music from ‘The New World’. The Church and the State viscously persecuted Jimmy because of his dance hall and his communist beliefs.

However, this did not stop him from providing a space for people to enjoy a song and a dance together. This resulted in him being the first and only man

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Credit: Rachel Halpin

In a city many young people can’t afford to live in, some of them soon won’t be able to enjoy themselves in it

to be deported in the Irish Free State.

The issue within Dublin is not the lack of space; there are just too many properties being left vacant and not used. While Dublin expands, tourism booms and sky-rocketing rents simply price out publican owners. In July of last year, Irish singer David Kitt admitted he was forced to leave Dublin, claiming that the country itself has become too expensive.

Venues such as District 8 and Hangar have launched local talents such as Boots & Kats and Tommy Holohan onto the global stage. The city provides a space for like-minded artists to learn from each other.

However, young people will still

have a desire to party regardless if there is a venue there for it or not.

The closure of District 8 could see the rise of illegal raves again that were rampant in the 90s. And while this may seem exciting, it could pose serious risks to the attendees. Safe drug habits and sexual consent are far better protected in legal venues.

The city is also awash with talk for new venues, which are bigger, louder and promise the potential of a new generation of clubs. The potential for new venues around the city is truly exciting and rumour has it that Dublin could be entering the golden years for house and techno, however these promises have yet to be realised.

Brian McCarthy is a prominent figure in the Irish nightlife scene. On top of owning and running the Boxed Off Festival, his production company, Bedlam, frequently hosted international DJs in D8 such as Patrick Topping, Alan Fitzpatrick and Ejeca.

He now looks back on his last five years working in the building: “The end of an era. If not for all the people who supported, danced and created an atmosphere unrivalled in Irish nightlife, District 8 would not exist.

What a space to have had the honour to promote in. (I’m) looking forward to the next challenge ahead.”

The last Saturday in January meant it was the last night for District 8. A bus waited outside the venue to collect partygoers who weren’t ready for the night to end. On their way to an illegal rave, they didn’t know where they were going. The crowd couldn’t help but laugh as DJ Deece closes the upstairs room with ‘Inspector Norse’, as he was he’s renowned for overplaying the song.

The crowd cried for ‘one more tune’ over and over, but it fell on deaf ears.

The DJs beg the bouncers for another song but it falls on deaf ears.

Dublin’s youth beg the government for music venues, but it too falls on deaf ears.

Features

19

DCU leading the way in sepsis research A research project entitled ‘SepTec’ has developed a device to diagnose the deadly disease through a quick blood test

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Orla Dwyer Opinion Editor @orladwyer_

research team in DCU is working to reduce the diagnosis time for sepsis, an illness affecting almost 30 million people worldwide each year. It has killed an estimated six million and despite the fact that it is incredibly common, current diagnosis methods are 150 years old.

Dr Elaine Spain and Dr Kellie Adamson are co-founders of SepTec, a research project based in the National Centre for Sensor Research on the DCU Glasnevin campus, since 2014. They are working to dramatically reduce the diagnosis time for sepsis from one to six days to just 15 minutes.

Sepsis occurs when the body’s response to an infection injures tissue and organs, potentially leading to death. Elderly people, pregnant women and children are particularly susceptible to the illness. Diagnosis time is critical for sepsis because for every hour delay in diagnosis, there is an estimated eight per cent decrease in chances of survival.

“The whole idea was to develop a rapid test to diagnose sepsis-causing bacteria as quick as possible,” said Adamson.

SepTec has developed a device to diagnose the illness through a quick blood test. They have collaborated with St James’ and Beaumont hospital, completed a pre-clinical study and a retrospective study which gave them sensitivity of 100 per cent and specificity of 97 per cent.

A specific result can be given which detects the presence of sepsis in blood and indicates whether it is fungal or bacterial. This helps doctors quickly decide how to treat the patient. The blood sample enters the analyser and a result comes out 15 minutes later.

As results currently take so long to come back, health care professionals begin non-specific antibiotic treatment within one hour of the test. This can lead to antibiotic overuse, extended hospital stays and potential fatalities.

“By knowing the family of bacteria that this is in the bloodstream rather than giving a broad spectrum antibiotic, the physician can give a more targeted treatment,” said Spain.

“Our problem is the lack of samples because Ireland is obviously a lot smaller than other countries... trying to get the numbers up for our sensitivity and specificity to move forward is very slow and difficult,” said Adamson.

Both Adamson and Spain completed their degrees in DCU. Spain has a background in electro-chemical science while Adamson focuses on biology. The pair, along with Professor Robert Forster from the DCU School of Chemical Sciences, founded SepTec

DCU researchers Kellie Adamson and Elaine Spain have developed a device which tests for sepsis in a mere 15 minutes.

in 2014.

“Elaine and Robert decided that they wanted to apply for the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund and one of the things they were looking at was sepsis,” said Adamson.

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necessary equipment for analysing blood would be too bulky, so they decided to build their own analyser. They hired an NCAD student to design the device which was built from scratch within six months.

“We now have a fully working prototype and analyser and the next step for us is to complete the clinical

It has killed an estimated six million people Spain’s grandmother passed away due to sepsis, which was the reason for their focus.

“Back then, the awareness was non-existent. Even though they might say pneumonia, now we know that it was sepsis that actually caused that to happen,” explained Adamson.

Adamson was asked to handle the biology portion of the project. They successfully received the CF fund from Enterprise Ireland and the project began from there.

The team quickly realised that the

validation,” said Adamson.

The team are currently on their second CF fund which will run out in March 2019. SepTec was recently awarded a Science Foundation Ireland award and a One to Watch award at Enterprise Ireland’s Big Ideas showcase.

Once the validation of the device is complete, the team will be looking for investment to get through the commercialisation process.

“We have such great support here [in Ireland], especially with clinicians,

but we do realise that to be quite successful we would have to look at the US market as well,” said Spain.

“We need to validate it as much as possible. You obviously don’t want to get a false negative. False positives you can handle because they’ll be treated anyways but the biggest thing you don’t want is false negatives,” emphasised Adamson.

It took six years of research and developments to build the groundwork for the technology behind the device.

Spain estimates that it will take at least another two or three years before the device is on the market and it will cost between five and then million euro to reach that point.

“It might be a smart move to further develop the technology in the States.

There is a significant amount of funding over there, it’s a completely different ball game,” said Spain.

“But the first thing we want to do is bring it into Ireland. We obviously want to treat our own first,” added Adamson.

As a majority female team of two co-founders and two researchers, the group are a relative anomaly in the scientific sector. When asked about this,

Credit: Orla Dwyer

Spain laughed and said they actually needed to hire more men.

“It is quite unusual to have a female dominated group but we work very well together,” Spain added.

“I do think that there are not enough women out there in science and commercialisation of products from a science background. We’re always open to help other entrepreneurs,” she said.

“Trying to get it out from research to even start the commercialisation process is really slow because obviously you’re going from one side of science into business. We have gotten over there now and it’s happening but it is stressful,” said Adamson.

The main priority for SepTec going forward is to get the product on to the market.

“I think we definitely have the commercialisation bug now and we want to bring the research into commercialisation,” said Spain.

“We don’t want it to be left hidden away somewhere by one of our competitors, but we have already started putting in a plan for other diseases and other different markets that we can put this technology in,” she added.

Features

20

Explainer: What’s the deal with Brexit?

For students, the biggest impact of Brexit is likely to be fees, which may see sharp increases

Christianity has a second coming

The Kingdom Café provides a space for Christian students to express their faith.

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Brexit is due to leave the European Union on March 29th, however fears for what will come after that are mounting.

S

Gabija Gataveckaite Ciara O’Loughlin Features Editors @thecollegeview

ince the UK voted to leave the European Union in a referendum in 2016 by narrow margins, the country has been torn.

As Theresa May’s government struggles to agree on a suitable deal, Ireland’s closest neighbour has been plunged into crisis.

However, across the pond in the Emerald Isle, Irish citizens are shrouded in a bout of uncertainty. While farmers and those living along the border are likely to be hit the hardest, it is unclear what the future holds for students studying either side of the border.

First-year International Relations student Louise McLarnon, who is from west Belfast, fears for the future.

“My family and I all wanted to stay in the EU,” she told The College View.

The border remains the main worry for McLarnon, who lives close to the border.

“I drove down yesterday and it took two hours, however, with a hard border we’re talking three, maybe four hours,” she said.

For Northern Irish students who wish to continue with their studies within the republic, the possibility of fee increases lingers.

“There was rumours of fees going up, but [DCU] haven’t contacted us as of yet. We were worried that once Brexit goes through we would have to pay the Non-EU fees which are in the tens of thousands, which would just be impossible for us to pay,” McLarnon

explained. “[DCU] have said that anyone who is currently enrolled, their fees will remain the same. I think first years next year will have the same fees but after that it will be different,” she said.

Students studying either side of the border will be impacted in two major ways after March 29th- either by a hard border in the event of a nodeal, or a staggering increase in fees.

Currently, UK and Irish students pay fees of €3,000 to study in Ireland and Irish students pay £9,000 per annum to study in the UK.

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My family and I all wanted to stay in the EU After Brexit, non-EU fees could apply to students from the UK- in DCU, these start at €12,000 per annum.

In a visit to London in September 2018, the Minister for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor said her “UK equivalent has a ‘clear and comprehensive commitment’ to maintain the existing fee structure for 2019-2020” for Irish students who wish to pursue third-level in the UK. According to The Irish Times, while Scotland, England and Wales have issued statements confirming the continued application of EU fees for the 2019-2020 year, Northern Ireland will also see the application of the same fees but this may change as the common travel area between Ireland and the UK is deliberated.

This means that for the 2019-2020

Credit: Jurgen Sendel brexitinsitute.eu

academic year, fees will remain the same for UK students who study in Ireland and Irish students who want to study in the UK, i.e. non-EU fees will not apply. Minister for Education Joe McHugh has also confirmed that students will be able to avail of SUSI grants for that year. The Irish Examiner reported that this position will be reviewed before the 2020/2021 academic year.

What about Irish students hoping to study in the UK? The Irish Times reports that over 3,000 students cross the Northern Irish border to attend college either in the North or in the Republic. However, the government is hopeful that a common travel area will be established between the UK and Ireland, and that students travelling between the two isles will be able to study at reduced rates, even in the event of a no-deal. “[Simon Coveney] is very much of the opinion like myself that the common travel area agreement that we have north and south, and east-west for that matter, will be protected,” said McHugh.

And the good news..?

Brexit may bring good news for Irish universities, as they may have a potential advantage for being an English-speaking university within the EU. The EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport said that a ‘window of opportunity’ may arise for Irish universities for students across Europe seeking good quality English-speaking universities, RTÉ reported last week.

If students from continental Europe face a surge in fees post the 2019-2020 academic year, Ireland may be a more attractive choice thanks to its location and language.

David Kelly Sub-Editor @Dave_Kelly__

very Tuesday evening, the corner room of CG20 in DCU’s Henry Grattan is transformed into a candle-lit, lively meeting spot for the Kingdom Café (KC) society. KC is a society for those with a Christian faith, oftentimes passionate and devout.

The group takes this time to catch up and socialise, in a space that is non-judgemental and accepting, as well as talking about their faith.

Recently, the society had inter-society events with LGBTA and Islamic societies. One KC member, Tom Halpin, spoke of how they feel a sense of kinship with these communities, as some Christians feel like they have become marginalised in a newly secular Ireland.

Recently, the KC held a story night, where members of the society told stories of what it’s like being a young, religious person in Ireland today. The speakers included Matthew Hewston, the KC Chair, Ann Hanna and Ciara Falls.

Falls, a first-year psychology student and practicing Methodist, spoke of her difficulties of integrating her faith into her social life. “You want to make a joke to seem like a normal person… you don’t want the first thing you say to be ‘I’m a Jesus freak’, which is what people think.”

She added that being religious “doesn’t make you a weird person who is going to judge people”. Falls took a year out after her Leaving Certificate to work in a church, something she said that isn’t exactly a ‘cool’ thing to mention to fellow peers.

Hanna, a Canadian exchange student studying business, is a bornagain member of the Brethren Church.

Hanna spoke of her difficulties with depression prior to re-discovering her

faith; “I tasted the world, but I was seeking the wrong things. I’ve seen the alternative and living in God’s will is he best thing you can ever do.”

She explained how she controlled her relationships, she wanted them to match her ideal, “When these ideals didn’t become reality, I felt my relationships slipping through my fingers. Why couldn’t I make them work? Why are they failing? What am I doing wrong?”

“Now I can relax and let God control my life. I’m still proactive in making decisions. I’m not like laying around in bed waiting for an answer from God. But I know God is directing me when my path is changed by circumstances outside of my control and I can see God working in the new path I’m on. No longer am I anxious about change in my life, in fact, I live it expecting change. But I strive to do the best in everything I do because God says,” she said.

Henson, a final year MINT student and member of the Church of Ireland, explained that he had a ‘water-to-wine experience’, where he went from having shallow, commercialised religious beliefs to a richer, deeper understanding of God. “I think I came to a point where I realised where the Christian story is not about how we get out of this world, but about how we enter fully into it,” he explained.

“It gave me greater empathy. I realised that Christian words don’t mean anything to people outside of your Christian bubble… it was through that transition that I discovered that God is bigger, grace is wider, and his love is deeper then I had previously imagined.”

Last semester, the society hosted an event called ‘What Do We Do About the Catholic Church’s Hurtful Past?’ with guest speaker DCU law lecturer and expert advisor for transitional justice to the Mother and Baby Home scandal, Dr James Gallen.

KC in DCU meets once a week for a chat and a catch up.

Credit: Tomekah George

Sport

DCU Athletics run towards Athlone track and field

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DCU will be aiming to win their twelth men’s and women’s team titles in a row.

D

Ian Brennan Podcast Editor @IPJBrennan97

CU Athletics kick off their track and field action this Friday in Athlone IT for the IUAA Intervarsity Indoor Championships.

They are hoping to continue the success they have had already this year, winning all the Road Relay titles in Maynooth in November.

The signs look positive for another successful year as DCU athletes picked up 27 individual medals at the recent Junior and U23 Indoor All-Ireland Championships, also held in Athlone.

There were 12 gold medals, eight silver medals and seven bronze medals in total at the event, with athletes also representing their clubs the day before in the Indoor National League final, again in Athlone.

Gold medal winners hoping to continue their good form include the likes of Joseph Ojewumi in the U23 60m, who took the Championship record with him along the way.

Ladies captain Sophie Becker picked up double gold in the U23 60m and 200m sprints, while the U23 walks

went to Orlaith Delahunt and Shane Mooney.

Other winners who will be going for gold in Athlone on Friday, include Michaela Walsh in the U23 shot putt and weight for distance, Keith Marks in the U23 long jump, Shane Monagle in the Junior hurdles and Daniel Hernon and Daena Kealy, both in the high jump.

DCU Athletics Academy Director Enda Fitzpatrick highlighted other performers who might excel on Friday as well.

“Cillin Greene should perform well [in sprints] with Saragh Buggy, Sarah Mc Carthy and Daena Kealy to perform in the jumps.”

Fitzpatrick emphasised the strength that DCU possess when it comes to distance running, especially after the clubs success in the Road Relays and with several athletes from the college making the Ireland team for the European Cross Country Championships in December in Tilburg in the Netherlands.

“Ladies and Men’s middle distance should be strong with Emma O Brien, Jodie Mc Cann, Nadia Power, Avril Deegan, Garry Campbell, Conor Duncan, Brian Fay and others to the fore.”

The club will be looking to retain all their titles from the previous year,

Elizabeth Morland competing for Cushinstown A.C. in the long jump in Tullamore.

having produced a commanding display by winning both the men’s and women’s team competitions in 2018.

Impressive displays in AIT last year came from the likes of Matthew Behan and Elizabeth Morland, who broke the competition record for the 60m hurdles and the combined events respectively as well as Gary Campbell broke the 3000m record.

DCU, rather coincidentally, also

happened to win 27 medals at the Intervarsity Championships last year, with the men picking up 12 and the women earning 15.

Both teams finished with over double the amount of points that UL, the second placed college in both the men and women’s categories, could manage.

DCU have won the last eleven team titles in both the men’s and women’s

Credit: Sam Barnes / Sportsfile

categories and will be hoping to make it twelve in a row this Friday.

DCU Athletics will be hoping for a repeat performance this year as they look to complete a clean sweep of success this year.

After the Indoor Championships, focus will shift to Cross-Country in March, before the Outdoor Track and Field Championships take place in AIT once again.

Futsal sides qualify for national finals DCU’s qualified for the National Futsal Finals at the recent qualifiers held in Gormanstown.

B

Eoin Harte Deputy Lifestyle Editor @EoinHarte98

oth the men’s and women’s futsal sides have qualified for the Futsal National Finals in March. David Azcona, captain of the men’s side, spoke to The College View about his experiences playing with the team so far.

Azcona had previously played for DCU’s futsal team but wasn’t involved last year as he was studying in Arizona.

“Fran [Butler] reached out to me to be involved in the team because I competed two years ago,” Azcona said.

However, the Spanish student currently studying for a PHD in computing, said that he was surprised to be handed the captaincy.

As the team were on the way to Meath to play in a qualifying tournament, Butler told Azcona, ‘you’re in charge of the team, you’re the captain, good luck.’

Azcona has plenty of experience from his time playing futsal in Spain and believes it helps develop players for soccer.

“In futsal the ball is heavier and smaller, so the game is more technical, you develop more skills with the ball.

In some countries like Spain kids play futsal until they are like seven years old and then they move to soccer or stay at

so we had to focus on defence.”

The men didn’t have a proper goalkeeper going into the qualifying tournament so they had to make the most of what they had.

“It was one guy in the beginning and he did okay, then the other guy did pretty good so we left him in goal.”

The women’s team are also in the running to win the National Finals and performed well last year according to DCU soccer player Denise Callinan.

“We won the shield as far as I know, we didn’t get into the cup but we got into the second division so we actually ended up placing.”

However, their hopes weren’t quite as high going in to the qualifiers as they were struggling to get numbers.

“

the game is more technical, you develop more skills with the ball

The DCU Women’s Futsal side.

futsal.”

The PHD student is confident of the men’s teams chances after impressive performances earlier in the season, with a team that were unfamiliar with each other.

Credit: DCU Soccer / Twitter

“I think they’re really high to be honest,” Azcona said of winning the National Finals.

“We had a decent team, but none of us knew each other, so I think we can do well. We didn’t plan on winning

we just went there for the craic to be honest.”

In Futsal, players constantly rotate positions, so all players need to be able to attack and defend. “[The games] were like ten minutes and ten minutes

“I actually was very shocked because we went away there last week and we had bare minimum, we had five players. Just the time of the year and it was short notice so our expectations on the way weren’t high.”

DCU still managed to qualify though and Callinan says futsal is a hit among the players.

“Its run better. They’re short games but they’re high pace. I think most of the girls I’ve spoken to prefer it to the proper 11 a side.”

Sport

22

DCU Rugby set focus on cup action

T

Joshua Freeman Contributor @thecollegeview

he DCU men’s and women’s teams are heading into cup action with eyes on cup runs after differing league campaigns.

The men’s team face University Ulster in the Brendan Johnston Cup Quarter-Final while the women’s team will play two games in Group A of the Tier 1 Cup Both teams competed in their respective leagues last semester and had differing fortunes.

The men played five games, winning one and losing the other four, finishing second last in the six-team table.

However, rugby development officer Rob Mullen, thinks they have enough potential to go on and face IT Carlow in the semi-finals.

“The league was a great test to see where we are at, at the moment.

“The men’s teams were unlucky losing to some of the other colleges in Division 1 but from watching them play they aren’t a million miles off and I expect them to really compete and turn Ulster Uni over in the first round,” he said.

When the two teams faced off in the league last semester DCU fell to a narrow 26-21 loss.

Mullen thinks one of the problems the men suffered from was consistency but he believes they can now deliver a full performance. ”They have had some really good patches throughout games but have just fallen off at stages and then results in the other team getting momentum.

“Evan Dixon and Brian Fitzpatrick, who are the coaches, will have them in good shape and ready to go for the full 80,” Mullen told The College View.

On the other hand, the women’s team head into the Cup with a lot more expectation after winning the Division 1 title last semester.

Not only did they win, but they finished top of the table with five wins from five and a points difference of +178.

They have been placed in a group with UCC and UL, with a place in the semi-finals up for grabs.

First up they host UCC, who they thrashed 72-5 last time out in the league campaign. Following that they head to UL, a team they beat 29-10 last semester With such a strong performance in the league Mullen has warned of how the cup

is a different story but that the girls are fully aware of that.

“Obviously with the season being successful to date the expectations are high, but the ladies know that cup rugby is completely different and again you have to take each game as they come and I am sure their coach Eddie Fallon will be reminding them of that,” he said.

Mullen also pointed out that the past is playing a huge part in the girls’ success this year.

“These DCU girls want to be successful in everything they enter, and I think the agonising defeat last year in the All Ireland final is driving the girls to improve even more and go one step further to lifting that cup this year,” he continued.

Both teams will be taking each game as it comes, but it is clear that DCU rugby is on the rise.

“

I think the agonising defeat last year in the All Ireland final is driving the girls to improve even more

The DCU womens team won the Division 1 title last semester

Credit: Tommy Dickson

Hyland sinks previous Irish swimming records

S

Taidgh Beahan Contributor @thecollegeview

wimmingis predominantly a minority sport in Ireland, sitting on the bench alongside so many others while the GAA, soccer and rugby take up the starting spots of participation and media coverage.

Although that hasn’t relegated it to mediocrity, with several Irish swimmers performing admirably at the FINA World Swimming Championships in December last year, and even managing to bring home a bronze medal in the 50-metre backstroke through Shane Ryan.

However perhaps even more notable than that has been the recent form of Brendan Hyland.

The 24-year-old DCU Accounting and Finance student had a remarkable year in 2018, which culminated with the breaking of two Irish national records in as many days at the very same competition.

First came the 200-metre fly, where he knocked a monstrous three seconds off of the previous record, registering a time of 1:53:19 as he finished 10th The following day was the turn of the 100-metre fly sprint where Hyland produced a time of 51:54, chipping .66 of a second off of the former 52.20 Irish record set by Conor Brines only two years ago.

The DCU Scholarship Athlete had his first outing of 2019 in the Flanders Swim Cup in Belgium, which took place on

Credit: David Fitzgerald

Hyland has his sights firmly set on the World Championship

January 19th and 20tth and the Tallaght swimmer showed no signs of slowing down.

He flew home carrying two medals in his luggage, a bronze in the 200-metre butterfly and silver in the 100-metre butterfly, as the Irish team once more showed promise with both Darragh Greene and again Shane Ryan registering impressive performances.

Hyland’s next competitive outing will be at the Dave McCullough meet in February.

He appears to be have timed his rising tide perfectly with the National Championships due to take place in March, which will be central to his efforts for qualification to the next World Aquatics Champi-

“

We’ll be looking at the world championships and trying to finish in the top 12.

onships set to be held in Gwangju, South Korea, in July of this year.

Speaking to The Echo, Hyland alluded to the challenges both he and the Irish team will face at that competition.

“We’ll be looking at the world championships and trying to finish in the top 12.

“The relay is so competitive in this, probably even more than the Olympics, because you have the top eight to 20 teams all believing that they can finish in the top 12,” Hyland said.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will pre-

sumably be in the back of his mind, as the Olympics tend to be for all elite athletes, and his results to date will surely give him cause for confidence. However, he hasn’t lost sight of the task at hand.

“I set myself goals. I knocked, I think 3.8 seconds off my previous best (in the 200-metre fly) and that’s given me great confidence.”

“I can’t guess where I’ll be at come the World Championships this year, but anything is possible, that’s the mentality I have,” Hyland told the Echo.

Sport

23

Jamie Lennon receives Ireland U21 call-up Lennon’s call-up meant he missed playing in the Collingwood Cup for DCU.

S

Gerard Grimes Sports Editor @GerardGrimes11

t. Patrick’s Athletic and DCU midfielder Jamie Lennon this week was a part of the Republic of Ireland U21 training camp.

The call-up to the first squad, named by new manager Stephen Kenny, meant that the 21-year-old missed out on representing DCU in the Collingwood Cup this year.

“Obviously I’m absolutely delighted to get called up.

“I don’t think that there is any bigger honour than representing your country, no matter what sport or level it is at,” Lennon told The College View.

“Growing up it’s something I’ve dreamed of doing so to do it at this level is something I’m very proud of and will motivate me to take my opportunity and show what I can do.

“Unfortunately the call-up will affect the Collingwood as they are both taking part on the same days.

“Although I would love to represent DCU in this great tournament one last time, I feel this is an opportunity I simply cannot turn down,” Lennon said, speaking before the tournament began.

St. Pat’s are now under the management of Harry Kenny, who was appointed manager in October, following Liam Buckley’s resignation in September.

The call-up for Lennon came during his pre-season preparations with St. Patrick’s Athletic.

Former Bray Wanderers manager Kenny has made a number of signings in the off season, with the most notable of the new additions including Chris Forrester signing on a three-year-deal from Aberdeen, Rhys McCabe and Mikey Drennan from Sligo Rovers and Brandon Miele from Shamrock Rovers.

Pre-season so far has seen the Saints rack up wins over Bray Wanderers, Cobh Ramblers and an FAI ETB side.

“It’s been a really tough pre-season.

Our main objective is to get as fit as possible before the season starts, to get to know the new additions to the team and develop our style of play,” Lennon said.

“I’ve enjoyed it so far, it’s hard work but it has to be done if we want to be successful this year.

“It’s great being back playing though, after a really long off-season you realize how much you miss training everyday.”

Lennon signed his first professional contract with the Saints in December 2017, ahead of the 2018 season, having previously been a regular for their U19 side.

His senior debut came in 2017 in the Leinster Senior Cup, as did his first senior goal for Pat’s, in a cup tie against Firhouse Clover.

Lennon will be competing with the likes of Chris Forrester, Rhys McCabe, Georgie Poynton, Cian Coleman,

Jamie Lennon in action for St. Patrick’s Athletic.

Conor Clifford, Brandon Miele, Darragh Markey and James Doona for a starting position in midfield.

“There’s definitely a lot of great competition in midfield, but we’ve got competition all over the park, from goalkeepers to strikers, there is quality across the pitch,” Lennon explained.

“It’s healthy.

“It’ll add great depth to the team that will be needed throughout the year, things like injuries and suspensions are inevitable, so it’s essential we have quality players that can do a job when called upon.

“This has to be the way if we want to achieve anything this year.

“Along with that, playing with players of this quality will only improve me as a player.

“I’m still only young and I’ll learn off them and continue to get better, my development will certainly benefit from it,” Lennon said.

Pat’s finished fifth in the league last year, on 50 points, a nine points behind fourth placed Waterford, and Lennon was named their Young Player of the Season for 2018.

Looking ahead to 2019, he hopes Pat’s are pushing for the European spots, having finished just a place outside the spots last season.

Credit:Matt Browne / Sportsfile

St. Pat’s last European adventure came in the 2016-17 Europa League when they faced Jeunesse Esch of Luxembourg and Dinamo Minsk from Belarus.

The Saints, then managed by Liam Buckley, beat Jeunesse Esch on away goals.

They had won 1-0 at home before losing to Esch 2-1 away from home in Luxembourg, with defender Darren Dennehy’s second half goal proving enough to send Pats’ through to the next round.

St. Pat’s then went on to play Belarusian side Dinamo Minsk in the second qualifying round, narrowly losing 2-1 on aggregate as they drew 1-1 in Belarus before losing the home tie 1-0.

“Last year is behind us now,” Lennon said.

“On a personal level I really enjoyed it and learned an awful lot, but I feel I’m ready to step up to another level this year.

“Like every club in the league, we want to be successful.

“The new signings will certainly help that so hopefully we could push on up the table even further than last year.

“A club of this stature should be playing in Europe and that’s what we want to bring back to Richmond,” Lennon said.

Manager Harry Kenny also spoke of his hope of Pat’s returning to the top four in the 2019 season when he took the job back in October.

“A club of this stature should be playing in Europe

In an interview posted on the club’s Facebook page, Kenny explained how he hoped that a mix of the players already signed at the time, and his own new signings, would hopefully bring the club back up to top four spots and back into European football.

As for Lennon, the midfielder is now in the final semester of his final year of college but is determined to do well in his summer exams, to have a degree to fall back on.

“I don’t set too many personal goals for myself. I’m in my last semester of college.

“It can be tough to balance both football and studies but I’m determined to do well in my summer exams and have a degree to fall back on if needs be,” he said.

“Finishing college will be something I’ll be very proud about so I suppose that’s one goal I’ve set for myself.

“Apart from that it’s just to keep working hard in training everyday.

“We’ve got a really good squad here in Pats and I want to play a vital part in that this season.

“I’m looking to push on and if further international call ups come my way, great,” Lennon said.

sport

INSIDE DCU Rugby are now turning their attention to the men’s Brendan Johnston Cup and the Women’s Tier 1 Cup.

David Hawkshaw captains Ireland U20s The Leinster player has been named as Ireland captain for the U20 Six Nations campaign.

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Hugh Farrell Deputy Sports Editor @HughFSports

einster player and DCU scholarship student David Hawkshaw was named Ireland’s under 20s captain ahead of their first U20s Six Nations bout against England.

The former Belvedere out-half donned a number 12 jersey as part of Noel McNamara’s team for their clash against England on Friday in Irish Independent Park - result not available at time of going to print.

Hawkshaw was humble about his achievement, claiming to have been surprised to have even been part of the team.

“It’s a massive honour even to be selected for the team, its a group of incredible men never mind being selected as the captain,” Hawkshaw told The College View.

Ireland finished third last year, behind champions France and Friday’s opponents England. The 2018 tournament saw Ireland lose by 10 points to France before narrowly beating Italy by four points.

Ireland lost their second game of the tournament in a 41-38 defeat at home

to Wales before beating Scotland at Donnybrook by five points in another high scoring game, with the game finishing 30-25.

Ireland’s heaviest defeat of the tournament last year was at the hands of England, losing 48-15 in Coventry and Hawkshaw said Ireland weren’t looking beyond England, with full focus on last year’s runners-up.

“We’re not looking past England at the minute, they’re a strong outfit and they’ve shown in the last few years how strong they are at under 20 level so they’re our full focus for Friday evening,” Hawkshaw said.

While the England squad are formidable opponents, Hawkshaw appreciates that the tournament is full of difficult matches across the board.

“We’d be foolish to say they’re not a very strong team but every team in the Six Nations are very strong and are improving every year.”

He also pointed to the Italian team’s performance against Ireland last year to show the difficulty of each match following the narrow 38-34 victory in Donnybrook.

The primary mindset for him at the moment is that the team focus on themselves.

Hawkshaw has nothing but praise for

Credit: Matt Browne / Sportsfile

David Hawkshaw playing for Leinster A against Ospreys in The Celtic Cup.

the support systems in place in DCU, thanking DCU Sports Director James Galvin and DCU Rugby’s Development Officer Rob Mullen for the support they’ve offered so far.

“DCU have been incredible for me this year, with the likes of Rob Mullen and James Galvin helping me out constantly.”

He said that meeting up with Galvin

often has also been beneficial making him more comfortable.

DCU Rugby Development Officer Rob Mullen also praised the under 20s captain, calling him a testament to himself and his family.

“It’s a remarkable achievement and to see the work he has put in, not just on the rugby pitch but with his studies as well, is a testament to himself and

his family.

“He’s a great guy and we really do wish him the best of luck,” Mullen said.

This year’s tournament is the 12th series of the Six Nations Under 20s Championship with Ireland having won once in 2010 and England having won six times, most recently in 2017 when they lifted the Grand Slam.

DCU footballers hoping to make amends in Dublin derby DCU’s Sigerson and Fitzgibbon sides progressed to the quarter-finals to face UCD and DIT.

D

Conor Breslin Contributor @thecollegeview CU footballers believe they have learned from their past failures to be able to overcome UCD in the Sigerson cup

quarter final.

Following the recent years of quarter-final heartbreaks during the realm of legendary manager Niall Moyna, newly appointed boss Paddy Christie now believes this could be their time to topple the Sigerson Cup champions across the Liffey in Belfield this evening.

Fresher’s football in DCU has been striving in the past number of years, winning three All-Irelands in a row.

However, the same success has failed to rub off on the DCU Sigerson team, but with the introduction of new faces from the winning fresher teams like Kieran Dwyer, David Garland and Luke Towey, there now seems to be a gathering of a team with enough experience and success to finally seek a semi-final spot.

“Almost every player on this team has an All-Ireland Freshers medal, so

David Garland in action for DCU during the Sigerson Cup win over IT Carlow.

it’s about combining that previous success with the team we have now.

“We have players representing fifteen counties, we don’t focus on opposition and we don’t have any egos, so if we get our focus right and learn from our past mistakes there is definitely a Sigerson title in this team,” Luke Towey from Sligo told The College View.

DCU have already faced disappointment this season losing out in the

“

It’s about combining that previous success with the team we have now

Credit: Harry Murphy / Sportsfile

league final by one point, as well as suffering a second half scare from IT Carlow in the previous round of the Sigerson three weeks ago.

DCU were 11 points clear at halftime following Brian Reape’s first minute goal before IT Carlow’s Diarmuid Whelan inspired a fightback from the visitors, with the game finishing on a 1-16 to 0-14 scoreline in DCU’s favour.

“We simply didn’t reach the intensity we could have.

“Against Carlow in the first half we made sixty tackles, in the second half we only made twenty.

“We are going to make sure that doesn’t happen the next game and we consistently keep our performance high,” said Towey.

On top of the buzz surrounding the DCU footballers, the DCU Hurlers will be aiming to reach another Fitzgibbon final this year following their first ever Fitzgibbon Cup final appearance last year.

A compelling eleven-point win over Cork IT and a two-point win over Waterford IT, places the DCU hurlers into the quarter finals where they will face DIT tomorrow, Thursday 7th.

Manager Eoin Roche will feel an air confidence as DCU are facing this Fitzgibbon Cup campaign as league champions for the first time in their history, after beating UCC by 3 points a little over two months ago.

Patrick Curran, Paudie Foley, Donal Burke and the rest of the squad will be putting their heads down in the next coming days focusing on a goal that once seemed impossible in DCU GAA.