College Tribune: Issue 7 by Simon

Volume 21 / Issue 7

5th February 2008

Siren Escaping the

THIS WEEK IN

Ray row D'Arcy death Delbert Tibbs - Page 16

Exclusive interview: The Siren - Page 6

UCD students in 'great danger' v

■ Left-wing students targeted ■ by xenophobic hate-group

Several UCD students are in “great danger” a er their photographs appeared on a radically xenophobic website, according to a stab-victim whose photograph and contact details appeared on the site in 2006. Anti-racist campaigner and le -wing activist Alec McFadden was almost blinded in a knife-attack a er his photo and details appeared on the website. He explained, “These students are in serious danger. There is no question about it. I was slashed across the face with a cra -knife because my name and details were on this site.” According to the site itself, Redwatch is “a warning to the reds and their fellow travellers, that whatever they know about us, we know a hell of a lot more about them. And unlike them, we have the guts and means to act on that information eﬀectively.” The “reds” that are mentioned on the site refers to those who consider their political ideology to be le -wing. The slogan of the site is, “Remember places,

■ Jennifer Bray traitors’ faces, they’ll all pay for their crimes.” The College Tribune contacted Simon Sheppard, the founder of Redwatch, who explained the purpose of the website, “The Jewish-front and extreme le Searchlight organisation has been harassing nationalists for years, but when they get a taste of their own medicine, they shout and scream like spoiled children.” McFadden suﬀered injuries to his head, arms and wrists and is emphatic that measures should be taken against the website. “I would encourage these students not to step down but to campaign against this, and to have serious discussions with their Students’ Union. “This website incites lunatics and racists. Someone saw me take part in an anti-racist protest and then my photo, address and home number appeared on this site. Next thing, I’m being visited by violent thugs.” Continued on page four

2 5th February 2008

NEWS

College Tribune

Third level funding crisis escalates ■ Vicki McKenna

Editor Caitrina Cody Features Editor Colin Gleeson Designer Simon Ward Sports Editor Jordan Daly Health & Fashion Editor Cathy Buckmaster Arts Editor Cian Taaffe Music Editor Lorcan Archer Contributors: Adam Watts, Vicky McKenna, Jennifer Bray, Philip Connolly, Barra Fianil, James Geoghegan, Eoin Brophy, Eoghan Glynn, Bryan Devlin, Ben Blake, Eoin Boyle, Maximillian Harding, Karen O'Connell, Aoife Ryan, Sophie O'Higgins, Sarah O'Hegarty, Helen O'Sullivan, Fergus O'Shea, Hannah Kousbroek, Orla Kenny, Alba Vallajo, Katie Keane, Roe McDermott, Fergal O'Reilly, Fergus Looney, Fiona Redmond, Hamid Khodabakhshi, Stephen West

A funding crisis of €500m a year is looming for the university sector, due to a dramatic increase student numbers over the next few years. Full-time student numbers are expected to increase from 140,000 at present to 180,000 by 2016. According to the Higher Education Authority (HSE), part time numbers are also expected to grow from 38,000 to 46,000. This will cost an estimated €500m year in addition to current spending of €2.5billion. The Department of Education has rejected the idea of the reintroduction of tuition fees, a measure called for by UCD President Hugh Brady, along with other Irish university heads, which would be an obvious source of revenue for third level. Instead, a spokesperson for the HSE has indicated that the private sector and taxpayer could be used as potential sources of extra funding.

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highlight the ambitions of higher education over the next few years, while reviewing present use of resources and provide guidance for the development of the sector. It will also analyse the operational environment for research and higher education, while ensuring accountability in these developments. Hanaﬁn reiteratered her commitment to investing in education, which according to the Minister is “critical to individual life chances.” At the annual Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) national conference last spring, she declared that education was at the heart of the government’s vision for Irish society.

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Minister for Education Mary Hanaﬁn has stated categorically that she will reduce state funding to colleges if tuition fees are returned, adding that, “Higher education has now moved to centre stage in social and economic development.” The Minister emphasised the need for the development of a national strategy for higher education, which would deal with changes and challenges in higher education, calling on third level institutions to participate with her Department and the HEA. “The time is now ripe for the development of a national strategy for higher education.” She stressed the importance of the proposed strategy, which will

Legislation is to be introduced that will outlaw irresponsible alcohol promotions from companies such as Diageo. Chief Executive of MEAS (the alcohol social responsibility organisation), Fionnuala Sheehan, has welcomed the initiative announced just recently by Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan. Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD has also made a submission to the Government Alcohol Advisory Group in which he has called for the hours of sale of alcohol to be staggered in line with European models to help prevent drink-related disorder. “Since early 2005, Sinn Féin has

■ Colin Gleeson also called for the liberalisation of licensing laws towards European models involving flexible opening and closing times to prevent drink-related disorder. Staggered closing times, Garda patrols in sufficient numbers, in the right place at the right time, additional taxi ranks and first aid units like the ‘SOS Bus’ in Belfast would all enhance the safety of the public at the weekend. These practical measures would help to ensure that everyone gets home safely a er a night out. “In addition, an independent

regulator for the drinks industry should be introduced with powers of enforcement, the ability to review complaints about manufacture, marketing and sales practices, and the ability to withdraw products that do not comply with set criteria. “License holders who offend, in particular in relation to excessive and under-age alcohol consumption, should face license suspension, withdrawal or other sanctions greater than potential profits to be made, as appropriate. Adequate powers to temporarily close licensed premises during the most profitable periods should be available.”

Bonus points for engineers Director General of Engineers Ireland John Power has called for a return of bonus points for honours maths and science for students sitting their Leaving Certificate. “Bonus points were offered up to two decades ago and we need to go back to this system urgently to motivate students to study maths and the physical sciences. “If this trend continues - of students shying away from disciplines that require a high standard of maths - we will quickly find ourselves with skill shortages and unable to compete in the global engineering industry.” Power warned that if immediate action was not taken by the Department of Education, there would be further decreases in the already diminished number of students taking higher level maths, which would in turn decrease the number

■ Caitrina Cody of students applying to engineering courses. According to the Director, Ireland has a pressing need for more electronic and electrical engineers at present. “This has been talked about for several years but there has still been no ﬁnal decision and I am calling for that now as we enter CAO season. “If, as the government desires, Ireland is to become a top ﬁve global economy by 2020, the country needs to have a year-on-year increase of seven per cent in the number of engineering graduates. The scale of this challenge is all the more daunting with the numbers sitting the Leaving Cert actually falling each year for the foreseeable future.”

NEWS

College Tribune

5th February 2008

Four bikes stolen every day ■ Sources inside Services slate security on campus An average of four bicycles are reported stolen in UCD every day, according to a source within UCD Services. The bikes are generally taken from the area between the arts block and the library building beside the 911 cafe, as a result of poor CCTV surveillance in that area. The source informed the College Tribune that bike-the is very much a common occurrence on the Belﬁeld campus, and that there is very little done about the raids by Services. He explained, “I work in the First Response Room, and we get these poor students coming up to us a couple of times a day reporting stolen bikes. There’s at least four a day – and that’s only those that actually report their bikes going missing. “When these students tell you what happened, the usual mentality is, “Oh. Another bike gone. I thought it might have been something serious.’ People in Services are usually sympathetic and assure students that they’ll follow up on an enquiry, but nothing ever happens. There’s just no point.” According to the source, Services believe the main perpetrators of the bicycle the s in UCD to be the inhabitants of a council estate not far from the Belﬁeld campus. He went on to complain that the security measures in place are a long way from adequate on campus, stating, “The CCTV coverage is virtually non-existent in places, and once it gets dark, you can see next to nothing on them. “Also, if you look through the window of the First Response Room, you will see

■ Colin Gleeson

a wall of television monitors for security. I can tell you that at least ten of those don’t even work.” The issue of student-security on campus has been a contentious matter in UCD for years, and recent results of a survey on campus have compounded worries, with 71 percent of students confessing that they do not feel safe on campus a er dark, and 73 percent saying that they have at one point or another fallen victim to the . The scathing comments of a Services employee to this newspaper, with regard to the efficiency of his employers in maintaining a level of security on campus, come in the wake of 62 percent of students declaring that they do not believe Services have a visible presence on campus. Students’ Union Welfare Officer Vivian Rath outlined his alarm on the bicyclerevelation, “I’m absolutely shocked,” he remarked, “I knew that there was a number of bicycles being stolen, but I didn’t have any idea that there was anything to that extent going on. “I would be disappointed as well because we are always encouraging students to cycle to college and not use their cars, but how can we do that if students have a safe place to leave their bikes. “I can’t believe that such a number are being stolen at such a rate, because students can’t afford the financial burden of having bicycles stolen. Something will need to be done to ensure that these figures come down,” he added.

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4 5th February 2008

NEWS

College Tribune

NEWS IN BRIEF COMPILED BY CAITRINA CODY

Part-time fees The UCD Students’ Union (SU) will be collaborating with the Union of Students in Ireland on a campaign to alleviate the burden of fees on part-time university students. “Part-time fees is something that I feel very strongly about. Part-time students are o en the people most in need of assistance, single parents that are responsible for a family, older people that didn’t get the chance to go to college when they were younger. Colfer has arranged to meet with Minister for Education Mary Hanaﬁn to discuss the issue but has as yet, been unable to meet with her due to her busy schedule. “It’s been put oﬀ time and time again, but when I do get to meet her I intend to bring up the issue of part-time fees. It’s time that the plight of these students is brought to the attention of all.”

Superbowl party cancelled A party organised by the UCD Commerce and Economics Society to celebrate the American Football Superbowl last Sunday was shut down by the Garda Siochana due to the absence of an alcohol license. The party was set to take place in the UCD Student Centre and would have provided beer and snacks to those attending. However, the lack of an alcohol license meant that the Society was contravening Superbowl Sunday, the championship game of the National Football League, has become the most watched U.S. television broadcast of the year and features performances by world famous singers and musicians during the half-time break.

UCD students in great danger Continued from front page A stab victim has warned UCD students whose pictures have appeared on a radically xenophobic website that he believes them to be in “great danger” because his own details were posted on the same website before he was stabbed by a hate-group. Anti-racist campaigner and le wing activist Alec McFadden has campaigned to have the website closed down, and has met with officials of the British Home Office. “The British government has the technology to do something about this website, they have blocked pedophilic websites. However, the Home Office said that if they blocked them, that they’d just go onto a different website or server. But even if they just did that, at least it would be minimising the problem. “I’ve been looking a er my safety as best I can with heavy security, but I will not be intimidated. When people like me step down, it frightens other political activists into backing down. Students, however, do not have the means to security that I have.” The website, which has links with the neo-Nazi organization Combat 18 and a host of European fascist organisations, is hosted in the United States but registered and run from the UK. UCD student Enda Duffy, whose photo features on the website, has

■ Savaged: Alec McFadden following hivs attack dubbed the organisation as ‘sick’. “It’s a hit-list. That’s the aim of the website. When you ﬁrst enter the site, your cursor is the target aim of a

President sees report on dire disabled toilets ■ Colin Gleeson

USI nominations open Nominations for the next President of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) are now open, with Waterford Institute of Technology Students’ Union President Shane Kelly emerging as a strong candidate. Nominations close on the 22nd of February and the election itself will take place from the 24th to the 28th of March. Voters will also vote at this stage to elect candidates to the Welfare Office and the Education Office. The current USI President is Hamid Khodabakhshi, who took over the role when former president Richard Morrisroe resigned his post, a er a vote of no confidence was taken by the USI council.

gun. My photo is there because of my political ideology. These people are neo- Nazis, and vthey believe in the elimination of the people on the le .

“They are degenerates who get kicks out of intimidating us. It’s a very sad ideology to have, and a very sad way for them to be passing their time, advocating xenophobia, racism and homophobia. I certainly feel threatened by this.” Other UCD students on the site that has been described as a ‘Nazi hate site’ include former Students’ Union President Paul Dillon, Labour Youth’s Chris Bond and Ex-Sabbatical Oﬃcer Jane Horgan-Jones, who has referred to their material as ‘bile’. Those listed on the site are referred to as ‘traitors’ who will ‘pay for their crimes’. UCD Student Mary O’Flynn, whose photo has also appeared on the website has slammed Redwatch, claiming it to be an attempt to ‘intimidate’ students and activists. “It basically encourages others to act aggressively towards the people pictured on the site.” According to O’Flynn, those in charge of placing the details of the students in question on the site are a threat to the socialist population of UCD. Students’ Union President Barry Colfer proclaimed his disgust at the website, declaring, “I am worried about the personal safety of the students involved. I feel a huge amount of disgust that this kind of website can exist.” A spokesperson for UCD had no knowledge of the website’s existence at the time of going to print.

A report presented to President Hugh Brady by the Students’ Union (SU) has highlighted that there is only one disabled toilet on campus with a hoist, which is an essential piece of equipment for wheelchair-bound students using the toilet. SU Welfare Officer Vivian Rath presented the report to Brady, and explained, “The toilets were a big issue. There is only one toilet in the university with a working hoist. “That was something that needed to be looked at. There’s a hoist in the arts block toilet, but if a student was up in the Sports Centre and they needed to use a hoist to get themselves onto a toilet, then they would have to get all the way to the arts block.” There were gross inadequacies outlined in the report with regards to disability access on campus. Rath explained, “The report outlined the problems that arise on a daily basis for disabled students in UCD – students who may have mobility difficulties or visual impairments.” He went on to say that the president was “very interested and very positive”, and asked the SU to continue their work on the subject. The document presented to Brady highlighted five areas that could be improved on in the short-term and five areas that needed long-term attention, along with an influx of capital.

■ Mess: Agriculture’s disabled toilet in November 2007

Rath continued, “The issues that came up within the short-term were issues surrounding car parking and better-deﬁned spaces for disabled people. Also, it was mentioned that delivery vehicles have to be prevented from parking in them. “Another issue in terms of the long-term goals that came up was the general lack of access to certain buildings, particularly the engineering building. The fact that a person in a wheelchair cannot enter that building unattended was something that was highlighted.

“Another issue that was brought up was the general accessibility in terms of the whole campus – for example, the ramps being too steep and in need of being leveled-out and being brought up to EU standards. “We also focused on the diﬃculties that those with visual impairment and hearing disability would face in the event of a ﬁre. That was brought to the attention to the president and he was positive in how he received what we had to say, so we’re hopeful.”

NEWS

College Tribune

5th February 2008

Le Pen cancels Irish holiday French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen has delayed his proposed trip to Ireland after accusing the media of ‘going too far’ in their coverage of his invitation to UCD. However the 78-year old has not ruled out a trip to Ireland closer to the date of the referendum. According to his press director Ludovic de Danne, Le Pen does not wish to harm the No campaign in Ireland. “We do not want to be used as a weapon from the Yes side. Because of the major media interest - some of the articles said we were racist - we would like to calm things down for the moment”. He added that the National Front leader was not worried about protests in Dublin. De Danne stated that Le Pen simply wishes to ‘calm things down’, a er

■ Jennifer Bray his “demonisation on a European level.” The prospect that Le Pen might grace the UCD campus with his presence sparked controversy, with groups in the No campaign expressing concern that the visit would link the anti-treaty case with far-right extremism. Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell, wrote to UCD president, Dr Hugh Brady, in response to reports that college authorities were critical of the invitation. According to Mitchell, “the French leader’s extreme views would be exposed in debate.” Opinion is strongly divided across the campus, with the Socialist Party and

■ USI President: Hamidreza Khodabakhshi

End in sight for grants fiasco Legislation that will improve and update the existing college grant system will be published during the coming Dáil term, according to a Government spokesperson. The Student Support Bill will come before the government during the current Dáil session which began last Wednesday. The bill will change the way that grant payments for university students are processed, making them more efficient. At present, the bill is six months overdue, following promises by the Department of Education to introduce the legislation before last summer. The legislation will allow students to apply for grants at the same time that they fill out their CAO forms, decreasing the delay in receiving payments during the autumn semester. Union of Students in Ireland (USI) President Hamidreza Khodabakhshi has called for a public announcement from the Government which will commit to a specific timeframe for introducing the bill. “The Student Support Bill was promised by the Government at the general election and ministers pledged to establish a reformed grants system before summer recess, so the Government must now

■ Caitrina Cody make a public announcement. “Students are demanding to know the date for introducing this Bill, the date for signing it into law, and the date by which the new grants system will be up and running. “With the final Dail session of the year underway the Government is under intense pressure to deliver what it promised to deliver, when it promised to deliver it.” USI Education Officer Peter Mannion emphasised that time was of the essence. “There is a deadline for introducing this Bill to the Dail, and that deadline is fast approaching. This dubious delay – the time for it is over. “A publicly announced timetable for making the Bill law will help Ministers keep their promise to complete reform of the student grants system before summer recess.” The UCD Students’ Union has made the existing grants system the target of continuing campaigns, drawing attention to the considerable financial strain placed upon students who rely on grant payments that are routinely

Labour Youth voicing strong opposition to the invitation to the notoriously controversial ﬁgure. A UCD Students’ Union (SU) council meeting came to blows last week over the issue, with many students concerned at Le Pen’s supposedly xenophobic views. However, a motion to withdraw support from the LawSoc for their invitation to Le Pen to speak was defeated. A College spokesperson criticised the move by the LawSoc, dubbing it, “an illjudged ﬂight of fancy by a student society,” adding that he did not expect that the talk would take place.

■ Le Pen: No Irish visit for the controversial politician

6 5th February 2008

NEWS

College Tribune

Piling on the pounds A UCD Professor in Institute of Food and Health has published the startling results of research which indicates that one out of ﬁve teenagers is overweight or obese. Professor Michael Gibney claims the Government’s Obesity Taskforce has failed to suﬃciently tackle the problem, which is escalating at an alarming rate. “Nothing has happened as far as I am concerned, and that is the reality,” Gibney said. 450 teenagers aged between thirteen and seventeen took part in the survey during 2005 and 2006. It measured a variety of factors ranging from dietary intake to physicality and measures of body weight. The UCD professor’s investigation was carried out in conjunction

■ Denis Ryan: Running for president

■ Cathy Buckmaster with other leading Irish academics and found that teenagers have a high salt and fatty diet, with mainly fast food being the diet of choice. Professor Gibney warned that students, especially males, must be encouraged to become more health conscious. A spokesperson for the Institute of Food and Health in UCD commented on the report. “In terms of years gone by, surprisingly, it was really more the boys who tended to have the greatest increase of obesity. “However, the girls are more conscious about their weight. We asked the teenagers if they would like to gain more weight or lose more weight and the boys in general wanted to be heavier, and the girls wanted to be lighter.”

The spokesperson emphasised that university students were particularly at risk because of their eating habits. “When you go to college, there are so many changes that happen. Some people do tend to put on more weight because they’re away from home and have free access to eat and drink whatever they want. “In addition, students that may have been involved in local sports clubs at home, may end up doing less physical activity when they arrive at college. What we deﬁnitely know is that across all age groups in terms of population, Irish people are getting increasingly heavier, and prone to obesity.” The Institute encourages UCD students to attempt to adopt some level of physical activity. “Try to be more active, like walk to the bus or walk around college more. There is also a variety of foods on oﬀer so try to go for the healthier choice.”

■ Gary Redmond: Now running for Ents ■ Paul Lynam: Calling for grant raise

The race for the Soaring rent scuppers SU Oval Office students UCD Students’ Union (SU) Irish Language Officer Aodhan O’Dea has confirmed to the College Tribune that he will be running for President in this year’s Sabbatical Elections. Nominations for the SU Sabbatical Elections opened two weeks ago and O’Dea will join Dennis Ryan, a Class Representative, in the race to the top. SU Forum Club Representative Gary Redmond has stepped down from the Presidential contest, switching his attentions to the position of Ents Officer, a position with, as yet, no other candidates. There are three students interested in the position of SU Welfare Officer; Ciara Broderick, a Final Year Psychology student has joined fellow Arts students Conor Pendergrast and Scott Ahearn in proclaiming her intention to run in the upcoming elections which will take place in March this semester. Union of Students in Ireland Eastern Area Officer Paul Lynam has registered

■ Jennifer Bray his intentions to run for SU Education Officer. A UCD student, Lynam ran for the position last year, losing out to current Education Officer Ronan Shanahan. Arts student Dan O’Neill and Health Sciences student Isobel O’Connor remain interested in running for the office of Deputy President. The Sabbatical Elections will take place on the 4th and 5th of March, 2008. Why have you decided to run for President? “I’ve been involved for two years now I’ve seen a lot of the going on in the Students’ Union and I think I can make a lot of changes, because change is needed now. There are things that need to be achieved that I can achieve. What has been the biggest failure of this year’s Student Union? “This year’s Students’ Union has

been a lot more proactive than the past. They’ve done an amazing job in promoting themselves. It’s hard to expand the SU to every single area in College, but this years SU have done a good job at that. However it needs to be done on a much wider scale. The SU has an image of being a Clique and that is something I would work against. What changes would you make as President? “I’d make sure every single student in UCD knows exactly what the students union is there for and why we exist, and letting the students know we exist for them. I’d make sure every area of UCD involves the SU and that we are vocal in every class in every faculty. I’d make sure the Students’ Union is involved in the societies because we are all there for the same common goal; to help the students along in their time at UCD. I would also raise awareness of the services available to students for example health services, shops.”

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has warned that students could soon be forced to make decisions about which college to attend based on soaring private rent costs and a shortage of affordable accommodation. The Union renewed its call for the establishment of a Student Accommodation Taskforce. This was promised by Environment Minister John Gormley three months ago. New figures show the gap between the student grant and the cost of renting is growing. USI President Hamidreza Khodabakhshi said, “Last August, Ministers boasted of raising the basic student grant by ten percent. “That was a hollow boast, because students this year are worse off in real terms. Unless the grant is adequately increased and the Taskforce established soon, students could be forced to make decisions about which college to attend based on accommodation costs and

■ Colin Gleeson availability.” Students in Dublin now face paying €500 monthly rent versus the standard grant worth €380. A year ago however, the equivalent rent was €450 versus the then-grant-value of €346. USI Eastern Area Officer Paul Lynam said, “The student grant was not raised adequately last August, so students are measurably worse off compared to twelve months ago. Ministers need to get real about what it costs students to support themselves. “Once Minister Gormley fulfills his promise to establish a Student Accommodation Taskforce, one of the first things USI will propose is immediate Government investment in purposebuilt student accommodation. As an added important benefit, this measure would free up existing affordable accommodation for non-students.”

NEWS

College Tribune

5th February 2008

Cheaper condoms for students A reduction in government tax on condoms has been welcomed by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) and the Crisis Pregnancy Agency. Both have been lobbying extensively in recent years for the luxury tax level imposed upon the contraceptives to be removed. The Minister for Finance made the announcement when publishing the Finance Bill this a ernoon. Minister Brian Cowen stated that the decision was made for public health reasons This reduction in tax from 21 percent to 13.5 percent will see the price of a twelve pack of condoms reduced from €13.20 to €12.40. A pack of three condoms will also fall to €3.94. UCD Students’ Union Welfare Oﬃcer Vivian Rath has expressed his happi-

■ Cathy Buckmaster ness with the change. “I was absolutely delighted to hear that the VAT had been decreased, it’s a step in the right direction.” “I would like to see the VAT completely taken oﬀ the price of condoms, because they are currently considered a luxury item in the EU and not the necessity that they truly are. I certainly will be campaigning throughout the rest of the year for a further reduction.” “It’s of great beneﬁt to UCD students, it should open up the market because I do feel that students don’t see enough choice in the market, the brands that are out there aren’t visible, and it’s not competi-

■ Condoms: Tax reduction has made safe sex cheaper tive enough. The increasing aﬀordability of condoms will, I hope, make it easier to encourage students to practice safe sex.” Director of the Crisis Pregnancy Agen-

cy, Caroline Spillane praised the Government announcement, citing a recent study carried out by her organisation has shown that one in ﬁve people aged

between sixteen and twenty-four said the cost of condoms would discourage them using this form of contraception. Labour Youth also welcomed this change in Cowen’s finance bill. In 2006 the Labour Youth budget submission emphasized the argument for removing tax on safer sex. Party members recently launched a campaign to distribute free condoms on the UCD campus. Labour Youth National Chairperson Enda Duffy has spoken of the reduction in cautiously optimistic terms. “This is a welcome initiative from the Government who has finally decided to act to reduce tax on safer sex. However it does not go far enough. Under EU regulations a VAT rate as low as five percent is permissible on contraception.”

No more Mr. Nice Guy ■ University lecturer strike ■ looming on the horizon “We have been kicked in the teeth. The consequences are inevitable,” explains Mike Jennings, General Secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) to the College Tribune, regarding their imminent strike action. The IFUT, which represents over 1,400 staff in third-level institutions, has conceded that action will be taken if things do not improve quickly for university teachers. The federation are up in arms at a recent benchmarking report, published last December, that awarded teachers in the public education sector a zero percent pay increase. “Once bitten, twice shy”, says Jennings. “We have threatened over the last five to ten years to simply withdraw productivity if recognition is not awarded. A report like that benchmarking report will not be tolerated again. A big fat zero percent has been given to us, which is simply shocking. “If pushed we will simply demand payment, because that’s all the government seems to understand. We have around six years of evidence compiled over the last three years to back us up. No more Mr. Nice Guy.” Jennings is confident that the position of university teachers was not taken into account by the benchmarking report. “The main issue is the lack of recognition for our increased productivity. We are dealing with a 70 percent national increase in productivity from 1999- 2004. The number of students nationally has increased by twenty percent, the number of overseas students has increased by 60

Hang time

■ Aoife Ryan percent and the number of post-graduate students has increased by 50 percent. Despite this increased productivity, Jennings maintains that lecturers have longer hours, shorter holidays and zero percent acknowledgement or reward for this extra work. “The cause of all this extra work is basically due to modularisation and semester changes.” The Secretary General emphasised that one of the outstanding problems was the lack of permanent jobs given to University workers. “It is more likely that the workers will be offered fixedcontracts, and there’s an overwhelming feeling of dissatisfaction among the workers.” This year is not the first over the last decade in which plans to strike have been made by the IFTU. Similar issues arose in 2006 over the problem of contracts, with SIPTU accusing the University of abusing the law by only offering fixed contracts to many members of the academic staff. According to the IFUT, university staff “have contributed to a massive amount of growth and change in the Irish University sector yet still aren’t getting any pay increase. The report shows that the Government simply don’t believe in fairness”. Many individual members of the IFUT have, in recent years, gone before a Rights Commissioner in search of an improvement in their work conditions.

Fun on the trampoline for one UCD student as Refresher’s Day kicked off last Wednesday. The day was a huge success, with students getting another chance to sign up to societies and sports clubs

Bebo poses danger to Irish teenagers The Minister for Education Mary Hanaﬁn has warned young people about the dangers of placing personal information on social networking sites such as Bebo and Facebook. With over a reported one million Irish users of Bebo and 130,000 registered members of Facebook, the Minister advised people to be wary of the information that they post on their proﬁles, information that can be used by someone else to commit impersonation and fraud.

■ Caitrina Cody Apart from criminal activities, university admissions oﬃcers in Britain have also admitted to using the social networking sites to search for personal information about college applicants, with employers in the UK and US employing the same tactic. Hanaﬁn encouraged users of the websites to be careful and to keep per■ Bebo: Dangerous sonal information to a minimum.

“They need to know that the information they are giving can actually be used by somebody else. And that maybe they should be ticking the boxes where it says that you don’t want your personal information to be given. “I don’t believe young people are conscious enough and I believe that certainly all of us, and indeed parents and teach-

ers as well, need to be constantly reminding students that by putting personal information about themselves, particularly on the internet, they are not just making it available to their own social network, their own private group of friends. In fact it is available to a much wider international audience, and for that reason it can be fun, but it can also be very dangerous.”

8 5th February 2008

OPINION NEWS

College Tribune

OPINION

You and I, and USI President of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) Hamid Khodabakhshi outlines his vision for the future of a union in turmoil There are a myriad of ways that your national student movement, USI, has improved facilities and funding for students at UCD and nationally in the past year. Every UCD student should be encouraged to get involved in our campaign work as 2008 unfolds. Let me tell you about some of the reasons why I’m so proud to lead a 49-year old national Union. Last year, your USI representatives devoted a great deal of time to securing the passage of the Student Support Bill, to reform the system for administrating grants. USI Oﬃcers held meetings privately with TDs, both before and since the election, to win all-party consensus. At the same time, we carried out public demonstrations. These demos highlighted – in dramatic fashion – the ﬁnancial distress that late grant payments cause. They won our campaign powerful media coverage during the twelve months when the Student Support Bill was under consideration. The Student Support Bill is now due to be published within the next few weeks, a glowing testa-

“Dr Brady likens himself to a “corporate chief executive” of a “business”. Well, tuition fees are not part of any business model that USI could support”h ment to the efficiency of collective action. The Student Support Bill will not centralise the grants system, but will streamline processing and lay the groundwork for further centralisation down the road. Following its enactment within the coming weeks, USI will continue to press Ministers until our ultimate objective is achieved – a single centralised body to administer all grants. While USI has been furiously pressing the case for grants reform, your representatives in the Union of Students of Ireland have engaged simultaneously in a defence of ‘Free Fees’. Frustratingly, UCD President Dr Hugh Brady is among the seven university heads that are lobbying for the return of fees. Dr Brady likens himself to a “corporate chief executive” of a “business”. Well, tuition fees are not part of any business model that USI could support. The President of USI is a permanent board member of the Higher Education Authority (HEA), so students have a permanent voice that will oppose the reintroduction of fees at the decision-making centre of power. As a member of the HEA Board, I insist on two fundamental principles. Firstly, education is a public service. Secondly, the only appropriate core-funding source is public tax revenue. The influence brought to bear by USI has ensured that investment in higher education has not decreased despite countless competing claims on Government expenditure. If financial issues are crucial to students, welfare matters are equally important. USI’s Welfare Campaign begins from the premise that every student has the right to the best physical, mental and sexual health that we as a society can possibly ensure. As we look ahead to the unfolding of a new year, I urge you to support your national Student Movement in every way possible. Please consider becoming involved in the activities of UCD Students’ Union as well as USI at national level. You can do this in a number of ways. Perhaps volunteer for awareness-raising drives, or attend USI and UCDSU demonstrations about the issues that concern you.

In the eye of the media-storm Fergus O’Shea writes about being sent to get an interview with Wayne O’Donoghue after he killed Robert Holohon, and argues that the perpetrator deserves little of the sympathy he has received He put a young child in a strangle hold, tightening his grip until the airway was completely blocked. Once the struggling youngster had stopped breathing, his killer wrapped him in a tattered mat and put him in the boot of his car. Obviously panicked, he drove the lifeless body far into the countryside, up a narrow winding road and dumped it in a ditch. Those are the cold, hard facts about how eleven-year-old Robert Holohan met his untimely death. The tragic plot had all the ingredients for a tasty media story from the start. And so, the release of Wayne O’Donoghue from the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise three weeks ago sparked a media frenzy rarely seen in this country. A 40-strong media scrum camped outside the prison gates, some waiting nearly three days for their quarry to emerge, braving arctic temperatures in case prison authorities pulled a fast one and released him early. But they didn’t, and in a calculated manoeuvre, Wayne made a statement in which he apologised to the Holohan family for the hurt he had caused them. His behaviour divided the nation, with most mothers believing he should be le alone – sure, his crime was only a tragic accident resulting from horseplay. Joe Duffy’s crank-fuelled Liveline radio show was swamped with calls from the usual plethora of housewives and widowers already eager to wave a stick at the tabloids for simply doing their job. While Duffy slated reporters for chasing leads, he sat back and dedicated an entire show to the discussion. The broadsheets pretended to take the highground, but still managed to fill pages and pages with copy about Wayne O’Donoghue and “the coverage” his release had attracted.

By doing this, they could repeat all the stories uncovered by the tabloids and republish their pictures. Public opinion seemed to be turning in favour of Wayne and suddenly the focus was on the tabloids that simply would not let him get on with his life a er spending three years in jail with his Playstation Two. However, Robert’s distraught parents, Majella and Mark, were not impressed. They blasted his apology as a “stunt” and wondered why “people seem to be accepting it. They forget what

“Wayne, decided not to give evidence at his murder trial. That meant he never faced cross-examination over how he came to choke Robert and the unseemly cover-up he conducted afterwards” we went through”. The hungry media pack, including this reporter, raced to the town of Midleton, in Cork, in a desperate bid to ﬁnd Wayne and ask him some poignant and as of yet unanswered questions. Wayne, as was his right, decided not to give evidence at his murder trial. That meant he never faced cross-examination over how he came to choke Robert and the unseemly cover-up he conducted a erwards. It was nine days a er Robert went missing – and two days a er the body was found – before Wayne admitted to his father Ray that he had accidentally killed the youngster. In the meantime, he had joined in the mas-

sive search through the surrounding area and offered his comfort to the Holohans. For three days in Cork, I was tasked by my editor to track Wayne down, approach him and request an interview. Through speaking to those who knew the former engineering student, I was led to the town of Macroom, some 70 kilometres from Midleton, where Wayne, I was told, was holed up in a rented house with his mother and siblings. Whether he was or not, I cannot say, but either way Wayne was not going to appear in public. Majella and Mark said Wayne was “like a brother” to Robert, a difficult child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and the pair spent much time together, despite the 10-year age difference between them. Wayne had a life of his own though. He was a bright student, with a promising academic career and a grown-up life separate from Robert. He had a new car, his pride and joy, like many twenty-year-olds. On January 4th, 2005, Robert asked his pal Wayne to drive him into town. Wayne refused. According to Wayne, Robert then began throwing stones at his new car. Wayne flipped, grabbed Robert, struggled with him and things got out of hand. In the unequal struggle, Robert was injured and died. At times, it is easy to see how people feel such sympathy for Wayne, whose life will never be the same a er the tragic events of that fateful day. But for me, the only people who deserve any sympathy are the Holohans – who have lost their beloved son and who fear they may never know how he died.

Fergus O’Shea is a news columnist for the Irish Sun

NEWS EDITORIAL

College Tribune

5th February 2008

LETTERS Dear Madam, I am glad to see that the VAT rate on condoms has been cut from 21 per cent to 13.5 per cent. This move sends out a clear signal to people that the Irish Government is encouraging them not to have unprotected sex, which risks sexually transmitted infections or an unplanned pregnancy. The fact is, however, that this move does not go far enough. At the moment, E.U. law does not allow for tax exemptions on condoms but does provide the option for member states to charge the minimum rate of 5 percent. Why then has VAT only been reduced to 13.5 per cent? The British Government has reduced VAT on condoms from 17.5% to 5%; surely we can do the same here. Condoms are not luxuries - they are essentials. According to UNAIDS, “condom use is a critical element in a comprehensive, eﬀective and sustainable approach to HIV prevention.” The suggestion by the director of the Catholic Churches’ Communication Oﬃce Martin Long that the move is ‘wrong,

regrettable and contrary to the common good’ is absolutely ridiculous and unfounded. How can one deny that preventing the spread of disease which kills millions every single year is contrary to the common good? According to a meta-analysis of 174 studies published in the March 2006 edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deﬁciency Syndromes, condoms for HIV prevention do not lead to earlier sex, more sex, or more partners. Mr. Long seems to overlook these facts when he claims that ‘outside of marriage, the use of condoms encourages sexual activity, which is always gravely sinful. This decision sends the wrong signal to our young people as the promotion of condoms promotes promiscuity.’ The reduction of VAT on condoms is a highly positive development for Irish society and I commend the Student Unions of Ireland for campaigning on this issue. Hopefully this is just the ﬁrst step in what should be the modernisation of sexual health awareness in Ireland. Dan O’ Neill (3rd ARTS)

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Redwatch The news that the photos of several UCD students are featured on a website dedicated to xenophobic propaganda comes as a shock. That our peers have been targeted by aggressive hatemongerers simply for making use of their inalienable right to free speech is a disturbing realisation, and one that should prompt outrage in our free society. “Remember places, traitors’ faces, they’ll all pay for their crimes” is a quotation emblazoned prominently across the red and black website, images of a hangman’s noose bordering the photos of political activists. The venom and malice that seeps from this website is clearly evident and its presence a grave concern to all those in favour of the freedom of speech and the freedom of political opinion. University is a forum for all forms of political expression and no student should be made to feel intimidated by the threats of a group of people devoted to the spread of hatred and lies. The Irish Government should move to investigate this virtual hit-list and to examine the dangers that it poses to freethinking individuals. The danger is real, as we can see from certain, infamous cases in Britain and the discovery that Irish students have been featured on the website, alongside instructions to viewers to remember their faces and to find our more about them, is truly frightening. Many of those whose photos, addresses, home and mobile numbers are displayed on the sight are British political activists, rallying to protest against the British Nationalist Party, a party that, among other aims, proposes to introduce ‘firm incentives for immigrants and their descendants to return home’. As a result, they have been the target of persistent prank phone calls, hate mail, death threats and even physical attacks from violent aggressors that have tracked them down using their private details. This website must be stopped and the safety of college students must be protected. Such malevolence must not be allowed to infiltrate society against our wishes, but must be rooted out and discarded.

Security on Campus With four bicycles stolen every day from the UCD campus, questions must be asked about the level of security that exists in the university. Bicycles are the means by which many UCD students travel to college and to work and they are by no means cheap. The idea that the complaints of students may be falling on the deaf ears of Services is a worrying concept. UCD has become famous as perhaps the most ill-judged place to leave a bicycle in Dublin and while the re-branding of UCD may paint a glossy picture of glass buildings and neatly paved courtyards, a campus that manages to swallow twenty bicycles a week doesn’t sound so great in the catalogue. It is time for Services to start taking bicycle the s seriously and for much-needed funds to be directed towards the issue of security on campus. There are stories that do the rounds every year of attacks and muggings on campus a er dark, and is it any wonder when reports appear of little or no visibility on CCTV cameras once nightfall descends on UCD. Enough is enough – it’s time for action, not words.

10 5th February 2008

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5th February 2008

A scar that never healed Irishwoman Hannah O’Brien tells Colin Gleeson her own personal story of how she got pregnant at fifteen, and how she was sent to London for an abortion

Some say that hindsight means twenty-twenty vision. O entimes though, life isn’t quite that simple. Hannah, now 36, is philosophical as she looks back upon one of the most difficult periods of her life, nursing a one-year old as she speaks calmly and concisely. She is as honest and frank as she can be about having an abortion at aged sixteen. She is always pleasant. She is thoughtful about the answers she provides to questions, despite being slightly muddled about how she feels about it at times. Twentytwenty vision indeed. “I was fi een and I had a boyfriend that I’d had for eight or nine months at that point,” she explains, “We had sex and I ended up pregnant. When I found out that I was pregnant, of course I was dreading telling my parents. I had taken a test at work, which came out positive. Then I went to a clinic where they gave me a brief counseling session with regards to what my options were. But I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. “I talked to my boyfriend at the time and he said he would be fine if I decided to keep the baby or not. He kind of le it up to me. I knew that I had to tell my mother at that point. So, I told my mother, and I guess we both kind of felt that it would be best if I had an abortion at that time. “I felt that I was too young really to have a baby. I was still in school; I had just gone into sixth year. I had a lot of goals that I wanted to achieve, and I knew I wanted to be a nurse someday. I knew that I was in no position to raise a child, and even if I was, I knew my mother had three young kids, so if I was to raise it, I couldn’t stay at home. I would have to be out on my own.” She goes on to explain her motivations for this course of action, “I felt that maybe it was selfish to go and have an abortion, because of my own goals that I wanted to do. But now that I have children of my own, I realise that it would almost have been more selfish to have the child.

“That’s because that child would only have been filling a void in my life – of having someone to love me – as opposed to where I should have been to have kids – prepared to put my whole life on hold and commit this completely unselfish act. “So, I had an aunt in England, my stepfather’s sister lived there. When I told my mother, she just flipped out – she had a canary I have to say. She just hit the roof. My mother had had a child when she was very young, and she didn’t want to see the same thing happen to me. She encouraged me to have an abortion and I do think it was the right thing to do, given my circumstances. “I was put on a plane to England. I flew over by myself. My aunt picked me up at the airport and arranged for

knew the eﬀects of what I was doing, but I also knew how much work it was. I knew that it was not something I could ever do. It was best for the child and for me – it wouldn’t have worked.” She continues to explain why the decision was taken to terminate the pregnancy. “My mother didn’t think that it was in my best interest to have the baby. Had I had the baby, I would have had to get out of the house and I’d have been on my own. I had nightmares for weeks a er I came back from London a er the abortion. “It was a really emotional thing. When I woke up in the recovery room a er having it, I was crying. I was just devastated that I had done it. Was it for the best? I don’t know. It is what it is now. My life would have been totally different. Looking back on it now, Hannah tries to sound convinced that the abortion is not something she regrets, “I think it was the right thing to do. It has come up in my mind now that I have two young kids – I have a one-year-old and a fouryear-old. “I do wonder sometimes what it would be like because I would have a child now who would be about twenty, which is weird. I do wonder where I would be and what would have happened and would I have become a nurse like I am now, but I guess what happened, happened. “For many years a er, and even now, mainly since I had my ﬁrst child, who is now four, I thought about it a lot. What would that child have been like? Would have been a boy or a girl? It really came back for me when I had him (her son). That was when I was 32, so a lot of time had passed. It took me a long time to get over. It was something that I was never able to admit easily to any boyfriends that I had a er that. It haunts you.” Hannah describes her family situation prior to getting pregnant as “dysfunctional”, and examines this as a factor in what happened. “My parents were both divorced and my mother had re-married. I was le to my own devices

“I felt that I was too young really to have a baby. I was still in school. I had just gone into sixth year. I had a lot of goals that I wanted to achieve, and I knew I wanted to be a nurse someday” a facility for me to go to. I arrived on the Friday and went for counseling then in order to make sure that this was what I wanted to do. They did an examination to make sure that I was indeed pregnant and how far along I was – I was eight weeks.” She speaks about feelings of shame and regret while awaiting the abortion in England. “That night, I had dinner in a fancy restaurant with my aunt and I couldn’t shake this feeling. It was like I was a leper. I felt like a trollop, coming over from Ireland to have this abortion. “I went to the facility on the Saturday. I had the procedure done, woke up there the next day, and spent the night there. I was then released home to my aunt before the Sunday night. It was a very emotional time. It was disturbing to have that done. Especially since my mother had three younger kids running around the house, so I knew how adorable kids could be. “ I

a lot and my father was in the United States so I didn’t see a lot of him. I’m sure that to some extent, there was a void in me at the time – I felt a little lost, from not really having had a normal childhood.” The decision to have an abortion was also something that tore apart the relationship she was in with the father of the child. “My boyfriend had a very hard time with it. He was very, very upset. I think it took him a long time a er I had the abortion to make peace with it. “A er we had the abortion, I really did not want to have anything to do with him. It was really the end of our relationship. That was mostly my decision because the weekend I went away for the abortion, he had a nice weekend oﬀ in the pub with his friends and I was angry with him since I was oﬀ having an abortion. “When I came back, I was stunned. I couldn’t deal with him emotionally, because of the pain. Looking at him was a reminder of what I had done maybe, and I didn’t want that reminder. It was easier to just break-up with him and dis-

tance myself from him rather than have that constant reminder every day. “So, we were pretty much brokenup within three or four weeks when I came back. He would occasionally show up outside my house when I was coming home from school and try to get back with me but I just didn’t want to have anything to do with him.” She speaks about abortion now with almost a sense of confusion, trying to diﬀerentiate between how she feels and maybe how she thinks she should feel, concluding, “I guess I would be in favour of abortion, but it’s not something that I ever took on lightly. I think that if you’re not 100 percent sure that you’re doing the right thing, that it can really haunt you. “I think you really have to know because the implications of what you’re doing are quite signiﬁcant – I mean, you could have the possibility of having a child, and you’re ending that, so I think it’s something that you cannot take lightly. I know that I could never go through that again. It was a very hard and a very emotional decision to make. I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”

12 5th February 2008

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Killed buying jeans in Omagh Michael Gallagher speaks to Philip Connolly about losing his son Aidan, who was buying a pair of jeans when a bomb exploded in Omagh ten years ago

“As he walked down the hall, he looked back and said, ‘I won’t be long’. I think that memory, when he looked around for the last time, will be the one that always stays with us.” Aidan Gallagher was 21 when he died, a loss that still haunts his father Michael. On that Saturday morning, Aidan had been in town to buy a pair of jeans. “At about half one in the a ernoon, I was working in the garage, and the next thing I heard was a massive explosion. For a second it stunned me, although I knew it was an explosion. Then I got into the car to drive home. As I was driving home, I drove towards Omagh and I could see smoke rising in the distance, but I had no concept of where it was. “I arrived home and my younger daughter was there. She had been in town that morning, standing in the exact spot, at a greengrocer there called the Salad Bowl. Then we heard the helicopters and the sirens and about ten minutes later we put on the news. It was saying that there had been a bomb exploded in Omagh town centre and that there were fatalities. The death-toll began to rise, and I said, ‘Turn oﬀ the news and don’t turn it on again.’” What Gallagher had heard

was a car ﬁlled with 500lb of explosives tearing apart Omagh town centre. On August 13, a Vauxhall Cavalier was stolen from Carrickmacross, County Monaghan where the perpetrators replaced its Republic of Ireland number plates

“We put on the news. It was saying that there had been a bomb exploded in Omagh town centre and that there were fatalities. The death-toll began to rise. I said,‘Turn off the news and don’t turn it on again.’” with false Northern Ireland plates. On the day of the bombing, they parked the car outside a clothes shop on Omagh’s Market Street. It detonated at about three o’clock in the crowded shopping area. The explosion was so powerful that the bodies of several victims were never found. Farther out, the

blast tore the limbs off many people. The intense heat of the explosion caused severe burns. As well as the blast, shards of glass and metal sliced through the crowd of civilians. That morning, three phone calls had been made, warning of an attack in Omagh. At 14.32pm, a warning was telephoned to Ulster Television saying, “There’s a bomb, courthouse, Omagh, main street, 500lb, explosion 30 minutes.” The office received a second warning saying “Bomb, Omagh town, fi een minutes” one minute later. The next minute, the Coleraine office of the Samaritans charity received a call stating that a bomb would go off on Main Street about 200 yards from the courthouse. The recipients passed on the information to the RUC. Police were clearing an area near the local courthouse, 40 minutes a er receiving the telephone warnings, when the bomb detonated. But the warning was unclear and the wrong area was evacuated. Instead, people were being directed towards the device when it went off shortly a er three. Women and children, one just eight-

August 1998 een months old, are among the dead, many of whom, only moments before the blast, had been standing behind white tape that police had erected when clearing the streets. Three weeks later, the 29th victim died, and 31 of the original 220 injured still lay in hospitals around Northern Ireland. Two unborn children also perished. “Aidan was with his friend Michael Barrett; they had both gone into town together. I went to the hospital, and on the third visit to the hospital, I discovered Michael, who had very bad burns.

I remember saying to Michael, ‘Where’s Aidan?’ He said, ‘He was beside me and then we were up in the air and that was it.’ “From there, I went to the leisure centre. We were told that that was where the news was coming in. We spent about twelve or thirteen hours there, and we were taken into a room and told that someone ﬁtting Aidan’s description had died that day. We were then taken by bus to an old army hanger that was being used a temporary mortuary. I then identiﬁed Aidan.

Armagedd town ly ining the bomb. This photo was taken short ■ The Red Vauxhall Cavalier sedan conta le. rubb the in s ward after before the explosion; the camera was found

“I saw her lying face down in the rubble, I knew she was dead,” he recalls, “I couldn’t see my daughter; I didn’t get her for two hours a er. The thing that sticks with me to this day is the cries of pain and the smell, the smell of burning ﬂesh. It’s the last thing I think about at night and the ﬁrst thing I think about when I wake up in the morning.” Kevin Skelton le his house on Saturday August 15th, 1998 to get a pair of shoes for his daughter. A few hours later, he had lost his wife Philomena. She le behind a husband and three daughters. “The police came up and told us that there was a bomb scare. I was on my way to the car park but the wife wouldn’t come home. We went down then to a small shop that sells pencils and pens. “The police came in again and told us to move down. We still hadn’t got the

brown shoes for my daughter, so we went down and crossed over the street. I got sick of shopping with the women so I said to my wife that I was going to go to a little ornament shop next door. “I went and I said to myself that she might not have enough money, so I went to walk back. Then the glass of the shop was sucked out onto the street and I went out a er it. Phil was lying face down in the rubble. I knew she was dead.” “I couldn’t get to my eldest daughter; I didn’t get to her for two hours. Someone had taken her to the hospital. The other two girls I found weren’t badly injured physically. It was chaos though. Everybody went to the leisure centre and there was a list put up on the wall. Everybody was running to see if there were any new names on it, what hospitals they were in. “I remember someone saying to me

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s January 2008 “In terms of time, this was quite early on. There were people forced to wait a lot longer than us. At the end of that process, some of them had very little to see. Then I had the task of telling my wife and two daughters what had happened. The day just turned into a total nightmare.” “He was 21, six foot two and an energetic fit young person. He loved music and probably the real passion of his life was cars, we were always involved with a lot of vehicles, he was reared up around cars. He went out at the weekend; I used to give him a li into town. “It was particularly sad, because the Good Friday agreement had been signed and everyone was proclaiming peace. There had always been a risk of sectarian attack but that seemed to have li ed. We never imagined that he would die under such horrific circumstances in his own town buying pair of jeans.” The struggle to deal with such a horrific tragedy led to Michael and others of all religions and political persuasions setting up the Omagh support and self-

help group. “We concentrated on the things that united us rather than those that divided us, which was the justice issue.” Justice is something that has been sorely lacking in the a ermath of such a massacre. A er ten years the people who lost so much have gained little in the way of justice. One of the more intriguing facts about the Omagh bomb investigation is that the only men charged in connection with the massacre are related. South Armagh man Colm Murphy was the ﬁrst to face charges relating to the bombing. The judge at his trial in Dublin’s Special Criminal Court described him as a “service provider” for the Real IRA bombers. However, the case against Murphy collapsed and the judge ordered a retrial when doubt was cast on the evidence of two Garda Síochána oﬃcers. Legal sources in Dublin have questioned whether the Irish state can ever resurrect a case against Colm Murphy.

The next person arrested was Murphy’s nephew, Sean Gerard Hoey. He was arrested at his home following a massive security operation in the frontier zone in September 2003. More than 200 police oﬃcers and British troops raided Hoey’s house, also arresting his

dock and remained in Maghaberry top security jail, where he watched almost all of the case unfold via video link. Last month, he was acquitted of any involvement in the worst act attack in more than three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. “We’re continuing to raise the issue, and the fact that there has still been no justice for Omagh ten years on. There have been a lot of failings in the justice systems in both the north and south of Ireland. Things have been handled extremely badly, given the promises that were made to families both publicly and privately. “A er the Omagh bomb, the Taoiseach and Tony Blair said it would be brought before the courts, and exactly the contrary has happened. We have seen a man sentenced, but because two guards perjured themselves at the trial, the decision was quashed. At the Sean Hoey trial, two oﬃcers also perjured themselves and the evidence

“There had always been a risk of sectarian attack but that seemed to have lifted. We never imagined that he would die under such horrific circumstances in his own town buying pair of jeans” wife, though she was released without charge shortly a erwards. Ever since his arrest three years ago, Sean Hoey has denied the charges and protested his innocence. Throughout the 56-day trial, Hoey declined to give any evidence from the

wasn’t sufficient. “Nobody has been brought before the courts. That causes extreme difficulty for the families. We have called on both governments to enter into negotiations with the families looking at a cross boarder public enquiry. The families have been treated very badly in every respect. “We also have the issue about the memorial in Omagh; we live in a Sinn Fein controlled council area, and because of certain things it says, it will be removed and never see the light of day again. The reality of it is that all of the families of victims of Northern Ireland atrocities have been treated badly. Many people would say that Omagh was a political bombing.” A er ten years, the families who suffered such pain a er the atrocity seem as far away from seeing justice as they did on that August day. While efforts continue toward a public enquiry, hopefully one day Michael Gallagher will see some justice following the tragic loss of his son.

don in an Irish country Omagh-native Kevin Skelton speaks to Philip Connolly about witnessing the explosion that killed his wife and tore his hometown to shreds to go and have a look. I told him that I had no need to look. I knew my wife was dead. It was the next morning at ten o’clock that I was taken to the army camp to identify the body. I knew she was dead a minute and a half a er the

“When I left the building, the bomb was still going down the street. I was out and I saw it. It blew into buildings and then sucked out all the way down the street”

bomb went off, no question. “I knew one of the firemen; I used to referee Gaelic football and Paddy used to play full-back for Omagh. I saw him walking up to my wife and li ing up her arm. When he dropped it again, I knew then that it was all over.” “The town was always the same to me, but a erwards it was just a warzone. I knew a guy very well who was there and had also been in the army, and been away in many different places. “He said he had never seen anything like it in his life. It was like someone had sent in a cruise missile to wipe the town out. It was unbelievable. He had seen bad things in the different places he had been stationed, but he said he never saw anything like he did in Omagh. “I knew the man who owned the Cosy Corner (A pub near the epicenter of the blast). I can still remember see-

ing it folding like an old book, like something you would see in an Arnold Schwarzenegger ﬁlm. When I le the building, the bomb was still going down the street. I was out and I saw it. It blew into buildings and then sucked out all the way down the street. I was amazed there weren’t more people killed, that’s being honest.” The a ermath of the explosions was devastating, it ravaged parts of the town beyond recognition and weeks later many still lay in hospital beds. “The town was dead for a long time a erwards. I don’t think Omagh will ever be the same again. That day has changed it. “I don’t feel comfortable on any part of the main street. If I have to do something in town, I get in and out as quick as possible. I need to park my car facing out of the town in a place that I know I

can get out quick. I used to love football, but the last match I was at was in 2003. I haven’t been at a game since because I can’t sit in the crowd. In the pub where I drink, I have to sit near the door. It just changed my whole life.” A er witnessing such horrific events and suffering the loss of his wife, Kevin went through a very difficult period. While the day will always have a lasting effect on Kevin, he has got his life back on track following some dark days. “Drink, you name it, I’ve done it. I’d been out one night, and had drunk a bottle of brandy. I was home and I saw my children’s pictures looking down at me. I said to myself, ‘You have got to get a grip here. What’s going to happen to your children, what’s going to happen to your little girl?’” A er any loss like the one suffered by Kevin, the need for justice is never far

from mind. Ten years on, the people of Omagh have yet to see any real progress. “In the weeks a er, we were riding on the crest of a wave. We had Tony Blair and Bill Clinton coming here. “There were diﬀerent police men coming to the house, saying, ‘We know who these boys are, and they’ll be put away’, but as time went on, you gradually started thinking to yourself, ‘Hang on a minute. There is something seriously wrong here.’ Then people started digging themselves, asking questions and getting no answers. “From where I stand tonight, I have no doubt that they knew that that bomb was coming. They knew Omagh was a target and they did nothing to stop it. They let it go for political reasons; the troubles started in Ireland on Bloody Sunday, and ended on that bloody Saturday.”

14 5th February 2008

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The Irishman who met Hurricane Katrina Patrick Clarke speaks to Jennifer Bray about being in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit, trying to survive in The Superdome, and being rescued by an insubordinate police sergeant When Patrick Clarke and his two childhood friends, Conor Lally and Thomas McLaughlin, set off to Myrtle Beach on their J1 Visas, the last thing they expected was to be caught up in one of the decade’s most devastating natural disasters, Hurricane Katrina. “I spent a summer working in a bar on Myrtle Beach in South Carolina,” explains Patrick. We did the whole J1 thing; we flew to New York and got the bus down. When it came to the end of our trip, we decided to do something different. We wanted a bit of a holiday before we le , so we put together a list of where we would like to go, New Orleans being our final destination.” Patrick reminisces about his first week in New Orleans, the week before Hurricane Katrina hit. The three boys enjoyed every opportunity for fun that New Orleans had to offer, including trips to The Superdome, where Patrick was to return in the midst of the hurricane at a later stage. Caught up in their

fun, the students didn’t hear very much about the impending arrival of the hurricane, and when they did, they were not too inclined to panic. “We didn’t get much of a warning. There was no warning from the hostel, we had no TV or radio in the room, and we were too busy having fun, so naturally we weren’t watching too many weather forecasts. In that part of America, hurricanes aren’t such a big deal; they’re taken in stride. If a hurricane hits, it is known that you board up and light candles with friends and some even have a hurricane party, so really we didn’t have any warnings. “The day we were due to ﬂy home, things were a mess, we were running late. We ran down to the receptionist to call a cab and he just gave us a look and told us we ought to make sure the planes are still even going, because a hurricane was about to hit. We couldn’t really believe it. We called and the ﬂights were cancelled, as

were the trains, buses, and anyway out of the city at all. A staﬀ member rather unwisely told us that it would be safe to stay in the hostel, so we decided to do that.” The severity of the situation didn’t quite hit home with the

“Other tourists then decided the hostel was unsafe. A er seeing them leave, and hearing George Bush, we decided to go and a hostel resident took us to The Superdome. It was around this time that the hurricane started to hit. The start of the hurricane was just an extremely eerie wind followed by a lashing of rain. The rain would stop and start heavier than before and continue in this fashion until the hurricane truly hit. So we were in the back of a pick-up truck, speeding through a deserted New Orleans in the initial stages, on our way to The Superdome.” During Hurricane Katrina, the Superdome and adjoining Astrodome became shelter to tourists and locals alike, and in the initial stages of Katrina, the situation inside The Superdome was calm and relaxed. “It was okay at ﬁrst; the guards were relaxed and joked with us. We found an area to rest in which we were sheltered

“After seeing tourists leave, we decided to go and a hostel resident took us to The Superdome. It was around this time that the hurricane started to hit” three until they heard an important radio announcement. “The lads wanted to stay where we were, but when I was oﬀ getting information about where we should go, they heard George Bush pleading with people on the radio to leave the city. It was then that we realized how serious it was.

from the rain. Being Irish, people tend to warm to you, which was great for us. The power hadn’t cut out at this stage so announcements came across the dome stating that they would have water and food for us all. “We were given military rations, the food they give the soldiers out in combat; it really did a lot to li the morale. We could walk up to guards and ask for water, and they would willingly give it. We made ourselves

comfortable. When the storm really hit, I resolved I was going to sleep through it. I woke up twice during the night, whenever the power went out, and when Katrina started to rip through the roof. We had a little portable radio, and there was a DJ staying in his studio to report and give news so we had an idea of what was going on.” The situation inside The Superdome, and indeed New Orleans itself, was to take a turn for the worse, however. “The trou-

Taking it one carbon at a time One of the world’s premier environmental economists John Whitehead speaks to Simon Ward about climate change – the great battle of the next generation “What changed in the US with Hurricane Katrina was a feeling that we have entered a period of consequences”. Al Gore’s ‘Inconvenient Truth’ was a powerful ﬁlm conveying an even more powerful message. A former presidential candidate turned climate change messiah, Gore aimed to enlighten a largely ignorant planet with the problem of global warming, one PowerPoint slide at a time. However, the strength of his message is a dim whisper in contrast to recent climate events, which bellow more loudly about the problem than any politician, rock-star or religious leader ever can. Hurricane Rita, and more prominently, Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans brought the issue ﬁrmly into prominence. Whilst the de-

bate about the extent of the threat of climate change is ongoing, there can be no doubt that the weather is no longer just a er the news, but becoming headline news itself. John Whitehead, one of the world’s premier authorities on the economics of the subject feels something needs to be done “From the economics stand-point, there is a consensus among economists that something should be done. It’s a ramp-up strategy, where we start slow with climate change policies, and over time, gradually increase the reduction in carbon emissions. The ramp-up strategy would allow us to further resolve the uncertainty and make sure that we’re doing the right thing.” Whitehead is adamant that too many in business fail to understand the problem, especially if businessmen’s salaries

depend on not understanding the problem. “I look at the scientists and there is a scientiﬁc consensus. If most of the people who study this say that it’s happening, then it’s very hard to disagree. I work here in a business school, with a lot of climate skeptics. They don’t want to know about it because climate change policy is going to be bad for business.” A government, once it has the will to do something about carbon emissions, has a menu of policy options, which it can employ to reduce the overall ‘footprint’ of the nation. Throughout Europe,

all EU members’ states participate in a European emissions trading scheme. ‘Cap n’ Trade’, which is still in its infancy, allows an overall limit on emissions to be set, permits to pollute issued to various dirty industries, and a market in carbon to be created. An expanding ﬁrm with a thirst for pollution would have to go to the market and buy from other emitters. Whitehead thinks the idea holds promise. “An emissions trading scheme would be the easiest policy that could be implemented. It would be eﬀective. The criti-

cism is that in handing out the permits for free, we would reward the polluters and give them a valuable financial asset. That’s the main reason that others are pushing for a sort of carbon tax. But with Europe doing an emissions-trading scheme, and if the US did one, it seems like it would be easier to implement throughout the rest of the world. Easier than some sort of carbon tax.” America, Europe and the rest of the developed world are addicted to oil. For cooking, for cars and rockets to the stars, oil is the one commodity that satisfies the needs of the developed world. But is the nuclear option the road to take when the oil runs out? “We have had only one accident, so based on that sort of record, it’s a fairly safe and clean power source. There’s an incentive right now to develop nuclear in the US. I see it as a bright future,” concludes Whitehead. It’s a difficult conundrum to reconcile, but one of earth’s most difficult conundrums needs a solution, and fast.

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Running from a tidal wave Irish student Michelle Delaney speaks to Aoife Ryan about being washed out of her hotel in Thailand when a tsunami wiped out 225,000 people

ble started when the storm passed, because once the levees broke, people had nowhere to go. They had to leave their homes because of the flooding, and so they came to The Superdome where there weren’t enough supplies for everyone at this stage. There was no running water, or no flushing water for the toilets. The smell was disgusting. That is one of my strongest memories, the smell.” People began to arrive at the superdome in droves, and from here on, rations became very strict and tensions extremely high. Patrick cites the example of the need for water. Instead of the guards willingly giving bottles of water, rations came to dictate that there was only one bottle per person. “It became very hot in the superdome, and you could tell tensions were starting to grow. People were tired, hungry, and dirty and upset with their flooded homes. Tempers rose. I remember seeing a man holding his daughter in his arms, and at the same time, someone was punching him in the face. He was trying to protect his daughter but he was also trying to fend this man off. They disappeared into crowd; I don’t know what became of them. That’s how tense things got. “It was very scary to see the breakdown. There were rumours of rape, there were rumours everywhere that no one could be trusted, and people were dying on the streets. We were trying to stay calm; we never let ourselves think that we’d never get out. We never saw anyone getting shot or raped, but this is what was being said. There was something in the air; it wasn’t safe. We knew that the sooner we got out of there, the better.” The three students then befriended a man they know as Sergeant Ogden, who according to Patrick “took it upon himself to save our lives”. Patrick tells of how he and the other two knew that Ogden’s family’s whereabouts were unknown, and how Ogden’s home had been destroyed by Katrina. “He defied the orders of his superiors

to save us and he brought us out of The Superdome to The Astrodome next door, as it was safer. It was there that the elderly and sick people were being brought because it was a more controlled environment. It was cleaner. Ogden then got us evacuated to Texas. He saved us.” For Patrick, most of his experiences with the people he has come to associate with New Orleans were inspiring. He tells of a man who proceeded to take out his violin and play to all in the dome in order to soothe the growing tensions, of those who were so hands-on, that they helped with body-bags, and keeping the elderly and sick cool and calm, simply by fanning them with cardboard. He tells of the selfless Sergeant Ogden, and then of the people of Texas who were all volunteers. “The second we crossed the state line, a group met us and gave us toothbrushes and toothpaste and stuff like that. I remember walking onto to grass, feeling solid earth and not water. The people who met us were all volunteers, there was no state funding, which I thought was odd. We were then sent to a hotel, it was like heaven having hot water and a double bed”, he remembers with a wistful smile. However, there was nobody closer to the boys’ thoughts during this time, than their families. The other two boys were able to receive texts from Ireland, and knew of the efforts being made by Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern to assist them in their return. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was in constant correspondence with the families during that difficult time, keeping them up to date on the welfare of their sons. Patrick concludes by stating that he plans to return to New Orleans. A photography graduate and currently studying for a Masters in Journalism, he has plans perhaps to re-visit and re-capture, and maybe even make a documentary about the place in which he experienced so much.

“It sounded like a hundred people screaming at the same time,” she remarks as her mind wanders back to those fateful days during the winter of 2004. Michelle Delaney and her family had travelled to the island of Phuket, Thailand, for a Christmas break. Like so many others that year, their lives were to take an unexpected turn for the worst. “We arrived on Christmas day and had planned on staying for around two weeks, which obviously didn’t happen. It was more like: arrive on Christmas day and leave again on St. Stephen’s day. It was a bit different than what we planned to say the least.” In December 2004, an undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered a series of tsunamis along the coasts of the bordering countries, killing more than 225,000 people in eleven countries. When the tsunamis struck, the region was in the height of the tourist season. Despite suspicions from worldwide scientists, no official warnings were given. “We were staying at Patong beach in a hotel overlooking the seafront. It really was like paradise. We had Christmas dinner and then went out for a walk along the beach. They have all these decorations on the main beaches there because the Thai people are so appreciative of tourists. They want them to celebrate. When my family and I went down, there were lights everywhere. It was really impressive. “We all went to bed early enough that night and the plan was to meet for breakfast on the veranda overlooking the beach, where it was to be served.” The decision taken by Michelle and her sister Rachel to sleep in a while longer, and catch up with the rest of the family later, may have been one that saved their lives. It was then that the impact of the Tsunami struck the beach, sweeping away whoever and whatever lay there, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. “I heard the sound of loud crying from my room and looked out the back window to where there was a walkway of sorts. Water was rushing through. When I looked out the front window, you could see the water flooding where the pool area would’ve been and cars pushed up against the hotel. The water was coming into the hotel.” Michelle’s thoughts immediately turned to her family, who were waiting for her and her sister on the ground floor. As the water had already reached the second floor, neither she nor her sister believed they could’ve survived. Unable to move to the lower floors, Michelle and Rachel walked around their floor, helping other tourists who had been hurt by the sudden disaster. The adrenaline from the surprise attack allowed the two girls to concentrate on those around

out the window to figure “Water was rushing looking out a plan that Michelle spotted her through.When sister and father waving from a hotel opposite them. “At least then we I looked out the knew we were all safe,” she recalls. front window, you Medical care was administrated in the corridors of the higher hotel could see the water by fellow tourists. “We all pulled flooding where the together and gave in any painkillers could find during the few hours pool area would’ve we we were waiting for the ambulances to arrive.” been” them rather than thinking of their parents and younger siblings. At that moment, while tending to people in the corridor, Michelle spotted her brother and her mother walking towards her. “I remember my brother coming down the corridor holding his arm, which had a large gash from his wrist to his elbow. My Mam was faint and in pure shock. We tied a piece of my brother’s shirt around his arm to stop the bleeding; it was really quite deep. “He had hurt it a er being pushed through a window and sucked into the bottom floor. He and an older woman were le in a room completely full of water except for one pocket of air. It was funny though, even though he was only thirteen, he was the one calming the woman, and he saw the light in the water which led to an exit.” Whether Michelle’s father and sister, Marie, were alive and safe remained a mystery at this point. Unsure of whether another Tsunami would strike, and if it would be worse, the family needed to move to higher ground. Nearby was a highstoried hotel, suitable for holingup in until help came. It was while

On arrival, the trucks proceeded to take the worst ﬁrst, and among them was Michelle’s brother. “We didn’t want to be split up so we all went. My dad had a bad gash on his leg as well. My dad and sister stayed in the same hospital but my brother was quite unwell so he was moved. “Operations were taking place all around and no anaesthetics were used for either my dad or brother. My dad’s leg became infected, and because they hadn’t the necessary medicine, we later found out he had a blood clot.” A er a week, the family was able to return home. Once oﬀ the plane, the family was accosted by journalists. “We were asked to go on to the Late Late Show, but we didn’t want to publicise it.” Coincidentally, Michelle was studying to become a nurse at the time. “I found it hard to concentrate, my mind wasn’t really there. I did know though that I wanted to help people. I wanted to be a nurse. “The decision to go back is a very personal one, although we all agree that we want to help. The main thing is that we all survived – not many families of six were as lucky as us,” she adds wistfully.

16 5th February 2008

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Walking the Green Mile FSKFDSKFA

African-American Death Row survivor Delbert Tibbs speaks to Jennifer Bray about being sentenced to death, and being wrongly accused of murdering a white man and raping a white woman in southern America “Reasonably sane” is how Delbert Tibbs describes himself. He is, in fact, a calm and collected man who can speak openly and clearly about what he refers to as the most unsettling and troubled time of his life. The father of three children and a 55 year old African-American man, Tibbs was accused of the worst crimes a man of colour living in the southern states of America can commit – the murder of a man, and the rape of a woman. “Back in the seventies, I happened to have been in Florida. The southern part of the nation has a very bad reputation when it comes to dealing with people of colour – more so than the rest of the country. I was charged with the murder of a man and the rape of a woman, both white. It’s a serious charge on its own, but when the victims are white and the presumed perpetrator is a person of colour, you can expect more trouble. “They had an eye witness account. The young woman who was raped survived. Initially she gave a description of an African-American male, who didn’t bear any resemblance to me except we were both African-Americans. She described a man about 5”6 or 5”7 with very bad skin and a large Afro hairstyle. “I’m almost the opposite of that description. At one point, when I was walking through Florida, the police took photos of me. They stopped to question me, but I had no idea why. The girl changed her description when she saw the pictures of me, and a bulletin was put out for the arrest of Delbert Tibbs. In the meantime, I was in Mississippi spending time with relatives. I was on my way back to Chicago when a local police oﬃcer stopped me and asked me for my ID. I showed it to him, and so, he told me I was under arrest for crimes committed in Florida.” Assured of his own innocence and positive it was all a case of mistaken identity, Tibbs waived his right to extradition. This basically means that he gave up his right not to be extradited to Florida from Mississippi, because in his innocence, he was more than willing to comply and to help set the record straight. “I thought that it would become evident that it wasn’t me. That’s not what happened. The girl stuck by her second story – that I was the person who did it. I was bound over to the grand jury, which decides if a person warrants a charge. They decided I did, and they locked me up for the next nine months, while I awaited trial. My relatives and girlfriend in the meantime formed a defence committee. They went on the radio and TV, talked about my case, and made the public aware that an injustice was occurring. “That’s one of the great things

about the USA – you can get your story to the people, and the people have a real sense of justice – a sense of right and wrong – and if it seems that there is an injustice they will support you, which they did for me. I spent three years altogether incarcerated. I spent another five years trying not to be retried.” Tibbs talks about the problem of double jeopardy, which means that if a person is tried and released, they cannot be retried. However, between 1977 and 1982, the state began procedures to retry Tibbs. “I was still on the fast track to being executed, but in 1982, the prosecutor dropped the case because he said he didn’t think the girl would be believed in another trial by a jury because she had led a life of drug and alcohol abuse.” At the time of Tibbs’ release in 1977, the original prosecutor declared, “The case has been tainted from the start, and the investigators knew it. If there is ever a retrial, I will gladly appear as a witness.” In 1976, the Florida Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Delbert Lee Tibbs on the grounds of a lack of evidence. His conviction rested solely on identification by the victim. Tibbs was found guilty in the retrial that resulted, and was sentenced to death. He regards the worst experience of his life as having been found guilty by an all-white jury. “Being found guilty by an all-white jury was one of my lowest points. It makes a huge difference – that is not to say that had it been an all-black jury, they would have found me innocent. “Although, it is to say that in circumstances like mine – the most of profane crimes, the rape of a white woman by a black male – it makes it all the worse. I was a buck of a man, that’s what I was seen as. I was found guilty by an all-white jury and I have little doubt that if I had of been retried they would have found me guilty again. “I got by because of my friends and also because of my spiritual practices. I’m a man of great spirit. I believed that God wasn’t going to allow it to happen to me in that way. My friends were invaluable, and also the people who became aware of my case. For example, a great American folk-singer put on concerts to raise money for my cause. There were other groups of people who would raise money and awareness for me. It helped buoy my spirits; it showed me that I wasn’t alone. It helped me keep strong.” Unsurprisingly perhaps, Tibbs is a man

strongly against the Death Penalty, but he is keen to point out he was against this before his experiences on death row, those experiences having only shown him he was right. “I don’t think people should kill other people, I think it’s absolutely and categorically morally unacceptable. “I understand there are instances where that might happen, where if someone broke into your house and threatened your family you would do everything you could to protect them, and I like to think that we’d all do that. But for the State to cold-bloodedly do that, to kill some-

one, is an entirely different thing. There’s no justification except revenge and as an act to frighten people. In this country, and probably the rest of the world, capital punishment is an instrument they use to scare people, and it doesn’t work.” According to Tibbs, the death penalty targets people of colour like himself, and poor people who don’t have the means to get the expensive legal representation required to defend themselves. Tibbs refers to Death Row as ‘wrong’ and ‘ugly’, and states that, in his experience, it does nothing to deter crime. “All studies have shown this over and over again. The neighbouring states of Illinois and Michigan are a perfect example. They don’t have the death penalty in Michigan, and yet the crime rate is higher in Illinois where they do. It’s pointless.” Having been erroneously accused of a crime he didn’t commit, Tibbs goes on to outline the flaws of the death row. “The numbers of people who have been erroneously charged are the same as the amount of peo-

ple who have been executed, so the system is 50/50 correct. There were cases I knew of, whereby a person who hadn’t quite been proven guilty was executed, but they couldn’t exactly proclaim their innocence a erwards could they?” remarks Tibbs with an exasperated laugh. Tibbs is still in the process of readjusting to life as a free man, and he says that it is a process that will never end. He spends his days staying close to family, and is currently writing a book. “I’m keeping healthy and getting back into the flow of things. Being on Death Row was the worst experience of my life.” Tibbs, along with five others has had his story documented in the film, The Exonerated. The Exonerated is a film that dramatises the stories of six people who had been wrongfully convicted of murder, but were later exonerated and freed a er varying years of imprisonment, where many were subjected to further brutality and degradation. Included in The Exonerated is ‘Sunny’ Jacobs who was also on Death Row a er being wrongfully accused of shooting police officers and who presently lives in the west of Ireland. Both Tibbs and Jacobs have written personally on their experiences.

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5th February 2008

Death sentence is the only deterrent Philip Connolly guages the views of pro-death penalty Americans, and speaks to Governor of Texas Rick Perry about why Death Row is a neccesary evil “If we execute murderers, and there is in fact no deterrent eﬀect, we have killed a bunch of murderers. If we fail to execute murderers, and doing so would in fact have deterred other murders, we have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims. I would much rather risk the former. This, to me, is not a tough call.” These are the words of political science professor John McAdams, at Marquette University in America. While there is a loud and staunch movement against the death penalty, the arguments for its existence are seldom heard. The poet Hyman Barshay once wrote, “The death penalty is a warning, just like a lighthouse throwing its beams out to sea. We hear about shipwrecks, but we do not hear about the ships the lighthouse guides safely on their way. We do not have proof of the number of ships it saves, but we do not tear the lighthouse down.” While many may argue for the rights of those on Death Row, others prefer to focus on the victims of those on Death Row. While on average there are 15,000 murders a year in the United States, 1,097 have been executed since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1978, while a further 3,349 await execution on Death Row. It is argued that the sentence is only reserved for the worst of the worst. “The power to make life and death decisions is the most sobering responsibility imaginable,” says Governor of Texas Rick Perry, “I have always exercised this power with the gravity due to such a decision, and I will continue to review each capital punishment case brought before me to ensure that due process is served. Like most

Texans, I support the death penalty as it is written in Texas law. It is an appropriate response for the most violent crimes against our fellow human beings.” “I have signed legislation authorising DNA testing for those who have already been convicted but maintain their innocence. In addition, I have signed legislation, establishing for the ﬁrst time, state-wide standards for the appointment of defence attorneys for indigent defendants facing a death sentence. Both laws will protect victims and defendants.” Since 1978, around 125 prisoners have been exonerated from death row in America. Yet for the 1,097 people executed since 1978, 1,895 men, women and children died at their hands. A Texan prosecutor says about asking for the death penalty, “In my jurisdiction, the ultimate

decision to seek the death penalty is made by the District Attorney. I review the case and make a recommendation based upon the particular facts of the case; including the kind of killing it was (Strangulation, or shooting, etc). What was the underlying offence and how it was carried out? What was the role of the actor in the crime? What prior criminal record does the actor have? “I treat all criminal cases I prosecute as seriously as I treat capital cases. The ultimate punishment at stake may be different, but my over-riding duty to do justice, not just to seek convictions, extends to all cases. “The criminal justice system may result in the deprivation of life or liberty of an accused person. Any such result should only occur a er a truly fair trial. I had some reservations about the very first death penalty case I tried, until the defendant testified, and lied, and removed any last vestiges of doubt I might have had. “I believe that some people have simply earned their place on Death Row, due to the crime they have committed, the danger they pose to law-abiding people, and the risk that they could someday escape or victimise others inside prison.” A telling statement from the Supreme Court of the United States declared, “Indeed, the decision that capital punishment may be the appropriate sanction in extreme cases is an expression of the community’s belief that certain crimes are themselves so grievous an affront to humanity that the only adequate response may be the penalty of death.”

‘Taking a person's life is not justice' Amnesty International’s Justin Moran talks to James Geoghegan about their campaign for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty There are 64 countries in the world that still retain the death penalty, yet as Moran notes, “Of the executions that do take place, over 90 percent take place in just four countries: China, Iran, Saudia Arabia, and America.” According to Moran, there is no circumstance in which the death penalty can merit justification. “The state does not have the right to take a person’s life, regardless of the crime that’s been committed. There are huges number of people who have spent their lives on Death Row, who have been sentenced to death, but who were found in some cases prior to their execution, and in some cases a erwards, as having been falsely convicted.” Charles Keckler, a Professor at the George Mason School of law in the US produced a research paper in 2007 claiming that the decrease in homicides in the US corresponds directly to the increase in executions. Moran acknowledges that while it may be possible to deduce such a claim, “No research has provided any scientific prove that it’s a greater deterrent than life imprisonment.” “The other thing that needs to be taken into account is the assumption that the perpetrators are operating from a rational circumstance. Many of the people who have been sentenced to death, or who have been executed, are people who are highly unstable, people who suffer from

mental illnesses.” Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the United States in 1977, Amnesty claim that over 100 mentally ill people have been executed. “There was a man in 2000 who was executed a er being diagnosed from suﬀering from paranoid schizophrenia. If the death penalty is on the table, it’s not going to be able to be taken into account by somebody who is not particularly in control of the factors at the time.” Proponents of the death penalty argue that it if the individual is fully aware that by taking another person’s life, he or she could lose their own, it follows therefore that responsibility lies with the murderer and not with the state. Moran argues that such an analysis is too simplistic and fails to take into account many other factors. “It’s discriminatory. It’s used against minorities, people of racial ethnic and religious communities. Also, innocent people are going to be killed because the criminal justice system is human and is liable to human mistakes.” Furthermore, Moran rejects the notion that the consequences that a murderer should face are his or her own execution. “Human rights are inalienable. They are accorded equally to everybody. The fact that a person carries out a murder, which is obviously wrong, would mean that our sympathies would be with the victims and their families and what

they have gone through, but the fact that it takes place doesn’t mean that the natural response should be to kill that person.” This is a view that is held throughout most of the western world, yet US public opinion remains somewhat uniquely favourable towards the death penalty. A Gallup poll in 2007 showed that 67% of US citizens favour the retention of the death penalty in some circumstances. Moran attributes this to a variety of reasons. “In the US a lot of people buy into the deterrent argument and also a belief that the victim can be avenged or the murder can be made right in some way by taking somebody’s life. I suppose there is a longer history of the death penalty in the US. It’s been there for some considerable time and it’s seen as a way of being tough on crime.” It is impossible to deny that there has been a gradual global momentum towards the abolition of the death penalty. “On average, three countries every year have been abolishing the death penalty. We are down to 25 countries that actually carry out executions with Uzbekistan abolishing it in January.” It remains to be seen whether this global momentum will transcend into the US. As long as US public opinion remains favourable to the death penalty, its opponents face an uphill battle. Nonetheless, Moran is optimistic that Amnesty’s long campaign for its abolition will not be in vain.

18 22nd January 2008

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College Tribune

the diary of eimear...

B.A. Eimear Fabulous gears up for the UCD election season, and starts looking for the Man in Manifesto Election fever has finally hit UCD, and boy is it a nightmare. Who knew that it would involve so much hard work? I thought it would be just a bit of networking and batting my false eyelashes. Kissing, babies and boys. Soirees, parties and galas. A campaign trail of sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll and shoes. Not to be, unfortunately. These lunatics running for president are actually taking it seriously. Marikka, who tends to know about these things (the smartass) has been onto me about manifestos, posters, leaflets, campaign teams, you name it. I need a man, not a manifesto, I told her. These boys are running around screaming for accountability and openness and transparency. I think it’s something to do with selling windows. It’s not just them- the fourth estate is at it too. The other day this journalist type from the University Tribunal asked me what my policies were. What the hell was I supposed to say? I said I never mix navy with black, denim with denim or martinis with mojitos. These are my principles, I told him, and they’re not up for sale. He seemed suitably impressed. Then the little nerdlinger journo type – more Harry Potter than Harry Connick Junior - started asking me what political party I supported. So I just said I support parties, who cares about the political stuff? He looked at me like I was wearing last season’s Kate Moss jeans, then asked if I was le -wing or right-wing. I was about to comment on my tragically-short hockey career when I remembered some advice from a good friend. “I’m neither,” I told him. “I’m right-on about the people le behind.” That’ll tell them. Hillary would be so proud.

So in order to nail this thing down I’ll have to strategise the next few weeks. UCD’s own Super-Duper Tuesday ap-

proaches. None of my rivals are quite as tasty as Barack Obama. US politics is so exciting compared to what’s on oﬀer here.

They have Hill and Bar and Mitt and Mike and John, and we have Enda and Bert. It sounds a bit like Sesame Street. The big events to be seen at are approaching and I have to get an appropriate outfit. Might even start sleeping with one of the other candidates running for a different position to gain support for myself. That Deputy President candidate could be a bit of a goer all right, I’ll have to woo him at the Arts Ball this week. My photo shoot for the election posters was an absolute fucking disaster. I got daddy dearest to fork out for way professional ones and the arseholes in the agency made me look like a porn star. Could go down well in Agriculture but that’s not exactly the effect I was going for. Went out for some drinks last week and the bastards in Flannerys wouldn’t let me in because I didn’t have any ID on me. God I was so annoyed. So I and the entourage ended up bantering back to good old Belfield for some drinking, Student Bar style. To my horror there was some band called the Wolf Tones in there, decrepit old men, playing woeful traditional music. Lots of shouts of ‘Up the RA’ and so on. I’d no idea what they were all getting so worked up about. Nevertheless, it was disgusting, with grown men moshing to ballads in the bar with their shirts off. Not what I expected from the Ents team this year. When I’m President I’ll ban all non-cool music from being played in the bar. Cheesy pop and R n’ B all the way. P.S: Just heard about a Miss UCD contest that has a direct line to the Miss Ireland spot. This is going to be some semester, dear diary. Rosanna’s Manolo Blahniks will be filled yet.

Five things I hate about… FEBRUARY 5. The missing days Not ideal. It’s disturbing to have two or three days chopped off a month for no good reason like that. It’s disconcerting, especially when one is stuck back in suddenly every four years, without warning. Surely a better system could have invented for dealing with that odd amount of days. It means that the little boxes in your tastefully cultured Monet’s Watercolours calendar will look all uneven and that there will be a moment on the 1st of March where you say to your friend when they ask what the date is, “Um, February 30th,” and then you’ll realise the immense blunder you’ve made, and your friend will say, “No, it’s February, stupid,” and recite that stupid rhyme that we all learned in Primary School about the amount of days in all the months. “30 days has September…”

4. The spelling February. A ridiculous way to spell anything, just

take that r out of there and be done with it. All of the other months of the year manage to sound like they’re spelled but February just has to be different. And then there are the people who insist on pronouncing it with the r-sound, just to feel superior to the rest of us. They’re even worse. A flimsy reason, one might suggest, for hating a month but it niggles all the same. It would be nice to see the UCD Students’ Union focus some protests on a relevant issue that effects all students such as this one, rather than spending all their time talking about the grants delay.

3. The calendar The calendar officially calls this month the first month of spring. Many Irish people would beg to differ, our version of February being less about cuddly lambs and chicks frolicking on a bed of daffodils, and more about waterproof trousers and winds that would rip the face off a tin-man. The calendar obviously needs to be updated to list February as part of winter, and there’s

a case to be made for rejecting March from the spring category as well. April will probably make the cut, when we can finally think about not taking umbrellas everywhere we go, and when that little plastic bag you keep in your school bag to put over your saddle when you lock your bike can finally be thrown out. Ultimately, February is part of winter, not spring.

2. Valentine’s Day The Frankenstein’s Monster of all corporate holidays. The day when Irish people go in search of a piece of crap that they can wrap up in paper, tie with a bow and present to their loved one, in order to avoid the recriminations that come when Valentine’s presents are forgotten about. Does anyone actually know anything about St Valentine, the man himself? He was a crust martyred in Ancient Rome, it’s doubtful that he would have had much time to go around buying Valentine’s Day cards and trying to think of something original to write in them,

that will strike the right note of interest without coming across as too cheesy. Course, he’s dead now; probably eaten by lions in the Colloseum, not a very romantic way to go. Probably never had a girlfriend in his life anyway.

1. The weather Sorry to be clichéd, but this is obviously the worst thing about this travesty of a month. Wind, rain, sleet, hail, frost, without the comforting, warm, glowing feeling in the belly that we get in the run-up to Christmas, when, as we battle through the icy winds with bags of shopping, we can imagine that you’re simply an extra on the set of It’s a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street. Now there’s just an endless succession of bleak, wintry days that seem to contain about four hours of real daylight at best. Nothing to do but just grit our teeth and go on package holidays to Tenerife where we can all bake like lobsters in the sun and send gloating text messages back home asking has the rain stopped yet.

THE TURBINE THE TURBINE

ISSUE XXI ■ VOLUME V

IT’S SATIRE, STUPID!

INSIDE CHUCKLEBROTHERS TO BE INTERVIEWED FOR IRELAND JOB BRITNEY SPEARS SANE HILLARY AND OBAMA TO MERGE INTO ONE PERSON: HILOBAM IRISH ARMY SECRETLY HOPING FOR FOOT AND MOUTH OUTBREAK – JUST FOR SOMETHING TO DO OSCAR THE GROUCH PRESCRIBED PROZAC PHONE-IN SHOW CALLER HAS KIDS HIMSELF

STILL JUST 31P!

Ronaldo accused of inciting violence Man Utd superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is allegedly at fault for the recent turmoil in Gaza. The portugeezer pin-up has been accused of inciting violence by Israeli army big wigs following his match winning free-kick against Portsmouth in the Premier League. Army top dog Avriel Goldshit and author of “I cant believe it’s not genocide!” claims that Ronaldo’s actions are perpetuating the situation. “When young Palestininans turn on their television sets and see Ronaldo celebrating a er succesfully kicking a ball over the wall they’re naturally going to want to bomb the wall between Gaza and Egypt.” “As such, Israel can take no responsibilty for VV the current situation in Gaza, and lays all blame at the hands of Cristiano Ronaldo. Any God fearing, Old Testament reading realist couldn’t help but come to the same conclusion.” Goldshit denied claims that the real root of the tension is an Israel embargo pinning Palestinians into the Gaza strip, that denies them electricity or food. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson did not deny the claims, stating, “I’m not saying he’s the best player in the world but there is nothing this boy can’t do. Is he capable of single handedly causing a mass revolt? Yes.”

While Ronaldo’s mother stated that while the middle east was a lovely place with lovely people, “her dream” was to see her son play for Real Madrid, and if he was to cause any tur-

moil, it would be while wearing a Real Madrid jersey. Unfortunately at the time of going to print, Brian Ormonde was unavailable to comment.

Coronation Street to house asylum seekers Granada Television has confirmed that the set used for the filming of the popular soap opera Coronation Street is to become temporary housing for asylum seekers while the show is not filming. In what has been seen as a fantastic gesture by the Manchester based studio, the set, which is a real live replica of a real live street, complete with fully functioning houses, will become home to over 250 refugees from the war torn country of Sudan. “We usually do the Granada Studio Tour - everyday bar Tuesdays - that’s filming day - but we will stop the tours so these families can live in relative luxury,” said generous Granada executive Johnny Camp. On Tuesday’s however, the refugees will have to vacate the Street while the actors move in and filming takes place - it is anticipated that they will be housed in the Woolpack Inn on these days. “It’s great,” said a refugee with an un-writable name. “Me and seventeen of my immediate family live in Ken Barlow’s house. It’s fantastic - we’ve always been big fans.”

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College Tribune

5th February 2008

SPORT

DOWN THE LINE

SPORT IN BRIEF COMPILED BY STEVEN WEST

Men’s Soccer UCD are through to the ﬁnal of the Umbro Colleges and Universities league a er beating Athlone IT on penalties in Tullamore last Tuesday. Athlone took an early 2-0 lead, and all seemed lost for UCD until a late brace from star substitute Conor McEvoy saw the visitors force their way into an extra time shoot-out. Despite producing many goal opportunities in the extra half hour, UCD couldn’t get the upper hand in open play and penalty kicks were needed to settle the semi-ﬁnal stalemate. As in the U-21 Final last November, Billy Brennan was the hero, scoring one penalty and saving two as UCD won 4-3.

Ladies Soccer UCD claimed victory in the WSCAI Futsal Intervarsity Tournament, which took place on the 26th of January. This year, Sligo IT hosted it. The UCD Ladies Soccer Team won their group by beating both Sligo IT and UCC B. They then beat IT Tralee in the quarterfinals. They faced the University of Limerick first team in the semi-finals and then their second team in the final. Fourteen teams competed on the day with 116 participants. Last year’s Cup Champions University of Limerick had the title wrenched from their grasp by a hungrier UCD side. Despite going behind early in the second half, UCD bounced back to level the game. The winning goal came from UCD Captain Lisa Geiran in the final minute, leaving UL with no chance for a comeback.

Walsh Cup Hurling The men of Antrim pipped UCD to the post last Sunday week, dispatching them by a scoreline of 3-14 to 1-16 in the semi-final of the Walsh Cup. Antrim skipper Michael Magill was given a chance to show his talents and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He was not in the original selection, but was dra ed into the attack before the start, and the man from Randaldstown showed his clinical finishing powers with a goal in the opening minutes, and another at the crucial turning point of the second half, to swing it in favour of the Ulster outfit. Magill ended up with two goals and two points to match the total of ace marksman Liam Watson, who scored a total of 1-5 (1-4 from placed balls). Antrim manager Dominic McKinley said a er the game, that a er beating Kilkenny the previous week, it was important that they got their feet back on the ground, and that what was most satisfying for them was the way in which the team battled back at a time when UCD put it up to them. Magill’s early goal helped Antrim establish a 17 to 0-4 lead, but a very useful students outfit had reduced that to 1-10 to 0-10 by half-time. A goal from Tommy Fitzgerald early in the second half cut UCD’s deficit to a point, but ten minutes later, with the game up for grabs, up popped Magill to finish a centre from Watson to the net. Frees from the impressive Stephen Nolan and Michael McGarry kept UCD in contention, but a goal from a penalty by Watson sealed Antrim’s victory.

American football struggling on With over 100 million people reeling from Sunday’s Superbowl, Bryan Devlin ponders the somewhat sidelined view of American football in Ireland American Football is something that has been in the background of nearly every Irish child. This is solely thanks to American cartoons. For most of us, it was, and still is, ‘The funny game with the helmets.’ But how is a game that is so very popular in America so poorly received in the United States of Europe? The limited popularity of American football has been something that has been exposed in recent months and is a fact that has been driven home in recent weeks in the lead up to the Superbowl. For example, BBC showed the entire show live for the ﬁrst time in the 42-year-history of the event. This is a particular startling statistic considering the show’s supposed popularity. The concept of American football in Ireland is nothing new apparently. This is something that came more to the fore during the Rule 42 controversy. It appears an American football exhibition game was played on the ‘hallowed ground’ of Croke Park before the likes rugby and football. Of course, at the time of the exhibition Rule 42 was not an issue, because Lansdowne Road was ‘state of the art’. So, what has taken America’s own brand of football so long to hit the big time in Europe? There is always the general consensus that the game is a somewhat eﬀeminate version of rugby. This is largely attributed to the amount of protection the players wear. Perhaps there is a biased view of all things American. In many cases, Europe has been willing to play ball with America, look no further than the 1994 World Cup, which was of course hosted by the

United States. But if you wish to see an event and sport that has ﬂourished through co-operation between the United States and Europe, look at golf. The Ryder Cup has brought golf to the masses. It is not diﬃcult to see why. People will always shout and cheer for their team once it is given a place in our line of sight. Look at that little known Jamaican bobsleigh team of times gone by. As it happens Ireland are a part of the European

“There is always the general consensus that the game is a somewhat effeminate version of rugby” Federation of American Football, which is recognised by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) and we do have a national side. How is it that there hasn’t been a Cool Runnings style film released about the Irish American Football team. In the question lies the answer. The media exposure given to the sport is minimal even by comparison to the exposure given to schools basketball. It was an advertisement in Ireland’s national press that heralded the arrival of the Irish American Football Association in the autumn of 1984. Sixty-five players attended a first training session in Phoenix Park, and in January 1985 the first

American Football team in Ireland was formed - the Dublin Celts. The Celts would become, over the next few years, Ireland’s dominant team. In October of 1985, the Celts played their ﬁrst competitive match, as they to play the Bristol Bombers. They won the game with a 32-0 shutout. In February 1986, they returned to England to beat the Wirral Wolves 14-0, and the March they defeated the Newcastle Senators 16-14 (in England again). The NFL was shown on Channel 4’s programme and RTE2 had also screened American Football every Thursday evening for two seasons. This, along with the progress of the Celts, encouraged other teams to start up in both Northern Ireland and in the Republic. The ﬁrst match between two Irish teams took place at Blackrock College in Dublin, when the Dublin Celts maintained their unbeaten record by beating the Belfast Blitzers. The game attracted over 4,000 spectators. In Irish schools today, pupils are given a relatively broad choice of sports. For the most part, the student body took the typical approach to sports and did nothing. But the area that the school most excelled at was Basketball. Basketball is a largely American popularised sport, but the standard at which it is played in Ireland is staggering when compared with American Football. Again, this is largely due to its exposure. The later stages of the schools championships are televised. Not only are the schools matches in American Football not televised, they don’t even exist.

22 5th February 2008

SPORT

College Tribune

Jordanstown flattened by Nolan juggernaut It was the Nolan show. With Stephen at centre-half back, P.J. in midfield and particularly Maurice at corner forward tearing into the Jordanstown backs, the Tyrone men were le for dead. P.J, the midfielder maestro, played a central role in UCD’s brilliantly simplistic second goal with long ball rocketed to corner-forward Niall Curran which allowed the forward to blast the ball into the roof of the net. “The second goal was crucial as it killed the game off,” admitted UCD manager William Clearly a erwards. It was this kind of link up play that ensured that UCD got off to the best possible start in the Fitzgibbon cup last Wednesday, as they comprehensively defeated the hurlers of University of Ulster-Jordanstown (UUJ), on a bitterly cold day in Belfield. Following an initial positive start from the northerners, Cian McBride started the Belfield boys on a rout with a goal that he almost walked

■ UCD

3-17

■ UUJ

0-10

■ Eoghan Glynn into the net. The home side dominated the tie for the duration of the encounter. “The ﬁrst goal got the wheels in motion,” commented UCD manager William Cleary a erwards. “Jordanstown had got a run at us and went ﬁve points up with the wind. They had a 21-yard free saved and had that gone in, we could’ve been in trouble. Instead, we went straight up from that and got a goal.” The southern manager was also well aware of UCD’s worrying trend of starting matches poorly. “We were very slow starting again yesterday. If we don’t work on our consistency for 60 minutes instead of the last 30 minutes, we’re going to get absolutely killed against St.

School of

Physics Trinity

Pats or some of the other bigger teams.” In truth, however, this was a game UCD were never going to lose, due to the inexperience of UUJ at this standard of hurling. Even UUJ manager Dominic McKinley was brutally honest about his side’s chances before going into the game. “UCD are a strong team and many would put them among the favourites to win the Fitzgibbon Cup. It’s about trying to improve for us and this is out of our depth at the moment.” McKinley’s outﬁt used the ﬁrst few minutes to lob a few long rangers over with help of the gale on their backs but any Jordanstown hopes were crushed by the McBride goal. An undercurrent of indiscipline descended upon the game following the goal, a series of fouls from both sides and the resultant scores from the frees meaning that both sides stayed within a few scores of each other. However, following two wasted goal opportunities from UUJ’s Oisin McCloskey and Caithoir Canning, UCD took complete control of the game racing into a three point lead by half-

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time, leading 1-8 to 0-8. Following this, it was Kilkenny-man Maurice Nolan who took complete control of proceedings adding a further 1-3 to his ﬁnal tally of 1-10 and UCD’s ﬁnal tally of 3-18 to the 0-10 of UUJ. UCD now go onto play away in St.

Pats/Mater Dei in their ﬁnal match of the group stage, a match Cleary feels notably anxious about - “Going over to Pats with them getting the Mater Dei lads in, they’ll be very strong. I’m a bit worried about going over there but I still have huge conﬁdence in the team.”

Superleague's superiority complex The first thing that can be seen upon entering the Astro pitch on Friday to review a match is the cans of Heineken, ready and waiting for drowning sorrows or celebrating victory. Yes, the Superleague is back. However, the standard of football on display on a Friday night before going out far outshines the mayhem of the following morning. Darthmouth Darts Revolution tried to pass the ball about but The Final Solution had all the answers coming out 5-2 winners. A sending off for Revolution turned the game, according to Final Solution captain and goalkeeper, Chris Kelly. “It was close at first but a er the sending off we were all over them. The second half we played some football and got into the game a bit more. We should have scored more goals with all the chances we had.” It was poised at 3-2 for a while but a er the sending off, Revolution were tiring and the goal was coming, with Solution’s strike pairing missing a couple of seemingly unmissable chances. Fawad Barry got the opening for

Solution with Tadgh O Hanlon and Alan Fagan contributing with two each. It is their solid defence however, that sees Solution challenging for the league. Solution were the only unbeaten team in all four divisions in league action and have only conceded ten goals. “We have the same back five every game. They know each other well and we know what to expect from each other and it shows in our record,” Kelly said a erwards. Solution were only four points behind with a game in hand, and are confident of winning the league. A er a 3-2 win against fourth place Bayern Hasselhoff on Sunday, they are mounting the pressure on Fr. Romeo Sensini XI at the top of the Premier Sunday table. Ed Kane, Darthmouth’s goalscorer had some comments about the referee a er the game. “The ref cost us. We haven’t had our luck with referees this season. They are really lacking in consistency.” Maybe a three man committee is the answer to solve the problem. They’re all the rage

at the moment. Dalhousie beat Top Sharking in league action on Saturday. Sharking had 80% of the possession in the ﬁrst half but Dalhousie had two chances on the break and took both of them. In the second half Dalhousie took control and were maybe a bit too cocky a er the match saying, “give all four goals to Kevin Doyle.” They won 3-0. They are challenging along with Sporting Lesbians and FC El Messidor for the Saturday Premier League. There is plenty of action le in the Superleague over the coming months but the leagues are starting to take shape. Groups are forming at the tops of the table. Now is the time that teams need to put in impressive performances. A loss in form could see a title challenge slide away to midtable mediocrity. With the league cup now down to the last eight, some teams need to be careful or their season might trickle out like the last drops of their Danish lager. Eoghan Brophy

SPORT

College Tribune

5th February 2008

No mean feat Following an exciting cup period of basketball for UCD Marian, Jordan Daly gets star player Kevin Meaney’s perspective on the Senor National Cup win and the club as a community When a season of hopes and dreams rest on one throw of the ball, it takes a steady hand and a cool head to sink the Cup winning basket. “There was a quick play a er Vincent’s had a couple of free shots. I went straight to their end and got a quick lay up which got us back to a three point margin. From there we just held on”. The 2008 Senior National Cup champion Kevin Meaney used his years of Superleague experience to shoot the decisive shots when his side were under threat from an equally tough, if not as relentless DCU Saints side. The 26 year old admits to thriving upon the thrill of adrenaline pumping exhibition games, “It was like playing one of the big games again, you can really feed oﬀ the atmosphere.” A er winning the Division 1 league last year, the Senior Dublin Conference team knew they had an opportunity of victory despite the Northsiders knocking out last year’s holders Tolka Rovers. With vast experience from Meaney and others like David Harrison, both playing for the club since early teens, Marian got the early advantage and kept ﬁghting under though under immense pressure

from Karl Donnelly, another former star of Superleague. Meaney reflects on their victory. “Defence is what did it for us. Tim Boyce and Dave Harrison, rebounding and battling away. In moments like that when it comes down to the wire in a final, it’s the complete faith in the lads beside you that spurs you on.” This dogged style of determined defence was reflected in the low scoring final at 51-48, with Meaney top scorer at fi een points. “The technical skills will come from experience but you can’t teach hard work. It’s about beating people to the spot, getting rebounds and fighting for the ball. That’s the key to winning.” The oldest of three brothers, whose father Paul Meaney co-founded the club, Meaney is now one of the ambassadors of UCD Marian and is studying to become a teacher at his old school Marian College. “When I was ten or so I stopped playing other sports and concentrated on basketball. It just came naturally to me. I was happy to be involved and so were the lads and there was no pressure on us to play.” One would think that basketball could

well be in the Meaney genes. “The three of us have it but it’s probably because we played every day when we were kids,” explains Kevin. With such strong family ties to the club and a system of past players getting involved heavily in coaching and teaching in the school, basketball is leading the way in loyal, close knit sporting communities in UCD. As Meaney himself remarks,” It’s a very loyal club. Once you get involved it becomes a big part of your life.”

A life long aﬃliation makes the difference for supporters of UCD Marian, a team with extensive roots in their area. “Every one has known each other for about twenty years. All the people I watched as a youngster still come to the games to watch the games now.” UCD Marian has had teams in the last four of three diﬀerent cup tournaments, excelling in the non-professional Cup. Nationally UCD Marian lead the way. “Our club has struggled as of late to win

silverware, so to get one under our belts was a big deal.” If Meaney was to award an accolade to one other player, Luke McCrone would be his immediate choice. The medical student - fresh from Harvard and top level American College basketball - has made an impressive contribution alongside Meaney in the cup ﬁnal. “The lad is incredibly talented and a great character. He is deﬁnitely going to be the backbone of the team in the next few years.”

Quigley departs for Derry College goalkeeper Darren Quigley has le UCD in the hope of furthering his career, but will return to the Belfield Bowl in order to line out against his old team-mates in what will be his debut for Derry City. The talented shot-stopper, who has caps for Ireland at Under-21 and ‘B’ level, has signed a two-year deal at the Brandywell, where he will teamup with fellow ex-student Conor Sammon. With Quigley out of contract, no fee was involved in the move. However, as he is under the age of 23, compensation is due to UCD. While a figure - believed to be less than €20,000 - has been agreed for Sammon, the Students are demanding at least double that for Quigley, pointing to the role they played in his development, time spent at Belfield and the international experience he gained while with the club as justification. It remains to be seen if Derry are willing to meet those demands, and if a figure cannot be agreed on by both clubs, then the final amount could be decided by a tribunal.

■ Ben Blake Having signed for UCD in 2004 a er an ill-fated spell at Manchester City, Quigley quickly established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper. Even a er losing his place in the team because of injury in 2007, he managed to oust Matt Gregg and finished last season as the preferred number one. But a move away from Belfield had been expected for some time, with Quigley suggesting that he was open to offers from other clubs on a number of occasions in the past. A similar situation occurred exactly a year ago, when a er a superb season between the posts; the 21year-old went on trial at several sides in England and Scotland including Falkirk and Fulham. Derry themselves made an offer for Quigley but were quickly rebuffed a er UCD manager Pete Mahon described the €5,000 bid as “laughable”. However, nothing solid material-

■ Quigley: Derry bound

ised from this and Quigley decided to put pen to paper on a deal that would see him remain at UCD with the con-

dition that if a concrete approach was made from elsewhere, that it would be seriously considered. His relationship with Mahon has been deteriorating in recent times and when the young Dubliner failed to return for pre-season training last month, the Belﬁeld boss had enough and did a u-turn with regard to Matt Gregg - handing the ex-Bohemians goalkeeper a new contract. Gregg was only brought in last year but looked to be on his way out the door a er training with Bray Wanderers during the winter months. But with no goalkeeper with eircom League experience on the books, Mahon discovered nothing had been signed and stepped in to hold on to the 29-year-old, who was born in Cheltenham. The last couple of weeks have seen Quigley’s future in limbo. Although Candystripes manager Stephen Kenny made acquiring a goalkeeper his top priority when he returned to Foyleside a er a spell with Dunfermline Athletic, no approach had been made until the last fortnight.

Kenny has since snapped up both Quigley and Gerard Doherty from Welsh side TNS, and the pair will now compete for a starting place in the coming season. If he succeeds in impressing Kenny, Quigley (along with Sammon) could make his league debut for Derry at the newly developed Belﬁeld Bowl. The Students are set to open the season at their new home on March 7th, and it will be interesting to see how the two recently-departed fare against their old club. Meanwhile, UCD fans will be delighted to hear promising fullback Ian Bermingham sees his immediate future in Dublin 4 and has signed a new contract. The 19-year-old Ballyfermot player only joined from DDSL side Lourdes Celtic last April, but his impressive displays led to three Ireland Under-19 call-ups, as well as interest from other sides. Stockport, Derry City and St. Patrick’s Athletic are all said to be admirers and although he received offers from the latter two, Bermingham has re-signed for College.

24 5th February 2008 College Tribune

THE TROUBLE WITH GRIDIRON AMERICAN FOOTBALL’S STRUGGLE IN IRELAND PAGE 21

SPORT UCD DISH OUT A HURLING LESSON PAGE 22 ■ Photo: Alba Vallejo

College hit ‘Rock bottom in AIB Cup

“Beaten by the better side.” – A much used phrase by defeated competitors. This was not the case however, and skipper Michael Hastings was quick to concede that his side was simply out-manned all over the park. Stradbrook road played host to this much-anticipated AIB Cup Quarter ﬁnal clash. With both sides in roughly the same position in Division 1, it was hyped as a gruelling D4 derby, in which only one thing was certain – an excellent game of rugby. For those few who turned out in support for College, this was not to be the case. The score line suggests a mauling, but in truth, it was a very calculated dismantling of UCD’s defence. There were two clear-cut periods during which the game was still there for

■ Blackrock College

■ UCD

■ Bryan Devlin the visitors. The first coming approximately fifteen minutes into the first half. Having gone seven points down moments earlier, College were applying fierce amounts of pressure to the ‘Rock line, and managed to force a penalty. Unfortunately, Killian Lett’s effort bounced off the right post and UCD remained seven points adri . In the same attack, Hastings tried a shot at glory with a dropkick, only for it to be blocked down by his opposite

number. The second opportunity came at the beginning of the second half, having worked hard to bring the score to 12-7 in the previous half, UCD let it all slip away. The first ten minutes of the second half in a tight game is a critical period. The team that scores first will stamp their authority on the game and then the opposition is le chasing. Sadly for College, it was Blackrock who scored, thus taking the game by the scruff of the neck. The ‘Rock tight five simply outgunned their UCD counterparts all over the park. Not necessarily at the breakdown, more from a lineout/mauling stand point. This could largely be attributed to the presence of former Irish hooker, Shane Byrne. Although

having received a lot of criticism on the international stage, a player of his calibre is a welcome addition to any AIB league side. The diﬀerence was essentially in the forwards, with two Blackrock tries coming from push-over mauls, which were marshalled by the their talisman, Byrne. Post-game, Hastings explained that his side did their utmost to limit Byrne’s inﬂuence, but admitted that despite this the retired international had a very impressive game and li ed ‘Rock to victory. Hastings commented on his own kicking game and admitted that it was not on par with his Blackrock counterpart, or indeed his own high standards. In previous games, College have more or less relied on Hastings’ kicking, not

only to relieve pressure, but to set up attacks, and on a day when the Captain was not firing on all cylinders, the game was always going to be an uphill struggle. The back three’s involvement was confined to damage limitation, as the greasy conditions did not really call for their particular brand of expertise. Twomey was solid in defence, but was cleaned out of it on a number of occasions when he tried to counter-attack. A er ‘Rock ran the first try of the second half in, the floodgates opened and the blue of Belfield were forced to suffer the indignity of the scoreline. Looking forward, Hastings is quietly confident that his team will restore some pride when they return to Stradbrook Road Continued onclash. page 22 in a few weeks for a league