Vol. 71, Issue 1

TRINITY NEWS

School of physics celebrates 300 years

SciTech Page

Why are students going sober?

Features Page

Review: Emma

Lueders

takes on Edinburgh

Fringe

16-page Life supplement inside

Dartry student accommodation sitting empty after state funding runs dry

László Molnárfi Investigative Reporter

The construction of 358 new beds in Trinity Hall (Halls) has been delayed indefinitely after promised government funding did not materialise, leaving the project around €40 million short.

The new development is planned to replace Cunningham House on the Halls campus which has remained mostly empty for two years as it awaits demolition under approved plans. The development was expected to be funded under the government’s “short-term

activation scheme”, which financed similar projects in Dublin City University (DCU), Maynooth and University College Dublin (UCD).

Of the additional 358 units, 70% would have been provided at university market rates of €10,500 and above in Dublin and 30% at a special rate of €6,971 for the academic term.

To date, €60.1 million worth of projects have been funded across 4 higher-education institutions. The news comes amidst an ever-worsening student accommodation crisis.

The status of the expansion, first announced in 2018 and expected to be completed by March 2023, is now in limbo. Email correspondence from the Department of Further

and Higher Education seen by Trinity News states that additional “capital funding is required to progress this project to tender” and that the project “will be held at proceed to tender stage in Q2, 2024 subject to additional funding needs.“

Separately, in response to a Parliamentary Question asked by Cian O’Callaghan TD on behalf of TCDSU and USI, Minister Patrick O’Donovan confirmed that the project has passed the due diligence assessment but requires additional funding. The students’ unions, in their joint statement, criticised the government’s “lack of urgency and will to address the student accommodation crisis”.

In the Dáil session, O’Donovan added: “I am continuing to work across Government to identify potential sources of funding to progress the short and long term policies and programmes for student accommodation. My officials stand ready to engage with [Trinity] for progression of this project should additional funding become available under the National Development Plan.”

In a statement to Trinity News, a spokesperson for College said “We are keeping lines of communication with government open as to the funding of this project. Until the funding is secured, we are

David Wolfe Editor-in-Chief

The trial of a Trinity law professor and former Board member accused of murder is set to begin next month at the Central Criminal Court.

Associate professor Dr Diarmuid Phelan is charged with the murder of Keith Conlon in a shooting at Hazelgrove Farm in Tallaght in February 2022.

The trial, which is due to last at least four weeks, was originally due to begin on May 29 but was adjourned until October due to an issue with an expert report which could not be resolved immediately.

Conlon, a father of four from Kiltalown Park in Tallaght, died in hospital two days after being shot in the head following a verbal altercation with Phelan News page 2 ››

Charlotte Kent College News Editor

Trinity collected a record €503.4m in revenue during the 2022/2023 year, according to recently released financial statements.

The financial statements, which were published over the summer, show that College recorded a surplus of €3.9m for the year, recovering from

News page 2 ››

Returning students flood Fellows’ Square as a new term begins. In May, the lawn was the site of Trinity’s Gaza solidarity encampment News page 8

News

► Analysis: Grade inflation complicates, page 7

► Students’ union and College Health in row, page 4

► If you like this, check out more on page 5

Features

► Turning from wine to water: why are more students going sober? Find out on page 18

Dartry student accommodation sitting empty

not in a position to proceed.”

The redevelopment has already faced years of setbacks due to objections from local residents. Permission was originally granted to the proposal in August 2020, but subsequently rescinded after being challenged by a local resident in the High Court.

residents that the addition of new beds would exacerbate anti-social behaviour and noise levels in the area.

showed that certain areas of the building are nevertheless currently occupied.

Comment SciTech

► Fine-tuning Formula Trinity on page 30

► Ireland must compete to keep young people Read more on page 24

►DUAFC vs. Ballyfermot on page 32

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It was again greenlit in 2022 despite complaints from local

›› Contd. from front page

The fate of the Dartry redevelopment now again appears uncertain. A habitability assessment from March 2022 found that Cunningham House needs specific upgrade works to allow full use of the building, and

At the time, College confirmed that the “primary reason that Cunningham House has not been refurbished to date is that the university has ambitions to redevelop the remaining areas of the site”. As of July 2024, most of the building remains empty.

College reports record profits

of half billion in 22/23

the previous year’s deficit of €200,000. This, however, pales in comparison to 2020/21’s surplus of €20.7m, aided by pandemic costcutting.

The 12% boost in revenue marks a €52.7m increase on 2021/2022 and an increase just short of €100 million from 2020/2021.

This is the third consecutive year in which revenues rose and the first in which revenue topped €500 million.

Operating costs also increased for a third year in a row, totalling €475.9m, up €38.7m from the previous year, roughly a third of which were listed as staff costs.

College received €70.1 million in state grants for the year, an increase of €13 million from the previous academic year. This marked the most significant rise in revenue along with academic fees which increased by €12.9 million. Donation and endowment revenue also rose by €5 million since last, however the total of €23.9 million marks a decrease of €7.4 million from the 2020/2021 academic year.

Chief Financial Officer Louise Ryan wrote in the report that while “post pandemic recovery and growth are clear”, major challenges remain in securing the funding “required for a globally competitive university”.

She added that “inflationary pressures and wider global events” represent new challenges which are expected to continue “through 2024 and beyond” and that college will continue to manage its resources “prudently” and “invest strategically” in infrastructure.

“We are committed to improving the financial position of the university while remaining completely focused on the university’s mission to deliver a quality student experience, quality teaching and quality research”, she concluded.

Murder trial of Trinity law professor to begin next month

who owns the farmland where the incident took place.

Who is Diarmuid Phelan?

At the time of his arrest Diarmuid Rossa Phelan was an associate professor in the School of Law, which he first joined in 1994. Educated in Dublin, Phelan received scholarships to UC Berkeley, EUI Florence and Oxford University.

With a focus on European Union law and competition law, Phelan lectured undergraduate and postgraduate students. He was elected as a Trinity Fellow in 2014 and served as a member of Board, the highest authority and governing body of College.

He is admitted to the Bars of New York, England and Wales, and Northern Ireland and is Senior Counsel at the Bar of Ireland.

What happened?

According to the Irish Times, it will be alleged in court that Phelan “deliberately shot” Keith Conlon’s dog with a legally owned rifle “without any forewarning” after he and two other unarmed men entered lands at Hazelgrove Farm.

Following a “verbal altercation”, Phelan then allegedly fired three shots from a licensed revolver, with the final shot “fired directly” at Conlon, hitting him in the back of the head as he turned to run away.

During a bail hearing, the court heard that Phelan told gardaí in interviews that he accepted he shot Mr Conlon with the licensed firearm but believed he was under threat and was “terrified” at the time.

Phelan was the owner of 10 legally held firearms, which

have been seized since his arrest.

Phelan’s application for bail. initially rejected by the High Court, was later granted by the Court of Appeal on the condition that he reside at an address approved by Gardaí, sign in daily to a Garda station, and abide by a 10pm to 8am curfew, as well as surrendering his US passport. Bail was set at €100,000.

›› Contd. from front page

Trinity made over €100k from Circuit Laundry over 3 years

The data was revealed in an FOI request from TCD Renters’ Solidarity Network

László Molnárfi Investigative Reporter

College made over €107k from rent paid by Circuit Laundry between 2020 and 2023, data released under Freedom of Information (FOI) has revealed.

College made €107,748 from 2020 until 2023 from rent paid by Circuit Laundry for the use of the College’s premises, data from a Freedom of Information

(FOI) Act request obtained by the TCD Renters’ Solidarity Network, and seen by Trinity News, can reveal.

At first refused, the FOI request made by TCD Renters’ Solidarity Network was appealed to the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC), with negotiations resulting in the release of the data.

Circuit Laundry, a private company, is the laundry services provider for on-campus and Trinity Hall accommodation, where it charges €6.50 for a standard wash-and-dry cycle, or up to €7.50 stronger washes.

Around 1,800 students live in Trinity-owned accommodation, paying anywhere from €5,931 to €10,830 for an academic term.

Circuit Laundry, the dominant laundry service provider within student accommodation, made a profit of £3.6m (€4.26m), with a revenue of £40m

(€47.36m), in 2022.

In a statement, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) criticised College for profiting from students accessing laundry services, saying “students are not just another income stream for the university”.

“Every cost passed down to students is a strike against equal access to education. Of course, the €260m deficit is ultimately to blame, but we as a union equally and obviously see it as inexcusable to pass that onto students.”

A spokesperson for Trinity College Dublin said: “The Circuit Laundry is a binding legal contract which will expire in 2030 as planned. The money received by the College from Circuit Laundry is used to pay for operating costs of the service.”

TCD Renters’ Solidarity Network expressed its dismay that “in the face of government

austerity and defunding of third-level education, [College] continues to privatise our educational experience and shift the financial burden onto students”.

“Until college stops looking at students as an endless source of revenue, and starts treating us as an equal member of the campus community, the student

experience will continue to be separated between those who can pay and those who cannot.”

In 2024, the TCD Renters’ Solidarity Network, a collective of tenants in Trinity-owned accommodation with over 120 members, called on College to cancel the contract that is due to last until 2030 and provide free laundry services.

Hist and Phil to tackle AI, Russia, and Israel-Palestine in first semester debates

The Hist and Phil have announced their Michaelmas debate term cards, which tackle a mix of hotbutton issues and humorous topics

Annabelle Wadeson Deputy College News Editor

The Graduates Memorial Building (GMB) is set to host debates covering artificial intelligence (AI), Russia’s war in Ukraine, and permanent peace in Israel-Palestine as the debating societies have revealed their term cards ahead of the new semester.

The College Historical Society (the Hist) and the University Philosophical Society (the Phil) revealed a mix of humorous topics and more politically charged motions sure to draw crowds throughout Michaelmas term.

The Phil, whose debates

take place at 7.30pm on Thursdays, kicked off the year last week with the motion This House Believes Brat Summer Wasn’t For You exploring the unexpected mainstream success of pop artist Charli XCX’s latest album.

In the coming weeks, the Phil will be debating topics that touch on broad political and social issues such as the possibility of POC solidarity, “a world without profit”, and the pitfalls of online activism.

Collaborating with other societies such as Trinity Law Society (LawSoc), the Politics Society, and SOFIA, they ask more direct questions such as a TikTok ban, a peace deal with Russia and Ireland’s relationship to immigration. Nearly a year after last November’s Dublin riots, caused by anti-immigrant sentiments, this topic is sure to draw in a crowd.

The Phil admitted the Russia debate is “a topic that might invite extreme responses, but we believe it’s a debate worth having with informed people who can discuss it maturely”.

The society aimed to offer “a set of motions that is both thought-provoking and intriguing to our members”, and are “really excited about the breadth of conversations we’ll be hosting this term”.

“ We believe it’s a debate worth having with informed people

They further plan to host a debate with Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TDCSU) newly established Gaeilge officer on a once-off Tuesday debate.

Some of the Phil’s more lighthearted debates include This House Would Wait for Marriage, in collaboration with DU Players. The Phil will also be hosting their annual honorary members debate, featuring Phil alumni, which will discuss the motion This House Has No Faith in the Irish Government.

The most glaring difference between both societies’ term cards is that the Hist will touch

on the topic of a two state solution in Israel and Palestine, while the Phil has stated that “on the topic of the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, we believe that there’s frankly not much for college students in a first world country to debate”.

The Hist, which has seen terrific success in the past 12 months, achieving two Guinness World Records and a first place win at the European University Debating Championships, promise to host debates of diverse topics every Wednesday at 7.30pm.

They will be collaborating with societies such as Trinity St. Vincent de Paul, LawSoc (there are two debates with LawSoc on the term card), and DU History.

Adam Rainbolt, Hist correspondence secretary, told Trinity News that the “week one debate absolutely knocked it out of the park with attendance” and that the society “more than filled up chamber”. The motion put forward was This House Would Eat the Rich.

The Hist will tackle prevalent topics such as “This House Would Have Faith In AI” and “This House Supports a Two-State Solution for IsraelPalestine”. Last year, the Phil

had planned a debate around the two-state solution for October, which was ultimately cancelled in favour of a panel discussion on the topic. The Hist committee anticipates that the Israel-Palestine debate “will, of course, be a topic of conversation”.

When asked if there was any hesitations about approaching the Israel-Palestine issue, Rainbolt said that “the Hist has been discussing the issues which are most presently important to society for as long as it’s been around, and I think that it’s important for us to live up to that.” He highlighted that sensitive issues such as this require “a higher duty of care in ensuring that [the Hist] are treating it with the gravity that it obviously deserves, and highlighting voices who are actually productive in this conversation”.

They plan to debate more “comedy-focused” topics, which aim to create a “fun atmosphere”. Topics like This House Would Rather Be A Culchie Than A Dub and This House Would Ghost Them will be debated in the GMB chamber this term.

Both societies will close out the term with their respective Maidens finals, a competition for new debaters.

Maguire: Union will remain “force to be reckoned with” as new year begins

The new sabbats have outlined their priorities for the year ahead of Freshers’ Week

Stephen Conneely, Charlotte Kent, and Emily Sheehan Deputy Editor, College News Editor, News Analysis Co-Editor

Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) President Jenny Maguire “wants to continue to show that the union is a force to be reckoned with” as a new sabbatical team settles into office ahead of the new academic year.

Highlighting that “so much of College has been run like a business”, students have been excluded as management “sees student spaces and student services as expendable, or something that can be cut because it doesn’t provide profit”.

Speaking to the working relationship between TCDSU and senior College management,

she characterised last year as “just tension and vitriol back and forth”. Although this relationship has improved, Maguire added that she “[has] not compromised any of [her] morals or politics”.

“I think College has been made aware of just how powerful the students’ union can be, so it’s completely reshaped the relationship in a way that is unapologetically student-focused”.

This approach will be best exemplified by TCDSU’s first draft proposal of a renewed Student Partnership Agreement with College. “We’ve included everything from broader support for the Irish language, for period poverty, for student workers – we are demanding the world of them because that is what students need”, she said.

She added that the union has included a clause which asks College to “respect the right to protest as a legitimate form of airing grievances in this student partnership”: “We’ll see how they respond to that, because, frankly, last year they didn’t respect that.”

Maguire credits TCDSU Education Officer Eoghan Gilroy with the first draft proposal, to which he added that “over the next couple of weeks there’ll be a series of

negotiations on that front”.

Gilroy has already achieved the long-awaited integration of post-graduate students and researchers into TCDSU after a two year lack of representation following the collapse of the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU).

“The College has been very accommodating and so incredibly supportive in terms of postgrads and integrating them into the union”, he said.

He has also been developing policy proposals regarding academic progression and the return of coursework which he plans to bring to College’s Education Committee this October.

Further plans include developing a harmonised policy on lecture recording, which he views as an accessibility issue, and a cohesive guide on generative AI in academic contexts.

Communications and Marketing Officer Beth Strahan ran on a promise to “get bums on seats” and union engagement is therefore a top priority for her this year.

The first real test of engagement for the union each year is the class representative elections, which Strahan has been working closely with Gilroy and Engagement Officer James Carey to promote.

In addition to “revitalising” TCDSU’s social media campaigns, Strahan plans to also prioritise in person engagement including “actively going up to people”.

In preparation for the incoming first years, Strahan has organised 5,000 “fresher packs”, while also taking “environmental caution” into account. She plans to donate unused tote bags with the old

TCDSU logo to the Junior Common Room (JCR). Banners advertising the union, which Strahan says will be placed in St. James’ Hospital and the Hamilton building, are also part of the union’s freshers week plans.

“I didn’t step foot in house 6 until third year and that was just for the shop,” Strahan said, highlighting the issue she seeks to tackle.

First-ever Gaeilge officer seeks to set strong example

TCDSU’s inaugural Irish language officer Pádraig Mac Brádaigh is seeking to “establish a firm foundation for the future of the role”, stressing sustainable reform. He aspires to “ensure that all of the changes that are made to the constitution, and also to the basic operation of the union, remain.”

”We require new infrastructure within the union. I’m looking at options to hire students to help with translations”, he said, seeking to avoid “being overloaded with a million translations to do.”

“What I’m trying to do is to put pressure on College to make

sure they are fulfilling their obligations under the Official Languages Act. At present, they are not fully complying”, Mac Brádaigh said.

“What I can do is, in addition showing all the passion of the community, when I do meet with college officials I put pressure on them - as I will report them if they are not willing to comply with the legislation; they will be dealing with an investigation from the Coimisinéir Teanga.”

Mac Brádaigh did recognise the difficulty for College to hire sufficient translator and Gaelgoirí due to lack of funding - but vows to continue his work for the language nonetheless.

Students’ union and College Health in row over blood testing for trans self-medication

College maintain that their policy, branded by the union as “shameful”, remains unchanged

Stephen Conneely Deputy Editor

College confirmed on Friday that College Health Service’s “treatment policies remain unchanged” despite a statement from Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) suggesting the contrary.

The two bodies appear to be in a row over the provision of blood tests to transgender students administering selfmedication arising from vague communication between head of College Health Dr David McGrath and TCDSU President Jenny Maguire.

TCDSU last Friday claimed that McGrath had confirmed to the union that College Health would provide blood tests to students “by personal request”, interpreting this to mean that blood tests would be provided for trans students who are selfmedicating.

According to TCDSU, trans students have previously been denied this service by College Health, which they label a “shameful practice” and have spent “years of campaigning” to end.

Transgender people who self-administer hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

often require regular blood tests as a form of harm reduction to assess an appropriate dosage.

The National Gender Service (NGS), which is widely criticised by trans activists as unfit for purpose, advises GPs not to monitor hormone levels for trans people who source HRT outside the NGS system.

However, in email correspondence seen by Trinity News, McGrath did not explicitly confirm that blood tests would be provided by College Health for this purpose, as the union’s statement has indicated.

In response to a question from Maguire asking “Do you provide blood tests to students through the College GP/health centre service by personal request?” McGrath simply responded “Yes.”

No further clarification was sought by the union before it published its statement.

TCDSU framed this correspondence as an unannounced change in policy from College Health, proclaiming it “a win in our fight for patient-led, informedconsent-based transgender healthcare everywhere”.

However, following the publication of this statement, a College spokesperson wrote in a statement to Trinity News that “treatment policies remain unchanged”.

“The wellbeing of our community is paramount. The College Health service continues to treat students and staff according to the guidelines of the Medical Council.”

In a post to X/Twitter, Maguire accused College of “backpedalling” on “the safety of transgender students”.

In an email to senior College management on Friday evening, she asked why College’s media representative had

“

The wellbeing of our community is paramount

“contradicted” correspondence from McGrath.

“This is especially damaging to marginalised students who are already incredibly distrustful of institutions”, she added. College has maintained that no change in policy ever occurred.

Camera-shy campanile spells disappointment for autumn graduates

Scaffolding and construction work will be a feature of this year’s graduation photos

Alan Nolan Wilson Assistant Editor

College have confirmed that the Campanile will remain under construction until December in an update that is likely to disappoint camera-ready graduates due for commencement in Michaelmas term.

Students were informed in June that essential repair and maintenance conservation works would begin on the bell tower, including “masonry repairs, repair to ironwork elements, repair of the historic entrance door, and minor maintenance alterations”.

These efforts have seen scaffolding erected around the iconic College landmark and have disrupted the view of the 19th century bell tower.

Graduation ceremonies for the class of 2024, a majority of whom completed more than a year of their degrees remotely due to pandemic restrictions, will consequently feature a backdrop of scaffolding and repair works.

One prospective graduate told Trinity News of their disappointment at the announcement: “I’m really upset about it.”

“Particularly given the start we had to college, this is a very disappointing end.”

Accessibility to the base of the structure will also be impacted as a result of the closure of the Library Square pathway for the duration of the project.

These works, while essential, are likely to cause disappointment to traditionfollowing students who hope to capture a picture with the structure, synonymous with College life, on their graduation day.

Disappointment is also likely to be felt by tourists who flock to Front Square hoping to experience the beauty of one of the world’s final Renaissance universities.

The restorative works come following the restoration of the Rubrics, College’s oldest standing structure, which were completed last February.

The Campanile of today is just one in a long-line of bell towers which have stood in the location. This lineage traces its way back to a tower which stood on the site prior to College’s establishment as a university in the 16th century.

Today’s Campanile replaced an earlier Campanile constructed in the 1740s. This bell tower was subsequently replaced over concerns surrounding the structural integrity of the monument.

Additional reporting by David Wolfe.

Postgraduate students to be integrated into TCDSU

The proposed plan will formalise union representation for postgraduate students in Trinity for the first time in two years

Faye Madden Investigations Editor

Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TDCSU) has outlined an extensive plan for the integration of postgraduate students into the Union.

Postgraduate students and researchers have not had union representation in Trinity since the dissolution of the Graduate Students Union in 2022.

TCDSU Education Officer Eoghan Gilroy has described this as “an exciting opportunity to formalise the representation of postgraduates in Trinity”, further labelling their lack of representation as “detrimental”.

“This integration will change the face of the Union for the better” and “will allow all [postgrads] to use their voice to impact Union policy, which will have a huge impact on actual policy across Trinity”, he said.

As a part of the integration process, postgraduate students have been categorised into two groups: Postgraduate Researchers (PGRs) and Postgraduate Taught (PGTs).

PGRs include those who are undertaking PhDs, Professional Doctorates, nonresident postgraduates and MSc by Research. They are registered for a degree in which they perform research and do not take full time classes within Trinity.

PGTs are Masters Taught students and any other students who are undertaking a postgraduate qualification. These postgraduates are in full-time receipt of formal education and do not perform independent research as their primary or exclusive function.

The document states that “the needs and demands of PGRs and PGTs are equally important but so distinct that grouping them into the same

forum would do a disservice to both”.

According to the outlined plan, a subgroup for PGRs will be established within TCDSU.

The documents states that TCDSU Council is currently “not adequate to address the needs or concerns of PGRs”

The subgroup will act to address issues affecting PGR students, provide a forum for PGRs and will have the authority to propose motions regarding PGRs at Council.

At the first meeting of the PGR Council, a Postgraduate Researcher Officer will be elected, who will act as chair of the group. This position will be paid on a contractual basis and can only be filled by a current Postgraduate researcher.

Postgraduate Researchers will also be integrated into the representative structure of TCDSU. There will be two representatives for first and second year cohorts and two representatives for remaining years.

This will lead to the creation of 48 new PGR representatives, who will all be entitled to vote at TCDSU Council.

In accordance with this new PGR Council, a new position will be created for a PGR representative in the Electoral Commision and the Oversight Commision, respectively.

As for the Postgraduate Taught (PGT) students, a Postgraduate Taught Officer will be introduced. Unlike the PGR Officer, this position will be paid on a full-time basis

While TCDSU maintains that they are “generally well-built to manage PGT

“ This will lead to the creation of 48 new PGR representatives, who will all be entitled to vote at TCDSU Council

issues”. They hope to ensure further postgraduate student representation through having “at least one representative in the Union per school year where possible”.

The elections to Council will take place in early October, and will be followed by elections for School and Faculty Convenors, in a similar fashion to the undergraduate system.

As for positions on University Board, University Council, and their principle committees, TCDSU has proposed that two positions be allocated for postgraduates, one for PRGs and one for PGTs.

The document concludes promising that the effectiveness of this new integration strategy of postgraduate representatives is to be reviewed at the end of each academic year by the Education Officer, the PGR Officer, the PGT Officer, and the Chair of Council.

PHOTO BY GORDII

PHOTO BY ELLEN KENNEY FOR TRINITY NEWS

Hist debaters victorious at European University Debating Championships

Martha McKinneyPerry and Andy Cullinan are the second team from Trinity in three years to win the championships

Raina Bosniac Contributing Writer

A team from the College Historical Society (the Hist) have won the European University Debating Championships (EUDC), becoming the second team from Trinity in three years to do so.

The event took place in Glasgow last month with 185 teams from across Europe taking part.

Martha McKinney-Perry and Andy Cullinan claimed victory having debated the motion “This House opposes the recent rise in distrust of state institutions”. They faced teams from the University of Oxford, The University of Manchester and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In individual speaker rankings, McKinney-Perry came second and Cullinan was ninth.

This is the fourth consecutive year in which Trinity students have reached the final of the competition, and the second win in three years following Dylan McCarthy and Jack Palmer from the University Philosophical Society (the Phil) in 2022.

Mckinney-Perry and Cullinan’s marks the first time that a team from the Hist has won the event as well as the first time that an Irish woman has won the championships.

Speaking to Trinity News Mckinney-Perry said: “I’m really delighted to have won! For me, this comes as the culmination of four years of

hard work, and to finish as the second best speaker overall and one of the European champions feels almost too good to be true.”

When asked if she will debate in the future, Mckinney-Perry said she will not quit anytime soon, but that her time as a Trinity debater has come to an end and this is a wonderful way for it to have ended.

Cullinan said: “I was absolutely stunned following our victory. As a fresher, I’ve grown up idealising many of the speakers we beat along the way. Being in the same room as them was surreal. Having our names announced instead of theirs felt like an April Fool’s prank – in the best possible way.”

He added that the team’s historic run was “a fitting representation of the world’s oldest student society’s enduring relevance”.

The Hist has had previous success at the championships before with Caoimhin Hamill and Jack Synott reaching the final in 2021, and Daniela Williams and Naomi Panovka reaching the final in 2023.

The Hist currently holds the record for most team points earned at the Championships, set by the 2021 team. The

previous holders of the record were fellow Hist members, Sally Rooney and Michael Barton in 2013.

Trinity makes record number of CAO offers as viceprovost denounces post-pandemic grade inflation

Just over 10,000 students applied to Trinity as their first preference this year

Stephen Conneely Deputy Editor

Trinity has made a record number of offers to applicants this year, with a total of 3,897 offers being made in the first round.

This is a result of an increased intake in certain courses, as well as a slight decrease in minimum points needed to enter many courses.

A total of 10,988 students listed a course in Trinity as their first preference on their CAO this year, roughly in line with 10,867 last year.

There has been “an average drop of nine points across level 8 single honours courses, and an average fall of six points for joint honours courses”, College said in a press release following the release of offers.

Six courses in Trinity required random selection to allocate places, including mathematics, engineering, dentistry and global business.

Dental science was the only course in Trinity to use the maximum points (625) as the minimum entry requirement, however “eight single honour courses require students to have 600 points or more”.

Vice-Provost Orla Sheils wrote in a statement against the use of grade inflation, which government says is necessary to not disadvantage students who may be competing against students who sat the Leaving Certificate in different circumstances and benefitted from predicted grades.

“The continued use of grade inflation to the results has many unintended consequences”, she wrote, adding that it “seriously disadvantages students from Northern Ireland and abroad who are left competing in an uneven playing field”.

It “also makes it more challenging for some students to adapt to third level study, especially in courses with a high points quota”.

She further described the use of random selection for

“

Seriously disadvantages students from Northern Ireland and abroad

courses as “a cruel arbiter when students have worked so hard”.

She also disavowed the delayed release of CAO offers again this year, which follows the COVID-era timeline.

She said that this places students “under even more pressure to start a new phase of adult life while trying to navigate the scant opportunities for accommodation” in Dublin.

The lateness of the Leaving Certificate results has also impacted students, who, trying to avoid the crisis of accommodation here, might want to study abroad”, she continued.

PHOTO BY JIMENA ALVAREZ

Analysis: Grade inflation complicates Conor Healy News Analysis

The impact of grade inflation, random selection and inflated CAO points were all heavily felt in the first round of CAO offers distributed last month. 3,897 offers were made for Trinity, the highest number of first round offers ever made by College, highlighting the legacy of pandemic-era grade inflation, which lingers in several problematic ways when it comes to college places.

Though a record for the college, the high number of offers is not as significant as it may first seem. In line with the system of grade inflation (a post-marking adjustment to students’ grades that bumps up their results) that has been a feature of the Leaving Cert since 2020, the college has put a certain number of measures in place to accommodate this system, including increasing the number of places available in certain high-demand courses, such as medicine.

Vice Provost Orla Shiels described this phenomenon as an “unintended consequence of the continued use of grade inflation”.

Across both single and joint honours courses, places were significantly expanded. 12 new places were added to General Nursing, while 7 were added for intellectual disability nursing, showing an ability to accommodate increasing numbers in this area. Indeed, this flexibility was also present in the places made available for medicine, which has expanded over the last two years to offer 21 additional places.

Six new spots opened up in both History and Geography and Geoscience alike, while Physiotherapy and Environmental Engineering and Science added 3 and 4 new spots respectively.

For joint honours courses, three new spots were added respectively in ancient history & archaeology, history of art, classical civilisation, and classical languages. Finally, seven new places were added to joint honours with history.

Random selection

This year Trinity had more courses where places were allocated by a process

of random selection than any other third-level institution in the country, with six courses being decided by a “lottery” process, one more than last year. These courses were, mathematics (589 points), integrated engineering (556 points), management science and information systems (613 points), integrated engineering with management (613 points), dental science (625 points) and global business (601).

A course is assigned by random selection, also referred to as a “lottery process”, when an excess of students have acquired the threshold of minimum points that is necessary to qualify for that course. The process works by using students’ CAO numbers, as the last three numbers are a randomly assigned number from 001 to 999. The college will then receive a list of students who have applied for the course in order of the number of points they have received, that includes this

“ A course is assigned by random selection, also referred to as a lottery process

CAO number.

In such situations where too many students have achieved the minimum points necessary for acceptance into a course, the student with the highest randomly assigned three-digit number at the end of the CAO number is given preference. Speaking to RTÉ, Trinity’s Head of Admissions Ronan Hodson explained the process in greater depth.

“If I have 20 places to offer on a course,” Hodson said, “I go down that list until [in the case of random selection] I have

from this year initially seem positive in that they suggest a shift towards a less extreme terrain of sky-high points and random selection, the reality is that for any real and effective shifts to take place within this system, there is a necessity to quell grade inflation in a real and tangible way.

two people separated by this random number”.

“The student with the higher number then receives the place on the course. “

The arbitrary and sometimes cruel nature of this system is perhaps most heavily felt with regards to dental science – where this year, some students who had achieved the maximum possible score of 625 points were denied a place on the course, due to the random selection process. This stands as a sobering reminder of the continued effect grade inflation wields on students applying through the CAO, even four years after the initial spike of grade inflation in 2020.

Points drop

Despite the complexities associated with persistent grade inflation still being present, there was an overall drop in points required for entry to both single honours and joint honours courses, with an average drop of nine points and six points respectively. This drop is significant for joint honours courses following 2023, where there was an average rise in the points requirements for these courses. Dental science was the only course that had a minimum points requirement of 625 points, although there was still a high general threshold of points, with eight single honours courses requiring over 600 points.

Such statistics show that despite an overall drop in the points required for courses at Trinity, this is not resemblant of any return to the normalcy of pre-pandemic CAO offers. Much like how the record high number of places offered in Trinity in the first round of the CAO offers was due to an expansion in course sizes, this general drop in points still leaves course requirements inflated largely beyond what they were in 2019, and the years prior.

Thus, these changes that may seem significant, rather are signs of incremental adjustment to the post-pandemic environment, where grade inflation dominates all other variables which have a role in determining CAO offers made. While the trends observed

sudden drop in Leaving Cert grades in coming years to align with those from pre-pandemic years.

Vice Provost Orla Shiels recognised this in her comment on Wednesday, and additionally noted the effect that the sustained presence of grade inflation was having on students from Northern Ireland and international students in general, where there has been a much more proactive return to pre-pandemic grading systems.

“Grade inflation seriously disadvantages those students from Northern Ireland and abroad who are left competing in an uneven playing field,” Shiels said, “Given their results have returned to pre-pandemic levels.”

Looking to the future

While it is clear that there is a need to reduce grade inflation in order to avoid some of the more problematic aspects of the CAO application system that have emerged in recent years, Minister for Education Norma Foley has confirmed that there will be “no cliff edge” with regards to returning results to pre-pandemic levels.

Essentially, this means that while the aim is to reduce grade inflation to a lower level than this year, there will be no

Speaking about the proposed plans for the Leaving Cert of 2024, Minister Foley said “there will still be a postmarking adjustment exercise in 2025 that will seek to bring the overall set of results on the aggregate to a point no lower than broadly midway between the 2020 and 2021 levels”.

This shows that while the department intends for a gradual phase-out of grade inflation, it still may be some time before there is any recognisable return to pre-pandemic Leaving Cert points levels - and accordingly, before we see the phasing out of processes like inflated CAO points requirements, and random selection lotteries. Indeed, a spokesperson for the department of education has said the 2025 Leaving Cert experience “will be reviewed in order to determine the approach for the following year”. Thus, while Trinity hopefuls in the coming years can take some reassurance from the trends that this year’s CAO offers has produced – an indication that there may be a lessening of some of the intensities that accompany systemic grade inflation – the reality is that until there has been a total phase-out of this system of grade inflation, an element of insecurity and arbitrariness is likely to remain in the system for the foreseeable future.

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College divests from Israel following encampment victory, task force to review remaining ties

Successful student protest in May led College to agree to wide range of demands in line with BDS

Faye Madden Deputy Editor

The terms of reference (TOR) for College’s Israel divestment task force are expected to be approved by the College Board in the coming weeks, following on from the victory of Trinity students’ Gaza solidarity encampment in May.

The task force is set to include representatives from the students’ union and Trinity BDS as well as staff representatives and Palestinian representatives.

This group will be tasked with reviewing College’s ties to Israel, including investment in Israeli companies and student exchange partnerships with Israeli universities, with a view to severing them in line with the principles of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS).

College has already begun its process of divestment from Israeli companies. By the end of June, it had divested from all companies operating in the Occupied Territories of Palestine with the exception of one Israeli company which College will remain invested in until March 2025 due to “contractual reasons”.

Trinity’s student encampment, which lasted for five days in total, was one of the shortest and most successful across the entire globe, having almost all demands met or settled in full.

What happened?

On 3 May 2024, a group of approximately sixty students set up an encampment in Fellows’ Square outside the Arts Block, in protest of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and College’s ties with Israel. The encampment was led by TCDSU and Trinity BDS.

Students remained in Fellows’ Square for five days when College announced that it had agreed to cease investments in “Israeli companies that have activities in the Occupied

Palestinian Territory and appear on the UN blacklist”.

The Trinity encampment followed a global wave of protests sparked by the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University, with which College shares a dual BA programme. The Columbia protest began in April 2024 and was the first major campus occupation for the Palestinian cause. Further university encampments were set up within colleges across the US in the following weeks.

The encampment was preceded by College controversially issuing the TCDSU with a €214k fine for financial losses incurred by disruptive protests by the

“ This university has been a neutral party when it comes to the violent reality so many in Palestine face

union, including a blockade of the Book of Kells. This move was met with widespread criticism from public officials and media, with Trinity Senator Lynn Ruane stating that she was “deeply disappointed by the decision of the management of Trinity College Dublin to issue fines” in response to “peaceful and legitimate protests”.

Disciplinary action was also taken against the then-TCDSU President Lazlo Molnarfi, and TCDSU President-elect Jenny Maguire. The fine and the disciplinary proceedings were later dropped, following the end of the encampment.

Where now?

Speaking to Trinity News,

TCDSU President Jenny Maguire said she feels “a deep sense of responsibility when it comes to the follow-up from the encampment”.

“This university has been a neutral party when it comes to the violent reality so many in Palestine face. The fight for Palestine is the fight for humanity, and that’s why we slept out and demanded more from our college.”

Maguire stated that she will not accept “any result other than ties being completely cut with universities that actively facilitate the occupation and genocide of the Palestinian people and land”.

“We, as a college, owe it to the Palestinian people.

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Two Trinity researchers awarded ERC starting grants

Dr Johanna Vos and Dr MichaelJohn Dolan were awarded grants aimed at early career researchers

Katarzyna Holowka Junior Reporter

Two Trinity faculty members have been awarded European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants for their respective research projects.

Dr Johanna Vos and Dr Michael-John Dolan each secured grants designed for “talented early-career scientists” with up to seven years of post-PhD experience.

Dr Johanna Vos is an Assistant Professor at Trinity’s School of Physics and Dr Michael-John Dolan is an Assistant Professor at Trinity’s School of Genetics and Microbiology.

Vos’ project, Exometeorology: Probing Extrasolar Atmospheres (ExoPEA), aims to investigate weather patterns on planets outside our solar system. As part of the project Vos will make

use of the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to gather crucial data for her research.

Upon being awarded, Vos expressed her excitement about receiving the grant and its potential impact on her research team and the understanding of exoplanetary atmospheres.

“I am honoured to have been awarded this ERC Starting Grant and for the opportunity to expand the breadth and scope of research in my group. This funding will allow me to build a team that will make use of ground-breaking data from JWST to provide key insights into the atmospheres of worlds beyond our solar system.”

Dolan’s Project, MICRODISSECT: Dissection of Microglial State Biology in

“Their projects are not only scientifically excellent, but will break new ground for their disciplines

Brain Repair, aims to create a detailed map of microglial states and explore their potential for therapeutic interventions in various neurological disorders. His research will focus on microglia, the brain’s immune cells, and their role in brain damage, disease, and repair.

Dolan thanked all of his mentors and trainees for their support in addition to Trinity’s Research Development Office.

“This award comes at a pivotal time for me, having just moved back to Ireland to start my group. This ERC grant will be the platform on which my lab will build and enable us to strike out in an ambitious new direction in neuroimmunology,” he added.

Provost Linda Doyle offered her congratulations to the awardees:

“Winning an ERC grant is an acknowledgement that their projects are not only scientifically excellent, but will break new ground for their disciplines.”

Dean of Research Professor Sinéad Ryan congratulated Vos and Dolan on being awarded the grants.

“As they grow their research teams in Trinity, they will create focal points at Trinity for talented postdoctoral and PhD researchers, helping to establish the next generation of research leaders with the skills to impact their disciplines and wider society,” she added.

Schools recognised for gender equality strides

Two Trinity schools earned silver awards while three renewed bronze

Dedunu Peiris Junior Reporter

Two schools at Trinity have won Athena Scientific Women’s Academic Network (Athena Swan) silver awards, while another three have retained their bronze awards.

The School of Physics and the School of Psychology have progressed from bronze to achieve silver Athena Swan awards.

Meanwhile, the School of Genetics and Microbiology, the School of Law, and the School of Social Work and Social Policy have each retained their Athena Swan bronze awards.

These awards will remain in place for four years, in line with the redeveloped Athena Swan Ireland Charter introduced in 2021.

The Athena Swan Charter is an initiative managed by Advance HE.

The aim of the charter is to “support and transform gender equality within higher

Trinity Arts and Humanities Research Festival returns for its second year

The festival is set to bring a wide range of free talks and events to Trinity’s Long Room Hub

Annabelle Wadeson

Deputy College News Editor

The second annual Trinity Arts and Humanities Research Festival is set to take place next week. The festival, which is organised by the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and

Humanities Research Institute, will run from Monday 23 to Friday 27 September. While free and open to the public, certain events require ticket registration.

The festival will open Monday morning with a coffee hour hosted by Dean of Research Sinead Ryan. Other highlights include author of the Booker Prize shortlisted novel The Bee Sting and Trinity alumnus Paul Murray in conversation with professors Nick Johnson (Drama), Neville Cox (Law), and others about what it means to be a person in the 21st-century and a session where Trinity librarians showcase their favourite items from Trinity’s collections.

The festival will close with a panel on heavy metal music titled “Going out with a (Head) Bang.” The panel will feature professors from Trinity,

University College Dublin, and Maynooth in conversation about “Heavy Metal music’s influence in a range of personal and professional contexts.” It is free but requires ticket reservation.

Returning events from last year include daily coffee mornings where two researchers will discuss and share their research, and “Thesis in Three,” a challenge for postgraduate research students to present their PhD theses in just three minutes.

Wednesday’s coffee morning will feature a conversation between Provost Linda Doyle and Professor Eve Patten about Trinity’s Arts and Humanities.

The festival runs in conjunction with Trinity’s Start Talking About Research Today (START) European Researcher’s Night, which will take place on Friday 27

education and research” and to promote and recognize “inclusive working practices” which demonstrates an institution’s “commitment to an equitable working environment”.

The charter was first introduced to Ireland in 2015 with support and funding from the Higher Education Authority (HEA), and was redeveloped to reflect the findings of a national consultation in 2021. The attainment of an Athena Swan award is a HEA requirement for research funding eligibility.

Trinity now holds a total of 20 Athena Swan Awards, with 14 Bronze and 4 Silver Awards across academic departments, a Bronze Award given to Trinity Global as a professional unit, and a Silver award for the institution as a whole.

Provost Linda Doyle welcomed the news and thanked the heads of the awarded schools for their “leadership and collaboration”.

“These awards reflect the tremendous dedication and commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion within our Schools,” she said.

She also acknowledged the “invaluable support” of Trinity’s Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DEI) office and human resources team.

Trinity is set to host the national awards ceremony this November in collaboration with Advance HE.

September.

Professor Eve Patten, director of the Trinity Long Room Hub, said the festival “celebrates cutting-edge research and creativity”.

“It provides a unique opportunity for scholars and artists to share their work with a wider audience, engage in meaningful conversations with their colleagues, and make new collaborations across disciplines,” she added.

Last year the festival, in its first year of taking place, attracted more than 1,000 attendees, with over 70 events taking place across Trinity.

Professor Patten said that this year’s festival will “again showcase the great research being undertaken in Trinity which is uncovering new understandings of culture, history, and who we are as humans”.

Dental Association calls for cap on international students in Irish dentistry courses

The IDA cited the continued “lottery” system for CAO applicants as a motivation behind the proposal

Charlotte Kent College News Editor

The Irish Dental Association (IDA) have called on the government to limit the number of non-European Economic Area (EEA) students enrolled in dentistry courses at Trinity and University College Cork (UCC).

The group is requesting a 20% cap for non-EEA students in the next year, decreasing to 10% in the next three years.

In a press release issued last week, the IDA raised concerns about shortages of dentists in the Irish workforce, citing a survey which found that 63% of Irish dentists “struggle to recruit associate dentists”.

Of 48 new dental students at Trinity in 2023/2024, 16 (33%) were non-EEA students. At UCC the number of non-EEA students was 25 of 53 (47%) for the same year.

The IDA says that these students “usually return to their country of origin to practise dentistry rather than practising in Ireland,” contributing to labour shortages.

The association criticised

This is a cruel arbiter when students have worked so hard

- Trinity’s Vice-Provost Orla Sheils on the use of lotteries to award college places

the government for relying on international students paying “over €45,000 per annum” to compensate for “decades of underinvestment” in Irish dental schools.

In addition to the cap on non-EEA students, the IDA is also calling for an added €20 million in funding for Trinity and UCC dental schools.

IDA President Dr Rory Boyd called the current model of producing dental graduates “unsustainable” and “broken fundamentally”. He added that “significant” investment is needed to increase the number of Irish and EEA dental graduates in order to meet the demand of patients who are “suffering the consequences of the shortage of dentists”.

The group also pointed to the use of a “lottery” to allocate CAO places in dentistry at Trinity this year.

“Irish students who achieve the incredible feat of 625 points in their leaving certificate are having to face a lottery for acceptance into the dentistry courses in TCD and may well face the same in UCC before long,” Dr Boyd said.

“Not only is it extremely disappointing for the Irish students who achieve maximum points and cannot select their first choice of dentistry, it is an unacceptable loss of potential dentists that are badly needed here in Ireland,” he continued.

Six courses in Trinity required random selection to allocate places this year, however, dental science was the only one with a minimum entry requirement of 625 points.

Last month, Vice-Provost Orla Shiels called the use of random selection “a cruel arbiter when students have worked so hard”.

Carlow College management appoints unelected students’ union, sparking concerns

It remains unclear why elections were not rerun following a RON result in seven races

László Molnárfi Investigative Reporter

Carlow College management has set up a College-appointed student team to replace the students’ union following the latter’s failure to elect a sabbatical team, sparking concerns about the independence of student representation at the institution.

In an email sent to all students in July 2024, Director of Student Services & Learner Supports Dr Lisa Fortune announced that a “student representative team”, composed of five part-time, paid positions, would be set up.

The decision appears to violate the constitution of Carlow College’s Academic Council, which mandates that the elected student representatives sit on the body.

The attached job description confirmed that the students will be reporting directly to

the college. The role of the appointed students will be to enhance student life “through representation, wellbeing initiatives, and organising events”. First-year students are ineligible to apply.

It is also unclear whether the actions taken by Carlow College are compliant with the Higher Education Authority Act 2022, which specifically defined students’ unions as being directly elected by students.

Fourth-year arts and humanities student Barry Fox, graduating in November, told Trinity News he would be “very concerned about the future of student representation” at Carlow College.

“It’s a case of student autonomy, because we have issues that affect us where the College and government might have clashing interests and opposing viewpoints. They’ll say they’ll listen to the student voice, but really, if there is that much oversight, the student voice, when there is dissent, it simply won’t be listened to –especially in the political realm, with issues like the genocide in Gaza.”

“It’s such a mess,” Fox added. “The election should really have been run again.”

Reportedly, the students’ union sabbatical elections returned a vote to reopen nominations (RON) in seven out of eight races. It remains

unclear why elections were not rerun.

Chris Clifford, speaking as president on behalf of the USI, said: “It’s definitely a shame, and quite disappointing to see the situation at Carlow College this year.

“It shows how a lack of engagement can really have a detrimental effect on a students’ union and studentled representation at a college, and why driving engagement is an important part of what we do.”

“We hope the college and the student representative team, along with support from USI, can ensure the return of the students’ union for the 2025/26 academic year. The students need to be united and represented on all boards within the college to ensure the student voice is heard.”

“We are waiting for the student representative team to start their roles, but in the meantime we will be reaching [out] to the returning officer once the academic year commences to make them aware that USI is here to provide support in any way we can.”

Carlow College Students’ Union (CCSU) are a member body of the Union of Students’ in Ireland (USI), of which Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) is also a member.

Carlow College and CCSU did not respond to requests for comment.

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Exclusive: USI calls for free public transport and free fees in Budget 2025 submission

The union has also echoed universities’ calls for government to address chronic underfunding in higher education

Gabriela Gazaniga, David Wolfe

Metro News Editor, Editorin-Chief

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has called on government to abolish student fees and introduce free public transport for students in its submission to the government ahead of Budget 2025, seen by Trinity News ahead of its official release.

The document, currently 24 pages in length, also calls for €2bn to be allocated to the construction of 30,000 student accommodation units

across the country, as well as providing €1.85m in funds for emergency accommodation for students.

USI President Chris Clifford notes in the foreword that: “The severe shortage of affordable and accessible accommodation has left many students in a constant state of anxiety, forcing them to choose between pursuing their education and securing basic living conditions.”

It proposes a budget of €200 million for the provision of free public transport to students, “to alleviate the burden” of commuting costs, as well as expanding bike schemes and rail networks across the country.

“The lack of public transport options only deepens the financial strain on students, who are already stretched thin by the cost of their education.”

“Compounding these pressures is the burden of high fees, which continue to act as a significant barrier, preventing countless students from accessing the education they deserve.”

Addressing this issue, USI are calling for the permanent reduction of fees by €1,500, alongside a plan “to abolish fees

“ The severe shortage of affordable housing has left many students in a constant state of anxiety

over the next few years”.

It also calls for the government to address the deficit in funding for the higher education sector originally identified in 2022, echoing the Irish Universities Association (IUA) in its pre-Budget submission released in June.

In their 9-page submission, the IUA outlines a “four-part funding programme” and calls Budget 2025 the government’s “last opportunity” to fulfil its commitments outlined in Funding the Future, a policy framework for investing in Irish

higher education.

In 2022, Taoiseach Simon Harris, then Minister, identified an annual €307 million funding gap in higher education and pledged to close the gap in future budgets.

The group continues by highlighting that although the last two budgets accounted for €100 million in gross funding, “€92m of this has been eroded by unfunded pay awards arising from national pay agreements”.

Therefore, only €8 million in funding has been gained.

“Inflationary pressures, and in p§articular, rising pay costs have resulted in universities ‘running to stand still’ in budgetary terms,” the submission reads.

In its submission, IUA requests €120 million, at minimum, be allocated to Funding the Future.

They further request €92 million to account for underfunding in staff pay at universities through a “supplementary budget” and €171 million in “core funding” for pay awards as part of the Building Momentum and the National Pay Agreement 202426.

A final €35 million is requested to account for an

increase in students and pay for the costs of medical consultant contracts.

“Ireland’s dynamic economy is centred on worldclass, innovative enterprises and a skilled and adaptive workforce,” the IUA wrote in its submission.

“Investing in our talent, as a primary enabler of future growth, is intrinsically linked to our future success as a nation.”

Other demands

USI asks that more courses be made available in the Irish language to counteract historical underfunding of the national language.

For mental health services, they ask that additional funding be allocated to establish a 1:1000 counsellor-to-student ratio.

The union are also calling for a “T-Fund” to be established in every higher education institution to support students in their gender identity, covering the costs of clothes, chest binders, and other social changes while transitioning.

USI told Trinity News that its official pre-budget submission will include additional funding requests and proposals. It is set to be released early this week.

State audit reveals significant issues regarding University of Limerick investments

The university committed a number of public spending violations in the purchase of two major properties

Alan Nolan Wilson Assistant Editor

A report undertaken by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), the state’s auditor, has revealed significant issues surrounding two major property purchases made by the University of Limerick (UL).

The report released last week, shone light on two major purchases in 2019 and 2023 which were carried out without proper due diligence.

In one case in 2019, the

C&AG report revealed that the university purchased a site at Honan’s Quay in Limerick City without carrying out a valuation of the property in violation of the State’s public spending code.

Initially the site was hoped to be purchased at a cost of €3m but over the course of seven months, this price increased to over €8m.

The initial suggested offer of €3m had been based on the amount paid for similar properties at the time. The report, however, revealed that a “succession of progressively increasing offer amounts were referenced in emails received by the President and Deputy President between September 2018 and April 2019”.

Following negotiations after the university’s first formal offer of €6.5m for the site, the purchase was made at a cost of €8m. In addition to this, UL paid €343,000 in order to cover the tax liabilities of the site’s seller. The purchase saw the university pay over €3m more than the site’s actual value.

The report also details a

serious lack of planning on the part of the institution. Prior to the purchase, and still five years later, the university has not formed a strategy for the development of the site at Honan’s Quay.

In an attempt to ensure the proper use of public funds, UL contains a body, the Finance, Human Resource and Asset Management Committee (FHRAMC), responsible for ensuring clarity and due diligence. The C&AG’s report has revealed that this body was bypassed and left out of negotiations for the site’s purchase.

When contacted for a comment surrounding the issues with the site’s acquisition as well as details in regard to the site’s future, UL did not respond.

The C&AG’s report also provides worrying details surrounding UL’s purchase of 20 student houses in 2023.

Here the report describes a lack of an objective appraisal for the homes which again resulted in a breach of the state’s public spending code. The report

describes how the homes were purchased at a cost of €12m, or approximately €600,000 each. This purchase represented an overspend of approximately 100% with UL having paid twice the value of the homes in question.

In addition to this, the university failed to acquire the planning permission required to change the property’s residential use to that of student accommodation. The report provides details of a letter sent to the university by Limerick City Council which stated that a move to change the homes’ usage may “represent an unauthorised development”.

The report highlights a variety of other issues with the purchases including failures to account for the cost of the properties’ stamp duties. In the case of the twenty student houses, this resulted in an additional €1m of unexpected fees. There is also evidence of key information having been withheld from members of the university’s board.

Speaking on the matter, the Chair of the Oireachtas Public

Accounts Committee

Brian Stanley TD described the report as “shocking”.

In a statement following the report’s findings, UL President Dr Shane Kilcommins expressed his disappointment and stated that the university would implement the report’s recommendations with haste.

Irish Rail announces updates to new timetable following increasing delays

The changes will come into effect from September 16

Gabriela Gazaniga

Metro News Editor

Irish Rail has announced updates to its new timetable just two weeks after it was introduced, following persistent delays and commuter frustration.

The new timetable was introduced on August 26 and increased routes across Ireland, particularly intercity services that pass through Dublin’s Connolly Station, causing a

number of changes to arrival and departure times.

In practice, the timetable has struggled to deliver punctuality and led to a cascade of delays.

In a statement, Irish Rail recognised that the new timetable has resulted in issues for proper delivery of intercity and DART services, and announced that departure times and platforms will be adjusted from Monday, September 16 to combat these issues.

“We have experienced some issues impacting punctuality performance in the first two weeks of the implementation of the new timetable, notably arising from congestion in the Connolly Station area affecting commuter routes feeding into Connolly,” the statement read.

Barry Kenny, Head of Cor- porate Services at Iarnród Éire-

ann, said the primary issue has been the impact on commuter services, particularly during peak rush hour times.

Kenny stated that from next Monday, there will be time changes for a number of services, including the DART, Maynooth commuter, and Northern commuter routes to avoid congestion. Other services will also experience time changes to “ensure we are hitting that punctuality,” but they are yet to be announced.

Speaking to Trinity News on the new timetable, one commuter said: “It’s frustrating living in a place that already has relatively little public transport to have supposed improvements make this public transport unreliable.”

Commuters across social media have also been sharing

their experiences with the new timetable, with one user on X (formerly called Twitter) writing: “Constant announcements of late arrivals at Connolly and it’s taking me an extra hour today than last week. None of the trains have a clue what platform they’re coming into.”

Irish Rail has apologised to its customers for “any inconvenience they have experienced” and they anticipate this week’s updates will improve services.

Dublin’s new transport plan restricts vehicle access within city centre

Dublin City Centre Transport Plan recently took effect, prompting major changes to traffice and access along the quays

Gabriela Gazaniga

Metro News Editor

Initial stages of the Dublin City Centre Transport Plan (DCCTP) took effect on August 25, causing significant changes to traffic flow in Dub-

lin’s city centre. Managed by Dublin City Council (DCC), in partnership with the National Transport Authority (NTA), the plan aims to reduce vehicular traffic in the city by prioritising walking, cycling, and public transport.

The new traffic management measures were introduced to the north quays on Bachelors Walk and the south quays on Burgh Quay and Aston Quay. Road marking and signage changes were also implemented along these routes.

Hours of operation for the traffic flow changes are between 7am and 7pm Monday to Sunday. Outside these hours, traffic restrictions will halt, allowing all vehicles to operate as per previous traffic norms.

On Bachelors Walk, general

traffic must now turn left at the O’Connell Street junction. Only buses, taxis, and cyclists are permitted to continue to Eden Quay and, as before, turn right to O’Connell Bridge.

The bus stop servicing tour buses will be removed on Bachelors Walk, but disabled bays, loading bays, and taxi spaces will not be affected.

On the south quays, general traffic along Burgh Quay is now forced to turn right onto O’Connell Bridge or left onto D’Olier Street. Only buses, taxis, and cyclists are permitted to continue straight ahead to Aston Quay.

Vehicles accessing O’Connell Bridge via Burgh Quay are still permitted to turn right onto Eden Quay.

From Westmoreland Street, only buses, taxis, and cyclists

The new traffic measures in Dublin are permanent, however they will be regularly monitored for efficacy

are permitted to make a left turn onto Aston Quay. Access to disabled bays and loading bays will remain unchanged in these locations.

DCCTP is part of the Dublin City Development Plan 20222028 and aims to address issues of “through traffic” in city centre.

DCC states the plan serves to address the “60% of general traffic in the city centre that is not stopping, working or shopping but is travelling through the city,” causing congestion and gridlock.

The new traffic management measures are permanent but will be monitored for efficacy.

Further changes to the city’s traffic management and public transport will follow as the development plan is fully implemented.

Government to ban sale of disposable vapes following cabinet approval

The Nicotine Inhaling Products Bull is set to regulate the colour of package and names of flavours

Charlotte Kent College News Editor

Minister of Health Stephen Donnelly has received approval from Cabinet to draft legislation which would see the sale, import and manufacturing of disposable vapes banned across the country.

The Nicotine Inhaling Products Bill, which was approved last week, is set to introduce a number of restrictions on the sale of vapes.

Restrictions include a limitation of available flavours, with “provisions to amend the list of allowed flavours as new evidence presents”. Regulations on the colours and imagery

that appear on packaging and vape devices themselves are also included in the legislation.

Last minute point-of-sale advertising in shops that don’t primarily sell nicotine looks set to be prohibited, with flavour descriptors and “language other than basic flavour names” also being banned.

Minister Donnelly said that the purpose of the new legislation is to “tackle the rise in the use of ’vapes’ among children and young people by reducing their attractiveness and availability”.

“I know that some adult

smokers use nicotine inhaling products to quit smoking so these products, other than disposable vapes, will continue to remain available”.

“The measures I am taking are to reduce use among the youth, so that our children can grow up without the risks associated with these products,” he added.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications Ossian Smyth said the bill will “achieve the dual policy objectives of health protection and environmental protection”.

“Single-use vapes are a challenge in the context of waste management and are a wasteful use of critical raw materials”, he added.

“They are also very damaging to the environment when discarded as litter,” he concluded.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) says that vaping is not a healthier alternative to smoking traditional nicotine products, such as cigarettes. They further state that vaping at a young age poses risk to brain development and mood control.

IMAGE VIA RAILWAY GAZETTE

Summit at Croke Park cancelled amid reports of complicity in Gaza genocide

IPSC has announced summit by US software company

Red Hat has been cancelled

Órla

Ring

Contributing Writer

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity campaign (IPSC) have announced that a summit set to take place in Croke Park by US software firm Red Hat has been cancelled after reports emerged of the company’s links to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

This news comes after heavy criticism from former and current Gaelic footballers, including David Hickey and Michael Dara MacAuley, and the Irish public, who expressed outrage that a summit be held at Croke Park for a firm “deeply complicit in Israel’s genocidal onslaught in the Gaza strip”.

Red Hat have since updated their website announcing a postponement of the summit, saying that “a new date and location will be announced when confirmed”.

While the announcement appears to indicate it was a decision made by Red Hat, IPSC have said that it was ultimately the GAA responsible for the

cancellation amid mounting public and internal pressures.

IPSC’s Campaign National Chairperson Zoë Lawlor commented on the news, by saying the group “very much welcomes this news and commends all who campaigned for the cancellation and contacted the GAA”.

“It would have been unconscionable for an event hosting a company which provides material support to the Israeli military to be held anywhere in Ireland, not to mind in Croke Park,” Lawlor said.

Various groups affiliated with the GAA also applauded

“Various groups who are affiliated with the GAA also applauded the decision to cancel the event

the decision to cancel the event.

Michael Doherty of Gaels Against Genocide, a Palestine solidarity group, called the

announcement a “victory for the collective efforts of Gaels and Palestinian activists in Ireland in preventing a company that is complicit in genocide in Gaza from holding a summit at Croke Park”.

Doherty expressed that this victory should encourage activists across the world: “If we exert enough collective pressure in boycott campaigns and protests, we can be successful.”

Dr David Hickey, six-time consecutive winner of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, who is also an outspoken member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, said he was “very happy and relieved” at the decision to cancel the event, saying that “the GAA has stood up and let itself be counted on the side of humanity, no matter the cost”.

This is not the first call to cancel events or sever ties with Red Hat in Ireland. Staff and students of the South East Technological University (SETU) have been demanding that the university sever its links to Red Hat.

Staff in the university in the last year have said: “Red Hat is directly involved in supporting and enhancing the Israeli military apparatus, an apparatus that is committing war crimes before our very eyes.”

Since October 2023, the ongoing genocide in Gaza has left over 40,000 people dead. It has also triggered many calls by the Irish public for universities and companies to completely divest from Israeli organisations and firms.

Calls for dedicated rental court to be established in Ireland

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland calls the current rental dispute resolution system “dysfunctional” in their pre-budget submission

Gabriela Gazaniga Metro News Editor

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) has called for a dedicated rental court to be established in Ireland in its pre-budget submission to more effectively resolve serious issues in between tenants and landlords.

SCSI members state that forming such a body would be more effective for handling serious disputes between tenants and landlords compared to the current “dysfunctional” system.

At present, rental disputes are managed by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) through mediation, where disputing parties reach an agreed resolution via negotiations facilitated by a neutral third party.

SCSI have labelled the current process “lengthy and inefficient,” calling RTB’s resolution time “unsatisfactory”.

In their pre-budget submission, SCSI emphasise that dispute resolution in the rental market requires “increased prioritisation” and attention.

Submission for the creation of the rental court arose from growing concerns by both renters and landlords regarding the administration of the rental market. These include

dwindling tenant/landlord confidence resulting from rent arrears by the tenant or landlords withholding deposits unlawfully, among others.

SCSI president Kevin Hollingsworth another contributing factor to issues in rental disputes is the lack of supply in the market due to mounting landlord exits.

Elaborating on this, he said:

“We need to try and keep landlords in the market because they are exiting en masse and the reason they’re exiting is because of complex rent regulation and the high risks that are involved in renting a property.”

“The tenant/landlord relationship should be a co-operative one, involving willing partners. Too often in Ireland, the relationship becomes adversarial in nature,” said Hollingsworth.

Problems in the current dispute-resolution process exacerbate this stressed relationship. A dedicated rental court would mitigate some of these frustrations and better serve people in the rental market, Hollingsworth explained.

“We have complex problems and unfortunately the solutions are going to be complex,” he said.

PHOTO BY RORY CHINN FOR TRINITY NEWS

Irish nationalism Emer Bowe

Page 17

Turning from wine to water

Rose Slocock Page 18

Rise in rioting creates unease on campus

Trinity News investigates how to keep students safe from riots in Dublin City

Ellen McKimm Contributing Writer

From the fringes of mainstream political discourse, rioting has become almost commonplace, most harrowingly demonstrated in scenes of protest, riots, and looting across Ireland and the United Kingdom. One thing is clear: the undercurrent of anti-immigrant sentiment and racism, coupled with widespread misinformation, is leading to concern from students about security following students’ return to campus.

This concern over today’s volatile political climate is inevitably coupled with the recent memory of riots breaking out in Dublin’s inner city last November, just metres from Trinity’s front gate. Many students witnessed fires raging, buses being destroyed, and other students scrambling to support one another. It was a night many students and Dubliners will never forget.

Given Trinity’s city centre location, protection from riots and other security threats is at the forefront of the minds of people whose job it is to keep students safe. It is also frequently in the minds of students from overseas or immigrant backgrounds who might feel targeted by these riots. In a statement to Trinity News, an anonymous source spoke about the experience of being a person of colour during recent unrest. Despite only “passing through Belfast during the riots”, meaning that she “didn’t see them personally”, the turbulent atmosphere in the city became even more unsettling after the event itself. “I do personally feel more unsafe following the riots, particularly seeing clips where they encouraged teenagers

to beat and harass Asians,” the source told Trinity News. What has brought her comfort has been the “solidarity movements, counter-protests, etc. [...] the kind of thing, [which] makes me feel safer since it feels like we’re fighting back against the far right.”

Annika, a source close to the November Dublin riots, reflected in a statement to Trinity News that the Thursday evening initially marked the “promise of a true Thanksgiving dinner coupled with Irish dancing and music, with family friends amongst other Americans who had flown in for Thanksgiving.” “As the daughter of immigrants”, Annika continued, “my Thanksgiving looked different than the traditional holiday. Rather than blood relatives, our table was filled with other families of various nationalities and ethnicities.” This evening of celebrating family and connection was immediately disrupted by a call from a friend who warned that the rioting was coming dangerously close to her evening event.

The juxtaposition was not lost on Annika; a day focused on gratitude and community, particularly at such a diverse dinner table, had been disrupted by scenes of violence and disorder. Annika recalled immediately feeling sick: “the joy of the holiday had gone: it was not safe to come home”. This experience left her “isolated in the very city that had welcomed [her] for the past two and a half years”.

Yet, a hopeful phenomenon has emerged in reaction to these expressions of violence. While certain extremist groups have mobilised in numbers this summer, the counterprotesters have proliferated consistently to a much larger scale. So, for those citizens who exclaim, “Is this truly who we have become?” The counter-protests have arguably proven that in the all-important “court of public opinion”, the rioters are not winning.

To some extent, the assertion of Ireland’s values of inclusion, diversity and justice have been strikingly ever-present in citizens’ responses. This was evident on that November night when students came together to show solidarity - providing places to stay, food and shelter for all those who could not

leave due to the rioting. A witness to events on campus recalled the experience being incredibly “sudden” but that there was a clear and immediate student response, leading her to describe the whole event as “surreal”. Yet, notably, they felt safe inside “the Trinity walls”. However, the question remains: can and should more be done to ensure the safety of all students, particularly students of colour, given the current climate? The new Trinity College Student’s Union (TCDSU) President, Jenny Maguire, acknowledged this issue, stating: “College must recognise that its duty of care extends to all students.” She noted: “Trinity is home to a diverse student population, and this diversity brings about difference. This difference must be acknowledged.” With over 26% of students registered as international and this huge diversity lending to Trinity’s appeal, Maguire recognised a “difference in the experience of how you move around the world and how safe you are in the world. With the rise of outright hateful, racist protests, our experiences in our studies and social lives have been fundamentally shifted. College must firstly acknowledge this and then accommodate it.”

TCDSU Communications Officer Beth Strahan stated that in “the Students’ Union, it is very important that we platform and prioritise student safety and wellbeing without fostering a fearful mindset oncampus. Practical support can be offered via the SafeZone

app, where students in Trinity, both in on-and-off-campus locations, can easily and quickly contact security if they feel unsafe.” She joined the calls from Maguire that “the college must take any and all action to protect their students, and TCDSU/AMLCT endeavours to continue on from the amazing crisis handling seen from students during late November of last year”.

The handling of security on campus was also celebrated by college leadership, including Provost Linda Doyle, who stated that during the Riots, we saw “the very best of Trinity”. Many buildings, such as House 6, the Graduate’s Memorial Building (GMB) and the 1937 Reading Room remained open to students, with many students also taking on leadership roles to ensure that everyone stayed safe. One anonymous source noted that they didn’t feel they “should have that much authority” and that while it was a true “coming together moment for Trinity”, it was “odd to be in that situation where you had to become an authority figure ... even in a very loose sense”. Trinity’s media relations team said in a statement to Trinity News that “the safety of our students, staff and visitors to the University is of paramount concern to us at all times. We continue to maintain regular contact with the Gardaí, who update us regarding the general levels of activity in the city, which helps us plan accordingly.”

The riots of recent times have made many feel unsafe

and under threat - there has been an apparent increase in recent months in the level of Gardaí presence across Dublin. The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris stated to multiple new outlets during the November Riots that this would be a key priority for the government. Policies such as increasing the retirement age from 60 to 62 within the Garda Síochána are key strategies to ensure that security presence continues to be capable of dealing with future riots or disorder and to address the declining numbers joining the force in recent years. This difficulty in retaining Gardaí officers begs questions of the sustainability of the increase of Garda presences and security in Dublin city centre. While Trinity News did reach out to The Garda Síochána for comment on this piece, they did not respond. While there are more significant questions on an international and national level surrounding the rise of the alt-right and the activities of these groups on unregulated social media giants, it is clear that those closest to students and closer to campus have not forgotten the riots of last November, and they will continue to affect the approach to student safety for some time. Given the nature of this issue, Trinity College’s Student Counselling Services (SCS) acknowledged the added stress these sensitive events can place on students, particularly in terms of “managing our

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Turning from wine to water: why are more students going sober?

Students appear to be following a general downward trend of drinking in Ireland

Rose Slocock

Features Editor

Alcohol is a topic all too familiar in Ireland. The country’s complex relationship with its heavily scrutinised drinking culture is one which continues to define its image both at home, and beyond the island. Yet, it has been shown that contrary to the stereotype, Ireland’s level of consumption is in fact, very average.

Rooted in its historical context, excessive drinking surged in the 18th century and has continued to remain a significant public health problem. Yet, recent research indicates that in the past two decades, alcohol consumption has declined by over one-third with those under 30 curbing their consumption the most.

According to analysis by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland, alcohol consumption per adult (defined as anyone over the age of 15) in Ireland has fallen to below 10 litres annually for the first time since the 1980s. Since 2001, on average, Irish people are drinking 31% less alcohol than in 2001, when this figure was at 14.41 litres.

The forces behind this are undoubtedly multi-faceted and deep-rooted, with such an in-depth inquiry into the causes of decline more suited to the academic sphere. What can be asked however, is whether this disproportionate decline is visible among the main perpetrators. Seeking to provide clarity on such a question, Trinity News spoke to those most exposed to alcohol: students, the supposed demographic responsible for altering Ireland’s surging incline from booze.

Increasing moderation and tee-totalling

“I have certainly noticed an increase in friends quitting drinking or opting for alcohol

free beverages”, Daniel Kelly, a Geography and Sociology student at Trinity stated, identifying that “health consciousness plays a large factor here”, as well as a greater abundance of “information about the negative effects of drinking available online”.

Even internationally, Ireland’s continued reputation as an outlier drinker is factually unfounded; its consumption is close to the EU norm of 9.8 litres, with countries such as Germany and Portugal drinking at a much higher rate.

Yet, not all students were said to see the evidence of this research. Mia Allen, a fourthyear law student from Dundalk, doubtfully questioned: “Really? I’m surprised. It could be the price of alcohol.”

The climbing prices were cited by all interviewed as another reason for an increasingly dry student populace. The average price of a pint in Ireland is breaching the €6 mark as of September 2023, according to the May 2024 Central Statistics Office. The most extortionate story comes at the cost of a Rockshore cider costing €10.25. Other initiatives like Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) in stores and late-night rates in pubs further contribute to climbing prices.

Personal testimonies and experiences

The cost was not the only identified factor contributing to increased student abstinence: “In first year, I would have gone crazy, but… I also don’t want to blackout in Dublin,” Allen continued. “I’ve seen a lot of people start off college, drink far too much and go off the rails and it’s quite sad to see because the culture really does facilitate that.” Perhaps then, it is experience that continues to define one’s relationship with alcohol – most especially, the bad ones.

“Drinking many times per

week can limit my ability to function properly the next day and it’s pretty demotivating…” Kelly added, stating that for most “over time, the pattern becomes clear to people that drinking impairs your cognitive and physical functions”. In his view as a rising fourth-year and an alcohol consumer since the age of 15: “Sometimes it is not worth trading being able to socialise better with friends… with being able to function the next day.” The related issue of waking up and not knowing what “you say or do on a night out” is what Kelly, and many others, have labelled “‘the fear’” and has turned many away from excessive drinking.

With regret and the “Sunday scaries” cited as potential reasons for refraining, why then do people drink so much? Drinking in Ireland is deeply intertwined with its social fabric, culture and international reputation. As Allen voiced: “The whole pub culture is celebrated here.” This is particularly true for foreigners. Allen has witnessed this in her part-time job in an inner-city pub, stating “a lot of Americans say this is their excuse to get really drunk. They will go above and beyond… try all the whiskeys, they’ll say because the Irish fight when they’re drunk they’ll try and start one because they think that’s okay”.

Tourism has thus gone hand in hand with alcoholic experience in Ireland, because,

We take so much pride in being the creators of Guinness

as Kelly put it, it’s how “we ourselves advertise to the world… We take so much pride in being the creators of Guinness and other stouts and beers, and even our own drinking habits, causing drinking to become synonymous with everything Irish. From Saint Patrick’s day, our celebratory national holiday where the goal is to get as twisted as possible yet just avoid chundering, to the layout of our largest cities, with multiple pubs on every street… adding to people’s perception of Ireland as a booze-obsessed nation”.

For Allen, this reputation is partly due to lack of a better alternative, echoing the problem: “But what else can you do in Dublin?” “There’s not much, unlike from continental Europe. This is a generalisation but nationally, drinking is a very big social element and you can’t really do without it.” She gave the example of her friend from Germany who “would come to Ireland and ask ‘what do you do here? Where’s the free rowing club?’ and I would reply: ‘drinking is mainly it’. Maybe if the weather’s nice you can go for a hike, but –especially where I’m from –there’s no affordable youth club or community programmes. Maybe it’s different in Dublin, but my friend was shocked that there weren’t more recreational things to do for young people”. This, for her, was particularly the case during the Covid-19 pandemic.

On the other side, the relationship with alcohol is twofold. As Allen stated: “It just loosens people up and gets people talking more… you come out of your shell. Imagine going to Workman’s sober. I’ve tried that once, it was really bad.” As Kelly confessed: “I have often felt that my own habits were unhealthy such as my reliance on alcohol at social events, yet I would continue to drink and socialise. I think this is a common

experience… it becomes hard to say no especially when the expectation is that there will be a huge party and everyone is expected to barely be standing by the end of the night.”

Drinking as a constant fixture, and a way to loosen up, can often lead to the issue of binge drinking. As Hosanna Boulter recognised on her exchange in Utrecht this past semester: “Binge drinking was not normalised unless it was a festival day like King’s Day. You did not really see open drunkenness regularly…. People cycle everywhere so you need to be able to at least get back on your bike… people were more likely to have a drink with dinner, little and often was more normalised.”

I met two first-year guys who were balling their eyes out and ‘we’resaying just like our dads’ “

Allen has also witnessed the dangers of binge drinking, stating that while people may “realise their limits, for others it’s been bad for them because their family has a history of alcoholism so they’re like ‘oh no, I’m not breaking ‘the curse’”. A term synonymous with alcoholism in Ireland, Allen recalled that during Trinity Ball: “I had to help so many drunk people “dying” in a ditch. So many medical

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JIMENA ALVAREZ FOR TRINITY NEWS

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Interview: Arann McCormack Page 15 + nine more reviews from the Fringe

Emma Lueders takes a trip to Uncanny Valley

Table of contents

► A guide to arts and cultures societies on page 4

► Read 8 ways to avoid failing at romance this year on page 7

► If you like this, check out Which dating app will ruin your life the least on page 13

►An absolute must read as Emma Lueders reviews the best shows of Edinburgh Fringe on pages 8 to 10

►Take a look at The Kingdom’s crowning glory on page 12

Consider yourself a foodie? Take a look at Best late night food spots (page 14) and A plate of poha (page 5)

Life staff

Editor-in-Chief

Life Editor

Life Deputy Editor

Arts & Culture Editor

Deputy Editors

Sex & Relationships

Editors

Student Living

Editors

Food & Drink

Editors

Unity in Diversity: an international campus

Through reflecting on her own experience, along with that of her international friends, Alice Moynihan delves into the inherent benefits of diversity on campus.

There’s a lot we are not introduced to in Ireland unless we purposely seek it out, like diverse histories, spaces, cuisines, and cultures. Often, students in secondary school do not have friends of different ethnicities. The spectrum of friendships in Ireland, in my experience, has been distinctly white Irish with a few exceptions. For some context, I grew up on the north side of the city, where all levels of my schooling took place. The distinction between north and south is important to note, as the majority of immigrants and their families who moved to Dublin settled on the northern side of the river, where housing is more affordable, meaning my school was somewhat more diverse than those of my peers living in other parts of the country.

with international backgrounds in their classes, and whilst a very small minority of the Irish

”David Wolfe

Kate Byrne

Ciara Chan

Cat Grogan

Emma Lueders

Maisie Greener

Sajal Singh

Nina Crofts

Alice Matty

Layla Banjaree

Zaynab Zaher

Gregory Cusworth

Libby Marchant

Having grown up in these conditions, once we reach university, it can come as a surprise that so many international students chose this country for their third-level education; during my first term in college, I met people from every corner of the globe: India, China, and New Zealand. I had never met a Texan before. I had never even met a Jewish person before. This unfamiliarity is not uncommon for my generation, who grew up in very catholic Irish communities. Other nations and their cultures seem so far away when you live in Ireland; at times we can feel forgotten or insignificant to the rest of the world.

This, however, is not necessarily the schooling experience for everyone in Ireland, particularly the generation after mine. Young people still in the first and second phases of their education will have a much higher percentage of students

A worthwhile education is, at its core, underpinned by its exposure to knowledge

population finds fault with this– and it is a small minority–diversity in education is inherently positive, and something Ireland should value and further facilitate wherever and whenever possible.

A worthwhile education is, at its core, underpinned by its exposure to knowledge. Food, stories, languages, and goods have been spread around the globe by migrants since the very beginning of civilisation. Irish people in particular have

contributed substantially to world migration. It is within our nature to leave home. Most countries welcome us with open arms, though it is worth noting that this has not always been the case. Nonetheless, it is a distinctly Irish experience to walk the streets of any country we visit and see a pub with the tricolour waving over the door. It’s like a welcoming committee.

The first new friend I made during orientation in my first year was Italian. From just a few conversations with her, I learnt about how Ireland and Italy both differ and converge. I was immensely grateful for her friendship in those early days: it instantly removed me from the Irish secondary school mindset I had grown too accustomed to and catapulted me into a world of brighter colours, languages, interests, and stories. Before then, I felt that my defining characteristic was my Irishness, without sufficiently appreciating the extent to which we are all citizens of the world.

Back in 2022, when I began my first semester as a philosophy student, I was somewhat surprised to note that the majority of my course was made up of international students: possibly because philosophy does not offer a distinctly marked career path, something Irish students place substantial value on. Philosophy is also not a Leaving Certificate subject offered in Ireland. The latter is perhaps, more likely,

ARTWORK BY JESSIE HUANG FOR

the reason why I have made fewer Irish than international friends in college. Many of the students in my class had completed different exams to reach university level, like the International Baccalaureate. This meant we had different ways of writing, studying and interpreting our course material, which provided an interesting mix of perspectives, allowing us to learn from each other. That being said, when I took up English Literature as my minor subject the following year, I noticed an increase in the percentage of Irish students. It is undeniable that the ratio of international to national students differs significantly across courses. The varying levels of diversity across campus can drastically affect the university experience of students, as both international and local students have a lot to learn from their peers and the different points of view they can bring to the table. There are of course solutions to combat this imbalance. The college administration makes a significant impact in this respect; encouraging crosstable discussions through clubs and societies, and collaborating with students and faculty to bring an international perspective to lectures and courses more generally. Having spoken to some of my international friends about their experiences on campus, I have two major takeaways regarding the international experience. One, accommodation is an issue. It is not easy to find housing close to campus in Dublin city. Both the student body and the college administration tend to project a “Halls or nothing” mindset. If, unluckily, an international

My view of the world has expanded tenfold and my desire to travel and work abroad has been reawakened ”

student does not get approved to live in Trinity Hall in Dartry, it can feel like they are left out at sea, drifting aimlessly, unsupported and desperately seeking a bed. This, of course, is a universal feeling for Irish students, who, upon meeting the expensive brick wall that is the Dublin housing market, often have to defer their place in college. Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union’s recent “digs” campaign seeks to lessen the impacts of the city’s endemic lack of affordable housing by encouraging homeowners with spare rooms to rent to students.

My findings also indicate that the university, its students, and staff are warm, friendly, and welcome international students with open arms. The Global Room, pre-university pathway programme, international student orientation, and a myriad of other collegefacilitated events provide opportunities for students to build strong support systems upon arriving in a new city. Looking back to last November, when tensions over immigration reached breaking point, and a scene which I had never imagined the likes of in this country, made for a hellish night for international students and horrified the country. Since then, tensions have continued to bubble and anti-immigration sentiment has become more prevalent. Events like these lay bare the significant challenges that international students face. Where other cohorts of society fail to recognise the value of international students and migrants, university campuses should continue to be a welcoming environment. It is imperative that educational spaces are not marred by the divisions external to them. While more can always be done to encourage integration with Irish peers, the general sentiment across campus is that Trinity, for all intents and purposes, is an international institution, one that celebrates diversity and interconnectedness.

The benefits of an internationally diverse campus are endless. It makes for more interesting clubs and societies, open-minded and respectful conversations and, best of all, international friendships. They say the friends you meet in college are the friends you’ll have for life. While I cannot attest to this, having not yet lived enough of my life, I empathise with the saying. My view of the world has expanded tenfold and my desire to travel and work abroad has been reawakened. Next semester, I myself will be an international student, and I am confident I will face similar challenges to the ones my dear international friends faced when they first moved to Ireland. I hope to handle it as gracefully as they have.

Alcohol as social lubricant: helpful or destructive?

With the beginning of college comes the beginning of friendships. Alcohol makes this easier, but at what cost?

College is starting back up, and with that comes a plethora of fun social occasions and interactions that mark the beginning of a year: society events, nights out at Workman’s, Friday evenings at the Pav, and other constant activities.

So much of how we socialise in college is punctuated by alcohol. Over three quarters of Irish third level students had drunk in the past week according to a study by UCC, and 66% engage in a level of drinking that is considered unsafe. With classes and the library taking up the bulk of our days, it’s natural that in the evenings we’re on the prowl for a way to destress, and a few cold pints at the end of the day with friends is sometimes what does the trick.

In my own freshers week, which is two years ago now, I spent the majority of it fairly inebriated, as did most of my friends. With no classes to attend (yet) and advice to “get out there!,” the natural inclination was to attend as many club nights, pub quizzes, and wine n’ cheese gatherings as possible. If you’re like me, and empty silence in a conversation

makes you want to crawl into the floor and die, a few drinks is usually just enough to give you a boost of confidence, give up secrets and stories that you otherwise would never divulge.

After all, it is shown that alcohol can have a positive function in social situations. I’ve dealt with social anxiety, particularly in large groups, for the vast majority of my life, and for many people in that boat, alcohol can function as a “social lubricant,” making it easier to socialise in a group setting. An Atlantic article about our culture’s relationship with alcohol explained that “people who drink lightly or moderately are happier and psychologically healthier than those who abstain”.

Drinking shuts off your body’s production of glutamate, lowering your inhibitions, making you feel freer and chattier. A light bit of indulgence in alcohol might allow you to get to know someone better than you would’ve sober, potentially contributing to that boost in happiness for light to moderate drinkers. But what we all know, if you’ve ever taken it too far on a night out, is that the aftereffect commonly referred to as “hangxiety” can completely reverse the effects you felt the night before.

When the alcohol is wearing off and glutamate production is increasing, symptoms of anxiety and reduced feelings of calm increase. We all know the feeling; you don’t want to get out of bed, check your bank account, check your camera roll, check your texts. If you’re lucky it’s because you’ve got a bad memory from the night before creeping into the front of your mind. If you’re unlucky, it’s because you remember so little of it but have a sinking feeling you may regret your

actions. All that paired with the fact that you probably got a terrible night’s sleep and most likely have a headache, it’s not a nice feeling.

These reasons make alcohol, particularly binge drinking alcohol, a risk rather than an asset in social situations. Sure, you might have introduced yourself to twenty new people and have a few more phone numbers in your contacts from your prime bar networking skills, but if you don’t remember it, is it worth it? If you do remember it but it makes you cringe the morning after, is it worth it?

I’m on Erasmus right now, which means I’m living a (sort of) rehashed fresher’s, in that I’m meeting loads of people and getting myself acquainted with a new environment. I, however, am trying to be a bit more mindful about my alcohol consumption, especially since there are much better social lubricants: humour, vulnerability, and even tiredness are just a few. Awkward midnight confessions of your personal stories hit so much harder when you can remember and appreciate it, and when you know it was earnest.

I’m not forcing abstention down anyone’s throat. I still drink, but I now experience of alcohol also becomes a lot more rewarding when instead of scouring for the cheapest wine or bottle of liquor several times a week, you’re enjoying a craft beer in a new city, making a creative cocktail with friends, or picking and savouring a slightly nicer bottle of wine. In our new cultural wave of “sober curiosity,” I ask people to stop using alcohol as a means to dull feelings or change who they are as a person, and instead consider the benefits of moderation. It’s worth it.

PHOTO BY GIULIA VETTORE

Arts and Cultures Societies

Alex Culliton

presents a onestop guide for all things Arts and Culture at this year’s Freshers’ Fair

Monday the 20th of September, 2021. Having received my CAO offer not two weeks before, I arrived at Freshers fair to a new electricity in the air.

Ireland was transitioning out of lockdown and students were coming back to campus. This was a Fresher’s week for 2nd years also, who prior to this were subject mostly to depressing pub quizzes on zoom calls and online watch parties to provide them an escape from the mundanity of online lectures. The feeling was palpable. DUDJ (Trinity’s DJ Society) complemented the sunny weather to create the atmosphere for such a momentous occasion. Trinity was back, and wasn’t afraid to show it.

My first society event was traffic light drinks with the French Soc at the Pav Marquee. Without a word of French to my name, I joined a group and had an enjoyable night, while avoiding looking at my bank account balance (when the insane inflation was only just beginning.) I felt like an outsider, but nonetheless joined in to savour the famous college experience I was once promised as a self-reward for Leaving Cert results. This was followed up by an evening movie screening with the Film Society of The Grand Budapest Hotel by the Campanile; still the best memory I have of society life in Trinity.

To address incoming freshers for a moment: You’re adults now. College is an opportunity to live, do new things that were never an option during your formal schooling years. Over 125 societies, ranging from the Pirate Party all the way to the Botanic Society exist for you to embrace new hobbies and make new friends, outlets I wish I had when in school. For simplicity’s sake I will provide a run-down of the Arts and Culture ones.

The Heavy Hitters

The big five as I like to call them, DUPA (photography), DU Film, DU Players, Trinity Fashion Society, and TAF (Trinity Arts Festival) are the big dogs, hundreds of members

apiece, and renowned for their Fresher’s Week antics and regular event schedule. With a strong grounding in the fabric of student life, their larger events can hit legendary status, with the intention of creating a legacy to rival that of the Hist and Phil.

DU Players, an amateur theatre society, tend to exhibit their illustrious black box theatre from their table, so if you see a large black wooden object among the many stalls, that’s them.

Events this week for DU Players include Wednesday Night Live with Sketches and Special Musical guests, time and place to be confirmed, usually done in their theatre in the Players building, just beside the Samuel Beckett theatre.

The Film Society has the likes of Robert Pattinson and Matthewww McConaghey frequenting the stalls for photo ops most notably with the Provost in recent years, granted their long flights and tight schedules often result in them arriving at the stall flattened and decrepit by sheer exhaustion. One glance and you might say

they’re as stiff as cardboard!

Some events the Film Society have on Freshers Week include a pub crawl with QSoc, Trinity’s LGBT+ Society, on Thursday the 19th of September at 6pm, beginning at the Pavilion Bar - the Pav. Ticket sales will be advertised shortly, although expect a QR code at their stand to guide you to purchase. Other events include their Video Café, a biweekly coffee hour dedicated to a specific film theme on Wed 18th 1-3pm in the Elizabethan room (First Floor House 6), along with a mystery screening in the JM Synge in the Arts block later that evening at 6pm. Video café will continue on Friday 20th at 12-2pm in the Atrium room 4, just to the left of the dining hall.

One should expect a myriad of photography equipment at DUPA’s table along with previous works, laying testament to the wonders of how societies in Trinity foster and facilitate creativity. Sponsorships, college grants and crowdfunding permit societies to run themselves and invest into capital and other supports long term so no financial or technical barriers to exploring your hobby or achieving your artistic dream (within reason) exist.

address incoming freshers: you’re adults now

The Fashion Society usually don flamboyant outfits; a precursor to their support for their openness to all styles, crazes and statements that students and staff alike feel inspired to wear, as referenced by their decision to provide Linda with a platform for her many cloaks. Quite a fun society, I am told.

Trinity Arts Festival is best known for the infamous GMB takeover in November. Consider it Trinity’s culture

night, and the main festival usually in February. You should expect to see them at the stalls. My personal admiration for them is strong; how they bring together all the Arts and Culture groups for one big exhibition of all that Trinity has to offer in this arena is admirable.

Ethnic Societies

The Afro Caribbean, Hispanic, Ukrainian, South East Asian, Korean and Caledonian are some of the many ethnic societies in Trinity, offering a space for those of said ethnicities to bond over their culture, and a chance for others to learn about different cultures. Expect various traditional treats, clothing, and other paraphernalia to grace your eyes as you pass these stalls during Freshers’ Week.

One would recommend following their Instagram accounts in advance to stay updated about events for Fresher’s week and beyond. My favourite of these societies has to be the Korean Society. They punch well above their weight in terms of their number of events and have their own website, even though they are classified as a small society. Their committee really do make the most out of their positions. Fair dues, fellas.

Music Societies

Trinity Orchestra, Trad Soc, Alternative music (DUAMS) and the Choral Society among others will be present at the stalls, exhibiting instruments and information on upcoming auditions. DUAMS is definitely the most interesting out of these societies however, having worked with them last year for an event there is more than meets the eye (or in this case the ear). Their demeanour

and tastes might seem too niche for some, although when contacted for comment, their Events Officer stated, in order to temper fears: “We’re actually really nice”

You can decide for yourself at their upcoming events:

Wednesday 18th - Live Music in the Pav Marquee from AZURE, Sygh, and Epilogue Show Starts at 7pm, free entry, no ticket required

Thursday 19th - Trinity band night with ENTS and DU Music - Workman’s Main Room Doors at 10.30, Tickets price TBC

Hidden Gems

Comedy Soc, Trinity TV and Trinity Musical Theatre might not be my cup of tea, but they’re certainly ones to keep an eye on. Trinity Musical Theatre did a clean sweep of the Central Societies’ Committee Awards Ceremony last year for their rendition of Carrie. While in its infancy this society is definitely one to look out for as they show no signs of slowing down.

Trinity TV can have a good year in terms of events and engagement, but they can also be rather quiet, much of the challenge with smaller societies.

To finish, my ultimate recommendation is to get lost in Freshers fair, stumble across a society or club you never thought you might have an interest in. Try new things, talk to new people. College is only really half academia, the other half is the clubs, societies and other groups that make the academia worth it. Hopefully this brief personal guide to some of the Arts and Culture ones will give you a sense of what to expect.

PHOTO BY GORDII KUDUBOVSKYI FOR TRINITY NEWS

The healing powers of a plate of poha

Akshita Hunka talks about how a plate of Poha can bring back a thousand memories

It’s been three years since I moved to Dublin, leaving my hometown while it slept still at 4am in the morning, in a white taxi that took me to the tiny airport. All of my 18 years of life packed away in two 25 kg bags and a small smile on my face. It didn’t hurt then to leave, because I was flying over to something that would bring me closer to my dreams. And it didn’t hurt a month into this big move when I had no friends but only a small and close to empty dorm. It also didn’t hurt a year into the move when Diwali rolled around and I learned to wear a sari in the now slightly-full dorm with the help of 3 YouTube videos that were played on .25 speed. It doesn’t hurt now as I sit here writing about home. And this made me confident I wasn’t one

to be as homesick. And I do believe I’m not. Not in the way my friends had experienced and cried about, not in the way that made them book tickets back for the first winter break days into college, and not in the way that would make me write about it. I guess that happens when you have a complicated relationship with home and hometown.

But every once in a while I miss something, it comes in a fast moment of a cold run to class, the wind breaking against my pink puffer jacket and my tote bag pulling down at one shoulder that’s sore from it. It’s strong and bright and undeniable then. It’s often some quiet day when the sun shines on the white, blue and faded orange tiles of my balcony and the laughter rings in the memory of me and my mother who sat there eating our breakfast, a plate of

Poha. It’s dry, spicy and yellow. Too yellow. It tastes of turmeric, and I’m making a face. The sun glistens against the window behind us that looks into my childhood bedroom, which in this vision is untouched by renovations and time. And the only stress that looms is of the one page of homework that needs to be completed and the school bag that needs to be packed, all of which my mother will help with. I hear her soft voice over the loud Dublin wind. The vision of this comes and goes in seconds, and leaves me still and then seconds later FaceTiming my mother frantically.

I fly back to my hometown sometimes, over the summer, each time with the hope of finding myself in the same moments I have visions of and the same moments I wake up from dreams of on cold

It’s homesickness and it’s not. It’s missing home and it’s not. It’s wanting to be back there but not ”

mornings where I snuggle into my floral throw from Penneys. But when I do, I only ever find the same reasons that made it easy to leave my hometown behind. This strange feeling eats away at me. It’s homesickness and it’s not. It’s missing home and it’s not. It’s wanting to be back there but not. Hard to understand it. It’s hard to process or talk about. And I’ve read of homesickness that international students experience and I’ve written

about it too. But none like this? What of this kind that fills me with yearning so intense it’s sharp? What do you do when it’s too sharp? What do you do when the vision doesn’t fade in seconds but stays with you all day even after that FaceTime and that summer of searching for it back in India? What do you do then?

You get off at Westmoreland Luas stop. Then, you go into the Indian grocery store on your way back from college and you take the food that fills your tote bag and put it down carefully on the counter of your small shared dorm room kitchen and you pull up a YouTube video with Sanjeev Kapoor in his open garden telling you a detailed recipe, and you follow it to a T, except for the small changes that your mother taught you, and then you put it on a white Ikea plate and you take it to the balcony. Then you sit on the black plastic chair and you look out at the city of Dublin where you’ve built a beautiful life for yourself and you take a bite and finally you are back in the moment that you have yearned for and looked for, for three years now. It’s what you do and when you do you find everything that a plate of Poha can hold. The same Poha you cringed to find for breakfast growing up. The same you swore to never make when you were all grown up and had a home and a kitchen of your own.

As I ate that plate of Poha I realised what I was feeling was different than homesickness, or missing my mom, or missing at all. It was the complicated experience of leaving your childhood behind with your hometown and the yearning you’re bound to feel in the absence of. It still doesn’t make sense when I try to put it into words. But I have finally processed it, the yearning is finally satisfied, and maybe I won’t go looking for it everywhere and annoy my mother with a million FaceTimes in the middle of her working hours. Food has a way of providing a comfort for clarity and takes you to that one thing you’re missing but can’t talk about. It fills you to the brim with the memory of it. Food holds more than just nutrition and feeds more than just your body. Sometimes it feeds the small hole in your heart in the shape of something you can’t make out.

So maybe if you’re choking in the memory of something, of somewhere, and your emotions are too hard to understand, play one of Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipes on YouTube and follow them step by step. The plate at the end of it may hold more than just Poha.

ARTWORK BY ELLE TAN VILLA FOR TRINITY NEWS

“Oops, I did it again”: justifiable mistakes and awkward moments that define your time as a Fresher

Eimear Feeney invites the upcoming freshers to play freshers week bingo and embrace the silly mistakes they will make as new students

Awkward occurrences are inevitable and unavoidable.

College life is no exception. No matter how many “What to pack for college” videos you watch on Tiktok or university preparation pages you read, you cannot fully prepare for all the obstacles that college brings. Going to college provides a blissful entrance into adult life and offers immense excitement for young students. Say hello to independence, societies and romanticised study time. Au revoir to the mandated school curriculums and the irritating feel of uniforms and conformity! Excitement multiplied by anxiety equals the unrealistic expectation that the first week of college will be perfect. Excuse my realism, but awkward moments can serve as important growth opportunities rather than

spelling impending doom.

College will involve some moments where you will feel overwhelmed. Simply attending class or doing assignments will sometimes fill you with dread. However, those awkward occurrences, which create the maroon sheen on your face and the belittling internal critiques, are to be expected. In adapting to your new routine you will make mistakes, fall down, and get back up again.

I once tripped over my own feet while at the Freshers Fair because I am that clumsy. Will you at some point start compulsively hiccuping in a lecture or a society event? It is highly plausible…

Experiencing the following scenarios will grant you the privilege of saying you have become a College student. Through learning to love your inner clumsy and awkward persona while at College, you will learn that everyone else has one too.

Walking into a lecture hall 30 minutes late

Visualise yourself running frantically through campus towards the Arts Building. You overslept, Dublin bus screwed you over, or you simply put too much trust into the Trinity Live map feature. Finally, you see the lecture hall. You pause and deliberate over whether or not you will actually open the door. Instead of taking the easy way out, you enter the lecture hall. Despite the nightmarish scene you foretold, the class did not go quiet. You briskly scramble down the stairs and

find the nearest seat possible. Unfortunately for you, it is in the front row. Obviously, you receive some glances from your peers in the class, but then you notice someone else sneaking in five minutes later. Your embarrassment ebbs away once you realise that you are not the only student to arrive late that day.

You embarrass yourself at the Freshers’ Fair

Stepping into Front Square, you view an array of colourful stalls and an animated environment. Like a sweet shop, the Freshers Fair hosts a colourful selection of different societies from sports teams, hobby-based, and subjectbased clubs. You immediately start touring around the stalls, snagging up any tote bags,

pens, or samples of whatever goodies you come across. You stop at one particular society stand that peaks your interest. Excitedly, you start talking, but the nerves occupy your mind and you begin to stumble over your words in public. You realise you have forgotten the name of the person you were just talking to. A very easy mistake, but you don’t want to admit to it. Luckily, campus is smaller than you think; you see them again at a society event when you feel more composed. Surprise surprise, you did not make the bad first impression that you had previously assumed.

Freshers’ club nights

You buy a ticket for the highly anticipated club night of Freshers Week. You assemble a group of flatmates to go conquer the night with. Due to how enthusiastic you all are, and in your haste to avoid the risk of FOMO, you arrive at the club at exactly 8:00 p.m. Poor novices. Spend more time at the predrinks next time. The place appears devoid of people and you are left waiting with a pint in hand for the real night to begin. Is it a bit awkward being there so early, when they are still setting up the music system? A tad, but soon enough, waves of people enter and you simply take a mental note for next time. Punctuality disappears when it comes to club nights.

Daunting Dining Halls

Say you just left a lecture and you are dying to go get some lunch. You choose a place that serves the most convenience; the Buttery, or even the Dining Hall, if you prefer an antique setting. After paying, you find yourself in pursuit of a table and in a rush to beat those behind you in the line, you quicken your pace. We all have those moments where you become

exceptionally uncoordinated, where the universe aspires to keep us humble. You trip slightly and lose your balance, spilling your drink on your food, or worse, dropping your food.

Learning Library Etiquette: The Hard Way

You head over to visit the library for the first time and a sequence of unfortunate events happen. Firstly, your water bottle falls off the table like an invisible force pushed it over. Naturally, this breaks the hypnotic composure of your fellow students, making you wish the ground would open up and swallow you whole. Secondly, you decide to listen to some music while you read. For the amusement of some twisted god, your headphones don’t fully connect to your phone or laptop. These distractions are made even worse by the fact that you like to listen to music at a higher sound than normal listeners. Sadly, you don’t realise the disruption you’ve caused until your peer beside you brings it to your attention that the loudest song on your playlist was playing for at least a minute for the entire library to hear.

What begins as an embarrassing moment, though, eventually becomes a shared experience that makes the perfect story to break the ice at prinks. A healthy dose of awkwardness does help to create funny little anecdotes; trust me as I am a seasoned expert! Nobody survives college without experiencing a couple of awkward and anxiety inducing moments. Mistakes happen, the mighty fall, but they get back up again to fight the more important battles, like deadlines and sleep deprivation.

PHOTO BY JIMENA ALVAREZ FOR TRINITY NEWS

PHOTO BY JIMENA ALVAREZ FOR TRINITY NEWS

8 Ways to Avoid Failing at Romance this Year

Sophia Baretto considers how to make your love life flourish in the upcoming academic year

Another year, another beau, another flop in your love life? Not this year! We are determined to finally make this your year, so here is the ultimate, totally foolproof, guaranteed-to-work guide for achieving a romantic comeback.

1.) Stop dating Trinners I’m kidding (mostly). There are a million jokes to be made about dating a fellow Trinity student, and a million complementary cautionary tales. We’ve all heard horror stories detailing friend group implosions, awkward postbreakup encounters at tutorials for those who have dared to commit course-cest, or the fan favourite canon event “softboy scam” which seems to plague a worrying proportion of men who frequent the arts block. However, if you find the dating pool to be dry, I’d suggest seriously considering dating outside whatever is comfortable, easy, and right in front of you. If you dare, try dating outside your ideal type or course, and you might be pleasantly surprised.

2.) Deromanticise your expectations

Romance in Trinity is not going to be like Normal People. In fact, let’s romanticise being normal. It’s time to stop putting such gravitas on the whirlwind romance, the kind of love stories that are begging to be adapted to film, and start romanticising the mundanity of it all, and the preciousness of sweet, sweet stability. Nothing is sexier than having someone you can run errands with!

Do not get me wrong: I am pro-romantic. What I suggest is to put that romantic energy into the everyday.

Love is a beautiful thing, but a lot of the time it can be blissfully boring, and that is one of the things most wonderful about it!

Don’t ghost, and don’t chase after you’ve been let down –stand by “no” whether you are on the receiving or giving end of it.

3.) Choose your peace (you can’t fix them!)

We are enforcing a ban on the Princess Carolyn and Bojack Horseman dynamic.

Start romanticising the mundanity of it all, and the preciousness of sweet, sweet stability. Nothing is sexier than having someone you can run errands with

The minute you are pushed to change or extend too much of yourself, eject yourself from that situation.

You can encourage growth, but that choice is on them – and if they choose to be that draining partner who brings out the “but when it’s good, it’s good” in you, run for the hills. If you’ve ever read Shel Silverstein’s The Missing Piece, you’ll know that a partner is a partner – neither of you are halves of a whole. You are both wholes meant to travel alongside each other –and not wear each other away into pieces you have forced to fit together. There is no such thing as a missing piece.

4.) Stick to your boundaries

It’s one thing to know what you want, but another to defend it when you finally realise what it is you want.

Being firm with your own boundaries is potentially the most difficult part of dating. Whether you’re in your Jade West Topping Bottoms era, or you are ready to be completely enveloped by another person so that the very fabric of your souls are interlinked, you have got to stand by that. I have been both the victim and the villain of Chappell Roan’s Casual in different situations. Don’t ghost, and don’t chase after you’ve been let down – stand by “no” whether you are on the receiving or giving end of it. When you can’t give what the other person needs, and if they can’t give you what you need, let them go – you are equally deserving of happiness, whatever that might mean for either of you.

5.) Communicate clearly

You know that joke about how most movies would end if two characters just sat down and had a conversation? Your life is not a movie, spare the melodrama and accept that we are all adults now.

In all seriousness, I am no stranger to fumbling this step. Communication and trust is a constant work in progress. I find it hard to trust, and it is a terrifying thing to bare your heart to somebody with trembling hands, and more terrifying to trust when things are good. How do you trust happiness? You trust in them. They are not mind-readers, and one thing I have learned over the years is that the vast majority of people are not overthinking the way you are. Of course, it would be so much better if your partner could anticipate every thought that you have, but the thing about dating people is that they are just people. Communicating wants, needs and dislikes can

feel unnatural and inorganic, but it is necessary. Perhaps one day I will date a telepathic Professor X type, but for now, I have to communicate.

6.) Make peace with yourself

Ugh, boring! I have nothing more to add to the classic cheesy self-motivating spiel to “love yourself first” and to find peace with the state of being single. What I will say, though, is that I have never agreed that you must love yourself first in order to love somebody else, as I believe that loving yourself is a continuous, never-ending process, but I do believe in obtaining a sense of self-neutrality. To accept and be alright with the state of your own being is crucial. I think there is an inherent romance in the growth and betterment of the self in the presence of another.

years are the friends I’ve made. The beauty and the romance of the college experience is found within the connections and the love that is formed between people embarking on similar adventures. There is a kindred spirit amongst students, and a special kind of love and bond between those you meet, particularly in your early 20s. Some of the most intimate and romantic moments I’ve experienced in my lifetime have been whilst crowding over a single mirror to get ready for a night out with the girls, holding a dear friend’s hand watching All of Us Strangers, crying over a crush with a pint of ice cream with a mate, or dancing together watching a sunset that you travelled together to go see. Platonic love is one of the most cinematic and romantic loves that there is. Do not neglect your mates and remember to tell them that you love them.

Platonic love is one of the most cinematic and romantic loves that there is.

7.) Fall in love with your mates At the end of the day, what I have gained from my college

8.) Fall in love with everything, even yourself. Finally, romanticise your every day, live each day like you are choosing to return to it just for the sake of reliving it. Live your life like Domhnall Gleeson’s character in About Time. Take yourself on dates and learn to appreciate your moments of solitude despite how annoying it is to be told to be okay with being by yourself. In the moments in which you are with people, listen with a bit more intent, ask more questions, and be kind. For some, the knowledge that we are to spend the rest of our lives with ourselves is terrifying, something like a death sentence. The key is to realise that is not such a terrible thing when there are infinite forms that love can take.

Trinity alumni’s capstone project takes Edinburgh

Fringe by storm

Emma Lueders interviews

Aimsir Theatre about their latest production Uncanny Valley and their time at Edinburgh Fringe

Following its preview in front of DU Players, Uncanny Valley blew audiences away at Edinburgh Fringe 2024. Created by Aimsir Theatre company and directed by Aoife Cronin and Lucy Bracken, Uncanny Valley ran from August 19-24 in theSpace @ Niddry Street. The play follows three sisters as they tell two stories; one is the biblical story of the creation of man and the second is when their mother walks out on the youngest sister Phoebe’s 18th birthday. In an attempt to understand why their mother abandoned them, they intertwine their own

stories with bible tales, creating a mesmerising relationship between each girl and the religion their upbringing has been steeped in. Starring Leah Coghlan, Lauren Kelly and Juliet Arpac, Uncanny Valley succeeds in creating a surreal and hypnotic production, which the title alludes to. It is impossible to look away. In the aftermath of its Fringe success, Trinity News sat down with Cronin and Bracken to discuss the creation of Uncanny Valley and what the road to Edinburgh Fringe looked like.

“We’ve gone to the Fringe before as audience members, so to be part of the artists’ community was really wonderful,” Cronin and Bracken told Trinity News. Both Cronin and Bracken are recent graduates from Trinity’s Drama and Theater Studies degree. Having developed the show as their capstone project, they knew it was something they wanted to bring to a wider audience. “The creation of the show started with our decision to collaborate on our capstone project. Collaboration is so transformative in making work, because the shared space becomes such a melting pot for ideas and emotions.”

of the key elements for casting the show was this collaborative energy. Lauren Kelly, Juliet Arpac and Leah Coghlan were brought onboard while the script was still in development, excited to explore their characters more from these early stages. From there, Cronin took some time to write the script. A major part of the process was continuously workshopping the production during rehearsals. It was important that the cast was able to improvise, experiment and play with the text: “With a text in development, every word is up for debate, so we wanted actors who could bring a strong creative voice into the room.”

Having earned a 1:1 in their capstone project, Cronin and Bracken knew they wanted to continue to artistically lead their own work, which led to the formation of Aimsir Theatre.

“We had to really think about what we would like our work to look like over the next few years, which really all comes under our name, AIMSIR. Meaning both weather and time, we want our work to reflect this transience.” The concept of playing with time is infused in Uncanny Valley, with the piece centering around memory. In crafting the plot of this production time, women’s experiences and cycles are central. It was one of the driving forces for why the production is staged in the round: “From

the very beginning, we knew this piece had to be staged in the round, with the audience positioned in a circle around the stage space. Staging in the round allowed for a physical representation of the idea of cycles, but it also allowed our audience to be more involved and closer to the action, encouraging a more active form of spectating.” AIMSIR urges people to not be too prescriptive with their work, especially when Uncanny Valley was forged in the abstract: “But we would have liked our audiences to find something behind the repetitive compulsion the characters never manage to overcome. What are we when we have nothing to believe in?”

Having attended Edinburgh Fringe in 2023 as audience members, Cronin and Bracken registered for Fringe 2024 as soon as they got home. “We really fell in love with the buzz of the festival and immediately knew it was something we wanted to be a part of. It also seemed like the perfect place to officially launch AIMSIR, and a great place to meet loads of people in the industry.” Edinburgh Fringe isn’t curated which meant that there was no applying, only registering. However, when applying for venues, companies are selective of what kind of work they want to be showing. Having secured a venue, the main hurdle was the expense. As a young company,

AIMSIR was faced with the cost of venue hire, admin fees, flight and accommodation, which can cost a lot, especially when it is coming out of pocket. However, the Trinity alumni grant made a huge difference in AIMSIR’s ability to bring this production to the Edinburgh Fringe. The Trinity alumni grant is mainly funded by the Trinity Affinity Credit Card, a credit card designed for alumni, staff, and students of the college. “While getting to the Fringe can be expensive, there are bursaries and grants out there to help fund your project,” AIMSIR advises young production companies. “It is 100% worth your while to research what options are available to you.”

“The highlight was simply getting to be a part of something of this magnitude - to be part of the artists community was really wonderful!” With the highs and lows of Fringe, the lows definitely being the rejection therapy of flyering, the young company blew audiences away with Uncanny Valley. “It was also really exciting to watch audiences watch our show - the beauty of our round staging meant we could get reactions in real time.” With the success of Edinburgh Fringe behind them and outstanding reviews from Uncanny Valley to their credit, it is truly exciting waiting to see what Aimsir Theatre creates next.

One

PHOTO COURTESY OF AIMSIR THEATRE

PHOTO COURTESY OF AIMSIR THEATRE

Hot Girl Summer Review of A Girl Gets

Naked In This

Composed of several monologues centred around sex, A Girl Gets Naked In This is an incredibly moving and powerful production displaying the spectrum of sexual relationships experienced by young women.

Created by People You Know productions, following a sold out run in St Andrews, A Girl Gets Naked In This ran from August 20-26 in the Bedlam Theatre as part of Edinburgh Fringe. The performance is a testament to the production company’s ethos of bringing student written, directed, and performed plays to the stage. Each monologue begins with a girl turning on a floor lamp to illuminate the minimalist set, consisting of Diet Coke cans, worn paperbacks and a bra skewed over a messy bed, before delivering their monologue and switching the lamp back off as they exit.

The performance opens with ‘my ex-boyfriend refused to let me say his name during sex’ by Loulou Sloss, whose comical writing and lively performance set a high standard for the pieces to follow. Isy Platt then entered the stage performing ‘Lolita’ by Nicole Sellew, which holds a mirror to all the girls who experienced hooking up with an older partner and being on the cusp of maturity. ‘Catcalling’ by Catherine Byrne then followed suit, performed by Ameilla Stoked which encapsulates the burn out a lot

of women feel constantly facing sexual harassment in daily life as the cycle begins to repeat. Byrne’s second monologue in the showcase, ‘Chapati,’ also explores the cyclical nature of relationships through the protagonist’s relationship with her mother. Nicole Sellew’s pieces entitled ‘Glasgow,’ ‘Loaded gun’ and ‘beak and claws,’ explore a darker side of relationships from dreaming of being fucked with a loaded gun, to discussing the thrill of being a mistress and touching on revenge porn. Each of her monologues are expertly written and the talented performers of each piece, Emily Christaki, Daisy Patersin and Ava Cecile respectively, bring an explorative and often comedic performance in tackling these topics. The penultimate performance is ‘Potato girl,’ by Piper richardson, that is performed by Lexie Dykes who peels potatoes as she slowly realises that in an attempt to not “be like other girls,” she inadvertently has become one. The show finishes with the performance ‘Escarlet Johannson,’ hilariously written and performed by Scarlett Tew before the bedside lamp is turned off for the final time.

Each monologue is thought provoking and reflective of navigating the world of relationships as a girl in your twenties. The combination of raw, witty writing with dynamic actors who create an actor-audience relationship

from the moment they switch on the bedroom lamp make this production completely mesmerising. I am excited to see what these talents produce next.

“The combination of raw, witty writing with dynamic actors who create an actoraudience relationship from the moment they switch on the bedroom lamp make this production mesmerising

Written, produced and performed by the incredible Isla Fairfield, Hot Girl Summer follows our protagonist Tilly as she undergoes her self-proclaimed hot girl summer. Post-breakup, Tilly jets off on a girl’s trip to Barcelona and impulsively takes a job in London, far away from her small Scottish town upbringing. As she navigates her new life in the big city, it’s clear that her new life is not all she hoped for. The performance follows strings of bad dates and hookups, one of which ends in a spell of chlamydia, as Tilly slowly realises that the fulfilment she is looking for can’t be found on a dating app. Processing the loss of her mother, the performance

I See My

Set in the Scottish countryside, I See My Sister follows two sisters, Mhairi and Caoimhe, as they run from their hometown. What they are running from is not immediately clear, but as their lives become more entangled with the Scottish landscape, Mhairí’s dark secrets come to the forefront. I See My Sister ran from August 12 to 24 in theSpaceUk. Infused with mysticism and mystery, this haunting performance is an ode to the natural and unnatural elements of the Scottish countryside.

The play is created by the emerging theatre company Cutty Sark, who are dedicated to representing queer women and Scottish stories, and stars Laura

ends with Tilly realising that she needs to take time with herself before entering into a relationship.

Although Hot Girl Summer tackles deep and serious issues, Fairfield’s amusing writing and dynamic performance has the audience in stitches for the duration. Her comedic timing paired with her dazzling stage presence makes the solo comedy show impactful and memorable. The director and founder of Pink Palace Productions, Isla Fairfield is a masterful and impressive talent. Hot Girl Summer was run in partnership with Strut Safe during the Fringe, a nonjudgemental phone line that will be a friendly voice to keep you company until you’re home safe.

Sister

“Infused with mysticism and mystery...

Milton and Emma Gribbon. Both actresses delivered a truly haunting and mystifying performance, capturing the deep emotions and the nuance of I See My Sister beautifully. The two actresses have incredible chemistry as they breathe life into complex and troubled characters. Directed by Eve Miller, I See My Sister is an emotive and haunting piece that no one in the audience will soon forget.

FAGHAG

Aone woman show by Dylan Mulvaney, FAGHAG grabs the audience’s attention from the moment Dylan appears on stage. Performed in the Assembly George Square Studios, the cabaret comedy follows Dylan, played by herself, as she navigates through her own experiences coming out as transgender and her experience as a content creator during this journey. Staged on a bright and Barbie-esque set, Dylan leads the audience through the early years of her life. From Catholic guilt to realising she wasn’t just a twink, Dylan’s expert storytelling and comedic timing had the audience hooked on her high energy

performance. FAGHAG also tackles serious topics such as the condition of palatability for transgender women to be accepted in society, and the online backlash Dylan faced when she went against these standards of agreeability. The performance ends in a singalong musical number, leaving the audience on a high after a dazzling production. The show is expertly written, documenting the rollercoaster of emotions that are part of her transgender experience, and while it celebrates the highs of her journey, Dylan doesn’t shy away from the lows either. The show from start to finish was electric, with Dylan’s talent shining through.

How to Belong without Joining a Cult

Written and performed by KateLois Elliot, How to Belong Without Joining a Cult is based on Elliott’s mother’s experience growing up in a cult, until she ran away at the age of 16. As Elliott herself mentions, it was unfortunately not a sexy cult, but it provided her with an incredibly philosophical, honest, and hilarious lens through which the show explores the need for people to belong.

At the beginning of her comedy show, the audience is asked to design their own cult. While the audience are fleshing out the details of their ideal cult, Elliott talks about her mother’s time in a cult and how she now, like Netflix, has an obsession with cults. Her show goes on to discuss many elements of everyday culture that can be classified as cults. From Tesco clubcards to book clubs, she examines

these in-groups in a way that is both thought-provoking and hilarious. The show invites the audience to reflect on their own habits, as the world of hidden cults is displayed through Elliott’s comedic and clever storytelling. At the end of the show, the audience has compiled an insane concept of a cult, in which everyone can laugh at the idea of joining. When Elliott removes the more abstract characteristics of the audience’s cult, she once again asks if people would join a group to do some of these social things some of the time. The overarching theme of this show is that people don’t join cults, they are often just searching for a way of belonging. Elliott’s razor sharp wit and clever composition of this performance taps into the cultural zeitgeist around searching for meaning and how that can make us vulnerable.

Expertly written by Elliott, How to Belong Without Joining a Cult was one of

Sharp wit and clever composing of this performance taps into the cultural zeitgeist

the highlights of my Fringe. Treading the thin line between comedy and existential crisis, Elliott manages to provide an insightful and thoughtprovoking performance while also having the audience in stitches. Armed with witty callbacks and cultural observations, I am incredibly excited to see what Elliott does next.

Dinner, a Review

Showcased from August 12 to 24 in @thespaceuk, Dinner, directed by Fern Boston is a gripping, mesmerising, and electric production that leaves audiences immersed in a dinner party gone dark. A retelling of Moira Buffini’s 2002 play entitled Dinner, we follow our host Paige and celebrate the publication of her husband’s latest book. In attendance

Armed with a script packed with razor-sharp wit and dynamic stage directions, the cast, who perfectly embody their roles, is what makes this production such a success. Having mastered the art of exposition without words, their facial expressions and body language as they interact with one another provide more context than dialogue ever could. Over this dinner table, there is an abundance

of nuanced expressions, visual daggers being thrown in retort to snide comments, and deep looks of passion that swing between love to hate and everything in between. The cast have done such an incredible job at capturing the essence of their characters in every movement and glance that the audience has no choice but to be submerged in their world. This group of talents is definitely one to watch.

BURNOUT

AFrom affairs to attempted suicides to old hatches that have never been buried...

is Wynne, Hal with his wife Siân, and Mike, a stranger who knocks at the door to use the phone but is invited to stay. As this aristocratic dinner party progresses, dark secrets are delivered along with each platter of food. From affairs to attempted suicides to old hatches that have never quite been buried, the complex relationships and tensions between each character are devoured by the audience.

n honest and raw exploration into the aftermath of online dating, BURNOUT opens in a bedroom flooded with bright colours and interesting props. Fern is on a call with her therapist, having reached the end of her tether with online dating. The onewoman performance, starring Aneta Kölblová, tackles the reality of dating in the modern world and how it can impact on every aspect of who we are. We follow Fern’s journey as she discovers, regardless of having her friends and doing her selfcare, she feels lonely. A slew of first dates that end in hookups and then ghosting, paired with the continuous scroll on dating apps, has left her feeling burned out and going a bit insane (she does end up turning a banana into a boyfriend). Throughout this continuous cycle, Fern realises that her loneliness is not caused by her single status, rather the fact that she hasn’t been looking after herself. The performance closes on a clever analogy of our main character nurturing a fern plant back to health.

The Edinburgh Fringe debut of Sady 10, a Prague-based, female-led theatre company, BURNOUT is a looking-glass into the struggles many young women experience in modern dating. Created by Lir academy graduate Maku, who also founded Sady 10 in her living room during the pandemic

lockdowns, the performance expertly grapples with these issues and asks the question of what to do when you hit dating burnout. With a powerful performance from Kölblová, BURNOUT forces the audience to reflect on their own experiences with dating apps and the continuous search for someone. Masterfully written and compellingly performed, BURNOUT hit the ground running with Edinburgh Fringe and made its mark with Sady 10’s debut performance.

PHOTO

PHOTO COURTESY OF SADY 10

Democracy or dictatorship

Navigating the power dynamics of large friend groups

Upon telling people that I have three best friends, one of which is my sister, the reaction I have gotten on a number of occasions is: “that’s kind of sad”. But is it really? I have been in or on the outskirts of multiple large friend groups throughout my college career and while there are upsides to large groups, they also have many downsides.

Upon entering Trinity Hall in my first year, I was swept into the excitement of a large friend group which provided assured social interaction at all hours of the day, company for every night out, and a buddy for lunch everyday. Removed from the security and routine of my parents’ house, this new friend group became a new kind of family unit. From Friendsgiving and group Secret Santa, to shared disposable cameras and a plethora of inside jokes, there was a lot of comfort in the constant social stimulation. But beyond the seemingly fulfilling friendships was an emptiness in the constancy.

This ceaseless opportunity for social interaction meant overwhelming feelings of FOMO when I wasn’t able to hang out with the group. It often meant overextending my social battery when hanging out with people who seemed to last longer in social settings than I did, past the point of it being enjoyable. Branching out became much more difficult as well. Going to a society event by myself seemed out of the question. Within the comfort of always knowing the people I was hanging out with, going to an event alone was daunting. It would also mean that I would miss out on the potential of hanging out with the group, and therefore miss out on the development of inside jokes or future plans that were concocted in my absence.

Feelings of FOMO are quite universal when it comes to friendships. Oftentimes, FOMO leads our imaginations astray and the reality of what we have missed is altogether less glamorous than what we picture. The unique experience of the larger friend group is that with more people comes more hangouts occurring at different times of the day, sometimes with different members, but all put into the group chat so that it can feel like there are always people hanging out without

ARTWORK

BY JESSIE HUANG FOR TRINITY NEWS

“Gossip can tear at the fabric of friendship while peer pressure dictates the decisions of rational individuals

you. Despite the discrepancies between our perception and the reality of the situation, FOMO can make a large friend group feel quite lonely, such is the weird, and slightly contradictory power of such groups.

Different people bring different dynamics to a group. This is another universal concept, no matter the size of the friend group. Indeed, friend groups tend to develop personalities of their own, oftentimes influenced by the individual personalities within the group: some personalities dominate group settings more

than others, and some friends are closer to others. In my experience, larger friend groups have inner and outer circles: the core with the inside jokes and their own group chat, and the people on the outskirts. Maybe they are not at every group gathering, choosing to pop in and out, or maybe they are, but they have trouble fully immersing themselves in the group dynamic.

In extreme cases, one person deciding they don’t like another can influence the entire group to stop talking to them. In the aftermath of one member’s questionable actions, sides are expected to be taken. But there are three sides to every story and people are complex. It is this that makes large friend groups hard. The extremes. I have seen individuals ostracised from a group, with no opportunity to defend themselves, because of accusations that were passed around. Gossip can tear at the fabric of friendship while peer pressure dictates the decisions of rational individuals. This is the conundrum of large friend groups. Tightly woven together, no one is altogether unbiased. When group members make mistakes, as all people do, who gets to decide what happens next? Why do the verdicts tend to be so all or nothing when most of the time nobody knows all the facts?

These large friend groups that develop, especially in Trinity Hall, don’t necessarily last, and they are not all they appear from the outside.

A seemingly fulfilling and

embracing connection can

“

A seemingly fulfilling and embracing connection can actually be quite lonely, riddled with exclusion and judgement

actually be quite lonely, riddled with exclusion and judgement. This is not to say large friend groups are inherently bad, or that anyone in the aforementioned situations were wholly right or wrong, but some large groups are more inclined to drama than others, and that can make it difficult to see the bigger picture. While living at Trinity Hall, this big group seemed like my new family. Living with them 24/7 meant that they were my whole world, but at the same

time it meant that when people were forced out, it was an even bigger deal. In this sense, second year came as a relief. Learning from my first year self, I found my little group who avoid drama. I branched out to different people and activities and became more comfortable and secure with my place in college. This is to say, for the freshers entering college, sometimes it takes time to find your place. I’ve talked to a lot of students who say it took them until second year to develop those lasting friendships and secure connections on campus. Ultimately, having a plethora of friends is not a prerequisite to being socially happy. Sometimes you just end up as a square peg in a round hole. Power dynamics often shift the narrative within friend groups, giving certain individuals a larger say and more influence over the group. It is important not to let peer pressure dictate your actions or cloud your judgement. Just because your friend said it, doesn’t make them right. Whether it’s a claim about a mutual friend or second hand hearsay, it is always pertinent to think critically about gossip, especially when someone could get hurt. Large friend groups can be great, but it is important at the same time to take a step back and consider the type of friend you want to be, what type of friendship suits you, and what type of friendships you are fostering, especially in the sometimes overwhelming experience of first year.

The Kingdom’s crowning glory

Éle Ní Chonbhuí discusses representations of Kerrygold and its relationship to the Irish People

Ireland is not known as one of the great food cultures, yet most Irish households carry a sought-after gourmet ingredient: Kerrygold. It’s no secret that Irish butter is loved internationally for its rich, smooth taste and strong colour. Our grass-fed cows produce melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness that other countries struggle to replicate. Irish people regularly list Kerrygold as one of the key tastes of home. But where does this connection come from? And does Kerrygold deserve it?

Ireland’s relationship with butter goes back 3,500 years. Archaeologists have uncovered more than 500 examples of people burying butter in bogs since the Iron Age. Explanations for the burial of butter

range from fermentation and preservation to ritual significance. Butter was also used as currency in Ancient Irish society, indicating how central and deeply rooted it has always been in our lives. Butter’s power as literal and symbolic currency has not diminished over the years. Kerrygold’s iconic foil and colour presents the butter slab as a golden ingot, our nation’s buried treasure. More literally, Irish dairy exports were valued at €6.3bn in 2023. In 2019, RTÉ reported that if we lined up Ireland’s total butter exports from that year they would wrap around the earth three times. Kerrygold alone makes over €1bn internationally. It is the number one brand of butter in Germany, and the second biggest in the US. It is so popular that the cooperative that owns Kerrygold, Ornua, has a plant in Germany on the newly renamed Kerrygoldstrasse (Kerrygold Street). Irish butter has made the full transition from an ancient ritual to a gargantuan industry that now outstrips the planet. How did a domestic staple of Irish society gain such worldwide acclaim?

Kerrygold as we know it was the invention of Sir Anthony “Tony” O’Reilly in 1962. As

the general manager of An Bord Bainne (now Ornua), O’Reilly developed Kerrygold as an umbrella brand for the export of Irish butter. A quick look at some of its suggested names (Buttercup, Tub-ogold, and Leprechaun) indicates how it profited from a sentimental view of Ireland. Initially launched in Manchester, Kerrygold was not sold in Ireland until 1973, coinciding with our membership in the European Economic Community (EEC). Kerrygold is therefore neither primarily an Irish consumer product, nor is it even from Kerry necessarily. Tony O’Reilly, more prospector than farmer, provides a very different face to Kerrygold than the meadow-grazing cow of its branding. O’Reilly was a 29 time capped Irish rugby player, former CEO of Heinz, resident at the “big house” Castlemartin estate, and husband to Greek Heiress Chryss Goulandris. He was pro-Chancellor of Trinity for over 10 years, knighted in 2001, and became bankrupt in 2016, among many many other things. He died earlier this year at the age of 88, leaving a legacy as the most important Irish businessman of the 20th Century. His greatest accomplishment, Kerrygold, is less

a specific butter than a genius marketing and branding campaign that placed Irish dairy on a global stage. Kerrygold’s marketing prowess has continued long into its 62 year history. Famous TV ads such as “who’s taking the horse to France?” and “put a bit of butter on the spuds André” have become Irish colloquialisms since they were first aired in the 90s. In 2009, their ad “The Sod” used the classic

Irish issue of emigration - “we export all our best stuff” - as the emotional drive behind its new slogan “Made of Ireland”. Kerrygold has established itself as metonymic for home, not just representing Ireland, but made of it and changing with it. In 1974, German artist Joseph Beuys created “Irish Energy”, a piece that consisted of two peat briquettes sandwiching Kerrygold butter. Maybe Bueys and Kerrygold

For the students, by the students: The Students’ Union Café

Kate Byrne stops by the SU Café as they reopen for the new academic year

Nestled between Pearse Street and Westland Row, the Students’ Union (SU) Cafe offers a sigh of relief to students in search of a cheap and cheerful lunch. With the cost of living in Dublin increasing by the day, €3 for a latte and €1 for a tea feels like a steal. Its cheap prices, combined with its welcoming environment and friendly staff, make it the perfect place to cure your freshers’ week hangover.

When you walk through the doors of the cafe, (located inside Goldsmith Hall), the atmosphere is unlike any other that you would find in surrounding cafes around the city. Run by students, for students, the cafe has a laid back, infor-

mal setting. Two of the cafe’s staff members, Marcus Chen and Jonathan Wang, chatted to me about how they curate this welcoming space for students.

What makes the Students’ Union cafe stand out in a city with a coffee shop on every corner? According to Wang, it’s “not a case of the cafe being better in general than other cafes”, but rather, students can “get a decent meal or coffee without having to break the bank”. The cafe is currently offering a meal deal of coffee, a toastie and crisps for €5.20. His co-worker Chen, however, believes that the “super hot peopl” that work in the cafe are responsible for its success. It’s these “super hot people” that curate the vibe of the cafe. The music you find playing will depend on who is working that day. When Chen is working, you can hear anything from Jeff Buckley to Drake, and when Wang is working, the playlist reflects whatever he’s loving at the moment, so expect samba, trapwave and some R&B tunes to accompany your coffee.

“Don’t expect to hear Espresso, you will only get to drink

espresso,” Wang joked.

The relaxed atmosphere is certainly helped by the fact that students do not have to purchase food from the cafe in order to sit inside, removing the financial pressure placed on hanging out with friends between classes. Wang noted that “it’s tough for many students to afford fees as well as paying for everyday life”. He added that the cafe is important because “it’s multi-purpose. You can do work, socialise, or just get out of the rain and you won’t be looked down upon”. If you would like to purchase from the cafe however, the options are pretty great, especially at their low price point. Chen’s go-to order from the

cafe is a “swiss cheese and ham toastie on white bread with pesto” paired with a latte, which will set you back just €5.70. Jonathan likes to get “brown bread toasted with chicken, pesto, mozzarella and red onion” paired with a double espresso, for €5.20. Their simple menu options offer the perfect midday pick-me-up, hangover cure, or excuse to catch up with a friend, new or old.

The SU Cafe is a rare find in a city like Dublin. As one of the most expensive cities to

live in in Europe, Dublin has lost many of its “third spaces” (places that are neither work or home, but something in between). The majority of places available for students to relax and catch up with friends require them to spend money, and the cost of attending these spaces has only increased in recent years. The price of a large americano in Costa has risen by 23% between 2020 and 2024, while a large cappuccino in Starbucks will set you back 16.5% more today than it

The SU Cafe is a rare find in a city like Dublin

are right, perhaps butter is the fuel behind Irish life. It’s deeply connected with both the land and the home. It’s sumptuous but unassuming, the facilitator of brilliance and yet totally ordinary, as important to gourmet cooking as it is to toast. The success of these advertisements rests on how they use butter to articulate desire, homesickness, and appetite. Does butter’s commodified aspect really undermine its role in Irish culture, here and abroad? Maybe Kerrygold is simply modern bog butter, with an equally commercial and ritual purpose.

The question of Kerrygold’s significance represents the struggle of living in an Ireland that is confused as to whether its legacy is its cultural complexity or its low corporation tax. From one angle it’s a mirage, the product of a globalised business enterprise that commodifies the authenticity it markets: merely a brick of fat and the fuel of greed. On the other, it is the rich and enriching outcome of our greenest fields. A symbol of our ritual domestic life, wrapped in the finest gold. Whether you think it’s overrated or unmatched, Kerrygold is most certainly the taste of home.

Which dating app will ruin your life least?

Jimena

Alvarez conducts field research into the ecosystem and success of dating apps, so that you don’t have to

Bumble

Coming out of a long-term relationship was 99% agonising and 1% the realisation that, well ... I am now single! Even worse, I started to think about dating apps. With the emergence of many new dating apps, I felt the need to up my game and learn about all of the changes occurring in the dating ecosystem. I was uncomfortable, humbled (physically and mentally), overwhelmed by the abundance of choices that lay before me, and saw one too many bare-chested men for my liking. However, much like sex, I eventually got the hang of it and can now give you my full honest review and ranking.

I will finally put the science behind my political science degree to use and analyse this research question: Which dating app will ruin your life the least? I will judge this question qualitatively by these factors: the probability of finding someone you are attracted to (1-10), the chances of having a good date (1-10), the likelihood you won’t cringe or be repulsed by messages (1-10), and the final impressions (1-5). For this last one I have created the following scale of possible outcomes: wanting to call your therapist (1), choosing to join a celibate monastery (2), deciding to enter your self-love era (3), continuing to date around (4), and finally feeling like love is in the air (5).

Hence, the list you have long been awaiting: dating apps, ranked from worst to best.

would have in 2020.

The SU Cafe cheap prices offer more than just coffee. A recent survey carried out by the European Union found that Ireland is one of the loneliest countries in the EU, and younger people have yet to bounce back from the pandemic’s impact on our loneliness levels. When students can take up space in a room for a very low cost, or without having to pay anything at all, they can alleviate feelings of loneliness without the price tag that has been placed on this valuable social time by the Irish Government. It’s these students that are the best part about working in the cafe, according to Chen. “My favourite part of working at the cafe is getting to see all the regulars everyday, in particular the group of mature biomed students.”

You can find Chen, Wang, and other lovely staff members serving up coffee, lunch and tunes from 9:30am to 4:30pm every Monday to Friday in Goldsmith Hall. Don’t forget to follow the cafe on Instagram, @trinitysucafe, to keep up with their special offers.

I was under the impression that this was the best app out there. Women have to send the first text, and the fact that the men on the receiving end had 24 hours to reply seemed appealing. Surprisingly though, my fear of rejection never became an issue because there were zero people I felt attracted to. A quick Google search led me to a non-verified source that said that for every woman on the app, there were three men using it. Barely any girls showed up in my feed, and the ones that did were simply not my type. Men, on the other hand, came by the millions, and I tried (trust me) to find someone attractive enough for my taste to swipe right and make this review a bit more authentic, but I simply couldn’t. That is not to say that the friend or networking sections of the app aren’t worth a try. It’s just that when it comes to dating, Bumble was a huge disappointment.

If it ain’t broke, why fix it? A few moons ago I did find myself an authentic proper match in the app, but I have to be realistic here ... most people on Tinder are not looking for a love story. It is mainly, if not totally, based on physical attraction. I admit that sometimes I use Tinder like a game and swipe so fast that, to the naked eye, it seems like I’m not even seeing the pictures. But hey! It’s Tinder! Everything is casual there. Chatting, depending on what you want, can go from anything like direct, uncensored requests for sex to actually interesting chats. But mainly, it’s just pickup lines that you can tell are just copied and pasted with every person they match with. It is what it promises to be. You may feel ashamed and dirty when downloading it and setting up a profile, knowing that you are setting yourself up to be physically critiqued, but alas. The good thing is, my fear of rejection can take a rest day when I use Tinder, because if I am not getting an automatic match when I swipe right on someone, I will just tell myself that they surely accidentally swiped left when they were playing around with the app like I do …

Hinge was the app that I initially felt the most hesitant about using, as I had heard so many mixed opinions about it. Still, there are features that I enjoy, though also some I don’t. Overall, the fact that I can see who has liked me and I can judge a person based on their responses to personalised prompts and not just their face is a big plus. Do I see a lot of “my biggest green flag is I will let you borrow my hoodie” prompts? Yes, almost on a daily basis. However, I get fewer explicit messages than on Tinder, so that’s a win. It is the app where I felt the most comfortable sending a message first. It’s fun going through the answers, judging them and honestly sending replies. The only downside is … every single one of my friends is on the app. And when it’s not friends, it’s the person you share a class with, or your ex’s best friend who will definitely screenshot your profile and share it. So, while some matches are problematic and there are some very uninteresting people on Hinge, there are also some nice people and I enjoy the app and its features.

Now, reader, you can hate me all you want, but we both know LinkedIn is simply the way to go. You can filter for (or exclude) finance bros, see their interests in full blast, see how much they brag about that Deloitte internship (so you are prepared to hear the monologue you will inevitably get during your date), and get a glimpse of what a future with them would be like. Message them to “network” and boom! Not only did you find a great match, but you can also claim it was 100% a dating-app-free meet-cute. Only you and I will know just how much it was masterminded.

A midnight bite

Kasia Holowka highlights

Dublin’s top spots to satisfy a late night craving

So, you’ve found yourself out at night in the city and are in need of good food. Not to worry: here are some recommendations to keep the hunger at bay whether you’re still out with your friends or coming back home from a night out.

First and foremost, Doyle’s –the most popular pub amongst students – is also a place for a nice late night meal. It is a nice old-style pub where you can get food and drinks, sit in a booth, or hang out outside. They serve burgers, loaded chips, bangers and Mash, and other traditional Irish meals. Doyle’s stays open every day till midnight, so it’s a good place to grab a bite during your night out.

If you live on the North side of the city, Fibbers Magees - another pub with great food options - might be for you. It is located on Parnell near the Luas stop. It is a spacious pub with an enormous outside area shared with other pubs, a club, and a pizza place. Fibbers is a rock/ metal/sports bar. You can lis-

ten to live music, play pool, or watch sports and of course enjoy a nice meal. Apart from the pizza, you can get sandwiches, burgers (there are vegan options), loaded chips, and small plates. The pub stays open till 2:30 am every day.

Moving back to the south side, Mary’s Bar & Hardware is also a great pub/food place. The place is located near Trinity on Wicklow Street. On the ground floor is a pub, while downstairs is WOW Burger. Here you can get a Hamburger, a Cheeseburger, a Bacon Cheeseburger (these also come in mini versions) or a veggie burger. They also serve chips, onion rings, thick shakes and sundaes. They usually stay open till 11:30pm and 12:30am on Fridays and Saturdays.

If you’re looking for a sit down meal the Ramen Bar on William street is the way to go. It has a great atmosphere and authentic Japanese food. The portions are enormous but if you’re unable to finish feel free to ask for a take away. Prices vary from 10-20 euro. Apart from ramen you can also get buns and bao, gyoza and rice dishes. The Ramen Bar stays open until 10pm from Sunday till Wednesday and until 11pm from Thursday to Saturday.

Bambino’s is a famous pizza place that is perfect if you’re looking for a quick meal on the go: there you can get either a full pie or just a slice. The prices are anywhere from €4.50 to €6.50

for a slice and 29 to 35 euro for a pie and the portions are huge so all in all it’s a good deal. They are located on Stephen Street Lower and stay open till 11 pm.

Another great pizza place is DiFontaine’s Pizzeria. It is located near Temple bar and the Workman’s club on the quays. They offer New York style pizza similar to Bambino’s because you can either get a full pie or a pizza slice. The portions are huge and cheap. Many prefer here to Bambino’s and call it the best pizza in Dublin. There are also vegan options on offer. DiFontaine’s stays open till midnight on Mondays and Tuesdays, until 1am on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and till 3am on Fridays and Saturdays.

If you are in the mood for some Chinese, Xian Street food is your way to go. They offer anything from noodles to dumplings, but what people come there for is their famous spice bags (also available for vegans). Everything is affordable for students, so you don’t have to worry about spending too much money.

Looking for something fancier? Then perhaps Fade Street Social is the place for you. It is a restaurant/ cocktail Bar with an open roof. If you’re reserving a place keep in mind that the restaurant is split into the woodfired section (more affordable) and the restaurant section (quite pricey). The food is exceptional and tasty.

The staff are friendly and attentive. Highly recommended are their pizzas and burgers (all cost around 20 euro). You can also get good quality wine to go with your food or go to the rooftop bar for a drink. This place is great to hang out with friends on a special occasion. The Fade Street Social stays open until 12:30am from Sunday to Wednesday and till 1:30am from Thursday to Saturday.

If you find yourself on the North side, don’t worry there’s more to it than just Fibber’s.

The Turkish Kebab House on Parnell Street where you can get pizza, burgers, loaded chips and of course a kebab. Everything is packed as take away

but there are some seats inside. The portions are big and decently priced and although it is usually filled with people you do not have to wait long to get your food. They stay open till midnight during the week and till 2am on Saturday and 1am on Sunday.

On the same street right next to Fibbers you’ll find Enzo’s Take Away. It is possibly the cheapest food in Dublin, where a burger can cost as little as 3 euro with chips included. There you can order burgers, hot dogs, fish, chicken, wraps, chips, kebabs and even pizza. Everything is prepared quickly so you can order while waiting for a Luas home. Enzo’s stays open till 2 am from Monday to Wednesday, till 3 am on Thursdays and Sundays, and till 4 am on Fridays and Saturdays, making it the ideal place to end your night.

From takeaways and pub meals to fancy late night dinners, whatever you’re looking for you will surely find

Whether you’re partying or just looking for a late night meal, whether it’s the North side or the South side, Dublin has a lot to offer. From takeaways and pub meals to fancy late night dinners, whatever you’re looking for you will surely find.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARY’S BAR & HARDWARE SHOP

PHOTO COURTESY OF BAMBINO

Thorny girlhood

Maisie Greener sits down sits down with Arann McCormack to discuss her latest project I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Within the realm of visual art, the bedroom has become a motif of the relationship between interiority and exteriority. Psychologically the bedroom is an intimate and complex space, while structurally it’s incredibly mundane and orthodox. It’s at once individual and universal; sui generis and ordinary. Of her pioneering 90s series In My Room: Teenagers in their Bedrooms, Adrienne Salinger said that “adults hide a lot of shit in the closet. But a teenager only has that 12 by 12 feet. Everything has to fit in there: the past and the future,” and many photographers have since made similar appraisals. Adorning the walls and surfaces of these 12 by 12 feet spaces are clues of coming of age — stuffed animals from childhood sit alongside journals chronicling teenage angst and college coursework. Adolescent bedrooms are perhaps the best visual archive of growing up. Arann McCormack’s series I Never Promised You a Rose Garden captures the shades and subtleties of girlhood via snapshots of 20-something year olds’ bedrooms. The seven photo strong series spotlights these spaces and their inhabitants, providing an aperture into the nuanced world of girlhood. I became acquainted with Arann’s project having seen it shortlisted for the Allied Irish Banks Portrait Prize 2024. Likewise, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden mesmerised me with its unapologetic portrayal of young women.

Arann is still trying to pinpoint the origin of her fascination with female adolescence. Although she recognises that “it of course blooms quite naturally from [her] own life and trying to understand things that have happened in the past”, she understands that girlhood’s thematic allure goes beyond her own experiences. Not totally knowing where her interest comes from is something Arann embraces rather than resents. The way she sees it, uncertainty means she’s not out of the rough herself yet. She enthuses that “it’s quite exciting to know that each day I’m gaining greater insight into why I’m so interested in these things”. The project also affected a catharsis for Arann: in immersing herself in her subjects’ girlhood, she felt her own being validated. She reflects that the series “made [her] feel a bit more human”. “I’m still experiencing my own girlhood so it presently helps me to be less judgmental of my own journey as well. Less judgmental of the choices I’m making.” Bedrooms often hold space for our human messiness and imperfections, shutting them away from society’s judgments. Arann’s photos, however, reconfigure these blemishes as treasures.

Exploration of physical liminality gave way to exploration of psychological liminality “

Conceptually, the project is an extension of a previous one. Its predecessor, Bliss, was likewise concerned with physical liminal space, although they were bathrooms.

Arann, both bedrooms and adolescence embody liminality physically and psychologically. “The notes on the wall, the posters and the photos. These are things we’re experiencing and moving through.”

When asked about artistic etiquette and how she navigated such intimate settings, Arann explained that she tactically shot friends of hers. With this being said, the honour of being invited into such private spaces was not lost on her. Arann explains that “we chatted before, during and after the shoot. It was very much a collaborative style and just like hanging out with each other which was brilliant.” The organic dynamic between subject and photographer underpins each portrait, producing an effect of authenticity and unpretentiousness.

Visual artists like Petra Collins and Justine Kurland are synonymous with coming of age photography. Knowingly or unknowingly any creative adolescent girl will have encountered their work in a photobook or on Pinterest amidst a growing pains induced deepdive. Although she appreciates this tradition, Arann’s participation in it begins and ends with the fact she is a girl, shooting girls. The series departs from the canonical style by focusing on a conceptual struggle. She explains: “I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t taking photos of sad girls in their sad rooms. I wanted to celebrate resilience as well.” Moreover, Arann’s pieces are posed whereas Collins and Kurland’s work adopts a more fly on the wall perspective. Arann says that she adores

that style, but for I Never Promised You a Rose Garden she wanted greater intensity and intentionality. The project is also indebted to non photographic material, namely music and Andrea Arnold films. Arann’s photos are imbued with similar rawness.

To the question “How did you balance the staticity that is inherent to photography with communicating a narrative?” Arann responded that the story was innate to her images. In fact, excessive interference in the bedrooms would have compromised the authenticity she so cherishes. She finds the true narrative to shine through sans inordinate staging.

Although on a compositional level each bedroom is aesthetically distinct, there are some token items that recur across the images. Posters, books and beauty products appear as elemental to growing up as starting puberty or going to secondary school. Arann made the same observation. “When I was looking back at the images there were a few things visually repeating themselves. It was a nice sign of us all being so connected and we don’t even know it.” If these repetitions make the photographs seem more choreographed then so be it, Arann views these patterns as testaments to sisterhood. Similarly, Arann wanted markers of childhood to be left in the photos as “these items represent different points of time and they feed into these spaces’ liminality. They will leave and new ones will take their place one day. Nothing is ever fixed and that reflects the people in these spaces.”

Wrapping up our conversation, we turned to the

text accompanying the photos. Journals, notes and letters featured heavily in Arann’s own teenage years and decorated her bedroom walls. Within her

In immersing herself in her subjects’ girlhood, she felt her own being validated

“I did a big piece of work on bathrooms because I consider them a liminal space,” Arann says. “You’re just passing through.” Bliss looked beyond the bathroom’s reputation as an unremarkable room and lingered a little longer on its liminality, ultimately seeing the value of in-between and transitional spaces. Exploration of physical liminality gave way to exploration of psychological liminality and I Never Promised You a Rose Garden manifests these emotional fluxes. For

A

lineage of girlhood on camera “

photography, she views writing as a remedy for the silence enacted by still images. She gave her subjects the prompt: “If you could speak to your younger self, what would you say?” and her responses ranged from the defiant “I am not what’s been done to me” to the introspective “You’re gonna love dancing one day. Nobody’s actually watching.” Ultimately Arann likes the boldness and confrontation of these musings. She concluded: “I thought it was quite striking having these young women looking into the lens and having their own voice right beneath it. It was almost quite stand-offish, in an empowering way.”

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden evokes a lineage of girlhood on camera, at the same time asserting its uniqueness and divergence from tradition much like the concurrently individual and collective stories Arann endeavours to tell. This project and others by Arann can be found on instagram @arannmc and https:// arannmccormack.cargo.site/.

Types of flatmates in college

Akshita Hunka comically categorises the types of flatmates you’re bound to come across in college

In the rush of Freshers’ Week, student accommodations bubble with excited first-year students armed with their Ikea starter kits, third-year students surrounded by their countless boxes of college belongings that accumulate so quickly, and anxious parents who are about to become empty nesters. Of course, there are also student ambassadors letting locked-out students into their rooms every 10 minutes. Amidst this chaos, you’ll meet your roommates. They often fall into one of several categories, as I’ve learned during my two years living in student accommodation, which have simultaneously been the best and the worst years of my life.

The Social Butterfly

They are always found in the kitchen, either with a group of friends or cheerfully chatting with another roommate. They’re the most fun to be around, and you often find yourself wanting to be friends with them. They’re just that likeable! They created the group chat and are the best at mediating any drama that involves them. Their Instagram, which they shared with you the very first time you met them in the hallway, is the most happening place you’ve come across. You might feel lucky to have them as your roommate and end up as friends by the end of the year!

“

Their Instagram, shared the very first time you met...is the most happening place you’ve come across

The Messy Kitchen Hoarder

Proceed with caution! Beware of mold! When I say “hoarder”, I mean someone who collects perishable food that will be left in common spaces such as the counter and dining tables, but never in the freezer, where it might have a chance of not decomposing and growing mold. They hate cleaning up after themselves and are often found relaxing in the common rooms, which they make unlivable. The trash will always be piled up, and stray breakfast ingredients like oats and blueberries might be found scattered on random parts of the floor. And mold, of course. Did I mention that before? Because there will be plenty of it, often on things you didn’t know could grow mold! But I guess you learn something new every day. Try a friendly approach when dealing with them, and hopefully it will work. If not, I would recommend moving your food as far away from theirs as possible.

The Group Chat Photographer

“Guys, this is unacceptable! We need to all pick up after ourselves!!!” is the message that will often accompany a photo of the sink, which usually has less than two spoons and one cup in it. Photography and writing are their passions, and they use them solely to take photos of the sink and closeups of specks of dirt on freshly

Photography and writing are their passions, and they use them solely to take photos of the sink and close-ups of specks of dirt “

cleaned counters, sending them to the group chat along with a beautifully typed message that is easily the length of a Draco Malfoy fanfic from Quotev, explaining how cleaning the kitchen needs to be everyone’s first priority at college. Normally you won’t find them in the same apartment as the Messy Kitchen Hoarder, but when you do, it’s a one-sided war you’ll want to distance yourself from.

The Vampire

Never seen in sunlight. Barely seen at all. Never seen eating food. Forget that! You’ll never even see them claim a cupboard in the kitchen for groceries

because they never buy any. They’re not on the group chat because no one has been able to interact with them long enough to get their phone number, which you’re not sure even exists. After all, what 1,400-yearold vampire would keep up to date with technology? They really do exhibit all the signs of being a vampire. Call me crazy all you want! Or a girl who has never gotten out of her vampire YA novels obsession phase, but sometimes you catch them cleaning a red-stained glass. Yes, it could totally just be wine, but maybe it’s another obvious sign.

The Smoker

They can always be spotted on the balcony with a pack of cigarettes and a really cool lighter that you always want to ask them about. Even when you come out to the kitchen to grab

Can always be spotted on the balcony with a pack of cigarettes and a really cool lighter “

a glass of water in the middle of the night, they’re quiet and clean. They may have the most “underground artist” and “not at all like, you know, pop like Taylor Swift” playlist you’ve ever heard. It’s Arctic Monkeys and The Neighbourhood, and they really need to shut up about it sometimes. You only listen to that music months later when you finally become friends with them after coming home at 2am, crying about boy problems and ranting to them because they’re always willing to listen to your drama. They give good advice, and you love them despite their god-awful music taste.

These are some of the roommates you may find in the chaos of student accommodation. I wish you luck and hope you find yourselves surrounded by the best people!

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ARTWORK BY JESSIE HUANG FOR TRINITY NEWS

emergencies. I met two firstyear guys who were balling their eyes out and saying ‘we’re just like our dads’.”

Harmful stereotypes?

With the label “the curse” denoting an inherently negative connotation, Allen mediated this opinion, stating: “I don’t think it’s necessarily bad to call it “the curse”. That’s what I heard when I was growing up - that alcoholism was a genetic predisposition. But then I know so many people that might drink way too much but not call themselves alcoholics. It is an addiction.”

Labelling alcoholism for what it is, for Allen, was not a negative thing. What may be more problematic, is the stereotypes that come with it. As Eimear Donnelly*, a final year History and English student, voiced: “I don’t see how Ireland has a different drinking culture to everywhere else… there’s a lot of binge drinking [in Ireland] but it is also a very harmful Irish stereotype that we’re all alcoholics.” For her, it is important to recognise the contextual factors, stating: “The Irish have had bad experiences historically, so alcohol was a good way to deal… but stereotyping anyone as an

“ I don’t think that Ireland will ever truly rid itself of its long drinkingexisting culture

alcoholic is not a good thing to do, so if you’re stereotyping a whole group of people, it’s very negative.”

Donnelly’s issue with what she termed, the “lazy Irish 19th century stereotype” must be put into a global perspective, particularly regarding student culture. “It is not “healthy” but it’s not abnormal and it’s not specific to Ireland. Students across the world participate in unhealthy drinking habits, that’s just what happens.” Boulter, a Trinity History student from the UK also confirmed this comparison on encountering Irish student life:

“I was not surprised really, I think it is very similar.”

Their views come in light of last year’s EPIC The Irish Immigration Museum which used an AI image generator to conjure pictures of Irish outdated stereotypes. Drinking was referenced in every generated image.

A healthier path

For Kelly, it was important to look forwards, highlighting the path towards a “healthier” culture.

“I don’t think that Ireland will ever truly rid itself of its long existing drinking culture, but younger generations normalising non-excessive behaviours could make for a much healthier and more productive society.” He continued, adding that “if your body is telling you not to go out and get drunk, especially if you have had a night out recently, you should listen to it… the expectation to put your body through that multiple times per week is something that needs to be de-normalised. Drinking in a non-excessive way, and less often, can have huge benefits for one’s mental and physical health, and still allow you to join in on a night out… drinking plenty of water before bed has benefits for your sleep

quality and overall energy the next day”. Allen recognised the importance of not glorifying the stereotype. “I think in the UK too, everyone’s kind of proud of it” continuing: “I think the key is social drinking and moderate drinking, and looking out for your friends as well.” This includes those who are tee-totallers: “If you have a friend who doesn’t drink, make sure they don’t feel too coerced in it. Don’t

look at heavy drinking a this really glamorised hard thing, as opposed to having a few and really enjoying yourself.”

*This name has been changed for the purposes of anonymity.

The following supports are available for those who feel impacted by excessive drinking: Freephone 1800 459 459 for confidential information and support.

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“Free speech”: What place does it have on college campuses today?

Exploring the fine line between hate speech and free speech on campus amid Ireland crackdown

Kasia Holowka Contributing Writer

“Freedom of speech is at the heart of college life.”

This is the response Dean Céitinn, the student director for Free Speech Ireland (FSI) and an M.Sc student at Trinity, gave when asked what role free speech should play in academic institutions.

“That’s something that we’ve tried to express through our Trinity declaration on academic freedom and freedom of expression. I think arts universities have a rich history of producing characters that risk causing offence to wider society […] like Oscar Wilde, George Berkeley, Jonathan Firth, Thomas Davis. But [vital to] producing characters like this is the protection of open debate and academic freedom, and something that’s achieved through [a college’s] entry into institutional neutrality…” he continued.

Free speech is the ability to express any opinions without censorship or restraint. It has been argued to hold a pivotal role in a college setting, complementing the atmosphere of intellectual debate and activism which is fundamental to higher education and academic freedom. This in turn can enable greater open debate, where students and the faculty can utilise their expertise to discuss and challenge ideas and contemporary issuesmany of which are often new and controversial. Pro-free speech advocates emphasise its importance in ensuring that diverse viewpoints can be shared and debated in a place where students encounter a wide range of perspectives, often for the first time.

But with political discourse becoming even more polarised, and discriminatory language often infiltrating college campuses, the new upcoming controversial 2022 legislation called the Criminal Justice

(Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill will mark Ireland’s first hardline step towards criminalising hate speech in the wake of increasing right-wing tension.

Yet this first piece of dedicated legislation has met fierce criticism. Even across the Atlantic, figures such as Donald Trump Jr. and Elon Musk have attacked the bill for infringing on freedom of expression, which is constitutionally protected in Ireland. So, with “hate speech”, “free speech” and “freedom of expression” becoming increasingly harder to define, how do students and those most prone to crossing that line view these distinctions?

“Hate speech has a clear agenda and purpose, which is to incite hate against another person/group. Hate speech is unproductive and combative in nature,” Eve Leslie, English and History student at Trinity, said in conversation with Trinity News.

Another student, Ella Chepak, a History major, said that the difficulty in differentiating between the two arises because people, in her opinion, may disagree on what constitutes incitement or harm.

“Free speech allows for the expression of ideas and opinions, even if they are unpopular, whereas hate speech involves language that intentionally incites violence or discrimination against individuals or groups based on characteristics like race, religion, or gender. While free speech is essential for democracy, it must be balanced with the responsibility to avoid language that can lead to realworld harm or perpetuate inequality,” she explained.

On the other hand, Miquel Ripoll, Philosophy and Maths student, stated that he does not “believe there is any clear distinction” between the two, because “the root difference [between them] is given by social context which cannot be seen as ‘objective’”.

When asked about the current policies Trinity has in place regarding free speech, many voiced their concerns regarding the culture of censorship around the college that restricts free speech. They cited the SU’s recent fine of €214,000 by Trinity for its revenue lost as a result of student protest (despite not being pursued) as an example of students’ rights to peaceful protest on campus being restricted.

Céitinn, student director for FSI, a free speech advocacy

group, agreed that no topics should be off limits in university discussions.

“It’s fundamentally the role of being a university [to give platforms to open discussions].

I think universities are great instruments for the emergence of society, for academic and intellectual progress. And when we start to restrict other speech, it undermines the university’s capacity to do that.

I’m not aware of a single time that [restricting free speech] worked out in the long run,” he explained to Trinity News.

“Speaking on behalf of Free Speech Ireland,” Céitinn continued,

We would support the right of students to protest and to say what they believe - even if that view is hateful “

“we strongly support the right of free speech. We would support the right of students to protest and to say what they believe even if that view is hateful… I’d be concerned that maybe the culture of fear to speak openly about these issues, and censorship, has prevented either side from [engaging in a debate properly].

They assume the worst

[about one another] in a way. And I think, both sides obviously have legitimate concerns, and I think that, through open dialogue, they’d be able to realise that.”

The issue of free speech has become even more relevant following allegations of antisemitism levied against pro-Palestinian protestors across all college campuses. Yet, as Céitinn expressed, TCD should facilitate opportunities for the two sides to engage in debate rather than try and silence one of the sides. He continued, quoting the Kalven Report: “‘The University is the home and sponsor of critics; it is not itself the critic.’”

He went on to provide an example of how debates are conducted within FSI: “From my experience speaking to both people within FSI that are pro-Palestine and that are pro-Israel, on either side, it’s driven by hateful beliefs. They just have different concerns. And the only way for those to be reconciled is through open dialogue. And I would hope that would be facilitated, through the college.”

Regarding Ireland’s upcoming Hate Speech Bill, Céitinn expressed his concerns that it might add to the growing culture of hesitancy.

“[It is] very draconian… The qualification for conviction under the Hate Speech Bill is very broad and demands speculation… It doesn’t define what hate means… I think it will have a chilling effect, and I think that’s compounded by the university adding institutional neutrality. They’re only making a situation worse than fostering a culture of fear among students,” Céitinn continued.

“I know that there was a planned debate in DCU, on the Israel-Palestine [conflict], that

was cancelled last minute, and the debate still went ahead in a different venue off campus. And both sides were very civil, and both sides made interesting points,” Céitinn stated.

Not all students believe that the Hate Speech Bill will constrain their freedom of expression. Some think it presents an opportunity to promote respectful dialogue, although they are concerned that the bill might lead to people worrying about crossing legal boundaries, and as a result, not engaging in open debates.

As Tom Merton, Law student at Trinity, stated: “the symbolic weight of the Act could result in people being more careful of what they say in general, which might stifle debate just as much as it protects people from being hurt….[but] it’s not as easy as ‘if the act passes, free speech is over’ or the other extreme…”

On the role of universities themselves, Merton remarked: “It’s more up to the students than the university… I find it highly unlikely that hate speech would be a problem at Trinity, one of the most international universities in the world, with an overall extremely liberal community. Likewise can probably be said of many if not all universities in Ireland.”

Yet, as demonstrated, views continue to be clearly divided on several issues regarding the regulation of hate speech, but most fundamentally on what qualifies as hate speech. While some argue that there is a clear difference between freedom of expression and hate speech, others argue that the definition of the latter could be manipulated. It remains to be seen what impact the Hate Speech Bill could have upon free speech on campus, but one thing is for certain: this is sure to be a contentious issue in the coming years.

Dean Céitinn, speaking on behalf of Free Speech Ireland

PHOTO BY JIMENA ALVAREZ FOR TRINITY NEWS

Stop imposing TCDSU membership!

Sergei Levin Page 22

Editorial: A note to our readers Page

Uproar over CAO random selection offers an opportunity to address systemic issues

When this year’s Central Applications Office (CAO) offers were released at 2pm on Wednesday, August 28, the debate about random selection in Ireland’s higher education system resurfaced. But what exactly is random selection, and does it truly belong in a fair college admissions system?

The CAO system is responsible for undergraduate applications in Ireland, with admission to university courses based largely on points from the Leaving Certificate examinations. Each course has a fixed number of places, which determines the required points. For example, if a course has 50 places and there are 55 applicants the minimum points requirement is determined by the score of the 50th best applicant; if the 50th applicant achieved 520 points, then 520 becomes the minimum points needed to secure a place in that course. However, when multiple students achieve this score — say the 50th and 51st applicants — the CAO employs a random selection process. This means that even students who meet the points requirement might not secure a place if they are not selected in the random draw. Having recently gone through the CAO process myself, the thought of my potentially not having received a place in my course due to a lottery is unsettling. This concern has only grown in recent years; although the process of random selection has been in place in Ireland for many years, it gained more prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic when inflated grades led to

Nóra Collins Contributing Writer

more students achieving the maximum 625 points. In 2019, just 200 students accomplished this; now in 2024, that number has soared to around 1,000. This inflation has led to higher points requirements for many courses. In recent years, Trinity has seen a record number of applications, with nearly 11,000 students listing it as their first preference in 2024.

“ The surge applicationsin had led to increased competition for places, particularly high-demandin courses

This surge in applications has led to increased competition for places, particularly in highdemand courses. Six courses in Trinity were subject to random selection in 2024, with Dental Science even applying this method to students who achieved the maximum 625 points. Still, this was an improvement from 2021, when twenty-four courses used random selection, with three — Law and Political Science, Dental Science, and Management Science and Information Systems Studies — involving random selection at the 625-point level. This decline is certainly positive; nonetheless, it demonstrates that random selection remains a tool for managing demand.

The growing

competitiveness of the CAO process is also tied to broader issues of university funding. With a €307 million shortfall in core funding from the government, Irish universities are increasingly dependent on international student fees to stay afloat. Since international students pay significantly higher fees, institutions may prioritise them over CAO applicants, reducing the number of spots available for Irish students. This financial strain, combined with the already limited number of places in high-demand courses, intensifies competition for Irish students. The reliance on international revenue streams not only reduces opportunities for local students but makes access to highdemand courses even more competitive and uncertain.

For students who have spent years working towards a place in their chosen degree, the prospect of their future being determined by a random draw can be disheartening. The emotional toll of this system is palpable, as highlighted by the recent story of Sarah Kenny as reported by the Irish Times. Sarah secured 625 points in her Leaving Cert this year, only to miss out on her course in UCD due to random selection. Her experience is a reminder of how personal and painful the CAO process can be. When you have put everything into your education, the idea that your future could be determined by a draw feels deeply unfair.

In a recent statement, Trinity Vice-Provost Orla Sheils described the process of random selection as “a cruel arbiter when students have worked so hard”. As someone who has recently navigated this system, I agree. The traditional model of entry into university courses has been based on merit, measured by exams like the Leaving Certificate. However, with

increasing numbers of highachieving students applying for limited spots, even those with the best possible results find themselves disappointed. Random selection seems to undermine the very essence of fairness by disregarding individual achievement.

Yet, I also recognise that random selection addresses a complex problem. With more CAO applicants than available places, some form of selection is inevitable. Traditional meritbased systems have their own flaws, often favouring those with access to better resources, thereby perpetuating inequality. Random selection can be seen as a way to equalise access.

A common solution offered to solve the issue of random selection in competitive courses is to simply increase the number of places available. While this approach may seem effective, it faces significant obstacles, especially regarding accommodation. Vice-Provost Orla Sheils also highlighted in her statement that Trinity is already grappling with a severe shortage of student housing, exacerbated by Dublin’s broader accommodation crisis. In fact, the Deloitte Property Index 2023 showed that Dublin’s rental market is the most expensive in Europe. Expanding student numbers without a corresponding increase in accommodation would only intensify these challenges.

Instead of short-term solutions such as immediately increasing places, it is obvious that significant investment is required to address the underlying issues. Prioritising investment in student accommodation is crucial to ensure that any expansion in college places is sustainable. This includes building new residences and making existing housing more affordable. Though these investments will require significant resources,

they are investments we must be willing to make if we want to provide fair opportunities for all students. Additionally, investing in vocational training can help alleviate some of the pressure on third-level institutions by offering alternative, equally valuable pathways. In recent decades, Ireland has seen a cultural shift that equates success with obtaining a university degree. In 1991, only 14% of the population aged 15 and over had a thirdlevel qualification; by 2022, this figure had risen to 48%. However, this raises the question: is it truly necessary for nearly half of the population to pursue a university degree? Many industries are in desperate need of skilled workers, and yet vocational paths like apprenticeships often remain undervalued. With over seventy apprenticeship programs available in Ireland across competitive sectors such as engineering and healthcare, these routes offer viable alternatives to traditional university degrees. Investing in these routes could help balance demand, reduce pressure on university places, and decrease our reliance on random selection. Ultimately, random selection is a symptom of deeper issues within our education system. Rather than accepting random selection as the new norm, we should use it as a catalyst for broader reform — reforms that include investing in facilities and reevaluating the role of third-level education. If we address these broader issues, random selection may no longer be necessary. But until then, it remains a stopgap in a CAO system struggling to meet the demands of modern Irish society. As someone who has gone through this process, I can only hope that future students will see a fairer system where their hard work truly pays off.

Stop imposing TCDSU membership!

None of the current students ever applied to be members of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), but all students are automatically enrolled in the SU and have to pay for their membership. I am surprised by such disregard for common sense and the law at Trinity. I won’t burden the reader with juridical references, as there are various legal precedents in Ireland confirming the right of individuals to associate and dissociate themselves as they choose. For example, “Under the Constitution, a citizen is free to join or not to join an association or union as he pleases”. A student may not want to be associated with the SU for various reasons. I will outline just a few of these, although mandatory membership is inherently wrong regardless.

“ TCDSU has repeatedly threatened and caused financial and reputational damage to the college

TCDSU has repeatedly threatened and caused financial and reputational damage to the college, whose students’

Sergei Levin

Contributing Writer

interests it was supposed to defend. Students may well question why they must fund, let alone be members of, an organisation that is ready to intimidate their college under any pretext its leadership fancies. Take, for instance, the confrontation over the minuscule 2% fee increase for some completely voluntary MA programmes, which is well below the Irish inflation rate. Students are obliged to contribute to the SU budget, which exceeds €1 million. Yet, there is no clear information on how much SU membership actually costs. When I asked the SU and the academic registry, I was told that I needed to calculate the amount myself as there is no fixed number. Furthermore, the SU’s expenditures are a mystery to anyone who tries to read their yearly financial report, as they group all spending into broad categories like salaries and officers' expenses without providing further clarification. Effectively the SU forces students to fund their enormous budget without even caring to clearly outline how much the membership costs or bothering to explain their spending.

The SU has engaged in political activities that many students find controversial and which are contrary to its constitution. It is unclear why

students need an email from the SU telling them how to vote in a national referendum. Students eligible to vote are adults and can decide for themselves. Another issue is the SU’s preference for a divisive political agenda. Waving a Soviet flag at a student event may feel edgy and cool for some, but for others, it represents tens of millions of people who were killed, imprisoned, or deported, and it brings back tragic family memories.

In the 2023/24 academic year, attempts to officially remove constitutional restraints on the political activity of the SU failed several times. This year, they stubbornly push the failed proposal again. The aim apparently is to create a peculiar political organisation with mandatory membership and no opt-out option. Inevitably, 20,000 students will always have different political views, and an attempt to unite everyone under one banner is naïve and, in fact, divisive as it marginalises dissenting students.The main issue with the current SU, for me, is their false pretence of representing all students while aggressively disregarding critical voices. For instance, I attended a student council meeting where a motion against the SU president was proposed for breaching the SU Constitution. After hours

dedicated to other issues, those in favour of or against the motion were given five minutes per group to present their arguments. Then, within the next two minutes, the SU president and president-elect, along with their supporters, simply walked out of the room, breaking the quorum. This was rude and disrespectful. How is the SU supposed to represent students if they can’t even listen to them for five minutes at an official meeting?

The SU’s statements in the press are a self-praising echo chamber about their victories. But such 'victories' were mainly against the college or their fellow students, not over some alien invaders from Mars. Currently, there is a great imbalance of power between dissatisfied students and the SU. On one hand, we have a team of well-compensated officers with informational resources who have no classes for the whole year; on the other hand, there are unconnected students loaded with their studies. If a regular student today wants to change something in the SU, they will face either a countercampaign or an informational blockade from the SU. When an impeachment of the president was proposed—a significant sign of distrust—it was ignored by the SU email list, even though they sent

dozens of emails for other campaigns or pizza discounts.

One might reply that the reasons I mentioned are just the product of recent unfortunate circumstances. However, the issue of mandatory union membership has a long history, as a quick Google search can confirm. Students at Trinity and across Ireland have aspired to freedom of association for many years. TCD and the SU are long overdue in upholding this basic right for students. Some students dislike the SU and seek to reform it or simply opt out, while the majority of students don’t care what is going on there. Voter turnout for the last sabbatical election was around 13%, suggesting that most students are merely formally listed as members of the SU, and some may not even be aware that they are members.The solution is to offer membership as an option to students, allowing them to choose whether or not they want to join. Similar to TCD societies, those who wish to join can apply and pay a specified amount each year. This would be a much fairer system than collecting funds from students who never wanted to be members of the SU. Moreover, implementing this change could potentially encourage the SU to be more responsive to students' real needs and concerns.

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Ireland’s church-run schools were built to last,

yet it’s our parents’ generation who are shaking their

foundations

In the early hours of the morning of the first day back at term in Gonzaga College SJ, Jesuit priest and longtime English teacher Fr Kennedy O’Brien died unexpectedly. As I was a student in his form class, in which he assumed a mentorship role over 23 young teenage boys, we were told of his untimely death before the wider college community was informed in a school-wide assembly in the chapel. This took place in our compulsory religion class. I, however, suspected something grave was taking place beforehand, as I had accidentally walked in on my history teacher crying in the company of our headmaster the class previously. At first, a mundane January morning when the dew would rest on the grass of the cricket pavilion until lunchtime, it came to represent a staunch shift in my secondary school experience, and I assume that of my classmates as well. Through the looking glass, it marked the death of the last Jesuit priest who taught full-time in one of Ireland’s five Jesuit schools. Of course, it was a significant event – however a tragedy that read like a Paul Durcan poem was more monumental than that for us. I think Kennedy’s talent in life was his ability to give you no doubt in your mind that he was completely focused on you and your needs at that point in time, so on the day he died everyone was in the eye of their own storm. While the school administration was scrambling to decide a course of action to help us cope with the news, teachers

Stephen Conneely Deputy Editor

were consoling students crying in the corridors while other boys stood still, in shock. It goes without saying that I was very privileged to have gone to the school that I did, and moreover to have benefitted from a generally positive experience there – socially, academically, spiritually, and in terms of cocurricular activities. In private, religious, all-boys secondary schools in South Dublin, many men cannot say the same.

“ This is just the latest episode in the drip feed of information about clerical abuse in our society throughout the 20th century

Thanks to the recent scoping inquiry, in which nearly 2,400 allegations of sexual abuse were made across over 300 religious-run schools, Ireland is now privy to the lived experiences of many survivors. Yet this is just the latest episode in the drip feed of information about clerical abuse in our society throughout the 20th century. We have an established timeline of revelations that are now seared into our collective memory, such as the mass grave of babies in Tuam and the RTÉ documentary Blackrock Boys, although

many of these atrocities took place in tandem. There was even a circular sin economy of the Catholic Church’s abuses in Ireland – boys in Willow Park and Blackrock College were being sexually abused by Spiritan brothers and lay staff, while the school outsourced housekeeping to unmarried mothers being forced to work in the Donnybrook Magdalene Laundry, where they washed the boarding house’s bedsheets. While it is paramount that these allegations, the vast majority of which are highly credible, receive the respect of being recognised in a government inquiry and by society more broadly, what cannot be ignored is the fact that the pervasive issue of sexual abuse in religious schools was an open secret in many communities, ones that turned a blind eye to the physical abuse their children were suffering due to their “bad behaviour” in class. The scoping inquiry is shocking, but far from surprising. I don’t need to write that the Church knew about these abusers and turned a blind eye, or indeed facilitated their perversions – this, we all know. However, across the inquiry’s five volumes and close to one thousand pages, the depth of investigation is second to none, the details included in the inquiry were earth-shattering to experience then and are bloodcurdling to read now. I can’t bring myself to type them word for word, but in the interest of conveying the horrors of the inquiry, I believe it’s important to write what I can stomach. Survivors spoke about being unable to cycle home from school after being raped between classes, of being exposed to a priest’s grey pubic hair, of being told that if they told anyone of their abuse that their mother would not get into Heaven, of being assaulted behind a piano during a music class full of young students, of not changing underwear for a week for fear of the blood that had dried underneath the cloth, the list goes onendlessly quoting directly and indirectly for over 200 pages.

What separates this most recent revelation of the Church’s abuses in Ireland from the rest is our ability to make tangible reforms to make amends. In relation to the Magdalene Laundries and the mother and baby homes, for example, all we can do now is attempt to reconcile with the atrocities of the past, provide redress to survivors and punish the perpetrators - but we can’t change what was done.

Nobody doubts that the onus to repent for these atrocities is the Church’s, however there still exists a fight for the Government parties in power at the time to confess to their part in the facilitation of abuse. Many of us have recently left the schools named in the inquiry. Some of our parents graduated from them some 30 or 40 years ago. We have the agency to decide the type of education our future families will receive, and although some may opt for the most conservative of routes, it’s fair to say that the majority would most likely prefer a secular and traditional blend. When it comes to abuse in

Catholic schools in Ireland, be it physical, emotional or sexual, through day-to-day resilience and broader ambitions, our parents’ generations quietly started the movement which we unknowingly benefitted from during our school days. I cannot stress the gratitude I have for my parents sending me to the school that they did for the fact that explicitly Catholic ideals were not forced upon us, but instead, we were given space to grow from the Jesuit ‘cura personalis’. Moreover, Ireland has a unique education system, especially in comparison to the United States, in which on paper parents have total choice over the school that their child attends - be this ethos of the school or language of instruction - parents are not mandated to send their child to a secondary school based on their postcode. Here we can still see room to improve. Progress is rarely linear, however from the position we currently find ourselves in – a vaguely secular school system partly run by religious orders – the opportunity to reform is ours for the taking.

Our friends are leaving: The government must compete to keep young people in Ireland

Recently published statistics from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that emigration from Ireland is at its highest rate since 2015; in the year to April, a whopping 69,000 people left Ireland’s shores. 10,600 of those moved to Australia, the highest number since 2013, shortly after Ireland slowly started to recover from its worst recession on record. One would be hard-pressed to find someone in Ireland who has not been affected by emigration. Indeed, this is a nation of emigrants, but does it have to be? The Irish Times reported that 68% of people aged 25 to 44 in Ireland still live with their parents, and not coincidentally, 41% of people aged 18 to 33 are either actively planning or strongly considering emigrating. When there is no longer the promise of being able to own a house and start a family, can we blame young people for looking elsewhere?

So where are people moving? While a third want to move to another EU country, for 61% of them moving to a country where English is the first language is preferable. 29% are planning to move to Australia and New Zealand, 23% to North America and only 9% to the UK. While it seems obvious why young people are not interested in moving to the UK, as its economic situation is remarkably similar to Ireland’s, we must look at why Australia and North America are such popular destinations, to figure out what Ireland could do to keep young people here. After all, most of the young people are highly educated and skilled individuals, many of whom feel as if they are undervalued and overworked in Ireland, hence why they go looking for something better. It is especially popular for recent graduates of healthcare degrees such as medicine and nursing to move to Australia. They are asked why in a relatively recent

Raina Bosniac Contributing Writer

Irish Times article and the answer is quite simple: worklife balance. We therefore have a situation where we as a country are paying for the education of critical healthcare workers, just for other countries to benefit from it; when faced with a choice between poor pay and non-existent work-life balance in Ireland, or sandy beaches and competitive salaries in Australia, the answer is clear. In 1991, only 15% of those over 15 had a third-level qualification; today, that number is at 50%, but what do we have to show for it? Figures showing that 68% of those in their late 20s still live with their parents show little to no promise for those wishing to begin their adult lives and start a family of their own. After paying a pretty penny in taxes to fund the HSE, Irish people can expect to be on waiting lists for months, if not sometimes years, for routine check-ups or mental health appointments. When young, highly sought after, highly educated, young people leave Ireland, it is the Irish people who suffer the most. Markedly more educated than older generations, young people have not been given the same opportunities as previous generations. Higher education was presented as an opportunity for prosperity,

however it has since become a mere expectation, not rewarding the hard work and intelligence it takes to attain a third-level qualification.

“ The governement must reward the hard work and ingenuity of our peers and make good on promisesthe of higher education

The government must reward the hard work and ingenuity of our peers, and make good

on the promises of higher education. Our friends leaving for Australia, Canada, and the UK want to contribute to this country, but they also rightly expect fair compensation for their efforts. Irish young people are some of the most highly educated in the world, and we must take seriously the fact that they are highly in demand. Instead of accepting high emigration as a fact of life, the government should aggressively compete with the rest of the world to provide the best benefits possible. We didn’t spend an enormous amount of taxpayer money out of a sense of altruism for larger, more well off countries, so why lay down and let it happen? We expect no less than a government that will fight tooth and nail for us to stay here; we want to feel valued by this country. It is certainly uncontroversial to say that it is saddening to see so many young people leaving Ireland, but it is not difficult to understand why they do so. Ireland does offer many opportunities, great universities and employment options, but that is clearly not enough. The conversation must evolve, however, away from empty platitudes around the housing and health crises to a demand for a return on our investment in our own

“ The conversation must however,evolve, away from empty platitudes... We want our friends to return to a country that values them

education, as well as to point out the wastefulness of our government paying to educate its citizens, just for other countries to benefit. We want our friends to return to a country that values them.

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A note to our new readers: Welcome, class of 2028

Dear undergraduate class of 2028 –welcome to Trinity. Many of you will be relieved to have survived a treacherous lottery system to land a place on your dream course, while others, like some of us once upon a time, will have ended up here on the back of a last minute whim during the CAO change-ofmind window. Due to various global events, most of you will have had a rather less-thanorthodox secondary education, and a good deal will have arrived here from far outside the realm of the Irish education system. Some of you may not see it through to the end, but don’t worry, we’re glad you’re here in the meantime.

However you ended up here, you will quickly come to realise that you have ended up in a unique place among college campuses in this country. Yes, the buildings are a bit older, the location is a bit city-centrey-er, and you’ll only spot tracksuit pants within a mile of the Arts Block if they’ve been thrifted in a kilo sale. There are many things that give the place

a certain distinct feeling. But above all else, Trinity is a place of outstanding commitment to life outside the classroom (even if not always life in the classroom, and sometimes, even to its detriment). Those of you who moved into Trinity Hall over the weekend will already have gotten a flavour of just how serious Trinity students are about their clubs, societies, journals, magazines and, naturally, newspapers. Of course these things are to be found on every campus across the country. But only in Trinity will you find a dedication to extracurricular activities, be it creative, political, social or some combination of all three, to be the rule rather than the exception among the vast majority of one’s peers. I strongly encourage you to throw yourself into one or two or ten societies as you settle in. You never know where it might take you – when I wrote my first article for this paper in 2021, I certainly didn’t.

Trinity News has gone from strength to strength in recent years, quickly becoming Ireland’s most read student

“ Monitoring levers of power, Collegein and beyond will remain a central pillar of mission,ourand we have never been better poised to do so

paper, as well as the most followed student publication across the UK and Ireland. This year we have added an investigative team to our award-winning news section to add even more depth to our coverage of the issues that matter most to our readers.

Our returning readers may recognise a familiar name among our reporters; we look forward to working together in unearthing stories that some would rather remain buried. Monitoring levers of power, in College and beyond will remain a central pillar of our mission, and we have never been better poised to do so.

However, we also want this paper to be a time capsule of your ultimately very brief time in Trinity. This paper aims to capture just a snapshot of the vast and rich student experience mentioned above, and to highlight every reason there is to be glad to be a Trinity student, to be standing in this place at this moment in time. From unmissable society events to unforgettable sporting achievements, we will put it on the record and into your hands

every three weeks. This paper, created by the students, for the students, is a collaboration through and through, and we invite you to be a part of it. We invite you to get involved as writers, editors, photographers, designers and illustrators, but most importantly, we invite you to be activated readers. We hope that you will engage fully with the content of this publication, and will evaluate and interrogate not only the issues we cover, but our stories themselves. We encourage responses to any and all articles contained within the paper in the form of letters to the editor.

We wish you the very best as you begin this four-to-fiveto-who-knows-how-manyyears journey on this campus. However long it might be, it will be over much sooner than you realise – so enjoy it. And also read Trinity News.

Letters to the editor may be sent by email to letters@ trinitynews.ie. All letters must be sent from a College email address should include the writer’s name, degree programme and year group.

SciTech

Fine-tuning

Formula Trinity

Alice Gogarty

Page 30

School of physics celebrates 300 years

A look back on three centuries of teaching

Alice Gogarty SciTech Editor

This year marks the 300th anniversary of Trinity’s school of physics. The school, like College itself, has undergone tremendous change since its inception in 1724. Let’s wind back the clock three hundred years and see where we land.

The Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Experimental and Natural Philosophy, College’s first chair of physics, was established in 1724. It was named after philanthropist landowner Erasmus Smith, who funded three other Trinity professorships in mathematics, Hebrew, and history. Physics or ‘experimental philosophy’ was still an emerging discipline in the early 18th century. There were not many professorships of physics in Europe at the time, and the establishment of the Erasmus chair marked College’s recognition of it as a worthy subject of study.

The first Erasmus Smith professor was Richard Helsham, a chair of ‘physick’ (medicine) described by none other than Jonathan Swift as “the most eminent physician of this city and kingdom”. Helsham had previously given (unpaid) lectures in experimental philosophy, favouring new methods and learning over traditional mediaeval approaches. His range of professional interests show just how different the academic system was then. Departments were nonexistent, specialisation uncommon: general interdisciplinary university degrees instead encouraged staff and students to be polymaths. Matthew Young, sixth Erasmus chair, published on algebra, hydrodynamics, and Gaelic poetry. How’s that for eclectic!

Specialisation did start creeping into physics teaching in the early 19th century when Bartholomew Lloyd (chair 1822-1831) introduced moderatorships. In 1871 John

Robert Leslie (chair 1870-1881) added the moderatorships choices of ‘Experimental Science’ (physics, chemistry, minerology), or ‘Natural Science’ (geology, zoology, and botany). These would last until 1955.

Things became more department-like during G.F. Fitzgerald’s professorship (1881-1901). Attitudes to physics were changing, becoming more professionalised. Fitzgerald began giving undergraduates practical physics classes in a disused chemistry lab, a big step forward as the course had had no proper practical component until then. Class sizes grew to the jam-packed Fresher lectures we know today as other disciplines (engineering, medicine, teaching, etc.) were encouraged to take physics courses. The faculty operated from the Museum building then, and conditions were cramped. Fitzgerald pushed for a new laboratory but died in 1901 before it could be built.

Geologist and fellow physicist John Joly continued the effort: the lab was finished in 1906, just five years after Fitzgerald’s death, and the building renamed in his honour in 2001.

Celebrated for the FitzgeraldLorentz contraction (a theory about objects moving at the speed of light later corroborated by Einstein’s special relativity), Fitzgerald had also been known on campus for something rather more eccentric: his ‘flying machines’. Anecdotes tell how he would often appear on the cricket pitch with a great winged contraption strapped to his arms and attempt to take off by sprinting across the grass. The general public crowded outside the Nassau Street railings, trying to catch

“Fitzgerald began physicsgiving classes in a disused chemistry lab

a glimpse of this bizarre sight. One of Fitzgerald’s machines hung in the Museum Building until a mischievous student set fire to it in the 1930s; all that remains now is the receipt.

Around 1906 the physics department awarded a degree to one of the first ‘steamboat ladies’, an Irishwoman named Edith Stoney. Stoney had achieved a First at Cambridge but was barred from graduating because she was – well, a ‘she’. (In fact, Cambridge didn’t allow its female students to graduate until 1948). The faculty granted her a BA and an MA on the merit of her Cambridge work. Stoney went on to become the first woman medical physicist. Her father was alumnus George Stoney, who coined the term ‘electron’.

Trinity’s second century of physics teaching drew to a close at a turbulent time in Irish history. Despite the new laboratory, research had stagnated after Fitzgerald’s death. A 1920 report recommended £30,000 be granted annually to Oxford, Cambridge, and Trinity universities, but post-Partition the Free State Dáil rejected the grant, leaving Trinity’s funding desperately low compared to its Oxbridge sisters.

The faculty scraped by. Cambridge graduate Robert Ditchburn was elected Erasmus Smith chair in 1929. Ditchburn oversaw an array of reforms to the physics course during his 17year term, including doubling final year students’ research time and replacing much of the theoretical physicists’ experimental work with further reading on developing topics like quantum mechanics.

The department’s famed pitch-drop experiment was set up in 1944. One of the world’s oldest continuous experiments, it demonstrates that tar pitch is a slow-flowing liquid (about two million times thicker than honey). A drop falls about once a decade and was finally caught on camera in 2013.

Ditchburn’s successor was Waterford man and soon-tobe Nobel prize-winner Ernest Walton (chair 1946-1974).

Despite lack of funding, the department grew as Walton recruited fresh staff and updated undergraduate syllabuses with new discoveries in things like nuclear and solid-state physics.

In 1951 Walton and colleague John Cockroft received the Nobel Prize in physics for

their experimental verifying Einstein’s special relativity (e=mc2, you know the one).

This was, naturally, a great honour, however it might be surprising to know that the College Board’s meeting minutes never recognise or even mention the prize. This is because of a Victorianstyle administration where tradition meant that if an award wasn’t given by College itself, the Board would not refer to it. Unlucky Walton should have waited a few months: in June of 1952, new Provost A.J. McConnell overthrew the old order and instated an updated, less archaic system. (Walton does have his plaque now though, set proudly by the doors of the Fitzgerald building).

So the mid-century crept by. 1970 saw ‘the Ban’ lifted by the Church, finally allowing Catholic students into Trinity. Student numbers rose, demographics changed, and the physics department found a new lease of life: Brian Henderson became chair in 1971, bringing over a large amount of equipment from his fellowship in Keele and securing an unprecedented £30,000 grant from College; Senior Sophisters’ set lab experiments were scrapped in place of the project work still done today; numerous new staff arrived, among them Michael Coey, Ireland’s most-cited scientist and Erasmus chair 20072012, and Collette McDonagh, Trinity’s first ever woman physics PhD student (better late than never). Henderson also co-founded Physoc, the student physics society.

In the 80s a rotating headship was introduced,

meaning the Erasmus Smith professor no longer had to be Head of School. By this time, the department had evolved into the research group-based structure it has today. Erasmus professor Dennis Weaire recruited many names still associated with the department, like Stefan Hutzler, Louise Bradley, and current Erasmus professor Jonathan Coleman. More attention began to be paid to the history and heritage of the school during this period: portraits and old instruments started to be put on display in the Fitzgerald building, as seen today.

The 2010s saw projects like the Walton Club, the department’s outreach program for schoolchildren, set up, along with Eilis O’Connell’s eye-catchingly silver ‘Apples and Atoms’ sculpture which now sits by the corner of the Fitzgerald building.

For administrative reasons, the Erasmus Smith professorship stood vacant for ten years until the appointment of Jonathan Coleman two years ago, just in time to celebrate the 2024 tercentenary.

Here’s to the long and winding road of departmental change and evolution: it’s been quite a journey, now may it ever continue.

Three weeks of celebrations took place last April, comprising lectures, workshops, and a banquet for staff and students. Many of the talks are available on the department’s website, including an interview with physicist Marion Walton, Ernest Walton’s daughter. For more information see tcd.ie/ physics/300. Thanks to Dr. Eric Finch for his research on the history of the department.

PHOTO BY LUKE PÄ TZOLD FOR TRINITY NEWS

Fine-tuning Formula Trinity

The electronics involved in building Trinity’s student race car

Alice Gogarty SciTech Editor

The race car built by Trinity students for the Formula Trinity project has been much talked about on campus since the project launched. This year the team’s car successfully passed all the “scrutineering” tests required to compete in the annual Formula Student event at the famous UK Silverstone racing circuit. This made Trinity one of just 18 teams to fully qualify, and the only Irish team to boot. But what exactly goes into making a machine like this? Well, let’s just say it takes more than grease and motor oil to build a race car. Trinity News talked to Formula Trinity’s electronics team to get a better understanding of the tech involved in the project. Here’s what we learned.

All cars, electric vehicles or not, need a system of electronics and wiring to run, and the Formula Trinity race car is no different. A lot of work goes into making sure the wiring is well laid and the systems well programmed so that the team can make physical repairs and digital adjustments without too much hassle. The actual tech involved is important but not hugely complicated: it essentially allows the engine to run and the team to perform the data monitoring and diagnostic

checks key to the upkeep of a race car. So how does that all work?

The heart of the operation is a small programmable module called the Electronics Control Unit (ECU). This is the central nervous system of the car. The ECU tells the engine how to run, and the fuel injectors and spark plugs when to fire. It is also plugged into sensors that monitor the car’s “vitals”: things like engine temperature and revolutions per minute (RPM), AKA how fast the engine is spinning.

The ECU itself is programmable, meaning parameters like those just listed can be adjusted remotely using a computer. For example, the car’s “spark advance” may be tweaked so that the spark plugs ignite at an earlier point in the engine’s piston movement. If the plugs fire too late (or too soon) in the process the engine’s performance is affected, so the ability to finetune the performance by editing this parameter and others like it using the ECU is key to ensuring the car is raceready.

In order to actually make these adjustments the team connects the ECU to a program called Tuner Studio which they then use to program the available parameters. To do this a computer is plugged into the ECU while the car is stationary (when the team is at the workshop, for example). An alternate method is to connect the unit to the program via. Bluetooth. Using a Bluetooth connection means the computer can be connected to the ECU while the car is running, allowing the team to monitor the engine performance and make adjustments to the parameters as the car is driven in real-time.

As well as the ECU and engine electronics, the Formula Student competition rules require the car to have a builtin safety circuit. In the Formula Trinity car, this safety circuit consists of several sensors and three “E stops” (Emergency stops AKA Big Red Buttons). These are all wired “in series”, meaning that any break in the circuit shuts the whole system down – ie the driver or the team can hit any of the Big Red Buttons to kill the engine in an emergency. The other elements of the circuit include a master switch which is the first thing connected to the battery and kills the engine power when flipped; an inertia switch that functions similarly to the master switch in the case of a crash; and the Brake Over Travel Switch (BOTS) which is triggered if the brake system fails to apply enough pressure. The engine itself comes from a Honda CBF600 motorbike. As it is an internal combustion

type and not an electric engine, the electronics team’s main concerns are the ECU and the safety circuit the competition rules require to be installed. Most of the original sensors in the engine have been kept, along with the spark coils and injectors, but the stock ECU was replaced and all the wiring done was from scratch by the electronics team. After sourcing wires and additional sensors from a local supplier, the team painstakingly built the wiring system – which forms a large loop-like structure connecting back into the ECU – and fit it into the body of the car. In previous years, the ECU

itself was located at the back of the car beside the engine, but for the latest competition, the team chose to move it to a box just above the driver’s knee area where it now lives for better access. Making it all look neat is the cherry on top but that neatness does become important when repairs or adjustments need to be made. So, dear reader, hopefully this article has shed some light on the technology involved in building a student race car. Or maybe you now have more questions than when we started. If that’s the case, have no fear: the race (and year) has only just begun!

PHOTO COURTESY OF FORMULA TRINITY

A Climate Co+ Centre: Hope in a cloud of confusion

A look into a promising new Trinity research centre

Róisín Long Contributing Writer

From dismal green weeks to carboncreating investors, College has given its students multiple grounds for their recent accusations of greenwashing – the act of using misleading claims to make an organisation seem more environmentally friendly than it is. To combat this damaging accusation, College seems to have just one remaining saving grace: the Climate+ Co-Centre. So what is this centre and how will it improve College’s place in the race against climate change?

The Climate+ Co-Centre is an environmental research facility headquartered by College in partnership with 13 other research and academic institutions across the UK and Ireland, those being Queen’s University Belfast, University of Reading, Newcastle University, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Ulster University, University of Limerick, Atlantic Technological University, University College Dublin, Dublin City University, University College Cork, University of Galway and Maynooth University. The centre comes from a €41.3m grant from the Irish Government, the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and UK Research Innovation on the basis that over an initial 6 years, researchers from a wide range of disciplines in these partner institutions will work together to find novel ways to help mitigate the damage done on our climate, water quality, and biodiversity levels.

Immediately, there appears to be one familiar controversy. The centre will receive more than 30% of its funding from over 30 industry partners who have not yet been publicly named. However, it is intended for College to assist these stakeholders, whoever they may be, to “identify and validate the innovations needed to thrive in a climate, nature and water-friendly world”, according to College

itself. There are even 4 specific areas that are going to be addressed with these industry partners: “1. Sustainable agri-food transitions; 2. Sustainable communities & livelihoods; 3. Assessing risks & opportunities; and 4. Investing in carbon & nature, in forestry, peatlands, grasslands and coastal habitats.” It seems then that College may combat any further accusations of greenwashing by intending to make real progress and having some achievable, worthwhile goals.

Not only are there plans for research and innovation across these areas of concern, but researchers also intended for policy development to stem from this. Amy Taggart, the leader of College’s Climate+ grant application team, mentioned in a press release that one of the main ambitions of the centre would be the introduction of a Rapid Policy Response Unit. Taggart also manages the All Island Climate and Biodiversity Research Network (AICBRN), who will assist Climate+ to “respond rapidly to policy within Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain”.

This is all essential research, as even the most selfish will agree that handing a broken planet down to future generations will ultimately lead to their demise. If the study of biology tells us one thing, it is that everything is connected and that absolutely nothing can survive on its own, not even humans. As Professor Yvonne Buckley, professor of zoology at College and co-director of the centre puts it: “It is clear from the scientific evidence that business as usual is no longer an option.” So what stage are the researchers currently at?

The centre was officially announced in November 2023, with activities formally commencing in January this year. It is still early days in terms of research, so no papers or findings have yet been published and there hasn’t been any updates on what exactly is being done. However, stakeholders in the form of researchers, investors and academics gathered in person for the first time in May for two days to network and strategise. As mentioned in a College press release, project leads discussed some research themes, including “projections; monitoring; enabling fair transformations; evidence discovery and integration; sustainable agrifood transitions; sustainable communities and livelihoods; investing in carbon and nature”.

To the untrained eye,

these topics seem like groundbreaking new ideas that are unique to this research team, but that isn’t exactly the case. While of course it is very important to keep discussing and debating these important topics, they are ones that have already been mentioned in countless conferences, brainstorms and popular nature shows, from COP28 to any recent David Attenborough documentary. It’s clear then that the focus of this research centre should not be on trying to reinvent the wheel, but on adapting the information that already exists to tailor specifically to Ireland, the UK, and the partner industries that the Climate+ researchers intend to work with.

It has been suggested by the award-winning grant team’s introductory article that the intended Rapid Policy Response Unit will comply with both the findings and suggestions of the most recent IPCC report and the Kunming-Montreal biodiversity framework, the former being a study from the section of the UN that assesses climate change and all the science that goes with it, and the latter being a document from 2022 that sets out in detail the goals we should work towards within certain time frames to halt biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. It is a very positive and encouraging sign that these seem to be the inspiration of Climate+. Even the timeframes work out well, with one of the KunmingMontreal goals being to have 30% of our land and oceans to be conserved by 2030, 6 years from the opening of the centre, which will be funded, as mentioned above, for 6 years.

All of the science tells us that this is the decade in which we must act; there is no more room for apathy. College should be proud that it was active in this hour of need, however there is still much work to be done if real change is to be achieved in a short amount of time. Research on how much stress we can put on our planet before its tipping point may be interesting to some, but regulating and even preventing the activities that would put us there in the first place would be much more beneficial in the long run.

With the Climate+ research centre, College now has all the tools it needs to achieve something great, provided there is also the passion and diligence to achieve it before it is too late. Hopefully this collaboration across land and sea will help restore our planet in the best way our university knows how: by the power of academia.

5 science books to kickstart the year

Alice Gogarty SciTech Editor

Documenting the ecological harm caused by widespread use of the insecticides, Carson’s damning criticism of the chemical industry and 1960s public policy rocked the public opinion and led to an overhaul of US pesticide policy. A seminal text about the powerful influence humans have on the natural environment, Silent Spring remains essential reading for anyone concerned with the state of our planet today.

Consider this: the Earth as a living, breathing organism, and us a part of that whole. Today it is not too unusual to think of the Earth as a kind of self-regulating system, however at the time this theory – Lovelock’s “Gaia” hypothesis – revolutionised the way we think about our world. Now more than ever Gaia is an important reminder that we are part of something bigger: a complex system that connects all forms of life and matter on Earth.

In this exploration of the quantum physics of time Italian physicist Carlo Rovelli takes the reader right to the edge of current research in clear, wellflowing prose, making for an enjoyable read. Readers less versed in the physics of it all will find that Rovelli links these mind-bending theories with philosophy and art, drawing them all together with his infectious sense of wonder at the human condition, and will leave you with wonder.

A story of the cosmic evolution of our world, told by astronomer Carl Sagan, charts the journey from dust and nothingness to consciousness, science, and civilisation. Written after his acclaimed documentary series, Cosmos is a curious layperson’s guide to complex scientific subjects. Philosophical quotes dotted throughout the book serve as reminders that science does not stand alone in the universe: it is connected to all aspects of life.

In this book, philosopher Mary Midgley explores the many ways Darwin’s theory of natural selection has been interpreted and misinterpreted in order to promote the view of nature and human nature as fuelled by self-interest. Midgley argues that human motivation should not and cannot be reduced to selfish individualism: the world is not so simple. All in all, a great read for those interested in the philosophy of scientic theories.

A year to remember for Trinity Sailing Jane Prendergast Page 31

Running on fumes: The quarterlife crisis marathon

A comment on the uptake of distance running among young people

Matthew Keeley Sports Editor

Sweat, spit, blood, tears. I collapse to the ground in anguish, panting pitifully in my local public park as neighbours and dog-walkers watch on with distress and dismay. I am equally convinced that my legs are going to fall off as I am that, at any impending moment, I’ll be vomiting up the one and a half litres of chocolate protein milk that I chugged just moments ago. I am, of course, training for a marathon.

Marathon running has emerged as the latest fitness trend amongst young adults, both in Ireland and internationally. It seems that if you aren’t already training for a marathon, or at least a half-

marathon, then you definitely know someone who is—and won’t shut up about it. So why are young people turning to distance running? Is it purely for exercise? Validation? Or could it be a symptom of the so-called “quarter-life crisis”, as directionless college graduates desperately seek a somewhat tangible goal in a world that is becoming ever more unaffordable and unattainable?

Undoubtedly, one of the main draws of distance running, particularly for cashstrapped college graduates and young professionals, is its comparatively low cost. As sports club memberships and gym fees become harder for young people to afford, running emerges as a far cheaper, simpler and more practical alternative.

A 2018 Deloitte study found that gym costs in Ireland are an average €45 per month, the highest of any EU country and second highest of all countries surveyed, with only Switzerland being more expensive. Considering the impact of inflation over the past six years, these costs have likely only risen further.

While there’s still a wide array of expensive running gear, gadgets and gizmos that perhaps the more dedicated

runner might invest in, theoretically, all you need to get started is a pair of good running shoes, some shorts, and a top you’re willing to let get covered in sweat.

Another reason why so many young people are taking up distance running could be the sense of community that joining a running club can bring. A 2022 McKinsey study of over 25,000 young adults found that Gen Z is less likely to feel connected to others or participate in religious or social organisations, leading to higher levels of loneliness.

Fiona Spotswood, Senior Lecturer and Researcher on Physical Activity at the University of Bristol, suggests that going on a run with someone can foster better connection and enhance communication among young people, particularly those who are socially anxious. “When you go for a run with someone, you’re not making direct eye contact,” she explains. “It’s very levelling... you can open up in a way that feels nonthreatening, especially for men who often struggle to form connections.”

As we begin to tackle the anxieties and uncertainties that come with our early twenties and our respective quarterlife crisis, it is only natural to

seek out communities where we feel a sense of comfort and belonging. Running groups and clubs can provide such a welcoming and supportive environment, where all are invited to exercise, socialise and have a good time running together.

So is buying a pair of Asics, setting up a Strava account and joining a running club really the key to self-fulfilment in young adulthood? Well, no. Not really. Of course, while running can be an affordable and accessible way of exercising and socialising, it won’t necessarily shield you from a so-called “quarter-life crisis.”

Japanese writer Haruki Murakami explains in his memoir, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, “When you’re running, there’s no time to dwell on anything else. Your mind is forced to be in the present moment”.

On a personal level, this is the greatest pleasure I derive from running, even if it does sometimes leave me on the verge of getting sick in a public park. Running helps me to silence the noise, quieten the distractions, and focus solely on the path ahead. One foot in front of the other.

Running, in this sense, is the most affordable therapy you’re likely to find. Jogging at

“

When you’re running there’s no time to dwell on anything else

our own pace, oblivious to the outside world, is a subtle act of defiance to the inevitability of change that accompanies young adulthood. When we run, our focus isn’t on what we’re running from or where we’re running to. Instead, we’re simply immersed in the moment, running for running’s sake. That’s why I run, and it might be why you run as well. Because when our day-to-day lives leave us feeling like we’re running on fumes, it’s empowering to take back control and run at our own pace. To run our own race.

A year to remember, for all the right reasons, at Trinity Sailing

Advancements in training and exceptional commitment all contributed to Sailing’s success over the 2023/24 season

Jane Prendergast Staff Writer

Established in 1930, Dublin University Sailing Club boasts a storied tradition and history. From the sixteen Irish Olympians among the ranks of its alumni, to its status as the largest student sailing club in Ireland, to its extensive collection of Intervarsity and Regional medals collected every year, the Club is one that is confident and assured with its position at the forefront of sporting life in Trinity.

In conversation with Emma Gallagher, Club Treasurer, the structure and running of the Club was explained. Those passionate about the sport and the Club typically stay involved for the duration of their time in Trinity, including Captain Marcus Boggan, a final-year Law student who has also volunteered on the Committee for the last two years. Secretary Morgan Lyttle has responsibility for organising and planning Club events, a mammoth task, while

Gallagher as Treasurer oversees financial affairs and contributes to Lyttle’s logistical planning. The student committee comprises 11 other Officer positions, from Ents to Alumni, however another standout member is Sailing Captain Finn Walker, a third-year Business and Economics student who is assisted by Sailing Officers Rian Geraghty-McDonnell, Simone Daranyi, and Trevor Bolger.

Training

Walker has been instrumental in the Club’s advancement, from leading efforts to encourage junior sailors to come to Trinity and join DUSC, to doing an outstanding job executing the Sailing Captain’s duties of organising and running training. Trinity Sailing, largely through these efforts, is understood to train the most of any student sailing club in Ireland at the moment; about four water sessions are run every week out of Royal St. George Yacht Club, while theory sessions are also held.

The logistics of running a student sailing club in Trinity, Gallagher explains, are staggering. The Club selffunds its entire fleet, which would ideally be wholly replaced every 6-7 years, relying predominantly on the generosity and support from its ranks of alumni and the semiregular recruitment of sponsors. John Sisk & Son, a building and contracting company based in Cork, are currently the largest sponsors of the Club, although support is also received from USIT and Grant Thornton.

Theory sessions can involve video review of past races, strategy meetings, or video analysis of crews they will be competing against in upcoming

races. Water sessions are generally based around practising for race day, as the IUSA (Irish Universities Sailing Association) racing format is quite different to what most junior sailors will be exposed to in their pre-college careers. IUSA events are run in a team style, with university crews entering a number of boats, with the ambition being to get the best possible finishing position for as many of your team’s boats as possible. Each boat receives points corresponding to its finish position, e.g. 1 point for 1st place, 2 points for 2nd place and so on; the team with less than 10 points is deemed to win the race. It’s quite different to what may be considered a more ‘standard’ sailing experience, where an approach of ‘every man for themselves’ more so applies. However, Gallagher contends that the reliance on one’s teammates to also execute contributes to the healthy, team-success-oriented atmosphere of training, raceday, and the Club more widely. Selection for which duos are paired up for racing is ongoing, with no objective golden standard held and rather ongoing consideration as to what combinations gel together is borne in mind - although experience and general talent usually plays a significant role. Race day itself comes around only a couple of times a year, and this was even less so than usual this season after insurance issues plagued the Irish university sailing scene in the first semester, the consequence being that the Club was unable to race IUSA events for the

entirety of Michaelmas term.

Racing

However, once the Club finally got to start racing, their months of training were exhibited to spectacular effect. A private team and match racing day was held against UCD in mid-October, before the Club hosted a DUSC Alumni event - both a social gathering and an opportunity for competitive racing against Oxford University Sailing Club, UCD, and DUSC alumni - in early November. In Hilary term, the Club had quite the ‘Super Saturday’ in early February - the memory of which brings a smile to Gallagher’s face. On Saturday February 10th, Trinity Sailing sent three teams to compete - two to the UK, to compete in Oxford University’s Top Gun Invitational and Imperial College London’s Imperial Icicle, while a third traversed to Cork to take part in UCC’s Alumni race. A phenomenally successful weekend by all understandings, Sailing’s ability to plan and execute triple representation across two countries, all in the one day, speaks volumes to both the sheer number of passionate and involved athletes they have, but also to the remarkable level of ground-level commitment demonstrated daily by the Committee members.

IUSA events were finally up and running by late February, and DUSC proved in Dingle that they were more than capable of putting the months of productive training to demonstrated success.

Organised by the University of Galway Sailing Club (each Club takes turns organising the IUSA events), the weekend’s racing saw an all-Trinity gold fleet final between TCD 1 and TCD 2, with TCD 1 securing the win. TCD 4 came second in silver fleet, another notable achievement, however TCD 1’s win was certainly the standout moment for the day, being the Club’s first IUSA win in 5 years.

One of the biggest days of the year rolled around shortly afterwards, with Varsities (held in Schull, Co. Cork, and organised by UCD Sailing Club) in early March. With three teams racing in gold fleet, the final saw TCD 2 take on UCD 1 in the final. While Trinity did fall short in that race, the weekend was a wider success story for the club - DUSC received recognition as ‘Club of the Year’ at the Varsities Awards, held at the closing banquet. With the forced cancellation of Colours vs UCD in early April, due to subideal weather conditions, Varsities was, unbeknownst to the Club at the time, the last team race of the season.

Moving Forward

Gallagher’s firm belief is that the Club has “never been in a better position”. With remarkable membership retention and huge squad depth, positive atmospheric development over the last few years, and an objectively outgoing and exuberant team dynamic, the Club is in an excellent position moving into the coming seasons. Even taking the tight-knit nature of the wider sailing community into consideration, DUSC surely stands out for the above reasons.

A mixed club, the male and female sailors of College train and compete together, although significant efforts have been made this year in particular to drive forward with the position of its female members. The Club has organised a number of ‘Women at the Helm’ events throughout the year (training days where exclusively female sailors will helm all boats), with the motivation for such sessions being that in the whole sphere of Irish sailing, only 2 boat classes have over 50% female helms. The Club’s recognition as its position within a maledominated sport, yet its stated aim of running such events to help female sailors “break barriers”, summarises the Club nicely; aware of its privilege, sentient of its status, yet committed to moving forward and advancing every season.

PHOTO BY NEASA NIC CORCRAIN FOR TRINITY NEWS

Trinity men’s soccer kick off season with a win

Dalton at the double for dream start

Matthew Keeley Sports Editor

A wet, grey Sunday morning set the stage for Dublin University AFC’s, Trinity’s mens’ soccer team, opening game in the Leinster Senior League which saw Trinity begin the season with a victory over Ballyfermot United. This was the side’s first match in the men’s senior 1A soccer division following last season’s impressive promotion, as well as the start of Aaron Callaghan’s reign as head coach. Their opponents from Ballyfermot were a strong and experienced side, eager to spoil Callaghan’s inauguration.

Early rain cleared up just in time for kickoff, much to the relief of the already somewhat damp spectators. Indeed, despite the weather, it was all sunshine for DUAFC early on as winger Conor Dalton calmly slotted home a tidy finish within three minutes of play. A high ball played up to striker Jay Walsh was expertly controlled and laid off to Dalton to allow DUAFC to make a dream start.

The early euphoria was short-lived, however, as Ballyfermot quickly equalised

DUAFC

Ballyfermot Utd. 3 1

with a towering header from their number 9. With the score level, every challenge became a fierce contest, with tough slide tackles and shoulder-toshoulder clashes defining the match.

Both teams created brilliant chances throughout the first half. Trinity repeatedly tested the Ballyfermot goalkeeper with an array of attempts, while Ballyfermot launched several attacks on the DUAFC box. On one memorable occasion, a desperate defensive clearance saw the ball wallop the referee as it flew out of the box, perfectly capturing the intensity on display.

As halftime loomed, Trinity appeared to be the stronger side, applying sustained pressure on the Ballyfermot defence. A brilliant piece of skill from Dalton saw him beat two defenders before delivering a driven ball into the box. Striker Walsh stretched to meet it, but the Ballyfermot goalkeeper managed to parry it aside. Waiting, however, was Conor Purcell who buried home from close range to restore DUAFC’s lead just before the break.

The second half began with a vengeance for Ballyfermot, who threw everything they had at the Trinity defence.

Thanks to remarkable saves by goalkeeper Tom McDonagh and the commanding presence of captain Darragh Timmons, DU AFC stayed in the game as the opposition squandered several significant opportunities. With each missed chance, the game grew increasingly, tense, nervous and scrappy. The usually white DUAFC jerseys turned

brown with mud as the tackles from both sides became even more hectic.

With less than five minutes remaining and Ballyfermot growing in momentum, it seemed that another equaliser was due. That was until Conor Dalton collected the ball in a late counter attack. With incredible flair and footwork,

the Trinity number 10 turned the defence inside out, leaving one defender sprawled out on the College Park grass. Dalton then perfectly placed the ball in the back of the net, sealing the victory for DUAFC with a

“ Dalton then perfectly placed the ball in the back of the net, sealing the victory for DUAFC

spectacular solo goal. Overall, it was a superb team performance to start the campaign, marked by unwavering doggedness, determination, and drive from the DUAFC players. Callaghan’s squad displayed strong character against a formidable Ballyfermot United team, providing a fantastic start and setting the stage for a successful season ahead.