Trinity News Vol. 68. Issue 2

Setting the stage for the return of gigs

Life pullout

Trinity study could help with energy storage

17

29

A conversation with Larissa Brigatti

TRINITY NEWS ESTABLISHED 1953

Tuesday 21 September 2021

Ireland’s Oldest Student Newspaper

Vol. 68, Issue. 2

PHOTO BY GRACE GAGEBY FOR TRINITY NEWS

Goldsmith residents complain about conditions Kate Henshaw News Editor

R “Winter of discontent”

Crowds gathered outside Leinster House on September 15 to protest the housing crisis, as the new Oireachtas term began. The Union of Students in Ireland and Trinity College Dublin Students Union joined a range of political groups.

GSU Board claims union executive is trying to force it out of office, executive disagrees Jack Kennedy, Shannon Connolly, Kate Henshaw

Editor, Deputy Editor, News Editor

T

HE LEADERSHIP OF THE GRADUATES STUDENTS’ UNION (GSU) and the GSU Board are at odds over the union’s executive allegedly ordering the board to resign this week.

In a statement to Trinity News last week, chair of the GSU Board Dr John Walsh said that the board “received an email from the GSU President last night claiming that [their] term of office had concluded and thanked members

for their service”.

Walsh labeled the timing of the email “bizarre” as “it came just before a Capitation Committee meeting which had been convened following the report of the board in July regarding complaints made

by GSU members”.

“Members of the board cannot be removed nor can a new board be constituted simply by a decision from the President – appointments to the Board have to be approved by a General Meeting under the GSU Constitution” Walsh stated.

He described the move as a “transparent attempt to undermine the report completed by the Board within its term of office” which found “a lack of adequate engagement and co-operation

by the GSU leadership with the board’s enquiry.”

He continued: “The current situation is simply farcical, as the GSU seeks to replace an oversight body because the Board attempted to carry out oversight of the GSU.” However the GSU Executive later said it “did not order the resignation of the old GSU Board as is alleged by Dr Walsh”, and the GSU Oversight Officer is “willing to furnish evidence to this effect”.

The statement continued: “An email was sent on Wednesday 15 September 2021 reminding the old GSU Board that its membership had expired in early July 2021 and thanking it for its diligent service over the past three years”.

Walsh labeled the timing of the

email “bizarre” earlier on today, as “it came just before a Capitation Committee meeting which had been convened following the report of the Board in July regarding complaints made by GSU members”.

The statement from the GSU continued: “As no member had sought renewal of their position since early July 2021, a new Board was convened according to the established procedures.

“We take this opportunity to thank the old board again for its contribution to the GSU from 2018-2021 and look forward to working with the new board,” the statement added.

Speaking to Trinity News at the time, TCDSU Education Officer

ESIDENTS OF THE GOLDSMITH BUILDING have complained about the conditions there.

A number of residents have given testimonies to Trinity News in relation to ongoing issues in the building.

The students have highlighted issues with broken appliances, disturbing construction and blocked drains.

One student, who wished to remain anonymous, told Trinity News that at 8am on Monday morning “painters arrived to paint the kitchen unannounced” and they “had no access to the kitchen until after 5pm that day”.

According to the student “they moved all of our furniture and the fridge was unplugged by either the painters or the cleaner”.

Continued on page 2>>

trinitynews.ie TrinityNewsDublin Trinity_News trinitynews trinitynews

2

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

News

Table of contents News Features - page 15 Lecturers respond to criticism over “re-using lecture content”

Reopening the Pav

Analysis: Delays in the module enrollment process frustrate students

Comment - page 21

College has a moral responsibility to abolish scholarship exams

SciTech - page 27 Booster shots for Covid-19: the science of vaccine inequality

Sport

- page 30

Cliff divers make a splash in Mayo

TRINITY NEWS EDITORIAL STAFF Editor Deputy Editor Assistant Editor Online Editor Life Editor Editor-at-Large

Jack Kennedy Shannon Connolly Grace Gageby Shannon McGreevy Heather Bruton Finn Purdy

News Editor Features Editor Comment Editor Scitech Editors Eagarthóir Gaeilge

Kate Henshaw Ellen Kenny Sophie Furlong Tighe Lucy Fitzsimmons Nina Chen Niamh Ní Dhubhaigh

Head Photographer Head Videographer Head Copyeditor

Eliza Meller Kallum Linnie Sarah Moran

Get in touch at editor@trinitynews.ie

Printed by Webprint at Mahon Retail Park, Cork.

>> Continued from front page

GSU Board claims union executive is trying to force it out of office, executive disagrees Bev Genockey reaffirmed the union’s commitment to “represent all students”.

She said that the union “has a constitutional obligation to represent the interests of… all students in Trinity College Dublin, both undergraduate and postgraduate.”

Genockey continued: “Regardless of the outcomes of the GSU’s engagement with their board and the Capitation Committee, TCDSU will continue to endeavour to represent all students.”

The outgoing Senior Dean made the decision in late July to withhold the GSU’s funding “pending formal ratification of the decision at a meeting of the Capitation Committee to be held as soon as possible following the appointment by the [College] Board of the new Senior Dean”.

The decision was made on July 22 following a report from the GSU Board which said that the union’s sabbatical team did not comply with the board’s investigation into a controversial EGM held in April.

At the time, the sabbatical team claimed that the report was “misleading” and “unfounded”.

Scanlon and vice-president Abhisweta Bhattacharjee assembled a number of screenshots of the headers of emails between them and the board, but with the contents cropped out, to attempt to prove this claim.

In response, the board said that “claims of vindication based on a list of emails lack credibility” and “if these emails are being used to call into question the board’s report, the content of these emails should be made available by the GSU to the Capitation Committee”.

The full emails have yet to be

released.

On September 1, Professor Eoin O’Sullivan was announced as the new Senior Dean.

When contacted by Trinity News on September 16, O’Sullivan declined to comment on the ongoing internal issues of the GSU. In August, it was announced that 2020/21 funding from the Capitations Committee for the GSU would continue to be withheld, following a meeting of the outgoing and incoming Senior Deans.

An email to the committee from the office of the previous Senior Dean said: “In this instance, it remains clear that the GSU Board in their written decision did not consider the Graduate Students’ Union to have engaged adequately with their processes. That the GSU contests this is a matter between the GSU and the GSU Board.”

>> Continued from front page

Goldsmith residents complain about conditions “This was only discovered by us at 10.15 on Tuesday morning, leaving our meat and dairy products to go bad. This cost us good money to replace the food, money that we do not have.”

The student explained that they “sent [Student Residences] an email and they were far from helpful”. “We also asked them to also fix our fridge light which they did not do.”

“Furthermore, the construction on our kitchen window starts before 8am which is a joke.”

In an email from Student Residences seen by Trinity News, they announced that Estates and Facilities would be replacing the kitchen windows in House 63 and House 64.

The email advised residents that “contractors will be working on the kitchen windows in these Houses, until the end of September, as repairs are carried out to the kitchen windows”.

The email also noted that residents “will still be able to use the kitchen, as the windows have been boarded up, from inside the kitchen, with the works being carried out on the exterior of the building”.

However, students have disputed this, with one student claiming that their kitchen is “inaccessible” and was only informed of the works two days after they moved in.

“When we arrived we realised this meant there would be floor to ceiling plywood in place of windows, leaving us with no sunlight or way of getting fresh air into the kitchen, and also that there would be loud construction

work beginning early in the morning directly outside two of our bedrooms.”

The student also explained that their “kettle and toaster were not working when [they] moved in, there was a leak under the kitchen sink, and all of the shower drains were blocked”.

“One night, potentially because of the construction work, the water was shut off and when it came back it was dirty and brown and would sputter everywhere.”

The student highlighted one incident where they arrived home to find their kitchen “inaccessible”.

“We were never informed or given any kind of notice for this, and both arrived at lunchtime ready to cook and couldn’t so much as get something from one of our cupboards.”

“The kitchen was being painted

and since there’s no ventilation (due to there being no windows) the fumes were strong.”

The student feels that this work “seems entirely unnecessary to be carried out during term time” but notes that “even if we had been notified in advance it would have allowed us to prepare for it”.

“Between moving into a flat with broken appliances and blocked drains, having our water shut off and ridiculously loud construction we were struggling enough with the apartment, but not being able to access our kitchen and not being warned of any of this has really made us question our decision to live here.”

Trinity News has reached out to College and Trinity College Dublin Students Union (TCDSU) for comment.

3

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

News

Analysis: Who’s right about the status of the GSU Board?

Jack Kennedy Editor

T

he Board of the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) and the union’s leadership have presented competing views on the legitimacy of that board. In essence, the GSU Executive claims that the board’s term in office expired in July and that a “new board” has now been appointed “in accordance with established procedures”. The board says that no new board can be appointed except at a general meeting of the union, and that the executive’s action is clearly related to a board report over the summer that criticised the union’s leadership and its level of accountability.

Who’s right? The answer is somewhat complicated.

The fuzziness stems from where this now long-running crisis began; the GSU’s EGM in April. That meeting was, among other things, meant to pass a new constitution for the union. Indeed, the union’s leadership claims that a new constitution was voted in then.

There are a few problems with that idea: first, one of the three votes implementing the constitution only passed by a 51-49% majority, but any changes to the constitution require a two-thirds majority.

Second, many members reported being unable to participate in any of those votes due to technical issues. Third, partially due to the two aforementioned issues, the entire legitimacy of that April meeting and all measures taken at it is up for debate – that was what the board was investigating when it reported that GSU President Gisèle Scanlon did not cooperate with it.

So there are two constitutions— the pre-2021 version and the 2021 version—that have claim to govern the working of the GSU currently, depending on how you view the legitimacy of EGM. What, then, does each of those constitutions say about this issue of the status of the board?

The pre-2021 version unequivocally supports the board’s view. It says: “The mode of

appointment of voting members of the GSU Board shall be through the nominating committee, as established under the relevant schedule.

The Nominating Committee shall present nominees which shall be approved at AGM.” If that constitution stands, it’s clear; there can be no “new board” because there has not been an AGM. The 2021 constitution is less clear. It says: “There shall be a Graduate Students’ Union Board which shall be constituted in accordance with [this article of the constitution].” One of the supposed benefits of the new constitution was that it delegates some procedures to by-laws rather than precisely enumerating them in the text.

The problem? Those by-laws, if they exist, are not publicly available anywhere. The GSU leadership did not explain what the “established procedures” through which its “new board” was appointed were, and even if GSU members knew what procedures were taken,

there’s no way to verify if they are the correct ones.

As an aside, there are numerous other problems with the 2021 constitution, aside from its frequent references to inaccessible documents and the lack of clarity as to whether it actually is the constitution. For example, article 18 says that “any question of interpretation of the articles of or by-laws created ancillary to this constitution may be referred to the GSU Board in accordance with the provisions of article 20”.

Unfortunately, this version of the constitution only has 19 articles.

In summary then, there are two competing constitutions, one of which supports the board’s view (i.e. that it is still the board), the other of which says nothing in particular on the matter.

It is possible that there is somewhere a set of procedures that support the GSU Executive’s view that it is legitimate in claiming to have replaced the board. However, in this case, the executive would have taken this step behind closed doors, according to a set of rules that are not public knowledge, on the basis of a constitution whose legitimacy is the entire source of this controversy, to replace an oversight body in the process of investigating it. Aside from being very difficult to verify, no one could seriously claim that this would be in keeping with principles of transparency and accountability.

So who’s right about the status of the GSU Board? There isn’t a definitive answer, because it rests on a series of other questions about which there is no clear consensus.

But the board can at least point to a constitution that supports its interpretation, whereas much of the executive’s position rests on missing documents and unexplained claims.

“

The GSU leadership did not explain what the “established procedures” through which its “new board” was appointed were There’s also a broader point here; the board and the executive disagree over interpretation of the constitution, but the board is the body tasked with interpreting the constitution (in both versions) and overseeing the executive.

The board’s interpretation can be overruled by a general meeting of the union but as mentioned earlier, there has not been one of those held on this issue. So there’s a strong argument there that, basically by default, the board is right.

Perhaps the simplest answer would be to hold a general meeting of the union and vote on these issues, once and for all.

4

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

News PHOTO BY SABA MALIK FOR TRINITY NEWS

College to scrap social distancing on November 1 and set up vaccination centre on campus Provost Linda Doyle and Director of Student Health Dr David McGrath have announced College’s plans for after reading week Bella Salerno Deputy News Editor

L

AST WEEK, PROVOST LINDA DOYLE and Director of Student Health, Dr David McGrath announced that College plans to scrap social distancing after reading week.

In a video posted on College’s online media platforms, Doyle confirmed that College will not enforce any social distancing oncampus after reading week, from November 1. This is contingent upon the Government’s plan to reopen the country fully by October 22 going ahead.

McGrath announced that there will be a HSE vaccination centre set up on campus as well, facilitated

by College’s health service. The clinic is initially scheduled to run on September 27 and 29 in New Square.

Currently, lectures, laboratories

and tutorials operate with one metre social distancing and mandatory mask wearing.

The Library and study spaces operate with two metre social distancing and mandatory mask wearing. The 1 hr 45 minute limit and booking system from last year also remains in place.

She said College is “working through issues” regarding inperson teaching and learning and “focusing on finding solutions”.

College has been criticised this week by students for several issues in regards to timetable clashes and delays in the online module enrollment system.

Most students who sat assessments during the reassessment period could not choose their modules until yesterday, despite classes starting on Monday.

McGrath said students should continue the routine of wearing face coverings, handwashing, and social distancing even after reading week.

He also encouraged students to register for the UniCoV project, a national pilot antigen testing study.

Student and staff volunteers are required to provide saliva samples twice weekly at collection points on campus.

Later on the same day, volunteers must take a self-administered rapid nasal swab antigen test and upload the result onto the UniCoV website – unicov.org.

Science lectures may continue online after Reading Week due to admin issues Students in a second year Biology lecture were told last week that “it’s just not feasible to start making a second timetable for all of the sciences” Jack Kennedy Editor

S PHOTO BY JACK KENNEDY FOR TRINITY NEWS

OME SCIENCE LECTURES MAY CONTINUE ONLINE AFTER READING WEEK due to admin issues.

Students in a second-year biology class last week were told that they, and potentially all science students, will not see an increase in in-person classes after reading week.

The announcement was made in the September 13 introductory lecture for module BYU22201: From Molecules to Cells II, which is taken by all senior fresh biology and biomedical sciences students.

“In-person lectures commencing after reading week, for this class group at the moment,

that isn’t planned,” said module coordinator Dr Emma Creagh in a recording of the lecture seen by Trinity News.

This is despite Trinity’s “twophase approach” to the semester that will see social distancing requirements scrapped from November 1.

Freshman Biology Teaching Coordinator Dr Glynis Robinson then suggested this was a broader policy across science and maths saying “the administration of chemistry, physics, biology and maths all re-doing their timetables and finding rooms to fit their groups would defeat half of us in the end”.

“It’s just not feasible to start making a second timetable for all of the sciences. We’re talking about a thousand students to be re-timetabled. It isn’t possible, unfortunately.”

Creagh concurred, saying: “It’s taken half the summer to get the timetables working the way they are.”

She added, however, that “second semester will look different.”

“Look, everything’s unfair.

We’re in a pandemic. I’m sorry. We tried our best to accommodate you guys. We’re going to have you back in [classrooms] as soon as we can.”

This news comes after Provost Linda Doyle specifically promised more in-person teaching to the senior fresh biology class, in an email seen by Trinity News.

In response to a query from a second-year biology class representative, Doyle said: “Following Reading Week, we will loosen restrictions in line with public health guidelines and the semester and year taken as a whole will be much better”.

Doyle continued: “I know this is not exactly the answer you want, but I can say it is going to get better as the semester progresses”.

A senior fresh biology student who was in the class, speaking to Trinity News, commented: “It’s very disappointing to hear that as plans currently stand we won’t be having more in person teaching after reading week.”

“I believe that it is College’s responsibility to provide adequate timetabling resources so that we can be timetabled to be back in person as soon as possible, given College’s commitment to a tw- phased return to in person teaching.”

They continued: “Also, it is important that we’re back to more face-to-face learning as soon as is allowed because of its benefits for both our mental well-being and our learning experience.”

Many schools within Trinity have found themselves unequipped to comply with College’s promised levels of in-person teaching. Even the plans as they appear on paper have drawn disappointed reactions from many students.

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

5

6

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

News

Lecturers respond to criticism over “reusing lecture content” from last year Academic staff took to Twitter to discuss the amount of work they say is involved in preparing lecture videos Sarah Emerson Deputy News Editor

T

RINITY LECTURERS HAVE PUSHED BACK AGAINST CRITICISM for “re-using” last year’s lecture recordings.

On September 13, the University Times (UT) reported: “lecturers from at least five schools are re-using lecture videos recorded last year for classes this term.”

UT reported that lecture recordings by the schools of English, Chemical Sciences, Engineering, European Studies and Biological Sciences, created in the 2020-21 academic year, are provided to students this year on Blackboard.

Several academics from Trinity and other higher education institutions responded to the UT article on Twitter, challenging the implication that the use of older lectures undermined the quality of teaching.

Justifying the use of last year’s lectures, academics highlighted that lectures do not always change year to year, that online content was time-consuming to produce, and that hybrid learning has benefits for students.

Dr Juan Diego Rodriguez-Blanco, Ussher Assistant Professor of

Nanomineralogy in the School of Geology, asked: “If the quality of the lecture is good, does it matter whether it was recorded in 2020 or 2021? Today lots of people watch online lectures by given academics that were recorded years ago.”

Dr Jennifer Daly, Research Strategy Officer in the Office of the Dean of Research, said “this really bothers” her. “Lectures take ages to prepare in non-pandemic times.”

“Barring a discipline-altering discovery the content will not change greatly from one year to the next. Nobody would know notes were being reused if they were in real life.”

Dr Lewys Jones, Ussher Assistant Professor of Ultramicroscopy in the School of Physics, wrote: “Last year my videos took me about 5 hours to produce per lecture including the preparation, recording, editing, and manual subtitling.”

Academics acknowledged that not all video content would be transferable. PhD student in Trinity’s Institute of Neuroscience Arnas Petrauskas said: “Lectures that are still up-to-date can be reused, while where there are new developments those should be updated/ re-recorded.

He noted that “this was the case with slides before the pandemic too” and “recorded lectures allow for flipped classroom, more dis-

cussions, etc”.

Other academics spoke to the unique circumstances of the pandemic. Professor of Modern British Literature and Culture in the School of English Darryl Jones said: “It’s ill-informed and profoundly unhelpful. We are all students and staff, academics and others - doing our best under unprecedented and extremely difficult conditions.”

Mark Sweetnam, Assistant Professor and Director of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning in the School of English said: “No one argues that things are perfect this year, but the negativity of coverage from outlets that should know better is disappointing and discouraging.”

Dr Sinéad Corr, Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology, added: “This semester we are delivering [face to face] while streaming live online and also posting the recorded lecture.”

“Interestingly the most common question I have received so far from students is whether lectures will be recorded in case students can't attend for whatever reason.”

Dr Thorfinnur Gunnlaugsson, Professor in the School of Chemistry, wrote: “We will be, where possible due to numbers and size of theatres, in front of our students soon! This debate undermines the

“

This debate undermines the hard work of academics and the restrictions we have had to work around hard work of academics and the restrictions we have had to work around.”

Speaking to Trinity News, Stefano Sanvito, Professor of Condensed Matter Theory in the School of Physics said he “understand(s) the concern”, but “technology has given us tools...to make the student experience better”.

Lecturers are not availing of technology because it is “more convenient”, Sanvito said, and “our time is going up, not down”.

Sanvito has adopted a hybrid approach to teaching this year, believing that “balance” is important.

“Some classes are better in person” while others are “better online”.

Of the two senior sophister modules Professor Sanvito is teaching, one will be entirely face to face, while the other will be hybrid, with lectures online and tutorials in person.

Since the content is “the same as last year”, and lectures do not have “huge engagement”, Sanvito believes that using pre-recorded lectures is often a better means of delivering content to students.

Sanvito will also provide an “additional optional lecture” as “supplementary” material which explains the content in a different way, to further aid students’ understanding. He also holds office hours each week.

By adopting the hybrid approach, Sanvito’s contact hours with students are “much more valuable”, since time in the classroom is devoted to problem solving. The physics professor’s total contact hours will be “almost identical to pre-covid”.

“In doing so, students will be able to go over lectures multiple times and will get the full interaction when it really matters: when solving problems,” Sanvito added on Twitter.

“

Barring a disciplinealtering discovery the content will not change greatly from one year to the next ARTWORK BY ALENA GERASIMOVA FOR TRINITY NEWS

7

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

News

Analysis: Trinity’s QS and THE rankings since 2011 Bella Salerno

Deputy News Editor

G

LOBAL UNIVERSITY RANKINGS ARE PUBLISHED annually by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Times Higher Education (THE).

Universities are assessed on their performance based on research output, quality of teaching, and their impact on a national, regional and global scale.

Every year since 2012, Trinity has ranked first overall in Ireland in both QS and THE’s rankings.

THE 2022 rankings for different

subject areas also place Trinity first in the country for most disciplines.

Trinity ranked highest nationally in arts and humanities, business and economics, computer science, and social sciences.

University College Dublin (UCD) and Dublin City University (DCU) placed second and third in these respectively.

In clinical and health studies, Trinity placed first nationally while University College Cork (UCC) and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) were ranked second and third. For

education and physical sciences, Trinity holds the joint first place with UCD. In engineering, Trinity placed first alongside UCD and NUI Galway in the top three.

UCD took the top spot nationally for law, while National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway) ranked second and Trinity placed third.

Globally, Trinity was ranked highly for life sciences and psychology, placing 70th and 85th respectively. UCC and UCD placed second and third in Ireland for both disciplines.

This year, College saw a rise in academic reputation as Trinity placed 101st in the 2021/2022 QS global university rankings.

However, there was also a decline in scores associated with staffstudent ratios.

Trinity’s overall performance on the global stage has decreased significantly over the last ten years, since placing 65th in the 2011/2012 rankings.

In the 2012/2013 rankings, Trinity fell two places from the previous year and was placed 67th.

Trinity climbed six places in the 2013/2014 rankings and came 61st. In 2014/2015, Trinity fell ten places and was ranked 71st. In the 2015/2016 rankings, Trinity fell seven places to 78th.

In the 2016/2017 rankings, Trinity fell a further 20 places to 98th. Trinity climbed ten places in the 2017/2018 rankings and was placed 88th. In the 2018/2019 rankings, Trinity lost its place as one of top 100 universities in the world, falling 16 places to 104th.

In the 2019/2020 rankings, Trinity was placed 108th.

In last year’s 2020/2021 rankings, Trinity fell another seven places, to sit at 101st.

Regarding individual subject rankings by QS, ten years ago Trinity was placed in the top 50 world universities in four

“

Trinity’s overall performance on the global stage has decreased significantly over the last ten years disciplines, and top 100 in 14 other disciplines.

In the 2011/2012 QS individual subject rankings rankings, Trinity placed in the top global 50 for English Language & Literature, History, Geography, and Politics and International Studies.

In comparison in 2020/2021, Trinity placed in the top global 50 for Classics and Ancient History, Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Nursing, and English Language and Literature.

Campaign groups plan protest against College’s handling of reopening The organisers describe the demonstration as “against Trinity management’s incompetence and miscommunication” Jack Kennedy, Shannon Connolly Editor, Deputy Editor

S

EVERAL STUDENT ORGANISATIONS ARE PLANNING A PROTEST on Wednesday, September 22 to demand more face-to-face teaching in Trinity this semester and refunds for students whose teaching is partially or mostly online.

Trinity College Dublin Campaign for F2F Teaching (TCD F2F) and Students4Change (S4C), two recently-established campaign groups with some overlap in membership, have made posts on their social media calling for a protest to take place next at 5pm on the steps

of the Dining Hall “against Trinity management’s incompetence and miscommunication”.

Trinity College Dublin Renters’ Union is also part of organising the protest.

In a planning document for the protest seen by Trinity News, the organisations stated: “If we delay the protest to see if things will change until Reading Week, student interest will dwindle and this opportunity to make change will be lost.”

“Experience shows that the College cares about profit, not students, and there is no indication that this issue is any different,” the document added.

A number of other organisations were listed in the document as participants or potential participants, including Labour Youth and “other political societies like PBP and non-political like kayaking and canoeing”. Trinity Labour confirmed to Trinity News that it was “fully backing” the protest.

The groups first announced the planned protest at a town hall meeting held by Trinity College Dublin’s Students Union (TCDSU) this afternoon to discuss issues students have had with returning to in-person teaching. TCDSU and the other students present were invited to take part in the event.

The protest was announced in

this manner so that “no one will be distracted from radical politics by the inherently less radical structure of the town hall,” according to the document.

“This protest will be a general outcry against the state of things, everyone brings their own grievance,” it continued.

“It is further proposed that we add a demand of a full refund of the student contribution fee from last year…and free repeats for those who failed last year” The document said on the issue of the student contribution that “TCDSU is mandated to support this”.

TCDSU also plan on supporting the protest next Wednesday.

Speaking to Trinity News on Saturday evening (September 18), TCDSU President Leah Keogh said: “TCDSU welcome grass roots initiatives and will be attending the protest on Wednesday to both support and hear from students on the ground.”

The protest is to include speeches by organisers, and the groups are also calling on students to boycott all online lectures the day of the protest.

A petition criticising College’s approach to reopening, which was launched last week, will then be delivered to Provost Linda Doyle.

This would be the first protest

to take place in Trinity since the beginning of the pandemic, with many students disgruntled by College’s handling of the return to

campus.

Additional reporting by Kate Henshaw.

PHOTO BY ZAHRA TORABPOURAN FOR TRINITY NEWS

8

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

News PHOTO BY JACK KENNEDY FOR TRINITY NEWS

Significant turno during Senior Fr

Analysis: Delays in the module enrollment process frustrate students

Connie Roughan

Deputy News Analysis Editor

T

HE MODULE ENROLLMENT PROCESS THIS SEMESTER has been fraught with unexpected delays and miscommunication from the Academic Registry (AR), a trend which has been happening for the past few years.

Online module enrollment for undergraduate students that did not defer or resit exams was due to commence shortly after exam results’ publication in June or July but was delayed by a month until August 19. Due to start at 2pm on August 19, the Academic Registry delayed commencement by 2 hours without prior warning, other than a notice on their website and on the MyTCD portal.

During this process, some students were locked out of the system and were unable to choose their desired modules, facing delays of up to an additional half hour.

Some students who resat or deferred exams were not informed that the module enrollment and registration process would be de-

layed for them, ultimately until the first day of this term, Monday 13.

Junior sophister English student Sienna Swire wrote a letter, signed by 18 other English students, to the School of English in protest of this lack of notice, saying she felt “frustration bordering on desperation” facing the fact that she could not take her desired modules.

Junior sophister students due to go on Erasmus for the second term also faced issues with their enrollment. Frontloading credits in preparation for travelling to a foreign university has meant some students are unable to take their desired classes and some cannot fill out contingency forms for classes at College for the second semester.

First year PhD candidates also expressed concerns about module enrollment. The module enrollment system for postgraduates is manual and must be arranged via email, unlike the online portal that undergraduates use.

First year PhD candidate Neha said she felt “totally lost”, saying

that it’s “a lot of work for new PhD students and we don’t get told a lot”.

She continued: “We were not guided properly.”

Another first year PhD candidate, Ginny, said she sent out several emails to professors without reply and those that did reply could not offer her a place in their classes as they were full, meaning that she will have to take all her mandatory taught credits next term. They added that a mandatory module on research integrity was not yet registered on Blackboard despite it being necessary for their progression into the next year.

Last year’s senior fresh students faced a similar situation when module enrollment was rescheduled several times over the course of two months. Some students faced delays of several weeks into term to join their chosen modules.

With this history, it prompts the question of whether students will be able to start the academic year on time next year.

More popular Ents events sold out “within minutes” of tickets becoming available online Bella Salerno Deputy News Editor

F

ROM SEPTEMBER 6 TO 10, TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN STUDENTS’ UNION (TCDSU) and Trinity Ents held an orientation week for senior fresh students, since last year’s freshers week was held entirely online due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Trinity Ents planned “a full programme of day and nighttime events”, held at the temporary Pavilion bar marquee (the Pav), outdoor spaces on campus, and off-campus locations.

The events were organised by TCDSU and Trinity Ents in conjunction with various Dublin University (DU) student clubs and societies.

On Monday 6 September, TCDSU’s freshers’ fair, yoga with

the Yoga Society, and a gig in conjunction with Trinity Arts Festival (TAF) took place. A pub crawl organised with DU Snowsports was held off-campus and an evening movie screening was hosted by the DU Film Society.

The Tuesday included the SU fair again, a “special guest speaker” event held with the Law Society (LawSoc), and a gig organised with DU Music. An evening movie screening was hosted with the Trinity Surf club, and musical bingo took place at the Pav marquee with DU Players.

Wednesday involved a treasure hunt organised by The Historical Society (The Hist), Vincent de Paul (VDP) and TAF. At the Pav marquee, there was a panel debate on housing hosted by The Hist. There was also a themed quiz held online.

Thursday entailed a second scavenger hunt organised with The Philosophical Society (The Phil) and the Cancer Society, and a petting zoo with the Zoological Society (ZooSoc). During the evening, there was an off-campus pub crawl organised with LawSoc and the Food and Drink society, and a “Gaeltacht” at the Pav marquee hosted in collaboration with Cumann Gaeleach and Trad Soc. Friday involved a spike ball

9

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

News

out at Ents events reshers orientation week

PHOTO BY JACK KENNEDY FOR TRINITY NEWS tournament organised with Roundnet Ireland and an evening DJ set at the Pav with the Digital Arts Society (DUDJ).

Speaking to Trinity News, several students said that the events were “good craic” and “ran smoothly”, but were “frustrated” when online tickets for the more popular events sold out “within minutes”.

Several students were left disappointed on Thursday when tickets for the petting zoo and pub crawls sold out quickly.

One senior fresh student said: “literally the second they were available they sold out.”

Another student said that even though they “waited for half an hour”, refreshing the online booking system’s page, the tickets “were gone immediately”.

Senior fresh student Ellen Alymer said that overall the events were “well organised” and a “great opportunity to meet students studying in different disciplines, since you generally would not meet them otherwise”.

During the pub crawl on Thursday, students were reportedly given a complimentary drink. Alymer said students were slightly disappointed that they could not choose the drink and were given a seltzer.

At the Pav marquee event on

Friday, Alymer arrived at 3pm and was reportedly told that there would be table service, “but by 3.45pm nobody had served us”. Alcohol was not available inside the marquee but was available to buy inside the Pav itself. Alymer said this “was not communicated with students beforehand”.

Alymer also went to the petting zoo which she found to be “distressing” as the “cages [for the animals] were too small” in proportion to their sizes.

Joseph Toolan, another senior fresh student said that while he thought the events “seemed to

“

Trinity Ents planned “a full programme of day and nighttime events”

be organised well”, most of them didn’t appeal to him. He found some to be “kid-like”, such as the movie screenings and scavenger hunts.

Speaking to Trinity News, TCDSU Ents Officer Greg Arrowsmith said he was “blown away” with the demand for the events.

He said: “It was incredibly satisfying to see how much second year students enjoyed them and how much they appreciated them.”

Concerning issues with the online booking system, Arrowsmith said they were “only minor hiccups” as a result of “the huge number of events [TCDSU] ran”.

He continued: “Because of limits on attendees, we had to run 27 events to bring the supply for spaces anywhere close to the demand, so that left us a bit stretched but I felt like we did the best we could have and generally there were no major issues.”

“It’s obviously very tough and frustrating for students who didn’t manage to get tickets, with some events selling out in minutes, but we really are trying our best,” he said.

“Likewise I know it may be annoying for attendees to be constantly reminded to obey social distancing rules, but they’re unfortunately necessary in order to keep running our events.”

Regarding plans for freshers week next week, Arrowsmith said TCDSU will rerun some events from senior freshers week but have also added a range of new ones as well.

He said: “One example of a change we’ve made is to implement a fairly nominal booking fee to avoid no-shows, as we had a good few of them last week, and we want to maximise the spaces.”

Funds raised from the ticketing system “ all go to various charities, with over €1500 raised this week for the student hardship fund, VDP and pieta house”.

Arrowsmith believes there will be “even more engagement” with events during freshers week, since the events planned “appeal to everyone and not just first years, unlike traditional freshers week nightclub events”.

He continued: “It’s been great to run unconventional events like the movie screenings and gigs, and I know a lot of people have responded saying that they’d love to see these events being kept on in future years, which would be a lovely legacy to leave.”

This week, TCDSU and Ents have planned a similar orientation week for incoming freshers.

Events include the petting zoo, pub crawls, movie screenings, spike ball tournament and scavenger hunts, as well as an art workshop, multiple Pav events, a BBQ and musical bingo.

Library operates with reduced opening hours for the first two weeks of term Opening hours will extend from September 27, with the lending libraries remaining closed on Sundays Sarah Emerson Deputy News Editor

T

RINITY’S LIBRARIES ARE TO OPERATE WITH REDUCED OPENING HOURS until September 26.

For the first two weeks of Michaelmas term, the Berkeley, Lecky and Ussher (BLU) complex and Hamilton library are open weekdays from 9.30am until 5pm, with the service counter open from 10am to 3.30pm.

The BLU and Hamilton libraries are closed on Saturdays and Sundays until September 26.

From Monday 27 September, the Library will return to opening hours somewhat reflecting those it had before the first lockdown in March 2020.

The BLU and Hamilton libraries will open weekdays from 9am to 10pm, with the service counters available from 10am to 7.45pm.

These libraries will also open on Saturdays from 9.30am to 1pm, but will remain closed on Sundays.

Meanwhile, Kinsella Hall (the first to third floors of the Ussher Library) currently operates as a study space on weekdays and weekends until 10pm. When the BLU complex is closed, students in Kinsella Hall are not able to use library books.

The postgraduate 1937 Reading Room is currently closed, but will reopen on September 20 from 8am to 10pm, Monday to Sunday.

The John Stearne Medical Library is currently and will continue open from 9.30am to 4pm on weekdays. From September 27, it will reopen on Saturdays from 9.30am to 1pm. The service counter operates for the length of opening.

Before the pandemic, the BLU complex and Hamilton library were open the same on weekdays, 9am to 10pm. However, the libraries opened until 4pm on Saturdays in September and October 2019.

During November and December, in the lead up to assessments, the BLU and Hamilton libraries opened until 7pm on Saturdays, and opened on Sundays from

11am to 7pm.

In 2019, Kinsella Hall and the 1937 Reading Room operated as 24-hour study spaces. The John Stearne Medical Library opened from 9am to 9.45pm on weekdays.

Speaking to Trinity News, a spokesperson for the Library said: "To clarify, Library opening hours have not been adjusted. They will change on Monday 27th September to include evening and Saturday opening in the BLU Complex and Hamilton Library.”

“However, to meet the needs of students during orientation and the start of teaching term, the Library has extended the opening hours of our service counters in the BLU Complex and Hamilton (from Monday 13th September)” they clarified.

“They are now 10am-3.30pm, Monday to Friday.”

“Kinsella Hall will remain open until 10pm each night leading up to the change of hours on Monday 27th September” they continued.

The Library continues to operate at reduced capacity, with face-coverings required and the booking system, 1 hour 45 minute limit per slot and two metre social distancing in place.

Under the current system, there are 307 seats in the BLU complex (65 in the Berkeley, 78 in the Lecky and 164 in the Ussher), and 17 computer seats.

There are an additional 17 seats reserved for postgraduate students on the fifth floor of the Ussher, and 8 seats reserved for students registered with the College Disability Service in the Assistive Technology Information Centre (ATIC).

There are 84 seats and 5 computer seats in the Hamilton library, and 32 seats in the Stearne library, with 2 PCs. The Library anticipates that the capacity of the 1937 Reading Room for postgraduate students will be around 50, when it reopens later this month.

Not all seats in the libraries have power sockets available.

Speaking to Trinity News, the Library spokesperson said: "The normal pre-pandemic capacity of the contemporary reading rooms (i.e. excluding the Old Library reading rooms) was approximately 3000 seats.”

“The current capacity at 2m social distancing is approximately 700 seats.”

There are approximately 18,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students at Trinity.

10

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

News

Administrative proble Analysis: Comparing Freshers’ Week and Senior to miss out on in-pers Freshers’ Week preparations Jamie Cox

News Analysis Editor

L

AST WEEK SENIOR FRESHERS WERE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY to experience an in-person orientation week, something that they missed out on last year. As the first week back on campus, after a 550-day interlude, drew to a close and as Freshers’ Week commences in accordance with College and the Central Societies Committee (CSC) guidelines, it is interesting to look back and consider how preparation for the two Freshers Weeks has played out.

Senior Freshers’ Week was organised by Trinity College Dublin Student Union (TCDSU) and Trinity Ents and was held September 6 to 10. Events for senior freshers had been organised by Ents Officer, Greg Arrowsmith, a month in advance of the event.

Events for senior freshers used outdoor venues such as the marquee recently set up in front of the Pavilion Bar. Such outdoor events included a petting zoo and outdoor film screenings. Events were both on and off campus.

Focus during Senior Freshers’ Week was placed on allowing senior freshers to bond, with Ents Officer Greg Arrowsmith commenting: “We felt that it was essential that second years were given the opportunity to bond as a year,

before another group of students are admitted on September 20.”

Campus faced several physical transformations, in preparation for freshers week, including the marquee established outside the Pav. This space was used for events during the day and at night.

This marquee was something Arrowsmith had pushed for since his taking office.

During the senior freshers fair, students were also offered welcome packages from TCDSU and were invited to meet and speak to the sabbatical officers.

However societies were not permitted a freshers fair, something Arrowsmith has said was outside the union’s control.

The week was not without its upsets. The booking system for event spaces was delayed. This in turn resulted in societies not having an appropriate amount of time to plan society events for during the week.

However, whilst Senior Fresher’s Week proceeded without much in the way of issues, much confusion has surrounded exactly how Freshers’ Week will proceed.

Plans by the CSC which clarified how the week will unfold, in the context of college held restrictions, were only announced on September 14, five days before the week begins and they have since

been updated.

A Freshers’ Fair will be permitted to take place on the Monday, Wednesday and Friday of Fresher’s Week. The fair will operate from 10am to 3pm.

Each society is permitted to set up one table each. These spaces have been randomly allocated to each society by the CSC. Societies will also be allowed certain giveaways to students, on the condition that hand sanitization also takes place and physical contact between students is not permitted.

While Senior Fresher’s Week unfolded as a largely successful recreation of the Fresher’s Week experience, within the restrictions of college guidelines, Freshers’ Week itself appears to be causing far more confusion as the CSC does not appear to have received the clarification from college required to ensure this week will run until very close to the weeks beginning.

It remains to be seen how Fresher’s Week will play out. The CSC certainly seems to have provided the regulations for societies to provide freshers with a meaningful Freshers’ Week, as societies can now avail of a booking system for gazebos in order to hold events.

The class of 2020 complained of poor communication, “inaccessibility”, and classes being split up Jack Kennedy Editor

M

EMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2020 HAVE COMPLAINED of the “inaccessibility” of the registration process for in-person graduations held this August, amongst other issues.

Last month, Trinity became the first higher-education institution in Ireland to resume holding graduations in-person, using a marquee on campus. Former undergraduates who had yet to receive their degree certificates were sent emails in July asking them to choose how they wanted to graduate.

They were given three options: registering for potential in-person

PHOTO BY JACK KENNEDY FOR TRINITY NEWS

graduations in the near future, attending “in-absentia” ceremonies and having their degrees sent to them by post, or deferring to when ordinary graduations are able to resume.

However, the registration process caused many graduands who wanted in-person graduations to miss out. After indicating they wished to graduate in-person, candidates were then sent a second email in which they were asked to formally register for an in-person ceremony.

Several graduands from different faculties said that confusion over the need to register twice, as well as the short turnaround time to complete the second form—approximately three to four working days in most cases—meant that they were unable to complete the process in time, and ultimately did not get to graduate in-person.

Grace Farrell, who completed her English degree in Trinity last calendar year, initially missed the questionnaire due to a health issue.

She criticised the set-up of the system: “I think the very short time to fill in the ‘essential’ questionnaire made attending your graduation in-person fairly inaccessible.

“There are many reasons why we may have missed the email, for example, I rarely check my Trinity

11

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

News

ems cause graduands son ceremonies

PHOTO BY FENNEL PHOTOGRAPHY email as since graduating I mostly use my work email and wasn’t expecting another online form regarding graduation to be requested.”

“People who have disabilities or health issues of any kind could have been sick or unwell for a few days and simply not checked their

“

Of course, it’s not the end of the world to not have an in-person graduation, but the blatant inaccessibility was frustrating

email, especially over the weekend; also some people who aren’t working at the minute for whatever reason may not have been checking their email.”

Farrell went on to attempt to make contact with her former tutor and Academic Registry (AR) to rectify the issue. She also sent three separate emails to the official Trinity account used to communicate about graduations, but received no response.

One employee Farrell spoke to at AR said that he assumed the short amount of time allocated to graduation registration was a deliberate move on College’s part, done in the hopes of limiting the number of people who would need to be accommodated in person.

This hypothesis was given some credibility by an email sent by the official graduation account in response to a student query. It said: “The turnaround time for expression of interest was of [sic] necessity very tight and a number of people did miss the deadline.”

The email continued: “As it transpired College has, at a considerable stretch, the capacity to offer a place to all who applied by the cut-off point but it is not feasible to accommodate anyone beyond that.”

Farrell’s issue was eventually resolved, with a spot found for her in a graduation ceremony, albeit separate from her class group.

Farrell concluded: “Of course, it’s not the end of the world to not get to have an in-person graduation, but the blatant inaccessibility to register was quite frustrating and disappointing.”

A spokesperson for College said that “the vast majority of feedback we received in relation to the ceremonies was very positive.”

Even for those who were able to register on time, many classes were still split up. Members of the 2020 graduating class in Zoology reported that many of them had their ceremonies scheduled for different days.

Regulations governing graduations in the 2020-21 College Calendar say that “degrees are publicly conferred under the students registered name, within degree class”.

When asked if splitting up course groups for graduations contravened this regulation, the Trinity spokesperson said that the de jure conferring of degrees for all the August ceremonies took place en masse, in absentia on August 10, with the ceremonies then not actually constituting formal graduations.

“This enabled us to operate the ‘in-person’ events in a manner which was most conducive to the protection of the safety of all attendees”, while still complying with the College Calendar and Statutes, the spokesperson said.

Far-right academic Dolores Cahill no longer employed by UCD Kate Henshaw News Editor

F

AR-RIGHT ACADEMIC DOLORES CAHILL is no longer employed at University College Dublin (UCD).

Cahill is no longer listed as a staff member on UCD’s website and The Journal have reported that she is no longer an employee of the institution. She was a professor attached to the UCD School of Medicine.

Cahill has become a controversial figure in recent times because of her strong anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown stances. In August, a UK arrest warrant was issued for Chaill after she “failed to answer bail”.

The charges are related to Cahill’s participation in the conspiracist “Resist and Act for Freedom” rally in Trafalgar Square, London on 19 September 2020. She was charged with participating in a gathering of more than 30 people in contravention of emergency regulations and participating in a gathering of more than six people.

Cahill was a tenured professor at UCD. She holds a doctorate in immunology. She previously served as chair of the far-right Irish Freedom Party (IFP) and has become known for spreading false information relating to Covid-19 and vaccination.

Some of Professor Cahill’s false claims have included that children who wear face coverings will suffer from lower IQs, that asymptomatic cases “do not exist”, and that the disease can be prevented by taking multivitamins. She has also said

that “Covid terrorists need to be jailed” and that people who give vaccinations are guilty of “attempted murder”.

She has spoken at numerous conspiracy theorist-led rallies in Ireland, including ones featuring the far-right movement QAnon, and openly calls for violence as a response to vaccination programmes. Cahill was also a speaker at an August 2020 rally outside Dublin’s Customs House where balaclava-wearing attendees attacked counter-demonstrators with batons and planks of wood.

Cahill’s employment by UCD over the last year has caused significant controversy. Last year, 133 medical students sent a 15,000word letter to UCD authorities detailing the false claims Cahill had been spreading.

University College Dublin Students’ Union (UCDSU) called for a disciplinary investigation after she attended a rally in March. Professor Cahill was removed from a lecturing role following her participation in the rally but remained employed by the university.

UCD had attempted to distance itself from her views, saying they “do not reflect the position of the school, college, institute or university”, and citing academic freedom as their reason for her remaining a member of staff.

The college did, however, feature her as a speaker at its International Women’s Day 2020 event while she was serving as chair of the IFP. The party is known for its anti-immigrant views, and the public espousal of white nationalist “great replacement” conspiracy theories by its high-ranking members.

In a tweet following news of her

arrest warrant, UCDSU said that the union “reiterates our position that Prof Cahill’s actions to date constitute gross misconduct”.

“She should be removed from her position. This has gone on for too long.”

Cahill served as chair of the IFP until being asked to step down, also after the March rally, reportedly because her conspiracist public statements “[drew] the credibility of the party into disrepute”.

Despite this, the party regularly shares false information relating to Covid-19 on official party media channels.

Additional reporting by Jack Kennedy.

“

Last year, 133 medical students sent a 15,000-word letter to UCD authorities detailing the false claims Cahill had been spreading

12

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

News

USI call Leaving Certificate’s form of assessment “unfair” and “brutal” The union is lobbying Government for an “alternative, common admissions route” into third-level Bella Salerno Deputy News Editor

O

N SEPTEMBER 7, CENTRAL APPLICATIONS OFFICE (CAO) POINTS for 2021 Irish college entry were released. Round one offers reached all time highs nationally for entry into level 8 courses.

There are now eight courses over 600 points in Trinity, excluding medicine.

Management Science and Information Systems Studies (MSISS) and Dental Science are both sitting at 625 points. MSISS sat at 613 points in 2020, and 589 in 2019.

Dental Science was 613 points in 2020, and 590 in 2019.

Philosophy, Political Science, Economics and Sociology (PPES), Global Business, and Pharmacy are all 613 points. PPES and Global Business were 589 in 2020, and 566 in 2019. Pharmacy sat at 590 in 2020, and 567 in 2019.

Law and French, Psychology, and Human Health and Disease are also all over 600 points. In 2019 and 2020, points for all three courses were around the 550 mark.

Medicine at Trinity now requires a minimum of 743 points, including points from the Health

Professionals Admission Test (HPAT). In 2020, medicine required 735 points, and in 2019, 730 points. General Nursing required 393 points in 2019. Now, the course is 462 points.

Speaking to Trinity News, Union of Students of Ireland (USI) Vice President for Academic Affairs Megan O’Connor attributed “a lack of investment and renewal in the (Leaving Certificate) system” as a cause for the increasing rise in CAO points.

According to the USI, lack of public spending in the education sector has caused “an unacceptable number of students” around the country being denied access to a course of their choosing.

O’Connor continued: “[CAO points] increases have also disproportionately impacted the Leaving Certificate classes of pre-2020 who may have deferred applying to college at that time.”

In regards to the Leaving Certificate’s form of assessment, O’Con-

nor called it “an unfair and inaccurate measurement of a student's capabilities”.

“It was established in 1924 and almost one hundred years later, we are still forcing students to complete an incredibly high-stakes, allor-nothing memory test that has become our third-level entrance exam.”

“It is a brutal system that ultimately does not prepare students for third level and locks far too many out of the opportunity they worked so hard for”, she added.

O’Connor said the USI are “committed” to working with the Irish Second-Level Students Union

(ISSU) to ensure that Leaving Certificate students are “supported and elevated”.

“This system makes Ireland one of the few countries without a dual-access structure, with interviews or aptitude tests etc., so apart from some creative courses, your points are all you have.”

O’Connor continued: “The system needs to be reformed to be in line with the Universal Design for Learning framework with alternative forms of assessment and a non-reliance on points to access third-level education.”

The USI are lobbying the Department for Further and High-

er Education for “an alternative, common admissions route for all publicly funded third-level institutions, for the removal of state funding for private primary and secondary schools, and for any monies saved in this process to be ring-fenced and re-invested in the wider, publicly funded and publicly accessible education system”.

O’Connor said: “Education is not, and should never be considered a privilege. It is every person’s right and we urgently need real and meaningful reform to ensure fair and equal access to third-level education.”

“

[The Leaving Certificate is] an unfair and inaccurate measurement of a student’s capabilities

Limerick students staying in hotels due to lack of traditional accommodation Sophie Furlong Tighe Comment Editor

A

S STUDENTS RETURN TO CAMPUS ACROSS THE COUNTRY for the first time in 18 months, many have struggled to find housing.

In Limerick, a number of students are currently staying in hotel rooms, as they cannot find alternative accommodation, RTE have reported.

Mary Immaculate College Student’s Union (MICSU) has made a deal with three hotels across the city of Limerick to provide accommodation for students.

Students are paying up to €390 a week for five nights in these hotels. The union has come to a similar arrangement with a hotel in Thurles, where the college has a smaller campus.

This is the first time that MICSU has worked with hotels to provide students with accommodation.

MICSU President Roisín Burke told RTE that they are appreciative that the hotels were open to taking students.

However she noted that "there just isn't enough suitable housing”.

“There needs to be living spaces built that are suitable for students, not just for profit for landlords."

After 18 months without many students taking their traditional place renting market due to

remote learning, the accommodation shortage is reported to be significantly more extreme than in previous years.

Mary Immaculate College’s accommodation manager, John Randles, cited a major decrease in families offering ‘digs’ housing to students, as Covid-19 has brought in more caution about the practice.

In August, the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) encouraged students to be aware of their rights as renters.

The statutory body regulating renting in Ireland issued a fivepoint “student rental checklist” ahead of third-level institutions reopening in September.

First, the RTB said renters should never pay a deposit or sign an agreement before viewing

a property, and ideally multiple properties to allow for comparison.

Second, the RTB reminded students that there are minimum standards and requirements for rental properties, such as the availability of hot and cold water and that they should ensure any accommodation advertised meets those standards.

Third, renters should always get a dated receipt when putting down a deposit for a rental. The RTB notes that it is not legal to ask for more than one month’s rent as a deposit.

It’s also not permissible for tenants to be required to pay more than one month’s rent in advance, the RTB says.

Fourth, the organisation is en-

couraging everyone to be aware of rent pressure zones (RPZs), which are areas in which rent can not be increased at a rate greater than that of inflation.

The RTB has an RPZ calculator which allows people to see if their accommodation is in such a zone, see how much the rent was for the previous tenant, and verify they’re not being overcharged.

Finally, the regulatory body says students should stay informed of their rights as tenants via the RTB website and to get in contact if they have any questions.

Many campuses across Ireland opened their doors for the first time since the beginning of pandemic last Monday September 6 with restrictions varying across colleges.

13

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

News

Bonnie Gill

News Analysis Editor

Analysis: This year to be the last of significant rises in CAO points

T

HIS YEAR’S CENTRAL APPLICATIONS OFFICE (CAO) OFFERS saw a nationwide rise in CAO points for third level courses. The overall rise was chalked up to grade inflation and increased demand. But does this mean for the present, and future applicants?

The considerable increase was due to grade inflation in the Leaving Certificate results, which increased by 2.6% on average from the previous year. The increase in top grades received was significant, with a record number of H1s received by students. These are the second set of results to use non-traditional grading. Last year, students were only awarded projected grades, while this year they were offered the option of receiving a combination of projected and

exam grades. The 2.6% inflation succeeds last year’s already exceptionally high rise of 4.4%, setting an overall record high.

The option to undertake both accredited grades as well as exams was availed of by many Leaving Cert students. Of the 61,000 students who received Leaving Cert results, 52,600 chose not to take exams and received calculated grades in every one of their subjects. According to data provided by the State Examinations Commission (SEC), in only 16.1% of cases did students receive higher grades in exams than calculated marks. With apparent grade inflation alongside the use of predicted grades last year, it comes as no surprise that many students opted to not sit exams.

On top of substantial grade inflation, there was also a record in-

crease in CAO applications. This year, over 84,500 people applied to universities through the CAO. While the option to receive predicted grades remains as one of the reasons for this increase, the effect that Brexit has had is also substantial. As it stands, UK students can still enter the Irish education system without paying non-EU fees.

Applications from the UK saw a 10% increase this year. As well as this, there was also an increase in the number of applications from EU students, who due to Brexit, likely opted for Irish universities over UK ones.

Trinity saw a record high of CAO first preference applicants, with 10,253 students applying. The figure shows a 38% increase from last year, in which 8,381 students put Trinity as their first preference. As a result of the large rise

in demand, CAO points for various trinity courses climbed significantly. Courses such as Management Science and Information Systems Studies, and Dental Science were 625*, meaning places in these courses may have been allocated based on random selection.

This was to the disappointment of many students, as point increases like this meant that even those who received the highest possible points in the Leaving Cert were not awarded their first preference.

The impact that this rise in points has had on students who deferred last year due to the pandemic can also not be ignored.

With Leaving cert students this

“

Trinity saw a record high of CAO first preference applicants, with 10,253 students applying

year receiving the option to obtain grades based on both predicted marks and exams, and the subsequent grade inflation that followed, students who sat their leaving cert last year were at a great disadvantage.

On September 8, Minister for Education Norma Foley stated that the Leaving Cert is to return to traditional methods of grading by next year. Without predicted grades, Foley said she hopes that this will return grades to normal levels again. While it is likely that returning to the traditional exam format would prevent grade inflation like we saw this year, it would also mean that this year’s, and last year’s Leaving Cert students will be at an advantage when reapplying for the CAO in the coming years. It seems this is a risk the Department of Education is willing to take in order to prevent rises in points like this occurring again.

The inability of students to sit in-person exams due to Covid-19 restrictions certainly highlights how much the Irish education system relies on standardised testing. With the CAO offers leaving many students disappointed due to point rises, it begs the question of whether the points race is the fairest and sufficient way to offer places in university. While standardised testing prevents unfair acceptance into universities, it also works against many individuals.

Minister for Higher Education, Research and Science Simon Harris has stated he wants to end the points race, saying it is an objective of his to “change the conversation we have about third level.”

New fraud scheme falsifies bank transfers A Trinity student was robbed after a bank transfer was faked on “prank bank” app Jamie Cox New Analysis Editor

A

TRINITY STUDENT HAS REPORTED FALLING VICTIM to a new kind of fraud.

Guo, a PhD student in the department of geography, spoke to Trinity News this week about his experience, in which he had his iPhone and iPad stolen.

Guo advertised his Samsung phone and iPad for sale on Facebook, and was approached by a man who offered him €1300 for both. He met the individual outside his apartment on August 27 to conduct the transfer. At the meeting, the individual in question offered to transfer the money immediately.

Guo explained how the individ-

ual requested him to double check, and to take a photo of the transfer as proof of payment. The photo taken appeared to show that the money had been sent.

Stating that he used a different bank to Guo, the individual informed him the money would take one to two hours to go through.

However, after checking his account on August 30, Guo observed that the money had not arrived into his account.

At this point, Guo was still in contact with the individual, who had been “really good” and pleasant to deal with. The man agreed to meet Guo again, but did not show up. He later apologised to Guo and agreed to reset a date.

He then informed Guo that due to family issues, he was leaving the country. According to Guo, the individual reassured him that as soon as he returned, they would meet up and resolve the issue with the transfer.

Having waited until August 31, Guo approached Bank of Ireland, and subsequently the Gardaí, and was told to wait for the money to arrive, as it was suspected to be a

delay.

Guo then contacted the scammer on September 1, who responded and alleged that he would check his own bank details. However, from the following Thursday, he then cut all contact with Guo, who filed a criminal report on September 3.

Guo contacted the individual one last time to inform him of the situation but received no response.

He has now been informed by Gardai that he has been targeted by a scam which uses an app that falsifies bank transfers, and makes it appear as though money has been sent between accounts. Guo confirmed to Trinity News that the individual had been using a fake account on Facebook.

Guo commented that: “At that time, I didn’t think too much about it, because he showed up and talked to me face to face.”

He has since been told aware that several others had been targeted in a similar way.

One individual wrote online that the scammer in question made sure the person selling the phone stayed with him until he

was sure he had gotten a reference number and the money had gone through. After this the scammer cut communications.

The app used is P.bank (“prank bank”), an android app that can be used to replicate the interface of a

banking app, and then to give the appearance of money being transferred.

Speaking to Trinity News, Guo said he wished to share his story to caution others against falling for similar scams.

14

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

News

“Winter of discontent” housing rally takes place outside the Dáil The demonstration coincided with the beginning of the new Oireachtas sitting Grace Gageby Assistant Editor

A

PROTEST ORGANISED BY THE NATIONAL HOUSING AND HOMELESS COALITION took place on September 15 outside

Leinster House.

Approximately 200 were in attendance. The entrance to Leinster House was cordoned off with barriers early this morning in advance of a protest held by environmentalist group, Extinction Rebellion, and this evening’s housing demonstration.

Protestors were unable to gain access to the pavement surrounding Leinster House, with Gardai surveying the barriers.

Protestors chanted: “Homes for people, not for profit” and “What do we want? Homes for all! When do we want them? Now!” Speaking at the demonstration, Tina McVeigh from People Before Profit said: “We’re here this evening to mark their [the government] cards, and say that this

winter is going to be a winter of housing discontent.”

She emphasised the need for an anti racist approach in the housing movement, and lead chants of “Blame the vultures, not other cultures.”

Other speakers included Beth O’Reilly from Union of Students Ireland (USI), Bernard Joyce from the Irish Traveller Movement, a rep from Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) and Cian O’Callaghan, Social Democrats TD. Speaking at the demo, Joyce said: “A home is not a commodity, it is a home for life. For many of us, we’ve not had a home.” He highlighted that “39% of Travellers live in overcrowded accommodation while Travellers account for 50% of the total homeless figures,

despite making up less than 1% of the population.”

O’Reilly from USI made a speech, in which she said: “This housing crisis is a student issue, and it’s an all island student issue…We can’t fight for education for all without fighting for homes for all.” O’Reilly claimed: “The Housing for All Plan offered nothing to student renters. ” She continued to say: “We are graduating into an Ireland we can’t afford to live in.”

The protest was formally endorsed by Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU). In a statement to Trinity News, TCDSU President Leah Keogh said: “Year on year students scramble to source accommodation, only to settle for crumbs.”

“With rents in Dublin averaging more than €1,000 the shortage and therefore, cost of student accommodation has become a very real barrier to higher education.”

Keogh asked that students “show up and speak up, to let them [the government] know that we haven’t gone anywhere either, and won’t stop until students can access secure, affordable or public accommodation.”

TCDSU met at 4pm outside House 6 to make signs and placards, before joining the demonstration at Leinster House.

Attendees were asked to wear masks and adhere to social distancing.

IUA calls on government to increase higher education and research funding package

Many schools unable to comply with College’s promised level of in-person teaching

Rebecca Deasy-Millar Staff Writer

Room allocation issues have prevented classes with fewer than 50 people from being held on-campus

T

HE IRISH UNIVERSITIES ASSOCIATION (IUA) has called on the government to increase funding for higher education and research.

The IUA said that Minister for Further and Higher Education, Innovation and Research Simon Harris has expressed support for the proposals, which were made to government several months ago.

Chair of the IUA and President of NUI Galway Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, said that “for this generation of students, it is imperative that this generation of political leadership […] make a step-change investment in the sector […] after decades of under-funding.”

The proposal would see governmen invest €418 million in extra core funding as well as a further €64 million to promote the broadening of access to higher education for disadvantaged students.

Nearly €300 million would be funnelled into research and innovation projects, in the hope of sustaining Ireland as a globally competitive economy.

A further portion of the funds will be allocated to the promotion of ‘green campuses’ and initiatives on sexual consent in third level institutions Finally, the proposals to government also outline an international fund which will be used to promote Irish higher education institutions abroad and to increase Irish student mobility.

According to Director General of the IUA, Jim Miley, they outline important investment plans in a sector that “has a pivotal role to play in national recovery”.

Jack Kennedy Editor

M

ANY STUDENTS IN TRINITY ARE TO HAVE LESS IN-PERSON TEACHING this semester than College had previously said would take place.

In mid-August, Trinity announced a policy of capping the size of in-person classes at 150 students, leaving individual schools to decide on classes with between 50 and 150 people, and directing schools “to make all lectures for fewer than 50 students in-person”.

However, timetables for the upcoming term that have since been released to students across different schools show that in many cases, lectures with fewer than 50 students are still to be held online.

Schools have said that this difference between what College had told students would happen and what they were delivering is caused by room allocations.

For the semester, each school has been assigned a specific set of rooms in which all their classes must be held. With the enforcement of social distancing, many schools have only one room with a capacity of 50 or more, and some have none at all.

Trinity News spoke to a number of students from different course

areas and viewed documents circulated by different departments and schools.

Maths

In an email to students, the School of Mathematics said that the largest room allocated to it by College has a capacity of 38 people while observing social distancing, and therefore it would “not be able to deliver significant face-to-face teaching” before reading week.

The email said that the school had “worked to ensure that each year group has some face-to-face lectures” and would deliver as many face-to-face tutorials as possible “within the very constrained funding available to the school”.

It went on to explain that large maths modules would be split into three groups, with a third of students attending lectures in-person on a given day with the other two thirds viewing the lecture online, either live or as a recording.

The School of Mathematics noted that “these plans may not satisfy everyone with less face-to-face teaching than communications from College or the government led you to expect,” but that it had “worked hard to maximise your on-campus experience” using the space allocated to it.

Final-year Maths student Joseph Davies said he was disappointed, but that “I sympathise with the department in that it seems like College have made promises on their behalf without giving the department the means to deliver”.

Law

The School of Law has also scheduled several classes with fewer than 50 people to happen entirely online.

The module Family and Child Law, which has 32 students in it, will have all its lectures take place as live online events. The school

did not specifically say it planned to hold these lectures online after Reading Week, something it did express for some other modules.

In a document sent to students, the School of Law said that it had only one lecture theatre, the MacNeill theatre in the Hamilton building, assigned to it. Though this theatre fits 298 students ordinarily, with the enforcement of social distancing it can only accommodate 54.

Several Law modules are scheduled to have their classes at the same times in Michaelmas Term, meaning the MacNeill cannot be used for all of them.

A third year Law student, speaking to Trinity News, commented: “I feel like we were promised so much this semester and I and so many other students have gotten absolutely none of it.”

The student in question said they will not have any lectures on-campus this semester, even

“

These plans may not satisfy everyone, with less face-to-face teaching than comms from College or the government led you to expect

those with less than 50 students in attendance. Only their seminars will take place in-person.

English The School of English’s largest allocated room holds 45 students under College’s Covid plan.

In an email to students in one module, Professor Jarlath Kileen, Head of the School of English, explained that while this capped the size of in-person English classes at 45, many classes with fewer students than this limit would also have to be held online because of timetable clashes. Several medium and large sophister classes are scheduled in the same time slots, and only one can use the allocated lecture theatre at a time.

Killeen said that these timetable issues were “completely beyond the control of the school”.

In a separate email sent to all English students, the School of English acknowledged that most lectures would take place online because of the lack of suitably large teaching spaces, but said that “the majority of fresher tutorials and sophister seminars will be face-toface”.

The email continued: “While it is disappointing that a full return to normality is not possible, your time on campus and in class will be enhanced greatly this coming semester.”

Junior sophister English students last sent a formal letter of complaint during orientation week over registration issues affecting those who deferred assessments last year, causing many to lose out completely on choosing modules for the coming year. The letter said they were experiencing “frustration bordering on desperation”.

College is adopting a two-phase approach to this semester, with restrictions such as social distancing requirements and lecture sizes to loosen after Reading Week.

15

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

Features

Returning to campus across Ireland

Julia Bochenek page 17

Reopening the Pav

Catherine Grogan page 20

The stage is set for the return of gigs Trinity News explores the journey from the lockdown of live performances to the reopening of gigs Lara Mellett Deputy Features Editor

A

s Ireland seems to almost fully emerge from yet another lockdown, and the level system of easing restrictions is left in summer’s dust, many industries have been able to return as close to normal as possible. However, other industries have been left feeling neglected, and this is evident in their absence from many of the government’s guideline changes.

The live entertainment sector has been closed for almost the entirety of the pandemic, reaching over five hundred days, but seemed not to be prioritized in reopening discussions.

After countless campaigns to reopen the sector, and various organisations lobbying ministers, the sector has finally been addressed and plans have been put in place for restrictions to be eased, but is it enough to save a sector that has been dormant for so long?

Ireland’s live entertainment industry comprises over 11,000 jobs, and contributes €3.8bn to the economy each year, but during the start of the pandemic, it was impossible for this sector to continue. Expectedly, the entire industry came to a standstill, with gigs, live events, or festivals being abandoned, cancelled, or rescheduled. This left many entertainers with no source of income, and entertainment companies at a loss as they had to refund customers for what seemed like a domino effect of cancelled gigs. Some artists optimistically postponed gigs to when they were predicted to return, but this led to another bout of cancellations when another lockdown was implemented.

Speaking to Trinity News, Gemma Cox, musician and Chair of Trinity Music Society, explained the impact of the pandemic on her as a young performer. Music provided a source of income for her when face to face performances were feasible: “before, I busked on Grafton Street during the summertime and at

Christmas, and performed the circuit around town, doing open mics or anywhere I could play a gig… I also have a part time job teaching piano, and this would also be part of my income.”

The pandemic forced Cox to transition to online, performing for free on live streams for Hot Press, and even one from the Bord Gais: “the lockdown was good for opportunities that wouldn’t have happened anyway.”

Cox also continued to play and write music from home, but felt her creativity was also quite strained. “Over lockdown, it was more of a creative process in terms of songwriting… but a lot of artists feed off experiences, and we weren’t getting very many, so people found it very hard, as they were very uninspired.”

When the gradual reopening of the country began during Summer 2021, the live entertainment sector was unprioritised, as it was seemingly not feasible for events with such a high risk factor to take place. There was little communication between the government and the sector, and very little effort made by the government to create guidelines that allowed for any type of live events to take place. This inevitably indicated a slow reopening of the sector, far behind the opening of restaurants and pubs, those which had seemed to be prioritised.

This neglect spiralled into the creation of multiple campaigns to recognise and reopen the live entertainment industry. Bodies such as the Entertainment Industry Alliance (EIA) and the National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA) lobbied directly to the government, campaigning for clarity and a roadmap to reopening. In a statement made on August 3, the NCFA pleaded with the government: “We are now in danger of an entire sector’s future being irrevocably damaged: artists, arts workers and arts audiences are being left behind [...] The publication of a roadmap with specific criteria for reopening the sector is now essential to allow us to begin the recovery, reconnect with our audiences, and ensure the continued success of our worldrenowned artists.”

However, some government ministers were committed to the reopening of live events as early as possible, namely Minister for Culture Catherine Martin. She proposed measures that would allow for gigs to take place, and commented that “I am acutely aware of the devastating impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the live entertainment sector. The things we love and

“

Ireland’s live entertainment industry comprises over 11,000 jobs, and contributes €3.8bn to the economy dearly miss like live concerts, plays, festivals etc. involve congregation and unfortunately Covid-19 thrives in that environment...

Darkened theatres, silent venues, crews and artists out of work is something I hope to bring to an end and is my number one priority.”

Martin also ensured that those affected by the closure of live events would not suffer too

harshly, ensuring that the Live Performance Support Scheme (LPSS) would extend until gigs could take place once again. This scheme provided grants totalling €25m to “commercial venues, promoters and producers to employ artists and musicians of all genres, performers, technicians and other support staff in the live performance sector.” Martin initiated a new Music and Entertainment Business Assistance Scheme (MEBAS) for businesses affected by the closure, covering business costs for those whose turnovers had been drastically reduced by the pandemic.

Criticisms of the slow reopening of live gigs increased in volume in August 2021, when the All-Ireland football final was held in Croke Park, where attendance was at half capacity with forty thousand.

Many pointed out the hypocrisy of such an event taking place, when the live entertainment sector was still completely dormant. This match also coincided with the cancellation of 2021’s Electric Picnic, due to difficulties with Laois County Council. Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien explained this decision by saying “it would arguably be difficult to justify amending the regulations and to vary the current timeline provisions for the purpose of

one specific event”. This is the second year the gig has had to be postponed As a response to the weeks of campaigning, a roadmap led by Martin, was released detailing when and how the entertainment sector can open, as well as a €61.5m allocation to the industry in 2021’s budget. From September, indoor events can open at 60% capacity, while outdoor events contain a 75% capacity. From October 22, venues such as nightclubs will be opening, with certain limitations.

This means that the industry can finally begin to revitalise itself, and gigs can resume. Gemma Cox’s first live gig after lockdown was a TrinityEnts event for Senior Freshers Week, where she performed in front square. “It was insane. It was really cool, and a nice one to start with.”

While it seems as though it was left neglected and forgotten until the last moment, the entertainment industry is finally beginning to receive the allowances that many other industries had been granted long before. Perhaps the wait for gigs will make them all the more electric as we return to them once again.

Make sure to check out Gemma Cox on Spotify, and her socials at @gemmacoxhere

PHOTO BY ELIZA MELLER FOR TRINITY NEWS

16

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

Features

“

This is slang between generations, between demographics, language in its classic form

“Language in its classic form”: emojis in 2021 Trinity News speaks to Keith Broni, “emoji translator”, about demographics, cultural divides and the laughing-crying face emoji Ellen Kenny Features Editor

I

t is a popular belief that young people today will be employed in jobs that do not even exist yet. Technological advancements are making many jobs obsolete, while also creating entirely new ones. In 2017, Keith Broni experienced this phenomenon to surreal effect. “[It] was a very exciting time, but very chaotic as well,” Broni told Trinity News. “It ended up with me briefly becoming a meme … it does still crop up on occasion.

I’ve seen a recent one where it’s a ‘choose your fighter’ meme. Me and the ‘garlic bread expert’ and the ‘space lawyer’, so I’m in good company.”

“If you were to talk to early-2015 me, even, and say ‘you’re going to end up working in the emoji space professionally’, I would’ve said ‘the what space?’”

In 2017, the Dubliner was hired by Today Translations

(now known as Guildhawk) as an “emoji researcher and interpreter” — the first job of its kind, both in the company and beyond. Today Translations’ newest employee quickly gained worldwide media attention and Broni was declared “the world’s first emoji translator”.

Broni admits that is not an entirely accurate description of his job and more a “clickbait” title used by the media. Still, he has accumulated a number of unique job titles to put on his CV over the years: “emoji researcher/ interpreter” at Today Translations, and “senior emoji reviewer” and “deputy emoji officer” of Emojipedia.

Broni explains that his workdays are quite varied, but are always centered around the small series of pixelated pictures on our screens. As a consultant with Today Translations, Broni used programmes that analysed tens of thousands of tweets with emojis to help businesses find the perfect emojis to use in slogans and promotions. As an emoji reviewer, he kept up with tech companies and emoji distributors and evaluated any new emojis or changes in design.

Now as the deputy emoji officer for Emojipedia, he oversees the website and covers interesting news that comes out in the “emoji world”.

Despite the unique nature of the job, Broni was prepared.

Following an undergraduate in National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Broni completed his masters in business psychology in University College, London.

There, he did his dissertation on emoji usage in online business marketing and earned a

reputation as a “burgeoning emoji expert”. Broni told Trinity News that, despite the rest of the world’s bemusement at his new career, his friends expected nothing less.

From writing his dissertation to becoming the deputy officer of the world’s leading emoji website, Broni has always been fascinated by the reach emojis have. “What attracted me to the topic was the sheer scale of usage globally, and the fact that people

“

You can use emojis any way you want to. The key thing to keep in mind is that not everyone may realise how exactly you’re intending that emoji to be interpreted as

honestly underestimate [emojis].

We see them everywhere, they’re available to us by default across all our devices, and they’re in many respects a very simple tool, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

There’s so much nuance in terms of how they’re interpreted across different demographics, be they cultural demographics, generational demographics, and the fact that these are, generally speaking, some of the most recognisable symbols in the world … the crying laughing face, for example, everyone knows that symbol. That’s ubiquitous. When they’re effectively just, to use a very old phrase, part of the furniture, people don’t give them the consideration they deserve.

That’s what attracted me to them initially.”

Emojis have come a long way since Shigetaka Kurita created the first two hundred characters in 1999. In 2020, there were 3136 emojis in the Unicode Standard, and it was estimated that five billion emojis are used everyday on Facebook alone. In 2015, the “Face with Tears of Joy” emoji was the Oxford Dictionary word of the year.

While some people argue that the growth in emoji popularity is a blemish on society and that they are killing the English language, Broni argues the exact opposite. “They’re changing language, they’re changing how we communicate. They’re filling a need that we all had online.”

“We use emojis to try and emulate the way we would converse with each other verbally, or through the non-verbal aspect, try emulating vocal tones through the emoji expressions and gestures.”

Broni explains that emojis often mirror any traditional language, particularly when it comes to how different demographics have used emojis over the years. Generation Z is largely much more “playful” and “ironic” when it comes to emojis, creating their own digital dialect much different to that of older, more earnest generations.

Rather than the crying-laughing emoji expressing genuine laughter, its ubiquity led to oversaturation, and it has now become a distinctly

sarcastic emoji among younger phone users.

Broni also recalls his confusion when the trucker cap emoji rose in popularity at an astonishing rate, before realising it was based on the infamous MAGA caps that Trump supporters often wear and that the cap was now synonymous with “lying” and “nonsense”.

Broni is quick to point out that this different, more sardonic use of emojis does not mean that emojis are losing popularity — in fact, quite the opposite. The flexible and experimental way that many young people have started to use emojis means that emojis “have never been as popular as they are now”, according to Broni, and “sarcastic and ironic use is still emoji use”.

“This is slang between generations, between demographics, language in its classic form.”

In fact, the emoji language is the midst of yet another expansion. Before our interview, Broni was writing a piece on the annual Unicode Consortium, taking place on the fourteenth of September. Every year, an amalgamation of tech giants meet to standardise text characters across all devices. This includes an emoji subcommittee, who aim to ensure that the meanings of emojis are similar across all platforms, and also select new emojis to join to the Unicode Standard. According to Broni, inclusivity and diversity will be a huge factor in the selection — the emoji of two hands of different skin colours shaking is a likely winner this year.

Across his career, Broni has studied and observed varying uses of emojis between different cultures and the “Western-centric nature of the emoji keyboard”. For example, the “thumbs-up” emoji is a simple affirmation in many countries, but in the Middle East it is akin to showing someone the middle finger. Meanwhile in China, the “applause” emoji is not a sign of praise, but a symbol for sex.

“

They’re too ubiquitous [to lose popularity], they’re part of the digital furniture

17

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

Features Just like other slang and customs, emojis have been adopted in unique ways by different cultures. Broni explains: “It’s a mechanism as old as language itself, it’s all about ingroup and outgroup communication … emojis are being used to emulate how we’re describing the world around us.”

Broni also explained instances where emojis had to be taken as seriously as any traditional language: “We were seeing a lot of court cases emerge where emojis were being considered in threatening text exchanges, did this person genuinely mean to convey that they were going to commit a violent act through a gun emoji or a bomb emoji, is there genuine intent there through emojis?”

As the ways in which we use emojis continue to expand and evolve, Broni cannot foresee a future where emojis do not continue to grow. “As long as we are conversing in text-based formats, [emojis] will always have a utility.”

“They’re too ubiquitous [to lose popularity], they’re part of the digital furniture.”

People are going to continue using emojis in fresh and exciting ways for the foreseeable, and Keith Broni has some advice for those people.

“You can use emojis any way you want to. The key thing to keep in mind is that not everyone may realise how exactly you’re intending that emoji to be interpreted as. [We should] know there are predominant meanings or even micro-meanings. So have

“

Emojis have come a long way since Shigetaka Kurita created the first two hundred characters in 1999. In 2020, there were 3136 emojis in the Unicode Standard fun with them, and as long as people understand where you’re coming from, you’re using the emoji right.”

Even as emojis grow to unexpected levels, Broni definitely believes that emojis are something that we should have fun with, something we should enjoy - in fact, his own favourite is the “Partying Face” emoji.

Returning to campus across Ireland A look at the different approaches to returning students to campuses Julia Bochenek Deputy Features Editor

A

s Ireland has begun to open up again, with restrictions being cautiously lowered, universities have begun to solidify their approach to the semester, heading into a new academic year with an overall trend of much more in-person learning and on-campus activities. Minister for Education Norma Foley TD announced recently that the full opening of universities and schools will be supported financially. Since then, the government has given the all-clear for each university to decide at what level they will be open for this coming semester, bar certain expectations such as maskwearing inside lecture halls. The decisions of universities include many factors, including, but not limited to, size of student body and size of campus. With this in mind, universities have announced their reopening plans as students move back into their accommodations.

For the beginning of term, orientation has varied based on university. Trinity College Dublin’s Students’ Union (TCDSU) recently ran a Senior Freshers Week with stands for second year students, as well as holding many in-person events in collaboration with societies. Later this month, the TCDSU is planning a Freshers fair that will run in person. University College Cork has begun, as of the week of September 13, with a combination of in-person bookable events and online events.

University College Dublin has also held orientation events running in person since early September.

While many universities are opening with various capacities and different Covid-19 related restrictions, there is the commonality that every university has some form of in-person classes. There will be no vaccine card requirements for attending classes, but there will be contact tracing in place and students will have the option to receive Covid tests in many universities.

University College Dublin will be open to full capacity in lectures, meaning possibly up to 500 students in every hall. According to UCD President Andrew Deeks, as stated in an email sent to all staff, there will be “no requirement for

social distancing and no capacity limits for teaching activities beyond the physical capacity of the teaching venues.” Official campus sources have stated that students will be required to wear masks; however, a 2-metre rule will not be strictly in place.

In a very different approach, Trinity College Dublin has decided to restrict lecture sizes and keep to a 2-metre social distancing rule within lecture halls along with the requirement of masks. While the plan for reopening includes allowing students on campus with little limitation and includes the revitalisation of The Pavilion Bar, all of these plans will be reviewed at the end of October as part of the two-phase reopening plan.

Each School will be able to decide its own restrictions to an extent, including whether lectures will be held online or in-person, and many schools at Trinity have gone for a combination of both inperson and online learning.

Fourth year Trinity student, Erin, when asked for her opinion about Trinity’s reopening procedures, stated that “things are looking positive so far and the Students’ Union has really outdone themselves for Freshers this year.”

Erin continued with thoughts for the future, saying that: “Hopefully that momentum can be kept up for the year.”

Third year medical student Lauren, currently on placement, is impressed with how Trinity College has arranged placement for medical students. When asked what kind of precautions are being taken, she stated that “the main changes that have been made to safely continue clinical placements for medical students have been working extremely well.”

Lauren describes: “Every day we are required to sign into our Trinity Live app and track our

symptoms. Additionally, we have had to complete our educational training on Covid and upload our vaccine certificates.” She continues about how, due to Covid, there are only a few students on each rotation, which gives the benefit of one-on-one teaching time and more hands-on experience. “The one challenge with this scheduling is that you don’t generally get to see all of your classmates during the semester, especially if they are at different hospitals. It can also be more challenging on rotations because there may be no other students to discuss your learning with, which can make it a little bit lonely.”

Despite the trajectory of in-person events and classes, there has also been a surge of support for online resources and accommodation for students.

Multiple universities have decided to keep large lectures online, as well as give students the opportunity to take their classes online. This boost of accessible options for students has been given extra support by the Union of Students of Ireland (USI) as they have readily supported a physical return to campus for students but have also supported the need for additional support and easier access for students to both their classes and class materials.

As everything around the world begins a gradual return to normalcy, students are working to return to their version of normal.

Normal includes going to coffee with friends, chatting on the way out of lecture halls and loitering around campus, reading over notes or eating a midday snack. While the new normal also includes certain restrictions and carefully placed rules, it seems as though our new normal will merge into the old normal very soon.

PHOTO BY ELIZA MELLER FOR TRINITY NEWS

18

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

Features

“ A lifeline at NiteLine NiteLine’s Lara Summers tells Trinity News about the service that helps students, no matter the problem Emma Lueders Contributing Writer

P

rolonged bathroom breaks hiding from essays and revision notes are familiar to any student who has spent an exam season in Trinity. Whether they entail crying, exasperated sighing or dissociating with your head against the stall door, we’ve all been there. During these few moments of respite, you may have noticed the small sticker on the back of the door advertising NiteLine. Leaving the bathroom, you may have also noticed posters tracing laps of Trinity advertising the same confidential service.

Although I’ve seen the posters so often they no longer catch my eye, I realised I knew very little about who NiteLine were or what the service does. I sat down with Lara Summers, the newly appointed public face of NiteLine Trinity, to learn more about the service and what they do.

“NiteLine is a confidential, latenight listening and information service, run by students for students.” Lara explains, “The helpline is operated by trained student volunteers between the hours of 9pm and 2.30am, ready to listen to any concerns or issues any student is having.” Callers are able to reach a volunteer within their region every night of term.

This means a caller from the Dublin region will be through to a volunteer in one of NiteLine’s affiliated Dublin colleges:

University College Dublin (UCD), Maynooth University, Technological University Dublin (TUD), National College of Art and Design (NCAD), Dublin Business School (DBS) and the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI).

Anonymity is crucial to NiteLine for both caller and volunteer. NiteLine encourages callers to refrain from giving any identifying information, however if something that might make the caller identifiable is said, the volunteer will simply let them know before the call continues on as normal.

Along with anonymity, NiteLine is centered around three other key pillars: being confidential, non-judgemental and non-directive. Although the former three are standard among mental health services, the one that stood out was the service being non-directive. NiteLine differs from other listening services because, while others may offer advice or suggestions on issues, NiteLine is purely there to listen and to help people find further support that suits them if they so choose.

“Our volunteers will never try to offer advice or provide a solution to a caller’s challenges,” Lara explains, “Our role and training aim to provide a listening service and offer information to callers, but not to give counselling or advice.”

As a volunteer for NiteLine, Lara hopes to encourage students to reach out regardless of how big or small they feel their issue is.

Before volunteering, Lara felt that to access the service, she had to be struggling drastically or have a considerable problem accessing the service. In actuality, the calling scope for NiteLine covers many topics such as loneliness, relationship problems, college strains, mental health difficulties, basically whatever is on a student’s mind at any point in the college term. The service aims to provide an open space where people can talk, explore whatever they may

“

Along with anonymity, NiteLine is centered around three other key pillars: being confidential, nonjudgemental and nondirective be going through, or even just sit in silence and know that another person is there with them at the other end of the line. “The peace that can come from just being listened to and vocalising any issues, no matter how big or small, can be a massive relief to students.”

Phone calls with Niteline can last up until one hour and instant messaging chats last two hours one on one with a student volunteer. This is to ensure that volunteers have a quick break before popping back on calls.

The volunteer will always give plenty of notice if a call or instant message will soon be coming to an end, and encourage calling straight back if you still want to chat. If you do call back you might go through to another trained volunteer rather than the listener you were previously talking to.

The service views all calls as

equally important, whether a caller just needs to chat about things that are on their mind, to more severe issues where students might feel like they cannot talk to anyone else. With volunteers also being anonymous students, who may even be a similar age to the caller, the service creates an informal listening space for students to talk through any issues they may have, no matter how big or small.

To ensure that all callers are listened to and feel supported, NiteLine makes sure that all their volunteers are prepared and ready when answering the phones for the first time. Typically this includes training groups covering different challenges a caller might be facing, the policies of NiteLine and getting to know their fellow volunteers. There is a heavy hands-on approach within the training that includes practising calls and role plays, to make sure volunteers are comfortable and ready before starting to take calls.

“Although the process is intensive, it’s enjoyable,” Lara highlights,” as even though it is taken very seriously, you get to expand your circle and develop active listening skills.”

Volunteers are also supported

by NiteLine both during the training process and beyond.

All volunteers have bi-weekly support meetings, which allow them to debrief and discuss any issue they might be facing while volunteering. It is essential for NiteLine that all their volunteers are in a safe mental space to go on calls. To ensure this, NiteLine never puts pressure on volunteers on when to volunteer, especially during hectic months. The service asks their volunteers to get involved whenever they can, with the average volunteer answering calls once a month. Volunteers also check in with each other before going on phones for the night to make sure that they are all okay with taking calls. This way, callers can be guaranteed that any volunteer they reach is

The peace of just being listened to and vocalising any issues, no matter how big or small, can be a massive relief to students in the mindset to listen and focus on the caller entirely. There is a strong emphasis on the service of volunteers making sure they are present for themselves before being present for others.

Even with safe services like NiteLine, many people can find it hard to reach out to someone anonymously and might decide to reach out to friends and family instead. Often when we are the

19

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

Features

“

NiteLine can be reached at 1800 793 793 or the instant messaging service. It’s available on their website from 9.00pm to 2.30am

person someone chooses to reach out to, there can be nerves in wanting to show them that we are there for and listening to them.

Some great ways to support a friend when they confide in you, as Lara explains, can be with eye contact, gentle head nodding or with acknowledging statements like “I hear you”, “I’m so sorry you are going through this” or “That must be tough.” Repeating what someone has said or asking them gentle questions about what they’ve discussed can also be great ways to communicate that you

“

The service views all calls as equally important, whether a caller just needs to chat about what’s on their mind, to more severe issues

are listening and allows them to explore their thoughts further.

Timing reactions can also be necessary. It can be easy to overwhelm someone by responding to them too quickly or making them uncomfortable by not responding when they have discussed a difficult topic.

Sometimes, people may not want to discuss something further, and it can be enough to just sit with them and allow them to feel safe.

It is also crucial to remember that, although the above are all excellent active listening skills, do not put too much pressure on yourself in these conversations. We are all human, and unfortunately, that means there is no one right thing to say to everyone. The most important thing is for them to feel supported and to remind them that they do not have to go through anything alone.

With the new school year starting and many students being affected by the pandemic, it is essential to know that there is always someone ready to listen. NiteLine and the services they provide are available to all students, no matter if it’s about a problem they’re facing or just to chat to someone. If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer, NiteLine’s recruitment period usually runs between April and September. In the meantime, there is an expression of interest form available on their website so students can be directly notified in time for the next recruitment period. Alternatively, NiteLine are always happy to have volunteers help their publicity team and encourage students if that is an area that interests them. If nothing else, just know that there is always someone willing to listen and that no issue you face is one that you have to tackle alone.

NiteLine can be reached at 1800 793 793 or the instant messaging service available on their website from 9.00pm to 2.30am. You can also give them a follow on instagram @NitelineDublin for wholesome posts throughout the term.

20

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

Features

Reopening the Pav From the staff behind the counter to the students on the floor, everyone has something to say on the iconic student bar’s reopening Catherine Grogan Contributing Writer

T

he Pavillion Bar, known affectionately as the Pav, finally reopened its doors this semester for the first time since they were forced closed by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the new addition of the temporary Pav marquee, the campus bar may look slightly different to how it was known before the pandemic.

The Pav, however, is no stranger to this evolving change.

When it first opened its doors in the year 1885, the Pavilion Sports Bar contained only changing rooms, two bathrooms and one room for hosting meetings and serving refreshments. In 1960, DU Central Athletics Club, the central body of Trinity’s sports clubs, applied to the college board for the Pavillion to license alcohol.

Approval was granted under the condition that alcohol only be served from 3:30pm to 6:45pm during term time, with these hours shortened to 6:15pm outside of term. With the Pav’s position as the center of the social scene on campus steadily increasing from this moment

“

We can be outside and meet friends, the craic, the buzz, the atmosphere ...

I felt like a real college student

in 1960 onwards, it comes as a joy to many students to see the establishment opening its doors wide once more.

Speaking to the current Student Union Ents Officer Greg Arrowsmith, he expresses the importance of the Pav allowing all students the opportunity to socialise and make new friends: “These events aren’t exclusive, they’re open to everyone and get people mixing.”

This truth is revealed in conversation with Emma Gallagher, a second year student who went to the Pav during Senior Freshers Week, her first visit since she started studying in Trinity a year ago: “I’d heard loads about the Pav from older students and I obviously had certain expectations surrounding it. My expectation was just that you go there, drink with your mates and have a bit of fun. But when I actually went for the first time, I went with one friend and instantly met four new friends when we joined them at the table.

That’s what I think is really great about it.”

Further to the Pav’s re-opening, the SU and Ents committee have mounted the Pav marquee on the lawn just outside the pub’s doors. This new feature was added to accommodate government health regulations. Arrowsmith admits that the organisation and construction of the marquee required significant work and incurred substantial costs, which have yet to be confirmed.

However, Arrowsmith concludes it all to have been worth it.

“It has been expensive, but definitely an expense worth paying for because it gives students somewhere to socialise safely. The alternatives are either no socialising at all, or house parties, which obviously aren’t COVID-safe and put students at risk. That’s the rationale behind the marquee.”

The success of the marquee is confirmed by Frank Wolfe, a senior fresh student currently working at the Pav as bar staff.

“The atmosphere in there is buzzing every day and the events, I think, have been very successful.

As far as I know, no other college is doing anything like this.”

“When I first heard how much the marquee was costing, I thought it was ridiculous. But it’s doing a lot to get a bit of atmosphere back into the college, and I actually think it’s a very good move.”

The opportunities afforded to society life with the marquee available as a COVID-safe venue are apparent. Domhnall Roe of the Trad Society spoke to Trinity News, praising the reopening after the society’s first in-person event for a year and a half: “The Pav marquee opening finally gave us a chance to play music together as a society and host an event that allowed us to engage with society members in person.”

These opportunities for live music are also spoken of by Elias Dempsey of the DUDJ Society.

While Dempsey admits that within the marquee it remains “painfully evident that restrictions are not over” and, as a DJ, finds it

“

The Pav marquee opening finally gave us a chance to play music together as a society and host an event difficult to see students “unable to boogie and confined to benches of six.” However, DJing at Pav Friday still made him feel that “there is clearly light at the end of the tunnel.”

Moving forward, the Pav marquee will remain in place until October 1. Beyond that, the Pav itself will continue operating as it is presently, with seating available both indoors and out without the requirement of pre-booking. The marquee remains available for bookings of up to groups of six, with plenty more events planned for the month of September.

Speaking to Arrowsmith about his plans for the future of this

academic year, the centrality of the Pav in college life remains apparent. “We want to make Pav Friday a kind of institution where every week there’s an arts type event, a sports type event and then a DJ set or music event that everyone can enjoy in the evening. So basically on a Friday you just get yourself to the Pav and there’s going to be something there for you.”

After a year and a half of hardship and restrictions, the re-opening of the Pav and what this symbolises for college life and the future can, as Gallagher describes, feel surreal. For her, enjoying that first drink in the Pav this week made her feel like she was “actually in Trinity now.”

The Pav’s re-opening represents the fact that “things are now happening. We can be outside and meet friends, the craic, the buzz, the atmosphere ... I felt like a real college student.”

It is evident that extra efforts are necessary during these times if students are to be granted the college experience in Trinity that they worked so hard and waited so long for. Students are currently waiting for similar resolutions to be made in other areas of university policy in order for this experience to be extended to all areas of college life. For now, though, it might just be enough to enjoy the re-opening of the Pav, the heart of Trinity’s social scene, to bask in the hope that it offers, and allow it to pump life into the college days ahead.

21

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

Comment

Scholarship exams must be abolished Sophie Furlong Tighe

page 23

College knowingly misled students Editorial

page 26

“

This is not a post-pandemic era we are living in, but an ongoing pandemic

PHOTO BY JACK KENNEDY FOR TRINITY NEWS

College is reopening with caution, and students must follow suit Supyae Yadanar

Deputy Comment Editor

T

his September, thousands of students around the country will be returning to in-person classes, with restrictions in place. In comparison to other colleges in the country, Trinity’s approach to reopening has been relatively conservative.

After more than a year of online classes and awkward social events on Zoom, it is understandable that students, especially second-year students who had spent their first year of college in their rooms, want to finally return to campus and interact with course mates for the first time. With the number of young people aged 18-24 in Ireland who are fully vaccinated standing at 71%, the vast majority of students returning to College will be vaccinated. Announcement

of reopening plans for third-level institutions by the government has students hopeful for the upcoming semester. However, it is wise to remember to be vigilant upon returning as the pandemic continues.

With the hospitality sector reopening using vaccine certificates, and a myriad other commercial industries (i.e. cinemas, theatres, live music) also reopening from September 6, life may finally resemble returning to normal. However, with a consistently high number of more than a thousand cases recorded in Ireland on a daily basis and the increased transmissibility of the Delta variant, precautionary measures should still be taken as rigidly as possible. This is not a post-pandemic era we are living in, but an ongoing pandemic.

One need not look further than

the North to see the risk starkly, with thousands of people aged 5-19 testing positive for the virus.

The effects of this on education were massive, as absences from school rose due to students either having COVID-19 or being a close contact. The education department is vastly different from any other sector, due to the nature of in-person classes on a daily basis. If backsliding were to occur, the impacts of this would be colossal. This is even more true of universities, with significantly more students and accompanying socialising. With eyes on the North, it seems only sensible to express some hesitance with reopening.

Trinity College in particular, due to the campus' central location in the city center, caution should be exercised with a full reopening. College’s two-stage

reopening plan, compared to other third-level institutions, has more restrictions and limits to in-person learning, with lectures over 150 people being conducted online. Students, even if disappointed, should be able see the justification in the preventative measure of gradual reopening. From a public health perspective, allowing all 18,000 students back onto campus, with no social distancing in lecture halls, would be a very irresponsible decision.

With the intention of the College to relax restrictions for more in-person experiences from November 1 onwards, the restrictive measures are presumed to be temporary. The slow reopening serves as a major precaution, and to proceed accordingly if no outbreaks occurred. While it is true that universities with a larger number of students (like UCD and NUIG) are resuming most lectures at full capacity, with no social distancing but mandatory masks, Trinity’s location makes it an incomparable case; as an outbreak in Trinity would be dire due to its city center location.

However, the dissatisfaction of students in regards to the reasoning of College’s central location being an indicator to taking a more cautious reopening

approach is also valid. Prior to September 6, students were not allowed on campus without an official academic reason (for example, a library booking). For College, the difficulties students faced needing a reason to enter campus when tourists were able to enter the university on guided tours reflect poorly on their dedication to student welfare and reinforced the view students already have in regards to the College prioritising economic interests over student satisfaction.

The discontentment of students lay in College’s inconsistency and delayed communication- College’s heedfulness on opening up would have been better received if College had not accepted tourists into campus in a more organised and systematic manner than students were allowed to enter campus before September 6.

For students who have suffered at the hands of the pandemic in social isolation while coping with the stress of managing college work, College must do better at communication, in both conveying their reasoning on policies and listening to feedback from students.

It is important to remember, nevertheless, that although students may be displeased with a slow reopening, the pandemic is still an ongoing issue, with dire consequences to people’s healths. While Ireland, due to its success of the national vaccination program, is able to reopen schools and universities and open the country sector by sector, there are many other countries around the world with little access to vaccines where the pandemic is still killing hundreds, even thousands per day. We, as a community, have a responsibility to each other, to protect each other and to put the preservation of the physical and emotional well-being of each other over our frustration at still having an online class on our timetables.

22

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

Comment

PHOTO BY ARNO MIKKOR (EU2017EE) / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Zappone appointment reveals deep-seated hostility toward transparency in Leinster House Fionnán Uíbh Eachach Deputy Comment Editor

A

t the height of the most severe health and housing crises in the state’s history, one might be surprised to find that the topic presently dominating political discourse in Ireland is the attempted appointment of former minister Katherine Zappone as a temporary United Nations envoy on LGBTI+ rights. However, it would be wrong to dismiss this controversy as unimportant.

The appointment of Zappone to a position that may well have been created for her, along with

the attempt of senior ministers to skirt Freedom of Information (FOI) requests regarding the issue, point to an unacceptable culture of hostility towards transparency at the heart of this government.

When in July of this year it first came to light that Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney had appointed his former government colleague Katherine Zappone to a position as an UN envoy, the government was quick to respond to concerns of cronyism with a defence of her suitability for the role. It is not Zappone’s suitability for the role

that is in question, but rather the manner in which she was appointed to it – which included neither public advertisement nor competition for the position.

While it is true that ministers do have the right to appoint individuals to such positions on their own recommendation, the fact that Coveney and Zappone were government colleagues only one year prior surely constitutes a serious conflict of interest which no ethically-run institution should allow. The news that Zappone had been informed of the possibility of her taking up

this role prior to it being drafted by the Department of Foreign Affairs represents a further ethical failure, suggesting that it was created specifically for the former minister – a notion seemingly justified by the fact that the position remains vacant with little sign of any new appointee. Indeed, Taoiseach Mícheál Martin’s subsequent announcement that all future envoys will be chosen by open competition is in essence an admission that Zappone’s appointment was unethical and cannot be repeated.

It is important that the Taoiseach’s call for lessons to be learnt is not allowed to conclude this embarrassing chapter of the present coalition’s time in government. The attempted appointment of Zappone by her former colleagues to a well-paid position is deeply unethical in itself. Even more concerning is the utter contempt demonstrated in recent weeks by senior government ministers to the most basic principles of transparency one would expect in democratic government. The comfort with

which ministers have used frankly absurd defences of their behaviour also points towards an equally damning contempt for their own constituents.

While the botched appointment is itself an embarrassing political scandal, the revelation that Minister Coveney deleted an exchange of messages on his phone between himself and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar regarding the appointment represents a serious threat to the public’s right to access information. The idea that one of the most senior ministers in government would delete information relating to a position funded by the public, in full knowledge that it could be relevant to any later FOI request regarding the role, is unacceptable. It seems that there is a culture of hostility toward transparency in Leinster House.

What is perhaps most galling here is Coveney’s own admission while under question by a Dáil committee that although he regularly deletes messages on his phone in the interest of security, he would never delete “government business”. This is patently absurd, as it seems the Minister is now claiming that while he would delete less important information for security purposes, he would refuse to do so with information he himself regards as more security sensitive. Such nonsensical excuses for ministers’ misbehaviour ought to seriously concern anyone who cares for transparency in government.

The notion that ministers can decide for themselves what does and does not count as “government business” and can therefore be deleted is frankly dangerous. Equally, the fact that the government is so comfortable with such obviously absurd excuses for its misbehaviour suggests that ministers have little regard for the intelligence of

“

It is important that the Taoiseach’s call for lessons to be learnt is not allowed to conclude this embarrassing chapter of the present coalition’s time in government

23

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

Comment

“

In a more functional republic, one might expect a resignation to follow their own constituents, who were clearly not expected to care about the appointment. This points towards a dismissive attitude towards the public among senior government members that is unfortunately of no surprise, given the nature of previous controversies such as Golfgate or Zappone’s Merrion Hotel event.

Similarly dubious excuses for not providing information on Zappone’s appointment have dogged this entire saga. For example, Tánaiste Varadkar’s department initially claimed not to possess text messages between himself and Zappone before then releasing them. Similarly, Minister Coveney has attempted to justify his deleted texts by referring to a phone hacking of which other members of government (including the Taoiseach) have no recollection. This naturally raises very serious questions regarding transparency in government.

How many FOI requests have been refused in the past for lack of records when the information was in fact available? Equally, how many requests have been refused because the relevant information was deliberately deleted? While it appears Minister Coveney has come just short of breaching the 2014 Freedom of Information Act in this instance, his actions clearly contradict the spirit of the law and reveal a shocking disrespect for transparency in government.

In a more functional republic, one might expect a resignation to follow.

Ironically, it is this reluctance of senior ministers to provide information clearly that has allowed a controversy about typical political cronyism to grow into one about transparency in government and the public’s right to access information. Free access to information is integral to any democracy and the degree to which this issue has captured the public’s attention is therefore encouraging. Yet, without disciplinary action against those who contributed to this episode, there is a risk that departments will be emboldened to mistreat FOI requests further in the future. It is therefore imperative that transparency in politics be taken seriously, as failure to do so now could have long-reaching consequences for the public’s relationship with the government.

College has a moral responsibility to abolish scholarship exams Sophie Furlong Tighe Comment Editor

T

he scholarship exams (or schols) in College occupy an unusual place in the campus imagination: often glorified as the hardest examinations students can take, they occupy a symbolic function as much as a material one. However, given the material rewards of these examinations and their huge stakes, we have a duty to interrogate their efficacy and equity within College.

Offering five years of completely subsidised education, housing, and meals, the system is, without a doubt, a huge investment that College makes into those they consider the best and brightest of the academic community. The mere act of providing scholars with such colossal investment leans into this symbolic mystery around the idea; scholars are not merely a group of people who did well in a certain set of exams when they were nineteen, but a class in themselves. The symbolic nature of the structure is not only evident in the investment by College, but also the ritualistic practices by which it is surrounded. Every night, scholars can avail of commons — a closed-door meal beginning with Latin prayer, with meals served largely by other students, those engaged in shift work, presumably to pay for the meals College is not providing for them.

Schols is a self-evidently elitist institution; it can only function because the vast majority of the academic community do not have access to it. This is true materially of course (college can obviously not afford to pay for the life of every student) but it also functions symbolically — what is the point of a closed-door dinner, if everyone has the key? Why would one don ill-fitting scholar’s robes if they were handed out for free to all?

But what is the problem with elitism if it is based on merit? There are many, I think — those who are good at sitting examinations when they are nineteen are not more deserving of housing or meals than those who sit exams poorly, or simply didn’t study enough. But even if you believe that being able to write a good academic paper

“

Schols is a selfevidently elitist institution; it can only function because the vast majority of the academic community do not have access to it under stressful conditions entitles you to a more accessible education, it is simply not true that the scholarship examinations are a meritocratic system. After all, the exams are promoted as extremely difficult because they are. People tell stories of toiling in the library for hours of their Christmas break because that’s

necessary to do well. What is often lost in these discussions is that the time needed to dedicate to the act of becoming a scholar is not time which everyone has access to. Like many things in this world, schols is designed for the rich, for those with access to tutors and expensive books and without the need to work a parttime job to stay afloat. Scholars, then, will naturally bend toward the upper and upper-middle classes. The first problem with this is obvious — the people who need subsidised housing and meals and further education do not get it. We return to the symbolic for the second problem, though it remains important: the elite close ranks, they socialise and live together, and it is always the wealthy who are seen as the best, the brightest, and the most deserving within Trinity College.

This problem has not been invisible to those in Trinity.

It is clear even to those who are proponents of the system that there are problems. And so, reforms are floated: less examination conditions, some places specifically for access students, or greater accommodations. But fundamentally, this system cannot be reformed — exclusivity and elitism is not a glitch, it is the purpose. Nothing but the abolition of the scholarship exams and a redistribution of the

resources used to prop it up will be sufficient.

Ultimately, it is incumbent upon College to dismantle this system. But as we have seen before, Trinity is usually reluctant to do anything without significant pressure. Members of the Trinity community, both scholars and not, have a moral responsibility to push against a structure that reinforces elitism and takes resources away from those who need them. This is also a responsibility of the Student’s Union, whose talk of welfare and equality must extend to the university in which it operates.

Not only should the scholarship examinations be abolished, but those who are in the privileged position to pay for their own education with ease should not sit said examinations.

The act of reaping the benefits of the scholarship exams for largely symbolic reasons directly takes an accessible education from someone who needs it. Even if it was not the case – which it is – that the action of a rich person accepting schols is taking it from someone who needs it, participation in this elitist system necessarily reinforces it.

For some people, the main change schols makes to their lives is a confirmation of their privilege and a nice line on their CV. For others, it is the difference between continuing education and dropping out. For so many, this is a choice they do not even have the chance to make. The benefits which students reap from schols change many lives for the better, but we must imagine a college community where resources are given to those who need them; we will not achieve anything close to an equal and fair college community until we do so.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL FOLEY FOR TRINITY NEWS

24

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

Comment

Poor working conditions are to blame for young people not returning to work, not the PUP Emma Lueders Contributing Writer

W

ith the reopening of restaurants, pubs and retail, the usual disparaging comments about the work ethic of the young can be heard again.

Now the argument is that staff shortages nationwide can be attributed to lazy students who are refusing to come off the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP).

As far as past villainizations of young people go, this one holds an extra level of irony as the businesses making these claims are the same places who treat students like dispensable, interchangeable cheap labour.

With a rising generation of students who would rather quit than put up with unfair working conditions, it is no wonder that businesses have used PUP to strawman dissatisfaction with their own shortcomings as employers.

Over the years, there has developed a divide as to what society considers a student job.

Most of the time, these are the jobs that the rest of the population did not want to do. Jobs such as wait staff, retail workers, baristas, bartenders, call-centre work and kitchen porting are among those in which students make up a large percentage of staff. These same jobs also have higher staff turnover rates, with employers also blaming students for this. In reality a number of facts come into play as to why these jobs are often occupied by students rather than full-time staff.

Many of the employers who are complaining about students refusing to return to work pay minimum or below minimum wage jobs. The Eurostudent, in their Social and Economic Conditions of Student Life in Europe report, found that in Ireland the median self-earned wage for students was below €400 a month, pre Covid-19. Many students don’t have the option of taking reduced hours during term time with one in five Eurostudents feeling they are a worker first and a student second. The average student wage tends to sit at just €10, which is below minimum and €2.30 below the Dublin living wage. Many employers take advantage of a legal loophole that allows them to pay young

people below minimum wage until the age of 21, which means that students are often affected by this as they tend to fall under the threshold. Out of personal experience alone, all of my friends have at one point taken a cashin-hand job for under minimum wage. With the pandemic fresh in everyone’s minds, many students no longer feel safe taking jobs where tax stamps are not being paid by owners, as if another lockdown comes into place they will be stuck without any income.

Many students might jump from a job in hopes of a slightly better wage to try and make ends meet.

With wages being no incentive to stay in a job, students tend to quickly move on if other areas also give no reason to stay.

Along with low wages, the physical and mental exertion that these jobs require are often not proportional to their pay. The term “student jobs” has begun to mean very customer focused or labour-intensive jobs such as waiting, retail, factory work, etc. Many of these shifts stretch the labour laws in having staff work long hours with minimal to no breaks. Breaks are often unpaid and deemed as a privilege

“

Many of the employers who are complaining about students refusing to return to work pay minimum, or below minimum wage jobs

by employers that should be skipped or ignored if the business is busy. Often bad employers will emotionally manipulate employees into skipping their mandated entitlements with phrases such as “be a team player” to try and draw attention away from the fact that they are understaffed. Along with skipping breaks many of these jobs can be seen as draining; dealing with customer complaints, constantly moving and “looking busy”. Being constantly moving can add to the draining nature of these jobs. These jobs can also require an unnecessary amount of experience for students, wanting a minimum 2 or 3 years experience in the industry. This can often lead to staff carrying bad habits from

other businesses and no one being trained in the company's standard operating procedures. With wages not matching the effort that these jobs require, there is another lack of incentive to work in them.

With the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, many students are able to focus on their studies where such a privilege was previously unavailable. Countries such as Germany, Finland and Norway have removed tuition fees for citizens in third level education. Having to take on work can cause many students to miss out on Erasmus or internships because they cannot forfeit a consistent wage. Employers here also often use students’ urgent need for work as a way to get labour cheaply and sometimes exercise bad employment as they are working with a demographic who are in need of money but do not yet hold the qualifications for a better paying job.

Employers often use the PUP payment as a way of controlling the narrative around students not wishing to be exploited, which is unfair to employees who have had to bite their tongue to afford college. Before blaming people for not wanting to return to work for

“

Before blaming people for not wanting to return to work, it could be a useful exercise to examine why that might be a wage that falls below what they would be earning not working, it might be a useful exercise to examine why that might be.

25

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

Comment

PHOTO BY NASA

Now is the time to prepare for a referendum on Irish unity Fionnán Uíbh Eachach Deputy Comment Editor

A

fter a century of partition, the prospect of a reunified Ireland has often appeared elusive. A variety of factors including (but not limited to) gradual demographic change, the chaos of Brexit, and the electoral success of Sinn Féin on both sides of the border has seen support for unity grow to its highest ever level — with recent polling in the North suggesting that a majority are in favour of a future referendum on the issue. A referendum on Irish unity in the near future has therefore become a distinct possibility, and given the particularly sensitive nature of reunification, it is imperative that we take this possibility seriously

“

Many are naturally attracted to the romanticism of reunification, but in order to win any future campaign and create a workable state, more will be needed than national feeling and romantic rhetoric

and begin preparing now.

Why, though, has a united Ireland become again a topic of political debate? There are many factors to explain recent growth in support for a united Ireland, and the UK’s decision to leave the European Union must be acknowledged as the highly significant event it was.

The invisibility of borders when the Republic and UK were both member-states allowed communities in the North to feel safe in their relationship with their respective nation, with the idea of constitutional change often seeming redundant.

Brexit destroyed this post-Good Friday Agreement constitutional balance, by forcing those living in the North to favour either a land border in Ireland or (as has happened under the NI Protocol) a customs border down the Irish Sea. Unsurprisingly, this has brought the reunification debate back into the North’s political consciousness, with polls now suggesting that more voters than ever before are open to unity, and the majority of nationalists are willing to vote in favour.

Brexit has also spurred interest in a united Ireland within the Republic, as the NI Protocol deepens economic ties on the island and forces Southern politicians, who have often paid only lip-service to reunification, to engage seriously with the North. However, Brexit has also demonstrated how destructive ill-prepared constitutional change can be. It is important that those of us who desire to unify learn from this, and develop a clear vision of how a united Ireland would function in reality. Many are naturally attracted to the romanticism of reunification, but in order to actually win any future campaign and create a workable state, more will be needed than national feeling and romantic rhetoric.

It is therefore deeply disappointing that although parties traditionally less keen on unity have become more confident in supporting it, there remains little actual planning as

“

the Irish government has shown little interest in establishing a clear blueprint for how such issues may be dealt with to how a united Ireland would work. It is generally accepted by all interested in unity that a new, united Ireland would be an entirely different entity from the current 26-county state — and systems as varied as health, transport, education and policing would need to be overhauled.

Yet, beyond setting up routes for dialogue such as the Shared Island Initiative and gesturing toward citizens’ assemblies, the Irish government has shown little interest in setting out a clear blueprint for how such issues can be dealt with. This failure to develop a roadmap for unity is reckless not only because it makes victory in a border poll less likely, but also in relation to the increasingly unstable nature of politics and community relations in the North. Unfortunately, politicians in the Republic often care about the North only to the extent that symbolic gestures of support for unity may serve to improve their popularity in the South, with most viewing the region as far too unstable to be worth any serious investment of time or money. Uncertainty regarding the future is particularly

dangerous in a conflicted area such as the six disputed counties.

Given that a border poll is now a distinct possibility in the near future, it is imperative that regardless of the outcome it is clear what the electorate is voting for.

What does proper planning for a united Ireland look like?

In the century since Ireland was partitioned, both jurisdictions on the island have naturally developed separately and, as a result of this, possess very different health care systems, education systems, transport networks and police services, among other institutions.

Preparation for unity must therefore involve the development of clear plans as to how these vital sectors will function in a new, unified state. Will the North adopt the Republic’s largely privatised healthcare system, or will a unified state develop a new approach to health? Will the PSNI continue to exist, or will the unarmed Gardaí be responsible for policing loyalist areas? Will unionists be expected to learn Irish at school like

those in the Republic ? While exploring such questions offers the opportunity to improve life for all on the island, they also present challenges which need solutions if a border poll is to be won. That is not to say that there is only one approach to issues such as these — all parties will naturally diverge on different aspects. However, if people both north and south of the border are expected to vote for a new, united Ireland in the near future, then it is incumbent on those of us campaigning for unity to provide a clear blueprint for it as soon as possible.

A full century has now passed since Ireland was split between North and South. Yet with recent polling suggesting a narrowing gap between those who wish to remain in the UK and those who support unity, its conclusion appears closer than ever before. Irish reunification holds the potential to heal very old wounds on this island and could also provide us with an opportunity to reimagine how this country is run. For this to happen successfully, preparation must begin now.

26

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

Comment

Editorial: Trinity knowingly misled students this term and must make amends

T

rinity has not bathed itself in glory since classes returned on September 13. The issue of this newspaper published on September 7 featured an editorial decrying the administrative incompetence of College, amplified in particular by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, things have only gotten worse, significantly so.

Students in almost every corner of Trinity arrived for the beginning of term to find that they would have significantly less in-person teaching than they had been led to expect. Large numbers have no in-person lectures whatsoever, and at time of writing some have no in-person classes of any kind, as tutorials and seminars have yet to be scheduled in some courses.

Many of those who resat or deferred exams were unable to enroll in modules until the end of the first day of term, meaning they were effectively denied any choice of what classes they’d be taking this year.

As was acknowledged in that previous editorial, no one would make the argument that a global pandemic is an easy thing to navigate. It was always going to present administrative challenges, and there was likely always going to be some chaos surrounding the return to campus after what was, for most of us, an 18-month absence.

Additionally, of course, the

pandemic is not over in Ireland.

Infections continue to happen, the virus continues to pose a severe risk to life and health, and this must be taken seriously. It is possible that the right approach to the first part of this term is indeed a restrictive one, that there are still sacrifices that must be made in the form of enduring Zoom lectures and missing our social lives.

It is not the place of this newspaper to make a determination on the specifics of the public health situation. We are not experts.

That is, however, not the point.

The chief wrong being done here is not that classes are taking place online. The point is that College lied to students, and did so knowingly.

Trinity was dishonest in two ways. The first and lesser of the two was to promise things it was not in a position to promise. This is a process students became intimately familiar with last year.

Then, College made several separate commitments that it would return to on-site teaching at some future date, only for the situation to deteriorate and force the scuppering of the plans. Trinity was, in effect, saying it had the power to predict what it did not.

This year, it came in the form of Trinity concurring with Simon Harris’ claims that teaching would “overwhelmingly be on-site” this term. The provost specifically echoed Harris when she gave the impression that only “large lectures” would be held online,

even while admitting that College hadn’t really formalised its plans yet, and was awaiting guidance from government and public health experts. Again, Trinity made promises it probably genuinely did want to follow through on, but wasn’t in a position to be sure it could, and ultimately did not. College should have been honest about the level of uncertainty that remained.

The second and more egregious form of dishonesty was simpler; Trinity told us things that it knew were untrue. College very specifically said in late August that all classes with fewer than 50 attendees would be held in-person this term, at the same time as it was allocating teaching spaces which made this impossible for schools within the university to deliver. It made promises that it knew, without a doubt, would not come true.

Students were simply lied to.

Students were also, as an aside, lied to when they were given the impression that deferring examinations because of the circumstances of the pandemic would not cause them to be penalised in any way. As junior sophister English students rightly pointed out in their letter of complaint last week, this wasn’t the case; some people who deferred their exams ended up being denied any choice of modules, even in their degree-contributing years. Trinity promised students wouldn’t be negatively affected by deferral, it was within its power to ensure

this happened, but it didn’t do so.

Again, College lied to students, dumped them in a bad situation, and left them to pick up the pieces themselves.

Why did all this happen? That’s hard to say. Only those who made these decisions can answer that. It seems likely that Trinity was fearful of the backlash it would face if it admitted the extent to which students would be limited to online classes, or how unprepared it was to actually offer mitigating measures around assessments.

Instead of facing this and attempting to lead a mature discussion about what the safe level of in-person teaching really would be on our campus come September, College told students what it thought they wanted to hear, and then gave its faculties and schools an impossible set of instructions and hoped no one would notice when it all bubbled to the surface.

Well, people did notice. And they seem pretty angry. That anger is understandable. The dishonesty is not just wrong in principle, but has real consequences; students are paying exorbitant rent to live on or near campus and now being told they have no or almost no in-person classes. Others committed to commuting on the basis that they would be “overwhelmingly” on-campus, and are now wondering if a 90-minute journey is really worth it on a day when they only have an hour or two of class.

Some students have even been

Editorial: The GSU Executive is destroying its own union to avoid accountability

T

he Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) has become a running joke of sorts, with many in Trinity spending the past couple of months eagerly awaiting to see what goes wrong next. Last week, that joke became (depending on your perspective) either much funnier or much, much less so.

It’s perhaps important to review the chronology of events, to appreciate just how far the union has fallen. In April, the GSU held an EGM. There was significant criticism of the way this EGM was run and, in particular, the conduct of President Giséle Scanlon and Vice-President Abhisweta Bhattacharjee. Petitions were then circulated to hold votes of impeachment for both officers, which reached the requisite signatures counts, but votes were never held.

Shortly thereafter, the union’s

annual elections came around.

Ultimately, both officers were re-elected, though not without some questions surrounding the fairness of that election. During the campaign, Scanlon was asked why the impeachment votes had not yet been held. She said it was because the GSU Board was investigating the EGM from which the impeachment campaign stemmed, and the votes couldn’t be held until the board’s investigation was concluded. The board then effectively said this statement was untrue, but the votes were still not held.

The board went on to release the results of its report, saying that the executive had not cooperated with the investigation despite Scanlon having used it as an excuse to avoid impeachment proceedings. The executive then accused the board of lying, saying it possessed emails that proved it had cooperated. The board

said this meant nothing without releasing the text of the emails.

The text of the emails has not been released, making it hard to argue but that the board was right.

The GSU, during this, lost its funding from College due to the executive’s lack of cooperation with accountability mechanisms.

Last week, just before the Capitation Committee was due to revisit the funding issue, the executive suddenly claimed that the GSU Board’s term had expired and a new one had been appointed in its place. It has not been explained who the members of the “new board” are or on what basis it was appointed.

So, that’s where we stand. And with all that in mind, it’s difficult to disagree with the GSU Board’s latest assessment of the situation, that it’s “farcical”. It is the opinion of this newspaper that these events constitute a campaign

by Scanlon and Bhattacharjee

to avoid scrutiny, suppress democracy within the union, and consolidate their own power.

First, they clung to the board as a way to avoid impeachment proceedings, and now they are clearly trying to replace the board because it did its job in trying to hold them to account.

It’s difficult not to sound comical or hyperbolic when describing this, but this is truly the kind of behaviour one would expect from a tinpot dictator.

They now preside over a union that has been stripped of its funding and lost any legitimacy it ever had. The organisation is a shadow of its former self, postgrads have not been meaningfully represented by anyone for months now, and the blame for this lies squarely and solely with the GSU leadership.

The executive’s self-centred campaign to avoid the slightest admission of wrongdoing has

heard speculating if this wasn’t an entirely cynical move on Trinity’s part, meant to delay the fallout from the back-to-campus plan until after tuition and accommodation cheques from students had already cleared. Again, only College authorities can say if there’s even a kernel of truth to that, but students can be forgiven for wondering.

Whatever the cause, Trinity must make amends. Exactly what form this should take depends on what students want and what is responsible from a public health perspective. Maybe it should include more in-person teaching; maybe there should be an apology and a real, tangible plan for more accountability in the future; maybe students should be given partial tuition refunds.

The details should be worked out through a consultative process, where students as a whole get to decide how College can be accountable to them, rather than this happening behind closed doors, at inscrutable committee meetings.

After years of increasing commercialisation, rent hikes, and lack of the most basic services, students’ trust in and opinion of Trinity is quite possibly at an all-time low. College should take this opportunity to own up to its wrongdoing and begin to engage with its community in a respectful, non-patronising manner.

Otherwise, students will eventually run out of patience. prevented it from taking action on any of the myriad of problems that masters and PhD students face. Casual teaching staff are still treated awfully by the university, even while the president and vicepresident spend months avoiding impeachment votes and find time to take a formal stance on one specific wasps’ nest on campus.

The GSU’s leadership must immediately cease its coup-like attempt to replace the legitimate board, it must comply fully with a rerun of the investigation it stonewalled, and it must hold a general meeting to vote on the impeachment of the two sabbtical officers. At this meeting, there should also be a rerun of the votes from the April EGM, so the question of whether those decisions were legitimate can finally be settled. Only then can the GSU move on, rebuild its democratic structures, represent postgrads, and fight for their rights.

And ultimately if the GSU Executive is unwilling to be held accountable and to cease pulling the union down around it for the sake of its own ego, its members should resign. This has gone on for far too long.

27

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

Scitech

Novel stem cell research into diabetes treatments Lauren Vrbanic

page 28

The neuroscience of imagination Luke Rabbitte

page 29

Booster shots for Covid-19: the science of vaccine inequality Unequal vaccine distribution will only be heightened by boosters in highincome regions Lucy Fitzsimmons SciTech Co-Editor

A

fter an 18-month saga of trials and testing, delays and divisive arguments, the vast majority of the Irish adult population are now doubly vaccinated against Covid-19. We’ve done the waiting, got the badges, and had the side-effects. But in all likelihood, these will not be the last vaccines that many of the population receive against Covid-19.

Viruses are ever-changing pathogens that evolve over time.

This evolution is due to mutations.

Every time a virus replicates, it had a chance of undergoing mutations in its genes. There are three outcomes for these mutations: they can be harmful to the virus, they can have no real effect on the virus, or they can have an advantageous change to the virus that might make it more transmissible or severe. Naturally, the latter are the variations that we are concerned about and which pose a threat to public health and vaccine efficacy.

There have been many variants to Covid-19 but only four “variants of concern”, as designated by the World Health Organisation (WHO), have been highlighted as particularly problematic; the alpha, beta, gamma and delta variants. Each of these variants is a different evolution of the original coronavirus that started the pandemic in early 2020. All of the variants are more transmissible than the original virus, and some cause more severe illness as well.

These variants make the vaccine landscape uncertain. The vaccines we have been immunised with were designed to fight the original Covid-19 virus. And while new variants do not completely throw away the original virus blueprint, they have changes that can make the vaccine less effective at fight-

ing them, and something which differs across different vaccines. So what do we do in the future, if our current vaccines fail to protect us?

Many scientists think the answer to this question may be booster doses.

Booster vaccines are common for many of the illnesses we vaccinate against. Immune systems’ memory isn’t perfect, and the strength of our immune response can decrease with time. For example, as infants, many people receive a vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella, followed by boosters at the beginning of primary schooling to improve their immune response to those diseases.

And regularly changing the makeup of vaccines to accommodate new variants is nothing new either.

Every year a different flu vaccine is developed for the different strains that are most common that year.

So boosters really are nothing new.

The issue with booster vaccines for Covid-19, however, is that they would further exacerbate the pre-existing vaccine inequality issue. The world is not equally well protected against Covid-19; not even close. Many high-income countries now have 70% or more of their population fully vaccinated, and yet at the time of writing just 1.9% of populations of low-income countries have received even one dose, according to Our World in Data. To even be considering booster shots in Ireland shows that we are in an incredibly privileged position. With all this in mind, in early August the WHO called for a moratorium on any countries giving boosters until the end of September at the earliest, to prioritise getting vaccine supplies to the regions that are still critically under-vaccinated.

There is a strong case for ensuring limited supply goes to low-income countries, and not as boosters in high-income countries. Many experts believe that these vaccines should be distributed in a triage-like manner: deal with those at most severe risk first, which is of course those who remain unvaccinated.

Doing this also has direct benefits for the high-income regions also: it could slow down the emergence of new variants. Viruses need to be transmitted from person to person for effective mutations to spread and become variants of concern. Once more of the

world has been vaccinated there is less chance for variants of the virus to arise. Naturally, we want as few variants of the virus as possible, due to the risk they post to vaccine efficacy and transmissibility.

Professor Jonathan Gruber, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, estimated that a first vaccine dose in less-vaccinated countries like India could be eight times more impactful than a booster shot in the United States.

The jury is also still out on whether boosters would actually deliver a significant increase in protection to those that are not at high risk from Covid-19, or how much our vaccine protection wanes. Scientists can clearly observe a reduction of antibody titres as time passes post-vaccination, as with all vaccines, but it is hard to conclusively say that this is really

reducing the protection we experience.

For instance, while we are now observing increased levels of hospitalisations of the elderly than we did immediately after the vaccination of this grouping, this might not be due to waning protection.

This could in fact be due to societal factors and the general relaxation of protective measures such as masks and social distancing among this age group once they were vaccinated. The feeling of being protected can invite much less careful behaviour than people do pre-vaccination.

There’s also a question of what we want from the vaccines and what it is reasonable to expect them to do. If the metric is that we want immunisation to prevent deaths and hospitalisations, then booster shots really will not be re-

quired for most of the world’s population for some time.

One possible approach is to only provide booster shots to the immunocompromised, in order to have as minimal an impact on global vaccine supplies as possible. We must be careful to keep the vaccines we use in richer countries to a real minimum, and truly to just provide boosters to those in dire need of them. Otherwise we enter the territory of so-called vaccine nationalism, which will not help anyone in the long run.

Hoarding vaccines and protecting those who are much less likely to be hospitalised or to die from the virus—while the pandemic rages on, taking countless lives in less economically developed regions —can never be morally justified.

PHOTO BY SPENCERBDAVIS / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

28

Tuesday 7 September | TRINITY NEWS

SciTech

Novel stem cell research could provide hope for Type I diabetes patients Modern testing and evidence from more progressive requirements in other counties show it is time for change Lauren Vrbanic

Deputy SciTech Editor

J

ust reading the words “injections” and “needles” is usually enough to make anyone squirm uncomfortably. However, for Type I diabetics, insulin injections are their lifeline. Type I diabetics must meticulously count carbohydrates, monitor their blood glucose levels, calculate and inject units of insulin, and manage their condition each and every day, or the consequences are dire.

The cause of Type I diabetes remains a mystery, although we do know it is an autoimmune condition mainly diagnosed in childhood whereby the body attacks its own pancreatic cells. When these cells are destroyed, the pancreas can no longer produce insulin, a critical hormone in glucose homeostasis. Normally when an individual takes a meal, complex carbohydrates are broken down into the simple form of glucose and travel through the blood-

“

One of the main issues with previous attempts of stem cell transplantation is that there is always a risk of immune rejection

stream. This signals for insulin to be released from the pancreas.

Insulin is a hormone that acts as a long-distance chemical messenger to shuttle glucose through specific transporters from the bloodstream into different places such as the liver, fat, and muscle tissue.

In Type I diabetes insulin is not produced, therefore glucose is unable to get into the various tissues and organs. This allows the glucose to build up in the bloodstream which is called hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia can lead to an array of complications.

The hallmark problems include diabetic retinopathy, which can lead to blindness; diabetic nephropathy, which can cause kidney impairment; and diabetic neuropathy, which can lead to numbness in the hands and feet. It is vital for Type I diabetics to have consistent glycemic control. Some of the signs and symptoms of Type I diabetes include: increased thirst and urination, sudden rapid weight loss, decreased energy, and an acetone smell on the breath.

The current treatment for Type I diabetes includes insulin injections, since the body is unable to produce insulin itself.

Over the past few decades, there have been enormous efforts into researching the disease and its manifestations; however, more recently there has been a shift to conduct experiments to find a cure. Groundbreaking research using stem cell technology has been the focus of Type I diabetes research for the past few years.

Stem cells have the potential to turn into any tissue or organ in the body. Therefore, research has been conducted to try to find a way to replace the destroyed pancreatic cells with stem cells. Many other chemical messengers must be added to the multipotential stem cells in order to direct their differentiation specifically into pancreatic cells. This is exactly the premise behind the current VX880 clinical trial being conducted by global biotechnology giant, Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

The VX-880 clinical trial is the first and only pancreatic cell replacement therapy that has received Fast Track Designation from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this groundbreaking clinical trial, the specific patient cohort included 17 individuals with Type I diabetes who suffered from severely low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia) or those who were unable to perceive the onset of hypoglycemia. The individuals in this patient group were infused with human stem cell-derived pancreatic cells. One of the main issues with previous attempts of stem cell transplantation is that there is always a risk of

immune rejection. The body sees these cells as foreign entities and starts attacking and killing them.

Vertex hopes to provide a solution to this problem through the administration of immunosuppressive therapy in conjunction with the differentiated pancreatic cells in order to try to promote the body to accept the cells to allow them to function properly to restore glucose homeostasis.

Although this may seem like a magical combination, chronic administration of immunosuppressive drugs can also lead to an increased risk of infections, bone marrow suppression, cardiovascular disease, and malignancy, so

“

Will the therapy work in practice and what will be the longevity of results?

this novel cure must be carefully perfected before it could become widely used.

While new research directions mean things are looking bright for the future of patients with type I diabetes, there are still many questions that remain. Will the therapy work in practice and what will be the longevity of results?

Will it restore all normal pancreatic function for patients? Most importantly, could it improve the quality of life and a lasting cure for type I diabetics? These are questions the medical community and all those affected by diabetes wait anxiously for.

PHOTO BY JAMES CARL MUTTER/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

29

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 7 September

SciTech

The pattern seekers’ songbook and the neuroscience of imagination A Trinity study explores what it is that we love about music Luke Rabbitte

Assistant SciTech Editor

“

I certainly like pauses in DJing,” the electronic music pioneer Sam Shepherd (who releases under the pseudonym Floating Points) says in his label biography.

“Especially in all-night sets where I assume dancers would welcome moments of calm...I’ve found that with my dancefloor productions, patience with build-ups can make that release all the sweeter.”

Shepherd’s hypothesis may now have some empirical backing,

specifically in a research paper written by Professor Giovanni di Liberto of Trinity College Dublin, Professor Shihab Shamma of the University of Maryland and ENS Paris, and Guilhem Marion of ENS Paris. The study, recently included in the Journal of Neuroscience, has clarified the role of music not solely as a form of sensory stimulation, but also a game of pattern recognition in which the brain is engaged in a constant guessing game about what will happen next.

It transpires that music is far more intimately related to imagination than even the most devoted of us cared to admit; to listen to a piece of music is to unknowingly call upon a reservoir of lifetime acoustic experience in order to imagine what will happen next.

It’s not hard to think of examples from across musical genres.

Sonata form has occupied the human imagination for centuries with its magical trinity of exposi-

tion, development, and recapitulation. Jazz has enthralled with its head-solo-head mapping, sandwiching the unexpected between the thick castle walls of repeated main melodies. Contemporary electronic productions made by the likes of Shepherd are distillations of the same old routine, with modern sampling devices and digital audio workstations making it easier than ever to satiate the ears of pattern-hungry listeners.

Working in Trinity and in ENS Paris, the researchers used electro-encephalograms (EEGs) to measure the brain activity of musicians while they listened to or imagined a set of Bach piano melodies. Di Liberto explains how when imagining music, human brain activity has the opposite electrical polarity to when we listen to it. However, the scans revealed that the same activity occurs during quiet parts of listening as when imagining music outside of listening.

Using EEGs afforded Di Lib-

erto and the team a quick imaging time of just 10 milliseconds.

Unlike other scanning methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, which measures blood oxygen levels, these images measured electrical activity. This helped to solidify the understanding that when listening to music the brain is both responding to the sound on a sensory level and calculating whether the sound matched its expectations on a pattern-recognition level.

The study demonstrates how the brain responds more strongly to unforeseen events and how simply imagining music can heighten brain activity, in doing so bringing us “one step closer to understanding why music is so important and interesting for our brain”, as Di Liberto explains to online magazine Inverse. EEGs, and the method of comparing the brain activity of imagined music and predicted music, may hold the key to a deeper understanding of the human imagination.

In a clinical sense, the method could also provide the sort of painless and accurate picture of brain health useful for identifying early signs of dementia and attention-deficit issues: a tantalising possibility Di Liberto says he is interested in exploring.

It is ultimately the brain activity flared by the imagination and prediction of music in the context of this study that makes music such an interesting thing to the mind. No matter how well-versed or confident we are in the future direction of a piece of music, we still experience the warm glow, the buzz, the curiosity of what will happen next. We can only hope that over time that studies such as these will throw more and more light on what has and will continue to be this central means of human expression and entertainment.

Trinity researchers’ work on gold, silver and copper hydrides could help with energy storage Innovative storage systems are needed if hydrogen is to be the fuel of the future Lucy Fitzsimmons SciTech Co-Editor

T

he Trujillo research group at Trinity’s School of Chemistry have conducted an investigation into metallic compounds that will be needed to store hydrogen fuel as we move towards greener energy sources. The team used quantum methodology to investigate the hydrogen storage capacity of various metal hydrides.

Reducing dependence on fossil fuels is a key element of the fight against climate change. An alternative fuel that could replace non-renewable options, particularly for transportation, is hydrogen. The gas can be produced using renewable energy and it then stores that energy for later use, most often in portable use-cases such as transportation. When the hydrogen is burnt in the presence of oxygen, its only byproduct is water.

We have already begun to see the introduction of hydrogen fuel

cell vehicles including passenger cars and buses, including in Ireland. In July, the National Transport Authority and Bus Éireann unveiled three hydrogen fuel cell buses, which have begun service on the 105X route in Dublin.

“Among the greatest challenges facing humanity is the growing need to stop global warming and find more efficient and cleaner ways to produce energy. “ says Dr Cristina Trujillo, a research fellow at the School of Chemistry and the work’s senior author.

“As everybody already knows, the current production system and excessive use of fossil fuels is releasing much more CO2 into the atmosphere than is being absorbed naturally, which makes the creation of greener and more environmentally friendly alternatives a global priority.”

In order to use the large quantities of hydrogen required to fuel a bus for several journeys, however, it is essential to have an efficient way of storing the hydrogen. This is the work the quantum chemists of the Trujillo group have been undertaking, by exploring the hydrogen storage capabilities of a group of compounds called metal hydrides. Metal hydrides are combinations of metals and hydrogen, so if an appropriate accompanying metal is chosen, hydrogen can be stored in this form. The group has found that gold, silver and copper could be good candidates to do this.

This could provide an alterna-

tive to current hydrogen fuel cell designs, which usually need to be maintained under great pressure, or cryogenically (at very low temperatures). Both of these come with certain risks. High-pressure gas can cause explosions if mishaps occur, and cryogenic gases can cause asphyxiation if they escape. If the hydrogen was stored as metal hydride, it could be rapidly converted back to elemental hydrogen only when it is needed for use, providing a safer storage option.

Greener fuels have been a hot topic of research for many years, says Trujillo: “For decades now many research groups across the world have put their efforts into this issue. One of the most studied alternatives has been hydrogen as a clean and CO2-free energy source, but it presents multiple problems due to its reactivity, and low density and stability.”

The group has been working on understanding regium bonds and how metals interact with other chemical species. This has allowed

the group to better understand how hydrogen and the metals such as gold, silver and copper will interact.

“Our contribution here – made via quantum chemistry techniques – has been to show that gold, silver and copper hydride complexes are very likely to effectively retain hydrogen in a stable manner. We hope that this work will have multiple applications in time to come,” says Trujillo.

PHOTO VIA THE NATIONAL TRANSPORT AUTHORITY

30

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

Fans’ embrace of Ronaldo is worrying Shannon Connolly page 32

Sport

Cliff divers make a splash at Downpatrick Head The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series made its fifth visit to Ireland last week Jack Kennedy Editor

D

ownpatrick Head juts out of the Mayo coastline about 27km northwest of Ballina, not far from the Céide Fields. Though the Cliffs of Moher are the international superstars of Ireland’s Atlantic coast, their northern Mayo cousins are no less dramatic. On September 12, the headland hosted a round of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.

12 men and 12 women competed in front of an in-person crowd of 200, a small flotilla of boats, and the Naval Service patrol vessel LÉ James Joyce. The event was also broadcast online and on TG4.

This year marked the competition’s fifth visit to Ireland, following a round in Dún Laoghaire harbour in 2019, and events in Inis Mór in 2017, 2014

and 2012. The annual series is made up of six rounds held at locations around the world, with the winner being the competitor with the highest point total at the end.

The Cliff Diving World Series was established in 2009 and has been held annually since then, though the 2020 event was ultimately cancelled due to the pandemic. It was open to male competitors only until 2014, but now has separate categories for men and women.

Despite the name, not all of the diving actually takes place from cliffs. Every year since 2015, the series has included a round at the iconic Stari Most bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other novel venues have included the mast of a 19th century warship in Hamburg, and the roofs of Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art and the neo-futurist Copenhagen Opera House.

The precise rules and scoring system for the competition are complex, specifying exactly what kind of dives are performed and how the scores from the five-judge panels are combined. Competitors jump from varying heights of more than 26m, and reach speeds of up to 85km/h before hitting the water, according to Red Bull.

The Downpatrick round was won by Gary Hunt of France and

Rhiannan Iffland of Australia. Both are veterans of the competition, with Iffland having won the women’s category every year since 2016, and Hunt clinching the men’s title eight out of the 11 times the series has been held. Both are also World Aquatics Championships gold medallists in conventional

high diving.

Commenting on her win, Iffland said it felt “great to be on top of the podium once again”.

“I guess I can kind of relax a little bit now and enjoy the competitions a little bit more.

Saying that, I still want to go out there and give it my all to break those scores again,” she continued.

“This is what I’m aiming for next.”

“From Italy I expect fireworks,” said Hunt, referencing the next scheduled round of the series, which will be held in Apulia on September 22.

He continued: “I feel like everyone is really getting into their stride. You’ve seen how many 10s have been awarded

31

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

Sport PHOTOS BY INPHO PHOTOGRAPHY

“

It will be really, really tough, but that’s what I love about this sport.

It’s gonna get tougher every year gateway to the Céide Fields and for Healy’s Lounge, which claimed in 2014 to be the first Irish pub ever to have accepted Bitcoin as payment for a pint. But the stunning local geography will no doubt have left an impression on watchers of the World Series, and the town may have just been added to some travel bucket lists.

this competition and everyone is getting comfortable. It will be really, really tough, but that’s what I love about this sport. It’s gonna get tougher every year and let’s hope to finish this season with a bang.”

Indeed, a record number of 10 out of 10 scores were awarded in Mayo: 23 in one day. Spaniard

Carlos Gimeno also made competition history by performing the first ever handstand dive directly off a cliffside, earning himself a unanimous perfect score from all five judges.

With the departure of the cliff divers, the nearby village of Ballycastle will return to being notable mostly for being the

Throwback Previous stops on the Red Bull Cliff Diving tour in 2021. Left: Stari Most, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Right: Oslo Opera House, Oslo, Norway.

PHOTO BY PREDRAG VUCKOVIC

PHOTO BY ROMINA AMATO

32

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

Cliff divers make a splash in Mayo Jack Kennedy page 30

Sport Fans’ embrace of Ronaldo is part of a worrying trend in football I support Manchester United as much as anyone, but I’m not celebrating the striker’s return to Old Trafford Shannon Connolly Deputy Editor This article contains discussion and brief descriptions of sexual violence.

C

ristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United in recent weeks has been treated as a biblical event among the club’s fans, given his history at the team previously as well as in the sport as a whole. Indeed, he is considered by some to be the best footballer in the world. In his first

game back, he scored two goals, helping Man U to a comfortable 4-1 victory over Newcastle.

Regardless of his ability to put the ball in the net, however, there are larger issues from his past that simply cannot be ignored.

Since 2017, Ronaldo has denied allegations made by American Kathryn Mayorga that he raped her in Las Vegas more than a decade ago. The day following the alleged assault, which is said to have taken place at the footballer’s hotel room on 12 June 2009, Mayorga made a report to local police, but chose not to give her name or her assailant’s.

After hiring legal representation, Mayorga decided to file a civil suit against Ronaldo. After a period of negotiation, the footballer agreed to pay $375,000 to the complainant as a settlement of the case, in return for Mayorga signing a non-disclosure agreement.

Der Spiegel reported in late 2018 the existence of a document which the German newspaper says was circulated among Ronaldo’s legal team in 2009. It contains answers from the footballer to questions about his encounter with Mayorga, which he later claimed

was consensual. He is referred to as “X”, and she as “Ms C”. An early, draft version of the document, according to Der Spiegel, features X admitting that Ms C “said no and stop several times” while he had sex with her.

Las Vegas Police did eventually investigate the allegations in 2018, after details had emerged in the media. In January 2019, investigators requested a DNA sample from the footballer. Six months later, they declined to press criminal charges, saying that they did not think the accusation could “be proven beyond reasonable doubt”.

Ronaldo’s lawyers have since called the Der Spiegel story an “intentional defamation campaign” with sections “altered and/or completely fabricated”.

Despite the use of the phrase “defamation”, however, no legal action has been pursued against the German paper over the issue, and it has stood by its reporting.

These allegations against Ronaldo, as well as earlier ones, have been public knowledge for some time, and yet any protestations about the celebration

TRINITY NEWS EST. 1953

Write for us Trinity News, Ireland’s oldest student newspaper, has a long history of high-quality journalism. Many of our alumni are currently working in media, having spring-boarded their careers with the newspaper, and we are always welcoming new contributors to our written and multimedia sections. Opportunities to get involved include: • • •

Contributing an article to one of our many written sections Taking photos or creating art to feature in the newspaper and/or online Working with our video team to produce documentary content around student issues

All Trinity students are welcome, regardless of experience. Our editorial staff regularly issue prompts for contributors to work on and we also accept cold pitches for articles. For more information, see trinitynews.ie/write-for-us.

of his return to Manchester United have fallen on deaf ears. This is a culture of silence we often see when it comes to the alleged wrongdoing of footballers. For the past month, fans have sung his name in the streets and hundreds of articles have been written glorifying his soccer capabilities, but there has been precious little discussion of this dark part of his past.

Man U fans (and football enthusiasts more generally) frequently refuse to even acknowledge the existence of the accusations. When the issue is brought up, it’s generally immediately dismissed as “unproven” before discussion returns to how great a striker he is. This has happened before, especially in sport, and it’s simply not good enough.

I’m not denying Ronaldo is a fantastic player and an asset to the team, but no single individual should be above reproach or accountability. Mayorga has never

gotten justice and was silenced by the non-disclosure agreement for years. The fact that charges were never filed is beside the point; it’s widely known how infrequently allegations of sexual violence end up in court.

And this isn’t a question of whether he deserves to be in jail, only whether football fans should stop and think before singing his praises. That shouldn’t require the same colossal burden of proof as the criminal justice system, and to say it does is a cop-out used to avoid the sticky moral question this issue raises for fans.

Everyone should be answerable for their behaviour, regardless of their sporting expertise. The fact fans mostly refuse to even acknowledge the allegations is a huge problem, even aside from the allegations themselves. There needs to be a culture change among football fans, and it cannot come fast enough.

PHOTO BY ANK KUMAR/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

Intertwining intimacy, Niamh Barry and gender and sexuality Gabrielle Fullam page 4 page 8

Cycling in Dublin: the power of pedalling page 13

LIFE

TRINITY NEWS

The best Trinitybased books

Pullout section

PHOTO BY ELIZA MELLER FOR TRINITY NEWS

2

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

PHOTO

In this issue A conversation with Larissa Brigatti

- page 7 Intertwining intimacy, gender and sexuality

- page 4

Artists in conversation:

Niamh Barry and Gabrielle Fullam

Fashion Society collaborate with Oxfam

- page 11

- page 8 The best Trinity-based books - page 12

Culture Night 2021: a recap

- page 14

Life staff Editor-in-Chief Life Editor Life Deputy Editor

Jack Kennedy Heather Bruton Eva O’Beirne

Arts & Culture Editor Arts & Culture Deputies

Elena McCrory Oona Kauppi Maisie McGregor

Sex & Relationships Editor Sex & Relationships Deputy

Maya Kulukundis

Societies Editor Societies Deputy

Ella-Bleu Kiely Ruth McGann

Student Living Editor Student Living Deputies

Ella Sloane Seán Holland Ria Walls

Lila Funge

The declassified guide t Ella Sloane breaks down the basics of living in Trinity’s Dartry Accommodation

W

alking along the well trodden, leaf-littered paths of Dartry road and through the gates of Trinity Hall for the second September in a row, I am hit with a sudden wave of nostalgia. The memories held within the familiar walls of this sheltered haven are shared by thousands of Trinity students, both past and present, and as we enter Freshers week 2021 a new swarm of residents prepare to make Trinity Hall their home for the academic year. Moving into student accommodation and navigating a new area for the first time can be overwhelming to say the least, but lucky for you we have curated the following declassified guide to Trinity Hall — something I wish I had been gifted before beginning my own extended residence here.

Trinity Hall is located in a residential suburb of South Dublin, approximately 4 kilometres from College and only a 10 minute

walk from Rathmines where you will likely do most of your weekly food shopping. There are no shortage of shops to choose from in the area, from more affordable options such as Aldi and Lidl, to Tesco and Dunnes Stores, as well as a range of shops that cater specifically for different cultures. If you want to splash some cash on dining (and drinking) out, Rathmines is home to an abundance of restaurants, gastropubs and cafes to fuel your almost inevitable caffeine addiction, including but not limited to the infamous Moth-

“

Rathmines is home to an abundance of restaurants, gastropubs and cafes to fuel your almost inevitable caffeine addiction

er Reilly’s Bar and Restaurant (renowned for their chicken wings — sold by the kilo — and student pints), Ernesto’s Coffee, Little Ass Burrito Bar, Elephant and Castle, and Sprezzatura. Having lived in Trinity Hall myself as a Junior Fresher throughout various lockdowns, I am still only starting my journey of cuisine exploration!

If you have ever wanted to watch a movie in one of the world’s most beautiful cinemas then Rathmines is the place to be.

This year, Rathmines’ very own Stella Theatre was ranked 16th globally due to its unique and decadent art-deco style interiors.

This is an opportunity not to be missed, so if you’re looking to impress (or be impressed) be sure to take a trip to this iconic cinema.

Some of the parks surrounding your new home are the perfect place to go for a run, walk with friends or even just wind down after being glued to your screen for an hour too many. Palmerston Park is located directly behind Trinity Hall and Dartry Park is a 5 minute walk away. Unbelievably, the latter remained unknown to me until almost halfway through my second semester last year; it is certainly a hidden gem.

You may now be wondering how to commute to College from Trinity Hall. There are a few different options. The most popular is the 140 bus which begins its route merely a 2 minute walk from the accommodation and

3

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

O BY ELLA SLOANE FOR TRINITY NEWS

to Halls stops at both Dame Street and Westmoreland Street, from which College’s main entrance is virtually unmissable. Another common way that students can commute to College is via the Luas, which leaves Milltown station at very regular intervals and arrives on Dawson street, beside College’s Nassau Street entrance. Whilst this option is marginally cheaper than taking the 140 bus, it does involve a 10 minute walk from Trinity Hall to the stop, so you can weigh up the pros and cons of both and decide what is most convenient for you. If you are feeling adventurous you could even cycle or commit to a leisurely 50 minute walk when you have time to spare! Commuting in Dublin may appear daunting at first, particularly for the population of Trinity Hall which predominantly consists of international students and students from rural Ireland, but thankfully the route to College from your accommodation in Dartry is relatively straightforward, and you will quickly get to know it like the back of your hand.

There are many advantages to living in purpose-built student accommodation when moving away from home for the first time.

Not only will you be living in a close-knit community with your peers, there is also an abundance of support and facilities available to you to make your stay as comfortable and stress-free as

possible. Maintenance and repair issues are promptly addressed, there is a (slightly pricey) laundrette, and a study space on site as well as security staff at reception 24/7 — all things that can easily be taken for granted but trust me, they make a major difference to your experience as a student living away from home. Trinity Hall has a unique support system in place specially targeted towards the cohort of first years living there; this consists of the Warden Dr. Roja Fazaeli, Deputy Warden Kevin Sullivan, a team of Assistant Warden’s assigned to each house, the Junior Common Room (JCR), and the Welfare team. Together this group of people aim to create an enjoyable and safe environment to live in that fosters the welfare of its students. “What exactly do they do?” I hear you ask.

This brief synopsis of their roles will hopefully answer that for you.

The Warden fulfils both a pastoral and disciplinary role and is also responsible for allocating rooms to incoming students.

Assistant Wardens act as a first point of contact for residents seeking advice on any aspect of living in Trinity Hall, or to discuss problems that arise, whether they be academic or personal. They are also responsible for ensuring that students living here behave in accordance with the rules and ethos that they agreed to uphold during their residence.

The JCR is an elected representative body for all residents, consisting of Senior Fresher students.

Their job entails maintaining the welfare and well-being of students whilst creating a community spirit, mainly through the social events that they regularly organise. On the JCR there are eleven positions: President, Vice-president/Treasurer, Secretary, and officers for welfare, music, events, sports, international students, technology, communications and publications.

Describing her extensive role as this year’s JCR Welfare Officer, Aoife Bennett summed it up in one sentence: “Helping our Halls students navigate the ups and downs of college life.”

Supported by the Welfare Team, who can also be contacted by any students with worries or concerns during their time here, the Welfare Officer conducts weekly office hours and can quickly put you in touch with college services and support organisations. There will also be professional counsellors on site with whom you can arrange an appointment.

Bennett offers some words of advice and reassurance that she wishes she had as a first year. “Relax! I was so nervous moving to Halls. Starting college is scary but everyone is in the same boat. Go to as many events as you can and join societies. It’s the best way to meet people (even if it’s on Zoom at first). And remember you have four years in college, there is time to figure things out! You don’t need to have everything sussed out in the first week.”

Society spotlight

DU Dance Ella-Bleu Kiely speaks to the DU Dance Contemporary Team Captain Abbie Doyle

D

ance is not a sport, it is an art. There is this constant debate between athletes and dancers on the issue — especially in the pre-teen hobbie active years — but to dance is to express oneself in movement to music. Dance and sport are both beautiful in their own ways, and are both equally challenging.

Dance too can also be competitive, and sitting down with Abbie Doyle, DU Dance’s Contemporary Team Captain, we discussed the society’s most recent Intervarsities (Inters) experience, dance life, and the mechanics of DU Dance.

In March 2020, DU Dance ventured to Galway to compete in the annual Dance Intervarsities Competition against universities from across the country. The Trinity dancers showcased contemporary, jazz, Irish, hip-hop and mixed piece routines, and returned home with their Irish team placing 3rd and Jazz team 2nd. “Inters was definitely one of the best things I did in first year,” Doyle said. “It was so great to watch all the routines and colleges on stage. It was tough, but it all felt so supportive.

Everyone came to watch and

cheer everyone else on.”

DU Dance’s Inters rehearsals normally commence at the beginning of semester two, with two classes a week for the competitive dancers. “Obviously, the competition is a whole all day thing. Our contemporary team was at the very start — 9 in the morning!”

Doyle, now a third-year student of Geography and Geoscience, is bound to choreograph the contemporary piece for the coming Inters Competition in 2022. “The choreography was insane last year … I have some very big shoes to fill,” she laughed.

Doyle first stood at the barre at the age of three and has not left since. “I did ballet for years and I always did stage school and everything. I also danced with the Irish National Youth Ballet for five years,” she humbly explained.

Doyle revealed that going into college she “wasn’t sure whether to take a little break from dance or not [...] I knew a girl older than me who was part of DU Dance and she was like ‘you have to sign

“

Anyone who does dance or wants to get into dance can join

up’. Of course, I didn’t need much convincing and it looked so fun.”

She revealed that her time so far with the society has been “an incredible social experience. I’ve met so many wonderful people …

We’ve even had loads of students on Erasmus with us and from America too.”

Ballet is the foundation for most of the DU Dance sphere.

“We have dancers from all dancing backgrounds, but I think a whole lot of people come from ballet,” said Doyle. She explained that a lot of these dancers merge into the contemporary side of things as the looser style can sometimes be more relaxed.

“There’s so many people who haven’t done much dancing at all before, and from just taking classes with the society are just naturally really good.”

DU Dance, the home of dance in Trinity, caters not only to the experienced but dancers of all levers right from beginner to advanced. “Anyone who does dance or wants to get into dance can join of course. We do loads of classes, so it’s not just all about the competition teams. The society is a great opportunity for anyone who wishes to get in and do a bit of dance,” Doyle said. DU Dance offers classes in heels, tap, musical theatre, jazz, street, hip-hop, Irish, ballet, contemporary, lyrical, commercial, Latin American and a variety more throughout the college year.

When asked what she loves most about dance, Doyle simply said: “It’s just something I’ve always loved doing and a real way of expressing yourself. It brings you away from any stress whether that be college work or anything else. You’re sort of in your own little world and you can enjoy and release any energy.”

The DU Dance logo was recently rebranded to signify gender inclusivity, which is what they wish their society to represent: “Inclusivity, creativity and fun.”

DU Dance welcomes any student from all walks of life.

4

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

It’s all about those buns Intertwining int Bob McLarnon reviews the pastries at Hong Kong Taste

B

akeries are quite possibly where I am happiest on earth. For a few serene seconds, you are bathed in beautiful scents and surrounded by warm colours as you gaze at plump buns, blooming loaves, and tempting desserts. In choice spots, such as Hong Kong Taste on Eden Quay, you can watch the masterful bakers in the back, churning out cake after cake, loaf after loaf, with artistry and finesse. On the left side of the taupe-patterned shop, there is a bubble tea counter, stocked to the brim with glistening tapioca pearls, uranium green apple balls, and anything else bright and colourful that people cooler than I want to slurp up through their inch-thick straws.

The right is devoted to baking, with a little fridge for chilled items, tucked behind a display case loaded with buns.

The green flecks of onion on the bacon and scallion buns are likely to catch your eye. They are fun, although the bacon can be a little tough. The sausage bun is surprisingly wholesome, and the cheap sausage is at home in its bread casing. However their cheesy chicken curry buns are something special. On the top, a thin topping of cheese has been baked, infusing the bread with dark fronds of umami, supplied by the dry cooked cheese. Inside, the bun is filled with a pleasantly warmed chicken curry — not unlike a more refined version of what Centra’s deli calls “chicken tikka”.

The Bo Luo bun is a more basic delight, it simply shows the prowess of the baking, letting the springiness of the dough speak for itself. The top of the signature bun is criss-crossed with a cream, which crisps upon baking, resulting in a hatched crust that’s dry, sweet and crumbly.

The Char Siu bun is, in my opinion, the bun to write home about. A simply elegant brioche dome, baked to a golden brown, contains a smoky sweet hit of flavour with each satisfying bite. The stew-like filling is packed with sweet smoky umami, with the irresistible sweetness of caramelised onions, making the pork almost a dessert. The soft bread is a bed of comfort. If you are lucky enough to get one while they’re hot — always ask at the counter rather than reach into the display case — the taste is unparalleled. The hot honey-like barbecue liquid steams out, and the gossamer thin crust on the bun tastes like the film on a creme brúle.

Not everything is perfect however. The Bacon Bun is a well toasted sesame bun with freshly fried bacon, egg and seasoned onion. It is a strong competition for the ubiquitous breakfast roll, but the chef drowns it in ketchup before handing it to you — ask for it without. Skip over the Char Siu Puffs. They are dry, without enough filling to overcome the stodginess of their puff pastry casing, although the sweet glaze varnishing of each puff helps.

One charmingly unique item is the Red Bean bun. Their trademark bun is filled with a paste of lightly sweet beans, similar to Japanese mochi. It is unmistakable in its beaniness, and perhaps not quite as composed as other items on the menu. For those that like beans, this is a fascinating treat

“

The Char Siu bun is, in my opinion, the bun to write home about. A simply elegant brioche dome, baked to a golden brown, contains a smoky sweet hit of flavour that we rarely see on this little island. Another pleasant oddity that may be new to many here is their egg tart. Somewhat like a Portuguese Pastel de Nata, but instead of caramelising the top, the custard recipe calls for 4 times the egg. I loved all four bites.

This quaint little shop, which may struggle to grab the attention of the average passersby, is packed with enough potential to become a pilgrimage site for the people of Dublin. How couldn’t it? When most of the staple items on the menu are under €2, with all but their fanciest treats being under €4, you can come back again and again without getting bored or broke.

Experiences of being in an emotional, romantic, and sexual relationship are an important part of a trans person’s journey, writes Frank Wolfe

A

round eight months ago, I got into a loving, romantic relationship. It was, and still is, exciting in all the usual ways, and has changed the way I feel about many different aspects of my life. But ask me to name one thing that caught me by surprise? The intense feelings of wanting to be more feminine and desiring to be seen in a feminine way that came with it. And this wasn’t the first time in my life that I’d felt an urgent need to question my gender, or intensely experienced dysphoria (if you don’t know what that is by now, Google it). But the previous time had also occurred while I was – you guessed it – in a relationship.

My statistics lecturers would probably tell me my sample size isn’t large enough to draw mean-

ingful conclusions, but, for me, the correlation between being in a relationship and seriously questioning my gender seems pretty strong. And it’s also something I intuitively feel is true.

So as a good statistics student, I started researching it to see if other people had similar experiences.

Now, none of this is to say that it’s a universal truth that if you have the potential to question your gender, getting into a relationship will trigger that. What is true is that intimacy (both emotional and sexual) can be important in framing many people’s views on their own gender. Experiences of being in an emotional, romantic, and sexual relationship with another person is often an important part of a trans person’s journey through questioning, accepting, and actualising their gender identity. I believe this is a conversation which we need to have – this is something many trans people, including myself, feel very acutely, and there’s a budding corpus of academic research on it, too.

However, I think it’s a conversation we don’t have enough, and a better understanding of the nuance in the links between gender, intimacy, and sexuality would be a lot of help to many trans people, their partners, or anyone trying to understand their own feelings around those three things.

Why gender and sexuality are “implicit in the construction of each other” Many queer people experience

5

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

timacy, gender and sexuality perceived and loved, too.

In the words of American cultural theorist, Lauren Berlant: “Intimacy involves an aspiration for a narrative about something shared, a story about both oneself and others that will turn out a particular way”. Most of our lives are not lived directly through our experiences, they are lived through the stories we tell ourselves about our experiences.

Some are self-created, some we get from others. Our urge to use these stories as a touchstone to process the many confusing, unrelated, and otherwise meaningless things that happen to us every day is overpowering. Narratives and retellings are the hands that shape our identities and ideas of ourselves, and sharing them, as

sexuality and gender as being woven together. While this is far from true for all queer people, gay/bisexual people tend to be more likely to question their gender than straight people, and a lot of gay or bisexual people present in ways that subvert gender norms even if they never question their gender. But even where this isn’t true, and even for straight, cisgender people, the relevance of gender and sexuality to each other is unavoidable. To quote anthropologist SPF Dale: “Each is implicit in the construction of the other”.

Gender is implicit in sexuality because people are usually attracted to gendered characteristics of each other (and many of these characteristics are physical).

People usually talk about sexual orientation in terms of which gender(s) they are attracted to.

On top of that, sexuality (meaning our sexual and romantic preferences and desires) isn’t limited to sexual orientation. It also involves what roles appeal to you in a romantic or sexual context, and how you desire to be seen in a relationship. When thinking about gendered roles, think about anything that people do in a relationship or in sex that is usually seen as a masculine thing to do or that would be expected of a man (and the same for feminine roles). A huge part of how we act in romantic or sexual relationships is mediated by our gender.

If you’re straight and cisgender,

you have quite possibly never thought about it in this way, but that doesn’t mean this doesn’t apply to you too. In turn, sexuality is implicit in gender because these attractive characteristics and sexual/romantic roles become a huge part of how we talk and think about gender.

So, gender and sexuality are closely related, and because sexuality represents the terms on which intimacy takes place, there’s already a pretty obvious link between intimacy and gender with sexuality as the stepping-stone.

Intimacy and the change in perspective it brought me But why did being in a relationship change the way I feel about gender? Apart from the stepping-stone of sexuality between them, how is gender linked to and influenced by the experience of intimacy? When you are in a close, emotionally intimate relationship, you allow very personal and closely guarded parts of your identity to be perceived.

In doing so, it is quite natural to start reconsidering them yourself, and thinking about how you want to be perceived and loved. And when you are sexually intimate with someone else, you allow your body to be perceived in a way that it usually isn’t. You also end up exploring how you feel about different parts of sex, and different sexual roles and behaviours.

Again, it’s no wonder that this can inspire you to start reconsidering how you want your body to be

well as seeing them be validated by others, affirms the very deepest part of ourselves. Intimacy of all kinds creates particularly powerful narratives, partly because it involves making yourself vulnerable and exposing yourself, and, also, because being the subject of attraction and love is such a fundamental need for most of us.

Little wonder then that intimacy is such an important part of our identities and self-images.

Once that seed has sprouted and taken root, the feeling of mutual acceptance and validation that comes with good emotional intimacy can help that part of your identity grow and blossom too. For me, being intimate with someone was part of what inspired me to question my gender

at all. But not only that, I became emotionally vulnerable with someone I could trust and someone who I knew accepted me. As soon as I realised that feminine parts of myself were accepted and, even better, were lovable, I felt a rush. A rush of acceptance of those parts of myself, of freedom to express them, and of desire to explore them further. That is not all I needed – trans people, like anyone else, need the validation of people close to them, as well as a safe and welcoming public environment, if they are going to be happy with how they identify and find self-acceptance. But I think it’s time to recognise that intimacy also has an important role to play.

6

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

All the world’s a stage - so listen to our stories Mariya Strashilova discusses her upcoming piece of verbatim theatre that explores domestic abuse and sexual violence in Bulgaria

W

hen I came to Dublin, one thing really fascinated me about its theatre: all of the plays I saw were focused on current sociopolitical issues.

I loved it because in Bulgaria, where I am from, theatre may be visually challenging, but it is otherwise fairly conservative; we almost never dare to criticize our current state of affairs on the stage. Remarkably, this is often considered to be “low art” or “bad taste”. Instead of tackling specific issues, we talk in abstract terms. I do not understand this.

Bulgaria is not a country short of sociopolitical controversy.

There’s no working judicial system, the health system is currently collapsing and it is, arguably, the most corrupt state in the EU, but theatre makers avoid interrogating these major issues. The young theatre maker trained in Bulgaria risks continuing in this tradition.

However, my time at Trinity has made me realize that, as a director, I am interested in theatre that seeks to provoke social change.

The piece that I am working on at the moment explores the violence faced by women in Bulgaria through the medium of verbatim theatre. I am working with three actresses that have just graduated from the Bulgarian Theatre Academy and want to participate in socially relevant plays. Together, we are exploring the limitations of Bulgaria’s domestic abuse laws by contacting NGOs that are supporting or sheltering women who have been, or are currently being, chased by their abusers. Through these organizations, we have been

able to meet with women that want to share their stories and that are happy for us to record our conversations. Like this, we are able to stay as true as possible to the words they use and the way they talk.

In a way, listening and engaging with these survivors means that we have become part of their stories; they really trust us and it is a huge responsibility. One of the women we interviewed is currently suing her abuser, and she invited us to the second court of appeal because she believed it would help us see his side as well.

She hopes that even if the man is exonerated by our notoriously corrupt system, sharing and publicizing her story will at least raise awareness and potentially provoke social change. We want to hear as many peoples’ stories as possible, but because I am in Ireland right now it will probably take us at least a year. But the idea is to take these women’s words and use them to shape and devise our show.

We don’t want to necessarily portray physical abuse literally.

For example, one of the women has shared that she feels like she’s

a fly locked in a jar, while her abuser is roaming free around her.

She has muted him in her head and sometimes hears his voice as an echo coming from the other side of the glass. This makes for a powerful image, arguably more powerful than a literal depiction and truer to the way she feels.

You might ask: why this subject? Why tackle domestic violence and sexual assault? When I came back home to Sofia during the pandemic, I felt a certain cultural shock. During the pandemic, so many women around me were discussing their old sexual experiences, the good, the bad, the traumatic. I heard of women being chased, being literally kicked on the ground, being manipulated into thinking that they weren’t worth anything, even having a knife at their throats.

According to a worldwide survey, every third Bulgarian woman has been a victim of domestic abuse. Domestic violence was only criminalized in Bulgaria in 2009, and even then it is only heavily penalized when one perpetrator has been reported three times in a row within the frame of six months. There are no official

statistics, there is no register for the abusers and there are only between one and three free spaces in every emergency centre where women can seek asylum. Victims often refuse to report the cases, either because the law hardly protects them or because they don’t actually have a place to go to, especially when they have kids.

In 2019, 33 women were killed by their partners – but we only know this because some citizens organizations took the time to tally the deaths listed in police reports and newspaper headlines.

One of the cases we are working with right now involves a woman whose abuser is a prosecutor in a smaller city. She has a video of him beating her and jumping over her in front of the city’s court.

Despite this, he walked free and, critically, the case had very little media attention. Indeed, cases like these rarely enter into public discourse. Bulgaria’s women and their stories are being actively silenced.

And so, our project aims to raise awareness on violence against women in this country.

I want to force the audience to engage with the problem, be-

cause otherwise we will continue ignoring it. I want them to think about the way in which the women around them who have been abused haven’t really talked much about it. I want women who are being abused to feel encouraged to speak out and to know that this is not normal. But above all I want these women to know that there is a way out.

You can build your life from scratch, you can gain confidence and independence, and once you do nothing can cut your wings again. Yes, women are abused and often presented as victims, but we know very little about how they continue their lives. So this will be the focus of the second part of our piece. Because these women that have survived physical and emotional abuse are strong, independent people whose narratives and lives transcend their trauma.

I also wonder, turning my attention back to the stories I’ve heard here, from my western European friends, what this play would look like in “the developed West”, in a place like Ireland, in an institution like Trinity.

“

I am interested in theatre that seeks to provoke social change PHOTO BY MARCIN SZALA/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

7

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

A conversation with Larissa Brigatti Elena Mc Croy interviews the Trinity graduate on her novel O Sétimo Portão

L

arissa Brigatti is cool as a cucumber. “I was talking to my dad on the phone and I said, ‘you know I love writing; I think I should go back to it’.” She leads me through her time studying Drama and Spanish at Trinity, alongside her part-time job and theatre work outside of college. She is honest about all aspects of student life, and although anyone who receives a third-level education is, to many, quite privileged, I am grateful to hear her say that “college life is hard”. Currently doing an MPhil in Film studies Screenwriting, she smiles at me through a screen, from a Trinity library. We discuss the troubles with online learning, her work in the Arts as a student, and how she wrote a book in second year.

Brigatti was introduced to theatre at a young age, at around five-years-old in her birth country of Brazil, and the interest was evident. “I never wanted to do anything else,” she says. While her first language is Portuguese, she moved to Ireland at 15 and attended secondary school in English. Brigatti then started Drama studies and Spanish at Trinity and is now a Brazilian-Irish citizen.

She always wanted to explore different mediums of storytelling, but thought that “drama was the basis of art, and in turn, expression.” Unfortunately, she finished her four year course online, with a postponed graduation. “You miss the physical experience, you know. You wait four years for that.”

“There were a lot of things that were burdens in my life, but writing was never one of them.” She describes her student life as quite exhausting, with her full-time course, part-time job and theatre work on the side. As Arts students across the country can probably agree, it is difficult to find consistent work in theatre, but Brigatti gained it in second year working with Outlandish theatre platform and as assistant director to Patrick Sutton on his WOW project (an Outlandish Theatre project), Beckett’s Waiting for Godot which was in the Smock Alley Theatre.

She wrote a short piece with eight women from Direct Provision, writing from the perspective of being in Irish culture and modern society. “It was a very important way of representing these women,” explains Brigatti. She emphasises the importance of work done outside your college course, and how it helped her to not fixate on

“

There were a lot of things that were burdens in my life, but writing was never one of them one piece of dramatical practice: “I am not that fixed, I direct or I write, but I am not a director or a writer”. She delves into the difference between doing something and being something: “I didn’t do drama just to work in a theatre, in the sense that I always wanted to broaden my horizons and maybe do a Master’s in Film afterwards.”

When speaking of her dissertation, Brigatti tells me, much to my horror, that her class did not have access to a library (thank you, Coronavirus). Luckily, she did receive support from her supervisor, who was “lovely”, and her description of her dissertation made me laugh. “I was the only one that didn’t have a title. It was like a jigsaw puzzle, and you only know what you are going to get at the final slide.”

In second year, she felt the urge to go back to writing. She tells me about a story her dad would tell her younger self. They would walk into her local bookstore and she would say: “one day you will see my book here”. Indeed, for Brigatti her wish became reality, and she speaks humbly about the honour it is to have her book in one of her favourite bookstores in Brazil.

She eventually told one friend and professor what she was writing, but, for most of the time, it was just her dad who knew about her side project.

“Follow your gut”, is the main idea that she keeps reiterating, especially in relation to her book, O Sétimo Portão. I ask her to describe it in one line, to which she chuckles and says: “That is cruel…

I am known for writing more than I should.” Like many great achievements in life, there are always hurdles: “I have had some ‘No’s in my life”. “Even though I am so grateful for all of my teachers and experiences, I had one teacher who told me to quite literally ‘stay inside the box’, and that was tough to hear because you never expect something like that.”

Being told to pipe down because

“

The things you do in life have to be for you

her work was too “out there”, is described by her as soul-crushing, but evidently helped her to become who she is now.

Brigatti repeats advice from her dad: “It doesn’t matter how many people pass through your life, the only person that is going to be with you through every moment is yourself.” The advice I like the most is that “the things you do in life have to be for you.” Brigatti would write between her college essays, in between part-time work – whenever she got the chance.

Her book is classified in bookstores as horror and supernatural, but she promises you won’t see demons climbing the ceiling. She, herself, categorises it as fiction. “I

was always fascinated by the various aspects of human interaction,” she says. Her book, which is sold in bookstores throughout Brazil and on Amazon in Portuguese, is focused on the life of Clarisse, in an ordinary sense, but hones in on the character’s abusive relationships and the psychological purgatory that is the aftermath of these relationships.

I ask about her future plans, and whether that entails another book. I think to myself that she has never sounded more Irish: “Sure look, I’ll just say it… I wrote a second book.”

8

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

Artists in conversation

Niamh Barry and Gabrielle Fullam Maisie McGregor sits down with Dublin-based photographer Niamh Barry and Trinity student, writer and activist Gabrielle Fullam

G

abrielle and Niamh know each other, but more than this they share distinct artistic principles that make this conversation entirely fascinating and, further, important.

Both are deeply implanted within the personal, recognizing the vital connection between art and the community within which it is founded. They discuss the ways in which their own identity as artist feeds into their work, as well as the relationship between their academic interest of choice and their consequent artistic ventures. They begin in agreement on the odd yet warm return to live events…

Gabrielle: Hey Niamh! How are you?

Niamh: Yeah I’m good, and you?

Gabrielle: I’m really good, really good.

Niamh: We literally saw each other Gabrielle: - like a week ago!

Niamh: At the Orla Gartland gig, that was funny. You were like the only person I knew there and so I was clinging onto you like, “I don’t know anyone here!”

Gabrielle: That’s always pleasant. Yeah, so nice to be at something live again actually.

Niamh: Yeah, yeah it was. Such a cool gig, I really enjoyed it.

Ok, I’ll ask you a question to begin with. You’re obviously a writer, theatre maker, activist, going by your Instagram Gabrielle: Yeah I mean that’s straight up the Instagram bio, dead right!

Niamh: Cause I was like, I know that you’re a very creative person but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what your thing is. So that’s kinda cool that you have loads of different things; what’s one that means a lot to you creatively?

Gabrielle: Well I think my line of work is very sort of, I don’t know, it’s an interesting interplay of personal and political. So I write a lot of, say, creative nonfiction style stuff. I also do lots of poetry and art. I don’t know why I said art, I mean like, more artistic, or less formal, forms of writing.

And design - having those things sort of come together; I love installation type projects too.

But I am also a researcher. And I suppose, those are all things that kind of gel within that identity for me, that move together. The kind of research that I’m interested in pursuing is very narrative construction based, so the idea of capturing experiences, and tying that into identity.

Which a lot of your big projects have done as well, right? Like with Queer Hearts, and the new one is like … spaces? What’s it called?

Niamh: It’s called Within And Outside These Spaces, it took me so long to come up with that! I remember trying to come up with it with one of my friends and I was like, “What do you think of this?” And he said, “It’s not as good as Queer Hearts”, so I had to reconstruct it.

But I agree, it’s very difficult to go through life and make creative things without inserting your own personal experiences, identity, and all those things; I think that just makes it a little more authentic.

Gabrielle: And for me it’s definitely the pursuit of it; I do think what I’m trying to do is both understand the world I’m in and explain what I’m feeling a little bit better.

Niamh: Yeah, we’re really similar in that way, everything’s very personal which is almost refreshing sometimes, I don’t know. How I kind of knew you artistically was definitely through Players, how did you get involved in that? What made you take an academic route instead of maybe studying Film or Drama?

Gabrielle: Number two on my CAO was actually Drama and Sociology, so I was close, invariably in two minds about it. What about

“

I definitely think that the personal experiences that I have as a queer woman is where my work kind of establishes itself

you? Were you ever thinking of going into IADT [Institute of Art Design and Technology] or doing something like that?

Niamh: No, I think I’ve always been such a, like, academic nerd. I always really liked learning about different things. But I was really interested in sociology in school.

I liked history, and I feel like that comes into it a bit. I think when I was 16 or 17, I was like “What do I want to do?” I really wanted to study film, I never wanted to study anything like photography, I actually didn’t like it when I was growing up. I just thought it was one singular kind of thing, like digital photography, and nothing drew me to it.

I really liked making stupid little videos, like, I had no friends growing up so when anyone ever came over I’d be like, “Ok, we’re making a movie.” And I’d make it, edit it, and I think I kind of went back and forth with that for ages.

But I don’t know, coming from Cork, and my Mum and Dad never went to college, so I thought, you know, this is an opportunity.

Gabrielle: I’m just wondering, because for me I definitely feel like my work itself is very supported and integrated with my studies, especially as time has gone on and

I’ve found the niches that I really love and building up the idea of narrative discourse or the idea of art as a reflective tool for social change, and also as something that is eternally good for the soul.

Is it something that has stayed distinct for you or have they merged?

Niamh: They’re definitely kind of the same, I especially think more, with the recent project I did with Within And Outside These Spaces - I really related to the one that Anna and Roisin did. Their narrative was like, what it’s like to be in a queer relationship and have it mainly established inside and in those spaces, and then publicly go out and hold someone’s hand. I just really thought

that it was good for my soul, in the sense of kind of connecting with other people. It was kind of both, it was the personal connection and also connecting to the bigger thing as well.

I think in queer relaltionships there’s still that element of feeling a little bit unsafe on the streets. I felt that way anyway when I was in a relationship this time last year. I just felt that everyone was staring and you feel like, “Oh my god everyone looks at queer couples on the street and that it’s their right to stare at you, whereas if a straight couple walked past you you probably wouldn’t even notice.”

So I definitely think that the

9

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

“

It’s very difficult to go through life and make creative things without inserting your own personal experiences, identity, and all those things personal experiences that I have as a queer woman is where my work kind of establishes itself; you see an issue going on in the community or in your own life, but you realise, especially with queerness, it kind of bridges.

What about you? I’m interested in what you have to say about that.

Gabrielle: A lot of the work I’m doing right now, as a researcher, as SU Minorities Officer, and also as someone who writes, has been a lot about documenting my experiences.

I’m mixed race, and you know, there’s kind of two major problems - not two, there’s more than two problems of the way we conceive of race discourse - but two interesting things that come to light, especially when you think of mixed race discourse, is that it’s built on this idea of a fundamental distinction between the races. And in the 1900s, and up until now, how white supremacy manifests is in segregationism; the idea that the races don’t actually want to mix.

And that’s why mixed people have had to be painted in such a tragic light and have to present themselves with the identity of being ethnically ambiguous. People want those answers, they would say things like, “Well, that’s so unfortunate”, “Oh, you’re always going to be torn between two worlds”, “You’re going to be rejected.” When in fact it’s external society factors that are rejecting you. Or mixed race people are beautiful and they’re going to save the world and end racism. Both of which are very untrue in different ways.

So a big thing I had working through it dealing with, first of all those things that happened to me personally, but also with the idea that like I don’t have contact with my Indian family, I live in Ireland with my white family. But I’m not white. So what is it about me, and how do you make those links?

Working through those things

creatively has been a really big deal for me and I think, what kind of informs me.

Sorry that ended up being a bit of a derail but I guess what I’m trying to say is that there’s really interesting problems and questions. You know I write a newsletter, Hands and Knees, in which I try to kind of understand this idea of news and what is news and what isn’t. These really interesting social questions become really personal, or are in of themselves incredibly personal; you’re talking about people’s identity, their family, and their background. I think, not only that it’s not a good idea academically to separate it from the personal, but it’s also probably a bit of a moral wrong to the people who don’t end up in the centre of those conversations. So I think art in that sense isn’t just a means of exploring it, but it’s a vital way of building up those narratives and asking what it means in those relationships.

Niamh: On that note, where would you like to see yourself go with all of your creative projects?

Gabrielle: I think I would just like to keep writing, and to feel that I’m not just - even though it feels like a very solo task - creating content to go out there, but that in creating it I’m getting energised or something is going in as well.

Obviously I, like many, would love to do that full time, and to figure out the perfect equilibrium between something that isn’t just indulgent but also analyses those power structures that I care a lot about.

Niamh: I really like how your academics really connect to your creativity because I feel like I’m kind of the same too. Especially with queerness, learning about Queer Theory in Boston [on her study abroad] was so fucking eye opening for me. So I do really relate to that, where it’s doing something that is a part of your identity.

“

I think I would just like to keep writing, and to feel that I’m not just creating content to go out there, but that in creating it I’m getting energised

Gabrielle: Yeah, it’s just to see and to be seen, right, that’s all you’re really looking for. What about you? Where do you see it going?

Niamh: I don’t really know, that’s the thing. I don’t really have any expectations at all because I literally did not think that I would be able to make even a part-time job out of it. I think what I hope to be doing is working with a really cool organisation where I can combine my degree with photography and make things that can actually change how we look

at things.

Something like GCN would be such a cool place to work just in the next couple of years, which is the Gay Community News of Ireland.

But then, people always ask me this question and I just say that I want to take photos of people that I really admire for different reasons. So like, everyone knows I’m obsessed with Clairo, so whenever I get to take Clairo’s picture that’s when I’ll be like, “Ok yeah, I achieved what I wanted to achieve, I’ve made it.”

But I think it’s just good to have no expectations because then when anything happens it’s like “Oh my god!”

Gabrielle: Yeah I think that’s sweet. I think it’s good to have expectations too. Right now I’m like, “I’m excited about it, and I have ten million ideas for things because I find them fulfilling and I think they contribute something.”

And that … that’s a nice feeling!

And, on this hopeful note, the conversation ends.

10

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

Let’s talk about sex (and chronic pain) baby Olivia Carla Smith discusses the unspoken reality of the impact that chronic pain has on the relationships of young adults

“

Not tonight, I’m sore” is a phrase all too familiar for people living with chronic pain. Anyone living with one of the many conditions that cause chronic pain knows how much it can impact daily life, but the effect it has on romantic relationships is rarely discussed.

Having been diagnosed with palindromic Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of 18, just months before sitting my Leaving Cert, chronic pain has played an enormous part in my young adult life.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (commonly referred to as RA) is a lifelong autoimmune condition which affects the joints, causing them to become sore and inflamed. So, waking up in pain and being unable to do basic tasks like walking or writing became normal for me. It impacted every facet of my life, and my relationships were

no exception. I was three months into a new relationship when I was diagnosed and, undoubtedly, it put a strain on both the emotional and physical aspects of dating. The journey of managing chronic pain is rarely linear and it took me over two years of trialling different medications to find some form of relief — and thankfully, I am now in remission. However, it was a long road to get to this point and, at the time, I did not want to put my life on hold whilst waiting to get back to a seemingly unattainable “normal”. So, I experienced first-hand the trials and tribulations that come with the modern dating world whilst simultaneously tackling my health condition.

Young adults are generally perceived as fit and healthy, but that’s not always the case and this is often overlooked. A study published in the Oxford University Press revealed that nearly 1 in 4 young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 live with chronic pain. To be faced with this at a young age is daunting and, for some, it can be difficult to come to terms with this debilitating aspect of their life, with many reluctant to seek help due to the stigma that still surrounds disability. Admitting that you’re in pain and in need of help whilst being in the supposed “prime of your life” can be defeating and almost embarrassing, but

the sooner you talk about it, the sooner it gets better. So why isn’t it talked about more?

I think an enormous factor is representation (or lack thereof) of chronic pain in the media.

The non-profit organisation Versus Arthritis started a campaign called #ThePainfulTruth, highlighting how chronic pain is

“

Sex is a healthy part of many relationships, so when chronic pain gets in the way, it can affect emotional connections as well as physical

grossly underrepresented in TV and film storylines. This results in sufferers feeling isolated and misunderstood, and a lack of awareness and understanding from the general public. My first encounter of chronic pain in popular media was in Sally Rooney’s novel Conversations With Friends. Through the character of Frances, Rooney explores the symptoms and diagnostic processes of endometriosis, highlighting the realities of living with chronic pain. For me, reading about someone who was also navigating college life whilst simultaneously battling the minefield that is physical pain was empowering. It was the first time that I had felt heard. This also notably influenced my view of the connection between my condition and my relationships; “disability” and “sexy” aren’t often used in the same sentence and I think it’s about time that we end the stigma around chronic pain and sex.

Starting college, I felt the societal pressures that my sex life had to match that of my peers, especially at a time when relationships, particularly physical ones, were so consequential. I was reluctant to put myself out there into the dating world as I dreaded having to open up about my condition for fear that potential partners would view me differently and/ or leave entirely. In the bedroom chronic pain, undoubtedly, can be

“

There are other ways of being intimate; having a shower or bath together can be sensual a bit of a mood-killer. Speaking from personal experience, it can be challenging. Realistically, if you’re sore, the last thing you’re going to feel like doing is having sex. Additionally, if the pain itself wasn’t bad enough, you often have chronic fatigue and the menagerie of medication-induced side effects to contend with. All these factors can mound added pressures onto your ability to be intimate.

Sex is a healthy part of many relationships, so when chronic pain gets in the way, it can affect emotional connections as well as physical, causing a sense of disconnect with your partner misinterpreting your lack of enthusiasm for a lack of attraction. That’s why it is so important to communicate with one another. The reality is that sex is rarely perfect and chronic pain is just another factor, but you can adapt and find what works for you.

So, how can you show support if your partner suffers

11

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

Sustainable fashion with Oxfam for Second Hand September Ruth McGann speaks to Fashion Society Chairperson Chioma Muenoke

T from chronic pain? At the risk of sounding clichéd, patience is key. From previous experience, the best thing you can do is to be understanding of your partner’s situation and try to avoid putting pressure on them. They will likely be feeling guilty about the situation anyway, and don’t need any added shame. Rather than ignoring the elephant in the room, it is vitally important to create a safe space where you can both talk and address the situation. It is best to communicate openly and honestly about how you are both feeling in order to work out

“

Young adults are generally perceived as fit and healthy, but that’s not always the case

how to adapt and manage your intimacy together. Sex itself can actually be beneficial as it releases endorphins that act as natural painkillers and there are a host of positions that you can experiment with to find what works best for you both. Additionally, there are other ways of being intimate, for example: having a shower or bath together can be sensual and the hot water has the added benefit of easing pain. With a few adjustments and a supportive environment, anyone living with chronic pain can have a full sex life and happy relationships.

For any young adults living with chronic pain, it is important to know that you are not alone – just because it isn’t talked about, does not mean that it doesn’t exist.

In terms of relationships, do not let your pain make you feel as if you are any less desirable, as you are just as entitled to a fulfilling love life as everyone else. I’m lucky enough to be in a place now where chronic pain doesn’t rule my life anymore and I hope that I’m proof for others that things can get better. We need to get people talking in order to break the stigma around chronic pain in young people, and to show that disability can be sexy.

rinity’s campus is filled with some of Ireland’s most fashionable students, sporting unique, creative looks that reflect the talent at the heart of the university. In recent years, the fast fashion industry has come under increasing ethical and environmental scrutiny as details of its exploitation and degradation of the environment have come to light.

This Second Hand September, Fashion Society, Environmental Society and DU Amnesty are collaborating with Oxfam to encourage students to get their fashion fix without supporting fast fashion brands. Chairperson of Fashion Soc, Chioma Muoneke, explains why it matters to “buy less and shop thoughtfully”.

As chairperson of Fashion Soc, Muoneke recognises how important clothing is for students’ self-esteem and social life. She begins by acknowledging that “Trinity is just such a fashionable college,” explaining why Fashion Soc must lead by example and “promote sustainability” in achieving this style. She argues that second hand shops “should be the default and should be what people think of first.” A passionate advocate for supporting independent companies, Muoneke encourages students to shop with “local businesses” and “charities that give back.”

In light of recent scandals in the fast fashion industry, most no-

tably the exploitation of workers in UK factories, Muoneke stresses that this is nothing new. Although the story “hit home for people because it was right next door …

There are people living like that in third world countries.” Unfortunately, fast fashion companies have been doing this for years.

Muoneke notes that this exploitation only comes to light through whistleblowing or serious accidents and injuries in factories. She argues: “It shouldn’t take people being suffocated by these horrible conditions for us to pay attention.”

Muoneke also cites overconsumption as a detrimental effect of fast fashion. She notes, “Our first thought when we’re going out is to buy a new outfit … Why can’t we just re-wear something we have?” For students on a budget, Muoneke encourages students to find pieces to “wear forever, rather than consuming new clothes every few weeks.” For her, “that’s how you build a personal style.”

Citing second hand apps like Depop as well as curated vintage stores, she acknowledges that “it is a privilege to be sustainable.”

Once again emphasising the accessibility of charity shops, Muoneke stresses, “Oxfam, Oxfam, Oxfam!”

Trinity’s Fashion Soc, in collaboration with Environmental Soc and DU Amnesty, are hosting a number of events as part of their partnership with Oxfam this Second Hand September.

Having hosted a clothes swap via sustainable shopping app Nuw during Senior Freshers Week, Muoneke thanks Environmental Soc for organising the event: “We were promoting them … It went really well.” Upcoming events with Fashion Soc this September include a charity shop crawl and an upcycling collaboration with

Environmental Soc. The tagline for these stylish events is “Come and get some pieces for our upcoming events.”

As a small business owner herself, Muoneke understands how important it is to support independent businesses, especially those run by students. Started as a lockdown passion project, her company FurU&Me sells fluffy bucket hats. Each hat is made from sustainable materials and the faux furs are ethically sourced.

Muoneke advocates supporting student-led Instagram and Depop businesses like her own, and believes it is “more rewarding when you know the Depop seller.”

FurU&Me’s Instagram (@furuandme) will be announcing new designs later on this month.

For future Fashion Soc events, Muoneke assures students that clothing will be sourced as ethically and sustainably as possible.

While acknowledging that no one is 100% sustainable, the society plans to “focus on student-led businesses and vintage shops around town.” Muoneke also notes that the society is reluctant to use charity shops as “they have limited stock and there are people that go to [charity shops] out of necessity.”

As students return onto campus this September, Muoneke has three main aims as chairperson of Fashion Soc: “Sustainability, inclusivity and highlighting independent businesses.” Most importantly though, following the incredibly challenging year it has been for college students, she wants us to “have fun this year.”

Fashion Soc’s message of sustainability and conscious consumption is a testament to the power of our societies in bringing students together to create tangible social change.

12

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

My top five Trinity-based books Ria Walls explores and ranks College’s appearances in literature

A

fter a summer spent waiting with anticipation for a return to campus come September, and a very abnormal past academic year, many of us have taken to reading Trinity-based novels to help us imagine walking around Front Square, studying in the library, or sipping a pint in the Pavilion Bar (the Pav). Following the boom of Sally Rooney’s Normal People, writers and readers have been inspired and motivated to engage in more Irish literature. So, as we pack our suitcases in preparation for our return to Dublin, here are some of the best Trinity-based books to read before uni begins.

First and foremost, Normal People (2018) must be mentioned for obvious reasons. If you haven’t already, the number one Trinity-based book to read is this. Beginning in Sligo, Rooney follows the complicated love story of Marianne and Connell as they move to Dublin to attend Trinity.

Rooney herself attended Trinity, graduating in 2013. In her work, you can picture campus as you turn the pages, and the imagery of the grounds of Trinity certainly made us all long to return as we read the novel at its peak during the first lockdown. The publishing of Normal People even brought about a “Normal People Bounce”, which resulted in over

40,000 applications to college, or an 11% rise from 2019 statistics.

The familiarity of reading such a well-constructed and accurate depiction of the college we love and miss so much brings about a warm comfort.

Another of Rooney’s Trinity-based novels is her debut Conversations With Friends (2017).

Rooney follows the platonic and romantic relationship between Francis and Bobbi, two students who attend Trinity. Written in a similar style to Normal People, Conversations With Friends explores love, lust, jealousy, and desire. Rooney again depicts the city of Dublin and the grounds of Trinity with great accuracy, from local pubs to something as simple as walking through college. While this novel may not have been as popular as Normal People, it is a highly recommended piece of modern Irish literature.

As a book set in the 90s, Tender by Belinda McKeon (2015) details pre-millennium Trinity and follows two friends who met in Dublin. As well as attending Trinity, the recurring theme of

relationships and love crop up in this novel. Tender follows the lives of young people in late 1990s Ireland and all of the changes occurring in the country at the time, such as the Good Friday Agreement and other major political events. It is a novel that some of us may be able to relate to, as the main character Catherine moves from rural Ireland to the big city.

McKeon, born in Longford, attended Trinity, so her descriptions and imagery are all too familiar to readers.

Described as both an Irish twist on The Da Vinci Code and The Secret History, Barry McCrea’s The First Verse (2005) is a Dublin-based psychological novel that follows a Trinity student’s journey and exploration of a secret society in college. Having studied at Trinity, McCrea is able to accurately describe Halls, college life and the wonders that the city of Dublin has to offer. Following the character of Niall, The First Verse recalls that familiar feeling of leaving home and delving into student life. From partying to making new friends to romance, McCrea

“

Tender follows the lives of young people in late 1990s Ireland and all of the changes occurring in the country at the time pins down the relatable emotions for those reading. A journey of self-discovery, mental illness and academic mystery — a must read for all!

Finally, told from the point of view of three Trinity students, Elske Rahill’s Between Dog and

Wolf exhibits student life in Dublin. Published in 2013, Between Dog and Wolf explores contemporary topics that students deal with, such as sexuality, romance, self-discovery and the wildness of youth. Having graduated from Trinity herself, Rahill recounts experiences that many of us can empathize with, making her novel hard to put down. Described as a raw, honest novel, Between Dog and Wolf discusses explicit themes, such as sex — an element of college life that has often been pushed under the carpet by older generations of writers, yet features openly in many contemporary novels.

Make sure to pick up these novels next time you are going to your local bookstore; they will teach you about the wonderful student journey that we embark on in our own unique ways.

Novels such as these help us to learn not only about ourselves due to their relatable content, but also about those around us in college.

Happy reading!

“

The publishing of Normal People even brought about a “Normal People Bounce”, which resulted in over 40,000 applications to college, or an 11% rise from 2019 statistics PHOTO BY ELIZA MELLER FOR TRINITY NEWS

13

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

What we’re... ...listening to

Montero Lil Nas X

The power of pedalling Seán Holland discusses how to navigate your way around Dublin the eco-friendly way

A

s Trinity welcomes students back to campus, there will also be the return of the dozens of bikes locked near the gym. People commute every day from across the city. Cycling is probably the most affordable and environmentally friendly way of commuting.

It is, however, not always the most accessible. Cycling in Dublin is not for the faint-hearted. Dublin Bus drivers are going to pull out whether you and your bike are there or not. The cycle lanes being interchangeable with bus stops is one of the city’s major flaws. This is particularly prevalent on the commute from Halls into college. This may be mostly a straight road all the way, but there are four or five places where, as you are cycling, you have to veer out to avoid buses. It can be a scary experience for those not used to cycling in the city. One of the great advantages of having a bike in Halls or anywhere in the city is that it is, obviously, much quicker than walking. This comes into play when it’s ten to ten and you have just decided to go out and you can nip to Tesco before they stop serving alcohol. However, I have learned the hard way that bikes do have their limitations; specifically, they are not an

effective method of transporting shopping.

Nearly every week in first year, I put all of my shopping from Aldi in Rathmines into a gear bag and lugged it back to Halls.

It might not seem it but as you cycle past Mother Reilly’s there is a harsh drag all the way back to Dartry Road. I would advise any incoming Freshers to just get the bus from the corner of Halls into Rathmines and take their shopping home that way.

The daunting Halls route, and the dangers buses and other vehicles pose to cyclists, are just some examples of a wider issue when it comes to cycling in Dublin city. To combat this, Trinity has produced a document to the City Council entitled Enabling the City to Return to Work. This document asks the Council to widen footpaths and cycle lanes on four key routes. These routes are from College to Halls, St. James’s Hospital, Grand Canal Innovation

“

Cycling in Dublin is not for the fainthearted

District and on Nassau Street.

Trinity has also asked the council to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists at junctions and to reduce speed limits for vehicles. This is part of Trinity’s initiative to encourage people within 5km of the college to either walk or cycle. In doing so, it will be easier to maintain social distancing and will free up public transport for those who need it for health reasons or have a longer commute.

In 2019, Trinity’s transport survey found that just over forty per cent of students either cycled or walked to college. This is despite inner city bike lanes and not because of them. It is reasonable to say these numbers would go up if cyclists and their safety were given priority in the city.

Another major issue is the frequency of bike theft in Dublin.

The Journal reported that last year 1 in 100 bikes were stolen across Ireland and that Dublin and Limerick were the most affected areas. Bikes, overall, work out much cheaper than daily public transport, but this does not factor in a bike being stolen. Despite using locks, bikes are stolen every day across the city, and it is a very frustrating, time consuming and ultimately expensive experience. If you are going to buy a brand-new bike it is worth spending another bit extra to insure it. Second-hand bikes are just as effective at getting you around and there are a number of bike shops that sell reasonably priced bikes, or you could source one from a second-hand website such as from Facebook Marketplace or DoneDeal.ie.

As well as being an eco-friendly way of transport, bikes also provide a great opportunity to

...watching

“

As well as being an ecofriendly way of transport, bikes also Sex Education provide a great Netflix opportunity to explore the ...reading greenways around Dublin explore the greenways around Dublin. Phoenix Park is an obvious place to start and is an easy cycle route to get around. Renting a Bleeper bike or Dublinbikes is a cheap and convenient option, although I would recommend your own bike for longer journeys or frequent use as the rented bikes can be clunky, slow, and uncomfortable.

The Tolka and Liffey Greenway are well worth exploring and are very accessible. For more of a challenge, the Clontarf to Howth ride is ideal for soaking in the coastal views. This route can take you to the picturesque St. Anne’s Park or to the old Kilbarrack cemetery and will take a couple of hours in an afternoon for a moderate cyclist.

Beautiful World, Where Are You Sally Rooney

14

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

How to manage your finances in the Big Smoke Emma Lueders shares some essential advice for budgeting as a college student

D

uring my first year in Dublin, coming from a small village where the only shop for 20km doubled as the post office, I haemorrhaged money the second I walked out of Heuston. Being financially independent in a college that has specialized coffee, brunch spots and vintage shops all on its doorstep can be challenging. It can easily leave your wallet as nothing more than a glorified holder for Zara receipts and an Insomnia loyalty card that you always forget to get stamped. Going from a full

time pay check during the summer, to a part time one once term kicks back in doesn’t help either.

Learning from past mistakes, I have found the key to surviving the term without a heavy reliance on Aldi pot noodles, is to establish a budget when the semester starts.

As setting a budget can be difficult, I have outlined some of the tips and tricks that I learned and the best way to create a budget that works for you.

To start off, it is a good idea to list all of your actual and predicted income. If you are taking on a part time job this can mean jotting down your hours and the expected wage at the end of every week. I found it useful to underestimate the number of hours I would be working, allowing your budget to be built on the minimum amount of money received, therefore any extra shifts could be noted as extra income. If you are receiving a SUSI grant or dipping into savings it can be beneficial

to divide the overall amount available to you into equal weekly allowances to see the most you can afford to spend. This is a very simple starting step in creating a budget and can be great to get an idea of weekly limits and how much you can afford to spend straight in your head.

One of the most important rules of budgeting is ensuring that your expenditure is never higher than your income. It seems straightforward, but can be difficult when Alfie’s is running their Monday cocktail special. Once you have your weekly income sorted, the next logical step is to discuss your fixed expenses. These are the things that you have to pay each month such as rent, food, phone bills, repeat medical prescriptions or petrol/diesel. These are the bills that need to be paid and places where money needs to be spent consistently.

Unfortunately for many students, with minimum wages

being below a living wage, this can take up a lot of a person’s income.

It’s a good idea to overestimate these bills to make sure that these expenses are always covered. I find it best to round them to the nearest 10 or 50, depending on how much wiggle room you have in your budget, you can always skip this if you feel it brings you too close to your limit. The next type of expenditure you need to take account of is your flexible expenditure. This band includes non-fixed bills such as meals out with friends, books, clothes and nights out. If something is going to be particularly expensive such as books needed by Hilary term, or a big night out, you can divide this portion of expenses to reflect that. It can also be useful to set aside a bit extra for things you know are going to be expensive in the future. With these three categories, you can establish your basic budget.

Although being a student

means that most of the time money is tight and stretched as far as it can go, I feel a small part of your budget should include saving. I have set this component apart from the others as it is probably one that will change the most week to week. By putting aside a small amount each week, you can cover unforeseen circumstances such as becoming sick and needing to take time off work as a result, or increased medical bills.

It can also be important if you want to take extra time off during exam periods.

The key thing to remember about having a savings category is that the amount you will be able to put aside each week will vary and that is to be expected. Savings are also put aside to be spent at a later date, and I know for one that I always feel guilty when I have to access any of my savings. Savings are meant to be dipped in and out of as a way of never being truly stretched on money, so if unexpected costs do arise that is what your savings are for. That being said, although saving is a great idea, sometimes it is not possible with other expenditures taking priority. It’s important that you work with your own budget and figure out one that works for you.

With the key elements of budgeting established, here are some great money saving ideas that can be implemented to make your allowance stretch as far as possible. Meal planning is an excellent way to save, as it ensures all of your groceries get used from your weekly shop. I find making a list before going shopping, and switching to home brand products for the majority of food purchases also makes a significant difference.

Repairing clothes instead of replacing them is a great way to save and be sustainable. Shopping in charity shops can also be a clever way to get new clothes at a cheap price but, in my experience, steer

15

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 21 September

“

Although there are hundreds of ways that you can reduce costs, it’s important that you also don’t skimp on the things that bring you joy clear of ‘vintage’ shops if you are trying to save money. Although they sell great trendy clothing, there tends to be a hefty mark up in comparison to shopping in charity stores. Walking or cycling to college and work will help to reduce costs on transport and get in your daily step count.

Although there are hundreds of ways to reduce costs, it’s important that you also don’t skimp on the things that bring you joy. If buying a lunch out once a week or grabbing a nice coffee on a Monday morning makes you happy, allow for that expense. A scrap of paper or simply a document in your notes app can also be used, whatever helps to make sure you’re balancing your income and expenditure. A key idea to remember when budgeting is that it needs to be sustainable and if you feel trapped and unhappy, your budget won’t last long.

A round-up of Culture Night 2021 in Dublin Ella-Bleu Kiely

reflects On Dublin’s most magical Culture Night yet

C

ulture Night Dublin made its return on Friday, September 17 with a colourful bang, including over 200 participating venues and more than 250 in-person and online events for audiences to enjoy across the county. As what could be called the godmother of our very own Trinity Arts Festival, Culture Night equally sparked diversity and creativity in Dublin City.

The live circus came to town as the Ariel Circus Cabaret took to the air. The aerial performance group is dedicated to building communities through the provision of high-quality circus arts education and performance opportunities. Based out of their full-time facility in Phibsborough, they are open to collaboration with local, regional, national, and international organisations wanting to empower and enable individuals and communities through circus.

From aerial to architecture, curators of the Irish Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale went online for a live conversation and film entitled States of Entanglement: Data in the Iris landscape at the Venice Architect Biennale. They discussed the concept behind their Entanglement installation and showed footage from the Irish Pavilion in Venice.

The Irish Pavilion brought the physicality of data infrastructure to the forefront with Entanglement, an exhibit addressing the environmental, cultural and human impact of data.

On the arts and crafts front, there was a pleasant mixture of events using different mediums.

At Dublin Castle, curator Dr. Mary Redfern led a Curator’s Tour of Edo in Colour: Fashion, Gender and Fortune. Featured in this event were Japanese woodblock prints, which combine sophisticated artistry with colourful tales of life in urban Edo (modern Tokyo). In this special tour for Culture Night, Redfern introduced a host of prints newly displayed in the museum’s Edo in Colour exhibition.

Icon Factory artist and volunteer Kevin Bohan, and fellow artist Iljin, were commissioned as part of Culture Night’s Dublin Holds My Mind programme 2021.

Inspired by Louis MacNeice’s poem Dublin, they each completed a live mural on the Icon Walk at Bedford Lane from 4pm until sundown. There was also an official Icon Walk guided tour on Culture Night. The Icon Walk open-air art installation revitalised a previously neglected patch of Temple Bar. Staying on the artsy theme, a camera-less experimental photography workshop was given at The Darkroom. The workshop called to those who want to get creative, experiment, and play using photography materials and darkroom techniques.

The Irish National Youth Ballet (INYB) performed to an online audience. INYB is the premier youth ballet company in Ireland,

featuring dancers aged 10-20. The performance took place in the beautiful and atmospheric Shawbrook Forest stage, an outdoor space in a dance centre in the Irish Midlands. It was a mixture of both the classical repertoire and neo-classical choreography.

Bollywood Ireland also gave a performance live at the Wood Quay Amphitheatre.

Organised by the Irish Label Archive, the Slow Fashion in the City walking tour covered three of the city’s independent vintage shops — Iveagh, Dandelion and Liberty — while stories of the markets and shops of past eras were told. These markets will be familiar to generations of Dubliners who bought & sold antiques, bric a brac & second hand cloth-

“

Curators of the Irish Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale went online for a live conversation and film

ing; for some it was a hobby, for others a livelihood. On the matter of Dublin’s markets, Books Upstairs (one of Trinity’s locals) had a late night opening for passers.

Ar ndóigh, an Ghaeilge.

Coláiste na hÉireann/Gaelchultúr gave free Irish language classes for anyone interested in enriching your skills in the language or just to learn a few words. A céilí kicked off in club Chonradh na Gaeilge on Harcourt Street full of ceol agus craic.

Across the generations, Irish LGBTQ+ people have emigrated to find opportunities to live and love openly. Yet this journey was rarely a simple transition from an oppressive island to a liberal wider world. Unfortunately, Irish LGBTQ+ emigrants often faced the same prejudice abroad which they had hoped to leave behind.

The Irish Emigration Museum displayed an exhibit titled Out in the World: Ireland’s LGBTQ+ Diaspora. It highlighted twelve stories from the vast yet largely untold history of Ireland’s LGBTQ+ diaspora across six themes – exclusion, community, love, defiance, solidarity, and return.

Close to home, the Trinity Geological Museum told Culture Night’s audience The Story of the Earth. This bursting exhibition highlighted the geological evolution of the planet with displays of rocks, minerals, and fossils.

Online, the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS) invited you to attend an informative talk on earthquakes — the geophysics department of DIAS has maintained the Irish National Seismic Network since 2018, and discussed the past and present methods of monitoring live earthquakes worldwide on Culture Night.

Of course, you can’t have Culture Night without poetry. In the tradition of soapbox orators who’ve raised their voices on busy street corners throughout history, Poetry Ireland’s Poetry Soapbox performers popped up in various locations around Dublin 1 on Culture Night as part of their Poetry Town festivities. There were poems of hope, loss, love, despair and witness performed around the city center.

Comhar and An tOireachtas launched a bumper edition of Comhar magazine in the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin.

This special edition presented a literary response to environmental challenges, biodiversity, and the natural world. Special guests at the launch included Culture Night Dublin Ambassador, Ola Majekodunmi, and the musician Inni-K, along with writers, contributors and supporters of the magazine.

Culture Night Dublin definitely gives off a Halloween buzz about the city, just with much more content. It truly is the night where every form of culture in Ireland is celebrated. Merrion Square all lit up and lively — exactly as the great Oscar Wilde would have wanted.

16

Tuesday 21 September | TRINITY NEWS

Crossword PUZZLE BY JACK KENNEDY FOR TRINITY NEWS

Across

3. To do what about 80,000 Irish people do each year (8) 5. Puffy cloud (7) 8. Remove the kink from (10) 11. Take illegitimately, especially power (5) 12. Mountainous home of deities (7) 14. V in “AV” (6) 15. With “oneself ”, to answer for sin (6) 18. Honk (4) 20. With “junior” or “senior”, a class (7) 21. One of the Greeks’ four kinds of love (4) 22. Activity enjoyed by Vlad of Wallachia (8) 23. Opposite of satisfaction (14)

Down

1. Wrath (3) 2. Avoid compliance with (8) 3. Causes one to feel skagged (8) 4. Infuse, ingrain (5) 6. Italian Marxist philosopher (7) 7. Famous St Bernard, or German composer (9) 9. To have one’s desires met (13) 10. James Joyce’s fundamental particle (5) 13. Each tick and tock (6) 16. Andean capital city (5) 17. Michael Healy-Rae’s style signifier (4,3) 19. I’m sorry? (6)

Shouts and murmurs Just preordered a signed copy of Sally Rooney’s new book.

Can’t wait for it to be my personality for the first month of college -@culchiewasian The Pav no longer sells Guinness. This is anti-Irish discrimination -@liamkiernan59 Since the 1st of April, approximately 4 out of every 5 people admitted to ICU and approximately 3 out of every 4 deaths with #COVID19 were not fully vaccinated -@CMOIreland Who is Keith Starmer lol -@NICKIMINAJ

When ur a fulltime (mandatory attendance) college student working 2 jobs but ur course decides to change a lecture from 2-4 to 3-5 last minute with no warning THEN gets mad when u say you have to leave early bc you had scheduled work around their published timetable, trinity :) -@glavinagoodtime “Studying politics | Ogra Fianna Fail” Maybe you should study a but harder then -@Dliodore64 OK so I don’t think we should make heroes of political figures but Miggeldy f***ng rocks -@Danielwalsh100