The University Express - Vol.23, Issue 4

University Volume 24 | Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th October 2019

Express UCCExpress.ie

Murder On Our Doorstep: Shock Following Tragic Death

Writes Samantha Calthrop, News Editor 53-year-old Timothy Hourihane, known as Timmy to friends, was beaten to death in the tented village occupied by homeless people in Mardyke Walk on October 13th.

He was found with severe injuries to the head and with his tent set on fire after the alarm was raised by fellow residents of the tent village. He was pronounced deadly shortly after being taken to CUH, with flowers and memorials left at the entrance to Mardyke Walk.

Bernard O’Hehir, a former homeless addict who is now an activist, described Mr Hourihane as, “An absolute legend. A bit flamboyant but no matter what the situation was he was one of those guys that kept everyone else’s spirits up. He was always dancing and singing and trying to make everyone else smile.”

Mr Hourihane was interviewed when he attended the Cork Penny Dinners, run by Catriona Twomey, in 2016. “I stayed off alcohol for a year and a quarter and I was proud of that. At least I am trying,” he told the Irish Examiner. “This is relaxing and I feel safe. This is my happiest day for Reactions to the presumed-mur- a long time…People are lovely.” der have varied between grief and celebration of Mr Hourihane’s life Activists have called for more govto outrage and protest against the ernment action on homelessness, homelessness crisis in Cork. Mr particularly in preventing vioHourihane was father of one, and lence against homeless people. Ms formerly a chef who had worked Twomey, organiser of the Penny in high-profile places, including Dinners and acquaintance of Mr serving Elton John. He struggled Hourihane, said she was deeply with alcohol addiction through- saddened by the death of Mr Houout his life, and was known to rihane and described the event as homelessness services in Cork. a warning to the government. “We

“Buttongate”: The Latest Dáil Scandal

Page 3 News

Unanswered: Imelda Keenan

Page 6 Features

need to sort it now. We need more treatment centres. We need more housing. We need more support.”

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson for Justice Jim O’Callaghan also criticised the government’s response to the crisis in the wake of Mr Hourihane’s death. “The failure of the government to resolve the homeless crisis is now a threat to people’s safety. Timmy Hourihane is the second homeless man to have been brutally killed in recent months.”

Councilor Mick Finn, former Lord Mayor of Cork, called for urgent government assistance to the homeless following the “terrible and shocking news”.Mr Hourihane was interviewed by RedFM in 2017, where he mentioned he did not feel safe on the streets and had been attacked three times previously. “Wandering around, basically around the whole city, trying to find somewhere where can I sleep tonight, is it going to be safe?

In Cork – in most places in Cork – it’s not safe in the city centre.”

Sam Bungey Interview

Page 18 Byline

Mr Hourihane was also known to several UCC students and staff, and lived in close proximity to the BEES campus of UCC. Several UCC members have paid their respects to him.

“I walked past the homeless village everyday going to college and it seemed nice. I was happy for the people there,” said a BEES student, “It was a relief to think that the people there might be safer and more comfortable than they would be out on the streets in the city… I don’t understand why anybody would want to take that away.”

The tented village that occupied Mardyke Walk has left, with people no longer feeling safe in the area. Mr Hourihane’s tent was left standing for several days before it was removed, with a candle left burning outside it.

From everyone at the University Express we send our deepest condolences to everyone who knew Timmy, especially his family.

GAA County Finals Review

Page 37 Sport

Editorial

2 Editorial Team Editor-in-Chief – Ciaran Dineen (Editor@UCCExpress.ie) News Editor – Samantha Calthrop (News@UCCExpress.ie) Designer – Fiona Cremins (Design@UCCExpress.ie) Features Editor – Róisin O’Donnell (Features@UCCExpress.ie) Sports Editor – Jack Maguire (Sport@UCCExpress.ie) Opinion Editor – Elisha Carey (Opinion@UCCExpress.ie) Online Editor – Edel Lonergan (Online@UCCExpress.ie) Proof Editor - Chloe Jesse (Proofing@uccexpress.ie) Marketing Executive – Ciaran Dineen (Marketing@UCCExpress.ie) Webmaster – Jonathan Hanley (Webmaster@UCCExpress.ie) Photographers – Caoimhe Leahy, Eve Harrington (Photographers@uccexpress.ie) Byline Editor – Cian McGrath (Byline@UCCExpress.ie) (Deputy Editor) Eagarthóir Gaeilge – Hugh Ó Raghallaigh Mac Gearailt (Gaeilge@UCCExpress.ie) Food & Health - Katie Kelly (Food@UCCExpress.ie) Arts & Literature Editor – Fiona Keely (Arts@UCCExpress.ie) Gaming Editor – Jack Coleman (Gaming @UCCExpress.ie) Music Editor – Fiona O’Connell (Music@UCCExpress.ie) Film & Television Editor – Eoghan Creedon (Screen@UCCExpress.ie) Sexpress Editor – Caoimhe Battault (Sexpress@uccexpress.ie) Fashion Editor - Katie Burke (Fashion@UCCExpress.ie) Deputy Sports - Sam Curtin (Deputysports@uccexpress.ie) Deputy News Maeve O’Sullivan (Deputynews@uccexpress.ie) Deputy Features - Molly O’Rourke (Deputyfeatures@uccexpress.ie)

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express What Really Presses My Buttons…

Writes Ciaran Dineen, Editor-in-Chief Hello everyone and welcome to the second quarter of the academic year, the year is flying and I hope you all are too. The nights are drawing in, it’s becoming increasingly colder and Christmas is just around the corner. I don’t know about you, but this is my favourite time of the year.

While you still have some time before exams start, my little bit of advice for this next couple of weeks is to just prepare yourself slightly for what is to come. This may be just getting out a piece of paper and planning what you need to do between now and the end of the academic year. I personally have a big whiteboard in my room with assignment dates and any other important events. I find it helps me to stay on track because it’s easy for us to lose sight of things if we aren’t careful and all it takes is one stupid error on your part to ruin your Christmas spirit.

One thing that has certainly put me in a bad mood, or as you can see from the title, ‘pushed my buttons, well do I really need to explain much more? The sharpshooters amongst you will have understood my editorial pun but nevertheless there is nothing funny or amusing about the revelations that unfolded from Dáil Éireann last week. For those of you who haven’t heard, it was announced that TDs who were not present in the Dáil chamber during voting sessions were getting colleagues to vote on their behalf. It was later revealed that a less serious practice of deputies voting on behalf of other members, who were in the chamber but not in their seats, seems to be a widespread epidemic in our legislator, with Fianna Fáil particularly culpable.

While I can have some sympathy for the latter of the two cases in some circumstances, the former is nothing short of a national disgrace and reflects very poorly on our representative democracy. Timmy Dooley and Niall Collins are both at the centre of the storm with Collins voting for his parliamentary colleague while he was out of the chamber. It has led them to be suspended from the Fianna Fáil front bench but the question is whether this punishment is enough? For me it certainly isn’t and Micheál Martin has an opportunity to set a precedent in order for no further such scandals to arise again the future. It’s high-time that some of our politicians were held accountable for their actions and what better way to start than with these two charlatans.

In this week’s paper you can here more about what I’ve just spoken about in our news section, along with our front page story on the tragic death of a homeless man on UCC’s doorstep. We have a brilliant take on how to quit smoking, which may be useful for any of you planning New Year resolutions, and I interview Ireland’s youngest elected Councillor, who happens to be a UCC student!

Happy Reading, Take Care, Ciaran.

editor@uccexpress.ie

Busy, Busy, Busy

Writes Samantha Calthrop, News Editor I happen to know someone who tutors at UCC’s Skill Centre, which offers classes on things like time management and essay-writing. He sent me a screenshot one of the slides on a presentation he was giving. “Busy isn’t a sign of success, it’s a lack of prioritising your own life,” Well, maybe he’s not wrong. You might know that in addition to writing this news section, I’m the chairperson of the Journalism society. You also might know that I work part-time. And run two websites. And write freelance. And sit on two committees. And signed up to do a level 5 course at the beginning of this year, for reasons that are now obscure to me. (I’m also theoretically supposed to be doing a degree, although I’m not sure where anyone finds the time for that sort of thing.)

Of course, in addition to all of that business, I’ve also got friends and aspirations and a partner and suchlike. When I have time.

I imagine this hits home for a few of you reading this editorial, because last week was the midway point of the semester— in other words, five days of deadline and assignment hell for most. Four separate people have contacted me with their apologies to say that they can’t get something done this week, and goodness, can I blame them? I’m not alone in that long list of obligations. I know far too many people who sign up for everything. People who are always learning something new, upskilling, working on a hobby, doing something with a friend, running something, helping out…

Sometimes people are just very passionate, and that’s great. But sometimes they’re not. Sometimes people are just desperate to be productive, and desparate not to be lazy. Desperate not to waste the time they’ve got, afraid to sit by and let life pass them by; that they need to be constantly working, improving, producing. I saw a tweet this week that read, “If you work a crap 9 to 5 job and get home to watch netflix, you deserve to be poor. You should use that time to learn something new and make things, you slovenly, worthless trashbag.” Okay, that last past was absent, but it said something like that.

How miserable would life be? Isn’t it good enough to just exist, sometimes?

I hope after this week, you find a moment to sit down and waste a bit of time. Do nothing. Hang out. Go wild. You need it! Life’s not about working.

Someone once told me, “Nobody lay on the hospital bed at the end of their life and said ‘Christ, I wish I’d worked more.” Now, granted, that was a taxi driver. In West Cork. On a mountain full of sheep on a forty-minute taxi ride.

With my dad. (It was a very intense taxi drive. Flor, if you ever read this, I hope you’re well.)

Still holds true, though. Life’s about more than that.

Take care of yourself.

news@uccexpress.ie #uccexpress

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

“Buttongate”: A breakdown of the Latest Dáil Scandal Writes Samantha Calthrop, News Editor

Equal measures of amusement and outrage have followed the “Buttongate” scandal that came out last week. An internal Dáil report revealed several cases of false votes, where TDs cast votes despite not being present in the Dáil at the time. After examining CCTV footage, it was found that Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley had had six votes cast for him while he was absent from the Dáil chamber, with fellow FF TD Niall Collins admitting to have pushed Dooley’s voting button in addition to his own while Dooley was absent.

Several have called the matter grave and an affront to democracy. Mr Dooley and Mr Collins have both been removed following the scandal, with sharp criticism from other Dáil members. “The integrity of the voting process is at the centre of our democracy,” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil, “People need to know the system is robust and valid...It would be a crime if an ordinary citizen cast a vote on their own behalf and that of someone else. To vote on behalf of somebody else is impersonation and to vote twice is a crime.”

Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl also spoke out against the matter, describing it as “stark and unpalatable”. “Let me say, the problems of last Thursday were not of a technical nature. The failure was political, and — as politicians

and parliamentarians — there is an onus on us to deliver the solutions which are now required.”

Fellow TDs Lisa Chambers and Dara Calleary were also found to have voted wrongly on several past occasions. While the “Buttongate” issue has been taken seriously by many, others have been calling the matter petty and distracting from real issues. “After grudgingly putting up with each other as uncomfortable bedfellows for four years, the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael partnership is on the brink of collapse,” wrote the Examiner’s political correspondent Elaine Loughlin. “Both sides exploded this week and a tit-for-tat squabble ensued in the hope that political gains might be made.”

She pointed to the homelessness crisis and the spiraling costs of Dublin’s children’s hospital as more important matters to focus on. All the accused TDs have made formal apologies to the Dáil and the public. “It was wrong, and I fully accept that I should not have done so. I reiterate my deep regret and sincere apologies to you, a Cheann Comhairle, and all members of the House.” said Mr Collins, addressing the Dáil after the report came out. The Dáil was more packed than it had been in previous weeks, with only 17 TDs missing from their seats.

News

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Fine Gael Criticised after MEPs Vote Against Migrant Rescue Efforts Writes Samantha Calthrop, News Editor The European Parliament rejected an EU resolution to increase search and rescue operations of migrants in the Mediterranean.

The resolution called on member states to “enhance proactive search and rescue operations by providing sufficient vessels and equipment specifically dedicated to search and rescue operations and personnel, along the routes where they can make an effective contribution to the preservation of lives.”

The proposed resolution lost by just two votes, and Fine Gael’s four MPs have come under fire after it came out that all of them— Mairead McGuinness, Maria Walsh, Frances Fitzgerald and Sean Kelly— voted against it.

Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh argued that the proposed resolution would incentivise more human trafficking and endanger more people. “We want to save lives and fight human traffickers and to do that, we need a coherent, comprehensive and longterm EU response to Search and Rescue in the Mediterranean…

We can do so much better than the text which was voted down by the Parliament today, which plays into hands of people smugglers and lacks workable solutions,” she wrote on twitter. “[The proposed plan] would endanger more lives by facilitating, instead of dismantling, the business models of smugglers and human traffickers.

We could not support that.”

Fine Gael has faced sharp criticism on this policy from fellow MEPs, who all voted in favour or do not have their votes recorded. Sinn Fein MEP Martina Anderson stated, “It is a matter of deep shame that four Fine Gael MEPs actively voted to maintain a ‘fortress Europe’ status quo that has seen thousands of men, women and children drown simply for seeking sanctuary…While Fine Gael wax lyrical about the ‘four freedoms’ of the EU, including the freedom of movement, they are ready to side with their right-wing EU colleagues to ensure these values don’t extend to those fleeing destitution, war and persecution.”

There have been over 1000 drownings in the Mediterranean in 2019, according to the Missing Migrants project. Last year, 34,361 were recorded as having drowned by the NGO United for Intercultural Action.

The vote occurred just two days after 39 people were found dead in a lorry in Essex while attempting to seek asylum in the UK. Three people have been arrested on charges of manslaughter and human trafficking in relation to the case.

In This Issue....

Features Stoptober: The Ugly Truth About Quitting Page 9 Music Adrianne Lenker & Joni Mitchell With a Track By Track of Songs You Need to Hear Page 25 Sexpress A Liberating Island Page 29 Fashion Ruth Walsh Interview Page 32

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News

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

Alcohol A ‘Major’ Factor in TU Dublin SU describe Evening Deaths meeting with Taoiseach as Writes Samantha Calthrop, News Editor “extremely disappointing” Writes Luke Watson

In an appeal ahead of the bank holiday, new data by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has shown that alcohol causes a significant amount of evening road deaths, especially in men. 75% of road fatalities in the evening (between 10pm and 6am) showed evidence of alcohol consumption in drivers.

Speaking in anticipation of the bank holiday, minister for transport, tourism and sport Shane Ross stated, “Driving during offpeak hours presents its own risks.

However, the same advice applies regardless of when you are on the road – you need to slow down, belt up, don’t use the phone while driving, never drink and drive, or drive while fighting sleep behind the wheel. I would urge all drivers to consider their behaviour not just this Bank Holiday weekend but every time they use the road whether that is midday or midnight.”

The data unveiled comes from between 2014 and 2018. Both drivers and pedestrian victims were overwhelmingly male, over 70%.

They were also disproportionately young, with 37% of drivers and 61% of passengers killed aged under 24.

“Despite traffic volumes being at their lowest, 27% of fatal collisions and 17% of serious injury collisions occurred during off peak hours,” said Moyagh Murdock, CEO of the RSA. “Road traffic collisions that

happen late at night and into the early hours differ in key ways to those that happen during the day in two respects: young males are overrepresented and 75% of fatalities had a positive toxicology for alcohol. Continued education and enforcement are needed to target those most vulnerable groups namely young male drivers, young male passengers and male pedestrians.”

46 people were killed or severely injured on the October Bank Holiday weekend between 2012 and 2017.

Chief Superintendent Paul Cleary, Roads Policing, An Garda Síochána, said: “Our arrest data mirrors the RSA research in that 20-40 year olds, mostly male, are the ones arrested most for intoxicated driving. Many are detected multiple times over the legal limit. Unaccompanied learner permit holders also feature in our data, with almost 2,100 vehicles impounded from high risk, inexperienced drivers since the legislation changed. Drivers choose to speed, not wear a safety belt, be distracted or drive intoxicated.

Make the simple and safe choice to always drive safely and protect yourself and others around you.”

The new data was unveiled at the October Bank Holiday Road Safety Appeal from the (RSA).

Earlier this week, representatives of the TU Dublin Students’ Union and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) met with An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to discuss various issues including LGBTQ+ rights, student accommodation, third level education investment and climate action. The group, which consisted of TU Dublin’s Luke Daly, Hayley Keogh and Pierre Yimbog in conjunction with Deputy President Michelle Byrne from the USI described the Taoiseach’s lack of awareness and commitment as ‘extremely disappointing’, and condemned the comments made by the Taoiseach. In a statement released by TU Dublin’s SU, President Pierre Yimbog stated, “The lack of investment put into third level education by this Government in the recent budget and the lack of action taken based on the recommendations of the Cassells report is disgraceful. The comments made

by An Taoiseach show his ignorance of the struggles students go through trying to make it to college with the high cost of living, exuberant accommodation prices and lack of investment in SUSI.” Luke Daly pointed to Taoiseach Varadkar’s comments on HIV diagnosis, Hate Crime Legislation and Climate Change Denial, stating that “this is an attack not only on students , but a dangerous attack on the community from which the Taoiseach inadvertently represents as one of the most influential LGBTQ+ figures in the world of politics”.

The group stated that, while they appreciated the willingness on the part of the Department of the Taoiseach to allocate time to meet with them, they felt it was clear that no commitments would be made on any of these issues as well as demonstrating a chronic lack of understanding of what is happening to students on the ground. They noted that this lack of understanding is indicative of

the Taoiseach’s “highly privileged background” and demonstrates a “glaringly obvious lack of understanding and out of touch perception around issues students face” on the behalf of the Department.

The Taoiseach’s response was no more encouraging where climate action was concerned. Despite the fact that it recently emerged that Ireland had exceeded its emissions target by 5 million tonnes, the Taoiseach indicated that if Climate Action demands funding, then the Government would be called on to move funding from healthcare, public infrastructure and education. The Taoiseach further stated the belief that, while nuclear energy is the only way forward in the current climate crisis, such change wouldn’t happen under the current government, despite solutions proposed by various activist groups, student activists included.

In light of these issues, TU Dublin’s Students’ Union is calling on all of its members, as well as students across the country, to get in contact with their local representatives to voice their concern over the lack of commitment on the behalf of the Department of the Taoiseach “to students, society and the planet”. They also urge students to engage in #BreakTheBarriers campaign, currently orchestrated by the USI.

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

News

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“Alumni Bridge” Renamed Mayor of Belfast Delivers in 90-year-Anniversary Lecture In Move To Ceremony Deepen Connections With

by Samantha Calthrop, News Editor Cork Writes Samantha Calthrop, News Editor

Councillor John Finucane, Lord Mayor of Belfast, gave a public lecture— Belfast: A Brexit Perspective— as part of the Jean Monnet Lecture series, in UCC’s Centre for Executive Education on October 24th.

Gerard McCarthy Photography

On Friday 18, a ceremony was held to commemorate the renaming of the bridge that leads into UCC from the main gates the “Alumni Bridge”, to pay respects to— naturally— the college’s dedication to supporting its alumni.

Participants walked from the Quad to the bridge, with the graduates of last week’s ceremonies urged to attend the renaming ceremony at each conferring. One graduate from each of the last fifty years was in attendance, as well as a graduate who was born in 1929— the year of the bridge’s completion.

Speaking at the ceremony, UCC president Patrick O’Shea said, “UCC’s Alumni Bridge is a hidden gem. For ninety years, it has silently borne our students as they pass back and forth to the University. Today’s ceremony will ensure that it becomes a more visible part of our rich heritage, a place of personal and public ritual to further

strengthen the bonds that bind our alumni to their University”.

Also in attendance were husband and wife Phillip and Catherine Ryan, who met while studying at UCC in the late 1960s. A photograph of them holding hands as they walked over the bridge was published in the Evening Echo at the time. “Little did we know when we met that we would be back to UCC over 50 years later to celebrate and participate in this historic event,” they commented, “UCC has played a significant part in shaping our futures. We have very fond memories of the Alumni Bridge”.

UCC Alumni Network have been urging this year’s graduates to connect with other alumni, with 185,000+ alumni across 67 countries. At the conferrings, graduates were given ‘Class of 2019’ pins and invited to join the network, which includes professional support and mentoring from other alumni.

“All parties on [Belfast City Council], irrespective of their view of a reunified Ireland, are of one mind in their wish to invest in our collective community, investing in improving peoples’ lives. This must include building strong, practical, and lasting links with the rest of Ireland… That’s why I’m here today,” said Cllr Finucane, addressing a crowd of UCC students, faculty and members of the public alike. “This is the type of political cooperation that makes a difference and gets things done.”

Sinn Féin Councillor John Finucane grew up in Belfast, qualifying as a solicitor and running a legal practice. He was elected Lord Mayor in 2019, and is to serve until 2022. Cllr Finucane, while expressing his disapproval of the Leave vote, focused on making the Brexit process peaceful and beneficial. “Leaving the EU presents unprecedented political, social and economic challenges for Belfast.” While sharply critical of the English response to the Northern Irish problem, he praised all parties on both sides of the border for their work in easing the transition for Northern Ireland.

“The European Union and the Republic of Ireland have committed fully to upholding the terms of the Good Friday agreement, and for this, I commend them,” he said.

In addition to analysing Brexit, though, Cllr Finucane highlighted the importance of Belfast strengthening its relationship with Cork, and with other cities in the Republic. “It’s a very different Cork, coming from a very different Belfast…Sometimes Cork and Belfast sometimes feel worlds apart.

In my view, there is an explanation for this; it comes from history, one hundred years ago, when our country was partitioned. But that’s not the only explanation.

Because within those respective states, North and South, there are other separations that straddle the issues of geography, class, and social status. These have grown up over the last century. But this does not have to be the case.”

“Brexit will redefine the relationships between Ireland, North and South, and East and West, between our two countries…This change will be felt most acutely on the island of Ireland. It challenges the underpinnings of the economic, social and cultural development this island has enjoyed in recent decades, particularly in the north of Ireland. But this has forced a conversation about our future together, and how we might best progress together, politically and in economic terms.”

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Features

Unanswered: Imelda Keenan Writes Roisin O’Donnell, Features Editor ‘Fears were openly expressed that a serial killer was operating, either alone or with other like-minded predators, in an area of the country where instances of female disappearance had become so common that it had been dubbed the ‘Vanishing Triangle’.’ Alan Bailey, ‘Missing, Presumed’.

It was the beginning of what Imelda’s brother Gerald Keenan describes as a ‘dark cloud’ that still hangs over the Keenan family. Suspicious, right? The Gardaí at the time were not too convinced and in modern times, Operation Trace, the task force that has spent a decade trying to find answers to the Triangle has scratched Imelda The third member of the Van- off its list. A large number of sourcishing Triangle is most of the es list the Triangle to six women. time, like Eva Brennan, not Imelda and Eva having the least considered a node making up amount of press attention at the the Triangle. She fits the pro- time and not even a breadcrumb file: a woman in the 1990s who theory attached to their names. vanished off the face of the Green Isle. Imelda Keenan was However, Gerald has his theoa student like Annie McCar- ries. He told a crowd at a missrick, she was 22 years old, and ing persons event, ‘Unfortunate26 years ago she disappeared. ly deep down I have a theory Not much is publicly available that there are people in Waterabout her, this journalist must ford with vital information who admit. The sources of informa- won’t come to our assistance. tion are mainly fuelled today by We have asked them, we are begher last surviving brother and ging them, come forward now.’ the public Facebook groups that send happy birthday posts out to her in cyberspace. Gerald, who has spent the last 26 years speaking to the media and asking the public to come forward From the outside Imelda with information has, similarly to seemed to be happy. She was Eva Brennan’s father, even asked engaged to her fiancée Mark a government official for help.

Wall, lived in an apartment in He pleaded to Minister for JusWaterford with him and was tice Charlie Flanagan to change attending a computer course the attitude of An Gardaí Siochaat Central Technical Institute na for Imelda’s sake. ‘The Gardaí Waterford. She did not have should be given more power to the narrative of someone who investigate people who are inwas about to go away. On the volved in a serious crime… rather morning of January 3rd, 1994, than bringing them in to make a dawning leopard-skin trousers statement and just sticking it in and a denim jacket the brown- a file and sticking it into a cabhaired blue-eyed young woman inet. I’d like the Gardaí to have informed her fiancée she was the power to go a little deeper.’ going out to collect the dole from the post office. The post office was closed at that time In all Gerald’s statements to the of the day. She left her rented media, his hope rings out. But has accommodation to walk down it fallen on deaf ears? Despite the William Street, where her me- Gardaí at the time labelling the morial plaque now lies, to case as unsuspicious it is importLombard Street. She was seen ant to consider the time frame. crossing the road by the local Just eight months later teenagdoctor’s secretary and a friend. er Arlene Arkinson would be deShe turned the corner by the clared missing and largely considTower Hotel and that was it.

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

crimes that Howard was cuffed.

He was only then put on trial for Arlene’s murder, he was acquitted to the family’s and public’s shock.

The result of this is believed to be due to the dismissal of evidence in Howard’s other crimes. Her sister Kathleen Arkinson made this appeal to the Garda Commissioner to allow for a fair trial, for victims and information to testify against his character. ‘The justice system has failed us in every way.

We have done everything we can and we are still here… please look into this as soon as possible because it’s dragging our lives away.

We can’t go on like this forever.’

ered dead further up the country and Marie Kilmartin’s body would be found in a midlands bog. Neither of these victims are considered members of the Vanishing Triangle despite the lack of con- Robert Howard died in 2015. But victions and mysterious circum- the pain has not stopped for the stances surrounding their cases. family as they continue to search for Arlene’s body. In June 2018, when a body was found in counFifteen-year-old Arlene spent ty Sligo, Kathleen recalled she the evening of August 13th, 1994 ‘prayed it was Arlene and was devbabysitting her older sister Kathastated when I was told it wasn’t. leen’s daughter. While Kathleen We seem to suffer blow after blow.’ was out at bingo Arlene’s friend phoned her to invite her to a disco at the Palace Hotel just across the Marie Kilmartin’s daughter, Northern Irish border in Bundor- Áine, has expressed her suffering an. Once Kathleen had returned and disappointment to the mefrom bingo, Arlene relieved from dia about how her mother’s case her babysitting duties was ready has been handled. Like Gerald to go to the disco. Outside Ar- Keenan and Davy Brennan, she lene’s sister’s home, her mode of campaigned to the media and transport was a parked van driv- government officials. She sucen by one of her least favourite cessfully got the investigation into people in the world. Her friend’s her mother’s murder reinstated. mother’s partner, just years away from being a convicted child kill- Maire Kilmartin, after being er and sexual abuser, Robert forced to put her baby up for Howard. Sources have stated her adoption and a stay in a mental friend and her friend’s boyfriend facility, moved to Portlaoise with persuaded the uncomfortable Ar- her friend and nurse. Marie was lene into the van. After the dis- not the type to go out alone, she co, during which Robert Howard lived with depression and a mild never left the teenagers sides, it form of agoraphobia, which made was time to go home. According to leaving her house difficult. A large the statements given to Gardaí by part of her anxieties included men Arlene’s friend and her boyfriend, and the dark. She found her place Robert Howard dropped Arlene in the world at a volunteer’s cenhome first and she went inside her tre helping senior citizens. She house. Providing Robert Howard grew comfortable with the people with a solid alibi. The Gardaí atten- she worked alongside and the entions drifted away from Howard. vironment at the centre. She felt needed. But she would never walk home alone. She would always Arlene’s father told the Gardaí she get a lift home or take the bus. had never returned home. Later On the 16th of December, Mathe two teenagers would admit to rie was dropped home by fellow lying. The last time they had seen volunteers. She had been invited her was when they were dropped to continue their Christmas parhome by Howard. Howard drove ty celebrations at a local the pub, off with Arlene. It was not un- but she refused. This surprised til the 2000s after a long list of no one. Her friends watched her

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

walk into her house and shut the door. It was late evening at this time, already dark out.

utes. This call was later traced to a telephone booth close to a facility where Marie spent time as a patient and near the Portlaoise prison. A caller into the TV show Her roommate and nurse ar- Crimeline who was hitchhiking in rived home to the lights off. the area said to have seen a man Like in the Annie McCarrick in the booth on that day around disappearance, shopping bags the time the call was made, (the were sitting on the kitchen table only call around that time). They still packed. Marie was report- described a man around thirty ed missing the next morning. and dark-haired. The last known Breaking their trend, Gardaí sighting of Marie alive was the treated the case as suspicious morning after her disappearfrom the beginning because of ance by someone who knew her Marie’s mental health condi- in a supermarket. The witness tions. The landline in the house described her as unsettled and was checked and it was discov- nervous. Six months later Maered at 4:30 pm, a half an hour rie’s body was discovered subafter Marie had been dropped merged in water in a bog drain home, someone had chatted weighed down by a cement block on the phone for over two min- and concealed by parts of a gas

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heater and a pram. This discovery each one having died without was made 32km from her home. ever knowing what happened Áine continues to campaign for to our precious little girl.’ justice for her mother and answers. ‘There are people out there that know what happened to my mother. These people know exactly what happened and they are fully aware there is still a murderer at large.’

Evidence of what happened to the cases mentioned in this Feature exists somewhere in Ireland. Whether it is under the soil of the infamous Dublin mountains, hiding in someone’s house or backUnfortunately, in Imelda’s case, field has yet to be answered. no answers can be given to this Someone must know someday. Gerald described his moth- thing. And if you, reader, know er dying of a broken heart, his something the Gardaí, the brother dying of cancer in 2011 families, friends and the conmade worse by the stress of his cerned public are interested. sister’s case and his oldest brother most recently. ‘That’s three hearts gone from our family,

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Features

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

The Startling Truth Behind Graduation Caps Writes Molly O’Rourke, Deputy Features Editor

Over the last few weeks, the UCC Autumn Conferrings have been taking place on campus.

It is difficult to ignore the buzz of excitement from the graduating students as they celebrate the day with family and friends. We see them bravely taking a step onto the quad to mark the momentous occasion, posing in groups with their parchments on proud display. It is a heart-warming event to watch, and a reminder for most of what is to come.

As a final year student, I have been taking more notice this year than any previous ones; gathering ideas for an outfit and thinking of venues for a family lunch. One thing that I have noticed, however, is the absence of graduation caps, (or mortarboards), on male heads. Initially, I thought it strange that it was only female graduates wearing the black caps; surely with their elegant hairstyles, this was impractical? After mentioning it to my father, I discovered the real reason behind this.

the female graduate was the sole person wearing a cap, my father asked a few people why this was the case and he was surprised to hear that it was a shocking symbol of sexual inequality in Ireland.

It is thought that women wear the graduation cap as a symbol of the end of their education, it is now “capped”. While this may just be an urban myth passed from generation to generation, it is heard often enough to make one wonder: does it have some social standing? I have not found the source of this statement, despite its ubiquity, and officially the wearing of a hat seems to refer back to societal rules around 1904. This year saw the first female students admitted to Trinity College in Dublin. Social etiquette at this time required men to remove their headgear when indoors as a sign of respect, (this tradition dates back to medieval times, when knights removed their helmets in order to be identified). On the other hand, women wore hats as decorative pieces and due to the time and number of pins required to put on a lady’s hat, taking it off indoors seemed impractical. Like many other traditions in Ireland, the Catholic church had some influence over this social norm. Men are expected to remove hats in places of worship, as a mark of respect and to avoid “dishonouring” his head, while women are required to remain covered during acts of worship.

Last year, my older brother graduated from the NMCI in Ringaskiddy. Within his small class of around 40 students, only one girl was graduating.

This is normal for the Maritime College; merchant shipping is a male-dominated industry. This archaic and senseless code Thinking it was strange that of decorum has no standing in to-

day’s society. We should be free to wear whatever we want, no matter our gender. Around the world, graduation attire differs from country to country. In the US, both male and female graduates sport the mortarboards, while Italians wear a wreath of laurel around their heads. Other countries don’t follow any traditions or customs, and students are free to create their own customs. Traditions are often created deliberately to enhance the importance of a certain institution and can be changed as society evolves. Why must Irish graduations highlight this display of sexist inequality, that dates back to a time of injustice and discrimination against women? Surely graduates, who are the future of Ireland, have the power to change this primitive custom?

without prejudice.” If the cap is entirely optional, shouldn’t male graduates also be given the opportunity to wear a cap? Although McKinley Academic Dress, UCC’s gown providers, does allow male graduates to rent a hat if they so wish, they explained that it is not very common, (although some do choose to wear a hat for photos). Other gown rental companies do not allow male graduates to rent a cap, stating that men would have to take it off indoors, and the item is more likely to be damaged if it is being around all day. With the token ‘optional for all’ being spouted by UCC, the contrast between bare male heads and covered female heads on campus is only more noticeable.

The number of female graduates wearing caps is still immense; With recent feminist and equality many students do not want to be movements, it is becoming more “the odd one out” among their and more common for graduat- friends, as it is the custom to wear ing women to abandon the black a hat. Girls tossing their caps in mortarboard and wear only the the air for an Instagram shot is gown. I have not heard of this a common sight and leads me to being an issue in our university, believe that many don’t know the however, students in the Univer- history behind the Irish mortarsity of Limerick and Trinity Col- boards. It may seem like a small lege have been told they will not issue to some, a simple article of be granted access to the ceremo- clothing on a hugely important ny without a cap. UCC’s stance on day doesn’t seem that important, the matter is one of choice, with but it is another out-dated and their website stating “The wear- unnecessary distinction between ing of hats as part of conferring the sexes. I personally won’t be attire is entirely optional in Uni- wearing a cap for my 2020 gradversity College Cork. The univer- uation ceremony, as I do not besity directs students to decide on lieve anyone should have their the wearing of the hat entirely education or potential ‘capped’. as a matter of personal choice,

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

Features

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Stoptober: The Ugly Truth About Quitting Writes Christine Lee

I am a firm believer that if you have all the facts, and know what to expect, you can pretty much do anything. I mean, if you had all the facts for an exam and a copy of all the questions that would be asked, you’d definitely pass, provided you put in the work to learn how to answer those questions.

prepared. That’s what I want to explain today. How to be prepared. You know it’s going to be extremely hard, but that is probably all you know. What exactly makes it hard? Obviously, cravings, but we have everything possible to stave those off, so what makes it so hard?

Okay, the worst for me is the coughing. It starts, for me anyFor some reason though, we are way, after the first 24 hours. It not a society which allows people is like you’ve never coughed in to have all the facts before under- your life and you’ve been savtaking a task. An example of this is ing them all for this day. So, if childbirth: how many of you knew you are embarking on a quitthat the woman is extremely like- ting journey, make sure that ly to poop when she’s in labour? you have enough cough-bottle.

(The statistics of fathers pooping This time around I learned that in the delivery room is probably I would have been better off with just as high though, to be fair). Or drowsy cough bottle, because that headrests in cars are made sleep eluded me for the night, to be able to break your car win- which stressed me out enough to dow in an emergency? There is a almost give up giving-up again. wealth of information at our fin- So, when you do plan on quitgertips that is always glossed over ting, even if you have the perfect as being unpleasant to talk about. amount of cough bottle, (and tisIn all fairness, who wants to talk sues: dear God buy plenty of tisabout poop or crashing cars? sues!), maybe do it on a weekend when you won’t have much to do There is one thing people always the morning of the second day. talk about, and you’ll know all about it if you are a smoker. Quitting. The next thing you need is a backPeople tell you to quit all the time, up plan. You might have decided and your grandmother will ask you to go cold turkey, or maybe you’re every Tuesday if you’ve quit yet. planning on using the patch.

Whatever you choose, don’t be Honestly, it’s only right that people left in a difficult situation where nag you about it, at the very least it your option just isn’t suiting means they care about you enough you. Your first plan of the patch to nag. Smoking is one of the worst might work all morning, and then things that you can consciously do you’re almost seventeen hours in to your health, but you know that and your throat just wants somealready. You already know the thing there and then. That’s when bad, and for some reason, you still your back up plan will save you. haven’t managed to take the leap, This time around, I am using the and if you have, it just hasn’t quite patch, Nicorette’s inhaler and held yet. If you’re one of the deter- nicotine chewing gum. I use them mined ones and quit permanent- depending on what my body tells ly, then wow, I’m in awe. Good for me I need, and it is really helping. you. But, a lot of us haven’t taken the leap yet, for whatever reason. Temptation will be all around you. Be prepared for that. Every Well, let me tell you that I’m an time I have quit before, I have unexpert on the leap. I’ve quit smok- fortunately had access to money, ing at least ten times in the last and it led me to buying rollies. three years, and every experi- This time, I locked all my money ence has been a little bit different. away into the credit union, and since I quit on a Friday afternoon, However, this time, I’m more I will have already been past the confident than ever, because I hardest part, the first three days, knew what to expect, and I was before I gain access to my mon-

ey again. Obviously, I did not leave myself short of the things I needed. I bought enough food and drink for the weekend before I did that. Stock up on some snacks too: I, for one, am a comfort eater, and have had plenty of snacks in the interim to allow myself to binge on, (the diet starts next week–– promise). This is too important, and my will power needs to be focused entirely on quitting. If you have a vice for coffee, or for icecream or anything else it might be, allow yourself to indulge in those vices for the first week, then you can focus on calming them again.

to quit those as it is to quit cigarettes, and so they aren’t worth it, (plus, do you really want to be like those hipster teeny boppers who think you can’t be cool unless one of those things are hanging out of your mouth).

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that quitting is hard. Something If you are using the patch, be care- will go wrong one way or another, ful where you put it. The thing but the more you’re prepared for, falls off more often than not de- and the more you know, the more pending on where it is. Tonight, likely you are to be successful. at work, it started at the top of my The first three days are the worst, arm and two hours later I found it the absolute worst. Don’t be like in my bra! (Don’t ask - I honestly me and become an expert on do not know how that happened, the subject by going through the it’s not like I was rubbing my arm first three days more than once. to boob while working). The place Then, once you’re on the fourth I found it fell off least was on my day, you can relish in the fact arm, under my shoulder facing that it will get easier from here outwards (not my armpit, obvi- on out. That’s a feeling I’m seriously, the other side - though that ously looking forward to. Three might explain the bra thing a bit flights of stairs without having a better). It’s the spot that doctors mini heart attack, here I come! usually put injections in. Even then, long sleeves would be best. Stoptober might be the excuse Also, don’t wear it when you’re you need to quit this time, but asleep. You don’t smoke when you it’s important that you have sleep so don’t build up a nicotine decided you’re done. It’s imaddiction for that time. It’s the portant that you’ve decided only time you’ll have some peace. that you want to quit for you.

When you do go to sleep though, make sure you have a new one If you are going to quit, ready the second you wake up, so just keep this in mind: that you don’t give your body time to crave your morning cigarette. You are in control, you are deThis is also where the inhalers ciding, you can do anything you or chewing gum comes in handy, put your mind to. Don’t give up. because they are instant relief. Be the best you that you can be.

Don’t prove it to your grandAlso, the patch burns. I mean wow. mother. Don’t prove it to the nagIt’s like putting a lighting cigarette gers. Prove it to yourself, because right up to your skin and leaving at the end of the day, you’re the it there. It itches and burns like only one you’re stuck with fornothing I’ve ever felt, so be ready ever, so don’t let yourself down. for that. If it starts to get too much though, or you start to break out Also, if in doubt, talk to your in a rash, maybe see your doctor doctor, (I wasn’t even told to and stop using them, (clearly, put this part in, I’m just a gethis is the legally required bit). nius who could foresee its need).

Don’t use e-cigarettes or vapors or any of those. It’s just as hard

Thanks, Christine

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Features

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

Interview: Ben Dalton O’Sullivan – Ireland’s Youngest County Councillor Writes Ciaran Dineen, Editor-in-Chief While many students here in UCC and across the country must work part-time, if not full-time jobs to pay for college fees, accommodation and day to day living, not many are expected to pick up their phone and answer a call at any time in the day. It’s also unlikely that they face as much scrutiny and pressure to deliver a constant satisfactory service as one 19 year-old UCC student. There is simply no hiding when your entire legitimacy is based on the support and backing of the people that you share a community with.

This is what Councillor Ben Dalton O’Sullivan will encounter for, hopefully, at least the next 5 years.

On the 26th May 2019, a teenager from a rural part of south Cork made national headlines by becoming the youngest elected Councillor in the country following the 2019 Local Elections. Ben Dalton O’Sullivan hails from Ballygarvan, a small village near Cork Airport and he spent much of his summer laying the foundations for 5 years of public service after being voted into Cork County Council (CCC) by the constituents in the Carrigaline Local Electoral Area. The 19 year-old is certainly studying a relevant degree for his occupation, having started his second year this September in the BSc Government degree. He is not the first student from the course to have been elected to this level of local government, but he is certainly the youngest. Despite his youth, Councillor Dalton O’Sullivan is already showing that he is more than capable of standing

up for himself and, most importantly, for his electorate, proving that he is wise beyond his years.

All Politics Is Local: Although for many young people the thought of politics alone is enough to warrant a change of subject, it is something that runs through the veins of this young man, and a stint in representative politics was almost destined.

“I’ve always loved politics”, Ben

tells the University Express. “I think the first election I really got interested in was the 2011 Presidential Election because I was in 6th class and remember our teacher being really passionate about it. I went to the count and just loved the whole experience of boxes being opened and all the votes being counted, it was something that always stuck with me,” he continues.

While the glitz and glamour of

national elections was a political catalyst for the Ballygarvaner, it’s a love for community that has driven him to where he is today.

Sometimes the phrase, ‘All Politics Is Local’ is used in an almost jocular manner to describe some minor local government process, but alas, there is nothing more serious for Ben, who places the interests of his locality at the core of his mindset. “I put myself forward for election because I felt that the people of Ballygarvan had been forgotten for a number of years and I wanted to change that”, Ben says, explaining his desire to seek election. “When you live in a small rural community you kind of know about everything that’s going on and you know what problems people encounter on a daily basis, because we’re more than likely all going to face those same issues. When I decided to put myself forward I just thought, ‘why not?’ The worst thing that was going to happen was that I didn’t get in so I really had no worries about going for it.”

Now the teenage Independent Councillor finds himself representing his parish on the county stage and a regular feature of his early motions has been to raise issues with obscure place names which require attention. While this brings the odd cordial smirk from fellow members and civil servants alike, this is the mantra for life as a County Councillor.

Finding The Balance – UCC vs CCC: Certainly one of the biggest reflections Ben had to make before entering the election race was the impact that it would potentially have on his academic studies.

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

While lecture hours in the Government degree aren’t exactly hefty, achieving a successful balance between the two roles was always going to be a difficult challenge to overcome. “It’s definitely something I had to take into strong consideration before making my mind up,” Ben explains. “I must admit that while I love the course I much rather the practical side of things and getting stuck in a situation and being on the ground.

I have found myself to be under a little bit of pressure lately because we have a lot of meetings, particularly on a Monday, but so far I am managing and the lecturers are very understanding.”

cantly. Understanding the system of hierarchy in Cork County Council and approaching the right person for the specific issue is vital. This itself takes a lot of energy and input but the reward in return is worth it. “In this job you simply have to love what you do,” Ben tells the Express. “Ask any Councillor who has been here for many years and they will say the same because you can’t be here just to be here for the sake of it, you really would want to enjoy putting 100% of yourself into it,” he continues.

Three Days in May: When Ben woke up on Friday 24th

While the position of Councillor is not paid as a full time job, the hours do not reflect this and Ben’s phone can ring at 7am or 11pm, with the caller expecting him to answer it.

This alone brings its own pressure and from the outside looking in, it seems like there is no escape from it all and it’s not difficult to envisage a young person like Ben being consumed by it. Nevertheless, the second year BSc Government student is coping well and finds that his studies are helping the process.

“It’s definitely helped my work with Council. I think if you’re in politics you need to be proactive and be able to make connections to get things done but being able to hear and listen to some of the best lecturers in the country is also a great insight for me.”

A big part of the job for Ben is knowing where to go and who to speak to when a constituent raises an issue. This of course comes with experience but is a crucial feature of the role as it can speed up the response process signifi-

Features difficult but I was just very honest with people and said, ‘look I know I’m very, very new but I want to work and put in the hard effort for 5 years’, and that message seemed to pay off for me.”

In the final days leading up to May 24th, Ben had a good feeling for his chances and believed that he had done enough to be one of the six candidates that would be elected. “When I went into my old primary school to vote at 12pm I asked what turnout was like and it was only 30%, but I went back at 10pm and it was up to 68%.

I knew then that I had a really good chance because it was one of the highest turnouts around.”

“To hear my name being called out constantly in the background was just the proudest moment of my life” May, he had done all he could in attempting to seek the votes of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people that he encountered in the build up to polling day. He had done what many people our age would find terrifying, actually knocking on doors and speaking with strangers faceto-face. In hindsight his campaign strategy was perfect, and Ben found that being as open and honest with people on the doors was the best policy. “Going to areas where you aren’t known is

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livan and nothing else”, Ben recalls with delight. “To hear my name being called out constantly in the background was just the proudest moment of my life.”

Coming away from Mallow, Ben had a great feeling over how the process would unfold but ultimately the votes had not yet been officially counted. It was a long and drawn-out procedure and the then election candidate had to make his way back on Sunday morning to County Hall, where the votes were being counted, to discover his fate. It proved to be a journey well made and the teenager was deemed elected to the Carrigaline LEA after all other candidates had been eliminated. It was a moment of pure joy for Ben and his family who were there to celebrate with him, as he became the youngest Councillor in the country.

The Work Has Just Begun:

While being elected was an enormous thing to achieve, Councillor Dalton O’Sullivan must now live up to the hype and reputation by being the representative that his electorate voted for. He is only five months into the job but there is All of the graft and hard work was certainly no easing-in process and rewarded in front of his eyes when it’s been a case of, out of the camthe UCC student went to the tal- paign fire, into the Council frying ly centre in Mallow the day after pan, for the teenager. Already he the votes had taken place. Here has received some heckling from he was able to get a great inkling other members of the chamber into how he had been perceived during full council meetings, by the voters. “I remember ar- where Ben sits alongside some of riving a bit late and the Bal- the most experienced and tested lygarvan boxes had already been Councillors in the land. Howevopened but then I just saw piles er, this is just the beginning of a and piles of papers with Dalton five year cycle and no one would O’Sullivan 1’s everywhere, and be surprised if the name Ben there weren’t even preferences in Dalton O’Sullivan sticks around some of them, just Dalton O’Sul- for many more years to come!

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Opinion

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

Sleeping Out in Solidarity?

I’d like to think that it isn’t often in life that you’ll see a crime scene, but for the twenty something thousand of us that attend UCC, a crime scene was practically on our doorstep last week as Gardaí investigated the murder of homeless man Timothy Hourihane, who lived in a makeshift tent village on Mardyke Walk. Hourihane’s death acted as a sharp wake up call for the government and indeed, the country as a whole, as to the nature of the homelessness crisis in Ireland.

Over 10,000 people live in this country without a fixed address, over onethird of them are children.

Hourihane was a talented chef who struggled with alcohol addiction after the passing of his partner, Michael. Due to his addiction he found it difficult to hold down a job and was living on the streets. He spoke to the media on numerous occasions in an effort to highlight the realities of homelessness in Ireland. Speaking with Red FM’s Neil Prendeville in December, Hourihane explained that violence was just part and parcel of the homeless experience, “The last attack happened two weeks ago, the person stomped on my hand and I ended up with fractures on my hand, plus fractures down my right side.

The actual rib went into my lung.” He also told Prendeville of how the harsh Irish weather plays into the homeless experience, “We might have a duvet or a few blankets, but you’re still cold. You wake up at four and you’re hypothermic, you’re shaking with the cold.”

This government ought to be ashamed of itself.

The issue of homelessness in this country is not getting the attention that it so desperately needs. We need more treatment centres for the root caus-

Writes Elisha Carey, Opinion Editor

es of homelessness, we need more housing, we need more support services and we needed it yesterday. Our government is not taking this crisis seriously. Taoiseach Varadkar even went so far as to victim-blame Hourihane in the Dáil. Tragedies such as these offer us a unique opportunity to show our government that this issue is something we care about and would like to see resolved. But how much can we actually do to help?

I was interested to learn about the Shine A Light Night “sleep outs”, (sheesh try saying that five times fast), organised by Focus Ireland across the country on the 18th of October, with our own SU taking part outside the Boole Library.

The night aimed to raise funds and awareness for people experiencing homelessness in Ireland today. I was even more interested and surprised by my own response to the initiative. I didn’t know what to make of it at first.

My knee-jerk reaction would be to say that this method trivialises homelessness. That I can’t see how pretending to be a homeless person with your buddies and a thermos of hot chocolate for only one night is better than any other methods of raising awareness.

But does it raise money for a truly spectacular and underfunded cause in our country? Yes, it does.

And that aspect can’t be ignored.

Further research into the concept of “sleep outs” led me to “The World’s Big Sleep Out” campaign by the Scottish charity, Social Bite. This international event hopes to see over 50,000 people across the world sleeping out on December 7th of this year.

Perusing their website it sounds like Electric Picnic just without the tents. “The artists performing at the show will each be performing a stripped back acoustic set, with the headliner performing for approx. 35-40mins.” As a further incentive to taking part, actor Will Smith will read a bedtime story to participants in New York City’s Times Square while Dame Helen Mirren will do the same for those sleeping out in Tr-

afalgar Square. This I found even harder to wrap my head around.

I think it’s important to acknowledge that homelessness has many faces, it’s not always people who look like Hourihane, who sleep in doorways under cardboard and sleeping bags. It’s the family who took out a 100 percent mortgage at the height of the boom, who lost their jobs and their house to our crippled economy and who now live in a hotel. It’s an issue more complex than we’ll ever know and I’d argue that the concept of “sleeping out” oversimplifies it.

As well as this, I’d be sceptical as to the extent of the “solidarity” something like this actually exhibits. It is only one night after all. One night without your comfy bed, cupboards full of food and warm shower compared to a lifetime potentially never knowing such luxuries. Add to that, the fact that people sleeping rough generally don’t have Will Smith or Helen Mirren there to read them a bedtime story, they have complex issues brought on by a lifetime of pain and trauma and if I were in their shoes I’d personally be offended by what “The World’s Big Sleep Out” does. It’s the feature of rewarding the participants with celebrity visits and live music that really doesn’t sit well with me.

True solidarity is shown when you have nothing to gain from showing it. In this way, I prefer Focus Ireland’s approach to the “sleep out” method. If it must be done it should be at its most pared back, if nothing else but to remain respectful to those for

whom homelessness is a reality.

To those who slept out on Friday night or have done in the past, I recognise the sacrifice you made and I really appreciate that your heart is in the right place, but I can’t help but wonder is there a more appropriate way to raise awareness on this issue? Perhaps one that directly targets the issue at hand like serving soup or handing out socks or woolly hats to those you see sleeping rough.

The advent of the internet and social media has made it easier than ever for us to show our support for the issues we care about.

While sleeping out does a considerable amount more for the homeless and dispossessed than reposting something to your Instagram story, we must be conscious of our role in this equation and ensure we are not trivialising and belittling what is, for some people, the lowest point in their lives. Chances are if you’re doing a sleep out and having the time of your life, you’re doing it wrong. Focus Ireland reports that Friday’s sleep out has managed to raise €871,629 so far for support services that aim to prevent homelessness by treating the causes. This can only be regarded as a good thing. It is hoped that these support services will mean that vulnerable people like Hourihane will not end up on the streets in the first place and be spared the kind of lifestyle we have the privilege of misunderstanding.

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

Photo’s

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Hypnotic Brass Ensemble @ Cyprus Avenue jazz weekend

by Eve Harrington, University Express Photographer

BYLINE GarrYvoe Beach’ - Leahy Photos

Editorial

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My poor head, I don’t even like Jazz, not that I heard any in Cork as our ‘jazz’ festival gets less and less jazzy every year! This year was the first time that I could actually get into any pubs in Cork (shout out to Cork’s inconsistent age policy). I hope that everyone had a good weekend and has recovered nicely for today’s Express.

We’ve got some great pieces in store for you in this week’s Byline.

As always, each of the Byline Editors have absolutely knocked it out of the park. Food & Health is as informative as always, Gaming and Film & TV continue going from strength to strength too. This week we have a fantastic piece by a guest contributor in Arts & Lit, and I couldn’t recommend highly enough that you check it out.

Thanks again to everyone for taking an interest in our section! We really appreciate all the support. Feel free to fire me an email if you’d like to help us out. Shout out also deserved to our designer Fiona too who’s done a fantastic job on the bank holiday making our paper look sexy as always!

Unfortunately for me, Cork City’s season came to an end this week with a 3-0 loss to Shamrock Rovers. I’ve had a great time following City this season, despite results. Jack, our Sports Editor, has done a few nice articles about the Airtricity League this issue, so have a look.

I also had a piece on The Season Ticket about City’s season with a bit of a review of all things Cork City.

I also had to attend my first Societies Senate last week, which went off without a hitch. We at Netsoc also managed to secure some funding for a nice foreign trip to Belgium. We’re all very excited to get going, I’m sure you’ll see plenty of photos on my twitter from the event.

The Netsoc Rebels (UCC’s Esports Team) are flying high too. In 4 of our 7 teams, we are on the course to qualify out of the group stages, with top performances coming from the Rainbow Six Siege Team to beat TUD Apes to move top of the league. If anyone wants to join UCC’s Esports Team, fire me a message at the email below.

Another edition down and another spiel of my inane ramblings. Cheers again for checking us out!

Contributions and complaints can make their way to; John Cian McGrath

byline@uccexpress.ie

Gaeilge

Hugh Ó Raghallaigh Mac Gearailt

XR: Seachtain na Réabhlóide Scríobhann Síofra Nic Ristéird

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Spraoi Cois Laoi I UCC Scríobhann Hugh Ó Raghallaigh Mac Gearailt, Eagarthóir Gaeilge

Seachtain an-ghníomhach a bhí i gceist le Spraoi Cois Laoi do choiste na Cuallachta anseo i UCC. Cuireadh a lán imeachtaí I mí Áibreáin 2018, tháinig na bal: nach mbeadh gá le carran- ar fáil do mhic léinn uilig an mílte daoine amach chun páirt a na príobháideacha dá mbeadh choláiste. Cuireadh tús leis an ghlacadh i bhfeachtas ar son na córas iompar poiblí níos iontao- seachtain leis an mBricfeast haeráide i Londain. Chaith siad fa againn, agus cabhróidh sé seo Gaelach! Tógadh seastán tae ocht lá ag campáil ar na sráide- ó thaobh ní amháin tráchta ach agus caifé lasmuigh den Leabharanna i lár na cathrach, agus ó thaobh sláinte de sa chathair, lann agus bhí bia á thabhairt ghlac siad páirt i gníomhartha agus aer úr glan ar fáil nach bh- amach leis. Meastar gur thugadh neamh-foréigneach ar feadh na fuil trúaillaithe ó carranna seasta cothú dos na céadta agus iad ar a seachtaine - ag greamú iad féin ar feadh uaireanta i rith an lae. mbealach chun foghlama maidin le foirgnimh rialtais agus ag im- Cé go raibh réibiliúnaigh ag dé Luain an 21ú Mheán Fomhair. shuí na príomh bóithre agus dro- cruthú trioblóide ó thaobh gnó icheada i Londain. B’í aidhm an agus saol laethúil na cathrach i Tháinig aoí speisialta ina dhiadh fheachtais ná brú a chuir ar an mBaile Átha Cliath, b’agóid nea- san chun cainte linn, Oifigeach rialtas aird a thabhairt ar staid na mh-foréigneach ina iomlán é, Pleanála Teangan don phohaeráide agus dlithe nua a chur agus níor gabhadh ach ar cúigear, bal i gCorca Dhuibhne agus i bhfeidhm. Gabhadh ar níos mó a cheangail iad féin le geataí an iar-chaithaoirleach na Cuallachná 1000 le linn na seachtaine seo. Dáil ag baint usáid as glasa roth- ta John Prendergast. Labhair air. Scaoileadh iad gan chúis an John fén am a chaith sé san ollsAr an seachtú lá de mhí Deireadh lá dar gcionn. Scéal iomlán di- coil, an seal a chaith sé thar lear Fómhair, tharla an dara Rebellion friúl atá ann sa Bhreatain áfach, idir sna Stáit agus i gCeanada Week ar fud an domhain. I níos mó inar gabhadh ar níos mó na 1,400 ag muineadh na Gaoluinne thall ná 60 príomhcathracha, tháinig duine a bhí baint acu le Extinc- agus cúramaí pleanála teangan na mílte reibilúnaigh amach ar na tion Rebellion, agus d’fhógraigh leis. Tháinig an-shlua agus thug sráideanna chun agóid i gcoinne na póilíní le déanaí go raibh cosc John caint an-shuimiúl. Bronnrialtaisí ag déanamh rud ar bith iomlán ar an ngrúpa i Londain. adh leabhar air a bhí scríofa ag an tOllamh Pádraig Ó Macháin chun athrú aeráide a réitiú. Mhair agóidí don tseachtain iomlán i Is í aidhm na gluaiseachta seo ná agus Sorcha Nic Lochlainn chun mBaile Átha Cliath, le reibiliún- na firicí a chur in iúl don phobal ár mbuíochas a chur i bhfriotal. aigh ag campáil i Merrion Square agus na rialataisí - caithfear rudaí agus ag mairseáil trí phríomhs- a athrú nó beidh iarmhairtí óllm- Bhí imeacht saghas difiriúl againn ráideanna na cathrach gach lá. hór do na glúnta atá le teacht. Tá dé Máirt, bailíodh grúpa mhór san Stop siad gluaiseacht tráchta i lár an dualgas orainn, agus chomh New Bar agus chanadar ar feadh na cathrach, ag ligint do bhusan- fada is nach bhfuil faic á dhéana- na hoíche! Bhí oíche thar bharr i na agus rothair taistil, ag iarraidh mh ag rialtaisí an domhain, lean- gceist agus dhein an criú obair na an réiteach a chuir in iúl don pho- faidh an réabhlóid ar aghaidh. gcapall chun an guth a bhaint as na hamhráin uilig agus iad a chur

i bhfís ach is gá dom a rá gurbh fhiú go mór é, mar bhí an-chraic ag an dream a tháinig. Bhí idir amhráin traidisiúnta Gaelacha agus cinn aisrithe á chanadh agus ba mhór an rath a bhí ann.

Ar an gCéadaoin cuireadh rang síochánach Íoga ar fáil sa studío álainn amharchlannaíochta agus tháinig múinteoir le Gaoluinn agus iar-iníon léinn UCC Róisín Nic Cárthaigh chun na pósanna a thaspáint agus an seisiún a stiúradh. Ba mhór an faoiseamh a fuair na héinne agus d’imíodar go han-zen ar fad. Tháinig Déardaoín gan an iomarca moille agus ní nach ionadh gur tháinig imeacht eile leis. Pop Up Gaeltacht a bhí ann agus tháinig pobal na Gaoluinne le chéile chun deireadh na seachtaine a chéiliúradh. Bhí Costigans plódaithe agus lán le Gaoluinn binn agus ceol aoibhinn traidisiúnta an oíche sin.

Bhí imeacht an-spéisiúl curtha ar fáil dé hAoine, nuair a chuaigh dream beag ag surfáil ar an dtráigh anseo i gCorcaigh!

Collab iontach agus ráthiúl leis an gcumann surfáil agus níl amhras ag an scríobhnóir seo nach mbeidh sé an uair deireanach. Buíochas ó chroí d’éinne a ghlac pairt agus tá súil agam go mbeidh baint éigint ag an gcuid eile díobh leis an gCuallacht am.

INTERVIEW

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Sam Bungey Interview Co-Creator of the West Cork Podcast

Sam Bungey is a London based journalist. He got his start in radio with a story for This American Life about a violent turkey.

With his partner Jennifer Forde, he produced and hosted the Audible Original Series, West Cork.

As a print journalist, Sam has contributed to the The Guardian, The Daily Beast, Sunday Business Post, The Monthly, Dublin Review, Monocle, Sydney Morning Herald, having begun his in Dublin with a national monthly magazine, Mongrel.

West Cork is the acclaimed podcast that has gripped everyone who listened to it. Over 13 riveting episodes, journalist Sam Bungey and documentary producer Jennifer Forde, dove deep into the mystery surrounding the death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier and the impact on the West Cork community. The result, with stunning twists and the full participation of the prime suspect,

was named as one of Time Magazine’s top 50 favourite podcasts bringing fresh perspectives and fresh questions to bear on one of Ireland most mystifying murders.

Jennifer and Sam’s investigations have not stopped. Neither have the developments in the case.

Sam, who has worked extensively in print journalism, made his debut in radio/podcasting in 2011, with his contribution to this American Life. I asked Sam about what inspired his switch to this medium initially, and again when they began to work on the West Cork Podcast; “We were looking for projects to take on together and I had really got into the idea of radio. I did a story, while I was working as a journalist in the US, for This American Life and I found that experience really great. Originally, it was about a story that I had originally written as a report for

newspaper and then we redid the whole thing with a producer and I just found that really rewarding! [Jennifer] was coming from television and doing documentaries where she was used to telling stories over a long period of time and over episodes, whereas I was much more used to print journalism. We were sort of meeting in the middle with this idea of an episodic podcast. That’s what we really wanted to do, and then we were casting about for a story, and we came across the Sophie Toscan du Plantier case” For many in West Cork, the case has formed a large part of their life, often part of general conversation as the case has chugged on for decades at this point.

For Sam and Jennifer, there was no personal connection to that extent, but it was a trip to the High Court which sparked the beginning of the hit show;

on holidays as a kid, but I had never been. I was aware of the case from doing Mongrel [Sam’s magazine], but only really dimly. When the magazine had been going, it was a libel case of sorts, at the time and there was a lawyer who did pro bono work for the magazine and his firm represented the newspapers who were being sued by Ian Bailey.

When we were looking for the idea, we just read a story in a paper, and at the time, Ian Bailey was taking the Gardaí to the High Court and so we were intrigued enough that we went in and sit in on some of that case and it all happened from there” The podcast proved to be an over-night success on Audible, with many national and international outlets giving it rave reviews, such as TIME magazine. This proved to be a huge relief for Sam and Jennifer;

“Jennifer had been to West Cork

“I don’t think we really thought

Interviewer: John Cian McGrath about it beforehand. We were extremely anxious about how it be received, particularly the Irish reaction. We wanted to tell the story in full, so that if you knew nothing about the case, it could still bring you along. But yeah, we were anxious that it would come under criticism, so we were really happy with the reaction overall.”

The couple’s most recent dip into the podcast scene has seen them make a Spotify Podcast in conjunction with the BBC about the band ‘The Clash’. Stay Free: The Story of The Clash is an 8 part series which details the rise and fall of London punk visionaries, The Clash, whose hits include Rock the Casbah, Should I Stay or Should I Go and London Calling.

While the creation of the documentary did not come as organically as West Cork, Sam was no less passionate about the project; “We were hired to produce it, one of Jennifer’s old executive producers from television now runs BBC Studios, and he got commissioned by Spotify to produce it. But it turned out to be really interesting! We interviewed all these old rockers and then went out to California to do all the studio work. We were in this great studio for an incredibly gruelling 5 days where our editors schedule was that he would come to work at 5pm, so we had that schedule, on top

of jetlag. Then when we weren’t editing, we were writing scripts during the day! It was a hugely interesting project, I never realised how epic their story was!”

able to tell Sophie’s story, who she was and what she was like, before you talk about the murder, her death. In terms of the sensitivity, we had this guiding principle that we wanted to try

“Part of it was wanting to get permission to tell the story, which thankfully we got, but also because it felt like if you are going to tell stories like this, you also want to be able to tell Sophie’s story, who she was and what she was like, before you talk about the murder, her death”- Sam Bungey In a case such as Sophie du Plantier’s, one can be forgiven for forgetting those at the heart of the tragedy. Dealing with sensitive issues is one of the pillars of strong journalism and I asked Sam how they handled it.

“We contacted Sophie’s family, having sat in on the High Court trial, and an association in France which is searching for justice for her. Then we went to meet her son, her uncle, her best friend, cousins. Part of it was wanting to get permission to tell the story, which thankfully we got, but also because it felt like if you are going to tell stories like this, you also want to be

to have everyone who was affected by the case tell their story as much as possible. That’s why we spent 2 or 3 years, trying to convince everyone to talk to us.”

The scale of the show’s reach is formidable, with Forde and Bungey leaving no stone unturned as they aimed to paint as clear a picture as possible of Sophie’s life and the case. This case has been in and out of court rooms in Ireland and France, from defamation cases to the charges themselves.

With it rumours have grown, stories have grown legs, and Sam spoke at length of their attitude towards the project, and how they cut through to find the true sto-

19

ries of those affected by the case; “We tracked down and convinced about 100 people, and sitting with them, doing long form interviews meant that we could then knit those together rather than playing amateur detective poorly. That wasn’t what we were setting out to do. There were lots of rumours and misinformation in this case, so it felt like there was something useful in coming in as outsiders and saying; this is how we’ve gotten to this point, and 20 years later, it’s kind of stagnated. The French family are watching from a distance trying to understand this too, so rather than going in and trying to solve the case, which we are in no way qualified to do, we approached it this way.”

When I asked Sam what advice he would give to people who aspire to get a career in the media industry, his advice could not have been any clearer, get out and start writing, recording or doing whatever you can to improve your skills as a journalist. Sam Bungey is a hugely accomplished journalist and podcaster, and with more projects in the pipeline, his name is certainly one to watch out for in the coming years. If the West Cork Podcast is anything to go by, Bungey and Forde’s formidable partnership ought to see another classic released in the near future.

Food and Health

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Pumpkins - More than meets the eye Writes Katie Kelly, Food and Health Editor

With October comes Halloween, and with Halloween comes the celebration of one of the humblest vegetables, the pumpkin.

Every year throughout the country hundreds of these vegetables are carved out to celebrate all things Halloween. The resulting masterpiece is appreciated by children and adults alike, but what about the inside? In the spirit of waste reduction, we should consider what else can be done with this delicious and nutritious vegetable. After all, isn’t it what’s inside that counts?

So, if you find yourself near a younger sibling, or someone young at heart, carving the insides from a pumpkin, try to rescue that flesh and put it to good use. Pumpkins are so versatile and are delicious roasted in the oven, along with butternut squash and carrots, or used to make soup.

They also can be used to make muffins, just like the recipe included below!

Pumpkin Muffins Ingredients • 1 ½ cups light brown sugar • ½ cup vegetable oil • 3 large eggs • 2 tablespoons maple syrup • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract • 1 cup pumpkin puree • 2 cups plain flour • 2 teaspoons cinnamon • ½ teaspoon nutmeg • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder • ¾ teaspoon baking soda • ½ teaspoon salt • ¾ cup milk Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with paper cases.

This recipe should make 24 small muffins.

2. To make the pumpkin purée, place the pumpkin flesh onto a tray and pop it into the oven until the flesh is soft. The time will vary depending on the size of the pieces of flesh. Once the flesh is soft, blend until smooth, using a hand blender or food processor.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Beat until the eggs and oil are well combined and the mixture is lighter in colour.

4. Mix in the pumpkin purée and beat until well combined.

5. In a medium sized bowl, combine all remaining dry ingredients. Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixture, followed by half the milk and beat until it starts to combine.

6. Finally, add the remain-

Sweet and Savory Pumpkin Seeds

Writes Laura A. Edgerton, Ballymaloe Graduate

ing dry ingredients, mixing while pouring in the milk and beating until all of the ingredients are well combined.

7. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir the mixture from the bottom to the top to ensure it’s well mixed.

8. Divide the mixture evenly into the baking tray, filling each case 2/3 full.

9. Bake at 180°C for 14-16 minutes. To check if they are done, insert a toothpick If you buy a pumpkin to eat or into the centre of the muffin carve this year, don’t forget about to see if it comes out clean. the seeds. Pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas) make a wonderful snack or topping for dishes

like tacos, risotto or even porridge. Below you’ll find simple instructions on how to roast pumpkin seeds and add flavour.

Editor: Katie Kelly What you’ll need: A medium to large size pumpkin • A tablespoon of olive oil or any neutral oil like sunflower or rapeseed, and salt • A plastic zip top bag for one of the following seasoning blends: •

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The Scrumptious 6…for €6 or less Writes Laura A. Edgerton, Ballymaloe Graduate

Cassanova Gelato just opened a new takeaway inside the English Market, but if you’re looking for a sit-down treat head over to George’s Quay. Whether you’re Cheesy Italian: one tablespoon celebrating a big test or just treateach of Italian seasoning (€.79*) ing yo self – it’s a great spot to and grated Pecorino Romano get something sweet that is molto cheese (€1.10*) or parmesan bene. Cassanova Gelato has vegan and organic offerings and all Cinnamon sugar: one ta- of their ice cream is made without blespoon each of cinna- artificial colors or flavorings. One mon (€.69*) and sugar of the sundaes they offer is the €5 cookies and cream, which comes Smoked savoury: one tea- with biscuit crumbles, cream spoon each of gram marsa- and Bueno sauce – all you have la (€.69*), cumin (€.69*) to do is pick from the frequentand smoked paprika (€.69*) ly changing, drool-worthy flavors. Twitter: @CassanovaGelato Instructions: • Remove the inside of the pumpkin.

• Separate the seeds from the stringy bits.

• Let the seeds air dry on kitchen towels for at least 10 minutes and up to 3 hours.

• Preheat the oven to 150˚C. • Mix the seeds in a bowl with a tablespoon of oil and a teaspoon of salt.

• Although the pumpkin seeds will be delicious with just salt, if you want to add one of the seasoning mixes, now is the time. Put your spices into a zip top bag, seal and shake. Next, add the oil and salt-coated seeds to the seasoning bag and shake again.

• Spread the coated seeds out in one layer on a baking tray.

Twenty Sandwich Bar is just • Put the seeds into the oven about a block from Hatch stufor about 25 minutes. Re- dent accommodations on Anglemove the seeds when they sea Street, and worth the walk for are golden brown. those further away. If you’re there • If they’re a little soft at this in the morning, pick up a warm bastage, don’t worry. Pump- nana nut muffin or blueberry orkin seeds crisp as they cool. ange scone. If you arrive closer to • Have a taste and see if they lunchtime there are plenty of saneed an additional sprin- vory options, like the spiced beef kle of salt. sandwich featured on Yay Cork’s • Eat as a snack, or use as a top sandwich list. And for €5, you topping. can take away or eat in one of their three brown bread sandwiches: *Sourced at Tesco chicken BLT, egg mayo or ham, cheese and pickled cucumber.

Brackens Bakery has been serving up delicious desserts and monster sized sandwiches to Cork since 1981. Whether you visit them in the city centre or Blackpool, make sure you arrive hungry, as you’ll need to bring your A-game to finish one of their sandwiches on huge slices of freshly baked bread. The customizable €5.50 toasted cheese, ham and southern fried chicken with mayonnaise will power you through your longest day of classes. Twitter: @Brackenbakery Umi Falafel serves the best falafel in town and for those of you unfamiliar, these are simply golden fried chickpea fritters, packed with spices and full of flavor and protein. This vegetarian menu offers variety beyond falafel with a mix of healthy and flavorful salads on the menu for under €6, and a €5 lentil soup with toasted bread. The melty, gooey mozzarella stuffed falafel for €6 arrives on a tray with 4 large fritters, fresh hummus, soft pittas and pickles.

This filling meal will have you going for hours, powered by chickpeas. Twitter: @UmiFalafelCork

Café Gusto is open early (7:00), so if you need a hearty breakfast

to start your day, or a late breakfast, which they serve till 11:30, they’ve got your back. They offer a full coffee bar and a substantial food menu with many items under €6, including an Acai berry smoothie bowl (€5.90), homemade granola with Greek yogurt and berry compote (€4.80) and eggs on toast (€4.70). The Ballybrado organic porridge at €3.80 is an especially good choice, as the price includes two of the following toppings: seeds, yogurt, bananas, honey, nuts, or berry compote. Twitter: @cafegusto

Spitjack offers up a healthful way to start your day for just €4.90.

This veggie toast consists of confit tomatoes, roasted mushrooms, rocket and dukkha (an Egyptian mixture of herbs, nuts and spices) on crusty white toast. This dish is vegetarian friendly as-is but can be made vegan on-demand with the chef replacing butter for olive oil. Twitter: @TheSpitjack

Film & T.V.

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South Park reaches 300 episodes and gets banned in China…How Fitting Writes Eoghan Creedon, Film & TV Editor South Park has recently aired its 300th episode. 300 episodes! By anyone’s standards, that’s a lot.

The famously raunchy, offensive and most importantly, downright hilarious shows is currently airing its 23rd consecutive season on Comedy Central, and it has remained a huge staple of pop culture since first airing in 1997.

No topic, event, organisation or person has been safe from South Park down through the years.

If something ridiculous is going on in the world, South Park will be the first ones there to rip the piss out of it. It remains the sometimes much needed social commentary on modern day society.

If somehow you have never seen one of the 300 plus episodes of the show, you have undoubtedly heard of it and are able to recognise it by its unique animation style. In a world where a lot of animated shows are bland and/ or ugly to look at (Netflix’s Big Mouth in particular), the cheap looking, stop-motion animated style of South Park gives an extra charm to the show. This animation style has remained a constant throughout the show’s almost 23-year run. This is largely down to the creators, writers and stars of the show, Trey Parker & Matt Stone, shooting the show’s pilot by using crude craft paper cut outs for every character and set piece. The pilot alone took the two around 3 months to complete.

Now, it takes their team and them only 6 days to write, animate and edit an episode. It is safe to say that they have honed their craft as the years have gone by.

While the animation is a key part to the show’s success, it is the writing and the characters which keep viewers tuning in to the show year after year. The show follows the day to day lives of the residents of the fictional Colorado town of South Park, in particular, four 8-year-old boys. Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman have been the face of the show for 23 seasons. Stan and Kyle act as the

two most grounded characters in the show, Cartman is without a doubt the most despicable character to have ever been created in television history (I will happily argue with anyone that disagrees with that statement), and Kenny… well… Kenny just dies a lot.

Going back to a previous statement, Eric Cartman is the worst character to have ever been portrayed in any form of entertainment in recent memory. One look at this boy’s countless schemes and numerous monstrosities throughout the years and you will soon agree with that statement.

What has Eric Cartman done that is so bad? Well, he has tried several times to exterminate the Jewish race, he had a boy’s parents killed and their bodies grinded up into a chili and then proceeding to feed said chili to the boy in question, he has created a basketball league pitting teams

of crack babies against each other, he befriended the demonic, cosmic entity Cthulu, and has described Adolf Hitler as “awesome” on more than one occasion.

How in the name of Christ has this show not been banned yet?

The shows ability to stay on top of current events is what makes it stand out from any other comedy currently on television. As mentioned previously, this is largely helped by an episode of South Park being created in only 6 days. It allows the creators to see whatever real world “drama” is currently happening and they proceed to mock it as much as humanly possible. Season 23 has been poking fun at the current state of the Chinese government, taking shots at their communist leader Xi Jinping, notably mocking his likeness to Winnie the Pooh, something which the leader has despised for years. These comparisons have recently gotten

South Park banned in China. The show had not been banned despite its crude and offensive humour, the show had not been banned depicting and parodying very sensitive topics throughout the years. No. South Park has finally been banned in China because they said their leader looked like an animated bear who loves Honey a bit too much. That is delightfully bizarre and utterly hilarious.

While it is the end of South Park in China, the show remains a cultural icon and one of the most legendary shows to have been created in the last 30 years. The show’s ability to stay on top of the most talked about topics of the week, while effortlessly bringing its own unique style of comedy and animation to the table only helps the claims that South Park is one of the most important and culturally significant shows of all time.

Editor: Eoghan Creedon

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Modern Horror Films Are Crap, So Here’s Some Comedies You Should Watch Instead Writes Eoghan Creedon, Film & TV Editor

It’s almost Halloween, and you know what that means; lots and lots of horror films. However, most modern horror films are pure and utter tripe and rid themselves of any aspects of fear, dread and tension, instead opting for jump scares. Jump scares are not horror. All they are is a long stretch of nothing happening, followed by a very loud noise and something suddenly jumping into shot. That’s all they are. Its literally in the name. ‘Jump’ scare.

To echo the title of this piece, modern horror films are a bunch of crap so here’s some comedies you should watch instead.

The Good Place The Good Place is one of the finest comedies to be produced in the last 5 years. The show takes place in Heaven, or the good place, as we follow a woman named Elanor Shellstrop (Kristin Bell) who has been mistake for a woman who shares her name.

The Elanor we see doesn’t belong in the good place because she was quite a terrible person during her time on earth. Elanor must hide the fact that there

has been a huge case of mistaken identity, all the while trying to improve herself to legitimately earn her spot in the good place.

The writing is fantastic. It was the first comedy that legitimately made me laugh in quite some time. The acting is tremendous.

The tight group of main characters are completely different from each other but so well defined and portrayed so impressively by their actors. The show is also aesthetically beautiful. The set designers really have done a tremendous job of portraying the good place as a gorgeous eutopia to enjoy the afterlife.

If you haven’t seen The Good Place yet, be sure to check it out on Netflix. The show is currently airing its fourth and final season and will be sadly missed by fans once this season comes to an end.

Rick and Morty Honestly, what is left to say about Rick and Morty that hasn’t been said already? I mean that in a figurative sense and a literal sense.

The show has been analysed and theorised from top to bottom since airing in 2013, and also

been quoted relentlessly by anyone and everyone who has seen the show. Anchorman: The legened of Ron Burgundy is the most quotable film of the last 20 years and Rick and Morty is the most quotable TV series in that time.

The show follows a scientist named Rick and his grandson named Morty as they go on bizarre adventures throughout different universes. Like I said previously, there really isn’t anything else to say about this show. You’ve definitely seen it and if you haven’t, have you legitimately been living under a rock for the last 6 years?

This show is a cultural phenomenon. Rick and Morty as a comedy has taken the world by storm as Game of Thrones has as a drama.

The shows eagerly anticipated fourth season is set to be released in the near future and is set to continue for many more.

You know what that means, more people needlessly quoting lines from the show. Oh goodie.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine Brooklyn Nine-Nine is the new The Office (U.S). Both shows have hilarious cold openings, they both

contain a group of hilarious main characters that range from quite annoying to downright idiotic, and they both use cut-away scenes to add to the humour.

These are not critiques of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I have never met someone who has one bad word to say about the show. The comparisons are a compliment if anything. Look at how popular The Office still is to this day despite ending in 2013. Once that show ended, Brooklyn Nine-Nine took over its mantel and Andy Samberg and co. have done a damn fine job of it.

If anything, just watch the show for Captain Holt. That character is potentially one of the funniest characters ever created for a comedy show and Andre Braugher’s performance is nothing short of magnificent.

So, there are some recommendations for some of the finest comedy series currently on television. And please do yourself a favour this Halloween, do not watch any modern horror films, they’re crap.

They’re just a bunch of crap.

Music

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Adrianne Lenker & Joni Mitchell A Focus on Two of the Loveliest Songwriters in Music, With a Track By Track of Songs You Need to Hear Writes Fiona O’ Connell, Music Editor

It may seem odd to couple these two wonderful ladies for any reason other than their outstanding contributions to the field of folk-influenced songwriting.

However, there are many ways in which one can draw comparisons between Mitchell and Lenker. A traumatic childhood, a shared poetic desire, and a need to capture, recount, and express their inner chaos through the magic of words. Most significantly though, their shared conversational tone each song penned by Mitchell and Lenker is a story that when sung, feels as if they are sitting right next to you recalling exactly what happened in minute detail. Their presence can be felt so heavily and so perfectly through their mastery which has gained the pair millions of individual as well as shared fans all around the world.

receiving a whopping 9.0 from striking; a stripped back, rising along with an organ drone in the Pitchfork’s toughest critics. Even and falling melody builds into an background, creates the perfect before the formation of the band, attention-grabbing cry as Lenker sonic space in which Lenker can Lenker has been self-releasing sings ‘Real love makes your lungs deliver one of her most vulnerable music both with her bandmate black; real love is a heart attack’. and sweet lyrical performances.

Buck Meek as well as her own solo As the melody and instrumenta- Stripped back, this song feels like material since 2014. It was in that tion builds and fills out only to a window into Lenker’s soul - into very year she released two short drop out again, the song builds up her most private and intimate but sweet collections of gorgeous until the bridge where the inten- childhood memories, into her folk songs with Meek. A charm- sity climaxes with soaring vocals closest friendships, all through ing yet unassuming duo, Lenk- and piercing lead guitar melody. her mystical storytelling abilier and Meek channel heartbreak ty through the medium of song. and emotional trauma into some 2.

‘A Better Time to of this decade’s finest acoustic Meet’ b-sides, 2014.

4. ‘Kerina’ - a - sides, 2014. guitar-led love songs. The real A song for the end of a relation- The folk-influenced, interlocking magic, however, lies entirely in ship that you really didn’t want guitar melodies in this song are Lenker’s own instrument. With to end. This song is entirely bit- outstandingly gorgeous. Accoma quivering voice that echoes tersweet, simplistic, and utterly panied by Lenker and Meek’s with an emotional intensity as heartbreaking. Lenker captures complimenting vocals, the pair well as a tenderness that very few the frustration of heartbreak explore the idea of letting go of artists possess, every word she and the fickle nature of timing in someone despite their best efsings is believable and is less of terms of romantic relationships. forts. The song lends itself to a statement than a meaningful Reflecting lovingly on a failed questions of fate and the human cry. These songs, both Lenker’s relationship, Lenker’s delicate condition, all in an effort to acown material and her work in Big falsetto delivers one of her most cept a fate that Lenker probably Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief Thief, provide an intimate look heartbreaking choruses ‘And if hadn’t hoped for in the writing of The lyrical mastermind behind into Lenker’s mind - chaotic and I could I guess, I’d love you ten this song. A perfect breakup song. some of the most beautiful songs frantic with moments of gorgeous times over. It’s just I’d choose of the last decade, Adrianne Len- quietness and vulnerability. a better time for us to meet’.

Joni Mitchell ker is the lead singer of American What is there to say about this indie-rock four-piece Big Thief. 1. ‘Real Love’ - Master- 3. ‘Mary’ - Capacity, Big Thief 2017. magnificent woman that has not The band has received huge crit- piece, Big Thief 2017.

Written in Lenker’s grandparents’ already been said. Joni Mitchical acclaim since the release of This is one of the best love songs house for a college friend, ‘Mary’ ell was one of the most prolific their first album in 2016, with I’ve ever heard. The contrast be- as a song feels like a warm hug. The songwriters of the last century, their latest album Two Hands tween the verse and chorus is delicate piano accompaniment, with numerous hit singles such

Editor: Fiona O’ Connell as ‘California’, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ and the formidable ‘A Case of You’. Joni produced some of the most innovative, vulnerable, and poetic pieces of music in the form of folk-influenced ballads as well as jazzier blues numbers. As her musical influences and style evolved, her thought-provoking lyrical ability never wavered as she continued to provide insight into love, loss, and politics. Her conversational tone of writing but also of singing collides perfectly with the poetic nature of her songs, filled with metaphors and deeper meanings hidden beneath catchy folk melodies.

1. A Case of You - River, 1971.

If you’re in love, be it in a relationship or the torment of unrequited love; you need to hear this song. It is difficult to recount any song that has captured the essence of being in love as perfectly or as painfully as this one. The storytelling ability as well as her feeling of willingness to give your- aptitude for mood creation are self entirely to another person, showcased flawlessly in this tune. unable to get enough of them in 0. Big Yellow Taxi - Laany capacity. This one is timeless. dies of the Canyon, 1970.

Catchy and brilliant. With a syn0. Both Sides Now copated triangle signalling the Clouds, 1969.

To write a song as emotionally opening of the refrain, this is one mature and well-rounded as this one at the age of twenty-one is unheard of. If anything, it shows the amount of emotional trauma Mitchell had experienced at such a tender age. From an unplanned pregnancy to her contraction of polio at the age of nine, Mitchell had seen more than the average youngster at her age, and this resulted in an emotional maturity incomparable to others. This song is as close as it gets to a perfect song in my eyes. ‘I’ve looked at life from both sides now, from up down but still somehow, it’s cloud’s illusions I recall, I really don’t know clouds at all’.

0. Coyote - Hejira, 1976.

Straying from folk and opening her musical horizons to include that of the jazz variety with the introduction of new instrumentation and rhythmic techniques.

This song more than anything, sounds like the retelling of a story as opposed to a singer attempting to showcase their range or ability for vocal gymnastics. Mitchell’s phenomenal

of Mitchell’s most cheerful-sounding commentaries on life that actually has quite a sombre meaning. Dubbed an environmental anthem, Mitchell expresses her frustration due to the industrialisation of the world; the destroying of natural beauty in Hawaii with the creation of an ugly parking lot.

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Album of the month - how to build an ocean - woodpigeon, 2019 Cork-based producer woodpigeon has self-released an album of ‘bedroom bleep bloops’ that are both dreamy and introspective in structure and style. An innovative collection of short but very thoughtfully imagined songs, woodpigeon combines the use of acoustic and electric guitar with quirky, electronic ‘bleep bloops’, if you will. The transitions from track to track are clean and subtle, making you feel as if the album was intended as more of a mixtape as opposed to an album format. In this way it is difficult to pick highlights from this 21-minute-long debut, as the album feels like an entity as opposed to a collection - as if the artist has combined individual elements to build an actual ocean of sound which is both compelling and all-encompassing. Highlights are the thumping ‘mime’, the mellower ‘glueingthingstogether’ which combines gorgeous electric guitar melodies, the quirkier ‘the noise of the world!’ and the softest track on the album, which features simple yet endearing vocals from the producer, ‘patate’.

An utterly brilliant debut and certainly one to be watched.

Gig of the Month - TPM with support from Post Punk Podge and the Technohippies It’s hard to explain why this type of gig is one you can only really understand if you are in attendance - a ‘you had to be there’ kind of scenario. Dundalk duo TPM bring their incredibly named ‘Heaven is a Harp Pint Tour’ to the newly reopened Kino on the 29th November. The Kino have been scheduling a wide array of whopper gigs recently and this is most certainly a party you do not want to miss out on. With ironic rap, lots of dancing, and most likely dressing up of some sort, this is a once-off type experience (unless you are a regular attendee of the infamous Messyng gigs in which case this is right up your street). Tickets are €12 and kick off is at 8pm. Don’t miss the party of the year in the heart of the city. Mup.

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Photos

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

Below: Feminist society’s Hocus Pocus Halloween screening Left: a busy night out for students (lots of graduates) at Cyprus!

by Eve Harrington, University Express Photographer

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

Photos

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Photography Society Event ‘Bubble Photography’

by Caoimhe Leahy University Express Photographer

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Photos

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

Feelin Jazzy! @ Jazz Weekend 2019

Editor-Chief Ciaran Dineen with friends Steven Williamson (UCC) and Tom Deasy (Mary I)

Byline Editor Cian McGrath, and Designer Fiona Cremins

Past and Present Netsoc Chairpeople; Hassan Baker, Evan Young and Cian McGrath

SEXPRESS

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

Editor: Caoimhe battault

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A Liberating Island

By Caoimhe Battault, Sexpress Editor

At midnight on the 21st of October 2019, same-sex marriage and abortion became legal in Northern Ireland. Although these monumental changes for human rights in NI came from unfavourable circumstances, they are being undoubtably celebrated. After a gruelling Repeal campaign and successful referendum in the Republic in 2017, many campaigners turned their attention to helping their comrades over the border.

This new law requires decriminalisation, free, and safe abortions for all in NI. This also calls an end to all investigations related to abortion, including that of a mother who acquired abortion pills for her teenage daughter.

Regarding same-sex marriage, the North have fought tirelessly for equality, with a bill passing parliament five times, each success being vetoed by the DUP. Now NI follows the Republic which was the first country in the world to democratically legalise same-sex marriage in 2015. With such major leaps and bounds in liberation, Ireland, while still having a long way to go, has created a much

safer and more enjoyable place to live for the modern people. Considering this historic change in legislation, the long and arduous road towards sexual liberation in Ireland should be honoured.

In 1885 homosexual acts between men became illegal in Ireland, however no law was set in place for relationships among women. In 1983, Loafers, a gay bar in Cork was opened, ten years beIn 1935, a law is put in place fore decriminalisation. This shut which criminalises the sale of down in 2015, just weeks before contraceptives in Ireland. Al- the success of the Same-Sex marthough this law doesn’t strictly riage Referendum. Bridie Bar, outlaw the use of contraceptives, now known as the George, opens it banned all advertisement and in Dublin in 1985. Although hoimportation. This later led to mosexuality is still illegal at this the famous Contraception Train stage, this bar becomes a safe of 1971, which travelled from space for the gay community Connolly, Dublin to Belfast. The in Dublin and beyond. This has women on board, members of remained perhaps the most fathe Irish Women’s Liberation mous LBGTQ+ club in Ireland.

Movement, hoped to bring the On 22nd of May 2015, the Recontraceptive pill to the Republic, public votes for the legalisation however they needed prescrip- of same sex marriage with antions, so returned with condoms other outstanding win of 62%. instead (although the women had In June 1986, a proposal to planned to avoid “phallic imag- amend the law restricting divorce ery.”) In 1985, the sale of con- is rejected by 63% with no condoms and spermicides was legal- stituency outside of Dublin voting ised without prescription. Finally, yes. In November of 1995 the 15th in 2017, the Irish public vote to amendment removes the constilegalise abortion, with a landslide tutional prohibition on divorce by victory of 66.4%. This was large- a very tight public vote (50.28% ly aided by the tireless efforts of to 49.72%.) This was a huge the grass roots Repeal movement. blow for the Catholic Church,

which has always played a significant role in the perpetration of sexual and personal oppression in Irish history. However, the Church later made it known that it was not a sin to vote yes.

In May 2019, the Irish public vote to reduce the required separation time from four years to just two.

It is clear Ireland has steadily become more and more progressive throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, but the struggle is far from over. Rights for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly transgender and non-binary people, are undoubtedly still under attack. Women and minorities still struggle in their daily life here in Ireland and it is important to continue the fight for equality and a better standard of living.

Each of these important changes which Ireland has seen have come directly from the determination and progress of the people. It is vital to remember the importance of the role you play in the sexual liberation and struggle for equality of your peers.

Gaming

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Activision-Blizzard Spineless in the Face of Chinese Pressure Writes Jack Coleman, Gaming Editor

Protests in Hong Kong have been ongoing for over 20 weeks as citizens seek to pressure their government into meeting their demands. The unrest was originally in response to a bill proposed by the Hong Kong government which would allow local authorities to detain and extradite fugitives to territories where Hong Kong does not have extradition treaties in place. These territories include Taiwan and mainland China. People were justifiably concerned that this bill would extend Chinese jurisdiction into Hong Kong, infringing upon the autonomy of the region.

In the face of intense protest, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam declared the extradition bill “dead” on July 9 but refused to withdraw the bill until September 4 after several more months of unrest. Despite making this concession, Carrie Lam has refused to grant the other key demands of the protestors which include her resignation, the release of arrested protestors, an independent inquiry into police brutality and the

introduction of universal suffrage for election of the Chief Execu- This brings us to Activision-Bliztive and Legislative Council. As zard who have recently become a a result, the protests continue. public enemy in the gaming community for similar reasons. On OcThe Beijing Government obvi- tober 5, professional Hong Kong ously view the protests as nega- “Hearthstone” player Wai Chung tive and have used state media “Blitzchung” Ng voiced his supto depict the unrest as a violent port for the Hong Kong protests separatist riot. As with matters during an interview following his involving Tibet, the Chinese victory at Grandmasters 2019.

Community Party has begun us- Blitzchung donned a gas mask to ing its economic strength to at- show solidarity with his countrytempt to muscle foreign corpo- men and emphasised the imporrations into following its agenda. tance of the ongoing protests in Hong Kong. Three days later, AcThe National Basketball Associ- tivision-Blizzard released a ruling ation (NBA) has been embroiled that stated that Blitzchung broke in controversy lately due to their a tournament rule during his inresponse to a Tweet made by the terview and as a result, he will Houston Rockets general manag- be banned from official competier Daryl Morey. In his post, Mo- tion for one year and his tournarey expressed his support for the ment winnings ($10,000) will be movement in Hong Kong. This rescinded. The two casters who caused immediate outrage in Chi- conducted the interview were na, prompting the NBA to issue also suspended indefinitely from an apology to Chinese fans. Many participating in Blizzard events. viewed this apology as the NBA being acquiescent to the Chi- The backlash from the gaming nese government and their agen- and esports communities was da. For now, the NBA has been immediate and ferocious. Parpulled from broadcast in China. ticular attention was paid to the

5% stake in Activision-Blizzard owned by Chinese video game giants Tencent. The prevailing opinion was that Activision-Blizzard took these steps in order to appease their Chinese part-owners and the Chinese consumer base. Blizzard president J. Allen Brack released a statement where he claimed the specifics of Blitzchung’s interview was not a factor in their decision, they are just not comfortable broadcasting anything of a political nature on their official streams. He did admit that they were too harsh in their sanctioning of Blitzchung and as a result, they decided to grant him his winnings and have reduced his ban from one year to six months. The two casters also had their indefinite suspensions reduced to six months.

Matters worsened for Blizzard a few days later. During the Fall 2019 Hearthstone Collegiate Championship, three college students from American University who were competing in the event, held up a sign that read “Free

Editor: Jack coleman Hong Kong, Boycott Blizz”. The owned by the aforementioned camera quickly cut away from the Tencent added fuel to the fire. sign and the casters continued to Esports publications such as the commentate without acknowl- Dot Esports released articles edging it. The three college stu- claiming Riot were intentiondents received six-month bans ally censuring the team’s name from all official Hearthstone com- as a political statement. There petitions. One of the students, were also suspicions that interCasey Chambers, published the views with Hong Kong Attitude letter he received from Blizzard players were pre-recorded and informing him of his ban. He said he was happy to be banned.

As a result of these suspensions, there is now a growing movement among players who are encouraging everyone to boycott Activision-Blizzard games. Long-time players have been publicly requesting Blizzard to delete their accounts as they’ll “never play another one of their games”. For some, this is a big deal as they have invested over a decade of their lives playing Blizzard games such as “World of Warcraft”. By boycotting Blizzard, these consumers hope to pressure them into changing their stance.

Several members of the American Congress also became involved in the situation when they wrote a bipartisan letter to Activision-Blizzard CEO Robert Kotick condemning the company’s decision to suspend Blitzchung. The letter called for the company to “look beyond their bottom-line” and “promote American values like freedom of speech and thought” rather than “give in to Beijing’s demands”. Among the letter’s signees were New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

Blizzard’s actions have had a knock-on effect on the rest of the industry as “League of Legends” developer Riot Games has now been facing pressure from its community. The biggest tournament on the League of Legends calendar, the 2019 World Championships is ongoing.

One of the competing teams is called Hong Kong Attitude, and as the name suggests they come from Hong Kong. After a few days of broadcast, viewers began to suspect that the casters were intentionally shortening the team’s name to “HKA” to avoid saying Hong Kong.

The fact that Riot Games is 100%

reviewed before being aired on the main English broadcast as they appeared much sooner on the Spanish language stream.

Riot was quick to respond to these accusations. First, they apologised for not briefing their casters on the political sensitivi-

ty of the situation in Hong Kong.

They went on to explain that it’s their policy for their casters to say the full names of competing teams and as a result, they defaulted to saying “HKA” rather than “Hong Kong Attitude” as the latter can be a mouthful. After Riot’s statement, the tournament’s casters began exclusively

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those who have the filter enabled and also to stop people from having offensive usernames. People noted that the word “Uyghur” was filtered. The Uyghur Muslims are an ethnic group who live in Xinjiang, an area of China. They are currently being oppressed by the Beijing government. Uyghurs are being placed in education camps with the objective of getting them to renounce Islam and profess their loyalty to the Communist Party. Riot explained that their filter system is semi-automatic and that the censoring of the word Uyghur was a mistake and is now fixed.

Riot has been more tactful in its approach to the situation, though they haven’t yet been placed in a situation as severe as Activision-Blizzard. The stance “any politics is fine as long as it isn’t on stream” is a fair one to have but Blizzard’s key mistake was how harsh their punishment was. Blitzchung should have just received a slap on the wrist but instead, he was banned, had his money taken away and two casters were fired just for facilitating his statement. It’s very difficult to see such a serious punishment as anything but a pro-China political statement.

If a player were to voice their support for LGBT+ rights or the American Democratic party after winning a tournament, it seems very unlikely they would have received the same punishment.

Congress’ letter to Activision-Blizzard is evidence that even the government is concerned about the attempted suppression of free speech by Beijing. Consumers are clearly also on edge based on the inflated accusations against Riot Games who were most likely just the victim of a series of misunderstandings. This is a positive thing for the most part, however.

Increased awareness of China’s repeated attempts to suppress free speech in the gaming indususing the name “Hong Kong Atti- try and beyond will go a long way tude” when referring to the team. to stopping it from happening.

Riot was pulled into another minor controversy recently regarding their League of Legends ingame word filter list. The list is used for filtering swear words for

Companies like Activision-Blizzard need to decide if profit or human decency is more important to them.

Fashion

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Ruth Walsh Interview Writes Katie Burke, Fashion Editor

New York is a vast landscape of opportunity for dreamers but can feel like a different world, especially compared to the places we call home in Ireland. One person who was brave enough to make the move from Cork to New York is Ruth Walsh, who works in PR and social media, all while running her own blog, RuthyRuby. com. “Essentially working in PR means you are the middle-man between a brand and its audience/ customer so in some form you are crafting a narrative to that audience every day…It’s a client focused role and there is a huge focus on communication and writing”. For anyone with an interest in pursuing a career in this industry, Ruth’s advice is “you need to be sharp and a social media addict. Be curious and confident in your thoughts and start a private blog or journal to get all your ideas out of your head”.

However, finding her niche in the PR industry wasn’t plain sailing.

Initially starting out as a fashion design student at St. Johns, Ruth soon discovered that that area of creativity wasn’t for her and dropped out. “I got a really bad result in my leaving cert which, if I think about, was the best thing that could have happened… There was a lot of panic and depression throughout those years of scrambling and thinking about what to do. I didn’t take the easy option, which is very my style. I always have to learn the hard way”. Ruth’s wise words remind us we can all do ‘the done thing’ but if we are not fulfilled, then what is the point?

Eventually Ruth found her way to the world of PR and journalism “I did some research and found a Journalism degree course in Griffith College Cork, so I did that and then went on to study a masters in PR”. After her time at college it was time to delve into the industry and Ruth found her feet in her

are bringing me no stimulation”.

And what advice would she give anyone contemplating a move to New York? For Ruth, it’s to just go for it. “If you think about it for too long you won’t go. The second thing I’d say it save your bobs and try get a loan from your bank/ credit union. You need a good buffer of cash for when you move over. Make sure you reach out to people you know in the city you’re moving to. Everyone wants to help you out. It’s a great feeling”. Considering the size difference between New York and Ireland, the idea of delving into such a large pool of professionals can seem terrifying. When asked if there was a sizeable difference between the process of getting a PR job in New York and Ireland Ruth said, “It’s the same process over here but it’s about one million more times aggressive. You need a thick skin and you need to leave your expectations of getting a job easy at the door. I can’t even tell you how many phone interviews and meet-ups I did…

Just trust that you will find something and enjoy the process”.

native Cork. “After my masters I worked as a project manager for a creative agency in Cork called Chapter. Deirdre, the founder, really believed in me and took me under her wing and showed me the ropes”. From there on, Ruth was offered a PR internship in Dublin with L’Oréal for a year long contract. It was when that internship was nearing its close that New York beckoned. Talking about the decision Ruth said, “I needed something more than what Ireland was offering me at the time.

I was at the end of a work contract and there was a lot of change going on in my life. I decided to just bite the bullet and avail of

the J-1 Graduate Visa while I had the opportunity. It’s something I think every graduate should consider. Such a great opportunity to dip your toes in our field and get a feel for how the industry works in different countries”.

Ruth continued her risk-taking and sense of adventure in New York when it came to finding jobs in PR. “In New York I got a PR role with a boutique firm in Manhattan that ultimately didn’t work out. I thought the job was going to be much more creative and so I left. Another bold move but I really am not a good person for staying in situations that

In New York, Ruth worked for fellow Irish influencer Tara Marzuki, better known as TarMarz, as her creative assistant. But apart from her work life, has New York, known for its fashionable residents, influenced her personal style? “New York has made me fall in love with Doc Martens and slip dresses. It has made me realise that sexy is everywhere and you can be sexy and attractive is so many ways. I have really ran with my 90’s vibe since moving…I feel really comfortable in that grunge/chic look”. For Ruth, she has always followed her own sense of style and has never allowed her surroundings in the fashion or beauty industry to change who she is too much. “I have always bopped to my own beat. Even from a baby my mum said I was just doing my own thing and that

Editor: Katie Burke carried through school where I would rebel with my uniform etc…I really work off my own bubble and imagination and so working in the industry means a lot of trend following. It’s easy to follow trends and recreate but for my personal take on fashion and beauty, I just take inspiration from anything and everything”.

Some people say the anonymity of New York makes them feel more capable of taking greater style risks as there is less risk of judgement or someone you know seeing you, and this is something Ruth can attest to – “New York has ignited a confidence in me to just go for it. It’s so diverse over here that you really can just be what you want and wear what you want. It’s incredible. I’ve never felt a vibe like it”. Ruth’s social media is full of photos of her stunning makeup looks, with her signature look being a cat-eye liner flick, lots of mascara, fresh dewy skin, and pouty pink lips. Similar to fashion, inspiration is everywhere for Ruth and this does not necessarily mean simply following whatever the current beauty trends are.

“My biggest beauty influences are

most of the people I follow on Instagram. I take a lot of inspiration from my friends and how they style themselves. I’m fascinated by the process of making yourself look good. It’s so empowering”.

Now Ruth is taking another risk and has left New York to start life elsewhere but plans to stay working in PR – “I still want to stay in PR but something more social media focused. The reason I wanted to study and work in PR was because I wanted to work on big marketing campaigns so I’m going to try refine all that down and make something of the dream”.

So, if you’ve ever fantasised about upping sticks to New York, then Ruth’s blog and social media are for you. While showing you the day to day life in the dream location, Ruth also gives an insight into the realities - the highs, the lows, and the worries, while remaining her down to earth self. From the lessons we can learn from her journey to finding her dream career, embracing confidence in her own style, her career aspirations and simply being brave – there is no doubt that Ruth is a Cork native who is going places.

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Arts & Literature

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Inaugural Podcast Festival Comes to Cork Writes Fiona Keeley, Arts & Literature Editor

Art constitutes many forms of expression and in this digital age new art forms are continuing to emerge in society. The world is now occupied by digital immigrants and digital natives and the podcast phenomenon is something that combines the interests of the two generations by using the experience of listening to a show on the radio with the on-demand characteristic that has filtered into many parts of social life. Cork City Council, in cooperation with Acast recognised this and marked a weekend in Cork’s festival journal to celebrate the inaugural Cork Podcast Festival.

Friday 11th October marked the start of this festival and looking at the line up over the weekend this form of broadcast media has had a huge effect on society. Podcasts were scheduled throughout the weekend in the Kino, Cork Opera House, Crawford Art Gallery and many other venues, turning Cork City into a haven for those who want to follow the next chapter in a podcast’s story or take their first step into the world of podcasting.

‘West Cork’ was the headline podcast at the Opera House on Saturday 12 th October. In its fourteen episodes it outlines the brutal murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in Schull just before Christmas 1996 and the mysterious ramifications that followed it.

In the latest episode, hosts Jennifer Forde and Sam Bungey outlined Ian Bailey’s trial in absentia in Paris earlier this year. They told a story that detailed a trial where Madame du Plantier was placed at the front and centre of proceedings, the predestination of the outcome evident to many people in the courtroom that day.

Recordings of those interviewed for this podcast were interspersed throughout the performance as a cellist played in the background adding an eerie atmosphere to the experience. University Express asked Jennifer Forde why she thought Cork Podcast Festival was so important, “The event is incredible, and it has a really diverse program. Storytelling

brings people together, whether it’s a case or something I think it does bring people together and sparks conversation. It’s nice to see so many people here tonight and now going to pubs and restaurants and continue to talk about it.” This informative podcast gave viewers a balanced perspective on a case the has grown to be infamous within Irish society.

Businesses around Cork were also embracing Cork Podcast Festival hosting events that mirrored the themes of the weekend. Republic of Work played host to a workshop ‘Podcasting Made Simple’ where participants were introduced to the basics of creating a podcast. Things like content creation, voice training and breathing become key values in this form of art expression. Guest speakers from Toastmasters, radio stations and podcasts made appearances at this event to share their knowledge on how to succeed in this new marketplace where everyone can have a voice. Emphasising the importance of voice control and content creation in succeeding in this market, the workshop gave participants a glimpse into the hands-on world of making podcasts in the digital age.

Blindboy returned to the Opera House on Sunday 13 th October accompanied by guest Collie Ennis, a science research associate from Trinity College who had featured in his own podcast, The Critter Shed, earlier in the day in the Crawford Art Gallery. Blindboy discussed the state of play in climate change in Ireland today and the importance of biodiversity within our changing atmosphere. They talked about practical ways to help curb climate change by making small changes to our environment. Practicalities that can start from your own garden like developing new ecosystems by digging a pond or planting a new network of shrubbery.

It’s a subject that has become so topical in recent years on a global scale and Blindboy was not the only podcast discussing the im-

portance of it. The Critter Shed featured both Collie Ennis and Collette Kinsella during which they discussed the different creatures within the pockets of biodiversity both under and over our soil which together make up the microscopic fauna in our environment. It offered a chance to see creatures that you might have only seen on the pages of your biology books in school in the flesh while learning about how they contribute to our environment.

Motherfoclóir also made an appearance during the festival in An Spailpín Fánach and was hosted

by Darach Ó Séaghdha, Gearóidín McEvoy, Eimear Tochmarc and Cllr. Peter Kavanagh. The evening started with a discussion about the Innti poetry collective which was an Irish language poetry movement founded in Cork in 1970.

Innti was established by Michael Davitt, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Gabriel Rosenstock, Louis de Paor and Liam Ó Muirthile while they were students at University College Cork at a time of turbulence for the Irish language. The Gaeltacht Civil Rights Movement had emerged in the late 1960s to highlight the decline in Irish within society and the movement campaigned for an increase in access to services, broadcasting and an elected assembly that would help to strengthen the position of Gaeltacht communities across

the country. The Innti poetry collective sought to draw modern themes into Irish poetry taking inspiration from areas outside of traditional Gaelic themes. Reaching into the frivolity of counterculture that had started to take flight in America was one of the many ways these poets found inspiration for their pieces. Cork City’s new bridge, the Mary Elmes bridge was also discussed during Motherfoclóir. It pays tribute to Cork woman Mary Elmes who has taken her place in World War II history as ‘the Irish Oskar Schindler’. Installed in May of this year, the bridge was formally opened

by Mary Elmes’ son in September.

The bridge commemorates her place in history in her hometown and opens the door to remembering other Irish figures who helped in the World War II effort.

This was a weekend in Cork that was choreographed to inspire, educate and entertain people as they moved from venue to venue and soaked up the culture of the city along the way. Podcast creators came to the city to share their ideas and research topics through the medium of podcasting as the public followed their stories.

Methods of artistic expression are always evolving, and the phenomenon of podcasting is another step on humanity’s journey of sharing knowledge with others from all four corners of the globe.

Editor: Fiona Keeley

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The Parlour Writes Ella Curtin

Dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, Renee Buckley Perched on the arm of the chaiselongue, the parlour of my grandmother’s house spreads out before me like a rolling wave, so expansive and never-ending, despite the four walls which confine it. The lace curtains flutter and dance in the faint breeze, just like Wordsworth’s daffodils, and for a moment, the air comes alive with faint snatches of forgotten poetry, lovingly recited here long ago.

The sweet summer breath is heavy with the cat-like purring of a honey bee, the distant strains of melancholy birdsong. Black and white photographs hung on the

walls make a disorderly chessboard around me, beams of dazzling sunlight fading their secrets into the oblivion which is the past.

Two stately mahogany presses are sentinels on either side of the doorway, guarding their precious cargo against unsavoury intruders. This can only mean one thing- the unruly grandchildren, an umbrella which once covered me, who could never be trusted to be left to their own devices in the dignified elegance of the parlour.

Ghosts of times past wander the room, reminiscing on former glories, independent of the lowly teenager observing. In my mind’s eye I see my my granduncle’s ashen face, his trembling

fingers as he struggled with the latch on the door, unprepared for the sight of his wife’s body tossed like a ragdoll in the ditch outside. The room suddenly feels claustrophobic, and the sour taste of heartbreak fills my mouth. I stand, and the Persian carpet melts softly under my feet, the imprint of my shoe like a distant memory, a memory just beyond your grasp, fading to nothing as if it never existed. China saucers above my head glisten like the waning of a forgotten moon, held captive inside their glass-walled prison. The sweet scent of my grandmother’s perfume extends in tendrils around me; invisible, but everywhere at the same time, redolent of frantic dashes to re-

store the parlour to its former grandeur for an important visitor.

The marble fireplace offers the warmth of a blazing fire during winter-time, carrying the ghostly echoes of song, a faint snatch of applause, a fleeting glimpse of a long-dead singer in the leaping flames. The phantoms of the past which bubble to the surface contradict the peace and tranquillity of the parlour, and I marvel at its enchanting possibilities and secrets, its alluring beauty, its hidden meanings. It is not just a room, it is another world: you cannot claim to have witnessed something magical until you have sat with my grandmother for a while in the parlour.

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Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

Andy Murray’s Comeback Continues As He Picks Up First Title Since 2017 Writes Sam Curtin, Deputy Sports Editor

Andy Murray appears to be discovering some of his previous form as he continued his remarkable comeback with a first ATP title win since 2017.

Murray defeated Stan Wawrinka 3-6 6-4 6-4 at the European Open in Antwerp. It is quite a significant achievement considering it was only his seventh tournament back since having hip resurfacing surgery in Australia.

Many people thought that the Scot would never come back after his emotional press conference at the Australian Open in January admitting that it was possible that his career would end at Wimbledon.

This was after undergoing his first hip surgery but was ad-

vised by American doubles legend Bob Bryan to try the resurfacing surgery as he said that it saved his career. The surgery involved the implantation of a metal cap into the ruptured joint and Bryan who is now 41 and was in a similar situation to Murray, said that it saved his career.

The question now is, how far can he go? Murray is currently ranked 243 in the world but will see a giant leap forward as a result of the 250 ranking points earned last week. Fortunately for Murray, the tennis Gods generally look favourably on those who have previously attempted comebacks in the past.

Andre Agassi famously came back to win the 1999 French Open after personal issues saw him slump to 141 in the world a year earlier.

Arguably Murray’s greatest rival Novak Djokovic experienced serious elbow and shoulder problems at the same time of Murray’s demise and is now back to no.1 in the world. Roger Federer won the Australian Open in 2017 at the age of 36 after numerous injury problems six months previously.

Rafael Nadal has somehow been able to compete at the highest level for the past 15 years despite having more injury problems than the aforementioned trio.

However, the most important aspect of all for Murray (32) is that all of these players came back and won majors well into their 30s. In fact, one could argue that tennis has become an ‘old man’s game’ with 8 of the men in the top 20 are in their 30s and the last 10

grand slam winners were over the age of 30 including Murray’s opponent Wawrinka who only won his first of three grand slams at the 2016 Australian Open at 29. Wawrinka like Murray, has also had his own injury problems in the last couple of years.

It’s difficult to say if Murray can get back to his brilliant best. This was only an ATP 250 event, the fourth highest tournament on the main tour behind the 500s, 1000s (or Masters series) and of course the Grand Slams. Murray is on the right track however and if you were to write him off again as he was in January, then you would be very much mistaken.

Wimbledon 2020, which seemed like a write off before, could now be a date with destiny.

Sports

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

GAA County Finals Review Writes Jack Maguire, Sports Editor

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A Week In Review: UCC Sports Roundup Writes Sam Curtin, Deputy Sports Editor Gaelic Football The UCC senior ladies football team were unlucky to lose out 4-13 to 0-05 to a strong UCD side containing a number of Dublin players who won this year’s AllIreland in the Senior LGF League.

In the Ladies intermediate league UCC lost out to IT Tralee 1-08 to 3-10.

Hockey The senior men’s side were unfortunate to lose to Harlequins 3-1 however James Allen scored his first goal for the side.

The men’s C team were victorious over Ashton C 2-1.

Last weekend saw the climax of the Senior Hurling and Football County Championships around Ireland and London. Beginning in London, Tir Chonaill Gaels won their second consecutive football championship with a single point victory over Fulham Irish courtesy of a Liam Gavaghan injury time free. In Monaghan, Scotstown’s victorious reign came to an end when Clontibret stalled their run of five consecutive titles with a 1-14 to 0-11 victory, with Conor McManus playing a key role in Clontibrets stellar showing in Clones.

Reigning All-Ireland Champions, Corofin were pushed to the limit in the Galway final where they needed two late Gary Sice free kicks to bring their contest with Tuam Stars to a replay.

Corofin who beat Dr Crokes in the All-Ireland Final earlier this year will no doubt be relieved to have another opportunity to recreate their heroics of last year.

Magherafelt ended their 41 year wait for a Derry title where they narrowly defeated Glen by a point in Celtic Park. Glen felt hard done by as Ciaran McFaul kicked a point which flew between the posts but the referee had blown his whistle as he was kicking it and the point was not given.

No team had won three consecutive Senior hurling Championship in Cork since 1982, but Imokilly put that record to bed last Sunday with a 4 point victory over the ever forceful Glen Rovers. Imokilly ran out 2-17 to 1-16 winners against a Glen Rovers team boasting Inter-County All-star Patrick Horgan in their full forward line.

Glen Rovers were county champions back in 2015 and 2016 and it was Imokilly who ended that run for 3 in a row so it was fitting that The Glen were handed the challenge of denying the East Cork side an historic achievement. Declan Dalton has had an outstanding season in the Championship so far, and he picked up where he left off scoring a goal in the 13th minute which gave Imokilly a 1-4

to 1-2 lead. It was a vital response to Donal Cronin’s goal only minutes earlier. Rovers stayed in the game despite Imokilly scores, but in the 34th minute, a misplaced puck out was picked up by Paudie O’Sullivan who laid it off to Cork star, Seámus Harnedy who netted again for the East Cork team.

The Glen were not giving in easy though and Patrick Horgan hit back with several points in the second half. The pressure intensified in the closing stages of the match with The Glen pushing for an equaliser. Robert Downey almost drew the sides level in the dying minutes but his effort went wide.

Pat Horgan was denied a goal at the very end and Imokilly held on to the lead they earnt early in the first half. It was an unbelievable achievement for the club to be victorious in three consecutive years. Another positive for Cork hurling fans is to see so many of the Senior Hurling team performing at a top club level and competing in these big finals. There is no doubt that the coming years Holds success for the Leesiders.

Soccer The senior men’s side were in flying form in picking up their first win of the season, overcoming TUD Blanchardstown 5-1 at home in the CUFL Third level league.

In Division 2, UCC were also victorious defeating IT Tralee 5-0.

In Division 3, UCC were narrowly defeated by LIT B 1-0.

Rugby The UCC senior men’s team have possibly been the story of the year so far as they top the Energia All-Ireland Division 1A after 3 rounds.

They defeated Young Munster away from home 20-14 to stay top. They take on last year’s runners up Clontarf next on November 2nd at the Mardyke at 2.30.

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Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

The Beauty of Our League

The bright lights, big stadiums and high profile players of the Premier League is a big attraction for many soccer fans.

The big clubs with lots of money takes the attention of most soccer fans in this country.

Irish people often overlook the League of Ireland which is disappointing to see given the dedication and heart that goes into the local clubs up and down the country. Being an avid Cork City fan, I now know the feeling of being the best around, and unfortunately what it fells like to be near the bottom. It’s all part of following sport, there is good days and bad days no matter what discipline you follow. The fans are vital to the Irish clubs through good times and bad. This season has been a huge disappointment for City.

The season started on the wrong

foot going down to Dundalk in The Presidents Cup Final and then defeat away to St Pats and at home to Waterford. After this the season never took off, and as the season progressed there was a visible impact on the crowds at Turners Cross. The first home game of the season saw 4,382 fans witness City’s heart-breaking 2-0 loss to Munster rivals Waterford, and attendances at The Cross this season went as low as 1,612 at home to Finn Harps in April and 1,962 against Waterford in September which was very poor given the derby status of the game.

Looking back on the games this season, perhaps the best home atmosphere was in the last home game where City beat Dundalk 1-0. The Shed End never stopped singing from start to finish and the players worked off it. It was a fully deserved win and the play-

Writes Jack Maguire, Sports Editor

ers enjoyed celebrations with the fans after the game. There is so much to love about the League of Ireland. It is a community effort and the club is like a family.

Fan owned clubs Such as Cork City and Bohemians have a huge community spirit. The comradery with your fellow fans is what its all about. You make so many new friends with people who share the same love of the club that you do. It is so much more engaging to follow your local club where you can get involved and attend games on a regular basis. I’m sure there are lots of Irish soccer fans who follow Premier League clubs but have never attended a game. From a personal point of view, I find it very difficult to support a club where I could never attend games, or I could never have my voice heard in the club.

The sense of family is huge in the local clubs. You go to the games and you see the same faces every week in the stands and you get to know the players. Although this season is now finished, I would encourage everyone with an interest in soccer, to go along to your local club.

After I attended my first City game, I was gutted to miss any after that. It was something I immediately fell in love with. It is easy for people who have never attended a game to criticise the League of Ireland, but it is something you must experience. You can’t beat cheering on your local team, and nothing beats the sense of pride and satisfaction in watching your own town or city play.

Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th Oct 2019 | University Express

Sports

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Cork City End Forgetful Season On A High Cork City 1 Dundalk 0 Writes Jack Maguire, Sports Editor To say Cork City’s season was a disappointment is quite an understatement. Among the rubble of an under par season, City managed to defeat reigning SSE Airtricity League Champions, Dundalk 1-0 at Turners Cross which earned Neale Fenn his second victory as Manager. An attendance of 2,354 witnessed the Rebel Army defeat The Lilywhites for the first time this season.

The atmosphere was electric from before the teams even emerged from the tunnel and the fans in ‘The Shed’ maintained the volume and support well beyond the final whistle.

It was the first time since May that City won back-to-back league games. The starting eleven saw Shane Griffin and Joel Coustrain dropped in favour of Ronan Hurley and Garry Buckley, who regained his spot in centre midfield. Tadhg Ryan has shown over the past few weeks that he belongs between the posts and he could well be the future of Cork goalkeeping.

Despite City getting the play underway, it was Dundalk who broke first when Dan Casey gave up possession to Daniel Kelly on the edge of the box who sent a low cross in towards Patrick Hoban who looked certain to put the Louth side in front, but a last ditch tackle by Conor McCarthy meant the scores remained even.

There were shouts from Hoban and the rest of the Dundalk squad for a penalty but these were quickly waved away by referee, Robert Hennessy.

It was just before the break when Beineón O’Brien-Whit-

marsh split the Dundalk defence with a fantastic weighted pass which was picked up by Daire O’Connor who calmly slipped the ball past Aaron McCarey to put the Leesiders in front going into half time. The Cross went wild as the ‘Starman’ O’Connor netted his fifth goal of the season. City’s cool passing and defensive organisation saw them take the lead into the second half.

Dundalk once again came out firing in the second half pressuring Tadhg Ryan from the off. Efforts from Jamie McGrath and Robbie Benson tested Ryan who’s lightening reflexes were enough to deny Dundalk an equaliser.

The last five minutes saw the biggest threat to Tadhg Ryan’s clean sheet when a power header from Dane Massey was parried over by the former Huddersfield shot stopper. City hearts were almost broken by Georgie Kelly at the death when the ball looked to be over the line, but Ryan managed to claw the ball from danger and City held out for the three points.

In the post-match press conference, Neale Fenn was delighted with his teams showing. “I felt we pressed them well at times and when we did get the ball we didn’t panic, we kept the ball well and played under pressure which is what we want”. Despite the solid performance, there were a few things Fenn felt the squad could improve on, “as we went further up the pitch we were a bit loose sometimes and if we had a little bit more belief in ourselves going forward we could have had a couple more chances in the first half”.

The team can do it they just need consistency. Fenn was full of praise for Tadhg Ryan who put

in an incredible shift between the posts “Tadhg’s pulling off saves galore, brilliant for him, he’s stepped up since the Bohs game when he could have let his head drop and gone into his shell a little bit, he was excellent today”. Ryan also spoke to the media after the game. He was delighted with his performance and the efforts of his teammates. “Very happy, clean sheet, busy in the second half but collectively the most pleasing thing as well”. “Everybody absolutely worked their socks off tonight”. The loss to Bohemians two weeks ago was a set back to Tadhg who had an unfortunate mistake, but he remained positive and came back even stronger.

“Everyone makes mistakes, it’s how you react”. Ryan was able to

look back on the late chance for Dundalk and share a joke about it “The ball came in and I went one way and the ball went the other way, I had to dive backwards and grab it, it stayed on the line thankfully it didn’t go over the line this time, The lads were asking me did it go over the line, I was like come on lads, give me this one” It was an extremely positive performance by all eleven men on the pitch and it was fantastic to see City return to some of their old form where they looked confident and relaxed on the ball. Although this season is coming to an end, there is plenty for Fenn to work from and the impressive showing against the Lilywhites has certainly got the fans excited to see more.

University

Volume 24 | Issue 4 | Wednesday 30th October 2019

Sports

UCCExpress.ie

Alberto Salazar: A Paradigm Shift Towards Tougher Regulation or Just Another Impasse For Clean Competition? egon project in 2017 called the process a witch hunt, although he decided to take a slightly different approach. Farah instead brought the focus onto himself rather than Salazar and instead referenced the fact that other black athletes such as footballer Raheem Sterling and Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton have been scrutinised unfairly by the British press because of their success.

The protestations of Farah in this instance are both dangerous and just plain wrong. It was used a clear deflective technique, as was Radcliffe’s in sidestepping yet another high-profile embarrassment for a sport that is quickly losing

Writes Philip Wade, Staff Writer The world of Athletics has been plunged into yet another doping controversy with the news that high-profile trainer Alberto Salazar has been banned for four years for various doping violations. Salazar was the coach of many Olympic and World champions, most notably double Olympic Gold winner at London 2012, Mo Farah. As a result of his ban, Nike moved swiftly to close their Nike Oregon Project which was a centre of excellence for Nike sponsored athletes primarily in the competition of long-distance running and the centre that Salazar has run since 2001.

Salazar has been on the radar of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for some time and indeed had refuted allegations of doping violations in 2017. After a four-year investigation the once hailed Cuban born trainer has now been found guilty of “orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping”. The largescale systematic doping project

has now been laid bare for the world to see. The charges against Salazar include trafficking testosterone, and administering a prohibited L-carnitine IV infusion.

It was found in the report that he even used his son for testing.

While Salazar and Nike have moved to refute the allegations and stated their intention to appeal, the reaction of top-level athletes to the latest turmoil to embroil the world of athletics has, at best, been mixed. While some athletes, both previous Nike Oregon athletes including whistle blowers Kara Goucher and Steve Magness, and those with no connection to Salazar have moved to welcome the latest USADA decision, the reaction of some past and present high profile athletes in their unwillingness to tackle this serious issue in athletics has been deeply worrying. Three time London marathon winner Paula Radcliffe, instead of saying whether she agreed with the decision, focussed instead on the shortcomings of USADA and instead saw the decision as a face saving attempt by the governing body in the wake of a procedur-

“The reaction of some past and present high profile athletes in their unwillingness to tackle this serious issue in athletics has been deeply worrying...” al error which allowed newly crowned 100m world champion Christian Coleman to compete in the Doha 2019 World Championships having missed three doping tests in the previous 12 months which would ordinarily have resulted in a ban. This is the same Radcliffe of course who is a Nike ambassador and who is married to the new coach of the aforementioned Farah. Farah meanwhile has distanced himself from the practices of Salazar, maintaining his stance that he has always been a clean athlete and never having tested positive. This is notwithstanding the fact he was coached

by Salazar from 2011 until 2017 during the period in which the alleged offences occurred. Farah, in similar language to former Nike Athlete Steve Cram when refuting the allegations made against Salazar and the Nike Or-

its appeal with the wider public.

While some will point to the logistical constraints in getting to Doha, the largely empty stadium and dwindling TV figures only point to the fact that the paying public have had enough with athletics and they don’t believe what they see anymore to be real. It is high time that Lord Sebastien Coe and the IAAF stopped pointing the fingers at the accusers and helped to rid the sport of the convicted. But in the 2 weeks that have passed since the Salazar’s ban and the closing down of the Nike Oregon Project, we have seen the first ever sub 2 hour men’s marathon as well as the women’s world marathon record being broken by athletes wearing specially designed shoes by, you guessed it, Nike, and so the world goes round.