UCC Express Issue 6

Tuesday, November 11th 2014 | uccexpress.ie | Volume 18 | Issue 6

Students from the SVP Society pictured with Michael Murphy during last week's Homeless Week.

Image by: Emmet Curtin.

College grants additional €10k to Hardship Fund Barry Aldworth | News Editor

As part of its efforts to offer assistance to students going through financial difficulties, the UCC Students’ Union has secured an additional €10,000 from the university for the Student Hardship Fund.

The Student Hardship Fund is a collaborative venture between UCCSU and the university and this year has seen an increased contribution towards the fund from UCC. This deal was initially negotiated by previous Welfare Officer, David Berry, and was finalised during the summer

by Berry’s successor, Cian Power.

For Power the fund offers additional assistance

to students who, without it, would be forced to consider dropping out of college, stating; “The Student Hardship Fund is a service which is administered by the Welfare Officer and is used annually to assist students who may, unfortunately, be victims of extreme financial difficulties during their time in college.

“The fund is a 100% confidential service and has had significant success in providing a means for struggling students to remain in college and to help them financially.”

Power believes that the additional funding came at the ideal time as students face the challenge of adapting to the introduction of semsterisation.

“The unfortunate reason this fund exists is the growing financial difficulties that many students find themselves facing,” continued Power. “The Students’ Union, the University Budgetary Advisor and many other departments of the university have come together to ensure that student wellbeing is the main focus of this project and will continue to be.

“One of the areas that this additional funding is targeted at is ensuring that no students are facing increased financial strain as a result of the semesterisation project.”

This year a housing shortage across the country has left students facing increasing pressure, as Evan Healy, UCC’s Budgetary Advisor, recently

highlighted. Healy noted that there had been a 20% increase in the number of students seeking his advice, adding that this demand was across the board as students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels felt increasing financial strain.

Furthermore, a recent study commissioned by the Bank of Ireland found a significant gap between what students were receiving from the traditional college grant and the costs they faced. The project found that the average cost of sending a student to college in Ireland exceeds €13,000 per annum.

Despite this, the same study found that the average student’s grant fails to cover even 25% of this figure, coming in at €3,025.

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Tuesday, November 11th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Inside Today: Wipe the Slate debate Page 7 Student porn survey Page 9 Doctor on emigration Page 10 McGonigle’s misstep Page 12 Erwin James interview Page 16 Hurling derby revenge Page 21

Register to Vote campaign signs up 2,250 students in a week Barry Aldworth | News Editor

Editorial team Editor-in-Chief: Stephen Barry Deputy & News Editor: Barry Aldworth Deputy News Editor: Brian Conmy Fiction Editor: Ruth Lawlor Humour Editor: Roger O’Sullivan Features Editor: Conor Shearman Deputy Features Editor: Laura Flaherty Sport Editor: Stephen Walsh Photo Editors: Emmet Curtin & Marc Moylan Designer: Kevin Hosford

The Number Cruncher

Image by: UCCSU

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The number of people who read the DCU student newspaper, The College View, according to DCUSU President, Kenneth Browne. Browne jokingly referred to the paper’s readership as “four c*nts” on stage at a charitable night out, but later apologised.

With Ireland set to go to the polls on the issue of Marriage Equality in 2015, the UCC LGBT* Society has joined forces with the UCC Students’ Union to ensure that as many students as possible cast their vote.

energy on the day but the figures says it all: 1,005 students were registered to vote on UCC campus. It’s a result which is owed to the mammoth work put in by all those who helped out on the day.”

As part of the nationwide ‘Register to Vote’ Campaign, a one-day Voter Registration Blitz was organised by the UCCSU in conjunction with the Union of Students in Ireland, UCC LGBT* and Spunout.ie on Thursday, October 30th. While a similar 2-day effort in early October saw 350 students added to the register, a bigger push this time round saw a grand total of 1,005 people register to vote, approximately 5% of UCC’s student population.

The campaign did not stop there as a month long campaign to encourage students to have their voice heard kicked off on Monday, November 3rd. Speaking about this aspect of the campaign, Murphy added; “The plan for this month is to have a strong presence on campus this week, a small step back next week – being on campus for two days out of the five, so as not to get too much in people’s faces – and then the week after next to be on the ground again, talking to people and getting them on the live register.”

This figure, which even took those involved in running the campaign by surprise, represented the level of enthusiasm of those involved, with SU Deputy President Dick Murphy stating; “I could go into the high levels of

The next month will also see groups such as YesEquality.ie, the Gay + Lesbian Equality Network and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties set up stalls on campus. The first week of the November campaign continued

€30

The cost of a ‘Facial Slimming’ service from UCD’s official graduation photographers. Lafayette Photography says they work to “give people what they want.”

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The Guinness World Record for the longest human chain to pass through a hula hoop. The UCC Occupational Therapy Service is attempting to break this record at 1pm today as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.

the success of the October blitz, as a further 1,250 students were registered to vote.

LGBT* Society Auditor, James Upton, highlighted that while the equality referendum was the key reason behind this campaign, the results of the voter blitz will extend far beyond next year.

“Despite the strong brand behind the ‘Yes Equality’ campaign, we must remember what we’re really doing; UCC LGBT* and UCCSU are turning students into agents of change,” said Upton.

“This is the biggest civil rights debate of our time and I encourage everyone to come play a role in that campaign, making our little country the champion of LGBT* inclusion by protecting the love and commitment of our family and friends who don’t have access to marriage; because those who stand up to be counted and register to vote will be the people that’ll rock the face of equality in our little country.”

750,000,000 The amount of litres of water saved by the UCC Green Campus initiative in its first six years. Water Awareness Day takes place on campus tomorrow.

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 11th 2014

Dr. Byrne answers criticism of sexual assault comments

Mark Stanton speaks in favour of Wiping the Slate.

Image by: Anna Ahern.

SU hits back at ‘Wipe the Slate’ comments Brian Conmy | Deputy News Editor The UCC Student’s Union has hit back at comments that they acted wrongly by introducing the controversial ‘Wipe the Slate’ motion to Student Council, which sought to wipe the previous five Council’s worth of mandates from the record, due to inadequate record keeping.

Research by the Express has found that of these motions presented to the SU, at least one had failed to pass, although allegations by SU officers that only one motion about the Irish language was salvageable were also inaccurate.

Most of the motions from the past two years were available, although no minutes were taken at the final council of 2013/4.

While the motion passed by a majority of 65 to 23, since the vote both UCC Labour and UCC LGBT* Societies issued statements condemning the motion.

However, due to the sporadic nature of the minutes, the SU did not feel comfortable in compiling a list of past motions due to the fact there were issues of interpretation and intent.

Allegations were raised on the night of Council that the SU had access to a Google Drive full of previous motions but Joe Kennedy (SU Education Officer), who proposed the motion, noted that the records were inadequate: “There should be 30 councils for the last five year and there’s minutes for 11 of them. Some are complete and some were incomplete. The plan initially was to go through them and get what we could and get it approved.”

“People could, at any time, produce anything,” added Kennedy. “So we said ‘you know what, why not start fresh and have a complete set of mandates and polices that’ll be unquestionable and unimpeachable that we can stand over 100% and, importantly, actually work to implement them.’”

Speaking on the motion, former Welfare Officer Pádraig Rice said; “It sends a message that sabbats can’t be held to

account, because the requirement to present a work report or financial report to council no longer stands. It sends a message that the democratic tradition of the Union isn’t important.”

Rice believed the motion looked like a stunt to avoid taking a stance on issues the current union didn’t agree with, before adding that he felt the union didn’t do enough to talk to former Council Chairs, Secretaries and search email accounts for minutes and motions.

However Kennedy believes that the motion will make council stronger as previously passed motions will return as non-contentious motions, which can be passed without creating a backlog of motions.

Former Deputy President Annie Hoey noted; “I ensured that the Deputy [President], President, Education Officer and Council Chair all had access to a shared Google folder entitled ‘council minutes’.”

But SU President Mark Stanton countered Hoey’s claims: “Dick had crossover with Annie but I know for a fact I did two weeks of crossover and at least Podge [Haughney – President in 2013/4] was around the place, Annie wasn’t.

“Dick was here the other night and I asked if he’d ever seen that [the record of previous motions] and he said no; Annie never showed him the drive.

That’s f*cking insane like. Now she’s saying she gave a full crossover, she wasn’t here. She was here for a day when she gave him the keys and the passwords, that was it.”

Among the motions scratched were motions calling for the Union to campaign for the provision of abortion services in Ireland as well as motions relating to LGBT* rights around campus and anti-fees campaigns.

However the SU pointed out that many of the LGBT* motions had been completed, while the anti-fees motion was out of date and required a new proposal to Council.

Surgeon Noonan jazz up fundraising efforts Barry Aldworth | News Editor While most spent Cork’s annual Jazz Weekend soaking in the sights and sounds on offer, UCC’s Surgeon Noonan Society used the event as a means of further increasing their fundraising efforts, raising a total of €18,000 over the weekend.

The society, which was established in 1977, aims to provide medical aid to Africa and each year sets itself the lofty ambition of raising €100,000. However, having started their efforts for this academic year in July, the society is already well on its way towards that goal, having raised €50,000 thus far.

Speaking on the group’s success so far this year, Aidan Coffey, Chairperson of the society, said; “We’re absolutely

Lauren O’Callaghan, the society’s Accountability Officer, noted that that “allows 100% of funds raised during the year to supply donor hospitals in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia with

Brian Conmy | Deputy News Editor Head of Student Health, Dr. Michael Byrne, drew the ire of several UCC students over his comments in a recent Irish Examiner article on the subject of sexual assault and rape.

Since the article’s publication a number of comments have been made on social media about the comments, including criticism of Byrne’s handling of a question on whether UCC would introduce mandatory educational sessions on sexual consent.

The portion of the comment which drew criticism reads as follows: “At orientation, each incoming first-year student is asked to reflect on their social choices, including their relationship with alcohol, the consequences of drunkenness and the desirability of making an active choice as to if, and how they might become sexually active.”

Criticism of this comment revolved around the fact that it was deemed somewhat “victim blaming” and would lead to students feeling uncomfortable “disclosing sexual violence to him in a consultation,” as many called for an apology from Byrne.

In response to the comments, Byrne stated; “First off, let me be quite clear, unambiguous and leave no room for doubt whatsoever about my views on the issue of sexual assault. It is wrong, 100% each and every single time. Sober or drunk the perpetrator is wrong. With no mitigating factors, no lessening of responsibility whatever, regardless of the state of intoxication of either the victim or the perpetrator.”

delighted to be half way towards our fundraising goal of €100,000. The publicans of the city were extremely obliging over such a busy musical weekend and we’re so grateful to everyone who’s donated or helped us so far.”

Launched in commemoration of the late Tim Noonan, the society offers 4th year medical students the opportunity to volunteer in underfunded hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, those who go to the region cover the costs of all flights and additional expenses themselves.

Image by: Brendan Lyon

life-saving medical equipment, as well as funding for new projects.”

donations by those involved in the healthcare industry in Munster.

He further explained his original statement by saying; “Unfortunately the statistics clearly show the link between alcohol and many harms, including sexual assault. It is important that our students know this.”

In addition to providing volunteers for these hospitals, the group also works to collect basic medical supplies, such as antibiotics, vitamins and sterile equipment, which comes from

Next up is the society’s annual fundraising Gala Ball which takes place on January 31st, with tickets going on sale in the near future.

In addition, Byrne also invited the commenters to contact him further with their opinions on the development of sexual consent workshops in UCC.

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UCC nutritionists launch cookbook for cancer patients

Colin Healy | News Writer Up to 80% of cancer patients lose weight involuntarily, which can lead to the patient developing more sideaffects and can affect the body’s tolerance to chemotherapy. Weight loss can also lead to doctors having to reduce the amount of drugs given to the patient or in the worst cases force them to cease all drug dosages, which means that patients who undergo significant weight loss tend to have a shorter life span.

To counter this issue Dr Aoife Ryan, a lecturer in Nutritional Sciences in UCC, and Ms Éadaoin Ní Bhuachalla, a research dietician in the college, began work on a cookbook that would contain recipes for meals and snacks to help cancer patients maintain their weight. The funding came from the Health Research Board (HRS) and Breakthrough Cancer Research.

Finally, with help from lecturers in Culinary Arts in Cork IT, Anne O’Connor, Jane Healy and Dr Derek Power, Consultant Medical Oncologist in the Mercy University Hospital, the Cancer Cook Book was produced.

The book includes information, advice and a bank of nutritious recipes which were developed by dieticians working in the area of cancer, nurses, doctors, patients and celebrity chefs.

The recipes were developed to give nutrition in a small volume, maximise calorie intake and are enriched with energy and protein.

Co-author of the book, Ní Bhuachalla said; “Our hope is that this resource will assist anorectic patients in the challenging task of meeting their nutritional requirements and also help to bring enjoyment back to meal time”.

In addition, Dr Power welcomed this “wonderful resource” and believes it will be an “invaluable tool for all patients with eating difficulties during their difficult journey with cancer.”

In total 19,000 copies of the book are to be printed, each of which will be free to cancer patients.

Tuesday, November 11th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Pádraig Collins elected new SU Postgraduate Officer Barry Aldworth | News Editor

further study.

Pádraig Collins, a Masters student in Planning and Sustainable Development, has been elected the new UCC Students’ Union Postgraduate Officer. Collins beat off competition from Aimée Millar, currently studying for an MBS in International Public Policy and Diplomacy, to secure the position.

Among Collins’s main goals is the creation of a handbook which would be made available to all students, as well as being uploaded to UCC’s postgraduate website, and would provide details of the many courses on offer. The handbook would also contain information on costs and scholarship opportunities, as Collins stated; “I believe the more information those who may be applying for a postgraduate course have, the easier the decision can be, in terms of committing to the course and to the financial commitment.”

“I believe that the 50-50 payment scheme is unfair and the capitation fee should be brought back, initially for postgraduates” As part of his new role, Collins will now sit on UCC’s Governing Body, as well as Academic Council, where he will be tasked with representing the views of UCC’s postgraduate students, ranging from those undertaking graduate diplomas right up to PhD candidates. In addition, the union’s newest officer hopes to further improve the national and international visibility of the opportunities offered by UCC for

The financial aspect of further study is one which Collins also hopes to change, as he argued that being asked to pay fees, which often exceed €5,000, in two equal instalments places unnecessary pressure on students.

“I believe that the 50-50 payment scheme is unfair,” he added, “and the capitation fee should be brought back, initially for postgraduates. This will allow people to plan better financially and allow them to receive information regarding their grant or bursary from the college.”

However, beyond the difficulties which students may face when applying for courses, a key task for the new officer is ensuring that once students enter UCC for further study, they feel supported.

While the transition from undergraduate level can often prove difficult, Collins highlighted that the UCCSU offers a great support structure for all students stating that; “Academically, there is a

Image by: Marc Moylan huge amount of support for incoming postgraduate students. Myself, as SU Postgraduate Officer, and Joe and Cian, your Education and Welfare Officers, are here to help you whenever, and are just an email or phone call away.

We’re all happy to meet and discuss any problems you may be having with time management, workload and health issues.”

Finally, Collins added that while the workload attached to postgraduate study may prove stressful, it is crucial for students not to close themselves off to outside world: “I also encourage all postgraduate students to come to Students’ Union events and join in with the clubs and societies; just because you are doing a postgraduate course, doesn’t mean you cannot have some fun while doing so.”

Taoiseach launches year of Boole celebrations Barry Aldworth | News Editor UCC’s year-long celebration of the bicentenary of George Boole’s birth was officially launched in Dublin last Thursday by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and UCC President Dr. Michael Murphy.

The event, to mark the famous mathematician and the first Professor of mathematics at UCC, featured a dual launch, with speeches from Dublin streamed live in the Aula Maxima. Boole is widely viewed as one of the most crucial pioneers of the information age as, 150 years after his death, the creation of Boolean Algebra has since proved pivotal to the invention of laptops, tablets and smartphones alike.

Over the course of the next year, a series of events to commemorate Boole, including the airing of a film biography, before the George Boole 200 events conclude on November 2nd, 2015, the first annual George Boole Day. Furthermore, UCC is to join forces with the Cork City Council to restore No. 5 Grenville Place, Boole’s first ever home in Cork.

At the Dublin launch of the event Enda Kenny highlighted that; “It is timely that UCC is celebrating George Boole in the week of the Web Summit since his pioneering work in mathematics and computer science makes him one of the forefathers of the digital age.”

Kenny further credited UCC for its efforts to acknowledge a key figure in third-level education in Ireland stating; “I commend UCC on their ambitious and exciting programme of events to commemorate George Boole’s bicentenary year, which should be of great interest to Cork and the country as a whole.”

The centrality of Boole’s work to the information age was also noted by President Murphy; “Some 200 years after his birth, George Boole remains a beacon of academic excellence and the influence of his theories of logic and probabilities are as powerful today as they were back in the 1800s.”

Murphy added that Boole “serves as the ultimate ambassador for independent thinking,” as he encouraged both UCC students, and the wider population, to remember who George Boole was “whenever you turn on a computer or use the internet.”

In addition to the restoration of his first Leeside home, UCC is also set to honour the mathematician in more traditional ways, such as with the scheduling of three conferences in 2015 to discuss Boole’s works and his wider legacy. As well as this, the Lewis Glucksman Gallery is to play host to an exhibition of contemporary art and mathematical data, while an interactive tour of the campus locations which played a key role in Boole’s life is set to open to the public in February.

Image by: Marc O'Sullivan

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 11th 2014

IR Soc welcomes Eamon Gilmore to campus Barry Aldworth | News Editor With UCC International Relations Society playing host to the annual National Model United Nations Secondary School competitions, former Tánaiste and Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore was on hand to officially open the event on last Friday.

Over the course of the 3-day event, approximately 200 secondary school students descended upon UCC to discuss topics ranging from the use of drone technology in warfare to global health. Having served as Foreign Affairs Minister from 2011 to the summer of 2014, Gilmore kicked off proceedings with a discussion of Ireland’s Foreign Policy and its role in the United Nations (UN).

While Gilmore acknowledged that Ireland’s initial effort to join the UN was heavily critiqued by the member states, he highlighted that since joining the organisation Irish troops have been pivotal in the success of several peace keeping missions.

“Having been colonised and having won our independence, we have a great empathy with countries who are still fighting and struggling for

independence and democracy,” he claimed.

Gilmore added that the presence of Irish troops in the Golan Heights serves to highlight the respect other countries have for Ireland and its peacekeeping efforts. As countries present in the area before Ireland began to withdraw, Gilmore discussed how when the UN’s Secretary-General needed a European country in the area, “his first call was to Ireland.”

While many have questioned such troop deployment and the amount spent each year on international aid, the former Tánaiste noted that assisting these countries has long-term benefits for Ireland, pointing to the fact that seven of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world are African states, which, at multiple points in their history, needed aid.

In addition, Gilmore highlighted that the amount spent assisting these countries every year was an accurate reflection of the wishes of the Irish people, as he noted that; “I don’t know any Irish person, no matter how bad the domestic budget, no matter how bad the economic recession, who would ever turn their back on a child dying of

hunger in Africa.”

However the guest lecture also served as a real-time example for the crowd of how politicians must, at all times, be prepared for debate on a variety of issues. Upon opening the floor to

questions, Gilmore immediately faced scrutiny over the introduction of water charges.

Gilmore stated that, in his belief, the biggest resource issue Ireland, and the world, will face going forward is the

Image by: Emmet Curtin provision of clean water, adding that; “We work on the assumption that we have lots of it (water). The reality is that to maintain and ensure we have an adequate supply of clean water in the future, we must invest in it.”

Smartcard facilities to be added to Brookfield Instances of Mumps on the rise

Brian Conmy | Deputy News Editor Head of Student Health Dr. Michael Byrne has recently issues a statement warning the student body of an increase in the number of mumps cases being reported.

Barry Aldworth | News Editor On the night that the controversial ‘Wiping of the Slate’ motion was passed by UCC Student Council, a much simpler proposal concerning the lack of Smartcard top-up facilities in the college’s satellite campuses also received council’s seal of approval.

The motion highlighted that, as both top-up facilities are placed on the main campus, students unable to add funds to their smartcard via the website are less likely to make use of the new system, thereby making long-term success less likely. After being passed, the motion mandated the SU President, Mark Stanton, to fight for the introduction of top-up facilities to areas such as Brookfield and the Western Gateway Building.

However, in response to the motion Terry Brennan, General Manager of Student Facilities and Services (SFS) Ltd. within UCC, stated that the

decision to add facilities to Brookfield had already been made.

The machine is due to be installed in the next few weeks, with Brennan stating that; “The Card Officer is currently awaiting the final decision by facilities management in Brookfield as to the location and wiring for the machine, and when this is received the machine will be installed.”

On the night the motion was passed, Stanton questioned the lack of student consultation on the introduction of the scheme, arguing that it was brought in by a private company seeking to make a profit. However, Brennan noted that; “This project is some four years in the making and considerable consultation has taken place with the SU, and indeed previous SU Presidents involvement in the initial stages saw a direction of certain funds from the card to student welfare uses.

“Over time, the Smartcard will develop

Image by: Darragh Kane into a major piece of University Infrastructure that will be a leader in its field and will enable the students to cost effectively manage their resources and get best value for money without bank or card charges.”

He concluded; “The use of the card is free, no fees, no surcharges and offers great discounts in the areas that are market led and student focused.”

However, for the SU, one key issue which still exists with the scheme is the lack of student representation on the Steering Committee for the initiative.

At the Students’ Union Council Stanton noted that he currently does not sit on the board which discusses the future plans for the initiative. However, the SU President recently made a request to be added to the board in time for the next committee to the Chair, Gerard Culley, and was informed that it was highly likely that he would be.

“In the past week we have managed 9 students as mumps patients and administered 20 MMR vaccines” Mumps is typically a childhood illness but those affected in their teens or adulthood can have a more severe reaction to the virus. Males, in particular, have a 30% chance of their testes becoming infected which, in some cases, can lead to testicular atrophy or sterilisation.

Byrne and the Student Health Department have issued the following statement on the increase in reported mumps cases: “Student Health want to alert those of you who may not have

had two MMR vaccines that there is an outbreak of Mumps on campus. It is very real and shouldn’t be ignored.

“In the past week we have managed 9 students as mumps patients and administered 20 MMR vaccines. There are likely to be a number of other cases in students who have gone to their own home GP, so the numbers might well be higher.

“If you think you may not have had two doses of the MMR vaccine, call into Student Health and we will fit you in to get the MMR booster.”

The MMR vaccine protects against measles, mumps and rubella and is usually given to children at 12 months and at school entering age in Ireland.

The HSE has also given a warning about the need for MMR vaccinations in recent weeks after around 400 cases of the highly contagious airborne disease were diagnosed this year. This is a considerable increase over the last year, with a total of 184 cases in 2013.

There have been previous outbreaks of mumps in Ireland but this year is not likely to reach the numbers seen in the 2009 outbreak.

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Too many firsts?

Tuesday, November 11th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

In the last issue, The Express reported that nearly 1-in-5 students in UCC got a first last year, more than in any other university in Ireland. With this statistic, we spoke to a few students about what this increase in firsts meant to them, the new policy of semesterisation and how they think they will do in exams.

Dulcie Griffin-Guest Stuart Dineen

Daniel O’Driscoll

Donagh Kavanagh

Aimée Millar

3rd year English & Sociology

2nd year Computer Science

3rd year English & History

3rd year Politics & Economics

Do you think UCC’s exams/ grading system are too lenient?

Do you think UCC’s exams/ grading system are too lenient?

Do you think UCC’s exams/ grading system are too lenient?

I think the exams are quite lenient, but not the work load or the assignments.

No, I don’t think they are.

Do you think it devalues a UCC degree when so many people get firsts?

Masters of International Public Policy & Diplomacy

Do you think it devalues a UCC degree when so many people get firsts?

You could look at it that way or you could look at it that UCC students are brilliant!

Do you think it’s fair for an employer to take on someone with a 2.1 from Trinity, when they would only take a 1.1 from UCC? No, that’s not fair.

Do you think semesterisation will make it harder or easier for you to do well in your exams?

I think it was intended to make us do better but it’s not really worked out.

I’m studying English and with the English Department it particularly hasn’t worked out. They’re lumping everything together so our exams are in November, not December, which isn’t fair.

Do you think you’ll get a first?

Do you think it devalues a UCC degree when so many people get firsts?

I don’t; if people work to get their firsts, it should be just as valuable as a first from any other university.

Do you think it’s fair for an employer to take on someone with a 2.1 from Trinity, when they would only take a 1.1 from UCC? No, it’s not fair. Employers should hire potential candidates based on how well they did and not what college they attended.

Do you think semesterisation will make it harder or easier for you to do well in your exams?

I think it’s a good thing that so many people are getting firsts. It brings the ethos of the university up.

Do you think it’s fair for an employer to take on someone with a 2.1 from Trinity, when they would only take a 1.1 from UCC? No, it’s not fair.

Do you think semesterisation will make it harder or easier for you to do well in your exams?

No, if you put the work into your assignments or exams and get an unfair result, lecturers are always available to discuss it. So I think it’s a fair system.

Do you think it devalues a UCC degree when so many people get firsts?

If you put in the work and get a first, that doesn’t mean your degree is any less valuable than the first that anyone else has got. At the end of the day, it’s the same piece of paper.

Harder; but that’s just my opinion because I prefer the five weeks off to study.

Do you think it’s fair for an employer to take on someone with a 2.1 from Trinity, when they would only take a 1.1 from UCC?

Do you think you’ll get a first?

No, that’s elitism and that’s deplorable.

Yes.

Do you think semesterisation will make it harder or easier for you to do well in your exams?

I think it depends on the course but, for me, it’s too early to know whether or not semesterisation makes a difference in my exams.

Well, my course was semesterisated last year and we found it manageable.

But this year it seems to be organised differently for other courses, which hasn’t been as effective.

Do you think you’ll get a first?

I don’t know, but I hope I will!

Do you think it devalues a UCC degree when so many people get firsts?

No, it’s a reflection of the work you do. You’d be looking into individual personality bias there so I don’t think it’s fair to say a blanket statement that there’s too many firsts.

Do you think it’s fair for an employer to take on someone with a 2.1 from Trinity, when they would only take a 1.1 from UCC? No, that’s not fair. It should be the idea that all universities are standardised; one degree should be equal to another.

Do you think semesterisation will make it harder or easier for undergraduates to do well in their exams?

Easier, because there’s a more concentrated workload and increased continuous assessment, but harder too, because there is less time to focus specifically on exams. There’s extra time pressure.

Do you think you’ll get a first?

Yes. The next deadline for Letters to the Editor is Wednesday, November 19th. Send your thoughts to editor@uccexpress.ie

I’m aiming for a first but I wouldn’t be upset with a 2.1. My first and second year results might hinder that slightly.

Interviews by: Rachel Barry.

A paternal, nanny-state democracy that begins by stripping all internet users of privacy and subsequently of all humanrights will quickly revolve into an authoritarian police state: a breakdown of privacy will affect a breakdown of freedom and a breakdown of freedom will involve a breakdown of democracy and what we consider to be civil.

create more health and safety laws?

Do we pursue militant democracy laws further and complexify policy until it is no longer coherent? Do we simply remain politically correct and accept the liberal policing strategies implored by authoritarian corporations and states? Perhaps it is time to ask a different set of questions and seek out more creative ways of protecting human rights.

Images by: Marc Moylan.

Policing the Internet: A question of tyranny Dear Editor, In response to ‘Trolling: A very modern phenomenon’ (October 28th), I’d like to outline, for the sake of clarity, truthfulness and the avoidance of vagueness, to draw distinctions between different kinds of trolling.

Of course, it is clear that the type of trolling that involves harm to others should be prevented where possible but it must also be said that this is a form of cyber-bullying, and it would be wrong to conflate cyberbulling with trolling.

The difficulty with trolling concerns not so much the difference between cyberbullying and innocent word play.

Rather, the problem is how to police it?

The problem is evident within the larger picture of global politics, one which is often overlooked when it comes to public discourse on the scares of the internet. If certain trolls (such as those particularly nasty ones who engage in cyberbullying) should be stopped in their tracks, this would necessarily involve policing all users of the internet – there can’t exist any

happy-medium here.

In order to find and prosecute the cyberbullies that destroy people’s lives, it is necessary to police all users of the internet. Hence, to protect innocents, censorship must be invoked and directed towards the entire populace.

The question then becomes how much power over our freedom are we willing to give the corporations that run the internet, such as Google and Microsoft, and mass surveillance agencies, such as the NSA?

There seems to exist, then, a tension between protecting innocent citizens from deviant citizens and subjecting all citizens to the tyranny of the State.

How do we solve this problem? Do we

Virginia Good-McKeown

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 11th 2014

Wiped Slates and Spilt Milk Stephen Goulding | Features Writer

|7

Clean Slate is a symptom of a much bigger problem

Many lessons can be learned from the fallout of the latest sitting of class council, but more importantly a lot remains to be done.

The controversy over what has become known as the ‘Wipe the slate’ motion, which rendered all motions and mandates from the previous five years moot, has seen public condemnation from societies and influential individuals alike.

UCC Labour, who have in previous years had many members sit on SU executives, and the LGBT* Society were quick off the mark to call for the motion to be repealed, the latter taking the line that the motion affected the equality policies of the SU, leaving it without any mandate, other than that to actively campaign for marriage equality. To have the authenticity of its approach to equality questioned is the last thing the SU would have wanted.

Image by: Anna Ahern Ruth Lawlor | Fiction Editor If the Clean Slate represents anything, it’s probably the inefficiency and incompetence that has come to characterise the Students’ Union in this university. It seems inexcusable that an

organisation with such wealth and power should have been allowed to get away with such poor recordkeeping and administration that supposedly necessitated the motion in the first place.

There are several key facts of the matter which those who are calling for the repeal of the motion have neglected.

The first and most worrying point is that the motion was born due to a lack of physical, readable mandates. Since its inception, no adequate records or minutes of Council meetings have been kept; instead sources from within the union have confirmed that all that existed was a collection of old agendas and documents, entirely insufficient to build a mandate upon. In essence, all the current union had to run on was fragments of policy and word-ofmouth, the political equivalent of fables and bedtime stories.

The current union have been the first to properly document its minutes and policy documents. Every class rep now has access to a Blackboard account where these documents are stored. It would seem, then, that this motion was the next step in an attempt to move toward concrete and transparent policy, a slight irony given that past executives had produced many transparency motions which have now been disregarded.

“This motion was the next step in an attempt to move toward concrete and transparent policy” Sources from the union confirmed that there was an arrangement whereby a past Deputy President was tasked with compiling a policy document but that it was neither complete or satisfactorily passed over at the time of crossover.

No member of the current executive strikes me as a glutton for work and

this raises one obvious question; why would they seek to create new policy if they knew they had a concrete policy document a mere click of a button away? The answer, it would seem, is in line with Mark Stanton’s explanation; a breakdown in communication occurred around the time of crossover.

Disregarding any ulterior motives that those who questioned the motion might have for doing so, they still face one indisputable fact: the motion was passed by a vote of 65 to 23. For it to be repealed would be utterly undemocratic. The frank reality is that the union are answerable to a Council who saw the motion’s merits and the progress it could bring, a council that represents the wider student body, who are not going to let an executive run amuck. Rather than crying over spilt milk, those who oppose the motion, and indeed everyone involved in the union’s policy-making, should realise the opportunity that they are now presented with: a clean slate; A blank canvas upon which current Class Reps can create new, effective and documented policy.

It was Aun San Suu Kyi who said that “Democracy is when the people keep the government in check.” If people want to see real change and see their union campaign and act in the way they want, then now have the opportunity to lobby for it.

Image by: Anna Ahern

“The Clean Slate motion has, in every way, shown the SU up for the joke that it is”

But the criticism of the Clean Slate has largely been misdirected, with very few asking what this motion says about the accountability of the Students’ Union and its engagement with the student body.

The Clean Slate is simply a particularly pertinent example of the problems that have plagued the SU for years. The system of Class Representatives is inadequate and undemocratic. Class Reps are chosen in sham non-elections, where candidates raise their hands in front of a group of up to 300 peers and essentially seek permission just to throw class parties. The candidates are not questioned, they are generally ignorant of the scope of their role and the voting is based on popularity and lad jokes, rather than any measure of informed consent.

Of course, there are some Class Reps who make a conscious effort to involve themselves in the running of the SU and all that that entails. However, for the most part, Class Reps have no idea of their voting powers, are strangers to the majority of their class group and have no democratic mandate to carry out SU business.

Why is this a problem? It is a problem because the SU – including its Reps, who have voting powers at Class Council – has endowed itself with an extraordinary mandate which is far beyond the measure of its intended purpose: to crusade on ideological matters and make moral decisions on behalf of an unsuspecting student populace.

Andrew O’Driscoll, Chairperson

of the UCC Labour Society, made this abundantly clear in his recent statement to Motley magazine: “Due to the passing of this motion, UCCSU is no longer regarded as an institution that supports prochoice legislation.” What is frankly despicable about that sentiment is that UCCSU had no mandate to support such legislation in the first place, never having asked permission via referendum from the student body to do so (this is even more laughable now that the SU Executive has no female members).

If you think it an outrage that the SU didn’t advertise the Clean Slate motion to us before the decision was made, how about the fact that they adopted an ideological stance, for us all, without even telling us it was doing so? That should tell you how much our representatives value our input.

The SU should go back to doing its job of apparently solving for rising university fees, a task at which it has consistently, admirably failed.

The Clean Slate motion has, in every way, shown the SU up for the joke that it is. In a statement issued by the SU in defence of the motion, it was noted that Joe Kennedy, the Education Officer, would not stop giving out academic advice, while Cian Power, the Welfare Officer, would not stop giving out condoms.

How disappointing to see that while one Officer’s job is depicted as a noble one, the other has been reduced to ridicule. Cian Power is an incredibly earnest and dedicated member of the Students’ Union – a mark, I had hoped, of what the SU might someday be able to achieve with more members like him. But the point at which the union of students in UCC has been reduced to a condom-dispensing machine is the point at which this entire discussion has become a farce.

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Tuesday, November 11th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

A Student’s Guide to Irish Water Robbie Byrne | Music Editor

Great news if you happen to be reading this piece; the world, or Ireland at least, has yet to succumb to apocalyptic warfare in the week that has passed since writing this.

You see, the Irish mind only has the capacity to understand stories, leaving it inept in the realm of facts and figures, meaning that few, if any of the protestors that marched on our streets over the past month, had any idea what all this Irish Water malarkey would actually take out of their pocket.

Would they be charged fifty quid to take a bath? Would your sister get jail time for leaving the kitchen tap running? Who knows, but if Sinn Féin are against it, and trust me they are, all the rumours have to be true.

While all this confusion would give Buddha a headache, it’s a sound bet to hedge that very few Irish students know how much these water charges will actually cost.

So, first off, let’s just forget the idea that your wealthy landlord will cover the cost. While this may be the case for a very generous few, the vast majority will see sense and forward the registration details to your address in accordance to Irish Water policy, which states that “the tenant is liable for the charge and is also eligible for the allowances as the property is the principal primary residence of that household” – just like any utility bill.

From here, one member of your household is to be elected, willing or not, to forward their account details to the Irish Water accounts department.

Still, there is some good news for

those of you who are still under 18, attending third level education and living in rented accommodation, as an Irish Water spokesperson confirmed; “Once a person fits this criteria and submits all relevant details to us, they will be exempt from paying any water charges.”

“So what will the actual cost be?

For those of you living in rented complexes such as Victoria Lodge and Dean’s Hall, the answer is far from clear” While this may be great in theory, in practice it sounds like an awesome way of making enemies with all those you live with.

So what will the actual cost be? For those of you living in rented complexes such as Victoria Lodge and Dean’s Hall, the answer is far from clear. No information appears to be available online, while phone calls to the UCC Accommodation Office revealed only uncertainty and promised call backs that never materialised.

However, for those living in shared rented housing, Irish Water provided The Express with the breakdown (see table) of costs based on an average

A Garda drinks from a water bottle during the Right2 Water protests. Image by: James Brady/ University Observer. student household.

Not so scary after all, is it? Yes I know we would all be happier and slightly better off without having to fork out

for, what many argue, is a substandard necessity. But, for the price of the most pathetic coffee Starbucks can offer, you could have a bountiful supply of clean water for an entire week.

After all, it seems like a drop in the ocean to preserve and improve what is our most neglected but precious natural resource.

Per 9 Month Lease

Per 3 Month Bill

Per Student Per Week

4 Student House

€ 362.34

€ 120.78

€ 2.52

5 Student House

€439.20

€ 146.40

€ 2.44

6 Student House

€516.06

€ 172.02

€ 2.39

A Political Forecast: Where’s the party at?

Barry Holland | Features Writer

convincing indicators of a new party.

Creighton or Ross make that jump?

Readers of Sunday newspapers should be familiar with the attempts of some publications to create speculation around the idea of a new political party.

With low support for the government and general dissatisfaction with existing parties, some argue that the time is ripe for a new party to emerge.

The local elections in May, however, have since left Lucinda sharing the limelight.

They will need time to build an organisation, nationally and locally.

They will need to obtain funding, even though regulations make it intensely hard for any new party to gather funding. They will need to select candidates. They will need to formulate policy.

Former Tánaiste and leader of the Progressive Democrats, Michael McDowell, who was involved in the establishment of the PDs, has written numerous times about the need for a new party. He maintains that there is now “a gap in the market” but is there “a market in the gap?” Do his sentiments echo that of the wider electorate?

According to a recent Millward Brown poll published in the Sunday Independent, 47% of respondents are in favour of a new party. Questions remain though surrounding this mystery party.

Firstly, who is there to step forward and fill the “gap in the market”?

A majority of speculation to date has involved Lucinda Creighton, the former Fine Gael Junior Minister who lost the party whip in May 2013 for voting against the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill. Her work to date, establishing the Reform Alliance and hosting a ‘monster meeting’ in the RDS last January, are the most

Independent TD Shane Ross fuelled speculation of an alliance when he wrote to 193 newly elected Independent councillors in September with a view to creating an organisation of “likeminded independents.” In his letter he stated that “if the opportunity to change Irish politics radically is there, it should be grasped now.”

Ross and Creighton appear to be on the right track in terms of gauging public opinion and that of the public representatives.

However the pro-life and anti-abortion tag attached to Creighton and the Reform Alliance may pose issues with their credibility as an alliance for real reform, if they do decide to form a party. Ross, on the other hand, may experience problems in formulating common policies with a collection of independents, who may well have their own agenda and ideas.

If either does decide to take the leap from independent status to becoming a member of Ireland’s newest political party, the question is when? With the next general election between 12 and 18 months away, when will the likes of

“According to a recent Millward Brown poll published in the Sunday Independent, 47% of respondents are in favour of a new party” The huge support for independents, some predict 25 or more independent TDs to be elected, makes it extremely hard to predict the formation of the next Dáil. Writing in the Irish Times recently, Stephen Collins pointed out that after the next election, we may

face a “political earthquake” which could seriously impact governmental stability in the next Dáil.

Sinn Féin are garnering strength and support at an astounding rate, regardless of recent controversies which have embroiled them. Labour are likely to be preparing themselves for a meltdown, whether that can be abated somewhat with the help of their new leader remains to be seen. Fine Gael will undoubtedly take a battering,

but not as severe as their coalition partner. Fianna Fáil will gain, but with their stagnant ratings in polls, those gains may be modest. Perhaps a new party may alter this landscape?

There is certainly potential for a dynamic, radical and fresh force to enter the political fray and possibly lend some degree of support to the next government. There is demand.

There is support. It will just depend on who, when and what their policies are.

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 11th 2014

Features Investigates: Student porn consumption Laura Flaherty | Deputy Features Editor It is common knowledge that males watch more porn. But by how much and how does this consumption affect all students are among the questions put to the test as The Express carried out a survey, delving into the porn habits of UCC students.

Every faculty, age group and gender was asked to complete the survey to give a rounded portrayal of porn use.

104 students took the survey, with an almost even gender breakdown.

As expected, the internet was the most popular source for pornography, with all of those who admitted to consuming porn using the internet as one of their sources. Only 8.2% of respondents claimed not to use pornography at all.

Where the results became particularly revealing was when analysed across the sexes.

92% of men consume porn at least once a week, with over a third using porn daily. The findings contrast against those amongst women, with only 10.2% consuming porn daily and 30.6% consuming porn at least once a week.

Differences between the sexes are also striking in terms of those who never use porn; just 1.9% of men claim never to use porn, whereas 18.4% of females make the same claim.

Having only relatively recently revoked their five video a day limit, PornHub (62.6%) emerged as the most popular website for porn usage amongst students, proving popular amongst both men (74%) and women (48.8%).

Phonerotica, a mobile friendly source, was dubbed the least popular site.

Surprisingly, Tumblr, an online blogging site, was listed as the most

How often Men and Women watch porn

popular ‘other’ option amongst 7.3% of females.

Erotic depictions of the human form have existed since time immemorial.

The moment Neolithic man learned to paint on cave walls heralded the moment at which mankind would forever be preoccupied with its carnal form.

Pornography, though, with the sole purpose of generating sexual arousal is a relatively recent phenomenon, only coming into existance in the last three centuries or so. It is a cultural phenomenon taking hold across the globe, its availability online revolutionising its accessibility.

Each month, porn sites get more visitors than Amazon, Twitter and Netflix combined. Porn is on an ubiquitous level, consumed across race, gender, age and sexuality.

The moral outrage which surrounds its use has become a tiresome warble from politicians and certain sections of the media, but the million dollar question remains, does its popularity translate into tangible effects on peoples’ health?

How open are Men and Women who watch porn about it

The most popular category of pornography amongst surveyed students was straight, with 65.7% of the vote. Gay, teen (34% each), threesome (33%) and mature (12.8%) finished up the top five.

The primary purpose of porn as a masturbatory tool is clear, with 70% of men and 47.8% of women admitting they always masturbate when consuming porn. Indeed, it seems that there is quite a high number of respondents who claim they don’t always masturbate when consuming pornography, raising the question is it being used for emotional stimulation other than physical arousal?

MEN

Modesty regarding porn usage was also surveyed. Less than half (43.3%) of us are moderately open about our porn use, 34% are not at all open and 22.7% boast a very open and honest stance on their viewing habits.

Differences between the sexes in terms of openness about porn use were, perhaps surprisingly, not particularly large; 72.5% of men were moderately or very open regarding porn use, while 58.7% of females felt the same way.

It is clear that the ease of access to online pornography is influencing students’ consumption habits. The extremely regular consumption of porn, particularly amongst males, is a potentially worrying sign of the addictive nature of the medium.

The current student generation of 18- to 25-year-olds is the age group whom have grown up alongside the development of online pornography.

It has always existed in their lives, therefore they are the first test subjects for potential mental health effects it may cause.

WOMEN

Sex on the brain: How porn affects us Conor Shearman | Features Editor

|9

The last decade has seen a growing body of academic study examining how changes in consumption of pornography are impacting on human psychology.

“Violent pornography has been consistently associated with negative sexual behaviours, including acceptance of coercion and aggression in relationships” The recent launch of Porn Studies, the first peer reviewed academic journal to study porn alone, heralds the rise of research addressing the issue. It is also strangely indicative of the divide in psychological research into porn.

While research claiming of the horrors

of porn will make headlines, critics have accused the journal of fostering “the normalisation of porn” and having a “pro-porn” bias. Although research is still in its infancy, there are telling insights to be found.

Viewing pornography now appears to be largely a normal experience for adolescents; research shows that 93% of boys and 62% of girls were exposed to online pornography before the age of 18.

Concern regarding the effect which such exposure may have on young people has not been unfounded. A 2013 report released by the Children’s Commissioner in England found that children watching porn were at a greater risk of developing sexually risky behaviour and becoming sexually active at a younger age.

Psychological research has implicated the type of porn as significant in its potential effect, although it is complicated by a number of other variables, not least the personality traits of the person viewing it. Violent

pornography has been consistently associated with negative sexual behaviours, including acceptance of coercion and aggression in relationships.

For Mary Crilly, Director of the Cork Sexual Violence Centre, the availability of such pornography should be immediately scrutinised: “I find it very difficult to come to terms with the porn where it shows the woman enjoy being raped basically. Where she might have one, two or three guys on top of her, raping her, and she might be screaming out in joy.”

While the majority of porn users may not associate with such porn, only an estimated 8 to 17% of users regularly access violent porn, it may be a latent feature of so called mainstream porn.

A 2010 study analysing a collection of 304 pornographic films found that 88.2% contained forms of physical aggression, largely gagging and spanking.

A common concern voiced on pornography use is the impact it has on relationships. The compulsion of users to access pornography, 37% of men in our survey accessed pornography daily,

hints at the growing nature of addiction, which may be causing difficulties.

Crilly advocates porn as playing a major role in creating unrealistic expectations for couples around sex; “I think it screws up the whole idea about what’s appropriate and what’s not.

What a person might feel comfortable doing and what they mightn’t feel comfortable doing.”

It is an issue which could bear particular weight on students entering college, many of whom are only beginning to enter a period of sexual activity. Surprisingly a considerable lack of psychological research exists to support the same conclusion offered anecdotally.

In spite of political lip service, the impossibility of policing the internet should mean pornography is here to stay. Although the effects of porn remain largely unclear, education should anticipate its potential hazards.

Creating an understanding among adolescents that porn exists and to be critical of its unreal portrayal of sex would be perhaps the first step in ensuring porn does not replace sex education.

10 |

Tuesday, November 11th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

You don’t miss the water until the well runs dry Stephen Barry talks to recently emigrated doctor and former UCC football manager, Paul O’Keeffe, about Ireland’s medical brain drain Dr. Paul O’Keeffe is the last man you’d expect to be emigrating from Ireland.

He’s more like the type of guy you could only envisage leaving while turning off the lights and shutting the door behind him.

However O’Keeffe, a 38-yearold father of three, a dyed-in-thewool GAA volunteer and a General Practitioner with his own practice for the last eight years, is a part of the new face of Irish emigrants.

“I was rooted in the GAA, I was happy at home, my kids are there, my family are based there; for me to make the decision to leave the country was a massive thing.”

There was so much tying O’Keeffe to Cork: his wife and three kids, his football team, his ‘dream’ practice in Douglas, his patients…

“If you did it to the bus drivers in Dublin they’d be out on strike. The problem is we’ve always been the sort target” “The last week or two were very tough because I had several people coming into my surgery and they were crying when I was telling them I was going.

You’re going, ‘Jesus, this is brutal.’

You feel like you’re leaving people down. But you have to bring yourself back and say ‘I have to look after my kids as well.’”

Therein rested the crux of the decision O’Keeffe grappled with, before concluding that he would best serve his family’s interests by working abroad: “My daughter is 11. She’ll be going to college in seven years. My financial situation was such that if she was going this coming October, I couldn’t afford to send her. That’s ridiculous! These are my peak earning years and what they were offering me out here was a factor of four to five times what I was earning at home, tax free.”

Now sitting on a couch in Doha, Qatar (“About as far away from home as you can get in terms of just about everything”), O’Keeffe is counting down the days to his family’s visit at Christmas, with Skype providing his link to the land he left three weeks previously.

That it could come to this for an established doctor in Ireland’s second city speaks volumes for the GP crisis that is bubbling away under the surface of Ireland’s stalled economy.

At first O’Keeffe accepted the cuts that came soon after the recession hit his, then fledgling, practice. Cuts of about 40% in public payments and a 30% drop in private patient income were accepted as part of the common suffering. However the introduction of free GP care for under-sixes was the final cut for O’Keeffe and one he couldn’t afford to absorb.

“I was looking at our figures and what we came out with was that we’d be down about €20,000, on top of all the other bloody cuts that they’d introduced and the other pile of regulation that they were bringing in that made no sense to anyone other than the government.”

It isn’t just about the money either as O’Keeffe derides the government’s attempts to dictate the reorganisation of Ireland’s primary care system.

About 200 GPs came together to meet their Cork TDs, which only serves to reflect the level of anger that is present.

However O’Keeffe sees doctors as being an easy target for cuts by politicians.

“If you did it to the bus drivers in Dublin they’d be out on strike. The problem is we’ve always been the soft target in terms of industrial relations; they feel like they can say ‘oh here, take this’ and we’ll put up with it.”

It’s that sense of obligation to patients too and the fear of a “massive bad feeling” that any polarising action of a strike would cause.

So O’Keeffe made his call and packed his bags but, as a GP, he’s not alone in his decision.

Dr. Paul O'Keeffe receiving a UCC Hall of Fame Award in 2012.

European averages, Ireland should have 4,000 GPs to cover the population.

Currently that figures is at 2,500 and he sees that falling to 2,000 in the next five years between retirements, increasing numbers emigrating and a lack of good opportunities for graduates.

“Government policies are forcing GPs out of the country, if I could have made things work at home, I wouldn’t have left and I want to come back.”

“When you look at all the trainee GPs that are coming out, guys with their college debt, they’re all leaving.

There’s no certainty. For the first time ever trainee GP places aren’t being

filled.

“Australia, New Zealand, England and North America will gobble up every single Irish graduate for infinity.

If every Irish doctor was to leave the country for the next ten years, the rest of the world would gladly take us.”

The East Clare village of Feakle has repeatedly failed to attract any GP to a vacancy there, while five posts in Dublin were readvertised after the initial stage of applications.

“There’s a trickle going abroad at the moment and it’s happening silently.

It’s a parish here and a parish but what will happen in five years is, suddenly, they’ll turn around and say ‘Jesus, we have a massive shortage of GPs.’ The problem with General Practice is that all those doctors that go aren’t coming back. It’ll take a decade to retrain.”

O’Keeffe is contracted for three years in Qatar, although, unlike some colleagues, he hopes that his stay abroad will be “a quick fix” before a return. Simply put, he misses too much about home and the likelihood of having to avoid the Sigerson Cup, which will be hosted in the Mardyke in February, comes as a ‘body-blow’.

Image by: Gerard McCarthy.

O’Keeffe will be sorely missed by the college too, having been a selector for a pair of Sigerson successes and manager for the Cork County Championship in 2011.

“College is a very special club and it’s distinct from a lot of other university teams in that it is very much a club.

I’d like to believe that over the last five years we created a generation of players that will, in the future, come back and say what it means to be part of College.

“It’s been a fantastic five years and it’s very sad to leave that behind, but hopefully it’s only a hiatus rather than a departure, because I fully intend to get back involved when I come back.”

For the minute, however, the jovial doctor is focusing on gaining his Qatari Residence Permit, which will finally enable him to buy pork and alcohol, from the one off-licence in town.

As O’Keeffe says, “You don’t miss the water until the well runs dry.”

For the record, he said that about GPs running out, rather than alcohol.

“Government policies are forcing GPs out of the country,” affirms O’Keeffe.

“If I could have made things work at home, I wouldn’t have left and I want to come back.”

“There are five or six other Irish GPs out here and there’s more coming after Christmas. I know of plenty of GPs in Cork City that are heading to Canada, all established and coming from their own practices as well.

“It’s the conditions at home that are driving us out, not just the economic downturn; it’s the government policy and their failure to engage with General Practice.

“If you’ve got a couple of hours, I can stay talking about this because, Jesus, it’s f*cking madness; the one part of the health service that was actually working, and was working financially as well.”

O’Keeffe outlines that, based on

Paul O'Keeffe celebrating UCC's 2011 County Final victory with Dr. Con Murphy.

| 11

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 11th 2014

The Great Destroyer

Mark Kelleher

Daniel Segosa – 27, unshaven, doublychinned and glacially-eyed, holder of a 2H joint-honours degree in Political Science and Wittgensteinian philosophy, perpetually unsexy, single and overwhelmingly psychically unsatisfied – sits motionlessly in a Homcom Deluxe Executive SwivelChair and waits for the phone on the desk in front of him to ring.

When its shrill calling cry comes – and, rest assured, it definitely will in a minute – he will hunch forward, and the chair’s four legs under him will surely squeal, and he will then sigh, as he always does, before saying, “Ultragrade Electricity – Ireland’s number 1 provider – this is Dan. How can I help you today?” This will happen more than 80 times on any given day, taking up, on average, over 400 minutes of Dan’s life five days a week, and that’s not even taking into account the potentially suicidal calculation and subsequent trembleinducing consideration of hours where Dan just sits and waits.

The phone rings once, twice, thr…Dan picks up mid-third ring; he hunches, and now the sigh is hosed out through clamped teeth and the seat below him, perfectly on cue, lets out its dreadful routine squeal.

While Dan brings the phone to his ear and sets his elbows on the desk’s edge, he thinks, as he often thinks under the glare of this sickeningly fluorescent office light in this voice-heavy morning din; ‘In another life, in some alternative existence, I might already have been dead by now.’ He grimaces at this, his face twisting with far too much speed; a habit, he has been obsessively theorising, that has surely contributed to the formation of skin creases running the length of each of his acne-cratered cheeks.

“Ultragrade Electricity – Ireland’s, um, number 1 provider. This is Dan...

Sorry…This is Daniel. How can I help you today?”

“You can start,” the hushed female voice replies, “by telling me the many ways in which you might, if you were somehow possessed to do so, brutally kill and dispose of me. Fix that up for me, Mr I-can-help-you-all.”

This is Mona, sometimes Dana, sometimes Alexandra, sometimes Clarissa, at other times simply ‘A’. It’s been so long since she called that Dan had already concluded, some months ago, that she was dead – inaccurately, he’s now already thinking. Dead most probably, he figured, by her own fervent hand.

The last time she had got through to his extension line, she’d said that the next word she would speak would be the

last she ever spoke – to Dan, to anyone.

The last word she had spoken to Dan – in May, or June, or maybe July, he can’t exactly remember when, and evidently it does not matter now – was, he’s recalling right now, “Hello.”

“Jesus…so you’re not dead?”

Dan immediately regrets this, not because of its obvious and preposterous crudity, but plainly and simply because to him and surely to Mona/Dana/ Alexandra, etc., such a question sounds irrefutably dumb and stupid. Dan knows, deep down in the awful truth centre at the core of his being, that he’s irrefutably dumb and stupid – to, like, a deeply serious degree. He just doesn’t want anyone else to know.

“No, Mr. Segosa. I thought I was for months, and maybe spiritually I had ceased or expired on some level, at the very least. You know – been sucked into some psychological slash identity slash existential crisis. But I’m here, I think, right? I mean, you just asked me a clinically brain-dead question, no?

Didn’t you, umm, study medicine?”

“No!” Dan snaps. “P.S. and Wittgenstein. Something which,” he sighs, “you already, freakishly, knew about me before we ever spoke. Listen,

what the fuck do you want?”

Dan figures he’s asked her this question what could easily be described as ‘an unhealthy amount of times’. Dan, right now, distracted by the spluttering of an old terminally malfunctioning printer to his left, is close to angry.

“I’m here,” she laughs, “to save your life – or at least what’s left of it.”

The thing is, Dan, for whom uncertainty delivers all kinds of nauseating panics to the brain, has no idea who this girl, this nihilistic prankster with hushed tones, actually is.

She could be, as teenagers say today, ‘literally anyone’. He posits that, like every other confident fruit-loop nowadays, she must have come from the internet; must have emerged drooling from some dirt road off the infinite cyber highway. She could, he supposes, be ‘Indisposed24’ from the suicide forum which Dan, during a particularly unhinging exam period, once semi-seriously visited regularly two years ago. Or she could be ‘GirlwithCuriousHair’, one of his Twitter followers who, rather than use her 140 characters to chat with strangers, cryptically and exclusively posted grainy and spooky old

photographs of children in Halloween costumes.

For an extremely brief moment Dan even lets himself imagine that it could be one of those girls, from one of those sites, a faceless figure resurfacing from the shadows of the ‘Dark Net’. At this thought, Dan, who flat out just won’t go there anymore – in terms of both visiting and even thinking about it – squirms and wants to kill the whole idea.

“Look around you, right now,” this girl who Dan cannot identify implores.

“One woman, I guarantee, has a face so perfectly made up yet so permanently fixed to expressionless that it looks like she’s already been embalmed. A man who wanted to be a writer has stopped creating fictions in his head because the sheer monotony of what he’s doing has made him dead inside. A girl there hears telephones ringing in her dreams.

Your boss, surely now 40 plus, said to his or her self this would just be a quote stop-gap unquote thing. That was, oh let me guess, maybe 10 years ago now.”

“Can you…,” Dan tries to intercept.

“No. No, I can’t just stop. Keep looking. Don’t dare avert your eyes.

Focus on their starved glares, witness how creepily indifferent they all are to it. Sure, some will get out – luck will fall at their side. But most won’t.

Most will unconsciously accept and get used to it. They’re tethered to it.

Their previous dreams, now considered fanciful, are extinct. Listen – and it pains me to say this – but please listen: the only difference between you and the suicide jumper who leaps to nonexistence is the sad duration of that dreadful fall.”

The call abruptly ends and, even though it was just a few seconds ago, Dan, who may or may not have tears forming in his eyes now – he doesn’t want to check for sure - can’t recall which of the two of them put the phone down first. Dan stands, awkwardly pushes the swivel-chair to the side of his desk and surveys the scene before him. The tears are there alright, and Dan figures that this moment, this very moment of all moments, could be a defining one for his entire life. He clicks off the flickering monitor in front of him, the dull lighting of which has resulted in the consistent and problematic presence of myodesopsia – that is, eye floaters – in his day-to-day vision. For a minute Dan closes his eyes and, yes, he feels it: every damn thing suddenly seems clearer now.

12 |

Tuesday, November 11th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

News Headlines Russell Brand reveals that his two-year marriage to Katy Perry was a piece of anti-capitalist performance art.

The new David Fincher movie Gone Girl is set to overtake Inception as the film most often cited by people trying to sound intelligent.

Apple still denies accusations of bent iPhones, adding “not that there’s anything wrong with that sort of thing.”

Massive breakthrough in the development of virtual reality sex leads to a massive standstill in the development of virtual reality sex.

Researchers claimed to be too busy to give comments.

Google urged to change its privacy policy by EU watchdogs, after one of their wives finds their search history.

Early reports from the International Cure for Sleep Apnoea conference say “don’t hold your breath.”

19-year-old student spends two years building virtual city in Minecraft, now to build a virtual girlfriend, life and friends.

TV Guide BBC Two

Let Her Drink Bile!

Protesters march through Dublin during the Water protests.

Ronan Harrington

Tuesday @ 11pm: Watch Dara Ó Briain and a host of other comedians berate the elderly and infirm in Mock the Weak.

BBC Three

Sunday @ 11pm: Sun, Sex and Malicious parents. This week Iain finally loses his virginity in Magaluf – too bad his dad has poked holes in the condom.

Channel 4 Monday @ 10pm: Jimmy Carr takes a humorous look at the Spanish separatist movement in 8 out of 10 Catalonians want independence.

RTÉ 2

Monday @ 10pm: You thought it couldn’t get any worse, but they’re back to prove you wrong. It’s the Republic of Telly.

Computers are a lot like cars, in that they’re impersonal: they allow you to interact with people without realising that you’re interacting with actual people and not amalgamations of metal and plastic. This is why road rage is a phenomenon and pedestrian rage isn’t.

Computer rage can be a lot nastier and closer to the bone than road rage but in some cases the root cause of this rage is obvious; for example, being a poor driver or a less than fluent English speaker. Grammar is to using the internet, as being able to accelerate is to driving; in that you’ll need to learn to effectively utilise both to avoid verbal abuse on a daily basis.

At the end of the day, though, we can rest assured that the abuse we receive in the online world wouldn’t happen in the meat world, with its established rules of common decency and etiquette. All this is reinforced by the omnipresent, always online content moderator, with the possibility of getting a**kicking once you violate those boundaries.

Here’s an example of warranted internet bile (if it can ever be warranted) and how not to deal with it. During protests against Irish Water on Saturday, November 1st, Fine Gael Councillor Laura McGonigle suggested that protesters “should collect all the rain water while out marching today and drink that for the week!”

Can you guess how the internet responded to this Marie Antoinette level comment? If you guessed ‘with understandable, but nonetheless disgusting abuse’, give yourself a pat

Image by: James Brady/ University Observer.

on the back for having more foresight than Cllr. McGonigle and for having the slightest semblance of sentience.

Having the predictive ability to know that a comment like this doesn’t go down well is one step above object permanence in terms of mental ability.

omitting Twitter from her version of events isn’t dishonest, odds are that you are McGonigle herself, in which case let me give you some much needed life advice: Twitter is a public forum – that comment was put into the public domain.

“Having the predictive ability to know that a comment like this doesn’t go down well is one step above object permanence in terms of mental ability”

Also, anyone could look up ‘Cllr.

Laura McGonigle’ on Facebook and read said comment, with or without a Facebook account. In this case, it’s a bit disingenuous to describe that account as ‘private’. The word you’re looking for is personal.

McGonigle demonstrated further PR savviness with her subsequent defence of this comment, which I’ll now dismantle into its individual Lego bricks and place them back into the ‘New Media Damage Control’ box (find it in the ‘Overstretched Metaphor’ aisle).

“I wish to clarify a comment posted by me on my private Facebook account over the weekend.”

We’re seeing dishonesty here from the first sentence as, according to the Evening Echo’s record of events, the comment was made on Facebook and Twitter. If you think that McGonigle

“A suggestion had been made to me earlier that morning,” she continued, “that as a nation we should not pay for our water as there was plenty of rain. I was attempting to highlight that rainwater is not safe for drinking and costs the State in the region of €1.2bn per year to treat.”

If she had the health risks of rain water consumption in mind when she made the comment, then she’s clearly intending to harm the clearly mentally inferior Irish Water protesters by getting them to drink it. Bold move there McGonigle.

It also seems rather odd that the comment she’s defending made no mention of finance. If she were really concerned about the financial aspect of Irish Water, she’d be objecting the semi-state’s bonuses scheme, in which managers on mid-€90,000 salaries are entitled to a 9% bonus for a ‘Needs improvement’ rating on their annual performance reviews.

“I realise that my comments were open to a misinterpretation that I did not

intend, I apologise for an offence this may have caused.”

The only misinterpretation going on is in her revisionist account of what happened. Please note at this point that I really don’t feel smart, or well informed, by making these points.

Pointing out the flaws in this statement is as easy as making a frankly tenuous Harry Potter joke at the expense of this councillor’s name, which you probably expected a few paragraphs ago.

The water charges aren’t happening in a vacuum. It’s an austere policy following on from years of austere policies. Labour, one of the parties implementing these charges, explicitly condemned water in their manifesto for the 2011 General Election, stating that water charges “do not address the immediate needs of those who currently receive intermittent or poor water supplies.” As for her own party, a former colleague, Kevin Callan, recently left Fine Gael because of “cronyism, bonuses, allowances and privatisation” in Irish Water.

Seeing a person get death threats online isn’t pleasant. Seeing a politician get backlashed for mocking people who are protesting a policy whose main characteristics are cronyism and austerity? I think other people are more deserving of our sympathies.

Overall, this was a poor attempt at retroactive comment transfiguration; 10 points from Gryffindor.

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 11th 2014

Life advice from a recent graduate I’d call it observant more than anything!

but made some friends on the way who were sympathetic to my cause.

A classmate of mine, who is studying abroad and could not make the graduation, was streaming the event live on the internet and duly Snapchatting us live snaps of the live event, live: Graduationception.

Spiderman, a wizard, a Sky Sports newscaster, Pikachu, a zombie and a mad scientist awaited me at the party. Meanwhile I conceded defeat and got rid of the rollerblades at the house, putting on flats instead – I never thought I’d say that sentence

Off to the family meal we went; myself and one or two others from the class hit The Kingsley – nice spot for some post-grad grub.

Adiós a lá parents, off to town and out of memory.

Wednesday was a write-off, lectures were skipped and final Halloween preparations were made in town. Halloween itself began at five the next day. I went with a very uneconomical, unfeasible, unthought-through-vey-well ‘stume: a ghost (simple bedsheets) but on rollerblades (for the gliding effect).

Image by: Tomas Tyner

Michael Stack BSc The advice I would take from the past week of my life is to avoid, at all costs, having your graduation and Halloween during the same week. I mean I’m made of moderately stern stuff, but my recovery is as slow and painful as a 9 o’clock lecture about grass growth and paint drying.

After more than a week of being sick to the teeth of watching others graduate, I finally got my chance last Tuesday. My mother wouldn’t let me wear my white suit for the ceremony, her reasoning being that she wanted a picture of me her and the father where I didn’t look like

an upper-class milkman. I conceded defeat and wore black; she did put me through college after all.

I woke up early Tuesday morning, my slumber disturbed by the lashing rain against my Vic Mills window. This was not a good sign – was it going to be a washout? I wasn’t too worried, though I felt for the girls in the class who were getting their hair done especially for the occasion. For the most part they put in a lot more effort than us men would… For men it’s usually an optional shower and suit up.

After rondy-vooing with the parents, we wandered towards campus, sneaking in a few selfies

pre-ceremony. I saw tens of parents fixing their respective graduands’ gowns and other graduationassociated paraphernalia – some things never change.

So began the ceremony, an unnecessarily Latin-strewn event, where the UCC hierarchy attempt to tell you that you are unique and special – just like the other 4,000 students that graduated over the same three-week period. As for the degree itself, it’s always nice to have four years of your life spent procrastinating, avoiding honest work and general wastage summed up in a piece of fancy paper in a language that I don’t understand.

I sound bitter, but I’m not really;

either.

Town was a cacophony of colour and costumes, my gaze being unable to settle on just one costume for too long as another better one always came along soon after.

Some of my friends went as the three blind mice – now I’ve only seen pictures of their efforts, but the characters they maintained for the night sound hilarious. Anyone who saw those three blind mice can probably vouch for that.

“I conceded defeat and got rid of the rollerblades at the house, putting on flats instead”

A plan I’ve always meant to implement is to wake up early on November 1st, jump in a car and drive around campus, checking out the unique walks of shame going on with people still in their costumes. Ah well, there’s always next year – I’ve heard Halloween is an annual thing? Could be just a rumour…

In tandem with the Halloween weather and the predrinks in my apartment, my trek from Vic Mills to a house party on the far side of College Road can be compared to the Old Antarctic Expeditions of yesteryear undertaken by the likes of Tom Crean and Roald Amundsen. On rollerblades I flirted with death on several occasions,

This weekend is one of rest and recuperation. Next week’s problems are for next week. Plus there are enough bottles and cans in my apartment to sink the Titanic and should probably be dealt with.

Stay tuned next time for my take on the different techniques of shoelace-tying.

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Tuesday, November 11th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

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4 What UCC Soccer club did to win the MSL (8)

2 Pared joy for risk of injury (8)

9 Non-profit group that is not a part of government (1,1,1) 10 (+16a) College-owned student accommodation (8,5) 11 UCC Society which organises Battle of the Bands (1,1,1) 13 Visionary British poet (5) 14 Location of The Farm sports grounds (9) 16 See 10 across 18 Swedish pop group (4) 22 TV service which made way for Saorview (6) 24 First-year experience coordinator in UCC (5) 27 Cleat hits the tartan track in this sport (9)

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19 UCC club who play with rackets (9) 20 Leeside complex which houses the Tyndall building (8)

23 UCC Best Society of 2014 (3)

32 Knight in the process of considering something (8)

25 Irish political leader and UCC graduate (6) 26 Position opposing pro-life (6) 28 A long ridge of post-glacial gravel that reeks (5)

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Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/~jdhildeb/software/sudokugen/ on Sun Nov 9 09:22:11 2014 GMT. Enjoy!

A K B S E I L I L B A C K S E R N E L L L L I B Y A N C C U P Y L L A U R U S D R M E S A N D L

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Ireland’s most frequently published college paper now availible on all your devices! uccexpress.ie

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29 Situated internally (5) C C S P H A R M A A A N S P E W E D E F B A L T O A R G A S I D E T Q U E R C U D A R N E B R A S N I U T O T A L S Y A

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35 In lies, to form into an island (6)

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21 Company that runs the Main and Mini Rest (8)

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Puzzle 1 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.50) Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/~jdhildeb/software/sudokugen/ on Sun Nov 9 09:22:16 2014 GMT. Enjoy!

30 Today, in short (3)

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 11th 2014

The struggle for Children’s rights continues Morgane Conaty | Features Writer Yesterday two years ago, the Children’s Rights referendum was passed. The referendum to include a specific provision on the rights of the child in the Constitution was welcomed by children’s rights groups as “a historic opportunity for the People of Ireland to ensure that this generation of children, and future generations, are better protected, respected and heard.”

“The provisions of the long awaited amendment have not yet been inserted into the Constitution and, as such, do not form part of Irish law” The referendum was a step in the right direction after decades of calls for change. Numerous inquiries into abuses of children had highlighted the urgent need for an upheaval of the system, both legislative and constitutional, to ensure that children’s rights would be put to the fore and

would receive robust protection.

Reservations remain regarding the precise wording of the text; some of the fundamental children’s rights, such as the right of the child to be heard, will not in fact be enshrined in the Constitution as they are subject to the enactment of legislation. Despite the victory of the ‘Yes’ campaign with 58% of the vote, the provisions of the long awaited amendment have not yet been inserted into the Constitution and, as such, do not form part of Irish law.

The implementation of the referendum has been delayed due to a series of court cases challenging its validity. A few days before the vote the Supreme Court ruled that the Government had “acted wrongfully” in spending €1.1 million of public money on aspects of their information campaign judged not

to be equal or impartial, as required by a previous Supreme Court decision in 1995.

After the affirmative vote, Ms. Jordan, an individual from the ‘No’ campaign, brought a case to the High Court seeking a rejection of the outcome on the basis that it had been materially affected by the Government’s campaign.

Although the case was dismissed, Jordan persevered and brought a case to the High Court in June of this year, challenging the constitutionality of rules governing challenges to the results of referenda. This case was also dismissed but is now on appeal to the Supreme Court with a decision expected in December.

The new provisions have therefore been on standby since the passing of the referendum. The uncertainty and long

court process is especially problematic as the Government, true to their obligations under the new provisions, have introduced bills dealing with areas of child law, but which are contingent on the result of the referendum being upheld. None of these can be brought into force until the Supreme Court has reached a determination.

41 countries in the area.

If enacted, these bills will bring about many positive and much-needed changes to areas in guardianship, custody, access and adoption.

The aim of the referendum was to raise awareness of issues that affect children and to make sure that their voices would be heard, yet we see again that children are being forgotten. If the Supreme Court rejects the challenge of Jordan in December, we will see change and indeed progress. What the recent report makes clear is, the time spent in waiting for children’s rights to be inserted into the Constitution, will be time children continue to remain unprotected.

Today, attention has again been drawn to the situation of children in Ireland following the release of UNICEF’s report focusing on the impact of the recession on children’s wellbeing in developed countries. It highlighted a 10% increase in Ireland’s rate of child poverty and ranked Ireland 37th out of

Despite the Government’s commitment to protect children and their rights, it is evident from this report that it is children who are most adversely affected by the economic downturn – the report noting poverty among older people had only increased by 2.5%.

Queen’s University votes for neutrality on United Ireland Cormac Manning | Features Writer On October 27th every student in Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) was asked to make a choice.

That day two referendums were put to the student body. The first, proposed

by QUB Sinn Féin, asked students to answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to the question: “Should Ireland be a united and independent country?” Meanwhile, a second referendum, proposed by the ‘Keep QUB Neutral’ campaign, asked whether students approved of the statement: “This Students’ Union is a shared space that is inclusive for all students and should therefore have a neutral stance on the constitutional position of NI [Northern Ireland].”

A minimum turnout of 10% was needed in order for either referendum to be considered binding.

Different groups pegged their colours to the mast, urging students to vote one way or another. While the head of SDLP Youth had originally described the vote to the University Times as “a sectarian head-count that benefits

nobody,” SDLP Youth later joined Sinn Féin in campaigning for a ‘Yes’ vote in the United Ireland referendum.

In an article for The Gown newspaper, QUB Sinn Féin chair Seán Fearon called on students “to seriously examine the state you live in now, and ask yourself, is this what you think you deserve? We are tied to a United Kingdom that in the past year has spent £5 billion on an aircraft carrier, £5 billion on nuclear arms, over £200 million on the upkeep of a monarchy to lounge in obscene finery, while over one million of their working ‘subjects’ will suffer the indignity of food banks to survive the Tory attack on the working class.”

The ‘Keep QUB Neutral’ campaign was not affiliated to any political party. Many unionists were among those campaigning for neutrality, though there were many others as well who argued that the Students’ Union should focus on what they saw as more relevant issues, such as huge cuts to student financial support. Supporters of neutrality ranged from the Democratic Unionist Association and Young

Unionists, to the cross-community Alliance Youth and Ógra Fianna Fáil.

The neutrality campaign focused on creating a “shared, inclusive space for all.” It argued that the Students’ Union should be a place where students of all backgrounds should feel welcome and that there was no reason why the SU should have a policy on the Irish border.

Some groups did not explicitly urge students to vote one way or another.

The NI Young Greens, one example who welcomed “the opportunity to think critically and examine the country we live in and how it is run,” but adding that, “while we agree that many students know which way they would vote in a border poll, we would encourage students to consider whether they think it is appropriate or necessary for the SU to take this stance, as the SU exists to unite students as part of a wider university community rather than exclude students who disagree with the official stance.”

The referendum, coming close after Scotland’s ‘real’ independence

referendum, drew attention from beyond just the college community.

On each side, public figures from local councillors to Members of the European Parliament urged students to vote one way or another.

In the end though, it was down to the registered students of the Queen’s University to cast their ballots.

1,264 students voted ‘Yes’ to the United Ireland referendum and 1,285 voted ‘No’: a margin of just 21 votes. On

neutrality there were 409 votes against, but a massive 2,596 students cast their ballots in favour of QUB Students’ Union taking a neutral position. With turnout over the 10% needed to make the result binding, QUB SU are now mandated with a neutral stance on the constitutional future of Northern Ireland.

16 |

Tuesday, September 30th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

The Big Interview:

Erwin James The convicted murderer turned Guardian columnist speaks to Conor Shearman on the reality of prison life and why the system needs urgent change.

T

he man opposite me is a murderer. He’s just mentioned it a few minutes ago. Deep furrows pierce a brow which turns towards me as he offers his hand.

His handshake is steely, an unflinching vice. I wouldn’t have expected anything else. I wonder if I should have shaken his hand at all. Why did I just offer him a level of dignity and respect which he never gave to his victims?

This is precisely the question which Erwin James aims to answer.

An articulate, composed figure, he states that criminals are people too, often badly disfigured and dysfunctional characters, but human beings nonetheless. They deserve to be treated as humans. The reality for convicted criminals, James explains, is far too often this is not the case.

Erwin James knows quite a bit about prison. Released in 2004 after serving a 20-year life sentence for two murderrobberies, he is something of an authority on the matter. Imprisonment though was a regular feature of his life long before his murder conviction, with a career of petty crime beginning in childhood.

His upbringing was chaotic and by the age of 10 he was regularly living between the street and care homes; still he remains quick to admit it offers no defence for his crime. “It always feels like I’m making a bit of an excuse, know what I mean? I don’t make excuses for my sins.” It was this dysfunction which would characterise his adult years; amassing dozens of convictions prior to his sentence for murder.

The murders committed by himself and an accomplice are not details which he dwells on. He fled to France following the killings and joined the French Foreign Legion, the discipline of the regiment offering him a sense of purpose for the first time, which led him to give himself up to French authorities.

He describes the immediate sense of being sent to prison as a positive one; “When I first went I was relieved” – a happiness he conveys at the fact he could no longer bring pain to his own and others’ lives. It was not a feeling which would last; the brutal reality of living on a ward filled entirely with those serving life sentences quickly hit him.

“There was anxiety; anxiety about living in there with all these dysfunctional people like me, all these strangers. People often think prison is this club, full of all your mates together.

Prisons are full of strangers, all with various problems and dysfunctions.”

The acerbity of the prison life which James describes is one at odds with an often touted tabloid stereotype of luxury. He describes a hierarchical system built on violence where “fear is the common currency.”

The inherent male posturing and attempts to physically dominate reflect, James believes, the erosion of male identity behind bars: “The odd thing is on one level it emasculates and yet it creates an exaggerated sense of manhood. You end up being a caricature of a man. That’s what prison does; it creates a caricature of a man.”

“Prisons won’t change until attitudes change.

Prison and prisoners are the last great taboo” Although violence may have been an episodic aspect of prison life, the omnipresent danger was the one inside one’s own head. James’s selfpossession must hail from coping under a period of extreme mental duress.

His first year in Wandsworth Prison alone was spent in solitary lock up 23 hours a day. His answer to coping with the prospect of looking to the future in such circumstances is simple: “You don’t, you don’t look too far ahead; you can’t.”

An anecdote James tells of his first Christmas in confinement speaks volumes on how mental health is discussed amongst prisoners, namely it isn’t. A man in the cell above his own had hanged himself over night. The news spread across breakfast tables the following morning by way of jokes.

The shock which reverberated around his skull at the news was expressed in laughter. Prison he explains is a place for those with very poor

communication skills.

Education was the means by which James began to find redemption. He is adamant in his belief that education is fundamental to rehabilitating prisoners. “60% of prisoners [in Britain] are illiterate and only 30% of the prison population can access full time education,” an investment he feels would yield far greater benefit to society. It costs €65,000 per annum to house a prisoner in Ireland; the preventative role, James believes, of education in halting the reoffending rate of prisoners would be huge.

James

found

writing

increasingly

“You end up being a caricature of a man. That’s what prison does; it creates a caricature of a man” providing him with a purpose in prison, nor was he alone in the tradition, describing many incarcerated using it as “a way of understanding yourself in some way.” He wrote a letter to The Independent on sensationalist media reporting of prison life and was invited to write an article for the paper, which was duly published. Fastforward several years and he is writing a regular column for The Guardian on life behind bars: ‘A life inside’.

Writing shaped his self-identity and offered him the promise of a career

beyond prison walls. When he finally walked through the prison gates in 2004 he should have felt optimistic about the hope of a second chance; instead he felt miserable. “It was depressing… I was coping with the guilt of my freedom.”

Realising he couldn’t wallow in his misery, he recalled the words of a prison psychologist; he owed it to his victims to make the best of his life.

Speaking out on the reality of prison and the reform it requires is one of the means by which he attempts to bring forward some positive from his experience. The most significant change required, he believes, is one which can only take place outside the prison walls. “Prisons won’t change until attitudes change. Prison and prisoners are the last great taboo.” The sensationalism offered in the tabloid press, he suggests, is a hallmark of the lack of humanity criminals are treated with. Prison is not the luxurious stable bed it is often portrayed as.

For James, the Scandinavian prison

James pictured during his visit to UCC.

system is the model which should be emulated. Far lower rates of imprisonment in Sweden, Finland and Norway are often heralded as being due to the humanising philosophy of their prison and justice system.

Genuine belief exists that even those convicted of the most serious of crimes have the capability to be rehabilitated.

James believes it represents a basic building block of humanity; “We’re letting down ourselves, it should be an ennobling thing.”

Change, as James has shown, is not something which one can merely hope for, but can be actively pursued and created. If such a dysfunctional existence can be reformed, change in any aspect of life seems possible.

James is no longer afraid to look to the future. He continues to relish writing for The Guardian and has a book coming out in the not too distant future.

His crime though will never escape him. Does the guilt ever fade I ask?

“No.” He pauses… “No.”

Image by: Emmet Image by: Emmet Curtin

| 17

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 11th 2014

Caffeine: the unseen addiction Meadbh Flanagan looks at why our attitudes towards coffee fail to reflect the reality of its effects.

seriously when served with whipped cream and sold alongside cookies but if you’re a big consumer of coffee – drinking more than three cups a day – there can be serious consequences.

Caffeine is a mild diuretic, which means it speeds up the urination cycle, taking calcium in the process. This increases the loss of bone mineral density, meaning long-term coffee-drinkers have a higher risk of osteoporosis.

Going to the Mardyke for a workout straight after an espresso is another risk, as caffeine drives up your heartrate. Even without the additional strain of exercise, the heart-racing that comes free with your cappuccino is unnatural, unhealthy and can trigger a variety of heart conditions.

It starts innocuously enough. You have an americano in the morning to wake you up, no big deal. Before you know it though, you’re elbowing people out of the way in the Coffee Dock to get your hands on a pumpkin spice latte.

It’s a situation we’re all familiar with and, yet, unwilling to face. It’s easier to glorify the idea of being a zombie

until you get 100mg of caffeine into your system, rather than admit coffee is a drug that millions of us are dependent on.

Coffee is a social drug; unlike smoking, which requires you to stand outside in Irish weather, it comes in cafés where you can get Wi-Fi and talk to your friends. It’s hard to take a drug

Quitting, though, is not straightforward.

Coffee may not be in the league of hard drugs like heroin or cocaine, but it’s addictive nonetheless. Addiction itself is defined by compulsive use of a drug despite the harmful consequences.

Addicts consistently fail to meet the expectations of work, friends and family in order to pursue their drug of choice.

Although some students ditch the odd lecture to go chill in the Student Centre with their favourite hot beverage, it’s hardly comparable. Other symptoms

of addiction such as cravings and loss of control of usage do strike coffee drinkers though.

Physical dependence is also an issue.

Coffee-drinkers become tolerant to caffeine quickly, requiring more and more to achieve a ‘buzz’. Even if a person maintains a consistent consumption, they soon stop feeling the positive effects until they increase consumption again, or take a stronger dose. Withdrawal begins within a few hours of abstaining and lasts for a week or two, although cravings can last far longer.

“It’s hard to take a drug seriously when served with whipped cream and sold alongside cookies” A coffee habit is one that is harder to break than it seems. Many coffee shops offer loyalty cards, where after ten coffees or so you get one free. It’s a rewarding system but perhaps it’s time we did the exact opposite. Marking off the days that we manage to go without that macchiato might be a positive step and, at the end, reward ourselves with a good old hot chocolate or, god forbid, a glass of plain water.

Graduate Profile: Pat O’Sullivan Pat O’Sullivan is Director of Business Intelligence with technology giants EMC, operating in Massachusetts.

He graduated from UCC with a BComm in 1996, before doing a further year of a BSc in Computer Science.

What’s the most important thing you learned about yourself while in UCC? I learned to be myself and that hard work always pays off. I think I was lucky in that I did a BComm which kept my options open and allowed me the choice to choose from multiple careers.

What’s your best memory of college?

the group.

In the week in which the ‘Year of George Boole’ was launched, the Express looks at one of the strangest and final episodes of Boole’s life.

You could say that it was the Irish weather that killed him, although some questionable home remedies didn’t help UCC’s greatest lecturing mind to live beyond 49 years of age.

This status as a mathematician was recognised by his appointment in Cork and he met his future wife, Mary Everest, in 1850 while she was visiting with her uncle John Ryall, QCC Professor of Greek.

They married several years later and had five daughters.

on one technology market to another?

EMC has always continued to evolve initially, from a pure hardware vendor to a hardware/ software/ services vendor, and now the latest transformation to a company focused on the 3rd platform Work/ Life Balance was (social, mobile, cloud and always a struggle especially big data) and beyond. when I was based in Cork.

In the US I can control that better because there isn’t the same demand after 6pm.

Being mindful of other cultures is also important

The good friends I made in college that are still my good What’s the most important piece of advice you would friends today. give to someone looking to How did UCC students start in your career? manage studying before Network as much as Wi-Fi and online notes? possible; always make sure Lots of note sharing and mini you’re making a good first study groups to divide and impression.

How has EMC successfully conquer on specific areas and What’s the most challenging adapted to changing focus share the summaries across

Killing George Boole

It was in 1849 that George Boole was appointed as the first Professor of Mathematics in Queen’s College Cork, having spent the first 34 years of his life in Lincoln, England, where he was revealed as a selfthought maths genius from an early age.

aspect of your work?

What would you do Being in the IT function of a differently if you had your hi-tech company means that we are always using leading time in UCC again? edge technology. This is I backed out of my plan to do great for keeping skills a J1 up to date but we’re often trailblazing and finding more What do you think is the issues than with older stable main different for this technologies. year’s graduates compared to yours?

What’s one rule that you think everyone should Graduates now are expected follow? to have so much more than just their degree. As well Very simple but treat others of examples of multiple like you would want to be internships, the graduate treated yourself resumes I receive in the US highlight numerous What particular challenges out of school activities and do you encounter working a multinational examples of community for company? involvement.

History Expressed:

However one of the strangest passages of Boole’s life was his death, in 1864, after a day of teaching in the West Wing. Boole got caught in the rain on his twomile walk from Ballintemple to QCC, lectured in wet clothes and picked up a severe cold and fever.

His wife, herself a mathematician and teacher in her own right, believed that remedies should resemble the cause and doused Boole with buckets of water as he lay ill in bed, to replicate the lashing rain. With neither realising that two showers of rain don’t make a sunny day, Boole’s condition worsened and he died of pneumonia on December 8th, 1864. He is buried in St. Michael’s Church of Ireland, Blackrock.

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Tuesday, November 11th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 11th 2014

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Image by: Emmet Curtin & Tomas Tyner

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Tuesday, November 11th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Demons strike terror into Saints’ hearts DCU Saints 73 Stephen Barry | Editor-in-Chief C&S UCC Demons moved onto five wins from five, comfortably dismissing DCU Saints by a fitting margin of 28 points.

Demons blew the Saints away in the first quarter, notching a 35-17 lead, just over double scores. Saints’ task was already nearing impossibility, with Demons’ Coach and top scorer Colin O’Reilly leaving his starters on court for most of the game.

“We still have to leave proper rotations out there to get players into a good rhythm and understand how to play together,” said O’Reilly after the game.

“We don’t know where we stand yet because we’ve been beating teams by double figures every time. It’s important that we don’t lower our standards as the game goes on.”

The sides traded scores for the opening three minutes but the Saints were giving up scores too easily, with Demons able to find immediate responses. Once Demons defence clicked into gear and started forcing turnovers, the Saints quickly found themselves in trouble.

C&S UCC Demons 101 Kyle Hosford put in a towering display of transitional play, setting up O’Reilly for an early three. Mark Nagle and O’Reilly traded further perimeters, but Demons scored 13 points without reply in the final three minutes of the first quarter, including more HosfordO’Reilly combinations, to move into an imposing lead.

The second quarter followed a similar pattern of missed shots from outside, while Demons continued their strong conversion rate. Once again, Hosford played out to O’Reilly from inside the paint for a big three, although Eoin Darling and Didzis Lauskis threes at the end of the half pulled the deficit back within 20, 58 to 39.

Saints scored a mere six points in the opening seven minutes of the third quarter as O’Reilly from outside and Lehmon Colbert, inside the paint, continued to keep Demons ratcheting up the score. It bordered on showboating such was Demons’ dominance with sleight of hand in the paint, while it would only get worse for the Saints as Martins Provizors 4th foul inhibited their efforts to compete with the dominant Colbert at the post.

College miss major opportunity UCC - 16

Dungannon - 17

Stephen Walsh | Sport Editor

put Dungannon 7 ahead.

Dungannon beat UCC by the minimum in the Ulster Bank Division 2A league game on Saturday in the Mardyke.

UCC trailed 17-8 in the second period but rallied near the end. However a failed attempt at a tricky conversion would prove costly at the death as Dungannon held out for a slim victory.

UCC then tried the rolling maul in the hope of clawing back some of the gap, with Owen Linnell and Dave Hartnett putting in some great carries towards the five metre line until Dungannon fouled. Nugent scored the resulting penalty from inside the 22.

The losing bonus point means that UCC gain a place to move 11th of 16; but with only one win from five, they are a mere two points ahead of bottom side, Rainey Old Boys.

UCC had the game’s opening chance to register points on six minutes when Dungannon were penalised by referee Gary Glennon for hands in the ruck.

Ben Nugent stepped up to take the penalty from over 40 metres out but he kicked the ball left and wide of the goal.

UCC were soon punished for failing to get the score when strong number eight James McMahon burst through the UCC defence from over 50 metres out, before brushing aside the tackle of Eoin O’Carroll to touch down for the first of his two tries on the day.

Jack Milligan converted the resulting conversion from in front of the posts to

It was a matter of how much in the final quarter, with Demons finding the final basket of the game, an outside-the-arc effort from Ciaran O’Sullivan, to push Demons over the 100-point mark.

O’Reilly ended with 33, half of his 12 field goals coming from outside the perimeter, and Colbert totalled 24 points and 10 rebounds. However it was also a day for the bench players, with Niall Murphy, Niall O’Reilly, O’Sullivan and Shane Duggan among those clocking up substantial minutes and some scores.

“We don’t know where we stand yet because we’ve been beating teams by double figures every time”

Demons remain unbeaten and untouched, beating all comers by 13 points or more, on their way to a clear lead on top of the Premier League table.

UCC Demons: Adrian O’Sullivan, Ciaran O’Sullivan, Colin O’Reilly, Darragh O’Hanlon, Kyle Hosford, Lehmon Colbert, Niall Murphy, Niall O’Reilly, Shane Coughlan, Shane Duggan.

DCU Saints: Aaron Whelan, Kevin O’Hanlon, Eoin Darling, Mark Nagle, Mick O’Dwyer, James Gilmartin, Eoin Chubb, Martins Provizors, Arkadijs Makarenko, Didzis Lauskis, Gary Barron.

Colin O'Reilly goes for a lay-up on his way to a personal tally of 33 points.

Image by: Adrian Hogan Photography.

O’Regan’s quick pass found Ben Mitchell, who was able to burrow over from short yardage. Nugent missed the follow up conversion as the college went into the break 14-8 behind.

The second half started quickly, with both sides running at each other, but poor hands from both teams affected their ability to score when they looked clean through on the opposition try line.

Milligan scored a penalty from near the sideline in the 54th minute, after a UCC foul at the breakdown. This was to be Dungannon’s final score before UCC rallied for the game’s final 20 minutes.

First up Nugent missed a penalty from 30 metres out when his shot went wide following a Dungannon infringement.

Dungannon then tried to build up a lead by putting pressure on the UCC line.

After a series of scrums, Dungannon introduced John Toal to use his size in the scrum and this extra bulk gave the Tyrone side the extra ability to progress.

McMahon touched down at the back of the scrum for his second try of the day.

Milligan again converted from near the sideline to give Dungannon a sizeable lead of 14-3.

The subsequent introduction of Paul Kiernan made a huge difference for UCC as his direct lines of running with the ball kept the Dungannon team on their toes. He was linking up well with Slater and O’Carroll and they forced a penalty on 73 minutes that Cillian Monahan converted to put the score at 17-11 and UCC back within striking distance.

UCC tried their best to claw back the lead in the following minutes, with Nugent unlucky to see a long distance drop goal attempt go wide as UCC hoped to capitalise on their extra man advantage, following the sin-binning of McMahon for an infringement at the breakdown.

UCC then threw the kitchen sink at Dungannon hoping to snatch a win and they thought they had it in the end when Cian O’Halloran passed to James Kiernan who scored with a long reach. From the following conversion, Monahan hit the ball wide and Dungannon held on for the victory.

On the stroke of half-time UCC got their first try of the day when Rory Slater made a great run and was stopped just short of the line. Charlie

UCC: Eoin O’Carroll; Rory Slater, Cian O’Halloran, Cian Murphy, James Kiernan; Ben Nugent, Charlie O’Regan; Charlie Slowey, Ben Burns, David Hartnett; David O’Connell,

Image by: Marc Moylan Owen Linnell; Ben Mitchell, Conor Barry, Richard Moran.

Replacements: Daniel Healy, Devin Fitzgerald, Edward Earle, Cillian Monahan, Paul Kiernan.

Dungannon: Mark O’Shea; Marcus Mulgrew, Mark Falcon, Matthew Montgomery, Gerard Trevor; Jack

Milligan, James Bates; Steven Sinnamon, Karl Egan, Glen Sinnamon; John Kane, Ross McCaughey; Stephen Todd, David Leyburn, James McMahon.

Replacements: John Toal, Timothy Smith, Daniel Maxwell, Seán O’Hagan, Tainui Wharawhara.

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 11th 2014

Foran’s goal the difference in revenge mission UCC 2-16 Stephen Walsh | Sport Editor A goal from Waterford’s DJ Foran on 51 minutes decided this Higher Education Hurling League clash in favour of UCC, beating neighbours CIT in what was a repeat of last year’s Fitzgibbon semi-final.

Goals from both Foran and John Cronin sent both sides in level at the break but UCC pulled clear thereafter to win this exciting game by five points, having been four points adrift during the first half.

UCC gave starts to Cork players Alan Cadogan and Conor Lehane for their first game of the season, while CIT had Cork player Bill Cooper in the starting team, with Jamie Coughlan on the bench.

CIT won the last meeting between these sides back in March, 1-17 to 0-19, and looked set to continue their winning ways from the start with two quick points from Cronin and Daire Lordan.

CIT keeper Joe Loftus had to be on his toes early when saving Eoghan Finn’s shot from close range. But on seven minutes he was beaten for the first time on the night when Cadogan rounded his

CIT 1-14 man and, after seeing his powerful shot from 13 yards saved by Loftus, Foran was on hand to finish the rebound.

CIT rallied though after the concession of the goal with Lordan making sure the scoreboard kept ticking over, while Lehane got another point for UCC to tie up the game at 0-5 to 1-2 after 12 minutes.

Cronin got CIT’s goal on 20 minutes when a long clearance up the field from over 100 metres went over UCC keeper Tommy Wallis and into the back of the net.

UCC responded to the goal with Cadogan and Rob O’Shea hitting over points to ensure the sides went in level at the break.

CIT opened the scoring in the second half with Seán O’Mahony pointing a free. After this CIT then had some good play but were unable to profit from their dominance as a result of poor shooting from Cooper and Cronin.

Cork U21 player Cormac Murphy then pointed from 70 metres on 40 minutes and this lifted UCC spirits, with Cadogan and Lehane contributing more points to cancel out Lordan’s scoring exploits for CIT.

James Nagle goes after the ball during UCC's derby win on Wednesday.

Finn scored a lovely point near the sideline after being set up by Clare’s Shane O’Donnell to ensure UCC were in front going into the final 10 minutes of the game.

The key moment of the game then arrived when Murphy drove a long ball out of defence to Foran, who beat Tomas Lawrence to the ball before smashing it past Loftus to put UCC 2-14 to 1-12 in front.

Further points from Lehane and substitute James Nagle gave UCC an even healthier advantage at the end, as late goal chances went astray for CIT.

UCC strike late to seal huge victory UCC - 2 Ballymoney - 0 Stephen Walsh | Sport Editor UCC Ladies’ Hockey team beat the challenge of Antrim based side Ballymoney on Saturday, November 1st in a rain-sodden Mardyke. Two second-half goals from Ciara Sexton and Amy-Kate Trevor proved to be the difference on the day.

This was the side’s first win in the Irish Hockey League, having lost their previous IHL outing 6-2 to Lurgan in early October.

UCC started off the better of the two teams when they won two penalty corners in quick succession but were unable to do anything with them as the Ballymoney team held firm in what were very challenging conditions for both sides.

UCC had great performances from Sarah Sullivan and Clodagh Moloney throughout the game and this performance level showed in the second half as UCC’s pressure began to pay dividends.

Further opportunities cropped up for the college in the third quarter, with a pair of crash balls into the D avoiding the crucial touch to turn them in. A 1-on-1 chance equally came to nothing,

Nicola Kerr passes the ball in sodden conditions as UCC beat Ballymoney.

Image by: Marc Moylan. with a pair of penalty corners also yielding nothing as UCC entered the final quarter wondering if they had left too many opportunities behind them.

The two-goal win puts UCC right back in contention for qualification from Pool A, with five of the six teams on one win after two games.

However the breakthrough came early in that period as a shot from captain Nicola Kerr was deflected in by Ciara Sexton, to put UCC one up.

UCC squad: Nicola Kerr, Sarah Browner, Sarah Sullivan, Ciara Mullane, Ciara Sexton, Sarah Wrixon, Holly Lehane, Grace Tutty, Susan Hanrahan, Iseult Harding, Ailbhe Coyle, Aoife Freyne, Amy-Kate Trevor, Steffi Bowe.

Then, Amy-Kate Trevor smashed a powerful shot to the back of the Ballymoney net, following a short corner, to put the result beyond doubt.

CIT (Cork unless stated): Joe Loftus; Shane O’Donovan, Tomas Lawrence, Cian Buckley; Stephen Murphy, Mike Russell, Kevin Kavanagh (0-1); Seán O’Mahony (0-2, 1f), William Murphy; John Cronin (1-1), Bill Cooper, Pat Ralph (Tipperary); James Cash (Wexford), Daire Lordan (0-8, 4fs), Darragh O’Reilly.

Subs: Adam Dennehy for O’Donovan (27), Jason Lonergan (0-1, Tipperary) for Cronin (36), Niall O’Doherty for William Murphy (37), Darragh Brosnan for O’Mahony (44), Jamie Coughlan (0-1) for O’Reilly (48),

Image by: Marc Moylan.

UCC (Cork unless stated): Tommy Wallis; Killian Burke, Michael Breen (Tipperary), Shane Roche (Waterford); Paudie Prendergast (Waterford), Tadgh Bourke (Waterford), Cormac Murphy (0-1); Rob O’Shea (0-2, 1f), Tom Devine (0-1, Waterford); Eoghan Finn (0-2), Michael Collins, Conor Lehane (0-6, 1f); Alan Cadogan (03), DJ Foran (2-0, Waterford), Shane O’Donnell (Clare).

Subs: James Nagle (0-1) for Prendergast (42), John Power for Devine (44), Shane O’Keeffe for Finn (58).

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Tuesday, November 11th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Keane lifting for World Glory Stephen Walsh speaks to Adam Keane about how he went from a powerlifting beginner to world titleholder in months “Now all I do is live with so much fate”

them one day training and I thought to myself that I could do that no bother.

– ‘Duality’, Slipknot

“After the Intervarsities last year they set up a Facebook page. I was lifting more than others so I said I’d give it a go and I emailed Abigail Cronin asking to join. I got in at the right time as, at that time, one guy dropped out of college so I took his place and haven’t looked back since.”

The above line is one which World Junior Powerlifting champion for the 75kg category, Adam Keane, listens to before enters into competition.

The third year BIS student from Dungarvan currently holds National records in his weight category for the squat at 200kg and a deadlift of 243kg.

“The world record for the squat is 251kg and I’d like to beat that record; it’s the goal in my head at the moment”

These are particularly remarkable achievements given that he only began the sport last October, after having a chance encounter with members of the Powerlifting Club.

“I started the sport last October but I was doing ordinary lifting before that,” explains the 21-year-old. “I saw

He has since placed second in the European Championships held last September in Gorey for the 82kg category, where he squatted 200kg and deadlifted 220kg.

The Intervarsities will be on this week in the Mardyke, where many of Keane’s teammates will be going for gold, and Keane will be no different, although he has extra ambitions; “The world record for the squat is 251kg and I’d like to beat that record; it’s the goal in my head at the moment.

“I hit 220kg squat in training two weeks ago. The Intervarsities are on this week and I hope to get a 220kg this week and, in March, for the National’s the aim to get around a 240kg lift.”

Regarding his other competitors for the world record, he lists Canadian Josh Hancox as the benchmark after he squatted 260kg in training in recent weeks. It all adds to what should be a

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very exciting year for the BIS student.

hours.”

To aspire for world records, it takes a certain level of commitment to keep the performances up, as Keane details his exhausting weekly schedule of training.

All this training requires a very careful diet, as Keane explains; “I have to count calories coming up to competitions so as to cut weight and I leave out carbs, eating between 2,000 and 2,200 calories. I eat a lot of spinach, eggs and chicken in the weeks building up to competition. But I’d have about six meals a day so as to space all the food out.”

“Well I do training on Monday, with the squat; Tuesday, squat and bench; Wednesday, day off; Thursday, deadlift and bench; Friday, squat and bench.

Saturday depends how I’m doing but I could do some cardio and bench, while Sunday is a day off. It’s pretty intense with each session lasting about two

Keane follows current 100kg squat world record holder, Dan Green, closely, pouring admiration for the

American: “He is a monster; a beast. He is so into technique and being perfect the whole time, which is important as if your technique is wrong, then you are more likely to get injured.

“When doing a squat you must be tight just moving your legs and you want your upper body to stay as straight and still as possible.”

Keane’s long-term goal is to hit a 700kg total for three lifts of squat, bench and deadlift. While he hopes to hit the 250kg mark for the squat in 2015, he is also aiming for a 280kg deadlift.

Motorcycle Club opens new workshop Stephen Walsh | Sport Editor The new Motorcycle Club workshop was officially opened last Wednesday

by UCC President, Dr. Michael Murphy, Deputy Head of Sport, Christine O’Donovan, and the club committee, as the workshop became a hive of activity for what proved to be a very special night.

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The Motorcycle Club is one of the more unusual clubs in UCC and counts itself as the only college-based motorcycle club in Ireland, being founded in 1984 and, over the last few years, enjoying something of a renaissance with larger memberships, more activities and the construction of a modern workshop on the North Mall Campus.

Nevin Power, former Captain and current Club Secretary, began proceedings by stating that the building of the workshop was “the culmination of many months of hard work by all members of the committee.”

ksloane@corkinternationalhotel.com | 021 4549890

Budget proposals and technical proposals on what kind of workshop was required to assist the growth of the club were dealt with over a year ago, but navigating the bureaucratic

framework of UCC took somewhat longer.

Power explained that the club became very used to working with many departments within UCC, something most other clubs do not need to do.

This interaction came about over things such as land and site location for the new workshop, the provision of utilities, including electricity and water supplies, and the costing required for the project to be completed within budget.

Following a short speech from Murphy on the work that the club had put in to

Image by: Brendan O'Leary its new location, current Club Captain Eddie Cotter presented him with a club t-shirt. O’Donovan also spoke, praising the tenacity of various committees throughout the years to keep the club afloat ahead of this major step to a permanent and modern location.

The current activity in the M.O.D.shop, the official name of the new location, is the rebuilding of a Honda Bros 400. It also serves as a new base for the club’s traditional motorcycle maintenance classes and as a knowledge base for those who would like to get on the road.

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 11th 2014

Digest

UCC go top of Munster League UCC - 6 Stephen Walsh | Sport Editor UCC hammered Catholic Institute on Saturday morning to go top of the Munster Men’s Division 1 table after four games.

A brace of goals from Fionn O’Leary,

“The victory keeps us nicely in the running for the end of season honours”

accompanied by strikes from Andrew Power, Stuart O’Grady, Ben O’Mahony and Andrew McGregor, helped UCC soundly defeat their Limerick rivals, having been a mere goal up at the break.

They went 1-0 ahead early in the first half when Power pounced on a goalmouth scramble and managed to put the ball over the line.

The second half saw some great performances from Peter Catchpole, O’Grady and Power as the movement and passing of the UCC squad improved hugely. This improvement

The Invincibles 2.0 Ryan Collins | Sport Writer The Arsenal team of 2003/4 remain one of the best teams ever. Possessing a nigh-once in a lifetime maelstrom of speed, power and intelligence, no team was better on the counter until Pep Guardiola reinvented European football with his similarly celebrated Barcelona side.

Their defence was anchored by Sol Campbell and the perennially underrated Kolo Toure, while Lauren and a young Ashley Cole often manufactured counter-attacks with pace and precision.

Gilberto was a ‘glue’ player, a necessary component of every great team that did the little things well. Patrick Vieira was every bit the Colossus of Highbury, and Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp provided attacking velocity and creativity. The mercurial Thierry Henry was the lynchpin and the crux of the team; everything went through the spine that he and Vieira comprised.

Could any team, in the ferociously competitive Premier League, ever replicate their indelible feat of 26 wins and 12 draws?

Coincidentally, José Mourinho’s first Chelsea team came closest one year later, in the 2004/5 season, losing a

Basketball Men’s Premier League: DCU Saints 73 C&S UCC Demons 101; UCD Marian 84 C&S UCC Demons 104; Sat 22nd Nov: Templeogue vs C&S UCC Demons @ 7pm in Oblate Hall, Dublin. Men’s National Cup: Sat 15th Nov: Killester vs C&S UCC Demons @ 7pm in IWA, Clontarf.

Catholic Institute - 0 told when the goals started to arrive at a rate of knots, with O’Leary bagging a brace before O’Grady, O’Mahony and McGregor got in on the act.

Camogie

Nearing the end of the game, a melee broke out among players from both sides and resulted in goalkeeper Brian Corcoran being shown a red card for his involvement. This sending off may affect the college in upcoming matches (Bandon are next up for UCC) as they will have to introduce a new goalkeeper.

CCAO Senior Camogie League Division 1: UL 4-19 UCC 2-8.

Ashbourne Cup Group A: Wed 12th Nov: UCC vs UL @ 7.30pm in the Mardyke.

Gaelic Football HE Senior Football League Division 1 Group C: Cork IT 1-10 UCC 2-8; Quarter-final: Thu 13th Nov: UCC vs UL @ 2pm in the Mardyke. HE Fresher Football League Division 1 Group B: UCC 2-13 Cork IT 1-10; Tue 11th Nov: UL vs UCC @ 2.30pm in UL.

Speaking after the game, a happy UCC coach Les Ruddock said; “I’m happy enough with the result; the first half we were poor but in the second half we really upped our game and this was shown in some of the brilliant goals we scored.

Hockey (Mens) Irish Hockey League Pool A: UCC 2 Annadale 4. Munster League Division 1: UCC 6 Catholic Institute 1; Sat 15th Nov: Bandon vs UCC @ 2pm in Bandon Grammar School; Sat 22nd Nov: UCC vs Church of Ireland in the Mardyke. Peard Cup round 1: Sun 16th Nov: Church of Ireland vs UCC @ 2pm in Garryduff Sports Centre.

“We have a few things to work on but the victory keeps us nicely in the running for the end of season honours.”

UCC squad: Brian Corcoran, Wesley Brownlow, Adam O’Callaghan, Jack Cherrie, John Catchpole, Stuart O’Grady, Peter Catchpole, Kevin Burn, Fionn O’Leary, Andrew Power, Stuart Miller, John Sweetnam, Malcolm Coombes, Ben O’Mahony, Andrew McGregor.

Hockey (Ladies) John Catchpole turns at pace during UCC's 4-2 loss to Annadale in the Irish Hockey League.

Image by: Marc Moylan.

paltry one game, largely due to an extremely stingy defence.

HE Senior Hurling League Division 1 Group C: Cork IT 1-14 UCC 2-16; Quarter-final: Date TBC: UCC vs DIT or UCD in the Mardyke. HE Fresher Hurling League Division 1 Group C: Limerick IT 0-13 UCC 2-13; Thu 13th Nov: Cork IT vs UCC @ 7.30pm in Cork IT.

Ladies Football

Consider the evidence... With the return of the prodigal son Mourinho, the frugal defence returned with a vengeance. Only allowing 27 goals against, far and away the best record in the league, all they lacked last year was firepower.

Meanwhile Cesar Azpilicueta was a revelation, John Terry conducted standard John Terry business and Gary Cahill, despite looking like the most generic Create-A-Defender ever, complemented the team perfectly.

The summer of 2014 showcased Chelsea’s true intentions; clearly satisfied with their ability to snuff out attacks, Mourinho put Roman

Irish Hockey League Pool A: UCC 2 Ballymoney 0. Munster League Division 1: Ashton 2 UCC 5; Sat 15th Nov: UCC vs Fermoy @ 12pm in the Marydke; Sat 22nd Nov: UCC vs Cashel/ New Inn in the Mardyke.

Hurling

Ten years later it is Chelsea again who, after a dramatically understated ‘hot start’ of nine wins and two draws, look prepared to embark on a season where losing to any opposition seems preposterous. Why? What makes them so dominant? They finished third last season and how much could have changed since?

José ostracised Juan Mata for a lack of work rate – Manchester United fans understand this only too well of late – and rebuilt the team with a midfield of grafters. Oscar, Willian and Andre Schurrle surprised many with their tenacious efforts in the lessglamorous portion of the game, while Eden Hazard, despite being the team’s offensive fulcrum, never hesitated in aiding his full-back.

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HEC Senior Ladies Football League Division 1: UL 1-12 UCC 3-6; Semifinal: Wed 12th Nov: DCU vs UCC @ 7.15pm in DCU.

Rugby (Mens)

Abramovich’s millions to good use, to say the least. Diego Costa, despite injury concerns, is a predator of the highest order, satisfying a niche that left Chelsea had dreadfully exposed.

Thibaut Courtois just makes attacking Chelsea unfair; thanks to the addition of the alien-shaped goalkeeper, Chelsea now have two of the three best stoppers in England between Petr Cech and Courtois.

The pivotal reason that Chelsea might go the distance is one Cesc Fabregas.

His stock fell somewhat in Catalonia, as Barcelona attempted to mould him into Xavi mark II, rather than adapt their system to acclimate the star signing. A return to England has reminded anyone

who had forgotten just what makes him one of the best midfielders in the world.

Ulster Bank League Division 2A: Nenagh Ormond 13 UCC 13; UCC 16 Dungannon 17; Sat 15th Nov: Cashel vs UCC @ 2.30pm in Spafield.

Rugby (Womens)

Fabregas is the prototypical all-around midfielder. He can read the game and stall attacks before they happen. He can score, tackle and do anything but get around Marouanne Fellaini’s afro; and that won’t work on him a second time! He’s able to sneak a pass into Fort Knox; he’s one of the best passers in the world, possibly the best in the Premier League. He’s on target to hit 36 assists; the most recorded in a season is Steven Gerrard’s 13.

Student Sport Rugby League Division 1: IT Carlow 42 UCC 3; Wed 12th Nov: Cork IT vs UCC @ 7pm in Cork IT.

One might ask, how can Chelsea go an entire season without slipping up once?

A better question might be: who can possibly beat them?

WSCAI Premier Division South: UCC 2 WIT 1.

Soccer (Mens) Munster Senior League Premier Division: UCC 0 Castleview 0; Sat 15th Nov: Everton vs UCC @ 2pm in Everton Park. CUFL Premier Division South: Athlone IT 0 UCC 2.

Soccer (Womens)

SPORT

UCC

Tuesday, November 11th 2014 | uccexpress.ie | Volume 18 | Issue 6

Cunningham planning ahead for dual coaching role Inside Sport: Stephen Barry | Editor-in-Chief Ger Cunningham was a busy man this week.

From managing UCC for a local derby last Wednesday, to announcing his coaching ticket with the Dublin hurlers on Friday, there has been little rest for the Togher man.

However such a challenge is one he relishes, managing the fortunes of a Fitzgibbon Cup team one minute, and those of an inter-county side the next; Cunningham is quick to note that it’s a team-game in management too: “It’ll be busy enough but, with good time management and good time planning, it’ll be fine to work around the two. A lot of the training we can coordinate to make sure there’s no overlap and there’s very good people around UCC, who’ll be able to help out if needs be.”

While his support team in Dublin will include Shay Boland and Tommy Dunne, in UCC he is assisted in the coaching department by Noel Furlong.

In addition, Tim Crowley, Jim McEvoy, Tom Kingston, Seanie McGrath and Dr. Paddy Crowley all add their experience

of many a Fitzgibbon campaign on the line.

conscious of them and look after them and help them in any way we can.”

Cunningham’s own college credentials come from managing UCC to four Fresher All-Irelands in a row in the course of his six years at the helm, before taking over the Seniors from Eddie Enright in August.

Becoming a community away from home has strengthened Cunningham’s Fresher teams on the field, as well as off of it, although Cunningham emphasises that education remains the primary concern.

The trial of moulding a fresh team in September for an All-Ireland championship in March is one Cunningham enjoyed; “You get a team of a load of individuals coming from all over Munster to UCC and it’s a great challenge to build a team in a short space of time, because that competition last for only six months.”

How to manage the balance with college has fundamentally changed in UCC this year, however, with the introduction of semesterisation, something the college boss is busy working around.

It will be a similar test for Cunningham in his first year as Fitzgibbon manager, but the ethos he outlines of the college club remains the same:

“It’s different for a lot of the senior players this year with semesterisation,” says Cunningham. It’s something new

.

both for them and for us

“When you make friends in college, you make them for life and we’ve tried to build on that and buying into the ethos of what UCC is about.

“That’s their priority and we’re working around that. We’re happy enough to do some work with them in the gym at times and the league will be over by the end of November, so there’ll be no distractions from exams at that stage.”

“It’s all very much a continuation of their development and it’s a recognition that a lot of fellows are away from home for the first time, so we’ve to be

In the gym sessions, performance and analysis is aided by Jeff Gomez, Nora Aherne and Lenny Browne, while John Grainger and Declan Kidney offer

support from the college.

But in the business on the field, the league game against Cork IT yielded a favourable result and a home quarterfinal, yet Cunningham’s side remain early in their development.

Page 21

“It’s different for a lot of the senior players this year with semesterisatiom, It’s something new both for them and for us” “We’re only after our third match so we’re still in the process of giving people the opportunity to make a stake for a place on the team. We’ve other people we’d be looking at, who are still playing club championship or have injuries, so we still haven’t seen everybody.”

Northern scalp: The UCC ladies hockey side captured an Irish Hockey League win at the second attempt, beating Ballymoney 2-0.