UCC Express Issue 7

Tuesday, November 25th 2014 | uccexpress.ie | Volume 18 | Issue 7

USI President Laura Harmon speaking about the upcoming Marriage Equality Referendum at Pink Training in CIT on Saturday.

Image by: Emmet Curtin.

USI and Marriage Equality Referendums set for January ballot Barry Aldworth | News Editor

As the guillotine fell on the third Student Council, the rules and regulations of UCC’s upcoming referendum on reaffiliation with the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) had been decided, although a motion on how the question appearing on ballot papers would be worded went undiscussed.

As a result, the exact wording of the question is to be decided by the Students’ Union Executive and made available to all students on or before December 19th. While this has been the practice in previous referendums, a motion was brought to Council by Deputy President and Campaigns Officer Dick Murphy, which would have mandated for the question to be

phrased as “Should UCC SU remain affiliated with the Union of Students in Ireland at a membership cost of €5 per full time student and €2.50 per part time student?”

However, with the referendum due to take place on the 26th and 27th of January, a series of new rules for the campaign have been brought in.

Commercial and Communications Officer Barry Nevin proposed the night’s first motion, which sought to limit those eligible to campaign during the referendum to all current UCC students, any UCC graduate, eight members of the USI officer board or their nominees and eight non-graduates who oppose affiliation.

Nevin argued that the purpose of this

motion was to “ensure a fair and level playing field going forward,” while also preventing either side from taking advantage of the greater numbers it may have at its disposal. He added that in the past students from other USI affiliated universities have been bussed into UCC to encourage students to support re-affiliation.

This argument was vehemently opposed

by Murphy, who argued that there are enough rules which govern the lives of UCC students and that “it would be a shame if we were to restrict ourselves with further rules and regulations.” The Deputy President also questioned how the motion could be enforced, adding; “this motion is impossible to police.

We can’t stop someone coming on campus and speaking to people.”

In response to a question of how the proposal would be put into action, Nevin highlighted that the Returning Officer would have the power to ask someone to stop campaigning and instruct UCC security to remove them from the campus. This point seemed to assure the majority that it was possible to police the policy and, despite continued opposition from Murphy, it passed by a significant majority.

The final motion to pass on the night will see a referendum on Marriage Equality held in UCC on the same days as the USI election.

The proposal was opposed by UCC SU Equality Officer Robert O’Sullivan, who argued that it may lead to students becoming complacent and not voting in

the national referendum. Despite this, the motion carried by the necessary two-thirds majority which is required to call a referendum.

Council also saw a raft of 14 noncontentious equality-related motions passed, to replicate previously passed policies prior to wiping the slate.

However Council descended into a lengthy debate on water charges and, despite a 15-minute extension to the duration, the guillotine fell after just four of the seven motions had been discussed and none of the four additional items for discussion had been brought up.

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Tuesday, November 25th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Inside Today: The Cosgrave Fallacy Page 7 Shadows of Secrecy Page 10 Comic dual review Page 13 Lucinda Creighton Page 16 Xmas Shopping Guide Page 17 Darts interview Page 23

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

Paul Giller pictured during a visit to Hubei University, China, last March.

Continuous assessment oversight to be improved Brian Conmy | Deputy News Editor

Professor Paul Giller, Registrar and Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs, has shed some light on the transition to semesterisation. He noted the transition process went smoothly as the college year realigned, with a few “minor” problems along the way.

One of these issues was around timetabling, with Giller stating; “One of the key challenges has been the issues around continuous assessment. I think what may have happened this year in the first year of semesterisation is that there hasn’t been sufficient programlevel oversight of deadlines. That can certainly be improved going forward.”

While this happened before semesterisation, the sudden change has seemingly exacerbated the problem. While keeping in contact with the Students’ Union, anecdotal evidence has come from the student body about these deadline issues.

When asked if students who were particularly adversely affected

6.45 9

The number of full-time staff UCC have dedicated to working on alumni relations. Jean van Sinderen-Law, director of alumni relations, added that Irish people were reactive rather than proactive donors.

The percentage of first year UCC students who would reduce alcohol consumption for potential health benefits. The Irish Society of Gastroenterology has called for legislation to tackle alcohol consumption in reaction to the study.

by issues around timetabling of deadlines would have this taken into consideration at exam boards, Giller assured that it would certainly be considered in the students favour.

Countering this problem and exalting one facet of semesterisation, he noted; “Having said that, one of the anticipated and hoped for outcomes of semesterisation was earlier engagement by students.”

This engagement earlier in the college year would also assist in allaying these deadline issues.

Professor Giller also spoke on UCC’s first set of Christmas exams. Although he believes the ratio of exams to be about 40% at Christmas and 60% in May, for this first year a larger issue around organising these exams has been finding suitable venues.

A variety of large venues were looked at including Bishopstown GAA hall, a venue in UCC and others which were all deemed unsuitable. Initially the Mardyke was purportedly unavailable for

1,000

The number of tickets that will be given away for the MTV Crashes Cork gig in City Hall. The November 27th performance will feature Jessie Ware and Gorgon City.

exams due to pre-existing bookings; however UCC has offered to find venues for any events being pushed from the Mardyke due to the Christmas exams.

Giller added that metrics have shown student engagement appears to be higher than in previous years, as expected. However the extent to which library usage has increased was surprising to Giller. While a study week still exists before both sets of exams, he admitted that plans

had to be made to increase library opening hours to match those usually seen in the run up to exams in previous years.

In the meantime, the Students’ Union have successfully petitioned the university for two additional latenight study rooms to be opened in the Electrical Engineering building, to alleviate the crowds queuing for the Quad Reading Room or ‘Fishbowl’.

On the issue of whether or not semesterisation being brought in now was unfair to students in later years of their programs, Giller highlighted that having two separate systems in place simultaneously would have been impractical for both the university and students.

€8,300,000 The potential pension deficit faced by UCC as a result of a dispute with the Department of Education over future payment into one of its pension funds.

A spending watchdog criticised UCC’s latest accounts, although the university disagrees.

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 25th 2014

Europa Conference highlights issues faced by Irish youth Barry Aldworth | News Editor

Youth unemployment, minority rights and the relationship between the European Union and Ireland took centre stage at the Europa Society’s Communicating Europe Initiative (CEI) conference.

The event began with a panel discussion on ‘Youth Employment and the role of the EU’, which featured Deirdre Clune MEP, Senator Kathryn Reilly and Fianna Fáil Leader Micheál Martin. Martin, in particular, was quick to highlight that the EU was not doing enough to assist its young citizens, claiming that; “Europe is not the core of the problem but it is not playing anywhere near the role it should in solving these problems.”

The TD further question the amount the EU has pledged to tackle the issue of youth unemployment in Ireland, stating that the €8 billion youth guarantee scheme is far from enough.

The scheme pledges to offer a job or work experience o young people within four months of becoming unemployed but Martin stated that, while the figure presented sounds like a big amount, “in reality it is just a drop in the ocean.

“It represents a mere €208 a year per unemployed young person,” continued Martin. “It is not in any way a systematic or ambitious response to youth unemployment.”

Martin further noted that it is time for all parties across the political divide to realise that “young people need to see that there is a future for them in Ireland.”

In response to Martin’s claims, Senator Clune acknowledged that the €8 billion was not enough to tackle the issue, claiming that a minimum of €21 billion was needed, but stated that it was up to Ireland to first allocate “what we do receive properly.”

Clune continued by praising the JobBridge scheme, adding that while some people do have a bad experience with it, 77% of people involved in the initiative gain employment either with the original company or elsewhere.”

“It is not in any way a systematic or ambitious response to youth unemployment.”

However the success of JobBridge was questioned by Sinn Féin’s Reilly, who highlighted that the average hourly earnings of those who came through the scheme were 56% of the national average. In addition, she criticised the fact that no review of the success of the youth guarantee scheme will take place until its conclusion, calling

Europa Auditor Michael McCarthy with Fine Gael TD Dara Murphy, who spoke at the Conference. for independent monitoring of the unemployment, the second panel represented, adding that this was an scheme in Ireland to be introduced focused upon the treatment of example of the fact that Ireland “is on immediately.” minorities within Europe, with a the brink of change.” He added that the particular emphasis on Ireland’s upcoming referendum represented a On the issue of education, there was a upcoming referendum on marriage “once in a lifetime opportunity to bring equality to all our citizens.” cross panel consensus on needing to equality. further encourage young people within Ireland to attend third-level institutions The discussion, chaired by LGBT* However, the Cork South Central TD or gain further training through.

Society Auditor James Upton, saw stressed the need to avoid complacency, Fine Gael TD Jerry Buttimer speak highlighting that while many will Martin, however, issued a call for openly about his own life experience attempt to prevent the referendum the immediate reversal of cuts to and how the treatment of members of from succeeding, this was a chance the postgraduate grant, stating that the LGBT* community has improved to prove “we are all equal, we are all human beings and we are all citizens of these courses are crucial to the ‘job- in Ireland in recent years.

Europe.” readiness’ of many, before adding that the cuts disproportionately impact Buttimer pointed to the fact that this upon lower classes. year’s equality marches in Cork and Dublin represented the first time that Following on from the issue of all major political parties had been

Seven Societies receive funding for travel abroad Barry Aldworth | News Editor The UCC Societies’ Guild have reintroduced funding for groups wishing to travel abroad for noncompetitive reasons, with a total of seven societies receiving a combined total of approximately €18,760.

Such applications were disallowed in 2012 and the reintroduction this year saw the proposed itinerary of each trip being a central factor in the Guild’s decision on each application, as well as the activity of each society to date and their future plans.

With an upper limit of €5,000 put in place, the funding received by each society varied from €540 for eight Sophia members to attend the British Undergraduate Philosophy Conference, to the €4,349.50 awarded to the Europa Society. With this funding the society is set to bring 25 members to the European Commission, European Council and the European Parliament to provide an insight into politics within the European Union.

Also due to visit the European Parliament are UCC Amnesty, who were awarded €4,000 to cover the costs of a visiting the parliament as well as a public hearing at the European Court of Human Rights.

Meanwhile, Amsterdam is the destination for the Economics Society who, having also been awarded

€4,000, will visit the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the Trade Union Museum and the Trade Port of Rotterdam.

On the decision to accept applications for non-competitive travel, Laura Hussy, Societies’ Guild Engagement Officer, said; “The decision to accept applications for non-competitive trips abroad was made as a result of feedback from UCC’s societies themselves. There were many students who felt trips abroad could benefit their societies so much, even though they were not necessarily competitive trips.

“Seven societies were granted a total of €18,760 for noncompetitive trips abroad” “We have had very positive feedback from this decision as non-competitive societies such as Amnesty International and the Economics Society are getting the opportunity to bring their members to conferences, case hearings, etc.; something they would have been unable to do without this reform.”

UCC LGBT*, whose recent ‘Register to Vote’ campaign alongside groups such as the UCC Students’ Union and YesEquality.ie added 3,500 UCC students to the voting list, were also among the successful applications,

Two societies are set to visit the European Parliament after this decision. getting €2,271.80. The society will head to England to attend meetings of the London School of Economics Spectrum network and visit the offices of equality lobby group Stonewall.

Finally, the Surgical and Psychology Societies were awarded €2,400 and

€1,200 euro respectively to fund trips to Birmingham and Amsterdam. For the latter, the International Convention of Psychological Science is the destination; while the Surgical Society is due to bring 12 members to a course run by the Foundation of Clinical Surgery.

While this year is being treated as a trial-run for the initiative, an end of year review to be carried out by the Guild in May will determine how effective it has been and whether it is recommended to continue for next year.

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Tuesday, November 25th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Human Trafficking in Ireland exposed by victim Barry Aldworth | News Editor

The growing problem of human trafficking across the globe, but particularly within Ireland, was highlighted by UCC Law Society at their 14th annual conference.

The event, chaired by Deirdre Mortell, co-founder of the One Foundation, sought to highlight human trafficking as a form of modern slavery and ask what can be done to fight it. Mortell highlighted that while Ireland is trying to fight the problem and the number of investigations into alleged incidents increased by 100% in 2013 versus the year previous, just two of these resulted in prosecution.

Among those speaking on the day was Tia Dio, a former victim of forced labour, who highlighted that upon arriving in Ireland aged 17 she was forced to work at a diplomat’s house in conditions no person should ever face. She highlighted that diplomatic immunity allowed these people to evade the Irish legal system and it was not until a caller to the house put her in touch with the Migrant Rights Centre that she was able to escape.

Dio, who is currently working and studying in Ireland, stated that upon

earning her freedom she joined groups such as the Forced Labour Action Group as she “was not going to stand by and let others suffer the way I did.”

Through constant campaigning, a series of safeguards for the staff working in the houses of diplomats have been introduced, including a minimum age of 21, a minimum wage of €8.65, as well as visa renewal checks to ensure the workers’ rights are being upheld.

While Dio’s story highlights how some improvements to combat forced labour have been made, Colm O’Dwyer, a barrister specialising in human rights, argued that Ireland still has many improvements to make.

While the introduction of the 2008 Human Trafficking Act provided a better framework under which traffickers could be prosecuted, O’Dwyer highlighted that between 2008 and 2012 just 1 successful prosecution had taken place. He added “it’s very difficult to prosecute these offences” as often the victim doesn’t trust the authorities or lives in fear of the repercussions of coming forward.

In addition, O’Dwyer highlighted that the 2008 act doesn’t adequately deal with the identification of victims and

Virginija Petrauskaite, Legal Officer with the Migrants Rights Centre, speaks at the Law Conference.

Image by: Emmet Curtin. protecting them once the case is over, as well as largely ignoring Irish or EU citizens who are victims of trafficking.

The difficulty in prosecuting those responsible was also highlighted

by Mick Quinn of the Anti HumanTrafficking Unit within the Department of Justice, who said that often “victims don’t speak the language and may not trust the police.” In addition, referring to a case where a victim came

forward only to eventually withdraw the complaint, Quinn stated; “even if a textbook response is delivered, the ideal outcome is not guaranteed.”

Law student and Conference Director Sarah Cotter said that she hopes the conference highlighted the procedural issues which need reform, as well as the ways in which the public can combat the issue.

“If attendees walk away from this conference with anything, it will be with a drive to do something about the very real nightmare that has become a reality for many people in Ireland and all over the world.

“As future graduates from a diverse range of disciplines, the solution to the problem is in our hands.”

Bed bugs force evacuation of Trinity accommodation Barry Aldworth | News Editor A childhood fear of many became a reality for Trinity College Dublin students on November 17th, as an outbreak of bed bugs forced five students from their Goldsmith Hall accommodation.

While the outbreak is believed to have been limited to a single bedroom, all five residents of House 69, Goldsmith Hall were asked to vacate the premises to avoid a further spread. The students may be out of their accommodation until early 2015 as the parasitic insect can survive for up to a month without food.

Katharina Becker of the UCC Archaeology Department.

UCC research finds climate change did not end Bronze Age Dermot O’Neill | News Writer

weather.

750BC.”

A research project partly carried out by UCC has found that the climate change was not the cause of a major population collapse in Europe during the Bronze Age, as had long been assumed.

Central to pinpointing the correct dates for the population collapse was the use of radiocarbon testing on samples from hundreds of archaeological sites across Ireland. After this, the team of researchers analysed past climate records from Irish peat bogs to see if the dates matched up, leading to the discovery of the inconsistency.

Dr. Katharina Becker of UCC’s Archaeology Department added; “We are in the lucky position to have in Ireland a large set of well-dated sites that were excavated during the years of the Celtic Tiger in order to facilitate road, pipeline and housing developments. From an archaeological perspective, this selection of sites effectively provides a representative sample of past activity across the country.”

A team of archaeologists and environmental scientists from UCC, the University of Bradford, University of Leeds and Queen’s University Belfast have proven that the changes in climate, which scientists had blamed for the population collapse actually occurred two generations later.

The decline began in approximately 900BC and continued throughout the following 100 years, but climate records show that these dates are inconsistent with any drastic change in

On the discovery, Ian Armit, the study’s lead author and Professor of Archaeology at the University of Bradford, said; “Our evidence shows, definitively, that the population decline in this period cannot have been caused by climate change... we found clear evidence for a rapid change in climate to much wetter conditions, which we were able to precisely pinpoint to

Professor Armit concluded that social and economic factors are more likely to have been the cause of the population decline, adding that the project helped to highlight “the real complexity of human/environmental relationships in the past.”

“It has affected eight students who have been relocated” The affected students are believed to have first been warned about the issue via email earlier this month, before a decision to re-house them in an apartment complex in the Docklands was reached. However they were asked to leave behind clothes and all personal belongs, other than laptops, tablets and mobile phones, and were given €150 to replace the lost items.

A statement released by Trinity College Dublin said: “An isolated incident of bed bugs has been identified in two apartments situated in a modern block adjacent to the campus. It has affected eight students (of a total of 1,700 in residence), who have been relocated to two serviced apartments adjacent to

the College, and one room on College campus.

“The Accommodation Office has adopted rigorous protocols in treating the affected accommodation. The intensive treatment process is expected to be complete after Christmas and students will be able to return to their accommodation by the beginning of next term.

“The treatment plan is also designed to ensure that it doesn’t spread to other rooms. The cause of the outbreak is unknown, but the issue is known to arise from time to time in many types of accommodation including hotels.”

Bed bugs are currently a growing problem within parts of Dublin, with increased air travel and tourism identified as possible causes.

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 25th 2014

NUIG ordered Water charges debate divides to promote Student Council lecturer after Barry Aldworth | News Editor fraught with the same lack of clarity which made five years of councils The contentious nature of water Business and Law College discrimination charges was reflected at the latest redundant.

Rep Markus Knuttson highlighted Student Council as a motion calling for that it was unclear whether the motion accusation a protest against the levy was rejected was about the issue of water charges, Nora Healy | News Writer NUI Galway has been ordered to promote a botanist to the position of senior lecturer after the Equality Tribunal found her application for the position in 2009 was overlooked because of her gender.

The tribunal heavily criticised NUIG’s decision not to promote Dr. Micheline Sheehy Skeffington, a long serving and widely published academic, describing the process as “ramshackle.” In addition to the promotion, NUIG will also have to pay €70,000 in damages and initiate a review of its appointments system.

Sheehy Skeffington, granddaughter of the suffragette Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, said that the tribunal’s ruling “struck a blow for all female academics,” after claiming that the application process for promotion within NUIG was weighted against females.

She highlighted that during the application proceedings, three male colleagues who had failed to meet the minimum requirement of contact hours with students were awarded higher scores in the ‘Teaching and Examining’ criteria of the interview.

The tribunal ruled that while the procedure followed by NUIG appeared fair on paper, in practice it fell short as only one member of the sevenperson interview panel was female. In addition, the hearing highlighted that of 17 people promoted to the rank of senior lecturer across the university in recent years, only one was a woman.

Furthermore, of those who applied for the role, none has supervised more PhDs to completion than Sheehy Skeffington. While NUIG, at the time, stressed the high standards of applications, the only candidate who did not have a PhD came first in the competition.

After the ruling, Sheehy Skeffington stated that she hoped the decision would force all Irish universities to address the “shocking discrimination” against women who seek promotion to senior positions.

NUIG accepted the tribunal’s findings without reservation and issued an apology to Dr. Sheehy Skeffington for any distress caused.

by students, shortly before a separate motion calling for the SU to lobby against the charges was passed.

The first proposal, brought forward

by UCC SU Mature Student Officer, Crystal Leiker, would have mandated Deputy President and Campaigns Officer Dick Murphy to organise a student protest against the charges.

Leiker highlighted that while the charges have come down in recent weeks, it is still unclear how much people will be expected to pay and that “the SU should ensure the government caps the charges at €160.”

The motion first came unstuck over the absence of a deadline. While Leiker advocated for the protest to occur before December 10th, Murphy argued this simply wasn’t feasible as “everyone’s up the wall with exams.”

Furthermore, with the previous ‘Wiping of the Slate’ motion still fresh in the minds of many, several students highlighted that the first motion was

Irish Water or the potential future privatisation of the company.

Additionally, College of Medicine and Health Rep Ali Khan argued that the money that would be spent on such a protest could be used to establish a support fund for students struggling with paying the charge. However this claim was rebuffed by Cian Power, SU Welfare Officer, who argued that with 20,000 students in UCC, there simply wouldn’t be enough to go around, before stating that; “Unions fight for their rights… If we don’t want to fight, why are we here?”

Ultimately, however, the lack of clarity in the motion couldn’t be overcome as the class representatives present voted by a margin of 67 to 26 to not support the motion.

However, to the visible annoyance of many, there was no escaping the issue of water charges as the next motion, proposed by Power, called for Murphy to lobby Irish Water and the Minister for

Enda Kenny was met by water charges protestors after launching UCC's new Governance, Risk & Complaince Technology Centre on Friday.

Image by: Marc Moylan. the Environment in relation to possible would offer the SU “a platform to relief of the charges for students. work with TDs and other colleges” to represent the problem the charges Communications Officer Barry Nevin present to students. However, Knuttson immediately tabled a procedural again argued that the motion, just like motion for the proposal not to be voted the one which preceded it, was unclear on, pointing out that a similar idea had stating that having such vague motions just been abandoned. However, as the means “we can’t have an effective debate descended into a discussion of union.” the differences between lobbying and protesting, those present ultimately Finally, as the debate returned to points decided for the motion to be discussed which had already been made, a request in full. to vote on the issue was passed, before the motion itself was passed by a weary Power argued that the second motion majority.

College to honour alumni who became ‘Mighty Oaks’ Barry Aldworth | News Editor The varied paths taken by students after their college years end will be highlighted on November 28th as five UCC alumni, including a globally recognised expert in the treatment of gunshot wounds, are set to be given the University’s highest honour for graduates.

Among those due to receive an ‘acorn to might oak’ award is Dr. John Barrett, who graduated with a degree in Medicine in 1969, before specialising in trauma surgery. This decision ultimately led to Barrett becoming the Director and Chairman of Trauma at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, the hospital which is credited as having inspired the George Clooney-led medical drama ER. Barrett held the position at Cook County from 1982 until his retirement in 2003, during which time the trauma unit became a separate department within the hospital, the first of its kind in the US. In addition to his medical work, Barrett has lectured across the globe in the treatment of trauma and has maintained a heavy involvement in efforts to reduce violence in the city of Chicago.

Furthermore, as the internet continues to make students’ lives easier, the University is set to honour a man who pioneered the use of computer technology in teaching during the 1980s and 1990s.

Prof. John Naughton, who left UCC with a degree in Engineering in 1968,

Director John Crowley is one of five to be honored. is perhaps best known for his seminal in a five-year research project on work on the history of the internet, conspiracy and democracy, which is entitled A Brief History of the Future: being funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

The origins of the Internet. As well as this, Naughton currently acts as the Also due to be honoured on the night Open University’s Emeritus Professor are: Justice Marie Baker, High Court for the Public Understanding of Judge; director, John Crowley; and Brendan Tuohy, a former Secretary Technology.

General of the Department of During his time as a lecturer in Systems Communications, Energy and Natural at the Open University, having taken resources. Tuohy, who graduated with up the role in 1972, Naughton largely a degree in Civil Engineering in 1977 facilitated the adoption of the internet is to receive the Alumnus Award for and computers as teaching tools. Voluntary Service to UCC. The Mayo man is presently involved

Originally from Montenotte, Tuohy has maintained a lengthy involvement with UCC, having been a member of several external advisory boards for Business Information Systems, the School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences and the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences.

Additionally, he assisted in the establishment of the International Research Centre at the Tyndall and the Capacity Building Centre for the United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Monitoring System for Water, based in UCC.

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On the efforts for Marriage Equality Brian Conmy | Deputy News Editor

We’ve known for a while now that the Marriage Equality referendum was set to happen in 2015. While we still don’t have a specific date, it’s been a looming event for many people, myself included. I’m gay and a person long involved with LGBT* activism, particularly in UCC. As such, the actions of the UCC LGBT* Society, in conjunction with a number of other groups, to get such a large number of people registered to vote is nothing short of staggering. The work behind the scenes and, sometimes, more publicly being done by various members of the Students’ Union and Student Council have also been impressive in this space.

“Whether or not I’d have supported it in Council, I still don’t know”

Yet it’s possible for these efforts to, at times, go too far, seemingly. At the most recent Student Council, plans were discussed to hold a mock Marriage Equality referendum on campus. While both sides of the debate had its supporters and detractors, the motion ultimately passed so this is something we will see happening come January.

To be honest, the motion is entirely well meaning and there are logical arguments for and against.

For instance, when this mock referendum passes, as it obviously will, seeing how high levels of youth support for Marriage Equality have consistently been (a campus.ie survey of 366 UCC students showed that 92.35% support Marriage Equality), does that give everyone a sense of self-congratulations that let them become complacent on the actual referendum? Or does seeing this win cause a renewed awareness of the issue in the general student body in the run up to the referendum proper, hopefully getting more people to the polls?

Tuesday, November 25th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

I’m unsure, ultimately, what the end effect will be. Even as a political science student, this is an idea that I can’t quite account for.

While other arguments for or against this mock referendum may come to you as you read this, there are some obvious answers to be had.

“A campus.ie survey of 366 UCC students showed that 92.35% support Marriage Equality”

Firstly, this isn’t likely to cost much as it’s happening at the same time as an actual on-campus referendum for USI affiliation.

It’s such a clear cut issue that persuasive advertising doesn’t have to be made and take up a premium of SU time, once awareness of the referendums themselves are being made.

Plus, given that this may be the one chance in a very long time that we, as a nation, actually get to vote on this issue, it seems fair for this SU membership to spend as much time on the issue as it has, and seems to plan to.

When I first heard of the idea in passing of a mock referendum on this issue, I wrote it off as stupid. Though, when I gave it a modicum of thought, it made perfect sense in many ways. Whether or not I’d have supported it in Council, I still don’t know. However, what’s become apparent after this and a number of other Council motions lately, wiping the slate to mention just one, is that on these emotive issues, there are people on both sides of the voting who genuinely care about the issue.

Do I think this referendum could make the Student Union look like they are fighting hard for Marriage Equality? Yes, but that’s a platform many of the members were elected on. Could this public effort be done another way? Yes, but what’s to say this isn’t a particularly strong method of encouraging actual voting?

It’ll be interesting to hear the buzz on-campus around the referendum, at least, and it’ll be good preparation for the craziness of the SU elections to come. So savour being able to walk past the Boole in relative peace, for now! Students taking part in the YesEquality campaign

. Image by: Emmet Curtin.

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 25th 2014

The Cosgrave Fallacy

Virginia Good-McKeown criticises the university snobbery propagated by founder of the Dublin Web Summit, Paddy Cosgrave Paddy Cosgrave’s recent statement about the value of grades from NUI institutions has sparked pubic confusion about how to gauge university snobbery on a spectrum of craic and pretence.

“In the interview, Cosgrave also argued that degree programs offered

by Trinity were superior because they were four years in length, rather than three”

According to the Report for the University Council, TCD, all Irish universities have been engaging in grade inflation, Trinity included.

Although some have been doing so more than others, this fact is somewhat beside the point, since grade inflation is the issue at hand, not the value of education.

Prior to Cosgrave’s remark, university

snobbery was taken with a pinch of salt, as it should be. Now, due to Cosgrave’s snobbery, which he forgot to leave at home, grade inflation has become an issue of discrimination in the labour market, which has caused direct confusion about how education is valued in the Irish capitalist economy.

On Today FM’s The Last Word, Cosgrave admitted that he himself graduated with a 2.1 degree from Trinity College. In a further interview on the Pat Kenny Show in May, he attempted to make fallacious arguments to justify his blatant discrimination towards NUI graduates.

Speaking to Pat Kenny, Cosgrave stated that; “our biggest challenge is the huge volume of CVs that we get from 21, 22 and 23-years-olds and that reflects, unfortunately, the still huge rates of unemployment…

“So, when we end up with 300 CVs for a single position, we have to be, unfortunately, brutal about it. Our filter, unfortunately, to begin to get to the interview stage, is the grades.”

Is being ‘brutal’ about educational institutions falling into line with our nation’s liberal rights?

Cosgrave proceeded to argue that the 900% grade increase on behalf of NUI Maynooth was a valid justification to devalue all NUI graduate 1.1s. In the interview, Cosgrave also argued that degree programs offered by Trinity were superior because they were four years in length, rather than three.

However, with the new introduction of the BA International program into NUI universities, this past difference no longer applies.

Towards the end of the interview, Cosgrave proceeded to play the Undergraduate Awards (UA) card.

Trinity appeared to dominate the UA in 2011 but – to get to the heart of this matter – whether this truly reflects the level of education offered by an institution would require a separate investigation. It is unreasonable to assume on the basis of which individuals win at the UA competition, that the value of a university’s education is determined.

Paddy Cosgrave should be taken off his snobby pedestal; biased and presumptuous businessmen don’t get to make judgements about the value of the nation’s third-level education system and be taken seriously. Personal offence taken and put aside, let us return this grade inflation hype back to earth and ensure that, until ample evidence is provided, discrimination in the labour market will not continue.

from getting ill. I am venturing down a very different career path and my outlook and respect for life and myself has been dramatically enhanced but, most crucially, the means I place on the close relationships I now have with family and friends has increased significantly.

but those that remain have proved just how invaluable true friendship is, and believe me; valued it very much is.

Having your independence robbed overnight is terrifying, and having understanding and patient friends and family, while you try to regain it fully, is pivotal to a full recovery.

A life shared

Diarmaid Twomey reflects on how his experience with a long term illness changed his outlook for the better.

Recently I decided to reflect on something very current and real about my own life. Recovering from ME (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) has been an integral part of my life for the past three years and, while I recognise now that I lost a lot in the initial throes of it, not a day goes by that I am not grateful for the positive changes it has brought into my life.

However, since the very first day I got sick, there has been an impact which continues to frustrate me; the impact my illness has had on my social interactions with friends and family.

From speaking with people in similar circumstances, I know I’m not alone in this regard.

For the last three years, friends and family could be forgiven for thinking that I no longer care about what’s going on with their lives, such has been the variety of elaborate excuses that accompanied declines to invitations of social outings. I have turned down more events, nights out and casual meet-ups than I have turned up to. Some have, understandably, ceased enquiring as to my availability anymore, as I’m sure my absence is now seen as a foregone conclusion.

year of my illness, I remember spending time on social media, jealously watching other people’s lives continue as normal, reading poetic descriptions of the severities of people’s hangovers, while flicking through tagged photos of nights out. Now, my face has started appearing in those same tagged photos and the odd hangover is no longer as tempting a mistress as she once was, now that I have been reminded of her temperament.

you look okay you must feel okay, right? It’s hard to explain to people that, although I am firmly on the road to recovery, I still have eerie memories and fears etched in my mind. That horrible feeling I experienced on so many mornings as I gazed out the window, acutely aware that another mentally solitary day lay in wait, is one that still haunts me to this day, and sometimes the fear of relapse totally consumes me.

“The most upsetting aspect of getting sick has never been attributed to my actual ailment but to the knockon social impact”

More than occasionally, I dodge events and outings to try to preserve energy and avoid burnout. I head home on breaks from college rather than socialising and skip the post work pints. I wouldn’t blame people for thinking this is because I don’t enjoy their company but the reality is that this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Nevertheless, old habits die hard.

Spending hours on social media became my way of engaging in some form of social interaction, a crutch which I struggle to release to this day.

The most upsetting aspect of getting sick has never been attributed to my actual ailment but to the knock-on social impact.

Even now, I still have to pace my active social life. Nights out take their toll and anything not pre-planned can cause havoc.

While I was bed bound for the initial

Some people don’t understand, once

I started my first job in three years during the summer and now I continue to work there full time, while also attending UCC. While this would take its toll on most people, it just takes that extra bit on me, so caution has become an operative word in my thought vocabulary. Far from complaining about it, though, I have never been happier. I am able to socialise and function again, even if I still find it difficult to partake in the simplest of social events.

So what’s the purpose of saying all this? I spoke at the start of this piece about the many positives I have gained

Yes, people who I thought good friends have disappeared in the past three years,

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Tuesday, November 25th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Hologram technology far from light years away Emmett Flynn | Features Writer

Imagine walking down a street and your phone rings. Instead of craning down to look at the phone, you press a button to beam a hologram in front of you via a chip the size of a Tic-Tac. Using this hologram you can have a high-resolution video-chat with someone – all without breaking stride.

It may sound like it is years away but, thankfully, it isn’t. Instead it’s an example of a future that awaits us before summer 2015. The result of years of work by a company called Ostendo Technologies based in California, it may only add €24 onto the cost of Smartphones.

Holograms will change how we view, consume and interpret data in the future; they will revolutionise technology use by adapting the display on which content is shown to our individual needs. Indeed, it may eventually disrupt the domination of the smartphone as, in five to ten years’ time, the chip might be able to run without a smartphone as a power source.

Excitingly Ostendo isn’t stopping there as it plans to roll out this technology

anywhere displays are needed: computers, smartwatches, TVs, even tables; this could just be Minority Report brought to life. The reason Ostendo is the company to watch in this long-predicted field is that the resolutions of their holograms are vastly superior to the competition and even to smartphones.

“Ostendo’s holograms come with a whopping 5,000ppi - an 887% increase in pixels” To put it in perspective, the highest pixels-per-inch (ppi) smartphone display goes to the Motorola Droid Turbo with 564ppi; Ostendo’s holograms come with a whopping 5,000ppi - an 887% increase in pixels.

The hologram projector in development is known as the Quantum Photonic Imager, comprised of an image processor, microLEDs and imagerendering software. This chip controls the colour, brightness and angle of

The party of promise?

each beam of light across one million pixels. A 2D-rendering chip will be the version found in smartphones before the summer and the 3D version will be released later in 2015.

Competition in the field includes Microsoft, AMD and HP but the smart money is on Ostendo. The early backers of Facebook, Peter Thiel and Third Wave Ventures are behind the transformative technology of holograms.

$90 million has been raised which has allowed Ostendo to patiently reduce the size of the chip and improve the resolution of its holograms for over nine years in secret. The confidentiality surrounding Ostendo’s operations mean the media only got wind of this company in June. Ostendo has a high chance of success as the chip will most likely be placed in the iPhone 6S and the newest model Samsung: two of the most successful brands of smartphones.

Although hologram technology may be unparalleled in the fervour it creates, it is still only in its infancy.2D holograms should be enough for most people, minimising problems of image pollution, battery life and intrusions into others’ personal space. 3D holograms might be useful for things like shopping by, for example, viewing a product before purchase. Amazingly, before next summer, people may be carrying with them the newest revolution in mobile computing.

notice another tax.

as Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil. If this happens, Sinn Féin will not be able to consistently have its way. While Sinn Féin are clearly able to talk the talk, it will take a few years before we will know if they can do the walk.

Elaine Healy-Rae questions whether the rise and rise of Sinn Féin is sustainable Sinn Féin is a party that once boasted Michael Collins, Arthur Griffith and Éamon de Valera amongst its members.

It is the party under which the first Dáil was formed. It is the party that sent delegates to London to sign a treaty that led to complete independence for the 26 counties. The heroes it once contained are no more but a new era now beckons for the party.

The party grew in prominence in Northern Ireland but, up until recently, it was not very strong in the Republic.

Sinn Féin won only four seats in the 2007 general election, a number which jumped to 14 in 2011. Sinn Féin is currently in a position of possibly forming a coalition government following the next election. If this happens it will make history, but are Sinn Féin a practical solution to the nation’s woes?

Gerry Adams as a man, not to mention leader of a political party, has gotten away with too much. Instead of party members rising up to elect a new leader, they all follow the party line and blindly protect their chief. If Enda Kenny, Joan Burton or Micheál Martin did what Adams has done, not only would they no longer be leader of their respective parties, it is likely that they would have to hang up their political boots altogether.

Disappointingly Mary Lou McDonald did not speak up on the recent case of rape victim Máiría Cahill. McDonald is, no one will contest, a strong woman who speaks up for the poor in society, yet she did not find it possible to go against her beloved party and question Gerry Adam’s actions.

Yet surely there is a reason support for Sinn Féin has increased. They must be doing something right. There is no doubt that their professionalism has improved. Having met one of their newly elected councillors and some of their long-term politicians, it is clear that the party chooses highly articulate men and women to stand for election.

Regarding the huge unemployment problem currently facing Ireland, Sinn

“Gerry Adams as a man, not to mention leader of a political party, has gotten away with too much” Féin’s have stated that; “There is a way to get Ireland back to work. The employment crisis can be addressed if the political will is there... In government, Sinn Féin would make job creation our number one priority.” With such huge demand for jobs, especially in certain industries, it is little wonder that Sinn Féin is gaining supporters.

Sinn Féin proposes “growth friendly” measures to balance the budget, “unlike Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fáil.”

The party would be willing to cut the salaries of Oireachtas politicians and would introduce a higher rate of tax on earners of over €100,000. They oppose property tax and water charges.

This party appears to wish to hit only those earning more than €100,000.

Therefore Sinn Féin are attractive to the ‘squeezed middle’, the working class and the youth. The measures they claim they would bring in if they got the chance attract large numbers of support and only marginalize the highearners, who, some say, would barely

If Sinn Féin are elected to form part of the next government it is likely that they will be the minority party.

Similar to Labour, they may only play a supporting role with a majority, such

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 25th 2014

Slavery continues in the modern day Cormac Manning hears from a Law Conference that delved into Human Trafficking You are alone in a foreign country. You know nobody there and your family is far away in a different continent. Every friend you have is nowhere near you.

Everyone around you speaks a foreign language you struggle to master.

The only people you know are your employer and their associates. For this employer you work long hard hours, week in, week out. Holidays do not exist. Sick leave does not exist. When you can get some sleep, you are forced to sleep on a smelly old mattress in a dingy room. The door is locked from the outside, you cannot choose to leave. You receive no wages for your work. Welcome to 21st century Ireland.

‘Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery’ was the topic of 2014’s annual UCC Law Society conference, as two panels of experts addressed the attendees on the reality of modernday trafficking and slavery. Speaking at the conference, Aidan McQuade, Director of Anti-Slavery International, said that while we often use slavery as a metaphor when we say “enslaved by poverty or drugs,” modern slavery is not metaphorical – there are humans enslaving other human beings.

Around the world today at least 21 million people are in slavery or forced labour. These range from kafala workers in Qatar working and dying

building World Cup stadiums, to prawn fishers in Thailand and to Ireland itself.

As barrister Colm O’Dwyer said at the conference, Irish people are trafficked and Irish people are traffickers. Slavery keeps transmuting throughout history, and in our time appears in newer areas like cannabis cultivation, as well as ancient practices such as prostitution and forced child marriage.

“As barrister Colm O’Dwyer said at the conference, Irish people are trafficked and Irish people are traffickers”

McQuade identified three common factors which facilitate slavery. There is usually individual vulnerability.

Often this is poverty, but can also be other factors such as alcoholism. There is usually social exclusion. Those who are trafficked are often those who wider society doesn’t care about:

Senior Counsel Colm O’Dwyer speaks during the Law Society Conference. indigenous people in South America, the untouchable caste in South Asia or immigrants in Western Europe. And there is usually a failure of the rule of law. When these three factors come together, slavery is the result.

Slavery and trafficking, however, are not inevitable. We design the political and social structure that can either facilitate it or not. Speakers at the conference drew attention to the impacts of our migration policy on trafficking, something that is often not

mentioned. Anti-trafficking is currently dealt with by the same division of the Gardaí that deal with immigration, and this puts off some victims from approaching them for help. In addition, the panel drew attention to the culture in the UK Borders Agency, where success is defined by how many people you deport.

The transatlantic slave trade was ended by a diverse movement of people and heavily inspired by a young student, Thomas Clarkson, not much older than

Image by: Emmet Curtin. most UCC students when he published a landmark essay in 1785 on whether it was lawful to enslave the unwilling.

“Remember not that we were enslaved, but that we fought,” declares the AntiSlavery Museum in Liverpool, and that fight continues today.

Finally, Conference chairperson, Deirdre Mortell, said that, “in a democracy, the law represents our values as a nation.” We are a democracy. Is the current condition a true representation of our values?

‘Gay Cakes’: Drawing the line against discrimination Morgane Conaty | Features Writer

against the right to freedom of thought.

A Christian Bakery in Northern Ireland got into hot water this summer after it refused to make a cake depicting Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street, the logo of the pressure group QueerSpace and the slogan ‘Support Gay Marriage’.

The cake was for an event coinciding with the International Day Against Homophobia.

The Commission has stated that the “case raises issues of public importance regarding the extent to which suppliers of goods and services can refuse service on grounds of sexual orientation, religious belief and political opinion.”

Equality legislation in Northern Ireland, as in many other countries, prohibits unlawful discrimination in the provision of goods and services on the basis of religion, politics, and sexual orientation, among others. However, a refusal to provide a service which is promoting a certain cause or idea does not equate to discrimination based on the characteristics of the person.

“The bakery case is hard to reconcile with the antidiscrimination law” The Equality Commission of Northern Ireland has stepped in on behalf of the customer and in the past few weeks has threatened legal action against the bakery for breach of equality laws, if they do not offer compensation. The bakery on the other hand, maintains their position that they should not be forced to promote a cause that goes against their beliefs. With both sides having entrenched support and with Northern Ireland remaining the only part of the UK not to legalise same-sex marriage, this case is likely to be highly contentious; pitting the right to equality

A clear distinction must be made between the cases: for example, to refuse to print a poster for someone who supports Fine Gael would be discrimination on the basis of political opinion. Refusing to print a political poster asking people to support Fine Gael, however, is legitimate if you disagree with the promoted cause; you are merely expressing your right to freedom of thought. The bakery case is hard to reconcile with the antidiscrimination law.

In refusing to make a cake that would be promoting a cause they did not support, the bakery was not at the same time refusing the order because of the sexual orientation of the customer. Had the customer been heterosexual the

outcome would probably have been the same.

This is not the first time that a bakery has been in the news over ‘gay cakes’.

In May of this year a court in Colorado ruled that a bakery that had refused to make a cake for a gay wedding due to religious beliefs had unlawfully discriminated against the same-sex couple. In this case, the discrimination against the characteristics of the couple was blatant, the service would have been provided had the customers been

a heterosexual couple.

Another case by the UK Supreme Court in 2013 ruled against the Christian owners of a guesthouse who had turned away a gay couple and ordered them to pay damages.

From these cases it is evident that the right to behave in accordance with religious beliefs does not permit any form of discrimination. However, the Northern Ireland case can be distinguished, the issue being that they

did not support the cause that the cake was advocating.

While I do not agree with the views and actions of the bakery, the case does raise questions regarding the right to freedom of expression and the balance it must share with discrimination law.

If you were to reverse the case and have a liberal bakery confronted with a cake for an anti-gay marriage event, would their refusal be justified? If so, then the Christian bakery’s actions were not discriminatory.

10 |

The Shadows of Secrecy

Tuesday, November 25th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Photographer Paul McCambridge speaks to JP O’Sullivan on his experience of the horrific nature of human trafficking taking place across India. onto a local bus, Monia found herself beginning her journey of 1500km’s through the beautiful sunderbans, towards the murky underworld of New Delhi.

Waking up in a locked bedroom in New Delhi, Monia met with her madam.

Thrown a dress and underwear to put on, she was told to wash herself and get ready. Some while later, Monia was told that this was her new life as a sex worker and she would have to “work to pay off the money owed” to her traffickers by “having sex with customers.”

Several beatings and deliberate starvation followed before Monia accepted her new life and the 15 daily customers she would ‘service’. Her status as a young virgin found her in demand and to this day is unsure if her first client was HIV positive; local mythology infers that sex with a virgin offers a straight forward cure.

The local equivalent of 50 cent would have bought me a child on my first day in Kolkata.

“The 30,000 trafficked are hidden. The girls whose lives have been changed for a few euro are hidden behind closed doors” Finding myself lost and wandering through the vibrant back streets of the ‘City of Joy’, I was faced by a family staring at me in hungered desperation, peering out from underneath a sheet of black plastic which was their home; I was now in their front garden, the pavement. Their mother, pleading with me to hand over 30 rupees to feed her family in exchange for one of her children, was gaunt, a worn frame who was not engaging in this conversation for the first time. I handed over the 30 rupees and walked on in shock towards a local tea stall to sit and read my newspaper; a newspaper I don’t remember starting or finishing.

It was the most striking encounter of my life; how does someone find themselves in such a desperate situation that their child’s innocence and childhood can be exchanged for 50 cent? I often wonder

where the family are now, how many 50 cent pieces have been exchanged and how many nights have this family gone to sleep on a pavement amongst rats and rabid dogs without a grain of rice in their stomachs?

It was my first day in a city which was to become my second home, my global village; a village with 22 million people, but a village in the original Irish sense, a community where doors were unlocked, arms were outstretched and homes belonged to the people, not the barricaded sanctuaries many now find themselves in.

Kolkata may be overloaded with poverty but it is a unique ‘village’, the poor smile through the poverty, their lives may be local but their dreams are global. The children whom I have worked alongside don’t fill their days with envy, they fill them with the childhoods which they find themselves in. Parents eek a living, cradle their children on the pavements and sleep with a protective torso draped across their children on the streets during the night, the only safety they can provide.

India is a wonderful country; a diverse nation of 1,600 languages, it is experiencing huge development.

However, according to the United Nations it is also, “The most dangerous place in the world to be born a girl.”

Where poverty lies, so too does exploitation.

India is still very much a patriarchal society where the girl child is

secondary and the boy leads. It is a changing nation, where throngs of jean and t-shirt clad young ladies parade the streets, drop into local shopping malls, fast-food outlets and the cinema. These are the girls whose parents can afford to lift them out of traditional India, can hold them high above the poverty and guide them towards the ideal, western life.

“Monia found herself beginning her journey of 1,500kms through the beautiful sunderbans, towards the murky underworld of New Delhi”

Those left behind are those scavenging through the rubbish heaps, amongst the litterbins. With outstretched hands and empty bellies, these are the street children and the invisible children of India.

Amidst the relaxed atmosphere of daily life in West Bengal, the western state of India where Kolkata is based, the 30,000 trafficked are hidden. The girls whose lives have been changed for a few euro are hidden behind

closed doors. It is estimated that 31 billion dollars are generated in the human trafficking trade; a monetary surmisation on the heads of those who are lost, the hidden, the silenced and the shadowed.

One story amongst thousands is that of Monia. A chance meeting at a bus stop with a “friendly pregnant woman” in West Bengal would change the life of carefree Monia forever.

On her way home from a routine hospital appointment, Monia was casually offered a sweet by her new acquaintance. The sweet, whose ill effects would only take minutes to take hold, would have life-changing consequences. Now drugged, Monia was beckoned by the woman who was to become her first trafficker. Led

Two months into her ordeal, Monia came face to face with the person who was to be both her latest client and also the person who would lead her rescue. Recognising her dialect, he enquired about her background. A fellow Bengali, she pleaded for his help and he obliged. Making contact with her family in rural Bengal, a link with Cork’s HOPE Foundation was made and a rescue plan with the police was drafted. Their joint efforts saw Monia, along with many other girls rescued and returned to their families.

Burdened by the stigma attached to her life in Delhi, Monia was unable to speak openly about her ordeal. Behavioural challenges, bonding problems and trust issues were to plague her through her early adulthood. She was later married to a local who to this day is unaware of his brides past.

This is just one case amongst thousands which The Hope Foundation work with every day. To support the work of HOPE, please visit www. hopefoundation.ie and help make a difference to the lives of those who need our support.

Images by: Paul McCambridge.

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 25th 2014

In Twilight Shannon Carey

Lost and Found

Why do you always feel so inevitable to me? as easy as the transience from dawn to dusk.

The twilight period when grey is all but one with the silver linings of the sky.

Where vicious kisses mingle with fallen foliage, and spoken words are few and far between.

You are more grounded than the roots of oak, yet take flight faster than the seasonal swallow.

In darkness you absorb me of my shallow breath, and sap desire from deep within my fragile soul.

In morning we are engulfed by the sun infused flames, and in the eye of the tornado our frantic words collide.

Her black and white

Dylan P. O’Keeffe

Mosaic, silhouette, Ever desired by mine.

She liked the touch of cold rain

She liked the smells of coffee beans

I would imagine being with her;

In the face of extinction

And freshly quashed candle flames.

In dreams she beamed,

John Grattan

On her pale, hot skin,

Becoming mine,

Cinema, music, poetry and art.

She drank milk from A Clockwork Orange

I am reduced to smouldering ash, I can no longer fight.

And feared the future of 2001.

my affections lie dormant awaiting your beckoning call.

smoking

a

It seemed to me that synthpop, Alas the wounds delve deeper than the mantle’s core, from each new wave of fury, the salt with vengeance stings.

You are thunder provoking the lightning strike, expecting ice not to melt as the fire roars.

Oh ye of little faith in this world should know more, than to abide to convention and conjure such hate.

To pursue such love in ashen clouds I will wait, fear not, there is such beauty in twilight for you to uphold.

Rap and alternative rock rushed through her veins With sad pangs of Amy Winehouse As she read Sylvia Plath.

She stumbled through her world, Falling at gigs and art galleries, Complaining without a cause, Reading.

Her blood red lips and ice white skin Wooed me on bitter mornings;

Of messy bedrooms and big TVs,

I passed my maths test

Because it was Vaccination Day

Crackling vinyl and eighties movies,

In the face of extinction

The girls came in in tracksuits

Tongues and living poetry,

I made my own dinner

To be comfortable in protection

And nothing else would matter.

In the face of extinction

Against some girls’ disease.

I smile when I walk

I sometimes saw her as Mia Wallace, Drunk, sophisticated, cigarette.

Dylan P. O’Keeffe In the face of extinction

She was culture;

As blood runs sweet from swollen lips,

So I flee without haste like the startled fox,

Vaccination Day and all the others

Bass lines would make us shake,

I am happy with myself

Lost in dark eyes, lustful sleights

In the face of extinction

And bad dancing:

Times aren’t so bad

Lost in her, lost in me.

In the face of extinction

As groups of girls were called to the bookless library

I have decided not to have kids

To meet the friendly prick

I would plunge into that darkness

In the face of extinction

Against the potential, invisible enemy.

To stumble into love,

I will lose my siblings to a war that makes sense

Whatever love that is.

But I came to hate her; She was too far from me.

The profound became meaningless, To leave my eyes only craving When I saw her again the other day, At her dark hair, eyes, body, art In awe.

There will be no countries There will be no patriotism There will only be enemies In the face of extinction There will be a finite hell

Classes were interrupted at regular intervals, The order of school work shot

On that and other days Some girls smoked in bathrooms at break, Unknowingly, carelessly showing two fingers to their aid, Calling on another cancer,

In the face of extinction I passed my maths test

While at the college’s side, A monument To the college’s dead.

12 |

Tuesday, November 25th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

News Headlines

Water charges protestor fined for throwing water balloon at An Taoiseach in first reported instance of water charges actually working.

Kim Kardashian’s cover shoot fails to break the internet, however succeeds in teaching mothers everywhere that it is always best to knock.

Comet probe falls over on its side and can’t get up again. So did my Nan, but she didn’t cost 1.5 billion euro.

With Love/ Hate over, droves of Irish people realise they actually have nothing in common.

Gay bull saved from slaughterhouse.

Tough luck for the other 250,000.

American Erasmus student mesmerised by ‘pre-drinking’.

still

Joan Burton trapped in her car while hundreds of protestors attempted to help.

USA carpet bomb several ISIS strongholds. ISIS switch to timber flooring.

TV Guide RTÉ 2

Monday @ 9pm: Baz’s annoying TV show. Remember Baz? Yeah neither did we.

TV3

Sunday @ 9pm: the story of a plucky 1900s good-time gal in Downtown Abbey.

In Boole we Trust!

Bea Grande explores the exam-time habits of college students As winter exams approach, students have been flocking to the library in an attempt to make up for the previous ten weeks of procrastination. This new development has left library regulars feeling annoyed and frustrated at the lack of available desks and the steep rise in idiots per capita.

No longer can OG (original gangster) library goers spread out five of their finest A4 pads – still in mint condition – to maintain the pretence of study; all the while simultaneously checking Facebook on their laptop and phone in the hope of finding that one has a notification which the other has failed to pick up on.

Even worse, there is no longer ample space for their precious coats and jackets to be placed lovingly on the empty chairs beside them. Instead they must suffer that which is worst in life: unrequested human contact.

Meanwhile, it is only now that the rest of the student population become privy to the alluring aspects of the Boole Library. The library is an undervalued location for a range of activities and it is in the run up to exam period that all its true glory emerges.

Those comfy chairs scattered around the library windows become perfect for catching up on some much needed sleep. And, if you’re a snorer, don’t worry; most students either wear headphones or are frantically typing on their laptops, so snoring is only picked

up by the most observant of studiers.

Perhaps, if you’re feeling particularly productive, you may couple this nap with an unusual, but popular, study technique. Rather than actually reading your assigned texts and notes, many students opt to simply sleep near them.

Many students swear by this technique!

Not only do they save time and energy but it is possible that they will simply hibernate all the way through the month and wake up refreshed and renewed, ready to sit their repeats.

Along with hibernating students, the library can be used as a location to hang out and enjoy the company of your respective partner. Many will elect to absorb information through osmosis; e.g. holding hands and enjoying some intense saliva swapping. Not only does this relieve stress but also insures important information is absorbed through the salivary glands, which are linked directly to the memory centre of the brain. The stairwells are often a hotbed for couples who practice this technique and many seem to be quite happy with their results.

Alternatively, if this doesn’t work, at least they have each other to soften the blow of their abysmal results.

The library is also a hub for general social activity this time of year and can be used to your advantage. Whether you’re a first year struggling to make friends or maybe a final year, who has never shown up to lectures, you’ll

be sure to meet somebody to chat to.

Remember all students share one common feature regardless of course; they all hate semesterisation! And how better to strike up a conversation with your neighbour than detailing how stressed you are? You’ll make friends in no time!

“It is possible that they will simply hibernate all the way through the month and wake up refreshed and renewed, ready to sit their repeats” Conversely, if you’ve never wanted for companions, perhaps you can use your popularity to your advantage. Need to get those all-important notes that the lecturer didn’t put on Blackboard? No problem, my friend...

You see, when your entire year are tearing their hair out, they are at their most emotionally fragile. Now is the perfect time to pick off a weaker member of the pack and tempt them with false hopes of a potential friendship: “Friends let other friends borrow their notes right?” Chances are

said notes will be on their table, making it even easier to snatch them away.

If you’re concerned about the ramifications of this faux-friendship, fear not... Once the poor fools realise that they’ve been had, they’ll most likely just glare at you longingly.

Rarely will one actually pluck up the courage to speak up, due largely to our population’s innate passive aggressiveness.

Even if they get really mad, it’s more likely that they’ll end up taking it out on some other poor soul who requests their notes for a more sincere reason; “I don’t care if you broke your arm, you’re not getting my notes!”

But, most importantly, the library offers a warm sanctuary from the wind and rain and a place where you can eat your lunch, while feigning the illusion of productivity. Granted you’ll have to smuggle it in like some sort of drug mule but the heightened excitement of breaking the rules will only add to the delicious experience.

If such disregard for the rules is not for you, there will be plenty of students in need of procrastination who will gladly accept the offer of going to lunch or grabbing a coffee, only to spend the next three hours moaning about how much work they have to do.

With these tips in mind, go forth, my friends, and pretend to study!

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 25th 2014

Foil, Arms & Hog dual review

| 13

Two members of the Comedy Society take a tandem look at last week’s Foil, Arms & Hog gig, and they don’t pull any punches when it comes to each other’s performances either…

“Full-blown internal bleeding; the harsh price one must pay for prolonged exposure to Stack’s greatness.”

“Someone like Roger comes by only once in a generation, and I’m not saying that because he is an only child.”

Roger O’Sullivan

Michael Stack

He last honoured UCC with his presence on Monday the 17th of November, graciously accepting the headlining spot at a collaborative event between both ComedySoc and CancerSoc. Of course, on the night, instead of going last, in the traditional spot reserved for headlining acts, he humbly asked to go first.

Martin Luther King Jr. Barack Obama.

Adolf Hitler. There have been men throughout history who have had the almost unnatural ability to both captivate and constipate large crowds, audiences and Third Reichs; none more so than UCC Comedy Society’s resident recluse, Roger O’Sullivan.

ROS, as no one calls him, only comes out to grace the world with his symphonic voice once every solstice and can be compared to Terrence Malick films in the way that, when they come around, you stop whatever you are doing and take heed.

As we all know, the intensity of laughter is measured on the Richter scale, with the maximum laughter possible at a value of 10 gigalols.

ROS’s performance last Monday night at the Foil, Arms & Hog comedy gig was the third time in succession that ROS has reached this normally unattainable level of laughter. 13 members of the audience ended up in A&E and three are still in a critical condition, after their bodies could not handle the impact.

Someone like this comes by only once in a generation, and I’m not saying that because he is an only child. The ability to stand in front of your peers and keep their attention solely on yourself, all the while making them laugh, is no easy feat, but ROS achieves this with a subtle nuance that makes you think, does he even know the crowd is there

is Michael Stack – Stack to friends – I completely and utterly pity you and your whole existence!

However, despite his own modesty, the devastating effect of his humour couldn’t be helped. Everybody agreed the two acts which followed were great, but the audience were “completely laughed out.” Not my words, but the words of one lucky audience member just before they were ushered into one of the many ambulances called in advance of his performance.

Audience members get full exposure to Michael Stack's greatness during his set. at all? Is he just telling jokes to the spirit of the Earth? No is the answer.

Of course he knows the crowd is there.

He’s not an idiot, you are!

Image by: Emmet Curtin.

I often tell people that Michael Stack is UCC’s answer to Dara Ó Briain, Frankie Boyle and Michael McIntyre all wrapped into one: to which they will frequently reply, “that’s nice, but it really has nothing to do with this transaction; can you please just pay for your coffee and leave.”

There is scant time left until ROS transcends his earthly form and evolves into a pure jokey form to float off into the sunset, spouting one-liners about water charges. Make sure you are there next time he graces us mere mortals with his presence. Watch this space.

Oh and I forgot that Foil, Arms & Hog were pretty cool too!

Facebook Etiquette

I see it as a testament to my own character that, when met with such a reaction, I don’t leap over the counter there and then and beat the living fluids out of this person’s most precious organs. Instead I hold it all in and merely spit in their face, because if at this stage in your life you are still not aware of the miracle of mirth which

Legend has it that Stack first became aware of his comedic ability when, at the tender age of three, he broke his aunt’s funny bone. Now a less than two decades later he was sending people to hospital with full-blown internal bleeding; the harsh price one must pay for prolonged exposure to his greatness.

Unfortunately this talent has not gone unnoticed by the powers that be and, although Stack himself is not a man of politics, rumours have circulated that he may be contracted by the US government in order to help ease tensions in the Middle East. If you are ever given the opportunity to see him perform you should take it, because pretty soon he may be very far from the hallowed halls of UCC, trying to make ISIS a sounder bunch of lads! Oh, also, Foil Arms & Hog were good.

Emily Smalling outlines the Facebook faux pas, which everyone should know to avoid Manners and arbitrary social queues are as ever-changing as the world around us. They evolve and adapt to reflect the larger society within which they exist.

However it seems that we have reached a point where people seem to be rather apathetic to the various online niceties which are to be expected in this modern age. And so, without further ado, here are some of the most egregious Facebook faux pas that you must learn to circumvent.

Firstly, one should not invite others to Facebook games. I’m sure you’re a nice person and you love Candy Farmer 7, but let’s be honest; much like the emotional issues which have driven you to such banal pass times, nobody wants to hear about it. I respect your dedication to such an absolute waste of human existence but go get your online crack fix elsewhere you pleb!

Next for the guillotine are monosyllabic emotional statuses. You’re not fooling anybody with your ‘Ugh’, ‘AHHH’ or ‘Harrumph’ statuses; we all know that you are painfully boring and exhibiting a disturbing case of Munchhausen syndrome. Worse still, the worried comments which you get from your ‘friends’ are just perfunctory attempts to salve their own guilt for secretly hating you.

Of course, you must never continue a conversation after the infamous, solitary ‘like’. If a person positively comments upon your post or whatnot, you must naturally return the volley of niceties in order to maintain the illusion that you care about anybody other than yourself. However, if your comment is met with the infamous ‘lone like’, don’t push it any further! The ‘like’ is the Facebook equivalent of a full stop and if you dare attempt to continue past

such a moment, you my friend are an annoying ‘chatty Kathy’.

Finally, the ultimate transgression of Facebook etiquette: having a fake job on your profile. Attempting to make yourself seem superior to others by calling yourself ‘Writer/

Director’ at *insert name of person’s made up production company* or an ‘Online Journalist’ just makes you seem ludicrous. Let’s call it like it is; the former person films cats on the DSLR he got for Christmas from his rich uncle, and the latter has a single, overly-emotional post on their Tumblr.

Hopefully there is little crossover between the types of people spoken of in this article and those who have had the joy of reading it. But if you have found yourself guilty of any of the offences above, I suggest you strive to correct them before your friends list is decimated.

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Tuesday, November 25th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

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1 Large alcohol container (3) 2 Leader (5) 3 Club which practices three sports (9) 5 Club at home on the ocean (5) 6 Obscure club play this strategic Chinese board game (5,2) 7 Centre of the immediate past (6) 8 Gave a certain impression (6) 11 Drug-smoking device (4) 14 Glasnevin-based college (1,1,1) 17 See 6 down 19 Renter (6) 20 Oldest UCC society (9)

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 25th 2014

A Kinder Approach Leann Schenke discusses the merits of mental health week and how UCC is ahead of the curve.

I was thoroughly impressed by mental health week at UCC. Although I suppose in order to make myself fully understood,d I must backtrack a bit. Normally, you can find me at the University of Mary Washington in America. It’s ok if you have never heard of it; people who live 50 minutes away often haven’t either.

“The more people discuss mental health, the less of a stigma there might be. In turn, those suffering might be more comfortable seeking help”

UCC handled the issue of mental health far better than what I’ve experienced in my three years at UMW. It’s difficult to deny that mental health is a touchy subject. Between the overuse of many terms associated with it, and a mindset that doesn’t consider it a disease, it’s challenging to have a constructive conversation on the subject.

Movies often focus on the territory;

a few years ago Silver Linings Playbook took on manic depression and depression in general. Particularly enjoyable were Jennifer Lawrence’s comments on depression. After winning her Oscar she mentioned how mental illness is not typically seen as a disease, instead it is something you can get over using your own willpower.

The more people discuss mental health, the less of a stigma there might be. In turn, those suffering might be more comfortable seeking help. People don’t fear going to the doctor for medicine when they have a cold, and they shouldn’t fear going to a therapist to discuss any emotions they might be feeling.

The events hosted by UCC during mental health week provided an easygoing platform in which a discussion or, at the very least, an awareness of mental health could occur. Whether it was the uplifting posters throughout campus or the fun events going on, it was hard to miss out.

I cannot remember my college handling such an issue in such a graceful manner.

Everything on my campus always goes to the extreme, although it can be a good thing in that the issue always garners attention. Sometimes though, I would like to learn about an issue or

Students take part in the Hula-Hoop world record attempt. raise awareness instead of getting into a heated shouting match over opinions.

At UMW the issues that garner the most attention do so though the means of rousing debates using chalk on brick sidewalks. Anti-abortion students for example, marked the campus with comments such as ‘Life starts in the womb’; promptly changed to ‘Life starts in the wombat’.

As stimulating as heated political discussions via chalk can be, sometimes, using a hula hoop to

attempt to break a world record while wearing stickers highlighting abuses against mental illness can be more lighthearted and instructive. Stumbling across a candle lit memorial for people who have committed suicide after a four-hour library session, can be both humbling and edifying, in and of itself.

Perhaps I am more familiar of a discussion and awareness of these issues following being directly affected by mental health issues. In Virginia, where my school is located, it was only after a 17-year-old girl committed

Image by: Emmet Curtin. suicide that her high school decided it might be in the student’s best interest to have a week dedicated to discussing mental illness.

But waiting until after something terrible and avoidable happens is pointless and getting into shouting matches rarely does any good either.

UCC handled mental health week with kindness and a cheerful attitude.

Picking up a free compliment can both brighten your own day and perhaps remind you to do the same to someone else.

The eight best apps for exam-time Robbie Byrne | Music Editor With UCC’s first semesterised exam period upon us, now is the time to put away Candy Crush and check out these eight applications that might just make the next three weeks that little bit easier.

8 Self Control Free Mac OSx An indispensable open source app for exam time, Self Control works by allowing you to block distracting websites until a set date. There are no passwords to break and more importantly the pesky websites remain blocked until the set date, even if the application is deleted.

7 Bench Prep Free (Payment required to access some information) iOS, Android, Web Though no stranger to criticism, Bench Prep remains a helpful resource of approved course documents. Far reaching topics sit beside helpful tools

such as flashcards, online group study forums and practice examinations. Not recommended as a sole source of study material but a great aid for the night before that all-important exam.

6 Wolfram Alpha

get a degree. Sound unfair? Well to do so you must upload some of your own amazingly accurate lecture notes. It all sounds tremendous, like a communist utopia where all produce is shared.

Still, lecturers will know if they have to correct 150 scripts with the same mistake. It might, just might get you a pass.

Free to €2.29

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iOS, Android, Windows, OSx

Snap2PDF

A Computational Knowledge Vehicle, Wolfram Alpha gathers data from both academic and commercial websites to formulate a structured answer to almost any question of specific scientific and mathematical importance. An indispensable tool for any number crunching student.

€1.79

5 Uniwink Free (€19.99 for unlimited package) Web-based As with Bench Prep, I have my doubts about this one. Nevertheless, as a product strongly connected with UCC I thought it could come to the aid of some last minute crammer who regrets going out the night before. On the surface at least, Uniwink allows you to use other student’s notes in order to

iOS, Android Organizing scattered lecture notes and finding those that are mislaid is the bane of every student. Snap2PDF solves this annoyance by cropping, enhancing and compiling photographs of your lecture notes into easy to read electronic PDF folders. Simple.

3 XMind Free Windows, Mac OSx The best free brainstorming tool out there right now, XMind allows the user to capture ideas, visualize information and compare main points from scholarly texts as efficiently as possible. Its best

asset lays in its ability to allow the user to comprehend complex articles and textbooks by whittling each down to its most basic components.

2 Zotero Free Windows, Max OSx If only I had discovered this three years ago. Zotero is an ingenious piece of open-source software that compiles bibliographic metadata. In short, it does all the reference work so you don’t have to. Through its online database for traditional physical textbooks and browser plugin for online data, Zotero will create footnotes in every format possible, be it MLA, Chicago or Harvard.

1 Evernote Free – Basic/ €5 – Premium All Platforms While its vast array of features can be overwhelming for some, Evernote is the ultimate personalized organization application. Essentially a virtual filing cabinet for every educational or professional need, Evernote links any word, audio or visual document from your smartphone to your PC through cloud storage. While its clean interface allows a seamless transition from one assignment to the next, Evernote’s finest feature is that it allows you to swiftly locate a once meaningless file when it becomes the vital to answer to that obscure exam question.

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Tuesday, November 25th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

The Big Interview: Lucinda Creighton Diarmaid Twomey questions the politician who looks like being Ireland’s next party leader

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n previous years the decision of Europa Society to award the title of Honorary President to a former Minister of European Affairs would both seem logical and, as a result, fly under the radar. However hearing the name Lucinda Creighton does not inspire an image of debates about the role of Europe in Irish society. Instead, for most, Creighton is either the woman who left Fine Gael due to her views on abortion, the public face of the Reform Alliance, a political group which may soon be Ireland’s newest party, or both.

“If we had a blank canvas we would start with something other than the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament as they are currently designed” As the most well-known and, perhaps, most controversial independent TD since Kerry’s Jackie Healy-Rae, it was no wonder that Creighton’s visit to UCC’s Council Chambers was hotly anticipated. In her acceptance of her newest title, Creighton was quick to highlight that her “passion for Europe is not an uncritical one,” stating the European system is far from perfect: “If

we had a blank canvas we would start with something other than the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament as they are currently designed.”

However, throughout the course of her speech, it was impossible to ignore a sense of remorse over the fact that her dispute with her former party has essentially left her on the outside looking in when it comes to Europe.

Creighton does still maintain a huge interest in European affairs and spoke openly about the good and the bad about the future of European trade.

When asked about her views on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement, Creighton highlighted that whilst she feels it’s very exciting, she was still “hugely worried” about whether the deal could ever actually be enacted. The possibility of a trade agreement between the two economic superpowers seemed to be the stuff of Gods for the Mayo woman, yet, possibly the stuff of dreams too as the possibility of a Republican president and the inherently more nationalistic and insular economic policy that would result from this could prevent the agreement bearing fruit.

Picking up on the point made during her speech that the European system was far from perfect, Creighton conceded that it was a failure in this system which may drive the UK from Europe. The breakdown in relations between the two, Creighton stated, was inevitable; “as it had been set up that

way by an incompetent leadership.”

It is, perhaps, this honesty and willingness to admit to failures which separates the independent TD from most of her colleagues in Dáil Éireann.

However, while Ceighton seemed willing to reflect on the failures of Europe, she was a little more reticent when asked about why it took the issue of abortion to drive her from Fine Gael, a party she describes as “an outward looking party.”

When asked about the fact that her government performed cuts to services that affected some of the most vulnerable sections of society, including children, and why it took the issue of the unborn for her conscience to become troubled, Creighton appeared to be caught off guard, before retorting: “Well, first of all, I always vote with my conscience.”

Ever firm in her rebuke, she was quick to point out the array of private protests she personally made against varying regressive budgetary measures which were introduced by the government; some protests which she was eager to illustrate got her “into trouble with ministers and the main man” and some which achieved their desired outcome: “I was always in favour of Eurobonds and felt that when Michael Noonan suddenly came out in favour of them, that I had achieved some sort of policy change.”

She also noted how she was publicly critical of other measures certain

government ministers had taken: “I was critical of James Reilly when he imposed needless cuts, stupid cuts, which I believe he had not even read.”

Creighton went on to note how she believed and said at the time that “we were not bold enough in what we were saying about the need to mutualise debt at European level.”

“I want to be in a position after the next general election to influence real change, changes that should have happened after 2011 and didn’t” However, while it may have been the past breakdown in relations with Fine Gael which made Lucinda Creighton a household name across the country, her political career is far from over.

When asked about her future plans in politics and the future of the “grouping of like-minded individuals” which has become the Reform Alliance, Lucinda made a concerted effort to point out that it was not a party, while admitting the downfalls of this.

During the course of her speech at the Europa Society’s event, Creighton had highlighted her doubt about the effectiveness of Independent TDs, a brave admission as she referred to herself as “a second class citizen in the Dáil”; so I was eager to probe her next move.

“I want to be in a position after the next general election to influence real change, changes that should have happened after 2011 and didn’t.

“I want to give the Irish people a level of security and comfort and would like to do this as a member of government.”

However when asked if this position could come as an Independent TD in government, her reply was a steadfast: “No!” Expect big revelations in relation to the future of Lucinda Creighton.

The Reform Alliance may only be a “grouping of like-minded individuals” at present, but one of two things are a certainty before the next general election. A new centre right, conservative party will emerge from the bosom of this grouping or Lucinda will be joining a party with genuine hopes of forming the next government.

Only time will tell, and likely sooner rather than later.

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UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 25th 2014

Cut your normal cost In the lead up to Christmas, try and cut as many corners as possible. Miss out on a night out or two, shop in cheaper pound shops for your daily essentials, make lunches for college rather than buying; you’d be surprised at how much you could save that could really take the pressure off when it comes to buying gifts.

Shop around

one person.

Many shops such as Argos and others have 3-for-2 sales in the lead up to Christmas. Shop around and look for the most affordable option for you.

Online sites such as Ebay and Amazon can seem very handy and cheap but make sure what you’re buying doesn’t run the risk of being too cheap to be true and that it will arrive on time.

Prioritise

Buy and sell pages

Do you have kids, a special someone, a parent or grandparent that you really want to spoil? Take that into account. If you’re planning on spending €20 on everyone, leave an extra little bit for them.

Most towns have their own special buy and sell pages, where you can get great quality items for reasonable prices and the option to check out the product before you buy it. This can be a great outlet for the likes of phones, games

A student shopper’s guide to Christmas Laura Flaherty gives the lowdown for the thrifty Christmas shopper The lights have gone up, Plan, plan, plan while only having to buy for the shop windows are all done, there’s no escaping it; Christmas is coming. While this is the most wonderful time of the year and we all can’t wait for time off from essays and exams, Christmas holds its own troubles for students on a limited income. Here’s The Express’s guide on how to budget for Christmas.

Have an idea of who you’re going to buy for and how much you can realistically spend on them, while having money to do your normal week-to-week budget. For housemates and friends, it could be a good idea to set up a Secret Santa with a limit of €10 or €15; that way everyone gets something

“Manchester United never lose, they just run out of time” Economics lecturers Robbie and David Butler test the Steve McClaren quote by analysing favouritism in allocating additional time Media and spectator attention in English Premier League football games has never been as intense.

Constant improvements in technology have facilitated deep analysis of all aspects of the game. This is certainly true of referee decision-making, which has become the subject of much debate in both academic and media circles.

The examination of referee decisionmaking has ranged from the likelihood of a referee awarding a penalty to the visiting team, to the probability of a referee being more susceptible to influence from home supporters located in closer proximity to the playing pitch.

This article examines the impartiality of the referee when applying ‘Law 7’ of the Laws of the Game, the allocation of additional time, at the end of the second half of matches in the English Premier League from 2009 to 2013.

The research tests whether referees respond differently under changing conditions and demonstrate favouritism towards particular teams. Two forms of favouritism are examined: home

favouritism and ‘big’ club favouritism.

This analysis covers a total of 1,515 English Premier League games from August 2009 until May 2013 using data collected from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Data is collected for the total number of seconds of additional time played at the end of the second half in each game; the venue and score at the end of ‘normal’ time; the number of goals between teams at end of ‘normal’ time; the score and outcome at full time; and the number of goals scored in the second half.

An examination of the data provides evidence that a big club bias may exist.

When winning at home, smaller clubs tend to play more additional time, while, when losing at home, the bigger clubs get to play more time, with Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester City, Everton and Liverpool high up the list. This trend continues when drawn matches are considered; with the top places are all occupied by ‘big’ clubs.

consoles and televisions. Most of the people found on these pages are well known and reliable.

Deposits The student life saver.

Jewellery shops and many sports and clothes shops have deposit systems in place where you can pay €20 or more in the lead up to Christmas and pay off the balance each week.

This is definitely a system to take advantage of. Make sure to make out a reasonable plan that you know you can afford, instead of overestimating and creating panic for yourself.

Stockings Cheap, simple and easy to put together. Make up a Christmas stocking full of chocolates and little trinkets that you know the receiver will enjoy.

Waterstones, for example, have a wide variety of novelty gifts for €10 that will suit many people.

Be realistic We’re students. Often our only source of income is a grant, so people don’t have many expectations. It’s the thought and effort that goes into a gift that matters, not how much you spend on it.

Upon analysing the dataset it was found that big clubs play significantly more time when losing at home to small clubs. Almost 27 seconds more is played. Big clubs do not play significantly more time when winning or drawing against small clubs. This evidence further confirms the existence of Fergie Time.

In addition, small clubs play significantly more time (over half a minute) when winning against a big club at home. We interpret this as further evidence of the long-standing notion of ‘Fergie Time’ as it can be seen that big clubs get more time, both at home and away, when it is required.

“It can be seen that big clubs get more time, both at home and away, when it is required.”

Should football authorities wish to solve the problem presented here they could consider the following.

Firstly, to ensure greater transparency regarding exactly how additional time is allocated FIFA could clarify Law 7. This law currently states that: “An allowance [for additional time] is to be made only when these [stoppages]

delays are excessive.”

This explanation is vague. All stakeholders could be provided with specific guidelines for the additional time allocated for yellow cards, red cards, goals and other excessive stoppages. While we do not doubt that all of the instances warranting the inclusion of additional time will last for different time periods, disclosing more information of how officials are instructed to calculate additional time or the explicit statement of rules of thumb relating to the allocation of time could increase transparency.

Additionally, there is no reason why

the referee should continue to act as timekeeper. This occurrence is an accident of history. Allowing referees to officiate without the pressure of timekeeping or allocating additional time should reduce the pressure they are under from players, managers and spectators. An anonymous timekeeper could appointed by the Premier League for each game and control timekeeping without having pressure exerted on them by external stakeholders, reducing the incidence of any bias that may arise.

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Tuesday, November 25th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 25th 2014

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Tuesday, November 25th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

Canon O’Brien: One of a kind Stephen Walsh looks back on the life of UCC’s most successful ever coach Archdeacon Michael O’Brien, an iconic figure in UCC sporting circles, who coached the college to 10 Fitzgibbon Cups, passed away on Friday, November 14th.

His name first re-entered prominence in January 2013 when the annual Canon O’Brien Cup was created for the annual Cork – UCC challenge.

The man who once ruled the Mardyke pitches will now live on through that tournament, which will resume early next year in sadder circumstances.

“I have never come across another person who did so much for hurling in the college and beyond” The cup they play for is a replica of the original Fitzgibbon Cup and it was presented to him by the UCC team of 1983 to thank him for coaching them to three Fitzgibbons in a row. Current GAA Development Officer John

Grainger was a player in that successful team and he spoke to the Echo in the aftermath of the Canon’s death: “I was lucky enough to win five Fitzgibbon Cup medals under him in UCC and have never come across another person who did so much for hurling in the college and beyond.

“He was a man away ahead of his time, he was a visionary where the game of hurling was concerned, he brought average club hurlers to a different level with his training methods and improved every facet of their game.

He put fierce value on that first touch and that is what he taught us and that is why UCC became so successful in the Fitzgibbon.”

O’Brien, universally known as ‘the Canon’, had hurling flowing through his veins from a young age and will go down in history as one of the most successful coaches Cork has ever had in any sport. Across all codes he won a remarkable 12 All-Irelands as a coach.

He was originally from Iniscarra but it would be in the city that he would go on to make a name for himself. He was the curate for the Blackrock parish from early 1961 and additionally served as a

Canon O'Brien (back left) with his 1983 Fitzgibbon Cup winning team. teacher in Farranferris, where he was to coach many successful teams, winning five Harty Cups and two colleges’ All-Irelands between 1969 and 1974.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he laid the foundations for many a successful Cork team by his early coaching.

He progressed from there to be the navy chaplain in Haulbowline but this wasn’t going to stop his hurling coaching, where he would go on to coach UCC for many years, beginning

in 1980. In total he won 10 Fitzgibbons with UCC, including the famous eightin-a-row from 1981 to 1988; a near unmatchable feat.

Grainger added; “I would say that he re-invented the competition and made it what is now, an intercounty competition that has the very best hurlers in the country participating.”

As if managing UCC to Fitzgibbons wasn’t enough for the Canon, he was also the coach to the Cork team

that won All-Irelands in 1984 and 1990, defeating Offaly and Galway.

Meanwhile he still managed to coach Blackrock, his local parish, to senior successes in 1985 and 1999.

Those are only some of the achievements of his long and successful career in coaching, in which he also lead Cork to six minor and one junior title All-Ireland titles.

“Ní bheidh a léithéid ann arís.”

UCC goals prove decisive UCC 3-14 Stephen Walsh | Sport Editor UCC emerged victorious in the Higher Education Hurling League quarterfinal thanks to goals from Rob O’Shea, DJ Foran and Shane O’Donnell.

UCD started of stronger in the Mardyke and took the lead within 50 seconds, when Wexford county hurler Conor McDonald pointed from 40 yards. UCC though bounced back immediately as Tom Devine went on a strong run, before passing to O’Shea who hit the ball to the back of the net from a few yards out.

UCD then went on a scoring spree and took the lead on eight minutes after hitting three unanswered points from Laois-men, Pat Purcell and Ross King.

The second goal arrived a minute later, after a period of time of wayward shooting from home side’s forward unit. Waterford’s Foran ran with the ball before exchanging a quick one two with O’Donnell, which put him into a one-on-one situation, and he scored by hitting it under the body of Billy Leyden to make it 2-0 to 0-4.

UCD took control of the game for the next 15 minutes, with their midfield of Purcell and Conor Davitt winning lots of ball and they were able to make the

UCD 0-18 most of a lack of discipline from UCC by winning a number of frees.

King, who had a brilliant game, was accurate from placed balls, putting UCD into the lead on a score of 0-9 to 2-2 as the game approached 26 minutes.

Some brilliant long range frees from Cork panellist O’Shea kept UCC in touch and he was assisted by fellow Cork player Conor Lehane as UCC regained the lead. There was still time for Dave Higgins to point for UCD as UCC went into the break 2-6 to 0-10 ahead.

Lehane, straight from the throw-in, had a long range shot that was well saved

by Leyden for a 65, which O’Shea converted. Both teams then exchanged points, with Joe Lyng and O’Shea scoring as the game approached the 39th minute, with the score 2-8 to 0-13.

UCC introduced Cork player Alan Cadogan and he scored a point from near the sideline within minutes of his introduction.

Clare player O’Donnell scored a goal on 46 minutes, when finishing a rebound following a great save from Leyden, stopping a powerful Lehane shot. He could have scored another

Shane O’Keeffe is chased by UCD’s Cillian Buckley as Conor Davitt watches on. goal minutes later when he reacted to a ball in the square after Alan Cadogan’s shot had bounced back off the upright; however Leyden was alert to save it for a 65.

UCC had goalkeeper Paul Hallissey to thank for not conceding a goal as he made two brilliant saves from Lyng and King from point blank scenarios in the final ten minutes as UCC dealt with everything UCD could throw at them.

A late point from corner-back Killian Burke sealed the victory for UCC as they get ready for further challenges ahead in the coming week.

UCC (Cork Unless Stated): Paul Hallissey; Killian Burke (0-1), Tadgh Burke (Waterford), Shane Roche (Waterford); James Nagle, Michael Breen (Tipperary), Mark O’Brien (Waterford); Michael Collins, Tom Devine (0-1, Waterford); Shane O’Keeffe (0-2), Rob O’Shea (1-6, 2fs, 2 65s), DJ Foran (1-0, Waterford); Anthony Spillane (0-1), Conor Lehane (0-3, 1f), Shane O’Donnell (1-0, Clare).

Subs: Alan Cadogan for Spillane and Brian Hartnett for Collins (39), Cormac Murphy for Nagle (41), Paudie Prendergast (Waterford) for Devine (57).

Image by: Marc Moylan.

UCD: Billy Leyden (Kilkenny); Eoin Conroy, Matthew O’Hanlon, Seán Murphy (all Wexford); Barry Whelan (Kilkenny), Cian O’Callaghan (Dublin), Cillian Buckley (Kilkenny); Conor Davitt (0-2, Wexford), Pat Purcell (0-3, Laois); Joe Lyng (01, Kilkenny), Dave Higgins (0-1, Westmeath), Conor O’Shea (0-1, Kilkenny); Ross King (0-8, 6fs, 1 65, Laois), Conor McDonald (0-1, Wexford), Darragh Dolan (Galway).

Subs: Conor O’Shea (0-1, Galway) for Dolan (34), Lorcan Mullins (Down) for O’Shea (56).

| 21

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 25th 2014

Juan Mata and the Quest for Relevance Ryan Collins | Sport Writer Manchester United has a long, illustrious history of no.8s in the squad: Young Wayne Rooney (a completely different beast to current Rooney), Nicky Butt and the notorious Anderson.

Okay, it’s not quite the no.7 or no.10, but that was the point. Juan Mata, the

“Mata and Kagawa complimented each other subtly and superbly” then-record signing of Manchester United, intended to blaze his own trail.

He was Chelsea’s best player for two seasons, the lynchpin that would revive the flailing David Moyes’s outfit, show Jose Mourinho what he was missing and inject creativity into a team that, at times, existed purely to funnel the ball to the feet of Rooney.

Mata’s United escapade didn’t have the most auspicious start. Relegated to the right wing in order to facilitate Messrs Rooney and van Persie, Mata’s presence in a ball-hungry forward-line

Ladies win third Frisbee indoors Mags Carey Never in Irish Ultimate Frisbee history has a university entered five teams into an indoor event, but this year UCC has five teams, with the firsts taking their third title in a row after a two-day tournament of fast paced, high quality ultimate.

Each team played a total of six matches in the Mardyke, three each day. The firsts kicked off in the first match of the day, beating Queens University Belfast 17-1, and from there UCC didn’t let up.

By the end of the first day, three UCC teams advanced from the groups to the

only complicated the matter further.

This was the first indication of long term problems for the Spaniard.

His transfer fee could almost be considered exorbitant, seeing as he obviously wasn’t first choice for Chelsea, and, despite his price tag, he was Moyes’s third option, behind the aforementioned duo.

His ascension was serendipitous.

Injuries to both Rooney and van Persie meant that Mata slotted into a roaming playmaker role. No longer inhibited by instructions to hug the touchline like a Spanish Antonio Valencia, the ball now resided at Mata’s feet as much as possible.

Mata rewarded fans and rejected criticisms that had arisen due to Mourinho’s apparent displeasure with him. He became a regular goal-scorer, after hitting his first on March 29th, finishing with six in the last six games of the season. He all-too-briefly formed a symbiotic partnership with Shinji Kagawa, forming a duo that, many said, would not function well together.

Instead, their marriage established a free-flowing pass-and-move system that, in combination with Patrice Evra’s overlapping and decoy runs,

top-eight to battle for the Cup, with the other entering the Plate.

manifested a sense of danger in United’s stale offense. There was one magic game at Newcastle where Mata, Kagawa, Adnan Januzaj and Chicarito were a 70-minute whirlwind that showcased more outstanding play than had been witnessed all season by a tired Rooney/ Valencia/ Young triumvirate.

Indeed, Mata and Kagawa never looked happier than when lining up next to each other. They complimented each other subtly and superbly, allowing each other to be position-less and make intellectual, intuitive, pass-happy

Image by: Stephen Hannon. all their games on Sunday, finishing 9th, with the bonus of silverware.

The second day kicked off with UCC 5 playing the first game of the day.

This team was made up entirely of beginners and had no subs but, despite losses, they never let their heads drop and finished 14th. The improvement all the players showed is something truly inspirational for UCC ultimate looking to the years ahead.

UCC 2 played amazing but had a heart breaking weekend, losing to UL 1 by a point, a day before losing again to UCD 1 by a point. Despite this, they played each game with determination, taking 5th place. This team really showed the strength of UCC, in that the second team could put it up to the other university’s first teams.

UCC 4, again a team made up entirely of beginners, took the tournament by storm. They were initially seeded 14th and ended up finishing 6th, with beginner coach Leanne O’Neill particularly proud of their efforts.

Coached by Mary McKee, UCC 1 dominated the tournament. Five points was the most they conceded in any game, coming in the final against Trinity. Caitlin Looney, one of UCC’s key first team players, took player of the final in the 13-5 win.

UCC 3 brought us home silverware by winning the plate. Despite being drawn into a hard group on the Saturday, with UCC 2 and UL 1, stellar performances from all team members saw them win

All in all it was a fantastic weekend, with thanks to Andrew McGovern for organising a great tournament.

movements. Unfortunately, Kagawa got lost in the shuffle of the van Gaal re-haul and so too, it appears, did Mata.

Van Gaal’s transfer activity has created a top-heavy United side. No one knows what Falcao shows up on a daily basis, while van Persie and Rooney frustrate with their inconsistent and occasionally selfish antics. Di Maria is a dream acquisition but needs to nail down a regular position and, amidst all this, Mata’s performances have suffered, though he continues to score important goals and contribute.

He’s the forgotten man at Old Trafford and it’s a shame that his name has become cannon-fodder for various part-exchanges. A forward-four of Mata, di Maria, Januzaj and any striker at all is formidable; but van Gaal has shown reluctance to drop Rooney or van Persie.

Maybe Juan Mata will go elsewhere and be the best player on that team. He deserves more than to be a paperweight in Arturo Vidal/ Kevin Strootman negotiations.

UCCSC on the water in Schull.

Sailing club add further podium finishes

Niamh Ní Chonghaile

UCC Sailing Club have had a very promising start to the 2014/2015 season, adding podium finishes at the Irish Team Racing Association National Championships and Irish University Sailing Association (IUSA) regional event in the past fortnight to their IUSA Eastern Championship win.

At the Irish Team Racing Association National Championships, held on the 8th and 9th of November in Schull, the three UCC teams faced tough opposition in the form of other college’s teams and secondary school teams, as well as a combination of experienced Irish and English senior teams.

The final results showed UCC1 finishing 9th in the gold fleet, UCC2 finishing 4th in the silver fleet and

UCC3 finishing first in the bronze fleet.

An honourable mention must also go to Fionn Lyden, Mark Hassett and Liam Manning, three new UCCSC members, who are the newly crowned National Champions.

Most recently, UCC travelled with six teams to take part in the latest IUSA regional event, which was held in Blessington, Co. Wicklow. UCCSC came away with another two podium finishes, with UCC2 finishing in third place and UCC1 finishing in second place, both having narrowly lost out to a very strong UCD side.

These results show great promise for the club in the coming year with the next regional college event taking place in Kenmare in late January.

22 |

Tuesday, November 25th 2014 | UCC EXPRESS

It’s Play-off Women’s team win road Time! relay bronze Shane O’Sullivan forecasts the concluding stages of the NFl regular season

As the month of November comes to an end, one thing is on the mind of NFL fans worldwide; who will be in the play offs.

So far this season, there have been many upsets throughout the championship, making it tough to foresee, who will make the final cut.

On their current form, the New England Patriots have to be my number one seed for the AFC. They have an impressive 9-2 record and they should win their remaining games. The Green Bay Packers, like the Pats, have been in great form of late. In their last two home games the Packers have scored over 50 points, setting a new franchise record. Form such as this, should continue on into the New Year and see them make the NFC top seed.

The Arizona Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles and the New Orleans Saints all are well placed to top their NFC divisions and take seeds 2 to 4 respectively, with the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions likely to follow them in as Wildcards.

In the AFC, the Denver Broncos look second seed material, with the Kansas City Chiefs likely to follow them out of the AFC West. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts can also progress, with the Miami Dolphins improving to grab the final spot.

As we go into week 13, there are two games that will provide much entertainment for fans. Likely top seeds, the Patriots and Packets meet, with Tom Brady having been throwing remarkably for the Pats. The Packers are not without star quality as Aaron Rodgers threw six touchdown passes against the Chicago Bears, form which continued against the Eagles in week 11 as he threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns. Green Bay’s offense is in good hands again with Rodgers, who broke Brady’s NFL record of 288 straight passes at home without an interception, making this a game not to be missed.

The Eagles face the Cowboys this weekend and if the Cowboys are able to win this match and continue their good run, the seeding for the playoffs may be changed. However, in their current form, it is hard to say that the Eagles will mess up their seeding.

John Durcan

UCC Athletics Club travelled home from Maynooth on Saturday, November 15th, with a bronze medal in the back-pocket after placed third in the women’s IUAA Road Relay event.

Run around a mile loop on Maynooth University grounds, the old seminary creates a dramatic backdrop for what is always an exciting race.

The women’s race was first off, with UCC having three teams of four people competing in the 1 mile, 2mile, 2mile, 1mile format. UCD got off to a flying start with Ciara Everard, an Irish International athlete, creating a clear gap on the field in the first mile.

Her team managed to extend this lead throughout, leading to a comfortable victory. DCU were in second place while then UCC secured bronze medals with a superb team run from all four of the athletes; Jessica Coyne, Sinead O’Connor, Orna Murray and Niamh Moore. The UCC ‘B’ team were also a very respectable 8th place, with some very quick times being ran by all four.

An hour later the men’s race darted off with the first 1 mile leg. UCC had 3 teams entered in this event which consists of 1mile, 2mile, 3mile, 2mile, 1mile legs. Shane Fitzsimmons of

Athlone IT, another well-known Irish international athlete, led the group home in a time of 4:19, with runners from DCU and UCD on his tail. UCC ‘A’ got off to a very good start thanks to some strong running from first year David Kavanagh, on his university debut. As the race continued, Athlone IT and favourites DCU pulled away from the other entrants, with some very quick times ran by their star athletes, John Travers and David McCarthy respectively, on the crucial 3 mile leg.

UCC ‘A’ had a standout performance from their 3-mile runner Ben Thistlewood who ran it in a superb 14:06. This put UCC very close to the chasing pack for third place but it wasn’t to be and the team finished a respectable sixth place, whilst also improving on last year’s time. The team’s runners were Kavanagh, Eric Curran, Thistlewood, John Durcan and Kieran James.

Next up for the Athletics Club is the CIT Night-time Cross Country on December 12th at 7pm. It is a fiercely competitive CIT versus UCC versus WIT event and open to other colleges. In the longer-term, the IUAA Indoor Track and Field Championships are in Athlone next February.

Jessica Coyne leads off on the first lap of Maynooth.

Image by: Loughlin Campion/ Jumping The Gun

Demons keep up unbeaten season with Killester rout C&S UCC Demons - 88 Ross O’Donoghue C&S UCC Demons’ defence of the Men’s National Cup remains on track thanks to an 88-63 away win at Killester. Colin O’Reilly’s side will bring a 25-point cushion back to the Mardyke Arena for the second leg on December 6th.

“We knew Killester were going to bring it tonight and we just had to ride the storm”

Killester’s pedigree makes them the team most likely to challenge Demons for honours this season but they were bested by their close rivals for the second time in succession at the IWA in Clontarf. A trio of Cork men did the damage as ‘Player of The Month’ O’Reilly (18 points) was outshone by Kyle Hosford (19) and guard Adrian O’Sullivan (23).

Killester had the better start as Ciaran Roe and Michael Westbrooks continued their return from injury, while Jermaine Turner kept up his ageless form of late, with 21 points.

Demons don’t panic easily though.

Colin O’Reilly employs a strict rotation policy and a patient game plan and captain Shane Coughlan was always expecting Killester to be gunning for them from the off:

Killester - 63 “We knew Killester were going to bring it tonight and we just had to ride the storm. We have some great shooters.

We share the ball, find the right guys and knock down shots. We’re tough to defend against.”

Killester are thoroughbred winners and kept coming at Demons but strength in depth became a factor as the game wore on. Demons have strong options to work with contingencies and keep players sharp. Coughlan says it’s a balancing act for the head coach.

“Our training sessions are tough and I think that’s the key,” the Demons veteran told Killester’s Stream Team.

“There’s two or three guys there tonight who didn’t get on and they’ll feel aggrieved, but there’s such a good team ethic that they’ll get back to training Monday night and they know they’ll get their chance again next weekend.

“That’s the spirit we’re building, you know; ten or eleven guys training hard and the objective of the weekend is to win games.”

Killester: Colin Ormond, Alan Casey, Peter Lucey, John Behan, Patrick Sullivan, Ciaran Roe, Niall Hegarty, Jermaine Turner, Mariano Gomez, Michael Westbrooks C&S UCC Demons: Shane Coughlan, Adrian O’Sullivan, Kyle Hosford, Lehmon Colbert, Ciaran O’Sullivan, Darragh O’Hanlon, Shane Duggan, Niall O’Reilly, Niall Murphy, Colin O’Reilly

Guard Adrian O'Sullivan was in dominant form for Demons.

Image by: Adrian Hogan

| 23

UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, November 25th 2014

O’Driscoll aiming for 180

Digest Basketball

Stephen Walsh talks to Jamie O’Driscoll about beating the darts world champion and his future throwing ambitions Jamie O’Driscoll, a member of the successful UCC Darts team that that embarked on a record breaking run of 22 games unbeaten last year, has been throwing darts for quite a while.

O’Driscoll first started playing darts at the age of 15 in his Skibbereen family home. Since those formative years he has progressed through the levels to feature last season for the Cork team, when they played in Tramore last April.

They only got as far as the second round due to the high standard but O’Driscoll feels he benefitted a lot from the experience: “It was a complete different level of player to what I was used to and it was definitely a learning curve. Hopefully I’ll be back again with Cork this year and I can progress further.”

The third year arts student, who is majoring in geography and minoring in economics, also works in the Student Centre where he is the bubbly personality behind the desk, who sets you up on the new smartcard system.

He works where he train with the club setting up shop in the New Bar, where all levels are catered for. Indeed, they are always looking for new personnel, as O’Driscoll says; “If you want to have a good laugh on Monday night in a social setting, then pop up to us in the New Bar and we’ll show you the ropes.”

Of course, being part of the darts club has given O’Driscoll many enjoyable times and not just on Monday nights, with a night in March 2012 standing out from the rest. Back then, a relatively

Horgan hattrick helps hosts to victory UCC 5-12 UL 1-12 Stephen Walsh | Sport Editor UCC emerged victorious in this Higher Education Senior Football League quarter-final clash against UL in the Mardyke. A hat-trick of goals from Conor Horgan proved to be the difference between the two sides as the college progressed to the semi-final stage.

However the semi-final did not go as well, with DCU flying to a comeback 2-19 to 2-13 win last Thursday in a fog covered Hawkfield pitch.

Their attentions will now turn to qualifying for the Sigerson Cup that they will be hosting on the weekend of February 21st.

UCC raced out of the starting blocks, with Paul Geaney’s point followed

by Horgan’s first goal of the game, shooting from 20 yards to the net, via the crossbar.

Men’s Premier League: Templeogue 74 C&S UCC Demons 88; Sun 30th Nov: C&S UCC Demons vs UL Eagles @ 3.15pm in the Mardyke Arena. Men’s National Cup 1st round: 1st Leg: Killester 63 C&S UCC Demons 88; 2nd Leg: Sun 7th Dec: C&S UCC Demons vs Killester @ 3.15pm in the Mardyke Arena.

unknown Dutch character in the darts world called Michael van Gerwen played an exhibition night in the New Bar in front of less than 100 people.

Nowadays, he regularly fills arenas across the globe, as well as winning the World Championship in recent years. But what stands out from that night for O’Driscoll is the fact that he beat van Gerwen in a small match. As O’Driscoll tells the story; “I played him that night and me, along with my friend Barry Hayes, both managed to beat him. I threw some great darts that night and, luckily, I won but somehow I don’t think he was at full power for the game.

Camogie CCAO Senior Camogie League Division 1: UCC 2-9 UL 3-13.

Ashbourne Cup Qualifier: Wed 26th Nov: UCC vs UUJ @ 5.30pm in Belfield, UCD. Gaelic Football HE Senior Football League Division 1 Quarter-final: UCC 5-12 UL 1-12; Semi-final: DCU 2-19 UCC 2-13. HE Fresher Football League Division 1 Group B: UL 0-10 UCC 1-14; Quarterfinal: NUIG 1-13 UCC 1-12.

“Nevertheless, it’s great to say that I beat van Gerwen. It was only in the summer after visiting us that he really made a name for himself in the darts world.”

“Hopefully I’ll be back again with Cork this year and I can progress further”

Last year the darts team, while embarking on their 22-game unbeaten run, collected two trophies with the CPDA Division One trophy joined by the Winter Leagues’ Cup. This year, as O’Driscoll reiterates numerous times throughout the interview, the step up in play in the Premier Division provides a huge difference.

“This year is a lot more tactical and we’ve had to work harder but we all just keep saying to each other ‘keep

Hockey (Mens)

Jamie O'Driscoll celebrates UCC's unbeaten season. your head’. Even when a person is a party in the aftermath of the event for few hundred points ahead of you, just celebrations, so anybody looking for keep going as darts is a game where a club with a fun side knows where to somebody could keep missing doubles go! and you can overtake them and clinch that leg.”

As for O’Driscoll, he might not be van Gerwen yet, but it won’t be for a lack The club is fully focused on the of effort that the 180s don’t appear on Intervarsities in Carlow in the coming the board. year and will be aiming to achieve success at the venue. Past stories of the trip have included crashing a hen

Shane Killorain got the first score for UL on eight minutes with a well taken point.

Luke Connolly scored an impressive goal two minutes later, when after a powerful run through the middle of the pitch ended with the ball in the bottom left corner of Rory Lavelle’s goal.

There was still time for Horgan to get a well deserved hat trick on 57 minutes, after target-man Geaney won the ball.

UCC (Cork unless stated): Micheál

Irish Hockey League Pool A: Sat 29th Nov: Hermes vs UCC @ 2pm in St Andrew’s College, Dublin. Munster League Division 1: UCC 10 Fermoy 1; UCC 1 Cashel/ New Inn 0; Mon 24th Nov: UCC L Harlequins L; Sat 6th Dec: Bandon vs UCC @ 12pm in Bandon Grammar School; Sun 7th Dec: Church of Ireland vs UCC @ 12pm in Garryduff Sports Centre.

HE Senior Hurling League Division 1 Quarter-final: UCC 3-14 UCD 0-18; Semi-final: Mon 24th Nov: Limerick IT L UCC L. HE Fresher Hurling League Division 1 Group C: Cork IT 0-13 UCC 1-15; Semi-final: Wed 26th Nov: DCU vs UCC @ 2pm in DCU. Ladies Football

Straight from the throw-in UCC went on the attack and it ended with Geaney finding Horgan, who made no mistake in scoring a goal from a few yards out.

UL, coached by ex-Limerick and Laois manager Liam Kearns, then rallied for the next 10 minutes and a goal from Leitrim’s Philip McHugh on 52 minutes narrowed the gap to seven points.

Hockey (Ladies)

Hurling

More points from Geaney followed as UCC tried to build a sizeable lead but UL kept in touch as Horgan’s goal separated the sides at the interval; 1-7 to 0-7.

UCC upped the ante with Luke Connolly’s two points preceding good build-up play from Tomas Hickey and Horgan, which ended with Geaney gaoling to put UCC 11 points ahead.

Irish Hockey League Pool A: Sat 29th Nov: Pembroke Wanderers vs UCC @ 2pm in Serpentine Avenue, Dublin.

Munster League Division 1: Bandon 3 UCC 3; UCC 0 Church of Ireland 1; Sat 6th Dec: Ashton vs UCC @ 2pm in Ashton School. Peard Cup 1st round: Church of Ireland 3 UCC 1.

HEC Senior Ladies Football League Division 1 Semi-final: DCU 7-13 UCC 0-8.

Rugby (Mens)

Paul Geaney scored 1-6 for the Cork students.

Martin; Jamie Davis, Jack Maguire (Kerry), Padraig O’Connor (Kerry); Conor Dorman, Seán White, Tomás Clancy; Ian Maguire, Seán Keane (Kerry); Adrian Spillane (Kerry), Luke Connolly (1-4, 0-1f, 0-1 45), Éanna Ó Conchúir (Kerry); Tomas Hickey (0-1, Kerry), Paul Geaney (1-6, 5fs, Kerry), Conor Horgan (3-0).

Subs: Conor Cox (0-1, Kerry) for Spillane (42), Kevin Davies for Keane (47), Kieran Histon for White and Kevin O’Sullivan (Kerry) for Davis (56).

UL: Rory Lavelle (Galway); Patrick O’Connor (Kerry), Conor Lowry (

Offaly), Fergal Boland (Dublin); Gary Patterson (Roscommon), Cathal Long (Kerry), David Larkin (Wexford); Philip McHugh (1-0, Leitrim), Darragh O’Connor (Galway); Shane Killorain (0-3, Roscommon), Niall McDermott (0-5, 4fs, Cavan), Danny Neville (Limerick); Alan McLoughlin (Leitrim), Gearóid Hegarty (02, Limerick), Aidan Ronan (0-2, Longford).

Subs: Conor Hussey (Roscommon) for Lowry (36), Micheal Duffy (Clare) for Larkin (45), Jack Browne (Clare) for Killorain (50), Cian Sheehan (Limerick) for McLoughlin (55).

Ulster Bank League Division 2A: Cashel 23 UCC 18; Sat 29th Nov: UCC vs NUIM Barnhall @ 2.30pm in the Mardyke; Sat 6th Dec: UCC vs Queen’s University @ 2.30pm in the Mardyke.

Soccer (Mens) Munster Senior League Premier Division: Sun 30th Nov: UCC vs Everton @ 10.45am in The Farm. FAI Intermediate Cup 3rd round: Thu 27th Nov: Castleview vs UCC @ 8pm in O’Sullivan Park. CUFL Premier Division South: Cork IT 3 UCC 1.

Soccer (Womens) WSCAI Premier Division South: Wed 26th Nov: UCC vs IT Carlow @ 2pm in IT Carlow.

UCC

SPORT

Tuesday, November 25th 2014 | uccexpress.ie | Volume 18 | Issue 7

Cillian Ansboro got the crucial score for UCC, who face NUIM Barnhall next Saturday.

Image by: Marc Moylan.

Ansboro rescues a point for struggling students Cashel 23 UCC 18

Stephen Barry | Editor-in-Chief UCC will have to take it one game at a time, according to coach David O’Mahony, as they endeavour to move away from the lower rungs of the Ulster Bank League Division 2A after an away defeat to Cashel.

Their trip to Tipperary looked doomed as they trailed by 17 points at one point, before rallying with a pair of tries from Cian O’Halloran and Cillian Ansboro, who scored a stunning touchdown with the final play.

However only one win from six games has forced O’Mahony to reassess their aims: “The aim is always promotion but when you lose 11 players from last year’s starting 15, it’s very difficult to build a team. This year we’ve been a bit unlucky; I mean we have three losing bonus points so there’s not much in it.

“But obviously, at this stage, it’s not about promotion; it’s about winning the next game because we need to move up the table. At the moment we’re looking at the wrong end of the table but I think if we keep working hard, we’ll get our results.”

The point against Cashel keeps UCC two points clear of the bottom in a congested lower half of the table.

However the point against Cashel was a credible one, after the hosts overpowered the students in the opening half.

“It’s a very difficult place to come; they’re very physical, very strong, big ball carriers and they probably won the physical battle. But our guys played really, really hard and I couldn’t fault the effort or the performance; we just made one or two errors with the ten points early in the first half.”

That ten-point start was clocked up in the space of a dozen minutes, starting when Charlie O’Regan’s clearance kick from behind his own goalline was charged down by Brendan Crosse, leaving Ronan Maher with the simplest of finishes.

Ben Nugent put UCC on the board on the stroke of half-time, after Cashelnative Richard Moran had forced the foul, leaving the students 13-3 behind.

“It’s very important to get something out of the game and we got it at the very end,” added O’Mahony. “I think we more than deserved it.

Nugent added another kick but the killer blow came from Eamon Connolly, who speeded from the hallway line to the students’ tryline, stretching to score beside the posts. Darragh O’Brien brought his kicking tally to 13 points on the hour, for a 23-6 advantage.

“We’re not really getting the breaks, but if we keep working, keep playing the way we’re playing and keep performing like that every week, we’ll win a lot more games as the season goes on.”

UCC hit back from the restart, with smart hands from Eddie Earle and Ansboro creating the space for O’Regan to advance into the 22, before spreading the ball for O’Halloran to score. Nugent narrowly missed the conversion.

UCC immediately returned to the Cashel 22 but obstruction as they set what was becoming a dominant maul cost them their opportunity.

But, in the 84th minute, UCC’s sideto-side passing eventually created a fraction of space for Ansboro, who beat his man on the touchline and sliced between the covering wingers to score from 60 metres out.

Rolling Replacements: Devin Fitzgerald, Dan Healy, Owen Linell, Eddie Earle, Paul Kiernan.

Inside Sport: Page ​22

Cashel: Pat O’Connor; Darragh O’Brien, Eamon Connolly, Zach Stryffler, Ronan Maher; Ben Swindlehurst, Aidan Barron; James Maxwell, Cathal Ryan, Michael Kelly; Brendan Crosse, Sean Walsh; Aaron Sweeney, Ed Leamy, Kieran Murphy.

Rolling Replacements: Ian Stanley, Cormac O’Donnell, Brendan O’Connor, Michael Crosse, Aindriu Kelleher.

UCC: Ben Nugent; Cillian Ansboro, Cian O’Halloran, Cian Murphy, James Kiernan; Cillian Monahan, Charlie O’Regan; Charlie Slowey, Ben Burns, Dave Hartnett; Dave O’Connell, Kieran Frost; Ben Mitchell, Conor Barry, Richard Moran.

Road Relay: David Kavanagh helped UCC men's team to 6th in the IUAA Intervarsity, while their female counterparts took bronze in Maynooth.