University Volume 24 | Issue 1| Tuesday 17th Sept 2019
Express UCCExpress.ie
Schools Strike For Climate Action
Writes Samantha Calthrop, News Editor School Strikes for Climate have announced their plans for Ireland’s participation in the Global Climate Strike, set to take place on Friday 20th September. The times and meet-up locations for ten marches, including one in Cork, have been announced for young people and their families to strike out of school and protest under the slogan, “It’s an emergency, act like it”.
had a great response to our call for people to organize local actions in support of the school strikes and our volunteers are ready to help anyone who wants to get involved in their community or workplace.”
School Strikes for Climate, spearheaded by Greta Thurnberg, has drawn huge publicity worldwide to the issue of climate change. The last Climate Strike in March saw about 15,000 Irish young people call for government action The next strike comes in antici- on climate change, and 1.5 million pation of the UN Climate Sum- internationally. Greta Thurnberg mit 2019, which Leo Varadkar has called upon adults to join the will be attending just three days strikes this time, saying, “We need afterwards. The UN Climate everyone, to change everything.” Summit 2019 is the successor of “On September 20th we hope to the Paris Agreement, and is like- “I know young people can and do empty schools and workplaces ly to influence climate law and change the world… Many of you are and fill the streets with people policy worldwide. Youth move- anxious and fearful for the future, demanding our Government take ments have proven instrumen- and I understand your concerns climate action more seriously. tal in the politics around climate and your anger,” said UN SecreOur house is on fire- let’s act like change, with “Youth engagement” tary-General António Guterres in it,” said Áine O’Gorman, Activism one of the items to be discussed response to the March protests. Support Coordinator with the Stop during the international summit. Climate Chaos Coalition. “We’ve Climate action has been picking
Boris Johnson’s Brexit: A Summary
Page 3 News
Cork Or A New City?
Page 8 Features
An Interview with Nicholas O’Donnell
Page 17 Byline
up in Cork, with activist groups forming and growing in response to the recent discourse. Earth Strike and Cork Climate Action have both announced their support of the climate strike, as well as pushing forward their own events; last week, Extinction Rebellion Cork defaced the Port of Cork sign by the quays with a “Port of CO2” sign. An alert text was sent out to Cork residents, informing them to be wary of traffic blockages on the 20th. The Cork protestors are set to gather on Grand Parade at 12.00pm. Information on organised strikes can be found at https://www.fridaysforfuture.ie/september-20th.
Kieran Sadlier Interview
Page 39 Sport
Editorial
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Issue 1| Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express Just Keep Swimming, writes Ciaran Dineen, Editor-in-chief
Editorial Team
Last year I finished the academic year in early March, before beginning work placement and eventually finishing in mid-August. I was wrecked and longed for the handful of hours in college that awaited me. In hindsight I was perhaps mildly naïve (to say the least) and now I find myself already swimming upstream, against the tide.
Editor-in-Chief – Ciaran Dineen (Editor@UCCExpress.ie) News Editor – Samantha Calthrop (News@UCCExpress.ie)
Features Editor – Róisin O’Donnell (Features@UCCExpress.ie)
Opinion Editor – Elisha Carey (Opinion@UCCExpress.ie) Eagarthóir Gaeilge – Hugh Ó Raghallaigh Mac Gearailt (Gaeilge@UCCExpress.ie) Online Editor – Edel Lonergan (Online@UCCExpress.ie) Proof Editor - Chloe Jesse (Proofing@uccexpress.ie)
Marketing Executive – Ciaran Dineen (Marketing@UCCExpress.ie) Webmaster – Jonathan Hanley (Webmaster@UCCExpress.ie) Photographers – Caoimhe Leahy, Eve Harrington (Photographers@uccexpress.ie) Byline Editor – Cian McGrath (Byline@UCCExpress.ie) (Deputy Editor) Food & Health - Katie Kelly (Food@UCCExpress.ie) Arts & Literature Editor – Fiona Keely (Arts@UCCExpress.ie) Gaming Editor – Jack Coleman (Gaming @UCCExpress.ie) Music Editor – Fiona O’Connell (Music@UCCExpress.ie) Film & Television Editor – Eoghan Creedon (Screen@UCCExpress.ie) Sexpress Editor – Caoimhe Battault (Sexpress@uccexpress.ie) Deputy Sports - Sam Curtin (Deputysports@uccexpress.ie) Deputy News Maeve O’Sullivan Deputynews@uccexpress.ie) Deputy Features - Molly O’Rourke (Deputyfeatures@uccexpress.ie)
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Boris Johnson’s Brexit: A Summary Writes Samantha Calthrop, News Editor
With a lot on my plate it’s easy for things to spill over the sides, but like the person who’s well experienced at all-you-can-eat buffets, I’m showing off my skills of maintaining perfect order, for now. It’s funny because as I write this a triathlon awaits me in just a couple of hours time, but this link to the title is merely ironic and totally unintentional. I’ve always been a person that tries to drive on through personal motivation and utilise a very Irish and maybe now old-fashioned phrase, “keep the head down and power on”. I’ve never really relied on anyone to push me forward, I am my own worst
Designer – Fiona Cremins (Design@UCCExpress.ie)
Sports Editor – Jack Maguire (Sport@UCCExpress.ie)
Issue 1 | Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
critic and that over time has stood me in good stead. I will need all of that experience from the years over the next 8 months or so, as I try to keep different parts of my life together. I note that others may not be in the same position as me and while I believe that everyone has their own ability to make significant and radical changes to overcome whatever obstacles they face, it’s easier said than done. The ‘Just Keep Swimming’ mentality may work for me, but it’s understandable why it won’t work for many others. College life is tough, and while we enjoy the freedom and choice that it invariably brings, some take to this far easier than others. With Fresher’s Week over and reality beginning to hit home that there is actually work to be done, some students can begin to lose the run of themselves early on, especially those who now live away from home. As such this isn’t particularly worrying for first and maybe even second years, but for the old brigade like myself, any additional mulligans are now few and far between. Support services in UCC are great by all accounts, despite the fact that I have never availed of them (in keeping with my stubborn mind-set) myself. Mental Health is of course a huge topic these days and on college campuses you can’t really go a day without the term being used in an attempt to offer you some sense of artificial solace. If you’re a bit like me and wants to self-medicate or self-soothe if you will then there are of course steps to take. In our first full edition of the paper for the year we kick off we some great content. We offer a re-cap on Boris Johnson’s tenure as British PM so far for any who aren’t quite caught up on their politics, while we also discuss what has been happening event-wise on campus. Our sport looks at Roy Keane and whether he has gone too far, while in Byline we have lots of ‘sexy’ content from Sexpress to Fashion to Gaming! Great to be back, Take care. Ciaran.
editor@uccexpress.ie
“I don’t care about politics!” writes Samantha Calthrop News Editor
Over the summer, a friend of mine asked me probably one of the most complicated questions you can ask: “I’ve tried, but I don’t understand Irish politics at all. Can you explain it?” It’s easy, if you’re into politics and discourse, to forget quite how many people don’t think about those things, especially if you surround yourself with similarly minded-people. Let’s be clear, I’m not dismissing the intellect of anybody who doesn’t keep up with politics; it’s similarly easy to forget that I didn’t know anything about politics once, and getting familiar enough with the Dáil to understand approximately what goes on in there is a herculean task if you haven’t done it before. (Even if you continually read up on things it’s bloody hard to keep up. It’s like guessing the plot of Game of Thrones by only watching spoiler-free YouTube reviews.) If you were raised by apolitical parents, haven’t joined a society and don’t follow the right people on Twitter, your gateways into learning how to keep up with current affairs are to hope you know somebody who does. As for my friend, they were raised in a non-Irish family, and had tried researching to bolster their knowledge only to become completely overwhelmed by what they found. I can’t really blame them. The further you get into the world of current affairs, the blinder you become to the fact that it’s a mess. A necessary, profoundly important mess, but still. Even putting aside Trump and Brexit, politics is messy, slow, and really quite dry to follow if you’re not feeling particularly angry about whatever’s topical. It helps to be passionate, I suppose. Politics are also notoriously bad for your nerves. Which makes it all the easier to understand why people throw up their hands and say, “I don’t care about politics. It doesn’t affect me.” It’s a position often dismissed as being passively conservative— that people are happy with things the way they are. They’re generally not; they’re one of two things. 1. They’re hopeless about things the way they are. 2. They’re uninformed about things the way they are. Sadly, the more complicated and controversial the political sphere gets, the more important it becomes for people to have a clear, nuanced understanding of it. It’s too easy to fall onto simple explanations and easy scapegoats, or to give up thinking about it altogether. (I wrote a small summary of Boris Johnson’s UK parliament this issue and believe me, I understand why people look for a simple explanation.) Perhaps we need more people like my friend, who wanted to combat that problem in their own small way. If you’re looking to start, why don’t you try reading my news@uccexpress.ie #uccexpress news section?
Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament has been ruled unlawful by Scotland’s highest court, which Johnson plans to appeal next week. The UK’s Supreme Court will be debating the appeal, on which the opening of parliament rides— and on that rides the deal that the UK will be leaving the EU on. The last week has been dramatic and eventful, with Johnson losing his majority, an MP crossing the floor, two failed attempts at a calling a general election and an entire, debatably-illegal government suspension. Since Johnson was elected Prime Minister by the UK Conservative Party, the British government has been thrown into an increasing state of chaos. Keeping up with the developments of Brexit in its current state is difficult, so here’s the approximate timeline of Johnson’s tenure, leading up to his parliament dissolution. Theresa May resigns, and after a contentious leadership contest, Boris Johnson is elected PM by the Conservative party as her replacement. He swears to deliver a swift Brex-
it by the 31st of October, deal or no deal. Johnson’s parliamentary majority is fairly slim; his Conservative party has many “rebel” tories who greatly dislike the idea of the impending no-deal Brexit and won’t back him up. There are murmurs of Johnson calling a snap general election to strengthen his majority in parliament, but that doesn’t go through— yet. He’s paying for advertisements and making promises that sound an awful lot like election rhetoric. Johnson doesn’t have a deal together, and by now, parliament is incredibly shaky about it. A no-deal spells economic disaster for Britain, no matter how much Johnson wants it. An alliance of rebel Tories and opposition poltiicians manage to get in a bill that will force Johnson to push back the Brexit deadline and give the government more time to negotiate, a crushing defeat that Johnson deeply resents. He expels the 21 rebel Tory MPs that backed the new ‘Benn Bill’, but his hands are now tied by law to ask for a three-month extension. Johnson tries to call a general election, which could get him a majority, but Labour abstain from the vote and he fails to get
the majority needed to call one. The government has to stay as it is for now, despite Johnson’s determination for an election. He calls for a second vote a couple of days later and suffers a similar defeat— the government now has no way out of the Benn Bill. Johnson responds by suspending parliament for five weeks, allegedly because the government needs more time to set out a new legislative programme. Skeptics, though, have accused Johnson of suspending parliament in order to avoid the Brexit negotiations in the hopes of getting a no-deal through anyway; a five-week suspension would be the longest suspension since 1945. The Scottish High Court deems his suspension illegal, saying that the reasons he gave the Queen— who needs to formally instigate the suspension— were false. This has since caused Johnson to be bombarded with accusations of lying to the Queen, which he denies. The decision is to be appealed by the government in the Supreme Court next week. The Operation Yellowhammer documents are released. A Commons motion forces the
government’s no-deal preparation documents to be released, dubbed “Operation Yellowhammer”. The papers warn of food and medicine shortages, trade delays and general economic disasters. MPs are already angry about the parliament shutdown and begin protesting even harder that it needs to be re-opened in the face of the documents being released. And now, as of 13th September, the international community is anxiously awaiting the result of next week’s appeal. Johnson’s career, the state of the UK, and the integrity of the EU are all set to be put to the test in the following weeks; what the next development will be nobody can say. The British Government may stay in suspension, Johnson may lose his position, a second referendum may be held, and for all we know Corbyn could be the PM by this time next month. What all this means for Northern Ireland, international trade, and the European economy is yet to be seen, but opinions are overwhelmingly that it’s not going to be good.
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Issue 1| Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
UCC Celebrate Works Award Writes Ciaran Dineen, Editor In Chief Photo Credits: Tomas Tyner
UCC REACT Programme Receives Honorary Award Writes Maeve O’Sullivan, Deputy News Editor
Alongside ten other third level institutions, UCC staff and students were awarded at DCU for an Inaugural ceremony on August 28th due to their efforts in reducing the harm experienced by students from excessive alcohol consumption. The awards were presented by Minister for State for higher education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, and Dr Mi(Carla Reinhardt, Winner of the Employability Star Award 2019, Eoin O’Driscoll, Winner of the Leadership chael Byrne, Principal InvestiAward 2019, Rían Browne O’Neill, Winner of the Global Citizen Award 2019) gator at REACT and Head of the Student Health Service in UCC. This year many students from “I’ve always been pretty active 2: Boost your career prospects University College Cork ben- in terms of societies and activ- by demonstrating to employers efited from the UCC Works ism since I came to UCC so the that you have developed compe- According to the 2014 National Award, and some were recently Works Award for me was a great tencies they want. 3: Stand out Alcohol Diary Survey, harmful awarded for their achievements way not only to have something from the crowd and have your drinking is highest among the from the last academic year. substantial to add to my CV but contribution recorded on your eighteen to twenty-four-year-old also to quantify and acknowl- Diploma Supplement. 4: Receive group, while 2017 CSO data found The UCC Works Award is a edge the work of so many stu- a Digital Badge which is a for- that the eighteen to twenty-fourprofessional skills development dents. Students contribute to mal recognition of your accom- year-old group in Ireland had the programme, and demonstrates student life and that often falls plishment and can be displayed highest rate of binge drinking in that you have engaged in, under the radar, so to have on your ePortfolios, LinkedIn the EU. Developed in 2015 by UCC and developed professional the UCC Works Award to cele- and other online platforms. help matters, in collaboration with UCC the Union of Students skills through extra-curricular brate this is really important.” The UCC Works Employabil- in Ireland and the Irish Student activities and work experience, all of which will help The award is open to all un- ity Star award, Global Citizen Health Association, and jointly you to stand out from the dergraduate and postgraduate Award, and Leadership Award funded by the HSE and the philcrowd when applying for grad- students of UCC. See www.ucc. may be awarded to students who anthropic Tomar Trust, REACT, uate roles and internships. ie/careers/uccworks for fur- have received three or more UCC (Responding to Excessive Alcother details on the FOUR award Works Awards by their final year hol Consumption in Third Level), The UCC Works Award en- pathways.The award is designed in UCC. The awards must be is an awards and accreditation ables students to receive for- to prepare you for the challeng- spread over two academic years scheme for third level institutions mal recognition for the learning es you face in making the tran- and must include awards from that have implemented an action gained from their involvement sition to work. To succeed after three of the four pathways. One plan in partnership with their in extra-curricular activities university, you should focus on Employability Star Award, Glob- students and student leaders. inside and outside of UCC. developing the employability al Citizen Award, and Leadership The activities are categorised skills employers value like work- Award are given per year. More into four pathways. 1: In- ing as part of a team or commu- details on these awards are at Dr Michael Byrne states that “REternship Pathway. 2: Student nicating well. The UCC Works www.ucc.ie/careers/uccworks ACT is about working in partnership with our students to address Life Pathway 3: Volunteering Award gives you an opportunity Pathway. 4: Entrepreneur- to develop these all-round skills If you would like to find out the issues of harm from excessive alcohol use. It is an innovative ship and Innovation Pathway that employers value greatly. more, please visit the Volunteering Fair on September 18th way to encourage institutions to Speaking to the University Ex- There are great benefits from in Devere Hall, where UCC translate good intentions into press about his involvement with getting involved, including; Works will have a stand, or go actions and paper-based policies the UCC Works Award was Rian 1: Achieve formal recognition to www.ucc.ie/careers/uccworks into the whole institution plans.” Browne, who was the winner of for taking part in extracurricAlongside UCC, other third level the Global Citizenship Award. ular activities that you enjoy. institutions, such as NUI Galway,
News
Issue 1 | Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
Trinity College Dublin, Limerick IT and University Limerick, to name but a few, were recognised on the same day. The institutions were required to complete eight mandatory actions and select from eighteen optional actions to implement their institutions specific action plans, which were rolled out over the past four years. Since its development, REACT has brought about a partnership between students, student leaders, umbrella professional support organisations, the HSE and each institution to facilitate real and sustained action. UCC, as the forerunner of the programme, operates a well-developed student community support system where multiple pairs of trained students are on the streets surrounding campus at night in the weeks of peak social activity assisting their fellow students. UCC Students’ Union states, “The Student Community Support, (SCS), supports the welfare and safety of students and helps maintain cleanliness of the area surrounding UCC.” In conjunction with this, UCC campus accommodation also provides the opportunity for students to avail of alcohol-free accommodation. Higher Education Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor said, “the ten winning institutions have strongly aligned themselves with my principles and ambitions for our higher education student’s wellbeing. What these awards do is highlight something that is very important to me, that across the sector we have a clear, focused and ongoing commitment to responding to the issue of excessive alcohol consumption in third level.” For any students who wish to become involved with the programme, they can find a REACT online training course at reactalcohol.ie or contact welfare officer, Naoise Crowley.
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Jackson Visit Cancelled Amid “We Still Believe Her” Protests Writes Samantha Calthrop, News Editor
Photo Credits: Fionn Kelleher
Rugby player Paddy Jackson was excluded from the London Irish squad for a friendly pre-season against the Munster team, allegedly for reasons of team organisation, according to manager Declan Kidney. However, many suspect the real reason is because of planned protests against the arrival of Paddy Jackson, who was acquitted of rape in the high-profile Ulster Rugby case last year. It was revealed just two days before the match was scheduled to happen that Jackson would not be travelling. “It has absolutely nothing to do with protests or anything like that. As a matter of fact, the players all knew about the squad that would be travelling long before any of that came to light. It’s a pure rugby decision.” said Kidney, pointing to the other players not included in the match. London Irish has faced some controversy since signing on Jackson, with Guinness dropping their sponsorship of the team. Despite Jackson’s acquittal in last year’s case, many are skeptical of the rugby player’s intentions that night. WhatsApp messages exchanged between players after the night in question have also
highlighted examples of sexism on Jackson’s part. “Pumped a girl with Jacko on Monday. Roasted her. Then another on Tuesday night,” texted one of Jackson’s teammates, in response to a group chat question, “Any sl*ts get f*cked?” Witnesses confirmed that the victim was in tears after the incident, with medical confirmation of bleeding and an internal tear. The high-profile case included much scrutiny and criticism of both parties. Following the case, Jackson was dropped from the Ulster Rugby team and by several sponsors. He eventually emigrated to play in France, and has now been signed on to play with London Irish by former Irish and Munster Head Coach, Kidney. Some believe that Jackson’s prolonged “punishment” is unjust, with him losing his job and sponsorship following the rape case. An article in the Irish Examiner has been a point of controversy, arguing that Jackson has been made a “scapegoat for centuries of male mistreatment”. Protest organiser Linda Hayden, founder of Action Against Sexual Violence Ireland, defended the protest action, pointing out that Jackson
is held up as a sports hero and an icon for young people. “Lots of young people attend these games, they hero worship these guys...The text messages in the court case showed that they left a girl bleeding and crying and spoke about her like a piece of meat.” she said. She stated that she respected the court’s decision to acquit Jackson, although pointed out that Ireland has one of the lowest rates for conviction and reporting of rape. The protest went ahead as planned despite Jackson’s absence from the team and UCC’s FemSoc society held their own demonstrations in front of the Honan Chapel on Friday evening. Speaking to the Express about the protest was Chair, Kelly McEveney. She said that “the protest centered on the point that the individual in question is not a role model for any young person or adult in Ireland due to the manner in which he spoke about women. Holding this individual up as a role model tells people that such behaviour is acceptable and also rewarded.”
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Issue 1| Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
UCC Introduces Workshops For Incoming First Year LGBT+ Students Writes Samantha Calthrop, News Editor Two workshops for incoming LGBT students, one on coming out as homosexual or bisexual, and one on gender identity, were held at this year’s Fáilte Fest, as part of an ongoing initiative to increase advocacy for LGBT+ students. “The whole idea behind the workshop is to make students feel welcome when they start at UCC, which is a university of sanctuary, and we want our LGBT students to know that it’s a safe space here and that they are genuinely welcome,” said organiser and UCC social policy lecturer Sara-Jane Cromwell. “Not just talking about diversity and equality but actually doing it,” said Suzanne Buckley, who helped Ms. Cromwell establish the workshop. “Things like gender neutral bathrooms and workshops like, [the student’s
union], started...what are we doing for the incoming students?” The first workshop, Being LGB+ In UCC, was given by the director of the Cork Gay Project and UCC Alumnus, Pádraig Rice. As well as highlighting the various services given by the Cork Gay Project— with social events, workshops, and health services— he gave his account of getting involved with UCC’s student union and with the LGBT+ Society. He urged firstyears to reach out to the UCC and Cork LGBT+ communities. “We know that coming out is a lifetime decision. LGB people will understand that you’re constantly coming out to new people…It’s different for everyone.” Sara-Jane Cromwell gave the second workshop, Identifying as Transgender/Gender Dysphoric: The Do’s and Don’t’s of Defining Yourself. Ms Cromwell,
who authored several books and co-founded TENI, (Transgender Equality Network Ireland), urged transgender and gender dysphoric students to be confident and true to themselves, and pointed to the positivity around LGBT+ people in Cork. “It’s not perfect, but honestly, it’s one of the safest places you could ever be LGBT. All of the best things in my life have happened in Cork.” The college hopes to get faculty more actively involved in helping LGBT+ students, with plans to establish better support outside of student societies and peers. SaraJane Cromwell expressed her interest to the Express in establishing a greater faculty support for LGBT+ students, such as more similar workshops and a peer system. She indicated the rainbow-coloured pride lanyards that several faculty members wear, assuring students that anybody
Pictured Below: President Patrick O’Shea Meeting New First Year UCC Students
wearing them was a safe person to approach for help. “This isn’t just a one day wonder,” she said, “this is something we want to continue to build on.” UCC President Patrick O’Shea introduced the workshop, marking it as an important step forward in UCC’s LGBT+ advocacy. “UCC and Cork have always been at the forefront of diversity,” he said, addressing the roomful of mostly first years. “You’re here in a family. You’re in a safe place. Not a perfect place, but a safe place. We’re here to help in any way we can.”
Issue 1 | Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
Features
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On a Personal Note
Writes Roisin O’Donnell, Features Editor When my chapter with the University Express began as Deputy Features Editor I wrote, ‘use me as inspiration. Or keep reading to see if my inspirational journey turns to shit.’ I am happy to say that I highly doubt anyone has used me as inspiration, and that if my journey has turned to shit, it is unicorn shit. My role in the Express has blossomed into my college routine: write for the Express, read the Express, advertise the Express, repeat. My plan for the 2019-2020 Features section is to develop on the foundations of honest, informative writing my Features predecessors have laid out. The direction I believe Features will take this year will depend on the tone this new academic year takes. Ultimately, the core of the section will step away from the news of the world and focus more on campus, Irish issues and personalities. Joining Features is my chosen Deputy, Molly O’Rourke, a final year student, blogger and all-around great person. But this section does not end with Molly and me. Features is about every voice on campus. It is a safe place for writers of any kind to test the waters and exercise their crafts. If you have any work, ideas or comments send them to features@uccexpress.ie.
What Happened to Nora? Writes Roisin O’Donnell, Features Editor
Student counselling, the Equality and Diversity Unit and the UCC LGBT+ Society are all open and welcome to LGBT+ students who need guidance.
Photo Credits: Tomas Tyners
The disappearance of Nora Quoirin from a Malaysian holiday resort flooded talk radio and the ever speculative Twitter threads of summer 2019. What drew this story to Ireland and tugged at the hearts of the nation was the word ‘Irish’ planted in front of the young London teenager’s name, dominating newspaper headlines across the nation. The narrative of Nora Quoirin changes depending on the country, platform and style her story is discussed in. For this investigative feature, the indisputable facts of the case, the online community’s reactions and proposals are going to be central to Nora Quoirin’s disappearance.
seemed that she had vanished. theory cemented in their minds. A factor that contributes to the They felt the only way their shy uniqueness of Nora’s case is her and sensitive daughter could have learning disability, holoprosen- left was by an outside force. This cephaly. A comment from the narrative the family championed Lucie Blackman Trust on behalf from the beginning washed over of the Quoirin family describes the media, with everyone expecthow the disability the teenag- ing an abduction to have taken er was born with impacted her place in the dead of night. The brain size, making it smaller and Malaysian police insisted there less developed than the average. was no evidence to point to foul Further statements from the Luc- play, but they were treating the ie Blackman Trust paint a viv- case as a potential abduction. id picture of Nora’s personality and everyday life. She depended on her good memory for what she could not understand conceptually and her trusted family for basic tasks such as making phone calls and tying buttons.
The first theory came from one of Nora’s siblings. They pointed to the bedroom windows sitting high above the beds of Nora and her two siblings in the loft. According to her sibling it was open the morning of Nora’s disThe alarm from the family was appearance. This theory as an What happened to Nora? raised quickly. No one could be- escape route for an adult and a The short answer is, no one lieve Nora would have willingly left panicking child was quickly set knows. Public information the house. According to her French aside. Published pictures show states fifteen year old Nora grandfather, Nora could not bear this window as high, narrow and went on a family holiday to to be without her family and had with a long drop to the ground. the Dusun eco-resort with her a close bond with her mother. Attention was then turned to the parents and two younger sib- The police were contacted by the large glass window downstairs, lings. They stayed in a holiday resort owner while the guests a more realistic escape route. house wedged just outside the and Nora’s family conducted the This sparked the first of many dense Malaysian jungle. On first of many searches for Nora. comparisons Twitter users across the morning of August fourth From the very beginning of the the world found between the Quat 8 am, Nora’s father dis- investigation, Nora’s parents, Me- oirin and the McCann families. covered her bed empty. It abh and Sebastien Quoirin, had a In August, it had only been a few
months since the Madeline McCann investigative documentary series, “The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann”, revisited the McCann case. It helped shed new light on the 12 year old investigation and brought amateur social media detectives out in numbers, determined to put their own spin on the events in Portugal. It was easy to match up the shadows of Kate and Gerry McCann with those of Nora’s parents. For starters, they both took holidays to untypical holiday locations with their children, both cried ‘kidnapped’ when they discovered their child’s bed empty and they both had an open window as their evidence. It seemed all too easy for the media and Twitter users to compare the two cases personality wise, as well. Mr. Quoirin’s alleged outburst and rage at the Malaysian police seemed to mimic Gerry McCann’s frustration with the Portuguese police. Both men had similar attitudes when addressing the public: a silent, almost brooding figure behind their wife. Mrs. Quoirin is under a harsher spotlight than Kate McCann.
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Many online posts and even newspaper articles couldn’t help but put the two women side by side. Her unemotional response and lack of tears were highlighted. Many concluded this made the plead for her child to return home unauthentic.
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The search teams carried speakers as they moved through the large forested area. There was still optimism that Nora was wandering the forest lost and would follow the sound of her mother’s voice.
party, whether or not the body was moved there by a third party or Nora wandered into the area and fell. No conclusion, in this case, gives any certainty, only more questions to be asked.
On August 13th, the search ended 600 metres away from the And, most crucially, both eco-resort. After nearly two parties refused to be ques- weeks of searching a female body tioned by the police and re- had been found by hikers. The turned home, seeming to body was naked and positioned want their ordeal to end. in a sleep-like state with her The Dusun resort where the hands behind her head next to a family was staying is located waterfall. It was luck the hikers just footsteps away from thick had seen her. The pale body was forestry. An examination of the hundreds of metres down imposreviews left about the resorts sible-to-climb terrain. Mr. Yeap, paints guests having a fan- a hiker, told the Daily Mail: ‘It tastic visit or one they wished looked like she was sleeping. Her they had never taken. Multi- head was resting on her hands. ple reviews tell stories about But we all knew she was dead.’ bugs and reptiles, low qual- A helicopter was used to airlift the ity hygiene in their holiday remains from the location. There houses, and owners with an was no real doubt of who the body attitude towards their guests. belonged to. The Lucie Blackman One guest reported in their Trust released a statement saying review feeling uncomfortable it was ‘most likely’ that the body when an off-duty staff member was Nora’s. That night, Nora’s ‘watched’ her family in the pool. parents were called to the TuThe reviews also show a vaca- anku Jaafar hospital to identify tion that would not make No- the body as Nora’s. This officially ra’s bucket list. One review on ended the search for Nora and the TripAdvisor noted ‘you can- hope that she could still be alive.
The Quoirins are entitled to a second autopsy, according to Malaysian Deputy Health Minister, Dr. Lee Boon Chy. “It is their right. We are confident in the professionalism of our pathologists. Our confidence is not shaken.” However, for the Quoirin family it seems doubtful they have the same level of confidence. It is unclear at the present whether they will go forth with a second autopsy. It is becoming very clear they are done with the media and the microscope they have been put under. In a statement made by the Lucie Blackman Trust, the family’s clear frustration with the unwelcomed theories and questions surrounding them has been shown. “Nora’s family are concerned that continued reporting of comments such as those recently reported are unhelpful and may hinder any investigations, as well as causing confusion and distress for them.” After this, any new information concerning the family’s whereabouts and Nora’s burial were kept secret.
lets such as the Irish Times telling the newspaper, “She wasn’t there yet [during previous searches]. Someone put her there, to get rid of her.” Even though Nora’s body is being laid to rest it does not seem like the end of this investigation. Although the Malaysian government has closed its forensic examination, too many unanswered questions await answering. Fortunately, there are a group of people willing to go the lengths to find the answers. Mr. Quoirin using his influence in French society as mayor has encouraged the French government and services to take over the case and shed new light on it. He insists half-French Nora is one of their own. The Quoirin’s have hired a French lawyer, Charles Morel, to look further into the case. He shares the family’s suspicions. He remarked, ‘we cannot exclude the criminal hypothesis’, showcasing his faith in the autopsy results.
Coupled with that, welcomed theories are emerging for the Quoirin’s, who are being advised by Jim Gamble who has worked on the Madeline Mcnot lock your room’, and an- The next step for the Irish media other eerily noted in 2018, was the autopsy results. Her un- The only available information up Cann case. The seasoned crime ‘try to arrive at the property dressed body and strange place- until recently about Nora’s funeral specialist has said that the lock on the downstairs window was when there is still light. The ment pointed to sexual abuse and is that she would be buried “close slope is steep and narrow.’ abduction, but the autopsy came to her loving families in France faulty, meaning it could not be locked from the inside. This A search was formed to look for back with the results no one was and Ireland”. It was announced can be related to a review menwould take place on Nora in the jungles surround- expecting. Cause of death: intes- her funeral th tinal bleeding. Intestinal bleeding the 10 of September in Belfast. tioned earlier in this Feature ing the resort, the most obvious claiming that the doors could place Nora could have stumbled can be caused by extreme stress However, not all members of the not be locked and were brointo and gotten lost. The search and/or hunger. Unfortunately, Quoirin family remain quiet. No- ken. Mr Gamble has pointed to party for Nora featured the po- these results indicate that Nora ra’s Grandfather, Sylvain Quoi- this piece of evidence as a realice, volunteers experienced could have been alive up to a rin, a French man and mayor of a son to believe someone could with the terrain, local tribes week after the beginning of the small town in Burgundy, has not have entered or gotten out. and even a shaman – a person search for her. It concluded there been shy about speaking out and questions running who has access to the world of was no evidence of foul play. sharing his beliefs. His faith in the The throughout this case aren’t the good and evil spirits. The sha- But this did not stop questions autopsy performed in Malaysia man’s theory was Nora was pouring onto social media: “Isn’t is non-existent. He stands by his typical how’s and why’s seen in lured into the forest by a genie. dehydration a quicker killer beliefs that he knows his grand- investigations into suspicious deaths. There is almost no solWhile the volunteers were pos- than hunger?” “Where were her daughter. Shy, dependent Nora id evidence to direct anyone ing for media outlets in the clothes?” “How did she get down would never leave the holiday in any direction but the spot jungle holding up dangerous to the waterfall?” And, most fre- house willingly without her family. by the waterfall where Nora snakes and the shaman was quently seen, “where was the Several Twitter users were quick was found. The rest is theory, investigating a possible genie body when the teams searched to disagree with this despite with confusion and the overwhelmkidnapping, the police were the area earlier in the search?” Mr. Quoirin’s belief and personal ing sense of not knowing how analysing unidentified finger- The Malaysian police confirmed knowledge of Nora, creating the- Nora had spent the last days prints found on the downstairs the area had been searched, but ories that included the girl wak- of her young life. The Quoirin window of the Quoirin’s holi- acknowledge that the terrain ing up in the middle of the night family seem to want only one day home. Due to Nora’s spe- and size of the forest made the jetlagged and the French mafia thing at the present – answers cial needs, search teams blast- overall search difficult. There is having a role in Nora’s death. which will bring peace to them ed a recording of her mother, still speculation on, other than Mr. Quoirin is equally as blunt and their memory of Nora. Meabh’s, voice calling for Nora. Nora being missed by the search when he speaks to media out-
Issue 1 | Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
Features
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Cork or a New City? Writes Roisin O’Donnell, Features Editor During the summer, a popular set of posts baring “#Cork” made their rounds on social media. The photos posted with the hashtag used shots of Cork City streets as backgrounds and needles as a focus point. The needles in question were allegedly discarded by drug users and popped up on major streets among wrappers and the usual city dirt.
Walking back up Paul Street, a short, large man with a ruddy, balding head was standing in the middle of the street, yelling at people and attempting to grab them into hugs. I instinctively moved closer to my significant other as we passed, head down and eyes anywhere but him. My mind immediately flashed back to the lesson I had been taught as a young girl when it came to strange charBut there have always been acters: ‘Don’t draw them on, yeah.’ drugs in Cork, right? What has I imagine my mother was not the caused people to push this a only one dishing out that wisdom. step forward, ring into talk ra- My boyfriend suddenly stopped, dios about their concerns, and shielding me. A guy on a skatetake a more wary approach to board almost went soaring from the city? It is now very com- his skateboard into us. All thanks mon to see reports of people to the character now shriekin the city using public spaces ing and laughing as the skatas their sitting rooms to inject, er just about kept his balance. smoke and behave in a way that I am not saying the streets of can no longer be brushed aside. Cork have ever been a safe havIt is now common to hear of people witnessing these acts of drug use in broad daylight. And as a person who has lived down the road from Ireland’s second city all my life, I can vouch that the air in the city has become more claustrophobic.
On an errand in the city with my boyfriend, everything seemed as normal when the bus dropped us off. As per usual, there was a man sleeping on the benches outside Deals and floods of people taking up the footpaths. In less than a minute, we were walking behind a group of three lads openly sharing a joint and beaming. It did not take long for the distinct smell of weed to drift up my nose. When we stopped to get ice cream and rest at Paul Street, the cleared air changed from weed to the stale cigarette smell that haunts the city. Sitting with a white plastic table between us and ice cream dribbling down my fingers, I couldn’t help keeping an eye over the shoulder of my boyfriend as every couple of seconds shouts would erupt. My boyfriend seemed unfazed by the noises. His years living life as a Parisian made it normal background noise to him.
The stigma surrounding drugs has its parallel to drink. The overall attitude seems to be that people do not want to hear it. The easiest ‘solution’ is to abandon millions in jail cells and not waste a penny more on them.
The same can be said about the most recent debate: the toilets closing on Grand Parade. There en but time has slowly changed should be serious doubts surit from a place where you needed rounding whether anyone used to watch your bag, to the pres- them in the first place, consident: watch your person, try not ering the filth could probably to get stabbed by a rogue nee- outdo McDonald’s bathrooms. dle, or assaulted by a stranger. But the debate is one about peoHowever, this is not helped in ple’s place in society and who deanyway by the Catholic Ireland serves to use the cities facilities. attitude that still exists in Ireland. The toilets shut earlier this One look at social media shows summer due to the increase of the Irish people’s attitude to ad- needles and other drug paradiction still has a long way to go. phernalia littering almost evA large portion of social media ery square inch of the cubical. highlighting the issue preach the solution is to throw all drug users One remark on a post dedicatin jail or poke fun of the situation. ed to the issue wrote, ‘I don’t have sympathy for users.’ For example, one Facebook user had this to say, ‘Here’s a novel Others have called for the governidea… jail them for breaking the ment and Gardaí to act. Despite law and let them go cold Tur- the Garda station being down the key under supervision inside.’ road the lack of Gardas walking or cycling around the city is apAnother said, ‘Let’s make an- parent. The only presence of neon other line for drunk drivers green I have seen all summer is then! Let’s support everyone.’ in front of the station and occaThis common theme can be eas- sionally taking a stroll in smallily seen in Ireland’s relaxed atti- er areas such as the South Mall tude to drink. The old routine of and Opera Lane. However, major having a pint a day is nothing to drug busts have been reported rebe alarmed about for most. After cently, such as Gardaí searching a all the liver is just a second ap- man at Kent Station and arresting pendix, right? The pub is, even him after finding €107,000 worth after all these decades, still seen of cocaine and heroin at the scene. as the place to be and alcohol is So, what does UCC have to do still the second mortgage most with this? of us take on without realising it. University College Cork is an open
campus, a ten-minute walk from the city centre if you are quick. There has never been any shortage of foot traffic. From tourists eagerly snapping photos of students on their way to lectures, to people taking their dogs for a walk and to the stranger guests on campus. During winter last year I witnessed an example of how exposed UCC is. While queuing at a hot chocolate stand with a friend, an elderly woman appeared, looking confused. She pushed through the queue. Everyone did the technique my mother always advised me to do: ignore the situation. The woman yelled, no one responded. She then proceeded to steal chocolate for sale on the stand and when off. Although we do have security guards strolling around campus on hand to help, the reported increase in the consumption of heroin and crack cocaine is some food for thought. Especially when it comes to the nightlife, a common staple of a college student’s life. The Students Union and Freshers’ week has given many opportunities to educate students on safety when it comes to drugs. The recent hospitalisations of young people due to bad batches of drugs at festivals, such as Electric Picnic, paired with the new colours Cork is showing during daylight hours can make us wonder: is society changing faster than Ireland and the system it imposes?
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Features
Getting Over Reverse Culture Shock Writes Molly O’Rourke Deputy Features Editor
Issue 1| Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
appointment you can drop into their building on College Road or contact them on +353 (0)21 4902311.
This being said, don’t be that person who comes back and starts comparing your hometown to where you have been. Your friends and family won’t 1. Focus on what you missed appreciate you making constant, negative comparisons. while you were abroad.
Instead of reflecting on all the Experienced by students, ex- bored, disconnected from family positive aspects of life abroad that pats and backpackers alike, the and friends and annoyed with our you miss, turn your mind towards reverse culture shock phenom- daily lives. After being away for being home. Enjoy the experiencenon can have several negative an extended period of time, (such es that you longed for while you effects on a person’s re-entry as a year abroad), things will were abroad; whatever it was that to their home country. Recog- have changed. It is important to might have made you homesick. nising what it is and learning consider that you have changed, From your mom’sA cooking to how to overcome the emotions home has changed and above meeting friends in your favourassociated with reverse culture all, you have adapted to another ite bar, dive into appreciating the shock can make the transition culture which is different to what little things. Eat in your favourite home that much easier. As you will return to. The initial ex- restaurants, go for walks around the author Robert Black said; citement at being home with your your area and reconnect with “When you travel overseas, the friends and family may wear off, family and friends. locals see you as a foreigner, leaving you yearning for your life 2. Keep yourself busy. and when you return, you see abroad. the locals as foreigners.” This I personally struggled with this quote is an accurate description when I first came home from Having too much free time and of what reverse-culture shock Erasmus. The first two weeks nothing to focus on can have a feels like and understanding were excellent; I had my double negative effect on your mood, and that it is normal to experience bed, my pets, my mom cooking it allows you plenty of moments these feelings is an important dinner every night. I’d just start- to dwell on missing your old life rather than settling back to life step to overcoming them. ed an internship, but after a while in Ireland. I was lucky enough to Familiarity is the reason behind I became bored and lost my sense start an internship the week I reculture shock. At home, every- of purpose. Gone was the sponta- turned home, so I didn’t have a lot thing feels commonplace; the neity of my life abroad; the ability of time to throw a pity party. food we eat, the streets we drive to get up and walk ten minutes to along, the routines and attitude the nearest nightclub or hop on Take up a new hobby, start a DIY of society. Moving abroad can a train Friday evening to arrive project, head off on road trips; throw a spanner into this feel- in another country Friday night. try to keep yourself busy. Coming ing of security and familiarity, Even though I had felt ready to home to an empty calendar and thus the term ‘culture shock’. come home, the re-entry did not sparse social life can exacerbate Before heading abroad to work go as smoothly as I had expect- the negative feelings associated or study, UCC students are ed. After a while I turned to oth- with reverse culture shock, as it is warned about the typical cul- er friends who had been away, often a huge contrast to the hectic ture shock timeline and how it asking them if they felt the same life you’ve left behind. presents itself. After an initial way. Most did, expressing that ‘honeymoon period’ upon ar- things felt very different and they 3. Stay true to yourself. rival, during which everything couldn’t wrap their heads around seems new and exciting, (and it. Living abroad can have a signifimany people feel like tourists), With the arrival of September cant impact on us, from our perit is normal to fall into the pit and the start of semester one, sonality, tastes and attitudes to of culture shock. This happens many students are making their our sense of style. Upon returning as differences appear, either way home from J1s or working home, you might find that things positive or negative. Gradually, somewhere in Europe. To help haven’t changed at all since you as the traveller settles into this make the transition easier, I have left and you can feel a little lost. new culture and accepts the compiled a short list of tips to try differences, they begin to feel and keep the feelings of reverse Moving back to where you grew up, surrounded by friends and stable and comfortable in their culture shock in check. family might leave ‘the new you’ new country. Disclaimer: This advice is com- feeling like you don’t fit in. It can We are warned about these ing from my own experience and put pressure on you to change, feelings presenting them- that of other students, I am not or to give up the international selves upon our return home, a medical professional. If you thinking to feel a part of the ‘old but many won’t consider this are struggling and need to talk group’. Try to maintain this ‘new until they are back at home, to someone, UCC offers a free you’ when you move back and alfeeling lost and frustrated. Re- counselling service in the Stu- low your personality to continue verse culture shock can leave us dent Health Centre. To make an evolving.
Features
Issue 1 | Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
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Spilling the Tea on Consent Writes Roisin O’Donnell, Features Editor
4. Share the experience. It’s more than likely that, after a while, your family will get a little fed up hearing stories about your life abroad. Reach out to others who have shared the experience of studying or working overseas. Staying in contact with friends you made during your time away can help, as you can reminisce and share stories together. Keep each other updated on your lives at home and don’t be afraid to explain what you’re missing and how you’re feeling. 5. Look forward Lastly, there is no point in wallowing in the past, because time travel hasn’t been invented yet. Instead of staying stuck in the past and spending time missing your ‘old life’, turn your focus to what you’re going to do next. Start planning trips, investigate job opportunities, get yourself ready for the next semester of university, (if you have one.) I was only home about two weeks when I started buying flights. I definitely caught the travel bug while on Erasmus, and now all of my money is being set aside for new trips. In short, don’t let reverse culture shock hold you back. It is perfectly okay to look back on your time abroad and miss it but be sure you’re not allowing the past to overshadow your future. Don’t forget, you can always move away again in the years to come if you want to.
Photo Credit: Caoimhe Leahy The President’s Garden on Freshers’ Week had a softer feel to it at the launch of the “#askconsent” campaign. The theme of the sexual consent awareness event was ‘tea party’, a nod towards the Tea Consent video usually shown to incoming freshers as a way of teaching new students what consent is. A long tea party table and endless cups of tea were set up by the Student Unions of UCC and CIT supported by Cork Sexual Violence Centre and City Council.
Ben Dunlea provided an introduction to the event and spoke about UCC’s stance on consent. He told the crowd, “UCC is an institution that places the well-being of its students as a top priority. Events like this serve to send a strong message: UCC is a zero-tolerance campus in relation to sexual harassment and sexual assault.”
The Student Union President then went on to introduce the next speaker, the Lord Mayor of Cork, John Sheehan. The Lord Mayor of Cork recognised the “fantastic atmosphere” surThe event scheduled for one rounding him at UCC’s Freshers’ o’clock did not kick off un- Week. He continued his speech, til about a half an hour later, speaking strongly about his and due to the high demand for the city’s support for the cam#askconsent temporary tat- paign. He said optimistically, “As toos from Mary Crilly, one a city we hope to do our part.” of the speakers at the event. Chief Superintendent, Barry The spiral shaped temporary McPolin, from An Garda Síochátattoos were worn by mem- na was the next person to take bers of the Gardaí, students to the microphone. His speech and council members present. was mingled with words of cauUCC’s Student Union President
tion for students and his per-
sonal experiences. He acknowledged, that the “#askconsent” campaign is not a complete solution to sexual assaults and harassments shadowing the campus environment. He admitted that “there are always issues”.
ly was highlighted as one of the key speakers and advocators at the “#askconsent” launch. She has over thirty six years of experience helping survivors of sexual attacks in the Cork Sexual Violence Centre.
The Chief Superintendent then, reflected on his role as a parent of a college student. His own daughter is a student at UCC. He said, as a parent “We, [parents], are always worried when our kids go out.”
Her message to UCC students, was one of understanding and encouragement, “I want students both male and female to hear that if this happens to them start talking about it, tell about it. Don’t take it as your shame.”
He also had this message to share with students as a member of the Gardaí, “they, [students], have to be aware of themselves when they go out, not to take drugs. It’s an offense anyway.” Mary Crilly had the last speech to give to the gathering at the tea party. She began her piece by holding a giant #askconsent lollipop shaped sign and telling the crowd “You hardly thought I was just going to leave three men speak now, did yeah?” She got laughter from the crowd in response. Mary Cril-
She ended her piece in the comedic fashion she had started it with, “I’ll let the men back to take over.” The event was drawn to an end with Student Union President, Ben Dunlea giving thanks to those who had helped but the event together and supported the #askconsent movement. The event was closed with a screening of the Tea Consent video.
Opinion
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Issue 1| Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
Greetings and Salutations Writes Elisha Carey, Opinions Editor Hello and welcome to the opinions section. My name is Elisha and I will be your guide. I’ve been Opinions Editor here at the Express for just a couple weeks now and I think I’m doing just swell so far. I have yet to receive my first piece of hate mail and nothing has spontaneously combusted (yet). A (very) brief intro to me- I am right on the cusp of turning 21 (birthday presents can be sent to the Express HQ) and entering my penultimate year of the Law degree here in UCC. Hobbies include: writing (duh!), art, hiking, dancing, telling people I do Law, dismantling the patriarchy and being right all the time (that last one, however, does get quite exhausting). Formalities aside, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to submit to me your sweet sweet opinions, however scathing they may be. I want to hear your opinion on anything (seriously anything at all): the climate crisis, celebrity couplings, ice cream flavours, international relations or the colour of your mam’s new car. If you have an opinion on it, I will publish it! In this day and age, your opinion is one of the most valuable things you have. It holds more power than you know. It influences boardroom decisions about what kind of stuff gets made, it can make up the single vote that gets your preferred councillor elected, it can challenge centuries-old traditions and bring about change, it can provoke, it can divide and it can make or break someone’s day. Your opinion matters. And whether or not it’s something that I personally agree with I want to hear it. Today’s social media and campus “safe spaces” means you never have to even so much as view an opinion different to your own. It’s become all too easy to simply shut people out if we don’t agree with them. This is not the kind of world I want to live in. Guys, this is why old people are calling us snowflakes. We need to stop retreating from any differing opinions and confront them head on. Only ever being exposed to opinions you agree with may be easier, but it gives you a much narrower experience of the world. Actively listening to someone is such an important force in bringing about change. Remember when we were all forced to read ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ in Junior Cert and we all hated it? Well there’s this quote from it that I’ll always remember -“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” You don’t have to agree with someone’s opinion but you should try understand where they’re coming from. A little bit of understanding can go a long way. Listening to someone who thinks a little differently to you or reading something you disagree with will only broaden your horizons and who knows, you may learn something. Any questions, queries, cries of indignation and above all, opinion pieces: email- opinion@uccexpress.ie I look forward to hearing from you soon :)
The Romanticisation of Mental Illness: On Campus and Beyond Writes Elisha Carey Opinions Editor ‘The National Report on Student Mental Health in Third Level’ launched on the 27th of August in Trinity College by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has found a third of college students are experiencing “extremely severe levels of anxiety” and have had a formal diagnosis of a mental health difficulty at some point in their lives. Quite notably, the report also concluded that almost one in four of those affected consider themselves “very unlikely” to seek help. These numbers are staggering and indicative of a campus culture that still misunderstands those suffering with poor mental health, despite the gargantuan work that has gone into de-stigmatising mental illness in this country in the past decade. Campaigns such as the Cycle Against Suicide and Green Rib-
bon Campaigns have become household names and equality legislation has been passed in the Dáil protecting those with mental illness from employment and consumer discrimination. On our own campus, a Student Mental Health Policy has been in place since 2010 and Mental Health Weeks occur at least once a semester, yet students are still reluctant to seek help. Why? The way we discuss mental illness amongst our peer groups and how we practice self-care (or don’t) has a huge part to play in exasperating this epidemic. Among my own friends I’ve seen the downplaying of potentially very serious issues: binge drinking or using drugs as a coping mechanism, pulling consecutive all-nighters to finish assignments and living off energy drinks during exams. I mean, how many times has this hap-
pened to you? You’re sitting with your friends in the lobby of the library near exam time and a conversation breaks out about how many hours of sleep everyone got last night :“I only got four hours” you say, while someone else pipes up that they “only got two” and somebody else “didn’t sleep at all” and so on and so forth. Before you know it, it’s too late, you’ve unwillingly entered yourself into a competition to be the person who has their shit least together. It seems we’re living in a bubble where unhealthy and damaging habits are not only normalised but romanticised. We’ve romanticised the notion that you have to give your absolute all to the course you’re studying, that you’re not a good student or you’re not trying hard enough if you don’t go at least a little off the rails in the pursuit of good results. Around exams, es-
pecially, it’s trendy to let sleep, socialising and even basic hygiene take a back seat while we compete against each other to stay the latest in the library, so we have something to brag about later on. As a generation, achievements gained without a semblance of pain and suffering are boring to us. This can’t be all our fault though, it had to come from somewhere, right? Today, much of the media we consume knowingly or unknowingly romanticises mental illness. A common trope in movies and TV depicts the mentally ill and damaged person as profound and wise while the well-adjusted person is ridiculed as boring. Movies like ‘Silver Linings Playbook’, ‘Girl, interrupted’ and controversial Netflix series ’13 Reasons Why’ all showcase mental illness as
Issue 1 | Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
beautifully tragic and desirable. One of my own favourite films, ‘Heathers’ belittles and romanticises both suicide and eating disorders in multiple scenes. The age-old formula for teen dramas always portrays a girl choosing the dangerous and off the rails “bad guy” over the boring, put together “good guy” type. This exact narrative plays out in 2019 Netflix release ‘After’ and countless other films. But it doesn’t stop there, you can have mental illness romanticised in the palm of your hand with apps like Tumblr and Instagram fetishizing depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Tumblr is home to a whole host of mental illness “communities” or “subcultures” which are saturated with graphic images of cuts, blood, pills and emaciated bodies on weighing scales. I can’t scroll through my Instagram feed without seeing memes that downplay the severity of mental illness, joking about depression or suicide. So, it didn’t stem from nowhere. It’s no wonder we have a warped idea of mental illness, it’s being marketed to us as trendy or cool. The media we consume has made us numb to the suffering of our peers and even of ourselves. It convinces us of the lie that serious issues like self-harm, eating disorders and crippling depression are normal things that everyone must go through. Popular culture perpetuates this notion of the ‘tortured genius’, someone who prioritises their work above all else, sacrificing themselves and their
mental health in the process. This may be where you got the idea that it’s cool to spend the night in the library fuelled only by a Starbucks coffee from the ORB. Vincent Van Gogh, Sylvia Plath, and Virginia Wolff all suffered with poor mental health and many believe there to be a correlation between their artistic success and their mental suffering. Sure, they were all incredibly talented and all suffered from extremely poor mental health but anyone who has graduated secondary school can tell you correlation doesn’t equal causation. There’s no basis in science to support the idea that artistic talent or creativity can be the result of poor mental health. But people have run with it anyways. Take Vincent Van Gogh, for example, with his famed severed ear and suicide by gunshot, he is the poster boy of the ‘tortured genius’ myth. Many speculate Van Gogh’s artwork was a result of his fractured mental state but extensive research into the life of the artist by author Bernadette Murphy found the artist only actually painted between breakdowns when he felt stable. Purveyors of the ‘tortured genius’ myth suggest that had he not been mentally ill we wouldn’t have Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’, ‘Starry Night’ or any other of his ground-breaking masterpieces. People need to get a grip; Van Gogh’s spectacular works were not because of his mental illness but despite it and if he had received the help that he needed we’d have much more of them. I like the way professor of psychiatry, Kay Redfield Jamison puts it; “No one is creative when severely depressed, psychotic or dead”.
Opinion These are just some of the harmful ideas we are being bombarded with on an almost daily basis and have been since we were all quite young. The obsession with mental illness on Tumblr was in its heyday when I was around 15 years old. It resulted in many girls I know being utterly consumed with ‘thigh gaps’ and self -harm, many of whom made it out worse for wear. Dr Mark Reinecke, chief psychologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital says that during the vulnerable years in which adolescents seek out self-affirmation and recognition from others this “promise of being recognised as strong, beautiful and mysterious” through the romanticisation and displaying of mental illness traits can be very tempting. Dr Reinecke also confirms that being exposed to a constant stream of negativity and romanticised sadness can only worsen things for adolescents suffering with poor mental health. “When you look at secular trends and epidemiological research completed over the last several decades, there seems to be a slow and fairly consistent increase in levels of depression for each succeeding generation of teenagers,” says Reinecke. It’s no surprise Irish college students are battling with anxiety and depression. Many students face financial hardship, commuting for hours everyday, overwhelming workload and a lack of sleep to name but a few. It seems these are the terms and conditions of life as a student in Ireland. The current student accommodation crisis can force students into commuting from their home towns, isolating them from the campus and college life in general, or paying above and beyond what they can afford, putting extreme financial pressure on families or the individual themselves. Conditions in the available accommodations don’t help the situation. As a first year I experienced many sleepless nights as the block I lived in practically vibrated with noise until 4am each night. One of my friends became ill from mould and damp in the bedroom for which she was paying upwards of 150 euro a week. These circumstances are grim but we’re not helping ourselves. We pressure each other to conform to an unhealthy drink-
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ing culture, claiming “it’s just not fun if you’re not drunk”, we encourage ‘all-nighters’ instead of getting the work done in a timely fashion and we isolate ourselves around exams, not asking for help when we need it. I don’t need to tell you how all of this is detrimental to your mental health. Many college students live wildly imbalanced lives and we need to start looking after ourselves better. Stress and anxiety are common feelings to experience in college and a lot of the time, it’s hard to discern whether you’re experiencing normal levels of anxiety and stress or if what you’re feeling is indicative of a deeper, more serious problem. When these symptoms are no longer taken seriously as a possible sign of a diagnosable mental illness but instead are put on a pedestal or used as a punch-line, we have a very serious problem. Romanticising and normalising these feelings only serves to dissuade those in actual and desperate need of help from seeking it out. Mental illness is serious. It ruins lives. Anyone who has actually suffered with their mental health will tell you that. Making light of it or normalising symptoms associated with it is a disservice to anyone truly struggling right now. Profound sorrow does not make a profound person. People grappling with mental illness are not amazing because of it but were amazing to begin with and continue to be amazing despite it. So please, be mindful of what you consume both on social and mainstream media and look after yourself, especially when you’re feeling down. Get enough sleep. 8 hours. Every night. Go to your lectures, tutorial, labs , the lot and give yourself plenty of time to get work finished. Take a night off of the drink every now and then. Eat a vegetable. Go for a run. And please please talk to someone if you need help. You can chat via freephone or text with UCC’s free, non-judgemental and confidential listening service, Niteline, on 1800 32 32 42
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Photos
PHOTO CREDIT: NICHOLAS O’DONNELL Issue 1| Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
Photo Credits: Eve Harrington
BYLINE
BYLINE
16 Week one down, and another Fresher’s Week down. I hope I don’t sound too much like a Scrooge when I say I’m relieved, and if I do, then Bah Humbug! As the wheels get rolling on another year of college, it really has been a great start for us all. The weather has been fine and the campus seems in high spirits, both of which will most likely change as exams come closer! What to say, oh what to say...? Well from a personal perspective, a huge shout out needs to go out to the Byline Team for cranking out a fantastic first issue. Particular highlights for me come in seeing the Gaming Section so well continued in my stead by Jack and the first full spread of our new section, Food & Health edited by Katie. I can’t wait to see everything that this team has to offer over the coming months and be sure to keep tabs on us.
Outside of the paper (obligatory Netsoc shout-out), I was busy with society stuff all week. Big credit needs to go to Kayla and the rest of the Socs Executive for running a successful Fáilte Fest and Socs Day, as well as everything behind the scenes. Netsoc had a hugely successful Freshers Week and I hope all other socs did too! For anyone considering joining a club or society, I could not recommend it enough. You meet new people with similar interests and you’re all but guaranteed to make new friends. This week’s feature interview is Nicholas O’Donnell, a photographer in the Irish Music Scene, and I hope that you all enjoy it. Nick is a former classmate of mine, and I’ve been following his progress over social media for years. Having not seen him in years, I just happened to bump into at Indiependence this summer and we arranged the interview. I like to think it turned out pretty well and was something a little bit different. Thanks again to Nick for taking time out of his day to chat to us! As anyone who knows me will attest to, I am a huge football fan, so it was my absolute pleasure to be able to attend Alan Bennett’s testimonial in Turner’s Cross at the weekend. Benno is a bona fide City legend and a testament to the club, so to see him get such a great send off was fantastic. While City’s season didn’t go exactly as we would have hoped, times look bright under Neale Fenn, and you can expect plenty of coverage of the League of Ireland from fellow City fan Jack Maguire, our Sports Editor. Another edition down and another editorial involving my ramblings. Cheers again for checking us out and feel free to fire an email my way if you want to contribute to the paper; byline@uccexpress.ie John Cian McGrath
INTERVIEW
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An Interview with Nicholas O’Donnell Cian McGrath, Byline Editor
19 it’s just friends that you know, photograph them as much as you can in any venue. You can learn from your mistakes through that and then when you keep on practicing and practicing, you’ll have built up enough of a portfolio, you can start contacting bands through Instagram. You can directly contact bands through Insta, offer your services for free. The way that I try to work it is that, if I contact the band, I offer to work for free, but if a band contacts me, I’ll ask for some money.” For something such as photog-
Nicholas O’Donnell (21) is a freelance photographer based in Bray, County Wicklow. Born and raised in Bantry, West Cork, Nick took up photography when he was just 15. When he first picked up a camera, Nick was set against taking photos of people, instead focusing on landscapes. Nowadays, he works as a photographer in the music industry, capturing the live performances of the biggest names in Irish Music, like Westlife, The Coronas and Wild Youth as well as World-Renowned Headliners The Strokes and Billie Eilish at Electric Picnic. Nick began his photography almost by accident in West Cork. “I randomly took it up while on a road trip with some friends and I really haven’t stopped since.” No doubt aided by the beautiful landscapes in West Cork, Nick juggled working in his family’s pub ‘The Anchor Tavern’, for 3 years, while continuing to expand his portfolio. He went on to study photography in St Johns, but dropped out just before second year, to focus on getting practical experience as opportunities opened for him elsewhere. He moved up to Bray in September 2018 and has been based there since. “When I first started, I only shot landscape. Then, I moved onto
documentary work for the Southern Star and moved into doing some work for the Examiner, but it was all freelance work. I then moved into some night-club photography, then weddings pretty much full-time. It wasn’t until I moved to college that I discovered the music scene in Cork and then it really took off.”
Bray, Nick worked part-time as a kitchen porter as he acclimatised to the move from home;
When he started off shooting landscape, as with any new photographer, Nick began to put his photos on social media where they started to gain traction. Often, when people have an interest in photography, they can spend anywhere from €50 to upwards of €2000 on a camera. When asked about what camera he started with, Nick had this to say;
Wild Youth, one of the most up and coming Irish Indie bands, are one of the bands who Nick works closely with. The Dublin fourpiece, who supported Westlife and Kodaline, appeared at Electric Picnic and Indiependence, and Nick is hugely grateful for the opportunity that they have given him;
“I started with a basic bridge camera, which is half-way between a point and shoot camera and a DSLR (a camera with replaceable lenses). Then I moved on to a basic DSLR and kept upgrading. [Starting with an expensive camera] is ridiculous. You don’t have to have a great camera to take a great picture. It’s what you do with it. There’s a YouTube channel called DigitalRevTV where they challenge photographers to produce great images with toy cameras”. With freelance work, opportunities can come thick and fast, but when he first moved up to
“I have nightmare about that job, working in a small environment, it really didn’t suit me! I was lucky, just after I left that job, Wild Youth offered me the chance to work with them.”
“The biggest thing that happened was when I started working with Wild Youth. This year I photographed their EP launch in the Grand Social. I got asked to cover them again for Golden Plec, and I got backstage access to do some portraits with them and through those portraits they started working with me and I’ve gotten a lot of opportunities from working with them.” The intricacies of working in the music industry might surprise a normal attendee, but when Nick got the opportunity to work with the Coronas in 2018, he wasn’t expecting that his choice of clothing would be an issue;
raphy, there’s a fine balance to be had between genuine experience and college work, but both come with their own pros and cons. For Nick however, he’s happy with his decision thusfar; “[College] is great, because you learn aspects that you wouldn’t otherwise. Like you learn to shoot 35mm, and you process the photos yourself, and then you learn studio too, but a that time, I was spending more time travelling up and down to Dublin for gigs. It does vary with where you want to work, but there’s so many
“Their manager invited me back to do the second night, I wore a white t-shirt to the gig, and I went up for stage access and that is a huge no-no. You have to wear all black. Eventually they found me a t-shirt, but I got chewed out of it fairly badly”. When you think of a festival, you’d be forgiven for imaging bright blue skies, with the sun splitting the stones, and a party atmosphere. The reality in Ireland however can be very different as we saw at the Sunday of Indiependence. As the skies opened upon Mitchelstown, and most hid in their tents, work didn’t stop for Nick; “I was photographing Inhaler, and it was the worst rain I’ve ever seen, and I had to shoot in that. Within a few minutes, water got into my lens and I was sure it was broken… When water gets in, condensation builds up and it costs minimum €300 to fix. Luckily I left it for a few days and it’s fine!” It can be a daunting task for aspiring photographers to know where to begin. To Nick, there is no option but patience and hard work. When I asked him what the best way to take the first step in working professionally as a photographer, he had this to say; “If someone wants to get going, music is probably the best option. Start off with small acts, even if
PHOTO CREDIT: NICHOLAS’ O’DONNELL
good resources online now, even Youtube! In my case, if I was still in St Johns, I wouldn’t be where I am now! I would like to go back to college at some point though.” After finding great success so far in Ireland, Nick is taking every day as it comes, but in terms of long-term plans, he has a few things in mind once another festival season has passed by; “I’ve been thinking about it recently, possibly moving to London or Brighton after next summer. There is a lot of bands over
there that I want to work with and bigger publications, and a lot of opportunities for photographers… and they pay!” You can check out some of Nick’s work at;
nicholasodonnellphotographs
nicholasodonnell
Food & Health
why we ever signed up for this. What goes unacknowledged by us however is that as we work ourselves up about walking into a class full of strangers, or trying to grasp referencing guidelines, we are putting our bodies under immense strain. The hangovers, chesty coughs, winter colds and flus all send us reaching for the medicine drawer to fix what ails us: to give our bodies what they otherwise lack, and so we enter a cycle of health highs, lows and pharmaceuticals. Such cycles soon become things that we accept as a way of life, telling ourselves ‘it’s grand’ before returning home to mothers’ chicken soup. This is where we can begin helping ourselves. Believe it or not, it is not because your mother made the soup that it does you so much good, it is the food itself.
How to… Poach an Egg
Writes John Barker, Head Chef On the other side of college lies *touch wood* days of discretionary expenditure and consequential brunch. However, the student lifestyle can be far from such glamour. Despite attempts to budget, we get carried away on a night out or opt for the prettier/cooler yet more expensive stationary, leaving loose change for brunch to be a real luxury. Fortunately, when I’m not studying, I’m a chef, and one that will both tell and encourage you to do it yourself. If you’re broke, then fix it; nobody should be deprived of the wonder and glory of a poached egg (unless of course you are living the vegan life), and whilst temptation wants me to lead you into more decadent realms, the truth is that in this case, I can confidently state that the egg comes first. You can add avocado, hollandaise, fermented srira-
cha as you wish, but without the perfect poached egg to start then you have nothing to add them to. So..how to poach an egg? First and foremost, your egg(s) must be fresh. Be aware also of the size as cooking time will vary across S-M-L, perhaps you never realised the box of eggs had an official size ranking. Bring a medium pot of water to the boil. Add 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar and allow the water to return to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Crack your egg(s) into the centre, where you can still see the heat bubbles rising. These act as a sort-of vortex which will give the egg its shape and continue to hold it thereafter. Allow your egg to cook for 2-3 minutes before removing it with a slotted spoon. You can check, by touch, that your egg is cooked to your liking. Although I’m firmly in the ‘runny yolk’ corner.
Editor: Katie Kelly
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Rest the egg on a dry tea-towel for a moment, to catch any pockets of water, before popping them on your toast and catching the yolk-bursting moment for Instagram. And that’s it. The fundamentals of brunch; the trendiest meal of our time. Impress friends, family, lovers or just your online followers with your new skill before finally enjoying your little moment of luxury.
Everyday Medicine
Writes John Barker, Head Chef College marks the start of an epic new adventure. For some, it’s a key to the big bad world. For others, an opportunity to cram some more knowledge into our older years. Regardless of your intentions, the path ahead is turbulent at best. There will be high levels of stress and we will all, at some point wonder
Food is our everyday medicine. We become run down when our bodies are missing essential nutrients, and without tablets and supplements how are we supposed to ingest just what our body needs? The answer is simple: it’s all in our food. We need focus our intentions on healing our guts: repairing the damage, and rebuilding for a healthier future. What can we do? We can look at external elements such as stress and our environment, but they can often prove harder to control. Instead, we can do good by the gut, as we take control of what is on our own plates. By doing so, we can begin to help ourselves both physically and mentally by identifying the foods to avoid and the foods to devour. New, or familiar to Cork, it is a county of some of the most incredible local produce, and being based in the city, nothing is more than a hop, skip or a light jog away (work up the appetite). Scout out your nearest farmers market or speciality food store and go and explore. Enjoy the experience of feeding yourself well: good for the gut and great for the soul! @johnanthonybarker
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Ditching Diet Culture
Writes Katie Kelly, Food & Health Editor Ketogenic diets, Paleo diets, low-fat diets… The list of fad diets is endless and they have all had their fifteen minutes of fame. Unfortunately, they are about as sustainable in real life as they are in the media. When it comes to such fads, if they seem too good to be true, they probably are. While they may promise the world, they are usually unbalanced, unsustainable and can often have very negative effects on people’s health. Many of them cut out whole food groups, leading to deficiencies in certain nutrients, or provide far too little energy for our bodies, which is neither safe nor healthy. So, what really makes up a healthy diet? Time and time again, it comes back to the good old Food Pyramid. With so much nutri-nonsense around, it often helps to get back to basics when considering what we should be eating. The Food Pyramid is recommended by the Department of Health, and there is good reason behind this. While everyone has different energy and nutrient requirements based on their body composition and lifestyle, these are the general guidelines provided for the general population. If you are and trying to eat more healthily, it might be a good idea to see how your diet fits in with these recommendations or where changes could be made to do so. • Shelf 1. Vegetables, Salad and Fruit: Try to include at least 5-7 servings each day, or more if possible. If you’re struggling to reach this, try to gradually increase your intake by adding an extra portion to your daily routine by bringing fruit with you to have as a snack between lectures or
adding extra vegetables when you’re preparing meals. Try to include them at each meal and enjoy a variety of colours. • Shelf 2. Wholemeal Cereals and Breads, Potatoes, Pasta and Rice: Include 3-7 servings each day. This will vary depending on your age and activity level. Carbohydrates can be included at each meal. Choose brown or wholegrain versions when possible to increase your intake of fibre. • Shelf 3. Milk, Yogurt and Cheese: Aim for 3 servings per day. One serving is equal to a 200ml glass of milk; a 125g pot of yogurt; or a 25g piece of hard cheese. Dairy is a source of many nutrients, including calcium, protein, phosphorous, iodine, potassium and B vitamins. If you are following a vegan diet, try to choose substitutes which are fortified with these nutrients, or consider where you are getting these from elsewhere in your diet.
• Shelf 4. Meat, Poultry, Fish, Eggs, Beans and Nuts: Include 2 servings a day as sources of protein in your diet. Try to include oily fish up to twice a week and choose lean meat and poultry over processed salty meats when possible. For vegans and vegetarians, include a variety of pulses to ensure you are meeting your protein requirements. • Shelf 5. Fats, Spreads and Oils: These are needed in very small amounts so try to use as little as possible. Try to cook with as little fat or oil as possible by grilling, oven-baking, steaming, boiling or stir-frying. Mayonnaise, coleslaw and salad dressings also contain oil, so avoid consuming too much of these. • Food and drinks that are high in fat, sugar and salt are separated from the Food Pyramid as they should not be eaten every day. These include crisps, sweets, chocolate and fizzy drinks, so try to reduce your intake of these. Enjoy what
you like every so often, but just remember that everything should be in moderation! Bear in mind that these are all general recommendations. It’s all about finding what suits best for your lifestyle. A little guidance can go a long way, but with so many fad diets and conflicting advice circulating around, often it can help to bring it back to basics. Food
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Avocados are such a versatile food and are a great source of monounsaturated fat (which is considered a healthy fat). They are also a good source of potassium and vitamin K. They are classified as a fruit, rather than a vegetable and are a tasty way of reaching for recommended 5-7 portions of vegetables, salad and fruit. Enjoy them mashed on toast, diced in a salad, sliced with poached eggs or mashed with salt, pepper, garlic and a squeeze of lemon or lime to make your own home-made guacamole!
Music
Editor: Fiona O’Connell
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Best New Track (Nothing but Bombay Bicycle Club) Indie four-piece Bombay Bicycle Club are back with the release of their new single ‘Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing but You)’. The lead single from the band’s upcoming album is both wistful and lustful whilst in keeping with the band’s entirely unique sound. Jack Steadman’s quivering voice carries the almost anthemic track with thrashing drums and pulsating synths all adding to the youthful feelings of lust and longing. One can almost picture the sound-tracking of the song in a coming of age film with the line ‘Us on the bed half a meter apart. Awkward hearts beating faster and faster, faster and faster’. A stellar track and a mighty, if understated, comeback from one of the most prolific indie bands of the last decade.
THE EVOLUTION OF BON IVER Writes Fiona O’Connell, Music Editor When you think about your favourite artist or band, what comes to mind? Is it their songwriting; how it feels like they continuously take the words out of your mouth while articulating it all in ways you never could? Is it their artistry; how they market themselves and their music whilst remaining true to their artistic selves? Or maybe it’s just the way they inspire or drive you, musically and creatively. That band for me is Bon Iver. Frontman Justin Vernon has, in my opinion, done the impossible by capturing raw emotion flawlessly in melody and harmony; using his production to enhance his musical message. This evolution of sound has been nothing short of spectacular as the band crossed into unchartered territories by ditching acoustic guitars for a bigger, more heavily produced sound. Yet somehow, they have managed to remain consistent in terms of unique lyrical content and mood creation. To understand the beauty of such
an evolution however, we have to go back to where it all began. Most fans of Bon Iver will have heard the story of the making of ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’, the band’s debut album. After a traumatic heartbreak, Vernon retreated to a cabin in the woods where he proceeded to write and record an album of songs that will tug at your heart strings (or if you’re me sob for hours upon end for a heartbroken man you have never met, about a heartache you have never experienced). This acoustic, folk-driven album went on to bag Vernon and his bandmates a Grammy award, receiving huge acclaim from critics worldwide. It also succeeded in mapping the band as an indie folk force to be reckoned with. Inspiring a multitude of folk artists and paving the way for a very niche ‘Bon Iver sounding’ type of songwriting that Vernon both created and mastered in the penning of this first album.
Almost five years after the release of For Emma, the band released their self-titled sophomore album ‘Bon Iver, Bon Iver’. Interestingly, given the success of the first album, ‘Bon Iver, Bon Iver’ failed to follow the same musical formula, instead opting to change musical direction ambitiously - introducing a fuller, almost grungier sound. The album’s opening track ‘Perth’ is a far cry from the gentle, swinging ‘Flume’ which introduced Bon Iver to the world on the first album. ‘Perth’ is heavy, with an electric guitar driven opening riff that develops into a motif, building up and fading out throughout the song. ‘Bon Iver, Bon Iver’ also saw a heavier use of alternative instruments, particularly brass instruments with great focus on horns and saxophone. This development of musical tone and instrumentation showcased another side of the band, proving their versatility and development in terms of songwriting and composition.
Yet another five years later, the band released one of the most interesting, forward-thinking, and utterly spectacular albums I have ever listened to. I have deemed it my favourite album ever for a multitude of reasons but for your sake reader, I will try and narrow those down. ‘22, A Million’ marked another shift in the band’s sound; if the second album was a 90-degree spin, their third was a full 180. Not only did the band utilise a greater variety of instruments, their music began to cross into the realm of electronic music. With an extensive use of synths and a heavy use of a vocoder, artificially modifying the pitch of Vernon’s vocals, the band’s sound was almost unrecognizable. Almost. I don’t think I fully understood why I was so entranced by Vernon’s songwriting until I listened to ‘22 A Million’. Even when his vocals are modified, his electric guitar is distorted, and foreign synths
Gig of the Month fill up what once was a stripped back performance, Vernon’s conveying of emotion through his use of melody shines through. A highlight of the album for me is ‘8 circle’. Never have synths and the use of elements of electronic music combined with folk driven vocal melodies created a more ambient, soothing piece of music. It was on this album that the band began to experiment with collaboration. I think one of the ways in which this was most successfully executed is through the heavy use of sampling on the album. ‘00000 Million’ borrows an enchanting guitar melody as well as the calming voice of Fionn Regan delivering what becomes the hook, if you will, of the song ‘Where the days have no numbers’. Innovative, and artistic on every level, this album is not only one of my favourite albums ever, but also a beautiful representation of the metamorphosis of a band, and a lesson in how to evolve your sound without losing your identity.
For me, ‘22, A Million’ felt like the culmination of everything the band could have hoped to achieve both sonically and artistically. I wondered how such an album could be followed even when in the hands of the wonderful Justin Vernon. With the release of ‘Hey, Ma’ in June of this year, it became apparent that, instead of going even wackier and more experimental, the band were, in some ways, returning to their roots. With stunning harmonies, sublime use of vocal pitching, and gorgeously sentimental melodies, ‘Hey, Ma’ is everything a perfect Bon Iver track is. With the surprise release of the latest album after the holding of exclusive listening parties all over the world, ‘i, i’ not only took the world by surprise but became an instant sensation. Gaining huge critical acclaim, the album is a continuation of the band’s musical evolution whilst making references to their past selves through more organic sounding vocals and instruments as well
as stunningly simple melodies. It’s hard to know where Bon Iver can go from here. In my mind they have mastered their craft, producing a sound that is so inherently unique and entirely singular. Their evolving sound and stylistic ideas have ensured both their longevity and credibility as one of the biggest names in the business. I also think this is part of the reason so many artists continue to be inspired by their music. For me, Bon Iver’s music is a genre within itself, and one that I certainly cannot get enough of, at that. If I haven’t sold the pure magic of this band’s music to you yet, perhaps Glasshouse will as they take to the stage of The Kino on Saturday 21st September to perform a selection of Bon Iver’s music. Tickets for the 16-person ensemble event can be purchased on UTicket - you certainly don’t want to miss this one.
Pretty Happy @ Winthrop Avenue One of the most exciting bands in the city are set to play one of the most exciting new music venues in the city this month. The post punk trio will take to the stage of Winthrop Avenue on Thursday 26th September with support from Elaine Malone and Laurie Shaw. Located within a stone’s throw of one of the biggest music venues in Cork Cyprus Avenue’s sister venue Winthrop Avenue is in its first month of business (and have some pretty stellar gigs lined up including this cracker!). Pretty Happy’s live performances are notoriously raucous and certainly not to be missed. Tickets are €6 and can be purchased in advance on Eventbrite.
Film & T.V.
Editor: Eoghan Creedon
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IT: Chapter Two Writes Eoghan Creedon, Film & TV Editor
Star Wars Writes Eoghan Creedon, Film & TV Editor So, Star Wars is big isn’t it? The multibillion franchise is set to release the ninth instalment to the ‘Skywalker Saga’ this December with ‘Star Wars – Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker’. (Just a quick note, that’s a terrible title.) This ninth movie will finally see the end of what is one of the most iconic movie series of all time. The main movies I mean, not the crappy spin off movies. But what if I told you, that there could be a surprise appearance by one of the franchise’s main players in ‘Episode 9’? It’s not Harrison Ford, it’s not Mark Hamill, it’s not Ewan McGregor, it’s everyone’s favourite part of the prequels, Hayden Christensen. Well, second favourite. Jar Jar Binks was quite popular in fairness to him. Christensen could potentially be making a return in some capacity in the upcoming ‘Episode 9’. “Where’s the proof?” I hear literally no one ask, well he and Emperor Palpatine himself, Ian
McDiarmid, have recently been spotted together at a children’s hospital in Salt Lake City, reports Comicbook.com. The two have rarely been spotted together since last working alongside each other in 2005s ‘Star Wars – Episode 3: The Revenge of the Sith’. Could this be a coincidence? Well, yeah, obviously. But that doesn’t make for an interesting story. So why would two actors associated with one of the biggest movie franchises of all time, who have rarely been sighted together, suddenly start making appearances together mere months away from the release of another Star Wars movie? Promotion, obviously. Fans were quick to speculate when the most recent trailer for ‘Episode 9’ dropped a few weeks ago and Palpatine’s voice could be heard. It is expected that the Emperor will play some role of importance in the final film of the ‘Skywalker Saga’.
No one truly knows what role he will play in the movie and to how much importance he will be to the overall storyline of the movie. McDiarmid has played Emperor Palpatine in 4 out of the 5 live action movies the character has appeared in. He was later digitally inserted into ‘Episode 5’ in the re-releases where the character made their first appearance. Fans are assuming that McDiarmid himself will make another on screen appearance as the Emperor in ‘Episode 9’. Some stating that it would be pointless to have him appear only as a voice over, especially for such a huge part of the ‘Skywalker Saga’. Now that’s all well and good, but where does that leave us with Hayden Christensen? Christensen was and still is considered one of the main reasons why the prequels are critically panned. (I actually think they’re grand, but that’s a discussion for a different day). Critics slated Christensen’s wooden and stiff performances as Anakin Skywalker in Episodes 2 & 3. While he is quite poor in those movies, let’s be fair to him, he was given absolute tripe to work with. However, Ewan McGregor was also given garbage to work with and he is largely considered the best part of the prequel trilogy.
So, Christensen’s performances clearly weren’t up to scratch, compared to the rest of his cast mates. But why would he be in ‘Episode 9’? Well, if he is, which he very well might not be, it wouldn’t actually be a bad call in my opinion. Christensen is Darth Vader. Well he’s Anakin in the prequels, but Anakin turns to the dark side at the end of ‘Episode 3’ and we see him dawn the famous Darth Vader attire. Spoilers for ‘Episode 3’. Sorry, not sorry. Darth Vader as a character plays a huge part in the ‘Skywalker Saga’. Arguably the second most important part after Luke. So, having one of the most iconic characters in Star Wars history, and film history in general, return for your last movie in the franchise isn’t a terrible idea to me. I would be all for seeing Christensen return in ‘Episode 9’. The guy gets dogs abuse as is for his role in the prequels. If he gets given a decent script to work with this time, who knows, he might be great? If he’s even in the movie that is. Because, let’s face it, it’s a big leap from appearance with former co-star, to appearance in a blockbuster movie. But that’s the beauty of speculation.
‘It: Chapter Two’ is the hugely anticipated sequel to 2017’s ‘It’. The first movie proved to be a critical and commercial success which saw the self-named ‘Losers Club’ endure the summer from hell as they were haunted and terrorised by the evil entity which lurks through the fictional town of Derry, Maine. The sequel takes place 27 years later in modern day, which sees the ‘Losers Club’ as adults, with the return of Pennywise played by Bill Skarsgård and the original cast of young actors to play their original roles in flashbacks. So, to be blunt; this movie is extremely disappointing. It was my most anticipated movie of the year. As soon as the credits rolled at the end of my first viewing of the first movie, I was counting down the days until I got to see the sequel. I now wish I hadn’t spent so much time looking forward to it. For a horror movie, it is severely lacking in genuine scares. The first movie was not tremendously scary, but it countered that by bringing a sense of creepiness and dread to the movie. The sequel has nothing to counter the lack of scares. The scariest thing about the movie is the run time, coming in at just under 3 hours. For a movie of this length, not a whole lot happens. It jumps from scene to scene, which are ultimately the same thing. We see an adult ‘Loser’ by themselves, we get a flashback to them as their younger selves, Pennywise appears to scare them in some form or another, we snap back to their adult selves and then poxy
photo credit: Warner Bros
Pennywise rocks up again to give them an aul shpook. Rinse and repeat. It just got so repetitive. I realise that was pretty much the same structure in the first movie, but at least in that movie we only had to sit through one scare per character, this time we have to sit through two scares for most characters and it comes across mostly as filler. Filler. In a 3-hour movie. As mentioned previously, it’s not all that scary. It relies on cheap jump scares, which more often than not come across unintentionally as funny rather than scary. I honestly heard more laughs than screams in the screening I was in. Like most jump scares, they are all so predictable. I could tell exactly when a ‘scary’ part was going to happen right before it did. All it would entail is one of the ‘Losers’ would be looking somewhere, they turn away, they turn back and suddenly there’s a ‘monster’ there accompanied by a loud, ‘scary’ sound. These ‘monsters’ bring me on to my next point nicely. The CGI in this movie is abys-
mal. For a movie with a multimillion-dollar budget, you think they would’ve spent a bit of that on decent special effects. I’ve seen better visual effects on PlayStation 2 games from the late 90’s. Utterly, utterly laughable. As myself and my friends were discussing after the movie (shout out to Jack and Glenn), if you’re laughing at the things that are supposed to be making you crap your pants, you’ve gone wrong somewhere along the line. A few positive words for this movie, the actors’ performances for the most part are superb. I personally really enjoyed the performances of Bill Hader (adult Richie), Isaiah Mustafa (adult Mike) and James Ransone (adult Eddie). I thought that the three of them were the best thing about this movie. Hader and Ransone really captured the essence of their characters previously played by the younger actors in the first movie. Mustafa playing Mike had the difficult role of providing insight and explanation to the returning ‘Losers’ who have all left Derry in the years since the first movie and have since forgotten
what happened. Mike never left Derry, so Mike never forgot what happened in the summer of ’89. Hollywood powerhouses James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain weren’t given a whole lot to do and I thought the movie wasted the abilities of two actors of their calibre. Skarsgård as Pennywise was good, but I thought the material he had to work with was boarder line garbage. The film simply did not use him enough for my liking, instead opting for crappy CG ‘monsters’. All in all, ‘It: Chapter Two’ was a hugely disappointing follow up to one of my personal favourite movies of this decade. They should’ve left it at the one movie. But we know how much studios love money. If this movie makes anywhere near the amount of money the first movie made, we could very well be seeing ‘It: Chapter Three’ sometime soon… and that is the scariest thing about this movie.
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Issue 1| Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
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Issue 1 | Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
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SEXPRESS
Editor: Caoimhe Battault
Love Island Writes Caoimhe Battault, Sexpress Editor Love it or hate it, Love Island almost definitely had an impact on your summer. It probably had a negative effect on you in some way or another, whether you are aware of it or not. I enjoy the show, I find it mindless and something fun to look forward to but it undeniably caused problems for me. One being hiding myself after sex and asking him to turn around when I got changed. Yet this wasn’t one of the worst side effects of the ITV series. Being self-conscious is something we all struggle with at times and probably can’t be entirely blamed on the show full of actual sculpted gods, although I wish it could be. Something else became glaringly obvious to me: how much we hate women for their sex-lives and bodies. I don’t enjoy the narrative that women are bitchy and tend to hate each other, especially when my female friends have always been the most supportive of me and have been the people I have admired the most. Yet during the airing of Love Island this year I noticed a major influx of women-hating-women around me. A woman in work commented how she hated Maura Higgins because she was a “slag” (a term I found jarring, not just for its archaic quality but its use with actual genuine contempt) and said she
couldn’t believed Ana dressed that way with such a “lardy arse.” Both instances shocked me and caused me to question why my colleague was watching the show. Was she getting enjoyment out of ridiculing these women? If she didn’t like hearing Maura discuss her love for sex, why didn’t she just change the channel? Maybe I am lucky, and the people around me, especially the women, have always been positive, open and kind when discussing sex. At least I thought I was surrounded by women like this. Some other women in work discussed how they were embarrassed at Molly-Mae “doing bits” on TV. They condemned her “lack of self-respect” and believed she would regret her actions in the future once she was outside of the villa. And yet, the dignity and self-worth of her boyfriend, Tommy Fury, wasn’t called into question at all. Why was Molly-Mae being held to a different standard? Why was Anton, who spoke about his multiple threesomes, just a bit gas? Yet Maura was a slut for craving sex in a house where its near impossible to touch yourself for eight weeks? No matter how much we try surround ourselves with the right people, it seems this extreme-
ly harmful standard set up for women will follow us. Will women always be expected to be the “controlled” party? The “mature” one? The more “sensible”? And if they happen to fall below these standards will they forever be labelled as sluts and slags? It’s hard to imagine a world where this is completely eradicated but it seems even more difficult when shows like Love Island create a platform and a breeding ground for such judgement. The show thrives off negative news and will always make a woman seem stupid or unwise for making the choice to be open with her sexuality. This is a particularly nasty trait, considering that the very premise of the show, “searching for Love,” will naturally lead contestants to make these choices. It is difficult for me to criticise Love Island when I genuinely enjoy it so much. However, I can see the negative effect it has on me and its general audience. Will I stop watching it? Probably not. And neither will the woman in work. The fact that these misogynistic qualities are tucked neatly behind mindless entertainment is exactly why we as an audience need to be aware and active in our consumption.
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When I first applied for the job of Sexpress Editor, I immediately felt imposter syndrome and I hadn’t even received an e-mail back yet. Was I really qualified for this? (I still don’t think I am but here we are!) I’m a straight, cisgender woman in a monogamous, long-term relationship. I might be one of the most represented people in the world, jogging just behind straight men. I was nervous that my limited experience regarding sex and relationships would limit my writing. But then I realised, everyone’s experience in these areas are limited to exactly what they like and do, and therefore everyone has their own unique experience. Because of this it is so important to me to have a space for everyone who wants to express their experience. Please submit pieces, all of your voices mean so much to me. Even if you just have ideas or suggestions of something you would like to see explored let us know. E-mail sexpress@uccexpress.ie
Gaming
Editor: Jack Coleman
30 means a huge success story which is why it comes as no surprise that no other developers immediately tried to replicate some of the systems in place. That was until, as previously mentioned, Gearbox Software struck gold with their 2009 mega-hit Borderlands. Simply stated, Borderlands took the gaming world by storm. It combined the loot-driven shooter gameplay from Hellgate with beautiful cell-shaded graphics that still hold up well even today. In addition, the game’s plot, setting and character design have received tremendous praise for how interesting and engaging all these elements are. For those unfamiliar, Borderlands takes place on the ravaged planet of Pandora where mega-corporations have squeezed the planet of all its natural resources and have ruined its ecosystem. However, the planet still attracts brave adventurers called Vault Hunters who are trying to find a legendary vault full of advanced alien technology and riches.
The Evolution of the Looter-Shooter Writes Jack Coleman, Gaming Editor The highly-anticipated release of Borderlands 3 is almost upon us and fans everywhere are beyond excited for the latest introduction to their beloved series. Ten years ago in 2009, an emerging genre was defined by the release of the original Borderlands. Critics at the time were calling the game “Diablo-inspired”, little did they know that the title had enough unique elements to spawn a genre all by itself. Through Borderlands, the concept of a looter-shooter was popularised and eager developers have been trying to replicate its success ever since. So what exactly is a “looter-shooter”? A looter-shooter is a subgenre of well, shooters, it can be either first-person or third-person and focuses on interesting and exciting in-game “rewards” or loot. Everyone playing a looter-shooter inevitably ends up begging for
the perfect drop, they want the coolest piece of armour or the most powerful gun, but of course, the odds are against them which makes the rush greater when they get the item they’re looking for. With its implausibly large library of randomly-generated guns, Borderlands was able to convert the addictive loot-chasing gameplay of Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) titles like World of Warcraft into its own singleplayer (or co-op) experience. Borderlands is well-known for popularising the genre but it’s a common misconception that it was the first looter-shooter ever made. It’s a difficult task to attribute this feat to a specific game but one of the earliest instances of a game which brought together many critical elements of a looter-shooter is Hellgate: London. Hellgate, released in 2007, was
the vision of former Blizzard employees who were heavily involved in the creation of the original Diablo. It’s easy to see the similarities between the two titles, both are built around randomly-generated levels and take place in a world invaded by demons. Many early elements of the looter-shooter genre can be observed in this hack-and-slash action RPG. The game features six playable classes which each bring their own flair to the gameplay, the concept of distinct classes would go on to become a staple in the genre due to both the replayability it encourages and also because it gives co-op players different experiences to those they are playing with. Besides the class system, Hellgate also makes use of a random gun system with over 100 different base weapon types complete with random enchantments. Inter-
estingly, the game allows you to switch between first-person and third-person cameras if you are playing a ranged character, melee characters are forced to play in third-person (likely due to animation constraints). The game had a mixed reception at release and would go on to have a peculiar history. Hellgate’s developers, Flagship Studios, intended to support the game for much longer than they did but they went bankrupt less than six months after release. The company’s intellectual property then passed over to Korean publishing company Hanbit Software who eventually relaunched the game with Korean multiplayer servers in 2011. Unexpected but welcome news came in late 2018 when Hellgate: London was released on Steam with some additional content. Hellgate: London was by no
Unlike Hellgate, Borderlands was a massive success which is why it did come as a surprise that there weren’t many similar games being developed in the years immediately after its release. The gaming industry was still very much going through its open-world RPG golden age with titles such as Mass Effect 2, Fallout: New Vegas and Red Dead Redemption releasing soon after Borderlands. The looter-shooter genre would remain a one-hit-wonder until surprise, surprise the critically-acclaimed sequel to Borderlands was released in late 2012. If Borderlands created a storm in the gaming world then Borderlands 2 created a hurricane. The game would go on to become the best-selling game in the history of its publisher (2K Games) and would receive numerous “gameof-the-year” awards. Borderlands 2 retained the best elements of its predecessor and its additions served to engage and entertain the player in new ways: in-game challenges that reward the player with base state increases, a plethora of new customisation options and a more streamlined multiplayer experience all improved upon the original Borderlands
formula. The most memorable part of playing Borderlands 2, however, has to be its incredible plot. While Borderlands was somewhat bogged down with having to build an entire universe from scratch, Borderlands 2 was free to experiment with a world its players already understood. This freedom spawned Handsome Jack, one of the most iconic video game villains of all time. Jack does his best to impede and harass you as you try to derail his nefarious plans and remove the iron grip his corporation Hyperion has on the planet. It’s not his constant attempts to kill you that make him hateable it’s his cocksure attitude and constant taunting that make you want to desperately reach the end of the game just so you can see him get his comeuppance. Borderlands 2 is widely considered one of the best
shooters of the modern era which makes it almost indisputably the greatest looter-shooter of all time. So after Borderlands 2, it was surely time for another developer to try their hand at cracking the looter-shooter genre? Correct. When legendary developers Bungie, famous for creating the Halo franchise, announced their full departure from the Microsoft tree in 2010, everyone was curious what their new franchise would be. The answer came in the form of Destiny, a more multiplayer-oriented looter-shooter that released in 2014. Destiny was the first true competitor to Borderlands, it had entertaining gunplay, absurd variety and quantity of loot and amazing visuals. The focus of Destiny is much more on the multiplayer aspect of the genre, while Bor-
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derlands feels like a single-player game that can be played with multiple players, Destiny feels like the exact opposite. In true Bungie fashion, the game’s maps and weaponry are satisfying and well-put-together but the game had shortcomings in other areas. The story and setting of the game were widely panned at release for being paper-thin and uninteresting. It also exploited a nefarious aspect of the genre that would worsen with its sequel, the monetisation of loot. Destiny was created with microtransactions in mind and its experience systems undeniably inches the player towards paying instead of grinding. Destiny, although a fun and well-built game, was one of the early exploiters of a now pervasive problem in gaming. In 2017, Destiny 2 released and improved upon the core gameplay of the original. It’s still fun, it’s still addictive and it’s still laden with microtransactions. Though, unlike the original game, it’s now standard practice to attempt to squeeze players out of extra money in Triple-A games. Anthem, BioWare’s 2019 attempt at a looter-shooter, had such an egregious form of monetisation (in combination with stale and limited gameplay) that the player base has all but abandoned the game, less than one year after launch. Borderlands 3 will also have microtransactions, though they are strictly cosmetic. The sad reality is that additional monetisation is likely here to stay in looter-shooters but recent high-profile failures like Anthem will hopefully advise developers and publishers to dial it back. From the early beginnings of the genre with Hellgate: London, to its poster-boy series Borderlands, to the latest variations of the genre with Anthem and Destiny, looter-shooters were clearly a trend of the last decade and all signs suggest they’ll continue to pop up during the next decade as well. Will the genre move in a more positive direction or will new releases continue to drown in monetisation? Only time will tell, either way, I’m off to kill some psychos in Borderlands 3.
Fashion
When Body Positivity Becomes Body Negativity Writes Katie Burke, Fashion Editor
For centuries women have been informed of what is the most aesthetically pleasing body shape to maintain. For example, for many women of the nineteenth century, corsets were the accessory of the day in the hopes of their waists shrinking smaller and smaller to fit the relevant beauty standard. Over time variations of body positivity movements cropped up over time to fight the pressure to fit conventional beauty standards. The movement has seen a new lease of life in recent times, perhaps thanks to the ease of spreading a message on social media. However, with this new resurgence comes new issues and it has the potential to become just as restrictive as the beauty standards which it vehemently challenges. Many people have taken issue with the commercialisation of the term ‘body positivity’ and in turn how the roles ethnic women played in its originating state have been forgotten. Instead, many body positivity articles feature white women who
have hourglass or pear-shaped figures but can still fit into the accepted beauty standard. Perhaps it is these issues that should be at the forefront of the body positivity discussion and critique. Instead, however, it feels that people are increasingly focusing on unnecessary issues based on trends. The backlash to Kim Kardashian releasing body makeup is a prime example of when body positivity unwittingly becomes body negativity. There is no denying that the Kardashians are icons of pop culture. Having survived over a decade in the infamously fickle show business industry, their business acumen and longevity must be recognised and even applauded, whether you agree with what they are selling or how they reached the height of fame. While they seem to be everywhere, from the fashion and beauty industry to our television screens, it is undoubtedly popular to hate on the Kardashians. Hate current trends in fashion? Blame the Kardashians. Lament the rise in cosmetic surgery? Blame the Kardashians. Hate the fact that Donald Trump was elected as Pres-
Editor: Katie Burke
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ident? Blame the Kardashians, just as Chelsea Handler did. There is no denying that the Kardashians have made questionable choices and said even more questionable things. Sometimes they’re very out of touch with the everyday public, but then again should we really expect millionaires from LA to relate their life to Sandra from Ballincollig? Body image is one area where the family faces the most heat. The Kylie lip fillers saga still plays out today when discussions surrounding cosmetic surgery are had on television or radio. Kim’s infamous figure continues to be blamed for holding up an unrealistic body image standard. Rightfully, the Kardashians are called out for promoting weight loss supplements and teas, which are known for their problematic nature. Whether we like it or not, the Kardashians are continually interlinked with our world of fashion and beauty, two industries which are perennially connected to our standards of beauty and body positivity. However, have we gotten to a
point where we simply sit in wait for the Kardashians to promote their latest wares in the hopes that they will have some conflict of interest with the general idea of body positivity. But what happens when we are too quick to shout down the Kardashians with cries of negativity that negate from the body positivity movement, when the family has actually done something that will help many fans with their body confidence? In mid-2019, Kim released a range of body makeup. Despite the collection selling out in the days after its release, people were quick to proclaim that this was another example of a Kardashian not allowing people to love their natural bodies and instead forcing another unrealistic body standard on their followers. One standout response to the collection, was ardent Kardashian critic, actress and presenter, Jameela Jamil. Jamil wrote on Twitter, “Hard pass…I’d rather just make peace with my million stretch marks and eczema…give yourself a damn break”, in response to Kim’s launch of the products. Jamil continued saying, “I *refuse* to have these normal hu-
man marks weaponised against me”. Normally, many Twitter users will take any opportunity to agree with any form of backlash to the Kardashians, but this time felt different. While many, like Jamil, felt Kim was forcing women to feel shame for natural marks, there were many who understood where Kim was coming from. There seemed to be a shift in people’s attitudes, as they took the time to consider the concept behind Kardashian’s products rather than simply following the crowd and shouting it down as body negativity. Kim has spoken for years about her experience with the skin condition psoriasis. Speaking about the products, she said that while she has learned to live with the condition, there are days where she wishes to hide it for her own sense of confidence. It was the hope of her new body makeup to give that option to other people who perhaps have scars or skin conditions they wish to cover
to make them feel less insecure. This is where body positivity can become negativity. The backlash Kim’s products received, as outlined above, show the potential the body positivity movement has to become just as restrictive as the beauty standards they challenge. Of course, encouraging everyone to love their natural bodies is fantastic, and congratulations to anyone who is at peace with their bodies. However, the fact remains that most people will find flaws in themselves that they would rather hide. In relation to the body makeup, are we really going to attack the people who choose to use it? Just because you’re comfortable in your skin does not mean you have the right to talk down to someone who is not comfortable with showing whatever ails their skin. No one should be shamed for using a product that helps them find some peace with their body. Surely that
is body positivity? Thankfully, Twitter was inundated with people discussing how products such as Kardashian’s have given them confidence to leave the house and embrace life with confidence. The fact is, that body makeup has been produced by other brands for years and Kardashian is not the first to do so. However, given the family’s chequered past with body positivity, it is convenient to attack them when perhaps they are in fact bringing something positive to the table in the form of body makeup, especially given Kim’s own history with skin conditions. Have we gotten to a stage where we focus on nit-picking issues such as whether it is right for someone to want to hide their ‘flaws’? The fact remains that not everything the Kardashians produce, or the beauty industry promotes is inherently negative. We cannot simply equate body positivity to loving every inch
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of ourselves and berating those who find greater peace in covering certain parts of themselves. At the end of the day it is all about personal choice. We do not shame the many people who choose to dye their hair or wear facial makeup, so let’s not shame those who choose to wear body makeup. If you are confident with or without products like body makeup, then great. It is all about finding peace within yourself regardless of what others think, and for me, that is the crux of body positivity. So, lets focus on more pressing body positivity issues such as better representation for people of all skin colours within the movement, rather than crucifying those who simply want the chance to find some level of confidence. Otherwise, our self-proclaimed body positivity will merely inflict negativity on others; thus, negating the aim of its name.
Arts & Literature
Editor: Fiona Keeley
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Your reading list essentials Night Boat to Tangier – Kevin Barry October 23, 2018. In the Spanish port of Algeciras, Charlie Redmond and Maurice Hearne keep a vigil on the crossing point. Cork drug dealers, now in their 50’s, they are waiting for Maurice’s estranged daughter to either arrive on a boat coming from Tangier or depart on one heading there. The nocturnal wait reveals stories of their past as they reel through their shared history of violence, romance and betrayal.
Thomas McCarthy– Poets in Cork Writes Fiona Keeley, Arts and Literature Editor Cork is a city that has a rich literary history upheld by many poets and writers over the decades. Documenting national events, local events or even something that is happening right across the living room these writers have allowed us to step back in time and reach into Cork’s history. Some of these writers have been educated in the grounds of UCC, Thomas McCarthy was one of those writers. Born in 1954, Thomas McCarthy was originally from Cappoquin, Waterford before moving to Cork to attend University College Cork. Although he did have an interest in the science side of education McCarthy wrote his first poem for a school magazine as a young child. While at UCC he became part of a resurgence of literary activity which took inspiration from John Montague. Montague’s death in 2016 affected Thomas McCarthy deeply as he reminisced, “He meant so much. When we were students at UCC, you felt he way always going to be there, that he was immortal.” Among his contemporaries at UCC were names that are well
known it Irish literary circles today; Theo Dorgan, Sean Dunne and Greg Delanty. Although writing poetry has been a part of McCarthy’s life since he was about fifteen; UCC had a much larger literary scene and brought with it an environment where he could expand his interest in poetry. Thomas McCarthy had a successful start to his poetry career, winning The Patrick Kavanagh Award in 1977 for his poetry collection The First Convention. Among the judges that year was a well-known name in Irish literature, Seamus Heaney. This award, which honours first collections of unpublished poems, brought with it the promise that The First Convention was going to be something special. When it was published the next year in 1978, the public got a taste of the work of Thomas McCarthy including a piece called ‘State Funeral’. It starts by quoting Ulysses by James Joyce to set the scene of the poem. From there, the poem paints a picture of the funeral of Charles Stewart Parnell, an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of
Parliament in the House of Commons. Set in 1891 it illustrates the correlation between the death of a nationalist MP and the political movements in Ireland in the late 1800s. Seamus Heaney was not the only Irish poet who noticed McCarthy’s skill in writing. Eavan Boland recognised him as ‘an assured and unmistakeable individual voice… The force of perception is everywhere.’ The First Convention was only the start of McCarthy’s poetry career as he followed on with a successive line of poetry collections throughout the 1980s and 1990s. A sample of these collections included The Sorrow Garden (1981), The Non-Aligned Storyteller (1984) and The Lost Province (1996). McCarthy still writes poetry today and one of his more recent collections, Prophecy, was launched at the Cork Book Fest in April this year. One of the poems in it, Ice Cream, is a reminiscent poem that tells the story of a young boy’s relationship with his father. It shows how children lead by example and if
those telling them to eat healthy are not doing the right thing for their own bodies then children can rebel. It suggests a troubled relationship with his father. “My father was a very difficult person. He was very depressed about the world and thought nothing good would come out of anything. So I had to teach myself optimism.” Now a retired librarian from Cork City library, Thomas McCarthy’s career in poetry so far is staggering. He has been awarded with The Alice Hunt Bartlett Prize (1981); The Annual Literary Award, American Irish Foundation (1984); and the O’Shaughnessy Poetry Award, Irish-American Cultural Institute down through the years. He was a Fellow of the International Writing Program in the University of Iowa 1978/1979. He has brought out two collections in the past three years, Pandemonium (2016) inspired by the recession that began in 2008 and Prophecy (2019) his most recent collection.
The Art of the Electrical Boxes They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Walking through Cork City the electricity boxes that decorated the side of the streets light up with art and colour. Street artists in Cork took initiative with their artwork to show it to the people who walk through the streets of Cork every day. It creates a welcoming atmosphere in the city for visitors and locals alike and they include many references to Cork and the culture that surrounds the city. The themes present in each of these artworks convey a deeper message within the artwork. Our journey starts on Grande Parade, a street that can be flocked with people some days but the artworks on this street reminds me of home, of identity, of Cork. On picture that jumps out just as you walk past the library is an artist’s impression of Rory Gallagher to honour the Rory Gallagher music library. History makes another appearance in the form of Thomas Kent
Writes Fiona Keeley, Arts & Literature Editor
along the banks of the River Lee. Born in Castlelyons 1865, he died by firing squad in Collins Barracks in Easter 1916. Irish also makes an appearance on Grande Parade, ‘An te ach bhfuil laidir ni folair do a bheith glic’, The warm is not strong for the wise. A thought about the meaning of that saying wanders through my head as my walk through the beloved streets of Cork continues. These pieces where Irish takes precedent were organised by Gael-Taca, founded in 1987, Cork’s main Irish language organisation. The theme of ‘welcome’ is a huge factor in many of these pieces of art. The culture dynamic that exists in Cork is referenced in this artwork through the city. In this relatively small but diverse city you can surround yourself with visual art culture from Spain, Holland and places as far away as China. Each piece of art, although representing a nation, puts a Cork twist on their message. One
electrical box reads ‘Bienvenue à Cork’ with references to the GAA in the artwork, something that is at the beating heart of Cork. Cork humour also plays a part in street art around the city as there’s a second box here with a picture of a bottle on it, it reads ‘Ireland is like a bottle it would sink without a Cork.’ Across from Merchant’s Quay, next to the river, there is one piece of art that struck a chord with me. Seeing it from a distance was easy since it was bright green and stood out against the crowds, so it was very easy to identify. It was only when passing it I was able to read what it said. “Listen, life’s worth talking about” and then in the bottom the Samaritans had signed their name and number. A pang of gladness pierced my chest that somebody somewhere decided it was important to have that information out in the open for people to see each day.
The Jolly Roger Pirate Radio in Cork – Trevor and Noel Welch It tells the tales of working in pirate radio stations in Cork in the 1970s and 1980s. A glimpse back into a time when a DJ’s music record was their most precious possession and broadcast studios amounted to a bedsit on Patrick’s Hill or a garden shed in the backyard. Many of Cork’s original pirates are mentioned and they share stories of their experience of pirate radio and give readers a glance into history with the backdrop of Cork City.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous – Ocean Vuong A debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter written by a son to his illiterate mother. It unearths family history whose epicentre is rooted in Vietnam which shows him a door to a side of his mother’s life he had never known about.
GAEILGE
Editor: Hugh Ó Raghallaigh Mac Gearailt
Sports
Editor: Jack Maguire
Issue 1 | Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
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Rugby World Cup 2019 – Let the Games Begin Writes Sam Curtin Deputy Sports Editor
Oideachas lán Gaeilge Scríobhann Hugh Ó Raghallaigh Mac Gearailt, Eagarthóir Gaeilge Sa lá atá inniú ann, tá dalta as gach scór ar oileán na hÉireann ag freastal ar oideachas lán-ghaeilge idir bhunscolaíocht agus meánscolaíocht. Gan dabht is uimhir an-ard é sin ach an bhfuil sé ard a dhothain? Dar leis an chuid is mó lucht labhartha na Gaoluinne d’fhéadadh an uimhir sin árdú gan an iomarca stró agus tugfadh sé a lán tairbhe leis. Mar is eol dúinn uilig is thar a bheith maith an rud é don intinn a bheith dá- nó il-teangach. Dar lena staitisticí is déanaí is é an slí is fearr gealtachas (dementia) a sheachaint ná teanga nua a fhoghlaim, agus cuireann an teanga san led chuimhne comh maith. Is beag an duine le Gaoluinn atá aithne agam air nó uirthí nach bhfuil in ann teanga eachtranach a labhairt comh maith, ach is scéal go hiomlán difriúl é sin. Tá an forbairt is mó tagtha ó thuaidh, áit ina bhfuil troid na cearta teangan ón rialtas fós le buachaint acu. Tá méadú 90% tagtha ar líon na ndaoine laistigh den chóras tumoideachais thall ann ó 2005. Dar le staitisticí bailithe ag Tuairisc.ie sa bhlian 2017 theip ar 55 gaelscoileanna tímpeall na tíre oideachas a sholáthar do ghach éinne a bhí á éileamh. Ní haon cáineadh é san ar na scoileanna ach is cinnte é go bhfuil níos mó éileamh ann ná soláthar le fáilt fé lathair. Ó thaobh bunscolaíochta de tá thart ar 45,000 daltaí as 500,000 tímpeall an phoblacht i mbunscoileanna lán-ghaeilge, 9%. Is mór an difríocht idir chás na gaelscoileanna anois agus 25 bliain ó shin nuair a bunaíodh An Foras Pátrúnacha, an eagraíocht is mo ó thaobh pátrúnacht gaeloideachais de. Deireann Caomhín Ó hEaghra, árdrunaí an Fhoras gur cóir dúinn sprioc a bheith againn gach ceathrú scoil a bheith ina Ghaelscoil roimis 2040, agus tá sé so-dhéanta, an t-aon rud ná nach bhfuil an toil poiliticiúl ann go fóill. Ag féachaint siar ar na blianta caite againn, is féidir a rá go bhfuil todhcaí dearfach ag oideachas lán-ghaeilge comh fada is a sheasaimid le muintir na sé chontae.
Osclaíodh Gaelcholáiste nua i gceantar Cnoc na hAoine, Cathair Chorcaí le linn na míosa seo, le cabhair agus tacaíocht ó Roinn na Gaeilge anseo i UCC. Gaelcholáiste Traolaigh Mhic Shuibhne is ainm don scoil nua agus tá deichniúr daltaí cláraithe cheana. Bronnadh iPads nua dóibh agus iad ag tosú amach, agus thánadar ó Apple na hiPads. Bhí an t-Ollamh Pádraig Ó Macháin i láthair agus mhol se an obair, a bhí déanta ag foireann idir UCC agus an Choláiste í fhéin, go hárd na spéire.
Uasdátύ na Breatimeachta
Scríobhann Hugh Ó Raghallaigh Mac Gearailt, Eagarthóir Gaeilge Ní éasca an rud é scríobh mar gheall ar Bhreatimeacht, mar is rud í a n-aithríonn gach lá. Mar san is grianghraf é an t-alt a leanann den phraiseach mar a bhí sé ar an lá a sheol mé an airticil so chun a bheith clóite. Le san ráite, caithfidh mé aghaidh a thabhairt do Pharlaimint na Breataine ag Westminster, agus í tar éis a bheith díscortha. Nith atá cinnte dearfa in éadan le daonlathas iartharach mar a thuigimid é, dhein Boris Johnson (Taoiseach an Ríocht Aontaithe) cinneadh an Parlaimint a díscor ón Naoú lá de mhí Mheán Fómhair. Agus lá na cinniúna ag druidim leis an Ríocht Aontaithe, is dáinséarach an rud é stop a chur leis an díospóireacht a bhí ag dul ar aghaidh sa pharlaimint ar téarmaí na Breatimeachta. Dar le Johnson tá sé ag obair ar son an phobail ach tá an tromlach caillte aige le laethanta anuas ón am a thug sé bata agus bóthar dos na ‘reibiliúnaigh’ a chaith vóta i ndiaidh an partaí. Is cúis bhrón dom é go bhfuil rialtas na tíre san ag dul go hiomlán i gcoinne na noirm mar gheall ar an slí ina oibríonn an córas mar a thuigimid é. Ba bheag nár amhlaidh dúinn in Éirinn má fágann siad gan cúlstad nó gan margadh ar bith a bheith ann, agus is thar a bheith díomách an rud é an easpa díospóireachta atá ann a fheiceáil. D’fhéadadh sé a bheith ina tubaiste dar liom má dheintear na cinnithe gan morán ceapadh tugtha dόibh
With just three days to go to the Rugby World Cup in Japan excitement levels are sending the barometer soaring. With so many sports to choose from in a saturated market in Ireland, it is only in Spring once a year, and Autumn every four years that rugby becomes the biggest show in town. To me, the World Cup is like any great theatrical play. There are many plots and subplots in a narrative that always throws up the odd revelation or two. You need not look any further than the last edition in 2015 when this year’s hosts, Japan, shocked the world on that super Saturday when they beat South Africa 34-32. This being arguably the biggest upset in the history of the competition. Similar to any good performance, there is of course our protagonist. From our point of view, it is of course Ireland who are looking to banish the hoodoo of never getting past the quarter-final stage of the competition. Ireland go into the World Cup as the number one team in the World but not as the favourites according to Head Coach Joe Schmidt, who departs after the tournament. Yes, anytime Ireland are involved in a play like this it is usually in the form of a tragedy, similar to those written by the great William Shakespeare, a man who I believe would enjoy rugby given the emotional highs and lows that are experienced by the audience watching around the world. Ireland’s fortunes have never been great, we’ve had the national anthem fiasco in 1987 (it’s a long story), heartbreak at home in 1991 against Campese and his world beating Australian side, dare we mention ‘ la terrible année’ of 2007 when we didn’t even get out of our group? In the most recent instalment in 2015, we were once again left with the feeling of what
esting of them all is South Africa, who contain the subplot of Rassie Erasmus, who spent one season coaching at Munster during 2016/17. The conspiracy theory here is that he may have spent a season at the province just to gain as much inside information as he can while also bringing three Munster coaches with him to the Springbok job. This is including the recent arrival of former Munster attack coach Felix Jones who spent a brief period with Ireland during their tour of Japan in 2017. Joe Schmidt has admitted that he is concerned by the appointment saying “he’s seen everything that we deliver and he would have a great knowledge of even the language we use in our camp, so it’s awkward for us.”
Pictured; The 72,330 capacity International Stadium in Yokohama which will host the final on the 2nd of November might have been, when a depleted squad where outclassed by Argentina 43-20. Ireland like so many times before had headed into the competition with high hopes but were left to rue the absence of key players in that quarter-final defeat with Joe Schmidt stating afterwards that his goal for the next four years was add strength and depth to the squad for a second shot at redemption Act II. Although there is a sizeable time difference between here and Japan, the tournament organisers have been relatively kind with the stage times for Ireland with the earliest kick off being at 08:15 against the hosts Japan on September 28th.
Who are the antagonists in Ireland’s latest shot at glory? One could argue that there are four teams who are most likely to stand in Ireland’s way, those being Wales, England, South Africa and New Zealand. All four teams have interesting relationships with Ireland to say the least. Ireland and Wales has become one of the biggest rivalries in rugby since Warren Gatland took charge in 2008 after having an acrimonious split with Ireland in 2001. England are well….England and New Zealand is the team who have traditionally been the standard bearers of World rugby, and Ireland only managed to beat in 2016 for the first time after 111 years of trying. But perhaps the most inter-
What about the supporting cast? Look out for the hakas of the Pacific Island nations such as Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, while France as always will live up to the most over used phrase in rugby “ You never know which French team will turn up”. The hosts, Japan take on Russia in the first game on Friday and the natives are sure to be the talk of the tournament, at least for the group stage. The Japanese, known for being so humble, appear to be tearing up the script somewhat with Kiwi-born Captain, Michael Leitch stating that “we want to win the World Cup.” Suspiciously interesting. Now that I have set the scene, I will let our friend Mr Shakespeare have the last word. “All the World’s a stage, and all the men and women are players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.” Seven games to win the World Cup. It’s showtime!
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Five UCC Stars Of 2019/20 Writes Sam Curtin Deputy Sports Editor UCC has always been renowned for not just its sporting culture, but its success, and with success, comes stardom. Many of us in UCC are already familiar with nationally recognised faces such as Kerry footballer Seán O’ Shea and Olympic silver medalist and world champion rower, Paul O’ Donovan. However, there are many others who are ready to burst into the limelight. Here are five athletes to look out for during the academic year:
Ronan Byrne - Rower: It’s been quite a month for Ronan Byrne who has captured Double sculls silver and Olympic qualification (with partner Philip Doyle) at senior level. This was followed up by winning single sculls gold at European Under-23 level the week after in Greece. Due to the remarkable depth of talent in Cork alone, Byrne has tended to go unnoticed by the general public, however heading into an Olympic year, he is bound to come to the fore as one of UCC’s biggest stars and one of Ireland’s biggest medal hopes in Tokyo. John Hodnett - Rugby: John Hodnett was part of this year’s U20 Six Nations Grand Slam winning side, playing a vital role throughout the campaign. Hodnett was a regular with the Munster ‘A’ side last year and with many of the Provinces’ players away at the World Cup, the beginning of the Pro 14 could be a huge opportunity for Hodnett
Issue 1| Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express to claim a stake in the senior side. Hannah Humphreys Hockey: Similar to rugby, soccer and GAA, hockey is a religion in UCC. The current women’s team features a number of emerging talents with Hannah Humphreys being the latest in the production line. Humphreys was a key player for UCC this year and is a regular in the Irish Under 21 side aswell as training with the extended senior squad. Mary Fitzgerald - Athletics: Mary Fitzgerald is one of many Irish Paralympic hopefuls heading to Tokyo next summer. Fitzgerald has had an outstanding 2019, recently winning the Munster shot put Championships in CIT and smashed her personal best by 30cm in the process. Fitzgerald also won three gold medals at the IWAS world games in shot putt, javelin and the discus. These are just the tip of the iceberg of what has been a phenomenal year for Mary and she is
poised to put up a strong showing at the Paralympics next year. Shane Conway - Hurling : He may not be from a hurling stronghold but the man from the Kingdom is one of the hottest prospects in the game at present. Conway was one of the main heroes in UCC’s run to the Fitzgibbon Cup and was named Player Of The Year with the Colleges GAA. Conway almost single handedly kept Kerry in the Joe MacDonagh Cup for next year and also secured a county medal with his club Lixnaw. It would be a real shame if he never got to play in a Munster Championship game but if there is anyone capable of taking Kerry into the big time, it’s him. There are many others that could be named and regardless of what happens during the academic year we will be hearing a lot more about these up and coming athletes. New stars will be born on campus and on Leeside.
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Issue 1 | Tuesday 17th Sept 2019 | University Express
Super Sads! Former City Star Reflects on Cork Spell Writes Jack Maguire, Sports Editor Anybody who has even the smallest knowledge of League of Ireland soccer will know of the skill possessed by the footballing genius, Kieran Sadlier. He lit up the SSE Airtricity for both Sligo Rovers and Cork City over three seasons, scoring 15 goals in 49 appearances for Sligo and 31 in 48 appearances for Cork City. He is now in flying form for Doncaster Rovers in League 1 in England. The University Express spoke to Kieran a number of weeks ago about his experiences in Ireland, life in Doncaster and his ambitions for the future. In January of this year, Sadlier made the move to Doncaster coming off an unbelievable season with Cork City which saw them win the League and Cup double. He has since settled in well back in England. He said Cork was a bigger City compared to Doncaster, which is a smaller town. It’s very convenient as Leeds and Manchester are nearby, and it’s only an hour and a half from home which is great according to the winger. Kieran began his career as a youth player with Cambridge United before moving to West Ham United in 2005. Speaking to the Express, Kieran said that “you do get homesick at 14/15 years of age but you do get over it, it’s all part of growing up”. After spells with St Mirren, Peterborough and Halifax Town, Kieran decided to make the move to Ireland. “It was a big move but I loved every minute of it, I had great teammates and it gave me a chance to show what I’m about”. Sadlier said that he would advise lads to go and play in Ireland as “you get the chance to play in the big competitions, it’s a great
place for football”. He feels it is “more beneficial to play for a club in Ireland than play in the lower leagues In England, and you would never get the chance to play the likes of Legia Warsaw or Rosenborg in England”. European football is a huge boost for the Irish teams and it is often the reason why players make the move across the Irish Sea. Of course, we had to speak about Kieran’s time with Cork City and the vital role he played in bringing the two most prestigious pieces of silverware in Ireland back to Leeside. “Winning the FAI Cup in the Aviva is one of my favourite moments in football”. It was a massive achievement for Cork City to conquer Dundalk and claim their second successive cup title. That cup campaign was a very memorable one for Kieran, who recalls that he managed ‘”to
“Shane played left back behind me, we made a great combination”. Kieran had many big moments in a City jersey, going on to say, “I loved the big occasions, the long range goal against St Pats, the Presidents Cup victory over Dundalk, winning 4-2 having been 2-0 down”. All the City lads made Kieran feel very welcome and he enjoyed all his time in the green City jersey. “The whole year was great, living with Barry McNamee and Ronan Coughlan. All the lads, Conor McCormack and Karl Sheppard would all go for breakfast. It is a lovely place with great teammates”.
“It was a big move but I loved every minute of it, I had great teammates and it gave me a chance to show what I’m about”
score the winning penalty, and to score in every round of the cup, becoming the first player since 1974 and only the fourth in the history of the cup to do so”. Perhaps the toughest question put to Kieran was who was the best player he played with at Cork City. After giving credit to each of his teammates, Sadlier said Shane Griffin was one of the best.
Being a professional footballer is a very demanding at times, but Kieran really does love his job. “Being able to do my hobby for a living is great, I’ve been kicking a ball around since I was 6/7 years old”. Doncaster Rovers are a prestigious club in England, celebrating 140 years this year. As a result there are high expectations but Sadlier takes them in his stride. “It is hard work, you’re relied
on up front. I want to play every week”, explains the 24 year-old. Kieran enjoyed great success on the wing for City, and he hopes to keep that position and maintain his great form, saying that being “on the wing or behind the striker, No.10 wing is ideal for me”. Since moving to Doncaster, Kieran has gained more knowledge of attacking play. “We have learned more attacking football and a different perspective, creating more chances and scoring more goals”. With 2 goals and an assist already, Sadlier is hoping to add to that tally as the season progresses. Last season ended in disappointment for Rovers as they just fell short in their bid for promotion losing to Charlton Athletic on penalties in the play-off semi-final. “Obviously last year, we fell at the final hurdle in the play-offs, this year we want to go one better and push for promotion”. In August, Kieran was named in the provisional Republic of Ireland squad for the matches against Switzerland and Bulgaria. When asked about receiving the call up, Kieran said “I was delighted, it was my target to get into the Ireland squad by the end of the season”. Despite not making the final 25 man squad, Kieran is eager to work hard and aims to get into the next squad. Having spoken to Kieran, his calmness and determination is admirable. He is a hardworking man, and there is little doubt that he will have a great career. He has given his all for every club he has played for, and he deserves every opportunity!
University
Volume 23 | Issue | Tuesday 2019
Sports
UCCExpress.ie
Has ‘Keano’ Gone Too Far? Fallout From Walters Controversy Writes Jack Maguire, Sports Editor
Photo Credits: Extra.ie As people well know here in Cork, we hold our sporting heroes dear, and for many people, Roy Keane is an icon. The joint most successful Irish soccer player of all time. Making 366 Premier League appearances for Manchester United, scoring 39 goals and winning 7 Premier League titles, it is no wonder that ‘Keano’ is held in such high regard. In his day he was one of the most feared players in soccer. Although Roy has been involved in his fair share of drama over the years, including the infamous incident in Saipan, and the run in with Patrick Viera, he has remained ever-popular in his home place. He is well known for speaking his mind and not holding back his opinion. In a recent interview with ‘Off The Ball’, ‘Keano’ made a series of comments about former Irish International, Jonathan Walters, which many have believe were way below the belt. Not only did Keane belittle his former player’s career as a professional footballer but also spoke callously about his person-
al life. Straight talking is not a bad thing, but remarks about somebody’s family situation can be one step too far and you have to wonder, has it gone too far for even his own Corkonians to defend? As an avid Irish football fan, Jon Walters has provided the country with some unbelievable memories on the pitch, particularly his half volley against Austria to gain a 1-1 draw, and his brace against Bosnia and Herzegovina to send us to Euro 2016. Walters also made a great club career for himself making 233 appearances for Bolton Wanderers, Stoke City and Burnley. What is less documented about Jonathan Walters though is the pain and suffering he has endured in his private life. In an interview on The Late Late Show last May, Walters opened up about his private life for one of the first times in his career. Jon lost his mother to bowel cancer when he was only 11. Last year when he was in Cork for a friendly with Cobh Ramblers, he received
a phone call from his brother to tell him that his other brother, James, had passed away aged 35. Only the day after hearing this news, Jon found out that his wife had a miscarriage. Absolutely heart-breaking news to receive, but on top of this, his other daughter was diagnosed with scoliosis, unimaginable heartache for all of Jon’s family. The former Premier League veteran said on The Late Late Show, “I’m okay with it but it’s when I speak about it, that’s when I struggle with it”. In a time where everybody, and particularly men are asked to speak about their feelings, Walters is an inspiration to young men. As we have seen in the last number of weeks, Jon Walters has come under fire from Roy Keane. Keane said Walters was “On TV, crying about his family situation”. It certainly is not a matter that should be taken lightly, and it was insensitive of Keane to criticise Walters for telling the public how he felt. Like Conor McGregor, despite the bad publicity they receive,
Roy Keane maintains solid support. Roy is one of the country’s biggest sporting idols, and his dedication to make it to the pinnacle of Premier League football was an incredible achievement. At this stage in Roy’s career, from a personal point of view, it is sad to see him losing fans because of these hurtful comments. The older generation of Cork people will remember Roy’s heroics in both the red and green jersey, but the younger generation will only know him for his callous statements. A lot of the older people know what Roy is like and take little notice of his harsh words. Keane and Walters’ feud dates back to 2010, when Jon Walters played for Keane’s Ipswich. Walters was eager to leave Ipswich but Keane was reluctant to sell. After an argument in Roy’s office, there was tension between the two. The pair reportedly had another altercation in the Ireland camp prior to their friendly against France in May of last year. Despite Keane’s evident grudge against Jon, Walters remains positive. Speaking on BBC’s Football Focus, Walters said “Honestly, I don’t know why people listen to what he has to say…. obviously, I bother him, but he doesn’t bother me one bit”. Seeing Walters defiance and patience over the whole issue is commendable. Nobody deserves to be attacked over their feelings, especially surrounding a topic of this nature. Over the past few years, many great players have gone down the route of being known for their controversial opinions and abrupt nature. This has often come to overshadow their playing career. It would be an awful pity for this to happen to a gifted player such as Roy. There is a very fine line between being straight talking and being rude. Walters is a much loved Irish footballer, and remarks made about an idolised player such as him can have detrimental affects for reputation.