University Express Vol.22 Issue 9

University Volume 22 | Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019

Express UCCExpress.ie

position has been raised within the Student’s Union and is more or less seen as being on-par with full time sabbatical roles within the committee. The pay awarded to the Ents Officer had also been raised to be more comparable with other colleagues. The referendum was therefore all but a formality and this was evidently supported by the polls. 75% of students indicated prior to the elections that they were in favour of allocating a full time role to Entertainments Officer and this turned out to be an extremely accurate poll. Official results showed that 76% of students backed the referendum with just 22.4% voting no.

UCC Votes ‘Yes’ to Five Referenda

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ast Thursday following a long day of counting in the Student Centre, it was discovered that UCC students had voted for ‘yes’ votes in all five referenda during this year’s week of Students’ Union elections.

Earlier last week, the University Express’ ‘Straw Poll’ indicated that all five questions posed to students would pass, but it was later revealed that there was some deviation in the margin of victory in a view cases.

sought for the increase to the capitation fee in order to establish and equip more common rooms around campus, while resources to student media in the University would also improve. This would see the current sum paid by all students of €165 increase by €5 to a total of €170.

Of the respondents to the ‘straw poll’, 65% of students supported the referendum, while just under 8% of voters were undecided. The actual The first item on the ballot paper results showed that while there

Ben Dunlea Elected SU President

Page 3 News

Antidepressents in Ireland

Page 8 Features

was still a relatively strong vote in favour of ‘yes’, this dropped to 60% approval, with 38% voting against.

The passing of this now means that student capitation fees will rise to €170 from September 2019.

The second round of counting involved analysing results in relation to the position of the Entertainments Officer. Students were asked whether they believed that the role of Ents Officer should be made full time.

In recent years the status of the

The closest of all the referenda was seen in the third stage of counting, which referred to gender neutrality.

Students were asked if they supported a change to the UCC SU’s Constitution which would see the use of he/she replaced by the gender neutral pronoun of ‘they’. It was argued that replacing the wording to ‘they’ would be more inclusive for students who do not identify as male or female. It was thought that a ‘yes’ vote would romp home to victory and that the ‘straw poll’ results were underselling the margin of victory. The poll showed that 58% of students supported the change, Story Continued on page 4

The F-Word: Resisting Fast Fashion

Page 17 Byline

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UCC Launches Sports Strategy

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Editorial

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In This Issue....

Irish jobs at ‘high risk’ of automation Cat Haven UCC findraiser Snap Out of It: Taking Lives on the Road Ireland’s Vanishing Triangle Making the Hoax Real: Momo ‘Imagine’: When Art Becomes More America’s Democracy Problem Film & TV: Brexit, an Uncivil War Interview: Tim Wheeler of ASH Music: IDLES fan favorites Gaming: Violence and Videogames Humor: student achieves ‘Revenge Body Arts & Lit: Ireland’s Women in Literature Sexpress: A Chat with Foxy P Cox Irish: Buff Egan - Laoch na hImeartha Sports: Bye Bye Brendan

Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019 | University Express

What next? Cailean Coffey, Editor-in-Chief

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Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief Cailean Coffey (Editor@UCCExpress.ie) News Editor Ciaran Dineen(News@UCCExpress.ie) Designer Holly McGrath (Design@UCCExpress.ie) Features Editor Fergal Smiddy (Features@UCCExpress.ie) Sports Editor Declan Gleeson (Sport@UCCExpress.ie) Opinion Editor Samantha Calthrop (Opinion@UCCExpress.ie) Eagarthóir Gaeilge James McAuliffe (Gaeilge@UCCExpress.ie) Online Editor Fiona Keeley (Online@UCCExpress.ie) Marketing Executive Robert O’Sullivan (Marketing@UCCExpress.ie) Webmaster Michael Forde (Webmaster@UCCExpress.ie) Photographers Célem Deegan, Eve Harrington, James Kells, Ben Kavanagh (Photographers@uccexpress.ie) Staff Writers: Sinead O’Sullivan; Tara Leigh-Matthews James MacSweeney; Lauren McDonnell Byline Editor Ciara Dinneen (Byline@UCCExpress.ie) Fiction Editor Laura Riordan (Fiction@UCCExpress.ie) Humour Editor Callum Casey (Humour@UCCExpress.ie) Arts & Literature Editor Éadaoin Regan (Arts@UCCExpress.ie) Gaming Editor Cian McGrath (Gaming @UCCExpress.ie) Music Editor Caoimhe Coleman (Music@UCCExpress.ie) Film & Television Editor Joesph Cunningham (Screen@UCCExpress.ie ) Sexpress Editor Rían Browne (Sexpress@uccexpress.ie)

Over the past few weeks I’ve been filled with an overcoming sense of uncertainty. For only the second time in my life I have absolutely no idea where I will be, or what I will be doing in 6 months time.

As a final year student, you’re left somewhat in limbo for large parts of the year. While you’re trying to focus as much as you can on the present and doing as well in your modules as possible, there are times when you have no option other than to take a step back, have a look around and start filling out and applying for masters courses. And it’s terrifying.

I still, after 2 years of my course, have no idea what I want to do next.

There are countless opportunities out there for one for apply for, hope for and dream for and whitling the options down to 5 or 10 is growing increasingly difficult. Over the next few weeks (and sooner rather than later!) I hope to have a clearer idea of where I’ll end up but who knows. I could be in this limbo for months still, it’s really difficult to tell when it’ll end. But whatever way it does, it’ll be an adventure, and one I’m looking forward to…. Once I know where I’m going of course!

Another aspect from which a lot of uncertainty has been drawn is in reference to student media in UCC. Last week, as part of the Student Union elections, we ran a referendum to increase each students capitation by €5, from €165 to €170.This €5 would be split in half, €3 would go towards developing student Media and €2 towards the development of common rooms in satellite campuses across UCC. Without this investment, it was unclear in what form UCC’s student media would continue to exist as. Myself, Lucas Brun of Motley Magazine and Kieran Hurley of UCC 98.3FM have been working tirelessly at bringing the referendum to the people, informing students about the vote and campaigning on behalf of student media's future. Alongside the Students’ Union, who I personally cannot thank enough for their hard work, we got the vote to the people and were successful in our campaign.

On behalf of everyone involved in Student Media in UCC, thank you. Thank you for voting to give us, UCC students, the opportunity to have our voices heard, to kickstart change and to allow our thoughts, opinions, interviews and discussions to be heard by everyone across the globe. Last week, UCC voted student-led journalism, at a time when newspapers and magazines are hitting a crisis. You voted yes when a lot of people online were urging you to vote no through lies, slander and provocation. And for that I thank you. We all thank you.

Have a fantastic week! editor@uccexpress.ie Cailean

Let’s Keep Voting! Ciaran Dineen, News Editor Hey readers! Hope you all enjoyed the chaos that is ‘election week’ at UCC and that you’re already shedding the pounds you put on from the sweets that were thrown in your direction throughout the campaigns (sorry). Congratulations to the incoming President, Ben Dunlea, and all of the other elected committee members. Commiserations to those candidates that did not quite do enough this time around but perhaps one day your time will come.

During my three years here I’ve learnt a lot and it’s amazing how much you can mature at this stage in your life. I’m sure many of you will feel the same way and may share similar experiences as me in terms of the lessons you have learned. Studying politics, as I do, means that I’m always immersed in current affairs and relevant topics, and as a result voting is second nature to me. However, I know that such a sentiment isn’t shared by all of my fellow students and maybe even our readers (to my shock and horror). For me voting is a wonderful tool for every citizen and those who have the right to vote should not waste it. This year I will be working on the Local and European elections which are coming up in May, but statistics show that just 51% of people turned out to vote in the previous elections, which were held on the same day, in 2014. Young people between 18-25 are the least likely to vote in May and you have to wonder why?

Over the past four years, teenagers and young adults have followed political campaigns more than ever. I’m happy to say that my first ever involvement in voting was in 2015, when I was able to support gay-marriage, along with a majority of people in this country. Young people were a huge driving force in the outcome of that referendum, just like they were last year in ‘repealing the eighth’! So why not continue voting? Because it’s not a cool and trendy thing to do? Because you aren’t as invested like in the last two referendums we’ve had? For me these aren’t good enough excuses. Voting is at the core of every democracy, and the Irish voting system allows for the greatest amount of representation in the world. If you think Brexit is mental and you support Ireland’s place in the EU then go out and show it by voting! If you want your voice to be heard at a local level, which in Irish politics is relatively easy to achieve, then show that you care about your community and what happens to it. We have the power to call for change and the last few years have shown just that.

If you haven’t yet registered to be on the register of elections then you can make a late submission by visiting: checktheregister.ie news@uccexpress.ie #uccexpress

Happy voting everyone!

Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019 | University Express

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pick up many preference votes from those that were undecided and finished up with an incredible 91% of first preference votes. This was the biggest victory of the day by far.

The most hotly contested position was for Welfare Officer. This was the only position that saw three candidates running in opposition to one another.

Of Naoise Crowley, Noel Brennan and Roisin Hussey, it was Crowley who was predicted to emerge as the winner. The ‘straw poll’ indicated that Crowley was heading for victory as he had a relatively strong lead over Brennan in second, followed closely

by Hussey in third. The results on the day saw Hussey eliminated from the contest on the first recount as no one reached the required quota of 2,229.

Of the second preference votes from Hussey voters, it was Crowley who picked up the most support, gaining an additional 469 votes compared to Brennan’s sum of 333. Crowley was deemed elected following this and ended up with 2,354 of votes cast.

Ben Dunlea Elected UCC SU President Ciaran Dineen, News Editor

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fter three days of voting during last week’s Student’s Union elections here in UCC, Computer Science student, Ben Dunlea was elected President by the student voters of UCC. Running up against Government student, Bea McCarthy, Ben fought a very popular and eyecatching campaign and in the end managed to scoop up just under 57% of all votes cast. The total valid poll for the election of President was 4,557, and this, along with polls for all other committee positions was particularly high given the small number of candidates that ran for positions this year.

Dunlea had previously been a member of the SU Committee when he was appointed Entertainments Officer. During his campaign, the President-elect ran on a manifesto which sought to address many of the challenges that students in UCC face on a daily basis. As well as aiming to confront issues surrounding areas such as housing, sustainability and education, Ben showed that he wanted to improve the overall student experience for every single student. The University Express’ ‘straw poll’ indicated that Dunlea was

in a relatively comfortable position leading into the official counting sessions and this lead proved to be unassailable, despite the fact that Bea McCarthy closed the gap by a few percentage points.

Joining the President-elect on the SU Committee next year will be Entertainment’s Officer, Sophie O’Sullivan.

The victory for O’Sullivan was one of the only results that the ‘straw poll’ did not predict correctly out of all positions and referenda alike. Barra Mclean had a very tight lead according to the poll in the lead up to the election but was within the margin for error.

O’Sullivan secured 2,350 votes, translating to 52% of all valid votes.

Although there was just over 200 votes between Sophie and Barra, a recount was deemed not to be required and O’Sullivan was deemed to be elected. The race for Ents Officer was extremely close this year as the results show and this garnered an enormous amount of interest on social media platforms once the final tally was released by current President, Alan Hayes in New Bar. The position that created the most hype over the course of the last two weeks was for that of Communications Officer. David Condon was the only candidate to

put himself forward for the role but his campaign experienced a rocky ride following remarks that he made at a hustings event. Controversy followed Condon from there on after and resulted in a credible threat posed by the re-open nominations category – RON. Although there was a small feeling that Condon faced an initial struggle, this ultimately proved not to be the case. The ‘straw poll’ suggested that he only had 54% backing from students for the position but this was blown totally out of the water when it came to the actual results. Condon won by a landslide, securing a total of 3,606 votes out of a possible 4,414.

This represented an overall share of 82% of the vote, with the RON vote dying a death when the voting mattered.

The next position to be announced was that of Education Officer. Like the previous role, there was only one candidate that put themselves forward for the position, that being Catherine Dawson. The Applied Mathematics and Physics student cruised home to victory as predicted by the ‘straw poll’ which suggested earlier in the week that Dawson had over 70% of backing from her fellow students, with over 10% of students surveyed answering that they were still undecided. The official results saw the Officer-elect

Prior to the announcement of the Presidency results was the winner for the position of Deputy President and Campaigns Officer. This was another close race between two candidates on this occasion. Leading up to the week, polling suggested that Amy Meagher had a very comfortable lead over Ciara Kealy. However, this did not turn out to be the case and following the elimination of RON following the first count, Kealy was duly elected in what was a major contradiction of the polls. In the end, the Officer-elect received 2,101 of all votes cast, with Meagher finishing on 2,083, meaning that just a 28 votes separated the two candidates.

Earlier in the day Eimer Ní Churtain was elected as Irish Officer. Jessica Dalton to the position of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Science Officer.

Stephen O’Riordan was deemed elected as SEFS Representative on the first count. Brídelle Cronin was named Medicine and Health Representative, while last year’s SU Presidency runner-up, Eoin Collopy, was elected as the school of Business and Law Officer. The highlyanticipated contest for Equality Officer proved to be quite a close race between Kelly Coyle and Beth O’Reilly. Coyle, the outgoing Deputy President and Campaigns Officer, secured 2314 of the 4582 votes that were up for grabs. This saw Coyle take just over 50% of the votes on the first count and was duly elected as a result. 

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News

Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019 | University Express

Almost half the jobs in Irish towns at ‘high risk’ of automation, according to a new UCC report Sinead O Sullivan, Staff Writer The risk of automation of jobs in Irish towns has been revealed in a report titled ‘Automation in Irish Towns: Who’s Most at Risk?’. The report, conducted by UCC researchers Dr Frank Crowley and Dr Justin Doran, was presented at ‘The Creative Rural Economy’ event to leading academics, policymakers, and entrepreneurs.

The report found that two out of every five jobs in Irish towns are at a ‘high risk’, with Dr Crowley saying that people face the prospect of being replaced by machinery. 2016 Census data along with an internationallyrecognised automation risk methodology were used to analyse 200 Irish towns with a population of over 1,500 in order to establish the report’s findings.

According to the report, the towns most at risk of automation are: Edgeworthstown in Co Longford, Ballyjamesduff in Co Cavan, Carrick-On-Suir in Co Tipperary, Portlaw in Co Waterford, Clones in Co Monaghan, Tullow in Co Carlow, Cahir in Co Tipperary, Lifford in Co Donegal, Edenderry in Co Offaly, and Fethard in Co Tipperary. In addition, the report revealed that the jobs most at risk of automation are routine based positions, office administration,

Cover Story Continued.... with 33% voting to keep the status quo. 9% of voters were undecided and this proves to be interesting given the eventual outcome. A ‘yes’ vote was passed but by a swing of just 4%. The total number of ‘yes’ votes was 2443 (53.5%) as opposed to 2070 for ‘no’ (45.3%). It seems that many of those undecided voters who were revealed in our polls, turned out strongly in the end for a ‘no’ vote.

The official results also suggests that the ‘yes’ vote was in fact overexaggerated. It could be the case that students who were thinking of voting ‘no’ did not want their positions to

secretarial positions, process plant operators, jobs in agriculture, manufacturing, and customer service.

The jobs and towns in Ireland with the least risk of automation were also identified in the report.

Teaching and education, the arts, media and culture related positions, health and social care, and research and development positions are all found to be not at risk. Among the Irish towns least at risk of automation are Bearna in Co Galway, Strandhill in Co Sligo, Maladhide in Co Dublin, Annacotty in Co Limerick, Greystones in Co Wicklow, Portmarnock in Co Dublin, Enniskerry in Co Wicklow, Ballina in Co Mayo, Skerries in Co Dublin, and Maynooth in Co Kildare.

Determining the risk of automation in a town, according to Dr Crowley, “is primarily explained by population differences, by education levels, age demographics, the proportion of creative occupations in the town, town size and differences in the types of industries across towns.” The education level of towns was of particular importance for the report, as the higher the number of third level educated people in a town, the lower its risk of automation. Bearna be known and were as a result, ‘closet’ no voters. Speaking to the University Express following the results was the Campaigns Officer for the LGBT+ Society in UCC, Rían Browne. They said, “UCC has made great strides in the last year regarding the LGBT+ commmunity, but in particular its transgender community. Although this vote in particular was quite close, the fact that steps have been taken thus far at a university level and the fact that students, in the end, voted in favour of this amendment is incredibly promising for the future and the accepting environment that UCC should represent overall for its staff and students.” Following the

in County Galway is least at risk of automation because of its large number of highly educated young people working in sectors which are not focused on routine-based tasks.

The report also reveals that the distance between a high risk town and a low risk town can be minimal, with many such towns neighbouring each other. In addition, concentrations of both higher risk towns and concentrations of lower risk towns were found in the report.

Fermoy and Bandon in Co Cork as well as Shannon and Abbeyfeale in Co Limerick were two such concentrations with a higher risk of automation, while the Dublin city region, Malahide, and Donabate were found to have a lower risk.

With the international trend of growth in cities, Dr Crowley says that there is currently not a focused policy to deal with automation and its potential to cause the decline of Irish towns. Dr Crowley adds that the threat brought by this will have to be dealt with through a “localised” and “place-based” approach to policy intervention to protect these towns – in particular, training and education will have to be made more financially accessible for them.

Without intervention, it is predicted that the report’s findings could be seen over the next two decades.  closeness of the results, some have made the claim that this was due to a ‘lad culture’ that currently exists on campus, and that the strength of the ‘no’ vote was increased as a result.

The final two referenda that students were asked to vote on were in relation to the election of four overall college representatives and the decriminalisation of drugs in Ireland. The first of these requested that people support the concept of the Student’s Union electing four individual candidates to represent all students in UCC, as opposed to four under-graduate and four post-graduate candidates.

The ‘straw poll’ indicated that many

students were unsure on this topic, perhaps because they did not fully understand the scenario put before them. Nevertheless, in the end 57% of those who voted went with a ‘yes’ vote, with 38.4% voting no. This question saw the highest number of spoil votes with a total of 4.6%.

The final question posed to students asked whether they believed that the UCC SU should actively campaign for the decriminalisation of drugs in Ireland for those aged 18 or over.

70% of students voted in favour of this, with 26% opposed. In this case it seemed that those voters who were originally undecided in which way to vote, in the end sided with ‘yes’

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Cat Haven Raise €428 on Latest Visit to UCC Ciaran Dineen, News Editor Just under two years ago Owen Collins and Elaine O’Brien, now rising in Crosshaven, founded ‘Our Cat and Kitten Home’, with the aim of reducing the number of wild and abandoned cats and kittens on the streets of Cork. Since then they have re-branded to become ‘Cat Haven’ and they have saved the lives of hundreds of animals, many of whom now live happily with new adopted families. The road to get here has not been easy to say the least. While starting off small, Owen and Elaine soon found themselves almost totally occupied by their rescue, while having their own day-to-day jobs to contend with as well. Each month they rack up vet and food bills which go into the thousands and until recently the only monetary help that they have received has solely been

from local residents and those that had been aware of their Facebook page. Any remaining balances would come from their own pocket, meaning that for the best part of two years, they have dedicated their life to this cause.

Over the last year or so Cat Haven have been invited to UCC by the Animal Welfare Society and visited the college for the third time just a few weeks ago. “I’d heard about them before they became a charity from one of the committee members a few years ago”, says Chairperson Peter Prout. “We said that we’d do a bake sale for them and then they offered to come in with one or two of the cats. The committee then suggested that instead of bringing them to the bake sale, we actually make an entire event around them.

We raised about €350 from the first visit and thought it was a great

success and as a result we’ve invited them back since.”

Before Christmas, Cat Haven received an early present after they were eventually granted charity status after a long and arduous battle with the charity system. They are now able to officially advertise for donations and hopefully in the not-too distant future they will be receiving grant money. The rewards are now coming for all of the hard work over the past two years according to Owen Collins. “It’s intense. I mean we give our life to this. I had to give up one job and start with another company because it was just taking up so much of my time. Thankfully I’m now working with a buddy of mine and he is very understanding. Foster homes have been a big help to us and we’re so grateful to them for their continued support.”

This time around, UCC students managed to raise a fantastic total of €428 for Cat Haven, who as of time of writing have over 20 cats currently in their care. Speaking at the event, Peter Prout mentioned how admirable he thinks the work done by Owen, Elaine and the rest of their team is. “I think it’s just amazing work. They started from nothing and just decided to begin rescuing cats and kittens. It really is a grassroots level charity and they are just fantastic.” Owen and Elaine will most likely be welcomed back to UCC in the near future, along with their beautiful kittens of course. If people would like to know more about the work that Cat Haven does then they can check out their Facebook page. Owen and Elaine are eager to find potential foster carers who are animal lovers and are reliable. 

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Features

Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019 | University Express

Snap Out of It: The Newest Danger Taking Lives on Our Roads Fergal Smiddy, Features Editor

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hile hurtling down a busy dual carriageway at 100km/h in a two-tonne metal machine, it is perhaps needless to stay that one’s utmost and fullest attention should be afforded to the task at hand. Bluntly put, but true nonetheless, a car being driven at high speed along a busy road is effectively a missile amongst missiles. Traffic, road conditions, and a thousand other variables are entirely unpredictable, and a split second of lapsed attention, as we have seen countless times, is truly all that it takes for something to go fatally wrong. Despite the known dangers of becoming distracted whilst driving, a new and extremely dangerous phenomenon has swept the globe in recent years, causing an array of dangerous

driving behaviours, accidents and road-deaths. The advent and succeeding popularity of social media platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram have presented road users with a new danger. ‘Snapping and Driving’, otherwise known as the video recording of oneself or one’s surroundings whilst driving, in order to post the videos to social media, has become increasingly common in recent years, and is a major threat to the safe driving practices that are necessary to carry out while sitting behind the wheel.

The RSA “Distracted Driving” campaign, launched in 2015, focuses on the various distractions that one may encounter whilst driving, and aims to promote absolute focus and undivided attention to the road whilst operating a motor vehicle. Initially,

the campaign launched with the slogan “Don’t lose a life looking back” and aimed to deter drivers – particularly parents – from looking backwards to check on their children/other back seat passengers whilst driving.

The video advertisement for the campaign, published along with the launch of the campaign in July of 2015, showed a mother “looking back” at her life with a sense of regret.

The climactic moment of the advert occurs when the woman’s reflection on her life arrives at a moment when she looked back to check on her child in the backseat whilst driving. This split second of lapsed attention has fatal consequences, and the advert serves as a stark reminder as to what can happen when one fails to focus fully on the road.

However, according to the RSA’s website, the type of driver distraction portrayed in the 2015 advert is actually only the “second biggest form of distracted driving” on our roads. The single biggest distraction for drivers, they say, is the mobile phone. This is perhaps unsurprising, as the ever-growing prevalence of mobile phones in our lives has meant that, nowadays, they rarely ever leave our hands. Whether for work or social interaction, our phones have become incremental parts of our lives. So incremental that, for some, setting them aside whilst driving seems to be too much of a separation. The RSA states that simply making a phone call whilst driving – a phenomenon which has become all too common – can make you four times more likely to end up in a collision. Shockingly, texting

Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019 | University Express

Features

blood-soaked body could be seen bad form, I always give out”. in the video, lying lifeless on the The phenomenon of drivers floor. recording themselves and/or taking While not many statistics specific pictures while stationary in traffic to the use of video and picture – for example, when stopped at recording apps whilst driving traffic lights – is a common one, as have been published, due to the there is an assumption that there is novel nature of the phenomenon, less of a danger in such situations. it is clear from both of these high- However, holding a mobile phone profile examples, and undoubtedly in your hand – or supporting it with many more that have gone unheard another part of your body – whilst of, that the dangers arising from operating a vehicle in any situation Snapping & Driving are very real. is illegal. While there might be an Its prevalence, particularly among illusion of safety because the car young people, can be learned is stationary, there may still be an One high-profile case of a collision about quite easily. It seems that entire host of movement going on occurring as a result of Snapping & Driving was DJ Khaled’s crashing of his Ferrari whilst allegedly using the Snapchat app. Khaled, a prominent Snapchat user who regularly posts vlog-style recordings of his day to day life on his Snapchat story, allegedly crashed and wrote off his Ferrari 458 Italia whilst recording himself behind the wheel in Miami.

The influential music producer fortunately avoided any fatal harm, walking away from the collision with some light bruising and a minor fracture to the skull. While no deaths occurred as a result of Khaled’s dangerous actions, it confirmed the prevalence and extreme danger that Snapping & Driving carries in our society. while driving leaves you with the terrifying statistic of being 23 times more likely to crash. The RSA is yet to publish statistics pertaining specifically to the dangers of using of apps such as Snapchat and Instagram whilst driving, but one can imagine that the threat of causing an accident would be of a similar degree. We might not be aware of these statistics, but we are all aware of the dangers that are brought about by using picture and video recording platforms behind the wheel.

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nother high-profile case occurred on a Northern California highway road in July of 2017. 18-year-old Obdulia Sanchez, an Instagram user with over 5,000 followers at the time, broadcasted an Instagram livestream whilst driving intoxicated along the busy California road. As reported by the California Highway Patrol, Sanchez lost control of her car after it skidded off the road. Sanchez attempted to regain control of the vehicle, but overcorrected, sending the car flying violently off the highway until it collided with a barbed-wire fence. Sanchez’ 14-year-old sister, Jacqueline, lost her life in the collision, and her

almost every person under the age of 30 has their own collection of personal accounts of witnessing and/or being involved in dangerous situations arising from Snapping & Driving. I spoke to one thirdyear UCC student about her own opinions and accounts of this phenomenon and, unsurprisingly, she had plenty to tell me: “People are always snapping or recording vlog-style videos while they're driving or stuck in traffic. I always get videos from two friends of mine in particular and they're just recording a video while they're stuck in traffic, holding the phone down by the gear stick. It's such

around you at any time. While you might be stationary, pedestrians, cyclists, and other drivers are still moving around you, so the entirety of your attention is necessary to ensure your safety at all times, as a UCC student points out: “I get videos from friends on snapchat and it's clear that they're stuck in traffic, but that's just as bad as Snapping while actively driving because you could easily lose concentration and roll into the car in front [of you]”. She is adamant that the dangers are high, despite the situation or how long the distraction lasts: “It only takes a second, just one 'quick' glance

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down, and you’re dead”.

Snapping & Driving may be a new problem, but it is certainly an extremely grave and prevalent one.

Due to the lack of research and statistics into the area of Snapping & Driving specifically, I decided to reach out to the RSA with the aim of establishing a dialogue around this phenomenon and asking some necessary questions.

According to my correspondence with a representative from the RSA, it appears that there is yet to be any specific campaigning in the works in order to tackle the rise in incidents resulting from Snapping & Driving: “The RSA message is clear. Don’t use a mobile phone – for any reason when you are behind the wheel of a car. This applies to situations while driving or when stopped in traffic”.

The representative then directs me to the “Driver Distraction: Mobile Phones & Driving” webpage, which details the various dangers of using a mobile phone whilst driving, as outlined by the RSA. Whether or not Snapping & Driving will be campaigned against as an individual motoring issue in the future remains to be seen. We have already a seen a number of cases, as tragic as they are avoidable and senseless, resulting from the use of photo and video recording apps whilst driving. The number of deaths resulting from this specific phenomenon has risen, and will continue to rise, until a strong message is sent out, and understood by those who are otherwise ignorant to the consequences that their dangerous and irresponsible actions may have. If we can be certain of one thing, it’s that when it comes to taking pictures or videos while out on the road, we all need to snap out of it, and wake up to the utter lifechanging tragedy that can occur equally in the blink of an eye, as it can in the flash of a lens. 

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Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019 | University Express

Ireland’s Relationship with Antidepressants Maeve McTaggart, Features Writer On March 6th, RTÉ published an investigative piece detailing the exponential rise in the percentage of the population that is prescribed antidepressant medication. Conn Corrigan reported that from 2012 to 2017, the prescription of dosages rose by 28% with a yearly average of 31,000. Deriving information from a 2016 study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Corrigan discovered that Ireland (in joint first with Finland), has the highest rate of mental health and substance use disorders in the EU. 19% of the population suffer from such disorders, higher than the EU average of 17%.

Such statistics, while initially difficult to consume and recognise when all documented so quickly, have been flagged as worrying - is Ireland plagued with ‘a depression epidemic’?

Antidepressants are prescribed to relieve patients of clinical depression, anxiety, social anxiety disorders and OCD. By boosting the amount of neurotransmitters such as serotonin in the brain, antidepressants aim to correct the chemical imbalance which triggers such low moods, mania and other symptoms. The HSE reassures that 50-65% of people treated with antidepressants see an improvement in their mental health and that the consumption of such medication quells the symptoms of depression and anxiety. While antidepressants are

extremely essential to some, others regard them as another example of an increasingly medicalised world which over-prescribes drugs for issues that do not require them. In the RTÉ report, Dr Harry Barry cites misdiagnosis as a leading factor in escalating prescriptions, while Dr John Hillery regards it as a consequence of the heavy influence of the pharmaceutical industry. He recalls a time when ‘money, hospitality and other incentives were used to get doctors to use certain medications,’ perhaps referencing payments of undisclosed reasoning made by the pharmaceutical industry to Irish doctors and healthcare institutions in 2015, each worth €6.8 million and €10.7 million respectively.

While a heavily regulated industry, it is one which is not impermeable to marketing strategies which make the most expensive medicines also the most prescribed ones. While unproven here, this is seen in full transparency and on a greater scale in the United States, where big pharmaceutical companies can lobby politicians to legislate deals which benefit their products and patents which quell competing medicines.

In Ireland however, where in recent years we have begun to deconstruct the stigma surrounding mental health.

It is important to note that this rapid increase is perhaps not due to a greater dependence on medication or heavy-handed influence of capitalism, but that it is a country slowly coming

to terms with the fact that mental health may not be tangible, but it can be as deadly as any other illness when left untreated. In a country where institutionalisation was once the only option for those with mental health issues and ‘insanity’ was once the only word for mental illness, we have come a long way in starting a conversation about mental health. Rather than only answering our friends with some force-of-habit ‘good, thanks - you?’, the idea that it’s okay not to be okay is finally hitting home.

Despite mental health becoming more normalised, and – as a result, perhaps – the medication with which to treat it becoming more normalised, Ireland suffers beyond its means.

While therapy and counselling services are the preferred initial alternative to medication, waiting lists make this impossible when the person is in immediate trouble and distress. Without the means to pay for private mental health services, those struggling are left with the option to wait or to be treated immediately with medication. Dr Barry articulated the problem in the report by RTÉ, stating that people are put on medication to ‘alleviate distress in the short term, knowing it might be a while before they have access to those other interventions’ such as counselling. He says that Irish adolescent mental health services in particular are struggling, strained under the ‘sheer volume of people being referred to them.’

In July of 2018, the Mental Health

Commission of Ireland outlined that the shortcomings of Irish mental health facilities ‘are so pronounced that they breach the fundamental rights of service users.’ In relation to the mental health of children and young people, the Commission only saw ‘paper exercises’ and breathing practices without any system of recovery strategy.

With inefficient funding and lacking support structures, it is only natural that the first approach should be medicalisation. The conversation surrounding mental health is one which needs to become louder. It needs to put more pressure on the government to increase the funding of mental health services so that help is always available when people need it.

Here in UCC, though our waiting lists for student counselling may be long, the recent Student Union elections broadcasted multiple manifestos which featured the pledge to increase services and shorten the wait. With Niteline, students can begin to start their own conversations, taking the power away from the stigma which has plagued the topic of mental health in Ireland in the past. Antidepressants may be the solution for some, and they may just be a short-term fix for others. For the rest, they might never need to be an option. Regardless, everyone has the right to feel okay and to receive help when they don’t.

To understand mental health, we have to talk about it.

Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019 | University Express

Features

9

Ireland’s Vanishing Triangle: Unanswered.

Part 1: Annie McCarrick Róisin O’Donnell, Deputy Features Editor Picture this, reader: the endless comforting green of 1980s Ireland.

In that green, there are small and tight-knit towns that seem oh so friendly. On the 44 bus, there is a young college student. She will never be seen again, not to this day. This was the beginning of the Vanishing Triangle, which remains a cloudy mystery hanging over Ireland to this day. The definition of the Triangle acknowledges the disappearances of six women between the early and late 1990s. Although theories and investigations surrounding the Triangle ignore other unsolved disappearances and the recovery of ‘unrelated’ female bodies at that time, this Express series will explore beyond the surface and remember those almost forgotten women.

Keep in mind: do not be tricked by the uniqueness of the Irish tongue or the endless green fields of Ireland like Annie McCarrick.

Before McCarrick’s disappearance, unsolved cases were already generating when the bodies of women were discovered in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains in the 80s and into the early 90s. The names Phyllis Murphy, Antoinette Smith and Patricia Doherty are left out in most mentions of the Triangle. Perhaps this is because of the lack of physical and knowledgeable evidence surrounding McCarrick’s vanishing makes her unsolved case easier to stomach.

Originally from Long Island, New York in America, Annie’s accent and enthusiasm for Ireland stuck out to the locals. Although her parents were not entirely set on her Irish ideas, she begged and convinced them to let her study on the Green Isle. Her memory of it from a school trip was still crystal clear and her Irish ancestry made her feel like a second home was waiting for her beyond the Atlantic.

That night when the guests arrived at Annie’s much-anticipated dinner party, they received no answer. Only when Annie did not return home, collect her paycheck or visit work with her usual homemade desserts Annie’s mother had this to say did alarm bells start to ring. on Annie McCarrick’s time at Annie was reported missing to An Maynooth College “I know one of Garda Síochána. The trail of the the priests at college said she could investigation started in Annie’s lift the spirits of the whole class; flat where her shopping was left that she was that happy to be there”. inside the door. The unrefrigerated Every second person at UCC today produce had gone off. This was out could be matched to Annie. The of character for Annie, a responsible difference is that Annie’s story has no ending.

Sandymount, Dublin, was a contrast to her fast New York life filled with cars and strangers. The friendly Irish seemed to click with her easygoing, trusting nature, a nature that concerned her parents.

The day of her disappearance, McCarrick had the day off work. She decided to spend her day preparing to host a dinner for friends. This involved a trip around town buying groceries for a meal. The last images of McCarrick in the flesh came from a security camera in a bank she had dropped into. The grainy footage shows McCarrick behaving like her usual self, socializing with the staff and smiling.

The next sighting of McCarrick comes from memory. At around 3:30pm, a friend saw Annie on the 44 bus to Enniskerry. The commotion on the bus only allowed her friend a brief glance at Annie.

The bus driver that day does not remember the American boarding the bus, but this can be put down to the sea of passengers the driver sees every shift. The following sighting that occurred is the most unreliable.

As does a bus driver, a bouncer sees a large number of people coming and going each day. According to a bouncer, Annie arrived at the Johnny Foxes pub in Glencullen and attempted to walk passed him.

He stopped her telling her she had to pay to get in. Annie seemed to be surprised but in response, she smiled and apologised. The man behind her stepped in front of her, telling the What stuck with Annie most about bouncer ‘I’ll get that’ and paid for Ireland was the people, the air and them both. Annie thanked the man the quietness. Her new home in and the pair faded into the busy pub.

and social young woman.

Odd details led to many more links being made. These links cast shadows over McCarrick’s case and raised questions.

Why did Annie take the 44 bus and how did she end up in Johnny Foxes’ pub?

What made McCarrick so suddenly back out of her house?

Where was/is she now? Days away from being missing for 26 years.

10

Features

Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019 | University Express

Momo: The Internet Hoax That Became Real Róisin O’Donnell, Deputy Features Editor terrorising parents and children alike. Only this time it did not take n 2014, twelve year olds Morgan Morgan and Alissa’s delusions to Geyser and Alissa Weier decided give it life. It took the power of to lead the third member of their the internet, online parents and friend group, Payton Leutner, into complete access to the homes of the woods with intent to end her millions to create Momo. life in the name of Slender Man. Payton was stabbed nineteen But where did Momo come from? times and left for dead while her Momo is a name attached to a 2016 attackers ventured in search of Japanese sculpture by the artist Slender Man’s mythical mansion. Keisuka Aisawa. The sculpture's Payton, fortunately, survived by original intent was to be perceived using the last of her strength to as a mother bird, not a Creepypasta. crawl out of the of the woods and When pictures of the sculpture attract the attention of a cyclist. were posted on Instagram, Internet Three years later, Payton is left culture transformed it into the face with physical and emotional scars of the Momo challenge. It first and the fates of her two attackers circulated as an urban legend on are yet to have a definite sentence. the Spanish speaking web, and then The defence and the parents of the transitioned to "a phone number attackers throughout the case have that could be added to WhatsApp." pointed the blame at the fictional The Momo challenge began Creepypasta Slender Man. Today, grabbing headlines worldwide the character has lost the fear and when a young Argentinian girl’s curiosity his fictional tale inflicted suicide was painted by fear and on the hearts of young people and legend when connections were enthusiasts all over the world. made to the Creepypasta. The

later proven false.

to stop the spread of information, The same story followed the whether we are prepared for it or not. suicides of two men in India. Momo now has her own dedicated Neither of these tragedies’ links to Wikipedia page and is the star of Momo have been confirmed by the hundreds of YouTube videos claiming police but the internet has a much to have made contact with Momo more powerful reach. Whether or videos labelled ‘Peppa Pig’ and the information is accurate is an ‘Fortnite’ featuring Momo addressing children with chilling messages. afterthought.

Always behind worldwide news, When speaking to the Irish Times, the Momo challenge reached Trinity College Dublin’s Professor Ireland's parents when Northern Brendon Kelly implies that Momo Irish police tweeted a warning has had more of an effect on parents about Momo. Just a reminder: than their children. On the media, Momo's reach and possible effects schools and parents’ reactions on young people's mental health he had this to comment: "It strips have not been proven by outside self-harm of its meaning if we are sources. The Creepypasta’s control implying that it is done casually in continued. It continues up until this response to something somebody sees on the internet, when in fact it week as schools nationwide push is a more profound act”. out warning letters and schedule emergency meetings, prepping This brings forward the question of parents on how to deal with this reality and how close the internet is actually ingrained into our new age attack on their children. everyday. With challenges like Ireland’s extreme reaction cannot Momo and the unfiltered definitions be overlooked. Yes, this would have of mental health, we have to ask if been a more suitable reaction to our view of ourselves and human A different creature has taken the claims that were made at the the church's crimes against children, nature is now distorted? And if so, place of Slender man, this time expense of a grieving family were but the internet makes it impossible is it gone forever? 

I

Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019 | University Express

Features

11

no countries…Nothing to kill or die for”) don’t make themselves vulnerable to the ridicule of cynics, because they aren’t proposals, plans, or frameworks. They are dreams and imaginings, far too grand and far too good to exist upon our plane of administrations and bureaucracy. The song expresses a hope so profoundly utopian – so easy to disprove and criticize – that it somehow manages to transcend all worldly judgement, leaving no room for cynicism in the process. It feigns no capability to resolve, and offers only a helping hand, beckoning us gently forward to imagine.

John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’: When Art Becomes More

A friend of mine once told me about how, on the day of the 9/11 attacks in New York City, radio stations all across France broadcasted “Imagine” simultaneously, in a gesture of solidarity. That, I think, is exactly what the song has come to represent.

It’s comfort in a crisis because it asks nothing more of the listener than to imagine, and – as Lennon said it best – that really isn’t hard to do. Again, in France, the morning after the 2015 terrorist attack at the Bataclan in Paris, pianist Davide Martello took to the streets outside the venue, playing a rudimentary instrumental version of the song on a grand piano.

A video of the performance soon went viral online, once again offering some inexplicable sense of hope and comfort to all those who witnessed it.

Fergal Smiddy, Features Editor across the US, and, with the release One piece of praise for “Imagine” When John Lennon finished off the The year was 1971, and only a year on from leaving behind the band that had propelled him to incomprehensible levels of fame and success, John Lennon had already put pen to paper in the crafting of what would one day become the best-selling single of his entire solo career. The Vietnam War was on its last legs, fast approaching, however unaware, its final hour. Back in the United States, anti-war protests raged on with fervour. From the May Day protests in Washington D.C. to the Camden 28 – a group of 28 leftist Catholic activists who broke into a draft board in Camden, New Jersey, seeking to destroy any draft registration records they could find.

Tensions were reaching boiling point

of “Imagine”, perhaps Lennon had that definitely stands out, however, intended upon mellowing things is a quote taken from former US down.

President Jimmy Carter, who said Carrying a sense of familiarity that “in many countries around the experienced equally among hardened world – my wife and I have visited Beatlemaniacs and just about about 125 countries– you hear John everyone outside of that admittedly Lennon's song 'Imagine' used almost sizeable sphere, the songs influence, equally with national anthems”. and more importantly, power, is immutable. Just about every accolade, prize and endorsement stands firm to bolster at the song’s back. The praise appears endless, from Rolling Stone labelling it as Lennon’s “greatest musical gift to the world”, to the Grammy Hall of Fame award it received in 1999, to its induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the same year.

This quote, I think, is one that is most effective in summing up the impact that this song had, continues to have, and the legacy that it has forged since it first hit record stores in ‘71.

“Imagine”, universally, is comfort in a crisis. It miraculously tows the line of a profound melancholic sadness without ever surrendering and submerging fully into sorrow.

The idealist lyrics (“Imagine there’s

last few scribblings of lyrics and chords on his song sheet, and released “Imagine” off into the world, he was doing far more than just publishing another song. He couldn’t possibly have comprehended even a fraction of what his newest little piece of music would go on to represent.

Yet, still, “Imagine” has gone on to represent something far larger than Lennon himself, or anything me may have intended to achieve with the song. In a sense, “Imagine” is no longer just a song that John Lennon released. It has become a cultural symbol. A universally understood articulation of hope in the direst of circumstances, that speaks to all and demands to be heard.

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Opinion

Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019 | University Express areas are Democrat strongholds, the Republicans would never win a Presidency again. For this argument to hold true, you have to throw basic mathematics completely out the window. New York City is by far the largest city with eight million inhabitants. However, the population of cities drops drastically after that.

The population of the top hundred cities in America only adds up to just under twenty percent of the total population. Far from the majority required. Thus, the idea that a candidate can simply focus on large metropolitan areas while ignoring everyone else is mathematically ludicrous, and ignorant of the population distribution.

America’s Democracy Problem Conor O’Carroll, Opinion Writer

We’re often told, mainly by American politicians, that America is the greatest democracy in the world.

It’s very easy to see why they think that. Aside from their narcissism, the US is, in fact, a fantastic county.

The individual rights afforded to its citizens are second to none, and the American people have been great supporters of democracy the world over for two hundred years.

However, great as America is, they aren’t the greatest democracy in the world. Far from it in fact. The main problem stems from what is called the Electoral College.

Dreamt up by the Founding Fathers and established under the US Constitution, the Electoral College is the method by which the president of the United States is elected. Instead of opting for a simple, effective and democratic popular vote, the Founding Fathers decided to complicate the whole ordeal. Revolutionary leader turned Broadway star Alexander Hamilton was a keen supporter of the Electoral College. He wrote about his distrust of leaving such an important decision to ordinary citizens. His rationale behind it was the threat of a tyrannical leader who Hamilton believed could trick citizens into voting them president. So, as an

antidote to that threat, he and his fellow Founding Fathers proposed a system where citizens would vote for their candidate in each state and then a chosen few, known as Electors, would vote on behalf of that state, thus electing the president.

This results in the Electoral College breaking a fundamental rule of democracy. Under a fair democracy everyone’s vote should count equally, however, the Electoral College violates this fundamental principle by making some people’s votes are more equal than others.

This may sound implausible, but let me explain. If the Electoral Votes were to be spread evenly across the country, every 574,000 people would be represented by one Electoral Vote.

However, as I outlined earlier, the Electoral College doesn’t give votes to people; it gives votes to states.

This can have some undemocratic consequences. According to the rules of the Electoral College, each state receives a minimum of three Electoral Votes, the remainder of which are distributed according to population. This leads to a situation where states who should only get one or two Electoral Votes end up with three of four. This creates an imbalance where one Vermonters vote for President is worth the same as three Texans, or one Wyomingites

vote is worth four Californians.

There we have it: proof that under the Electoral College the worth of your vote depends on where you live and that it is inherently undemocratic.

At this point in the article, some of you may be angrily tweeting that I’m missing the entire point of the Electoral College. That, in fact, it protects the small states from the big states by giving them more voting power, requiring presidential candidates to pay more attention to them. I would request that you pause for a second, because if that is the purpose of the Electoral College, it’s failing spectacularly.

In the 2016 Presidential Election, over 90% of the campaign activity took place in just eleven states.

Nearly 60% of that took place in just four major swing states; Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Ohio, all of whom are in the top ten most populous states. The data is clear. The Electoral College doesn’t make presidential candidates any more likely to visit the smaller states, and giving them more voting power hasn’t had the desired effect.

Following this, the supporters of the Electoral College try to claim that switching to a popular vote system would mean that presidents would be decided by the major urban areas and given the fact that many of these

It also ignores the fact that Republicans do in fact exist in large cities. President Trump received nearly three million votes in New York State in 2016. He also won over four million in California.

Clinton received more, although not by the margin that some would have you believe. Switching to a popular vote would give these seven million Americans a voice and an influential vote in the presidential election.

The same is true for the 33% of Nebraskans who voted for Hillary Clinton. The Electoral College winner-takes-all system leaves many voters without a genuine chance of influencing the election. Simply put, the system needs to change. If you are somehow still not convinced, I’ll leave you with this.

It is mathematically possible, although unlikely, to win the Electoral College with just twentytwo percent of the popular vote.

That’s right, 22%. While the Electoral College has not failed as spectacularly as that before, it has failed in the past. On four occasions the Electoral College has allowed the loser of the election to win the election, with the most recent being in 2016. This leaves the Electoral College with a failure rate of 7%.

Who would play a game in which, by some quirk in the rules, the winner loses? I know I certainly wouldn’t. In the end we are left in a situation whereby the majority of the population are largely ignored and a system where the loser ends up as president. This is not democracy.

This is indefensible.

Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019 | University Express

Opinion

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Climate Chaos Aoife Gleeson, Opinion Writer

The world is doomed- apparently!

A fairly grim opening sentence, I know. But let’s face it, this seems to be the direction in which we are heading. Whether that is now, in 10 years’ time, or in 100 years or 1000 years, no one seems to know for definite. Scientists predict that a rise of just 1.5°C in the earth’s average temperature would have devastating, irreversible effects. Who knew an increase of 1.5°C could be so critically significant? With activities such as fossil fuel burning, pollution and deforestation comes an increase in the amount of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. This means that temperatures are rising steadily on our precious planet.

The consequence? A world which is melting and dripping slow and steadily into the abyss, scorched and burnt by mankind. This is our climate in chaos. This is climate change.

Climate change refers to the “gradual change in the Earth's climate and physical geography that accompany an increase in the Earth's temperature.” Enough with the scientific definitions, though.

What does climate change mean to us? Not much, apparently. Proof of this can be seen by public polls in my local newspaper, revealing some eye-opening results. For me, one of the most discernible signs of our shifting climate was the summer just gone by. Ireland experienced its highest temperature on record of 32.0°C, and also the lowest summer rainfall level ever recorded of just 109.5mm. One such poll in my local newspaper asked whether the hot weather that we experienced over the summer was a symptom of global warming50% agreed and 50% disagreed.

This amazes me. How come the general public are still sitting on the fence about climate change?

Was this insanely hot summer with

droughts and charred vegetation not a blatant indicator of climate change? Yet, there are many people who still think that this is a ‘natural’ occurrence, that an Irish summer of droughts, wildfires and withered vegetation is ‘normal’. A poll at the end of the summer produced another astonishing result: 81.5% of people said that they would like to experience the hot summer just gone by again next year. This is a dangerous outlook to have. Is it not obvious that the world is slowly simmering? How long do we have before it reaches boiling point?

Extreme weather events from droughts, snow, and an increase in the frequency and intensity of rainfall and winds is surely enough evidence that the climate is shifting.

If that’s not convincing enough, what about the rise in sea levels and a loss of habitats and their flora and fauna? What many people don’t seem to know is that climate change affects human health. Warmer global temperatures cause an increase in suitable areas for disease-spreading organisms, such as mosquitoes and ticks, to move into. This results in a rise in the spread of diseases, such as notably Malaria and West Nile Virus. Climate change exacerbates flooding and drought conditions, causing a decline in water quality around the world, impacting our physical health and general well-being. Another little-known consequence of climate change is its socio-political impacts. It’s long thought that the origin of the civil unrest in Syria was due to a severe drought caused by climate change, forcing many people to migrate to urban areas after their crops failed and livestock died. The increased pressure on services and resources in these urban areas lead to heightened tensions and inevitably the situation we see today. This is just naming a few! What more evidence do some people need to convince them that climate change is not a future

problem? It is currently here as an unwelcome guest and is planning to move in permanently if action is not taken soon.

Climate change first came into effect around 200 years ago with the Industrial Revolution. However, we only just seem to be waking up to the ruthless, rambunctious reality. The climate is clearly in a state of chaos. It is signalling to us for help. Why are we turning a blind eye? Last year Ireland dropped a staggering 28 places on the 2018 Climate Change Performance Index.

This makes us the worst performing E.U. country on taking measures to tackle climate change. What a title!

Each Irish citizen is responsible for emitting 40% more greenhouse gases than the E.U. average. How did we, as a nation, end up here?

The 2020 target of reducing our carbon emissions by 20% is now basically impossible to reach. We will be faced with billions of euros of fines over the next few years as a result of our nonchalance. Is this the wake-up call that Dáil Éireann and governments alike need? What we regard as an extremely hot summer now could be a mild summer in 2080 if left overlooked. Regardless of wealth, status, education, geographical conditions or political situation, everyone is affected by climate change. Everyone.

As an environmental science student, I feel that this is one of the biggest and most overwhelming

challenges that all of mankind has to face today. To be blunt and blatantly dramatic, this could be the end of life as we know it, or life full stop, if ignored further or left to ‘others’ to solve. Have we left it too late to counteract climate change? If we don’t collectively act now , this climate chaos will plummet into a climate catastrophe. In the words of António Guterres (U.N. Secretary General); “The sustainability train has left the station. Get on board or get left behind…Those who fail to bet on the green economy will be living in a grey future”.

Carbon neutrality, #zerowaste, conservation and severing single use plastics are the buzzwords of 2019. Are these small individual efforts making a difference if others are not climate conscious? More importantly do these people who help make a difference actually feel that they are making a difference?

Or is one proactive person irrelevant without the rest of the population? It is clear that governments worldwide need to implement stricter policies and incentives to ensure each individual person as well as each organisation are all collectively doing their best to combat climate change. If people care enough about our planet then this needs to be achieved to avoid that catastrophic 1.5°C temperature rise. This needs to be achieved before the Earth is undoubtedly well and truly doomed.

This needs to be achieved now.

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BYLINE

Editorial Editorial #9 Penultimate Editorial Before reading Éadaoin Regan’s brilliant Arts & Literature section, I had no idea what the word ‘penultimate’ meant. I misspelled ‘Brookfield’ on the campaign posters I made for the Student Media and Satellite Common Rooms referendum (I am an English student). I also mixed up my deadline dates so wrote all of what you’ve just read last week at five minutes to a non-existent deadline before figuring out I was a week early. If this doesn’t tell you how my final semester of my final year is going, I don’t know what will.

Ciara Dinneen Byline Editor

I am not the only one feeling like this. Even if you’re not in final year, which let me tell you adds a slightly more terrifying aspect to the thought of looming exams knowing they’ll be your last, it’s that time of the year where everyone is feeling up against it. Between exams, assignments, placement, sorting summer plans, and all of the other things going on at the same time, it gets to feel a bit much at times. You may start to feel overwhelmed and like you’re not

Fiction Dark Thoughts By Wesley Martin Frustrated, dissatisfied, you've tried and tried,

The meaning of life has you completely mystified.

Another negative vibe that's too hard to describe, Depressed, anxious and feeling dead inside.

Dark thoughts dominate your mind, you can't unwind, Searching for answers that you might never find.

Questioning reality can lead to insanity, ''What if'' thoughts will mess with your mentality.

Demons are creeping back from the dead, So many emotions run wild in your head.

You've been through the pain but you still feel the hurt, It's a constant battle since the day of birth.

Time to wake up and realise your own self-worth, We've got limited time on this place called earth.

16 ready or just can’t handle everything.

You’re not the only one, though – we are all going through, or at least go through, times like these. A lot of it is really exciting, though, and not at all as daunting as the thought. It’s like going to the gym – it’s the thought of it that’s the worst part; once you’re there you’re flying and have a great time, wondering why the hell you wasted so much time dreading it and putting it off in the first place. Just go.

Last Thursday, the 7th March, it was announced that the capitation referendum in support of student media was passed. I just want to take a moment right here to say thank you to everyone who supported us by voting yes. Apart from the massive beneficial difference it’s going to make to all students, it really does mean so much personally to those of us involved in student media. We wouldn’t be here without you, really, so thank you.

As always, the wonderful Byline team have us spoiled with the quality of the articles yet again this issue.

Our Fashion section even has handy little cut-outs for those of us who struggle to understand what the hell all the little triangle pictures and

symbols on our clothing tags mean – thank you Sadhbh! An interesting debate around the issue of violence in video games is bought to us courtesy of Gaming Editor, Cian McGrath, while Film & TV Editor, Joe Cunningham, satisfies the movie buffs by giving us his reflection on the Oscars and an interesting piece about the relationship between politics and TV. Caoimhe Coleman, Music Editor, provides us with a great lowdown of a band that’s created a community of its own have you heard of IDLES? While we’re on music, do you know of ASH? Regardless, be sure to check out the nicely similarly vibed Music section and Interview.

This is to name but a few of the great sections we have for this issue, and the amazing editors we have here in the Byline family. Much love to them, and to you – our readers, because, like I said, we literally would not be here without you.

Yours,

Ciara D.

Byline Cover: Célem Deegan

byline@uccexpress.ie

Fashion

Editor: Sadhbh Sullivan

17

How to reduce your fashion footprint Sadhbh Sullivan, Fashion Editor 3. Saving

The F Word Sadhbh Sullivan, Fashion Editor

The term "Fast Fashion" has quickly saturated all of our favourite fashion news sources. It's on the lips of our favourite influencers, on the minds of our vintage-loving friends and of course, protested by the environmentalists amongst us.

Although the noise surrounding fast fashion is immense, there’s a lack of awareness surrounding both what it means, and what we can do to combat it.

According to Wikipedia (the most accurate source of information available to mankind), fast fashion is "a contemporary term used by fashion retailers to express that designs move from catwalk quickly to capture current fashion trends."

Fast fashion collections are based on the most recent fashion trends as presented at Spring and Autumn Fashion Weeks every year. These trends are replicated quickly and inexpensively by fast fashion brands to allow the average shopper to buy into trendy clothes at a fraction of the cost.

This means that your favourite brands (H&M, Zara, Topshop, Missguided, PrettyLittleThing and a whole lot more) base their items of clothing on the creativity of other designers. They replicate popular items and styles inexpensively and within a short period of time.

Both low prices and short production times inevitably contribute to lower quality goods. This in turn lends to ‘disposable fashion,’ which is exactly as it says on the tin. Fashion items that you purchase, knowing

that within a short period of time you will inevitably dispose of them.

For example, a pair of Penney’s leggings that are likely to cost you around €5 are also likely to be poor quality. When you buy items like these, generally you are aware that they have a shelf life, and will probably spend less than six months in your wardrobe, if worn regularly.

Upon disposal, you are likely to buy another pair, and so just like your Starbucks cup, these are also disposable.

In addition to its reputation for copycatting designs and lending itself to disposable fashion, fast fashion has also been linked to contributing to poor working conditions in developing countries. This is understandable, given the low cost of fast fashion items. However, this is generally not to the forefront of our minds when we spot a good bargain.

As if you weren't feeling guilty enough about your most recent purchases, fast fashion is also heavily linked to global warming, and has a hugely negative environmental impact. The industry contributes to 10% of global carbon emissions, and is the second largest polluter in the world after oil.

Next time you go shopping, ask yourself “Do I need it?” “How long will I wear it for?” and “Can I afford a similar piece from a sustainable brand?” We’re all responsible for taking care of our planet, and while a student budget doesn’t make this goal easily attainable, little changes can make a big difference. 

It can be difficult at the best of times to avoid fast fashion. Sustainable and trendy pieces are generally expensive, so unless you’ve recently won the lotto, a trip in to Brown Thomas to pick up a few new bits is probably next to impossible. That said, there are a few things you can do to reduce your footprint while you wait for those winning numbers.

1. Thrift it

Although shopping in a charity shop can be a stressful ordeal for the unseasoned thrift shopper, rehoming clothes is a great way to reduce your fashion footprint. If you're looking for something new, pop in to a charity shop before checking your favourite fashion retailers. If you're throwing something away, make sure to drop it in to a shop or clothes bank.

2. Swapsies

"I've got nothing to wear" is simply not a good excuse to go shopping. If you don't think you have anything suitable to wear, raid your friends/ families wardrobes, and borrow or swap something of yours for theirs.

Sustainable fashion can be pricey, especially if you're trying to stay on trend. Instead of splurging on items that you know won't last, save up for ones that will.

4. Repurpose

If you're feeling creative, and have a sewing machine, needles and thread or even some dye on hand, try experimenting with your old clothes. Tie dye your t-shirts, crop an old top, rip your jeans. Instead of making a purchase, try to make do with what you've got.

5. Care for your clothes

Always read the label before washing and drying your clothes.

Some items will need to be washed at certain temperatures, some can’t be put in a drier and some might even need to be hand washed. It goes without saying that you should never mix light and dark coloured washes. Pop your denims in with your black coloured clothing, and if you have to mix the rest, be sure to use a colour catchers sheet.

Film & T.V.

18

Brexit in TV: The Uncivil War

vs Ten Years of Turmoil Philip Hayden, Film and TV Writer

As it came to a close, it was undeniable that 2016 would take its place in the history books as one of those years where everything changed. One could almost picture the avalanche of historical dramas to come. One could already imagine someone in the year 2036 passing an advertisement and rolling their eyes: ‘Oh God, not another 2016 historical drama!’

However, at the time, no one would have guessed how quickly those 2016 dramas would arrive. Perhaps a reflection of the blink-and-you’llmiss-the-latest-headline world we live in, TV seems to be aping modern news coverage, churning out retellings of breaking news stories just months after the real thing takes place. The Trump saga was retold just one year after it happened in Netflix’s Trump: An American Dream. And now, Brexit dramas are catching up, with Channel 4’s Brexit: the Uncivil War dropping last January.

Uncivil War is a historical drama by numbers; a script that presumably arrived with the words “just add Cumberbatch” printed on the front. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Dominic Cummings, seemingly the mastermind behind Brexit. He and his fellow co-stars spend most of the show competing against one another in traditional Wimbledon-style dialogue, cutting each other off with increasingly loud, rapid-fire reposts.

The rest of the time they’re delivering some truly out-of-place trailer-speak.

One particular egregious example is a scene where Cummings and the head of a shady Cambridge-Analyticatype business discuss how social networking platforms can be used to reach potential leave voters. Where are they walking to in this scene? Are they just doing laps of the park? Scenery is thoroughly chewed in Uncivil War or to be more specific: the scenery is thoroughly scribbled on - this show loves people scribbling furiously on things. Uncivil War also sports a truly uncreative narrative device in the form of Cummings’ tinnitus. Throughout the show, Cummings is depicted as suffering from blinding headaches, a lazy metaphor for his ability to sense the festering Europhobia in the air.

But this is all beating around the bush, the show’s biggest flaw is that it’s basically just The Social Network.

Honestly, the amount of things this show pulls from The Social Network

is embarrassing: the framing device of our main character being deposed before flashing back to previous events; an angry nerdy main character with a superiority complex; an all-tooobvious over-exaggeration of the real story. Cummings is similarly depicted as the Mark Zuckerberg (or at least Zuckerberg as depicted in The Social Network) of Brexit, the man who saw all the pieces of the puzzle but unlike everyone else, actually knew how to put them all together. However, even a lazy rehashing of The Social Network could have been excused if it weren’t for the third act. Once this comes round, Cumberbatch is given almost no screen time at all, in what had, up to this point, appeared to be almost a biopic of his character.

Obviously, a two-hour historical drama is never going to be able to depict all of the important factors that led up to Brexit and so the question arises: why does Uncivil War even exist? Who is this show for? It’s not nearly expansive enough to please those interested in the Brexit saga. It’s not propaganda but it chooses to focus, arguably, on the less important elements of the story. It should have been a series, not a twohour episode. It should have focused on the factors leading up to the vote, not the vote itself. It should have been archival footage and talking heads, not a drama bogged down by a main character that is dumped in Act 3.

Enter Inside Europe: Ten Years of Turmoil, the antithesis of Uncivil War, a three part BBC2 series comprising of just that: archival footage and talking heads. Each hour-long episode focuses on one international disaster over the past ten years of the EU’s history, starting, as is only right, with Brexit. Brook Lapping, the production company behind Inside Europe have a good track-record, having made Inside Obama’s White House. Their reputation was obviously strong enough that they were able to convince a truly impressive number of Europe’s most important head honchos to appear in the show.

Here, the viewer can actually trace some of the bigger threads that ultimately culminated in Brexit. We watch as David Cameron immediately ties himself in knots the moment he walks into Number 10, promising his back-benchers he won’t agree to any more interference from the EU. Then Cameron is too successful in the following general election,

getting enough Tory seats to form a government without the help of the Lib-Dems -the only problem? Those Remainer Lib-Dems were replaced with Brexiteer Conservatives. And just when things couldn’t get any worse, the Migrant Crisis hits. Finally, we see a few flashing scenes of the red £350 million bus, a “breaking point” billboard and a smiling Boris Johnson.

This montage takes all of five seconds.

Unlike Uncivil War, Inside Europe knows the race was already well and truly run long before that bus pulled up and so it wastes no time discussing it.

They say history is written by the

winners but here you have two dramatically different retellings of history, arguably both made by the losers. This is why shows like Uncivil War and Inside Europe make for such fascinating TV (even if the former isn’t in itself all that great a show).

These shows are, in a way, rewriting and restructuring our history as it happens. This isn’t a World War II documentary. There’s no layer of time separating you from what you’re seeing. You’re watching the present being deconstructed and put back together before your eyes. A strange but welcome future for the modern historical drama and documentary.

Politics and TV: A Toxic Mix? Joe Cunningham, Film & TV Editor

Is it possible to be completely and honestly unbiased when it comes to the portrayal of politics in the media?

This is a question that has preoccupied me for some time and, ultimately, it is one that can be answered in a single word. No. Most western states have watchdogs and committees that keep, or attempt to keep, broadcasting bias in check, but it is never truly enough, especially when these watchdogs have agendas and biases of their own.

While Ireland and the United Kingdom do not, yet, have to suffer the kind of polarised agenda-led reporting to which many Americans are subjected by the likes of Fox News and CNN, that does not necessarily mean that the same bias can be totally avoided. The BBC and Sky News are generally reliable but even they cannot escape the meddling fingers of political, royal and personal agendas, typified by the Murdoch family – who are to objective reporting, what kryptonite is to Superman.

Whether it be whipping up public fear and scapegoating migrants to distract from poverty and unemployment or, on the other end of the spectrum, masquerading as a friend of the oppressed by perpetuating a culture of political correctness that ends up being more oppressive than what they’re supposedly trying to prevent, political agendas make it very hard for someone who wants a balanced outlook to be successful in their goal.

The best we can do is watch a news channel that appeals to our worldviews, whilst being aware that other viewpoints exist and never losing

sight of the fact that, no matter what they claim, the people behind what you watch ALWAYS have an agenda, be it subconscious or otherwise.

Historical Accuracy and Film

There have been quite a few historically inspired films recently, Oscars’ season breeds them, but it was this week’s article on Brexit: The Uncivil War that led me to consider the issue of historical accuracy in the films we watch. One can understand that, for the sake of clarity, and often with runtime a consideration, historical events must necessarily be simplified. But when the simplification extends to alteration, this is where problems begin to arise. Brexit: The Uncivil War was always going to have a difficult task, providing commentary on historical events that are still unfolding, but by leaving out and altering large sections of highly relevant material it rendered itself guilty of a dangerous level of subjectivity that seemed contrary to its very aim: showing how people can be easily manipulated by what they watch and are exposed to.

Slightly different is the issue of historical accuracies in period dramas and historical movies. Assuming your audience is too dumb to understand the complexities of a historical event is a poor starting-point for any film, but actively altering the timeline and features of a historical event leaves me wondering whether there was any point calling the film historical at all!

Netflix’s The Outlaw King was a fun and well shot piece of historical based drama, but it so altered the timeline of Robert the Bruce’s life and deeds to make it almost unrecognisable to anybody who has even a mild interest in the Scottish Wars of Independence.

Editor: Joe Cunningham

19

New Films:

Marvel’s first female Avenger hits our screens on March 8th. Brie Larson is Carol Danvers, or Captain Marvel in the next instalment of the franchise, apparently of immense importance to the plot of Endgame.

Also out that week is Serenity, starring Matthew McConoughey and Anne Hathaway, which is supposed to be absolutely awful and thus worth checking out.

Oscars Recap Joe Cunningham, Film & TV Editor

My Oscars experience was somewhat spoiled by the fact that I was forced to watch the majority of the show on Twitch and Periscope streams of questionable quality that featured people speaking loudly in Spanish, a very annoying woman insisting aggressively that I like her rapper boyfriend’s Instagram account while waving it theatrically in front of the screen, and another stream worryingly entitled “I Watch the Oscars from Inside My Cage” which featured a scantily clad lady called Julie watching the Oscars from inside a cage.

Between the bizarre viewing habits of my hosts and the streams inevitably getting shut down, I was left with very little time to actually consider the Oscars ceremony itself.

The lack of a host this year did little to improve the quality of the jokes and monologues, which, every year without fail, manage to account for some of the most unfunny, contrived and oppressively safe drivel I’ve had the misfortune to experience – although it did at least save me the even greater torture of having to sit through four hours of Kevin

Hart. Still, the awards themselves are entertaining enough and Queen opening the show was a nice touch that set the tone appropriately.

Overall, I was very happy with the winners. Mahershala Ali and Regina King thoroughly deserved their respective Best-Supporting Oscars.

Rami Malek was a popular, if a little safe, choice for Best Actor although one cannot fault his dedication to the role of Freddie Mercury. Best of all, Black Panther, A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody did not win Best Picture, the award instead going to the excellent and thoroughly deserving Green Book, which has since garnered a negative reaction online but trust me, it is a humorous but thought-provoking film with star turns from Viggo Mortensen and the aforementioned Ali. The real winner of the night, however, was undoubtedly Olivia Colman, who picked up the Best-Actress gong for her role as Queen Anne in The Favourite, which had, up until that point, been snubbed for several awards. Her speech was the most genuine, lovable and funny thing about the entire show and cemented her place as both a national and international treasure. 

New to Netflix:

Ricky Gervais’ first series in five years is on Netflix from March 8th.

After Life tells the story of a widower who decides to say whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Triple Frontier is out on the 13th and features a stellar cast, including Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac (Star Wars, Inside Llewyn Davis), Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, Narcos) and Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy, King Arthur), trying to rob a drug lord.

New Trailers:

Excitement this week was provided by HBO who released sneak peaks of several of their upcoming shows. At the top of the list is the first proper footage of the long-awaited final season of Game of Thrones: a ten second clip of the Unsullied, Drogon, Arya and falling snow. We were also given the first glimpse of Meryl Streep in season 2 of Big Little Lies, also starring Reece Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Shalene Woodley.

Season 1 is excellent and well worth a binge if you like murder dramas and clever character interplay. Finally, we were given the first proper trailer for the HBO/BBC collaborative adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. The film did not do the books justice and it is my fervent hope that the series, starring James McAvoy, Ruth Wilson, Dafne Keen and Lin-Manuel Miranda, will be the darker, more serious, and more accurate portrayal that the first trailer promises.

INTERVIEW

20 the beginning of festival season.

You guys played at a few Irish festivals this summer. Which one was your favourite?

“Electric Picnic, that was really fun. We played on the Friday this year. We only played there for the first time last year on one of the smaller stages, but this year we played on the main stage so that was great! We played a festival in Belfast, The Biggest Weekend, and that was on a Titanic slipway – that was cool because that was like a punk band show.”

You originate from Northern Ireland, but where are you all based now?

“I’ve been in New York for thirteen years now. Mark lives there too, and we’ve got a studio in Manhattan as well. Rick lives in Edinburgh, so we get together whenever we need to.”

You guys go way back. How did ASH come about all those years ago?

A chat with Tim Wheeler of ASH Ciara Dinneen, Byline Editor Having recently released the seventh studio album of their 26-year long career, Islands, in May, ASH are still around, are still touring Europe and Asia, and still going strong on all fronts. If you haven’t heard of them, ASH are a three-piece rock band from Northern Ireland whose endurance and consistency has won them the quit-but-firm position as one of

Ireland and the UK’s most loved rock bands. Giving a whole new meaning to the concept of never changing, ASH have remained steadily on their particular wave and style since day one.

Delighting their fans with yet another trustworthily great album, described as “an open-hearted set of songs dealing with love and loss, friendship and betrayal, identity, salvation, redemption and rebirth… all the important stuff” and promised to be “the strongest, most

exhilarating long player” of Ash’s career, Islands certainly delivers, reaffirming the trio’s status as one of the most idiosyncratic and singularly thrilling guitar bands to originate from Ireland.

We got to speak with ASH frontman Tim Wheeler while the band were in Milan on their tour back in November. Although ASH’s album came out in May, their touring was a little later than it usually would be after an album release, it being

“We started in school. Myself and Mark started a band when we were twelve years old. It was a heavy metal type band, we were trying to be heavy metal... We struggled with that for a few years and then we discovered more alternative rock stuff like nirvana in ’92, so we started ASH with Rick then. So, it started in school and we’ve been playing ever since really! We were fifteen when we formed, and then we were seventeen when we got a record deal and started getting away and touring the mainland, and then it all kicked off in ’95 when we brought out ‘Girl from Mars’ – that’s when we started touring all over the world.”

Do you think the music industry has changed much between now and then, at least from your experience? Do you think it’s

21 harder nowadays to make it?

“I think so, yes. I think there was more of a music industry, as in there was more money, I think in it that would help bands and young artists to develop. I think now you have to be quite clever and economical.

Touring when you’re beginning is really expensive - you can lose a lot of money. We’re lucky that we had different companies to support us back then. Having said that, there is a way – you can promote yourself on social media, you can do a lot more stuff yourself these days that you would have needed record companies and press agents to do for you back in the day. It is probably harder to sustain yourself as a young band these days.”

when we started working with our first producer Owen Morris he got us into Bowie a lot, The Beatles and Beach Boys as well. I like a lot of punk stuff like Ramones, Buzzcocks, Undertones... so we’re kind of like a hybrid of all that stuff; pop song writing with punk and alternative rock energy.”

were at our peak or in 2001 when we were at another peak, when 1977 went to number one in the UK and when Free All Angels went number one, the tours of both those albums were our peaks – those are probably the best times really.”

– it was a hit two weeks after we left school, pretty much – at that point we did our first US tour, and Japan and Australia. From then on we toured Europe a lot as well.”

“I have a lot of different approaches. I guess it’s often best if it is something that came from personal experience in the lyrics, y’know if it rings true and there’s a bit of real feeling in there, even if it is disguised a lot... Sometimes I write a lot and realise later what it is I’m trying to say, or sometimes my feelings will come out in the

You guys are known for the particular attention you pay to At what stage in the bands the lyrics in your songs. I wanted career did you go from national to ask you about your song to international and start writing process – what is your touring all over the world? approach, and if you had to give “After we got signed we started advice to aspiring song-writers, touring all over the UK and Ireland, You guys released albums in 2012, with maybe the odd weekend in in terms of dedication and 2015, 2016 and 2018. Will we be Europe. And then as soon as ‘Girl attention to lyrics, what would seeing a release in 2019? from Mars’ hit and we left school it be?

Do you think streaming sites like Spotify have made it harder for artists to make money out of their music and what they’re You toured the States with doing?

Coldplay in 2002. How was that?

“I think Spotify is starting to bring more money into the industry, just that it doesn’t necessarily go to the artist. It’s definitely better than no income coming in. As opposed to people downloading for free, at least it’s still bringing money in.

It’s probably the next best thing to when people bought a lot of records. People are willing to spend a lot more money on vinyl nowadays and that can help a bit, the way vinyls have come back.”

Who were your influence back when you guys were getting started with the band? Once you got signed to the label and started working in studio, what material were you drawing inspiration from?

“When we started out as ASH we were really big into Nirvana, Pixies, Teenage Fanclub, all that kind of scene. Then we started getting into more classic stuff, like

lyrics a lot. Say like ‘Girl from Mars’; I wrote that not long after breaking up with my first girlfriend and I think it was the loneliness and sadness I was feeling about that that somehow came through in a song about a girl from outer space, y’know – it wasn’t literal at all but I think there was some real feelings in it, that went into that song. I think don’t be afraid to take chances and write some weird shit because it’s way better than being boring – take risks and don’t be afraid to look stupid.”

“That was good. Coldplay were actually really big ASH fans from when they were at university.

When we first met them they were really big fans, and then we became friends and they wanted us to come on tour so we did! That was just as their second album came out – they were getting really big at that point. We did a lot of support tours in the States that year, we were really trying to break the States so we spent the whole year pretty much supporting people.”

You supported David Bowie at one point too! David Bowie, Coldplay, Moby – was this year of touring with these artists a highlight for the band?

“It was good, but we definitely prefer when we’re headlining and touring on our own success as opposed to supporting people to be honest, but it was good fun! Maybe some of our shows in ’96 when we

“I think so! We may have a new single, possibly, and I think an album out in early 2020. Halfway through recording the album already but we’ve been doing so much touring it’s been on hold for six months. If we hadn’t been doing so much touring it would be finished already... We’re looking forward to getting back to the studio and finishing it up!”

Music

22 to the conclusion that we are all human, we are all equal, regardless of race or origin.

Samaritans

“I’m a real boy, boy and I cry / I love myself and I want to try.”

“Samaritans” is an analysis of the concept and effects of toxic masculinity. The song repeats phrases that are often said to young men that are perceived as being too emotional and need to “man up.”

In this lyric, Joe is admitting that he doesn’t adhere to these gender norms. He is telling men it is okay to feel comfortable being emotional.

Colossus

“I’m like Stone Cold Steve Austin / I put homophobes in coffins.”

Top 10 IDLES Songs as Chosen by Their Biggest Fans Caoimhe Coleman, Music Editor IDLES have taken the British punk scene by storm in the past couple of years. The Bristol lads formed the band in 2012 and released two EPs – Welcome and MEAT – from 2012 to 2015. It was in 2017 with the release of their first album Brutalism that they really started to make waves.

Last year, they released their second album, Joy As An Act of Resistance, which was without question my favourite album of 2018. The album did not go unnoticed by the British press. The band was nominated for Best British Breakthrough Act at the Brit Awards this year. Singer Joe Talbot told BBC: "It makes sense in one way because we were number five in the album chart…On the other side it doesn't feel right. Compared to the sales and money behind many pop acts...we're a drop in the ocean."

IDLES lost out on the award to Tom Walker, but the band were in no way discouraged or disappointed. “We'd be the same band before or after a Brit Award, it's meaningless…Being nominated is not meaningless. Us being part of the conversation, that's the important bit,” stated Talbot.

That statement pretty much sums up what IDLES stand for. They’re in this to say something, not for the awards or the fame. Alongside their admirable realness and genuineness, IDLES have one of the best fan-bases I’ve come across and have been part of in a long time. The Facebook group “ALL IS LOVE: AF GANG (Idles Community)” has over 15,000 members and unsurprisingly is one of the most welcoming and accepting places in the music community.

What’s even cooler is that the group basically formed itself organically.

"First and foremost, we didn’t build that group, they built themselves.

As a band, it gives us something to feel safe in…It’s like a gift that we’ve been given that we didn’t ask for and it’s amazing…We just hope that we can sustain that with our performance live and encourage other people to be vulnerable and feel safe at our shows,” says Joe on AF Gang. A recent post in the group called for members to vote in a poll to decide once and for all: What Is the Best IDLES Song? Here are the results. (Not to bore you with just song names, I’ve also included my favourite lyric from the songs and a little explanation of their meaning).

1049 Gotho

“There’s no right side of the bed / With a body like mine and a mind like mine.”

“1049 Gotho” is basically the IDLES anthem – obviously a fan favourite as it was voted number one by a pretty big majority. The song is a highlight of their debut album and discusses the topic of mental illness in a way that only IDLES can.

Mother

“Men are scared women will laugh in their face / Whereas women are scared it’s their lives men will take.”

“Mother” is an exploration of gender, politics and society. The lyric that I’ve quoted here is a paraphrased quote from Margaret Atwood: “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” A powerful, powerful

statement.

Television

“If someone talked to you / The way you do to you / I’d put their teeth through / Love yourself.”

I think IDLES fans will all objectively agree that this is one of their most powerful lyrics.

You wouldn’t think a song titled “Television” would preach self-love, but that’s IDLES for ya.

I’m not sure if it’s the fact that I’ve recently gotten into wrestling that made me pick this lyric but I just love it. Steve Austin, famous American wrestler, has openly made statements in the past supporting gay-marriage. This lyric may be a reference to Austin’s “Buried Alive” match against The Undertaker, in which he buried him alive (just in case you don’t know: wrestling is fake, he didn’t actually bury a man alive). There is no evidence that The Undertaker is homophobic, however, it is a very clever analogy to use for a lyric.

Heel/Heal

Never Fight A Man With A Perm

“I want to move into a Bovis home / And make a list of everything I own.”

Hands down my favourite lyric of 2018. It’s ridiculous and weird but fits perfectly into this angry, Epitome-Of-Punk song. It can’t really be explained, it just is what it is.

Bovis homes are known in the UK for looking very homogenous and similar to each other. Here, Joe appears to be telling us that he is ready to assimilate into society and be just like everyone else. The title of the song “Heel/Heal” aligns the idea of obeying and surviving.

Perhaps, being the same as everyone else is a way to survive…but how happy does it make you in the end?

“You’re not a man, you’re a gland / You’re one big neck with sausage hands.”

I’m Scum

“This snowflake’s an avalanche.”

A clever commentary that bites back at the negative connotations of the label “liberal snowflake” – mostly used in the rhetoric of right-wing v. left-wing politics. This lyric protests against that negativity, saying that enough “snowflakes” could create a mighty movement.

Danny Nedelko

“He’s made of you, he’s made of me / Unity!”

“Danny Nedelko” has become an anthem of unity for all in the IDLES community. Joe’s lyrics talk of immigration – a hot topic of the last few years – and urge people to come

Well Done

“Why don’t you get a job? / Even Tarquin’s got a job / Mary Berry’s got a job / So why don’t you get a job?”

“Well Done” is a commentary on the long running issue of class-politics in Britain. This line is an address to the classist ideology that poor people are poor because they simply don’t work “hard enough.” “Tarquin” is a slang term for someone who is posh, entitled and looks down on the lower classes. “Mary Berry” was a judge on the Great British Bake Off, a sort of icon of the English bourgeois in itself. 

Editor: Caoimhe Coleman

23

My Favourite Winners From Awards Season 2019 Caoimhe Coleman, Music Editor MASSEDUCTION // St. Vincent

Give Us The Night: The Need to Take the Night Eoghan O’Donnell, Music Writer Next time you’re in Havana’s, or Voodoo or wherever you go, imagine this: instead of being in the club by ten-o-clock you’re only starting to get ready for pre-drinks, putting on your shirt, applying your lipstick, cracking open your double-naggin for your first drink. Instead of racing to town to guarantee entry before a stupidly early hour, you cruise in sometime after midnight knowing you have hours and hours of time to party. Enjoying yourself while being knowledgeable in the fact that you aren’t limited to the early closing time of two-thirty a.m.

One of the primary aims of Give Us The Night (GUTN) is to alter clublicensing laws in Ireland: the main objective being the extension of club opening hours, providing a nightlife which lasts well into the early morning. Installing such opening hours broadly widens the horizons of nightlife entertainment, and leaves you with more options than say, queueing for Charlie’s in the early morning. In order for laws in Ireland to be changed, they and their limitations must first be examined.

The Special Exemption Order, which functions as a system to provide bars and venues with late licensing agreements is very outdated and is strenuous finance wise on indigenous

clubs and pubs in Ireland. The law, which was altered and became stricter in 2008, increased prices meaning clubs now have to pay €410 per night to stay open late, a move which has led to widespread job loss and venue closure in the last ten-years or so. GUTN states: “A late-night venue in Ireland that would choose to open 6 days a week would pay approximately €128,000 per year (plus legal fees for each monthly court application) on SEOs. This is in addition to rates, rent, insurance, running costs, wages etc.”

Costly licenses also inhibit premises from developing or expanding, and as a result our clubs in Ireland are falling behind in terms of venues that are found around Europe.

Reducing SEOs, or completely abolishing them and replacing them with something akin to a cheaper

annual license fee would provide a means for the nightlife economy to develop into the booming industry it could be. Allowing clubs to have more access to their own capital would help venues to develop constantly, providing leeway for clubs to tamper with different types of music, lighting, events etc. GUTN suggests that properly developed venues would also be appropriate for use throughout the day for events, meaning the club you got the shift in the last night could be the cinema or café you also get a kiss in this afternoon.

Clubs in Ireland try their best under strict laws to provide a nightlife with the most amount of craic, and we Irish love to party and celebrate.

Altering laws would give late night venues in Ireland the opportunity to flourish into attractive, dazzling clubs and pubs, and little by little, we would be able to catch up to our European counterparts.

St. Vincent is the professional alias of Annie Clark, an American musician.

You may have heard of some of the artists she has worked with over her incredibly impressive career: Clark was a member of Sufjan Stevens’ touring band up until 2006, released a collaborative album with Talking Heads frontman David Byrne in 2012, and in 2014, contributed backing vocals on the Swans album, To Be Kind. At the Grammy Awards this year, St. Vincent walked away with two awards: Best Rock Song for the MASSEDUCTION single and Best Recording Package for the album.

A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships // The 1975

The 1975 are a long-time favourite of mine so it didn’t come as any shock to me when they won big at the Brit Awards this year. The band’s latest album, A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships is quite different to anything they have done before and arguably contains two of their worst and best songs, “Give Yourself A Try” and “Sincerity Is Scary”, respectively. The 1975 were one of two acts to win two awards at this year’s Brits (alongside Calvin Harris) - British Album Of The Year and British Group.

This Is America//Childish Gambino

Donald Glover a.k.a Childish Gambino absolutely cleaned up at the Grammy’s this year – winning not one, not two, not three but FOUR awards for his song “This Is America” – Best Music Video, Record of the Year, Song of The Year and Best Rap/Sung Performance.

“This Is America” appears to be a commentary on black life in America and American culture as a whole. Glover is one of the most multi-talented people in the world at the moment if you ask me. He can sing, he can rap, he can act, he can do stand-up…the list goes on…

Gaming

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Rinse and Repeat: Moral Panic, Violence and Video-Games Cian McGrath, Gaming Editor Violent video games are nothing new.

Wolfenstein (1992), Doom (1993) and Mortal Kombat (1992) are all household names in the video game communities. As technological advances lead to more and more realistic video games, the violence that games portrays becomes much more real also. This article is not here to debate whether or not this violence is appropriate for children etc and so on, because frankly it's not up to me. Instead, I will look at the troubling trend that has become more and more prevalent regarding the association between violent video games and violent conduct in the real world. In recent years, gun crime in the United States has been at the fore of main-stream media coverage, and various news outlets have given this association too much credence to what is at best an unsubstantiated rumour and at worst a convenient mechanism for distraction from the real issues.

I think we're all aware of these claims of the correlation. Whether we paid it any attention it engaged in the debate, the debate is seen

often on television. The question is though, is there even a debate?

According to Snopes, Patrick Markey, a psychology professor at Villanova University who focuses on video games, found in his research that men who commit severe acts of violence actually play violent video games less than the average male. About 20 percent were interested in violent video games, compared with 70 percent of the general population, he explained in his 2017 book “Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games Is Wrong.”

In an interview, Markey said; “Everything kind of suggests no link, or if anything, it goes in the opposite direction,”.

Various American politicians have suggested that there may be a link between real world violence and that seen in video games. In 2018, Donald Trump put forward the incredibly innovative suggestion that there should be a rating given to all films and video games based on violence, sexual content etc. in order to prevent children playing games featuring inappropriate

content. The need for a rating system was also suggested by Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin in February 2018 in the wake of a high school shooting in Florida.

Bevin was quoted as saying; "There are video games that, yes, are listed for mature audiences, but kids play them, and everybody knows it, and there's nothing to prevent the child from playing them” Luckily for Donald, this system already exists and has done since 1994 in the US. The ESRB rates every video game on a scale from E for everyone to ‘Adult only’, a very similar system to the Pan European Game Information or PEGI system in Europe for games.

Which ranges them from 3+ to 18+.

Even while writing this article I am becoming distracted. Rather than paying attention to the real issues, the indisputable idiocy of their argument draws me to engage with it, to show that it is not the case, and as such it fulfils its role as a distraction mechanism. The rating system is flawed for one reason only, and that is that parents are

the ones who, more often than not, the ones who buy the games, but it is not flaws in the rating systems that cause gun crime in the United States.

What is really at hand is whether or not there is any correlation between playing violent video games and violent thoughts and behaviours as a result. An article recently cropped up on my Facebook as a ‘sponsored post’, and I was horrified by the sheer misinformation that it spouted. The article was feature on charismanews.com, a Christian news site. The article included, amongst many other spurious claims, the following paragraph; “With video games becoming more and more realistic, we need to be extremely cautious as to what our youth and young people are being exposed to on a daily basis. Fantasy violence can leave a troubled mind craving more and more until they act out in reality. There is a violent cultural script that too many children are influenced to live out. To dig further, here is a list of some of the most violent horrible killings in the past few years; all of

Editor: Cian Mcgrath these killers had an obsession with violent video games.”

The article goes on to, without reference or citation, link various tragedies with violent video games.

Spurious links such as; “Dylann (sic) Roof, spent much of his time playing violent video games.” or “Eric Harris, based on his journal, a panel of psychologists, psychiatrists and FBI agents point to Harris' contempt for others and his total lack of empathy and conscience as evidence of his psychopathic tendencies. He also enjoyed violent video games”. To say that this does not tell the whole story of these stories would be an understatement. These claims are illegitimate, uninformed and genuinely dangerous to anyone who reads them. The article claims later that “Numerous studies have linked violent behaviour to consumption of violence in video games.”, referencing just a single study from the Ohio State University. Coincidentally, the person who conducted the study, Brad Bushman admitted that it was impossible to know for sure how much aggression may increase for those who play video games for months or years due to the fact his study took place over just three days.

So what reliable studies have been conducted regarding a genuine causal link between violent video games and aggressive behaviour?

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A study conducted by the Royal Society was released on the 13th of February this year, investigating “the extent to which adolescents who spend time playing violent video games exhibit higher levels of aggressive behaviour when compared with those who do not”.

With a rather formidable sample size of 1004 British adolescents, the study could be considered a far more reliable one than that put forward by Charisma News. The results of the study showed that there was no evidence to support the position that violent gaming relates to aggressive behaviour.

The study also states that there should be; “caution about drawing impulsive, thoughtless or potentially stigmatizing conclusions”. Obviously, this is not conclusive evidence and more studies need to be done to confirm these findings conclusively, but it is certainly better evidence than any we've had to date.

Due to the lack of research as of yet, we can not definitively say that there is no link, but we are getting close. Until that point comes, all we can do now is wait for further confirmation. Until that moment comes, we must merely pay no attention to these distraction mechanisms put forward in the media. Video games don't kill people and no studies have shown that video games cause people to kill people. 

Netsoc Rebels

Just a week after its formation, The UCC Esports team was met with some disappointing news. Due to issues with other colleges, the inter collegiate Overwatch Tournament was cancelled. The team were obviously disappointed, but will be given another opportunity to represent UCC during the summer Overwatch tournament. This left the Rebels' League of Legends Team as the only remaining UCC team.

Beginning on Monday 25th of February, UCC were given a tough opening game against Trinity College Dublin. Despite being considered huge underdogs, the Rebels were able to claim a huge scalp over Trinity Force, seizing a 2-0 victory with both Darragh Mahon and Dingpeng Ruan putting in stand out performances. A fantastic debut for Netsoc in Irish Collegiate Esports already led other colleges to take note.

The in-form UCC side played again on Tuesday 26th against a strong Ulster University side. Despite a magnificent performance from the UCC side, which included great performances from Patryk Bak and Bernard Grabarczyk, UCC only managed a 1-1 draw.

With 3 games remaining, UCC currently sit in second place in the table, level on points with Ulster University. Results will be widely available on the Irish Collegiate Esports Battlefy page or on the Netsoc Twitter. Check back here in a few weeks for the latest updates on the Netsoc Rebels progress. Up the Rebels!

Humour

26

Local mother still suspicious of Lady Gaga Callum Casey, Humour Editor “She was giving him the ‘fuck me eyes’, we all saw it!” Brenda Cronin, a Cavan native, still reeling from the saucy performance that has become the talk of the Oscars, told the Express today, “There was a reason Bradley’s girlfriend sat between them! Shocking stuff. I’m scandalised if I’m being honest.”

Since watching Bradley Cooper and the aforementioned Gaga’s Oscar performance of their trash song “Shallow”, Brenda has become an amateur sleuth, determined to follow her hunch and find the truth.

Unable to let it go she has begun investigating the singer, mostly by

calling her a homewrecker a lot.

“She’s a dirty little trollop! His poor girlfriend! They have a child you know! The gall of her, trying to seduce a nice man like that!” Brenda has left her job as a Primary School teacher to become a full-time private investigator, whether she gets a license or not.

“Like, she doesn’t seem to understand the concept of acting,” Brenda’s daughter Catherine explained, “It was the Oscars like… but no. She’s just locked herself in her room and keeps calling Lady Gaga shit like, harlot, skank, adulterer, fallen woman. I’m worried about her, honestly.”

Brenda’s room is currently covered in pictures of Gaga and Cooper, a web of red string connects them all.

“It goes so much deeper than I first thought,” a chain smoking, sickly pale Brenda explains to us in hushed tones, as if she is afraid someone is listening, “They’re all involved.”

“I’ve done a frame by frame examination of the performance, look! It’s so obvious, how didn’t I see it before? She’s clearly giving him a hand job, that brazen hussy!”

Brenda reveals.

Brenda was last seen buying a hunting rifle and vowing to, and we quote, “Cleanse Gaga once and for all.” 

Those friends who keeps ‘joking’ about going on First Dates Callum Casey, Humour Editor

They’ve tried Tinder, Grindr, Plenty of Fish, Elite singles and Christian Mingle, but all they’re left with is a lot of nudes and that deep, aching hole inside them that can only ever be filled with the unconditional love of another human being. They fill this emptiness with the hope that, one day, they too can sit in a restaurant in Dublin and make awkward small talk while millions judge them.

Michael, 2nd Year Home Economics Teaching and Karate (BA):

“I think I’d be the funny one you know, like? The lad, like? I’d act like a bit of a prick, like and be all mean to the girl, like burp on her and say she’s fat and shit, like. Everyone would think I’m so cheeky, like.

There’s no way I’ll have to keep wanking myself to sleep after it.

I’d have so many girls to send unsolicited nudes too! Like.”

Aoife, 3rd year Yachtsmen (BSC):

“I just have such a bubbly personality. I never stop talking.

Literally. It’s a medical condition I’m always chatting about random shit. That would go down so well on First dates, I’m just so outgoing and chatty. I never get sad, I swear I never think about how existence is futile, and we’ll all be forgotten when we die… Anyway, I just think my upbeat, bubbly personality will make any lad love me.”

Brian 1st year Chemical Warfare and belly dancing (BSC):

“It’s just been so hard meeting

women. Every time I think I’ve met a senpai or a waifu they always leave me, ungrateful bitches! I’m not seriously considering First Dates, because it’s full of normies but ever since I was kicked out of Anime society for chronic masturbation and voyeurism it’s been kind of lonely.

I don’t actually want to get onto the show, no, I couldn’t do that to my body pillow... Miku would never get over it.”

Charity 2nd year English and Shouting (BA):

“I’m only going on as a form of protest, First Dates is just another in a long line of Patriarchal institutions that seek to keep women down! I’m going in there to meet a cute boy, with kind eyes… and to tear the Patriarchy down!”

UCC student achieves ‘Revenge Body’ in attempt to make her boyfriend sorry he left.

Callum Casey, Humour Editor After breaking up with your beau, there is a lot of temptation to cry, eat yourself into a coma and go to Havana’s with no underpants on, but there is a better way. Following many of her celebrity Idols, Marie Keene, currently in the third year of her Politics degree has gotten a ‘Revenge Body’ as a way of coping with her breakup.

The ‘Revenge body’ is the concept

of becoming unreasonably fit in order to be seen as desirable to the person that dumped you, therefore still needing their validation. A completely healthy way of letting go of your Ex. Marie cites inspirations such as Khloe Kardashian and Cheryl Cole for giving her the idea.

“They were so inspirational to me.

But I feel they didn’t go far enough,” Marie told us in a recent interview, “They were just getting a nice arse

or losing a few stone. I wanted a real revenge body.” Marie, who now stands at over 6 foot, weighs one hundred and fifty kilos and has biceps that could crush an Alsatian.

“That prick Sean will be sorry now,” Marie said while guzzling her usual lunch of whey protein, raw eggs, two steaks and, of course, Mooju, “I’m going to break his arms. Then his legs. Scrawny little shite.”

When asked about her training, Marie insisted it was easy, that

anyone could and should follow it; “It’s just about discipline really. Just think of that smug bastard shifting some bitch in town and don’t stop.

As for training its not too strenuous; a lot of pull ups, dead lifts, cardio…

Oh, and a fuck load of steroids.”

Marie accidently smashed the door frame with her powerful shoulders as she left the Express offices on her mission of revenge.

We wish here the best of luck.

Editor: Callum Casey

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Sirius Speculation What’s your fate this week?

Absolute Legend Still Wearing

Festival Wristband Sarah Ryan, Humour Writer

First Year Arts student and allround gas cunt Sorcha McNally is set to become this year’s winner for Biggest Legend due to her astounding commitment to wearing her festival wristband past the point of being socially acceptable.

In an exclusive interview with the UCC Express, McNally revealed that she plans to keep her now mildly repulsive Electric Picnic band attached to her wrist until midOctober, well past the acceptable time period of y’know, a few weeks.

“People keep telling me that my wristband needs to go, that it’s getting manky, blah blah blah…

They forget though, the band gets washed whenever I take a shower.

Duh.” Though this seems logical, I enquire about the sinister-looking, scaly rash that has developed on her wrist where the band lies. “All part of the grind, my dude,” she replies.

When asked what her reason is for keeping the band, which was originally orange but has now attained a slightly grey, sad look,

Ms. McNally responded: Originally, the band was meant to be a part of my new, improved Freshers persona.

I was going to be That Girl That Goes To Festivals. Possibly even a Techno Head, if I could pull it off. Soon though, it became clear that my wristband was a gateway to something bigger. Something legendary.”

Punters had already pegged Sorcha as a favourite to win this year’s Biggest Legend title after she wowed the Vic Mills population with her startling ability to down cans of Galahad at an after-sesh. Not only this, but McNally also credits herself as the inventor of the ‘Jaevodbuca’ a concoction of jaeger, vodka and sambuca that quite frankly, probably tastes like that black shit that killed Dumbledore in the sixth Harry Potter movie. That said, it’s clear that Sorcha has already cracked the first code of becoming a First Year Legend: alcohol = cool. And with this youngster catching on so early in the game, I think it’s clear who the winner of this year’s title will be. 

Aries: You’ll

accidentally tell a little white lie about yourself which will rapidly spiral out of control. As a result, you’ll become famous but for reasons of which you’re not entirely sure.

Taurus: That one person you shifted in Havana’s because you felt bad

for them way back when is suddenly returning into your life; they’ve resurrected as a dashing socialite now so popular they’ll blank you while passing you by in the Coffee Dock.

Gemini: March is the month your anus will prolapse - it’ll be funny though.

Cancer: You’ll open the lid of your toilet next time you go to take a shit and find a fat cat. It’ll be your new companion and may even help you cheat in your exams.

Leo: Come at life with the same carefree attitude as somebody who hits

‘reply all’ on institutional emails.

Virgo: Sleep paralysis involving the Sim you drowned in the pool by taking the ladder out in 2009 is coming for you.

Libra: You’ll beat your meat and it’ll beat you back.

Scorpio: Your jealousy demon will be coming out to play this month, also Michael Jackson’s ghost will pay you a visit in Boole.

Sagittarius: You’ll have one Kopparberg too many and tattoo his name on your calf.

Capricorn: You’ll open your laptop in the filled lecture theatre, Pornhub

will blast the squeals and grunts of that porn you never turned off last night and it won’t shut off until you make seven-seconds eye contact with your crush.

Aquarius: You and your sugar daddy will start cyber-bullying each other. You claim you’re scared of commitment, but you’ve been wearing that same pair of underwear since you were thirteen.

Pisces: You’re going bowling, not because it’s fun, but only because you love three fingers in a hole down an ally.

Arts & Literature

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Ireland’s Women in Literature Éadaoin Regan, Arts & Literature Editor As the 8th March marks International Women’s Day, what better way to ring out the penultimate issue of

University Express than by paying tribute to a few of Ireland’s women of arts and literature which I have had the pleasure of discovering and/ or revisiting this year.

Maud Gonne: “A Servant of the Queen” or simply self-serving?

If you were educated and reared in the Irish education system or a household who held romanticised views on nationalism of pre-Free State Ireland, then Maud Gonne is doubtless a familiar name. Though

rarely mentioned in the school books, apart from in tandem with the briefest of paragraphs on the formation of Inghinhidhe na hÉireann, her role as the mythical muse of W.B. Yeats’ poetry is arguably far

more pervasive and far-reaching.

And why wouldn’t it be? There are undoubtedly Irish nationalist women of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century who fought for and indeed achieved far more than Maud Gonne with regards to the nationalist movement. And yet, they had been - disappointingly (but not unexpectedly) - forgotten to history until the intervention and efforts of academia in the last few decades to call attention to the gross exclusion

of these women from our annals of Irish independence. At risk of doing the reality a disservice in this summation, in contrast Maud’s greatest contribution to Ireland is often belittled to a legacy of being behind one of the world’s most influential poets and writers. And what exactly was her contribution?

Simply put, she (apparently) refused to bed Yeats and thus provided ample material for Yeats to churn into his now renowned poetry of eternal yearning.

Editor: Eadaoin Regan Maud’s autobiography A Servant of the Queen, a title purposely picked for its irony, is genuinely one of the most fascinating artefacts from the preceding and early years of the Irish Republic. We are provided with firsthand accounts of the characters long seen in Irish history as untouchable, honourable, sacrificing men – the tradition which Maud at times unabashedly shatters. She brings them to life as though a tenured novelist, making you at all times question if these were the real people behind the obituaries or if Maud simply had scores to settle when most were long gone. Regardless, it is grossly entertaining. When hard historical facts completely negate her accounts, it is Maud’s unwavering belief in her own tale that makes her a truly fascinating woman, especially when considering the criticism she doles out on others while simultaneously turning a blind eye to her own scandals.

Though the exclusion of much of her personal life was largely due to her publisher’s advice, I do find it hard to believe Maud would have been very put out since she worked tirelessly to protect her own image during her heyday (and succeeded until her acrimonious separation from husband, Sean MacBride).

La Patrie, and herself editing the L'Irlande Libre. Millvoye was incidentally her lover of thirteen years during which time she simultaneously nurtured and rejected the love of that tortured admirer of hers, Yeats. While it is thought the relationship ended due to his involvement with another woman, Maud herself insists that while this was a blow it was Millvoye’s refusal to continue to shed light on Irish affairs in his publication which ended their attachment. This solidifies Maud’s attempts to depict her commitment to placing Ireland above all other matters; even those of the heart. Though admittedly her return visits to Ireland were too brief and mainly inspired by opportunities for mass admiration, still - Maud served her purpose. A woman of fiery hair, large golden eyes, and of unprecedented height speaking to the masses about the romantic Celtic Ireland and of a need to revive it undoubtedly influenced all who set eyes upon her. Indeed, even now a woman of that description and – it has to be said, of impressive prose herself - speaking from a pulpit on Grand Parade would capture attention of passers-by. In Maud’s own time, this must have been an incredible and awe-inspiring sight.

As already stated, while Maud’s efforts in the nationalist movement were admirable, the impact remained far less than many of her contemporaries – to name a few; Jenny Wyse Power, Anna Parnell, and Margaret Dobbs. But this does not excuse the reduction of her achievements as a powerful orator during her tours of Ireland, Paris, and America during which she raised substantial funds for the cause. Indeed, rarely told around the fireplaces of childhood for Irish children is her efforts in spreading the plight of the Irish in France; a feat achieved by publishing articles in Lucien Millvoye’s publications,

Maud’s autobiography has been described by Ann Matthews as “a masterpiece of self-absorption”.

And I don’t disagree. The text was written when Maud was seventytwo and by this time the female, fiery Celtic warrior queen persona which had once inspired awe had slowly deteriorated and was replaced by the oddly tall, grey-haired, ever black-attired old woman who was quite nastily christened ‘Gonne Mad’. Is it any wonder that Maud, overlooked, along with her female contemporaries, by the Republican government they had fought for (if not the ideal one), decided to create her own history? There are many

points in the text where Maud claims credit for contributions or even her presence for things and events which we now know to be impossible due to wider archival access. However, in her defence, Maud admits to this in the preface to the text:

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Highlight Reads of the

Academic Year

(and probably the decade to be honest)

Autonomy (2018) by Kathy D’Arcy

“In telling [the story] I may seem to ignore events and people deserving to be mentioned. In a fight one sees only the corner of the field in which one stands.”

But the beauty in Maud’s autobiography is not her illrecounted tales of achievements and disappointments. It is Maud herself that is the beacon shining from the pages of this book. In reading her words, you can’t but help understand the overwhelming effect she had on everyone she met as documented in endless archived letters of her contemporaries; whether good or bad. Her charisma, passion, wit, fiery nature, and dedication pour from the pages. But so too does her selfishness, temper, insatiable need to be adored, and her blatant disregard for depicting facts as they were rather than how she wishes to remember them. In reading the work, it becomes apparent that Maud was not mythologised without reason because she herself perpetuated the myth and thoroughly committed herself to it. In doing so, she ensured her place in Irish history - if not in the way she imagined.

Most impressively, in typical Maud fashion, she continues to cause controversy today. Perhaps Maud felt that the ifs and whys of her accounts would not matter because she imagined the same would be said of her as she said of the fictional Cathleen Ní Houlihan: “The sunrise which will crown her glory will warm all of them, for fire is the heart of the stone”

Milkman (2018) by Anna Burns

When All Is Said (2018)

by Anne Griffin

SEXPRESS

Editor: Rian Browne O’Neill

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as being sexualized objects, in the time of #MeToo we’ve been able to reframe our discussion and perception of women’s bodies in wider society. We asked Foxy if burlesque can be another avenue through which the issue of women’s autonomy can be addressed; “It is a very powerful thing for a woman to feel autonomy over her own body and a woman's power is everything!

We learn shame about our bodies at a very young age - taking ownership of our skin and our vulnerability can be incredibly empowering! There is also the political side of Burlesque to consider here. For centuries it has been used to poke fun at the establishment or push the boundaries as it were of theatre and social norms.”

A Conversation with Foxy P Cox Rían Browne O’Neill, Sexpress Editor Foxy P Cox is a celebrated Irish burlesque performer. Hailing from Cork City but having taken the Irish scene by storm, as well as taking her act further afield over the last decade, Sexpress sat down with her to discuss the art of burlesque, body confidence and sexual empowerment through the art of performance.

Looking back at what inspired Foxy to perform, she credits her draw to the world of burlesque to the belief of fellow performer, Epiphany Demeanor, among her own loves of fashion and showgirls.

“A love of vintage, an obsession with showgirls, a poster of the tassel club and one very iconic doyenne of Irish Burlesque, Epiphany Demeanor, who saw potential in how I naturally held myself!”, Foxy tells Express.

Tapping into the history of Burlesque and it’s influences over the years, from comedy to strip tease to fandancing, Foxy goes on to explain what exactly Burlesque as an art form in and of itself means to them.

“Ooooh, there's a loaded question but I do like how you have presented the question by way of asking what it means to me personally,” says Foxy, “Burlesque to me is an umbrella term that can encompass many different styles that can all still be classified as burlesque. The word itself has a very different meaning now to its original definition of satire but is still a big part of the burlesque world. I do love all of the many forms and styles from classic fandances, strip tease, bump and grind, comedy, circus, retro, neo!”

The ‘tease’ element of burlesque, although not the only aspect of performance, can express an essence of sensuality and suggestively within a performance. In this vein, we wanted to get Foxy’s understanding of what it means to be sexually empowered, and how it tied into her approach to performing (if at all).

mostly it would be through being quite comfortable in my own skin, lumps, bumps and stretch marks galore. I enjoy being naked and feeling free on stage.”

Even today, where we’ve seen a rise in popularity in burlesque shows, especially around cities such as Cork, Galway and Dublin, there are still some misconceptions around the artform. Foxy stresses that ‘the art of the tease’ can embody many different aspects depending on the particular performance: “I guess I would consider the biggest one to be that it is 'just' stripping.

Obviously there is clothing often being removed but not always and strip tease didn't become a part of the evolution of Burlesque until the early 1900s largely in America so I would consider it another style.”

“To me [sexual empowerment] means knowing, understanding and owning your own sexuality and sensuality.”

“Whereas it is mostly definitely an art of the tease in many different form, be it glamour, grace, sensuality, comedy - sometimes even sadness and anger has its place to be channeled.”

Speaking about how this ties into her performance, Foxy says, “I think

In terms of popular culture, women’s bodies are still very much shown

In terms of that learned shame and vulnerability that's associated with our bodies, but especially as a woman, we asked Foxy how she has dealt with overcoming this negative self-image many people deal with, especially in her line of work. She reflects on her experience as a mother and how her performing has allowed her to embrace her body and treat yourself more kindly; “As a mother of 2 adults, my body already had more than its share of scars, stretch marks, lumps, bumps and blemishes! Burlesque helped me to be able to stand and get naked in a mirror while watching myself without feeling shame and still does now a decade later after some abdominal operations to add to the patchwork. There is something extremely invigorating to stand in front of an audience, vulnerable and baring your soul - that makes you feel alive!”

“I still have doubts and fears,” Foxy admits, “but I try to remind myself everyday not to let that niggling voice hold my power back and to let myself love and be loved. Think of yourself as your own best friend and partner for life!”

“I think we all love a bit of nudity really,” says Foxy, “it makes us feel free and the audience can live a little vicariously through performances.

One of the most common and wonderful things you will hear after a show from many women in the audience who come and talk to me to say that they feel a surge of confidence having watched other woman strut along the stage loving her body for all it represents!” 

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Gaeilge

Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019 | University Express

33

Buff Egan - Laoch na hImeartha Ella Ní Chuirtín, Scríbhneoir Gaeilge Is beag duine nach n-athnódh an t-ainm ‘Buff Egan’ na laethanta so.

Fear spóirt atá i gceist, ach ní sa tslí thraidisiúnta, mar a déarfá. Is sort ‘blogger’ é, agus tiománann sé ó cheann ceann na tíre ag iarradh airde a tharraingt ar ár gcluiche náisiúnta, iománaíocht. Ach cad ‘na thaobh go n-aithnítear é mar stócach conspóideach chomh maith?

Tá lucht leanúna ollmhór ag Buff so againne i measc na ndaoine óga agus aosta in Érinn agus thar lear. Is féidir é a leanadh ar a chúntas Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter agus Instagram, agus sa tslí san gheobhar amach scéal an chluiche fé mar a tharlaíonn sé, mar caitheann Buff gach deireadh seachtaine i lár an aonaigh ó thaobh cúrsaí iománaíochta de.

Ní laoch domsa é de dheasca go bhfreastalaíonn sé ar chluichí móra an tsamhraigh, áfach. Is laoch domsa é mar tarraingíonn sé aird ar na sreathanna agus foirne atá nach mór fé cheilt, clúdaithe ag na foirne móra le rá a ghnóthaíonn cuid mhór airgid don CLG. Ní hé sin an teachtaireacht a bhaineann leis an gceannródaí so!

Mar a déarfadh Buff é fhéin, téann sé siúd ó ghleannta Aontroma go páirceanna Chiarraí chun tacaíocht a thabhairt dos na contaetha a bheadh níos laige i súile an phobail ó thaobh iománaíochta de. Níl sé gafa le dornán contaetha go bhfuil féadarthacht ann go mbuafaidh said Craobh na hÉireann.

In ainneoin a n-íobairtí uilig, áfach,an obair dheonach a dhéanann sé chun iománaíocht na tíre ar fad a chur chun cinn, ní fhaigheann Buff

pingin rua ón CLG. Íocann sé as a chuid ticéidí agus as a chuid costaisí taistil é fhéin, agus nuair a d’iarr sé orainn cabhair a thabhairt dó gluaisteán a cheannach, do thosnaigh cuid mhór daoine ag magadh faoi agus dá cháineadh. Ciarraíoch atá ann, agus dá bharr san níor éirigh leis a lámh a leagann ar thicéad do Chraobh na hÉireann san iomáint i mbliana. É siúd, nár chaill cluiche ar bith riamh, fágtha ar lár ar an lá is mó i bhféilire an CLG! An bhfuair Buff bocht Cothrom na Féinne, meas tú?

Tugann Buff siamsaíocht dúinn agus is beomhar agus fuinniúil an tráchtaire é. Tá eolas leathan aige ar chúrsaí iománaíochta agus meallann sé lucht na n-óg lena bhéarlagair bunaidh ar nós, “Obsolete Mule”, “Nah Man” agus “a man with the strength of two horses!” N’fheadar fúibhse, ach bíonn meangadh gáire ar m’aghaidh i gcónaí nuair a chloisimse é ag screadaíl, “That was my shucky ducky quack quack moment of the match!” Caithfear a rá go mbainfeá taitneamh as a bheith ag faire air. Agus ná bí ag trácht ar ‘Cooking with the Buff!’

Tá seanfhocal iomráiteach a deir, “Síleann do chara agus do namhaid nach bhfaighfidh tú bás choíche.”

Tuigeann Buff é seo níos fearr ná éinne eile. Tá daoine ann a deireann rudaí maslacha mar gheall ar an bhfear uasal so ar líne agus os a chomhair amach ina shaol pearsanta.

Is daoine gránna iad siúd agus níl áit ar bith dóibh i ndomhan an CLG. Obair dheonach atá i gceist le Buff, agus is cinnte go mbíonn sé ag stracadh uaireanta lena ualach

maidir le hiománaíocht a chur chun cinn. Ba chóir dúinn a bheith buíoch den ógánach so in ionad a bheith dá cháineadh mar a dhéanaimid anois.

Is laoch é Buff do chuid mhór daoine, mé fhéin san áireamh, agus cuireann sé ar an eolas mé fé chúrsaí spóirt gach seachtain. Bheimis caillte gan é, dár ndóigh. Tá sé in am dúinn seasamh leis agus stádas a

thabhairt dó, mar is ceart. Ba choir dó urraíocht a fháil ón gCLG de dheascadh an líon oibre a dhéanann sé, agus ticéidí a fháil nuair a bhíonn ganntanas ann. Níl fear nó bean eile sa domhan a thugann an méid san go deonach don iománaíocht. Ná bac le Rory’s Stories agus leithéidí siúd! Is é Buff Rí an domhain anso. Ná laga Dia thú, a Buff!

Frásaí na Seachtaine: Lá Fhéile Pádraig: Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig ort – St. Patrick’s Day blessings upon you.

Paráid Lá ‘le Pádraig – St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Bain sult as Lá Fhéile Pádraig – Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day. Sláinte agus táinte – Health and wealth.

Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam – A country without a language, a country without a soul.

Seamróg- Shamrock.

Nathair – Snake.

Cláirseach/ Cruit – Harp.

Claddaugh – Ring. Éirinn go brách! – Ireland forever.

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Photo Credits: CĂŠlem Deegan, Instagram @deegan.media

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Photo Credits: CĂŠlem Deegan, Instagram @deegan.media

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Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019 | University Express

He called for participation on all grounds, a sentiment Dr Chambers reciprocated when she described the strategy as “a catalyst”.

UCC Launch Official Sports Strategy Declan Gleeson, Sports Editor On 27th February, during a week when UCC was celebrating one of the most successful sporting weeks in their history , the formal launch of the UCC Sports Strategy 2019-2022 took place in the Aula Maxima. The strategy was created after consultation with the 55 clubs of UCC as well as with the wider UCC and Cork sports communities.

UCC has one of the highest rates of student participation in sports among Irish universities, with a combined membership of over 4,000 students in sports clubs.

At the launch, Director of Sport at UCC Morgan Buckley welcomed the plans and the universities commitment to providing worldclass facilities, a strong brand potential, and sought after graduates.

Buckley stated confidently: “This ambitious strategy is dedicated to unlocking the power of sport and

physical activity across all areas of participation, representation and achievement. Sport and physical activity is a growing business globally worth over €90bn annually.

We have a real opportunity to build new partnerships to develop sport in UCC. We will work with Sport Ireland, the Institute of Sport and National Sports, and agencies here in Cork.”

In attendance of the event were several high profile guests including Greg Yelverton, Doug Howlett, Paul O’Donovan, and former Director of Sport at UCC, Declan Kidney. Also speaking at the event were Deputy President Prof John O’Halloran, Dr Fiona Chambers, UCC Clubs President Bríd Ní Dhonnabháin, Mardyke General Manager Patsy Ryan, and UCC Quercus Scholar and athlete, Mary Fitzgerald, winner of three gold medals at the 2019 IWAS World Games. Each speaker

took a moment to highlight an aspect of the new strategy that they felt was important. Mary Fitzgerald gave a rousing speech detailing what sport has meant for her and the benefits of a sporting programme. Patsy Ryan stated: “The Mardyke Arena UCC is proud to be an integral part of the new UCC Sports Strategy. These are exciting times for sport and physical activity not alone in UCC but in the city of Cork and further afield. The potential for facility development and increased participation is huge.”

John O’Halloran stated the need for clear action to amplify the ongoing success UCC is experiencing, and also expressed his desire that all students benefit from the developments.

“Transformation through collaboration” was one of the main points made about the transition by Prof O’Halloran, as he also unveiled the opportunity for “a UCC anthem for sport” to be created.

The strategy comprises of six priorities for the college to pursue, in varying aspects of the college’s structure. The first priority is to ignite the community of UCC by developing the UCC Sport for Life Club and maximising the existing passion for sport in Cork. Another of the priorities is maximising the UCC brand’s potential and become a destination online brand; making the Skull & Crossbones a worldwide symbol of success and sustainable value. The strategy also aims to grow and increase sport in UCC and develop sought after graduates by embracing a culture of wellness and participation, development, and excellence. Developing world class facilities are also on the agenda for UCC, as it was announced that a brand new sports campus will be constructed. The new sports campus has been earmarked for development on part of an eight-acre UCC-owned landbank at Curraheen, next to the Munster Agricultural Society showgrounds site.

The new park will replace UCC’s nearby Farm facilities by Curraheen Park greyhound stadium on the northern side of the Ballincollig bypass as the university’s main training destination.

Morgan Buckley, said the existing outdoor sports facilities are under extreme pressure, with the Mardyke pitches in use up to 200 times a year, which has resulted in the university having to rent facilities for some squad training sessions. Mr Buckley said given that UCC will lose two pitches from the Farm when work starts later this year on a new science park and dental school, there is now an urgent need for new facilities.

Sport In Our Bones. Pride On Our Chest. Belief In Our Heart. These were the new slogans released at the launch. UCC has fostered a rich culture of success and participation in sport and exercise. The past month’s success coupled with the sports strategy look to ensure that the future for UCC’s sport programme is safe. 

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Borussia Dortmund’s Jeremy Toljan all of whom will make their exit in the summer. Last August Rodgers also signed Filip Benković on loan from Leicester and he too will return to his parent club in the summer.

Rodgers has left the club without a concrete backline for the 2019-2020 season with Boyata’s contract ending in the summer.

Brendan Rodgers criticised striker Moussa Dembélé over his departure last August. At the time, Dembélé took to twitter and posted cryptic messages about Rodgers and the truth. When the news broke on Tuesday night, Dembélé took to twitter again retweeting the story with #interesting and #IToldYouSo. The current Celtic players silence was deafening as none of them posted heartfelt messages thanking Rodgers or wishing him the best of luck on his new venture.

Bye Bye Brendan Tara Maher, Sports Writer

On the 26th of February 2019, Brendan Rodgers turned his back on Celtic FC and Scottish football for a new job down south with Leicester City FC on a three year deal. The Foxes are currently sitting 11th in the English Premier League following a series of defeats which lead to Claude Puel’s sacking. Rodgers has been replaced by former Celtic player and manager Neil Lennon as interim manager until the end of the season.

There was no doubt in every Celtic fan’s mind that Rodgers would someday leave Scottish football and return to the EPL. Whenever an English manager was sacked, Rodgers was always the bookies favourite to take over making his highly anticipated return to England.

When LCFC sacked boss Puel, once again Rodgers was tipped to take over. Speculation arouse on the following Tuesday that Rodgers had already signed a contract with

Leicester. Later that morning Celtic released a statement saying they had given Rodgers permission to speak with Leicester’s bosses, but no formal agreement had been made. As the day progressed, video’s leaked of Rodgers being showed around King Power Stadium confirming every Celtics fan worst nightmare. It was officially announced on twitter that night that Rodgers would be the new Foxes boss and Neil Lennon would replace him as interim manager at Celtic and he would take charge of the next day’s game against Hearts.

Rodgers believed he had achieved everything he could have with the Celts, winning three League Cups, two Scottish Premier Leagues and two Scottish Cups. Rodgers was on his way to the double treble before deciding to call it quits.

Rodgers exit mid-season has left the Celtic faithful fuming. The former Hoops boss has received backlash on twitter with fans branding him as ‘rat’ and ‘snake’ for leaving without seeing out the season. In a

video released by the Daily Record, one fan got emotional and said Rodgers “had done the dirtiness for a so called ‘Celtic Man’ …Brendan who?”. Rodgers had joined the table of greats after winning the clubs third ever treble, following in the footsteps of Jock Stein and Martin O’Neill and created his own history by winning the double treble in the 2017-2018 season. However, he will not be remembered for his trophies by Celtic fans. He will be remembered as the man who walked out with fifteen games to go, “what legacy? He doesn’t have a legacy” another fan said. Rodgers decision also didn’t sit well with former Celtic player and BT commentator Chris Sutton. Sutton who is very vocal on twitter slammed Rodgers and slammed him for walking out on his “dream job” and for leaving the club in a “tough situation with all the loan signings”.

In the Christmas transfer market Rodgers failed to sign any permanent signings apart from Bayo who since being signed has only played five minutes in the Hoops. He did however bring in PSG’s Timo Weah, Oliver Burke from West Brom and

Rodgers left the club the day before Celtic’s crucial clash with Hearts at Tynecastle leaving Lennon in charge of the dugout. Prior to kick-off the Green Brigade unveiled a banner displaying their feelings towards their former boss ‘You traded immortality with mediocracy. Never a Celt, always a fraud’. Celtic took the lead through James Forrest in the first half. Hearts scored from penalty in the second half making the score 1-1 until the dying moments of the game. Captain Scott Brown passed the ball into Odsonne Edouard who put the ball in the back of the net making it 2-1. From the celebrations, one would never have guessed the manager had just walked out on them. Defender, Kieran Tierney took to Instagram after the game to post a series of pictures including one of him hugging Lennon with the caption ‘Quality’. This poses the question; was Dembélé right all along? Was there bad blood in the Celtic that people were unaware of?

The future is very unclear for Celtic.

Will Celtic win the treble treble?

Will Celtic win 10 in a row? Will Lennon stay for the 10? If not, who will? Will Rodgers try to buy any of Celtic’s key players like McGregor or Tierney? There is no doubt that Peter Lawell, Celtic’s Chief Executive will have to take out his chequebook in the coming months.

University

Volume 22 | Issue Nine | Tuesday 12th March 2019

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UCCExpress.ie

Triple Triumph At UCC Declan Gleeson, Sports Editor

B

y the last week of February, it had already been a phenomenal start to the year for UCC sport.

UCC completed the first SigersonFitzgibbon cup double in 31 years last month, while earlier in the month, UCC beat UL to take the Collingwood Cup to clinch their 14th win in the competition. UCC also extended its partnership with Cork City FC earlier this year.

UCC tasted Sigerson Cup glory at long last after being in the wilderness since their last win in 2014. Spectators who turned out at the Portlaoise venue to watch the most prestigious event in thirdlevel Gaelic football were treated to an entertaining contest. St Mary’s of Belfast made sure of a close contest, matching UCC all the way in the first half of play. Sean O'Shea delivered yet another impressive display as UCC overcame 14-man St

Mary's by 0-16 to 1-9 in the final at O'Moore Park. The sides exchanged points early on before UCC took a 2 point lead. But St Mary’s turned the tie around courtesy of a mix up in the UCC goal. 'The Ranch' goal came from a mistake in the UCC defence when Ryan Coleman's point effort dropped short and found its way to Mark White's net. The power of Kerry football was put on show from UCC as the same four Kingdom players were responsible for all of UCC's first-half scores as they led by 0-9 to 1-3 at the interval. In the second half, Kerry sensation O'Shea carried on his terrific scoring form by hitting seven points while fellow county men Padraig Clifford, Padraig Lucey and Graham O'Sullivan also stood out the winners. Into the second period, Stephen McGuigan and Cian Kiely traded scores before an excellent effort from Ryan McCusker reduced the deficit to two. A crucial turning point came when 2017 champions St

Mary's had to play the last quarter with 14-men after wing-forward Ryan Boyle received his marching orders from referee David Gough (yellow card, followed by a black).

The Armagh native was dismissed at a crucial juncture of the secondhalf when Gavin McGilly's charges looked like the team with all the momentum after they had cut the deficit to one-point having trailed by four at one stage. UCC then hit four in succession via O'Shea, Clifford and substitutes James Naughton and Garry Murphy to pull clear.

As for the hurling, UCC stayed true to form in a high scoring encounter with 2017 champions Mary Immaculate College in WIT arena. Goals from joint-captain Conor Browne and Player of the Match Mark Kehoe helped UCC to an emphatic Fitzgibbon Cup final victory. The victory rounded of an historic week as the hurlers emulated the work done in the Sigerson days before. The match was tipped to be

a tight one with Mary I flexing their muscles in the semi-final to dispatch of NUIG, but in truth, UCC ran the show from first whistle to last. The sides traded early points before Tipperary U21 star Kehoe scored one of the finest goals the college has ever seen. He weaved around 4 defenders before absorbing a smashing hit from Philip Hickey and finishing the move in style. Kehoe and the rest of the inside line had the Mary I full backs in all kinds of bother. Three of them received yellows by half time. Mary I were over-reliant on star man Aaron Gillane as his 8 frees never came close enough to catching a UCC team that scored so easily from play.

UCC’s own free taking marksman Shane Conway finished with a total tally of 6 points and was instrumental in the team pulling away from their Limerick counterparts. By the time co-captain Browne found the back of the net in the 40th minute, UCC were 10 points clear and well on their way to the eventual 2-21 to 0-13 blowout.

This victory marks a record 39th title for UCC, the most successful team in the competitions history.

Outside the GAA world, UCC fought back late on to claim their 14th Collingwood Cup title in a thrilling match-up with UL at the Markets Field in Limerick. UL were chasing their first ever Collingwood triumph and led for a large majority of the game after Alan Murphy gave them the lead in the 37th minute of the first half. They looked on course to see out the final minutes but UCC never gave an inch and their determination paid dividend when Simon Falvey got on the end of a cross from Patrick Crowley to steer home the equaliser with just 4 minutes left in normal time. UCC struck again two minutes after the restart when skipper Rob Slevin headed home what proved to be the winner from Garan Manley’s perfectly flighted corner kick to give the Cork side their third win in the past five years. Slevin was awarded the accolade of Player of the Tournament following the victory. 