UCC Express Issue 11

06 March, 2013. Volume 20, Issue 12.

Role of alcohol in student life key to welfare debate Kevin O’Neill & Audrey Ellard Walsh

W

elfare candidates centred on issues of confidentiality and alcohol in the UCC Express hustings Monday night.

With four eager candidates debating the welfare position, there were a number of points to debate between Dave Berry, Ruth Ní Riada, Eddie O’Keeffe, Daniel Waugh. The UCC Express were given exclusive access to all 14 of the sabbatical candidates on Monday night.

Candidates were quizzed on their manifestos and questions submitted by students. Look out on uccexpress.net later in the week for the video recordings of the debates.

Of the initial round of questioning, Eddie O’Keeffe’s responses drew the most attention. He put forward a plan to encourage nightclubs to drop entry fees in order to allow students to burn off stress and enjoy their social lives more. Candidates Dave Berry and Daniel Waugh reacted to this with intrigue, both questioning the wisdom of putting students in a position which encourages alcohol consumption.

O’Keeffe insisted on two occasions, however, that his mani-

festo contained no mention of alcohol consumption and that his intention was the complete opposite of this. He maintained that the necessity of the ability to blow off steam was important and would alleviate stress and mental health issues.

Ruth ni Riada echoed O’Keeffe’s sentiment that rest was an important and often overlooked aspect of maintaining the mental health of the student body and that it was something she intended to address resolutely.

Prior to this, however, ni Riada was the focus of rebuttals from each of her opponents questioning the wisdom of her plan to get the student body working.

She proposed approaching local businesses, including bars and shops, and partnering with them in order to obtain a series of part-time positions for students. She noted that even 4-5 hours a week of unskilled labour would make considerable different to the pockets of most students ensuring, above all, that they would be able to eat throughout the week and, thus, reducing the importance of the food drop in the Students’ Union at present.

Daniel Waugh questioned the validity of the plan, noting that Ruth had slammed the ‘first come first serve’ assessment

system of the students’ assistance fund. He maintained that a programme of assisting students to find work would surely operate on a similar basis and,

that those worse off than others could be given priority.

The issue of confidentiality was given the freedom of the floor for substantial parts of the

Clockwise from top left: Welfare candidates Daniel Waugh, Ruth Ní Riada, David Berry & Eddie O’Keeffe thus, would have the same flaws.

Ruth rebutted, noting that students could be means tested and

debate also. Dave Berry proposed the notion of developing a team of peer support leaders

to deputise in the welfare office in the absence of the officer. This was queried by the group, however, who maintained students would not be so keen to discuss sensitive issues with a stranger.

Berry argued that having a deputy in the office was better than having nobody, however, as students are turned away automatically by an empty office.

An interesting talking point prevalent revolved around the establishment of themed weeks to complement the likes of SHAG Week, Disability Week and Mental Health Week and whether these were a positive step for the Union to take. Dave Berry insisted that his proposed ‘Welfare Week’ to take place immediately after Freshers’ Week would benefit the Union, highlighting the role of the Welfare Officer to incoming students.

He indicated the each day would have a separate theme, such as financial awareness, and that these would continue to run throughout the year.

The other candidates, while not wholly opposed to the establishment of said weeks, questioned whether the volume of themed campaigns would detract from the impact that they could have. Berry was confident that his experience in campaigning would be sufficient to ensure this would not be the case.

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02 | Editorials

March 6th, 2013

Make your voice heard

Kevin O’Neill Editor-in-Chief

I

t’s that time of year again.

Your trips to the library / lecture theatre / campus bars (cross out as applicable) are interrupted by fearsome campaigning the length and breadth of campus. Eager candidates are badgering all around them for votes now that the nomination process has passed, while posters are inescapable for the next few days.

It’s hell. Even the classic trick of donning a pair of earphones or a hood, dropping the head and walking without hesitation isn’t enough to

escape the most intrepid candidate. In fact, the only real escape is to get your hands on that all-important ‘I voted’ sticker. Or to avoid campus altogether.

Not that we’d advocate that sort of thing…

This issue of the Express is devoted to covering the elections, as well as our usual content. We were given the pleasure of meeting each of the sabbatical candidates face-toface Monday last during the process of holding our own hustings. Read the ins and outs (and most crucially, the proposed zombie apocalypse contingency plans) of those proceedings and pages 1 and 3 of this issue, while we’d also encourage you to check out the Students’ Union’s event tonight as they put their potential replacements through their paces.

Similarly, you can follow the proceedings online via Facebook, Twitter and uccexpress.net, where the video recordings of our hustings will be posted shortly. Or as soon

University College Cork Express

as we can get them edited into bite size chunks.

It’s all terribly exciting, isn’t it?

Let’s not kid ourselves. A huge portion of the student body doesn’t care about student politics. Much of this section also doesn’t care about student media and, thus, I’m likely preaching to the converted already.

Voting is an important aspect of a democracy. While you may not have engaged with them in the past, 5 of the 14 sabbatical candidates will be your representatives on a local and national level next year whether you like it or not. They will engage with politicians, the USI and the media, defending the grant, your RAG and Freshers’ Week actions and dish out free condoms for the next academic year. We also have the part-time officers and college reps, those who will argue to extend your deadlines, reorganise your exam time tables and push for improvements in the campus amenities.

With vastly different manifestos, your vote could be the difference between, not only two vastly different candidates, but two vastly different Students’ Unions.

And, if nothing else, wandering into the Boole or the basement of the Kane (did you know the Kane had a basement? I reckon that’s where the mummy is hidden. Or perhaps the nuclear waste.) and the ORB and voting ‘RON’ in each category will allow you to pick up that valued sticker and get those over-enthusiastic campaigners off your back for a few days.

As always, contact me on editor@uccexpress.com at any stage to voice your concerns, criticisms or vent your rage on the over-crowding of that crucial strip outside the library. Finally, with the publication of this issue of the Express, we are left with just one issue to fill out this year.

Thanks for reading to this point and we’ll see you next time for our last hurrah.

of the debates. For the full story, check out uccexpress. net where the full video interviews will be posted towards the end of the week.

I’d like to send a huge thank you out to those who have engaged with us on Facebook and Twitter via the #uccvotes so far. Our coverage aims to be interactive and we have proven this by posing your questions to the candidates in our hustings and through our active online presence. This is only the beginning though.

SU sabbatical hustings take

place tonight so follow the hashtag for live updates of the proceedings. We will be keeping an eye on campaigning over the next week and will be live tweeting from the count on March 12th.

Our post-election coverage will be in our last issue of the year, available on campus Tuesday the 19th of March.

See you on the other side.

Candidate date. Covering the SU election campaigns, and covering them well for that matter, has been a goal of mine since stepping into the News Editor’s shoes last April. It has been stressful meeting our much tighter deadlinesnot sleeping to ensure that we made it to print. One of the most challenging aspects has Audrey Ellard Walsh been condensing two and a Deputy and News Editor half hours worth of audio into a page and a half of candidate ’m not going to lie, this analysis. Because of this, I issue has by far been ask you to take note that we the most challenging to could only print a snapshot

I

Editor: Kevin O’Neill editor@uccexpress.ie Deputy Editor & News Editor: Audrey Ellard Walsh news@uccexpress.ie Deputy News Editor: Margaret Perry deputynews@uccexpress.ie Design Editor: Niamh Gunning layout@uccexpress.ie Photo Editor: Siobhan O’Connell photo@uccexpress.ie Features Editor: Annie Hoey features@uccexpress.ie Deputy Features Editor: Úna Farrell deputyfeatures@uccexpress.ie Irish Language Editor: Orla Hubbard irish@uccexpress.ie Entertainment Editor: Tracy Nyhan entertainment@uccexpress.ie Deputy Entertainment Editor: Jack Broughan deputyentertainment@uccexpress.ie Film & TV Editor: Kellie Morrissey screen@uccexpress.ie Music Editor: Ruth Ní Leannacháin music@uccexpress.ie Arts & Literature Editor: Julie Daunt arts@uccexpress.ie Gaming Editor: Fergal Carroll gaming@uccexpress.ie Fiction Editor: Stephen Goulding newcorker@uccexpress.ie Sports Editor: Stephen Barry sport@uccexpress.ie Contributors: Barry Aldworth, Brian Barry, Geraldine Carey, Brian Conmy, Claire Crowley, Meadhbh Crowley, Christine Cusack, Cathal Dennehy, Ellen Desmond, Lorna Gardiner, Tommie Grant, Joann Kelliher, Bryan Lynch, Eoghan Lyng, Jordan McCarthy, Marita Moloney, Kayrin Ong, Conor Shearman, Jonathan Soltan, Dylan White

March 6th, 2013

News | 03

“Practical reality” the issue in heated education debate Audrey Ellard Walsh

I

n contrast to the amicable debates between other candidates, Peter Kiernan-McCarthy and Gavin Lynch Frahill took full opportunity to question each other and rebut.

A particular area of contention was sparked by Kiernan-McCarthy’s opening question relating to Lynch-Frahill’s manifesto promise to work to abolish 100% exams, favouring higher accreditation for essays, group projects and other assignments throughout the term.

Lynch-Frahill eagerly defended his policy, which would also increase the opportunity for constructive criticism and interaction with lecturers. He slammed the current method of examination in UCC as an “archaic, cheap method of assessing students and the senior educational theorists in the world would agree with that.”

Kiernan-McCarthy claimed that theory is fine but “the issue is the practical reality of it”. He is particularly concerned with any increase in workload for students as result of increase in continuous assessment. He cited his own experience prior to going on placement here, where he felt the increase in continuous assessment with clashing deadlines lead to undue stress and mental health issues for classmates.

Gavin pushed Peter on a point that formed the backbone of much of his manifesto, that of the introduction and expansion of academic accreditation of involvement with clubs and societies. This initiative has been discussed for several years and has yet to move beyond the discussion stages, save for a handful of recognition awards such as the UCC Works programme.

Gavin’s question sought both the names of the people he spoke to in these areas while researching the policy and his plan for rolling it out across the university.

Kiernan-McCarthy admitted that details for the planned policy are still up in the air but understands based on discussions with current Education Officer PJ O’Brien that it is set to be trialled on the basis of an extra 5 credits on students’ transcripts. He admitted that there would be issues with how students would be assessed and have their performances measured.

Lynch-Frahill, who also covers this issue in his manifesto was eager to push for names of people he met to discuss this with, arguing

that meeting with heads of clubs and societies is not enough. He also questioned Peter further on his plans for ensuring that the correct students receive accreditation.

Transparency the key for Deputy Presidential candidates The only race in which a female is guaranteed a position, Deputy President/Campaigns Officer election sees two seasoned candidates competing against each other.

This is Annie Hoey’s second run for the role as she opposes current Entertainments Officer Aisling O’Hagan.

Annie put her question to Aisling first asking what she specifically plans on doing to improve the Student Community Support scheme, something which falls under the Deputy President’s remit. Aisling praised the rebranding that the scheme underwent this year but highlighted the issue of confidence as one which she noticed through her work in Entertainments that needs to be addressed.

“I would make sure that I enforced a confidence policy on the Student Community Support so that it will protect students at events and make things more transparent.”

Aisling queried Annie’s manifesto point on Academic Transcript Recognition which aims to give an acknowledgement of student participation in Students’ Council or campaigns on their transcript, on the basis that the Union already offers students recognition through the UCC Works initiative. Annie responded that UCC Works is a great initiative that she intends to build upon, but that not enough students are made aware of it, even though they may be eligible to apply for it. She also pushed the merit of awarding students with informal awards too to acknowledge their participation in campaigns and events.

Amongst a number of questions from students, the candidates were asked to choose one campaign or point from their manifesto that is most important to them.

Annie believes that the biggest issue facing students at the moment is finances. “I think it’s really important that the campaigns officer and the Students’ Union take a united stance from the beginning of the year that we are going to have strong financial campaigns”.

Her plans include bringing MABS on campus to give students budgetary advice and ensuring that SUSI is held to account.

For Aisling, her number one

goal is a “Know Your Union Campaign”. “I think we need to broaden the level of participation that we currently have with students. I’m not trying to say that every student needs to get involved in the Students’ Union but that we actually are engaging with students”.

Strong union the difference according to Presidential candidates The final debate of the evening took place between the Presidential candidates; Colm Collins, Padraig Houghney, Mark Stanton and Marcus Yarrow. Unusually, none of the Presidential hopefuls have been members of the Students’ Union Executive in the past.

The candidates each asked the group one open question which their opponents had one minute to answer. Colm Collins asked the group about their plans for dealing with the grant system, specifically, their plans for helping students who are struggling due to their grants being delayed. Mark Stanton emphasised the importance, whoever gets elected, that there be a push to register students to vote as a powerful message to put to the Government. “120,000 students register to vote. I think that sends out a strong message to the government.” He was keen to note the difference between pensioners and students: “the pension hasn’t been hit in recent years, while the grant has been hit heavily. That’s the difference. Pensioners vote.”

Marcus Yarrow spoke about introducing a tracking system for grant applications, allowing the Students’ Union to assist students in keeping tabs on their applications, rather than finding out six months after submission that they are ineligible or have missed an important piece of documentation. He also discussed ensuring that students are aware of the supports available from the Welfare Officer in relation to financial hardship.

Mark Stanton’s question was in relation to the careers service difficulties in enticing students to attend career events. He asked the candidates how they would encourage students to attend recruitment events. Padraig felt that hosting monthly graduate events in Devere Hall would be a way to make students more aware of graduate opportunities after they leave UCC. Colm believes that a lack of information about services and events is to blame and would go about advertising through emails and the digital signage on campus

as a way to ensure that student uptake improves for the Careers Service and others. The fact that many members of the Careers Service work part-time was an issue that the candidates disagreed with and something they felt was detrimental to the student body as a whole. Ensuring the best possible qualifications is not enough for graduates anymore, rather the necessity to be adequately informed and prepared to enter a graduate programme or further study is essential and this is something the candidates are seeking to address.

Padraig Houghney addressed the point of SU interaction with students in his question and asked what candidates would do as representatives to interact with students in UCC. Marcus believes that there should be a more open forum available to students where they can meet and greet their officers and if elected, would have an open door policy to students.

Mark Stanton would introduce weekly clinic hours where students could come in and air their views. He also proposed a text service which would guarantee a text back within 24 hours no matter the question.

Marcus Yarrow had the final question to the group and questioned them on what attributes they felt makes them the best person for the job. Colm says that he has the welfare of the students at heart and wants to promote a “caring union that you the students of UCC would be proud of ”. Padraig believes that his status as a UCC graduate means that he “know(s) what it takes to graduate from a UCC programme” and in his fourth year in UCC having lived both at home and away believes that he knows what the student lifestyle is like and what students need.

Communications nominees see current Student Union as “unapproachable” The first debate of the evening took place between Joel Carey and Owen Kirby, candidates for the position of Communications and Commercial Officer. In this debate, as in all of the evening’s debates candidates were given the opportunity to ask each other one question based on their manifeso and were then questioned by the Editor in Chief and News Editor based on questions submitted by students via email and the hashtag #UCCVotes.

Joel put the first question to Owen asking him “What is your one main goal for your time as

Communication and Commercial officer?”

“I feel I owe the college something, it’s given me so many memories that I really do well for this college and create awareness of the Students’ Union to people who are not sure that it even exists.”

The issue of lack of awareness of the Union was agreed upon by both candidates who cited an aim to improve this. “Unapproachable” was the term used by Joel to describe the current perception of the SU and is something he aims to tackle.

Owen referred to Joel’s stated experience working in Amsterdam, asking what ideas he would take from this time and how he would apply them to his work, if elected, to the role. Joel spoke about his aim to bring his experience working in promotions and marketing in Amsterdam into play while countering the issue of awareness. If elected, he would encourage students to bring their own ideas to the Union.

A question submitted by a student was on the issue of transparency. The candidates were asked about the issue of lack of available or up to date union documentation online, and an example stated was the fact that council minutes on collegeroad.ie have not been updated since October 2011. Kirby stated that one of his main policies is to improve communications beginning with the website. His plan includes livening up collegeroad. ie, taking joe.ie as an example of a format to follow to make it “more fun and oriented towards students”. He also proposes setting up a blog on which to convey information through videos, as he argues emails are often ignored.

Carey agrees that there is a problem. “First thing I would do is update it.” He plans on introducing an online portal through which students can submit ideas for the Union and would redesign collegeroad.ie to make it more user friendly.

The lack of distinction in the policies of either candidate was reflected in the polling carried out

by Express staff members. ‘Undecided’ was the most common response, with a slight majority favouring Joel Carey.

The Students’ Union part-time officer hustings took place last night and students will have another opportunity to question sabbatical candidates this evening from in Kane G19 from 7pm. Follow the hashtag #UCCVotes for live updates.

04 | News

March 6th, 2013

SU Elections 2013: Candidate Profiles The Express challenge the candidates for the sabbatical and part-time positions to sum up their campaigns in 140 characters or less...

President

Name: Marcus Yarrow Age: 21 Course: MBS Management and Marketing “Policies: Monitor SUSI, sort ongoing issues (Library opening hours), more part-time work for YOU, increase uptake of free support services, provide better Ents”

Name: Gavin Lynch-Frahill Age: 26 Course: Bachelor of Education in Sports Studies and Physical Education Year: 3rd “Gavin Lynch-Frahill wants to be Education Officer to improve UCC degrees and give students more skills and better

Communications

Name: Peter Kiernan-McCarthy Age: 27 Course: Government 4 “Voting Peter for Education means more enhanced employability skills, a more student focused union and campaigns to improve your education.”

Name: Joel Carey Age: 19 Course: Commerce 2 “My name is Joel Carey and I plan to: Work with students on what they think is important and to attract big sponsors to have better events”

Name: Owen Kirby Age: 22 Course: BA3 (Mathematical Studies and Irish) “The Student Union created this role in order to ensure they would increase their financial income. Ensuring this is my primary intention.”

Name: Padraig (Podge) Haughney Age: 21 Course: MBS Business Economics “A realistic manifesto with achievable goals!

A promise to deliver combined with a will to succeed. Vote Podge #1”

Name: Mark Stanton Age: 20 Course: BA2 (Single Honours Economics) “For a better degree, more approachable services and an even bigger R&G weekVote Stanton #1 on the 11th and 12th of March!”

Name: Annie Hoey Age: 24 Course: MA (Women’s Studies) “A strong, experienced voice ready to stand up&fight for the needs of all UCC students. Vote for experience, ability and passion #VoteAHoey” Name: Aisling O’Hagan Age: 21 Course: Government 4 “A candidate who is passionate, driven and enthusiastic about engaging students, fighting for students’ rights and a stronger union”

Education

job opportunities.”

Deputy President/Campaigns Officer

Welfare

Name: Colm Collins Age: 19 Course: Biological Sciences 2 “I want to work with you to build a Union that you can believe in with a transparent, accountable leadership working for and your education.”

Name: David Berry Age: 22 Course: Applied Psychology 3 “I aim to support our students with professionalism and dedicated governmental lobbying while teaching our students how to support each other.”

Name: Chris Boyle Age: 18 Course: Government 1 “I wish to see the prestigious college of Bus & Law further promoted in this university with an emphasis on employment in these tough times.”

Name: Ruth Ní Riada Age: 20 Course: BA3 “I will concentrate on casework, creating jobs for those with financial difficulties, and changing the student assistance fund system.”

Name: Eddie O’Keeffe Age: 19 Course: BA3 (Economics and Computer Science) “Responsible, Dependable, Trustworthy. A vote for me equals a vote for change, creativity and innovation”

Name: Daniel Waugh Age: 21 Course: Applied Psychology 3 “Pro-active campaigns, support for students with full confidentiality and to educate students to form a community that looks after each other’s welfare; Vote Waugh!”

Business & Law SEFS Name: David Magee

Name: Joe Kennedy Age: 19 Course: Law 2 “I’m determined to fight for the changes the students of business and law want and need. My aim is to make our graduates the most attractive of their kind in country.”

Age: 21 Course: Microbiology 3 “I will aim to bring clarity to how practicals are marked in the college, and to engage students on Main Campus, WGB, and North Mall weekly.”

March 6th, 2013

News | 05

Name: Aidan Coffey Age: 20 Course: 2nd Medicine “Informed library reform. A Common Room based in Brookfield.

More info about activities on Main Campus.

Brew instant results, Vote Coffey M&H”

Name: Mary Ryan Course: BA2 (History and Geography Mary Ryan was unavailable for comment.

Equality

Medicine & Health

Name: Cian Power Age:20 Course: BA2 ( Politics and Philosophy ) “Bringing skills, creative thinking and ambition to the College, the Students Union and its students!”

Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences

Name: Cian Flynn Age: 20 Course: BA1 “A man finally willing to represent the true spirit of the Arts faculty, an embodiment of free spirit, creativity and general soundness.”

Name: Mary Collins Age: 21 Course: Neuroscience “I’ll make UCC a safe space where one can be themself, regardless of gender, orientation, creed, nationality, income, age or capabilities.”

Name: Roy Sheehan Age: 20 Course: Arts - English and Maths “Vote Roy #1 for an experienced, innovative candidate who has drive, commitment and passion for equality and the student experience.”

Irish Officer

Ainm: Tadhg Ó Coileáin (Timmy Collins) Aois: 19 Cúrsa: BA1 (Gaeilge, Mata, Fraincís, Creideamh) “Timmy don Teanga! Tá go leor oibre le déanamh ar son na Gaeilge sa Choláiste agus táim an duine is oiriúnaí riamh chun é an post a dhéanamh!”

Ainm: Eoghan Mac Lóinn (Eoghan Lyng) Aois: 19 Cúrsa: BA2 (Gaeilge agus Béarla) “Táim ag rith. Ba mhaith liom imeachtaí ghaelach do na mic léinn agus cursaí acadúla atá mishásuil faoin ngaolainn a chur os comhair an choláiste.”

Name: Paul O’Shea Course: Computer Science “Would like to organize an Inter-Society Premier League, Sham Ball, UCC TV, UCC Weekend Away, Improve the Common Room, R&G Week and Go Crazy!”

Name: James Murray Age: 21 Course: BA2 (English and Psychology) “140 characters is far too little to explain how I will entertain you, so check out my Manifesto and campaign on facebook. com/Murrayforents”

Name: Timmy Dineen Age: 21 Course: BA2

Entertainments

Undecided student voters indicate the race for the SU Elections is wide open Kevin O’Neill

T

he overwhelming result that emerged from early polls on the upcoming student elections was a lack of interest or knowledge among the student body. Express staff took to the Main Rest, the Students’ Centre and the main campus between 1pm and 2pm on Tuesday March 5th and quizzed students on their plans to vote in the upcoming Student Union elections.

In a promising turn of events, 72% of the 260 students polled maintained that they intend to use their vote next week. Given that turnout last year was under 4000, this result marks an improvement in the level of interest, one that will hopefully be mirrored on Election Day. The striking aspect of the

polls, however, was that the vast majority of students remain undecided in terms of who to vote for at this early stage. Given that the campaigns have been restricted to an online presence until yesterday, it is unsurprising that so few definitive choices have been made.

Despite the fact that the candidates spent substantial time on campus last week talking to students and securing nominations, it looks as though the coming days will be pivotal in securing a seat in 54 College Road for the next academic year, with sabbatical hustings taking place tonight, Wednesday, and the Express’ own husting recordings being published online later in the week.

Of the races, it seems the Presidential and Deputy races will be hotly contested. The former sees four candidates duk-

ing it out, with the polling data collected by Express staff on Tuesday indicating that Mark Stanton holds a marginal lead at this point. The difference is a mere six votes, however, and a staggering 105 students claimed they were undecided. The Deputy race saw candidates Annie Hoey and Aisling O’Hagan separated by 12 votes, Hoey pipping her opponent by 46-34.

Communications is a similarly close race, Joel Carey leading his opponent Owen Kirby by just seven votes, while Gavin Lynch-Frahill seems to have taken some early momentum in the race for Education, the date indicating that 31 of the students asked would favour him.

Finally, the Welfare race remains wide open but seemed to be the one students were most interested in. Of the four candidates, Dave Berry and Daniel

Waugh polled most successfully amongst the students spoken to, while the numbers indicating they were undecided were lower in this race than any other.

Polling took place on main campus between 1 and 2pm.

Tuesday 5th of March Total Poll: 260 Do you intend to vote in the upcoming SU elections taking place on the 11th and 12th of March?

Yes 188 No 72 Who do you intend to vote for in the following races?

President Colm Collins 18 Pádraig (Podge) Haughney 24 Mark Stanton 30 Marcus Yarrow 11

Undecided

105

Deputy President/Campaigns Annie Hoey 46 Aisling O’Hagan 34 Undecided 108 Welfare Officer Dave Berry Ruth Ní Riada Eddie O’Keeffe 14 Daniel Waugh Undecided

58 8 31 77

Education Officer Peter Kiernan-McCarthy 12 Gavin Lynch-Frahill 31 Undecided 145 Communication and Commercial Officer Joel Carey 40 Owen Kirby 33 Undecided 115

06 | News

March 6th, 2013

News in brief SHAG Week goes down on UCC - Tommie Grant

Relay For Life a Success - Ellen Desmond

UCC’s annual Sexual Health and Guidance Week or SHAG Week took place last week. Aiming to make students more aware of their sexual health, the Students’ Union organised various events around campus all week, even making their presence felt in Brookfield on Wednesday. The week-long sexual health campaign had a strong presence around UCC with beds being set up on campus to catch student’s attention. As like previous years the distribution of SHAG packs was one of the organisers primary focuses. Over 2,000 of these packs containing one extra safe condom, a sachet of lube and plenty of sexual health information included information on different forms of contraceptives were distributed.

A display box containing condoms was also up for grabs for the student who could guess how many condoms it contained. Nearly 300 hundred students entered this competition, which saw the winner, Biochemistry Student Ian Flynn, take away 483 condoms.

Another highlight of the week was provided by the Philosophical Society who held a panel discussion on the effect pornography is having on society.

Guest speakers included psychology researcher Dr Robert King, former Big Brother contestant from 2012 and former adult entertainer Mr Benedict Garrett and controversial feminist journalist Julie Bindel.

Overall, the week has been praised by the Students’ Union Welfare Officer, Dave Carey as a great success with regards to promoting awareness about sexual health.

UCC’s first Relay for Life took place on February the 22nd - 23rd in aid of the Irish Cancer Society.

The 24 hour event was opened at 6pm by UCC Cancer Society Auditor and founder Laura Hussey, cancer survivor Gavin O Donovan and a representative of the Irish Cancer Society.

UCC Cancer Soc were joined by teams from all areas of UCC in walking laps around the track in bitterly cold conditions- but they succeeded in having several people present walking at all times.

As night fell almost 1000 remembrance candle bags lined the track and all participants paused to reflect in the Candle of Hope ceremony. During this ceremony a care giver of his recently deceased mother told stories of his experience, and music played while the flood lights were powered off and all were consumed in darkness, save for the light from the candles.

The mood wasn’t all sombre however with a group of Engineering students taking part in a nearly naked lap, despite the minus 3 degree weather. Relay’s own Harlem Shake video was filmed and version of Take Me Out took place at 3am. These were followed by a Zumba class and several very entertaining themed laps, with Relay’s Got Talent held early the following morning.

The walkers were supported by Domino’s Pizza who supplied ten free pizzas every hour to keep the cold volunteers on their feet. Constant live music was organised by UCC’s LMS and DJ Soc and several societies, clubs and courses were represented supporting their fellow students in the Cancer Society.

Following 24 hours of fun, freezing and fundraising the event was closed by Karen O’ Neill and Laura Cashman, who thanked the participants and admitted that the close was “emotional” for them following two years of planning and excitement for the successful event.

60% of money raised by UCC’s Relay is being donated to local cancer charities, with the remaining 40% going to cancer research. Total amounts raised to be announced in the coming weeks.

John Bercow Speaks in UCC - Lorna Gardiner The Department of Government’s annual Philip Monahan Lecture took place in the Aula Maxima on Thursday, 28th February. The 14th lecture was delivered by Britain’s Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon John Bercow MP. A large number attended the popular and always interesting evening, including the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr John Buttimer. He commenced the event with a candid portrayal of Philip Monahan’s life, who was Ireland’s first city manager. It was noted that while Cork greatly influenced Monahan, in return, Monahan has left a lasting influence on the city of Cork. Because of this, the Lord Mayor commended the Department of Government and Dr. Aodh Quinlivan, Director of BSc Government for keeping his memory alive through the annual lecture.

Mr. Bercow’s ‘Independence of thought that has become the hallmark of his political career’, was applauded by Luke Field, Auditor of the Government and Politics Society. Mr. Bercow began his lecture by expressing the ‘Extraordinary honour and personal pleasure’ he felt at being asked to speak at the event.

The topic of Mr. Bercow’s lecture was ‘The Relationship between the Executive and Parliament.’ He expressed that an effective Parliament needs to actually legislate, rather than perform the mere task of rubber stamping. According to Mr. Bercow, ‘Effective Parliament should be at the heart of the legislative process.’

Mr. Bercow concluded his lecture in the hope that such reforms in the relationship between the Executive and the Parliament are in the spirit of Philip Monahan, who he believes was the personification of successful public service.

On reflection of the event, Dr Aodh Quinlivan said, ‘In my opinion John Bercow’s lecture was the best we have had, which is a great testament to him when you consider that the likes of President Mary McAleese and John Hume have delivered previous lectures. He spoke brilliantly and the lecture was relevant, stimulating and humorous. It has been a great honour for the Department of Government and UCC to welcome John Bercow to our beautiful campus.’

KMPG Partner Terence O’ Rourke speaks to Students - Claire Crowley

February 27th, UCC saw the arrival of one of the most notable figures in Irish business - the managing partner of KPMG, Terence O’Rourke, who spoke in regards to the current state of the economy. The evening gave students and graduates alike an opportunity to gain an insight into the current state of the economy and the chance to meet the Managing Partner of one of the largest employers of UCC graduates.

Mr. O’Rourke has been the Managing Partner of KPMG for four years and has supervised the firm while the country has been through one of the toughest times in its history. He gave the audience an insight into the path he took to develop his career, from graduating with an Arts Degree, to undertaking a Masters in Accounting, where he “could do what he want and also travel the world.”

With his time in KPMG, he has seen how different businesses have managed to pull through the current economic crisis, but he also has seen many businesses fail. He believes Ireland has advantages, even in the current crisis, as we are an English speaking – “the language of business”, small and friendly country. He feels that the country is slowly improving and that our good relations with other countries will help us in the long run.

O’Rourke’s speech was then followed by a Q&A and then by a talk from Robbie Butler, lecturer in the Department of Economics here in UCC. Butler gave his own opinion of the current state of the economy, putting an academic slant in to the discussion of the night.

March 6th, 2013

Features | 07

Inspire Me “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new” - Albert Einstein. on the ability of strangers to want to share their stories. From these strangers some of the most extraordinary stories are revealed.

We never think to look to those we don’t know for inspiration. It is the ordinary people, the people we pass in the street or see in our lectures whom we could learn the most from.

We may complain that our lives are boring and mundane and that we want to travel and experience things but we never think

Úna Farrell

Deputy Features Editor

T

here is no disputing that Einstein was a genius. One of the greatest minds of his time and a renowned physicist he’s not the first person that would spring to mind as a source of life inspiration.

This quote is one I came across on a mouse pad in the Boole Library. Firstly I was slightly shocked that mouse pads were still being made and used these days but then I discovered that they each contained quotes aimed to inspire and motivate. Inspiration is all around us, everyday. However we fail to look for or acknowledge its existence for the majority of the time.

Sources of inspiration are varied and personal. For some it may be music for others nature. Some people may find inspiration in the people they meet while others may find it in the wise words of a German

physicist. The point is that inspiration surrounds us, our only job is to find the source and use it.

This issue I have included two blogs which I find inspirational. The first, Humans of New York, reminds me that every person has a story to tell behind their exterior. What Brandon Stanton has done is found his inspiration in the strangers he meets on the streets of NYC. The second is PostSecret, a blog which aims at encouraging us to reveal our deepest secrets in a space of no judgment or shame. This project reminds me that everyone holds secrets and you can never know what secrets a person holds close to their heart. For Frank Warren, his inspiration comes from strangers’ ability to reveal theses secrets to a worldwide audience.

What connects these two blogs is their ability to find inspiration for their work in the searching for stories and truths. They both rely

to look at the resources we already have. The people we already know may possess some of the best advice, knowledge and stories we may encounter but we never take the time to ask. We presume everyone around us is as mundane as we assume our lives to be. These blogs have shown me that these are the people I should be talking to.

These are the people whose opinions I should be asking. These are the people I should be looking towards

for inspiration.

So go out, find something that inspires you. If you are not inspired than you are not living. We should be inspired every day. It doesn’t have to be something big. If we are constantly looking and waiting for something amazing to happen we will miss out on all the smaller things. So do like Albert says, go out try something new. Let Albert inspire you to find inspiration.

Postgraduate Programmes in Law, Technology and Governance “Innovation, Science and Regulation” NUI Galway School of Law now offers full-time and part-time postgraduate programmes: • LL.M. in Law, Technology and Governance, full-time or part-time • Postgraduate Diploma in Commercial Regulation and Compliance (full-time) • Postgraduate Certificate in Commercial Regulation and Compliance (part-time) • Postgraduate Certificate in E-Commerce Law (part-time) • Postgraduate Certificate in Intellectual Property Law (part-time) • Postgraduate Certificate in Information Technology Law (part-time) For more information, see www.nuigalway.ie/law/ or contact Mr. Rónán Kennedy at 091-495626, ronan.m.kennedy@nuigalway.ie Places are limited. Apply online via www.pac.ie/nuigalway

08 | Features

March 6th, 2013

Recipes for attention and intrigue The Story Behind the Stranger Editor-in-Chief Kevin O’Neill discusses the evolution of extremist literature, from the Anarchist Cookbook to the so-called ‘Jihad Cosmo’.

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rinted literature is suffering. It doesn’t take a genius to notice the steady decline of newspapers and magazine, indeed the sale of physical media in general is waning. In this difficult climate, niche literature is one of few aspects that still thrives, though less so than in the past.

It is in such a climate that Al-Shamikha has emerged. Dubbed the ‘Jihad Cosmo’, its title translates as ‘The Majestic Woman’ and has been reported to combine beauty and fashion tips with terrorist related content. Quite.

Extremist literature is far from a new phenomenon. Outcry over the publication of Inspire Magazine, a prominent extremist magazine aimed at Muslims, in English last Saturday reignited the debate, but since 1971 and the publication of the infamous Anarchist Cookbook, extremist ideas have been readily available in print.

Unlike its successors, however, the Anarchist Cookbook was not wholly destructive in its notion. Driven by idealism, rather that of chaos theory than anything else, the book has s o m e w h at of a difficult history. Author William Powell has all but disowned the title, the copyright belonging to its publisher Lyle Stuart instead, and claimed that it was born out of unimpeded teenage angst and anger at being sent to fight in the Vietnam War, a War he claims he didn’t believe in.

Advocates of the title to this day defend it, suggesting that its close association with other titles of anarchic political philosophy are inaccurate and that the Cookbook was not intended to incite anger or violence and that the recipes within are “notoriously unreliable”.

That said, its influence and impact can still be felt today. The Anarchist Cookbook sits on a special list of titles that, if purchased on Amazon or other sites, can and will result in monitoring by the US government. Unreliable it may be but I didn’t get this sort of heat when I picked up new titles from Delia Smith or Jamie Oliver…

Two prominent cases in recent years saw the arrest (and eventual clearance) of a teen of Muslim origin in the UK who claimed he just wanted to research fire-

works and small explosives and the imprisonment of Ian Davison in 2010 for the manufacturing of ricin. Both men were in possession of the book, a factor that the authorities felt necessary to note.

Its presence can be felt on dozens of Internet forums in the modern age. As is the case for many aspects of the media, the spread online has yielded dozens of unheralded, unchecked voices clambering for a moment’s attention. While the vast majority of these fall into that same category as The Anarchist Cookbook, i.e. a forum of unrestricted angst designed to blow off steam rather than incite the implementation of a new world order, there is an element of intrigue that has garnered the attention of governments worldwide.

Most of these titles, The Anarchist Cookbook included, have become a punchline of sorts for modern analysts looking at the spread of extremism. There is almost a comic edge to a novel that has chapters titled ‘Explosives and Booby Traps’, one that is mirrored in modern extremist literature. Inspire Magazine, as noted above, is now available in English. For the revolutionaries (and indeed the sceptics) among us, we can now read how to torch parked cars (including tips on not getting petrol on yourself) and cause traffic accidents.

Despite this reading like a Cyanide & Happiness sketch, the magazine has a plethora of much darker content within its pages. It calls on France to step back from Mali, while advocating the seizure (dead or alive) of eleven prominent figures, among them Salman Rushdie and US pastor Terry Jones.

An independent news agency has been reprimanded earlier this year for hosting links to the material printed in Inspire Magazine, indicative of the real threat that authorities believe it poses to western society. Reading newspaper and FBI reports published in 1971 on the back of the release of the Anarchist Cookbook, the current spate of curiosity, fear and anxiety may as well have been ripped word for word from the reports in the New York Times and the local newspapers whose interest piqued with the delivery of the book to university bookshops nationwide.

“Sabotage and the use of weapons, explosives and booby traps are detailed.

It is, consequently, a manual for revolutionary extremists.”

Barring the inclusion of the tips on the importance of eye shadow when wearing a hijab, it’s clear that little has changed.

Una Farrell looks at Brandon Stanton, a photographer whose unique views have propelled him to the limelight.

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ovember 2010 marked the beginning of one of the most popular and influential photography blogs so far. Beginning as a project to construct a photographic census of New York it developed into a project which now has over 500,000 followers on Facebook. David Karp, founder of Tumblr, has described it as one of his favourite blogs. I am of course talking about Humans of New York or HONY for its fans.

Photographer Brandon Stanton has created a space where he not only takes photos of people on the streets of New York but a space where we can glimpse into the lives of these people, these strangers. The stories he has collected along with each photo share emotions, advice and inspiration. Brandon has the unique ability to capture these strangers and give them a voice. He can capture much more than a face with a lens, he can capture the person.

HONY is not limited to the streets of New York. In 2012 Brandon visited Iran and took his camera with him. Instead of the usual pictures of devastation, poverty and war we see emerging from Iran, Brandon looked for the beauty in it.

His portraits showed us an insight into the people and culture of Iran without the veil of war and terror to shadow our judgement. His ability to capture more than just the figure in the portrait allowed for a collection of amazing photographs from Iran.

Not only does Brandon produce such a popular blog he uses his popularity and fame to aid projects close to him. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which caused approximately $42 million worth of damage to the New York area, Brandon in conjunction with Tumblr raised over $300,000 to help victims of the Hurricane. By offering HONY prints among other Tumblr goods to those who do-

nated they managed to raise this impressive amount while Brandon also photographed and spread the stories of those doing some amazing work to help fund resources for those affected.

His philanthropy doesn’t stop here though. Most recently Brandon’s photos were used in a DKNY campaign without the consent of Brandon. This misunderstanding entitled Brandon to take legal action against this multi million dollar company but instead Brandon took this event as an opportunity to give to those less fortunate. After being offered $15,000 to use his pictures in their campaign Brandon refused this offer. Upon hearing of their use he then asked for DKNY to make a $100,000 donation to the YMCA in Brooklyn on his behalf.

DKNY then agreed to make a $25,000 donation on Brandon’s behalf. In response to this Brandon once again rallied his fans and supporters and at the time of print he has raised over $50,000 in his goal to reach the full $100,000 donation to the YMCA in his local area in order to send 300 disadvantaged kids to summer camp.

Brandon Stanton has created something unique. Something which has spanned across countries and continents, sparking similar projects in cities all over the world. The strangers we meet have exceptional stories to tell and HONY is their medium. Brandon himself says that this project has allowed him to meet some amazing people. I, for one, think Brandon is quite amazing himself. He not only gives us a glimpse into the lives of these strangers while creating stunning portraits he gives so much more in terms of charity and selflessness. For those amongst you yet to check out his blog, do so immediately, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

March 6th, 2013

Features | 09

I’ll Keep You My Dirty Little Secret PostSecret’s development from a small blog into an online community is a source of inspiration, argues Una Farrell.

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rank Warren has created a community where complete strangers feel safe and comfortable to reveal their innermost secrets. Post Secret has developed from a blog into an online and global community. Amazingly, it is a space where people feel secure enough to reveal things about themselves which they never would have dreamed of revealing.

“Post Secret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard” Each Sunday the blog is updated with just a few of the many postcards sent to Frank each week. These postcards come from all over the world and all resonate a deeply personal and emotional level of humility. The anonymity of the process allows people to be more open and honest the community created.

The secrets reveal peoples most intimate fears, hopes, dreams, regrets, confessions and desires.

Some can be deeper than others but the effect is the same. No

secret is more important than another. Each secret has meaning to the person who sent it and also manages to reach out to the hundreds of thousands of followers who read the secrets each week.

Frank tours the world speaking at PostSecret events which inspire millions. In these talks Frank tells of all the stories he has received since 2004. The lives that have been affected and the lives that have been saved.

Countless secrets and stories reveal individuals struggles with difficult issues such as depression and grief. It cannot be determined how many peoples lives have been saved through this PostSecret project. The act of admitting your fears and thoughts in this space creates the beginning of recovery for these individuals. They say that admitting a problem is the first step to solving it and the ability to admit your secrets in this anonymous space gives people this confidence.

The inspiration found from these individuals abilities to

admit these secrets gives confidence to others and so the effect snowballs. Even if a person’s secret is not printed on the blog the mere act of writing it down and sending it is in itself an admittance of this secret. This admittance is like a weight lifted from a person. Even if the secret simply expresses their undying love for someone, this is their way of expressing this emotion because they may feel too afraid to say it in person.

We all keep secrets. It is human nature to do so. We keep things to ourselves which we are embarrassed to admit for fear of the reaction we will receive. We fear the judgment which will ensue when we declare our secrets.

The way society has brought us up has cautioned us to not reveal certain things. Our lives are not meant to be open books. We keep secrets as tests of loyalty and trust. In sharing a secret with someone we are admitting that we trust this person enough to tell them this intimate detail of our life. This trust is what exists in the PostSecret Commu-

nity.

Acceptance is the key to the success of this project.

The project brings together unlikely people in their holding of similar secrets. People reading the secrets may find themselves reading a secret which is so familiar they may believe that it is written about them or to them. Even those who do not have the courage to admit their secrets can find hope and inspiration in others courage in admittance.

Inspiration is another key feature of this project. Frank has created an inspirational project which, each Sunday, inspires its readers. Each secret, no matter how small, has the ability to inspire millions. So in respect of this project I encourage each and every one of you to share a secret. No matter how insignificant you may think it is, you have kept it a secret for a reason.

Tell your mother, father, sibling, best friend. Send it to Frank if you feel you can’t tell anyone close to you. We need not be afraid or ashamed of our own desires, thoughts, beliefs or experiences.

“Secrets can remind us of the countless human dramas, of frailty and heroism playing out silently in the lives of people all around us.” - Frank Warren

Spring clean your life Annie Hoey offers some valuable tips to making the most of the next few weeks.

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pring is here and it is time to get moving!! The temperatures are starting to go up (in theory), the buds are starting to bloom, the birds are singing a merry tune, and students are leaving their couches to come into a more welcoming campus (the rain and cold really outs a dampener on the whole inviting thing). Spring, in my opinion, is a great time to take up new things and get motivated. We are not faced with the cold months and no light in sight like we usually are after Christmas. The September buzz for taking up new things usually wears off quite quickly once you discover that you don’t have to go to lectures. Spring is when we are filled with the natural joys of spring and automatically have a hop in our step. So why not take advantage of it?

Here are a few things that I suggest you consider doing over

the next few weeks: 1.

Get moving! The weather is picking up and your enthusiasm for nature is rising (I can tell). Get out there! There are so many places that you can go for walks, runs, jogs or a cycle around Cork. Going out by the Lee Fields is always a personal favourite of mine. I suggest you borrow a dog or two if at all possible. There is something absolutely glorious about being outside in the brisk air and playing fetch with a dog. Then again I am a dog lover so it seems heavenly to me. Perhaps not to the poor unfortunates who are allergic to dogs…

2.

Start going to all your lectures. We only have a few weeks left now. We are at the end and it is time to get your academic sprint on. It is much wiser to get to your last few classes now, especially when lecturers are more likely to be

giving exam hints, rather than waiting until April to start messaging your classmates asking for notes. Trust me, putting in the work now will pay off dividends come May. 3.

Start making your own meals (even lunch!). Like I just said, the year is drawing to a close. Our budget straps are getting tighter than ever before.

Pennies are being counted so as to ensure there is enough money for the inevitable end of term blow-out. Cooking for yourself is remarkably cheaper than constantly eating out (duh) or buying ready made meals. It is also ore satisfying! Plus it will tie in nicely with your new go-out-adget-walking lifestyle.

4.

Turn off that television!

Chat to your housemates. Ask them how they are getting on. I know I tend to talk a lot about mental health but it is something that I do not think can

ever be driven home enough here in Ireland. If you only do one new thing this Spring, make it be one that can have a positive effect on someone else’s life. You will never ever know the power of simply holding out a hand of genuine concern. And even outside of the perceived doom and gloom of mental health issues- it is good to talk to people” especially people you live with.

By nature we are social creatures and we love to interact with others. So feed that primordial urge and switch off whatever technology you are plugged into at the time and simply sit down, have a cuppa and a good old fashioned chat.

5.

In-keeping turning off that television, and having the chat, go out and make some new friends. The college year isn’t over yet so there is still plenty of time! Chat to that person in your class that you have spotted

a few times. Go to that society that you have always wanted to but never made it to any event.

Make the last few weeks count and go out and say hello and go to something new.

I know that this all seems very wishey-washey and lovey-dovey, but trust me you ought use your time well. Your time in college is flying by (can you believe it is March??) but there is still lots of time to get a last few things done that you wanted to do but never got around to. April will be long enough and the sun will be begging you to go out in it while you must diligently refuse and remain locked up with your books (or give in. whatever). So, in the words of Mrs Doyle, gwan gwan GWAN!! Get out there and give the last few weeks of the term your best!

10 | Features

March 6th, 2013

Taking the next step: alternative routes to post-graduate study Editor-in-Chief Kevin O’Neill takes a look at alternatives to the traditional Masters.

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n the last issue, Deputy Editor Audrey Walsh took a look at internships, speaking to a number of students who had both good and bad experiences working at prominent companies. If you missed this article, it is available on uccexpress.net. Continuing with this series, we take a look at alternative methods of obtaining postgraduate qualifications.

Post-graduate study is among the most prominent next steps taken by many undergraduates upon receiving their degrees. However, with the cost of postgraduate study rising consistently, it is not a path that is readily available to many as it once was. Despite this, many students are still making inroads toward adding to their undergraduate qualifications through a variety of means.

An option readily discounted by many but that really warrants a second look is that of doing a Masters programme abroad. While the UK, US, Canada and Australia are the first ports of call for investigation on this front, they are often the source of a dampening of enthusiasm with soaring costs rendering a one or two year programme far more expensive than it would have been in Ireland. Granted, the prestige of taking to a third level institute in London, New York or California is a notion of such romance that it would turn the head of nearly any undergraduate; the costs involved should ensure that it remains a whimsical notion and little more.

Mastersportal.eu is a goldmine of information on postgraduate programmes all over Europe. The

search engine on the site allows you to create the most specific conditions for your preferred course as possible and returns a list of potential courses, links and fee information.

The benefits of doing a Masters abroad are numerous. Aside from

in particular making strides toward attracting a multi-national student body. The Dutch government announced a new student loan last November to incentivise students to look to the Netherlands as a viable alternative to domestic universities for postgraduate studies, and

the immediate reduction in cost in the majority of cases, employers worldwide are looking to graduates with an international outlook to reflect the globalisation of commerce.

“Internationalising” (as one website puts it) your CV shows initiative, flexibility and a good work ethic to any possible employers. Similarly, exposure to new cultures, languages and teaching methods can be of great benefit both personally and when looking for employment after study.

Governments are recognising this and attempting to make their third level institutions more appealing to those abroad, the likes of the Netherlands and Singapore

with a plethora of courses and English speaking colleges, it is rapidly emerging as a game changer for a number of students.

Leiden, based outside Amsterdam, is the oldest University in Holland and offers more than one hundred postgraduate programmes, a huge number of which are taught entirely in English. These cater to a huge range of disciplines, among them history, art, law, business and chemistry. Similarly to Leiden, students can look to Groningen, Utrecht and Rotterdam, amongst others, for English taught Masters.

In fact, a quick search on mastersportal.eu of English Masters in the Netherlands for under €2000

returns 851 results. Extend this to Belgium, Germany and Scandanavia and the options are plentiful.

Aside from the financial and employability benefits, traveling abroad to do a Masters has a number of personal rewards. Broadening ones horizons should be encouraged at every turn and, while the freedom experienced of moving to College Road from Ballincollig cannot be understated, moving an hour or two (on a plane) away from home-cooked meals and freshly ironed clothes can be a pivotal move in the maturing of anyone.

That said it isn’t all plain sailing. The difficulties of moving abroad are as prominent as the benefits. Language barriers, while not an issue within the universities themselves, may cause issues on the streets. Actually gaining entry to the course you have selected poses its own tribulations too: most, if not all, courses will request a copy of your results and degree from UCC – in English. On top of this, minor issues such as eating on a daily / weekly basis will rapidly rear their ugly head if you cannot get your hands on some form of gainful employment. For many students, it is a case of save, save, save beforehand, and then pray that a window opens up in the ‘Dam… The UCC Careers website is a great resource for information on study abroad, with articles on everything from sourcing funding to conversion programmes.

Financial barriers are near impossible to escape from. However, being clever about these things can open up a new realm of possibilities. Emigrating is not something

that appeals to everyone and, as such, they are often forced to look much closer to home.

If financial constraints are the real issue, consider doing a parttime Masters. UCC, like most Irish universities, offer part-time versions of the majority of the postgraduate programmes available to students, allowing would-be academics to split their study over the course of two years. Limiting the hours spent in college during the week can lead to spending substantially more time on your studies, as well as allowing extra-curricular pursuits and part-time work outside college. Time is less of an issue, ensuring that all those attractive looking internships that you had to pass by during your undergrad are suddenly a realistic proposition.

On top of this, there is also the monetary side of things. Splitting the qualification over two years also means splitting the cost over two years. For many, this is a huge weight off their backs immediately. Grants are less readily available than ever, fees are higher than ever… Paying half now and half next year changes things dramatically for most students.

The urge to go all out and try to pick up that all important qualification now is something that is prominent in college. However, taking a step back and assessing your options can lead to a number of different avenues opening and the possibility of new, beneficial experiences. It is one that is growing in popularity and it’s easy to see why.

Visit www.ucc.ie/careers and mastersportal.eu for more information.

A College education Conor Shearman

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t seems a fair point to make that college and education do not always go hand in hand; sometimes in fact they can seem about as closely related as Tom Cruise and sanity. Putting Nobel prizes and PhD’s aside however, here are a few insights I’ve picked up after my first year on campus.

Procrastination Integral it seems to a third level education comes the magnificent and unfailing ability to convert periods of potential productivity into long rambling voyages throughout the realms of cyberspace. Typing up an essay quickly becomes the equivalent of scaling Everest hand-

cuffed and naked as one quick detour to check emails results in several hours spent watching “people” attempt set farts alight on YouTube.

In vain you try to convince yourself that it was time well spent but the truth is in the current economic climate employers just aren’t seeking that particular skill set.

Vices As surely as Nicolas Cage will fail to develop the ability to act; university will provide countless opportunities to acquire plenty of wonderfully unhealthy habits. Coffee is a personal preference usually in quantities large enough to turn my legs into the jittery playthings of a demonic puppet master. If coffee is not to your taste then fear not, there are countless alternatives

which will transform those useless coins in your pocket into delicious health destroying habits. Most students will already have one or even several but if not and you are one of the saintly few who has yet to be corrupted by Satan’s foul breath (Linden Village) then think again.

Acquiring a vice is straightforward, simply ingest alarming quantities of chosen substance and repeat; after all it’d be a shame to leave college without some form of souldestroying vice.

Sleep Simply uttering the slender vowels evokes solemn expressions of understanding amongst compatriots. It is a universally acknowledged truth that students are permanently bereft of sleep and should be ap-

proached early in the day (before one) with the degree of caution one would usually associate with slapping a wet fish across Mike Tyson’s face. In order to counter the potentially fatal effects of lack of sleep there is a university wide initiative to encourage sleeping. Lectures in the Boole theatre are designated specifically for students to catch up on lost sleep from the night before.

Superstitions Just like the spreading of cold sores in a teenage disco; superstitions rage across the UCC campus.

Chief amongst these is the belief that crossing the quad will result in one failing their exams. The true mystery of the tale lies not in the lawn’s magical ability to influence student’s exam results but rather

in its cruel vindictive nature. Why does it does seek to punish those who tread on its velvety surface?

Has it becomes bitter and twisted from years spent watching the lives of happy students revolve around it, perhaps it was not watered enough when it was young or could it be just a bad seed (lol). The other campus legend that stepping on the UCC crest will result in pregnancy is a lie of such whopping magnitude that it must be appreciated in itself. If lies were works of art than the cleaner who came up with such a magnificent untruth would be a modern day Michelangelo; a master craftsman whose handiwork haunts the mind of the student population.

Features | 11

March 6th, 2013

The Alumni Loyalty Deputy Features Editor Una Farrell writes an open letter questioning the sense of educational snobbery in this day and age.

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here has always existed a certain snobbery when it comes to education. In a time when fees were the norm for schools only the rich and elite were exposed to the entitlement of education. Nowadays, where we are fortunate to receive (almost) free education, there should no longer exist this snobbery and sense of pretentiousness. This is sadly not the case. While many may joke about the difference between Universities and Institutes of Technology the stigma still exists.

I know here in Cork there is a running joke between UCC and CIT. While UCC are considered snobby students renowned for donning scarves and Hollister, CIT students are regarded as rougher and less intelligent than their student counterparts. Until recently I believed this was all considered a joke. However on a recent train journey I had the pleasure, or rather the displeasure, of listening to a rather primitive conversation between an elder gentleman and two UCC students. The man, in his

late forties, explained how he occasionally lectures in UCC and he came across as well educated and articulate. The two students were studying Computer Science in UCC. The conversation began as a normal conversation about university life with the elder gentleman recalling his experiences and asking the students about their course. All seemed normal.

This is when things took a turn for the worst. This older man began to discuss CIT and its students. He went on to call them “boy racers” “messers” and a host of other derogatory terms.

He claimed that they have a “chip on their shoulder” with regard to UCC students because of a supposed inferiority complex. Everything he said about them made it apparent that he thought much less of any CIT student than he did of a UCC student. He made it clear that he thought very little of any one who made the choice to attend CIT as opposed to UCC. What shocked me more was the response of the students. On the whole they agreed with the

older man’s opinions. Not once did they try and defend their generation of student counterparts in Cork. While they did not actively criticise CIT students they did nod along in agreement with the slating of them by this man. They allowed themselves to inadvertently embody the stereotype of the UCC snob.

Why is there a conscious feeling that students who attend Institutes of Technology are somehow of a lesser intelligence than those who attend a University? The degrees produced by both establishments are of equal value. The courses offered are of the same quality and standards. There should be no belief that one institution is better than another. It is the individuals’ ability and passion for their studies which is the only aspect of their education which should be judged. Not the institution from which they received their degree.

Because I attend UCC this does in no way entitle me to look down on CIT students. It doesn’t entitle me to a belief of

a better education. I chose to attend UCC because of the course offered. If it had been offered in CIT then that is where I would be. Why should any student, or past student and now occasional lecturer, feel they are better, more intelligent or have a higher social standing because of the origin of their education?

Should the focus not be on the achievement of a third level education?

In this day and age it is a pity that I would have to encounter such ignorance. To the man on the train who, in no better word, slated CIT students, I find it a shame and embarrassment that you are associated with UCC. To the two students who remained silent on the matter and who chose instead to ignorantly agree with these claims, shame on you both for not having the guts to stand up to this man. I would like to believe that, not even the majority, but all students would not share this mans sentiments on education establishments. While we may feel a loyalty to our own college we should not use this loyalty as an

excuse to disregard the education sought by others elsewhere.

To judge a person on where they receive an education is simply ignorant and shows a high lack of development on your own behalf.

Education and its pursuit is what is important, not where you pursue it but whether you do or not. If we create a society where the belief is held that one establishment is regarded as “better” than the others then this can only be detrimental.

Students from all backgrounds, from all abilities and all interests are needed to make this a better country and society. How can we aim to achieve this when we are led to believe that certain third level institutions are for the less intelligent of students?

The stigma of University students looking down on students from an Institute of Technology background needs to stop. We are no better for attending UCC than those who attend CIT a few miles away from us and those who may think so maybe aren’t ready for third level education yet.

Single Girl Rants Dear Boys, You have no idea how easy you have it.

Sincerely,

All Girls.

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e women have a lot to deal with in comparison to men. I don’t even know where to begin because there is so much to put up with and so much beyond our control.

Firstly men do not have to deal with the monthly gift from Mother Nature. Why they call it a gift is beyond me. Gifts are supposed to be something you want or enjoy. This is nothing like that. Try feeling like your womb is falling out of you while someone is punching you in the stomach while also having the constant fear that a mysterious stain may appear on your

clothes. The only time this can be considered a gift is when you are experiencing that “pregnancy worry”, then there is nothing better than going to purchase some feminine hygiene products.

Moving on from this is pregnancy and childbirth. Pregnancy to me is reminiscent of the movie Alien. Something literally grows inside of you. While doing so it decides to make you nauseous, tired, hormonal, gain weight and to top it all off it decides to kick you from the inside. I can’t imagine the feeling of being kicked from inside my own body. After 9 months of glorious pregnancy where you are not glowing from the miracle of life but from the sweat of carrying this extra person the wonder of labour ensues. Some women have to get stitches, yes stitches,

on their private parts because you men decided to fertilise us like some sort of plant. Don’t even try and compare getting kicked in the nuts to childbirth.

No pain will ever come close to pushing a watermelon out of a hole the size of a tampon. You’d think that would be it then, over and done with after 9 months.

Oh how wrong you are my little male companion. We then are left with stretch marks because your baby has decided out skin needn’t be flawless and then to top it all off they will literally suck our breasts dry. So we are left fat, stripy and saggy. Ah the miracle of life is a wondrous thing!

Regardless of all things biological we then have society to deal with. Unfortunately for us we do not have a team of make up artists, stylists, personal train-

ers and hairdressers available at our every beck and call. We also do not have access to airbrushing software to edit all our Facebook pictures. According to society we should all look like Megan Fox or Mila Kunis. I can admit as a heterosexual woman that these girls are damn hot!

But guys seriously we will never look like them. I wish I lived in a world where looks were not important. I could leave my house without wearing makeup or straightening my hair. I could wear tracksuits the whole time instead of dresses and skirts. Unfortunately for me this is not the case. One must look ones best at all times. One must try and achieve that “natural” look that boys apparently like so much.

This look is achieved through make-up so I hate to break it to you boys but this “natural” look

is not natural at all.

Don’t even get me started on clothes. Push-up bras that promise to double our cup size while giving us a cleavage enviable of Jordan. Underwear designed to suck us in in all the right places to give you males the illusion that there is not one ounce of fat on this immaculately kept body.

But that’s the truth, it’s all an illusion.

So boys next time you may feel that you have it rough because you must gel your hair or shave your face take a second to think what must a girl do to all her hair? What must a girl go through in picking out an outfit? All these things. The plucking, waxing, shaving, make-up, fake tan, wonderbras and spanx.

It’s all for you. It’s to look good for you so you damn well better appreciate it.

12 | Features

March 6th, 2013

As goes UCC, so goes the nation?

Orla Hubbard

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íl aon amhras ach go bhfuil an rialtas neamhsheasmhach faoi láthair, agus tá an ciall i bhfolach in áit éigean rúnda i dTeach Laighean. Glacaim féin nach dtaispeánann pobalbhreitheanna an pictiúr ceart nó iomlán i gcónaí, ach is uirlis é an vótálaíocht chun suimiú a fháil ar mheon an phobail ag amanna áirithe. Mar sin féin, is suimiúil go dtugann na pobalbhreitheanna úrnua pictiúirí an-éagsúla dúinn. Thosaíomar an bhliain nua seo ag féachaint ar staitisticí a chuir Fianna Fáil ag bar an liosta. Bhí ionadh agus úafás ag daoine timpeall na tíre chun é sin a chloisteáil, tar éis an cruatan agus léirscrios a d’fhág said ina ndiaidh dhá bhliain ó shin.

Ach tá an suíomh suimiúla maidir leis na páirtí (agus grúpaí) polaitiúla eile. Athraíonn na staitisticí gach uile lá, agus ó sheachtain go seachtain bíonn grúpaí difriúla coitianta agus ag fáil tacaíocht sa tír. Tá an Lucht Oibre ag cailiúint tacaíocht de bharr treoraí an pháirtí,

Éamon Gilmore. Feictear óna vótaíochtaí gur cheart dóibh an Rialtas a thréigint. Níl sé chomh soiléir i gcás Sinn Féin, áfach.

Faightear uimhreacha difriúla dóibh tar éis gach pobalbhreith mar théann a gcuid tacaíocht anuas agus aníos leis na saincheisteanna áirithe. Tá torthaí inghlactha go leor ag Fine Gael chomh maith, ach seasann siad cúpla pointí os cionn nó faoi bhun Fianna Fáil sna vótaíochtaí difriúla.

An t-aon grúpa amháin a choimeádann tacaíocht agus deauimhreacha ná na comhaltaí neamhspleácha. Chaith siad an tréimhse le déanaí ag méadú a gcuid iompair agus ag cruthú nascanna leis na gnáthdaoine.

Seasann siad suas sa Dáil, agus ar na sráideanna, ar son an gnáthduine agus na fadhbanna laethúla a bhaineann leis. Gan trácht ar bith ar a gcuid polaitíochta féin nó a gcreidimh pearsanta, faigheann na comhaltaí neamhspleácha an méid tacaíocht sin mar is cosúil go mbíonn siad dílis do na daoine, seachas aon páirtí, agus faightear meas éigean ar son dílseacht.

Os comhair an cúlra polaitíoch-

ta seo, táimid féin i measc aimsir na polaitíochta anseo i UCC. Beidh díospóireachtaí ar siúl idir na hiarrthóirí anocht (Dé Chéadaoin), agus beidh seans ag na mic léinn ann chun eolas a fháil ar na polasaithe agus radharcanna atá ag gach iarrthóir.

Tuigim go bhfuil a lán mic léinn traochta dena toghcháin don Aontas na Mac Léinn, agus nach bhfuil suim dá laghad ag cuid eile agaibh. Ach is rud bunúsach é cé a bheidh ag seasamh dona mic léinn an bhliain seo chugainn, agus cé a bheidh ag obair ar bhur son chun an ollscoil a fheabhsú. Ní thuigeann an cuid is mó dos na mic léinn an méid cumhacht a bhaineann leis na postanna san Aontas. Ach an cúis go bhfuil an méid sin cumhacht acu ná ionas go mbeidh siad in ann cabhair libhse i slí réalaíoch.

Faoin am seo, tá na forógraí le fáil ar line, agus is féidir iad a léimh agus suimiú a dhéanamh dóibh féin ar na hiarrthóirí. Tar amach ar champus agus labhair leis na hiarrthóirthí agus a gcuid foirne. Cuir ceisteanna orthu

t.com onnections.blogspo Image: corkboardc

a g u s inis dóibh cad iad na fadhbanna a bhraitheann sibhse san ollscoil, agus cad é an réiteach gur mhaith libhse! Is é an t-am anois, roimh na toghcháin, chun saincheisteanna nua a chur isteach sa díospóireacht. Tabhair breith ar na hiarrthóirí libh féin, ach i ngan

fhios don bhreith, téigh amach an seachtain seo chugainn agus vótáíl! B’fhéidir nach bhfuil a lán cumhacht againn chun polaitíocht náisiúnta a fheabhsú, ach is féidir linn tosnú anseo agus vótáil ar son na hiarrthóirí is fearr agus is cáilithe don phost. Má rithimid ár dtoghcháin le dílseacht agus meas, b’fhéidir go mbeidh éifeacht éigean ag an sampla anseo ar an gcuid eile don tír, agus na polaiteoirí inti. Mar níl clú acu anois.

An Teanga Timpeall Orainn Eoghan Lyng

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uíochas le Dia go bhfuil uachtarán againn agus suim aige sa ghaeilge.

Tá sé in am do na héireannaigh meon spiodrach a coiméad ar áir teanga agus tá sé i bhfad níos fusa dúinne nuair atá fear le suim agus spéis aige sa teanga in ár gceantar. Adhmháim gur fíor cliché é an seanfhocail “tír gan teanga í tír gan anam”. Tá cultúr iontach againne in Éireann, ag na poncánnaigh agus ag na h-astrálaigh cé go labhraitear teanga na sasannaigh sna tíortha dúchais. Ach, is deas an rud don phobal labhairt ina teanga féin, teanga a cruthadar iad féin. Na bígí buartha. Nílim ag iarraidh réabhlód a chothú .

Ní aontaím le foréigean in aon slí. Is beag an am atá agam do

dhaoine atá i mbun foreigéan.

Táimse an-tógtha le cúltúr na sasannaigh. Éístíom le The Beatles, Pink Floyd agus Led Zeppelin agus is iad “Withnail and I” agus “Life of Brian” na scannaín is fearr liom. Níl aon áit ar domhain comh iontach le Londan, dar liom. An gcíonn sibh mo phoinnte?

Ar ndóigh, bheadh sé go hiontach dúinn dá mbeadh muid in ann níos mó gaeilge a labhairt timpeall na háite. Ní droch rud é do theanga a labhairt. Ceapaimse go mbíonn náire ar dhaoine í a labhairt. Cuireann daoine áirithe an (mileán) ar chursaí oideachais.

Ráiméis. Tá an miléan orainne, a chairde. Tá neart áiteanna chun an ghaeilge a labhairt agus feabhas a chur uirthi. Feachaigí ar na halbannaigh agus muintir

an Bhreatain Bheag. Níl rud ar bith ag cur cosc orthu siúd, cé go bhfuil siad lonnaithe ar an oileán céanna leis an Bhanríon.

Cén fádh nach bhfuilimid cosúil leo?

Léisciúleacht. Sin é, ag deireadh an lae. Labhraíonn formhóir na daltaí a fhreastaláíonn ar cursaí samhraidh sa ghaeltach as béarla. Tuigimse gur gnáth rud é agus nílim ag iarraidh lámh a chur ar éinne (rinne mé iarracht labhairt i mbéarla gach seans a fuaireas nuair a fhreastalaíos ar ghaelscoil), ach is fianaise é sin nach bhfuil morán muinín ag éireannaigh as a teanga féin a labhairt.

Nach ait í an saol go bfhuil teanga againn agus níl sé in úsaid. Tá sé cosúil le ríomhaire a fuireamar sa nochóidí. Níl rud

air bith cearr leis,faraor ach, níl sí spreagúil a thuilleadh. Is mór an trua é,ach táimid in ann an scéal a athrú.

Tá cumainn spéisiúl le fáil sa tír agus is mór dúinn iad a úsáíd. Tuigim go mbíonn eagla ar daoine faoin ngaeilge. Ná bígí buartha. Tá eagla air gach duine faoin tuiseal garmach, goinideach agus. Ní gá díobh bheith buartha faoi na rudaí sin- bog ar aghaidh céim ar chéim.

Tá Gaelscéal, Foinnse, GaelTaca, Comhluadar, Comhairle na hÉireann, Tg4, Raidió na Gaeilge agus eagróid/saothair eile ann chun ár dteanga a spreagadh. Tá baint acu le méan nua, litríocht, caint agus a leithéid. Tá siad fíor cabhrach neart a ceagail idir an gnath duine agus a theanga. Tá cúpla cumainn éagsúil i bhformhóir na

gcolaistí agus tá siad ann chun cabhair agus comhairleacht a thabhairt do dhaoine. Munadh bhfuil fonn ort buaileadh le daoine nua, bígí ag cleachtadh le do chairde. Gheobhfaidh tú solás agus suaimhneas as,deirimse leat!

Ag deireadh an lae, táimid ar an oiléan seo ar cósta na heorpa.

Cé gur mionteanga í an ghaeilge, tá sé go hiontach go bhfuil sé againne agus tá sé comh mhaith dul i dteanghmháil léi.

Níl fonn orm críochnú ar alt mídhócasach agus mar sin, críochnóidh mé le scéilín. Bhíos ag siúl go dtí bialann an choláiste agus chonaic mé leannáin agus iad ag labhairt i nGaeilge.

Ar ndoigh, bhíos an- sásta an ghaeilge a cloisint. Tá súil agam go gcloisimid níos minicí í sa todhcaí.

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02 | Editorials

March 6th, 2013

Uncovering the curiosities of Irish behaviour Entertainment editor Tracy Nyhan speaks to author and anthropologist David Slattery before his visit to UCC.

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an you tell us about your new book, Poet, Madman, Scoundrel, and give a few examples of the characters dealt with in the book?

I wanted to write a book that captured a broader range of Irish humanity than the traditional historical approach. Irish historians can be quite puritanical about who deserves to be remembered, and can set themselves up as moral, political, and patriotic authorities on who deserves to get into our history. As a result, those selected tend to be boring. I decided to set myself up as a different sort of historical authority, and write a book about those I thought were not boring. Yes, that makes my selection highly personal because what bores me is highly individualistic. In general, I am bored by politicians, most people who are successful - especially in worthy fields, churchmen, the pious, and Peig Sayers. But I don’t feel I am doing these an historical injustice by ignoring them because they have plenty historical coverage elsewhere. I noticed that women tend to be forgotten so I tried to include as many of them as possible because, surprisingly, they are as interesting as the men.

So who are the people I find interesting in Irish history? Many of the old saints were quite mad.

There are interesting prostitutes and criminals who were relatively successful, at least for a while. I also find artists interesting if they have a weak-

ness for drugs, alcohol, violence, or a particular muse. Ireland produced the best horror writers in the nineteenth century, before the invention of electrical lighting, a skill we have surrendered to Hollywood. We have also had some notable crazy scientists and mathematicians, for example, the Boole sisters from Cork, some of the first publicly acknowledged lesbians, as well as explorers, soldiers, sailors and tall people. My book is really just a dolly-mixture of interesting people who, because of their own strength of character for good or evil, make me proud to be Irish. Robert Emmet is well remembered but we forget his revolution lasted only two hours, that he invented the flick-pike and that his bomb factory blew up.

He deserves not to be forgotten for those achievements in incompetence.

Your previous book, How to Be Irish, has achieved widespread acclaim and has been praised by Des Bishop as “an insightful and funny delve into the Irish mind.” On a personal level, how important is it for you to study the Irish mindset?

I had three reasons for writing about the Irish mindset from an anthropological point of view. First, I wanted to do something to try to popularise my own discipline - anthropology - in Ireland because, while it is a very interesting discipline, it is not well known.

Some people think it may even be the study of ants.

Second, if I was going to

make anthropology popular in Ireland I thought that I should do it about contemporary Irishness because we Irish are fascinated by ourselves. Third, objectively speaking we have a unique attitude that I felt would be interesting to capture because, while there have been foreign anthropological studies of Irishness, there has been very little by Irish people on Irishness. I especially wanted to look at the lighter side of topics like the dysfunctional Irish family, the role of death and misery, builders, our relationship with global culture, our collective emotional retardation – all the things that we love to complain about.

Is it important on a national and international level?

For example, is representing aspects of ‘Irishness’ - in the witty approach that you utilise - important for how we view ourselves and for how others view us? While the book is funny, it also has a serious agenda. At the time of writing, because the international reputation of the country was collapsing around us, I wanted to write something that would make Irish people feel good about being Irish and make non-Irish jealous that they might be missing out. It is very important to me that I write about Irishness in such a way that it makes us, in Ireland, feel proud of ourselves. It is great when someone would tell me that they thought that what I wrote was awful but true and made them

laugh. At the level of national psychotherapy, we have to celebrate who we are rather than trying to be something else. I try to emphasise the wealth of our culture in social interactions, the complexity of our Hiberno-English: to make us feel like a special club that anyone would want to belong to. In this year of “The Gathering” it is important to show people in an international context how rich and complex our society is, especially if they are planning to come here for a gathering, which actually sounds like something from a zombie film.

Your witty approach is refreshing to say the least – what made you take this approach rather than old-fashioned (boring) approach to writing about history?

I have always had a sense of humour which has been a huge defect because it can get in the way of a traditional academic career.

History, especially Irish history, is traditionally very serious. Most important thinking tends to be serious. So you can imagine the handicap of having a sense of humour about the Black Death, beheadings, failed revolutions, losing wars and all the other things that characterise the past in Ireland. I have to train myself not to make jokes about the famine, which by the way, I don’t.

I would be much happier if I had no sense of humour – if I was an old-fashioned bore - because it makes writing old-fashioned boring stuff easier. But when I think of something funny I tend to write it down with-

out thinking through the consequences. My parents took me aside when I was young and warned me that my life would be ruined if I didn’t stop seeing the humour in things.

Naturally I ignored them because that’s what you should do with parental warnings. I read something recently that people are more likely to believe things that they find boring or don’t understand. Consequently, people don’t believe things they find interesting or understand.

No one ever believes me, even when I am telling the truth. It is better for any career if you can do indignant ranting about how awful everyone and everything is. I advise anyone wanting to write about culture and history to rant if they can. Eventually, after experimenting with being boring I gave up and went with my wittier instincts.

Fortunately, people outside of academic history find it interesting, but they hardly count. I am currently a contributing editor for Popular Anthropology because surprisingly there is an emerging demand for popular stuff. Who could have seen that coming?

David Slattery’s books are available in book shops such as Liam Ruiseal’s in Cork, Easons, online at OrpenPress.com and on Amazon.co.uk where it is also available in Kindle format. He will be speaking tonight (Tuesday) at 19:30 in Civil Engineering G10, hosted by the Historical Society.

Entertainment | 03

March 6th, 2013

Editor’s Choice – Album: Amok

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Deputy Entertainment editor Jack Broughan rates Atoms For Peace’s new album.

t’s been a long time since Radiohead’s music has had any sort of relevance to me. The band’s music always seemed to be a third rate mix of each individual member’s influences and favourite groups. Once I had dipped into the back catalogues of the bands that Radiohead referenced on their releases Radiohead’s own efforts always paled in comparison. For a band championed as progressive and innovative Radiohead always struck me as the direct opposite.

However, with the release of The King of Limbs Thom Yorke’s immersion into club music seems to have taken hold. Dense rhythmic patterns featured throughout, and synthetic sounds and loops blended into Radiohead’s more traditional pallet. While to many this

territory may have been adequately covered by Kid A, King Of Limbs made the introduction of these nontraditional influences blend seamlessly into Radiohead’s music. “Lotus Flower” for example, is driven by a warm melodic line from a minimoog and underpinned by tasteful mix of acoustic and sampled drum rhythms.

Atoms for Peace in this light seem more like a logical progression. Bonding initially it seems after a drunken night of pool and Fela Kuti Records, initial details and interviews with Yorke seemed to imply that Atoms for Peace were most certainly not “Thom Yorke and friends” playing limp solo tracks that didn’t make the cut for a Radiohead record. Better yet, the record seemed to be shaping up to be an extension of Yorke’s

forays into club music with a mix of afro beat records.

The reality is unfortunately not quite the bizarre dance record that many perhaps were hoping for.

From the outset, Amok sounds cold and almost sparse. Many tracks feel underdeveloped or worse yet show skeletal signs of promise. The album’s opener “Default” begins with skittering percussion, tense synth arpeggios and Yorke’s hushed reverb laden croons. The track’s chorus is particularly stunning, comprising of a simple synth progression and Yorke repeating “The will is strong but the flesh is weak….” is enough to raise hairs on the back of the listener’s neck. However the track still just feels skeletal, leading me to believe at one point that I’d somehow got-

ten hold of a leaked demo version.

“Dropped” is another of the records standout tracks. Driven by a staccato synth line, it sounds like a stripped down jungle record. “Dropped” also showcases perhaps a more restrained vision of Flea’s bass playing. Melodic and in check, it’s worlds away from the frenetic show boating that’s all over Red Hot Chilli Pepper records.

At times it leaves me feeling like a burst of some of his more extravagant rhythms would do the album a world of good. Amok was reportedly built up from a number of loops and demos passed between Nigel Godrich and Thom Yorke, then handed to the rest of the group for embellishment. Perhaps it’s too subtle, perhaps it’s that the rhythm section is too “in

the pocket” on Amok but the groups live drummer and percussionist almost seem non-existent on the record.

Amok all round is a disappointment. A record that should and most definitely has the potential to be great, sounds almost skeletal and restrained.

Boasting a rhythm section that most artists would cut their right arm off to play with, Amok should sound as raw and engaging as the Fela Kuti records that Thom Yorke apparently bonded the band over. Instead it sounds more like a collection of highly polished demos recorded in the isolation of a studio without the interaction of other band members. All this is further frustrated by the records brief and visceral glimpses of greatness.

Why you shouldn’t hide your Abba records from your friends

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Deputy Entertainment Editor Jack Broughan attempts to rid pop music of its stigma.

ver since I first started listening to music it seems every single person I know has some sort of anxiety about listening to pop music. By anxiety I don’t mean some sort of deep seeded mental trauma attached to a specific song of album but rather an anxiety of admitting even the smallest adoration for an artist in the perceived pop spectrum.

Take for example the whole notion of guilty pleasures.

We all doubtlessly have them and enjoy them in the same measure as the rest of our record collections; however we are unwilling to tell others about our love for said artists because of a perceived inferiority to other artists.

This begs the question as to whom or what dictates the artist’s inferiority.

The common trope is usually that an artist is a pop

or popular artist. The implicating being that in order to sell huge amounts of records an artist must be gentrified in some manor or that there is a formula or sense of manufacturing applied to the artist in order to make them palatable to a wider audience. Indeed it’s common practice for an artist on a major label to work with session writers and musicians in tandem with producers, all sharing various degrees of responsibility and control in the overall work. It’s been a common feature in the music industry since its inception. The presence of session writers and musicians after all is not some sort of scientific formulation of chord progressions and rhythms to hypnotise the masses into buying records but rather a process much akin to your favourite independent artist. The only difference is

that one is being paid by a label to put the songs together and more than likely to a set notion of parameters, For example: to fit in with an artist’s previous body of work.

Another common attack on pop music is that any artist’s output under the sphere of popular music is somehow dumbed down.

Frequently studies such as Measuring the Evolution of Contemporary Western Popular Music published in Scientific Reports are presented as undeniable prof of some sort of creeping gentrification in popular music. This anxiety is used to bolster self-aggrandizing notions that popular music is somehow inferior to other spectrums of music. On closer examination, “studies” like the aforementioned one seem to be tenuous at best. Musicologist Stephen Graham pointed out

a myriad of inconsistencies in a lengthy article in the Quietus around the publishing of the study. Principally Graham pointed to the studies focus on three factors: loudness, pitch and timbre were reductive in that simplifying the perceived progress of music to three factors ignored a myriad of others. Also most tellingly the article points to the circular reasoning at the heart of the paper. If the authors claim that ‘our perception of the new would be rooted on these changing characteristics’ (i.e. on the criteria utilised in the paper) the horizon of what is “new” is limited solely to these factors and the awkwardly appropriated “data” found within.

Fundamentally the notion of pop music as in inferior art form is defined by taste, a completely subjective notion. Reaching back

to the writings of Kant, particularly on aesthetics and tastes this topic has been broached long ago in his work Critique of Judgement published in 1790. Kant argues amongst other topics that good taste. Good taste, to Kant, cannot be found in any sort of generalization but rather is the general consensus of a set group. Its status as a nonart form or something that is somehow inferior to other quarters of music has no grounding in reality. Rather is seems popular music’s second citizen status stems from a group consensus of superior taste, ungrounded in reality and fuelled by egoism. So next time somebody scoffs at the Duran Duran or Radiohead records in your collection, politely tell them to f*ck off.

04 | Film & TV

March 6th, 2013

Multiplicity and infinity Cathal Dennehy finds Cloud Atlas to be too often unfairly dismissed.

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here to begin? Cloud Atlas was always going to be a difficult film; difficult to make, to understand and, crucially, to sell. After having flopped quite severely in America, many had written off Cloud Atlas as a bloated, baffling mess. This, however, seems to be a very unfair dismissal.

Directors/screenwriters Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer have achieved what Ang Lee did with Life of Pi in that they took what was widely believed to be an unfilmable novel and make something coherent, entertaining and cinematic (although Cloud Atlas is not as well rounded a film as Life of Pi). The novel of the same name by David Mitchell describes tales of six different people from various time periods and locations. The multitude of plot lines, while never actually interlocking, are linked through time itself as events, interactions and characters themselves resonate down

through the ages. Surprisingly, the six plot strands are well balanced and the film never feels cluttered or confused. The film, despite its nearly three hour running time, never drags and

how some of the bigger stars, like Hanks and Broadbent, are given several roles of varying significance in each storyline, whereas younger performers, such as Ben Whishaw and Jim

remains consistantly engaging and interesting.

The cast is star-studded, including Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent and Hugh Grant, whose performances are diverse to say the least.

What’s interesting to note is

Sturgess, have a single, meatier role to deal with. In some ways seeing the same actor turn up every so often in different make up and with another accent can be slightly disconcerting. Elements like these makes one wish at times that lesser known

actors were used, as the huge star wattage can distract from the characters themselves.

Also, as there are so many characters and so many storylines to juggle there is little time left to fully develop the characters themselves, and as a result the film is interesting but never truly compelling. Nevertheless, performances such as Ben Whishaw’s forlorn composer and Halle Berry’s 1970s reporter stand out as the most engaging.

The overall message of the film is that people’s actions (be they kind or unpleasant) resonate and send a ripple through time, affecting people in strange and disparate ways. For example, Jim Broadbent’s decision in 2012 to escape from his nursing home causes a revolution in 22nd Century Seoul. Such is the tone of the film; we are all connected and we carry on living after we die. Some may find that the occasionally drippy message becomes overly preachy at times, as characters

constantly reference how they feel that they know this situation or how that person seems so farmiliar. I feel that the film is successful in managing its central conceit. Unlike films such as Prometheus which became bogged down by its farreaching philosophical notions, Cloud Atlas - despite the supposed incomprehension of its subject matter - is surprisingly manageable and simple enough to grasp. The message actually is a relatively simple one which is told in a complex way.

Cloud Atlas certainly is a flawed film, mainly in its inability to give its characters much more than surface depth. However its strengths outweigh its weaknesses; the complexity of its story telling and the successful reigning in of the multiple plot strands to form a coherent film stand to make it a unique and often challenging cinema experience, something which should be acknowleged when it comes along.

Cinematic waves Bryan Lynch fills us in on the Cork French Film Festival and the potential of its films.

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he Cork French Film Festival is one of the city’s annual cinematic highlights.

Now in its 24th year, this March will see the festival adopt the theme Noir et Blanc and the organisers have secured a good crop of black and white films from the last century of French cinema, including screenings of an episode of Louis Feuillade’s 1913 serial Fantômas and Mathieu Kassovitz’s biting social critique La Haine (1995).

As I browsed through the programme, one film in particular caught my attention: Marcel Carné’s 1938 masterpiece Quai Des Brumes; and it got me thinking about cinema’s potential both as a social barometer and an agent of change.

Carné’s film is now regarded as the high-water mark of what became known as “poeticrealism,” which flourished in French cinema of the 1930s.

Adapted from a novel by Pierre Mac Olan, Jacques Prévert’s wonderfully morose script told the story of an army deserter and a teenage runaway who

meet in the gloomy port city of Le Harve. Both are trying to escape their past and Carné’s skilful direction perfectly captures the cynicism and apathy of inter-war France. Indeed, the film’s depiction of French society and character was so downbeat and negative that many cited it as a reason why France was defeated by Germany in 1940. Such a claim may sound like an exaggeration today; but it is certainly true that even in the 1930s, there were already examples of a film having a direct influence on society, sometimes with explosive results.

Perhaps the most extreme example is the role D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915) played in the re-emergence of America’s most notorious terrorist organisation. The Ku Klux Klan had been declared illegal and disbanded in 1871, but its heroic portrayal as the saviours of White America in Griffith’s film inspired a new generation of Klansmen. By the early 1920s, the KKK’s membership was estimated at between four

and six million men. The iconography and even the clothing of this second Klan were first seen in The Birth of a Nation.

The crosses and white sheets had no precedent in the 19th Century Klan.

While the impact of Griffith’s film is an example cinema’s danger when employed by the hateful to deceive and corrupt, it must be stressed that c i n e m a ’s power as an agent of change has often been positive. In the year 2000, Mexico gave the world what many considered to be the first great film of the 21st Century. Alejandro González Iñár-

ritu’s Amores Perros, struck like a lightning bolt with its damning portrayal of contemporary Mexican society. Like Quai Des

Brumes, the film’s story was filled with moral indifference and apathy, but also possessed a brutal streak which shattered Mexico’s old exoticism and re-

placed it with a new one defined by urban landscapes and violent death. The film’s depiction of Mexico at the turn of the century was so negative that it’s impact could be felt politically and some have gone so far as to suggest that it was responsible for ending the notoriously corrupt seventy-one year rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party. Mexicans went to the polls just six weeks after Amores Perros was released.

Cinema has defined fashion and style but it has also shaped how we see the world and ourselves, worked as a propaganda tool for hate and served as a rallying cry for social change.

Cinema can create its own “truth”, for better or worse, and, to bring this piece back to France, Jean-Luc Godard once said, “if a photograph is truth, than cinema is truth twenty four times a second”.

The 24th Cork French Film Festival runs from March 3rd to 10th.

Film & TV | 05

March 6th, 2013

To the ballots Aisling Murphy fills us in on the dos and do nots of Film and TV elections.

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n honour of UCC’s upcoming elections, I’ve decided to help the candidates out by compiling a list of dos and don’ts one can take from various television shows and films that have dealt with elections.

We all know the only place everyone learns anything from any more is the television anyway.

Am I right? Or maybe this is the reason I have yet to achieve a first class honours in any module... Read closely, potential candidates, for these could be the difference between being college royalty or an unemployed graduate.

Napoleon Dynamite: The ‘Vote for Pedro’ t-shirt that will forever be remembered from this cult-classic shows that Napoleon and Pedro knew how to make a lasting impact when it came to student elections.

DO: get your weird friend to help you but only if he is weird in a fantastic, iconic way; not a creepy, murderer-y way. Bonus point if said weird friend will

wear your campaign t-shirt everywhere and is willing to dance in front of the student body in order to gain votes.

DON’T: just presume you’ll get the vote because you’re good looking.

Ides of March: Basically, Ryan Gosling and George Clooney are on screen together a lot. And they are campaigning for an election, therefore it is worth mentioning.

DO: get an election poster that has both the face of Ryan Gosling and George Clooney on it.

Their beautiful faces will entice people of all creeds to vote for you.

DON’T: have skeletons in your closet with which your opponents could bring you down.

Unless the skeletons are hilarious and can be used to your advantage.

Glee: Nothing. That’s right.

Glee can teach us nothing, despite running three elections in its four seasons. The only things it has taught us is that Ameri-

can thirtysomething year olds p re t e n d i n g to be high school teenagers are really annoying. And that Sarah Jessica Parker is whiny in every role she ever plays.

Gangs of New York: While election strategies are a minor side plot in S c o r s e s e ’s historical crime drama, the sheriff elections shed light on some ‘unconventional’ tactics.

DO: get a gang to support you.

Preferably one of the Irish immigrants. Also, ensure that you get everyone to vote, regardless of whether they are willing or not...

DON’T: run unless you have the support of Daniel Day-Lewis.

The West Wing: This inspirational series which ran for seven seasons depicted the two terms of the great American

Dreams and obsessions Dylan White casts a critical eye over ITV’s Mourinho.

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TV’s latest documentary titled Mourinho, takes a look at the managerial record of one of football’s most charismatic figures. Over the past decade, the beautiful game has witnessed the unexpected rise to prominence of Jose Mourinho, possibly one of the greatest masterminded tacticians ever to grace the touchline.

Mourinho explores moments of divine ingenuity that have defined this determined and driven character, entailing a little controversy along the way. Having studied the game for more than 15 years, collating information, drawing up strategies and passing exams, the Special One made the conscious decision to go into management.

Mourinho spent the summer of 2000 transforming his detailed notes and observations into his own footballing bible, rewriting the rules of engagement for the 21st century coach.

The documentary highlights the confidence that radiates off this fascinating individual.

Mourinho appears to be completely at home and unfazed

by the constant demands of the world that surrounds him.

Mourinho’s ability to walk into a press conference and take control almost “makes Machiavelli look like a beginner”.

Mourinho’s brash exterior and flamboyant persona divided opinion amongst pun-

est managers ever to grace the dug-out: “Please don’t call me arrogant because what I’m saying is true”.

Mourinho’s tremendous footballing brain ensured that he continued to evolve as a student of the game, in the process of inspiring all those

dits and punters alike when he first became part of the Roman Abramovich era at Chelsea.

The media hanged on his every word, with biographer Patrick Barclay comparing his influence on English society with Brian Clough, one of the great-

around him. His meticulous nature and intellectual ability was pivotal to his immediate success at Chelsea. Mourinho hit the ground running, encouraging his players to express themselves and remain true to their personality, both on and off the

president that doesn’t exist but that we all hope someday will.

It also showed how cool the White House is from bowling alleys to important military meeting rooms to the biggest fridges ever. I imagine the house in which the UCC student union president resides is pretty similar.

DO: have inspirational quotes at hand to dispense to a person in need at any time. Also, talk quickly while walking at a fast pace down corridors, i.e. pre-

tend you’re busy all the time.

People like to see dedication and hard work, even if you are walking and talking really quickly to the New Bar to get a pint.

DON’T: forget your roots. You may be big shot on campus now, but always remember the little people who helped get you there, otherwise your dream of being a leader like Jed Bartlet will come crashing down around you.

playing surface. He managed to instil a ruthless streak in the Londoners that had not been seen for quite some time, basing his tactics on the belief that “we cannot lose”.

Nonetheless, Mourinho’s tenure in England was overshadowed by his failure to win Chelsea the coveted Champions League, and came to an abrupt ending in 2007. This paved the way for Mourinho to take Series A by storm. With Inter Milan probably at the lowest ebb ever in the club’s history, Mourinho took charge, winning the treble, a feat no other coach had ever achieved before.

However, the Italian establishment didn’t like Mourinho’s antics and gestures. His tempestuous behaviour spoke volumes, defying the system and overstepping the mark on a continual basis. Although he remained resolute to the very end, it was with great sadness that Mourinho bided an emotional farewell to the players he had grown to call his own.

Forgive many for believing that the motivation behind Mourinho’s decision to take over at Real Madrid in the summer of 2010 stemmed partly down to his affiliation with his previous employers Barcelona.

It appears as though he wants to prove his former paid masters wrong, bridging the gap between being a mere club translator, and being a great coach.

Without a doubt, Mourinho offers a unique insight into the career of the abrasive and confrontational yet lovable Jose Mourinho.

His movie star satire, acting in a relaxed yet egotistical way at times when he should be under immense pressure glues millions to their screens, making for box office entertainment. The huge media entourage that surrounds Mourinho is a testimony to the status he has achieved over such a short time span. We are indebted to the magician that is Mourinho, incomparable to the rest.

Yet, we cannot help but feel for the man behind the mask.

As a devoted father and husband, Mourinho has to balance his responsibilities, and ensure that his dreams don’t become obsessions. He recognises that the difference between success and failure is very narrow, with the prospect of switching off a light and becoming a person that nobody knows appearing to be a master class even too great for the Special One.

06 | Music

March 6th, 2013

Hot picks of the festival season It’s that time of year again when the festival is all that’s on any self-respecting music lover’s mind. Here, Ruth Ni Leannachain discusses the best of the bunch.

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don’t consider myself to be high maintenance, I too have slept out in the bitter cold, lashing rain and urine soaked campsites, having paid €400 to get drunk and watch a series of great bands (while shivering and eating overpriced chips). Hell, I’ve even enjoyed it, but considering Oxegen is now a twoday affair and Electric Picnic is a long way away, I’ve started to wonder if I should look to an alternative…

The first offering comes in the form of the mini-festival. The mini-festival has grown in popularity in the last couple of years, and it’s no surprise considering early bird camping tickets can come in at just 99euro per person. The two most popular Irish mini-festivals are Castlepalooza, which has been touted at a small Electric Picnic and the local fest, Indiependence. I’ve had the

pleasure of attending both festivals and they are perfect for someone looking for a chilled out weekend, or even for festival first timers, who want to ease themselves into a culture of disgusting toilets and damp sleeping bags.

Their line-ups are, admittedly a little less impressive than their larger counterparts, but between them they’ve staged White Lies, Feeder, 2 Many DJ’s, Ghost Poet and The Charlatans as well as a plethora of the usual Irish favourites. Indiependence has the feel of a packed pub in Cork, in that you’re guaranteed to bump into plenty of familiar faces, but the award for most scenic site definitely goes to Castlepalooza, if you can get over the fact that the castle where it’s situated is considered the most haunted in the world, that is.

If you’re more interested in catching the big names of

the 2013 festivals (surely The Strokes and The Arctic Monkeys) you may be better heading off to further afield.

The European festivals boast cheap tickets, cheap booze and great headliners, with some festivals costing less with flights included than their Irish counterparts.

If you’re more interested in comfort than price, however, it’s the Spanish festivals that come up tops.

Benicassim and Primavera insure you won’t have to deal with wellies and soggy socks, and with headliners like Queens of the Stone Age, The Killers, Blur and Nick Cave, they could be

worth the hefty price tag. For added comfort you can even book yourself into a local hotel, which is compulsory for Primavera and optional of Benicassim. It may be worth it to avoid the inevitable heat exhaustion.

If you don’t have the option of the pricy festival, however, fear not. The two best Euro festivals for music fans on a budget have to be opener festival in Poland and Best Kept Secret festival in Holland. Cheap flights

are easily obtained if booked in advance and with tickets coming in at just over €100, these festivals seem to have it all (including very cheap alcohol - not that that’s advisable). Acts this year include the Arctic Monkeys, QOTSA, Blur, Miles Kane, No Age and Rihanna and both are set far from your average mud soaked field, with BKS on a lake and Opener by the beach, you’ll be sure to come home with as many tourist-y photos as drunken campsite snaps.

So there you have it, there’s a festival suited for every reveller out there. Now all you have to worry about is whether or not Dunnes Stores’ €10 tents will last three full nights of camping… (Editor’s tip: they don’t.

Not even close.)

Pet Hates of The Music Industry In this issue, Méadhbh Crowley discusses her personal pet peeves of the music industry.

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e’ve all got things that bug us about music today. For some of us it may be annoying teenage pop stars, or crooning indie bands, but for me it’s a never-ending list of thing that, if given the time, I could personally write a whole book about. But fortunately for you this is a much shorter rant.

The first thing that really bothers me is lip-syncing .

This was brought to my attention a few weeks ago when Beyoncé lip-synced the American national anthem at Obama’s inauguration. Having persistently denied that she did indeed mime, Beyoncé finally admitted to doing so, stating that it was “about the president and the inauguration and I wanted to make him and my country proud, so I decided to sing along with my pre-

recorded track, which is very common in the music industry, and I am very proud of my performance.”

Cheryl Cole has also re-

vealed that she sang along with a pre-recorded track during her performance at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Sure, we all would have slagged them off for a few weeks if they had messed up a few notes, but isn’t it

slightly worse to be told that they didn’t even sing at all?

If you were told that the €30 you spent on a ticket was wasted watching one of your favourite acts because t h e y weren’t p l a y ing live and the drummer, guitarists and lead singer w e r e all just miming you probably wouldn’t be pleased. So why is it OK? The next thing that really gets on my nerve is excessive auto tuning. Like miming, this takes away from the authenticity of a performance. I’m not naïve, believe

me, and I know auto-tune can be used for good. For example, the greatest singers like Amy Winehouse or Bruno Mars have had pitch problems in recording and were helped with auto tune, but what I’m talking about is the excessive use of auto tune where you can actually hear the robotic sound in the background. The journalist Greg Milner describes my feelings perfectly; “While working with Cher on the song “Believe” in 1998, producers Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling discovered that if they set Auto Tune on its most aggressive setting, so that it corrected the pitch at the exact moment it received the signal, the result was an unsettlingly robotic tone.”

My final pet peeve is sampling. I personally don’t understand why sampling is so popular, maybe it’s because

people are lazy and it’s easier to write just take a melody written by someone else and stick some new lyrics to it.

It’s just not the likes of The Black Eyed Peas and Flo Rida who are huge culprits of taking sampling to the extreme it’s other respected artists like Gotye and Avicci too.

Gotye’s Grammy winning single Somebody that I Used To Know is carefully taken from the 1978 Latin hit Seville, hard as it is to believe. Avicci’s Levels too, which itself was used on Flo Rida’s track Good Feeling features some obvious sampling which the track. Something’s got A Hold On Me by Etta James. It seems to be unoriginal and boring to me to use this technique and it’s certainly something I hope we see the end of soon.

Music | 07

March 6th, 2013

Eurovision Snoozovision?

The worst pop careers of all time We all enjoy some cringy pop now and again, but when does ‘guilty pleasure’ turn into ‘downright dreadful’? Ruth Ni Leannachain investigates.

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heesy pop is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine, and when I say cheesy, I don’t mean ironic faux hipster cheesy, either. I’m talking The Vengaboys and Daniel Bedingfield. But while you may still enjoy a sneaky listen Dido (while checking that your earphones are definitely plugged into the right place in fear of broadcasting this pleasure to Q+2 and forever being known as that person on SpottedintheBoole) you have to know when to admit that there are some pop monstrosities that can’t be enjoyed. In this issue, we’ve kindly listened so you don’t have to and picked the worst.

Listen at your own peril.

Heidi Montag - Higher: Most famous, perhaps, for her part in hit MTV reality show The Hills, where her and her aptly named boyfriend Spencer (the) Pratt managed to make more enemies between them than Justin Bieber’s latest squeeze. PreBig Brother and post plastic surgery, however, Montag found time to record an album and film a few videos.

Auto-tuned disasters that can only be compared to Rebecca Black’s Friday but without the funny, the video features Heidi frolicking in the waves and making kissy faces at the camera. Verdict: Not OK.

Paris Hilton - Stars are Blind: The title of this one

would perhaps lead you to think that Hilton had written a poignant number about her crazy star incrusted lifestyle.

However, you would be severely mistaken. In fact, this offering sounds a little like what Peter Andre would sing if he was a girl, and not in a good way either. Unlike Montag, Paris’ song does have a few things going for it, and to be fair the chorus is quite catchy. Verdict: Banksy

and Andre were still madly in love, they released their own version of this Disney favourite on their joint album of love songs. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they subsequently went on to support Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest, in what may be the only Eurovision entry worse than Jedward playing two consecutive years.

Verdict: Listen to Mysterious Girl instead.

hijacked her CDs in HMV, which is definitely quite cool.

The song’s alright too.

Kim Kardashian - Jam (turn it up): Because anything Paris can do Kim can do better - or at least she thinks she can - but where she won on reality shows and A-list boyfriends, she definitely lost in music. Kim’s track is pretty forgettable and rather than singing, one gets the feeling that Kim is just reciting a script laid out by some major producer who needs a dollar, she did give the money to charity, which is nice, but with her cash she probably could have just equalled the amount without subjecting us to this little number.

Verdict: Turn it down.

Katie Price and Peter Andre- A whole new world: If you listen to this backwards, it’s actually the sound of anyone who ever enjoyed Aladdin screaming as their childhood folds, because back in the day, when Jordan

Lindsay Lohan - Rumours: In the years before Lindsay went off the rails, she pretended to in the video accompanying her first single Rumours. Lohan, like Kardashian, is also keen for us to ‘turn it up’ but Rumours also features lyrics that I can only imagine were written by someone else about poor Lindsay’s life. This is some seriously angst pop and is definitely best left alone. Verdict: It has nothing on the Jingle Bell Rock scene from Mean Girls.

The Eurovision was a big deal once, but has it lost its appeal? Christine Cusack discusses this issue below.

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arch is almost upon us which means Eurovision fever is about to hit Ireland. Similar to the niggling winter cough I’ve had since November, the Eurovision is more like a nuisance that blooms with spring time on our fair isles.

It is time to scour the country searching for the ‘song’ that best represents us, the Irish people. Recently, we seem to have veered away from the more respectable song choices and plundered into the more bizarre. A hint of desperation seems to have crept in in an effort to reclaim our success. We allowed a smart-mouthed puppet turkey represent us, permitted a song with Lipstick as the title be sung by two highhaired twins in space suits, and let those same twins be soaked in a water feature on stage last year. Our other attempt is to thrust our Irishness at Europe by sending traditional bands such as Dervish or by flaunting a fiery haired, freckly, ballad singing cailín. I wonder if a gimmick is something we should steer clear of this year.

The five songs in the running for 2013 are all typically Eurovision, taking their influence from recent winners.

Three of the songs fall into the dance/club category and are quite inter-changeable.

Their fast-tempo, auto-tuned sound is all over the charts at the moment and will appeal to the younger audiences.

Of course we have the Irish traditional cliché in there too.

The band Inchequin suddenly burst into a trad instrumental half way through their song The Last Time. They try to keep it fresh by attempting to blend the Irish sound with something more ethnic, but it feels out of place and forced. The song Crashing Down is perhaps the most universal and could appeal to all ages and nationalities.

However it lacks the sensational aspect required to be remembered in and amongst the overly-produced songs and performances commonly found on the modern Eurovision stage. Honestly, I don’t think Ireland has hit the Eurovision nail on the head again this year.

There may be little emphasise placed on the ‘song contest’ part of the Eurovision these days. It seems to have become more of a production and staging contest in current years. I know as a musician myself it seems to lack credibility and is simply not cool. However it’s the only large scale televised song-writing competition in the world. It celebrates different cultures within Europe. It gives the people of Ireland something else to talk about outside of the banal. Remember the Russian grannies? Don’t get me wrong - on the run up to the competition, I’ll be avoiding day time radio until May to protect my ears from repetitive song torture.

It’s easy to scoff and sneer at the Eurovision. It’s easy to claim we have no interest. On the other hand I believe if given half the chance we would quite happily sit alongside our mothers and grandparents and watch it. We may claim our parents are hogging the telly that night, but no-one has us tied to the couch, holding our eyes open with toothpicks. It’s a torture we like to endure once a year. We love the cheesiness of it. It’s an Irish tradition, running through our bloodstreams alongside the Guinness and Tayto crisps. The Eurovision Song Contest may be outdated, uncool and borderline ridiculous at times, but I know I’ll still get butterflies when they’re calling the results, hoping someone will give Ireland douze points.

March 6th, 2013

08 | Arts & Literature

Back to the Books

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Julie Daunt takes a look at the books behind the new film releases of 2013.

very year there are more than two dozen films that have been adapted from books. However, it is often that the film versions of published stories are different to the original novel. Films often leave out chunks of books that you as a reader might consider pivotal and important. Directors, screenplay writers, actors and producers can also completely change the narration of a book when converting it into a big screen production. One example is Miloš Forman’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest film starring Jack Nicholson. In the original novel, written by Ken Kesey, the story is told through the eyes of “Chief” Bromden, and not Randle Patrick McMurphy as in the film adaptation of the iconic tale. Below are a few of the original books behind this year’s big releases. Only time will tell if the films will live up to their published predecessors.

The Host: While the film version of this extra-terrestrial tale stars our very own Saoirse Ronan, the film is adapted from writer Stephanie Meyer’s novel Twilight.

The book returns to the age old story line of body snatching alien parasites.

Think Invasion of the Body Snatchers, only this time the

alien and the hosting body become allies. Melanie, the main character of the story, is on the run from the invading “Souls” who take over your mind. She is implanted with Wanderer, but instead of letting herself be taken over, Melanie bombards Wanderer with her memories and emotions. The main complaint of the story was that nothing really happens, and not even in a good way. Writing within the genre of sciencefiction, and using a classic narrative of parasitic aliens, Meyer had plenty of scope for a gripping story.

However, I cannot see how this story would appeal to a more mature mind. If anything, the conflicts between her sparkly vampires and topless wolf men seem a lot more interesting. The protagonist Melanie is also as two dimensional as Bella/ Kristen Stewart. Let’s hope the film version is somewhat more digestible. From the look of the trailers, at least Saoirse has more than one facial expression, and her love interest Jared has been able to keep his t-shirt on.

The Great Gatsby: Ah yes! This film adaptation has been highly anticipated (for starters, Leonardo di Caprio is playing Jay Gatsby, swoon!). Although this version is directed by Baz Luhrmann (of Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge fame), the Gatsby story has already made it to the big screen, with Robert Redford assuming the famous role in 1974. In fact, there have been six film versions of the tale, including this year’s big release. The story was the brainchild of the iconic American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Written in 19245, the story takes place during the roaring twenties and is narrated through the eyes of Nick Carraway, who lives

next door to the extravagant and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby. Nick soon gets to know the illusive Gatsby and learns of his past and his desire for lost love Daisy. The story is one of love, loss, lies and lechery. Rich extravagance and decadence is met with debauchery and sinful behaviour. It is ultimately a tragic tale, one that shows the emptiness and shallowness of high living. It is known as Fitzgerald’s magnum opus. Not only is the story line engrossing, but it is brilliantly crafted and written. I personally cannot wait for Luhrmann’s take on the timeless tale as I believe it will capture the atmosphere and essence of Fitzgerald’s famous work.

World War Z: 2013 seems to be the year of the zombie flicks with Warm Bodies starting off the trend (also based on a novel). However, Max Brooks’ book has been praised for reviving the interest in the zombie genre.

The film rights to the novel resulted in a bidding war between Leonardo di Caprio’s production company, and that of Brad Pitt, with Pitt ultimately becoming the winner. The screen adaptation will see Brad Pitt taking on the lead role of UN employee Gerry Lane. However, in the original novel, World War Z is a collection of individual accounts from the ten year zombie war, rather than a focus on just one main character.

Brooks assumes the position of a UN agent who publishes the stories of individuals that were left out of the original official report.

The stories provide multiple points of view of the zombie outbreak. The book was spawned from his 2003 book The Zombie Survival Guide.

World War Z draws on numerous points of references from technology to politics to economics. The world’s geographical and sociological landscape is completely changed after the zombie

pandemic. However, many are fearful of the film adaptation, as much of the premise of the book is said to be dismissed in favour of zombie killing action. Some critics also believe the film to be on the style of Children of Men. I’m also sceptical about the screen version, but we will have to wait and see for the final verdict.

Cloud Atlas (See Cathal Dennehy’s review in Film & TV): Cloud Atlas was a 2004 prize winning novel by British author David Mitchell. While the film version features big names such as Tom Hanks and Halle Berry and progresses from the nineteenth century to a post-apocalyptic future, the original novel was cyclic in its style, with the plot returning the reader to the beginning to the character Adam Ewing. The plot takes place in six different eras, with the plot of each era revealed to be observed or read by a character in the following era. Each era’s plot is interrupted at a pivotal moment and moves onto the next era, creating a chain like link of events. The book is a complex work of science fiction, fantasy and drama.

The sixth story takes a central position in the course of the book, and is the only one not to be interrupted. It then sends us back in the reverse order of the previous eras back to the beginning. Think along the line of Inception or Sliding Doors; different scenarios and times that are all connected due to small ac-

tions and reactions.

However, much of the complexity of the book is also thought to be lost by the film version. But creating a film with so many characters and storylines would have been a challenging feat, and by the looks of the trailer, the screenwriters have managed to somewhat create the atmosphere of the different worlds and eras envisaged in M i t c h e l l ’s groundbreaking work.

Epic: Books have also been adapted into animations. This is the case for William Joyce’s children’s book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs. The adapted work is directed by Chris Wedge of Ice Age and Robots and features an all-star voice cast from the likes of Amanda Seyfried to Colin Farrell to Beyoncé. This isn’t the first time one of Joyce’s works has made it to the big screen as his novel was also the basis behind Robots. However, the plot of the book and the film differ significantly. Again action and special effects took precedence over the quaintness and morals of the original children’s tale. Even the name change signals this transition from a humble and charming story to a big block buster production.

Joyce’s original story does not feature a professor or a female protagonist and the film version relies on the “Alice in Wonderland” cliché of magically shrinking people.

Again, I don’t have much hope for this film as it is too far removed from the original work and is only loosely based on printed version.

March 6th, 2013

Arts & Literature | 09

Fifty years of Fascination On the eve of the 50th anniversary of her death, Ellen Desmond remembers the legendary literary figure that is Sylvia Plath.

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ylvia Plath is a name that literature fanatics can’t seem to shake off. Nearly everyone has heard of Plath whether you’re still holding a grudge against her from last year’s Leaving Cert or you read an article about her in the dentist’s waiting room last Friday, she’s pretty much always everywhere. This is an interesting fact when one stops to consider that Plath died by suicide 50 years ago this month and yet, as a people, we’re still utterly consumed and fascinated by the mind of Plath.

Or more specifically, the miracles produced by that mysterious and inaccessible mind. Perhaps we’re even more intrigued now that her sad death has become a beautifully realistic

part of her poetry’s tragic imagery and an iconic part of her name, which is a somewhat controversial light that we should perhaps hesitate to shine it in.

However, another reason she has become a deeper source of fascination following her death is arguably because during her life, she was often outshone by her husband (and then ex-husband), the poet Ted Hughes, whose works were given far more credit and praise than Plath’s were in her day. This is now mostly credited to the gender inequality of those times.

Andrew Wilson’s Mad Girl’s Love Song, published this month is the latest addition to the shelf of Plath biographies. For once, however, this is

slightly different to the unending analyses of Plath’s failed marriage or mental health issues and seeks instead to illustrate a picture of the Sylvia that was, before she met Ted. There’s always a certain stigma about the works of Plath and I’ll be honest, as an avid fan, I’m biased and should refrain from comment, but I hate it more than anything. Many have argued that Plath would never have come up with the gems of her finest collection Ariel had she not gone through her traumas over Hughes and perhaps this is true but who knows what other masterpieces would then have lay in store. Many more have argued too, with prejudices and a lack of understanding, that her works are “de-

pressing” or violent. I’ve been criticised for reading her semi-autobiographical The Bell Jar, and asked with concern and a look of distaste “why I would bother reading something like that”. The answer being simply; that Plath was a genius with words and a beautiful writer who had an overwhelming imagination and phenomenal appreciation of the little things around her. If you’re not into poetry try reading Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams, to see some variation in her writing.

The point stands that her tragic death and life should be irrelevant to how we personally interpret her works. The continuous biographies and publishing of her private journals

would have disgraced Plath. True, she based her works on her own experiences and opinions but we should take them solely as presented and make them our own intimate experiences of what she intended to be read and nothing more. There is no evidence to suggest she wished her private life to be interrogated further in such a manner, or she would have written so it’s Plath, she wrote about everything. That all said, I have every intention of buying Mad Girl’s Love Song tomorrow on my break and have her complete journals as a constant bedside companion.

So, I’m sorry Sylvia, but at least I tried. I just can’t help but be fascinated.

Bringing New Talent to the Fore Geraldine Carey was enthralled by Drama and Theatre Studies students’ production, Foregrounds, as part of their final year project.

I

had no idea I was in for such a treat when I went to this year’s Drama and Theatre Studies’ Final Year Project performances. There was almost a full house – clearly, word had spread about this year’s students’ creativity and high level of professionalism. It was not amateur night. Each of the three groups had put enormous effort into the concepts, writing, directing and performing of their plays.

Months of work had come down to this: just 20 minutes carefully planned to showcase what they have learned in three years.

The first play was “Blue Sky Thinking”, by Sarah England, Margaret Perry, Laura Murphy, Micheál Phelan and Ta-

mara Tooher. This, in my opinion, was very cleverly done. The costumes were simple and showed the uniformity of the characters in their thinking. The script was fast and witty; a parody of many companies today with their spiels on productivity and their attempts to motivate each other using dreams, goals and deadlines. The manner of the actors provided comic relief to what turned out to be a rather sinister plot. The group’s take on the mental health stigma in modern society was extremely accurate and I applaud their courage to tackle such a “taboo” subject. It certainly made you think and their message was driven home when they spoke their lines as

one.

The second play was “Harrison”, depicting a society where everyone should be at the same skill level. Being superior in any way was frowned upon and so, people were given handicaps to bring them back down to mediocrity. This group is perhaps known for its strong acting skills as it contains: Charlie Kelly, Jack Holland, Ethan Dillon, Michelle Fox, Hilary Bowen-Walsh and Ellen Buckley. Outstanding performances given by each – in particular, I liked when they were portraying children. Another dark sort of plot was lifted by their comedic skills. It was written well and rhyme was put to good use. Lighting and costumes were, again,

kept simple, emphasising the level playing field and the equality. A standout moment, for me, was when the characters told the story of the infamous Harrison using a model.

This was synchronised perfectly and I found myself wondering how long it took them to achieve this. Their concept was not quite as strong as the first play and I would have liked to see more than 20 minutes of it, to get into it properly. Top marks for originality.

The final play was “Vassiliva” by Katie O’Brien, Jade Reynolds, Laura Pauwels, Ellie Bailey and Helena Reilly. An enchanting story based on a Russian fairytale, it depicts the life of an orphaned girl

– a Cinderella type figure – who turns to the magical Baba Yaga to resurrect her dead mother. This, for me, was the stand-out play of the night and Jade Reynolds, in particular, shone as the evil Baba Yaga. She was reminiscent of Bette Midler’s Winifred Sanderson in “Hocus Pocus” and her demon slaves were amusing like the hyenas of “The Lion King”. The energy between the cast members was palpable and you could tell that the audience members enjoyed this short piece.

Commendations to all involved, you should be very proud of yourselves.

All your work has paid off and you can finally relax!

March 6th, 2013

10 | Gaming

One small step for gaming or one giant leap?

Last week, we speculated as to what we thought would happen. Now, Jonathan Soltan brings you the facts.

T

he journey to the next generation has begun! For those of you who somehow missed the internet exploding on the February 20th, Sony has finally formally announced the Playstation 4. In this piece I’ll be giving you an extremely abridged version of the two hour press event. I highly recommend looking on the

and busted. Say hello to the new hotness of the PS4.

But all this new power is nothing without a controller to use it with. And while they didn’t show what the PS4 actually looks like (disappointing, right?) the new controller was shown. The Dualshock 4 is probably the biggest redesign of a Playstation controller since analog sticks

internet for more information, trailers and, in the case of Killzone and Watch Dogs, actual gameplay footage.

Sony opened the event with one of their trademark sizzle reels. This particular one had footage ranging from the new Sly Cooper game (which isn’t even available for us European peasants yet) to the original Crash Bandicoot games on PS1. It did its job of getting me far too excited. Things then slowed down, with CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, Andrew House, coming out to give a brief history of the Playstation brand as a whole. After what seemed like an eternity, the real show began. House introduced Mark Cerny (a grizzled veteran of the industry from the days when Atari was king), who revealed that he was the lead system architect on the new system. Information then began flowing hot and fast: 8 cores, AMD X86 CPU, GDDR5, 8Gb of unified RAM. What does it all mean?

In essence: your PS3 is old

were added onto the original Playstation controller way back in 1997. The changes are immediately noticeable.

Start and Select are nowhere to be found. Their functions have now been combined into one Options button. A touchpad now dominates the centre. A blue light bar can be seen on the top of the controller, probably to facilitate motion controls. While we don’t know the specifics of how these will be utilised, we do know about the new button to left of the touchpad. A frightening new button called “Share”.

It’s with the Share button that the PS4 really starts showing off some of its new tricks. Due to the way in which the system uses its RAM, the PS4 can record footage of your game as you’re playing it. Sony didn’t reveal exactly how far back it will record, but rumours put the number at around 15 minutes. Not only that, but the system will even be able to broadcast your gameplay onto the internet in real

time using Gaikai. This will be a huge boon to gamers who’ve always wanted to show people their skills but didn’t want to deal with the hassle of finding a suitable capture card, hooking it up correctly, and making sure it was working then transferring the footage to a computer etc. Now all that will be as easy as pushing a button.

Once you push the Share button, you can then look back through your footage, select a section and upload that directly to Youtube. Not only that, but while it’s uploading, you can continue to play your game. In a similar vein, the PS4 will also have a power save mode which will let you put it in a low power state, while retaining your game as it. Thus letting you jump right back into the action when you get back.

Gaikai is a company that was founded in 2008 with the purpose of streaming games. They were bought

by Sony last year for the princely sum of $380M. As soon as this happened, rumours started flying about what this meant for the next generation of consoles. According to company founder and CEO David Perry, Gaikai will be a very important part of the PS4’s functionality. As discussed earlier, it will allow you to broadcast your game in real time. Not only that though; people can leave comments as you play, leave helpful items in designated spots during the game and even (apparently) take control of your game to get you through tough spots. What was more exciting though, in my opinion, is that through Gaikai the PS4 will eventually be able to stream every PS1, PS2 and PS3 game in addition to PS4 games.

What’s important to note is that Perry stated that this was their “end goal”, meaning that we may not see this for many years.

Now onto the most important part: the games. There

was certainly no shortage of them at this event. Sony started off by showing a totally new IP from Japan Studio called Knack. This game follows the protagonist Knack who has the ability to change size using relics.

He uses this power to help humans fight a war against goblins. The graphics looked as good as a Pixar movie and the game looks to be fun for all ages.

The next game shown was Guerilla’s new game, Killzone: Shadowfall. It looks as good as you would expect a next-gen Killzone game to look. That is to say: beautiful. The story takes place 30 years after the events of Killzone 3 in a city divided by a gigantic wall with the Helghast on one side and the ISA on the other. Sounds cosy. Look for this game on launch day (whenever that is).

Next, Evolution got to show off their new game called Driveclub. It’s a firstperson driving simulator with a focus on clubs and team events. We saw very little, but what we did see looked amazing. Apparently

superpowers are lovingly referred to as “bio-terrorists”.

Needless to say, he doesn’t agree.

The last big game that we saw actual footage of was Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs.

This is a game we saw back at E3 but it’s now confirmed as a PS4 launch title and looking better than ever. You play as Aiden Pearce. A man who seems to operate as some kind of vigilante, using the fully connected world of the future to his advantage, hacking into anything and everything to dish out his own brand of justice.

Other developers in attendance were Bungie with their new shooter Destiny, Blizzard confirming that Diablo 3 will be coming to both PS3 and PS4, John Blow with his interesting new puzzle game The Witness, Capcom showing off a trailer for a game currently with the working title “Deep Down” and Media Molecule showing a Playstation Move tech demo (yep, Move is still a thing).

After all this excitement, it hardly need reiterating that all eyes are now on Microsoft to see if they can deliver the

the lenses of the headlights refract light. I bet you never even knew that you wanted that in your driving games.

Then came what was, for me, the highlight of the show; inFamous: Second Son and it takes place 7 years after the events of inFamous 2.

It follows 24 year-old Delsin Rowe who lives in a police state where humans with

goods with the reveal of their new Xbox. Will their new console be as powerful as the PS4? Or even more so will they have something to rival the streaming technology of Gaikai? Whatever the case, it will almost certainly be a huge step up from the current generation of consoles... and the Wii U.

March 6th, 2013

Gaming | 11

Free To Take Over the World Brian Conmy looks at how the free to play model is taking over.

I

f you’ve spent more than a few minutes on Facebook in your life you undoubtedly know how annoying incessant game invites are. Farmville, Marvel Avengers Alliance, that murder mystery thing everyone is suddenly playing… The invites can turn to plagues if you don’t know how to block the apps. Why has Facebook seen the sudden increase in people,

who may never have been gamers before, to suddenly become nigh on addicted to these free

generally simplistic games?

Well one more obvious answer may be simply that they’re free.

Free in almost every sense of the word, while they require a computer or laptop that’s generally it. Even free indie games may require a certain level of graphics card or tech savvy that people aren’t likely to have.

So is the success of these kinds of games limited to Facebook?

Perhaps as a direct result in recent y e a r s we’ve seen an increase in free to play games, most notably may be the rather popular Real Time Strategy (RTS) game League of Legends

The End of an Era? Joann Kelliher takes a look at the struggling videogame market in Ireland.

I

n the past year, Ireland has been faced with many financial losses, causing the closure of many retailers. The gaming industry has been hit particularly badly, with both HMV and GAME going into administration. What has caused the closure of these giants and how can they be addressed?

Certainly, giving the employees little warning was not a solution. In mid-January, HMV

employees, concerned about their last payment, staged a sitin, refusing to emerge until they had received it. In March of last year, GAME employees chose the same route, having being

told nothing of their redundancy pay. Neither company seemed willing to so much as give employees their last payment until pushed. The similarities in each company’s demise are quite worrying.

GAME still have something of a presence - outside of the Republic. After many major video game companies (including Nintendo, Capcom and EA) refused to supply the retailer, it had little choice but to go into administration.

Since GAME was formerly Ireland’s biggest video game chain, smaller retailers quickly took the initiative, with shops springing up at random in various cities. GameStop has now taken GAME’s place as Ireland’s main video game retailer.

As the last major one left here, they represent the hope of our gaming market. Without such

(LoL).

A friend of mine recently got me to try the game that looks like a large array of other PC RTSs, of which I don’t know too many, at least on the surface.

What separates LoL from its compatriots though is it is completely free to download and play. Apart from being a rather interesting game with a strong focus on balances between its wide arrays of playable characters is the ability for players to voluntarily pay with real money to get some in game currency.

This can be used to permanently unlock a character from the random playable character roster that changes daily, or to buy currency to purchase relics or other upgrades. This makes perfect sense in the context of a game like LoL, as currency that you can buy with real money can just as easily be earned by playing the game and investing a well-known company, casual gamers will shy away from local retailers and the market will simply collapse.

HMV’s demise was quite unexpected. Dealing in music, video games and books, they covered many interests and were the easiest place to go to for the latest singles and albums. Their closure also arrived at a particularly cruel time many people had received HMV vouchers as Christmas gifts, only to be told that they would be useless. Surely the management would have been aware of the closure prior to the holidays? Once again, GameStop stepped in, offering a 5% discount on any purchase to those with an HMV voucher. Even so, it still seemed like a harsh way to treat loyal customers.

Purchased guarantees also became instantly voided - I can no longer return my damaged headphones. In this dismal economy, customer satisfaction is clearly no longer a priority. Although the blame could easily be put on Ireland’s financial decline in general, many retailers have still prospered in spite of it.

Where does the source of the

enough time. Using real money does not make you better at the game than someone who has invested their time.

What many people may not realise is that a lot of Facebook games have a similar system in place.

While they may not be as advanced or expensive as League of Legends seem to be they can often be just as addictive and time consuming as a game like LoL, many include energy systems that limit the amount a person can play in one day.

For the impatient or perhaps completely addicted there is often an ability to use real world money to buy energy or other resources in game. At first without having paid too much attention to these kinds of micro transactions in games I wrote

them off as silly, believing that gaming was what I did at home on a console I’ve spent a considerable amount of money on.

Gaming is a much broader ideal

gaming and music market’s implosion lie? Piracy is one of the easiest culprits to identify. In a world where songs and games can be downloaded with the

games to be played on devices they were not intended for) a huge problem. Most gamers, however, aren’t very concerned. The music industry, pirated since the days of Napster, will always suffer from this issue. Nowadays, it is actually possible to convert YouTube videos to mp3 format, though the main sites have been taken down by Google. Even books are not safe from piracy. Rapidly following in the wake of the digital book era, files are often available within a week of release.

So what can we do to prevent the total collapse of these important retailers? Since we are all feeling the financial burden at the moment, not much.

Perhaps, though, we could all try purchasing a new book, a second-hand game or even a single on sale. Is it too much to help out our suppliers?

click of a mouse, why should people bother paying for them?

R4 cards, the little carts used to store multiple DS games, were only outlawed last year, allowing many people to cheat retailers out of their profits. Many serious gamers consider emulation (the copyi n g of a console’s properties onto a different m e dium, a l lowi n g

now, whether done on a mobile device or in an internet browser. The inclusion of Facebook games in the gaming spectrum adds more and more people to a gamer community and the ability to pay into these types of games adds a certain amount of legitimacy.

Students at UCC’s Next Top Model in the Savoy. All pictures courtesy of Audrey Walsh

March 6th, 2013

Fashion | 13

Top Models rock the Savoy Audrey Ellard Walsh

L

ast week’s UCC Fashion Week may have been a first, but its statement piece is a staple event in the college year. In what is now firmly the highlight of UCC’s fashion calendar, the finale of UCC’s Next Top Model proved to once again draw the crowds.

Eleven contestants had a break-neck introduction to the world of modelling, being featured in spreads in the Irish Examiner, Cork Independent, Hi Magazine and yours truly over the duration of the competition. Thursday’s fashion show in the Savoy Theatre was the final challenge gave the contestants the opportunity to show the crowd, and judges, what made them Top Model potential.

Designers on show included collections from Cork locals, Amity, Samantha Kennedy and Turquoise Flamingo for the girls, with the male models boasting ensembles from Salinger, all showcasing looks at student friendly

prices.

The judging panel consisted of Miss Ireland organisers Séan Montague and Brendan Scully as well as Cork based makeup artist Noreen O’Connor and Eileen McGrath from Edge Hair Salon.

Their deliberations, which required a walk-off between three girls Leah, Jennifer and Amber, finally saw students Leah Mc Namara and Vafa Lightfoot declared UCC’s Next Top Models.

Eighteen year old Leah is studying Drama and Theatre Studies. Her interest in performance prompted her to enter the competition.

“I suppose I’ve always been interested in fashion and I’ve also been interested in performing and stage and modelling definitely has caught my eye so I decided why not?

What have I got to lose?” This experience confirmed for her that she wants to pursue a career in modelling, thought she has also learnt that it is harder work than it first appears.

“I’ve learned that there’s a lot more to it than someone would think. You look at a photo and you just don’t take that much notice of it but now any time I look at a photo I actually think how many hours, hair and makeup and costumes all for one photo, it actually takes so much time.”

Canadian Dentistry student Vafa beat two other males to the top spot. His friends first suggested he enter and when he was scouted

by the Fashion Soc on campus “I figured I might as well go for it.”

Vafa agrees with Leah that the process has been a learning curve. “I have learned that modelling is a lot harder than it seems! It was challenging to learn to express emotions basically through body language. It definitely helped to have the stylists around and Michael O’Sullivan is an amazing photographer and very patient, so being able to take notes from him made me more confident with each project.”

After the show, I spoke to judge and Miss Ireland organiser Séan Montague.

With a varied portfolio in the fashion industry from model agent to event producer he was acutely aware of what to look for in a Top Model.

“I was looking for someone who is more bookable for a client so I was thinking if you’re a client are you going to book this model for a show or a press call and who’s going to give that little bit more.

Who’s going to maybe light up the camera that little bit more and Leah did that from the word go.”

“The guys were very fun.

They were three very different guys but again, Vafa just stood out. It’s harder for guys in Ireland to get jobs. It’s much harder for guys than it is for girls.

So I was again thinking, if you were a client booking a Jack and Jones gig, a Tommy Hilfiger gig, a press call, who would you book?”

I was intrigued to know about the opportunities available

now for Leah and Vafa that they have been booked with Pulse Models Cork for the next 12 months. It seems that with limited job opportunities in Ireland, flexibility in look and talent will be the key to success. Fashion has been hit as much as any other industry of late, and in a relatively small market, models are finding that they have to work harder to stand out and book jobs. As Séan says, Irish models must, and do, “wear many hats”.

“The work isn’t as fluid as it is in other countries unfortunately so [models] take what they can get. It’s interesting if you break it all into fash-

ion model, ramp model, editorial model, press call model where in Ireland a lot of girls cover it all, so tonight that’s what we were looking for- girls and guys that could do those roles.”

Finally, on entering the modelling profession, Séan told me that most people he works with have fallen into modelling as a sideline to other pursuits.

“It’s a bit of fun, a bit of money and it opens up avenues to them that wouldn’t have maybe opened up as quickly beforehand so they use that experience and those contacts to benefit their career.”

This seems to be the approach that Vafa in particular is planning on taking to his newfound sideline; “I think that it would be a fun career if the right opportunities come up. I’ll definitely keep up with it as much as I can, maybe someone has a need for a model/dentist in the future, I’m sure that niche hasn’t been filled yet.”

Photos: Audrey Walsh

March 6th, 2013

14 | Fashion

Style on a Shoestring There are many ways to get the look you want for less, says Julie Daunt.

A

re you finding it torturous to walk down Opera Lane, trying your best not to venture inside the teeming shops, because all you have in your wallet is the cloakroom ticket from last night’s Havanas and €7.57 on your Laser card?

Do you find yourself jealous of your friends’ new threads, feeling your own are unstylish and unflattering? Would you love to own everything off the Boohoo. com adverts on the television?

If you answered yes to all the above, then I’ve got the solutions for you!

Customise: The ultimate money saver. Why buy new clothes when you can give your old ones a new lease of life? While using a sewing machine, needle and thread might be daunting to some people, you’ll find it is easy to alter your clothes, even if you are all thumbs. Simply take a scissors

to those jeans you’ve had since you were fifteen and transform them into shorts, or even a skirt, if you let out the seams. As for tops, cutting off the sleeves, or even widening the neckline can change that baggy long-sleeve into a tank top or even a halterneck. However, one bit of advice is mark out where you are going to cut first and don’t get too scissors happy, as once you cut, it

can be difficult to sew back on!

If you’re a hazard with a pair of scissors, then there’s plenty of other ways to revive your wardrobe, and at a small price. Hickeys in the Savoy centre is your place to go! I often browse their sale section for buttons, studs or iron on patches to doll up my clothes. Often these items require no sewing and can even be glued on with fabric glue. High street shops are even getting on board the customising train, with River Island often stocking altering additions for clothes.

Pin on spikes to badges to feathers, there’s an endless possibility to what you can use. You can even look in the jewellery section of shops like Topshop or even Penneys for earrings you could pin onto that old plain t-shirt you have sitting in that drawer. Overall, don’t be afraid to attack those old clothes of yours. Even if it ends up looking

like it has been worn by Edward Scissorhands, at least it hasn’t cost you anything!

Charity Shops/ Swapshop: As Macklemore says, in his all too catchy song Thrift Shop, “One man’s trash, that’s another man’s come-up.” He’s right! You can often find something vintage or unique in a charity shop, while also helping out a charity.

You can sometimes even find

branded clothes for a fraction of their price. Even if you find something that’s not in your size, again you can alter and customise it to your heart’s content, and at very little cost.

However, while it is always good to donate unwanted clothes to charity shops, I often give first dibs to my friends.

We even make an event out of it! What might not fit your friend anymore might fit you, and vice versa. Throw some clothes into bags, get your girls together, pour some drinks and have a swapshop session. It’s a great way to get a whole new wardrobe at no cost. You’ll also be helping out a friend by taking their unwanted wears. And whatever is left over, can then be donated to Oxfam or the Irish Cancer Society. Feel good feelings all round!

Unidays/Parcel Motel: While you might be able to resist the urge to splurge in the high street shops, it’s even harder to not be tempted by the thousands of clothes on all the fashion sites that can be bought by one click.

With postage and packaging often taking up a large chunk of the price, buying online can often be just as if nearly more expensive than heading into town. But fear not! There are also many ways to save when shopping online. The first is the fantastic website myunidays. com which gives your PERMANENT discounts on loads of online stores. I’m constantly abusing their 10% discount on ASOS.com and Boohoo.com.

Often they bump up these discounts to 20% or more for a limited time, even more of a reason to sign up right away! All you need is your student e-mail address and you’re sorted.

However, even if you find that perfect dress (that’ll definitely get you the shift), I find postage is often up to half the price of

the overall total. While sites like ASOS.com offer free delivery to Ireland, many sites, like Boohoo. com only give their UK customers this perk. But there is a loophole – Parcel Motel! Simply register on parcelmotel.com and when you go to give your delivery address, list the Parcel Motel

clothes online. Try bidding as close as possible to the deadline and make sure you have a PayPal account for back-up protection. Don’t be surprised if you get out-bided a few seconds afterwards. There are people who are permanently on eBay buying cheap clothes to sell on to

in Belfast (as they also receive free delivery since they are part of the UK). The brilliant thing is that you can transfer your purchase from this Belfast address to any Parcel Motel in Ireland FOR FREE! All you will have to pay is €3.50 for using the Parcel Motel service. You can transfer your package around any Parcel Motel for nothing. Loop-hole achieved! If you don’t believe me, check out their FAQs on their website.

Ebay/Get the Label/Tk Maxx: If you are still a sucker for your big brands, then there are still ways and means of getting that Abercrombie and Fitch zip-up for less. Firstly, you have the online options of eBay and gethelabel.com. Both of these have their perks. Firstly, with the famous eBay, people often put their unwanted clothes up for auction on this site. Bidding on clothes can often be the cheapest way to buy those couture

make a profit. But don’t let this put you off! The downside with eBay is the item may or may not be a legitimate label. But still, you’ll have gotten the look for less, so you shouldn’t complain!

Another tip is to misspell the name of your label item. The correctly spelled Calvin Klein will be the one most people will bid on, while the Calvin Clein one might get overlooked and you’ll have more of a chance of succeeding with your bid.

Getthelabel.com is another site worth trying your luck on.

They boast a whopping 75% off designer brands. Shipping is also only €6 to Ireland, which isn’t bad! Finally we have the Aladdin’s Cave that is TK Maxx. Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and dig through the aisles of clothes in this shop! However, they often offer up to 60% off the recommended retail price on known brands, so they are definitely worth the effort!

March 6th, 2013

Fashion | 15

Style Street Chic Marita Moloney casts her eye on the street style at home and abroad.

D

escribed in the Fashion and Style section of the revered, powerhouse publication that is the New York Times as “fashion’s last stronghold of true indie spirit”, the spotlight on street style has never shone so bright. With the various Fashion Weeks around the globe now finished, the fashion world has been feverishly reporting and dissecting the looks from the runways, scrutinising the trends that dominated and the designers that took centre stag However, the show outside the show took place in a variety of outdoor style parades on the pavements, competing with the glamorous extravaganzas on the catwalks.

Photographers frantically focused their lenses on the assortment of industry virtuosos, celebrities and fashion

enthusiasts who showcased their personal individuality to style lieges everywhere, and often the displays eclipsed those happening centre stage.

This can be seen by the vast array of editorials featuring in countless magazines, as well as online in websites and blogs, with brilliant sites such as streetpeeper.com and thesartorialist.com becoming increasingly renowned.

Fashion bloggers are quickly gathering pace in competing to make their mark in an industry that is constantly evolving and reinventing itself, and are becoming valuable assets for designers who can use their escalating status to advertise and expose their own wares to a large audience. These bloggers, as well as the ordinary person on the street (albeit an impressively stylish, creative or impecca-

bly groomed individual), are influencing these designers, who find their eclectic ensembles refreshing and inspirational.

The four fashion capitals each have their own idiosyncratic style, with the combination of high street and designer brands, as well as vintage pieces, all coming together to create some exciting looks. Paris is known for its chic, streamlined sophistication, with the locals choosing classic, muted colours matched with simple shapes and accentuated with a put-togetherness echoing the city’s founding masters of fashion such as Coco Chanel and Christian Dior. Milan weaves a tapestry of luxury, and its natives take pride in rich, sumptuous shades and fabrics, where more is definitely more when it comes

to making an impact in the street style stakes.

New York and London, however, are where the real stars of everyday style truly shine. These perpetual “cool kids” of fashion bring out the most outrageous, diverse and eclectic melange of fashions around every corner; cities where the emerging talent in fashion is vibrant and electrifying. It is often difficult to thread the fine line between directional and ridiculous style, but there it becomes less important to distinguish between the two; everything goes. The creativity of not just the fashion scene, but also the art and music worlds generates a veritable mix of charismatic style that is showcased by young and old.

It is undeniable that our closest neighbour London has therefore had an influence on

Irish dressing. A plethora of young, up-and-coming Irish designers as well as our very own fashion week in the capital are attributing to a more distinctive, eye-catching sartorial sensibility that oozes hipness. As a nation, we successfully undertake the challenge that is balancing being cool while remaining warm - no mean feat. It should be noted that just because our fashion choices may be less out there than our counterparts, it doesn’t mean that we are any less stylish; there is an inimitable, characteristic aesthetic that represents our uncanny eye for style.

To finish with a quote from Coco Chanel herself which has never held such relevance as it does now; “Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening”.

16 | Colour

ExpressIt

March 6th, 2013

The people are real The problems are real The advice is questionable...

Dear ExpressIt, It is that time of year again when I cannot make it from one lecture to another without being bombarded with flyers accompanied by empty promises of a better college. Yes, I am talking about SU Elections. Besides the free sweets they are nothing but a plaque. How can I get past the library without being forced to pledge my allegiance to these SU Elections? - SickOfFlyers He says: What I have learned from my few years of college is these SU campaigners only want two things; The 20 seconds of gratitude from the runner’s speech where he openly thanks them and the many hours off class where they can claim productivity in something that really doesn’t matter. They don’t want you to make it difficult for them to approach you, otherwise it’s just not worth their while .If you can give off a bad impression they won’t bother you.

If you are on your mission impossible to the library and you see one here is some tips to avoid that god awful situation: 1) Don’t make eye contact 2) If you do make eye contact keep it and start twitching until they look away 3) If one gets really close that you missed, fake a phone call , start shouting at the person on the other end and possibly shout “I will tear your head off ” 4) If your phone isn’t handy a fake tantrum always helps. Just snap! Let your imagination take you away back to when you were 7 and mommy wouldn’t let you have a dessert.

5) If he still keeps coming just turn around and point at him with absolute venom! If this doesn’t work physical violence is well within your right.

Follow these simple steps and not only will they leave you alone on the way in I will guarantee you a peaceful journey home. They make life difficult for us it’s about time we get our own back. Admittedly, the knock-on effects of the rest of the student body witnessing you hurling abuse down your phone to an unknown assailant may lead to a certain level of notoriety, but where is the harm in that, eh?

She says: If you can’t beat them join them. On the 11th and 12th of March do what every selfrespecting student would do and fleece these candidates for every Haribo they’re worth! And I mean go for the good stuff. Leave the gummy bears and rings for later losers who are foiled into listening to Student Union gibberish. Be tactful. It’s about speed, go in grab the hearts and fried eggs and then point to that little white sticker on your chest which tells this SU hack that you have already voted. This sticker is your key to get wherever you want on campus without being bombarded. Don’t even bother voting, just grab a white label from home and smack that fecker on. Then when approaching each stand while foraging for the good sweets to aid your study in the library you can confess how you have just voted for them and they may even encourage you to take more sweets.

Dear ExpressIt, I think I’m addicted to shifting. Like, if I go out and do not get the shift I consider it a waste of a night. As the night goes on my standards go so low I will shift anyone just to get a bit of action.

The state of some people I have ended up with is shameful. If my mother knew what I was at she’d have my tongue cut off. Help me before I end up shifting all of UCC! - McShifter He says: Well hello future star of “Embarrassing Irish Nightlife”! I think what your calling an “addiction” could be rephrased as a normal guy with beer goggles. As for shifting anyone for “a bit of action” have you tried wrestling elephants because to your friends it would be the same thing, possibly even cooler and maybe even a little safer. Seeing as you do want to stop then just like any addiction you need a program.

I am thinking the ‘four steps to a better standard’. 1) You go out and do what you normally do but this time try to get this persons number. 2) Text them and arrange to meet up for coffee somewhere during the day when you are sober. 3) During this date re-think your life. 4) Try going out sober and muster up some confidence to go talk to someone you actually like.

Hopefully with this you can bring a nice girl home to mother and keep down suspicions that her son is in fact a male gigolo.

She says: Ah the wondrous effects of alcohol and beer goggles.

To be honest I don’t see what your problem is. You only say you’re shifting so what’s the problem. Besides the high risk of getting a cold sore I see no issues. You are only young once so why not shift on and make your way through the masses? The only problem you have is your low standards. Simple solution, find the shift earlier in the night before the beer goggles become permanently fixed. And if you do end up shifting a few grenades then so be it. Think of it as a charitable service to those less blessed with good looks. You will probably make their night by allowing them to reach beyond their league. So shift on young man. YOLO as one might say.

The New Corker

March 6th, 2013

New Corker | 17

The Sun Shines Over The Mountain

M

ary wiped the crude, emasculated dust that clung onto her mantelpiece with a yellow cloth. Smiling to herself, she returned to her kitchen with a feeling of ecstatic jubilance. Carrying a knife as elongated as a rapier, she sliced the rims off two slices of bacon. Overall, life had been sweet to her.

Having left the fried eggs settle comprehensibly, she placed all the glorious items on a plate. A minor feast of celebrated Irish festitude as her son Patrick would so eloquently describe this fried breakfast as. Undoubtedly, he would protest to the sight of his mother serving him breakfast, but it was the least she could do. Patrick had emancipated her from a sordid depression and this was something she could never hope to repay. The morning breakfasts were a minor sign of her indebted gratitude.

Walking slowly up the cobbled staircase to her son`s bedroom, she glanced at the photos that were placed on the adorning walls. Most were of little consequence to her; mere trivialities of years gone by. But one photo took her complete countenance of her dubious attention. The photo in question was a framed picture of her late husband Derek, taken two days before he was killed in a horrific road accident. That ghastly incident occurred six years previously, but she always felt a hallucinated gulp in her throat when she saw that particular photo; a motion that was just as painful now as it had been at the time of his death.

by Eoghan Lyng Mary cheered herself by thinking of the good times she shared with Derek. He would not have been happy if he had known that she subdued herself to misery.

“Cheer up, Maz” he would say. “The sun shines over the mountain at the moment, and one day it will shine on you!” Mary wiped a solemn tear from her face and engaged herself in an optimistic smile. She looked up to Patrick`s bedroom and thought about the solid relationship she shared with her grown up child. Re-instating the tea cup onto the tray, Mary gathered herself before traversing to her son.

As she expected, Patrick made an almighty fuss about her efforts. It was too much, he said. She laughed and stated that he had not changed in his forty three years of life. Patrick chuckled, but only out of politeness. He would have preferred it if his age had not been mentioned!

Mary took a quick glance at the book in his hand.

Tolstoy`s War and Peace.

God, she thought, the leaving certificate curriculum must be very stringent these days! Patrick rarely read books that did not correspond to his work. Similar to his father before him, Patrick had accepted the call and became an English teacher.

And a bloody good one at that!

Mary and Patrick exchanged silent glances. Their years together had strengthened their invisible bond.

Patrick poured himself a cup of tea, while stating that he would fix the front gate later in the afternoon. Mary

insisted that he eat his breakfast and worry about any arbitrary domestic duties after he had finished. Dropping a copy of The Independent at the bottom of his bed, Mary walked out of the room.

After he sliced his sausages into tiny slices, Patrick picked up the newspaper to read. Much of the paper was filled with the everyday news. Another school had been shut down, another politician was being investigated for their questionable monetary transactions. Little has changed over the years, Patrick said aloud.

He flicked through endless tabloid headings before he came to his favourite section to read: the obituary column. Patrick would often joke about how he enjoyed reading this section, because it made him realise that there were ordinary nobody`s less fortunate in the country than he was. Although it would be said with humorous inclinations, it would resonate certain truths with Patrick that even he knew little about.

Munching on a yolk foliated egg, Patrick`s eyes came to a shock when he saw one person that he recgonised all too well in the column. The caption read: Thomas Jones (4 March1963- 14 March 2010) has died, aged forty three.

He is survived by his wife, Linda and sons, John, Paul and George.

Tom Jones. The old bugger. Patrick remembered their times in St.Friedrich`s.

A stout young fellow, Tom had been a very good rugby player. Academically, he had not been as hot. Jumping ship after collecting

his Inter-cert back in 1978, Jones managed to surprise everyone by getting an excellent apprenticeship in the iron trade. While many of his other class mates were making a few grand a year teaching curricular requirements, Jones made a tiny fortune for himself from iron. This from a man who could barely read!

Patrick squirmed at the passage regarding the three boys. Patrick could not believe that Jones had achieved so much in his life, when he had barely left his mother`s house. He understood the reasoning. Mary needed company, Patrick needed company. But this comatose style may have befitted his mother, but it was crucifying Patrick. Having sacrificed a substantial proportion of his youth in attaining a job that would impress his mother, he had squandered more years by remaining by her side. But how could he let her know of his discontent?

She needed him. There was little else he could do to rectify that.

But this sacrifice could not have come with any smaller sacrifice to his personal life. The chances of love and familial relations were very much outside of his realm. Coughing on his greasy rasher, Patrick looked at the paper with the type of sorrow that only a dying person would know about.

Jones may now be dead, but he had made sure he had lived. Patrick? Patrick finished his fry, before succumbing to the intensity of his tears.

18 | Photos

March 6th, 2013

March 6th, 2013

Photos | 19

20 | Sports

March 6th, 2013

Cheltenham Preview Brian Barry and Jordan McCarthy

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arch is upon us and Students’ Union election flyers are everywhere; that all can only mean one thing… Cheltenham is upon us! The buzz around campus is heating up as we ponder who will take home the big prizes.

Here two members of UCC Horse Racing Society take a closer look at the feature races in the week ahead. The society are also running a Cheltenham Discussion night on Monday the 11th, details to be confirmed; keep an eye on Facebook for more. All are welcome to come along to offer opinions or just listen in on the eve of the greatest horse racing show on Earth.

Champion Hurdle It is hard to look past the Willie Mullins trained Hurricane Fly. The 2011 champion has got over the disappointment of finishing third last year, and looks in top form after two composed wins at Leopardstown. Ruby Walsh has picked to ride him ahead of Zarkandar, and that surely must be a clear sign for punters that there is value at the 7/4 which most bookmakers are offering at the moment. Odds for last year’s winner Rock on Ruby are shortening, currently trading at around 5/1, while some sneakily fancy Binocular to do it again after failing to live up to the hype after winning this race in 2010 under AP McCoy. Grandouet is still recovering from an injury, and is not expected to launch a serious assault on the frontrunners. Hurricane Fly is the best hope the raiding Irish have for a big win at the festival, and don’t expect him to disappoint.

The Champion Chase Sprinter Sacre looks unbeatable at the moment and is currently a 2/7 shot to land the race.

Nicky Henderson’s gelding beat a very talented group of novices when he demolished the field in last season’s Arkle. His jumping is exquisite and he travels superbly. 2011 champion Sizing Europe looks a cracking bet at

5/1. Last year’s winner, Finians Rainbow, has failed to deliver this season probably owing to bad ground. Sanctuaire has failed twice to threaten Sprinter Sacre so far this season. He does have ability but it is his temperament that cost’s him. Somersby, a Victor Chandler winner, is another talented individual and is available at 20/1. Mail de Bievre could be another to mount a challenge. This French bred looked impressive at Newbury and a shorter trip could suit. He looks a good each way bet at 14/1. Cue Card at 8s is a solid each way bet also. Can they topple the favourite? All will be revealed in a week’s time but perhaps each way is the way to approach this year’s race.

The World Hurdle A World Hurdle without Big Bucks! Seems bizarre doesn’t it? As a result, this race is very open this year. Reve de Sivola was second, albeit a distant one, to Big Bucks earlier this season. Big Bucks won at a canter that day, which he normally does. Certainly Reve de Sivola is no Big Bucks. However, he was most impressive in running away with the Long Walk at Ascot and following up on that victory with a win in the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Oscar Whiskey is better over a slightly shorter trip. Looking elsewhere Monksland could be a lively contender. He did defeat of Zaidpour in December. This race could also be the target for Peddlers Cross, another classy sort. He has been deemed a spent force by many but cannot be ruled out. Bog Warrior has been rejuvenated since his return to hurdles and has a chance. It is unlikely that Quevega will take her chance here. Reve de Sivola looks the best bet at 9/2.

Gold Cup It comes as a surprise that the two former winners in the field aren’t generally fancied; Long Run and Imperial Commander at 7/1 and 16/1 respectively.

The favourite, Bobs Worth, has only had one outing this season when he won the Hennessy Gold Cup in Newbury, and is bidding to be the first horse since Dawn Run to win

the Gold Cup on his second outing of the season. Sir Des Champs recovered from a weak showing in the Lexus Chase to win the Irish Hennessy Gold Cup, but may find the step-up in standard tough to cope with, even on harder ground. Silviniaco Conti is fancied by many too after an impressive win in the Denman Chase in February. But you can never rule out the winner of the King George; Long Run, unlike Kauto Star last year, looked fresh in closing out the feature on St Stephens Day, and seems well able to go the extra quarter mile for a repeat of his 2011 success.

Fixtures, Results, Standings Basketball

Hurling

SuperLeague Result: UCC Demons 73 DCU Saints 80 (K Walker 20, N Murphy 16, S Coughlan 10)

Fitzgibbon Cup semi-final Result: UCC 1-20 UCD 0-14 (C Lehane 0-9, 6fs;

Fixture: Sat 9th Mar: DCU Saints vs UCC Demons @ 7pm in the DCU Arena

Hockey (Mens) Munster League Division 1 Results: Church of Ireland B 0 UCC 6 (A Scannell 2, F O’Leary 2, A Gray, A O’Callaghan) Fixture: Sat 9 Mar: UCC vs Harlequins B in the Mardyke th

B O’Sullivan 1-2; J Barry 0-3, 2fs; Brian Lawton, Barry Lawton 0-2; S Harnedy, B Hartnett 0-1) Final Result: UCC 2-17 Mary Immaculate 2-12 HE GAA Fresher Division 1 Championship semi-final Result: UCC 0-17 UCD 1-12 Final Fixture: Wed 6th Mar: UCC vs NUIG @ 2pm in the Gaelic Grounds Ladies Gaelic Football

Hockey (Ladies) Munster League Division 1 Fixture: Sat 9th Mar: UCC vs UL in the Mardyke Munster Senior Cup semi-final Fixture: Sun 10th Mar: UCC vs Church of Ireland in the Mardyke

O’Connor Cup second round Result: UCD 0-13 UCC 2-15 Semi-final Fixture: Fri 15th Mar: UCC vs IT Sligo/ Queens/ UCD/ UUJ in WIT Final Fixture: Sat 16th Mar: in WIT

Rugby (Mens) All-Ireland League Division 2A Result: UCC 56 Banbridge 17 (S Óg Murphy try, 2 pens, 5 cons; D Sweetnam, O Dennehy 2 tries; P McCabe, M O’Mahony, L Duffy 1 try each) Soccer (Mens) Donie Forde Trophy final Fixture: Fri 8th Mar: Avondale United vs UCC @ 7.30pm in Turners Cross Munster Senior League Premier Division Fixture: Sat 16th Mar: Mayfield United vs UCC in Mayfield Park Soccer (Ladies) WSCAI Womens Premier League quarter-final Result: IT Sligo 2 UCC 0 All fixtures are subject to change.Check out uccexpress. net for fixture changes, result updates and unpublished content.

March 6th, 2013

Sports | 21

Ordinary man Ironman raising mental health awareness Stephen Barry

T

he first line in Lar Phelan’s blog claims that his journey “is not a story of amazing feats,” however in the face of slowly snowballing media and public attention and the willingness of the 3Ts Charity to use Phelan’s story, the ‘Ordinary man Ironman’ must be starting to revise his opening statement.

This summer, in the French city of Nice, Phelan will attempt to complete an Ironman course which features a menu of challenges: for starters there’s a 3.8 km ocean swim; the main course is a Tour de France-like cycle of 180 km from sea-level to heights higher than Carrantuohill; and the banquet of punishment is completed by a fulldistance marathon.

“It sounds big but you’d be looking at between 13 and 15 hours. If you finish it in 13 and under, you’d have the energy to celebrate. And if you finish it in 15, I’d just be proud of my achievement and move onto the next one.”

The 29-year old final year student is an adventure junkie even though a mere two years ago such exploits would never have been on his radar. However he has come out the right side of a life-changing few years which have seen him return to college to complete the BIS course he dropped out of in 2006, take up charitable work with the 3Ts and start down the path of adventure and endurance sports.

In January 2010 Phelan was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The disease didn’t so much affect him physically (he won that particular battle) as it did in terms of his career and his social life. It was the cause of his eventual redundancy in February 2011 as during his absence the changing economic landscape had caused his obsolescence within a once steady career in Dublin. The structure of his life collapsed. He lost the independence of living away from home and, as the domino effect set in, he found himself at the edge of the precipice above a fall into depression.

“I feel that I didn’t suffer from

it (depression), but looking back at it there was a stage there where I’d no motivation. Now my qualifications wouldn’t give me the insight to say ‘you’ve this clinical depression,’ but I definitely had no motivation; and it wasn’t motivation to do well, it was just motivation to do anything.

“There’s a farm at home and I remember walking out and trying to give dad a hand and you’d force yourself, you’d get up and you’d go out, and I don’t know what’d happen, but fifteen minutes later I was back

the board he cranks up the volume of training that is needed to complete those 226 km. Ordinary man Lar is set to step aside as Ironman Lar takes over.

That same April, he started running within the hedges of the family farm, albeit only when his parents would leave for a walk out of the same embarrassment and lack of confidence that kept him off of the local roads. Week one: he could only run one lap. Week two saw that increase to two laps and bit by bit he built up to 10 km.

“That was the kick-start I

hours into trying to get the promotion side of things up and running. Last Friday he was balancing a number of media commitments with a looming deadline for a project worth ten credits. Then on Saturday he swam a personal best time in the pool. Indeed he will be keeping up a full training schedule throughout his end of year exams before tapering off in the month of June in preparation for D-Day on the 23rd.

“I don’t know how I’m managing final year! I just keep going! I try to keep a good schedule. I’m

inside watching television; but I couldn’t have told you what was on TV. I just had no appetite to do anything and that probably is a form of depression, but it didn’t go to the level that sadly we see in other people’s lives.”

As he found himself on that cliff edge, Phelan found the awareness and resources to fill that six month lull in his life by taking up swimming in the local pool and running in the farm at home in Carrick-on-Suir. To combat that empty feeling he set himself the dual goals of starting to swim and run; and then starting to swim further and run further.

Back at the start in April 2011, he couldn’t swim the length of a pool, but through sheer determination he built it up from ten lengths to the 2 or 3 km he does these mornings; and he intends to quadruple that distance in the next week or two as across

needed and hopefully, if I can get that message across, it’ll inspire other people to ask questions on the blog and maybe change a little bit of their lifestyle and give them a little gee up.”

Having learned only through trial and error, he now hopes the blog will not only raise awareness of mental health and suicide in Ireland, but also become a mine of information for those who want to learn the right way.

This resource will in time feature contributions from a nutritionist, a physiotherapist and a runner among others, and that train of expert contributors was set in motion this weekend with the addition of amateur cyclist Alan Duggan to the blog.

“It’s grown from a tiny little thing to something that could be very big if it’s managed right,” however managing it is taking up most of Phelan’s days.

Last week he put in over 30

a devil for pressure; it drives me on.”

For Phelan it’s not all about the degree or the job-hunt; it’s a matter of taking the opportunity to evolve as a person: “work will pay you, but it’s not going to give to you; whereas if you put a little bit of an investment into yourself, the payback is unlimited.

“I can’t wait until the end of the summer when I’m looking back and I go ‘do you know what? I achieved a degree,’ hopefully a 2.1 or higher, and kicked on and said ‘yeah, I’ve also completed an Ironman and helped a charity.’ I think that’s probably a little bit different as in I’m trying to get more out of coming back than I would normally; I’m not just coming back to do the degree.”

He cites personal reasons first and foremost for taking on the challenge but is quick to mention the massive kickback from

his charity work which started with the Stuart Mangan Appeal almost five years ago. Since then he had been looking for a good fit for more charity work and the 3Ts were quick to get on board when contacted by Phelan.

“We’re not raising money; we’re just trying to raise the profile of mental health and especially suicide, because I think most families know of people in their family, or in their neighbourhood, or in their community that have seen it or experienced it.”

Indeed the problem touched UCC last year with the tragic passing of legendary hurling coach Paul O’Connor.

But it’s the empathy that Phelan has, having stood at the top of that downward spiral, which drives him to put so much time into this campaign to make greater associations between sharing your problems, physical exercise and mental wellbeing.

“I chat to friends of mine and they say ‘jeez Larry, we’d never have put you in that category.’ I still don’t, but I was able to spot it and acknowledge it, rather than let it set in and become something that dictated every day of my life. It gave me the drive to go swimming, to go running, to live…

“But I definitely saw it in other people, and maybe I’ve seen it in friends or in family; I’ve seen how negative events in life can really kick somebody, and it’s out of their control. It depends on luck and fortune, and in my case I’d a lot of luck that I subconsciously spotted it. I did a lot of things to pull myself out of it, whereas other people mightn’t be as lucky and it can totally be debilitating.”

“By doing the three events I’m trying to highlight that these things happen, life kicks you, life puts you down; but with good support and a little bit of structure, good friends, good family – like if you want to do a 5k, go out there and challenge yourself and do it; and you’ll feel great after it.”

You can find out more about the Ordinary man Ironman challenge and the 3Ts at ordinarymanironman.com

22 | Sports

March 6th, 2013

UCD retain Collingwood with victory over UCC Barry Aldworth

2

013 has proven to be a bumper year for UCC soccer and a great run in the 2013 Collingwood Cup came so close to being almost perfect.

While speaking to Greg Yelverton the day after the final loss to UCD he wanted to highlight the dedication which the players and managers had shown throughout the year. With a new focus on conditioning and skill training this year’s UCC squad entered the 2013 Collingwood Cup in better shape than ever before.

UCC’s opening match of the competition set the tone for a series of tight matches which would involve the Cork team.

After 90 minutes, the round one match against NUI Galway finished scoreless forcing the teams to play an extra 30 minutes. Two Steve Mahon penalties proved to be the difference as the match finished 2-1 to UCC after 120 hotly contested minutes.

The quarter-final against Queen’s University Belfast proved to be the only match in which UCC was afforded any small amount of breathing room. Goals from Mahon, Eoin Kilcommons (2), Josh O’Shea and Ian Mylod secured a comfortable 5-0 win and set up UCC’s first meeting with a Dublin team.

UCC’s path to the final was blocked by a DCU side, which UCC got on top of early on before DCU fought their way back into the game. Despite a great effort by both teams, this game was dominated by poor refereeing and worse pitch conditions.

It was these conditions which prevented any clear cut chances in the second half and the match was ultimately decided with a disputed penalty call against DCU defender Rory Dunleavy after 74 minutes, which Mahon yet again converted.

Playing their 4th game in as many days, UCC went head to head with defending champions and old rivals UCD in the Collingwood Cup decider. The final against UCD proved to be a similarly tight affair with the

final score being 1-0 in favour of the Dubliners. Games this tight are usually decided by one mistake, one misplaced pass or one flash of brilliance and unfortunately for UCC the mistake came from their side.

Having played one more game than the defending champions, fatigue began to set in and the

passion which he brought to the job.

While the Collingwood Cup won’t be making its way to Cork this year, there will be another chance in 12 months’ time and the players who will be there next year would love nothing more than to end any hopes UCD have of completing its tre-

mistake eventually came. After 70 scoreless minutes, UCD’s David McMillen latched onto a wayward pass to score the game’s only goal from just outside the UCC penalty area.

While UCD could have put the result beyond doubt with a late penalty, the 1-0 scoreline proved to be a fair reflection of just how hotly contested this game was.

It has been said in many sports across the world that good defence is what wins championships. This belief was proven to be true by a great UCD defence which managed to keep UCC’s dangerous forward partnership of Josh O’Shea and Simon Holland under control for most of the game. On a day when they were outplayed (albeit only marginally), it was always going to be difficult for UCC to come back against a UCD team who will seek to complete a three in a row run of Collingwood victories when the tournament is held in their home grounds next year.

It was once said that “sport does not build character, it reveals it” and nothing could be more true about this year’s UCC team. Greg Yelverton praised manager John Caulfield in particular for the dedication and

ble in the centenary year of the competition.

UCC will have a few more chances to pick up some silverware before the season draws to an end and the team loses some key players including talismanic forward Josh O’Shea. Greg Yelverton classed this as the nature of the beast that is college soccer as unfortunately you can’t keep your players forever. However the dedication shown by this year’s team and managers has now put UCC’s name on the college soccer map. With a growing reputation comes increased recruiting power and it looks likely that UCC is set to seriously contend in major tournaments like this for years to come.

UCC team vs UCD: Michael Dorgan; A Gannon, J O’Brien, A Neville, C Barry; C O’Callaghan (L Connolly ht), S Mahon, H O’Donovan, E Kilcommons (P Lawless 66); J O’Shea, S Holland. Unused: C Hill, D Murphy, D McNamara, I Mylod, R Price.

UCD: M McGinley; M Langtry, T Boyle, D O’Connor, N Wright; M Whelan, R Benson, N Hanley, R Belhout; C Morrison (B O’Brolchain 53), D McMillen. Unused: R McLoughlin, T Dent, R Murray, M Leahy, J Kelly, B McDonald.

Table tennis stars shine in Trinity Kayrin Ong

T

he UCC Table Tennis Team travelled to Trinity College, Dublin on the final weekend of February for the annual Intervarsities championship. With a spirited team of seven men and four ladies, they were determined to create some waves in Dublin.

In the team events on Saturday, the men’s team put on a great performance, cruising through their group stages and right into the semi-finals. Unfortunately, they were drawn against a very strong UCD team in the semis and had to settle for third position. However, it is a great achievement considering it is the first Intervarsity for half of the players on the team. As for the ladies’ team events, UCC retained their position as runner-up behind UCD after a few very closely fought matches going into fifth sets and deuce points.

The Individual events on Sunday was a time for our players to shine and they certainly did not disappoint. In the men’s individual events, most of our players advanced through their group stages and into the last 32. Alex Cooney, UCC’s #1, sailed through to the Men’s Finals. There were a couple of brilliant shots and rallies in his games but it was Will Gallagher who took the title in the end. The ladies were performing very well in their individual games too. Three of them, Xie Chen, Xie Huizhuang and Kayrin Ong featured in the semi-finals.

In the ladies’ final, Xie Chen got off to a great start, taking the first set lead. However UCD’s Sarah Timlin made a comeback and defended her title from last year.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend with some excellent results. UCC’s table tennis stars certainly look promising and are looking forward to an even better Intervarsity outing next year.

UCC gain upper hand on UCD Stephen Barry

W

hile the Collingwood Cup went in the direction of the capital, it was something of a trend this week for UCC’s GAA sides to topple the Dublin giants.

Apart from the Fitzgibbon Cup semi-final, the ladies footballers secured their place in the O’Connor Cup finals weekend, to be held in in a fortnight’s time in Waterford. The reigning champions defeated a highly rated UCD side by 2-15 to 0-13 having lead by two at the break.

Meanwhile a goal ten minutes from time put UCD in a commanding position in the Fresher All-Ireland semi-final.

However the Ger Cunningham trained UCC students shot seven of the final nine points to emerge victorious by two, 0-17 to 1-12.

March 6th, 2013

Sports | 23

Eight tries help College bridge the gap to top two Stephen Barry UCC Banbridge

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56 17

CC ran in eight tries as they thoroughly demolished a surprisingly inept fourth-placed Banbridge side in the Mardyke. However the five points gained were not enough to make inroads into joint-leaders Terenure College and Corinthians narrow lead as, only down the road, the Dubliners hammered Midleton while in Limerick Old Crescent experienced the same fate at the hands of Corinthians.

The game marked UCC’s best home performance in a year during which the Mardyke had seen UCC close out only two wins from five games until Saturday. It could also prove a turning point in UCC’s season after dropped points away to Cashel, drawing after an injury time Galwegians try and failing to take a fifth point from bottom side DLSP in their previous three outings.

UCC’s season will now end with games against Corinthians and Terenure and will be confident of carrying the momentum from this game into that pair of season-defining cup finals against two teams that lie only a point ahead of them, albeit with a game in hand.

Former pace-setters Banbridge came into the game on the back of three losses in their four games since the New Year but created little in the course of eighty minutes.

In fact the two tries which kept Banbridge within touching distance for the opening half-hour both came from defensive gaffs by the hosts and their attacking endeavour only bore fruit in the final minute.

That last minute try from Michael Cromie cancelled out some of the potentially crucial

improvements made to UCC’s points difference after their octet of tries.

The open nature of the game suited the students as they kept the ball in hand and made line-breaks with a huge regularity. It only took them two minutes to open up a seven point lead as Olan Dennehy barged his way over for a try.

However some charity from UCC handed the Northerners their opening try ten minutes in. Captain Willie Ryan picked quick ball off the back of a retreating UCC scrum. He got round the first defender but his attempted pass was juggled and secured by Andrew Morrison who kept enough distance from Seán Óg Murphy and Dan Horgan to reach the corner. Scrum-half Ian Porter kicked the first of three successive wides on a poor day for the Banbridge kicker.

Minutes later and UCC had restored the difference of seven from a move which started on their own 10-metre line; Kevin Slater broke free down the left, passing inside to Horgan kept the move going and he played in Darren Sweetnam for a try.

Some pressure from the Bannsiders had UCC camped under their own crossbar.

An excellent steal by Kieran Stokes seemed to have lifted the siege. However the ball came to Horgan and his awkward clearance kick was blocked down by Greg Taylor who fed Jonathan Graham for the try.

A Murphy penalty stretched the lead to 15-10 before the impressive Sweetnam pumped his legs to escape from Christopher Allen’s tackle and dot down beside the posts after the half-hour.

The bonus point wasn’t long in coming as Sweetnam streaked upfield before the move was finished off out wide by a succession of out of position forwards; Stokes with

Sport in Brief – Boxers top medal table

Arann Maguire, Mark Stanton, back-handed Cormac McCarthy and Stephen Barry

an excellent pass to John Fitzgerald, who fed Cathal Gallagher, who in turn had tighthead prop Peter McCabe on the wing to reach the corner. It was a strangely adventurous day for McCabe who had tried a chip and chase from his own 22 earlier in the half.

27-10 up at the break, the points were in the bag for UCC; however they did press on with an early Murphy penalty followed by a try for Dennehy, for which the platform was set by the consistently relentless ball-carrying of Willie Ryan.

Slater should also have had a try, just after the hour mark, but he knocked on with a clear 10-metre run ahead of him to the line. But, soon after, Murphy rectified that error as his dummy pass took Graham for a fool as he strolled in under the posts.

Slater put in Mark O’Mahony for five points which Murphy made seven as the ruthless and relentless UCC pressure began to open the floodgates.

The next to profit was Duffy who brought UCC, deservedly, over the fifty-point barrier and add to their points difference only for Banbridge’s late forwards’ try to take some of the gloss from the scoreboard.

UCC: D Sweetnam, O Dennehy, L Duffy, D Horgan, K Slater; S Óg Murphy, D Foley; P McCabe, K Stokes, B Scott; B Quill, David O’Connell; J Fitzgerald, C Gallagher, W Ryan. Replacements: M O’Mahony, S Moynihan, D McSweeney, C O’Regan, J Holland.

Banbridge: G Taylor, J Porter, A Morrision, J Little, M McDonald; A Doherty, I Porter; C Bickerstaff, D Weir, M Cromie; C Allen, S Irvine; R Patterson, D Carson, J Graham. Replacements: P Cromie, J Weir, S McKinstry, J Dodds, A Finlay.

Boxing: On the 23rd/ 24th of February and the 2nd/ 3rd of March UCC competed in the IATBA Intervarsities which were held in the National Arena in Dublin. Twelve competitors (eight men and four girls), travelled to Dublin and came back with seven gold medals and one silver medal. Lily De La Cour (54kg) and Deirdre Begley (60kg) both took home Senior titles while in the Novice division Louis Cronin (67kg) and Chris McCarthy (75kg) took gold as did Patrick Xie (56kg), Lisa Lonergan (57kg) and Jessica Shine (75kg) although the latter three were unopposed in their divisions. Jamie O Keeffe (81kg) took home a silver medal. These competitors have trained exceptionally hard throughout the year, training most days of the week with the help of the coaches Eoin Buckley and Ken Anthony. UCC Boxing has gone from strength to strength over the last few years and the level of competition this year has been excellent, as exhibited in their Intervarsity results. AM Rowing: It was a great weekend for UCC at the Cork Head of the River last Saturday week. The club ended up winning 8 races: Novice 8+ (men’s and women’s), Novice 4+ (men’s and women’s), Intermediate 2x (men’s and women’s), Intermediate Single (McGuckin) and Novice Single (Stanton). It was hotly contested in all categories by UL, Lee RC, Cork Boat Club, Shandon Boat Club and Cappoquin to name a few. It shows the progress the club is making as at the same event last year they won only one race. All the race pennants are on display on the wall of the squad gym in the Mardyke Arena. The next event is a challenge match v UL in two weeks’ time at O’Briensbridge in Limerick. MS TaeKwon-Do: UCC TaeKwon-Do Club had the most individual competitors, as well as the most black belt competitors at the 2013 TKD Intervarsity, held in CIT. The club took home 16 individual medals, a comprehensive success, winning the most individual events of the day. As well as winning the individual events, UCC TKD senior male team won the overall team event, defeating NUI Galway, in what was probably the most exciting event of the 2013 Intervarsities. Overall there was great sportsmanship, and team spirit shown by all UCC students, from black belt to white belt, male and female. Many of our students who joined the club last September were taking part in their first competition and did themselves and the university proud on the day. CMC Ladies Soccer: A pair of Geraldine McLoughlin first half goals meant that IT Sligo gained revenge for their Intervarsity Cup final defeat to UCC. They will now play UCD in the Premier Division final. SB Dance: At the recent Dance Intervarsities in UCD, UCC had a double success as they won gold in two of the five categories; Jazz and Lyrical. SB

SPORTS

06 March, 2013. Volume 20, Issue 12.

Lehane the star as UCC make it two in a row Brian Barry UCC Mary I

P

2-17 2-12

aul O’Connor smiled down on UCC as they won a second consecutive Fitzgibbon Cup title in Galway on Saturday.

The former manager passed away in September after guiding the college to the centenary Fitzgibbon Cup last year. UCC GAA Officer, John Grainger spoke of his respect for the team to get over the loss: “It speaks volumes about them as they have honoured his memory brilliantly.”

O’Connor played for UCC during the 1980s winning five consecutive Fitzgibbons between 1982 and 1986, captaining the side in 1986. He was recognised for his achievements when named on the ‘Fitzgibbon Team of the Century’ in a banquet in the Devere Hall last year. He also masterminded five successes as manager to add to the proud tradition of the famous ‘skull and crossbones’ in the Fitzgibbon Cup. UCC entered Friday’s semifinal as underdogs against a fancied UCD team managed

by Nicky English. However a strong second half showing helped them pull away from the Dubliners. Four unanswered points from UCC, after the teams were tied at 0-11 apiece, helped ease the pressure and Waterford’s Brian O’Sullivan ensured the victory with a late goal to leave the final score 1-20 to 0-15. However there was little time for celebration as they were left with only 24 hours to prepare for the final.

Speaking after the semi-final, UCC manager Eddie Enright, who captained UCC to the title in 1998, said “we always aimed for the weekend to try and peak. Hopefully we haven’t peaked yet. It was a good performance, I am delighted with the workrate and delighted with the space they created and hopefully we can continue it tomorrow.”

medal already in their pockets from last year.

Mary I received a massive boost ahead of their first ever final as Limerick player Declan Hannon was cleared to play after being shown a red card in their semi-final win over Waterford IT. The game started in ideal conditions with both teams looking to gain a strong foothold in the

(four from placed balls), as well as points from Paul Haughney, Dan McCormack and the aforementioned effort by Egan.

Although the first half was a tight affair, UCC seemed to be threatening to pull away, and the floodgates looked open on 39 minutes when Lehane fired to the net, but Mary I responded immediately with a goal of their own through John Con-

The Leesiders went into the final against the Limerick side as favourites. The two sides had previously met in the group stages of the competition, with a late Luke O’Farrell goal securing a draw for Mary I. However UCC entered the final with the experience of numerous members of the panel having a Fitz

game. But the first half was a cagey affair, barring some fine individual scores including a solo effort from William Egan. Both sides traded points, but neither was able to build enough momentum to establish a sizeable lead. The Leesiders went in 0-9 to 0-7 up at half time, courtesy of six Conor Lehane points

lon.

A goal from the impressive Séamus Harnedy was the final nail in the coffin, as the big wing-forward buried it into the top of the net from a tight angle. Despite a late goal by Conor Cooney, UCC were able to hold on and make it a second consecutive Fitzgibbon Cup for

UCC. The Freshers play their AllIreland Final on Wednesday against NUIG as they bid to seal a double-double for the college, after winning both Fitz and Fresher Championships in 2012.

The months of hard training has paid off for the students, many of whom now embark on an inter-county season. The college will enter the competition next year hot in pursuit of their first three-in-a-row since O’Connor managed the team to a hat-trick in 1998. His memory lives on.

UCC: D McCarthy (Cork captain); S Maher (Tipperary), D Glynn (Kilkenny), K Murphy (Cork); J Barry (Tipperary), D Fives (Waterford), W Egan 0-2; P Haughney 0-1, B Murray; S Harnedy 1-1 (all Cork), D McCormack 0-1 (Tipperary), Brian Lawton (Cork); B O’Sullivan 0-2 (Waterford), C Lehane 1-9, 7fs, B Harnett (both Cork).

Subs: Barry Lawton (Cork) for Murray (46), A Breen 0-1 (Limerick) for McCormack (50), W Griffin (Limerick) for O’Sullivan (58).

Mary I: S Nolan (Tipperary); C Fennessy (Clare), R O’Donnell (Limerick), A Ryan (Tipperary); J Wall (Cork), D Hannon (Limerick), Eanna Hogan (Tipperary); C Galvin (Clare), N O’Meara (Tipperary); B O’Halloran (Waterford), W Hickey (Limerick), C Cooney 1-3, 1-0f (Galway); S Curran 0-3 (Tipperary), J Conlon 1-4, 1-3fs (Clare), L O’Farrell 0-2 (Cork).

Subs: Eoin Hogan (Tipperary) for Hickey (50), L Considine (Limerick) for Eanna Hogan (55).