“That’s a very relevant topic”, a friend of mine said after hearing that Freedom was our opening theme for Volume XVII. They were spot on of course. In this day and age, to some freedom is not even a privilege anymore, but to others the thought of freedom for them is so unfathomable, pigs would sooner fly. In a world where freedom is so unfairly distributed across the globe, it is a perfect opening topic for us to delve in on from all different angles. Freedom has been viciously ripped away from people in all different locations across the globe. Everyday there are Palestinians in Gaza screaming out for freedom from the genocide that is being brought upon their people and their rightful land. The nation of Ukraine looks for freedom from the violence and terror that Russian troops are thundering down upon them. These are humans who are looking for peace from the fear, the killing and the pain that these terrorizing powers have brought upon them. In DR Congo the freedom to live in their homes in peace has been destroyed as there are currently 7.2 million people who have been displaced within their homeland due to violence and major political crisis.
The world is unfortunately going backwards in levels of freedom and not just in violence. Around the world women are losing the freedom of what they can do or not do with their bodies, even in developed countries such as the United States. With the supreme court overturning Roe v Wade, women across the States are being robbed of a right they had for years, the right to choose what they want for their body.
Everyday I wake up and I have the freedom to walk into campus, attend my lectures, meet my friends for a coffee and study for hours in the Boole. But if I were a woman in Afghanistan, that freedom of education would be completely ripped off me.Afghan women are banned from third level education, rarely even reaching secondary level. These women have been silenced and trapped within the shadows of the male “superiors”. It is rather medieval. Without education we have been robbed of any sense of freedom or escape from this oppression. These are both steps backwards in modern society, where women end up with less freedom than they had before.
It is important to discuss freedom to not forget how it is still a privilege to have. This month’s issue will be very heavy on Current Affairs, Features and Opinions because as I have said before it is a current topic, and it is under threat in many nations. We will be looking into how the US presidential elections are just around the corner and how its results threaten democratic Freedom and talk about using your choice by voting is a tool for other people’s freedom nationally and internationally. If you want a more introspective look at Freedom, read our Features and Opinions editor Cian Walsh , “(Maybe) A Guide To Freedom”. In this issue we explore the theme on a personal level but also in a more global perspective, specifically in our Deputy Editor in Chief,Tiernan O Ruairc’s piece on individual choice and your choice may affect the common good.
As we open a new Volume to you fellow students, I genuinely hope you can use Motley as your own source of freedom. Whether it is writing a poem about your deepest darkest secrets or writing an article about your opinions on current affairs, we believe everyone should have the freedom to
editor in-chief
LISA AHERN
Lisa is coming back to Motley after studying abroad in Boston for a year. She is in her final year of BA English and is returning to her Rory Gilmore wannabe role as Editor in Chief.
meet the TEAM
Tiernán Ó Ruairc, Deputy Editor In Chief
Tiernán Ó Ruairc is a final year history and politics student with an interest in current affairs, and is looking forward to another year at the Motley Magazine.
Adrian Quinn, Current Affairs Editor
Adrian is a final year arts student studying History and Economics. He loves music, cooking and playing sudoku whilst tanning on Mediterranean beaches.
Kate O’Hanlon, Deputy Current Affairs Editor
Kate O’Hanlon is a second year BA English student who loves to travel and go to concerts in her free time. She is also extremely interested in politics making her prefect for Current Affairs.
Tess O’Regan, Entertainment Editor Tess is returning to Motley this year while pursuing an MA in English Literature and Modernities. Always reading or watching something, Tess is particularly fond of the work of Cormac McCarthy, Hilary Mantel and Pat Barker, and will happily spend the rest of time rewatching The Wire. You can find Tess’ work in previous editions of Motley, or forthcoming in the Irish Times and Channel. Tess is one of eight UCC Lord Puttnam Scholars for 2024.
Darren Keogh, Deputy Entertainment Editor
Meet our mature student Darren Keogh who is the Deputy Entertainment Editor in his final year of BA Arts studying History and English. He loves music, films, books and trying to find the cheapest vinyls around now that he is a student again.
Cian Walsh, Features and Opinions Editor
Cian Walsh is a third year History and Politics student. He wanted to get involved with Motley for the way it culminates a lot of the creative endeavours he has always had a passion for. Different avenues like poetry, short stories, opinions, etc. Besides that, he ’s also good at getting told he looks like any male actor with dark hair and sleepy complexions.
Luka Oakman, Deputy Features and Opinions Editor
Luca is a second year Arts student. One of their biggest passions is Ancient Greek Culture and Mythology. Stephen Fry’s books are some of their favourites. They have always loved reading and writing, hence they are excited to get started working for Motley as they one day want to pursue a career in publishing.
Stephen O Brien, Fashion Editor
Stephen is in Final Year of BA English. He is deeply interested in Pop Culture, including music, film, and fashion, and is even a member of the Pop Culture Society!
Sinead Sheridan, Deputy Fashion Editor
Sinead Sheridan 2nd year English Student. Sinead has a huge interest in fashion along with photography. Writers Sinead looks up to are Anthony Bourdain and Hunter S. Thompson
Ester de Alcantara, Graphic Designer Ester is a second-year International Law student with a passion for graphic design. She loves books, movies, good music and Tom Hiddleston (mention him at your own risk). Will spend her free time making pizza and brigadeiro for her friends.
Brayden Spencer, Web Designer Brayden is a third year Digital Humanities and Information Technology student. Brayden is the Web Designer for this year’s motley team. Brayden is a tech geek and also a huge cinema and TV nerd!
CONTRIBUTORS
Louise Geary
Cronin
INSIDE
Matthews
As the forty-sixth president of the United States of America, Joe Biden, approaches the end of his first and final term in office, the quadrennial spectacle of the US presidential election race has commenced. American’s will take to the polls on the 5th of November this year to elect a new leader. The nature of the United States’ first-past-the-post voting system means that, as ever, this will be a two-horse race between a Democratic candidate and a Republican counterpart. As Vice President Harris seeks to curb Trump’s advance to a second term in office, she is repeating the message which played a large part in Biden’s victory in 2020 - that Trump, more than anything or anyone, poses the greatest threat to US democratic freedom. In a
THE LAND OF THE FREE OR
However, it was not long until sectarian Black Codes and Jim Crow in old Confederate States in the south dashed away any hopes of freedom for Black people, and instead reaffirmed their status as second class citizens. Even for those in the North, where the treatment Black people received was marginally better, acting upon this new found freedom was almost impossible due to the lack of resources and support, namely property and wealth.
It’s examples like these where the nebulous concept of US freedom exposes its own intrinsic contradictions. While these slaves, at least in theory, had indeed been freed from the literal chains of slavery, they were curbed in their freedom to embark on their pursuit of happiness and the life of the whiteman as they lacked the resources he had
R E B L U
This in turn provides people with the resources necessary and freedom, to achieve whatever it is they may want to in life. Freedom in the American sense can be viewed as freedom from these tax obligations and instead choosing whether to buy your own health insurance or send your children to a private school. Unfortunately, just like the emancipated slaves of 1863, this freedom is fabricated - many Americans do not have the resources or support, that is to say the money, to pay for healthcare or education even if they wanted to.
Digressing from Berlin’s abstract views on freedom and returning to the principal concern of this year’s election which is, certainly, the threat that Trump poses to democracy in America, conspiracy theory is not necessary in trying to prove this.
The Capitol Hill riots of January 6th 2021 should serve as a reminder of Trump’s authoritarian tendencies, as he incited an attempted insurrection of the Capitol Hill building through public speeches.
The neo-fascist Proud Boys and other supporters of Trump rallied together and attempted to prevent the counting of the electoral college votes, which would ratify Biden’s presidency, and should have resulted in a peaceful transition of power. As a result, Trump was indeed impeached and is currently under trial for his involvement in these attacks. Another contentious topic in the forth-
Roe v. Wade, a landmark in US judiciary history, affirmed women’s constitutional right to have an abortion. Following the overruling of this decision in 2022, Americans will be forced to revisit this subject when choosing their president.
Given the advent of Trumpism to the forefront of US politics, could Kamala Harris prove to be the saviour of freedom and democracy for the USA as it potentially reaches its twilight years? Omitting the obvious and immediate threat that Trump poses to becoming dictator of a dystopian 21st century free market hellscape, the answer is likely no. Understanding Berlin’s idea of positive freedom, the United States does not seem concerned in achieving this type of liberty. While Harris’ policies are certainly more focused on granting social freedoms and funding public services, if Scandinavian countries such as Denmark and Sweden are the benchmark for freedom in the positive and collective sense, the United States is a far cry from this, despite Harris’ more progressive views. Combined with Harris’ staunch support and funding for Israel’s apartheid regime against Palestinians, and her shady record as a prosecutor contributing to mass incarceration and the overcrowding of prisons in Califor nia, her record on freedom is not one to be lauded.
THE FIGHT FOR REPRODUCTIVE
FREEDOM: A GLOBAL STRUGGLE
by Amy-Louise Geary
Around the world the battle for reproductive rights has intensified, shaping not just political debate, but also the very notion of bodily autonomy. At the heart of this conflict is the question of whether people should have the right to control their own bodies. From the availability of birth control to the legality of abortion, reproductive freedom has become a battleground in many countries, with significant consequences for bodily autonomy and gender equality. As these rights continue to be contested, it is often young people who find themselves on the front lines of the struggle for reproductive freedom.
Reproductive freedom is a concept deeply tied to a person’s ability to make informed decisions about their health, family, and future. Yet, depending on where you live, that freedom can look drastically different. In countries like the United States, abortion rights have taken a dramatic turn. The overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court in 2022 has left states to decide the fate of abortion access. In many conservative-led states, restrictive laws have been put in place, some even banning abortion outright, with
In contrast, Ireland has moved towards expanding reproductive rights. Once a nation with one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, Ireland overturned its near-total ban in a historic referendum in 2018, a move largely attributed to the tireless work of young activists. Beyond abortion, access to birth control remains a key aspect of the fight for reproductive freedom. In many parts of the world, birth control is difficult to obtain, especially for young people, those in rural areas, or in conservative societies where reproductive health is often taboo.
In the Philippines, where religion heavily influences public policy, contraception has now become more accessible after years of resistance. The country’s Reproductive Health Law, passed in 2012 after a 14-year battle, now guarantees universal access to contraception, but its implementation remains inconsistent and conservative groups still push for rollbacks. In the U.S., debates over birth control are heating up as well. Some states have moved to restrict access to emergency contraception, which many mistakenly label as an abortifacient. Contraceptive deserts – areas where people live with little to no access to affordable family planning services – continue to limit reproductive freedom for countless individuals, particularly in underserved communities.
At its core, the fight for reproductive freedom is a struggle for autonomy. Whether in countries expanding these rights or those moving to restrict them, the issue remains fundamentally about control –who has it, who should have it, and how it shapes our futures. For many, reproductive freedom is inseparable from the broader struggle for gender equality, as denying bodily autonomy perpetuates systems of inequality and oppression. The fight for reproductive freedom is far from over, but with activists at the helm, the hope for a more just and equitable future remains strong. The question now is whether global society will embrace the freedom to choose – or whether those freedoms will continue to be constrained.
POLITICAL LIBERTY AND THE POWER OF A VOTE
The concept of democracy famously began in Athens circa 508 BC. While politicians are often photographed in front of the Parthenon temple due to its synonymy with fair government and constitution, the not so egalitarian roots of democracy are often overshadowed by the spectacle of modern politics. From only 10% of the Athenian population being permitted a vote to women in most parts of the world only gaining the right to vote in the 20th century, the concept of all citizens being free to vote in an election that determines the fate of their country is a relatively new one which still isn’t guaranteed to people in some parts of the world. But how secure is the vote and by proxy the voter in the 21st century?
When former President Trump lost the 2020 election, his supporters stormed the Capitol while he publicly cast aspersions on the validity of the election. Ironically, Trump himself sought to interfere with the proper certification of votes by Congress. Vice President Pence said that “President Trump demanded that I {-} essentially overturn the election by returning or literally rejecting votes.” Trump is running for President this year for the third time after being impeached twice. The fact that a man who tried to undermine democracy itself is allowed to take such an active role in government makes it difficult to believe that the vote of an individual is in any way important. The removal of political opposition is also becoming more commonplace. There are many cases in just the last few months where people who ran for office were unjustly taken out of the race to further the agendas of other politicians, which does not reflect the will of the people and makes systems like democratic voting seem obsolete. Recent events like Navalny’s wrongful imprisonment and subsequent death in early 2024 or the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio in August 2023 highlights the kinds of malversation that prevents other candidates from getting involved in political affairs. This gives people no alternative representatives to vote for, leaving them with no voice in both public and democratic policy which in turn leads to the perpetuation of the will of corrupt and unjust administrations. The lack of choice in candidates and precarious nature of the vote itself makes our current democracy seem like a chimera, which leads to some citizens choosing not to vote altogether.
This is disastrous as when citizens choose not to vote they are not taking advantage of their own political auton omy, which unfortunately is not a guaranteed right everywhere in the world. An individual’s vote is important because it directly contributes to the democratic process. Each vote helps to represent the preferences and in terests of the electorate, ensuring that all voters’ viewpoints are considered in a government’s decision-making process. Voting is one of the best ways for citizens to participate in governance, influence the allocation of re sources and hold elected officials accountable for their actions. Choosing to vote doesn’t just influence the pol icies in your own country but has a domino effect on an international level. The people you choose to endorse with your vote could detract from your liberty just as easily as they could advocate for state politicians deal with international affairs they can help to shape global policies which can affect anything from tax policies to human rights laws. Seeing as our modern democracy is still relatively new, every vote cast essentially goes towards shaping the mores of the system. That’s why, even when you feel like you have no freedom in your choice of candidate, it is important to choose the one that most accurately reflects your own values. This in turn may ensure safer voting systems both in your own country and globally. While voting sys tems and the people that uphold them can fall victim to various forms of corruption, it is also one of the only ways for people in the 21st century to exercise their own political freedom. If you have the power to cast a vote without being constrained by corruption or the threat of violence, it is your moral obligation to vote as you see fit, because your vote is a part of the constitution of global politics.
By Deputy Current Affairs Editor Kate’OHanlon
MEDIA FREEDOM AT RISK
In an era where information is power, media freedom stands as a pillar of democracy, ensuring that citizens are well-informed and capable of holding their leaders accountable. As the media’s role in our daily lives expands, political leaders worldwide have begun to realise the essential nature of media influence in shaping their image and policies. Consequently, media freedom is increasingly under threat, with politicians attempting to interfere. Governments worldwide are employing various tactics to control and manipulate the media, undermining the very foundation of democratic societies. According to the Global Report of the UNESCO World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development, 85 percent of the world’s population experienced a decline in press freedom in their country over the past five years.
Before delving deeper, let’s take a step back to understand what media freedom entails. According to Britannica, “media freedom refers to the freedom of various kinds of mass media and sources of communication to operate in political and civil society”, and we could also define it as the possibility to freely report news and express opinions without undue interference or restriction from governments, political entities, or other powerful groups.
The concept of media freedom has evolved significantly over time. In the early days of print media, many governments exercised strict control over what could be published, often using censorship to suppress dissenting voices. The struggle for media freedom gained momentum during the Enlightenment period, as thinkers and activists began to advocate for the free exchange of ideas as a cornerstone of democratic governance. It was in 1766 that the world’s first law promoting press freedom and information access was created by the Swedish parliament, enacting the Freedom of the Press Act and setting a precedent for other democratic nations to follow. One might think that with human progress over the past few years, we increasingly understand the importance of media freedom and are protecting it more and more. However, this does not seem to be the case. We have so many modern examples of governments censoring content by banning certain topics or entire publications, going as far as restricting access to specific websites or social media platforms or even using legal mechanisms, such as defamation and anti-terrorism laws, that can be misused to
By Graphic Designer Ester E. de Alcantara
However, these examples are likely familiar to most people, as the countries mentioned are not typically recognized for their democratic practices, despite their claims. Yes, when someone mentions “censorship,” countries like China, Russia, and North Korea might immediately come to mind. But the truth is that even some of the world’s most known developed democracies have experienced censorship scandals and while these incidents may not be as severe, they are often concealed from public awareness.
In Hungary, for example, media freedom has been significantly curtailed under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government. Since 2010, Orbán has systematically dismantled independent media through a combination of legal and financial pressures. The government has taken control of public broadcasters, and pro-government oligarchs have acquired numerous private media outlets. This consolidation has led to a media landscape where dissenting voices ported to Human Rights Watch that “reporters are told by to use and to avoid, and, if they do not like it, to leave.”
rorism” laws to imprison journalists and shut down gal framework is more protective of media freedom, remains inconsistent. Violence and intimidation are
onment of journalists serves as a deterrent to critical the Committee to Protect Journalists’ 2023 annual prison was the world’s 10th worst jailer of journalists—its most ranking in almost a decade—with 13 behind bars, down from
And let’s not even mention North Korea, where the government bans freedom of thought, expression, information and every form of media is under strict control. It is illegal to use phones, computers, televisions, radios, or any media content that isn’t government-approved. Such actions are labeled as “anti-socialist behavior” and are
In Italy, Rai has been at the centre of controversy for years, with allegations of censorship in people’s speeches. The most recent incident involves Antonio Scurati, who was supposed to deliver a monologue on April 25th on Serena Bortone’s show “Che sarà.” However, his segment was cancelled by Rai after they read his monologue, which mentioned President Giorgia Meloni, criticising her for refusing to publicly speak about anti-fascism. His words were: “As I speak to you, we are once again on the eve of the anniversary of the Liberation from Nazi-fascism. The word that the Prime Minister refused to pronounce will still resonate on the grateful lips of all sincere democrats, whether they are left, centre, or right. Until that word – anti-fascism – is pronounced by those who govern us, the spectre of fascism will continue to haunt the house of Italian democracy.” Rai, of course, denied the story, stating that any accusations of censorship are completely unfounded. But is that really the case?
Just remember the Sanremo episode, where a singer was reprimanded for saying “Stop the Genocide” at the end of his performance, which offended the Israeli ambassador and automatically involved the Italian government. Rai had to issue a press release apologising to Israel and stating that they did not support the singer’s position. It is strange how Rai closely follows the current government’s stance and distances itself from anything that might go against government theories or criticise the Prime Minister’s mistakes. But, of course, they have no reason to make us believe they practise censorship; it would be absurd to even think about it.
The truth is that, we often overlook how near censorship can be.
CIVIL WAR IN ETHIOPIA NO FREEDOM FOR WOMENRA
Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report in May communicating that conflict-related sexual violence has reached alarming levels in Ethiopia. A civil war began in Ethiopia’s northernmost state Tigray in November 2020, in which Tigrayan forces opposed the Ethiopian government and its allies. Their allies include the Amhara regional forces, the Amhara militia also known as Fano, the Afar troops, and the Eritrean forces. HRW highlighted in their report the ethnic cleansing of Tigrayans in the Western Tigray Zone by the Amhara regional forces and their militia.
The crimes committed against Tigrayans include widespread, brutal, and systemic conflict-related sexual violence against women and girls, says the report. The story of Shila, who lived near the Eritrean border in Tigray, encapsules the violence of the war on women and girls. Eritrean soldiers came knocking on Shila’s door. They asked for the whereabouts of her husband, a Tigrayan militiaman. She was then “passed around groups of Eritrean soldiers and repeatedly raped along with other women”. Shila got pregnant as a result of these assaults.
ARTICLE BY Ciara Cronin
Women are always a target for war crimes during conflict. They are used as pawns to commit crimes and try to weaken the enemy. In their new report, HRW have rang the alarm for widespread sexual violence in Tigray, which includes rape, sexual enslavement, sexual mutilation and torture against Tigrayan women, and so have other human rights organisations such as the United Nations, or Physicians for Human Rights. Women are not safe for the sole reason that they are women. Over 100,000 women may have been raped in Tigray during the two-year war. These women are first made victims when they are sexually assaulted and are then revictimized when they are ostracized by their own communities for having gone through such violence. In fact, most husbands will leave their wives when they find out about the sexual assaults. These women are not let back into their family homes where their children live, and religious leaders in some remote areas call them “rapists leftovers”. They are left with nothing.
A survey of more than 5,000 women of reproductive age in Tigray reported that nearly 8% of the interviewees had been raped. Of that 8%, over two thirds were gang raped, and a quarter said it happened on multiple occasions. The figure is very likely to be an undercount as the survey was only conducted on 5,000 women of reproductive age, which is only a very small portion of the population. This does not include women and girls that are not of reproductive age, women that were not participants in the survey because where they live is inaccessible due to the military presence which does not allow the survey to know if specific areas are more prone to widespread sexual violence than others, because their attacker killed them, or women that did answer the survey but were too afraid to tell the truth because of the stigma around rape. In conflict, women are used as a tool. They are dehumanized entirely. This can be highlighted with Shila’s story where she was “passed around”, like how a bottle of alcohol would be passed around among soldiers. Women are seen as an item to share and damage. No woman is free until all women are. Although these women are not behind bars, they are prisoners in their own lives, trying to live with the trauma that was caused by the violence they endured, or the constant fear that it could happen anytime.
KNEECAP’S FREEDOM OF SPEECH
By Deputy Entertainment
Editor Darren Keogh
There is a sense of freedom stirring in the ‘Six Counties’, also known as Northern Ireland, or the Ulster Province to some. For the first time in Stormont’s history the Nationalist party, Sinn Féin, have been voted into power. Michelle O’Neill has been appointed as First Minister for the first time in Sinn Fein’s history. This came about after a two year hiatus in government due to a veto from the DUP and former leader Jeffrey Donaldson. More and more Catholic and Nationalist artists and writers from the peace process generation’ are appearing from the north of Ireland. Michael Magee, from Belfast, has released his first novel Close to Home, which won the Nero Book Awards for Debut Fiction in 2023 and the Waterstones Irish Book of the Year 2023. The book is about growing up in Belfast after the1998 peace deal, how his generation dealt with the fall out of the peace process and how, therefore, not all is what it seems. Louise Kennedy, from Co. Down, has also released her debut novel Tresspasses, which is about a young Catholic girl falling in love with an older protestant man during the heights of The Troubles. Kneecap, with their cultural music ability, emerged on the scene in 2018, bringing an Irish voice with them by rapping in both Irish and English. Their members are rappers, Mo Chara (Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh), Móglaí Bap (Naoise Ó Cairealláin), and DJ Próvaí (JJ Ó Dochartaigh). Their debut album 3CAG has trinkets of humor and some obvious drug use along with some quality lashings of slagging towards the British establishment (And yes you guessed it Kneecap is a quip on paramilitary punishment). This already has been argued as unwarranted in certain areas of the north but look at it their way. If you were living on a street where your family were questioned and beaten by British forces, would you rather go out and act violently in response to this or would you sit down, roll a fat one and put your pen to paper and let the establishment have it your way by writing some heavy songs about them instead? It could be agreed the latter would be better. Instead of wallowing in their affliction they have become masters at transforming their pain into ‘fine art’, whether it be as Béarla or as Gaeilge. This is what Kneecap have done with their second album Fine Art, released this year.
This track, Better Way to Live, jumps between the Irish and English language and gives listeners an insight into the lives of our young singers on a daily basis in West Belfast. It speaks of topics like anxiety, catastrophizing, and drinking to keep the mental ‘chattering’ at bay, which seems to stem from post traumatic stress disorder. This then would explain where their lyrical anguish is coming from. Is it that intergenerational trauma has played a part in their writing and drug use?
There is more talk of generational trauma with songs like Sick in the Head, where class consciousness and mental health become a topic of conversation throughout with lyrics like: ‘live your fantasy before they eat you up and spit you out’ and ‘Tá mé tinn de bheith ag glacadh comhairle stráinséara’, which translates to ‘I’m sick of taking a stranger’s advice’. These lyrics speak to the youth of Ireland and give a sense of individualism, freedom and unity – all factors of what could be to come from Northern Ireland if the Belfast agreement gets some sort of reform now that Stormeont is back. As Móglaí Bap and Mó Chára tell us, it is even more important now for something to be done about the suicide rate in Belfast.
This seems to be one of the biggest fallouts from the Peace Process. Reports have emerged in recent times that more people have died by suicide since the Good Friday Agreement than people that were killed during The Troubles.
Kneecap show their ability to poke fun at the Unionist community with songs like Get your Brits Out, which they released in 2019. The track tells the tale of a fabricated night out the group had with members of the DUP as they get smashed on yokes with Christy Salford and Jeffrey Donaldson. In a dream world this is the kind of song that could bond Unionists and Nationalists together as they all get off their faces and dance and have the craic. Kneecap are trying to say something here, maybe it is unity for all, maybe it is freedom, but it is up to the listeners to take note or stay on their one way street forever.
Their freedom of speech is channeled through the use of the Irish language. It’s something prisoners learned while locked in their cells during the Troubles to communicate so the British officers could not understand them when they spoke and so, when they got released, some of them went on to open Irish national schools in their areas to keep the language alive. These teachers only got paid through collections until state funding arrived in 2022.
With all this mentioned they have a semi-autobiographical movie which was just released in cinemas in August, also called Kneecap. The band members play an amplified version of themselves to tell their tale of the band’s inception, growing up in West Belfast and showing the life of the communities that these lads have come from in a post Good Friday Agreement environment. The movie has already won the Audience Award at the Sundance film Festival.
Kneecap are not afraid of controversy either. They unveiled a mural depicting a PSNI land rover on fire in 2022. This received heavy criticism from leaders of the DUP but Kneecap defended it as “fine art.” Again transforming their anguish into something artistic rather than violent. Kneecap are using their technique to create something that is both legal and talented. Maybe this is an area that can now be looked at in Stormont on the back heel of a fresh government in Northern Ireland.
It could be said that Kneecap’s main argument is that measures need to be taken to rebuild communities in Northern Ireland just like they would be in any post-conflict society.. To this day the peace wall gates in Belfast are still locked at 10pm every night and so fully grown adults are closed in, thus creating a vacuum of mental health issues and there are not enough services there to deal with the high rate of suicide and poverty. Now that Stormont is back up and running, surely there is an urgency for the Belfast Agreement to be looked at as it is clearly showing signs of age. A new agreement could be put in place, maybe even a citizens assembly, and instead of First Ministers and Deputy First Ministers they could be retitled as Joint First Ministers, this could prevent future veto by either party. Whatever it is going to be, it must be done with haste so new thinkers can pave the way for the working class. This then could lead to unity as it was originally agreed in the Good Friday Agreement. As Árlo Ó Cairealláin, played by Michael Fassbender in the movie put it,
‘And you know what that shite smelt like? Freedom.’
The first spin-off of The Walking Dead is set in Los Angeles as a virus that turns the dead into zombies begins to spread. As the show goes on, its cast of characters flee the city and head south, to Mexico. Here the ensemble is split up and, in an attempt to reunite, travel north again to the (former) United States of America.
This is where the third season picks up. As the characters attempt to cross back into California they come into contact with a Frankensteinian version of U.S. border patrol. Captured, separated and detained, they are questioned or tortured, depending on their race. Madison Clark and her daughter Alicia are taken to an office where they wait, as if in passport control, to be processed. Of course, they have no passports. No one does anymore. The only way they can convince their captors that they are American, and have a right to enter the country, is to satisfy criteria of what a ‘real’ American should be. White and English speaking, with Californian accents, they pass with flying colours.
It’s a different story for Madison’s husband, Travis Manawa. Although an American citizen, Travis is also Mauri. This fact alone is reason enough for the militia to separate him from his family, without any preliminary questioning. He is taken to a bunker to be processed, where he finds his step-son, Nick, and Nick’s girlfriend, Luciana, who were travelling north with a group from Mexico when they were shot at and brought here.
Already, the ostensible freedom of movement the apocalypse seems to offer has been exposed as a mere myth. The U.S. might no longer exist but, for the militia running this camp, that is no reason to stop ‘undesirables’ from entering.
Led by the strangely boyish Troy Otto—who slips eugenicist ideas into small talk—this militia walks around in Marine cosplay, reanimating the border and, with it, the violently
Travis, too, disturbs Troy’s attempt to disguise his racist agenda. Travis is perfectly healthy. There is nothing physically ‘wrong’ with him, except the colour of his skin.
As the U.S. presidential election approaches in November, the U.S.-Mexican border is once again a big news story. In 2017, when this season was coming out, the border was making headlines weekly under the Trump administration. For as long as there’s been a border, families have been inhumanely separated in the name of national security. Closer to home, we see a similar refusal to welcome immigrants into the EU—which ironically allows its citizens to move freely between member states. In Britain, former PM Rishi Sunak’s immigration plan involved deporting people to Rwanda rather than simply housing them. Across the Western world, anti-immigration and xenophobic sentiments are gaining popularity rapidly.
Fear of shrinking resources. Fear of unemployment. Fear of homelessness. Fear that immigrants are coming to countries to ‘steal’ jobs and houses from ‘real’ citizens. All of these feed into an Othering of immigrants and fuel Xenophobic rhetoric that refuses to recognise their humanity. They become one amorphous homogenous blob, unidentifiable from one another, like a threatening hoard of zombies.
As the episode progresses, we discover that the people in the bunker are being experimented on. Troy is measuring the length of time between the death of a person and their turning into a zom bie. He does this by systematically killing his captives. He justifies this by referring to the killings as scientific inquiries into the new order of things in this post-apocalyptic world. In reality, he is running a death camp; killing people for the sake of inconsequential information.
Of course, that’s not how Troy sees it. For him he is doing the world a service, “only” killing “the sick and the wounded”, in the name of science. Ableist language like this should be enough of a warning. Valuing the lives of the sick and wounded below those of the healthy is evil, pure and simple, and is a hallmark of Nazism. This attitude sees Nick sentenced to death simply for having track marks on his arms. Similarly, Luciana, who has been shot, is considered as good as dead already and therefore perfect fodder for Troy’s experiments. But of course, this
Luciana is injured because Troy’s men shot her when she and Nick were approaching the camp. She is not going to die solely because she is injured. She is going to die because she is Mexican.
BY ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Zombies have long been read as an expression of anxiety over immigration.They shuffle anonymously through spaces they don’t belong in; dead amongst the living. Often moving in overwhelmingly large groups, zombies are the perfect figures to embody Western unease about immigration.
Season Three of Fear the Walking Dead plays with the association of immigrants as zombies on a visual as well as a thematic level. In the second episode, an establishing shot shows us a fence from overhead. Bodies swarm and shuffle as arms push through the chain link, reaching. Immediately, we think: zombies. On closer inspection, however, the group turns out to be living, trying to get aid from a doctor. Our expectations—set up by similar scenes with zombies—are undermined, exposing underlying biases. This is not a malicious swarming devouring mass of unidentifiable bodies. These are people, desperate people, grasping for life.
This relation between the zombified body and the immigrant’s body appears on a thematic level. Troy’s experiment literally turns immigrants into zombies. More than crossing a border into a country they ‘shouldn’t’ be in, they cross into a state of being they shouldn’t be in: un-death. Their freedom to move across land—a universal right, granted by the international fall of countries and therefore demarcations between nation states—has already been denied them. Now, their basic freedom, that of life, is taken too.
The border camp of Fear the Walking Dead is a nightmare vision of a future US-Mexico border. It is also a chilling echo of Nazi extermination camps. By reanimating the past, detention camps of the present and future take on a monstrous quality too. Because it is monstrous to curtail freedom of movement. Because to curtail freedom of movement is to curtail the freedom to live.
FREEDOM OF CHOICE:
Iwas staying at a hostel on Abbey Street in Dublin for a few nights over the summer, sitting at the hostel bar, sipping my pints and chatting away to couple of American and Spanish tourists who were trying Guinness for the first time.This bar was only accepting cashless payments so this one particular man stood out. He produced a wad of cash, fresh crisp fifties and tens and tried ordering a stout, but was politely refused and sat alone for several minutes. Eventually he approached me, he withdrew fifteen euro from his wallet and asked if I would buy his next two drinks using my card. After several rounds of Guiness and whisky we started to talk. His thick accent and broken English required him to use google translate for more detailed parts of our discussions. His name was Artem. He revealed pretty early on that he was in Dublin to apply for international protection, he admitted to being a deserter. He was in fact a Ukrainian fisherman from outside Odessa. He had been turned down when he applied for the temporary protection afforded to most of the Ukrainians who had arrived in Ireland and stated that he didn’t understand why the state would not take him in. He began to talk of his pacifist ideology and his disdain for violence and war.
He made it clear that no matter what he would not be returning to Ukraine to fight, he just needed to set up somewhere safe so he could bring his wife from Ukraine. It must have been several hours we sat there discussing the war and politics, he enjoyed fishing and wished to take up a job soon as fisherman here in Ireland or anywhere that would hire him. Many things ran through my mind as Artem spoke of his pacifist ideas, however consistently I felt annoyed and angry at a man who in my eyes had abandoned his country. It was and is easy to sit here and question his right to look for safety from the war and exercise his right to not fight in a war started by the Kremlin. However, it still seemed selfish that he put his desire for his own safety and more importantly his political beliefs over that of his fellow country men’s freedom from the Russian caused war. Artem had chosen his own individual rights and prioritised himself over every other Ukrainian man, woman and child. His decision to leave conflicted with the common good for the people of Ukraine.
THE COMMON GOOD INDIVIDUALISM VS
By Deputy Editor In Chief Tiernán Ó Ruairc
Ultimately the international protection office and the Ukrainian military courts will be the ones who determine if Artem’s right to be a pacifist during Ukraine’s unjust war is a crime or an unforgivable act against the common good of the Ukrainian people. The whole experience was an interesting view into the war and seeing Artem worn and tired describing fighting and how surreal it was to be free from it brought into focus for me the idea of the common good. The common good as a concept has been discussed since Plato, it continued to be discussed by philosophers like Cicero too who coined common good as ‘Salus populi’ which means safety of the people, it is along those lines that common good is defined as an outcome achieved via a shared will. We’ve seen this, whether it was Covid-19 which saw millions give up basic day to day activities to curb the spread of the virus in the name of the common good or post 9/11 which saw American citizens give up many rights in the name of it. In fact, anyone no matter what their position who displayed individualistic tendencies during Covid-19 pandemic suffered. In Ireland we saw major resignations because of a golfing dinner in the Connemara aka Golfgate and serious backlash for players and coaches involved with the senior Dublin football panel who were seen partaking in group training during intense Covid restrictions.
These two incidents faced massive backlash from the public who deemed the common good to have been sidestepped by a self-proclaimed elite few who were ‘above’ participation in the pandemic restrictions. It’s hard to imagine a world where the same doesn’t happen to Artem, aside from my own view on it, what if when the war ends in a Ukraine victory and people return home, any of the 768,000 military age men who fled Ukraine to the EU, as reported by the BBC in December of 2023, do those men receive state help as the country rebuilds or does the country reject men like Artem the same way senators and management were rejected in Golfgate and in the Dublin setup? Artem’s newfound freedom from military orders and harsh war conditions achieved solely through his attachment to his individual right to freedom of expression may be his longterm downfall as the country now looks upon him the same way it has begun to look at Russian sympathisers. In a quest to fulfil his need to feel free, Artem has neglected to fulfil his role as an integral cog in the system which is in the international common good. Artem is not the first deserter nor is he the last before the war is over, however every time that number of military aged men that has fled Ukraine increases it becomes harder to establish with less and less people involved in a system that creates a common good.
(Maybe) A Guide to Freedom
The definition of freedom is a tricky one. It can divide and spread in terms of its definition as far as anyone is willing to do so. Freedom can mean being unbound, unobligated, uninterested even. To see freedom through a lens of detachment is to say that no one has freedom. Attachment is something that as human beings, we can’t exactly escape. People are inherently attached to one another. Companionship and support are what we rely on as a means of survival. The same is true when we think about how we attach ourselves to our identities. We bind ourselves to notions of what we are and thinking of oneself as free leaves us still obligated in a way.
Many people worry about dating in their early twenties for what they might lose out on. Maybe they worry about what might become of themselves should they be committed, be obligated. It is not an easy task to give part of oneself away in order to pursue the feelings that they cannot escape. At the same time, are we not free to pursue those feelings and free to admit our attachments? We are all free to put ourselves at risk of heartbreak but then are we bound to another person because of that same risk? Would it be easier for us as a society to embrace a polyamorous utopia in which we are feeding our desires and avoiding any notion of commitment for all the years we spend on this plan- et? Somehow, I doubt it.
The question still stands however on the topic of freedom and what it really is and how we can embrace it on a micro and macro level. Questioning autonomy will likely leave any critical thinker pulling out their hairs for every contradiction that they fall upon. Once someone believes themself to be acting freely, they could run into many obstacles or paradoxes regarding such a statement. Any autonomous decision made can still come from a place of influence whereby that autonomous actor is still bound to their own ideologies. In the beginning, people are free to make their own minds on certain topics or events but inevitably, people cannot escape their own thoughts and thus, the spiralling paradox of freedom and how long we can remain free continues.
Through my own lens of agonising cynicism, I would subscribe to the idea that human beings are inherently stubborn in their ways more than they realise.
I suppose it is to say that perhaps freedom is only realised when we can be free despite ourselves. Where we can look past our biases and even attempt to open our minds even if it is only one percent wider than before. Being free could be an ongoing journey that surely never ends. Whether it is due to the idea that we get more stubborn as the years go on, or that those years ahead become the most formative regarding our identities of which we are inseparably bound to.
There’s certainly something frustrating about wrestling freedom as a concept for every loophole that exists in its definition or its ‘true’ form. Must I be free from something or must I be free to do something instead? Can I only know freedom if I was once forced to live in a cage or could I just start egging houses on College Road and claim autonomy that way?
I am certainly thankful for the inability I have to take myself too seriously. Otherwise, this would’ve been a much less enjoyable piece to write. Ironically, one might believe I just enacted my own freedom through the distance I put between myself and any premonition of my own self-importance. Perhaps, I am free from my premonitions and thus, I am free to do as I wish in this world. Irony aside, freedom from our own senses of self-importance wouldn’t exactly be the worst thing. I fear that what might hold me or anyone else back from pursuing their true passions are the entitlement of the self and the entitlement of everyone else.
What is the most perfect prison for human beings to be caught or contained by? I think judgement could be the greatest deterrent to one’s freedom. If you asked me to say from whom the judgement is most destructive, I would freak out and run away for how terrifying that question is. If you were annoyed at me for deflecting the question, I’d tell you that I was only acting out of freedom.
Freedom feels more like a moment than anything else to me. It’s an impermanent sensation, almost. To me, a moment of freedom is a moment of spontaneity and precision. It’s exact in its form but can come from nowhere. Freedom is listening to Bell X1 at full blast driving down an empty road at night time. Freedom is staying out later than you normally would with your friends because the only certainty that you need in that instance is that you will be home eventually. Freedom is sometimes as simple as making breakfast in your underwear while your parents aren’t home. Freedom is the feeling that things will work out however they do and that whatever moment you’re experiencing now isn’t worth ruining over what may be ahead of you.
I find a level of freedom in the idea that all I need in order to live my life is to do right by others. It’s a simple construct that might seem limiting in its delivery or description, but I get this pulling sensation in my gut that tells me the right thing is always in front of me. The right thing isn’t always the easiest thing by any means, but why should it be? For all the existential phrases like “attachment” and “bound” that I’ve exhausted this article with, is it not somewhat comforting to think that there’s one idea which I, or anyone else would choose to attach or bind themselves to? In life, I believe people will lose a million freedoms and gain a million more. I only hope they have found the right reasons.
BY Cian Walsh
What Freedom Means To Us
What does freedom mean? What does it mean to us as a society? As a community? For myself as an individual? We all know the word freedom and we might think we know what it means, but do we truly understand the full meaning of Freedom? The term freedom isn’t as simple as it might seem, it is broad and encompasses many different meanings. An example of physical freedom that most Irish people know is in 1922 when 26 counties were freed from British control to form the independent Republic of Ireland. A more relevant example can be found is the Palestinian fight for freedom against Israel and Zionist control as they are currently facing a mass genocide in Gaza. This definition of freedom tends to embody a more literal term for freedom; countries or their people leaving or fighting the control of another dominating country. This example can be seen as freedom from violence and freedom from oppression.
Another prominent type of freedom is religious freedom. To practise religious beliefs is having a choice to practise your own faith, with prayer, rituals and religious clothing in the safety and comfort of your own home. The fight for religious freedom is often the cause of many conflicts between different cultures. Many countries have a community that embraces and welcomes many different faiths and religions.
According to US News, Canada, New Zealand, Netherlands, Australia and the United Kingdom are the top five countries that welcome the most diverse religious beliefs.
While there are many countries in the world where you can practise any faith you choose in relative safety, there are still many countries whose ruling body still violates religious beliefs including countries such as North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Russia. North Korea for example, under its dictatorial regime, is primarily an atheist state and public religion is discouraged.The minority that practises Christianity face persecution and often have to practice in secret. Those found to be practising Christianity are said to be sent to prison camps and subjected to horrific tortures, simply because of their faith. While in Pa- kistan, the majority of the population are Muslim and follow Islamic traditions. However, religious discrimination is a big problem as many different faiths have and still face constant persecution.
Another type of freedom that remains something to be fought for by many is to express one’s sexuality and gender identity. There are currently 64 countries in the world that criminalise homosexuality, most of which are in Africa. Legalising same sex marriage and decriminalising homosexuality has only started in the 21st Century with the first country to legalise same sex marriage was the Netherlands in 2001. In May 2015 Ireland was the first country to legalise same sex marriage by popular vote, with over 60% of the voting to change the law. Everyone in the LGBTQ+ Community would be aware of Stonewall, a series of riots that inspired the beginning of the Gay Rights Movement. In 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in New York and proceeded to forcefully drag out patrons and staff. This act outraged many people and neighbours, who collectively came together with the wider gay community in and around New York to start rioting against police harassment and persecution. While the Gay Rights Movement wouldn’t officially start for another few years, the Stonewall Riots became inspiration to fight for the rights of everyone in the LGBT+ Community.
This freedom of self-expression in gender and sexuality is deeply connected to my personal freedom. I, as a Queer Non-Binary person, live in daily turmoil over my freedom. The UCC campus has become my safe space as I freely live as myself without any fears or repercussions. This, however, cannot be said for my hometown or my family, where I live as a shell of myself, hiding my real identity away, because I don’t know what I will face if this comes to light.
Freedom, no matter what from, is a fight, we are all fighting to be freed from something. This is my fight. A fight I share with many others. Freedom isn’t easy to achieve but it’s something that everyone deserves to experience.
By Deputy Features and Opinions Editor Luca Oakman
FREEDOM IN ALL ITS
SHAPES AND
By Kia Matthews
Freedom, entitlement, privilege. The definition of the word is constantly changing, morphing into something bigger as we grow alongside it. As a child, freedom is getting to choose between a ham or a jam sandwich,that toy bear or monkey. Freedom in its simplest form, but still of considerable value to us in the moment. Life as a teenager: arguably the time when we want those privileges that adulthood has to offer, no longer bound by the rules set by our parents. The part of life where you figure out what you are like in a more expanded form than just sandwiches and monkeys. It is when the roots of one’s independence begins. Gone are the hand-me-downs of your older siblings or cousins and in with anything that just feels like you.
It is a time in life often defined by rebellion, but a couple of words I think that often get neglected is exploration or curiosity.The freedom of a teenager includes the testing of limits and boundaries set by adults, but it is also the time when that desire to explore and discover could explode. Whether that be dyeing your hair a colour of bombastic choice or seeing what goes on in the world when you stay up past midnight. Curiosity exists throughout each stage of life, but one could argue it is as a teenager where freedom truly interlocks with uncovering what else there is in the world. From young to old that desire to explore and learn is continuous, expanding ever more as we get older.
When you reach adulthood, however, I find that curiosity is replaced by responsibility. That isn’t to say that it’s been stomped out of existence, but more so that the freedom of adulthood has the price of priorities that need to be paid.
It now somewhat feels like a burden more than something that only induces excitement. Compared to each chapter of life up until this point, one way or another we got to experience freedom on an easy level. Now, it seems the freedom we experience comes with the type of independence where it is not just about choosing what we have for lunch or what poster to have on our bedroom wall. Our new freedom is about choosing what it is we want to make of ourselves through how we dress, through how we speak to others, and how we show up for ourselves.
Perhaps one day came along that we all woke up with freedom. That one day, we rolled out of bed with the independence we all so desired in our younger years. One could buy a cake and slice it and eat it in whatever way they desire. In that regard, the freedom to do whatever you want is exciting and energising, but it can certainly be a scary thing too. I can buy this cake without my family questioning my thought process (but let’s be real, they will do that anyway), but I’ve gone from choosing what sandwich filling to have at lunch to needing to choose what to eat for three meals a day and to additionally prepare those meals as well.
Challenging no doubt, but simultaneously exciting because the creation of oneself continues, even if it means the dull responsibilities of our freedom require just a little bit more commitment. The greater the challenge, the greater the reward, no? The freedom of adulthood comes with a great long list of hurdles that we’d rather have our parents deal with for us, but it is with that freedom that we slowly but surely receive more of in our lifetime, that all these challenges tie into greater rewards.
FREEDOM FROM HOME
TRIGGER WARNING: This piece touches on themes on sexual assault and predatory behaviour.
Many of us Erasmus exchange students experience the sensation of freedom at some point during our exchange. Whether it’s finally moving out of your parents’ house or landing at a foreign airport for the first time. The way the air smells when walking up those big, green Irish hills that you’re not used to seeing (at least not me, coming from the Netherlands). Maybe you’re learning to let go while drinking Beamish pints and mingling with other international students. Each with their own experiences of newfound freedom. I’ll say with absolute certainty that I felt an immense amount of freedom when landing at Dublin airport, waiting to board my bus to Cork.
My story is about leaving behind an unsettling situation at home. An absolutely awful roommate. We’ll call him Aleksi. I moved into a shared three-bedroom apartment earlier this year. I lived with a lovely girl, whom we’ll call Laura, and him. It seemed that we got along well and would hang out together, watch movies and cook. I was really happy about having them as housemates at the start, but the red flags started to pile up over the course of the following months.
Aleksi marketed himself as a “really honest” person, who announces their opinion on everything unprompted. I started noticing his remarks on Laura’s actions, i.e “are you really going to eat that chocolate?” and being incapable of making comments on the looks of any woman he laid his eyes on. If you called him out, he would play it off as a joke. There’s an unofficial term for that: ‘Schrodinger’s asshole,’ a person who decides whether or not they’re joking based on reactions to said joke.
Aleksi grew increasingly demanding. He wanted to control as much of the house as he could, constantly reminding us that he was the first person to move in. It started with monitoring the chores, and escalated to him getting very upset if either of us brought male friends home. However, girls were fine. Funny how that works out. He became increasingly inappropriate: he would make weird comments to ladies around him and touch them without their consent.
After finishing my last essay assignment for the spring semester, he asked that we speak privately. He wanted to confess something. He proceeded to tell me that a few weeks after I had moved in, he had taken my clean underwear from the laundry pile, and used them to masturbate. He went to his room, came back with his phone, showing a picture of the act. I kept calm physically, but only physically. After, I went to sleep over at a friend’s house.
I told Laura what had happened. She was disgusted. Turned out Laura also had egregious, unwanted experiences with him. We decided to confront Aleksi about everything together. We had no idea what reaction to expect. When confronted, he replied, “do you think I’m rotten?” He sat down on the grass, pathetically curled up in a ball. He felt sorry for himself. He left the house for a week. When he came back, he carried himself with newfound arrogance, trying to convince us that everything he’d done was actually “not that bad”. I went away for a few weeks to see my family. When I arrived home from my trip, he blocked me from using the bathroom, dropped to his knees and prayed for my forgiveness.
Once he understood that I wasn’t going to forgive him, his behaviour switched within a second. His eyes were filled with rage, and he bursted out screaming a wide range of insults at me. I locked myself into my room, and he stood outside the door screaming. He wouldn’t leave. I told him that I was scared, and he started laughing.
From that moment on, I was terrified. His aggression continued to escalate. Laura was on vacation, so he and I were alone in the house. Every moment that I spent at home, I hid in my room. I couchsurfed as much as I could, but unfortunately it was late summer, so most of my friends were away on vacation. Eventually I brought a friend to stay with me whenever I had to be home. Whenever we were there, he would just stand and stare at us. It’s really eerie having your 6-foot-something, deranged housemate stand and stare at you silently. After a couple of days of staying at home, he told me and my friend that he can and will get us kicked out.
Me, Laura, and another girl who had lived with him previously in the same apartment, reported him to both the police and the housing organisation. The police took us seriously, unfortunately not the housing organisation. Their solution was that Laura and I can move out but Aleksi gets to stay? Bullshit. I tirelessly disputed, but it was clear that they were not willing to take action against him.
After this disappointment of a response from the housing organisation, I was exhausted. I had lived in a progressively abusive and frightening situation for months, which took a massive toll on my well-being, not to mention all the changes I had to make to my lifestyle and routines. The support I received from Laura, my friends, family and colleagues is what got me through all of this. It’s frustrating when those hurting others are allowed to continue their behaviour while those who are hurt have to make adjust their lives and move on. Sometimes, all you can do is share your story in the hope that it might help another carrying a similar torment.
It must be emphasised that this person is a serial sexual predator. He has a recurring pattern of selecting young women to share the apartment with, only to harass and attempt to assault them once they’ve settled in. I am the fourth girl (that I know of) who’s moved out because of him. The girl who rented my room before me moved out because he threatened to “fuck her up” for not sleeping with him, before punching holes in the wall. She filed a report to both the police and the housing organisation, and was so upset when she left that she stole his cat (which she unfortunately had to return). The housing organisation told her to move out.
I know plenty of other girls who have been victims of his inappropriate actions, comments and requests. For example he has asked a girl who he’d just met if he could pee in her mouth for money and claiming it was a joke after she said no. These girls haven’t even filed any sort of reports against him. The housing organisation has admitted to their awareness of Aleksi’s recurring dangerous personality. Their lack of action is not only enraging, but incredibly concerning. I only wonder how far he has to go until he faces any consequences.
Luckily, I only had five days left until my flight to Ireland. Those days flew by while packing my belongings, couchsurfing, and finally , I boarding my bus from Dublin to Cork. Smelling the fresh air while walking up a big, green hill. Drinking a Beamish while mingling with other international students. Letting freedom embrace me.
If you or anyone you know has been affected by sexual assault or predatory behaviour, help and council is available at these numbers:
BY LIA D
087 153 3393, Sexual Violence Centre Cork 1800 77 8888, National 24-hour Rape Crisis helpline 999, An Garda Síochána
Freedom of Fashion in the 2020s
The 2020s started with a bang, or more specifically, a pandemic. Whilst hours could be spent talking about the after effects that COVID-19 had politically, socially, and economically, I personally would much rather speak on the lasting influence that those quarantine months had on fashion. To set the scene, the 2010s was a decade where the internet was beginning to influence fashion. Aesthetics consistently popped up on Tumblr and Instagram: the soft grunge of 2014 with black & white checkers and chokers, the “art hoe” look of 2017 that consisted of bright sunflower yellow jumpers and mom jeans. Athleisure and the obsession with branding and logos like Chanel, Gucci, or Supreme were another fashion style propagated by influencer culture. Social media and its emphasis on curating an aesthetic helped to push the styles and trends of the 2010s, in a way that felt more interactive and accessible than the decades prior where fashion trends were dictated by the fashion industry itself. With people being stuck inside during mid-2020, and of course the rise of TikTok during the same period, this influence grew exponentially.
The world was locked in their homes and glued to their phones and so the ‘Instagram meets Pinterest’ style that was pioneered on TikTok. The algorithm grew to understand users’ preferences and interests, which led to subcultures and communities quickly growing. Every phrase and style you could think of became a ‘-core’ — cottagecore is perhaps the most well-known. Think folklore by Taylor Swift, cow print, cardigans, and mushrooms. It was the dreamy style of someone who lived half in a fairyland and half in a cottage in the Cotswolds. Other fashion trends from the past made semi-revivals online, either through Millennial nostalgia, or from Gen Z romanticising a time they never got to experience. The “e-girl/boy” look is an example of this; a style that took influence from both late 00s emo fashion, and the aforementioned Tumblr grunge aesthetic from 2014. TikTok became a platform for ‘fit checks’ and style tips from regular people and celebs alike; suddenly a random teen could be just as influential to the regular person’s style as an established high-fashion magazine. And since the world had been disrupted, so too were the fashion weeks and shows to help dictate what was officially in or out.
Nowadays, it feels like everything is in; crop tops and oversized shirts, baggy jeans and sheer lace pants. Femininity is in, but so too is a masculine silhouette. Skirts are becoming androgynous, ‘boy shorts’ have become a staple of most women’s wardrobe.
Cowboy boots and ballet flats are everywhere. It’s all in vogue. The pandemic opened the floodgates for self-expression to replace the hard rules on what to wear and how to wear it that had previously existed. People were given the time to separate themselves from self-consciousness and could instead discover more about fashion and their tastes. They could reminisce on previous fashion trends, either from their own past or decades prior. Some people took to spending their free time learning to crochet and sew. The summer of 2020 was an explosion of garish, over-the-top, yet fun styles. Makeup was flamboyant and experimental, people were embracing ‘looking strange’, to push themselves out of their comfort zones when it came to fashion. Crochet went from being for blankets to being hats and jumpers and tote bags. The subsequent years post lockdowns have certainly toned that flamboyant wildness down, yet still most of the popular styles nowadays came about largely from the influence of TikTok and people’s freedom to express themselves as wildly as they’d like: no one was around to judge, and everyone felt free to e
Speaking of 2024, the Western cowboy aesthetic is a distinct look that has been making a return. Some of it can be connected to the rise of country music, with musicians like Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan, and Chris Stapleton ruling the airwaves in the US, and pop stars like Beyonce, Post Malone, and Lana Del Rey all pivoting to country music. A lot of it, however, can be attributed to the economy and political landscape; the last time the “country look” was in style was the early/mid-00s when Bush was president and American patriotism was at an all-time high. Nowadays it can be linked to the rising prices of almost everything and a growing distrust in governments across the globe. There has been a rise in conservative politics that has impacted Middle and Southern America, and a lot of music and aesthetic culture has cropped up based around the Midwestern/Southern experience online. Ethel Cain’s Preacher’s Daughter has revitalised the ‘Southern Gothic’ aesthetic, and Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess has given a spotlight on the queer American experience outside of LA or New England. Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter has given a spotlight to Black country musicians like Shaboozey, and Orville Peck’s entire career is based upon the deep connection between the queer community and the cowboy aesthetic. This cowboy reclamation is all about freedom of expression and reclaiming a style that had once been associated entirely with right-wing conservative America; People are beginning to ignore the baggage that once came with a style, and are instead transforming it.
By Stephen O’Brien FASHION EDITOR
As I mentioned, everything nowadays is *in*, and every piece of clothing or job or piece of fruit could and would be given a hyper-specific label (ending with the -core suffix) to be viewed, consumed, and removed. There are positive sides to this, yes, but there are also negatives. This type of consumption has always been a staple of fashion, but in 2020 these trends would last only weeks instead of the usual years. There is a deep-rooted problem in today’s culture with overconsumption. Fast fashion has been a staple of the fashion industry since its inception in the mid-20th century with shops like Zara and H&M, however, since 2020 l Shein, an online-based outlet that sells astronomically cheap garments through horrific working conditions and the exploitation of children and financially vulnerable people in countries like China and Singapore has been taking over the market. In 2020 alone it made $10 billion, and that grew to $22 billion in 2022. This wasteful, exploitative business model is something that personally frustrates many, as sustainability and environmentalism were at the forefront of everyone’s mind back in 2019, only to be forgotten once people could buy a 5kg haul of cheap clothes. It is something that is spoken about immensely and a well-known issue. Unfortunately however, the draw of a dress or shirt for less than a coffee is too effective in an age where prices are soaring and it’s getting increasingly more and more difficult to afford to live. Many people rationalise their consumption of Shein through this, stating that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, and yes, it is true that almost all products in the Western world will have a link to exploitation. But there needs to be a line drawn, and buying a large excessive package of clothing is not a human necessity. And is fitting a specific microtrend or aesthetic that you will tire of in 6 months more important than the freedom and rights of the women and children forced into sweatshop conditions?
Ultimately, whilst fast fashion has become an even worse problem, and the overconsumption of cheap products online is a byproduct of COVID-19, I do believe that the fashion industry is in an exciting place of creativity right now. Whilst peer pressure in terms of style will always exist, it is not as overbearing as it once was. Whereas 10 years ago there may have been one or two mainstream looks that were ‘acceptable’, nowadays it feels like you could line up 5 people, all dressed in widely different outfits, and they would all look on-trend. I’m excited to see how the rest of the decade proceeds, and if this will just be a blip in fashion history, or if this will be the beginning of a new age of style.
WHERE DO WE COME FROM? WHAT ARE WE?
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
By Deputy Fashion Editor
Sinead Sheridan
Is free will a myth? This question has been widely debated in philosophy from Baruch Spinoza believing that it is indeed a myth, which was incredibly controversial at the time to Thomas Hobbes thinking that no external source affects our decision-making skills. From my own belief, It is impossible for a decision to not be pre-determined by external factors. Especially between the consumer and vendor. This relationship puts the consumer on a pedestal as they are showered with a fantasy that will be achieved by buying their product. The pressure of losing out on this fantasy shifts the dynamic of the consumer and vendor. The seller is now in control, thus easily persuading the consumer to buy, if the vendor does their job correctly. The motivation? The motive is excessive greed, and it is not a new concept.
During the Reformation, merchants would convince a non-consumer to buy their way into heaven or avoid hell by paying for the merchants’ items,a blatant manipulation of the consumer, using fear of hell and eternal damnation to strong arm customers into consuming. An effective strategy by scaring others to turn into consumers successfully worked back then, now the manipulation tactics have adapted to this modern world. You would not recognize the influence and could genuinely believe that the decision you made was purely your own, the fast fashion industry cleverly uses tactics of manipulation to draw the consumer in. Fast fashion companies want to earn your trust, thus creating an array of deals or discounts to compel the customer to consume. This industry that is worth billions of dollars promotes the depiction of cheap good quality clothes is instead promoting unfair labour, landfills and the use of cheap materials it relies on overconsumption to fill its coffers and expand its reach.
The encouragement of consumption can be seen through influencers or celebrities. These perceived respectable people encourage trending fashion hauls of clothing that are most likely never going to see sunlight, igniting the curiosity of what it feels to be a different person with a different image. Watching these videos repeatedly does not satisfy; engaging in these hauls is the next step. These influencers/celebrities who have an amazing amount of consistent appraisal and an untouchable image have an audience that looks up to them.
Confidence is sought after, why can’t it be achieved if you just look like someone who is confident? Fake it till you make it. Whatever piece the influencer is promoting, the piece is immediately shrouded in importance, the spotlight is on them (momentarily). The audience may be convinced that this is something that they ‘lack’, manipulating the consumer subconsciously forcing them to tie their happiness with the next item in a haul .
This subconscious form of manipulation is immeasurable, specifically preying on your deepest insecurities. Although fashion as an art form is supposed to evoke inspiration and intense emotions like any art piece. This can be ignored by the soulless and the greedy. Many examples of ‘art’ are specifically designed to support this claim of exploitation. An insecurity in someone may influence their need to seek validation in big brands. Not only do they need to convince themselves, but also others that they are worthy because of these brands. Brands that showcase wealth obnoxiously using bold logos screaming ‘look at me!’. Physical insecurities are dissected, studied and the myth of ‘fixing’ said insecurity is discussed. Garments such as shapewear pridefully show off how confident you will become if you appear thinner. Shapewear is guilty of falsifying sexual liberation; the ‘freedom’ within yourself is deeply rooted in exploitation of self-image and particularly made for the male gaze. Your appearance is everything, but companies will contradict themselves by saying that appearance is meaningless, when a body positivity campaign comes their way. It is the inside that counts. Insecurities come naturally, but the invention of shapewear is premeditated, profiting from women’s insecurities. Did women have the freedom to choose or were we forced into the belief that ‘ugliness’ is curable?
The very nature of modern fast fashion is one that causes much confusion for consumers who may attempt to try one thing but have been coerced unknowingly to like and desire another. This is shown in all forms of fashion and annihilates the world of renewables and anti-consumerism which has also seen its ranks infiltrated in a form of fast fashion and uncontrolled greed and manipualtion.
Camera assistant/Model Kai lani Wilson | @chicka•_•dee
