An Focal (Vol. XXV Edition 12)

Vol. XXV • Edition 12

An Focal Editor Says Goodbye pg 5

April 2017

UL SU United Ireland Referendum pg 3

Handball pg 22

What to Expect of New Sabbats: JCB EVIE KEARNEY & PAUL SAUNDERS The electoral ticket of JCB (Jack Shelley, Roberta “Bob” Harrington, and Conor Hussey) was recenly elected to all three sabbatical positions. What can we expect from our new team?

We sat down with two of the incoming sabbats, Shelly and Harrington, to take a look at the year ahead.

Unfortunately, incoming Academic Officer Conor Hussey could not be reached at the time of his scheduled interview.

We spoke to a range of sources including the Student Academic Administration, UL Sport and ULFM to assess the feasibility of their manifestos.

One shared promise between the team is that they will introduce a referendum and subsequent levy for gym membership to be given to all UL students, much like the system in place at University College Cork.

UL Sport claims that although they would love inclusive membership, they definitely do not have space to accommodate 14,000 students with active memberships.

However, Ms Harrington stressed that a gym membership does not mean exclusively using the machines in the gym, and that it would benefit students who swim, run, and want to take classes, or play 5-a-side soccer.

“People are looking at the inclusive gym membership as just a load of people herding into the gym.

“There’s so much more going on in the gym that just the actual gym…I think that the gym would definitely be able to cater for it,” she said.

President-elect Jack Shelly’s main goal once he gets into office is to get first years to attend mandatory mental health and nutrition workshops.

“I think that’s just huge, they have

to be brought in,” he said.

Attendance at SU-run workshops has been an issue with recent consent classes cancelled due to poor attendance figures.

Mr Shelly has a simple approach to getting students into his workshops: “I’ll go to every single lecture and talk to them two minutes before every lecture, if I had two minutes before every lecture; I could explain what they would be, what they’d entail and how they could benefit every student.”

One promise that dominated Jack Shelly’s campaign was the promise of pitchers of beer and a late night bar on Wednesday night in the Stables.

Mr Shelly said: “It got out of hand all together, it doesn’t bother me at all, when people aren’t happy with the results they just go to the negative points and hammer down on them and people just say I’m mad for the beer and forget about the points that actually make a difference.”

In his manifesto, Mr Shelly promised to work on the above mentioned promises as well as getting heaters in the smoking area

of the Stables courtyard.

“Pitchers are a definite possibility and the late bar I know is a tough one, it would cost about an extra €750 a night and they’d have to change the set-up of the bar.”

An Focal spoke to Stables Club Manager Declan Collins on the feasiblity of Mr Shelly’s election promises.

Mr Collins explained that the Stables used to give out pitchers and that students would hand in their ID which would be given back when the pitcher was returned.

He said it created a lot friction between the staff and students over IDs and that they decided to just lower pint prices instead.

Mr Shelly responded: “I’d rather pay the extra euro [for a pitcher]. I’m not going to fight him on it but I’ll discuss it with him.”

A controversial promise made

by Ms Harrington to introduce mandatory sexual and mental health workshops for first years was slammed by students who have previously worked as guides during Orientation Week due to time

constraints.

“There’s definitely time that’s wasted during orientation,” she said.

“If you can be a little bit more organised over all, make sure that everything is running on time, then there’s absolutely no reason why any of those workshops couldn’t be fit in.”

The incoming Welfare Officer wishes to implement these workshops and fine students up to €250 if they do not attend – a similar system to the current module registration fine.

“No parent is going to fork out €250 because their son or daughter was too lazy to go to a mandatory mental health or sexual health workshop.

“I would have no issue in doing it.”

Ms Harrington’s manifesto states that she wants music playing the courtyard every day because “music makes everyone feel good.”

She said she had spoken to current Welfare Officer Caolan O’Donnell, who told her that, “ULFM would be very on board because they’d love to get their station out there.”

An Focal spoke to ULFM, the DJ Society and the ULSU Marketing and Communications Administrator, who all turned down the idea of daily broadcasts in the courtyard for various reasons including scheduling, equipment management, and noise complaints from nearby offices and religious centres.

Harrington said: “You could even just invest in a speaker, we all have Spotify. You don’t need to have everything manned all the time.”

However, according to the Phonographic Performance Ireland Music website: “If you use copyright record music in public you will need a PPI Licence, including radio, TV, PC, iPod or any other means.

“A PPI licence ensures that record companies and performers are being fairly paid for the use of their music.”

An Focal would like to wish the incoming sabbatical team all the best for the upcoming academic year.

April 2017

2

Adam Moore

LIMERICKS FROM LIMERICK

BY MARTIN LENNON

Dear students of the University of Limerick, Three An Focal issues previous to this I gave my seemingly anonymous article to Paul Saunders, the An Focal editor, to publish discussing the STI check I got.

Unfortunately, due to a mix up, my name was published.

I have since decided to publish a second article as I feel sexual health is a very important aspect of college life.

Fortunately I have passed this sti test and would like to make it clear to everyone I do not have a STI. I would also recommend to anyone, who has had unprotected and/or oral sex to consider getting a check.

I am not trying to say UL is an active brothel but better safe than sorry, whether it is a drunken one night stand, a dodgy tinder date or a college lover.

So I’m going to wrap it up here (no pun intended), stay safe.

Peace.

FOAM PARTY Kerryman O’Connell Street Students worship at his feet September to May Foam party all day The heartless hear his heartbeat

An Focal Crossword Test your knowledge of this week’s edition!

EDITOR:

Paul Saunders NEWS: Evie Kearney SPORTS: Caoimhín Reilly DESIGN: Hannah Carr-Murphy SU: Nicole Glennon

CONTRIBUTORS Mark Boylan Steven Casey Niamh Delmer Jonas Pagh Ditlevsen Darren Faul Ciara Ferguson Caitlin Griffin Kayley Hardiman Ciara Maria Hayes Patrick Higgins John Bosco Hurley Lizzie Keogh Rebecca Laffan Kyle Lehane Martin Lennon James Liston Siobhan MacLoingsigh Eoghan Moloney Aisling Moloney Federica Montella Adam Moore Aisling O’Connor Aoife O’Sullivan Anna Parkes Maria Potempa Sonya Ramondino Kate Stephens Sinn Féin UL

ACROSS

DOWN

2. Indian Festival taking place on April 5th

1. UL project to produce cheaper carbon ______

3. Winner of Best Club at the C&S Ball

4. Name of Sarah Hayes’ blog

6. The An Focal Editor’s right-hand woman

5. Event taking place on April 22nd

9. Domestic Abuse Service in Limerick

7. Country the UL Hospital Group has partnered with

10. Limerick bar that is relaunching soon

8. Name of the Environmental Society’s fashion show

11. Place the Surf Club recently visited 12. Percentage that is needed to make a SU referendum valid

@AnFocal_UL

An Focal

AnFocalUL

April 2017

3

ULSU to Hold United Ireland Referendum EVIE KEARNEY ULSU will hold a referendum on whether or not the Students’ Union should support a United Ireland.

The referendum, which takes place on April 19th, was approved following the presentation of 568 signatures supporting the call for a vote on the matter.

At least 2136 students (15 percent) will need to vote to make the poll

valid.

The referendum was spearheaded by UL students Joe Kearney, Ryan Jennings and Patrick Kenneally.

“The Sinn Féin Cumann in UL attended the Sinn Féin Republican Youth congress in Derry back in January and, from this the youth cumann, the colleges around Ireland were asked to mandate their SU to hold a vote on a United Ireland,” Joe Kearney

said.

“So as ULSU is an apolitical union, myself and two other comrades took it upon ourselves to collect the signatures and hand in the petition.”

However, the referendum has had to be handled with extreme care due to specifications within the ULSU constitution that prevent the union from voting on issues that do not “advance the education” or “promote and actively pursue the betterment of the welfare” of its members.

After seeking legal counsel, ULSU decided to amend the original proposed wording of the referendum, according to SU Democracy and Development Manager Liz Gabbett.

The original proposal stated: “We the undersigned support that ULSU will actively support the campaign for a United Ireland,” while the approved wording does not mention actively campaigning.

The two options available to voters will be ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ Choosing ‘Yes’ means

that, should ULSU be asked if they support a United Ireland, they will say that they do.

Choosing ‘No’ means that ULSU will stay neutral on the matter of a United Ireland.

Joe Kearney believes that students should be discussing these sort of issues and voting on them as a student body.

“A United Ireland is a very topical issue at the moment all around this island and the passing of Martin McGuinness just spurred that call again. Alongside this then we have Brexit and the possibility of the North being pulled out of the European Union against their will after they voted to remain in the referendum last year.

“A United Ireland has many benefits for the country as a whole and we feel it’s time to get a real discussion going on this and a vote like this in UL preceeded by the votes in Trinity, UCD, UCC, NUIG and Queens will put the topic on the agenda,” he said.

The ‘Yes’ campaigners are confident that they will meet the required quota for a valid poll,

despite the referendum taking place in Week 12.

After amending the rules last year, SU referendums now require only a simple majority to pass.

“Look, to be honest of course we would have some reservation about meeting the quota,” Mr Kearney said.

“However, I’m saying that one would always have a slight worry in any vote, but we are still confident in hitting the quota. The vote takes place in Week 12, so a lot of students should be on campus as it is the last week so therefore we would be confident that we will hit the mark.

“And fingers crossed for a yes vote.”

However, not all students were happy about the SU’s decision to allow the vote.

Student Jay Conroy posted the following under the referendum announcement on the UL Students’ Union Facebook page: “What a joke. A stupid decision to put this to a referendum in my opinion. Most students haven’t a clue of the troubles in the North, never mind what a united Ireland would entail.”

Voting will be open online to all current UL students at vote.ulsu. ie from 7am to 6pm on Wednesday, April 19th.

Elections 2017: A Message From the ERB The Electoral and Referenda Board (ERB) acknowledges that the 2017 elections did not run as well compared to the previous six years of electronic voting.

The number and seriousness of the complaints we dealt with was unprecedented.

It exposed the fact that

ERB was overwhelmed and that we did not have a contingency plan in place to ensure the oversight of all elections when ERB members were not available on the wider UL campus.

We ask that students also consider what the ERB was dealing with.

On election morning

ERB had no choice but to address three official complaints from presidential candidates.

ERB is made up of students who have class and other commitments, just like all students, and it took hours to examine the complaint, the evidence available to ERB, hear

from a candidate and all the while, time was very limited.

ERB had no choice but to prioritise the other complaints that were being presented and ERB was not freely available to oversee the campaigns to the same standard as previous years.

We, ERB, Student

Executive, Student Council and the Union staff, have committed to setting up a working group to review the whole election process in May 2017.

We are inviting any UL student to contribute/participate in the process. The working group will look at our own current

rules and regulations, other Students’ Unions election processes, make changes and hopefully improvements for future elections.

Please email Liz Gabbett, suelections@ ul.ie, if you wish to be kept informed of upcoming working group meetings.

April 2017

4

James Carr Reports on Islamophobia EOGHAN MOLONEY UL sociology lecturer James Carr has written Ireland’s section of a report on Islamophobia in Europe.

His findings in the report reflect ‘worrying treatment’ of Muslims and it tells how Muslims are still somewhat ‘perceived as the Other’ within Irish society today.

Dr Carr’s chapter of the report details increasing ‘experiences of hostility and discrimination; continued exclusions in the education sector and the ‘problematic’ media reporting of Muslim communities in Ireland.’

These media reports commonly refer to the ‘cultural clash’ between Islam and ‘the West’ and also to the

notion of Muslims as a pathological ‘enemy within.’

There were also local instances of such media coverage – included in Dr Carr’s report is a reference to a headline ran by the Limerick Post “Limerick Asylum Centre worker claims extremists have infiltrated the system.”

In this article, the man claims to have encountered a “worrying level of extremism, bordering on hatred which could manifest in some devastating way.”

The Refugee Council of Ireland criticised the article, calling it ‘unbalanced, lacking in evidence, inflammatory and will result in fear, suspicion and hostility.’

Dr Carr says this is particularly worrying as 2016 saw an increase

of political parties outspoken against Muslims and this type of media coverage can lend itself to these farright activists “arguably feeling legitimised in spreading their messages and emboldening them further.”

The report gives personal accounts of Muslims suffering

varying types of discrimination and abuse from racial slurs to physical abuse and almost all were because the victims were portrayed as not ‘really Irish’ or were deemed to be foreigners.

“Media reports from September 2016 indicate that, despite under-reporting, there has been an almost

double-proportional increase in the rate of hate crime reported to the Irish Police when compared to 2015,” the report states.

The education sector was also an area that worried the sociology lecturer as there were exclusionary practices occurring, particularly around the area of admission to schools, due to certain prospective students’ ethnicities and religion.

This is probably a result of “the vast majority of Irish schools fall under the patronage of the Catholic Church.”

The lack of legislation and infrastructure for dealing with hate crime is another area of concern in Irish society.

An Garda Síochána started recording antiMuslim as a basis of criminal hostility in

identity.”

The offender will often verbalise their hatred to the victim’s identity during the offence, according to

have a grave impact on the lives and mental health of the victim.

Distress, anxiety, and panic attacks are often reported to occur

seen as an assault.

Minority groups and those in support of such groups, including the HHRG, are calling for Ireland to introduce

Dr Haynes.

In some cases, the message of hatred is conducted through offensive graffiti, such as swastikas and hangmen, on the internal walls of the victim’s house.

This targeting of the victim’s identity can

following an incidence of hate crime. All Wales Hate Crime Research Project noted one in seven hate crime victims experience suicidal thoughts.

Hate crime is not yet recognised in the Irish legal system. Currently, a racist assault is only

laws to recognise the hate element of these crimes.

Dr Haynes explains the reasons for the need of legislation against hate crime: “To recognise what the victim has experienced so the judge will have all the

2015, but when Mr Carr reached out to the Central Statistics Office to conduct the report a year later, no figures were made available to him.

Dr Carr offered a number of recommendations that offer opportunities for change in a “context of persistent Islamophobia.”

These included the government “implementing effective hate crime legislation that recognise all grounds upon which a person may be targeted for identity based hostility.”

James Carr said: “Efforts must continue to be made with media actors in Ireland to encourage greater reflexivity when reporting on Muslim/ Islam related issues.”

information available to them to grant the right sentence for the offender, to prevent reoffending and to recognise reoffending if it should occur.

“Moreover, to recognise patterns of reoffending as currently there is no way to recognise if the motives behind the crime are colour or religion, for example.”

The HHRG at the University of Limerick welcomes applications from students to spend their co-operative education period with the group. They are also currently advertising a fee waiver for PHD students.

For more information contact Amanda. haynes@ul.ie or Jennifer.schweppe@ ul.ie.

Haynes Against Hate Crime NIAMH DELMER Marginalised communities in Ireland have joined together calling for legislation against hate crime.

During National Week of Action Against Hate Crime, 18 organisations representing minorities in Ireland formed a group to call on the government to introduce laws against hate crime.

This group includes representatives of the travelling community, the LGBTQ+ community, minority ethnic communities, disabled communities, elderly people, and much more.

Ireland is still one of the only western democracies without laws against hate crime.

A recent report

produced by iReport, a racist incident reporting system, noted over 150 incidents of hate crime.

Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) reported about 60 transphobic crimes over the last three years.

Dr Amanda Haynes, a senior sociology lecturer in the University of Limerick and member of the Hate and Hostility Research Group (HHRG) at UL, supports the want and need for hate crime laws and has spoken publicly about the issue. “[Those] who are subjected to hate crime are doubly victimised,” Dr Haynes said.

“First by the criminal act itself and secondly by the harm inflicted in the targeting of their

April 2017

5

Christian Brothers Drops Lawsuit KAYLEY HARDIMAN Documents belonging to the Christian Brothers that showed children effectively “been sold into slavery” was at the centre of a legal battle involving the University of Limerick.

Tom Wall was a resident of St Joseph’s Industrial School in Glin, Co. Limerick and saved numerous letters and documents from being destroyed in 1973.

Mr Wall donated the letters to UL and the Christian Brothers threatened to sue Mr Wall, claiming ownership of the documents.

Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins raised the issue in the Dail last Wednesday and the Christian Brothers have subsequently

dropped their lawsuit.

Mr Collins highlighted the need for a register of religious records as these documents included “contracts” to sell children.

The Christian Brothers have agreed to let UL keep the documents as long as they receive a copy of each one.

Deputy Collins claimed the Christian Brothers have since articulated that they would be “satisfied with copies of the documents” and had “no interest in engaging in legal action.”

He asked Education Minister Richard Bruton to take ownership of the letters and to meet with Mr Wall.

Mr Wall felt the Brothers may have a copy of the files but not the originals and

said they “cannot be trusted” with sole ownership of the initial files.

Mr Collins presented one of the letters in the Dáil and stated it was “effectively a contract for sale under which boys were sold out of the industrial school into the labour market.”

The boys of St Joseph’s Industrial School were put to work on farms with the Christian Brothers receiving payment for their work.

Mr Wall’s donated documents consist of education referral letters from the Department of Education, referral letters from the Courts Service, health reports, and letters the boys in the schools wrote to their parents and families, which were never sent by the Christian Brothers.

Deputy Collins conversed with the head of the European Province of the Congregation of Christian Brothers, Br Edmund Garvey who “confirmed that will he will be satisfied with copies of the documents and further stated that he has no interest in engaging in legal action.”

Br Garvey said: “The European Province of Christian Brothers neither had nor has any vested interest in seeking the return of the Glin documentation for any reason save to ensure that our archives are as complete as possible as the documentation contains important family history which we believe would be helpful in assisting any inquiries from former residents.”

UL Leads Carbon Fibre Research The new method to create carbon fibre A University of will involve removing Limerick researcher it from lignin, which has begun a project,to is found naturally in produce cheaper and wood. eco-friendly carbon The Bio-Based fibre from organic by- Industries Joint products, alongside Undertaking of the EU partners across Europe. has helped fund the Dr Maurice Collins, project. of the Stokes Research They will receive Institute, and a UL €4.9m from the team are leading the organisation. venture.

Carbon fibre is used The carbon fibre, as a reinforcement to produced from improve mechanical the by-products properties of plastic, of forestry, will be and forms a composite more cost effective material. and environmentally It is also used in sustainable than the the blades of wind current method of turbines, or as a producing it with lighter alternative to petroleum, which aluminium in bicycles. is more costly and “I scooter to college harmful to the a lot and I’m very environment. environmentally AISLING O’CONNOR

conscious, so if cheaper and eco-friendly bikes, scooters, and cars become available in the future because of this project I think it would be fantastic,” said student Emer Hayes.

Hayes explained that

she would like to buy a car in the near future, so hopes that more affordable cars will on the market due to the project.

Fuel usage in vehicles can even be lowered as the strength-to-weight

ratio of carbon fibre allows the weight of products to be reduced.

The LIBRE project hopes to reduce the costs of producing carbon fibre, which will make it more accessible for the mass-

market.

The cost of production could be cut by up to 30%.

“If a project like will make running costs for driving cheaper and is better for the environment, I would definitely be interested in it,” said student Amy O’Donovan.

Producers will be able to secure local and sustainable manufacturing bases and rely less on imported carbon fibre.

The value for composite materials in 2016 on the global market was around $80bn (€74bn).

UL is co-operating on the project from partners in Germany, Sweden, the UK, Belgium, and Italy.

April 2017

6

Glucksman Buys Kate O’Brien Letters FEDERICA MONTELLA Glucksman Library acquired a very substantial collection of personal letters by Limerick author Kate O’Brien (1897-1974) at a public auction on March 8th.

The library bought 500 letters written by Ms O’Brien addressed to her friend Dr Lorna Reynolds, Professor Emeritus of Modern English at NUI, Galway, written from 1940 to 1969; interestingly, the archive also contains Dr Reynold’s own letters to Kate O’Brien.

The purchase represents the largest collection of personal correspondence from the Irish writer, and it is a significant addition to UL’s literary archive, as Head of Special Collections Ken Bergin explains: “Kate O’Brien is a very important Irish writer from Limerick, every year Limerick has a literary festival

named after her, and the university is very lucky to host significant collections of her work that we received in 2002.

“She also was a very avid correspondent, but she didn’t always keep her letters, so it is very unusual to find her correspondence.

“We went after these letters at the auction because they document her life over a thirty year period with her good friend Dr Lorna Reynolds, and they provide a unique insight in her literary and cultural life over a long period of time”.

Kate O’Brien was quite a secretive, enigmatic author and she used to destroy much of her correspondence.

Her novels, mostly set in the fictional Mellick (recognisably Limerick) and often considered scandalous, offer a special insight into the Irish bourgeoisie of her time.

The theme of female

independence was very dear to the cosmopolitan author, especially in her crucial novel and bestseller That Lady, translated into eight languages.

It was highly likely that this unique collection of letters would have left the country had it not been for UL’s

intervention, and this purchase aimed to secure their availability in an Irish research institution.

Unfortunately, the letters found in Lorna Reynolds papers will require conservation and it may be some time before the collection can be made available

to researchers.

“These letters were kept in private hands in very damp conditions, so the collection is damaged at the moment. We are going to clean it, preserve it and conserve it, and make it available for students and researchers as soon as possible,” Mr Bergin added.

Glucksman Library provides access to very broad, diverse collections that include a variety of different subjects, topics and periods in history, although their main collecting focus would be Limerick City and county, as archivist Evelyn McAuley explains: “There is a bit of lack of knowledge and understanding of what we do here. We are trying to push our message out there and really let people know about the valuable resources we have and that are available for

students and potential researchers”.

UL Special Collections include a National Dance Archive of Ireland, covering all form of dance in Ireland over the last 100 years, first and rare editions of the majority of works

by WB Yeats, donated to the University by Professor Michael Gilsenan, the Bolton Library acquired last year, manuscripts back to the Middle Ages and much more.

“Part of what we do in the archive of special collections is keep papers and books from writers and historians and make them available to students for research.

“We have incredible resources here for the students, on their doorsteps, we are trying to get people into look at this material, because they have access to unique, rare items,” Mr Bergin added. “

Strokers is Coming Out for a Good Time KYLE LEHANE Limerick’s only gay bar, Strokers, is having a relaunch party after recently coming under new management.

Located at 17 Upper William Street, the pub opened in September 2013 and soon proved to be a favourite among the gay community in limerick. Many were crying out for a bar like this in Limerick, a place where many people could just be themselves.

New owner, Brendan Mullins, talks about how after his first few visits to the bar, the place soon began to feel a second home.

“Everyone was just so friendly. I felt so comfortable there and I think that was a reflection of the welcoming atmosphere of the bar and its’ occupants,” admitted Brendan.

So when Brendan overheard one night in the bar that the current owner, Eddie Mooney, was thinking of selling the place and moving abroad, he knew this was his chance.

With Strokers warm and vibrant environment being a part of so many people’s social lives, it pushed Brendan to go for the opportunity to own the bar himself.

“I’ve been working in bars since I was 14 and when you do that kind of work for as long as i have, you have to have something to aim for.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to own a bar and with this, things just fell into place.”

Brendan has one key aim for how he wants to run the bar - student friendly.

“We really want to

entice students into coming into our bar especially those who are away from home.

Here they can finally be themselves in college for the first time.

“I want to recreate that feeling of comfortableness that I felt my first time and let them know that this is a fun place for everyone, no matter who you are.”

The team are fast

approaching their relaunch night of May 27th and working hard to get the word out about the bar.

With a new Facebook page (Strokers BAR Limerick), Instagram account (strokers_bar) and a Snapchat account soon to follow – things are only looking up for Strokers and all who are involved with it.

Their relaunch night

looks set to be jampacked, full of glitz, glamour and a lot of rainbow flags. Drag queen extraordinaire, Kiki St Clair from Galway, and X Factor constant Eoin Maher are just a few who’ll be gracing Strokers with their presence.

“What we want to do is give the bar a face lift and show people a good time with amazing people is a guarantee when you drink in Strokers.”

Whether it’s cocktails with a Drag Queen or singing out of tune to a Cher song, you’ll find the craic is to be had with the ever so friendly faces of Strokers Bar.

April 2017

7

UL Hospital Group Partners with Ghana REBECCA LAFFAN UL Hospital Group have partnered with the national health service of Ghana in a much-needed effort to improve basic healthcare in Upper West Region.

NGO Friends of Ghana’s long-held ambition to create links with a developing country have been finally been brought to life due to UL Hospital’s involvement.

Prof Paul Finucane, Foundation Head of the Graduate Entry Medical School (GEMS) at UL and former Chief Academic Officer, UL Hospitals Group, is chairperson of the charity.

Prof Finucane credits second-year GEMS student Kelly Hadfield to settling on Ghana as a suitable country to set up links with.

Kelly, who is from Canada, is the founder of an NGO called Ghana Medical Help and first went out there after high school and has strived to help the

regions healthcare system as much as possible since.

“She is a force of nature and almost a cult figure in northern Ghana,” Prof Finucane

said.

Though life expectancy in Ghana has risen from 46 to 61 in the past sixty years, this has been achieved on “very meagre resources,” according to Prof Finucane.

Friends Of Ghana will focus on combating these problems and delivering higher emergency healthcare standards in the most rural parts of the Upper West Region.

“There are such high levels of poverty: compounded by geographical isolation and further compounded by extreme seasons with paths cut off by rivers in rainy season and so on, it means you can’t get to a hospital and that can be a major issue,” Kelly said.

“This whole programme is about empowering locals

to stop as many preventable deaths as possible,” she said.

“Right now, the healthcare workers who are the backbone of the service, the rural nurses at pre-hospital community level, have zero training for basic resuscitation skills or for managing trauma.

This is where the Friends of Ghana can help.”

Prof Finucane said: “What the people working in the system are looking for, and what we hope to provide, is training and education for people working at the most basic level, particularly in pre-hospital emergency care.

“They need people who will tell them about basic life support; about stabilisation of patients and better ways of transporting people to hospital.”

ULHG, as well as staff and students, will deliver a major teaching event in Ghana this summer and will see collaboration between practitioners and academics in medicine, paramedics, nursing and midwifery.

ULHG CEO Colette Cowan said: “Establishing a link in the developing world was a key part of our corporate social responsibility policy as a group.

“But we didn’t want a token project where we were just clapping ourselves on the back.

We wanted something that was targeted and something that could be effective.

“We are confident that we can make a difference in Ghana and we hope to learn as much from our partners there as they will from us.”

Knowledge Transfer Impact Ireland Awards CIARA MARIA HAYES The University of Limerick has been shortlisted for numerous technology awards in the upcoming Knowledge Transfer Ireland Impact Awards.

This year achieved a record number of entries across seven categories from thirdlevel institutions and research organisations all over the country.

Many of this year’s projects bear many economic and societal benefits in mind, with a few in particular standing out. Teagasc will be debuting a piece of technology set to revolutionise the manufacturing of cheese, predicted to

open an entirely new exporting market in the Middle East.

In opposition, a collaboration effort between DCU, Intel and Croke Park has also been submitted, known as an Internet of Things ‘Smart Stadium’ initiative, which now includes Microsoft and over 30 SMEs. An impressive submission from UL which has now been shortlisted is a technology that has led to the development of a low-cost fingernail test for bone fragility, which enables a more effective and earlier diagnosis of bone disorders including osteoporosis.

KTI, the national office for helping

businesses to benefit from access to Irish enterprise, attempts to aid by making it simple to engage and connect with research bases in Ireland.

“The Impact Awards acknowledge and celebrate Ireland’s knowledge transfer and research commercialisation successes and the people who make them happen, the onthe-ground staff in technology transfer offices and industry liaison offices around the country,” said director of Knowledge Transfer Ireland Dr Alison Campbell.

“The calibre of submissions reflects the long-term investment to support

knowledge transfer and to strengthen the technology transfer profession.”

One company shortlisted for the awards, Kastus, have developed a revolutionary, practical method of reducing the spread of superbugs, designed to kill harmful bacteria, including but not limited to microorganisms such as MRSA and E-Coli.

The technology is designed to protect everyday surfaces, such as smartphones and door handles.

“We’re delighted to be considered for this award for our exciting work on our range of patented products which we are now bringing to global

markets,” Kastus CEO John Browne said.

Enterprise Ireland has also confirmed that the third phase of its Technology Transfer Strengthening Initiative is to take place, with 34.5 million to be invested over five years in order to transfer knowledge from the public research system to Ireland and vice-versa.

This programme originated in 2007 and has funded a total of 26 research performing organisations. Phase three of the programme is scheduled to take place from 20172021 and ensures an emphasis will be placed on quality over quantity.

Enterprise Ireland

Divisional Manager for Research and Innovation Gearoid Mooney said: “Enterprise Ireland’s annual client survey shows that companies that collaborate with the Irish research system on market led projects have more than double the sales and exports than those that don’t.

“Helping companies advance through research and innovation is fundamental to the support provided by Enterprise Ireland and Knowledge Transfer Ireland has been tasked with making it simple for such companies to engage and benefit from state funded research.”

April 2017

8

The Business of

Aisling Moloney takes a look at the reasons behind a recent GUESS study that showed only 8.8% of students want to own their own business after graduation.

The Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Student Survey 2016 showed that only 8.8% of the 122,000 students surveyed from 50 countries wanted to become entrepreneurs and work in their own business straight after graduation.

According to a report by the Irish Examiner only 800 Irish students took part in the survey, with only 1.5% from UL - 12 students. Threequarters of the 800 students were from UCC. The government has set out requirements for third-level institutions that graduates should have the skills to set up their own companies.

Five years after graduation, 38.3% of graduates intend to have set up their own business.

The survey also showed that of those completing arts degrees such as design, drama, and music, 45.6% intended on immediately becoming entrepreneurs after graduation. Next were the graduates of law, economics

and business degrees with 44.6%, while those in engineering degrees came third with 41.6%.

The GUESS showed that there is a gender gap averaging at 3.6% more males interested in setting up their own business than females, however in Ireland there are 11.3% more male graduate entrepreneurs than females.

Of the student’s surveyed, 55.4% of them have not attended a course on entrepreneurship in their university.

Course Director of Masters in International Entrepreneurship Management Dr Yvonne Costin expressed her view on why students hesitate in becoming entrepreneurs after graduation.

She said: “Perhaps the perception of entrepreneurship as a career choice is one that is risky for some students.

The fear of failure may also play a role in the hesitation amongst students in starting their own business. Whilst some graduates may not want to start a business directly after college,

it may be a long term career plan for them.”

As a previous collaborator with the GUESS survey, Dr Costin said that there could be a variety of reasons why the Irish sample size was so low, “perhaps students are not really

“Every business has to start somewhere” aware of the initiative.”

UL provide many supports and

opportunites through undergraduate and postgraduate courses and electives in Enterprise, Creativity and Innovation; Enterprise Formation, Enterprise Development, Small Business Consulting, with these modules being available to anyone of any discipline throughout their degree.

As a researcher of female entrepreneurship and having contributed to academic studoes on women in business, the Kemmy Business School resident said: “Female entrepreneurs are being recognised as a major contributor to all economies for the contribution they can make. They are being seen, more and more, as a source of untapped potential that can make huge contributions and thus need to be supported in a very relevant way.”

She also discussed how Irish women are being encouraged to participate in STEM fields from an early age, as this is an area of high growth potential for businesses.

April 2017

9

Entrepreneurship “The government have recognised the importance of entrepreneurial education, and acknowledge that increased levels of entrepreneurship can be achieved through entrepreneurship education.”

The Tierney building houses a start-up incubator: The Nexus Centre, which is a hub of activity where entrepreneurs can develop, collaborate and grow.

The Nexus Centre is buzzing on a daily basis at all hours with entrepreneurs working on their start-up companies.

PR Inkvine Communications Founder Emily Ross works from her desk in the Nexus Centre providing world-class communication and marketing skills to her clients, and mentoring start-ups and her interns at the same time.

Speaking about college and entrepreneur, while in the USA serial entrepreneurs she said: “Our entrepreneurs are common; she said that “failure teaches you way more than success.”

Becoming an entrepreneur is not a set path from taking a set course, instead Ms Ross thinks it comes from wanting to solve a problem: “There wasn’t a set course for what problem can I solve? What innovation can I bring? I certainly think some subjects inspire creativity, but they don’t necessarily transfer to commerciality.”

In mentoring start-up companies, Ms Ross has seen that great ideas often don’t transpire to profitability because the founders don’t understand developing a business model, or their route to market.

“That’s actually where I think education can come in, they can teach a scientific approach to innovation and business development.

“The one thing I think about the entrepreneurial spirit is that it can be applied to any vertigo to any knowledge base. The desire to academic process is very much geared be creative and solve problems is towards, established businesses, or dependent completely on your own finding a career and having a good job, and it’s funny because every business has to start somewhere.”

She said the low number of students interested in entrepreneurship is because “the word entrepreneur itself has connotations. I think Ireland does produce a lot of entrepreneurial spirit.”

However, Ms Ross said that the stigma around failure in Ireland can put people off the life of an

“Don’t wait and don’t make excuses.

Start working on it now”

personality type.”

As a woman running a successful company, Ms Ross accredits her definition of entrepreneur to her mother who was a hairdresser.

“She was an entrepreneur, a business owner who provided employment to a dozen people. There are woman up and down the country, who are running their own businesses and employing people and don’t call themselves entrepreneurs.”

Chief Operations Officer of BlueChief Social Paul Reardon said a lot of his entrepreneurial experience was learned from his father. Mr Reardon highlighted another area of the GUESS survey that showed that students who came from family businesses were more likely to seek out the start-up life.

He also said that entrepreneurship and education can and should mix.

“If one of the modules of entrepreneurship included a week where the entire class sat down and tried to build their own businesses, validate their ideas and at the end of the lecture, pitch it to mock investors or local business leaders, that would

be such a great idea, and that’s the real experience that you need because you learn from doing.”

As a young entrepreneur emerging from college, he was unaware of the support present for start-ups: “I didn’t know that the Hartnet Centre (LIT) was there for new start-ups and the same here in Nexus I didn’t know there were two incubation centres in Limerick and I’m an entrepreneur and I had already created my own company while I was in college.”

The entrepreneurial spirit in graduates is rare, according to Mr Reardon.

“You see that’s the social norm of today, once you leave college you immediately have to start making money or else, it has been a waste.”

His message to those who want to start up is: “Don’t wait and don’t make excuses - start working on it now.”

Pinpoint Innovations Founder Chris Kelly was a UL student for one year and then decided to focus on his start-up full time. He said he wants students to understand what entrepreneurship actually is.

“It’s hard and people don’t realise the amount of work involved, I probably wouldn’t have done it if I had known half the stuff I know now. I probably would have said no, however that being said if I had started now.

Knowing what I know now, what I learned from the journey, I probably would skip the stuff we did wrong.

“I don’t think people understand that you’re going to have to make so many mistakes.”

April 2017

10

College Students Should Be Informed of Available Domestic Abuse Services DARREN FAUL

When asked at random, the majority of students admitted that they wouldn’t know what services to contact if they suspected that someone they knew was experiencing domestic abuse in their relationship.

In Ireland, on average 60 percent of domestic abuse victims will first experience some form of domestic abuse while under the age of 25, with the majority of victims ranging from 16 to 24 years old. As these figures are closely in line with those attending third level education, many people have voiced their concern on a lack of awareness on the issue, among college students.

Student Information and Support Coordinator Seán Bailey–Whyte voiced

his concern on the issue, urging students to remember that the signs aren’t always as easy to spot as we expect, saying that “domestic abuse can constitute many different things,” and

especially vulnerable, due to the many other issues that they are faced with, which can stop them from realising that they are in a toxic relationship.

Deirdre Barret of ADAPT domestic

who are experiencing abuse in their intimate relationships do not label it as domestic abuse.”

Deirdre also said that it wasn’t uncommon for students to avail of the services provided by

She also voiced her appreciation for awareness campaigns and felt that the topic should be addressed as part of the induction and orientation of students.

One such group

that “it often doesn’t start the graphic images that people have associated with it.” Seán also said that the gradual nature of domestic abuse can often lead to it going unnoticed, unless someone is informed of the signs.

Seán believes that college students are

abuse services in Limerick, also voiced her concerns over the lack of awareness students have of the services available to victims of domestic violence, like those provided by ADAPT. “I feel certain that the majority of students are not aware of our services and many

ADAPT, and that they do have students from UL availing of their services.

Deirdre believes that more posters and flyers, containing relevant information on services aimed at helping victims of domestic abuse, would be an easy way to provide help those who need it.

who were raising awareness was the UL Feminist Society, who ran a domestic abuse workshop as part of their workshop series, ‘Not just SomeBody’, in the courtyard on Tuesday tMarch 21st.

Fem Soc Secretary Megan Thornton outlined that the point of the workshops were

“to challenge and to address the different problems of domestic abuse, rape culture, toxic masculinity and to help people explore the idea of gender. “[The Feminist Society] felt that domestic abuse was a very important topic to talk about because it doesn’t seem to be discussed in colleges that often.

“The truth is domestic abuse can affect any person at any time and it’s not just a problem for women but men and non-binary people.”

Fem Soc hope to do more in the future to raise awareness around these issues.

Any student who feels like they may be a victim of domestic abuse can avail of the services provided by ADAPT limerick and from the University of Limerick’s own counselling services.

Research Shows Women Still Concealing Pregnancies CAITLIN GRIFFIN UL lecturer and midwife Sylvia Murphy-Tighe has lead research from Trinity College Dublin that shows women of various ages and backgrounds are still concealing their pregnancies.

According to the research, some women suffered a “traumatic life experience” and other women found it difficult accessing information about adoption during their pregnancy.

Ms Murphy-Tighe’s believes that the media’s negative portrayal of cases

where women conceal their pregnancies are insensitive and display “a serious lack of understanding.”

University Hospital Galway and HSE West’s figures state that one in 148 pregnancies are concealed.

Researchers found that the media portrayal of the Baby Maria case in Rathcoole used numerous harsh and insensitive headlines like “bin bag tot”, “dumped baby” and describe the mother as feeling like “a hunted animal.”

Ms Murphy-Tighe called for “responsible and ethical journalism”

and said that the headlines used are disrespectful and inconsiderate in a “modern and pluralist society.”

The women interviewed for the research noted how helpline numbers were not highlighted in the media coverage but numbers for garda stations were.

Ms Murphy-Tighe believes it is important that the media stop sensationalising these stories.

“We must, as a nation, recognise this and respond more supportively than in the past.”

April 2017

VOTE

11

Should ULSU support the aim of a united Ireland?

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19TH 7AM - 6PM VOTE.ULSU.IE

Opposition To Ring Road Could Stop Back Entrance For UL SINN FÉIN UL Last month members of Limerick Council’s Transport Committee were given a presentation on the second stage of the Northern Distributor Road, which will act as a ring road for the North and East of the city.

Speaking on the development of the road, Sinn Féin’s Séighin Ó Ceallaigh said that “this road is

crucial for the further development of Limerick.”

“This new road will allow for major expansion at the University of Limerick (UL) and the National Technology Park (NTP), as well as alleviate the massive traffic problem which currently exists in the Castletroy area.

“Having spoken with members of staff in UL and the NTP, it is clear that traffic is a

major drawback when it comes to investment in the area.

“This new road will include back entrances for UL and the NTP, and will drastically reduce travel times for the area. This will be a major selling point when investors look at coming to our city.

“The University have told me that they plan on increasing the number of students attending UL by 500 per annum for the

foreseeable future, therefore this road is essential to alleviate traffic.”

“However opposition to this road from Fine Gael, and a lack of commitment from Fianna Fáil, means that Limerick could be brought to a point of stagnation.

“These two parties are the local coalition government here in Limerick, and have a majority on the Council, which means

without their support, this road may never come to fruition.”

Sinn Féin UL Chairperson Joe Kearney has said that Young Fine Gael and Ógra Fianna Fáil “should be ashamed of their parties for not supporting a road which will reduce traffic in UL and give greater access to the North Campus.

“The policy of Fine Gael is to oppose this road, I will ask if

Young Fine Gael are also opposed to a back entrance to UL. “Typical of Fianna Fáil, there is no solid position on this issue, I wouldn’t be surprised if they abstained on the issue as they frequently do in the Dáil.

“I don’t know how Young Fine Gael or Ógra Fianna Fáil can look other students in the eye, when their parties will not support a back entrance for the University.”

April 2017

12

A Goodbye from Your An Focal Editor PAUL SAUNDERS EDITOR You can no longer have your say (for a few months) as An Focal comes to a close until the next semester.

That’s all I’ve talked about in my editorials and it feels like I just got An Focal up and running successfully but now it’s over.

An Focal has been in a precarious position for years, and has suffered from a lack of content and writers, poor design choices, a staff of overworked and underpaid students and issues surrounding funding.

I accepted the job last August as the editor position was now a paid job and An Focal was being taking more serious by the Students Union.

The paper was relaunched for the academic year 2015/16 and was much improved from previous years; however, there was still room for improvement.

I previously contributed to the paper during my undergraduate degree and had seen the ad for the Editor job and I thought I could continue An Focal’s revival.

I came into the job with many ideas and goals and I am happy to say that I achieved most of them and I would like to talk about the way I ran the paper, so if anyone has had issues with the paper or its content and coverage of events, hopefully this will shed some light on what I wanted to achieve.

Goal #1: Make An Focal as jampacked with news as possible.

The University of Limerick is a hive of activity, things happen every day on campus that are newsworthy and if I could fill all the pages of An Focal with news, I would.

The paper had too many throw away sections in previous years that I felt were unimportant and needed to be replaced.

Which is why, when you read An Focal, the first 12 or so pages are nothing but news, they are called newspapers for a reason, the focus has to be on news stories which is why certain features such as the Erasmus Diary, An Focal Five Years, Satire, SU Updates, movie reviews and so on were cut.

We still have features and opinion but the focus was on current events from the UL campus, I hoped you read and learned something about UL whenever you picked up a copy.

Goal #2: Get a ton of writers from all disciplines.

News is an all-encompassing topic and I’m not a skilled business/

finance writer or sports writer and that is news too and which is why in the few editorials I wrote, I repeated myself in saying that anyone can write and that it’s your paper.

An Focal this semester had record turnout at our weekly meetings and I cannot remember a time when our contributor base was as large as it is now.

I like writing but I don’t want to, the job of Editor involves juggling so many different tasks and I didn’t want writing to be one of them.

I was the Editor, I’ve got a good enough job and I wanted other people to get the experience and bylines.

In past years, it’s also become a habit of some people to write multiples stories and you’d see the same name crop up a good few times while flicking through the paper and I didn’t want that.

It’s good to get a variety of voices and names across the paper and give everyone a fair chance, it’s not great to see one person hog all the good stories and I didn’t want to do that.

I had many other goals but those were the big two and the ones I really focused on, so If you weren’t happy with An Focal and you picked it up every week and hated it, well I’m sorry but that’s the wy I wanted it to be and I’m quite happy with how it

turned out.

I also think the general consensus around the campus is that people have enjoyed the paper and I hope that is true and that people haven’t been just lying to me.

I still have the job for a few more weeks and if you’ve read this and didn’t like the paper come into the SU for a chat, and if you did like it, well then come in and lets have a chat and you can drink my free Red Bull.

Now to the thank everyone who has contributed to An Focal’s greatest year: The biggest thank you goes to Evie Kearney and Hannah Carr-Murphy because without those two there would be no paper.

Evie has been a dream news editor and my right-hand woman during my time as editor and Hannah CarrMurphy has been the design genius that makes sure every copy of An Focal is perfect.

A huge thank you also goes to our incredible sports-writing machine that is Caoimhín Reilly, our poetlaurate Martin Lennon and Nicole Glennon who has broken my record and has appeared in every issue of the paper this academic year.

Finally a massive thanks goes to everyone in the SU, the sabbatical team of Sarah, Caolan, and Donal has

been a joy to work with, Liz Gabbett, Martin Ryan, and Killian Stone who I have been tormenting in our shared office for nearly eight months.

It’s been a joy to have this job and I hope the next editor enjoys it as much as I did.

“I hoped you read and learned something about UL whenever you picked up a copy”

April 2017

13

Meet the Internet Famous UL Students Rebecca Laffan profiles the internet and social media titans that walk among us . . .

PINKSARS Despite recently turning just 21, Sarah has already nailed down how to make it big in the blogosphere.

Her blog, www.pinksars. com, has been up and running at speed for just over a year with many successes along the way.

Featuring everything from travel to beauty, the enthusiastic and energetic blog has quickly gained thousands of followers who are keen to keep up with the influential UL student.

Sarah has worked with brands such as Silverwood, Glitzi Bitz and Oxfam, fusing together her love of style with her keen interest in marketing, an area she would like to explore more in the future.

Name: Sarah Hayes 3rd Year French and New Media Blog: PinkSars

Having just returned from her Erasmus in France, Sarah admits that it proved difficult at times to balance a hectic schedule and a consistent online presence.

“It’s really hard, but you just have to stick with it and persevere,” she says.

As a New Media student, Sarah learns the ins and outs of social media on the daily, but it’s her blog that provides her with a more creative and personal outlet.

Even at a glance, it becomes clear that Sarahs blog acts almost like a diary at times, documeting her inner thoughts on important moments like birthdays and new experi-

ences.

Sarah’s bubbly yet chilled personality shines through in every post, whether it be about beauty or a recent adventure.

“It’s sort of a new persona, I get called PinkSars so often now,” she laughs, “but sometimes people do have their own interpretation of you as person just from reading my posts which can be challenging.”

For anyone thinking of starting a blog, Sarah’s advice is to find what you love and go from there.

“If you’re stuck for ideas, look for inspiration in other blogs,” she says.

And of course, www.pinksars.com is a great place to start.

Name: Reece Creed First Year New Media and English YouTube: TheRealReeceCreed Reece remembers the day it all began like it was just yesterday.

On the 29th of April 2015 he made his first YouTube video, a shaky cover of a Marina and the Diamonds song.

“I was incredibly nervous,” he says, “and to make it worse I got so much hate, from people I knew and even from complete strangers.”

Almost two years on, Reece has learned to shake off the negativity and embrace and grow his online presence.

“I love putting myself out there online, it’s almost like my diary,” Reece says.

He now has over a thousand subscribers who tune in every Sunday to watch

his latest video, whether it be a cover or an original song, a “story-time” or just Reece sharing what’s on his mind.

“My channel isn’t one set thing, it changes from week to week,” Reece says.

Over time, his channel has seen Reece grow from a nervous newbie to a confident and animated pro.

“YouTube is sort of my baby now, I can’t imagine life without it” he laughs.

Like many of the challenges and changes along the way, Reece has taken the fame in his stride.

“I was recognised at Longitude last year,” he says, “it was insane.”

Reece considers his subscribers as friends, with some of his fans even becoming his best friends.

“As my channel grows, I really don’t want to lose that bond I have with my family of original subscribers.”

Reece is also very active on his Snapchat, allowing him to communicate instantly with his followers 24/7.

“Snapchat is like a mini YouTube for me,” says Reece, “I do Q&A’s and just update them as I go about my day.”

Right now, Reece is focused on bringing out his own music with his latest track “LIT” soaring in views within hours of upload.

“I’m really proud of it.

Sean Corcoran helped me to produce it and I just want to make more!” he says.

April 2017

14

Five Money-Saving Tips for a Night Out CIARA FERGUSON

1. The €4 Aldi wine is an essential for pre-drinks if you don’t have the €13 to buy the wonderful Tamova vodka.

Think about it, you can get 2 bottles of wine and it’s still under €10!

2. Always bring too much to pre-drinksThere is nothing worse than bringing drink to pre-drinks and then running out before everyone else, leaving you to sit awkwardly and watch everyone else around you slowly lose their dignity.

Also the more you drink here, the less money you have to spend out. As a wise friend of mine once said, it’s better to have too much than not enough.

You’re in your room after a long, hard day of college and you deserve a night out. But wait… you check your money situation and it’s bad.

Here are 5 tips to help you achieve maximum drinking and fun on a night out, while spending the minimum amount of money.

3. Drink deals- Once out, make sure to buy all the deals and offers. My personal favourite is 3 jagerbombs for €10 in Angel Lane, where you do a shot, your friend does a shot, and you have the third one left for a normal drink.

4. Bank Card- Never, ever under any circumstances should you bring your bank card out with you.

EVER. You’re just spending money you don’t have and you will regret it.

5. Have a responsible friend- Make sure you have that one friend that is basically the “mother” of the group to try and prevent you from spending money Hope my tips were helpful and also please drink responsibly.

The Spirit of Ireland’s Storytellers JONAS PAGH DITLEVSEN

I’ve always admired good storytellers.

People with the gift to captivate an audience with the words they speak.

In this, the Irish seem to have a natural inclination.

I learned that in my first month in Ireland.

How I learned that and what it meant to me is the topic of this article, and is itself a good story.

So here goes: Whenever I go to pubs I tend to drift towards sitting at the bar, especially if it’s a local place.

Some of the best stories I’ve been told by strangers have happened with a pint of Guinness in front of me and a side order of Jameson.

That’s how I met John from county Kerry.

We were sitting next to each other at a pub in Killarney, and I had nearly finished my usual pint as well as the whiskey.

John and I hadn’t ex- I liked the combined to go through 5 Guin- life. changed a single word taste of Black Stuff and ness and 4 whiskeys, Time flew by, making yet, when suddenly he Jameson. each. hours feel like seconds. took hold of my whis- I told him I thought The thing that was Soon though, the International Society’s tour bus was leaving for Limerick.

Although tempted to blow if off and stay in Killarney, I took the more reasonable path and thanked John for sublime conversation and for all the wonderful stories.

He invited me to visit him and his wife, should I ever find myself near Killarney again.

Some weeks later I was procrasti-reading about Ireland and Irish history.

I came across the Gaelic word ‘seanchaí.’

Seanchaí is a profeskey glass and poured it wasn’t very good, so terribly interest- sion and a way of life. its last content into my but that I really liked ing about talking with In pre-christian IreGuinness. the kick it had, which John was hearing about land, seanchaís would He then turned to- made him chuckle: his life. travel from town to wards me and said “Sure, that’s the point Nowadays he owns a town and tell stories in “Give that a try, lad.” of it!” tour bus company in return for shelter and Although baffled, I We grew exception- Ireland, but in yonder sustenance. downed it all. ally close over a very years he travelled the They were regardJohn looked curi- limited time span. globe. ed with respect and ously at me as I tried ‘Limited’ meaning He spoke about love, served several functo determine whether however long it takes about passions, about tions: They were sourc-

es of news, historians, bards and last but not least entertainers.

A proficient seanchaí would be received with open arms in any town.

I’ve been told that in rural Ireland you still find people who do something similar, even if the old ways have been abandoned.

I like to think of John as a modern seanchaí.

And also as someone who offered me something to aspire towards.

A well-told story binds people together and unites strangers who otherwise would never have had cause to speak.

Stories take us to other places, while motivating us to go out and create new stories.

Remember to tell your stories, and trust that you can tell them well.

Listen to other people’s stories and allow them to tell it the best way they can.

That way, perhaps we can reignite the spirit of the seanchaí.

April 2017

15

Ten years on: What will ratifying CRPD mean for you?

Ten years ago, Ireland adopted the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. Steven Casey looks at the reasons why we must finally ratify the CRPD. Ireland had a plan to make public buildings wheelchair accessible by 2015.

The Disability Action Plan was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on April 5th 2006.

The plan aimed to “help member states re-inforce anti-discriminatory and human rights measures to enhance equal opportunities and independence of people with disabilities and guarantee their [our] freedom of choice, full citizenship, active participation in the life of the community and improve their [our] quality of life.”

In his opening address to UL on the government’s plan for a better Ireland by 2040, Minister Simon Coveney acknowledged “the mistakes of the past,” but insisted this government can and will do better.

It is 2017 and the average student in UL is between 18 and 22, Will we have to wait until we are in our 40’s and 50’s before we see these changes?

I hope not.

Member states of the United Nations began ratifying Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities in 2005.

This week, March 30th, marks the 10th anniversary since Ireland adopted the convention and, at the time of print, Ireland has failed to ratify.

This means, the government has failed a minimum of forty thousand

of our citizens, by failing to ratify this convention.

This could mean that you or someone you know could have been let down by a department, club or society, here in UL because of the country’s failure to engage, care for and support people with disabilities.

I have been in public consultation groups regarding equal access for people with disabilities in 2003, 2009 and 2014.

The latter consultation group was part of one college’s strategic plan which looked at three cities with a view to making them accessible for everybody.

It was a struggle to get people to join these consultation groups, with a few stating the results would only gather dust in a book on a shelf in a college library.

It was recently suggested to me that pubs, clubs and hotels etc, are not considered “public buildings” but are apparently “commercial units”.

This week, to mark the 10th anniversary of the Convention, disability rights activist, Joanne O’Riordan, along with approximately 100 disability organisations protested outside Leinster House on March 30th, calling on Minister for Disabilities, Finian McGrath and An Taoiseach Enda Kenny to ratify the convention immediately.

Ms O’Riordan’s campaign has been backed by such big names as former rugby international Shane Byrne,

Irish band Seo Linn, Fair City actress Aoibheann McCaul, GAA All Stars Eoin Murphy and Joe Canning, mental health advocate and Cycle Against Suicide representative Jim Breen, as well as Senator Lynn Ruane.

proceed to ratification as quickly as possible, but if a decade is as quickly as possible, it beggars belief what a slow process would look like.”

Hugh Lenihan of the Irish Times comments on the protest, “Ireland is now the only EU member state where the convention has yet to be ratified. 163 countries worldwide have ratified it.”

A local college student outlines the main points on the Convention, “Article 5, Section 2 of the CRPD (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Parties shall prohibit all discrimination on the basis of disability and guarantee to persons with disabilities equal and effective legal protection against discrimination on all grounds.

“In order to promote equality and eliminate discrimination, Parties shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided.”

Article 9, Section 2, Subsection B of the CRPD states the following: “Parties shall also take appropriate measures to ensure that private entities that offer facilities and services which are open or provided to the public take into account all In an open letter to the Irish Times aspects of accessibility for persons on March 30th, Sarah Lennon from with disabilities.”

Inclusion Ireland criticises the Article 30, Section 5 Subsection C delays and false promises stating of the CRPD states the following: that in the last decade, “six separate “With a view to enabling persons ministers for justice simply repeated with disabilities to participate the government’s intention to on an equal basis with others in recreational, leisure and sporting activities, States Parties shall take appropriate measures: To ensure that persons with disabilities have access to sporting, recreational and tourism venues.

Subsection E of that same Article 30, Section 5 states: With a view to enabling persons with disabilities to participate on an equal basis with others in recreational, leisure and sporting activities, Parties shall take appropriate measures: To ensure that persons with disabilities have access to services from those involved in the organization of recreational, tourism, leisure and sporting activities What will ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities mean for the 400,000+ citizens in Ireland (census 2006, nda.ie) who are disabled, our friends, family and our social groups, clubs and societies?

“The government has failed a minimum of forty thousand of our citizens by failing to ratify this convention.”

April 2017

16

A UL SU Referendum on United Ireland “It’s quite a controversial thing to be talking about.

It’s not really the point of a student union to take up a political stance.“ – Conor Callaghan

UL SU will be holding a referendum on whether the student body would support a united Ireland. We asked UL students whether or not they thought the SU should take a stance on the issue . . .

“No, it’s nothing to do with us.”

– Cormac Bottler

“It’s up to people in Northern Ireland to decide it.”

– Padhraic Dunne

“No, it alienates half the campus.”

– Andrew McCarthy

“Yes, it’s part of our history. It would be wrong if we didn’t take part in it because then are we truly supporting our country?”

– AnnMarie Campbell “Well all the other colleges are doing it.”

– Conor Whelan

“I’d support it a united Ireland but maybe the SU should stay apolitical.”

– Eimear Coleman

“I guess, why not? It’s our country.“ – Shola Koschan

April 2017

What I Learned in UL JAMES LISTON When I asked myself what I learned in my final year of college, I’d have to say not a whole pile – to be honest I’d say I have regressed!

Mainly because I’m procrastinating by writing this piece for An Focal when I really should be doing an essay worth 35%.

Looking back, I could say I’ve learned to not leave my FYP to the last minute or to focus

more on college life instead of my social life but there’s no real fun in that.

What I have really learned in my final year of college is that our time in UL is fleeting and we really should do as much as possible in our time here.

Be it being involved in Student Council, running for election or having a few pints with the lads in Stables I would say that what

. . . during my First Year CIARA FERGUSON

My first year in UL has been a roller coaster of emotions.

I moved into Plassey Village with seven other random people and the fear and nerves cannot be explained.

What if they don’t like me?

What if I don’t like them?

What if they’re really messy?

What if they’re really loud?

The list is endless.

In saying that I got extremely lucky.

Obviously we have had our ups and downs but at

the end of the day we are one big family and we always will be no matter where life takes us.

In my opinion, I learnt that living with someone is different to being friends with someone but I’m happy to say, my housemates fall into both categories.

I found how big the campus is extremely overwhelming.

I come from a small area in Connemara where everyone knows each other, and then all of a sudden I was thrown into mass crowds, but I have adjusted.

I love my course and the people in it.

. . . during my Final Year

I’ve learned is to absolutely maximise your time in UL. At our age we are never going to be in a situation where you will only be tied down to 12 hours a week of scheduled work (arts course soz) so enjoy it!

With the right balance I’ve learned loads this year like how to present myself in meetings with heads of the university, be a part of the planning of big events even how to

They are opinionated, strong and caring people and I am honoured to call them my friends and I know that most of us will stay friends long after we leave UL. I have also learnt that the Leaving Cert was the biggest waste of time in my life.

The only thing that I have used from my Leaving Cert is a poet I studied in English that happens to be on my English module this semester so that was pretty useful but other than that, I have brought nothing with me.

Even the studying method is useless.

start looking for a job or getting a masters (both unsuccessful at the moment sadly!).

It’s not just the degree but the skills we learn to accompany them.

I’ve learned all these things because of what a fantastic campus UL is and how it creates an atmosphere for its students to thrive.

It’s less about what we learn academically and more about what we learn about ourselves that we should

During your Leaving Cert you memorise answers of what you know the examiner wants to see.

Here in university, they value your opinion much more and it’s not just about learning the notes that your teacher gave you.

If I had any advice to future first years, I would say to just relax and be yourself.

Apply yourself and you will be surprised on what you can achieve if you’re doing a course that you loved.

I never did particularly well in school, but since I have come to UL

look at once we reach the end of our final year.

There’s no point graduating with a 1.1 and having the personality of a tadpole, we need to be well-rounded as people also.

College is really about finding yourself and making fantastic memories with a crowd of people whom you can call friends for life, that’s what I’ve learned in my final year of college.

my grades have become something to be proud of.

In saying that I go out quite regularly.

I have learnt not to bring a whole 70cl of vodka to a house party or you and your friends will suffer, but I have also had some of my best nights out in Limerick.

The transition to university wasn’t easy but I am happy to say I have settled in really well, and I am really upset that this year is so close to ending.

It went too quickly but overall my experience in UL has been extremely positive.

. . . as an International Student

From fellow commuters on the bus to othOver the past year er students at college, at UL I have learnt Irish people are always that there is much willing to strike up a more to Ireland than friendly conversation sweeping green lawns about absolutely anyand an abundance of thing. high-quality Guinness.

The affability of the While Ireland may Irish people makes the not have the balmiest transition to a new culclimate in all of Europe, ture much easier, and is it certainly boasts the one of the best things friendliest and most about studying in Ireapproachable people. land.

SIOBHAN MACLOINGSIGH

17

There are so many ways to embrace the Irish culture at UL, and a vast amount of clubs and societies available.

It is so much fun to get involved with these societies and have some ‘craic’, while trying a new sport or activity.

This is a great way to meet fellow internationals but also to get to know Irish students.

Ireland is also home to

some of the most erratic weather in Europe.

A day at UL can comprise of sunshine, hail, wind and rain – truly four seasons in one day.

A transportable umbrella is therefore a must-buy for all students, as it can pour with rain out of a paleblue sky.

There are also many words in the Irish culture that international

students have to learn to embrace.

“Have some craic,” does not refer to taking an illegal substance, and “shift” certainly does not refer to a computer key.

Sláinte to UL for the lifelong friendships, interesting modules, TGIF nights at Stables, and for making Limerick a ‘home away from home.’

April 2017

18

Enviro Soc Host National Environmental Societies Forum

BY NICOLE GLENNON UL Environmental Society hosted the first national forum for environmental societies last Friday.

The National Environmental Societies Forum, which will hopefully become an annual event, brought environmental societies from UL, Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) together to share and brainstorm ideas.

A number of events took place throughout the day including a sustainable fashion show and presentations from all environmental societies.

The “Ecoture Fashion Show” showcased a range of second-hand and vintage clothing from local charity shops in Limerick city including; Enable Ireland, The Edge Cloth-

ing Limerick and The Lucky Lane Limerick.

The event presented sustainable clothing in a positive and fashionable light, and offered second-hand and vintage clothing as an alternative to the fast-fashion industry which poses serious environmental as well as ethical issues.

Guest speaker Aoife McNamara of That Indie Irish Blog spoke about fast-fashion, the second most polluting industry in the world after fossil fuels, before the show began.

The show had five different themes including festival and business with a wide variety of stylish outfits for each which were available to buy at the end of the show.

“The fashion show was a great success,” UL Environmental Society member Carmen Vte said.

“I think it’s the best King said: “We learned event is something that event for environmenway to raise awareness a lot from the other so- will grow each year tal soceities around the about serious issues cieties and I hope this and become an annual country.” like fast-fashion: stay optimistic and share solutions through a fun event.”

UL’s Environmental Society also showcased two campaigns during the day including the UL structure for recycling plastic bottles in Red Raisins as well as a new structure in the Glucksman Library, which represents how much water the average person uses in a day.

Members of WIT, TCD and UL’s environmental societies, as well as representatives from UL’s Green Campus and the Environmental Committee all made presentations in the evening, showcasing the work they’ve done so far in their respective institutes of technology and universities.

UL Environmetal Society President Cristóir

An Unforgettable Semester for Game Soc

BY CIARA MARIA HAYES This semester games society boasted a number of impressive events among their usual weekly events such as tabletop gaming and consoles day.

Collaborations were held with other societies and even Red Bull in order to accommodate every gamers’ interest.

The first big event in the semester was a table-quiz collaboration with UL’s Fan Forum society which took place in February.

Teams of four battled it out in the sports bar for the title of winners.

This follows in the line of events Games Society and Fan Forum have collaborated together on, and hopefully there will be more

to take place in future.

Games Society stormed into the first week of March with a charity auction.

Following an update in inventory, a variety of board games, RPG books, console and PC games were auctioned off, not only to make space in the cupboards, but to raise money for Limerick Animal Welfare, the ISPCA and Corbett Suicide Prevention Limerick.

It was a fun and beneficial night, all for a good cause.

Week eight of the semester welcomed the annual return of the thrilling and unnerving experience of Assassins.

The rules of the game are quite simple – everyone is given their target, which must be

kept secret.

You must then attempt to kill them (by poking them with a plastic spoon) all while being discreet and not in one of the safe zones, such as lectures and the SU. The event lasted all of week eight and prizes were distributed for best photo taken during the event, most kills and the most active assassin, which was judged by their activity on the event page.

There was also a joke prize given for the fastest killed.

The following week featured the ultimate test of gaming endurance – Last Man Standing.

This gaming showdown, sponsored by Red Bull, took place

in EGO, featured five games across four different platforms – Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, Street Fighter 5 on PlayStation 4, FIFA 17 on Xbox One and Halo Reach for Xbox 360.

Each player competed in an effort to win one of the three available prizes – the first prize being a crate of Red Bull and two tickets to Gamercon, the second prize two tickets to Gamercon and finally the third prize being another crate of Red Bull.

Games Society has another large event planned before the end of the semester.

Capture the Flag, a collaboration with parkour society, will be happening within the next number of weeks.

Broccasion 2017 This year’s Broccasion will be taking place in EG0-10 on campus on the 22nd of April. For those of you who haven’t been before, Broccasion is a one day taster of what is in store for the UL Brocon Gaming & Anime convention this year, set to take place between the 14th and 16th of July. With €5 entry for the day, you’ll get more than your money’s worth with a multitude of video games to play, anime screenings to watch, manga to read as well as cosplay events, arts & crafts workshops, RPGs, board games, and card games events, and traders and artists stalls! Broccasion is a family event, so everyone is welcome!

So why not come to Brocasion, and unleash your inner nerd?

April 2017

19

Dance Society Member Wins Best Fresher Award SONYA RAMONDINO Dance UL is extremely proud of our very own Class Coordinator Julie Brennan, who won the Paddy McHugh Best Fresher Award at this year’s Clubs and Societies Ball.

Julie is incredibly deserving of this honour, and has achieved a great amount since joining Dance UL in September of 2016.

Intrinsic to her role as Class Coordinator is the responsibility to handle monetary interactions and signing Dance UL members in prior to each class and workshop — a hefty commitment alongside the challenges of a Bachelor of Law. Julie has surpassed all expectations of this role with her ability to encourage and aid Dance UL members,

addressing numerous queries and concerns.

She has been a very reliable team player on Dance UL’s committee, faithfully attending meetings and covering for members who were in need of assistance.

She has promptly responded to health and safety concerns, and has always made herself available to help organise the array of events coordinated by Dance UL throughout the year.

Julie’s consistently positive attitude has captured the hearts of both the committee and society members, and we could not be more proud to support her candidacy for the Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) Fresher Award!

Julie has also added to the vibrancy of Dance UL with

her own unique choreography, and has graced the stage with her many talents as a dancer.

She represented UL on the Hip Hop, Contemporary, and Jazz intervarsity teams and

was an integral addition to each of these pieces.

Her beautiful stage presence, admirable technique, and enthusiasm to teach and learn shone through lengthy and grueling

rehearsals leading up to the All-Ireland Intervarsity Competition and have persisted beyond this point.

Dance UL will continue to thrive with Julie’s hard work and dedication, cultivat-

ing an exciting environment for all who are passionate about dance.

Congratulations Julie and best of luck at the 2017 BICS National Society Awards ceremony!

Drama Soc Presentation of PIGTOWN a Success atre.

Feedback from the auHere in Drama Society dience was overwhelmwe are still on a high ingly positive and our from the success of our cast gained valuable latest production. skills through working After months of hard with experienced direcwork we brought the tor Tony Cusack. iconic play Pigtown to We were honoured the Jonathan Swift The- to have the playwright ANNA PARKES

himself – Mike Finnin the audience for our closing night.

Our cast and crew certainly felt the pressure on the night but thankfully the show ran smoothly and Mr Finn seemed very pleased with how the Drama

Society interpreted his creation.

A huge thank you to everyone involved in Pigtown and those who supported us over the three-night run.

We may not have any more productions this semester, but that does

not mean we are resting on our laurels.

Our workshops are still going strong, and we have plenty of activities in the pipeline for our society to enjoy as the academic year nears its end.

Our writers group in particular have had a stellar couple of weeks, with special guest Ella Daly dropping by.

Ms Daly is an Irish Times Theatre Awards judge and has judged over 160 shows in just 10 months.

It was fascinating to gain an insight into theatre from a judge’s point of view.

We learned a lot about what turns really good theatre into award winning theatre!

Hopefully we will apply her tips to future productions to give our audiences the best experience possible.

Writers group have

also recently collaborated with Stanzas.

Stanzas are a group that hold events that allow budding writers to share their thoughts and writing with like-minded people.

We hope to continue our friendship with the lovely people at Stanzas with possible collaborations in the future.

The next few weeks will be action packed for Drama Society as we are currently planning our annual Drama Soc Awards.

This night is designed especially to recognise the achievements of our group throughout the year, categories include Best Actor and Actress, Most Memorable Performance and Outstanding Contribution to Drama.

It is sure to be a glitzy affair to round off a fantastic year in style.

April 2017

20

Annual Clubs and Societies Ball and Awards Ceremony

KATE STEPHENS On Wednesday the 15th of March the Annual C&S Ball and Awards Ceremony took place at the Radisson Hotel Limerick.

Among the guests were members of Clubs and Societies, UL Alumni and ULSU and University staff.

The night began at 7.30pm with buses of students arriving at the entrance of the Radisson to be greeted with a drinks reception.

Guests chatted and mingled whilst enjoying glasses of bubbly Prosecco.

By 8 o’clock the guests were seated at their dinner tables and the night kicked off with the presentation of the C&S Annual Awards to celebrate the work accomplished by

the C&S committee members.

This was followed by a fantastic performance from Dance UL who still managed to give an amazing show despite wearing ball gowns and suits.

The meal was then served and the band then took to the stage.

It was not long before the dance floor was packed with students and University staff dancing to one hit after another.

The whole night was filled with chatter, music and the clinks of the glasses.

A memorable night was had by all and what better way to recognize and celebrate the success and accomplishments of UL Clubs and Societies than with a ball!

April 2017

Surf Club Cleans Up Ballybunion Beach LIZZIE KEOGH & MARIA POTEMPA UL Surf Club had their final home trip of the semester to the beautiful Ballybunion last weekend.

While some lucky few will be heading off to surf in the warm waters of Pinche, Portugal at Easter, for the rest, the Ballybunion sun brought back memories of our Moroccan surf trip in January.

The weather was surprisingly perfect, the waves were great for beginners and out back a bigger swell for the more experienced, with club veteran Eoin Lees giving a lesson to our Erasmus students.

Ballybunion is beautiful seaside town abun-

dant with cliff walks, stony towers and some great pubs too.

Besides surfing, sunbathing and enjoying a beautiful sunset, on Sunday morning when the ocean was flat, we stuck on our gloves and picked up our litter pickers.

Equipped with bin bags galore sponsored

by Clean Costs, we spent about an hour scooping up every lollipop stick and lonely yellow welly in site.

Surprisingly, some weird objects turned out to be very useful, and the club is now the proud owner of a homemade driftwood skateboard.

As surfers, we really care about the quality of the beaches, so keeping it clean is important to

us all.

Here, in Ireland I have seen some of the most beautiful beaches in the Europe, it is vital that we protect and take care of them.

A few helpful hands and some free time is enough to make the beach beautiful again.

That’s it for this semester in terms of trips around Ireland.

We hope that our advanced surfers enjoy their week off in Portugal and that our Erasmus friends have enjoyed their time with us both in and out of the water.

21

Remember we are still running balance and pool sessions every Monday 9-10.45 so feel free to get involved.

Find us at ulsurfclub. com

Outdoor Pursuits Club Wins C&S Awards AOIFE O’SULLIVAN

We say it all the time, but this has certainly been one of the Outdoor Pursuit Club’s busiest ever semesters.

The highlight was undoubtedly our incredible success at the Clubs and Societies’ ball, where we scooped the award for Best Club, Best Club Individual and Best Club Trip or Event.

We did not let ourselves get overly confident, though, ditching the make up for chalk the very next day.

At the end of Week 9, two groups of our climbers headed to Belfast to compete in the annual climbing intervarsities.

With the Sprinter van stocked full of ropes, harnesses and hen party paraphernalia, fourteen of our crew took off on the Friday night.

In keeping with OPC

tradition, our travellers were plagued by much car trouble.

Eight hours after leaving Limerick, they rolled into Belfast city more psyched than ever to climb.

With the sun shining, the climbers headed in to a smelly gym for a long weekend of bouldering, top-roping and exploring.

Not to put our lastplace finish in orienteering intervarsities to shame, one of our dedicated members continued the trend and placed last in the entire competition.

Our younger climbers, however, did us proud with one of them placing in the top ten of the beginner male category.

While the academic year may be coming to a close, we at the OPC are gearing up to celebrate our 25th anniversary.

After plenty of intense preparation we are delighted to announce that the Clayton Hotel in Limerick will host a ball for us on April 29th.

Raincoats and hiking boots will be exchanged for blazers and high heels in honour of the occasion.

OPCers young and

old will have the opportunity to come together and trade tales of epic adventures, whilst showing off their technique on the dancefloor.

Our ever-popular hikes will take place every Sunday up to Week 12.

The climbing wall will remain open even

during study week on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-10pm.

The OPC AGM will take place on Thursday of Week 11, followed by a table quiz in the Sports Bar next to the arena.

We are excited to welcome a whole new committee to continue

the legacy.

The current committee would like to wish them all the best in their endeavours, and hope that they celebrate the remainder of the 25th year in style.

For more information contact us at uloutdoorpursuits@gmail. com or through our Facebook.

April 2017

22

Handball Wolves Play Across Europe JOHN BOSCO HURLEY

The handball club’s European adventures in the last year took them from eastern Spain to northern Netherlands and twice to western Italy to take part in the European Pro Wallball Tour and the European GAA Handball Championships.

The club returned with nine gold, five silver and three bronze medals along with several new international connections.

The players also got the chance to experience the local handball variations played in these countries.

The year commenced with the players running for cover and scrabbling for suncream in the 30 degrees’ sunshine of Valencia at the Spanish Pro Stop.

Eleven UL players struggled to acclimatise to the sudden appearance of the bright yellow orb in the sky in late October on the first day.

They managed to regroup quickly and utilised the unique “Irish whip” to outfox their opponents during the singles games.

Paudi Quish looked in ominous form until he narrowly lost to the eventual champion by one ace in the Open

Division.

In the B division, UL flooded the quarter-finals with five representatives.

Michael Hedigan emerged from the pack as he produced a series of astonishing comebacks to claim the title defeating a Spanish player in the final.

Quish again flew the flag in the Open division in the doubles where he again came

up against the eventual champions at the quarter-final stage again.

In the B division, UL produced 4 out of 8 quarter-finalists with Michael Hedigan and Daniel Relihan battling their way to the title in

another series of close encounters.

Liam Bradshaw and Dan Noonan powered their way to the C title as they overcame several European opponents.

The next trip also exposed the players to an another extreme change in weather as UL travelled to the snow covered environs of Franeker, Northern Netherlands for the Dutch Open.

feated all opponents as he claimed the B singles title in a statement of intent in his first European tournament.

He teamed up with James Prentice as they stormed to the B title producing several electric performances.

The European GAA Handball Championships took place in similarly frosty surroundings as UL travelled with two teams to the tournament.

The second team of John Bosco Hurley and Jack Coughlan began their campaign first as they competed in the Challenger division.

They formed an exciting partnership as they finished second in the division and qualified for the European Championship as a result where they faced the no. 1 ranked Italian in the semi-final of the Championship.

They suffered early setbacks in the singles but bounced back to rattle the Italian champions in the doubles as they took an early lead and maintained it until late in the game.

The UL players adapt- Unfortunately, they ed to the cold condi- fell just short and were tions quicker than the unable to qualify for sun soaked conditions the final but bounced of the Mediterranean. back to claim bronze to UL completed the go with the silver they double in the B division won in the Challenger again as Jamie Kelly division. comprehensively de- The A team of Paudi Quish, Jason English and Adrian English faced another Italian team in the semi-final and qualified for the final after a comprehensive victory.

The final proved to be highly controversial as numerous debatable decisions went the way of the Italian hosts.

UL fell to a narrow loss as a result and returned home in disappointment.

The club returned to Italy in March for the Italian Open of the European Pro Wall-

ball Tour and for the first trip of the year the weather was similar to that in Ireland.

The weather appeared to suit Paudi Quish as he stormed through the group stages of the Open division.

He maintained this form as he reached the final for the second straight Italian Open where he faced the European no. 1 from Spain in the final.

He fell behind early but managed to halt the Spaniard’s momen-

tum and he recovered from a 9-3 deficit to win 25-12 and cause a huge upset.

This is the club’s first win in the Open Division of the European Pro Wallball Tour and has resulted in Quish reaching no. 5 in the European rankings.

It was an incredible year for the club and with further trips to London and Belgium to come, it is hoped to bring more success back to the West of Ireland.

April 2017

23

UL Hockey Goes to Kilkenny for Mixed Intervarsity PATRICK HIGGINS UL men’s and women’s hockey joined forces and took to Kilkenny to battle it out with UCD, ITT and CIT in this years mixed intervarsity event, on Monday and Tuesday of week 5 hosted by Kilkenny College.

The first game was early Monday morning against CIT and the UL team, led by captain Aoibheann Ni Chonchubair, took to the field in high spirits.

It was a tough CIT, that would advance to the fi-

nal of the competition and their class was evident from the start.

The exceptional pace of Trevor Gray and Lucy Gardiner in the frontline wasn’t enough to provide prolonged periods of pressure on their defence.

UL did however get on the scoreboard as Roy Gleeson bagged a nice goal.

Despite the best efforts of two of the three keepers, Patrick Higgins and Hanna Begley, CIT ran out comfortable winners on a final score line

of 5-2.

Despite the slow start in the opening game, in game two and three of the tournament, the UL squad came together and recorded a famous 3-0 victory against a strong UCD team led by a fantastic performance in goal by Rob Shier and a WOTM performance

by Alison Ahern.

Another brilliant performance followed against a difficult ITT side who certainly had the umpires on their side.

However, a playmaker

role played by Jeff Smith and a heroic performance by Ian Gibson who was wrongfully denied a glorious hat-trick was enough to pull UL through.

The score line told all of that UL display, led by the goal scoring power of Orla Shiel and Laura Maher.

Day 2 provided UL with the opportunity to play in a cup quarter final against DCU where a heroic display in defence by Catholic Institutes Cormac O’ Byrne guided the team to a

cup semi-final.

Fine displays from Una Real and Spaniard Maria Diez allowed the team to get a strong foothold on the game from the start, leading to another brilliant 7-0 victory.

Unfortunately, UL’s epic journey came to an end as a strong DIT side defeated us in the semi-final despite their best efforts.

Aside from this, midfielder Katie Tyrell and player/coach Conor Crosbie, had stand out performances.

On the Monday night, the Wolves hit the town for a whopper sesh with the rivalling colleges.

Despite Kilkenny not offering much on the night life side of things, a great time was had in the popular nightclub Langton’s.

Overall the two days were brilliant for all involved with the team all being part of history, certainly giving both the men’s and women’s clubs a great deal of confidence for the remainder of the semester.

UL Greyhound Racing Society Gains Approval for Foundation MARK BOYLAN The ULSU’s vast range of clubs and societies recently added a new group to their roster, as the UL Greyhound Racing Society gained approval for foundation.

Keen to promote the sport of greyhound racing amongst young

people, the group of canine enthusiasts place strong emphasis on the issue of animal welfare, whilst fundraising for organisations such as the Irish Retired Greyhound Trust.

“Ensuring people understand the love we share for these animals is at the top of our priorities for creating this

society” said Co-Chairperson, Joe Sheahan.

“Introducing the sport to new audiences goes hand-in-hand with educating people on the high level of care these dogs are treated to.”

Aspiring owner Sheahan was been bitten by the bug for the sport that he loves at a young age and the Askeaton native is eager for more young people to experience the thrill of owning their own greyhound.

“It’s a unique experience and I can remember the surreal feeling the first time I owned a winner - it was like being on cocaine or something! It wasn’t a special race by any means, but I knew at the moment that I needed this buzz in my life.”

“I’ve given up a share in one of my own dogs called Rastaboomblasta for our members to go racing and we’ve already brought students to Limerick Greyhound Stadium to see him training which was a lovely introduction for those new to the sport.”

The society has already garnered nation-

al attention in canine circles with Co-Chairperson and with lifelong greyhound enthusiast, Julianne O’Keefe delighted with the positive coverage the UL society have received.

“We’ve had fantastic support across the country and our launch night at the Kingdom Greyhound Stadium in Tralee which saw a race named after us was terrific.

“All over Ireland we’ve had a great response from stadiums, companies and individuals with the same sort of passion we have for promoting the sport amongst

young people.”

The society has already rubbed shoulders with one of the biggest names in Irish sport, having enjoyed an evening in The Stables with former World Champion in boxing, Bernard Dunne who received an invite to the group’s launch night.

The pair spearheading the society – whose passion for the sport is almost palpable – are hoping to meet like-minded people through their endeavours with kennel visits, offers of ownership share in multiple dogs and nights at the dogs all in the pipeline after

securing support from the Irish Greyhound Board.

“When I started back in September, all my housemates were into hurling, football and other hobbies, but I had nobody I could talk to about the dogs” said Julianne.

“The chance to create a community of people with a shared interest is one of the greatest things we’ve found so far in setting-up the society.”

For more information on upcoming events, search for the ‘University of Limerick Greyhound Racing Society’ on Facebook.

FINAL EDITIONÂ

FROM THE AN FOCAL STAFF