Volume 4, issue 5

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THIRD LEVEL IN IRELAND The University Times

Magazine

Ex-Leinster rugby star Trevor Hogan writes on his experiences volunteering in Gaza.

UT Magazine catches up with Julian Assange’s supporters outside the Ecudorian embassy in London.

UT sits down with Trinitones, page 7

Page 6

Irish Student Newspaper of the Year

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

The University Times CICE to sever ties with TCD Vladimir Rakhmanin Deputy Online Editor THE CHURCH of Ireland College of Education (CICE) has unanimously passed a motion to terminate its longstanding relationship with Trinity College Dublin. In a statement made on behalf of the board of governors of CICE, the teaching institution was critical of Trinity’s ‘unwillingness to allow for the retention of CICE’s four core principles in any collaborative arrangement’.

In a statement made on behalf of the Board of Governors of CICE on 13th November 2012, the college expressed several issues they had with maintaining the college’s strategic partnership with Trinity. Some of the dissatisfaction came from the fact that Trinity would not permit the college to retain its CICE name, due to the fact that the college is strictly secular. The 52-yearold college has been one of Trinity’s longstanding partners.

The board of governors stated that unanimous decision was made in the interest of safeguarding CICE’s guiding principles: ‘Safeguarding and enhancing the holistic educational experience of all students in CICE; Retention of CICE’s identity in terms of its ethos and culture, including its relationship with and responsibility to the network of primary schools throughout the State under Reformed Christian patronage; Affirmation of and formal positive acknowledgement of, and respect for the values, origins and traditions of CICE; Protection and equality of recognition for the rights of CICE staff who are all public servants.’

The statement confirmed that CICE have entered formal discussions relating to structure and governance with DCU with a view to establishing a strategic partnership that would make CICE ‘a recognised equal partner at the

decision-making table’.

Aside from the issues mentioned above, CICE were also displeased with Trinity only favouring those options which allowed for the assimilation of CICE within an expanded School of Education. Also, no discussion was possible at the negotiations with regard to the continuation of the restricted entry route to the B.Ed for Church of Ireland candidates and those of other Reformed Christian backgrounds.

The college has been looking into various options over the summer – it has expressed interest in working with DCU, as the university’s partner institutions, St. Patrick’s College Drumcondra and Mater Dei Institute of Education, ‘pledged to support the distinctive ethos, culture and mission of CICE as an equal partner in the process.’

In a recent University Council, Trinity College stated that it was ‘sorry to lose its long-standing relationship with the CICE but respects the decision of the CICE’s Board of Governors’. Trinity College Dublin declined to comment further on the nature of the split. Professor Walsh, of the School of Education, expressed the School’s regret about the CICE’s decision to end the relationship.

Dr Anne Lodge, principal of CICE, in speaking with The University Times, stated the following: ‘As the discussions are ongoing, it is not appropriate for me to comment publicly beyond the agreed public statements of the Board and those of the four institutions in the DCU-led configuration discussing the establishment of an Institute of Education.

Both CICE and Trinity College are autonomous institutions which each respect the rights of the other to form alliances as suit their strategic planning.’

UTFEATURES Former Trinity and Leinster rugby player Trevor Hogan writes on his experiences working with children in Gaza.

Leanna Byrne interviews Cormac Cashman, a major player on the Dublin gay clubnight circuit.

“For Cormac, the secret to success is simple”

Leanna Bryne, An Interview with Cormac Cashman, page 6

“Gambling

YouTube personality Jenna Marbles pictured after accepting the University Philosphical society’s Bram Stoker award last Thursday evening .

Photo: Andrew Murphy

College shelves recommendation for IS Services helpdesk charge

has a calculated power to destroy” Conor Bates, Student Gambling a Growing Concern, page 9

»» Chief Information officer to be hired in strategic overhaul of College IT service. »» Report cites “cumbersome and unreliable” features of College wireless network.

Fionn O’Dea Deputy News Editor THE UNIVERSITY Times has learned that recommendations stemming from a review of Information Systems Services (IS Services) undertaken by college late in the last academic year included the outsourcing of the drop-in centre with an introduction of a fee of around €36 for its use. The quality review was carried out between the 15th and 17th of May 2012 by representatives from the University of Warwick, Loughborough University among other Irishbased reviewers, facilitated

by Trinity’s Anne Fitzgerald.

The above recommendation is among 35 contained within a 38 page document circulated at a university board meeting on October 10th last year. Submissions made at this meeting included that students should not have to pay for a helpdesk

service and that “the IS Services Helpdesk is a valuable service to the College and should not be outsourced.”

The recommendation had been included in the report as a cure to “inconsistent and confusing” opening hours of the “highly valued” service. Outsourcing of such services has been of benefit to other institutions such as the University of Warwick but would likely come with at a cost for students.

Trinity College Chief Operating Officer Darina Kneafsey advised the board at the meeting that the report “is extensive and detailed and takes into account the level of skills available within the College and the legacy issues because of a failure to invest in systems in the past.”

Also laid out are plans for the hiring of a Chief Information Officer (CIO) for college to be the “architect of and hold accountability for the delivery of College’s

UTOPINION With the International Women’s week celebrations underway, Sally Hayden debunks the myths surrounding gener quotas in politics.

Samuel Riggs pours cold water over our romantic notions of the internship culture.

Information Strategy”.

Board minutes indicate that students will likely be involved in the development of this strategy and that the hiring of a CIO should precede the implementation of the strategy “in order that he/she may contribute to the process.” The minutes also suggest that college “should consider whether IS Services has the correct skill set to deliver the IT strategy once developed.”

The report acknowledges that college’s wireless service is an area of concern for both users and ISS, particularly as far as mobile devices are concerned. Since the review was carried out last May, iOS software, used in iPhones and iPads has been made compatible with the College wireless network though users of the Android platform are still unable to connect. The recommendation says that the “existing mechanisms for wired and wireless networking were

considered cumbersome and unreliable. IS Services should continue to consult with other higher education institutions to consider if alternative mechanisms and approaches might be usefully applied to TCD.” Board minutes indicate that it is not the intention of the board to pass on the cost of wireless connectivity in college to students.

Expanded support for Mac users to reflect growing numbers of students using Apple products was recommended as well as the harmonisation of the two different email systems used in college for students and staff. There is also the recommendation to outsource printing services though the concern is expressed that this may lead to a “perception of IS Services ‘pushing away’ users to a third party provider and, to some extent, washing its hands of the relationship.” It is therefore concluded that though

UTSPORTS Sarah Ledden reports on the Boxing colours while Rory McCarthy writes on the happenings in Belfied during the rugby colours.

Christopher Davey gives you the lowdown on the Dublin clubs competing in the League of Ireland

external vendors have many positive contributions to make, “it is critical that IS Servies remain the public face of the service and hold total responsibility for its performance.”

A number of students consulted as part of the report, meanwhile, admitted that it is not always apparent who should be contacted for support in the first instance.

IS Services employs 86 (77 full-time equivalents) staff members across four buildings, 200 Pearse St housing the most. It is responsible for the planning, delivery and support of Trinity’s main computing facilities, and supports 25,000 users on campus as well as in St James’s and Tallaght Hospitals. IS Services supplies IT training and provides support in lecture theatres and seminar rooms.

“It’s easy to see why they have been so successful”

Shauna Cleary & Hannah Ryan, Setting the Trinity Tone, page 7

Hubie Pilkington, Swagger, Struts, Stares and Suits, page 8

The University Times

Magazine

James Bennett interviews colourful left-wing TD Clare Daly.

Tommy Gavin interviews Ebo Taylor, one of the greatest living legends you’ve never heard of.

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013 | The University Times

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UTNEWS Whats happening on campus?

Shona McGarry Societies Editor This week sees the launch of International Women’s Week on campus. To celebrate, societies are getting proactive about women’s issues. To mark both this and the launch of the Trinity Global Development Society, PhD candidate in Islamic and gender studies, Farah Mokhtarezadeh, and Tara Madden of the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, are popping in to the Hist Conversation Room on Tuesday at 3pm, to speak about what they do. DUGES are taking a lighter approach but holding a T-Shirt Painting and Coffee Morning on Wednesday from 11am-1pm in the Eliz Rooms, in support of women in the third world. They’re calling it ‘This is what a feminist looks like,’ and I’m sure we’ll all find out what indeed they do look like on the day. On the same day, some women are coming in for a speaker’s panel in the Phil Conversation Room, about Breaking the Glass Ceiling barriers to entry for women in professional careers. On Thursday, DU Amnesty are doing some unconventional celebrating, preferring to mark the occasion with an Art Exhibition and Awards in the Hist Conversation Room at 5pm. Friday sees things wrap up in style with a concert featuring student poets and musicians including the divinely named Wonder Bra. Fittingly, DUGES are in charge of this one, and things are kicking off at 7.30 in the Parlour, at Goldsmith Hall. For more information on these events, check out the website of the TCD Equality Office.

Elsewhere, societies are taking it a little easier this week.

If you’re in the mood for gaming, then both Lit Soc and Q Soc are holding Game Nights on Thursday, the former from 7pm and the latter from 7.30pm, so you can bounce up and down between the Q Soc Room and the Attic to get your fill of games for at least a week. On Tuesday PsychSoc are holding a nostalgic 90s table quiz in McTurcaill’s at 8pm, so be prepared to draw out all those old Sister, Sister references you used to know. It’s business as usual at the Phil, who welcome Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental at 7pm on Tuesday. Meanwhile, DU Dance show no signs of slowing down after Intervarsities, as they travel to Galway for their annual Swing Trip on March 8th, with the 30 euro tickets on sale now. On an artsy note, DUPA are encouraging submissions for the cover of the Trinity Literary Review until March 10th, so get snapping.

Fancy a spot of travelling-theatre chic? Then head to DU Players, who are staging an unusual version of Stravinsky’s libretto The Soldier’s Tale from Thursday to Saturday at 7pm.

Finally, the glittery celebration that is the CSC Awards is hitting town on Wednesday. It’s like the Oscars, but maybe just slightly more low-key. If you were lucky enough to snap up a ticket, look forward to watching the battles for Best Large, Medium, and Small Society, as well as the niche awards, for real society buffs - Best Fresher, Poster, and Publication are some of the awards that are also up for grabs. If there’s anything better than being in a society, it’s winning an award for it - so get down to these society events and it could be you next year.

A week in the life of Trinity’s Twitterati Ciara Ní Éanacháin

Jack Cantillon

Eanna Drury

@MiseCiara

@jackcantillon

@ EannaDrury

Girls in health centre waiting room: “loike, I’m not focking gewing to Luke’s if the rest uv the girls ornt!”

Well done to Trinity FM for getting the Trinity Ball lineup announcement.

The hardest working society in Trinity. Well deserved.

Paddy Prendergast standing on a cardboard box and playing polyphonic Nokia 3210 ringtones into a microphone. #trinityballlineuppredictions

Sean Byrne

Th is newspaper is produced with the fi nancial support of Trinity College Students’ Union. It is editorially independent and claims no special rights or privileges.

Credits EDITOR Owen Bennett DEPUTY EDITOR Leanna Byrne NEWS EDITOR Jack Leahy FEATURES EDITOR Colm O’Donnell OPINION EDITOR Matthew Taylor SPORTS EDITOR Conor Bates DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR Fionn O’Dea DEPUTY FEATURES EDITOR Molly Rowan-Hamilton DEPUTY OPINION EDITOR Conor Murphy PHOTO EDITOR Cat O’Shea Magazine Editor Tommy Gavin Magazine Deputy Editor Michelle O’Connor CREATIVE DIRECTOR Caelan Rush WEB EDITOR Josh Roberts

Rónán Burtenshaw @RonanBurtenshaw

@seanb12345

@PresWatch1

A lot of thesis work to do , two assignments, a reflective journal and study to be done.

Reading week is not going to be fun. #ijustwanttowatchtelly

Will students and their representatives stand in solidarity with their lecturers, librarians and security staff? Or attack them? @tcdsu @TheUSI

A pensive prez becomes nostalgic, as spring sets in, his tenure is nearing an end. He will never be this important again #downhillfromhere

Nominations sought for USI officerboard positions Jack Leahy News Editor FOLLOWING THE announcement of candidates for sabbatical positions on the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) officer board for 2013/14, TCDSU Council will next week decide on which candidates will receive the votes of Trinity’s seventeen-strong delegation at USI congress at the end of the month.

Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology Students’ Union (GMITSU) president Joseph O’Connor is the only candidate to succeed John Logue as USI President, while the position of deputy president with responsibility for campaigns will be contested by

UCDSU Campaigns & Communications Officer Paddy Guiney, NUIGSU President Paul Curley, and NUIMSU Welfare & Equality Officer Fiach O’Neill.

Incumbent USI VicePresident for Welfare Denise McCarthy is seeking re-election without opposition, as is fellow incumbent Vice-President for Equality & Citizenship Laura Harmon. Also seeking reelection to her position is Vice-President for Academic Affairs & Quality Assurance Cat O’Driscoll, though she faces competition from DITSU President David Keogan.

Uncontested candidates have often fallen victim to the obligatory alternative to re-open nominations

(RON). Most recently, former TCDSU Education Officer Jen Fox received an overall majority ‘RON’ vote when seeking election to the position of USI Education Officer (now VP Academic Affairs & Quality Assurance) in 2011. UCDSU Council last week returned a RON majority as their nomination for President.

Eoin Ó Murchú (UCD) and Feidhlim Seoighe (NUIG) will compete for the unpaid, part-time role of Irish Language Officer. Elections will also take

UCD opts out in bitter sweet week for USI Carl Kinsella News Staff A CONSEQUENTIAL week in the world of student politics has significantly altered the shape and composition of the Union of Students in Ireland.

Referendums were held in three separate Irish universities this week to decide the respective allegiances of UCD, DCU and NUI Maynooth. Both UCD and NUI Maynooth began the week affi liated to the national representative body of students in Ireland, though DCU had disaffi liated ten years previous.

Despite the support of three of the five UCDSU sabbatical officers for ‘continued affi liation’ of their union to the USI, the verdict from Belfield was damning. 1039 students voted in favour of retaining the status quo, but this was massively overwhelmed by the 1687 students who voted in favour of UCDSU operating as an autonomous students’ union outside the jurisdiction of USI. It is hard to immediately measure the impact this will have on the USI, as the USI constitution stipulates it will be a year before affi liation is officially terminated. However, with the loss of UCD comes the loss of country’s biggest student union and roughly €118,000 per annum through affi liation fees. In addition to this, the USI loses the sway carried by one

of Ireland’s most prestigious universities. UCD is home to nearly 25,000 students, all of which will now have the freedom to shape a political agenda separate to that of all colleges affi liated with USI. USI President John Logue’s response was conciliatory in nature, citing UCD’s ‘fi nancial difficulties’ and ‘unique circumstances’ as the integral reasons behind their decision to disaffi liate. Logue remains hopeful that UCD would reverse this decision before long, asserting that ‘USI has an opportunity to prove the value and worth of the organisation and win back the wholehearted support of UCD’s students’. His statements run diametrically opposed to those of Breslin who believed that it was in her universities best interests to remain affi liated with USI, fi nancial difficulties aside, and that the friction between USI and UCDSU is a result of the belief in UCD that USI is an organization ‘in need of urgent reform’.

Re-affi liation was the issue in DCU this week, with the DCUSU motion to reaffi liate passing by a much more narrow margin than that seen in UCD. Th is news softens the blow considerably for USI, adding another Dublin university to their ranks to offset the loss of UCD as well as supplementing their (now lower) income-through-registration by roughly €40,000

place for area representatives, however the role of Eastern Area Officer was abolished last year so Trinity delegates will not vote for an area representative at USI congress.

The elections will take place during the annual USI Congress, which is being held this year in the

The sole candidate for the position of USI President, Joe O’Connor of GMIT, failed to secure the backing of UCD students last week.

Email societies@universitytimes.ie and tell me what your society is getting up to!

The University Times

PresWatch

euro. Alongside the University of Limerick, DCU was one of the larger non-affi liated colleges in Ireland, and its recapture is a large boon for the Presidency of John Logue, particularly if UCD are to re-affi liate sooner rather than later. His press release following the DCU referendum was buoyant in nature, claiming USI ‘can only go from strength to strength’ as well as expressing his certain belief in future collaboration with UCD. Only one of the three colleges ended the week with the same status, with NUI Maynooth voting to remain affi liated with USI in emphatic fashion. 87% of the voters in Maynooth voted to maintain their affi liation with USI. Turnout was higher in Maynooth than in DCU with over 1600 students voting in favour of affi liation compared to a paltry 253 in opposition.

USI has now withstood four separate votes on affi liation in major universities across the country with only one loss, which will inspire confidence in John Logue. However the loss of UCD’s clout and money will be a fresh challenge for the 2013 USI congress to negotiate.

Carlton Shearwater Hotel in Ballinsloe between the 25th and 28th of March.

Votes are cast on behalf of member Unions’ student

bodies via nominated delegates from each member Union. Each member Union is granted a minimum of two delegates and one further delegate for every 1,000 members (or part thereof).

Hustings events have taken place at SU council meetings across the country for the last few weeks and Trinity’s delegation at Congress will be mandated to vote for candidates as determined by a vote at a meeting of SU Council next Tuesday, March 12th.

An individual seeking candidacy must receive the support of at least two member unions of USI. Each Union is permitted to nominate as many candidates for each position as they wish.

GMITSU, for example, has

supported the nomination of all three candidates for Deputy President (campaigns officer), while TCDSU has nominated both Keogan and O’Driscoll for VP Academic Affairs & Quality Assurance.

O’Connor, McCarthy, Harmon, Curley, Guiney, Ó Murchú, and Seoighe have also had their nominations supported by TCDSU. UCDSU, whose members last week voted to disaffi liate from the USI, will attend the four-day congress event as the USI constitution requires that local unions whose members elect to disaffi liate remain a member of the organisation for twelve months.

Record college participation as International Women’s week celebrations begin Jack Leahy News Editor INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S Week, which takes place from Monday 4th March to Friday 8th March, will be celebrated on campus by a breadth of events organised by the College Equality Office and student societies. The event celebrates women’s contributions in different artistic and scientific fields and marks College’s participation in a global campaign for rights and equality.

A total of twenty-six events have been organised for College’s fourth consecutive celebration of International Women’s Week.

Senator Katherine Zappone launched the schedule at 1pm on Monday. The launch theme was ‘Women Around the World’, and entertainment included a performance by the Boydell Singers.

Among the week’s highlights are DU Gender Equality Society’s panel discussion on the representation of women in media and popular culture, The University Philosophical Society’s ‘Breaking the Glass Ceiling’ panel discussion on barriers to entry for women in professional careers, and a talk hosted by the Theological Society addressing ‘Christian Exclusiveness’.

The Phil’s weekly Thursday debate will ask whether or not ‘the pro-life movement is incompatible with feminism’, while the women’s hockey club have organised a game to be held on campus to mark the week.

Professor Catherine Lawless, Head of the Centre

for Gender and Womens’ Studies in TCD will host a seminar organised by the Graduate Students’ Union showcasing current research by Trinity Postgraduates in areas related to gender, femininity, the history of women and women in society, literature and art.

An event at 3pm in the Hist conversation room will mark both International Women’s Week and the launch of Trinity’s newest student organisation, the Global Development Society. Guest speakers Farah Mokhtarezadeh and Tara Madden will deliver addresses focusing on women’s perspectives and involvement in global development movements.

Farah Mokhtareizadeh is a PhD candidate in Islamic and gender studies. She will draw on her decade long experience working on international solidarity campaigns in South Asia (Afghanistan), MENA (Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Palestine,

Lebanon, Syria, Morocco), North America and Europe (Ireland). Farah holds a M.Phil from Trinity in International Peace Studies, and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in Modern Middle East Studies.

Tara Madden is the Front Line Defenders Programme Manager. Front Line Defenders is the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. Front Line Defenders was founded in Dublin in 2001, with the specific aim of protecting human rights defenders at risk, people who work, non-violently, for any or all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Front Line has extensive connections to Human Rights workers throughout the Middle East, and will provide Trinity Global Development with some cases of women human rights defenders working in the region.

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The University Times | March 5, 2013

UTNEWS

New College commercial strategy seeks to capitalise on Book of Kells and Trinity ‘brand’ » Plans to increase tourist accommodation during summer months. » Red tape cited as factor behind College’s poor commercial performance.

Hannah Ryan Senior Staff Writer R ECOM M E N DAT IONS WERE put forward for reforming Trinity’s commercial strategy at a meeting of the University Board last December, and included recommendations for the potential development of the sports grounds in Santry and expanded commercial use of of the Book of Kells.

The suggestions followed a report, presented by Gerard Lacey, College Bursar and Chair of the working group on commercialisation in College, which outlined opportunities for future revenue generation in Trinity and discoveries made by the group. The group found that there is currently no central point of contact for the various sources of commercial revenue, and in many cases these are not being utilised to their full potential. These sources include the Library, the Book of Kells, sport, concession contracts, catering and accommodation.

Commenting on the plans, Lacey said that ‘Our

objective is to increase the revenue from ancillary services that college uses to fund educational activities such as lecturing posts and scholarships. It is very early days in this effort but personally I am hoping that we will also create more part time job opportunities for students.’

A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Th reats) analysis undertaken by the working group identified the TCD brand, the associated prestige and exclusivity as the college’s primary strengths from which it can benefit commercially. Its weaknesses were cited as the lack of clarity over who is responsible for the various commercial elements in college, and delays in the decision-making processes.

Weak points in the current commercial strategy included the Library shop which, while averaging half a million visitors per year, sees only 31% actually make a purchase, as the shop is ‘too small to properly capitalise on the opportunity.’

Furthermore, during the

summer months, the large amount of accommodation offered by the college reaches an occupancy rate of only 64%, less than many of the largest hotels in Dublin city centre.

It was decided at the meeting that a Commercial Director would be appointed, whose responsibilities would include bringing focus to these various commercial elements in the College, and exploring further profit-making opportunities. It is intended that the position will be fi lled over the next few months.

Other areas of prospective development were also discussed, such as the establishment of a Welcome Centre for visitors and potential students, and it was agreed that the college should explore the demand for meeting space which will be required during Ireland’s presidency of the EU next year. While Lacey said that the opportunities associated with the sports grounds in Santry are limited, they will be investigated further.

Crucially, he stressed that all commercial promotion

The new commercialisation strategy seeks to capitalise on the Book of Kells as a major tourist attraction. should include a web-based element with the focus on promotion through social media, and all plans will aim at improving the services for students.

The current use of the

Douglas Hyde Gallery and Lincoln’s Inn on Nassau St will be reviewed, as will the internal catering services and opportunities for Regent House. It is also intended to create corporate

highlighted the importance of maintaining high levels of service to ‘avoid brand damage’, especially where visiting potential students and parents are concerned.

They also agreed that the

opportunities for alumni to host and entertain guests on campus, including VIP tours of the college grounds.

Facing the very low number of repeat visitors to the college, Board members

positioning of the college brand should be prioritised especially in light of the recent launch of the Book of Kells iPad app.

Jenna Marbles receives Bram Stoker award Fioon O Dea Deputy News Editor YouTube sensation Jenna Marbles followed in the footstep of Alex Ferguson, Winston Churchill and Nancy Pelosi, addressing members of the University Philosophical Society in a packed GMB last Thursday evening. Marbles was in college to accept the Bram Stoker medal for her contribution to entertainment, having received the James Joyce award from UCD’s L&H Society earlier in the week. A queue had formed outside the GMB by 4 o’clock, three hours before the 26 year old New Yorker was due to speak.

After a standing ovation from an excitable audience, Marbles received her medal from Phil President Lorcan Clarke and engaged in a Questions and Answers session with members of the society. Questions ranged from those concerning her background in psychology to the absurd request that she milk a female fan in the audience. Due to the Phil’s adherence to a membersonly admittance policy, we can assume that these kinds of people do indeed walk among us.

Marbles boasts over 7

Photo: Andrew Murphy

FT economist Martin Wolfe addresses Phil Gareth Gregan News Staff

TRINITY’S “FINA NCIAL BREAKING POIN T” Barra Roantree interv iews the Vice-Provost on p3

conclusion when he said ‘the underlying paradigms of modern macroeconomics and central banking failed.

We cannot pretend otherwise’ The focus can move from this being a negative as ‘it opens up intellectual possibilities that are both exciting and frightening’.

Wolf surmised his speech perfectly with his fi nal sentence: ‘We did not know what we thought we knew.

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This the ch by tly d if RO of it.” to He not c*n n -in ten in necessarily an N becom g ical, promp g a two llet, sai get into a stupid UCD be- wr itte ny to name”. in the aga n. He cla im d sid r” dicatio for personal reason whether tel wit hn of playin inyou intenPre ent buyine TC poorer DSU wa breakfast” and and al matte ma r. Dis ent teaching, just s or to im- would ma tigatio nig ht rke p of us that le but Dear Editor, s, onn -elect O’C for and Ch Alpe prove their ability pints a person nt too any involvem t on the nishab dy had rent to a grou up, “I’mDuring the paint seem toisopen Les Deux ng or had to carry out per we door “this is he had “alrea so. the gro e nied become appa Trinity Ski Trip to assaul p tey i ris ce to ika pu the mind spa of in com lower bei did has their job. m s” ast it ten the this s e , standa new ed one ng dal t thi sw sen expan- In recent hour of s rds. a eiv erc -off van merding The ial Any light. With ay the ran k out imfrom and tha com ment on has A video , a Comm fore thi the editor rec Wi l- spend student, and sion in the Ent The process involve an article rega p of us in a negative a cus thistod them sider okthat is in anyw area would seem inn y faced s nt, ref use d in at- to by said he on publishing a grou ld anything , sm in . nitaining researc underm telyeak - to Pau l Qu in UCD, sur fol- to pri m Conor ad- Trinit the hotel. passtt Ela race to reference suit again llia ms clear, shou trip, diasqu ine College Fra nce h grants is as in ail fro s was un €50 ail yea r ’sTriasserin t Mr Wi ing in which you to make our position ing the nce ine Mc to take a libel he em day d em a if rd den ow ism evide tions that tfollows. An applica g force an the ed thi stu foll the be Da e, ele one like d ingid ask A esteemwa cte ts@ assaulacmely stron tion is made Colleg we would reg rets that “every Tube in ng a Visibly s from be we will indee When risk ofd Ents Offi e, to t eds seniorup. studen have extre ademicsstu for a grant to a s. Forvot tion by I am, I no den published cer byusi as a on You the Ski Trip. appointhe gro not est that you ing ly liam trinity ucd ail, picspecified body; es. any name ty are untrue be invest iga 141 “if of ted at least e ss remark elves.” in part em thed on these could be , thus we sugg s or indeed naming false precedence. We d fourunderg low ing al der Wi llia ms said bygive . This private compa€20 not The and clo ar, Mr dre d thems entere the publishers ed to gly Mon er under such claim r ail.com riated t it.” enjoye e paatens leg ma les raduate we

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Tom Lowe Editor

the Vice-Provost Patrick Prendergast wrote that THE UNIVErSITy the College Times has “would learnt that the propose to credit 27 senior acathe individuals with demics contro the time spent versial ly proon the higher grade”. moted during the public sector promotions When asked if embargo will this was in contravention receive back-p of the Employay at their new ment Control higher pay grade. framework a Higher Educat The Employment ion Author ity A member of the Capoeira Society Control spokes framework issued impresses onlooke rs during Fresher by the gov- “primaperson said that their s’ Week. Photo: ernment in 2008 ry concer n was Dargan Crowley-Long to reduce staff The Promoted: The that institutions meet numbers in the twenty-seven acade reduct ion in public service staff numbers prohibits recruit mics to receive the Personal Chair of around 6%” ment and propay bump agreed with the motions except Professor S O’Mara Depart ments in special ap(Psychology) Professor C O’Sulliv of Educat ion and proved circumstance Dr S Frolov (Mathem an (Computer Science finance. atics) s.

Professor J Parnell and Statistics) Dr P Gallagher (Physics That the senior The College claims (Natural Science academ the pro- will s) Dr P Geoghegan(His ) motions proces receive back-paymen ics tories and Humani s for the releAssociate Profess ts for Dr C Gobl (Linguis ties) the time spent at vant staff comme or tic, the higher pay Dr D Coghlan (Busine nced before Dr A Harkin (Pharma Speech and Communication Science grade is sure to ss Studies) the embargo came cy and Pharmaceutical s) Dr S provok Connon Dr E into Heffernan (Law) e the ire (Chemis Sciences) force of the and so are not Depart ment of Dr T Connor (Medici try) Dr J Lalor (Nursin subject to the Educane) g and tion, who were government morato Dr A Corvin (Medici Dr L Leeson (Linguis Midwifery) reported to be rium. ne) tic, Speech and investigating potent Dr S Duffy (Histori The Irish Times Communication Dr A McLysaght es and ial reported in es Sciences) (Genetics and Microbi breachHumanities) Dr I Rozas (Chemis July of this year of the embargo.

Dr B O’Kelly (Engine ology) try) that the promo ering) Dr J Wickha Dr tions would be M The college did Ó Siochrú (Histori m (Social Science in name only. not respond s and Philosophy) es and Humanities) Dr F O’Toole (Social to a request for However, in a Sciences and Philosop comment. memo obtained Senior Lecturer Dr J Stout (Natura hy)

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tt and cDermo Gavin M zcano meet s Ana Le busker Dublin’s FILTHY HIPSTERS SOCIAL NETWORK REVIEW TWO DOOR CINE MA CLUB INTERVIEW

Th on nd ou rs r ade t le den Stu

cyclical nature of borrowing when speaking about the ‘Minsky moment’ - the point at which prices stop rising and start falling causing Ponzi borrowers to sell before highlighting the fact that it is only with an economic crash that the Minsky cycle becomes complete.

Wolf approached the end of his speech by speaking about the lessons which could be learned from this crisis. Most blatantly, he said, it is that the economic system is ‘inherently fragile’ and that ‘fi nancial fragility is a consequence of living in an uncertain world’.

On the subject of economic policy Wolf aired caution but voiced support Irish Student New spaper of thehighfor proposals for much Year SDAY, 19 OCTOBE R 2010 er capitalTUErequirements for all fi nancial institutions. He dismissed the idea that equity is scarce, describing it as ‘nonsense’.

Wolf unreservedly addressed the failure of modern thinking in his

audience, admitting that she has to remain conscious of not sending bad messages, though for the most part she does what she does to make her happy. “I try not to pay attention to [negative feedback] and just enjoy what I do.”

Resisting an audience suggestion that she spend the evening in Coppers (a prior arrangement with the Palace ensured that it would be the Camden Street venue over-run with ambitious schoolgirls with fake IDs), she displayed a fondness for ‘I-er-land’, claiming to ‘love it here’. Sensing the answer expected of her when asked about her visit to UCD she expressed the opinion to the partisan crowd that ‘it sucks’. As if we didn’t know.

She also confi rmed to a questioning member of the audience, after explanation

by Clarke, that she was indeed after ‘the shift’ in the Palace that evening.

After months of speculation, Marbles confi rmed that she would indeed rather fight 100 duck-sized horses than 1 horse-sized duck, and that Lindsay Lohan is the person she would most like to punch in the face.

llo the s oste s a w e ek n C lect w m na AY Ro or-E SD two ca g it U R of ction rnin Ed TH n le Retu an s e ST atio U e a L A lmin se S hen Cook it w tt cu ten . W y lts r tle N g a u le in of ignin Ash e res an B RO U e pa cer d th t Ry k th CDS is a Offi unce d th bac e T Chr m no eale aten ecom and fro in rev d be to b ct me r g co ide ha re nt-ele ad outs eak in e sca side or h nk squ to b 1 ra to 14 id Pre nn e y a o e b O’C ing th rac McD cer an tel, gh be Ents ine Offi Ho re, lla Cu the st Ela Ents re ua t e Mc Cla Sq coun pa cted ,s ett t n 66 o nk ele s. Mon errio r the ecula m 20 te Plu to of w M e fo sp fro llvo The er c tes rs ag off venu 8pm ow n ba t vo yea proje an e d t jus s the om k ing as th d firs d ten the ward nM daig fun can leane iwa d fr s lea om ing y for es u al mp an n wa nt ro or ted re g s Ed kfin nstr in Ca wa fac s e e it h ic as the co un ou tio the ts w u w c w r g d im re q n d t tes are an e be tude be the we ions it y T and w itte ten cer v s s bra cle le lots pres ers we, U T T romp nt Offi r tic uld 69 rdle ha ve ce iv Lo ha hu uld init y y wo of € g im Un pa u ht) the s p ou r c g a ig ing n wo T if the lev y bein nby Tomted to we w the anin res be r (r tio nest. ked ay a al €2 twe y no ut be tor, ee t. Lo eave im le ay, fu of pr r on tw . B uld e ea re as to p it ion r for nciall ly oun d to g h oor w raps is c O’C ms co ntr we ling add yea fina dy re 9 ris tea ults t ce ostiacc aske av in e d y sc e h y 9 s Ch n . n le v w il h an ver y e t bo y 23 ly m, gh th g an t cam earl b aig SU re stude Pro nted e Th en l b u e n w it ded rs. mp roo thro ty pin tha som s Se e nd cou bee tud osa ca the a a d n a , s th e e a s w y in usly tion was rop d ht ma e y fore ied, um to b e ha no of a ty ppe is p n nig n d rs ll tr d rio m o re a r e ig o e ta fe ren ha cen yea nk rstr ted th info y. Th in th mpa hn C ’Kee ill c refe otes ent ten l pla ega a g je r v H d a wa ma ’s c n Jo ny O sp l al e stu d fo entr hn assin ld e e dra cocq d th Dan nate e hote , a Th mis a c ost Jo e p wou it c Le r an ner for tu of th chin n pro eing Prov to. Th um I e om b ag paig n un irs of his in a wh bag”. it rrent nifes rend ff m e fa ly, ca k a e sta ent d o s cu ma refe eil ch wa too w n th etrim car te n R d dou n this th ty’s this a r peDa b do the d to be ote g o ted ho ut of “n ntin sta n a Pito v ing nce. the ious y b c r e me anha rly a rr ha bula 0pm an x wea siasti Th cocq Pir “clea o su Le hile am By 1 w it h eir nthu te”, e is le wh shole th ida that ”. W ant ed nd d ck and ly ho h as or ca ted weir not w ing a pa g w it hole sta g did av ke afuls din ir jo n “ e e ha ck in t it for h e P a ss un ran “fu tha ocq n, Th ed th w g s wa imin LeC dit io nam r v ie s, cla ock l con less inte Time r t m e an y a Se to dica neth llo re it at p st we re oste r me a no n. In ivers t th mo at S a e n nC ER an n nh dit io e U tha s th d th ot na dito n A D by ctio rRo ws E co h Th said wa , an is n L E ek le Ne T we a E f fo w it Cocq r ticle him it ion ion. ay EN st nh ct o ndis a Le the e to cond cus to s rU D d la ira bje ca ST trage the P e su tial . of ensiv ical lic dis nt on gene t eou le in on th siden cocq n Sp , off med pub we “has rran le a tic ecial Pre en Le ctio Eng bhis n to ticle cq ly w for h le r o e Sp r SU asti ha E hn 4 Fe s op The a t Lec lete ism ers b p ac a p me te Se iran by Jo n 1 rofi le e o il t th com str ive o da The P ited ed d p Wh tha d a tal o bras l d d sh ature tes. ed to g tate socie ly a enera q’s l, e bli a cia s pu nd fe ndid jud of sa q ed redib d g ecoc ha c n wa r y a U ca s wereunds eco it inc ty a .” L for Th a ru all S fi le e bo Seb L read ve ali gger y e in m. m on st pro in th on ho ha of ba o ca rit icis d th le mo w it h ar tic ny w d it to nds sals r c state m e te be ma me ou r a n b e th te ac ely n , e d ire cke ny d the arac catio d fals paig d o m sh d ma yon to ch publi t an ca be d in e is firs an a Th n ne as go re a tion. lled h cq sati sina spe e. eco sas o mis nam g L als ond if y in sec Class

volatile nature of debt when he spoke of the risk of contagion and the danger of panic but claimed that our current system of debt-fi nancing worked well ‘except when it ceased to do so’.

He spoke next about the safety which is to be found in the second element of the system, money. However, according to Wolf, institutions whose liabilities are money [banks] are not safe, describing them as ‘risk-taking, fi nancial intermediaries’. Banks, he claimed, are The Drugs Survey ‘orchestrators ofHalboth f of us takeprosdrugs.

We talk to users and perity and panic’. abusers on p5 Wolf opened discussion on the third element of the system, the credit cycle, by once-more referencing Minsky. Minsky once wrote that a fundamental character27 pr omoted istic of our economy ‘is that academ ics to the fi nancial system swings ge t ba ck y between robustness andpa fraCollege circumv ents HEA moratorium gility and these swings are on promotions as friction intensifi es between the two bodies an integral part ofoverthe prostaff redu ctions cess that generates business cycles’. He identified the

Ate yb ook Ma eb p r “ Fac w u ” o the follo you’d t a ing t a nd ” on “As ugh wh d r o tte “A ding y ing I th hea t an n a ten nt s vent, d to siden Cona ht e ev this e reste Pre cer, t nig if to inte puty Offi y las hy, m w be I De igns to sa im: refor ll llo Ire ti t oste r US mpa , had d h ive in es d e ts siden d nC Ca roin ask ass e, w thir e en na dito ie r m m Ro ws E tud Pre den on O’B en I as sche es fo ich h e iT F S ty h w ’v h Ne t fe ati as O ola e w h re ran ve to w we at pu N nis ov Nik m IO De roin orga the g rm the the g ’t ha on? ivate nt th snt ittee t B UN d ide ex of uldn ucati in pr nme nt sy Ó t the es if refo rores commale n B “ lan án d a fe ho to er ra t s k n th s nP e l e e d ov r g to Có ing ccep reed m. Ó ma n nio iety on lev pond the g rope es”.” ed y e ’ U S oc oe s say uld a t ag yste den whe of res to t a p ke fe ask in th al nts er ich g wo men nt s d to ent tor de nc lsaid e ge ’ll ta was ate tion aStu h Ca r, wh b a N ern g ra force tem crea o Co nt “ y” if w , we an e de nt n ta w it nda is the was is s an, o T eve ole tem Sulliv t th ifica of h Da ca th lliv al G ook e N in k a f sign ge llege u n b ra ea ing x S ation ace d th orga at s p k e o c ov e o C o F ise th a h Ma “N ” T w ay satir arc ed ent dia Go the e D m im sid in me nal 2 h leg hic 3rd - cla U Pre ion fge tio ge. s pa - w ber USI CDS mis on a ton pa ed vem d by er T e ad rsati hos n nu nti ise form de th onve fees iety o nt Co ha c on oc se s the ma ns S te e n a d urt s Ed ha priva ebate Law lliva ed rk n B New d D’s Su ea ná a ma C t. s b at Ró puty on ter by U y las all ati n th to De EY ed esda ge to spir eptio aid RV iv a p om Tu ess ff a SU A e Un e sta perc eed f w mic am o e c f ale f a le h d u Th o d fem se o litt ution aca oint pro den cau re is ntrib th an ve p stu lle int the co bo trati po m Co 3 g the from inis fro dm ik in ck a ’s en d ad llo str dba nd olsu it y n e a r C oste r Trin Cam t a iew. othe e fe ics at monC na dito by aren s tha - v A n in th adem as th com eek Ro ws E w ac o s fe de ac RT r, K ow gen lNe ma ale ators t all wh rk/li n PO ce , sh nt o R E offi ack ca e c ve fem istr not a ose r wo eptio d th pe erc r a A ality orm ignifi th trati min is C u s in e ro ro p to e ff e eq s Mc a inis d P d leg ting e a p h a ot o ies nc it po re is bala adm r an bine al da strik , w it did n facil r the r im top ende com nnu r t to lance llege are “retu A o t, c er de e’s e G por ent Rep re ba t C o d a y rop leg s. Th s Re st rec ing the ss tha uate a p re. a r t is job tion mo nito tha gla eq v ide uctu re e e le tr mo h th Mo how fiable adem rpro rk” s ll th fema ac hie ra g o w it ality 0, s nti e e sa ’s 1 w u e Ov mon e ha Eq 9-20 rly id init y ativ a eg bia 0 r lity n 20 clea in T inistr o oll er ua s Eq state - ti e C end reer is a ing adm th d g ca al or t r-rep , ceil and h s an w a nu e dw ic hy.

A n Rep und it ion ck ho s an it h arc The ring are r pos t la lres e, w o o n o en io nit om sen que e C retak to h th Mo t “w d in onse e en forc er tha ente e c n in .” Th umb is b e s, res h th gnit io unit y a n p th s son t d w it reco mm hts ack u Hea rou g of e co hli to b e 24 are fe ig leg r t h tics of th five t s for po stati irst, only nt 56 ou of im. F ols, acc it h recla Scho s w As e nly . en o ellow ws. on th o of le ma Wom all F Fello tion ies of 273 enta bod ke 21% t of pres k ing ma m ou s re ma men oard m n rd ga cisio , wo ge B me de llege Colle of 29 7 m Co of out 2 of 3 u % 28 rs (8 or 1 ge Co be d 32% olle ears y r an the C the p on Over all im o s m b er en n be num cisio the de Co ing ns in tio r and de ws o sh int po s g re at m

MARTIN WOLF’S life work in the field of Economics was honoured last week as he became the latest patron of the University Philosophical Society. Mr Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator of the Financial Times, kicked off a busy week for the Phil which also included the visit of both Imelda May and Youtube sensation Jenna Marbles.

The Economics guru delivered a thought-provoking speech titled ‘The State of Economics: Or Why Crises Happen’. His half hour oration revolved around modern macroeconomic theories’ failure to allow for crises. Crises, he claimed, are not ‘black swans’ - rare and unpredictable events but ‘white swans’ - normal events which follow similar patterns.

Wolf divided his speech was into three segments:

His intellectual history, Why Crises are Endemic, and Lessons of the Crisis.

Stage one saw Mr. Wolf speak about how he, like the majority of the world’s senior economists, had failed to foresee the current economic crash and of how he was guilty of ‘working with a mental model of the economy that did not include a depression as one of its states’.

He advocated the late American economist Hyman Minsky’s longstanding view that crises should not be viewed as indicative of a failed system rather ‘events which emerge from within a system which is methodologically sound’.

Wolf proceeded to question why it is that these crises are endemic under three facets of fi nance: debt, money and credit. He drew attention to the importance of peace of mind when dealing with debt, something he described as a ‘wonderful invention’. Wolf alluded to the

million followers on YouTube and will soon surpass 1 billion total views. Her best known video ‘How to Trick People into Th inking You’re Good Looking’ alone has been viewed by just under 50 million people. A video uploaded after her visit to UCD outlining her experiences of Ireland to that point had been viewed almost 1.5 million times at the time of going to print.

In it she references the two awards given to her during her stay: ‘Both of these things, I don’t know what I did to deserve them but thank you, Ireland! Normally I don’t usually do this but I made an exception because this is really exciting and really cool.’

Marbles revealed that a typical working day for her consists of far more ‘grownup responsibilities’ than her videos may suggest and insisted that the persona she adopts in her weekly videos is ‘for the most part, who [she is].’ She cited issues such as rape and racism as off-limits in her comedy as they are ‘blatantly offensive although sometimes funny.’

Marbles, born Jenna Mourey, acknowledged the pressure on her to be a rolemodel to her mostly female

Tuesday, March 5,2013 | The University Times

4

UTNEWS

Emotional scenes as incoming SU sabbatical team elected

Éanna Drury News Staff

AMID SCENES of high drama and emotion at the vote count at the O’Callaghan Mont Clare Hotel on the 14th of Febuary, Tom Lenihan, Jack Leahy, Stephen Garry, Leanna Byrne and Sean Reynolds were elected as next year’s Trinity College Students’ Union (TCDSU) Sabbatical Officers.

With voter turnout reaching 4,000, students also went to the polls for a ‘preferendum’ in which five options were put before the electorate regarding a preferred TCDSU policy on abortion.

Option B, ‘abortion on request of the woman’, garnered 1911 votes, and will now most likely become the Union’s official standpoint on this issue.

Similarly, a referendum which proposed that ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ be added to a list of grounds upon which the Union will not be permitted to discriminate was resoundingly passed.

The referendum’s winning campaign manager, Eoin Silke, welcomed the result, saying that ‘the overwhelming success of

this referendum shows that Trinity students stand with their transgender colleagues against discrimination. I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak with people about transgender issues and get a warm response. The next step is to develop a college-wide Trans policy, and I’m working with the Equality Officer to achieve this.’

Communications proved to be the most contested race in this year’s elections, with Ricky McCormack, Tommy Gavin, Matthew Taylor and Leanna Byrne putting themselves forward for the chance to edit The University Times (UT). Transfers proved to be deciding factor in a tight race, as finalyear BESS student Byrne edged out McCormack by a mere 115 votes after Gavin and Taylor were eliminated on the first and second count respectively.

Byrne admitted that she was ‘still shocked and delighted’ at her victory, and thanked her campaign managers, Johanna Clancy and Rebecca Kummert, for being ‘beyond fantastic’ in helping her drive for election, as well as those who canvassed for her and ‘never

Counting votes for the Gender Identity and Expression referendum. Photo: Owen Bennett gave up’ even ‘when heads were down’.

Commenting more specifically on her plans for the coming year, Byrne stated that ‘the UT App is currently being developed and we are introducing system-wide

changes within The University Times to ensure that we get the most out of our resources. Secondly, we have been reviewing the current structures of UT, which will take a lot of work before we ask people to be

interviewed. Aside from the daily operations of UT, I want to make sure that all of my campaign policies are implemented early in the next academic year so students will be able to incorporate them into their daily

lives.’

Stephen Garry, a Senior Sophister Psychology and Economics student, was elected unopposed to the position of Welfare Officer after easily reaching the quota with 3335 votes.

Speaking to this reporter, Garry said he was ‘blown away’ by the positive response he received while on the campaign trail. ‘I have to say a huge thank you to my campaign managers Dónal Browne, Kate Purcell and Margaret Dee, as well as my incredible campaign team. It may have been an unopposed race, but we were determined to show commitment and set a good precedent for the year ahead, and I believe we succeeded in that.’

Meanwhile, third year English and History student Jack Leahy saw off John Curtin and Eric Tebay to claim the position of Education Officer, his eventual tally of 1979 votes trumping Curtin’s 1355 after Tebay’s transfers were distributed after the first count. Speaking after the result, Leahy said ‘there’s nothing quite like being told that the people are convinced you can do a good job of something important’.

BESS Student Seán Reynolds emerged as next year’s Ents officer with his 2562 votes seeing off Cian Mulville’s 608 after the pre-voting withdrawal of joke candidates Cameron McCauley

and Conor ‘Shmeesh’ Gleeson. The FishSoc stalwart stated that he was ‘excited and honoured to be part of this sabbatical team’ which, he said, are ‘very much looking forward to putting the ideas we campaigned on into action next year.’

The presidential election was won by Tom Lenihan.

After his victory against Rosa Langhammar and Lylas Aljohmani was confirmed by the returning officers, the emotional Junior Sophister Law and Business student said he was ‘very proud of the team [he] had behind [him]’. ‘I owe them everything and it’s my honour to have such good friends. I want to thank Jack Danaher and Jack Cantillon for picking me up when I was down and believing in me when I never could. I’m excited to serve next year and it’s my privilege to be able to collaborate with a very talented team. It’s a fantastic opportunity for anyone and I promise to give it my all.’

SU pays out €4700 in EC expenses for 2012/2013 Sinéad Baker News Staff

Photo: Sinead Baker

THIS YEAR €4,781 has been paid to electoral staff working during election times: namely the two referendums, the preferendum, the class rep elections and Sabbatical elections that have taken place since September.

This money has been paid to the Electoral Commission (EC): an elected group of students who, according to the constitution of the students’ union, are elected to ‘run, monitor and return the results of all Union elections and referenda.’

Their responsibilities also

include organising meetings of the students’ union council, interpreting the constitution of the students’ union and to ‘investigate potential breaches of election regulation.’ EC members meet every day at 6pm for up to three hours during the campaign period as well as acting as polling clerks and ballot counters for all elections and p/referenda.

EC members and polling clerks are paid €9.35 an hour: that is minimum wage plus 8% holiday pay, which is the legal requirement of any employer. Members are paid an hourly wage based for their time at the stands during polling hours and

Barroso cites opportunities for ‘privileged generation’ Ógra Fianna Fáil elects first female president Bernard Ryan News Staff

EUROPEAN COMMISSION President José Manuel Barroso delivered an address to the College Historical Society while on his visit to Dublin in conjunction with Ireland’s holding of the European presidency on Thursday last, the 28th of February. As well as being European Commission President, he has also held the positions of Portuguese Prime Minister, Head of the IDEA delegation to BosniaHerzegovina and a founding member of the University Association for European Studies.

In his address to a full audience in the debating chamber of the Graduates Memorial Building, he began by referring to how as an 18-year-old student in the Law Faculty of the University of Lisbon, he was part of the movement that ended the dictatorship in Portugal, something which he has never forgotten.

As expected, his speech moved on to discuss the difficult and challenging times facing Europe as a continent, but he started by stating that Europe has united

to include former dictatorships such as Portugal and Spain, and former Soviet bloc countries such as the Czech Republic and Poland.

As well as this, he stated that the European Common Market is the second-largest of its kind in the world, and the euro is not only the second-largest currency in the world, but also one which is strong and credible for both business and social development. He also remarked that Ireland has gone from an average GDP of two-thirds the size of other countries when it joined in 1973 to being one of the largest in the Eurozone at present.

Barosso then moved on to discuss how the current economic crisis has shook our banking system, however the Commission can make the financial market more stable, especially as a result of the EU & US’ joint attempts at building successes and solving problems common to most of the developed world.

He commented also that Europe wasn’t the cause of the economic crisis, whilst referring to the meltdown of Iceland as a non-Eurozone member, stating that the impact on Eurozone countries would have been more

severe had we our own currencies. He believes that neither the housing bubble in Ireland nor a bank collapse in the US can cause a global financial system to melt down. ‘Much has been done across Europe but more must be done’, he remarked.

He guaranteed that Europe is about giving young people hope and access for jobs, an example of which is the Erasmus programme, which Barroso feels must be made accessible for more people.

He aims to open up more trading opportunities during Ireland’s EU presidency, something which Europe has already delivered in the form of cheaper air fares and mobile calls. ‘It took 40 years to get everyone to sing off the same hymn sheet, but Europe still needs to do more on that front.’

‘First and foremost, we must build confidence’, was his comment on where we should start. ‘The European Commission has set out a blueprint, which will imply more foresight at national level.’ He aims that in the coming years, there will be more far-reaching decisions to be made at European level, while maintaining that the EU is about common values rather than a common

market.

He ended by saying that Europe can no longer be governed by implicits and that constructive criticism doesn’t have to cause problems. He referred to a speech made by the German president, Joachim Gauck, which called on the current generation not to be different and lazy. He called on this generation, to which he referred as a privileged one because they are receiving a first-class education along with more wealth than we had when Ireland joined the EEC in 1973, to ‘recognise the ability to make a better future’, as well as making themselves self-informed and willing to make their opinions matter. ‘[A better future] deserves more than a 43% turnout at elections and having Brussels as a scapegoat’. he finished.

The address was followed by a question and answer session from the audience before guests were invited to the Hist Conversation Room for refreshments sponsored by the European Commission.

Una Kelly Online News Editor ÓGRA FIANNA Fáil elected its first ever female president at its National Youth Conference in Sligo. Kate Feeney, a 27-year-old accountant from Sligo, was elected by her peers to lead the youth wing of the political party. She received double the number of votes of her competitor, Donnacha Maguire.

Feeney first joined Ógra Fianna Fáil nearly ten years ago when she was a first year student in NUI Galway.

Following her election she pledged to increase the activity of the youth wing at both a local and a national level: ‘Ógra Fianna Fáil must take charge of its title as the largest youth political

organisation in the country.

This is a pivotal time in our party’s history and our input as younger members has never been so important.

‘My goal is to ensure that we are a positive and active organisation representing young people from all walks of life. Every single member of Ógra has a part to play in this, and I will make sure that their voices were heard.’

counting votes. They do not receive payment for attending the nightly mandatory meetings during campaign time or for their work for SU council.

During election periods one poll is open in the arts block and one in the Hamilton, as well as polls in D’Olier Street, James’ hospital and Tallaght Hospital. Two people attend each stand at a time. Regulations state that there must be at least one member of the EC on the poll at all times; the other individual usually present is a polling clerk. A float must also be on hand for supplies such as ballots, pens and locks to be

procured if necessary.

During this years Sabbatical elections in February, over 4,100 votes were cast in seven ballots. 32,800 pieces of paper were sorted and counted in accordance with a strict procedure and set of rules. Current Education Officer Dan Ferrick commented on how ‘Counting takes a very long time and requires a lot of people.’

Other students around campus may have electoral duties with the EC and do not receive payment for their work during election times, such as Education officer Ferrick who is already paid a salary in his capacity as a sabbatical officer.

a female President of Ogra,’ she said. ‘We have lots of women aspiring in the ranks such as Averil Power in the Seanad and she’ll be looking for a Dail seat the next time around.’

Responding to suggestions from the media that she is tipped to be the first female Taoiseach she said, ‘I am extremely flattered that some people want to say I could be a future Taoiseach but I haven’t even thought as far as 2014 so certainly being

speaking events, a campaign for free sexual health and STI screening clinic access, and a rapporteur on ‘Women in Politics’ appointed to the National Council.

Over 500 young people attended the Ógra Fianna Fáil National Youth Conference in Sligo this year. The focus of discussion was on youth mental health, jobs, and the challenges facing graduates.

Delegates also elected a new Central Officer Board. Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said it was a key event in the renewal of the party, and that he had been hugely impressed by the passion and commitment of the candidates.

Feeney: ‘This is a pivotal time in our party’s history and our input as younger members has never been so important’ Feeney is the daughter of former Fianna Fáil senator Geraldine Feeney. She believes that her election will give a lift to other women in the party. ‘It is a boost for women in the party to have

a first female Taoiseach is very far down the line.’

Among the pledges which formed her election campaign are youth unemployment strategies, more Irish

5

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013| The University Times

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UTFEATURES

The unquenchable will for life Having been stopped from reaching Gaza on two previous occassions, finally crossing the border into Palestine was a moment realised for ex-Leinster and Munster rugby player Trevor Hogan. During his visit he found that the people of Gaza, despite the crippling effects of the ongoing Isreali blockade, possess a deep resilience and inherent optimism.

Trevor Hogan Guest Contributer

D

RIVING INTO GAZA from Egypt’s Rafah crossing, the sun was low in the sky. Children played, desperately making the most of the dwindling daylight. They dotted the roadside as we made our way to Gaza city, some passing balls, others practising against walls, or playing volleyball with makeshift nets. It is impossible not to notice the children of Gaza. What is even more striking is their positive and buoyant attitude in a place that’s seen so much pain and destruction.

I was travelling with a group of nine other Irish people, all part of the recently established Gaza Action Ireland, which is aiming to build civil society links between Ireland and Gaza. It quickly became clear that perceptions about Gaza being home to innumerable bombed sites and destruction were not misplaced. But this narrative can often obscure the daily life and normal existence that continues alongside the adversity.

This attitude was clear

to me in how Palestinians in Gaza continue to play sport despite huge obstacles. Israeli restrictions on the movement of teams and referees mean players are often prevented from travelling to attend training sessions. Players are routinely delayed and a star of the Palestinian team, Mahmoud Sarsak, was arrested while on his way to a training session in the West Bank. He was subsequently held without charge by Israeli authorities for three years. The organisation of tournaments or leagues is severely limited, and games largely take place on an ad-hoc basis. Up until 2010 soccer balls were just one of the many items banned from entering Gaza,

100 kilos of rugby gear and balls that had been kindly donated by my teammates in Leinster and Munster for the 2011 flotilla, still lies impounded in the Israeli port of Ashdod.

The Palestine soccer stadium has been bombed several times by Israel, most recently in the November assault on Gaza, leaving the outer structure of the stadium, which we saw, shattered. One club we visited, the Al Helal sporting club, had its windows blown out in the November bombing. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has documented how on separate occasions in recent months, bullets fired

by Israeli soldiers stationed

“What is even more striking is their positive and bouyant attitude in a place that’s seen so much pain and destruction” and restrictions still apply for technical equipment such as digital screens needed for basketball. Almost

nearby, killed three children while they played football; 17 year old Ahmad Harara , his cousin, 16 year old

Counciller Hugh Lewis, former TD Chris Andrews and Trevor Hogan at a Gaza soccer school.

Muhammad Harara, and 13 year old Muhammad Abu Daqa. The youngest was hit in the stomach, while wearing the jersey of his beloved Real Madrid.

Yet despite this, a passion for sport pervades. Any spare patch of ground, sand or track is quickly given over to spontaneous soccer or volleyball games. We watched an organized ‘friendly’ between Al Helal and local rivals, Al Sadaqa, played on grounds located on what used to be the Israeli settlement of Nezarim. Al Helal

plan a move to the Nezarim site, home to one of the few grass pitches in Gaza. We also visited a soccer school where kids from the age of 6 trained and practiced their dribbling skills in the shadow of buildings destroyed

by the November bombings.

Fadi Sultan, has just been picked for the Palestinian under 14 national team and he presented us with a small

The Cashman T Interview: Owen Bennett Words: Leanna Byrne

HE STORY OF a Students’ Union Welfare officer becoming a successful club promoter is not one you hear of every day. In fact, it’s completely unheard of. While previous Welfare officers went on to be part of social advocacy networks or to work in social entrepreneurships, Cormac Cashman has transformed gay clubnights in Dublin and has become an urban

legend in the process.

Last week Cormac Cashman sat down with UT editor Owen Bennett to discuss how things have changed since first launching PrHomo in April 2009. Although PrHomo was not Cormac’s first club night (he had a brief ‘fling’ with Panty Bar), it is certainly the most successful. From the beginning it took off, taking in numbers of 300 to 400 people a

a huge interest in rugby. In the meantime, we hope to invite an underage soccer team to a small tournament in Ireland that could help, in some small way, overcome the limits of the blockade.

We met with fishermen

‘“We don’t want our people simply to survive, we want them to live’”

Photo: Owen Bennett

Last week, UT caught up with Cormac Cashman, former TCDSU Welfare officer and one of Dublin’s most successful promoters on the gay clubnight

jersey of his club. I gave him one of my old Leinster jerseys, hoping that one day he will manage to fit into it.

Rugby is virtually unheard of here, but with the freedom to travel that every society should enjoy, I feel it

week to Base Bar on Wicklow Street. As we all have witnessed, generally club nights in Dublin have a short lifespan, but PrHomo is set to celebrate its fourth birthday this year in its new home in The George.

For Cormac, the secret to success is simple: good drink deals. “I had been the Chair of the LGBT Society the year before I was Welfare officer. The only gay

is a game that could quickly develop. A number of Palestinian refugees - unable to return to Gaza because of the siege - have expressed

who told of how, as they seek to fish their waters, are harassed, beaten and shot by the Israeli navy. Despite visible scars and trauma they

club night that was there for students was The George on Wednesdays and there wasn’t any drink promotions as such. The Ents officer at the time, Ed O’Riordáin, was doing €2 drink deals everywhere for students [the infamous Twisted Tuesdays], so I thought there was a market for a gay student night.”

When it was suggested that successful club nights in Dublin are a dying breed, Cormac replied modestly by saying that there have been a lot of successful club nights in Dublin that Trinity students are just not aware of. He asserts that it is only because he has strong links to Trinity that people are even aware of his own success. He even shrugged off the idea that he tapped into an unknown market.

“There was a gay club night scene out there,” he explained. “But it just wasn’t as well known in Trinity. I’m 25 now and I started my first club night when I was 21, so retrospectively I wouldn’t have had the greatest amount of knowledge about them. There was a gap in the market for good drinks promotions. That gap is now gone though because the deals have had a knockon effect.”

Nevertheless, the Ents office has been relatively unsuccessful in gay club nights throughout the years. He told Bennett that even if all the LGBT societies came together in Dublin and had a clubnight it would not work because “you can’t tell students to go to the same club night every week”. While the pool of gay students in Dublin colleges is large, it is not enough to singlehandedly sustain a clubnight. Outsourcing it makes sense because if you have a special deal for Trinity students they still do not have to go every week. “If 200 Trinity students turned up in a 800 capacity club that works because it means it is still a Trinity night, but you also have other people there. You could even have an area for people in Trinity or special

drink deals for them instead.”

Bennett went on to raise the issue of homophobia and whether Cashman had encountered it much while promoting his clubnights.

However, in his experiences, “the only issues between the gay-straight divide is when a group of lads going on the pull come up to the door, are informed that it is a gay night and turn on their

say they will continue to fish for their families and their people. We visited the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and Shifa Hospital where we were told about constant electricity blackouts and a shortage of radiology equipment because of the siege. They also detailed how ambulances can be targeted during Israeli attacks and how a lack of basic medicines has resulted in half of children under three in Gaza suffering from anaemia. Yet this fails to diminish the energy and determination of the staff and doctors. Dr Ghada Al Jadba, passionately describes their struggle against the blockade; “we don’t want our people simply to survive, we want them to live.”

This refusal to allow the siege dictate their lives was captured for me when I met 800-metre runner, Abdal Salam Al-Dabaji. There is not a single tartan track in Gaza, yet he managed to train on pot-holed sand tracks and qualify for the Athens Olympics. The 800 metre runner has no Olympic medals but provides a source of inspiration more profound than any trophy could offer. This is what it really means to struggle for your sport. The obstacles imposed on their lives by Israel will not define Abdal, the young soccer players, the young children or any of the people of Gaza. Their spirit will help them break these barriers in a place where they aim not just to survive, but to live.

probably not going to score here so they just have the craic. It’s just way more laid back, more fun and the music is generally a lot better as well.”

So the question remains, what is next for the ‘Cashman brand’?

Cormac denied the claim that he has plans of becoming the next MCD as he is quite happy with the situation he has right now. Not

“You want to have good drinks promotions, have fun with your mates and you want the score - that’s pretty much what you go out for” heels to find a Coppers-like venue”. However, in the case of an incident of homophobia Cormac believes that a “quick smack and they’ll fuck off” is the most effective remedy.

Then, with a tolerant club scene, will there always be a need for gay nights? “There will,” he said. “It’s simply a case of scoring. If a straight guy goes to a straight club he’s nearly guaranteed to score because there’s a load of people there. If a gay guy goes to one of those ‘all inclusive’ clubs it’s not the same. You’re just trying to whittle down the market. You want to have good drinks promotions, have fun with your mates and you want the score - that’s pretty much what you go out for.”

That said, the gay club night scene has become increasingly popular regardless of one’s sexual preferences. Cormac personally feels that gay club nights are much better than straight club nights because they are a lot more ‘craic’. While straight club nights have the “underlying macho haveto-impress-the-girl shit going on’, gay nights offer hetrosexuals the chance to let loose and forget about going on the pull.

“They realise that they’re

only does he run PrHomo on Thursdays, but he also runs Fridays Are Gay (F.A.G.) in Andrew’s Lane Theatre and a night in Mother Club. He has recently taken over The Wolfhound Guide, a family project that gives an A to Z of thousands of adult education courses and workshops in the greater Dublin area.

Yet, he makes sure to take Sundays off to relax and go to the movies with his boyfriend.

Finally, Cormac reminisced about his time as Welfare officer. Even though he really enjoyed working for the students’ union, it is completely different to his career path he is on at the moment. He even admitted that he was happy not to get re-elected in 2010 because he would have found two years out of college to be a bit too much.

“You get fatigued with the job and you also get fatigued being in Trinity. I was there for five years; it gets old. College wears off.”

7

The University Times | Tuesday, March 5, 2013

UTFEATURES

Setting the Trinity tone

Photo: Shauna Cleary

Trinitones, College’s very own a cappella group have become a national hit following the success of their YouTube rendition of ‘Teenage Dirtbag’. This week, the group sat down with Shauna Cleary and Hannah Ryan to discuss music, fame, and plans for the future.

W

ALKING INTO THE ground floor apartment of the Rubrics, we are greeted by Patrick Barrett, Ben Jacob, Gabriel Corcoran, Yewhoan Hong, Rob Boos and Michael Broderick, comprising one-third of Trinity’s very own all-male a cappella group and YouTube sensation, Trinitones.

As we sit down to talk, surrounded by framed French artwork and numerous cups of tea, a text comes through to Gabriel’s phone requesting a Happy Birthday message for his nine- year old cousin Keela, and all six jump to comply. We listen in impressed silence as they launch into a [seemingly?] impromptu rendition, recorded on Gabriel’s mobile

phone (“You two take the bass, Ben give us the intro and I’ll harmonise,” Patrick directs), and then we begin.

Our conversation naturally opens with the video that has now garnered almost 70,000 views on YouTube, the group’s famous performance of Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag”. “The song has never been done like that before. Dan Cummins arranged it,” Rob says.

“We’d seen other a cappella groups doing videos before and it looked like great fun, just ripping the piss.”

Quick to dismiss emerging claims that the group is channelling the TV show that propelled its genre into popular culture, namely Fox Television’s Glee, the boys instead drew their

inspiration for the video from groups such as Scottish school St Andrews’ The Other Guys, whose video “Royal Romance” has nearly 900,000 YouTube views.

Trinitones are unique in Trinity as the only a cappella group to perform pop music rather than the more conventional gospel or choral songs, and the only all-male a cappella group in the college. Despite the considerable national attention that they have received in the past few weeks, the genre remains somewhat of a niche in Ireland, allowing them to become pioneers and secure interviews with popular radio stations such as Spin 103.8 and 98fm, as well as an appearance on TV3’s The Morning Show and an

upcoming slot on RTÉ Radio 1’s The Mooney Show.

The group’s popularity has expanded immensely since it started up thirteen months ago, taking on four new members last September. “We want to be really inclusive, but we will only

However, Rob adds that “We will be looking for first and second years to join in September as the four soloists in Teenage Dirtbag are leaving college.” Ideally this will come to include five students from each year. “We’d like anyone who’s interested to give it a go, as long as they can sing.”

“Unfortunately the majority of people who come do have a musical background,” Patrick states, but Gabriel is quick to add that at his audition he had not sung in three or four years, was extremely hungover and forgot the lyrics. “We come from a mix of backgrounds,” he says. Yewhoan supports this statement, announcing that while he does beatbox for the group, he cannot sing; thus he is an unusual addition.

All members stress the necessity of being committed to Trinitones, with two hours of practice per week and full attendance required to perform at any gig. Previous performances have included the Law Ball, Trinity Come Dancing, the

“We can’t afford to take on one more member - otherwise we risk becoming a choir” pick the very best,” Patrick explains. “The limit is what we currently have; we need more basses, but we can’t afford to take on one more member – otherwise we risk becoming a choir and losing what makes us an a cappella group.”

Founders’ gig and the BESS Ball – indeed all of the biggest events of the college year, the most prestigious of which will undoubtedly be the group’s recently-announced appearance at the Trinity Ball on April 5th.

“David [Whelan, Ents

officer] heard us practicing in the changing rooms at Trinity Come Dancing,” Patrick recalls. “Luckily it was probably the best we’ve ever sung and he showed a keen interest. He’s been very encouraging and supportive all along.”

Asked about the group’s plans for the Ball, Patrick is reluctant to divulge too much information, but does say that while details are still under negotiation, the set will be about thirty minutes long and will include tracks such as “Skinny Love” and R Kelly’s “Ignition”. He also says that Trinity Orchestra will be performing Michael Jackson songs, and “We might have a little to add to that.”

The free tickets come as a welcome bonus for the singers, especially Ben who fondly recalls last year’s escapades: failing in his plan to procure a ticket from one of the many intoxicated students refused entry to the Ball, climbing an outer wall and being promptly “escorted” from the grounds by security guards.

So what has been their favourite experiences with Trinitones so far? Michael talks of the free bar after the Founders Ball, while Rob remembers their performance at the Mansion House for Law Ball: while there were no microphones and the sound quality was poor, “the audience was seated in a semi-circle with a balcony overhead”, which was an optimal arrangement for the group. Yewhoan cites his best experience as the

continuing success of the video and the responses to it, especially to his beatboxing, one radio presenter referring to him as “the nts, nts guy”. For fear of vilifying the group’s growing reputation,

Trinitones Committee. They encourage all with an interest and a genuine intention to commit, to audition for the group next year. Asked about a potential future collaboration with an all-fe-

“They encourage all with an interest and a genuine intention to commit, to audition for the group next year.”

Ben quickly changes his response from “getting kicked out of BESS ball for breaking a table” to singing with the King’s Singers in a pub on Leeson Street. Gabriel says that for him, having loved Wheatus as a child, the “pinnacle” was being re-tweeted by the band, after they had watched the “Teenage Dirtbag” video, as well as crowding around an over-zealous couple on the rugby pitch after their first gig and performing the song as the two quickly dismounted and exited the scene. Finally, Patrick remembers the group’s weekend trip to Kilkenny during which they endured gruelling ten-hour practices every day, but also gained valuable bonding time.

With the impending departure of Patrick and his co-founder Lynsey Callaghan, as well as two other members this coming September, Ben and Michael have been discussing the possibility of a new leadership in the form of a

male a cappella group they say that while no ensemble with a similar-style repertoire to theirs currently exists, they encourage anyone with interests of establishing such a group to do so.

They also welcome the competition presented by anyone wishing to set up a rival male a cappella group, as Trinitones’ current potential for expansion is narrow.

It is easy to see how such a friendly, down-to-earth and exceptionally talented group of guys have become such a success, both within the college and without, and the future that awaits them, though necessarily uncertain, is suffused with excitement. You get the sense that they are happy simply to see where their talent takes them, and enjoy the journey along the way.

Our dysfunctional relationship with romance The Irish perspective Kieran McNulty Staff Writer

“

DO YOU WANNA like, go on a date or something?”

“Ah what?”

I was fifteen. Having shifted a girl on a night out, we had reached the texting stage. She lived quite a bit away, so the only option to shift her more was to go into town and meet up. Being raised on Nickelodeon tv trash, that word seemed perfectly fine to use. As you might guess, the budding romance didn’t work out.

Her friend told me that I was being “a bit American” with my date when I was turned down. It was then that I learnt how the Irish avoid that word - and the dating culture - as if it were another famine.

That cuts to the core of the

it’s a common opinion that it takes months of texting and meeting up until dating finally commences. If we look at the issue from a social perspective, it can be concluded that we are just too awkward for this dating business that Justin Bieber sings of. It seems that we prefer to leave matters of the heart to the darkened rooms of such quality establishments as Coppers and C U Next Tuesday. Alcohol seems to help. Why is that mentality embedded in the Irish?

Perhaps it’s that fading ghost in our memory that is good old Catholic Ireland, with all the Catholic guilt that comes with it. Gone are the days of being set up with

Perhaps it’s that fading ghost in our memory that is good old Catholic Ireland, with all the Catholic guilt that comes with it” problem. We here in Ireland are a bit reticent to put our hearts on our sleeves. Words akin to ‘seeing’ or ‘texting’ float around campus. There’s a lack of definites in ourway of romancing. For example:

Mary down the road or John Joe’s cousin from another village. Sorry lads, but it’s just not good enough to ask “Will you shift my friend?” after stalking an object of lust from across Wezz for

Photo: Sinead Baker twenty minutes when you reach college age. We are, however, just too awkward to ask someone out for coffee. There are many accounts of our legendary skittishness; a brave guy asks someone on a date and the girl avoids Facebook for months to avoid speaking to him and letting him down, a boy pretending that meeting up for coffee was just a friendly thing to do. Perhaps it’s just a case of dating being a relatively new phenomenon. Even though it’s commonplace in Europe, it might just take a little longer to catch on here.

Sadly, not much seems to be changing. There’s also been a growth in online dating, which, while having proven to be effective, is still not as genuine as asking out someone face-to-face. Being set up, the other common way of meeting people, is still going strong thanks to Facebook stalking, romance’s saviour. These ways aren’t quite a coward’s way out, but it seems the very ‘American’ style of dating may have to wait a while - or at least for some brave loveseekers before it reaches our relatively conservative shores.

The continental perspective Denise Wilkinson Staff Writer

W

HERE I’M FROM, usually, when two people fancy one another, they don’t just have sex. Clearly, this does not happen in Ireland either, unless you are in Coppers, yet the social protocol involved in the process of romantic interaction here in Ireland often seems quite

different to that of continental Europe.

Most of the time continentals like to go on what may be defined as a social marathon, and granted, for some this may be a sprint, but nevertheless there is always some sort of metaphorical travelling involved.

Before arriving at the

desired finish line, there are milestones to reach.

Firstly, one of the interested parties must summon the courage to ask the other person out. In Italy, where I was first initiated to the practice, the best way to ask somebody out is to invite them for an aperitivo, a drink before dinner, between 7 and 7:30pm.

This is great, because it is not as mild as coffee but also not as ‘out-there’ as dinner.

It’s pretty much like going for a pint before dinner, and because it is something which can just as easily be done with friends, if you do not wish to proceed in your ‘travels’, you can later mask the outing as ‘a drink with a friend’. No harm is done and awkwardness is reduced to a minimum.

If this is successful more aperitivi and more drinks may ensue. The typical third date involves a movie and by the fourth dinner is pretty standard. After the fourth date it is generally acknowledged that you are indeed ‘dating’ and in some sort of a relationship.

From then onwards dating gradually turns into ‘hanging out’ for longer periods of time and things become less formal. The more you ‘hang out’ indefinitely, the deeper you get into the relationship.

Of course, there are many variations on this type of pattern, but what I am trying to convey here is a sense of progression. The ‘ Baseball Metaphors for Sex’ system tends to be an accurate portrayal of the different ‘steps’ and forms of interaction encountered along the way: ‘first base’, ‘second base’ and ‘third base’ tend

not to happen all in one go.

If they do, that classifies as a one-night-stand, and is rarely expected to be anything other than that. Even if sex does not occur, inviting someone to ‘stay over’, who you are not properly dating, is a bit unusual and would typically fall into the ‘one-night-stand’ category.

What I have noticed in Ireland is quite different.

To put it in the words of my good Irish friend: “We sort of get drunk one night and things happen.

Sometimes it is a mistake and sometimes it isn’t. After that you sort of go for coffee, or if you have been friends for a long time you tend to get drunk and do it again, and then you start to hang out more and more until one day you sort of are a couple”.

I have seen this pattern quite often, and a couple of non-Irish friends have exclaimed with wonder: “But why? …what is it?”.

Truth be told, it seems more modern in some ways, the ‘Irish way’. Of course both accounts have been somewhat stereotyped and over-exaggerated, yet in retrospect the ‘European way’ seems very structured and less liberated, not that far off from an Austen-like courtship, where interest and objective are declared and then cautiously pursued.

This ‘Irish way’ allows for greater freedom and experimentation, there need not be clear milestones or finish lines.

My suggestion to the confused is to try out both: have an aperitivo and embrace your Irish lover!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013 | The University Times

8

UTFEATURES

Swagger, struts, stares and suits Hubie Pilkington has been on enough dates in his time to know the importance of making a good first impression. As he outlines below, the timeless suit has the ability to make any man look like a million dollars.

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LL MEN HAVE, at least once, imagined themselves walking into a crowded room and have everyone turn to look, in awe, at the sharp silhouette that has just entered.

Dapper-to-fuck and with a jaw-dropping swag, we see ourselves as the modern, social, non-supernatural version of Superman. Unfortunately, for the majority of us, this mental picture will never come to realisation.

However, that does not mean it is redundant. In fact it should be a constant inspiration – none more so

Whatever the case, as something that is such an integral part of the contemporary man, it is, in my opinion, a matter that we cannot afford to get wrong. In light of this, the following paragraphs shall aim to aide the choices one makes when formality beckons.

The one thing every man must remember is that, no matter what cut or style you are wearing, all suits can look sloppy unless you make sure it fits properly. Too big and it resembles Mr. Blobby. Too small and you look like a grown man in a child’s

“The one thing that every man must remember is that, no matter what cut or style you are wearing, all suits look sloppy unless you make sure it fits properly” than when it comes to dressing.

It is no surprise that the majority of Trinity students know how to ‘wear it well’. The Arts Block supplies the perfect catwalk for the everyman. But what happens when we move beyond the casual wear? Are we as accomplished in our choice of clothing when we are drawn to “suit up”?

school uniform. A well shaped jacket should hug the shoulders making the wearer stand to attention.

The lapels should be neither too large nor too skinny – something between one and two inches. Two buttons is best and, when fastened, they should pinch the jacket in a little to provide the impression of a slim waist.

Never bind more than one

button! Meanwhile, at the back, a singular central vent is most consistent, although side vents can add a touch of class.

Moving onto the trousers. They should be comfortable when at your waist.

And I mean the waist which is above the hips! Suit trousers are there to go the full length of the leg so as to enable a smooth transition between upper and lower halves. For this reason the fastening button should be just below the belly-button.

The trousers, overall, should be a slim fit to elongate the legs and inch-high cuffs before the foot enable a good break to present the shoe.

As you can imagine, over the years of the suit’s popularity many cuts have come and gone.

There are those, however, which prove timeless. Three of these include the straight cut, the three-piece and the double-breasted. Each has the power to sharpen our appearance but only when matched to the individual appropriately.

Straight cuts are the most basic suit. They are the safe bet, worn by those who don’t like to stray too far into eccentricity. This simple choice is not a bad thing but one must apply different methods to stand out. One simple tip is to avoid black.

Black is dreary, soul-sapping and very little for individuality. Instead, if you want to keep to block colours, aim for grey or navy.

The more adventurous of us can turn to patterns. What is important here though is not to over-do it. Soft pinstripes and shadowy plaids provide character without being garish. Different fabrics, such as Tweed and Herringbone, provide a twist and attracts interest.

The three-piece has been something of an

“All in all, a suit should always be a statement piece. Getting the look right pays dividends.” Photo: Owen Bennett establishment over the course of history. Spotted on gangsters, politicians, actors or musicians alike over the course of the last two centuries it shouts sophistication. Ultimately, it is just a straight cut suit but with the addition of a waistcoat. But what an addition it proves to be. In light of this, make sure that the waistcoat is a good fit. It should be slim. Not so tight that the buttons look like they’re about to pop but slim enough that there is no baggage. Furthermore, it should hit at the belt buckle and go no lower. The threepiece is a statement in itself so the shirt and tie/bowtie that accompanies it should

be toned down.

Lastly, a double-breasted suit is something that not everyone feels they can pull off. However, there are a few tips that help make the double-breasted a very adaptable jacket. Firstly, make sure it’s trim. Larger jackets spark memories of frumpy Mafia members. Secondly, always have it buttoned up. These jackets don’t hang well and the whole aim of wearing a suit like this is to bring in the waist. Thirdly, aim for six buttons. Four is fine but six elongates the torso and adds to the triangulation of the body. Finally, keep the trousers slim. Wide pants just undoes all the work

The suit, though, is not the sole contributor to the finished product. What makes us particularly stand out from the crowd are the what we pair with what we wear. Ties should be a further representation of our character. It’s a sad sight to see a good suit with a dull tie so aim for colour and patterns that transcend diagonal stripes or solid tones.

Bowties, also, make for an exceptional accessory, especially if it’s a self-tied. Braces, meanwhile, make a welcome change providing an accomplished style when the jacket is removed. Belts, also, should be refined.

Brown or black leather is

your best friend in this instance. The same goes for the shoes. Nothing ties an outfit together better than a fine pair of shoes. It’s a mistake to stray from lace-ups and loafers. A good pair of leather shoes will last for years so don’t scrimp on them. Never opt for anything with a rubber sole. Furthermore, a slight point in the toe provides the perfect endnote to a revered ensemble. Penny loafers and crisp brogues are the most reliable.

All in all, a suit should always be a statement piece so make it so. You can wear the same suit seven days a week but, if you have a good stock of interchangeable

accessories then you will continue to cut a fine figure.

And, even though it may not happen to the extent that films portray, if you follow these straightforward steps, you are sure to turn a few heads when entering that crowded room.

Many thanks to Henry Jermyn on Clare Street for supplying the attire worn in the image.

How useful is your arts degree?

Elizabeth Brauders Staff Writer

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N MY FIRST day of university, an English lecturer opened with a joke about how silly we were for choosing to study arts degrees in the midst of a recession. From that moment on I became painfully aware of how useless the rest of the world perceived my study path to be.

Constant jokes abounded as did casual comments from my mother and relatives about some neighbour’s son who’d switched from Arts to Engineering and was now making a million euros an hour to have wild and exotic job prospects thrown at

25% of the total number of applicants, an increase on 2004’s figures of 22.5%. Given Irish students’ continued interest in these areas, I spoke to some graduates to document their experiences and advice for the next generation. Kate Keehan graduated in July 2012 with a degree in Comparative Literature and English and American Literature from the University of Kent. She chose her course in 2009, and

is actually quite broad. We are marketable for career paths from admin to marketing and public relations.”

Kate’s conviction that “If you work hard enough and get your name out there during your time at college, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t do well” paid off and she is now working at RD Marketing and Media, a publishing house of magazines including The Definitive Guide to Going to College and The Definitive Guide to Your Perfect Wedding, of which she is chief editor.

of graphic design.” He admits that as a freelance artist “any ‘days off’ are spent with a niggling sense of guilt that you should be working, and there’s a constant hum of insecurity over where your next pay cheque is coming from. “That said, in the past week I’ve had to design spaceships and create characters, with as much tea at my disposal as I deign suitable, 90% of the time I love what I’m doing, but the trade off in most cases is that you’re working 90% of the time. ” The reason many students choose Arts is that guidance counsellors have encouraged them to pick a course that they k n o w

Opportunity’s assassin Student procrastination: Something people in the ‘real world’ will never understand.

Rachel Cunningham Staff Writer

him.

A recent thread on Reddit.com on advice for the younger generation showed one of top pieces of advice to be “don’t study arts”. Forbes backs up this view by listing almost all of Trinity’s TSM options in the Top Ten Least Valuable College Majors.

Yet the TSM office released figures for 2011 graduates that show 87% to be either employed, or in further education. Whenever I hopefully bring up these statistics people scoff that those jobs are probably in coffee shops and that further study is a conversion course to something more employable.

In spite of all of this, last year 15,698 CAO applicants listed an Arts or Social Science course as their first preference, that’s just over

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despite recessionary panic, she explains, “I couldn’t bring myself to choose a course that I knew I wouldn’t enjoy. We obviously heard a lot from other disciplines about literature and history degrees being ‘useless’ but the education we receive from these degrees

Ciaran Lucas began his third-level studies in Ballyfermot College of Further Education, before heading to the University of Dundee to round his studies in Animation and Electronic media up to a degree level. When asked what areas he has since worked in he exclaims, “Wow, everything fun. I’ve had various roles in Film, TV, Comics, Games, Illustration and a bit

they’ll enjoy, but is our happiness linked to our job satisfaction? Ciaran thinks so; “Related to, but not dictated by… Work is never easy- the clue’s in the name.

But if you believe in the goal then the hours are more bearable, the deadlines become challenges.” His opinion relates closely to Kate’s, whose advice for prospective students is that “Choosing something you enjoy means you’ll stress out less, meet people that you have lots in common with and work will feel a little less like work.”

ICTOR KIAM, A former owner of the New England Patriots, stated that “Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin.” A tad extreme perhaps but with essay deadlines and end of year exams drawing ever nearer, chances are his words may be resounding in the ears of those of us left cramming our workload into the last minute. It is undeniably a word that every student is familiar with and is frequently spoken of with a laugh and a wink- but is it a serious problem in our society and should we be more concerned about its impact on our lives? Or did Annie have a point when she sang that tomorrow is always a day away?

Academics are torn when it comes to an explanation for why people procrastinate; some say that it enhances their creativity and production levels while others believe that procrastinators are quite simply

sabotaging themselves.

There are supposedly three types of procrastinators; 1. The ‘thrill seeker’ who enjoys the last minute rush.

2. The ‘avoiders’ whose fear of failure and success can be linked back to a concern for how others perceive them, preferring to allow their peers to think of them as lacking effort ratherthan ability.

3. The ‘decisional’ procrastinators who seek to absolve themselves of responsibility in a situation by refusing to make a decision.

20% of people are considered to be chronic procrastinators, leading an unproductive lifestyle that affects every domain of their lives.

These people don’t pay debts in time and miss opportunities for buying concert tickets and using vouchers because of a completely lackadaisical approach to time management.

Although most of us aren’t quite as bad as this, procrastination is undeniably a force to be reckoned with in the life of a student.

With so many societies to be involved in and events taking place, it is all too easy to delay what you don’t feel like doing. With no one to blame but yourself, it is simple to put writing an essay or handing in a cv on the long finger.

A common problem for people who find themselves living away from home for the first time is self- motivation, often finding it difficult to rise for that dreaded nine o’clock or to bother getting a start on a looming assignment without a teacher or parent figure there to encourage (force) them.

Not that those living at home aren’t just as culpable.

Smart phones, laptops and iPads are essentially portals into a world of procrastination, making quick entertainment easily accessible at the touch of a button....or a screen, to be more accurate.

However, procrastination is not a modern phenomenon that entered our lives when one man decided to place the letter ‘i’ before every piece of cutting edge technology worth owning.

Many feel that our partiality

to dawdle is an innate aspect of our human conscious and it would appear that people have felt this way long before the dawn of the internet.

Charles Dickens once aptly said that “Procrastination is the thief of time,” while Mark Twain advised “Never put off till tomorrow what may be done the day after tomorrow just as well.”

Both of these men lived during the 19th century, proving that where there is a will to procrastinate, there is a way. Even without a Temple Run app.

We are all guilty of dilly dallying and time wasting in our lives. There are most likely some people reading this article who are looking back on Reading Week with a mixture of shame and pride at the sheer level of procrastination they managed last week.

As a procrastinator myself, I can relate to these people- where do you think I got the inspiration for this article? A notable trait of a true procrastinator is only succeeding in getting things done last minute, so in conclusion Photo: Sinead Baker

9

The University Times | Tuesday, March 5, 2013

UTFEATURES

Seeking pastures new Be it lecture or library, one’s mind often seems to drift towards idealised images of travel abroad.

Here, India McGirr gives some travel advice as the summer approaches.

T

HE INNATE INFATUATION with escaping the mundane familiarity and perceived limitations of our native surroundings is an enigma ingrained within the student mind-set, an inexplicable truth of enduring certainty. The independence that is inextricably attached to student-status kindles an insatiable desire to explore and discover a world that has finally become accessible. Through the rainbow (if somewhat unrealistic) tinted glasses which students so often view this new world

“This article is not an endorsement of Ryanair, just a nod at their studentfriendly prices” of possibilities, the romanticised notion of travel is idealised to such an extent that practicalities fall by the wayside, smugly reappearing only when we’re down to our last desperate euro with no choice but to do an E.T. and phone home. But despite the

parental exasperation and disapproval inevitably waiting to ambush us the second we set foot in arrivals, it can’t be denied that is the true student way to travel!

College is clearly the optimum time to embark on such haphazard adventures, a blissful utopia where the daunting responsibilities that accompany a family, career and house have not yet confined us to one place. Impulsive traveling is an idiosyncrasy reserved for the youth; dropping everything and jetting off when you’re forty-something because you’re panicking about all the sights and cities you never saw screams mid-life crisis rather than admirable spontaneity.

This whimsical irresponsibility that students are temporarily entitled to is the only justification needed to close the books, forgo lecture halls and press pause on reality for even the swiftest of visits. Travelling (literally) opens a door to immeasurable experiences and opportunities, it broadens the mind to see beyond the numerous horizons it has to offer, it is enriching, inspiring, exhilarating and paramount in ensuring that the vivid imagination of youth

is not suppressed by the obligations of maturity.

Of course, as wonderful as that all sounds, there is one crucial factor to be taken into consideration. While travelling in college as a student is a quintessential rite of passage, it is very easy to forget that we are in fact, students and bear the burden that that entails. That being financial paucity.

The decision to head off on a spur-of-the-moment trip around Europe is excep-

tionally exciting when discussions centre on all the incredible sights you’re going to see and the interesting people you’re going to meet, it is only when you head to the ATM to check your balance, lost in delicious fantasies of baguettes and berets, that reality brings you back

to Earth. Hard.

Now, every acquiescence to an invite for coffee, every Diet Coke craving sub-

never-ending reading to consider. The diverse variety of options available during the summer months are

adventures of back-packing or inter-railing masquerading as spur of the moment ‘leaps of faith.’

“With regards financial considerations, heading off during the college term is, in reality, the more feasible option for students” mitted to opens the floodgates to a torrent of guilt and regret. No amount of desperate scavenging for overlooked coins can help now.

undeniably tempting when struggling under the weight of college work, but this is exactly why travelling during term-time can be con-

With regards financial considerations, heading off during the college term is, in reality, the more feasible option for students. Cheap

A cruel introduction to the world of budget student travelling…

Money is not the only contentious issue students face when contemplating travelling during termtime. There is of course that tiny detail of having essays, assignments and

sidered preferable. It’s all about last minute decisions, which college students are undeniably more than adept at. Choosing a random weekend, a random city in Europe and just going is unquestionably more exciting and spontaneous than those carefully planned summer

flights abound throughout the college year, whereas the summer months bring with them the gargantuan increase that is the plague of family holidays.

Ryanair, despite their valiant efforts to extort money out of passengers at every available opportunity, do

offer exceptionally cheap flights to an impressive range of European destinations. This article is not an endorsement of Ryanair, just a nod to their studentfriendly prices. I swear. Barcelona for €33? Can’t argue with that.

Arguably the best way to travel during term-time is to get on-board with the weird and wonderful trips college societies have to offer. Definitely a much kinder option for your/your parent’s bank account. The burden of organising accommodation will most likely be lifted from your shoulders and you reap the added benefits of included perks that are that bit more difficult to sort out yourself! However you decide to venture across the continent, going in a group of some sort is essential. Going solo can only end in disaster (if you are cursed with my appalling sense of direction anyway). Arriving home having completed a stint through the Red Light District does not count as a win…

When simplified, term-time travel is not the tantalising impossibility it is perceived as.

We can’t complain that Europe is inaccessible, no matter how tight money may be, there is always the cheap alternative and most importantly, you’ll never have the freedom of being a college student.

“College is the optimum time to embark on such haphazard adventures, a blissful utopia where the daunting challenges that accompany a family, career and house have not yet confined us to one place”

Student gambling addiction a growing concern With the meteoric rise of online gambling and advert targeting, students are becoming increasingly susceptible to gambling addiction.

Conor Bates delves into this recent phenomenon.

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N 1951, FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover boldly declared that “gambling is a vicious evil; it corrupts our youth and blights the lives of adults.” While I personally wouldn’t go that extreme, it would be an oversight to consider his words foolish.

While gambling may or may not be a root of evil, it is certainly a root of many problems, and no more so than in Ireland.

Ireland is a nation of gamblers. A recent RTÉ documentary, ‘The Gambling Gene’, put forward a theory that Ireland has always been a country of people who like to bet. We love risks, we crave bragging rights over peers and we all enjoy a sto-

on speculations and sure things alike.

The issue here is that, nowadays, many young people are getting wrapped up in betting. Too often those tales of woe are espoused by a friend or colleague on campus. Budgeting for student life in a recession can be a tough enough task without diminishing your resources on flutters. The cause of the spike in youth betting is easily identifiable as modern technological marketing.

Fifty years ago organised gambling was considered dodgy and illegitimate. These days going into a bookmaker is as banal and normal as going to the cor-

“Fifty years ago organised gambling was considered dodgy and illegitimate” ry of someone who succeeds without having to do much work. It’s not that we’re lazy, we’re just instilled with a desire to beat the system.

We’ve all heard the anecdotal story of the man who won a ten-match football bet, with a wonder strike in the last minute, and sailed into the sunset. Similarly, we recall the stories of the people who lose, and lose big,

ner-shop. But for our young, computer-engrossed generation, betting has become so much simpler. Online gambling is the ultimate experience in convenience risk-taking. Through Facebook ads, sponsored Google results and popup links on all of your favourite websites, the modern gambling firm has targeted the young, tech-savvy male,

and offered him a link to perceived wealth. Journalist and author of ‘Free Money’, Declan Lynch, has concisely claimed that “in history, there has never been the invention of a technology which has so suited an addiction.”

The truth of the matter is that for many people out there, bookmakers have a direct line to a punter’s pocket, literally and figuratively. Paddy Power is Ireland’s largest bookmaker, and one of our largest PLCs. With a reported profit of nearly €140 million in 2011, just under 10% was generated through online means. This figure is expected to rise significantly in the coming years. The simplicity of the whole process is staggering. Sign up for an account, which is often accompanied by a joining gift of a free bet, and you now have access to any gambling market you want.

Paddy Power have followed a successful ethos of, ‘if you can talk about it, you can bet on it’. A soccer match between two unpronounceable teams in Georgia, the next president of Venezuela, the closing price of commodities on Wall Street, the winner of the next horse race, the winner of the next virtual horse race, all at your

Many young people now have a dangerous relationship with betting. fingertips, whether you want them or not. What started as a reasonably innocuous attempt to predict the first scorer in the 5:30 kickoff has now turned into binge betting on the Best Sound Editing at the Oscars.

While it’s hard to blame any bookmaker for seeking to improve their own bottom line, the fact is that their benefit is coming at the expense of many of Ireland’s youths. Gambling is an addiction. It’s as plain as that.

We don’t have to look far into the back pages of any leading newspaper to find a story of a sportsperson with a troubled gambling history. Take Armagh Gaelic Footballer Oisin McConville, who began gambling aged fourteen. At one stage he claims to have had three

unpaid car loans, but only one car. Or English footballer Michael Chopra, who has been blighted for the last ten years by unresolved wagers and implications of betting fraud.

Dr. Fiona Weldon of the Rutland Rehabilitation Centre notes that there has been a notable increase in young males reporting to their

exposure, patients at the centre can arrive in their early twenties and have already worked up volumes of debt, far beyond their humble years. Even more worrying is the fact that in these dark days of austerity, they are presenting debts which are larger than ever. Proportionally speaking, this could present an unprecedented

‘Paddy Power have followed a successful ethos of “if you can talk about it, you can bet on it”’ clinics with gambling addictions. The trend seems to be an uptake in gambling as a hobby from a frighteningly young age. Through internet

disaster for the future of the Irish societal situation.

Despite what you have just read, I’m not vehemently anti-gambling. I see no

harm in going to the races with your friends and throwing a few quid on an outsider, or backing a few teams on the weekend to make it more interesting viewing. Gambling responsibly does have the ability to add value. It is an extra thrill. When you comfortably have the means to do it, can enjoy doing it, and can walk away from a tipple without the need to redouble your effort, win or lose, then it can be an entertaining pastime.

The flipside is that it has a calculated power to destroy.

If you gamble purely for the money, you can’t beat the system. Gambling addiction is on the rise, and this is definitely the case among younger people. Accessibility is the driving motivation

Photo: Peter Clarke and there is no mitigating factor against this exposure. Many young people now have a dangerous relationship with betting. The last word on the matter is the clearest truth of all when it comes to gambling and gambling addiction; the law of averages is basic statistics, and it lies in the bookies’ favour.

You can’t beat it. If you could, they would have been out of business years ago.

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013 | The University Times

10

UTOPINION

Where are all those binders?

Ireland currently ranks 79th in the world in terms of female representation in parliament. With International Women’s week currently being celebrated, Sally Hayden debunks the age-old arguments employed by those opposed to gender quotas as a means of addressing female underrepresenation in politics.

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t would be funny to visit Earth as an androgynous alien. “Wow, you guys are weird looking”, you would exclaim as you walked/hopped/apparated/ blobbed off your UFO. And then you would follow this up with some acute observations on the human condition. “Why do doughnuts have holes? Why are things typed up but written down?

Why does just one of your genders wear extremely uncomfortable shoes?”

Forty years ago the Irish Commission on the Status of Women published its first report. A body set up to “make recommendations on the steps necessary to ensure the participation of women on equal terms and conditions with men in the political, social,

cultural and economic life of the country”, it concluded that there were no constitutional or legal provisions in Ireland restricting the participation of women in politics, and indeed no other evidence of formal discrimination against them. The board floundered in an attempt to come up with other reasons why women weren’t represented, and hit on the expected. They suggested apathy. They suggested the distraction of family life.

They suggested that things were getting better.

Two generations later and women have never filled more than 15% of the seats in either the Dail or the Seanad. Ireland is currently ranked 79th in the world for representation of women in our national parliament,

with women holding a mere 25 of the 166 elected TD spots available.

And yet the arguments keep coming.

The meritocracy argument – “But we should judge

third of our Ministers for Finance have actuwally been economists. And before you think I’m belittling them, what are the qualifications to be a politician anyway?

The credibility argument – “But gender quotas discredit the achievements of women that are already in power.” This reasoning is dangerous, because it simultaneously compliments a small group of women, while ensuring that their group stays small. It is also wrong, because it is built on the idea that the electorate is sexist enough to treat all women as the same. In fact, gender quotas encour-

‘Gender quotas don’t force us to elect anyone.

They simply force the political class to give us more options” our politicians on their merits, not on their body parts,” you cry. So let’s lay this one to rest. Since when were any of our politicians qualified?

As far as I know, less than a

age the electorate to regard female candidates as different by supplying more of them to choose between.

They don’t force us to elect anyone, they just force us to

be given more options. More options means that we don’t have to pick “the female candidate” whose views we disagree with but whose sex we like, we just have to pick “the candidate” who may or may not have lady-parts.

Gender quotas force political parties to supply us with a (slightly more) genderbalanced choice. And who doesn’t love choice?

The slippery slope argument – “Where does it all end then? Shouldn’t travellers get a quota? Shouldn’t religious groups get a quota?” This argument accidentally but inherently points out how bad the situation is, because it directly equates women with minorities. In fact, the situation of women today is unique. We are underrepresented, but readily available. We are the only minority that is often a majority. As a questionable man once said, there are binders full of us. Many countries in the world now show a higher female voter turnout than male. We are not asking for an exact percentage of representation, because then we’d need 50%. But when the 50% is consistently reduced to 15%, then there must be a skew in the system.

So far this article hasn’t answered the major question of what that skew is. Identifying it is something that’s regularly

had gained it. We could argue that politicians are people who are good at garnering support, and women have to wear a less trodden

“The situation of women today is unique.

We are underepresented, but readily available. We are the only minority that is often a majority” brought up in this debate.

Why don’t women just get elected? If they want to be represented, why don’t they represent?

To answer this we could suggest lots of things. We could look back to history. We could suggest that women don’t run because they’re not used to running.

Women don’t get elected because we’re not used to voting for them. Female suffrage didn’t exist anywhere in 1890, and by 1994 only 96% of the world’s females

path while doing that. And if this answer isn’t satisfactory enough we could move onto the old reliables. We could suggest apathy. Family life.

Things are getting better.

But the real question is whether we want more women as elected representatives. Whether we feel that smart women - the ones who may be quotaed onto ballot sheets, but will also fight to win our votes - could add something to our government, and to our government’s way of making laws.

More than a hundred countries in the world now implement gender quotas at some level of government.

Ireland’s not pioneering, it’s stagnating. We’re falling behind.

Our androgynous alien friend might not recognise gender, but that doesn’t mean his planet doesn’t have its own issues. The measure of the inclusiveness of a society is not whether it has problems, but how it deals with them.

When people bring out the same recycled arguments against affirmative action we don’t remind ourselves that forty years ago we were having the same conversation we are now. And we don’t remind ourselves that forty years ago we failed to come up with a positive solution.

If quotas don’t work, we can always try something else. The opposite of equality isn’t inequality, it’s resignation, and it’s time to try for change.

The era of fallen heroes In recent times, a spate of celebrities and previously considered moral bastions have been exposed as frauds and cheats. Tom Myatt focuses on the root cause of this phenomen. Is it just that such trangressions are observed more in the age of information or are our modern day ‘heroes’ lacking in moral fibre?

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have never had the misfortune of meeting my heroes. And hopefully it’ll stay that way. Oscar Pistorius, a man whose athleticism I have always admired, now faces trial for homicide.

The twentieth century witnessed the rise of the mega-celebrity. This was the great age of the role-model.

These were especially talented, mostly brilliant people who offered us the best films and music the world has ever seen. Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin and the likes are all heroes and heroines from this era. However, since the turn of this century we have been plagued the fall of many of the figures we once considered assets to humanity. This keeps happening: Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, to name a few, and with each revelation comes a public shock; a loss of faith. Increasingly, it appears that the idea of the ‘hero’ figure is incompatible with this century. I thus took up the task of investing

why exactly we have witnessed this phenomenon.

Is modern society a world with fewer morals? Have the good and the great always been this way and is it simply that the tech revolution and growth of mass media has eroded their ability to hide their shortcomings?

The story that pierced my very soul, and what prompted this article, was the news that Lance Armstrong, another hero of mine, had in fact been using drugs during his career and it was declared he was no longer the rightful holder of a single one of his Tour de France victories. Lance had before been hailed as the greatest of all time. The Greatest… Wow… “Maybe if I train hard, I could be like that someday”. He truly captured people’s hearts and built up a devoted fan base upon his excellence and recovery from cancer. This man continued to win world titles and raised astronomical figures of money for

Is environmentalism a pseudo-science?

Daire Collins questions whether we should really trust everything environmentalists tell us about climate change.

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o doubt if you vaguely know me you’ll have heard me bring up a book I read recently in conversation.

An environmental thriller, State Of Fear was written by Michael Crichton (formally of Jurassic Park fame). While the storyline is atrocious, the characters so weak and generic you can’t even dislike them, it’s the not so-subtle aim of the author raises an interesting

question. How much do we know about Environmentalism?

Everyone knows what environmentalism is attempting to combat; global warming, melting ice caps, rising sea levels, deforestation, CO2 emissions and numerous other imminent global catastrophes. While the novel descends into a conspiracy theory promoted by wealthy environmentalists, Crichton did succeed

cancer research. A central question I pondered is that if Lance Armstrong was able to use his position to generate so much money for cancer research, and inspire so many souls, what exactly is the problem with his drug use? It comes down to the fact that this money was raised on the back of a lie: he apparently won only with per for ma nce-en ha nci ng drugs. He seemingly did not have so much of the natural brilliance that he was so loved for. The world, moreover, was shocked. I didn’t even believe the news – they must have got it wrong.

Surely?

On the level of the misdemeanours celebrities commit, one inevitable cause of the death of the ‘hero’ figure is that in the 21st century it is impossible to keep secrets.

The decline of the broadsheet national newspapers has prompted a radical growth in competitive journalism between these firms.

To them, under-handed in capturing my attention (if not my imagination) on certain topics. Adding to my interest was his use of references from scientific journals, of which he claimed he “spent the last three years researching”. I confess I haven’t had the chance to go and check out the each journal, searching for their donors and claims of bias studies. However even on the surface it opened my mind, ever so slightly, to questioning the constant claims made by environmentalists in the papers and the news.

What has become clear to me in the last two years is the way in which newspapers and the media abuse psychological and medical studies. They have a tendency of latching onto one particular point and proclaiming it as fact, especially if it cures or causes the most popular disease of the day.

tactics must, apparently at all costs, be resorted to if they are going to continue to operate under competition from online news.

To this end, modern media is characterised by its intrusiveness, which in England has directly resulted in the phone hacking scandal. Certainly, soccer player Ryan Giggs’ affair was revealed in a break of an injunction, a legal ‘silencing’, after the UK media seemed willing to break the law to

personal privacy. Perhaps therefore, depressingly, many of our heroes have always been this way. Maybe Charlie Chaplin had his secrets that today would have destroyed him; we simply had no way of finding out.

With the internet, allowing us to easily become reporters, so too has it meant we can be far more informed than ever before. As opposed to the twentieth century when we had to buy a newspaper to find news that

reveal who had these injunctions.

With the rise of the internet in this century, furthermore, we are all journalists.

This wondrous tool has had the effect of creating an entirely new society of unprecedented connectivity, making the world the smallest it’s ever been. Anyone can easily give information to the media anonymously if they discover anything. So celebrities have witnessed a shocking decline in their

was days old, information is now the world’s most readily available commodity. An event on the other side of the world can now be uploaded to cyberspace and seen here instantly. Thus it is apparent, also, that we are simply more informed.

The highly competitive celebrity marketplace, which has boomed since 2000, has also caused a depreciation in celebrity standards. There are a far greater number of celebrities now

than have ever existed before, which is simply down to the fact that the promoters aim to promote as many people as possible so as to enhance their profit and prestige. Publicists have to become incredibly clever in being able to push their ‘greats’ ahead, and have certainly used the growth of technology and the internet to their advantage. One person’s weight gain has to be more read than someone else’s big divorce. This is the reality behind much of the ‘news’ in gossip magazines.

I still wonder why Snooki is famous. But this competitive market means that many of those whom we love must resort to dirty tactics to get their face in the news, as bad news is far more likely to sell than good. And bad publicity, they are aware, is definitely a step up from no publicity: It’s all about getting talked about. A willingness to be more famous has overtaken the desire to be more loved. Of course, the shocking events surrounding Oscar Pistorius, Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods were probably not of this nature, but many, such as celebrity divorces and reality ‘shock horrors’, continue to be so.

However, simply suggesting that it is the media’s fault does not wholly explain the loss of our heroes. Many of these stories we hear are

So from this logic, could it be acceptable for the media and organisations to do the same to scientific journals concerning the environment?

This inference seems entirely plausible to me. While human activity is most likely having a detrimental effect on the environment, do we know in what said effect will result in? Is it fair to impose strict environmental sanctions on developing countries, limiting the advantages the West enjoyed for the last 150 years? To be honest I can’t answer these questions, given the closest I ever get to science is of the political variety.

One notable example which has stood out to me is the difficulty in preserving wilderness. Who knew that maintaining the wilderness as is, is so hard? Apparently no-one knew. So

in 1872 when then US President Ulysses S. Grant decided to create the world’s first national park at Yellowstone California it was decided that the region was to be uninhabited and free

Less than one hundred years later the situation had completely reversed, with the Bison and Elk over-populating the area and the wolf being reintroduced.

For most people forest

“The highly competitive celebrity marketplace has caused a depreciation in celebrity standards”

“Who are the biggest opponents of wind farms and nuclear energy?” from human interference.

This included the Native Americans who had hunted the land for thousands of years. However upon eliminating the top predator from the food chain, humans, the wolf population grew and decimated the elk population. The wolves were then hunted to near extinction.

fires are seen as a natural disaster, and thus are labelled much the same in the media. However the scientific opinion has much changed in recent years. Forest fires destroy older forests, which are less conducive to growth, and give way to new forests to grow in their place which encourage new

more serious than simple day-to-day misbehaviour. Recent decades have seen a general fall in morals amongst our glamorous elites. The twentieth century celebrities had an air of

aspects of our lives that would ruin us if we subject to such rigorous public scrutiny. The cause is that the world is so willing to hear about the misdemeanours – or in the case of Pistorius,

respect, a dignity, a sense of duty. Today however, although this is partly due to publicists, many celebrities are far more likely to be single-minded. Soccer players sometimes cheat on their wives – it seems almost to be in their contracts. They are far more interested in enjoying their success for themselves, rather than aiming to be a true inspiration to their fans. Idealistic beginnings may have made them determined to do the latter, but somewhere they became corrupted.

Thus, for these reasons it appears the ‘hero’, the great individuals whom we admire, probably has much less of a place in this new century of ours than in its predecessor. No human is perfect, and we all have

very serious allegations – that those figures whom we love may have committed.

It is increasingly impossible to maintain any admiration with such efficient global communication and public discussion, which simply confirm that many are human. Although, the reason many of the stories we hear are so serious is that the great, in part at least, seem to have lost their sense of serving the public and are more interested in enjoying the fruits of their success – ‘sex, drugs and rock and roll’.

fauna and healthier flora.

It was only in the 1990s, after an enormous wildfire in Yellowstone, that this important role of wild fires recognised for the landscape.

Indeed, during the Bush Era the US government adopted “let it burn” policy with regard forest fires. Often touted as increasing due to global warming, perhaps the increase in wildfires is a beneficial resource to rejuvenate the local environment.

This example perfectly encapsulates the problem of current environmentalism; there is a lot left unknown.

While there are many ways in which humanity is damaging the environment, everything touted as a human evil should, by an environmentalist, should not be regarded as fact. There is no reason to blindly follow every environmentalist plan

without debate, both on an economic and scientific basis. What I have realised is that I have reached the point where I should open my mind to both arguments on this issue, just as society has done on many social issues in the recent past. While environmentalism maintains the popular opinions, it is always susceptible to making a mistake.

I will leave the debate on this question and one short answer. Who are the biggest opponents of Wind Farms?

Environmentalists are, and their main dispute is centred on the increase in bird deaths in areas with Wind Farms. That is environmentalists holding back a viable alternative to solving another environmental problem on the basis of an increase in bird fatalities.

And don’t get me started on nuclear energy...

“The ‘heroes’ we admire probably have much less affinity in this century than in its predecessor”

11

The University Times | Tuesday, March 5, 2013

UTOPINION

Economise This Lorcan Clarke Student Economic Review 2012 Committee member

To postgrad or not to postgrad?

Lorcan Clarke employs all the skills he acquired in last week’s final year Economic Analysis class to ascertain whether postgrad study is worthwhile.

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any Trinity folk plan on riding out the Great Recession behind the walls of our gated fortress and only venturing in search of a job when the dust has settled. Irish employers warn against it: In a survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters, only 30% believed further study would give graduates an edge in the job hunt, while 67% said temporary paid employment was a better option. Only 11% valued postgraduate qualifications above relevant work experience when considering graduate applications.

If you’re weighing up whether or not to do a postgraduate degree, the impact it will have on your future earnings may affect your decision. There will, of course, be other factors specific to the individual, but the earnings question is one we can endeavour to shed some light on.

Let’s assume all you care about is money. Further, let’s assume you could get accepted into any postgrad-

which compared the salaries of people of the same sex and discipline from four groups: 1. Those who had the qualifications to attend university but opted not to, 2.

Those with an undergraduate degree (BA or BSc), 3.

Those with a Master’s (MA/ MSc), and 4. Those with a PhD. Of course, the results are only applicable to us to the extent that Britain and Ireland are similar with regard courses, job market, etc. For now, we’ll assume they’re pretty similar and continue.

The fi rst thing worth noting is that the earnings effects are very different for men and women. Men with an undergraduate degree earn 14% more than those without (who could have gone to university) while women earn 23% more. If you have a Master’s degree, that premium stretches to 23% for men and 38% for women.

Now here’s the interesting part – if you have a PhD, the premium is 26% for men - only 3 percentage points

“The first thing worth noting is that the earnings effects are very different for men and women” uate course. Now, let’s ask the question, from a purely fi nancial perspective: Are postgraduate courses a good decision?

The answer is fantastically boring and predictable: Sometimes.

The most useful study for our purposes is a British one

higher than a Masters, which can often take just one year. Given the cost of the course and the amount of years you spend earning a teaching assistant’s salary, the premium is absolute pittance! For women, the PhD premium is 38% - the exact same as a Master’s. Th is

implies PhD’s don’t increase women’s earnings at all, on average.

“On average” is the key phrase here, as we can break down this aggregated figure by discipline to better inform our decision. Segmenting by area of study, PhD’s are most worthwhile in medicine, other sciences, business and fi nancial studies (men only), and education (women only). In maths and computing, arts, social sciences and languages, having a PhD will earn you no more than a Master’s.

Strangely, in engineering and technology, and architecture, the premium for a PhD is actually smaller than for a Master’s.

How could a PhD negatively affect earnings compared to a Master’s? Generally, degrees increase your salary insofar as they give you skills that are useful in industry, making you more productive and valuable to a company. However, it may be the case that one can acquire the most useful skills by doing an undergraduate or Master’s, and after that point work experience is more useful than further study.

For example, let’s take a company who employ electrical engineers. They consider a Masters in Electrical Engineering to be worth two years ‘industry experience’ and a PhD to be worth five years. Th is means a Master’s graduate with three years experience gets paid the same as a PhD straight out of school. However, by that point the Master’s graduate has earned €300,000 while the PhD has earned €60,000. They both earn the same after that, so the PhD has made a €240,000 net loss of earnings.

The results of the study

speak much more strongly for Master’s than they do for PhD’s. Across both sexes and all disciplines, Master’s were never observed to have a negative effect on earnings. They had the greatest positive effect in Architecture, Social Sciences, Busi-

“The results speak strongly for Masters” ness and Finance and Education. Master’s degrees in Maths and computing and Sciences had a huge effect for women (with a 15% and 8% premium respectively), while they had a zero premium above an undergraduate degree for men.

The overall implication of the results is that Master’s degrees do increase earnings, especially for women.

PhD’s, on the other hand, are not worthwhile from an earnings perspective in most disciplines. They do have a positive effect in Medicine and Sciences though, as well as business (for men only) and education (for women only). Although, the cost of the degree and income sacrificed over the course of studying will still have to be accounted for.

So if your sole concern is income-maximising, a Master’s may well pay off.

If you’re considering a PhD, you won’t fi nd justification in money alone.

Why Enda should not have apologised Fionn Rogan argues the government should not take responsibility for our societies’ failings concerning the Magdalene Laundries.

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he great fallacy of the present day is to judge the past by our own contemporary standards.

This leads to a warped and misleading understanding of our history. We make comparisons between those, which are utterly incomparable. We supplant the values of that time with our modern more egalitarian beliefs and we depose of the paradigm that informed that era. We foolishly create an idyllic history where the barbaric antics (judged by our own modern standards of barbarism) of our predecessors are highlighted by their shock value for the present day man or woman.

We fail to recognise the values of that time and how their contemporaries would judge such an action. This misinterpretation of our history has become a staple device in the modern media and since Sen. Martin MacAleese’s report on the Magdalen Laundries has been published we have swarmed to attack our past and the media’s whipping boy, the government once more. I do not mean to disparage the experiences of the women who were resident in the Magdalen Laundries. Rather I intend to offer a reevaluation of the era in which they lived in these institutions.

By this I also hope to provide a defense for the government, which will explain why Enda Kenny should not have given an apology for the actions of our past.

By current standards the

psychiatric institutions that were dotted through the cities and towns of Ireland.

Our prisons, even today, shared similar conditions.

Residents of inner city Dublin, Cork & Limerick lived in squalor. We forget that life in Ireland’s past is not the life we know today. Until our minor economic boom in the 1960’s Ireland was essentially a second world country.

Inner city Dublin in the early 20th Century was considered one of the most impoverished and squalid urban centers in the world boast-

“The damage done to these women was the result of a poisonous attidude that permeated Irish society” ing higher infant-mortality rates and cases of infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis than even London, Moscow and Paris. It can be suggested that at times, being a resident of the laundries signified a considerable improvement in living conditions. The laundries provided bed, board and some degree of care for a great deal of young women, orphans among them, destined for destitution. Whilst my defense of the Laundries might sit uncomfortably with some, I feel it is imper-

“I do not condone what happened in the past” conditions of these institutions were utterly deplorable. Standards were subpar and wholly unacceptable.

I’ll stress that this is by our standards, not theirs. However these horrific living conditions were not the exclusive reality of just the Laundries. They existed in

the stigma that surrounded them and engulfed the residents. The damage done to these women was the result of a poisonous attitude that permeated Irish society from the late 19th century up until the time I was born in the early 90’s.

The spiteful belligerence towards former residents of the Laundries is what created a societal template whereby these women were abused. The key negative force in this sad episode of Irish history is society as whole. The Laundries cannot be blamed for the hostile reaction of society experienced by former residents.

The Laundries did not actively propagate a hatred for these women. That was the Irish people’s decision.

Of course some may argue that Irish society was heav-

ative that we regard these institutions in line with the contemporary living conditions of their time, not ours.

Whilst I offer a defense for the Laundries and their past I must stress that I do not condone what happened in the past. One of the the great tragedy of the Laundries is

ily influenced by a Catholic doctrine that condemned the actions of a number of residents. However, whilst the Laundries were a Catholic institution run by the Sisters of Mercy, the Sisters of Charity, the Good Shepard Sisters and the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, these religious societies were far from being influential modifiers of Church Doctrine. Irish society was at fault, not the Laundries as an institutional system.

Therefore as society is the primary group at fault for the harrowing isolation and feelings of anomy experienced by the residents we must begin to consider to what possible degree can the government be pinioned with responsibility and even blame. Sen. McAleese’s report found that nearly 2500 women were sent to the Laundries by the state between 1920 and 1996. If the state owed an apology to the former residents of the Laundries it must also apologise profusely to the

psychiatric patients housed in our Victorian institutions and to the denizens of the public workhouses and industrial schools also. In addition to this, whilst the state may be responsible for a quarter of the admissions to Laundries the vast majority of residents ended up in these institutions having being brought there by members of their own families.

When the government makes an official apology to the survivorsof the Magdalen Laundries they are accepting responsibility for the happenings of the past.

With this responsibility comes the duty of redress to be paid to each former resident as a means of apology and compensation. Now, regardless of whether or not the State has the fi nancial means to offer any form of redress we must consider the implications of Enda Kenny, speaking as An Taoiseach saying that he is sorry. By doing so he accepts responsibility for the attitude of a society that he never governed. He allows his government to accept the blame for what we would now consider the convictions of a backward Irish community that penalised these women. By expecting him to apologise we are admitting that the government holds some degree of power to mould our perspective as a society. Were this true, surely the government’s approval ratings would be a lot higher? Once more the government has become a patsy for the Irish people. As a society we want the government to apologise because by doing so they absolve our predecessors of their responsibility for vilifying poor vulnerable women who were villified by society.

The government has, once more become the fall guy for the failings of Irish society and I feel that Enda Kenny should have refused to apologise, as it’s not his responsibility. A country’s citizens should never rely upon their government to function as a moral compass.

A generation of wage slaves Samuel Riggs pours cold water over our romantic notions of the internship culture. In today’s world, he argues, internships constitute a modern form of slavery.

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nternships are the hope and faith of any Arts student. They are the light at the end of the tunnel - they are what we hope to gain.

Once we have put in four years of tough grind and hard work (read: lounging around for most of the time, then pulling four consecutive all-nighters to get that last essay done), the idea of the internship is what, for this Arts student at least, all that work has been going towards. We go straight from college into a lovely internship, in some brightly lit newspaper office or radio station - soon we’ll get noticed, our work will be exemplified, we’ll have our own column or talkshow.

Eventually we’ll work our way up to become an editor, a presenter, a producerin-chief.

Wrong. Let me lay down some facts for you, Arts Block. The light at the end of the tunnel isn’t really all that bright. An internship is classified as employment at the bare minimum of its defi nition. Internships are a form

word slavery here by saying that whatever small misfortunes happen to us are in any way comparable to the true horrors of slavery that happen out there in the ‘real world’. But interns in Ireland are probably one of the closest forms of slavery we get to in our lovely, neat little First World economy.

The cold hard facts are these; internships these days are few and far between. If you even manage to land an internship, you’re already one of the lucky ones. It’s not quite as easy as sending in a letter to The Irish Times asking for one -

“Interning in Ireland is probably one of the closest forms of slavery we get to in our lovely, neat little Developed world economy” of slavery directed at third level University students.

I don’t mean to belittle the

“Dear Editor, please hire me, I’ll write you lots of really lovely things.” Th ink again.

It’s competitive and difficult, and more increasingly, it’s about who you know, rather than what you know.

Networking and professional relationships have never been more important a factor for third level students as they are today.

But, for the purposes of this article, lets say that you have managed, by some stroke of luck, to land an internship, be it through what you know or who you know.

And, by some miracle, it’s in (insert name of ‘dream media outlet’ here). Any internship you get is going to be far flung from any Ugly Bettyesque fantasies you might have had, where everyone in the office is friendly, and you’ll have time for casual socialising outside of work. In order to maintain that internship, you’re going to have to work all the time, without stopping. “So what?” you ask “I was prepared to do that anyway! I would love my job!”

How about this; while you’re on an internship, you’re still entitled to collect social welfare. That’s because an internship isn’t classified as a real job - the company or fi rm employing

you only has to pay you about €50 max, on top of your social welfare. Any dreams you had of escaping the dole queue should be evap-

you sick days. All this is at the discretion of your employer. Unless you’re incredibly lucky and are employed by someone with saint-like

“I don’t mean to burst any bubbles with this article. I’m sorry if I’ve ruined the aspirations of any would-be Carrie Bradshaws out there.

This is just a dose of realism” orating pretty quickly by now. Th is income still puts you below the poverty line in terms of monthly income. You would literally be putting in an enourmous amount of hours, for nextto-nothing.

Not only this, but employers aren’t required to give you annual leave days. Nor are they required to give

quantities of benevolence, chances are you’re going to be worked to the bone for all that your little Level 8 degree is worth. In this regard, you essentially have the same rights as a Christmas temp.

And you’re making less than them. Ouch. Th is isn’t just for media internships either; this counts for pretty much every internship out

there, whether it be in media or otherwise.

But what about when the internship is over? What about when you’ve fulfi lled that 12 month contract? You’ve made scores of worthwhile contacts, you’ve worked so hard!

Surely you’re going to advance up in the ranks now?

Well, you’d be wrong again, I’m afraid. The employer has no legal obligation to keep you on once you’re done.

Again, this all comes down to luck. And if luck isn’t on your side... well, you’re out the door, I’m afraid. They don’t owe you anything you’ve just given them a year of your life for diddly-squat.

I don’t mean to burst any bubbles with this article. I’m sorry if I’ve ruined the aspirations of any aspiring Carrie Bradshaws out there.

Th is is just a dose of realism - internships are a form of modern slavery. Your workload is high, your pay is minimal, and when they’re done with you, they can kick you on to the slag heap with no questions asked - it’s abysmal and cut-throat. But unfortunately, that’s how things work right now.

Now, don’t get me wrong

- I’m riding high on the wave of hope along with all the other English graduates out there - I’m going to

“The light at the end of the tunnel isn’t all that bright” be picked for an internship, and it’s gonna change my life around, and before you know it I’ll have a successful column or maybe even a TV show, and be working on my long-awaited autobiography. But there’s only so long I can hold out hope of getting an internship, and succeeding in one, before I hit the cold and hard shores of reality, and have to go out and get a ‘real job’. Does anyone know if Centra are hiring?

Tuesday, March 5, 2013 | The University Times

12

UTOPINION Said with authority Dr. Amanda Piesse

Reaching beyond the minimum requirements

Why I graced you with my presence Making the decision to travel abroad to study can be a lifechanging one. Born and bred in Essex, Julia O’Mahony gives an insight into the factors that informed her desire to seek out Trinity.

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y four years of skipping gaily around the arts block (and, admittedly doing little else) are regrettably, coming to a close. I couldn’t have known it at the time, but choosing to come to Trinity was easily one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It seems appropriate then, to cast my mind back to the hazy days of CAO forms and try and pin down a few of those reasons, albeit some better informed than others.

A great education. Or so I’m told that’s what I would have received, had I not whiled away my days watching 4od documentaries. Certainly they provided an education of sorts, but if I were

to do it all again, there’d perhaps be a few more lectures and a few less episodes of ‘My Daughter the Teenage Nudist’ and the like.

Sage as he is, trusty Uncle John had been working on my cousin for some time, but she was having none of it (and is no doubt having a lovely old time at the University of East Anglia.) It turned out I was a far easier target when he turned on me a year later, and he was onside to rally the troops (Mum & Dad) in favour of the idea.

The course. At Trinity, I had the option to master that double edged sword, and combine both Philosophy and Theology via the delightful medium of TSM.

“It’s hard not to be seduced by Front sqaure during open day” The Phwoar Factor. It’s hard not to get seduced by Front square during the open day, it’s so mesmerising. I’m no architect, but all that…grey. They really made a good job of the place, give or take the Arts Block.

Uncle John told me to.

Not only that, but the Theology department would let me learn Arabic, which I was keen to do, though they kept quiet that I’d have to get up for eight o’clock lectures.

Alas, my grasp of numbers remains limited, but I really did excel in the usual areas

of foodstuffs and daily routine.

The hunky boys. (what hunky boys?)

Anything to get out of Essex. My time in the land of, amongst other things, peaceful (flat) countryside and vajazzles, was pulling to a close. Our local pub at home had just got rid of its aviary, which had always been its USP. I needed some variety. Essentially Essex had run out of hills to climb, pubs in which to drink, and even the decorative body art for which it is so renowned had lost its charm. I needed an out. And yet…

I didn’t want to go to Leeds! Not one bit. It was nice to have a packed CAO form and my UCAS choices down, but in reality Trinity was the clear winner from the offset. I didn’t hear I’d got in till a week after my results though, which certainly added to the suspense.

Oh how I love flying! How exciting to go to a University which I can FLY to, thought I and a few jokers that live in Cork. However, my airport excitement was somewhat misplaced. All you internationals be warned, folders of

work weigh kilos galore, and they often need transporting home for the hols. Of all the things I’ve jettisoned at the check-in desk so I could

journey to and from Dublin through Wales and across most of England is a rather Toad of Toad Hall affair, it does at least mean I can

“Essentially, Essex had run out of hills to climb, pubs in which to drink, and even the decorative body art for which it is so renowned had lost its charm. I needed an out” transport all my worldly goods across the Irish Sea, I think its those two carefully wrapped legs of Mum’s Parmesan Chicken that keep me up at night.

Lucky for me then, that driving has long been my favourite activity of choice, and the possibility of eventually driving to and from University was always a selling point. Though my

pack up my whole life in my fiesta and zip from country to country effortlessly (provided that I never again manage to lock both sets of keys in the boot.)

Guinness is good for you.

Alas, rumour has it that a pint has got more calories in it than a roast dinner, but HEY, you can’t neck a roast dinner.

Lost in the supermarket Supermarket music is designed to make one of life’s more banal pursuits slightly less painful.

Recently, an unusual playlist in his local Tesco made Stephen Cox pause and contemplate the deeper aspects.

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upermarket music doesn’t tend to provoke violent reactions. Its job is to provide a bland backdrop for the customer concentrating on the shelves. Edgy or unusual musical choices are not in the shopkeeper’s best interest. Admittedly I would be the last to describe Eric Clapton’s piece of stringbending dross “Wonderful Tonight” as edgy or unusual.

Nonetheless, on a trip to my local supermarket the other day I did a double-take upon hearing that very song. I

found myself reacting negatively to it, and began to wonder why it caused this reaction in me.

For readers not familiar with the song, it begins with a recognisable repeated guitar hook over a sickly sweet background organ. It was a minor hit upon its release in 1977, but has since become a mainstay on classic rock and adult contemporary radio stations. “Wonderful Tonight” is regularly requested at played at weddings, anniversaries and romantic occasions of all kinds—the

apotheosis arguably being the season six fi nale of Friends in which Chandler proposed to Monica.

The more I thought about the song the more reasons I found to dislike it. John Keats once wrote of his hatred for poetry “that had a palpable design upon us”. With its schmaltzy words and soupy arrangement, this is music manufactured to within an inch of its life to induce an emotional reaction in the listener. It’s telling us how lucky the composer is to have such a “beautiful lady” in his life, and how fortunate said lady is to be with such a sensitive, appreciative man.

Finding fault with this may come across as churlish. It is not the song’s message so much as how it is expressed that irritated me.

The rhymes never rise above banal and limp: “alright/tonight; see/me; head/bed; light tonight. Such a lazy, lame tribute to his lover

stands in stark contrast to, for example, a far more sophisticated number from the 1930s with a similar theme, Kern/Fields’ “The Way You Look Tonight”: Lovely, never, ever change, Keep that breathless charm, Won’t you please arrange it, Cause I love you, just the way you look tonight.

Even sentimental lyrics notwithstanding, “Wonderful Tonight” is built around an unimaginative, predictable chord progression that offers nothing new to the listener after hearing it once. I am still struck by gorgeous, lush chord changes in songs such as Nat King Cole’s “Smile”, and in some of the ballads of Clapton’s contemporaries like Lennon/McCartney or Stevie Wonder (though not “I Just Called To Say I Love You”, which is arguably a greater offender than Clapton’s efforts here).

Also, a point that seems to escape many of the song’s listeners is that it quickly shifts from being a paean to his lover’s beauty to a plea for her to become his chauffeur/carer. Towards the song’s end, Clapton tells us that he has “an aching head”; he gives her the car keys to drive him home before putting him to bed. Patti Boyd, the woman about whom the song was written, wrote extensively in her autobiography about Clapton’s struggles with alcohol and drug addictions at the time. While we can sympathise with the composer’s problems, the picture the song presents is not that of a healthy romantic relationship between two individuals.

In Noel Coward’s play Private Lives, there is a scene where a divorced couple, Amanda and Elyot, fi nd themselves sharing adjoining hotel rooms whilst

honeymooning with new spouses. As they meet on the balcony, Coward’s song “Someday I’ll Find You” comes on in the background. Elyot dismisses its sugary insipidness, to which Amanda gives the famous reply: “Extraordinary how potent cheap music is”.

Therein lies the secret of the popularity which “Wonderful Tonight” still enjoys; I only wish it was a little more potent and a little less cheap.

But who am I to judge?

There are more than a few songs to which I’m partial that classify as guilty pleasures. In an ideal world we shouldn’t have to apologise for personal taste, but this article is not the place for my musical confessions. That would be the work of more than one article...

Sunday 2nd March 2013 at noon (deadline for this piece is 5pm and it’s 700 words – loads of time -) and I’m feeling a bit stiff from the run I went for earlier this morning. Procrastination or preparation? Running does, I fi nd, clear the head. Also on the plus side, the increasing stiff ness will no doubt encourage me to stay at the desk.

Win-win. Extracurricular activity is good for you. Point proven. Wonder if I can persuade someone to bring me a cup of tea …. service to older people….

I’m almost certainly preaching to the converted here on the validity of extracurricular activity. Over 32,000 sign-ups for 118 student-run societies in Freshers’ week this year, and 6,000 club memberships taken out among the 50 student-run clubs speak for themselves. There are roughly sixteen thousand student members of College as I write this–sixteen thousand pathways through College, sixteen thousand unique experiences of life, sixteen thousand sets of ambitions, sixteen thousand people sharing at least one semester, or, more frequently, at least four years, of their lives with the College community. Whether postgraduate or undergraduate, from just up the road or the other side of the world, fi rst or fi fth generation of your family or from your area to enter third- level education, young, free and single or dashing frantically between College and responsibilities at home – whatever your background, whatever your commitments in your life outside of College, you, personally, bring a unique set of skills, values, experience and knowledge to its community. College is immeasurably rich in human resources because of you.

As a student-centred, research-led university, we hope we’re very clear that the social activities you participate in here are as much part of your College life, part of what you should expect from College’s provision for you, as what you do in the classroom or library or laboratory or on the wards. Aside from opportunities for socialising, keeping fit, doing something simply because it makes you happy,or putting something back into the community around you, extracurricular involvement connects you into College life. It might be the friends you make, the team you’re on or your commitment to the activity itself that keeps you hanging on in there when the going gets tough with the academic work or when commitments or crises in your personal life make College seem almost impossible. It could be that an hour singing your heart out in one of the choirs or pushing yourself on the sports field or sitting down and focussing one hundred per cent on a board or computer game of some kind is just the break you need to put other things back into perspective. Whether you’ve just hit a target that takes you one step closer to qualifying for the next Olympics or you’re delighted with yourself for completing the fi rst six weeks of Operation Transformation, your experience is equally valid and valuable.

On the one hand, we all know that virtue is its own reward. We do what we do in our spare time, generally, because we enjoy it, because we know it’s good for us, because we get a buzz out of achieving something in a team, putting back a bit of what we think we’ve been given, going a bit beyond our personal best in our chosen activity. And virtue IS its own reward because all of these things help develop various aspects of ourselves - selfmotivation, teamwork, working to targets, developing leadership and social skills, transferring knowledge and experience, problem-solving, perseverance, learning how to handle and diff use stress; all transferrable skills that are, fi rstly, good for us personally and socially, and, secondly, highly valued by potential employers.

How far should we capture, record, measure, reward all of this activity? Should we issue every student with a parallel transcript, formally listing participation and contribution outside of the classroom? Offer as a co-curricular exercise fi nal year options with a focus on outreach, the better to encourage widening participation, offering you the opportunity to learn new skills in pedagogy or product design or marketing,? Most importantly, what can College do to remove any present barriers to extracurricular participation? If you’ve contributed to your own learning with twenty or more hours of voluntary extracurricular activity since last April, would you take a few moments to apply for the Dean of Students Roll of Honour, so that we can capture that activity and acknowledge it appropriately? And all through this March, have your say through the Irish National Student Survey at www.studentsurvey.ie, where a set of questions that will take you no more than ten minutes to answer will help us to analyse on a national scale what you think best engages you in College life. Help us get it right!

Oh look. My daughter’s just brought that tea. Really?

Dr Amanda Piesse is the college’s Dean of Students. Her role focuses on the development and coordination of policies to promote the student experience. As part of that, her office facilitates the Roll of Honour program.

13

The University Times | Tuesday, March 5, 2013

UTOPINION

The University Times

REFERENDUM A NECESSITY FOR LEGITIMATE ABORTION STANCE Trinity College Students’ Union prides itself on a rigid adherence to formal democratic structures. On everything from organisational branding to the formation of external policy, the principles of democracy are present in their most liberal form. In essence, TCDSU is a grassroots organisation, one with a seemingly bottom-up power structure, an organisational model which has given rise to the regrettable ‘We work for you’ motto.

In that context, it is alarming to see the democratic structures of the Union, so often a subject of boast, being cast by the wayside with regard to the Union’s campaigning position on abortion. What is more alarming is that abortion is an issue of notable contention, one which demands more than any other, the observance of strict democratic principles.

Alongside the SU sabbatical elections, the students’ union ran a ‘preferendum’ on abortion. A preferendum is nothing more than a survey, a useful means of ascertaining opinion on a topic. However, what has been conveniently forgotten is that the abortion preferendum was explicitly stated as ‘nonbinding’, a characterisation one could interpret as informing future abortion policy but not necessarily defi ning it in the fi rst instance.

In said preferendum, the results were telling. 3782

students expressed their preference, with 1911 choosing ‘abortion on request of the woman’ and 1317 opting for ‘abortion under certain circumstances’. Before transfers, 711 votes were split between ‘current SU policy’, ‘no abortion under any circumstances’ and ‘none of the above’. Clearly then, one can deduce that the majority of Trinity students identify with some degree of the pro-choice movement. As such, the preferendum has achieved its goal - it has given a valid yet simplified snapshot of Trinty students’ personal stances on abortion. Normally, such a satisfactory outcome would merit further consultation, perhaps through the medium of a townhall meeting, a college-wide referendum or god forbid, another preferendum.

However, at the last Students’ Union Council, the students’ union’s decision-making forum, emotion trumped reason and indeed, best practice. Numerous speakers eloquently argued that the students had decided, that what was demanded of the students’ union was a campaigning stance for full abortion rights and that no more time could be wasted on the issue.

The overwhelming sentiment which informed much of the debate at the meeting of Council was premised on the idea that ‘abortion on request of the woman’ had essentially ‘won’ the preferendum and in that context, the logical

progression was for Class Reps to vote on (and accept) a motion tieing the students’ union to a campaigning stance aligned to said preferred outcome.

Yet, as was stressed by the crafters of the preferendum, it’s outcome was to be non-binding. There was no binary result, no yay/nay dichotomy at play. Indeed, it is an absurdity to argue that the preference which garnered the most votes in the preferendum should function as a indisputable backing for a campaigning stance. Such a reasoning completely alienates from the decision-making process those who expressed preference for the second most significant option, namely ‘abortion under certain circumstances’. The motion brought before last Council and which will undoubtedly be raised again at the next meeting, shows a complete lack of acknowledgment of the opinons the 1317 students who opted for ‘abortion under certain circumstances’.

Undoubtedly, abortion is an policy issue which should be handled with caution. Indeed, there are students in our community who believe the abortion question to lie beyond the representative remit of the students’ union, a suggested w remit which constitutes a narrower interpretation of ‘student’ issues. Abortion is an issue of conscience, and while the majority of students in this college identity with the prochoice movement, it is a regrettable circumnavigation of the

democratic ethos which has traditionally informed the students’ union’s structures for the abortion question to be left to the behest of Class Reps.

Th is newspaper has consistently supported positive legislation for abortion in this country. However, our elected student representatives must never forget the duty they owe to current students, and more importantly future students.

In order for a meaningful students’ union position on abortion, a campaigning stance which is both widely and deeply supported, a referendum to adopt a long-term policy on abortion is a necessity. Th is must take place before any legitimate campaignig stance can be adopted. The students’ union campaigning stance cannot be decided on the basis of a preferendum. Such a reality would make a mockery of the supposed ‘consultation process’ which was pledged when the campaigning stance on abortion came to the fore after the tragic death of Savita Hallapanavar.

Our students’ union is in theory a wonderfully democratic organisation. We must always seek for practice to mirror theory. Without giving every student an effective input into the crafting of the abortion policy, the students’ union risks alienating a significant proportion of the student body.

Without a referendum on the issue, its mandate will be hollow.

Pokémon and questionable childhood lessons We often look back at our favourite childhood books and films with a sense of fondness. Yet, were the literary and cinematic aspects of our formative years really as benign as often believed?

Paul Doyle takes a revisionist approach to youth pop culture.

I

was 8 years old when I made my first confession. Being 8, I didn’t yet have a fully developed concept of guilt, remorse or sin, (cheers, Catholicism) so I lied and told whoever was listening that I had cursed at my brother, or that I had committed some trivial betrayal of my parents, like being late for dinner or crossing the road without looking both ways – fabricated accounts of supposedly heinous indiscretions, the feigned grandiosity of which only being conceptually possible in the skullsized world of a small child desperately looking for something to be sorry about when interrogated by some priest. Of course, I wasn’t really remorseful about swearing at anyone, or being late for dinner, or whatever other lie I told - what I really felt guilty about was letting my Pikachu die of poisoning after the intense, epic battle I had had the previous evening in order to obtain my 5th badge. If you weren’t a Pokémon kid, you probably can’t even begin to understand the indescribably strong bond I had with the small clusters of pixels on the screen of my Gameboy.

You have no idea - I caught them, I trained them, I nurtured them, and they were mine. All mine. They still are. My communion money was well spent on a Pokédex,

are by their very nature inherently irrational and can be therefore be easily manipulated into (convincing their parents into) buying whatever product is presented as appealing to them.

Herein lies the genius of the very concept of Pokémon - ‘Gotta catch ‘em all’- gotta buy anything and everything related to the show.

The concept of a children’s show in which the protago-

it? There’s a small problem, though. Once you do eventually become too old, you begin to notice all the inconsistencies, plot holes, and absurdities that accompany it, these observations being what bridges the gap between the pure joy and appreciation of a child in reaction to the art so carefully aimed at it, and the nostalgic lens through which an adult is forced to perceive it.

nist is attempting to collect all of something is the best marketing ploy I have ever witnessed.

Outside of the realms of television, most of the time, the ‘hero’ of a collection of children’s books grows and develops as the series readers do - the idea being that those interested will remain with the series as they develop. Harry Potter grew up, so did Bilbo Baggins and Alice.

Modern day television has allowed for a new phenomenon in marketing to children - a bildungsroman in which the protagonist nev-

Allow me to explain.

My dog is stupid in an incredibly endearing way.

Roxy is a particularly small West Highland Terrier that spends the majority of her days wandering around my humble abode looking confused. She’s terrified of the oven fan and the vacuum cleaner. She barks at other dogs she sees on TV. She’s an adorable, heavily-furred idiot. As satisfying as it would be for her to learn a few tricks, or have any sort of useful function whatsoever, I can’t even begin to comprehend the notion of keeping her in a small plastic container and periodically releasing her to do fuzzy-wuzzy battle with other small confused canines. Th is is the concept of Pokémon; catch animals, keep them in small containers, and periodically release them in order to make them fight each other for our amusement. The whole thing seems so bizarre now. I can’t think of a worse lesson for children since ‘Grease’, in which the innocent, wholesome and chaste Sandy changes pretty much every aspect of herself in order to gain the approval of John Travolta and his friends - then at the very end they get into a flying car for some reason. At any rate, changing yourself to garner the approval of shady characters is probably a bad idea, as is keeping animals for the purpose of making them fight each other.

Given that something as

“Why generations of concerned parents continue to expose their children to it is beyond me”

“Once you do become too old, you begin to notice all the inconsistencies, plot holes and absurdities”

Pokémon cards, Pokémon posters and other Poké-paraphernalia - I regret nothing. Truth be told; a lot of time and effort could have been saved if the parish had collectively decided to forgo the customary ceremony and everyone had just given a big heaping pile of cash to Nintendo.

If you’re in any kind of big business, children are an indispensible source of capital. Markets are supposed to, in theory, involve informed consumers making rational decisions – children

er reaches adulthood, perpetually staying at the point in his life in which he is his most relatable to the most lucrative marketing group of all: kids.

That isn’t to say that any of this is intrinsically bad in any way, it’s actually quite a pleasant notion, the idea of a series that entertains generation after generation of children - a never ending story passed on to another generation when the one previous gets too old. It sounds lovely when you begin to romanticise it, doesn’t

apparently benign as Pokémon had such morally dubious aspects upon reflection, and because we’re just past Oscar season, I decided to think about some other media I consumed as a child and compose a shortlist of fi lms and books typically deemed family-friendly that are pretty questionable upon closer inspection.

Any James Bond Film made before the 90’s: In a word; sexism. Lots and lots and lots of sexism. James Bond is a manifestation of a hyper masculine cultural ideal that all males in less egalitarian times were supposed to aspire to. Whether it be Roger Moore’s sheer disbelief at the fact that his Doctor is a woman, Sean Connery’s dismissal of his latest fl ing with a pat on the behind so that he and his friend can engage in ‘mantalk’, or telling another female companion that ‘we won’t be having any of that’ when she asks to get out of the car after an argument; Bond, James Bond reinforces all sorts of negative stereotypes; teaching your children that gender is similar to some kind of inescapable prison, not to mention that nearly all foreigners are evil.

Roald Dahl books, particularly George’s Marvellous Medicine: Even the amazing Dahl is has an abundance of questionable ethics in his works.

After making a concoction consisting of gin, antifreeze, every medication in the house, an astounding list of bizarre foods and his Grandmother drinks it - resulting in her death, George and his Grandfather decide they’re better off without her, and celebrate that she’s dead. In short; it’s perfectly acceptable to kill your Grandmother, as long as she was a total bitch.

Grease: As previously described, the wholesome and chaste Sandy gets her happy ending after changing every aspect of her personality in order to be accepted by John Travolta and his friends. Why generations after generation of supposedly concerned parents continue to expose their children to it is beyond me.

Pocahontas: Horrendously historically inaccurate, portraying the soldiers that went to the New World as essentially being benign tourists who were attacked by the hostile natives due a misunderstanding. Almost as reprehensible as ‘The Patriot’ in which Mel Gibson’s village doesn’t have any slaves in a fi lm about the American Revolution.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Unlike the quaint

Disney fi lm of the same name, in the original book,

‘Almost human’) perishes while clutching her corpse.

the realization that the stories you were fed as a kid are

“Every story told is in essence some kind of flight from reality” Esmerelda is hanged by an angry mob after narrowly avoiding being sexually assaulted, and Quasimodo (a name that loosely translates to ‘Almost human’ – yes, a heavily deformed and disabled character named

Charming, right?

One can safely affi rm being a grown-up if one is cynical enough to notice these questionable lessons present in Children’s stories.

The moment your childhood is officially ruined; is

equally as harmful, if not more so, than the vast majority of the violent/sexualized fi lms for adults that your parents wouldn’t let you watch. You were conned. I’d let my child watch ‘Predator’ as soon as I’d let it watch

‘Dumbo’ – a fi lm racist to the point that one of its characters is actually named Jim Crow. Wouldn’t you?

Every story told is in essence some kind of a fl ight from reality; however, it would seem that many of the worlds we deem appropriate for our children to escape to are far more horrifying than anything reality is likely to offer.

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013| The University Times

14

UTSPORTS

The real Oscar Pistorius

The murder trial of Oscar pistorius has gripped the sporting world. Sports editor Conor Bates sifts through the ruins of the iconic blade runner’s shattered career.

THIS WHOLE situation is a tragedy. Shakespeare himself could only craft a comparable character of malice and deceit. A reprehensible death, a police investigation mishandled and botched from the outset, an unprecedented four-day bail hearing, and at the centre of it all, a culpable man once lauded as a hero. The scenario brings back painful memories of the O.J. Simpson case, albeit with differing extraneous factors. Oscar Pistorius, or the ‘Blade-Runner’ to his global cohort of fans, was a national hero until Valentine’s Day. In actuality, he was a pariah waiting to break from his shackles; an opaque, well managed athlete, akin to a modern day Coriolanus. The driving power inside him, the aggression that made him a winner, has now made him an irrecoverable villain.

Pistorius had his legs amputated at the tender age of eleven months. Born without fibulae in either extremity, he donned athletic prosthetics and took up running at the age of 18 when a knee injury prevented him from

continuing to play rugby.

From here, the sporting story is nothing short of inspiring. Competing in his first Paralympics, he took home a bronze in the 100m and gold in the 200m, breaking the world record in the process.

Over the next eight years he dominated his distances, contributing five more gold medals and one silver to South Africa’s Paralympic bounty. Most remarkable of all, in 2012 he became the first Paralympian to compete with able-bodied athletes in the Olympic games.

Pistorius says he achieved this through an iron will to win and regimented, intensive training. Surely, the pursuit of honour makes the man honourable.

The reality is that Pistorius was not a good person.

He was very well managed by a savvy PR team, and as a result his grave character flaws and numerous misgivings were hidden or veiled from public light. In 2009, Pistorius was arrested and charged with common assault on a woman in his home. The charge was dropped soon after, with the

supposition of having been settled out of court. Later in the same year, the BladeRunner crashed his speedboat into a pier on the Vaal River. Much was made of the South African’s injuries after being flung from the boat, and his incredible recovery. Only passing reference arose in relation to the athlete’s self-proclaimed ‘adrenaline junkie’ status, the on-board engine computer which showed him to have be speeding and the empty alcohol bottles discovered on board. He is infamous for his tweets about his guns, and once accidentally shot his friend in the foot. Even his on-track persona took a hit when he scathingly complained about the length of a competitor’s running blades, in a petulant act which he later admitted was ill-founded.

These were mere glimpses of his recklessly impulsive and pugnacious nature.

Inevitably though, the uncensored truth surfaces about people’s character, and in this instance it is nothing short of horrific. Police acknowledge that

Pistorius’ off-field antics have made him more famous than his sprinting poweress. several instances of domestic abuse filed against Pistorius were not followed up or pursued in any way.

More likely than not, people didn’t and wouldn’t want to believe it. The contrast between his shining achievements and his darker machinations is staggering, and his downfall would be too much to bear for fans and believers. Allegations of illegal ammunition in his bedroom and performance enhancing drugs found in his home speak volumes to what we never knew, and were never supposed to find out. His downfall is upon us now, like it or not.

On deeper inspection, perhaps we could have seen

Goal-line technology hitting the mark

FIFA recently announced that goal-line technology will be implemented in time for

the 2013 Confederations cup. Gavin Cooney remembers the high-profile incidents which hastened the introduction of goal-line technology and the remaining steps needed to be drag professional football into the modern era.

IT IS January 4, 2005. Tottenham Hotspur had just been robbed of two points at Old Trafford, after a Pedro Mendes shot was spilled over the goal-line by Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll. The ball had clearly crossed the line, but the referee and officials did not see it. Imagine that on the Match of the Day sofa afterwards, Mark Lawrenson is asked for his opinion

by Gary Lineker on the incident. Lawrenson, replete with a characteristic garish floral shirt, replies to his host “Arguably, Gary, arguably, the technology is there to make these decisions, so in my opinion, FIFA should look to implement goal – line technology, arguably”.

Now imagine that Lawrenson’s usually vapid words resonate with an elderly man watching his television in Switzerland. Spitting out his bedtime Coco Pops and casting off his blanket, Sepp Blatter reaches for his

for the implementation of goal-line technology into all professional football matches, effective immediately.

Anfield, May 3rd, 2005.

Luis Garcia thought he had put Liverpool ahead of Chelsea after just four minutes

phone. He dials his assistant and instructs them to record a memo: to table a motion

in their crucial Champions League semi-final second leg after referee Lubos

“The archaic governing body finally seems to be catching up with sports like rugby and tennis”

Michel played advantage, but technology proved otherwise. His goal bound shot in front of the Kop was hacked off the line by William Gallas. Instead, Michel awarded Liverpool a penalty after Petr Cech fouled Milan Baros, and subsequently sent Cech off. Steven Gerrard converted the penalty. Playing against ten men, Rafa Benitez’ side comfortably dealt with their opponents, and Liverpool sailed through to the final. Afterwards, Jose Mourinho admitted that his team had no excuses.

Bloemfontein, June 27th,2010. Frank Lampard wheels away in celebration, having equalised for England against Germany in

it coming. If modern media has brought us anything in terms of sports coverage, it is the ability to get right into the lives of our favourite athletes. Countless reporters from major media outlets, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, to name but a few, have travelled to the Blade-Runner’s home over the last number of years. Every article and report has painted the same picture of Pistorius’ bedroom; a revolver by his bedside, a baseball bat and cricket bat placed by his door and, most frightening of all, a machine gun by the window. Just in case. True, South Africa has the one of the highest burglary, murder

and murder by shooting rates in the world, but Pistorius lived with his girlfriend in a secure compound, surrounded by armed guards.

Was there a necessity to create an armoury in his own house? Probably not.

The whole sordid affair raises a great number of questions about social policy, treatment of women in South Africa, gun control, gun crime and the unbelievable magnitude of violent crime that underpins the day-to-day life of South Africa. These are questions far too amorphous for one person to answer in one article.

For one, we will most likely never uncover the whole truth of what happened that

awful night, even when the case goes to trial this June.

In a purely sporting frame, the achievements of Oscar Pistorius stand potentially shaken by testosterone and PEDs found in the athlete’s house, as the World Anti-Doping Agency cannot undertake an investigation while a criminal procedure is on-going.

On a personal side, Pistorius’ actions have left the world disgusted and disillusioned. It is not the first time a sporting hero has let down the people who have followed them. Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong are pertinent examples of how good PR management kept us from the truth for so long.

their World Cup last 16 tie.

Germany had outplayed England early on, and had raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Miroslav Klose and Lucas Podolski. Despite their inferiority however, England battled back into the game, as Matthew Upson cut the deficit after thirty eight minutes. Then, one minute later, Lampard struck a ball that looped over German goalkeeper

technology to football is a good thing. If it is the referee’s duty to ensure that maximum sporting justice and veracity is reached on the field, then it is the down to the governing body to equip them with the tools to do so.

Without doubt, this adjustment will aid that. After an exhaustive wait, the archaic governing body finally seem to be catching up with sports like rugby and tennis.

Gaelic games community mourns loss of Heffernan

“The implementation of in-game video replays could resolve two or three incidents per game” Manuel Neuer, cannoned off the underside of the crossbar and bounced over the goal – line. Despite some initial hesitancy, the referee, utilising the technology at hand, awarded the goal. It was to be as good as it got for England however; the Germans continued to terrorise the English defence and eventually got their reward with two goals in the space of three second half minutes to win the tie 4-2. It was a dominant German performance, and despite Lampard’s equaliser, Fabio Capello’s team were powerless to quell the German juggernaut.

Now, back to the real world. Sepp Blatter happened not to be watching Match of the Day upon that fateful January night, and it has taken until this year for FIFA to confirm the introduction of goal-line technology. FIFA confirmed that the technology will be in place at the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup. The irony is, however, that the results of the famous examples above, those pertaining to goal-line controversies, would in all likelihood have been unaltered by technology.

The arrival of goal-line

But why did it take so long?

The argument propagated

by FIFA is that the employment of technology in the professional game detaches the sport from the amateur, underage games played on Sunday mornings. This alienation happened years ago, as very few amateur games have fourth officials, masseurs and a guy standing at the dugout with a coat and a Lucozade for substitutes.

Albeit a belated decision, it is one that may herald further technology, a harbinger of future technological advancements in a sport beset by cheating and diving.

Whereas goal-line technology may resolve two or three issues a year, in-game video replays can resolve two or three incidents a game. A system similar to Hawk-Eye in tennis would be meritorious. Allow each manager three challenges per game, allowing them to question any decisions they feel to be unfair. This would have the added bonus of ridding post-game press conferences of manager’s complaints over refereeing decisions.

Goal-line technology is not enough. It is, however, a start.

Conor Bates Sports Editor THE STEREOTYPICAL thing to say about the GAA is that it’s all one big community. In this case, it’s not so much a stereotype, it is more so a truism. When Kevin Heffernan died, one month ago this week, the GAA family all over Ireland mourned the loss of one of the most prolific Dublin footballers and managers in their storied history. In reality, Heffernan was one of the saviours a Dublin football, which was waning in popularity before he took over. He was, in essence, the prototype for what modern GAA managers have become. His effect on the game was monumental and widespread.

Closer to home however, Heffernan was a Trinity alumnus, and was the architect of one of the greatest wins ever recorded by the Trinity GAA club: the 1957 Duke Cup. Trinity first en-

At the risk of being too cynical, the world we live in is massively under the thumb of well-considered press releases, and it may only be a short matter of time before another Shakespearean tragedy regrettably punctuates our news. In the instant matter, putting sport on the back-burner, all we can hope for is justice to be done.

and former Trinity professor, Brendan Kennelly, was at the game and his words have become a surmised version of the legendary performance; “After the break Trinity were awarded a penalty. Kevin Heffernan took it and kicked it wide. I thought they were finished. But on that evening, I saw the true greatness of Heffo. Having missed the penalty, the man went mad, and inside ten minutes, he had the ball in the net three times, and then added several points.”

For many years Kevin Heffernan was the figurehead leader of the GAA; a great footballer, named in the team of the century and the team of the millennium, and a pioneering manager, leading his side to five Leinster titles and three AllIreland Championships. For any member or supporter of Trinity’s GAA club, he is so much more. A recipient of a Pink in 1954, the first person

Heffernan is wifely regarded as one of the greatest managers in GAA history.

tered the cup competition in 1951 and they brought home the trophy at the first time of asking. The 1957 Duke Cup final was one for the ages, and remains a Trinity tale of yore that has never lost its shine. Such was the influence of Heffernan on the outcome that it became known as ‘Heffo’s Match.’

Played in Croke Park against a formidable Albert College (a collection of UCD colleges) side, Trinity found themselves fourteen points down at halftime. Popular Irish writer

inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2011, and most importantly one of the founders of the GAA in Trinity.

The simple fact of the matter is that without Heffo, we wouldn’t be where we are today. His pioneering legacy, and the early success he helped bring to the club are all parts of the great sporting legacy in Trinity and we should be very thankful for that.

Kevin Heffernan, ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

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The University Times | March 5, 2013

UTSPORTS Final Score UCD DUFC

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Rory McCarthy Deputy Sports Editor UCD RAN out winners of the 61st Colours match played out in a packed Belfield Bowl. UCD weathered an early period of Trinity dominance to take the spoils for the second year in a row.

Their star performer was Barry Daly, who had a hand in both tries, scoring the first and setting up Andy Boyle with a brilliant break from his own half. On reflection Trinity will rue those scores, as they were very soft concessions in a tight and tense game. Trinity had the measure of the early engagements with their scrum certainly having the upper hand for most of the evening. Even when changes were made it did not disrupt Trinity’s dominance in the scrum, as they consistently drove UCD back.

Trinity opened the scoring when they moved wide following a blitzing run from Paddy Lavelle. When the ball returned to the centre, out half David Joyce feinted to draw enough space for Ciaran Wade, who turned on the accelerators.

Wade slid through Alex Kelly and Jordan Coghlan and finished with a great try.

Trinity struggled to build any composure on top of the early score due to a high penalty count. Despite the dominance in the scrum, referee Paul Haycock consistently penalised the Trinity forwards. However, their indiscretions at the breakdown were inexcusable and the tireless work of UCD

fought off the early period of Trinity dominance.

Then UCD began to turn the screw. James Thornton kicked accurately all evening and he consistently had Trinity playing in their own 22. From a loose clearance, fullback Andy Boyle passed to centre Jordan Coghlan who then offloaded to Sam Coughlan-Murray. He darted through some soft tackles from the Trinity cover and fed Barry Daly. After some neat footwork, Daly was over in the corner to open UCD’s account. Thornton made no mistake with the conversion and from there it was level. Trinity, through Neil Hanratty and Paddy Lavelle, tried to shut down UCD’s movement with some tough tackling, however in defence Trinity oftern stood off the UCD side. In contrast when Trinity sought to attack, UCD suffocated their space closing in from the outside forcing Trinity to become narrow and play around the ruck, which suited UCD’s pack. Pierce Dargan made some strong runs and performed admirably in trying to bring Trinity into the match, but to little avail.

Where UCD’s first try had a spark of magic about it, their second try was more down to sloppy Trinity defence. From a seemingly static and secure ruck on the halfway line, Barry Daly acted as scrum-half and went for a snipe around the side.

He skipped out of a tackle to find himself in behind the

DUFC’s David Joyce and Neil Hanratty eye up UCD’s Jordan Coghlan during the rugby colour’s in Belfield.

UCD claim rugby colours Trinity line, scorching to the goal. Andy Boyle came up in support and Daly judged his pass to perfection, releasing the fullback to score a great try. Thornton’s conversion made it 14-7 at half time. It was a very soft score to concede. Last season Trinity built their success around an uncompromising defence that was the best in its league. Such sloppiness

was never evident then, but it has crept into their game this season and this must be rectified.

Trinity made some changes at half time bringing on Dominic Gallagher for his first competitive appearance of the season. The Ulsterman was involved throughout during his brief cameo showing his teaktoughness with a few big

hits. James O’Donoghue at fullback had some nice touches kicking well and showing good solidity under multiple high balls. Will Scott also brought his finesse and footballing skill to show but it was too hard for Trinity for impose any real force on the game that UCD were controlling. They had a small purple patch early in the second half as the

The UT guide to the League of Ireland Christopher Davey Sports Staff IT’S FRIDAY, about 5 o’clock.

The weekend stretches ahead of you like your commitment to study has stretched from January until now. You’ve had one can of Bav in the Pav and you’re not going to study tonight. You’ve had a tough week of burrito testing and skipping lectures; you deserve some credit. A full night on the cans isn’t exactly desirable either, Howl is winding down on Fridays and you can’t really budget your time to include a hangover tomorrow.

You’re in the mood for some light entertainment, some sporting excitement.

You’ve been starved for invigorating football too; La Liga, the Premier League, the Bundesliga and even the bloody Ligue 1 are as good as over. You think about that mate of yours who supports Bohs. You think to yourself, a casual game of football for €10 and, heaven forbid, it may be enjoyable. Better than the Late Late Show anyway.

This is the University Times’ guide on which League of Ireland mate you should finally succumb to and, as a result, which Dublin team you’ll follow for the upcoming season. The caveat is that if you’re from Cork, Derry, Limerick or Sligo, your team will be playing in Dublin once a month and it’s a great way to feel at home in the big city.

Bohemian FC Awaiting you at Dalymount Park is the familiar story of recent league winners who have fallen on the sword of financial doom. Crowds are down and they’re begging people through the turnstiles. As a

league newcomer, this is the time to start following Bohs.

It’s only a matter of time before they return to the higher end of the table, and you’ll be sitting smugly in their comfy club bar reciting the names of the 2013 squad who were pulled together on a shoestring.

The ground is falling apart, but steeped in Irish footballing history. It’s in Phibsborough, which makes it walking distance from college. A trip to Dalymount will cost you €10, or 2 student burritos. Wear red.

Shelbourne FC This isn’t an attractive option. Shelbourne play terrible football on a terrible pitch in the terrible Tolka

Photo: Orla Comerford

Park. The manager, Alan Matthews, has fallen out with a majority of his better players and they will begin their 2013 campaign with a squad so small they could fit into a passport photo.

So why follow Shels? They should be the team of choice for Trinity students, as they derive their support from Ringsend and other parts of Dublin 2, and they are a club that are very renowned historically. The small squad means you’ll get to know their names quicker and the upcoming relegation fight they are tipped for will excite. Going to Tolka Park, in Drumcondra, is walkable, and will set you back €10. Wear red.

St. Patrick’s Athletic FC This is the cool football blogger’s choice. Pats have an attractive brand

of football that is more important than scoring mere goals. What more does the aspiring Barcelona plastic want? They’ll be aiming to win something this year after falling short in both their league and cup campaigns.

It should be known that every Pats fan would give either a limb or a family member to win an FAI Cup. The ground itself is majestic and atmospheric, dug into the ground beside the Camac river than runs through Inchicore, and reachable by LUAS. After getting off at Goldenbridge, you’ll be in Richmond Park in about 5 minutes. Heading to Pats will set you back about €15 (3 burritos). Wear red.

Shamrock Rovers The Real Madrid to St. Pat’s Barcelona, Shamrock

Rovers have a tendency to splash cash like a student on an ill-fated ski trip. They struck it big in recent years, winning two leagues and qualifying for the group stages of the Europa League.

A poor league campaign last year saw them drop out of the top 3 and European football for the upcoming season.

They’ve spent big again, securing the services of four PFAI Player of the Year nominees and are undoubtedly the favourites for the upcoming campaign.

Tallaght Stadium is an hour from town on the LUAS and is very windy, so wrap up. It costs €15, but is worth it to see Mark Quigley’s hair for 90 minutes. Wear green.

Bray Wanderers FC If you’re willing to dive well into the deep end of local football, Bray are the team for you. The trek out is a long DART ride from college and the Carlisle Grounds themselves are directly opposite the station.

The team itself is full of young lads who are al nifty footballers, stewarded by the occasional veteran.

They’ll all be plying their trade around the league for years to come and you can take solace in the fact that you saw them when the broke into the league. Prepare to fall in love with midfielder Kieran Marty Waters and the league’s second highest scorer, Jason Byrne.

A trip to see Bray costs €15.

Wear green.

UCD I don’t think…

replacements all added their own energy to the occasion but UCD with their own strong bench managed the period well seeing Thornton add another penalty for a scrum infringement.

Cathal Marsh made a number of tidy breaks and added a tough penalty to give Trinity a slight bit of hope that they could at least draw the match.

It wouldn’t have made a difference as only a win would see the Colours trophy back in College Park, and in the form that UCD were in they weren’t going to allow that. UCD were the better team. They were more aggressive in attack and more composed throughout the game, never letting Trinity find any sort of rhythm.

Furthermore the thumping

handed out to them back in College Park earlier this season meant they were in no mood to experience defeat again. The Colours title stays with UCD and with the young profile of their team, coupled with their strong player and recruiting base, it might be a long time before Trinity restore parity in this classic rivalry.

In brief Compiled by Conor Bates

Water Polo DU Swimming Club recorded a double success at the water-polo intervarsities.

Held in Derry last month, both the Men’s and Women’s teams rose above the other colleges to take home their respective IV trophy. The men saw off Queen’s Belfast 8-4 in the final, while the women defeated UCD by a score of 9-6. Result of the weekend goes to the men who beat UCC by a score of 15-1.

Athletics DUHAC gave a good account of themselves at the Indoor Intervarsities bringing home five medals, two of which were gold. The Intervarsities is comprised of individual events, with points on offer for an overall team competition. In the overall women’s competition Trinity finished 5th, while the men took 7th. DCU won both events. Becky Woods led the way for the women with a gold medal in the 1500m.

Sorcha Prendirville took bronze in the 1500m walking race, while Laura Frey picked up a well-earned silver in the combined events. On the men’s side of things, Eamonn Fahey cruised to a gold medal in the long jump, while harriers captain Sam Mealy claimed a bronze in the 3000m.

Soccer Trinity’s Men’s soccer team sits atop the Sunday Major Football League, albeit with a number of games in hand. Their most recent games, a 1-1 draw with Fairview and a 3-1 away win to Enniskerry leave them at the summit of the highest level of Sunday league football for the time being. In cup football, Trinity finished runner-up to UCD in the Harding Cup, losing the final 3-0. Trinity were also knocked out of the Collingwood Cup by Queen’s, losing 1-0.

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Judo The Judo club hosted an exceptionally successful intervarsity tournament in February. The men’s team in particular recorded the wonderful achievement of winning the overall team event at the IVs. Adam Corcoran won the 73kg category, with Kenan Dogan taking silver in the same class. Omar Nuohi was victorious in the 90kg category.

Tae Kwon Do DU Tae Kwon Do club had a very successful intervarsities in Carlow. The tournament saw Trinity’s competitors bring home eight medals in all, three gold, two silver and three bronze. Stephen Kelly and Lauren Beehan brought home two medals each for their efforts.

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Tough love shown in boxing colours Sarah Ledden Contributing Writer Adaptivity, instincts and survival are the key aspects highlighted by Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species’. In the boxing ring when one opponent faces another with no weapons but the hands moulded for their individual body, Darwin’s theory is seen most prominently in modern civilisation. The notorious boxing Colours is one of the occasions that Trinity and UCD students can put their great rivalry to the test in the form of a physical contest.

It was a building older than Darwin’s theory that would play host to the occasion as the Exam Hall was transformed into the platform that would create an electric atmosphere on Valentine’s night.

Ben Kavanagh opened

the night with a win for Trinity as he overcame his UCD opponent David Molinuex. Kavanagh showed stealth in his ability to slip Molinuex’s shots and use his shorter height to duck below his taller opponent’s long reaching jabs for body shots. With smooth counterpunching leaving his opponent flat footed, Kavanagh gave a boost to the DU boxing team and crowd as they had an immediate taste of victory. Alas, the sweet taste of Kavanagh’s opening soon turned bitter when the first of the three billed female bouts ended in a loss for Trinity as Lauran Kilmartin felt the impact of UCD’s Grianne Whelehan’s height advantage becoming helpless to Whelehan’s much longer reach.

A rising star can be seen in Trinity’s Cian McGenra.

Opposing styles were used by the boxers with McGenra keeping his leading left hand constantly moving, with Conor Dowley preferring to keep his leading right hand in a defensive position. In a close contest between two skilled boxers, it was McGenra who proved sharper with impressive counter-punching and successful combos leading to a win. An unexpected knockout to his opponent in Juniors left high expectations for Gasper Perret, but Eoin Dunbar of UCD was quick and let off some fantastic strings of combos to gain a worthy win. Both fighters were capable of ducking and giving some great shots providing a fantastic contest for those who came to see a physical bout.

Two weeks ago, UCD

won three of their five bouts against Trinity in the Juniors. There was no sign of the two losing fighters while the winning three returned for rematches. Sam Browett forced Nic Morgan to retire in the first round at Juniors and this time Morgan could only manage to make it into the second round against the hard-hitting, technically superior Browett. The last time they met Kevin Casey (UCD) got the better of Tom Austin. Despite Austin’s aggressive advances, Casey seemed to easily slip away and accurately break through Austin’s defense leading to another win.

UCD’s Katie Kavanagh held a stationary position parked in the centre of the ring leaving Laura Healy to dance around her searching for a way in. Healy put up a good fight with many advances causing her opponent to

move from her centre-ring fort. Despite Healy’s improvement from their last encounter she came out second best again as Kavanagh walked away victorious.

With hopes keeping the coveted Colours trophy on Trinity grounds fading into the night, it was captain Chris Bayliss who held the torch that could rekindle the fire. Cillian Carroll had no intentions of throwing away UCD’s lead and proved himself the perfect match for Bayliss in the most exciting bout of the night. Carroll threw successions of quick jabs while Bayliss slipped beneath them and returned precise counterpunches.The talented fighters displayed some good combos as Bayliss showed the crowd why he deserves his role as captain.

As the fight came toward a close Bayliss appeared the sharper of the two. In this

instance ‘survival of the fittest’ proved a flawed philosophy as Carroll was awarded the win in a decision that split the crowd and gave rise to Trinity’s flame of hope extinguishing.

Tara Shaw was defeated in an intense bout against Chloe Brown. Shaw’s enthusiasm soaked into her performance creating a fastpaced, physical contest that lifted the crowds spirits and expectations of women’s boxing. Conor Curran made a remarkable comeback in his bout against Mark McMahon when a right hook in the first round sent him to the ground. Knowing that he had been inferior in the opening round Curran came out strong and smart, using his long arms to throw clean jabs and looking relaxed as he quickly sprung in and out avoiding damage. An early scare was not

enough to knock the confidence of Curran, who coolly claimed a win.

The atmosphere peaked when Tom Seaver took his place in the ring opposite UCD’s Conor McCullen, in what was also a postponed Junior final. Seaver tried to keep a distance but McCullen kept pushing in close causing a very aggressive bout. At times McCullen appeared to have Seaver caught against the ropes, but instead of neatly climbing out through a gap, Seaver punched his way through, forcing McCullen to withdraw. Another impressive performance was acknowledged by the crowd and the judges when Seaver was awarded Colours’ Boxer of the Tournament. Seaver’s win provided a dream ending to a fantastic night softening the blow for DUBC as they were beaten by UCD

7-4.

For those who swapped the chemistry of lovers to witness the “sweet science” on Valentine’s day were justly rewarded with an explosive night that saw fireworks between innate rivals. On the night the re-emerged Matt Kirwin trophy, which had been missing for several years, was awarded to UCD as the winners established themselves as a class above their opponents. When next the Trinity boxers step foot in the historic Exam Hall not only will the anxiety of tests that play on their minds, but waves of disappointment as memories of this night will flood back to them. The scars and bruises earned may be advantageous to the boxers though as they can be used to impress when the team hits the town in search of Valentines.

Super six for Trinity fencers

Killian Hanlon Fencing Correspondent DU FENCING has managed to secure a sixth consecutive intervarsity victory after a stunning display in UL. Fighting tooth and nail for every inch of ground, Trinity’s fencers won the day by the thinnest of margins, executing their win in swashbuckling style.

Fencing IVs takes place in teams, over six weapons

– foil, sabre and épée, each with a men’s and women’s team. Each team consists of three fencers and one or two subs, with each match consisting of nine bouts between team members.

With each fencer competing two or three times per match, and with as many as ten teams in some weapons, the competition can be

a gruelling affair, requiring much of its entrants. Trinity were up to the challenge, though.

With the Frank Russell Intervarsity trophy in Trinity hands for five years in a row, the other colleges were clamouring for victory or blood. DUFC went to Limerick knowing they had a tough battle on their hands.

The other teams were out in force, with all of the colleges putting forth strong fronts.

There was no easing in to the competition; it was one hundred percent from the opening match. First off was the women’s sabre team; the slashing weapon often features lightning fast matches, with thought and strategy often taking a back seat to reflex and training. Despite the team featuring more beginners than experienced fencers, the sabreuses held their own, managing a fantastic third place. A highlight of this round of competition was the team’s win over Dundalk, a panel that had soundly defeated them only two weeks before.

Next up, the women’s épée team took the stage, facing down against five other teams. After winning their first four matches, they just lost out to UCD 5-3, taking second place overall, leaving the two colleges

level. The men’s foil team finished the day off in style – first place in the weapon came down to the last bout of the last match versus UCD. Ian Kenny played a blinder, losing only one match in fifteen. The men’s foil team beat UCD 5-3, stealing the win and nudging Trinity into first place overall.

The team couldn’t relax on Saturday evening though, as they headed into the second day of fencing only a single match above UCD, with UCC only two more steps behind. Sunday morning kicked off with the women’s foil. DUFC’s experienced members tore through most of the competition, but were narrowly defeated in the end by UCD, claiming second place overall. Men’s sabre came were up next as out of the thick of battle came an unexpected rising star – no-one expecting it less than the man

himself. Ian Mooney, having only picked up the sabre a few months before, placed fourth individually.

With the sabre team finishing second overall, it was enough to maintain that precarious one match lead over UCD. Tensions were on the rise.

It all came down to the men’s épée. It was all to play for. In the end, almost predestined, it came down to Trinity and UCD. Trinity went into the match one ahead, but if UCD won and brought it to a tie, they would win on total weapon victories. It seemed, however, that the DUFC team had, up until this point, simply been trying to build suspense.

They fought like nothing else, giving their opponents no quarter, and washed over UCD, winning 5-1. At the finishing point, the entire coterie of DUFC burst out in yells of joy simultaneously – after two days of fighting, finally

clinching the win was almost too much to take in. It was hard-earned, and all the sweeter for that. Club and men’s captain Conor Traynor said of the event that, besides training, teamwork was essential to winning the competition. “The team being together, supporting each other, without that we might not have carried the day.” Ian Mooney revelled in the level of support Trinity had brought.

“Sometimes it felt like ten to one out there”, he said with a smile, speaking of how, in many matches, those fencing were surrounded by a small army of people cheering for DUFC’s victory. “It makes a difference, knowing you have all of those people behind you, gunning for you.” The name on everyone’s lips in the aftermath, though, was that of the coach, Colm Flynn. “His knowledge, patience, and dedication to both training

and the team itself were all vital,” said Ladies’ Captain Clodagh McCarthy-Luddy.

As both a coach and a friend to the team, there are surely few around to match him.

The college year may be winding down, but there are still competitions aplenty for DU Fencing to compete in. Many will be hoping to claim prizes at Maynooth’s student individuals, the Belfast open, and Colours against UCD, among others. The team will also be looking toward next year, where the pressure will be even greater – competing for a seventh consecutive win, and facing off against teams even more eager to reclaim the silverware, it will surely prove to be a heroic occasion. Debates are already taking place over what the motto will be. Seventh Heaven? Cocked, locked and seacht? We’ll just have to wait and see.