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March 2007

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NEWS

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APOLOGISE FOR THE SLAVE TRADE – NOT ME!

A monument to the slaves sold at the old slave market in Stone Town, on Zanzibar.

By Helen Morrogh In February, Virginia became the first American state to make a formal apology for its involvement in the slave trade that ended approximately two hundred years ago. The

state’s legislators expressed ‘profound regret’ over the use of natives as slaves by the colonisers and described the slave trade as ‘the most horrendous of all depredations of human rights and violations of our founding ideals in our nation’s history’.

This apology leads us into the debate that existed long before Virginia issued its apology; should anybody be apologising for the slave trade?

No state should have to apologise for something that ceased some two hundred years ago. To do so, is to admit responsibility for a time when none of us were alive.

The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, following the bi-centenary of Britain’s involvement in the slave trade, refused to submit an apology and instead expressed a ‘deep sorrow’ for Britain’s primary role in the exploitation of natives by white settlers. This is sufficient. While Blair recognised Britain’s role in the slave trade, he did not admit responsibility. The time for apologising was when those who were directly involved were still alive.

Who is actually being apologised to? The slaves are now long dead. They do not need a feeble apology from statesmen wishing to secure votes who had absolutely nothing to do with the tyrannical regimes run by the colonisers.

Yet, many feel that the descendants of the millions of slaves

who were so horrifically treated by their owners are owed an apology.

They have had to live with the knowledge that their ancestors’ existence was as mere commodities to the white settlers. Their ancestors were beaten regularly and many died through disease or maltreatment. They neither received an apology nor saw justice carried out. While slavery was finally abolished worldwide by the early nineteenth century, nobody was ever forced to pay for what happened. Nobody was ever obliged to face up to what they had done.

As a woman, I do not feel the need to be apologised to for the way in which women were treated centuries ago. Neither do I feel I should be apologised to by the British for the way in which the Irish were treated in the nineteenth century and before. It may sadden me, but I certainly do not feel that anybody owes me an apology.

Rightly, Tony Blair has refrained from apologising as this could lead to compensation claims. If he admits to guilt, then somebody else who wasn’t alive at the time, is going to gain. As far as the present

is concerned, the slave trade should remain a topic in books, and one that is taught in schools and universities, not something that is turned into a wrong-doing of contemporary society.

History is something that must be respected. No matter how appalling, the pages of history cannot be changed. Rather than apologising for what happened, we should be analysing what each event in history means, how and why it happened and what the outcome has been. If this means that we discover the plight of certain historical peoples’ has shaped the way many live their lives now, very well, but this does not mean that we should apologise.

The slave trade should never have started, but it did. Most of us cannot even begin to understand how anybody could treat a fellow human being in such a manner.

Slavery is something that should never be forgotten and it most likely never will be. The time for apologies has passed. Now, all we can do is document the lives and hardships of these slaves and remember them with the respect and dignity that they were robbed of all those years ago.

JOBS GLOOM FOR PHYSIO GRADUATES

By Enid O’Dowd

Figures for 2007 CAO applications released this week show a 30% drop in applications for the high points physiotherapy degree after complaints from 2006 graduates of poor job prospects.

This does not surprise 22 year old physiotherapy student Petra Grehan who is in her final year.

“Most of my class are planning to go to New Zealand. There are no jobs for us here.” Petra is one of two UCD student representatives to the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (ISCP).

Petra and her fellow students only became aware of their limited prospects in the past few months.

Over their four-year B.Sc degree programme, they spend 1000 hours working on clinical placements in hospitals for no pay and normally not even a free or subsidised lunch.

Nursing students on placements are paid. Physiotherapy students had assumed there was a job for them at the end of their free stint in Irish hospitals.

Figures released by ISCP late last year revealed that the majority of the 150 physiotherapists who graduated in 2006 are unemployed, under employed or on part-time or temporary contracts.

The situation is exacerbated by the return of young Irish physiotherapists who trained in the UK

because they could not get the 530 plus points needed here.

Following pressure from ISCP, the Minister for Health and Children, Ms Mary Harney, admitted in an RTE radio interview in December 2006 that there was unemployment among young physiotherapists.

A meeting between ISCP and the Health Service Executive (HSE) resulted in an advertisement in January 2007 for physiotherapists but with no indication as to the numbers to be employed.

Finola Doran, National projects Office, HSE, refused to tell this reporter how many jobs were on offer. She referred me to the press office who said it was “not really within their remit”.

It took a parliamentary question from Green Party Health spokesman John Gormley TD to find out the answer. Deputy Gormley said, “the reply says the number is ‘of the order of 30’, which in my opinion only represents some of the long sanctioned posts left unfilled to save money.

This number is quite inadequate to meet the needs of patients.”

The advertisement makes it clear that any further recruitment in 2007 is unlikely as panels will be formed from the unsuccessful applicants.

A staggering 370 applications have been received from unemployed or underemployed physiotherapists for these 30 posts.

Interview panels throughout the country are currently interviewing 350 of these applicants.

In July 2001, the then Minister for Health and Children, Micheal Martin, launched a report by Dr Peter Bacon on the ‘current and future supply and demand conditions in the Labour Market for certain professional therapists.’

The report concluded that a major expansion in the number of therapists (physiotherapists, speech therapists and occupational therapists) was essential to pre-empt the emergence of a persistent and growing deficit in service provision.

In response to the report, the government opened a new training school with 25 places in the University of Limerick in 2002.

The first students graduated in 2006.

A more recent report from the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs in October 2005 endorsed Bacon’s findings and predicted shortages of physiotherapists in the future.

In the context of these reports it seems strange that young graduates are unemployed.

According to Ruaidhri O’Connor, ISCP Chief Executive Officer, “there is a shortage of approved posts within the Irish health service. The recruitment cap has meant the non-filling of vacant posts and targeted new development posts failing to mate-

rialise.”

A recent caller to the Joe Duffy Liveline show told listeners of a letter from the HSE – western area.

His son, recovering from a broken bone in his foot, had been taken off the list for an outpatient physiotherapy appointment due to ‘staff shortages.’

According to the HSE, there has been a 129% increase in the employment of all grades of physiotherapists in the ten years from 1996 to 2006, and 190 new development posts are “anticipated” in the next two years.

However, close r examination of the figures show that the increase in the employment of physiotherapists (graduate entry level) since the Bacon report was 19.6% or just 83 posts.

There was no increase in employment – not one single job – in 2006, the year which saw the first Limerick graduates and increased overall numbers of graduates.

Petra Grehan and the rest of the class of 2007 are facing their finals knowing their professional future is uncertain.

It costs up to ?100,000 of taxpayer’s money to train each physiotherapist. The public interest is not served by their involuntary emigration.

Even allowing for retirements, “promised” new posts in community care and some opportunities in the private sector, the situation is bleak.

Petra Grehan When the 30 posts on offer are filled, there will be 340 qualified physiotherapists out of work. The class of 2007 joins them in May, bringing the number of unemployed young Irish physiotherapists to 490.

Martin McDonald, National Director of Human Resources, HSE, says in a letter dated February 28, 2007 to Deputy Gormley, “I am aware that an issue has arisen around the availability of employment for recently qualified physiotherapists.”

ISCP is seeking an urgent meeting with the HSE. “This year’s graduates must not face the same situation as the 2006 graduates did,” insists Ruaidhri O’Connor.

NEWS

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Think before rushing onto the property ladder It’s not surprising that most people, who don’t own a house, want to do so as soon as possible, to the point of obsession. They are bombarded with propaganda, and the pressure to buy just about anything, is huge

By Enid O’Dowd

It’s not surprising that most people, who don’t own a house, want to do so as soon as possible, to the point of obsession. They are bombarded with propaganda, and the pressure to buy just about anything, is huge.

Last year, RTE gave us I’m an Adult – Get Me Out of Here in which twenty somethings were given advice on how to leave the family home for the mortgage minefield.

One programme featured two sisters aged 22 and 27 living at home somewhere in south Dublin.

Daddy gave them ‘pocket money’ of €500 per month to supplement their salaries which was apparently needed to support their then mortgage-free lifestyle.

There’s nothing wrong with living with your family – especially if the family home is convenient for your work and lifestyle.

Housing is a basic human need, and the state policies should ensure that citizens can provide themselves with a roof over their head, at a price they can afford.

But there is no absolute right to own a house. The state has no obligation to subsidise home ownership for young people barely out of college.

“I’m an adult - get me out of here”

Young people face peer pressure from friends who are in the mortgage trap, and sometimes pressure from parents who may want them out so they can downsize.

Then there’s the pressure from auctioneers and the property supplements. They make big money out of the Irish obsession with property and naturally want to keep things that way.

Auctioneers get paid a percent-

age of the selling price, so the higher the price, the bigger their bank balances. And property supplements make much needed advertising revenue for their newspapers.

Politicians add to the pressure.

With a general election imminent, the parties are falling over themselves to offer goodies to the home ownership lobby because it always votes. For example, various versions of stamp duty cuts are currently on offer.

It’s doubtful whether stamp duty cuts would really help first time buyers because demand exceeds supply.

A little bit of honesty wouldn’t go amiss, but that would lose the politicians votes.

Land is a finite quantity and as population increases so does the price of houses. That’s basic economics. According to the Central Statistics Office, Census 2006 showed a population increase of 317,722 in the four years since the last census.

Young people complain they cannot afford houses in the areas where they grew up.

That’s inevitable if they grew up in a mature area convenient to the city centre where developers have now built on every little bit of land.

In such areas – unless you increase supply by building on school playgrounds and the little green space – prices can only go up. Even if price growth is restricted a little by increasing mortgage rates, there simply isn’t enough property to go round.

The possibility of ‘negative equity’ is now very real for Irish buyers.

Once upon a time, the lending institutions insisted that house buyers saved a significant deposit. Now they compete to offer mortgages up to 100%, loans to meet the deposit, deferred payment mortgages, and just about anything that might get potential house buyers to sign on the dotted line.

People say rent is dead money – which is true. Tenants will always have to pay for their housing.

However, mortgages used to be given for 20 years. Most lending institutions now lend for up to 35 years. A survey by the Sunday Business Post this month revealed that the Ulster Bank would lend a couple seven times their income over 40 years providing they agreed to rent out a room. The normal loan to income ratio is 5 to 1.

The Revenue Commissioners' website reveals a big difference between the tax concessions given

to home buyers as opposed to tenants. The maximum tax credit available to a single person renting is €360 in a tax year, but a single person buying for the first time can get a tax credit of up to €1,600 in a tax year.

These tax credits are doubled for a married couple. The home buyer can also rent out space in his home under the ‘rent a room’ scheme and not be liable for tax on the rental income providing it’s less than €7,620 per year.

The difference in tax treatment appears illogical and unfair.

One could argue that it’s not

unrelated to the close association between the government and the building industry. Ask yourself which party’s councillors were most in demand as witnesses in the various tribunals into planning corruption.

Tenants could and should be given the same tax treatment as homebuyers.

The plus side of renting is that you’re mobile, especially relevant when changing your job. You don’t have to worry about repairs, maintenance and insurance. You don’t have to worry about the six interest rate rises since December 2005,

and those to come.

You live where you want to live so you don’t have to run a car because your estate has inadequate public transport into the city.

Research by auctioneers Hooke and McDonald released this month shows that one in five of first time buyers are now under 25, and twothirds are under 30.

I’m an Adult – Get Me Out of Here is coming back later this year.

Apparently seven out of the eight young people featured in the first series are now buying their own homes.

These young people may have a

NEWS

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THE CIRCULAR

Poles apart...

But not that different

Polonia: local Polish shop on South Circular Road.

Jennifer O’Shea looks at the vibrant and expanding Polish community in Ireland Ireland is facing a phenomenon that it has never faced before.

Multiculturalism is fast becoming a reality that Ireland. Since May 1 st 2004 with the enlargement of the European Union, Hungarians, Baltic nationals but most noticeably Polish nationals have been coming to Ireland in large numbers in search of work and the hope of a better future.

According to the Polish Embassy, about “200,000 Poles live in Ireland.” The Polish community “is the fastest growing immigrant group in Ireland”, says networkeurope.cz. There is talk of Ireland developing a ‘‘Polish town’’ akin to the ‘‘Chinatowns’’ many other capital cities in the world have.

According to the Ireland-Poland cultural foundation “Polish is now spoken by more people in Ireland then the Irish language.”

The similarities between Poland and pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland are quite astonishing. It is no wonder that Poles have settled here with relative ease.

Before this current cultural explosion, Irish society was made up predominantly of Irish citizens with little domestic experience of foreign nationals or immigrants.

Although, Ireland is gradually becoming more culturally diverse, we continue to be a relatively cohesive people. Poland and the Polish people have much the same level of cohesion with a population of 98% ethnic Poles. Religion also binds us

with the vast majority of Poles.

“Up to 90%” according to the Polish Embassy’s website, claim to be Roman Catholic.

It is perhaps our mutual historical experience that connects us most. Both Poland and Ireland

“I’ve found something that I didn’t have in Poland” have been on the receiving end of colonial imperialism that has dominated our history and has had a lasting impact on our mindset.

But how is this growing community expressing their culture in this ‘new’ land and are they being made welcome?

More then any other nonnational community, the Polish community has attracted media, business and societal attention.

Polish community websites like dublinek.net have been set up to help provide Polish people with information on anything from accommodation and jobs to buying and selling furniture.

Polish cultural societies have

been established to help promote and strengthen Polish traditions and culture in Ireland. The IrelandPoland Cultural Foundation was set up to “promote and strengthen cultural exchange between Ireland and Poland.” With Seamus Heaney as their patron, the Foundation strives to bridge the gap between the two communities along cultural lines.

They plan to establish an annual cultural promotions programme to “provide a platform for the celebration and promotion of artistic achievement”.

Other aspects of Poland’s rich culture have also been recreated.

Polish bars such as, Zagloba on Parnell Street and Chaplains Bar on Hawkins Street, are popping up and provide an opportunity for Poles to meet each other and exchange their experiences here.

The first annual Polish Film Festival was held in Dublin last November to show case the best of Polish film. Barbara Boldys, Culture Officer with the Polish Embassy, said the festival has been run this year in response to the “growing interest in Poland”.

The media has also responded to the influx of Poles. The Evening Herald was the first national publication to cater to immigrants in their own language. ‘Polski Herald’ is a free Polish supplement with the newspaper on a Friday. Head of Marketing for ‘Polski Herald’ Bridget McCaul, acknowledged the benefits of appealing to this grow-

ing community in Ireland. “We have noticed a significant increase in sales on a Friday which we attribute to Polski Herald.” Other publications set up to appeal directly to the Polish community include SOFA magazine, Polski Express and Gazeta Polska, which was set up two years ago and sells 10,000 copies weekly. The TV station City Channel has also responded the growing number of Poles in Ireland by developing a programme called ‘Oto Polska’ presented by

“I didn’t come here to have a second Poland” Polish national Izabela Chudzicka.

The main reasons for coming to Ireland appear to be education, improving their English or finding employment.

According to the Department of Social and Family Affairs it has issued 195,740 PPS numbers to Polish citizens since the enlargement of the EU, a far greater number than for any other immigrant group. Poles with little English find it very difficult to get work.

Brian McCormack Economist with the Planning and Research Department of FAS, says that the numbers of Poles taking up FAS courses is “quite low”.

Justine Pieprz from Pozman, a city in West Poland, came here alone and knowing no-one, almost a year ago. She has turned her hand to a number of jobs in Ireland and is currently very happy, working in the Food Room on Clontarf Road.

She faced a number of problems when she first came but found the Irish supportive. “Mostly, Irish people helped me when I had problems when I first got here in finding jobs and accommodation….”.

Justine faced other problems when she first moved into her home in Dublin 5. “When I started living here, teenagers from around the area threw stones at my house...and broke my window”.

However, once their parents were notified, the harassment stopped.

It did not dampen Justine’s enthusiasm for Ireland. “I’ve found something that I didn’t have in Poland…I have found peace here…I’m a new person, more happy”. She welcomes Ireland’s ever growing multicultural society and feels her fellow Poles should welcome this opportunity to learn and experience new things. “I’m feeling good with the multi-cultural community… I didn’t come here to have a second Poland…open your eyes”.

LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE

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Understanding attraction: a man’s view

By PJ O’Shea I used to be a very shy guy. My first kiss was a total fluke. It always seemed to be the girl who made the first move. I just didn’t know what to say. “Girls like boys who are nice to them,” my mom would say; but that was the thing I didn’t want them to like me, I wanted them to want me!

No matter how nice I was to a girl, it only ever seemed to push her further away. This taught me my first lesson in attraction; don’t ever come across as either clingy or needy. It was only after I started ignoring girls that they began to show any interest in me. This taught me my second lesson in attraction; women make absolutely no sense - at all.

Now, guys are easy to understand. Most of us enjoy looking at pictures of naked women, watching football on TV and some of us even read the paper. If a guy says he hates something or somebody, ninety-nine point nine percent of the time he actually means it.

Most women never say how they feel – ever. My understanding is that when a woman says she

likes something she probably hates it and if she says she hates it, she probably loathes it. When a guy sees a footballer score a great goal on TV he wants to see it over and over again, but most women fail to see the point; likewise, most guys can’t understand a woman’s attraction to romance novels.

Not only do we think differently, we want different things too.

Consider sexual attraction. When most guys see a beautiful woman in a bar, they are immediately attracted to her, but when a woman sees a beautiful guy in a bar, she tries to figure him out.

When an ugly woman is in a bar, there is very little she can do to make guys feel attracted to her.

But an ugly guy in a bar, (luckily for most guys) is not necessarily ruled out.

For women, personality counts and there are lots of acceptable types out there.

Probably the most magnetic personality is the Bad Boy personality – the Sawyer figure, the Tommy Lee. There’s something magnetic about a guy who is dangerous and unpredictable. Most likely thing to hear after a breakup: “He made a mistake, but I still love him…”

Another highly addictive per-

sonality for women is the thrillseeker. The sort of guy that lights up every party, practices extreme sports and is a total risk- taker.

Most likely thing to hear a woman say: “Damn fun! I wish I could’ve tamed him…”

The seducer is innately sensual, a natural flirt and devotes their time to fulfilling their lovers’ every need. Watch Don Juan De Marco with Johnny Depp and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

Most likely thing to hear afterwards: “The sex was great…but why didn’t he stick around?”

The artist is totally complex, and when he looks to a lover, it is for support and understanding, because most of the time he doesn’t understand himself. Women, sense that sensitivity and latch onto it – Most likely thing to hear in a relationship: “Don’t worry baby… I get you…”

Finally, probably the most obvious personality is that of the successful guy. This could be a rich businessman, a doctor, a lawyer – basically anyone who has a decent paid job. These are the kind of guys women are brought up to seek out and marry – a “keeper”.

Most likely thing to hear after a break up: “I’m just glad I didn’t sleep with him…”

PC WORLD Barbra Statham questions whether political correctness has gone too far? being negated. Most thinking people object to the consensus culture which is a direct result of PC and fear that open honest expression is being replaced by humourless diktats which are handed down to us by the thought police.

The more highly educated people are, the more they seem to be in fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. There is also confusion about how to behave. If a man holds a door open for a woman, or offers her his seat on the bus, is he offending her feminist aspirations?

Punch and Judy banned in Blackpool

By Barbra Statham

of offence, particularly to racial, cultural or other identity groups.”

Political Correctness (PC), according to Wikipedia, is “used to describe language or behaviour which is intended, or said to be intended, to provide a minimum

As such, political correctness per se is a cultural phenomenon which is to be welcomed. It is only when the PC phenomenon gets into the hands of ideological zealots that the whole concept is in danger of

But most confusing of all is the change brought about in ordinary everyday language by political correctness. There is a whole new lexicon of acceptable words used to describe minorities such as homosexuals, non-whites, women, the mentally and physically handicapped. Essentially, the PC brigade are patronising these people. The inherent implication is that all

these people are inferior and need protection.

Some attempts to influence children to think in a PC way are for the better. For example, Jane in the Peter and Jane series of primary-school books is no longer only to be found helping mum in the kitchen. She now thoroughly enjoys rolling up her sleeves and helping dad repair the car. But God help Jane if anyone is foolish enough to give her a present of a golliwog ... not the done thing to play with that! Yet no one has explained why it is perfectly ok to play with white dolls.

Although nothing to do with PC is a laughing matter, some of the following examples are hilarious: A grand-mother in Southhampton was asked not to take photos of her grandchildren in the park in case it encouraged paedophiles to do likewise.

Teachers in a London crche were advised to replace the word black

in the nursery rhyme baa baa black sheep.

Punch and Judy shows have been banned from Blackpool.

Jacobs Biscuits were put under pressure to rename their Gypsy Cream biscuit. It is now known as a Romany Queen” And finally... how would this go down in Ireland? Police in Cornwall refused to accept the description “gypsy skirt” (the term everyone used to describe flowing cotton skirts) and asked for it to be called a traveller skirt instead.

On the plus side and indicative of how far we have come in Ireland, partly as a result of PC, the recent homophobic ranting of visiting Polish president Lech Kaczynski was greeted with a genuine sense of shock and outrage. Yet 20 years or so ago we listened to similar nonsense from the clergy without question. Maybe, just maybe, we have grown up and can decide for ourselves how to think.

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LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE

Out-foxed

By Gillian Wallace

The myths surrounding foxhunting debunked

“Is fox hunting cruel? The answer, of course, is that it is. How can it be justified? The answer is that it cannot.” said Nicholas O’Hare, columnist with The Irish Field.

“No matter how traditional or how highly eulogised by its supporters, it is a minority sport with the damning spectre of cruelty hanging over it.”

In civilised society there is no place for the savaging of a defenceless creature in the name of a so-called sport. The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has displayed video evidence of the sickening cruelty of fox hunting on their website. One clip shows a hunt terrier gripping a fox’s head between its teeth and ripping off part of its scalp. The fox’s eyes are bulging, and clearly terrified it is held down by a hunter, with blood leaking from the gaping wound in its head. For the fox, the torture has just begun; it has yet to endure the hounds being called in to rip it to shreds. How can this be called sport?

It is not just animal rights activists who campaign against this

sport. Philip Lynch, Chairman of Farmers against Fox Hunting and Trespass (FAFT) says, “we demand action now to rid the countryside of foxhunts.” FAFT outline the rights of farmers not to have their lands poached, their fences knocked down or destroyed, or their crops trampled into the ground.

“the nearest thing you can get to natural selection” Thomas Hardiman from Craughwell Co. Galway, was once a supporter of fox hunting, but became disgusted at the cruelty he witnessed and has campaigned against fox hunting since 1998. He recalls observing the hounds mauling a farmer’s sheepdog.

According to Mr.Hardiman, “The

hunters wanted to put the dog down but the farmer said no. Of course, the reason the hunters wanted to shoot the sheepdog was so that they could cover up the cruel attack by the hounds.” He pickets the Dail every Wednesday and has done so for 105 days.

Fox hunting provides no measurable benefit to the environment and there is no evidence to suggest that fox numbers would soar and become problematic. A Ministry of Agriculture report states that, “A study of lambing in upland areas showed that lamb losses were unaffected by the presence of foxes”. In reality, the hunt is much more likely to cause damage than the fox.

Although the season usually begins in November, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports explain that prior to this, the hunters meet for what is euphemistically termed autumn hunting. This cub hunting is so despicable that the hunt attempts to hide it from the public. Hunters attend only by invitation of The Master of Foxhounds. A caller to

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Just another day for farmer Thomas Harding Mid West Radio, who identified himself only as Derek described how he had been hunting in the UK and Ireland for thirty years.

When he was quizzed about cub hunting he touted it as being ‘the nearest thing you can get to natural selection”.

Obviously, this sadistic sport is a far cry from what nature intended.

It is hard to believe such cruelty has yet to be banned in Ireland.

Seeing that fox hunting has been banned in the country from where it originated, the argument that it should be preserved because it is traditional can immediately be dispelled. Claims by hunting enthusiasts that it is not the kill that inspires them hold no weight, as they shun the humane alternative of drag hunting. Only one element of the hunt is absent from drag hunting -the slaughter of a defenceless animal.

Curtains Fall for TCD Actors

By Eimear Harte Trinity College announced in January that it is to axe its renowned three year undergraduate degree course in acting.

The announcement has a come as a shock and has angered many in the Irish theatre community. In a public statement to Trinity College Dublin, prominent directors, actors and a Trinity College professor signed their names in joint effort to show their disappointment and dismay at the decision. The course, they told the Irish Times, “has been of enormous value not only to Trinity College but to Irish theatre as a whole”.

The main reason for the decision to drop the course is that it

“A country isn’t remembered for its accountants, it’s remembered for its artists” is not financially viable. Annual spending is said to be in the region of €250,000, according to the college. This goes against statements made by Trinity College Provost, Dr John Hegarty in the Irish Times, that Trinity’s “academic staff could lead the world”. He went on to say “there is a compelling case

to be made for greater emphasis on the arts, humanities and social sciences at the national level, and for increased public investment at undergraduate and graduate levels.” This comes at a time when Ireland is still experiencing the financial bliss of the Celtic Tiger, yet there is no money to invest in this course and in turn, in the future of Ireland’s artists.

On the Drama website of Trinity College Dublin, it states that the BA Acting course is the only one of its kind in Ireland with an aim to produce fine actors. To date, examples include, Ruth Negga, Derbhle Crotty and Jason Byrne. Access to the course is non-CAO based and admission is through audition only. Plans by the college to introduce a new postgraduate

course in acting will not replace like with like. Forementioned past pupil of the BA acting course and Artistic Director of Loose Canon Theatre Company, Jason Byrne, is not in favour of the proposed post graduate course. Byrne claims he got accepted onto the acting course through his ability to act, as he had not done well in the Leaving Certificate. The new postgraduate course could potentially bypass people like him, as emphasis would shift to academic achievement. The course will also carry an entrance fee, for which the cost has not yet been disclosed. This Byrne feels, will again be an obstacle to those who cannot afford the fee.

In the meantime, students who were planning to pursue the BA Acting course for 2007

incurring no fees, now have to decide what other options are available to them. Established in 1995, the BA Acting course has always attracted great interest and currently has 35 students enrolled, with an average class size of 12 every year.

Trinity additionally offer students an honours degree programme in Drama and Theatre Studies. Entry to this course is decided by audition and leaving certificate points obtained.

Jason Byrne: former graduate

There is also an option to take Drama Studies combined with another Arts subject. DIT also runs a three year undergraduate degree in Drama Studies which includes acting modules. Other options are postgraduate courses available in UCC and UCG in drama and theatre studies. These courses incur fees of over €6,000. The Gaiety School of Acting also runs a two year acting course costing €5,000 a year to the student.

However, for a student to fulfil his or her desire to study acting, he or she may have to look towards British drama schools.

Competition for such is fierce, and fees are again very high.

Instead of Ireland investing in our future artists, we are in danger of losing them.

DCU are in discussions with the Gaiety School of Acting about the establishment of a new three year undergraduate degree course in acting, which they plan will be fee-free. This course is in early developmental stages so students will have to hold out for this class format to be made available to them.

Taking a quote from Trinity News, January edition, the decision to cut the course on grounds of finances is shortsighted … “a country isn’t remembered for its accountants, it’s remembered for its artists”.3

HEALTH

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Psychiatric Care: Public or Private?

By Kim Warnock January 24th, 2007 marked the first anniversary of the launch of “A Vision for Change”, Ireland’s new national policy on mental healthcare services. The report set out a new national policy framework for mental health services, replacing the 1984 policy “Planning for the Future”. The expert group’s report has recommended an overhaul of mental health services with a move towards community mental health teams and a reduction in the number of in-patient beds for psychiatric patients.

providers are still struggling with an outdated, fragmented, and severely under-resourced system.

We need to see meaningful progress towards a more holistic approach to mental health, based on the principles of human rights and equality.

One mother welcomes the change, and believes that recovery outside the hospital is crucial for her daughter, who suffers from schizophrenia. However, the problem may be that daycare is not immediately available for outpatients.

“My daughter Kate has been in and out of St John of God’s hospital about sixteen times over the last

“It is not uncommon that people are discharged and decline in health while they wait for appropriate housing. They end up back in the wards and so it’s just a vicious cycle” A key feature of this new report is greater emphasis on holistic healing. Broadly speaking, holistic means covering all aspects of mental health: biological (e.g., medication), psychological (e.g., “talking therapies”) and social (e.g., housing, employment, education/training).

But Ireland still has a mix of institutional care and community and home-based services, and a high rate of repeat admissions. This is leading to a culture of maintenance rather than recovery.

Mental health service users and

five years. She never once received aftercare or visitations from community nurses. Then before Christmas she was admitted to St John of Gods again. My husband had to sign her in after Gardai found her wandering around in Rathmines; she didn’t even know her name.”

“She was rushed to St John of Gods who requested my husband fill out more forms. Then a couple of hours later they rang to say they needed to move her to St.James’s.”

“A few weeks later we had a

Media Editor Ne ws Editor Culture & Lifestyle Spor ts Editors

meeting with the District Community Nurse and the attending psychiatrist in James’s. They told us she needed at least three more months of treatment. They discharged her three weeks later and now she is on a waiting list for a day hospital.”

According to Kate’s psychiatrist she is responding well to her medication. But Kate’s mother worries that her daughter isn’t ready to be discharged from hospital until she is actually admitted to the daycare.

Kate’s community nurse said the system just don’t have the resources to provide aftercare for all patients who are ready to be discharged .We are equipped to provide housing for only a percentage of patients.

Each area is assigned a certain amount of flats, not many, just a few.

At any one time there are many people on the waiting list. It is not uncommon that people are discharged and decline in health while they wait for appropriate housing.

They end up back in the wards and so it’s just a vicious cycle. Kate’s mother is hoping the daycare hospital will assess her daughter soon so that her daughter can finally seize the opportunity to make a long-term recovery.

Each time her recovery has been short term because she feels alone after she gets discharged. To go from doctors visiting you every day, group therapy most days and the security of medicine to the very opposite is disconcerting and obviously not working.

Although the system has its weaknesses, at least Kate can remain optimistic about receiving daycare and out-patient treatment.

St John of Gods failed to provide the latter over the course of five

Deannna O’Connor Enid O’Do wd Angie Cro we Helen Mor rogh Ciara Hegar ty Eamonn McGurk

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Enid O’Do wd Helen Mor rogh Kim War noc k Deanna O’Connor Angie Cro we Ciara Hegar ty

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years, the time Kate spent in and out of its care. In essence public hospitals like St James provide a better service for their patients than private hospitals like St John of Gods. A spokesperson for the Irish Mental Healthcare Coalition

said that the latter illustrates there exists a paradox in the system.

The “Vision for Change” policy will penetrate the Public Sector gradually and it is estimated this change could span over several years.

email: thecircularmagazine2007@hotmail.com

The Circular is produced b y students of Gr iffith Colleg e Dublin, SCR, Dublin 8.

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LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE

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THE CIRCULAR

SIZE ZERO: FASHIONABLE OR FATAL?

By Aine Cotter Having dinner recently with some of my girl friends, I was drawn into a discussion about the phenomenon of size zero culture. As we munched on our bruschetta topped with feta cheese, we deliberated. The general consensus was that it is a sick trend; a cancer in our society that the celebrity world is promoting. However, after five glasses of Merlot, Jane, whose chief life ambition is to be a WAG, spoke up. She (or maybe it was the wine, we couldn’t be sure) posed a question… given the chance would we opt to be skinnier? Yes, of course we wanted

smaller waists, but zeros are mere emaciated twigs. She then accused us of jealousy; deducing that we were envious of the will power of these women. Will power? I was lost for a response.

That night I began to think about what Jane had said, I couldn’t help but feel that my inebriated friend had a point. Being tiny in tinseltown does seem to reap benefits. Nicole Ritchie went from Paris’s podgy side-kick to tiny trend-setter after she lost weight.

Sure, there are a few nasty side effects to being thin, but nothing in this life worth having comes without a cost. Increased body hair can be fixed by wax, fatigue can be banished with ginseng and who wants periods or sprogs any-

way? Being a zero is fashionable, it’s cheap (hell, you can shop in kid’s clothes sections) and you are certain to bag yourself a gorgeous guy (just look at Posh and Lindsay Lohan).

I was almost converted. That was until I turned on the television and caught the final segment of a documentary by Louise Redknapp.

She aimed to uncover who was responsible for this increasing trend, while simultaneously she sought to become a size zero herself over a three month period.

She started a regime of over-exercising and under-eating. As her weight plummeted, she endured more and more horrendous side effects. She suffered skin problems, headaches, acute stomach cramps, fatigue and diarrhoea (after taking laxatives in an attempt to drop a few extra pounds). The stark reality of being a lollipop had been revealed to me and it was not pretty. I was curious to investigate what the long-term consequences of maintaining a low body weight were.

I discovered that the incidences of eating disorders are growing at

an exponential rate in our society.

As the stars get smaller it seems the number of people becoming affected gets bigger. We look to them to set trends, we want the clothes they wear, the cars they drive, the houses they own.

Accompanying the rise of eating disorders is the sudden growth of pro-anorexic and bulimic web sites. Sufferers chat about their obsession and exchange tips on how to become thinner. The best strategies for avoiding meals without arising suspicion and methods for curbing hunger pains are common issues debated. Frequently they refer to hating themselves and having low self esteem. Some even mention suicidal thoughts and some have actually attempted to take their own lives as they felt they could never attain the perfect body. It is not just mental issues sufferers deal with, being underweight for an extended period of time is detrimental to one’s physical health also. Anorexia is linked to kidney disease, heart failure, osteoporosis, cancer and infertility.

In January this year two European

size zero models died as a direct result of starving themselves. This has led to size zeros being banned from numerous catwalks around the world. However, some bosses within the industry will not conform and during London Fashion week skeletons paraded up and down the runways.

What I have just mentioned is just the beginning. Numerous academic journals as well as popular press articles have been written on size zeros and eating disorders.

The material is as abundant as it shocking. What surprised me the most was my own personal ignorance. I didn’t realise the extent and diversity of eating disorders and I was blissfully unaware of the real contributors and consequences of these conditions. I think we use the phrases anorexic and size zero so loosely in our culture that we neglect to stop and think what they actually mean. But we should. My eyes weren’t opened they were pulled apart.

The next time I see a picture of Posh on the red carpet I’ll think twice about being jealous and putting down the box of chocolates.

Anorexia: The Facts

By Violette Ouassa Anorexia is a behavioural problem that effects between 1 and 2% of women. This disease primarily affects girls from the ages of 12 to 20. However, it can appear in girls and boys as young as nine or ten years old.

This obsession for thinness can involve other drastic measures, such as bulimia and the excessive use of laxatives and diuretics.

Other psychological troubles can occur such as anxiety, depression, dependence on drugs and alcohol and even suicidal tendencies.

Physically, this disease results in an extreme loss of weight that can reach up to 50% of the recommended weight for the sufferer’s height. Food deprivation obviously has consequences for the body: insomnia, hairs loss, loss of memory and the discontinuation of the menstrual cycle.

The causes are still difficult to identify, they are complex and controversial. Some people blame metabolic or genetic factors; others think that the psychological and irrational causes are decisive.

The starting point can be a simple diet, mourning a loss, a school phenomenon or simply a fashion trend. Anorexia, by defying

nature, allows a teenager to prove that they hold control over their body. Moreover, it can mask a lack of self-confidence or a tendency towards personal devaluation.

External help is generally necessary. The main difficulty is then the refusal of a treatment. These teenagers do not admit to being sick and reject the specialised consultation or follow-up treatment in a rehabilitation programme.

The treatment generally consists of psychotherapy which helps to engage a dialogue with the teenager. Unfortunately, the various treatments for anorexia have a limited effectiveness. In one third of cases, the sufferers recover and can start to lead a normal life. For another third, the treatment is not completed and victims continue to show an unhealthy weight and psychological disorders and therefore risk relapse. For the last third, the anorexia problem persists and patients require constant treatment for their disease. It should be known that 10% of anorexics die from the effects of the disease; either from malnutrition or suicide.

Size zero - this is the new craze in our stars’ world. Size zero is now the desired size of a huge number of the Hollywood stars.

What does “zero” mean? For me,

its mean “nil”, but I get lost in the maze of fashion, where, apparently my definition of zero and the fashion industry’s definition of zero do not have the same meaning. In the fashion industry, sizezero means very thin, and involves an extreme diet to squeeze into designers’ small clothes.

In celebrity, size zero is a chance to be on the front page of magazines. But size zero also means putting your life in danger on behalf of fashion. Who are these designers who insist on creating clothes for these skeletal models? How can the fashion industry condone the publicising of these models, especially after all the alarm signals given by the specialists?

When I think about all those tiny stars making the front pages of our favourite magazines or if I think about giving a good example to a teenager considering one of these diets, I just want to tell to them, “stop making your body into an unnatural shape. You are sick and you need to get some help.” What is happening to our fashion women? We are in the 21st century, what about all those women who worked so hard to improve our civil rights? It is like the age of women’s lib never happened.

All of the Dublin fashion industry people I tried to talk to about anorexia seemed to be unconcerned. One of them told me that all his models are naturally thin and nobody would like to work with an overweight girl.

I would like to tell every woman

that the most important thing is to have a size that makes you feel good in your body, one that is not going to put your life in danger.

The most important thing is to be yourself; to eat healthily and to exercise sensibly. Girls, you are beautiful, whatever your size.

THE CIRCULAR

LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE

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Vegetarianism: a better deal all round

By Barbara Shaw If you think vegetarianism is just about what you eat, well think again. Life is about making choices and for those of you who decide to avoid eating a meat-based diet, you are choosing a lifestyle. You are also entering a world that is healthier, more economical, and

“If you think Vegetarianism is just about what you eat, well think again” environmentally friendlier.

In essence, a vegetarian is someone who abstains from eating slaughtered animal products including by-products such as gelatine, rennet, and isinglass (a type of fish gelatine).

When it comes to health, the benefits of a vegetarian diet are substantial. Studies show vegetarians live longer and healthier lives than carnivores. According to a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association “a vegetarian diet may be just as effective as ‘statin’ drugs in lowering blood

cholesterol”. Further research carried out over a twenty year period

by Southampton University which included 8,000 volunteers lead to the conclusion that “those who stick to a diet of fruit and vegetables are more likely to gain a degree and hold down a good job”.

The environment can indirectly benefit from vegetanarism.

Feeding animals to feed people is an inefficient use of our land resources. Roughly one acre of pasture that produces approximately 165 lbs of beef (over 50% inedible) could produce 20,000 lbs of potatoes.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have said that 44% of all grain in the world is used for animal feed.

Thus if the US alone reduced their meat consumption by 10%, it would free 12 million tons of grain annually that would adequately feed the 60 million people who die from starvation each year.

Seventy-six percent of the world’s agricultural soil (70% of E.U. soil) is used for animal agriculture. Part of that is derived through deforestation in continents like Asia, Africa and in particular South America. According to Dr David Brubaker, of the Johns Hopkins University’s Centre for a Viable Future: “The way we breed animals for food is a threat to the planet. It pollutes our environment while consuming huge amounts of

water, grain, petroleum, pesticides and drugs.

It comes as no surprise that

“Studies show vegetarians live longer and healthier lives than carnivores” cruel practices abound on factory farms. In his book Six Arguments for a Greener Diet, Michael Jacobson, Executive Director of the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, describes how “cattle are castrated without painkillers, pregnant and nursing pigs are housed in crates too small to even turn around and male chicks that hatch in the eggindustry’s breeder farms go right into the disposal”.

When it comes to the slaughterhouse, Mr Jacobson reports on a study commissioned by the US Department of Agriculture which outlines how 8% of pigs, 20% of cattle and 47% of sheep are not properly stunned prior to being killed.

If these reasons are not enough for you to quit meat then perhaps nothing will convince you.

Keeping Your Body Healthy

Don’t let monotony ruin your motivation- keep it interesting

By Leila Mirza Looking slim doesn’t neccassarily mean you are healthy and fit. You should also take exercise so your body can maintain a lean body mass simultaneously reducing excess fat. But if you are trying to lose weight you should remember one pound of fat roughly represents 3500 calories.

You should make reductions in your calorie intake over a week rather than trying to lose it too quickly. A healthy target involves losing two pounds per week, which would mean a reduction of around 7000 calories weekly.

You should keep track of what you eat and calculate the calories for each food item to see where you can cut some out over the week. Remember, include drinks and any other snacks consumed in your regular routine.

Initially, when you reduce your calorie intake, your body will respond and you will feel hungry.

Keep healthy snacks such as celery with you, this way you can snack healthily between meals. If you have a sweet tooth, try to replace chocolates and cakes with healthier options such as dried fruits or allow yourself a small treat for every week that you maintain your diet.

The amount of exercise you require to burn a certain number of calories depends on your weight and the type of exercise

that you do. Generally speaking, heavier people burn more calories while exercising than lighter people. Also, the more intense the exercise, the more calories are burnt. For example, running tends to burn more calories than walking.

Make sure that you have all the equipment and facilities you need and create a schedule that you can follow. Try to stick to an exercise routine, avoid skipping any sessions and if you do- don’t beat yoursef up about it. Keep motivated and get back on track the next day.

Once you have achieved your weight-loss target, it is very easy to forget all about the healthy eating and exercise habits and slip back into your old lifestyle which in all likeliness would result in all the weight coming back.

Be conscious of how much you are eating and minimise fatty foods. Whilst you no longer need to count every calorie you intake, you should still be aware of what and how much you eat.

It is encouraged that you exercise as much as you can but remember you don’t have to exercise every single day. Your body needs time to relax. Keep up the excercise though its one way to ensure you don’t put the weight back on.

Finally, feel good about yourself. You have succeeded and are now merely making sure the fabulous results are maintained!

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THE CIRCULAR

A Sixth Sense or Nonsense?

I ain’t afraid o’ no ghosts

By Angie Crowe With mediums like Derek Ogilvie selling out venues worldwide, what is it that drives us to part with our money - and are we being conned?

It was with an open mind that I headed to the Helix to find out what exactly Ogilvie had to offer me and everyone else at his sell-out spiritual gig.

When I say open, I mean as wide as my sceptical mind can get - a slight contradiction but I’m the kind of person who looks forward to reading my horoscope whilst simultaneously scoffing at the notion that destiny could possibly lead me and one-twelfth of the population anywhere, let alone to the same place.

I was curious about this “Baby Whisperer” who claims to be able to talk to both babies and dead people, and even more curious about those who have paid to see

him.

Next to me sits Jacqui Gilborne.

She lost a friend last week and is hoping he will give her a sign as she “never got to say goodbye”. She is not alone: “I’m hoping to speak to those I’ve lost,” says Martina Byrne from Bray, who has no doubts that

“I’m Billy Connolly on acid” spirits exist.

Sitting behind me is Catherine McDonald from Tallaght who came with her mother. She is an angel card reader who firmly believes in the spirit world and is also hoping to speak to loved ones who have passed on. The more people I talk to the more I realise that there are very view sceptics here.

The show gets off to a dramatic start and we are unexpectedly

immersed in complete darkness. A booming, ghostly voice fills the theatre and cries, “Help me, HELP ME!” My scoffing nature is sent into overdrive so fast that I haven’t even managed to laugh by the time the voice moans, “I’m stuck in the toilet.”

Okay, so clearly Ogilvie has a sense of humour about what he does and the ridicule it attracts.

When he runs on stage he jokes with the audience pretending to have the inside story on their sex lives. This is followed by a painful to watch, but equally hard to look away from, pelvic-thrusting dance routine, to YMCA as he loudly declares “I’m Billy Connolly on acid.”

Then down to business; Ogilvie states that the show is: “Not about me, not really about you, it’s about who’s coming through from the spirit world.” This need to respect the spirits is something he repeats throughout the show.

He starts with a quick succession of questions. “Hands up a Debra whose grandmother has passed away? Do you have a shoulder problem? Or pain in the right arm?

A problem with teeth on the right side? A front door that won’t close?

No-one?” No takers.

He moves on, “Anyone who’s got a son Patrick? He has a problem with his right knee? Recent throat infection? Also a pain in his right leg eight years ago?

Everything has to fit. I’ve got a little boy here saying ‘Tell her I know about the ear infection.’” Catherine McDonald puts up her hand.

Everything fits but her son’s name is Keith Patrick.

Then another hand rises; this woman has a friend Debra who was

supposed to come and couldn’t make it - but she assures, “everything else fits” regarding the first spirit.

He goes with this and a rapid succession of ridiculous questions follow. He actually asks, “Has she a house with a front and back door?”

“Yes,” validates her friend and she adds, “The back door sticks.”

“Excellent,” he enthuses. I look to my notes. Didn’t he say front door?

By Caroline McGuire

magic wand to help us. In reality most of us go through immense stress, tears and sleepless nights in order to acquire that all important profession. And don’t even think about moaning that you are not content in your job- it’s your career now!

Similarly as children we view our future relationships through rosetinted glasses. Every wee girl and, I’m sure, every wee boy (although maybe at a later stage of his development!) thinks that when they grow up they are going to marry prince charming or a beautiful princess.

Well, maybe not exactly a prince charming riding on a horse, but someone fairly handsome who just happens to be the perfect gentleman. Little girls believe they will fall in love and live happily ever after like all the ladies in their childhood fairytales. However when we grow up, we soon learn relationships are complicated.

Of course relationships are fun but they involve a lot of difficult and testing moments that as children we could never have imagined.

“I am not a fake” This continues to the point that there are more inaccuracies than things that “fit”. His method seems very similar to what cynics call the cold-reading technique, whereby the medium asks lots of random questions and the person is so desperate to connect that they cling to what fits. Ogilvie keeps repeating “It all has to fit,” but with the advantage of my notes, I can see that it does not.

However, he comes back to Catherine and gives her personal detail that it is amazingly accurate.

He tells her he is speaking to her little boy who she miscarried. He gives incredible detail regarding her house and her habits, such as an intense picking of her toenails. We can see her mother weeping on the monitor.

The show continues on in much the same way moving from strained to more accurate readings. How does he explain this? The messages from some spirits are weaker and harder to interpret. “I’m not perfect. I’m not a fortune teller” he tells us.

After the show, many wait to talk to him. He walks towards the emotional group of people clutching pictures of their dead children and loved ones, and they close in around him. The staff put pressure on him to leave as the show has gone way over time and they need to lock up. He apologises for not being able to speak to everyone and gives his details promising free individual readings next time he is in Ireland. He says “I am not a fake” and tells us he has agreed to do the famous sceptic James Randi’s million-dollar challenge this year, which no other psychic has ever won, to prove his authenticity.

Amongst the crowd of people who refuse to disperse, I watch him reach for one woman and sympathise with her for the death of her baby, and I hope for his sake that if he is not genuine - he at least believes he is. Otherwise there is a lot of bad karma coming his way- if you believe in that sort of thing.

A Child’s World

I was falling asleep on a bus last week, when a child’s excited tone interrupted my slumber. The little girl told her mother she wanted to be a princess like the character in her magazine. Her mother laughed and said “Yesterday you wanted to be nurse; last week you told Granny you wanted to be a pop star!” The girl responded by saying, “Yes mum but I want to be a princess too and a nurse and a pop star, and an animal doctor.”

I cast my memory back to when I thought like that wee girl.

Everything was possible; I could be anything or anyone I wanted once I was a big grown up. But as soon as we reach a certain stage in our lives, this sense of absolute belief that we can become whatever we want disappears.

When we are young, we believe that if we want to be a teacher it will magically happen. But when the time arrives to succeed in our chosen profession there is no

As adults the idea of finding Mr. Perfect fades; we come to terms with the idea that no-one is perfect, and we have to accept the one we fall in love with- warts and all.

Friendships are viewed differently when we are children also. Recall how quickly you changed best friends. One day Katie was your best friend just because she took her new toy to school. Friendships were about making friends with the popular people.

Most of us probably thought our childhood friends would be part of our lives forever. After all they were the first people we became close to in our younger years. As adults we realise how important it is to have someone to share things with and we hold on to our treasured friends.

Yes life changes greatly as we move from the child’s world to the adult world. But why should we abandon our inner-child, just because we are adults? Being a child was fun; being an adult is fun too, but only if we keep a sense of what we were like as a child with us always.

MEDIA AND MUSIC

THE CIRCULAR

11

Get Back in Your Box Dolls!

The images of women portrayed and glorified in the media make poor role models,writes Deanna O’Connor Role models certainly aren’t what they used to be. A mere decade ago, if you asked a young girl who she looked up to she might have answered that she admired the humanitarian work of Mother Theresa, or UN Ambassador Audrey Hepburn. Charity, inner strength and timeless elegance are not such widely sought after commodities in these pop cultureobsessed times.

Who do the young girls of today look up to? The Pussycat Dolls (a troupe of former strippers), The Sugababes (a band famous for its easily replaced members and innuendo-loaded lyrics such as “Got such a pretty kitty, boy I know you want to pet it/The weather’s nice and wet just south of the border”), and various celebrities so riddled with eating disorders they belong on the pages of medical journals not gossip magazines.

The ideals of womanhood of every age tend to filter down into the dolls children play with. When I was young the dream item on every girl’s Christmas list was a sugary pink Barbie house. Growing up lusting after anything as long as it was pink, plastic or marabou trimmed (preferably all three) may not be conducive to passing on the feminist flame, but it was mild in comparison to the cartoon of modern femininity echoed by the dolls today’s little girls play with.

A couple of years ago my six-

year old niece requested a Bratz doll house for Christmas. The poor child couldn’t understand why everyone else found it so amusing, but the plastic palace looked like a fantasy brothel with furniture from several eras brought together by one overriding principle – it was all in the worst possible taste. She adored it. Presidential Barbie never stood a chance.

The dolls themselves are in the Lollipop Lady mould. The term that describes the body shape that is fashionable in celebrity circles, where the head is disproportionately gigantic in comparison to the tiny stick of a body it rests upon.

“Insecurity is at the root of our vulnerability to advertising and emulation of celebrities” And like so many of today’s celebrities and pop princesses their outfits are hooker-chic.

There seems to be a sinister undercurrent to the workings of media, advertising and the celebrity machine, which is quietly undermining feminine equality and repositioning women in the eyes of the world, as mere painted, vacuous, sex objects.

Pussycat Dolls Photo:Patrick Cummins Gloria Steinem famously said: “Feminism is a revolution, not a public relations movement.”

Unfortunately, for feminists, the hard won liberation now gives young women the freedom to fulfil such lofty aspirations as appearing on the cover of a gossip magazine peddling some banal details about their sex life.

The editorial decision to celebrate certain personalities is suspect indeed, but it must reflect an interest already there on the ground. It is difficult to decide whether we are unavoidably versed in the details of these people because we are fed a diet of them by the media, or whether the media is purely reflecting consumer demand and interests.

The powerful influence of advertisers is often brought into this argument; the media promote a vision of womanhood that will play on women’s insecurities and encourage them to buy into what-

ever can promise to make them better. Sexuality and attractiveness are at the root of much human insecurity, and insecurity is at the root of our vulnerability to advertising and emulation of celebrities.

Nowadays young girls are sexualised in their dress and manner earlier than ever before, aping scantily clad pop stars.

One hopes that humanity isn’t in such a sorry state that there are no young women worthy of being role models, and it is purely a case of misguided focus. Pity the poor media dolls that have brought upon themselves unnatural pressures and glaring attention.

Singer Gwen Stefani, a former neighbour of Britney Spears, came to her defence as Spears recently broke down very publicly. Stefani noted that there were always large numbers of paparazzi outside Spears’ house. It can’t be easy to live under such scrutiny, and frankly I don’t think anyone should.

Loosely Speaking...

Republic of Loose Photo:Patrick Cummins Republic of Loose almost don’t fit into the Irish music scene, which for years has been characterised by Eurovision winners and uniformboy-band-types.

Their sound is distinctly American, drawing influences from original blues, gospel, soul and contemporary R’n’B , everything from

James Brown to Timbaland.

In 2001 the group formed from the remnants of Dublin band Johnny Pyro and the Rock Coma.

Rock Coma’s founding members Dave Pyro and Michael Pyro joined forces with four young musicians Coz, Benjamin, Brez and Declan.

Over the last five years this eclectic

mix of talent have stormed the Irish charts with five top 30 hits.

They have recently returned from a third stint Stateside where they played New York, LA and Hollywood. They have developed a following, and the hit single Comeback Girl got generous airplay in LA. Declan Quinn, Loose musician, is excited about the group’s ambitions to break America. He says that the group hopes to become commercially successful in the States. “The market over there is so vast, there is a big enough niche for our Irish scruffy look and different sound.”

In February of this year, their much acclaimed second album,

Celebrities who are suffering from nervous breakdowns, alcoholism, drug addiction, eating disorders and the inability to wear underwear under very short dresses should be given a wide berth, instead of being glamorised. Unfortunately when so many people are famous for being famous, rather than for any discernible talent, they cannot afford not to be in the spotlight.

It was very telling that Scarlett Johansson, an actress of considerable talent, good looks, and ability (to wear clothes) recently skipped the publicity of the Oscar red carpet in favour of a trip to Sri Lanka and India to promote the work of Oxfam.

Unfortunately it is the publicityhungry that will fight their way onto our front pages, our television screens and into our minds, while those worthier of admiration are usually too busy doing something worthwhile with their lives to look in to getting their own doll made.

Maura Ryan talks to Aaagh, was shortlistDeclan Quinn from ed for the prestigious Choice Music Republic of Loose Award. They sat

comfortably amongst fellow nominees Snow Patrol, Director and Duke Special, eventually conceding defeat to veterans The Divine Comedy.

Their popularity was confirmed in the February 2007 Hot Press Readers’ Poll, where they were picked as one of the top four Irish live bands. Also among their accolades, they can count a number of nominations at the Meteor Music Awards, including a win in 2004.

The band has played support to a number of big bands like Fun Lovin’ Criminals, The Zutons and t Scissor Sisters.

A popular route for alternative Irish bands is to secure a record deal in the UK. Republic of Loose did this for their first album, This is the Tomb of the Juice, but dissatisfied with the outcome, they decided to

go it alone. The result was two top ten hits in 2005 with Comeback Girl and You Know It. Finally, the press got excited and airwaves and nightclubs across the country reverberated with catchy Loose rhythms.

There is a clear transition from the first album, This is the Tomb of the Juice, to the much anticipated follow up, Aaagh, released in April 2006. The lyrics are toned down although Declan readily admits that some of the songs on Aaagh will never be played on radio. However, the sound is more commercial making the band more accessible to a mainstream audience. Yet Declan insists they are not selling out: “We knew we wanted to go down a more contemporary R’n’B route because that’s what we were listening to at the time.”

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MEDIA AND MUSIC

THE CIRCULAR

Are You a Bebo Bandit?

What makes Bebo the drug of the day? Why is it the “must have” for 2007 and who is hooked on it? By Fiona Gunn

January 2005 saw the launch of what was to become a phenomenon among Irish teens and young adults - Bebo.com.

The social network website has achieved staggering success in the mere two years it has been operational, despite stiff competition from similar web page providers, such as myspace.com and WAYN.com.

Bebo seems to have the edge, something that we find irresistible…what is it?

When co-founders Michael Birch and his wife Xochi, embarked on Bebo.com after limited success on other websites, they wanted to create a place for people to “just hang out”.

In an interview with realbusiness.co.uk in 2006, he is “not spending a lot of time thinking about revenue” and so the site is completely free for users, funded

by income from other ventures such as BirthdayAlarm.com.

Advertising is predominately through word of mouth.

“We don’t want to compromise ourselves through short-term greed.”

Maybe it is that laid-back, people-oriented ethos that initially seduces us... Many loitering students and teenagers are embracing this new space to “just hang out”.

They can post quizzes and blogs , share and copy photos, and the interlinking of pages make it even easier to contact fellow Beboers. A virtual community is being created- all for FREE! There is no charge whatsoever for downloading photos or videos, leaving messages on people’s pages.

Where Are You Now (WAYN.com) users have to pay a subscription fee to send messages to other members around the

world. MySpace allows members to leave messages and view pages for free but have considered introducing charges.

With reports of 6,000 new recruits a day in Ireland, according to the Sunday Mail, we can safely assume that these are not all just teenagers and lazy students.

Twenty-somethings are also becoming hooked and using it to keep in touch with friends abroad.

In Ireland today, Bebo has a quarter of a million members, with almost 27 million members worldwide.

“It’s great craic to see what everyone is up to!” says Caroline (24), a student at Griffith College Dublin.

“I first joined because my friend was leaving for a year to Australia”, explains Eimear (27) “I just found it really handy to see her photos and keep in contact.”

Other students at Griffith agreed that the most successful aspect to Bebo is being able to upload and share photos from other users. This plays a huge role in what to talk about on Bebo and Julie (21) admits she only uses the site to look at people’s photos.

“It’s just so much fun just looking at the comments left! We have the phrase “Bebostalker” but it’s up to you what you put up and you can delete your profile at any time.”

Michael Birch puts the success of Bebo down to two things: his learning experiences through mistakes from other websites and spending time working on it himself, despite having 12 employees.

“If I don’t keep getting my hands dirty then I’d start to lose touch with the product. All you

need is a computer and a broadband connection,.”

It seems to be the right attitude.

In the UK and Ireland, his infectious creation is the top social network site and was the most representative search term used on Google in 2006.

However in the US, MySpace remains the most popular social network. Here it remains to be associated more with music lovers and upcoming bands, and fails to show the same marketing potential as Bebo, as a medium for reaching a young audience.

Rosanna Davis, (the former Miss World who is fast becoming a star of another kind on her raunchy and controversial Bebo page), comedian Tommy Tiernan and radio legend Ray D’Arcy are among the celebrities registering on Bebo to communicate with their fans. It continues to be the best, easiest and quickest route to the teenage market and proves good business sense to use it for advertising. With new additions and gimmicks added by the creators to the site each month, it looks set to be in poll position for the near future. Bebo–addicts are finding it harder to turn away.

“It’s a great thing about the Internet,” says Birch, “you could start something massive from your living room.”

them feel worse about their size, the colour of their skin, or other physical features.

Is it possible that the depression many women in Ireland suffer from is a result of media influence?

Eating disorders are another result of the media pressure. One in ten girls and women develops an eating disorder such as anorexia, or bulimia. These diseases can have serious long-term consequences on women’s health, leading, in some cases to death.

Why do we let the media affect

us this way? What we see in a magazine or on screen is a false picture of reality. The models have flaws like you and me, but computer retouching hides these. The media play with reality to make consumers buy their advertisers’ products.

Media images help create cultural definitions of beauty and attractiveness. It is in this context we learn to evaluate our size and shape. The media’s power over our development of self-esteem and body image can be strong and harmful..

“In Ireland today, Bebo has a quarter of a million members”

Media Mirror

Many people have a false body image with no bearing at all on their actual appearance. Iselin Fotland examines how the media influences our self-image Pick any TV station, newspaper or magazine and you will probably find one or more examples of the following: people with beautiful bodies, happy families, perfect boyfriends or girlfriends and succesful careers. In short, in the media we find the picture of what we see as the perfect world.

Not many of us are trained to look at the media with a critical view. Many sit back and take in everything without separating fact from fiction. The media is a huge source of information, and a channel we use to discover what’s going on in the world, and to better understand the things that happen around us. When the world is portrayed as a perfect place it becomes the reality that most people try to achieve.

But that perfection is impossible to reach. Not everybody has a size zero body or a million dollar job; in

fact most of us don’t.

The media also does something that can be worse than focusing on perfection; they turn the focus to imperfection. Don’t we just love to see fat people, ugly people and miserable people? It makes us feel better about ourselves, more successful and pretty. We not only have magazines focusing on how wonderful all the celebrities are, we now have magazines that focus on how imperfect some can be. Those who are looked upon as imperfect can often be healthy, good at what they do, and look completely normal.

But they might not be skinny enough or have the right job to fit the perfect image of our perfect world.

It isn’t enough to look thin.

Youth is an essential component of beauty. But don’t worry the answers are out there. There are thousands of articles on how to achieve the

perfect weight and look, and numerous self-help gurus who can tell us how to live. Selling diets and cosmetics has become a milliondollar industry.

When we find out that the perfect image is impossible to achieve we react in different ways.

According to VHI Healthcare 300,000 people in Ireland suffer from depression each year, and most of these are women. Another study done by the Canadian Women’s Health Network shows that almost 90 percent of women and girls are unhappy with the way they look, and some women can develop depression and other kinds of mental illness when they do not measure up to the media’s image of beauty. When women are dissatisfied with their own bodies, pictures of ultra-thin models in magazines and on television can reinforce those negative feelings, making

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Time to move on

13

Julie Ryan talks to Cian O’Connor about rebuilding his life and what the future holds...

Cian O’Connor competing at the World Equestrian Festival at CHIO Aachen 2006, with Echo Beach He sits with a welcoming smile.

Three years ago that smile was taken from his face and along with it his Olympic medal.

Throughout a number of turbulent months he faced doping charges that would potentially ruin his career. Cian O Connor was eventually cleared of any malicious wrong doing. Now here he is in a room decorated with rosettes and trophies. Pictures of his victories line the walls. This is not the room of a tainted man.

At 27 Cian has jumped on 52 Nation Cup teams. He now has 40 horses in his care. “I work hard buying, selling , teaching , dealing, putting syndicates together , on the phone and travelling worldwide”, he says. Cian has sponsorship with the Irish Independent, who have a prefix on his up-coming horse Echo Beach and also Gain Horsefeeds. PR is an essential part of the game. He acknowledges that he has had a wonderful leg up but a lot of hard grind was needed to reach this level too. “What I’ve learnt over the past few years is that it’s nearly 60/70 % business acumen and the rest is being able to ride the horse.”

Ireland has just been relegated from the Samsung league. The last leg took place in Barcelona in September knocking Ireland out of

the league. There are eight shows in the world with Superleague status.

“Super league is like the premier league of football” he says. One of the world’s leading riders Jessica Kuerten refused to ride on the same team as Cian after the Olympics leaving the team at a loss.

The sport has been divided more publicly now than it has for years with a history of turmoil when it come to Nations Cup teams. “If certain people take a stance, that’s a matter for them, I really don’t have

“We’re simply a nation who has plenty of very good riders but a serious shortage of horse power” an issue with anyone,” he says. “I just like to do my own thing and get on with the job”. He holds no grudges. He adds, “We’re simply a nation who has plenty of very good riders but a serious shortage of horse power.”

The ultimate goal for Cian was to win gold in the Olympics and he

achieved that. His plan came together and he received the ultimate accolade. “After the Olympics the first six weeks were euphoric and then everything started to go pear shaped. The adrenaline of having to fight and read the papers and counter argue was tiring and also very expensive.” he says.

“There is a zero tolerance level within the FEI and we were outside that, it was a fraction of a billionth of a gram. We were outside the rules unintentionally, not maliciously and so we had to put our hands up and say, ‘Yeah we were wrong’. I’m happy, my conscience is clear and the people who support me are happy with that as well.”

Now Cian has got himself going again and has a new plan to bring on younger horses. He plans to bring on five or six young horses a year. Beijing 2008 is a target.

However London 2012 is where he would like to make his mark perhaps with his 8yr.old Marko Poulo, who he named after the equestrian centre in Athens. “He’s a really good horse. It’s important to look at the long term.”

As I look around his office I notice a picture of Cian and his former girlfriend Hazel O’Callaghan who tragically died in 2002 after a freak accident while attending to a horse. He keeps

good contact with her family.

“They’re obviously very sad, their life has totally changed.” Poignantly Cian reminisces, “When you go

“We were outside the rules unintentionally, not maliciously and so we had to put our hands up” through something like that, bad press isn’t that bad, it’s not life threatening, you don’t really care, it’s not the end of the world.” He pauses and ponders, “Athens happened and I could have taken it either way, I could have become bitter and nasty or stronger and more mature. I’d say I’m a bit more hardened now and I take things in my stride.”

Cian has recently moved his Karlswood Stables to the late Paul Darragh’s old yard, in Tara, Co. Meath. It is a beautiful location with 200 acres and 50 stables. This is his third yard since he finished school at 18. Essentially he would like to buy his own yard and build it

up from scratch. “It’s hard to do that and ride so I’m trying to do everything in phases, establish myself with enough horses for the future, keep riding , build my place and set up a training centre.” If that wasn’t enough on his plate. “It is an aim of mine to go to the next few Olympics to win a medal and maybe then I’ll call it a day!” I get up to leave and catch a glimpse of a rather exquisite looking rosette on the wall. Cian smirks, “I gave them back the medal but as for the rosette, they didn’t ask and I didn’t offer.”

It could have all gone so wrong for this man who sits before me. It didn’t.

Something tells me it’s only getting better.

Julie with Cian at his home in in Co. Meath.

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Darren Clarke:

A year of highs and lows

By Regina Wall There are few golfers as popular as Darren Clarke. His great talent and warm personality have gained him many admirers and friends. On the eve of the US PGA championship last year when Clarke’s wife Heather lost her brave battle with cancer, they rallied to support him As a mark of respect, a number of players offered to pull out of the competition. His close friend Paul McGinley risked losing his place on the Ryder Cup team by pulling out of the ranking event to attend Heather’s funeral. “The support I got from Paul and everyone everywhere was unforgettable,” Clarke said at the time.

It was his father who first introduced him to golf. “My father started playing golf when I was eleven, and I caddied for him and got the bug. I went from a thirty-six handicap to a thirteen the first year I played and from a thirteen to a

“The support I got from everyone everywhere was unforgettable” three in the second. In the summer, I’d play seventy-two holes in a day.

As soon as it got bright, I’d go out to practise.”

Clarke is now recognised as one of the most talented golfers of his generation, winning 10 times on the European tour and earning over 10 million euro in prize money. When he returned to his locker room after beating Tiger Woods for the $1m prize in the final of the WGC World Match play Championships in 2000, there was a surprise waiting for him - a note left in his locker from Tiger Woods: “Congratulations. Be proud. PS You’re still a fucker.”

Before last year’s Ryder Cup, he had hardly played since his wife’s death in August. The raw emotion portrayed over the three-day event made it one of the most memorable Ryder Cups to date.

The arrival of Clarke lit up the first tee at the K Club “Nothing can compare with what I went through on that first tee.”There will

PROFILE: NAME: Darren Christopher Clarke

Darren Clarke at the Ryder Cup never be a harder shot or hole for me to play.”

What followed was an inspired Clarke, playing some of his finest golf. After winning his singles match, Clarke shared an emotional moment with opponent Tiger Woods, who lost his father, Earl, to cancer in May. The embrace offered the world a poignant glimpse into Clarke’s personal grief.

“I knew it was going to be an emotional experience not least because Heather loved the Ryder Cup and wearing all the glamorous outfits, but looking back I never realised quite how emotional it would become.”

After the Ryder Cup, Clarke went home to his two sons, aged eight and five. “My boys are my number one priority. They’re the heartbeat of my life” The death of his wife has put increased spotlight on his family and he wants to spend as much

time with his sons as possible. “I have been occupying my time with my sons, Tyrone and Conor, as we all readjust our lives.”

Clarke took a break from the European tour towards the end of last year but has recently began

“This year is a fresh start for me” playing again. He hopes to find a balance between being a single father and a professional sportsman.

He still has ambitions to fulfil in 2007. “The majors are very important to me. I’ve had a difficult time the past few years trying to concentrate fully on golf but this year is a

fresh start .”

Away from the course, he has his own foundation, which helps to raise money to help fight the disease that killed his wife. The Darren Clarke Foundation was set up in 2002 to help Irish junior golf and discover the Irish stars of the future.

“Through the foundation I can try and give back to all those people who supported Heather through her illness, and hopefully we can raise a tidy sum of money to help people who need it most.”

Darren Clarke looks back on 2006 as a year which had highs but will be remembered for his loss. He has shown courage and bravery throughout difficult times. The return of the ‘Big D’ to winning ways at the Masters in Augusta, would seal his comeback on the competitive circuit, which has missed his unique and flamboyant style.

BORN: 14-08-68, Dungannon, Northern Ireland VITAL STATS: 6ft 2in, 15 stone PROFESSION:Turned pro in 1990 TITLES: 15, including World Match Play 2000, European Open ‘01, NEC Invitational ‘03.

RYDER CUP WINS: ‘97, ‘02, ‘04, ‘06 WORLD RANKING: 38 OBSCURE FACT: reported to spend 25,000 pounds sterling a year on cigars.

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15

Golden Oldie Stephen O’Farrell spoke to Ronnie Delany about winning Olympic Gold and the state of athletics today As Ronnie Delany walked along the north quays in Dublin he was confronted by a man asking him if he was Ronnie Delany, the famous runner. When he replied that he was, the man said to him: “You know what, I never saw anyone get so much bloody mileage out of winning a medal”.

The man had a point to

Before the Olympics, Delany wasn’t given much hope of any success by the Irish media.

“Jumbo, my teamates and my father were probably the only ones

everything I had. Within 10 yards I was in the lead and going away from the field. I knew nobody was going to pass me; my legs were pumping, tired but not going to

stable and respected career awaited him in an otherwise very poor 1950’s Ireland. Delany realised soon after joining the army, however, that he would have to choose his

“The press had written me off.

Landy was the favourite” an extent because 50 years after Delany won gold for Ireland in the Olympic 1,500 metres in Melbourne he is still being honoured. He recently received an honorary law degree from UCD and was awarded the freedom of the city in March alongside Bob Geldof.

But such awards don’t just rest on a single medal. He is quick to point out that his gold in Melbourne is only one of his numerous achievements that he has had during a golden era for athletics. He was only the seventh man to run the mile in under four minutes, he went 40 indoor races unbeaten, a record that still hasn’t been sur-

“If they don’t contain the drugs problem; it will spell the end of the Olympics” passed to this day, and he became the first Irish athlete to win a medal at the European Championships when he took bronze.

America” he says. “I was convinced that I was destined to be a great athlete”.

Delany still keeps a keen eye on what’s happening on the track today and he is concerned.

“Drugs is the big issue, it is a serious danger. With such money and sponsorship of course greed enters the equation. Greed, not only in the athlete with the talent; but the greedy manager, coach, and doctor, who want to improve their reputation. When an athlete faces that much pressure and he’s not a moral person, he may take drugs.”

“There is no simple solution either. If they don’t contain the drugs problem; it will spell the end of the Olympics. If it gets too dirty the big sponsors will walk away.” His eyes glaze over. “There is something very special, historic, and significant in being sent by your country to an Olympic Games. And this realisation comes to you as you participate in the opening ceremony before the eyes

“I was convinced that I was destined to be a great athlete”

Ronnie Delany, after winning a gold medal at the Olympics in 1956 who gave me more than a snowball’s chance in hell. The press had written me off. Landy was the favourite.” Delany sits back in his chair getting comfortable before he continues. “It was difficult to remain calm beforehand but I tried as best I could, I knew every moment of anxiety used up valuable energy.” And on winning the actual race itself ? “About 150 yards from the finish, I opened up with

give in to anybody. My heart swelled with joy as I approached the tape and as I burst through, I threw my arms wide in exultation. I could hardly believe I had won.”

After being written off before the race, Delany ended up winning it by 10 feet. This is testament to an extraordinary self belief that he’d had since he was a youngster. After school he had been offered a cadetship in the army; a

running or his career. To the disgust of his father, he chose the former.

He was then successful in gaining a scholarship to Villanova University in Philadelphia where he met his coach Jumbo Elliot. Delany views both the facilities at Villanova and his coach, Jumbo Elliot, as integral factors in his success. “I wouldn’t have won the Olympics if I had not gone to

of the world.”

In a time when Ireland was a debt ridden country and low on self-esteem, Delany’s belief that he could be the best, made the Irish public believe in themselves. As Tony O’Reilly remarked in the introduction to Delany’s autobiography Staying the Distance, “It made us all feel, as a country, that we had achieved something unique, that we could compete against the best in the world”. But perhaps Bob Geldof put it best at the ceremony for the freedom of the city: ‘The Bus would go zipping past me and I’d dash after it and the conductor would lean out and say “Ronnie Delany, wha?” How do you share a stage with someone who has become an expression?’

I never saw a nation get so much bloody mileage out of one medal.

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THE CIRCULAR

Croke Park under lights: Dublin v Tyrone, 3 Feb, 2007

GAA moves with modern Ireland

By Eamonn Mc Gurk Ireland’s identity is changing.

Roared on by the Celtic Tiger economy we have never had such prosperity, diversity and confidence.

Rather than cut its ties with this new image, the GAA has embraced it and the future looks bright for both it and Ireland.

“Croke Park is a true monument of our past and a manifestation of our vision for the future,” said GAA President Nickey Brennan after he illuminated the stadium before the Dublin V Tyrone match thus reflecting the organization’s forward thinking attitude.

Saturday February 24 2007, was a standout occasion in Ireland’s recent history. Croke Park formed the centerpiece. There it stood for the entire world to view as a magnificent tribute to the GAA and Ireland as a whole. The editorial in

Monday’s Irish Times eloquently described the occasion: “All in all, it was a very special night to remember in the history, not just of sport, but of a modern Ireland full of self-confidence and comfortable with herself. Indeed, players and fans alike displayed this self-confidence and sense of pride.”

If the match had been staged in Cardiff or Murrayfield, (viewed as alternatives if the GAA hadn’t opened up Croke Park) the occasion may not have been so significant. Since the plans were made available in 1992, the GAA has created a stadium fit to grace any international occasion. Brennan basked in the glory of these recent triumphs for the organisation but the contribution made by his predecessor Sean Kelly should not be forgotten. It was he and some grassroots members who had the fore-

sight and courage to place Rule 42, which had banned ‘foreign games’, at the top of the agenda.

“Once again it seems sport has moved on quicker than politics” Although a massive statement, Croke Park is not the only way in which the GAA is engaging with and reflecting a changing society.

An organisation of around 800,000 members, it values the contribution of people to its continued growth.

On the night the lights were switched on, children from 18 nationalities formed the teams that

took the field for the half time exhibition.

Among the solo runs, turns and dummies these teams pointed to signs of the future. Some of these players may adorn the light blue of Dublin one day. They don’t need to look far for inspiration as Cork hurling star Sean og O’Halpin who captained the All-Ireland winning team in 2005 has Fijian roots.

During a radio conversation with Eamonn Dunphy, O’Halpin commented that playing Ireland’s national games helped him integrate into Irish society and curtailed the racist abuse he was subjected to.

It is not only immigrants who are being welcomed to play Gaelic games. In the North of Ireland, the PSNI now field a team following the abolishment of Rule 21 in 2001, which prevented members of the security forces playing Gaelic

sports. It took the largest Nationalist party in the North Sinn Fein until recently to endorse policing. Once again it seems sport has moved on quicker than politics.

Since its foundation in 1884 the GAA has played a central role in communities throughout Ireland.

In modern society the faces and attitudes of these communities are much different than those of the past.Former President Sean Kelly points to inclusiveness as the key to the future for the organisation.”In modern Ireland every organization has to be inclusive, and the GAA is no exception. It’s a form of maturity, of advancement, that you can see people not by their differences but by what you have in common.”

Guided by the vision and courage of those like Kelly the GAA continues to move forward and it’s bringing many others along with it.

Cheating must stop Manchester City players show their frustration towards Chelsea’s Didier Drogba

By Ciara Hegarty The culture of diving has wormed its way into the ‘beautiful game’ of soccer. Players fall to the ground without being dragged down, tripped or sometimes even touched at all. They exaggerate their injuries and are miraculously healed if their theatrics fail to impress the referee. This play-acting and blatant foul-play has gone unpunished and has become accepted as an element of the modern game. This must be stopped.

In both the English Premiership and particularly in the Champions’ League, we see players rolling around in ‘agony’, encouraging the

referee to brandish cards. The main objective of the act, and that’s what it is an act, is to fool the referee into thinking they are genuinely in pain.

If these players were really in ‘agony’ a booking for the opposition would be the last thing on their mind.

Nowadays, people argue for free kicks and penalties based on contact. But contact is a fundamental part of soccer. If it wasn’t, the game would be called tip-soccer and would be stripped of all excitement. Soccer is a fast paced game of attack and defence in which players cannot possibly avoid colliding with each other. Players who exaggerate injuries from tackles

seem to get the benefit of the doubt when really it is these divers that are cheating while defenders are just doing their job.

There is an idea that diving is a foreign influence leaving Irish and English players no choice but to follow in the footsteps of their Italian, Spanish and Portuguese counterparts. Wherever and whoever it came from, it is clear to see now that everyone is at it, from Joe Cole to Ronaldo to Damien Duff.

Chelsea striker Drogba has even openly admitted to diving.

“Sometimes I dive, sometimes I stand”. So too has Bolton striker El-Hadji Diouf, who describes it as being “clever”. It is a disgrace that these self confessed divers have gone unpunished. Just like throwing a game or fielding a suspended player is considered cheating, this issue of faking an injury must be treated with the same seriousness.

Every week we hear aggrieved managers blaming referees for poor decisions. Penalties given for exaggerated injuries, genuine penalties denied, controversial yellow and red cards, the list goes on. It is

unfair to criticise referees considering the influence of diving on today’s game. They get one look at it and have to make a call on their first impression. Sunderland man-

“Somtimes I dive, sometimes I stand” Didier Drogba ager Roy Keane recently admitted that there are a lot of players out there who are trying to pull one over on the referee by diving.

“Players have got to look to treat the referees fairly”.

It is hypocritical of managers to give out about incidents of diving that go against them one week, but keep quiet about an easy penalty that wins them a game the next.

Torquay United who are facing relegation at the bottom of League Two have decided to take action

against their own players if found cheating. The club has set up a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ policy to clamp down on the increasing problem of diving. But if a player is awarded a penalty or free kick from a dive that wins them the game, how harsh would the punishment be?

Nevertheless this is a positive step taken by Torquay United and will hopefully encourage other clubs to follow.

Until a video referee is introduced to the game, mistakes are going to be made and cheating will continue. Similar to the way dangerous and deliberate fouls are cited in rugby, something must be done about the issue of diving in soccer.

These players are fit, professional athletes who train hard to better their skills in order to win matches and be successful.

In the name of good sportsmanship, surely it is more satisfying to win games as a result of these skills they worked hard to perfect, rather than fooling the referee with their acting talents?