T.C.D. Miscellany, Volume 118, Issue 2

T.C.D.

being a red head today | the death of the celtic tiger| women in irish politics

David Norris – Panti of Panti Bar – The Gay Marriage Debate

Volume 118 | Issue two | november 2010

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Editor’s letter

ON THE COVER

Polly Dennison

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’m a convert. I have discovered Dublin Bikes. They’re such an easy way to get around the city and are really cheap. For ¤10 I got a card that lasts an entire year and as long as I don’t use one individual bike for more than 30 minutes, I pay nothing more!

The bikes are available until 3am, so they’re also really handy for getting home. Just make sure to tie up your stuff in the front basket properly - I learnt this the hard way when a box of eggs fell out of my shopping bag and smashed all over the ground. Very messy.

The point of this rant is that the bikes are an alternative way to get around Dublin, and not neccessarily something everyone thinks of.

This issue centres around alternative Ireland as well as the LGBT community. I spoke to Senator David Norris about the civil partnership bill and his previous activism work for the gay community as well as the fight for the presidency. Our deputy editor, Elaine, met Panti of Panti Bar on Capel Street. Panti is one of Dublin’s leading ladies on the gay scene. In this interview, she speaks of coming out, the gay scene in Dublin and Ireland as well as the issue of gay marriage in Ireland.

Níamh Ní Mhaoileoin opens up the debate on gay marriage by reminding us that behind the debates and discussions, there are human stories and people who are being denied something pretty fundamental - the right to marry the one you love. We also have some pieces on the idea of an alternative Ireland - meaning a look at what Ireland could be.

Ursula Quill and Gordon Bond both want us to remember the Irish people of yesterday with Gordon telling us to toughen up and Ursula telling us to think outside the box for the sake of the nation. Our regular columnist, Fintan Mallory, wraps things up with his look suggestions for an alternative Ireland and argues that we shouldn’t all be leaving, but instead, looking at what we can do for our country. Our Student Survival Guide focuses on alternative days and nights out in Dublin.

But whatever you do -enjoy the rest of Michelmas term and have a lovely holiday!

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ur editor talks to Senator David Norris on the fight for gay rights and the fight for park on page 6.

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he human stories behind the fight for same-sex marriage in Ireland on page 16.

M

iscellany talks to Panti of Panti-bar about being gay in Ireland today on page 10.

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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

I

reland is 84th in the world in terms of female

representation. Julianne Cox discusses women in Irish politics on page 29

I

f we all leave,

what will happen to the country?

Ursula Quill looks at the state of the nation on page 26.

O

Contents 4

Old Miscellany The Democrats also lost back in 2003...

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From Apocalypse to Apathy Alex Canepa discusses American Politics.

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Miscellany Meets: David Norris We talk campaigns and the Gay Marriage debate with the Senator and Presendtial hopeful.

10 GET OVER IT! Elaine McCahill talks to Panti of Pantibar about the gay scene in Ireland and coming out in the noughties.

14 Open to All? Louisa McIndoe looks at the Trinity LGBT society.

15 When Crawdaddys Attack Dominic Gallagher offers an alternative view on clubbing.

16 If You Like it You Should – Be Able to– Put a Ring on it.

Níamh Ní Mhaoileoin discusses gay marriage in Ireland.

20 It Isn’t Enough.

William Quill argues the case for full civil marriage for all.

22 The Red Scare Tara Monaghon tells us what it’s like to be a red head.

pen

24 Young People Today...

Gordon Bond tells us all to toughen up!

to

26 Shoulder to Shoulder...

Ursula Quill proposes we all stay here for Ireland’s sake.

all?

We look at

29 The Boys’ Club Julianne Cox examines how democratic Ireland really is.

Trinit’s LGBT

32 Student Survival Guide We’re put together some alternative options for days and nights out in Dublin.

Soc and wonders if it really is as accpeting as it could be on page 14.

O

ur regular Miscellany col-

umnist, Fintan Mallory discusses this issue’s theme on page 34.

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Volume 118, Issue 1

34 In Conclusion...Fintan Mallory Our new regular columnist reflects on “alternative Ireland”.

T.C.D. Miscellany 6 Trinity College Dublin 2 www.miscellany.ie editor@miscellany.ie

editor deputy editor copy editors design printers cover photo

Polly Dennison Elaine McCahilll Tara Monaghon Martin McKenna Conway Media Limited Tori McMillan

T.C.D. Miscellany is funded by a grant from DU Publications Committee. This publication claims no special rights or privileges. Serious complaints should be addressed to: The Editor, T.C.D. Miscellany, 6 Trinity College, Dublin 2. Appeals may be directed to the Press Council of Ireland.

T.C.D. Miscellany is a full participating member of the Press Council of Ireland and supports the Office of the Press Ombudsman. This scheme, in addition to defending the freedom of the press, offers readers a quick, fair and free method of dealing with complaints that they may have in relation to articles that appear on our pages. To contact the Office of the Press Ombudsman go to 3 www.pressombudsman.ie.

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Old Miscellany

2003

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politics

From Apocalypse to Apathy People are always bitching and moaning about their government, yet, do they really know what’s going on?

by Alex Canepa

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n the catalogue of modern activities, bitching, whining and complaining about one’s government is perhaps atop of the list. At any dinner party in any country in the democratic world, dissatisfaction with one’s politicians is bound to be on the agenda.

In my country, the United States, dissatisfaction with the government has reached fever pitch (if not popular support), especially in the Tea Party movement, a right-wing political group intent on exposing Barack Obama’s Wall Streetloving- socialist, Muslim-atheist agenda.

In Ireland, the political left is seeing red in the form of NAMA and the out-oftouch Fianna Fáil fat cats who support it.

Although the specifics of disgruntled oppositionist rhetoric differ from country to country, they share a common spirit.

Since the dawn of civilization government in one form or another has been necessary to regulate the actions of the participants in the relevant society. Also, since the dawn of civilization, citizens have moaned and complained about the incompetence or malevolence of their government.

History can be viewed as a continuous stream of virulent dissatisfaction with government and its policies. Sometimes abhorrence is warranted (slavery comes to mind) and sometimes it is not (Believe it or not, going after that Hitler guy was a good idea).

Very mature campaigning from the Tea Party.

However, what is important is not that citizens are never content with government, it is that when they are discontented (which is most of the time), they find unproductive and blatently ignorant ways of expressing their discontent.

In modern times the form this unproductive opposition takes is the “apocalypse to apathy” approach. Citizens seem to oscillate between believing that the government is intent on destroying the world and complete political stupor.

According to a recent poll, 25 percent of Americans think that Barack Obama “hates America” while, (I kid you not) 14 percent believe that he “may be the antiChrist.” Despite these strong convictions only 37 percent of the eligible voting public are expected to cast ballots in this November’s national elections. Ignorance seems to accompany this apathy.

According to Harris Polling, 22 percent of Americans can name all five members of the Simpson family while a majority cannot name a single branch of government (according to the U.S. Department of Education, this is knowledge expected of an 8-year-old American schoolchild.)

Most telling however, according to Gallup, 75 percent of Americans “disapprove of Congress” despite the fact that 67 percent of Americans don’t even know their Congressman’s name. This highlights the fact that as a people we tend to assume the worst of our policy makers based on evidence that can charitably be described as “incomplete” (71 percent of Americans still think Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11).

We are convinced that government is working against our best interests when in actuality, the average citizen has no idea what is really going on. One of the principals underpinning liberal democracy is the belief that the citizen knows what is in his or her best interest and acts accordingly. However, this principal is based on two assumptions. First, that the citizen has a grasp of what exactly is in his/her best interests. Second, that the citizen is aware of what his/her appointed representative in government is even doing. In actuality, the voting public is often woefully ignorant of both assumptions in the liberal model.

As government gets more complex, it gets more confusing and fewer participants in democracy are aware of what is actually going on. When one is ignorant the only tools at ones disposal are venom and apathy. Imagine a small child trying to assemble a toy that he does not understand. He wants to enjoy this toy in its finished state but the task of assembling it is beyond him. Upon realising this, the child can do one of two things: burst into tears and smash the toy on the ground or simply lose interest and walk away. This is, in essence the state of democratic politics. It is a toy, a tool, that few of its operators understand. As an expression of this ignorance we as citizens resort to the equivalent of temper tantrums (unhinged, paranoid political ranting) or simply walk away (political apathy).

I don’t compare the voting public to a child out of contempt, but to illustrate the point that the only way for the electorate to fix the tool is to grow up! To take the few minutes that are necessary to understand how exactly the system works. To take the extra half-hour to dispassionately understand what the hell is going on. Dare I say – to educate ourselves. We cannot forget that in a democracy, government is a construction of our will. Its shortcomings are therefore due to us. The buck stops with us.

It is political suicide for politicians to blame the voting public for the deficiencies in government, but it is ultimately our responsibility.

This is not intended as a chastisement of democracy or the prudence of mankind, but rather, as Abraham Lincoln would have said, “an appeal to the better angels” of our political disposition.

The next time we hear a political rant or feel ourselves sliding into apathy, let us be reminded that true political change can only come about through calm, reality-based action. Not through tantrums and not through indifference.

Alex Canepa is a Senior Freshman student of History and Political Science.

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interview

GET OVER IT! In Dublin’s gay scene, this lady is pretty important. The owner and landlady of Panti bar on Capel st., Panti has a lot to say about being gay today. by elaine mccahill

he gay scene in Dublin is an exciting and vibrant one to experience. Gay people know how to have a good time but they also know their rights and what their rights should be. The summer of 2010 was an important one for the members of the gay community in Ireland.

June brought the passing of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act which was seen to be a milestone in the quest for recognition of gay unions. Rory O’Neill a.k.a. Panti of Panti Bar on Capel Street is one of the many high profile members of the gay community here in Dublin who have campaigned relentlessly for equal recognition. I meet Panti to talk about the gay scene, coming out and the Civil Partnership Act. Panti on...if the gay scene in Dublin is diverse enough.

If you had asked me that a few years ago I would’ve said no because I think at the height of the boom it became all about money...and it all became very bland. Also, young people were too busy working and studying and people wanted everything to be swanky. They wanted glass table tops and back lighting behind the bar and cocktails in frosted glasses and I hated all of that.

So if you want to find a silver lining in

the recession, I think it’s that the scene is becoming much more diverse again.

There are more unemployed people and students that can’t get part-time jobs and as such night life has become a lot more creative, for example the likes of WAR and C.U.N.T. There’s much more a sort of make-and-do quality about having fun now... (Like Monday nights at Panti Bar).

people about their friends you’ll find that they have friends who are much older or younger than they are and are probably completely different to them, like barristers are friendly with construction workers et al. That’s a really great thing about the scene that is often overlooked and I think it’s really positive and we should cherish it in our scene.

Panti on...if people are happy with the scene here in Dublin.

People often give out about the scene but I just have no time for that. I think sometimes people expect too much from the scene. They want it to give them everything. They want it to give them their best friends, their lovers, their social life and their shoulders to cry on and their community spirit. I mean straight people don’t expect that from their social lives and I think the scene is what you make of it. If you’re a fun, nice, outgoing person and you’re friendly to everyone on the scene then the scene will be good and fun and nice to you. If you are the kind of person on the scene who is bitter about it, well then no, the scene isn’t going to be nice to you back. Also, one of the things that I love about the scene is that especially in a town this size, that isn’t a giant metropolis, is that we’re all thrown in together more. If you ask gay

Panti on... how the scene differs from Dublin to the rest of Ireland.

Well I mean obviously in small towns around the country a gay scene is just non-existent really but in towns like Cork and Galway it tends to go in cycles.

Sometimes you’ll go to one of these cities and they’ll have four great bars or clubs going and the next time you’ll go there might just be one; it seems to be hard there to keep a scene going but it’s obviously going to be harder when there are fewer gays in the area. In saying that though, I always have a fabulous time when I go to Cork or wherever.

Panti on... how the scene differs now from when she was younger.

The scene when I was your age was very different. There were a lot less young people out because it was just so much more of a bigger step to take.

Nowadays, people come out so much 7

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Panti Bar, Capel Street, Dublin 1. younger than they did before, I think the average age is eighteen. It was a lot harder then, we didn’t have the same means as we do now, we didn’t have the internet etc. It was hard to find where the other gays were, even that was a huge venture and I think in order to get to that point, you need to be able to throw off everything and immerse yourself in that underground world, whereas nowadays even your Granny knows where The George is. I mean coming out is still a very personal step but nowadays it’s not such a giant leap into the dark anymore.

It’s much more above ground now and there are so many more young people on the scene. As I’ve said before, it’s become so much more creative than it ever was!

Panti on...her idea of a good clubbing scene.

Clubbing, for me, has never been about going to Krystle and drinking champagne and cocktails and having fancy furniture and mirrors everywhere. Now, clubs are more rough and ready than they were in the boom times, people are less focussed on the fact that the club doesn’t have expensive lighting. I mean who gives a shit if the bar

has bar lighting? Come on. As long the sound system is good and there are good DJs and everyone is having a good time.

It’s clubs like A.L.T that are bringing this back.

Panti on...the claims that the younger gay generations don’t have enough respect for their older counterparts.

Well I mean, every older generation thinks that the young people don’t respect them, that’s just par for the course. There’s always a danger that the older people enjoy their nostalgia and thinking that their youth was more fun and more fabulous or whatever.

However, I’m always wary of looking back with rose-tinted glasses. I think if you’re forty odd and looking back on the wild days of your twenties, then you’re looking back on it from your perspective and the twenty year olds that are running around now will be doing the same in thirty years’ time. They’re just missing their youth. Though of course, I definitely think that young gay people should make an effort to understand where their scene has come from and appreciate what older gays did for them.

At the same time, it’s not young people’s

responsibility to be grateful. They should just be out there, living their lives. Really, what it is that older gay people didn’t have the choice; they would have preferred to have come out in a time like this when young people are more confident and it’s fun. Still, I think young people should be aware of what went before them and appreciate what happened to get them to where they are today.

Panti on...the Civil Partnership Bill?

It is a basic fairness and equality issue.

If gay people want to get married, they should be allowed to get married. It’s their choice and they should have that choice. However, the situation here in Ireland is particularly ridiculous, where essentially we now have three different versions of recognition. Straight people can get married or they can apply for Civil Partnership but the straight version of civil partnership will be different to the gay version. In Britain, their civil partnership is excellent. It is almost identical in every way to marriage, the differences are much more minor than ours. Yet there’s a movement in Britain to upgrade it to full marriage and I absolutely support that. I think culture is also

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important, young gays here grow up in a world that expects them and encourages them to want to get married and have that life-defining moment that straight people have. They imagine themselves walking down the aisle in a registrary office or a church or wherever but they have those same dreams and aspirations and then for them to come to that point in their life and have somebody say, well actually we’re not going to let you have that aspiration but we’re going to give you this slightly different one that we’re going separate out and we’re only doing that because we’re afraid. I think that some of the details are less important whereas others matter greatly, especially in relation to children, because whether the conservatives like it or not, they can’t stop any of us from having children.

We’re having children. Unless they want to round up all the gays and lesbians and sterilise them then they cannot stop gay people from having children. It is a basic biological urge. Basically, what needs to be decided is what is best for those children and what is best for those children is to grant them the same rights as every other child. That anyone can argue against that is preposterous. Even if they decided that civil Partnership and marriage were going to be exactly the same but if the language was different, I would still have a problem with that. There are a number of countries around the world that have full, legalised gay marriage and the sky has not fallen down. Get over it. Go off to Spain on holiday and come back with your mind rested about it.

They’re still eating paella. Get over it.

going to be. Everyone imagines the worst but most people handle it a lot better than you think they’re going to. What I will say about the actual process of doing it is to write a letter. People think it’s a cop out if you don’t do it in person but I completely disagree. You can say it in the best way possible in a letter and spend as long as you want writing it and also, your parents don’t have to react immediately.

You’ve most likely had years to come to terms with your sexuality but how can you expect your parents to have a good reaction when you present it to them out of nowhere. They’ll probably say some things that a month later they’ll regret saying once they have time to think about it and by sending them a letter, you’re giving them that time. Also, it’s the biggest thing in the world to you, it’s probably all you think about, but for your friends and family they’ll barely think about it in a month.

Panti on...young people when they first come out.

You often find that when a young person comes out initially, they become almost stereotypically gay because they suddenly find a group that they belong too, maybe for the first time and so they really want to belong to that group and they use the big signifiers to really try and belong. The boys might be particularly flamey and their hair and outfit are particularly gay and the girls are really butching it up. I think that over time people find a style or whatever that suits them and is natural. However, all young

people do it, it’s not just gay people; if you hang around the Central Bank on a Saturday you’re a Goth. They’ve become stereotypical Goths to become comfortable in this new group that they’ve found themselves in. I’s the same in every group or clique, straight or gay or whatever.

Panti on...older people coming out.

I’m always amazed that much more older people haven’t come out. However, lives are always different than your own but in my world I can’t possibly imagine still being in the closet as a forty year old. I could never allow for that to be a possibility. Things are changing and within the next twenty years there’ll be a lot fewer closeted gay forty year olds because those forty year olds were thirteen watching Will and Grace and Graham Norton, whereas when I was thirteen I was watching Boy George on the Top of the Pops and people honestly thought he was a woman because they didn’tally understand that gay people actually existed. That’s not that long ago...times are changing.

Panti on...her favourite gay icon.

Dolly Parton...of course! (Anyone who has or intends to visit the bar will immediately notice the homage that has been given in a number of Panti Portraits to Miss Dolly herself ).

Panti Bar is on Capel Street, Dublin 1 Elaine McCahil is a Senior Freshman student of English and History.

Panti on...Rory.

I don’t really mind what people call me. If I’m not in drag, I don’t mind if someone calls me Panti or Rory but if I’ve spent two hours doing my make-up, putting on the heels and the clothes and creating this wonderful illusion, I most certainly do not want somebody to shout across the street at me “How are ya Rory?” So yeah, if I’m wearing the heels and the hair, you better call me Panti.

Panti on...different types of gays.

I’m always wary of people who want to categorise and say that there’s the good kind of gay and a not-so-good kind of gay. As in people who are like “oh that big camp gay” and “that butch dyke”, I’m always wary of that. If someone’s a Flamer, what difference does it make to you?

Get over it. I really don’t like it when one kind of gay starts ganging up on another type if gay.

Panti on...coming out initially.

Firstly, I would say that in 99.99% of all cases it’s easier than you think it’s

Panti of Panti Bar. 9

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interview

Miscellany Meets: Senator David Norris Our editor went to Leinster house last week to talk to Senator Daivd Norris about the fight for gay rights and the fight for the park. by polly dennison

Senator Norris with the Lord Mayor Eibhlin Byrne when she presented him with a Lord Mayor’s Award in 2009.

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“I wouldn’t be a gay president. I’d be a president who happens to be gay.”

einster House is stunning. High ceilings adorned with intricate plaster work, painted in rich yellows and gold, which look down on similarly painted rooms with floor-to-celling pillars of some sort of wonderful stone. It is truly incredible and the beautiful entrance hall makes a wonderful waiting room.

Then, from behind one of the pillars, the Senator appears with a wonderfully inviting smile and a booming “Hello!” as he reaches out to shake my hand. A wonderfully charismatic man with a salt and pepper beard - that is getting saltier with age - and Joycean spectacles, he then brings me to the Senate to show off the chamber’s ceiling. It is powder blue with even more intricate plaster work than the entrance hall. It was, after all, used as the house’s ballroom before the house went into politics. He explains that one third of it had to be rebuilt by Irish craftsmen towards the end of the last century and it is extremely hard to tell which section has been redone. As we head back downstairs to get some tea and have our interview, Norris decides to take a slightly unorthodox route - the bannister. Sliding down, he stops halfway and states that it’s too sticky from all the hands of the children who had just gone up the stairs as part of their school tour of Leinster House.

He settles for the boredom of using the stairs themselves. Once downstairs and out in the new section, “Leinster House 2000”, we sit outside in a courtyard, drinking tea in the fresh air. We begin by discussing Senator Norris’ past work as an activist for the LGBT community.

The Senator began the fight to legalise homosexuality in 1974, with the Irish Gay Rights Movement, which he helped to set up. They first brought the case to the high court, where their cause was denied. They continued to the Supreme Court, where the same thing happened

“People have had forty years to get used to the fact that I’m gay - it’s certainly not going to come as a surprise to them.” and so they took their case to the European Union where it was decided that the continuation of homosexuality being illegal in Ireland could not go on. Norris tells me that Máire Geoghegan Quinn was a minister at the time and that she helped them with their fight; arguing in the Dáil that there were no clear, factual or cogent reasons for the continuation of institutionalising discrimination of any Irish citizen. With homosexuality only legalised in 1993, Senator Norris was fighting for nearly twenty years.

When asked what is that is holding Ireland back from implementing full same-sex civil marriage, Norris tells me that he believes the move to implementing it is inevitable and that it will happen within our generation.

The Senator does believe that Ireland’s connections with the Catholic Church are part of the reason the country is so slow in implementing full civil marriage, describing the church as “unhelpful”. However, he does not believe that the church is entirely to blame.

With same-sex marriage now legal in both Argentina and Spain, it is not viable to argue that countries that were traditionally Catholic will always act slower in relation to these matters.

According to Senator Norris, over 70% of people in Ireland are now in favour of full same-sex civil marriage.

The Senator believes that the 30% who are against the idea are most likely to be from his generation, as well as those who will never like the idea, whatever their age and who are to be found in most societies. He accepts that it would be a “radical social change”, especially for people of his generation, with most of them being rather uncomfortable with the idea. He argues that with proper discussion and debate, those who are uncomfortable would see the human reality behind it all. He believes that 11

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Senator David Norris. despite “our innate conservatism, there is a decency about Irish people” and that there is an emotional and intellectual investment in “fair play and equality”. The Senator goes on to say that he believes our history, as a nation, has instilled a dislike of discrimination of any kind within us.

Just like any couple that goes through with a civil partnership, same-sex couples will see a change in their tax bill. He refutes the mean-minded argument of some that the state can not afford to allow same-sex couples to go through with civil partnerships. He argues that this is not the case and states that it will be an “exchequer neutral exercise”. Those who do qualify for civil partnership will be recognised as a couple by the state, an extremely positive move in the Senator’s eyes, but also a serious one. It will not be so easy to extract oneself from a civil partnership, but Norris argues that the stereotype of the promiscuous homosexual man or woman just does not apply anymore. As the Senator argues, the attitude towards gay people is somewhat paradoxical, with the community being criticised in the past for being too fond of straying, to then being criticised now for wanting to make a commitment. The Senator does say that, just like straight

couples, homosexual couples should only make this commitment if they feel they are ready and able, not just simply because the option is now open to them.

At least there is the choice now, though, and homosexual couples now do have options available to them. The Senator told Miscellany, exclusively, that the final instruments for same-sex civil partnership will be signed into effect in January, and that he believes that first the ceremonies will be taking place around Easter.

However, Civil Partnership does not allow for joint same-sex adoption of children. Individuals, homo or heterosexual are allowed to adopt by themselves, but if that individual is gay and enters into a partnership with another, the child, legally speaking, only has one parent. If that parent dies, the child is then parentless unless provisions have been made, such as the nomination of the partner as legal guardian. The child could consider both partners as their parents, and yet, in law, only one of them is recognised as their parent. Norris talks of one case in The Netherlands where the legal, adoptive parent died and as nothing had been put into place in terms of guardianship, the child was taken from the other parent, who had no legal recourse,

and was placed in the care of others in France. The Senator tells me that this issue is what made him vote against the civil partnership bill in the first place.

He also objected to the language which was used in the bill, finding it very cold and discriminatory in tone. The home in which opposite sex couples were to live was referred to in the bill as “the family home”, however for same sex couples, it was referred to as “the shared home”.

Norris argues that one shares a home with “furniture and parrots and dogs and cats and pots and pans” and believes that the bill was not recognising that same sex couples are families. He believes that this phrase is a “slap in the face and an insult to the dignity of gay people”. The Senator tells me of one abhorrent provision that was included in the layout of the Civil Partnership bill that proposed the withdrawal of counseling services for same-sex couples, should the partnership break down and if that counseling would then facilitate the continuation of the relationship. Those people who complain about homosexuals being promiscuous are also taking away the services that would help same-sex couples stay together, a rather illogical position in which to be, in the Senator’s opinion.

Senator Norris will indeed be running

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for President, or “The Park”, as he calls it. He chose to run after a journalist from a Sunday newspaper rang him, asking if he was planning to run for the Presidency. At the time, Norris had no plans at all to do so, but once that journalist told him that a Facebook group with over 800 members had been started supporting the idea of Norris as president, the Senator felt he could not ignore it.

Starting out at odds 50 to 1 in the bookies, the Senator’s prospects, along with his ratings, have shot up, with him now in the lead. Norris is now looking like the favourite, coming out on top in the vast majority of polls. Norris’s presidential campaign is in its early stages, with the nomination alone being a year away. He tells me that he has a strong team in place, ready to get going on the campaign in the new year. In terms of the nomination, it looks like the Labour party’s nomination will go elsewhere and so Norris has had to look to other options for his nomination. Two such options are to either go to the four Dublin councils or to look to twenty members of the Oireachtas for nomination. Norris tells me that we are most likely going to be looking at an election within the next 6 months, which he believe may reduce his chances in getting the nomination as the members of Oireachtas will change.

Despite all this, Norris is still extremely hopeful and enthusiastic in his fight for nomination. In the past, parties have imposed a whip to exclude independent candidates but Norris is hopeful that this

will not happen and is confident that he will garner enough support to prevent this. He tells me that he will try every possible avenue to get to “The Park” and will leave no option unexplored. A third option, which has not yet been legislated for, is to get the signatures of 10,000

The Senator told Miscellany, exclusively, that the final instruments for same-sex civil partnership will be signed into effect in January people, in order to be nominated. It is a system that some see as more democratic as it puts the control in the hands of the electorate, not the parties, in terms of the nomination. This option has not been legislated yet, but Norris assures me that he has over 30,000 signatures ready and waiting should it be brought in. The Senator tells me that he has been asked if Ireland is ready for a gay president, but Norris explains that he wouldn’t be a “gay president, but a president who happens to be gay”. He states that he will be a president for the entire population of Ireland, representing all citizens. He argues that he won’t have to harp on about gay rights as his election alone will speak volumes about the progression of Ireland and will show that Ireland is now a complex society which celebrates the diversity and differences between all of its citizens. On being asked if he believes his sexuality will limit his

chances, he tells me that initially it was an inhibiting factor to his political career, but as the Senator says “people have had 40 years to get over the fact that I’m gay, it’s certainly not going to come as news to them”. Norris believes that it will be an issue for some people, but he thinks that his political track record alone should stand up itself – regardless of his personal life – as testament to his commitment to Ireland. “That said”, says Norris, “I’m not ashamed of who I am”, and he goes on to say that he will raise the issues facing the LGBT community when or if he needs to. These issues will recieve the same attention as all other issues that arise for debate. There will be some people who have reservations due to his personal life, but he’s hoping that once he gets out on the campaign trail, and once people put a human face to him and learn of his work and his goals, his sexuality will not be a negative factor.

On that note, we finished our discussion.

He walked me out to the main entrance again, we shook hands and I went on my way. The Senator is truly a charming man, whose previous battles for equal rights for gay people are inspiring. He is realistic about entering the race for president, but if he continues the way he has begun, it is hard to imagine him not securing a nomination. I bet he’d slide down the bannisters in Áras an Uachtaráin too.

Polly Dennison is Senior Freshman student of History.

Norris at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition.

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College Life : societies

Open to All? Trinity’s LGBT society is meant to represent all gay people, not just the stereotypes.

However, is this actually the case?

by Louisa McINdoe

T

rinity’s LGBT society is one of the only societies on campus that caters for the individual rather than an activity. It is supposed to be one of the most accepting and inclusive societies there is, especially considering that they are trying to promote an atmosphere of being proud to be different. When trying to engender an atmosphere where people can be happy and secure about accepting their sexuality, this society must be applauded for the effort that it

Heterosexual people can feel like they can’t join the society, which is a shame if they are passionate about gay rights. makes, especially in light of all the openly homosexual members of the college who are happy with their sexuality.

However, the society suffers from a major difficulty. The fact that it is LGBT means that it has to try to cover and represent all of these different sexualities – lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transsexuals. When speaking to Darren O’Gorman, the head of Trinity LGBT, he did accept that people believed transsexuals weren’t fully represented. This is the major problem with having a society so inclusive – people inevitably slip through the cracks. If the majority of members in the LGBT are undergraduate homosexual men, that is the group that will be most highly represented, just merely due to numbers.

So this is where the whole issue can get complicated. On the one hand, it seems to be self-evident that a society with a high proportion of one type of sexuality being represented, the society would be seen to pivot around them.

However, if you are not a gay man, but instead bisexual, a lesbian, or transsexual, perhaps it could be said that the society wasn’t as welcoming to you as

Gay Pride, Dublin. Photo by William Murphy. it is to homosexual men. Even to go one step further than is a real shame if they are passionate that, it could be argued that there is a about gay rights. In America, the similar certain type of homosexual man that society is called the Gay-Straight Alliwas being represented, to the exclusion ance, which would seem to promote the not only of the other sexualities, but also idea of heterosexual and homosexual other homosexual men. With events that people fighting together for the procirculate around a societal view of homotion of gay rights. However, this is mosexuality – the ‘gay culture’ exemplialleviating the history of the LGBT and fied with nightclubs and pop music – this how they have had to fight for a position can be seen to be limiting. Whilst this is of prominence, not just in Trinity, but obviously enjoyed by some members of all over the country. Homosexuality was the gay community, concessions should only decriminalised in 1993, one of the be made for those that do not. If anyone latest in all of Europe, and was within was to think that to be within a society, the lifetime of every student currently you had to be a certain ‘type’ of person, studying in Trinity. Regardless of the that would be unfair. However, this is el- politics it may suffer from, as with many evated when you consider that the entire societies, Trinity’s LGBT is obviously modus operandus of Trinity’s LGBT is to largely a force for good. By engendering provide a welcoming, non-judgemental a positive and accepting atmosphere in atmosphere in which people can accept which people can accept their sexualtheir sexuality.

If you are not a gay man, but However, the society is limited with instead bisexual, a lesbian, or what is generally seen as ‘college fun’, which revolves around popular clubs transsexual, perhaps it could anyway. All of the nights set up by Trinbe said that the society wasn’t ity Ents are in one of these clubs, and as welcoming to you as to societies in general all seem to gravitate to one of these also. Societies can also homosexual men. tend towards cliques , because that is understood to bee pat of out innate human ity, hear about other people’s experinature. The problem with LGBT, as well ences with ‘coming out’ and telling their as societies such as VDP and Cancer Soc, friends and family and also learning is that they have to transcend normal about how the college can be one of the societal behaviour, because they stand for most open places in which to do this, it something bigger. The debilitating aspect has helped many people to accept their of being a broad church is that inevitably sexuality. It is important for anyone who some group will not feel as represented wishes to do so, to seek out the LGBT as they should be. and interact with other homosexual One of the other issues here is that college students. The LGBT stock room LGBT also stands for gay rights, which is open from Tuesday to Friday, 1-3 and many heterosexual people would also there is free coffee and tea. If you wish believe in and be major supporters of. to meet one on one, please visit http:// However, because the society appears trinitylgbt.com to learn more. to specificall function only for its LGBT members, heterosexual people can often Louisa McIndoe is a Junior Sophister feel like they can’t join the society, which student of English and Philosophy.

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student life

When Crawdaddys Attack...

Fed up with the marketing ploys of some of Dublin’s nightclubs? You’re not alone in thinking that the young people of today need to gain some more perspective.

by Dominic Gallagher

I

never enjoyed the feeling as a twelve year old , the shop assistant beadily watching me, expecting me to lunge for a mars bar and make a break for the border at any moment. This expectation of wrongdoing, based solely on my age, always annoyed me. I believe it pushes more kids into shoplifting than it prevents doing so, as people often have the tendency of acting out the role they have been assigned.

These days the expectation comes in different forms, mainly in the belief that young people who are my age are going to attack every conventional norm. It is most prominent in advertising where it is hoped I will be bowled over by anything that could be considered shocking or outlandish. The two most prominent examples in Dublin, are in the advertising campaigns of the nightclubs Crawdaddy and Spy.

It would be great if we could rebel against this meaningless rebel and gain a bit of respect for our age group.

Crawdaddy named its Tuesday night C.U.N.T standing for “C u next Tuesday”. To some this may be an edgy use of wit, saying a vulgar word and getting

C.U.N.T. at Crawdaddy on Harcurt St.

away with it because of a few cunningly placed full stops. It is an attempt, however, to cross the border of sensiblity in a clever way which is aimed primarily at students and it has been very successful with Tuesday nights being constantly packed out. However, I don’t think I’m alone in finding it utterly repugnant.

I think it displays a cynical, one dimensional view about the motives behind student rebellion. Crawdaddy believes that students and young people in general, go against accepted traditions in order to forge their own identity and define themselves in opposition to other generations. They are thrill seeking, self interested pursuits in which enjoyment is gained through seeing how much you can get away with. It doesn’t matter what you are actually rising up against, just that you are doing so. It’s just a rite of passage allowing you to claim smugly that you were “wild” in your youth.

The problem is that it completely ignores the factor of the original youthful idealism responsible for these actions. This idealism is a belief that the world can be changed for the better and it manifests itself in the revolt against the former prejudices and oppressions of past generations. We assess afresh and try to throw of the old bias

judgements that have their roots in history and not in reason. Hence, students have risen up time and again in the past.

Students campaigning for the rights of others can be seen in the campaign in the U.S.A for racial equality, in the civil rights marches for catholic equality in Northern Ireland in 1967 led by 21 year old Bernadette Devlin, and in modern times, in movements against homophobia and the war in Iraq.

Crawdaddy ignores this in an attempt to exploit us for its own profit.

Making the word c**t mainstream is not a worthy cause. It’s quite pathetic. The arbitrary nature of words means that c**t no longer has its former meaning for those that attend this club. That meaning has shifted to other words and it has lost its ability to offend. What this means is that in the little closed society of Dublin student life, this word has become normalised but once you step outside it into the big world, you will disgust and insult people. The same exploitation of worthless rebellion is demonstrated by Spy nightclub which ran its “Blasphemy” night on Wednesdays last year. Aside from mocking pic-

I don’t think I’m alone in finding it utterly repugnant. tures of Jesus and the club also engaging in gimmicks like having guys dressed up as priests, administering the ashes at the entrance on Ash Wednesday.

The Catholic Church has been rocked by abuse scandals but the essential Christian message remains undiminished in its importance in many people’s lives. To deliberately set out to offend is not liberation from former church dominance but instead it is to come full circle and is a movement from the persecution by religion to persecution of religion. It is not an attempt to open up intellectual debate but merely to offend.

Is youthful idealism to be giving out its full vent in blasphemy? Somehow I believe it has a higher purpose than that. So for this year, if I had one wish, it would be that we win the colours match in rugby.. However, down the line it would be that Crawdaddys and Spy change their names. and for students to avoid them and look for different options when they are heading out during the week, such as The Village on a Tuesday night or Tripod on a Wednesday. It would be great if we could rebel against this meaningless rebel and gain a bit of respect and belief from the rest of society in our age group.

Dominic Gallagher is a Senior Freshman student of English and Philosophy.

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culture

If You Like it, Then You Should – Be Able to – Put a Ring On It.

Photograph by: Ludociv Bertron.

Surely everyone should have the right to marry the one they love. by níamh ní mhaoileoi 16

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n July 30th, Jose Luis Navarro, 54, and Miguel Angel Calefato, 65, became the first gay couple to marry following Argentina’s decision to legalise full marriage for same-sex couples. At the ceremony, the presiding official simply used a pen to cross out “man and woman” on the marriage license, replacing it with “contracting parties” and undercutting all of those who allow purely semantic objections to prevent the marriages of gay couples.

In contrast, when Dr. Katherine Zappone and Dr. Ann-Louise Gilligan contacted the Irish Revenue Commission in 2003 to seek the recognition of their Canadian marriage, the response was that they were not entitled to the benefits of a married couple because, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, marriage is between a man and woman. That decision was upheld by the High Court, and the couple await a hearing at the Supreme Court.

Drs. Gilligan and Zappone met in the United States, over 25 years ago, and pledged their lifelong commitment to each other shortly afterward. On returning to Ireland, they both continued to work as lecturers in education and theology. They also established ‘The Shanty Education Project’ (now ‘An Cosán’), which provides childcare, education and leadership opportunities in the community of Tallaght West and Jobstown. In

person they are charming, engaging and eloquent, exuding positivity about their relationship despite the struggles and discriminations they have been forced to endure. Across Ireland and internationally, their’s is a love story which has inspired new belief in the possibility of lifelong love.

Their story is emblematic of how the debate on gay marriage has crystallized the wider discussion of the value of marriage in our society. In the last few decades the increase, or at least increased visibility, of divorce, cheating spouses and broken homes has left many people feeling disillusioned, and often victimised by marriage. To others it is simply outdated or irrelevant. Accordingly, many straight couples with the option of marriage choose not to use it. However, the worth of any institution is assessed not by the response of those who can afford to be complacent, but by those who are denied it and the vehemence with which they fight for it.

The Irish Constitution pledges to “guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded, and to protect it against attack.”

Drs. Gilligan and Zappone argued that this section of the constitution does not preclude same-sex couples from the same protection. The benefits which accrue to both individuals and society through marriage, apply to gay couples as much as any other. What are those benefits? The first and most obvious is

that marriage, traditionally at least, is a stable and secure atmosphere in which to produce and raise children. Some argue that gay people cannot fulfil that function, and therefore have no stake in marriage. This claim is a full-scale betrayal of the gay families which already exist in our society, thanks to IVF, sur-

The Irish Constitution pledges to “guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded, and to protect it against attack.”

Drs. Gilligan and Zappone argued that this section of the constitution does not preclude same-sex couples from the same protection. rogacy or single parent adoption (which is allowed under the Civil Partnership Bill, though joint custody is refused).

Under the status quo, the children of these families are massively vulnerable. Firstly, they have to live and grow up in a community which rejects the validity of their families, regardless of how happy or functional they are. This creates a massive disconnect between the children and their society. From a pragmatic point of view, the non-legal parent faces considerable difficulties with regard to consent and involvement

Anna Rose Epstein and Hannah Michaelson. Photograph by McMillan 17

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in education or healthcare. And finally, the worst case scenario is that if the legal parent dies and the remaining partner, a parent in every other sense, has no legal claim. The state has completely failed these children by wilfully blinding itself to their existence and denying their parents the securities of marriage. That said; it is a fallacy to suggest that marriage exists only for the sake of children.

Straight couples who can’t have children, whether because of age or fertility problems, never have their right to marry questioned. The reason is that marriage has massive personal and social benefits for couples who choose to marry. The first is that it is a clear indication of society’s acceptance of a relationship. While many of us might wish love could exist in a vacuum, without ever having the necessity to bring someone home to meet the family, it doesn’t. We seek affirmation from those around us, and we hope for our relationships to become welcome elements of the community in which we live. The refusal of marriage, and of that affirmation, is a statement that the love a couple feel, and the relationship they have, is not good enough. As most gay couples will confirm, a relationship becomes far easier and more positive after both partners have come out to family and friends. Marriage is an extension of the same principle, and the legalisation of marriage is therefore crucial to fully

accepting gay people in our society.

The progress on this issue internationally suggests the Ireland will eventually be compelled to legalise full gay marriage, whether by international opinion or by law, as it was compelled by the ECHR to decriminalise homosexuality in 1993. Furthermore, the Civil Partnership Bill passed the Dáil without vote in July, suggesting no massive ideological objection among T.D.s. So why the delay?

While the Church arguably takes some responsibility for the slow adjustment, to blame it completely is untenable, as other predominantly Catholic countries have already legalised gay marriage.

Spain, home of the Inquisition, was the second country in the world to introduce such legislation and Argentina’s decision was made against the strong objection of the Church there.

What Ireland suffers from is no longer extreme religiousness, but the conservative aftertaste, where discrimination against gays comes not from religious fervour, such as can be seen in areas of Africa or the U.S., but from an ill-defined dislike of homosexuals and their behaviour. A vague distaste, however, does so little harm to those who feel it, that it cannot justify the significant harm and reduction of quality of life inflicted upon gay people by the refusal of marriage. The ultimate culpability, therefore, lies with legislators who are

unwilling to accept real moral responsibility out of fear of their constituents’ traditional prejudices. Historically, the

It is a fallacy to suggest that marriage exists only for the sake of children. Straight couples who can’t have children, whether because of age or fertility problems, never have their right to marry questioned.

Irish government has regularly abdicated responsibility for legislating on moral questions, instead forcing individuals, like Drs. Gilligan and Zappone, to risk public exposure and personal trauma by appealing to the courts as private citizens. For example, the fourteen year-old girl known as X, who had been raped by a neighbour, became pregnant and suffered from suicidal thoughts due to the unwanted pregnancy, was forced to suffer the additional trauma of an appeal to both the High Court and Supreme Court, due to the lack of clarity in abortion legislation. Another example is the Norris -vs- Ireland case, in which the Trinity lecturer and Senator had to take a case to the European Court of Human Rights to achieve decriminalisation of homosexuality, having lost in the Irish Supreme

The rainbow flag is the universal symbol for gay pride.

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Doctors Gilligan and Zappone. Photograph: The Green Party.

Court. When the ECHR ruled in his favour, decriminalisation met with no opposition in the Dáil, again reflecting the laziness and cowardice of politicians neglected to act sooner.

To give what little credit is due; over the summer the President was given the opportunity to sign a Civil Partnership Bill into law, providing certain benefits to long-term co-habiting couples, with regard to pension entitlements and succession of property. The response of the gay community to what Senator Norris describes as “dog licenses” has been less than rapturous. In the Marriage Equality March, which took place on August 22nd, LGBT campaigners rightfully argued that Civil Partnership comes nowhere close to real equality, as well as propagating a disturbing discourse of ‘separate but equal’. Firstly, couples obviously want the full benefits which accrue to marriage but, for many more importantly, there is a status and recognition attached to marriage which is greater than the sum of its parts.

For that reason, even if full tax benefits, inheritance rights and parenting rights were afforded to gay couples under a different title it wouldn’t be enough. Love does not exist in a vacuum, we seek acceptance and affirmation from those around us and until society fully welcomes and celebrates the loving, committed relationships of gay couples under the title of marriage, the work of gay campaigners on this issue

will not be complete. As well as changing our societal discourse on marriage, this debate has also allowed the gay community to break down some of the old stereotypes. Slurs of promiscuity and wild living sound rather ridiculous when what gay people are asking for is the right to settle down with one person and, in some cases, start a family. While the Gay Rights Movement has always been cast as liberal to the point of radicalism, in this instance they are in fact taking a stand for family values (in the literal rather than pejorative sense) and forcing us as a society to rethink our views on those values. Do we value marriage because it’s an age old union between man and woman? Or do we value it because it’s an opportunity for two individuals, whatever their gender, to seek happiness for themselves, a happiness which deserves our support?

Finally, we must remember that there are countless silent victims of our failure to act on this issue. For all those members of the LGBT community who march and demonstrate for their rights, many more do not, out of embarrassment or fear. People argue against gay marriage and adoption for the sake of children.

Anyone who wants to argue for the rights of the child has to remember the children grow up and that when they do, one in ten – at a conservative estimate – will come to realise they’re gay and face the often harrowing process of coming to terms with their sexuality, and coming

out to a society which continues to reject them and deny them a “normal” life. And there are adults all around us who never managed to come to terms, who could never face the judgement or disappointment of those around them. They keep quiet, often in unhappy marriages or unhappily single, prevented from achieving their full potential by having to ignore a central element of themselves. It’s important to remember that when people realise they’re gay they have to deal not only with different desires, which are often judged or condemned; they must also re-navigate their futures, not being able to live the lives they and their families had planned, which almost always include marriage and children. A society in which these things are off-limits is a society in which coming out is necessarily an overwhelmingly difficult process.

The debate over gay marriage is not an abstract one. We have an opportunity to afford greater happiness to thousands of people who have been denied it thus far, we have an opportunity to strengthen the shaky institution of marriage, through an act of inclusion and celebration and we have a chance to prove that as a society we care enough to take a stand for the rights of our citizens, rather than wandering on in political indifference. Gay marriage will come about eventually, why not make it now?

Níamh Ní Mhaoileoin is a Senior Sophister student of English.

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politics

It Isn’t Enough.

Civil Partnership us a step in the right direction. But it isn’t the same civil marriage. by william quill

he Civil Partnership Bill will be coming into effect in the new year. This is, I suppose, better than nothing, but it is not good enough. There would have been a time when this would have been acceptable, but not now in 2010, where mindsets and appreciation of the issues have changed.

Many years ago, gay people weren’t calling for marriage.

They had found themselves cast off and rejected from society, and felt no choice but to create their own community. With the outbreak of the AIDS virus, people in general could no longer ignore the fact that many of their family, friends and colleagues were gay, and gay people themselves felt a desire to be integrated and accepted in the community as much as anyone else. This is a stylised version of events, but it was particularly in the last twenty years that the campaign for true equality took off.

True equality demands the right for gay couples to marry. If the state is to acknowledge the relationships of couples, it should not discriminate on the basis of the sex of the two partners.

By acknowledging that gay couples merit recognition, but only in the form of civil partnership, the state is stating that they believe the love between a man and a woman is superior to that between two men or two women.

So what do we hear from those who oppose marriage equality? They claim that civil partnership grants all the rights of marriage, so what more would we want. Even if it did, the discrimination would exist in the refusal to grant the word, and particularly because of the constitutional recognition of marriage.

What’s more, the Bill grants no recognition to the children of gay couples. There are cases now, more pertinent in the case of lesbian couples, where a child from a previous relationship is being raised by a couple. If the natural mother were to die, the surviving mother would have no legal rights to the child.

There has been the claim, particularly promoted in recent years, that marriage is not about couples at all, it is about children. Children are a natural part of the relationship between a man and a woman, but people generally don’t marry for children. I don’t mean in the case of

unmarried mothers, where the father is still very much part of the family. In such cases, I believe marriage should be promoted, or at least not disincentivized, by the state. I mean that in cases where there are no children, a couple who do

Those considering the welfare of children should also give a moment’s thought to the many gay children, for whom the normalization of gay relationships would lessen their adolescent anxiety, that they could have the same hopes for married family life as others, and reduce the likelihood of their being bullied in school. get married do so primarily for love, while they might look forward to raising children. This is obviously the case for those who for medical reasons can’t have children of their own, or particularly elderly couples. Even those who see

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Eamon Gormley and head of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network , Kieran Rose pose with the new bill in June, 2009. Photograph by The Green Party. marriage’s primary function to provide for children, acknowledge these exceptions, so why cannot they simply extend that privilege to gay couples? Those considering the welfare of children should also give a moment’s thought to the many gay children, for whom the normalization of gay relationships would lessen their adolescent anxiety, that they could have the same hopes for married family life as others, and reduce the likelihood of their being bullied in school.

Over time, new rights are discovered to exist as natural rights. Nothing in law and society is set in stone, and our views of social norms change slowly in line with evidence over time. The fact that Éamon de Valera had only the marriage between a man and a woman in mind when he wrote Article 41 of the Constitution of Ireland is not how law should be judged. A nice example of how law changed from what those who drafted it had in mind is how the Supreme Court of the United States decided in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 by 9-0 to desegregate schools on the basis of the Fourteenth Amendment, ending the farce of separate but equal, despite the fact that those who drafted that Amendment in 1868 would clearly not have anticipated such a ruling. On the issue of marriage equality, the scientific understanding of homosexuality has changed over the past century, with the consensus now that it is a normal and immutable condition, however rare, rather than a psychiatric

condition as a result of childhood experiences, as expostulated by Sigmund Freud. Now, as gay couples desire the comfort, stability, recognition and security of marriage as much as many others, there is no compelling reason it should not be granted.

If nowhere in the world was marriage between gay couples in place, it would still be no justification for not legislating for it here. But given that Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Sweden have dropped any requirement that a married couple be of opposite sex, the Irish government should ask why the situation here is so different. Religious views should not be considered when drafting legislation in a republic, but it’s nice to be able to point to Catholic Belgium and Catholic Spain in that list. And of course, it was the most heavily Irish part of the United States, Massachusetts, that gay couples first received marriage rights.

In 2006, Anne Colley, a solicitor and former Progressive Democrat TD, delivered a report to the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell, on the best way to tackle discrimination for samesex couples, and she found that only way to deal with the question fairly would be to grant gay couple full and equal rights to marry. To Minister McDowell’s discredit, he sidelined the report, proposing only domestic partnership, which would grant no more recognition to gay couples

than two siblings, and perhaps even two friends, who were living together in a financially dependent situation. It was from then, in part as a disappointed party member, that I realized how important it was that there should be full rights to marry.

Now we are presented with this bill.

I believe it is only a matter of time before full marriage rights are achieved, there will only be so long this country can hold out, but I would much rather that happened today than several years from now. For my own part, I presume without thinking that I will get married, especially seeing how much it is taken for granted in the aforementioned countries and certain US states. I certainly have no desire for civil partnership. But there are many gay couples far older than me, for whom any benefit or recognition would be a great peace of mind. For this reason, I hope the Bill passes, in as strong a form as possible. But equally, I am glad to see the many gay activists protesting against the deficiencies of the bill. And from its enactment, it will hopefully be only a matter of time before it is clear that there is really no natural difference in fact between the love of any two people, and that the discrimination lessened but emphasized in this Bill will end.

William Quill is a recent postgraduate student in the school of Socioal Sciences and Philosophy 21

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culture

The Red Scare Being red-headed seems to be in fashion one minute and not the next; compliments flowing when it is and insults flying when it’s not.

by Tara monaghon

H

iding from prejudice is not as easy as one would think.

Even in our multicultural, democratic Western society which regularly boasts of acceptance and freedom of expression, not all of us are accepted for who we are. I should know, belonging to a minority similar to approximately 10 per cent of the Irish population. Every day is a battle for acceptance, a struggle for survival and a right to a normal life. The path I walk is a lonely one for nobody chooses the life of a redhead.

Every school talent show needed five spice girls and so there was always room for the redhead.

I did not ask to be born with a shock of orange tresses, freckles and melanoma. Indeed, it is fate and a handful of recessive genes which have resulted in this situation. As the only redhead in the history of my family, I accepted I was different from an early age. However, growing up as a redhead in Ireland in the nineties was a positive experience. A combination of the Celtic Tiger, Jean Butler and Bosco sent waves of reinforcement to the Irish masses. The

colour orange was no longer associated with hostility but with wealth and success. Red hair became the symbol of national greatness and redheads were openly celebrated.

My childhood was filled with words like “special”, “unique” and occasionally “beautiful” as strangers pulled me aside to compliment my hair. Orange went international with stars like Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet and Geri Halliwell gaining unprecedented fame for their locks.

Indeed, every school talent show needed five spice girls and so there was always room for the redhead. Slurs and slagging from my classmates were kept at a bare minimum thanks to my swift reflexes and a pair of Doc Martins. Besides, with Dexter’s Lab, Daphne Blake and Shrek’s Princess Fiona on the cards, I was never short of a cool persona to reference. Red was definitely in. Sheltered from the howling winds of gingerisms, I foolishly became used to the acceptance.

Alas, the naughties rolled around and with it came the decline of the redhead.

Subtle at first, the attention I attracted was more negative in nature. Before, passing strangers would stare and smile.

Now they just stared. The quality of my social life gradually decreased and soon the homeless were throwing my change back at me. However, being a teenager I just put it down to my own lack of confidence and tried to ignore those bare,

ravenous eyes that haunted me at night.

Slowly and surely society reflected my own paranoia. Lindsay Lohan dyed her hair blond, Nicole Kidman was divorced and J.K. Rowling killed off Fred Weasley.

Despite the warning signs, none of us were prepared for the absolute carnage of “Ginger Kids”.

Having never watched South Park, let alone that episode, I did not initially understand why I was blatantly being pointed and laughed at. Wasn’t gingivitis some form of scurvy and why did I suddenly have no soul? The world was a scary, confusing place until a close confident eventually let me into the loop. According to society, my hair was the root

Bosco: The red mascot of Ireland in the 80s and 90s.

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Lindsay Lohan in the good old days. of all evil. Since then the racial slander hasn’t stopped. In these dark days, I am frequently told to my face “gingers don’t count” and asked if “the carpet matches the curtains”. Delightful.

When witty repartee fails, sometimes strangers just yell “ginga” across the road. Cars don’t bother swerving to avoid you either. Once I was called a “wee f**king redder” by a guy on Dame Street who just happened to be passing my way.

I might expect this crude behaviour in a grudge baring nation but not on my own home soil. Across the water, despite Prince Harry’s self claimed “auburn” tints, things are much worse. In 2009 an English boy hung himself after being bullied for having red hair. Likewise in 2007 an entire family were forced to move away from their Newcastle home because of the constant harassment. All this abuse and hate seems to be extreme for a hair shade.

The worst part of the whole ordeal is that, unlike other minority groups, if you complain you further fuel the fire.

I argue that anybody subject to such exhausting attacks would react in any other manner but “fiery”. I assure you my outrage is not a result of genetics but

of my absolute bafflement at this wave of stupidity. There are no support groups or social clubs one can join for empathy and encouragement. It’s very much a case of “Don’t Mention the War!”. Occasionally you pass a fellow redhead, your eyes meet for a moment and you silently will each other on with a small smile. This madness cannot last forever.

In reality, redheads attract this constant harassment because people are fascinated with them. There is something about the orange tones that keeps both women and men salivating. As there is so much mystery surrounding the redhead I thought I would put some rumours to rest. Firstly red hair does not generate heat, so please stop trying to warm your hands over it. Secondly, we can tolerate sunlight, just not high intensities. We burn at the same rate most Irish people do. Also, eating carrots, oranges and any other orange food you can think of does not make “it” brighter. We do not have our own secret guild (as far as you know) and funnily enough we don’t want to hear your opinions and whims about us.

We only laugh at your jokes to be polite.

Despite society’s pressure, I am not ashamed of my hair. Not only do

I genuinely appreciate the colour, but it’s part of who I am. Like many other redheads, I am defined as such. Now and again the threats I receive over my hair are those in favour of it.

Hairdressers and the kindest people on Earth take time out of their day to implore me never to dye it and so I have

Slowly and surely society reflected my own paranoia.

Lindsay Lohan dyed her hair blond, Nicole Kidman was divorced and J.K. Rowling killed off Fred Weasley. hundreds of promises to keep. Making judgements of a person based solely on their appearance (let alone hair colour) is wrong but vocalising it is just moronic.

If blonds are dumb, brunettes are boring and redheads have no souls, what hope is there for the future? The only problem with redheads is that there not enough of them. I feel a red revolution beckoning.

Tara Monaghon is a Junior Sophister student of Music Education.

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culture

Young People Today...

Times have changed a lot since we were children but we’ve got to grow up and get used to it - in other words - toughen up!

by Gordon bond

here’s a recession on, apparently, and rumour has it that it’s set to last for quite a while. This means that Irish people are facing several years of economic hardship. Years which will not be made any easier through marches, debates or, despite what a vast majority of the Irish people appear to think, chronic bellyaching. This state of hardship is not a new phenomenon in Irish society. Rather, it disappeared for a while, allowing us a brief respite, before returning with a vengeance.

The Celtic Tiger is dead and gone; its bones have been well and truly picked clean. Most of the current crop of undergraduates were born into the bubble, grew up within its ridiculously extravagant financial confines, and now find themselves living in a society vastly different to anything they have ever known. The family fortnight in Crete,

which used to take place at least once, if not twice a year, has given way to rainsoaked weekends in Killarney, if the family can afford to go anywhere at all.

Yet the youth of Ireland has found itself at such intense disadvantages before this massive attainment of wealth.

Generations of Irish people have been forced to go abroad in search of work, striking out alone into an unknown world at tender young ages, attempting not only to make a living for themselves, but also to send what they could home in order to improve the condition of the families they had left behind. Needless to say, these youngsters did not enter into this self-imposed exile because they wanted to, but because they were forced to by economic necessity. Those who remained faced a similar daily struggle to keep themselves going in a country where jobs were hard to come by, and money even harder. However, despite the overwhelming odds stacked against them, the youth of these generations

survived by simply putting their heads down and doing what they had to do in order to survive. The boom years made this dogged determination unnecessary, and while the hardship of bygone years has returned, the attitude connected to it has not. The Irish, formerly one of the most hardworking and dedicated nations in the world, have gone soft.

The recent controversy surrounding the possible raising of registration fees offers us a fine example. In the U.S., young people face far greater obstacles,

The Celtic Tiger is dead and gone; its bones have been well and truly picked clean. most especially in relation to money, in gaining access to higher education than here in Ireland. For the majority of those who do make it to university, the future is a bleak existence of part-time jobs and mounting debt in an effort to

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Looks like this cat’s gone for good. pay tuition fees. In Ireland, by contrast, the government pays tuition and asks for the student to make a mere pittance of a contribution (in comparison to the costs which would be involved without the fee remission scheme) in the form of the registration fee. This was a perfectly adequate and workable system when the country was prospering, but times have changed drastically and the system, out of sheer necessity, must change along with it. The proposed increase to the registration fee would still amount to a far smaller sum than that which would be required of the student, if the government were to abandon the remission scheme altogether. However, it provoked a protest march laden with rhetoric, but lacking in any alternative solutions.

While alternative methods of collecting this fee, such as the much-discussed ‘graduate tax’ system, should certainly be explored in the interest of allowing as many people as possible to remain in university education, the idea that thirdlevel education can continue to be provided to so many students with so few financial resources, is simply ridiculous.

Those students lucky enough to have

part-time jobs will have to examine exactly how they spend their earnings with a view to aiding their parents, if need be, in continuing their own education. Irish students, along with everyone else, have a stake in the economy of the nation, and they must be prepared to play their part in its recovery. This will certainly not be an enjoyable, or even a fair process, but it is a process born of necessity which must be faced with grim determination.

The youth of the current generation have become used to luxuries. Indeed, not only have we become used to them, we feel entitled to them. The stark reality we now face, however, is that these are luxuries which we simply cannot afford anymore. The smoker who gets through two packets of his favourite tobacco product a week will have to cut it back to one, or even none. The party animal, so used to painting the town red every night of the week, will have to reign him or herself in. The University Times recently demonstrated that a significant number of Trinity students regularly abuse drugs.

Drugs, what ever else one may say about them, are not cheap. If this paints a picture of a life devoid of recreation, or any

fun whatsoever, then it is appropriate, because it is exactly the kind of life being faced by almost every member of Irish society. University students are no longer children. We are all adults, and we must be prepared to meet the challenges presented to us as such. For every parent willing to give up their own little luxuries in order to survive, there must be a son or daughter willing to do the same.

The old adage informs us, with very little exaggeration, that life isn’t fair. Youth is no protection against hardship, as any Irish person who is conscious of our history should be well aware. On the other hand, our history also demonstrates that such challenges have been faced by the young people of Ireland before and, albeit with a great deal of struggle, have been overcome. Today’s youth, quite simply, need to toughen up.

This article is not intended to glorify the poverty which drove so many young Irish people away from our shores, nor does it seek to make a case for any particular political policy or viewpoint. Rather it seeks to glorify the traditional Irish spirit of determination to do what is needed to survive, something which I feel has been lost as a result of having had things too easy for too long. My own grandmother walked to school for six months out of every year with no shoes on her feet; so far, I have yet to see a single person show up to a lecture without footwear. They say that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Well, the going has already gotten tough, and it will inevitably get tougher. Many young people will be content to continue with the endless cycle of complaint, protest, and disappointment which has characterised Irish

The boom years made this dogged determination unnecessary, and while the hardship of bygone years has returned, the attitude connected to it has not. society for the last two years. The rest of us must resign ourselves to the fact that, for the foreseeable future at least, we’re in for a rough and largely penniless ride.

The fictional mother in the well-known Lynyrd Skynyrd song implored her son to ‘be a simple kind of man.’ This sentiment now rings true for all of us. I invite you all, sons and daughters of Ireland, to acknowledge the challenges that lie before you.probably for a while to come, and get on with things.

Gordon Bond is a Senior Freshman studient of History.

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culture

Shoulder to Shoulder...

President John F. Kennedy once said: “Ask not what your country can do for you but what can you do for your country?”.

Different nation, different age, same sentiment.

by Ursula quill

ur generation – say people born between 1986 and 1991, a large portion of whom were protesting against a rise in registration fees on the 3rd November – are a very interesting generation. We are people who can remember life before the Celtic Tiger, experienced the Celtic Tiger while in secondary school and had the recession announced to us while we were in college or about to go there.

Many things bind us as a generation: we remember Ray Darcy and Dustin on the Den; we remember how much we could get with that one pound (20 penny sweet, a sparklers ice-pop, a Mars bar, a packet of Cheese and Onion

crisps, a bottle of Cola Cadet and a jelly snake); we remember, even if we didn’t fully understand it, the positive reaction to the Good Friday Agreement; we remember the shock of hearing about the Omagh Bombing; we queued to buy almost every Harry Potter at midnight and didn’t sleep till we had read it; we remember using a computer for the first time and the comically slow dial-up internet; we remember exactly where we were when we heard about 9/11; we remember learning about the Euro before it was introduced; we remember when The Simpsons were good; we remember the extravagance of those Celtic Tiger years; “like” being introduced to our vocabulary and the accuracy of Ross

O’Carroll-Kelly. We remember all these things, but had no real part in creating those situations. The disaster we now face – all of us – is not our fault. But the solution can only be brought about by us.

I say this partly because I for one, simply don’t trust the generation that has gone before us; but also because I believe that based on what we have experienced – and I’m sure you could all add to my list of memories – we have a huge potential to really transform Ireland, to imagine an alternative Ireland.

There will be much talk and debate in the coming five years regarding the centenary of the 1916 Rising. Many Irish people believe that, on a whole, the Rising was a good thing. Most don’t

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time responsibly, patiently and tirelessly to the Irish public. Their lives and the work of their lives are inspirational and I would ask current politicians to look to them so that they could see what can be brought about by true public service.

I was at an event recently in Liberty Hall with journalist Fintan O’Toole, historian Diarmuid Ferriter, activist Mary Murphy, businessman Paul Reynolds and the CEO of Barnardos, Fergus Finlay. They were discussing the state of the country in the context of a new book by Fintan O’Toole, Enough is Enough, that recommends a new political system for the country.

They talked about the beuraucracy that prevails in this state such that, for instance, Mary Harney can blame the HSE and the HSE can blame Mary Harney, and nobody is willing to claim responsibility and nobody can be Seán Lemass on the cover of Time Magazine in 1963. Photograph of cover of an IIEA report by Johnny Ryan. held to account.

They talked about like the milatarism of it but still see the out about injustices against women and how Irish people have always dealt with people who died for a cause as noble and set to improve the status of women; their problems by emigrating. So many Noel Browne was the Minister of Health heroic people. It seems unfair that to young promising people I know feel they who dealt with the tuberculosis epibe remembered one needs be killed or will probably be emigrating as there is indeed to kill other people. 50 years after demic in Ireland; John “the Greatest not enough potential in Ireland. It is not the Rising there were great people in Irishman” Hume worked for the civil their fault, there simply aren’t enough Irish public life between politicians and rights of Catholics in Northern Ireland. jobs to keep them here. It still is painful civil servants. There was T.K. WhitaThese people, I believe, are the heroes to see the cycle of emigration returning of the past century. They had great aims ker, the secretary of the Department and to know that some of the best people to improve Irish society. Much of the of Finance and the author of the First of our generation will be lost to Ireland. improvements are ones we would now Programme for Economic Development; They also talked about the student proSeán Lemass was the Taoiseach durtake for granted. They were idealistic tests and they all commended those who ing this period; Donagh O’Malley made but weren’t stuck in abstract ideologies. marched. However, Mary Murphy made Instead of dying for the country with secondary schools free of charge in 1966; a lot of sense when she said that more Hilda Tweedy who founded The Irish no pragmatic plan, as the leaders of the than protesting is needed in Ireland at Rising did, these people commited their Housewives Association which spoke the moment. She said that the language 27

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unions and other activists use when protesting needs to express what we want and not what we don’t want. It is no use for every union in the country coming

So many young promising people feel they will probably be emigrating as there is not enough potential in Ireland. out on the streets demanding the government not to cut their own area without working, on the basis of solidarity, with the needs of society as a whole.

Within our lifetime, the biggest noticeable change that will happen in this country will be with regards to how it relates to the rest of the world. Within 20 years, China will be much more economically powerful than the United States and Europe together. We will have adapt to this huge change. For years in this country, protectionist economics was practised and encouraged and this put a strain on economic development.

What this means is putting barriers on trade into the country. While of course it is good to buy Irish products such as dairy and meat, the reality is that there is very little that Ireland produces that would not be cheaper to import into the country and we would be better off putting our energy into exploits that will benefit the entire economy. We need to

be imaginative in understanding that this small island without many resources and a population of 5 million, will never be a great economy though of course we can strive for stability. However, we do have advantages that we should exploit.

Our culture is probably the greatest resource that we have. We have a rich heritage of literature, music, language, dance and some of the most important archaeological sites in Europe that are admired the world all over. We can exploit our culture without sinking as low as the leprechaun we see too often at the Molly Malone statue. Americans of Irish descent, Germans, English and people from every corner of the world love to come to Ireland. These days especially, we need to be welcoming to tourists.

There are two reasons for this. Obviously, tourism is an important industry in Ireland and being welcoming to tourists will help it grow, but there is also the reason that being welcoming will build our self-esteem. The large number of tourists that come to Trinity annoy a lot of students because they get in the way, but they shouldn’t. Speak to them.

Talk to them about their experiences in Ireland, recommend places for them to go in Dublin and all over the country, recommend your favourite pub to them and I promise that after doing that you will be prouder of this small island.

The main thing to be kept in mind

is that we need not be and cannot be negative about the current situation.

Whatever about the crisis we are in now, we cannot extend that and useit as an excuse for being negative about the coming years. The people that got us into this crisis are still in power and if a change is to come in public life and how public service is operated, it will come. Not necessarily from the opposition getting into government, but from our generation. We need to actively consider our responsiblity in not making the same

We need to be imaginative in understanding that this small island without many resources and a population of 5 million will never be a great economy mistakes as those that have immediatly gone before us. For twenty years, imagination was absent from policy making and public life in this country. We should always remember, as Jack Lynch said of Donagh O’ Malley, that there were those who looked “beyond traditional horizons” in improving Irish society as a whole and perhaps be inspired to realise our own potential in doing the same for this country, in this century.

Ursula Quill is a Junior Sophister student of English and Irish.

If we all choose to move to other countires - what will become of Ireland?

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politics

The Boys’ Club Does the Irish Parliament really resemble true and fair democracy in relation to women? Or is it just a glorified boy’s club? by julianne cox

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ast month, the movie ‘Made in Dagenham’ appeared in cinemas across the country and earned rave reviews from movie goers. The movie tells the story of the 1968 strike by female workers at the Ford Company in Dagenham. The women took to the streets to protest against gender discrimination and so inspirational was their struggle that just two years later, the government implemented the Equal Pay Act. The movie highlights the urgency of correcting the inequalities that blight the well being of women and subject them to unequal treatment. The theme of female ascent to empowerment has struck a rich seam of rewards from audiences. Sadly, the swift pace of reform achieved by the women of Dagenham does not characterise women’s advancement in achieving equal representation within our Parliaments today.

Sadly, the dismal presence of women in our Parliament informs us that simply having the ability and interest to engage in politics is not adequate enough to overcome decades of traditions and beliefs that endorsed gender discrimination.

Trinity Senator, Ivana Baciik makes up part the small group of women in Irish politics.

Photograph: The Labour Party.

The theme of female empowerment also appeared on the cover of The Economist earlier this year in the form of the wartime image of Rosie the Riveter flexing her bicep with the slogan changed to “We Did it!”. The article focused on the vast achievements of the Women’s Liberation Movement describing women’s economic empowerment 29

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Rosie the Riveter inspired the women of the 1940s to be strong individuals - who will inspire this generation? Photograph by Michael Hadassah of J. Howard Miller’s poster. as arguably “the biggest societal change of our times”. The article warned that societies which try to resist female empowerment will pay a heavy price in the form of wasted talent. When I first came upon this article I remember wondering what the party leaders in our 87% male dominated Parliament would think about this advice.

Ireland holds 84th place in the world classification of women’s representation. We are among the worst countries in the world for women’s participation in public life. A Joint Oireachtas Committee report on women in politics launched in November 2008 cited candidate selection as an inhibitor of representation in parliament. In the 2007 election, women comprised merely 17% of all candidates.

The candidate lists from the 2007 election show 60% of the constituencies being dominated by male candidates. Fianna Fáil fielded no female candidates in 28 constituencies and Fine Gael did not

put forward female candidates in 30 constituencies. These unfair candidate lists have resulted in a situation where 47% of the female electorate suffer from gender disenfranchisement as they do not have a female TD to represent their constituency. It is only when an equal number of women occupy key political decisionmaking positions that gender issues will be adequately addressed and the goal of equality realized. Therefore, at present women in Ireland have no guarantee that issues relating to their rights will find a voice in our Parliament.

Committee member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights, Ivana Bacik said the most effective reform to encourage greater participation by women in politics would be the introduction of legislation requiring political parties to adopt gender quotas in their candidate selection process. Irish political parties have recognized that action is required

to secure women’s place on candidate lists and have undertaken steps to implement a gender equality plan. However, a striking feature of Irish political party’s dedication to fairness and equality seems to be a failure to follow through on their commitments, lacking the courage of their convictions. Labour are the only party which has adopted a statutory quota for candidate selection. Vocal commitment to the idea of greater female representation is entirely hollow unless it is accompanied by a parallel commitment to affirmative action. Affirmative action comes in the form of gender quotas. The successful implementation of party and legislative quotas in countries such as Rwanda, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Costa Rica and South Africa demonstrate that quotas are effective in increasing female participation in politics.

There seems to be a moral outcry every time gender quotas are mentioned.

Apparently every TD who sits in our Dail is there due to the process of meritocracy. Male and female politicians inform us of the seemingly unfair nature of quota systems. FG TD Lucinda Creighton has said “I don’t want sexism in reverse”. While FF TD Mary O’Rourke strenuously objects to anything that even resembles quotas: “I do not agree with gender quotas for candidate selection. Such quotas are discriminatory.

Nothing in my political life has led me to believe quotas are good or should be used...I think men or women should be put forward and selected as a candidate on ability.” According to Mary O’Rourke, greater female presence in Parliament merely requires that women “ have a big brass neck and get out there and do it”.

As you can see, Politicians seem to have concerns about the undemocratic nature of quota systems. However, what about the undemocratic nature of 13% female representation, the prevalence of gender disenfranchisement, the absence of voter choice on our ballot papers, the exclusion of women from political

Women in Irish Politics »» Women accounted for just 17% of all candidates in the last general election. »» Only 13% of politicians in Ireland are women. »» Only 18% of councillors in Ireland are female. »» Ireland is 84th in the world in terms of female representation.

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decision making structures or the poorly developed policies on women’s equality due to women’s underrepresented voice in parliament? All of these things present us with an unacceptable, undemocratic situation.

Sadly, the dismal presence of women in our Parliament informs us that simply having the ability and interest to engage in politics is not adequate enough to overcome decades of traditions and beliefs that endorsed gender discrimination. In 2009 a report by the Oireachtas Sub Committee on women’s Participation in Politics cited ‘culture’ as one of the main barriers that affects women’s access to political participation.

Female underrepresentation in politics is a reminder of the boundless influence that the patriarchal Catholic Church wielded over Irish society.

The damaging legacy of our unhealthy cultural influences which saw women condemned to a subordinate status, subjected to unfair conditions and debarred from full participation in the

public sphere must be dismantled. Male dominated Irish history is filled with

A striking feature of Irish political party’s dedication to fairness and equality seems to be a failure to follow through on their commitments, lacking the courage of their convictions. examples of powerful men who purposefully placed barriers between women and their ascent to power. For example, Eamon De Valera, author of the 1937 Irish Constitution, equated womanhood with motherhood and defined women’s roles as strictly confined to the home.

We require a system that will correct the injustices of the past and put women on a level playing field with men. Discussions about creative ways of increasing female participation (without the implementation of a quota system) are futile, because we need greater numbers

of women in our Parliament in order to make it a female friendly environment.

The more distant substantial change appears, the more attractive symbolic advances become. If Irish political parties were all willing to adopt a quota system it would help Ireland construct an image of a country that is genuinely dedicated to progress. Equality of opportunity is only meaningful in a society where the differences in people’s starting points are kept within reasonable limits. Irish society has not granted men and women equal starting points with regard to access to political participation. Therefore, raising the aspirations of women is fundamental to overturning the generations of disadvantage that have affected women. Unless effective and affirmative actions such as gender quotas are adopted through legislation, women will continue to be inadequately represented in politics.

Julianne Cox is a Senior Sophister student of Philosophy and Politics.

Máire Geoghegan Quinn sitting in the European Parliament as Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science.

Photograph: European Parliament.

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student life

Student Survival Guide We’ve put together a guide to alternative nights - and days - out in Dublin. If pubbing and clubbing is not your thing. then there’s plenty to get up to in Dublin’s fair city - here are just a few ideas that we’ve come up with of what to get up to.

by tara monaghon, Elaine Mccahil and polly dennison

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Vicar Street is a great venue for music gigs and comedy nights.

There’s always a great selection of artists to choose from and the tickets are also pretty reasonably priced.

If pubbing or clubbing are not really your scene, or if you just wanna shake things up a bit then this is a great choice.

Here are a few upcoming gigs: Imelda May ¤35 31/01/11 and 01/02/11; Laura Marling ¤25, 7/12/10; Tommy Tiernan 17/11/10 - 21/11/10 and 1/12/10-5/12/10.

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at ¤12.50 and opening hours are from 9:30am to 16:00pm now that winter is creeping in and the days are a lot shorter.

Gallery Café, from 17:30 to 20:00pm where you’ll get a great deal in the shape of a plate of food and a drink for ¤7:50.

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The Trinity Science Gallery always has inspiring and fascinating exhibitions on and usually holds a few cool evening events too. The Green Machines Exhibition is currently running, the theme being that you have five million euro to save the planet, how will you spend it? There’s also a Tapas evening every Friday in the Science

The Royal Irish Academy of Music on Westland Row ( just behind the Hamilton Building) usually puts on a few productions every year and have extremely cheap student rates with student tickets starting at ¤5. Keep an eye around college and on their website for upcoming Christmas concerts and events.

The Laughter Lounge on Eden Quay is one of Dublin’s foremost comedy clubs with national and international comedy stars. They offer a free cocktail of your choice if you get to the venue before 7:30pm with a valid ticket.

Playing from the 18th to the 20th of November is Geoff Boyz plus Guests. Tickets are priced at ¤25.

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Dublin Zoo is a quintessential Dublin day out.

With more animals than you can shake a stick at and situated in the majestic Phoenix Park, the Zoo is a great choice for a day with a difference. Student tickets are priced

The Dublin Wheel in the Docklands. Photograph by Filko Dawidzinski.

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6

The National Concert Hall also do dramatically reduced student ticket prices for some productions.

This is a lovely idea if your are culturally inclined, especially in the run up to Christmas. Tickets are ¤5 when bought about an hour before some concerts if there are unsold tickets. If you see an event going on there that you would like to go to, call the box office and ask if they think there will be tickets left on the night. If you fancy just popping along, go when it’s the RTE National Symphony Orchestra playing, they usually have a few spares before opening. This can make for a great impromtu night out. Upcoming concerts include: “Merry Christmas-The Pasadena Roof Orchestra”

on 1st December and “White Christmas” on 8th December and many more.

away from college so you’ve no excuse.

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Ice Skating is great fun and a great way to get some exercise in without even realizing it! Ice skating is now available at Arnotts on their Rooftop Ice Rink and at the R.D.S in Ballsbridge.

Tickets are ¤12 and there are silent discos at 8.30 and 9.30 every Tuesday!

The National Gallery of Ireland is a fantastic way to spend an afternoon. Exhibitions are usually free except for the special ones such as the current “Gabriel Metsu” exhibition but even then, tickets are a steal at ¤4. It’s also only a hop and a skip

Thursdays nights at Panti Bar on Capel Street are a treat with the Panti Show at 10pm and late night dancing in the basement club. With free entry and open until half-two in the morning, you’re guaranteed to have a giggle and make some new friends!

The Dublin Wheel is a new feature to the Dublin skyline.

Take an afternoon to walk up the quays or hop on the red-line LUAS up to the Point and then admire the city from a height. Student tickets are only ¤7 and it’s well worth it for the wonderiful view, particularly of the Wicklow Mountains,

Wednesday: Dinner and a Movie from €8.25 Go for dinner at one of the Two-for-One Deals on the Trinity Ents Card: GBK, Captain America’s, Wagamama, Bad Ass Cafe or Jo’s Burger. This can be as little ¤5 each or as much as about ¤12. It all depends on how much you order and where you go!

Then head over to the Screen Cinema for Two-for-One Cinema Tickets ¤3.25 per ticket!

Friday: Cocktails and the Concert Hall from €10 Treat yourself to a few cocktails for a mere fiver at Cafe en Seine on Dawson Street.

Then hit the National Concert Hall for an Opera, a musical or whatever tickles your musical tastebuds.

Sunday: Dublin Wheel, Lunch and the National Gallery Only €20 Hit up the Dublin Wheel outside The Point to soak up the views of Dublin.

Then go for lunch at the Bad Ass Cafe, which is the only ENTS deal available at the weekend.

After lunch, take a tour of the National Gallery of Ireland.

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In Conclusion...Fintan Mallory

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ike many, I’ve had a hard enough time coming to terms with the sort of Ireland we’re living in today without trying to contemplate an alternative. By now I’m fairly sure a key aspect of being Irish is feeling a bit uncomfortable with what “being Irish” means.

There is an ever-present image of a dream, which struggles against suffocation as it is born into concrete reality.

Generations have struggled for and with this dream until the aisling starts to enact this struggle against itself. History becomes a nightmare we wish to wake up from. Generations pass and still this stillborn dream remains. It’s not what so-and-so died for, as we’re told but we’re growing more indifferent by the year.

Leaving the twilight realm of nations for a minute those two words sit before me; Alternative Ireland. I’m not going to discuss subcultures here, I count them as part of Ireland. The gay club scene is as Irish as the GAA, they are both participated in Ireland by Irish people. I think it is key to the idea of an alternative though, something a person can opt for. An idea or a proposal of how things should be. When someone simply rejects how things are, they are often condemned for not offering an alternative. When one group marches for its interests at the expense of the rest of the county, that’s not an alternative. Nay saying isn’t alternative, it’s a negation. Again, this is an alternative

The gay club scene is as Irish as the GAA, they are both done in Ireland by Irish people.

Ireland we are discussing and not simply the prerogative of one small group of people within Ireland. When you give an alternative Ireland it should be an alternative for Ireland and again, negation and agitation fail to deliver here. So, an

alternative is a creative proposal, often something new and hopefully something better. This calls to mind F.H. Bradley’s infamous argument against the hipster. To be alternative one must give an alternative. An alternative cannot be a subculture, subcultures being part of the status quo. Therefore, hipsters do not exist! Quod erat demonstandum.

Romanticism (according to Jacques Barzun at least), arises as an old order declines and questions are asked about what we shall do about the future. Eras are defined as much by the questions people are asking as by the answers they produce. As the old feudalism of Europe

In the cloistered, academic scene of Trinity there has been a decent tradition of giving alternative Irelands. From Tone to Hyde, Trinity students have laid out their ideas of what Ireland should be. waned, romantic ideas flourished and now, outside our campus walls the old order is receding. The religious and political forces which defined this country for a century are weaker than they have ever been. As their power recedes, it leaves a canvas for the next generation to lay out an alternative Ireland. Ireland’s problem is Ireland’s opportunity.

In the cloistered, academic scene of Trinity there has been a decent tradition of giving alternative Irelands. From Tone to Hyde, Trinity students have laid out their ideas of what Ireland should be. In 1839, Thomas Davis told the Hist ‘Gentlemen, you have a country.’ He was right there, but what are the questions that follow for our generation.

Is it Gaelic? Is it Catholic? What is the national language? What shall we do about Cork?

What does all this actually mean to us? With the ever present option of

emigration, there is less reason to bother with redefining a defunct ideal and this belief in turn makes it easier for young people to emigrate. If you don’t identify with the image of the country, why

Is it Gaelic? Is it Catholic?

What is the national language?

What shall we do about Cork? impair your job prospects by sticking around? As long as the young leave, that process of definition will always be left in the hands of the gombeen men, militant ideologues and lousy poets. There will always be a safety valve for those who have held power. They can always rely on the young to follow the path of least resistance out of the country and so, here we have the crux.

People won’t stay in Ireland unless it’s an Ireland worth staying for, and we won’t have an Ireland worth staying for unless the young stay in Ireland. So, how do we get that alternative Ireland of ours then?

I don’t have an answer. However, that doesn’t mean that I’m without hope. So I shall use the same get out clause as my last column. Charity begins when we recognise the insignificance of our own actions in an unjust world and yet still choose to make them. Again, I appeal to this unmoved mover and say, let’s be creative. Let’s stick around and make something out of this country. What’s the reason? I don’t know, does art need a reason? ‘Irish poets, learn your trade’, stick around and make a decent country.

It may be economically unwise to stay in Ireland, but that’s part of the art of it.

From talking to others, I’m guessing we’ll have to make it a pretty good alternative Ireland otherwise most of us will be looking for an alternative to Ireland come graduation.

Fintan Mallory is a Junior Sophister student of Philosophy.

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