College Tribune Volume 29, Issue 9

The College Tribune Volume 29, Issue 9

Independent News for UCD since 1989 collegetribune.ie

Monday, February 29th 2016

Questions Raised over Irish Times’ Student Security

Seán O’Reilly Editor

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Mark Lande, Chief Applications Officer of IT Services outlined the policy change.

“The change in Registry policy last year related to a system called the Targeted Communication System, which is used to send all student emails or emails to particular class cohorts [for example, information on postgraduate open days or university relations emails]. Students have the option of having their emails sent to either their UCD Connect email or both their UCD Connect and personal emails. However, the system manages this and lecturers would not be aware of either the student’s personal email address nor their preference as regards communication.”

staff member has raised concerns over the security implications of the Irish Times’ offer of a free digital subscription to students at all third-level institutions in Ireland.

The concerns relate to the newspaper’s ‘Student Hub’ platform which was launched in November of last year. An expansion on the Irish Times’ education section, the platform offers readers access to digital content on the Irish Times website as well as dedicated writing from the paper’s staff and from student journalists.

The offer of free access provided on the basis that students provide their personal information to during the registration process.

This information includes a student’s name, university course and date of graduation.

Also requested are the user’s student number and date of birth.

The staff member is particularly concerned that if this information were to fall into the wrong hands, malicious access could be gained to a student’s personal information held by UCD. The concerns are grounded in the potential for ‘social engineering attacks’ to take place. These attacks are grounded in gaining the user’s own information to access a closed system rather than attempting to bypass security measures.

In the case of UCD, the default username and password are a student’s student number and date of birth. If this information were obtained by a third party, that party would then have access to a student’s private emails, transcripts and personal information held by UCD. This information includes

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Data held by UCD and made available to lecturing staff may leave students open to privacy invasion.

Photo: Seán O’Reilly

Leaked Blackboard Data Reveals Extent of Information Available to Staff Jack Power Politics & Innovation Editor

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he intersection between the expanding reach of the Internet and the erosion of personal privacy has been well documented as more and more of our lives are being lived out on the proxy of our online self. The amount of data and information we part with as a consequence of accepting the necessary “terms and conditions” has played a role in allowing the online sphere to grow and to do more for us.

But recently leaked information to the College Tribune on the extent to which UCD’s application Blackboard Learn monitors each student’s activity and then provides this information to lecturers will come as a surprise to

most students.

Leaked documentation about the level of information Blackboard makes available to lecturers included a detailed analysis of each individual student’s activity. It is possible for lecturers to view each student’s activity in isolation, what content they have downloaded or accessed and at what date and time. The overall class data can be useful for a lecturer to track what percentage of students have accessed the course outline for example; but the ability to view each individual students’ actions and activity will bring a sense of unease to many students. Lecturers are also provided with a photo, the student’s name, mobile phone number, and email address in tandem with this information.

The ever-expanding nexus of information and data requested from students has also recently come to include students’ personal email accounts. Changes in UCD’s email protocol in June 2015 mean that alongside the ucdconnect email accounts of students the University also uses the personal email addresses of students as a point of contact. This change, University officials argued, was to ensure students who did not regularly check their ucdconnect email accounts were still kept up to date with key information from UCD. The change was enacted under the Targeted Communications System, which operates as a mailing system to inform specific students classes or faculties about relevant information or events.

News

Politics

With a possible FG/FF coalition ahead, Conor Nealon takes a look at3rd level funding plans

Catering company which operates main restaraunt also runs direct provision kitchens

Pg. 3

Pg. 15

Sport Pg. 15

UCD Bag Sigerson Cup for first time in 20 years

Our journey through the rising continues in

THE TRIB

Editorials Moreatorium Seán O’Reilly Editor

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ast Thursday, as the clock made its endless journey once again around, a great silence fell over Ireland. At 2pm and with an audible tick, all was quiet. Finally, after “the longest shortest election campaign”, the people of Ireland could take a step back and think on whose vision of a five-year plan most appealed to them.

Except this didn’t happen at all, because the broadcast moratorium applies only to radio and television. Just after the top of the hour, ‘Moratorium’ was the top trending word on Twitter here in Dublin as canvassers, campaigners and candidates joined journalists in continuing on without interruption.

While the conversation continued, social media managers at party headquarters began firing money into targeted advertising on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others. Feeds, which had already been chock with political messaging became flooded.

Switching off Adblock for a few minutes was more than enough to convince me that the moratorium hasn’t caught up with the modern world.

The degree to which you, the voter, can be targeted is impressive if slightly worrying. If you’re a voter living in Wicklow

and have liked anything to do with Wicklow life, you’ll see a lot of Simon Harris. Likewise, if you’re living anywhere in Dub-

lin-Northwest and enjoy browsing YouTube, it’s wall to wall Noel Rock.

I use Fine Gael as an example because in addition to spending massive amounts of money

on market research ahead of the campaign, the party also brought PR consultants over from London – again at great cost- to work the same magic as they’d done on the Tories victo-

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Inside the Tribune ry in the UK last year. Sources within the party have also indicated that despite its already substantial outlay of cash, up

to a third of its electoral budget has been kept in reserve in case a hung Dáil sees another battle fought before the year is out.

The goal of the moratorium is certainly a noble one. The

Chief Executive of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) describes as “a period of reflection in the final stages of the election campaign”, the last days only see the slack

picked up in party lines as the echo chamber grows louder and louder.

It’s just as likely that the ban is to discourage parties shovelling money into last-minute ad spots with the intention of blocking out rivals. But when the battleground has shifted and this is once again possible, as we’ve seen in our feeds this last week, then the moratorium is rendered pointless.

Far more useful would be a two-pronged approach between what balancing what individual parties can spend through the campaign against one another, and a hard-limit on the time to be divvied out on the final day.

Any change in the way that elections are funded and run here in Ireland from postering to the moratorium is however, unlikely to receive any attention without the establishment of a proper electoral commission.

And with the likelihood of a hung Dáil (hehe) stronger than ever, the chances of any reform coming soon are unlikely.

Chances are that by the end of the year we’ll go through the electral cycle again, only this time a little more half-heartedly and with a lack of interest that would make the term ‘waning’ appear generous.

What use can a period of reflection then be?

News FG/FF & Higher Ed Student Nurse Pay Student Legal Convention Student Talks USI Referendum News in Focus:Print is Dead

Features Festival Favourites for the Summer Season No Bake Cheesecake Getting back on track for a 5k Becoming a morning person

Business Setting the scene for modern gambling Data driven services and HiPPOs

Politics & Innovation

In defence of Localism and the Parish Pump - Why Kerry’s Kerry UCD catering firm linked to direct provision

Gaeilge Cogadh na Drugai Dreamanna an Trídathaigh

Sport Match Reports: Man City / Liverpool Man United / Arsenal McNab is back with his latest meanderinsight into the side of sport you never knew existed FIFA Presidential Election UCD’s Sigerson glory after 20 years

The COLLEGE TRIBUNE Team are Editors Seán O’Reilly Una Power PO Box 74 Student Centre, UCD, Belfield, Dublin 4. +353 1 716 8501 editor@collegetribune.ie

Arts Editor Emma Costello

Features Editor Sinéad Slattery

Politics Editor Jack Power

Business Editor Adam Hetherington

Film & Entertainment Editor Niamh Crosbie

Sports Editor Neil Ryan

Eagarthóir Gaeilge Gearóid Óg Ó Greacháin

Music Editor Kevin O’Reilly

Turbine Editor Hans Offerman

Fashion Editor Emer Slattery

News Editor Cian Carton

Contributors Cillian Fearon Daisy Kinahan Murphy Anna David Newell Eoghan Finn Ally Murty Rory McNab Chris Foley

Eóin O’Donoghue Niamh Trav Conor Nealon Barry Monahan Jennifer Smyth Aoileann Kennedy Shane Ó Gruagáin Stiofán Ó Briain

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Blackboard usage reports are generated by constantly monitoring students’ activitty

Leaked Blackboard Data Reveals Extent of Information Available to Staff Continued from Front Page “The “old” student email policy was that the university would only send emails to UCD Connect email accounts. The reason this was changed was that some students were missing out in important communications as they didn’t regularly check their UCD email account (if ever) and requested that emails be sent to a personal email address. The new policy gives students the ability to choose the option which suits them best. This choice is made at registration each year and can be amended in SISWeb at any time.”

Lande continued, “The change in policy didn’t make any change to what was visible to lecturers in Blackboard or InfoHub”.

However, further documentation leaked to the College Tribune of a section of a class list displays both the ucdconnect and the personal email address of the student (the authors own information was provided so no breach of Data Protection occurred). It was originally unclear how the personal email addresses of students would be available on the class lists accessible to lecturers, as the UCD Registration process did not require such information before 2015. But another University official, Andrew Meyler, stated that students themselves could have previously provided this information prior to the 2015 change in Communications policy.

Meyler, Director of Administrative Services in UCD Registry, maintained that “Personal email addresses have been viewable on class lists where provided by students themselves prior to the [2015] policy change. This would have been important for students such as part-time students, for example, who would have less of a day-to-day contact. The provision of a personal email address is a student’s own decision.”

Meyler mirrored Lande’s jus-

tification for the Communications policy change in June.

“The policy changes made in relation to student email preferences were made in response to student requests that information be sent to both their UCD and personal addresses (they can also opt out of information being sent to a personal address).”

“4510 (18% approx.) of students have opted out of contacting their personal email address.

This for us shows a very healthy level of active engagement from students in how they would prefer to be contacted with information about their studies in UCD with over 80% preferring to be contacted at their personal email address as well as their UCD address.”

Meyler also speculated that the section of the leaked class list was from the application InfoHub. “InfoHub provides each lecturer with a list of information about students in their class.

The mobile and personal email address appear on the ‘Extended Class List’. This has been the case for some time and is unrelated to the new Student Email Policy which relates to sending of emails though the Targeted Communications System.”

While the June 2015 change in Communications policy may be entirely distinct from the increased availability and usage of students’ personal email addresses as a point of contact for lecturers, it is clear many students may be unaware of the extent Blackboard and other applications can be used to track and log their activity. The example of the increased ability to inspect and monitor student’s online activity by lecturers is a further step into the privacy of one’s online presence. The unease and perturbing affect the availability of this information may evoke in students is it seems an expense of the expanding web of data collected and utilised by organisations and institutions like UCD in the modern day.

Major underfunding issues at third-level will need to be addressed early on in the term of the next government.

What might Higher Education look like under an FG/FF coalition?

Conor Nealon News Writer

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reland’s prodigal son has returned in the form of Michael Martin’s Fianna Fail, much to the dismay of Kenny’s faltering Fine Gael. Despite only garnering just shy of 50% of the vote between them, the pair seem the most likely to form a government, something which may see the parties come together in agreement for the first time in history. I for one shall not be holding my breath however. But if the unthinkable were to happen, what would the impact be for you and I as students?

Of course neither party will have free reign to exact the plans laid out in each of the manifestos and election campaigns, yet a reading of the promotional documents offers a fair indication as to where the humble student will figure in the prospective forthcoming policy announcements.

Taking pride of place on the manifesto of each party is the ambition to improve the efficiency of third level education, proving that if nothing else Ireland’s conservative behemoths have been forced to recognise the role which students will have held in Friday’s ballot. Both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael propose a much needed injection of funding into the third level system. Efficiency can be read as an improvement upon the teacher-student ratio which has been dropping in recent years, as shown in a

number of International University Rankings.

Fianna Fail have designated €100m to an Increase in current funding to Higher Education institutions alongside an Increase in capital funding via a €296 million package in research and capital investment.

Fine Gael echoed the promise of a €100 million funding increase to accommodate for the growing number of students each year, however fall behind in their prospective Capital investment which is cited as being €150 million for facilities, as outlined in their 2016-2021 Capital Plan.

Fine Gael aren’t content to simply throw money at Ireland’s third level institutions however, as outlined in their prospective measures to insure performance. An increase in funding would only come alongside a concerted effort to cut out waste and unnecessary costs,” and a move to “encourage more income generation by the sector in collaboration with the private sector.”

Unique to Fianna Fail’s prospectus was the pledge to; “freeze student contribution fees at their current levels for the next five years.” The freeze on fees would be a welcome one, as increases have become an annual occurrence throughout my years in UCD, and ‘free fees’ become less and less free.

The Undergraduate Maintenance Grant will be increased in line with the Consumer Price Index according to the Fianna Fail document,

thus inducing an annual cost of €12.5 million University leavers have not been passed over in either manifesto as Fianna Fail have pitched a €53 million boost to the Post Graduate Support System and a reform of the JobBridge scheme of the outgoing government. The JobBridge proposal is accompanied by recognition of the abuse of the existing scheme by many employers, and the volatile unpaid internship environment which many graduates are met with.

Fine Gael have taken a more novel approach to the struggles which face many graduates as they make the move to the work place. They have included in their manifesto; “the introduction of mid-degree “sandwich year” courses, whereby students spend their third year of university working for an Irish business,” a progression which they believe would improve the employment opportunities of those involved.

A glance at the manifestos of both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael would inspire hope within the student body were the two to come to an agreement on the governing of the country. However, this optimism would be a cautious one as students have learned, over the course of many broken-promise budget cycles, that third level is a low hanging fruit that tends to be the first chopped to make ends meet.

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Student Nurses demonstrate outside Dr Steevens’ Hospital, Dublin.

Image via USI

Student Nurses and Midwives Secure Pay Rise Cian Carton News Editor

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CD student nurses and midwives are in line to receive a pay rise for their placement work as part of a deal worked out by government representatives and nursing unions. Set to take effect on March 1st, the agreement will see fourth year student nurses and midwives on placement earn more than the minimum wage for the first time in years.

All fourth year nursing and midwifery students must complete a compulsory 36 week placement in order to finish their degree. Unlike the placement work they complete in the first three years of their degree, students are paid for their work on this final placement.

The payment students receive for undertaking this placement has been an ongoing dispute for several years. In 2010, the government planned to eliminate payments over time, while in 2011, the rate of pay was set at 50% of a starting nurse’s salary. This figure was chosen as it was claimed each qualified nurse was worth two students.

Before the deal was reached, a revised pay scale, published last month on the HSE’s website, set out the wages for student nurses on their placement under the Lansdowne Road Agreement. They received €6.86 per hour for the first 12 weeks, €7.32 for the second set of 12 weeks, and €8.24 for the final 12 weeks. Students and unions had claimed it breached minimum wage legislation.

From March 1st, students on placement will receive €9.48 per hour, which constitutes 70% of a starting nurse’s salary. The weeks worked will also be recognised as official time served, which will go towards helping them move up the staff nurse pay scale quicker.

While this will help current and future students, the incremental credit has not been made available to those who graduated between 2011 and 2015. The nursing unions have pledged to rectify the issue.

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) also noted this point when they welcomed the deal. Kevin Donoghue, USI President, expressed disappointment at the fact that the incremental credit was not being made

available for all students who had qualified since 2011.

The news of the pay deal was well received on campus. One third year nursing student, who chose to remain anonymous, welcomed the announcement. They spoke of how overcrowding issues and pressure currently on staff means that students “play as big a role on the wards as ever”, and believe the pay rise will help students “feel appreciated for the work [they] do.”

While the pay deal will help student nurses and midwives on their compulsory placement, the Health Service Executive (HSE) still has to fight to ensure these students go on to work in Ireland, rather than move abroad upon qualification. Previously, a survey by USI claimed that 93% of student nurses had considered emigrating upon qualification. The student expressed doubt that the deal would help solve this long-term issue: “To be honest I think the pay deal will do little to stem the tide of Irish nursing graduates out of Ireland. It is the conditions that we work in that makes many nursing graduates see more attractive places abroad.

The need for nurses is essential, we are on the frontline caring for the patients but the very challenging conditions that staff feel, especially in the A&E departments, makes many people want to move away from Ireland and maybe never return!”

They spoke highly of the teaching in UCD, but admitted the lure of moving abroad was strong. However, they noted that “like many others I see the attraction of places like Canada the UK, the Middle East and Australia. The conditions in Ireland are tough and even though nobody does this job for the pay it would be nice to feel a bit more financially secure.”

The issue of student pay is part of a broader dispute involving nurses and the government. A planned strike in January, due to overcrowding at A&E departments around the country, was averted after talks between unions and the HSE at the Workplace Relations Commission. A recent agreement between the sides is expected to allow nurses to take over some services previously performed by junior doctors in order for a pay rise.

Miriam O’Callaghan to Host Student Legal Convention Cian Carton News Editor

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he Student Legal Convention will be held in the Garrett Fitzgerald Chamber in the New Student Centre on Wednesday, 2nd March. Organised by the Student Legal Service, this will be the Convention’s third year in existence, with RTE’s Miriam O’Callaghan set to chair the proceedings. Cian Carton spoke to Lucy Ryan, Student Legal Convention Coordinator, about plans for the upcoming event.

Cian: What is the Student Legal Convention?

Lucy: The Student Legal Convention draws leading figures from the legal world and beyond to UCD for a day of stimulating debate, discussion and reflection. The Convention gives students the opportunity to engage in discussion with prominent figures on the pressing issues of the day in both the legal world and wider society.

Each speaker will address the Convention on their expertise in their particular segment. Each segment has various figures from the public sphere and beyond to participate in a panel discussion hosted

by Miriam O’Callaghan. This will then be followed by a floor discussion, where members of the audience can ask questions. The second Student Legal Convention was held in February 2015 and was an overwhelming success, bringing together delegates from all over Ireland. This success built upon the popularity of the inaugural Student Legal Convention in 2014, which was awarded the UCD Societies’ Event of the Year.

Speakers who have addressed the Convention in the past include Kevin O’Malley, the US Ambassador to Ireland; The Hon. Mr. Justice Garrett Sheehan, Judge of the Court of Appeal; Joan Burton TD, Tánaiste and The Hon. Ms. Justice Elizabeth Dunne, Judge of the Supreme Court.

Cian: When did preparations for the Convention begin?

Lucy: Preparation for the Convention began back in the summer of 2015. We were required to begin then as to facilitate securing high-profile individuals to participate in the Convention. Equally the organisation of such an event necessitated such time for planning as it is one of the largest student run events in the country. The planning ensued last June, in an effort to surpass the achievement of the 2015 Con-

vention.

Cian: Has it been difficult to organise and co-ordinate such an event, given the large number of speakers who will be there?

Lucy: Any large event requires organisation to ensure its success. The Convention is unique in a way that the majority of the coordination will occur on the day, as it is a panel discussion. This means a flexibility in the style of the Convention, giving both speaker and audience member the freedom to engage or debate. However this event has been made all the worthwhile given the generosity of speakers to come and address the Convention, facilitating a smoother organisation process. Finally without the efforts of our sponsor A&L Goodbody, the Convention would not be the event it’s going to be come March 2nd.

Cian: Which speaker are you most looking forward to seeing yourself?

Lucy: Personally I’m looking forward to seeing Fr. Peter McVerry and Colm O’Gorman for the segment ‘Ireland: Truly A Nation of Equals?’ Both individuals have played a crucial role in the strive towards equality in Ireland today. O’Gorman is the Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland and his story is inspirational which I look forward to hearing on the day of the Convention. Equally Fr. Peter McVerry who is known for his tireless work with the poor and underprivileged of Dublin. To combat this McVerry founded the Peter McVerry Trust which endeavours to bridge the gap between prosperity and the poor in Ireland. It’ll be very interesting to witness such diverse viewpoints and perceptions in examining the inequality that pervades Irish society today.

Cian: Why should students attend the event?

Lucy: Students should be interested in attending the Convention given the scope of the crucial issues that will be addressed on the day. In other words, there’s something for everyone no matter where your interests or principles lie. Also given the assembly of prominent and high profile guests in attendance, it’s not a day to be missed.

For anyone who still wishes to come along, tickets can be bought via our website www. studentlegalconvention.ie. Also keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates on speakers and schedule!

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Student Talks Conference Comes to UCD Cian Carton News Editor

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tudent Talks, a conference designed to give students and early career professionals a chance to share their knowledge with the world, is set to host its first ever national conference in UCD on Wednesday, March 9th.

Maria Diaz, UCD student ambassador for Student Talks, called the event a “conference series wherein early career professionals and students from a wide array of disciplines come together to share ideas, knowledge, and experience.” She described it as “Ted Talks for students.”

Over fifty students applied to give a talk at the event. Sixteen of these have been chosen to give six minute talks on a subject of their choosing. A panel of judges will award one of them with the Student Talks 2016 prize.

Alongside the students, a number of invited speakers will also give talks on the day. Confirmed guests include Lynn Ruane, President of Trinity College Dublin Student’s Union, Alex Musgrave of Dog Day Media, and UCD’s Dr Brendan Rooney, who lectures in the School of Psychology.

Diaz spoke of the event’s wide appeal; “the conference aims to create a welcoming atmosphere, wherein every subject is up for discussion, fostering inspiration and motivation amongst students of various disciplines, and thus celebrating diversity. Therefore, the speakers are multidisciplinary, from science to the humanities.”

Student Talks first started off as a business idea, and won the NUI Galway Student Enterprise Award back in 2014. Since then, it has expanded, with the UCD conference set to be their first national event. Attendees will be travelling from other universities; students from NUI Maynooth and Dublin City University (DCU) have already reserved tickets for the conference.

The organisers are still looking for volunteers to help on the day. Those who may be interested can get more information on www.studenttalks.ie, or contact Diaz at mariaucd@studenttalks. ie.

Students marching at the USI’s 2010 ‘Education, not Emigration’ demonstration in Dublin

Round and Back Again: The USI Question Seán O’Reilly Editor

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CDSU’s position on membership in the Union of Students in Ireland is to go to the polls once again alongside executive elections on March 8th & 9th, just three years after the student body voted to disaffiliate. With an increase in the student contribution on the cards and an apparent disinterest among voters, what’s it going to be?

Students will be asked, once again, to vote on their representatives’ membership of a larger representative body next week. In 2013, after an engaging campaign by the yes and no sides, UCD voted to disaffiliate from the umbrella body

Questions Raised over Irish Times’ Student Security Continued from Front Page sensitive data such as the use of student amenities on campus, including the student medical service. While the university recommends that students change their password regularly, the majority of online service users retain their initial credentials through their studies as there is no system in place to coerce users to regularly change passwords.

The staff member noted with particular concern that the Irish Times’ ‘Cash for College’ signup offer may encourage students to hand over sensitive information in the hopes of winning money where they might otherwise be more careful with their data.

Students are recommended to regularly review their online security by ensuring that passwords are secure, changed regularly not used across multiple sites.

with 64.5% in favour and 35.5% opposed.

This initial campaign saw a shock result as UCD, Ireland’s largest university, elected to part ways with the rest of the student movement in Ireland in order to focus on rebuilding itself following a near meltdown and fiscal collapse.

Speaking at the time, then president of the USI John Logue recognised the unique position that UCD was in, saying; “We recognise the unique circumstances in UCD. It’s clear that the decision taken by its students is not reflected in referendum results elsewhere and while we are disappointed to lose their voice from the national union, we respect their decision.”

The pro-USI camp lamented the loss of a voice for UCD at national leave, while their opponents congratulated one another on a job well done. In their minds, UCDSU could now look inwards and seek to make itself better.

All change At the core of the last referendum was the belief, on both sides, that something had to change.

The USI was viewed as being a bloated, ineffective behemoth by no-campaigners while yes campaigners argued that UCD alone, despite its considerable size, could have no impact on wider issues such as third-level funding.

Hindsight being the wonderful thing that it is allows us to look back and recognise that both sides were being highly optimistic. The nature of a students’ union is that it will have a mandate to support all its members whose agenda is set as a result of limited participation. The same problems which exist in UCD exist at national level and are not easily dealt with due to the structural similarities of both organi-

sations.

Hoping that either UCDSU or the USI would do better was an ambitious, rather naïve goal.

Both have changed the way they operate in the intervening years and have had their share of successes and failures, but the problems which caused the 2013 referendum still exist and remain difficult to address.

The case today Two sides have sprung up once again in the debate. Speaking to the College Tribune, s spokesperson for the Yes (Rejoin) side said; “Students in UCD are calling this referendum because we are at a crucial point in national conversations about issues such as fees and accommodation. Currently, we have little impact on the national agenda. USI have clearly demonstrated their capacity to deliver on a national level and UCD needs to be part of that and we believe that UCD students should have the opportunity to have an input into decisions that will ultimately affect them. We are running this referendum independent of USI and UCDSU to show put this responsibility back on UCD students” Their counterparts added the following; “Whether they have reformed or not is an irrelevance really. We see them as an added layer of bureaucracy and cost that is completely unnecessary to have in place and does not benefit us in any way. By joining the USI, the students of UCD have to give the USI their hard earned money which we can little afford to give. Students have enough economic hardship at the moment with rent and fees and forcing us to pay the USI only adds to this.”

The addition of €5 and €10 per part and full time student to a student’s contribution at the start of the year would see in excess of €100,000 go to the USI from

UCD. A sticking point of the anti-USI campaign last time was this cost, with campaigners arguing that monies could be better invested in students if they were to remain within the university.

The addition of this payment on top of what is already given would see the Union’s budget remain in effect the same, allowing it to continue to provide services in UCD. This is a point on which the current no campaign will attempt to attract voters. The number of student’s registered to vote by the USI in advance of the general election is raised as one example of the USI simply being an added layer of bureaucracy.

The no camp argues that if UCDSU were itself better organised, such an undertaking would not be an issue as registration happens at university level regardless. In this case, they see the referendum as being little more “UCDSU wanting someone to hold their hand and make decisions for them.”

Yes campaigners maintain the UCD gains a voice beyond the boundaries of Belfield and that membership in the USI represents an important step towards unifying the broader student movement in order to act collectively.

Only one thing counts It appears likely that this referendum will pass or fail on a much thinner margin than its predecessor. While there is an appetite to rejoin, how much this is felt among the wider student body is uncertain. The presence of a vocal no campaign would appear to indicate that memory of 2013 is still fresh and that there are some in UCD who are happy for it to remain in splendid isolation.

What matters most is that you make your own voice heard at the referendum on March 8th and 8th. Read up on what both camps are offering and make your own decision.

News in Focus

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The death of print has been predicted for years, with circulation figures falling and readers switching to online channels.

A Not So New Day? As one newspaper falls while another rises in the UK, Cian Carton sets out the story and contrasting opinions which have developed behind these events.

Cian Carton News Editor The End of the Independent

After 30 years, the Independent newspaper is set to cease production on March 26th. The announcement marks the end of the paper, along with its Independent on Sunday edition. The history of the paper has been intertwined with Irish media for over a decade, a relationship which may have contributed to its ultimate downfall.

Tony O’Reilly purchased the newspaper in 1998 for £30 million.

The huge losses he sustained in order to maintain its production opened up another battleground in the fight for control of Independent News and Media (IN&M) in Ireland, between himself and Denis O’Brien. In 2011, Alexander Lebedev bought the Independent from O’Reilly for £1 and an agreement to cover its debts. His son,

Evgeny, ran the business.

In 2014, the Guardian reported on the business arrangements under which the Independent operated. The newspaper functioned under two different companies.

One handled the print business.

The other owned the online assets, like its domain. This protected the online assets from the loss-making print paper. An issue which was noted at the time was the role of content creation. While there were two companies, the online one relied on the print papers for most of its content.

While the print editions will end, its spin-off, the i, has been acquired by Johnston Press. The i was launched in 2010 as a cutprice alternative, first priced at only 20p, and aimed at younger audiences. It has a circulation of around 275,000 copies, and is marketed as being a high-quality broadsheet. Interestingly, like the Independent’s website, it relies upon the main papers for con-

tent. Given the closeness between them, it will be fascinating to see how its operation will continue under new ownership.

A New Day?

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Trinity Mirror’s new venture is reported to be targeting a mid-market audience, while a dummy issue displayed a mockedup turquoise masthead, in contrast to the standard red top design.

As the Independent winds down, a new newspaper is preparing to enter the market. The New Day is set to run as a 40 page weekday newspaper, launching at a cheap price of around 25p to generate interest.

Trinity Mirror’s new venture is reported to be targeting a mid-market audience, while a dummy issue displayed a mocked-up turquoise

masthead, in contrast to the standard red top design.

The Guardian claimed that the New Day would have the lowest advertising rates for a national print newspaper within the UK, once the Independent closes. The New Day will not have a website, but survive online through social media. Roy Greenslade, Professor of Journalism at City University London, questioned Trinity Mirror’s choice of title. The New Day is certainly eye-catching and symbolic, but it is difficult to imagine it offering anything radical to what is currently available. Questions still to be answered about it include who will be its target audience, what content it will publish, and how the competition will react to it, for there is a chance it will kick off another price war with rivals.

What does this mean for Print Media?

In some circles, the Independent’s online transition has been lauded, with a seemingly romantic idea emerging, in which the paper will make a smooth transition online, in a business as usual manner.

However, others have warned not to expect such an easy ride. Jane Martinson noted how the Inde-

Image via echidna.ca

pendent was late to the online market, and has since struggled to break the stranglehold other companies have on the digital market.

Peter Preston wrote an even more scathing opinion on the news.

From a financial perspective, he argued the newspaper lacked stability, and was being saved by the i, which was foolishly sold.

While the closure of the Independent is a blow for print media, the fight is not over. Johnson Press’s purchase of the i, alongside the upcoming launch of the New Day, is evidence of the continuing demand for print media, and it still retains some key advantages over its online competition.

At its most basic level, Greenslade identified the gulf in print and online advertising rates as being a reason why print media still has a fight left in it. He optimistically pointed out that “there remains a public appetite for newspapers as long as they are properly targeted at a specific audience, appropriately distributed and cheaply priced.” Nevertheless, for Greenslade, the problem facing all the newspapers and their owners into the future is a clear one. They must persuade the “digital natives”, all those under 25, to buy newspapers.

Buttons handed out in a Dublin Café support print media. Where Irish titles like the commuter focussed Metro-Herald failed, new publications such as Totally Dublin and Rabble have popped up.

Image: Seán O’Reilly

Features

8

Body & Soul 2012

Image via Broadsheet.ie

Festival Season Highlights Kevin O’Reilly Music Editor

I

gnoring the obvious juggernauts on the Irish festival calendar that are EP and Longitude, we take a look at just some of the incredible array of music and arts events to hit the country this year.

Music Current

Smock Alley Theatre April 7-9th if you’re a fan of contemporary Irish electronic music then this is bound to tickle your fancy. Crammed into the cosy industrial setting in Smock Alley will be three days of the most exciting modern Irish fusion masterclasses, concerts and interactive workshops hosted by Dublin Sound Lab. Everything strange and wonderful that happens when tradition meets technology can be found here, from dozens of composers, musicians and artists at the forefront of their respective experimental fields, and all for a very agreeable price.

Life Festival

Belvedere House, Westmeath May 27-29th Ireland’s buzziest weekend returns to Westmeath with a stellar lineup that takes in heavyweight headliners Paul Kalkbrenner and 2ManyDJs as well as the brilliant Bicep, John Talabot, Mano Le Tough, Joy Orbison and Ben Klock. Life has always signalled the start of the summer as revellers crowd the quays, cans in hand, to get away for the first-best weekend of the year.

Bulmers Forbidden Fruit

Royal Hospital Kilmainham June 3-5th The cosmopolitan festival that oozes class is once again returning to Kilmainham with an already jaw-dropping line-up featuring the likes of Tame Impala, Bondax, Flume, Jungle and many more still to be announced. A stylish summer festival which is almost always guaranteed the sun, given that it runs around the same time as the Leaving Cert. If you can afford the tickets then this is a fantastic way to kick off the break.

Vantastival

Beaulieu House, Drogheda June 3-4th If Forbidden Fruit seems a bit too local for your tastes, definitely consider heading up to Louth for one of Ireland’s best kpt secrets. Vantastival is a smaller festivel, but it packs a punch with its great atmosphere and excellent lineup. King Kong Company, The Hot Sprockets and The Young Folk are all among the first traunch of headliners announced. Bonus points for the free camper vans!

Belsonic

Titanic Quarter, Belfast 9-29th June Like a Northern version of Longitude, Belsonic sees 8 Headliners play as many dats over 20 days in June. Taking place for the first timein the Titanic Quarter, expect a bigger crowd and a better buzz. Leaning heavily towards the electronic, headliners include Tiesto, Faithless, and David Guetta with support from Robin Schulz and The Vaccines on different days. With more to be announced, the Northern powerhouse is

looking huge.

Ravelóid

Ardgillan Castle, Balbriggan June 10-11th Ireland’s first ever all-Irish language festival kicks off in north Dublin in June. Despite the name this inventive festival caters to all tastes in music featuring some of the hottest names in Irish music such as; Delorentos, The Riptide Movement, Heathers and many more. Also on offer is a mezze of comedy, food, dance, literature, workshops and all done through our beautiful native language. Although it may suffer a few kinks in its debut year this novel and affordable festival is bound to be a fantastic experience for anyone with ‘suim sa Ghaeilge’.

Body & Soul

Ballinlough Castle, Co. Westmeath June 17-19th Of course this weird and wonderful spiritual themed bonanza is taking place on the summer solstice weekend. The festival is a fantastic blend of music and creative meticulous decoration to create an atmosphere that is as free-spirited as most of the punters. It is a spectacle for the eyes, ears and plenty of other senses and celebrates a close connection with nature. If you’ve never been before, this simply must be experienced!

Castlepalooza

Charleville Castle, Tullamore July 1-3rd If you’re looking for somewhere to chill in those heavy July days then get yourself

down to Co. Offaly where you’ll find Castlepalooza. The festival celebrates its tenth birthday this year and what better way to celebrate than with Caribou, The Villagers and Jurassic 5 serenading you in an ancient oak landscape. This small festival is big on character and ambience and provides a perfect alternative to the trek down to Mitchelstown to catch its twin festival; Indiependence.

Indiependence

Deer Park, Mitchelstown July 29-31st Another small festival that packs a punch, this celebration of established and upcoming Irish music has also grown in recent years. The line-up this year lauds Bell X1, The Kooks, The Strypes and Hudson Taylor among some of its headline performances.

The idyllic setting of Deer Park provides the perfect backdrop for this hip boutique event which caters for true lovers of Irish music.

Knockanstockan

Blessington Lakes July 22-24th If Body & Soul wasn’t enough for you and you’re looking for the same spiritual character with an extra dash of Celtic mysticism then this is the festival for you.

The line-up is yet to be released but you can be damn sure you’ve never heard of them before. Besides the main reason to visit the lakes in mid-July is to bask in the aura of unbounded spirituality and love at a festival that believes in giving back to the community. So put on your harem pants and headband, get yourself down to Wicklow and let your inner flower-child go!

Features

9

No-Bake Cheesecake for Mother’s Day Tina Butler Features Writer Treat your mam this Mother’s Day (it’s coming up on March 6th – you’ve been warned!) with an easy to make, no-bake Strawberry Cheesecake.

Ingredients: 50g butter (melted) 150g digestive biscuits crushed finely 180g full fat soft cheese 200g cottage cheese 1 sachet strawberry sugar-free jelly 8 or 9 strawberries (chopped) Equipment: 20cm diameter loose-bottomed cake tin Food processor / blender to crush biscuits (alternatively, place biscuits in a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin) Kettle Measuring Jug

1. Mix the crushed biscuits with the melted butter and tip into the tin. Press down into the base of the tin to form an even layer. Refrigerate for approx. 20mins.

2. Boil the kettle.

Make up the sugar-free jelly with 140mls of boiling water. When jelly crystals completely dissolve, add 145mls water and leave to cool.

3. Put the full-fat soft cheese, cottage cheese and 3-4 of the strawberries into your blender or food processor. When jelly mixture has cooled, add to cheese mixture and blend until smooth and creamy.

(Do not add jelly mixture when hot or mixture will curdle) Pour mixture on top of biscuit base and return to the fridge until set (approx 3 hours) If you don’t have a blender, you can use a whisk to blend the mixture – though this may take you a little bit longer.

4.Remove from the tin, garnish with the remaining strawberries and serve with fresh cream.

5.Settle into your rightful place as favourite child.

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25/02/2016 12:41

Keeping on Track for a 5k Sinéad Slattery Features Editor

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ew Year’s feels like a long time ago at this point. Resolutions were made, dry January promises proclaimed (and then swiftly changed to dry February when you saw the number of parties that were on) If you are anything like 99 percent of the population, it’s a safe bet that exercise was somewhere on your list of things to do. And if you feel like you’re not quite ready for the weight area of the UCD gym yet, planning to run a 5k might be just the thing for you.

I got a FitBit for Christmas

and it’s genuinely one of the best fitness products I’ve ever gotten.

Nick Bilton recently wrote in the New York Times that any wearable technology device that he has bought has ended up in a drawer at home – I’ve only had my fitness tracker for a little over two months but I definitely feel like it’s going to be something that I use in the long-term. With regards to training for a 5 or 10k, it makes you realise how much walking 10,000 steps actually involves (that 25 min walk you were patting yourself on the back for doing? Yeah, only 2,000 steps.

Sorry)

A lot of smart phones have step counters on them – and if not, you can download one - but you don’t necessarily have them on your person every single second of the day. For instance, in the majority of retail jobs, you walk around all day long and cannot have a phone on your person. You’re missing out on keeping track of valuable steps.

Obviously what you do whilst your tracker isn’t on still counts, but every expert going suggests that recording exactly what you’re doing is the key to success.

Fitness trackers don’t have to be too expensive either – there are

How To Become A Morning Person Sinéad Slattery Features Editor

B

ecoming a morning person is potentially one of the most positive things you can do for your daily routine whilst in college.

Like it or not, 9am classes are very real, as is the notion of attendance being taken. There’s nothing worse than snoozing as long as possible, then rushing to work or college with that stressful, ‘I’ve got nothing done’ feeling hanging over you.

So since you have to awake at that hour anyway, you may as well be productive (and hey, think of the fab early morning sunrise pics that you’ll have for Instagram) Having a plan for how you’re going to spend your time is pretty

important. Thinking that it’d be nice to have some extra time to maybe go to the gym or maybe pull out all the stops and make yourself an awesome breakfast won’t cut it. You need to build in a goal that you want to achieve – and it’s even better if it’s something that you have to be accountable to other people for. For example, if you and a friend decide to go to the gym together at 7.00am, you’ll be letting the other person down if you don’t show up. It doesn’t have to be all about fitness, either.

If you’re seriously stressed about a certain module, ask someone in your class if they want to make a study group. Having your readings done or problem sets written out before class, and have someone

to go over things with? Grades = saved.

There’s two parts to becoming a morning person – going to bed earlier and getting up earlier – and one won’t work without the other.

Going to bed earlier: We’ve all heard the ‘don’t look at screens an hour before bedtime’ bit. That’s not always practical advice. But you can definitely work at not looking at your phone for at least 15 minutes before you hit the hay. Scrolling through a boring newsfeed does not count as evening reading.

Which brings us to the next point – read before bed. Studies have shown that it can improve your general cognitive function, help improve mental health, lower

a number of brands available for around the 50euro mark. Using apps like Couch to 5k are also beneficial for many people. A 5k event is 3.1 miles or approximately 6,500 steps. Once you build up to hitting 10,000 a day, a 5k is definitely achievable.

There are always a multitude of 5 and 10k races on – some are special charity events, most are just races organized out of a love of running. Every Saturday at 9.30am in various parks up and down the country, you can participate in a 5km run / walk for free - all you need are runners.

Just log onto parkrun.ie to register your name for the date and race you want, print off a barcode and away you go! Parkrun is totally free (hence perfect for

college budgets!) and the races are organized by volunteers. When you have your barcode, it means that your run / walk is timed, which always makes things more interesting.

The great thing for beginners in particular is that it’s not a race per se – it’s just you against the clock. Parkrun events are held in all weather conditions and once you are registered you can take part in any of their races countrywide. Grab your friends and get fit together or go by yourself, there are plenty of people to keep you company – the main thing is to just go! All ages attend, at all fitness levels. It’s a fantastic feeling when you finish and an incentive to keep practising and perhaps better your time on your next attempt.

your cortisol levels (stress levels) and just generally be relaxing.

When you are setting your alarm, put it somewhere across the room. You’ll be forced to get up to avoid waking the whole house, and it’s easier to make yourself leave your bedroom if you’re already up.

If motivation is still a problem, and exercise is your goal, wear your workout clothes to bed. Waking up already in your yoga pants / shorts will make it way easier to just get up and go, since you’re part-way ready.

Getting up earlier: If you normally get up at 8am, don’t set tomorrow’s alarm for 6am. A good idea is to set your alarm 10 or 15 minutes earlier than you normally get up, and as you avoid the snooze button day by day, keep pushing it back until you reach your goal time. If you’re

finding it really tough, you can decide that you’ll only attempt 2 or 3 days a week of getting up early and see how that goes. Baby steps.

Have a little ritual, make your porridge and your coffee, or wash your face – knowing what you’re going to do first means you can just do it without thinking. The more decisions you can take out of the equation, the less likely that your willpower will be sapped.

Listening to music while you’re going about your business will also keep you pumped.

As previously mentioned, making plans with a friend makes the whole thing a lot easier. Organize to text each other ten minutes after you wake up so you can keep each other on track in your plans to take over the world - one early morning at a time.

THE TRIB Lady Leshurrr // The Cult // Bicep // Dublin Buskers // Oscars // Deadpool // NYFW // Spring Sessions & MOre!

Arts & Culture Supplement // Issue 9 // 29.02.16

2-3 // Music & Listening

Living it Large: Lady Leshurr

From a very early age Melesha O’Garro has been immersed in a world of music, drawing influence from the likes of Garage Freestyle rapper Dizzee Rascal. Growing up surrounded by a musical family, she began writing lyrics as young as age 12. Now, drawing on that well of talent and support and with an impressive career both behind and ahead of her, she if finding comparisons to other female rap-

pers like Azelia Banks and Nicki Minaj. The big difference is her unique mix of Caribbean heritage and British upbringing which influences a lot of her music, touching on grunge and reggae. Her lyrics, fast and rhythmic, come from the

Kevin O’Reilly speaks to the up-and-coming British freestyle rap sensation to find out more about her music and her online and international stardom. everyday; Instagram, Snapchat, and Nando’s but there’s also swift switching to more pressing cultural and societal issues. This makes her music both relatable and entertaining with a refreshing lack of reliance on swearing and bad language

Most known for her ‘Queen’s Speech’ videos which went viral, some gaining millions of views.

These videos are a series of dubbed freestyling raps taken in a single shoot and are fast-paced, catchy and funny and have seen Melesha’s music reach a broader and broader audience. She described her surprise when the videos took off and became a sensation and while she had big plans for her videos she had no idea that they would become nearly as widely viewed as they did. Just some other highlights so far for her have been playing SXSW, Glastonbury and Leeds but she says there’s much more to come. The lady is about to kick off her European tour and will be stopping over in Dublin for a visit to The Academy on March 12th. For some fun, energetic and jaw-dropping rap make sure keep that Saturday night free and catch Lady Leshurr in action.

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Album Review: The Cult - Hidden City ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Barry Monahan, Music Writer

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he Cult’s tenth studio release sees the band continue on their voyage of reinvention. To argue that this journey has borne fruit since their ultra-direct and punchy-sounding Rick Rubin produced day may leave fans scrambling for proof while those who crave the bedrock formula that the band were long associated with may be left out in the cold.

‘Hidden City’ sees Bob Rock take the helm on production for a fifth outing. His influence can be heard threaded throughout the spine of the album, from bass duties and additional guitar and arrangements that take shape of latter half careerist moments that could be associ-

ated with U2 or Coldplay.

Astbury and Duffy as usual are the writers with hired hands making up the rhythm section. “Birds of Paradise” finds Astbury actually crooning and taking him beyond his capabilities. “Sound and Fury” delivers a piano and vocal based ballad that pushes Astbury further into faux Sinatra world, disorientated and struggling. “Avalanche of Light” is arguably one of the strongest tracks on the release but we still find ourselves searching for those memorable riffs. What really muddies the waters here are those additional guitars, swirling in the mix and detracting from clarity. Duffy has the ability to be served up on a silver platter with his dis-

tinctive style but from a production point of view is never given the breath and width to really shine. Every solo meanders in an arc without a framework, nothing gets nailed, and as a result we are left with limp, aimless noodling. While the decision not to bring in Chris Wyse on bass for the first time since 1994 for this recording seems unusual, the rhythm section delivers a pulsating backbone to most songs, Wyse being replaced by Chris Chaney of Jane’s addiction.

While Bob Rock managed to change the commercial fortunes of Metallica on what is common-

ly known as “The Black album” with this formula, it’s very difficult to direct the blame at him.

To some extent a producer can only work with the material that he or she is presented with. It seems that the material was just not there on this occasion.

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One from the Crate: Bicep

///////////////////////////////////// Seán O’Reilly // Editor

Satisfy Remixes | A – Brassica Remix | AA John Talabot Rain Remix

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ot a new release by any stretch, the Satisfy Remixes have been knocking around since 2014.

This record sees John Talabot (of ƒIN fame) and Brassica (Man is Deaf) put their own spin on 2013’s Satisfy. The original, renowned for its innovative blend of disco into house is heard only sparsely with vocals stripped away and instrumentation peeled back by both guest artists.

Brassica takes the A side, setting down 90 beats per minute and keeping closer to a strictly house feel than the Bicep boys. The sound is harsher than Talabot’s take with an audible influence from Ratatat and their use of synthesised strings.

Talabot opts for more of a deep house feel sticking around 125 beats per minute throughout. The sound here is clean and rudimental with very little embellishment and just enough influence from the

original tune to keep the connection there. There’s a little bit of bounce to the track as if winds its way through, though not overly so.

This is the third self-relese under the FMB label. Though there’s not a lot of copies floating around Dublin, this record can be found for a fiver plus postage on Discogs.

Dublin Buskers: N.C. Lawlor A /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Kevin O’Reilly, Music Editor

crowd gathers around the lamppost outside the St. Stephen’s Green shopping centre to stop and bask in the spectacle before them. N.C. Lawlor is seated with a steel guitar on his knees, a high hat at his left leg, a kick drum at his right and a harmonica at his mouth. He’s a multi-talented one-man band but his sound his loud and raucous. There’s some heat in the low February sun on this Wednesday afternoon and the sliding notes seem to transport the growing audience far away to the Deep South. Lawlor himself is relaxed and polite, his voice is gravelly and rich as he utters a soft “Thank you” to a generous passer-by in the middle of a tune. His set up is curious and quirky; his bike which provides his mode of transport is at his back as he sings into a retro, steel finished condenser microphone with his flat cap perched precariously on his head.

N.C. Lawlor explained that he has been

a professional musician for about 15 years, he does studio sessions and soundtrack work as well as playing gigs in bars, but he still likes to play on the street for the love of it and to make a living at the same time. The music he plays is mainly Delta or Country Blues with an edge; “when you’re playing outside in the cold all sorts of edges happen!”. His personal taste in music however, covers all genres and artists from Classical to Jazz, George Jones to Daft Punk. He described how trying to captivate a fickle mobile audience informs his music; “That’s the beauty of playing outside, you never get that indoors. You have to make… I always call it ‘all-over detail’, like an abstract painting you have to have every part of the surface covered with interest”. People are drawn to the sliding guitar because it’s different and he explained how music is about context depending on the setting and the mood.

Commenting on the controversial propos-

als of Dublin City Council to curtail the performances of buskers and banning of amplification he thinks that it is impossible to operate on the street without an amplifier and that moderate amplification should not be an issue. Some flexibility between buskers and shop-owners, he feels, has to exists to reach a compromise and that busking is a huge part of our culture and Dublin City Life and has been for a long time.

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The Gloaming 2

ling and heavy touring schedules left the band with little or no free time for idea generation and work/////////////////////////// // Kevin O’Reilly, Music Editor ing on new material.

Their solution was to ot since the heady days of The regularly take up to two hours to carry Dubliners, Planxty and the Clancy out ‘sound checks’ before shows where Brothers has Irish traditional music they could test and improvise tunes to gained such an enormous presence on see what worked together and eventualboth the Irish and international stage, but ly incorporating these new compositions now The Gloaming are ringing in a new into their live sets. This form of song creera for the somewhat forgotten genre. ation would not be possible if not for the Having recently recruited the musical incredible mastery and skill of each of mastermind that is Thomas ‘Doveman’ the individual members and their abiliBartlett to their ranks The Gloaming are ty to flex their creative muscles fluidly. looking to extend the creativity and ex- Each member of The Gloaming is a virperimental nature of their endeavour that tuoso in their own right, from the archive made their first self-titled album such of Irish tunes that is Martin Hayes to a success. Creating their latest project the refined handcrafted simply titled ‘The Gloaming 2’ hasn’t been easy however, hectic t rave l -

N

voice of Iarla O’Lionáird.

The album opens thrillingly with “The Pilgrim’s Song” and “Fáinleog”, both of which are compositions formed from intertwining musical poetry with traditional Irish tunes, a technique which the band have perfected. Caoimhín O’Raghallaigh’s Norwegian Hardanger fiddle paints rasping clouds of sound that form the backdrop to most of the songs and especially in “The Hare” and “Repeal the Union”. The sound is less like a fiddle and closer to that of ghostly uilleann pipes, all the while Martin Hayes’ traditional fiddle elucidates the outline of the melody. O’Lionáird’s voice shines through in the minimalist song; “Casadh and Tsugain” which he recently sang for the film adaptation of Colm

Tóibín’s ‘Brooklyn’. The album acts as a carousel allowing each artist to flaunt their respective skills as an individual at different points while still working as a coherent whole. This also leads to a great contrast in the mix of instruments and melodies from song to song. The whole album is audible luxury. It enables the listener to be transported to faraway places and evokes the warmest memories. At the same time it is novel and unpredictable. This project is a celebration of both classic and contemporary Irish traditional music and perches in a magical space between the two. A true masterpiece of modern Irish music.

4-5 // Film & Television

2015 Oscar Nominations; Best Picture

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Niamh Crosbie, Film & Entertainment Editor Now that the post-Grammys hype has settled down and we’ve had time come to terms with what our favourite singers wore to the awards, it’s time to focus our energy on the upcoming Oscar nominees – and there are seven unmissable candidates up for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards. Naturally, as these films come from the minds and talent of some of the world’s best directors, actors, cinematographers and writers, plenty are up for four, six, even twelve awards in total.

The Big Short (Adam McKay, 2015) Starring Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt and Christian Bale, The Big Short is an energetic, accessible film based on the global financial crisis of recent times, and is based on financial journalist Michael Lewis’s book of the same title. “Best Picture” is just one of four nominations received by The Big Short.

Bridge of Spies (Steven Spielberg, 2015) Nominated for no less than six awards, and starring none other than Tom Hanks, Bridge of Spies tells the story of an exchange of captive spies during the Cold War. With an all-star cast and Spielberg as director, it’s no wonder the critics have high expectations for this film.

Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015) With Saoirse Ronan playing the young Irish immigrant lead of Colm Tóibín’s iconic novel, Brooklyn has already gathered its fair share of critical acclaim. Nominated for four different awards, this Irish-British-Canadian production is going for the gold at this year’s Academy Awards.

Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015) This futuristic action thriller has been doing the rounds since summer 2015, and shows no signs of putting the brakes on its success.

With Tom Hardy as the leading man, a cult following, and a sequel already in the works, it’s hardly surprising that Mad Max: Fury Road is in the running.

The Martian (Ridley Scott, 2015) Yet another speculative flick joins the ranks for Best Picture, with Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig and Sean Bean among the starring faces and with Alien and Blade Runner director Ridley Scott calling the shots. Damon is also up for Best Actor in his role as botanist-come-astronaut Mark Watney.

The Revenant (Alejandro G. Inarritu, 2015) The Revenant has a whopping 12 nominations secured for this year’s Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor – fans and critics are speculating that this might be the year Leonardo di Caprio’s name is called, but only time will tell if this thrilling historical drama will triumph over the competition.

Room (Lenny Abrahamson, 2015) The second Irish-British-Canadian collaboration to make the coveted nominations list, Room tells the tale of a mother and son entering the outside world after seven years in captivity. Brie Larson is also up for Best Actress, while Abrahamson is in the running for Best Director.

Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, 2015) Showcasing investigative journalism at its grittiest depths, Spotlight follows The Boston Globe’s team as they uncover repeated child abuse inflicted by Catholic priests in the Boston area. Spotlight is based on true events, and among its cast are Mark Ruffalo, Stanley Tucci and Rachel McAdams.

Films of our Childhood: A Little Princess

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n the ever-expanding realm of children’s literature and its adaptations for the screen, A Little Princess (both the book from 1905 and the movie from 1995) will always be an underrated tale. Forever in the shadow cast by its big sister, The Secret Garden. Whilst The Secret Garden will always have a soft spot in my heart, A Little Princess will forever be imprinted on my soul.

Sara Crewe (played by Liesel Matthews) has grown up in colourful, boundless and exciting India with her father, a British Army captain; but when he is called to war, she must attend a boarding school in dreary, grey New York City. Here, she must say goodbye to her father and come to terms with a new life among a throng of other girls, each of whom is conditioned to believe that none among them is special and that they must all fall into line. But Sara brings an air of magic to the echoing halls of Miss Minchin’s Seminary for Girls, in the form of vibrant storytelling and the idea that every little girl is a princess in her own right, regardless of how pretty, intelligent, or wealthy she may be. As we watch, we’re drawn into Sara’s character, feeling every painful blow which is dealt to her by the cruel new world in which she has been thrust.

A Little Princess can be thought of as a parallel version of a war movie; while we only experience about five minutes altogether of Captain Crewe’s actual time at war, the entire narrative fills in the gap and explores the effects that war might have on those who are left behind - on the families which are torn apart and the children and parents whose worlds are turned upside down when fathers and sons are called to duty.

Perhaps the most beautiful and enveloping aspect of this film is its soundtrack. Liesel Matthews herself performs vocals for the film’s main theme, Kindle My Heart, which plays throughout the film, reviving our protagonist’s memories of India and her father.

Something which strikes me in writing this review is that I enjoy the film much more than its literary source material.

This may be due to my having watched it well over one hundred times as a child, only getting around to reading the book as a young adult with all the unreachably high expectations that go with that time in our lives. I was also unaware, until reading the book, that the film deviates from the original narrative significantly, and not just in its decision to portray Sara as much older than she appeared in the novel.

Heart-wrenching, heart-warming, uplifting and swimming in the vibrant colours which are typical of the Warner Bros. productions of this era, A Little Princess is an underrated gem that children and adults alike can appreciate, time and time again. When I recall the time I spent as a child in front of the VCR, A Little Princess will always be the first film that comes to mind. Niamh Crosbie

Film Review: Deadpool Deadpool is fun. There’s swearing, sex, and violence from the moment Ryan Reynolds drops, in slow motion, onto the screen. The swearing and sex, however, are the only things that set the film apart from any other comic book film that’s come before.

The plot centres on Wade Wilson, played by Reynolds, who ends up the subject of a lab experiment that promises to cure him of his cancer. Despite his girlfriend’s (Morena Baccarin) protestations he goes through with the procedure in secret. Things inevitably go downhill from the moment he’s stretchered in to meet the sinister, British villain Ajax (Ed Skrein). The former mercenary then finds himself cured of cancer but also mutated into a new body that leaves him disfigured and strangely powerful.

Now the fun can begin. With the help of Colossus and Negasonic, two X-Men whose presence the film goes to fourth-wall-breaking lengths to question, Deadpool tracks down the man who turned him into this superhero with the hope of undoing his earlier transformation. The film’s willingness to do this and make fun at its own expense is an excellent nod to the source material.

The only new things that are brought to the genre in this film are the breaking of the fourth wall, the sex, and the swearing. Sometimes the film feels like it is too heavily reliant on the fact it can swear and act more grown up than its predecessors.

Strip way the adult humour, which often takes the form of somewhat juvenile dick and masturbation jokes with lots of boobs thrown in for good measure, and you’ll find that there is little innovation that will bring new audiences to the cinema. If you don’t already like the superhero genre then this film is probably not going to change your mind, as it fails to do more than point out stereotypes on which directors have become over-reliant. Ryan Reynolds is perfectly cast as the snarky anti-hero but the sarcastic jibes and one-liners that aim to critique the genre fall somewhat flat when the film itself doesn’t manage to break the mould enough to criticise its predecessors.

Deadpool doesn’t take itself too seriously and audiences shouldn’t either. This is not a cinematic masterpiece and it never intended to be. It can be enjoyed for what it is; 108 minutes of silly comic book fun and violence. Even though it still remains squarely in the superhero genre, despite its adult content, Deadpool is a worthy addition to the team. Jennifer Smyth

Film review: A War

W

ith some of the best contemporary casting from Scandinavia, “A War” serves up more than adequate ingredients to keep you enthralled, but don’t be fooled, it’s not a war film.

Pilou Asbaek, the film’s central character Claus M. Pedersen is commanding officer of a company of Danish soldiers based in Afghanistan. They are on a peacekeeping mission with intention to protect local civilians and stabilise the area against Taliban forces. A close knit group, we see inside their daily patrol operations and in tandem, Pedersen’s wife and three children’s life back in Denmark. As his family struggle without him, his oldest son shows signs of abnormal behaviour which casts aspersions about the lack of a guiding male role model. His wife struggles on with just a weekly call from the desert.

Routine patrols become more dangerous and casualties start to rise, Pedersen and his company become trapped in a housing compound and decisions must be made quickly, all culminating in actions that may be outside the rules of engagement. The commander suffers punitive measures from military police and could be headed for discharge and prison, all the while suffering from the psychological scars of war and managing relationships from another country.

Asbaek’s eyes do the acting, brooding and intense. Latching on to his professional and domestic predicaments on screen create no predicament; he beams pathos. The supporting cast never get in the way and the decision to use professional Danish infantry in the cast pays off. Not something that could be assured in the hands of another director. At fifty-five minutes there’s no room for deliberation although it could be suggested that the last third suffers from European pretence. Tuva Novotny brings a gritty realism to her role as Pedersen’s wife in conveying the difficulties of domestic life while a partner goes to war. The absence of light in these scenes in contrast with the desert sun offers subtle tonal contrast that frames the mood in both settings.

Lindholm’s fifth production as director manages to provide equal amounts of grit and character development without ever being melodramatic. Submitted for Best Foreign Film at the 88th Academy awards, it seems cutting his teeth as writer for multiple big screen and TV series including the 20-part political drama Borgen (2010) has allowed him to develop the fundamental elements for concise narration. The camera is mainly handheld without the viewer ever being distracted and the plot informed and taut. Lindholm is an example of exactly why high profile productions from Scandinavia have developed serious stature on screen and can be trusted to deliver based purely on lineage. Barry Monahan

New York Fashion Week to the Newman Building Niamh Trav injects some reality into the latest trends showcased at New York Fashion Week Look 2

6-7 // Fashion & Design

Look 1

Make-up Inspiration

1. Yeezy Season 3 Keeping in line with true Kanye style, Yeezy Season 3 contained an abundance of rips, bodycon and overstretched pieces. The palettes were neutral and earthy in tone.

Campus interpretation: Neutral oversized jumpers, skin coloured long sleeve tops and mom jeans from high street stores will help you embody the Yeezy look without spending the kind of money needed to live the Life of Pablo.

Niamh Trav demonstrates two looks to try on your next night out

N

ew York Fashion Week saw the introduction of some brave make-up trends, such as blacked-out eyebrows for Hood by Air and inky ebony lips at Rihanna’s Fenty X Puma collection. The looks below draw inspiration from some of the shows at Fashion Week but are toned down for the more casual Dublin nightlife scene.

The Base

2. Alexander Wang

Before turning your attention to the eyes it is important to set the base. I used a tiny bit of MAC Prep + Prime Highlighter in the shade Radiant Rose underneath the eye to hide dark circles and blended using a finger (a beauty blender could also be used) . To prime the lids, I used Inglot’s Eye Makeup Base in Colour 01.

Alexander Wang showcased some grungy looks this season with an ‘indoor 90s rave’ vibe to be found throughout.

Campus interpretation: Mix staples like denim jackets and beanies with on-trend details such statement tights.

Pair bold gold necklaces with hooded skater-style sweaters.

If you are feeling brave, try a Cruella De Vil-style faux fur coat.

Look One This first look is quite neutral, so you can add layers of fake eyelashes if your preference is to create something a bit bolder. I used MAC’s Uninterrupted eyeshadow as a base using the 6SS brush from Inglot and blended it under the eye, on the eyelid and up to the brow bone. Then I added MAC’s Amber eyeshadow in the middle to the corner of the eye, using my finger to blend it in. I used Inglot’s Sparkling Dust on both the corner of the eye and underneath the brow bone. I added some brown liner to the top lashes to add a bit of volume and finally topped the look off with mascara.

3. The Row The Row founders Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen have made sure to keep their collection as feminine and comfortable as possible. The tones were kept nude and beige and were mixed with sharp hits such as in their cranberry oversized A-line coats.

Look Two: This next look is suited to those more brave souls among us and is ideal for heading to somewhere like Hangar of a Wednesday night. This look was inspired by the beauty seen at Alexander Wang A/W 2016.

After priming the eyelid, I used the colours Steady and Punk from Gwen Stefani’s palette for Urban Decay and blended them evenly around the eye using the Inglot brush 6SS. With a smaller eyeshadow brush I used the colour Serious (from the same palette) and blended it over half the lid over to the end of the eyebrow. To get the wet look I added a tiny bit of moisturizer with my finger, tapping it in to ensure that none of the shadow moves during wear. To give the eye a glossy look I finished it off with a bit of Vaseline. Lastly, I added mascara. Hey presto! You’ve got yourself a 90s clubland beauty look.

Pictured : Builde

rs prepa re

to set u p an ou tdoor ru

Campus interpretation: Slouchy basics and loose-fitting knitwear reign and, luckily, are more than comfortable for college life.

Emer ) Photo by

16 February, 20 Paris (15th ,

Museum the Louvre nway for Louis Vuitton at

Slattery

Spring Break ////////////////////// // Emer Slattery, Fashion Editor

T

he upcoming two-week break- or the “fieldwork/ study period” as it is officially known- is an ideal time to experiment with your style. Free time mixed with fun plans can breed both plenty of creativity and opportunities to suit up. Whether you’re planning on using your days to knuckle down and get ahead or chill out and try new things, your fashion choices can be an influential force.

1. Library Some students may be planning on staying on campus for the break and spending some time in the library getting ahead with their summer exam studies or offloading some mid-term assignments. However, if you’re interested in fashion then you just might find yourself getting easily distracted by people-watching rather than studying on trips into the library, not least because all manner of styles can be witnessed here. Some library punters will be wearing baggy tracksuits and runners and some can be found in leather trousers and heels. This variance adds to the joy of library style: anything goes. And, we say, rightly so! Whatever you feel most comfortable studying in should be your uniform here. Do gym clothes motivate you to push yourself? Or does a bold purple lip inspire you? Or do you literally not care what you wear as long as you get that essay done? Whatever works for you is what you should aim for with your study style.

2. Travel

Top tip:: If you’re heading to a beach at any point during the break, take an empty spray bottle with you and collect some sea water.

Spray it into your hair as a texturising styling spray whenever you want to recreate a wavy-beachy look at home. Alternatively, you could fake it by making your own salt spray using salt and tap water.

Spray into your hair at night time before bed then tie the hair in loose plaits from the ear-level down and the next morning simply run your fingers through the waves.

If you’re fortunate enough to be heading abroad for the break (maybe even on one of these so-called “fieldwork” trips!) then you’ll need to be forward thinking and organised in order to plan a stylish suitcase. Whether you’re heading on a city break with your class or favourite society, visiting friends who are studying abroad or going on a trip or training camp with your beloved sports club there will be much to consider while packing your suitcase. What kind of activities will you be undertaking? Some lucky students will be getting up to plenty of adventures, such as holidaying in Nantes with FrenchSoc, touring Berlin with FilmSoc, visiting the Hague with LawSoc, hiking in Wales with the Mountaineering Club or surfing in Morocco with the Surf Club (to name but a few of the many trips that have been organised).

Speaking of what she plans to wear when she travels to Budapest on a class trip, third year genetics student Niamh Tuohy said “I think I’m just packing pretty much what I would wear to college every day- with a bikini for the bath party and maybe some nice tops to wear out”. There will be much to squash into your minimal baggage allowance, so depending on your destination you may have to add an extra bit of creativity into your outfit planning to factor in keeping warm or cool, climate depending. If you’ll be heading to a competition of some description, be it intervarsities for your sports club or a debating competition, you’ll usually need to remember to include a going-out outfit, or often even formal attire, for the post-competition mixers and the night of the final.

3. Training

4. Society Ball Some students will be planning on taking advantage of the time off to improve their athletic form. Club training doesn’t stop just because lectures do, and with competition season approaching for many sports the study break is just what’s needed to focus on fitness. Even if you’re not a member of a sports club, the break is an ideal time to reinvigorate long-forgotten fitness plans just in time for summer while the sports centre’s gym is empty. Time to showcase that gym gear collection!

5. Staycationing

UCD ball season is upon us! Whether your ball of choice is on during the break or after, it’s high time to hit the shops and find your perfect gown (or tux!).

TK Maxx usually has a good selection of dress styles at reasonably student-friendly prices. A great option for finding a one-of-a-kind dress is to scour through charity shops. Places such as Dundrum, Rathfarnham, Rathmines and town –especially Georges Street and Camden Street- have a wide variety to choose from. One of Dublin’s best kept vintage secrets is the Harlequin just by the Georges St. Arcade

6. P.A.R.T.Y

Whether you’re heading down to the country to visit friends and family If you are stuck on placement or at work or you’re an exchange student looking to explore more of what Irefor the holidays, make sure to take land has to offer, staycationing is a great way to occupy yourself for the time to give yourself a break, get the break. Go on a tour bus and visit some cultural sites you may dressed up and go out! Going out style normally overlook. Hop on a random bus and see where you is all about feeling good so get dressed, end up; take the Dart to a beach or go hiking in the Wicklow get out and get dancing! See our goMountains. If you have access to a car, stray further afield and ing-out make-up article (also in this ishead off on a road trip across the country. Staycation style is sue) for some inspiration. low-key and relaxed, just like the staycation itself.

7. Absolutely Nothing

If you fully intend on doing nothing for the break then that’s okay too. It’s halfway through the semester, you’re frazzled and need some quality R&R. Catch up on those novels and TV shows you’ve been meaning to read and watch for ages. Invite some friends around to watch movies.

Cook. Sleep. If this sounds like you: wearing a onesie is optional, but recommended.

Savvy Saving; Spring Sessions

pubs in Howth for you and your friends to end the day in.

Now in its 12th year, the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival returns this May. The festival was founded in 2004 and puts an emphasis on new or recent international and Irish works with a broadly gay theme or relevance from past and present artists. The Festival has grown to be one of the larg/////////////////////////////////// // Emma Costello, Arts Editor est events of its type in the world. s the college year draws tunity for those interested in the art It’s criteria for inclusion into the to a close, many of us are to be exposed to some new, fresh programme are broadly interpretthinking of ways to stretch works from new and practiced ed to include works by gay writers, out those last few euros. This being filmmakers. If you are interested in works that have a gay relevance Ireland, it can be really difficult to getting involved in film work, it’s a or theme, or works that include come up with cheap, fun ideas that good chance to rub some shoul- either performance or another don’t revolve around drink. After ders too! Bop down on March 6th artistic contribution by gay peodry January and with Lent having at 7pm to have a unique and free ple. The event is extremely open; kicked off though, the incentive is night. participation and attendance is there to stay off the booze.

Whilst a night at the movies is encouraged for those who wish Sure, you could head down great for those who want to cosy to witness and acknowledge up, there are those among us who the immense contribution of gay enjoy nothing more than the simple people to theatre in all its form.

You could pleasure that is stuffing our faces Not only will you get to dive into head down to full of food with the colourful Whilst a friends. A classthe National Galculture of the ier option than night at the mov- LGBTQ+ comlery, a stone’s heading down munity in Ireto Boojum would ies is great for throw from Trinland, but takbe the Dublin ing place over those who want ity, to stare at a Bay Prawn Festwo weeks, tival, on March to cosy up, there painting Ferris there will be 18th to 20th. are those among something for Bueller style.

Heading into its anyone with 6th year, the fes- us who enjoy But that isn’t for even a passing tival returns to interest in thenothing more everyone. the fishing village atre. From drag to the National Gallery, a stone’s of Howth. Unfor- than the simple shows to street throw from Trinity, to stare at a tunately, the food entertainment pleasure that is painting Ferris Bueller style. But isn’t free. The loto the parade, that isn’t for everyone. This spring, cal bars, pubs, stuffing our facsave your last there are a handful of great events and restaurant €2 for a cheeky es full of food on offer in our city that break the will have some McDonalds afmould and more importantly; are of their best dish- with friends. ter the closing free to attend. es on offer, but night festivities.

Screening at St. Joseph’s Parade, there is more to the festival than Every week, there are new just off Dorset Street, the Firehouse just the food. The tented village will free events popping up on FaceFilm Contest is a quirky evening of also have various exhibitions in- book and other media sites. If artistic film. Presented in the cre- cluding cookery demos from local you want to keep that budget ative setting of A4 sounds, home and celebrity chefs, fish filleting and tight, keep an eye out on the to DJs like Sixfoot Apprentice and net mending master classes from What’s On section on the Visit multimedia artist Dee Ambrose, the fishmongers (a crucial life skill Dublin website (www.visitdublin. the contest itself offers a diverse for any student to have!). Not only com/whats-on/) You can always event that encourages new and that, but there will be videos and crash those local Clonskeagh established film-makers to create a storyboards dotted around the fes- house parties and nick some film in the month preceding the big tival outlining the history of Howth food and drink to survive ‘till night. With the organisers looking and its maritime traditions. And exam season. for fun and engaging ideas, of course, there are some it’s sure win for whomever quality are looking to fuel their inner film geek and a great oppor-

8-9 // Arts & Culture

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’ve never really been much of a foreign film person. If I’m going to see a movie, I don’t want to have to read it, and I definitely don’t want to end up losing interest halfway through because I can’t make up my mind on whether to read the translation or watch the actors. You can’t do both. Or at least I can’t.

Foreign films were always reserved for the really cool, hipster kids who understood the abstract storylines and could somehow relate to that Polish lady who finds life again in bread-making.

Uncultured as I am, for some reason, it all kind of went over my head. I left it to the cool kids, and went back to my rom-coms and high action flicks.

Lately, however, I find myself being sucked into the world of French film. Having done French for the Leaving Cert, I always found the language poetic and musical, as opposed to its European neighbour, German, which sounds (at times) more rough and ready than romantic. Unfortunately, due to a frightfully short retention span, I have no advantage in having learned French at school, as despite six years of careful study, I’ve forgotten most of the lovely language, excluding how to say my name and hello.

All this said, the charm of the language and the definition of its culture in the movies has not been wasted on me, and has so moved me to step into the cultural abyss and broaden my horizons. Nothing says culture like dabbling in the language of love, ao, if zou onla wantch none make it Jeux d’enfants (Love Me If You Dare) This one I’ve actually seen already, but would happily watch again as the magnificent Marion Cotillard brings glamour to the role and real-life romance to the film, as she stars alongside her husband, Guillaume Canet.

An enigmatic tale of childhood romance, Jeux d’enfants offers a quirky twist to the prospect of one true love.

Irish Reviv@l

5

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Mélanie Brisard, Culture Writer

0 books. No more, no less, a contemporary perspective, we 50 books written between can wonder whether another list 2009 and 2013 are fea- is to be expecttured on the recently launched ed , or if the precontemporaryirishwriting.ie to vious one would offer curious readers a broad evolve.

But perspective on the current Irish Kelleher is less literary scene. Maybe you’ve al- certain: “I don’t ready come across some of the think so. Part of the reaction I authors featured: Colm Toíbín, was less pleased about is that Emma Donoghue, Seamus He- some people interpreted it as aney… But what is really inno- the “best 50 books” and turned vative in that selection made it into an evaluation, whereas we

by Professor Margaret Kelleher never used language like “top” and her postdoctoral research- or “best”. We wanted it to be er colleagues (Dr Karen Wade, representative and selective of Dr Catherine Smith, and Dr Ken- a certain period we could call neth Keating) are the links the “post-boom” or “era of austerity”. platform provides to reviews, Maybe we’ll wait and in 5 years interviews, critics do anothrelated to each er.

I certainOne of the of the titles, an ly wouldn’t unprecedented writers who is want to do it and challenging worth looking too soon, beexperiment that cause it could had been warm- at, Alex Hijmans, become quite ly welcomed far wasn’t actually narrow. I think beyond Ireland: also the ener“One of the thing born in Ireland gy of the 50 we’ve been real- although he is that you get ly pleased about quite a diverwas the interna- writes in Irish. sity”. tional reaction: He’s Dutch born, Indeed, The Irish Embasthis diversity sies in different multilingual… is expressed countries are one of his other in terms of interested in this genre, genproject because works in Irish is a der and they are keen to non-fiction book language: advertise Irish Although it writing interna- about Brazil. favors novels, tionally” says a proud Pr. Kelle- it has 3 collections of short stoher, adding that “teachers of Irish ries, 7 volumes of poetry and 7 literature abroad have written to plays… Professor Kelleher consay ‘It is now possible for me to cedes nonetheless that “one critteach a course because I have icism to be fair which is a valid resources to give my students’”. one is that we don’t really include What about the Irish liter- genre fiction, we only have one ary scene? “The writers are crime writer: Tana French. This is pleased!”, she says with re- maybe why it would worth waitlief. Even those not on the ing 5 years, to see what other list? “those not on the list are, genres will emerge!”

I think, patiently hoping they The list will appear in the future.” Con-

“

sidering the team’s desire to offer

shows remarkable gender equality: 24 of the 50 authors cit-

“

The Irish Embassies in different countries are interested in this project because they are keen to advertise Irish writing internationally ed are women: “It’s almost half and half. And that emerged actually quite organically! Obviously we had a long list of a hundred books, and then shortened it to 50. Once we had chosen we counted the number of female authors, we were pleased and relieved!”

Added to that, it gives a significant place to Irish-language work, 10% being written Irish language: “We would like more in the future but we have already received a good reaction from Irish-language authors. One of the writers who is worth looking at, Alex Hijmans, wasn’t actually born in Ireland although he writes in Irish. He’s Dutch born, multilingual… one of his other works in Irish is a non-fiction book about Brazil. It’s an example of how Irish language is linked to multi-national and transnational issues. People have really wel-

comed the selection also be- tory in which minority became cause it shows that Irish-lan- majority”. guage writing Anyway, it seems the Contemis still flour- porary Irish Writing project shares ishing today. I the ambition of Roger McHugh would want to when, in 1966, he founded the advertise very Chair of Irish Literature and Drastrongly that ma at UCD which is now occureally important dynamic work is pied by Professor Kelleher: “It occurring Irish language writing! was at that time a very definite It’s a small audience, that’s why and exciting development to the bilingual publication (like the emphasize the distinctiveness of one of Louis De Paor Agus Rud Irish writing in English and to realEile De) is an interesting exam- ly emphasize that Irish writers like ple”.

Joyce, Beckett, Augusta Gregory However, with 32 out of the and more recently Paula Meehan, 50 books being published out- belong to an Irish rather than Britside of Ireland ish tradition”. it seems Irish Eventually, With 32 out while asking publishers don’t have the upper of the 50 books Professor Kellehand compared her about the to English or being published future of the American ones: outside of Irewebsite, she “The aspect of discloses that publication is land it seems “we are going very important. Irish publishers to launch in It is most difficult June a project for writers pub- don’t have the on recent adaplished by Irish upper hand tations of Joyce publishers to get and to look at attention, that is true. Not impos- how contemporary writers and sible but true. But an interesting artists and theatrical practitioners exception is Colin Barrett whose are responding to Joyce. So it’s a first collection was published by a kind of a “canon and the contemsmall literary operation called the porary” if you see what I mean…”

Stinging Fly. And this first collecMeanwhile, ahead of Bloomstion has been widely acclaimed.” day, she insists on the fact the Anna Heussaf, an Irish-language platform is an interactive tool, writer, sums it up in her contribu- meaning suggestions of resourction to the blog: “The ratio 45 to es, editions, and more specifical5 books in English and in Irish ly blog writers are most welcome. represents these contrasts of size Have a look! and status, as well as the scars of a long his-

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Wednesday April 26 , 1916 th

10-11 // Odds & Ents

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////// // Words by Cillian Fearon, Illustration by Daisy Kinahan Murphy 3/5

airead slept little that night. The rapid rifle fire rang through the cold, dark air. Now and then the thundering boom of a tremendous canon echoed across the city. Mairead and the rest of the family stayed in the kitchen that night for fear of a shell tearing through the upper floor. Mairead felt that it wouldn’t make much difference should a stray shell hit the house. Early in the morning the racket of the big guns had moved off to another part of the city. Eventually Mairead found herself drifting off to sleep in the warm kitchen.

She was woken by a loud thumping on the door.

“Jack! Open up! It’s Tommy!”

Mairead blearily opened her eyes. Her Da was getting up from the table to get the door. John was still fast asleep, and her Ma was gently stroking his head and humming a lullaby.

“Come in Tom,” her Da said quickly shutting the door.

“Are you lot alright?” he asked, taking his hat off.

“Uncle Tom what’s happening out there?” Mairead asked.

“War,” he replied grimly, taking a seat at the table.

“Beth, how about a pot of tea?” Jack said sitting down opposite his brother.

Beth gently let go of her son and when about making a pot of tea.

“Is it as bad as it sounds?” Jack said.

Tom gave an empty bitter laugh, “It is, they were shelling the Mill. The Distillery took the brunt of it I think. Then they turned the guns towards the city centre. Not rightly sure what they were aiming at.”

“GPO most likely,” Jack said as Beth put cups of tea in front of them.

“The poor bastards in the slums though,” Tom swore.

“Not in front of the children,” Beth snapped.

“Sorry Beth,” Tom said.

“How is it in Irishtown?” Jack asked eagerly.

“I saw more soldiers on my way here. There were heading up towards the Mount Street Bridge, hundreds of them. They know they won’t get across the Iron Bridge with the rebels in the Mill.” Tom said shaking his head.

“Do they think they’ll just stroll into Sackville street, sweet as you like and ask the rebels to give back the keys?” Beth said dismissively.

“Hell if I know what they’re playing at but if I were a betting man, I’d say the rebels will hit hard them somewhere along the way.” Tom said grimly.

Jack sighed and took a long, loud, slurp of tea.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” said Beth.

“Yes dear,” said Jack sheepishly.

Tom laughed and slapped his thigh, “Beth he’s been doing that since he were old enough to hold a cup, he ain’t like to stop with a bit of nagging.”

“He’ll get more than nagging if he’s not careful,” Beth swatted at her husband with a tea towel.

“What’s the rest of the city like?” Jack said moving the conversation swiftly on.

“Well as far as I could tell the citizen army has taken the GPO. Some more have taken the four courts, Jacob’s factory, Stephen’s Green, and the Mill of course. It’s chaos out there. Fierce gun battles. There was rioting on Sackville street. People were looting what they can.

The Volunteers have been taking positions around the Mill to keep the British off the rails. The shelling from earlier, well that’ll probably get worse. Everyone should stay inside and away from the windows.”

“So what happens now?” Mairead asked.

“We wait.” her father replied.

Mairead felt waiting was a remarkable tiresome strategy. Staying with their relatives in Wicklow seemed to make much more sense. She traipsed upstairs to look for something to read to keep her mind off the chaos outside.

There was an intense racket of gunfire throughout the day. It sounded like it was coming from towards the canal. It had started sometime in the early afternoon. The evening was starting to close in when there was another hammering on the door.

Mairead rushed downstairs to find their next door neighbour Sarah Ellis in the kitchen.

“Beth I need any cloth you can spare. And alcohol to if you have it.” Her brow was sweating. Mairead then noticed her blood stained nurse’s uniform.

“Sarah what’s happened?” Mairead asked in a panic.

“I’m helping at Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital. There’s so many wounded.” She took a deep breath to stop herself from tearing up.

Beth came over to Mairead, “Honey, go collect the old sheets from upstairs. I’ll make Sarah a cup of tea.”

“No, I need to get back to them as soon as I can.” Sarah insisted wiping her eyes with her sleeves. Mairead ran upstairs and returned with the sheets.

“Will you be safe getting back to Sir Patrick’s?” Mairead asked.

“There are a handful of St John’s Ambulance nurses and doctors with us, we should be alright,” She said as she walked to the door.

Beth opened the cupboard under the stairs and took out three large bottles and handed them to Sarah at the door.

“Finest Elderflower wine this side of the Liffey,” she gave the bottles a funny look, “Well strongest Elderflower wine this side of the Liffey.”

Sarah game them a weak smile, “Thank you.”

“Good Luck,” Mairead.

“You too, and stay inside, stay safe.” Sarah said before disappearing into the evening haze.

Flower The Colosseum Girl

This Week

Settling Ancient Debts since 80 A.D

Anna Behind the plants there hides a girl she never speaks she can’t be heard.

The room is full but she’s alone she hopes the plants become her home.

She can see them but them not her, Her life’s become a living blur Of green and red and mostly black.

She rubs compost along her back; her legs her arms her face and hands And in the shadows she will stand Between the ferns behind the glass And to her cat she always asks “These plants are dying where’s the light, the shade and water, the flowers bright?”

“Where’s the spray, the can, the secateur, do these people even care?”

Alone she hides alone she creeps Among the plants in which she sleeps.

She’s only happy all alone She hopes these plants become her home.

(Pt.II) Behind the pots and plants and peat You’ll find a girl in her bare feet Ne’er to human does she talk nor out the greenhouse does she walk Her only friends her cats and plants and in the moonlight does she dance To songs that no one else can hear she’s been like this for years and years.

Greek Hoplite

Roman Legionary

I am a Greek Hoplite, and you can bet your last drachma that I am the ultimate fighting unit in the ancient world. My bronze helmet sports a suave horse-hair plume, made famous in Homer’s Iliad (Roman legionary troops would later make a lame attempt to emulate this, not so nice). I mean, you should see this, it’s sexy. My other protection, (I don’t use anything Trojan, after all, they let a few through and that caused all the trouble) comes in the form of bronze greaves (shin-guards), a leather cuirass to protect my torso, and the solemn knowledge that I am not simply some stooge fighting for an indulgent, probably inbred emperor. In case you were wondering about the bravery of a Hoplite, have you ever heard of a little thing called Marathon? I mean, if you want a trousered-barbarian murder fest, that was it. We gave them the proverbial business. The business. And then they came back, with a fleet and army gathered for one thing, to subdue Greece. Do you think that they succeeded? The hardest hammer stroke from the largest empire in the known world? NO. In fact, we decimated them, so much so that their great king Xerxes went running back to Asia Minor, before we were even able to finally massacre his troops at Plataea. BAM! Simply put, we Greek hoplites were cool. David Newell

Salve! As a citizen of our great city I proudly march in the ranks of our glorious emperor, sowing the seeds of empire in his name and watering said seeds with the blood of those wretched, trousered barbarians.

Though my pack weighs more than 50 lbs, I carry it with pride. Unlike those womanly Greeks who would rather perfume themselves and perform on the stage, we in the legion prefer to spray ourselves with the blood of a thousand barbarians. I would rather a single fellow legionary by my side than a hundred of their so called heavy infantry. Those boy-lovers have rightly been brought under the yolk by the lads of Lucius Achaicus’ legions when he sacked Corinth in the year of his own consulship with Lentulus.

Training is tough in the legion, but to be the best one has to suffer through worse hardships than the enemy could even imagine. Many of the lads fear the retribution of an angry centurion more than the spears and blades of the barbarian or the phallic symbols of the Greek. I myself have felt the sting of the vine stick on more than one occasion, and believe me the welts last for a long time, but one must wear them with pride. But, even though my helmet is heavy (yes, that is a euphemism) I will keep soldiering for the glory of Rome, the true mistress of all the world! Roma Victor! Eoghan Finn

Like Singing? What about Songwriting? Both at the same time even?

Well then you’ll love the opportunity to see HudsonTaylor during their visit to MusicSoc this Tuesday from 4-5pm in the Fitzgerald Chamber in the Student Centre

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If you’re feeling creative this Tuesday, Drawsoc are offering a Free Art Classin the new Quad room in the Old Student Centre. In their own words: Mark-making is the process of creating marks – the aim isn’t to create a masterpiece; it is to enjoy the process of creating, and the technique involved in creating something. 5-7pm

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The very excellent the Gloaming will be taking the stage at the National Concert Hall to bring their own unique brand of tunage to the people of Dublin. Much recommended, check out the review of their latest album ‘The Gloaming 2’ by music editor Kevin O’Reilly in this issue to get a feel for what they’re about. Tuesday & Wednesday, 8pm.

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Keeping in the theme of song and dance, ISS and Indsoc are hosting a Bollywood Film Night this Friday at 7pm upstairs in the Student Bar. Sit back, relax and find yourself helplessly falling into grooves like you’ve never even imagined

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Cover Image: “Ringing” Seán O’Reilly

Wolf Alice, the arse kicking, name taking, flange chorusing, NME AWARD winning London Quartet will be playing The Olympia this Saturday. Known for their big sound and seriously catchy hooks, any chance to see this band play live should be jumped at so quickly your knees threaten to buckle beneath you.

WIN €9.15 IN OUR MONSTER DRAW

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Fine Gael Leader has had Fingers Crossed since Start of Campaign Election Promises Null and Void accordng to Party Press Release Burton ‘Not Surprised

Business

12

Paving the Way for the No Analytics?

Modern Gambling Industry Welcome to the HiPPO to exchange information with them (which allowed them to make inferences about their preferences) and offering them things that everaging the loyalty margins of a cus- were increasingly relevant to their decision tomer is one of the most difficult mar- at an affordable cost keting tasks. However, it can also be a sigIf you got a rewards card with Harrah’s nificant source of competitive advantage you’d get back 20% of money spent back, over a competitor if executed properly. The and you could choose how you wanted to following is a discussion of Harrah’s Casino’s get it back. Harrah’s wanted to give it back (now Caesar’s Entertainment Corporation) to you, and gave it back straight away as use of data driven marketing enabled them through their analytics they knew the marto leverage loyalty from their customers, re- gins. This gave Harrah’s the key information cover from a weak posithey needed to ensure that tion in the entertainment their marketing was releUsing analytics vant and specific to each industry and become the world’s largest gaming ... Harrah’s was able consumer as well as a platcompany. They were the form to leverage loyalty. front runner for the suc- to ensure that their By using analytics cess of modern mobile 45 million customers, based marketing Harrah’s gambling, such as Paddywas able to ensure that some of whom visit 15 their 45 million customPower or BetFred.

Harrah’s formula to times a month, would ers, some of whom visit leverage loyalty is most 15 times a month, would applicable to businesses be moved to have a be moved to have a more that are data driven busi- more loyal experience. loyal experience than they nesses where consumers would have otherwise. are willing to trade inforHarrah’s believed that if mation for goodies (which they have a his- someone taught them something on Tuestory of doing), have high margins and have day, they would have to have learned from it relatively frequent purchasing patterns.

by Friday. So that the visit on Friday reflected In the late 90’s Harrah’s Casinos had a what had happened on Tuesday. weak position within the gaming marketing Harrah’s analytics driven marketing exwith one casino in Las Vegas, worth $315 perimentation began in 1999 and allowed million. In 1999, Steve Wynn opened the them to effectively leverage loyalty from the Bellagio, worth $1.6 billion, and ten years full range of customers they served. This imlater in 2009 the City Centre was opened, proved their yield per gaming component at worth $9.2 billion. a premium of $288, compared to their comHarrah’s marketing team believed that petitors, $231 (25% increases per compotheir role was to profitably influence con- nent). This allowed them to buy their comsumer behaviour and to get a consumer to petitors, consolidate the industry and their do something that they wouldn’t have other- business, going from 14,000 employees to wise. However, casino games between com- 90,000 employees. This took the share price petitors are the same games, under the same from $14/share to $90/share in 2008 when terms but in different locations. the company was privatised by TPG & ApolIn the near term it was very difficult for lo.

Harrah’s to change their product, especially when it is mediocre or easily substitutable Harrah’s Marketing Steps: within the market. Harrah’s aim was to lever- 1. Solicit information age loyalty in the form of visits or purchasing 2. Make an offer in the near term in order to compete in the 3. Wait for a response market. They changed the way their con- 4. Learn from the response sumer considers what product they would 5. Make a new hypothesis about the consumer purchase by enveloping them with self rein- 6. Make a new offer forcing motivations to choose in their favour 7. And repeat routinely by connecting to their brands, asking them 8. Learning Lessons, and Learning Quickly

Adam Hetherington Business Editor

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in terms of data storage (36%), data quality (23%) and making the data relevant (15%).

Many companies seem to be simply coln essence, when done correctly data lecting data without using it in a meaningful analysis can allow vast amounts of in- way. The picture becomes clearer once the formation to be compressed into man- typical use of data analytics within digital ageable and tangible pieces of real­world marketing departments is examined; nearly knowledge. By such definition, it is easy three quarters (72%) use web analytics, but to see why analytics has driven digital mar- far less use analytics for assessing the voice keting innovation; visual displays of Google of the customer (36%), customer journey search trends, purchasing analysis (35%) or segbehaviours and browsing (34%); even Many compa- mentation history can give a much less emphasis is put on clearer picture of where nies seem to be simply social media analytics, one’s target audience is. in terms of collecting data with- particularly However, as we will see, measuring engagement it is important not to get out actually using it in and influence (20%) and too caught up in such sentiment (8%). In the a meaningful way. metrics alone. current market where Big companies have consumers are becoming always relied on vast amounts of data. more and more multi­screen literate, simCompanies like Google and Amazon have ply measuring the first and last points on a led the way in the digital marketing space in single platform is simply not good enough terms of innovation. However, Google Ana- anymore. lytics has played a big role in spreading the In the beginning, data analysis was importance of web analytics to smaller busi- a foreign unknown entity to many businesses and to a much wider audience. nesses, but now it is essential for surObviously, this has vival. Companies have had tremendous posirecognised this at least, In the current mar- with over half (51%) tives for those who have implemented these tools ket where consumers planning investment tocorrectly, but it has also wards in­ house analytic had a negative side effect: are becoming more teams. Due to the rise of an increased weight on and more multi­screen multi­screen use, the key vanity metrics – metrics to quality analytics is not that are not really indica- literate, simply mea- to focus on a single plattive of what is happening suring the first and form such as Google anto a business. For example, alytics, but to use scope pageviews and time spent last points on a sin- and breadth on various on site can often look ap- gle platform is simply platforms to create a clear peasing. Such metrics can overall picture of the conbe useful in some regards, not good enough any- sumer. but the most important more.

Challenges still lie in metrics show one thing: areas of managing data action. Meaningful data storage and data quality as analysis tracks actions such as who is con- well as forming a good data strategy. Howverting, where are they converting, who is ever, those who have invested in quality buying multiple times? data analysis have found improvements in While the importance of meaningful customer targeting (71%), conversion marketing analytics is clear, as suggested, (58%), marketing personalisation (51%) there still seems to be a lack of quality and customer experience (51%). Therefore, data analysis within businesses. However, quality data analysis has become a vital inthis is not just confined to small busi- gredient to successful digital marketing and ness. Managing large amounts of data has businesses as a whole; it is something to be also become an issue for large organisations embraced and invested in.

Eóin O’Donoghue Business Writer

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“I take great satisfaction in being forced to join the SU and pay SU membership.” some UCD students, possibly

UCDSU forces you to be a member and to pay membership. No other type of union does this – only SUs You have a constitutional right to disassociate from every type of union If you want to disassociate from UCDSU or find out more go to:

www.leaveyoursu.com

“I wholeheartedly support forcing my fellow students to pay my wages.” every UCDSU officer, almost certainly

Politics

14

In Defense of Localism and the Parish Pump Politics Paradox strong connection to their local area. The importance of loyalty to the locality cannot be overt the time of going to print stated. Rural voters feel abanthe votes of the 2016 Gen- doned and disconnected from eral Election are being counted the ruling elite in Dublin. Take my constituenacross the cy for example: country. The But much of Kerry. When election campolitics has little it comes to piagn was for bearing on the napolitics in Kermany a short ry, one name and dull affair, tional circuit, and comes to mind the national many candidates - Healy-Rea. real-politik fowill know their seat People often cused not on key issues but will be won and lost ask me, why are the Healywho would go on the ground. NoReas so popinto coalition where more so than ular amongst with who. voters? While The televised in the rural consisof the Leaders deteuncies of Ireland, most country vilibates held host where all politics is fied Michael to spats over Healy-Rae who did what indeed local. when he and and when, and his brother did not project much evidence Danny asked for ‘drink-driving of forward thinking or viision licenses’, no one actually took from the party leaders. the time to examine why they But much of politics has would come up with such a little bearing on the national plan. Although their idea may circuit, and many candidates seem outrageous to many, the will know their seat will be idea behind it is actually rather won and lost on the ground. complicated. The marginaliNowhere more so than in the rural consisteuncies of Ireland, sation and isolation of many people in rural Ireland is an where all politics is indeed local. The national media loves enormous issue. The population of rural Ireland is rapidly to look down upon the rural aging. In Kerry, 70% of the voter. In their view, the rural 20,988 people aged over 65 live voter is an uneducated, cap in rural areas. Many bachelor wearing ‘gombeen’, whose sole focus is “Who fixed the road?”. farmers live in isolated farms, far away from anything resemHowever, they never ask why. bling a town or an urban cenWhy does the rural voter favour the candidate with a local tre. There is no Hailo-ing taxis or catching the 39a into town outlook? in these areas. You either drive People in rural constituor you don’t leave the house. encies are far more inclined Several of these people go days to vote for a candidate with a Aoileann Kennedy Politics Writer

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without seeing another person.

In the past they would drive to the local pub, have a few pints and drive home. However, the changes to drink-driving laws in recent years means that they can no longer do this.

While I wholeheartedly agree with the ban on drink driving, it’s clear that the crackdown has had a very negative consequence in rural communities. There has been no balancing done here. Nothing is being done to alleviate this isolation. People like Michael Healy-Rea are the only public figures attempting to do something about it. However misguided his attempts may be, it is clear that he has made an impact on voters. He is a favourite to win a seat in the newly established five seater constituency Kerry. His recently released election campaign video may seem like a parody to many, but it provides an ample list of reasons why people vote for him. The bachelor farmer living on a hillside doesn’t care about Apple’s investments in Ireland or how much FDI politicians can generate. It has very little impact on their lives.

They will vote for the candidate who doesn’t look down on them, and who will treat their concerns as valid. The popularity of Michael Healy-Rea has even encouraged the family to run a second candidate in the constituency, his brother David Healy-Rea. The concerns of rural voters are important. They may be a minority, but they have a very strong influence on politics in Ireland. If steps are to be

made to change the way the tive of the government should Dáil works, to shift its focus be to stimulate the economies outward rather than inward, of rural areas and encourage politicians need to identify the some form of investment issues facing outside of rural voters The concerns urban Ireland. and make The economic of rural voters are meaningful upturn has important. They strides to yet to begin solving them. in rural areas may be a minority, If they don’t, decimated by but they have a very rural voters emigration. It strong influence on is becoming will have no choice but to impossible for politics in Ireland. continue to young people If steps are to be choose canfrom rural Iremade to change the didates like land to remain Healy-Rae. way the Dáil works, in their homeInvestment towns. Limited to shift its focus needs to be employment outward rather than opportunities, made in rural transport low wages and inward, politicians schemes and the allure of need to identify the outreach emigration issues facing rural programmes have resulted aimed at the in the devoters and make isolated and pletion of meaningful strides the lonely. youth in rural to solving them. If Investment Ireland. must be made they don’t, rural In order to in infrastrucsee a positive voters will have no ture to develchange to the choice but to contin- political landop adequate road and rail scape in this ue to choose candiservices to country, focus dates like Healy-Rae. areas beyond needs to be the Pale. spread equally.

County The ‘us vs them’ Councillors have to step up mentality which permeates and fulfil their roles in a more throughout rural politics needs substantial way. Proactive, to be eliminated, not through meaningful strides must be small tokens, but by treating made to stop the decay haprural Ireland as an equal partner pening in rural Ireland and the in the future of the country. If mass exodus of rural youth. not, rural voters will continue to Job creation is central to this. choose the inwardly orientated While it’s unlikely that Micro‘pothole politician’, to the detrisoft will decide to set up shop ment of Irish politics as a whole. I in rural Donegal, a core objecfor one won’t blame them.

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Politics

15

UCD Main Restaurant Company Caters for Direct Provision Centres people and families are left indefinitely living in the Direct Provision centres for years on he catering company that end. The College Tribune spoke runs the Main Restaurant in to Ellie Kisyombe, who lives in UCD it can be revealed also pro- Direct Provision and is camvides catering services to several paigning for an end to the curDirect Provision asylum centres rent system.

“My name is Ellie Kisyombe, across Ireland. Aramark CaterI’m in my mid thirties, I am a ing Ltd is a US company that has branches in 22 countries; mother of a boy and a girl. I have the Irish branch owns Campbell lived in Ireland for the past six Catering Ltd. Campbell Cater- and a half years, and I’ve lived ing operates in the Main Restau- in Direct Provision. I’m a camrant in the Gerard Manley Hop- paigner for the end to Direct kins building, above the Global Provision, I started campaigning after living in Direct ProviLounge. sion for a few Campbell’s I have lived in years and I was secured the tenure to ca- Ireland for the past trying to find a coping mechter for UCD in 2013 under six and a half years, anism, so it was then I dethe premise and I’ve lived in cided I had to of creating an do something International Direct Provision. about it. I just Food Court; including varieties of food out- felt that there was something lets from different cultural back- that needed to be done.”

The salience of the recent grounds. The plans included refugee crisis and the on-going significant investment into the buildings catering facilities to in- issue of asylum-seekers in Irestall brands such as Bewleys cof- land has moved out of the mefee and Subway; which opened dia spotlight. The general electhis year. The Main Restaurant tion campaign failed to ignite on the top floor of the Man- any real political discussion on ley-Hopkins building is one of the future government’s policy the largest food outlets on the on the issue. Ellie spoke of being incredibly disheartened by UCD campus.

Direct Provision centres are the empty political talk that she used to house asylum-seekers has heard when trying to bring in Ireland as their requests to be about attention and action on granted refugee status in Ireland the problems of Direct Proviare processed. However the sys- sion. “If you look at the manitem has come under increased festos of these parties on asylum criticism in recent years as the seekers, on refugees – there is process of dealing with appli- nothing, nothing at all. It makes cants and granting people offi- me feel angry, it’s depressing. cial refugee status has slowed to They talk about it as an issue a halt. The result is that many that should be done, it’s really Jack Power Politics & Innovation Editor

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frustrating.”

Describing life in a Direct Provision centre Ellie likened it to a prison. “It’s kind of like an open prison. In this system you are not allowed to do anything; like work. In this system you just eat and sleep. You have to go and line up for your food, you can’t cook your own food. You have to sleep with other people in dorms. If you’ve got children you have to sleep with them in one room. It’s not healthy, it’s not something that something that people can do for one year, or six years – it’s really bad. It’s not an experience I want my kids to grow up in. I want this system to end. There has to be a reception centre to process people I accept that. But people then have to move out and integrate into communities, because that’s what is needed. You can’t hide people and then bring them out and expect them to be fine and go into the community. Something is not right.”

In September 2014 asylum-seekers living in one of the Direct Provision centres catered

by Aramark staged a hunger strike and refused food, in protest over the poor livings conditions and concerns over the food and hygiene. Residents claimed they were not receiving enough food for children’s lunches or dinners and basic hygiene products were not being provided.

The company maintained at the time that these concerns were being addressed and dealt with.

Aramark is a private company that won the tender to cater for three of the state’s Direct Provision centres, and it is estimated receive over €4 million a year

from the state to do so.

Speaking on the catering of private companies in Direct Provision centres Ellie said “It’s a moneymaking industry, people are profiting out of it, profiting out of people’s misery, which is really bad.

These people in Direct Provision who are coming from backgrounds, which are totally broken, some are coming from warzones, Syria, South Sudan, North Nigeria.

They come here and then are put people in this vulnerable state. This is not right. It is not right.”

In 2003 the UCD Student’s Union passed a referendum to ban Coca-Cola products from SU shops on campus after an alleged string of controversies over human rights abuses of company employees in Columbia.

UCDSU overturned the boycott after another referendum in 2010. Since then the debate around the politics of boycotting or divesting from private companies operating in UCD over moral concerns or civil rights issues has been dormant.

The College Tribune submitted a Freedom of Information request on records pertaining

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to the process of awarding Aramark Ltd, trading as Campbell Catering the tenure for the Main Restaurant in the Gerard Manley Hopkins building.

The UCD FOI office stated a decision would be made on this request and would be issued on the 4th of February.

To date no decision has been made on the release or availability of these records and the FOI office was unavailable for contact at the time of going to print.

The future of asylum-seekers and those living in Direct Provision has slipped from the public eye.

Meanwhile many like Ellie live in indefinite and difficult conditions for years on end. Ellie powerfully concluded, “You people who are in UCD, you are academics. You are the ones who are supposed to start talking about it, and doing something about it. If we leave it to the government, the government will get relaxed and get comfortable.

We have to start talking to each other and sharing our experiences, that’s the only way we’ll build a new Ireland.”

In September 2014 asylum-seekers living in one of the Direct Provision centres catered by Aramark staged a hunger strike and refused food, in protest over the poor livings conditions and concerns over the food and hygiene.

Gaeilge

16

Cogadh na nDrugaí, Cogadh Caillte coiriúlacht eile a stopadh agus deireadh a chur le ró-phlódú sna priosún postanna a chur ar fáil!

Tá margadh dubh ollmhór ann le haghaidh drugaí, mar is eol do ghach duine. Téann na billiún euro tríd an margadh seo gach bliainidir mangairí drugaí áitiúla agus margaí idirnáisiúnta. Gheobhaidh an rialtas méid ollmhór airgid ón gcáin gur féidir a chur ar na drugaí. I gColorado áit atá Cannabis dleathach le haghaidh cúpla bliain anuas tá siad tar éis scoileanna a thógáil leis an airgead a fhaigheann siad ó chain. Chomh maith le sin ní bheadh orthu an méid céanna airgead a chaitheamh ar an gcogadh in aghaidh drugaí. Caitheadh níos mó ná $51,000,000,000 sna Stát Aontaithe Meiriceá an bhliain seo chaite ar an ‘gcogadh I gcoinne drugaí’ mar a thugtar air. Samhlaigh an méid rudaí go bhféadfaimid déanamh leis an

méid sin airgead. Na hospidéil, na scoileanna, seirbhísí, agus infrastruchtúr.

Deirtear go mbeadh níos mó andúilí drugaí ann má dhéantar drugaí dleathach, ach tá sé léirithe nach mar sin atá. Sa Phortaingéil tá drugaí beag nó mór dleathach, agus tá rátaí andúilí drugaí actually tar éis titim! Dá mbeadh rud mar sin bunaithe anseo in Éirinn, d’fhéadfaimid an t-airgead a fhaigtear nó a shábháltar a chaitheamh ar eolas faoi úsáid drugaí sábhálta a thabhairt amach, nó a chaitheamh ar seirbhísí le haghaidh daoine le fadhbanna drugaí. Is fadhb mhór í an dífhostaíocht sa lá atá inniu ann. Ach má dhéanaimid drugaí dleathach bheadh na milliúin poist cruthaithe timpeall an domhain- idir cruthú na drugaí agus díol na drugaí.

Anois chun plé a dhéanamh

ar na priosúin. Is fadhb ollmhór é ró-phlódu sna príosúin timpeall an domhain. In aon priosún áirithe is feidir le suas le 50% de na daoine a bheith ann le haghaidh mí úsáid drugaí. Sin airgead arís gur féidir a shábháil, agus is cur amú saothar uaire daoine atá ann.

Is eol dúinn go léir go ndéanann drugaí dochar dár gcoirp. Fáth amháin do sin ná go bhfuil tú ag tógáil substaint isteach I do chorp. Ach an fáth eile ná go ndéantar na drugaí sin i seid éigean thíos i gcúl teach gairdín atá salach nach bhfuil éinne ina chónaí ann, nó in RV ar nós I Breaking Bad. Níl mé ag ligint go mbeidh drugaí go maith dúinn ríamh ach má dhéantar I saotharlann, ghlan phroifisúnta iad le taighde ceart déanta ar an éifeacht atá acu ar ár gcoirp. Seans go bhféadfaí na drugaí a dhéanamh I mbealach ago ndéanann siad an méid céanna damáiste dár gcoirp agus go ndéanann alcól.

Dá mbeimís ag iarraidh fail

Dreamanna an Trídhathaigh

ta go bhfuil a gcearta faoi chosaint ag muintir an Bháin?

Dar liomsa, níl siad, nó is léir go bhfuil na Bánaigh in ann níos fearr a dhéanamh ar son mhuintir na nGael.

Ní bhíonn ach dhá fhreagra i leith na Gaeilge ag muintir an Bháin. Ag úsáid na teanga mar shiombal cultúrtha gan mórán gnímh chun í a chaomhnú ‘is a chur chun cinn ar léibhéal polaitíochta. Agus an freagra eile ná chun dearmad a dhéanamh uirthi, teanga agus muintir an Ghlais curtha ar leataobh agus uaireanta nuair atá brú ar na Bánaigh, déantar geallúintí doiléire chun na Glasaigh a chur ina dtost ar feadh tamaill.

Cén sórt rogha atá ag muin-

tir an Ghlais, muna bhfuil na Bánaigh ag éisteacht leo ‘is á gcosaint? Féach ar stair an oileáin seo. Céad bhliain ó shin, i lár na cathrach seo, bhí pobal beag ann ag iarraidh briseadh ó phobal eile mar bhí neamhionannas ann sa chaidreamh eatarthu. Bhunaigh siad stát nua, do dhaoine na tíre sin. Thosaigh siad ré nua na hÉireann lena réabhlóid. Is féidir le muinitir an Ghlais ré nua eile a thosú.

Stát na nGael a bhunú, do dhaoine na Gaeilge ‘is na Gaeltachta. Teanga agus rialtas dúinn féin, le hionadaithe roghnaithe againn féin. Le freagracht ár bpobail againn féin, agus cearta ár muintire á gcosaint againn féin. Teorainn nua a chruthú

Shane Ó Gruagáin Scríbhneoir Gaeilge Pléann An Gruagáineach tionchar neamhdhleathacht na ndrugaí ar an tsochaí.

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n Éirinn, tá fadhb na ndrugaí ag cur isteach ar neart daoine.

Ach céard í an fhadhb seo? Nuair a deirtear ‘fadhb na ndrugaí’ céard í an fhadhb a bhaineann leo? Is í an fhadhb seo ná contúirt.

Ach céard is cúis leis an gcontúirt seo? Ceapaim gurb é an chúis léi ná go bhfuil siad mídhleathach.

Tá na céadta fáthanna gur chóir drugaí a dhéanamh dleathach, ní féidir iad go léir a argóint. I measc na príomhchúiseanna do dhrugaí a dhéanamh dleatheach ná an t-airgead atá le fail óna cáineacha níos lú airgead a chaitheamh ar na gardaí. níos mó Gardaí chun

Stiofán Ó Briain Scríbhneoir Gaeilge

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ár liomsa féin, feicim go bhfuil trí chomhphobal mhóire ina gcónaí ar oileán na hÉireann. Agus baineann na dreamanna seo le dathanna Bhratach na hÉireann atá curtha in airde ar fud ardchathair na tíre seo do chomóradh 1916. Is iad na hAontachtaithe ó thuaidh Oráiste na brataí, dár ndóigh, agus is iad gnáthdhaoine an tstáit ó dheas Bán na brataí.

Ach tá pobal eile ann in Éirinn. Pobal nach bhfuil stát dóibh

féin acu. Tá na Gaeil, iadsan sna Gaeltachtaí agus sna ceantair eile ar fud na tíre Glas an Trídhathaigh. Teanga stairiúil acu siúd atá difriúil ón dá phobal eile.

Cultúr difriúil agus fadhbanna difriúla acu. Nuair nach bhfuil teanga na nGael ag leath de na daoine atá ag iarraidh a bheith ina gceannairí de stát an Bháin, an bhféidir le pobal an Ghlais a chreidiúint go bhfuil ionadaí acu sa Dáil? An bhfuil siad in ann seasamh suas agus a rá go bhfuil na Bánaigh ag éisteacht leo, nuair nach bhfuil tuiscint na Gaeilge ag mórán de na Bánaigh? An bhfuil na Glasaigh sás-

réidh leis na ‘Ghettoanna’ mar a ghlaotar orthu, is é drugaí a dhéanamh dleathach an chéad chéim. Sna Ghettoanna sin níl morán dóchais ag na daoine. Tá siad greamaithe i bhfáinne fí na mbochtanas. Ní chríochnaíonn an chuid daoine a n-oideachas dara leibhéal fiú. Tá na páistí óga seo ag fás aníos agus ag féahaint ar na daoine níos sine. Is é an t-aon daoine a bhfuil an-chuid airgid acu ná na mangaire drugaí. Samhlaigh ,angaire druga a fheiceáil mar do eiseamláir Is léir gur gá plé a dhéanamh ar drugaí a dhéanamh dleathach chun dul ar aghaidh mar thír. Faoi láthair is léir go bhfuil níos mó dóchais ná maitheas déanta mar gheall ar cosc a chur ar dhugaí áiraithe. Caithfear smaoineamh ar an éifeacht atá ag drugaí mídhleatacha ar an tsochaí sular bhféidir tacú leis an gcóras reatha a choimeád. Mar ceapaim go bhfuil cogadh na ndrugaí caillte.

idir an Glas agus an Bán, mar a cruthaíodh idir an Bán ‘is an tOráiste fadó. Dúirt an Piarsach agus é ag caint faoin bPoblacht nua á shamhlú aige:“Ní hamháin saor ach Gaelach, ní hamháin Gaelach ach saor”. Tá deis ag muintir na Gaeilge stát Gaelach a bhunú agus a gcearta féin a bhaint amach sular mhilleann na Bánaigh iad. ‘Thángthas ar réiteach/ Scaradar’, mar a deirtear sa dán “Colscaradh”. Samhlaigh é: Stát na nGael, ar son na nGael, faoi riail na nGael, ag labhairt theanga na nGael ‘is ag cosaint thodhchaí na nGael.

Níl anseo ach barúlacha ‘is tuairimí. Ach tosóinn gach réabhlóid le smaoineamh beag radacach.

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Manchester City Liverpool Match Report Ally Murty Sports Writer

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or Manchester City, the League Cup final provided them with the perfect opportunity to continue as they meant to go on from their fine display in the Champions League against Dynamo Kiev midweek as they look to mount a late title charge, much like the one they availed of to pip today’s opponents to the League following their victory over Sunderland in this competition two years ago.

For Liverpool there was the chance of escapism from an ulti-

mately erratic middling season.

And having won three of their last four encounters against The Citizens and talisman, Daniel Sturridge coming back to the side you wouldn’t have bet against The Reds clinching something. Despite stalwarts Vincent Kompany, David Silva and Sergio Aguero returning to full fitness.

The only points of contention in the two team sheets were that of much-maligned Lucas Lleiva in central defence and underperforming Willy Caballero in nets. But both vindicated their manager’s selection choices.

While the attacking trio of Sturridge, Coutinho and Firmino combined well in the early moments, The Merseysiders rhythm was disrupted when Mahmadou Sakho clashed into teammate, Emre Can and still dizzied, nearly allowed Sergio Aguero to open the scoring following a swift counterattack.

Near misses from the Argentinian and former Red, Raheem Sterling were a recurring theme as City pushed to put the game beyond reach once Fernandinho capitalised on Simon Mignolet’s all too prevalent goalkeeping deficiencies at the near post, as was the referee’s lapse deci-

sion-making against The Sky Blues. And they were punished for this when Phillipe Coutinho finally slotted it home seven minutes before full time.

Little could separate the sides as the game eventually ventured towards penalties. And the match found an unlikely hero in Caballero as the Argentinian recovered from Emre Can’s confident chip to prevent Lucas, Lallana and Coutinho from scoring. In the end Yaya Toure secured the victory on a day which though tense for the most part, ultimately fell to the superior team.

Liverpool must hope to fin-

ish the season on a high before reproaching the league next season while Pellegrini’s men will hope that they take this cup success and gain ground on Leicester and Spurs who themselves pushed away from Arsenal this weekend. This, the fourth League Cup triumph for Manchester City will be fondly remembered by Pellegrini as he approaches his imminent departure. He’ll just be hoping that they can push ahead and clinch the title and the Champions League as well.

questionable United back four, Arsenal surely fancied themselves to have enough firepower to draw level. That was until Ander Herrera put paid to such ambitions, extending United’s lead via Laurent Koscielny’s chest following some great work by, you guessed it, Marcus Rashford. This third goal finally managed to spring the perennially spineless Arsenal into action, with Mesut Ozil pulling one back, inducing a nervy final 20 minutes on the Manchester United rear guard, but to no avail.

While Rashford’s star continues to rise, it’s also worth noting that James Weir and the aforementioned Tim Fosu-Mensah were also handed first-team debuts today, in a team already containing youngsters such as Guillermo Varela, Memphis Depay and Jesse

Lingard. Which begs the question, how did Arsenal manage to lose the game? Now trailing Leicester City by 5 points, this result will be a massive disappointment to the Gunners. With traditional title rivals Chelsea, Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs all faltering, this season represents the best chance Arsenal have had at a league title since the invincibles of 2004, who are quickly becoming a distant memory. With the Emirates Stadium expenditure excuse well and truly exhausted, the pressure is now on Arsene Wenger to deliver a title to the increasingly impatient Gunners faithful, particularly with a certain other club in North London still in contention.

Manchester United 3 Arsenal 2 Chris Foley Sports Writer

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You’ll never win anything with kids,” Alan Hansen’s infamous claim prior to an Alex Ferguson led Man United’s near domination of English football is one which is seldom forgotten by the Old Trafford faithful, and while the class of 2016 is certainly a lifetime away from emulating Scholes and co.

It seems that an injury crisis, and the subsequent introduction of a certain 18 year-old, has heralded something of a recovery for Louis Van Gaal’s side.

With Manchester United twelve adrift of first place and suffering arguably their worst season of the Premier League era, one could have been forgiven for nam-

ing visitors Arsenal as favourites at Old Trafford today, particular with United missing thirteen first-team players from their ranks. But a double from Marcus Rashford, and an opportunistic goal from Ander Herrera was enough to give Louis Van Gaal a much needed Premier League win, derailing Arsenal’s title challenge in the process.

It’s been 10 years since Arsenal have won a league game at Old Trafford, and they did little today to reverse this record. The game began somewhat even, with United’s makeshift defensive partnership of Michael Carrick and Daley Blind holding firm throughout.

On 29 minutes however, the deadlock was broken. Herrera dispossessing an uncharacteristically lethargic Theo Walcott in midfield

before passing to Varela, whose cross was coolly finished off by the clinical Marcus Rashford. Within three minutes United had doubled their lead, Rashford again the perpetrator, heading home following some great work by Jesse Lingard.

At the other end, Danny Welbeck, seeing his spot in England’s Euro 2016 squad slip away from him, seemingly decided “anything you can do I can do better”, heading past De Gea in a similar fashion to Rashford following a dead-ball from serial assister Mesut Ozil to leave the score at 2-1 at the break.

The second half began similarly to the first, with neither side managing to gain a clear foothold on the game. However, with Marcos Rojo carried off injured and youngster Tim Fosu-Mensah being introduced into an already

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McNab Rory McNab Sports Writer

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athieu Flamini ran through the night. He ran through the rain, which mixed with the tears flowing freely down his face.

He rain through the rain which rinsed the sweat from the jersey clinging to his lithe French torso. His boots clattered and clanked along the concrete.

Dr. Bernstein sat reading the paper, in his favourite chair.

Mrs. Bernstein absent-mindedly flicked through television channels, contentedly looking for nothing in particular.

The Bernstein’s dog, Jemimah, lay sprawled on the thick rug in front of the crackling fire, which cast gentle shadows that twirled and danced in the dimly-lit recesses of the tranquil sitting-room.

Suddenly, over the sound of the rain lashing against the window panes, came a fearsome knocking from the front-door. Jemimah raised her head, the Bernstein’s glanced nervously at one another.

Mrs. Bernstein went to the window, and parted the heavy velvet curtains to peer out. “Heavens! It appears to be one of your clients,” she exclaimed. “Why would anyone be wanting therapy at this hour?” replied Dr. Bernstein. “I think, it is that Mathieu Flamini,” said Mrs. Bernstein, “he seems in some distress”. “Well,” said Dr. Bernstein with a disbelieving shake of the head, “tell him if it’s urgent he can come and see me first thing in the morning”. Mrs. Bernstein, hurried from the room to impart the news to their unexpected guest. Dr. Bernstein sighed, and tried to refocus on the news-story he’d been reading about declining manatee populations.

Mathieu Flamini burst into the

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sitting room, weeping profusely, and flung himself onto the chaiselongue with a cry of “Oh Dr. Bernstein, it was terrible! I’m ever so sad!” Dr. Bernstein dropped his paper in astonishment. Jemimah leaped up and started barking at the listlessly draped Frenchman dripping rainwater and tears all over their furniture- this was instinct, not training, the Bernstein’s had not conditioned Jemimah to bark at a tearful Frenchman, they simply didn’t have the time or the motive. Just as Dr. Bernstein was about to enquire as to what the meaning of all this furore was, Mrs. Bernstein ran back into the room in flurry of apologies, “I’m sorry dear, but he just ran through as soon as I opened the door an inch”.

Dr. Bernstein looked piteously over at the sniffling, heaving heap sprawled on his chaise-longue, before sighing, “it’s alright, our evening is already disturbed enough as it is, I may as well give the poor fool some help.” He crossed the room and perched beside Flamini, “now, Mathieu, tell me what seems to be the problem?” And ,as the intensity of his sobbing subsided, Flamini began, “they... they were everywhere, we, we didn’t stand a chance, completely overrun.”

Dr. Bernstein asked confusedly, “but who, who were everywhere Matheiu?” Mathieu Flamini, raised his face from his hands for the first time and, looking directly into his therapists eyes, replied, “Barcelona”...

It came as no surprise that Arsenal lost the first leg of their last-16 tie against Barcelona in the Champions League. Indeed the only way this news could be considered surprising is if it was delivered to you by famed-testosterone reservoir Danny Dyer, squatting

Indeed the only way this news could be considered surprising is if it was delivered to you by famed-testosterone reservoir Danny Dyer, squatting over your bed while you slept and screaming it into your scared and startled face

over your bed while you slept and screaming it into your scared and startled face; but even then, the particulars of the news are at best auxiliary to the main reasons for your surprise. Barcelona arrived at the Emirates undefeated in their previous 32 matches in all competitions, Luis Suarez alone having scored more goals than Arsenal as a team had amassed in the Premier League. Though Arsenal are often flatteringly compared in their style of football to Barcelona, they had of late been severely suffering in front of goal, having only scored six times in their previous seven matches.

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To lash out and strike with precision when afforded the chance, like a cornered rattlesnake, but a rattlesnake sponsored

by Fly Emirates. For the majority of the match this seemed to be working, with Barcelona’s opportunities being largely limited to a narrowly-wide header at the end of the first half from aspiring cannibal Luis Suarez Coming into the tie they were having as much difficulty scoring as an awkward acne-smeared, mullet-bedecked boy at a teen disco... I’d imagine.

As such when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain missed a clear chance in the 22nd minute it seemed destined that Arsenal would yet again struggle to capitalise on the few chances that’d be afforded to them. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, like Theo Walcott or Jack Wilshere, seems to be another Arsenal player who will have fans raving about his ‘footballing potential’ for years, screaming “you’ll see, he’ll come

good for us one day, when he hits unambigiously foretells, this his stride, you’ll all see!” until did happen, on the 71st minute they realise they are pointing at at after an Arsenal counter-attack a now 70 year old Oxlade-Chambroke down. Per Mertesacker, the berlain shuffling round a Sainsman as close as human kind has bury’s carrying in one gnarled come to producing an Ent, found hand a plastic bag full of other himself out of position allowing plastic bags. I have never seen a Neymar to break and square the human being literally buckled ball to an unmarked Messi, who under pressure, but when the ball calmly slotted the ball past Petr fell at his feet, six yards out from Cech. Yet at this point there was the Barcelona goal, the weight of still the possibility that Arsenal expectation was so great that his may salvage something, the posonly response was to cease to be sibility that they may convert one vertical. of their however few yet prom...Mrs. Bernstein returns to ising chances. There was hope, the room, briefly interrupting however slim for the home fans, Mathieu Flamini’s recollection of that they may be able to salvage the match to Dr. Bernstein, she a draw. Hope that immediately insists that Flamini remove his evaporated with the introduction muddy boots and that he allows of Mathieu Flamini for Francis a towel to be put under him as Coquelin. Mathieu Flamini, the she’s just had the chaise-longue footballing equivalent of a concleaned. Jemimah begins to lick fused daddy-long-legs bouncing the sweaty residue off Flamini’s off a window. Mathieu Flamini, knee, he instinctively strokes the athletic personification of a her head before continuing his brick in a washing machine; vioaccount... lently throwing itself around until It was evident that Arsenal it destroys all around it. Mathieu were going to be unable to best Flamini, the man whose first Barcelona at moving the ball action in the game was to attack around, as such Arsenal’s tactics Lionel Messi with his legs to conappeared to be to sit back and try cede a penalty, and put the game, capitalise on their inevitably few and the tie, beyond Arsenal. opportunities to counter-attack. ...Dr. Bernstein pauses for a To lash out and strike with premoment after Flamini finishes cision when afforded the chance, speaking before asking “Well like a cornered rattlesnake, but did Mr. Wenger say why he put a rattlesnake sponsored by Fly you on?” “I don’t know,” replied Emirates. For Flamini, the majority of welling up you’ll see, he’ll the match this once more, seemed to be “it just didn’t come good for us one working, with make any day, when he hits his Barcelona’s sense.” Dr. opportunities Bernstein stride, you’ll all see! being largely nodded, “no, limited to a narrowly-wide header you’re right. It doesn’t.” Flamini at the end of the first half from continued “And, well it’s times aspiring cannibal Luis Suarez, like this I just sometimes wonder and a through-ball for Neymar whether I’m cut out for football, at the beginning of the second just wonder what the hell I’m half which needed a fantastic save doing with my life” “Given the from Petr Cech to keep the scorecircumstances, I would say that line at 0-0. Yet with Barcelona might be a reasonable reaction.” retaining around 70% possession replied Dr. Bernstein, “What have for the majority of the match, it you always wanted to be?”. “A seemed as if it’d only be a matter good footballer,” replied Flamini. of time before Barcelona would “And maybe someday you will,” eventually break through Arsesaid Dr. Bernstein, before Flamini nal’s defence. began to weep once more.

And as the last sentence

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Sport

UCD’s captain Jack McCaffrey with Annette Billings

Image via Balls.ie

UCD win first Sigerson Cup in decades to end twenty years of hurt UCD 0-10 DCU 2-2 Neil Ryan Sports Editor

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CD finally ended two decades of hurt to bring the Sigerson Cup back to Belfield. The College were crowned champions after seeing off cross city rivals DCU in Belfast.

DCU entered the final in great form after beating host Jordanstown the previous day. DCU failed to get into the game however and especially failed in dealing with the threat of UCD target man John Heslin who put in a man of the match performance to shoot 0-6.

UCD put in a great first half performance with points from Heslin, Mannion and McCarthy giving College a three-point lead. However, a goal for Steven O’Brien in the dying end of the half changed the completion of the tie negating UCD’s lead in an instant.

The difficult conditions provided a challenge for both teams and inhibited the game from becoming free flowing.

UCD came back into the game with John Heslin levelling the tie for the College and then bisecting the posts to put College back in the lead.

UCD held DCU scoreless in the second half with Heslin again scoring to extend their lead. A goal could

change the game however and it came after Conor McGraynor was fouled in the penalty area. Conor Moynagh converted from the spot putting the tie level and giving DCU a surprising route back into the final.

With UCD needing calm heads to prevail John Heslin scored a magnificent point of his left shoulder to put UCD back into the lead. With DCU chasing the game UCD sub Stephen Coen scored a fantastic point in injury time to ensure a win for college.

UCD’s celebrations were tempered with the knowledge that the man who perhaps has given the most for this College’s GAA program, Dave Billings.

Billings, who died in April of last year, had spent 18 years as UCD Gaelic Games Executive.

Man of the match Heslin had this tribute to say post game. “One man I have to mention before I go any further and that’s Dave Billings. I came into the college in 2009 and he took me under his wing like I was another son.

He taught me so much. I had to try and hold back a few tears in preparation for the weekend because really, it’s for Davey and I think everyone who has a UCD crest on them will support me in that.”

UCD also included Dave’s wife Annette in the post-match celebrations.

Gianni Infantino

Gianni Infantino elected as new FIFA president Neil Ryan Sports Editor

There are several things in life that one could consider constants. The sun will rise the next morning, Fine Gael will somehow fuck up an election and Kilkenny will win the All Ireland. One of the world’s great constants departed the global stage in an entirely predictable and unsurprising corruption scandal.

With Blatter’s departure from FIFA now complete his anointed successor is Gianni Infantino, a man with a strong legal background, who will have to immediately begin the battle to rebuild FIFA’s world image.

Infantino will need to address a $550m shortfall in FIFA’s predicted revenues as quickly as possible. He believes that his previous experience in growing UEFA’s financial might will stand to him here with the Champions league growing into a financial behemoth under his tenure. Coupled with this is the promise to increase the development grants from FIFA by 50%, a number that his presidential opponent Sheik Salman considered unfeasible.

The immediate increase of these grants from FIFA was an important part of Blatter’s M.O. he utilised these grants to gain huge voting blocks with the football organisations of the developing world. Infantino will have the unenviable task of setting up safeguards to ascertain the actual usage of these grants and ensure they are actually used for the improvement of football facilities as

opposed to say the purchasing of a very nice apartment on 5th avenue.

He also faces the question of what to do with Qatar. All of the presidential candidates had been avoiding the issue at length but with FIFA panicking over the revenue drop they must be terrified over what would happen if Coca Cola or Budweiser considered pulling out of their lucrative World Cup sponsorship packages. There is also a president for changing the location of the World Cup where in 8 it moved from Colombia to Mexico. With several countries, including the incredibly marketable US saying that they would have absolutely no issue with the lack of preparation time, it will be interesting to see what decision he makes.

A greater level of transparency must be granted into the inner workings of the most powerful sporting organisation in the world with a need for change in both the “creative accounting” used along with a change required into the business practises of individual associations.

This will be an uphill battle for him and his colleagues. In the majority of the world, as shown by the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index, the vast majority of business is conducted through corrupt means. Any attempt to move FIFA away from this in these regions will be difficult as the locals may not see it as a problem at all.

Infantino will require a great deal of craft and guile to ensure that FIFA makes in onto the straight and narrow. Hopefully he can achieve it.

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