College Tribune Issue 9

COLLEGE TRIBUNE Volume XXVI 26th February 2013

Issue 9 Independent Student Media Since 1989

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INSIDE THE SIREN

VISIT TO GAZA Page 9

Students' disappointment with Garda Ombudsman James Grannell Editor

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number of individuals who lodged complaints with the Garda Ombudsman following the 2010 protest outside the department of Finance have received word that the investigation into the actions of members of the Gardaí under section 98 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 has come to an end.

In letters from the Ombudsman, which were shown to the College Tribune, students have been informed that there will be no further criminal investigation into the conduct of Gardaí during the occupation of the department of Finance.

Vanessa O’Sullivan told the College Tribune how she had been “kicked in the face and knocked unconscious before being carried out and dumped on the street,” during the protest. Earlier this year she was informed by letter that while “the Garda Ombudsman has decided to investigate the conduct of Garda(í) concerned under Section 95 in accordance with the provisions of Section 101(6) of the Act, to establish whether there is evidence to suggest any breach of the Garda Síochána (Disciplinary) Regulations, 2007.” The Ombudsman has however found no criminal misconduct on the part of Gardaí under section 98.

O' Sullivan explained how during the USI protest in 2010, up to two thousand students broke away from the main protest stating; “It was significant to most of us who didn't want to hear Students’ Union leaders, who were members of the established parties in government, talk about how badly their parties were treating students.”

In videos of the protest O’Sullivan can be seen lying on the ground in what seems an uncon-

scious state. She is then lifted out of the view of the camera. “I was advised to go to the Garda Ombudsman and report it, which I did,” explained O’Sullivan.

“I was interrogated for approximately six hours when giving my statement. I was asked about others inside the building that day.

I believe it was their hope that I would give them names of possible 'ringleaders' of the occupation.

Several students were arrested after the event and questioned. I lived in fear for weeks in the belief that I would be next but instead there was nothing. I have been suffering with severe migraines since being attacked and there had been no communication by the Ombudsman until a few weeks ago. I had been sent a letter to say that there was ‘no criminal misbehaviour by the Garda member(s) concerned.’”

She told the Tribune that she found the findings of the Ombudsman an insult, but that she would do the same again.

“Given the choice, knowing what I know today, I would do exactly the same thing again. The occupation and reaction was important to show how distorted our view on the situation had become…a fierce reality on the developing nature of the Gardaí and to instil the fighting spirit back into the student movement. Following the student demo, there was the biggest turnout on the Trade Union pre-budget demo with a healthy injection of students on the march.

I hope that my experience is seen for what it is; a complete panic and over reaction by those at the top. It was also designed to instil fear into those demanding change, it had the opposite effect.

Continues on page 3

Above: Students participate in a mock marriage ceremony by the UCD lake after a successful Rainbow Week

Paid Parking on the way for UCD students and staff Ronan Coveney News Writer

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lans are being put in place by UCD to introduce paid parking across all car parks on Belfield and Blackrock campuses

by September.

Both staff and students will be affected by the move that has been approved by the UCD Governing Authority with the cost currently planned at an hourly base rate of 50 cent.

In a letter to the UCD SIPTU branch, Eamonn Ceannt, Director of Capital Development for UCD, states that due to the development of two new commuting facilities on campus, the funding of these new developments will be met by the introduction of paid parking on all car parks in UCD. Many staff and students have expressed outrage at the plans as for many their car is the only

way for them to travel to UCD. A third year politics student stated to the paper that the move was “...scandalous. I’m only using my car because I have to, I don’t have a choice. Where I live there is no public transport and the only way to get to UCD is in my car.”

Currently paid parking is in operation on a small number of car parks on Belfield campus, however

by September UCD plans to introduce paid parking to all car parking sites.

An independent consultant, Dr. John O’Dowd, has been commissioned by UCD to carry out a consultation over the next number of weeks that will involve an online survey, focus groups with both staff and students, meetings with SIPTU, IFUT, UNITE and UCDSU, along with on-site service provid-

ers.

A report based on the consultation is planned to be available by April on the matter.

As revealed in the last issue of the College Tribune, planning permission was lodged in January for a 631 space multi-storey car park to be built on land close to the Watertower on the Belfield campus.

The new car park will provide for an increase of 122 spaces across campus, with some of the current car parks losing spaces.

This is due to an agreement in place between UCD, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the National Transport Authority, which sees the amount of spaces on the Belfield campus capped at 3,600. Currently there are 3,466 spaces for cars on campus.

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editor@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE

25thOctober October2011 2011 26th February 2013 11th

INSIDE THE TRIBUNE

COLLEGE Cathal O'Gara

TRIBUNE

Simple subtraction

Editor

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ore and more often recently, I have begun to feel quite old and foolish. I sign out of my Facebook only to sign back in seconds later. I dress for the St Lucia in Phibsborough's February chill. I carry with me a ridiculous amount of things which I know I will not need in my day-to-day College Tribune ventures. I spill coffee all over myself as I thought it would be a good idea to to add two extra shots of expresso to my Americano.

It has occurred to me that filling things to the brim is not always a good idea. It's pretty obvious that we live in an environment chock-full with things—to say, to have, to do— but we also live in an economy of space and time. Reconciling these realities results in awkward attempts such as the moment you slip while brushing your teeth in the shower. Consequently, I've been thinking of the notion of 'subtraction'. In the words of Lao Tzu: To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, subtract things

James Grannell

every day. This is a viable philosophy.

Subtraction appears in art, in music, in technology, and we have many words for it — reduction, simplification, silence. At its core, subtraction is about reflection, about depth, focus, and refinement —to accept pauses and silences, gaps in activity and conversation, to overcome our fear of stillness and emptiness and to see what fills these spaces. Somehow, we could learn to distinguish our deep concerns from our trivialities, learn to subtract the thoughts we spend on people who don’t think about us in return, because we carry the weight of these things all on our own.

One helpful synonym for subtraction is concision.

“Today people use as many words as they can and think themselves very wise for doing so,” Norton Juster wrote in The Phantom Tollbooth, but “while it is wrong to use too few, it is often far worse to use too many.” Tutors know too well the guise of a

sentence in a student's essay which is made to distract.

Subtraction is not only a process or an art— it is a consciousness. UCD needs a fundamental shift in consciousness. I think we need some movement from our never-ending chaotic state of addition and multiplication, our myopic, obsessive productivity, to a consciousness of modesty and moderation in which the students produced are more than just a number. UCD's want to constantly build and expand is reminiscent of Ireland as a whole back in the boom times.

The multiplication of buildings which promise profit is almost cancerous, with liberal subjects seemingly being left in the dark Subtraction can be infinitely difficult and highly subjective. But this is one area where we cannot afford to disagree. I encourage you to lighten your backpacks and to tinker with the equations of your daily lives, be it coffee cups or profiteering construction.

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News Editor: James Grannell Deputy News Editor: Thomas Cullen News In Focus Editor: Dawn Lonergan

Features Editor: Michael Phoenix

Communities Editor:

Illustrator: Robert MulPeter

Music Editor: Ciaran Breslin

Eagarthóirí Gaeilge: Cormac Breathnach Daire Brennan

Fashion Editor: Róisín Sweeney

Sports Editors: Conall Devlin Amy Eustace

Peter Hamilton

as they bring fresh eyes and new blood into an institution that has a tendency to become stagnant and stale.

Most importantly, vote. Every student is a member of the Union, whether they like it or not. As a member of the Union every student has the right to vote in elections and referenda.

Unfortunately, comparatively few students choose to exercise this right. As a result the future of the Union is often left in the hands of the few. This isn’t good enough.

If we are to effect real change we must all become active members of our Students’ Union. We must all play a part in electing our leaders and most importantly, we must all play a part in holding those leaders to account.

I hope that this year will see a record turnout for the elections. I am aware that the choice is limited, but don’t forget you can always vote for RON.

Arts Editor: Conor Fox Art Director: Cheryl Flood

Contributors List: Ronan Coveney Thomas Cullen Rachel Carey Eimear McGovern Laura Cullen Trevor Hogan D.E Gallagher Niall Conroy Eoin Callaghan Eoin Ó Cróinín

Generation without Borders Page 7

NEWS IN FOCUS Should we abolish the Euro(vision)?

Page 6

BUSINESS €uro still uncertain Page 12

GNÉ - AILT Teangacha Nua – Foghlaim nó Sealbhú L 14

SPORT Oscar Pistorius and the future of the Paralympics Page 19

Page 15

COLLEGE TRIBUNE STAFF Editors: Cathal O'Gara James Grannell editor@collegetribune.ie

FEATURES

Courage

Editor

didate. I’m not suggesting of course that the best candidate can’t also be the best looking or most popular candidate. Rather I am suggesting that we begin to take the SU elections more seriously.

When somebody asks for your vote engage with him or her. Ask them questions and don’t be afraid to challenge them on their policies and promises. Actively root out the lies and nonsense. At the end of the day you will be paying their wages for a year. You will also have to rely on them to put your best interests first and to fight for your good.

Find a candidate that is passionate about the position they are running for. These will be the people who will generally fight tooth and nail for what they believe in. Ask them about their experience thus far, but don’t discount the candidate who doesn’t have years of experience climbing the Union ladder.

These people can often be the best choice

Low number of candidates in SU elections Page 5

REGULARS

It's in your hands

t’s that time of year again, the time of year when hopeful candidates implore us to give them our vote in the upcoming elections. They fill manifestos with grand promises and proclamations of their undying dedication to our best interest, to our welfare and to the future of UCD students.

Unfortunately, the Students’ Union elections often descend into a farcical popularity contest where good ideas and earnest dedication are swept to the side by fickle promises.

During my time in UCD I have seen many worthy candidates fail to be elected. These candidates often fail because they don’t fit the established mould of SU officers. They are outsiders trying desperately to break into the world of student politics in order to change it for the better.

We as students are all too often won over by the popular candidate, or the good-looking candidate, to the detriment of the better can-

NEWS

Eoin Ó Murchú Elizabeth Coote Thomas Hobbs Paul Byrne Ceithrean Murray

EDITORS' CHOICE Visit to Gaza Page 9

Cathal Says: Having been stopped from reaching Gaza on two previous occasions, finally crossing over the border into Palestine was a moment realised for UCD student and ex-Leinster player Trevor Hogan.

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE

26th February 2013

NEWS

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Shop finances “steady” Thomas Cullen News writer

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he president of UCD Students’ Union Rachel Breslin has told the College Tribune that the finances in the SU retail outlets are in a steady state. The shops are budgeted to make a €33,319 loss this year but Breslin states that there is “an overall plan to expand and grow the shops and turn around the financial fortunes of the shops.”

During Union Council on the 31st January a presentation was given by the shops commercial management team on the state of the retail outlets in the university.

It was mentioned during the presentation how in the past there was a lack of transparency, poor financial discipline and a lack of management and direction. It was also

emphasized that changes needed to be made in the running of the shops.

A turnover of €4,095,589 is included in the shops budget for the year which runs until 30th June 2013. The cost of sales is over 3 million euro which leads to a gross margin of €1,012,349. Overheads and interest mean that a total loss of €33,319 is expected.

According to Breslin, turnover in the shops is “fluctuating, but it’s not an upward trend and all shops have at some stage profited -posted positives and at some stage posted negatives on previous years' variances. It’s very difficult to make comparisons because we didn’t have the readings that were as accurate in the past for the cash

Students' disappointment with Garda Ombudsman

Continued from front The fear had turned to anger and was a deciding factor for a lot of students in the election of 2011.”

Lorcan Gray, a UCD student and member of the Socialist Workers Student Society, who took part in the breakaway protest in 2010, also made complaints to the Garda Ombudsman following the protest.

“Since the interview I have received two letters. One to claim the investigation was still ongoing, and the second, received on the 19th of February claiming there was no evidence to back up my claim and that the case was closed,” said Gray.

He explained that the students occupying the department of Finance had decided to formulate a list of demands and although they knew that wouldn’t be met they had decided to leave after an hour.

He went on to say that the “well natured and peaceful protest was broken half an hour later when we saw, as a reaction to the growing number of students swelling around the entrance to the lobby, the deployment of the riot squad, mounted guards and the dog unit.”

“I was at the back of the lobby when the guards entered,” said Gray. “With no word of warning

they began swinging their batons and kicking whoever was in their way. By the time they reached me there were only a handful of us left. I saw a female friend of mine knocked unconscious and other being brutally dragged out the door of the lobby. I was grabbed by the scruff of my neck and before being ejected from the building I was thrown to the ground and had my chest knelt on by a heavy-set Garda.

I was then punched in the side of the head and pushed out the door where I was met by lines of fully armoured riot police, horses, and snarling dogs.”

Gray made a formal complaint to the Garda Ombudsman several days later and was scheduled for an interview the following week, which took place on Abbey Street.

“The interview lasted about three hours in which I had to go over the whole day and those leading up to the protest in exact detail.

The interviewer was sympathetic but I had no illusions about what the outcome of the investigation would be. The reasoning behind these complaints were to maintain the focus of the media on the issue of Garda brutality in the weeks following the protest,” commented Gray.

flow. We also had Ticketmaster in the kiosk, which we won’t have again for another few weeks and some days you would put thousands of euros through Ticketmaster but you would actually not get very much from it. You’d get a tiny percentage, the same with bus tickets and low margin stuff. So it’s very hard to tell.”

Breslin further spoke about how turnover is calculated for the shops “…we calculate it on a monthly basis, which are the monthly accounts that I show to council, rather than the weekly sales reports that I get, which are a little bit more difficult to decipher.

I am still very concerned about the shops, but we’re going in the right direction and the real test will be

when we get a full years figure, because it’s so seasonal.”

The shop that recently opened in the new Students Centre has been performing well and sales have increased from its previous location as the kiosk in the old Students Centre. Costs in the new shop are higher due to increased

staff, bigger utilities and other associated costs but Breslin states that sales have increased consistently in each weekly report, and further added that “it is going very well and it’s something that we want to grow, and expand the deli and offerings like that”.

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NEWS

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE

26th February 2013

NEWS IN BRIEF Matthew Farrelly Phil soc book sale UCD Philosophy society will be hosting a book sale for St. Michael’s house between the 5th and 7th of March in the Student Centre. This is part of the larger “Bring a book, buy a book” campaign run by the charity. For 57 years St. Michael’s house has provided services and support for adults and children with intellectual disabilities. All books will be €2. The Philosophy society will also be bringing in Noam Chomsky in April to give a talk to members.

Ireland Professor of Poetry gives Final Lecture in UCD Professor Harry Clifton, the current holder of the Ireland Chair of Poetry since 2010 gave his final annual lecture on Wednesday evening 20th February 2013, entitled ‘Into the Afterlife: Irish Poets in American Space’ to a full theatre audience. The lecture was attended by fellow poets and also former holders of the position which included Seamus Heaney, Michael Longley and Ciaran Carson. Professor Clifton was announced as Ireland's fifth Professor of Poetry in 2010, his most recent collection ‘The Winter Sleep of Captain Lemass’ was published May 2012.

New artwork for UCD Students may have noticed the new artwork beside the Science block. The piece has been completed by graphic designer James Earley who won a commission from the university entitled “Journey of Discovery”. The work is intended to celebrate the ongoing development of UCD’s emerging Science Centre.

Earley says that his design was inspired by conversations he had with scientists in their labs about their research.

The design is intended to convey six research themes, health; agri-food; environment; energy, culture, economy and change; and information, computation and communications.

Painting began on February 4th and was completed in the space of a week.

When the new Science Centre is opened in the coming academic year it will provide space for more than 3,500 students and 1,000 researchers.

UCD’s ‘Don’t be that guy’ SU accounts details released campaign launched Thomas Cullen News writer

Rachel Carey News Writer

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ollowing the successful launch of the ‘Don’t be that guy’ campaign on the 14th February, the campaign has gained increased momentum and support.

The launch itself was attended by USI Vice President for Equality and Citizenship Laura Harmon. The purpose of the night was to raise awareness of the campaign and this was done through the handing out of 70 artificial roses which the message “It’s ok to say no tonight”; these roses also had the ‘Don’t be that guy’ logo attached.

Posters have also been placed in buildings all over campus in the hope of catching people’s attention and gaining awareness for the growing campaign. UCD Gender Equality Coordinator Ciara John-

son told The College Tribune that they are hoping to expand the campaign further throughout the semester and that so far the overall response had been “quite positive”.

The campaign has also been building its Facebook page which offers more information about the history of the movement and the work being done. Johnson hopes that other societies and clubs will show their support for the campaign by linking a twibbon to their Facebook page when it is launched.

Johnson is also in discussions with the Rape Crisis Centre and AMEN on running an information evening about the campaign and offering their support services to students. This is hoped to take place after the two week Easter break.

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CD Students’ Union have released financial accounts that show both the income and expenditure of the Union from 1st July until the 31st December 2012. The documents containing the accounts were sent to members of the Union Council for circulation amongst their classes.

The accounts show that the SU had a total income of €500,148 by the end of last semester whilst also spending €364,249 in overheads.

This led to a total surplus of €134,782, which meant the Union earned €127,448 more than they had originally planned for in their budget.

The key areas where expenditure was less than budgeted was Class Rep training and election costs along with each of the sab-

batical officers spending less than they had allocated to them.

However, there were also some smaller areas where there was overspending such as IT costs, telephone landlines and insurance.

As of the end of December UCDSU have spent almost €54,000 in affiliation costs to the Union of Students in Ireland (USI).

The SU will have to pay the same amount again this semester along with an extra €12,500 being set aside for congress and national councils. This brings the total cost of being members of USI to €120,500.

This high cost of affiliation is expected to influence the amount of ‘no’ voters in this weeks USI referendum.

Delay in appointing new President James Grannell Editor

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t has been reported in the Sunday Independent that the process of choosing the next President of UCD has been delayed by at least a month due to “ a major legal complication caused by the changes to pension laws.

The finger of blame for the mix up has been pointed at Brendan Howlin’s Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Meanwhile PWC have been engaged to assist with the selection process for the position, which carries a salary of €200,000 per anum.

The issue arose due to the new Public Service Pensions Act, which came into force on January 1st . The legislation changes, which occurred after the position was first advertised, but before the original closing date, changes criteria affecting retirement ages and pension rights. This could in turn have excluded potential candidates who wished to run for the post.

Before the introduction of the legislation there was no maximum retirement age for the public sector, however there is now a maximum retirement age of 70.

UCD have run new advertisements in national newspapers stating that the “closing date for

this position has been extended to allow for detailed clarification of the retirement ages applicable to various categories of potential appointees including those affected by the Public Service Pensions Act, which came into force on January 1, which was after the date of the original advertisment, but before the original closing date”.

The new closing date for applications is noon on Friday, April 5.

According to UCD website, if the appointee is a new entrant to the Irish public sector, or is a member of an existing Irish public sector pension scheme and is making an employee pension contribution their salary will be €200,000 per anum. The salary for someone who does not meet these criteria will be €190,000.

Along with this salary the new president will take up residence in the university lodge, which was purchased by UCD in 1949. Since then it has become the residence of the President of the university and is also used as a venue for university functions.

According to the Sunday Independent, professor Mark Rogers and Ciaran O hOgartaigh are currently seen as the leading contenders for the position.

LGBT society bring home national award James Grannell Editor

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CD’s LGBT society won an award at this years Gay and Lesbian Awards (GALAs), which took place last Saturday. This is the fourth year of the awards set up to honour politicians, employers and others who are committed to advancing equality and social acceptance for LGBT people in Ireland. 15 awards were handed out with one going to the UCD society.

“We're absolutely delighted with the win,” said David Healy, auditor of UCD LGBT. “It's the culmination of so much plan-

ning and preparation of events since May last year.

It's great for the society as well which has been around since 1976 with this the first time we have being nationally awarded.

The committee, the members who support events each week and the support of people involved in UCD societies like Aifric and Richard is what has gotten us where we are today.”

He went on to state that, “All UCD students can be proud to say that UCD is home to Ireland's best student LGBT society.”

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE

26th February 2013

NEWS

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Low number of candidates in SU elections Ronan Coveney News Writer

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he position of Engineering and Architecture Convener has been left without any candidate running in the upcoming Students’ Union elections.

The elections, which are due to take place next Wednesday and Thursday, will see candidates vying for a position on the executive board of the Students’ Union, which makes many of the day to day decisions of the Union.

Just one constituency out of seven is being contested and in five of the constituencies there is just a single candidate running.

Speaking about the situation UCDSU President Rachel Breslin put the lack of interest in the positions down to the fact that the USI referendum has taken the focus off the elections.

“I think the reason this year is largely down to the USI referen-

dum and the attention that it’s taken from elections. There are huge numbers involved in that, in campaigns around that. The focus was on that more than the nominations probably more than usual.”

Breslin also pointed out that there has been a change in how people view politics. “Public life isn’t seen as the golden profession that it once was, because of how publicly people in it have been taken down... there have been a number of anonymous social media accounts about and they have mentioned executive officers as well... I think [the newspapers] are quite tough and can be quite tough on the officers every year” Out of the seven positions three candidates are running for re-election. These include Valerie O’Brien, Áine Mooney and Devin Finnegan.

This happens at the same time

that the position of Convenor is elevated within the Union with the removal of the Campaigns and Communications office as a sabbatical position meaning that each Convenor will take on some of the responsibilities that would previously have been the role of the C&C officer. Due to this change each convener may receive payment for their work.

Currently the only Convenor position that is contested is that of Human Sciences, with Áine Mooney and Niall Dunne running for the position. Convenor positions that are uncontested include the positions of Ag, Arts, Business & Law, Health Sciences and Science convener.

For all the latest election news check out www.collegetribune.ie

Students queue to vote at last year's election

Human Sciences Convenor election Rachel Carey News Writer

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ne of the few contested positions in this year’s elections is that of Human Sciences Convenor. The candidates are Niall Dunne and current convenor Aine Mooney. Both Dunne and Mooney spoke to The College Tribune about their election campaigns.

Dunne decided to run for the role of convenor to get more involved in student politics, “I’ve been involved in student politics now basically for the last year and a half particularly with the welfare crew and campaign this year and I just want to be involved in a bigger way”. Believing that most students are not aware of the hard work that goes on in the Student Centre, Dunne is committed to bring the work of the Students’ Union to the students themselves in the hope that more students will begin to get involved.

Dunne also believes that his own political beliefs will benefit the union if he is elected. “I think a strong voice of the left on the exec that will stand up for free education and will push for more action is really needed at the moment”. Through this he hopes to see a stronger Union that will engage more with national issues.

Mooney’s reasoning for running for re-election is primarily based on her experience as Human Sciences Convenor for the past year.

She believes she has gained a lot of experience from the role and as her drive and motivation have not ceased she has decided to run again. “From the experience I

have gained this year in the role, I have been able to create a manifesto of realistic, achievable goals based solely on improving every student’s day to day lives in the Newman Building”.

If elected, Mooney hopes to bring the work of the Convenor to the students and improve the everyday lives of students and holding regular events that they can engage in; “In order to make the education side of college less stressful, I will provide Second Hand Book Sales, Career Fairs, talks and presentations and Employability Skills Seminars. I want to create a social side to Human Sciences and Arts as well, by holding monthly events for students to attend and get to know people in their course. Next year if re-elected I intend to have Office Hours for students each week for two hours and will give students regular updates on relevant issues and events for them”.

If elected, Dunne hopes to make a wide range of changes to the role of Convenor and make a difference to Human Science students as well as in the Arts building itself. He hopes to see the SU become more localised, erecting stalls in the Arts building where people can get to know their Sabbatical Officers so if they ever do need their help or assistance they will be able to go to them. He also wants to see a crisis help site set up where students can get the help they need at any time.

Dunne also hopes to establish a Human Sciences crew if elected.

This will be similar to the Welfare

and Campaigns crew and he hopes will get more students involved in student politics.

“People will see that I am different and I stand for something different than the current elected representatives of the union”. Dunne believes he stands for something different and believes that his more localised version of a college convenor is what is needed to engage with students.

Mooney also seeks to make changes to the role of Convenor if elected, believing that the distinction between Human Sciences and Arts students has been too focused on. She intends on working more closely with the Arts convenor to bridge this gap. “As many first years are both Human Science and Arts students, I think events organised in conjunction with the Arts Convenor in September, would be highly beneficial in breaking the ice amongst first years. For second and third years, I intend to focus on Career Days and Graduate Fairs to help them decide what to do once they graduate”.

Mooney is confident in her ability to complete and achieve the goals of her manifesto while remaining open to new ideas from the students she hopes to represent. During her campaign she hopes to speak with as many Human Sciences students as possible to see what they would like to see done. Mooney also firmly believes her experience will stand to her if she is re-elected; “I have built the connections with staff members,

lecturers and students in Human Sciences. I have the experience, the accountability and I can achieve every single one of the goals I have set out for next year”.

When asked what Dunne thought about the low turnout in candidates for the upcoming election he simply put it as “terrible”.

He is very critical of the Students’ Union in this regard telling The College Tribune “I don’t think that its students don’t want to be involved, I think they do, I think it’s that they see the Students’ Union as a clique, an elitist group and they feel they can’t get into it and they can’t get involved and they don’t care what goes on...” Believ-

ing that the low turnout shows the extent of the poor relationship between the Students’ Union and their students; “most students don’t know who their officers are, don’t vote for them, and don’t care.

The SU has been very poor at getting the message out of its good work, just like the USI has. The SU is run mostly by people who see it as a social group rather than student government which is what it is. Unless the right people start getting involved it’s very hard to change things”.

Human Sciences Convenor elections take place on 6th and 7th March.

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NEWS IN FOCUS

COLLEGE TRIBUNE

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26th February 2013

Should we abolish the Euro(vision)?

Dawn Lonergan seeks to discover if the Eurovision is still needed

T

he Eurovision Song Contest was establish on the 25th of May 1956,and is one of the longest running music shows in the world. It is held amongst the members of the European Broadcasting Union (EMU),and Ireland made its debut in the competition in 1965.

In the 1950s, the EMU was set up to bring the countries together using a ‘light entertainment programme”. At a committee meeting held in Monaco in January 1955, director general of Swiss television and committee chairman Marcel Bezençon conceived the idea of an international song contest where countries would participate in on a television programme, to be transmitted simultaneously to all countries of the European Broadcasting Union at the same time. The concept, then known as "Eurovision Grand Prix", was approved by the EBU General Assembly and it was decided that the first contest would take place in Switzerland. It was later renamed as the Eurovision.

It is said to have many advantages, including that it is argued to bring Europe together. L&H auditor Daisy Onubogu believes it's “One of the few things that culturally unites europe, which goes a little towards the dream the EU is desperately, if a little fruitlessly, trying to bring about.”

Manager of Belfield FM Coiré Mc Crystall sees it as a way to relieve tensions,especially in Eastern Europe. “I’m glad I get to see my favourite European countries like Israel and Azerbaijan settle their differences in song instead of wars like they used to.”

The cost of entry and hosting is an advantage to the contestants because the contest is considered to be a unique opportunity for promoting the host country as a tourist destination. In the summer of

2005, Ukraine abolished its normal visa requirement for visitors from the EU to coincide with its hosting of the event. Most of the expense of the contest is covered by commercial sponsors and contributions from the other participating nations in the competition.

Admittedly, it has launched many superstars after their victory at the Eurovision including Swedish Abba who won in 1974 with the song “Waterloo”,Celine Dion who won for Switzerland in 1988 with "Ne partez pas sans moi’” and Julio Iglesias ,who has sold 300 million records worldwide.

It is said to have large light entertainment value with many “Eurovision nights” being held throughout Europe.

It also holds a special place for us Irish because we hold the record for the highest number of wins, having won the contest seven times.

Its disadvantages are many, including that it has little to no entertainment value.

3rd year Microbiology student Kevin O’Leary believes it is “a thing of the past, and has no place in the modern world of travel and the internet” Cost is also a serious issue for the competition, especially during the Euro Crisis. Poland and Portugal can't even afford to compete in Eurovision at the moment, and have pulled out of sending representatives. As the UK's Comedy Central put it: "If, like, us you don’t really understand politics, economics and all that boring nonsense, it’s hard to get your head round

such high concepts as EU bailouts, debt deficits and the credit crunch.

On Sunday though, a piece of news broke that finally made us understand just how devastating the economic crisis can be: Portugal are in such financial dire straits, they’ve pulled out of the Eurovision Song Contest."

The most criticised part of the Eurovision is the Voting blocks.According to one study of Eurovision voting patterns, certain countries tend to form "clusters" or "cliques" by frequently voting in the same way.Yet another study concludes that as of 2006 voting blocs has, on at least two occasions, crucially affected the outcome of the contest It also has a number of Political Recognition issues. In 1978, during the performance of the Israeli entry, the Jordanian broadcaster showed pictures of flowers instead.

When it became apparent that Israel was going to win the contest, JRTV abruptly ended the transmission.Afterwards, the Jordanian news media refused to acknowledge the fact that Israel had won and announced that the winner was Belgium (which had actually come in 2nd place), and In 1981 JRTV did not broadcast the voting because the name of Israel appeared on the scoreboard.

In 2005, Lebanon intended to participate in the contest. However, Lebanese law does not allow recognition of Israel, and consequently Lebanese television did

In the summer of 2005, Ukraine abolished its normal visa requirement for visitors from the EU to coincide with its hosting of the event.

not intend to transmit the Israeli entry. The EBU informed them that such an act would breach the rules of the contest, and Lebanon was subsequently forced to withdraw from the competition.

The competition also fails to shed light hides upon human rights offenses within the EU. For example; Azerbaijin has a complicated human rights abuse history.

According to Amnesty International, police beat and imprisoned two musicians after they insulted the President's mother during their performance at a peaceful protest on March 17.And according to the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, a human-rights NGO, about 70 people are in jail for political reasons , where many are allegedly tortured. In 2005, in a still-unsolved murder, someone fired eight shots from a pistol with a silencer and killed investigative reporter Elmar Huseynov, who had written articles on alleged corruption among Azerbaijani officials and Aliyev's wealthy family members. Human Rights House has accused the government of being responsible for offenses against more than 50 journalists who were harassed or attacked in 2011”. Transparency International ranked Azerbaijan No. 143 out of 183 countries on its most recent Corruption Perceptions Index.T. Lastly, it seems as similar to other political unions, the UK,Germany,France and Italy always have places in the final, no matter what points they got in the semi finals. This is said to be because they are the biggest financial contributors to the EBU. They are known as “The Big Five. It has caused a lot of controversy, and Turkey has withdrawn from the 2013 contest for many reasons but one them being “The Big Five” rule.

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE 26th February 2013

FEATURES

7

GENERATION WITHOUT

BORDERS R

Eimear McGovern discusses the paths open to UCD students with international interests

eminiscent of the time that our parents were in college, it would be difficult to find a single person in Ireland who could claim that they had not been personally touched by emigration in recent years.

We are constantly reminded in the media of those who have left our shores to attempt to form new lives abroad – the Irish Times frequently has features under the headings ‘Emigrant Voices’ and ‘Generation Emigration’, which receive countless responses from others in similar situations. In January 2011, RTE screened a documentary focusing on five Irish families who were facing the reality of emigration, either to Australia or Canada.

A year later, a follow up program entitled ‘Arrivals’ was aired, revisiting the families in their new homes, to see how they had fared in their new countries. Forced emigration will always be a tragedy, and everyone who has had to say a reluctant goodbye to a loved one will agree with that.

But what about those still safely ensconced in third level education, who are tentatively testing the waters of what could turn into a career abroad? Throughout their time in third level education, an average student will hopefully receive an opportunity to further develop their skill set and broaden their horizons in a country that is not their own. A common path available to students throughout Europe is that of the Erasmus Programme, funded by the European Union.

However, a large percentage of UCD students will also gain invaluable experience by choosing or being required to go on work placement or interning as part of their degree.

Formally adopted by the European Union in the academic year 1987/88, the Erasmus program enables over 230,000 students to study abroad each year, which is around 1% of the student population in Europe as a whole. After celebrating their 25th anniversary last year, the Erasmus program hopes to reach its goal of having assisted 3 million students to study abroad by 2013. Why Erasmus? The benefits of the program are widely proclaimed. A grant is provided to each person who spends a semester or a year abroad, based both on the length of their stay and the cost of living in their selected country. There is also no requirement to pay fees to your host university – the student will pay the standard fees of their home university. The

program is widely recognised and respected throughout the world.

Students who are studying a language and for whom a year spent abroad is most widely recommended will be most familiar with the concept of Erasmus. There is a common misconception that studying abroad in a foreign university only suits those who are studying the language spoken in that country, but that is most certainly not the case. UCD has partners within Erasmus in several different countries in Europe which offer education in English. Universities listed not only include destinations within the UK and the US, but universities in Holland, Belgium and Sweden, where I myself am currently studying. It may be daunting to consider living in a country where one has almost zero knowledge of the language, but a large international support structure is available.

Language barriers in Sweden in particular are surmountable, as according to a recent study by Education First, Swedish people have the highest proficiency in English as a second language in the world.

What prompts the decision to work or study abroad? In today’s economy, an experience such as Erasmus will help a candidate stand out from their peers. According to the description of Erasmus on the European Commission website, ‘many employers highly value such a period abroad, which increases the students' employability and job prospects’. Apart from the obvious decision of a French or German student to go on Erasmus to a country that speaks that language, anything which makes a CV stand out from another is in high demand in the current economic climate. Time spent in a foreign country can not only result in increased fluency in a language, but also an improved skill set in many different fields.

Although Erasmus is a popular route to take, there are other roads equally as well travelled by students of UCD. Hannah Ní

Riain is a student of Actuarial and Financial Studies who is currently employed by Bankhaus Metzler, a privately owned German bank, in Frankfurt, Germany. As part of their degree, each Bachelor of Actuarial and Financial Studies is required to spend a six month period working for a financial institution. Ní Riain is candid while explaining that she did not have any particular motivation to seek out a position abroad in the beginning. After spending a period working for Bankhaus Metzler during summer 2011, an opportunity arose to return to the bank on work placement, albeit in a slightly different setting. Ní Riain explains that she was eager to both take advantage of the opportunity while also having an interest in how the German system differed from what she had experienced in Ireland. She also emphasises that the experience she has gained recently has been invaluable, and has been largely responsible for her interest in seeking employment outside of Ireland post-degree. ‘...I have learnt over the past while that living in different countries with people from entirely different cultures, different backgrounds and different ways of thinking is simply fascinating. For that reason alone, if I’m lucky enough, I’d love to continue to work abroad in the future, be it in Germany or elsewhere’.

For many who are forced into the decision of starting a new life, coupled with a new job abroad, the change can be a huge shock.

But some who have moved to a new country credit their university experiences in a different place to be the reason that they are more comfortable taking such a step, something which is invaluable to our generation without borders. Erasmus and similar programs are often credited with creating a more diverse and accepting community among young people, something which both communities at home and the workplace value highly

It was the best opportunity I've ever been given...

upon their return. In addition, spending time abroad during your degree can change a students perspective on their degree, and guide decisions on their future academic career, according to Jordan O’Hanlon, who is on Erasmus in Lunds Universitet, Sweden.

‘It has made me realise I’ll definitely have to do more study and specialise in a certain field, although I'm not 100% sure on what field it will be yet’. O’Hanlon also emphasises that she applied for Erasmus on a whim, and while she does not recommend her own Erasmus for academic reasons, she does stress that Erasmus is ‘an excellent character building experience, and based on that I would recommend it’.

A third student, Aideen Fallon, who is in Stage 3 of General Nursing, completed a semester of Erasmus last year in Universidad de Sevilla. Fallon could be seen as combining the experiences of both working and studying abroad, as she spent her time working in a Spanish hospital while on Erasmus through nursing. Fallon is alike both Ní Riain and O’Hanlon in saying that the opportunity to go abroad was not one she considered in any great detail. However, she goes on to describe it as ‘the best opportunity I have ever been given’ although also very difficult, given the language barrier she encountered daily in the hospital where she worked. Fallon describes the experience as ‘incredibly challenging as there was absolutely no English spoken in the hospital and I was expected to work as part of a multidisciplinary team’. She also praises the opportunities her experience gave her, not only the chance to learn in a new clinical area while gaining precious experience, but also opening her mind to the possibilities for further study and work abroad – something which she had not considered before Erasmus.

Improved skill sets and job opportunities aside, one thing all three students agree on is that spending time abroad is a good choice simply because it helps you see both the world and yourself in a different way.

One of the pieces of advice taken from all of them was that one should not be worried to step into difficult situations, because very often that situation is the one which can reap the reward, and result in personal development – that is the challenge which is worth accepting.

88

FEATURES

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE 26th February 2013

MINDFULNESS

OR MINDLESSNESS With Self-Help culture spreading, Laura Cullen investigates ‘Self-Knowledge’

O

n a poster in Dublin city a mindfulness meetup is arranged for March 11th in Jury’s Hotel; this meetup, among with many others of it’s kind, has become immensely popular of late. It’s aim is to teach people a way to tunnel into the inner caves of their being. The desire for self knowledge is well and truly in the air.

In fact this desire to tackle the great enigma which is the self has become very popular of late. The surrounding buzz words of the moment include “self-knowledge”, “self-awakening” and “mindfulness”; the aim of them all is to reach a deeper understanding of the self.

This is, however, not a new phenomenon.

Humanity has progressed at a rapid speed in the last few centuries; scientific discoveries have achieved momentous results, the environment has been manipulated and moulded to suit our needs and with the breathless speed of technological advances, we have garnered the audacity and ability to turn our every fantasy into reality.

And now we want to tackle the self. We want to objectively understand the most subjective thing that is in existence – our very selves.

This desire is not ‘modern’ however. The ancient Greeks endeavoured to know themselves better and these very words - “know thyself” were inscribed on every temple of Apollo. Socrates declared that it was the fundamental question for each human being and it was Socrates who famously said the un-examined life was not worth living. Lao-Tzu the famous Chinese prophet and Muhammad both said learning to ‘know thyself’ was the most important task one could engage with. The ancients had this same restless desire, the desire to conquer the biggest enigma of all – the human self.

There lies a big irony here nonetheless. It seems the more we come to know of the world around us, the more discoveries that are made, the more inventions invented, the more money that is accumulated - the more ignorant of ourselves we have become. The philosopher William Barrett once insightfully commented that, there is nothing more studied than the self, but after all this effort we know ourselves far less. The more we know about ourselves the less we know ourselves.

What an incredible irony. Perhaps Socrates’ admonition to ‘know thyself’ was actually a trick. Perhaps he recognised that you cannot know yourself by yourself alone because it is not an object of knowledge. Instead, what is needed is something higher than the self. What this continued quantification of the self will achieve is a complete depersonalization. In the attempt to know ourselves more thoroughly we will lose ourselves completely.

Newton said each action has an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore progress, or what is deemed as ‘progress’, must also encompass a regress. The more we know of one way, the less we know of the other. What will the repercussions of this fervent desire to knock down that last barge of mystery be? If we try to understand every part of the human self will it not inevitably lead to a conquering of the human self? An attempt to alter that which we cannot fully understand and bring

it under our control?

Paul McKenna, author, television presenter and modern self-help guru, seems to be the one making the comparably poor Socratic admonitions of today. Paul declares with confidence that ‘I can make you thin’ and people listen to his self-help mantra trusting his ‘expertise’ and believing that he holds a key to the inner world of the self, a golden key that they do not have the privilege of accessing; so they buy his book to access it.

The figures for the number of self-help books sold are absolutely staggering and speak for themselves.

In Britain self-help books have earned publishers £60 million in the past 5 years. In the US the self-help market is worth more than $10 billion a year.

Once something is figured out, invented or discovered it is quickly turned into a lucrative product and sold for gold. Self-help books are a good example Admittedly, some self-help books are a way for people who may otherwise be reluctant to seek professional help to get some. And although this is a beneficial aspect of this industry - in the long run these books will not provide the answer; neither will Dr Phil.

Pascal said the heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing about. There are some things that reason cannot penetrate

Of course the desire to know oneself better is a natural desire. And it won’t go away. Aristotle said that everything begins with wonder. This thirst is what makes us human and enkindles the fire inside us that wants to know all that there is. Aiming to improve oneself is just as natural a desire as curiosity, and as Plotinus said ‘never cease chiselling your statue’. Everyone wants to be a better person for themselves and for those they care about. But perhaps what is required is the realisation that there is an avenue of the self that ought to be left unexplored; a crevice of mystery that science cannot penetrate; a hidden realm of meaning that points beyond what we see. Is this mystery not something to be treasured?

We are in a sense the great unknown, and that is the one liberating fact in a world of quantifying facts.

The universe is there for us to know; we each contain a realm the universe within ourselves. But should this inner knowledge be explored, packaged and commodified?

Pascal said the heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing about. There are some things that reason cannot penetrate. In all romantic poetry and renaissance art it is this great unknown that has enthralled artists down through the years. The mystery that lies at the heart of the human person has been beautifully captured in works like the Mona Lisa and Ophelia. This endless fascination with the unknown parts of our being has provided artists like Bram Stoker and J K Rowling with creative inspiration to write wonderfully mysterious works like Dracula and brilliantly imaginative stories like Harry Potter.

What artistic depictions will symbolise the wonder and curiosity of our age? A Damien Hirst picture “The Golden Calf” sadly comes to mind. As we endeavour to expose man and woman and uncover all the beautiful secret levels of their human-hood, we are extinguishing great posits of wonder and mystery. We will be left with art that is bored and assured with the confidence of self-knowledge.

So when posters and articles encouraging the pursuit of ‘mindfulness’ and ‘self-awareness’ are advertised, perhaps it will not just be me that experiences a tinge of sadness and a faint sense that in all this ‘gain’ something in turn will be lost.

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE 26th February 2013

FEATURES

9

VISIT TO GAZA

Presenting Fadi Sultan, who was selected for Palestine u/14's with a jersey of mine.

Trevor Hogan in Il Saha square in Gaza City

A Gaza fisherman shows scars left behind after he was shot while at sea by Israeli navy

Having been stopped from reaching Gaza on two previous occasions, finally crossing over the border into Palestine was a moment realised for UCD student and ex-Leinster player Trevor Hogan. During his visit he found that the people of Gaza, despite the crippling effects of the on-going Israeli blockade, possess a deep resilience and inherent optimism.

D

riving in to Gaza from Egypt’s Rafah crossing, the sun was low in the sky.

Children played feverishly, desperately making the most of the dwindling daylight. They dotted the roadside as we made our way to Gaza city, some passing balls, others practising against walls, or playing volleyball with make shift nets.

It is impossible not to notice the children of Gaza. This is no surprise, considering young people make up over 50% of the 1.7 million population. Yet what is even more striking is their positive and buoyant attitude in a place that’s seen so much pain and destruction.

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

The Arabic word ‘sumoud’ was new to me, but for Palestinians it is an inherent part of their culture. It translates as ‘steadfastness’, and captures the approach of the people of Gaza towards the illegal siege that has been imposed by Israel officially, since 2007, but is a blockade that could effectively be traced back further to 1967, when Israel first took control of Gaza after the six-day war. ‘Sumoud’ represents the strength of character that Palestinians show despite the many obstacles that occupation presents in their daily life. It was an outlook we were greeted with on every day of our trip.

This attitude was clear to me in how Palestinians in Gaza continue to play sport despite huge obstacles. Israeli restrictions on the movement of teams and referees mean players are often prevented from travelling to attend training sessions.

Players are routinely delayed and a star of the Palestinian team, Mahmoud Sarsak, was arrested while on his way to a training ses-

sion in the West Bank. He was subsequently held without charge by Israeli authorities for three years. The organization of tournaments or leagues is severely limited, and games largely take place on an ad-hoc basis.

Up until 2010 soccer balls were just one of the many items banned from entering Gaza, and restrictions still apply for technical equipment such as digital screens needed for basketball. Almost 100 kilos of rugby gear and balls that had been kindly donated by my teammates in Leinster and Munster for the 2011 flotilla, still lies impounded in the Israeli port of Ashdod.

The Palestine soccer stadium has been bombed several times

by Israel, most recently in the November assault on Gaza, leaving the outer structure of the stadium, which we saw, shattered. One club we visited, the Al Helal sporting club, had its windows blown out in the November bombing.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has documented how on separate occasions in recent months, bullets fired

by Israeli soldiers stationed nearby, killed three children while they played football; 17 year old Ahmad Harara , his cousin, 16 year old Muhammad Harara, and 13 year old Muhammad Abu Daqa. The youngest was hit in the stomach, while wearing the jersey of his beloved Real Madrid.

Yet despite this, a passion for sport pervades. Any spare patch of ground, sand or track is quickly given over to spontaneous soccer or volleyball games. We watched an

organized ‘friendly’ between Al Helal and local rivals, Al Sadaqa, played on grounds located on what used to be the Israeli settlement of Nezarim. Al Helal plan a move to the Nezarim site, home to one of the few grass pitches in Gaza. We also visited a soccer school where kids from the age of 6 trained and practiced their dribbling skills in the shadow of buildings destroyed by the November bombings. Fadi Sultan, has just been picked for the Palestinian under 14 national team and he presented us with a small jersey of his club. I gave him one of my old Leinster jerseys, hoping that one day he will manage to fit into it.

Rugby is virtually unheard of here, but with the freedom to travel that every society should enjoy, I feel it is a game that could quickly develop.

A number of Palestinian refugees - unable to return to Gaza because of the siege - have expressed a huge interest in rugby. In the meantime, we hope to invite an underage soccer team to a small tournament in Ireland that could help, in some small way, overcome the limits of the blockade.

The spirit of ‘sumoud’ is not confined to sport in Gaza. We met with fishermen who told of how, as they seek to fish their waters, are harassed, beaten and shot by the Israeli navy. Despite visible scars and trauma they say they will continue to fish for their families and their people. We visited the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and Shifa Hospital where we were told

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

about constant electricity black outs and a shortage of radiology equipment because of the siege. They also detailed how ambulances can be targeted during Israeli attacks and how a lack of basic medicines has resulted in half of children under three in Gaza suffering from anaemia. Yet this fails to diminish the energy and determination of the staff and doctors. Dr Ghada Al Jadba, passionately describes their struggle against the blockade; “we don’t want our people simply to survive, we want them to live.”

The busy square of Il Saha in Gaza city is full of street stalls and a constant flow of human traffic. The economy has effectively been strangled through the banning of all exports and domestic industry severely restricted, but here in Il Saha, a resourceful and resolute nature survives. Partly thanks to the underground tunnels between Gaza and Egypt, small traders, fruit sellers and meat vendors are found amongst busy side streets. We quickly attracted a curious crowd, not used to tourists in their town.

Hoping to engage with the locals, I bought a packet of chewing gum from a young street seller, paying him ten shekels. Moments later his friend returned, handing back money, explaining that I’d given too much.

This type of gesture that would be consistently repeated. The people of Gaza will not allow themselves to be defined by the crippling impact of the siege.

This refusal to allow the siege dictate their lives was captured for me when I met 800-metre runner, Abdal Salam Al-Dabaji.

There is not a single tartan track in Gaza, yet he managed to train on pot-holed sand tracks and qualify for the Athens Olympics.

The 800 metre runner has no Olympic medals but provides a source of inspiration more profound than any trophy could offer. This is what it really means to struggle for your sport. The obstacles imposed on their lives

by Israel will not define Abdal, the young soccer players, the young children or any of the people of Gaza. Their spirit will help them break these barriers in a place where they aim not just to survive, but to live.

10 ESSAY

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE 26th February 2013

Aquinas at the Petrol Station:

The Source behind the Fuel I

remember some fearsome arguments about God in school. It seemed like everylunchtime the meaning of life was on the line - fists rained down from all stances and I struck the blows I could for Christendom. But for all the cosmological and design arguments launched like cannonballs across the yard, I converted no one. In fact in the end I only succeeded in making my friends hold more strongly to their views - that’s what you do when you’re back’s against the wall, you dig in. In truth, I doubt anybody has ever requested baptism after a good thrashing in an argument.

The whole purpose of philosophical dialogue did not become any clearer when I arrived at University to study Philosophy. It seemed that everyone just picked a philosophy that most suited their beliefs and stuck to it through thick and thin. You could argue with someone till the cows came home, although in reality this seldom happens in university, and you would have made little difference.

But then I discovered the thought of Thomas Aquinas. Whereas modern skeptical philosophers have dug a hole in the ground Aquinas built a cathedral, and his monument shone.

The thought of the 13th Century philosopher is a majestic and soaring edifice and there is a sublime beauty in its coherency and completeness.

The Italian is like a chess grandmaster that sees the checkmate twenty moves in advance. He could play fourteen skeptical philosophers simultaneously and beat them blindfolded.

Aquinas says that there are two aspects to man; the will and the intellect. It is the will which is fundamental because it does the most essential act, it loves. The intellect reasons in search of truth. However the Will drives the Intellect. If the Will does not love then the Intellect does not function properly - it does not work.

If the person is not willing to find truth, they will never find it.

We can understand this if we consider an as a Ferrari. The will is the engine while the intellect is the steering wheel. If the engine does not have a full tank of fuel then the Ferrari will not succeed in its journey. No matter how good the steering is the Ferrari simply won’t move.

But if there is a full tank of fuel then the Ferrari will succeed - it will go. No matter how many dead ends arrived at as a result of bad turns and misjudged cross roads, there will always be enough fuel to return to where the error occurred, and continue on the right path.

So from an understanding of this it follows that it is simply not good enough to beat someone in an argument, that won’t help them on their journey. You have got to give them fuel; you have got to inspire and im-

part love.

The 17th Century author and priest, Saint Louis de Montfort talks about this in his book, ‘Love of Eternal Wisdom’. He says, “But the words that divine Wisdom communicates are not just ordinary, natural, human words; they are divine, “truly the words of God” (1 Thess 2.13) They are powerful, touching, piercing words.

It is the presence of this love within Jesus which leads Him to being described by those who hear him, as speaking with “authority” (Mark 1.27), whilst it is the absence of this love in the Pharisees which stunts their intellectual vision. They are unable to see Truth because without love “they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1.21). Loving themselves rather than God has led to intellectual blindness. They are “the blind leading the blind” (Mat 15.14). We are all Pharisees to some extent.

But to truly make an impact it is not enough to give love alone. You must supply directions for the intellect as well as fuel. You must supply truth. As the Trappist Monk and poet, Thomas Merton says in ‘Life and Holiness’ - “Will power is ineffectual without truth. Love without truth is mere sentimentality.”

But Aquinas tells us that there is something which comes before love faith. Before you love Goodness you must have faith that it exists. Philosophy is the love of Truth. However before Truth can be loved and sought after you must first have faith that Truth exists. You must have faith that there is an objective Truth that is true not only for you but for everybody.

Philosophy often begins by accepting Aristotle’s Law of Non-Contradiction, that a statement about existence cannot be answered both ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. Without accepting this Law there is no criterion of coherency by which a philosophy can be judged. This Law must be accepted as self-evident. However some argue that it is not self-evident, these people are skeptical of objective truth. They hold a relativist theory of Truth in which a philosophy is true relative to the person who holds it. For Aquinas, relative theory of truth is a philosophical abyss - if it is accepted, then no belief, no matter how good, is true, and no belief, no matter how perverted, is wrong. This is chaos, anarchy and the death of philosophy because no matter what you believe, it is true (relatively). The result is that there is nothing to be searched for.

To avoid this you must accept the

By D.E Gallagher

Law of Contradiction. There can be no reason for accepting this law because this Law itself is the foundation of reason. You must accept it on faith.

Faith is the belief that the Ferrari has a destination to arrive at, that it is not just traveling aimlessly. It is this faith which sets the journey in motion. The journey is hard and without a strong faith the Ferrari might just give up at a dead end and not bother to retrace its path. We see this struggle in “Anna Karenina” were Levin is at the point of despair in his

journey and considers suicide - It is faith that keeps him going and places a sword in his hand to fight against despair.

A brilliant books to give directions on that journey is “Orthodoxy” by G. K. Chesterton. However philosophy won’t always be in support. There comes a point where you run out of road and faith has to go off trekking in the wilderness by itself. There is no philosophical argument for Revelation. To reach the Promised Land you’ve got to cross the desert.

Illustration by Robert MulPeter

11 Poetry

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE

Page Eleven Poetry

26th February 2013

Page 11

Rape

These Obscene Words

standing on the mountainside i freeze as hands reach gingerly towards the fruits, the fruits which home has remained secret till now, the weight of gluttony measures to high so down the branch’s go, roots protesting in woe cracking the black stem with might twisting and turning the life from its hinges harder faster the infatuation taking over: now i've felt the silk skin beneath my fingertips i must have it,

Touched, unwelcome, unwanted, unbidden.

Reached deep within me and played with my soul.

I am captive; forgotten, I'm hidden.

Burn me, consume me, like dry wood, like coal.

bending forth to my will, the branch cries its loss, sees my victory but will not hand me the spoils, i am not worthy of this innocent prize.

An unusual anger courses through my veins eyes fixated on this divine jewel, it must me mine until snap, it gives, oh it gives me all the wonders all the thrills i have not felt as joy washes over scared but yearning i bring this unwilling offering to my face taking in the moment i rub her on my lips feel her warm her heart beat so close and tender jaw agape i rip into her lungs ceasing her being, droplets red as crimson rush down my chin an unfamiliar warmth wraps itself around my soul squeezing shoving every part of this essence into my being, restraint is a far off memory, sucking my fingers dry this can't be all somehow drained my body betrays me falling to my knees before the looming mother of the child i just consumed, i bow to her mouth to the ground: soak up any drops non can be wasted, this is not allowed

shipe planes underground trains

Undulating, ebbing, flowing. The tide.

Now washed up, now beached, now dragged out to sea.

Exiled on an island. Seawater, I cried.

Waiting and wishing that you might find me.

i passed the window full of the shadow of a husband and the dead forgotten flowers upon its windowsill

Ask of me anything- I can't refuse, Nothing whatever I'd withhold from you.

Knees tremble, heart pounds, forever confused.

Educate me, help me discern what's true.

i passed the closing churchdoor and the fine unfailing hinge

Roses are red, they say, violence is too, Sweet roses are black when I'm not with you.

and the bell that could not ring louder than the road

- O.E. Andrews.

i passed the apples filling up empty hands at midnight and the wind beneath posh widebrimmed hats trying to escape i passed castles of sand growing with willowbush love

down the angels come. tears of blood stain their mournful faces songs of despair ring through the mountaintops no fate has been appointed no gods have been created the soil beneath my fingertip begins to mould to clay roots reach upwards like the half­buried arms of the dead come to take me down. my screams cannot be heard over the tear’s and chimes, fighting would be laughable as the roots come forth dragging me down, gripping tighter and tighter the clay sucking me in, i must go quietly now. i hear the angels cry, the cry is not for me so i must obey silently i watch the sky be covered overhead i feel the splitting of gripped bones dirt filling every orifice of my body

and the ghosts upon the street kicked out of haunted buildings

Finale.

God’s as real as you make him, As all the world is a stage.

In a community hall, Cracked and mouldy with age.

So make the trees happy, and make the motorway sing.

Or make the skies cry, For the world’s what you bring.

God’s as real as you make him, For hate or for love.

Personally I find it easiest, To kill the old bastard off.

i passed by the frozen city and saw no cracks appear and i will pass through her gates without the heat of the sun

- Freddie Hoskin

- IM

The Book You Left In The Sink You could tell by your seaweed eyes Green as the grass we used to roll in Telling stories of once upon a time Wondering what way the chapters would lead us

do not eat the fruit child, i am your warning.

- Ellen O Leary

The Birdcage harder to touch an inch of navy starfull soul than know the shade of brown of each gruesome freckle

The scene set, a drunken party How you knew the night were to turn out Two sex scenes, five almost kisses And an attempt to jump over the fire

and so

A combination of loss and slight hyperbole Helicopter flies over, a drink is raised Flow of both of cider and conversation Eyes met, clothes didn't, you get the picture

we tore school shirt pockets with nails when we were young; and dreamt of nude sirens as churchbells broke the air

Next day, light hits the July tar The cigarettes first, the ground second Walked into the bathroom, face is abysmal Not as bad as the leather-bound surprise facing south

- DM

- gOb

Send submissions to features@collegetribune.ie

12

BUSINESS

editor@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 26th February 2013

€uro still uncertain Niall Conroy

Y

ou could be forgiven for thinking that the euros problems have all dissipated. Remember when we used to get daily bulletins on the prospects of the single currency surviving the latest crisis. It seems as if the debt crisis has gone away, at least for now. Last summer it appeared that both Italy and Spain would struggle to sell bonds at affordable interests. This would lead to a bailout by official lenders similar to that in Greece, Ireland and Portugal. You could say that it was acceptable to have Greece, Ireland and Portugal in bailout programmes as they were small enough to be funded and also it would not be fatal for the currency if any of them had to exit the common currency.

Spain and Italy however are a completely different matter. Spain experienced a similar housing boom and bust to ourselves and naturally has huge losses in its banks (like Ireland it took a long time to find out how much it would cost). Also, like Ireland, there had been a huge build up in private credit.

If Spain had been unable to secure affordable funding on the markets last year, default would have been inevitable. This would have led to all sorts of market jitters and Italy probably would have been in deep trouble too. With this happening, the currency union would have been brought down.

As has always been the case with the EU,

the necessary policy response was delivered only at the very last minute, averting the danger of a currency break up. The famous June 29th statement about “breaking the vicious circle between banks and sovereigns” was supposed to signal the construction of a proper banking union as well as some element of redress for sovereigns who have paid for their banking woes. Nothing has actually come of this yet, but the statement at the time was heralded as a signal that the EU wanted to alleviate the burden of bank losses on sovereigns, which would improve the sustainability of the country’s debts (particularly Spain). Perhaps more importantly the ECB committed to purchasing (apparently) unlimited amounts of Spanish and Italian debt on secondary markets if necessary to make it easier for the countries to access funding at affordable interest rates. This outright monetary transactions programme has not yet be needed, the threat of the ECB buying large quantities of government bonds has been enough to convince the markets that Spain and Italy are pretty safe bets.

Despite the apparent improvement of market sentiment towards Eurozone countries, there are still fears that the Eurozone made be back in limbo land soon. Despite bond yields declining, the economic fundamentals are no better in Spain or Italy than

they were last summer.

Spain has an unemployment rate of 26% almost double the rate in Ireland. With little or no growth in the rest of the Eurozone it is hard to see how this will improve any time soon. Although significant attempts to curb the deficit have been made, the government still has a deficit of 7% of GDP. On top of all of that, a corruption scandal has recently implicated a former treasurer of a leading political

party who had €14m “resting” in a Swiss bank account. Mariano Rajoy the Prime Minister has also been implicated with accusations of receiving €34,000 per year for 11 years from builders (the similarities between Ireland and Spain really are remarkable). With Italian election results looming, and the prospect of a hung parliament or even the return of Silvio “Bunga Bunga” Berlusconi, the Eurozone may still be in grave danger.

A refashioned Abercrombie Eoin Callaghan

F

ollowing its flagship opening on Dublin’s College Green last November, we took stock of Abercrombie & Fitch’s position on the NYSE and asked some questions about its future financial performance. With the announcement of fourth quarter results last week, we can now assess how the company has performed.

Peaking in mid 2007 at $82.65 a share, A&F’s share price plummeted to a relatively meagre $20 the following year as its competitors managed to offer a “Casual Luxury” alternative at a fraction of its high end prices.

After witnessing a 30% fall in comparable sales over one year, management set out to re-establish a strong foothold in the retail sector by expanding its cheaper Hollister offering, and looking beyond North America as a sales base. Unfortunately this international expansion coincided with a huge reduction in Western demand, which has forced A&F management to continually alter their strategic growth plans – including a much smaller Dublin store than they had hoped for.

While weak consumer confidence both in America and Europe is beyond the control of management, A&F became the victim of some unforgiving retail faux-pas in recent years. Having taken its eye off the increasingly dynamic world of disposable fashion, and possibly regarding itself as a brand immune to short term trends, A&F created a crippling large level of inventory. In order to shift merchandise in the Christmas period of 2011, the company had to slash prices across all its brands, which in turn hit the bottom line significantly.

While the Abercrombie & Fitch Dublin flagship store opened in November, the

group’s stock was trading at $32.85. Consensus among analysts placed a price target of $38.07 in the short run, reaching $50-60 in the longer term. Two weeks later, following third quarter results on November 14th, the ANF listing experienced its largest surge since an initial public offering in 1996. Shares jumped 34% to $41.92, significantly higher than what we had expected from our analyst targets. These gains were supported by reductions in inventory, cost-cutting measures and strong international sales over the three months. The share price experienced further growth into 2013, hitting that longer term analyst target of $50 in less than two months.

Taking lead from top rival American Eagle, which reacted earlier to the likes of H&M and Forever 21, A&F made a conscious decision to offer more “current” lines with much less use of its logo. This change in fashion tactic has stood to A&F management who have been able to keep previously declining sales in the US flat, while increasing international revenue by 34% in the most recent set of results announced last Friday. A&F also smashed analysts’ predicted EPS last week, with $2.21 earned on each share in the final quarter of 2012 versus an expected $1.96.

However, revenue came in short at $1.74 billion - $20 million less than had been anticipated.

Chairman Mike Jeffries said that “earnings significantly exceeded expectations due to a strong gross margin performance for the quarter, allied with continued tight expense control.” While Mr. Jeffries’ comment highlights how a focus on cost reduction has already borne fruit, the company continues to close underperforming US stores, with 40-50

to shut up shop in 2013. At the same time, Abercrombie & Fitch flagship stores will open in Seoul and Shanghai, with about 20 more international Hollister stores due to begin operations this year.

Apart from the small miss on revenue at the end of the 2012, A&F has performed much better than many analysts had expected only a few months ago. The stock grew by 9.5% in the first 5 weeks of 2013, but experienced a drop of 8.45% last week. While measures to drive down unit costs have en-

couraged more buoyant profits, the company continues to deliver a disappointing return on equity which may be driving investors into competitor stocks. Jeffries has publicly noted this low return on equity as a major weakness in the company, pledging to examine all opportunities to bring it in line with the industry. As somebody in Ireland once said, “A lot done, but a lot more to do”. A&F has picked the low hanging, costly fruit and now has a tougher job in store to increase the return on equity invested into the company.

14 GNÉ - AILT

gaelige@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE 26th February 2013

Teangacha Nua – Foghlaim nó Sealbhú Eoin Ó Cróinín Scríbhneoir

Ó

s rud é go bhfuilim ag déanamh staidéir ar dhá theanga ar an ollscoil, tá an-suim agam i bhfoghlaim teangacha agus sa tslí is fearr lena dhéanamh. Nuair a thosaigh mé sa chéad bhliain ní raibh mo chuid Fraincise thar moladh beirte, in ainneoin gur chaith mé sé bliana á ‘foghlaim’ ar scoil agus gur éirigh go maith liom inti san Ardteist. Is ar éigean a bhí mé in ann comhrá bunúsach a dhéanamh inti agus ní raibh tuiscint ró-mhaith agam ar an teanga scríofa ná labhartha, gan trácht ar í a scríobh mé féin. Is dócha gur mar gheall ar an gcaoi inar múineadh í ar scoil go raibh mo chumas inti chomh lag sin, nuair a cheapfá go mbeadh eolas agus cumas maith agam inti i ndiaidh dom an méid sin ama a chaitheamh léi i rith na mblianta ar scoil. I ndiaidh dom roinnt mhaith fiosrúcháin agus machnaimh a dhéanamh ar an tslí is fearr agus is éifeachtaí le teanga eachtrannach a fhoghlaim, tuigim anois gur chuir mé an-chuid ama amú ar scoil ag plé leis an bhFraincis, agus is amhlaidh a bhí agus atá do na mílte dalta gach bliain sa chóras scolaíochta.

Sílim go bhfuil roinnt mhaith cúiseanna ann nach n-éiríonn le teagasc na dteangacha ar scoil. I dtosach báire, níl mórán suime ag daltaí meánscoile teanga a fhoghlaim ag an aois atá acu, agus sílim gur mar thoradh ar an gcaoi a mhúintear teangacha ar scoil atá cuid den mhilleán don easpa suime seo. Ar scoil déantar staidéar ar theangacha don chuid is mó toisc gur gá ceann nó dhó díobh a dhéanamh don Teastas Sóisearach agus don Ardteist. Na daoine is fearr a éiríonn leo teanga áirithe a thabhairt leo, is daoine iad a bhfuil an-dúil acu an teanga a fhoghlaim ar chúis éigin. Tá mórán cúiseanna ann a spreagann daoine i mbun teanga a fhoghlaim: post a aimsiú i dtír na teanga, suim i gcultúr nó litríocht na teanga, cúrsaí grá, bá le muintir na teanga, srl. Sílimse féin nach bhfuil a leithéid de chúiseanna ag mic léinn méanscoile le teanga a fhoghlaim. Is minic go mbíonn siad ró-óg le cúiseanna den chineál sin a bheith acu, agus is minic, mar sin, nach dtugann siad aire ar bith sa rang Fraincise nó Gearmáinise agus go dtosaíonn siad ag samhlú na teanga le ceanchtanna leadránacha

gramadaí nó le comhráite amaideacha faoin méid a tharla do Hans nuair a chuaigh sé chuig an bpictiúrlann an deireadh seachtaine seo caite. Ar ndóigh, bíonn corrdhalta ann a chuireann suim i dteanga ach ní mhúsclaítear a shuim sa teanga ar scoil – is dócha go bhfuil tuistí aige a spreagann é nó go raibh an t-ádh air go ndeachaigh sé ar saoire chuig tír na teanga.

Sa teangeolaíocht déantar idirdhealú anois idir ‘sealbhú teanga’ agus ‘foghlaim teanga’. Is próiséas é sealbhú teanga a tharlaíonn i ngan fhios duit. Sealbhaíonn tú teanga trí bheith ag éisteacht léi agus trí bheith á léamh. Foghlaimíonn tú teanga go comhfhiosach trí staidéar a dhéanamh uirthi. Aithnítear anois go dtógaimid linn timpeall 90/95% de theanga trína sealbhú agus 5/10% trína foghlaim. Ar an drochuair, dírítear ar an bhfoghlaim ar scoil i bhfoirm ceachtanna gramadaí a dhéanamh agus liostaí foclóra a chur de ghlanmheabhair. Ní hamháin gur modh mí-éifeachtach é seo le teacht isteach ar theanga ach is modh thar a bheith leadránach é. D’fhéadfadh ranganna teanga a bheith i bhfad níos taitneamhaí

agus d’fhéadfadh na daltaí i bhfad níos mó den teanga a thabhairt leo dá ndíreofaí ar an ‘sealbhú teanga’ trí ábhar éisteachta suimiúil a chur ar fáil dóibh agus iad a chur ag léamh rudaí a bhfuil dúil acu féin a léamh as teann suime. Tá rud amháin cinnte - ba cheart níos lú béime a chur ar cheachtanna gramadaí agus ar fhoghlaim liostaí foclóra agus briathra. Ní hé sin le rá nár cheart an ghramadach a mhúineadh ar chor ar bith – tá sí úsáideach má tá a dhóthain den teanga sealbhaithe agat le teacht i dtír uirthi, nó más duine tú a bhfuil modh smaointeoireachta anailíteach agat a thugann grá faoi leith duit don ghramadach (na daoine sin a théann a luí le Graiméar na mBráithre Críostaí, faoi mar a deir Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin).

Ar ndóigh, an t-idirdhealú seo idir sealbhú agus foghlaim ba cheart do mhúinteoirí Gaeilge aird a thabhairt air freisin agus na ranganna Gaeilge a athrú dá réir. Sílim go bhfuil rudaí áirithe go bhféadfadh múinteoirí a dhéanamh le cabhrú le daltaí an teanga a shealbhú.

Rud amháin go bhféadfaí a dhéanamh ná ábhar léitheoireachta

suimiúil a chur ar fáil do dhaltaí agus rang amháin in aghaidh na seachtaine a thabhairt don léitheoireacht. Bheadh cead ag na daltaí rud ar bith a léamh sa Ghaeilge ar feadh an ranga agus aon cheisteanna atá acu i dtaobh na gramadaí nó an fhoclóra, d’fhéafaidís ceist a chur ar an múinteoir. Ba cheart don ábhar léitheoireachta a bheith suimiúil agus so-thuigthe, dha rud atá deacair a aimsiú in éineacht a chéile i leabhar amháin, ach tá go leor leabhar Gaeilge scríofa do dhéagóirí agus caithfidh cuid acu a bheith réasúnta suimiúil! Tá greannáin ann sa Ghaeilge freisin, rudaí a bheadh oiriúnach do na ranganna sóisearacha. Ar ndóigh, beidh cumais éagsúla ag daltaí éagsúla i dteanga ar bith, agus bheadh ábhair léitheoireachta ar leibhéil éagsúla ag teastáil, agus bheadh an dualgas ar an múinteoir cabhrú le gach dalta leabhar oiriúnach a aimsiú.

Má tá tuilleadh eolais uait faoin gcaoi is fearr le teanga a shealbhú, breathnaigh ar shuíomh idirlín an teangeolaí Stephen Krashen nó breathnaigh ar na físeáin ar YouTube leis.

Oifigeach na Gaeilge le hAMLÉ Tá Eoin Ó Murchú ina mhac léinn leighis sa bhliain dheiridh den chéim sa COBÁC (UCD) agus tá beartaithe aige seasamh mar iarrthóir ar Oifigeach na Gaeilge le hAMLÉ (USI).

Cén spriocanna atá agat?

Feachtais d’Oifigigh Ghaeilge: Thabharfainn cabhair d’Oifigigh Ghaeilge áitiúla acmhainní atá ar comhchéim le coláistí eile a fháil; Scéimeanna Cónaithe, comharthaíocht, ranganna saor in aisce, agus chinnteoinn go mbeadh Cumainn Ghaeilge ag feidhmiú is lonnaithe i ngach coláiste, chomh mór agus atá ar mo chumas.

Fóram/comórtas idir na meáin Ghaeilge ar an tríú leibhéal, le grúpa eile más féidir le go leanfadh sé ar aghaidh. Tá an t-uafás ar siúl ag mic léinn i réimse na meán faoi láthair ach d’fhéadfaí an caighdeán a ardú go mór trí nasc mar seo a chruthú agus a bhuanú.

Tuilleadh forbartha a dhéanamh ar dhíospóireachtaí tríú leibhéal a eagraítear i gcomhpháirt le hAMLÉ ag Oireachtas na Gaeilge faoi láthair; ceardlanna, comórtais réigiúnda is cinn in ollscoileanna faoi leith.

Ba chóir fóram aistriúcháin saor in aisce a bhunú a bhféadfadh AMLÉ úsáid a bhaint as, rud éigin chomh simplí le grúpa facebook le scata daoine atá sásta mionteachtaireachtaí nó eile a aistriú don eagraíocht. Maraíonn seo argóint

chostas is mhoill na n-aistriúchán, agus bheinn ag súil go méadódh seo líon na dteachtaireachtaí i nGaeilge ar na meáin shóisialta/póstaeir.

Feachtais Náisiúnta; taobh amuigh de cheisteanna dírithe ar an tríú leibhéal, tá i gceist agam stocaireacht a dhéanamh ar son dhá ábhar don ardteist, ceann dírithe ar chumarsáid agus bunaithe ar TEG (B2), agus cúrsa roghnach a dhíreodh ar chúrsaí litríochta. Comharthaíocht bóthair, lena scríbhneoireacht mhaslach achrannach iodálach, sna ceantracha Gaeltachta fiú amháin, ba chóir í a athrú le go mbeadh an dá theanga ann i ndathanna éagsúla ach chomh mór lena chéile.

Cén fáth gur chóir do dhaoine vótáil ar do shon?

1. Tá taithí fhada, ilghnéitheach agam bheith ag plé le cur chun cinn na Gaeilge agus imeachtaí trí Ghaeilge ar an tríú leibhéal.

2. Bheinn sásta bheith i mo ghlór láidir ar son na teanga, agus ní ghéillfinn do phlámás is béal bán an stáit maidir lena bpolasaithe teanga, agus an teip leanúnach seirbhísí as Gaeilge a chur ar fáil,

sa Ghaeltacht ach go háirithe, áit a bhfuil an teanga á creimeadh faoi lathair. Níor leor caint riamh.

3. Is minic gurb ionann cur chun cinn na teanga ar an tríú leibhéal agus spreagadh ‘chúpla focal’ na ndaoine, agus cé gur gné an-tábhachtach é seo, ba chóir freastal ar chainteoirí líofa mar thosaíocht.

Cén éifeacht a bheadh ag cinneadh COBÁC ar bhallraíocht AMLÉ ar do fheachtas?

Dar liom go lagódh tarraingt siar ó AMLÉ taobh na mac léinn i ndíospoireachtaí is cainteanna amach anseo is go gcuirfeadh sé le neamhspéis na mac léinn. Cé gur iomaí locht atá ar an eagraíocht, measaim gurbh fhearr fanacht inti.

Beag beann ar chinneadh na mac léinn sa COBÁC, tabharfad faoi na haidhmeanna mar a leagadh amach thuas a bhaint amach.

Taithí OCP do Na Gaeil Óga CLG, OCP Chub Chonradh na Gaeilge, Reachtaire ar An gCumann Gaelach COBÁC, bunaitheoir agus comheagarthóir COGAR!, comhláithreoir Tuairisc Raidió na

Mainicící ag an 'Seó Faisin' san Atrium ar an Déardaoin seo caite.

Life. Iarstiúrthóir le Seachtain na Gaeilge. Coiste Gnó Chonradh na Gaeilge, bainteach leis An gCumann Liteartha, An Cumann Dramaíochta agus díospóireachtaí mac léinn. Taithí ag eagrú imeachtaí, aistriúchán, dearadh dóibh is cur le chéile Threoirleabhar d’Imeachtaí do Chumainn Ghaelacha.

Tuairimí eile Ó thráth go céile níor éirigh leis

an Oifigeach dul chun cinn rómhór a dhéanamh. Aithnímse mar ról sách teoranta é mar sin féin a thugann deis do dhuine cabhrú le hOifigigh Ghaeilge agus feidhmiú mar urlabhraí Gaeilge ar son na mac léinn ar fad. Mura n-éiríonn liom tá sé lán i gceist agam tacú le Feidhlim Seoighe, iarrthóir eile an róil.

Tá fáilte mhór roimh thuairimí daoine. Déan teagmháil le hEoin ag Eoin.o-murchu@ucdconnect.ie

editor@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE

26th February 2013

Courage

REGULARS

15

Elizabeth Coote Writer

T

his article was to continue in the same vein as I had begun last October. I have been attempting to get across the message of pride, involvement, community, that in my opinion students should participate in while attending their University. However, this article will have a different tone to my previous ones.

I was approached by a student two weeks ago who asked me if I would support the three students who were being brought before a disciplinary meeting. I asked what had they done, the young man explained it was for the protest that had taken place on the day that the Student Centre was opened, and that there had been eggs thrown and some of the eggs had hit a man, employed by the College.

With no hesitation my answer was of course I will support them; I wrote an e-mail to Professor Mark Rogers and asked him to show fairness and justice to all three students.

I then made enquiries with some academic staff to ask if there was any support for the students and was told, yes there is, many academics are on board to support them. I am unable to say who supported them, but I hope that the students were given full support by everyone who was aware of how serious being brought before Prof.

Rogers to answer for what took place at that protest was.

The stress and strain for the students and also their parents must have been horrendous. Student protests and anger are not uncommon all over the world; it is part of student life.

Over my years working and studying in UCD I have witnessed many such protests. Those protests are almost always seeking justice and fair play. Very often it is through people protesting that change occurs, and we get fair play and justice.

Any of you who have read my articles know my thoughts on justice and fair play. It takes huge courage to stand up and fight for your fellow man and woman and see fairness for all. While I have never condoned violence in any protest, I do support them.

I was supported myself in my own protest in 1990 to retain the student shops and we won. This was achieved by people standing together and supporting the shop staff. Across all sections of the University they stood up spoke out and voiced their opinion that we were being treated unfairly.

All of their support encouraged us to stand firm and bring our case to the highest level, the Governing Body. We protested on the steps of the Tierney Building, where the Governing Body were holding their meeting to decide our fate.

They voted to keep the shops open,

keeping the Administrator for the Students’ Union Mr Gerry Horkan who was employed by UCD in the same position and instructing him to watch over the finances of the business of the SU which he had been doing successfully for 14 years and continued for another 10 years, having completed 24 years. During these years we never had any problems with staff or the finances.

Successful protest and courage helped us retain our jobs, during that horrible stressful period. There is nothing wrong with protest and while throwing eggs was not nice for the person who had the egg fall on his or her clothing, I believe it was not meant to harm anyone.

There are two sides to any protest, those who protest and those who they are protesting against.

The title of this article is Courage; it takes great courage to stand shoulder to shoulder with those who may be facing opposition to their honest held beliefs that an injustice is taking place while all around them there is the opposite view point. Those with this courage are rare, however they almost always are right, and in time it is their courage and perseverance that finally wins.

We all have knowledge of someone in our midst who shows great courage and fights for our rights.

It is to these people that we owe so much.

The leaders in all societies should be answerable for their actions, which they perform on our behalf, but we must always be vigilant and question their actions and their agenda.

We are a democracy and we must never allow bullies to have control in our lives, whether that is in our College, our workplace, our homes, within our families, or our country.

In one of my articles I wrote about the loss of many of the finest people employed by SU and how they lost their employment in 2012, it took courage to stand up and support those workers.

Those who did give support showed their true colours and courage, and those people who did not support them and in some cases failed them by not doing their jobs properly will have to live with their own conscience. I now wish to show you what I believe is real courage shown by a wonderful priest, who was a chaplain in UCD for over 16 years, 1984-2002 these dates are guess work, but close enough. This man was a true example of what Christ calls us to be to our fellow man.

His name is Fr. John Hassett, he prefers to be called John, but I wish to give him his title because he

deserves to be shown respect. Last Saturday while reading the Irish Times, I came upon an article written by journalist Mr Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent, in which he wrote of John Hassett’s leaving his post as dean of the Maynooth deanery in Dublin’s Catholic archdiocese.

It shows John as a man who has shown great courage and integrity, in resigning he shows us that he is willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with a fellow colleague. Read the article for yourselves.

May I add that during John Hassett’s years in UCD he supported both students and staff. Many of us brought our worries and troubles to his door.

He never failed us, working tirelessly all those years.

He continues to work tirelessly as a parish priest and moderator in west Dublin, working every hour that God sends him to help and support his parishioners.

I became a friend to John while he worked in UCD I saw him doing the work of Jesus Christ, he never took one penny from anyone, he urged all of us to give donations directly to any charity of our own choosing, or to give direct to those amongst us who needed help.

I wish at this point to explain what Fr. John Hassett shows to me, for me he is a man of the people who ‘Walks daily in the footsteps of Christ’.

When I think of what Jesus might have been like or if he was living today how would he act towards people, I think of John. John you have given your life to God and you have kept your promise to do his work, showing love and compassion on a daily basis.

Thank you. During these last few weeks the media is filled with past injustices to so many of our fellow

The leaders in all societies should be answerable for their actions, which they perform on our behalf, but we must always be vigilant and question their actions and their agenda.

citizens, many of them in my own age group now in my seventies.

When we read of the sad lives that these men and women have endured, we feel shame. We ask how those horrible things could have happened to so many little children.

My own opinion is that many of our citizens were ignorant and uneducated, through no fault of their own, however those who were educated did not put their heads over the parapet, and they kept quite and towed the line.

They soothed their conscience by believing that these poor, uneducated young people had brought it upon themselves. We hear the same sentiments from people today, but that is not the case, poverty and not having the opportunity of education is not a crime committed by infants, it is a crime that all of us must take our fair share of the blame for.

When we look to our past it teaches us how we have lived, how we have made mistakes, and how we can rectify these mistakes.

We cannot afford the luxury of never learning and admitting there were mistakes made. We must admit to what went wrong and openly and with transparency put things right for all who have been affected by injustice.

We must have courage and where we see any bullying, injustice, greed, or anything that hurts our fellow man ‘Speak Out and have No Fear’.

Remember that we are the lucky ones who are getting our education; it is what we do with that education that will make the difference in our own lives.

What we do for ourselves, but also what we do for those who are less fortunate.

This will be the reward, showing we stood firm and were courageous, which I do admit is not the easy thing to do, however deep down we know it is the right thing to do.

It’s Satire, STUPID!

INSIDE "Pope Benedict pulls out early -reconsiders condoms" "Dwarf shortage in Dublin"

"Corduroy pillows are making headlines"

Fianna Fáil poll scandal revealed

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ollowing recent polls showing a growth in support for the Fianna Fáil party and calls from a number of prominent psychologists for a national lobotomy, the Turbine launched an investigation into the matter. After latterly minutes of investigation we can reveal the dastardly plan of the “Republican Party”.

The Dev brigade has strategically located their redundant County Councillors and erstwhile TDs in various communities around the country following their former governmental plan for decentralisation. These Fianna Fail diehards then rush to any house where a phone can be heard ringing, sneak in the window to answer it, and, posing as the homeowner, answer various questions to pollers with the aim of inflating the figures for

Fianna Fail support.

Mary Hanafin and Martin Mansergh are said to be the most precocious window divers in the pack. Between them they are said to have answered hundreds of phone calls declaring their love of the party and their undying wish for them to be back in power in 2016 so they can be afforded yet another opportunity to destroy the economy.

Due to the exhaustion caused by such rampant exertion there is an obvious need to refresh the party line-up for the local elections. Rumour has it that some very familiar faces in UCD might be seen hanging from telephone and electricity polls all over the country for the upcoming locals. We can only wonder who they might be.

During the course of our investigation we contacted a number of

Fianna Fáil members for comment.

When asked about the scheme to boost the Fianna Fáil ratings however, none had any recollection of the plan. In fact they didn’t have any recollection of anything at all.

They couldn’t even remember their last term in government or the bank guarantee or the tribunals or the various other heinous aspects

of their all too long rule. This is believed to be a symptom of what has come to be known as Bertie syndrome, and affects one out of every one government TD. The disgraced party are living in the hope that the illness might be contagious enough to infect the rest of the Irish electorate and thus propel them back into power.

"Calendar thief gets 12 months"

"Doctors confirm stalking athletes keeps you fit"

"Organ festival ends in smashing climax"

"Procrastinators unite.

Tomorrow"

UN E X P ECTED ITEM IN TH E BA G GA G E AR EA

sport@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE

26th February 2013

Oscar Pistorius and the future of the Paralympics Thomas Hobbs Sports Writer

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n roughly 100 days, Oscar Pistorius, quadruple Paralympics gold medallist and Olympian will return to court to be tried for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp, the high profile girlfriend of the world’s highest profile disabled athlete, which occurred overnight on 14th February. Pistorius maintains that the tragedy was an accident as he fired four shots in the direction of what he believed to be a hostile intruder to his home.

Dominating mainstream and back page news globally, the accumulating momentum of the melodrama surrounding the alleged murder has become somewhat onerous. The ineptitudes of a shoddy legal procedural system have been exposed with one South African criminologist flatteringly branding it “a marathon”. A day after advising the Court of the ‘flight risk’ posed by Oscar Pistorius in light of his potential bail, the case’s chief investigator, Hilton Botha, was pulled from his role after farcically belated revelations of seven outstanding charges of attempted

murder against Botha himself. In keeping with the drama, Pistorius’ lawyer has confirmed that the disabled athlete’s brother Carl faces a culpable homicide (manslaughter) charge. The speculation surrounding the circumstances of the tragedy has proven almost as harrowing as the death of Steenkamp; while stories surrounding Pistorius’ temper and aggression continue to materialise, some commentators have perhaps distastefully pointed to his competitive streak as a sports man as a factor contributing towards Pistorius’ alleged guilt.

But what does this mean for Pistorius’ future in sport and, by potential extension, that of the Paralympics? Regardless of the verdict in the summer’s trial, the ‘Blade Runner’ faces an uncertain twilight to his career. He has acted as a figurehead for disabled athletes, performing a transformative role as the first double amputee to earn the right to compete alongside ablebodied Olympians. This might suggest that the Paralympics has come to depend on Pistorius whose lega-

cy was due to come full circle in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

However in spite of recent developments which have hampered and may further hamper Pistorius’ legacy to come, the Paralympics will continue to go from strength to strength. His impromptu outburst following his Paralympics 200m loss to Alan Oliveira in London last summer was the manifestation of the fact that the Brazilian has competed with him in every sense of the word. He is not the first disabled athlete to compete in the Olympics – George Eyser competed in the vault and rope climb as far back as the 1904 St. Louis games with a wooden leg. There have been several others since, even after the creation of the Paralympics in 1948. Pistorius’ fellow South African long-distance swimmer Natalie du Toit, having lost her leg in a car accident at age 17, placed 16th in the 10km swim in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Carbon-fiber prosthetic legs continue to rewrite paradigms in the field of disables athletes competing at the highest able-bodied

level. Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee, has touted the possibility of someday merging the Paralympic Games with the Olympic Games.

And so the last 10 days have left Craven in an unusual position in which he is trying to assert the IPC’s stance in relation to the charges facing one of their athletes.

Given the heinous nature of the alleged crime, would it be correct for the IPC to in turn officially disassociate themselves with Pistorius the already incumbent effective and physical disassociation and would a failure to do so equate to a vindication of the alleged act and an undermining of the South African authorities? To date, Craven has of yet dodged the issue, moving to convey the condolences of the IPC to the Steenkamp family and asserting the bright future of the Paralympics in spite of the potential loss of Pistorius: “We’ve got so many stars coming through that this will not be an issue”. Pistorius will stand trial for murder on 4th June. A nation holds it breath.

UCD win war of attrition to advance to Fitzgibbon Cup Semi UCD 1-16 UL 0-17 Conall Devlin Sports Editor

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ed by their inspirational captain Noel McGrath, UCD booked their place in the Fitzgibbon Cup semi-finals with a gritty and hard-fought win over UL last Wednesday at Belfield. The cerebral free-taking of McGrath was the cornerstone to UCD’s victory, as was the stingy and resolute defending of the UCD full-back line, marshalled by Rory O’Carroll.

UCD looking sluggish and uninspired for the first 15 minutes. Playing with the strong breeze blowing into the Clonskeagh end, UL rattled off 6 points in the first quarter, including 3 from the diminutive yet deadly Kieran Morris and a quickfire double from Brian Stapleton.

UCD could only muster a McGrath ’65 in response, and it was looking as if the 12 year wait for Fitzgibbon success would go on.

McGrath and Oisin Gough began to grab a foothold in midfield in the second quarter, with their ability to pick up secondary possession key in allowing their team back into the game. After two scores off McGrath placed balls, UCD put away what proved to be an invaluable goal.

After great hassling work by Garrrett Sinnott and Patrick Murphy as UL attempted to work the ball out of defence, the ball broke out to Jack Guiney on the right and he coolly buried the sliotar past Niall McGrath in the UL net, bringing UCD level.

There was time however for UL to edge ahead again before the break. Morris was punishing the indiscretions of the UCD players severely, knocking over a further four pointed frees. UL were also finding success up the middle of the pitch, with Darach Honan often wreaking havoc when getting time to run at goal. UCD managed to keep in touch with a brace of pointed frees from McGrath, an angled drive over

by Murphy and gem from Guiney leaving the score at the change of ends 0-13 1-7.

Half-time brought some positional changes for UCD. Cathal Kenny was moved to midfield, with McGrath being moved to a more forward role. This, and the fact that UCD now played with the wind in their favour, saw them dominate the second half. After Kilkenny’s Michael Fennelly tapped over a score from the throw-in, Kenny scored UCD’s first point of the second half, launching a bomb from 75 yards out which carried over easily, and this was followed by another brace from McGrath. UL were still well in the game however, Glynn and Brian Stapleton allowing the southerners to retain their advantage.

Referee Brain Gavin was kept on his toes as tempers threatened to boil over. After a stunning hook by Shane Norton to prevent a certain UL goal, a spot of hurley swinging

UCD's captain Noel McGrath celebrates broke out. Paul Kelly was lucky not to see red, with a yellow card for him and Rory O’Carroll being the result of the incident. A fierce battle began to evolve between McGrath and Morris, who were trading frees almost every passage of play. In the middle period of the second half they shared 7 points, with McGrath getting the edge knocking over four of those.

After a sustained period of UCD attack, Cathal Kenny was hauled down as he was marauding towards the posts, and the resultant free brought UCD level with four minutes to play. In a thrilling finale, the brilliance of McGrath won the day for UCD. He firstly won and scored a free just on halfway to give UCD their first lead of the day right on the sixtieth minute. He followed this up with the score of the day to put an exclamation point on the result, fetching loose ball way out on the right and hitting a perfect shot

over his shoulder to seal the UCD win.

UCD can now look forward to a semi-final clash with UCC, which will take place at the finals weekend in GMIT on the 2nd and 3rd of March. WIT will face Mary Immaculate in the other pairing.

Scorers UCD: N McGrath 0-12 (0-10f, 0-1 ‘65), J Guiney 1-1, P Murphy 0-2, C Kenny 0-1 Scorers UL: K Morris 0-9 (0-7f, 0-2 ’65), A Ryan, P Kelly, B Stapleton 0-2 each, M Fennelly, J Glynn 0-1 each.

UCD: B Murphy, J Dougan , W Phelan, J Gannon, B O’Carroll, R O’Carroll, S Norton, C Kenny, O Gough, N McGrath, P Murphy, C Allis, D Fox, J Guiney, G Sinnott UL: N McGrath, M Carmody, M Walsh, P Stapleton, P Walsh, C Ryan, J Gallagher, M Fennelly, T Heffernan, B Stapleton, A Ryan , K Morris, J Glynn, D Honan

SPORT

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UCD win UCD to host Swimming Intervarsities Conall Devlin Sports Editor

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CD will host the 2013 National Swimming and LifeSaving Intervarsity Competition at their new, state-of-the-art 50m pool in the UCD Sport and Fitness Centre on 8 and 9 March 2013.

Teams from DCU, Trinity, DIT, NUIM, NUIG, UCC, UL, Queens University, Sligo IT, CIT, WIT will compete to unseat reigning champions UCD, who are hoping for a third successive title.

Captained by Beijing Olympian, Aisling Cooney, the UCD women’s team hope to retain their category title with a strong side, including current Irish record holders Shani Stallard and Shauna O’Brien, but University of Ulster Jordanstown are set to challenge with the inform Beth Carson, who recently broke Michelle Smith’s sixteen year record in the 100m butterfly.

The men’s competition promises to be just as exciting with Arthur Lanigan O’Keefe, the World Junior Modern Pentathlon bronze medallist and 2012 London Olympian, assisting UCD’s bid to regain this category title after NUIG won the section last year. NUIM is also a worthy contender as they try to make a comeback as overall winners.

UCD Head Swim Coach and Director of Aquatics Earl McCarthy said, “It’s a fantastic opportunity to showcase the excellent swimming talent within Irish Universities and also a great chance for participants to build new relationships with other athletes from across the country.”

According to Head of UCD Sport Brian Mullins, “This is an important event for UCD and the first to be staged in the new pool. We are delighted to welcome teams from across Ireland to compete and trust that it will be an exciting competition.”

The swimming heats will take place on Friday 8 March from 5pm9pm, and the finals will be held on Saturday 9 March from 9am1.45pm, following by the Lifesaving competition.

18 18 SPORT

26th February 2013

UCD win 2013 Karate Intervarsities Paul Byrne Sports Writer

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sport@collegetribune.ie

COLLEGE TRIBUNE

niversity of Limerick played host to two intervarsities on the second weekend of February, with the karate team joining the canoeing club on a trip down the M7. The latter’s members probably outdid their martial art cousins in terms of style at the post event celebrations, hitting the university bar dressed in all manner of fantastic costumes, including animals, objects, and video game characters.

However, when it came to the main event, the karate club gave everything. St John's ambulance was on hand, as usual, though fortunately the day passed without serious incident. Karate events were grouped by belt level, gender, and type of competition, with both 'kata' and sparring, or 'kumite', events throughout the day.

UCD sent a team of thirteen to defend the trophy it had won the previous two years, and started the day in bright fashion, with Jack Roche winning gold medal for kata in the junior category, and UCD taking a silver medal in the team kumite. In the purple belt inters, Sarah Finn won gold in kumite after a bruising final against fellow UCD member Khadijah Haron, while Carol Ann Tari did likewise in the green and yellow belts event.

The black and brown belt bouts are the most highly anticipated of any intervarsities and when these began late on Saturday afternoon, the background noise of the UL Arena quietened to a tense hush.

UCD Karate, which concentrates on giving students new to martial arts the chance to start, fielded only one black belt this year, as well as two as brown belts, and faced tough competition in this segment, with several members of the Irish national team among their other competitors.

Brown belt Darren Doherty fought bravely and nearly landed an ambitious flying kick in kumite, before a furious attack by his black belt opponent ended his hopes in the competition. In the Ladies, UCD faired better, with both UCD competitors reaching the final of the kumite. In the ultimate round, Maria Aragane narrowly missed connecting with a reverse kick, before a wonderful lunge and strike from Ash McNabb sealed her victory.

In the end UCD ended the day convincingly far ahead of their Cork and Limerick rivals, and lifted the cup for the third year running.

Stage set for UCD AFC Manager Martin Russell speaks to Amy Eustace ahead of the new League of Ireland campaign

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glance at the team sheets of most League of Ireland clubs tends to speak volumes about the role that UCD AFC have played in rearing young Irish talent. Many of the league’s household names found their feet in spells under the floodlights at the Belfield Bowl.

More recently, some of the club’s graduates have made the move that most Irish players can only dream of; to pastures new in England and beyond.

Indeed, just two weeks ago, former UCD man and current Derby County striker Conor Sammon made his international debut in Ireland’s friendly tie against Poland. His is a path that current manager Martin Russell is hopeful more of the Students’ stars will take in the future.

Last year the club were plunged into the spotlight when, speaking on RTÉ’s Monday Night Soccer after a game with Dundalk, former Cork City player Dave Barry suggested that the Students were not subject to the same sort of professional pressure as their opponents. "They are bottom of the table, there is no pressure on them. Financially there is no talk about paying rent or mortgages. UCD haven't got that burden,” Barry said. “For them, it's 'I have to pass my exams, I can go home or whatever' whereas Dundalk are a professional club, trying to play in a professional league and stay in this league which is very, very difficult."

Needless to say, Barry’s remarks didn’t go down too well in Belfield, especially with the manager.

“At the time Dave mentioned that Dundalk’s players probably had more ambitions in soccer and that the pressure wasn’t the same for UCD, and I just disagreed because any footballer that comes to the club, we tell them to be as ambitious as possible,” Russell explains. “The pressure that we put on ourselves is from within; we try and help our players to achieve what Conor (Sammon) has achieved, or Gary Dicker, who has gone away to play for Brighton, or Paul Corry who went to Sheffield Wednesday.”

As usual, the off-season has seen a number of UCD’s competitors snatch some of their top performers. Influential midfielder Paul Corry made the impressive switch to the Championship before the end of last season, but the League of Ireland transfer window has also seen Paul O’Conor and Graham Rusk move to Drogheda, Ciaran Nangle and Chris Lyons leave for Bohemians and Danny Ledwith coaxed away

by Shamrock Rovers. Losing his brightest young players is a phenomenon Russell is used to by now, and he is confident that the club has the resources to mitigate their losses.

“At the end of the season, the bigger clubs who can offer financial rewards come in for our players, so it’s hard to keep them,” he concedes. “What we try and do is give the next group a chance and the likes of the lads that have gone last year will have benefited from that too. They may not have been playing a year or two ago, and that’s just the way it is.

It’s continuous development.”

LEAGUE FIXTURES Bohemians (away) Friday March 8th Derry City (home) March 15th Limerick FC (away) March 18th/19th TBC Dundalk (home) March 23rd/24th TBC Bray Wanderers (away) March 30th Sligo Rovers (home) April 1st Cork City (away) April 5th St. Patrick’s Athletic (home) April 12th Drogheda United (away) April 19th Shamrock Rovers (home) April 26th

“We’ve lost about five players, but the rest of the squad were happy to stay with us. Robbie Creevy has come back from Australia, we’ve added a few more in Gareth Matthews, Craig Walsh, and Dinny Corcoran and some of the under 19s will get an opportunity this year. It’s a squad that’s young and full of potential, so we’re looking forward to it.”

Russell and his team have been widely praised for their playing style. UCD players are encouraged to embrace their technical skills and pass the ball along the ground regardless of the calibre of the opposition.

According to the manager, this ethos is rooted in their focus on continuous improvement.

“The philosophy we try to do is all about ambition, looking at the top clubs and how they would be asked to play.

We’ll continue with that and we won’t put barriers in front of the lads in terms of how good they can be. Hopefully we’ll be good enough to achieve some positive results and get more players noticed and keep that development work going.”

In January, Russell spoke of the importance of pre-season in terms of achieving optimum fitness ahead of the upcoming season. With less than two weeks until their season opener

away to Bohemians, he has been pleased with the team’s progress. “(Strength and Conditioning coach) George Petrakos along with the coaches and the players have put in a lot of work,” he explains. “I think it was evident last year that it was of benefit to us to be as fit as we were, so we’ll be the same again.”

“Every game is tough in the league we’re in but we want to do as well as we can. As a group, we want to finish higher in the league and do better in the cup competitions. In terms of individual stuff, we’ve already had three lads this week who were called up to the (Republic of Ireland) Under 21s so there’s a lot of targets for these players and they’ll get the stage at UCD. “I’m sure by the end of the season there’ll be one or two targets for the big clubs and probably across the way as well, so the season’s full of potential for everyone involved. We’ll try and play an attractive brand (of football) and hopefully get a few more people in to watch the games.”

UCD kick off their 2013 League campaign with a fixture against Bohemians in Dalymount Park on Friday, March 8th.

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COLLEGE TRIBUNE

26th February 2013

SPORT

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Fresh faces settle in Amy Eustace Sports Editor

T

he transfer window can be a bleaker time for the Students’ than for most League of Ireland clubs, as it’s almost always a time when the cream of their crop are plucked off by the league’s heavyweights. Finding replacements for players that UCD have nurtured for years is never easy, but this year Martin Russell and co. have been thrifty in the transfer market, signing Dinny Corcoran and Craig Walsh, and resigning former players Gareth Matthews and Robbie Creevy.

Creevy, having returned from travelling in Australia, will look to get straight back into midfield duty, where the departures of Paul O’Conor and Paul Corry have left a big gap. Manager Martin Russell is happy to have the student back at club and college: “Robbie’s return gives him the chance to re-establish himself amongst the best in the league. We have a young crop of excellent midfielders and Rob can definitely help out in that area.”

Creevy is completing a Masters in Accounting, and is particularly aware that UCD allows him to juggle his education and

his football. “I feel I am at the only club which would allow and aid me in doing this successfully whilst still developing my game at the top flight in Ireland,” explains the midfielder. “In that respect I feel at this point in time, I am at the right place for me, and still on track with my goals in both football and professionally.”

You may remember Craig Walsh from Sky’s Football’s Next Star programme, in which Walsh was a finalist in a bid to win a place at José Mourinho’s Inter Milan. More recently, Walsh has lined out for Shamrock Rovers and Longford Town, and will join Creevy in the battle to plug UCD’s midfield gaps.

A metatarsal injury ruled him out for much of last season at Longford, but with an incident-free pre-season behind him, Walsh is looking forward to getting stuck in and cites Russell’s influence as key to his move to the college: “The chance to work with Martin and his staff was a big thing for me, Martin has a good understanding of young players and knows what is best for us. I feel he can guide me in the right direction

Robbie Creevy returns to the Students from a year out in Australia but it is up to me to work hard and get in the team.”

Forward Dinny Corcoran will boost UCD’s attacking options.

Corcoran, who signed from Bohemians, is looking ahead to a clutch of fixtures against his old club at the start of the season: “I couldn't believe it when I saw the fixtures! I enjoyed

my time at Bohs and have only good things to say about them, but at the same time, I am really looking forward to these games and to get on the score sheet against them would be brilliant.

Gareth Matthews returns to the club after spending last season with Shelbourne. The right

back expects the season to be challenging. “I feel the bigger teams in the league have gotten stronger with the signings made,” says Matthews, “but we just need to focus on our own game and with the young talent here at UCD, I'm sure we can cause a few surprises during the season.”

UCD defend Intervarsity Netball title on home court Conall Devlin Sports Editor

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CD hosted the Annual Intervarsity Netball tournament at the Sports Centre this month, which saw 9 teams travel to Dublin to compete.

The weekend kicked off with UCDs Seconds narrowly going down to Queens Seconds, in what proved to the first of two contests to decide the Group B champions.

UCDs First team played University of Ulster, Coleraine Firsts and won 19-13, which placed them in a great position for the rest of the tournament.

Both teams excelled and advanced to the finals from their respective Groups. UCDs Firsts sat atop Group A while the Seconds finished in second position in Group B. Having comfortably came through quarter and semi finals contests both teams faced their Queens counterparts in the A and B final.

The Seconds led by 2 points at half time however Queens fought back to prevail narrowly once more by a one point margin.

The First, vying for their third consecutive Intervarsities championship, rose to the occasion without key player Maeve McQuillan who was on international duty for Northern Ireland. They pulled through on a 24-18 scoreline to complete the three peat, Emma Guerin received Player of the Tournament while Nicole Crockford and Niamh Henvey received Most Valuable Player Awards from their UCD teammates and recognised by tournament officials.

UCD Firsts- GS-Riona O’Hanlon GA-Nicole Crockford WA-Emma Guerin C-Holly Corboy WDMadeleine Watson (International student) GD- Moya McQuillan GKEllen Kelly.

UCD Seconds- GS- Clare Parsons GA Marie-Ruth Coulghan WA-Tammy Grace/ CaoImhe Hughes C-Anne Guerin WDHelena Carlyle GD- Molly Treacy and GK-Niamh Henvey.

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26th February 2013

Fresh faces settle in

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Daly the difference as UCD trump Trinity UCD - 17 Trinity - 10 Ceithrean Murray Sports Writer

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UCD captain Risteard Byrne celebrates with the colours trophy after the game

INSIDE TRIBUNE SPORT

UCD defend Intervarsity Netball title on home court

UCD win 2013 Karate Intervarsities

p 19

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very physical UCD side earned a hard fought victory against an expansive Trinity side in the 61st annual Colours Match, played on Friday night at the Belfield Bowl.

The game was played in a tentative fashion, with both sides showing the upmost commitment to the physical exchanges, and while the error count was quite high, the quality of play from both teams was actually quite good in general, however the game was made by two pieces of individual brilliance from UCD’s left winger Barry Daly.

From the outset the contrasting styles of both teams were evident; UCD content to kick for territory whereas their counterparts were keen on getting the pace of the game up, running three consecutive penalties.

The first chance of the game fell to UCD’s James Thornton, after Eoin Joyce carried blind from the base of a scrum, Risteard Byrne was used in a midfield hit up, Thornton stood back in the pocket, but his drop goal attempt was astray. Trinity’s David Joyce Would miss a long range penalty attempt moments later.

Trinity did however draw first blood soon after. On their first visit to UCD’s 22, strong carriers and deft footing meant that sucked in UCD’s defense. The ball was recycled and after a move that went 10-12-10 a lucky bounce and the ball sat up nicely for Ciaran Wade, who scored under the posts.

UCD later began to dominate the tackle area where Conor Gilsenan and Mark McGroarty where particularly prevalent. On 20 minutes Daly Struck, the ball was sprayed left, with Alex Kelly used as a screen and the ball reached Daly who stepped off the left, and

showing fantastic strength, beat four defenders with a hand off, and raced in the score from 40 metres.

Thornton added the extras and the score was leveled.

UCD were well on top at this stage, referrer Paul Haycock was consistently penalising Trinity at the break down and as a result of this Trinity we finding it very difficult to get their hands on the ball and get out of their half.

On 35 minutes Daly struck again, picking off a midfield ruck, he threw a nice dummy which the pillar defender bought, and raced clear, he then threw a fantastic right handed pass to supporting Andrew Boyle, who backed himself to finish in the corner.

At half time Collidge lead 147, and the game was poised on a knife edge, leaving the large Belfield crowd to expect the game to explode into life in the second half. Sadly this did not occur. The second half was an edgy, tentative affair, with both teams content to trust their patterns and defensive systems and ultimately to play for penalties. Thornton would extend his personal tally, and this three points was cancelled out by an impressive long range effort from Trinity’s replacement outhalf Cathal Marsh.

The game finished 17-10 with UCD deserving victors and retaining their Colours crown.

UCD – A Boyle; S Coghlan Murray, A Kelly, J Coghlan, B Daly; J Thornton, J Glynn; J Tracy, R Byrne (capt), K Moloney; S Grannell, E MacMahon; C Gilsenan, M McGroarty, E Joyce. Reps: R Harrison, D Doyle, B Cawley, R Shanley, S Murphy, N Earls, D Lynch.

DUBLIN UNIVERSITY – D Fanagan; N Hanratty, C Wade, P Lavelle, N Adeolukun; D Joyce, M McLoughlin (capt); I Hirst, W Larkin, M Kelly, C McDonnell, K Kelly; P Dargan, B Du Toit, J Dilger.

Reps: J O'Donoghue, C Marsh, A Robles, S Pittman, C Falcon, W Scott, D Gallagher.