Trinity News Vol. 69 Issue 6

How algorithms have transformed how we listen to music

22

17

Welcome to Hilary Term

The rise of PhilosophyTok: What does it mean for consumers?

Life pullout

TRINIT Y NEWS ESTABLISHED 1953

Tuesday 31 January 2023

Ireland’s Oldest Student Newspaper

Vol. 69, Issue. 6

Measures may be introduced to combat use of AI in assessments

C

OLLEGE HAVE SUGGESTED A number of immediate adjustments to assessment to counter the use of ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence (AI) software by students, including additional presentations or oral exams.

An email sent to academic staff on Friday recommended reviewing current modes of assessment to gauge “risk” of AI being used, as well as discussing the use of ChatGPT in classes in the context of plagiarism, and requiring disclosure of where ChatGPT or similar services have been used “in support of an assignment”.

Launched in November, ChatGPT is an AI software capable

of generating “human-like” text.

A recent study by Brian Lucey of Trinity Business School and Michael Dowling of Dublin City University (DCU) showed it to be capable of writing a paper that would be accepted for an academic journal.

Teaching staff were also advised to make explicit to students the value in writing or coding themselves, to link assessment to class discussion, and to encourage students “to avail of opportunities to improve their academic skills”.

A spokesperson for College emphasised that these were suggestions for “possible responses to the issue” and were not mandatory or prescriptive.

A number of medium-term adjustments to assessments were also included in the email which was sent by David Shepherd, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Martine

PHOTO BYTRINITY ENTS

Editors Ellen Kenny, David Wolfe and Aidan Cusack

Continued on page 2>>

Two thirds of references to role of Education Officer removed from TCDSU election rules

Trinity Ball 2023 to be last on campus for 5 years, says TCDSU

David Wolfe

David Wolfe

News Editor

T

WO THIRDS OF REFERENCES TO THE role of the Education Officer have been removed from the rules for the upcoming students’ union elections, compared to last year, in order to better allow current sabbatical officers to run for re-election.

Updated annually, schedule 3 sets out the rules and regulations for Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) sabbatical elections.

The 2020/21 version of the document makes 10 references

to the “secretary of the electoral commission” (EC), a role fulfilled by the TCDSU Education Officer, while last year Schedule 3 specified nine duties of the secretary, most of these relating to regulations on campaign materials such as manifestos and t-shirts.

Schedule 3 for this year, presented at an Extraordinary Meeting of TCDSU Council in December which did not meet quorum, contains just three references to the role.

Commenting on the reduced role of the secretary of the EC, the chair of the EC said that having spoken to “a range of people who have run before…we were advised to add in the ability for current Continued on page 3>>

News Editor

T

RINITY BALL 2023 MAY BE THE LAST time the event is held on campus for five years, according to Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU).

Due to construction works associated with the Old Library Redevelopment Project, access to two main stage areas, New Square and Fellows Square, will be lost, meaning that it will not be possible to erect stages in these locations.

Construction in New Square, the site of the main stage in recent years, has already begun, meaning

that Trinity Ball 2023 will comprise of just two stages. The main stage will instead be located in Front Square.

As a consequence of the loss of a stage, capacity will be reduced from last year, however TCDSU has confirmed that ticket prices will remain the same, despite rising inflation.

Capacity for Trinity Ball last year was 7,500, with tickets costing €91.

In an exclusive statement to Trinity News, TCDSU announced that this year’s event is scheduled to take place on 14 April 2023.

The statement continued: “This has been a particularly difficult year for Trinity Ball, due to construction in New Square.”

“Despite these challenges,

Trinity Ball will happen, in major part due to the hard work of our Entertainments Officer Max Lynch who has been lobbying college, Continued on page 2>>

trinitynews.ie TrinityNewsDublin Trinity_News trinitynews trinitynews

2

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

News

Table of contents News Features- page 18 TCDSU to hold referendum on the Sports Levy

Economic indicators

Analysis: Is the minimum wage increase enough for students?

Comment

- page 21

Arts students need more career guidance

SciTech - page 28 Irish Astronaut Update

Sport

- page 31

>> Continued from front page

Trinity Ball 2023 to be last on campus for 5 years, says TCDSU and working with Trinity Ball’s production manager MCD and the Trinity Ball Committee to ensure it is pushed over the line.”

It added: “We have had to think outside the box this year and are excited to bring a huge production to campus.”

TCDSU Ents Officer Max Lynch said that “after many months of suggesting various fixes and ideas” he was “delighted” to announce that Trinity Ball will go ahead this year.

“While the future is uncertain,

I wholeheartedly believe that this Trinity Ball will be brilliant and I hope students are excited to experience Trinity Ball on campus, potentially for the last time,” Lynch said.

President Gabi Fullam added: “This college is owned by its community. Trinity Ball is a huge part of the student experience, and the Student Union will always fight for campus to be used for the purpose it is intended: student life, student space, education and cultural experience.”

It is unclear what alternative venues may be considered for future iterations of Trinity Ball, or if the event will go ahead offcampus at all.

College did have not commented on the decision.

Trinity Ball has been held on campus every year since its inception in 1959, with the exception of 2020 and 2021 when the event was not held due to pandemic restrictions.

A tribute to Pelé

Editor Deputy Editor Assistant Editor Managing Editor Online Editor Deputy Online Editor Life Editor Deputy Life Editor

Shannon Connolly Kate Henshaw Ellen Kenny Eva O’Beirne Shannon McGreevy Adam Balchin Ella Sloane Ella Bleu Kiely

News Editor News Analysis Editor Features Editor Comment Editor Scitech Editor Sport Editor Chair of Gaeilge Board

David Wolfe Aidan Cusack Lara Mellett Abby Cleaver Lauren Vrbanic Séaghan Ó Domhnalláin Holly Níc Thomáis

Head Photographer Head Videographer Head Copyeditors

Fern Kelly Marianna Mora Finola Murphy Ruth McGann

Get in touch at editor@trinitynews.ie

Printed by Webprint at Mahon Retail Park, Cork.

PHOTO BYTRINITY ENTS

TRINITY NEWS EDITORIAL STAFF

>> Continued from front page

Measures may be introduced to combat use of AI in assessments Smith, Dean of Graduate Studies and Pauline Rooney, Head of Academic Practice.

These included articulating “where [and] how assessment links to learning”, by explaining what is being assessed, and why it is best assessed in its current format, for example an essay or lab report.

It was also advised that mediumterm adjustments may include a “greater transition to oral exams” or a to “more frequent supervised lower-stakes assignments across the semester”.

Dowling and Lucey, who studied ChatGPT’s ability to write an academic paper have said: “ChatGPT is a tool. In our study, we showed that, with some care, it can be used to generate an acceptable finance research study.

Even without care, it generates plausible work.”

They argue that “researchers should see ChatGPT as an aide, not a threat,” though highlight that

use of the software “has some clear ethical implications”.

Use of the software has been banned or restricted by thousands

PHOTO VIA PEXELS.COM

of academic and scientific journals, though several researchers have already listed ChatGPT as a coauthor on papers.

3

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

News >> Continued from front page

Two thirds of references to role of Education Officer removed from TCDSU election rules sabbatical officers to be able to run [again] with a bit more ease”.

Section 5.1.6(a) of the TCDSU constitution specifies that: “No voting member of the EC, including the Chair may be nominated for any other position or officership within the Union during their term of office.”

The Education Officer is a non-voting member of the EC, meaning they are not necessarily prohibited from running for other officerships during their term by this provision.

Section 5.1.5(b)(i) of the constitution also states: “The EC shall review and submit Schedule 3 to Council in the first term of the academic year.”

Addressing the fact that the regulations for elections were not brought before a quorate meeting of Council, the EC chair said: “The EC and [Oversight Commission (OC)] agreed to allow Schedule 3 to pass because we deem a document being brought to council if it was submitted and circulated to the members of a council meeting.”

“We also believe that bringing it during the first semester takes [precedence]. Also the OC consider officer reports as submitted with or without Quorum, so it followed similar guidelines for Schedule 3.”

Nominations for sabbatical elections close at 5pm on Friday, February 3, after which candidates will be announced.

PHOTO VIA TRINITY NEWS

Minister Harris to CAO applicants: “We Postgraduate worker unions PGWA and PCAU to merge have something for everyone” Harris has urged students “not to panic” ahead of the approaching CAO deadline Jayna Rohslau Copyeditor

M

INISTER FOR F U R T H E R AND HIGHER E D U C AT I O N , R e s e a r c h , Innovation and Science Simon Harris has urged students “not to panic” as the closing date for Irish third-level applications approaches.

Speaking last week, Harris recommended that final-year second-level students consider all their options ahead of the

February 1 deadline, calling it the “first milestone on their route to their chosen career approaches”.

He encouraged students not to take it to heart if they do not receive their desired outcomes.

Emphasising the many paths forward, he said: “Education is a lifelong journey, and there is a huge range of options for you to develop knowledge and skills, and achieve your full potential.”

Harris continued: “It may be that you are determined to go to university, and that is a very worthy aspiration, but there are a wide range of third level options available.”

“Within the further education sector, post Leaving Cert courses as well as traineeships, combining classroom education and handson work experience, are run by education and training boards.”

“Apprenticeships can also deliver incredible career opportunities, while also offering you the chance to earn and learn at the same time,” Harris added.

CAO offers, which determine

PHOTO BY KATE HENSHAW FOR TRINITY NEWS

university admission in Ireland, typically release in mid-August.

However, in 2022 the release date for Round One offers was delayed to 8 September because of the late release of Leaving Cert results for the third consecutive year.

According to government, last year over half of all CAO applicants received their first-choice offer.

Overall, there was an increase of 2,000 CAO offers compared to the previous year, while offers for Level 8 courses, the highest qualification level, were up by 2,269.

82% of students were offered one of their top three choices of course, up from 79% in 2021.

Harris reiterated that despite the deadline’s evident importance, students need not worry: “We have something for everyone, no matter your age, part time or full time, one year or four year course, and remain aware that if you don’t get your first choice, there are almost always alternative pathways available.”

The unions seeking employee status and improved working conditions for PhD researchers David Wolfe News Editor

T

WO LARGE INDEPENDENT PHD workers’ unions are to merge in the near future, marking a significant step in the postgraduate workers’ movement.

The Postgraduate Workers’ Alliance (PGWA) and the PhD’s Collective Action Union (PCAU) are independent national organisations seeking employee status and improved working conditions for PhD researchers.

In a recent interview with Trinity News, President of the PCAU Kyle Hamilton said: “We’re talking about several meetings on exactly how that’s going to happen, but it is happening.”

She added that the unions were “currently working on a rebranding for the combined group”.

Vice-chair of Trinity PGWA Eoghan Ross explained that the groups are currently working with SIPTU, Ireland’s largest general union, on gaining recognition as a workers’ union.

PGWA was founded in 2019, and has local branches in Trinity, University College Dublin (UCD), the University of Galway, and University College Cork (UCC).

PCAU was founded last summer by Jeffrey Sardina as a protest group demanding better stipends and recognition of PhD

“

We’re talking about several meetings on exactly how that’s going to happen, but it is happening ... [we’re] currently working on a rebranding for the combined group researchers as workers.

Both groups demand employee status for PhD workers, adequate and fair pay, improved working conditions, and equitable treatment of non-EU researchers, among other demands.

In December, the PCAU submitted the Fair Postgraduate Researcher Agreement (FRA) to the government review of state supports for PhD researchers.

The review, which began in November, is due to be completed early this year.

Full feature on page 18

4

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

News

TCDSU calls on public to support European Citizens’ Initiative to end trade with illegal Israeli settlements The European Citizens’ Initiative currently has over 235,000 signatures and was launched in February 2022 by Stop Settlements, a coalition of NGOs, grassroots movements, trade unions, and politicians Aidan Cusack and Brídín Ní Fhearraigh-Joyce News Analysis Editor, Contributing writer

L

AST WEEK, TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN’S STUDENTS UNION (TCDSU) called on the public to support a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to end trade with illegal Israeli settlements. In an Instagram post, TCDSU said that this law would

“send a powerful signal around the world that the EU will no longer reward territorial aggression with trade and profits”.

The ECI, which currently has over 235,000 signatures, was launched in February 2022 by Stop Settlements, a coalition of NGOs, grassroots movements, trade unions, and politicians. In particular, it calls on the European Commission to legislate for EU Common Commercial Policy to conform to EU treaties and international law.

An ECI is a mechanism which enables EU citizens to participate directly in the development of EU policy. It enables one million citizens who are nationals of at least seven member states to call on the European Commission to propose legislation. The European Commission is the only body within the EU with the power to initiate legislation.

On their website, Stop Settlements claim that “when occupied territory is annexed de jure or de facto, for example by means of settlements, this is against international law, and such an annexation and settlements have no legal validity. As a result, trade with such settlements is illegal”.

Commercial transactions with entities based in or operating in occupied territories will be regulated if this legislation is passed, effectively banning products originating in these

territories from entering the EU single market. It does not call for a trade prohibition with these territories because “this would disallow fair trade with the peoples whose territories are being annexed or occupied”.

TCDSU has been mandated to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement after a referendum in 2018, in which 64.5% of voters were in favour.

Last month, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) council unanimously passed a motion in motion in support of the BDS movement, mandating that the USI support local BDS branches. The USI Coiste Gnó is also mandated to call on the European Students’ Union (ESU) to re-evaluate the membership of Israel and to support potential Palestinian efforts to engage with ESU, and to boycott Israeli corporations,

institutions and companies and their products which the union currently uses or has relations with.

In October, Trinity News revealed that College divested from arms and weapons companies, following a revelation a year previous that College had €2.5m invested in the armaments industry.

PHOTO BY JACK KENNEDY FOR TRINITY NEWS

Professor Dónall Mac Dónaill appointed Junior Dean Mac Dónaill has previously served as Assistant Junior Dean and succeeds Professor Phillip Coleman in the role

Mac Dónaill has previously served as Assistant Junior Dean from 2019 to 2021 and has acted as pro-Junior Dean on multiple occasions. He is the current Registrar of Chambers and has worked as a College Tutor since 2014.

Mac Dónaill has been a professor in the School of Chemistry since 1986 and is currently an associate professor in advanced materials.

Doyle went on to wish Mac Dónaill well in his new role.

Mac Dónaill replaces Professor Phillip Coleman, who has served

as Junior Dean since 2020. The Provost thanked Coleman “for his many years of dedicated service”, adding that “he has made an enormous contribution to our Trinity community”.

The Junior Dean is responsible for the “general oversight of

student conduct”.

The Junior Dean’s Office, which is comprised of the dean and their assistants, has the authority to impose sanctions upon students ranging from a fine to expulsion depending on the severity of the offence.

Ella O’Neill Contributing writer

T

HE APPOINTMENT OF THE NEW JUNIOR DEAN PROFESSOR Dónall Mac Dónaill was approved yesterday by the Board of Trinity College at its regular monthly meeting.

In an email sent to College staff and students last week informing them of the appointment, Provost Linda Doyle said that Mac Dónaill “brings a wealth of experience to the role of Junior Dean”.

PHOTO BY SABA MALIK FOR TRINITY NEWS

5

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

News

Trinity Sport Union urges students to vote no in Sports Levy referendum Chair of Trinity Sport Union Liam Bean said that the proposed referendum “threatens the student sport experience and opportunities”

booking fees and equipment charges “threatens the student sport experience and opportunities”.

It added that the proposed changes “will inevitably result in less access and capacity for student sport, higher charges to student sport clubs and an increase of commercial activity”.

The referendum, to be held by Trinity College Dublin Students’

Union (TCDSU), will decide whether to make the unions’ support for the charge conditional on the abolition of all booking, equipment and class fees in the centre.

“Currently student sport charges at Trinity College Dublin [remain] the lowest compared to other Irish universities,” the statement said.

Bean has claimed that the proposed wording in the referendum contains “inaccuracies” in relation to the inflation provision, and that there “has been no consultation on the sport levy referendum with Trinity Sport Union”.

Article 6.9 of Trinity Sport’s Terms & Conditions stipulates that “all facility fees may be subject

to annual price changes to reflect inflation” from October 1 each year.

“Ultimately I believe this vote is fundamentally flawed,” Bean’s statement added.

In order to pass, 60% of votes cast must be in favour. The result will be released via email the day after voting closes.

Voting for the referendum began online yesterday, Monday, January 30, and will close tomorrow, Wednesday, February 1.

Students must be registered to vote in advance of the referendum, which will also register them to vote for the upcoming SU leadership elections. The deadline to register to vote iwas last week.

David Wolfe and Stephen Conneely News Editor, Contributing writer

T

RINITY SPORT UNION HAVE URGED students to vote no in an upcoming referendum on the Annual Sports Centre charge.

In a statement last week, Liam Bean, Chairperson of Trinity Sport Union, urged students to vote against the motion, “to safeguard student sport at Trinity”.

The statement said that the proposed amendments to cease

Proposer of sports levy referendum calls Sport Union opposition “unsubstantiated speculation” Lórien MacEnulty, a PhD student, is calling for the abolition of extra booking, class, and equipment fees Faye Madden Contributing writer

T

HE PROPOSER OF THE UPCOMING sports levy referendum has described Trinity Sport Union’s (TSU) opposition to the proposal as “unsubstantiated speculation”.

Lórien MacEnulty, a PhD student, is calling for the abolition

of class, equipment, and booking fees for students, arguing that Trinity Sport should instead be subsidised by College.

Students already pay a €120 annual Sports Development Charge, which Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union currently supports.

McEnulty’s statement follows Trinity Sport Union’s official statement on Thursday which called for a no vote in the upcoming Sport Levy referendum.

The union claims they were not consulted in regard to calling for this referendum and that the “proposed wording [of the referendum] includes inaccuracies in relation to the inflation provision”.

McEnulty described TSU’s advocacy for a no vote as “shooting itself in the foot”.

“Students currently pay from the total contribution charge a

sum of €120 called the Sports Development Charge (SDC), which contributes massively to Trinity Sport’s income. The problem is that Trinity Sport is still immensely underfunded, and increasingly, students and sports clubs find themselves shouldering its financial strains, strains that College itself refuses to ease despite its financial capacity to do so.”

MacEnulty added: “At some point, we students will have to reassert, at the appropriate level of administration, our say in how much we are charged to work out.

That’s exactly what this motion is doing.”

The collection and distribution of student fees is enforced by the Capitations Committee. Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) is one of five capitation bodies represented on the committee.

If TCDSU decides it no longer

supports the collection of the SDC, it will announce this to the Capitation Committee for members to discuss.

“The result of the referendum, therefore, will not directly translate into a functioning boycott against the SDC,” MacEnulty said.

“The result of the referendum will serve as testament to the will of the students; the students no longer accept paying booking/ equipment/sports class fees.

It’s then up to the Capitations Committee to have a critical discussion about how Trinity Sport is funded.”

She continued: “Sports clubs and societies also pay inordinate amounts of money in booking fees to Trinity Sport. They’re worried that this reevaluation of how Trinity Sport is funded would somehow “result in them being charged for facilities to make up the shortfall.”

“By saying this, they’re trying to make assertions as to how Trinity Sport would respond to [a] financial crisis, which is an immensely speculative undertaking at best, and anyway, an irrelevant inquiry.

This referendum is not going to put Trinity Sport in any sort of financial crisis,” MacEnulty asserted.

“When the time comes to discuss how Trinity Sport is funded, which is the ONLY outcome of a resounding ‘yes’ from the students in this referendum, the role of TSU will be to take a similar stance to that of the students’ union: College must subsidise the financial burden that weighs heavily on our strained sports centre, not the students, and not the clubs they comprise.”

Voting in the TCDSU referendum opened yesterday and will remain open until Wednesday, February 1. Students must be registered to vote.

6

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

News

DUGES sets up a “Period Provision Trinity Group” DUGES stated that they “hope this will give people the freedom to talk openly and freely about periods without shame or fear of bleeding through their clothing” Aidan Cusack

News Analysis Editor, Deputy News Editor

D

UBLIN UNIVERSITY GENDER EQUALITY SOCIETY (DUGES) has created a WhatsApp group that is “open to any menstruators attending Trinity”,

called the Period Provision Trinity Group.

In an Instagram post last Thursday, they stated that the aim of the group was to “provide a space that allows members to communicate and inform one another on where period products are available on campus and to share resources when required”.

Recognising the work of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) in tackling period poverty on campus, they stated: “Whilst the Student Union have done an amazing job providing period products in the college bathrooms, resources are finite and easily run out during exam seasons.”

“We hope this will give people the freedom to talk openly and freely about periods without shame or fear of bleeding through their clothing”.

They continued: “Period poverty is a very real issue affecting students and some individuals may feel more comfortable reaching out to their peers for support and advice.”

Figures published by the period poverty sub-committee under the

National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020 showed that up to 85,000 individuals could be at risk of period poverty.

The report also showed that the overall annual cost of period

products, including pain relief, for individuals can be estimated at a minimum of €121.

As part of budget 2023, the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate for newer period products such as

menstrual cups, period pants, and menstrual sponges was reduced to 0% on January 1, bringing them in line with the zero VAT rate on tampons and sanitary pads.

IMAGE VIA DUGES

Provost congratulates Trinity graduate Paul Mescal on Oscar nomination In a Tweet posted last week, the Provost commended the Lir graduate for the “incredible achievement” Kate Byrne Contributing writer

P

ROVOST LINDA DOYLE HAS EXPRESSED her congratulations to actor Paul Mescal, who has received an Oscar nomination in the Best Actor category for his role in Aftersun.

In a Tweet posted last week, the provost said: “Huge congratulations to Paul Mescal – former student of The Lir – who has just received an Oscar nomination in the Best Actor category for his role in Aftersun!”

Doyle added that the nomination was “an incredible

achievement”.

The actor, who graduated from The Lir Academy in 2017, has been nominated for his role of Calum in the film, which is directed by Charlotte Well.

The film follows Sophie, played

by Frankie Corio, who reflects on a holiday she took with her father, (played by Mescal), twenty years earlier.

The film has been met with critical acclaim, with the Guardian describing it as an ‘emotionally piercing and beautifully understated tale of love and loss’.

The Lir, which is Ireland’s National Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College, joined Doyle in congratulating Mescal, stating: “A massive congratulations to Lir alumni Paul Mescal on his Oscar Nomination!”

While at The Lir, Mescal starred in many productions, including Much Ado about Nothing and Children of the Sun. The actor is among a record 14 Irish nominees in this year’s Oscars.

Among the nominees for Best International Feature is the Irishlanguage film An Cailín Ciúin, while the Banshees of Inisherin received nine nominations in total.

Kerry Condon, who is nominated for Best Actress for her role in the Banshees of Inisherin, is the sister of Teaching Fellow

PHOTO VIA THE LIR ACADEMY ON TWITTER

Roderick Condon of Trinity’s department of sociology.

Mescal will be competing against fellow Irish actor Colin Farrell for the Best Actor award.

Mescal has previously been nominated for a Primetime Emmy

Award and won a British Academy Television Award for his starring role as Connell in ‘Normal People’, which was filmed on the campus of Trinity College, and written by Trinity alumni Sally Rooney.

The minister for culture and the

arts Catherine Martin stated that it was a “wonderful day for the Irish film industry with such a record number of Oscar nominations”.

The 95th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 12 live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

7

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

News

Analysis: How students can use the Statutory Sick Pay scheme Ellen Kenny Assistant Editor

O

N JANUARY 1, A STATUTARY SICK pay scheme came into effect. Workers in Ireland now also have a statutory right to 3 days of employer-paid sick leave in a year, capped at €110 per day.

Studies from both the Irish League of Credit Unions and Technological University Dublin show that roughly two-thirds of third-level students work parttime while studying. Part-time work means work hours vary from week to week, unlike a fixed contract and decided hours in full-time work. Students also often begin work on probation, as an intern, or through an apprenticeship, and different kinds

of work mean different sick leave entitlements. Here’s what student workers need to know about the new employment legislation.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney TD described this new statutory sick pay as “the latest in a series of improvements to rights and social protections for workers and the self-employed in recent years”.

Both the new sick leave scheme and increased minimum wages are the beginning of rollouts to provide more benefits to workers and bring Ireland in line with other European countries in the next few years. What remains unexplored, however, is how working students will benefit from current and future changes to workers’ entitlements.

The Sick Leave Act 2022, which

came into effect on January 1, grants workers the statutory right to 3 days paid sick leave in addition to any sick leave granted by employers. According to the government, workers are entitled to receive “70% of gross salary up to a cap of €110 per day” for sick days.

According to the new act, part-time workers, interns and apprentices are entitled to statutory sick pay, which should operate along with the existing illness benefit system offered by an employer.

Like full-time workers, student workers must be an employee who worked for at least 13 consecutive weeks before they are sick and must have a doctor’s note (GP) to be entitled to sick leave. Students who do not already have easy access to a

GP, such as international students, can contact the GP Clinic through the College Health Service, open from 9am to 5pm.

Where wages change from week to week, an employee’s statutory sick pay (SSP) is the average pay over the 13 weeks before sick leave, capped at €110. If a worker does not receive their sick pay or is penalised for it, they can make a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

If a worker is still sick after 3 days and your employer will not grant you extra sick leave, they can apply for Illness Benefits. To be eligible, a worker must have made 104 weeks of paid Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions since they began working, meaning they have worked every week for just under two years and have contributed to PRSI. They must also have made enough contributions in the “relevant tax year” i.e. two years before they are making the claim for Illness benefit. This means if you are applying for Illness Benefits in 2023, your relevant tax year is 2021.

Analysis: Submissions close for Berkeley library naming suggestions Aidan Cusack News Analysis Editor

T

ODAY, SUGGESTIONS CLOSE FOR THE renaming of the Berkeley library.

Tasked with assessing College’s historical legacy, the Trinity Legacies Review Working Group, composed of student representatives, unions and academics, invited “evidencebased” submissions from the public on the renaming of the Berkeley library, also known as the X Library.

This came after the yearlong Trinity Colonial Legacies Project, which similarly sought to examine the connection between College and historical colonialism, released a paper detailing the “slave-owning activities” and “ideological support for the slave system and settler colonialism” of

former Church of Ireland Bishop, philosopher, theologian, and Trinity alumnus, George Berkeley.

The renewed scrutiny on the memorialisation of George Berkeley was motivated by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests of Summer 2020, after which College spoke of its renewed “institutional commitment” to address systemic racism.

Submissions to the working group include academics, alumni, the Harvard University Committee to Articulate Principles on Renaming, Trinity Ógra Shinn Féin (ÓSF), The Herald, and other individuals.

For the first time in this more than year-long controversy, there has been a public academic pushback against re-naming, including by a number of Trinity Professors.

David Berman, Trinity Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, claimed he was the first to publish

a critique of Berkeley on slavery in an article called ‘Berkeley, Slavery and Christianity” in 1981, also publishing similar criticism in his book “George Berkeley: Idealism and the man”. He claimed that Berkeley was “one of the finest human beings”, also quoting from Andrew Pope’s famous poetic tribute to Berkeley, “To Berkeley, every virtue under Heaven”.

Former College ProChancellor, current College Historical Society (Hist) President and Fellow Emeritus in Genetics, David McConnell claimed that re-naming would cause “great damage to the works of one of the great scholars of this College”.

Emphasising that it was not possible to separate the “dancer from the dance”, he said that “we name buildings and commission portraits and choose particular works, to encourage students to learn from others how to become scholars, in particular how to

“

TCDSU refers to the library as the “X Library” in all official communication to students become critical thinkers”.

“The Berkeley Library, with its name in place, seen by thousands of students, by millions of Irish citizens, and by more than a million visitors, offers an opportunity to introduce people to the person and ideas of George Berkeley, and to the intellectual and social challenges which he addressed, including slavery, many of which have not been properly addressed and rectified to this day.”

One submission by Elena Schaa gave two name-change recommendations; the 1904 Library and the Oldham Library, respectively commemorating the year that women were allowed to

If a part-time worker who has not contributed enough PRSI payments, they can apply to Community Welfare Services to have their case considered. They will require a PPS number, proof of address and residency in Ireland and proof of income. The parttime worker will be reviewed, and they will be informed whether they are entitled to Illness Benefits.

If you are sick during a public holiday you are entitled to time off work if you worked at least 40 hours in total during the 5 weeks ending on the day before the public holiday. Your employer can treat you as not being on sick leave on the public holiday and pay you as normal for that day, so you can cash your sick day in later. You are not entitled to pay or time off for the public holiday if you are on sick leave immediately before the public holiday.

The entitlement to paid sick leave is being phased in over 4 years. In 2024, workers will be entitled to 5 days paid sick leave, while they will be entitled to 7 days sick leave in 2025 and 10 days sick leave in 2026. enter Trinity and the Alice Oldham, a campaigner for women to gain admission to higher education and one of the first female graduates from higher education in Ireland.

Trinity ÓSF suggested that the library be named after Irish republican revolutionary and alumnus of Trinity, Theobald Wolfe Tone. They suggested that “To keep a library named after him in his honour would highlight the shameless lack of effort to end ties with what was a nefarious past”.

“We urge Trinity College Dublin to separate itself from its imperialist past, and to wholeheartedly embrace a progressive future”.

Andrew Lynch of The Herald asked the question: “where do we draw the line?”. Suggesting that the recent push for renaming is a sign of things to come, he worried that individuals such as Artur Griffith, Pádraig Pearse and Daniel O’Connell could also fall victim to de-naming, stating: “even a great philosopher like Bishop Berkeley might struggle to find an answer that would keep everyone happy”.

The debate over the renaming of the Berkeley Library is clearly not over, and it is hard to imagine a solution to this problem that would satisfy everyone. Berkeley was clearly a uniquely brilliant philosopher and theologian who’s contributions to academia cannot be ignored, but the fact remains that he was also a deeply flawed individual who owned slaves, and justified the continuation of the slave trade.

8

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

News

European debate champions from Trinity ranked fifth in the world Dylan McCarthy and Jack Palmer from the Phil reached the quarterfinals of the World Universities Debating Championship in Madrid David Wolfe News Editor

E

uropean champion debaters Dylan McCarthy and Jack Palmer have been ranked fifth out of over 250 teams at the the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC) which concluded in Madrid earlier this month.

The team from the University Philosophical Society (the Phil) reached the quarterfinals stage of the competition, where they were beaten by teams from Princeton

University and the University of Sydney, but ranked fifth on points based on their performance throughout the competition.

McCarthy was ranked 10th best speaker at the competition, while Palmer placed 20th, based on individual speaker points.

Speaking to Trinity News, Palmer said that he was “very thankful” for the support they had received from the Phil, College, and the Central Societies’ Committee (CSC) in reaching this point.

“I won’t pretend that I’m not disappointed in this last worlds that we didn’t make it further, but you can’t control everything.”

In July, McCarthy and Palmer advanced to the semifinals of the previous world championship, where they were ranked 17th overall based on points.

In August, the pair became the first team from Trinity to win the European Universities Debating Championship (EUDC), the first major international competition to be hosted fully in-person since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Palmer highlighted the difference this made: “The real difference between this worlds and the last was the entire competition being in person. On top of the energy which made each debate infinitely more enjoyable, it was

“

The real difference between this worlds and the last was the entire competition being in person...it was great to meet old friends and new ones in Madrid great to meet old friends and new ones in Madrid.”

While the world championship is traditionally held between December and January, it was delayed until summer in 2021 and 2022 as a result of the pandemic,

and held online.

“At the very top level debating often involves going against postgraduate students from the top universities around the world, or discussing very complex topics within a field you may not study and your opponents might. I don’t mention these things as an excuse, rather to show the value in debating.”

Palmer added: “Learning how to come up on top when the odds are against you often involves coming up with unique strategies and innovations. It can be a fascinating challenge, but is also a crucial crucial skill. Unfortunately, this time we weren’t quite able to pull it off, but I’m proud to have come so close.”

David Africa and Tobi Leung from Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines were crowned world champions after winning the Grand Final of the competition.

They were ranked third overall on team points, with a team from Tel Aviv University ranking second, and the University of Sofia first.

Two other teams from the Phil took part in WUDC this week, with three teams from the College Historical Society (the Hist) also competing.

WUDC 2024 is scheduled to take place in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam next December.

Teachers and stud plans for Leaving Government have announced plans to carry out certain Leaving Certificate exams during fifth year Alan Wilson Nolan Contributing writer

T

HE TEACHER UNION IN IRELAND (TUI) have voiced their concerns over the government’s intention to examine students on paper one of the Leaving Certificate English and Irish courses at the end of fifth year.

The union, which represents over 19,000 teachers, expressed its concern around the proposal stating that “such an educationally unsound move would pile significant additional pressure on students and teachers”.

The union also expressed its concern that the introduction of “high stakes” exams at the end of fifth year would result in students being underprepared in other subjects such as maths as a result of their efforts to prepare for paper one of the English and Irish exams.

Representatives of the union,

Former Estates and F The former head of Facilities and Services pleaded guilty to sexual assault last year and received a threemonth suspended sentence Aidan Cusack Deputy News Editor News Analysis Editor Content warning: This article indicates an alleged sexual assualt.

PHOTO BY SABA MALIK FOR TRINITY NEWS

F

ORMER HEAD OF ESTATES AND FACILITIES Brendan Leahy claims he was

9

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

News

dents criticise Cert reform as well as the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU), held a conference last weekend to discuss education reform.

Prior to the conference, ISSU Uachtarán (president) Caitlin Faye Maniti said: “The ISSU has always advocated for Leaving Certificate reform but the proposed changes are neither an adequate nor comprehensive enough solution to tackle the problems surrounding the Leaving Certificate exams and we do not see this leading to better outcomes for students.”

While the exact details of their discussion are unknown, the unions agreed that “significant further engagement between the Department [of Education] and the stakeholders is required to ensure that reform is educationally sound and benefits all learners”.

When asked for his opinion on the government’s intention to examine Paper One of his subject in fifth year, English teacher Alan O’Connor stated “one cannot separate language from literature, which is what this will do”.

O’Connor also voiced his belief that students had not asked for this move and that the government should be focussed on more meaningful reform.

The country’s other prominent second level teachers’ union, Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI), also criticised Minister for Education Norma Foley’s proposal to carry out state exams during fifth year.

€26 million announced to improve energy efficiency in universities The funding will allow for the continued testing of a range of costeffective retrofitting projects for third level campuses Conor Healy Contributing writer

M

INISTER FOR F U R T H E R AND HIGHER E D U C AT I O N Simon Harris and Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan have announced €26 million in funding to advance energy efficiency in colleges and universities.

The Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme will continue to test a range of building retrofit approaches, for the purposes of making existing buildings more energy efficient and reducing carbon emissions. These tests will inform decisions regarding the

rollout of larger programmes in the future.

According to a government statement, the funding of this programme is “a key climate action measure”, and will help higher education institutions progress towards the 2030 target of a 50% improvement in energy efficiency and 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Speaking on the announcement, Harris said: “I am delighted to announce that we are again increasing the funding available in this programme to advance the climate action agenda in the higher education sector. This is part of our national endeavour requiring sustained engagement with the higher education sector.”

He continued: “We want more institutions involved and more money making a difference and enabling transformational change.

The HEA are playing a key role in leading out this programme within the sector and are crucially gathering lessons learned from this key pathfinding programme.”

A range of retrofitting projects will be considered for funding, including deep retrofit with low-temperature air source heat pumps, medium retrofit with hightemperature air source heat pump, medium retrofit with mechanical and electrical upgrades, and deep fabric retrofit. Other pathways involve a geothermal water source heat pump with borehole,

“

This is part of our national endeavour requiring sustained engagement and biomass and medium fabric upgrade.

“Our 2030 targets for energy efficiency and decarbonisation are ambitious, but I’m here to say that we are committed to doing our part.”, Harris added.

“This programme will help institutions get there, developing and disseminating knowledge on a range of decarbonisation pathways that will work for the sector as a whole. This of course is building on the excellent work already being done by the sector in the area of sustainability and climate action.”

Higher education institutions will be invited shortly to apply for funding for projects covered by the programme, due to be commenced in 2023. The Higher Education

Authority will provide grants for successful projects resulting from the programme.

The programme is co-funded by both the Department of Further and Higher Education and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications under Project Ireland 2040. It is jointly administered through the Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland (SEAI) and the Higher Education Authority (HEA).

Eamon Ryan said: “The Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme is delivering significant energy savings and emission reductions while improving learning environments for our young people.”

“The Programme also continues to be highly successful in testing retrofit and decarbonisation solutions in higher education campuses across the country, meaning that we are gathering the evidence needed to scale up and speed up our transition over coming years,” he added.

“I am delighted that we are announcing this third call for funding, building on the work that has been done already and putting in place the new systems and processes we need to continue to make progress towards the 2030 targets of a 50% improvement in energy efficiency and 51% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.”

Facilities manager claims he was unfairly dismissed after sexual assault conviction unfairly dismissed from his €120,000 salary job after College authorities learned from a press report that he had pleaded guilty to sexual assault.

According to RTÉ, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) was told university management “went into a tailspin” when news broke that in March 2021, Mr Leahy had pleaded guilty to sexual assault.

The assault occurred at Kehoe’s Pub on South Anne Street, Dublin 2, in the summer of 2018, in which Leahy repeatedly pushed his body against the woman from behind.

The woman had been staying in Leahy’s spare bedroom, which was in use as an AirBnB. A three-month suspended sentence was imposed on Mr Leahy on the condition that he did not reoffend in the next year, completed a sex offenders education course, paid a €1000 fine, and gave €1000 in compensation to the victim.

He was also ordered to no longer provide AirBnB services.

He later appealed to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, and was

given the benefit of the probation act in August 2021. The Probation of Offenders Act 1907 provides the courts with a way of dealing with first-time offenders and offenders who are unlikely to be in trouble again, in which the courts give the offenders a type of official warning without imposing a sentence on them.

It has emerged that Mr Leahy’s line manager only became aware that a charge had been brought against the complainant when he received a text on the evening the newspaper reports began to appear.

College’s HR director Mary Leahy said the complainant “had not informed his line manager of the charge or what was going on prior to conviction” and was asked to take paid leave pending an investigation.

The WRC is now hearing a complaint by Mr Leahy under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 against the university.

A major dispute in the case centres on the interpretation of the 1907 Probation of Offenders Act

in the context of the investigation and disciplinary proceedings carried out by the College.

The tribunal heard that Mr Leahy wrote to College’s HR department stating that the Circuit Court order meant that his conviction had been “disposed of ”, and that because his conviction “no longer existed”, there was nothing for the HR department to

look into.

Mairead McKenna, an employment law barrister appointed by the College to examine the allegations against Mr Leahy, said that the conviction is “recorded as being dismissed on the Circuit Court order, however the facts remain proven”.

At a hearing in November, College’s HR director said “It

PHOTO BY SABA MALIK FOR TRINITY NEWS

would be absolutely inappropriate for there to be an order of reinstatement or re-engagement in this case”.

“This is a university with female staff and female students.

I say it is entirely appropriate and reasonable for Trinity College to say it has no trust and confidence in Mr Leahy now.”

10

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

News

€4.3m announced to assist third-level students with the cost of living Simon Harris also confirmed an increase in the 1916 Bursary to encourage the participation of students from underrepresented groups in higher education Aidan Cusack and Miriam Treitinger News Analysis Editor, Contributing writer

M

INISTER FOR F U R T H E R AND HIGHER E D U C AT I O N Simon Harris has

“

The SAF provides financial support to full or parttime students experiencing financial difficulty in college, helping with costs such as rent, childcare, transport, and medical cost

announced once-off funding of €4.3m to be provided through the Student Assistance Fund (SAF) to assist students with the increasing cost of living.

Harris also confirmed that students receiving the once-off Tier 3 1916 Path 2 bursary will have their bursary increased by €500 for the 2022/2023 academic year.

This brings the total available funding for the SAF to a record of over €20m for the 2022/23 academic year.

The SAF provides financial support to full or part-time students experiencing financial difficulty in college, helping with costs such as rent, childcare, transport, and medical costs.

In a statement, Harris described the SAF as “an invaluable resource for third-level students who are finding it difficult to make ends meet.”

“The fund is there to assist with additional costs they may face over the coming months. It is completely confidential and accessible through the Access Offices in publically funded higher education colleges.”

In Trinity, the SAF is operated

by the Undergraduate Student Support Officer on behalf of the Financial Assistance Committee and can be applied to through an individual’s tutor or the Undergraduate Student Support Officer.

The 1916 Path 2 bursary is targeted at underrepresented students in higher education, including socio-economically disadvantaged students, members of the Traveller and Roma communities, and students who have a disability.

This comes after a number of measures were introduced in Budget 2023 to assist students with the cost of living, including a onceoff €1000 reduction in the student contribution, an increase in the Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) maintenance grant, and allowing students to earn €2000 more over the summer without affecting their grant status.

Budget 2023 was criticised by the Irish Universities Association (IUA), which stated that the €40m provided to address the funding gap in higher education represented just 13% of the overall funding gap identified by the government.

Beyond Trinity Maynooth University: Maynooth University has become the ninth European university to join the Arqus Alliance, an initiative that aims to achieve integrated and improved research and educational opportunities between member institutions.

Welcoming the college’s accession to the Alliance, President of Maynooth University, Professor Eeva Leinonen said: “Partnering across disciplines, borders and cultures will be critical to solving the problems we face as a global society. The European University Alliance provides us with this opportunity, and we are delighted to find such common cause within the Arqus Alliance.”

South East University:

Technological

As part of a renewed commitment to tackling sexual harassment and violence onand off-campus, South East Technological University (SETU) has launched its Bystander Intervention Programme. The initiative, which is accessible to all students and staff members, aims to educate participants on how to recognise and intervene in incidences of sexual harassment and violence.

Launched at a ceremony attended by SETU President Veronica Campbell last week, the programme is based on a similar successful initiative established at University College Cork.

Queen’s University Belfast:

PHOTO VIA TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN

PHOTO VIA TRINITY NEWS

Staff affiliated with the University and College Union (UCU) are set to begin up to eighteen non-consecutive days of industrial action commencing on February 1. The action has arisen from disputes over pay and conditions for university employees. The union has called for a “meaningful pay rise to deal with the cost-of-living crisis” and the end to the use of “insecure” work contracts, threatening to pursue further action over the rest of the academic year if their demands are not met. The strike will also affect Ulster University, in addition to universities in Great Britain who employ UCU members.

11

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

News

Former pro-Chancellor calls on College not to rename Berkeley Library In a 3,000 word submission, Professor David McConnell said that renaming the Berkeley would “do great damage to the works of one of the great scholars of this College” David Wolfe News Editor

F

ORMER PROCHANCELLOR OF TRINITY David McConnell has called on College not to rename the Berkeley Library, saying that doing so would “do great damage to the works of one of the great scholars of this College”.

In a submission to the Legacies Review Working Group, McConnell said that while pressure to rename the library “has opened a useful discussion”, to do so would not be “a significant contribution…to the rectification of wrongs that still permeate western society”.

McConnell has also been president of the College Historical Society (the Hist) since 2003, a position held by an alumnus of the society rather than a current student. His term as a proChancellor ended in 2019.

His 3,000 word submission details George Berkeley’s influential contributions to philosophy and arguments in defence of retaining the library’s current name.

“His reputation offers us a way of drawing attention to slavery.

Removing his name from the Library will hide rather than expose his connection with slavery,” it says of Berkeley.

Last August, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) called for the immediate denaming of the library, referring to it instead as “the X Library” in all official communications since then.

Berkeley, who attended Trinity,

being made a Fellow in 1707, owned at least four slaves and ideologically supported slavery and settler colonialism.

These facts are documented in a paper by Trinity academics Dr Mobeen Hussain, Dr Ciaran O’Neill and Dr Patrick Walsh, though McConnell says that they have “never been denied and [were] well known”. McConnell also criticises the paper for saying “little about Berkeley’s intellectual legacy”.

The submission praises Berkeley’s intellectual achievements: “There must be something special about Berkeley.

And of course there was and is – he was and remains one of the most remarkable thinkers of the modern age.”

McConnell says that in removing Berkeley’s name from the library, “we are being asked to use modern standards to condemn Berkeley for living in the 18th century with his contemporary standards”.

He adds that “it would be a travesty of all Trinity stands for today, in essence its commitment to intellectual enquiry, to write Berkeley out of our history”.

“In my opinion it would be

completely wrong to take his name off the New Library, or to take down his portraits, or to remove the Berkeley Window from the Chapel. Instead we should do much

“

Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) called for the immediate denaming of the library, referring to it instead as “the X Library”

more to explain why Berkeley has been so influential in philosophy, science and mathematics.”

The submission expresses the hope that “discussion of Berkeley will help us to keep slavery at the forefront of our thinking and that of succeeding generations – we owe it to those who still suffer the consequences of that horrendous practice that was common in western civilisation”.

“One thing is clear, that we should focus more efforts on dealing with the consequences of these horrors in the modern world rather than superficially re-writing the history. Taking a name off a library is much easier than finding ways of making sure people understand slavery and never forget it.”

Established in November, the Legacies Review Working Group invited “evidencebased” submissions regarding the renaming of the library in question.

Other suggestions include the 1904 Library, to commemorate the year women were admitted to Trinity, the Wolfe Tone Library, submitted by Ógra Shinn Féin TCD, and “The Library Formerly Known as The Berkeley”.

PHOTO BY EVA O’BEIRNE FOR TRINITY NEWS

12

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

News

Analysis: Is the minimum wage increase enough for students?

Ellen Kenny Assistant Editor

B

UDGET 2023 HAS ANNOUNCED AN 80 cent increase of the national minimum wage. However, for students working part-time, rates can vary. Studies from both the Irish League of Credit Unions and Technological University Dublin (TUD) show that roughly twothirds of third-level students work part-time while studying.

This age-based system of wages was introduced in 2017 following recommendations made by the Low Pay Commission (LPC), meaning not all workers are now entitled to €11.30 an hour, particularly students. The minimum wage for workers aged 18 is €9.04 (80% of the national

minimum wage), while it is €10.17 for those aged 19 (90%). The LPC are currently reviewing the youth rates with the Economic and Social Research Institute, following a request from former Minister for Enterprise Leo Varadkar, with findings and recommendations to be made this year.

The increased minimum wage comes amidst increased costs of living, and therefore may not be easily felt by working students.

Critics of the new minimum wage, such as SIPTU and the Living Wage Technical Group (LWTG) have said that this new rate is “failing to keep up with inflation” today.

According to the Zurich Cost of Education Survey 2022, the cost of one academic year in Ireland is €7,636 for students living at home and approximately €15,000 for students living away from home.

A 20 year-old student working 20 hours per week, the maximum hours considered “casual work” and the maximum recommended hours worked for students, would earn €7,458 during the academic year, an income shy of expected costs even for students living at home.

However, the LPC has previously stressed that the new minimum wage alone cannot compensate workers for inflation and recent increases in the cost of living, and it recommends additional measures to support minimum wage and low-paid workers. The rate at which students work parttime will likely remain high and continue to affect their studies; several studies connect parttime work to stress and burnout among college students, while a 2019 survey by the Irish League of Credit Unions found that 60% of

students feel that having to work during the college term is having a negative effect on their studies.

The newly increased minimum wage is distinct from the Irish living wage that the government has promised to introduce in the future. A living wage is intended to establish an hourly wage rate that should provide employees with sufficient income for an agreed acceptable minimum standard of living. Last year, government promised to introduce the living wage by 2026, calculated as 60% of the median wage.

For the first time in its annual National Minimum Wage report, the LPC introduced an indicative National Living Wage for 2023 of €13.10. However, the LWTG set their own 2023 living wage at €13.85. Several Irish companies, such as Lidl and Three Ireland, have set their minimum wage at €13.85.

Greek court TCDSU protested outside the Greek embassy earlier this month in solidarity with defendants in the case Shannon Connolly, David Wolfe and Brídín Ní Fhearraigh Joyce Editor, News Editor, Contributing writer

A

GREEK JUDGE HAS DROPPED espionage charges against humanitarian volunteer Seán Binder, alongside 23 others earlier this month The prosecution in the case said they recognized “serious flaws” in the charges against the 24 defendants, and recommended an annulment of the trial.

In a statement posted to social media, campaign group Free Humanitarians said: “Today we finally received some positive news after over 4 years of limbo.

Trinity graduate awarded Provost’s Fellowship in Curating 2022-2023 Director of The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Georgina Jackson: “These opportunities are so cr crucial to foster future generations of curators and arts workers.”

Chloe McGing Contributing writer

C

O L L E G E ANNOUNCED EARLIER THIS MONTH the awarding of the Provost’s Fellowship in Curating 2022-

2023 to Trinity graduate Aisling Clark. Established in 2020, the Provost’s Fellowship in Curating offers recent graduate students the opportunity to work within The Douglas Hyde Gallery for a period of 12 months.

Supported by the office of the provost, the fellowship offers hands-on work and mentorship.

The fellow is given insight into the daily workings of the organisation and its programme while contributing to discourses within the Gallery, Trinity, and further afield.

Aisling Clark holds an LLB in Law from Trinity. She was a Reid Scholar and undertook her capstone research project on the repatriation of cultural objects in museums and decolonization.

She is also a graduate of the MSc Modern & Contemporary Art: History, Curating and Criticism programme at the University of Edinburgh.

Director of The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Georgina Jackson, stated: “These opportunities are so crucial

to foster future generations of curators and arts workers.”

“Aisling has come to art while studying law here in Trinity and most recently completed her masters at the University of Edinburgh. We are delighted to welcome her to the team and look forward to working with her to realise an event in late 2023.”

On her appointment, Aisling Clark stated that she felt “extremely fortunate to be working at the Douglas Hyde as the Curatorial Fellow this year”. Emphasising the precarious nature of many jobs in the arts, she said that opportunities that offer a living wage and meaningful work to those starting out in the field of curating are

“close to non-existent”.

Provost Linda Doyle congratulated Clark on her Fellowship, highlighting The Douglas Hyde as “an outstanding space for contemporary art in Ireland”, and the Fellowship as a “really fantastic opportunity”.

13

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

News

drops espionage charges from Binder case What they The judges decided to drop some of the misdemeanour charges due to the error-ridden indictment and the expiration of the statute of limitations for some charges.”

Key documents such as the indictments were not translated for the non-Greek defendants, while the charges of espionage have been too vague to continue the prosecution.

According to RTÉ, the charges will most likely run out of time under the statute of limitations and the defendants will not be charged again.

The statement also reminded followers of the case that “this is not justice”, saying that “if the same strategy of procedural errors and extensive [delays] is continued for the remaining felony charges, we have another 15 years of limbo before we can prove our innocence.”

“We would not have achieved this small victory without the immense support inside and outside Greece. Our fight for justice continues,” the group’s statement added.

Previously, the legal team for the defence submitted objections to the case based on constant mistakes made by the prosecution, and the charges being too vague for defendants to fairly defend themselves against them.

Binder, who grew up in Ireland,

was one of 24 volunteer and human rights activists facing charges from the government in Greece.

The trial has also seen the activists being accused of human trafficking, money laundering, fraud, and the unlawful use of radio frequencies.

Although the espionage charge has been dropped, felony charges remain against the accused. A future court date is not yet set.

The same day the charges were dropped, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) gathered outside the Embassy of Greece in Dublin in solidarity with the defendants in the case.

Students protested outside the embassy with placards and chants calling on Greek authorities to drop all charges.

TCDSU President Gabi Fullam delivered a letter to the Greek minister for justice calling for all charges against the defendants to be dropped.

Speaking at the protest, Fullam, said that “the wider purpose of the trial” was not related to the individual charges, with groups such as Amnesty International calling the case “farcical”, but rather to discourage humanitarians and make them “uncomfortable or unable to do their job”.

Fullam added that this was part of a “broad demoralisation

and dehumanisation of migrants”, which has also been seen in Ireland in recent protests against refugees, and reflected in the 27th Amendment of the constitution which disqualifies the children of immigrants from Irish citizenship.

“The fact that the barest amount of compassion and helping people not drown, helping people with a bottle of water when they land here, is a damning indictment of how migrants are criminalised for

simply existing. We’ve delivered our letter, please sign up for humanitarian petitions. And please continue to show solidarity in any part of your life that you can”.

Union of Students in Ireland (USI) Vice President for Campaigns Ross Boyd echoed this, saying that people in Ireland “need to stand together in calling this out”.

PHOTO VIA SINEAD RYAN ON TWITTER

“There is no place for those whose primary focus is on dragging society backwards.

They will not succeed and must not be allowed to fill the political vacuum … we must keep building the peace and moving forward together to build a new and better future for all.”

Michelle O’Neill, Vice President of Sinn Féin “No mother should go through what I am going through right now, no mother, to lose their child to the violent way that I lost my child.”

Row Vaughn Wells, Mother of Tyre Nichols

Charlotte Kent Contributing writer

T

Michael D Higgins, President

Colm Báiread and Cleona Ní Chrualaoi, Writer and Producer, An Cailín Ciúin

Trinity professor Sinéad Ryan appointed to Irish Research Council

RINITY PROFESSOR SINEAD RYAN HAS been appointed by minister Harris to the Irish Research Council.

Ryan is professor of Theoretical High Energy Physics at Trinity. She replaces Professor Kieran Conboy of the University of Galway, who served two two three-year terms on the board of the organisation.

In a statement to Trinity News, Professor Ryan said she was “delighted and very honoured” to join the council.

“The Irish Research Council supports research excellence across all career stages and all

“The nature of the climate effect is such that it isn’t viable to be talking about borders and migratory measures in the way we did before. Everything has changed.”

“This is a truly historic and meaningful moment for Irish film, the Irish people and the Irish language. Never before has an Irish film been nominated in this category. Never before has Irish-language art been given such a platform. This film has been an extraordinary labour of love and it has been a joy to see audiences the world over take it into their hearts.”

PHOTO BY DAVID WOLFE FOR TRINITY NEWS

Ryan is Professor and Chair of Theoretical High Energy Physics in Trinity

say

“I was not a drag queen in Brazil. I was young and I had fun at a festival.” disciplines and I look forward to contributing to the council’s unique role in Irish research and innovation,” she continued.

Ryan’s research is in the area of high energy particle physics and with a focus on quantum chromodynamics.

She is chair of the EuroHPC Infrastructure Advisory Group, and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics.

Ryan has also held Distinguished Visiting Professorships at the

Institute for Advanced Study at the Technische Universität München in Germany and Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in France.

On the appointment, Chair of the Irish Research Council, Professor Daniel Carey, said: “We are delighted to welcome Professor Sinéad Ryan to the Irish Research Council.”

“Professor Ryan brings very valuable expertise to the Irish Research Council at a particularly important time in its evolution in

the context of major changes in the Irish research funding landscape,” he added.

In February 2016, Ryan was one of eight Trinity academics honoured by President Micheal D. Higgins for their contributions to scientific research in a celebration of women in science.

The Irish Research Council is a state sponsored organisation that aims to “enable and sustain a vibrant research community in Ireland by supporting excellent researchers in all disciplines”.

George Santos, US House Representative “That’s a world of a difference from Paschal, who failed to declare significant donations, was notified in 2017, did nothing about it, was notified in 2022, did nothing about it” Eoin Ó Broin, Sinn Féin spokesperson on housing

14

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

News

Update: Ukrainian refugees education in Dublin Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, received the warnings in a briefing document drafted by officials last December Sofia Ferrari-Bravo Deputy News Analysis Editor

refugees.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, received the warnings in a briefing document drafted by officials last December.

The concerns were directed at

of he country regarding the accommodation for students.

These issues have been identified as mostly in rural areas of the country, where a great number of refugees stay in holiday homes.

The Department of Education acknowledged and anticipated

Hundreds of new schools to join Creative Clusters and BLAST arts programme in 2023 Minister for Education Norma Foley announced the awarding of BLAST residencies to 629 schools in 2022-23 Sofia Ferrari-Bravo Deputy News Analysis Editor

T

HE BRINGING LIVE ARTS TO Students and Teachers (BLAST) programme expands into its second year, as part of the Creative Clusters scheme, led by the Department of Education and Skills.

In January 2023, Minister for Education Norma Foley announced the awarding of BLAST residencies to 629 schools in 2022-23, a significant increase from the 489 participants that the programme saw in its first year.

Minister Foley described the BLAST initiative in its ability to provide “opportunities for individual primary and post-

“

opportunities for individual primary and post-primary schools to collaborate with established artists primary schools to collaborate with established artists on a range of creative projects”.

The possibility to increase participating schools will bring these opportunities to many new students, allowing them to “enjoy creative experience in the classroom and learn in new ways”.

She continued to outline the importance of the programme, highlighting that “engaging in creative projects enables children and young people to express themselves, provides them with opportunities for connection and collaboration, and gives them the

“significant challenges” in ensuring sufficient school places are available for 2023.

The department currently supports the assistance of Ukrainian refugees through the Regional Education and Language Teams (REALT), in which regionally based teams aid the

transition of the students.

The teams are said to “ensure that clear, accessible information flows are in place between schools, local education support services and national support structures in relation to people arriving from Ukraine”.

PHOTO VIA WIKIEMEDIA COMMONS

C

ONCERNS HAVE BEEN RAISED BY the Irish government in regards to school capacity for Ukrainian

the Department of Education, and its risk in facing “significant cost and capacity pressures” due to the rising number of children arriving from Ukraine.

The document highlights how new students have been accommodated until now thanks to the capacity already existing in the Irish education system. This capacity is said to be reaching exhaustion.

The document briefs a need for increased capital investment in the education system, specifically in its attempt to accommodate the rising influx of Ukrainian students.

In December, 13,753 were confirmed to be enrolled as students across Ireland, of which 8,823 are in primary school and 4,930 in secondary schools.

In September, overall enrollment stood at 11,809, meaning a total of 1,944 additional students were enrolled in the space of two months.

Director of the National Association for Principals and Deputy Principals Paul Crone assured that “there is capacity at second level within the system”; however, he continues to acknowledge that there exist “pinch points” in certain areas

space to explore new ideas and learn new skills”.

The resources given to schools by the Creative Clusters and BLAST programme allows schools to dedicate government funds (up to €15,000) into building their own specific creative and artistic ways of learning.

Minister Foley also confirmed the creation of an additional 21 Creative Clusters for 2022-24, in response to the demand from schools to take part in the creative initiative.

The initiative places a focus on the ability for schools to create unique learning experiences and cater to their students’ particular interests and needs. The benefit from creative engagement can be seen in this year’s School Clusters.

One cluster schools caters for students with autism and aims to create tactile and interactive outdoor play areas, whilst another cluster encourages interest in the knowledge of coding. The variety of the creative themes “reflect the local experience and unique perspectives” that is so crucial for the programme.

The further expansion of the Creative Clusters and BLAST programme this year “means more young people have the opportunity to develop essential skills in adapting and collaborating, and to enjoy and explore artistic and creative expression”, as stated by Minister Foley.

Looking to write for Trinity News?

Fill out our Google form on this QR code to be added to our writers groups!

More information on staff positions can be found at: www.trinitynews.ie/applications

15

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

Features

A look into economic indicators Lara Mellet

page 17

The union fighting for Phd worker’s rights David Wolfe

page 18

An exploration of philosophytok and what it means for consumers Trinity News investigates the recent rise of philosophy on social media platforms Eva Duggan Deputy Features Editor

T

he past few months have shown a resurgence of interest in popular philosophy.

Of course, there have always been those who chose to study philosophy, but it seems to have extended to a wider range of people- including young people who are learning philosophy recreationally. With the help of social media (primarily tiktok), certain philosophers, quotes and theories have begun to trend.

It started with Camus. Videos casually referencing Albert Camus began to surface on tiktok, creator

PHOTO VIA TRINITY NEWS

@_edgar_allan_hoe stating that “hot girls read Camus” and @ ubermensch6969 remarking on his popularity among depressed teenagers. Intellectuals caught on to the trend, people began reading Camus’ most famous book “The Stranger”- it is now displayed on the “booktok” stand at book shops such as Hodges Figgis in Dublin, and many more around the world.

Camus’ primary philosophical theory is absurdism, which informs all of his work and views.

Absurdism can be perceived as a response to nihilism, attempting to put a positive spin on the view that life is utterly meaningless. Nihilism views the universe as devoid of meaning, and that moral values are worthless because of this. It is a pessimistic perspective, at best.

Absurdism sees meaninglessness as liberating- if nothing matters then you can do whatever you want. It gives you the freedom to get what you want out of life.

The famous quote; “Kill yourself, or have a cup of coffee” has been quoted all over tiktok.

However, Camus never actually said this. It surfaced in Schwartz’ “The Paradox of Choice”, but there was no source given. This quote, while not by Camus, provides an apt summarisation of the concept of absurdism. In accepting that life has no meaning, your response

should be to rebel and not concede.

Camus’ view of suicide is that death is equally as meaningless as life. If you delve into Camus’ work, he criticises the search for meaning, saying “You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” Camus’ philosophy rejects religion, and any attempt to form beliefs at all.

It is difficult to know why these philosophies are trending and consuming young people.

It would be easy to blame it on modern society- the work to live lifestyle, hook-up culture and the death of religion, but the truth is that absurdism has been around since the 19th century, when Kierkegaard first came up with it.

It is true that aspects of modern life inhibit us from living life to the fullest and pursuing what we love.

The heavy emphasis on money and career overshadows much of what life is truly about. Young people rejecting this is not a new thing, but the sad reality is that after a phase of rebelling, most people realise that there is nothing they can do about the society we live in.

Modern life can be compared to Camus’ Myth of Sisyphus, which tells the story of Sisyphus, who was sentenced to repeatedly pushing a boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back down. This is reminiscent of making it through the day at

work, only to have to relive it all the following day. While this sense of meaninglessness may not be modern, social media gives it the ability to grow and capture many people’s attention. Posting about it on tiktok means that it can reach many people who are already struggling with existentialism.

Tiktok gives people the ability to fall down a rabbit hole. Videos about a certain topic often use the same sounds or use hashtags, making it easy to find a multitude of thoughts and opinions. It is often easier to scroll through tiktok to learn about Camus than to read one of his books.

The danger of this relates to the impressionability of teenagers and young people in general.

Creator @melissa.stc posted a Tiktok explaining that discovering nihilism, Nietzsche, Kafka and Camus as a teenager has the potential to ruin their youth.

One comment on this post says; “Reading Albert Camus actually makes me happy and helps me feel content with how I live”, showing that absurdism can be interpreted in a positive light. However, if taken at face value, without looking too deeply into it, the idea that life is inherently meaningless is a depressing one. It is possible to find it liberating, but maintaining this outlook requires a constant

effort to keep the uncertainty and sadness of meaninglessness at bay. Upon realising that the world is devoid of meaning, one must repeatedly remind oneself to not get sucked into it. Many people in the comment section stated that “Nietzsche ruined me”, but many found Camus to be very positive.

It takes hard work to accept meaninglessness and not let it phase you. For most people, it is much easier and more convenient to believe in religion or spirituality.

It helps us to face the idea of death, and make sense of life. Suffering is more tolerable if there is meaning in it. Spirituality and religion have helped people come to terms with their struggles for as long as time has existed. So, regardless of whether there is ultimately a positive message behind absurdism, to have meaning stripped from life is still a blow to many people.

While it is certainly beneficial to have intellectual discourse happen on social media, we must consume the information with caution. The most important lesson to take from this, which we talk about in terms of regular news, is to read further into something before you choose to believe it. Further reading and research may show a much more uplifting message than what is being fed from the internet.

16

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

Features

ARTificial: AI Art, Its Applications and Implications Trinity News explores the phenomenon of AI art, and its place in the art world Lara Mellett Features Editor

B

y feeding AI data and getting it to produce images, the AI was able to create new artworks.

If an artist uses an AI-generated image, is the work theirs?

AI Art is the latest trend taking hold of social media and the art world. From creating novel pieces to novelty TikTok filters, the development in this area of machine learning may change our understanding of creativity.

However, before we hand our culture over to disembodied machines, we must ask what is AI and what are the consequences of its implementation for human society at large?

AI (artificial intelligence) is a particular area of computer science that centres around building machines that can mimic and mirror human behaviours. This is done by feeding data into particular algorithms that enable them to produce human-like responses to stimuli. In this sense, AI machines can learn human behaviours and subsequently produce art by being fed a particular algorithm and the right visual aids. Through this, AI machines are able to produce art through their ability to simulate a human brain and mimic its behaviours.

According to Artland Magazine, the first attempt to figure anything close to artificial intelligence was attempted by Ada Lovelace in the 1840s with the Analytical Engine, which is now considered to be the first computer. From this, engineering, mathematics, and creativity combined to expand the boundaries of computer science, with artificial intelligence representing one of the field’s most groundbreaking innovations.

The major technological achievement that enabled AI to be able to generate ‘original’ works of art came about in 2015, when Alexander Mordvintsev created the DeepDream database. Originally, the system was created to understand how Artificial Neural Networks in AI worked. In a 2015 blog post, Mordvintsev explained that “we train an artificial neural network by showing it millions of training examples and gradually adjusting the network parameters until it gives the classifications we want,” but added that “one of the challenges of neural networks is

“

By feeding AI data and getting it to produce images, the AI was able to create new artworks. understanding what exactly goes on at each layer.” In an attempt to dissect the inner workings of these networks, DeepDream was created, allowing the programmer to feed the AI certain images and parameters, noting the image that the program produced in response.

By adjusting the parameters and stimuli, then examining how the image changed, Mordvintsev and his team tried to understand how the AI worked and consumed data.

The result was a variety of original, psychedelic images, which led Mordvintsev to “wonder whether neural networks could become a tool for artists — a new way to remix visual concepts — or perhaps even shed a little light on the roots of the creative process in general.”

By feeding AI data and getting it to produce images, the AI was able to create new artworks. In a way, this mechanism displays AI’s ability to understand the natural human tendency to create through its programming and mimic this in its production of art.

Due to its ability to produce new and interesting images, DeepDream indicated the ability of AI to be used in artistic pursuits, acting as a springboard for the development of AI specifically intended for producing art. Today, this idea has become thoroughly commonplace, since a quick Google search displays thousands of results for AI art generators. The interest in AI art is also high across social media platforms, with #AIart having over 2 billion views on TikTok, while the platform offers its own AI filters for users to try themselves. One recent TikTok trend saw people turning themselves into Manga characters using an AI filter, testing what the AI would pick up or transform.

This particular filter currently has 113 million videos of people trying it out posted to the platform.

Beyond providing entertainment as a glorified 2014 Snapchat filter, AI generators have

also found other uses in the art world, as AI programs have been employed to authenticate pieces of art. The company Art Recognition has spearheaded this idea, offering the ability to authenticate art from a single photograph of the piece.

This is achieved by collecting a dataset of works known to be made by an artist, and feeding this data to an AI so that it can use machine learning to identify the artist through their “brushstroke, object placement, use of colour, and high-level compositional elements.” This follows the same principle as AI art creation: feed the AI stimuli and parameters so that it can break down these elements and analyse them.

It has been argued that AI can serve to help artists within the creative process. An AI could generate an image from what the artist feeds it, allowing the artist to then interpret or replicate that image in more traditional mediums. However, here arises the issue of ownership and intellectual property surrounding the entire production of AI art: if an artist uses an AI-generated image, is the work theirs? When artists create their own original works using more traditional or tangible mediums, the work is automatically understood to be theirs under copyright law.

However, because AI art is such a recently-developed concept, its regulation is not explicitly encompassed under any existing copyright law documents. The United States’ Copyright Act notes that, in order to obtain copyright protection, the art must be “an original work of authorship”, which is usually interpreted to exclude AI-generated works. In this sense, AI art can have no legal owner, suggesting that no work of AI art is truly original since the algorithm’s pieces wholly rely on synthesising other existing artworks. The Center for Art Law explains that “there may be infringement claims

on the final [AI] image based on copyrighted artworks inputted into the AI at the time of machine learning which may infringe the rights of copyright holders.”

Thus, the mechanisms of AI art programs can actively inhibit its users from claiming ownership over any pieces of art that they generate.

Aside from the legal ambiguities posed by AI art, the phenomenon of computer-generated pieces has highlighted many ethical questions surrounding artificial art. Writing for Forbes Ben Meisner poses two tangential questions; whether AI art can be deemed truly original and whether it can be considered “true art”. Both of these debates must be addressed if AI art is to become more prevalent in artistic and creative spaces.

In terms of whether AI art is truly original, it cannot be overlooked that AI must be fed preexisting works in order to teach

“

A n AI could generate an image from what the artist feeds it, allowing the artist to then interpret or replicate that image

PHOTO BY TARA WINSTEAD VIA PEXELS.COM

it what “art” is, let alone produce anything new. In this sense, anything produced by AI will be a derivation or interpretation of what AI understands as art, based on the images it has processed.

Thus, it can be argued that AI is unable to produce truly original works. However, can this idea not be reflected back onto human methods for producing art?

Whether it is art in the traditional sense — or indeed any form of creativity — inspiration to create often comes from observing or consuming the works of others.

Nonetheless, perhaps inspiration and subsequent creation are forms of human instinct that cannot be replicated by machine learning, underpinning what art is at its most surface-level sense.

Meisner notes that “we commonly think of art as those forms of expression that come from someone’s emotions and that we relate to on a human level.”

This is another instinct that drives human creativity: emotion. All of art can be viewed as a reaction to an external stimulus and while AI’s main function may be to react to its parameters and data in order to produce an output, it would be a stretch to call this an emotional reaction. Can we truly attribute the label of art to a piece generated by a machine that mimics human behaviours? An AI can potentially mimic emotion, but this is only imitation, so perhaps AI art should be classified instead as an imitation and held separate from art manifested from human inspiration, emotion, and instinct.

It seems that artificial intelligence programs can aptly understand and mimic human behaviours, to the extent that they can produce original works, but surely there are limitations to how much a computer can reflect the human and these limitations must also be placed on the art created.

If art is expression, then AI art is truly just a mimicry of expression.

17

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

Features

A look into economic indicators Trinity News looks at some niche economic indicators, and suggests some Trinity-centric Indexes Lara Mellett Features Editor

T

he Irish economy has been in quite a precarious position for some time; with the cost of living crisis and energy supply fears causing inflation to go through the roof, it’s difficult to keep track of the state of things from one day to another. However, economists have theorised some lighthearted indicators for the economy that display its effects on everyday life, past the stress of increasing bills.

The economy is measured through a variety of indicators that show whether an economy is growing or declining. One of the main indicators used by economists is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country. A country’s GDP measures the value of goods and services produced by a country within a certain time period, usually one year. It is one of the key reference points for a country’s economic health.

If a country’s GDP increases, this usually indicates that the economy is growing. Another important economic indicator is the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the prices of goods and services in a country over a period of time. Inflation

“

The economy is measured through a variety of indicators that show whether an economy is growing or declining

causes prices to rise, which would be reflected in an increase in the CPI. Ireland’s economy seems to be resting on unstable grounds, and this precarious situation is reflected in its economic indicators. According to the Central Statistics Office, inflation was at 9.2% from October 2021 to 2022, with a staggering 27.8% increase in costs in “Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels.” This can be attributed to a number of factors, including the energy crisis generated by conflicts in Ukraine, as well as the state of the Irish housing market.

While traditional economic indicators clearly depict the state of the Irish economy, economists have found other niche effects of the economic circumstance, which can then be reflected back and connected with its cause.

The High Heel Index This theory describes the idea that more women opt for high heels during an economic downturn. IBM’s Dr Trevor Davis notes: “usually, in an economic downturn, heels go up and stay up – as consumers turn to more flamboyant fashions as a means of fantasy and escape.” High heels offer people the opportunity to emulate a more luxurious lifestyle, even if that is not the reality within the economy. According to Business Insider, this was reflected during the Great Depression in the United States, when high heel markets rose.

The Hemline Index

The hemline index notes a correlation between the length of women’s skirts during different economic periods. It appears that hemlines rise and fall in line with stock prices, with shorter skirts being more prevalent during times of economic prosperity.

However, while this may have been quite simple to track in the early twentieth century, with the ever-increasing speed of trends in the contemporary fashion industry, this may not be the most dependable index to decide your investments on.

The Chinese Zodiac Indicator This economic indicator suggests that the market is contingent, or at least reflected, on the year reflected in the Chinese Zodiac. In this sense, the Year of the Dragon is believed to reflect prosperity, and thus the market is believed to flourish during this year. This may be because those who follow the Chinese Zodiac choose to get engaged and buy houses during this prosperous year. Conversely, the Year of the Rat, which fell in both 2008 and 2020, carried a prediction of poor price performance.

The Netflix Indicator This is a new economic indicator, with its correlation rooted in the social and economic effects of the pandemic. It describes the surge in Netflix’s stocks that seemed to occur when the overall market was plummeting in 2020. Tangentially, there is a correlation between an increase in overall Netflix watchtime and

the downturn of the economy. In 2020, this connection was rather obvious: people were out of work and staying at home, which would clearly give rise to an increase in time available for binge-watching.

These economic indicators can both give consumers insights into the state of the economy, and conversely depict its knockon effects and how pervasive the economy is in our everyday lives.

In Ireland, we seem to have our own economic indicators, most of which centre around the level of inflation happening in the country. Recently, one of the most prevalent economic indicators to be found on Irish social media is the cost of a deli Chicken fillet roll.

Aptly termed the Recession Roll in many Irish convenience stores, a chicken fillet roll was often offered with a bottle of water, can of coke, or even a bag of crisps, for the affordable price of €3. However, with Ireland’s rising inflation, the humble chicken fillet roll can cost up to €7. It has become a trend to post a picture or TikTok of the “outrageous” prices of chicken fillet rolls in recent times, often a reflection of the cost of living crisis and rising inflation levels.

The Chicken Fillet Roll Index seems to be a predecessor of a more retro food-related price index pervasive in Ireland: the Freddo Index. The price of a Freddo chocolate bar seems to reflect Ireland’s inflation, often causing similar outrage online.

At its 1994 launch in the UK, the price of a Freddo was a mere 10p,

but has been rising slowly since then, coming to a head when it announced a price increase to a whopping 40 cents in Ireland in 2018. While many tweets joked at its increase, citing that the “Boom is Back,” the subsequent backlash the new price received caused Cadbury’s to announce a reduction in the price of the frog-shaped bar.

Food-related economic indicators are extremely common in reflecting inflation and this can be seen in and around Trinity’s own campus. According to a study done by Students4Change, which can be viewed on their Instagram, Trinity’s food prices across campus have increased by 25%, far surpassing the national inflation in that area.

Additionally, Carluccio’s pasta boxes, a Trinity Student staple, have increased the price of a half-portion of pasta from €4.50 to €5.50 in the past year. Thus, the Carluccio’s Pasta Index is a constant reminder of the state of the economy for hungry students.

While most economic indicators are retrospectively created, and may often correlate to only one period of economic growth or decline, they are still a useful tool in recognising the impacts of the economy on our everyday lives, as well as the covert influences they can have on behaviours and trends. Certainly, we may never see the price of a chicken roll fall to its glory-days prices, but at least you can indulge in them through the guise of tracking the country’s economy.

18

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

Features

“Without change, Irish research is going to die”: The unions fighting for PhD workers’ rights Trinity News talks to two indepedendent PhD workers’ rights groups David Wolfe News Editor

E

oghan Ross feels that positive change for PhD researchers is inevitable: “It’s either that or Irish research is just going to die.”

Nevertheless, inevitability has not made the challenges facing postgraduate workers’ unions any less real. “It’s definitely been difficult,” Ross says. “The workload that you have doing a PhD is already very, very high, and adding this sort of stuff on top, it can put a strain on you at times. But when you believe in something, you’re willing to put that extra bit of work in.”

Ross is vice-chair of the Trinity branch of the Postgraduate Workers Alliance of Ireland (PGWAI), an organisation formed in 2019 by local branches from University College Dublin (UCD) and the University of Galway to advocate for PhD researchers.

Since then, another local group has been established in University College Cork (UCC), with groups in numerous other universities currently in the process of establishing themselves.

Although at the time TCD PGWA was founded, Trinity had an existing, fully-funded Graduate Students’ Union (GSU), it was felt that this and other students’ unions tended to focus on masters

and taught postgraduate courses, rather than PhDs and researchers.

“What we needed in terms of representation is very different from what they could provide,” Ross says. As a result, the GSU tended to act more as a support network rather than a campaign group, a function which PhD workers felt sorely in need of.

Kyle Hamilton, president of the PhD’s Collective Action Union (PCAU) echoes this feeling: “There isn’t the kind of support that we need within the students’ unions.”

PCAU was founded last summer

by Jeffrey Sardina, in response to a government announcement of a limited number of €28,000 stipends for PhD researchers, which the group felt was “incredibly unfair”.

Sardina served as president until last November, when he and thenvice president Hamilton swapped roles.

Hamilton says that she “wasn’t aware” of PGWAI when she joined PCAU, highlighting that “a lot of postgraduate researchers are not aware that these groups exist,” a fact which she feels both groups must work to change.

Nonetheless, there has been constant communication and collaboration between the groups.

Matt Murtagh, Data Officer of PCAU, points to a joint protest outside the Dáil on Budget Day which was attended by both groups, as well as the Union of Students in Ireland (USI).

“From day one, it’s been about cooperation and working together towards a common goal,” Murtagh says.

Likewise, the two unions have similar priorities and demands.

Of chief importance for both is the issue of employment status for PhD researchers; the recognition that they are workers and deserving of the full protection of employment law. Other items on the agenda include a living wage, proper working conditions, and the equitable treatment of non-EU researchers.

In December, PCAU launched the Fair Postgraduate Researchers’ Agreement (FRA), in response to the current government review of state supports for PhD researchers, with a list of eight demands.

As well as those mentioned above, the FRA also calls for anti-discrimination measures for postgraduate workers, provision of any equipment necessary for their role, the right to work in Ireland for spouses and children of non-EU researchers, and adequate supervisory arrangements. The FRA received formal support from PGWAI as well as USI and a number of other students’ unions.

The document was drafted by the PCAU Executive and amended based on feedback and submissions from members of the union. It is an impressive fivepage document with eight detailed sections outlining demands, and an appendix including “suggested rates of pay for additional services”, including teaching assistance, lecturing, and marking. It is comprehensive in detail, and its language specific and legislative, reflecting the union’s hopes that substantive change will come about from the government review.

“We really feel that it represents what people need,” Hamilton says.

Having been signed off by the

“

W hat we needed in terms of representation is very different from what they could provide PHOTO BY FERN KELLY-LANDRY FOR TRINITY NEWS

Executive, the FRA was sent to over 300 stakeholders, including TDs, Senators, and higher education officials.

It is PGWAI however who have had the more direct contact with government. As well the opposition parties, the group have met with Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation, and Science Simon Harris as well as members of the Green Party.

“It was indicative that they knew there was an issue but they didn’t know what the issues were,” Ross says of the meetings. “You would

“

You would expect the Department of Higher Education would be aware of all elements of higher education, Hamilton but there concurs that a lot of ‘it’s a little bit were embarrassing unknowns expect the Department of Higher that people Education would be aware of all elements of higher education, but who are there were a lot of unknowns…the degree to which it wasn’t known involved was surprising.”

Having also met with education in higher spokespeople from opposition parties, Hamilton concurs that education “it’s a little bit embarrassing that don’t know people who are involved in higher education don’t know these basic these basic things”.

Despite gathering over 4,500 things’ signatures on a letter requesting

“

a meeting with Harris, the PCAU have not yet been given such an

19

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

Features opportunity. Hamilton muses that having met with the PGWA, meeting with “the postgraduates” may be viewed as a box ticked by Harris’ office.

Nonetheless, both groups agree that the creation of a separate department for higher education has been beneficial for their cause. Its combination with the ministerial portfolio for research and innovation has also been advantageous, Ross argues, as it’s now a single department advocating for improvement in Irish research, while simultaneously “chokeholding” it by preventing researchers from becoming qualified to carry it out.

The amalgamation has allowed for a convergence of incentives which makes progress for postgraduate workers’ rights all the more achievable.

Murtagh notes that the separation of higher education from the Department of Education, responsible for primary and secondary schools, has made lobbying much easier: “If it had still been in the Department of Education, we’d be fighting with a lot of really well established and really well funded unions in order to get face time with Norma Foley.”

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) and Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) indeed dwarf both postgraduate unions combined in both size and influence, regularly holding strike actions and negotiating with government. The existence of the Department of Further and Higher Education has created a narrower, less crowded target for direct lobbying.

At least that was the case until recently. In December, Harris took on the role of Minister for Justice alongside his higher education duties.

“I worry that the work that we’re doing will be put on the back burner,” says Hamilton. “I don’t know how it is that ministers can have two really significant roles like that at the same time… I’d say that that’s almost a conflict of interest, because where do you spend your time?”

Despite the obstacles, the organisations have seen change begin to come about. “Over the last few years, there’s definitely been a very big change in the dialogue that you see publicly around it,” Ross says.

The notion many mistakenly hold that a PhD is like any other degree — sitting in lectures and completing assignments, with plenty of time off in between — is changing. Ross adds that many politicians have stopped using the word student when referring to PhD workers, and started using the word researcher, a crucial step.

While negotiating within academic departments and lobbying universities is necessary along the way, the necessity for change goes right to the top at the state level: “Fundamentally, it is the government where we do need to see that change. If they are not willing to provide the funding and the appropriate resources and approaches to these issues, there is

“

We’d be fighting with a lot of really well established and really well funded unions in order to get face time with Norma Foley only so much that the universities themselves are able to do.”

Ultimately it is a question of funding, and “very little funding for PhDs comes from the university,” according to Ross. “The largest single body for providing that funding would be the state through the likes of the IRC [Irish Research Council], SFI [Science Foundation Ireland], and various other research fellowships.”

In fact, the general underfunding of higher education has left universities themselves facing crises. Because of inadequate student to teacher ratios within departments, universities rely

“

‘We’re still going to be our own body within SIPTU, but they will be our backing,’ indicating that SIPTU will provide much of the bargaining power which postgraduate workers’ seek for their cause

PHOTO BY FERN KELLY-LANDRY FOR TRINITY NEWS

on PhD researchers to provide teaching in order to fulfil responsibilities to undergraduate students, a situation which is wholly dissatisfactory to all involved.

Finally, Hamilton adds, aside from the critical issue of funding, it is government who holds the power over legislation surrounding the issues and the employment status of PhD researchers; as such, they are the ultimate arbiters of the fate of PhD research, and must be lobbied.

Prompted on the partnership between the two unions, Hamilton reveals plans to merge in the near future: “We’ve had several meetings on exactly how that’s going to happen, but it is happening.”

Ross elaborates on ongoing communication with SIPTU, Ireland’s largest general workers’ union, with whose affiliation the groups intend to establish their joint union, citing USI as their

PHOTO FROM PGWA

model for a “union within a union”.

“We’re still going to be our own body within SIPTU, but they will be our backing,” indicating that SIPTU will provide much of the bargaining power which postgraduate workers’ seek for their cause.

Representatives from both groups conclude on an optimistic note. “I’m positive because historically Ireland has always placed education as a priority… hopefully that will continue, and [for] research as well,” Hamilton says.

She points to the aspirations of Impact 2030, a government programme aiming to address grand challenges such as climate change and public health through research and innovation: “For those things to happen, the system has to improve.”

“We can only keep pushing, and I think the role of our organisations is to make it happen sooner rather

than later.”

The impression the groups give is that conditions for PhD workers’ are too fraught with contradictions to continue for much longer. If government seeks to prioritise research and innovation, and all signs indicate that they do, then PhD research must be a more viable and more sustainable path than it currently is. Likewise, if universities wish to provide quality teaching and learning to undergraduates who will become the next generation of researchers and innovators, an overreliance on undercompensated PhD workers must also change. As Ross says, though government knows there’s a problem, it is unclear on how to fix them. It can only be hoped that the current review of PhD supports begins a process of proper recognition and adequate support for PhD workers – “It’s either that or Irish research is just going to die.”

20

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

Features

Relationship abuse in Ireland: Are they #TooIntoYou? Trinity News sits down with the Project Lead for Women’s Aid’s #TooIntoYou campaign Mary Hayes to discuss the growing problem of relationship abuse in Ireland Kate Henshaw Deputy Editor Content warning: This article contains discussion of sexual and emotional abuse.

I

n a recent study by Women’s Aid, they found that one in five young women and one in eleven young men, aged 18 to 25, have been subjected to abuse by a current partner or an ex. This staggering statistic is one of the drivers behind the #TooIntoYou campaign. Trinity News recently sat down with the project lead for the #TooIntoYou campaign Mary Hayes to get an insight into the statistics, the campaign and its goals.

When discussing the most recent iteration of the campaign Hayes noted that they “started to see a lot more young women in particular, using our one to one services, calling the helpline and needing very particular support”.

Hayes continued: “When we think about domestic violence and domestic abuse, we think of it happening to older women who might be married or have kids or, you know, who are in a long term relationship, and they’re living with their partner.”

Hayes highlighted this misconception as a major issue for the campaign: “We know from supporting survivors and our research and the helpline, and our one to one services, that actually, abuse can happen, when you’re young, it can happen in your first relationship, and you don’t need to be living with someone for them to act abusively towards you.”

Remarking further on the statistics from their survey Hayes noted that “it is quite a heavily gendered phenomenon”. Their survey also found that for the women that experienced abuse, “100% of that was by a male

partner”.

Hayes continued: “Gender based violence is really kind of at the core of gender inequality.

Because, you know, we can go so far with women’s rights, but if you’re not able to realise those rights, because you’re in a controlling or abusive relationship, then we’ve we’ve a long way to go”.

Hayes also remarked that “with young men who were experiencing abuse very often, it’s by other men.”

The survey also found that for the majority of the one in five women “the abuse actually started before they turned 18, so they would have been seen as minors” and “for a lot of them, they would have experienced sexual abuse”.

The age of consent in the Republic of Ireland is 17.

They found that the most common form of abuse was emotional abuse: “The assumption is that abuse has to be physical for it to be serious, but actually, emotional abuse is the most common form of abuse against young women.” Hayes spoke about the danger of normalising emotionally abusive behaviours and how they can move into online spaces in the digital age: “Everyone has a right to be online, to use the internet safely free from harassment. But, you know, if a partner is constantly messaging them commenting on all their photos, sending them [direct messages] and incessantly like messaging them and not needing to check up on them. That can feel really, really isolating, and it can feel like there’s, there’s really no escape from it.”

The #TooIntoYou campaign has several different kinds of resources on their website including a guide to red flags in relationships. Hayes gave the example of nagging as a possible red flag in a relationship

IMAGE VIA WOMEN’S AID

saying: “It’s when somebody gives you a compliment, but they undercut it with an insult.” This kind of red flag “ wears you down in order to make you feel like you owe them something, or that you need to prove yourself to them”.

When discussing the campaign’s services Hayes noted that “from working directly with survivors and young women, we’ve really learned that this is something that young people don’t see as affecting them”.

“Very often, the things that are red flags are often kind of dismissed as part and parcel of a relationship, things like love bombing, and gaslighting, which can really fly under the radar.”

The campaign aims to tell young people they “don’t need to suffer in silence, and you don’t need to put up with them, you know, everyone deserves to have a happy and healthy relationship”.

On their website toointoyou. ie they have a “relationship quiz” which Hayes describes as “a litmus test to see where your relationship falls on the healthy versus unhealthy scale”. They also have “online safety guide, so if you’re worried about somebody harassing you online, or you know, you need to learn how to block someone on different socials, or how to report things like that, we have a guide there”. They also “a help a friend” guide. Within their research they “heard from a lot of young people that there’s a willingness there, you know, to intervene or to support a friend, if they’re worried that they might be experiencing relationship abuse, but they don’t know how to broach that conversation”. This tool is based on “real conversations with young people who’ve gone through this, and really around the language that they use as well”.

One of their most used

tools is “an instant messaging supports service.” This consists of a “chat service’’, that is “for anyone that’s worried about their own relationship, or even a friend’s relationship”. This service “operated by the women’s aid helpline team” who are “fully trained, they have a complete understanding of abuse, you know, the complexities of experiencing abuse, the dangers and fears there and they’ve lots of experience talking to women experiencing abuse and young people”. This tool is completely free and confidential.

Hayes discussed the challenges in addressing abusive behaviours, saying: “I think people have this idea that there is a threshold for abuse.”

In trying to define abuse Hayes offered this definition: “It’s a pattern of controlling behaviours over time where somebody is trying to exert power and control over their partner.”

She noted the challenges of addressing this kind of behaviour in an online space: “The thing about the online space is it becomes a perfect kind of area for an abusive partner to carry out those things in probably a more subtle way. Once an abusive partner kind of encroaches into those online spaces, it can really feel really suffocating. And that’s, you know, when we did our research, that’s one thing that young women said who, who had experienced this was that they said it felt really, really draining and that there was no escape from it.”

Hayes also spoke about the impact of societal misogyny on abusive behaviours: “The messages that we hear in, in the news, in our culture, in social media spaces online, you know, these all feed into an idea of how we see women, how we see women’s role and place in society.”

She highlighted the rise in online misogyny over the past year: “Unfortunately, there has

become a really, I think, toxic level of normalising of this kind of language online, you know, we saw just over the past few months, you know, the rising popularity of people like Andrew Tate. What he’s teaching young men is so dangerous, not just to young women, but also to young men, you know, telling them, giving them these really unrealistic expectations and ideas of what it is to be a man which aren’t representative of what it is to be a man at all.”

On where we go from here and the goals of the campaign Hayes said: “The biggest thing I would say is for people to talk about this.”

She hopes this campaign will encourage more young people to speak about abuse in all its forms: “I would love this to get to a point where it, you know, people who are going through this, that they’re not afraid of talking about it, that they’re able to talk, you know, to friends family about it, and it’s not a hidden issue, and they’re not afraid of how they will be perceived, because at the end of the day, the only person who is at fault for abuse is the abuser.”

She is encouraging young people to engage with and share the campaign noting that “one click could make a massive, massive difference to someone”.

“It’s also saying as a message, you know, I see this as serious and I stand in solidarity with people who are going through this and I believe you.”

Hayes concluded by saying she hopes “people can talk about Too Into You and to campaign and share the supports because the more people know about the sports we provide, the less alone hopefully they’ll feel”.

If you are worried about your own relationship or a friends relationship you can call Women’s Aid on the 24Hr National Freephone Helpline on 1800 341 900 or use the free and confidential chat support service at toointoyou. ie which is available daily.

Men needing support can contact the Male Advice Line on 1800 816 588.

21

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

Now is the winter of our discontent ... again Eve Conway page 25

Editorial page 27

PHOTO BY SABA MALIK FOR TRINITY NEWS

Comment

Enoch Burke needs to cop on

Arts students need more career guidance than two career fairs a year- and we might only be getting one Abby Cleaver Comment Editor

A

fter attending the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) Career Inspiration Event, which took place last November, I left with more questions about my potential future career options than answers. While the fair was worth the time and did somewhat inform me of my options, it did more to highlight exactly how unprepared I was before the event. Though I remained largely in just one career section of the fair for the entirety of the hour and a half we were given to chat and ask questions to the alumni present — with most of that time spent in lines for a relatively brief group chat with one industry professional before the same with the next — I felt like I still had more to gain from that section alone.

At the event it was said that talks were ongoing about another fair, should this one be successful.

“

I am inclined to believe that two fairs a year should be the minimum opportunity of its kind, especially given the short length of such events

However, I am inclined to believe that two fairs a year should be the minimum opportunity of its kind, especially given the short length of such events.

Such broad degrees need to be

informed of their options just as much, if not more so, than more straightforward career degrees such as nursing or engineering. Two career fairs a year would prove to be a great tool for students to learn about their options, but not enough as stand-alone events. While having the opportunity to ask questions is vital, it cannot fill its maximum potential when we do not first know what we need to know about. If these alumni, who generously volunteer their time, were invited to do quick talks about the basics of their fields and what they believe is important to know going into them, these events would be hugely beneficial for students — to be then able to figure out if it is the right path for them, and what more they need to know. Even if this information was delivered in the form of a snippet of writing alongside their page in the alumni network, or alongside their name in the career event support pack, it would have helped students to feel less like they were heading in blind to both the career events — and their

“

It is clear to me that these career fairs only reach their maximum benefit when you know what you want to get out of them prior to attending future career paths.

When it comes to exploring your future career, it is intimidating to look at a broad field you have never worked in before, and impossible to immediately know whether it is

something you want to pursue.

While these career fairs are informative, they are very much a you-get-what-you-put-into-them process, and if you know the right questions to ask, and the right sections to ask them in, you will leave more prepared and informed about your options. However, this is not the case for a lot of students in a broad degree, and it is clear to me that these career fairs only reach their maximum benefit when you know what you want to get out of them prior to attending.

These mentorship fairs seem like step 2 or 3 when it comes to pursuing a career. If you are not sure of what area you would like to go into, nevermind what specific path within that area you would be interested in pursuing, it seems a jump to assume you will figure both of those things out and leave the fair with a mentor all in the two-hour slot you have been given.

A second career fair for the Arts and Humanities should not just be considered, but the standard bare minimum of resources for us. Career fairs and the alumni network have the potential to be highly beneficial for exploring and breaking into a number of sectors that an Arts degree opens up for students, but not while they are in the dark about what those options are in the first place.

22

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

Comment

Now is the winter of our discontent ... again Eve Conway

Deputy Comment Editor

“

Nurses are now expected to crisis manage a situation that isn't of our making”.

This quote, from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, (INMO), perfectly encapsulates the feelings of frustration and despair amongst hospital staff in this country every winter.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) is Ireland’s healthcare system, responsible for over 40 public hospitals nationwide.

During the first week in January, there were 931 patients across these hospitals without a bed, according to figures from INMO. This is the highest January figure since INMO began taking records in 2006. It is important to note that this article will be referencing figures collected by the INMO instead of the HSE’s own figures, which often differ greatly. The HSE does not take into account patients without beds in hospitals outside of emergency departments, such as patients waiting in corridors or on wards but without a suitable bed. However, whether you look at INMO’s figure of 931 patients, or the HSE’s figure of 772, Irish hospitals are clearly in crisismode.

The interim CEO of the HSE, Stephen Mulvany, who has been in charge of the health service since October 2022, warned that the hospital overcrowding crisis was likely to get worse before it got better as Ireland faces the peak of the flu season. However, stories of patients waiting on trollies or on the seats of emergency departments up and down the country are becoming something of a yearly tradition.

Despite the fact that the population of the Republic of Ireland has increased by over a million-and-a-half in the last thirty years, Irish hospitals actually have less beds than they did during the 1990s. This would be unacceptable even in a society that didn’t have an ageing population, as we do. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said that “what we’re seeing this year doesn’t happen every year,” even though hospital overcrowding has been an issue for years, if not decades. Donnelly blamed the combination of the flu, RSV, and COVID cases, despite the fact that in 2018, when his party did not have a majority in government, he criticised the exact hospital overcrowding that he now claims does not exist every year. This was before the pandemic, leaving

the Minister for Health’s current excuse difficult to swallow when it appears that he may not fully believe it himself.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted just how quickly our health services can become overrun, and this should have been a massive wake-up call not only for Donnelly, but for the whole government. It is not only patients who suffer when hospitals exceed capacity, doctors and nurses are also under intense pressure. In an effort to combat the high levels of overcrowding, the HSE has asked for extra staff to be rostered during the weekends in January to help with discharging patients. There has been a notable improvement as a result of this initiative, with the number of people without hospital beds halving from the first to third week of the month.

However, this is an unsustainable solution. These extra demands on doctors and nurses are causing extreme stress and leaving many considering other options.

According to RTÉ, Ireland trains approximately 750 doctors every year, and in 2022 60% of that number moved to Australia in search of better working conditions. Irish hospitals are notorious for overcrowding, long hours, and poor pay, and Australia not only offers better pay and conditions, but the additional benefit of almost year-round sunshine. There has been a long tradition of youth emigration in Ireland, but after years and years of the HSE refusing to make substantial changes, we are at risk

“

Stories of patients waiting on trollies or on the seats of emergency departments up and down the country are becoming something of a yearly tradition of an extreme shortage of doctors to tackle hospital overcrowding when it inevitably occurs — again.

Similarly, the INMO have highlighted the worsening of conditions for nurses and

midwives across the country.

During the first week of January, when trolley numbers were at their highest, INMO seriously considered industrial action over the horrendous conditions their nurses are forced to work under.

They have shared many stories from their members of the reality of working in Irish emergency departments nowadays, including from a nurse named Sarah, who said that “it is soul destroying.

We didn’t sign up to go into crisis management. We want to be there for our patients.”

These doctors and nurses, as well as every staff member that helps to keep our hospitals running, worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to help those who needed it most. Unions have warned as early as July of 2022 that this winter would be especially difficult for staff and patients alike, and yet neither the government nor the HSE stepped in to ensure that another year of overcrowding wouldn’t happen.

If the Irish health service wants to keep its top-quality staff, if it wants a bed for every patient that needs one, then huge, sweeping changes are needed. In the 18 years since the HSE was established it has garnered a reputation for being a bureaucratic nightmare with incredibly long waiting lists. The COVID-19 pandemic should have alerted the government to the need for overarching changes in order to ensure the HSE’s future. The HSE will soon need to appoint a new permanent CEO, and a new era must begin.

Assurances must be given to doctors and nurses that they will not be made to work for over two weeks on end without a day off, as has been reported to have happened to junior doctors this year as they move between hospitals. Assurances must be made that student

“

If the Irish health service wants to keep its topquality staff, if it wants a bed for every patient that needs one, then huge, sweeping changes are needed nurses are given adequate pay and accommodation benefits.

IT systems must be regularly updated, to avoid cyber attacks like the one experienced during the pandemic.

There is hardly an end to the number of ways that the HSE and the Department of Health can help in protecting their staff and their patients. Surely if any sector of society deserves the extra finance to improve it properly, our health service does.

We should not have to reach a breaking point for action to be taken. After all, prevention is better than cure.

PHOTO VIA PEXELS.COM

23

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

Comment

Do racial slurs belong in the mouths of white academics?

T

me, it never goes away.”

Ly references the ubiquitous whiteness of College, stating that “in my tutorials there are just as many British and American lecturers as there are Irish lecturers. Of course, Trinity employs English Literature academics from overseas. It stands that I’ve only encountered white ones so far.” When I relate the racist slurs said in my English classes they say “that it’s not surprising. As a person of colour, going to an elite institution, I

policy is easy to find. It reads “The Dignity and Respect Policy supports a respectful work and study environment free from bullying and harassment.” I ask the department to justify what place racial slurs have in such an environment.

You may be wondering if there is a case to be made for modernday discussions referencing the written use of racial slurs. To answer this fairly, you would need the presence and opinion of black and brown lecturers and teaching assistants to be in the Arts and Humanities departments. Never once in my postcolonial module was an academic of colour — systematically marginalised in the study of the Western canon — invited to speak on ideas of racism, of the ideas that came after colonialism, or on the assigned reading written by black and brown authors. Again I wonder: why is a solely white faculty teaching Postcolonial thought?

To explore this problem, I sat down with Ly Hagan, a secondyear student of English and Philosophy. Ly has witnessed campus racism on both a personal and institutional level.

Identifying as Irish while also having lived in the USA and in Hanoi, they have felt “reduced

in so many places, I’ve never felt a part of a ‘group’ in Trinity.” Ly has a sense of being “not Vietnamese enough, not Irish enough, not American enough” for other students. They mention that this division informed their sense of isolation in College. At one point, this alienation led Ly to consider dropping out.

The English department, Ly relates to me, regularly justifies racist perspectives in classical texts, citing the example of Oroonoko, a text by 17thcentury writer, Aphra Behn. “It made me so enraged defending [the novelist] … The English department constantly discusses race. Because of the lack of people of colour [within the student body and faculty] in the room, this can be a traumatising experience.

Only the other day, a classmate put forward the idea that nowadays everyone either knows a black person or has seen them on TV. I think it is a wealthy, South Dublin mentality that allows people to not know any people of colour. There are plenty of people of colour in Dublin. You can have the ability to move through Trinity without encountering people of colour. [In these discussions] white people can remove themselves emotionally from these discussions. But for

almost expect this to happen.”

Ava Chapman, a final year English and History student, testifies that in her postcolonial class two years ago, racist slurs were used by white professors.

She finds it “disappointing” to hear such harmful language used in the classes that are meant to teach us about experiences and structures of oppression. “[In English] there is a lack of regard for the implications and weight of that word.” She also describes how in their American History class “the ‘n-word’ was said on multiple occasions when citing from a text.” This gratuitous use of slurs was performed by a professor who has been awarded numerous teaching awards by College.

In a dilemma similar to my own, she describes: “everyone I spoke to after class was upset by the professor's actions but did not know how to address the situation — either due to shock or because they didn’t want their academic grades to suffer.”

Last year in my postcolonial class we read the text Can the Subaltern Be Heard? by Indian literary critic Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. The answer is that College does not want to hear its voice of dissent. Is the university still racist? The answer rings in my ears.

Contributing writer

PHOTO VIA TRINITY NEWS

rinity has a race problem. A recent example made obvious is the controversial debate over the renaming of the Berkeley Library, the namesake of Irish philosopher and slave owner George Berkeley.

Some see this as a testament to how many “successful” greats of the past were racist oppressors.

Others see this as a great man who was a product of his time.

However, there is much more insidious racism that is presently taking place within classrooms.

In Trinity’s School of English, racial slurs are used flippantly.

This is a decision made by College. It is also a decision of the academy to have a solely white teaching staff for the degreemandatory postcolonial Literature module. This absence of racial diversity takes place linguistically in English studies, as well as representationally. In classes, it is commonplace to hear racial slurs coming from the learned mouths of older white academics This, they claim, is solely for the purposes of discussion. When dissenting to verbal racist abuse, students are commonly told that the incidences of these slurs are cushioned in quotation marks.

In defence of the lecturers, they preface this violence by explaining to students that sensitive subjects will be discussed in these classes.

I wonder what sensitivity the lecturers are bringing to class by their inclusion of terms that are widely considered as hallmarks of racist abuse.

Of course, it is likely the whiteness of the School of English’s faculty and wider student body that allows these lecturers to feel comfortable in their racist expressions. By using racist language, not only does College discourage white students from questioning instances of racism, some teaching staff actively make seminars and tutorials openly hostile to black and brown students. Consider the aggressive learning environment that is created by speaking racist slurs aloud (with a hard ‘r’, for those curious). This is all in the name of reckoning with violence.

It seems that this reckoning of violence is an excuse to perpetuate it.

On College’s website, the anti-bullying and harassment

Brídín Ní FhearraighJoyce

that their “English is very good” and in certain circumstances, has received a baffled reaction to their chosen course of study.

Ly also points to the class division that stratifies students as a contributing stressor for people of colour. They state that often, in tutorials that discuss race, they are the sole person of colour contributing to these discussions. “There’s not alot of us” they say with a half smile. “[In tutorials] It sucks being the only person of colour. I’ve lived

to the third world” and “not welcomed by the humanities in TCD” amid the “very homogenous” and archetypal “South Dublin” type of person.

Ly has been told with surprise

“

I think it is a wealthy, South Dublin mentality that allows people to not know any people of colour. There are plenty of people of colour in Dublin

24

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

Comment

Corporate encroachment on academia m and staff must not be afraid to play their pa László Molnárfi Contributing writer

I

f we were to blame senior management for the problems that plague College, we would be sorely misguided. Government starvation of the third-level sector

“

PHOTO BY SABA MALIK FOR TRINITY NEWS

Senior management has, as it is in their interest, created a managerial culture where no opposition is tolerated

is to blame for the ills that plague our universities, including high student-staff ratios, insufficient infrastructure and widespread casualization. However, while senior management are not ultimately responsible, they are complicit in creating a culture of silence among staff, which I, as a Convenor for the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy in the Students’ Union, experience firsthand.

While senior management do not act in bad faith when it comes to the allocation of finances, they are willing participants in the growth of capital on campus and are happy to defend it from attacks. They view themselves as fair and impartial bureaucrats.

Acting in what they perceive as the realm of apolitical administration, they implement decisions in the pursuit of profit margins.

In many ways, university administration mirrors the bureaucracy of a state government. As the university becomes corporatized, democratic decision-making wanes, its place taken by decrees or bodies unaccountable to the community.

Enjoying a cozy relationship with government authorities,

“

It feels like my School is on the brink of imminent collapse – the arts and humanities, although not exclusively, are under the most severe of attacks from the hands of capital

university presidents have left the third-level sector to rot, driven by the sanctification of capital that casts profit as the axiomatic logic of reality.

It is our communities that are sacrificed at its altar. Senior management has, as it is in their interest, created a managerial culture where no opposition is tolerated. They rely on maintaining a good image of the College, a center of political attention in the country, to curry favor with the government.

I see this culture when I attend committee meetings as a student representative. Staff are under immense pressure, but open dissent to higher-ups is not on the agenda. It feels like my School is on the brink of imminent collapse – the arts and humanities, although not exclusively, are under the most severe of attacks from the hands of capital. Being choked by the discriminatory baseline budgeting model, it is one of the worst for staffing issues, in terms of continuous turnover, contracts and stress for our administrators and teachers. The emperor has no clothes.

In order for us to challenge the status quo, we must change strategy. There is an inwardturning of community members into committees. We are more than happy to discuss the ills of the system, but only amongst each other. This turns into passivity.

The School committees are not organizing bottom-up pressure, but rather they are managing

whatever rolls downhill. When there is dissent, it fizzles out in higher-up committees, dominated by the apparatchiks of the Provost, who is the ultimate mediator of capital on campus. There needs to be more of a public opposition, and a healthy democratic culture from below that challenges senior management. For example, in 2015, Professor Peter Coxon, Head of the Department of Geography, emailed students urging them to take action on budget cuts “through your student reps, the Students Union and by tackling the School, the Faculty and College directly.”

His appeal that echoes fainter and fainter with the passage of time, nevertheless cleaving across decades with a spirit of defiance, must be heard by the generation of today.

There is also a need to politicize issues. The cut to staff numbers, cancellation of modules and overworking of the few teachers we have are concerns not merely restricted to the realm of balancing the budget, reallocating resources and timely communication to students.

Imagine the case of a canceled module. The lecturer is due to come in on European Research Council funding but drops out at the last minute, having found a better offer elsewhere. Following this, they try to source another via casualization to no avail. While one can regard this as merely bad luck, this ignores the fact that our agency is structured by forces of

“

The School committees are not organizing bottom-up pressure, but rather they are managing whatever rolls downhill.

When there is dissent, it fizzles out in higher-up committees

25

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

Comment

must be stopped in its tracks- and students art PHOTO BY FERN KELLY-LANDRY FOR TRINITY NEWS

capital. For example, the fact that the Dean of AHSS is unwilling to let Schools hire from their

“

The lecturer is due to come in on European Research Council funding but drops out at the last minute, having found a better offer elsewhere... they try to source another via casualization to no avail

internal budgets, only permitting external hires as a cost-saving measure, compounded by the fact that such hires are known to be unreliable. Furthermore, casualization entails low pay, insecure contracts and lack of promotion. Finally, if we are not understaffed in the first place, a replacement module can be put into place. As such, the individual issue is perfect to mobilize on the political battleground by raising a collective grievance, highlighting the quiet death of the arts stemming from government underfunding and using it to appeal for more resources.

We need to be transparent.

In my School, the administrator:student ratio is 1:200 and student:staff ratio ranges from 1:25 to 1:32 depending on the department, which is frankly outrageous.

This data is easy to figure out using public information, but should be more visible. It is in the interest of both students and staff to highlight these dire figures. Raising awareness of this to create a sense of solidarity is paramount, not least when it comes to showing students that delays in emails, registrations and timetables is not the fault of underpaid administrators, just as cuts to tutorial hours, one-onone time and modules is not the fault of academics. Staff working conditions are student learning conditions, and the neoliberal reality which has attacked our communities must be resisted.

“

They understand that cooperation with the coalition of senior management cozying up to the right-wing government is fruitless, and that the task at hand is to remove them from power There is a dire need for a fighting spirit. With issues like online module enrollment being wholly unfit to meet the demands of ~18,000 students, and the administrators that manage them,

there must be a public stand.

While students do make a fuss, troublemakers amongst staff are not appreciated. Trapped in a political system that sanctifies cooperation over conflict in every instance, they are disorganized.

We must defend the rights of staff to join unions that are willing to not only bark, but also bite. Our teachers in the U.K. are currently on strike under the banner of the UCU, with 70,000 staff at 150 universities taking part, fighting for their rights. They understand that cooperation with the coalition of senior management cozying up to the right-wing government is fruitless, and that the task at hand is to remove them from power.

Toeing the line does not work.

Student numbers grew from 16,646 in 2013 to 18,871 in 2021, marking an increase of 13%. At the same time, the number of teaching staff in the Philosophy Department decreased from 37 to 30, marking a decrease of 18%. If not taking into account teaching assistants, the decrease is from 25 to 18, or a 28% decrease. This is because affected departments are oftentimes forced to use short-term, parttime contracts to plug the gap, due to employment control frameworks which restrict the number of full-time employees.

Underfunded, understaffed and underappreciated, these small departments face a quiet, deadly and suffocating existential crisis.

It is a testament to the

“

It is a testament to the viciousness of senior management in cahoots with the government that no widespread opposition movement has formed viciousness of senior management in cahoots with the government that no widespread opposition movement has formed. Students must always stand in solidarity with staff. Staff, on the other hand, must abandon their fear and march on, alongside students, in the united front against corporate encroachment on academia.

26

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

Comment

Editorial: Enoch Burke needs to cop on

E

noch Burke has, for all the wrong reasons, become a household name over the course of the last few months. There is scarcely a person on the island of Ireland who does not know who he is, or why he is consistently in the news. What is more concerning, however, is how the story has been framed by Irish media outlets. The problem seems to be framed, as it is even outlined on the Burke family wikipedia page, as a “student pronoun debate”. This is far from the issue at hand: why are we excusing a man in his 30s simply hanging outside a school all day long?

The whole media frenzy started back in September of last year, when Burke allegedly breached an injunction which said he could not be in or on the grounds of Wilson’s Hospital School. Burke was suspended from his teaching position at the school in June of 2022, which led to the school being granted a high interim injunction which prevented him from being on school grounds or teaching throughout his suspension.

According to many press outlets following the story throughout the beginning in September of last year, Burke was suspended in a row with staff relating to a student’s pronouns. However, this is not exactly the case; Wilson’s Hospital School suspended Burke for disciplinary reasons following an altercation with the school’s principal. Allegedly, Burke was suspended following a verbal altercation between himself and the principal of Wilson Hospital School, in which Burke allegedly continued to follow the principal after she said she would discuss the issue with him at a later date.

He continued to press her on the subject, which resulted in other staff members present having to intervene. Due to his alleged behaviour, Burke was suspended from the school, not due to the fact that he refused to respect a student’s pronouns.

On September 1, it was reported that Burkle had allegedly breached the injunction to stay off school premises, and a further court order had been brought forward by the school, which could lead to Burke being jailed for contempt of court, unless he agreed to abide by the terms of the interim injunction. Burke failed to appear in the High Court as required, and an arrest order was granted by the High Court judge. On September 5, Burke was arrested after showing up on the school’s premises. He refused to purge his contempt of court on September 7, and was remanded to Mountjoy Prison for a further week. He allegedly said at the time that he would rather stay in prison "every hour of every day for the next 100 years" than comply. This is ridiculous for many reasons, but mostly because it is so very easy, as a man in your 30s, to stay

away from a school. Burke also, allegedly, made claims that the school’s request was against his religion; I don’t believe Jesus, at any point, said you should not follow a mandated court order to stay away from a children’s school.

Perhaps I skipped that section of the Bible.

Alas, it was not the only time Burke would refuse to stay away from the school; after a brigade of court hearings and appeals, Burke still refusing to purge his contempt of court, Burke was released from Mountjoy Prison on December 21, and was informed that he would remain at liberty unless he breached existing court order; which, of course, he did.

On January 5 and January 6, Burke reappeared outside the school gates. While Gardaí were made aware of the situation, they said it pertained to a civil order, and they had no role at the time.

On January 19, a full disciplinary meeting by Wilson’s Hospital School was held in relation to Burke’s employment status at the school; the meeting was due to the fact he allegedly cornered the principal about respecting a student’s pronouns, not in a disagreement over student’s pronouns. Following the disciplinary meeting, Burke was formally dismissed from his role as a teacher at the school.

Despite this, however, Burke still thought it appropriate on January 24 to enter the school’s premises anyway, and he was arrested under the Public Order Act. He returned later that day, after being

“

It is actively putting students at risk, for no other reason than Burke’s own hubris, as he believes his religion gives him cause released by Gardaí. He returned the next day. And the next. At the time of writing, Burke was still appearing at the school gates.

Something that seems so obvious, yet is seemingly excluded from the narrative surrounding Enoch Burke in recent months, is that he is a man in his 30s, who was homeschooled, continuously returning to school premises, where there are minors. A man, in his 30s, hanging around a school, is fundamentally strange. Yes, he used to be employed there. It’s still fucking weird. There is no good

reason for an adult who does not work there, or who does not have children studying there, to be at a secondary school. Beyond being quite strange behaviour, it is also impacting the children’s right to study in a safe environment; with Burke continuously returning, and a media frenzy ensuing, it is not a safe or fair environment for school grounds. It is actively putting students at risk, for no other reason than Burke’s own hubris, as he believes his religion gives him cause.

We will not repeat, as a reputable publication, any of the vile, transphobic things Burke has reiterated in recent times in relation to his “cause” for disrespecting a student’s pronouns; we, as a publication, don’t even believe that to be the issue at hand. He, allegedly, harassed the school principal about it. What we will say, however, is that the Bible, which is presumably the source Burke is working off of as an evangelical Christian, does not say anything about trans identity. If you are using religion as your source for bigotry, and hurting a minor by disrespecting their request, at least get it fucking right. We, as a publication, checked. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in relation to trans identity in the Bible. So, Enoch Burke is, firstly, full of shit.

Secondly, the media’s obsession with this man has gotten beyond laughable at this point; why, pray tell, are there hoards of paparazzi outside Wilson’s Hospital School

each day, in the hopes he will appear? Maybe we’re wrong, but Enoch Burke is no Princess Diana. He is returning to the school continuously, dropped and collected by his father, due to the fact the media are there waiting for him. It’s becoming a frenzy; this man, and his views, do not deserve our time or attention.

More than that, this is impacting the lives and education of every child in that school, which is a point that is continuously neglected in any reporting related to this. Yes, there is one student at the centre of this, and that is horrific in and of itself; the continuance of this circus is affecting every student in that school, and the media are partly responsible.

Thirdly, Burke simply needs to move on. He has been sacked.

Build a bridge. This is getting beyond ridiculous; you’ve been asked to stay away from a school, where there are minors, and if that doesn’t set off alarm bells that maybe you shouldn’t keep going to said school, there is seriously something wrong.

It is the opinion of this paper, quite simply, that Enoch Burke needs to just cop on; and fuck off. If you can’t respect one student’s identity, you shouldn’t be a teacher, but that’s not even the issue. That was not why there was a disciplinary meeting.

Burke, clearly, is not suited for the education of minors. Cut your losses. And maybe RTÉ should stop camping outside a kids school; it’s weird.

PHOTO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

27

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

Music Algoritms

Scitech

Elisa Eckstein page 28

Irish Astronaut Update: Part Two

Fintan Lalor

Contributing Writer

S

ince the first article was published a lot has changed, so let’s recalibrate!

In the weeks since, we have seen two women born on this island make their ways to the final frontier!

The Ulsterwoman, Rosemary

Coogan of Durham University, joined the European Space Agencies (ESA) Astronaut Corps in November and may well be the one of the first astronauts on the moon or possibly Mars with the Artemis Programme! In addition to serving as a Midshipman in the Royal Navy Reserve, she has recently received a Doctor of Philosophy Degree from the University of Sussex. Along with her work in the ESA, she works as a Space Science and Research Fellow at the Centre National d’Éstudes Spatiales in Paris.

Cork born photographer and artist, Rhiannon Adam, has been selected as part of the dearMoon mission, a partnership between SpaceX and Japanese Magnate Yusaku Maezawa, to launch a crew of 9 to orbit our natural satellite in Musk’s latest spacecraft the well known Starship. For the aspiring astronauts amongst us, Tim Dodd,

the everyday astronaut will be joining Ms. Adam on this mission.

Based out of Hackney and the US, she has travelled extensively and has been supported by the Royal Geographical Society she travelled around the Pitcairn Islands and the South Pacific.

It has been a busy few months for Ireland in the space sector, as two women are set to join the ranks of humans who have travelled the stars. As previously discussed, one can only hope that Dr. Coogan and Ms. Adam, will inspire a whole new generation of Irish children to want to go Ad Astra. Furthermore, this will hopefully spur on a new approach from the Government and that Minister Harris will take a break from TikTok and begin a push for a new future for Ireland in Space! With Eirsat-1, Ireland’s first satellite, due to launch very soon, it looks like 2023 could well be a great year for Irish Space.

PHOTO VIA PEXELS

Fintan Lalor give an update on the need for more Irish representation in outer space

DNA to the Rescue: Solving Our Data Storage Problem As humans, we are constantly hungry for data. Like a Britney Spears song, we just want more and more Roisin Ferguson

Deputy Sci-Tech Editor

W

e live in a data-driven world. Our phones, laptops, and tablets are filled with photos, movies, and more, allowing us to capture and share our experiences in ways that were previously unimaginable. What would our lives be like without digital data?

No more embarrassing photos of you on Facebook for your Mum to post, no more hours wasted scrolling through TikTok, no more constant interaction with everyone, everywhere. Our datadriven world has opened up a world of endless possibilities — and without it, we would be lost.

Every day, an astonishing 3.5 quintillion bytes of data is created, with the total amount of digital data now at a staggering 94 sextillion bytes. This data tsunami shows no sign of stopping too, with more data created in the past two years than in all of prior history combined. As humans, we are constantly hungry for data.

Like a Britney Spears song, we just want more and more. Yet, our sheer lust and desire to create more digital data provides us with a dilemma. Storing this massive quantity of information provides a daunting problem — one even more daunting than the Pav man when he realises the Pratsky can you have was bought in Centra.

Currently, magnetic hard drives and cloud storage are the two main solutions used to store data, but they come with certain drawbacks. Hard drives and servers are a single point of failure if the media fails, and they take up a massive amount of space.

Furthermore, cloud storage can be harmful for the environment and dangerously prone to hacking.

Fortunately, science has come to the rescue, and scientists have proposed a solution to our datastorage dilemma. Say goodbye to magnetic hard drives and storage in the infamous ‘cloud’ and instead say hello to Deoxyribonucleic Acid

— the most revolutionary, costefficient, and sustainable way to store your data!

DNA storage has been used to store data for millions of years — by us and our ancestors alike. It codes for our RNA, which in turn codes for our proteins. Without DNA, life wouldn’t be possible.

Yet, now, in the age of big data and even bigger bioengineering, scientists have turned to the molecule that Watson and Crick discovered in 1953, and imagined it as the solution to our datastorage dilemma! Why? Well, DNA storage is cost-efficient, environmentally sustainable, and space-conscious, all part of the reasons why it has persisted so long at the core of life’s journey. It takes up far less space than hard drives, doesn’t harm the environment like cloud storage, and is unbelievably durable. DNA has evolved to be so space-efficient that all of the world’s data, currently stored in massive data centres as large as football pitches, could be stored in a coffee mug. This includes movies, books, photos, tweets, and browsing data. Not only this, but if kept at the right temperature, it could do so for thousands of years due to the unbelievable stability of the molecule. This would be a massive improvement from our current ways of storing data, where

“

It could even be used to store those precious Snapchat My Eyes Only photos which haunt our minds at the occasional moment of daydreaming we take up massive amounts of space and harm the environment whilst using far more unstable data storage methods. DNA is also extremely difficult to alter and access, therefore making it very secure. It could even be used to store those precious Snapchat My Eyes Only photos which haunt our

minds at the occasional moment of daydreaming.

Although it may seem like something from a science fiction novel for us to store our-long term data as As, Ts, Gs, and Cs on a phosphate backbone, it really is possible! Research into DNA as a long-term storage data molecule has exploded over the last decade, and massive advances have been made. Scientists have been able to store photos, books, and computer operating systems on the fundamental molecule of life. In 2020, Netflix even stored an episode of their German language show Biohackers on the molecule!

Sadly, the technology isn’t quite at the level yet to fully solve our big data storage problems. The process of encoding data into DNA is currently complex and expensive, and the capabilities of current DNA synthesis technology are limited.

Furthermore, the current methods of DNA sequencing are not as accurate as we would like, and the long-term stability of DNAbased data, although predicted to be extremely long, is not fully tested. Despite these challenges, experts remain optimistic that further research and development will help to overcome the obstacles and allow DNA to become a viable option for data storage. But until then, keep all the data you love close and the data you don’t, even closer, you never know when you might wish your top-secret password wasn’t your birthday.

28

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

SciTech

How algorithms have transformed the way we listen to music The secret behind those Discover Weekly playlists Elisa Eckstein

Societies Editor

A

s an avid Spotify user, I have started to hate my Discover Weekly playlist. Despite trying to diversify my music taste even more, every Monday when that dreaded playlist is released, I get the same five artists and the same genre that has been constantly plaguing my Discover Weekly.

Most people do not have the same experience; their Discover playlists actually allow them to uncover a new artist or genre.

Meanwhile, I’m stuck trying to climb out of a garage/grime hole that I never realised I fell into. But why is Spotify keeping me trapped here when I so badly try to climb out? Do users of other music apps experience this same thing?

Whether it shaped your angsty teenage years or gets you ready and motivated for a new day, many would consider music to be an integral aspect of their identity and lives. It allows us to tell stories, elevates moods, and sets the tone.

In the past, we’d often be the ones picking the songs to match our moods whereas nowadays, our music app has it all planned out for us. We have personalised playlists and suggestions that save us the hassle of having to find the perfect calm music we need to relax or perhaps of finding new artists of the same genre. The introduction of algorithms into our music apps has completely changed and overhauled the listening experience.

Whether it’s Spotify, Apple Music, or any other music listening app, each gathers our listening data and employs it into an algorithm.

This then forms the foundation for our music taste as seen by the app.

For example, I’m stuck in a neverending loop of garage and grime because I tend to listen to those two genres the most. Once the app has created this foundation, or this profile of you as a listener, it uses your characteristics to determine what kind of music to show you.

“

Obviously, if we wish to listen to something new, we can always do our own digging While each app uses different algorithms, Spotify reportedly has the best one. However, each takes similar characteristics into consideration to craft your own unique listening experience.

Generally, most apps look at songs that you have listened to past the 30-second mark and then uses this as a starting off point for defining your listening characteristics. The apps also look at your current

listens and use audio analysis algorithms to find points and tones of the music. They deem these desirable characteristics that the listener would find familiar and enjoyable even in a different genre, or from a different artist. This helps the apps suggest songs to play after your playlist or song has ended, maintaining the original feeling of the music while introducing the listener to something new.

This does mean that music app algorithms tend to heavily rely on previous listening. But what if you’re new to the app? Many apps also take more personal features into consideration. A lot of the time, location, age and gender are used to ascertain what kind of music shows up on your recommended playlists. This means that a new Spotify account made in Dublin, for example, will probably recommend very different artists to one made in Sydney. While the information gathered to make these assumptions and suggestions may seem quite personal, it seems to be highly successful. In exchange for some listening and personal data, which most apps use anyway nowadays, you receive a perfect personally tailored listening experience. There is no

more worry or effort of having to find the right song for the right mood, or of having to find new artists: the app does it all for you and all you have to do is listen.

On the other hand, music algorithms have now replaced a fun and sometimes agonising part of finding and listening to music; discovering music isn’t always about staying within your comfort zone, but often about leaving it entirely. While I enjoy my grimecentred Discover Weekly, the occasional completely new and unheard artist or genre would be a real discovery. As algorithms have revolutionised our listening process to be as easy and familiar as possible in order to maintain app usage and popularity, they have slowly encouraged us to be comfortable within our own bubbles or to remain listening to the same popular artists and genres. This makes it increasingly difficult for emerging artists to be discovered and takes away our willingness to discover the unknown.

Obviously, if we wish to listen to something new, we can always do our own digging. The algorithms have made music apps more pleasurable for most users, and overall they work incredibly well. However, it would be nice if sometimes the discovery feature on these apps actually allowed us to discover something new.

IMAGE VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

29

Paul Aramovic page 30

From Santos to Sunderland, Banks to Bilé: A tribute to Pelé

Adam Balchin

page 31

PHOTO VIA FLICKR

Sport

Tadhg O’ Donnell: Greystone’s Golden Boxer

Kerry clubs claim Junior and Intermediate crowns while Senior final causes drama The first “splitseason” had a dramatic ending in Croke Park Séaghan Ó Domhnalláin Sport Editor

J

anuary saw the culmination of the 2022 football season, with the club football finals of all grades taking place at Croke Park. Fossa were the headline grabbers of the year, with the Clifford brothers hoping to complete a perfect year after winning intercounty Munster and All Ireland honours, an All Star each, a County Senior medal with East Kerry and Junior Kerry and Munster medals with their native Parish Fossa. In the end, they’d each also collect a red card to add to their impressive tally.

David Clifford was absolutely essential to Fossa’s attack all year and he once again delivered, scoring 11 of Fossa’s 19 points.

Even though faced with tough odds, the men from Stewartstown, a team which lacks any intercounty

players, put up a good fight, with Trojan efforts from Gareth Delvin and Anton Coyle putting them ahead at the half time whistle.

Gareth Delvin had particular cause to give it his all, as he was the only member of the 2005 Stewartstown team that reached, but lost, an All Ireland Final.

Stewartstown lead by 1-7 to 0-7 at half time, but a red card for Darren Delvin effectively ended the underdog’s chances. From then on Fossa would dominate the game, except for Tyrone revival in the last ten minutes spurred on by black card shown to Kerryman Cian Ó Sé. The revival would be ended by Anton Coyle getting himself sent off for elbowing Paudie Clifford in the face.

This match also put the ‘injury’ into injury time, with four more red cards being shown during a last minute shoving contest, with all credit going to referee Thomas Murphy for showing composure in the final minutes.

On the same day at HQ, Rathmore took to the field and beat Tyrone’s Galbally, with Shane Ryan’s first half goal being of critical importance. Ryan, who plays in goals for Kerry, also scooped the man of the match award; however club goalie Kenneth O’ Keefe was just as important to Rathmore’s

“

Even though faced with tough odds, the men from Stewartstown, a team which lacks any intercounty players, put up a good fight, with Trojan efforts from Gareth Delvin and Anton Coyle

efforts. Galbally’s Daniel Kerr’s one-on-one shot was saved in the 55th minute, at a time when Rathmore’s hold on the match seemed to be waning.

In the end, Rathmore held on, bringing an All Ireland title back to their corner of Kerry for the first time.

Senior Final Drama The Senior final, played a week later, was a tight affair. Watty Graham’s Glen got off to a flying start, with Danny Talon scoring a goal early on to put his side ahead by 1-3 to no score.

Kilmacud managed to settle down, but 8 wides, as well as a flurry of attempts that didn’t even make it to the goal-line, harmed their cause.

A penalty in the first half gave impetus to the Crokes side, with Kilmacud managing to put distance between themselves and the Derry contingent as the match wore on.

In injury time, and with two points between the sides, Glen were awarded a 45. 16 Kilmacud players crowded the box, which has since provided every GAA journalist with 350+ words a day.

So far, Glen has appealed the match after inaction by the CCCC. In response, Kilmacud have lodged a counter-appeal, with reports

“

Glen has appealed the match after inaction...

Kilmacud have lodged a counterappeal stating that there is little mood in the club to stage a replay.

Final fixtures: Junior Football Final: Fossa (Kerry) 0-19 - 1-13 Stewartstown Harps (Tyrone) Intermediate Football Final: Rathmore (Kerry) 1-11 - 0-11 Galbally (Tyrone) Senior Football Final: Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin) 1-11 1-9 Watty Graham’s Glen (Derry).

30

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

Sport

Junior, Intermediate and Senior hurling finals completed

Jane Prendergast Deputy Sport Editor

T

he AIB GAA Junior, Intermediate and Senior Club Hurling Championships have culminated for another season, with the Senior final between Ballyhale Shamrocks of Kilkenny and Dunloy Cúchulainns of Antrim wrapping up the trio of deciders on January 22nd.

The Junior and Intermediate finals were played in a doubleheader in Croke Park on January 14th. Ballygiblin of Cork played Easkey of Sligo in the opening Junior final, with Ballygiblin seeking redemption after defeat to Mooncoin in last year’s final.

This year the result was never in doubt, however, as the Cork team led from the start of the match to crush Easkey’s hope of a first-ever All-Ireland Junior title.

A dominant performance from Ballygiblin’s backs played a huge

role, as did the rapidity and ease with which they scored - their first score, a goal, was taken with only eight seconds on the clock. A composed thirty minutes followed, during which they stretched their lead out to five points. After the restart, Easkey failed to get within less than two points of Ballygiblin’s lead, and by the final whistle the Cork side were deserving winners on a scoreline of 1-16 to 0-11.

The Intermediate final was a thrilling battle, with Monaleen of Limerick facing Tooreen of Mayo in the second match of the afternoon. Tooreen drew first blood and maintained a lead until the 54th minute, with the first half a tight affair which saw Monaleen stay in contention though sheer work rate, netting an excellent goal near the end of the first quarter against the run of play to draw the sides back level. Skill and composure saw the teams take to the dressing rooms at half-time, however, with Tooreen up by two points - 1-09 to 1-07.

Tooreen’s edge continued into the second half, with them maintaining a lead until the dying minutes. Tiredness began to show as Monaleen’s Donnacha Ó’Dálaigh ran rampant after being moved in full-forward, putting five points over. Championship top scorer Mark O’Dwyer also put in a superb effort for the Limerick side, taking the score to bring the sides back level before Ó’Dalaigh saw it out, with the scoreboard reading 1-17 to 1-15 at full-time, making

“

A dominant performance from Ballygiblin’s backs played a huge role, as did the rapidity and ease with which they scored - their first score, a goal, was taken with only eight seconds on the clock

Monaleen the first Limerick team to win the Intermediate AllIreland Championship.

Excessive use of Croke Park over winter contributed to the unfortunate state of the pitch on January 18th as the Senior final was played, with multiple media outlets commenting on the poor condition of the flagship location.

A hamstring injury to Adrian Mullen ruled the Kilkenny star out of the final, perceived as a possibly debilitating blow to Ballyhale’s attack. The loss of a regular starter meant very little to Pat Hoban’s side in the early stages, however, as the first score went to the men in green and white via a Joey Cuddihy point.

Dunloy’s rebound was the stuff of dreams, with wing-forward Ronan Molloy firing a goal into the Ballyhale net. The game took on an attritional style for the following minutes, with the teams trading blows to leave the scoreline at 1-01 to 0-04 after ten minutes of play.

The remainder of the first half was twenty minutes of ebbs and flows, as each team got on top before the other team scrapped their way back into contention.

Player of the Match Eoin Cody’s goal sent Ballyhale two points up, before Dunloy sent over a free and another point from play to take it back level. Ballyhale reacted characteristically, and a few fast and furious passages of play saw them stretch out to a four-point lead. Dunloy dug their heels in, however, and thanks to Seán Elliot

and freetaker Conal Cunning headed for the changing rooms at half-time with the scoreline reading 1-09 to 1-07 in favour of Ballyhale.

The second half opened in a similar fashion, with neither team able to open up and assert themselves as comfortable leaders.

TJ Reid for Ballyhale and Cunning for Dunloy remained sharp on the frees, with scores from placed balls remaining absolutely crucial to keep both teams in it as conditions deteriorated slightly.

However, Dunloy were never able to get closer than one point short of Ballyhale’s score, and with ten minutes to play the Kilkenny team led by 1-14 to 1-13.

It looked as though it was still all to play for, but in traditional Shamrocks fashion, Dunloy were unable to cope with their pace in the closing stages. Ballyhale dominated the final minutes with ease, eventually running out comfortable winners at 1-22 to 1-15. Dunloy were unlucky to run out with such a disappointing final score, which wasn’t an accurate reflection of the close nature of the opening 50 minutes.

It was, however, an accurate reflection of Ballyhale’s utter dominance of the club scene, who never looked uncomfortable, however close Dunloy cut their lead. The question remains, therefore, as to who will even be able to challenge them for the Tommy Moore Cup in the 2023/24 season.

IMAGE VIA CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCE

Ballyhale claim historic 9th title, with Monaleen and Ballygiblin crushing Connacht’s hopes

31

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

Sport

From Santos to Sunderland, Banks to Bilé: A tribute to Pelé IMAGE VIA CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCE

TN Sports looks back on the life of the man who changed sport forever.

Adam Balchin Deputy Online Editor

M

y parents were barely 10 years old when Pelé hung up the boots he had graced so many pitches with. By that time, the 37 year-old forward had won three World Cups, making him the only individual to this day to hold this most prestigious of accolades, scoring 1,281 goals during the process. While Pelé’s personal achievements at a professional level are his own and those celebrated by his Brazilian compatriots, it is the love and heart with which he played his game, the beautiful game that is his gift to us.

It feels poignant that the greatest player to ever grace the World Cup stage should pass after what many have now called the greatest

“

While Pelé’s achievements at a professional level are his own and those celebrated by his Brazilian compatriots, it is the love and heart with which he played his game that is his gift to us

tournament in recent years. My admiration was held for another great South American in Lionel Messi throughout the tournament.

However, Pelé’s influence on football is indescribable, while his feats at the tournaments of Sweden in 1958, Chile in 1962, England in 1966 and of course Mexico in 1970 are legendary.

Pelé’s highlights reel is a tapestry of golden moments, not just for an individual, but for sports. His immortal final celebration in Mexico City. The iconic header producing the greatest save of all time from Gordon Banks.

The sight of the young 17 year old lifting the World’s greatest trophy in Stockholm. The boy that became man through the sport is beautifully captured for generations to come. The art of gliding across the pitch, of bobbing and weaving through defenders, we have Pée to thank for its invention. The sport would be worse off had he not rose to footballing immortality. It is fitting for a man that was named after Thomas Edison that he be the progenitor of such spectacles; Sparks manifested when his boots hit the grass.

I must confess that when I was younger and trying to find my sport, I’d not heard of Pelé and his achievements. I’d heard

more through my dad about the later legends of Zidane and Cruyff, Ronaldo Nazario and Diego Maradona. My passion was directed to my club of Liverpool and my legends, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt and of course Steven Gerrard.

It is with age and knowledge that I have come to inextricably link football with Pelé. One cannot take away from the thrill audiences were treated to seeing him play live at home on TV or in the stadia themselves, but even today, it only takes a quick search on YouTube to recognise his passion for the game he loved.

There is a certain emotional attachment I have developed with certain players as the years go on, and I continue to enjoy watching and playing football in general, discounting any club allegiance or scoped detestation to any one professional player.

People might question, ‘Why do you feel so connected to these people?’ They’d be absolutely right to inquire; I do not know myself, yet the link persists. Not 2 weeks ago I was watching a beautiful tribute to Argentina’s number 10, Messi, and I burst into tears, without explanation, but I leaned into it. I believe there is a certain profoundness for me living while I am, during the eras of such

“

There is a reason the Brazil national team have become celebrated and revered the world over for their beautiful style of football...

Pelé made football beatiful

magnificent athletes, and more importantly, grounded people. I feel privileged to live in a time of legends, of beautiful sports and skill, sure, but more importantly the stories that are told between the press conferences, the tying of boots and the blow of the full-time whistle.

Sports are not known for their poetic flourishments, but football is a unifier across the globe. A single game can unite a nation, bind individuals together. The finest of margins can be the difference between triumph and heartbreak.

With Pelé, the Seleção knew both. They knew not frustration however. They played their game.

Pelé played his. There is a reason the Brazil national team have become celebrated and revered the world over for their beautiful style of football, perfected in the streets of Sao Paulo, in Santos, in Brasiliero and Rio de Janeiro. Pelé made football beautiful.

In 2020, when the late and also great Diego Maradona, with whom Pelé jointly held the FIFA Player of the Century award, passed away, Pelé made his wishes clear. Having never played with or against the Argentinian icon, he exclaimed that he hoped they would ‘play a game of ball in heaven.’ O, Rei, enjoy the game.

Descanse em paz, Pelé.

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

32

Sport

Tadhg O’ Donnell: Greystone’s Golden Boxer European Junior Championship Gold medalist Tadhg O’Donnell talks to TN Sports about his journey from Graystone to Italy Paul Aramovic Deputy Sports Editor

T PHOTO VIA EUROPEAN BOXING CONFEDERATION

here are names that have made history and others that are sure to do so.

Conor McGregor, Ian Garry or Steve Collins, all have made and still make Ireland shine internationally.

Nevertheless, if these athletes represent the past and the present of combat sports in Ireland, a young man is determined to be the standard

“

Winner of all his matches, the Irishman in order defeated the boxers representing Cyprus, England, Armenia, Italy and Poland in the final

bearer of the new generation. His name? Tadhg O’Donnell.

At the Under 17 World Championship, the young talent from Greystones has brilliantly distinguished himself, outperforming the competition.

In fact, in the -66 kg category, no opponent was able to take a round from him. Winner of all his matches, the Irishman in order defeated the boxers representing Cyprus, England, Armenia, Italy and Poland in the final.

Undefeated, Tadhg O’Donnell had an incredible competition.

Talented and hard-working, the young man agreed to speak to Trinity News. The young man revealed that both his father and grandfather attended Trinity College. An inspiration, the young man confided in us his struggles and his ambitions.

On his journey, the European gold medal winner explains, “It was amazing to win. I fought five times in one week! I faced and defeated Cyprus, England, Armenia, Italy and Poland. All by way of unanimous decisions! Then I was chosen to represent Ireland in the next big competition next May”.

“

I want to make my country shine. Now I just want to get back in the ring and give it my all to win In addition, the young man has clearly announced his objectives for the future. Confidently and proudly, he declared: “I am from Greystones in Ireland. I want to make my country shine. Now I just want to get back in the ring

and give it my all to win. My goal would be to win the U18 World Championships in 2 years. In the meantime, I’m working hard and I’m still looking to improve.

After his glorious adventure at the European Championships, the talented boxer returned to everyday life. Nevertheless, when he returned to school, his classmates and teachers paid him a magnificent tribute. Indeed, in a video that has since gone viral, Tadhg O’Donnell is welcomed as a hero in his school. A magical moment that the young man will never forget.

Humble and respectful, the young man works every day to improve himself. Far from letting his various successes go to his head, the boxer believes that he is capable of aiming even higher.

A phenomenon today, Tadhg O’Donnell intends to prove that he is one of the future great Irish athletes.

Clubs Notes: TCD Tennis Club: Kicking off the second semester the Tennis Club sees training resume on the 23rd with advanced on Mondays, intermediates Wednesdays and beginners Fridays, all at their usual times.

A new advanced mixed hour has been added from 21:00-22:00 every Monday.

Winter League has started back with a jam packed day of scheduling every Sunday in Botany Bay, match play begins with the mens at 09:30 finishing up with the ladies teams at 14:00.

The team at the beginning of January travelled to Cork undertaking a two day tournament against UCC in which they narrowly secured the win.

Further upcoming tournaments include the annual intervasities competition taking place from the 23rd to 25th of February in Belfast.

Want to let students know what your club is up to?

Email sport@trinitynews.ie or editor@trinitynews.ie

to have your club updates listed in our issues.

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

What is the Creative A Dublin VIntage Climate Action Fund Shopping Tour page 4 page 8

Left on read page 15

LIFE

TRINITY

Hilary Term is in full swing Freshers’ Week returns with a bang

Pullout Pullout section section PHOTO BY FERN KELLY-LANDRY FOR TRINITY NEWS

2

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

Table of contents Creative Climate Action

- page 4 A homemade Valentine’s Day

- page 6 Dissecting the results of this year’s Golden Globes-page 7 Calling for an end to the female body as a trend

- page 10

Jailbreak: A nationwide scavenger hunt for charity

- page 13

Left on read: Is ghosting really that bad?

- page 15

Life staff Editor-in-Chief Life Editor Life Deputy Editor

Shannon Connolly Ella Sloane Ella-Bleu Kiely

Arts & Culture Editors

Elena McCrory Oona Kauppi Emma Lueders

Deputy Editor Sex & Relationships Editor Deputy Editor

Ria Walls

Societies Editor Deputy Editor

Elisa Eckstein Ruby Topalian

Student Living Editor Deputy Editor

Julie Frisch Emma Rouine

Food & Drink Editor Deputy Editors

Maile Monteiro Eoghan Conway Katelyn Davis

Catherine Grogan

Rúin réadúla le haghaid Soláthraíonn Holly Níc Thomáis smaointe réitigh don bhliain nua ionas gur féidir leat do bhliain a thosú ar an mbealach ceart

R

úin na hAthbhliana. Cibé an bhfuil grá agat dóibh nó gráin agat, beidh tú ag déanamh roinnt. Faoi dheireadh mhí na Nollag, fágaimid ár ngnáthaimh gan aon sceideal codlata, ag déanamh faillí ar ghealltanais agus ag maireachtáil gan íde atá fágtha. Go tobann, tagann tonn spreagtha chun sinn féin a athchruthú tuairteanna os ár gcomhair agus mí Eanáir ag druidim linn. Mar sin féin, tá rúin ar nós “Tá mé chun dul go dtí an seomra aclaíochta gach lá” agus “Tá mé chun ithe níos sláintiúla” neamhréadúil, doiléir agus róshimplithe. Inniu, roinnfidh mé 23 smaoineamh réalaíocha réitithe don bhliain nua le leanúint thar an dá mhí dhéag atá romhainn le coinneáil mar chuid de do stíl mhaireachtála 2023.

Eanáir Codladh Cáilíochta Níos Fearr: Tá 6 uair an chloig de chodladh domhain níos tairbhí ná 8 uair an chloig de chodladh briste.

Cuir gnáthamh suaimhneach oíche i bhfeidhm lena chinntiú gur féidir leat éirí go fisiciúil nuair a thagann d’aláram beo.

Déan do sheachtain a phleanáil: Faigh féilire nó pleanálaí, is féidir é a bheith fisiciúil nó digiteach. Déan sceideal i do uainchlár, do ranganna agus aon choinní eile a d’fhéadfadh a bheith agat.

Feabhra Am teaghlaigh: Ní bheidh do theaghlach agat go deo. Déan socrú le béile teaghlaigh a bheith agat uair sa tseachtain. Mura bhfuil tú in ann a bheith go fisiciúil le do theaghlach, molaim uair an chloig in aghaidh na seachtaine a chur ar leataobh nuair a ghlaonn tú orthu go ndéanfaidh sé difríocht ollmhór.

Ná téigh ar do fón an chéad rud ar maidin nó an rud deireanach san oíche: Bímis fíor, tá sé dodhéanta díthocsain digiteach san aois nua-aimseartha seo. Ní chiallaíonn sé sin go gcaithfidh tú do lá a thosú ag seiceáil ar do ghuthán nó ag déileáil le meáin dhiúltacha a mbeadh iarmhairt acu ansin.

Tosaigh láidir agus deireadh láidir, seachain an scáileán ar feadh dhá uair an chloig sula dtéann tú a chodladh agus tar éis duit dúiseacht. Tosaigh beag le sliotáin deich nóiméad agus luath

go leor laghduithe do spleáchas.

Márta Bí níos gníomhaí: Le bheith gníomhach ní gá gur turas chuig an seomra aclaíochta é!

Ní chiallaíonn sé sweating agus matáin throbbing. Faigh bealaí le bheith beagán níos gníomhaí i rith an lae ar bhealach a fheileann duit agus a n-athróidh do stíl mhaireachtála go fírinneach.

Sceideal sos: Ní ‘am duit’ é a bheith i do luí sa leaba ag cur béime ar a bhfuil le déanamh agat amárach ná ag dul amach chuig cóisir. Fiafraigh díot féin an bhféadfainn aon rud a theastaigh uaim a dhéanamh faoi láthair cad a dhéanfainn agus tóg an t-am sin as do sheachtain chun é a dhéanamh.

Aibreán Iriseoireacht: Maolaitheoir struis iontach agus bealach chun cuimhní cinn a dhoiciméadú ar bhealach neamhdigiteach. Ag deireadh an lae tóg amach do leabhar nótaí agus peann agus glan d’intinn trí do chuid smaointe a scaoileadh.

Siopa grósaera le liosta: Ní dhiúltóidh mé do cheannacháin ríogacha, áfach, le liosta is féidir leat a chinntiú nach bhfuil na mianta i gceannas ar riachtanais agus nach ndéanfaidh tú dearmad ar na rudaí a ndeachaigh tú go dtí an siopa ina leith. Cé go bhfuil Ben & Jerrys riachtanach, ag deireadh an lae thabharfainn tosaíocht do páipéar leithris.

Bealtaine Cócaireacht/ullmhú béile: Ní hamháin go sábhálann tú am ag ullmhú béilí, ach tugann sé deis duit d’aiste bia a athrú in ionad pasta penne plain a bheith agat don chúigiú lá as a chéile.

Glan seachtainiúil

Roghnaigh do lá is lú hectic agus glan do spás. Is cúis imní é, má dhéanann tú glantachán seachtainiúil ní bheidh ort scrobarnach míosúil a dhéanamh.

Meitheamh Bí cabhrach: Déan gníomh beag cineálta amháin in aghaidh na seachtaine. D’fhéadfá do chuid caife suntasach eile a thabhairt leat ar maidin nó cabhrú le cara amach le tasc brúidiúil.

Bí níos sóisialta: Is furasta a bheith gafa le hobair agus le staidéir ar féidir linn dearmad a dhéanamh ar ár gcaidrimh a chur in ord tosaíochta. Aimsigh gníomhaíochtaí agus daoine nach dtarann tú. ​​ Tá sé ceart go leor mura bhfuil tú in ann dul ag clubáil trí oíche sa tseachtain. Cuir 2 uair in aghaidh na seachtaine ar leataobh áit a mbuailfidh tú le cara le haghaidh caife nó siúlóid.

Iúil Sábháil do rud is mian leat i ndáiríre: Socraigh méid duit féin, b’fhéidir cúig nó deich euro in aghaidh na seachtaine. Dúshlán an sásamh láithreach a bhaineann le splurging ar rud éigin agus ina ionad sin déan iarracht tú féin a chur ag obair dó. Ól níos lú/stop ag ól: Ba cheart gur eispéireas é an ól, timpeall ort féin le daoine ar féidir leo am maith a bheith acu gan ól agus cuimhnigh nach gá duit do chinneadh a chosaint níos lú a ól nó gan staonadh go hiomlán uaidh.

Lúnasa Stop caitheamh tobac (drochnós ar bith): Ní féidir nósanna a bhriseadh i ndáiríre, ach is cinnte gur féidir iad a athsholáthar. In ionad toitín maidin, téigh amach le haghaidh caife mhaisiúil,

3

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

dh 2023

IMAGE VIA UNSPLASH

Getting over someone in the digital age Lara Monahan explores the difficulties that arise when it comes to exes and social media

W más féidir leat bosca a bhfuil praghsanna an lae inniu ann is féidir leat caife a chaitheamh go cinnte.

Léamh: Cibé an bhfuil sé ina úrscéal, ina leabhar féinchabhrach, ina halt faisnéiseach nó ina pháipéar, tá buntáistí doshéanta ag an léitheoireacht maidir le smaointeoireacht chriticiúil agus cruthaitheacht. D’fhéadfá uair an chloig sa tseachtain nó deich nóiméad a chur ar leataobh gach lá ar do chomaitéireacht laethúil.

Meán Fómhair Faigh asraon feirge: Níl sa fearg ach mothúchán cosúil le brón nó áthas, áfach, déantar demonized í agus dá bhrí sin cuireann an oiread sin againn ár gcuid feirge suas go dtí go ndéanann sé dochar dúinn.

Faigh bealach chun an mothúchán seo a chur in iúl go sláintiúil.

D’fhéadfadh sé a bheith ag rith, ag scaoileadh i dialann, ag ardú meáchain throma, ag éisteacht le ceol ard agus ag léim timpeall.

Clárú i gcúrsa: Roghnaigh rang atá áitiúil, inacmhainne agus b’fhéidir a mholann rud éigin eile atá déanta agat cheana féin. B’fhéidir tús a chur leis na ceachtanna le cara chun tinreamh a spreagadh.

Deireadh Fómhair Fan ar bharr na gcoinní: Cathain a bhí an uair dheireanach a chuaigh tú chuig an bhfiaclóir?

An cuimhin leat? Ná cuir coinní dochtúra, fiaclóra nó aon choinne eile a theastaíonn uait siar. Tabhair aire duit féin agus cuir isteach iad i do fhéilire mar thosaíocht.

Aimsigh do stíl: Tá faisean tapa amach agus tá vardrús capsúil istigh! Ní choinnítear níos mó le micrea-threochtaí Shien, gan cloí níos mó le ‘aeistéitic’ éagsúla.

Infheistiú in éadaí a bhraitheann tú go maith iontu agus a bheidh tú ag caitheamh ar feadh i bhfad.

Samhain Faigh amach: Beag beann ar an séasúr is féidir le hÉirinn a bheith trua ach ní bheidh aon dul as againn ach sinn a choinneáil slán.

Déan iarracht a fháil lasmuigh gach lá. Má shiúlann tú go tapa chuig an siopa nó timpeall do chomharsanacht, ardóidh tú do chuid giúmar láithreach. Íosluchtaigh ceol nua a iniúchadh: An raibh do Spotify fillte ina fhoinse náire an séasúr seo? Céim taobh amuigh de do chrios chompord. Déan seinmliostaí do do chairde mar mhalairt ar cheann dá gcuid agus leathnaigh do bhlas.

Nollaig Cóirigh do leaba: Ar deireadh, mura bhfuil tú cheana féin, déan do leaba! Geallaim go bhfuil sé i bhfad níos mó tairbhe dul isteach sa leaba ag deireadh an lae nuair a chuirtear na bileoga isteach agus na piliúir feistithe go deas. Nuair a tharraingítear siar na clúdaigh is dóigh leat bronntanas a oscailt.

Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh Teipeann ar rúin na hathbhliana go hiondúil toisc go dtugann daoine faoi athruithe atá ródoiléir agus nach bhfuil réadúil dá ngnáthamh. Roinn do rúin le cara nó ball teaghlaigh. Scríobh síos iad, dhá oiread an dóchúlacht go gcoinneofar na rúin seo suas ó bheith ag labhairt do spriocanna.

Má shocraíonn tú an barra róard beidh tú ag streachailt chun é a chomhlíonadh. Smaoinigh ar do chuid rúin mar baic bheaga laethúla i gcomparáid le gnóthas ollmhór amháin.

ith Valentine’s Day drawing ever nearer, the pressure to scrutinise our love lives peaks and, for better or worse, a thought preying on many minds will be their relationship status — or at least the state of their relationship.

If you are in the throes of a breakup, this time of year can be particularly painful; perhaps you are already deleting promotional Valentine’s Day emails or averting your gaze when passing heartshaped chocolate boxes in Dunnes. However, in the digital age, escaping reminders of the exlove of your life, who you might otherwise have been showering with Valentine’s cards of only the tackiest variety, is virtually impossible.

Getting over someone with the existence of Instagram, Snapchat, and countless other popular social media apps can feel like an endurance test. How long can you bear to be reminded of the person you loved — or maybe still love — every day? Where previously we might have had the misfortune to pass an ex in the street and deal with the inevitable painful emotional fallout only a few times, on social media, we are often less lucky. BeReal, for example, intends for its users to pick up the phone wherever they are and share what they are up to at a certain time every day. This is surely an enormous hindrance to any attempt to get over someone, because before you have been able to build up the confidence and self-sufficiency often required to see an ex after a breakup, you are bombarded with them in digital form.

The entire concept of a social media account is performative, showing only a highlight reel (or at least carefully selected parts) of lives far broader and more human.

Even the attempt to appear to be nonconforming to these standards — see the trendy Instagram photo

dump — is a careful performance, a constructed reality of being too cool to care about the strange unspoken rules of social media, while simultaneously following one of its trends. Therefore, it doesn’t matter whether your ex posts all the time or never, as we are encouraged to read into either of these possibilities. Are they posting all the time because they are genuinely having so much fun now that you are out of their life?

Or are they posting all the time because they want it to seem like they are having so much fun? Or, arguably worse — how do I decode the social media silence of my ex?

Are they having too much fun to post? Or simply wanting it to seem that way?

As you can see, this thought process reaches the same conclusion whether your ex is posting all or none of the time.

“Damned if you do and damned if you don’t” has never applied more. Social media becomes the battleground for speculation and revenge posting, as you might feel inclined to post yourself having the time of your life in an attempt to make that seem true, and to reaffirm that you are better off without one another, despite those awful breakup doubts. What musician EDEN sings about in his song Modern Warfare — “weaponis[ing] the timeline” — has become really common. The desire to outdo your ex in the game of “I’m more over it than you” might seem petty, but is unfortunately a fairly natural response that people tend to grow out of. Where previously both the initial unpleasant pettiness of a breakup and the personal growth that emerges from it wouldn’t be broadcasted to your family or mutual friends, it now can be displayed on social media. In fact, the birth of Facebook — which many consider to be the birth of modern social media — was the result of Mark Zuckerberg establishing an earlier site, FaceMash, which was essentially “hot or not”. Zuckerberg’s site was used to compare his Harvard classmates with one another allowing users to decide who was more attractive. With such competitive and vacuous beginnings, it is no surprise that social media is still used for these same ends during breakups.

So how do we balance the

advantages and disadvantages of the digital age during a relationship split? Having a platform through which to speak to your friends is helpful, especially if they don’t live close to you. Furthermore, sometimes creating a highlight reel of your life really can help you be more grateful for the people around you and the life you live.

Nonetheless, in my opinion, it is better to avoid the complicated beast of social media when your love life feels turbulent, or at least choose very carefully which ones you continue to use. In my experience, using platforms such as WhatsApp for text messaging your friends is fairly innocuous, as are any apps which are more focused on private messaging than For You or Explore pages, feeds or timelines. Dating apps seem like the obvious thing to download after a breakup. However, these aren’t quite safe either — it doesn’t help to see your ex when swiping and realise they are also moving on.

The ability to call them and know that they are merely a tap away can be challenging. Before, exes would have had to wait until the evening to call from the landline or walk to a phone box, giving them time to consider whether or not making that call would help and to let time soothe their momentary doubts or loneliness. Now, the temptation to call is all too well-facilitated. The tantalising ability to FaceTime, call, or message will unfortunately remain unless you get rid of every device you own, which is fairly unlikely in this day and age, not to mention pretty unnecessary. Part of the growth that comes from a breakup is moving past these compulsions to be in constant close contact with the person in question. Giving yourself the time to learn this is not only okay, but necessary.

If this Valentine’s Day you will be exchanging what would have been a present from your ex with their presence on your feed, remember that social media is performative, time helps, and you are living in an era where breakups have been made more complex by the advent of social media.

It probably isn’t you — it is the endless scrolling. The good news, you ask? There is a couple more mismatched than you and your ex: social media and breakups can be a far more toxic combo.

4

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

What is The Creative Climate Action Fund?

Anna Lyons outlines the creative processes of the Irish government’s Climate Act 2021, how it will interact with creative minds in Ireland, and whether is it an effective strategy in the current climate crisis

I

t’s old news that Climate Change is one of the most, if not the most, pressing and crucial issues facing our generation. So much more needs to be done in order to reach the goals set out in the Irish government’s Climate Act 2021, which aims to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030. The government has often been accused of being complacent when it comes to the issue of climate change. Although this seems unrealistic, it is time that the environment stops being placed on the back burner. There needs to be more awareness and

“

According to Minister Catherine Martin, “the first Creative Climate Action projects have done much to capture the public imagination, mobilise communities and show how to make the changes needed”.

ultimately more action when it comes to our planet.

The Irish government has been attempting to tackle ongoing environmental issues, and one project which has arisen as a result of this is the Creative Climate Action Fund. The Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht and Media, Catherine Martin, alongside the Minister of the Environment, Climate and Communications and Transport, Eamon Ryan, first launched their Creative Climate Action Fund in July 2021, which was recently extended until July 2027. The aim of this €3 million fund? To provide support for creative and cultural based projects that engage the public about the behaviour changes society will have to make to address climate change, and to engage the public on Climate Change through the Cultural and Creative Sectors’ initiative.

So what does this fund entail?

It called for projects which encourage everyone to rethink their lifestyles, connect with the biodiversity crisis, enable a fair and just transition in making lifestyle changes, assist citizens in understanding the climate crisis, and adapt to the effects of climate change. There are two funding strands; Spark, intended for those piloting a new idea and wanting to deliver their project on a local level, which would allot successful applicants with a grant of €20,000 - €50,000.

And Ignite, aimed at those with experience in delivering public engagement projects on a larger scale, for a longer duration and with extensive public participation.

This strand is worth €50,000 - €250,000.

Both Ministers responsible for the fund have spoken about what they believe the importance of the fund is, and how it will help Ireland reach its goals set out in the 2021 Climate Act. According to Catherine Martin,“the first Creative Climate Action projects have done much to capture the public imagination, m o b i l i s e communities and show how to make the changes needed.

Climate change is humanity’s most important challenge and we need creative projects such as these to galvanise positive action.”

Eamon Ryan has outlined that the cultural and systemic change

“

€3 million is a lot of money, and this begs the question of what else we could be doing to combat climate change other than the projects in place. that needs to be achieved in order to compact climate change “can only be achieved through fully exploring avenues for innovative and creative ways to inspire people to take action.”

So what projects have emerged from this €3 million fund and what

impact have they had? Some previous projects that The Fund boasts include Línte na Farraige, Callan Energy Store, Field Exchange and Rising. Línte na Farraige consists of light installations at the Spanish Arch in Galway and Wexford Harbour which represent future predicted sea levels. The Callan Energy Store aims at improving the efficiency of the town and empowering citizens to make changes surrounding energy supply, describing itself as a “playful, interactive space where you are invited to examine your energy consumption, explore the possibilities of your own energy production, and sign up to the Callan Climate Accord”. The Field Exchange is located on Brookfield Farm where farmers, experts, interested public and artists met and collaborated; exchanging ideas on how to combat climate change with particular focus on the impact climate change will have on the agriculture sector. “RISING brings together Trinity College Dublin and Brokentalkers Theatre Company who are providing opportunities for residents living around Dublin’s Docklands to engage with the topic of climate action through creative workshops and meetings with climate scientists.” This project premiered at Dublin Theatre Festival in October 2021.

So what impact is all of this having? The answer is obviously subjective, but the introduction of these projects definitely raises some questions. Personally, I strongly believe in the power of art to invoke emotions, and in the power of emotions to invoke action. Just think about the impact of art like Picasso’s Guernica or speeches like Luther’s ‘I Have a Dream’. There is no doubt that art and creativity can be used to bring about change, which is why I do believe that it’s important that the creative and climate sectors come together to think of innovative ways to combat this issue. I also believe that the projects which have arisen as a result of The Fund have been important ones, addressing some of the biggest challenges which will arise for the Irish population, such as rising sea levels and a damaged agricultural sector, as a result of climate change.

However, some questions remain for me. As we’re all aware, Climate Change is an issue which demands immediate attention and funds, and as we hear time and time again, this problem needs to be acted upon before it’s too late.

Having seen Línte na Farraige in person, I wonder what impact if any this will actually have; do we not all already know that sea levels will rise? And what energy is being used to run these installations?

Could this have been used to supply energy to the homes of people who need it more? With regards to Field Exchange, there seems to be a lot of attention on what the agriculture industry can do to combat the issues climate

change will cause, but is there much attention given to the fact that the agricultural sector is one of the principal causes of rising greenhouse gas emissions in Ireland? Perhaps these projects will make a difference at a local, community level, but we are in too deep with climate change.

We should have been considering community level projects years ago. Now is the time to be making nation-wide efforts. Not to be cynical, but is there simply something more impactful that we could do with this money? €3 million is a lot of money, and this begs the question of what else we could be doing to combat climate change other than the projects in place.

Time and time again, when the Irish government announces their plans to combat climate change, it seems to be a consistent theme that I just let out a sigh, that I am underwhelmed and disappointed...

When will we finally start taking steps that will make a noticeable, immediate and lasting difference?

While the Creative Climate Fund is important, and while I believe that creativity has such an important role in invoking responses from people, part of me can’t help but think that this simply isn’t enough considering the battle we are facing. Are we entering a deadly war unarmed?

“

While the Creative Climate Fund is important, and while I believe that creativity has such an important role in invoking responses from people, part of me can’t help but think that this simply isn’t enough considering the battle we are facing.

5

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

The student’s guide to masturbation Ella McGill spoke with seven Trinity students to shed light on the stigmasurrounded topic of masturbation

H

ave you ever talked to a friend about masturbation?

Like, really talked?

Masturbation is taboo, and the intricate ways that we do and do not pleasure ourselves don’t tend to arise organically in daily chitchat. In part because silence breeds stigma, and in part because I was just plain curious. I interviewed seven students with vulvas about their masturbation habits. Stigma shrouds masturbation for all demographics, however, I decided to focus on people with vulvas due to the particular mystique (ignorance) around how this population receives pleasure.

Despite my tiny sample size, one thing was very clear from my interviews: when it comes to masturbating, there is no one way to do it. Two of my participants never masturbated, two masturbated irregularly and three masturbated more than three times a week. For those that did masturbate, it was usually in their bed. It could be triggered by almost anything, from erotic stimuli in shows or books, to boredom, stress or even “having to sit still for a long time.” Most did not use lube, and one used spit as lubricant. Those that used porn did so irregularly or in phases.

One person said that “the oversensationalised scenes have really put me off.” Speaking on porn, another interviewee explained “it

turns me on, so it gets the job done, but some of it’s so objectifying that if I’m feeling fragile before I watch it, I’ll get really depressed. I have to be in the right kind of mood.”

One recommended a “more ethical” porn site called Bellesa, and three mentioned using erotica instead. Almost all incorporated an element of fantasy into their masturbation rituals.

Methods of masturbating were varied. All masturbating participants mentioned clitoral stimulation, rubbing on or just above the clit with their fingers, often in “circular motions.” Four out of five combined this with vaginal stimulation: one person said: “While still stimulating the clitoris, with my right hand, use my left hand to go into the vagina, using a combination of curving those fingers upwards, inserting and retracting my fingers and eventually moving the individual fingers up and down in a somewhat scissor-like motion.” Another testimony echoed this, identifying the G-spot area in her vagina (just inside at the top), to be particularly sensitive when her clit was already being stimulated. A third explained that while stimulating their clitoris, “inserting things into [their] vagina is really stimulating and makes [them] a lot wetter” (they add that they’ve tested a range of materials, and do not recommend cucumbers for those following along at home.) One participant relied solely on clitoral stimulation. She was the only participant who regularly used toys: a clit-sucking vibrator and combo toy – but only when her flatmates aren’t home!

The two participants that did not masturbate had different reasons why. One respondee said she “did not get turned on alone, [she needed] another person to

“

Not only is there a silence about vulvamasturbation in mainstream spaces, messaging in spaces where it is discussed are not nuanced enough. feel aroused’.” Plainly, she had no interest in masturbation, which is fine and normal, the same way wanting to masturbate is. Crucially, this participant was happy with this: “I haven’t tried to change it, I am okay with it. I would feel comfortable telling friends, I don’t think it is stigmatised.”

Other reasons for not masturbating included a lack of awareness about one’s own body. As one interviewee stated, “the biggest obstacle would have been figuring it out because no one exactly tells you what to do.” Difficulties when starting out was something echoed by several of the participants interviewed. These problems arose from misinformation (or a total lack thereof), and an absence of

discourse around masturbation growing up and in sex education.

This led one participant to have a “poor sense of [her] own anatomy.”

It led another to lament the shortage of “blueprints” to follow (“whereas I always knew what it generally looked like for guys”), saying that male masturbation is “in TV plots, whereas female masturbation isn’t.” Another participant had “thought it was just women sticking themselves with dildos” when she was younger, and thought that she would have to wait until she was old enough to go to a sex shop to try it.

Cultural factors play directly into the lack of resources available.

One woman interviewed said, “I grew up in Indonesia so anything sex-related is still a very taboo topic in society.” While none of my respondents mentioned religion as a factor, undoubtedly, this can also play a role. Informationdrought and shame then feed into each other in a vicious loop. A particularly poignant testimony came from a respondee who, having discovered the joys of their body as early as age ten decided to take a peek between their legs.

They said, “I was so scared and horrified at what I saw, that I thought masturbating made it look like that, and I stopped. It was only after confiding in my mum that she reassured me it was normal and encouraged me to continue if I wanted.” Three out of my five masturbating participants also referenced shame or stigma.

In the case of my second participant who did not masturbate, this cycle led to repression: “I used to [masturbate and feel horny] when I was a kid and then stopped myself because of learned internalised shame or stigma. It was like I’d switched a light off in my brain, and then

later when I’d started wanting to, I couldn’t just switch the light back on.” In recent years, this participant has been trying to recover her sexual urges with a sex therapist, but masturbation still proves testing: “I think the difficult part is not having an instinct to follow.

Like, I want to [masturbate], because it’s something I know exists and remember doing, but I don’t have a feeling to follow to help me figure out what I need to do.”

She also raised a third obstacle to her progress: not only is there a silence about vulva-masturbation in mainstream spaces, messaging in spaces where it is discussed are not nuanced enough. She said: “There are aspects of feminism and sex positivity conversations that I have found extremely unhelpful.”

The interviewee explained that they often give the impression that to be a fully participating feminist you have to be sexually active or competent in ways that were beyond her for much of her life, and that these materials can be just as shaming as those that condemn masturbation. She continued: “The way everyone does it is different, so just because something works for someone, doesn’t mean it has to work for you.” She also stressed that masturbating does not just have to be about orgasm, and said learning that is one thing that has helped her to progress in her journey with herself.

It is remarkable how many ‘shoulds’ there are, for something so personal, that we do in our own time, by ourselves, alone. At best, external input is helpful. At worst, it is years of reconstructive sex therapy. There is nothing you should learn from this article. But hey, if something I wrote tickles your fancy, go home and try it… or don’t.

“

Despite my tiny sample size, one thing was very clear from my interviews: when it comes to masturbating, there is no one way to do it.

IMAGE VIA UNSPLASH

6

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

Compliments from the chef: a homemade Valentine’s Maile Monteiro guides you through a cosy and delicious Valentine’s dinner at home to remind you that home is where the heart (and the homemade meal) is

W

ith February 14th right around the corner, the pressure to impress that special someone is on; bring on the kitschy heart-shaped decorations, the lovey-dovey PDA, the 20-course candlelit dinners.

Expect hiked prices and sore eyes, as the only colours in sight this week will be garish shades of pink and red. Need inspiration?

Look no further. As your culinary Cupid, my role is to guide you through the love-or-hate holiday better known as Valentine’s Day, whether you plan on celebrating this day with a partner, your group of friends, or simply enjoying your own company.

This Valentine’s Day, I have decided that I want to stay in. I love going out to eat, but with rising prices, I find myself choosing my outings very wisely.

More importantly, I’ve had my

dose of thoughtless Valentine’s Day specials over time, you know, the ones with all the aphrodisiacs — chocolate, oysters, chocolatecovered oysters, etc. Cue the couple arguing at the table beside us and Ed Sheeran blasting in the background. Needless to say, the proposal in the middle of dinner was my final straw. Sometimes, a Valentine’s Day dinner date can be a bit too much.

By no means am I suggesting that you should not celebrate Valentine’s Day – I mean, sure, its modern incarnation has always been a hyper-commercialised ritual of mass-consumerism, but at its core, the holiday remains a celebration of affection. To me, Valentine’s Day is the perfect incentive to cook something out of the ordinary for my loved ones or practise some much-needed self-care, brightening an otherwise banal weeknight. At-home dining also offers the possibility of cooking as a group, my favourite activity to do with my boyfriend. Can you tell that food is my love language?

Preparing a meal together is a foolproof way to avoid embarrassment on this special day; together, you can savour the fruits of your labour in each other’s company, savouring dessert over a movie.

Some general tips for the Valentine’s Day cooks: stick to three courses – entrée, main, and dessert. If you’re planning an elaborate meal, you don’t want to spend a whole evening cooking only to devour your meal in under 30 minutes. Secondly, avoid cooking something completely

“

Can you tell that food is my love language?

Preparing a meal together is a fool-proof way to avoid disaster on this special day; together, you can savour the fruits of your labour in each other’s company, savouring dessert over a movie.

unfamiliar, so save the velouté for another day (unless you’re feeling adventurous, of course). Finally, plan ahead and keep courses simple so you can take it easy as you cook – your effort already goes a long way!

To start off the meal, bake a focaccia. Topped with some cherry tomatoes, olives, anchovies, and slathered with some ricotta before serving, it’s a date night go-to for me. While the dough rises, you can prep all the ingredients you need for your main! Once it’s out of the oven, be sure to save some of it for later – bread is always nice to have on hand should you ever need to “mop” the plate. Alternatively, you can make virtually anything with ready-made pastry dough. Prep some bite-sized savoury canapés, a tart to cut up and share, some tiny pies, experimenting with flavours as you go! If you want to stick to the simplest of entrées, charcuterie boards are fun and easy to assemble; just be sure to leave room for the rest!

The main dish is where you get to show off your culinary prowess.

Bring on the lamb medallions, the perfectly basted pork chops, and seared duck breasts. I like serving up comfort cuisine for my loved ones with some earthy noodle soups, risottos, and hearty curries.

For the newer cooks, wisdom lies in the classics – a homemade pasta sauce is the failsafe option.

Try one from scratch this time, taste-testing as you go, fine-tuning according to your instincts. For even simpler options, befriend the trusty traybake – toss some

vegetables and your protein of choice in olive oil and seasoning, then bake as required. That’s easy prep followed by even easier cleanup.

If you went all out for your previous courses, you can tone it down a notch here, your loved ones will rejoice at the sight of a classic chocolate fondant, cheesecake, or tiramisu, but be sure to save some extra servings for the sweet tooths!

Desserts can easily be prepared ahead of time, and most taste even better the next day.

Is cooking really something you want to avoid on this special day? That’s perfectly fine too. Hot and sour braised beef noodles come under a tenner per bowl at Lee’s Charming Noodles. For more Asian affairs, head down Capel Street for a plethora of budget-friendly options: Hilan offers hotpots and Arisu excels in Korean dishes. Dublin’s loveliest independent restaurants also line the sidewalks of Aungier Street all the way down to Camden Street.

Mister S has mastered the grill, BIG FAN serves up scrumptious homemade dumplings (it’s closed on Valentine’s Day but worth a delayed celebration), or head down to Goose on the Loose for a sweet and savoury Valentine’s brunch.

Alternatively, split a 20” pie from Bambino (leftovers imminent), or sure, splurge at The Ivy if you’re that unoriginal. A display of affection does not have to be unique, inventive, and completely showstopping if it is sincere. That’s amore.

Bringing Paris, London and New York to campus with Trinity Fashion Week Alice Matty speaks to Fashion Soc members about what to expect from their 2023 fashion show

A

s Hilary term kicks off with a swing, the anticipation for convivial society events accompanies it. Yet most competition is stifled as all anticipation is unequivocally on one of the term’s greatest events of the semester: The Fashion Soc Fashion Show. College’s own Fashion Society runs several fashion-related events each year, ranging from smaller events such as workshops and leading club nights, to momentous events like the Fashion Week Trip (notorious

for its speedy sell-out).

Fashion Soc’s hotly anticipated annual fashion show is one of College’s most awaited, recurring events of the year, encapsulating the entire purpose of Fashion Soc and the essence of what it’s like to be part of the society. In the fashion industry, Fashion Week rounds off each fashion season, marking its territory as the most crucial event in the world of couture. These shows allow fashion designers, brands or “houses” to display their latest collections on the runway to buyers and the media. They aim to influence fashion trends for the current and approaching seasons. With the society’s aim of promoting creative fashionable looks across campus with the society’s Friday Instagram series Campus Couture, the Fashion Show acts as an end-of-year wrapup of promoting these looks on campus. What inspires Fashion Soc’s annual show is the society’s way of emulating this iconic week in the Fashion industry within the

parameters of Trinity.

The theme of the Fashion Soc show tends to be a topic of fervent discussion amongst society members, with general inspiration for the spectacle based around fashion shows in the likes of Paris, London and Milan. These major cities of vogue pave the way for inspiration for the show. Each year the show assumes a different theme, according to Fashion Soc’s Ents officer Conor Brennan, with “this year’s theme to be announced closer to the date of the show, but one can expect it to remain within that realm.”

In terms of pre-show prep, the groundwork for the show includes brainstorming themes and venues at the start of the academic year, given it is one of the society’s leading events of term. Brennan affirms that the committee is working arduously to secure a venue for the runway show and devising themes for it, with model casting for the show having started in late December and is still

currently being worked on now.

Model casting was advertised to Fashion Soc members through Fashion Soc’s Instagram and weekly email chain. Applicants were required to fill out a Google Docs form with some general details along with a headshot, full body shot and catwalk video.

Applications closed on January 10th and are currently being sifted through by committee members to establish this edition’s cast of models. “We have already opened and closed applications for modelling in the show, and we are working through these to pick the people who will dominate the runway!” Styling teams along with promotion, writing, sponsorship, etc. are also being finalised in order to generate further attention around the event.

“Our show is like any other fashion show that you’d see in fashion weeks worldwide”, Brennan confidently asserts. The usual catwalk-style setup will be prominent, with models sporting

clothes by local designers in and around Dublin. “We love to use our fashion show as a way to showcase talent in the Dublin fashion industry. We also always encourage any member of Fashion Soc to create an outfit themselves to be featured in the show!” Last year’s show featured a dress made by a past committee member Aisling Finegan, the fashion show furthermore acting as a platform to showcase the talent that is widely possessed by its own members.

The date and venue of the show are to be revealed in the weeks leading up to the big event, with Brennan hinting that typically the show takes place in early April! All eyes will be set on Fashion Soc, as they are bound to take on one of College’s largest student-run events of the semester. Any further details are all set to be announced on their Instagram page (@ fashionsoctcd) in the coming weeks. One should prepare for a night brimming with fashion, couture and vivaciousness.

7

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

McDonagh’s latest “Paddy Western” sweeping the Globes Libby Marchant dissects the results of this year’s Golden Globes Awards

A

nother year, another Golden Globes, famously relegated to be the little brother of the AllImportant Oscars. The awards are inherently political, from non-English language movies only getting one category — as if they are all the same — to the disproportionate number of men and white people winning, it is a trophy fraught with political incorrectness. Personally, this year I was disappointed by how many Elvis nominations there were (Best Drama, really?). But nonetheless, I think most of the wins were welldeserved. Winner of Best Drama The Fablemans, will be in cinemas in Ireland on January 27. The White Lotus of course, with a plethora of nominations, saw Jennifer Coolidge win Best Supporting Actress (finally, a woman over 40 is recognised as having talent). My personal favourite movie of the year, Everything Everywhere All At Once, saw Michelle Yeoh win Best Actress, and certainly is one to watch out for in the Oscars.

However, it was the Banshees of Inisherin which had the most wins and nominations. It brought home Best Screenplay (Martin McDonagh), Best Actor (Colin Farrell) and Best Comedy. This was a pleasant surprise for me.

After watching the film, I believed it was much too “Irish” to translate anywhere else. But I think this is McDonagh’s secret weapon. He is almost Jane Austen-esque in his ability to create rich, interesting, tiny worlds. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri was similar in its unapologetic sense of place. As an Irish person, I didn’t quite understand all of the little quirks of the characters, their ways of reacting or speaking. Sometimes, it is through detailed specificity that we achieve universality, something that McDonagh uses to his advantage. Although the overtones of the civil war may seem like subtle undertones and the irony of a garda drinking illegal poitín may be lost on a non-Irish person, the fact that a man would literally prefer to cut off his own fingers than talk about his feelings translates into any culture. Not to mention the fact that the whole cast of Banshees were phenomenal.

Barry Keoghan was as endearing as he was frustratingly annoying, perfectly capturing the little brother-big brother relationship that he and Padraic have.

But the appeal is not universal.

The film went home emptyhanded from the Critics’ Choice Awards after being nominated for

nine different awards. The Critics’ Choice Awards are arguably a fairer and more diverse set of awards compared to the Golden Globes, which is seen by many as round one of The Oscars. Perhaps the movie’s genuineness is too jarring for some. Colin Farrell is a little too earnest, the Hiberno-English is a little too twee. But I think that just adds to its charm. It is silly, wide-eyed and innocent. It is sweet

“

As an Irish person, I didn’t quite understand all of the little quirks of the characters, their ways of reacting or speaking

and sad, with all the trappings of a more pretentious, arthouse film in terms of cinematography and pace, but none of the self-indulgence.

Some have been referring to it as an almost Spaghetti Western (may I suggest Paddy Western), and I think this is a perfect encapsulation of Banshees’ ridiculous drama. The characters are unrefined: eating with their mouths full, drinking from two in the day until all hours, and to read is to be different from everyone else. It is set in a lawless place, with no priest, only a statue of Mary which haunts the movie — her antagonist, the Banshee — who has much more influence on the goings on of the community.

The only representative of law and order is a pathetic, aggressive man who beats his son with a kettle. The characters are aimless and lethargic, looking for ways to fill their days. No one has control over their fate. Siobhán, played fantastically by Kerry Condon, doesn’t decide to go to the mainland — she is confronted with five fingers in her front garden and realises she has no other choice but to leave. This felt like commentary on the Civil War, something that Ireland is still struggling to articulate. The film perfectly depicts how petty arguments can quickly spiral…

However, Banshees is not the only film that deserves a mention with regards to Irish talent in

the industry. Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, starring Paul Mescal, received critical acclaim after winning the British Independent Film Award, and was nominated for the Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize. Mescal resisted being typecast to always play “the Hot Guy” after the show Normal People. He displays himself as a mature actor in Aftersun, and has far exceeded the role of mere teenager in coming-of-age films.

It is honestly not surprising that the Irish are finally getting recognised for our booming film scene. We are, after all, a creative nation and we have managed to blow every other country out of the water considering our small population size — be that our Eurovision stats or our Nobel laureates. There is something palatable about Irish art, I think, if you are not Irish. We speak around our trauma rather than at it, so people can project whatever emotions they like onto us. We are hilarious, but in a forbidden way. We make the jokes that others won’t. There’s a reason why for years only Scottish and Irish characters were allowed to drink alcohol in Disney movies (that reason was unfair stereotyping, but you get my point). James Joyce invented a new style of telling stories, so it makes sense that it will be the likes of Paul Mescal, Colm Báiread, Saoirse Ronan and Lenny

“

It makes sense that it will be the likes of Paul Mescal, Colm Báiread, Saoirse Ronan and Lenny Abrahamson that will go down in history Abrahamson that will go down in history as harking a new day for the increasingly homogenous film scene. According to Variety magazine, “Ireland has become a capital of film-making” and I think they’re right.

PHOTO VIA THE LIR ACADEMY ON TWITTER

8

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

A Dublin vintage shopping tour Colm Caldwell takes you along to explore some of Dublin’s best spots for second-hand shopping

B

eauty is in the eye of the beholder, and one person’s trash is another’s treasure.

These two old adages apply directly to shopping for vintage clothing. I mean, the former owner got rid of the clothes because they either outgrew them physically, outgrew them mentally or the clothes got a little bit beaten up.

This loss of love for the clothing on the part of the person who hands them over to a charity shop or sells them to a vintage shop allows for the clothes to be loved and reused by another. Sustainability is undervalued in today’s society and buying second-hand is an opportunity to be kind to the earth — and depending on where you go, your bank account too.

To kick things off, every thrifty shopper should be made aware that there is an invaluable run of charity shops starting in Rathmines which bring you up to Camden street. Within around a kilometre of the starting point on the outside of the Swan Shopping Centre you will encounter five different charity shops. One at either end of Rathmines Road, and then a cluster of three on Camden street. If you happen to be in town and have a spare half an hour to an hour to kill, it’s well worth your time to have a stroll from either starting point and peruse what’s on offer. Personally, I picked up a beautiful pair of vintage Wrangler jeans in the Oxfam charity shop in Rathmines, managed to nab a

Timberland pullover in NCBI on Camden street and bagged two beautiful jackets in the Simon charity shop opposite NCBI. I acquired all of these pieces over time, of course. It is important to remember with charity shop shopping that patience is a virtue.

You’ll have to sift through a lot of stuff to find something you like, and then you just have to hope to God it fits. The harsh reality of shopping in charity shops is that if you go to affluent areas you will often find the bigger brands. People in these areas have more disposable income and are therefore more likely to update their wardrobes regularly. When you combine this with the earlier mentioned physical and mental factors of giving away clothes, it means you have a better chance of finding treasure amongst the trash.

Areas like Fairview, Blackrock and Terenure are great places to go looking for the bigger brands.

There are two NCBI charity shops in Terenure and another one run

by Vincent’s. Having bought five Ralph Lauren shirts in the NCBI shop closest to the Tesco Metro, I can attest to the fact that it regularly offers high-quality clothing. Often their Ralph Lauren is at the back of the racks, don’t ask me why, so make sure to look thoroughly when browsing so you don’t miss out on it. This same principle applies to all charity shops. You’ve got to be willing to put in the work if you want to get the reward.

Next up, vintage shops which, in Dublin, are inferior to charity shops in my opinion. I say this because you will be charged extortionate prices for what the owners of the vintage shop probably found in a run-of-themill charity shop themselves. The owners of vintage shops often get their best items from charity shops and so I believe you should go straight to the source, the source often being the aforementioned charity shops that reside in

affluent areas. However, having said all of that, vintage shops are still sustainable and will have good quality second-hand clothing.

Many of us know the big names around town for vintage shopping.

The likes of Tola Vintage, who boast two stores, Nine Crows and Dublin Vintage Factory, are some of the staples. However, there are about 10 more dedicated vintage clothing stores in and around the city centre that deserve to be explored. So, the best advice I can give you is to delve right in because it’s well worth trying some of the following smaller vintage stores; Durt Co, Big Love Vintage, Collected Treasure and Badlands Vintage. Five vintage shops can be found in the Temple Bar area, Durt Co and Dublin Vintage Shop are located on either side of the Liffey by Grattan Bridge and then a second Tola Vintage store is on Aungier Street.

So, if you happened to be looking for a full day of charity and vintage shopping, that is practical and walkable, you could start in Rathmines like previously mentioned and hit up all the charity shops before heading to Tola Vintage on Aungier Street.

Then you can work your way into Temple Bar to browse the multiple vintage shops there and then finish up by Grattan Bridge, or vice versa.

It’s worth noting that all of these vintage stores that have been mentioned are within 1015 minutes walking distance of College, in the city centre, with many even closer. You truly never know which one will turn out to have the perfect item that suits your style! Overall, what I hope you take away from reading this is that charity shopping should be your priority for affordable vintage clothing and vintage shopping should be a close second, where the items will be more expensive but often encompass more renowned brands. Happy sustainable shopping!

The ultimate studen Holly Thompson outlines how to tackle the seemingly daunting task of meal prepping

T

he beginning of a new year is too often accompanied by the repetition of last year’s poor habits. As students, we juggle study, work and our social lives fuelled by tomato pasta and buttered toast; it does the job but doesn’t always leave us feeling our best. Meal prepping is often associated with gym rats who live off chicken, rice and broccoli, but meal prepping can be for everyone! Not only does planning and preparing your meals from your kitchen give you an opportunity to make nutrient-dense and tasty choices but you will save a fortune by bulk buying and preparing long-lasting ingredients. Meal prepping is like packing a lunch for school except you can apply it to every meal and you only have to do it once or twice a week as opposed to every morning.

So how do you begin? 1) Pick what day you will meal prep

Hidden Gems on the Eme Honey Morris explores some of the underrated attractions Ireland has to offer

I

reland is full of well-known and highly visited attractions but also peppered with unique and forgotten-about places. Exploring the niche areas of a country gives insight into the people’s way of life more so than touristy places would.

While some excursions require a weekend to truly take in the site, some visits can be easily done in an evening or on a single day off.

Travelling in Ireland can be simple and rewarding, and to begin with, here are the best adventures located right off campus.

Without having to venture too far outside College Green

PHOTO VIA GIUSEPPE MILO ON FLICKR

(cutting, cooking and portioning), 2) set yourself a menu, 3) stock up on ingredients, 4) make your meals and store in suitable containers.

Meal prepping not only helps us to make healthier choices by planning what we’ll eat throughout the week in advance, but it also reduces the stress of trying to pull together a recipe last minute when you come home from the library or work. You save time in the morning by avoiding queuing in Pret for an overpriced latte and sausage roll and you will save a fortune on Tesco meal deals which barely touch the sides. By putting aside an hour on a Wednesday and Sunday night you will save yourself so much time during the week that you can spend on other tasks or activities or simply take the opportunity to rest a bit longer.

Set yourself a menu or invest in a meal planner. Not all foods store well so you have to be tactical about what type of meals you make. Loads of websites and apps provide meal prep ideas suited to your personal preferences and dietary requirements, here are some of my go-to favourites: Breakfast: overnight oats, freezer-friendly breakfast burritos, protein smoothie, granola yoghurt parfait, flapjacks, banana bread.

Lunch: Salad with yummy ingredients such as proteins, sauces, seeds and nuts, pesto pasta,

These nooks of Dublin are a perfect after-class adventure to take with a friend or by yourself! While College boasts a library constantly thronged with tourists from all

around the world, just beside St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Marsh’s library offers a more secluded treat. The library is an unchanged 18thcentury establishment open to the public, complete with research exhibits, rare books, and a hidden garden. Tickets are available on their website, and their reading room can be booked in advance.

With a little more time to spare, Dublin’s Botanic Gardens are definitely worth an afternoon visit if you want to see the best of Irish flora and fauna. The gardens are open for tours to get a glimpse of the “iconic” and “quirky plants of their collection” as stated on their website. Entry to the gardens is free, but tours must be booked beforehand.

In the corner of Balbriggan lies a hidden paradise … made of salt! Consisting of four major components, the Salt Cave Paradise offers a quick retreat perfect for a Monday afternoon to start off the week. Their services range from Halotherapy to saltwater pools.

Booking is required in advance, but this lesser-known treat is just one bus ride from the city centre.

Dún Laoghaire is a haven for avid readers, lovers of the sea, and classic history fans. Dedicated to the renowned author of Ulysses,

9

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

nt meal prep guide turkey avocado wrap, noodle salad, wholesome soup and sourdough.

Dinner: stir fry, roasted veg couscous, poké bowl, salmon grains and veg, pasta bake.

Snacks: Peanut butter box (any nut butter/carrot/apple/crackers/ dates/pretzels), tuna box (tuna mayo with sweetcorn/ crackers/ raw pepper/cucumber), cheesy box (cheese/crackers/berries/nuts) or hummus box (pita/ hummus/ carrot/pepper/falafel).

Stock up on your ingredients; once you have planned what meals you want for the week make a grocery list and bulk buy to prep and portion.

Shopping list for meal prep: Frozen fruit and vegetables.

Sturdy greens — strong leaves like spinach or kale survive longer in the fridge than the likes of soft lettuces.

Oats, pasta, rice, quinoa, and couscous are generally cheaper to buy in bulk, have a very long shelf life and are guaranteed to form the basis of the majority of your recipes.

Chickpeas, lentils, beans and peas are convenient, plant-based protein options .for any meal For vegetarian protein, I recommend eggs, Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, tempeh, falafel or tofu.

Don’t buy too much meat as it won’t last long fresh, buy only how

erald Isle The James Joyce Tower & Museum is open to visitors; group tours can be made, but for individual viewers, the tower and museum are self-guided experiences. This historic site is just a short walk away from the famous 40 Foot sea-swimming destination, which is the perfect combination for the friend group made up of people with different interests. After taking a dive in the sea, you can stop at Teddy’s Ice Cream on the walk back to the Dart station for a classic 99 ice cream cone.

Unravelling Ireland’s Ancient East County Wexford is located south of Dublin and is home to many coastal gems. Tucked in the peninsula of Wexford, Hook Lighthouse for instance is a secluded but rewarding site.

It is said to be the second oldest operating lighthouse in the world.

The lighthouse can be viewed by tour. After seeing the ocean from afar, what better way to experience the waves than by riding them? Sea Cave kayaking is available right off the coast of Hook Peninsula and takes guests to explore sea caves and see beautiful aquatic wildlife.

To round off your day in Wexford,

much you plan to cook and freeze.

Whole fruits that are in season, buying individually instead of packaged means that you can buy your fruit at varying degrees of ripeness Nuts and seeds add a burst of nutrients, last forever and are cheaper to bulk buy.

Stock up on suitable containers.

Storing your food in airtight containers keeps bacteria out while preserving the taste and flavours of your meals and snacks as well as preventing freezer burn. Invest in flasks for soups, Tupperware lunch boxes for lunches and dinners, clean old jars for breakfast oats and parfait, not to mention bento box style containers are great for snack packs or any meals where you want certain ingredients separated such as salads and their dressings.

If the ingredients themselves are taking a large enough chunk out of your budget next time you order a Chinese or eat in a restaurant keep the takeaway container to wash and reuse.

The only downfall I found within the practice of meal prepping is monotony. Oftentimes you will end up eating the same meal or very similar meals 2-4 times per week however this shouldn’t be a problem if you enjoy what you are making and you can avoid mundane meals by adding different sauces, sides and varying

you can sit down for a meal at The Wheelhouse Cafe and Garden Centre and enjoy a homey meal after a great evening of touring.

Nestled on the cobblestone streets of Kilkenny, the Black Abbey breathes gothic and Norman architecture.

This Catholic abbey is home to beautiful historical artefacts and is open for daily and Sunday Mass. St. Canice’s Cathedral sits alongside the Black Abbey and is accompanied by a functioning round tower open for climbing to those willing to brave the 121 steps (from personal experience, the experience is worth the climb)!

Inside the church resides detailed artefacts of Kilkenny and stories of the heritage that created the town’s vibrancy. If historic buildings aren’t appealing to you, the Woodstock Garden and Arboretum are open for the season and consist of two incredible avenues, a rose garden, and a walled terrace, to name a few attractions within the park.

PHOTO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

the ingredients meal to meal. For example maybe you make four mornings worth of overnight oats, but each one can be a different flavour. Alternatively you can cook three batches of four different dinners and freeze the extra meals for the following weeks so the repetition of the meals is spaced apart. While forming the habit of

meal prepping initially may seem like more trouble than what it is worth, the reality is that meal prepping is a massive investment that will save you money, time and mental energy which you will be thanking yourself for when summer exams roll around and those three things are all brutally compromised.

accessible via a bridge from the mainland. This island is filled with beautiful cliffs and beaches, promising to etch an image of Ireland’s natural beauty into your memory forever. Another gem of the area is the presence of the Gaeltacht region. So before heading out for the weekend to enjoy the fantastic views, research a few useful native phrases!

While Cork is not a secret part of Ireland by any means, many unique places exist within this county, such as the Dursley Island and a hidden waterfall. The Dursley Islands can be accessed by cable car,

which takes roughly 10 minutes to cross over water to from the mainland. There are no hostels on the island, but this short excursion would make for an excellent addition to a weekend getaway to Cork. Another addition worth mentioning is the Mullinhassig Waterfall. Located down a nature walk, this waterfall is beautiful for sightseeing and photography.

A historic castle converted into a modern observatory is a secret treasure of Cork! Blackrock Castle Observatory is outside Cork’s city centre and is another great but simple activity to enjoy. To acquire

Happy munching!

This article is available as Gaeilge (in Irish) on our website: www. trinitynews.ie/gaeilge

memorabilia from your excursion to Cork, check out the Village Hall, which is a market consisting of vintage-like oddities from clothes to trinkets.

Exploring and discovering the hidden gems of Ireland is an ideal way to see more of what the island has to offer. While this list is meant to be used, feel free to deviate and find your own hidden treasures!

Dublin and beyond are full of oneof-a-kind places. Be adventurous and step outside of the common areas to see what the rest of the city and country have to offer!

Braving the Wild Atlantic Way The west of Ireland is brimming with historic places that are worth leaving Dublin for, even just for a weekend trip. Mayo is a county that deserves to be explored by car or bicycle. The Wild Atlantic Way runs along the coastal edge of Mayo and provides a phenomenal view of the Atlantic Ocean to those touring the road. Achill Island is

PHOTO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

10

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

Calling for an end to the female body as a trend PHOTO VIA PEXELS FOR TRINITY NEWS

Cat Grogan scrutinises the fickle trends that society imposes on the female body and the detrimental ramifications that these trends have on women’s lives

P

icture this: a newborn baby girl lies before you. It is your job to tell her the truth: that the world she has been born into will evaluate her worth according to the shape of her body and the extent to which she can successfully contort this body’s form. This self-manipulation will have to be constant, because society’s conception of the ideal female body is an elusive trend which ceaselessly, mercilessly changes. Her pursuit of these body standards will have the capacity to ruin her life. It might even kill her. Think this sounds dramatic?

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. (Let that sink in.)

Society’s conception of the ideal female body type is arbitrary and inconstant, a fact attested to by the manner in which beauty standards have drastically changed over time. For hundreds of years it was the curvaceous goddesses memorialised in Greek and Roman statues that society lauded as feminine beauty embodied.

It was not until the 1920s that “thin” came in. Magazines and the media presented skinny as the ideal feminine figure, with this declaration leading to the first recognised emergence of eating disorders. Throughout the 20th century, the “ideal” feminine figure senselessly shifted from decade to decade, with the 1950s celebrating supposedly fuller figures before deciding in the 60s and the 80s that women should be waif-like once more. While the 1960s witnessed the publication of “The Feminine Mystique,” calling for the liberation of (white, middle class) women from the home, the very same women were still expected to look “heroine chic,” with this term later emerging in the 1990s to describe the ideal female body which was to look emaciated enough as to resemble a drug addict. The late 20th century might have overseen the commencement of female emancipation from the home, but half a century later, we remain pitifully far from being liberated from the prisons that have been created out of our own bodies.

Sometimes we women are lucky

enough to be overtly informed of the latest female body trend; “Bye Bye Booty! Heroine Chic is Back!” a recent newspaper headline declared. The terms here are explicit — we have been told what we must do. But the anatomy of the female body is not a trend external to the individual that can be easily changed. These trends, which market the female body as a commodity, are inherently capitalist. Our bodies are advertised as something which can be bought, swapped and modified.

Remember ladies, if you work hard enough with the right capitalist mindset, you too can have the ideal feminine body and earn the right to be recognised as successful in society! And if you find yourself unable to consistently attain and maintain these ever-changing beauty standards, you only have yourself to blame.

Like the American dream, this promised success is elusive and — for the majority of toiling women — remains unattainable and undelivered.

All of this serves to keep us busy. How can we focus on smashing glass ceilings when we’ve been placed on a hamster wheel and told to run as fast as we can around in circles in pursuit of an illusory ideal? You cannot quantify the mental and physical time and energy lost by women in the regulation of our bodies. If we want to be seen, and not looked at, perceived and not disdained, we

are led to believe that we cannot exist in a body over a certain size.

It is not our fault that we have internalised the male gaze, for we have been constantly bombarded from all directions with a clear message, both subliminal and overt — your body is the only thing about you that matters.

What about the curves of Kim K, you might say? Let’s not erroneously conflate the curves that the Kardashian’s made desirable with any kind of inclusivity movement; a woman’s curves are only celebrated if fat is deposited in the ‘right’ places — bum and boobs, not tummy and thighs. Enter BBL, the Brazilian Butt Lift, which has the highest mortality rate of any cosmetic surgery. Luckily the procedure of removing fat from parts of your body and transferring them to more acceptable areas is reversible, so when the Kardashians decide (as they recently did) to stop capitalising on black body types and determine that thin is back in, you can still manage to keep up with them. And here we have the essence of society’s treatment of the female body; you can always do better, you will never be good enough, and the goal posts keep moving so if you ever achieve the current ideal, make sure not to relax, girl — you’re going to have to stay on your toes if you want to keep up.

With the supposed standard of perfection ceaselessly shifting,

there is always something for us to be insecure about, and always a cure for this insecurity which we can be sold. Les Wexner, former CEO of Victoria’s Secret, concedes to purposefully setting out to create the female beauty standard, with control of the standard granting him control of the market. The Victoria’s Secret fashion shows were not about exhibiting lingerie, but about selling the bodies of the “angels” modelling the product.

So it came to be that Wexner, accompanied by other old white men, determined what it meant to be sexy and feminine in accordance with their own sexual fantasies.

The men who formulated these beauty ideals are the same men whose physical appearance society continually makes allowances for, finding ways to endearingly refer to a “dad bod” whilst a woman’s protruding belly is never referred to with endearment, or a “silver fox” when society sees nothing attractive in the ageing of a woman. After considerable backlash, the Victoria’s Secret fashion show finally came to a halt in 2019, shortly before Wexner was forced to step down as CEO of the company due to his long-lasting links with Jeffrey Epstein. But these changes and the more recent Victoria’s Secret advertisements which include a slightly more diverse range of models have come far too little, far too late. The damage has already been done for my generation of young women,

and that damage is near impossible to undo.

It shouldn’t fall to us as women to change a system which we did not create. But, as with all feminist movements and waves, it will likely fall to us to meaningfully commence this battle. Those who sit at the nexus of power have a vested interest in perpetuating the treatment of women’s bodies as trends. And whilst women did not establish this system, we have unwittingly come to participate in it. We will therefore have to reprogramme our own minds, unlearn everything we have been taught about our bodies, and forcefully rinse our eyes clean of the male gaze if change is to come. In this, we will have to unite; success is impossible if we are in competition with ourselves.

A tough battle, but one which is undoubtedly worth fighting. So that when the time comes for me to look down at my own baby girl, I might not have to prepare her for all the evils which I have been forced to endure. So that girls and women stop losing their lives battling eating disorders from which they should never have fallen ill. So that a woman’s status and success in society might not be determined by her body. So that a woman’s very existence is not an internal battle with her life force and herself. So that life as a woman is a little bit easier to survive. So that life as a woman is a little bit more worth living.

11

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

Trinity Impact Series: From DU Food & Drink fanatic to Ireland’s Pastry Chef of the Year Ruby Topalian speaks with Trinity alum JR Ryall on his culinary journey

M

ost individuals who decide to become pastry chefs might attend culinary school. Others might embark on the gruelling journey of starting off in a kitchen with no prior education and working their way up, never stepping foot on a college campus. But JR Ryall, Food and Wine Ireland’s 2022 “Pastry Chef of the Year,” and Head Pastry Chef at Ballymaloe House took, as he says, “a very scenic route” to becoming a professional pastry chef. In 2010, Ryall graduated from Trinity with a BA in Biochemistry with Cell Biology. But how did this STEM-focused student make his way to the top of the pastry world?

Trinity News sat down with Ryall to answer just that.

Since as long as he can remember, Ryall has adored food.

At four years old, he was taken on a tour of Ballymaloe Cookery school in Shanagarry, Cork and from that point forward Ryall decided that he would pursue any opportunity in the culinary world that came his way. “At the end of the tour, I met the director of the cookery school Darina Allen… She signed a book for me saying “For John Robert, who will be a great chef when he grows up. Love from Darina Allen, 1992.” So I’ve always kept that book and that day so defined and I decided then that food was something I was fascinated in and any opportunity that I had, I pursued it.” As Ryall got older and attended boarding school in County Cork, this affirmation that he made to himself at four years old became reality. “I had a part-time job at Ballymaloe House [...] so I used to take a taxi from school to Ballymaloe on a Saturday morning, work through the day, and then take a taxi back to the boarding school.”

When time came to apply for college, Ryall knew for certain that he had a definitive passion for the culinary arts but he wanted to try something different. At school he had done well in science, and so decided to pursue a degree in it — “I thought that I should pursue another interest and it kind of opened the door to another world that I didn’t know existed, that I would’ve missed out on.”

Even though much of Ryall’s time in college was scientific and preparing for exams, he absolutely did not let his affinity for food fall into the shadows. Not only did Ryall continue to work fulltime at the Ballymaloe House

pastry kitchen during holidays but from his first year, Ryall became extremely involved with a number of Trinity societies, including DU Food & Drink. Here, Ryall spread his love for food to the larger Trinity community: “I attended some events, got to make friends with people who were running the society, and then I ran for a committee position and I ended up becoming Treasurer.”

The Food and Drink Society became a core part of Ryall’s college experience as it provided him with experiences that entirely shaped his professional future for the better. “Having to organise events, learn how to budget for things, you learned the highs and lows of what it was like to do something. As we went along, we got better and better and they are definitely skills that you use everyday no matter what you’re doing.”

Ryall and his friends were instrumental in growing the Food & Drink society to its position as one of Trinity’s largest societies today. “When we started running it, it was really small —I think there were like 200 members in it —and like two years later we had like 1200 members.” One particular event during his time in the Food & Drink Society stuck with Ryall: “We held a large Christmas party called “Yule’n’Joy” in the GMB. We spent weeks planning it. A feeling of conviviality reigned over the event. It taught me the importance of doing events with wide appeal that include the whole community.”

But Ryall did not limit his involvement in only one Trinity society. He became treasurer of Trinity Arts Festival: “It was great because I got to spend time with people from the arts block because otherwise I was always in the Hamilton.” After this, Ryall ran for Central Society Committee Exec and held this position for a year. Here, he reviewed societies’ requests for funding and allocated money accordingly.

In order to ensure that he could both perform academically and participate in societies, Ryall developed a system to help compartmentalise his time: “My approach would be to have as much fun as I could during the year and then, within a month of the exams, I’d knuckle down and bury myself in the library. I really gave exams the best shot I could but I never let wanting to do well get in the way of actually enjoying the journey.”

After he graduated from Trinity, Ryall became the full-time Head Pastry Chef of Ballymaloe House where he is involved in menu planning and preparing food for the hotel and restaurant.

Ryall is also an instructor and examiner at Ballymaloe Cookery school, the very school that

officially solidified his passion at four years old. In September 2022, Ryall completed his greatest professional achievement yet after ten years of dreaming about it by publishing his own cookery book, “Ballymaloe Desserts”. Then in November, he was named “Pastry Chef of the Year” by Food and Wine Ireland. Ryall’s job has allowed him to travel all over the world where he has baked in popup demonstrations, collaborated with other chefs, and as of late, promoted his book.

“I like to call biochemistry a very scenic route to becoming a professional pastry chef. I don’t ever tell anyone that it’s essential but there are moments where it’s useful because baking is essentially cooking with chemistry. So, if you understand a little bit of what’s going on, it can definitely help

but I think it might be a little bit eccentric to study biochemistry if you want to be a pastry chef.”

It was the friends that Ryall made through his involvement in societies that he deems the most valuable takeaway from his college days. “[...] Friends that I otherwise wouldn’t have met who were studying other courses.

Today I have friends in New York, London, Sydney. Having that fabric and that experience means that I can contact friends and not just people that I’m looking for a favour from. That’s actually the best thing from those days, having those connections. We did all those things together, we worked on projects, we know each other’s skill sets and we studied different things and now have different careers.”

For all those who might be

struggling with college life, feeling like the work you are doing day in and day out is doing nothing for your future, Ryall has one piece of advice for you: seek out a mentor: “If you have a good relationship with a mentor and you get to the point where you become friends with them, you almost become dedicated to them and they’ll invest in you and you’ll have a return on that investment. For me, the matriarch in the business took interest in me and I love what she did so that relationship gave me a lot of opportunities in my career.

But that can be anywhere. You can find people in your college department who will inspire you, connect with them, see if they can mentor you or even just in the societies world. Connect with people who are higher and learn from them.”

PHOTO JR RYALL FOR TRINITY NEWS

12

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

Evoking the horrors of the Catholic Church Ciara Chan reviews the highly acclaimed book Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

A

fter being awarded the Orwell Prize in 2022 and being shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2022, with the Boston Globe claiming it is “a story you will want to read again and again,” and People Magazine declaring it “a sparse, breathtakingly perfect gem of a novel,” what is the hype with Claire Keegan’s latest novel?

Great literature makes you feel something. Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These is rich with meaning and heightened by poetry. It is thoroughly engaging; not a single line is to be skipped

or skimmed over. It is a short read, but under its simplistic style lies heavier implications (it is not much more than 100 pages, so for those of you who are not big readers there is no excuse). Keegan explores the presence of the mother and baby homes in Irish society in an emotional manner, conveyed through silences and few words.

The text itself may be easily understood but the activities that this text narrates are hard to read about. In a symbolic fashion, Keegan depicts the overwhelming effects of the laundrette on the town of New Ross, County Wexford. A black stain covers this town. Crows are everywhere, and the men working in the shipyard are always “wash[ing] the black off their hands.” Keegan eloquently articulates the looming presence, feeling of oppression, and disregard for the working class.

Bill Furlong, the protagonist, offers a unique perspective on New Ross and the impact of the convent which contains the laundrette. His prominence in the

Wexford town, being in charge of coal and timber, combined with an outsider complex which stems from his childhood and being born to an unmarried mother, creates an inner turmoil. He is less willing to live with the reality of the laundrette, however little he knows about it. At the same time he feels the social pressures of accepting its existence as “such things had nothing to do with [him].” Furlong’s courage and dissent from the normality of accepting the convents’ actions allows Keegan to exemplify just how ingrained in society these mother and baby homes were.

While Furlong questions its activities, the other people in the town can only ignore the atrocities, and furthermore resent him for doing anything different.

His courage allows him to look beyond the perfect and untouched beauty of the convent’s gardens.

Furlong’s character allows the author to depict the impact of the convent and how these institutions were able to persist across the country. Understanding

the reasons why atrocities were able to occur is just as important as learning about the events themselves. Keegan is able to convey a society too scared to challenge an institution whose sins permeate into the most vulnerable

“

Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These is rich with meaning and heightened by poetry.

people’s lives.

Future generations, by reading Small Things Like These, may better understand how society was and is affected by the existence of mother and baby homes. The book allows for a deeper understanding of contemporary society, which is a product of history. Keegan displays the horrors of what occurred in a system that lasted almost a century. After being dismissed for such a long time, Keegan strips back the untouched beauty of the convent gardens to find a blackened disease underneath.

Her medium of choice allows even those not fond of reading to form an understanding of these events.

Small Things Like These delves into the psyche of a society that allowed for the mistreatment of thousands of young women across Ireland who gave birth out of wedlock.

Claire Keegan presents a story based on all those who suffered at the hand of the Catholic Church.

She offers a way forward. A pathway where future generations of a society so heavily influenced by these events and institutions can acknowledge their impact and learn to evolve past it, without forgetting it.

Going home for the holidays Lara Monahan reflects on the difficulties of the holiday season and what best to do to overcome them

G

oing home from time to time to visit your family after moving out can bring up a lot of confusing, sometimes upsetting feelings. However, returning from college for the winter holidays?

Those challenges are next level.

There is something about the halfoccupied bunk beds and clothes horses inhabiting your childhood bedroom that can almost instantly draw a sigh. Or a tear. These feelings tend to be amplified by the fact that the winter period often encourages us to spend time with family, celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year, or the many other occasions that punctuate that time of the year. Maybe it is the post-Christmas lull I am experiencing or the desire to know how to tackle these feelings in the future, but I have been reflecting on how the most wonderful time of the year can sometimes feel like the most difficult one.

Reintegrating into family life after having lived alone for a while often feels like trying to fit into old clothes – something I do find myself doing, literally. Trying to pull on that jersey from when you

were 12 reflects squeezing your newfound independence into your home life – the novelty wears off quickly, and it can actually be quite painful.

I remember my first-year self being desperate to go home and

“

I felt like I could finally hide in that small pocket of the countryside...

celebrate Christmas – college is a bittersweet experience after all, both socially exhilarating and socially exhausting. I felt like I could finally hide in that small pocket of the countryside, away from lonely Lidl trips and Circuit laundry. I realise how privileged this sounds. Living away from home is both luxurious and liberating. The growing pains, however, cannot be ignored.

Getting home for the holidays, no matter how much relief it might initially evoke, comes with shock at the dissonance between oneself and one’s hometown, a dissonance that has developed over the time of only a few months. This is a position

a lot of people find themselves in upon returning home from college. It can manifest itself in different ways – maybe it felt like that middle bit of ‘Scott Street’ by Phoebe Bridgers, or – however painful it has become to bring up Paul Mescal and Phoebe Bridgers in the same breath – that bit in ‘Normal People’, when Connell explains to a college therapist how he neither fits in at college nor at home anymore. This familiar sense of limbo, of having almost accidentally and irreversibly thrust yourself away from your childhood, but not properly into adulthood, is incredibly hard.

Not to mention the traumatic at worst, awkward at best, family histories that lurk at most dinner tables. The holiday season can put unwelcome emphasis on who might no longer be there, or give rise to long standing tensions, even in families of relative calm. All of this on top of intergenerational clashing values might be enough to make you seize your Terry’s Chocolate Orange and head back to the big smoke. I have put together some coping mechanisms which have helped me over the past few years and perhaps they will also soothe the pains that you are experiencing when you return home.

First and foremost – keep in touch with your college friends.

Send a card, a text – a carrier pigeon if necessary – to help yourself adjust to the feeling of being at home without beginning to think that Fresher’s Week, the Arts Block and Workman’s were just a convincing fever dream.

Make a plan with said college friends for when you get back; and if you haven’t yet found your crowd – or even if you have – it is valuable to reach out to friends from home too. If they too have returned from living elsewhere, they will be feeling the familiar lurch in their stomach when they call their place of study home instead of the place where they grew up in. Having someone else identify with your feelings can be validating amid mixed feelings of nostalgia. Another way to beat the hometown blues: along with the new worldview you are forming at college, take home that cool vintage shirt you bought or a few pictures from the semester. If I have learnt anything from going home for the holiday, it is that listening to LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Christmas will break your heart’ feels a lot cooler

“

The holiday season can put unwelcome emphasis on who might no longer be there...

when you’re wearing a fabulous outfit, headphones and shades.

If you do choose to take family members to task over any *ahem* differing values across the Easter table for example, I find that hefty eyeliner and contextualising any seemingly outlandish opinions helps a lot.

The adolescent feeling of being trapped at home, only to suddenly find yourself feeling locked out when you go back home during college is quite common. And however much you fight it, it firmly establishes that you are growing up.

Uncomfortable situations, nostalgia and yearning to get back to college can all be part of this process. Give yourself time to adjust and allow yourself to be a work in progress when you deal with these mixed emotions – I, like most of us, still struggle with it – and if this year was a bust, remember that another winter is upon us in no time. Our expectations of the winter period are often heightened by a lot of the familial sentiments that are associated with the time, and the pressure that this brings can be burdensome; I have recently taken to trying the approach that The 1975 sing about in ‘Wintering’: ‘I just came for the stuffing, not to argue about nothing’. Take comfort in the fact that all experiences can feel somewhat ambivalent, and that this rule applies to both home life and college life. All this is to say that if you too have ever returned home from college for the holidays and felt the relief of your return disappear as quickly as the sun at 4pm – know you are not alone.

13

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

Jailbreak: A nation-wide scavenger hunt for charity Ruby Topalian outlines everything you need to know about this year’s Jailbreak

T

wo days to get to destination X. Going up against twenty teams, you’ll have to travel across Ireland without spending a penny from your own pocket to find clues that will lead you to your final destination. How will you raise the money you need to do it? Through your own fundraising efforts.

Why do it? To raise money for Vincent de Paul (VDP), Amnesty International, and to quite frankly have a great time.

From February 18-19, Trinity’s VDP, DU Amnesty, and Cummann Gaelach will collectively host their annual Jailbreak fundraising event.

As the largest student-run charity event in the country, founded in 2013 and having raised over €350,000 since its creation, this event is something that every Trinity student is going to want to get involved in.

Applications to join the scavenger hunt are now live.

When you apply through the link on the Jailbreak Instagram (@ jailbreakhq), you will be placed into a team of two. Before the race begins on February 18, each member of your team will need to raise at least €150 to participate.

This initial three hundred euros will be donated to Vincent de Paul and Amnesty International Ireland, but half of anything you raise over that initial amount will be used for your travel expenses.

The other half will be donated. In order to raise the initial €150 per person before the 18th, you can pursue a wide variety of fundraising efforts such as busking, bucket donations (you will be given a bucket when you sign–up), magic performances, endowments from wealthy benefactors and more. As long as it’s legal, you can do it.

Once each person has raised their €150, your team is set to participate in the actual race from February 18-19. When Trinity News spoke with Jailbreak’s DU Amnesty Director Christopher Kirkwood he explained the importance of raising that initial donation as quickly as possible and how the organisers are doing what they can to help.

“Right now we’re running a series of collaborative events with our contestants to help them raise the initial 150 euros per person donation so they can be in the race. So if they can sign-up soon and we can include them in our scheduling it would be really really helpful for us and for them because

everything over that initial 150 that they raise for the race, half of that goes to their travel. Travel isn’t that expensive inside of Ireland, that would go a very long way to get you to where you need to go and so you can focus on the clues, focus on the hunting instead of singing on the street or helping people with their bags or doing whatever you can to get the money you need to travel.”

This year’s scavenger hunt will start at Dublin Castle where teams will be presented with a series of clues. Once the race starts, teams will need to follow the clues to various destinations around the country and complete a number of challenges which will lead them to more clues, and eventually to their final destination — the finish line — at the end of the race. As the teams travel around, they can continue to raise money as they did in order to earn the initial 150 euro donation, and half of all the money raised during the race can continue to support their travels.

“

in a couple of places. It was a really, really sweet exchange because it really got the name of jailbreak out there. When you hear the name jailbreak you kind of think, is it a TV show, is it an amazing race?

No, it’s all about raising money for Amnesty and for VDP and doing it in a way that’s constructive and fun for the contestants.”

Even if you’re not super jazzed about the idea of running around Ireland in search of clues, raising money for charity along the way, and maybe even ending up on the other side of the world, you can still get involved with Jailbreak.

The organisers are looking for people to fulfil the role of tracker over the two days. As a tracker, you are responsible for checking in with contestants every three hours and ensuring that they are safe and making progress.

Kirkwood also explained that the current organisers are always in search of prospective organisers for next year’s Jailbreak, so if this is something that you are interested

“

This year’s scavenger hunt will start at Dublin Castle where teams will be presented with a series of clues.

in they encourage you to reach out!

Now that you know what Jailbreak is, you probably do want to sign-up for the race. Jailbreak’s Cumann Gaelach Director Niall Hannon shared some advice for potential contestants: “Go to our Instagram, see what’s there, look at it, familiarise yourself with it, tell your friends about it, then go, click that link in the bio for the application form, sign-up, you won’t regret it. And then, once you’ve done all that, come out, meet everyone, go to our events, it’s gonna be so much fun.”

These next few weeks in the lead-up to the official Jailbreak scavenger hunt are going to be jampacked with all sorts of exciting events planned by the Jailbreak organisers of Cumann Gaelach, DU Amnesty, and VDP. Keep your eyes peeled on the societies’ social media and get ready for good fun and travel in support of a great cause.

It’s all about raising money for Amnesty and for VDP and doing it in a way that’s constructive and fun for the contestants There is one important rule that must be followed for the sake of safety: NO HITCHHIKING. “The first jailbreak was basically an entire race around the world where you weren’t allowed to spend any of your own money on your travel and at the end of the competition, the final barricade was that the winner of the race would be whoever could get the farthest from “this spot,” explained Kirkwood. “Two of the contestants found their way to Buenos Aires in Argentina and then couldn’t get back because they couldn’t afford the plane tickets. So, College alumnus Christopher actually reached out and paid for their flights back which made the news

PHOTO COURTESY OF @JAILBREAKHQ FOR TRINITY NEWS

14

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

LGBT+ TV and films to look forward to in 2023 Leah Kelly runs us through the media that defined 2022, and what the new year has in store

2

022 was a very mixed year for LGBT+ media. Our screens saw many new and fresh queer stories; featuring sapphic vampires, gay pirates and gay baseball players, as well as your average coming-ofage love stories like Heartstopper.

Unfortunately, there were also a slew of cancellations.

With streaming services becoming more competitive, in an age where there are so many to choose from, projects which aren’t pulling in enough viewers are swiftly cancelled after one season rather than given the space to flourish and grow over time. Even shows which were successful, like Warrior Nun, have been cancelled. This is not a problem that is exclusive to LGBT+ media, but LGBT+ media is hit especially hard.

LGBT+ movies had a pretty good year in 2022, all things considered. Do Revenge and My Policeman were both successful and Bros made history as the

first R-rated queer rom-com by a major studio. Tár, which has been released in the US, was highly critically acclaimed and is a favourite for Academy Award winner. Fortunately, 2023 is set to feature just as much LGBT+ representation as last year.

TV Heartstopper, Season Two. Heartstopper Season One received huge critical acclaim upon its release. Based on the graphic novels, it follows two young British boys navigating a relationship while at secondary school. What made it stand out was how truly joyful it was. It is sweet and fluffy, which was a breath of fresh air in the sometimes more tragedycentred genre of gay male romance.

Season two is set to come some time in 2023.

Young Royals, Season Three.

Young Royals is also about two young queer boys navigating a relationship while at school.

In this case, though, one of the boys is the Prince of Sweden. The show received similar acclaim and popularity upon its release.

The third and final season will be released in 2023.

Our Flag Means Death, Season Two. Gay pirates fall in love as they sail the seven seas. Whimsical, romantic and hilarious. With only 10 episodes in season 1, it’s easy to catch up on if you missed it last year.

That ‘90s Show. A sequel to

the iconic That ‘70s Show, it is set to feature a prominent storyline involving a gay teenager. Most of the cast is returning, and is now on Netflix.

Glamorous. Think The Devil Wears Prada, but queer. A gender-nonconforming young queer person starts working for a makeup mogul, changing their life and allowing them to find themself. It will star Sex and The City’s Kim Cattrall.

And Just Like That, Season Two. Speaking of Sex and The City, the sequel series will return for season 2 in 2023. The first season had a prominent non-binary character and featured one of the iconic Sex And The City women questioning their sexuality. The original Sex And The City was progressive (for its time, at least) and And Just Like That is attempting to touch on social issues in the same way as the original did.

Film

“

Think The Devil Wears Prada, but queer

Tár. This has already been released in the US, but is coming to Ireland in January. Cate Blanchett is enchanting in her performance as a gay composer whose messy personal life and misdeeds begin to finally catch up with her.

Eileen. This adaptation of the novel by Otessa Moshfegh, author of My Year of Rest and Relaxation, is set to be released in early 2023.

It follows a young woman in the 1960s and the relationship between her and her co-worker at a prison facility.

Fairyland. Centring around the AIDS crisis, this film is set to debut in January. A young woman is raised by a gay activist dad in the 1970s. This is based on the moving memoir by Alysia Abbot.

Good Grief. A queer romcom about grief and friendship to be released on Netflix. A recent widow takes a trip to Paris with his two best friends to cope with the loss of his husband and mother.

Femme. Based on the 2021 short film, this thriller follows a young drag queen taking revenge on the man who attacked her. The directors, Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, have said they aim to show a queer perspective in the “hyper-masculine” genre of thrillers.

The Colour Purple. This novel has already seen a film adaptation, but 2023 will see the movie musical.

The story centres on the life and struggles of a queer African

American woman in the early 1900s.

Knock At The Cabin. M. Night Shyamalan’s new psychological horror film will feature a family with two gay parents. The family are taken hostage while vacationing at a remote cabin and forced to sacrifice one member of the family to avoid the apocalypse.

After the success of Heartstopper and Young Royals, and the cancellations of First Kill and Warrior Nun, it would be nice to see some prominent Woman Who Love Women (WLW) media in the spotlight this year.

It’s no secret that male LGBT+ representation is much more common, and in 2023 we can hope streaming services and films will attempt to help close this gap. In the wake of ongoing transphobia and trans rights crises in the US and UK, it is more important than ever to see Own Voices authentic representation of trans people on screen.

While last year’s cancellations were disappointing, it is great to see so many shows with LGBT+ representation coming back in 2023. Every year that goes by in producing successful queer stories shows TV and film investors and boards that these stories are no longer a business risk or destined for smaller audiences. Queer media does not have to be a niche, and the success of shows like Heartstopper help to prove that.

Trending tastes: What’s hot on our tastebuds this year Katelyn Davis digs into what’s hot and not in the culinary and food industry in 2023

A

butter board, your Chinese takeaway wrapped up in a burrito, all accompanied by a Negroni Sbagliato (with prosecco in it!) is the meal that perfectly encapsulates the variety of trends that crossed our taste buds in 2022. Our guide delves into the major movements emerging from the culinary world in the new year.

Not going the distance In 2023 we will support our own farmers and industries more, tending towards putting locally grown groceries in our basket rather than off-season produce from overseas. As more fruit and vegetables appearing in our supermarkets boast fewer air miles, we’ll start to see cheaper, fresher ingredients originating closer to home. Try the Honey

Crispy Chicken Bao from Camile Thai — the Irish honey and beekeeping industry is currently booming. Instead of denying ourselves any of our dearest dishes, we’ll opt for pick up instead of delivery from our favourite takeaways (cost of living rages on in 2023). Loyalty cards and reward programs will be found in everyone’s wallet. I vow to use my T-card properly this semester.

Download Stocard from the app store, so you have all your best spots close to hand when hunger strikes!

Back to Home Ec class There’s nothing more rewarding than artisanally icing a homemade birthday cake, regardless of your skillset. Nostalgic baking trends have renewed our love for simpler recipes we found in the early days of our culinary journeys. Online content creators have returned to sharing recipes and stories about their favourite cakes and bakes from childhood. While you keep your family’s treasured recipes close to your chest, be emboldened to tweak and experiment with new flavours and ingredients (why not infuse elderflower cordial or camomile tea into your bowl?).

However, if the whisk never broke

in the batter, don’t fix it. Think fairy cakes, warm fruit scones and the classic Victoria sponge with a personalised twist.

Return to dairy While oat chai lattes will continue to hold a special place in our hearts for many years to come, this year will allow dairy lovers to rejoice. Us college students are

“

Nostalgic baking trends have renewed our love for simpler recipes we found in the early days of our culinary journeys.

left with little choice but to move away from the additional cost for alternative milk in coffee shops, and the thought of making our own plant milk can seem daunting and overly time-consuming for many. In 2022, flavoured butter recipes were churned out in abundance, and these flavours will continue to find new ways to entertain our taste buds in 2023.

Cheesy toasties are back on the sandwich menu, enjoyed with creamy vegetable soup. Zingy whipped feta dips are everywhere at the moment. As you enjoy your sweet full-fat pistachio ice cream, you can let your companion know the snack is also tipped to be Nutof-the-Year, replacing the savoury dominance pine nuts have had on everything from ricotta dishes, pesto recipes and breadcrumbs to sprinkle over fish.

Meals for one The return to college may cause our new year’s resolutions to eat healthier and spend less to fizzle out in boring batches of refrigerated leftovers. One-pan or pot dinners have been gaining popularity in the last few months, with the movement allowing for both greater accessibility and tasty experimentation. The quick pace

of reels and TikToks mark the video medium as a cooking hub for speedy student meals. Creators such as @good_food_mood__ on Instagram and @danialexandra on TikTok move beyond the tired tomato and feta pasta bake of 2022 and provide ample inspiration for your pyrex dish. We recommend trying out Dani’s roast dinner for one or Good Food Mood’s Chicken and Stuffing Pot Pie for colder nights in.

Lunching options around College Green have been accommodating to this trend for a while. If you’re searching for a bite that won’t crunch your wallet, pizza-by-the-slice is served up in many parlours only a stone’s throw from Front Gates. Bambino, DiFontaine’s and Raize Pizza all serve large cheesy slices with varying preferences of crust and delicious topping combos from just €4.

As trends come and go, there are plenty of consistent classics around campus that are here to remind us to cherish the little things. Amid the price inflation of Centra’s chicken fillet roll, we have many adored gems in Trinity.

Perch coffee, I love you! €2 chunky soup in The Forum, never change!

15

TRINITY NEWS | Tuesday 31 January

Left on read Emma Gallagher examines the concept of ghosting and its implications

M

essage delivered 5 minutes ago.

Delivered 5 hours ago.

Delivered yesterday.

Opened 3 hours ago. No reply.

Ouch.

No matter how cool you are – or believe you are – almost everyone in the modern realm of ‘dating’ has experienced ghosting.

We have all waited for a response and got stressed about it, even if we pretended we don’t really care (but we kind of do). The reply never comes and you can’t help but be just a little bit annoyed, maybe a bit confused, and maybe – if you’re a truly honest person – a little bit upset. Ghosting sucks, but is it always necessarily as evil as it is made out to be? Is there ever a case in which ghosting is okay?

A controversial take for some, but I don’t think ghosting is always exclusively a crime. There are of course times when ghosting is, without doubt, the right thing to do. You should never feel guilty about cutting someone off if they are making you feel uncomfortable

or unsafe. Explanations aren’t conversation when it’s no longer necessary when you’ve been serving you. That’s what online disrespected. But it is necessary dating is for! The entire point is to look deeper at the cases that to chat to someone and see how aren’t as black and white, when you feel; there are no strings there’s debate over what you attached, and you’re allowed to should do and how you should do cut it off whenever you want. This it. Ghosting is shit; it’s annoying has had positive and negative and it’s upsetting. But just because effects on the wider approach to you’re annoyed and upset doesn’t relationships, but being ghosted mean the action is objectively evil; in fact, sometimes there’s the right time for ghosting. I’m also here to tell you that it’s okay to think you’re going a little bit crazy in how you react to being left on read.

It’s shitty when someone you know and like suddenly ignores you out of the blue – and God forbid it’s someone you’re actually going out with. But sometimes the theatrics aren’t worth it to end a conversation with someone, especially if the connection is not well established. In order to gain further perspective on the matter, I asked around for some consensus, and the conclusion was that you have to have met them in person for the ghosting to hurt. This has its obvious exceptions but it shows something much bigger; there is a level of establishment in any relationship which demands the respect of an official end, and if you disregard that you’re a dick without doubt. However, if you’re still talking to someone, be it on a dating app or on social media, it is more acceptable to cut the ARTWORK BY SARAH MURNANE

Societies calendar Society

Event description

Date/location

Law Soc

Launch evening with The Eagle Social Night

01/02 Regent House

Lunar New Year celebration

04/02 Lee Kee Restaurant

DU Computer Science Society (DUCSS) DU SouthEast Asian Society Zoo Soc

03/02 Token

Berlin Trip 10/02-12/02 (includes Berlin Zoo and Aquarium and the Natural History Museum) Trinity Arts Festival (TAF) TAF’s annual week-long arts 13/02-17/02 festival DU Equestrian Society Equestrian Ball 14/02 The Royal Marine Hotel Q Soc Drag show 15/02 The Phil

LifeRaft debate

16/02 The GMB

DUBES

BESS Ball

16/02 Kilashee Hotel

Cumann Gaelach/ VDP

Jailbreak

18/02-19/02

on Tinder is not worth villainizing the person on the other side of the screen. Sometimes they just won’t reply; there’s not necessarily always going to be a reason, and it might not be something either one of you did, but it just sort of happens.

Taking the controversy even further, I would go as far as saying sometimes ghosting is the right thing to do. I hope to sound relatable when I say that sometimes you can find yourself stuck in a conversation that is being dragged out far longer than either of you would like. You don’t want to be the rude one so you keep replying, but they don’t want to be the rude one either. Damn. The time between responses becomes longer and longer, with less interesting messages being sent until finally somebody cracks and just stops.

I think in this instance, ghosting is the best option. Otherwise you run the risk of growing resentful of the other person and their increasingly terrible messages, which neither of you really want to be sending anyways. By cutting the conversation off you take away the pressure of the relationship.

While it may be a sign that you probably won’t work romantically, there’s now more scope for maintaining a civil connection and being able to have a casual conversation if you ever run into

them again. For some that might be a worse outcome; to have an awkward platonic relationship with someone you once fancied, rather than a clean cut off, but for me ghosting takes the win on that one.

All this said, sometimes ghosting is horrible. You go back and forth wondering whether you should just leave it. You make excuses for them: maybe they dropped their phone in the Liffey, or maybe they’re lost in a place with no signal, or maybe something totally major and super excusable has happened. Maybe if you send another message, they could reply. The culture of constant communication and instant replies is far too pressurising on relationships of any kind. Being able to know when someone was on their phone and if they didn’t respond to you is insane; no one is under oath to respond to you as soon as they see your message, but the digital age makes us feel like we are owed a reply, even if it’s from a stranger we met online.

It’s not normal to be in constant communication with anyone, and as much as that’s a harsh truth, it is still the truth. Ghosting is shit, but it doesn’t deserve the hatred it gets.

It’s not always your fault, but it’s not necessarily anybody else’s fault either. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out.

16

Tuesday 31 January | TRINITY NEWS

Crossword

CROSSWORD BY RANDAL HENLY FOR TRINITY NEWS

Across 1. A high feature in Front Square(9) 2. American wild cats from Sumpa (5) 9. The school of which is located in House 5, Front Square (5) 10. St Patrick used the shamrock to illustrate this concept (7) 11. An imaginary circle 40,000 km in circumference (7) 12. The points in satellite orbits at which they are furthest from the Earth (7) 13. A person of wealth or high social position in Grenoble! (3) 14. A ground feature in Front Square (7) 16. A past pupil of a famous English school of note (7) 18. E ones are a method of communication (5) 19. A crystalline organic acid of formula C6H4(COOH)2, can be obtained from Achhilpt (8) 21. The capital of this African county is Nairobi (5)

Down 1. The degree-conferring ceremony (13) 2. Where you’ll find the school of engineering (6,8) 3. English race course from Costa (5) 4. Medical graduates receiving supervised training in hospitals (7) 5. This TCD society was founded in 1905 and was for women only (11) 6. What the Ph of PhD stands for (10) 7. The institute at the south east corner of College Park (5) 8. Hat with a high crown and wide brim, worn by US cowboys and ranchers (7) 15. One of two linked railway stations on the way to Drogheda (4) 17. French city or the Dublin street where you’ll find Connolly railway station (6) 19. A solid geometrical shape whose surfaces are triangular and converge to a point at the top (7) 20. Peter, medieval French philosopher, logician, theologian, poet and composer, who could have come from Delabar? (7)

22. Unborn or unhatched offspring in the process of development (6) 26. Dublin sports stadium that is home to the Irish Rugby Union(5) 29. A sound reflection (4) 31. A head organ (3)

22. It’s either Element 70 or a unit of information equal to 280 bytes 24. Unclothed (4) 25. Ribonucleic acid in short (3) 27. A constrictor snake or a long thin decorative scarf (3) 28. A small travelling bag or suitcase (6) 30. It could be a freshman or a sophister, or just someone over 65 (6) 32. 1006 from Vim! (3) 33. Silver as found in an anagram(2) 34. (See 15 down) The other station (4) 35. A high-capacity transmission technique which enables many messages to be sent simultaneously (9)

Crossword solutions from Issue 5