An Focal (Vol. XXV Edition 7)

Vol. XXV • Edition 7

STIs

January 2017

SU Election 2017

Nicole Drought Interview

Blood Donor: Selfless & Celibate

The new policy requires that men stay abstinent from sex Former UL student with men for a period Tomás Heneghan gave of one year before doblood for the eleventh nating. time last Monday un- “I was extremely deder new guidelines in- termined to donate so troduced by the Irish I essentially had choBlood Transfusion sen to stay sexually abService (IBTS). stinent since the end of In May 2015, Mr January 2015.

Heneghan (25) was “I understand why given a permanent other men in my poblood donation ban sition might choose a after revealing to the less open path in doservice that he had had nating blood, but I felt sex with another man. I couldn’t do that.

He then initiated a “For me - and I can High Court challenge only speak for my own against the IBTS’s poli- situation - it would feel cy of serving men who like I was ashamed of have ever had sex with having sex with a man men with the lifetime and that’s not someban. thing I’ll allow myself Mr Heneghan dropped to feel shame for,” Mr the challenge once plans Heneghan said. to introduce guidelines He said that his elevfor a 12-month deferral enth donation felt like were announced last the culmination of July. three years of “hard SARAH HYNES & EVIE KEARNEY

work, energy, a large degree of personal sacrifice.”

Mr Heneghan could not describe it any better than “a sense of accomplishment” when giving blood as an openly gay man for the first time.

“Making the appointment to donate in December, jumping through all the necessary hoops and then finally seeing the blood flow through the tube in my arm and into a small bag beside the bed in the clinic finally made the whole thing feel real,” he added.

However, gay men are still forced to wait nine months longer than heterosexual men who have to abstain from sex for only three months.

Homosexual men were originally banned from donating blood during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the mid1980s.

Mr Heneghan said: “A 12-month ban on men who’ve had oral or anal sex with another man should definitely either be removed or a three month ban imposed on all donors - the 12-month ban is quite clearly unnecessarily excessive and completely disproportionate.”

HIV is detectable

three months after a possible exposure in both sexes.

“It only takes one heterosexual man or woman who is HIV positive to donate blood and HIV could well then travel through the blood system,” Mr Heneghan continued.

“I will continue to work my socks off and go down any avenue to make that easier and to bring about a situation where MSM (men who have sex with men) are not required to face such discriminatory and irrational policies as this 12-month deferral policy.”

Irish blood reserves are currently at an alltime low and the demand for blood has never been higher in Ireland and the EU, ac-

cording to the IBTS. “I want to tell gay men to get out, roll up the sleeves and get donating. Ireland, and Europe, is running at an all-time low of regular blood donors,” Mr Heneghan said.

“It’s an extraordinary gift to give a complete stranger and all you have to do to give this gift is lie in a bed for about 15 minutes, in a lot of cases, and let the blood flow.

“You can save a life.

It’s that simple really.

One seemingly small act can actually save a life. It’s just a pinch in the arm and it’s over very quickly and from that another person’s life could be improved or even saved.”

Health Minister Simon Harris welcomed the changes, which he

approved last June, that brings Ireland in line with similar policies in the UK and Canada.

He explained that all deferral policies are continually under review.

Mr Heneghan added: “I believe it is now past time that the Minister take action and review the operations of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service and initiate an independent and detailed review of the policies, activities and management of the service, including communication methods with donors, record management and policy formation.

“The Minister has a responsibility to ensure the recipients of blood transfusions in Ireland are not being put at unnecessary risk.”

January 2017

2

Welcome Back, Students & Staff PAUL SAUNDERS EDITOR

In 2016, we saw the rise of Trump and Brexit, two topics that have taken over every conversation or debate we had for the last year.

Something else has risen to the foreground of our lives and has done it in a very quiet and subtle manner and that is fake news.

Even further, people have started to reject news now as untrustworthy and have begun to make up their own truths from what they believe and feel.

With Trump, we saw fake news used to try and build him up and tear him down; with Brexit, we saw slogans of how much money the Government will save and what can be done for their own country.

People don’t know who to trust when they are online as we are bombarded with

EDITOR: Paul Saunders NEWS: Evie Kearney SPORTS: Caoimhin Reilly DESIGN: Hannah Carr-Murphy COPY: Naomi Deevy CONTRIBUTORS: Sarah Jane Allen Steven Casey Annmarie Campbell Ann Cronin Anthony Dawson Noelle Donworth Ciara Ferguson Liz Gabbett Nicole Glennon Caoimhe Hennigan Sorcha Holohan Sarah Hynes Donal Kearns Martin Lennon Aimee McKenzie Eoghan Moloney Rachael Mooney Claire O’Brien Aisling O’Connor Caolan O’Donnell Michael O’Donnell Chloe O’Keeffe Terry O’Shea Kathleen O’Sullivan Seamus Toomey Aimee Wells Baoyan Zhang

updates and news bulletins from multiple organisations from all over the world.

That is why An Focal will continue to be a neutral, non-biased, fair reporter of events from around the University campus.

I have talked constantly in my editorials on how it’s your paper and how you should get involved.

An Focal now has a record number of contributors, more Clubs and Socs have written for the paper then ever before and our website has been getting over 500 visitors a week.

An Focal reaches a considerable student audience and every sub-editor and I have pledged to keep our reporting truthful, unbiased, and accurate.

If you have an issue with something on campus, a story idea or you want to learn a few things about journalism then don’t hesitate to drop me an email at Paul.Saunders@ul.ie

Limericks from Limerick

By Martin Lennon

ANCIENT IRELAND FIRST IT’S THE WILD ATLANTIC WAY IRELAND’S ANCIENT EAST HAD ITS SAY CLIMB SKELLIG MICHAEL OFF KERRY SURF IN BUNDORAN BESIDE DERRY SEVENTEENTH OF MARCH PADDY’S DAY

An Focal Crossword Test your knowledge of this week’s edition!

ACROSS 5. STI with 14 reported cases on campus 6. Month the library extension will be finished 10. Last name of UL’s Irish Sportswoman of the Year 11. Location of the Outdoor Pursuits Club’s latest trip 12. First name of the new Student Information and Support Co-ordinator

DOWN 1. Conor _____ is an extra in Game of Thrones 2. Last name of the new Krav Maga instuctor 3. Month in which the SU Election takes place 4. Location of the Road Relays Championship 7. The Irish Software Research Centre located on campus 8. Dutch city where Claire O’Brien spent a semester 9. The library has a fines _____ amnesty in place until February 28th

@AnFocal_UL

An Focal

AnFocalUL

January 2017

3

Gonorrhoea with the Wind AISLING O’CONNOR Last semester, student’s received an email from the health centre warning of an outbreak of STIs. The message told students that it is possible to have these conditions without having any type of symptoms.

Students who have had unprotected sex or have any concerns are advised to contact the Student Health Centre or your GP. One student said: “Before the recent chlamydia outbreak, I was not very aware

of how common STIs are or that they can be serious enough to cause death.

“Sex education in school never really took me though the consequences of them.”

The student believes that “scare tactics” were used during sex education in primary and secondary school.

“I have never heard of anyone close to me contracting a STI before so it never felt like a real danger or close to me,” the student continued.

“I’ve looked into STIs and safe sex practices so am more aware of how widespread or

serious they are.”

The university’s LGBTQ+ Society, Out in UL, is a “100% sex positive society, spreading sexual health information is an important part of our aims” according to Public Relations Officer Aoibhínn Slattery.

The university’s LGBTQ+ Society Out in UL offers free condoms, dental dams, and other forms of protection to its members.

“We are a 100% sex positive society, spreading sexual health information is an important part of our aims,” Public Relations

Officer Aoibhínn Slattery said.

“I would be of the opinion that RSE in schools is not up to scratch. It amazes me how little some of my peers know about sex ed.

“Ireland is really falling behind on this and it is evidently presenting itself as an issue in society with different STIs on the rise in the past few years.”

Out in UL recently held a free HIV testing day in the Student’s Union, where over 60 students signed up.

Ms Slattery believes that this event showed how students are willing to get tested when the opportunity is presented to them.

“In general, unfortunately there is still a lot of stigma and a sense of embarrassment for students to discuss their sexual health or to get tested.

“I think this mainly stems from the traditionally conservative views about sex that we seem to have in Ireland,” she continued.

In order to combat the rising numbers of

STIs, she believes that students need more open discussions about sexual health and more information available to them.

“In an ideal world, I think it would help to introduce mandatory sex ed workshops for all first years which include a consent element and possibly another SHAG Week in semester two.”

Three condoms for €1 are available in the SU. Appointments can be made by telephone on 061202534 or by calling in to the health centre, located in CM061.

PSA from your Welfare Officer CAOLAN O’DONNELL Yes, before you ask, I did have to look up ‘gonorrhoea’ before I spelled it. It doesn’t matter how many times I write that down, it still looks wrong to me.

I also tend to question anyone who can spell it first go without any problems - no one knows how to spell that without good reason.

My, oh my, did that lovely, venereal disease give me a headache over the last few weeks.

I just ordered another 8,000 condoms for you busy bunnies. None of which will I avail of using myself due to geographically imposed celibacy. Do you know how sickening that is?

Now, I know that there may only have been 14 known cases but let’s all get real here and learn an old lesson or two

from it.

A wise man (my father prior to me venturing on a ‘lad trip’ to Magaluf) once told me that you wouldn’t jump into a random bed without checking if the sheets were clean first and everyone, should have the same approach to sex.

While it’s an awful metaphor and has mildly scarred me for life, I get what he means and he wasn’t too far off the cuff.

At the end of the day, we need to take stock of our actions. Before I get a mountain of emails accusing me of assuming all the students of UL are sexually promiscuous, that is far from what this is about (I would never assume such debauchery from the ever so responsible students of UL.)

This is merely a chance for us to consider a few things: How many of you have been screened for STIs? How many times have you asked a person about their sexual history or when they were last screened before doing the no pants dance with them?

I won’t lie, it hasn’t been the first thought to cross my mind when things get heated but is that a mistake on my part?

“It’s okay, she’s on the pill” has been the response of many a man when asked did he wear a condom but the pill doesn’t stop the burning sensation when passing urine or the chance of you passing that pain onto someone else.

As uncomfortable as it may be to discuss, you have a right to know the details before you

have sex with someone.

It may seem like a stupid conversation to have but those sexually transmitted diseases can sometimes have long lasting repercussions.

• There may be little Symptoms in men: or no symptoms in up to 86% of women and • A white, yellow or 55% of men. green discharge from the penis Symptoms in women: • A burning sensation • Yellow or bloody when passing urine So here is the vaginal discharge breakdown: • Painful or swollen • Bleeding associated testicles • Gonorrhoea can with vaginal sex be transmitted by Untreated gonorrhoea can anyone who is infected, • Bleeding between infection cause epididymitis whether they have periods (inflammation of the symptoms or not. reproductive • A burning sensation male tubes), which can • It is passed on during urination occasionally lead to through unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex If it is not treated sterility. with someone who has it can cause pelvic gonorrhoea. inflammatory disease RIGHT. Now that (PID). PID can cause the scary bit is over, • This also goes for permanent damage just wise up and call sharing sex toys. Any and lead to ectopic into me. I’ve got a fans of Blue Mountain pregnancy, chronic heap of condoms that State will understand pelvic pain and are blocking up the entrance to my office. this all too well. infertility.

January 2017

4

Library Website Revamped for 2017 AIMEE WELLS The Glucksman Library launched a brand new website this month, boasting a sleek new look and helpful new features.

These new features include an improved mobile experience for searching on the go and improved visibility for the library’s distinct collections, for example the National Dance Archive of Ireland.

It also features better catalogue searching for finding print and electronic research material; a library quick tasks menu for the most commonly used pages from the old website; and the option to save references to your account for later, creating your own personal collection of relevant research

material.

The idea of these improvements is to make the site easier to navigate for all students, and to make the library a more valuable research tool.

These changes are sure to benefit students, said Communications & Assessment Librarian Michelle Breen.

“The enhancements mean you will be able to locate information for your assignments faster and create your bibliographies in a more efficient way too,” she explained.

“The new search page is available on the library’s search terminals and library staff and student peer advisors will be on hand at the start of semester to show you how to look up and locate items, place reservations and

manage your account.”

The library is also aiming for faster turnaround of items you order for the library collections, and better analytics for collection development, including downloads, loans and pick-ups.

The library is also having a fines amnesty until February 28th.

This means you can bring back library books with no questions asked, no matter how long overdue, excluding only items on short term loan.

The idea is to get people to bring back any books they have and get the material back into the library for others to use.

Any outstanding fines are also being wiped clean and no fines will be issued during this period.

New SU Position to Help Students STEVEN CASEY ULSU have appointed Seán Bailey-Whyte to the new position of Student Information and Support Coordinator.

Seán Bailey-Whyte began work just before Christmas and has a background in youth and community work.

The position is a full -time post put in place by the Students’ Union as part of the Strategic Plan 20162020 to “develop and launch a Union managed advisory service supporting and empowering students to manage their experience on campus.”

Seán’s role will involve supporting

the Sabbatical Officers and aims to provide continuity of service for the students in terms of our welfare and our academic supports.

He said: “My background is in youth and community work but I am open to all students.”

“There is no such thing as a stupid question - students are more than welcome to come in here to the office or drop me an email.

“My role is to support the student, point them in the right direction - whatever is most relevant for that student.”

Seán’s office has an open door policy and is located in the Students’

Union; turn right before the stairs and it’s the first office on the right in that corridor.

The Student Information and Support Co-ordinator welcomes and encourages any and all students to drop in and or pop him an email if you have any issue you want support with and is quick to point out the excellent services here available to UL students.

He is keen to point out that he is not here to replace the Sabbatical Officers but merely to offer another support to the students.

You can contact Seán by phone on 061234268 or email sean.baileywhyte@ul.ie.

January 2017

Stables Club Gets a Makeover EOGHAN MOLONEY

UL’s hub of entertainment will have a different feel for 2017 for students returning for semester 2, as The Stables Club has been rejuvenated over the holidays.

Redecoration took place throughout early January in the on-campus bar and restaurant and the work done has improved the Stables beyond all recognition.

The inside of the popular student haunt was stripped bare as to facilitate speedy work including sanding, painting and re-varnishing all wooden surfaces, including the bar and countertops.

The colours of the freshly-painted walls and surfaces emanate a clean and homely feel but the biggest shock to returning students will be the disappearance of the ‘D.J’s corner’ as this has been replaced by a decorative, glass-front wall cabinet that wouldn’t be out of place in Hogwarts.

No doubt this re-jigging won’t interfere with the amazing atmosphere of a night spent in the club.

Even the trusty bar stools have been repainted and hopefully the paint is well dry as they can expect to see plenty usage in Week One, but hopefully not too much.

Management and staff can be very proud of the modern, new look Stables and students returning to UL will most certainly be impressed by what has been achieved in such a short space of time and it’s truly a club students can be proud of going forward.

5

January 2017

6

Managing Stress, FYP Deadlines & Your Final College Semester ANN CRONIN

As we enter semester two, talk of deadlines and time management is everywhere.

SU Academic Officer Donal Foley is reminding students to remain calm and begin organising themselves for approaching deadlines.

All FYP deadlines are available on the UL website.

Donal Foley said each student must be wary of the kind of student they are and how busy their days can be.

“Whether you’re a crammer or someone who likes to put a lot of effort in to their work, take into account how busy you are outside of college. For example,

if you have a job you must incorporate that into your plan,” the Academic Officer said.

“Balancing the work of five modules throughout a semester can be difficult, but with the right planning you will be able to get through every coursework deadline and still be able to keep up in class.”

Whether you’re in your final year and preparing for the FYP or trying to meet assignment deadlines, Donal said that prioritising is key.

“For larger projects like FYPs, it can seem never-ending. Sit down and make realistic goals.

“You have to make a coherent plan and if

anything goes wrong, always revert back to your plan. “ C o m p l e t e c o u r s e w o r k , assignments and sections of your FYP in order of when they have to be submitted, meaning earliest deadline completed

first and so on.”

He also emphasised the importance of allocating more time and effort for coursework that is worth more marks.

For fourth year students who must battle FYPs but also want to enjoy their last

semester, a balance of studying and socialising is very important.

“It’s not realistic to say that you stop socialising for the whole semester and lock yourself into your room. It’s bad for you, it’d bad for your mental health and it’s important to get out and mix with people,” Donal explained.

“Relax, go to the gym and meet up with friends. Not everything has to revolve around drinking either.”

Finally, Donal said it is crucial to remain calm if things are not going to plan.

“As a student you are going to have to make your plan adaptable, as something may not happen as you would have liked it to and

that’s life.

“That’s what it is like in the working world.

Just keep trying to scratch things off that To-Do List.”

If you are feeling especially stressed and overwhelmed, the Student Counselling Department or Welfare Officer Caolan O’Donnell are here to offer support and guidance.

Donal wishes to remind students that himself, Sarah, Caolan and the newly appointed Student Information and Support Co-Ordinator Seán Bailey-Whyte, will do their best to support anyone struggling with a deadline and needs help, or even just needs a chat.

Library Extension Set for November Opening AISLING O’CONNOR & EVIE KEARNEY The Glucksman Library extension is due to be completed in November of 2017.

The library will be extended by 6,000 square metres which will provide 1,000 more seats and will include both new and improved facilities.

Construction on the project began in early April 2016.

Student Eilis Walsh said that the amount of students waiting outside the current library early in the morning to get a seat is “appalling.”

“The previous library didn’t have enough room to facilitate

a decent amount of students, so I’m delighted that the university finally realised that it was a genuine issue and are providing a solution,” she said.

The extension plans to provide “technologyrich, creative and inspirational spaces” to meet current and future needs, according to the Glucksman Library’s newly revamped website.

The inclusion of more classrooms and group study rooms aims to help students book a central space within the college to work on projects.

As it is, many students have complained about the “chaotic”

atmosphere of the current limited library space as being a deterrent to studying on campus.

Fourth year student, Sarah Keane said that: “Throughout my four years in the college, I have always tried to avoid the library as I

found it to be chaotic and too busy, especially during exam times.

“As a result, this led me to try and study at home or try and attempt to find a quiet computer room to get some peace and quiet.”

The addition of both a Health Sciences Library

and a Law Library has been welcomed by students and staff.

“I think the library extension has been long overdue, trying to find a seat to study at, even when it’s not exam time, is much too difficult and a clear sign that the library does not

have enough resources to accommodate for the amount of students in UL,” student Alex Kavanagh said.

The architects building the extension, RKD Architects, have also worked on the Kemmy Business School and on the Analogue Devices Building. The construction is being managed by BAM Ireland.

The Glucksman Library worked with the UL Buildings & Estates Department to plan the construction.

The progress of the library construction can be followed on the Glucksman Library’s Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts. (@ULLibrary)

January 2017

7

PSU Ready for the Semester Ahead AIMEE MCKENZIE We hope everyone had an enjoyable break, and you are now eager to get started with the next phase of your studies.

We also want you to keep in mind that the Postgraduate Students’ Union is here for you and we are a link to the numerous supports and services available at UL. The PSU, along with the Postgraduate Office, have been working towards a link at the research level between LIT, MIC and UL and this could

include a wider range of transferable skills training and a proposed student advisory panel.

The final details will hopefully be agreed upon soon.

Limerick Region Postgraduate Conference (LPRC) will be held at LIT, at the end of May. The LPRC is organised by the Postgraduate Unions from LIT, MI and UL and offers a terrific opportunity to present your work at a student email, Friday February 17th, conference. we will be hosting the More details will Facebook and Twitter. follow on through Save the date! On PSU Ball.

Mortarboards: Sexism or Tradition?

AIMEE MCKENZIE I am very proud to say that on January 18th 2017, I received my Master of Arts in Ethnochoreology with First Class Honours.

However, I am equally proud to say that I did not wear my mortarboard, which is the “cap” part of the cap and gown graduation garb.

In August 2016, I

was privileged to be a part of the Governing Authority procession for the Conferring Ceremonies; this position comes with my job, and it is a position that I am honoured to hold.

At the first ceremony, I noticed that only the women were wearing their mortarboards.

Being a feminist and a strong believer in equality, the image was

not sitting well with me.

I turned to the person next to me, thankfully a woman, and asked her why the women have to wear the mortarboard and the men do not.

Her response was: “It is capping a woman’s education”.

I wanted to stand up and yell: “Women, remove your caps!”

I have been searching for a definitive answer to the question I continue to ask: In Ireland, why do women wear the mortarboards and the men do not?

Surely there is some reason for the decision, or is there?

I shall continue to search for an answer that will satisfy my curiosity, and get back to you.

It will take place in The Pavilion on the North Campus of UL. It will be a great night to get dressed up, have fun and dance! Details will be sent out through email, Facebook and Twitter.

Commencing Semester Two, Week 1, the PSU will be subsidising meals at Scholar’s.

You will be able to purchase up to two meal vouchers per week at a cost of €3.50 per voucher, and in return you will get a dinner and soft drink from

Scholar’s worth €7.

The meal will be available between 17:00 – 19:00, Monday to Friday.

Vouchers can be purchased from the PSU office and must be stamped to show their validity.

This offer will be available to postgraduate students with a valid student card, and the card must be presented at the time of purchase.

There is a limit to the amount of vouchers - stop in early to get yours!

ATTENTION! There is an amnesty in place for library fines until February 28th Please return your overdue items No questions asked Outstanding fines will be removed from your account Glucksman Library appreciates your co-operation

January 2017

8

Interview: An Focal Talks with Software Researcher Prof Brian Fitzgerald of Lero NAOMI DEEVY Lero, the Irish Software Research Centre has announced the appointment of its new director, Professor Brian Fitzgerald, who has been a Science Foundation Ireland principal investigator (PI) since 2002 and has been involved with Lero since its beginning.

Professor Fitzgerald is an internationally recognised scholar in the field of software engineering and was one of the pioneers of research into open source software, among other extensive research and work within the software industry across Europe.

Lero, headquartered at the University of Limerick, has been in existence for about 10 years, leading nationally and internationally to become a Centre of Excellence with over 70,000 citations to Lero research.

As the new director of Lero, Professor Fitzgerald will be involved in much more externally focused and ambassadorial activities, in comparison to his previous role as principal investigator.

He was one of the founding Lero’s founding PIs, apart from a period when he served as vice-president research at UL. He took time out to answer some questions about the work that Lero is involved in as well as how software has evolved and where it will go in the future.

As Professor Fitzgerald explains, software is now central to all areas of modern life and in many ways, every industry is now a software industry:

“Software is cross-cutting and tends to be invisible. If you took away software or software failed, life would stop.

No Google, No Internet, no smartphone, no anti-lock braking in cars.”

With modern societies depending more and more on software, and the enormous scope for where it will lead us in the future, Professor Fitzgerald outlines the areas he feels are particularly exciting and important: “I would single out our research on autonomous vehicles – self driving cars – as very significant. This is also an important feature in space-craft and looms large in our work with the European Space Agency. With space travel, it’s not possible to have humans constantly going up to fix things, there is the possibility that space equipment might decide for itself what it can repair itself and working software that would try to make those decisions

and would do as much as possible itself.”

“And likewise, self-driving cars can take advantage of software to recognise their environment and make decisions.

“There are some significant philosophical issues there, if a self-driving car has a choice of driving over a cliff and killing the driver or knocking down 3 children and saving the driver, there are huge philosophical and ethical issues.

“We’re not really looking at that aspect, we’re more into the systems and how they work together and make those decisions, how they model the environment and try to react to their environment, so that’s a really big topic.

“This also taps into the growing move towards robotics and automation. Much content is generated automatically now.

“A natural progression from data analytics – mining useful insights from mountains of

data, is actually summarising this in tailored reports for different stakeholders.”

“A second area worth mentioning is security and privacy. Everyone is aware of the vulnerability of data stored electronically and the potential for data theft and identity theft.”

With the huge significance that software development and research already holds, what are some of the goals that Professor Fitzgerald sees for Lero?

“The software field is only about 60 years old.

“When it was 10 years old (by 1970), people had identified the ‘software crisis’ which basically referred to the fact that software took too long to develop, cost more to develop than had been budgeted, and didn’t work very well.

“Over the years, we have managed to resolve this initial software crisis with good software development practices.

“However, in recent times there are a num-

ber of factors that have resulted in what we in Lero have termed Software Crisis 2.0.

“Basically this refers to supply factors such as the increasing power of technology as evidenced in Moore’s Law.” Moore’s Law is the observation made in 1965

by Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented.

Moore predicted that this trend would continue for the foreseeable future.

“Also new trends such as parallel processing – multiple computer processors sharing the problem, machine learning and cognitive computing – IBM’s Watson, for example, and even quantum computing.

“Other supply factors include the increasing volume of data provided by Internet of Things sensors, by other systems, by individual

themselves with wearable technology.”

“On the other hand we have demand factors.

For example, the millennial ‘digital native’ who has a strong appetite for new technology.

“In the past, we had to work hard to persuade people to use technology. Now they seek out new apps themselves without persuasion.

“The upshot of these ‘forces’ is that we need to increase our software development productivity by an order of magnitude or more.

“We simply do not have enough appropriately trained developers to produce these systems successfully. One consequence will probably be some very high profile software system failures in the future.

“A key contribution

by Lero is to identify suitable processes to ensure that software is developed to be robust enough and of sufficient quality to avoid such failure.

“If we achieve this, it will ensure that Ireland is seen as a leading centre worldwide where software is developed.

Best talent available here.

“Our vision is that Ireland would be synonymous with software and enter the lexicon in the same way that ‘German automotive’, Scandinavian design and ‘Swiss watch’. Once that happens Lero will have been successful.”

Lero, under the direction of Professor Fitzgerald and with help of everyone at the centre, will continue to be a leader in innovation nationally and internationally in the Software Engineering and Information Systems disciplines.

January 2017

9

Cycle Against Suicide Congress Held in UL SEAMUS TOOMEY Over 6,000 secondary school students attended the Limerick Cycle Against Suicide Congress in the UL Arena on January 18th and 19th.

The congress had several guest speakers, live music performances including The Strypes, Orla Gartland and The High Hopes Choir.

Thousands of students danced in a packed out UL Arena, including Cycle Against Suicide and UL’s mascots, to Spin South West’s DJ’s who were there to help cover the event.

This was the fifth incarnation of the Cycle Against Suicide Congress and the first time it was held outside of Dublin.

The congress showcased the momentum mental health initiatives are gaining across the country.

On the very first day the hashtag #Sharethejourney17 was trending number one in Ireland on Twitter with hundreds of Instagram and twitter posts about the event.

Students had created and presented projects around this hashtag and along with this were encouraged to take photos with the tagline “It’s OK not to feel OK and it’s absolutely OK to ask for help,” which was to promote conversation about mental health.

The secondary school students who came from around the

country posed with a cut out “It’s OK not to feel OK” and these scattered the various social media platforms on the two days.

Social media was a major part of UL’s promotion with a dedicated social media team utilising Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat to make sure thousands of young people saw their message and the work that was being done between UL and Limerick Cycle Against Suicide.

The talks centred around helping schools to improve on mental health and, following the green schools initiative, are asking for schools to go orange by sharing Cycle Against Suicide’s message.

Among the speakers

who appeared over the two days were Colm Hayes of 2FM who served as the Master of Ceremonies, Sindy L Joyce who spoke about the struggles and prejudices she faced growing up as a traveller, Hannah

Martin, Dr Niall Muldoon, Dr Eddie Murphy, Gerry Duffy and a selection of student leaders.

The day turned out to be a huge success for all parties involved with students taking home important messages

about being open to talk and learning how to help.

Organisations including Pieta House gained huge recognition which should translate into lots of growth in the future.

Graduate, Architect, Artist, GoT Extra ANNMARIE CAMPBELL Former UL student Conor Campbell has

been busy since his and has recently been Belfast recently to film graduation, working working as an extra on season six of the smash full time as an architect, Game of Thrones. hit HBO show. musician, and artist Mr Campbell was in Playing a member of the Stark army, Mr Campbell was an extra during the Battle of the Bastards and played a guard for the small but ferocious Lyanna Mormont.

Previously, Mr Campbell was well-known in the Game of Thrones fan community for his surreal artistic recreations of some of the books most famous scenes.

Mr Campbell said that studying architecture at UL influenced how he does his art.

“It changed the way I saw the world, I have an interest in the dreamstate of the human mind and the “unseen” aspects of reality.

Mr Campbell also has an interest in fractals and the repetition of objects through different levels of scale, from the atomic to the cosmic.

“I’m trying to look beyond what can be with the naked eye.”

“Other factors that influence me are my dreams, the music I listen to, smells, and my mood,” he added.

Mr Campbell has played with different textures within his paintings to show a variety of levels and meanings.

He also experimented with a variety of different materials such as a variety of paints, markers, pens, and Tipp-ex both for effect and to experiment.

Mr Campbell has designed the cover

albums for a few Dublin bands but his Game of Thrones fan art has received considerable attention online.

He has done album art for Sam Clague, Emma Langford and is currently working on album art for Ye Vagabonds.

“I felt privileged to do their covers since I already was fans of their music.

“But it has been my Game of Thrones art that has become very popular within the fan community and has been used for websites related to the franchise.”

Mr Campbell is currently filming the shortened seventh season of Game of Thrones but was unfortunately tight lipped on details.

January 2017

10

Lessons from a Semester Abroad CLAIRE O’BRIEN For me, Erasmus was something I never particularly wanted to do, it was a compulsory aspect of my course and for the entire year leading up to the exchange, I continually plotted ways to get out of the study abroad programme.

However, once arriving in Tilburg, a small city in the south of the Netherlands, I immediately fell in love with the city and its international community.

The past semester was full of unforgettable experiences and lifelong lessons.

The first lesson I learned about Dutch life I learned before I ever left the country: Dutch people are incredibly selective when choosing housemates.

While there was an apartment block dedicated to international students, they sell out rather quickly and while I had intended on getting to the housing site the minute these apartments were available, I did not account for the time difference, which meant I was an hour later than I thought, and those apartments were long gone.

As the summer went on, I began to doubt whether I’d ever make it to the Netherlands. I looked for accommodation anywhere I could find it from mainstream Dutch housing websites to student Facebook groups.

My main site for accommodation searching was ‘Housing Anywhere,’ which is essentially a longterm Airbnb aimed

at students who are subletting rooms for a semester.

The basic idea was comparable to Tinder You look at the rooms you like, you send a message to the owner, they ignore you and you cry and wonder where you went wrong.

It was rejection like I had never felt it before.

In all seriousness, you could have a conversation with someone regarding a room where you’d feel like it was a done deal but days later you’d receive a message to the tune of ‘Sorry, we chose someone else.’

This was a regular occurrence and honestly quite exhausting.

Although I eventually lucked out on Housing Anywhere, it is important to note that if you’re looking for accommodation with Dutch students you should try make a connection pretty much straight away.

When I arrived in Tilburg, everything seemed to slot into place.

The sun warmed the little Dutch city for weeks upon our arrival in Tilburg but the Dutch students promised us it would not last.

I’ve often said that erasmus was like a holiday disguised as a college semester but that first month truly was like a holiday.

The combination of meeting people from every corner of the globe while cycling and partying in the sun was nothing like I’d ever experienced before.

For me, it was pure freedom.

If you are considering a semester abroad - go alone.

It will be scary and

you will get lost and mess up sometimes but you won’t be tied to anyone or anything.

When you bring a friend from home, it will be too easy to keep to yourselves.

Honestly, the most important part of my time abroad was learning about different cultures and countries from other international students.

This wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t throw myself into every social activity available for those first couple of weeks.

I highly doubt I would have done this if I had a ready-to-go network of friends to fall back on. For me, this was an important lesson about comfort zones.

While learning about other people and cultures abroad, you learn a lot about your own country.

It is widely known that the Netherlands boasts one of the best cycling infrastructures in the world. The Dutch cycle absolutely everywhere, rain sleet or snow.

When telling people

from home how much I appreciated the cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands, I was usually met a response like ‘Ah sure isn’t it well for them, we could never have something like that over here.’

In reality, there’s no real reason we couldn’t have a similar infrastructure in Ireland. The weather in the Netherlands isn’t unlike our own, I’d even go as far to say the Dutch weather is somewhat colder and wetter than Ireland.

However, this simply doesn’t phase Dutch people, they’ll put on a raincoat and cycle away.

It’s not uncommon to see Dutch people eating and drinking outside well into the colder months and plans don’t get changed due to the weather.

This lifestyle means that you save a lot of money you might regularly spend on taxis or buses.

I learned that Irish people are very quick to say they can’t do something particularly

when it comes to major changes. A lot of Irish students simply can’t picture themselves cycling to and from college or even bars and nightclubs.

Similarly, a lot of Irish parents would be hesitant to see their young school children cycle to school by themselves. However, a 2013 study from UNICEF ranked Dutch children as the happiest in the world.

While this study took various factors into account, one of the key aspects of this study was the independence Dutch children are afforded from their parents.

While I believe there is a lot to be said for the Erasmus programme, it is not without its flaws.

For many courses in UL, Erasmus is compulsory and if you cannot go for whatever reason you must present your case in front of a student status committee.

Although many of us had wonderful experiences abroad, this isn’t always

possible for everyone.

Not everyone in UL is physically, mentally or financially capable of going abroad and I think it is unfair for a student to be obligated to articulate why they can’t be sent abroad in front of university employees.

Similarly, it seems that many universities will take on more international students than their city can facilitate.

In Tilburg, many international students arrive without accommodation and don’t find anywhere permanent until late September.

As the university apartment blocks can only accommodate one third of the total international students, this leaves a lot of students in the lurch for weeks looking for an alternative place to live.

All in all, Erasmus was an unforgettable and valuable experience for me, and if I could wake up on the August 18th 2016 and relive it, I’d be gone in a heartbeat.

January 2017

11

Chinese Spring Festival Celebrations BAOYAN ZHANG Chinese Spring Festival or Chinese New Year as it is known in the West falls on January 27th this year.

The date is decided by the Chinese lunar calendar which is regarded as the ancient calendar of Chinese culture.

Spring Festival celebrates the start of a new year, the end of winter, beginning

of spring and the first harvest.

The festival begins on the last day of the Chinese calendar and lasts for 15 day, culminating in the Lantern Festival.

An animal is chosen as a mascot for each year and this year is the year of the Chicken.

In Chinese history, our ancestors used twelve animals to represent the zodiac to calculate time and

dates.

These animals are the mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, chicken, dog and pig.

All of these animals then take turns representing a year.

Spring Festival is similar to Christmas in Ireland, as houses are decorated with lanterns, spring couplets, and large stickers adorned with fireworks or images of

this year’s animal.

After finishing decoration, families will come together for a feast called “Meal for the New Year’s Eve” (Nian ye fan).

There must be fish on the table because “fish” in Chinese pronunciation is ”yu” and which means fortune.

In the northern part of China, people will make dumplings for their feast and for

southern part, people usually have globe puddings (Tang-yuan), a round and sticky sweet dumpling.

Firework will light up the sky over the coming nights with people also burning papers, letting off lanterns, and firecrackers.

Children will receive “lucky money” in red packets from their seniors or relatives who are married or employed.

Older children will also give red packets to

their parents too.

If any of this has sparked your interest in celebrating Chinese Spring Festival you can contact the international society or call into Chung’s Cuisine Chinese Restaurant in Castletroy on the 27th for a New Year Party.

And if you see someone from China make sure to greet them with “Gong xi fa cai” which translates to “May you be happy and prosperous.”

Bernal Institute Gets New Director PAUL SAUNDERS Professor Luuk van der Wielen has been appointed as the new director of the Bernal Institute.

The Governing Authority approved Professor van der Wielen last October and he will be taking up his new role on February 1st.

Prof van der Wielen is currently serving as a Professor in Bioeconomy and Bioprocess Engineering at Delft University of Technology.

University President Don Barry said: “I am confident that Luuk’s long experience at the public-private interface will help to build the Bernal Institute with

the ambition to advance the University’s reputation for research excellence.”

Professor Van der Wielen has the led the BE-Basic Foundation since 2004, a globally operating privatepublic research organisation for Biobased Sustainable Industrial Chemistry, Food, Energy and Materials.

BE-Basic Foundation is based in The Netherlands with hubs in South East Asia and Brazil, and has a cumulative budget exceeding €250 million.

Professor van der Wielen own research interests include various engineering topics in biorenewable production systems and

their societal impacts.

He has also held several visiting professorships in South-East Asia.

The Bernal Institute was launched on November 21st 2016

by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny The Institute represents an €86 million investment in research infrastructure and houses over 260 researchers who work in and across research themes in advanced materials, manufacturing and process engineering and fluid mechanics.

The Institute is a major research priority for the University and has plans to grow significantly in impact and scale.

As part of the development of the Institute, ten worldleading researchers will be recruited as Bernal Professors to the University.

To date, seven have been appointed two of whom have received prestigious Science Foundation Ireland Research Professorships.

“I would like to wish Luuk every success in his new role, his experience will help to build the Bernal Institute, while continuously developing research that has a real impact on industry, society and the local, national and international communities we serve,” President Barry added.

January 2017

12

SU Election Connection LIZ GABBETT

This year the Students’ Union Sabbatical Officer elections take place Thursday 23rd March, Week 9.

From the rumours that have been circulating since September there is a LOT of interest from people wanting to run for president.

This is great, as in my role of SU Democracy Development Manager I want to see more students get involved in their Union.

If you are thinking of running I will be hosting a workshop in Week 2 to explain what is involved.

Also, you should talk to current student officers, Sarah, Caolan and Donal about what it is like and talk to me, Liz Gabbett.

Anyone who is a current student of UL is a member

Key election dates and times: Thinking of Running for Election workshop – 1st Feb, 6pm, venue tbd Nomination Open - Thursday, 9th March 2017 at 1pm.

Pick-up nomination pack from SU reception.

Nomination Close - Thursday, 16th March 2017 at 1pm, SU Reception.

Election Day - Thursday, 23rd March 2017, 7am - 8pm, https://vote.ulsu.ie of the Union, therefore is eligible to run for election and eligible to vote.

There are rules and regulations you must follow to get your name on the ballot page, e.g. fill out your form completely and get it on time!

Now, before you start writ-

ing your manifesto, which must be submitted with your completed nomination form by 1pm, Thursday 16th March, you need to know about what is involved.

I have created a series of FAQs on the ULSU website – https://ulsu.ie/representation/governance#elections

– where you can take time to read in depth of what you need to prepare yourself for.

It is great fun but the sabbatical officers work extremely hard for the students they represent at all the University meetings, Union meetings and beyond.

And there are a lot of meet-

ings. There is no definite number but the SU President sits on 50+ committees and all those committees have regular meetings the President must attend day-in dayout over the 12 months.

The welfare and academic officers have less committee meetings but they will have a lot more daily drop-in meetings with students, helping sort out all the different issues students face.

The Union has a lot of staff to help sabbatical officers do their jobs but ultimately the buck stops with the student officers.

When a candidate writes their manifesto they want to change the UL world, the reality is change happens a lot slower than you or any of us would like.

That doesn’t mean you don’t aim high or give up easily.

January 2017

13

The Heavy Burden of Weight-Loss Compliments NICOLE GLENNON With every new year comes a host of new years resolutions.

For many, that will include losing weight.

Last week, nutritionist and personal trainer Joe Wicks – The Body Coach – held the top 3 positions in The Mail on Sunday’s bestsellers list of non-fiction paperbacks with ‘Lean in 15: The Sustain Plan,’

‘Lean In 15 - The Shape Plan’ and his original book ‘Lean in 15’. In fact, if you look at any of the bestseller lists for January you’ll find a host of books promising to help you get fit, eat healthy and of course, lose weight.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight – maybe you’re overweight and concerned about the health implications,

SU Election Set for March

If something is worth fighting for, fight for it.

Quite often you will find support from Union and University staff who genuinely care for students and will advise/suggest how you might approach an issue and make better progress.

When you have student feedback, through Student Council or Classmates who have backed up your request for change in writing, it is impossible for the powers-that-be to ignore.

One of the big changes in recent years for anyone who runs for election in the University or local and national politics is the impact of social media and the fact that everyone has a camera on their smartphone.

Sabbatical officers are students like everyone else who sometimes make mistakes but the minute you get elected you are held to a higher expectation and there will be those few who will want to take you down.

You have to be prepared for this and you will need very good friends and family who will be there for you when the going gets tough.

I don’t want this article to put off anyone who is genuinely thinking of running election because they want to give back to UL students and make UL a great university to study at.

Nearly every previous sabbat I have worked with and spoken to had an amazing time in office and they all learned so much.

Every one of them were nervous starting out but there is training and support provided.

Once they got through the craziness of Orientation and full-on calendar of September they knew they were going to be okay and take each day as it comes.

ULSU Student Sabbatical officers are not on their own, there is a team of people employed to support them and support from the student members of SU Executive,Student Council, Clubs and Socs and Class reps make anything possible.

maybe you ate a bit (ok a lot) of cheese and chocolate over Christmas and are trying to shed the extra padding.

Maybe losing weight isn’t even your main objective but a result you’re expecting thanks to your new fitness & healthy-eating regime – one that really is making you feel healthier than ever before.

So, just to be clear, I am not saying losing weight is a bad thing (although, of course, it can be) but I am questioning whether complimenting someone on their weight loss is.

Certainly, I’ve complimented friends on weight-loss before and when I did it, it was with the best of intentions.

I wanted them to know that what they were doing was showing, that the effort they put in was visible, I wanted them to feel validated.

But, when I take a step back and ask myself why I say “wow you’ve lost weight you look great!” when someone’s lost weight, I realize it’s not such a great compliment after all.

For one, it reinforces the idea that “thinner is better” which can be a pretty dangerous narrative to contribute to.

Both in terms of image and in terms of health.

Simply put, being thin doesn’t equate being healthy and being healthy doesn’t equate being thin and losing weight isn’t always a good thing.

You don’t know the reason the person in question lost weight.

It could be as a result of an eating disorder, an illness such as cancer or lupus, stress or anxiety related etc.

Secondly, it implies

that the person didn’t look as great before their weight-loss.

Which, y’know, might be taken the wrong way, like you’re implying they were “fat” beforehand.

Thirdly, it puts a pressure on the person in question to maintain that weight or even to lose more.

Research has shown that most of us who lose weight through dieting put it back on, if not more. Therefore the “you’ve lost weight! you look great!” compliment is a bit of a sting in the tail. It’s a reminder that you notice the other person’s weight - you’ll notice (and judge) if they put the pounds back on.

Of course, not everyone will take the intended compliment like that – some people will be delighted to hear you’ve noticed their weight-loss.

However, in my experience, those kinds of people will voluntarily provide this information to you by telling you they’ve lost weight and feel so much better/healthier/confident, and that’s great!

But I am hesitant to compliment friends on their weight because I don’t want them to feel like they weren’t good enough before their weight-loss or that I think their weight is all that.

Weight is one of those things that many peo-

ple struggle with, and it’s different for everyone.

Some people can look healthy while ordering takeout every night, while others can eat healthy, balanced meals, regularly exercise and be generally leading a healthy lifestyle and still be overweight.

To me, it’s so much more important to compliment people on the more important things like their ability to be kind, generous, hard working, loyal, humorous and sassy.

In a world that’s increasingly infatuated with both men and women’s weight, we’re bombarded with images of the “ideal” body, one that’s sold to us as the image of health and sexual appeal.

We might have started to move on from anorexic women being the only thing we consume, but that doesn’t mean what we’re being sold is anyway more attainable. From the “curvy” woman (aka skinny with boobs and a bum) to the chiselled men with six-packs and bulging veins, we’re still having images of “perfection” crammed down our throat, often times now wrapped up and sold to us in the form of fitness books and DVDs or even on our Instagram feeds.

While I am all for people taking control of their health and fitness,

I think we’ve reached a point where it’s becoming increasingly difficult for us not to be confronted with our weight on a daily basis, and I for one don’t want to further contribute to that.

So what I am proposing is that we don’t cease to compliment, we simply change our compliments.

Instead of praising weight-loss, we praise the people in our life for their commitment to going for a jog in the morning or thank them for sharing a new healthy recipe with us.

We compliment them on positive personality traits or for passing their driving test.

There’s a multitude of things to pick from when you want to give a compliment – maybe we can all dig a little deeper instead of putting so much emphasis on numbers on a scale?

For me, the only time it’s appropriate to comment on someone’s weight-loss is if they’ve outright brought it up in conversation or blatantly made it public knowledge and are asking for recognition, eg. posting a before and after shot on Facebook alongside some inspiring post about their journey.

Personally, that’s why I’ve made the decision to refrain from commenting on others’ weight, whether I intend to compliment or not.

January 2017

14

“What is healthy? I’m a vegetarian, so I try to eat healthy, but it’s hard to know.”

—Aoibhínn Ní Slatara

“Kind of, 3 days a week I stick to my GAA diet plan, then I get tired and eat whatever I want.”

—Paddy Reddin

“I’ve been a vegetarian for about two years. I’m also a type one diabetic so I have to.”

—Cameron Keighron

With Ireland set to become the most obese country in Europe within the next decade, we asked UL students if they eat healthy “Kind of, I work part time as a

“I live on caffeine . . . so no.”

chef so I know good food.”

—Dylan Morris

“No, don’t know how to cook

and too lazy too learn how to cook. If it’s not chicken or pasta, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

—Colin O’Brien

—Michael O’Donnell

“Yeah I’m a vegan. It started

for ethical reasons and now it’s environmental and health as well.”

—Seamus Toomey

Yeah I do. Lately. I feel better about myself, like it changes my mood. Healthy body, healthy mind. I feel so much better —Shannon Lowe

January 2017

15

Battling Those Second Semester Blues KATHLEEN O’SULLIVAN The second semester in the college year can bring the feeling of a new beginning to many students.

For most students, exams are completed with results waiting, they spent their time off recuperating with friends and family after a hectic few months and they’re ready for round two.

The overwhelming doubt and uncertainty experienced by many students prior to and during the first semester of the college year is generally over.

However, for many others, having to return to college after the lengthy Christmas break can cause different degrees of stress and the “Second Semester Blues” may kick in.

Counsellor Kay

McSweeney is based in the southwest region. She feels there are many factors contributing to these blues.

Speaking to her about the topic, she said that student’s feelings towards returning to college are very much influenced by past experience.

“Returning to college for each student after Christmas break will hold different thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

“The emotions we hold have to do with the past defining moments we have had in our life.

“If a person always had a negative thought about returning to school, the negative thought will fuel negative feelings to occur, which will remain until same is explored.

Not only can past experiences have an in-

fluence, but also other people in our lives.

“The thoughts he or she may be having about college may have been influenced by what their parents thought of their own schooling, how parents feel about returning to their own workplace after time off and the negative experiences the adult child may have had within the education system.

“New Year’s Resolutions” can often put added pressure on students to succeed in the new year, making them dread the semester ahead, thus contributing to the so-called “Second Semester Blues”.

“It may not always be advisable to set new year’s resolutions at the beginning of the year if one is not emotionally in the right place.

“If one does not ex-

ceed in their goal it may fuel negative thoughts and feelings to occur. Self-awareness is important here, the more self-aware we become the truer we are to ourselves and our capabilities.

Some common factors that make the return back to college more difficult for students are homesickness, exam and result worries and financial struggles.

Homesickness is usually quite unique to different students; it depends on their home life.

“The purpose of family is that person is supported to become emotionally independent and to believe in one’s capabilities to care for oneself.

“As we all come from different family systems homesickness is very individual and if

one is not coping professional help should be considered as his/ her thoughts and feelings about parents, leaving home, feeling lonely, feeling unsafe and insecurity needs to be explored.

Regarding exams Ms McSweeney explains: “A lot of exam stress can be avoided by preparation and getting the required help from tutors. The work needs to be done so same is down to good planning and organisation.

For most students, the thought of going back to college after the long Christmas break is a lot more daunting than what actually lies ahead.

“Thought of doing anything can sometimes be a lot worse than actually doing it.

“One negative thought leads to an-

other which fuels our feeling, one can make things real in their own minds before anything happens.

However, it is important for students to know when what they are experiencing is more than just the Second Semester Blues.

“When one finds everyday life a complete struggle and has difficulty in sleeping, eating, managing a daily routine, has no motivation, is experiencing isolation and insecurity, one needs to seek professional help!

“Go to a doctor and speak to friends and family, don’t be afraid to ask for help. A problem shared is a problem halved. For every problem there is a solution.

“Don’t leave a thought or a feeling to snowball. Seek help and ask for advice as soon as possible.”

Making a Fresh Start This January I probably will go out more than just on birthdays, but I will try not After a long month at home we are to drink as much. Maybe I will be all returning to Limerick to start a in a fit enough state to go to my lecnew semester. I will miss the din- tures the next day and avoid those ners at home that include potatoes evil questions that you can only anand vegetables, but at the same time I can’t wait to get back into a routine and see all my college friends.

Now, the real question: New Year, new me? Will I go to all my lectures? Will I only go out on occasions such as birthdays like I promised myself? Will I go to the gym?

Will I do my assignments and not leave them until last minuet? Will I nap as much?

Or will I fall into old habits the second I arrive?

My guess is probably the latter, but after completing one semester swer if you were present at the actuI have decided that I will definite- al lecture. ly try to go to more of my lectures. Will I go to the gym? I haven’t deAlthough I had studied the lecture cided yet. I would like to but social slides, there was a few sneaky ones anxiety kicks in and so does the stuput on my exam by Satan himself pid question I know a few people like: “In the lecture on [date], what can relate to: Am I fit enough for examples were used and discussed?” the gym? Fear of being judged is the Yeah, thanks for those ones. worst, but I suppose I’ll never know CIARA FERGUSON

unless I try. Who knows, you might see me in the gym, or the sports club bar, as I said I’m not sure yet.

I will most definitely try to do my assignments at a reasonable time.

Because: 1) when you submit an as-

signment at 3am, your lecturer/tutor also knows this and to be honest it doesn’t look great. 2) I once completed my assignment, went out to treat myself, and decided I would change my essay to the MLA format in the morning before noon. How hard could it be? 11:55am it was submitted. It was one of the most

stressful experience of my life. So stressful that I decided I would go back to sleep instead of going to my lecture.

Sleep. Sleep is essential. But sometimes I just can’t help but fall asleep during the day. Living in a house with 7 others in Plassey Village is not a great place for sleeping.

Even if you’re not going out, someone else in your house is – which of course includes pre-drinks and a rave afterwards where someone whips out a guitar and starts singing, ovens get smashed and no one can explain it and eggs get thrown.

And if someone in your house isn’t going out then someone on your road is, which means music playing from 6pm-10pm and then continuing from 3am-7am, with a few people shouting and sometimes throwing up.

So most likely I will be napping, but I will set an alarm and try to go to my lectures.

So maybe it’s not a “new me” but it could be me with a few improvements instead.

January 2017

16

Level Up Your Life With Games Soc RACHAEL MOONEY Welcome to all new students, and welcome back to the old.

Some of you reading this may be thinking, “I joined 40 Clubs & Societies last semester and I’m never joining another one,” but there’s no need to be so defeatist so soon in the semester.

Come along to any Games Society event and prove yourself wrong!

We have every game option possible, neatly spaced out along the week so you can go to all of our events -if you have a truly burning passion for games of all kinds!

We start off the week with our Games Night, running every Monday from 6pm until late.

We play a variety of tabletop games, including board games like Risk, Monopoly, Apples to Apples, and Settlers of Catan, competitive card games such as Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!,

and Pokémon, and pen and paper RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, and Dragon Age. Wednesdays are our consoles days, which is on in the Students’ Union, Room 3 from 12pm until 6pm.

We have a variety of consoles and games available, from the newest releases like PS4 and Xbox One, right back to the Wii, GameCube, and older PlayStation models.

to drop in between lectures to let off some steam.

Other events which we run during the week are our GitGud workshops, for anyone who is interested in improving their skills in fighting games, and Smash weeklies.

Keep an eye on our Facebook page and UL Wolves site for the finalised times and days for these events.

We also host monthly lock ins in the SU, where we stay overnight from 8pm until 8am the next day on the last Friday of every month.

We usually host a variety of competitions, ranging from Overwatch and League of Legends, to Charades, Werewolf, and others.

We’re super excited to let you guys know that There is a large we have a variety of community of Smash things planned for this and Mortal Kombat semester, including players, as well as our much-anticipated a variety of casual annual game of gamers.

Assassins.

As it runs all day, it’s For those who a great opportunity haven’t played before,

Assassins is a game in which you receive another student’s student ID and use their timetable to hunt them down and murder them viciously on campus (using silly string).

All the while, you yourself are being hunted by another faceless assassin.

Other events we are preparing for include, a gaming-themed table quiz, a charity auction of old inventory, and various monthly

workshops on topics such as running RPGs and playing Pokémon competitively.

We also hope to arrange trips to the variety of conventions which will be running all around Ireland.

Our next event is Campus Carnage, which is running on January 23rd from 6.30pm in EGO010, which we have organised with AsOne productions.

There will be a variety of tournaments,

including Street Fighter V, with €30 vouchers up for grabs. Entry is €10, and the tournaments will be streamed and commentated on via Twitch.

If you have any questions, events ideas, game requests or just want a chat, feel free to reach out to us via our email (ulgsoc@ gmail.com), on our Facebook page (https:// www.facebook.com/ ulgsoc/), or just come along to any event and say hi!

UL Swimming Club Makes New Waves CAOIMHE HENNIGAN The UL Swim Club is currently in its fourth year.

Every year the club’s numbers are increasing, with members ranging from competitive swimmers to those who rejoice in it for recreational purposes.

In order to stay in sync with the increasing demand, the club has increased the amount of sessions per week on an annual basis.

This year, we will be adding a fourth

session to our schedule once the new pool is opened.

The club’s second year in existence was its most successful as it won the most improved club of the year and placed third at the national intervarsity meeting.

However, our most significant leap forward came last year when we entered an official Swim Ireland meet for the first time, not only was this our first meet but we managed to leave with over 40 medals.

This success, along with our many other achievements, has seen the club get national recognition, which has provided huge encouragement to us as we continue to move forward.

Last semester, the team attended a gala hosted by NUIG for the third consecutive year as part of our preparations for the intervarsities.

For this year’s biggest yet intervarsities we have the high hopes that we can improve upon our third place

finish from two years ago.

The club caters for swimmers of all abilities with our brilliant coaches always there to make sure we get the best out of every training session, while also providing advice to anybody seeking it.

The state of the art swimming pool in the UL Arena offers so much to swimmers, and our team, with the 25 and 50 metre pools ideal for training and team preparation.

As a club, we have

grown year on year while facilitating swimmers of all abilities.

Swimming is a great way to wind down, particularly after a long day, and the club has always, and will

always, welcome new members no matter what their ability is.

Any queries about the club can be forwarded through the club email: ulsc.swim@gmail.com or through our Facebook page.

January 2017

17

Animal Welfare Soc Raises Funds for LAW Limerick Animal Welfare is a registered charity, dedicated to caring First and foremost, Happy New Year for abandoned and neglected aniand welcome back to UL for the mals in the Limerick area. second semester!

Over the last five years alone they Last semester, we were incredi- have saved more than 2000 animals. bly happy with the turnout of new Limerick Animal Welfare depend society members, as we had more greatly on donations. members than ever before so a On October 24th, we had 6 dogs massive thank you to you all for and lots of chocolate in the UL participating and caring about An- courtyard for over 2 hours and the imal Welfare! response was amazing.

One thing that happened last se- With all your generous donations, mester that we are very proud of is we raised €325 for Limerick Anihow successful our Dogs and Choc- mal Welfare and that money will olates morning was and how much go towards buying essential equipmoney we raised for Limerick Ani- ment and products such as tins or mal Welfare. pouches of cat food and kitten food, SARAH JANE ALLEN

Science Society Semester Update

and our members Michael O’Donnell and Following a turbulent Sarah Guerin took the maiden year in exist- top 2 honours at the ence, UL Science Socie- Ahha Festival of Scity enjoyed a much more ence. fruitful sophomore Most of the credit for year, with one of our the society’s success members once again has to go to two people, taking home the SSPC Sarah Guerin and Rob ‘Thesis in 3’ All-Ireland Reginal Cross. title.

Sarah, who is also a This time, the award member of the society’s was accompanied by physics committee, has one of our speakers started what we hope to qualifying for the top become a tradition by 10 in Famelab whose joining Vivek Verma in finals occur in March the very exclusive ‘TheMICHAEL O’DONNELL

sis in 3’ winners’ club.

She has been a key member of the society since its beginning having previously been an accomplished debater and played a key role in both the C&S awards and BICS campaign during the last academic year.

On top of this, was her victory at the Ahha Fest, which came with a very random rant about how missing socks are really dark matter.

Rob, also a founding

woodchip cat litter, litter trays, vegetables and fruit for the goats, pigs and rabbit, flea treatments and worming tablets for cats and dogs and much more.

Thank you very much for your support that day!

This semester, we are planning on hosting a few more similar activities on campus, a few social nights for the society and we might finally get around to a day trip to Limerick Animal Welfare to give a helping hand.

The second semester Clubs & Societies Recruitment Drive takes place on Thursday February 2nd in the University Concert Hall and we

member of the society and currently the society’s speaker development coach, has recently joined her in bringing glory to the society with progression through the regional finals of the Famelab competition, defeating both UL lecturers and experts from industry in order to qualify for the national finals.

The finals will be happening at the Science Gallery in Dublin in

might be there, so make sure you look out for us. And keep an eye out on all our Social Media: Facebook – ULWolvesAnimalWelfareSoc Twitter – @animalwelfareul Instagram – @animalwelfareul If you would like to join the society, you still can!

All you have to do is pop along to one of our social nights or society meetings and you can pay the membership fee to one of the committee members.

We look forward to seeing everyone again!

March and if Rob finishes in the top two, he will represent Ireland at the world championships in England later this year.

The society does owe more than this to Rob, with six of the ten speakers for the regional finals of FameLab coming from science soc compared to only one qualifying last year.

On top of this most of these are still in contention for one of the two

wildcard spots for the national finals.

While we have made a lot of progress making a name for ourselves in the scientific community in Ireland, there is still a long way to go, with numerous events against other Science Societies throughout this year.

Hopefully we will be in a position this time next year to look at where we are now as a stepping stone to greatness.

January 2017

18

Windsports: Better Together TERRY O’SHEA

The last semester was an exciting one for the newly formed Windsports Club; the club was formed last semester through the merger of two of the older UL clubs, Sailing and Windsurfing.

The result of this merger was one club for all the windbased sports in UL kitesurfing, sailing and windsurfing.

Much of the semester was spent both making sure that we continued the work done throughout the years by the old clubs while establish plans for the future development of the new club.

With high priorities including increased beginner sailing trips and a long-term strategy for kitesurfing the newest of the three sports.

The newly merged Windsports club’s goal is to promote and

facilitate windsports at all levels from beginner to advanced in UL. One of the biggest factors in deciding to merge was the shared skills and resources needed across the three sports, where merging the clubs would allow people, skills and equipment to be more easily shared between the various sports.

People who have spent time developing a good understanding of how the wind works and how to use it in one sport have a major advantage in picking up another wind-based sport.

With all three sports now being in the one club we hope that more people will be open to expanding their skill set and trying something new.

Because we are now in a position to work more freely together, we can also coordinate training courses that benefit us all more

easily.

This means training courses on things such as first aid, power boat and instructor courses will all have a higher demand so will be more frequent over the

regular kitesurfing trips to Kerry and our new kitesurfers are improving greatly with the extra instruction and time on the water.

Last semester also saw us starting beginner

going as always every two weeks down in Castlegregory, Kerry.

From a competitive point of view the club is again entering the sailing Intervarsities with regular training

coming years.

Also, the people with the skills learned from these courses will find it easier to work with the other sports to help out and develop a bit more variety in their skill set.

Carrying on from the club’s first kitesurfing trip last year we have started running more

sailing lessons, which are held midweek in the University of Limerick Activity Centre in Clare.

This semester will also see us running a number of weekend sailing trips suitable for sailors of all levels.

The windsurfing beginner trips are still

to be held in Foynes, Limerick for the more competitive sailors.

The club will also be heading to Bellmullet, Mayo this semester to participate in the windsurfing Intervarsities hosted this year by Colaiste Dhulaigh CFE and will be run at Colaiste

Uisce.

This is a competition for windsurfers of all levels from first time windsurfers to advanced level.

In the short time that the club has been around, we have already seen the benefits of coming together and sharing resources with extra support and experience.

We have increased activity across all sports over last semester and are planning on increasing it further over the coming semester with beginner trips on all sports being a priority as well as entering a number of competitions.

If you are interested in learning a new sport or have any questions you can contact the committee at ulwc. committee@gmail.com or meet us in person at the recruitment drive in the University Concert Hall on February 2nd from 5pm-8pm.

Athletics Club Victorious at Road Relays DONAL KEARNS Twenty-four university and college teams took part in the Irish Universities Road Relays Championships heldin NUI Maynooth.

Neither the men nor the women of UL Athletics had won the All-Ireland Road Relay championships for over ten years before November 2016.

But as the saying goes, “It’s either a feast or a famine”, this year’s athletes ended the drought with a feast of silverware, winning both the men’s and women’s titles in emphatic style!

In the relay race that involves each athlete running a distance between one and three miles each, the UL distance runners showed true grit and determination to stave off stiff opposition from Dublin-based rivals UCD and DCU and claim the national team titles.

UL women were up first with a combination of Kathy O’Keefe (2nd year, Graduate Medicine), Grace Lynch (Sport Science Grad), Michelle Finn (4th Year PE and Rio Olympian) and Amy O’Donoghue (4th year, Mary I).

Kathy took the lead with an aggressive move at 800m into the one-mile distance and put the women in first place as she handed off to second runner Grace Lynch.

Grace fought hard and kept UL in medal contention up against a fierce run from DCU’s Una Britton over two miles.

On the third leg, domination from Michelle Finn put UL back in the lead over DCU and UCC and allowed Amy the comfort to relax on the final leg and coast home for a dominating victory over second

place DCU. Not to be outdone, the men had to dig very deep to try to meet the women’s challenge.

PE graduate John McCallion had his work cut out hanging onto a blistering pace on the first one-mile leg and did well to stay within 15 seconds of the runaway early leaders.

First year student and Irish Junior International Peter Lynch ran a sizzling two-miler to bring UL back into the medals, handing off in third place to Eoin Everard (Sport Science PhD) who went to town

on the three-mile leg bringing UL into a small lead over DCU and Queens Belfast, a storming run.

It was down to the two UL Athletics ‘Veterans’ and former club captains Niall Tuohy (3rd Year Medicine and Sport Science) and James Ledingham (Sport Science Masters) to hold the lead and see it home.

Niall spoke after the race: “I think Ledingham and I have been on six Road Relay teams together for UL over the years and never finished in the top five so today was the day.

“I reckon it would have taken a pretty super performance to take the lead from us at the end of the relay we were pretty desperate!”

But it wasn’t just desperation that brought the victories the UL distance runners have put in Trojan work over the past years to create these teams and without the huge efforts and guidance on a week-to-week basis of UL distance coach PJ O’Rourke and longtime athletics mentor Professor Michael Hayes who has kept the UL fire alive, these victories wouldn’t have been possible.

January 2017

19

Perfect Start for Ladies’ Rugby SORCHA HOLOHAN As second semester draws ever closer, the beginning of a new micro chapter in college greatly excites us all.

What lies ahead of us is unknown, but for us rugby players, we know that this is the semester for performance.

The Intervarsities and the lead up to the All-Ireland Final are both upcoming, and the future’s winners will be determined by the application of hard work, preparation and positive psychological mind-set.

Firstly, we will

have a stand at the recruitment drive for all new members, both experienced and nonexperienced players, all very welcome to join our family-like team.

Looking back on the previous year, the unsuccessful retention of the Senior AllIreland Cup and the loss of the Intervarsities were heart breaking, motivating the players to work hard to piece together the various elements to form a winning team.

This includes a highquality backroom team.

Irish player Fíona Reidy is at the helm,

always steering us in the right direction.

Valerie Mitchel is also on board, and we are very thankful to both of them.

A new Junior Team was formed in 2016 and won the Junior AllIreland Final and they are looking to retain that cup and the title this year.

And they have had perfect start to the year, winning four of four in the Senior league, and two of two in the Junior league.

Finally, our team is setting out in pursuit of winning and becoming champions and nothing

AISLING O’CONNOR

less.

This will include numerous training, gym and team bonding sessions.

We welcome these challenges and as Vince Lombardi once said:

“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand”.

CLUBS & SOCIETIES RECRUITMENT DRIVE FEBRUARY 2ND FROM 5PM - 8PM UNIVERSITY CONCERT HALL

UL Shotokan Karate Club: To Another Successful Semester forward to. We will be having a seminar with Last semester UL Sensei Ray Payne who Shotokan Karate Club will be taking the class. had a bake sale outside After the class he will the library in Week carry out a grading for to fundraise for our members. biannual trip to Tokyo, Japan.

We also spent a weekend in early November packing bags in SuperValu, Corbally. This was very successful and UL Shotokan Karate club would like to take this opportunity to once again thank SuperValu for allowing us to fundraise there.

This semester we have seminars and the intervarsities to look NOELLE DONWORTH

Then there are the intervarsities, which are being held in GMIT this March. At the intervarsities, we will be participating in single and team competitions

New ULKM Teacher

for kata and sparring.

UL has a long history of winning medals at these competitions and we hope this year will be no different.

However it is not all business with UL Shotokan Karate Club.

We have pizza nights where we go to The Pizza Co., Dromroe and enjoy a nice feast after a hard training session.

We also go to The Stables or The Scholars pub after training and have a laugh playing pool. We will also be having our annual pancake Tuesday pancake party this semester, where we will

also have our balloon competition.

We always welcome new members and if anyone is interested and thinks they might like to give karate a try, they are more than welcome to watch a training session or jump right in.

We train every Tuesday at 6:15pm 8:15pm and Thursday 8:15pm - 10:15pm in the PESS building across from the UL Sports Arena.

Find us on Facebook UL Shotokan Karate Club and Twitter @UL_ KarateClub, our email is ulshotokankarateclub@ gmail.com

The UL Krav Maga (ULKM) and Sambo Club have a new head instructor this semester.

Srdan Kovacevic has been an essential part of ULKM from its beginning, as he joined the club in 2008 when he took on different committee roles such as PRO, secretary and club president for two years.

Mr Kovacevic has been Head Instructor of Response KM for the past four years and he is also National Director and main representative of Combat KM in Ireland, under Lior Offenbach.

The trainer has been one of the main representatives and instructors of Krav Maga in Limerick, Munster and Ireland for the past eight years.

He has over 20 years experience in different Martial Arts styles, such as Karate, Kick Boxing, Boxing, Jiu Jitsu and Krav Maga.

Mr Kovacevic aims to continue providing realistic self-defence to all of his students, and organise gradings and self-defence events for members.

He also hopes to invite guest instructors to teach the club and to connect with other martial arts clubs and societies in the country.

UL Krav Maga club is now entering its eighth year since it was founded in 2008 by Darren Simring.

The club trains at from 8:15pm to 10:15pm on Mondays, and 7:00pm to 9:00pm on Wednesdays. Training takes place in the PESS building.

January 2017

20

Oxford Hosts UL Ladies’ Soccer Club CAOIMHE HENNIGAN & CAOIMHÍN REILLY While most UL students were still taking it easy either at home or at work after Christmas, the UL senior ladies soccer team were en route to London.

On Monday, January 9th, they headed to the English capital for a midweek feast of football against two Oxford University selections, resplendent in

their newly purchased team gear, which was kindly sponsored by Wistem2d and Bank of Ireland.

The Emirates Stadium, home of Arsenal Football Club, was their first port of call as they completed a very special audio tour of the stadium which saw a host of ex-Gunners share their match day experiences of what goes on behind the scenes at the decade

old arena.

Following the tour, the girls opted to trial themselves on an ice-skating rink in the city and let’s just say I think most of us should stick to what we do best, playing football.

The day in London was a memorable one and as it drew to a close the team bus veered its course towards their hotel in Oxford, a short distance outside

London.

After unpacking and settling in, the players participated in a light gym session to keep the muscles active, and following that and the team dinner it was time for bed, especially with two matches the next day.

It was another early start for the team the next morning with the bus scheduled to leave the hotel at 9am.

Within 20 minutes they had pulled up at the ground and, in truth, the squad couldn’t have asked for better conditions to play in with a slight breeze but otherwise dry conditions.

Oxford’s ‘A’ team were first up with the match kicking off at 11:30am.

It turned out to be the tougher of the two matches despite UL fighting admirably to the end.

Having come back from behind twice through Keara Cormi-

can and Sarah Ryan, the hosts took what proved to be an unassailable lead after halftime.

Leading 4-2, Eleanor Stafford gave the Irish girls hope that parity could be restored.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t to be the case as, despite Stafford’s narrow miss in the final minutes, Oxford came out on the right side of a seven-goal thriller.

Disappointed at losing their opener, it was a swift turnaround to their second outing and this meant putting the previous loss behind them.

Restoring confidence wasn’t an issue though with the UL girls having performed well during their narrow defeat and never giving in.

The second match was against the Oxford second string and UL made their superiority count, winning the

match 3-0 with Stafford picking up where she left off that morning by completing her hat trick.

It was a performance to be proud of as every player put their best foot forward.

Following the matches, the UL squad met with some of the Oxford girls in a local restaurant for the evening to get to know some of them a bit better.

It proved to be the perfect ending to an enjoyable few days with the return flight from Gatwick flying into Shannon the next morning.

And so, bleary eyed and full of pride, the UL girls touched down on the Emerald Isle having done themselves proud, along with creating a new partnership with Oxford which could see a return-fixture being planned sooner rather than later.

O’Keeffe & Thompson Shine at Showdown in the Barrow CHLOE O’KEEFFE The University of Limerick Boxing Club closed last semester on a remarkable high.

They claimed two wins out of two in Carlow Institute of Technology’s “Showdown in the Barrow 2” with help from students Fionnbarr Thompson and Chloe O’Keeffe.

This was O’Keeffe’s debut fight for the University of Limerick.

In contrast, finalyear student Fionnbarr Thompson is no stranger to entering the ring representing the University, having

fought “about 8 or 9 fights,” according to Thompson.

Although the boxing club is one of the newest clubs in University of Limerick – having just been founded in 2011 – it has achieved a lot in this short time.

Fionnbarr Thompson has had quite a lot of success within the ring for his university.

He won the club’s first All-Ireland title in the IATBA Novice ranks of the 2013 Intervarsity Championships, and then reclaimed his title in the 2015 Intermediate Championships.

Thompson has also had the privilege to

represent Irish uni- spring months. versities on two sepa- The club are looking rate occasions – once to put both Thompagainst the army box- son and O’Keeffe up ing squad and once at a show hosted in London.

“I’m looking to win a senior title [this year].

It’d mean I’ve won a novice, intermediate and senior title whilst in college,” Thompson, the club Public Relations Officer, says.

Thompson is currently in serious training for the upcoming IATBA Intervarsities, which will take place this semester.

He will also contribute a lot to the sport of kickboxing in the

for the upcoming college Intervarsities as well as another few of their club mates.

The competition is likely to be set over two weekends, with the finals being held in the prestigious National Stadium, something that would be a massive privilege for all.

Fionnbarr Thompson speaks of how his novice title in 2013 is his biggest achievement with the University of Limerick Boxing.

Looking forward, the possibility of winning his 3rd Irish title for UL would add to his achievements mean-

ing he would then have three titles, all at different levels.

Besides his achievements in the ring, Thompson also says that contributing to running the club makes him very proud.

“Myself and some very good friends have put a lot of effort into [the club] and seeing it so strong and . . . successful makes me immensely proud.”

UL Boxing Club train every Monday and Wednesday from 9pm – 11pm in the UL Sports Arena.

As always, new members are more than welcome to join.

January 2017

21

Outdoor Pursuits Club Scotland Adventure ANTHONY DAWSON After months of planning and preparing, our group of intrepid mountaineers began our journey to Scotland on the 3rd of January in what would be an 18-hour trip by minibus, ferry, and minibus again to the town of Aviemore.

It was on this journey that I and the other beginners were introduced to ultra competitive board games with Eduardo, one of the mountaineering guides.

Those of us not horizontal on the ferry were crowded in a circle around a sheet of cardboard arguing over imaginary pieces of wood.

Eventually at almost midnight we arrived and settled into the

hostel that would be our home for the next 10 days.

After spending day two recuperating and buying last minute gear, on day three we finally set off into the stunning Cairngorm mountain range.

The beginners of the group donned our axes and crampons for our first taste of winter mountaineering with our guides.

We were not disappointed as after many hours hiking and learning, we were directed to hurtle headfirst down snowy slopes and use our axes to come to a stop.

Meanwhile, the intermediate mountaineers of our group learned to lead their own climbs and our advanced group made their own way.

By day five we said goodbye to our guides and rejoined our group with the skills necessary to trek the mountains safely -more or less!

HORSE RACING IRELAND

STUDENT SUMMER Paid Summer Internships for 2017 The Role

The Locations

The Qualities

You will work on event management, marketing, digital marketing, sales, race day operations & festival promotions

Places are available in Horse Racing Ireland, Leopardstown Racecourse, Tipperary Racecourse, Fairyhouse Racecourse & Navan Racecourse

You will be a positive and enthusiastic team player, preferably with an interest in horse racing

APPLY NOW

Download an application form from goracing.ie and send with your CV to internship@hri.ie (Closing date: 20th March 2017)

Want to know more?

Visit www.goracing.ie races.ie

Tipp Yellow. C:0 M:10 Y:100 K:0 Tipp Blue.

C:100 M:44 Y:0 K:0

Without hesitation experienced members of the group led us on a hike of the second tallest mountain of the British Isles, and showed us some basic snow school skills.

At the peak we were treated to spectacular views of the surrounding highland and a pair of Irish lads having a puck about across the mountain with a tennis ball.

After three long days of hiking, training and climbing we were treated to a much needed rest day.

For the Outdoor Pursuits Club (OPC) however, a rest day comprised of spending the day rock climbing and learning rope skills at a crag in the stunning Scottish countryside.

After a hurried briefing and revision of equipment and skills, we were ready for our first traditional winter climb in the Cairngorms the next day.

We split our group of 21 into smaller teams of two or three, each led by at least one experienced climber, each tackling its own route at a different time.

My own team of two

was led by the games master Eduardo, whose roles included planning the route, placing equipment, and ensuring I didn’t die in the event of a fall. Thanks Ed! Encouraged by our success, on day 8 we packed ourselves into the minibus and travelled to Ben Nevis in search of new adventures and not yet thawed snow.

Once again we split into teams of two or three and tackled our routes this time on the tallest mountain in the British Isles.

Our routes this time around were much longer and made more challenging by worsening weather conditions as the day went on, contributing to an unforgettable climb.

One team was even forced to spend the night on the mountain, in a story that will be retold in The Scholars pub for years to come.

We were eventually reunited the next morning and with fingers and toes fully intact, we took the opportunity for another rest day; this time at an indoor climbing wall.

To round off my time in Scotland I decided to go on a straightforward hike with half of our group while the rest spent the day resting or climbing.

Due to some confusion with navigation, a snowstorm, and avalanche risks we found ourselves going up another mountain in our efforts to get back to the minibus.

On our return, day had already turned to night and our eyebrows completely frozen, earning roars of laughter from those left waiting in the minibus.

It was generally agreed that there was no better way to spend our final day in the mountains.

After 10 incredible days, our group of mountaineers finally said goodbye to Scotland the following morning with heavy hearts and heads after a traditional OPC final night of celebration in the hostel.

Armed with new experiences and stories to tell, we made the journey back Ireland all of us looking forward to another semester with the OPC!

January 2017

22

En Route to Glory: CAOIMHÍN REILLY 2016 truly was the year of the underdog.

Leicester City winning the Premier League, Connacht winning the pro12 and Joseph Schooling winning gold in the 100 metres butterfly at the Olympics were all incredible achievements.

In UL, we have our own band of high-achievers and battling underdogs.

The names of Thomas Barr and Michelle Finn ultimately spring to mind, but arguably the highest achieving athlete on campus is racing driver Nicole Drought.

Drought won the www.sportswomen.ie Irish Sportswoman of the Year award for 2016 in December, securing 20% of the public vote and picking up the much sought-after accolade.

Newly-appointed Sportswoman of the Year Nicole Drought speaks to Caoimhín Reilly about her most unforgettable year yet.

“I wasn’t expecting to win it at all. I didn’t think that there was much of a chance that I’d win to be honest.

On the day that it was announced, voting stopped at half-nine that morning and I was literally looking at the phone the whole day, hoping that it might be me.

“I was actually playing darts with my brother when the message came through to say that I’d won and I was absolutely delighted.

All I can do is thank all the people who shared and liked and voted for me, it was such a good feeling,” the 22-yearold Accountancy stu-

dent explained.

The Roscrea native won the award on the back of a year on the racing track where she led the Irish Touring Car Championships for a period, despite being the only female on the grid.

Having only begun racing two-years previous this would sample success for many, but instead Nicole was left ruing what might have been had technical faults with her car not persisted.

“The year started out great, I got a few commercial sponsors on board and that kind of set me up for the year. I was leading the

championship up until round four and then we started to encounter mechanical issues with the car, with the rest of the year being very frustrating because we felt that we were ready to take on the rest,” Drought told An Focal.

Ultimately, Nicole’s most memorable performances came abroad as she took part in racing events both in the UK and across Europe, most notably in Le Castellet, France.

“I got a phone call one Tuesday evening and was asked if I could be in France the following weekend. It was all confirmed on the Wednesday morning and I flew to Amsterdam before heading to Germany where I had to go through simulator testing with some GP2 drivers.

“That was a massive experience, being able

to compare times and the way I was driving to them. Two-days later, I got to fly with the team to Le Castellet and just to experience everything was absolutely nothing that I ever expected.

“I was lined up with the others and had to go through the same warm-up, inspections and checks that drivers who were clocking up to 260mph were going through. It was absolutely crazy, hopefully I’ll get to experience it more and more,” she said.

Getting so close to the professional scene has whet Nicole’s appetite, with the young driver setting her heart on turning her passion into her profession.

“I definitively hope to make it,” she revealed.

“Undoubtedly, it’s one

of the harder sports to get into professionally but I recently joined the Murphy Prototypes young driver initiative and I got to travel with them and drive in a GT3.

“I got a real feel of what it is to work in and with a professional team and that’s when I kind of said to myself, this is where I’d love to be. I’d love to drive in a Le Mans series and an LMP2 or an LMP3 series. It’s the aim but I’ll just have to keep working towards it.”

Competitive driving, like many other sports, is male dominated.

This is not something that holds Nicole back.

Instead, she sees herself as a driver like any other, although she does sense that her competitors react differently to her.

January 2017

23

An Interview with Nicole Drought “I don’t really think that I’m any different to any other driver. Growing up I didn’t think of it at all. I was a girl who enjoyed following motorsport and it didn’t ever occur to me that I was different.

“It was only when I started racing twoyears ago and brought the car to the track that people were starting to point out that there was a girl racing. I suppose you do face it though (the scrutiny), I don’t see myself as being any different but I suppose the guys find it surprising.”

Unfortunately, motorsport is seen as being inherently dangerous by many of those not involved in it. The fourth-year student

is not wary of these dangers though and she coolly plays down the potential risks associated with driving competitively, this despite her father Owain having suffered a nasty crash during his time as a championship driver.

“Dad had a big accident when he was rallying, and was actually knocked-out in his car, but there was nothing that has ever through me I suppose.

“I had a few times where I went off track but nothing too major which badly injured me. But in truth I don’t think of these things when I’m out on track because I’m just more focused on what task it at hand and the

eight-or-ten cars that are around me who’re all trying to win,” she laughed.

“The sport is as safe as it can be.”

Nicole’s talents in a sporting sense don’t end behind the wheel though.

Growing up she was a highly skilled camogie player, captaining Roscrea to an u14 county title. She has since given up the camogie stick for a gear-stick and is coy on whether she will return to the game in the future.

“I grew up playing camogie because that was the thing that all the girls were at in secondary school, but I definitively was always more involved in motorsport and was driving

since I was about 10 or 12,” she said chuckling.

“I used to be out driving my grandad’s car around the yard so it was always in my mind that I wanted to be driving. I was asked recently to go back playing camogie and I suppose if the time allows I might go back to it but racing comes first at the moment.”

Inevitably Nicole’s career behind the wheel will end someday, a day which she understandably hopes to be a long time away yet.

However, she is still setting herself for a potential vocation outside of sport and key decisions are due to be made soon regarding her next academic move.

“When I finished up my eight-month placement in Grant Thornton it made me think what do I really want to do. There are professional exams involved in my graduate programme and for example in working with Grant Thornton that’s something that I’d have to have.

“Those exams take up a lot of time so I’m now trying to weigh-up whether to go and do my masters or possibly become a teacher.

“I’ve a lot of things to consider to see what I’d like to do. At the moment, I really don’t know but I plan to be driving a lot in the UK next year. We’ll just have to wait and see how things unfold I

suppose.”

There have been many twists and turns in Nicole’s career to date although, having added the Sportswoman of the Year award to the 2015 Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the Year and Best Newcomer gongs, you could be forgiven for not noticing.

And, though there are sure to be bumps on her road, there is hardly anybody better equipped to steer themselves to glory.

You can keep up to date on the Sportswoman of the Year’s exploits on Facebook (@nicoledroughtracing) and on Twitter (@ nicoledrought).

You never know, she might even follow you back!