National University of Ireland, Maynooth
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Intellectual property rights over ‘integrated’ medical devices: the potential health impacts and bioethical implications of rightsholders’ control
No full textDespite extensive literature examining intellectual property rights (IPRs) and access to health, there has been limited examination of how IPRs can potentially impact the development, access to, delivery of, and use of medical devices. This article fills this gap, focusing on patent and copyright protections applicable to elements of medical devices that are attachable to or implanted into the human body, such as prostheses or pacemakers. Although the human body itself is not patentable in Europe (Article 5, Biotechnology Directive), elements of medical devices created outside the body are patentable. Moreover, certain aspects of such medical devices can be subject to copyright, and other types of IPRs. This article provides an overview of the types of IPRs that can apply over attachable and implantable medical devices. Following this, and focusing specifically on copyright and patent rights, it argues that such IPRs, alongside incentivizing technological development in certain contexts, also give rightsholders significant control over key aspects of how individuals use and access IP-protected elements of such devices, with the potential for health-related impacts and bioethical implications. Accordingly, the article argues that greater understanding and scrutiny are needed within the health law and bioethics communities around the potential impacts of IPRs over medical devices
Developments in the Law Governing Online Activity: The Criminalisation of Catfishing and Civil Relief in Cases of Image-Based Sexual Abuse
No full textThis article considers the practice of catfishing and makes the case for it becoming a criminal
offence. It draws on the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person (Amendment) Bill 2024 which proposed the
creation of such an offence. Although the Bill collapsed upon the 2024 general election being called, the article
urges that the Bill or at least the issue that the Bill seeks to address, namely catfishing, be reconsidered in the
new Oireachtas. The article argues that a legislative response to this issue is necessary considering the extensive
harm that catfishing can cause and the multiple individuals that it affects. It is further argued that catfishing
ought to be a standalone offence notwithstanding assertions that the practice is punishable under pre-existing
offences like harassment. The article proceeds to discuss some recent developments in the law governing online
activity that the aforementioned Bill will join provided it becomes law. In particular, the developments
discussed here raise the prospect that there are now civil as well as criminal law remedies in cases of
image-based sexual abuse
Between Past and Present: Age, Period, and Cohort Effects on Changing Values in Lithuania
No full textThis study examines the changes in Schwartz’s higher-order-value dimensions in Lithuanians over time. We analyze cross-sectional repeated survey data, with a sample of 11,199 respondents from six waves of the European Social Survey (ESS) during the years 2010–2020. Time-lag and cross-sectional analyses revealed age and period effects on self-enhancement and self-transcendence, and age, period, and cohort effects on openness to change and conservation. A comparison of political generations shows that the youngest cohort (independent EU generation) is more conservative, more self-transcending, less open to change, and less self-enhancing over time, in contrast to other generations. The Soviet legacy generations follow a different trajectory of openness to change and conservation than the Stalin and Independent EU generations, suggesting that historical context and current period effects are strong, and that the youngest political generation is particularly sensitive to societal-level disruptions. It is plausible that forces related to rapid societal change, for example, a decline in the working-age population after the collapse of the Soviet Union and, more recently, during the period of the study due to mass emigration, have left a generation trapped between scarcity and modernity
‘You no have to treat me with your hate’: The needs and experiences of female foreign national prisoners in an Irish prison
No full textFemale foreign national prisoners (FFNPs) are a distinct cohort of prisoners with specific experiences and characteristics. These women not only experience the gendered pains of imprisonment but also endure the additional challenges associated with being a foreign national prisoner. Yet although these women suffer multiple layers of disadvantage, little is known about the critical problems that define the daily lived experiences of FFNPs during their imprisonment. This article aims to open up these areas of inquiry in an Irish context and examine the needs and experiences of 13 FFNPs residing in the Dóchas Centre – Ireland's sole operational female-only prison at the time of this study. The article begins by grappling with the complexity of defining power, agency, adaptation and resistance in prison before outlining the methodology of the qualitative study. It then presents the key challenges encountered by this cohort of FFNPs in six parts: language challenges, information provision, religious practice and expression, family relationships, inmate–peer relationships and staff–prisoner relationships. Drawing on theories of power, agency, adaptation and resistance where appropriate, the paper explores the distinct ways in which the power of the institution is experienced by these FFNPs and negotiated with corresponding forms of adaptation and agency. The article also addresses the unresolved spectre of resistance and concludes that the Irish Prison Service need look no further than the Bangkok Rules in order to alleviate the ‘highly gendered’ pains of imprisonment for this cohort of ‘forgotten’ prisoners
A Darker Shade of Green: The Twisted Roots of the Irish Banjo
No full textTraversing the intervening period between Hans Sloane’s documentation of early banjos in
Jamaica in 1688 and the introduction of a later version of the same instrument to the blackface minstrel show by Irish American blackface minstrel entertainers in the 1830s and 1840s, A
Darker Shade of Green: The Twisted Roots of the Irish Banjo investigates the profound, and
often troubling, transformation of performance practices and associated sociopolitical discourses connected with the early banjo through the instrument’s intersection with Irishness in the Atlantic world. Combining extensive archival research in America, England, Ireland,
and in repositories online, with a rich historicisation of banjo performance repertoire and
practices in the colonial West Indies and in antebellum America, critical biographical case studies of individuals and communities connected with the banjo during these periods are complemented with a parallel analysis of the creolized roots of the early blackface minstrel performance repertoire in eighteenth century Anglo-American musical theatre and in African
American banjo/fiddle tunes. Against the rather white-washed treatment both men have received up to now, in the study I identify blackface minstrel banjo-players Joel Walker
Sweeney and Dan Emmett to have both played important roles in aligning the banjo with a new–and profoundly influential–kind of overt racial mockery in antebellum print media and
popular culture. Setting the historical trajectory of the study within a wider frame of reference that begins in the seventeenth century period in which the African and Irish diaspora first came into extensive contact with one another in the Americas I argue that a retracing of the Irish
ancestry of blackface minstrel performers in antebellum America, and Irish slave owners and
planters in the colonial West Indies can serve as a decolonial praxis that that acknowledges the role that these and other members of the Irish diaspora played in the history of settler
colonialism and plantation slavery in this region. Key research questions animating the study
include: what the banjo’s history can tell us about race, music and power in American history
and what the story of historical banjo performance can tell us about the creation of identity for
the African and Irish diaspora in Atlantic world
Fault management in wave energy systems: Diagnosis, prognosis, and fault-tolerant control
No full textWave energy converters (WECs) are a promising technology to contribute to the mix of renewable energies in
the pursuit of a cleaner energy future. However, the demanding environment in which WECs operate presents
a challenge from reliability and economic perspectives. There is a high likelihood of fault occurrence on WEC
components, especially in offshore locations. While the control technology field can enhance energy extraction
from WECs, any fault compromises the performance of the system and, in the worst case, can halt energy
production, directly impacting revenue generation. Dealing with unexpected faults leads to more frequent
maintenance operations, resulting in higher operational expenses. Similarly, strengthening WEC components
to withstand harsh conditions comes with increased capital costs. Thus, fault management becomes crucial,
whether it involves avoiding operation and maintenance (O&M) entirely or transitioning O&M to planned
activities through a fault management mechanism (condition monitoring, fault-tolerant control, etc.), whereby
the WEC maintains a certain level of system performance (or prevents emergency shutdown), eliminating
the necessity for immediate intervention while still generating energy. In this regard, this study explores
WEC components that are most likely to fail, also comprehensively covering WEC fault diagnosis, prognosis,
condition monitoring and fault-tolerant control methods covered in the literature. Additionally, unexplored
possibilities are pointed out, and future directions are suggested
Employment motivations and values in the creative industries: Reorienting from creativity to well-being among-Generation Zs in Ireland
No full textThis study aims to better understand the experiences and motivations of creative industry workers who graduated degree programmes at a time of significant work and employment instability during the Covid-19 pandemic. Using a case study approach involving a qualitative questionnaire with 16 open- and closed-ended questions, we present responses from 20 graduates of media studies programmes at an Irish university. Findings show that young people who graduated at the time of the pandemic did experience career disruption and felt financially compelled to rethink their career ambitions. Pandemic-related economic uncertainties meant that many participants either did not enter creative industries or took up roles that did not utilise their creative degrees. However, many of these young people have found job satisfaction in ‘being mentally well’ at least as much as ‘being creative’, and prioritise good quality of life and achieving work-life balance. Good mental health and well-being are pronounced personal and career motivators, with new work regimes such as remote and hybrid working seen as important rewards and incentives
Challenges and opportunities in teaching gender equality in Irish secondary schools
No full textChallenges related to the teaching of gender equality in Irish secondary schools are multifaceted and include: insufficient gender equality training for teachers; tendencies towards conservative and religious ethos schools; lack of space in which to address gender topics and issues (including gender identity, gender stereotyping, gender discrimination) in the curriculum and, especially, growing resistance to gender equality and gender mainstreaming from a variety of stakeholders including schools, teachers, parents and students. This paper stems from a transnational European project – GEMINI – aimed at gender mainstreaming through media literacy and presents findings from a study of 12 Irish secondary school teachers in different secondary school types who detail their interest and engagement with gender equality and gender issues, but identify multiple forms of resistance to the delivery of gender equality education. Teachers express fears about rising misogyny among students and raise concerns about the influence of controversial sexist figures like Andrew Tate, especially among boys in Ireland. Findings contribute to the literature on challenges to gender mainstreaming and media literacy in Ireland
Digital twins and deep maps
No full textMapping is now thoroughly digital at all stages of production and maps are widely used in digital form. This digital turn has transformed the nature of mapping and maps. Maps need no longer be static representations, but rather constitute spatial media, providing an interactive, dynamic means for creating, discussing, and sharing spatial information and mediating spatial practices. This has included the development of 3D mapping, including nascent digital twins and digital deep maps. In this short paper, we reflect on our attempts to produce a 3D city information model for Dublin that acts as a basic digital twin, which we have also used to explore deep mapping, as well as map projecting data onto a printed 3D map model of the city. We consider what digital twins and deep maps mean for how we understand the nature of mapping, arguing that they produce a dyadic intertwining of map and territory; a literal, material expression of post‐representational, ontogenetic conceptions of mapping
Export policy cooperation in a pandemic: the good, the bad and the hopeful
No full textWe develop a model in which vaccine‐producing firms from different developed countries supply vaccines to the developing world during a pandemic. Exporting countries experience a negative externality from incomplete global vaccination, which they try to mitigate by exporting vaccines to developing countries. A cooperative export policy is compared to the alternative regimes of non‐cooperation and non‐intervention. When the negative externality is low, cooperation among exporting countries is worse for global welfare than non‐intervention. However, at high externality levels, export policy cooperation is globally superior to non‐cooperative export subsidization. It then even has the potential to maximize global welfare