CUAL Repository (Connacht Ulster Alliance Libraries)
Not a member yet
852 research outputs found
Sort by
Host communities participation in planning for sustainable tourism in Ireland: a local authority perspective
Get PDFLocal Authorities across Ireland are in an ideal position to plan for tourism in a\ud
sustainable manner when developing County Development Plans (CDPs). This thesis\ud
develops the first baseline study of host community participation in sustainable tourism\ud
planning at Local Authority level in Ireland. The principle aims of this thesis were to\ud
critically examine host communities current participation in sustainable tourism\ud
planning and to determine the extent to which sustainable tourism planning is evident\ud
within Local Authorities CDPs in Ireland. A multi-method approach was used\ud
incorporating interviews with planners in Local Authorities across Ireland and a content\ud
analysis of all available CDPs. The findings bring into question the ability of the Local\ud
Authorities to plan for tourism in a sustainable manner, in which, host community\ud
participation plays a vital role.\ud
A number of interesting findings emerged from this study. First, while all the Local\ud
Authorities are fulfilling the legal obligation to consult with the host community, few\ud
have utilised the full range of tools available to encourage functional participation.\ud
Second, host community participation across Ireland is characterised by low\ud
submissions relating to tourism, and high levels of plan alteration from county\ud
councillors. Third, at present, no set method or model is being endorsed or implemented\ud
for community participation, resulting in a significant level of disparity in the level of\ud
participation afforded to host communities. Overall this study suggests that host\ud
community participation reflects pseudo-participation in relation to normative\ud
typologies of community participation.\ud
With respect to the second aim of the thesis, it was found that Local Authority tourism\ud
plans across Ireland generally reflect a Development First approach to tourism planning.\ud
Few Local Authorities are fulfilling the need to plan and maintain the natural\ud
environment which tourists put such a high value on. Local Authority planners are not\ud
using the academic models and tools put forward by tourism scholars nor are they\ud
making use of state or EU strategies, guidelines or charters. This has resulted in a\ud
nationwide absence of comprehensive local level policies to manage or mitigate the\ud
negative impacts of tourism development. It is evident that the predominant\ud
Development First approach to tourism planning at local level in Ireland may leave the\ud
Irish tourism product at risk.\ud
The thesis offers Local Authorities a conceptual sustainable tourism planning toolkit,\ud
which is made up of two interrelated tourism planning policy checklists. In essence the\ud
toolkit facilitates Local Authority planners to ensure that they have firstly, engaged in\ud
meaningful host community participation in planning, and secondly planned for tourism\ud
in a sustainable manner
The use of branding within SME’s in Donegal
Get PDFThe motivation behind conducting this research was to become more aware of the \ud
activities within SME’s in the area of branding. By analysing the existing literature it \ud
was evident that research, specific to branding in SME’s, was not extensive and no \ud
research was conducted within Irish SME’s. The research is of importance to SME’s \ud
within Donegal and Ireland, to better understand what branding issues they are facing \ud
and how to overcome them. \ud
\ud
The approach taken to gather the appropriate information was qualitative in nature; \ud
semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 companies in the four \ud
prominent sectors within Donegal. Their opinions, perceptions and real life situations \ud
were analysed and findings were produced. \ud
\ud
The result of the research was that key findings were uncovered namely, SME’s use a \ud
form of branding which is suited to their specific circumstances, resources, time and \ud
expertise, branding in SME’s is integrated with other marketing activities such as \ud
service and value adding, SME’s encounter many limitations to branding however \ud
they can be overcome, and all SME’s try to create differentiation, through a name, \ud
concept, image or personality. \ud
\ud
The implications of these findings is that the research allows a better understanding of \ud
the current situation of SME branding in Donegal and efforts can therefore be made to \ud
increase branding activity within these companies. The qualitative research conducted \ud
allows for further quantitative research to be carried out in the future
An exploration of the effectiveness of government policy geared towards the health and well-being of school-aged children: a case study of the North-West of Ireland
Get PDFThe objective o f this study was to evaluate government policies and initiatives that\ud
have been implemented to improve the diet and physical activity levels o f primary\ud
school-aged children in Ireland This included exploring the perceptions o f parents/\ud
guardians o f their children’s health and lifestyle in the North-West region\ud
The research was conducted by using the method o f triangulation which included a\ud
literature review, quantitative and qualitative methods o f data collection and analysis\ud
The initial stage o f the quantitative research involved conducting a number o f focus\ud
group discussions with parents/guardians o f primary school-aged children The\ud
insights gamed from the focus group discussions led to the content design o f the\ud
questionnaire which was distributed to the parents/guardians o f fifth class pupils in a\ud
sample o f primary schools in Counties Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim The qualitative\ud
research was earned out by conducting a number o f interviews with relevant experts\ud
m the areas o f health, health promotion, education and policy-making\ud
The findings reveal that the majority o f parents/guardians are not aware o f the extent\ud
to which environmental factors - which are linked to the cause o f overweight and\ud
obesity- influence the health and well-being o f their children In addition the findings\ud
indicate that school-based initiatives can be effective in promoting healthy eating and\ud
health education among children within the school setting but they need to be part o f\ud
a multi-stranded approach to be effective in the long-term Therefore, there is a need\ud
for further government responses to promote the health and well-being o f children\ud
within the home and school environments
Performance management systems and their effectiveness in SME's in the North West of Ireland : a case study
Get PDFResearch suggests that performance management rests on the assumption that if\ud
you can raise the performance levels of individuals, then better organisational\ud
performance will follow. Performance Management is about ensuring that an\ud
organisation’s employees reach their potential and remain committed and\ud
motivated. After a review of the literature relevant to performance management\ud
systems, this dissertation confines its research to a case study of the effectiveness\ud
of a performance management system in a small to medium sized enterprise (SME)\ud
in the North West o f Ireland.\ud
According to IBEC (2007) business productivity, financial impact and shareholder\ud
value are all realised through the collective performance of individuals at work.\ud
Clear corporate goals lead to departmental, team and individual objectives that are\ud
precise and integrated with business needs.\ud
By exploring the implementation and development o f the performance\ud
management system at Masonite Ireland, this study contributes towards an\ud
enhanced understanding o f the effectiveness of such a system in a small and\ud
medium sized enterprise (SME). Through the use of document analysis and\ud
qualitative interviews with six senior Managers, the study findings suggest that\ud
performance management systems do result in greater financial performance,\ud
increased employee productivity and more motivated employees.\ud
The findings of the study suggest that performance management in Masonite has\ud
provided many positive contributions to the organisation, especially in the area of\ud
training and development. This identification of talent, especially in terms of the current economic climate is paramount to the long term sustainability o f the\ud
organisation. Evidence suggests that these benefits o f having a performance management system are applicable to other SME’s
Service quality in the public transport sector : the expectations and perceptions of users of Bus Éireanns Sligo Town Service and Expressway
Get PDFIn public transport various service quality attributes cause transport users to be\ud
satisfied and dissatisfied with the service they receive. Much o f the time public\ud
transport is something that people ‘accept’ as is, without having a strong opinion o f\ud
the “satisfiers”, often expectations o f services are not that high. Areas causing\ud
dissatisfaction discovered in the literature included reliability, treatment by drivers\ud
and lack o f information. While areas such as getting a seat on the bus and service\ud
frequency caused satisfaction.\ud
The research aimed to identify the level o f service quality as perceived by transport\ud
users on BE’s Sligo Town Service and the Expressway Sligo to Enniskillen route.\ud
Bus drivers and one member o f management were targeted to discover if gaps exist\ud
between their perceptions and those o f transport users. Ulsterbus users who were\ud
awaiting or exiting any Ulsterbus service were surveyed to compare with BE.\ud
The research instruments utilised involved Questionnaires, an In-depth interview and\ud
a Mystery Ride-A-Long. From the findings it emerged that areas such as reliability,\ud
bus stop facilities and lack o f modem buses caused BE users to be dissatisfied, many\ud
o f which were supported by the literature. Sources o f satisfaction included treatment\ud
by drivers, safety and getting a seat on the bus. It also emerged that BE users were\ud
more satisfied than the users o f the Ulsterbus services in Enniskillen.\ud
From the research conclusions, service quality was visible however; there were many\ud
service quality attributes that caused shortfalls in service quality within Bus Eireann.\ud
The researcher offered a number o f recommendations such as improving bus stop\ud
facilities, upgrading buses, improving the timetable and becoming more reliable, to\ud
assist Bus Eireann in making service quality more effective
Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) in the Irish and Celtic Seas; tracing populations of the past and present
Get PDFSeveral herring stocks are found around Ireland, of which the Irish and Celtic Seas are two. Herring in the Irish Sea spawn in autumn and in the Celtic Sea spawning takes place in autumn and winter. During the first year of life Celtic Sea herring disperse into the Irish Sea. The two stocks mix at nursery grounds in the Irish Sea, hampering the production of juvenile abundance estimates for the Irish Sea stock.\ud
In this study otolith shape was used to classify juvenile herring at Irish Sea nursery grounds as autumn spawned (most likely of Irish Sea origin) and winter spawned fish (most likely of Celtic Sea origin), with a success rate of 86-87%. Otolith shape analysis separated winter spawned juveniles that are retained in the Celtic Sea from those that disperse into the Irish Sea with a high degree of accuracy (>95%). Shape analysis of the first winter ring in the otolith was then used to determine nursery ground of origin in two year old adult Celtic Sea herring, showing that approximately 42% of fish spent their nursery phase at Irish Sea nursery grounds. This provides strong evidence that Celtic Sea herring, which disperse into the Irish Sea as larvae, return to the Celtic Sea as adults by natal homing. The implications of these findings for herring population structure theories are discussed\ud
Otolith microstructure analysis of historical otoliths, collected in the Irish Sea from 1993-2003, revealed interannual fluctuations in the relative proportions of autumn and winter spawned juveniles. The contribution of winter spawned fish (most likely of Celtic Sea origin) was removed from the estimate of juvenile abundance for the Irish Sea stock. This adjustment significantly improved the relationship between juvenile abundance at age-1 and the abundance of age-3 fish from the same year class (r > 0.8, p < 0.05). This separation method could be routinely used to generate recruitment indices for the Irish Sea stock.\ud
The abundance of winter spawned juveniles in the Irish Sea was negatively correlated with the frequency of strong south westerly winds during the larval phase (r = -0.96, p<0.05). The underlying cause of this relationship can only be speculated; it may reflect the dispersal of Celtic Sea larvae out of the Irish Sea or increased larval or juvenile mortality during years of frequent strong south westerly winds
To investigate the factors contributing to the deterioration in water quality in Knappaghbeg Lake, Aughagower, Westport, Co. Mayo
Get PDFThe investigation aims to identify the reasons why the water quality deteriorated in\ud
Knappaghbeg Lake. The lake had been monitored in the past by the EPA under the\ud
Phosphorus Regulations. These Regulations required the water quality to improve to a\ud
mesotrophic status.\ud
The initial phase of the study involved looking for any relevant datsets already available.\ud
The EPA ‘Water Quality in Ireland’ reports, provided data on previous lake sampling and\ud
the biological analysis on the Carrowbeg River; the main inflow and outflow of the lake.\ud
Details of a pollution incident which occurred in 2000, discharging 364,000 litres of\ud
slurry into the lake, was available. A fish farm had established in the lake in the early\ud
1980’s, although operations have ceased in the last three years, the licence is still valid\ud
until 2 0 1 0 .\ud
On inspecting the catchment area the main land uses were identified to investigate\ud
possible factors which may influence the water quality. The catchment was divided up\ud
into four minicatchments, based on the stream/river draining it. The major focus of this\ud
study was to carry out a phosphorus loading to the lake, thus identifying where the\ud
highest nutrient loading was coming from. A more intensive study was carried out on one\ud
of the minicatchments, which included farm surveys, SSRS and composite sampling.\ud
Agriculture is the predominant land use in the catchment and is recognised as being\ud
responsible for causing the main deterioration of water quality in the catchment,\ud
reclaimed peatland is also used for rough grazing, only small pockets of forestry persist\ud
in the catchment. There is no wastewater treatment plant and most houses in the\ud
catchment have a septic tank. Recommendations have been made to improve the\ud
management of this catchment i.e. reduce the total phosphorus loading to the lake
Competitive human resource management practices: a study of the medical technology sector in Galway
Get PDFThis is a study of human resource management practices in the medical technology\ud
sector in Galway. Qualitative interviews were conducted with HR professionals and senior management in medical technology firms to ascertain the degree of penetration of HR practices. HRM is growing in importance in the medical technology sector, with a dedicated HR function in ten out of the eleven firms. However, HR professionals do not play a leading role in change initiatives and it is difficult to assert if the role played by HR professionals in a number of firms is strategic. The research findings suggest an advanced level of HRM exists in the sector. There is a strong employee development ethic in medical technology firms in Galway, including regular business-related training and opportunities for promotion. Finns are adopting flexible work arrangements in an effort to address work-life balance issues, although the diffusion of flexible work practices varies, depending on Finn size and occupational group. There has been a swift and sharp rise in workplace diversity in recent years, mainly\ud
due to the increasing participation of immigrant workers in the Irish labour force. Firms are adopting diversity policies as a result. In contrast with previous research earned out in the sector, recruitment and retention\ud
were not identified as issues in this research. Recruiting top talent remains one of the top priorities of HR professionals in sector, and with a few exceptions, there is a readily available pool of qualified human resources in the region. \ud
Performance management and perfonnance related pay are also widely used. HR professionals in the medical technology sector re!)' on the advice and support of\ud
Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) to a great extent in their day-today operations.\ud
One high-performing firm was chosen from the sample for further analysis. A model of successful HRM is proposed from this research. It involves the use of a coherent set of HR practices such as selecting and recruiting people who fit organisational culture, a high level of internal promotions, a high degree of employee empowerment and autonomy, performance reviews and performance related pay for all employees,\ud
regular two-way communication between line management and employees, and an on-going incentive-based suggestion schemes
Seeking the face of innovation with the ethical compass of Emmanuel Levinas
Get PDFA recent biographer has described the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas as being permeated by one simple but profound theme: western philosophy has at best ignored and at worst suppressed the “Other”. The approach of this study involved a concept-centric examination of innovation terminology assembled from key papers in the area. The analysis presents evidence of the lack of regard in the literature for the human dimension, with the notable exception of the work of Andrew Van de Ven and his collaborators. Consequently, an ethical definition of innovation is proposed inspired by the theoretical lens of Levinas. We argue that the work makes a practical and philosophical contribution to the emerging debate on ethics by the IS community. Furthermore, we suggest that our analysis has implications for DOI research increasingly being carried out in an open-innovation paradigm
The prevention of sewage pollution from cabin cruisers in the River Shannon basin
Get PDFThis study evaluates the current procedures adopted regarding the prevention of pollution\ud
from Cabin Cruisers on the River Shannon, specifically on the navigable inland\ud
(freshwater) waterway, from Ballyconnell, Co. Cavan to Killaloe, Co. Clare.\ud
Preventative methods include the sensitive adoption of legislation and codes of practice,\ud
the creation of environmental awareness and the use of appropriate technology.\ud
The research methods include a review of relevant literature, consultation with\ud
stakeholders, collection of empirical data and statistical analysis to reveal non-biased\ud
points o f consensus.\ud
The evaluation of legislation reveals it to be layered, but quite complete. The correlation\ud
of redundant and emergent legislation could be the most effective tool for future\ud
prevention of pollution from Cabin Cruisers in the Shannon River Basin. The\ud
involvement of the EPA regarding the creation of a Code of Practice, scrutiny of\ud
inspectory practice and policy concerning infrastructure all require urgent action