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The Irish pub as a third place : a sociological exploration of people, place and identity
No full textThere is considerable interest in alcohol in Irish society, yet minimal sociologcial understanding of its consumption, particularly of the sites where most drinking occurs: the country's 8750 pubs. Despite widespread public discussions on the role of the pub, there is scant social science evidence to better inform debate.\ud
Pubs are central to Irish community and are key sites of social interaction. American sociologist Ray Oldenburg has argued that "third places" (neither workplace nor home) are crucial to the maintenance of the community and the enhancement of social capital. According to Oldenburg, the role of the third place in the community is to provide continuity, regularity, a sense of place - all of which conceptually contribute to the construction of the self, the projection of the self within the public sphere, the distribution of social capital and the generation of a collective identity. The pub is the archetypal third place, but Oldenburg is concerned that modern pubs are less able to provide this vital function.\ud
Social scientists have suggested that community is in a state of fragmentation and decline due to changes in modes of social interaction and a decrease in shared spaces, resulting in a weakened connection to place. Community without propinquity has been characterised by social alienation, fragmentation and what Oldenburg refers to as the "problem of place" (13). Third places, and thus the Irish pub, have been particularly affected.\ud
In order to increase the sociological knowledge of the pub in Ireland, this project critically engages with the pub to assess the importance that public drinking houses have in the everyday. Moreover, this research sets out to investigate the people/place relationship using the pub as an investigative lens and examine the ways in which people shape place, place shapes people and how that relationship is implicated in the construction of irish identities. Furthermore, this is also an articulation of a cultural shift within Ireland and Irish places whose effects are deep and multi-layered. This project aims to explore the development of the contemporary geography of identity as the irish pub as a third place is transformed or disappears from the social landscape
Automated real-time animation
Get PDFProducing animation for the computer game/entertainment industry is a time- \ud
consuming, difficult process. One approach to maximizing the utility of previously \ud
animated sequences is to blend and warp pre-existing sequences to produce new \ud
animations on the fly. The extent to which these approaches are feasible in \ud
realtime and are doable without any animator input is debatable.\ud
This research considers many of the approaches to blending and warping in the \ud
literature. Many of these require manual intervention to tune the transition \ud
parameters and are also computationally expensive. However, they serve as a \ud
foundation for developing an approach to the problem that is completely automatic \ud
and is computationally inexpensive.\ud
Predefined motions of walking, running, and jumping derived from motion capture \ud
data are considered and a novel approach to producing segues between these \ud
motions is implemented.\ud
Following the lead of research suggesting that transition times are of vital \ud
importance in the response of users to transition animations the transitions \ud
produced by the implementation were tested on a group of survey participants and \ud
the same general conclusion was supported.\ud
To conclude the work, suggestions for improvement of the algorithms for \ud
transition production are made and possible future developments are considered
An investigation into the feasibility of the use of Google Earth as a marketing tool with focus on green business environment in the BMW region of Ireland
Get PDFPurpose: The purpose o f this research is to assess the future of sustainable business\ud
models and the use o f Geographic Information Systems as marketing tools to stimulate\ud
economic growth on a sustainable level. The study identifies future trends that will be\ud
important to the world economy over the next 5000 days of the World Wide Web.\ud
Evaluation of current mapping systems and the development o f a mash-up web based\ud
GIS application.\ud
Design (Methodology/Approach): A dual design incorporating qualitative and\ud
quantitative methods took place. Quantitative surveys were carried out using social\ud
networking to sample an international population o f Generation X and Y respondents.\ud
An assessment of the web confidence and awareness of the Green Box member’s also\ud
occurred. Qualitative in-depth interviews highlighting five key individuals in sustainable\ud
methods of marketing was also included in this research.\ud
Findings: A generational divide was identified in geographic information system\ud
technologies and open source applications. This has implications to the methods that will\ud
be used in the future of sustainable marketing techniques. Identifying international\ud
norms in regards to web technologies has repercussions for the future o f the\ud
interdependent global economic environment.\ud
Research Limitations/ Implications: Future research would benefit from assessment\ud
of the Asian economic powers and their use of GIS techniques, due to the continuing\ud
strength o f developed and developing economic entities. Their usage of hand held\ud
devices would also shed light on the future trends in North America and Europe.\ud
Finding a sample reflecting the entire world population by assessing sustainability could\ud
lead to further progress in the area of maintaining the green environment.\ud
Practical Applications: Companies embracing new applications as the buying power of\ud
new generations occurs. A future feasible business model is necessary to up-date old\ud
economic models to develop a framework so that the triple bottom line becomes more\ud
than a concept. This could occur through incorporating Geographic Information\ud
Systems across industries including Government agencies, NG O ’s and for profit\ud
corporations.\ud
Originality and Value: The assessment of Generation X and Y sampling identifies clear\ud
differences in the attitudes around the world from individual members and start-ups in\ud
the Green Box. The value occurs due to the future customers of the Green Box\ud
businesses using the four H’s of sustainable tourism will be Generation X and Y in\ud
nature
Transfer of radionuclides from soil to vegetation in selected Irish ecosystems
Get PDFThis thesis details the findings of a study relating the transfer of 238U, 228Ra (232Th), 226Ra,\ud
and 137Cs from soil to vegetation in an Atlantic blanket bog, upland blanket bog and\ud
semi-natural grassland situated along the north-west coast of Ireland. The results of this study\ud
provide information on the uptake of these radionuclides by the indigenous vegetation found\ud
present in these ecosystems. The ecosystems chosen are internationally recognizable\ud
ecosystems and provide a wide variety of vegetation species and contrasting soil\ud
physiochemical properties which allow the influence of these parameters on radionuclide\ud
uptake to be assessed. The levels of radionuclides in the soil and vegetation were measured\ud
using gamma spectrometry, alpha spectrometry and ICP-MS. The nutrient status of the\ud
vegetation and soil physiochemical properties were measured using atomic absorption, flame\ud
photometry and other analytical techniques.\ud
The results of the study indicate that the uptake of 238U and 228Ra (232Th) by vegetation from\ud
all three ecosystems was negligible as the levels in all vegetation was below the limits of\ud
detection for the methods used in this study. These results appear to indicate that the\ud
vegetation studied do not possess the ability to accumulate significant levels of these\ud
radionuclides however this assumption cannot be upheld in the case of the Atlantic blanket\ud
bog as the levels in the soil of this ecosystem were too low for detection. Similar results were\ud
obtained for 226Ra uptake in both the Atlantic blanket bog and grassland for all vegetation\ud
with the exception of H. lanatus from the grassland ecosystem. Radium-226 uptake in upland\ud
blanket bog was higher and was detectable in the majority of vegetation indigenous to this\ud
ecosystem. Transfer factor values ranged from 0.07 to 2.35 and the TF values for E. tetralix\ud
were significantly higher than all other vegetation studied. This species of heather\ud
demonstrated the ability to accumulate 226Ra to a greater extent than all other vegetation. The\ud
uptake of 226Ra by upland blanket bog vegetation appears to be significantly influenced by a\ud
range of soil physiochemical properties. The nutrient status of the vegetation, in particular the\ud
calcium content in the vegetation appears to have a negative impact on the uptake of this\ud
radionuclide.\ud
Potassium-40 was detectable in all vegetation present in the three ecosystems and the levels\ud
in the grassland soil were significantly higher than the levels in both bogland soils. Transfer\ud
factor values for Atlantic blanket bog vegetation ranged from 0.9 to 13 .8 and were\ud
significantly higher in E. vaginatum in comparison to C. vulgaris. Potassium-40 TF values\ud
for upland blanket bog vegetation on average ranged from 1.4 for C. vulgaris (stems) to 5.2\ud
for E. vaginatum and were statistically similar for all species of vegetation. Transfer factor\ud
values for grassland vegetation ranged from 0.7 to 3.8 and were also statistically similar for\ud
all species of vegetation indicating that the transfer of 40K to vegetation within the upland bog\ud
and grassland ecosystem is not dependent on plant species. Comparisons of 40K TF values for\ud
all three ecosystems indicate that the uptake in E. vaginatum from the Atlantic blanket bog\ud
was statistically higher than all other vegetation studied. This appears to indicate that E.\ud
vaginatum has the ability to accumulate 40K, however, this species of vegetation was also\ud
present in the upland blanket and did not demonstrate the same behaviour. The uptake of 40K\ud
by vegetation from all three ecosystems was significantly affected by a range of soil\ud
physiochemical properties and in some cases the results were contradictory in nature possibly\ud
indicating that the affect of these parameters on 40K uptake is species dependent. The most\ud
obvious trend in the data was the influence of soil CEC and magnesium levels in vegetation\ud
on 40K TF values. A positive correlation was apparent between the CEC of the soil and 40K\ud
uptake in vegetation from both the Atlantic blanket bog and grassland ecosystem. A similar\ud
trend was apparent between magnesium levels in vegetation and 40K TF values for the upland\ud
blanket bog and grassland vegetation.\ud
Caesium-13 7 levels were found to be significantly higher in the two bogland soils in\ud
comparison to the grassland soil and levels of 137Cs decreased with increasing soil depth.\ud
Transfer factor values for Atlantic blanket bog vegetation ranged from 1.9 to 9.6 and TF\ud
values were significantly higher in the leaves o f C. vulgaris in comparison to all other\ud
vegetation from this ecosystem. Caesium-13 7 TF values for the upland blanket bog\ud
vegetation on average ranged from 0.29 for E. tetralix to 1.6 for C. vulgaris. Uptake by the\ud
leaves of C. vulgaris was significantly higher than all other vegetation present thereby\ud
supporting the trend found within the Atlantic blanket bog vegetation. These results appear to\ud
indicate that the leaves of C. vulgaris have the ability to accumulate significant quantities of\ud
137Cs and also that the uptake of 137Cs by this vegetation is dependent on plant compartment\ud
as the stems of this vegetation contained significantly lower levels than the leaves in both\ud
ecosystems. The uptake of 137Cs by grassland vegetation was very low and was only\ud
detectable in a fraction of the vegetation sampled. Caesium-137 TF values for grassland\ud
vegetation were in general lower than 0.02. The impact of soil physiochemical properties and\ud
nutrient status of vegetation on 137Cs uptake by vegetation appears to be complex and in some\ud
cases contradictory. The most apparent trend in the data was the positive influence of\ud
vegetation nutrients on 137Cs uptake in particular the magnesium levels present in the\ud
vegetation and to a lesser extent the calcium levels present.\ud
The results in general indicate that the uptake of 226Ra, 40K and 137Cs by the chosen\ud
vegetation is varied and complex and is significantly dependent on the species of vegetation,\ud
soil radionuclide concentration, soil physiochemical properties and the nutrient status of the vegetation
An investigation into the nature and extent of corporate social responsibility within the top four banks in Ireland
Get PDFCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a topical debate over the last decade. The \ud
CSR concept has been evolving since 1953 and it is primarily concerned with organisations \ud
acting responsibly and considering environmental and social concerns in their decision making \ud
process. In Ireland, the debate on CSR emerged at a time when numerous scandals were \ud
emerging in many industries, particularly within the banking industry. The Irish banking sector \ud
has been criticized for its superficial approach to CSR and that CSR is not regarded as a priority \ud
for many banks. \ud
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This research shows that the top four banks in Ireland have recognised the role of CSR and that \ud
they understand the important role CSR has within their corporate business objectives.. In \ud
addition, this research found that the nature of CSR within the banking sector is diverse and \ud
relatively consistent, ranging from charitable donations to environmental management systems. \ud
Furthermore, this research reveals that the extent of CSR within the top four banks extends \ud
beyond the surface and that it has been integrated to some extent. However, it was found that \ud
CSR is still very much aligned with the public relations function in many of these banks. \ud
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Additionally, this thesis discusses the implications of the alignment of CSR within the public \ud
relations function and suggests recommendations on how an organisation can improve the value \ud
of CSR within their organisations. The researcher also reviewed the need for government to \ud
take proactive steps in encouraging CSR within the Irish banking sector and also anticipated \ud
future areas of research in light of the findings in this research
Marketing cultural resources: towards organisational best practice
Get PDFThe importance of cultural resources for Ireland’s tourism industry is widely \ud
acknowledged. This study examines the reciprocal contribution of tourism for \ud
the sustainability of these cultural resources and the subsequent role of \ud
marketing. This research makes a worthwhile contribution to the development \ud
of thinking and practice around the marketing of cultural resources.\ud
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The importance of cultural resources for Ireland’s tourism industry is widely \ud
acknowledged. This study examines the reciprocal contribution of tourism for \ud
the sustainability of these cultural resources and the subsequent role of \ud
marketing. This research makes a worthwhile contribution to the development \ud
of thinking and practice around the marketing of cultural resources.\ud
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Marketing’s role in enabling sites to satisfy visitors’ expectations and manage \ud
their impacts without compromising authenticity is discussed. If implemented \ud
correctly, exposure and education can facilitate the appreciation of heritage \ud
resulting in tourism having a positive, rather than negative, impact on heritage \ud
sites. \ud
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The findings suggest that market research and marketing communication are \ud
vital in achieving a balance between targeting cultural tourists and tourists \ud
with no specific interest in heritage. However, they do not appear to be used to \ud
their full potential in Irish heritage attractions. An additional element of the \ud
marketing mix is identified, demarketing, a term first coined by Kotler in \ud
1971. Demarketing may be consciously or unconsciously utilised in the efforts \ud
to control visitor volumes and impacts\ud
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A combined commitment to visitor research by the individual heritage sites \ud
could provide information to the representative organisations to facilitate \ud
target marketing aimed at sites capable of accommodating high visitor \ud
volumes. However, a change of mindset is required among heritage \ud
practitioners regarding the uses of marketing in general, which is achievable \ud
through education, study of models of best practice, assistance and feedback
The usage levels and effectiveness of marketing within small firms in Donegal
Get PDFThe theme of this dissertation was chosen due to the authors own experience and \ud
knowledge of the marketing world in Donegal, having worked, lived and achieved \ud
academic qualifications in the region. The author is also aware of the debatable issue \ud
of marketing in small firms among academics and practitioners and wanted to gain a \ud
deeper understanding of the main issues that they face. \ud
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The underpinning objective of this study was to identify the usage levels and \ud
effectiveness of marketing within small firms in Donegal. The author used both \ud
qualitative (depth interviews) and quantitative (survey) research in order to extract the \ud
maximum amount of information from the target audience selected by the author. \ud
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The overlapping issue faced by small firms is their limited time and resources to \ud
pursue marketing activities. The level of government support and funding that is \ud
available in Donegal for small firms is also limited. The literature reveals that small \ud
firms in Ireland are the engine of an economy and the author is of the belief that \ud
particularly in this economic climate that more should be done to capitalise on small \ud
firms. \ud
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This study has also made the author aware that there is a subsequent lack of \ud
marketing/business graduates being employed within Donegal. The survey results \ud
revealed that of the total number of applicants that took part in the survey 83.2% do \ud
not employ graduates. This is also consistent with the literature that is currently \ud
available. The author is of the assumption that providing work placement as part of a \ud
graduates course work is a step in the right direction as not only does the graduate \ud
receive valuable experience but it also bridges the gap between theory versus \ud
practice. The author is confident that she has reached her objected in carrying out this \ud
research and believes that there is scope for other researchers to further analysis the \ud
finding to a larger extend
Quality of life issues for people with epilepsy living in the Western region of Ireland : an exploratory study
Get PDFThis study aims to ascertain the implications of having epilepsy and explores quality\ud
of life (QOL) issues for people with epilepsy living in the Western region of Ireland.\ud
Epilepsy is the most common but treatable neurological condition and it is estimated\ud
that up to 40,000 people in Ireland have some form of epilepsy. This research was\ud
achieved by triangulation, the use of both quantitative and qualitative research\ud
methods and consisted of a focus group, questionnaires and interviews. The focus\ud
group consisted of four people with epilepsy living in the Western region of Ireland.\ud
This focus group assisted in the development of the self completion questionnaire\ud
which was distributed to people with epilepsy on the Brainwave database. The\ud
interviews consisted of two samples. The first sample consisted of four people with\ud
epilepsy living in the Western region of Ireland and the second sample consisted of\ud
five professionals working in the field of epilepsy. This research was an exploratory\ud
piece. It was guided by a number of hypotheses that emerged through a review of the\ud
literature. The guiding hypotheses in this research are confirmed. Firstly, quality of\ud
life issues for people with epilepsy are under-researched in Ireland. Secondly, there\ud
are real physical, social and psychological impacts for people living with epilepsy.\ud
Thirdly, epilepsy impacts on the quality of life of those living with the condition.\ud
Overall these impacts appear to be negative. However, this may be subject to the\ud
context of the individual
An investigation into the ethics of alcohol advertising to students of the Institute of Technology, Sligo
Get PDFThe purpose of the research was primarily to ascertain whether or not the advertising\ud
of alcohol on college grounds influenced the Students of the Institute of Technology,\ud
Sligo to purchase alcohol. In order to do so, it was necessary to firstly establish what\ud
is understood by the term ethics, from a theoretical background and the role it plays in\ud
the advertising of potentially harmful products like alcohol\ud
One of the most heated advertising issues in recent years is the proposed\ud
restrictions on the advertising of controversial products such as alcohol. The amount\ud
of money spent on alcohol advertising continues to increase substantially each year, in\ud
2002 the spend on alcohol advertising in Ireland was €43.2 million across television,\ud
radio, cinema, outdoor and press.\ud
Ireland continues to be amongst the highest consumers of alcohol in the world.\ud
Drinking alcohol seems to be an integral part of the process of adolescent\ud
development, partially explaining why alcohol use is so widespread among university\ud
and college students and while moderate alcohol consumption is not necessarily a\ud
negative behaviour, binge drinking or excessive drinking is cause for concern.\ud
In order to investigate the role of ethics in the advertising of alcohol to college\ud
students in the Institute of Technology, Sligo a questionnaire was employed to assist\ud
the research process. The questionnaire was designed in order to ascertain an insight\ud
into the student’s view of the advertising of alcohol on college grounds.\ud
The research findings highlighted that students are open minded and have positive\ud
views towards the idea of alcohol advertising on campus, many students suggested\ud
that socialising is a huge part of college life and even though they were aware of the\ud
alcohol advertisements around the college, the majority of participants believed that,\ud
advertising has no influence over their decision to purchase alcohol. However, there\ud
were some contradicting views from students who believed that the advertising of\ud
class parties for example placed extra pressure especially from fellow students to go\ud
out and drink alcohol.\ud
The findings of this research study propose that more work must be imposed by the\ud
education system to promote the effects and potential dangers that binge drinking can\ud
have on the lives of students both from an academic and personal aspect
Nutritional composition, quality and spoilage capacity of orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) from the North East Atlantic
Get PDFThe nutritional composition o f orange roughy (collected from the Northeast Atlantic near the Rockall Trough) was studied on a seasonal basis. In addition samples were aged and stability assessed. Protein levels (16.68-16.21% w/w) were found to be slightly higher than those recorded for the N ew Zealand species o f orange roughy and compared favourably with protein\ud
values for fish muscle in general. Statistically results show a significant seasonal variation with no variation from fish to fish or in the location within the fish. \ud
Lipid content (3.6-4.5% w/w) was found to be much lower than that recorded for New Zealand. As with protein statistically results show a significant seasonal variation and no variation from fish to fish or in the location within the fish. Moisture levels (77.3_79.6%w/w) compared favourably with values obtained from other\ud
studies. Again statistically results show a significant seasonal variation with no variation from fish to fish or within the fish. Iodine values (74.63-79.54) indicate the likely presence o f a high level o f mono unsaturated fatty acids. Statistically results show no significant seasonal variation and no sample variation or variation within fish. Thin layer chromatography o f the extracted fat showed the major type to be wax esters with a much lower amount o f triglycerides and smaller amounts of polar lipids, free sterols and free fatty acids. Total fatty acid composition was found to be very similar to that recorded from other studies and showed that most o f the oils extracted from the fish muscle contained a high\ud
percentage o f mono unsaturates namely 16:1,18:1, 20:1 and 22:1 (85.63 - 91.14% ) with 16:1 present in the smallest amounts and 18:1 the major one. The only saturated fatty M.Sc. in Biochemistry\ud
III Nutritional Composition, Quality and Spoilage Capacity of Specific Deep Sea Fish acids present in significant quantities were 14:0, 16:0 and 18:0, the total varied from a seasonal average high o f 4.05 % to an average low o f 2.27%. The polyunsaturated fatty acids linoleic and arachidonic acid were present in small\ud
quantities varying in total from 0.89% to 1.50%. Docosapentaenoic acid (D P A ) was found only in trace quantities in spring, autumn and winter samples and undetected in summer. Levels o f Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA ) and Docosahexaenoic acid (D H A ) were also found in very low percentages and varied on a seasonal basis with average values ranging from 0.41% in summer to 1.03 % in autumn for EPA and from 1.44 % in summer to3.20 % in autumn for D H A . Again statistically results show a significant seasonal\ud
variation with no variation from fish to fish or location within the fish. Levels o f freshness were measured using the Thiobarbituric acid (T B A ), Total volatile\ud
base nitrogen (T V B -N ) and Trimethylamine (T M A ) techniques. The quality o f the fish upon arrival was excellent and well below legal/acceptable lim its.T V B -N values ranged from 6.88-8.91 mg/lOOg and T M A values from 4.82-6.46 mg/lOOg Values for T B A\ud
ranged from 0.18-0.35 mg Malonaldehyde/kg fish. The summer values were higher than the other seasons. Seasonal variation was significant for all methods with no variation from fish to fish or within the fish.\ud
Fish aged at +4°C in air did not exceed the T V B N lim it o f 35mg/100g until day 6 whereas the T V B N lim it was extended to 8 days for fish aged at +4°C in vacuum.\ud
However the T M A lim it o f 12mg/100g was reached on day 4 for fish stored at +4°C in air and on day 5 for vacuum packed samples stored at +4°C . Fish stored at -5°C in air and vacuum packed did not reach the T V B N lim it until day 61 but the T M A limit was reached on day 24 for fish stored at -5°C in air and was extended to 31 days for vacuum packed fish stored at-5°C.\ud
Prolonged storage at -18°C caused some deterioration o f the frozen fish muscle. Upon thawing the shelf life o f fish stored for 12 months was much shorter than that stored for 6 M.Sc. in Biochemistry IV Nutritional Composition, Quality and Spoilage Capacity of Specific Deep Sea Fish months. This in turn deteriorated faster than fresh fish held at refridgeration temperature in air.\ud
Orange roughy were found to be a good source of protein with moisture levels similar to that o f other fish. They were o f medium fat content but have a very poor content o f the essential omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Orange roughy can be stored at -18°C but its subsequent refridgerated shelf life will be\ud
shorter than that o f unfrozen orange roughy stored at refridgeration temperature. Orange roughy are a very important part o f the ecosystem. Their composition is less nutritionally beneficial than more readily available fish for human consumption and therefore should not be fished at al