Open Journal Systems Trinity College Dublin
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Śledzie and Soda Bread: Are Intercultural Events Truly Intercultural?
Get PDFIntercultural events, particularly one-off ‘fun-days’ present displays of cultural stereotypes where dialogue is superficial undermining inter-community interaction. Local funding policies may also contribute to the lack of diverse and long-term (trans)local dialogue.
"This article argues that particular intercultural events hinder, rather than foster the cohesion of heterogeneous local communities. Intercultural events range from intimate one-off or long-term interactions to large ‘fun-days’; the latter entice local communities to congregate in contrived spaces. Intercultural ‘fundays’ encourage translocal communities to display their material culture as a gaze for local-born actors. I argue that intercultural fun-day displays of material culture are unrepresentative of a nation or translocal individuals. Does śledzie (herrings) represent Poland or soda bread, Northern Ireland (NI) or? I consider that one-off intercultural events maintain and perpetuate divisions which they attempt to heal, rather than encouraging intergroup understanding of (trans)local groups’ lifeworlds. Additionally, publicly funded intercultural events are required to demonstrate that grants are suitably spent and well-managed in line with predetermined variables. Therefore, cultural funding policies may inadvertently favour organisations with bureaucratic expertise, over small community groups with rich (trans)local knowledge. The perspective of body hexis, based on participant observation at intercultural fun-days in NI, make it possible to problematise them as insufficient to engender cohesion between (trans)local communities. Conversely, I argue that genuine intercultural appreciation is possible andsustainable when (trans)local communities dialogue together
A response to the Covid-19 crisis for the Arts in Ireland and Impact of the Coronavirus on the Northern Ireland Arts Sector
Get PDFFocusing on two policy reports addressing the crisis in the arts arising from COVID-19, this paper interrogates the policy responses to the challenges for the arts sector in Ireland and Northern Ireland. The enduring challenges of precarity in the arts and the problem of the digital divide are reinforced by the challenges of COVID-19
Is the Irish Phillips Curve broken?
Get PDFContrary to the predictions of a traditional Phillips curve relationship, inflation in Ireland remained subdued in the decade following the 2008 financial crisis, despite improving labour market conditions. To examine this apparent puzzle, we test econometrically the relevance of the Phillips curve in Ireland. We find a significant role for domestic cyclical conditions. We investigate whether the Phillips curve may be non-linear and find some evidence that it is flatter when there are high excess capacities and turns steeper as economic slack is eliminated. However, forecasts from non-linear specifications do not systematically outperform forecasts from linear specifications
Image-Based Sexual Offences and Irish Law: Does the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017 Provide Adequate Legal Protection for Victims?
Get PDFThe non-consensual creation and distribution of private sexual images online is currently not characterised as a criminal offence under Irish law. The Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017 aims to rectify this lacuna by creating new image-based sexual offences such as revenge pornography and upskirting. However, I would submit that the Bill, as initiated, requires further amendment relating to both substantive and procedural provisions if it is to offer victim- survivors adequate legal protection. Just prosecutorial thresholds, accessible procedures, and comprehensive legislative definitions must be ensured in order to enact a modern, coherent statute which addresses the malicious and gendered practice of the non- consensual generation and distribution of images of a sexual nature
A Gender-just Peace in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka: The Power of Intersectional Peacebuilding
Get PDFThis article examines the intersectional peace approach and assesses its effectiveness in acquiring a gender-just peace within a post-conflict society. This line of reasoning has been empirically exemplified through the gendered advocacy work of rural disabled Tamil women in post-conflict Sri Lanka. In recent times, the liberal peace model has become widely critiqued, resulting in a novel grounding of intersectionality into many contemporary peacebuilding initiatives. This has resulted in a more human-centred peace framework, uplifting the most marginalised voices within a conflict-affected community. Centrally, this article postulates that an intersectional peace approach is an effective method of attaining a gender-just peace, as it can act as a tool of empowerment, mobilising the most marginalised to transgress patriarchal norms and redefine the gender hierarchy upheld within a post-conflict society
COVID-19: How Important is Education for Social Distancing and Remote Work
Get PDFPublic health interventions such as occupational social distancing and remote working, while critical to slow the spread of the coronavirus, are severely disrupting labour markets. We examine the impact of educational attainment on a worker’s potential to engage in both occupational social distancing in the workplace and working from home requirements for the Irish case. We identify that remote working has a more significant economic effect on labour market inequalities than occupational social distancing. In fact, the results indicate the relationship between occupational social distancing and differences in worker demographics are small. Remote working inequalities are primarily related to differences in individual education levels and a worker’s gender
Screening and Treatment of Latent Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review of Current Evidence
Get PDFIntroduction: Latent tuberculosis is an infection by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis where the individual affected does not have active infection or symptoms of tuberculosis infection. Individuals with latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) remain asymptomatic and non-infectious until the bacteria become reactivated. The purpose of screening and treating LTBI is to prevent reactivation and active disease. The aim of this review is to examine the current screening criteria for LTBI, their validity, and specificity for diagnosis by looking at the currently accepted treatment options and the evidence that supports their efficacy.
Methods: Articles for review were sourced from the academic databases EMBASE and PubMed. Results were screened using PICOS criteria looking at a population of latent TB infected patients screened using a variety of screening tools.
Results: Initial database searches identified 476 articles. 19 articles fit the eligibility criteria and were included for analysis. Current screening procedures include the tuberculin skin test (TST), T-SPOT.TB, and QuantiFERON-TB (QFTGIT) tests. Evidence showed that the T-SPOT.TB was the most cost-effective test to perform although its accuracy is not as reliable as the IGRA. Treatment plans for those with LTBI are diverse and can be beneficial in a variety of settings. The most effective treatments include isoniazid for 6 or 9 months, rifampicin for 3 to 4 months and isoniazid and rifampicin for 3 to 4 months.
Conclusion: Overall, IGRAs are the most reliable screening tests but are advised to be used in conjunction with TSTs as the TST alone has been determined to be less accurate. There are different treatment regimens, all of similar efficacy. Longer regimes were as effective than those of a shorter duration, but shorter regimes showed higher completion rates
The Good Wife: Stereotypes of Married Women in Irish Law
Get PDFIn this essay, I explore how the law, as it applied to spouses within marriage, reflected these stereotypes and perpetuated inequalities between husband and wife in Irish law. Many of the legal inequalities be- tween spouses have been purged from the legal system, but in the wake of the same sex marriage referendum, the law will have to revisit some of the last remaining rules which operate on a heteronormative, binary gender model
