NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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Domino Dancing: Mutuality of Obligation and Determining Employment Status in Ireland
No full textIt has taken a while, but what has been described as the first ‘gig economy’ case has been decided by the Irish Supreme Court. Although the case did not involve the use of a platform to organise work, it did require the Supreme Court to rule on the question of the employment status of pizza delivery drivers, all of whom were labelled as ‘independent contractors’ in the contracts between the company and the drivers. The case was taken by Revenue, which contended that the drivers, in fact, should have been classified as employees for tax purposes. The Supreme Court took the opportunity to present a long and detailed judgment on the correct approach to determining employment status, and, in particular, on the role of ‘mutuality of obligations’ in this consideration, with an extensive review of case law from the UK. This analysis discusses the case, with a particular emphasis on the view taken by the Court on mutuality of obligations in the context of ‘casual work’
Mission and Human Dignity in the Black Sea Region – Philosophical Considerations
No full textBecause human dignity presents us, in all regions of the world, with a cause for celebration and a steep challenge, it constitutes a problem for humanity. Engagement with the idea tends to happen when the problem makes itself felt and the ethical challenges that mark a region are therefore testified to in its writings on human dignity. Engaging with such writings make it possible, for example for the Black Sea Region, to move more concertedly towards appreciation of human dignity. This engagement is precious because it promotes both the understanding of and thereby the possible appreciation of the fundamental value of the human being. It is argued in this article that such promotion pertains to the central task of Christian mission, in so far as concern for human dignity stands at the heart of Christ’s own mission
Irish Country House Collections, Display And Dispersal: A Social Study Of Irish Art Loan Exhibitions And Auctions, 1798-1916
No full textThis thesis examines Irish art loan exhibitions and auctions where
paintings were on loan and were sold from some of the premier
collections of Irish country and town houses. Framed within significant
dates relating to rebellion in Ireland 1798 and 1916, this study uses an
interdisciplinary approach, which draws on social and art history and
demonstrates how political, legislative and other social changes affected
the art collections over time. This thesis evaluates how these exhibitions
and art sales benefitted individuals and social groups, from the education
of artists to the provision of an art gallery for the nation. The findings of
this thesis indicate that from 1814 onwards, young artists did benefit
from studying these paintings at these loan exhibitions and their
subsequent output continues to be displayed in public galleries both at
national and international level. The sale of two Old Masters from one
country estate provided new housing for its tenants and exhibitions held
during the Famine raised funds to alleviate distress.
Old Masters exhibition catalogues from the early nineteenth century
have proved extremely valuable in reconstructing country house
collections, especially where no inventory exists. It also demonstrates
how the exhibitions held in Dublin and Cork established a pattern for
lending valuable paintings to later art and industry exhibitions. Held for
the promotion of industry in Ireland, artisans could improve their design
skills, with access to these exemplars. Through an analysis of exhibition
and sales catalogues, this study chronicles the trajectory of the
collections from the privacy of the country house to public exhibitions
and auctions. The Old Masters loan exhibitions have received scant
scholarly attention, and this thesis aims to recover these and others from
the shadows and bring them to the attention of a wider audience
Investigating the Elaborated Relational Abilities Index as a Novel Measure of Cognitive Ability
No full textThe need to reconceptualise intelligence in functional terms becomes apparent when reviewing traditional intelligence theories and testing methodologies. Relational Frame Theory offers a functional understanding of the intelligence concept by proposing a definition of it in terms of a well-understood behavioural process known as derived relational responding. While a growing number of researchers from different fields are coming to similar conclusions, what is needed to complement the Relational Frame Theory account is a functionally understood assessment of derived relational responding proficiency. The current thesis represents an in-depth experimental and psychometric analysis of the most recent version of the Relational Abilities Index (RAI; Cummins et al., 2023). Firstly, it was examined in terms of its convergence with a widely-used proxy measure of intelligence, in what was an entirely exploratory analysis rather than an effort to establish convergent validity. Both the full RAI and all its subscales significantly correlated with performance on Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices. Moreover, the current thesis analysed the impact of four sociodemographic variables on RAI scores in order to quantify the assumed impact of environmental factors on relational responding proficiency. Of the variables examined, only parental education significantly predicted performance on the RAI, a finding that aligns with the literature on the importance of parental education levels on childhood cognitive functioning. Finally, the first-ever factor analysis of the RAI was conducted. The RAI’s current eight-factor model was found to be a poor fit, while better than the single-factor model. The implications of these findings for the further development of the RAI are discussed
Putting Critical Learning at the Heart of Ethical Global Development Communications among INGOs.
No full textThis research is designed to support the implementation of the Guide to Ethical Communications
(Dóchas 2023), which reiterates the importance of ethical global development (GD) communications
and suggests renewed commitment on the part of INGOs in Ireland to good practice in this area. In
doing so, it explores the training and learning aspects of ethical GD communications practice among
INGOs in Ireland. Drawing on a survey, research workshops and documentary analysis, it argues
that if implementation of the Guide is to be meaningful, INGOs need to put training and learning at
the heart of ethical GD practice.
This training and learning needs to apply an organisational learning approach rather than one
focused on individual skills deficits or development. This requires that INGOs (individually or through
Dóchas) offer many different opportunities for training and learning for all those working in and with
INGOs, including all staff, management, volunteers, partners, board members and contractors, and
that links are made between this training and learning and wider organisational policy and practice. In
addressing communications at all levels of practice, relationships and culture within and across INGOs
in Dóchas, approaches should ensure that training and learning spaces and facilitation support deep,
critical, applied learning for ethical GD communications’ practice among participants. Because of the
challenges and complexities involved in ensuring ethical GD communications’ practice, this training
and learning needs to address the many power relations which underlie communications practices at
different levels (see Diagram 1 below).
The research highlights the current tendency within many INGOs to limit ‘training’ to distribution of the
Dóchas Guide, some induction training and / or short-term training for certain cohorts of staff, e.g.,
communications staff. This research shows that, at best, these practices only support surface level
understanding of what’s required for ethical GD practice. In its exploration of different approaches to
training and learning around ethical GD communications, it shows that those framed by diversity and
localisation concerns can help organisations go deeper into addressing power relationships in the
organisations themselves. In order to address the deep roots of stereotyping, paternalism, ‘othering’,
transactionalism, white supremacy, ethnocentrism and racism in GD communications, critical global
citizenship education (GCE) or anti-racism approaches are also needed. When guided by critical
and dcolonial pedagogies and critical race theory focused on systemic change, these approaches
support critical engagement and action around ethical GD communications at all levels.
In short, the research shows the need to put critical learning at the heart of GD communications’
practice through the development of INGO critical learning strategies, which are well-resourced and
supported by organisational management and Dóchas
Unearthing the coloniality of neoliberalised curricular discourses to promote a public orientation towards secondary science education
No full textConsidering the challenges facing curricula in science education forces a reckoning with neoliberalism and its transmogrification of education, generally. Science, which has contributed significantly to humanity, is exalted in neoliberal secular discourse and forms a key pillar of social policy governance. However, the progress and innovation attributed to scientific education, within the broader STEM agenda, must be read against the rise in societal inequalities wrought by far-right hostilities and the general erosion of democratic principles in the milieu of neoliberal policy making. This is especially prescient for science curricula given the widespread crystallisation of scientism in society and its role in framing anti-equality arguments. This must also be situated against the broad resistance movements that have arisen, demonstrating the resilience and promise from alternative perspectives such as decoloniality. While decolonial theory reckons with the epistemological violence of science, these perspectives remain underdiscussed in STEM fields. This is necessary for contemporary science curricula given the broader neoliberal erosions of public education that champion instrumentalism and mass measurement in the name of capitalism. This forms the impetus for this conceptual article which presents a decolonial consideration of recent curricular discourses in science
Staff Perspectives on Scaling the Impact and Influence of MU Research and Expertise on Public Policy (Working Paper March, 2024. No. 20)
No full textWhy this consultation, why now?
Governments worldwide are calling upon higher education institutions (HEIs) to demonstrate
more clearly their value to society as anchor institutions and the societal relevance and impact
of their research, scholarship, and expertise. Many are using national research funding agencies
to incentivise co-created research between academics and a wide range of beneficiaries.
The Irish Government is no exception. Irish HEIs are being asked to step up and play their role in
scoping impactful solutions to wicked and increasingly existential local, national, and global
public problems. Of course, a significant body of work has already been undertaken or is in train.
In this Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) (the Challenges, Public Service Fellowship and, Science
Policy Research programmes); the Irish Research Council (IRC) (New Foundations and COALESCE
programmes and ‘Roadmap on research for public policy’ (jointly with the Royal Irish Academic
(RIA)); and The Irish University Association (Campus Engage programme) have led the way. But
plans are afoot for the introduction of a new suite of interventions targeted at broadening and
deepening linkages between academic researchers and policy-makers - to be layered on top of
and to complement actually existing and already achieved knowledge exchange initiatives
Illusions of online readiness: the counter-intuitive impact of rapid immersion in digital learning due to COVID-19
No full textFramed from a socio-cognitive perspective, and the contemporary increased salience of digital learning readiness and competence, the purpose of this study was two-fold: to validate Online Learner Readiness Scale in a new context and to explore potential variances in online readiness within a student-teacher population between less (pre-COVID) and more experienced (during COVID) groups. A CFA was used to examine the suitability of the OLRS in an Irish context, and variances between groups based on gender and professional experience were explored. Two cross-sectional datasets were gathered from student teachers from a university teacher education programme in the Republic of Ireland (n1 = 281, n2 = 154). The analysis demonstrated significantly lower perceived online readiness in the more experienced ‘during COVID’ cohort compared to ‘pre-COVID’ cohort. This counter-intuitive finding is in direct contrast to prior research, and potential influencing factors include the sudden immersion in an entirely digital learning environment. The more experienced cohort reported significantly lower online readiness across all five components of the OLRS. The findings are discussed in the context of a major shift in the student-teacher learning experience due to COVID-19. Implications for future research are explored in the context of increasingly digitised teaching and learning environments during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
‘We are always planning trips to Poland’: the influence of transnational family life on the family language policy of Polish-speaking families in Ireland
No full textIn the context of heightened global transnational movements and the proximate geographical positioning of Poland and Ireland, this study investigates the impact of the transnational nature of Polish families’ migration experiences in The Republic of Ireland on their family language policy. This research endeavours to address a gap in the literature surrounding the influence of transnationalism on family language policy within Polish-speaking migrant families in Ireland. Grounded in Curdt-Christiansen's [Curdt-Christiansen, X. L. 2018. “Family Language Policy.” In Oxford Handbook of Language Policy and Planning, edited by J. W. Tollefson and M. Pérez-Milans. New York: Oxford University Press.] interdisciplinary model of family language policy, this investigation draws on an ethnographic inquiry into three Polish-speaking families in Ireland. The study focuses on families with first- and second-generation migrant children. Data were gathered through a combination of semi-structured interviews and children's reflective language diaries. The results depict the transnational nature of family life, with recurrent travel between Ireland and Poland evident across all three families. To sustain connections with Poland, parents implemented specific language management strategies. The study underscored the participants’ recognition of the interdependence between the use of the Polish language and the continuation of connections with Poland, as well as the capacity to uphold family life across Ireland and Poland
Researching the far right: towards an ethics of talking ‘about’
No full textThe far right, under its many names and guises, has become a hugely popular area of research within political science and other disciplines (Gattinara, 2020; Carter, 2018). Despite such sustained interest, and scant evidence to suggest that it is waning, this attention has certainly not been matched by levels of engagement with the specific ethical implications of researching the far right. With the way that academia can contribute to the political dynamics for which it offers interpretations, there is an urgent need to deal with these questions and reflect on our practices at every stage of the research process