NUI Maynooth Eprint Archive
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The Kennedys of Castleross: Soap Opera and Sponsorship on Irish Radio
No full textThis article explores the use of advertising and sponsored programming on Irish radio from its inception in 1926 until the arrival of Irish television in the 1960s. It discusses the financial dependence of 2RN (later Radio Éireann) on advertising money and the ways this operated in tension with official concerns about that money’s influence on programmes and audiences. There is a particular focus on the hugely popular radio soap opera The Kennedys of Castleross, which was sponsored by chocolate company Fry-Cadbury’s and ran for 18 years from 1955. Using production archives, the article discusses the structures and economics of the programme, including the ways in which the sponsor and their advertising agency were directly involved in its writing. It also examines the ways in which, aside from the direct advertising for Cadbury products, The Kennedys of Castleross carried within its storylines values of the industrialisation, consumer culture and new economic models which were beginning to emerge in Ireland of the late 1950s. The discussion concludes by exploring the ways in which the arrival of television broadcasting in Ireland after 1961 changed the political economy of sponsored radio programming such as The Kennedys
The Heart of Living and Dying: Upstreaming Advance Care Planning into Community Conversations in the Public Domain in Northern Ireland.
No full textThis paper provides an evaluation of the Heart of Living and Dying (HLD) Initiative. This initiative is a group process that attempts to bring Advance Care Planning (ACP) into the public domain. It encourages participants to consider what matters to them in their living along with their hopes, preferences, and wishes for their final years and end-of-life care. An inductive, interpretive, and naturalistic approach allowed the researcher to study these phenomena in their natural setting i.e., the community. This qualitative study used 5 focus groups with 17 people and employed thematic data analysis to identify key themes. All participants in the HLD speak from a personal perspective irrespective of any professional background. It transpired that 16 respondents worked in health and social care, which subsequently became noteworthy in the findings. Three key themes were identified: (a) feeling emotionally safe enough to have such sensitive conversations is vital; (b) participating in the HLD process increases the confidence of those participants who worked in health and social care, to undertake ACP conversations and (c) planning ahead is a complex, staged process rather than a single record-making event. The Covid-19 pandemic crisis reinforced the need to upstream ACP initiatives such as the HLD, as the norm for everyone, since all of us will one day die. It is recommended that the HLD be incorporated within ACP training given that the experiential nature of it and the use of groups was reported to build confidence in facilitating ACP conversations. A virtual HLD process needs to be developed to adapt to restrictions on gatherings due to Covid 19
The Mediating Role of Early Maladaptive Schemas in the Relationship between Childhood Traumatic Events and Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Older Adults (>64 Years)
No full textThe current study investigated the mediating role of Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMS) in the association between childhood trauma and Complex PTSD (CPTSD) symptom severity in a clinical sample of 42 older adults (>64 years). It was found that EMS total score mediated the relationship between childhood trauma and CPTSD symptom severity. Two second order schema factors (Disconnection; Impaired Autonomy) also had a mediating role in this relationship. Results provide preliminary support for the utility of interventions targeting EMS, particularly in the domains of Disconnection and Impaired Autonomy, in order to alleviate CPTSD symptoms. Future research is required to replicate these results within larger samples and to examine the efficacy of schema and cognitive interventions within trauma exposed older adults
GeoTree: a data structure for constant time geospatial search enabling a real-time mix-adjusted median property price index
No full textA common problem appearing across the field of
data science is k-NN (k-nearest neighbours), particularly within the context of Geographic Information Systems. In this article, we present a novel data structure, the GeoTree, which holds a collection of geohashes (string encodings of GPS co-ordinates). This enables a constant O (1) time search algorithm that returns a set of geohashes surrounding a given geohash in the GeoTree, representing the approximate k-nearest neighbours of that geohash. Furthermore, the GeoTree data structure retains
an O (n) memory requirement. We apply the data structure to
a property price index algorithm focused on price comparison
with historical neighbouring sales, demonstrating an enhanced performance. The results show that this data structure allows for the development of a real-time property price index, and can be scaled to larger datasets with ease
Intern Labour as Regenerative Precarisation in the Cultural and Creative Industries
No full textInternships are a precarious labour practice often driven by a combination of labour market competition, desirable work, employer advantages and fictional expectations. This article is based on an empirical study of intern labour in the Cultural and Creative Industries in Ireland. The data consists of a survey of workers and interns, and interviews with interns past and present. Through approaching internships as a form of precarisation, and intern labour through the lens of ‘fictional expectations’, this article provides an analysis of intern labour as a form of regenerative precarisation through the self-reinforcing tendencies of action, subjectivity, discursive constructs and social structures. The labour market practice of interning creates discursive, normative and structural patterns of precarisation. These patterns in turn shape subjective and intersubjective expectations of work and life, impacting on the actions that individuals make and thus acting as drivers of further precarisation
Open Access eXchange (OAeX): an economic model and platform for fundraising open scholarship services
No full textAuthors’ names are listed in alphabetical order. This article describes the Open Access eXchange (OAeX) project, a pragmatic and comprehensive economic model and fundraising platform for open scholarship initiatives. OAeX connects bidders with funders at scale and right across the open scholarship spectrum through crowdfunding: financial expenditure is regulated by a market of freely competing providers and financial transactions and transparency are assured by a clearing-house entity. Specifically, OAeX seeks to facilitate open access publishing without the barrier of article processing charges (APCs), as well as contribute to solving challenges of transparency and economic sustainability in open scholarship projects in the broader sense
Belonging on Campus: An exploratory study of the continuities, the contradictions and the consequences for Black and Minority Ethnic students in higher education
No full textWhat we know about Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) students, on campus depends on where we look. Limited research exists documenting the lived experiences of BME students in Irish higher education institutions and an understanding of the components of the campus environment that affect a sense of belonging for BME students remains elusive. My overarching understanding of inclusion in the context of this research relates to students who have self-identified as being from ethnically and culturally diverse minority backgrounds and is situated in their experience of the campus as a place of belonging and inclusion at Technological University Dublin, Blanchardstown Campus.
My research highlights the prominence of Eurocentric curricula and a predominantly White academy which characterise the continuities of White privilege in this study, assimilation as means of fitting in (the contradictions) and underestimating the impact of misrecognition based on name and appearance along with the cumulative effects of experiencing microaggressions on a daily or weekly basis (the consequences).
In arriving at my conceptual framework through a bricolage research approach, a number of theoretical perspectives were adopted. Scholarship under review considered the impact of social geographies of inclusion and belonging, critical race theory (CRT), and the psychological impact of racial-ethnic microaggressions. My research is applied and is located within a framework underpinned by inclusion. Utilising photovoice methodology (PVM) and thematic analysis, the key findings presented emphasise contradictory ways in which the campus includes and excludes BME students. The participants’ narratives suggest that the campus is diverse and inclusive while also experiencing it as discriminatory and exclusive.
Combining the components of my research permits me to establish conceptual links between the findings, to synthesise evidence into conceptual conclusions and to demonstrate an understanding of the academic content in which my research is located in the chapters that follow. The findings inform an overarching narrative that recommends a campus wide environment assessment underpinned by a culturally conscious campus with brave spaces, to advance the belonging and inclusion of our diverse student population. The conclusions of my study demonstrate a lack of recognition of the ethnic and cultural differences that students bring to our classrooms; the need to connect our content, teaching and assessment for BME students; to increase our understanding of the points of pain and frustration that our students experience daily or weekly on campus, and to strengthen the academy to become ethnically literate educators. My research has implications for curriculum design and pedagogical reforms. It invokes creative controversy. The conclusions and recommendations provided advocate for a change in the cultural paradigm that currently influences the university. This requires the dissemination of the findings of my research at a local level and beyond, to raise awareness and to inform students and staff that only when a campus is truly inclusive, can it make a claim to excellence
The ComMUniversity: A review of the Communiversity: The University for All 2020
No full textThe Communiversity is a three-way partnership between Maynooth University (MU); community based organisations (in the form Local Development Companies (LDCs) and Local LEADER Partnership Companies 1(LLPCs)); and the Public Library Service. At its inception each stakeholder approached their involvement with different aims and policy demands in mind but with a common objective. This objective then, as it remains to the present,is to engage people, for whom Higher Education appears distant, alien and unobtainable,in a university level course in a secure and familiar environment for personal development and capacity buildingat a community level. Theaimsfor each partner then as now were for Maynooth University towards widening participation and engaging communities beyond the campus; for the Library Council and later individual County and City Librarians to develop the library as a focal point for learning and to try to attract non-library users. And finally,for the Community Partners as agents for Social Inclusion for disadvantaged groups and individuals in terms of employment, health and education it is an initiative that meets many of their needs in terms of adult educational provision. Within these varying aims there exists much overlap and scope for cooperation. This review is an attempt to describe the standing of the Communiversity as it was up to12 March 2020. It will try to capture its origins within the context of the ‘economic crash’ in the years immediately following the Banking Crisis and the possibilities for its future development as a community based democratic educational initiative. In an era where loneliness and isolation in older aged people and knowledge of poor mental health and its associated problems are becoming more widespread among the general population the idea of social prescribing has taken hold. The Communiversity could be one elementin this fight against these Western maladies by bringing people back together in a learning environment where curiosity and a willingness to participate at a level commensurate with the person’s own needs and capabilities are the only requirementsfor success. Anything else that comes out of itis a bonus
Positive Education and School Psychology During Covid-19 Pandemic
No full textThe abstract is included in the text
Silence Taboo and Midlife Women: A case study of the Midlife Women Rock Café in Waterford city
No full text‘‘Menopause . . . is the quintessential biopsychosocial experience. It is both crisis and opportunity”.
McQuaide (1996:132)
This study explores how women in contemporary Ireland understand, experience, and negotiate menopause. The research examines how the Midlife Women Rock Café in Waterford city acts as a third place contributing to women’s understandings of both menopause and self. A qualitative research approach was utilised consisting of twenty semi structured interviews and participant observation. This research highlights how menopause has remained “a taboo subject for polite conversation” (Beck et al., 2018) for too long and the consequences for women’s health (The Women’s Health Task Force,2020). The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) definition of menopause as a deficiency disease constructed within the language of deficit, marked by decline, loss of youth and shame needs to be reviewed (WHO,1981). The findings reveal that in contemporary Ireland this no longer reflects women’s lived experience due to the narrow focus on loss of hormones and little else (The Midlife Women Rock Project,2020). Furthermore, in reviewing the literature, it was noted that mental health and suicide rate statistics across the female lifespan in both the U.K and Ireland are highest in women aged 45 to 60 years (Table 1.1Female suicide rates by age group, per 100,000 population 2001-2018). These are the year's most women transition through menopause. Yet, there is no direct correlation found in the literature between menopausal management and suicide rates peaking in women at 51 years of age. This needs to be spotlighted and addressed in future research. What emerges from the findings includes a massive dearth in information and understanding around menopausal transition particularly perimenopause. The shroud of secrecy silence and taboo is being challenged and overcome by women actively seeking information and understandings. The significance of the findings elucidate that women are looking for ways to negotiate and navigate the silence (by attending talks, conferences and the Café) in order to develop a voice and understandings. This inquiry illustrates how women are pushing to counteract the taboo and silence. The conclusions reveal that in attending the café to counteract the taboo and silence, these women are creating new more positive enabling narratives, pertaining to menopause and self. They are also able to de-personalise the process which hugely reduces stress and anxiety.
Furthermore, the research found that the Midlife Women Rock Café has created a unique place where women from all walks of life can come together. The Café enables meaningful connections and this place offers a platform to allow these women to define themselves through their stories, but also through the stories of others. They access information, understandings, and support one another as they journey through menopause. This is leading to the re conceptualisation of menopausal narratives, a debunking of historical myths and the creation of new narratives that enable and empower the women pro-actively and positively manage this life phase. In 2020 women’s voices need to be heard, this case study is revealing how their voices can be heard and how women are making their voices heard even in small places like the Café highlighting the importance and need for such places throughout Ireland. As Robin
(Respondent C) outlined “The information I am collecting just makes me feel empowered, in control of this. I am going to go out and give this gift to another woman”