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The content and context of Strategic Human Resource Management in Cameroon
Full text linkThis paper explores the content and context of Strategic Human Resource Management
(SHRM) in a Global South setting. SHRM practices in the West-Central African country,
Cameroon (with over 27 million inhabitants), are unpacked from 74 qualitative research
interviews within organisations of different size and ownership, and from secondary sources.
The findings show a complex mix of local, imported and adapted SHRM strategies and
practices which are socially embedded in a simultaneous flux of adoption, redesign, and disuse
by the organisations, depending on their perceived usefulness and on the particularities of the
organisations (size, sector). The findings delineate the macro-level cultural contextual focus on
beneficence policies and practices (prioritisation of social capital, consensus building, family
friendly work practices, and socialisation) as key antecedents in the adoption of agile SHRM
practices (content and context factors). A theoretical model from the systems, society,
dominance and corporate (SSDC) framework of SHRM is shared that further empirical
research may use to investigate contextual features which moderate SHRM practices. The study
contributes to SHRM scholarship by presenting a socially embedded agile SHRM approach in
Cameroon, where internal organisational stakeholders are informed by dynamic, overlapping
and changing multi-level factors over time in the pursuit of organisational goals
The Experiences of Students in Recovery from Alcohol and Drug Addiction in Higher Education in Ireland
Full text linkThis thesis explores the educational experiences of students in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction within Irish higher education. While national strategies address substance misuse through prevention and harm reduction, recovery remains largely absent from institutional policy and discourse. The study examines how students in recovery experience, navigate, and make meaning of academic life amid social, cultural, and institutional challenges.
Using an interpretivist approach, this qualitative study employed in-depth, semi-structured interviews with six students from various Irish higher education institutions (HEIs). Thematic analysis identified three intersecting domains: personal identity and stigma, institutional culture and academic engagement, and policy-level neglect. Recovery identities were often marginalised, prompting strategic concealment and internalised stigma. Yet participants described education as transformative, providing structure, purpose, and identity renewal.
Drawing from Mezirow’s transformative learning theory (TLT), Stryker’s identity theory, Freire’s critical pedagogy, and Goffman’s concept of stigma, the analysis positions recovery as both a personal process of transformation and a socially constructed identity. Mills’ concept of the sociological imagination further contextualises participants’ experiences within broader structural forces.
The findings highlight the need for Irish HEIs to recognise recovery as a legitimate and complex student identity. The thesis offers recommendations for practice, policy, and pedagogy, including greater visibility, peer support, staff development, and recovery-informed teaching.
This study contributes to emerging scholarship on collegiate recovery by reframing recovery from a private struggle to a shared institutional responsibility, requiring recognition, inclusion, and structured support
The paradox of learning within walls: “Toward educational restoration through critical pedagogy and Justice Reform”.
Full text linkThis thesis investigates how punitive versus restorative justice models shape prison‐based education, learner identity, and post‐release reintegration. Through a comparative case study of Ireland, England, Norway, and New Zealand, it investigates the tension between institutional control and transformative potential in prison education. The study is grounded in an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, drawing on Michel Foucault’s concepts of disciplinary power and biopolitics, Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy, bell hooks’ engaged teaching, Antonio Gramsci’s theory of the organic intellectual, and Jack Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. It introduces three original conceptual tools, the activated gaze, reputational overruling, and sensationalised stigma, to illuminate how surveillance and stigma extend beyond release, constraining access to education, housing, and employment.
Employing a thematic comparative methodology with constructivist ontology and subjectivist epistemology, the research integrates documentary analysis and existing scholarship. The findings reveal that while punitive systems instrumentalise education for risk management and behavioral compliance, restorative models position education as a human right, fostering agency, critical consciousness, and identity redefinition.
The thesis concludes with a set of policy recommendations advocating for the institutionalisation of higher education as a central, transformative force in rehabilitation. It calls for a reimagining of carceral education not as a conditional offering, but as a liberatory, sustained practice that challenges stigma and supports genuine human restoration
Dream Job or Ordinary Work: Understandings of Creativity and Work in Creative Industries
Full text linkThis paper examines how early career workers in Irish Creative Industries perceive
creativity in relation to their work experiences. Based on a survey of twenty workers
in media, digital, marketing, and social media roles, the findings show workers did
not claim creative identities nor see their jobs as creative. Instead they associate
creative workplaces with constraints, and with quite “ordinary” and hard work.
Nonetheless, they operationalized an idea of creativity and listed creative fulfilment
and recognition as rewards for their work. This finding is significant because it departs
from accounts of the attraction of creative work as intrinsically tied to questions
of identity and rather points to an ideology of the creative as a key attractor for
current new entrants, who privilege an ideal notion of creative work even despite
their own material experiences that contradict that ideal
Adapting to climate change: Insights on being better prepared for Ireland’s future climate
Full text linkClimate change is already impacting Ireland, through rising temperatures, more frequent extreme weather events, and increasing risks such as coastal erosion and flooding. Volume 3 of the Irish Climate Change Assessment Report (ICCA), launched in 2024, synthesises extensive research on past and projected climate-change impacts and provides a roadmap for being prepared for Ireland’s future climate. While climate action nationally has been focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation is an equally pressing concern as climate risks escalate. Drawing on the ICCA, this paper examines how adaptation and resilience are framed in Irish climate policy, and highlights key challenges in implementation. The findings emphasise the need for a systematic, well-resourced, and socially inclusive approach to adaptation. National evaluations indicate slow progress in adaptation, with significant gaps in cross-sectoral coordination, financial investment and community engagement. The authors highlight key opportunities to enhance adaptation efforts, including: setting clear goals and targets; recognising cascading and transboundary risks; integrating people-centred approaches; decision-making under uncertainty; widening the solution space beyond technical interventions; better monitoring and evaluation of adaptation outcomes; and pursuing climate-resilient development. Without substantial improvements in adaptation planning, Ireland risks unplanned, crisis-driven transformations in response to escalating climate shocks. Strengthening governance, deepening public engagement, and embedding adaptation into all aspects of policy and planning will be critical to achieving a climate-resilient Ireland
Embedding Bioeconomy Education: A Case for an Interconnected Curriculum. Leaving Certificate Curriculum Redevelopment - Economics Consultation Submission
Full text linkThis submission to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) argues for embedding the bioeconomy as a central, cross-curricular organising concept in the redevelopment of the Leaving Certificate Economics specification. Prepared by the BioBeo–BiOrbic–BEST Network–CBEC Curriculum Working Group, the submission positions Economics as a strategic anchor subject through which a coherent bioeconomy framework can be integrated across Senior Cycle learning. A bioeconomy approach grounded in principles of circularity, regeneration, and responsible resource use supports the NCCA’s identified key competencies, including critical thinking, systems literacy, ethical decision-making, and active citizenship. It also aligns directly with broader Senior Cycle reform priorities such as wellbeing, inclusion, interdisciplinarity, and flexible learning pathways.
The submission highlights that the bioeconomy offers a culturally relevant and context-specific foundation for curriculum design, drawing on the Irish language, place-based learning traditions, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge embedded in rural and coastal communities. Incorporating this framework enhances coherence across subjects including Economics, Climate Action and Sustainable Development, Science, Business, Geography, Engineering and the Arts, equipping students to understand the interconnected social, cultural, economic and environmental dimensions of Ireland’s transition to a regenerative and resilient society.
The submission outlines a coordinated educational pathway that would empower learners to meaningfully engage with national sustainability challenges and opportunities
From Archives to Insights: Extreme Weather Events and Socio‐Economic Impacts in Madagascar From Newly Digitised Historical Climate Records (1949–1966)
Full text linkBillions of historical weather observations dating back centuries remain in the original paper form, vulnerable to permanent loss due to deterioration and unusable by modern science. Africa, in particular, faces significant challenges in climate impact research due to the scarcity of consistent, high‐quality historical observational data. The Climate Data Rescue‐Africa (CliDaR‐Africa) project engages second‐year undergraduates at Maynooth University, Ireland, in participatory, classroom‐based digitization of unique African meteorological records. This paper presents detailed outcomes from the CliDaR‐Africa projects during 2023 and 2024 which successfully digitised over 300,000 unique sub‐daily and daily meteorological observations from stations in Madagascar and the Central African Republic spanning 1949 to 1966. Initial analysis of the rescued Madagascar records reveals several notable extreme weather events, underscoring the country's high vulnerability to hazards such as hot spells, droughts, heavy rainfall, and particularly tropical cyclones. Among these is a sequence of tropical cyclones which received limited international coverage either at the time or in the intervening years. By bringing these overlooked extremes to light, the data potentially alters our understanding of extremes and their unusualness in the modern era. Complementary documentary evidence corroborates the meteorological findings and provides rare, detailed insights into the socio‐economic consequences, illustrating how these extremes impacted on the communities and economies of Madagascar at the time
Identity concerns and older people’s use of assistive technology: A scoping review
Full text linkThis scoping review explores conceptualizations of identity in relation to older adults’ use of assistive technology and describes patterns of AT use and emotional experiences associated with identity-related concerns. Searches were conducted in six databases (n = 1508) limited to peer-reviewed papers published between 2000 and 2022; resulting in the inclusion of 33 relevant papers. The literature evidences an array of overlapping conceptualizations within identity and self. Older adults’ experiences with assistive technology are nuanced by ambivalent emotions; marked by both positive – autonomy, security – and negative associations – loss of independence, stigma, threat to personal identity, and dignity. Patterns of technology use encompass compensatory strategies such as negotiation, delays, resignation, substitutions, and pragmatic customizations; these are strongly determined by the self-perception of the need to use assistive technologies. Findings demonstrate that identity-related concerns influence older adults’ behavioral and emotional responses regarding the use of assistive technology. This highlights the need for further research on lived experiences and the role of stakeholders in supporting older adults’ identity processes throughout their adoption of assistive technology
Translating Basic Science Discoveries into Clinical Advances: Highlights from the EACR-AACR-IACR 2024 Conference in Celebration of Irish Association for Cancer Research’s 60th Anniversary
Full text linkThe EACR-AACR-IACR 2024 Basic and Translational Research Conference, held in Dublin, Ireland, from 27th–29th February, 2024, marked a significant milestone as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Irish Association for Cancer Research (IACR). Organized in collaboration with the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), this prestigious event brought together leading experts in oncology research from around the world. The conference provided a platform for cutting-edge discussions on the latest advancements in immunotherapy, drug combinations, cell-based therapies, liquid biopsies, epigenetics, tumour microenvironment, and novel drug targets. With keynote lectures from esteemed researchers such as Kevan Shokat, Jerome Galon, Suzanne Topalian, and Scott Lowe, the conference facilitated knowledge exchange and fostered international collaboration in the pursuit of improved cancer treatments. The report highlights the key sessions, research breakthroughs, and discussions that shaped this landmark event