National University of Ireland, Maynooth
MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive LibraryNot a member yet
18981 research outputs found
Sort by
The impact of parental emotional support on the succession intentions of next-generation family business members
Get PDFDrawing on social cognitive theory, this study investigates the influence of family business owners as parents on the succession intentions of their children. Measures of parental emotional support, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and affective commitment are applied to predict succession intentions. We test our research model on an international sample of21,525 sons and daughters of family business owners. The results suggest that parental emotional support positively influences succession intentions and is mediated by two cognitive factors: entrepreneurial self-efficacy and affective commitment to the family business. The results also suggest interaction effects of gender and birth order on succession intentions. This study offers important theoretical and practical insights into the aspirations of next-generation members of family businesses
Physical and perceptual demands of youth international team match-play in traditional and aged-matched future teams for biologically late maturing soccer players
Get PDFBackground: Given the rapidly increasing interest in national futures programmes, and the associated
significant increased resource investment, there is a pressing need for data specific to futures programmes
to inform practice across world football.
Aim: To investigate the differences in the physical and perceptual demands of match-play using Global
Positioning Software technology and Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) in traditional youth internation
team and age-matched international future teams for biologically late-maturing players over one
in-season period.
Subjects and methods: total of 18 U15 future team (FT) players and 21 national team (NT) playe
were examined.
Results: The results showed that FT players performed 9% greater total distances (p=0.008, Cohen’s d
1.29) and accumulated 20% greater total player loads (p<0.001, Cohen’s d 1.88) than NT players durin
matches. In contrast, NT players covered 113% greater sprinting distances (p=0.033, Cohen’s d 0.63) a
performed 62% more high-intensity accelerations (p=0.015, Cohen’s d 0.90) than FT players. There were
no differences in high-intensity and very high-intensity running distances, number of accelerations,
number of decelerations or high-intensity decelerations, or match-play RPE. When accounting for
biological maturation, the adjusted marginal means were not different between FT and NT players in
any physical metric except for total player load (p=0.046) and high-intensity accelerations (p<0.030).
Conclusion: We conclude that while several physical performance metrics differ significantly between FT
and NT match-play, the most robust differences after controlling for maturation are in sprint performance
and high-intensity accelerations
Application of tailored decadal predictions for Eastern North Atlantic.
Get PDFPredictability is the result of both externally forced and internally generated variability
on time scales such as seasonal, annual, and decadal (Meehl et al., 2014).
There have been improvements in the field of global decadal prediction. This is in
terms of a better understanding of the interactions that occur in our world and in
the improvement of the models that are being used. While the consensus is that
the models are accurate on a global scale, there is limited confidence in prediction
skill on a regional scale. There have been studies conducted on the model components
for target areas with some success. This is one of the motivators for this
thesis, which investigates the benefits of developing targeted decadal predictions
for stakeholder needs. The second motivator is how these predictions can be tailored
to stakeholder needs. It will explore the predictability of the North Atlantic
Ocean on a decadal time scale for oceanographic properties like ocean temperature,
sea salinity, the subpolar gyre (SPG), and Atlantic Multidecadal Variability
(AMV). Making this information usable on a regional scale for Ireland would allow
tailoring for different applications such as fisheries. The fishery sector is of vast
importance to the Irish economy. The ability to predict changes in future stock
will support adaptation and fish stock management. The different stages of fish
development are dependent on oceanic variables like temperature and salinity so
decadal prediction skill for those variables would allow us to make statements on
potential changes in fish stock for a species such as Mackerel
Reading the Creative Industries With Deleuze: How Creative Are the Creative Industries?
Get PDFThis article develops a definition of creativity that is informed by the work of Gilles Deleuze, Dan Harris, Susan Luckman, and others. We explore its application in the context of the creative industries in Australia. Through our empirical interviews conducted as part of an Australian Research Council–funded project called Vital Arts, we delve into the multifaceted nature of creativity, which we argue is not always accounted for in the bureaucratic organization, categorization, and funding of the creative industries. We outline the measurements used by key governmental, nongovernmental, and policymaking bodies in Australia to categorize and fund the creative industries. These metrics reveal blind spots in how the creative industries are institutionally organized and treated when considering the Deleuzian ontology of creativity that actually motors creative work. We argue that many creative jobs and industries exist outside traditional bureaucratic definitions and categories, and through the concepts of affect, becoming, the major and the minor, as well as fabulation, from Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy, we explore these dynamics further
BioBeo Blended Intensive Programme Schedule
Get PDFMaynooth University Leads Horizon Europe Funded BioBeo Education Programme
Maynooth, Ireland
The BioBeo Blended Intensive Programme (BIP), an integral component of the Horizon Europe funded BioBeo Education Programme led by Maynooth University (MU), is set to revolutionise circular bioeconomy education across Europe. The initiative strategically introduces circular bioeconomy curricula in primary, secondary schools, and university settings, with a primary focus on fostering youth and citizen engagement in bioeconomy policymaking. The BioBeo Education Programme, funded by Horizon Europe and led by Maynooth University, is at the forefront of promoting circular bioeconomy education. Through strategic partnerships and innovative approaches, the programme aims to inspire and empower individuals to actively participate in shaping the future of bioeconomy policy and living as community members in a society transformed through a bioeconomy. Geared towards future educators, the BIP equips participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to teach bioeconomy concepts in diverse educational settings. The programme will be hosted at Maynooth University from the 1st to the 8th of March 2024, providing an immersive experience for all attendees and facilitated by the Environmental Sustainable Development Education and Bioeconomy Research Unit (ESDEB) of MU.
Collaborating on this groundbreaking project are Maynooth University and University College Dublin - Ireland, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences -The Netherlands, and Odisee University of Applied Sciences - Belgium. Dr Máire Nic an Bhaird and Dr Laoise Ní Chléirigh are looking forward to welcoming BIP scholars to Maynooth University in the first week of March 2024. During the BIP, the MU/UCD BioBeo bioeconomy comic ‘Back to the Future with Beo and Raja: A Tale from the Early Bioeconomy’ will be launched by Minister of State for EU Affairs and Defence Peter Burke at the medieval roundhouse in the grounds of UCD, along with planting native Irish trees with the BIP participants and invited guests.
It is anticipated the programme will serve as a catalyst for advancing circular bioeconomy education and empowering the next generation of leaders in this critical field. The BIP offers a unique opportunity to enhance their understanding of bioeconomy and contribute to knowledge dissemination. This eight-day ERASMUS and Horizon Europe funded programme combines in-person and online components, culminating in the highly anticipated European BioBeo Festival on the 15th of March 2024
Of Land and Ocean: Climate Change Vulnerability and Resilience on Inishbofin Island
Get PDFIreland’s Inishbofin Island, situated in the north-east Atlantic, is particularly exposed to climate change. Weather-dependent access and frequent isolation from the mainland necessitate continuous adaptation to erosion and extreme weather. Understanding how Islanders adapt is hindered by a lack of longitudinal studies and data on Irish islands. Developing and deploying an interdisciplinary ethnographic framework drawn from geography, anthropology and island studies, this research examines the interplay between culture, identities, and socio-ecological dynamics to enhance understanding of resilience and vulnerability in Inishbofin. Key objectives include understanding the significance of island identities for resilience; exploring the impacts of colonial legacies and post-colonial governance on climate resilience and vulnerability; assessing the exposure of island services, infrastructures, and livelihoods; and investigating the lived experiences of the island's weather, or weatherworld, and future implications.
Identity is enmeshed within Inishbofin's distinct socio-ecological dynamics, particularly exchanges between land and ocean, and internal and external governance. Resilience emerges from memory (sometimes tragic) and experience of incremental and abrupt changes in society, weather and the sea, formed by continuous transformation of and attachment to place, with fluidity being a central characteristic of both islandness and resilience. Findings underscore the critical role of power relations and political narratives in shaping island resilience and vulnerability. Historical marginalisation, exemplified through suppression of the Irish language and theft of human remains for science, has impaired equitable planning and policy, contributing to vulnerability.
Marginalisation persists through deferral of essential services and infrastructures, including electricity grid connection and an accessible deep-sea pier, available only in 1998. As Inishbofin’s non-Gaeltacht status precludes a secondary school, migration ensues from childhood. Tourism and proliferation of second home ownership mean that nearly half of its housing remains unoccupied for much of the year yet is inaccessible to locals. Water supply has faced suspensions due to elevated manganese levels, and primary livelihoods of fishing, farming and tourism are at risk from climate change. While islandness is a factor in determining the availability and exposure of services, infrastructures and livelihoods, national policy and external governance are a greater determinant. Adaptation is restrained by mainland projections of island stasis rather than its ongoing transformation.
Implementing adaptation designed for the mainland, oblivious to island weatherworlds, leads to policy failures and destabilises political narratives. This dynamic, heightening tensions between island resilience and external pressures, results in an approaching tipping point whereby population decline may threaten the sustainability of island communities. By analysing geographical, cultural, social, historical, political, economic and psychological factors, the research provides a comprehensive view of the processes that generate resilience and vulnerability in Inishbofin. The findings are not unique to this island and call for a greater focus on justice, together with recognition and affirmation of islandness in responding to climate change in these distinctive, important places of land and ocean
Feeling healthy versus being healthy: Discrepancies between subjective and objective health in older adults
Get PDFBackground: With increasing age, older adults experience declines in
health, often in the form of reduced functionality, increased multimorbidity
and waning cognitive capacity. Despite such declines, some older adults provide
stable (and sometimes even improving) subjective appraisals of their
health over time – even in the face of declining objective health. Growing
dissociations between subjective and objective health scores in later
life mean that some older adults may provide overly ’health optimistic’ or
’health pessimistic’ appraisals of their health. However, consensus on how
these individuals should be identified is lacking. Additionally, the long-term
health implications of being overly health optimistic or pessimistic in later
life is considerably underexplored.
Methods: To address this, the present thesis describes a health asymmetry
framework, a metric which classifies older adults into groups, based on
the level of agreement between their subjective and objective health scores
(‘health optimistic’, ‘health pessimistic’, ‘good health realistic’ and ‘poor
health realistic’). Using four nationally representative, secondary archived
datasets across Europe, including one instance of primary data collection,
the thesis longitudinally investigates how these health asymmetry categories
are associated with mental and functional health sequelae over time.
STUDY 1 utilises data from wave one of the Irish Longitudinal Study of
Ageing to create a health asymmetry metric. Self-rated health scores were
compared to scores from a Frailty Index, in a sample of n=6907 older adults
(aged 50+ years), resulting in the derivation of the following categories:
’health optimistic’, ’health pessimistic’ and ’health realistic’. Multinomial
logistic regressions found that being health pessimistic was associated with
psychosocial factors such as increased anxiety, increased loneliness and decreased
social connectedness. In contrast, being health optimistic was associated
with increased levels of vigorous exercise and alcohol consumption.
STUDY 2 describes how a sample of older English adults transitioned from
one health asymmetry category to another, across waves one to three of the
English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Using first-order Markov transition
and generalised logit models, health realistic individuals were likely to remain
health realistic over time. The prevalence of the health optimistic
category increased over two wave transitions, while the health pessimistic
category yielded volatile, unstable transition probabilities.
STUDY 3 investigated how baseline health asymmetry status predicted
depressive symptoms and change in depressive symptoms over time in European
older adults. Using data from the Survey of Healthy Ageing and
Retirement in Europe, multilevel growth curve models found that health
pessimists consistently had the highest levels of depressive symptoms over
time. Health optimists had a gradually declining trajectory of depressive
symptoms across a 14-year study period.
STUDY 4 explored whether health asymmetry categories differentially
predicted the risk of an injurious fall in older Swedish adults. Data from
the Swedish National Study on Ageing and Care in Kungsholmen were
utilised. A set of time-varying Cox and Laplace regressions found that
health optimists had the most elevated risk of experiencing an injurious fall
of all health asymmetry categories, which may be due to their poor OH and
optimistic biases which make health pessimists believe they are not at risk
of falling.
STUDY 5 involved intensive primary data collection from a sample of
n=53 middle aged and older Irish adults, through a smartphone-based Ecological
Momentary Assessment design. Health anxiety data were collected
over the course of a 6-day study period. Growth mixture modelling found
that two latent trajectories of health anxiety evolved over the study period.
Health asymmetry categories did not significantly predict health anxiety
scores over time.
Conclusions: Health asymmetry appears to be a clinically relevant tool
which is significantly associated with depressive symptomatology, injurious
falls and mortality. Health asymmetry may be more useful as a summary
tool for large-scale population-based studies, given that the metric can be
retrospectively constructed using secondary data. Future research should
consider exploring the association between health asymmetry and other
important physical and functional health outcomes in older adults, such as
psychological distress and multimorbidity
Navigating the Regulatory Landscape of Voluntary Sustainability Standards in International Food Trade: A Multilateral Interplay
Get PDFVoluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) are non-mandatory criteria designed to foster sustainable practices throughout the global supply chain. These standards are particularly prevalent in the agri-food sector, where they aim to support wider public policy objectives such as sustainable food production, animal welfare, healthy lifestyle, and labour conditions. Significant challenges arises from the fact that VSSs, despite their voluntary nature, they often impose mandatory effect in the global supply chain. They also often lack easily-identifiable features of the product themselves. These creates systematic problems for the global food trade system, where conventional regulation address governmental measures on goods with specific inherent characteristics that can be clearly identified in the final product. This article explored the interrelationship among private VSSs, national regulations and international treaties within the agri-food industry. It highlights ambiguity surrounding the regulatory framework for VSSs under the WTO law, noting the absence of a consensus on how relevant provisions should be interpreted. Despite the diversity among various VSSs, VSSs, this article argues for the potential for harmonization and equivalence among VSSs. By aligning various VSSs and with technical regulations, it is possible to strike a balance between trade liberalization and promotion of sustainable practices
Decolonising Medieval Irish Studies
Get PDFThis short article reviews some of the colonial underpinnings of the field of Medieval Irish Studies (a subdiscipline of Celtic Studies), using the career of Whitley Stokes (1830–1909) as a case study in the entanglements between British colonial activity in India and the development of philological research on medieval Irish literature in the 19th century. It then proceeds to use autoethnographic reflections from graduate students in the field of Medieval Irish Studies whose backgrounds locate them at various intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class. These reflections offer constructive pathways toward working to decolonise the discipline
“My Work Is to Show That It’s So Much More Beautiful When You Can Mix”: An Interview With Kim Thúy
Get PDFKim Thúy Ly Thanh, who publishes under the pen name Kim Thúy, was born in Saigon, Vietnam, in 1968. In 1978, when she was ten years old, Thúy and her family fled their home country by sea as part of the mass emigration of people seeking to escape the repressive communist regime and harsh economic conditions in Vietnam after the end of the war. These refugees, who were collectively referred to as “boat people” due to the many small, overcrowded boats they used to escape Vietnam, often faced perilous conditions on the sea; those who survived the risky journey were initially accommodated in refugee camps in Southeast Asia before being resettled in countries such as the US, Australia, France, Germany, and the UK.1 Thúy and her family made it to Malaysia, where they spent a few months living in a small refugee camp in Kuantan; they were subsequently offered political asylum in Canada and settled in French-speaking Québec in early 1979. In this interview, Thúy describes the warmth and affection with which she and her family were welcomed in Canada, which marked a sharp contrast to the emotional restraint she was used to within Vietnamese culture. She also outlines the challenges her parents faced in integrating into Canadian society and culture, which was so different from everything they knew. By contrast, Thúy quickly immersed herself in the culture of her new home, learning French and pursuing an education. She studied at the University of Montréal, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Translation in 1990 and subsequently with a Bachelor’s degree in Law in 1993