Change In Ireland Research Articles

Human health risk from co-occurring mycotoxins in dairy: A feed-to-fork approach

The presence of multiple mycotoxins in bovine dairy products can lead to potentially harmful health effects. This study examined the risk to human health from multiple mycotoxins in bovine dairy products using a feed-to-fork approach. It conducted a component-based risk assessment, using the toxicity of the most potent mycotoxin as a reference for others. The model also accounted for the influence of varying feed composition on mycotoxin contamination, considering monthly feeding pattern changes in Ireland. The probabilistic risk assessment uses Monte Carlo simulation to capture uncertainty and variability present in the model. The risk characterisation was undertaken using the Margin Of Exposure (MOE) method, where if the MOE was below 10,000, then the population's health was considered at risk. This study investigated the risk to human health from single mycotoxins and a combination of mycotoxins. The results showed that all mycotoxins were of low risk. However, the risk increased when aflatoxin was included in the co-occurring groups. Since 5% of the MOE was less than 10,000, the Irish population (male and female) was at relatively low risk of consuming aflatoxin or other co-occurring mycotoxin-contaminated milk. In comparison, the age group 8-12 years were at a relatively higher risk, with 10% of the MOE less than 10,000. The carry-over rates, the concentration of mycotoxin in feed components and the feeding composition were the most sensitive parameters. An increase in aflatoxin production in feed components can occur under climate scenarios and thus needs to be monitored, preventing any risks from aflatoxin or a combination of co-occurring mycotoxins. This study underscores the need for continuous monitoring and preventive measures, especially in feed components that are sensitive to aflatoxin-producing fungi that may contaminate bovine feed.

Charting a course for peatland restoration in Ireland: a case study to support restoration frameworks in other regions

Peatlands are complex landscape ecosystems. Since the beginning of the last century, they have been viewed as wastelands, with little or no economic value of note in their natural state. This led to their hidden values, particularly their contributions to human well‐being, and global and local support systems, being completely overlooked in policy and decision‐making, both at national and global levels. In this paper, we highlight some of the complexities relating to Irish peatlands: from their traditional use, to changes in land use relating to national and European policy changes in the last century. We then outline essential supporting components of a framework for their restoration and future sustainable use. Policy relating to agriculture, forestry, and energy has driven most of the land use change in Ireland, particularly since the mid‐1900s, and this has led to dramatic changes in peatland extent and condition, with negative impacts on the flows of ecosystem services and benefits for people. Restoration of peatlands has significant potential to reverse those negative flows and deliver benefits (local and global) for carbon, water, biodiversity, and people. Local communities can, and are keen to, support the delivery of peatland restoration, but they need to be supported by national agencies and policy frameworks that address social, economic, and environmental targets. The act of restoration creates opportunities to re‐connect with peatlands in a positive way, re‐enforcing the intrinsic and reciprocal values of peatlands, and ultimately supporting their sustainable use.

Mortgage Borrowing Limits and House Prices: Evidence from a Policy Change in Ireland

Mortgage Borrowing Limits and House Prices: Evidence from a Policy Change in Ireland

Recent renewable energy policy changes in Ireland satisfy the requirements of a nascent wave energy technology development sector?

Regulatory frameworks for European countries are influenced by international and EU policies. These policies have a direct effect on the renewables sector with European countries as signatories to the Paris Agreement[1]and the European Green Deal[2].
 As a result of emissions targets being ratified into national statute books, governments have agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51% in 2030 and to net zero by 2050, and with recently heightened energy security concerns, renewable energy policies must adapt to keep pace. One country undergoing major changes is Ireland. This study examines the changes to renewables policy in Ireland in general and offshore renewables policy in particular, and whether they are sufficient to enable the country to forge what has the potential to become a vibrant wave energy technology development sector. This study will compare these policy changes with some of the successful wind energy policy measures implemented in Denmark and with examples set by other international institutions.
 This study will examine policy changes in Ireland since the ratification of the Climate Action Act 2021[3] and Marine Area Planning Act 2021[4]. The study will attempt to determine whether the new policies meet the requirements of Ireland’s nascent wave energy industry. It will look at areas of interest for wave energy technology developers, specifically: climate-related legislation, test facilities, consenting procedures, feed-in tariffs, environmental impact, public support, intellectual property protection and government financial support. This study will examine examples set by Wave Energy Scotland (WES) and EuropeWave; pre-commercial, government funded procurement models, and ask whether the newly established Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) which will be responsible for issuing foreshore licences in Ireland, is Ireland’s version of these institutions and how it is likely to differ. Questions will be raised about whether the focus on offshore wind by policy architects helps or hinders wave energy technology development and whether it is possible to balance public concerns with technology development through policy. Finally, it will look at Denmark’s wind energy development and examine which policies contributed most to its enduring success and whether these have been absorbed into new offshore renewables policies in Ireland.
 Conclusions will show that many policy requirements that had been formerly lacking have been addressed. It will be shown that the changes have largely come about due to the demand for offshore wind and that wave energy technology developers in Ireland will benefit and lose from this. Further analysis and the passage of time are required to determine whether the new policies are fully enforced by newly formed MARA but that Ireland needs to develop an institution that embraces the new policies.
 
 [1] The Paris Agreement | United Nations
 [2] European Green Deal | Think Tank | European Parliament (europa.eu)
 [3] Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 (irishstatutebook.ie)]
 [4] Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 (irishstatutebook.ie)

Impact of climate change on hydropower potential in the UK and Ireland

Despite making up a small proportion of total electricity generation in the UK and Ireland, hydropower has an important role in providing resilience to the energy network and contributing to governmental net-zero emissions targets. Run-of-river hydropower schemes are popular in both countries, but are vulnerable to changes in streamflow patterns. In this study, we examine how climate change induced streamflow alterations will affect hydropower in the UK and Ireland. We use EXP-HYDRO hydrological model to simulate future streamflow in 585 catchments under worst-case future climate change (Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5). Within 178 catchments we identify 531 run-of-river hydropower abstractions and analyze the impact of modelled streamflows on hydropower water abstraction characteristics. Results show that by 2080 there will be a reduction in annual hydropower water abstraction in Wales (−2.1%) and Northern Ireland (−1.9%), increased abstraction in England (+3.0%) and Scotland (+12.9%), and no changes in Ireland. For annual average power generation, a 6.2% increase is projected for Great Britain by the 2080s, and a 1.4% decrease for the island of Ireland. Our results suggest that the ability of hydropower schemes to make optimal use of future flows will depend on abstraction license conditions, with implications for overall power grid resilience.

Termination of pregnancy for major congenital heart disease: the impact of constitutional change in Ireland

Prior to 2019, termination of pregnancy (TOP) in Ireland was unlawful in all circumstances. Since the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, TOP is permissible with no gestational limit in the setting of a serious maternal health risk or a lethal fetal abnormality. For cases of major congenital heart disease (CHD), we sought to compare TOP rates prior to and following this landmark legislative change.

Institutional Libraries and Book Collecting Practices in Ireland, 1960–2000

The National Library of Ireland (NLI) became a legal deposit library in 1927, joining Trinity College which had been, since 1801, subject to British legal-deposit legislation. These two institutions were to form the backbone of the country’s large-scale collection and preservation of written heritage during the twentieth century. In augmenting their collections during this time, they faced similar challenges of space and finance, while also benefitting from the dispersal of major private libraries of big houses in the post-civil war era. This article examines the acquisitions policies of these two libraries in the context of broader trends in the rare book trade. It considers the shifting sands of public and university budgets for library-building during the latter half of the twentieth century and examines where books and archives of Irish interest were bought and sold. In particular, it addresses the impact of the growth of US universities and specialist libraries on the market for Irish material from the 1960s onwards. Responding to this increased competition, the Irish institutions managed their collections and acquisitions in new ways, often at increased cost and using selective buying practices. Drawing on catalogues of sales, auctions and library records, this article offers a broad appreciation of the literary-institutional landscape in a period of vast change in Ireland.

The spatiotemporal dimension of population change in Ireland: visualisation of growth and shrinkage in Irish Electoral Divisions (1986–2016)

ABSTRACT Population shrinkage has gained attention from academics and policymakers in recent years, due to the long-term implications the phenomenon has for public service delivery and the viability of urban and rural communities. We visualise the socio-temporal evolution of population shrinkage and growth, utilising a spatially rectified dataset containing population data from seven Census of Population covering the 1986–2016 period in the Republic of Ireland. Spatial changes in population distribution are visualised in a map that classifies small administrative units using a spatial typology distinguishing between those experiencing population growth or shrinkage, across the 30-year period. The temporal dimensions of these developments are considered in a sequence of inset maps that apply the same typology to identify the intercensal changes. Overall, the map facilitates the visual communication of long-run population trends, the identification of areas experiencing limited or no growth, and indicates the relative consistency of these trends over time.

Born digital or fossilised digitally? How born digital data systems continue the legacy of social violence towards LGBTQI + communities: a case study of experiences in the Republic of Ireland

The AI and Society discourse has previously drawn attention to the ways that digital systems embody the values of the technology development community from which they emerge through the development and deployment process. Research shows how this effect leads to a particular treatment of gender in computer systems development, a treatment which lags far behind the rich understanding of gender that social studies scholarship reveals and people across society experience. Many people do not relate to the narrow binary gender options of male or female, and many people express their gender identity in much richer ways than the sex/gender binary female/woman and male/man Boolean terms will allow. We ask: are “born-digital” gendered datasets in digital systems experienced as marginalising by those who express their identity beyond the male/female binary? Case Study: Ireland. To answer this universal question, this paper presents the findings of an empirical case study of people in Ireland with diverse gender identities and expressions, and their experiences with public data systems and new technologies. In spite of great social changes in Ireland which have led to constitutional change in favour of LGBTQI + people, born-digital systems were experienced by respondents as embodying socio-cultural values which were no longer accepted in society at large. For many of the respondents, digital technologies routinely marginalise them in all kinds of ways. These systems keep alive violence and oppression long after civil rights have been enshrined in constitutional law. This study is just one example of the way assumptions about digital are disengaged from society-at-large. It is a call to arms to all who are passionate about socially-responsible technology.

Deliberative democracy and the climate crisis

ABSTRACTNo democratic state has yet implemented a climate plan strong enough to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. This has led some to argue that democracy cannot cope with a challenge of this magnitude. In this article, we take stock of the claim that a more deliberative democratic system can strengthen our ability to respond effectively to the climate crisis. The most visible development in this direction is the recent citizens’ assemblies on climate change in Ireland, France, and the UK. We begin our analysis of the promise of deliberative democracy with a recognition of the difficulties that democracies face in tackling climate change, including short‐termism; the ways in which scientific and expert evidence are used; the influence of powerful political interests; and the relationship between people and the politicians that represent them. We then introduce the theoretical tradition of deliberative democracy and examine how it might ameliorate the challenges democracies face in responding to the climate crisis. We evaluate the contribution of deliberative mini‐publics, such as citizens’ assemblies and juries, and look beyond these formal processes to examine how deliberation can be embedded in political and social systems around the world. We conclude that deliberation‐based reforms to democratic systems, including but not limited to deliberative mini‐publics, are a necessary and potentially transformative ingredient in climate action.This article is categorized under: Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Communication Policy and Governance > Governing Climate Change in Communities, Cities, and Regions

Investigating the Nature of Change in Factors Affecting Gender Equity in the IT Sector: A Longitudinal Study of Women in Ireland

How and why do societal, organizational and individual factors affecting gender equity in the IT field change over time? To answer this question a longitudinal investigation of the nature of change in factors affecting the position of women in the IT profession was undertaken. It was conducted in Ireland against the backdrop of fluctuations in the nation’s socio-economic status. The individual differences theory of gender and IT was used to analyze life history interviews conducted at four points in time with a total of 63 women whose stories cover the decades from the 1970s to the 2010s. What resulted is a dynamic extension of this theory through the addition of seven themes that characterize the nature of change in factors affecting women IT professionals. The effect on women of economic changes in Ireland is shown to occur through changes in other factors: environmental (i.e., policy, infrastructural, and cultural), identity (e.g., motherhood) and individual (e.g., family). The results reveal both gradual and dramatic changes in an evolving picture of women in this sector, against the back drop of the peaks and valleys of Ireland’s economy. Both transformational and enduring images emerge from this look at Ireland over five decades.

Mean sea level and tidal change in Ireland since 1842: a case study of Cork

Abstract. Knowledge of regional changes in mean sea level and local changes in tides are crucial to inform effective climate adaptation. An essential element is the availability of accurate observations of sea level. Sea level data in the Republic of Ireland, prior to the establishment of the National Tide Gauge Network in the mid-2000s, are limited but belie a wealth of historical data available in archival form. In this study, we digitize records located in Cork Harbour, Ireland, from 1842 and show how short-duration (6–8 weeks), high-quality data with a large interval to the present can accurately inform tidal and mean sea level changes. We consider error sources in detail. We estimate for the main M2 tidal constituent that the accuracy of these historical measurements is 1 % and 2 min for amplitude and phase, respectively, once adjustments for seasonal and nodal effects are made. Our mean sea level estimates are accurate to the 2 cm level, once adjustments for atmospheric and seasonal effects are made. Our results show tidal stability with a 2 % change in the amplitude of the M2 component, 4 min change in the phase over a period of 177 years, and mean sea level rise of 40 cm in the Cork Harbour area from 1842 to 2019, approximately in line with global mean sea level trends plus local glacial isostatic adjustment. More broadly, we show that with careful seasonal, nodal, and atmospheric corrections, together with knowledge of benchmark provenance, these historic, survey-oriented data can accurately inform of sea level changes.

“We don’t have any answers within the current framework”: tensions within cannabis policy change in Ireland

PurposeInternational policy approaches to cannabis production and use are changing rapidly, and within the Irish context, alternatives to prohibition are being considered. This study aims to explore policymaker’s attitudes towards the decriminalisation and legal regulation of cannabis for recreational use in the midst of an unfolding policy process, examining the degree which a “policy window” might be open for the implementation of cannabis policy change.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were held with eight key informants within the policy field in Dublin, Ireland. Kingdon’s (2014) Multiple Streams framework was used to consider whether the problems, policy and political streams were aligning to support progressive policy change.FindingsIrish policymakers indicated broad support for the decriminalisation of cannabis. The legal regulation of cannabis received more qualified support. Existing policy was heavily criticised with criminalisation identified as a clear failure. Of particular interest was the willingness of policymakers to offer opinions which contrasted with the policy positions of their organisations. While a policy window did open – and close – subsequent governmental commitments to examine the issue of drugs policy in a more deliberative process in the near future highlight the incremental nature of policy change.Originality/valueThis study provides unique insight into the opinions of policymakers in the midst of a prolonged period of policy evolution. A latent aspiration for historical policy change was situated within the realpolitik of more traditional approaches to policy development, demonstrating that the alignment of Kingdon’s (2014) problem, policy and political streams are essential for change in cannabis policy.

Evolution of Jigsaw - a National Youth Mental Health Service.

There has been a global movement towards transformation of youth mental health services, but limited information on the core principles and characteristics of these new services is available. Jigsaw is one such service, established in Ireland in 2006, with the intent of creating change in Ireland's system of mental healthcare for 12-25 year olds. The aim of this paper is to describe the evolution of Jigsaw services, which are now firmly embedded in the Irish system of care for young people, and recognized internationally as an established service network. This paper describes provides an up-to-date description of the Jigsaw service model, key areas of evolution that have shaped this model, and identifies future directions in service development. Key attributes of the Jigsaw service model including therapeutic service, scope of practice, youth mental health promotion, youth participation, and monitoring/evaluation are described in this paper. Information on key enablers (funding and governance/quality) and service providers is also included. Information on the core principles and characteristics of youth mental health services is important. This paper addresses a gap in the literature by describing the Jigsaw service model, which continues to evolve so that it is responsive to the needs of young people.

Waiting for the wave: Political leadership, policy windows, and alcohol policy change in Ireland

Existing research has identified numerous barriers to the adoption of public health policies for alcohol, including the cross-cutting nature of the policy problem and industry influence. Recent developments in Ireland suggest that while formidable, such barriers can be overcome. Ireland's 2018 alcohol legislation adopts key evidence-based measures, introducing pricing, availability and marketing regulations that are world-leading in public health terms. Drawing primarily on the Multiple Streams Approach (MSA), this study investigates the adoption of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018. We draw data from 20 semi-structured interviews with politicians, government advisors, public health experts, and advocates, as well as from relevant primary documents, newspaper articles, and other material in the public domain. We find that increased public attention to alcohol-related harms in Ireland (problem stream), developments within the institutional location of policymaking (the policy stream), and the political pressure exerted by politicians and advocates (the political stream) all combined to open a policy window. Unlike previous alcohol policy reform efforts in Ireland, several personally committed and well-positioned leaders championed policy change. This study suggests that political leadership might be important in understanding why public health approaches to alcohol have been embraced in some contexts but not in others.

A long-brewing crisis: The historical antecedents of major alcohol policy change in Ireland.

The Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 in Ireland has been hailed as a world-leading package of alcohol policy reforms. Existing studies have identified the events that led to alcohol emerging onto the high-level policy agenda in Ireland, particularly after 2009. Using policy feedback theory, this study specifically investigates the political consequences of accumulating alcohol-related health and social harms for processes of policy change prior to 2009. The study traces the development of alcohol policy in Ireland over the past three decades. It draws on primary documents, secondary literature and interviews with public health advocates, medical doctors, public health experts and key decision-makers. The study documents a decades-long struggle to have alcohol recognised as a public health issue in Ireland. We identify 2008/2009 as the key turning point, where policy conditions decisively shifted in a public health direction. We show how insufficient institutional authority and the accumulation of the effects of earlier policy failures helped foster this dynamic. These two factors elevated the visibility of alcohol-related harm for key stakeholders, helping spur greater demand for major policy change. Not acting on the population health harms caused by alcohol can produce significant societal costs, particularly when consumption is rising, and entail subsequent political consequences. Understanding of innovations in alcohol policy decision making requires an appreciation of the historical context, including earlier policy failures.

Ireland and the Climate Crisis by David Robbins Diarmuid Torney Pat Brereton (review)

Reviewed by: Ireland and the Climate Crisis ed. by David Robbins, Diarmuid Torney, Pat Brereton Dr Ciara Murphy (bio) David Robbins, Diarmuid Torney, Pat Brereton (eds.), Ireland and the Climate Crisis (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), 336 pages. We, as a global society, have known for decades that climate change is a problem. The scientific knowledge about the causes and solutions have crystalized over the years to the point where there is no doubt that the climate is changing and human activities are the main cause. Like much of the world, Ireland has failed to respond and act upon this knowledge, with former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar stating in December 2018, ‘Obviously, climate emissions and greenhouse gas areas is an area where we’re laggard and falling way behind’.1 Acknowledging all of this, the main question that remains is why have we been so slow to act on this knowledge? Focusing specifically on the Irish context this book, Ireland and the Climate Crisis, aims to answer this question. Edited by David Robbins, Diarmuid Torney, and Pat Brereton (all from the School of Communications and the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University), this book is the result of a collaboration from across the climate change sphere in Ireland. Over the space of sixteen chapters and through the contributions of nineteen additional authors, this book brings together numerous different threads weaving them into a tapestry representing a comprehensive picture of climate change in Ireland. Climate change is not purely about the science. It has deep environmental, social and cultural connotations which shape how and why we respond, or indeed, fail to respond. This book reflects this reality and focuses not only on the ‘hard science’ of climate change and how it will manifest itself here but concentrates on the often neglected ‘soft science’ research which examines the social and political realities which has brought us to this point, as well highlighting the opportunities for, and barriers to, climate action in Ireland. The book is organized into four main sections. The first section details the most up-to-date scientific knowledge on the impacts of climate change in Ireland and a history of Ireland’s policy response. This gives the context and sets the stage for the more detailed examination of the circumstances and processes leading to the current situation, considered in subsequent sections. Section two investigates the role of politics and the law more closely while section three investigates the aspects of our society, including our economy, that influence climate actions. In this section, the role of communication and media in shaping a society’s perception of climate action are also brought [End Page 130] to the fore. The final section looks in detail at how we can engage with the climate movement and act collectively to mitigate the crisis. The construction of the book can be seen as an attempted ‘integral ecology’ approach, refusing to reduce the problem or the solution to one single track. It also highlights the interdependencies and interconnections between the different aspects and climate action pathways. The frequent cross referencing between the chapters and common themes that are observed throughout the book, such as the influence of agriculture on the climate change story in Ireland, makes it obvious to the reader that the subject matter that is dealt with in the individual chapters cannot be examined in isolation. A striking example of this can be observed in section two, which opens with an examination by Sadhbh O’Neill and Edwin Alblas of the strengths and weaknesses of using litigation as a tool to ‘force’ the government to comply with its own commitments (p. 57). Implicit in the effectiveness of this tool is the strength of the legislation which underpins it, both at national and EU level (p. 73), which mirrors the ambition of the politicians and legislators responsible for drawing up these laws (p. 91). Alongside the policy gains and legislative change that might arise, the Climate Case also functioned as a focal point for the climate movement, which both supported the proceedings and were mobilized by this novel form of climate action. Additionally, the ambition of the politicians and consequently the strength of the...

Assisted Suicide, Euthanasia and the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020

Assisted Suicide, Euthanasia and the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020 1 Noreen O’Carroll Introduction Dáil Éireann is currently debating the Dying with Dignity Bill 20202 . Everyone would like to die with dignity. Debating this would therefore appear to be an uncontroversial thing to do. But the bill is of particular concern, because it proposes radical legislative, medical and social change in Ireland by making provision for assisted suicide and euthanasia. ‘Assisted suicide’ refers to cases in which, at the voluntary request of a patient with decision-making capacity, a doctor deliberately enables a patient to end his or her own life by prescribing or providing medical substances with the intent to bring about death. ‘Euthanasia’ refers to a doctor deliberately administering a lethal substance or carrying out an intervention to cause the death of a patient with decision-making capacity at the patient’s own voluntary request.3 The scope of the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020 also provides for a nurse to be involved in these practices, where the patient’s doctor authorises this. The present measure was initiated as a Private Members’ Bill by Gino KennyTDon15September2020.TDsprogresseditquicklyanditcompleted its second stage on 7 October 2020, when a majority voted for it (81 to 71).4 A bill has to progress through five stages in the Dáil and be passed before going to Seanad Éireann, where the process begins again from the second stage. Once the Dáil and Seanad both pass the bill, the Taoiseach presents a copy to the President to sign into law.5 When the bill was introduced in the Dáil, the country was weighed down by Covid-19 and as a result it went unnoticed by most people. One commentator observed that the rush to enact this legislation at a time when the country was so distracted by a once-in-a-century pandemic was an act unworthy of a healthy democracy.6 Should Ireland enact legislation for assisted suicide and euthanasia? Studies • volume 110 • number 438 142 Underlying assumptions Two assumptions underlie the Dying with Dignity Bill 2020. The first is that the final stages of terminal illness rob patients of their dignity as human beings and they should therefore be permitted to choose the means and time of their own death with assistance from a healthcare professional, so as to ‘die with dignity’. It is the case that some patients associate the loss of physical and cognitive abilities as a consequence of their illness with a loss of dignity. However, human dignity cannot be lost through illness or disability, because it is inherent in each person. This is affirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Such dignity, ‘the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world’, belongs to ‘all members of the human family’. ‘All human beings’, it states, ‘are born free and equal in dignity and rights’.7 A patient’s human dignity, therefore, is not something that can be lost through illness and its effects. Some terminally ill patients do not fully understand this and need to be helped to see that they can die naturally with dignity while receiving the best possible medical and palliative care provided by the healthcare professions. The Dying with Dignity Bill 2020 does not provide for a death with dignity; it only provides for the legal option of a premature death by assisted suicide or euthanasia. The second assumption underlying the bill is that a death by assisted suicide or euthanasia is flawless, painless and quick. This is a common belief, but it is mistaken. No medical procedure is flawless; every medical procedure has complications, problems and associated risks. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are no exceptions.8 An analysis of data from two studies of assisted suicide and euthanasia in the Netherlands based on an examination of 649 cases indicates that technical problems, complications and problems with completion occurred during both procedures. The analysis of 114 cases of assisted suicide indicated that: • Technical problems occurred in 11 cases. In the case of 1 patient, the fluid injected into a vein flowed back out of the vein at the injectionsite.7patientshaddifficultyadministeringtheoraldrug. 3 patients suffered from other problems including inappropriate equipment...

‘Nobody Will Even Remember It’: An Oral History of the Contribution of the Teaching Religious in Ireland (I)

‘Nobody Will Even Remember It’: An Oral History of the Contribution of the Teaching Religious in Ireland (I)* Brendan Walsh Background This article seeks to review the contribution of teaching religious (sisters, priests and brothers) to schooling in Ireland between the 1940s and late 1970s, and principally employs the oral testimony of those who were taught by, and later taught with or as, members of religious congregations. Its purpose is to shed light upon the role of religious in teaching, their contribution to the development of the post-primary system in Ireland and the almost complete absence of women teaching religious in particular in Ireland’s historical narratives. Beyond this, the article seeks to discover the influence religious brought to bear upon their pupils; the regard, or otherwise, in which those pupils held them; the extent to which they modelled critical intellectual rigour, their response to social changes in Ireland in the period under discussion and how they accommodated calls from lay teachers for greater professional mobility. The article employs the recollections of post-primary teachers, both lay and religious, who were taught by members of a religious order or by diocesan priests, while at secondary school in the period referred to. Its purpose is to add to the growing body of research concerning the contribution of religious and to offer suggestions about what, if any, legacy might be ascribed to them. Male religious have been neglected and, like their female counterparts, studies have tended to take the form of congregational histories or histories of ‘individual educational establishments conducted by them’.1 Indeed, as Deirdre Raftery argues, generally, ‘(i)n the Irish context, little has been done on teachers’ lives’ while the ‘work of religious orders involved in teaching has tended away from…the experiences of religious as educators’, an absence that represents a significant omission.2 Traditional narratives have tended to concentrate upon the role of the Catholic church in relation to Studies • volume 110 • number 437 92 school ownership, management and ethos.3 Again, as Raftery notes, not alone is the history of teaching undeveloped in Ireland, but that of the teaching religious is all but absent. She cites Tom O’Donoghue, who notes that ‘there has hardly been any research to provide insights into the lives of … religious … who were influenced by discourses of “vocation” and “the giving of service”’, as distinct from ‘the “industrial” and “labour” perspectives which have influenced … existing studies’.4 The role of female religious as agents of social change, including as educators, has attracted welcome scholarly attention. Peckham Magray’s 1998 work The Transforming Work of Nuns had noted that ‘little analytical work has been done on the impact of these women’.5 Smith and Wicks’s work on convent schooling in Canada and that of Hellinckx et al., highlighting the ‘forgotten contribution of the teaching sisters’ in Belgium, Raftery’s ‘The “mission” of nuns in female education in Ireland, c.1850–1950’, Harford’s ‘Continuity and change in the perspectives of women religious in Ireland on themselves both as religious and as teachers in the years immediately prior to, and following, the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965)’, are a partial representation of the evolving interest in women teaching religious. 6 Raftery notes that, ‘(b)ecause one of the consequences of the agency of nuns in education was increased provision of opportunities to females, it has been possible to associate their work with the aims of the organised women’s education movement, and to see their spirit as feminist’.7 Such ‘acts of inference’ are ‘justifiable’, but, she cautions, ‘it is equally important for scholars to account for the spirit of these teaching congregations by referring to their own explicitly stated aims’.8 Here, Raftery touches upon an important aspect in the historiography of the teaching religious. Because the notion of the social good underlies Catholic social teaching, motives and actions, beyond those strictly belonging to teaching, can easily be attributed to them. One religious, interviewed for this article, recalled that, when her order embraced the introduction of free education in 1966, a lay colleague, anxious about the possible enrolment of new, uncooperative pupils, remarked, ‘you carry your cross, I don’t...

Life satisfaction amongst working parents: examining the case of mothers and fathers in Ireland

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of having minor children on parents' life satisfaction. Given the demands on working parents in terms of their time and financial resources, the authors suspect a complex interaction between employment and parenthood and explore the effect of parenthood on life satisfaction of mothers and fathers, working parents and those with children of various ages.Design/methodology/approachData from three rounds of the European Social Survey (R3 2006/07, R5 2010/11 and R8 2016/17) are used to account for Ireland's changing economic landscape. Three ordered probit models are estimated examining parents, and mothers and fathers separately.FindingsThe findings indicate that any life satisfaction benefits derived from having children appear to be eroded for working parents. There is a negative association between life satisfaction for working mothers with child(ren) aged between 5 and 12 years. Furthermore, when both parents are working, mothers' life satisfaction is also significantly reduced.Practical implicationsFamily policies and supports can shape the effects of parenthood on individual wellbeing and decisions regarding parenthood. Such policies need to be purposeful for working parents of school going children and consistent with economic strategy and labour market goals.Originality/valueMuch of the existing economic research on individual wellbeing and parenthood are focused on the fertility decision rather than examining the factors affecting the life satisfaction of different cohorts of parents thus leading to more targeted and informed policies. Contemporary weighting methodology is employed.