1. Tuesday, October 20th 2015 | uccexpress.ie | Volume 19 | Issue 4
Zoe Cashman - News Editor
UCC President Michael Murphy
has stated that he would actually
encourage some students to
drop out of college in pursuit of
setting up their own businesses.
Murphy said if students could
benefit society through the
creation of products, services
and technologies and create
jobs then he would encourage
them to drop out. He continued
that those who drop out can
always return to education. “I
was always impressed by a line
from the movie ‘The Social
Network’, “it is better to create
a job than find one”.
Dr Murphy’s opinion echoes
that of Silicon Valley billionaire,
Peter Thiel, who set up a
fellowship to pay promising
students 100,000 dollars to
drop out of college and start
companies instead.
In an interview with journalist
John Kennedy, Murphy stated
that “the university is focusing
more on turning research into
actual products and services
and is reaching out to its wider
graduate population to help it
start up”, explained Murphy.
The university is one of the
first European centres which
has formed an alliance with
the prestigious Blackstone
Launchpad, an entrepreneurship
programme that is kicking off
on campus. Murphy continued
that “it is designed to provide
walk-in support to any student
or graduate who has an idea
to mentor them and encourage
some of them to drop out”.
“It is the case in my view that
young people with very good
ideas that have clearly met
a need in society should be
encouraged to do that at an early
stage - because they can always
return to education”. Murphy
further went on to say that he
feels college is not for everyone
and that some people can
exploit their talents much more
successfully uncontaminated by
higher education.
(Continued on Page 3)
President Michael Murphy Encourages Students to ‘Drop Out and Start Up’
UCC First to Have
Epipens on Campus
Page 3
A Seanad Eireann &
Its Place in Politics
Page 10
WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA: Ryan Tubridy receives his Honorary Lifetime Membership to Ravenclaw from UCC Harry Potter Society members.
Interview:
Mairia Cahill on Her
Life, the IRA & Her
Seanad Campaign
Page 8 & 9

2. Tuesday, October 20th 2015 | UCC EXPRESS
Inside Today:
Student Council Page 4
Websummit Heroes Page 6
Mairia Cahill Page 8
Seanad Eireann Page 10
Photo Page Page 12
Cashel Topple UCC Page 15
Editor-in-Chief: Brian Conmy
Deputy & News Editor: Zoe Cashman
Deputy News Editor: Chris McCahill
Features Editor: Deirdre Ferriter
Deputy Features Editor: Katie Jeffers
Sport Editor: Neil Willoughby
Photo Editor: Emmet Curtin
Designer: Robert O’Sullivan
Fashion Editor: Jessica NiMhaolain
Online Editor: Afraic O’Riordain
Byline Editor: Xander Cosgrave
Fiction Editor: Austin Dowling
Humour Editor: Lauren Mulvihill
Arts & Lit Editor: Colm Furlong
Film & TV Editor: Olivia Brown
Gaming Editor: Aoife Gleeson
Music Editor: Holly Cooney
Comic Editor: Dylan O Connell
Editorial team
2 |
Letter from the Editor
Legacy
Damn You InDesign
This week in the middle of an impromptu
Express staff meeting someone quickly asked
me if I’d had a chance to look through my
email for something or other. This being the
first I heard of it I didn’t even look up from a
layout plan I was trying to sort out, I quickly
said I wasn’t sure what they meant. In a slightly
hushed tone they told me someone was looking
for some poetry that had been submitted to and
printed by us a number of years previous. The
author of the poems had unfortunately passed
away last summer and someone was trying to
gather together his work.
I stopped what I was doing.
Asking for a few more details I give a quick
scan of my email account for the requested
work, thankfully intact and on record, quickly
compiled them and sent them to the person who
requested them. In scrolling back through this
inherited account only a few people have ever
had ownership of the thought of the cumulative
amount of work that had ever gone into this
small college publication hit me suddenly, the
reality that I was searching for the work of a
fellow UCC student who I had never and now
would never meet compounding the realisation
even further.
I had to get on with the meeting though.
That evening I had a quick moment to read over
the poetry I had found and sent on. While not
my favourite artistic outlet, the student’s poetry
was sweet and showed a high level of thought
and work. Often funny or poignant the few
pieces I found painted half a picture of someone
I didn’t know. Giving another look through my
account I eventually managed to find even more
poetry from this single student, many of these I
suspect for one reason or another went unpub-
lished. Finding issues of the Express from the
years in question is difficult so I’m still unsure
what was and wasn’t printed. I read more and
more of his poetry, eventually remembering
to forward it to the friend of the student who
requested them in the first place.
I sent my condolences and asked a few questions
I prayed weren’t out of line.
Why I’m telling this story I’m not quite sure.
Maybe I had nothing better to say this week, or
maybe I didn’t want to comment on the front
page story for fear or losing my job. Either way
I guess I just want to say that we all leave some
odd little legacy behind, even those of us who
don’t write or create physical reminders of our
short existence both here in UCC or in the world
at large. It’s something to think about.
And for the love of God if I find an untimely
death nobody give my parents my comedy
articles, some “legacies” are better left buried.
Brian Conmy - Editor
Robert O’Sullivan - Designer
In a rare move I’m taking a break from
not-sleeping, drinking dangerous amounts of
caffeine and...I guess designing the paper and
Byline to actually write something. We’re now
a third of the way through this year’s run of the
Express, and it’s been interesting.
To describe the process, everyone writes the
articles, Brian
copy-edits everything to make sure it’s all
copacetic and then it’s over to me. This usually
means several days & hours straight hunched
over a laptop putting all the bits in the paper,
making it look all perty.
Before this issue came to the design stage I
thought nothing could top the first issue when
it came to stress. Then this came around. After
two days of no sleep, a series of anxiety attacks
& a low mood delayed the beginning of the
design process. Then, when I had most of Byline
designed Adobe InDesign (the programe
used to do the layout) crapped out and we had to
waste a day trying to get it working again. Now,
4 hours until the deadline, I’m rushing to get it
designed and fill all the empty space. Let’s hope
Coke Zero and Gary Numan can get me through.

3. UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 20th 2015
(Continued from cover article)
Recalling an honorary conferring
ceremony in UCC two years ago with
Graham Norton, Fergal Keane, Donald
Molloy and Demot O’Mahony, Murphy
stated that “among the four people being
conferred, one had been a drop-out, one
did not receive enough points to attend
university and one failed his exams and
yet there we were honouring all three of
them”.
Murphy said that UCC has a tradition
of independent thinking and went back
to George Boole; “ he never had a
formal education and if he had gone to
Cambridge, as some suggested, he may
not have retained the independence of
thought which led to his success”.
When asked what he felt his peers in
other Irish universities would make of a
fellow academic encouraging students to
drop out, Murphy replied “I’m sure some
of them would have preferred to have
said it first”
Murphy is encouraging a new way of
thinking when approaching working life.
He feels we should encourage young
people to view things from unusual
angles. “We have tried to shape the most
recent generation to create their own jobs
and not just look for a job at the end of
their time in university”.
As he nears the end of his term in office in
2017, Murphy reflected on the challenges
of leading one of Munster’s largest
institutions. Part of his success has been
attributed to his open management style -
holding open forums every three months
to discuss the various challenges with
the staff. What is echoed in his ‘drop out
start up theory’ is Murphy’s mantra of
“Get away, young man”, when it comes
to equipping the current generation for
the challenges in life.
Joe Kennedy, SU Education Officer,
responded to Murphy’s statements
saying “If you do encourage students to
drop out to start a business it can’t just be
‘goodbye and good luck’, there needs to
be continued support and an actual route
to re-enter university, I think UCC could
do more on that front”.
It appears that this “Get away” theory
of dropping out in search of business
opportunity is Murphy’s key to success.
Murphy stated when asked his opinion of
what it takes to be an effective university
president stated that “it is not a position
for anyone who craves popularity”.
When asked for further details on his
theory Dr. Murphy was unavailable for
comment.
| 3
Cover Continued...
Court Case Rules in Favour of UCC Regarding 2009 Floods
Zoe Cashman - News Editor
On the 5 October, the Commercial
Court ruled in favour of UCC in the
action it brought against the ESB for
compensation for flood damage to its
property following the extensive flood-
ing of Cork City in November 2009.
Mr. Justice Max Barrett ruled that the
ESB was 60 percent liable for extensive
damage to several buildings of UCC,
caused by the flooding that affected the
city.
UCC claimed that 30 acres of its cam-
pus were submerged under water and
29 campus buildings, several student
accommodation blocks and the entire
Mardyke sports complex were damaged.
Speaking at the opening of the case,
Paul Gallagher SC, for UCC, comment-
ed that “It should have been obvious to
the dams’ operators and managers they
were facing a very difficult, serious and
dangerous situation”.
“Had the situation been managed and
operated properly, there would have
been a very significant reduction in the
huge damage caused not just to UCC
but to countless other property owners
and businesses in Cork city”
UCC accepted the argument that water
flow through the city would have been
higher if there were no dams at all, how-
ever, UCC’s case argued that had the
dam discharges been managed different-
ly, the flood profile would not have been
the same.
In a 550 page judgement, Mr. Justice
Barrett also ruled that UCC was 40 per
cent liable for failing over the years to
act on mounting information of flood
risk to its properties and continuing to
construct properties on the River Lee
flood plain. He stated that UCC’s failure
to engage with the flood risk was a “sig-
nificant hazard”.
UCC brought its claim on behalf of its
insurer Aviva, which was seeking 20
million euro damages from the ESB for
losses at UCC and a further 14 million
for losses suffered by other property
owners.
In its statement on the 5 October in re-
sponse to the court ruling, UCC believes
the response of its staff to the flooding
on the night of 19 November 2009 was
exemplary and ensured the safety of all
staff and students. UCC has put in place
significant flood protection works since
the 2009 event to enhance the safety of
staff and students and the protection of
the campus.
The statement continues; “UCC and
Aviva would like to thank the Court
for the time it has taken in hearing
and considering this long-running and
complex case. Aviva is committed to
promoting awareness of the importance
of flood risk management and this rul-
ing provides an important clarification
on the obligations of dam operators and
property owners in the sphere of flood
management”.
Chief among the concerns of the
Mardyke residents was the lack of
adequate warning they received of the
severe flooding, and the real possibility
that similar events could occur in the
future unless the management of the
dam radically changed. Barry Keane,
Spokesman for the Mardyke residents,
stated that “The judgement confirms
all of the claims made by the residents
were correct. Many of those who began
the fight are no longer with us. The very
least they deserve is an apology from
ESB and an acceptance of the
judgement and not to drag elderly and
ordinary citizens through the courts”.
Cork solicitor Joe Noonan, who
represented 40 other affected property
owners, said he hoped the ESB would
accept the decision and not appeal. The
costs of the case, which ran from June
2014 for 104 days, are estimated at
several million euro.
The ESB decided to appeal the Com-
mercial Court judgement. A full reading
of the decision shows the ESB case was
dismissed. Barry Keane stated that “the
victims expect a speedy Supreme Court
decision in favour of UCC”. Keane
concluded that “If they can explain why
any of their failures were not negligent
we will be impressed”

4. Tuesday, October 20th 2015 | UCC EXPRESS
or email Editor@UCCExpress.ie
4 |
Learning City Award for Cork
Student Council Returns
Zoe Cashman - News Editor
Chris McCahill - Deputy News Editor
Cork City is to receive a UNESCO
Learning City Award at the UNESCO
International Conference on Learning
Cities, held in Mexico City. UCC is one
of four partners in the Cork Learning
City initiative.
In July, UCC President Dr. Michael
Murphy signed a memorandum of
understanding to advance the UNESCO
Declaration on Building Learning Cities
with Cork City Council, CIT and Cork
Education and Training Board. Vice
President for Teaching and Learning at
UCC, Professor John O’Halloran, said
“We fully support lifelong learning and
putting the citizen at the centre of both
formal and informal learning”.
11 other international cities will also
receive the award, with 600 political
leaders, mayors, city education execu-
tives and civil society representatives
from more than 90 countries set to
attend the conference. Sonja Hyland,
Ireland’s Ambassador to Mexico, will
formally welcome the Cork delegation.
Cork has been selected as one of only
three European cities to be showcased in
a book entitled Unlocking the Potential
of Urban Communities: Case Studies of
Twelve Learning Cities, which will be
launched during the conference.
In Cork, a steering group called Grow-
ing Learning in Cork is driving the
project, which includes representatives
of the institutions that signed the memo-
randum together with statutory, private
and civil society groups.
The initial stages of the UNESCO
designation were laid back in 2002,
when Cork City Council adopted the
Imagine Our Future strategy. Since
2004, Cork’s Lifelong Learning Fes-
tival has proved t be one of the most
powerful means of implementing that
aspiration.
This year’s academic class rep training
took place on 9th of October. In contrast
to previous years, this year’s training
took place on campus in the Western
Gateway building, a cost saving initi-
ative based on survey results from last
year’s training, which took place in
Cork Airport function room. It was also
intended to make it easier for reps and
students to attend. The day included a
series of talks by the various officers
and the four college clinics which
preceded the first Student Council. The
talks ranged from the very basics of
class rep responsibilities to talks based
on how to deal with more personal
issues such as stress management and
mental health.
Class rep training was also an oppor-
tunity to meet the new SU team for the
year. Along with returning officers Joe
Kennedy and Barry Nevin, who were
re-elected to education and communi-
cations respectively, they were joined
by new SU president Aidan Coffey, the
new Deputy President and Campaigns
officer James Upton, Welfare Officer
Katie Quinlan and Entertainment Of-
ficer Adam Finn. Newly elected class
reps also got the opportunity to run for
other positions within the SU such a
Deputy College Rep or representative
for a particular college.
The student council also welcomed new
members to its team, Ali Khan took over
from Aiden Coffey as student council
chair, while Lorna Kelly took over as
secretary and Kelly Doherty was elected
as the PRO officer. The first student
Council was the final part of the training
day and began with a brief talk by Khan
on how the council works and how it
helps students. In the first council two
motions were put forward, regarding
peer support extension and better pay
for nurses, which were passed without
opposition. The final contested motion
on the careers service was eventually
passed after several amendments were
made. The council was then concluded
with final items put forward for discus-
sion by class reps.
The next student council will take place
on the 28th.

5. UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 20th 2015 | 5
Epipens on UCC Campus ‘A World First’
Staff Celebrated at #UCCOscars
Zoe Cashman - News Editor
Zoe Cashman - News Editor
It is a ‘world first’ as the government
has legislated to allow trained members
of the public to administer life-saving
medicines in emergency situations. New
laws announced on Thursday by the
Minister for Health Leo Varadkar have
been warmly welcomed by two UCC
health experts.
Professor Jonathan Hourihane, a leading
allergy expert and head of the depart-
ment of paediatrics and child health at
UCC, and Dr. Michael Byrne, Director
of Student Health and Wellbeing pre-
sented to the Joint Committee on Health
and Children on a proposal to establish
a university-wide First Responder An-
aphylaxis Autoinjector Programme, on
a pilot basis. This life-saving initiative,
however, could not be carried out due to
the absence of appropriate legislation at
the time.
Hourihane had been on the verge of
introducing EpiPens on campus five
years ago, but this was put on hold amid
concerns about administering prescrip-
tion-only medicine to those who had not
been prescribed that medicine. “We had
everything in place. We had 50-60 peo-
ple trained, we had protocols in place.
But a legal issue arose as to whether we,
as trained medical prescribers, would be
held liable for any adverse outcome”.
“The availability of
Adrenaline, the most
important drug in its
treatment and the ability to
administer it early after the
onset of the reaction, is vital
to a successful outcome”
Hourihane has been lobbying ever since
for a change in the law to allow their
life-saving initiative to go ahead, and
met with Health Minister Leo Varadkar
earlier this year. “We didn’t hear back
and we decided to abandon it about
three months ago”.
Now however, UCC is on course to be
the first university in the world to have
EpiPens on campus. Hourihane ex-
pressed his delight at the end of a long
campaign “Anaphylaxis is a severe,
life-threatening, generalised reaction.
The availability of Adrenaline, the most
important drug in its treatment and the
ability to administer it early after the
onset of the reaction, is vital to a suc-
cessful outcome. Speed is the key when
it comes to treating anaphylaxis”.
Dublin teenager Emma Sloan, aged 14,
died in 2013 on O’Connell Street after a
pharmacy refused to give her an EpiP-
en. Thursday’s announcement sees the
introduction of new legislation allowing
for more life-saving rescue medicines to
be administered by trained members of
the public such as glucagon for diabetic
hypoglycaemia, adrenaline (epipens) for
severe allergic reactions and glyceryl
trinitrate for angina.
“To date UCC has had a
number of notable successes
in the health arena”
Mr Varadkar said he would be allowing
organisations such as colleges, work-
places and sports venues to hold emer-
gency “rescue” medicines and arrange
for staff to be trained in their use.
Dr Michael Byrne commented that “To
date UCC has had a number of notable
successes in the health arena. It was in
the context of having established a
First Responder AED programme that I
was approached by Professor Hourihane
to seek to establish this Anaphylaxis
Autoinjector Programme”.
“Today is a momentous day for us and
for other third level institutions, work-
places and sports venues as they will
be allowed to hold these medicines and
arrange for staff to be trained in their
use”
The Department of Health said 16,722
people died after suffering a heart attack
from multiple causes between 2007 and
2013. There were 359 deaths following
an acute asthma attack, 17 from hypo-
glycaemia and four from severe allergic
shock. It definitely seems UCC are tak-
ing a great first step with this initiative
in improving the safety of the general
public.
UCC has honoured a number of its staff
for their outstanding contributions to
University life at the 2015 Staff Recog-
nition Awards, dubbed the #UCCOscars.
The awards ceremony combined pres-
entations and accolades to winners from
three separate award schemes: Teaching
and Learning, Staff Recognition and Re-
search. President of UCC, Dr. Michael
Murphy, praised the recipients for their
dedication and outstanding contribu-
tions to UCC, and also acknowledged
the considerable work of the selection
committees. He encouraged staff to con-
sider proposing a colleague in the 2016
call for nominations.
In the Teaching and Learning Awards,
5 members of staff received an award
for ‘Excellence in Teaching’. The Staff
Recognition Awards provide a formal
process for acknowledging outstanding
achievements and for publicly recognis-
ing such achievements to the University
and the wider community. Fourteen
awards were made across six categories:
The Frank McGrath Perpetual Award
for equality and Welfare, Impact Award,
Leadership Award, Exceptional Citi-
zen Award and Enhancing the Student
Experience Award. This year also saw
the introduction of an additional award
category, the Outstanding Colleague
Award.
Ms Nóirín Deady of the Admissions
Office and members of the Student
Health Department received the award
for enhancing the student experience.
The impact award was received by Ms
Loretta Brady (CACSSS), Dr Pádraig
Cantillon-Murphy (School of Engineer-
ing), Dr Samantha Dockray (School of
Applied Psychology) and Mr Timothy
O’Donovan (IT Services).
Former Student’s Union Welfare Of-
ficer, Cian Power, stated that he was
“honoured to be invited to the UCC staff
awards and to see UCC Student Health
win an award for their dedication to
students”. Many members of staff were
honoured on the night and it is hoped
that the staff will continue to make these
outstanding contributions to UCC in the
coming year and for many years after.

6. Tuesday, October 20th 2015 | UCC EXPRESS6 |
Websummit “Heroes”
Diarmaid Twomey - Features Writer
“Heroes of this economy are the
people who set up new enterprise”
Those are not my words, but the words of Richard Bruton TD at a
recent business event; retweeted and endorsed by Eoghan Murphy TD
and his party Fine Gael. Based on this utterance alone, one would have
to wonder about the mind-set of both the politicians who regularly
utter such nonsense, but more pertinently, the room full of entrepre-
neurs whom this was said to, who it seems didn’t object to this very
generous characterisation of themselves. With big ideas come big egos
it seems. Enter Paddy Cosgrave, of The Web Summit ‘fame’. For those
of you who don’t know who Paddy is, he’s the same guy who said
his own degree from TCD is worth more than yours, or any degree
from any one of the six other universities for that matter. Don’t wor-
ry though, while he may not hire the plebs who are educated outside
of the pomp of Trinity, he’ll still sell you an exorbitantly overpriced
ticket to the Web Summit, so all’s not lost. But things haven’t been
going Paddy’s way of late. For the past week, the Irish media (assist-
ed by Paddy himself), have been cataloguing in intimate detail, the
Web Summit’s seemingly laborious debacle with the government and
associated state bodies. It seems that everyone wants to punish Paddy
for being successful, and so he has decided, after 5 years of holding
the summit in Dublin, that Ireland just isn’t offering him and the event
enough anymore.
In the 5 years since its inception, The Web Summit has received over
€700,000 in funding from the IDA and Enterprise Ireland. The Web
Summit organisers prefer to call it sponsorship. This funding comes
every year, despite their ability to sell out platinum tickets weeks in
advance of the event, even when they carry a price tag of €5000 a pop.
But even with all this, it seems the faraway hills of Lisbon boasted
too much greenery and lured Paddy away. At first glance, the Web
Summit’s move to Lisbon for its 2016 event could be seen as more
evidence of the damaging effect of red tape and civil service inepti-
tude. Further investigation suggests otherwise. For anyone who had
the chance to read the list of Paddy’s demands for the 2016 event, they
were quite literally unbelievable; Garda escorts for his VIP’s, road
closures, free leap cards for all the attendees of the event, free rental of
Dublin City Hall and Wood Quay, Web Summit branding for the city
centre and parking permission suspensions. One could be forgiven for
thinking that Air Force One was landing in Dublin, or that high-flying
tech entrepreneurs might be short a few euro for the Luas. I am not
one to praise Enda Kenny or the current government too often, but in
retrospect it is hard to see how the Web Summit’s move to Lisbon has
been brought about by anyone but Paddy, despite his poor attempts at
covering his tracks.
But there is a wider point to all this. For me, this is just another insight
into the arrogance of the business and entrepreneurial community. In a
previous life, and not all that long ago, I set up and ran two businesses,
so while I am not entitled to speak authoritatively with respect to suc-
cess in business, I certainly have an idea of the business mind-set.
“Surely having an individual demand free public transport
for multi-millionaires, business people and those well able to
afford that service proves just that?”
In my years working to establish my own company, I met plenty of
down to earth and honest business people, working hard just to put
food on the table like anyone else. For that reason, I don’t want to
generalise, or stereotype good, hard-working people. However, there is
another side to the business and entrepreneurial community in Ireland,
a side epitomised by Fine Gael’s characterisation of entrepreneurs as
‘heroes’. Listen to IBEC, ISME or any Chamber of Commerce rep-
resentative and the self-centredness and inflated notion of self-impor-
tance emanates from them. Regulation, minimum wages, basic living
standards, social services, tax and decent working conditions are all
cumbersome blocks which require demolishing, in order to clear the
road to prosperity. Just don’t mention that that road can only cater for
a small % of society. It’s all well and good to be proud of your startup
or business, but the fine line between pride and downright arrogance
and self-entitlement is crossed too often for Irish business to be able
to ignore anymore. Surely having an individual demand free public
transport for multi-millionaires, business people and those well able to
afford that service proves just that?
“...when such binary, self-indulgent and selfish attitudes
exist within the business and entrepreneurial community,
we all suffer the consequences”
Stephen Hawking recently identified what he believes to be the great-
est threat to humanity’s future; it was capitalism. Business and capital-
ism thrive off inequality and scarce resources. As a result, when such
binary, self-indulgent and selfish attitudes exist within the business and
entrepreneurial community, we all suffer the consequences. Human
beings, the environment and sustainable economic development are
all being sacrificed for short term gain of a business elite. Therefore
headlines about extinction, pollution and economic crashes should not
surprise any of us anymore. Like anyone else in our society, entrepre-
neurs deserve respect, not least for the resilience they show in creating
businesses and jobs. But so do workers, students, the unemployed,
travellers or the homeless. Labelling an entrepreneur a hero is not
only crass, but it diminishes the value of the word. Entrepreneurs and
Paddy are not the only people who work extremely hard in our society,
and they most certainly are not the ones deserving of most state assis-
tance. I’m just not sure that is understood by Paddy or anyone else just
yet, and judging by recent events, possibly never will be.

7. UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 20th 2015 | 7
Opinion: Why Gun Control Won’t Happen in America
Michaela Flonard - Opinion Writer
Over the past few weeks, the U.S. has once again had
a rash of gun violence—from a mass shooting on
an Oregon college campus to a two-year old using a
revolver on his grandmother. These tragedies have
caused a range of responses. Gun-control activists
argue for stricter background checks or restrictions
on weapons, while others argue for expansion of open
and concealed carry laws and a focus on mental illness.
Firearms in America can be a political minefield, but
the struggle of one state—Colorado—shows how gun
control, to any serious degree, is not foreseeable for the
time being.
Colorado, in terms of politics, is a torn, “purple” state.
In 2014, 42% of its citizens identified as Republicans,
who in general dislike gun control, while 42% said they
were Democrats, who generally hold the opposite view.
This divide is replicated in views on gun control, with
a slight majority opposing stricter regulations to their
weapons. Eighteen other states are similarly divided
politically, while the remaining states have a stronger
inclination to either party, according to a Gallup poll.
The state also has a complex history with firearms. As
a Western state, cowboy ideals and hunting have long
been established. However, the state has also suffered
two major tragedies—the Columbine high school
shooting of 1999 and the Aurora theatre shooting in
2012. In both cases, over ten people lost their lives and
many more were injured.
So in 2013, in the wake of the Sandy Hook elementary
school shooting, the heavily Democratic legislature
and governor pushed through two measures. House
Bill 13-1224 prohibited the sale of large-capacity mag-
azines, which included shotgun magazines with more
than 28-inches of shotgun shells or magazines greater
than 15 rounds. Those already in possession of such
magazines were “grandfathered” into the law. House
Bill 13-1229 required background checks on private
sellers. It excluded gifts, loans between immediate
family members, transfer because of will, or tempo-
rary transfers. The bill also required mental health
reporting, in an effort to prevent the mentally ill from
obtaining firearms.
These measures met with a variety of responses. The
general populace supported both bills. However sup-
port for background checks was high, around 80%,
while support for limiting magazines was at 49%.
Some were outraged, seeing the bills as attacks on their
Second Amendment rights. One ammunition mag-
azine manufacturer, Magpul Industries, moved their
operations to a different state. Several sheriffs claimed
they would not enforce the law. They, in addition to the
National Shooting Sports Foundation, Magpul Indus-
tries, and others, filed suit against the laws, claiming
other concerns would limit their ability to enforce the
new laws and that they were unconstitutional. The laws
were later upheld by a federal judge.
The voices in opposition were able to force a recall
election for two Senators—the state’s first at such a lev-
el. A third resigned in threat of this election. The recall
election saw a huge outpouring of monies, from the
NRA to former NYC liberal mayor Michael Bloomb-
erg. In the end, both Democrats lost to their Republi-
can challengers. Both districts had a higher proportion
of registered Democrats than Republicans, making the
results surprising. The election featured a low turnout,
and accusations of impropriety.
Upon the next state election, the following year, both
Republicans lost their seats, although the party gained
control of the Senate. The laws remain in effect, in part
due to the difficulty associated with removing previous
legislation, despite attempts to weaken or discard them.
Now why does this matter for gun control overall? Be-
cause of the message it sends to other “purple” states.
States with a clearly dominant political affiliation
will, most likely, have policies regarding guns pushed
through without such complaints. But in split states,
Colorado’s experience can easily be used as an example
when discussing new gun control measures. Not only
did the Senate lose positions and even control of the
legislature, they also lost industry, which in the days of
economic uncertainty, is a frightening possibility.
The election also showed how pivotal of an issue fire-
arms can be. Morse, one of the Democratic Senators
who lost his seat, was a year away from leaving office.
Activists couldn’t wait for the next election cycle to
elect a pro-gun senator to his seat; instead, they spent
considerable amounts of time and money to recall him,
to express their displeasure in a more satisfying fash-
ion. A recall election at a state level is a rare thing in
the U.S.—only 37 have made it to ballot, and of those,
only 21 have succeeded—and yet it worked.
Traditionally, pro-gun supporters have been more
politically active, donating more money to organiza-
tions that support their views than their opposition.
This activism helps explain the success of the National
Rifle Association. Those with guns are also less likely
to vote for a candidate that doesn’t share their views
than those who believe in gun control, by 41% to 31%,
respectively. Generally, those who shout the loudest on
any issue are those who affect the legislation on the is-
sue. As pro-gun supporters seem to shout louder than
most, they’ve had success at blocking major restrictive
laws, at least at a national level.
Because gun control is, for now, a state issue. The
structure of the Senate, which guarantees equal rep-
resentation of states, without regard for size, ensures
that pro-gun states, which are generally the rural,
smaller states, can oppose tightening laws. In addition,
Republicans control both houses of Congress, mean-
ing bipartisan support is necessary to pass gun control
legislation. As the 2012 Republican platform promised
to “acknowledge, support, and defend” the individu-
al’s “God-given right of self-defence,” such support is
unlikely.
It doesn’t help that only about 47% of the public,
according to a 2014 Gallup poll, support stricter gun
sale laws. While shootings such as the one on an
Oregon college campus will raise such backing, this
support is likely to disappear. In less than a year after
the Sandy Hook elementary shooting, elevated support
had disappeared, and support for harsher measures
was back around fifty percent. A lack of sustained
public support makes it hard to mount a campaign that
will seriously bring about change regarding the nation’s
gun laws.
Of course, every state is different, and perhaps the
factors that occurred in Colorado’s 2013 saga over
guns do not exist in other states. Yes, the state succeed-
ed in implementing new gun laws to prevent further
tragedies. But it also suffered a defeat. Even though
a majority of people supported the laws, opposition
was able to roust political leaders, showing their clout
to those with similar plans. This strength could make
lawmakers in other purple states pause before propos-
ing new laws.
Colorado has already suffered two extreme cases of
gun violence over a little more than twenty years. Yet
this history was not enough to convince people that
there was an issue with firearm legislation. Many sim-
ply look to mental health problems as the problem in
these cases, ignoring, to a certain extent, the weapons.
This raises the question—what will it take to convince
Americans? But guns have always been a part of Amer-
ican culture, and love for the Second Amendment is
strong in many. In 2013, Colorado showed how diffi-
cult passing laws—laws that don’t restrict the type of
firearms available or take anyone’s guns—can be. With
their experiences in mind, it is tough to see change in
the near future. Perhaps the country will be persuaded
to alter their approach to mental health, which may
some impact, but this will not eliminate all tragedies.
Opinion

8. Tuesday, October 20th 2015 | UCC EXPRESS
Last year Mairia Cahill was kind enough to speak to the UCC Express about the
experiences that brought her to public prominence. In that interview Mairia char-
acterised her abuse as “part of my experience and its part of who I am” but as time
removes us further from the initial shock of hearing Mairia’s story of abuse at the
hands of a senior IRA member we’ve seen time and time again that this abuse has
not defined her life. Instead it has been a part of a driving force that has taken her
far and following on from a recent announcement that she is standing as a Labour
candidate in the upcoming Seanad bye-election, continues to drive her even further
in her pursuit of justice and to help other people through their own experiences of
sexual abuse.
Before speaking to Mairia on the phone she asks for the time I expect to call,
stating that she doesn’t answer unexpected calls or unrecognised numbers for
obvious reasons. Perhaps naively I had never thought of this, the changes entering
the public consciousness (or political sphere) would bring to even a simple action
like answering your phone. Upon questioning of this though Mairia she clarifies
“I’m conscious that I keep in contact with other victims so I like to keep the phone
free for those coming though”. As well as this she added “I don’t generally answer
numbers that I don’t know anyway, you know because there is a risk there, I’ve had
quite a lot of threats online and I have had nuisance or malicious phone calls that’s
one of the reasons why I like to know who I’m answering the phone to first”
“The reason for all of the online attacks and smears and the
disgusting blogs that were written at the start of last year,
the reason that was done I think was clear to everybody, to
any ordinary member of the public, and that was to try and
either shock or shame me into going away. I took a decision
at that point that even though it is very distressing that I
wasn’t going to go away”
It’s an unfortunate facet of modern life that many of us may be susceptible to nasty
comments online, it’s imaginable that these comments multiply when someone
enters the political arena to run for an institution like the Seanad. However the
vileness and intent of these comments become less imaginable in Mairia’s case “the
reason for all of the online attacks and smears and the disgusting blogs that were
written at the start of last year, the reason that was done I think was clear to every-
body, to any ordinary member of the public, and that was to try and either shock
or shame me into going away. I took a decision at that point that even though it is
very distressing that I wasn’t going to go away”. Again perhaps naively I asked if
maintaining these social media presences was worth it in light of these sad reali-
ties, “Well I don’t have to you know, I always have a choice really to back out of
doing it, it’s kind of stubbornness takes over… I dip in and out of social media like
anyone else but I am entitled to a twitter account or Facebook page or whatever the
same as anyone else is.”
Having an account of rape and sexual assault during a person’s teenage years made
so public and then to be scrutinised by powers that seemingly didn’t have their
best interests in mind is something many of us likely can’t imagine. To compound
this in Mairia’s case is the unfortunate fact that politics was involed. The political
aspect of Mairia’s case is not a common one but on how it differentiates her expe-
rience from that of another sexual assault victim she points out “Well I think it’s
dangerous to look at it that way, essentially when you strip it all back it was a case
of abuse. What compounded the problem was when the IRA decided to involve
themselves in the case of abuse wanting to protect their own reputation. That of the
Sinn Féin party and of my rapist. So for example when they initiated the first inves-
tigation they were very keen to stress that my rapist had rights as an IRA volunteer
and that’s a direct quote from them under the terms of the green book, an IRA man-
ual if you like for those type of people. So in all of that the difference wasn’t really
you know, I had the suffering and trying to deal with the trauma of the abuse
and I had to try to deal with the trauma of an unasked for, because I never went to
the IRA asking for an investigation, they came to me.”
Pointedly though Mairia notes that her experiences are more common than some
would assume “So that was very traumatic and then I had the years afterwards
where there was a silence imposed on it but essentially I think the difficulty in
trying to cope has been the same as any other person who has gone through abuse
or rape, it happens also in the context of the catholic church if you look at those in-
vestigations for example. You know those victims had the abuse first of all that was
then compounded by an investigation by the church into some of the priests and
in some cases some victims were made to sign documents and were kept quiet and
there are parallel between the two”. Even within cases of abuse by the Republican
movement she notes that “No one rape or abuse case is the same and indeed even
within the republican movement and what I’m seeing now from victims coming
through is no one case of abuse in relation to republican abuse has been the same
either. Certainly there are similarities in relation to kangaroo courts and the same
names popping up again and again”
In UCC already this year there have been a number of reported instances of sex-
ual assault on college students, in some instances even occurring in UCC related
student accommodation. With this issue in mind I wondered if the college and the
SU were doing enough, or what realistically they could do, to combat this issue. “I
think any positive step in order to raise awareness of issues around abuse or sexual
assault certainly is welcome and I think universities of course have a responsibility
towards keeping students safe. University is a life changing experience for people
when they’re on the cusp of adulthood and I understand that quite well because I
had to drop out the first time I went to do a degree. I had to drop out because of an
IRA investigation so I remember all of the different feelings students have when
they’re moving from primary to secondary and then secondary to third level educa-
tion. Any consent training whatsoever is of course to be welcomed, I think we have
to get the balance of responsibility on it right also. The responsibility for abuse
should never be placed on the shoulder of the victim”. She also highlighted the
Dublin Rape Crisis’s new campaign around the topic of consent, praising its gender
non-specificity and accessibility.
To some, issues around combatting sexual and domestic abuse are a societal issue.
Mairia highlighted her own view on this by saying “Well I think everything in life
is a political issue, no matter what way you look at it. You know where you buy the
coffee you get in the morning is political… You look back to Ireland for example
and how quickly it has changed even looking back 20, 25 years ago with the contra-
ceptive ban, the marriage bar being enforced, things like that in terms of female
identity and having an identity of your own all came through the political system
in order to have to be changed the same with the marriage equality referendum this
year. So in that sense yes politicians can do a lot because they’re the people who’re
entrusted with a mandate to help change society for the better and that doesn’t
Interview: Mairia CahillBrian Conmy interviews Mairia Cahill about her public allegations against senior members of the IRA, her life over the past year and her Seanad bid
8 |

9. UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 20th 2015
always work like that and people get frustrated time and again.”
On the idea that all things are political with specific reference to sexual abuse she
added “It’s been a very difficult couple years in Ireland with austerity measures,
funding has been cut to different services who work directly with victims but that
said front line services I’m glad to say have been protected this year, specifically
in relation to Dublin Rape Crisis Centre by the government. So that’s one positive
aspect in a couple of years of negativity in Ireland. The economy seems to be back
on track again so hopefully with that if for example I get into the Seanad my main
and first priority is to victims of abuse or sexual assault and domestic violence. I’ll
do anything I can to raise awareness of those issues and look at how we try to im-
prove lives of victims. For example I heard just this week there are waiting lists for
women who’re victims of domestic abuse to get into refuges and that’s a complete-
ly unacceptable situation for those women to be in and a very very dangerous one.
So you know things like that need to be looked at and we need to look at how we
ease the burden on victims and make it safer to live their lives”
One of the greatest things in my mind that Mairia has done is so continuously stood
up in the face of adversity. Not just in finding a way to live her life after her sexual
abuse but to continuously stand in public in search of justice for herself but also for
other victims of a failed justice system. With the news that she is standing in the
upcoming Seanad bye-election I asked if this work would remain a priority for her,
“Well I think that’s a huge goal and a huge priority for anyone to have, there are
massive areas in relation to Irish life. You know 1 in 4 people is a victim of sexual
assault or abuse, not quite sure what the figures are in relation to domestic violence
but it is a problem we see played out time and time again through court systems
both north and south. At the moment we also have the situation in my case where
other victims of abuse by the republican movement have come forward and I also
want to be able to help them. The Garda investigation and all that will continue if
I’m in the Seanad but really you know we have seen situations in the past where
senators have been able to make a difference”.
“I think also we need to probably start having a responsible
conversation as to how we address perpetrators of abuse in
a human way allowing them the opportunity to stop their
behaviour and change”
Specifically naming Averil Power and her work bringing forward the adoption
rights bill as well as Katherine Zappone and her work on the marriage equality
referendum, Mairia’s drive to leave a similar legacy of positive change behind is
admirable but perhaps not without possible contention “I think also we need to
probably start having a responsible conversation as to how we address perpetrators
of abuse in a human way allowing them the opportunity to stop their behaviour
and change. I understand that’s a very controversial thing to say for someone who
is a victim of sexual violence but really you don’t have any hope of eradicating
abuse or at least trying to curb it if you don’t deal with the root of the problem and
the root of the problem in this instance you’re talking about the proprietors them-
selves.”
It’s been some time now since the Seanad abolition referendum failed to pass by
popular vote and with its failure any discussion of Seanad reform seems to have
gone with it. While many believe the Seanad is weak, needless or toothless Mairia
saw it as a worthwhile platform to work on “Well I had the opportunity to run as a
TD and I decided not to. First of all the Seanad is a different ball game in relation
to what it would be if you were running in the general. We’ve already seen some of
it with the Seanad campaign but this Maria Cahill versus Sinn Féin when there are
four candidates standing and not just two. I could have put Sinn Féin under serious
pressure had I ran in the general election, I decided not to do that because the issues
of abuse and rape and domestic violence would get lose in the circus really. That
doesn’t need to be fought you know. I suppose what I’m trying to say but had I run
in the general the issues would have been lost in the quagmire and it would have
come down to if I’d stood against Mary Lou for example, it would have been a cir-
cus. I would have been confident enough of taking a few votes off her but that’s not
what I’m about, it wasn’t my motivation in coming forward. I came forward to use
my voice to tell of my experience and to help others and that would have been lost
had I rain for the Dáil. Now the Seanad is slightly different, it’s a bye election. You
know the possibilities of being able to change things and turn things around quickly
in relation to being able to help people is easier. So in that sense I’m quite happy to
go in as a Seanad candidate”
However she also noted
“Never say never, I may at some point down the line decide
to run [for the Dáil] but for me right now and practically as
a single mother of a young child you need a hell of a lot of
time commitment to do both but I thought in the middle of a
general election campaign that would be too much”
What surprised many, myself included, about Mairia’s announcement that she
would be contesting this bye-election was the fact she would do so as a Labour
candidate, she said “I was attracted to the Labour party both because of how they
dealt with me and I’ve seen how they’ve been able to shape people’s lives for the
better and you couldn’t find a better example of that than in the marriage equality
referendum.” An earlier comment about being a single mother resonated with me
and so I asked if Labour were assisting her as a woman trying to enter the Seanad
“Absolutely, I think Labour stand on their record as consistently fielding female
candidates long before gender quotas became an issue. The labour party were field-
ing candidates like Joan Burton, a great example, the first female chartered account-
ant in Ireland is now the leader of a party and the Tánaiste. I think that’s a great
example for women, she has children herself and she has a life outside of politics
too so she’s managed to strike a balance with it. They are very aware because I’ve
made them aware that I have a young daughter and I’m not going to comprise my
parenting of her in order to be in political life full time. That’s not to say I’m not
committed but I think people are entitled to have a balance.”
“What Sinn Féin should probably do, in fact should
absolutely do is to that family admit that the IRA killed him
and take away the slur against his name that he was a crimi-
nal. He wasn’t.”
Finally I wanted to address what I considered an elephant in the room, based on
recent polls it seems possible that Sinn Féin may be one of the parties in power
following the next general election. Asking if the possibility that they could be a
partner in government while Mairia would reside in the Dáil was a daunting one
Mairia reassured me that “I don’t think that’s going to happen. That’s the first thing.
Secondly I’ve come across Gerry Adams many times in my life, as recently as the
week before last or last week, I bumped into him in the corridors of Leinster house,
I ignored him and he ignored me. That was it. I’d be much more concerned that
people would fall for the lies that they have peddled, not just on the issue of abuse
but across the board you know. For example they’re a party that implements aus-
terity cuts in the North and complains about them in the South. There are a number
of hypocritical stances they’ve taken on IRA activity, for example the denial that
it was the IRA who murdered Paul Quinn who had a brutal death. A 21 year old
boy with every bone in his body broken while his friends were made listen to him
being beaten, Sinn Féin have never come out, in fact they labelled the young lad a
criminal when he was killed. His mother Bríd and his father Steven are completely
traumatised and his anniversary is coming up soon in November. What Sinn Féin
should probably do, in fact should absolutely do is to that family admit that the
IRA killed him and take away the slur against his name that he was a criminal. He
wasn’t.”
If you have been affected by any of the content discussed in this interview, there are supports available. The Samaritans are always there to talk, and
their free-call 24hr number is 116 123. For supports specific to sexual assault, the Cork Sexual Violence Centre is located on 5 Camden Place and
can be called on 1800 496 496. Outside of Cork, the Dublin Rape Crises Centre is there to help. They can be called on 1800 778 888
| 9

10. Tuesday, October 20th 2015 | UCC EXPRESS10 |
Opinion
For - A Voice for the Voiceless
Against - “Reform A Requirement”
Xander Cosgrave - Byline
Stephen Spillane - Political Activist
FOR - AGAINST
SEANAD EIREANN
On October 4th 2013 I joined just over 51%
of the Irish People and voted against the Ab-
olition of Seanad Éireann. Why did I do this?
I believe in a robust democracy and holding
Government to account. I believe an effective
way of doing this is with have an active and
engaged upper house.
Over the past number of decades we have
seen Governments gain power in the Dáil and
this has meant a loss of power for backbench
TD’s who find it increasingly difficult to hold
Government to account in that Chamber.
Much like the House of Lords in the UK,
the Governments power in Upper House is
a lot less than in the Lower House and it is
harder for them to control. In fact the Seanad
is the only House in which the Government
seems to lose votes. This makes it an effective
Chamber.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s decision to appoint a
range of Independent voices to that chamber
has further legitimised it in my view. Sena-
tors Katherine Zappone, Jillian Van Turnout
and Fiach Mac Conghail have all contributed
greatly to work of the Seanad and have added
hugely to the expertise of the house.
Successive Governments have failed to use
Seanad Éireann to its full extent. One has to
go back to 1981 when Garrett Fitzgerald used
his Taoiseach’s appointments to appoint Jim
Dooge as his Minister for Foreign Affairs.
On Seanad Reform, 13 reports and a consti-
tutional amendment have not acted upon by
Governments of all colours. This is not ac-
ceptable.
Following from the Seanad Referendum in
2013 we had a promise that the 7th Amend-
ment, which was voted on in 1979 would be
implemented and two years later and an elec-
tion fast approaching we are still waiting.
In the current Seanad the Government parties
are in the Minority. Fine Gael and Labour
hold 28 seats while the opposition and inde-
pendents senators hold 31 seats. There is one
vacant seat, for which Maria Cahill will be
contesting the by-election for on behalf of
Labour. While a number of Independent Sen-
ators support the Government in the majority
of votes, their support isn’t guaranteed. This
means the Government has to work harder in
Seanad Eireann and is no longer a backwater
or a chamber for retired or upcoming politi-
cians.
Now do not get me wrong, just like the House
of Lords or Dáil Éireann, the Seanad is not
perfect and if it is to be truly effective and
representative some form of universal rep-
resentation would have to brought in. This
could see a partly elected Seanad with other
members either appointed or elected
indirectly.
No political party has brought forward a new
vision for the upper house and following on
from the Referendum rejection I cannot see
it playing a major role in any party manifesto
in the upcoming General Election to the same
extent that it was in the 2011 General
Election.
This should not mean that the next Govern-
ment can think it can plod on with the Seanad
as is. With a fairly split electorate for the Se-
anad Panels due to the number of Independent
Councillors elected in, you can expect a very
different Seanad for the next Government to
deal with.
What does the Seanad actually do? It’s hardly
an uncommon question. Well, it helps repre-
sent a unique sector of society that probably
ought to be given a platform, but if we didn’t
have it, would be completely forgotten. It
gives a platform for people like Katherine
Zappone and David Norris, who for a very
long time were rare bastions of liberal ideas
in a very conservative (Read; Backasswards)
time in our nation’s history. It is surely hard to
understand for younger generations nowadays
what Ireland was like thirty years ago, but I
can assure you, the stereotype of ‘little
catholic Ireland’ was hardly wrong.
Would someone who was campaigning for
LGBT*Q rights have been given a platform
in the Dail? Or be given a chance to run by a
party in open election? No, but because of the
University ticket, it allowed a voice to be giv-
en to people who were being persecuted and
gave them representation at government. The
Seanad allows us to give a series of diverse
opinions and ideas room to be expressed in
the highest levels of government, rather than
the race to the centre populism of the Dail,
and this is hugely beneficial to our develop-
ment as a nation. Maybe we don’t like to hear
some of these opinions, but we should prob-
ably be aware of them and their existence,
rather than allow it to be pushed aside by the
strength of popular opinion.
The Seanad isn’t perfect, but let’s be honest
about things, very few systems in governance
are.

11. UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 20th 2015 | 11
Every issue the UCC Express team look back at our own print history
and pick out some...interesting bits from papers’ past.
Disclaimer: We present these excerpts unedited, to highlight how much has changed since they were first published.
FLASH
BACK<
Going back through previous issues as far back as
the 80s I expected some insane stuff to pop up for
Halloween. After all there are some very tongue in
cheek, risqué and even occasionally libellous stuff
if you go back far enough. Surprisingly though
there were very few issues that even mentioned the
existence of Halloween at all so we’ve had to go to
more recent issues for anything Halloween related
at all. I imagine there’s some reason for this but I
could never quite come up with one, print
schedules were regular enough that people should
have known they were at times coming out around
if not on Halloween itself. Oh well. We’ll have
something more insane next time.

12. Tuesday, October 20th 2015 | UCC EXPRESS12 |

13. UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 20th 2015 | 13

14. UCC Hockey Set Down a Marker Ahead of Intervarsities
Clodagh Moloney & Fred McElroy - Sports Writers
The Men’s first XI travelled to Aston
on Thursday night with one eye clearly
looking forward to hosting next week-
end’s intervarsties. College started very
strongly with a real sense of intent with
2 quick-fire goals coming from Shrew
Power seeing the visitors leading 2-0
inside the opening 10 minutes of the
match. The students enjoyed prolonged
periods of possession throughout the
first half, but Ashton’s defensive tactics
continued to keep UCC at bay, frustrat-
ing UCC as they continued to attack
in search of more goals. The pressure
eventually told as Gary Wilkinson found
himself unmarked at the back post to
claim College’s third goal before the
half.
The 2nd half was all UCC again, but
they struggled to find the net despite
putting serious pressure on the Ashton
defence. Captain Fionn O’Leary scored
the 4th and final goal in the game to see
the students take 3 points and a 4-0 win.
The result will no doubt be a huge con-
fidence builder ahead of next weekend.
Captain Fionn O’Leary spoke in the
aftermath of the game,
“It was pleasing to get the 3 points and
keep a clean sheet in the lead up to
varsities. We won it the last time we
were hosts and there’s plenty of work to
be done if we want to repeat that
success. It’s a tough group with reigning
champions UUJ(University of Ulster
Jordanstown) in the mix, but we’ll be
quietly confident”
Coach Neil Welch will again be
concerned with the standard of the short
corners as UCC again struggled to use
the set-piece to their advantage. This
week there was 9 unconverted short cor-
ners which will need to be greatly im-
proved before next weekend. However,
Welch was pleased with Shrew Powers
continuing goal scoring prowess, Power
has scored 6 goals in the 4 games.
UCC men’s first XI will compete
in the top tier of the varsity hockey
competition, the Mauritius cup. They
have been drawn to play the University
of Ulster and Trinity College Dublin
in the preliminary group stage of the
intervarsities. While DIT, UCD and
Queens University Belfast make up the
other side of the competition. The top
2 teams from each pool will proceed
to a semi-final and final, making the
opening fixtures vital to qualification.
These games will be held between the
Mardyke sports grounds and Garyduff
sports centre in Cork next weekend.
UCC will be looking to emulate the
heroics of 2012 when they last held and
won the cup.
Greg Chambers and Julie Cronin
have been extremely dedicated in organ-
ising the 44 games that will take place
next weekend along with the many
social activities which will be finished
with the Ball for all players which will
be held on the Monday night in Roches-
town Park Hotel.
The Ladies first team are also firmly
concentrating on what promises to be
an incredibly competitive weekend of
hockey with many players vying for
a place in the final squad of eighteen
players. The inter-varsities come very
early this year with the firm eye on
developing teams for the remainder of
the regular League season. The week-
end plays a big role in the bonding of
the team ahead of the main body of the
season.
For the first time in five years UCC
will play host to the inter-varsities
which will consist of twelve College
teams from around the country being
split into two leagues based on perfor-
mances at last years competition. The
League section of the competition takes
a round-robin format with the group
games being held on Saturday and Sun-
day morning before Sunday afternoon’s
knock-out matches and Monday’s finals.
Although this is a college tournament,
there will be plenty of talent to be seen,
such as current Irish captain Meghan
Frazer and Shirley McCay will be
leading their University of Ulster troops
to the Rebel county, for a repeat of their
outright victory from last year. UCC
are underdogs in the top division of this
tournament, but will be looking for at
least a one place jump to their final 4th
place ranking last year.
The teams in division A will be as
follows: University of Ulster, DCU,
UCC, UCD, Trinity and Queens. The
division B teams are as follows: NUIM,
RCSI, ITT, NUIG, CIT and UL.
This weekend promises to be a
cracker and promises to add to the great
spirit that will be in the city due to the
Jazz Festival.
Sports News in Brief - Munster Players Attend UCC Wheelchair Rugby Event
UCC Disability and Awareness Society hosted an event on Wednesday night to introduce members and students to wheelchair
rugby at the Mardyke. The Society was joined by the Munster Crusaders in hosting the event, who ran through drills and gave a
demonstration of the sport. Ireland rugby international and Munster Captain Peter O’Mahony was present at the event after being
released from the Irish Rugby World Cup squad following a knee ligament injury. O’Mahony was joined by several other Munster
players at the event including Cian Bohane, Billy Holland, Stephen Archer, James Cronin, Niall Scannell and John Ryan.
14 | Tuesday, October 20th 2015 | UCC EXPRESS

15. Cashel Edge Out UCC in Close Encounter
Neil Willoughby - Sports Editor
UCC RFC played host to Cashel RFC at
the Mardyke looking to get their season
back on track following a tough loss
away to Nenagh Ormond last weekend,
seeing them come away on the wrong
side of the scoreline 20-0. UCC came
into the game with a largely depleted
squad seeing just five of the team that
started the season’s opener against Sker-
ries on the field at the final whistle. The
result was the first time this season that
UCC have failed to take any points from
a fixture, this season’s other defeat was
softened by College earning a losing
bonus point from their trip to Naas. Col-
lege however saw the bright side from
the loss to Nenagh Ormond, stating that
the resolve of the side ‘‘shows great
depth in the squad’’, continuing to say
that ‘’we were second best in the clash
against Nenagh.’’
Despite the hangover of last week-
end’s heavy defeat still looming UCC
headed into Saturday’s clash with a
100% record at home so far this sea-
son. Victories over Skerries RFC and
Malone RFC so far this season have
kept UCC afloat following indifferent
form away from home, making the
Cashel match vital in keeping UCC
near the top of the table in their hunt for
not only promotion, but also winning
division 2A outright. The division is
very tight this year with four sides com-
ing into this weekend’s games on ten
points with Banbridge RFC leading on
fourteen points and Cashel RFC laying
closely behind on thirteen points.
The Tipperary side were always go-
ing to provide a considerable challenge
to UCC having taken thirteen points
from their opening three fixtures in-
cluding three wins and one bonus point
victory in a thrilling 40-43 victory over
Skerries RFC last month. The game was
ferocious, physical and defense from
kick-off and throughout as the two sides
vied to dominate proceedings. UCC lead
at the break through a try from Richie
Walsh on the stroke of half-time, Full-
Back Kevin O’Keeffe providing the
extras to give College a 7-0 lead. Cashel
drew level fifteen minutes into the sec-
ond half with a well-worked try, adding
the conversion to bring the score-lines
level. This was short-lived as UCC went
on the attack straight away looking for
a return to the lead, getting over the line
through Kevin Slater to gain a seven
point lead and a bit of vital breathing
space between them and Cashel. Cashel
again fired back, but this time failed to
convert, allowing UCC to move into the
last fifteen minutes with a precarious
two point lead. The key to unlocking the
tight affair came in the 72nd minute for
Cashel as their attempt at a Drop Goal
was successful to take
them into a 14-15 lead which they were
able to see out. UCC Prop reflected on
the match. ‘’It was a brilliant effort, but
our decision-making needs to improve.’’
Reaffirming the belief within the squad
that they have the ability to win these
tight matches and compete for higher
honours this season more and more as
the side gels throughout the year.
The loss sees UCC concede their
first defeat at the Mardyke this season,
losing their 100% record in the process.
While Cashel move into first place with
a game in hand over second placed Ban-
bridge who lost out to Skerries in
Dublin on Saturday, still taking away a
four-try and losing bonus point. The win
sees Cashel secure their commanding
position at the top of the table with four
wins out of a possible four and therefore
remaining the only side to maintain
a 100% record in division 2A so far
this season. Cashel will face Nenagh
Ormond next weekend during the rest
weekend for the other sides before UCC
face Queen’s in Belfast on the 31st of
October looking to get their season back
on track.
Sports News in Brief - Scannell Shines as Munster Put Away the Blues
Former UCC student Rory Scannell put in a very solid
performance at inside-centre for Munster on Satuday afternoon.
Scannell, who can also play at Out-Half and Full-Back, has become
a regular in the Munster back-line so far this season as he looks to
break his way into the first team. Opportunities are coming thick
and fast while a strong Munster contingent remains away at the
Rugby World Cup representing Ireland. Scannell played a key role
in Munster’s 35-27 bonus point victory over the Cardiff Blues at
Musgrave Park on Saturday afternoon.
| 15UCC EXPRESS | Tuesday, October 20th 2015

16. UCC sport, under Director
of Sport and Activity Declan
Kidney, awarded sports
scholarships for the coming
academic year to successful
students at the Mardyke on
Wednesday afternoon. The
awards, which gave out
scholarships to 98 students,
were presented by former
UCC sports science lecturer,
Eamon Ryan. Ryan recently
managed to Cork Ladies to an
unprecedented tenth All-Ireland
victory in eleven years.
Thescholarshipswereawarded
to students from a variety of
sporting disciplines including
Rugby, Hockey, Tae Kwon Do,
Basketball, Triathlon, Gaelic
games, Rowing, Kickboxing,
Sailing and Soccer. Declan
Kidney said that the purpose
of the scholarships were to
help UCC’s athletes get to the
‘‘next step and develop as both
a person and athlete’’.
The scholarships application
system required each athlete
competing in a team sport to fill
out a form discussing their goals
and objectives for the season
ahead in line with UCC’s policy
of awarding these scholarships
to not only the most talented,
but also the most driven
individuals. UCC can be very
proud of its scholarship program
which allows funding for a
huge amount of students with a
sporting talent and provides real
strength behind these students.
Compared to other universities
UCC provides, along with its
partners, significantly more
scholarships than some other
College’s throughout Ireland.
College’s such as Trinity
award scholarships which
cover students expenses to
and from matches as well as
full scholarships where UCC
have looked to award as many
full scholarships as they could
where warranted. This year in
particular has seen a large group
of athletes from UCC qualify for
funding which in turn is hoped
to spur UCC’s individuals and
teams onto great success this
year to replicate the stunning
achievements of the 2014/15
academic year.
First year sports science
student Eamonn Cashin spoke
at the event with a firm message
to the award receipents,
‘‘Winners never lose...it is the
moments that challenge us
the most which truly define
us.’’ Cashin is aiming to be
the first Irishman to complete
‘the coolest marathon on earth’
by completing in the Polar
Circle Polar bear Challenge
in Greenland later this year.
The challenge includes a full
marathon followed by another
half-marathon the following day
through ice and snow. Cashin
was keen to stress the vitality of
physical and mental endurance
in sport using his own example.
UCC awarded a total of 39
scholarships to its athletes while
further awards were sponsored
by patrons of UCC sport.
College Awards Sport Scholarships
Inside Sport
Page 14
Tuesday, October 20th 2015 | uccexpress.ie | Volume 19 | Issue 4
SCHOLARSHIP CEREMONY: Eamon Ryan with Ladies Soccer Scholarship awardees L. Lynch, L. Murphy, K McCarhty and A O’Connor.
Neil Willoughby - Sports Editor
PREVIEW: UCC HOCKEY
PREPARE FOR UPCOMING
INTERVARSITIES
ucc sport