Digital Commons Network^™

Walking The Walk: Ex-Prisoners, Lived Experience, And The Delivery Of Restorative Justice, Allely Albert

Articles

Although the role of prisoners and ex-prisoners has recently received significant attention in restorative justice research, the literature typically treats them as the ‘offending’ party within restorative justice processes. This article instead focuses on ex-prisoners as facilitators of restorative justice, highlighting their ability to lead such programmes. Using a case study from Northern Ireland, the article examines the way that experiences of incarceration have directly influenced practitioners’ skills and their ability to uphold restorative justice principles. It is contended that qualities developed and honed in the prison environment ultimately translate to unique characteristics that can improve the restorative process. As …

“800 Years We Have Been Down”: Rebel Songs And The Retrospective Reach Of The Irish Republican Narrative, Seán Ó Cadhla

Articles

From the glamorous, cross-dressing “Rebel, Rebel” of David Bowie, to the righteous Trenchtown “Soul Rebel” of Bob Marley and The Wailers, both varied and various musical articulations of cultural and socio-political rebellion have long enjoyed a ubiquitous presence across multiple soundscapes. As a musicological delineator in Ireland, however, ‘rebel’ conveys a specifically political dynamic due to its consistent deployment as an all-encompassing descriptor for songs detailing events and personalities from the Irish national struggle. This paper sets out to examine the specific musical delineator of “rebel song” from both musicological and politico-ideological perspectives with a view to interrogating its appropriateness …

Gender Equality In Higher Education And Research, Rodrigo Rosa, Sara Clavero

Articles

No abstract provided.

Feminist Ethics And Research With Women In Prison, Christina Quinlan, Lucy Baldwin, Natalie Booth

Articles

In this article, a new model, An Ethic of Empathy, is proposed as a guide for researchers, particularly new scholars to the discipline. This model emerged from the authors’ concerns regarding the application of ethics to studies that focus on the experience of female offenders in criminal justice systems. The key issue is the vulnerability of incarcerated and post-release women in relationship to the powerful status of social scientist researchers. The complexity of ethics in such research settings necessitates a particular ethical preparation, involving formation, reflection, understanding, commitment, care, and empathy. Three cases are outlined which document the authors’ ethical …

Friends And Family Matter Most: A Trend Analysis Of Increasing E-Cigarette Use Among Irish Teenagers And Sociodemographic, Personal, Peer And Familial Associations, Joan Hanafin, Salome Sunday, Luke Clancy

Articles

Background

E-cigarette ever-use and current-use among teenagers has increased worldwide, including in Ireland.

Methods

We use data from two Irish waves (2015, 2019) of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD) to investigate gender and teenage e-cigarette use (n = 3421 16-year-olds). Using chi-square analyses, we report changes in e-cigarette ever-use, current-use, and associated variables. Using multivariable logistic regression, we analyse the increase in e-cigarette use and socio-demographic, personal, peer and familial associations, focusing on gender differences.

Results

E-cigarette ever-use increased from 23% in 2015 to 37% in 2019, and current-use from 10 to …

Living With Machines. Ethical Implications And Imaginative Agency As Local Tactics Of Dwelling And Resistance In Everyday Interactions With Artificial Intelligence, Ester Toribio-Roura

Articles

With the widespread of the Internet of things (IoT), algorithms are increasingly managing our everyday life. From navigating our way in cities to keeping track of our health, artificial intelligence has been beneficial to us in many ways. However, its algorithms can also be detrimental as a consequence of biased human programming. The result is that while technological progress delivers more and more human-like artificial intelligence, humans become dehumanised and therefore, disempowered in their everyday interactions with artificial intelligence.The solution(s) is not single-handed and calls for combined interventions at the macro and micro levels. Whilst reviewing recent top-down developments on …

Women Mps From Northern Ireland: Challenges And Contributions, 1953–2020., Yvonne Galligan

Articles

This article investigates women’s representation as Northern Ireland (NI) MPs in the House of Commons since 1953. The central argument of the study is that the political and cultural positions dominant at the formation of NI in the early 20th century reverberate through the generations and continue to inform women’s political under-representation today. The article provides an historical context for women’s political and public participation from the 1950s, highlighting the gendered political culture in which this engagement took place. It examines the additional freezing effect of the ethno-national conflict on women’s civic and political involvement from the 1970s–1990s. In terms …

An Argument Against Sex Segregation In Post-Primary Schools: Examining Wellbeing Perspectives, David Byrne, Aiden Carthy

Articles

There currently exists a substantial body of research regarding the influ-ence that the educational environment can bear upon the social and emotional wellbeing of male and female students. It has been highlighted that young female students tend to present with lower levels of wellbeing than do male students, and that the behaviour of male students may be implicit in this discrepancy. Some scholars have proposed sex segregation to be an appropriate palliative measure in addressing the lower measures of wellbeing observed among female students. This paper will present a counter-argument to this proposal based on two principal arguments. First, that …

My Palate Hung With Starlight: A Gastrocritical Reading Of Seamus Heaney’S Poetry, Anke Klitzing

Articles

Nobel-prize winning poet Seamus Heaney is celebrated for his rich verses recalling his home in the Northern Irish countryside of County Derry. Yet while the imaginative links to nature in his poetry have already been critically explored, little attention has been paid so far to his rendering of local food and foodways. From ploughing, digging potatoes and butter-churning to picking blackberries, Heaney sketches not only the everyday activities of mid-20th century rural Ireland, but also the social dynamics of community and identity and the socio-cultural symbiosis embedded in those practices. Larger questions of love, life and death also infiltrate the …

Whistleblowing In The Irish Military: The Cost Of Exposing Bullying And Sexual Harassment, John Hogan, Sharon Feeney, Grace Flynn

Articles

Whistleblowing has gained increasing media attention over the past 40 years, as incidents of abuse and wrongdoing associated with businesses, religious institutions, the media and politics have come to light. In this article, we investigate the consequences of a military whistleblower’s actions for both himself and the military institution that he was a part of. The case concerns former army officer Dr. Tom Clonan and his findings concerning the bullying and sexual harassment of female personnel in the Irish Defence Forces at the turn of the century. As these revelations came to light over 17 years ago we are able …

Using Cognitive Mapping To Longitudinally Examine Political Brand Associations, Ewan Macdonald, Roger Sherlock, John Hogan

Articles

This paper uses cognitive mapping techniques to understand how brand associations, an important aspect of political brand equity are formed, differ, and change, from the perspective of citizens, across the four largest Irish political parties between 2013 and 2016. The paper focuses in particular upon the strength, favourability and uniqueness of these brand associations. The results constitute a first attempt to longitudinally explore changing political brand associations through cognitive mapping techniques, using data generated with the participation of hundreds of citizens. Our findings suggest that this approach can contribute to our understanding of how and why political brand associations change …

Insight From Insiders: A Phenomenological Study For Exploring Food Tourism Policy In Ireland 2009-2019, Ketty Quigley, Margaret Connolly, Elaine Mahon, Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire

Articles

This paper focuses on how the phenomenon of food tourism developed in Ireland between 2009 and 2019. Employing a phenomenological epistemology, a qualitative methodology was adopted to explore key stakeholder’s lived experience of the Irish government’s approach to food tourism, identifying the primary drivers and key moments during the ten-year period. Extant literature was reviewed and critically evaluated. Using purposive sampling, and employing an emic posture, ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior governmental and tourism industry figures until saturation occurred. The findings highlight the influence that key policy makers, the formation of networks, clusters, and the role social entrepreneurs …

Men And The Drug Buzz: Masculinity And Men’S Motivations For Illicit Recreational Drug Use, Clay Darcy

Articles

The purpose of this article is to explore the motivations behind some men’s recreational use of illicit drugs from a gender standpoint. The rationale for this analysis stems from men’s predominance as illicit drug users and their likelihood of experiencing problem drug use and becoming a part of an over-represented population in drug treatment services. Explanations for men’s problematic/addicted patterns of drug use often point to marginalisation, disadvantage, and/or men’s tendency towards problematic health behaviours. This article argues that men’s illicit recreational drug use is often glossed over as a gendered activity and receives less scrutiny than problematic/addicted patterns of …

Casting A Shadow: Harm From Known Drinkers, Ann Hope, Joe Barry, Sean Byrne, Oliver Stanesby

Articles

Abstract

Introduction: This paper examines the negative consequences of having a known drinker in one’s life. Method: The first dedicated national survey on alcohol’s harm to others (AH20) in Ireland was undertaken in 2015. Data was gathered by a cross sectional probability sample of 2,005 adults (18+yrs). Using a 12 month time-frame, respondents were asked about adverse effects they experienced due to known drinkers. Results: Overall, two in five people experiencing harm from known drinkers. Intangible harm was more common (38%) than tangible harm (24%). Stress/anxiety was the most common harm. The youngest age group was most at risk …

Using Cognitive Mapping Techniques To Measure Longitudinally The Brand Equity Of Irish Political Parties, Ewan Macdonald, Roger Sherlock, John Hogan Dr

Articles

This paper applies cognitive mapping techniques to understand how political brand equity is formed, differs, and changes, across the four largest Irish political parties, between 2013 and 2016. It assesses the fundamental aspects of branding and brand equity in the marketing and political marketing literatures and offers an insight into the Irish political environment. Primary data was generated through the participation of 232 citizens in the brand elicitation stages in 2013 and 2016 and a further 76 and 105 citizens respectively were involved in the construction of the cognitive maps of brand equity. In all, across both time points, 614 …

Habitus, The Writings Of Irish Hunger Strikers And Elias's The Loneliness Of The Dying, John Connolly, Paddy Dolan

Articles

»Habitus, die Texte der irischen Hungerstreikenden und Elias', Die Einsamkeit der Sterbenden'«. Elias maintained that over the course of several centuries death has become associated with greater shame and embarrassment feelings due mainly to four interwoven processes. In this paper we consider how these specific processes or 'special conditions' Elias referred to, in conjunction with other processes, shaped the experience of dying and the image of death for twentieth century Irish hunger strikers.

The Production Of Ek Tha Tiger: A Marriage Of Convenience Between Bollywood And The Irish Film And Tourist Industries, Giovanna Rampazzo

Articles

This article examines a collaboration between the Irish and Hindi film industries, adopting the production of Kabir Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger (2012) in Dublin as a case study. It critically narrates the arc of the film’s production, foregrounding the intersecting concerns of Yash Raj Films and Irish creative and cultural institutions. Ek Tha Tiger represents Ireland through constructed idyllic images which proved to be successful in attracting tourists. Tracing the links between the production of the film and the promotion of tourism to Ireland, this article explains how the film was used to construct a ‘tourist gaze’ for audiences in …

Sport, Unity And Conflict: An Enduring Social Dynamic, Paddy Dolan, John Connolly

Articles

The purpose of this article is largely to serve as an introduction to this special issue on sport, unity and conflict. This was the theme of the European Association for Sociology of Sport conference in 2015, held in Dublin, Ireland. The special issue contains articles by the three keynote speakers of the conference – Randall Collins, Anthony King and Roberta Sassatelli. Each dealt with the theme in different, yet compatible, and highly thought-provoking ways. This article will also attempt to elaborate on the theme and argue for the continued significance of the place of unification and conflict processes within sport, …

‘Ireland On A Plate’: Curating The 2011 State Banquet For Queen Elizabeth Ii, Elaine Mahon

Articles

State dining has been shown to define the social, cultural and political position of a nation’s leaders (Albala, 2011; Baughman, 1959; Strong, 2003) and has been used by rulers for centuries to display wealth, cement alliances and impress foreign visitors (Albala, 2007; De Vooght and Scholliers, 2011; Young, 2002). This paper will show how the state banquet for Queen Elizabeth II was carefully curated to represent Ireland’s diplomatic, cultural and culinary identity. As the first visit by a reigning British monarch since Ireland had gained independence from Britain in 1922, the state visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland in …

The New Ruins Of North Cyprus, Jim Roche

Articles

This article is a critical commentary on the speculative physical development that occurred in North Cyprus in the period following the defeat of the Kofi Annan Plan (2004) for a political settlement for the islanders.

The rejection of the Annan V Plan by Greek Cypriot voters, and its acceptance by Turkish Cypriots, was interpreted and manipulated by certain political forces and vested interests in the TRNC as a carte blanche to ‘improve’ by development, property with Greek Cypriot title deeds. After the failed referendum the physical development of North Cyprus escalated at a gigantic rate. According to one ex-patriot: “In …

Bricks & Mortar: Tax Policy Swings To Those Who Rent Homes, Tom Dunne

Articles

A major change in Ireland in recent years has been the rapid fall in home ownership, down from 75pc of households in 2006 to 70pc at present.

This brings Ireland more into line with home ownership rates in the US and UK, lower than those of southern Europe but higher than the prosperous economies of northern Europe where long-term renting is very common.

In the public mind, however, this lower level of owner occupancy is seen as temporary and symptomatic of a distressed economy where buyers have difficulty obtaining mortgages and in any event are content to stand off a …

‘Moving In’: Difficulties And Support In The Transition To Higher Education For In-Service Social Care Students, Fiona Mcsweeney

Articles

This paper reports on the difficulties and supports experienced by social care practitioners within the educational institution during their transition to higher education. A life transition such as entering higher education causes stress for individuals and social support is essential in successfully dealing with this stress (Anderson et al., 2012). Fifteen social care practitioners were interviewed twice during and once at the end of their first academic year in college. Findings indicate that participants were reluctant to approach staff for help despite anxiety about classes and assignments. Discussion and debate in class helped learning and contributed to feelings of being …

Who Cares?:Practical Ethics And The Problem Of Underage Users On Social Networking Sites, Brian O'Neill

Articles

Internet companies place a high priority on the safety of their services and on their corporate responsibility towards protection of all users, especially younger ones. However, such efforts are undermined by the large numbers of children who circumvent age restrictions and lie about their age to gain access to such platforms. This paper deals with the ethical issues that arise in this not-so-hypothetical situation. Who, for instance, bears responsibility for children’s welfare in this context? Are parents/carers ethically culpable in failing to be sufficiently vigilant or even facilitating their children’s social media use? Do industry providers do enough to enforce …

The Evolution Of Media Development: The Media Development Model In A Changing World, Daire Higgins

Articles

The origins of Media Development can be found in Post WW2 Europe and the industry grew as a more significant aspect of international aid work in the 1980s and the 1990s, following the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the former Soviet Union. It was hoped that exporting the concept of a free and independent press would foster democracy in post-communist and transitional countries. While it is debated on how successful these projects were, questions are now being asked about the relevance of media development model itself, the liberal press ideology behind the training projects and what …

Emotions, Violence And Social Belonging: An Eliasian Analysis Of Sports Spectatorship, Paddy Dolan, John Connolly

Articles

This paper examines the development of different forms of spectator violence in terms of the socio-temporal structure of situational dynamics at Gaelic football matches in Ireland. The nature of violent encounters has shifted from a collective form based on local solidarity and a reciprocal code of honour, through a transitional collective form based on deferred emotional satisfaction and group pride, towards increasing individualization of spectator violence. This occurs due to the shifting objects of emotional involvement. As the functional specialization of the various roles in the game is partially accepted by spectators, the referee becomes the target of anger. Violence …

Rehabilitation, Research, And Reform: Prison Policy In Ireland, Mary Rogan

Articles

The paper tracks the concept of rehabilitation within official thinking in

Ireland since the foundation of the State. It explores when and how the term was first

used and how it has fared since. It then examines barriers to and the role of research

in the making of prison policy and comments on data deficits in the system at present.

Finally it looks at the role of interest groups within the criminal justice system in

Ireland, and specifically their effect, or potential effect, on the formation of prison

policy.

Understanding Policy Change Using A Critical Junctures Theory In Comparative Context: The Cases Of Ireland And Sweden, Paul Donnelly, John Hogan

Articles

Utilizing a new theory for examining critical junctures, we seek to better understand the nature of industrial policy change in Ireland during the 1950s and macroeconomic policy change in Sweden in the 1980s. Did these policy changes constitute critical junctures, or something less, and if so why? The theory consists of three elements – economic crisis, ideational change, and the nature of the policy change – that must be identified for us to be able to declare with some certainty if a policy change constitutes a critical juncture. Herein, we will be examining the roles of a variety of change …

Avoiding The Mistakes Of The Past, Tom Dunne

Articles

Tom Dunne explores the long term drivers of dysfunction in Ireland's housing markets and what a more sustainable housing system would look like.

Selection And Acquisition Of E-Books In Irish Institutes Of Technology Libraries: A Study, Wanda Carin, Lucy Tedd

Articles

Purpose: To report on a study of the acquisition of e-books in libraries in Institutes of Technology (ITs) in Ireland undertaken in 2009. Methodology: Websites of the libraries of the 15 ITs were studied and this was followed by telephone interviews, using a structured set of questions, with the acquisition librarians. Details are provided of the e-book suppliers used, reasons for acquiring (and not acquiring) e-books, links with Virtual Learning Environments and methods of promotion. Findings: Librarians from 12 of the 15 ITs agreed to be interviewed giving a response rate of 80%. The ITs are using e-books from a …

Young Men Consuming Newspaper Prostitution: A Discourse Analysis Of Responses To Irish Newspaper Coverage Of Prostitution, Joseph Fitzgerald, Brendan O'Rourke

Articles

No abstract provided.