Body document - University College Cork

THE COLLEGE COURIER WINTER 2001 

STAFF MAGAZINE WINTER 2001 

Contents 

EDITOR 

Orlaith O’Callaghan 

Director of Public Affairs 

Email: oocallaghan@pres.ucc.ie 

DEPUTY EDITOR 

Roslyn Cox 

Publications Officer 

Ext: 2821 

Email: r.cox@ucc.ie 

First Pharmacy School for UCC 

page 2 

Christmas in Calcutta 

page 7 

COMPETITION RESULTS 

Congratulations to Margaret Moloney, 

Biochemistry, who won the summer 

College Courier competition. Margaret 

receives a dinner voucher for two at Pi. 

See back page for Winter Competition 

Events 

Acute Launch 

page 11 

Research 

How to lose weight and keep it off! 

page 23 

AN GHAEILGE 

Claire Ní Mhuirthile 

Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha 

PHOTOGRAPHY 

Tomás Tyner, Audio Visual Services 

Eoghan Kavanagh Photography 

John Sheehan Photography 

Barry’s Photography 

Michael O’Donnell 

DESIGN 

Huguenot Visual Communications 

Awards 

Scoláireacht Uí Ríordáin 2001 

page 27 

Bookshelf 

The Complete Guide to “The Quiet Man” 

page 34 

EYE SEE. 

A bronze cast by artist Patrick Foskin. 

The statue was purchased as part of 

UCC’s Visual Arts Committee annual 

prize at the Crawford degree show. 

ISSUE 149 WINTER 2001 

The College Courier is intended for circulation among UCC staff. The opinions and views in 

the publication are those of the contributors and are not necessarily shared by University 

College, Cork. Extracts from The College Courier should not be published without the 

permission of the Editor. © University College, Cork. 

1



On 16 October last Dr Michael Woods, TD, Minister for 

Education and Science, announced a new Pharmacy 

School will be established at UCC. The new School will 

tackle the shortage of pharmacists in Ireland as it 

provides an additional 50 places for pharmacy students. 

Prestigious Pharmacy First for UCC 

Announcing the School’s appointment, Dr 

Woods said, “I am delighted to announce 

the new Pharmacy School at Cork. Provision 

of this new facility demonstrates the 

Government’s commitment to tackling the 

serious shortage of pharmacists being 

experienced in our hospitals, in community 

pharmacies and in the pharmaceutical 

industry.” 

Welcoming the announcement of the 

new School Professor Gerard T. Wrixon, UCC 

President, spoke of the significance of this 

prestigious development for the University “I 

welcome the Government’s decision to 

appoint a new School of Pharmacy in Cork. 

Strategically, this is an important decision for 

UCC- the establishment of Pharmacy within 

the Faculty of Medicine has been one of our 

key objectives as set out in “Agenda for 

Excellence”. This appointment will further 

enhance the University’s reputation in the 

areas of medical, biological and chemical 

sciences research”. 

A shortage of pharmacy graduates was 

identified by the Higher Education Authority 

(HEA) - commissioned study “Assessing 

Supply in Relation to Prospective Demand for 

Pharmacists in Ireland” by Dr Peter Bacon. 

The Study established a requirement for an 

additional annual output of at least 50 

pharmacy graduates. In May 2000, the 

subsequent report of the HEA Forum on 

Pharmacy Education reiterated the need for 

an additional annual outcome of 50 

graduates on a long-term basis. It also 

suggested that a further annual increase of 

the order of an extra 50 graduates might be 

considered as a short-term measure. 

Professor Michael Murphy, Dean of 

Medicine, welcomed the School stating, 

“This is the first major investment in Health 

Education in Cork since 1913. The Pharmacy 

School will enable UCC to be far more 

responsive to the needs of the local industry 

and health service sectors. It will bring new 

teaching and research programmes in 

pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical technology, 

clinical pharmacy and pharmacognosy. 

The trend towards more “added value” 

activities in the pharmaceutical industry in 

Ireland, such as drug formulation, innovation 

in drug delivery systems, and even in drug 

discovery, will be facilitated by the specialised 

education programme planned for the new 

School”. 

Costing in the region of £6 million, the 

School will initially cater for undergraduate 

students. However, Cork University Foundation 

has secured funding to support postgraduate 

and research initiatives at the School. 

Professor Wrixon said the School was a very 

significant achievement for all staff in the 

University stating, “This is a development of 

which our University can be very proud”. He 

continued by acknowledging Professor 

Murphy’s commitment to this initiative and 

congratulated him on the outcome. 

Professor Murphy and Dr Peter Weedle, 

Pharmacology & Therapeutics, were central 

to the successful application in pursuit of the 

School, which was supported by local 

industry and the surrounding Health Boards. 

2 3


New Staff 

Human Resources 


CATRIONA MARTIN, Assistant FOI 

Officer. Originally from Glasgow, 

Catriona graduated from Stirling 

University. She worked in 

Administration at St Andrews 

University before taking a year out 

to travel and work in Australia. 

Catriona joined UCC in July 2001. 

KATHY O’CONNELL has joined 

Human Resources as Information 

Systems Project Assistant. Before 

joining UCC in June 2001 she 

worked as HR Administrator for a 

Cork electronics company. 

DR FLAVIO BOGGI, College Lecturer 

in Art History. Flavio was brought up in 

Scotland and attended Glasgow 

University. The Renaissance period was 

the subject of his PhD, which he took 

in Pisa, Italy and Glasgow. Flavio 

teaches the Art History Diploma Course 

for Adult Continuing Education. 

CLODAGH HARRIS, College Lecturer, 

Government. Clodagh is a graduate 

of UCG and KU Leuven, Belgium. She 

specializes in EU Politics, Northern 

Ireland, Conflict and Regulation 

Studies. 

DR ANDY WHEELER, College Lecturer, 

Geology. Before joining the Geology 

Department Andy was a Researcher in 

the Coastal Resources Centre. He 

specializes in Marine Geology and 

Seabed Mapping. His PhD on Coastal 

Sedimentology was done at Cambridge 

and he spent time at Queen’s 

University, Belfast, in postdoctoral work. 

DR STEPHEN WILLS, College 

Lecturer, Mathematics. Stephen 

joined UCC in October 2001. 

Originally from Kent he graduated 

from Oxford (BA), London (MA) and 

Nottingham (PhD) where he stayed 

on to do postdoc work. 

DR PATRICK HARRISON has been 

appointed Statutory Lecturer in 

Physiology. He is from Warrington in 

north-west England and attended 

Glasgow University. After graduating 

he stayed at Glasgow where he 

taught Molecular Physics. Patrick is 

responsible for a postdoc training 

workshop to be held next Easter in 

UCC on Molecular Techniques. 

DR ALEXEI POKROVSKII is Professor 

in the Department of Applied 

Mathematics. He left Russia to take 

up a position in Australia where he 

stayed for five years. He joined UCC 

three years before he was awarded 

the professorship. 

MARTIN HOWARD, College 

Lecturer, French. Martin studied at 

UCD and Trinity and did postgraduate 

studies in Applied Linguistics at the 

Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris. He 

worked briefly as a secondary teacher 

(trained at Trinity and IUFM de 

Versailles, France) before teaching at 

third level in Paris, UCD and 

Waterford IT. Martin teaches French 

language and linguistics at UCC. 

HR News 

The Department of Human Resources continues to make progress in achieving key strategic objectives 

set out in the University’s strategic development plan, ‘Agenda for Excellence’ and in its own 

strategic plan ‘Planning for People’. This term will see the launch of a number of new publications 

and initiatives aimed at supporting and developing the staff of the University. Details for these 

initiatives are set out below with more information available on the HR website @ www.ucc.ie/hr 

Training & Development Programme 

The 2001/2002 Staff Training and Development Programme was launched on 1 October 2001. 

The programme reflects the priority needs identified in departmental training needs analysis. It 

provides staff with an opportunity to develop their skills and thus to increase not just their effectiveness 

as members of staff of the University, but also the sense of achievement they derive 

from their work. One of the best ways in which the University can offer support is through 

enhanced training opportunities. The programme sets out the training and development opportunities 

within the University, and underlines UCC’s commitment to invest in all its employees. 

Staff are encouraged to take advantage of the many courses on offer. 

The Programme also includes details of training opportunities available from the Health and 

Safety Office and the Computer Centre. 

Human Resources Manual 

The President recently launched the UCC Human Resources Manual. 

The Manual was developed in accordance with the University’s 

strategic objective of putting in place a publication detailing all upto-date 

HR policies and procedures. The publication should assist in 

the efficient conduct of human resource business throughout the 

University. The Manual includes a variety of policies dealing with 

Recruitment, Training, Salary Administration and Employee Relations 

amongst many other areas. A copy of the Manual will be issued 

shortly to University departments. Presented in a loose-leaf ring 

binder format, the Manual is designed to facilitate the inclusion of 

policy updates and amendments. 

UCC Staff Handbook 

An updated version of the UCC Staff Handbook is in production. The 

Handbook contains information on the range of benefits available to all 

staff. It should appeal particularly to new staff as the Handbook gives 

details on the structure and functioning of the University. The publication 

includes features on history, governance, management, academic and 

administrative structures. Sections on employment policy, pay and 

benefits and staff development provide information on various aspects 

of the employment relationship. The Handbook also includes general 

information on services and college facilities. 

The Staff Handbook will be officially launched at the President’s 

Reception for New Staff held in the Aula Maxima on 30 November 2001. 

4 

5




The UCC Advantage 

On October 15 UCC became the first university in Ireland to 

launch its own staff discount scheme. Under the UCC 

Advantage Scheme, staff members can avail of a range of 

group rates and special discounts from over 80 businesses 

in the Cork area, including restaurants, car dealerships, 

bookshops, jewellers, electrical shops, clothes shops and 

leisure facilities. Staff availing of the Scheme must present a 

valid UCC staff identification card when making a transaction. 

A brochure detailing the Scheme can be accessed 

from the HR website: http://www.ucc.ie/hr. 

New Internal 

Telephone Directory 

UCC’s new Internal Telephone Directory has been 

compiled and produced by the staff of the Secretarial 

Centre. The publication is an update of the 1999 

Directory and will be distributed to all departments, 

centres and units in the coming weeks. The Directory 

contains the names, job titles and telephone extension 

numbers of staff in departmental order, along with 

contact details for facilities such as shops, student 

services and emergency services. When compared 

with earlier editions of the book, the new Directory 

charts the extensive growth and development of the 

University in recent years. 

As Imelda Sheehan, Registrar’s Office, embarks on 

her seventh self-funded trip to India she spoke to 

“The College Courier” about working as a volunteer 

with the street children of Calcutta. 

Christmas in Calcutta 

I travel to Calcutta on 19 November and hope 

to be there for two months. When I first 

visited Calcutta in November 1994, I could 

never have envisaged that I would be making 

this an annual volunteering trip. This will be 

my seventh Christmas in Calcutta, and in many 

ways it’s like a home-from-home now. 

During my previous visits I have been 

involved with various projects and I have 

spent much of my time working with Mother 

Teresa. I had the pleasure of meeting her on 

numerous occasions. She set-up homes for 

children with disabilities, orphan babies, TB 

patients, leprosy patients, a school for street 

children, as well as a home for the dying and 

destitute, to name but a few. On my first trip 

to Calcutta, in addition to working with 

Mother Teresa, I started classes in the back of 

a restaurant. It got the children off the streets, 

in from the cold and out of harm’s way. 

The following year I found it more productive 

to work through existing organizations. I 

started night classes in homes for street 

children run by the Don Bosco organization. 

These homes give shelter to over 350 street 

children. I also taught at a boarding school for 

disadvantaged girls. My sister sponsors two 

girls in the school. In 1996, in addition to my 

work with Mother Teresa, I began tutoring the 

school-going children in a home run by a 

French volunteer as well as continuing my 

night classes with the street children. One of 

the best ways to help the poor of Calcutta is 

through education and by sponsoring a child. 

Family and friends have been really 

surprised by my love for Calcutta and its 

street children. I can only explain this by 

saying that I have never found such 

happiness and witnessed so much joy as I 

have in Calcutta. In many ways, I feel that 

I’m the lucky one to have shared so many 

wonderful moments and to have witnessed 

so much love amidst all the poverty and 

deprivation. 

I would like to think that I’ve become a 

better human being having spent some time 

giving a little back to society. It took me a 

while to understand what Mother Teresa 

meant when she wrote, “It is in giving that 

we receive”. 

Imelda would like to make staff aware that all money received through 

her fundraising efforts goes directly to the organizations she is involved 

with and in working with the street children of Calcutta. She is also part 

of the decision-making process as to how the money is best spent. 

Employee Assistance Programme 

October saw the launch of the University’s new Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). 

An EAP Committee, bringing together relevant expertise and interests in the University, 

conducted a thorough EAP service-provider selection 

process and recommended Dovedale Counselling for 

an initial two-year contract. 

Dovedale’s 24-hour freephone provides a portal to 

confidential support, counselling, people management 

advice, financial and legal advice for staff. Explanatory 

brochures and wallet cards for the programme have 

been issued to staff members. During the week of 8 

October, the Dovedale management team delivered a 

number of briefing sessions to staff. Details of the 

Dovedale programme can be accessed at 

http://www.ucc.ie/ucc/equalcom/EAP.htm 

Workplace issues that an effective EAP can help 

address are stress reduction, illness and absence, creation of a positive work-life balance, 

improvement of productivity and efficiency, retention and development of employees and 

managers, and ensuring UCC undertakes the employer’s duty of care, reduction of 

employee grievances and demonstrating care for staff. 

“Here I am with Noormuhammad (or 

Noor), a street child I first met in December 

1994. This photograph was taken the 

following February in Calcutta, when he 

would have been about 11 or 12 (no birth 

certificate means no definite age!). He joined 

my night classes and shortly after that I 

found a school that would accept him as an 

older child into a junior class. He loved 

learning and never missed a day at school. I 

then found him a place to stay. I’m happy to 

report that Noor has just finished a technical 

training course and is now looking for a job. 

He has been to Ireland and loved its green 

fields and homemade jam! He even played 

hurling!!! This young man was one of the 

lucky few to have an opportunity to receive 

an education and now has a real chance of 

getting a job and taking care of his family” 

6 

7


Events 


Over the past two years, Colin has been visiting 

Pakistan on a regular basis to help the 

Government of the North West Frontier 

Province draw up a ‘master’ Health Plan for the 

Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The 

planning exercise was funded by the UK 

Department for International Development, 

under the Family Health Project, and was 

managed within Pakistan by the British Council. 

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas 

consist of seven agencies that lie between the 

Province of NWFP in Pakistan and the North 

East border of Afghanistan. Established under 

the British Empire, as a bulwark against 

invasion from Afghanistan, they were 

accorded a high degree of governmental 

autonomy. Although incorporated into 

Pakistan on independence, they have 

continued to enjoy this autonomous status 

and have never been fully incorporated into 

national legislative and planning processes. 

A consequence of autonomous status is 

that health planning has been largely 

neglected, with services developing in an adhoc 

and a cost-ineffective manner. The 

‘master’ Health Plan constituted the first 

comprehensive planning exercise undertaken 

to develop a more rational use of health 

Health Planning for the 

Tribal Areas of Pakistan 

Colin Thunhurst, Senior Research Fellow in the Department of 

Epidemiology and Public Health recently completed a planning exercise 

to help the Government of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), 

Pakistan, develop a health plan for the Tribal Areas of Pakistan. 

Photo courtesy: 

Irene Orchard 

service resources in the region. The exercise 

produced a model for health care delivery in 

the agencies, which has been termed the 

Agency Based Health Care Delivery System. 

It provides a flexible blueprint for a primary 

health care system, with supporting referral 

to secondary facilities, based on a more 

realistic assessment of the human, physical 

and financial resources available. 

Colin facilitated the planning exercise 

over a series of four visits to Peshawar and 

to the Tribal Areas themselves. This gave him 

the opportunity to travel extensively within 

the Agencies. Colin had previously lived in 

Pakistan for four years, firstly as the National 

Health Planning Adviser based in Islamabad 

and later as Project Director for the Family 

Health Projects in the Provinces of Punjab 

and Balochistan, based in Lahore. 

This article was submitted before the 

events of September 11 and the subsequent 

bombing raids on Afghanistan. Colin’s 

planned return trip to Peshawar has been 

suspended indefinitely. 

Colin Thunhurst (seated right), Epidemiology and Public 

Health, with Mr Zamin Gul (seated left), British Council 

Project Director for the Family Health Project in Peshawar 

enjoy tea in a chai-stop in the company of local tribesmen 

Professor Fred 

Powell at the 

Conference on 

“Introducing 

Alternatives to 

Imprisonment” held 

in Bulgaria, with 

Professor Petko 

Chobanov, Rector, 

Bourgas Free 

University, Bulgaria 

and Mario Dimitrov, 

Deputy Justice 

Minister, Bulgaria 

East-West Co-operation 

A major conference in Bulgaria in October 

marked the end of a successful two-year cooperation 

between the Bulgarian 

Government, the Sofia Helsinki Human 

Rights Group, Bourgas Free University, 

Bulgaria and UCC. The ‘Introducing 

Alternatives to Imprisonment’ conference 

was attended by the Bulgarian Deputy 

Minister for Justice, Mario Dimitrov and the 

Deputy Minister for European Integration, 

Sevdalin Bozhikov. 

Professor Fred Powell, from Applied Social 

Studies, UCC, in a keynote address to the 

conference on Risk, Crime and Community, 

urged the Bulgarians to adopt a more liberal 

approach to crime control that puts alternatives 

to custody at the centre of public policy. 

He also argued for the release of life 

prisoners on licence, who no longer present 

a risk to society. 

The Director of the Central Prison 

Administration, Peter Vassifev, gave an 

overview of the project’s achievements and 

noted the strong support of the new 

Bulgarian Government, led by Simeon 

Saxeloberg. Mr Vassilev said that the most 

practical approach for prison reform in 

Bulgaria was to adopt the Irish intensive 

community supervision scheme in the 

treatment of offenders, who do not pose a 

serious risk to society. 

During the two-year project, funded by 

the European Union, two visits were made 

by high-level Bulgarian delegations to 

Ireland, where they examined the criminal 

justice system and met with the Minister for 

Justice, John O’Donoghue. Several staff from 

the Department of Applied Social Studies 

made return visits to Bulgaria to offer 

training and advice, including Carmel Halton, 

Liz Kiely and Martin Geoghegan. The project 

was co-ordinated in Ireland by Fionnuala 

O’Connor, Manager of the Applied Social 

Studies Department. It is hoped that the 

project’s success will help assist Bulgaria’s 

accession to the European Union, by liberalizing 

penal policy and putting human rights 

at the centre of the political agenda. 

8 

9


Events 

Events 


Successful Egyptology Lecture 

Acute Launch 

Celebrated Egyptologist and Director General of the Giza pyramids, 

Dr Zahi Hawass (right), delivered a public lecture to a packed Boole 

Lecture Theatre Four “Recent Discoveries at the Giza Pyramids and 

the Valley of the Golden Mummies”. 

Dr Hawass, who teaches archaeology at Cairo University and UCLA 

in the US, is credited with unearthing evidence on how the pyramids 

were built. His discoveries also include the tombs of the workmen 

who built the pyramids and, recently, a pair of statues of Rameses II. 

He was accompanied on his visit to UCC by His Excellency Mr 

Ahraf Rashed, the Egyptian Ambassador to Ireland. 

Granary Play Invited to 

San Francisco 

A 2-actor version of Ionesco’s classic play The Bald Prima Donna, featuring UCC 

graduates Donal Gallagher and Geraldine O’Grady has been invited to the 2002 San 

Francisco Festival of Absurdist Theatre. This is the first Irish show ever to receive such 

an invitation. 

The Bald Prima Donna originated in UCC’s Granary Theatre in 1999 and was further 

developed by the artistic director of the theatre, Ali Robertson. It has played 75 dates in 

Ireland and Edinburgh. Meredith Wilkes, of San Francisco’s EXIT Theatre caught the 

show at the 2001 Cork Fringe Festival and recommended it for the absurdist festival 

this coming spring. 

Recruitment Fair 

well attended 

Pictured at the 2001 Recruitment Fair held in UCC on 16 October were 

left to right: Una Kelly, John Liston, Fiona Cotter, all representatives of 

Cork accountants, Crowleys DFK. The highly successful Fair for final 

year and postgraduate students was organized by the Careers Service. 

From left, front row: Donal Lehane, 

Mercy Hospital, Minister for State, 

Dan Wallace, TD and Professor 

Michael Murphy, Dean of Medicine 

and Chairman of the Steering Group 

From left, second row: Tony 

McNamara, Cork University Hospital 

Group and John Murphy, Mercy 

Hospital 

From left, third row: Batt O’Keeffe, 

TD, Chairman of the Oireachtas 

Committee on Health and Joe 

Cregan, Department of Health 

From left, back row: Ger O’Callaghan, 

South Infirmary-Victoria Hospital and 

Sean Hurley, Chief Executive Officer of 

the Southern Health Board 

The Minister for Health and Children, Mr Micheál Martin, TD, launched a report on 

the future organization of Acute Hospital Services in Cork City. The clinical schools of 

the Faculty of Medicine deliver much of the undergraduate teaching in the local 

hospitals and rely heavily on participation of the professional staff and facilities of the 

Health Service. The Minister commissioned a Steering Group, chaired by Professor 

Michael Murphy, Dean of Medicine at UCC, to draw up a blueprint for integration of 

the activities of hospitals in Cork to provide a more co-ordinated approach to patient 

care and to the education of doctors, dentists and nurses. The new arrangements will 

greatly enhance the capacity of Cork to attract more investment in the Health Service 

and to facilitate the addition of new schools in the University for other health professions. 

The Minister thanked the University for facilitating the Review, and welcomed 

the close co-operation between the University and the local Health Service. 

10 

11


Events 

Events 


Cork Lord Mayor, Cllr Tom O’Driscoll on a visit to UCC’s 

Centre for Adult Continuing Education stand at the Adult 

Education Exhibition held in Cork City Hall, September last. 

Pictured at the Exhibition L-R were: John Ryan, National 

Adult Education Body, Marguerite Lynch, Centre Manager, 

Centre for Adult Continuing Education, UCC, Cllr Tom 

O’Driscoll, Lord Mayor, Donal Counihan, Chairman, Cork 

Adult Education Council and Centre for Adult Continuing 

Education, UCC and Phil Mortell, Course Co-ordinator, 

Centre for Adult Continuing Education, UCC 

Battle of Kinsale 

WINTER SCHOOL 3-6 JANUARY 2002 

UCC’s School of Business & Government, in conjunction 

with the Technology Transfer Initiative (TTI) and the Supply 

Chain Education Institute (e-SCP) have recently joined 

forces to provide Irish industry with a model of best 

practice and accredited training programmes in 

“Intelligent Supply Chain Management”. 

Launching the initiative at UCC, Professor Neil Collins, 

Director of the School of Business and Government, stated 

that, “a more holistic and informed approach to supply 

chain management is crucial if Ireland is to maintain its 

competitive advantage. The efficiency gains to be made 

are huge and UCC is delighted to partner Joe Aherne of e- 

SCP in this important project”. 

This innovation aims to develop a global centre of 

excellence in partnership with a Supply Chain Court of 

Experts. The Court of Experts is comprised of leading 

supply chain practitioners from international and Irish 

industries and academic experts from the area of supply 

chain management. 

As part of the ongoing Battle of Kinsale 

commemoration the Kinsale Winter School will 

take place from 3-6 January 2002. 

The School will examine the causes, contexts 

and consequences of the Battle of Kinsale. The 

programme will feature visiting academics, politicians 

and other public figures with an interest, 

not only in Ireland’s past, but also in its relations 

with Britain and its future in the EU. 

Application forms for the School are now 

available from Karen McSweeney, Winter School 

Coordinator, International Education Office, UCC. 

Tel: (021) 490 2918. Email: K.McSweeney@ucc.ie 

L-R: Brian Quinlan, Regional 

Director, Enterprise Ireland, Joe 

Aherne, Director, Leading Edge 

Group, Professor Neil Collins, 

Director, School of Business & 

Government, UCC, Miriam 

Collins, Programme Manager, 

Technology Transfer Initiative, 

UCC and Bill O’Gorman, 

Management & Marketing, UCC 

12 

13


Events 

Events 


1. 

Coffee Morning 

Pensions Administration, Secretary’s Office, organized 

a coffee morning for retired UCC staff members at 

the new sports centre, Mardyke Arena on 11 October 

2001. Scenes from the morning are given below. 

1. L-R: Ann Cremin, Applied Social Studies, 

Sheila Murphy, General Services, and Tadhg 

O’Leary, General Services 

6. 

2. Brian Barrett, Conservative Dentistry 

3. L-R: Joe O’Reilly, Dental Hospital and David 

Murphy, Chemistry 

4. L-R: John Sheehan, Physiology and 

Eric Tully, Biochemistry 

5. L-R: Hugh Pollock, Electrical Engineering 

and Barry Duggan, Medicine, CUH 

6. L-R: Tim Humphreys, Civil Engineering 

and Nuala O’Keeffe, Payroll Office 

7. L-R: Paddy Barry, Mathematics and Anne 

McCarthy, Mathematics 

8. L-R: Richard Rock, General Services, 

Brendan Raleigh, General Services and Dan 

McCarthy, General Services 

2. 

9. L-R: Jim Kellaghan, Pensions Manager and 

Michael F Hayes, General Services 

10.L-R: Tadhg Murphy, General Services and 

Marian Roche, Biochemistry 

7. 

3. 

8. 

4. 

5. 

9. 10. 

14 

15


Conferences 

Conferences 


Bioethics Workshop 

Local, national and international experts 

from third-level education and the health 

care sector came together for a Bioethics 

Workshop held in the Hayfield Manor Hotel 

on 6 July. The Workshop was organised by 

the Department of Philosophy, UCC, which is 

involved in a two-year TEMPE project (2000- 

2002) implemented under the auspices of 

the EU Framework Fifth Programme. TEMPE 

is the acronym for Teaching Ethics Materials 

for Practitioner Education and its overall aim 

is the development of ethics texts for healthcare 

students and practitioners. 

The objective of the workshop was to get 

critical feedback from a variety of educational 

and medical experts on the text, titled 

Ethics of Assisted Reproductive Technologies. 

The feedback will facilitate the final revision 

of the text which is the joint responsibility of 

colleagues in Imperial College, London, the 

University of Athens and the Philosophy 

Department, UCC. Papers and case studies 

were drawn from Dr Deirdre Madden and 

Mary Donnelly in the Department of Law, 

UCC. In addition, European colleagues in 

science, fertility medicine, psychology and 

philosophy provided the basic material for 

the text. A video has been prepared by 

Imperial College, to dramatize a selection of 

case studies used in the book. 

Taking a break from the Workshop 

are L-R standing: Dr Heather 

Widdows, Research Officer, 

Imperial College, London, 

Professor Donna Dickenson, Lead 

Co-ordinator of the Project and Dr 

Joan McCarthy, Philosophy, UCC, 

who, together with Dr Dolores 

Dooley, is co-author of Ethics of 

Assisted Reproductive Technologies 

L-R sitting: Dr Tina Garanis- 

Papadatos, University of Athens, 

Dr Panagiota Dalla-Vorgia, 

University of Athens and Dr 

Dolores Dooley, Philosophy, UCC 

Early Book Society Conference 

The seventh biennial conference of the Early 

Book Society, “Telling Stories: the Book and 

the Art of Narrative, 1350-1500”, was held at 

UCC in July. The local organizers were Dr 

Margaret Connolly and Samantha Mullaney of 

the Department of English. The Conference 

was jointly hosted by the Departments of 

English and History. 

Some sixty-five papers were presented 

during the five-day meeting. There were also 

some impressive electronic presentations, 

including a demonstration of the Humanities 

Media Interface (HUMI) project, based at 

Keio University in Japan, which is at the 

forefront of the application of digital 

technology to the study of early printed 

books and medieval manuscripts. The 

director of HUMI, Professor Toshiyuki 

Takamiya, brought a team of research assistants 

and graduate students to Cork. Also in 

attendance was Peter Robinson of De 

Montfort University, UK, to give the latest 

news about the Canterbury Tales Project, 

which is investigating the manuscripts of 

Chaucer’s best-known work using similar 

digital technology. 

To coincide with the conference, Julian 

Walton and Carol Quinn of the Boole Library 

arranged a special exhibition of early printed 

books. This included many rarely seen items 

from the St. Finbarre’s Cathedral Library 

collection. The exhibition was opened by 

UCC Librarian, John FitzGerald, and 

remained in place during the summer and 

gave members of UCC staff a rare opportunity 

to see these treasures. 

The Conference concluded with a 

banquet and ceilidh in the Aula Maxima, 

followed by a daylong trip to Cashel that 

included a visit to the Bolton Library. 

Despite the appalling mid-July weather, 

the delegates, many of whom had travelled 

from the United States, went away with 

warm memories of Cork and of UCC’s hospitality, 

for which special thanks are due to 

Campbell Catering and to Kevin and his 

team in the Staff Common Room. 

Picture shows Professor Peter Woodman, Dean 

of Arts and Dr Margaret Connolly, English, 

one of the organizers of the conference 

Credit Union CEO 

Visits UCC 

This year’s Summer School for the UCC distance-learning Diploma in 

Credit Union Studies took place on campus in early June. Arthur 

Arnold, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the World Council of Credit 

Unions, gave the keynote address at this year’s Summer School. In his 

address Arnold emphasized the key role of continuing education to 

the credit union movement. The UCC Diploma in Credit Union Studies 

has been offered to credit union practitioners since 1993 and has 

approximately 500 diplomates to date. The Diploma now comprises 

Level One of the new BSc in Mutual and Credit Union Business. 

L-R: Dr Bob Briscoe, Centre for Co-operative Studies, UCC, Ms 

Olive McCarthy, Centre for Co-operative Studies, UCC, Mr Tom 

McCarthy, Centre for Adult Continuing Education, UCC, Mr Arthur 

Arnold, CEO, World Council of Credit Unions and Dr Michael 

Ward, Centre for Co-operative Studies, UCC 

Munster Women Writers 

Participants from the Munster Women 

Writers Project Conference held in UCC in 

July; L-R: Gearóidín Nic Carthaigh, Irish 

language researcher, Professor Patricia 

Coughlan, project leader, English 

Department, Dr Éibhear Walshe, project 

member, English Department and Dr Tina 

O’Toole, principal researcher, English 

Department. The Munster Women Writers 

Project is a bibliographical research project 

currently underway at UCC. It is part of an 

interdisciplinary, three-strand project on 

Women in Irish Society. The project secured 

funding from the Irish Higher Education 

Authority in 1999. 

16 

17


Conferences 

Conferences 


“Two Systems - 

One Island” 

Conference 

UCC Health Services Research Group held the 

Second Biennial Health Services Research 

Conference in UCC in September 2001. It took 

as its theme “Two Systems - One Island”. The 

three keynote speakers, Dr Dermot O’Reilly, 

Health and Social Services Research Unit, 

Queen’s University, Belfast, Professor Hannah 

Magee, Health Services Research Unit, Royal 

College of Surgeons, Dublin and Dr Jane 

Wilde, All Ireland Institute of Public Health, 

addressed the issue of health services research 

from a North of Ireland, a South of Ireland and 

an all-Ireland perspective respectively. 

The Conference was opened by the 

Minister for Health and Children, Micheál 

Martin, TD, whose observations highlighted 

the need to develop a Health Services 

Research capacity in Ireland and the funding 

opportunities likely to arise over the next few 

years. Mr Batt O’Keeffe, TD, Chair of the 

Southern Health Board and the Oireachtas 

Select Committee on Health and Children 

Bird Lovers flock to UCC 

L-R: Dr Mike Pienkowski, Vice President, BOU, Professor Bill 

Sutherland, University of East Anglia, Steve Dudley BOU, and 

conference organizers, Dr Josephine Pithon, Zoology & Animal 

Ecology, UCC, Dr John O’Halloran, Zoology & Animal Ecology, 

UCC and Dr Tom Kelly, Zoology & Animal Ecology, UCC 

and Dr Ruth Barrington, CEO of the Health 

Research Board, closed the Conference. 

The Conference was preceded by a 

training day in Health Services Research 

methods, organized by Professor Colin 

Bradley, General Practice, and Chair of the 

UCC Health Services Research Group and 

Brendan McElroy, HSR Fellow, Department of 

Economics. 

L-R: Dr Dermot O’Reilly, Health and 

Social Services Research Unit, Queen’s 

University Belfast, Dr Jane Wilde, All 

Ireland Institute of Public Health, 

Professor Colin Bradley, General Practice, 

UCC, Professor Hannah Magee, Health 

Services Research Unit, Royal College of 

Surgeons, Dublin and Professor Ivan 

Perry, Epidemiology, UCC 

UCC played host to the oldest ornithological society in the world, the 

British Ornithologists Union (BOU) on September 21-23 last, when the 

Department of Zoology & Animal Ecology co-organized with the BOU, 

a major international meeting on the ecology of islands. The focus of 

the meeting was to consider the importance of birds and ecological 

islands; patterns and processes. 

Eminent ornithologist Professor Bill Sutherland, University of East 

Anglia, delivered the keynote address and challenged the delegates to 

consider the major issues for the conservation of birds on islands. The 

award-winning wildlife photographer, Richard Mills, who opened the 

Conference, presented an evening exhibition of bird photography. The 

Conference continued by examining subjects as diverse as goose 

migration, robins in Ireland, seabirds and the conservation of birds in 

the Burren. Many of the papers examined the challenges facing birds 

and other organisms on islands and highlighted some of the unique 

features of island bird populations. 

EuroLAB Conference 

Pictured at the EuroLAB International Conference 

are L-R: Dr Alfredo Aguilar, European Commission, 

Dr Jean van Sinderen-Law, (then) Research Support 

Officer, Professor Brian Harvey, Vice President for 

Research, Professor Charles Daly, Dean, Faculty of 

Food Science and Technology, Professor Gerald 

Fitzgerald, Microbiology, and (at front) Dr Douwe 

van Sinderen, Microbiology 

The University recently hosted the prestigious international 

EuroLAB Conference that provided a forum 

for exchange between Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) 

researchers in the scientific community and the LAB 

industry. 

The Conference, which ran in July 2001, and 

organized by the Faculty of Food Science and 

Technology and the National Food Biotechnology 

Centre, UCC, was held as an Accompanying 

Measures Initiative within the European Fifth 

Framework Programme. 

Over 300 scientists attended from 18 countries 

with delegates from Europe, the US and Japan. A 

total of 25 presentations and 167 posters were 

presented which covered a diverse range of basic 

and applied aspects of LAB research. 

A ground-breaking paper that explores new 

methods of vaccine delivery was presented to the 

Conference by representatives of a team of 25 scientists 

at UCC who, since 1995, have been working on 

a project to develop food-based vaccines, which 

would eliminate the need to administer vaccines by 

syringe. The research being conducted in UCC involves modifying 

bacteria found in food, such as yoghurt, to carry vaccinations for 

diseases like Meningitis C, Cholera and Malaria. Clinical trials on 

people are to start in the near future and the food-based vaccines 

could generally be available within the next five years. 

Research on the industrially important LAB has, for almost twenty 

years, received significant support from the EC in successive 

Framework Programmes. This support has led to the creation of 

networks of excellence on different aspects of LAB research that 

represent a major resource for fundamental science and for the 

European food fermentation industry and for the consumers it serves. 

Many of the managerial approaches and the commitment to excellence 

always practised by LAB researchers have been used as models 

by many other groups supported by the European Union and 

represent a clear example of how trans-national collaboration can add 

considerable value to European investment in research. 

18 

19


Research 

Research 


Reform of Local Government - 

By Dr Aodh Quinlivan, 

Is anyone listening? 

Department of Government 

£500m for Research 

“Good research is not about size it is about people, 

resources and using both to the best advantage”, 

says the new Director-General of the Science 

Foundation of Ireland who hopes to use this simple 

formula to push Irish science onto the world stage. 

“It doesn't matter how large you are: it’s how good you are” says Dr 

William Harris, who took up his post in late August. World-class 

research in the United States is concentrated in as few as 40 university 

centres. “You have enough universities here to be competitive,” he 

says, “but you have to use your money well.” 

Science Foundation Ireland is the new state-funded body that will 

invest £500 million in biotechnology and information-technology 

research over the next five years. The Government hopes the funding 

will allow the Republic to make a world impact in these technologies, 

in the process creating jobs and intellectual wealth for the State. 

Two UCC staff members are on the Science Foundation Ireland 

advisory panels - Professor Tommie Mc Carthy, Biochemistry 

Department sits on the Biotechnology panel and Dr Gabriel Crean, 

Director of the NMRC on the Information and Communications 

Technology panel. 

Before moving to Dublin, Dr Harris served as Vice President for 

Research at the University of South Carolina. He was responsible for 

leading and encouraging research activities throughout the USC 

system. In addition, he was responsible for a number of university 

interdisciplinary centres and institutes, including the USC NanoCentre, 

the USC Research Foundation and sponsored research programmes. 

He was also a member of the Governor’s Technology Transition Team, 

Dr William Harris 

a group focused on transforming the economy of the state to one 

that is knowledge-based. 

Dr Harris served as the director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences 

at the National Science Foundation where he was responsible for 

national research policy and executive direction for a federal grants 

appropriation for $700 million. He also served as Science and 

Technology Advisor to the Director, NSF, and as the director of the 

Office of Science and Technology Centres. 

Dr Harris was a tenured Chemistry faculty member at Furman 

University. He has authored more than 50 research papers and review 

articles in spectroscopy and became a Fellow of the American 

Association for the Advancement of Science in 1997. Dr Harris took 

his undergraduate degree at the college of William and Mary (1966) 

and his PhD in chemistry at the University of South Carolina (1970). 

It is of course a truism to say that change is a constant in the public sector. However, the fundamental challenge is to 

differentiate between regular incremental change and transformational change. A strong case can be constructed to 

support the contention that the Irish system of local government is undergoing significant transformational change. 

The reforms in Irish local government have not been created in a vacuum - rather they form part of a global debate 

concerning public sector change generally as driven by the philosophy of new public management (NPM). 

So what is NPM? Essentially, it is a summary 

description of a way of reorganising public 

bodies to bring their management, reporting 

and accounting procedures closer to (a 

particular perception of) business methods. 

As applied to local government in Ireland, 

NPM has become a vague umbrella term for 

change, covering the significant reform ideas 

of the past decade. It is from this 

background that the Local Government Act, 

2001 has been written - in fact it could have 

come straight from a NPM handbook. The 

legislation has four key aims: 

• To enhance the role of the elected member 

• To support community involvement with 

local authorities in a more participative 

democracy 

• To modernise local government legislation 

and provide the framework for new financial 

management systems and other procedures 

to promote efficiency and effectiveness 

• To underpin generally the programme of 

local government renewal 

Only time will tell if these aims are realised. 

Certainly the reaction thus far to the Act has 

been muted, particularly with regard to the 

direct election of a chairperson to county 

councils and city councils. In local 

government circles the reaction to this development 

has been decidedly negative. On the 

very day that the Bill was published (May 8th 

2000), the members of Cork County Council 

passed a resolution calling on Minister 

Dempsey to remove the proposal. The Local 

Authority Members’ Association, the General 

Council of County Councils and the 

Association of Municipal Authorities of 

Ireland adopted a similar stance and sought 

an amendment whereby a person who has 

not served at least five years as an elected 

member of a local authority would not 

qualify to be nominated for the chair of a 

council. This amendment was not accepted 

and the fear is that the direct elections might 

turn into circuses with ‘celebrity’ style candidates, 

with no previous involvement in local 

government, seeking the positions. One 

controversial proposal that was dropped 

from the final Act was the abolition of the 

dual mandate whereby local authority 

members could also sit in the Oireachtas. The 

murky world of real politics dictated that this 

particular section of the Bill never made it 

through and Minister Dempsey had to 

explain away an embarrassing u-turn. While 

the Local Government Act, 2001 - in itself - 

is unlikely to radically alter local government 

in Ireland, at least it puts reform very much 

back on the political agenda. There is an 

onus on all involved in the local arena to 

think beyond local government to local 

governance. 

Issues that do not fit conventional organisational 

boundaries or traditional ways of 

working increasingly dominate the local 

authority landscape. Economic developments, 

re-generation, community development, 

public safety and environmental 

matters are all examples of policy issues, 

which do not fit rigid bureaucratic structures. 

In simple terms, these are issues, which are 

not owned by any one bit of the local 

authority, and also they are not solely the 

preserve of the local authority. New creative 

approaches and fresh ways of thinking are 

required to meet these challenges. However 

it is equally important that change just for 

the sake of change is avoided and also the 

Irish curse of replicating the mistakes of 

others. In this regard, local government 

reformers would do well to bear in mind the 

words of George Bernard Shaw who wrote 

the following in Maxims for Revolution: 

“The reasonable man adapts himself to 

the world; the unreasonable one persists 

in trying to adapt the world to himself. 

Therefore all progress depends on the 

unreasonable man”. 

Dr Aodh Quinlivan is a lecturer in the 

Department of Government, specialising in 

sub-national government. Dr Quinlivan is a 

member of the Local Governance Team of 

the European Group of Public Administration 

(EGPA.) He recently presented a paper in 

Finland on community empowerment. He 

has contributed a chapter on a book about 

best practice in European local government, 

which will be launched in Spring 2002. Dr 

Quinlivan has also published in the area of 

new public management reforms as applied 

to the European Commission and is currently 

working on a book about motivation in the 

public sector as well as a comparative 

government project with the Erasmus 

University Rotterdam. 

20 

21


Research 

Research 


Smokers Risk Diabetes 

Smokers are almost twice as likely to develop diabetes as 

nonsmokers, so says the study “Smoking as a Modifiable Risk 

Factor for Type 2 Diabetes in Middle-Aged Men”. While 

smoking is known to cause heart disease and lung cancer, a 

study of middle-aged men has shown that cigarettes almost 

double the risk of developing diabetes. 

Professor Ivan Perry, Department of Public Health at UCC, who, together 

with British scientists conducted the study, said the results of the study 

“provides significant substantial evidence from a major population-based 

study for a causal link”. The research is part of a project that began in 

1978 to provide information on the causes of heart disease and strokes in 

British men. Over seven thousand middle-aged men from 24 towns in 

England, Scotland and Wales were assessed. Follow-up investigations were 

carried out five, 12 and 20 years after the initial assessment. 

Of the 7,128 men studied, 290 were found to have developed “type 2” 

or adult-onset diabetes during subsequent assessments. Smokers had a 70 

per cent increased risk of diabetes compared to those who had never 

smoked. “People who smoked were almost twice as likely to develop 

diabetes during the follow up,” said Professor Perry. 

The benefit of giving up smoking was also shown, as former smokers 

showed less risk of getting diabetes. The longer the time since they quit, the 

lower the risk of diabetes. Those who had given up cigarettes for 20 years 

prior to the screening had the same risk as those who had never smoked. 

Type 2 diabetes, also know as non insulin-dependent diabetes, is the 

most common type of the disease, accounting for between 90 per cent 

and 95 per cent of cases. It is most prevalent in adults over 40 and in 

people who are overweight. If untreated, diabetes can cause blindness, 

heart disease, strokes or kidney failure. 

Pharmaceutical Sector 

Supports Research 

Picture shows Dr Anita Maguire (centre) with 

postgraduate students, Stuart Collins, Claire 

Twomey, Seamus Kelly and David Foley 

Three multinational pharmaceutical companies 

have recently supported research in synthetic 

organic chemistry in UCC. The funding will be 

used to support postgraduate students 

conducting research for PhD degrees in the 

Organic and Pharmaceutical Synthesis 

Research Team under the supervision of Dr 

Anita R Maguire, Department of Chemistry. 

Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals, based at 

Ringaskiddy, have renewed the prestigious 

Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Research Studentship in 

Synthetic Organic Chemistry for a third 

student - this was already held by Patrick 

O’Leary (1995-8) and Stuart Collins (1998- 

2001) and will be held for the period 2001- 

2004 by David Foley. Eli Lilly, Dunderrow in 

Kinsale, have contributed to the support of 

two students in the group, while Bristol Myers 

Squibb, Swords, Dublin are contributing to 

the support of one student. 

In parallel with rapid growth and 

expansion of the sector, increased activity in 

Research & Development in the pharmaceutical 

sector in Ireland is evident in recent years, 

resulting in enhanced linkages with third level 

research teams. The sector in Ireland employs 

significant numbers of PhD graduates in 

Organic Chemistry in Ireland - this support for 

researchers in UCC highlights the value the 

companies place on postgraduate research in 

Chemistry and the importance of these 

graduates to the industry. 

How to 

lose weight 

and keep 

it off! 

Recent studies in Ireland have indicated that 33 per cent of adult females and 46 per cent of 

adult males are overweight. The prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically over the 

last decade with 16 per cent of adult females in this category. Irish men fare even worse 

with 20 per cent classified as obese, writes Dr Nora O’Brien, Nutritional Sciences, UCC 

Overweight can be defined as weighing at least 10 per 

cent more than desirable body weight, while obesity is 

defined as being more than 20 per cent above desirable 

body weight. Many doctors and nutritionists use life 

insurance tables relating body weight to life expectancy as 

a means of determining desirable body weight range. 

Your GP can advise you of your desirable body weight 

range. Body weight is actually a crude measure of obesity 

because it can miss the critical factor - being overfat. 

However, with the exception of highly trained athletes, 

overfat and obese conditions generally appear together. 

The focus is on body weight because it is easier to 

measure than body fat content. 

Sustained weight loss and maintenance of desirable 

body weight is best achieved by eating less, exercising 

more and changing problem eating behaviours. While this 

simple formula does not have the glamour or hype of the 

latest fad diet programme, it does work! It is important to 

remember that weight is gained slowly and should come 

off at the same steady pace. This helps make the overall 

weight loss attempt a long-term success. 

The keys to modifying eating behaviour and controlling energy intake include: 

• Eat a wide variety of foods in moderation. 

Dr Nora O’Brien, who 

advocates eating more fresh 

fruit and vegetables 

• Make tasty, nutritious fruit and vegetables and complex carbohydraterich 

foods (e.g. pasta, potatoes, rice) central to your weight control 

plan. These foods are bulky and filling and have a tendency to 

decrease hunger sensations that often accompany weight-loss diets. 

These foods are also rich in nutrients and fibre and low in fat. 

• Eat regular meals and slow down the speed at which you eat. Chew 

each mouthful for longer. Drink plenty of water. 

• Look out for times when you are most likely to eat unnecessarily, for 

example when giving children their tea or because you are unwilling 

to throw left-overs away or save them for later meals. 

• Take steps to minimise hunger, loneliness, depression, boredom, anger 

and fatigue, each of which can set off a bout of overeating. 

• Keep a variety of low-calorie tasty foods to use as snacks, e.g.fruit, 

carrot sticks. Minimise your consumption of fatty snacks e.g. crisps, 

biscuits, chocolate. 

• Make time for regular aerobic exercise, such as daily walking, jogging, 

swimming or bicycling. 

• Build in rewards for sticking to your weight loss programme. Family 

and friends can help by providing moral support and encouragement. 

22 

23


Research 

Teaching 


Dr Mary Wilson (below), Department of Applied Social Studies has designed a 

Parenting Programme in partnership with a group of adoptive parents. Known as 

Cabhru, the group offers parenting support to members and acts as a resource to 

the wider community on domestic and foreign adoption issues. 

Multicultural Parenting 

As inter-country adoption has increased in 

Ireland in the last decade there are specific 

childcare needs that arise for families formed 

by such adoption practices. These needs 

require the provision of family support services 

delivered in partnership by statutory, voluntary 

and service user sectors. The Parenting 

Programme was piloted with assistance from 

Bessborough and the Southern Health Board, 

to review the policy implications of a 

partnership approach to service delivery. 

Fifteen couples, each with an adopted child, 

participated in the Programme that ran from 

February to April 2001. Their children came 

from ethnic backgrounds as diverse as China, 

Guatemala, Romania and Russia. The children 

ranged in age from one to twelve years. 

The programme focused on issues that 

arise for parents who have adopted from 

abroad. As views about the advisability of 

making transracial placements continues to 

divide opinion, parents need to be aware 

that international research shows favourable 

developmental outcomes for children. The 

quality of relationships within the adoptive 

family appears a pivotal factor in this regard. 

REVIEW OF POLICY 

IMPLICATIONS 

This partnership approach to service delivery 

was received by Cabhru. Many parents were 

fearful of returning to the assessment 

agencies with problems. They believed their 

need for support would be perceived as an 

‘inadequacy’ and militate against them in 

subsequent adoption applications. The policy 

implication for the assessment agency is to 

provide an independent forum for family 

support. 

The issues of ethnic diversity and social 

exclusion were addressed in relation to 

education and recreation. The group’s experiences 

of the racism and discrimination 

experienced by their children in school and 

at play provoked much discussion. Received 

practice wisdom states that this sharing of 

experiences fosters resilience and develops 

parenting skills. 

The need to update the adoption story 

about the loss of first parents was examined. 

Parents felt unprepared for this task and 

were avid for strategies that would facilitate 

information giving or cope with the absence 

of information about their child’s origins. In 

relation to assessment policy and practice, 

parents require interventions that will raise 

their awareness of the importance of the 

adoption story and develop their skills in 

delivering it to their children. 

Identity-building is the central task of 

adoptive parenting. The ‘problematic’ issues 

that arose were delayed language development, 

behavioural difficulties and institutionalization. 

The policy implications here 

concern the ‘special needs’ of these children 

who consequently require extra interventions 

and resources. 

Search and reunion are issues that face 

many families formed by adoption. Search 

and tracing were addressed using one 

family’s experience. The discussion confirmed 

that the sense of belonging is a complex 

concept that is likely to change over time. 

Multiculturalism needs to be validated as a 

positive factor in parenting, predicated on 

valuing the rich and diverse strands in the 

child’s identity and the links with more than 

one country. 

Partnership between service users and 

service providers is an important step 

towards creating and delivering services 

which respond proactively to the complexity 

and the challenges of foreign adoption 

parenting. Programmes such as this, which 

support the development of quality relationships 

within adoptive families, provides 

opportunities to foster multiculturalism and 

social inclusion. 

Minister launches New Degree 

Private and public leaders in the Health Care Sector are set to benefit from a 

Master in Business Studies Programme which was launched in UCC by Micheál 

Martin, TD, Minister for Health & Children. 

The two-year part-time programme run by the Department of Management & Marketing, UCC, 

is aimed at leaders in the Health Care Sector including Health Service Managers, Professionals 

and Managers of Industries. The goal of the programme is to develop outstanding decisionmakers 

and future leaders in both public and private health care. 

The main teaching objectives of the proposed programme are to: 

• provide students with a set of skills and principles essential for practice in health policy, health 

management and public care. 

• enhance participants’ ability to evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency and equity of health 

policies and programmes using rigorous research techniques and analytical reasoning 

• develop understanding of issues of quality, accountability and team management. 

Picture shows L-R: Mr Micheál 

Martin, TD, Minister for Health & 

Children, Dr Joan Buckley, Course 

Co-ordinator, Management & 

Marketing, UCC and Professor 

Gerard T. Wrixon, President, UCC, at 

the launch of the Master in Business 

Studies Programme 

24 

25


Awards 

Awards 


History Award -Take 2 

Cuireadh Comórtas na Seastán ar siúl arís i mbliana ag 

Teaspáinteas Aos-Oideachais Chorcaí 4-6 Meán Fómhair. Bhí 

breis agus céad seastán páirteach. Bhuaigh Ionad na Gaeilge 

Labhartha UCC an chéad duais agus bhronn Ardmhéara 

Chorcaí An Comhairleoir Tomás Ó Drisceoil an trófaí speisialta 

ar an Ionad ag ócáid i Seomraí an Ardmhéara, Dé Luain 10 

Meán Fómhair. Chuir an tArdmhéara i gcuimhne dóibh sin i 

láthair gur fhreastail sé ar chúrsaí Caeilge an Ionaid agus gur 

bhain sé idir thaitneamh agus thairbhe astu! 

The 2001 Competition for Best Display Stand at the Cork 

Annual Adult Education Exhibition was won again this year 

(previously 1997) by UCC’s Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha. 

Pictured from left: Máire Uí Mháirtín, Chairperson, Cork 

Adult Education Council, Tomás Ó Drisceoil, Lord Mayor 

of Cork and Pól Ruiséal, Stiúrthóir na Gaeilge Labhartha 

Margaret Clayton (right), a member of the administrative 

staff in the History Department has been awarded a 

Government of Ireland scholarship for a year to pursue a 

PhD. The award is based on work that Margaret has been 

doing on a part-time basis for the past two years, which is 

transcribing the early seventeenth century Council Book of 

Munster. 

Margaret has already been awarded the inaugural Legal 

History Bursary to enable her to travel to London to see the 

original seventeenth century document. 

EC Awards 

contract to 

HMRC 

The Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre has been awarded a threeyear 

contract by the European Commission to manage a programme of 

conferences for Marie Curie Fellowship holders in the field of Energy. The 

contract also includes hosting the Marie Curie Website. There will be a 

total of six conferences during UCC’s tenure, with each one being held in a 

different European country. Austria, Portugal, Norway and Ireland have so 

far been chosen to host four of the conferences. 

Further information can be accessed at www.ucc.ie/research/hmrc/SWERF/ 

Careers Service Wins 

Another Major Award 

Careers Service staff with some of their winning publications. From l–r: 

Séamus McEvoy, Head of Careers Service, Mary McCarthy, Eleanor 

Donoghue (at back), Mary McNulty, Mary O’Flynn and Patsy Ryan 

UCC’s Careers Service has been awarded the 

2001 prize for the Best Higher Education 

Careers Service Material. They beat off stiff 

competition from UK universities, including 

Cambridge and Birmingham. Last year they 

won the Careers Service Website 2000 

Award given by the Association of Graduate 

Careers Advisory Services. 

Séamus McEvoy, Head of UCC’s Careers 

Service commented, “Publications are a 

fundamental part of any Careers Service and 

here at UCC we have put a lot of effort into 

creating an awareness of our Careers Service 

within the institution. It is important that each 

publication is relevant to the needs of our 

students and so it’s a great accomplishment 

to have been chosen over so many large UK 

institutions which have a lot of resources”. 

The adjudicating panel, which consisted 

of the President of AGCAS (Association of 

Graduate Careers Advisory Services) and the 

UK Director of Graduate Recruitment in 

KPMG, assessed the Careers Service’s publications 

with reference to excellent content, 

relevance to client groups, including 

students, academic colleagues and employers 

and the image of the service including the 

logo and branding. 

Scoláireacht Uí Ríordáin 2001 

Thar ceann Bhord Gaeilge an Choláiste, 

bhronn Uachtarán UCC, an tOll Gerry Wrixon, 

Scoláireacht Sheáin Uí Ríordáin na bliana seo 

ar Dhara Ó Cadhla, dalta de chuid Ghaelscoil 

Uí Ríordáin, Baile an Chollaigh. Is é Bord 

Gaeilge Choláiste na hOllscoile, Corcaigh a 

dheineann urraíocht ar an scoláireacht seo 

agus comórann sé saothar an fhile iomráitigh 

Seán Ó Ríordáin a bhí ag obair ar feadh roinnt 

blianta i Roinn na Nua-Ghaeilge sa Choláiste. 

Is Scoláireacht í seo a bhronntar go bliantúil ar 

dhalta de chuid Ghaelscoil Uí Riordáin agus 

tugann sí caoi don mbuaiteoir trí seachtaine 

thairbheacha a chaitheamh ar scoláireacht i 

rith an tSamhraidh i nGaeltacht Mhúscraí. 

Professor Gerard T. Wrixon, President, 

UCC and Dhara Ó Cadhla 

26 

27


Conferrings 

Conferrings 


3. 

1. 1. 

2. 

Medical and Dental 

Conferrings Summer 2001 

4. 

Autumn Conferrings 

September 2001 

2. 

1. L-R: Dr Dolores Dooley, Philosophy, 

pictured with Joan McCarthy who was 

conferred with a PhD in Philosophy, 

Professor Desmond Clarke, Philosophy 

and Dr Tony O’Connor, Philosophy 

2. Noel Keeley, Director of Human 

Resources, with his wife Martha who 

was conferred with a BSc in Nursing 

Studies 

3. Tony Weaver, Industrial Liaison Officer, 

with his daughter Pamela who was 

conferred with a PhD in History and 

wife Maureen Weaver 

5. 

3. 

4. 

1. Frank Morrissey, Plant Science, BSc 

(centre) with his wife Mary and nephew 

Gareth McCarthy 

2. L-R: Thomas O’Brien, Catherine 

O’Brien, BCL, Professor Catherine 

O’Brien, Italian, NUI Galway and 

Eimear O’Brien 

3. Padraig Kelly, BSc and Helen Kelly, 

Chemistry 

4. L-R: Aisling Ní Mhurchú, Electron 

Microscopy Unit, BSc and Mary 

Heapes, Electron Microscopy Unit, BSc 

4. Mr Michael Kelleher, Secretary & 

Bursar, pictured with his daughter Aoife 

who was conferred with an MB, BCh, 

BAO, Kay Kelleher and Conor Kelleher 

5. Professor Denis O’Mullane, Director, 

Oral Health Services Research Centre, 

University Dental School & Hospital, 

pictured with Catherine O’Mullane, 

Helen O’Mullane who was conferred 

with a BDS and Louise O’Mullane 

6. Patrick O’Connell, Food Science and 

Technology with his son Timothy 

O’Connell who was conferred with a 

BDS and Louise O’Connell 

6. 

5. 6. 

7. 

5. L-R: Johanna Fitzpatrick, Mark 

Fitzpatrick, BA and Professor Patrick 

Fitzpatrick, Mathematics 

6. L-R: Mary Madden, Claire Madden, 

BComm, Caragh Madden, BComm and 

Barry Madden, Management 

Accountant 

7. L-R: Erill Ryan, David Ryan, BE and 

Dr Norma Ryan, Director, Quality 

Promotion Unit 

28 

29


Conferrings 

Conferrings 


Autumn Conferrings 

8. 

11. 

12. 

L-R: Professor Gerard T. Wrixon, President 

with John Thuillier, Chairman of Kinsale 

UDC, who was conferred with an 

honorary Master of Arts degree 

9. 

10. 

13. 14. 

8. L-R: Geraldine McCarthy, Professor 

of Nursing Studies, Margaret Leahy- 

Warren, Nursing Studies, MSc and 

Eileen Savage, Nursing Studies 

9. L-R: Mary Murphy, Biochemistry, 

Orla Murphy, BSc BIS and Professor 

Ciaran Murphy, Accounting, Finance 

& Information Systems 

10. Tom Creed, BA (centre), with his 

father Dr Michael Creed, Civil 

Engineering, and mother Norma. Also 

pictured from left, Maggie, Timmy, 

Michael (front), Páidí and Anna 

11. Martina Hughes, PhD, Food Science 

& Technology 

12. L-R: Professor Gerard T. Wrixon, 

President, Michelle Barrett, BSc and 

Dr Audrey Barrett, Anatomy 

13. L-R: Professor Charlie Daly, Dean, 

Faculty of Food Science & Technology, 

Professor Seán Ó Coileáin, Roinn Na 

Nua-Ghaeilge, Andrew Daly, BComm 

and Michele Daly 

14. Paul Farrelly, BCL and Dr Carmel 

Quinlan, History 

15. L-R: Jim Kelleher, Buildings & Estates, 

Vincent Kelleher, BSc and Kathleen 

Kelleher 

16. L-R: Gillian Counihan, Donal 

Counihan, Centre for Adult Continuing 

Education, Kieran Counihan, MBS and 

Breda Counihan 

17. L-R: Marie McSweeney, Public Affairs 

with her niece, Margaret O’Halloran, 

BSc BIS 

18. L-R: Anita Mullen, Civil Engineering 

with daughter Kerry, Anne Cronin, 

Library, Dr Pat Cronin, Ancient Classics 

and Iseult Cronin, BCL 

19. L-R: Ann O’Brien, Computer Science, 

Carole O’Brien, BCL, Records/Exams 

and Veronica O’Brien, Education 

20. L-R: Emily Ahern, Jane Ahern, BSc and 

Maurice Ahern, Buildings & Estates 

15. 

17. 

16. 

18. 

20. 

19. 

30 

31


Awards 

Appointments 


Adult Continuing 

Education Awards 

UCC Assessing People’s 

Millennium Forests 

DR JOHN O’HALLORAN (right), Zoology and 

Animal Ecology/Environmental Research 

Institute, has recently been appointed as the 

ecological evaluator for the People’s 

Millennium Forests. 

You may recall in the dying days of 1999 

the National Millennium Committee, through 

support from the AIB and the Forest Service, 

decided to plant a tree for every household 

in Ireland. Each household was issued with a 

certificate indicating where their tree had 

been planted. Now 1.4 million trees have 

been planted in 16 locations countrywide. 

(1.2 million in the Republic and 0.2 million in 

Northern Ireland). The objectives of the 

programme were to enrich and expand 

Ireland’s native woodlands, to help people 

appreciate our native woodlands, to develop 

the competence in woodland management 

and to involve the public, especially at 

community level. From this initial concept 

nine sub-programmes have grown, involving 

training, recreational facilities, education etc. 

The sixteen forests are spread across the 

country and their locations can be seen at: 

http://www.millenniumforests.com/ 

As part of the project an evaluation is 

taking place on the ecological information 

collected at each of the sites to see if the 

forests are being managed in ways that is 

good for ecology and biodiversity. Dr 

O’Halloran has been undertaking research in 

forest ecology for almost 10 years and is codirector 

of a large national project on forest 

biodiversity and forested landscapes. 

Director of Development at UCC 

DR JEAN VAN SINDEREN-LAW (left) has been appointed Director 

of Development at UCC. Jean took up her new position on 1 

October 2001. 

The main objective of Jean’s tenure will be the nurturing of 

partnerships with individuals, corporate entities and trusts and 

foundations, most of which will be based on philanthropy. These 

partnerships will contribute significantly to the quality of 

teaching, training and research within UCC. 

Staff Ombudsman 

for UCC 

UCC staff presented with Adult Continuing Education 

Awards on Sunday, 21 October 2001 

L-R: Willie Weir, Continuing Education Programme 

Co-ordinator, Centre for Adult Continuing Education, 

Mary Morrissey, Careers Office, Diploma in Personnel 

Management, Emily McCarthy, Human Resources, 

Diploma in Personnel Management, Hannah Weste- 

Fitzpatrick, Centre for Adult Continuing Education, 

Diploma in Training and Development, Professor 

Mairtín Ó Fathaigh, Director, Centre for Adult 

Continuing Education, Cllr Donal Counihan, Deputy 

Lord Mayor, Ivy Jeston, General Services, Diploma in 

Personnel Management, Mary Kelly, University Dental 

Hospital, Diploma in Personnel Management and Mr 

Eric Kennedy, General Services, Diploma in Safety, 

Health and Welfare at Work 

PROFESSOR SEÁN Ó COILEÁN (right) has 

been appointed UCC’s Staff Ombudsman. 

His three-year appointment took affect 

from 1 July 2001. University College, Cork 

has become the first university in Ireland 

to appoint an in-house Independent Staff 

Ombudsman. 

Professor Ó Coileán, who has been 

with UCC for thirty years, said of his 

new post, “I accepted this post because, 

essentially, I see it as a matter of public 

service. Taking the post was a logical 

extension of what I had been doing all along. The power of the Independent Staff 

Ombudsman lies in the prestige of the Office. The Independent Staff Ombudsman 

does not have the authority to take disciplinary action, overturn decisions or override 

regulations”. 

Professor Gerard T. Wrixon, President, commented on the appointment that, 

“The University is honoured that someone of Professor Ó Coileán’s stature has 

agreed to take on this important responsibility and is hopeful that the Grievance 

Procedure will operate effectively in dealing with matters of concern between 

individual employees and the University”. 

The post of Independent Staff Ombudsman was established under the University 

Grievance Procedure that was ratified by the Governing Body on 30 January 2001. 

New Chair of 

Granary Board 

JOOLS GILSON-ELLIS (above), has been appointed 

Chair of The Granary Board. Jools teaches 

performance practice in the Department of 

English, and for the Board of Drama & Theatre 

Studies at UCC. She is a writer, choreographer, 

performer and installation artist. She is co-director 

(with Richard Povall) of the performance 

production company half/angel. half/angel 

develops international projects involving new 

technologies, poetic text and performance. 

Recent productions include the CD-ROM 

mouthplace (1997) and the dance theatre 

production The Secret Project (1999). In 2001 she 

was awarded a ‘Choreographers Award’ by the 

Arts Council of Ireland, and a £10,000 (sterling) 

award by the Arts Council of England for her 

new work Spinstren. 

32 

33


Bookshelf 

Bookshelf 


The Complete Guide 

to The Quiet Man 

by Des MacHale 

John Ford’s Oscar-winning film The Quiet Man (1952), based on the 

story by Maurice Walsh, is one of the best-loved and most popular 

films of all time, and nowadays one of the best-selling videos. The 

Complete Guide to the Quiet Man is a celebration of every aspect of 

the film – the background, the stars, the shooting, the screenplay, the 

influences, and the many legends and stories that have grown up 

around it. This book could just as easily have been called “Everything 

You Ever Wanted to Know About The Quiet Man” – the shooting 

locations with dozens of detailed maps, a very comprehensive cast and 

crew list, hundreds of previously unseen photographs taken by both 

amateurs and professionals, a detailed analysis of every word of the 

dialogue, video timings of all the scenes, and above all the inside story 

and a thorough discussion of the whole Quiet Man phenomenon, 

which have all led to one of the greatest cult movies of all time. 

If you are already one of the many millions of “Quiet Maniacs” who 

already know and love the film then this book is a must for you. If you 

are not yet a fan, then maybe it is time you learned why John Ford is 

regarded as one of the greatest film directors the world has ever known, 

why the electric partnership of Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne was 

one of the silver screen’s most erotic combinations, how the beautiful 

scenery of the West of Ireland first came to international attention as a 

result of the Oscar-winning colour cinematography of Hoch and Stout, 

and why Barry Fitzgerald and Victor McLaglen became two of the 

cinema’s best-loved character actors. 

As The Quiet Man celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, we can confidently 

predict that it will be around as long as there are moviegoers to 

watch it, a monument to the genius of John Ford, Maurice Walsh and 

its many stars. 

Des MacHale is Associate Professor of Mathematics at UCC. He is the 

author of over fifty books ranging from Kerryman Jokes and the bestselling 

WIT series to a biography of George Boole and a series of 

books on lateral thinking puzzles (with Paul Sloane). 

Publisher: Appletree (www.appletree.ie) 

Price: hardback, stg£20 

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST! 

Maureen O’Hara and 

the author, Des MacHale 

New Books from 

Applied Social Studies 

On 22 October Professor Fred Powell 

presented Professor Gerard T. Wrixon, UCC 

President, with six new titles that have been 

published by members of staff of Applied 

Social Studies, UCC. Featured below are four 

of these publications; The Politics of Social 

Work, (Fred Powell), Men and Social Work: 

theories and practices, (Alastair Christie), 

Keeping Children Safe, by former member of 

Applied Social Studies, Harry Ferguson and 

Máire O’Reilly, Research Fellow, Applied 

Social Studies, and Beyond Racial Divides 

(co-authored by Professor Walter Lorenz). 

At the Applied Social Studies book launch, 

from l-r: Dr Alastair Christie, Professor Fred 

Powell, Professor Gerard T. Wrixon, President 

and Dr Máire Lean, Applied Social Studies 

The Politics of 

Social Work 

by Fred Powell 

Does postmodernity herald the end of social work? Timely and accessible, 

The Politics of Social Work challenges us to re-imagine the future 

of social work in the era of globalisation that has firmly put welfare 

reform on the political agenda. 

Providing a major contribution to debates on the politics of social 

work at the beginning of the twenty-first century, this book locates 

social work within wider political and theoretical contexts, and deals 

with important issues currently facing social workers and the organisations 

in which they work. 

By setting the current crisis of purpose which social workers are 

experiencing within an international arena, Fred Powell analyses the 

choices facing social work in postmodern society. He explores contemporary 

and historical paradigms of social work from its Victorian 

origins to the development of reformist practice in the welfare state to 

radical social work, responses to social exclusion, the renaissance of 

civil society, multiculturalism, feminism and anti-oppressive practice. In 

conclusion, he examines the options facing social work in the twentyfirst 

century and argues for a civic model of social work based on the 

pursuit of social justice in an inclusive society. 

The Politics of Social Work will be essential reading for students on 

qualifying and post-qualifying social work courses, as well as courses 

in sociology, social policy, social administration and politics. 

Fred Powell is Professor of Applied Social Studies at UCC and a 

member of the Royal Irish Academy. He is a former social worker and 

has acted as advisor to the Council of Europe on adult education and 

social inclusion. His earlier books include: The Politics of Irish Social 

Policy (1992) and (with Donal Guerin) Civil Society and Social Policy 

(1997), which was short-listed for the Arnova Distinguished Book of 

the Year Prize in the United States. 

Publisher: Sage Publications (www.sagepub.co.uk) 

Price: Cloth stg£55. Paper stg£16.99 

34 

35


Bookshelf 

Bookshelf 


Men and Social Work 

theories and practices 

edited by Alastair Christie 

The relationships between men and social work are contentious because 

men are under-represented as social workers and over-represented in 

social work management. Also, most social work service users are 

women and children, and social workers often deal with the direct and 

indirect consequences of men’s violence. 

The question of men and the social work profession emerged in 

the literature in the mid-1980s but nowhere has the broad spectrum 

of critical issues been addressed in an integrated way. This book 

provides the first overview of the theoretical and practice issues raised 

when we put ‘men’ and ‘social work’ together. It introduces the key 

contributors to the debate so far and others who are entering the 

debate from their particular area of practice or academic interest. 

This book is written for social work students, workers and academics. 

The book raises questions about the professional and gender identities 

of male social workers and offers some recommendations for practice. 

Alastair Christie is a lecturer in the Department of Applied Social 

Studies, UCC and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of 

Lancaster. He has worked as a social worker and social work manager 

in statutory and voluntary sectors in England and Canada. 

Publisher: Palgrave (www.palgrave.com) 

Price: stg£16.50 

Written by leading authorities in the field, 

this challenging book addresses complex 

issues of ethnicity and racial discrimination in 

ways that encourage further debate and 

analysis. Its main theme is that social work 

has been, and remains, deeply implicated in 

racist policies and practices that have been 

locality specific, but that racism is also recognizable 

across borders and a phenomenon 

that appears everywhere. At the same time, 

the book focuses on innovative theories and 

practice that seek to promote an emancipatory 

social work which sets itself the goal 

of eradicating social injustice – particularly 

that applying to ‘face’. The contributors 

come from a wide range of countries and 

describe their experiences in tackling racism 

in social work at the levels of both theory 

and practice. This provides an impressive 

range of perspectives that cover models of 

social work created by people who have had 

to live with racism and find ways of 

overcoming it as well as those who have 

struggled to become able to express their 

own ethnicity without oppressing others. 

Beyond Racial Divides 

Ethnicities in social work practice 

edited by Lena Dominelli, 

Walter Lorenz, Haluk Soydan 

Professor Walter Lorenz, Applied Social 

Studies, holds the Jean Monet Chair in 

European Integration Studies at UCC. He coordinates 

several European networks 

concerned with a critical approach to 

European dimensions in the training of the 

social professions. Lena Dominelli is Director 

of the Centre for International Social and 

Community Development at the University of 

Southampton. Haluk Soydan is a Research 

Director at the Centre for Evaluation of 

Social Services, Swedish National Board of 

Health and Welfare. 

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, England 

(www.ashgate.com) 

Price: Hardback stg£42.50 

Keeping Children Safe 

Child Abuse, Child Protection and the Promotion of Welfare 

Recent child abuse scandals have made it 

clear that State and Church agencies have 

not protected all children known to be at 

risk. Considerable reform of the childcare 

system in Ireland has resulted with new 

obligations on health boards under the fully 

implemented Child Care Act (1991) to 

promote the welfare of children. 

This book examines the impact of these 

developments by documenting the most 

comprehensive research project yet undertaken 

in Ireland into childcare and protection 

practices. It provides a detailed analysis of the 

nature of child abuse, who reports it, how 

social workers and other professionals investigate 

and manage it and the degree to which 

long-term intervention promotes the safety 

and welfare of children. It also demonstrates 

the huge extent and impact of domestic 

violence and how the needs of children with 

very special needs and those out of parental 

by Harry Ferguson and Máire O’Reilly 

control are being responded to. 

The book develops a method where 

extensive use is made of fascinating case 

studies that draw on the perspectives of professionals, 

children and parents to vividly illustrate 

best practice as well as the improvements that 

are needed. It offers a major critique of Irish 

and international child protection research, 

policy and practice and draws conclusions that 

set a new agenda for designing child care 

systems that can balance family support and 

child protection and keep children safe. 

Harry Ferguson is Professor of Social Policy 

and Social Work at University College Dublin. 

He was previously a senior lecturer in Applied 

Social Studies, UCC. His books include On 

Behalf of the Child: Child Welfare, Child 

Protection and the Child Care Act. Máire 

O’Reilly is a researcher in the Social Studies 

Research Unit, Applied Social Studies, UCC. 

Publisher: A & A Farmar 

(www.farmarbooks.com) 

Price: £12.60 (€16) 

Other titles recently published 

by Applied Social Studies: 

Drug Education: A Social 

and Evaluative Study. 

By Elizabeth Kiely and Elizabeth Egan 

This report is based on a research project funded by Enterprise Ireland. 

Published by The Cork Local Drugs Task Force. 

Attrition in Sexual Assault Offense Cases in 

Ireland: A Qualitative Analysis 

Researched and written by Máire Leane, Samantha Ryan, Caroline 

Fennell and Elizabeth Egan 

A study commissioned by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law 

Reform. 

Published by the Stationery Office, and available from Government 

Publications Sales Office, Dublin. 

36 

37


Noticeboard 

Noticeboard 


An bhfuil tabhairt amach á eagrú d’éinne 

atá ag éirí as? 

Má tá, téir I dteagmháil leis an Eagarthóir le do 

thoil agus cuirfidh sí cúpla grianghraf den ócáid 

sa Courier. Folíne: 2821 Idirlíon: r.cox@ucc.ie 

APPOINTMENTS 

Dr Flavio Boggi, College Lecturer, Art History 

Joseph Bogue, College Lecturer, Food 

Business & Development 

Dr Edmond Byrne, College Lecturer, Process 

Engineering 

Noreen Casey, Technician, Analytical 

Biochemistry 

Alice Coffey, College Lecturer, Nursing Studies 

Mairead Considine, College Lecturer, 


Dr Andrew Cottey, College Lecturer, 

Government 

Dr Anne Crook, College Lecturer, Zoology & 

Animal Ecology 

Patrick Crowley, College Lecturer, French 

Ann Riordan Daly, Executive Assistant, 

Student Records & Exams 

Dr Conor Delahunty, College Lecturer, 

Food Science, Food Technology & Nutrition 

Michael Delargey, College Lecturer, Education 

Maria Dempsey, College Lecturer, Applied 

Psychology 

Dr Maria De Sousa Gallagher, College 

Lecturer, Process Engineering 

Helen Duggan, College Lecturer, Applied 

Social Studies 

Dr David Edwards, College Lecturer, History 

Patrick Enright, College Lecturer, Food 


Catherine Forde, College Lecturer, Applied 


Dr Laurence Geary, College Lecturer, History 

Harry Gijbels, Statutory Lecturer, Nursing 

Studies 

Dr James Gleeson, College Lecturer, 

Applied Maths 

Dr Dan Grigoras, Statutory Lecturer, 

Computer Science 

Carmel Halton, College Lecturer, Applied 


Clodagh Harris, College Lecturer, 

Government 

Dr Patrick Harrison, Statutory Lecturer, 

Physiology 

Dr Justin Holmes, College Lecturer, Chemistry 

Dr John Horgan, College Lecturer, Applied 

Psychology 

Martin Howard, College Lecturer, French 

Michele Hughes, College Lecturer, Nursing 

Studies 

Hilary Jenkinson, College Lecturer, Applied 


Noelle Kearney, Technical Assistant, BSU 

Dr Denis Kelliher, College Lecturer, Civil & 

Environmental Engineering 

Has someone in your department married 

recently or had a baby? 

Please contact The Editor if you would like this 

information in The College Courier. Ext: 2821 

e-mail: r.cox@ucc.ie 

Dr Joseph Kerry, College Lecturer, Food 

Science, Food Technology & Nutrition 

Elizabeth Kiely, College Lecturer, Applied 


Dr Mairead Kiely, College Lecturer, Food 

Science, Food Technology & Nutrition 

Dr Shane Kilcommins, College Lecturer, Law 

Adam Ledger, College Lecturer, English 

Eamon Lenihan, College Lecturer, Food 


Dr Deborah Lynch, College Lecturer, 


Catriona Martin, Assistant FOI Officer, 

Secretary’s Office 

Dr Breda McCarthy, College Lecturer, 

Management & Marketing 

Mary McCarthy, College Lecturer, Food 


Rosemary Meade, College Lecturer, 


David Murphy, College Lecturer, Computer 

Science 

Michael Murphy, College Lecturer, 


Dr Patrick Murphy, Associate Professor, 

Electrical & Electronic Engineering 

Kathy O’Connell, Executive Assistant, 


Rhona O’Connell, College Lecturer, Nursing 

Studies 

Barra O’Donnabhain, College Lecturer, 

Archaeology 

Dr Donal O’Drisceoil, College Lecturer, History 

William O’Gorman, College Lecturer, 


Dr Alexei Pokrovskii, Professorship, 

Applied Maths 

Dr Aodh, Quinlivan, College Lecturer, 

Government 

Dr Colin Rynne, College Lecturer, 

Archaeology 

Lydia Sapouna, College Lecturer, Applied 


Dr Marius-Sabin Tabirca, College Lecturer, 


Marc van Dongen, College Lecturer, 


Dr Andrew Wheeler, College Lecturer, 

Geology 

Dr Darius Whelan, College Lecturer, Law 

Dr Stephen Wills, College Lecturer, 

Mathematics 

LEAVE OF ABSENCE 

Professor Paul Brint, Chemistry, extension 

to leave of absence of eight months to 

continue his research in Oxford and Purdue 

University, Indiana. 

Professor Edward Cahill, Accounting, 

Finance and Information Systems, for four 

months to undertake research at the Economic 

and Social Research Institute in Dublin. 

Professor Desmond Clarke, Philosophy, will 

take two separate periods of three months 

each and not three months (2001) and 

twelve months (2002) as listed in the 2001 

Summer Courier. 

Dr Margaret Connolly, English, for three 

months to produce a complete scholarly 

edition of the Middle English Mirror, a 

collection of fourteenth-century sermons. 

Dr Maeve Conrick, French, for four months 

to work on a book provisionally titled 

Linguistic Variation and Change in 

Contemporary French, in Canada and France. 

Dr Fiona Dukelow, Applied Social Studies, 

for nine months to continue research 

projects for publication on social policy at the 

University of London Library. 

Dr Catherine Kavanagh, Economics, a twoyear 

leave of absence to take up a position 

with Forfás as Project Manager of the Expert 

Working Group on Future Skills and Needs in 

Ireland. 

Dr William Lane, NMRC, for twelve months 

to further career development. 

Professor Walter Lorenz, Applied Social 

Studies, twelve months leave of absence. 

Dr Irene Lynch-Fannon, Law, for twelve 

months to pursue research activities at the 

European University Institute, Florence and in 

the US. 

Frank Martin, Law, for four months to work 

on a book on Private International Law in 

London and Canada. 

John McCarthy, Applied Psychology, for 

twelve months to visit and work with international 

research groups such as The Human 

Interaction Group, University of York, UK; 

The Multi-Media Communication Laboratory, 

University of Siena, Italy and the University of 

Aarhus, Denmark. 

Michael Murphy, Management & 

Marketing, for six months to attend Warwick 

University to work full-time on PhD research. 

Dr Grace Neville, French, for two periods of 

three months each to further publishing 

plans and to participate in an HEA research 

project with Professor Serge Rivière, Head of 

Department of Languages and Cultural 

Studies at the University of Limerick. 

Professor Catherine O’Brien, Italian, a further 

extension of two years leave of absence. 

Professor Eamon Ó Carragáin, English, for 

three months, to work on a number of publications 

at University College London and the 

University of York. 

Dr Elisabeth Okasha, English, for five 

months to write a third supplement to Hand- 

list of Anglo-Saxon Non-runic Inscriptions 

and to complete a volume for inclusion in 

the British Academy’s multi-volume series 

Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture. 

Dr Eoin O’Leary, Economics, for eight 

months to undertake research in the area of 

Irish regional growth and development. 

Dr Ruth O’Riordan, Zoology & Animal 

Ecology, for two years to undertake research 

and to teach at the National University of 

Singapore. 

Don O’Sullivan, Management & Marketing, 

for two years to develop research funding 

and initiatives within the hi-tech sector for 

the Department of Management & 

Marketing. 

Professor Yudi Pawitan, Statistics, for 

twelve months to undertake research at the 

Karaolinska Institute in Stockholm. 

Bernadette Power, Economics, for three 

months to continue work on a PhD at the 

University of St Andrews. 

Áine Ryall, Law, a further one year’s leave of 

absence to complete a PhD at the European 

University Institute, Florence. 

Retirements 

1. MICHAEL F HAYES 

Departmental Operative, who 

retired on 14 September 2001 

2. PETER M BRÜCK 

who retired on 31 July 2001 after 

having served as Professor of 

Geology and Head of Department 

for 22 years. He is pictured with 

his wife Joan and Professor Gerard 

T. Wrixon, President 

3. JOHN CULLINANE 

Plant Science, retired on 12 

October 2001, after a 40-year 

association with the University. 

He is seen here at his leaving 

reception with Professor Gerard T. 

Wrixon, President 

4. DR MARILYN TERRY 

Head of Student Counselling and 

Professor Aidan Moran, Registrar. 

Marilyn retired in September after 

23 years service to UCC 

1. 

Professor Eduardo Saccone, Italian, for three 

months to undertake research in Italy on a 

book on the narrative of Giovanni Verga. 

Dr Anthony Seda, Mathematics, for nine 

months to complete a research text on 

computational logic and the mathematical 

foundations of computer science and that 

this will involve several visits to the Artificial 

Intelligence Institute in Dresden, Germany. 

Professor Arpad Szakolczai, Sociology, for 

six months to finish the book The Genesis of 

Modernity at the library of the European 

University Institute, Florence. 

CAREER BREAKS 

Terence Doherty, Civil & Environment 

Engineering, 12 months 

Gillian Gray, Payroll Office, 12 months 

Catherine Lambkin, ex German, 12 month 

extension 

Stephanie Larkin, Downtown Centre, 12 

months 

David O’Byrne, Computer Science, 12 months 

2. 

DEPARTURES 

Mairead Clancy, Finance Office 

Elaine Cremin, Faculty of Commerce 

Brenda Cronin, Registrars Office 

Vivian Fogarty, Boole Library 

Barbara Hennessy, BSU 

Bridget Kiely, Computer Centre 

Niamh O’Brien, Boole Library 

Orla Tuohy, Sociology 

RETIREMENTS 

Professor Peter Brück, Geology 

Michael Hayes, Buildings & Estates 

Professor William Murphy, Chemistry 

Jane Sullivan, Boole Library 

MARRIAGE 

Congratulations to Joan Buckley, Language 

Centre, who recently married Denis 

O’Sullivan 

BIRTHS 

Congratulations to Virginia Teehan, College 

Archivist and Dr Cian Ó Mathuna, NMRC 

on the birth of twins Edward and Alannah 

3. 

4. 

38 

39


Noticeboard 

Noticeboard 


3. 

1. Professor Michael Peter Kennedy, 

Microelectronic Engineering, and 

Dr Rossana Salerno at their 

wedding in Modena, Italy in June 

2001 

2. Veronica O’Brien, Education, and 

Kenneth Forde married in August 

of this year 

3. Maeve Gebruers, daughter of Dr 

Liz Gebruers, Physiology and 

Adrian, Music, married Des 

Cunningham in the Honan Chapel 

in September 2001 

4. Professor Peter Woodman, Arts 

Faculty Dean, at the marriage of 

his daughter Dr Paddy Woodman, 

Lecturer in Archaeology, Adult 

Education to Dr Mark Lake, 

Institute of Archaeology, University 

College London 

5. Carol Shanahan, Buildings & 

Estates Office and Bill Cashman 

who were married in Mitchelstown 

2. 

4. 

1. 

Weddings 

5. 

STAFF PRESENTATIONS 

Dr Alan Dobson, Microbiology, was invited 

to give a talk at the British Mycological Society 

Symposium on Bioactive Fungal Metabolites- 

Impact and Exploitation, held at the University 

of Wales, Swansea. The talk was entitled 

Molecular detection of mycotoxigenic fungi. 

Dr Fiona Dukelow, Applied Social Studies, 

presented a paper at the International 

Sociological Association Conference, From 

Sustainable Development to Sustainable 

Growth? Economic Growth and the 

Environment in Ireland, held at Fitzwilliam 

College, Cambridge University. The paper 

was entitled New Natures, New Cultures, 

New Technologies. 

Declan Kennedy, Education, was invited to 

present a paper on Science, Technology and 

Society – Its role in Science Education, at the 

UNESCO conference on Science Education 

held in Thessaloniki, Greece. 

Professor Peter Kennedy, Microelectronic 

Engineering, delivered an invited lecture 

entitled Communicating with Chaos: State of 

the Art, at the International Technical 

Conference on Circuits, Systems, Computers 

and Communication, held in Tokushima, 

Japan, last July. 

Professor Des MacHale, Mathematics, 

delivered a paper entitled Nearly Abelian 

Groups are Converse Lagrange, at the St 

Andrews/Oxford International Conference on 

Group Theory held at Oxford University in 

August 2001. 

Dr Deirdre Madden, Law, was an invited 

speaker at the Science, Technology and 

Society forum, held at Colby College, Maine, 

USA. The paper was entitled The Quest for 

Parenthood in Gestational Surrogacy: Legal, 

Ethical and Social Issues. Dr Madden also 

delivered a paper on Bioethical Tourism in 

Europe: Dilemmas of Divergence and the 

Pursuit of Consensus, at the Mid-Maine 

Global Forum, Waterville, Maine, USA. 

Dr Anita Maguire/Patricia Busca/Sophie 

Kalsey, Chemistry, presented the paper 

Chemoenzymatic Methods for Asymmetric 

Synthesis of Unnatural Amino Acids, at the 

Conway Festival of Research, UCD in 

September 2001. 

Frank Martin, Law, was invited by the 

European Forum on Child Welfare to 

contribute to a seminar entitled Discrimination 

Against Children in the Administration of 

Justice. The seminar took place in Brussels and 

the European Commission funded the project. 

Frank Martin also presented a paper at the 

2001 World Congress on Family Law and the 

Rights of Children and Youth, held in 

September 2001 in Bath, UK. The paper was 

entitled, The Hague Convention on Child 

Abduction and Unmarried Fathers’ Undefined 

Hinterland of Inchoate Custody Rights. 

Professor Mairtín Ó Fathaigh, Director, 

Adult Continuing Education, edited the 

proceedings at a recent International 

Conference “Education and the Information 

Age – Current Progress and Future 

Strategies” organized by the South West 

Regional Authority. 

Brian Ó Gallachóir, Civil and Environmental 

Engineering, presented a paper at the Energy 

Ireland 2001 Conference held in Dublin, 

entitled Recent Technological Advances in 

Electricity Generation from Renewable Energy. 

Dr Eamon McKeogh/Brian Ó Gallachóir 

were invited to present a paper at the 

International Symposium on Distributed 

Generation: Power System and Market 

Aspects at the Royal Institute of Technology, 

Stockholm, Sweden. The paper was entitled 

An 8.6 MW Hybrid Renewable Energy Project 

Supplying Electricity to an Irish Local Authority. 

Dr William Reville, Biochemistry, delivered 

the keynote lecture at the Merriman Summer 

School 2001 held at Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare 

in August 2001. The theme of the School 

was Research and Discovery: Of Knowledge 

and the People in the New Century. Dr 

Reville’s paper was entitled Creativity, 

Intuition, Inspiration and Hard Work in 

Science and Literature. 

Dr Colin Sage, Geography, was invited to 

present a paper entitled Entanglement, 

Embeddedness and the Geography of 

Regard: Good (agro-)food networks in South 

West Ireland at an international workshop on 

Perspectives on Alternative Agro-Food 

Networks: Quality, Embeddedness, Biopolitics, 

convened by the Centre for Global, 

International and Regional Studies at the 

University of California, Santa Cruz. 

Dr Manfred Schewe, German, was invited 

to give a keynote paper and workshop 

entitled Innovation in Language Teaching 

and Learning as part of the conference 

Projectes d’Innovacio, organized by the 

Catalan Ministry of Education, Barcelona, for 

Spanish teachers of German, English and 

French. Dr Schewe was also invited to lead a 

two-week special seminar on aspects of 

contemporary German theatre at the Goethe 

Institute, Berlin, for second and third level 

teachers of German from different countries. 

Professor Martin Stynes, Mathematics, was 

one of 28 invited speakers at the 10th 

International Conference on Differential 

Equations (EQUADIFF 10), held in Prague, 

Czech Republic in August 2001. He 

presented a paper entitled N-widths for 

singularly perturbed problems. 

Epidemiology & Public Health staff 

presented the following papers at the joint 

conference of the Society for Social Medicine 

and the International Epidemiological 

Association European Group, held in Oxford 

in September 2001. 

Dr John Sheehan/Dr Marie Reilly/Helen 

Twomey/Martina Collins/Aoife 

Daly/Sorcha Ní Loingsigh/Eamonn 

Dolan/Dr George Davey Smith/Dr Yoav 

Ben-Shlomo/Professor Ivan Perry: Q-T 

dispersion as a risk factor for cardiac death. 

Dr Stuart Neilson: The paradox of 

compressed morbidity: rising individual 

health and longevity adversely affect 

population health indices. 

Paul Corcoran/Aline Brennan/Dr Marie 

Reilly/Professor Ivan Perry: Variation in Irish 

suicide rates by calendar month and day of 

the week. 

Máire O’Reilly/Dr Mary Cahill/Professor 

Ivan Perry: Writing to patients: a 

randomised controlled trial. 

Raquel Villegas/Dr Stuart Neilson/Dr 

Domhnall O’Halloran/Professor Ivan 

Perry: Lifestyle determinants of insulin 

resistance: the Cork and Kerry diabetes and 

heart disease study. 

Raquel Villegas/Dr Stuart Neilson/Dr Don 

Creagh/Rita Hinchion/Professor Ivan 

Perry: Plasma homocysteine (Hcy) and 

cardiovascular disease risk factors in middle 

age men and women. 

Epidemiology & Public Health staff 

presented the following at the 19th All- 

Ireland Social Medicine Meeting, Killarney in 

October 2001. 

Papers 

Dr John Sheehan/Dr Siobhan 

O’Sullivan/Rita Hinchion/Professor Ivan 

Perry: Alcohol and coronary heart disease: 

no Pioneer effect. 

Dr Stuart Neilson: Individual well-being 

damages population health: anticipating the 

downside of health service provision. 

Dr Don Creagh/Dr Stuart Neilson/Dr 

Domhnall O’Halloran*/Rita Hinchion/ 

Professor Ivan Perry; Primary prevention of 

CHD: implications of different risk thresholds 

for screening. 

*Consultant Physician/Endocrinologist, Cork 

University Hospital 

Posters 

Marie O’Reilly/Dr Mary Cahill*/Professor 

Ivan Perry: Writing to patients: a 

randomised controlled trial. 

*Consultant Haematologist, Limerick 

Regional Hospital 

Raquel Villegas/Dr Stuart Neilson/Dr 

Domhnall O’Halloran/Professor Ivan 

Perry: Lifestyle determinants of insulin 

resistance: the Cork and Kerry diabetes and 

heart disease study. 

Raquel Villegas/Dr Stuart Neilson/Dr Don 

Creagh/Rita Hinchion/Professor Ivan 

Perry: Plasma homocysteine (Hcy) and 

cardiovascular disease risk factors in middle 

age men and women. 

STAFF – Please let us know about papers 

you have given at national and international 

conferences. Send details to r.cox@ucc.ie 

40 

41


Obituary 

Obituary 


Séan Lucy 

Professor of Modern English, UCC, 1967 - 1988 

Fr Gearóid O’Sullivan 

Séan Lucy was born in Bombay in 1931, a son of John Lucy, an officer 

in the British Army, and of Dorothea Davis. Reared in Cork from the 

age of four, he was educated at Glenstal Abbey and at UCC in the 

1950s, where he secured an MA in English. 

He served two years in the Royal Army Educational Corps and four as 

senior English master in Prior Park College in Bath. He was a lecturer 

in the English Department, UCC, from 1962 and was appointed 

Professor of Modern English in 1967. He took early retirement from 

that Chair in 1988 and moved permanently to Chicago where he 

offered courses in Irish literature at Loyola University, The Newberry 

Library and the Irish-American Heritage Centre. He was foremost in 

promoting links between UCC and American universities. He was a 

guest lecturer at several universities in the United States and was 

active in the American Conference for Irish Studies. He died in St 

Francis Hospital, Evanston on 25 July 2001 after a fall resulting in a 

serious head injury, 

In 1960, Séan published T. S. Eliot and the Idea of Tradition which 

has been described as ‘the first work of scholarship to apply Eliot’s 

critical ideas to Eliot’s own poetry and it is firmly in the canon of Eliot 

criticism.’ His own emotionally direct poetry appeared in various 

collections, notably Unfinished Sequences (1979). Increasingly, he was 

fascinated by the Gaelic poetic tradition, and this was reflected in his 

Love Poems of the Irish (1967). His critical scholarship is also evident in 

his contribution to Goldsmith: the Gentle Master (1984 and 1995), a 

Thomas Davis lecture series that he edited. 

Highlighting the salient features of Séan Lucy’s career is a necessary 

exercise in writing this appreciation but it does not evoke his vibrant 

personality nor convey the impact of his presence on UCC and on the 

wider community. He had superb lecturing skills, his passion and 

eloquence readily communicated themselves to his student audiences, 

and his enthusiasm was intense and shining. Chivalrous and quixotic in 

the best sense, he seemed to be perennially youthful. Robert Welch 

recalls Séan reciting Patrick Galvin’s ‘The Kings are out’ in that high, 

strong, delicate voice of his, and the lecture hall was ravished. It should 

also be said that his love of music and song was an integral part of his 

personality and indeed of his scholarship. 

The beneficiaries of his imaginative teaching were not only his 

undergraduate students but also privileged postgraduates in whose 

subsequent successful careers he rejoiced. His inspirational presence 

greatly contributed to the emergence of such poets as Séan Dunne, 

Theo Dorgan, Tom McCarthy, Maurice Riordan, Greg Delanty and 

Gregory O’Donoghue. But he was also highly attentive to the 

mundane needs of all his students and eloquently pleaded their 

causes at examination boards and council meetings, frequently having 

to contend with the opposition of sticklers for rules and regulations. 

Séan utterly lacked the ambiguity, evasiveness and phoney geniality 

that could be said to be among our less prepossessing national 

characteristics. The role of poseur was alien to him, if only because he 

was naturally self-assured about his broad liberal learning. Such was 

his erudition that one could not conceive of his having recourse to 

pretence or pomposity. 

Perhaps in some respects (though he would indignantly demur at 

this) he was less than typically Irish. For some of his friends, part of his 

great charm was a perceived exotic Anglo-Irish character. This would 

have amused him since he claimed that the English regarded him as a 

paddy! In any case, there was an irony here since he was passionate 

about every aspect of the Irish thing – literature, history, landscape. 

This was the world he found exotic. 

He was a romantic nationalist of the Thomas Davis school, and I 

can still hear his silver speech declaiming that noble piece of wishful 

thinking: ‘Oh, let the Orange lily be your badge, my patriot 

brother/The everlasting green for me, and we for one another’. At 

another level, his love of Ireland was concentrated on what might be 

called inner West Cork - Cúil Aodha, Baile Mhúirne, Uibh Laoghaire - 

his ancestral country, indeed. He led UCC International Summer 

School students on memorable field trips to this area, and loved introducing 

them to its literary lore. For the Cúil Aodha Gaeltacht, Séan 

had something of the sense of discovery and wonder of the early 

Gaelic leagues, and this was further enhanced by his friendship since 

student days with Séan O Riada, the genius loci of Cúil Aodha. 

Fittingly, memorial services were held for Séan Lucy both in the 

Honan Chapel, UCC and in his adopted city of Chicago, and his ashes 

were scattered in his beloved Guagane Barra. 

His memory will be brightly cherished by his surviving friends and 

colleagues, and most of all by those fortunate enough to have been 

his students. 

Emeritus Professor John A Murphy 

The sudden death of Fr Gearóid O’Sullivan came as a 

shock to his many friends and colleagues in UCC. He died 

in Florence on 26 September 2001 whilst on holiday. 

Fr Gearóid will be particularly remembered in UCC for 

establishing and teaching the Diploma in Catechetics in 

1973, building on the work of Fr James Good. He 

continued teaching on the NUI Higher Diploma in the 

Teaching of Religious Education until the mid-nineties. 

Born in Dublin in 1924, Gearóid was the only son of 

the revolutionary leader, Gearóid O’Sullivan and his wife 

Maud, neé Kieran. He attended St Mary’s, Rathmines and 

St Vincent’s College, Castleknock, before joining the 

Vincentian community in 1943. After his ordination in 

1950 he completed his BA in UCC and went on to teach 

in various colleges. In 1970 he attended Cambridge 

University to take an MA in Religious Studies. 

In May 2000 he celebrated the Golden Jubilee of his 

ordination to the priesthood still very determined to give 

all he had to the service of God and the people. 

However, earlier this year he was quite unwell and spent 

some time in hospital. He seemed to have made a good 

recovery during the summer. 

Latterly he handed over the catechetical work to 

others and joined UCC’s Chaplaincy team. As a pastor, Fr 

Gearóid was someone of endearing charm and 

gentleness, a person of inspiration and reassurance, 

whose pastoral insights inspired many successive generations 

of students and staff. He calmed many a troubled 

heart, soothed many a ruffled spirit and reassured many 

in their troubled decisions. Energy, enthusiasm and a 

great personal religious faith, marked his work both as 

Chaplain and as Dean of the Honan Chapel, despite 

fragile health in his later years. 

He will long be remembered as a great friend and 

colleague, a sincere and dedicated priest with a genuine 

love for his country. Our sympathies go to his two 

surviving sisters, Ann McCourt of Edmonton, Canada and 

Sibéal Whitty of San Francisco. Tríona, Sr Annunciata of 

the Sisters of Cluny predeceased him. May they sing the 

praises of God in heaven as they did on earth. 

Dr Fiachra Long, Education, UCC 

Fr Bill Clarke, CM 

The University regrets to announce the death of 

Emeritus Professor Patrick M Quinlan, which occurred 

on 8 November 2001. Professor Quinlan was Professor 

and Head of Department of Mathematical Physics from 

1951 until his retirement in 1988. An obituary will appear 

in a future issue of The College Courier. 

42 

43


Rigas Ekonomikas Augstskola or 

the Stockholm School of Economics 

in Riga (SSE Riga) was founded in 

1993 by the Stockholm School of 

Economics in Stockholm, acting on 

behalf of the Swedish government 

and the Latvian Ministry of 

Education. The first class of students 

was admitted in 1994. SSE 

Riga offers an intensive three-year 

BSc degree in business and economics. 

The number of students in 

each year is about 115, selected 

from around 1,500 applicants, 

which gives an indication of how 

competitive and elitist the school is. 

The programme is free and open to students 

from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The pedagogical 

philosophy stresses cooperative learning 

and team-building activities. One of the 

most interesting things about this university 

is that the students do most coursework in 

teams of four. They even do their bachelor 

thesis in teams of four; and of course, all in 

English. 

I am responsible for the English language 

programme at the school. As the bachelor 

programme is all done through English, it is 

crucial for the students to have a high level 

of both academic and general English language 

competence. Therefore, the first year 

students undergo a very intensive and comprehensive 

English course. 

My job entails course and curriculum 

planning, lecturing, student counselling and 

coordinating and cooperating with the other 

members of the university faculty. It can be 

hard work with long hours, but ultimately it 

is challenging and rewarding. The students 

are so accustomed to being the best, that 

not achieving 100% all the time can be a 

shock to them. As a result I spend a lot of 

time reassuring students that it is OK not to 

get 100%, but that the important thing is 

always to try. 

Letter from Latvia 

Brendan Ó Se, Language Centre writes from Latvia 

In a time when the biggest exporter of foreign workers to Ireland (outside of the EU) is Latvia 

(3,000), I find myself having come in the opposite direction. I am an immigrant in Latvia. I have 

left my position in the Language Centre at UCC to come and take up the post of Head of the 

English Department at The Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Latvia. And I am enjoying 

every minute of it. 

Latvia recently celebrated its 800th anniversary, 

but has only been independent for the 

last ten years. It is the biggest of the three 

Baltic countries. Riga is the most expensive 

city in the Baltics, and many things like 

clothes, furniture and most luxury items are 

considerably more expensive than in Ireland. 

In summer, travelling through the Latvian 

countryside you can see rows and rows of 

apple and pear trees, fields of blooming 

flowers and green meadows. It is all a beautiful 

garden that changes colour, as summer 

becomes autumn. Now, as I write autumn is 

quickly turning to winter, and the city streets 

are strewn with yellowish, brown and red 

leaves, and not a scrap of litter anywhere. 

Life in Riga is like any other big city. It has 

traffic problems and crazy drivers, homeless 

people and Gucci shoppers, cheap cafes and 

high-class restaurants, beautiful parks and 

run-down buildings. It has magnificent Art 

Nouveau architecture that contrasts the grey 

stone buildings of Soviet occupation. It is a 

city with a rich culture. The theatres, cinemas, 

museums, and art galleries are all well 

attended by expensively dressed audiences. 

Flowers are to be seen everywhere, from 

boyfriends giving them to their girlfriends, to 

old women selling them on street corners. 

There are many poor, many rich 

and few middle-class. There are two 

ethnic groups, the Russians and the 

Latvians, who by and large live in harmony. 

However, the Russians are marginalized. 

The Latvians are reluctant 

to allow them to become citizens, as 

they fear a return to Soviet times, 

which could happen as the Russians 

make up 52% of the population. 

Those who cannot speak Latvian are 

not citizens, they cannot vote and yet 

they still pay taxes. All public signs 

are in Latvian. 

For me I have a choice of languages 

to learn. On the one hand, I 

feel I should learn Russian, as it is a world 

language and would benefit me more in the 

future. On the other hand, as a linguist, I feel 

an affinity with the less widely spoken or 

known language of Latvian. Although both 

represent a challenge in learning, as when 

trying to pronounce either difficult Russian or 

Latvian words, I feel I have or would need a 

sponge in my mouth to do so effectively. 

And, another consideration and important 

factor is motivation. I work in an English 

speaking university, have English speaking 

friends, can shop, travel and socialize in 

English, so why bother to learn another language? 

However, I have decided to have a go and 

opted for Latvian. 

So, as I head into my first real winter, I 

am happy here in the Baltics working with 

the crème de la crème of the region's students, 

but may need all my woollens and 

long johns to survive. 

Brendan is taking a year’s leave of absence 

to run the English Department at The 

Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. 

NOTES 

Communiqué - 

your newspaper! 

Communiqué, UCC’s new staff newspaper issued for 

the first time last September. A monthly publication 

issuing September through May, Communiqué aims to 

provide staff with accurate and timely information on 

the business of the University. 

Each edition of Communiqué carries latest news 

from UCC and alerts staff to a wide range of planned 

events and developments due to take place on campus 

from month to month. 

Communiqué facilitates timely communication 

through its tight turn-around schedule and the use of 

a rapid distribution system. Consequently, staff can 

pick up their latest copy of Communiqué from branded 

and stocked newsstands. Stands are located in the 

Staff Common Room, The Staff Dining Room, An 

Stad, The O’Rahilly Coffee Shop and the Boole Library 

foyer. A web version of Communiqué is posted to the 

University’s www homepage to coincide with each 

edition’s delivery date. 

If you would like to receive extra copies of 

Communiqué contact Roslyn Cox, Publications Officer, 

Public Affairs Office @: r.cox@ucc.ie, or tel: ext 2821. 

Submissions for Communiqué are always welcome 

and should be sent to the editor, Orlaith O’Callaghan 

@: oocallaghan@pres.ucc.ie 

Freedom of 

Information Act 

UCC is now subject to the Freedom 

of Information Act. The Minister for 

Finance providing for the extension 

of the Freedom of Information Act, 

1997, to third level education institutions, 

signed regulations into law 

on 22 October 2001. 

COMPETITION 

Virtual Eolas 

A new web version of Eolas, UCC’s student and staff term-time 

weekly events listing, went live at the beginning of the 

2001/2002 academic year and is now accessible @ 

http://www.ucc.ie/ucc/info/eolas/. 

The main areas covered by the new site include a Weekly 

Cover Story/Notice and individual sections on Regular 

Activities, Notices and Classifieds. Eolas’ extensive Search 

facility will make it easier for users to access the information 

they require. Back issues of Eolas are also carried on the site and 

submissions can be sent using the Contact Eolas link. 

Submissions can also be sent to Marie McSweeney, Public Affairs 

Office who designs and edits the print version of Eolas. Marie is 

contactable @ email: information@ucc.ie, or Tel: ext 2371 

COMPETITION 

The College Courier 

on the web 

See The College Courier on the web 

@ http://www.ucc.ie/info/courier/ 

To cancel your hard copy of the 

magazine please contact Roslyn Cox 

Copy 

Submission 

Date 

Submissions for the 

forthcoming issue of the 

magazine should be sent 

to the Editor by Friday 

5pm, 1 February 2002. 

Q. Name the deciduous climbing plant that 

Michael Ambrose, Groundsman, is cutting back 

off the Q. wall Name of the the East deciduous Wing? climbing plant that Michael Ambrose, 

Groundsman, is cutting back off the wall of the East Wing? 

Send a postcard to Roslyn Cox with the answer 

and you Send could a postcard win a book to Roslyn token. Entries Cox with to be the answer and you could 

received win by a Monday, book token. December Entries 10th. to be received by Friday, January 11. 

The College Courier wishes all its 

readers a very Happy Christmas! 

44 

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