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05 FEB

Now is the winter of our discontent… again

After years of inaction, the government are now out of excuses for overcrowded hospitals

“Nurses are now expected to crisis manage a situation that isn’t of our making”.

This quote, from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, (INMO), perfectly encapsulates the feelings of frustration and despair amongst hospital staff in this country every winter.…

14 DEC

The Rich aren’t only getting richer; they’re also getting the high-ranking government jobs

A tale as old as time: Governments in the western world are a graduation plan for the old boy’s club

Last week Forbes released an article on the wealth of the new United Kingdom Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, proclaiming his and his wife’s joint net worth to be “higher than the personal fortune of King Charles III”. An eyebrow raising …

08 DEC

Recent TUI survey highlights potential reasonings behind teacher shortage in Ireland – and not a single one is surprising

Bleak outlook for the future minds of Ireland as there are simply too many obstacles for those who are able and willing to teach them

A survey carried out by The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has returned disappointing yet unsurprising results on the recruitment difficulties faced by schools and the reasons that these positions are not being filled. The survey found that 91% of …

05 DEC

Longer nights for Irish pubs and clubs introduces as many potential issues as the ones it aims to solve

The expanding of opening hours for pubs and clubs across Ireland is a win for Irish nightlife only if predictable obstacles are accounted for, and soon

News of the change to pub and nightclub opening hours has quickly gained much attention and discussion from the public, both positive and negative, and it is easy to see why. On the one hand, it is a massive change …

03 DEC

Two Taoisigh and three Prime Ministers walk into a bar…

We cannot laugh too much at Britain’s three Prime Ministers in as many months when the best we could come up with is a rotating Taoiseach role that highlights the absurdity of our own system

Step aside, Roz Purcell and Pippa O’Connor. Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar are currently Ireland’s trendiest influencers. Mere weeks before our rotating Taoiseach system is due to be implemented, as Varadkar assumes Martin’s role, the British government decided that they …

30 NOV

‘Tis the season to be stressed out

Christmas shopping during a cost-of-living crisis is surprisingly not as fun as it sounds…

“Christmas! Already? No wait, it’s just the shops getting ready for Christmas shopping. Christmas shopping? Panic, panic!” These were the thoughts banging around my tender skull as I nursed the Halloween hangover. Bruised and battered from all sides by essay …

29 NOV

Cramming culture leaves already stressed students living off after-care, rather than self-care, during busy deadline seasons

As we approach the business end of the semester, we need to ask ourselves if our study methods are doing more harm than good

When picturing deadline season, one often conjures up the image of stressed students bent over their books, desperately trying to retain information. Needless to say (or rather, write), this is the result of cramming culture-that is, working intensely to learn …

28 NOV

The supplemental exam experience this year has been an overly stressful ordeal for students, for factors as unnecessary as they were unprecedented

Isolation from college over the summer, notable lack of college support, and the pressure of perceived high stakes of supplemental exams is a much larger problem than expected, and a significant disadvantage

In August of this year I was one of the hundreds of students who sat a supplemental exam. As with any exam preparation process, stress followed me from my term results all the way to the exam day itself. However, …

22 NOV

The back and forth nature of climate activism versus climate fatalism is exhausting

When facing a sizeable global threat such as climate change, it is sometimes difficult to continue to make the small changes when you worry that they have no significant impact

For some time, I have worried that my climate activism pales in comparison to the mass climate atrocities that are committed by corporations, countries, and celebrities daily. It is hard to feel as though the small steps you take count …