Ireland: A Friendly Nation or Masters of Linguistic Politeness?
Ireland regularly trumps all other nations in lists published regarding “friendly” or “welcoming” countries. Are we truly deserving of this international reputation or is there another reason behind our amiability? To take a cynical view, it may be that we are simply masters of linguistic politeness! Linguistic politeness in a nutshell Linguistic […]
A University is not a Factory
There has been a great deal of debate over the future of Irish universities over the past few weeks. The publication of the Cassels report, along with the plummeting of almost all Irish universities down the QS rankings, has pushed the issue of third education in Ireland into the limelight. In this time of panic, […]
Head to Head – Taking a Byte out of Apple?
Yes – Olly Donnelly, contributing writer The European Commission’s decision to make the Irish government claim the tax that we, as Irish taxpayers, are owed by Apple is a positive step towards reclaiming control of our economy, and towards making corporations work for us rather than themselves. Allowing any company, not especially Apple, the […]
Leave Hillary alone
Arguably the biggest problem that women face in terms of political representation is that women don’t support women. I understand that as women, we have a tendency to deny this emphatically. But given that women still aren’t adequately represented at any level of government, I think it is only fair that we question if it […]
The Key to Understanding the Future of Economics Lies in the Past/To Understand the Future, Economists Need to Look Closer at the Past
Almost a decade has passed since the onset of the great recession which caused enormous damage to the world economy, both in its initial onslaught, and from ill-considered policy responses which have often proved to be nothing short of folly. This crisis brought a well-deserved public ridicule and criticism of the profession of economics; […]
Trinity’s QS Ranking Underlines the Desperate Need for Funding
The news that Trinity has dropped 20 places, from 78th to 98th, in the QS world university rankings, isn’t a Trinity story; it’s an Irish one. Of the 8 ranked Irish universities, 7 fell in this year’s rankings; only NUI Galway went up, from 271st to 249th. Of the 6 indicators that QS use to […]
Controversial Burkini Ban highlights wider debate on Muslim women
While the French secularisation policy of laïcité has been, of late, seen as an attack on Islam, it was, in fact, enshrined into French law in 1905 following a feud with the Catholic Church. In recent years this policy has been applied to France’s Muslim population, who are being brought into line with denizens of […]
Universal basic income: an alternative to social welfare?
Last month, Switzerland voted on a proposal that would give every adult citizen and permanent resident of that country a monthly salary of 2,500 Swiss francs (about €2300), with an added 625 Swiss francs (€575) per child – a universal basic income (UBI). Though the proposal was voted down by an overwhelming majority (77% voted […]
Examining the context behind police violence in the U.S.
The response to the shooting of Alton Sterling by police officers in the United States has largely been one of fear and outrage. Sterling was a 37-year-old African-American man who was shot outside a convenience store where he frequently sold CDs in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The incident was recorded by the convenience store owner, Abdul […]
Erasmus: Declassified
By Jennifer Brereton on September 24, 2016 · Leave a Comment
Before I left for my year abroad, in a little corner of my mind, I naively rejected the belief that Erasmus wasn’t going to be a typical college year. Naturally, it was going to be a little different, I thought to myself, but what I had in mind was Trinity with some pasta sauce […]
Category Comment · Tags diary, Erasmus, exchange, experience, language-barrier