Lack of funding for PhD degrees is plaguing aspiring academics. Unfortunately, many who hope to one day teach or research at third-level institutions in Ireland are forced to reckon with grim practicality — a financial hellscape that will persist during …
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It is never too early to start teaching consent, but it can be too late
Whilst sexual consent education workshops are becoming more and more common in universities unless the foundations are taught in secondary schools we are fighting a losing battle
In April of 2021, students across Ireland received an email containing a link to a Higher Education Authority (HEA) survey on student experiences of sexual violence and sexual harassment. The findings from it, published in January 2022, made for depressing, …
Landlord TDs do not deserve our pity
The Robert Troy scandal has shone a light on the dangerous conflict of interest between landlord TDs and their constituents
August is a long time in politics.
Since coming into power in June 2020, the coalition government of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and the Green Party have not survived a Dáil summer recess without enduring a national scandal, resulting in …
Sexual liberation versus college-life expectation: hook-up culture in college
Hook-up culture in college creates an unhealthy pressure to partake for fear that of missing out, and for some it just might be better as an idea than in reality
We live in a society where discussing sex is as casual as talking about what you’re going to have for dinner. While this allows for liberation, exploration, and non-judgemental attitudes towards sexuality and sensuality, I believe that it also promotes …
Period Poverty and Period Shaming – A Bloody Big Problem
How the discussion around periods needs to advance
Period poverty occurs when women or girls either struggle or are unable to locate suitable period products and adequate hygiene facilities. It affects over 500 million women and girls every year all over the world. Period poverty happens to people …
Minimum effort about minimum wage from the government
The new budget’s minimum wage increase will do little to help the cost of living crisis
The 80-cent minimum wage increase from €10.50 to €11.30 fails to accurately reflect the increased cost of living in Ireland, and will fail workers. While Ireland’s minimum wage is relatively high compared to many European neighbours, Ireland also stands next …
Instead of protecting women’s sports, the IRFU’s exclusion of transgender women is actively harming it
Women’s sports have historically been a place of open-mindedness and active change, however the IRFU’s decision seems to be a disappointing step back
Amid rising transphobia and increasingly discriminatory practices against transgender people in Ireland, this latest setback for transgender women is yet another decision driven by ignorance. The IRFU’s (Irish Rugby Football Union) ban on transgender women participating in contact rugby is …
Let’s push for gender equality in commemoration on Trinity’s campus
DUGES new petition falls far short of their feminist values
As I completed my routine swipe through Instagram’s never-ending stories the other night, it came to my attention that DU Gender Equality Society (DUGES) have recently launched a petition to rename the Berkeley Library the Wilde Library as a tribute …
In defence of trigger warnings on university reading lists
While a widely debated topic in the media these days, those who oppose trigger warnings do so out of a misunderstanding of their purpose
As an English student, I often encounter difficult subject matter due to the nature of thoroughly engaging with literature. Whether it be colonialism, racism, sexual assault, or any number of other topics, it is essential to engage with these complexities. …
Progress only stops when we do, and the pattern shows we stop too soon
As the free contraception scheme for women aged 17-25 comes into effect, we must remain actively present in the conversation in order for unprecedented accessibility obstacles to be amended quickly and effectively
Many steps forward have been taken for women in Ireland in recent years. Conversations about gender inequality, from areas as far-ranging as female opportunities in STEM, our right to bodily autonomy and sexual violence against Irish women, are ongoing, with …