5 weeks in...

One eye and ear constantly open for a story. The deadlines. The early mornings. The satisfaction in seeing a person's story being told to people through the medium of a newspaper or the web.

You can learn these aspects of journalism in college and scribble notes in a lecture hall, but they really don't seem true until the working world comes whisking around, grabbing the luxurious college morning lie-ins and the lengthy six week deadlines away from you.

Nearly three months into this real grown-up life already and I am coming to realise all these aspects of journalism only make it more enjoyable for me. And there is something strangely satisfying about making the early bus on time.

A confident feature-writer, my lack of experience with news-writing was daunting at the beginning. But a few weeks hard work teaches someone a lot. 

Here are some of the best so far; 

In June I spoke to a lady in Cork who lives with HIV. Too small a city to be comfortable with discussing her story publicly, this lady was still eager to warn people to be sexually careful and to show people that living with HIV is not a death sentence.

Having HIV is not a death sentence, Irish Examiner

The June floods affected parts of Cork that had never experienced flash flooding before and forced hundreds of families from their homes. I wrote stories about the government refusing to provide direct funding to help these families, about the hiked insurance premiums and refusal for flood cover the families from the 2009 floods are now dealing with and about a small town in West Cork people seemed to have forgotten about...

Residents refused cover and forced to pay hiked up premiums since 2009 deluge


"Closure of the road has affected everything"


Flood-hit families to get no aid from government


Insurance will go through claims with a fine tooth comb

The abysmal summer we are suffering at the moment affected other pepole around the country too. Farmers have spent the past few months trying to cope with a massive decrease in crops produced and the even bigger financial cost of keeping their animals indoors.

Farmers will need "at least three years" to recover

Listening to people's stories and life struggles can test the emotions too. One woman told me about her daughter, who has autism, who is being refused her last three years of government funded education and care because of budget cuts. Her daughter, Antonia, is 18 years of age and waits at home every day for her bus to bring her to school.

Teens with autism refused school places due to cuts

Even ceremonies so central to the peoples' religions and traditions have been affected by the recession. The government is proposing to add a small fee to funerals to fund a funeral director watchman, something the industry does not have.

Funeral fee would fund regulator for directors

Nothing like a bit of inter-county rivalry. A few Excel spreadsheets later and it's clear Dublin hosts the country's "worst drivers".

Motorists in the capital top the penalty points league

West Cork stands tall with its reputation for arts and culture.

Wall of art captures imagination with creativity


Musical pupils play with pipes

Crosshaven also does its bit for Irish culture and heritage...

Restored tunnels in Fort Camden to open to the public

Find more online at www.irishexaminer.com.

A Visit to Vita Cortex

The Vita Cortex 32 dispute has dominated headlines since December 16, 2011. 

It is now more than four months later and the 32 men and women are still sitting in at the factory on the Kinsale Road, Cork City. 

I visited the factory on Saturday, April 7, 2012 to speak to the protesters as part of a radio documentary I was producing. 

See below a blog post I wrote for the VC32 online campaign blog a week after my visit. The post is called 'A Visit to Vita Cortex'.

The 'Support the Vita Cortex Workers' blog.

My sincere wishes and goodwill to all involved.

Generation Emigration-The Captured Moments

Darkness has fallen over the city of Dublin, capital of our Emerald Isle. A young man sits on the wall outside his house. He gazes at the home in which he grew up, the front path dark but the comforting lights of the kitchen creating a warm glow in the garden. His mother moves around slowly inside, putting the dishes away after dinner. His father sits at the table, chatting animatedly to her.

The home he is now leaving for better prospects. But he doesn't gaze alone. Dublin photographer David Monahan captures the moment and saves it, to be presented as part of his Leaving Dublin photography collection.

It started as a simple request on Monahan's website. People who were in the last stages of planning emigration, leaving Ireland, would contact Monahan and he would capture their last moments in their home country before walking up the plane steps to a better future.

Pictures courtesy of David Monahan's blog (see link)

Monahan's blog has since attracted over 40,000 hits and he has taken almost 80 individual photographs of young adults, families, couples and students, all only days before they emigrate.

The photographs are dark, an eerie amalgam of darkness and light framing the subject, always accompanied by a battered suitcase-the recurring prop thoughout the photgraphs. He is capturing a new Irish culture - the culture and to emigrate.

The long queues at recent international job fairs should be warning signs enough that our country's youth have turned their back on Ireland's prospects. The "land of milk and honey" no more. Young adults are leaving the country to find work for a few years, optimistic that they can return to a vitalised Ireland in five or six years time. Families are taking the decision to move wholesale, not for a lifestyle choice, but to fend for themselves.

A lot of people speak of the flip-flop and barbeque lifestyle in Australia-how young people are looking for a bit of sunshine, a change of scenery. Be someone twenty-two or fifty-two, it is never an easy decision to leave home. Advantages and disadvantages are weighed. The prospect of earning good-worked for money is tempting. The thought of not seeing your family but for a crackling Skype screen for a year or more is frightening.

It is unnatural for parents to say goodbye to their children for so long. Opportunities, of course, should be grabbed with enthusiasm. But good employment opportunities used to be available on our front doorsteps. The notion of emigrating but for choice had not crossed anyone's minds in twenty years.

Pictures courtesy of David Monah's blog (see link)

Meanwhile, the Irish government squirm in discomfort. Ironically, a recent Fianna Fáil event, cue Micháel Martin's apology to the country for his party's actions, was held next door to a room that hosted a mile-long queue out the door and the opportunity to work abroad.

Recent developments in the entrepeneurial and job sector show no hope whatsoever. The decision to replace local enterprise boards with a central body and communication links through local authorities is going to be disastrous in its outcome. Aspiring entrepeneurs, the country's hope, should feel an affiliation with their enterprise board, have an opportunity to receive finance, mentoring, hands-on support. With the best will in the world this will not happen with a central enterprise board in Enterprise Ireland. Unless one is employing fifty tomorrow and importing millions next week they won't have any interest.

We thought all we needed was a change of government. A cure doesn't come about easily, we understand that, but the medicine should be immediate and effective-hitting the sectors it needs to. We were patient and now we're growing tired. Proper solutions are needed-our emigrants are not leaving for the chance to lie on a beach in December, they're leaving because they have to.

Consumer of an Education

The word 'consumption' refers to the use of final goods until disposal. Can we use this analogy to describe the Irish education system? Are we, the students, consumers of this service that is provided for us-a third level education?

Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn believed it was a suitable analogy to avail of during his recent address at the University of Limerick. Minister Quinn visited the university as part of the Issues in Irish Media Seminar Series, organised by the BA Journalism and New Media course.

A debate followed both during the seminar and in class during the week as to whether students are indeed 'consumers' of a service in Ireland. A Sociology lecturer at the university argued that students are citizens, not consumers in a marketplace.

I believe we are consumers.

We are paying for an education-a service provided to educate us in our chosen fields. Minister Quinn explained that his analogy placed emphasis on the fact that students should be critical of their education and how it is delivered to them, quite like a consumer would be critical of the service they receive from a mechanic, doctor, electrician or caterer.

Minster Quinn said that he expects a response from the user, not necessarily a negative response, but one that could assist in improving and developing the service we receive. He said there should be a way to hold lecturers to account. He would leave the sanctions, if necessary, to the institution itself.

I agree that we are consumers of this service. You would expect to be receiving some sort of service paying €2000 a year for it, having been promised a free third-level education.

But why mention the "new idea" of making lecturers accountable for their actions? We can do this already.  

There are services in every university for people to use to either praise or complain about an educator in the institution. Why mention the possibility of creating a new layer of administration in the Department of Education for a service that is already provided to students? Does Minister Quinn believe more students would hold lecturers accountable if the word went straight to the central government as opposed to being able to deal with the problem first-hand at the institution?

The ability to hold lecturers accountable is there. If anyone wants to hold anyone accountable for their actions in a university context there is always a way.

We may be consumers Minister Quinn, and with that I agree, but with that comes the expectation to get the most for our money. We don't need the government's permission. If we wish to hold someone accountable, we can and we will.

News with Caution

It was reported last night on the RTÉ News that three babies had died following a bacterial infection at the Belfast Royal Maternity Hospital. 

This is most definitely a sad and sombering news bulletin to hear on a cold January evening, even more so to hear it could happen in the 21st century. Belfast Health and Social Care Trust chief executive Colm Donaghy spoke to the newsreader Brian Dobson during the report about the three unfortunate deaths, how the hospital had reacted to such news and what their plan of action was now. He stated they were removing all babies from the infected area, deep-cleaning the ward and examining all babies for the condition. 

The news was reported on in an appropriate, professional and formal manner.

After the evening news, I turned on a regional radio station to listen to while upstairs. I do understand that different news agencies, stations and programmes produce and present the news differently to suit their target audience and listenership, but I was surprised to hear the manner in which they reported this news from Belfast. 

The boppy music continued to play in the background, the news report was rushed through and the bacterial infection (pseudomona) was described as a "deadly infection", which it most certainly isn't for most human beings and animals-it just happened to be in this case where the children were premature, small and vulnerable to illness.

Listening to their news bulletin it could have been an unfortunate once-off occurrence, which people are hoping for, or it could have been an infection plaguing the Royal Maternity Hospital and currently en route to downtown Belfast, ready to affect each and everyone in its way. It was read with the same informality and excitement as the report on why Jesse J is cutting off all her hair, hardly a worrisome issue.

I know certain people listen to the station for the chart music, gossip and entertainment-I most certainly do. But in my mind, if a sensitive issue is being addressed (which quite easily could have personally affected someone listening to the station), try and take care of one's words and manner. 

Have a conscience and report the news as it is, these news bulletins affect more people than we know.

Is this a man's world?

Women presidents we may have had, but a female-dominated Dáil is something we would not dare to dream of. It is embedded in Ireland's political life that it is a male-dominated sphere, a job for the men, a man's world. It is presumed that it takes a "tough cookie" of a woman to deal with the testosterone-smothered world of politics. Phyllida Lloyd's recent film The Iron Lady on the life of Margaret Thatcher, the first and only female Prime Minister of the UK, further emphasises this thought. 

But perhaps a change is a-coming for our Emerald Isle. Last year 25 women were elected to the Dáil in February's General Election out of a total of 166 TDs. A pathetic number it may seem, but it constitutes 15% of the Irish government, the highest percentage ever achieved in Irish politics. The number of Independents voted into the government proved that people may be voting for the individual and their political cause as opposed to the party. This trend could easily influence the number of women voted into the Dáil. It may seem that, finally, the female voice is being listened to. 

Google Images

But it shouldn't have taken this long. It is more than ninety years since Irish women have paced the streets in a fight for suffrage and the civil right for an Irish woman to vote. With our 15% figure we rank a pathetic 22nd out of 27 of our EU neighbours, regarding our percentage of women TDs in government. We are a long run behind Sweden in the gender-equality race as they hold gold medal for 45% of their government being female representatives. The lowest, Malta, with only 8% of their government being female, can quite easily see the back of our Irish archaeic-minded running shoes.

Maybe 2012 looks like a more promising year for the fight to gender equality in the Dáil. Minister for Environment Phil Hogan published a Bill in December last, ensuring that women make up 30% of the candidates for the next general election. Parties will have to ensure 30% of their party is made up of women and failure to comply will result in a loss of State funding. An incentive to try, if nothing else. 

Google Images

Ms Kathleen Lynch TD has taken this opportunity to organise a conference in Dublin Castle this January, 20th entitled, "How To Elect More Women". The open day only requires registration and will consist of a few first-hand stories from women in politics, a key-note speaker and a few words from the round table.

Two reports, a bill and a conference later, there should surely be a solution to the problem. 

Political culture is difficult to change. This was evident in the pre-recession Irish passion in voting for political parties according to one's family traditions and historical context. A change in attitude is needed. Hopefully if there are more women presenting themselves as candidates, there will be more interest in listening to them and electing them. 

I sincerely hope that post-this January 20th there will be a change in Ireland's politics that can only move towards a more positive, gender-equalised political culture.

The Resolution...to keep a Resolution.

And so it is.The month of January is upon us. The year of 2012 has arrived. 

"It crept up on us, didn't it?", I've heard many note, personifying the event as negatively as they do an unexpected increase on the weighting scales or an increasing overdraft. 

The few festive weeks are over; presents have been exchanged, families have been visited, hugs have been shared, trees have been decorated, drinks have been enjoyed, mornings have been slept through and food has been gorged upon.

Satisfaction is a good word to describe what someone may feel sitting back on their couch on the evening of the first day of the New Year. Tiredness may be another, the two weeks of festivities may have taken their toll. The word 'happiness' may be sufficient-good times have been spent with good people, some who you cannot see from one end of the year to the next. Admittedly, the word and feeling of 'guilt' may be just as sufficient for a lot of people yesterday evening. It may even over-rule the previous terms of expression.

And here enters the world-wide recognised form of solution. Whatever guilt one may have regarding the festive break is reconciled by this modern concept of penance: the New Year resolution.  

The most popular modern forms of resolution still stand strong at the top of the table in Ireland this year; spending more time with friends and family, getting fit, quitting smoking, to enjoy life more. A mental list may be made, a note stuck on the fridge, a memo saved on a mobile phone to remind ourselves of our resolutions as the first few days of January drift by.

The word 'resolution' means to be "admirably purposeful, determined, unwavering"; three expressions I don't believe stick with the majority of my New Year resolutions. They are thought of ten times a day and nodded towards for the first few weeks, gradually put on the wayside and eventually wither with the 'Brazilian Darkness' remnants of the Christmas Cadbury's Roses tin.

The HSE have noted the special time of year with a specially-timed warning towards Irish smokers and a few frightening statistics. The Guardian reported on The British Liver Trust taking advantage of the New Year Resolution trend this week, advising people that a sudden and short-lived alcohol detox is not the wisest decision regarding your liver, and coining the phrase, the 'Janopause Detox'.

The start of a new year-a perfect time to begin a resolution, a new way of life. But, really? It is ironic how, knowing the dreaded resolution is around the corner, all standards will disappear over Christmas-the person who chooses to lose weight in the new annum will eat twice as much over Christmas to "to treat themselves" before the celery soup diet begins, the person who vows to quit their ten-a-day smoking habit will indulge in a twenty-a-day extavaganza before the cravings take over. Surely a less dramatic and more controlled life change could be better maintained and accomplished easier?

My New Year resolution? To keep the few changes I have decided to embark on. 

To be honest, I didn't really think about them until today, the second day of January. This evening, in fact. So that's a whole two days gone from this year already. Maybe it could prove more beneficial just to wait until next January? 2013...and just start the year afresh then...?

Best of luck everybody!

The Voice Of The City

This is our 4th year journalism class newspaper production The City Voice , the voice of Limerick city.

Front-page of the City Voice

As Features Editor for the publication my main responsibility lay between pages 17-24. I was responsible for page design and well as editing copy. The full in-house class production was completed on November 28, 2011.

Hope you enjoy,

Denise

Docklands Publish Tender for Economic Report

By Denise Calnan

November 2, 2011. 

CORK City Council has published a tender to complete a major report on the Cork City Docklands development as a 'global economic investment'.

The Economic Proposition Report will be delivered to the Cork City Council by June 2012. The budget for the document will be €193,000, excluding VAT.

The publication will identify the key employment sectors to be targeted for the Cork Docklands project and develop a marketing brand and strategy for the area.

It will also contain a phased implementation strategy for an initial five to ten-year-period and consider key funding and financial issues for the project.

“We're trying to look at the situation again in the economic circumstances we find ourselves,” Director of the Cork Docklands Directorate Pat Ledwidge said. 

“We have still seen Foreign Direct Investment in Ireland within this recession, now we're looking at how to attract different sectors to Cork, how to develop our marketing strategy and how to brand Cork Docklands to attract foreign direct investment.”

The Irish Government agreed to part-fund the docklands development in August 2011 and are actively involved in the process and proceedings.

“The selection process will be finished by January 2012 and we will have the final report completed in the June of that year. This is a multiple of any previous modern Cork development.

“We are targeting 23,000 residents and 27,000 jobs with this project. There are huge opportunities to be taken from this and our plans are very rounded,” Mr Ledwidge said.

“We are focusing on the recreational and cultural features in the development as well as the residential and economical aspects of the project."

The Cork Docklands Directorate consists of five people and Mr Ledwidge said it will not necessarily expand as the development nears commencement; “Our main focus is coordination,” he said, “other implementation can be done through the Cork City Council and private sectors.”

The Cork City Council first promoted the redevelopment of the docklands area in 1998 but the idea was not given statutory recognition until 2004 with the publication of the Cork City Development Plan.

The Cork City Development Plan viewed the docklands project as a means of combatting recent population decline in the inner urban area of Cork. It aimed to provide new opportunities for business, attract foreign investment and become a centre for culture and tourism.

The docklands cover an area of 166 hectares.The Cork Docklands Directorate's aim is to regenerate the area to create a 'new high density urban quarter of Cork'.

The development value of the docklands is estimated at €8 billion and the cost of infrastrucure is estimated at €800 million.

High quality design, employment and leisure opportunities and a 'superb' quality of life are only some of the aims mentioned in the Cork Docklands Development Strategy, published in 2001.

The report describes the Cork Docklands development as 'a priority' for Cork City Council. Since then the council have worked with its various stakeholders in the Docklands.

Several setbacks for the Docklands Directorate meant that this working relationship progressed at a slow pace.

The reluctance for the Irish Government to fund the project stalled the development plans as Mr Ledwidge describes the government funding and the Cork City Council's Economic Development Fund as the two primary financial sources for the project.

However, Mr Ledwidge is certain the development will attract foreign direct investment and bring employment and money to the area:“Cork has been attracting foreign direct investment for over 50 years,” Mr Ledwidge said.

“We have companies still here from the '60s that recognise the value in Cork,” Mr Ledwidge added.

“They may have changed the nature of their business but they stayed here. Cork has a very good story to tell for an urban centre of its size.”

“We had previously identified our sectors to target and our functions to fulfil in our previous study in 2007,” Mr Ledwidge explained, “but the current economic climate calls for us to research this again.”

The economic sectors suggested in the Cork Docklands Economic Study 2007 included business services, government/public sector services, culture, leisure and tourism and 3^rd/4^th level education.

The study also included retail and headquarters functions for research and office functions for pharmaceutical companies, medical devices, digital media and financial services.

Regarding the architectural features of the development, extensive plans for the river include walkways and pedestrian plazas for the waterfront. A walkway on the marina is planned to connect the development to the city.

There will be a strong correlation between open spaces and their uses for the arts. The former Odlum's building will house the Events Centre. Mr Ledwidge is optimistic that this will develop Cork culturally and attract more tourists to the area.

A Hallowe'en Past

Gripping the car seat in anticipation, face pressed up against the cold window, planning meticulously in my head what had to be done once the car parked up at home. 

Possibly, most probably, an illusion, but a black shadow drifts past the moon slowly-a witch on her travels, peering at the ground, looking for the black cat that dropped from her broomstick. My brother and sister chat incessantly, annoying me as I will the car to move faster, cursing the day my mother chose to play squash and how late we left it to come home.

The annual rush begins once the front door opens. My mum runs to our famous-around-the-park sweet cupboard, filling bowls with lollipops, jellies, bars and crisp packets. She takes our advice and pours just a few monkey nuts-trusting our child knowledge that nobody around the estate likes them. Handing us the baskets, she looks at us for a nod of approval. We glance at each other and nod, our mum's Hallowe'en baskets for the trick and treaters pass the test. We'll be proud to advise the clusters of witches, skeletons, cat-princesses and black bin-bagged wizards to call to our house on the corner.

Black bin-bags are dismounted from the cupboard above the oven, arm-holes are cut quickly with the black scissors and frantic plastic rustling and ripping sounds engulf the kitchen as the three of us attempt to climb into the 'costumes', heads appearing through arm spaces and legs tripping over the end of the bags, us giggling with excitement.

Masks are dispensed-this year I shall be a witch-cat, last year I was a cat-witch and the year before I think I was a skeleton, majorly breaking the mould.

More plastic bags are dispensed for our sweet gathering. Visions of undegradable plastic so we are. Environmental groups would wince at the sight of us heading off in all our non-recyclable glory.

Quick promises to mind brothers and sisters are mumbled as we run from the front door.

The competition is on. 

Squinting to recognise friends, we all finally gather to make a start on our profitable journey. Routes are quickly discussed and we walk quickly along the path, empty bags blowing behind us in the wind. Rain, hail, wind or snow-the night cannot be missed.

A look of delight as crisps, bars and sweets are shoved into our bags, the OCD of us cringing as lunchbags of popcorn or homemade buns are offered. Certain houses are left until last, us in the confident knowledge that money will be given; them genuinely disappointed they have no sweets left, us delighted we're gaining financially as well as through the commodity of sugar.

The night grows colder, the groups of Hallowe'eners disperse. Feeling a bit sick from picking at our bags for energy refills on the walk around, we decide to go home.

Sitting on the living room floor our bags are gripped by the bottom, overturned and emptied. Sweets, nuts, wrappers, crisp packets and unwanted-oranges are strewn across the floor. Bette Midler frightens with her unruly red hair in the background as 'Hocus Pocus' takes stage on the television.

A successful night, we all chat as we munch into our night's profits.

A few years later I sit at home, bags ready to drive back to college. A house party, a fancy-dress party at the local nightclub and a promised prize for the best-dressed has us excited. My costume lies in waiting. Hopefully my creativity skills have produced something a few levels higher on the artistic scale than a black bin-bag, although it has yet to be judged.

A basket of sweets lies in waiting for possible trick-and-treaters tonight, but an older generation of children in the housing estate means the atmosphere will be less tonight than ten years ago. A house across the road impresses with its decorations-neighbours certain that they will be presented with the option to either trick or treat this evening.

Now the Irish nation's second favourite holiday, Hallowe'en has surpassed Easter in the rankings, although still inevitably behind the festivites of Christmas.

Holidays change throughout generations-cute ready-made costumes for kids in Dunnes Stores make me think the days of the ever-versatile black bin-bag may be over.

Packing the bags into the car, I double-check if I have my costume. The days of getting dressed in the kitchen with my brother and sister in record time may be gone but a photo will still be sent home this evening to show them how the earlier days of heavy-duty bagging costumes have evolved with the times.

A Job Well Done

Edited by myself, reported by Kieran Foley, produced by Deirdre Allen and with Sharon Whelton on camera; a few hours trekking around Limerick city, Shannon airport and Bunratty Castle, another morning recording sound and a few more hours editing on the computer and our television report  is finally complete.

Focusing on Limerick and the Shannon region, our story reports the increase in tourism this year in the area and the reasons for it.

A Border Identity

Both of you may have grown up to the banal ding-dong of the RTÉ Six One. Both of you may have washed down McVitie's Rich Tea biscuits with a tall glass of Robinson's diluted juice as a treat after school. Both of you may even have sat down to a typical Irish dinner of potatoes and casserole on a rainy November evening after your hurling training on a soggy local pitch.

You may now sit next to this person in a class, on a bus or at a computer in work. Ireland is a relatively small country, with a population of approximately 4.5 million, of course you were raised the same, you are probably both very similar people, with similar values, similar morals and similar outlooks on life.

But of course not, the average Irish person scoffs; He wears the red and white of the Rebel County, I myself am a Noresider, she hails from the Marble County, I was born and bred in the Kingdom, he chooses to support the Tribesmen of the West, I have and always will be, a Lilywhite.

For a country so small we strive to differ ourselves from one another through county borders, some only a few kilometres long. The local person whose back garden lies in Roscommon and front in Mayo is of incessant wonder to others; Who do they support in the local hurling? What happens in the provincial football final?

It must be comedy-worthy to see tourists arrive in Dublin, to ask for a route to the coast of West Cork and Kerry and it be treated like they suggested they wished to speak to Cú Chulainn himself; "Why travel all the way down there now when you've only the week here? It's miles away, you'd be mad". For a European who commutes double the distance on a daily basis or an American who travels ten times the distance to visit family it must be eyebrow-furrowing.

A people whose lives have been brought up according to borders will probably not change their attitude, possibly not even in several generations time.

A wedding at the weekend was hosted by a Limerick bride and a Kilkenny groom. A county jersey was presented to the groom, for him not to forget his roots while he moves a few miles further west. On the same weekend Croke Park presented its annual final battle with the white leather ball  for the coveted Sam Maguire. In current affairs, the presidential race features a man we all associate with the border of Northern Ireland. Local, regional and national borders seem to frame our daily lives. The groom wearing the Kilkenny jersey with emotion and pride is only a microcosm for Ireland and our culture as a whole.

A country steeped in border mapping, fighting and gaining history featuring Celts, Normans, Vikings and English is the country in which we live in today. Ireland, where local, county and national pride differs like no other before.

"Oh, really?

...Because in Cork we don't do it like that."