Latest news with #UCD
Irish Times
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Telling the Truth Is Dangerous: A history of Robert Dudley Edwards
Telling the Truth Is Dangerous: How Robert Dudley Edwards Changed Irish History Forever Author : Neasa MacErlean ISBN-13 : 978-1839529177 Publisher : Tartaruga Books Guideline Price : €17.50 In the 1986 Dáil debate that led to the establishment of the National Archives of Ireland, taoiseach Garret FitzGerald singled out University College Dublin professor emeritus Robert Dudley Edwards, who, he said, 'has never ceased to press me to have this legislation enacted'. Edwards had spent more than 50 years 'planning and fighting for' the establishment of the archives, and he died on June 5th, 1988, four days after FitzGerald's National Archives Act came into force to preserve and make publicly available millions of State documents from pre- and post-independence Ireland. 'Dudley's life mission was complete,' his granddaughter writes in this densely detailed and exhaustively sourced and annotated biography. As professor of modern Irish history at UCD from 1944 to 1979 Edwards also established the UCD Archive Department (which houses the papers of Michael Collins, Éamon de Valera, William T Cosgrave, Eoin MacNeill, Kevin Barry, pre-1922 Sinn Féin and others) and he was 'the original proposer and main mover' of the Bureau of Military History, which records the reminiscences of veterans of the 1913-1923 conflicts. He also helped establish the Irish Historical Studies journal and the Irish Historical Society, forged strong links with international historians and wrote (often anonymously or pseudonymously) for the Irish Press, Sunday Press, Sunday Independent and the Leader. READ MORE The eldest son of a Co Clare-born, London-trained nurse and an English Midlands schoolmaster turned civil servant, Edwards was six years old when his parents sheltered him in their home on Dartmouth Square in Dublin, within earshot of the British assault on the 1916 rebels in the Royal College of Surgeons on St Stephen's Green. He was aged 13 when the State records in the Four Courts burned to cinders in the assault that began the Civil War on June 30th, 1922. Teetotal in early adulthood, his later alcoholism affected his family life and public behaviour. Further family sadness and dysfunction followed with eldest daughter Mary's descent into derangement, suicide attempts, involuntary hospital admissions and near-filicidal attacks on her daughter Neasa, who refers to herself in the third person throughout. This is an essential book for anybody interested in history, historiography, or independent Ireland's first century.
Irish Examiner
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Ireland aiming to escape middleground in search for promotion
Relegation. Promotion. These are words typically used in athletics just once every two years, but that time has come around again. This weekend, an Irish team of 43 athletes will contest the second division of the European Athletics Team Championships in Maribor, Slovenia. They face 15 other mid-tier European nations like Belgium and Turkey, Denmark and Norway. The top three nations will earn promotion to division one, while the bottom three will be relegated. Ireland will likely finish somewhere in the middle. For a long time, this event has been a biennial reminder of just how big an imbalance exists in Irish athletics between track and field, the runners typically powering them towards promotion, the field eventers taking them towards relegation. The reasons for that are varied, from lower participation numbers to poor facilities to dire investment in coaching but either way, Ireland is just not strong enough across the board to earn a place in division one. At least not yet. The imbalance is starting to even out, though, and the likes of Nicola Tuthill in the hammer and Eric Favors in the shot put are both Olympians who should make decent points contributions in their respective events. But on the track, even without several star names, is where the Irish will make the greater impact. Olympians Sophie Becker and Cillín Greene are late withdrawals, but other high-profile athletes have made the trip such as Sarah Lavin, who will race the 100m hurdles and 4x100m relay, and Sharlene Mawdsley, who'll race the 400m and mixed 4x400m. Sophie O'Sullivan will race the 800m, having recently won the 1500m title at the NCAA Championships, and it will be intriguing to see how she fares stepping back down to the distance at which she won a European U-18 medal in 2018. Others returning from the NCAA include Elizabeth Ndudi, the reigning European U-20 long jump champion who dealt with her share of injuries over the past year, and Ava O'Connor, who last month won a Division 2 NCAA title in the 3000m steeplechase. Cork sprinter Lucy-May Sleeman, a student at Florida State University, will race the 100m and 4x100m. Ciara Neville will make a welcome return to international duty in the 4x100m over four years on from a severe hamstring injury that cost her a spot at the Tokyo Olympics. She recently clocked a promising 100m season's best of 11.53 in Geneva. The in-form Bori Akinola will don the green vest in the men's 100m and 4x100m, the UCD sprinter last weekend clocking a wind-assisted time of 10.10 (2.9m/s) in London, the fastest all-conditions time ever by an Irishman. Israel Olatunde, the Irish record holder who clocked a season's best of 10.23 in Geneva last weekend, will race the 4x100m. Paris Olympian Brian Fay will contest the 5000m for Ireland, while Cian McPhillips will be in action over 800m. Jack Raftery has been given the nod for the men's 400m after a hugely impressive PB of 45.75 in UCD last week. European Athletics Team Championships: Live, 1:25pm (Irish time),
Irish Examiner
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Doireann Healy on Bowie and Begley, going viral, Kenmare life, and her latest venture
'She used to say, 'you can be anything'.' Doireann Healy is talking about her late mother, Joan, who was, she says, 'my greatest inspiration'. Just like her daughter, Joan — who died in March — was a go-getter who embraced opportunity and life to the full. Having completed her final year of schooling in Dublin's Loreto on the Green, Joan took the advice of a teacher and applied to be PA for 'a new guy after arriving from the BBC who is launching a show called The Late Late'. That guy was, of course, Gay Byrne and Joan worked as his PA for 10 years before leaving to study her twin passions of English and history at UCD. 'Gay was family to her,' Healy says. 'Gay and Kathleen took this Kerry girl and had her out at their house all the time. They bought her first typewriter and her first bottle of perfume.' Years later, Joan would watch The Late Late Show's credits roll and comment on senior staff who in her day had been in charge of menial tasks, using the example to show her children that, with determination and graft, you can be anything. 'It inspired me to believe that you can,' says Healy, who has been taking her mother's sage advice and running with it ever since. The industrious Kenmare woman is possibly best known for her Begley & Bowie-brand vibrant slogan sweatshirts, but she's also an interior designer, teacher, illustrator, screen printer, shop owner, and can now add event planner to her many hats (and she's mulling over a podcast.). Her latest venture, which she's been thinking about doing 'for years,' is A Colourful Life. Doireann Healy: 'I launched my store in Kenmare on the Tuesday and I launched in Brown Thomas on the Wednesday. It was a crazy time. At that stage, a lot of companies were reaching out to me to design for them as well.' Picture Dan Linehan 'The idea is creative conversations in beautiful locations,' Healy says of the upcoming series of talks which will take place at the gorgeous Park Hotel in Kenmare, the owners of which were 'so helpful and encouraging', when she put the idea to them, as have been the women to whom Healy will be chatting. Helen Steele, Shelly Corkery, Peigín Crowley, Joanne Hynes, Geri O'Toole — all are pioneering creatives in their respective fields, and just like Healy, all are strong women who have trailblazed their own paths to success. Healy herself is hugely successful. She started her career in interior design before becoming a teacher — 'my mom always said 'get a degree'. So I went and I did teaching' — but the pull of illustration and fashion was always there. So in 2019, having taken a career break, she launched art and fashion brand Begley & Bowie (her beloved childhood dogs were named for Séamus Begley and David Bowie) with her now famous placename sweatshirts going viral from their launch (think 'New York Paris Dingle London Milan' arranged in a neon listicle). ''We were inundated with people asking me would I do [sweatshirts] for their places. It went crazy and overnight Begley & Bowie just took off.' And it didn't let up. 'I realised this is becoming too big,' she recalls thinking in 2020. 'There was an awful lot of media interest. Brown Thomas reached out' — for its annual influential Irish design showcase CREATE. 'I launched my store in Kenmare on the Tuesday and I launched in Brown Thomas on the Wednesday. It was a crazy time. At that stage, a lot of companies were reaching out to me to design for them as well.' SUSTAINABILITY The interior of Bowie & Begley in Kenmare. Picture Dan Linehan Healy was committed to sustainability from the start and sourced organic, ring-spun cotton from Belgium for her sweatshirts. 'One of the first things I wanted was high-end, good-quality merch. Good-quality designs. I remember Amy Huberman came to one of my first pop-ups in Dublin. She was purchasing clothing and she just went 'the quality of these'.' Healy, based as she is on one of the tourist hotspots on the Ring of Kerry, felt 'what people would buy is what tourists would buy'. Quality fashion that represented a modern Ireland would, she thought, have appeal for both customer bases. Her instincts were spot on, and high-end hotels such as Adare Manor and Dromoland Castle began to reach out with commissions. Healy set up a design studio, 'and I've designed for 25 brands so far… everything from an orchestra to bars. It's been crazy.' Healy's success is not accidental. Rather, it is the result of years of hard graft and a hunger to always keep learning. Doireann Healy: 'My nana, the first thought she always had was, 'how would I do it?' She taught me that. I always query, 'why are we getting someone, can we try it ourselves?'' Picture Dan Linehan She grew up absorbing the influence of strong, entrepreneurial women who recognised the value of independence and a pioneering spirit. She spent the first five years of her life in Kenmare, then moved to the heart of the Cork Gaeltacht, where she was educated through Irish. Her paternal grandmother, Nóní Twomey — 'a really strong character' — was a formative influence. The native Irish speaker ran a shop in Cúil Aodha, and was also a Bean a Tí, keeping 30 students every summer. 'She was a real businesswoman,' Healy recalls. 'She built on an extension when no one did, so that she'd have dormitories for 30.' Cúil Aodha is, of course, famous for the musical legacy of composer Seán Ó Riada, and as such 'we had musicians from all over Ireland who sent their children to learn music. My siblings and I always say we saw the coolest teenagers. I was absorbing that and their fashion. It was incredible back then.' Healy renovated her Kenmare store this year, and installed a café, naming it Nóní's in honour of her late grandmother, with whom she shares an innate optimism, drive and can-do attitude. 'My nana, the first thought she always had was, 'how would I do it?' She taught me that. I always query, 'why are we getting someone, can we try it ourselves?'' Healy says. 'I'm really into this belief that you can learn at any age and you can try; if you don't succeed, fail and fail again.' LANGUAGE AND COLOUR Irish designer Doireann Healy outside Begley & Bowie, Kenmare, Co Kerry. Picture Dan Linehan Healy is very aware of how her childhood immersion in the rich cultural landscape of her homeplace — along with the influence of her mum, who brought her children to poetry readings, art shows, fashion shows and instilled in them a love of history and literature — has shaped her appreciation of language, literature, music, and art. 'It's incredible the impact that culture has,' she says. 'When you're surrounded by it, you absorb it. It just opens you up to so much more. I love all types of music and literature. It instils a hunger for creativity and learning.' Healy's intrinsic understanding of language, culture and colour has resulted in an aesthetic that is instantly recognisable as uniquely hers. Her fashion is fresh, vibrant and modern, yet carries with it a sense of place that speaks of today's Ireland; vivid, vibrant and quietly confident, like Healy herself. Not for her the four collections a year treadmill, she works to her own pace. 'No one rushes me,' she says. 'I always know my customer, and any customer who loves fashion, they will wait.' And wait they do. As well as her signature sweatshirts, she has a stunning Irish linen range of separates 'that's made in Dublin by a lady'. Irish designer Doireann Healy at Begley & Bowie, Kenmare, Co Kerry. Picture Dan Linehan She loves her life in Kenmare — 'There's a sense of calm, it's not a manic life here' — and finds her relatively remote location a boon rather than hindrance. Customers seek out her beautiful store, and she loves that she 'has time to talk to people'. Talking is what she'll be doing much more of with A Colourful Life. She knows and has been inspired by all the women who'll feature, and feels that the conversations present an incredible learning opportunity, a sharing of knowledge for those aspiring to be part of the fashion, wellness or interiors worlds. 'It's also to show that you don't have to follow the straight path. Look at me. I'm in a completely different world to what I set out upon. I really think it's an opportunity for anyone of any age, young or old, to come in and see how it's done.' 'A Colourful Life: Doireann Healy In Conversation with Peigín Crowley' will take place at the Park Hotel Kenmare, Co Kerry on July 5. For tickets see
New Indian Express
a day ago
- General
- New Indian Express
GHMC, Hyderabad cops partner to free public spaces from pestering beggars
HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), in coordination with Hyderabad City Police, has launched a special drive to remove beggars from busy traffic junctions and public spaces. The initiative aims to relocate them to shelter homes or reunite them with their families. The GHMC's Urban Community Development (UCD) wing has so far identified 221 individuals — 173 men, 37 women, and 11 children. Of these, 19 have been shifted to GHMC-run shelters, while others were counselled and sent back to their families. As per GHMC Commissioner RV Karnan's instructions, the drive covers key locations such as Basheerbagh, Secretariat, Nampally and Begum Bazar. Special UCD teams are working across all GHMC circles. Officials are conducting medical checks before relocating people to shelters. The initiative not only clears public spaces but also offers care, rehabilitation, and a path toward reintegration for the marginalised, they said.
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Health
- Irish Independent
‘She was fearless' – Tributes to Kerry woman and disabilities advocate
Described as a committed and dedicated campaigner, Ms Browne referred to herself as a thalidomide survivor rather than a victim, having sought acknowledgement and statutory redress from the state. In the 1950s, Thalidomide was a drug to treat morning sickness that was withdrawn in 1961 after it was linked to birth defects. During childhood, hospitalisations and surgeries were common for Jacqui. This helped shape her independent outlook in activism from an early age and gave her the impetus to make inclusion and support a priority. She returned to education while working and received her BA from UCD Jacqui was a valued member of the Disabled Persons Organisations Network and played a key role in contributing to many disability policies and initiatives for almost 40 years. Her role includes input in the forthcoming National Disability Strategy that is symbolic of Jacqui's passion for establishing strategic change for disabled people. Minister Foley said there is a deep sense of loss in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality as many staff knew Jacqui personally and worked with her and learned from her over many years. "I would like to extend my sincere sympathy to the Browne family on the passing of their much-treasured Jacqui,' said Minister Foley. "It was a personal privilege to know Jacqui as a proud Kerry woman full of warmth, wit and welcome for everyone. She was full of passion, compassion and energy in abundance. Jacqui was an eloquent and powerful advocate for people with disabilities and shone a vibrant and necessary light on disability issues,' she added. The Minister said during Jacqui's lifetime she achieved a tremendous amount and that some of her work might be unfinished but she remains an impetus and inspiration to 'all of us' to complete it. "We are without doubt the lesser for Jacqui's passing but greater for having had the privilege of knowing her," Minister Foley said. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more In a statement from Independent Living Movement Ireland, Jacqui is described as a person who never sought the limelight, and her involvement in policy work established advancements in disabled people's rights. 'She was a powerful public speaker and much sought after for her ability to connect policy to practice. Whilst Jacqui took on leadership roles, she was a genuine mentor to many Disabled People and saw part of her role to support other Disabled People to take on key roles,' said a spokesperson. 'She was passionate about the collective empowerment of Disabled People and gave her time generously in online workshops to ensure she shared her knowledge and expertise. Those of us who were fortunate enough to know Jacqui as a person knew someone with a passion for life. She had a wicked sense of humour, a passion for conversation. She was a wonderful host to anyone who visited her in Kerry or Dublin, kind and generous.' The Disability Federation of Ireland also paid tribute to Jacqui saying its members are 'deeply saddened' at her passing. 'Jacqui Browne was a fearless disability advocate who devoted over 35 years to promoting equality and justice for people with disabilities,' said a spokesperson. 'We extend our heartfelt condolences to Jacqui's family, friends, and everyone who knew and worked with her. Her commitment to disability equality changed lives and will continue to shape the movement for generations.'
