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Cover by: Oscar Finn
Issue 40
November 2010
Editor: Oscar Finn
Sub-Editor: Jonathan Keane
Design: Oscar Finn
Contributers:Antonia Luehmann
Brendan BeagonBrian ODonoghue
Dan HuangshouDarren Cleary
Emma Loughran
Helena NilssonIan Donnegan
Jessica Park Funn Lou
Jojo Chau
Julianne LawlorMaiken Woll Eide
Sam Boal
Shane CunnaneTim Whelan
Advertising Enquiries:
(01) 4150463
Printed by:
Speciality Print
Griffiti MagazineGriffith College Students Union
South Circular Road
Dublin 8Ireland
Ph: (01) 4151463
Email: [email protected]
www.gcd.ie/griffiti
Griffiti Magazine is a publication of Griffith Col-
lege Students Union established in 2004.
All contents copyright of Griffiti, Reproduction of
any part of the magazine without permissionfrom the publisher is strictly prohibited.
The views expressed in Griffiti do not necessarily
reflect that of the college or the Students Union
A Note From the EditorHi everyone welcome to issue 40 of Griffiti.
The magazine has undergone manychanges since it began back in November
2004 but it has always strived to keep you in-
formed with whats happening on campus
and hopefully bring a smile to your face. Thismonth the brilliant Maiken Woll Eide brought
her skills to bear in making this months por-
traits of Graham, recently elected Joe Uzahand myself.
A lot has happened this month and Griffiti isfull to the brim with articles and photos of
whats been happening on and off campus.
We had several photographers down at the
USI march on the 3rd of November turn topage 14 to check them out. We also have a
great article on the difficulties facing people
wishing to adopt in Ireland written by Julianne Lawlor and you can find that onpage 17. Competition wise we have tickets for you and 5 friends to see Man in
the Mirror see details on page 13. Lastly I would like to say thank you to everyone
who submitted work this month and if you havent submitted anything yet why
not? As always we are looking for new and exciting features to put in the maga-
zine so if you want to contribute drop us a line. I hope you enjoy this months mag-azine and Ill see you next month for our December issue. Bye for now.
Oscar Finn - Editor
Contents
3
4 state of the union
6 students union news
10 party people
12 super 80s roller disco
14 students movement - Usi March
16 booze cruise to an early grave
18 difficulties adopting in ireland
19 in focus: fashion
22 griffiti at the movies
24 Gareth Pearson Interview
26 the genuine article
29 movember
30 shamrock rovers
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StATE OF THE UNION
Office Opening Hours:Monday -Thursday: 09:30 - 19:30Friday: 09:30 - 17:30em
ail: [email protected]: (01) 415 0418
Graham Butler
President
Students Union4
I hope you guys enjoyed all the events thathappened over the past month, some ofwhich included the Catherine McGuinness
talk, LGBT Karaoke Night, the Glen-
dalough, Enniskerry and Wicklow Day Trip,the Halloween fancy dress Ball, a Super
80s Roller Skating Disco and Diwali. Over
the coming months we hope to build on thefrequency and mass of the events that
have occurred to date.
Upcoming, we have the Poker Tournamentupstairs in the SU, a School Disco down in
Arthurs, the International Trip to Galway
and the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare atthe end of the month and a few surprises
in store for the run up until Christmas time,
which I wont ruin for you now.
Im delighted to be working with Joe Uzah,
who was recently chosen as the new Vice
President in the Student Council by-elec-tion. I believe Joe will give the clubs, sports
and societies which he is so passionate
about his upmost attention and
will do a fine job throughout theyear of serving students to the
best of his ability.
In the past weeks, we had the first
Student Council meeting of theyear which was very successful,
where everyone in attendance
had an input. You can read the full
minutes on Page 8. Also thismonth, we re-ignited our cam-
paign to lobby members of the
Oireachtas for MaintenanceGrants to become available to
Griffith College student on a
means tested basis. At present,this is not the case as private col-
lege students are automatically
excludes. With the new re-written
Student Support Bill to be pub-lished soon, well be pressing all
TDs and Senators across all par-
ties on this matter to ensure pro-vision is made so Griffith College,
and other private college students
alike can potentially avail of a
Higher Education MaintenanceGrant.
Over a weekend in mid-October, I attended
the Activist and Officer Training day organ-ised by USI in Trinity College. There were
presentations and workshops given by a
host of speakers available for StudentsUnion officers across the country to help
them improve their working skills with each
other in their Unions, as well as with stu-dents in their respective colleges. It also
gave necessary and relevant training for
Executive Officers, which would not be
available in their own colleges, includingGriffith. I firmly believe that these gather-
ings that occur throughout the year of
Union Representatives and Class Repre-
sentatives from all around country will,over time, make the Students Union here
in our own college a more effective, effi-
cient and workable entity.
I will be attending the next National Council
of USI at the National University of Irelandin Galway (NUIG) this month which I hope
to report back on in the next issue.
With a possible General Election in the
coming months, it is important that stu-dents who are not already registered to
vote should do so now. Voting in GeneralElections is the method by which citizens
can express their preference as to who
forms the national government. The pri-mary function of members of Oireachtas is
to pass laws which shape the society in
which we live.
A draft register is compiled each year and
you have between now and Thursday 25th
November to make a correction or haveyour name included. Resident Irish and
British citizens are entitled to vote at all
General Elections, where each con-stituency votes to send its representatives
to Dil Eireann. Students living at home
can register in their own constituency or
students living here on campus in the Hallsof Residence can register with Dublin City
Council for the Dublin South Central con-
stituency which were in. See www.check-theregister.ie for more information.
As some of you may know, I represent stu-
dents on the Academic and ProfessionalCouncil (APC) which meets every month
to discuss the furthering of educational en-
hancement that the college may provide. If
you have any ideas that you feel I shouldsubmit or express, please do let me know.
Until the next issue, keep an eye on thenotice boards around the campus and our
Facebook page for all the upcoming
events we have for everyone to take partin.
As always, were in the Meagher Building
if you need us for anything!
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5
StATE OF THE UNION
Office Opening Hours:
Monday - Thursday: 09:30 - 19:30
Friday: 09:30 - 17:30
email: [email protected]: (01) 415 0418
Joseph Uzah
Clubs & Societies Officer
Students Union
Firstly I would just like to say hello and in-
troduce myself I am Joe your new Sports& Societies Officer. Im sure many of you
know me but for those who dont if you askanyone who knows me they will tell you
that I am very passionate about sports and
I hope that I can use my time here in theSU to make this the most successful year
yet for our teams .
I would also like to take this opportuinity tothank everyone for their support and par-
ticipation in this years clubs and societies.
Clubs
Mens Soccer
There has been a major improvement this
season with male soccer team under themanagement of Coach/Manager Leroy
Rhodes. With almost a complete new
squad the team have been able to adaptvery quickly to each others playing ability
and skill. I am glad to report they remain
unbeaten in the early stages of the league.
Griffith college 3 - Mater Dei 1
Griffith College 1 - Drogheda Institute of
FE 1
Griffith College 3 - St. Pat's College-
Drumcondra 2
Also with a game in hand against Cavan
institute the football team have the oppor-tunity to go joint first with league leaders
Drogheda. So far we have the highest goal
scorer in the division playing for our teamKay Oladele with three hat tricks to his
name.
Rugby
Our rugby team though riddled with injurieswill rise from the ashes like a phoenix toregain our once strong form. With matches
against IT Carlow , IT Blanchardstown and
ITC Cork the rugby team have a tough
challenge ahead and I have faith in themas I have been actively involved in the
sport and I know they are tough enough to
rise up to the challenge.
Ladies soccer
This year Griffith College is proudto announce its first ever ladies
football team. For all who are inter-
ested in signing up, contact theCaptain Martina Patterson on 085
7711780.
Basketball
I would like to encourage everyone
interested in basketball to attendweekly training sessions in st
Catharines Marrow Bow Lane
every Thursday from 2 untill 4. Ihope to see more numbers at train-ing sessions as many matches are
still yet to be played.
Societies
Dance
The dance society is one of the
major societies to start up this year.
Although Hip-Hop orientated, the dance
society seeks to diversify by branching intoother forms of dance such as contempo-
rary and salsa.
Music
The music society is another major societywhich we would seek to promote. Only
newly formed the music society has pro-
duced a band with tremendous potential.So look out for the band as future perform-
ances are inevitable.
Yoga
Yoga society is a society which seeks topromote healthy living and it is open to all.Classes are on Tuesdays at 7pm in the
Students Union building.
This year there are many events lined up,so be sure to come up to the SU or take
note of the notice boards around college.
The Griffith college poker tournament is on
Tuesday 16th November 2010 at 7.30. It is
one of many events lined up with plenty
more on the way. This term is now in full
swing and there is lots to look forward to.
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Students Union News
6
The Law Society in conjunction with the
Griffith College Students' Union was de-lighted to host a talk on the Law Reform
Commission delivered by its President,
The Honourable Mrs Justice Catherine
McGuinness.
The speech, which centred on the work
that the Commission carries out, alongwith its structural make-up, was attended
by many law students in the Conference
Centre Building on Wednesday 13th Octo-ber 2010. Students were given the oppor-
tunity to ask the former Supreme Court
Justice questions on the Commission, as
well as her role in other areas such asbeing a member of Seanad Eireann, as
well as her positions on many Boards and
Councils.
Pictured with Mrs Justice McGuinness is
Bernard White (Auditor of the Griffith Col-lege Law Society), Eoin McKenna (2ndYear Law Student) and Graham Butler
(Students' Union President).
At the Academic and Professional Council
Meeting (APC) which took place on Friday
29th October, the issue of a Career Advi-sory Service arose. Ideally the college and
the Students Union would like to have a
full-time facility in place within the collegewhere students may use these services for
a number of purposes such as creating a
CV, searching for a postgraduate course inyour area, learn about different jobs and
careers, improve your job search skills,
building career skills and professional de-
velopment.This issue is currently at management
level within the college and will be broughtup on the agenda in December.
Former Students Union President
Stephen Stokes, now a Town Councillor in
Greystones, Co Wicklow popped in for achat with the current Executive Officersthis month to catch up on the progress of
the Union.
Stephen presided over the Students' Unionback during the 2003/2004 academic year
before the Union was situated in the
Meagher Building where it currently lies.
Stokes is set to become Mayor of Grey-stones in either in June 2012 or June
2013.
Pictured is current President Graham But-ler and former President Stephen Stokes
with the first ever issue of Griffiti, published
in November 2004.
On Friday 5th November, the Students'
Union was pleased to announce that thebroadband connection speed in the col-
lege has doubled from 50Mb to 100Mb.
This is something that the Union has cam-paigned for over a number of years and we
are happy to see this implemented this
month.
This campus-wide roll-out is to meet the in-creasing and growing demand for capacity
from all areas in the college for gofreegcd,
which includes the Meagher Building be-longing to the Students Union.
This month marked the end of an era forthe Students Union as we had to say
goodbye to one of our most valued mem-
bers. Jacquie Ryan returned this year to fillin as Acting Clubs & Societies officer after
Paddy Dalys surprise departure. During
her time here she tackled most of the po-
sitions in the SU including welfare officerand last year as SU President. On behalf
of all here in the SU we wish her all the
best in her future endevours.
This month soccer coach Leroy Rhodesstopped by to update us on the success of
the College teams. Heres what he had to
say: Being in charge of the college soccerteam for the last 4 years has been very re-
warding for the fact that every year i'veseen great progress.It's like taking a puz-
zle and putting it together.This seasonsee's the team as possibly having their
most successful season ever..I've seen
good player's come and go each year butthis has to be the strongest squad i've
been able to put together..I have to thank
Paul, Joe and Jackie for their input and
hard work to make it possible for me to domy job to the best of my ability..I would like
to congratulate Martina and Joanne on
training with the Leinster ladies team.. I'mlooking forward to propelling the ladies
football team forward just like the men's
team so i hope i see more women attendtraining.
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Students Union News
7
We here at the Ministry for infor-
mation A.K.A. Griffiti Magazine
are looking for articles for the
magazine. We are looking for sto-
ries, interviews, features on fash-
ion, sports, college life, social
issues, anything and everything.
Were also interested in any of
you fiction/short story writers, if
youve got something, wed love
to see it. After all this is your mag-
azine and it is up to you to help
create the content that goes into
it.
You do not have to be a journal-
ism student to have work in Grif-
fiti, if you have an interesting story
to tell then contact the editor at
[email protected] If you are a photog-
rapher and you have a photo
essay but would like someone to
assist you write up the story drop
us a line or indeed if you need a
photgrapher for a feature article
we can help arrange that.
For photographers we have alot
of opportuinities for you to display
your work, First off we have the
cover and with Christmas coming
next month we hope to see lots of
festive images. We also have
hope to have a different photogra-
pher each issue to provide por-
traits of the Editor and the
President and Vice President. We
are of course looking for interest-
ing photo essays, and images
from college and SU events so
get snapping.
This year we are hoping to make
Griffiti more interactive and we
want to hear what you have to
say. From the next issue onwards
we will have a new section called
'Campus Banter' which will be
filled with your comments on any-
thing and everything happening at
GCD. If you want to have your
say there are a number of op-
tions:
email [email protected] with'campus
banter' in the subject line
via facebook on either the 'cam-
pus banter' page
(http://tinyurl.com/32uv4rk) or on
the legendary 'Overheard At Grif-
fith College Dublin' page
(http://tinyurl.com/2ua55zf)
The funniest, most entertaining or
insightful comments will feature in
the magazine.
As you may have seen from the
advert in the last issue we are
hoping to launch a podcast, but
we need your help. If you wish to
get involved drop us a line.
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Students Union News
8
Student Council MeetingThursday 21st October 2010 AF301
Minutes
Chair:
Graham Butler Students Union President
Minutes:Jonathan Keane BAJ FT 2
Attendance:
Alan Oliver BAJ FT 1Anna Vall BAJVM FT 2
Bernard White LLB FT 3
Cary Posavitz BAIHM 1Darren Cleary BAJVM FT 3
Darren Reid LLB FT 1
David Martin BACS FT 3
David Smyth LLB PT 1Eoin McKenna LLB FT 2
Jacquie Ryan Acting VP / Candidate
Jessica Forrester BAIHM 2Jiho Park BAAF FT 1
Jonathan Keane BAJ FT 3
Joseph Uzah Candidate
MD. Habibur Rahman BAAF 2Maiken Woll Eide BAPM FT 3
Mohammad Jassim Al-Dehneem BABS FT 1
Morana Mavricek BABL FT 3Olamide (Ali) Susan Awogboro HCB 1
Oscar Finn BAPM FT 3
Paal Rykhus Interior Design FT 3Ross McKinley BASC FT 2
Sandra Beyer BAIHM 3
Zhan Sergejev BAJ FT 2
Zhou Zhiwei BAAF 2Zulhkar "Zule" Filandra BABS FT 3
The first class rep meeting of the new col-
lege year took place on Thursday October
21st. First and foremost the meeting re-solved the issue of the Clubs and Societies
Officer in the Students Union. Acting Offi-
cer Jacquie Ryan and candidate JosephUzah both presented their aims and objec-
tives to the council who then voted on the
position. Joseph Uzah won by a margin of18 votes to 8. Congratulations to Joseph.
Another hotly discussed topic was the
Union of Students Ireland (USI). CurrentlyGriffith College is not an active affiliate with
the national union and the council unani-
mously agreed collectively to pursue mem-bership.
SU President, Graham Butler, outlined the
pros of the affiliation which included Griffith
students greater influence in lobbying for
eligibility for Higher Education Mainte-nance Grants and the training that is pro-
vided to Class Reps and Union Officers
annually, amongst other benefits. Annualaffiliation costs would be discussed at a
later stage.
Nominations also took place for four stu-
dents to sit on the Election SupervisoryCommittee (ESC). This entails an involve-
ment with SU President and Manager inoverseeing any elections that are taking
place to ensure they are conducted effi-
ciently.
The matter regarding a Constitution with
the Students Union was also raised and
will be brought to the next meeting.
To finish, the floor was opened to all classreps to shine a light on any concerns or
comments they had. Unease was raised
about the arrival of lecturers late to classesin BAJVM2; the issue will be looked in to.
The rising prices of repeat fees were alsodiscussed with many students angered by
the rise which many felt were unwarranted.
The Student Council will be meeting againon Tuesday November 16th.
Below is a list of all the class reps, if youhave any concerns and issues youd like
addressed, please talk with them:
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9
By-ElectionA by-election for the position of Vice President, Clubs and Societies Officer vacated by Paddy Daly. Votes cast by secret ballot.
Electorate - 26Jacquie Ryan - 8
Joseph Uzah - 18
Spoilt - 0
Joseph Uzah declared new Vice President
Election Supervisory Committee (ESC)Eoin McKenna
Bernard White
Zhan SergejevRoss McKinley
Union of Students in Ireland (USI)Council unanimously agreed the Executive should continue pursuing affiliation. The issue of fees was raised but this, along with
other matters about Griffith involvement in USI from affiliation point onwards is to be discussed when SU President Graham Butler
meets with USI President Gary Redmond the following week.
Issues brought by Class Reps
- BAJVM2 raised concern over lecturers constantly arriving late. Survey forms from Faculty will be distributed at some point during
the Semester.
- BASC2 brought up that students arriving late causing disruption.
- BAJVM2 looking for how to organise a class party. Super 80s Roller Skating Disco event for the 4th November mentioned. Rep to
speak with Exec at a later time
- BAJVM3 enquired about the rise in repeat fees. The President informed the reps that since the last academic year, there has
been no increase in the repeat fee. The cap issue is to be looked when further details are brought to the Exec.
- BAPM FT 3 and Editor of Griffiti Magazine Oscar Finn encouraged the class reps to get more of their students to write articles and
pieces for the magazine.
Next MeetingTuesday 16th November 2010.
6:30pm.
AF301.
If your class is not represented at Student Council, please contact your faculty.
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Griffith College recently welcomed a number of exchange students from Denmarkand to celebrate the SU organized a Super 80s Roller Disco evening for all mediafaculty students after the disco the gang partied the night away at Andrews Lane.It was a great night with many a bruised knee being reported the following day.Thanks to Antonia Luehmann for providing photos from the evening.
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Words Jonathan Keane
Photos Sam Boal, Shane Cunnane &Tim Whelan
On November 3rd, a student march ledby Union of Students Ireland (USI) made
its presence felt in Dublin city centre
under the banner Education Not Emi-
gration. A crowd 40,000 strong marchedto the Dil and the Department of Fi-
nance on Merrion Street in opposition to
proposed increase of the college registra-tion fees to 3,000 in the forthcoming
budget.
Despite being intended as a peacefulprotest, the day was not without its con-
troversy. Students hurled eggs at the De-
partment of Finance building with chantsincluding shame on you. Garda clashed
with a number of students, some of whom
were injured in the discord.
Disturbing images and videos flooded the
net later that day of students being man-handled and pulled from a sit down
protest on the streets, by members of An
Garda Sochna who had donned riot
gear. One officer can be seen draggingone male student along the ground by his
hair while another students face was left
a crimson mask following the clout of aGardas baton.
Several Garda on horseback alsocharged at some of the gatherings in an
attempt to move the crowds. Many have
dismissed the actions of the day as being
Garda brutality.
However, it is also reported that several
students were responsible for instigatingsome of the altercations. Two students
were arrested and charged with criminal
damage and breach of peace, respec-
tively.
USI and demonstration leaders werequick to condemn all violence of the days
march.
The USI said in a statement that the bodyis disappointed by the behaviour of a
small number of people, which occurred
during an incident at the Department ofFinance. This incident was completely
separate from USIs demonstration.
The focus of the media coverage has
been on the actions of a small minority
and this has played into the hands of the
Government, they continued.
Many of those involved in November
3rds march are calling for an inquiry intothe actions on An Garda Sochna.
Whether such an inquiry will come to light
and what the extent of education cuts in
budget will be remain to be seen.
students
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movement
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16
The average amount of alco-hol consumed by the people
of Ireland aged 15+ is 12.4
litres of pure alcohol. That
amounts to 46 bottles ofvodka or 129 bottles of wine
per person which puts Ireland
in one of the highest ranks foralcohol consumption in the 26
EU countries, 20% more than
the average European.
Its not just adults who aredrinking themselves to an
early grave; its also young
people in Ireland. According toa report by the Office of To-
bacco Control in 2006, 16-17
year olds spend an average of
20+ per week on alcohol andover half have reported being
drunk at least once by the age
of 16.The World Health Organisa-
tion (WHO) has defined binge
drinking as drinking six ormore standard drinks during
one drinking session. How-
ever, researchers have ar-
gued against this definition asit means this consumption
could occur in an evening of
eating or socialising. New re-search suggests that drinking
to drunkenness and repeat-
edly subjecting the brain to
the effects of withdrawal fromthe presence of alcohol could
damage brain cells.
When you drink to drunken-ness, it increases the chances
of you ending up in the Acci-
dent and Emergency Depart-
ment. Could be becauseyouve gotten into an argu-
ment, been assaulted or suf-
fered alcohol poisoning. Onein four who enters into A&E
had alcohol related injuries.
When you drink, alcoholpasses through your blood-
stream and can interfere with
all your brain activities. Drink-
ing too fast is one of the prob-lems associated with Irish
people. If you drink one stan-
dard drink in less than anhour, it means you are drink-
ing too fast and should slow
down by taking a break from
drinking as it will affect yourbody functions.
Before, men have outnum-
bered women when it comesto drinking but now women
are drinking just as much.
Four in ten women are drink-
ing excessively and treatmentcentres have seen an in-
crease in women seeking help
with drinking problems.Reasons for people who drink
can be for socialising, dis-
tressing, emotional problems.When people drink it affects
the brain so we could lose
judgment, become emotional
and do things we wouldntnormally do.
So what happens to alcohol
that goes through our bodies?Well first of all alcohol will be
absorbed through the stom-
ach and small intestine, which
is why you should always eatbefore or during drinking.
Then it goes through your
bloodstream and within min-utes you will feel the effects
take place. 90%- 95% of alco-
hol is metabolised by the liver,
the remaining is excretedthrough urine, breath and
sweat.
Jojo Chau
Booze Cruise to an Early GraveBooze Cruise to an Early GraveJojo Chau takes a look at how excessive alcohol consumption is destroying Irish lives.
Check out
drinkaware.ie for
more information
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The adoption process in Ire-land is lengthy and compli-
cated. However it is a problem
often overlooked. The availabil-
ity of contraception and thelessening stigma against single
parenthood has seen the num-
ber of available children, partic-ularly babies, slow to a mere
trickle in Ireland in the past
decade and with adoption
gates closing in so many pop-ular countries such as Vietnam
and Russia it is beginning to
become a near desperatestate. You also hear all the hor-
ror stories about children being
bought and sold which makes
it a daunting process to be-come involved in but for so
many couples who are longing
for a family of their own whichthey cannot achieve naturally,
adoption is their only answer.
They should however, prepare
themselves for a long and oftencomplicated journey.
I got to speak to an Irish cou-
ple, Marie and Paul*, whobegan the adoption process in
October 2007. Now three years
later, after having just finishedfilling out the initial required
paper work they have begun
the six week preparation
course. From here they willmeet for the first time with a so-
cial worker, then the HSE will
write a letter of recommenda-tion to the International Adop-
tion Association and they will
then send out the Certificate of
Suitability.
They hope to have this phasedone with by April or May of
next year. They still have yet todecide which country they
would like to adopt from and
when they do, they could be
facing another two year wait ifthey get held up in queues in
their countrys orphanages.
According to a spokespersonfrom the International Adoption
Association (IAA) in Dublin, the
waiting times for Irish parents
wishing to adopt abroad varyconsiderably. We are aware
that the total period from ex-
pression of interest to comple-tion of assessments and
receiving a declaration from the
Adoption Board can amount to
four or five years, she said.Marie talked through the entire
adoption process with me. It
was exhausting trying to com-prehend the obstacles and
challenges they have come up
against so far and it was evi-
dent from her face the emo-tional and frustrating journey
she has found herself in. How-
ever, with their six week prepa-ration course underway, Marie
is beginning to see light at the
end of tunnel. Were off thelong waiting list and onto the
next one. Im just hoping we
choose the right country and
that this time we wont be wait-ing too long.
In October 2007, Marie and
Paul attended their first infor-mation meeting where they re-
ceived an application form and
their number. From here they
had to wait 24 months for their
application to be processedand their pack to be sent out.
This contained all forms theyhad to fill out over the duration
of the adoption process. Infor-
mation of salaries, their P60s,
medical records and also tworeferences were some of the
requirements.
The biggest annoyance toMarie was obtaining her Garda
clearance in Ireland. Her Garda
clearance was annoyingly sent
back to her a couple of monthsago because it was found that
her fathers address was incor-
rect on her birth certificate. Shefound this very frustrating as it
has no relevance to adopting a
child. Marie has worked as a
youth worker and a specialneeds assistant for years and
has on many occasions
needed Garda clearance forher work and this was the first
time that anything had ever
been a problem.
What worries Marie and Paulthe most is the pressure for
time. All the initial forms that
her and her husband filled outare only valid for a year, this in-
cludes the Garda clearance.
So from last September, whenshe received this clearance
she has a year to find a child
and be successful in the final
stages of the adoption processor they will have to fill out all the
required documents again.
The Certificate of Suitability,which gives the prospective
parents the authorisation to
begin their search for a child
abroad, is only valid for three
years and if it runs out and youhavent been in touch with the
IAA to prolong it, you could belooking at another five years
before you have the chance to
adopt again because you have
to go right back to the verystart. For Marie and Paul it is a
race against time.
So far in their journey Marieand Paul have had a few set-
backs mainly due to the negli-
gence of the HSE. Marie and
Paul seriously considered mov-ing to Donegal or Sligo when
they first decided on adopting a
child as the whole process isfaster than in Dublin by about
18 months. There is only one
adoption agency in Ireland, run
by the HSE, so undoubtedlytheir work load is great, but for
the couples involved that have
to sit around and wait whiletheir precious time is ticking by,
it is not acceptable. Marie says
that some of their documenta-
tion was left sitting on a socialworkers desk while she went
on maternity leave and it then
took months to hunt themdown. She also had great diffi-
culty with obtaining suitable ref-
erences because of a lack of
communication between theboard and themselves.
The HSE never specified that
our references didnt have tohave children of their own or
that they had to be in our catch-
ment area, so therefore notoutside Kildare. We dont know
many people who are not re-
lated that have children and
live in our catchment area. So
we had our chosen two andsent off the forms for them to
Long unbearable delays and frustrating administrative faux pas are only just some of the things that
characterise the adoption process in Ireland. Griffitis Julianne Lawlor investigates the process further
The Difficulties of
Adopting a Child in
Ireland
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18
be sent back because one ref-erence lived a couple of miles
too far away.
Irish legislation and policy mak-ing in intercountry adoption in
the coming years will be bound
by international conventions.
The two key conventions whichwill govern this are the United
Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child and TheHague Convention on the Pro-
tection of Children and Co-op-
eration in Respect ofIntercountry Adoption.
The Hague Convention is a
multilateral agreement de-
signed to protect children, birthparents and adoptive parents
from dubious adoption prac-
tices. Adoptions are only autho-rised from countries that are
signatories to the convention or
which have a bilateral adoption
agreement with Ireland.
Ireland is not yet Hague ratifiedbut has bilateral agreements
with most Hague ratified coun-tries. Marie and Paul have
been researching two specific
Hague countries which they
hope to adopt from. It used tobe that you had to choose a
country to adopt from at the be-
ginning of the adoption processbut now you have more than
one option and more time to
choose a country.
Marie and Paul are consideringMexico as it is a Catholic coun-
try. Mexico looks upon Ireland
as a favourable country forprospective adoptive parents
as they acknowledge our
strong Catholic customs. How-
ever Mexico is the most expen-sive country to adopt from be-
cause of the agencies in
America that control the adop-tions. It is all very legitimate
and this reassures Marie and
Paul because there is the fear
of buying babies through falseagencies.
The costs
are highdue to
lawyer fees
and alsotravel fees
as you are
required to
stay inMexico for
up to three
months be-cause the
m o t h e r
holds the
right to her baby for the first
three months. The aspect thatreally appeals to both Marie
and Paul is that you are morethan likely able to adopt a new
born baby because in Mexico
most babies are adopted
straight from the mother ratherthan from an orphanage. How-
ever with the closure of Viet-
nam and Russia, the list inMexico of people from Ireland
trying to adopt has doubled.
One of the requirements ruled
out in the adoption handbook isthat you provide an environ-
ment where the childs original
nationality, race, culture, lan-guage and religion will be val-
ued and appropriately
promoted throughout child-
hood. For this reason Marieand Paul are very attracted to
adopting from Thailand. This is
another country that is Hagueratified and has a bilateral
agreement with Ireland. Marie
and Paul travelled around Thai-
land in their twenties and fell inlove with
the country.
We feellike we
have a real
connectionwith Thai-
land and
we could
see our-selves visit-
ing there
again andagain.
The IAA
has com-
mented before about the ne-
cessity for a GrandfatherClause, as recommended by
the Law Reform Commission.Such a mechanism would ex-
pand the exceptional cases
permitted under section 81 of
the Adoption Bill 2009 to allowfamilies which have adopted a
child or children from a non-
Hague or bilateral country, toadopt a sibling, with similar cul-
tural and country origins for
their adopted children. The
Adoption Board has stated,and indeed Irish policy is that
we should be building families,
not creating one-child house-holds. This is an option that
Marie and Paul hope to explore
if they adopt from Thailand.
Thailand also has a culturewhereby the well-being and
care of their children are its
main priorities. So although thecountry is very poor and their
orphanages are run down, they
are kept small so that the chil-
dren in them are not neglected.It is said that for every year a
child is left neglected in an or-
phanage it affects their devel-opment by five years. As a
special-needs assistant who
works one-on-one with an
autistic woman, who wasadopted from a Russian or-
phanage 20 two years ago,
Marie is only too aware of thesevere mental problems that
can arise which can be initially
undetected in a small child.Although the process has been
tiresome to say the least, it is
their desire for a child of their
own that keeps them going and
hopefully by next summer theywill be well on their way. But
Marie pointed out a major pointwhich she feels couples often
get caught up in and according
to the IAA is not the reason to
apply to adopt a child. Shesaid, Adoption is in the interest
of the child and you have to
keep the frame of mind that it isthe child that you are adopting
that needs a home and a fam-
ily, not that you have a desire
for a child.
* Names changed as intervie-
wees wished to remain anony-
mous
Julianne Lawlor
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Griffiti At the Movies
22
Title: Let Me In
Cert: 16
Running time: 115 minutes
Release Date: Out Now
This is a stylish and provoca-
tive vampire thriller by director
Matt Reeves and produced bythe godfathers of gore: Ham-
mer Horror. Reeves brought
fear and suspense into our liv-
ing rooms once with Cloverfieldand now hes done it again.
This is an adaptation
of the Swedish cult horrornovel and movie Let the Right
One In by emerging writer John
Ajvide Lindqvist.
Let Me In is set insnow covered New Mexico in
1983 and tells the story of an
awkward young boy calledOwen who is tormented by bul-
lies in school and barely no-
ticed at home. He is a social
outcast and spends his timefantasising of his revenge on
those who hurt him and spying
on the unseen lives of the in-habitants in his apartment com-
plex. Life seems mundane and
full of quiet sorrow until ayoung girl moves in next door.
Abbey is seemingly just as re-
cluse and awkward yet undeni-
ably carefree so it wasinevitable that they soon de-
velop a close relationship.
But all is not right in
this tranquil suburb of NewMexico as there are growing
numbers of gruesome unex-
plained deaths getting closer tohis doorstep. Grown men are
found tied upside-down to
trees with every drop of blood
drained from their witheredbodies.
Owen begins to sus-
pect someone in his apartmentcomplex but surely it could not
be Abbey; the source of his
new found love and affection?
This film is a complexamalgamation of a coming of
age drama portraying all its
wonders and innocence com-bined with the gruesome myth-
ical horror of a contemporary
vampire film. It is offbeat in itsapproach and I believe it will be
a cult success with chilling
scenes set to a wonderful
soundtrack of haunting seven-
ties and eighties hits. Some ofthe elements within the film
suggest that young Owen and
Abbey are modern day horrorequivalent of Romeo and
Juliet.
If this film were to beindependent of an original I
would recommend it to anyone
with 5 stars but as it stands a
remake I have some issues.The original Let the Right One
In was such a success in its
subtle and poignant approachto a vampire film, it reclaimed
some much needed respect to
the horror genre after some re-
cent set backs. No offenceteam Edward!
Let Me In lacks this
distinct poignancy and keepsalmost word for word in some
scenes with the original which
leads me to believe it is a point-less remake. If like me; you
have been a fan of or even
seen the original, then I would-
nt waste my time seeing an
Americanised version of theexact same film.
But for those of you
who have not seen the originalthan Let Me In is a guaranteed
favourite it will have you quiv-
ering in your cinema seat andwill make you think twice about
walking alone in snow covered
suburbia.
Emma Loughran
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Griffiti At the Movies
23
Title: R.E.D.
Cert: 12A
Running time: 111 minutesRelease Date: Out Now
Retired, Extremely
Dangerous. The meaning of thetitle, and a stamp on the main
character Frank Moses' (Bruce
Willis) file. It pretty much sumsup the whole film.
Loosely based on a
short comic book series by the
famous writer Warren Ellis, Redbegins by showing us the life of
a former black-ops agent,
Moses. It's a lonely life, involv-
ing eating cereal, exercising ina basement, putting out the bins
and borderline phone stalking a
customer service agent for thepension service, Sarah (Mary-
Louise Parker), all scored to a
happy clappy montage tune.Moses' dreary exis-
tence is then rudely interrupted
one night, by a group of assas-
sins trying to kill him, andthough they manage to demol-
ish his house in the process, he
dispatches them with ease, and
sets the ball rolling for the restof the story: find out who is try-
ing to kill him and why, and stop
them. Along the way, we
meet his old contacts, and ene-
mies, an ensemble cast com-prising of a chilled out Morgan
Freeman, a fantastically insane
John Malkovich, a feisty HelenMirren, and a wonderfully
hammed up Russian Brian Cox.
All play their parts with aplomb,
and it is the acting alone thatmakes this worth a look. Throw
in some very well executedstunts and explosions, and a
decent soundtrack, and you
have enjoyable way to spend
two hours.This movie doesn't re-
ally take itself too seriously, and
is all the better for it. The plot is
nothing you haven't seen adozen times before, so I did feel
my mind wandering at the qui-
eter story driven parts, but thetwist of having the characters
being aged retirees rather than
beefed up agents in their prime,
gives it an interesting feel.There are plenty of gags to
keep you laughing, like
Malkovich complaining like a
spoilt child: I haven't killed any-one in years! You can also tell
that there is a great chemistry
between the cast, and thatthey're loving every minute of it,
though a flakey turn by Parker
does get wearisome after awhile, and you end up wishing
her killed off in some hilarious
fashion. Karl Urban is on top
form though, as the main villain,scowling and grunting his way
through the film like a bull in
heat.
Though the plot pre-dictably plays out as you'd ex-
pect, its wit and seasoned cast
make this film impossible not tolike. You know that its mediocre
story should have been much
better with actors of this calibre,but when it comes down to it,
you realise that its put on a
smile on your face for the gutsof two hours. You can't ask for
more than that.
Brendan Beagon
Title: Vampires Suck
Cert: 12A
Running time: 82 minutesRelease Date: Out Now
Staring no one youhave ever heard of or are likely
ever to hear of again Vampires
Suck is a film that certainlylives up to its name in that it
has Vampires and, surprise
surprise, it sucks.
This vile piece of cin-ematic excrement took ninety
minutes of my life that I cant
get back so at least in onesense it operates much the
same way vampires do.Lets face it is unlikely
that anyone imagined that thiswould be a good movie and I
am yet to decide who would
hate this more, people wholove the twilight saga or people
who loathe it as this film basi-
cally chews up the first two twi-
light movies throws in a heftydose of really bad jokes and
then regurgitates it back on to
celluloid ready to be distributedaround the world where it will
sadly make a profit which will
result in providing the minionsof Satan who produced this
awful mess reason enough to
make another spoof of
mediocre movies`.When writing a review it is im-
portant to be critical yet fair and
balanced so I should mentionsome of the films better points
of which there is one and thatis when the credits rolled and I
could leave the cinema and bethankful films of this calibre
have a large marketing budget
so you will be able to see themcoming and know to turn the
other way and run for the hills.
Oscar Finn
Next month is the last
issue before the
Christmas break so if
you would like to write
a review or write a
piece on what we can
look forward to at the
cinema over the break
drop in to the SU
building or email grif-
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music Reviews
It must be a near inexpressible feeling to
not only receive the seal of approval of
your idol but to also have their encourage-ment and words of wisdom. For acoustic
instrumentalist, Gareth Pearson one such
thing happened.
When the Welsh Tornado hits your town,
get ready for total devastation! was what
one Tommy Emmanuel had to say aboutGareth Pearson. This comment from Em-
manuel, a legend in finger-style guitar, is
only a mere allusion of Pearsons abilitieswhich have already seen him release his
debut record Urban Echoes Vol. 1 and play
the festivals stateside.
You started playing when you were 14.
Were there many musicians in your
family?Yeah, thats correct. My dad played guitar
and Im pretty much self taught. He bought
me my first guitar when I was 14. I got in-
troduced and inspired by Tommy Em-manuel and that led me directly to Chet
Atkins, Merle Travis and Jerry Reed. They
were my first guitar teachings; they weremy teachers at that point, just listening to
their music picking out how to play their
songs as closely to their records as possi-
ble.
When you started playing did you get
any formal guitar lessons?
No, I could never really afford lessons andtruth be told I still cant afford to pay for les-
sons! I kind of developed my technique
from just learning and watching how they
play, studying their hands.
So, did your own style just come to you
with time?Yeah, it naturally developed. It took me
about a year to get more of my own tech-
nique in there but I think for the first fewyears I was just a carbon copy of Chet
Atkins and the finger-style of Tommy Em-
manuel.
I got more into the percussive and the
snap beat, that kind of thing. Eventually
then, it kind of created my own style.
How did it feel to be praised by some-
one like Tommy Emmanuel?
Its hard to believe really, youre talkingabout one of the best guitar players in the
world. Its humbling and inspiring to think
someone like that is that supportive andlikes your stuff.
How did he become aware of you?
I got to meet Tommy before a show and hegave me some advice on how to improve
my playing. Then about five months later I
supported him and did opening shows in
Wales and some stuff around the UK withhim. Eventually, he brought me to
Nashville for the Chet Atkins Appreciation
Society and after that then I was doing
tours with him.
I started doing those shows when I was
about 15 and 16, but my first professionaltour was when I was 18.
When did you decide that you wanted
to make a career out of this?I already decided I wanted to do that the
second I played guitar. The only other jobI had was a paper boy and I got fired fromthat which shows Im not really capable of
holding that kind of job! I always wanted to
be an entertainer and I got a lot of supportfrom people in guitar and folk clubs, that
kind of egged me on to really pursue this
as a career.
When did you start recording your own
material?
I started recording stuff when I was 16 andI released my first EP when I was 17. My
first real album (Urban Echoes Vol. 1) has
just been released on the Candy Rat label
and that was when I was 21.
Griffitis Jonathan Keane talks to guitarist Gareth Pearson
about learning guitar, writing songs and his influences
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25
music ReviewsHave you ever done anything with
bands?Ive done some stuff in bands, just filled in
with guitar work and stuff. But my main ca-
reer has just been a solo acoustic guitar
player.
How do you approach the writing of
your own songs? Whats the processlike?
I kind of just let them come to me. I dont
have any training in song writing. I know
the kind of music I like and I try to figureout and just write the music that in my mind
has already been written. I try to portray
my feelings through playing the guitar. I
think Ive got enough technique and ideasto express myself. Im lucky that some-
times I cant express myself so I have todevelop more technique, so they compen-
sate each other.
Tell us about the recording process ofthe Urban Echoes Vol. 1.
I first went to Germany to record tracks
with a guy called Henno Althoff whorecorded Tommy Emmanuels Only album.
I went from there to Chicago to record
some tracks and then I went from Chicago
to Newport, of all places. I was in two
places where I had to catch planes and
then Newport on my doorstep. I recordedthe tracks there with my brother; I had to
do that, I was having some tuning prob-
lems in Chicago.
How long did it take?
This actually took a lot longer than I
thought. It took about three months.
Why did you choose to re-arrange and
play some popular songs on this
album?I wanted to express a new way of finger-
style. There are six of my own tunes on the
record where its more of my approach, my
feelings and ideas on acoustic guitar.Then, I wanted to get the feel of more con-
temporary music. A lot of people like to do
jazz standards on [other] peoples tunes. Iwanted to take a new approach and do
bands like Weezer and Radiohead, to try
and get a feel of what kind of music I like,something to sum me up and what kind of
musician I am.
Do you think that by including such re-interpretations that it makes it easier to
get your work known, opposed to an
album of solely original material?
I think so; it was a good idea to do them
because it broadens up the range. I do atrack called Blue Smoke and thats one
arrangement by Merle Travis which is my
roots of finger-style. I do some Michael
Jackson stuff, where its more of myfavourite pop music and that contrasts re-
ally well. I think it helps people understand
my personality.
What are your plans regarding a new
album? Are you planning more and
arrangements and interpretations ormore original material?
Im going to be working on my new album
when this tour has ended. After, I got some
time off so Ill be working on a new album.I think theres only about three or four
arrangements that Im going to be doing on
my next CD, just to finish off UrbanEchoes. This is obviously going to be Vol.
2. Ill have about six or seven of my own
tunes.
Can you give any indication of when we
can hear it?I dont want to put a date because when-
ever people put a date, sometimes it never
gets set. But itll be sooner rather than
later.
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THEGENUINEARTICLE
26
McARTHURS
CRISIS HITSS T U D E N T BODIES
By Daniel James
Obesity in Griffith College has
skyrocketed since the introduc-
tion of the Meal Deal Combo
to Arthurs. The deal offers a
12 Pizza, potato wedges,
seven chicken wings and two
cans of coke for the low, lowprice of 11.99.
The Genuine Article spoke to
one enormous victim of the
restaurants latest Machiavel-
lian scheme. Its turned my life
upside-down. Its such a good
deal but after three deals a day
youve spent 36 Euro. Im a stu-
dent; I dont have that kind of
money to throw away on meal
deals. I get up in the morningand I say Im not getting the
deal today But Im Just kid-
ding myself, Im an addict, I
need it, man! Said the student
while gorging on a fresh meal
deal and struggling to breath.
Some Griffith students have re-sorted to prostitution and other
illegal activities in order to get
a fix from the cafeteria result-
ing in a criminal underworld
forming in the college led by
the that guy who works in
Arthurs with the great evening
shadow... I think his name is
Greg or Tom or
something...anyway...
Fights have broken betweenfriends who get the deal to
gether over who gets the last
chicken wing. This was
Arthurs plan all along. They
offer an odd number of wings
so that people fight and end up
getting the deal to themselves
instead in future. This wayArthurs make twice as much
profit while students lives are
ruined.
But for just 10 Euro a month
you can help stop the surge of
the meal deal on Griffith Col-
lege. Call 1860 69 69 69 and
make a difference today. Unat-
tractive, fat people are techni-
cally people as well, help them
to not be so hard to look at.
Harry Potterbook missingfrom Library
reward iffound.
Contact
Rob
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Under the Spotlight
Name: Redmond Quigley
Occupation: Security Guard/ Squirrel Hunter
Hobbies: Hunting Squirrels/ Counting Cars
Likes:A nice long toilet break
Dislikes:A dirty toilet seat
Interesting fact: Has Irelands largest collection
of kettlesThe contents of this section are satirical and may offend. The views expressed do not represent the views of the SU
27
Smoke machine explodes at Halloween ball, Butler gets high
and vows to use tram co. for all SU events.
There were initial reports that McCormack failed to attend theHalloween ball, wild rumours he was too scared. When ques-
tioned McCormack tells Genuine Article he was there in a
ridiculously good unrecognisable costume.
Jacquie Ryan found homeless and without clothes on nearby
Camden street after leaving SU
Griffith Soccer team wins match, Heggo springs for pizza.
Butler invites nobody from college to21st castle shindig,40,000 attend protest in city centre
Negotiations to introduce a third flavour of soup to Arthurs
ongoing
By Daniel James
As you may have noticed the soup in Arthurs
Restaurant is available every day and to be fair it
is quite yummy.
However Daniel James has discovered that there
is only one surviving member of Griffith College
staff who has ever witnessed a selection of soups
other than Leak and Potato or Vegetable soup.
OMG. Yes its true, Paddy OPluarasi was a lecturer
here many moons ago and he recalls the faithful
day Twas like something from one odem films
you see these days he wheezed, I walked into the
place you call Arthurs, only back then we called it
the Slop House the food was feckin lovely but
the man that ran it was Joe Slop so thats where
we got the name.
But surely there were still only, the now very famil-
iar looking soups, in the funky diner?
Yes laddie, usually there was, but I remember run-
ning down to the post office and joining the cue to
use the only phone for 4 miles to ring my cousin
Tommy in America, Tommy loved soup ya see and
he had only ever had the one flavour. Paddy
paused here to sip from his hip flask and pick up
his pet cat and place her in his lap as he sat in his
huge winged arm chair.So finally I get through to Tommy, and I tell him
what happened.
I walk into the Slop house I says, and I turn the cor-
ner, and when I lifted the lid on the pot of soup
which is the same pot they use today, I seen it,
tomato soup.
I thought it only existed in fancy French places but
no, and Tommy was astounded, nearly put out his
other hip from hopping around with so much ex-
citement.
Paddy dozed off after that part of the story, but one
thing is for sure folks, once upon a time, there re-
ally did exist a third soup in Arthurs.
THIRD SOUPIN ARTHURS
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29
A man without a moustache is rather likea woman with one said a certain Mr.
Nick Cave once upon a time and while he
has since shed his urbane tasche, its a
sentiment we can carry throughout thismonth.
Its November again and that means itsthe month where its encouraged to put
your blood, sweat and tears into growing
the finest, debonair moustache you pos-
sibly can. Its all in good fun but it comeswith a purpose of much importance and
for a more than worthy cause prostate
cancer awareness.
Prostate cancer is one of the most com-
mon cancers in men and with thousands
of men being diagnosed in Ireland everyyear, according to the Irish Cancer Soci-
ety. Survival rates are increasing, how-
ever only marginally.
Unsurprisingly, Movembers origins lay in
a piss-up many moons ago but it has
evolved into something its co-founder
Adam Garone never imagined and it cantbe understated The growth of Movem-
bers global movement and the spirit of
the Movember community continue to
amaze me each year.
Movember aims to be to bring awareness
and raise as much money as possible forprostate cancer research and treatment.
Furthermore, it strives to encourage men
to be more proactive and wary with re-
gards to their health and hopefully, in thelong run, assist in the various researches
and treatment of prostate cancer.
In Ireland, the Movember campaign is in
conjunction with the Irish Cancer Society
and has been rising rapidly since its con-
ception. In 2009 there were over 6,000registrants, raising 1,015,533, a mas-
sive jump from 2008s 364,436.
Movember is our number one fundraiser
in the area of mens health and mens
cancer and it has without doubt done so
much to increase awareness of this com-
mon cancer and to get men thinking
about their risk and taking positive ac-tion, comments John McCormack, the
CEO of the Irish Cancer Society.
Recently the Waldorf barbershop on
Westmoreland St. celebrated the months
launch and was invaded by JohnnyKnoxville, Bam Margera and Jeff
Tremaine who were in Dublin to promote
the release of Jackass 3D. The barber
shop, which was originally opened in1929 and has been restored to its classic
look and vibe, hosted the event which of-
ficially kick-started the month of Movem-ber.
So, pop on over to movember.com, can-
cer.ie or waldorfbarbers.com to donatewhatever you can, grow a moustache,
add an air of sophistication to your face
and change the face of mens health.
Words Jonathan Keane
photos Oscar Finn
movember launch at the waldorf
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30
It was a great en-dorsement for the League as
the race came right down to the
wire on the final night. Rovers'2-2 draw with Bray Wanderers
was enough to give them their
16th league title and deny ri-
vals Bohemians a third title in-a-row on goal difference.
Rovers had been al-
most certain to end their titledrought for long parts of the
season, but four defeats in six
of the last seven games had al-
lowed Bohemians back into thetitle race. Galway United's win
over the gypsies last week and
Rovers' victory over DroghedaUnited saw the Hoops reclaim
top spot which despite a tense
night in Bray they were able to
hold onto, and seal, what is aremarkable turn in fortunes for
the Tallaght outfit. It hasnt
been easy for the Hoops theyfaced near extinction in 2005
after relegation from the Pre-
mier Division and went into ex-aminership because of the offfield financial irregularities, its
safe to say though that the
hoops have bounced back.What of Bohemians, on-field
success is merely papering
over the cracks that are quicklydeveloping in the club. The
massive blow of not winning
the Airtricity League means
they lose out on, not just thecoveted three in a row; but the
700,000 in prize money, and
not to mention the lucrative
qualifying campaign of theChampions League. Bohs are
teetering on the brink right now,the last few weeks have been
tough at Dalymount Park, Pat
Fenlon lost his entire backroomstaff before the Dundalk game
as the club embarked on what
they called aggressive cost re-
duction measuresThe gypsies current
plight is eerily reminiscent to
that of Shelbourne, one of themost decorated clubs in Irish
football. They too achieved un-
r i v a l l e d
success onthe pitch,
but it was
what wenton behind
the scenes
that saw
the clubenter free
fall in 2007.
D e s p i t ewinning the
L e a g u e ,
they wererelegated by the Football Asso-ciation of Ireland because of
failure to pay wages. This
came just a short time after thereds historic European run
which saw them progress fur-
ther then any other Irish side in
the Champions League. Thedream was short lived however
and the heavy investment in
players didnt pay off and Shel-bournes attempt to artificially
create a successful team by
combining the best players in
the league had failed, after rel-egation the manager and all of
the squad subsequently left theclub.
Pat Fenlon is the common de-
nominator in both scenarios,his perception as successful is
largely derived from his results
and accolades on the pitch,
these however, go hand inhand with his transfer policy
and how much he spent on
players both at Shelbourne andat Bohs to bring success to the
clubs, without taking into ac-
count the
long term fu-ture of those
clubs. Shel-
bourne arestill in ruins
slaving away
in the first di-
vision, whileits become
apparent that
Bohs are inserious trou-
ble.
Many of thePhibsboro outfits problems canand should be blamed on Pat
Fenlon. Im sure much to the
dismay of the Bohs faithful. Formany supporters its hard to
fault a manager that is deliver-
ing on the field but it has left the
gypsies in a precarious posi-tion.
Of the three clubs the Dubliner
has managed, two of themhave come into massive finan-
cial difficulties, while Fenlon left
Derry City after just 5 months
citing a lack of ambition withinthe club. Or was it perhaps that
they were reluctant to spendbeyond their means?
It matters little because at Bo-
hemians Fenlon found a clubthat would invest in his policies,
and how it has cost them! Now
they are practically begging
fans for money, as the clubhave had to put out an appeal
for supporters to loan them
cash which they may never seeagain. Theres also little chance
of any business coming in to in-
vest in the club. After all why
would they? With an evidentlack of any forward planning
why would any investor waste
money in a loss making entityrun by wildly under qualified
professionals with no busi-
ness plan and a product that
can only be described asFisher Price Football.
The League is a
shambles, the administrators ofthe League are jokers, and the
clubs do whatever they want to
be successful, the naive men-tality of Lets spend 500,000on players and when we win
the league well make a
200,000 profit is just out ofdate and unrealistic and has
left bohemians on the brink.
Theyre not the first side to be
in this position and unlessproper guidelines are imple-
mented by the FAI they cer-
tainly wont be the last, rightnow for the Gypsies the pres-
ent is tense and the future im-
perfect.
Darren Cleary
Shamrock Rovers exhaled a collective sigh of relief as the club finally ended their 16-year wait for a Leagueof Ireland title.
the league of gentlementhe league of gentlemen
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