The problem of overcrowding in Irish prisons will not be solved by building new prisons alone. A comprehensive review of penal policy is also needed, according to the Report of the Thornton Hall Project Review Group. By Paul Walsh.
Book Review: Sins of The Father by Conor McCabe, The History Press, Dublin. (ISBN 13: 9781845886936 ISBN 10: 1845886933)
The policies advocated by Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble as a cure for the crisis in the Eurozone should give us pause. Be afraid, be very afraid, writes Aidan Regan.
Could the scenes of destruction seen in the London riots in August be played out in Limerick? They already are, argues Southill parish priest Fr Pat Hogan.
This article was first published in the Limerick Leader, September 3, 2010.
A fascinating look at how our environment shapes our sexuality and a valiant rebuttal of many of the claims made by neuroscience, Cordelia Fine’s new book Delusions of Gender is a lively and worrying work which argues that the scientific community has often sabotaged the fight for gender equality. By Ed O’Hare.
Third level students are highly vulnerable to unfair tratment from landlords, particularly during their first year. The USI has called for a deposit protection scheme to be introduced to protect them. By Bernard O'Rourke.
The Union of Students of Ireland (USI) has called on the government to introduce a deposit protection scheme for third level students living in rented accommodation.
A survey carried out by the USI in April revealed that 40% of students lost their deposit while over 60% had €200 or more “unfairly” taken off their deposit.
Book Review: Terry Eagleton, Why Marx Was Right. (Yale, 2011). By Joseph Mahon.
Terry Eagleton is currently Distinguished Professor of English Literature at the Universities of Lancaster and Notre Dame. In his latest book, this prolific author sets out to demonstrate that it is reasonable to hold that Marx was correct - if not always, then at least mostly so. To accomplish this task, he takes ten of the most standard criticisms of Marx, in no particular order of importance, and tries to refute them one by one.
New Irish research shows probiotic bacteria may help reduce anxiety, stress and depression, writes John Holden.
The ‘gut-brain axis’ is the term used by gastroenterologists and neuroscientists to describe the strong communication links between the organ that decides what we eat and the organ where that cream pie eventually ends up. For the layman, communications between the stomach and the brain don’t go much further than the shame sometimes felt after a snackbox at 2am.
Recent steps by the government toward greater levels of child protection have focused on children who have suffered from abuse – in particular at the hands of institutions such as the Catholic Church. Often overlooked or forgotten is the issue of children going missing form state care. By Bernard O'Rourke.
Unaccompanied children who come to Ireland seeking asylum without a parent or guardian are at risk of being overlooked by the state. More than 500 of these children have gone missing from State care since 2000.
With the opening of UCD’s brand new science centre next month, it’s fair to say that real progress has been made in the decade long pursuit of a ‘knowledge economy’ in Ireland, writes John Holden.
Terms like ‘Ireland Inc’ and the ‘knowledge economy’ understandably get on some people’s nerves. They have become clichés of the highest order as well as reminders of the Fianna Fáil-led governments that brought us to our economic knees.