The role of transformative thinking and practice in a property entrepreneur's response to the funding crisis since 2008

This portfolio of exploration explores the role of transformative thinking and practice in a property entrepreneur’s response to the financial crisis which swept over Ireland from 2008. The complexity of this challenge and the mental capacity to meet its demands is at the core of the exploration. This inquiry emerged from the challenges the financial crisis presented to my values, beliefs, assumptions, and theories, i.e. the interpretive lens through which I make meaning of my experiences. Given the issue identified, this inquiry is grounded in aspects of theories of constructive developmental psychology, applied developmental science, and philosophy. Integrating and linking these elements to business practice is the applied element of the Portfolio. As the 2008 crisis unfolded I realised I was at the limits of my way of knowing. I came to understand that the underlying structure of a way of knowing is the ‘subject-object relationship’ i.e. what a way of knowing can reflect upon, look at, have perspective on, in other words, make object, as against what is it embedded in, attached to, identified within, or subject to. My goal became enhancing my awareness of how I made meaning and how new insights, which would transform a way of knowing, are created. The focus was on enhancing my practice. This Portfolio is structured into three essays. Essay One reported on my self-reflection and external evaluation out of which emerged my developmental goals. In Essay Two I undertake a reading for change programme in which different meaning making systems were confronted in order to challenge me as a meaning maker. Essay Three reported on my experiment which concerned the question whether it was possible for me as a property entrepreneur, and for others alike, to retain bank finance in the face of the overwhelming objective of the bank to deleverage their balance sheet of property loans. The output of my research can be grouped into General Developmental and Specific Business Implications. Firstly I address those who are interested in a transformational-based response to the challenges of operating in the property sector in Ireland during a crisis. I outline the apparatus of thought that I used to create insight, and thus transform how I thought, these are Awareness, Subject-object separation, Exploring other’s perspectives from the position of incompleteness, Dialectical thinking and Collingwood’s Questioning activity. Secondly I set out my learnings from the crisis and their impact on entrepreneurial behaviour and the business of property development. I identify ten key insights that have emerged from leading a property company through the crisis. Many of these are grounded in common sense, however, in my experience these were, to borrow Shakespeare’s words, “More honor'd in the breach than the observance” in pre Crisis Ireland. Finally I set out a four-step approach for forging a strategy. This requires my peer practitioners to identify (i) what they are subject to, (ii) Assess the Opportunity or challenge in a Systemic Context, (iii) Explore Multiple Perspectives on the opportunity or Challenge with an Orientation to change how you know and (iv) Using the Questioning Activity to create Knowledge. Based on my experience I conclude that transformative thinking and practice is a key enabler for a property entrepreneur, in responding to a major collapse of traditional (bank debt) funding.

Souterrain in Grallagh Lower Td. Co. Waterford

A souterrain was discovered here when the weight of a tractor passing overhead caused a collapse of the roof of Chamber I. It was surveyed in March 1976. The landowner, Mr. Thomas Curran of Ballylangdon has consented to keep the site open for future inspection. The site is not directly connected with any visible surface structure. A small uni-vallate ringfort is however situated c.I60m S.S.E. of the site. The bedrock is a slaty sandstone.

Design, synthesis and development of novel indolocarbazole derivatives as potential anti-cancer agents

This thesis describes work carried out on the design of new routes to a range of bisindolylmaleimide and indolo[2,3-a]carbazole analogs, and investigation of their potential as successful anti-cancer agents. Following initial investigation of classical routes to indolo[2,3-a]pyrrolo[3,4-c]carbazole aglycons, a new strategy employing base-mediated condensation of thiourea and guanidine with a bisindolyl β-ketoester intermediate afforded novel 5,6-bisindolylpyrimidin-4(3H)-ones in moderate yields. Chemical diversity within this H-bonding scaffold was then studied by substitution with a panel of biologically relevant electrophiles, and by reductive desulfurisation. Optimisation of difficult heterogeneous literature conditions for oxidative desulfurisation of thiouracils was also accomplished, enabling a mild route to a novel 5,6-bisindolyluracil pharmacophore to be developed within this work. The oxidative cyclisation of selected acyclic bisindolyl systems to form a new planar class of indolo[2,3-a]pyrimido[5,4-c]carbazoles was also investigated. Successful conditions for this transformation, as well as the limitations currently prevailing for this approach are discussed. Synthesis of 3,4-bisindolyl-5-aminopyrazole as a potential isostere of bisindolylmaleimide agents was encountered, along with a comprehensive derivatisation study, in order to probe the chemical space for potential protein backbone H-bonding interactions. Synthesis of a related 3,4-arylindolyl-5-aminopyrazole series was also undertaken, based on identification of potent kinase inhibition within a closely related heterocyclic template. Following synthesis of approximately 50 novel compounds with a diversity of H-bonding enzyme-interacting potential within these classes, biological studies confirmed that significant topo II inhibition was present for 9 lead compounds, in previously unseen pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine, indolo[2,3-c]carbazole and branched S,N-disubstituted thiouracil derivative series. NCI-60 cancer cell line growth inhibition data for 6 representative compounds also revealed interesting selectivity differences between each compound class, while a new pyrimido[5,4-c]carbazole agent strongly inhibited cancer cell division at 10 µM, with appreciable cytotoxic activity observed across several tumour types.

Genteel revolutionaries: the lives of Anna and Thomas Haslam

The lives of Thomas and Anna Haslam were dedicated to the attainment of women's equality. They were feminists before the word was coined. In an era when respectable women were not supposed to know of the existence of prostitutes, Anna became empowered to do the unthinkable, not only to speak in public but to discuss openly matters sexual and to attack the double standard of sexuality which was enshrined in the official treatment of prostitutes. Their life-long commitment to the cause of women's suffrage never faltered, despite the repeated discouragement of the fate of bills defeated in the House of Commons. The Haslams represented an Ireland which did not survive them. While they were dedicated to the union with Westminster, they worked happily with those who applied themselves to its destruction. Although in many ways they exemplified the virtues of their Quaker backgrounds, they did not subscribe to any organised religion. Despite living in straitened circumstances, they were part of an urban intellectual elite and participated in the social and cultural life of Dublin for over fifty years. It is tempting to speculate how the Haslams would have fared in post independence Ireland. Hanna Sheehy Skeffington who had impeccable nationalist credentials, was effectively marginalised. It is likely that they would have protested against discriminatory legislation in their usual law abiding manner but, in a country which quickly developed an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic ethos, would they have had a voice or a constituency? Ironically, Thomas's teaching on chastity would have found favour with the hierarchy; his message was disseminated in a simple and more pious manner in numerous Catholic Truth Society pamphlets. The Protestant minority never sought to subvert the institutions of the state, was careful not to criticise and kept its collective head down. Dáil Éireann was not bombarded with petitions for the restoration of divorce facilities or the unbanning of birth control. Those who sought such amenities obtained them quietly 'in another jurisdiction.' Fifty years were to pass before the condom wielding 'comely maidens' erupted on to the front pages of the Sunday papers. They were, one imagines, the spiritual descendants of the militant rather than the constitutional suffrage movement. "Once and for all we need to commit ourselves to the concept that women's rights are not factional or sectional privileges, bestowed on the few at the whim of the many. They are human rights. In a society in which the rights and potential of women are constrained no man can be truly free." These words spoken by Mary Robinson as President of Ireland are an echo of the principles to which the Haslams dedicated their lives and are, perhaps, a tribute to their efforts.

Infected vision in the works of Thomas Middleton

This thesis investigates the extent and range of the ocular vocabulary and themes employed by the playwright Thomas Middleton in context with early modern scientific, medical, and moral-philosophical writing on vision. More specifically, this thesis concerns Middleton’s revelation of the substance or essence of outward forms through mimesis. This paradoxical stance implies Middleton’s use of an illusory (theatrical) art form to explore hidden truths. This can be related to the early modern belief in the imagination (or fantasy) as chief mediator between the corporeal and spiritual worlds as well as to a reformed belief in the power of signs to indicate divine truth. This thesis identifies striking parallels between Middleton’s policy of social diagnosis and cure and an increased preoccupation with knowledge of interior man which culminates in Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy of 1621. All of these texts seek a cure for diseased internal sense faculties (such as fantasy and will) which cause the raging passions to destroy the individual. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate how Middleton takes a similar ‘mental-medicinal’ approach which investigates the idols created by the imagination before ‘purging’ the same and restoring order (Corneanu and Vermeir 184). The idea of infection incurred through the eyes which are fixed on vice (or error) has moral, religious, and political implications and discovery of corruption involves stripping away the illusions of false appearances to reveal the truth within whereby disease and disorder can be cured and restored. Finally, Middleton’s use of theatrical fantasy to detect the idols of the diseased imagination can be read as a Paracelsian, rather than Galenic, form of medicine whereby like is ‘joined with their like’ (Bostocke C7r) to restore health.

Thomas Wolfe and the genre question: Beyond the "charge of autobiography"

The North Carolinian author Thomas Wolfe (1900‐1938) has long suffered under the “charge of autobiography,” which lingers to this day in critical assessments of his work. Criticism of Wolfe is frequently concerned with questions of generic classification, but since the 1950s, re‐assessments of Wolfe’s work have suggested that Wolfe’s “autobiographical fiction” exhibits a complexity that merits further investigation. Strides in autobiographical and narrative theory have prompted reconsiderations of texts that defy the artificial boundaries of autobiography and fiction. Wolfe has been somewhat neglected in the canon of American fiction of his era, but deserves to be reconsidered in terms of how he engages with the challenges and contradictions of writing about or around the self. This thesis investigates why Wolfe’s work has been the source of considerable critical discomfort and confusion with regard to the relationship between Wolfe’s life and his writing. It explores this issue through an examination of elements of Wolfe’s work that problematise categorisation. Firstly, it investigates the concept of Wolfe as “storyteller.” It explores the motivations and philosophies that underpin Wolfe’s work and his concept of himself as a teller of tales, and examines aspects of Wolfe’s writing process that have their roots in medieval traditions of the memorisation and recitation of tales. The thesis then conducts a detailed examination of how Wolfe describes the process of transforming his memory into narrative through writing. The latter half of the thesis examines narrative techniques used by Wolfe, firstly analysing his extensive use of the iterative and pseudo‐iterative modes, and then his unusual deployment of narrators and focalization. This project sheds light on elements of Wolfe’s approach to writing and narrative strategies that he employs that have previously been overlooked, and that have created considerable critical confusion with regard to the supposedly “autobiographical” genesis of his work.

Clinical autonomy and nurse/physician collaboration in emergency nurses

Aim: To investigate clinical autonomy and Nurse/Physician collaboration among emergency nurses and the relationship between these concepts, personal characteristics and organisational influences. Background: Nurses have been identified as having a significant role in addressing the challenges of providing modern healthcare. Emergency nurses have reported competence in a wide range of emergency care skills. However, there is evidence that Emergency Department (ED) nurses may have lower levels of clinical autonomy than other areas of practice. Levels of clinical autonomy appear to be influenced by levels of collaboration with physicians and the organisations in which nurses work Methods: A descriptive correlational study using a survey design with a purposive convenience sample of 141 ED staff nurses (response 70.9%) from 3 EDs in Ireland. Data were collected using the Dempster Practice Behaviours Scale (DPBS) the Nurse/Physician Collaboration Scale (NPCS) and the newly developed Organisational Influences on Nursing Scale. Demographic information was also sought from participants. Results: Participants were largely female (87%), relatively young (mean age 35.57, SD=7.83) and educated to degree level (48%) or higher (31%) with 40% posessing specialist emergency nursing qualifications. Participants reported moderate levels of clinical autonomy and Nurse/Physician collaboration. No relationships were found between sample characteristics and clinical autonomy and Nurse/Physician collaboration among emergency nurses. Relationships were found between levels of clinical autonomy and Nurse/Physician collaboration (r=-0.395, n=100, p<0.001), and organisational influence on nursing (r=0.455, p<0.001) and also between Nurse/Physician collaboration and organisational influence on nursing (r=-0.413, p<0.001). Discussion: Clinical autonomy of nurses has been linked with quality outcomes in healthcare. The quest for quality in modern healthcare in a challenging environment should acknowledge that strategies need to focus beyond education and skills provision and include essential elements such as Nurse/Physician collaboration and the organisational influence on nursing to ensure the greater involvement of nurses in patient care.

Thomas Davis's education policies: theory and practice

This thesis explores the education policies of Thomas Davis. On the eve of the Great Famine Ireland was economically impoverished and politically dependent. The Irish people had a subservient mentality, were mainly uneducated and were unaware of their potential. He believed that education would develop a self-reliant, self-sufficient people; it would create a new generation of leaders and citizens necessary to transform Ireland into a prosperous, independent nation. This thesis explores his education philosophy which was political in orientation; he called for reform of university education so that it would educate leaders who were knowledgeable, patriotic and responsible. He formulated a curriculum which consisted of knowledge that would have direct use and application in public life; his curriculum included moral philosophy, oratory, philological studies and history. His contribution to the debate on the Queens Colleges bill, 1845, is explored including his public disagreement with Daniel O’Connell on the principle of multi-denominational education. This work also examines his policies on learning methodologies and teaching methods. It provides details of his thoughts on learning by experience, by observation, book learning and learning in the home. It focuses on the deficiencies evident in the system of teaching and learning that operated in Trinity College Dublin and it provides an analysis of his preferred method of instruction: Lyceum teaching. This thesis also explores his national curriculum in history and Irish culture which was designed to forge a sense of national identity, to win support for repeal and to develop the principle of nationality. He formulated a national curriculum to counteract the absence of national knowledge in the state schools, to provide the people with a positive self-image and ultimately to empower them to reclaim Ireland and to develop it. Davis knew the power of education and he used it as an instrument of political and social change.

"Ladyes, damesels, and jantilwomen": female autonomy and authority in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur

Popular medieval English romances were composed and received within the social consciousness of a distinctly patriarchal culture. This study examines the way in which the dynamic of these texts is significantly influenced by the consequences of female endeavour, in the context of an autonomous feminine presence in both the real and imagined worlds of medieval England, and the authority with which this is presented in various narratives, with a particular focus on Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur. Chapter One of this study establishes the social and economic positioning of the female in fifteenth-century England, and her capacity for literary engagement; I will then apply this model of female autonomy and authority to a wider discussion of texts contemporary with Malory in Chapters Two and Three, in anticipation of a more detailed study of Le Morte Darthur in Chapters Four and Five. My research explores the female presence and influence in these texts according to certain types: namely the lover, the victim, the ruler, and the temptress. In the case of Malory, the crux of my observations centres on the paradox of the capacity for power in perceived vulnerability, incorporating the presentation of women in this patriarchal culture as being vulnerable and in need of protection, while simultaneously acting as a significant threat to chivalric society by manipulating this apparent fragility, to the detriment of the chivalric knight. In this sense, women can be perceived as being an architect of the romance world, while simultaneously acting as its saboteur. In essence, this study offers an innovative interpretation of female autonomy and authority in medieval romance, presenting an exploration of the physical, intellectual, and emotional placement of women in both the historical and literary worlds of fifteenth-century England, while examining the implications of female conduct on Malory’s Arthurian society.