Claiming and displaying national identity: Irish Travellers' and students' strategic use of 'banal' and 'hot' national identity in talk

Two complementary explanations have been offered by social psychologists to account for the universal hold of national identity, first that national identity is ideologically assumed, as it forms the ‘banal’ background of everyday life, and second that national identity is ‘hotly’ constructed and contested in political and everyday settings to great effect. However, ‘banal’ and ‘hot’ aspects of national identity have been found to be distributed unevenly across national and subnational groups and banality itself can be strategically used to distinguish between different groups. The present paper develops these ideas by examining possible reasons for these different modes and strategies of identity expression. Drawing upon intergroup theories of minority and majority relations, we examine how a group who see themselves unequivocally as a minority, Irish Travellers, talk about their national identity in comparison to an age and gender-matched sample of Irish students. We find that Travellers proactively display and claim ‘hot’ national identity in order to establish their Irishness. Irish students ‘do banality’, police the boundaries and reputation of Irishness, and actively reject and disparage proactive displays of Irishness. The implications for discursive understandings of identity, the study of intra-national group relations and policies of minority inclusion are discussed.

Digoxin toxicity in the aged. Characterising and avoiding the problem

Digoxin is one of the most frequently prescribed drugs, particularly in the elderly population where there is an increased prevalence of atrial fibrillation and cardiac failure. The drug has a narrow therapeutic range and has gained a reputation for producing adverse effects in older patients. The more frail elderly patients with coexistent disease, often taking other treatments, are more at risk from digoxin toxicity due to inappropriate dosing, noncompliance, or increased sensitivity to digoxin resulting from pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic interactions. Application of basic pharmacological principles may be helpful in anticipating these problems. Elderly patients more commonly receive digoxin than younger patients, which in part accounts for the higher rates of toxicity in this group. Numerous components contribute to the development of toxicity, and diagnosis of toxicity is difficult in this age group. The measurement of serum concentrations can contribute to the clinical diagnosis. A major problem is the accurate diagnosis of digoxin toxicity which may have numerous nonspecific clinical manifestations, many of which are related to coexisting disease in elderly patients. This diagnostic imprecision is well recognised but has been helped by the introduction of serum digoxin measurement. However, reliance on serum concentrations should not replace clinical judgement, since these do not always correlate with toxicity. The apparently decreasing incidence of toxicity over recent years probably reflects several factors: the improvement in digoxin formulations, awareness of digoxin pharmacology, utilisation of serum concentrations, and the realisation that digoxin withdrawal is a viable proposition in elderly patients. Greater knowledge about the causes and prevention of digoxin toxicity should further reduce the morbidity and mortality arising from digoxin overdose, especially in the elderly population.

Charity accountability in the UK: through the eyes of the donor

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore accountability from the perspective of charity donors.

Design/methodology/approach – The research utilises semi-structured interviews with a range of donors. In addition, it summarises the main findings from key related research (that uses document content analysis and questionnaire surveys) as a basis for better appreciating donor engagement.

Findings – This research offers evidence that while donors are viewed as the key stakeholder to whom a charity should be accountable, the relevance of the information commonly disclosed in formal charity communications is questionable. This is viewed as significant in terms of small dependent donors, although less critical in the case of non-dependent large donors who have power to demand individualised information. However, although all donors do not particularly engage with these formal communications, they are viewed by them as having significance and their production and publication serves as an important legitimising tool in the sector (enhancing trust and reputation).

Research limitations/implications – This research is based on semi-structured interviews with individual small donors and large institutional donors to large UK charities and therefore any generalising of the conclusions beyond large charities, and beyond the UK, should be undertaken with care. In addition, it focuses solely on the perceptions of donors, and other stakeholder groups are also important in this process.

Originality/value – Despite the widespread acceptance that charities have a duty to discharge accountability to their stakeholders, there is limited knowledge of their information needs and whether the performance information currently being disclosed fulfils them. This study provides a unique insight into the perspective of a key stakeholder group (donors) with respect to accountability.

‘Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt’: Solidarity between generations in the Irish crisis

Ireland has gained a reputation for peaceable acceptance of austerity following a European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout in 2010. While proponents of austerity praise Ireland’s stoicism, critics of global capitalism argue that individuals and families are paying for mistakes made by elites. However, little is known about the strategies people adopt to cope with cutbacks to welfare entitlements. Drawing on a study of solidarity between generations living in Ireland in 2011–12, this article explores the lived experience of economic crisis and austerity. One hundred interviews with people of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds are analysed using constructivist grounded theory. Data show how austerity impacts differentially according to socio-economic status. While solidarity between generations leads to re-distribution of resources within families, providing some security for people with access to family resources, it reinforces inequality at societal level. We conclude that reliance on family promotes ‘coping’ rather than ‘protesting’ responses to austerity.

Determinants of academic cheating behavior: The future for accountancy in Ireland

This paper considers the potential for improving the reputation of the Irish accountancy profession by exploring undergraduate accounting students’ intolerance of academic cheating as a predictor of future attitudes to unethical workplace practices. The study reports that females are significantly more intolerant of cheating than males. Further, with regard to ethical ideology, idealism was found to have a significant positive association with intolerance of cheating while relativism reported no association. It is anticipated that the growing admission of women to professional accountancy membership together with educational intervention to increase idealism may improve ethical attitudes and help restore the profession's reputation.

(Re)-Introducing Themes of Religion and Spirituality to Professional Social Work Training in the Land of ‘Saints and Scholars’.

This chapter begins by alluding to Ireland’s historical reputation as the land of “Saints and Scholars” and then briefly charts its demise from this position. A parallel process in relation to religiously motivated provision of health and social care is outlined. The inclusion of themes of religion and spirituality within the current professional social work codes in the USA and Britain and the framework for social work training in Northern Ireland is noted. In this context the lack of any substantive inclusion of themes of religion and/or spirituality within the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree at Queens University Belfast will be situated. A series of intersecting reasons for this lack of inclusion are proposed in terms of the experience of living through the recent troubled history of Northern Ireland and a variety of biases in academic thought.
A rationale for the re-introduction of inputs on religion and spirituality is articulated in terms of the widespread resurgence of these themes within health and social care and psychotherapy literature and the new emphasis on practicing in culturally sensitive ways in Britain. The first steps to re-introduce these themes under the higher context marker of “culturally competent practice” are described and an analysis of data from the students’ feedback presented along with illustrative quotations. The dissonance between the initial misgivings of staff and the overwhelmingly positive responses of students are highlighted. The chapter concludes with a discussion of lessons learned through the process with an emphasis on how the inclusion of these themes can result in better practice for service users, including those impacted by “the Troubles” in Northern Ireland.

Operation X: Soviet Russia and the Spanish Civil War

This article offers a critical reassessment of the Soviet role in the Spanish Civil War, based on recent scholarship and declassified official documents. The author interrogates the broad historiographical consensus that reduces Soviet intervention in Spain to a sinister and nefarious force. Stalin's ignominious reputation vis-à-vis the Loyalist side is present in nearly all Western scholarship on the war, whether specialized studies by Nationalist sympathizers or Republicans in exile, or general treatments of European history written in England or America. It would be difficult to locate even a brief overview of the Civil War published outside of Russia that does not in some fashion demonize the Soviet dictator and the Soviet military assistance, code-named ‘Operation X’. The author argues that the basic error in the wide-ranging literature of this topic has always been to approach Stalin's position in Spain as one based on strength rather than weakness. If framed within the context of failure, Stalin's long-standing reputation as the villain of the Civil War may appear in a strikingly different light, and Soviets’ overall contribution to the Loyalist struggle therefore deserving a nuanced revision. The author also explores the multiple strands of the Soviet-Spanish relationship, which included not only military aid but also diplomatic, cultural and humanitarian facets.

A-level Mathematics Options – Views of Secondary-level Teachers

The A-level Mathematics qualification is based on a compulsory set of pure maths modules and a selection of applied maths modules with the pure maths representing two thirds of the assessment. The applied maths section includes mechanics, statistics and (sometimes) decision maths. A combination of mechanics and statistics tends to be the most popular choice by far. The current study aims to understand how maths teachers in secondary education make decisions regarding the curriculum options and offers useful insight to those currently designing the new A-level specifications.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with A-level maths teachers representing 27 grammar schools across Northern Ireland. Teachers were generally in agreement regarding the importance of pure maths and the balance between pure and applied within the A-level maths curriculum. A wide variety of opinions existed concerning the applied options. While many believe that the basic mechanics-statistics (M1-S1) combination is most accessible, it was also noted that the M1-M2 combination fits neatly alongside A-level physics. Lack of resources, timetabling constraints and competition with other subjects in the curriculum hinder uptake of A-level Further Maths.

Teachers are very conscious of the need to obtain high grades to benefit both their pupils and the school’s reputation. The move to a linear assessment system in England while Northern Ireland retains the modular system is likely to cause some schools to review their choice of exam board although there is disagreement as to whether a modular or linear system is more advantageous for pupils. The upcoming change in the specification offers an opportunity to refresh the assessment also and reduce the number of leading questions. However, teachers note that there are serious issues with GCSE maths and these have implications for A-level.

Using geotechnical and LIDAR spatial monitoring to determine key environmental slope instability thresholds of a Jurassic coastal landslide: Straidkilly Point, Northern Ireland, UK.

The Antrim Coast Road stretching from the seaport of Larne in the East of Northern Ireland to the famous Giant’s Causeway in the North has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the most spectacular roads in Europe (Day, 2006). At various locations along the route, fluid interactions between the problematic geology, Jurassic Lias Clay and Triassic Mudstone overlain by Cretaceous Limestone and Tertiary Basalt, and environmental variables result in frequent instances of slope instability within the vadose zone. During such instances of instability, debris flows and composite mudflows encroach on the carriageway posing a hazard to road users. This paper examines the site investigative, geotechnical and spatial analysis techniques currently being implemented to monitor slope stability for one site at Straidkilly Point, Glenarm, Northern Ireland. An in-depth understanding of the geology was obtained via boreholes, resistivity surveys and laboratory testing. Environmental variables recorded by an on-site weather station were correlated with measured pore water pressure and soil moisture infiltration dynamic data.
Terrestrial LiDAR (TLS) was applied to the slope for the monitoring of failures, with surveys carried out on a bi-monthly basis. TLS monitoring allowed for the generation of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of difference, highlighting areas of recent movement, erosion and deposition. Morphology parameters were generated from the DEMs and include slope, curvature and multiple measures of roughness. Changes in the structure of the slope coupled with morphological parameters are characterised and linked to progressive failures from the temporal monitoring. In addition to TLS monitoring, Aerial LiDARi datasets were used for the spatio-morphological characterisation of the slope on a macro scale. Results from the geotechnical and environmental monitoring were compared with spatial data obtained through Terrestrial and Airborne LiDAR, providing a multi-faceted approach to slope stability characterization, which facilitates more informed management of geotechnical risk by the Northern Ireland Roads Service.

Managerial Representations of Achieving Competitive Advantage in Architectural Firms within the United Kingdom

Purpose - The purpose is to unearth managerial representations of achieving competitive advantage in relation to architectural firms operating within the United Kingdom (UK).
Design/Methodology/Approach - A sequential qualitative methodology is applied, underpinned by nine managerial interviews in five architectural practices; all of which are analysed using computer assisted qualitative data analysis software.
Findings - 108 representations are identified with highly rated concepts discussed in detail. Subsequently, the leading concepts include reputation, client satisfaction, fees and staff resources, among others.
Research Limitations/Implications - There are numerous studies conducted on this subject; however, there has been no research done to date documenting managerial representations within the UK on achieving competitive advantage in the context of architectural firms.
Practical Implications – The need for architectural firms to develop a competitive advantage within their market sector is ever more apparent, particularly during times of increased competitiveness.
Originality/Value – This paper fulfils a gap in knowledge by contributing to underlying research on the subject of competitive advantage, but focusing on the managerial representations, specifically within UK practices. The findings are of relevance to architects in both the UK and beyond, as well as perhaps forming the basis of identifying further research with the area.

Geotechnical monitoring using a combination of LIDAR, real-time dGPS, and electrical tomography to assess geotechnical risk of a coastal landslide.

The Antrim Coast Road stretching from the seaport of Larne in the East of Northern Ireland has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the most spectacular roads in Europe (Day, 2006). However the problematic geology; Jurassic Lias Clay and Triassic Mudstone overlain by Cretaceous Limestone and Tertiary Basalt, and environmental variables result in frequent instances of slope instability manifested in both shallow debris flows and occasional massive rotational movements, creating a geotechnical risk to this highway. This paper describes how a variety of techniques are being used to both assess instability and monitor movement of these active slopes near one site at Straidkilly Point, Glenarm. An in-depth understanding of the geology was obtained via boreholes, resistivity surveys and laboratory testing. Environmental variables recorded by an on-site weather station were correlated with measured pore water pressure and soil moisture infiltration data. Terrestrial LiDAR (TLS), with surveys carried out on a bi-monthly basis allowed for the generation of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) of difference, highlighting areas of recent movement, accumulation and depletion. Morphology parameters were generated from the DEMs and include slope, curvature and multiple measures of roughness. Changes in the structure of the slope coupled with morphological parameters were characterised and linked to progressive failures from the temporal monitoring. In addition to TLS monitoring, Aerial LiDAR datasets were used for the spatio-morphological characterisation of the slope on a macro scale. A Differential Global Positioning System (dGPS) was also deployed on site to provide a real-time warning system for gross movements, which were also correlated with environmental conditions. Frequent electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys were also implemented to provide a better understanding of long-term changes in soil moisture and help to define the complex geology. The paper describes how the data obtained via a diverse range of methods has been combined to facilitate a more informed management regime of geotechnical risk by the Northern Ireland Roads Service.

Violence against women in the Irish War of Independence, 1919-1921

This chapter examines the nature and extent of violence experienced by women in Ireland during the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) at the hands of both the Crown forces and the Irish Republican Army. It argues that targetted killings of women by either side was rare. The most common forms of such violence can be categorised as physical, gendered (cutting of hair) and psychological (intimidation and the killing of male relatives). It argues that there was a difference between gendered and sexual crime, the latter of which appears to have been very uncommon. A considerable part of the chapter uses theoretical literature on violence against women in conflict zones to explain why sexual violence was uncommon, arguing that neither side had much to gain from its employment, that the Crown forces were aware of the damage it could do to Britain's international reputation and that the terror tactics adopted by the Crown forces were sufficient to achieve their ends without resorting to rape. In regard to the IRA, the absence of any evidence of rape or sexual assault being perpetrated could be attributable to their Catholicism, reliance on support from the community, the efforts of the first Dáil to achieve foreign recognition of the Republic and the role of Cumann na mBan women in the guerrilla conflict. The historiography of women in the Irish revolution is also analysed.

Protestantism, Spectacle, Motherhood and Vice: Dublin's New Pleasure Gardens

In 1748, Bartholomew Mosse, a curious combination of surgeon, obstetrician and entertainment impresario, established a pleasure garden on the northern fringes of Dublin. Ostensibly designed to fund the construction of a maternity hospital to be located adjacently, Mosse’s New Pleasure Gardens became one of the premier leisure resorts in Dublin. This was to have a profound effect on the city’s urban form. Within a few years the gardens became an epicentre of speculative development as the upper classes jostled to build their houses in the vicinity. Meanwhile, the creation nearby of Sackville Mall, a wide and generous strolling ground, established a whole section of the city dedicated to haute spectacle, display and leisure. Like other pleasure gardens in the British Isles, Mosse’s venture introduced new, commodified forms of entertainment. In the colonial context of eighteenth-century Ireland, however, ‘a land only recently won and insecurely held’ (Foster, 1988) by the Protestant Anglo-Irish settler class, the production of culture and spectacle was perhaps more significant than elsewhere. Indeed, the form of Mosse’s gardens echoed the private city gardens of a key figure in the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, while the hospital itself was constructed in a style of a Palladian country house, symbol of colonial presence in the countryside. However, like other pleasure gardens, the mix of music and alcohol, the heterogeneous crowd culled from across social and gender boundaries, and a landscape punctuated with secluded corners, meant that it also acquired a dubious reputation as a haunt of louche and illicit behaviours. The curious juxtaposition between a maternity hospital and pleasure garden, therefore, begins to assume other, hitherto hidden complexities. These are borne out by a closer examination of the architecture of the hospital, the shape of its landscape and the records of its patrons and patients.

Street Space—North Street, Belfast

The Belfast city center is fractured, divided by motorways, parking lots, empty buildings, and big box stores. Its 19th-century heyday put it on the international map of textile production, which transformed and enriched its built structure. This tight architectural fabric was slowly destroyed in the 1940s by the Blitz, in the 1970s by road plans and “the troubles” and in the 1990s by large retail buildings. Few pedestrian streets traverse Belfast, and among them, most are recently-developed conduits for the passage of shoppers from one chain store to the next.Within this seemingly bleak urban landscape, there remain a few areas that offer a richer, more architecturally and socially diverse, more memory-laden conception of public space. Current redevelopment plans, however, threaten the mere existence of these few remaining historic streets in Belfast.This reality inspired the current project of one of the Masters in Architecture design units at Queen’s University Belfast. Our team (led by urban designer Michael Corr and myself) has been exploring North Street, one of the main arteries in Belfast City Center. Although North Street has a reputation for being run-down, derelict, and in need of redevelopment, it is one of the few intact 19th-century streets left in the area, and as such is worthy of study as an example of public space that is not strictly synonymous with commercial space.

Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit: Extra-musical subtext, and its role within interpretive performance

Few works within the realm of the piano repertoire have amassed a reputation as formidable as Gaspard de la Nuit. These three pieces, each unique in character and pianistic requirements, arguably represent a pinnacle of early 20th-century French piano music. This paper seeks to illuminate points for consideration for the pianist who wishes to embark upon studying the work for performance, and for the musicologist.

I shall first consider the three character poems of Aloysius Bertrand that inspired the suite, as an understanding of these Diabolic creations is essential to understanding the piece analytically and programmatically. I shall then explore the subtitle of Bertrand’s Gaspard de la Nuit: ‘Fantaisies À La Manière De Rembrandt Et De Callot’, as an acknowledgement of these artists helps us better to engage with Bertrand’s poetry, and provides us with a direct link to the visual stimuli for Ravel’s compositions.

Finally, using Ondine as a case study, I shall explore how the composer unifies his inspirations to paint a musical portrait of both the character and the content of Bertrand’s poem. I shall focus on three particular aspects of Ravel’s style: the refined textures that create washes of watery colour, subtle rhythmic variations that imply the ‘deep, rolling currents of the sleeping lake’, and the simple melodic lines sung by the water nymph in the manner of a French air. Each element plays its part in the thematic development that illustrates Ondine’s seductive powers.