Four articles on Irish traditional music

Four sole-authored entries in this Encyclopedia under the titles "Belfast", "Music and Politics," and "Traditional Music Revivals" and "Traditional Music, Aesthetics" totalling 6000 words.

I also served on the Editorial Advisory Committee for this Encyclopedia.

Thermoforming carbon fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites

The use of carbon fibre composites is growing in many sectors but their use remains stronger in very high value industries such as aerospace where the demands of the application more easily justify the high energy input needed and the corresponding costs incurred. This energy and cost input is returned through gains over the whole life of the product, with for example, longer maintenance intervals for an aircraft and lower fuel burn. Thermoplastic composites however have a different energy and cost profile compared to traditional thermosets with notable differences in recyclability, but this profile is not well quantified or documented. This study considers the key process control parameters and identifies an optimal window for processing, along with the effect this has on the final characteristics of the manufactured parts. Interactions between parameters and corresponding sensitivities are extracted from the results.

“An Examination of the Key Factor of Influence In the Development Process of Credit Union Industries,”

The aim of this paper is to analyse credit union industries within a development framework. Explicit consideration is given to credit union industries in four countries – Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States. It is argued that in terms of a developmental typology the credit union industry in Great Britain is at a nascent stage of development, the industries in Ireland and New Zealand are at a transition stage while the US credit union industry is mature in nature. In progression between stages the analysis considers the influence of factors such as situational leadership, the complexion of trade associations, professionalisation, regulatory and legislative initiatives and technology. The analysis concluded that while there was a substantial commonality of experience, there were also significant differences in the impact of these factors. This consequently encouraged the recognition of the existence of ‘a variety of the species’ in respect of credit union development.