Lekkie Piccie: An experience

I wake up at 7 am to prepare. In actual fact I had been preparing all week. I’ve spent the week applying face masks, hair braids, fake tan and false nails-all to try look good in a field in Stradbally.

Mother announces that she’s bringing us in at 8 to avoid the traffic, giving me just enough time to lash myself with glitter and sparkly makeup.

We end up leaving at half 8 and take about 3 hours to complete the normal 35 minute journey from my house to Stradbally. Tensions are high to say the least as mammy debates what way to go as we are going mad in the back of the car, giddy with excitement.

When we finally get there we set off with our bags and camping gear, looking like we’re going do a year in Antarctica.

The trek into the picnic itself is a long and tortuous one. Many fall along the way and some are left behind. Here is where the strong are separated from the weak. I struggle under the weight of my 100 pound bags. The only thing keeping me going is the music blaring from the campsite and the cans in my hand.

As we get in I suddenly feel like the oldest person there. Seeing teenage girls in hot pants and the shortest of crop tops makes me question what way were they reared at all, and do they not feel the cold?  As an EP veteran, (well I’ve been going for three years), I like to think I know all the ins and outs of surviving a festival and know that comfort is always number one above anything else. I smile smugly to myself as I think of them freezing for the sake of trying to look good while I’m nice and warm in my thermals and woolly jumper. Suddenly I feel like an 80 year old grandmother and tell myself to cop on and get more cans.

My routine ends up being the same as it is every year. I promise myself I will go see everything and experience all of the cultural antiquities on offer. Instead I end up sipping on my cans all day and taking a heap of selfies.

I realise I’m not much of a camper as I question why am I trying to sleep here while hearing someone urinate outside of my tent when I could be at home snug in my bed with a cup of tea.

The acts keep me going. The likes of Bell X1, Chemical Brothers, Jenny Greene and the RTÉ 2 Concert Orchestra and King Kong Company get me up out of the campsite and screaming along to the songs I know. On Sunday I eventually get around to the other sites. I feel proud going to the likes of Body and Soul and Other Voices, reassuring myself that yes, I am very cultured. By 12pm I’m cold, wet and reckon I’ve walked about 10 miles that day alone. I decide to go home and get some much needed rest.

Overall, the Picnic was definitely an experience. I drank enough to last me three weekends, went and screamed on arcade rides, took in most of the brilliant music offer and I’m still wondering if those poor girls have felt the cold on their legs yet.

Things every UL fresher should know

1.       Realise that the 304 is never on time:

The 304 is the bus service from UL into Limerick and vice-versa which runs as regularly as I do, which isn’t very often. Please do not depend on the bus if you need to be anywhere on time.  Even though it is only roughly 15 minutes into town it can take up to an hour sometimes. Try get the bus a lot earlier than the time they need to be in by.

2.       DON’T use your house for the first house party:

Especially not during Freshers’ week. Seriously. Your house will get wrecked and covered in drink, puke and other weird shit and looking back on it, it’s definitely not worth it.

There will also be some really ignorant lad who doesn't even go to your college who will trash your house and you WILL end up despising him for the rest of the year.

3.       Be 5 minutes early to a class if it’s on in the main building:

The main building is a maze. There are fourth years who don’t know how to navigate the main building. If you have a class in the main building try get there early because you will end up wondering where the hell B1023 is for the first three months (or years).

4.       Download YikYak:

YikYak is an app where people in your area can put up funny posts and it’s fair to say UL YikYak is up there with the best of them. Posts are checked by YikYak before they are posted so no bullying is tolerated. Click to make UL your herd and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

5.       Respect Black Dog:

It’s an unwritten rule but it’s probably one of the most crucial ones. Black Dog has roamed UL campus for God knows how long and must be respected. He’s just a friendly black dog that likes biscuits and sitting outside of the library waiting for a pet down.

6.       This won’t apply to every first year but if you like handsome rugby players, Munster rugby train on the Kilmurry pitches every Monday around midday. Do with this information what you will.

7.       There are people to help you settle into college life:

It sounds corny but UL is a great place to go to college. It’s relaxed and friendly and a lot less scary than most big universities.

If you’re struggling, feeling a bit lost or a bit homesick there are a lot of people you can talk to including the First Seven Weeks team, the counselling service, the chaplaincy service, your academic advisor or any lecturer you feel comfortable talking to.

College is a great opportunity and experience but that doesn’t mean that people don’t ever feel down or worried about something both inside and outside of college life. The main thing is that it’s okay not to be okay and there are support services that can help with whatever you may be feeling. J

Why Irish politics is nothing more than one big, dysfunctional family

Watching the leaders’ debate reminded me of nothing more than a family fighting over who gets to be in charge of the tv remote, and mud-slinging when they couldn't say what they wanted to say.

Fianna Fáil was seen as the traditional 'head of the house', in charge for countless years until Fine Gael stepped up to the plate. Being the proud breadwinner, Fianna Fáil did not step down easily, and constantly try to undermine Fine Gael's proposals, and nit-pick at their mistakes. Despite Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael having almost the exact same ideas and policies, one will never admit that the other might be doing the right thing.
Fianna Gael insists on being the nagging housewife, always making it known that they are having to clean up the other half's mess. "You put us in this position," is a favourite saying of theirs, as they try to sweep the IMF under the rug.
Labour is like the ageing great-aunt, still attending every event but has diminished severely in the past five years.
Sinn Féin comes in as the stroppy teenager, demanding independence and wanting to know when it’s their turn to get to do things. They argue that their friends in the north get to do things and that it hasn't led to any trouble so far. However the family are not prepared to forgive Sinn Fein's wild, rebellious years in the past just yet.
Renua, the Social Democrats and the Anti-Austerity Alliance are young and like the children of the family. Who of course, are never listened to.

Our next government should focus on mental health

Politicians want to know one thing in the run-up to elections: what are the main issues affecting the people, but what issue effects absolutely every member of the population? 

With one in four people in Ireland being diagnosed with a mental health illness at some point in their lives, mental health issues will affect everyone in our country. Whether it be directly or through a family member, friend, or relative, we will all ultimately be affected by a mental health condition.

If our government wants to see any real change in this small island nation of ours, we have to start changing our attitudes and approaches to mental health issues. 

According to the National Suicide Research Foundation, 554 people committed suicide last year alone. This death rate is higher than the death rate for road accidents, lung cancer and house fires combined.

We need our politicians to give us a glimpse of hope. We need to show our young people that there is more to life than finding the answer down the bottom of a bottle or in the bottom of a river. 

It is all too easy to push mental health illnesses aside and insist that the individual deal with it themselves.

Imagine if we did the same for people suffering with lung problems or in need of a kidney transplant. Telling visibly ill people that, ‘we simply do not have the services to deal with this now’ or that ‘there are things you can do to help yourself, you know…’ 

Mental health issues are like any other issue-they will not go away unless we try to solve it. We need to introduce compulsory mental health talks in schools and state funded check-ups by GPs on our mental well-being every year. 

Thousands of people in Ireland alone are suffering and how can our politicians expect us to be a strong and stable nation when its people are not?

I am just one voice urging our next government-whoever it may be-whenever it sits down to discuss possible budget cuts and to lower social spending, to consider the effects it will have on its people.

There are thousands of voices silently wishing the same thing. For themselves or for someone they love. It is only when these wishes are granted, and when these illnesses are acknowledged, that we will begin to see real change. 

New Years Resolutions

Okay, so this isn't the most original topic but I feel if I post these online people will know if I have or haven't been completing them and I will be ultimately shamed into doing them. :)

Number 1: Study more
Study more. Study harder. Study more efficiently. You get the general gist of it; I need to study. My QCA for last year was 3.4 so I'm looking to maintain that or do better than it. Semester one was fun but now it's time to get down to it. *Sigh*

Number 2: Spend less money on material possessions, more on experiences.
Travelling has always been big on my to-do list and to do this I need to spend less time and money on material possessions and save to spend on experiences. Nights out and spending on clothes and make-up will ultimately take a hit but it will all be worth it!

Number 3: Expand my journalistic horizons
It's usually everyone's New Years Resolution to apply themselves more to their career but in this case it is badly needed. I hope to do videos in the future but this has proven difficult as a) I don't have a high-quality recording camera and b) High-quality recording cameras are expensive. I also want to write more articles and get more stuff published so it's really up to myself here.

Number 4: Focus on my friends
It's fair to say that my friends are some of the best there is so for this year I'm going to give back to them. You'd be surprised at what good a girly catch-up and a bit of treating yourselves will do!

Interview with a Syrian mother

Rula Al-Aken is a Syrian native and mum-of-two living in Limerick. 

Rula moved from Syria to Ireland in 1999.  

She says that Ireland is her home now and she doesn't know if she can ever go back to Syria.

"My country seems so unrecognisable now. It's hard for me to think of going back there and not seeing the same Damascus. It's all gone."

Rula's father passed away in 2013, but as it was during the war, Rula could not travel home for the funeral. 

Rula is urging Irish people to allow Syrians to come here. "People are being raped and murdered. It's not safe in Syria."

She speaks about the conditions that the Syrian people are now facing. "There is only four hours of water a day and two hours of electricity a day. There are no basic things left to survive. People with children have to leave to protect their children. No Syrian person wants to leave Syria but they have to."

Rula also speaks about ISIS. "What ISIS is doing to Syrian people is inhumane. ISIS are not Syrian. It's important that people know what this group is doing to other human beings."

"If Ireland can afford to bring more people into the country I would love that."

"To live away from home is very different from imply visiting a different place. When I settled here I just had to think, 'that's it, this is home now.'" 

Classic case of the fuckboy

Ah, the fuckboy. Much has been documented about the fuckboy in recent years and we are all aware of the warning signs associated with them. But why do we continue to let them in, and even worse, fall for them? Here’s hoping you can learn some truths about not falling for a fuckboy. Warning: the truth can be harsh.

Stop looking for the love of your life in a nightclub:

It’s like looking for a Chanel bag in the middle of Tesco. If you are the type of person that gets easily attached (holding my hand up high here) it’s better not to even GET with someone at the club. You might think “Oh this is fun?” but days later you can’t stop wondering if they’re thinking about you too. God forbid if he actually texts you after it, then you go full creeping mode into his life.

Stop it. The best way to avoid all this is to ignore every last fuckboy at the club. (You will ultimately feel empowered by this and play every Beyonce classic in your head.)

Stop stalking fuckboys online:

Seriously? So you look up his Facebook to find what? Some girl he’s just added and all his dumbwit friends commenting on it? (The girl probably doesn’t even know the chap in the first place, so don’t go putting your hate on her). Shut down that goddamn laptop, even delete him from your friends list. If you want a more subtle approach, you can simply block seeing his fuckboy activities on your homepage. Simples.

Do not hate on the girl the fuckboy is getting with behind your back:

Women are meant to empower each other, and in a world full of fuckwit fuckboys we need to stick together. Don’t go bitching about the girl you heard he got with. Chances are, she doesn’t even know ye have a thing together (what are ye anyways? Texting? Shfiting? Are ye exclusive? Fucking fuckboys.) Get off your high horse and stop insulting her eyebrows. Insult him instead. Or better yet, move on with it with some Ben & Jerrys followed by a girls’ night.

Focus on yo’self:

Stop trying to get his attention. If a lad genuinely likes you, you will earn his attention in other ways than posting up a hot selfie and seeking likes. Educate yourself goddammit. Focus on getting your long awaited driving licence. Further your career. Start helping your parents at home. Make time to catch up with your friends.

The right person will come along eventually, and there’s no point in diving in the pool of fuckboys hoping to seek one out. You will not ‘change’ him, no matter how much you try. So focus on yourself and enjoying life, you’re only young once!

To leave ye feeling in a 'hell yeah!' mood I'll finish off with a quote by Chimamanda Adichie (novelist, feminist and all-around inspiration): 

We teach girls to shrink themselves
To make themselves smaller
We say to girls,
"You can have ambition
But not too much
You should aim to be successful
But not too successful
Otherwise you will threaten the man."
Because I am female
I am expected to aspire to marriage
I am expected to make my life choices
Always keeping in mind that
Marriage is the most important
Now marriage can be a source of
Joy and love and mutual support
But why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage
And we don't teach boys the same?
We raise girls to see each other as competitors
Not for jobs or for accomplishments
Which I think can be a good thing
But for the attention of men
We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings
In the way that boys are
Feminist: the person who believes in the social
Political, and economic equality of the sexes