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Over the last century, there has been a dramatic change in both the composition and the structure of the Irish tax system. In this paper, we construct a new dataset of tax rates and tax bands for the main tax headings in Ireland, from 1920-2019. We document these changes and trends in tax policy in the aggregate and using the main tax headings. One striking regularity, however, is that Irish tax policy has been persistently procyclical. While tax revenues are naturally expected to vary with the cycle, we show that changes in tax rates have been conducted procyclically. Most notably, we find strong evidence that governments have tended to adjust the rates of income tax in a procyclical manner over the past century. Using an additional tax policy changes dataset, we show that discretionary tax measures - which incorporate all tax policy instruments (rates, bands, credits, exemptions, etc.) - have been largely procyclical over the period 1987-2019. These findings are in contrast with other developed countries, where tax policy has tended to be acyclical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2014 the government published a White Paper on Universal Health Insurance, which details the steps towards the implementation of the most radical reform proposals in the history of the Irish health system. The Irish health system currently contains a complex interaction between public and private financing and delivery, leading to a number of inequities, highlighting the need for reform. The government's proposals include changes to the funding, allocation and delivery of health-care resources, and will culminate with the introduction of universal mandatory private health insurance. However, there are a number of potential issues with the reforms, particularly relating to cost and cost containment, the ability of people to pay for mandatory health insurance, the need to strengthen regulatory governance and the need to invest in the provision of services. Wider health-reform issues also need to be considered, irrespective of the funding mechanism proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A hybrid method of ecological habitat survey and mapping is presented, bridging paper-based methods and mobile electronic procedures. The hybrid approach uses a hand-held PDA with real-time dGPS to map habitats and record habitat attributes. It retains paper field maps to facilitate ecological decisions and to overcome the need for field surveyors to operate a fully functional mobile GIS system. The transition from paper records to a full GIS implementation is bridged by secondary digitisation in which a GIS specialist, trained in field survey procedures, interacts routinely with the field surveyors, throughout the field season to assure data quality standards. The methodology is practical and affordable, particularly if there are multiple field surveyors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses some relevant issues in relation to the involvement of the Department of Education and Science in the education of children under four and examines the White Paper's proposals with specific reference to the target groups of young children who are disadvantaged, and young children with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on several upcoming conferences including one titled, Thanatos as Music? Schubert and Concepts of Late Style, to be held in Dublin, Ireland, in October 2011, one titled, Orchestral Conducting in the Nineteenth Century International Conference, to be held in La Spezia, Italy in July 2011, and one titled, ENIM 2011 to be held in Portugal in November 2011.

Numerous research papers have used Irish-only data to test for the presence of an investment gap for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In this paper, we use cross-country firm-level survey data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys to explore the investment patterns of Irish enterprises in a cross-country context and test whether an investment gap is present when compared to other countries. We use an accelerator model of investment which links capital expenditure to firm output growth and test the sensitivity of investment to this key fundamental for Ireland and other countries. We then estimate whether Irish firms face an investment gap relative to their European peers. We test whether any differences in cross-country patterns are driven by variation in financial factors (such as credit access or indebtedness) or firm quality (managerial experience, website usage, operating profitability). We find that Ireland's investment in fixed tangible assets is relatively well explained by these factors whereas a clear underinvestment in research and development expenditure emerges. Factors associated with investment in research and development include the degree of foreign technology usage, digitalisation and internationalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illustrates the place of root shock in the colonial and postcolonial history of Ireland and situates this series of Irish papers inspired by Mindy Fullilove’s seminal book. It explains why the practice of eviction has such a traumatic resonance within Irish society. This trauma was laid bare in the responses to a 2023 artwork by Spicebag that connected modern eviction with its historical precedents. In this paper the elements of Spicebag’s work are given their historical context with an account of dispossession and plantation, famine and exile, urban poverty, and neoliberal privatization of land and housing. In each case, a new form of root shock was added to the earlier legacies producing chronic place-based trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In recent years, issues related to body image, fat shaming, and societal perceptions of weight have gained more attention in educational discourse (Carmona-Márquez, et al., 2023; Dark and Aphramor, 2023; Nutter, Ireland, Alberga, et al., 2019; Schorb, 2022). The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of engaging students and educators to critically examine fat ideology in teacher education and P-12 classrooms through the lens of multicultural education. Design/methodology/approach: Using a multicultural lens to examine fat phobia in education. Findings: This paper explores the importance of engaging students and educators to critically examine fat ideology in teacher education and P-12 classrooms through the lens of multicultural education. Practical implications: By acknowledging the intersection of body image bias with cultural diversity, educators can foster inclusive environments that challenge harmful stereotypes and promote body positivity. This paper also provides strategies for integrating discussions on fat ideology within the multicultural education framework, aiming to empower both teachers and students from a multicultural education perspective to think critically and advocate for social justice. Social implications: This paper also provides strategies for integrating discussions on fat ideology within the multicultural education framework, aiming to empower both teachers and students from a multicultural education perspective to think critically and advocate for social justice. Originality/value: The issue of fat phobia is rarely discussed in education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines contemporary food culture in Ireland through the phenomenon of foodism and the habits and traits expressed through the subculture of foodies. Elements and actors of the Irish food scene are also considered. Qualitative research was applied to investigate the five research objectives posed. This featured six in-depth interviews with "key informants" from Ireland's tourism sector, educational sector, food sector, and a state food agency, conducted during 2020. The study draws insights from the fields of cultural studies and sociology. Thematic analysis was applied as part of the methodology process, from which five themes developed from the data findings. These are: (1) An evolving Irish food culture, (2) Two perceptions of Irish food, (3) A breakdown of hierarchies, (4) Influencing factors, (5) State body remits. The primary research reveals that industry experts and academics concur that Irish food and culture have "evolved" from a more traditional cuisine and culture and that these are dynamic entities. In addition, it establishes that there is a "hunger for food" amongst a small but growing cohort of Ireland's population, who wish to gain information via food media and to access food experiences such as culinary courses, gastro tours and food festival events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As English forces struggled to bring Ireland under Crown control during the early modern period, all aspects of Irish culture and identity were seen as potentially subversive. Irish culture posed a threat to both the regime, and to the very identity and sanctity of English bodies in a foreign and hostile land. This paper will examine the role that food played in the political discourse of sixteenth and seventeenth-century Ireland. It will investigate how aspects of food, from infant feeding, to diet, dairying and cookery became a cause of concern for English colonial commentators. It will show how descriptions of foodways were used to cast the Irish as "savages," but importantly, how they were also used to illustrate the "degeneration" of the Old English. Through the discussion of food commentators warned newcomers not to follow the fate of their predecessors; their bodies were not impenetrable, and through culinary contact, they too could be "undone." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Medical Imaging & Radiation Sciences is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mindy Thompson Fullilove’s concept of ‘Root Shock’ captures the trauma caused by the mass displacement and dispossession associated with urban renewal. In the twenty years since it was published, such policies have set in motion waves of trauma and ‘dispossessive praxis’ (Lancione, 2024, p. 841), producing what Fullilove (2004, p. 99) calls ‘a downward spiral of collapse’. Reflecting on the book’s twentieth anniversary, in this paper we draw on root shock and ancillary concepts to reflect on what happens when the forms of community, reciprocity, and solidarity presupposed in analyses of residents’ experience of displacement have already been hollowed out? We do so by examining how housing movements have had to simultaneously resist displacement and engage in active processes to create community, focusing on the experience of the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) in Ireland. We show that the denial of roots requires the praxis of cultivating and nurturing their potential through tenant organizing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Root shock is a predictable consequence of several sets of social policies in Ireland. This paper will look at how root shock is used to discipline one-parent families and people seeking asylum in Ireland. Changes to benefits and housing systems since the global economic crisis of 2008 has seen one-parent families suffer the most intense root shock through deprivation and homelessness. People seeking asylum have already suffered the most awful root shock while experiencing racism and suspicion from the Irish state, limiting their integration and overall safety. While the Irish state continues to fail to support either group, divisions deepen. The consequences of root shock have created the space for a politics of hate, which pits people seeking refuge against homeless one-parent families and allowed the far right in Ireland to weaponize the housing crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the result of the survey by the Research and Markets in Dublin, Ireland regarding the increasing percentage rates of paper production in China in 2004. Accordingly, the papermaking industry in China shows development in 2004 with 49.5 million metric tons paperboard production which is 15.1 percent more than in 2003. China's gross domestic product in 2004 reached to 9.5 percent much higher than its 7 percent target.

This paper examines the resistance of Irish regions to potential future economic shock, focusing specifically on employment change in firms in receipt of assistance from the Irish government's enterprise development agencies. The paper classifies both regions and sectors in terms of their employment performance during the course of the 2011–22 period and assesses the roles of sectoral composition and firm nationality in shaping regional performance. While nationality mix is significant, sectoral composition is seen as having a more important impact on regional employment performance. It then uses the same approach to predict the performance of regions in the context of potential future shocks post 2022. The paper suggests that the Border region is the least resistant to potential future shock. Other regions with relatively low resistance include the Mid East and the Midlands. The paper subsequently considers the implications of the findings for both regional economic divergence trends and the policy aim of balanced regional development in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are increasing pressures on firms to adjust to the major global challenges of climate change and rapid developments in digital technologies. To date, the impacts of these two challenges on firms have largely been examined as separate issues. However there are suggestions of overlap, with the potential of digital technologies to help economies and firms shift to greener production methods. This paper provides a novel contribution to this literature on a "twin transition" by examining for the first time the overlap at a firm level between climate actions and digitalisation. The data are drawn from a large-scale survey of 3,000 firms in Ireland in 2020. The report includes novel questions on energy use, climate adaption priorities and digital strategies along with a wide range of firm characteristics. Our key outcome variables are the degree of digitalisation in the firm, if it has a climate plan and does it implement climate actions such as monitoring emissions. We find considerable overlap between having a climate and a digital plan in place across firms, while controlling for a range of other firm characteristics. At the same time, we find a reasonably large share of firms have positive attitudes to the importance of climate planning but without reporting corresponding concrete actions, suggesting a gap for policy to address. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Ireland, constructed wetland systems are increasingly being used to perform tertiary treatment on municipal waste effluent from small towns and villages located in areas whose receiving waters are deemed sensitive. The bedrock formation in the west of Ireland is primarily karst limestone and where the overburden–soil cover is very shallow, such waters are highly sensitive to pollution sources, as little or no natural attenuation and/or treatment will occur. Constructed wetland technology has been seen to offer a relatively low‐cost alternative to the more conventional tertiary treatment technologies, particularly when dealing with low population numbers in small rural communities. This paper examines the waste treatment performance, in terms of nutrient (P and N) reduction, of a recently constructed surface‐flow wetland system at Williamstown, County Galway, Ireland. Performance evaluation is based on more than two years of water quality and hydrological monitoring data. The N and P mass balances for the wetland indicate that the average percentage reduction over the two‐year study period is 51% for total N and 13% for total P. The primary treatment process in the wetland system for suspended solids (between 84 and 90% reduction), biological oxygen demand (BOD) (on average, 49% reduction), N, and P is the physical settlement of the particulates. However, the formation of algal bloom during the growing season reduces the efficiency of the total P removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

While unemployment benefits constitute a significant share of welfare transfers in developed countries, the computable general equilibrium (CGE) literature ignores the impact of unemployment rate changes on these transfers. This paper investigates the impacts of alternative welfare transfer determination rules by using a dynamic CGE model for Ireland. We find that indexing the nominal welfare transfer budget to the consumer price index (CPI) and the aggregate unemployment rate is superior to the CPI alone. Although both specifications generate similar macroeconomic outcomes, our novel specification improves household welfare as well as income distribution across households. We argue that it is more in line with the behaviour of governments and that the literature ignores the progressivity elements embedded in the welfare system, which will reduce the welfare cost of carbon taxation. The results can be generalised in analysing the impacts of tax reform in countries where unemployment benefits are essential elements of welfare transfers. • We developed a multi-sectoral, multi-household intertemporal CGE model. • We analysed the Irish carbon tax with different welfare transfer budget (WTB) rules. • CGE literature updates the fixed WTB in real terms by the consumer price index (CPI). • We argue that the WTB should be responsive both to the CPI and the unemployment rate. • Considering unemployment benefits in the WTB lowers the carbon tax's regressivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the changes to the MFD Examination introduced by the Faculty of Dentistry of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). It states that multiple choice questions and objective short answers consist part 1 of the examination. The website of the faculty that details the regulations for the new MFD examination is also presented.

In many parts of the Global North, the imagined (and often illusionary) "whiteness" of rural societies has been both exposed and contested by the transnational movements of racialised migrant workers, refugees, asylum seekers and other immigrants. Such dynamics have prompted a renegotiation of ideas of race and rurality, with both reactionary responses of white populism and more progressive responses that assert a "rural cosmopolitanism" that evokes associations with hospitality, solidarity and community in rural culture. To explore these themes, this paper discusses evidence from three rural towns in Ireland and Wales with recent settlement of refugees or asylum seekers. The paper examines the articulation of a discourse of cosmopolitanism in the towns, the roles that are scripted within these discourses, both for migrants and for established residents, and the performance of these expectations. It reveals gaps between discourse and practice, with "actually existing cosmopolitanism" in the towns being characterized by ambivalence and precarity. The paper argues that both the discursive construction and the partial practice of cosmopolitanism are embedded in the rural, non-metropolitan settings of the towns and informed by place-specific palimpsests of migration and colonialism. • Refugee and asylum seeker resettlement in rural areas has increased yet analysis is limited compared to urban cases. • Previous studies identify both economic contributions and issues around limited access to housing, jobs and support networks. • Case studies show positive local responses to refugee resettlement, articulating discourses of rural cosmopolitanism. • Rural cosmopolitanism in practice may depart from expectations, through ambivalence and dissent, producing precarity. • The discourse and practice of cosmopolitanism are embedded in place and informed by palimpsests of migration and colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we use Irish data to simulate the impact of housing supplements (like HAP and RAS) on deprivation. We consider this effect overall and for different social risk groups, using the SILC dataset. We also compare the predicted deprivation of housing supplement recipients to the predicted deprivation of Local Authority tenants. Housing supplements are designed to cover the housing needs of vulnerable families in the private rental sector and many of these supplements provide important support. We find that housing supplements are more common among vulnerable social risk groups; lone parents and the unemployed are the most likely to receive these. We also find that recipients of housing supplements have similar rates of predicted deprivation when compared to those in Local Authority housing. Finally, we show that the predicted probability of deprivation falls after we consider the impact of these on a respondent's total equivalised income. This effect is particularly large for vulnerable groups like lone parents. The paper helps to understand the importance of housing supplements as a means of reducing deprivation, and the social risk differences in this effect. Debate on the topic of housing supplements has focused on the transfers' costs to the Exchequer, but their efficacy as a form of social protection has been less examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses some of the theoretical and practical implications of the Common European Framework of Reference for Visual Competency (CEFR-VC), developed through the European Network for Visual Literacy (Envil), in the context of international trends in curriculum design. Empirical application of the Framework is examined through the specific experience of designing a national programme for art in Ireland, for a high stakes public examination. The paper reflects on the issues that the Framework raised in that context. The paper suggests that a useful lens through which to view the framework might be that of activity theory and proposes that the framework itself might best be understood as a 'boundary-object' that can help inform the complex negotiations between art education and schooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the Irish data from a large-scale European study entitled 'Disentangling Inclusion in Primary Physical Education European Erasmus + project' (DIPPE). The quantitative study aimed to investigate teachers' practices on the inclusion of children with additional needs (AN) in primary physical education (PE) and identifying supports welcomed by teachers that could enhance their practices. The Irish data is based on the analysed results from 137 respondents (n=137) to an online questionnaire. The results showed some encouraging findings. However, it is crucial that teachers are aware of the importance of questioning their practices especially the withdrawal of children from the PE lesson and concentrate on how activities and the environment may be best adapted to include them further. The Irish results added to the European 'call' for specific supports that led to the development of an online website underpinned with the principles of universal design for learning (UDL) to further support teachers on inclusion in PE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart devices are used to facilitate cyberattacks against both their users and third parties. While users are generally able to seek redress following a cyberattack via data protection legislation, there is no equivalent pathway available to third-party victims who suffer harm at the hands of a cyberattacker. Given how these cyberattacks are usually conducted by exploiting a publicly known and yet un-remediated bug in the smart device's code, this lacuna is unreasonable. This paper scrutinises recent judgments from both the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Ireland to ascertain whether these rulings pave the way for third-party victims to pursue negligence claims against the manufacturers of smart devices. From this analysis, a narrow pathway, which outlines how given a limited set of circumstances, a duty of care can be established between the third-party victim and the manufacturer of the smart device is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarises the state of the art for strength grading of construction timber grown in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It includes the latest approvals based on recent research on spruce, larch and Douglas-fir. It lists the following information along with the primary references: visual grading grades and strength class assignments; grading machines with approved settings for machine control grading; the species, size ranges and strength class combinations covered; and grade determining properties of specific strength classes for the UK and Irish markets. This paper is useful for those grading timber, and those specifying UK and Irish grown timber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automation has the potential to transform entire agricultural value chains and the nature of agricultural business. Recent studies have emphasised barriers to adoption, as well as issues related to labour market and cultural outcomes of automation. However, thus far, very little attention has been afforded to the regional variations in the potential for automation adoption or threats to agricultural employment. Specifically, research to date does not take into account the local availability of similar occupations including those in different sectors to which displaced workers may transition. Threats to employment and lower numbers of similar jobs locally are particularly salient in rural contexts, given the thin and specialized local labour markets. The aims of this paper are to show the regional distribution of risk to automation for the agricultural sector specifically, and to link these patterns to indicators for occupation specific labour market thickness in Ireland. Using detailed occupational skills data, we construct indices for local labour market thickness conditioned on occupational skills and knowledge requirements. We show that there is substantial regional heterogeneity in the potential threat of automation to the employment prospects of workers currently active in the agricultural sector. This regional heterogeneity highlights the importance of the regional context for designing effective labour market policy in the face of job automation. • The K-means cluster analysis in this paper reveals four distinct types of agricultural employment separated on knowledge- and skills-bases. • Agricultural employment at high risk of automation can transfer to low risk jobs in other sectors. • The availability of low risk alternative jobs is heterogeneous across regions. • We reveal regional clusters of automation risk and low numbers alternative jobs for farmers and forestry workers in the Borders region in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides the first empirical estimation of cross-price elasticities of public and private transportation using a fully flexible demand system and Irish data. Focusing on vehicle owners, in line with the existing literature, the results show that these commodities are complements. This paper also finds that additional carbon taxation is not as regressive as previously found, when the externality cost associated with driving is included in the metric of the tax incidence. A lump-sum transfer and subsidies for public transit can reduce the disproportional burden imposed on low-income households by the carbon tax. However, it is shown that subsidies need to be targeted because benefits are not accrued disproportionally by low-income households, and this can reduce environmental savings from carbon taxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on original rigorous research conducted in an extensive range of local, national and international state archives, sporting repositories and personal papers. In focus is the 1948 London Olympic Games, the Olympic movement and a 'new' phase in Irish–British relations involving international sport. Here, for the first time, we elucidate the role of non-state sportive diplomats who, acting as cultural intermediaries, were involved in the production of ideas about the normative rules governing international jurisdiction and identity that prevented nations/states from being recognized on their own terms. The intricate details revealed here are made possible by a rigorous two-way traffic between sensitizing concepts and evidence: specifically, the quest for exciting significance by non-state actors, soft power struggles and 'patriot games' via the medium of international Olympic and athletic movements. The paper also makes two other important contributions: to sport in/and international relations and the politics of Olympic protests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measurement of farm economic viability has received intermittent academic interest with limited attention given to the conceptual framework surrounding the issue. This paper focuses attention on farm economic viability in Ireland where there are growing concerns about a two-tiered agricultural sector with increasing levels of economic vulnerability. The measurement of farm economic viability is usually based on the headcount ratio, which identifies whether a farm business is viable or non-viable and does not inform about the extent of non-viability. Therefore, it is necessary to develop alternative techniques to provide more clarity on viability levels and thereby inform assessments regarding the efficacy of the Common Agricultural Policy. This paper draws on concepts from the poverty literature to develop a viability gap measure and a viability severity measure. The results are sensitive to the choice of indicator and point to a wide distribution of viability between the most viable and least viable farms. The headcount ratio provides the basis for an incomplete assessment of viability levels and multiple indicators should be considered in monitoring viability levels. • The Farm Viability Gap is calculated using methods from the poverty literature. • The Viability Gap shows wide dispersion in the viability of farms in Ireland. • Farm Viability improves in disadvantaged areas of natural constraint. • The 2018 summer drought has a large impact on the viability gap. • Off-Farm employment is highest for the least viable 20 per cent of farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thousands of girls and young women migrated to Australia in the nineteenth century. Many were members of voluntary migrant families who were drawn to the colonies for new opportunities and a better life. Despite their numbers, these girls' experiences of the journey have been little studied. This article examines several extant shipboard diaries, written by girls and young women aged from 10 to 22 who travelled from Britain and Ireland to Australia. These diaries, composed between 1851 and 1884, recount girls' daily lives on board ship and lay bare their emotions as they journeyed towards a new life. Girls used writing and the physical form of a diary to work through and regulate the emotional upheavals and perils of migration. Graphite, ink and paper were employed to navigate loss, boredom, homesickness, fear and uncertainty. By centring girl-produced sources, this article gives voice to the often-overlooked migration experiences of girls and shows how analysis of age and gender draws attention to the emotions of migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper employs elite formation quantitative indices to directly and transparently compare the role of the Irish secondary school system in the formation of Ireland's political and judicial elites, over its history as an independent country (1922–2022). Whereas other elite studies have tended to compare either the same elite formation systems or the same elites, across countries, we examine the eliteness, influence and exclusiveness of one formation system in the creation of two very different societal elites. Our results suggest that the secondary schools that educated Ireland's superior court judges were significantly more elite and influential than those that educated its cabinet ministers. Additionally, the vast majority of the secondary schools that educated superior court judges, and about 30 per cent of those that educated cabinet ministers, were fee-paying schools, a category of school that constitutes only a tiny fraction of the secondary schools in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a multi-proxy, palaeolimnological investigation of Lough Inchiquin, a large lake located immediately south of the Burren, a distinctive karst landscape in Co Clare, western Ireland which has been exploited since the Neolithic period. Chironomid sub-fossil analysis and lake sediment geochemistry provides an opportunity to infer lake response to prehistoric farming activity. The results of these new analyses are contextualised by pollen and loss-on-ignition evidence from the same lake catchment. The combined data of chironomid, loss-on-ignition (LOI550, LOI950 and non-combustible fraction (NCF)), organic geochemistry (δ13Corg, δ15N, Corg:N ratio), inorganic geochemistry (Ti, Fe, Mn, S and δ18O) and fossil pollen has allowed for an in-depth understanding of the palaeolimnological and palaeoenvironmental changes from the Mesolithic to the Late Bronze Age (c. 4590–660 BC) in the catchment of Lough Inchiquin. The data highlight the increasing ecological impact of anthropogenic activity through time and provide well-dated evidence for the initiation of Holocene soil erosion from the Burren. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural social enterprises are increasingly recognized as organisations that contribute to local development by providing goods and/or services to meet community needs and by fostering inclusive social and governance relations. The purpose of this paper is to explore how rural social enterprises engage in a plurality of socio-economic relations with different dimensions of their 'place' when contributing to the development of their localities. Based on three in-depth case studies of social enterprises operating in rural Ireland, our findings illustrate how rural social enterprises engage with locational, institutional, material and identity aspects of their 'place', which indicates their 'placial embeddedness'. Moreover, our findings also demonstrate how these organisations engage in, and combine market, redistribution and reciprocity relations, which indicates their 'substantive hybridity'. Based on the interrelated nature of these findings, we argue that it is through a process of placial substantive hybridity that rural social enterprises foster social innovation in order to contribute to an integrated development of their localities. They harness and (re)valorise (untapped) local resources while complementing these with other resources from extra-local sources and accommodate and/or respond to structural-exogenous forces based on the needs of their local population in line with neo-endogenous rural development. • Rural social enterprises can be key actors that link social innovation with neo-endogenous rural development. • Rural social enterprises harness and (re)valorize locational, material, institutional and identity aspects of a place. • Rural social enterprises engage and combine market, redistribution and reciprocity (socio-)economic relations. • Rural social enterprises foster social innovation through 'placial substantive hybridity'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nulliparous patients experience poor progress in labour far more commonly than multiparous, with "failure to progress" or "dystocia in labour" becoming one of the leading indications for caesarean section in nulliparous populations. A wide range of practices exist which aim to avoid prolonged labour. This paper aims to discuss the management of poor progress in labour focusing on the nulliparous population at term with a cephalic presentation, Robson Groups I and IIA. We will then proceed to illustrate cases of poor progress and their management in the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) Dublin, Ireland. It should be noted that all references to multiparous populations in this paper refer to those at term, with a cephalic presentation and without a previous uterine scar- Robson Groups III and IVa. This article focuses on the 'active management of labour' (AML), pioneered in Dublin, and uses examples to contrast this with management of labour according to NICE guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study by the Irish Food Board, Bord Bia, in 2008 outlined some lost and forgotten food traditions in Ireland based on the evidence from a pre-selected expert group. This paper explores the inclusion of traditional Irish foods within seventy-nine Irish cookbooks, published between 1980 to 2015. Extant academic and grey literature on food traditions and cookbooks, together with the content of the cookbooks, identified a gradual decline in the presence of certain traditional Irish foods, to the point where they could be deemed lost or forgotten. The study, however, also finds a re-emergence in the most recent period. A notable omission in both the corpus of cookbooks, highlighting their aspirational function, and the Bord Bia report, was bacon and cabbage, a traditional dish closely associated with Ireland. This paper outlines the importance of documenting food traditions in order to pass on this knowledge to future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments around the world are seeking to achieve socially just transitions to environmentally sustainable modes of agricultural production. Policy makers have increasingly sought to engage an array of societal actors in the collaborative design and implementation of associated policies, which we refer to as Agri-Environmental Policy (AEP) initiatives. Yet, the existing literature includes little context specific exploration of the motivations of those who engage with such initiatives. This paper addresses this gap by exploring the motivations of a small group of actors who established and coordinated a collaborative group to apply to one AEP initiative in Ireland – the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI). This group included three farmers, an agri-environmental policy advocate, and a research scientist. Drawing on assemblage literature, we illustrate how each of these actors' motivations emerged 1) based on the specific relationships in which they operated and 2) based on their imagining of potential future scenarios, which they sought to actualise through EIP-AGRI. This paper thus provides a qualitative account of how motivations emerge as different actors creatively navigate complex sets of relationships. We illustrate the utility of an assemblage approach to explore such motivations in ways that account for specific contexts and the capacity of each actor to engage with possible futures. We conclude that the capacity of collaborative approaches to AEP to appeal to actors from different backgrounds relies heavily on such actors' ability to envisage and anticipate new possibilities. This line of exploration helps us to better understand the extent to which collaborative AEP may align the multiple goals associated with transitioning to environmentally sustainable and socially just food production systems. • Agri-Environmental Policy (AEP) initiatives increasingly promote collaboration. • More case-study research is needed on actor motivation to engage with AEP. • Motivations emerge as actors navigate relationships and envisage new possibilities. • Assemblage provides a useful framework for analysing this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agri-food sectors in Northern Ireland (NI) and Ireland (IRL) have become more integrated with more investments from IRL in the north and advances in all Ireland cooperation on animal health and welfare, and disease control. However, as both jurisdictions are considered structurally similar and both have a large dairy and beef sector, they are competing in the Great Britain (GB) market for agrifood products. When considering the island of Ireland agri-food sectors in the context of Brexit and the NI Protocol, there will be clear winners and losers under different Brexit and NI protocol scenarios. What constitutes a relatively “good” economic outcome for NI farmers may come at the expense of IRL farmers, while relatively “good” economic outcomes for IRL farmers may amplify negative outcomes for NI farmers. This paper analyses the impacts of the NI Protocol in terms of what it means for the agri-food sectors in IRL, NI, but also for the island of Ireland (ISL) as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to draw lessons from the Irish experience of COVID-19 by concentrating on the importance of mobility, especially the role of commuting. As lockdown periods progressed, we found increasing levels of workplace attendance, over and above what would be expected if only essential workers were physically going to work. Mobility-related variables were significantly associated with increased incidence of the virus at a national level. The level of inter-county essential worker commuting was found to be inversely related to infection rates in the workers’ home county. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper challenges inherited twentieth-century assumptions of suburbia by teasing out existing interrelationships between the city centre and its peripheries. This is done through a content analysis of promotional material and spatial plans guiding the development of 'City Edge', a proposed 700-hectare regeneration scheme over an industrial development in the periphery of Dublin, Ireland. The analysis of new land-use ambitions for City Edge elucidates tensions around the 'highest and best use' of land, the role of non-local speculative approaches, and how the demand for housing in global cities, combined with an ideal of 'mixed-use' is reshaping suburban landscapes. In so doing, we draw upon the concepts of 'blandscape' and 'blendscape' to examine some contradictory forces at work in shaping contemporary suburban space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prisons in Ireland and across the world are subject to a growing range of scrutiny bodies. However, even as such bodies strive to develop best practices there remain inherent challenges related to how best to generate meaningful knowledge about the prison experience. Through analysis of interviews with prisoners in Ireland, this paper explores the barriers to engagement which prisoners face when choosing (or not) to interact with prison oversight mechanisms. These barriers include low expectations of prisons and the ability of prisons to change, low awareness and trust in oversight bodies and their role in protecting prisoners’ rights, as well as concerns about the consequences of speaking up and what is worth speaking up about. This final barrier termed wasted agency, can place a limit on when and what prisoners are willing to speak to bodies about and what is considered worth taking a risk for. Recognizing the role these barriers play in who and what is referred to prison oversight bodies can shine a light on scrutiny gaps which may arise and differences in communication between oversight bodies and those they are intended to protect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to examine the current Town Centre Management [TCM] practices within Ireland's rural towns since the abolition of Town Councils in 2014. This new study finds that Ireland's approach to TCM is much more complicated and multifarious with varying practices across the samples. The findings highlight a fractured TCM partnership between the public sector (Local Government), and opposing sectors, (Retailers, Volunteering Groups, Citizens, and Business Owners). Adding to the knowledge on TCM schemes in Ireland, this paper finds that despite respected recommendations from semi-state bodies to drive town centre management by local 'dynamic leaders', no model has been developed to attract, support, and retain such a person. This post-positivistic study with a descriptive qualitative design was drawn from a series of in-depth interviews with significant key stakeholders, across a stratified sample of rural towns, that have experience in TCM practices. The results which emerge facilitate a theoretical management framework as a guide for town centre stakeholders to analyse the unique elements of their situation and implement a strategy towards a TCM scheme. This research demonstrates that TCM with the right structure and support from local government is a viable solution to rejuvenating towns in rural Ireland. • Ireland's approach to town centre management is diverse. • Rural towns need support from Local Government to ensure they remain sustainable. • Ireland's rural towns need to develop a Town Centre Management scheme. • Rural places need a designated salaried town manager to drive positive change. • Consequences of the abolition of Town Councils in Rural Ireland in 2014. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that professional regulatory frameworks are shaped by sociocultural factors and prevailing ideologies that stem from society's interactions with and expectations of the regulated professions. Taking a century of Irish nursing and midwifery regulation as a case reflection, the paper highlights five regulatory pivot points to provide a historical narrative of how adopting a sociocultural perspective can enlighten our understanding of the current regulatory form. A form that in early twenty-first-century Ireland resulted in the establishment of a professionally contentious, non-professional (lay) majority on the regulatory board for these frontline professions. The paper concludes by suggesting that when viewed through a sociocultural lens, regulatory change is to be expected. As prevailing ideologies change, power, influence and cultures alter to support and reinforce the new ideology. Professional regulation thereby becomes reflective of society's views on professionalism and professional identity, drawing on society's historical experiences of the professions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores Irish Government Pensions Reform proposals, from the perspective of the self-employed community and specifically the farming community. It investigates whether the proposed changes to the State Pension System set out in the Governments "Roadmap for Pensions reform 2018–2023" will, in the context of farmers and the stated objectives of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, keep pensioners above the poverty line and help ensure the survival of rural Ireland or whether, the family interdependencies which currently exist and the vulnerabilities that arise as a consequence, will remain largely unaddressed. This paper illustrates the stark reality that under the current State Pension System, low-income farmers can fail to qualify either for the State Pension (Contributory) or the State Pension (Non-Contributory) leaving them faced with working long into their retirement years or financially dependent on family members in their old age, and that proposed changes to the State Welfare System do not alleviate this predicament. This has subsequent consequences for the sustainability of generational renewal in the agricultural industry and consequently could have far reaching societal impacts. Conscious of the view that farmers should "pay their way" as far as state pensions are concerned, we recommend a model for achieving undisputed entitlement for all farmers to the Contributory State Pension, going forward. • There are huge concerns about the sustainability of an aging farming population in Ireland and in many OECD countries. • Under Irish pension policy low income farmers may not qualify for the State Pension leaving them financially vulnerable. • Pension policy is important for the sustainability of generational renewal in agriculture with significant societal impact. • Irish pension policy reform fails to alleviate an asymmetry between succession planning, retirement income and generational renewal. • We recommend a model for achieving undisputed entitlement for all farmers to the Contributory State Pension, going forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]