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Background: Simulations, ludic or otherwise, have so far struggled to gain a foothold in mainstream historiography. Some authors suggest there may be fundamental incompatibilities between history and the language of simulations and scholarly games. Others believe that designing, employing, and validating historical simulations may be simply too costly and/or labor-intensive to justify their widespread adoption. Intervention: This paper intends to identify points of friction between historiography and simulation-based research and suggest practical solutions to these issues. Methods: My discussion is based on the description and analysis of a case study, the ThomondSim/ The Triumphs of Turlough research project. The initiative consisted of the development and application of an agent-based computational model (ABM) and a scholarly board game to investigate the possible associations between economic, environmental, and military hazards in 13th and 14th centuries Ireland. Results and Discussion: Ensuring the simulations matched historical evidence to a standard deemed acceptable by the historiographical community limited their phase space, compromising their capacity to explore emergent phenomena. The intricacy of the underlying conceptual model suited the ABM better than the board game, which struggled to reconcile complexity with good game design practices. The board game, however, proved to be an effective validating tool for the ABM. Limitations and Suggestions for Further Research: The project espoused an overt simulation- and game-centric approach, paying little attention to unguided play. Recent literature suggests that fostering, rather than hindering, playful exploration could address some of the pitfalls identified by this project. Conclusion: Play could be a means of reconciliation between simulational, ludic, and historiographical practices. However, to ensure that projects adhere to epistemic standards, it is recommended that a methodology is developed to integrate it into research in ways that can be tested and evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Multimorbidity has emerged as a major challenge facing health services globally, which will place a substantial burden on health systems going forward. This paper seeks to estimate the association between multimorbidity and direct healthcare costs among older people in Ireland from a healthcare system perspective. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of data on 8,447 community-dwelling adults aged 50 and over collected between 2009 and 2011 as part of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing. Multivariable generalised linear model regression, employing a log-link and Poisson family distribution, is used to assess the association between self-reported multimorbidity status and direct healthcare costs. Results: For the full sample, 21.20% reported having no chronic conditions, 27.39% had one chronic condition, and 51.40% had multimorbidity. After controlling for a range of socio-demographic and health status variables, we found that relative to those reporting no chronic conditions, one chronic condition was associated with additional average annual costs of €513 (95% CIs: 245, 781), increasing to €1277 (95% CIs: 942, 1612) for those with 6 or more chronic conditions. Relative to those reporting 2 chronic conditions, 4 chronic conditions were associated with additional costs of €411 (95% CIs: 106, 716), 5 chronic conditions with €591 (95% CIs: 214, 969), and 6 or more chronic conditions with additional average costs of €1006 (95% CIs: 641, 1371). Conclusion: This study finds positive and significant associations between the number of chronic conditions and direct healthcare costs and further highlights the potential economic benefits from preventing the onset and progression of multimorbidity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imperfect information on future energy costs can lower the demand for more energy efficient technologies, with clear implications for energy supply, emissions and climate change. These hypotheses are explored using a randomised discrete choice experiment for property rental decisions. Results show that when energy consumption is expressed in physical units (as per the current EU labels) the willingness- to-pay for energy efficiency improvements is small and marginally significant. While bimonthly energy cost information displayed in monetary terms has no effect on the valuation of energy efficiency, annual monetary energy cost information led to a significant increase. This is the first paper to compare short and long-term point of sale energy cost information for household property decisions. There are clear implications for labelling policy for properties--framing energy consumption according to long-term monetary cost increases the demand for energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a response to Boddy's (2005) paper, published in the "International Journal of Market Research," 47, 3, which called for more evidence on projective techniques applied to a research problem. Specifically this paper will present research-based analysis and understanding of an investigation of owner-managers' perceptions of government support for e-business developments within knowledge-intensive business services in Ireland and New Zealand. It introduces the reader to the quasi-quantitative mapping technique (content analysis and a modified matrix) as a means of analysing data to help overcome issues of measurement and interpretability of the qualitative information gleaned from projective instruments. It also discusses the value derived from the methodology. The paper concludes that projective techniques are reliable, valid, trustworthy, significant, and appropriate research instruments that have provided insightful reality, not valueless subjectivity relative to the research problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The understanding of what ethnography looks like, and its purpose, is continuously evolving. COVID-19 posed a significant challenge to ethnographers, particularly those working in health-related research. Researchers have developed alternative forms of ethnography to overcome some of these challenges; we developed the Mobile Instant Messaging Ethnography (MIME) adaptation to ethnography in 2021 to overcome restrictions to our own research with hospital doctors. However, for ethnographic innovations to make a substantial contribution to methodology, they should not simply be borne of necessity, but of a dedicated drive to expand paradigms of research, to empower participant groups and to produce change – in local systems, in participant-collaborators and in researchers and the research process itself. In this paper, we reflect on our experiences using MIME, involving collaborative remote observation and reflection with 28 hospital doctors in Ireland from June to December 2021. After reviewing literature on ethnography in COVID-19 and general epistemological developments in ethnography, we detail the MIME approach and illustrate how MIME presents an evolution of the ethnographic approach, not only practically but in terms of its reflexive shift, its connected and co-creative foundations, and its ability to drive change in research approaches, participant life-worlds and real-world improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The English conquest and colonisation of Ireland, which began in the years around 1170 was accompanied by the introduction of an administrative system based on English models. From the point of view of the crown, perhaps the most important of the new offices of government that it established was the exchequer, which coordinated the financial exploitation of its Irish lordship. The exchequer generated a vast quantity of written documents recording its operations. This paper subjects one such document, detailing the sums received at the exchequer for the year 1301–2, to data science techniques in order to gain added insight into the routine functioning of the financial arm of English government in its oldest colony. It thereby also reveals previously unrecognised patterns in the nature of English power in Ireland. The purpose of the paper is not to assess the state of Irish finances in the early fourteenth century, but rather to argue that a deep reading of a single document produced by an elaborate bureaucratic system, combined with data science visualizations, can help to generate new research questions in relation to a substantial body of financial records which are soon to become more widely available to both scholars and the general public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arthur Griffith founded Sinn Féin. From 1899 onwards, through detailed articles in his weekly papers and otherwise, he strongly advocated the economic development of Ireland and the adoption of qualified protectionism to achieve it. As minister for foreign affairs in the revolutionary government of Ireland in 1921, he chaired the Irish delegation that negotiated with Lloyd George's government articles of agreement for an Anglo-Irish Treaty. In January 1922 he was elected president of Dáil Éireann, the revolutionary Irish parliament, but died suddenly in August 1922 before the new Irish Free State formally came into existence. This essay underlines the importance that he attached to economic affairs, not least in making fiscal autonomy a central ambition of his negotiations with the British. The author concludes that Griffith was far-sighted, and calls for a discrete and empathetic study of his economic ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What role do organizations play in the enactment of large-scale violence against a specific group of people? In this paper, I depart from existing literature that focuses on violence within organizations, and instead emphasize the influence of external actors. Specifically, I examine the ways in which supporting organizations can first legitimate, and then actively maintain, violence against a group of vulnerable people. Drawing upon a unique, recently-published archive of data, these ideas are developed through an analysis of a case study in which large-scale violence was carried out on a vulnerable group: Ireland’s industrial school children. I draw on Kristeva’s notion of abjection to show how an excluded, distasteful ‘other’ is discursively co-constructed such that violence is seen as acceptable, and then actively maintained in the abject position as a boundary object that encompasses shared meanings across different organizations. Contributions include a framework for understanding the role of organizations in the perpetration of large-scale violence, which highlights how violence can be legitimated via the construction of subjects as abject boundary objects in extreme cases, and how this abject position can be maintained through inter-organizational dynamics comprising excessive rules and regulation, the suppression of care, and active policing. Finally, scholarship on boundary objects is extended by this paper’s interrogation of the ‘dark side’ of this inter-group phenomenon, an area that is rarely studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many countries plan to decarbonise their energy systems by increasing energy efficiency and expanding the use of renewable energy sources (RES). Such actions require significant investments in new energy infrastructures. While people are generally accepting of these infrastructures, opposition sometimes arises when these developments are sited at close proximity to people's residences. Therefore, it is important to understand what actually drives people's preferences for spatial proximity to different energy infrastructure technologies. This study examines the factors influencing people's proximity preferences to a range of different energy technologies using a cross-country econometric analysis of the stated preference data from an unprecedented survey conducted on nationally representative samples of the population in Ireland, the U.S. and Germany. The survey involved more than 4,500 participants in total. This paper presents the data and selected results from a generalised ordered logit model for each energy technology surveyed. These are; wind turbines, solar power technology, biomass power plant, coalfired power plant and natural gas power plant. The results show that, in general, German and Irish citizens are willing to accept energy infrastructures at smaller distances to their homes than their U.S. counterparts. Moreover, attitudinal factors are found to shape people's preferences more consistently than any of the socio-demographic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Individuals with multimorbidity in deprived areas experience worse health outcomes and fragmented care. Research suggests that primary care-based link workers providing social prescribing have potential to improve health and well-being. This paper reports the results of a pilot study conducted in preparation for a randomised controlled trial (RCT) that aims to test the effectiveness of primary care-based link workers providing social prescribing in improving health outcomes for people with multimorbidity who attend general practices in deprived areas in Ireland. Methods: An uncontrolled pilot study of an intervention based on the Glasgow Deep End links worker programme, in a single general practice, tested the feasibility and acceptability of planned processes for a RCT. Outcomes were recruitment and retention rates and acceptability of the trial processes and intervention to patients, general practitioners (GPs) and the link worker. Structured interviews were conducted with six patients, the link worker and two GPs within the practice and analysed using descriptive qualitative analysis. Feedback from a Public Patient Involvement group and an Implementation Advisory Group of key stakeholders was incorporated into the evaluation process. Results: Twelve out of 14 patients completed the intervention. Selection and recruitment processes were lengthier than expected. GPs recommended including psychosocial need in the selection process. Interviewed patients, the GPs and the link worker were positive about the intervention. Conclusion: A range of adaptations were identified for the main trial, mainly considering psychosocial need in the selection process to reflect normal referral pathways. This has resulted in a pragmatic RCT design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart meters, in conjunction with time-of-use (TOU) pricing, can facilitate an improvement in energy efficiency by providing consumers with enhanced infor-mation about electricity consumption and costs, and thereby encourage a shift away from consumption during peak hours. In 2009-10, the Irish Commission for Energy Regulation co-ordinated a randomised controlled trial in the Irish residential electricity market. Smart meters were introduced in approximately 5,000 households, divided into control and treatment groups, with treatment groups exposed to a variety of TOU tariffs and information stimuli. This paper analyses the response of Irish households at different times of the day to the introduction of TOU tariffs and information stimuli. We find that these measures have a significant effect in reducing electricity consumption in Ireland, particu-larly during peak hours. However, while households reduce peak demand signifi-cantly after the introduction of TOU tariffs and associated information, there is little incremental response to increasing differentials between peak and off-peak prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the Economic Cooperation Administration (E.C.A.), the American agency in charge of the implementation of the Marshall Plan, was faced with an increasing balance of payments deficit in Ireland, it focused on the development of dollar tourism to bridge it. But at the beginning of the 1950s, tourism development had become an extremely sensitive topic in Irish political and government circles as well as in public opinion. Thus, from the start, the ECA's efforts were bound to meet some opposition even though the American agency had the active support of the Minister of External Affairs of the First Inter-Party Government (1948–1951). Based on unpublished American archive documents, this paper reveals the backdoor tactics used by the E.C.A. mission in Ireland to circumvent the resistance of part of the Irish government. The E.C.A.'s ruses did not succeed. However, by facilitating the exposure of some forward-looking hoteliers to the 'American way', familiarisation trips to the U.S. organised under the aegis of the Marshall Plan helped set a dynamic in motion. This exposure was instrumental in the development of several innovations in Irish tourism and the economic sector which attracted the attention of powerful Irish-American businessmen. The latter were subsequently to collaborate closely with the Irish government to attract strategic American investments to the country from the 1960s onwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically tests whether Irish and UK petrol and diesel markets are characterised by asymmetric pricing behaviour. The econometric assessment uses threshold autoregressive models and a dataset of monthly refined oil and retail prices covering the period 1994 to mid-2009. In addition to providing an appraisal of the existence of asymmetry in the Irish and UK markets, the paper provides an important methodological contribution. Tests of asymmetry in the literature normally partition the sample into periods of falling and rising international oil prices. This fails to account for price pressures coming from the equilibrium error of the cointegrating relationship. In particular, the possibility of conflicting price pressures arising from short-run dynamics in retail prices and responses to disequilibrium errors needs to be explicitly modelled. We take this issue into account in an econometric model and we highlight the importance of this distinction. In terms of the asymmetric behaviour of these markets, the paper finds no evidence to support the "rockets and feathers" hypothesis that prices rise faster than they fall in response to changes in the value of international oil prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Autistic pupils have the right to be heard in matters concerning their education and to be active agents in shaping their school experiences. Despite this, educational policies and research have rarely included the voices of autistic children, failing to identify what they consider to be beneficial and meaningful in their own education. This study aimed to (i) summarise existing literature exploring autistic pupils' experiences at school from their own perspectives and (ii) identify gaps for future research through a consultation with autistic pupils. Methods: A scoping review was conducted to identify studies exploring first-person accounts of autistic pupils' school experiences (primary and secondary; aged 4–18 years) published between 2005 and 2023. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify overarching thematic categories across the included studies. Review findings were discussed through a consultation with a Child and Youth Advisory Group (CYAG) comprised of autistic pupils in Ireland (N = 3), to seek feedback and inform a future research agenda. Main contribution: Thirty-six studies were included in the review and six themes were identified: Experiences of feeling misunderstood, of bullying and masking, of feeling excluded, of anxiety, of sensory needs in school, and of being overwhelmed during transitions. Consultation with the CYAG highlighted that these six themes were consistent with autistic pupils' experiences but that reports of positive experiences were missing in the literature. Conclusions: This study identified several gaps in the literature on the school experiences of autistic pupils, based on both the scoping review and consultation with the CYAG. While the CYAG validated the themes identified in existing literature, there is a need for greater diversity in the samples included and increased focus on the potential positive aspects of the school experience. Implications. These findings have important research implications. In particular, further studies are needed with autistic pupils at primary school level, including those who are minimally or non-speaking, as well as ensuring pupils with positive school experiences are also represented. Findings also highlight the need for continued collaboration with autistic pupils themselves in matters concerning their education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The document is the Secretary's Report to the Annual General Meeting of the Economic and Social History Society of Ireland. It provides information about the officers of the society for 2022 and the upcoming journal volume. It also highlights the details of the annual conference held at Maynooth University, including the Connell Lecture and the papers presented. The report demonstrates the society's commitment to promoting research and understanding of economic and social history in Ireland. [Extracted from the article]

When the consultation is predominantly verbal, existing research in clinician–patient communication indicates that many patients struggle to understand and recall medical consultations or may not understand the extent of their illness or the purpose of their treatment plan. When the clinician–patient discussion centers around the risk of a repeated cardiovascular disease (CVD) related event, qualitatively assessing what factors affect the communication of this risk may guide the creation of effective communication solutions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 clinicians treating patients at stages along the cardiac rehabilitation patients' journey. Thematic analysis identified factors that prevent patients from understanding the risk they face of experiencing a repeated cardiac event. Results indicate a clearer understanding of the cardiac rehabilitation patient journey by means of a patient journey map; an overview of how CVD risk is currently communicated; and the factors that affect communication of these risks in the form of themes and sub-themes. Findings shape the proposal of an evidence informed model of opportunities for enhanced digital media supported communication in cardiac rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Republic of Ireland was the first country in the eurozone to adopt a neoliberal infused ‘austerity budget’, and the ill-judged state bailing out of a number of reckless banks and associated financial institutions is costing billions of euros. In late 2010, as the crisis deepened, the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank provided a ‘bailout’ package that resulted in further punitive public spending cuts and the eradication of national sovereignty. This paper maintains that the present crisis is more than a mere economic crisis, but can be viewed as a series of interlinked ‘conjunctures’. Tracing the connection between the historical and the contemporary, the first part of the discussion will explore six thematic components relating to the structuring of the Irish state. These are identified as: a ‘class rule state’; an ‘authoritarian state’; a ‘confining state’; a ‘censoring state’; a ‘discriminatory state’; and a ‘state within the state’. These six dimensions provide a contextual underpinning for the second part of the paper, which focuses on the crisis in child welfare and child protection services and dwells on the shambolic performance of the Health Service Executive (HSE), deficits in the ‘care’ system and the HSE failure to furnish reliable data on the deaths of children in contact with social workers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The rise and fall of the Irish cotton industry has been examined by historians over several decades. This paper contributes to the debate by examining the trajectory of one particular firm, owned by the Orr family of Paisley. The evidence presented in this case supports the assertion that protection of the industry in the eighteenth century was vital for its growth, but qualifies this by noting that this policy placed limits on its development by reducing the available markets for Irish goods. However there is a suggestion the industry continued to be profitable after the end of post-Union protectionism, despite the largely unacknowledged influences of worker combinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted as a plan of action for people, planet, and prosperity by 2030. SDG 3 aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages, and other goals focus on reduction of inequality, abolition of poverty, decent work for all, and building effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions. A community pediatric clinic, Kidscope, was established in a vulnerable Irish community offering free developmental assessment and onward referral of children 0 to 6 years. The Kidscope model involves multiagency input with local public health nurses (PHNs) acting as fundamental partners in the provision of specialist early years support to vulnerable children and families. This study evaluates PHN involvement in Kidscope in the context of SDGs. Objective: To record and understand PHN roles within Kidscope and to capture their contribution to achieving SDGs in a disadvantaged Irish community. Methods: Qualitative stakeholder analysis and mapping design. Snowball sampling identified participants. Data collection involved scoping interviews, questionnaires, one-to-one interviews, and a focus group. A Stakeholder Matrix Table was developed in line with the guiding framework. Transcripts were thematically analyzed. Results: PHNs are key stakeholders in Kidscope contributing to clinic development, delivery, and sustainability. Six themes were identified: lead referrers, in-clinic support, learning and education, child and family follow-up, specialist early years role, and partnership working. PHNs contribute to six SDGs through the Kidscope model. Conclusion: PHNs are fundamental partners in achieving SDGs in a disadvantaged Irish community through ameliorating childhood developmental delay by intercepting the gap within Ireland's early intervention system and disrupting the impact exclusion to healthcare has on vulnerable children and their families. Findings underscore a shift from the current "cradle to grave" model of working toward a specialist early years PHN role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historians have long debated the relationship between Ireland's long-term economic performance and the distinctive features of its culture and political system. The catastrophic downturn that has taken place since 2008, coming at the end of a period of unprecedented growth, has given these questions a new and pressing relevance. By historicising fluctuations and economic crisis in the more distant past, economic historians can provide important insights for contemporary debates. The four items in this symposium are revised versions of papers delivered to the Annual Conference of the Irish Economic and Social History Society, which was held at University College, Cork, on 17-18 September 2010. Mary Daly's paper covers the belated Irish reaction to the Great Depression in the 1930s, while Brian Girvan argues that the failure of the Irish establishment to engage positively with the new international economic institutions established after the Second World War exacerbated Irish economic difficulties in the 1950s. Frank Barry has focused closely on the Exports Profit Tax Relief Scheme of 1956, as a major turning point which led to greater foreign direct investment thereafter. The final paper by Eoin O'Leary suggests that the small scale of the Irish economy was an important factor in accounting for recent spectacular growth trends, arguing that centralized economic policies are unsuitable for an economy the size of the Republic of Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermarriage has long been recognized as one of the most robust boundaries between groups. This continues to be the case in the Republic of Ireland for inter - marriage between Catholics and Protestants. This paper uses data from the Census of Population (1991) and loglinear modeling to examine religious, educational and class homogamy in Dublin. The main question which is posed is whether there is any evidence of social exchange between the characteristics of religion and level of education or class, which husbands and wives bring to their marriages. This question is a development on research on social exchange in ethnic and racial intermarriage. It is particularly interesting to look at the possibility of this type of exchange in marriage in Ireland given the traditional differences in social status between the religious groups. Our results show that the association between (i) the educational levels and (ii) the current class of husbands and their wives is weaker for marriages of the type Catholic husband/Protestant wife than it is for homogamous Catholic marriages. Protestants still enjoy high status and this appears to make it easier for Protestant, compared to Catholic, women of low education or manual class to marry Catholic husbands of high education or professional class. A knowledge of the status dimension to religious groups can therefore contribute to our under - Standing of the pattern of religious intermarriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the relationship between the discursive character of Irish republican ideology, the 'pluralist' and 'two tradition' perspective that underpins the latter. It suggests that mainstream contemporary Republican thought is the product of changing material conditions, externally generated ideological forces and an inherited spectrum of political ideas. These ideas range from the radical and universalist to the ethnically centred and particularist. The paper further argues that it is a communalist rather than a class-based and universalist agenda within republicanism that tends to be promoted by the institutions established under the Belfast Agreement. It is in the contestation of this trend that the future potential of a positive, dynamic and radical republican politics will be won or lost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over the next two decades, the numbers of people who will need palliative care in the United Kingdom and Ireland is projected to increase. Hospices play a vital role supporting people who require specialist palliative care input through community-based and inpatient palliative care services. Evidence is needed to understand the role of these different services to inform future service development. Objectives: To describe the reasons for admission, and outcomes at the end of the stay, for patients admitted to two hospice inpatient units (IPUs). Design: This was a mixed-methods study using a convergent, parallel mixed-methods design. Methods: We reviewed the case notes of all patients admitted to two hospice inpatient units from July to November 2019; conducted semi-structured interviews with patients and families; as well as brief structured interviews with inpatient unit staff. Results: Two hundred fifty-nine patients were admitted to a hospice IPU, accounting for 276 admissions in total. Overall, 53% were female; median age was 71 years (range: 26–95 years). Most patients (95%) were White British or Scottish, and 95% had a cancer diagnosis. Most patients were admitted from the community, under one-third were admitted from hospital. Most (85%) had previous palliative care involvement. Nearly, half had district nurse support (48%). Worry and anxiety was frequently reported as a reason for admission, alongside physical concerns. Median length of stay was 12 days, and 68% died during their stay. Hospice was recorded as the preferred place of care for 56% of those who died there. Conclusions: Sustained efforts to promote the hospice as place of care for people with conditions other than cancer are needed alongside greater clarity regarding of the role of the hospice IPU, and who would benefit most from IPU support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The image of a clash of symbols not only represents a conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, but also the relationship between groups of Protestants, moderates and extremists, who find themselves on opposing sides of the political arena today. This paper suggests that different groups of Protestants have conflicting images of God and of the meaning of religion for their lives, and that these clashing symbols impact significantly upon their political beliefs and positions. The data presented are taken from interviews with Protestant politicians in Ulster during the summer of 1986. Not only are there strong denominational and frequency of practice differences among the pa flies, there are also significant differences on religious belief variables such as orthodoxy, views on ecumenism, and image of God. A large majority of these elites consciously link their political views to their religious views, though they do so in significantly different ways. These religious views are not linked to economic ideological positions, but they are tied to views on moral issues and views on South Africa, as well as to willingness to cooperate with Roman Catholic nationalists politically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern society, religion has withdrawn from its traditional role of guiding secular institutions and thought, adopting the more limited function of serving spiritual needs. This paper uses multivariate analysis to measure the influence of religious commitment on everyday social attitudes. The data is based on a large representative sample of males in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, collected in 1973. Religious commitment is measured by three variables: ritual, personal devotion to God, and belief in the supernatural. Four separate social attitudes are identified from a factor analysis, and multiple regression is used to relate these to religious commitment. The findings show that religious behavior and belief do influence social attitudes, but that the relationships are not as strong as might be expected from such a highly religious society. In addition, the divisions between Anglicans and Presbyterians are frequently as great as those between Catholics and Anglicans or Presbyterians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) pose a significant threat to the health and safety of patients, staff, and visitors. Infection prevention and control (IPC) teams play a crucial role in ensuring that systems and processes are in place to keep everyone safe within the healthcare environment. Aim: The aim of this study was to identify components of infection prevention services, priorities, indicators of successes and how they are measured, and facilitators and barriers to success. Methods: A s urvey questionnaire was developed and circulated to infection prevention leaders and managers. Findings/results: Seventy IPC leaders/managers completed the survey. Participants were responsible for a range of IPC services within and across healthcare organisations, with significant variations to IPC delivery components. Additionally, a range of budget availability was reported. Several IPC service requirements were considered core work of IPC teams, including providing IPC advice and support, surveillance and audit and education and training. Discussion: An optimal IPC service needs to be in place to ensure HCAIs are minimised or prevented. In a post pandemic era, this is more important than ever before. This is also as crucial for the health and wellbeing of those working in IPC, who have endured unprecedented demand for their services during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The importance of infection prevention and control (IPC) services to prevent threats from healthcare-associated infections and improve the quality of healthcare delivery is undeniable. However, IPC services across the UK and Ireland have substantial variability in terms of team structures and delivery models. Aim: The aim of this study was to define an optimal IPC service in different contexts and settings within the United Kingdom and Ireland. Methods: This mixed methods study adopted discussion huddles with IPC teams to explore various components of IPC programmes and services. A Nominal Group technique was then undertaken to achieve a group consensus of what an optimal infection prevention service should look like. Results: Five discussion huddles were conducted which included 53 participants in total. Key themes arising were IPC Service Priorities, IPC Service Enablers for Success, and Necessary Skills and Expertise Required for Delivering an Effective IPC Service. For the nominal technique, 45 responses were identified which were determining the key priorities for an effective IPC service and 69 responses for establishing key enablers for success. Discussion: These findings supported the development of a conceptual model for designing an optimal infection prevention service, which can be used to develop IPC services at an international, national, regional and local level. A focus is required around implementation of these highlighted enablers, so are effectively embedded into infection prevention and control services, and wider healthcare settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about several papers that were presented at the Economic and Social History Society of Ireland's 2007 conference is presented. The conference theme was "Sea and Sky, Bogland and Mountains: Explorations in Maritime and Environmental History." Dr. Anna Agnarsdottir presented a paper called "The Sea Beyond: Aspects of the Icelandic Atlantic Economy 1400-1820" and other papers were given by Dr. Bruce Campbell, and Dr. Peter Cornell.

Background: Athletic groin pain (AGP) can lead to altered movement patterns during rapid deceleration and acceleration. However, the effect of AGP on movement variability and loading patterns during such actions remains less clear. Purpose: To investigate, using a continuous lateral hurdle hop task, how movement variability and magnitude measures of 3-dimensional (3D) kinematic, kinetic, and vertical ground-reaction force (vGRF) variables are (1) affected by AGP (AGP vs uninjured controls [CON]) and (2) changed after successful rehabilitation (AGP prerehabilitation vs AGP postrehabilitation vs CON). Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: A total of 36 athletes diagnosed with AGP and 36 uninjured CON athletes matched on age (18-35 years), level (subelite), and type of sports played (multidirectional field sport) performed a continuous lateral hurdle hop test that involved 10 side-to-side hops over a 15-cm hurdle. The 3D joint kinematic, kinetic, and vGRF variables (total, eccentric, and concentric; ground contact time, peak force, and impulse; and eccentric rate of force development) were examined. The AGP and CON groups were tested at baseline, and the AGP group was retested after participants successfully completed a standardized, exercise-based rehabilitation program targeting intersegmental control. Results: There were no differences in baseline characteristics between the AGP (mean ± SD: age, 27.5 ± 4.8 years; height, 179.8 ± 6.3 cm; mass, 80.3 ± 7.1 kg) and CON (mean ± SD: age, 24.1 ± 4.5 years; height, 181.0 ± 5.8 cm; mass, 80.4 ± 8.2 kg) groups. At baseline, athletes with AGP demonstrated altered loading patterns in the vGRF (longer ground contact times, reduced peak force, and reduced rate of force development) compared with CON athletes, while no significant difference in any movement variability variables was evident. After rehabilitation, the athletes with AGP demonstrated significant changes in transverse and coronal plane hip and trunk kinematics, with no significant differences in vGRF variables compared with the CON group. Conclusion: The differences in baseline vGRF measures between the AGP and CON groups were no longer evident after athletes with AGP underwent rehabilitation. No differences in movement variability were evident between the AGP and CON groups, either before or after rehabilitation. Clinical Relevance: Rehabilitation programs should consider targeting intersegmental hip and trunk movement patterns to positively influence loading patterns in athletes with AGP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we assemble an annual data set on broad and narrow money, prices, real economic activity and interest rates in Ireland from a variety of sources for the period 1933-2012. We discuss in detail how the data set is constructed and what assumptions we have made to do so. Furthermore, we estimate a simple SVAR model to provide some empirical evidence on the behaviour of these time series. Money supply shocks appear to be the most important drivers of both money and prices. Interest rate shocks, which capture monetary policy, play an important role driving output and, of course, interest rates. The real GDP shocks, which raise prices, seem of less importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 created major challenges for specialist palliative care services. Significant ethical challenges have arisen in practising a holistic approach to patient and family care, while observing local and national health care policy in the face of a global pandemic. This report highlights the challenges that arose for a patient, family members and staff consequent on COVID-related visiting restrictions. An integrated specialist palliative care inpatient unit and elderly care facility in Ireland. A 50-year-old married mother of three teenagers and one 12-year-old child with advanced amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is described. The patient could not speak or move her limbs. She communicated using an eye gaze device. She had previously declined enteral feeding, and noninvasive ventilatory support was not tolerated. Her husband was particularly attentive and remarkably intuitive in identifying her unspoken needs. At the start of the pandemic, visiting was severely curtailed in line with national policies. The change in visiting policies caused enormous distress to the patient, her family and to the staff members. IT devices were of limited benefit. The current pandemic has had a significant impact on families and health care professionals in which balancing individual need and traditional freedoms against the wider societal need are necessary in limiting the spread of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the origins and enforcement of the policy of compulsory tillage introduced by the Fianna Fáil government in response to war-time food shortages. It emphasises the increasing demands made on small farmers, the harshness with which the policy was enforced, and the evidence for widespread resentment and attempted resistance within the farming population. Challenging previous studies, it argues that Sean Lemass's advocacy during this period of the compulsory rationalisation of agriculture reflected a lack of understanding of the nature of Irish farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Late nineteenth-century homicides in Ireland had several distinctive characteristics. They took place in every county, were largely a male preserve, and regularly involved elderly victims. Heavy drinking was a factor in many lethal squabbles and workplace disputes sometimes resulted in impulsive, but savage, attacks. Weapon use was uncommon and the range of penalties imposed by the courts was wide. In the closing decade of the twentieth century the overall level of homicide was lower and had become concentrated in and around the major cities. Victims were younger, shootings and stabbings were much more prevalent and sentences were significantly more severe. Alcohol continued to play an important role. This paper sets out what can be gleaned from official sources about the circumstances of killing on the island of Ireland during two decades separated by one hundred years. The emphasis is on the earlier period where, perhaps surprisingly, more complete police records are available. The analysis offers support for the theory of a civilizing process as advanced by Norbert Elias, integral to which is the proposition that spontaneous displays of aggression become less common over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on trends in alcohol consumption and related problems in the Republic of Ireland during the years 1990-2010. and on alcohol policy developments over this same period. Prior to the collapse of the Irish economy in late-2008. Ireland had enjoyed almost fifteen years of unprecedented economic growth, with commensurate increases in levels of personal disposable income. As predicted by economists, economic growth was accompanied by substantial increases in levels of alcohol consumption, with corresponding increases in all the main indicators of alcohol-related problems. Although numerous policy reports from the health sector advocated alcohol control strategies, due to the generally neo-liberal ethos of this era and active lobbying from the drinks industry, little or no implementation of such strategies occurred. Reflecting the current economic down-turn, levels of alcohol consumption have now stabilized. It is concluded, however, that implementation of comprehensive, top-down, alcohol strategies remains unlikely, and that bottom-up, community mobilization offers the best prospect for change in this sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports some of the findings of a two-year mixed methods longitudinal study in a high-poverty junior school in Dublin, Ireland, which was successful in significantly raising children's literacy achievement in reading, writing, and spelling and in enhancing their motivation, engagement, ability to self-regulate learning, and sense of self-efficacy. Critical factors in the success of the intervention were the dual emphasis on both the cognitive and affective dimensions of literacy developed through a meaning-oriented approach to instruction and the multifaceted professional development programme provided to teachers. Changes made to the instructional programme are described with reference to the research on motivation, engagement, and self-efficacy in literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historians have disagreed as to whether pre-Famine Ireland was an exceptionally violent society. Following a detailed review of the available statistics and an assessment of their reliability, an analysis of reported homicides during the 1840s suggests that levels of violence were not particularly high by contemporary European standards. Figures from the period before 1837, though less reliable, indicate a somewhat higher level of homicide, but one that was still lower than that recorded in other European jurisdictions in the first half of the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attempt to elevate agriculture to a university subject in mid-nineteenth century Ireland was expected to improve agricultural practice, and allow for the development of agriculture as a profession and science. Precedents were drawn from earlier, successful voluntary activity. However efforts to establish agricultural education at this level in Belfast failed. Student numbers remained low and graduates few. This was largely because the course offered failed to clearly define its approach or purpose. In a wider context this failure underlines the limits on the advance of the scientific approach in nineteenth-century society, and marks out the restricted professionalisation of scientific activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ireland has experienced a remarkable change in its migratory patterns in recent years and has moved from experiencing large-scale emigration to receiving significant inflows. In this paper, we use data from a nationally representative sample of immigrants and natives drawn in 2005 to assess the occupational attainment of immigrants in Ireland relative to natives. It is found that immigrants, on average, are less likely to be in high-level occupations controlling for factors such as age and education. When looked at by year of arrival, it appears as if immigrants who arrived more recently have lower occupational attainment relative to earlier arrivals, thereby suggesting a process of integration. However, a closer analysis shows that the observation of better occupational attainment for earlier arrivals can be explained by a change in the national origin mix of Ireland's immigrants, with immigrants from the New Member States of the European Union having the lowest occupational attainment. Within national groups there is generally no clear evidence of improved occupational attainment over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent phase of economic growth in the Republic of Ireland has led to an increase in industrial and infrastructural development across the island. One offshoot of this accelerated growth has been a rise in community based environmental movements, as environmentalists and concerned communities have come to mobilise campaigns to protect local communities and hinterlands. This paper examines the contestation of two forms of environmentalism, institutional ecomodernism versus a grassroots ecopopulism within the context of the ongoing dispute between a local community in the west of Ireland and both multinationals and the state, who are attempting to run gas pipelines from the Atlantic Corrib Field through the rural community's lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was proposed that when asked to make judgments concerning locations, the verbal questionnaire would produce very different results compared to a map-based approach. People tend to have very definite perceptions of locations; indeed, Everitt and Cadwallader (1972) found sex differences in how men and women view their home area. The map method has previously been used in the field of spatial cognition research (Buttenfield, 1986; Orleans & Schmidt, 1972) but has yet to be proven as reliable. A map of Ireland and a written questionnaire were created to examine this. The test-retest method was used to assess the reliability with 103 participants taking part in the initial testing and 82 on the retest. Analysis of variance showed significant differences between the map and verbal questionnaire. Correlations between the first and second testing of the map and verbal questionnaire show that both are capable of producing reliable results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to other occupational groups, farmers in Ireland experience a disproportionate burden of health problems, which impact farmers' livelihoods and farming sustainability. Internationally, farmers' poor health outcomes are associated with intersecting economic, environmental, socio-cultural, and occupation-specific factors linked to changes in agricultural governance. This qualitative study explored the challenges and stressors facing farmers in Ireland and how changes in farming governance have impacted farmers' identities, masculinities and health. Eleven focus groups (n = 26 female, n = 35 male, age-range 20s–70s) were conducted with both male farmers (n = 3 focus groups; n = 13) and key informants (n = 8 focus groups; n = 48, 22 male, 26 female). Utilizing Thematic Content Analysis, transcripts were coded independently by the first and second author using open and comparative coding techniques, with emerging themes grouped into primary and subthemes. Theme memos and conceptual maps tracked evolving relationships between themes. The analysis identified three broad themes. "Wrestling with challenges to autonomy and control within farming" examines the impact of tighter regulatory frameworks associated with changes to farming governance and unpacks other challenges associated with scale and succession. "Farming masculinities and health" explores how farming masculinities were closely aligned with farming practices and health practices and were framed relationally. "Isolation and the demise of rural communities" considers the impact of reduced social interaction on loneliness among farmers, particularly among more "at risk" single and older farmers. Findings provide unique insights into contemporary challenges and stressors facing farmers and have important implications for informing the design and roll-out of a national farmers' health training program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the ways in which discourses of abortion and discourses of national identity were constructed and reproduced through the events of the X case in the Republic of Ireland in 1992. This case involved a state injunction against a 14-year-old rape victim and her parents, to prevent them from obtaining an abortion in Britain. By examining the controversy the case gave rise to in the national press, I will argue that the terms of abortion politics in Ireland shifted from arguments based on rights to arguments centred on national identity, through the questions the X case raised about women's citizenship status, and women's position in relation to the nation and the state. Discourses of national identity and discourses of abortion shifted away from entrenched traditional positions, towards more liberal articulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School leaven looking for work often complain that employers refuse to hire them because of their lack of work experience. In this paper, using data on three recent cohorts of school leaven in Ireland, an attempt is made to assess the advantages in obtaining a job of having work experience. It is found that job seekers with work experience are at an advantage over those seeking a first job at times when the labour market is poorest. Some explanations are advanced to account for this finding, and some consequences for government sponsored work experience programmes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The residential segregation of minorities creates middle class niches within an otherwise disadvantaged labor market. The middle-class employment that arises in this ecology is distinct from the middle class of majority groups. it is composed of many community service positions and few positions in management and goods production. This pattern holds for both blacks in the United States and Catholics in Northern Ireland. The growth of the black middle class during the 1960s and 1970s included an increase in middle-class employment in professions not tied to community service. The patterns of internal stratification and middle-class recruitment within the black and Catholic minority groups are very similar, despite the different historical, economic, and cultural contexts of discrimination in the United States and Northern Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can minority group status exert an independent effect on fertility? The Irish situation suggests that it can when: the minority is relatively large, the minority's size is politically important, the minority is economically disadvantaged, and the cohesiveness of the minority is strong. Even when such conditions exist, as they apparently do in Northern Ireland, the impact of minority group status on fertility is a less important determinant of fertility than such factors as religion, rural/urban residence, or the selective impact of migration. The question is relevant not only to nations with relatively large minority groups; it also applies to countries in which minorities, while small in proporton nationally, are concentrated locally in certain states or cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary aim around developing and optimizing an electronic health record is to improve patient care and population health. The objective of this study is to design and evaluate an action research approach for the optimization of the design of a summary page artefact within an electronic health record for newborn healthcare. An action research approach was chosen for its participatory democratic process for developing practical knowledge and solutions. Collaborative workshops lead by an independent graphic facilitator with a 'bottom up' approach, involving self-selected motivated members from multidisciplinary healthcare teams, were designed and conducted. To evaluate this approach, insights were drawn from behavioural and design science paradigms to demonstrate that knowledge and understanding of the design problem and its solution were acquired in building the optimized summary page artefact. Information system development for healthcare requires consideration not just of what we do but how and why we do things. Our analysis demonstrates that action design research represents an agile and lean approach for successful optimization and implementation of information system development in healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article retrospectively analyses a primary percutaneous coronary intervention dataset comprising patient referrals that were accepted for percutaneous coronary intervention and those who were turned down between January 2015 and December 2018 at Altnagelvin Hospital (United Kingdom). Time series analysis of these referrals was undertaken for analysing the referral rates per year, month, day and per hour. The overall referrals have 70 per cent (n = 1466, p < 0.001) males. Of total referrals, 65 per cent (p < 0.001) of referrals were 'out of hours'. Seasonality decomposition shows a peak in referrals on average every 3 months (standard deviation = 0.83). No significant correlation (R = 0.03, p = 0.86; R = −0.11, p = 0.62) was found between the referral numbers and turndown rate. Being female increased the probability of being out of hour in all the groups. The 30-day mortality was higher in the turndown group. The time series of all the referrals depict variation over the months or days which is not the same each year. The average age of the patients in the turndown group is higher. The number of referrals does not impact on the turndown rate and clinical decision making. Most patients are being referred out of hours, especially females. This analysis leads to the emphasis on the importance of working 24/7 CathLab service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients who carry nasal methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) may also harbour MRSA in the oro-pharyngeal cavity. However, the naso-oro-pharyngeal co-carriage is infrequently assessed. The incidence of concurrent MRSA carriage of the naso-oro-pharynx was ascertained, and the sensitivity of two methods, a throat swab and a phosphate buffered saline (PBS) oral rinse, for MRSA detection was investigated. Among nasal MRSA carriers, 80% harboured MRSA in the oro-pharynx. Among these patients, 15% had MRSA detected in the oro-pharynx and not in the throat. Oro-pharyngeal colonisation represents a significant reservoir to persistence as well as nasal recolonisation. Decolonisation methods effective in reducing oro-pharyngeal MRSA in addition to nasal carriage should be investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmacy plays a pivotal role in supporting acute clinical care pathways. However, across hospital environments, pharmacies are often stretched by growing service demands and conflicted by increased medication and service costs. Ultimately, such factors contribute towards process inefficiencies that impact on the provision of healthcare services. Following a literature review, we examined clinical pharmacy services by undertaking three acute hospital pharmacy case studies. We adopted an ethnographic approach, observing and interviewing pharmacists, pharmacy staff and nurses. With a view to improving healthcare information systems (ISs), we identified the enablers and barriers in service efficiency, thus identifying opportunities for pharmacy IS implementation across acute hospital environments. The findings also reveal some of the key enablers and barriers towards the introduction of hospital IS innovation. We present recommendations to overcome such barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]