Dublin and its surroundings

BY B. VYSOKY

The famous Molly Malone statue near Grafton St.

by B. Vysoky

Dublin is a great, vibrant city. It offers various opportunities for having fun. There are a great number of attractions and events. Despite the city’s pleasure spots, you may be a lover of nature, who cannot stand the busy city all the time. If you are seeking for peaceful and quiet places, there are some tips, you may find helpful.

Dublin is a large city located not far from the foothills of the Dublin and Wicklow mountains. For those who fancy hiking there are a few places where you can get plenty of fresh air. The Sugar Loaf is a 500 metre high hill, situated some 15 miles outside the city. It takes its name from its shape, which closely resembles a sugar loaf with the top leaning slightly to one side.

It is easily accessible by city buses. In fact, one does not have too much to climb, but stronger better quality shoes, a waterproof jacket, a bottle of water, and maybe some snacks would be the basics. The climb is not too difficult; even beginners can easily manage. The entire walk should not take more than three hours. The view from the top is spectacular because you can enjoy a 360 degree view with the sea to the east, Powerscourt and Enniskerry to the west, Wicklow to the south and Dublin city to the north.

The Liffey River by B. Vysoky

Dublin Bay also offers us some wonderful places to explore: Howth, Malahide and Bray are just the three of the places along the coast. Passionate ramblers would enjoy a day trip to Howth. Howth is a small peninsula which can be reached by bus or train. It rises from a flat coastline to a moderately high hill and when you reach the summit it gradually falls down to the nearby harbour. The most popular walk for ramblers is along the coastline. Should you decide to go that way, you will make a loop starting at ground level and likewise finishing at ground level. Along the way, it might be good to stop occasionally to take the air and look around. The view from the summit is splendid, taking in the lighthouse, Dublin city and Dublin Bay.

 

When you reach the harbour you should definitely go and take a look at the seals which will certainly be there. They are the number one local attraction. People usually stand next to the fishing boats on the side of the pier and feed them with fresh fish bought from the local fish markets. In the weekends there are markets with various kinds of food and frequently crafts as well. As the local village is renowned as a fish centre, you should definitely taste some sea food. Popular specialities are the Seafood Chowder or the local fish and chips. They are very tasty and very nourishing and moreover it is pleasant change from mediocre student cooking.

Rambling in Howth by B. Vysoky

Howth is located to the north east of Dublin, but one should also go to the south side. The journey by the city´s train called the DART is spectacular. The DART goes all round Dublin Bay. You can get on in the city centre and get off in the town of Bray. Bray has its own atmosphere. It is only a few kilometres out of the city but you would think you were in the country. You can either take a nice walk along the beach or climb to the top of Bray Head. Bray Head is a small peninsula with moderate and steep slopes. At the top there is a cross erected by the locals. From here, you can see Bray village below with Dublin in the very far distance as well as the top of the Wicklow Mountains. Rambling along quiet desert path of Bray Head or walking along the beach would help anybody to chill out and clear their head. If you still have time to spare it is worth visiting the local Aquarium with its amazing sea creatures.

Dublin´s convenient location and the size of the city allow us to escape the monotonous of daily life. Apart from daylong journeys around the city, you can enjoy your favourite sport activities outside it. The great number of Dublin parks allows you to cycle, roller skate, jog and walk in almost any part of the city. The biggest one in Dublin and probably Europe’s biggest is the Phoenix Park, in which deer wander. Furthermore, the Botanic Gardens are a place where you can renew your energy. Wandering among its trees and plants which come from all over the world can be a wonderful relaxation.

These are just a few hints and ideas how you might spend a day outside without too much hassle or at no great expense. On one such a day, after you leave your accommodation, you will be able to forget about exams, deadlines and all your worries. The journey of just a few hours will give you the feeling that you have been away for weeks.

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Is plagiarism becoming a plague?

BY J. FERNANDES 

 

The aim of this article is new students to be aware of one of the worst crime, namely plagiarism, within institutions. DCU is one of many institutions of third level education which take this matter seriously.

Plagiarism is one of the worst academic crimes that scholars can ever commit. As the cases for plagiarism increase, institutions have come up with stern measures to penalize the culprits and curb the menace. According to Eisner & Vicinus (2008), plagiarism refers to taking other writers’ concepts, ideas, images or phrases and using them without giving credit to the original author. Either, this can be done deliberately or through carelessness and in either cases, the effect is the same. Every academic work submitted to instructors or supervisors is expected to be original and any borrowed work without acknowledgement makes the student guilty of plagiarism. Plagiarism is different from piracy because piracy is the marketing of credited but unauthorized copies of another person’s work thus depriving the author profit. Plagiarism unlike piracy deprives the original author of credit but not profit even though both cases represent a form of theft.

Cheating on a test by J. Fernandes

Ordinarily most of the stolen items are tangible and they remain stolen even if they are taken apart or recombined. Literary work is not like so and the objects stolen are not tangible and they are less identifiable than physical objects. Taking these ideas apart or combining them may represent creativity depending on the way it is done. Creativity therefore saves one from plagiarism and takes into account building new ideas from old ones and using existing components and combining them in a way that appears original. However, there is no convectional way of defining what accounts to a new idea and what needs to be acknowledged a variation of an existing idea (Eisner & Vicinus 2008).

Eisner & Vicinus classify Plagiarism into five types depending on how it is done. These include copy paste plagiarism, word switch plagiarism, style plagiarism, metaphor plagiarism, and idea plagiarism. To begin with, copy paste plagiarism is considered as the simplest form of plagiarism and involves borrowing a significant phrase or a whole sentence and fail to reference the source using the appropriate quotation marks. Word switch plagiarism is a case where a writer lifts a sentence from a source and changes a few words. This is considered plagiarism since the wording has just been changed instead of using the appropriate quotation marks and acknowledging the source. In most cases, writers are encouraged to paraphrase and then cite the original source.  

Style plagiarism involves a case where a writer copies the reasoning style of another writer by following a source article paragraph-by-paragraph or sentence-by-sentence. Even if the writer uses completely different words and sentences, it is still a plagiarism case since the reasoning is borrowed from someone else. Metaphors are used in normal literary work to bring about an analogy that touches the emotions better than just a plain text. Metaphors are important part of a writers’ creative writing since they make an idea clearer. Most scholars fail to come-up with their own metaphors to clarify an idea and where such a metaphor has been borrowed, it is necessary that the original author be given credit. Where the author of the metaphor is not acknowledged, this amounts to metaphor plagiarism (Eisner & Vicinus 2008).

Don't copy by J. Fernandes

Idea plagiarism applies to a case where an author of a source article comes up with a creative idea or expresses a certain solution to a problem. If another writer makes use of this idea or solution to a problem then acknowledgement must be made to the original author. However, there has been a major problem with students regarding this type of plagiarism since students find it hard to distinguish between a public domain idea and an author’s idea. In any given field, a public domain idea is what people accept as common knowledge and when students are not aware of such ideas, they should ask first to avoid plagiarism.

For students to avoid plagiarism they need to take into consideration a number of tips whenever doing academic writing. To begin with, every time a writer uses a source from the internet, there is a need to get the source and cite it appropriately. Whenever students copy and paste some work, it is good to highlight it in a different color so that it can be paraphrased appropriately when proofreading the work. Sometimes students assume that it is the number of borrowed words or the length of the sentence that determines whether there is plagiarism. However, in most of the cases it is not the length of the sentence of that matters, but a significant phrase that sticks out and remains in people’s memories. If such a phrase is used without acknowledging the source then the writer has committed plagiarism. Students often get attracted to such phrases that are eloquently expressed with a verbal impact and which every writer would be glad to use. When such phrases are used, the writer should use quotations marks appropriately and give full acknowledgement to the original author. 

Since plagiarism is an academic crime, it has a penalty just like any other crime. The institution or the instructor offering the course usually determines the penalty for plagiarism. This therefore means that the penalty is not uniform in all institutions even though some common forms exist. In most of the institutions penalty involves failure of the paper or worse still failure of the entire course (Eisner & Vicinus 2008). The worst penalty associated with plagiarism is expulsion from the school or institution. Ignorance of the rules of plagiarism is never tolerated and can never be used as an excuse. Plagiarism out of carelessness is as bad as deliberate plagiarism and the penalty is equal in both cases. Efforts should therefore be made to familiarize all the students with institutional rules regarding plagiarism so that they can avoid it as much as possible.

Reference

Eisner, C. & Vicinus, M. (Eds.). (2008). Originality, Imitation, and Plagiarism: Teaching                       Writing in the Digital Age. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

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Why is St. Patrick’s Day one of the biggest celebrations for Irish People?

BY J. FERNANDES

Saint Patrick’s Day is a festival celebrated annually on 17th March, marking the day when Catholic Religion was first brought to Ireland by the most commonly of the Patron Saints of Ireland, St. Patrick. This festival consists of many parades and events around the country and outside of the country by Irish people and Irish descendants and increasingly by many of non Irish descent. It is a national holiday in the Republic of Ireland and a bank holiday in Northern Ireland.

St. Patrick's Parade by A. Inharjanto

Saint Patrick was a missionary in the 5th century who is said to have converted Ireland to Christianity. That is why this day is considered an important religious celebration. This day is celebrated by a lot of people in many other countries, including the USA, Canada, Argentina, Japan, South Korea, and the UK. In the island of Ireland, numerous cities, towns and villages like Galway, Limerick, Cork etc. have each one their own parades and festivals. However, the biggest celebration takes place in Ireland outside of Dublin in Down Patrick, Northern Ireland. 

Many Irish people enjoy their traditional meal including boiled potatoes with butter, roast spring lamb, Irish stew that is full of green parsley, beef and Guinness casserole. Children are allowed to get some candies, but there are much more, such as music and dance performances. Girls and boys play Irish folk music, which include concert, outdoor theatre performances and fireworks. The event is considered as one of Ireland’s biggest annual celebrations.

How does St. Patrick become very popular for Irish people?  A biographical story of St. Patrick as written here is commonly told. Many years ago the Roman ruled most of Britain. A boy was born in Roman Britain and grew up to be St Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland. That time there were a lot of young people being captured by raiders and sold as slaves. Patrick was just sixteen years old when he was seized by wicked men and brought to Ireland, there were no Christians in Ireland in those days. In Ireland he was a shepherd. He spent long days on the wild hills of Antrim minding sheep and talking (praying) to God.

A young reveller by J. Fernandes

Sometime when he was in Ireland for six years he had a dream. In his dream an angel told him he must escape, therefore he ran away, found a ship and abandoned Ireland behind. After a while he settled in France. He became a priest and spent several years studying a book called the Bible. There he had another dream, but this time he was told that he must come back to Ireland and teach the people about God. Patrick set off with a band of faithful followers.

The High King at Tara was the most powerful person in Ireland. He feared that Patrick’s Christian religion would teach people to be God followers instead of obeying the High King rules. Patrick convinced him that people could believe in God and also obey the High King. A plant called a shamrock grew all over Ireland, and one day Patrick picked it from the ground. He showed the High King at Tara that only one stem existed on the plant, but each stem contained three leaves. Patrick explained the Trinity of God. The High King became very impressed by Patrick and his story. He realized that Patrick did not want to take away his power, but simply to spread God message, so that the High King at Tara allowed Patrick and his followers to travel all over Ireland, converting the people to Christianity.

Nowadays, some people believe that St. Patrick banished the snakes from Ireland. Perhaps it is because heathens, who are people who don’t believe in God, are sometimes thought to be snakes. Perhaps, when the Irish become believers in God and were no heathens anymore, the snakes left Ireland.

On the way back from the parade by J. Fernandes

The popular St. Patrick Day tradition is wearing green clothing, which is the national colour that symbolizes the island’s lush landscape, the main symbol associated with this Irish popular day is Shamrock, a small three-leafed clover. The Shamrock became the national emblem of Ireland. Many Irish people wear sprigs of real Shamrock and greet each other in Irish Language using the words: ‘’Beannachatai na Feile Padraig oraibh’’, or in English language: ‘’May the blessing of St. Patrick be with you’’. On this day of celebration, there is opportunity and incentive for people of Irish descent and for those who wish they were Irish, also to attend and join in creative imaginative and expressive celebrations.

As I mentioned above all over the world, people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on the same date which is 17th March. A lot of cities and towns of Ireland have special celebrations and parties. In Dublin city centre there is always a very large colourful parade through its main streets with a lot of carnival floats, marching bands, clowns and stilt walkers to remember St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland.  

Lastly, the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day for Irish people is equivalent to national celebrations in some countries around the world, for example the celebration of Angola’s and Poland’s independence day on 11th November, the celebration of the Bastille Day in France in 14th July, in Greece 25th March, in Hungary 4th April, or in Denmark 16th April.

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DCU Sports Clubs: Precious experience for just €4

BY M. MIYAMURA 

DCU Women’s won CUSAI 2012 by J. Parra

DCU provides an array of opportunities for sport and we ensure that joining DCU clubs is an enjoyable and memorable experience. If you find difficulty in making new friends, don’t worry! There are only two things you have to do, prepare 4 EURO, and register for the club you choose. “So, how to register?” you may ask. Annually in the Hub, as soon as the semester starts, there is a Clubs and Societies Week. Here Clubs showcase themselves and can register you directly. If you can’t make it, there’s no need to panic. Clubs can be contacted year round at the web page for Club and Society Registration. Just don’t forget, as mentioned, it costs 4 EURO for registrations per a club.

The DCU Sports Expo is held every November. It is another good opportunity to get to know all things sport in DCU. For example, you can spectate at the spectacular freestyle football exhibition, try some exciting sports activities and have the chance to draw for free sports gym memberships and other prizes. It’s a great opportunity to both understand DCU sports clubs and learn about the ranger of facilities there are in DCU.

We often hear Irish students say that DCU is very big on sports and actually there are 47 clubs in DCU currently in March 2012. Most of the DCU sports clubs train and compete in the Sports Complex and the Sports Grounds near DCU. They receive financial support from DCU students’ levy. Clubs are student-run and student-led so the level of the practice is very flexible whether you want to play sports seriously or not!

There are some intervarsity competitions in Ireland where DCU teams and individuals compete against other Irish Universities. For example, one of the most popular competitions in Ireland is what is called CUSAI league. CUSAI stands for the Colleges and Universities Sports Association of Ireland. Every year each Irish University enters fierce competition to win the league. In short, once you join sports clubs, you will find plenty of opportunities to get involved in fantastic sports competitions! DCU has an excellent record in a variety of such sports competitions. Whether popularity and records are related to or not, we would like to highlight some famous DCU clubs.

Students playing soccer at DCU Court by M. Miyamura

• Soccer  Obviously, Soccer is one of the most popular and exciting sports all over the world and it is the same in DCU. Most of the members are Irish and this means good opportunities not only for playing soccer but also making real Irish friends. It is said that soccer club is the largest club in DCU. Thus the club is divided into Men and Ladies. DCU Ladies recently won the first prize for the WSCAI, which stands for Women’s Soccer Colleges Association of Ireland, national futsal cup on January 2012. You can check the time schedule and details on the web site above. 

• Ultimate  Some of you may not know what Ultimate is. Briefly, Ultimate is a fast-moving, exciting sport played with a flying disc. If you want to know this sport more, it is better to join DCU Ultimate! There are relatively more opportunities for competition than any other DCU sports clubs, for example, Belfast Ultimate. According to the Ultimate web page, the training is held every Thursday and Friday at 5-6pm in the Main Hall, Tuesday at 7-8pm in 7-a-side.

• Yoga Yoga Society is highly recommended for women who haven't had much exercise these days. Yoga can be relaxing, and good for your health. Through the classes in the Interfaith Centre twice a week, you feel refreshed in body and spirit. Even beginners can feel the benefits soon under the instruction of qualified instructors. Remember that you will pay 3 to 4 EURO per one lesson. Periodically Yoga Society presents a Yoga workshop, so you had better turn up regularly to learn effectively.

Obviously, there are various attractive clubs in DCU apart from the clubs mentioned above. DCU Fencing club is well known for its powerful team. DCU Women’s Volleyball Team became CUSAI league champion 2012. If you love the outdoors, Hiking, Rock Climbing, and Caving clubs are highly recommended. Since you are in Ireland, you cannot miss Gaelic football and Hurling clubs, being as they are, the traditional and national sports. In addition, most of the clubs have their own Facebook pages so it also helps to check them out for an insight into DCU clubs. Hope you can find the best club for you and have a great craic!

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Team

Editors: A. Inharjanto, J. Fernandes

Project Manager: B. Trope

Layout: B. Trope

Journalists: A. Inharjanto, B. Trope, B. Sieja, B. Vysoky, F. Bender, J. Fernandes, J. Treillaud, H. Kubo, M. Miyamura

Chief Photographer: B. Vysoky. Contributions also made by A. Inharjanto, F. Bender, B. Sieja, M. Miyamura, J. Parra, B. Trope, H. Tulp, J. Fernandes, H. Kubo

Acknowledgements:  V. Crosbie, J. Jones, S. Jones, P. E. Ryan, P. Spencer, A. Kelleher, M. Benson, O. Wynne, P. Daly, D. Myler, N. Gounderova, B. Skorupska

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Table of contents

1. Home

2. Table of Contents

3. About
3.1. Editorial
3.2. Table of Contents
3.3. Team and Acknowledgements

4. DCU
4.1. Learning (Plagiarism)
4.2. Campus
4.2.1. The Inter Faith Centre
4.2.2. Sports Clubs
4.2.3. Events
4.2.4. Accommodation

5. Dublin
5.1. Sightseeing
5.2. Entertainment
5.3. Getting Around
5.3.1 Cycling
5.3.2.Public Transportation

6. Ireland
6.1. Traditions (St. Patrick's Day)
6.2. Economic Living
6.3. Sightseeing
6.3.1 Dublin
6.3.2 Rest of Ireland

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Veni Vidi Vici

It is a pleasure to welcome you, all new students, especially those who come from abroad, with open arms at our beloved campus. Inspired by the spirit of hospitality and friendliness, the Dublin Insight magazine enthusiastically introduces you to good vibes in Dublin City University (DCU), the city of Dublin and Ireland. Just to let you know, the magazine is a project conducted by students of “Media and Communication Skills” class and targets recently arrived international students as the main readers.

The universities within the city, like DCU, have lots of opportunities to develop your studies as well as your other interests. There are numerous workshops related to your studies that you can do, for example. DCU’s events on culture, sport and entertainment are frequented by people from all types such as, dignitaries, ordinary citizens and the students themselves. Students accommodation, managing finance and the unique Inter Faith Centre are covered here as well.

Not only will you get to know DCU life, but you will also discover Dublin and Ireland. Steeped in history and buzzing with youthful energy, Dublin is at the very heart of Irish culture. Becoming accustomed to Dublin’s means of transportation will no doubt help you find out more about the city. In terms of entertainment, Dublin offers you the chance to experience it on a new level due to the presence of numerous theatres and cinemas offering wonderful services. Furthermore, Ireland’s captivating natural scenery and cultural charms attract a significant number of tourists.

Well, it is all up to yourself now to experience it. By the time you have worked out and explored things we mentioned, you will probably say to yourself or others, ‘I came, I saw, I conquered.’ We hope so! 

Good luck!

Editors

A. Inharjanto, J. Fernandes

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