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Inside: Sony’s Suspicious Software, Spanish Nationalism, plus Magazine Supplement

"I used to think that it was a privilege to watch history but now I think it’s a curse”.

Robert Fisk talks exclusively to The Circular

Dec05The Circular2

The danger of reporting from conflict zones has been has increased in recent years, as have the numbers of journal-ists who have been killed or kidnapped. Indeed, these dangers are becoming so great that certain journalists refuse to travel to these areas. A case taken by a former ABC News foreign correspondent in which he claimed he was sacked for refusing to cover the war in Iraq highlights the problem. The kidnapping of Rory Carroll, an Irish journal-ist with the Guardian news-paper, and his subsequent release, brought the subject even closer to home.

Iraq remains the most physi-cally dangerous place for jour-nalists to work. Since the war began, more than 100 media workers have been killed. Journalists are now seen as participants in war, and prime targets for insurgents. In light of this danger, the work of Robert Fisk is all the more impressive. He has spent 29 years reporting from conflict zones, and his coverage of the war in Iraq continues to inform a public hungry for the truth. This month, he talks exclusively to The Circular.

Editorial

Editor: Stephen O’Leary

Sub Editors:Anne Marie DuffJames McNultyNoirin ByrneIan O’Connor

Advertising:Victor Gamez Martin

Layout and Design:Diren Valayden

TheCircular

In the world-wide classifica-tion of colleges, published in November 2005, Ireland’s only representative fell dramatically in the rankings.

In the top 200 college global league table, Trinity College surprisingly dropped 24 places. As the sole irish repre-sentative on the list, this was a dissapointing result. Other universities like The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) scaled 100 places in just one year.

The National Autonomous University of Mexico is listed in 95th place, Trinity College has fallen to 111th place. Areas taken into consideration when calculating the ranking were: peer review, which involved

2,375 academic ranking uni-versities and the number of times that academic research papers are cited.

According to this edito-rial group, The National Autonomous University of Mexico is the highest ranked Hispanamerican university.

In the evaluation by different subjects, the study revealed that The National Autonomous University of Mexico occupies 20th place among the best uni-versities of the world in the field of the Arts and Humanities; while in the Science category it appears in 93rd position.

Trying to explain the reasons for Trinity’s dramatic decline, Dr. David Lloyd, Associate Dean of Research at Trinity College said there was disap-pointment at the overall drop in ranking. However, he was quick to point out that TCD improved in science from 94th place to 75th.

On the other hand, Dr. Sean Barrett, Senior Lecturer in Economics, said he was not surprised, considering that the college had spent the past two years embroiled in a “civil war” over proposals to cut the number of departments and faculties. He added that “University heads make these statements before the budget every year and err in doing so”.

The public relations department of The National Autonomous University of Mexico commented: “These results show the important aca-demic development achieved by the UNAM in recent years.l” According to the latest Mexican national budget, it was decid-ed to give a 40% increase to research and to improve the educational resources in this university.

In the classification the top rankings are occupied by Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge.

Now, universities around the world are waiting for the results of another important rank-ing: The Academia Ranking of World Universities 2005.

Mixed Fortunes for International Colleges

Trinity College Dublin in freefall

Everybody says it. Everybody you talk to says some form of the words

“Jesus, four grand a year! That’s shocking expensive!” We have all been there. A birthday, a funeral, a chris-tening or any number of fam-ily events where a relative you don’t really know, or like, tells you how expensive your degree is. Because you didn’t know already. Inevitably they will then ramble on about where “four grand a year” could go. If you fail to turn the conversa-tion in an other direction, they will probably ask “that” ques-tion. The one that goes some-thing like “Would the govern-ment not help you out there a bit... like with a grant?”

Ok, maybe it's just my extended family that go on like this but no matter what, the answer is always a firm

“No”. This will usually shock the questionnaire. I found out that it even shocked a local Fianna Fail T.D. which is very odd with it being his party’s decision. To be honest, at this stage I cannot see any reason for the policy of not providing maintenance grants to students attending private colleges.

The State are in a posi-tion where too many people are applying to go to college and state colleges are getting overcrowded. Fees may be re-introduced to try to discourage young people from applying to college due to the lack of space, so why not just acknowledge the problem and let some one else take care of it?

The fact remains that private institutions supply the country with about 5,000 college plac-es that would not exist other-wise. Ultimately these places

are not all occupied by people who can easily afford to pay for them. The Griffith College Students Union estimates that less than one percent of stu-dents would be eligible for a grant. Private colleges could cater for so many more people if means tested grants were available to them.

Means tested grants are only given to full time students who are in households that earn less than € 33,890 (along with a number of other require-ments) and if accepted they receive €2,945 and full fees.

The grant is designed in such a way that it is impossible for people who don’t deserve it to get it. Therefore, the presump-tion of rich kids in private colleges looking for a quick buck for nothing goes out the window. However, instead of making means tested grants

available to these students, the government is heading in the opposite direction. According to Mary Hannifan, the Minister for Education, there are plans to try to cut the amount of people eligible for grants by moving the cut off point of €33,890 to a substantially lower number.

The Union of Students in Ireland is in support of grants being open to all students. However, because they cur-rently have no private colleges as members they are not acting on the issue.

At the moment the Griffith College Students Union is mounting a campaign to try and get means tested mainte-nance grants for private college students. If you are interested in finding out more, please talk to Killian Faulknan the current SU President.

Injustice of College Grant System

Wendy Tapia reports on the varying fortunes of Irish and in te rna t iona l colleges in the annual global league tables

Iain O’Connor examines the problems surrounding the current means tested grants for students, and why those in private colleges are unfairly discrimainated against.

The Circular is produced by journalism students of Griffith College DublinTel: 01 4150400e-mail: circular2006@yahoo.ie

Beginning his career with the Newcastle Evening Chronicle and the Sunday Express “chas-ing vicars who’d ran off with starlets”, Robert Fisk is now the longest serving Western journalist in the Middle East.

The British journalist has spent the last twenty nine years reporting from countries such as Lebanon, Iran, Bosnia and Iraq; nations torn apart by the ravages of war.

Describing the Iraqi’s as “strong, intelligent people”, Fisk has witnessed first hand the torture inflicted on the innocent citizens of Baghdad: “When you get up in the morn-ing you hear the first suicide bombers, there is very little electricity. For most Iraqis they spend their time trying to make sure that their wives and chil-dren don’t get kidnapped for money.

"They try to find money to buy generators and to buy fuel so that they can have electric-ity, so that they can keep their fridges running, it’s very dan-gerous and there is a lot of mafia and kidnapping.”

Fisk considers Iraq to be “the most dangerous country now” that he has reported from and the 40,000 or so that have fled

Baghdad in the past year is a reflection of the bedlam.

Following two decades of rule by a tyrannical leader, the pass-ing of the constitution in Iraq is considered, by most, a vital step in Iraq’s shift to democ-racy.

However, Fisk, who is often criticised for his left wing poli-

tics believes that constitutions and elections are “irrelevant” to the ordinary citizens of Iraq and designed to allow the West more access to money: “Iraq is in such a state of anarchy and chaos that things like elections and constitutional referendums hardly matter any more. It was partly drawn up under pressure from American and British dip-lomats in Baghdad and they managed to get the people who were writing the constitution to water down some of the eco-nomic paragraphs.

"So that for example, oil which is owned by Iraq; some of the oil concessions can be now owned by foreign companies and they forced them to push that into the constitution which in turn allows them to have extra power politically . It’s the economic side of the constitu-tion that is important because the West is taking more and more of Iraq’s wealth.”

The foreign correspondent with the London “Independent”, explains why the violence and terror in Iraq has worsened despite the capture of Saddam Hussein: “The Americans thought that when they cap-tured him the insurgency would end but it actually got fiercer.

"And the reason was, because one of them told me this, a lot of people didn’t join the insurgency because they were frightened that if they drove the Americans out Saddam would come back but when Saddam was captured they joined the insurgency because they knew he couldn’t come back.”

Fisk, who has met Saddam Hussein and interviewed Osama Bin Laden on several occasions, is one of the few jour-nalists that still reports from the streets of Baghdad: “The Independent and the Guardian still take to the streets but it is becoming increasingly dan-gerous for journalists in Iraq. A lot of journalists don’t step foot outside their hotels per-haps because they are afraid,

which I don’t blame them for, but what I do object to is them not telling their readers their circumstances.”

Bosnia, he says, was by far the worst for journalists: “Bosnia was pretty terrible because journalists were being targeted. We were deliberately sought out for being shot at. But Bosnia was terrible because the kind of weapons being used were lethal.

"They were using jet aircraft in guerrilla warfare. Many of the fighters in Bosnia were either drunk or on drugs so if

they stopped you, you couldn’t reason with them because they were somewhere up on cloud nine. We lost 42 journalists in one year.”

Throughout his time in Iraq, Robert Fisk, has experienced some of the darkest moments of this century. The outspoken journalist recalls seeing “mass

graves being opened, people dead all over, blown to pieces by suicide bombers, the mortu-ary with dead babies in there", saying “If you saw what I saw you’d never support war.”

Fisk, who has recently pub-lished his second book The Great War for Civilisation, concedes that it was an emo-tionally draining time writing the transcript and it forced him to re-think a lot of things: “It

was a very depressing book to write. It was about pain and death and torture and geno-cide. When I come back to the likes of Dublin and see ordinary

people on the streets, lead-ing ordinary lives I sometimes think that maybe I missed out but I can’t turn the clock back, can I?”

Beginning to regret the paths he chose, the veteran journalist cannot see himself in Iraq in twenty years time and is ada-mant that he will not write such a book again: “I’m not going to want to rush to Iraq in twenty years time. I won’t write this

book again, it’s a very unhappy book", adding, "I used to think that it was a privilege to watch history but now I think it’s a curse”.

Hell Sucks

Danger, violence, murder and death continue to infect and poison the streets of Baghdad. Robert Fisk talks candidly to Nóirín Byrne about life and politics in such a “hell disaster” area.

Dec05 The Circular 3

For the Iraqi people elections and constitutional referendums hardly matter any more

"I’m not going to want to rush to Iraq in twenty years time."

Spain is a diverse country divided into seventeen regions and two cities in Morocco (Ceuta and Melilla). Spanish is the national language but in some areas, other official languages exist: Galician is spoken in the Galicia region; Catalan in Catalonian, Valence and Majorca; and Basque in the Basque Country. For cen-turies, nationalism has been a very important issue for the residents of these areas. This issue has been recognised dur-ing recent years by local politi-cians and they have begun to highlight it.In these regions there is a diversity of thought about the issue of nationalism. People are divided into three distinct opinion groups: there are those who have a huge sense of perti-nence to their region and want their area to be independent of Spain; there are those who like belonging to their region and having their own culture, but don’t want independence; and there are those who want to be Spanish and don’t have any feelings or desires for national-ism in their region.Basque nationalism was the most well known campaign,

because it is often linked, though not always, to a terror-ist organisation – Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA). ETA has been fighting since 1961, with a view to achieving independence from Spain. Since its creation, ETA has killed more than eight hundred people across Spain, but at present the organisation is losing a lot of power due to a successful police operation.ETA was represented by a political party, Herry Batasuna (HB), which defended its actions in the Basque parlia-ment. However in 2003 the Spanish government dissolved the party and declared it uncon-stitutional. Moreover, one of the big-gest problems in the Basque Country is that the most impor-tant nationalism party, Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV), do not condone the terrorist actions of ETA. A lot of people support PNV in the elections, which reflects the support ETA has in the region. However, much of this support may be gained through fear. There are many Basques who don’t express any repulsion to the terrorism of ETA because they fear for their lives. In the past

those who have failed to sup-port ETA or HB have had their businesses boycotted, house burned and in some cases, fam-ilies killed. Today, it is the Catalan cam-paign for nationalism that is receiving the most atten-

tion. With the new Spanish Government, led by Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero -a socialist who won the last year elections with his party Partido Socialista

Obrero Espanol (PSOE), the Catalan Government has been granted more freedom. At present, they are in the process of presenting to the Spanish Parliament a new propos-al. In it, they are calling for a new Statute which is going to give the Catalonian region more independence than ever before.However, many Spanish peo-ple from other regions are complaining and don’t want Catalonia to gain any more independence. They are afraid that it could signal the start of the rupture of Spain into many pieces and the destruction of the Spanish State.Catalonian nationalism is a very powerful cause, and there are many people who support it. This is reflected in the number of important nationalist politi-cal parties: Convergencia i Unio (CIU) is the most significant and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) has increased its support in the last number of years. These two parties gov-ern Catalonia in a tripartite with PSOE -a national party.The proposal of a new Statute led to very angry discussions about the issues surrounding

nationalism. The most contro-versial points of the new pro-posal are the definition of the Catalonian region as a “nation”, their request for more control of their financial position, and the replacement of Spanish by the Catalan language inside of their region. These things are viewed in Spain as a form to break the unity of the country.Galicia is the least prominent of the Spanish nationalism causes, but it too exists and has an important political party called Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG). Following elec-tions in June 2005, BNG won a number of seats and joined the regional Government in an alliance with PSOE party. This is the first time that a nation-alist party has acceded to the Galician Government.The increase of support for nationalism in other regions across Spain, such as Andalusia, has become one of the big-gest problems for the cur-rent Spanish Government. At present there is a hard fight between the different parties in Spain to look for a solution which satisfied to everybody, but the solution doesn’t seem easy to find.

Nationalism Across Spain

Dec05The Circular4

Maria Goas examines the spread of nationalism in Spain

It could signal the start of the rupture of Spain into many pieces

Dec05 The Circular 5There is a conflict of cultures

that is affecting the quality of life of individuals, and cost-ing the taxpayers considerable amounts. Disputes between landowners and local authori-ties have held up major road projects throughout the coun-try. It is a conflict between the ancient and the modern, between agriculture and indus-try. Agriculture has decrease in its importance to the economy in the past 20 years however farmers are still reluctant to give up land that may have been in the family for decades. To continue to attract industry we must have a modern effi-cient transport system. In the past 10 years the infrastructure has improved immensely with major towns having bypasses and a motorway from Dublin to Belfast almost complete. But the thorny issue of compensa-tion has proved contentious in the past and as the Government begin the election offensive and unveil their “Transport 21” plans the co-operation of the farming community will again be needed. In London there is already bad feeling among those who will have property taken to facilitate the trans-port upgrade before the 2012 Olympics. In 2001 things had deteriorat-

ed as farmers refused to let sur-veyors and officials enter their lands. The principal problem was that the land was compul-sorily acquired under legisla-tion dating back to after the 1st World War, which farmers claim, did not allow their land to be fairly valued for compen-sation. This was what caused the greatest distress to people affected by CPO - they were being forced off their own land, or to sell a part of it, and they were not being properly com-pensated. Tom Parlon, then IFA President said “ No farmer would sell a strip of land rough-ly 65 meters wide through the middle of his or her farm, dividing the unit built up over generations into two or maybe three fragmented pieces. To represent the CPO process as providing fair and reasonable compensation is a travesty.” If a local authority or any other qualified body acquires land by CPO, they are required to pay the market value of the land being acquired. They are also required to compensate peo-ple for the disturbance caused during whatever construction takes place. The process, how-ever, could take as long as 18 months to complete, meaning that the person being forced to sell could receive value a year and a half out of date. Once an authority decides to reserve a particular section of land for a roadway no planning permission will be given for development on that land. At

the same time the uncertainty over the future of the land usu-ally results in depressed val-ues. Few people want to buy a house, which could be subject to a CPO a few years down the line.At the end of 2001 the parties

involved, the NRA, the Dept of Environment and the IFA, representing farmers came

together and signed a twenty nine point agreement on the Acquisition of Certain Lands for National Roads. Its inten-tion was to “deliver the nation-al roads development pro-gramme within the timescale of the National Development Plan 2000-2006”. It clarified many of the disputed issues

and made provision of a €5000 per acre “goodwill” payment to farmers “in addition to all other payments”. Another part is an Assessment

procedure, which can be used when a landowner and the local authority fail to reach agree-ment on a settlement. Either the landowner or the local author-

ity/NRA may seek independent assessment. Assessment will be conducted by an independent person appointed from a panel established by the Chairperson of the Institute of Chartered Arbitrators in Ireland. Landowners will not lose their goodwill payment by opting for independent assessment. The Independent Assessment proc-ess requires a full exchange of reports from each side to the other and an exchange of the costs incurred by each side for the Assessment process. Each side is entitled to comment on the report submitted by the other party. However four years on some of the parties are unhappy with the situation.According to current IFA Vice

President Raymond O’Malley, “The time between route selec-tion and road completion is ridiculously long, unnecessar-ily prolonging the anxiety of the farm family.” He is also unhappy with the “Notice to Enter” giving the landowners notice that the authority is beginning work, which he says should be “unlawful unless and until the NRA can prove it has purchased and paid for the acquired land”. Compensation is not being received before work commences. The agreement also stated that

“local authorities will provide and maintain stock proof fenc-ing on all new motorway, dual-carriageway and national roads provided on or over land to which this agreement applies.” Four years on the cost of this is causing concerns to local authorities.Another issue causing concern

is that farmers are currently obliged to pay Capital Gains Tax (at 20%) on the sums received as compensation. This, they argue is unfair as it immedi-ately reduces the amount of compensation and their ability to purchase another piece of land. Raymond O’Malley says “it is morally wrong and even legally wrong to charge CGT on any property seized by the State”. Tom Dunne, the chairman of

the IFA's industrial and envi-ronment committee stated that, “We have received an opinion from a senior counsel that we have an excellent prima facie case to get this scrapped. We are not being compensated fully for our land.” The two sides have had an

uneasy peace over the last few years. If the Government pur-sue its Transport 21 plans the conflict may emerge again. The value of a piece of land depends on what it means to its owner. How can a home for 20 years be properly valued? Can the NRA or local author-ity take this into account? The contentious debate will con-tinue.

Creating Problems

for Owners

As the government reveal the Transport 21 plans Anne Marie Duff looks at the uneasy peace between landowners, local authori-ties and the NRA.

To represent the CPO process as providing fair and reasonable compensation is a travesty

Remains of a house demolished to make way for the Dublin/Belfast Motorway

Ireland is a country in denial. Our drinking has gotten out of hand and we are afraid to take that first crucial step on the road to recovery, acceptance.We must recognise that there is a problem. Alcohol is an addic-tive drug. It is rarely referred to as one, but it is. This fact should be stated more often. It is a drug that most of us use regu-larly, but more importantly one that we abuse nearly as often (‘binge drinking’ is defined as having in excess of six drinks in one night). Our attitude to alcohol’s negative effects has been truly negligent. Imagine for a moment if a new drug was to come on to the Irish market tomorrow. This drug costs the Irish economy an estimated €1 billion a year in worker absenteeism, causes an unprecedented number of car accidents, assaults, beaten and neglected wives, beaten and neglected children, van-dalism, public disorder and is found to be present in the systems of over 90% of those who have committed suicide in this country. A drug that kills ten times as many people every year, as all illegal drugs combined. Is it fair to assume that this new drug would be outlawed relatively quickly? These are the effects of alcohol abuse, yet alcohol slips through the net; untainted by the label ‘drug’. Tobacco advertising has been banned in recognition of the harmful effects of smoking. This ban has been accompa-nied by uncompromising and haunting ad campaigns. These ads show such things as, a brain being dissected to reveal the oozing tumour that killed the owner. Or the clogged artery of a deceased smoker being squeezed, gradually expelling the contents on to an operating table. What’s the equivalent for alco-hol? Ads warning you to ‘drink sensibly’ or you may wet your pants or embarrass yourself at a party. The disparity is clear. These ads would be harder hitting if they weren’t spon-sored by Diageo, owner of many of our favourite bever-ages, including Guinness and Budweiser. You can imagine if Benson and Hedges had a say in a ‘smoke sensibly’ ad campaign they would insist it

be free of dissected brains and mutilated arteries.The drink driving ads are a slightly more effective deter-rent, but even these are aimed at keeping you out of your car rather than out of the pub.So why does this enormous dis-parity exist? Is it because of the second-hand effects of smok-ing? Is there really such a dif-ference in the harmful effects each drug has? Or is that the majority of us just don’t con-sider alcohol a drug? Many of us know people who drink six nights a week and still claim they’ve never done drugs in their lives. Herein lies the problem.Alcohol permeates every walk of Irish life. It sponsors our most revered sports events and dominates television advertis-ing.Irish people drink in any situ-ation. Funerals, weddings, hol-idays, exam results (good or bad); children’s communions, christenings and confirmations; commiseration and celebration all tempt us to indulge in the “nation’s favourite pastime”. It is clear we have a problem

when the only two days on the calendar alcohol cannot legal-ly be sold-Christmas Day and Good Friday- become two of the biggest sessions of the year. Alcohol is a crutch and we use it often.One of the most disturbing aspects of Ireland’s drinking problem is its effect on young people. Those who do not drink, or even decide to take a night off, can be mocked for their “sensibility”. On the other hand, those who drink large amounts of alcohol are hailed as heroes, whose heterosexual-ity is beyond reproach.

These views may be stereotypi-cal but most reading this paper has seen some degree of this behaviour. Alcohol abuse is not only accepted, but also actively encouraged in many circles in Irish society.The harmful effects of excessive drinking are numerous: ulcers, liver failure, kidney damage, wearing away of stomach lin-ing, heart disease, mouth and stomach cancer, and psychiat-ric problems are just a few of the results of excessive alco-holic consumption.One should always be cautious when drinking a substance that, in its pure form, can kill; espe-cially when consuming bever-ages that are up to 40% proof.Ireland needs to begin address-ing this problem immediately. The fact that this drug is legal does not justify half the coun-

try having a drinking problem. There are many people in this country - our friends and family - that are in fact, drug addicts. Just because they get their fix from licensed establishments, does not make this fact any less of a reality. Many of you may not agree with these views but denial is a very powerful thing. The fact that alcohol has never been condemned in the same way as illicit drugs, or even tobacco, means that the same stigma has never been attached. Alcohol kills thousands of peo-ple every year: It is one of the biggest contributors to Ireland’s poor road-safety record; is linked to nearly every suicide in the country; and accounts for more than three quarters of weekend A&E patients. For a drug with so many varying

consequences, it enjoys a pretty wholesome reputation. So how can we begin to tack-le this problem? Michael McDowell plans to issue more licenses to cafes in an effort to encourage Irish people to take food with their drink. In the U.K. Tony Blair has introduced new licenses allowing 24 hour drinking, with a view to avoid-ing violence, by staggering closing times. In Australia they have placed taxes on drinks in accordance with their potency; the higher the alcohol content, the higher the tax. This policy has seen a marked decrease in the sale of spirits and a move back to lager and less harmful products. Whatever policies are intro-duced the country faces a strug-gle, against tradition, habit and addiction.

Calling Time on Ireland’s Booze Culture

Alcohol costs the Irish economy an estimated €1 billion a year in worker absenteeism

Irish attitudes toward alcohol consumption are in drastic need of change, writes Eoghan Sullivan

Dec05The Circular6

Women are more likely to perpetrate domestic violence than men, recent research carried out for the Marriage and Relationship Counselling Service (MRCS) has found. This report, based on a sur-vey of 530 clients of MRCS found that, where domes-tic violence occurs, mutual violence accounts for 33% of cases, female perpetrated vio-lence accounts for 41% and male perpetrated violence for 26%. Research carried out by the Department of Health and Children also vindicates the MRCS research. These findings concur with similar surveys carried out in the UK, Canada and the USA. The National Crime Council is also undertak-

ing a national study on domes-tic abuse in Ireland, the results of which the council expects to publish early next year.

It seems that the belief that men cannot be victims of domestic violence still exists. There are virtually no services for male victims of domestic violence, even in countries where there is statistical evi-dence to indicate that domes-tic violence against men is a substantial reality. The reason for this is not just the exist-ing consensus about domestic violence, the resistance to the idea that men can be victim-ised by women, but also the reluctance of male victims to present themselves for services. This silence is encouraged by

the fear of ridicule and blatant gender bias towards those men who are brave enough to come forward with complaints, and the fear of being stigmatised as weak because they do not con-form to the stereotypical male image.

Mary Cleary, co-ordinator and founder of AMEN, a volun-tary service for men and chil-dren who are victims of domes-tic violence, says the idea of men not coming forward shows a lack of awareness. AMEN was set up in 1997 and since then thousands of men, from all walks of life, have contacted its helpline service. "There are thousands of men coming for-ward in the last 20 years who are victims of domestic abuse. If we start talking figures we're defeating what we're about. I would say men and women in intimate relationships abuse in equal numbers. Nobody knows for sure what goes on. We meet with men individually and collectively. We give them information about the options available through the courts. It's about empowering them-selves."

In order to gain greater

insight into the dimensions of domestic violence against men, AMEN commissioned a small survey of men in the Monaghan area, volunteering to be inter-viewed on their experiences of victimisation by their women partners. The majority of these men (72%) had suffered some form of physical abuse and an even higher proportion (82%) had unsubstantiated allega-tions made against them, while all had suffered mental abuse and a threat to report the male victim as the perpetra-tor. However, only 45% con-tacted the Garda Siochana and, of those, 97% claimed that they had not been taken seriously or were treated as if they were the perpetrator. 70% said they had found it difficult to leave their home because of concern for their children's safety.

A report entitled "Men and Domestic Violence: What Research Tells Us", to the Department of Health and Children in March 2002 con-cludes, "A more inclusive approach to domestic violence should not create competition between victims by minimis-ing the experiences of women

at the expense of men or vice versa. The broader and more inclusive paradigm of domes-tic violence which is suggested by the findings of this report in no way diminish what we already know about the suf-fering caused to women at the hands of men; nor should it be used in any way to reduce services for women victims of domestic violence." Society should remember that domes-tic violence is a human issue, not a gender issue.

The Other Side of Domestic Violence

Women are the perceived victims of domestic vio-lence, but is this really the case? - Hazel Murtagh reports

When report-ing an incident to the Gardai, 97% of men claimed they were treated

as if they were the perpetra-

tor

Sony's controversial Digital Rights Management (DRM) software, recently discovered embedded in their CDs, was being used without the permis-sion of the bands themselves.

The band, My Morning Jacket, whose music is distributed by Sony, has revealed they had no knowledge of the DRM restric-tions on their CDs. The CDs when played on a PC, download ‘rootkits’ onto the hard drive without notice. Rootkits are used to hide malicious software once it is installed and ensure it is not found and removed by anti-virus programs.

Speaking on their behalf, the band’s record label stated: “We at ATO Records are aware of the problems being experienced by certain fans due to the copy-protection of our distributor. Neither we nor our artists ever gave permission for the use of this technology, nor is it our distributor's opinion that they need our permission.”

ATO Records have long been regarded as a forward-looking

label and even permit audio taping at their artist’s perform-ances, something the music industry as a whole has tried for years to prevent. It is the belief of the label that the use of DRM software by Sony could affect their bands financially through loss of goodwill and fan support.

Rootkits are starting to be used by a small number of computer virus writers because they allow malicious codes to be inserted deep inside the Windows operating sys-tem, meaning that it will not be spotted by most anti-virus scanners.

The use of the contentious software was first discovered by American computer coder and blogger Mark Russinovich in October. Mr Russinovich, a renowned Windows program-ming expert, came across the Sony anti-piracy system when performing a scan of his com-puter with a utility he co-cre-ated that spots rootkits.

By the time Mr. Russinovich discovered the software on his computer and had writ-ten about it, Sony had already sold about 2.1 million CDs con-taining the program. The pro-gram, which installs files on your computer and then hides them, is used to monitor the number of times a CD is copied and sends the information to a Sony Web site.

Sony installed the program on CDs by 52 artists in total and attempted to justify its actions in a statement: "We placed the technology on certain discs to prevent unlimited copying and unauthorised redistribution of the music on the disc. Content

protection technology is an important tool to protect intel-lectual property rights."

However, it has been suggest-ed by many in the field of tech-nology that Sony’s implemen-tation of this type of DRM is not about making CDs immune to piracy. Engadget, a web magazine that covers consum-er electronics have said: "the new copy protection scheme — which makes it difficult to rip CDs and listen to them with an iPod — is designed to put pressure on Apple to open the

iPod to other music services, rather than making it depend-ent on the iTunes Music Store for downloads."

This has led to accusations that DRM is now being used as a competitive economic weap-on and not an anti-piracy tool. Sony has also been accused of treating consumers with con-tempt in the wake of a recent radio interview with their pres-ident of global digital business, Thomas Hesse. In the interview, Mr. Hesse said: "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"

Sony has discontinued pro-duction of CDs with this DRM software and recalled about 2.6 million CDs that had been pro-duced but not sold. Customers who think they may have bought one of the ‘embedding’ CDs should check the company's Web site (www.sony bmg.com) for the procedure on removing the software from their compu-ter and getting a new "clean" copy of the CD.

Most people don’t even know what a rootkit is so why should they care about it?

Neither we nor our artists ever gave permission for the use of this technology

Suspicion Surrounds SonyJames McNulty reveals the hidden software that may be in your spying on your CD’s.

Dec05 The Circular 7

The mosque is the oldest of its kind in Dublin and the second greatest of those in Ireland. Its construction, in 1980, was in response to the demand of a young Islamic student popula-tion who came to the universi-ties of Dublin to study. Now, this centre for Islamic people in Dublin has become a mul-tipurpose complex, where the followers of Islam can adjust to Irish society with much great-er ease than in the past. The mosque is not just a prayer centre, but a place for gather-ing, a place for advice for new immigrants. And the person in charge of this mosque is the Imam, Yahya Al-Hussein, who spoke exclusively to the Circular.

In a spacious office, the Imam reflects on the prejudices his religion is now facing: “What kind of terrorism do I do?”, he asks, “I just pray”. When asked about the recent terror-ist attacks in Europe, including those in Madrid, he cannot see the sense in them: "Why did they do that?", he asks himself. The Imam points out that it is very worrying that some peo-ple compare all Muslims with terrorists.

When the Circular asked Imam Yahya Al-Hussein, the man with the highest level of responsibility at the mosque, about the preaching of radical opinions and ideas in ceremo-nies, he was quick to assure us that they just read the Koran. In fact, no personal beliefs are expressed in the mosque.

The daily services in the mosque are very similar, except on Fridays. This is the most sacred day of the Muslim week, because, as the Imam explains: " Allah elected it". On Fridays, every parishioner is obliged to come and celebrate their rites. The average number of visitors to the mosque on a Friday is over two hundred.

Whether at home or in the

mosque, parishioners must ful-fil a minimum of five orations per day. But the adorations to Allah must be done in the mosque, and in two separate groups: men on one side and women on the other. Although this may seem strange to those outside the Islamic community, the Imam sees the segregation as being as natural as having separate toilets for each sex.

Although there are few mosques in Ireland, Yahya explained that anyone can become an Imam and celebrate orations in any place. This is partly because in the Islamic religion, there is no priesthood or hierarchy. "The only differ-ence (between a mosque and any other place of worship) is the person who reads the chap-ters", he added.

Moreover, Yahya confirmed that there are many small mosques in flats and apart-ments around the country. The only reason people don’t know they exist is because they have no external symbols.

Yahya sees the relationship between the Muslims and Dublin’s society as a whole, as being very good. The mosque is open to everybody and the people of Dublin are welcome to enter. If you wish to visit, on entering the hall you must remove your shoes. Also, the Muslim religion requires clean-liness for the moment of prayer, and for this reason, there are some bathrooms inside.

The mosque on the South Circular Road is also the site of The Islamic Foundation of Ireland. It contributes to breaking down cultural bar-riers and encouraging mutu-al understanding between Muslims and the Irish public. The Foundation offer many services for their communi-ty including study circles in Arabic and English, children’s education, as well as a library with books on Islam in Arabic,

English and Urdu. Moreover, it offers free literature on Islam including copies of the Koran, Halal shop and a restaurant. There is also a translation serv-ice, certification of Halal food,

funeral arrangements and burial too. However, it is not just the Muslim Community who can avail of services at the Mosque. They also run Arabic Courses for non-Arabic speak-

ing people.The importance of the

mosque to the Muslim com-munity in Dublin cannot be underestimated. Islam is grow-ing each day in Dublin, which is reflected in the demand for prayer places especially among students. Almost every major third level institution in Dublin now has a prayer hall. The stu-dents of Griffith College Dublin have the greatest prayer room in the city right on their door-step.

Behind the doors of an Irish Mosque

Victor Gamez Martin steps inside the mosque located next to Griffith College Dublin

The Islamic Foundation of Ireland helps to break down cul-tural barriers and encourages mutual understanding

Almost every major third level institution in Dublin now has a Prayer Hall

Dec05The Circular8

The sugar reform is a bit-ter pill to swallow for many farmers. But EU policies on sugar have always been part of a wider trade injustice.

Once upon a time, when empires engaged in bloody bat-tles and political back-stabbing over sugar, slaves were a vital unit of production. When it was time to abolish the trade in free human labour, sugar, along with coffee, were major moti-vators, as important as ‘human rights’ (though slaves were nei-ther considered humans, nor did they have rights).

While Jamaica was the star

colony in the British Empire, the French boasted ‘ownership’ of St Domingue (the western part Hispaniola, now Haiti) in the region. The French colony was so successful that it pro-voked the bitter jealousy of its rival. Ever so sly, the British devised a plan to sabotage the increasing wealth that St Domingue was pouring into the French economy; the aboli-tion of the West Indian slave trade. With no slaves and no free labour, the French colony, which depended on sugar, cof-fee, and tobacco, was doomed.

Therefore, sugar and econom-

ics, and not European magna-nimity, ended the transaction of slaves. These days, sugar has lost much of its past glamour and soon, it will also lose most of its European subsidies.

If in the past, the West Indies satisfied European cravings for sweet things, the situation has now been reversed: the EU is the biggest exporter of white sugar to the world. How this happened is again a history of imperialism, this time econom-ic. The EU and the US have always used poorer countries as satellite economies. The third world provided raw mate-

rials that they turned into the finished products. Thus, sugar from the ‘third world’ is refined in Europe and then sold on the international market. This explains why the EU accounts for 40% of all white sugar sold in the world.

Despite the complaints of Irish farmers, the sugar regime was nothing less than an aber-ration. The subsidies that the EU guaranteed its members every year helped them to pro-duce sugar at a very cheap price. Furthermore, high tariffs, up to almost 324%, denied other countries the vital European

market. Former colonies in the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) group enjoyed a spe-cial quota system. However, the EU was distorting the mar-ket. Beet sugar costs more than twice as much to produce as cane sugar.

How did this situation come about? It all started with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 1962 among the recently formed European Economic Area (EEA). In 1967, the sugar regime was included in the CAP and the beet sugar producers laughed all the way to the bank. Every year the sugar industry in the EU gets €800 million in subsidies. These subsidies allied to the high guaranteed prices in the internal market rewards the industry with a hefty profit. The US plays the same game,

financing its sugar sector to the cost of €1.1 billion annually.

Subsidies allow the industry to produce sugar at a high price and sell it at a low price. While a tonne of sugar costs around €673 to produce, it fetches only €157 on the world market. EU handouts plug the gap between production costs and world market prices.

However, the real tragedy is the nefarious effects of sub-sidies on poor countries. The dumping of its excess sugar on the world market prevents countries like Mozambique or Brazil, cost-effective sugar producers, to access many markets. For example, the EU exports sugar to Nigeria, Algeria and even to the Middle-East. Secondly, irrespective of world prices, the EU guar-antees its farmers high prices on the internal market. Sugar prices then plummet below the production cost of countries like Malawi and Mozambique. Thirdly, without the CAP, the EU would be importing sugar every year and not exporting it, thus denying its market to many countries.

But this policy does not only apply to sugar. The EU flexes its economic and political mus-cles on all fronts in agricul-ture to bail out its farmers. It practices the vilest form of protectionism while it forces other countries to open their borders to its products. The double standards of the EU and the US, backed by the IMF and World Bank du00umvirate have already sent many coun-tries spiralling into poverty.

On a bigger scale, this is just another example how people become dispensable within the market economy. Those who stand to lose most are small farmers within the EU (the multinationals will still get their hefty compensation) and those countries which have depended on sugar as their main source of revenue.

Sweet and SourDiren Valayden reflects on the injustice of international sugar reform policies

Dec05 The Circular 9

Every year the sugar industry in the EU gets €800 million in sub-sidies

The EU accounts for 40% of all white sugar sold in the world

Fernando Alonso is the new golden boy of Formula 1. The Spanish superstar is proving to be a worthy successor to the seven times World Champion Michael Schumacher. On September 25th 2005, Fernando became the young-est winner of the Formula 1 Championship with third place in the Brazilian Grand Prix.Only 24 years old, Fernando was the youngest per-son to win the F1 World Championship surpassing the Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi –who was 25 when he won the Championship in 1972.Alonso is the first Spaniard to win the Formula 1 Championship and his success has created a huge following for the sport across Spain. He has broken numerous records since his arrival to Formula 1 . For example, he has become the youngest racer winner, surpassing Bruce McLaren.During the 2004/2005 Championship Alonso won seven races and reached the podium fifteen times. This year's Formula 1 World Championship culminated with the Chinese Grand Prix in October. Alonso wrapped up the title in style, beating arch rival Kimi Raikkonen into second place . Moreover, he and his team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella delivered the

Constructors Championship to Renault after a hard fought battle with the McLaren team of Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya.Kimi Raikkonen was Alonso's chief opponent during this year, following the demise of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. Despite the belief that

Raikkonen had that the best car, technical prob-lems prevented him from completing many races. Fernando Alonso was the most consistent finisher throughout the year. He finished outside the first three on only four occa-sions: Hungary (11th position),

Monaco (4th), U.S.A. –where he had to abandon– and Canada –where he had an accident. Fernando arrived in Formula 1 five years ago, but his love of cars began when he was a child. He was given his first kart at he age of three and spent the next twelve years developing his talent. During that time he won a host of events, the most important of which was the Junior World title.In 1999, he graduated to sin-g l e - seater cars in the

Euro-Formula Nissan, where his success

continued, notching up nine victories

within the

space of a year. The next step for the gifted young driver was Formula 3000 –the traditional breeding ground for Formula 1. Once again, Fernando excelled, with victory in the Belgium Grand Prix and a sec-ond position in Hungary.The transition to Formula 1

was too prove far more dif-ficult. In 2001, Alonso signed for the Benetton-Renault team, but they released him to team Minardi. The team were struggling financially and this

was reflected in a poor car and poor organisation.

The undoubted skills of Alonso were hampered

by this situation. The following year he sac-rificed race time to

rejoin the Renault team as a test driver.This sacrifice was to pay serious divi-dends. Renault

team bosses

were quick to realise the potential of their new Spanish recruit, and in 2003 he made his debut as an official Renault driver partnering Jarno Trulli. With a competitive race car at his disposal Alonso began to show his form. In only his second race with the Renault

team, he became the youngest driver to record a “pole posi-tion”, in the Malasia Grand Prix. Brimming with renewed confidence, Alonso went on to finish the season in fifth place in the Drivers Championship. The following year, despite finishing in fourth position, and reaching the podium on four occasions, Alonso failed to record a single victory. However, 2005 season saw the introduction of new rules in Formula 1, and the Renault team suddenly became more competitive. The resulting success of both Alonso and the team as a whole marks them out as a force for the future.

No Braking AlonsoMaria Goas looks at the career of Fernando Alonso, the current Formula 1 World Champion

Alonso has become the youngest racer winner, surpassing Bruce McLaren.

Dec05The Circular10

Ireland's short-comings in the Autumn Internationals and the subsequent furore over team selection has left a dark cloud over Eddie O'Sullivans' tenure as manager.

Some sections if the Irish media have been damning in their criticism of O'Sullivans' methods. In recent col-umns they have questioned O'Sullivan's tactics and his management style but it is team selection which has left most people wondering if the two heavy losses to Southern Hemisphere opposition, and a shallow victory over a one-dimensional Romanian outfit was the best his team could muster.

The main bone of conten-tion is the non-selection of some of the Irish players playing for clubs outside the country. O'Sullivan's deci-sion to ignore the exceptional form of London Irish lock Bob Casey and Toulouse flanker Trevor Brennan has caused the most outcry amongst sections of the media. Since his exile from Leinster four years ago, Brennan has been a talisman in both the second and back row for a Toulouse and has two French League titles and two European Cups to show for his efforts.

Casey has proven to be one of the best lineout operators in the English League and at 19 and a half stone, he pos-sesses a ball carrying threat that Ireland’s pack is in need of with the absence of Victor Costello, David Wallace and Keith Wood.

To highlight the issue fur-ther, in a recent column Sunday Times rugby correspondent Stephen Jones listed 12 differ-ent players plying their trade outside the four provinces who, he reckoned, should be includ-ed in the Irish squad.

Given his track record in selection of foreign based play-ers, you can see why some have cried foul. O'Sullivan ignored the claims of Geordan Murphy for a long time while he was playing consistent-ly for Leicester. At the time, he was labelled "The George Best of Rugby" by his coach Dean Richards. Ditto Jonny O'Connor. The Wasps openside was tipped for a Test spot on the Lions team and was even questioned to his availability for England before O'Sullivan paid any heed.

That the debate came to the fore in the first place was due mainly to the mass exo-dus of players to England during the summer. Ireland's provinces lost some of their best young talent when Aidan McCullen(Toulouse), David Quinlan (Northampton), Peter Bracken (Wasps) Leo Cullen, Shane Jennings and Ian Humphries (all Leicester) left these shores during the off-sea-son. Humphries and Bracken have been completely ignored by O’Sullivan at a time when Ireland are severely lacking in the fly halve and tight head department.

These players, undoubt-edly the next generation of Irish internationals, have been largely ignored by O'Sullivan since their switch but some commentators have ignored the fact that they left because they weren't featuring regular-ly enough for their provinces in the first place. Most were play-ing during the Celtic League while their international team mates were away.But they had to relinquish their start-ing roles in the Heineken Cup when their more illustrious colleagues came back.

No doubt, their exposure to top class rugby every week in England and France has helped in their recent development as players, but until O'Sullivan and his management team see them put in big, consistent performances in the Heineken Cup, it s hard to see how they can be considered for selec-tion.

The Romania game was seen by some as a prime opportunity to try out some of these emerg-ing talents but after the two performances against Australia and New Zealand you could forgive O'Sullivan for looking for a victory first, and a per-formance from his established players if only to boost ailing morale.

The re-establishment of the “A" internationals in Spring should see most of these play-ers tested on an international stage and O'Sullivan must be hoping he can uncover some international class perform-ers before the next World Cup. Bear in mind, if Ireland do come through from a group includ-ing France and Argentina, they will be “rewarded” with a quar-ter final tie with New Zealand. Scary thought.

Testing Times For O’Sullivan

Up and coming overseas talent must be recognised by the Irish manager if rugby is to progress further writes Conor McKeon

Dec05 The Circular 11

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