BARREN LANDS AND BANSHEES Eleanor Moseley reviews The Banshees of Inisherin and examines the film’s themes of isolation and male frienships
OPINION
MAGAZINE
IN OCUS F
SPOT R
Thingmote: Down Under
Life in Colourblind
The Long Nightmare
Missing the Net
Professor Chris Morash writes about his analyses of Australian street signs on his travels in Melbourne and how academics should embark on more research projects analysing the signage page 8 »
Siothrún Sardina shows us what it’s like to experience the world as a colourblind person page 4»
Faye Murphy examines the impacts of Long Covid on the student population by speaking to three students who have experienced its crippling effects page 4 »
Eoghan Kennedy McPartlan details the rise and fall of the Trinity Meteors in their match against reigning national champions DCU page 9 »
Student Newspaper of the Year
Volume XIV, Issue III
PhDs Face Delays in Promised €500 Pre-Christmas Payment Ailbhe Noonan EDITOR
T
he €500 increase in the phd stipend promised to postgraduate researchers funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Irish Research Council (IRC) as part of Budget 2023 has been delayed to early 2023. In an email seen by The University Times, the programme manager at the SFI Centre for Research Training in Digitally-Enhanced
Reality (d-real) in Trinity said that the €500 payment is “a one-off payment that the government are to make to phd students funded by sfi and irc” and that “the timing is delayed”. “Accounts believe that there will be no payment for november 2022 but they are working on getting this sorted by the end of the year, if they can”, the email continued. An email sent to the heads of SFI and the IRC by the PhDs’ Collective action union (PCAU) and the Post-
graduate Workers Alliance (PGWA) revealed that “there have been conflicting answers from universities, departments and centres for research training on the matter” with some being told the payment “will ‘likely’ be on the december payroll, with others not expecting it to arrive until 2023”. The email added: “given that the maximum annual stipend of a phd researcher in this country is more than €3,000 below minimum wage, and phds do not have any
workers’ rights or protections, you can understand that many of our members are concerned about the coming winter and the cost of living crisis”. “While €500 may not be a large payment, many of our members live on the margins, and this could mean the difference between paying rent or heating a house. Given the promise of this payment in 2022, many have factored it into their budgets.” “The PCAU expects your organisation to live up to this prom-
ise to ensure that phd researchers remain in their homes this winter”, the letter continued, “and do not have to make difficult decisions on heating, food, and basic necessities”. The email finished by requesting clarification on “i) whether this payment will be provided to phd researchers in 2022 as promised and ii) when phd researchers can expect this payment to reach their accounts”. SFI and the IRC have been contacted for comment.
High Society Celebrations
PHOTO BY AILBHE NOONAN FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES
High Society Celebrations Provost Linda Doyle held an afternoon reception for the heads of student societies, clubs and publications in the Provost’s House behind House 1.
Long Covid: A Misunderstood Condition
Missing the Net: Trinity Meteors See Defeat at the Hands of DCU
Faye Murphy examines the symptoms and long-term effects of Long Covid on the student experience PAGE 4»
Eoghan Kennedy McPartlan analyses the rise and fall of the Trinity Meteors in their recent game against DCU PAGE 10»
Editor: Ailbhe Noonan Volume 14, Issue 3 ISSN: 2013-261X Phone: (01) 646 8431 Email: info@universitytimes.ie Website: universitytimes.ie
This newspaper is produced with the financial support of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union, but maintains a mutually agreed policy of editorial independence.
To contact The University Times write to: The Editor, The University Times, 6 Trinity College Dublin 2
PHOTO BY AILBHE NOONAN FOR THE UNIVERSITY TIMES
Tuesday November 29th, 2022
Provost Discusses Precarious Employment at Address to College Ailbhe Noonan and Phoebe Pascoe
P
rovost Linda Doyle today spoke on a number of issues facing Trinity’s community in an address to the college providing updates on activities over the past year. One of the most pressing issues discussed was the question of precarious employment and academic promotion. Explaining the promotion system within College, Doyle said: “In Trinity, typically we have academic promotions, and we’ve had what we call role grading for academic staff”. “We have a lot of conversations about precarious work and the people in various situations. Some of them we can do something about, others we may not be able to. There is a better way and I believe we’ll find it.” “I expect there will be things where we see that we need to stop the practice and there is opportunity for these jobs to be permanent”, she explained. “I expect I will also see that there’s nothing you can do about
other situations.” When asked about what the college intends to do to alleviate precarity by Dr. Enrica Ferrara, a lecturer in the School of Italian, Doyle responded: “I think people need to have more integrity in the first place when hiring people in terms of laying out what’s possible, where the job can go and where it can’t”. Dr. Niall Kennedy, a teaching fellow in the School of French, asked whether the college intends to have core modules and how they intend to find people to teach them if they are paid less than €10k a year. Doyle replied that College intends to see “who’s working on what and what kind of employment conditions they have”, and to “see if [they] can group things together into a full-time position or if [they] need to stop things altogether”. Matt Murtagh White, a member of the PhDs’ Collective Action Union (PCAU), questioned the Provost on whether College can still claim to provide fully-funded PhDs considering the current stipends. He
also asked Doyle if she supports minimum standards for PhD researchers in training. “I don’t think you can say it’s a fully funded stipend anymore,” Doyle responded. “I think PhDs who are working should be treated with contracts for that work separate to a stipend.” She also acknowledged the various levels of funding that PhDs receive, and that none of them are adequate in light of the cost of living crisis. Doyle added that “[Simon Harris] is driving for all HEIs to collectively do a much better analysis of the conditions that people are in”. The Provost also addressed the HEA Bill: “The HEA Bill that many people in this room have been working with and against was passed through the Dáil and the Seanad yesterday”. She acknowledged that “we’ve done an awful lot of work, as have many people in this room, because we’ve been worried about the general parts of the bill” before stating “we’re at the end of the journey in terms of the bill being passed CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
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PCAU To Submit Proposal on PhD Rights Ailbhe Noonan Editor
T
he PhDs’ Collective Action Union (PCAU) have produced a document outlining their demands for fair research and pay conditions. The document, titled the Fair Postgraduate Researcher Agreement (FRA), will be submitted to Minister for Higher Education and Research Simon Harris as part of the ongoing review of PhD supports in Ireland. The agreement was initially drafted by the PCAU executive and received input from Union members before being presented at a Town Hall on Friday. “It is the core belief of the PhDs’ Collective Action Union (PCAU) that all postgraduate researchers in Ireland should be recognised as – and offered the rights and protec-
tions of – employees under Irish Law”, the FRA states. “PG employees should be paid at least a living wage, based on the current value of the Minimum Essential Standards (MES) model”, the document continues. “The MES model ensures that the salary paid to PG employees is tracked to the cost of essential goods and guarantees that PG employees are paid enough to meet physical, psychological and social needs in Ireland.” On the topic of working conditions for postgraduate researchers, the document states that “all [postgraduate] employees have the right to perform their duties under fair employment terms” and that “the specifications of these terms must be clearly stated in an employment contract” offered to postgraduate researchers before they begin their roles. The fair employment terms
as outlined by the PCAU include a work week of not more than 48 hours across all responsibilities, that the total time spent in a teaching role not exceed 10 hours per week unless otherwise requested (in which case it should not exceed 20 hours per week), and that the time spent preparing for lecturing and demonstrating be paid at the same rate as teaching hours. The document also emphasises the issues faced by nonEU postgraduate researchers and outlines ways to reform the system to support them, including having institutions cover the costs of immigration fees, extending the Irish Residency Permit expiration date to cover the full period of study, reducing tuition fees and granting access to health and disability support. The issue of spouse rights for non-EU postgraduate researchers is also covered.
“Spouses and dependents of all [postgraduate] employees, whether they be EU citizens or not, should have full working rights in Ireland”, the document states. “Non-EU [postgraduate] employees should be included in the Hosting Agreement Scheme, as is the case with those pursuing post-doctoral research. Time spent as a [postgraduate] should count towards all Irish residency requirements in accordance with the Hosting Agreement Scheme, and the right for dependents to reside in the country extended to [postgraduate] employees as is consistent with the scheme.” In a press release issued after the Town Hall, PCAU stated that the FRA “serves as a central manifesto and set of demands, outlining the core demands that PCAU considers to be basic rights of PhD and postgraduate researchers”.