2

AHSS POSTGRADUATE CONFERENCE 2017

8.30am Registration & Breakfast

in the Pavilion

9am Opening Address:

Professor Eoin Devereux

Panel 1

9.15- 10.15am

3 Papers Kathryn Hayes Audrey Galvin Zach Roche

Chair: Mary Tumelty

Panel 2

10.15-11.15am

3 Papers Tara Giddens Sean O’Connell Elaine Walsh

Chair: Kathryn Hayes

COFFEE BREAK

Panel 3

11.30am-12.30pm

3 Papers Hope Davidson Gerard Greaney Franco Jombo

Chair: Niall Curry

LUNCH BREAK

Panel 4

1.30pm-2.15pm

2 Papers Mansour Alammar Michelle Stevenson

Chair: Sean O’Connell

Panel 5

2.15pm-3.15pm

3 Papers Stephen Strauss-Walsh Sean Whitney John Harrington

Chair: Michelle Stevenson

CLOSE OF CONFERENCE

3

LIST OF POSTER PRESENTATIONS

POSTER # Student Department/School TITLE POSTER 1 Niall Curry Modern Languages and

Applied Linguistics Engaging Readers through pronouns in English and French academic writing

POSTER 2 Audrey Galvin Culture and Communication

The challenges in Journalism Practice in covering Mental Health related stories

POSTER 3 Gyorgy Nagy Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics

Towards Intercultural Competence: Integrating Irish Culture into Materials for Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages in Ireland

POSTER 4 Karen O’Brien Law Have the recent reforms in Ireland’s personal Insolvency and Bankruptcy Law been sufficient to deal with the enormity of the over indebtedness problem facing all types of individuals in Ireland caused by the legacy of unsustainable debt?

POSTER 5 Michelle Starr Sociology Parent Choice and Diversity in Primary School Patronage Policy

4

STUDENT: MANSOUR ALAMMAR

SUPERVISOR: DR. FREDA MISHAN

Paper Title: The Role of Collaborative vs. Individual Writing in Improving Essay Writing:

A Case Study on Saudi Learners

ABSTRACT:

In recent decades, the teaching and learning of ESL/EFL writing has evolved into an important and

interesting research area. Until recently, few studies have investigated how to teach L2 writing. The

research interest has always been on how to teach L1 writing. However, the situation has now

changed, with studies increasingly looking into new methods used to teach L2 writing.

Little attention has been paid to the use of collaborative writing to improve learners’ essay writing at

Saudi universities. The current study aims to examine the role of collaborative as opposed to

individual writing in improving learners’ skills in writing in class.

This research study focuses on the advantages of collaborative writing in class to improve EFL

learners’ proficiency in essay writing. In the field of applied linguistics, this issue is an interesting area

to investigate. To what extent collaborative is better than individual writing in improving learners’ skills

in essay writing? The researcher selected 20 L2 male students in level three majoring in English at

Imam University, College of Languages and Translation in Saudi Arabia.

To collect data, the researcher utilized four researcher-made instruments: an EFL essay writing test,

error correction writing test, open-ended questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews. The data was

collected from the participants using a mixed method technique that combines qualitative and

quantitative analysis in a unique treatment. The data of this study was found to be very significant,

which will open room for wide research in collaborative writing as a good method to adopt in teaching

EFL writing.

Keywords:

Collaborative writing, Individual work, EFL Essay writing, Qualitative and quantitative analysis, Writing

test, Questionnaire, Semi structured Interview

5

STUDENT: NIALL CURRY

SUPERVISOR: PROF. ANGELA CHAMBERS/DR. MAIREAD MORIARTY

Poster Title: Engaging readers through

pronouns in English and French academic

writing

ABSTRACT:

Research on corpus-based contrastive analysis (CBCA) is notably experiencing a rebirth in interest,

where CBCAs on academic writing occupy a small but growing space in the literature. Much of this

growth owes to non-native speaking academic writers’ needs to be informed of the writing

conventions of the academic discourse communities to which they aspire. Of these conventions, there

is a surprising lack of research on interpersonal communication in academic writing, comparing

evaluative markers across languages. As such, there is a need then for research on rhetorical devices

that authors use to engage readers in academic writing and this research aims to address this gap in

the context of reader pronouns such as ‘we’. In this poster, we study reader pronouns in English and

French and aim to analyse their varying role and equivalence in the English and French economics

research article.

In undertaking this study, we present a corpus-based contrastive analysis of economics research

articles in English and French, taken from the KIAP corpus (Fløttum et al. 2006). Reader pronouns

are identified in each sub-corpus and their functions are categorised as organisational; focus;

membership; active and objection reader pronouns; functions which have been synthesised from

research by Hyland (2001; 2005) and Fløttum et al. (2006). These reader pronouns are then analysed

in terms of their of frequency, distribution, form, word-class and sentence length to measure degrees

of equivalence. The results of this study reveal some important similarities and differences, which are

investigated both quantitatively and qualitatively. The findings can add to the debate on the nature of

English and French academic writing as reader- and writer-responsible languages, respectively and

can have useful implications in informing the teaching of academic writing in both English for

academic purposes and français langue académique.

6

STUDENT: HOPE DAVIDSON

SUPERVISOR: DR. EIMEAR SPAIN/JENNIFER SCHWEPPE

Paper Title: Losing it and gaining it – capacity

in healthcare decision-making

ABSTRACT:

Of the many vexed questions to deal with in healthcare, one of them is how we approach decision-

making for people who do not have (legal) decision-making capacity. Specifically, this paper aims to

examine, by way of comparison, the position of the ‘mature minor’ and the person with dementia. Both

cohorts potentially have the mental capacity to make a decision but may not have legal decision-

making capacity. Patently the two groups are different – minors in that they are deemed not yet to

have gained the requisite capacity by dint of chronological age, people with dementia because the

disease process to which they are subject may be interfering with their ability to make a rational

decision. Traditionally a person under 18 was deemed not to have legal capacity - full stop. A person

with and a person with dementia could have their legal capacity taken away from them if they were

deemed to lack the mental capacity to make a decision. This was on an all-or-nothing basis – you

either had it or you didn’t. The newer thinking influenced by the UN Convention on the Rights of the

Child 1989 and the UN Convention on the Persons with Disabilities 2006 is that this binary, yes/no

approach to capacity and participation in decision-making is increasingly harder to justify.

7

STUDENT: AUDREY GALVIN

SUPERVISOR: DR. FERGAL QUINN/DR. YVONNE CLEARY

Paper Title: Framing mental health: challenges

in journalism practice

ABSTRACT:

News content that may have negative effects on how a phenomenon is understood in society

frequently raises ethics questions. The way in which murder suicide in the news is framed by story

narrative, using sourcing, point of view, emphasis and description can leave audiences with a

particular understanding of that issue. How ethics are employed in applying frames in the issue of

murder suicide can serve to emphasise one perspective over another and raises ethical questions.

This PhD aims to examine what ethical frameworks were applied in the framing of murder suicide

stories by journalists and editors in print media in Ireland. It will aim to establish if framing practices

employed by media practitioners creates/contributes to victim/offender stereotypes. Methodology will

be in two phases – a framing analysis of media content of cases of murder suicide incidents. Media

framing analysis goes beyond identifying which issues (and aspects of issues) are important to think

about, and explores the parameters of the discussion itself—the words, symbols, overall content, and

tone used to frame the topic. When compared to agenda setting, framing includes “a broader range of

cognitive processes—such as moral evaluations, causal reasoning, appeals to principles, and

recommendations for treatment of problems." The second phase of the research will be interviews

with media professionals and aims to capture the framing process. Informed by framing and ethical

theory, it will aim to establish the extent to which ethics are used in applying frames to coverage of

murder suicide stories and how media practitioners conceptualise murder suicide in their work.

8

STUDENT: TARA GIDDENS

SUPERVISOR: DR. TINA O’TOOLE

Paper Title: Performance in the “Women’s

Kingdom”: Deconstructing Kathleen Coleman’s

portrayal of Motherhood and Irishness in Late

Nineteenth-Century Canada

ABSTRACT:

Kathleen Coleman, Irish immigrant and Canadian journalist, (1856-1915) became one of the most

well-known journalists during her time for her immensely popular column, covering the Queen’s

Jubilee, and becoming the first accredited female war correspondent during the Spanish-American

War (1898). Coleman began writing for The Toronto Daily Mail (later The Daily Mail and Empire) using

the androgynous name “Kit” to disguise her gender identity. By hiding her gender, she gained more

freedom to express political opinions and write about topics which were not common for women to

discuss. Once her gender was revealed, Coleman changed her tone to maternal and gave “motherly”

advice to her “paper children”, a name she gave her readers. Using Judith Butler’s theory of gender

performativity, I will argue that Coleman performed her femininity, specifically "motherhood", and also

performed her "Irishness" in her publications. By performing a feminine and maternal role in her

writing, it offset her enthusiastic, political opinions and helped her appear less threatening to readers

and male peers. Additionally, Coleman used this tactic to perform her Irishness. She did this by calling

herself a “fiery Irish” woman, claiming to be descended from Irish kings and, as she claims, putting on

her Irishness to help her in situations. Using Joseph Valente’s term “metro-colonial,” which frames

Ireland simultaneously as a metropolitan centre and colonised space at the fin de siècle, I will argue

that Coleman lent her work cultural authority in the “new” state emerging in Canada by using her

Irishness to her advantage.

9

STUDENT: GERARD GREANEY

SUPERVISOR: DR. EIMEAR SPAIN/PROF. RAYMOND FRIEL

Paper Title: Intellectual Property Law: A static

response to a dynamic challenge?

ABSTRACT:

The world is facing revolution. The so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) is progressing at an

exponential rate, releasing unprecedented potential for scientific development and economic

prosperity while yet exacerbating a deep rooted inequality for many, particularly in the developing

world. This paper examines scientific intellectual endeavour through the lens of the Law, considering

the manner in which such a dynamic and creative process has been condensed to a western focused

static property framework. It is a history of exploitation, juxtaposing individual personal rights to

corporate controlled and contracted property rights. It is already ill prepared to cope with the

challenge of Digitization and is seriously in deficit for a future encompassing Nanotechnology and

Artificial Intelligence. This paper argues that the legal community has lost its way as a key

stakeholder, moderator and/or guardian in this socio-economic discourse, content to patrol the

periphery of global trade and competition rules, by periodically bolstering outmoded Lockean property

concepts in neatly packaged patent infringements, trade mark disputes and classic breach of

confidence actions. Legal doctrine is forged to affirm the past rather than address the future. Far more

attention is afforded optimizing the tax planning of IP income, through Transfer Pricing Arrangements,

R&D Tax Credits and Knowledge Development Box legislation, in pursuit of metrics to justify politically

prized labels such as Knowledge Based Economy or Smart Economy. This paper concludes on the

need for a new taxonomy, adopting an Innovation Nexus approach. Innovation is a dynamic

phenomenon, and it is time to abandon traditional force-fitted static thinking to address the needs of a

new age, embracing it as a creative and evolving process to be fostered and not merely rented.

Otherwise, the next global conflict may yet ignite over the ownership of an idea.

10

STUDENT: JOHN HARRINGTON

SUPERVISOR: DR. RUAN O’DONNELL

Paper Title: Henri Le Caron, Spy – a story of

British Counter Intelligence

ABSTRACT:

Political terrorism, sadly is not a product of the modern age, nor is the use of counter terrorism tactics

by central governments to defeat it. Eighteenth-century Irish nationalist and republican organisations

were not found wanting when it came to the use of violence in an effort to advance their cause. The

almost forgotten Fenian invasions of Canada, the Phoenix Park Murders and the Dynamite Campaign

of the 1880s are prime examples of Irish political violence at play. The British Government were also

not negligent when it came to the use of spies and informers in their efforts to curtail these activities.

The key to the success of a war carried on in the shadows is secrecy, and from a historical point of

view British Intelligence appears to have had the upper hand. Perhaps Britain’s greatest intelligence

coup during the era has remained almost forgotten to this day. Victorian Counter Intelligence Services

managed to infiltrate the highest echelons of Irish Republicanism in the United States to such a

degree that of the three man ‘Triangle’ that ran the organisation that at least one of them was a British

agent. The story of Henri Le Caron could easily have been taken from the pages of a modern spy

novel. This paper will chronicle his incredible story and how he was a British agent at the heart of

some of the most pivotal movements of Irish history. He was a sworn Fenian, a trusted lieutenant who

took part in the Canadian Invasion; he was a key member of the committee that planed the Dynamite

Campaign. He was he claimed a close confidante of Parnell and almost prematurely ended his

political career. Yet he has remained until today, forgotten and unacknowledged by friend and foe,

perhaps the eventual fate of all spies.

11

STUDENT: KATHRYN HAYES

SUPERVISOR: DR. MICHELLE O’DWYER/DR. HENRY SILKE/DR. MICHELLE O’SULLIVAN

Paper Title: The Networked Freelancer:

Freelance Journalism in the Age of Social Media

ABSTRACT:

The advent of social media has given rise to both new questions and considerations around

journalistic practice. Changing work practices leading to more deskbound journalism and the concept

of ‘churnalism’ has arguably been enhanced by the digital revolution. An area of interest not widely

considered is the relationship between freelance journalists and social media. How do freelancers

engage with social media? Is the growing practice of social journalism making journalists more or less

likely to rely on traditional sources of information? Despite much debate around disruptions in

journalism, few of the major ‘future of journalism’ reports consider the role of self-employed or

freelance journalists on the future of the craft; the normal unit of analysis is more often fulltime news

reporters or the newsroom within large and stable media organisations. Nonetheless the increasing

trend towards atypical employment in labour markets is also reflected in journalism practice: the

number of freelance journalists increased by 67% in the UK from 2000-2015, while the proportion of

freelancers working in some parts of central Europe was as high as 60% (EFJ 2011). The

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has also reported an increased reliance on freelancers

and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), both in the UK and Ireland, describe the freelance sector

as the largest growth area in journalism. As news reporting continues to be outsourced to agencies

and freelancers the implications for professional journalistic practices such as sourcing, fact checking

and balance must be considered. Does social media give freelancers more access and allow self-

employed journalists platforms to develop their brand? To what extent is it used as a method of

reaching sources? This paper, drawing from a freelance forum held in the University of Limerick and

exploratory research for my PhD study explores how some Irish freelance journalists use social media

for accessing and verifying information, distributing their work, building networks and developing a

brand.

12

STUDENT: FRANCO JOMBO

SUPERVISOR: SINEAD EATON

Paper Title: Separate Legal Personality

(Corporate Veil)

ABSTRACT:

This my Postgraduate LL.M study by research is focussing on the concept ‘Separate Legal

Personality’ of a company. It is a Company Law topic. The Thesis explores and analyses the creation

of ‘Separate Legal Personality’ of companies and the ‘Disregarding’ of same in Ireland, State of

Delaware in the United States of America and Nigeria in the 21st Century.

The researcher was motivated to research on ‘Separate Legal Personality’ of a company when he

realised the inconsistencies and controversies surrounding the topic since 1897 when the topic’s

pioneer case Salomon v Salmon & Co. Ltd 1897 AC 22 was overturned by the United Kingdom House

of Lords (HL). Thence, the Researcher as well realised that there are comparative exceptions in the

‘Disregarding of Separate Legal Personality’ of a Company still existing in Ireland, State of Delaware

in the United States of America and Nigeria since the topic’s inception in the18th Century and up to the

present 21ST Century.

The researcher utilised the Qualitative Research Approach Method and Case Studies which were

researched from multiple sources, including Law Books and Legal Journal Articles. The ‘Separate

Legal Personality’ of a Company is a significant and household concept in Company Law, therefore

figuring out the comparative exceptions which are still existing in the aforementioned jurisdictions

seems to be a worthwhile research to be carried out. This, I believe would enable the legislators to

harmonise and update laws for ‘Separate Legal Personality’ of a Company in the 21st Century as

there has been no proactive measures to abolish these inconsistencies and controversies.

Keywords: Law; Company Law; Corporate Law; Separate Legal Personality; Limited Liability;

Disregarding the Corporate Veil; Legal Entity, Salomon v Salomon & Co. Ltd.

13

STUDENT: GYORGY NAGY

SUPERVISOR: DR. FREDA MISHAN/DR. MARTA GIRALT

Poster Title: Towards Intercultural Competence:

Integrating Irish Culture into Materials for

Teaching English for Speakers of Other

Languages in Ireland

ABSTRACT

Without the study of culture, second language acquisition is not complete (Kramsch, 1993; Paige and

Stringer, 1997). While teaching culture raises learners’ awareness of the target culture and their own

home culture, it gives them an intercultural competence (Kramsch, 1997, p. 231). This research

contributes to the vibrant global conversation among professionals about the ways of developing

learners’ intercultural competence. The study aims to provide insights into the current teaching

practices in developing intercultural competence through the integration of cultural content into

materials for Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) in Ireland; where the

overall educational goal is to facilitate the successful integration of newcomer learners into Irish

society. As 97 per cent of teachers in Ireland lack appropriate training in teaching English as a second

language including developing intercultural competence (Lyons and Little, 2009), this research study

pays particular attention to how materials for TESOL can support teachers in this process. The study

focuses on newcomer adult learners in the classrooms of English for Speakers of Other Languages

(ESOL) providers in Ireland. Data collection consists of quantitative and qualitative content analyses

of the materials in use, a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with the teachers as well as

participatory action research for gathering data from the learners. The investigation also involves the

exploration of the state-of-the-art literature on culture, intercultural competence and the cultural

content of teaching materials. This study aims to offer a recommendation for an Irish national

framework for ESOL materials that are to develop newcomer adult learners’ intercultural competence

in an Irish context and it intends to help teachers incorporate Irish culture into their materials

effectively and appropriately.

14

STUDENT: KAREN O’BRIEN

SUPERVISOR: PROF. RAYMOND FRIEL

Poster Title: Have the recent reforms in

Ireland’s Personal Insolvency and Bankruptcy

Law been sufficient to deal with the enormity

of the over indebtedness problem facing all

types of individuals in Ireland caused by the

legacy of unsustainable debt?

ABSTRACT:

In the context of economic crisis and widespread personal over-indebtedness, this paper will examine

the recent effect of personal insolvency law by considering the key features of the newly enacted Irish

Personal Insolvency Act 2012. This long awaited reform was required by the EU/IMF Programme for

financial support for Ireland became law in December, 2012. This legislation has been described as

the most radical and comprehensive reform of our insolvency and bankruptcy law and practice since

the foundation of the state. The main objective of this Act is to seek to balance the rights of debtors

and creditors when considering the resolution of personal indebtedness by providing solutions to

those trapped by unsustainable debt and offer alternatives to bankruptcy, which until 2012 in Ireland

was only an option of the last resort. This mentality was caused by the draconian nature and stigma

that existed in relation to bankruptcy, which has somewhat eased due to the large number of

individuals who are in the grip of a huge amount of personal debt. Now, those individuals who are not

eligible to apply under the provisions of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012, the Bankruptcy

(Amendment) Act 2015 provides for several changes to the rules on bankruptcy including the key

element of reducing the bankruptcy period from 3 years to 1 year (up to December 2013 it was 12

years) which brings us in line with bankruptcy law in Northern Ireland and England & Wales. This is

an excellent time to examine and evaluate these reforms as they evolve to see if they will offer the

real solutions needed by individuals dealing with financial distress, so that they can engage

constructively with financial institutions and creditors which will bring about certainty and relief and

make a meaningful difference to debt resolution in the future.

15

STUDENT: SEAN O’CONNELL

SUPERVISOR: DR. MAIREAD MORIARTY/DR. CINTA RAMBLADO

Paper Title: An Investigation into a speech

therapy informed approach to pronunciation

teaching in the English Language Teaching

Classroom - Methodology

ABSTRACT:

Recent surveys of teachers’ attitudes and practice suggest that teachers find pronunciation a difficult,

if important, area of English Language teaching. (Murphy 2011, Foote et al. 2012, Henderson et al.

2012). Additionally the number of empirical studies on pronunciation learning is small.(Derwing and

Munro 2005, Derwing and Munro 2015). This research will explore and develop the area of English

pronunciation teaching in the context of English as a second language set in the English Language

Teaching classroom. It develops a model of pronunciation teaching rooted in clinical practice in

speech and language therapy utilising a phonological approach (Grunwell 1977, Hodson 2007), and

adapting it for the classroom. It combines this approach with current best practice models from

classroom pedagogical models (Derwing and Munro 2015) to produce an innovative programme. The

research will develop the primary (author’s MA) research model and include an examination of its

implementation in the classroom and an evaluation of its effectiveness on learner and teacher

experience and outcomes. The research subjects for this study are Spanish learners of English as a

second language and their class teachers. The primary research activity will focus on the effect of a

specialised pronunciation programme (SPP) delivered by the teachers to a Study Group of randomly

selected classes. This presentation will focus on the research methodology (a mixture of traditional

experimental and action research) proposed for the primary data collection. It is innovative in that it

proposes to include teacher and learner experience as well as effectiveness of the model. There was

an improvement in pronunciation in the preliminary research (21.88% error reduction) and this

research seeks to discover if this can be replicated in a general second language classroom using the

pre-test post-test model outlined. The research adds to the developing field of pronunciation

pedagogy literature.

16

STUDENT: ZACH ROCHE

SUPERVISOR: DR. CARMEN KUHLING/DR. MARTIN J. POWER

Paper Title: Left After Debt: Coping After the

Crisis

ABSTRACT:

The state established the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) in 2013 to respond to a crisis situation

involving more than 150,000 mortgages in long-term arrears, and €157bn of personal debt

(Insolvency Service of Ireland 2017). The ISI's strategy has focused upon teaching financial skills to

insolvent debtors, combined with up to 5 years of financial supervision, after which some debt is

written off. Through this institution the aftermath of the economic boom and crisis is being dealt with,

and life after debt has become possible for some Irish debtors. However, although debt is prevalent in

Ireland and has been linked to stress (Mind 2008), food poverty (Pressman and Scott 2009), and

financial/social exclusion (Combat Poverty Agency 2009), only 6,800 debtors (out of an estimated

150,000 who qualify) have applied for the ISI's services. My research is dedicated to explaining why

this gap is so great. Early stage findings are based upon 21 semi-structured qualitative interviews,

and indicate that debtors have had a poor first impression of the service. Most debtors report feeling

morally policed by the staff of the ISI, who ask invasive personal questions in an effort to discover if

the applicant is genuine. The primary consequence of this has been to force debtors to reach a

private arrangement with their lender, a relationship of asymmetric power and inequality which

favours the creditor, and forces concessions from the debtor. With no access to debt relief, most

debtors have been forced to cope by relying upon their own resources, and my research explores

these coping strategies in detail. These include: dumpster diving, use of charities, seeking a second

job, and many more. However, long-term coping has worn down the quality of life and mental health

of debtors, who increasingly report that they are at a breaking point.

17

STUDENT: MICHELLE STARR

SUPERVISOR: DR. BREDA GRAY/DR. AOIFE NEARY

Poster Title: Parent Choice and Diversity in

Primary School Patronage Policy

ABSTRACT:

Tensions between a diversifying Irish society and a denominational primary school system gave rise

to calls (from unions, patrons, media, parent-groups) to reshape the school patronage system. In

response, a Forum Advisory Group was established in 2011 to consult how best to reshape the

patronage system. A report is published with recommendations appealing to parental choice and

school ethos (Coolohan et al. 2012). Subsequently, a national parent survey of school patron

identified 28 areas out of 43 surveyed to have sufficient demand for school patron divestment (DES

2012; 2013). To date divestment has been slow, with reports that vary from one school divested to

ten schools divested: depending on whether the number represents the direct divestment of existing

schools, the intention of the survey or it includes new multi-denominational school buildings.

There is a complexity of relations within the construct of parent choice as a policy practice. In addition

to the complexities within the process of transforming practice into a set of intended policy outcomes.

Internationally, parent choice in education policy-making is rationalised by its raising of standards,

increasing competitiveness and advantaging children and parents. In the Irish context, parent choice

is centred on school ethos. Irish studies on school choice mainly focus on the classed nature of

choice - connections to choice knowledge and the means to be choosers. However, it is school ethos

that underpins contemporary policy concerns.

This poster presents my sociological research study, which is critically examining how Irish school

patron policy mobilises tropes and discourses of the international education policy practice of parent

choice. Using existing literature, the production of parent subjects and circulates of governing

discourses of choice and diversity, is presented. By examining policy constructs and practices of

parent choice of school ethos and its effects on school system reform, this study will add to the

literature.

18

STUDENT: MICHELLE STEVENSON

SUPERVISOR: DR. ANDREA RYAN

Paper Title: Is the current statistical method of

interpreting mixed DNA evidence at odds with

the presumption of innocence in Ireland?

ABSTRACT:

Mixed DNA evidence contains the DNA profiles of more than one contributor and is therefore

prevalent at crime scenes. This evidence is generally presented to jurors using probability calculus

comprising numbers that stretch well beyond everyday comprehension, imagination and experience.

Consequently, there has been a number of high-profile miscarriages of justice due to the evidentiary

challenges posed by the complex statistical reasoning which may be needed to argue a DNA “match.”

The introduction of the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014

heralds the increase in the use of mixed DNA evidence in the Irish jurisdiction, inevitably predicting a

rise in the use of statistical evidence in the courts. Running parallel to this, the Law Reform

Commission notes that the way in which statistics surrounding mixed DNA samples are currently

presented in court is by means of a statistical tool known as a likelihood ratio.1 Although it has been

argued by forensic geneticists that a single method of statistical interpretation may simply not be

possible for DNA mixtures since the Report was published, little progress has been made to

accommodate these findings in the jurisdiction.2 It has also been argued that three (or more) person

mixtures cannot easily be calculated using likelihood ratios.3 Does this apparent reticence mean that

the law is fearful of addressing issues surrounding probability and statistics?

There are two purposes to this paper. The first is to expose the dangers posed to the presumption of

innocence by the use of likelihood ratios when mixed DNA evidence is relied upon by the prosecution

in Ireland. The second is to argue that there are a number of statistical methods that may be used in

addition to this mathematical tool which may provide an increased safeguard against future

miscarriages of justice.

1 Law Reform Commission, 2004, Consultation Paper on the Establishment of a DNA Database, 93.

2Budowle, B., Onorato, A., Callaghan, T., Della Manna, A., Gross, A., Guerrieri, R., Luttman, J.C., McClure, D. L.,

“Mixture Interpretation: Defining the Relevant Features for Guidelines for the Assessment of Mixed DNA

profiles in Forensic Casework,” 2009 J. Forensic Science Vol 54 No 4.

3 Budowle et al (n 2).

19

STUDENT: STEPHEN STRAUSS-WALSH

SUPERVISOR: PROF. SHANE KILCOMMINS/DR. JOHN LOMBARD

Paper Title: Focault and Victims: From axis of

individualisation to axis of vulnerability

ABSTRACT:

This paper explains the contribution Foucault has made to Victimology. This involves contemplating

the nature of victim reintroduction through an examination of Foucault’s’ ‘axis of individualisation’ -

which explains how power creates identities. The aim is to extend this to include victims, as subjects

and targets of power. This will extrapolate how victim subjectivity was created and emerged within

Irish society.

The paper will demonstrate how I intend to use Foucault to construct ‘histories of the present’ This

involves exploring rifts within “history” which subvert preconceptions (Roth 1981:43).This “antihistory”

constructs “history” as a part of our present that can be transcended (Roth 1981:44).The paper will

assess how the eighteenth century ‘badly regulated distribution of power’ (Foucault 1979: 79) allowed

the nineteenth century move from scaffolds to states where ‘… law operates more and more as the

norm’ (Foucault 1979: 144).

This paper will eventually conclude by briefly surmising the main conclusions which can be drawn

from this study; namely that Foucauldian theory provides several insights into the transfer from

eighteenth century victim inclusive justice to nineteenth century governmentality and helps clarify the

birth of Victimology by explaining how the ‘axis of individualisation’ has shifted from offender to victim.

The objective of this paper is to essentially outline how I intend to use Foucault to gauge victim re-

emergence.

20

STUDENT: ELAINE WALSH

SUPERVISOR: DR. YVONNE CLEARY/DR. ANN MARCUS QUINN

Paper Title: Investigating the importance of

communication in designing written assessment

instructions

ABSTRACT:

The importance of assessment in higher education is widely recognized. For students, assessment is

key to defining the curriculum (Ramsden, 2003) and it has a huge influence on the students’ learning

experience (Carless, 2007). By definition, for students to be successful in higher education, they must

do well in assessment. While students can avoid the effects of poor teaching, they cannot avoid the

effects of poor assessment (Boud, 1995). In higher education, the prolific use of programme and

module learning outcomes; an increasing demand for transparency and accountability; and the

growing articulation of marking standards and evaluation criteria has heightened the importance of

assessment literacy. Within the Irish context, developments such as the National Framework of

Qualifications (NFQ) and the move towards publishing graduate attributes have increased the

significance of assessment literacy development amongst staff and students. More general changes

within higher education such as a more diverse student population, an increasing range of

assessment types, more complex assessment instructions and the effects of modularisation have also

highlighted the importance of assessment literacy. While “every assessment task is an exercise in

communication” (Dunn et al, 2004, p. 83), written communication dominates the assessment process.

The need for research into the design of assessment instructions is pressing. This presentation will

focus on the importance of communication in designing assessment instructions and will discuss

some of the preliminary findings from research conducted within UL.

Bibliography:

Boud, D. (1995) ‘Assessment and learning: contradictory or complementary’ in Knight, P., (ed.)

Assessment for Learning in Higher Education. London: Kogan Page, pp. 35-48.

Carless, D. (2007) ‘Learning-oriented assessment: conceptual bases and practical implications’,

Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 44(1), pp. 57–66. [Online] DOI:

10.1080/14703290601081332 (Accessed: 5 January 2017).

Dunn, L., Morgan, C., O’Reilly, M. and Parry, S. (2004) The student assessment handbook: new

directions in traditional and online assessment, London: Routledge Falmer.

Ramsden, P. (2003) Learning to teach in higher education, (2nd ed.), London: Routledge Falmer.

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STUDENT: SEAN WHITNEY

SUPERVISOR: DR. DAVID FLEMING

Paper Title: Domestic tobacco cultivation: Boon

to the poor or threat to the state?

ABSTRACT:

‘Domestic tobacco cultivation: Boon to the poor or threat to the state’. The relationship between the

state and the tobacco business centres on maintaining and protecting the states revenue gathered

from duties and licenses. This paper will examine Irish domestic cultivation of tobacco which to some

was perceived as a threat to the state’s finances and the status quo within the industry. Proponents of

tobacco growing in Ireland saw it as opportunity to develop a stronger manufacturing base and also to

stimulate the economy by the process of import substitution. To the landless labouring classes it

meant increased employment for some throughout the year and seasonal work during harvest time

especially for women and young children. Two distinct periods, 1825-35 and 1900-1935 marked

occasions when Irish tobacco growing showed distinct signs of achieving some success. This paper

will outline the arguments in favour for and against cultivation using British and Irish state papers,

newspapers, pamphlets and private and commercial correspondence. Using these sources the paper

will compare and contrast the position taken by both the British and Irish governments and the

tobacco trade in both countries during these periods.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Thanks to the following for their help with

organizing this event:

Dr. Niamh Lenahan

Professor Eoin Devereux ADR

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