The Cycle of Life
Thoughts about life in Ireland, cycling and what I've learned along the way
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PhD Viva Voce
For the last three and a half years I have been working on my PhD. This week – last Thursday to be specific – I completed my Viva Voce and the successful outcome was essentially the last step in the process. Phew!My thesis is called Pathways to Competence and Participation in the Digital World – it is a study of the learning journey of adults who take up computer skills for the first time.It’s a nice feeling to complete research especially when the topic has always been of interest to me. It is great to have had the opportunity to learn in this way.No doubt there is more to be…
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The Road – by Cormac Mc Carthy
I am a slow reader by choice.I like to take my time with a book especially when it is well crafted and beautiful.McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ took some time – although it is not a big read and the comments on the cover suggested that it may (and should) be read in one session – I did the opposite and read two or three pages each night over the last few weeks.Why does this book resonate?At one level it could be described as bleak, lacking in plot and gruesome.But there is something captured here that is difficult to describe and yet powerfully familiar.It may be that this novel somehow connects with…
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Ian Paisley Comes to NCI
Dr Ian Paisley arrived at National College of Ireland as part of the Legends in Your Lunchtime series. The idea is a series radio interviews with famous people recorded in front of an audience at the college. Newstalk and Metro partner with NCI for these events. Paisley can still attract a crowd. I have to say I have very mixed feelings about Paisley. Like many people who lived in the Republic throughout the troubles I regarded Paisley as the epitome of unionist intransigence. No one can say for certain but fixed and extreme views on both sides meant that a resolution came about only after many, many more years than…
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The Child Abuse Report – Adults now Children then
I can’t let this week go by without commenting on the publication of the report on abuses in the Irish education system by members of religious orders. The report was particularly scathing of the Christian Brothers. I went to a Christian Brothers school and indeed was walloped, slapped and beaten like many others. There was violence in my schooling but also lots of good stuff and on balance I got away lightly. In light of the report I wish to comment again on the phenomenon of Learning Identity – I talked about this in a previous blog. As you might expect my ‘learning identity’ is made up of two components…
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Dachau
This is Dachau – the first concentrati on campt built by the Nazis. Be careful not to become smug when you visit this place – we are all convinced that such a place could never exist again and that there is no way that ‘normal’ people would be convinced to co-operate if it was attempted. I spent some time in Munich when I was in my twenties (circa 1980) – I had a fantastic time and made many good friends. Although I knew about Dachau I never went to visit. My wife, Maire gave me a wonderful present of a trip back to Munich for the May weekend and this…
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Cardiff and the Rugby Grand Slam
This weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Cardiff and watch the Irish Rugby Team beat Wales to win the Six Nations Tournament and the Grand Slam. We were thrilled to be labeled as champions of the six nations. For those of you who may not know the six nations are England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy. These are the countries in the Northern Hemisphere where rugby is played by a significant section of the population. Have you ever asked why is rugby played in one nation and not in another? Even withing countries, it is even the case that rugby is associated with different…
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Storyteller’s Concert in Lough Rynn Castle
So we were down in Leitrim for the weekend and didn’t we discover as we arrived that this was the most interesting of weekend’s to be in Mohill. The Storytelling festival and the horse fair were both on. Maire and I went to a storytelling concert in Lough Rynn castle and it was an enthralling experience. What struck me above all was the manner in which we become mesmermised by good stories and how the craft of storytelling is still very important in the modern world.Coincidentally the previous day we had a Friday lunchtime seminar on learning and teaching in the College and the importance of stories and good case…