Reproducing home as a space of labour: The Great Indian Kitchen and Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hai

In this article, we analyse home as a site of labour through two Indian films, The Great Indian Kitchen (Jeo Baby, 2021) and Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hai (Vipin Das, 2022). Produced and released in the Malayalam movie industry belonging to the South Indian State, Kerala, the two films received critical attention and generated broader discussion among Malayali audiences in the recent past. While the intricacies of gendered divisions of labour and domestic violence are documented through the day-to-day chronicles of the housewives’ lives in these films, we argue that both The Great Indian Kitchen and Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hai illustrate how home is a different entity for men and women, conceptually and practically, as a space of leisure and labour respectively. Through narrative analysis, we interpret how these two films conceive and depict the disproportionate care work of women, highlight prevailing gender discrimination in a patriarchal setting, and expose new visual sensibilities to the audience

Obliteration and revocation in the law of succession: Re McEnroe [2021] IECA 28

Comments on the Irish Court of Appeal decision in Re McEnroe on whether the obliteration of text in a will that had already been executed amounted to a partial destruction and revocation of the will. Compares the English legal position on obliteration of words in a will

In process: The Catalan independence movement in on-stage translation

This article focuses on aesthetic responses to what has come to be called “El Procés”, tracing different ways in which the recent evolution of nationalist politics in Catalonia has been represented on contemporary Catalan stages (including the Teatre Lliure, the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, the Biblioteca de Catalunya and the Teatre Romea) through works by dramatists such as Sergi Belbel, Victoria Szpunberg, Narcís Comadira and Marc Rosich, and directors such as Lluís Pasqual, Xavier Albertí, Joan Yago and Oriol Broggi. After reflection on the limitations of dramatic forms for mediating the complexity of debates and positionings, alongside the ambivalent deployment and treatment of the theatrical in relation to the Catalan Independence movement, I go on to analyse different ways in which the sociopolitical trajectory of the pro-independence movement has been represented or re-framed on stage, ranging from attempts by Catalan dramatists to provide a space for negotiation of the velocity and impact of socio-cultural change, the use of on-stage translations from other, international contexts to mediate and reflect critically upon the local case for and against secession, to ephemeral experiments with documentary theatre in order to explore alternative ways of performing the relationship between the personal and the political. Placed in counterpoint with the overarching politics of framing and translation generated in the build-up to 1 October 2017 and its aftermath, these stagings emerge as dynamic environments of memory for past and more recent cultural trauma narratives

An easement by estoppel?

Discusses the Court of Appeal judgment in Joyce v Epsom and Ewell BC on whether the successor in title to a homeowner who, as a condition of him withdrawing his objection to the construction of supermarket, had been allowed a right of way over a driveway to a service road behind his property, could establish the existence of an easement by way of proprietary estoppel. Considers the relevance of the local authority's awareness that it had induced the owner into believing he enjoyed a right of access. Assesses whether the authority's denial of the claimant's entitlement was unconscionable

The socio-cultural terroir of Irish craft brewing

Restricted AccessThis thesis provides a rich and unique exploration of the world of craft brewing in Ireland. One of the key concepts underpinning the research is that of socio-cultural terroir, which captures the all-important nexus between craft, practice, and place. Cultural geography provides a way of seeing and understanding the craft of brewing in all its richness, diversity and complexity. Foregrounding the brewers’ own experiences reveals how the craft is learned, affirmed and sustained. Applying emerging digital humanities methodologies such as textual analysis, information and knowledge visualisation to more conventional cultural geographic approaches allows for an exploration of how the journeys and values of Irish craft brewers emerge from, shape and (re)create meaning, identity and place in a rapidly growing and evolving community. Consisting of two parts, this thesis first seeks to bring a cultural geographic lens to bear on the craft brewing trade while carefully detailing the historical tradition from which it emerged, and secondly, it demonstrates how digital humanities practice can be employed to expand, augment, amplify, and enhance that exploration. The design, development, and deployment of an exploratory interactive platform to disseminate the findings facilitates an open sharing of the data, inviting further exploration, interpretation, and engagement with the research by a wider network of interested parties, including most importantly, the brewers themselves who have been a central focus of this research

Topic modelling literary interviews from The Paris Review

The interview has always proved to be a rich source for those hoping to better understand the figures behind a text, as well as any social contexts and writing practices which might have informed their aesthetic sentiments. Over the past two decades, research into the literary interview has made significant strides, both in terms of how this literary genre is conceptualized and how its emergence and development has been historically traced, the form remains somewhat neglected by literary and cultural theorists and scholars. There is also a remarkable absence of distant readings in this domain. With the rise of the digital humanities, particularly digital literary studies, one would expect more scholars to have used computer-assisted techniques to mine literary interviews, which are, in terms of dataset practicalities, somewhat ideal, semi-structured by nature, and typically available online. Such is the question to which this article attends, taking as its dataset seven decades’ worth of literary interviews from The Paris Review, and ‘topic modelling’ these documents to determine the key themes that dominate such a culturally significant set of materials while also exploring the value of topic modelling to socio-literary criticism

Ireland's Climate Change Assessment Volume 4: Realising the benefits of transition and transformation

This is the first Ireland’s Climate Change Assessment (ICCA) and is a major contribution to the national dialogue and engagement on climate change. It tells us what is known about climate change and Ireland. It also provides key insights on gaps in our knowledge. The development of ICCA was modelled on the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Sixth Assessment Cycle, completed in 2023, with the use of and localisation of its information for Ireland. ICCA will support the national response to climate change, ensuring that it is informed by the best available science. It also points to how and where that science can be improved through further investments in innovation, in research and in systematic observations. These collectively form the essential backbone of the science and data required to understand how Ireland is being impacted by and responding to the climate change challenge. The full Assessment has been developed through a co-creation process between leading academics in Ireland and officials from across state agencies and government departments. Funding was provided by the Environmental Protection Agency, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and Department of Transport. The process was collaborative, involving mutual development and agreement of the scope, preparation and review of drafts, wider stakeholder consultation through a series of workshops and meetings, and a detailed sign-off process. We see the publication of ICCA as a real innovation for Ireland and as a resource for understanding climate change in an Irish context across the underlying science, mitigation and adaptation measures, and opportunities. It is a starting point for further dialogue on the findings and their utility for policymakers, practitioners, researchers, research funders and people. This engagement phase should continue far beyond the publication of this Assessment and support climate action in Ireland

Ireland’s offshore islands: Housing needs survey

This report sets out the results of research conducted between September and December 2022 regarding the housing needs of Ireland’s offshore island communities. The research, funded by Comhdháil Oileáin na hÉireann, aimed to: understand the current housing situation and circumstances prevalent on Ireland’s offshore islands; document quantitative and qualitative data as to the nature of housing needs for island communities; explore perspectives on the barriers to housing and housing issues on the islands; and consider how housing needs and sustainability can be best met in the coming years

Compact angled multimode interference duplexers for multi-gas sensing applications

A compact, low-loss 2 × 1 angled-multi-mode-interference-based duplexer is proposed as an optical component for integrating several wavelengths with high coupling efficiency. The self-imaging principle in multimode waveguides is exploited to combine two target wavelengths, corresponding to distinctive absorption lines of important trace gases. The device performance has been numerically enhanced by engineering the geometrical parameters, offering trade-offs in coupling efficiency ratios. The proposed designs are used as versatile duplexers for detecting gas combinations such as ammonia-methane, ammonia-ethane, and ammonia-carbon dioxide, enabling customization for specific sensing applications. The duplexers designed are then fabricated and characterized, with a special focus on assessing the impact of the different target wavelengths on coupling efficiency