Tradition and Innovation in the Materiality of Medieval Gaelic Law Manuscripts

This article is concerned with paper in the medieval Gaelic law manuscript tradition during the initial phases of the paper tradition in Ireland.1 Paper was introduced into the Gaelic manuscript tradition in the late fifteenth century, but it took several centuries before it replaced vellum entirely as the preferred writing medium.2 Recent studies have highlighted the gradual change to paper from vellum in manuscripts compiled in Irish schools of learning, particularly those of medicine and history.3 The extent to which paper usage prevailed in the professional law schools during this initial phase has not yet been fully explored, however. This article provides a general survey and discussion of paper use in the vernacular Irish law manuscripts, with particular focus on the largest such collection, which is held in the Library of Trinity College Dublin. The evidence demonstrates that the professional Irish law schools were not isolated from the wider trends and practices of book production taking place in Ireland. Scribes not only adopted the new writing technology but also implemented innovative new page layouts in both materials, drawing on external influences of imported printed books, demonstrating flexibility and dexterity working between both media

Dismantling Barriers and Advancing the Right of Persons with Disabilities to Participate in Cultural Life: A Socio-Legal Analysis

The right to participate in cultural life is profoundly rooted in international human rights law, and, with regard to persons with disabilities, it is enunciated in Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD or the Convention). This provision requires States Parties to the Convention to ensure accessibility of cultural materials, services and activities, and cultural heritage, and to support the creative and artistic potential of persons with disabilities. However, people with disabilities continue to face barriers to cultural participation. On foot of a pan-European empirical study and a socio-legal analysis, this book discusses the normative content of Article 30 CRPD and its implementation. It identifies and categorises barriers to cultural participation, highlighting new paths to operationalise Article 30 CRPD. This book will be of interest to scholars and students working in disability law, socio-legal studies, international human rights law, as well as cultural studies, disability studies, and cultural policies

Networks of climate obstruction: Discourses of denial and delay in US fossil energy, plastic, and agrichemical industries

The use of fossil-derived hydrocarbons in fossil energy, plastic production, and agriculture makes these three sectors mutually reinforcing and reliant on sustained fossil fuel extraction. In this paper, we examine the ways the fossil fuel energy, plastics, and agrichemicals industries interact on social media using Twitter (renamed X as of 2023) data analysis, and we explore the implications of these interactions for policy. Content analysis of the text of tweets from the two largest US corporations and a major trade association for each sector (three discrete social media accounts for each sector) reveals coordinated messaging and identifies synergistic themes among these three sectors. Network analysis shows substantial engagement among the three sectors and identifies common external entities frequently mentioned in each sector. To understand the discursive strategies of the twitter networks of these three petrochemical derivative and fuel sectors, we propose the discourses of climate obstruction framework, adapted from and expanding on Lamb et al.’s (2020) discourses of climate delay framework. Our framework integrates both discourses of delay and discourses of denial because an integration of both were found in our analysis suggesting coordinated efforts to obstruct climate action. Our analysis suggests that discourses to deny and delay climate policy are aligned and coordinated across the three sectors to reinforce existing infrastructure and inhibit change. Exceptions in this alignment emerge for a few distinct sector-specific goals, including contrasting messages about biofuel. Despite some disparate views and different policy priorities among these three sectors, similar efforts to reinforce existing extractive petrochemical hegemony and undermine climate policy are clearly evident in each sector. These findings suggest that more research is needed to understand collaborative efforts among fossil energy, plastic, and agrichemical producers to influence climate and energy policy

Ogam, cryptography and healing charms in the nineteenth century: observations on ‘The Minchin Manuscript’

Ogam is well known as a writing system invented for the Irish language and used extensively for inscriptions on stone monuments across Ireland and Britain between the late fourth and seventh centuries. Although the script has primarily been examined in the context of early medieval archaeology and epigraphy, its long afterlife as an integral part of Irish manuscript culture from the medieval to modern periods has also been acknowledged. The present contribution seeks to add to the existing scholarship on manuscript ogam by discussing the transmission of ideas about the script as a cryptic device into the nineteenth century, with a particular focus on a recently discovered notebook, National Library of Scotland (Edinburgh) Advocates’ Manuscript 50.3.11 (or ‘The Minchin Manuscript’), which consists almost entirely of healing charms written in ogam

The heart of the campus: How academic libraries in Ireland are supporting student well-being

Academic libraries are at the heart of campus life and are therefore in a unique position to provide mental health and well-being support to students. Despite many initiatives taking place on the island of Ireland very little literature has been published providing evidence of this. Academic librarians who were either library directors, or who had responsibility for student services in the library, enthusiastically responded to a survey which asked questions regarding the provision of mental health and well-being supports in their libraries, and the drivers and barriers in doing so. The study also investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on service provision. The findings of this study and recommendations for academic libraries in Ireland will be discussed in this presentation

Indicators of Global Climate Change 2024: annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence

In a rapidly changing climate, evidence-based decision-making benefits from up-to-date and timely information. Here we compile monitoring datasets (published at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15639576; Smith et al., 2025a) to produce updated estimates for key indicators of the state of the climate system: net emissions of greenhouse gases and short-lived climate forcers, greenhouse gas concentrations, radiative forcing, the Earth's energy imbalance, surface temperature changes, warming attributed to human activities, the remaining carbon budget, and estimates of global temperature extremes. This year, we additionally include indicators for sea-level rise and land precipitation change. We follow methods as closely as possible to those used in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) Working Group One report. The indicators show that human activities are increasing the Earth's energy imbalance and driving faster sea-level rise compared to the AR6 assessment. For the 2015–2024 decade average, observed warming relative to 1850–1900 was 1.24 [1.11 to 1.35] °C, of which 1.22 [1.0 to 1.5] °C was human-induced. The 2024-observed best estimate of global surface temperature (1.52 °C) is well above the best estimate of human-caused warming (1.36 °C). However, the 2024 observed warming can still be regarded as a typical year, considering the human-induced warming level and the state of internal variability associated with the phase of El Niño and Atlantic variability. Human-induced warming has been increasing at a rate that is unprecedented in the instrumental record, reaching 0.27 [0.2–0.4] °C per decade over 2015–2024. This high rate of warming is caused by a combination of greenhouse gas emissions being at an all-time high of 53.6±5.2 Gt CO2e yr−1 over the last decade (2014–2023), as well as reductions in the strength of aerosol cooling. Despite this, there is evidence that the rate of increase in CO2 emissions over the last decade has slowed compared to the 2000s, and depending on societal choices, a continued series of these annual updates over the critical 2020s decade could track decreases or increases in the rate of the climatic changes presented here

Learning from making and doing: taking the makerspaces to the next level at Maynooth University

What do you do when you already have one makerspace that is well-used and popular? Answer – create an even better one! And then start thinking about what other types of content need to be created and embark on a Media Lab to complement this. This is exactly the journey that Maynooth University is currently embarking on. From its launch in 2015, the Makerspace developed a well-used 3D printing service which continued up until the pandemic when it had to be put on hold as a library-based service. The recommencement of the service in 2022 coincided with staff moving on and recruitment of new staff giving the impetus to take the services to another level. This has led to a successful bid to create a new, more ambitious makerspace, and as well as opening up new opportunities, the most significant of these to date being the collaboration with the Media Studies department and other interested parties to launch a Media Lab. Building on their experience the team have been able to make the case for good locations for both the new Makerspace and Media Lab, putting their ‘lessons learned’ to good use. Extensive and imaginative use of social media channels has helped to embed the Makerspace within the university conscience and opened up avenues for collaboration. Through the Makerspace, the library has been able to offer creative and practical support to an expanding portfolio of research projects across the university as well as being an active supporter in undergraduate recruitment

Investigating MSC Immunomodulation in the Obese Microenvironment

The proportion of people living with obesity is constantly on the rise, which makes it an important factor to consider in any clinical setting. The obese microenvironment introduces a range of pro-inflammatory factors and other molecules that can affect immune cells and treatments. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are a valuable asset for the treatment of inflammatory conditions due to their immunomodulatory and their tissue regenerative abilities. MSCs are able to communicate with surrounding immune cells and respond to signals from the microenvironment. However, this makes MSCs vulnerable to perturbations in that microenvironment. This thesis investigates how certain prominent factors from the obese microenvironment, the free fatty acids oleate and palmitate and the adipokine leptin, affect MSC phenotype and function. Differences between T cell suppression and macrophage suppression by palmitate exposed MSCs were discovered, and the underlying mechanism for how palmitate affects macrophage suppression by MSCs was further elucidated. In addition to the direct effects of these factors on MSCs, we were also interested in the concept of innate immune training of macrophages by factors elevated in the obese microenvironment, and how MSCs might be able to interfere with this training. Innate immune training can lead to a hyperinflammatory activation of macrophages, which, while protective in many cases of infectious disease, has the potential to result in a more severe outcome of chronic autoimmune disease. MSCs, which are powerful suppressors of macrophage inflammation, have already been shown to suppress house dust mite-mediated training in our lab. Building on this research, a training protocol was established and pathways through which MSCs may be inhibiting training were investigated. Overall, this research revealed avenues to be explored in MSC-macrophage interactions, highlighting the potential for the use of MSCs in patients with inflammatory conditions who are living with obesity, and identifying pathways through which innate immune training could be controlled

A review of energy storage systems for facilitating large-scale EV charger integration in electric power grid

The swift increase in electric vehicle (EV) into modern power grids presents both significant opportunities and challenges, particularly in maintaining power quality (PQ) and managing peak loads. This review synthesizes current research, providing a comprehensive analysis of the pivotal role of energy storage systems (ESS) in enabling large-scale EV charger integration while addressing critical PQ issues. A key contribution is the comparative evaluation of various ESS typologies—battery ESS (BESS), hybrid ESS (HESS), and distributed ESS (DESS)—each offering distinct advantages in mitigating PQ challenges such as harmonic distortion, voltage regulation, and peak demand control. Ensuring compliance with IEEE-519 standards is emphasized as vital for maintaining grid reliability and high PQ standards. This review paper further examines the diverse impacts of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) on power grids, including their charging and storage characteristics, which influence grid stability and efficiency. It highlights the transformative potential of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, which facilitates bidirectional power flow to support grid stabilization, energy balancing, and ancillary services. Additionally, it addresses the mitigation of harmonic distortion from PEV charging, preserving transformer performance and lifespan, and explores strategies to manage large-scale PEV integration through predictive and adaptive control techniques. This study introduces innovative approaches to improving grid recovery following disturbances and evaluates the synergistic integration of renewable energy sources with PEVs to foster sustainable energy systems. Models for PEV interaction with microgrids are also discussed, emphasizing their role in enhancing energy resilience and grid flexibility. This paper underscores the critical role of advanced energy management strategies (EMS) in optimizing EV-grid integration and improving overall system efficiency. These strategies include rule-based EMSs employing fixed rules, fuzzy logic, and wavelet transforms; optimization-based EMSs utilizing techniques such as dynamic programming, genetic algorithms, model predictive control, and particle swarm optimization; and intelligent EMSs leveraging neural networks and reinforcement learning for adaptive and predictive control. By outlining innovative solutions and highlighting the importance of strategic collaboration among utilities, policymakers, researchers, and technology developers, this review provides a comprehensive roadmap for overcoming the technical, economic, and regulatory challenges associated with EV charger integration, laying the groundwork for a reliable, efficient, and sustainable energy future

Edward Baker Littlehales: The evolution of military governance and the demise of the military under-secretary 1801-1819.

Edward Baker Littlehales arrived in Ireland in 1798, beginning a career which would not see him depart until 1819. His tenure would see him witness and act in a variety of significant historical events in Ireland, including the 1798 rebellion, the passing of the Act of Union, Emmet's rebellion, as well as the recurrent threat of invasion from France. From 1801 to 1819 he worked in Dublin Castle as military under-secretary, one ofthe more senior members of the administration. Despite this he remains an understudied figure in Irish history. Drawing from primary sources, including Littlehales' personal papers, military and governmental records, and contemporary correspondence, this study reconstructs Littlehales' career trajectory as under-secretary and his contributions to military governance and administration between 1801 and his retirement in 1819. The research situates Littlehales within the broader context oflrish military and administrative history, highlighting the centrality of his role in shaping military policy in post-union Ireland. Littlehales' length of service offers a unique prism through which to view the attempts to implement and normalise the Act of Union. In conclusion, Edward Baker Littlehales emerges from this research as a key architect of post-union administration in Ireland. This dissertation not only recovers the significance of his contributions but also provides a framework for analysing the evolution of administrative practices in the context of broader historical developments. Importantly, the critical role of personality in these administrative practices is given due consideration