‘A seat at the table’: spaces of activism in the development of LGBTQ rights in Northern Ireland

This study explores the spaces of sexual politics within Northern Ireland, through examining the spaces and strategies of activists. Geographers who study sexuality understand the spatially varied nature of sexual politics, and how this can be shaped by forms of activism. This research uses scholarship from political geography and the geographies of sex and sexuality to examine activist spaces, and how they may reproduce homonormativity and ‘heteroactivism’. With a particular focus on parliamentary, online, and urban spaces, this study draws together multiple scales and spaces to understand the geopolitical processes which impact on sexual politics within Northern Ireland. By using the body as a scale and site of performance, I develop an understanding of the uneven geopolitical processes which impact on LGBTQ lives and activism in Northern Ireland. Ultimately, this research demonstrates the complex relationship between scales, spaces, activism, and sexualities

Many names - many shapes: the war goddess in early Irish literature - with reference to Indian texts: a study in the phenomenology of religion

A quote from the Rees brothers book 'Celtic Heritage', comparing one of the Irish war -goddesses to the Indian Kali has provided the first impulse for this thesis. In the course of the study it emerged that the Indian material would be most useful in shedding further light on the Irish figures rather than to undertake a fully developed comparison.When studying the Irish texts it soon becomes apparent that the war- goddesses cannot be seen in isolation but only in relationship with a male hero.Two heroes have extensive dealings with the war- goddesses, Cú Chulainn, the famous hero of Ulster, and the Dagda of the Túatha Dé Danann. Cú Chulainn generally benefits from the activites of the Badb, the screeching battle crow, while the Morri gan displays a relentless hostility towards him One important fact which emerges from these stories is the existence of a deap- seated similarity between the great hero and the otherwordly females which becomes particularly obvious when studying the various animal shapes the latter appear in. On the whole, the war -goddesses reveal themselves to be elusive, many -shaped figures who attack the hero's courage and inner strength rather than challenging him physically. They are not interested in questions of allegiance though this changes as time goes by, with later texts showing a different perspective.The relationship between the Morrigan and the Dagda in Cath Maige Tuired takes a different form. Here, a powerful male figure who incorporates both life -giving and destructive aspects within his nature turns the destructive and chaotic potential personified by the Morrigan into more controlled channels so that she benefits his own people. Through his agency she becomes a powerful influence in the battle against the Fomorians. Figures who resemble the war -goddesses closely are investigated such as Washers at the Ford, death- messengers, hags and other hostile females.Variations on familiar themes and developments over time can be observed.It seems that very often the male hero determines the role of the otherwordly female and the later texts show a marked decline of the latter. Comparison with Indian evidence is prompted by the curious fact that although male figures are the protagonists of war in both cultures, it is female figures who emerge most clearly as the personifications of death and destruction.The question is asked whether any common features emerge which may explain this phenomenon and lead to a typology of female figures of death and destruction. An investigation of Kali's story reveals that certain attitudes towards violence and destruction are indeed similar, and that certain methods of containing this dangerous force in female shape find echoes in both traditions. However, the details as to behaviour, strategy, appearance, etc. show marked differences. It is concluded that comparison with Kali throws certain features of the Irish goddesses into sharper relief which may not have been possible otherwise. Any claim to seeing true similarities has to remain very tenuous indeed

Food Legumes and Rising Temperatures: Effects, Adaptive Functional Mechanisms Specific to Reproductive Growth Stage and Strategies to Improve Heat Tolerance

Ambient temperatures are predicted to rise in the future owing to several reasons associated with global climate changes. These temperature increases can result in heat stress- a severe threat to crop production in most countries. Legumes are well-known for their impact on agricultural sustainability as well as their nutritional and health benefits. Heat stress imposes challenges for legume crops and has deleterious effects on the morphology, physiology, and reproductive growth of plants. High-temperature stress at the time of the reproductive stage is becoming a severe limitation for production of grain legumes as their cultivation expands to warmer environments and temperature variability increases due to climate change. The reproductive period is vital in the life cycle of all plants and is susceptible to high-temperature stress as various metabolic processes are adversely impacted during this phase, which reduces crop yield. Food legumes exposed to high-temperature stress during reproduction show flower abortion, pollen and ovule infertility, impaired fertilization, and reduced seed filling, leading to smaller seeds and poor yields. Through various breeding techniques, heat tolerance in major legumes can be enhanced to improve performance in the field. Omics approaches unravel different mechanisms underlying thermotolerance, which is imperative to understand the processes of molecular responses toward high-temperature stress

Environmental governance in the new South Africa: A decade of greening?

As the foundations were laid for democratisation in South Africa a turning point had been reached in the 'war against apartheid' and co-incidentally also with the end of the 'war against nature' both globally and locally. The end of apartheid also saw a shift in the political focus to equity, poverty alleviation, land distribution, AIDS and sustainability. Sustainable development has become a key issue or component in global, regional, national and local environmental governance. The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), hosted by South Africa in 2002, highlighted the importance of environmental management for both South Africa and the continentas a whole. Sustainable development is a key concept upon which national, provincial and local strategic plans were formulated. This article will attempt to determine just how 'green' South Africa became over the past decade in terms of the politicisation and institutionalisation of environmental issues. This will be investigated in terms of the reformist-institutional approach to environmental governance. Specific reference will be made to the role of the national, provincial and local governments, within the context of co-operative governance, in environmental management

Selective responsibility : history, power and politics in the United Nations.

This project explores the issue of selectivity within contemporary international politics, particularly in relation to the implementation of the United Nations’ Responsibility to Protect principle, from a postcolonial perspective. It argues that in order to fully understand the selective implementation of policy in contemporary contexts, it is necessary to examine the historical origins of the United Nations and to highlight the institutionalisation of postcolonial privilege in international political organisations. Through the use of archival data, it shows that the United Nations is an institution that has been committed to the perpetuation of colonial power structures through the development of new forms of government and structures of control, relying on problematic discourses of civilisation and progress that legitimate a global power structure that has its roots in colonialism. It begins with the provision of an alternative historical narrative that highlights the significance of colonialism in the founding of the United Nations and that seeks to undermine the discourse of equality that is frequently attributed to the organisation. It then moves on to explore more concrete examples of the structures of the United Nations that have allowed for the continuation of colonial power relations before examining these ideas in relation to the contemporary politics of intervention, particularly focusing on the role of the Security Council as the locus of postcolonial and neocolonial power

‘A seat at the table’: spaces of activism in the development of LGBTQ rights in Northern Ireland

This study explores the spaces of sexual politics within Northern Ireland, through examining the spaces and strategies of activists. Geographers who study sexuality understand the spatially varied nature of sexual politics, and how this can be shaped by forms of activism. This research uses scholarship from political geography and the geographies of sex and sexuality to examine activist spaces, and how they may reproduce homonormativity and ‘heteroactivism’. With a particular focus on parliamentary, online, and urban spaces, this study draws together multiple scales and spaces to understand the geopolitical processes which impact on sexual politics within Northern Ireland. By using the body as a scale and site of performance, I develop an understanding of the uneven geopolitical processes which impact on LGBTQ lives and activism in Northern Ireland. Ultimately, this research demonstrates the complex relationship between scales, spaces, activism, and sexualities

Mobile phone-based electrochemiluminescence sensing exploiting the \u27USB On-The-Go\u27 protocol

A low-cost system to generate, control and detect electrochemiluminescence using a mobile smartphone is described. A simple tone-detection integrated circuit is used to switch power sourced from the phone\u27s Universal Serial Bus (USB) \u27On-The-Go\u27 (OTG) port, using audible tone pulses played over the device\u27s audio jack. We have successfully applied this approach to smartphones from different manufacturers and with different operating system versions. ECL calibrations of a common luminophore, tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) ([Ru(bpy)3]2+), with 2-(dibutylamino)ethanol (DBAE) as a co-reactant, showed no significant difference in light intensities when an electrochemical cell was controlled by a mobile phone in this manner, compared to the same calibration generated using a conventional potentiostat. Combining this novel approach to control the applied potential with the measurement of the emitted light through the smart phone camera (using an in-house built Android app), we explored the ECL properties of a water-soluble iridium(III) complex that emits in the blue region of the spectrum. The iridium(III) complex exhibited superior co-reactant ECL intensities and limits of detection to that of the conventional [Ru(bpy)3]2+ luminophore