Transnational and local: Multiple functions of religious communities of EU migrants in Dublin

This paper explores how Christian migrants of European background live their faith within their religious communities in Dublin. Immigrant congregations provide a place for the accommodation of religious and cultural packages that migrants take with them from their homelands. At the same time, immigrant congregations create opportunities for migrants to enter into new discourses and interactions with the host society. European migrants in Ireland are confronted with a two-fold reality: 1) the notion of loyalty to ethnic and cultural traditions, which urges on migrants’ conscience so that their ethnic and national identity is further strengthened, and 2) an opportunity to engage in intercultural interactions, which encourages migrants’ sense of belonging to the society in which they live. With the use of an ethnographic approach, this paper explores how the religious congregations of Polish, Slovak and German migrants in Dublin move from an ethnic-enclave experience to one that is engaged with the host society

The EU’s Approach to Peacebuilding in Common Security and Defence Policy Missions and Operations

The main purpose of this thesis is to provide an understanding of the EU’s approach to peacebuilding in its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions and operations. The thesis explores why EU missions carry out mainly post-conflict peacebuilding tasks and whether the shift towards peacebuilding is about a substantial change of EU norms. The research analyses how peacebuilding in CSDP actions is framed, designed and operationalised through the complex decision- and policy-making processes within the CSDP. In particular, the thesis assesses how the EU’s approach to peacebuilding in the CSDP was influenced by the UN’s conceptualisation of peacebuilding and how the EU has developed its own distinctive approach to peacebuilding. While looking at the examples of civilian missions and military operations in Mali and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the thesis provides insights into the operational dynamics of peacebuilding under the CSDP. The thesis argues that CSDP missions and operations reflect a normative and practical commitment of the EU to international peacebuilding. CSDP actions deployed in post-conflict scenarios follow the logic of liberal peacebuilding strategies while aiming at the stabilisation, reconstruction and building of the institutions of a functioning state, in particular the military, police and justice sectors. The EU pursues its peacebuilding activities under the CSDP in a comprehensive, case-specific and geopolitically strategic way as demonstrated by case studies of Mali and Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time, the research reveals that, although the shift towards peacebuilding in CSDP actions has been underpinned by a change of normative approaches, driven by the reform process of the UN peacekeeping, it also reflects the EU’s preferences, pragmatic limits and capability-expectation gaps in crisis management.Peterhouse Postgraduate Studentship; Greta Burkil Fund / Peterhouse; University of Cambridge/ Department of Politics and International Studies Fieldwork Fun

Religious Practices and Networks of Belonging in an Immigrant Congregation: the German-Speaking Lutheran Congregation in Dublin

This article explores how members of the German-speaking Lutheran church in Dublin develop their networks of belonging by taking part in social practices in their congregation. The article addresses the intersection of religious life, migration experience, and belonging. Based on qualitative fieldwork, we assess how social practices embedded in religious activities and beliefs reshape the sense of belonging among members of this congregation. We study the congregation through a material approach while paying attention to its actual religious and social life. The study observes how participation in the social life of the congregation enables its members to create multiple senses of belonging—ethno-cultural, religious, and social belonging. The social life of the congregation aids the preservation of immigrants’ ethno-cultural particularities, societal adaptation, and sense of belonging to their religious community

Significant benefits of new communication technology for time delay management in STEMI patients.

BACKGROUND:In the acute phase of STEMI, the length of the total ischemic interval is the principal factor affecting both short- and long-term mortality. The length of the interval remains a global problem, and in EU countries these figures vary between 160 and 325 min. METHODS AND RESULTS:The aim of our research was to assess the benefit of the systematic implementation of the new smartphone-based communication technology "STEMI" enabling immediate ECG picture and voice consultation between an EMS crew in the field and a cardiologist in the PCI-center. The transfer of ECG was associated with 92% technical success. 5 Monthly data from 2016 were compared from the reference2 monthly data set in 2015 when the data in the same area was collected in the SLOVAKS registry. The 5-months data from 2016 were compared to the reference group from 2015, when similar 2-months data in the same area in SLOVAKS registry was collected but communication technology "STEMI" technology was not used. In the monitored period in 2016 we recorded a significant decrease in unwanted secondary STEMI transportations (34.32% vs. 12.9%, p<0.001) and a significant reduction in the total ischemic interval (241 min vs. 181 min, p = 0.03). There was no significant decrease in the subinterval of "admission-pPCI" (28min vs. 23 min, p = 0.144). CONCLUSION:The systematic use of smartphone-based communication technology "STEMI" enabling remote ECG picture consultation between an EMS crew and a cardiologist in PCI-center had a positive impact on the quality of care for patients with acute STEMI and brought clinical practice closer to the current ESC Guidelines. It significantly decreased the ratio of unwanted secondary transportations and led to a significant reduction in the total ischemic interval