THE IRISH ITINERANTS: SOME DEMOGRAPHIC, ECONOMIC AND EDUCATIONAL ASPECTS. BROADSHEET No. 18, May 1979

SOME selected characteristics of Irish itinerants are discussed in this paper. An account is given of some of the problems faced by itinerants based on factual material obtained from Irish official publications, books and articles on Irish itinerants, discussions with people who work with itinerants and the findings of unpublished censuses of itinerants taken by Local Authorities. The study does not involve social or psychological analysis but tries by the presentation of facts assembled together to "help, if in a small way, those who are trying to improve the lot of itinerants". The problem of itinerancy is seen by the authors as part of the problem of poverty. Itinerants are or were, on the whole, the dispossessed--poor, homeless, illiterate, despised." Some, particularly the roadside traders (whom many would not regard as itinerants), are reasonably well off but the great majority according to Patricia McCarthy (1975) were regarded as "marginal people in every sense . . . living a primitive and harsh existence." They are conscious of their poverty, avoid integration with the settled community, and have a low self esteem because of their dependence on charity and social welfare

Studies on the Adaptation of Irish Industry. ESRI Memorandum Series No. 133 1979

Studies on the Adaptation of Irish Industry, as the title implies, is a collection of articles around the theme of industrial adaptation. Considerations of size of the volume limit the range of problems and issues which can be tackled. It may be said that we should have dealt with problems facing the individual company or industry as the Irish economy moved from protection to free trade; or we should have developed the issue of the role of finance in adaptation or of the importance of factor markets in encouraging a particular type of industry. We decided however to confine the paper to discussion of some aspects of adaptation which we considered import and relevant, and for which statistics were available. The changing international trade environment and its relationship to industrial adaptation is examined, particularly the dependence of the necessary economic expansion on large increases in exports and imported materials. The expansion of import substitution is considered a valid policy in view of the under-utilisation of labour in Ireland. A search is made for commodities production of which might be increased, bearing in mind the assumption that such production will tend to increase experts and decrease competitive imports. There should be expansion in processed meat as compared with live animal experts; cheese, vegetables, fish exported in greater quantities; motor vehicle and machinery parts should be developed. The methodology used in the paper could be applied in the search for products in large and increasing world demand

Capital and Labour in Irish Manufacturing Industry Some Statistical Material. ESRI Memorandum Series No. 136 1979

The availability of R.N. Vaughan's annual estimates of gross and net capital stock for each manufacturing industry for the period 1945-1973 must inspire many research papers, of which the present, denting with levels and trends in recent years, is the first and simplest. In fact the present article is a presentation of derived statistics related to capital stock data for manufacturing industries. We confine our attention to the eleven years 1963-1973: 1973 was not only the last year of the Vaughan capital stock data but it was also the latest year preceding the recession of the years 1974-1976, and notably a good year for industry; in 1963 the industrial upsurge which began ca. 1960 was well set. It also happened that in 1977 CSO published a very convenient table of Indices of volume of gross output of each CIP industry, for the period 1963-1973. First we set up seven tables of basic data for 45 manufacturing Industries and 11 years, in fact matrices 46 x 11 including a final 46th row for the total, as follows

Profit Sharing for Ireland?. ESRI Memorandum Series No. 146 1981

Profit sharing may be defined as an agreement between an employer and workers to pay a share of the profits or wealth created by the organisation in addition to wages and direct incentives. It is a recognition of the worker's right to a share in the results of the organisation, just as the right of those who provide the capital. Profit sharing is regarded frequently as a direct incentive to employees whose extra efforts can increase the profitability of an enterprise; it should not be confused with productivity schemes, however. There are many ways in which profit sharing may be operated: (i) it may be a cash distribution; (ii) it may take the form of share allocation or of share option; (iii) it may apply to all workers or to certain categories; (iv) the amount may be at the discretion of owners or determined by rule; (v) profits shared may be a fixed percentage before tax, net profit after tax, a proportion of profit over a specified minimum. The profitability of a firm depends on many factors, sufficient capital, capable management and the efforts of all the workers, therefore it would appear equitable that all interests should share in the surplus remaining after each section has been reasonably remunerated

A Study of Schemes for the Relief of Unemployment in Ireland. BROADSHEET No. 14, April 1977

The introduction states: "The object of this paper is to make a contribution, however small, towards the solution of one of Ireland’s gravest social problems, the endemically high unemployment rate"

Entangled Electronic States in Multiple Quantum-Dot Systems

We present an analytically solvable model of $P$ colinear, two-dimensional quantum dots, each containing two electrons. Inter-dot coupling via the electron-electron interaction gives rise to sets of entangled ground states. These ground states have crystal-like inter-plane correlations and arise discontinously with increasing magnetic field. Their ranges and stabilities are found to depend on dot size ratios, and to increase with $P$.Comment: To appear in Physical Review B (in press). RevTeX file. Figures available from [email protected]

Negative Consequences of Substance Use in European University Students: Results from Project SNIPE

Background: University students are a risk group for heavy substance use and the experience of various potentially severe negative substance use consequences which may impact on their health, social, and academic functioning. Whilst the experience of negative consequences of substance use is well understood in North American student samples, there is little data on these experiences in European students. In order to develop effective harm prevention and reduction interventions for students’ substance use, there needs to be an understanding of the types of consequences experienced in European student samples. Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence and predictors of the experience of negative substance use-related consequences amongst university students in 7 European countries. Methods: University students (n = 4,482) in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Turkey, and the UK completed an online survey of their substance use behaviours and the experience of associated negative consequences. Results: European students reported that experiencing a hangover or illness, missing class, being short of money, and experiencing memory loss were the most commonly experienced negative consequences of substance use. Not living with other students and using alcohol, cannabis, sedatives, and cocaine were also associated with higher odds of experiencing these negative consequences. Conclusions: In contrast to North American data, European university students tended to experience consequences that are associated with lower level health risks rather than more severe consequences (e.g., drink-driving and physical injury). Harm prevention and reduction interventions for students should be targeted towards those consequences that are most salient to the target group to ensure feedback is relevant and potentially more effective in changing students’ substance use behaviours

Personal and Perceived Peer Use of and Attitudes Toward Alcohol Among University and College Students in Seven EU Countries: Project SNIPE.

The objective of this study was to explore perceptions of peer substance use and related attitudes among European students. Challenging perceptions about peer substance use has become the basis of a form of prevention and intervention known as the social norms approach, which can be delivered using personalized online feedback. This article reports baseline alcohol use and attitudes data for university students across Europe collected as part of the Social Norms Intervention for the prevention of Polydrug usE project (Project SNIPE)

Density-functional theory of quantum wires and dots in a strong magnetic field

We study the competition between the exchange and the direct Coulomb interaction near the edge of a two-dimensional electron gas in a strong magnetic field using density-functional theory in a local approximation for the exchange-energy functional. Exchange is shown to play a significant role in reducing the spatial extent of the compressible edge channel regions obtained from an electrostatic description. The transition from the incompressible edge channels of the Hartree-Fock picture to the broad, compressible strips predicted by electrostatics occurs within a narrow and experimentally accessible range of confinement strengths.Comment: 24 pages latex and 10 postscript figures in self extracting fil

Illicit substance use among university students from seven European countries: A comparison of personal and perceived peer use and attitudes towards illicit substance use

Objective: To compare European students' personal use and approval of illicit substance use with their perceptions of peer behaviours and attitudes, and investigate whether perceptions of peer norms are associated with personal use of illicit substances and attitudes. Method: This study used baseline data fromthe Social Norms Intervention for the prevention of Polydrug usE (SNIPE) project involving 4482 students from seven European countries in 2012. Students completed an online surveywhich included questions on personal and perceived peer illicit substance use and personal and perceived peer attitude towards illicit substances. Results: 8.3% of students reported having used illicit substances at least once in their life. 49.7% of students perceived that the majority of their peers have used illicit substances more frequently than themselves. The perception was significantly associated with higher odds for personal illicit substance use (OR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.53–2.54). The perception that the majority of peers approve illicit substance use was significantly associated with higher odds for personal approval of illicit substance use (OR: 3.47, 95% CI: 2.73–4.41). Conclusion: Students commonly perceived that their peers used illicit subtances more often than themselves. We found an association between the perceived peer norms/attitudes and reported individual behaviour/ attitudes