Problems with drawing lines: Theo-geographies of the Catholic parish in Ireland

While people in Catholic parishes in Ireland appear keenly aware of parish boundaries, these understandings are more often oral than cartographic. There is no digital map of all of the Catholic parishes in Ireland. However, the institutional Catholic Church insists that no square kilometre can exist outside of a parish boundary. In this paper, I explain a process whereby the Catholic parishes of Ireland were produced digitally. I will outline some of the technical challenges of digitizing such boundaries. In making these maps, it is not only a question of drawing lines but mapping people’s understanding of their locality. Through an example of one part of the digitisation project, I want to talk about how verifying maps with local people often complicates something which may have at first sight seemed simple. The paper ends on a comparison with how other communities of interest are territorialised in Ireland and elsewhere to draw out some broader theoretical and theological issues of concern

The spatial distribution of municipal housing in Dublin City

In Ireland presently there is a housing and homeless crisis. A number of factors have led to this but among them is the retrenchment in local authority housing budgets and a concentration of private capital in commercial property. Since 2008, the housing budgets allocated to local authorities have been cut dramatically. This continues the decline in local government interest in housing management but is also an extension of an existing housing policy. The historic role of the state in house building is diminished. To further understand the extent of the current housing crisis, the spatial distribution of public housing is in need of examination. This paper, arising from doctoral work on religious landscapes, describes the spatial distribution of public- and municipally-funded housing in Dublin city. The distribution of urban public housing schemes remains a relatively underdeveloped aspect of geography in Ireland. Working with secondary data from the City Council and a number of other sources, it locates public and municipal housing in the city area during the period from the 1850s to 1980. The available data show a pattern of public housing provision which mirrors the development of Dublin as a city. The paper shows how the geographies of public housing have been marginalised in the city's development. The paper closes with a number of ideas for further research

GROWING UP IN IRELAND. Cohort '08 (Infant Cohort). Design, Instrumentation and Procedures for Cohort ’08 of Growing Up in Ireland at 9 Years Old (Wave 5)

Growing Up in Ireland is the national longitudinal cohort study of children that commenced in 2006. The study has followed two groups of Irish children: Cohort ’98 (so-called because most of them were born in 1998; formerly called the ‘Child Cohort’); and Cohort ’08 (most of whom were born a decade later in 2008; formerly called the ‘Infant Cohort’). The primary aim of the study is to provide a strong evidence base to improve the understanding of children’s and young people’s health and development across a range of domains. This information is used to inform government policy in relation to children, yong people and their families

Influence of calcium-binding salts on heat stability and fouling of whey protein isolate dispersions

peer-reviewedThe effect of the calcium-binding salts (CBS), trisodium citrate (TSC), tripotassium citrate (TPC) and disodium hydrogen phosphate (DSHP) at concentrations of 1–45 mm on the heat stability and fouling of whey protein isolate (WPI) dispersions (3%, w/v, protein) was investigated. The WPI dispersions were assessed for heat stability in an oil bath at 95 °C for 30 min, viscosity changes during simulated high-temperature short-time (HTST) and fouling behaviour using a lab-scale fouling rig. Adding CBS at levels of 5–30 mm for TSC and TPC and 25–35 mm for DSHP improved thermal stability of WPI dispersions by decreasing the ionic calcium (Ca2+) concentration; however, lower or higher concentrations destabilised the systems on heating. Adding CBS improved heat transfer during thermal processing, and resulted in lower viscosity and fouling. This study demonstrates that adding CBS is an effective means of increasing WPI protein stability during HTST thermal processing

Growing Up in Ireland: Key findings from the special COVID-19 survey of Cohorts ’98 and ‘08. ESRI Growing Up in Ireland March 2021.

In a new short report released today, the ESRI and Trinity College Dublin launch the results of a special survey of COVID-19 experiences for children and young adults participating in Growing Up in Ireland. These first insights highlight the extent of changes to everyday life as a result of the pandemic and point to likely inequalities in impact

Design, instrumentation and procedures for Cohort ‘08 of Growing Up in Ireland at 9 years old (Wave 5).

Growing Up in Ireland is the national longitudinal cohort study of children that commenced in 2006. The study has followed two groups of Irish children: Cohort ’98 (so-called because most of them were born in 1998; formerly called the ‘Child Cohort’); and Cohort ’08 (most of whom were born a decade later in 2008; formerly called the ‘Infant Cohort’). The primary aim of the study is to provide a strong evidence base to improve the understanding of children’s and young people’s health and development across a range of domains. This information is used to inform government policy in relation to children, young people and their families. This report gives details of the data collection and research methods used. The study covers a broad range of child outcomes with a view to documenting how well children and young people in Ireland are developing. In so doing, it can facilitate comparison with findings from similar studies of children in other countries, as well as establishing typical patterns for children in Ireland. Being longitudinal in nature, the study also addresses developmental trajectories over time and explores the factors that most affect those trajectories and the life chances of children in Ireland today. By providing comprehensive data on a representative national sample of Irish children, the study informs and contributes to the setting of responsive policies and the design of services for children and their families

Growing Up in Ireland: Growing up and developing as an adult: A review of the literature on selected topics pertaining to cohort ’98 at age 20 years. ESRI Report December 2020.

The goal of this report is to provide research information on selected potential research questions using data collected in interviews with 20-year-olds and their parents. At the time of writing, fieldwork was under way, so the topics of the survey were known but not the outcome of the interviews. The research questions address the central outcomes of the Growing Up in Ireland study that contribute to building developmental trajectories from childhood to adulthood: socio-emotional well-being; educational and cognitive development; physical health and growth. Three potential research questions are outlined under each outcome and provide a short supporting review of the national and international literature, followed by a description of the measures in Growing Up in Ireland useful in exploring the topic. While there is a wide array of possible research questions with a dataset such as this, the selected topics are those that offer new potential given the measures at this particular wave and/or are particularly salient to this phase of the life-course

Growing Up in Ireland: The lives of 9-year-olds of cohort '08. ESRI Growing up in Ireland June 2021.

This report provides a descriptive analysis of the findings from detailed interviews conducted between June 2017 and April 2018 with 8,032 9-year-olds and their families from Cohort ’08 (formerly known as the Infant Cohort) of the Growing Up in Ireland study. These families were first interviewed when the Study Child was 9 months old (September 2008 to March 2009) and followed up at 3 years of age (January-August 2011) and 5 years of age (March-September 2013). An inter-wave postal survey was conducted when the cohort was 7/8 years of age (March-October 2016). Responses at 9 years of age represented 72 per cent of the original sample interviewed at Wave 1. The data have been re-weighted to account for differential response across different groups. Capturing experiences and outcomes in middle childhood is crucial as peers become more important in children’s lives and they take a more active role in shaping the nature of their play and activities. Middle childhood is also an important period for developing social and cognitive skills and for children’s emerging self-concept. Behaviours at this stage, including physical activity and diet, may have longer-term consequences for physical health and well-being

GROWING UP IN IRELAND. COHORT ’08 (Infant Cohort). Report on the Pilot for Wave Five of the Cohort ’08 Survey (at 9 Years of Age)

This report summarises the experience of the pilot fieldwork with the Growing Up in Ireland Cohort ’08 (formerly the Infant Cohort) at 9 years of age. This wave represents the fifth survey for this cohort who were first interviewed at age 9 months – and subsequently surveyed at 3, 5 and 7/8 years. It is also the first time that the younger cohort has reached an age where there was also data collection for Cohort ’98 (formerly the Child Cohort). The report is intended to inform data-users of the role played by the pilot process in informing the final instrumentation and procedures for the main phase of data collection