Category Archives: International

The Network of Networks, July 2016

Improve Your Life, International, Kieran's Council Work, Landscapes, Uncategorized

Bratislava historic core

Across the Digital Landscape: The Network of Networks

Kieran McCarthy,

Member, Committee of the Regions, EA/ IE

 

A River of Opportunities:

   Bratislava, Slovakia, put quite simply, lingers in the mind.

    The newest capital of the EU Presidency can truly and honestly refer to itself as an international crossroads of ideas and people. Located near the state borders of four countries – Slovakia, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic, this geography, as well as intensive trading considerably influenced the assembly of nationalities living in the town. Two traditional long-distance European merchant roads crossing this region had a decisive impact. Like two crossed wires they kick-started the engine for Bratislava’s development. The Danubian Road linking the cultures of the Mediterranean and the Orient (as an extension of the legendary Silk Road) with the inlands of continental Europe. The second, the Amber Road, linked countries by the Baltic Sea in the north with southern Europe. Both merchant roads crossed the Danube river by ford and both created the basic pattern of the main city thoroughfares of Bratislava in the Middle Ages. A thousand years later, the focus on themes of connection and transnational have been renewed on a European scale in Bratislava and within the surrounding country of Slovakia. The Danube, still an international waterway, provides the metaphor for a river of diverse opportunities, which flows through these regions.

    In Bratislava’s rich eighteenth century architecture and cobbled streets you can see the influences from adjacent countries. The stamp of European funding can be seen in many aspects – the trams, which meanders through its centre and suburbs – on which is stamped Eurotram. The stamp of European Regional Development Fund on an older university wall show that the regional and local governments of this capital mean business in embracing transformation. It continues to transform into one of the EU’s notable capitals. Just like the EU, Bratislava is a work in progress – complete with EU branding, vision, a narrative, solidarity and a modern identity stamp.

    The 7th EU Summit of Cities and Regions sought to harness Bratislava’s historic and modern edge, hosting the themes of connect and invest. Connect is perhaps a more positive paradigm to talk about and negotiate than invest. It is easier to connect and provide ideas than negotiate the whys and where-to-fores of financial investment. It was the moment though that Jeremy Rifkin walked out onto the Opera House Hall stage, which added to the game changing thought processes of the Summit. Rooting his two feet in the carpeted stage, the large stage did not deter his confident stage presence. Pausing before he began – in his hand a half a dozen pages complete with notes – he did not look at – he was ready – he drank his glass of water and began his tale centre stage – holding his audience as he bended and flowed, softly and enthusiastically through his narrative. From the beginning, he unfolded and wove a story of intrigue, questions, opportunity and what-ifs. He presented an overview of a global landscape infused by the opportunities of a third Industrial Revolution – a landscape of digital infrastructure – one, which laterally exists across human and computer networks – one where the winds of change will beckon in new business opportunities globally and one, which ushers in cultural transformations in how the world is viewed and life itself is lived.

   Across Professor Rifkin’s hour long narrative he questioned the advancement of science and transportation in the twentieth century in the second industrial revolution – building on this he assembled new arguments – a new and modern landscape overview – an elaborate chessboard of sorts complete with moving complex and chaotic parts. He unfurled familiar global problems of climate change, rising energy costs, geo-politics, global migration patterns, unemployment and poverty – all infused with a global society struggling to move these issues on towards solution. His initial thoughts were familiar paradigms – the rising forcefulness of climatic storms, declines in traditional industries, and inflation and economic downturn. He presented all the ingredients to create a troubled second decade in this early twenty-first century. This troubled world searches for changes amidst the quickening pace of globalisation. It is true to say that our regions, town and cities have become globalised – glocalities – whereby survival on your own, is almost impossible. Technology has sped up the need for even further interconnection. One must reach out and interact in a network of networks – where ideas come fast and quick in the world of the internet, all leading to what Rifkin’s calls the “Third Industrial Revolution”.

 Bratislava historic core, early July 2016

Thinking Smart:

     The Third Industrial Revolution, pitches a case about thinking smart – smart in the use of energy, smart in productivity, smart in the business sense, smart in the use of ICT and its accumulation of big data and smart in its approach to the citizen; the citizen is now the producer and consumer in a smart economy– a “prosumer” as Jeremy Rifkin notes. The smart economy champions the smart citizen agenda. It heralds a kind of restoring of democratic power to the individual – it spearheads a quest to help change the troubled world – a power to feel wanted – a power to embed citizens into lateral networks of communities – a power to test and create ideas with little cost and a power to create frameworks in collaboration in creating the sharing economy – to create a global and lateral sense of place and identity – whereby identity crosses virtual borders with ease and whereby time and space have compressed at rapid rates. We are all connected. Communication has become paramount through mobile phone devices. Failure to have one makes you feel disconnected. People are connected more than ever before in human history.

     For years, ICT has been hosting a kind of ‘taking back’ programme in democracy and equality – a move from top-down to lateral government – one of a shared future – a future where courage to change leads as well as ideas – where cultural transformation is at its heart. The digitisation agenda connects to buzz words such as watershed, internationalisation, scaling up, transnational, cohesion, the innovation agenda, a world of networks, synergies, ecosystems, pathways of progression, clean energy, sustainability, the living lab, the discovery process. With such words alone the emerging nodes of how we perceive place-making will release new journeys of discovery into our lives, families, communities, regions, towns and cities.

    Our way of viewing of the world has been changing but is to now change further. Those who are connected to the digitised landscape have access to billions of bytes of data, harvested to be used. Just like those who sat in the train carriages during the nineteenth century, those travellers got access to new ways of looking at their enterprise models, stories, local landscapes and regions. They got access to landscapes – physical and mindscapes – they normally would not be allowed to travel across. Physically travellers could look into the backyards of others and see how others lived and survived. They experienced new speeds and began their interest in being connected between town, city and region. Indeed, the tramway system in Bratislava belongs to the oldest systems in Europe. It was in operation two years earlier than the similar ones in Vienna and Budapest. The contribution of Bratislava to developments in aeronautics is also significant. The first attempt at flying a balloon took place here in 1784. Ján BahúR introduced his invention of a helicopter before a military committee, and that was arguably earlier than the Wright brothers. In front of the Bratislava airport building, there is a statue of Stefan Banic, the inventor of the early parachute. Petrovia brothers sold their airship concept to the Duke of Zeppelin. From a height, the scientist could see the bigger picture of urban and rural divides, capturing agricultural practices en mass and recognising potential for crops and regional development. The first electric bulb in Bratislava was switched on in 1884, five years after its invention by Thomas Edison transforming the dark into a form of semi daylight, giving people more choice in staying in or out and engaging longer with their city and communities. The first telephone connection was put through in 1877 bringing people together and further compressing space and time. This part of the world is all about connecting people and places.

    Fast forward to modern times and during the Summit delegates heard about the the Hyperloop company. Hyperloop is a futuristic transportation project allowing passengers to travel with the speed of sound – around 1200 km/h. The initial concept has been introduced in 2013 by Tesla’s founder Elon Musk. The first ever cities to be connected by hyperloop are Vienna – Bratislava – Budapest. While it currently takes 1 hour to get from Bratislava to Vienna by bus or train. They aim to cover this distance in 8 minutes by year 2020 According to the Hyperloop company, the travel ticket should not be more expensive than e.20. The system is designed to be earthquake and weather resistant, with each pylon capable of supporting seven passenger Hyperloop tubes and one for security purposes – transporting an estimated 3,400 passengers per hour, and 24 million people each year. Bratislava is a city which envelops and develops opportunities.

Back to the Future:

    Being Smart has lit an enterprising fire in Bratislava. However, this ancient city is not alone. The advent of the third industrial revolution brings the principles of smart specialisation to many of the EU’s regions. It brings thought processes rooted in vision and openness, in values of exchange and citizen interaction. It aims to break the silo mentality and putting faith in co-operation and cohesion. Regions become collaborators, enablers of strategies, leaders, recognisers of change, champions of fresh narratives, corporate responsibility and environmental sustainability, and utilisers of sources of energy such as solar and wind.

    Regions face re-alignment of their outlook and strategies, from vertical – national to local political agendas towards a lateral movement – an inter-regional agenda. International diplomacy becomes a must. Regions learn from each other. The network of networks puts a value on communication as a must. Concepts such as e-government, e-business and discovery-led programmes make regions livings labs. The alignment of the quadruple helix of government, business, academic and civil society creates a fifth addition or a glue to the helix, that of social inclusion. Young and old can drive the shared economy, and maybe the foundations of global growth will not be just based on economic arguments but will partner with the social as a key to unlocking the EU’s future.

   By the time Jeremy Rifkin offered his conclusions to the summit, the audience had been led on a journey through time and space along the paradigms of a new industrial revolution, which will change all aspects of our lives and our place in the world.

 

Sunset over the Danube, Bratislava, early July 2016

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 16 June 2016

Cork History, International, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

848a. Mary Everest, 1932-1916

 

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article,

Cork Independent, 16 June 2016

Remembering 1916, The Legacy of Mary Everest

  

   This day one hundred years ago on 16 June 1916, Cork lamented the death of Mrs George Boole – Mary Everest – who died in London (that week) at the age of 84. The story appeared in a small column within the Cork Examiner, which described the removal of “another link in the chain connecting the present of University College Cork with the past of the old Queen’s College”. One of the most illustrious names associated with the college since its foundation was that of George Boole, who for a number of years occupied a Professorial Chair in Maths. Some of his greatest publications were written whilst he held that Chair. The bi-centenary of his birth was well and rightly celebrated last year in UCC. The newly unveiled sculpture of Boole is also great to view outside the Boole Library. It is carved by Irish sculptor Paul Ferriter and engraved by Ken and Matthew Thompson.

    George Boole’s widow, was likewise a talented writer and psychologist. Mary Everest Boole (1932-1916) was born in Gloucestershire where her father was a minister. She spent her early years in Poissy, France where she had a private tutor. On moving back to England at age eleven she assisted her father with his work and was largely self-taught. She was introduced to George Boole through an uncle – Colonel Sir George Everest (1790-1866) who was a Welsh surveyor and geographer, and the Surveyor General of India from 1830 through 1843.

   George Everest was chiefly responsible for completing the section of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India along the meridian arc from southern India extending north to Nepal, a distance of about 2,400 kilometres (1,500 miles). This survey was started by William Lambton in 1806 and it lasted for several decades. In 1865, Mount Everest was named in his honour in the English language despite his objections by the Royal Geographical Society.

    On the introduction by George Everest to George Boole of his niece Mary, Boole began to tutor her in mathematics. They married and moved to Cork where George was appointed Professor of Mathematics at Queen’s College (now UCC). During nine years of marriage they had five children and then George died of pneumonia. After her husband’s death Mary moved back to England. She first worked as a librarian at Queen’s College, Harley Street in London and became an unofficial tutor to the students. From the age of fifty, Mary started writing books and articles including Logic Taught by Love in 1889, The Preparation of the Child for Science in 1904 and in 1909, Philosophy and Fun of Algebra. Her collected writings were published in 1931 and run to four volumes. Mary Boole regarded herself as an educational psychologist. She was interested in understanding how children learn mathematics and science using the reasoning part of their mind, their physical bodies and their “unconscious processes”. She advocated the use of the reflective journal and cooperative learning where students could share their ideas with one another in an environment of peer tutoring.

   The Cork Examiner article makes reference to Mary’s daughters – “it is a remarkable fact that her genius has descended to her daughters, who, by the way, were all born in Cork. It is noteworthy that the late Professor Boole’s grandson has obtained the two highest prizes in mathematics at Cambridge University, and has recently been made Professor of Meteorology by the Government”. Her five daughters made their mark in a range of fields. Alicia (1860–1940) became an expert in four-dimensional geometry. Lucy (1862–1904) was a chemist and pharmacist and the first female professor at the London School of Medicine for Women in the Royal Free Hospital. She was the first female Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chemistry. Mary Ellen (b.1856) married mathematician Charles Hinton. Hinton was a British mathematician and writer of science fiction works titled Scientific Romances. He was interested in higher dimensions, particularly the fourth dimension. Margaret (1858–1935) was the mother of mathematician Geoffrey Ingram Taylor, who is referenced in the newspaper quote. George (1886 –1975) was a British physicist and mathematician, and a major figure in fluid dynamics and wave theory. In 1910 he was elected to a Fellowship at Trinity College, and the following year he was appointed to a meteorology post, becoming Reader in Dynamical Meteorology.

   Ethel Lilian (1864–1960) married the Polish revolutionary Wilfrid Michael Voynich and was the author of a number of works. She is most famous for her first novel The Gadfly, first published in 1897 in the United States (June) and Britain (September), about the struggles of an international revolutionary in Italy. This novel was very popular in the Soviet Union and was the top bestseller and compulsory reading there, and was seen as ideologically useful; for similar reasons, the novel has been popular in the People’s Republic of China as well. By the time of Voynich’s death The Gadfly had sold an estimated 2,500,000 copies in the Soviet Union and had been made into two Russian movies, first in 1928 in Soviet Georgia (Krazana) and then again in 1955.

Captions:

848a. Mary Everest, 1932-1916 (source: University College Cork).

848b. Ethel Lilian Voynich, 1864 –1960, née Boole (source: University College Cork).

 

848b. Ethel Lilian Voynich, 1864 –1960, née Boole

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 26 May 2016

Cork History, International, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

845a. Illustration of the huts, North Camp

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article

Cork Independent, 26 May 2016

Remembering 1916, The Frongoch Deportations

    Continuing on from last week’s column, replying to Mr Brian Dillon MP question on the internment of Irish volunteers post the Easter Rising, British Prime Minster Asquith in late May 1916 in Westminster stated that he would treat with the “utmost leniency and release as speedily as possible all persons except those who were concerned directly or indirectly with the rising and the preparations for it, and he also made an exception in the case of persons whose return to Ireland would be a source of danger to the peace of the country”. John Dillon MP, a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party, dominated proceedings in the House of Commons in London on the topic of the Easter Rising and the aftermath. Mr Dillon savaged the policy of the British government in Ireland, condemning in particular the executions of rebels, the holding of secret military trials, the continuation of martial law, and the wholesale searches and arrests being carried out across the country.

    By 6 June 1916, the news of the prisoner deportations from Dublin had begun of one hundred prisoners (of eventually over 1800 prisoners) to prisons in such places as Wakefield, Wandsworth, and Knutsford Detention Barracks. Situated in Gwynedd in Wales, Frongoch was also an important detention barracks. The Frongoch Distillery had been founded by R Lloyd Price in 1897. However, by 1910 the enterprise had gone bankrupt and when war was declared against Germany in 1914 the old buildings were taken over as a prisoner of war camp. Several German prisoners died there and were buried in the village churchyard; their bodies were later disinterred and moved to other sites.

   Following the Easter Rising it was decided that Frongoch as a remote location would be the ideal place to incarcerate the rebels. Journalist W J Brennan-Whitmore’s book, With the Irish in Frongoch, published in 1917, details that there were two parts to the camp. South Camp was located in the old distillery buildings, whereas North Camp was based in wooden huts a little higher up the hillside close to Capel Celyn. The two camps were connected by a road Conditions at Frongoch were difficult. The old whiskey distillery buildings were bitterly cold at night, very hot during the day, and the prisoners were plagued by an infestation of rats. Although the camp was guarded by soldiers, many locals worked there, in the kitchens and barrack blocks, and came into regular contact with the Irishmen.

   Press opinion is editorials such those provided by the Cork Examiner in early June 1916 criticised the detention and deportation programme as not helping to bring about a compromise to the aftermath of the Easter Rising. The continued existence of martial law in Ireland enabled the military to act with absolute authority in such matters, but this was in variance with the various speeches of the Prime Minister Asquith who led the belief that a more “generous course of action could be pursued in connection with the persons under arrest”. Mr Asquith did not definitely commit himself to a promise that the Dublin prisoners or the prisoners detained in England would be forthwith released, but conveyed the desire as the Cork Examiner noted of “dealing in a humane and generous spirit with such prisoners, subject to certain exceptions”.

   Mr Dillon responded positively to the announcement of the release of another batch of 200 prisoners, which was made by the military headquarters in early June 1916; “it is satisfactory as far as it goes, but the general opinion, which it may be said is growing more emphatic, is that this plan of release by instalments does not go far enough, and is not at all as effective, and cannot produce such beneficial results, both for Ireland and Great Britain”. The list included several southern names, but the Cork Examiner was quick to note that that many “Munster men are still incarcerated who took no active part in the recent disturbances, and their families, who have been left unprovided for, are naturally restless and discontented at the delay”.

   Fast forward to 15 July and the Cork Examiner details that thirty–eight out of the several hundred prisoners ordered to be released from Frongoch internment camp arrived into Cork the previous day. They were mostly from the county, the greater number of them belonging to Macroom and the neighbouring districts. They left for their respective homes in the afternoon. During the evening others were arriving by the train getting into Cork at 8.35, and a number of sympathisers, headed by a couple of pipers playing national airs went to the Glanmire Station to meet them. The party then proceeded to the National Monument on the Grand Parade. It seemed as if they were about to hold a meeting, but whether this was so or not the police interfered and prevented any such taking place if intended. The party scattered into groups and disappeared in the side streets.

    The camp at Frongoch was closed and the Irish prisoners discharged in December 1916. It had been a short lived experiment where the ideals of Irish Republicanism were established and strengthened rather than broken down.

Captions:

845a. Illustration of the huts, North Camp from W J Brennan-Whitmore’s book, With the Irish in Frongoch, first published in 1917; reprinted copies are available from Mercier Press, Cork.

845b. Illustration of the recreation inside the huts, from W J Brennan-Whitmore’s book, With the Irish in Frongoch, first published in 1917.

845b. Illustration of the recreation inside the huts

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town, 12 May 2016

Cork History, International, Kieran's Council Work, National, Uncategorized

843a. Model of World War 1 Trench Ypres World War 1 museum

Kieran’s Our City, Our Town Article, 

Cork Independent, 12 May 2016

Remembering 1916, The International Mood

    Throughout 1916, pages and pages of writing and pictures are given throughout Irish newspapers to the tragedies of World War I. There are local Cork people shown in family photographs bound for the war. There are provocative death-ridden pictures of the front lines complete with descriptions of desolation and in depth geographical detail of hills, valleys and rivers spanning from France to Denmark. Views of the trenches, thousands of miles of scarred landscapes, blown up cities, collapsed road networks, burnt out homes, death at every corner – such images echo throughout the newspapers of 1916 and beyond, and stay in the mind long after you have read about them – the trenches are almost metaphors for the entrenched European society of the day – the allies and enemy not backing down – who will conquer? “Any day now it will end” – such remarks in editorials continuously work into the consciousness of the reader.

     The political chessboard is active throughout the year with different perspectives and holding onto power. Physically European culture grasped Cork Harbour and the Irish channel as they became part of the battlefields of the seas and the fight for the Atlantic and North Sea. The torpedoed Lusitania of 1915 and the scuttled ship the Aud of 1916 haunted such maritime spaces – the presence of the other, the unknown enemy – in a submarine – waiting to take its chance and maim, sitting there on the ocean bed.

   The daily published lists of deaths and the honours bestowed on participants glorify and construct a raison d’être for being on the front line. The naming of dead Corkmen and the families they left behind – the quests by the soul of city to be part of it – whether it was through the thousands of tons of Lambkins tobacco sent to the front line, to the picture shows of the war in the Palace Theatre and Cork Opera House – or even the regular flag days in support of the Red Cross and the Royal Munster Fusiliers (approx. 48 officers and over a 1,000 men). Then there were the conversations throughout the year about attaining a munitions factory for Cork – the empty shells almost standing in as metaphors for the empty promises of waiting for it – to provide jobs for those who did not go to fight on the masculine territory of the front line. The role of equality amongst the sexes features prominently – the men who went off to fight in the war versus the women in Cork who have stayed to put weaponry together, fundraise, volunteer at the Red Cross, engage in the quest for women’s votes, and in campaigning for women’s places as junior doctors in Cork hospitals – these are also discussion points as the year progresses.

   On 18 May 1916, the Cork Examiner ran the story of the German placards placed on the front questioning the Irish holding the line in light of the 1916 rising. Private Dave O’Mahony, Macroom, attached to the Signal Corps of the Royal Munster Fusiliers, which formed part of the Irish Brigade, arrived home on leave from the trenches. Of the fighting generally, he noted it is of the “tricky kind, confined almost entirely to explosives. There is no open fighting, and that does not at all suit the men of the Munsters, who often long for an open hand-to-hand fight with the Germans”. Gas was the one death-dealing element they dreaded most. Just about Easter 1916, the gas attacks, which had ceased for a period of six months, were re-initiated by the Germans. The result of the attacks were disastrous; “It seems to me,” said Private O’Mahony, “that the Dublins and Inniskillings must have been caught unawares, because rats and mice, which are very prevalent, were to be seen turned up-side down, some of them quivering in their death agony”. When the wind is from a certain point all the men donned their masks, and at the first warning they pulled them over their faces to keep out the deadly fumes.

   Private O’Mahony heard of the Dublin 1916 and deemed it a great shock to himself and his fellow comrades on the front. Things were unpleasant enough with the high casualty level around them. On one of those days the Germans placed out two boards on their parapet. One bore the news of General Townshend’s capture at Kut, with 30,000 men. Another had this query: ‘Irishmen, why will you fight for England while they are shooting your wives and sisters in Dublin’. Captain Larry Roche made up his mind that the ‘G’ Company should bring in these boards. He sent out some of his men, but the danger was too great, and they had to abandon their task. “Still there were men amongst the Munsters brave enough to take any risk, and who did the trick too. Lieutenant Biggane of Cork City and Corporal Kemp wrapped themselves in sheets of suitable hue, and crawling over the intervening space, with death hanging over them, they reached the enemy parapet and bore away, one each, the annoying placards”.

Captions:

843a. Model of World War 1 trench at Ypres World War 1 museum (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

843b. Former site of St Peter’s Market, Cornmarket Street; in 1916 it became a munitions factory (picture: Kieran McCarthy)

 

843b. Former site of St Peter’s Market, Cornmarket Street

SEDEC: Debate on EU response to demographic challenge, labour mobility and Digital Single Market

International, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

20/04/2016

    On 20th of April 2016, the SEDEC commission of the EU Committee of the Regions brought to the table for discussion its opinion on the EU response to the demographic challenge. EA coordinator for SEDEC commission, Cllr Kieran McCarthy welcomed the opinion, underlining at the same time the enormous need for synergies between the EU and grassroots actions, as well as more coherence between the different funds and instruments that may be used to tackle this challenge such as CAP, Cohesion Policy or ERDF. ‘It is necessary to join up the dots more and coordinate’, said Cllr McCarthy. Sound family policies are extremely relevant in this context, as well as a particular focus on youth problems.

   The CoR study on Labour mobility and Local and Regional Authorities has been presented during the SEDEC commission, looking at the EU mobility data, benefits of EU labour mobility, main challenges and risks, as well as some recommendations for policies to improve labour mobility. In this context, Kieran McCarthy raised the question of support for those countries that are being brain-drained, i.e. facing emigration of highly trained or qualified people.

   During the debate on the Digital Single Market, DG CONNECT representative Ms Lucilla Sioli outlined the actions undertaken by the Commission in view of strengthening the digital single market and opening up opportunities for people and businesses in the digital economy. One controversial point brought up by the EA coordinator was the double-edged effects of E-commerce. On one side, digitalisation is much welcomed and rural broadband is now helping connecting people, while on the other side, small shops are facing the danger of shutting down due to the strong competition of e-commerce. Cllr. McCarthy stressed the need to find a balance and compensate the weak position that small business are now facing through adequate policies.

McCarthy: Recognition of informal and non-formal education is a must for the EU

International, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

  Cllr Kieran McCarthy speaking at the February EU Committee of the Regions at the European Parliament The recent EU Committee of the Regions Plenary Session welcomed Mr Tibor Navracsics Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport to debate many challenges which have to be tackled in the field of education, in order to achieve the ambitious objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy.

   Cllr Kieran McCarthy, an Irish delegate addressing the Commissioner in the European Parliament, said that the education process is the most important way of introducing into civic life values of a social and culture nature. “Successful education is not possible without encouraging an appropriate level of commitment, enthusiasm and skills amongst politicians, teachers and training staff. Successful education must also include a wider introduction of Culture and citizenship education to school curricula, with a view to raising society’s awareness and level of concern”, he said.

  Cllr McCarthy called for learners to be put at the heart of lifelong learning policies. He underlined: “Coming from my home city of Cork, which is a Unesco Learning City, the principle of lifelong learning currently must form the cornerstone of Europe’s policy for education and employment and is therefore key to inclusion. The recognition and validation of competences and knowledge acquired through non-formal and informal education is one of the key tenets of this approach.

   Cllr McCarthy continued; “Quality and equivalence of validation procedures are needed in order to ensure that certificates obtained through the validation process are mutually recognisable throughout the EU. I would like to highlight a strong need to create a pan-European strategy with a view to establishing a common framework for recognition of informal and non-formal education/learning. All could lead to more flexible education processes, in turn leading to greater mobility among the labour force and enhanced employability, not least of young people, and a re-think of the idea of education in general”. The EU’s Committee of the Regions in Brussels represents local authorities across Europe and gives opinions to the European Parliament on local and regional issues. The committee meets several times a year over two days.

McCarthy calls for EU Investment Strategy

International, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

Clllr Kieran McCarthy, Plenary of the EU Committee of the Regions, July 2015

   Douglas Road Cork City Councillor Cllr Kieran McCarthy participated in the lively debate on innovation and enterprise in the recent July EU Committee of the Regions plenary in Brussels. Commissioner Carlos Moedas addressed the 350-member committee on the importance of research and development, Cohesion Policy and EU funding. His commission will provide funding to supporting SMEs, R&D and innovation, education, the low carbon economy, the environment, and developing infrastructure connecting EU citizens.

Cllr McCarthy addressing Commissioner Moedas called for each area of investment to be based on a well-defined strategy. “Investment in the field of R&D and innovation needs to be framed within a process of developing a vision and setting strategic priorities. Projects should follow strategies and not the other way around“. Cllr McCarthy also called for more emphasis to be put on soft forms of support, on supporting market-driven research and cooperation with businesses. He noted; “There is a risk of business-as-usual support for SMEs, instead of support being tailored to their needs and growth potential to ensure a more sustainable long term result“.

   The EU’s Committee of the Regions is the EU’s assembly of regional and local representatives from all 28 Member States. Its mission is to involve regional and local authorities in the EU’s decision-making process and to inform them about EU policies. The European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission consult the Committee in policy areas affecting regions and cities. There are 9 Irish members in the Committee of the Regions of which Cllr McCarthy is one.

Caption: Cllr Kieran McCarthy speaking at the recent EU Committee of the Regions July plenary in the European Parliament, Brussels.

Kieran McCarthy, PhD in Geography

Arts, Cork History, Improve Your Life, International, Landscapes, Uncategorized

 

Cllr Kieran McCarthy receiving his PhD in arts and geography, National University of Ireland, Cork, June 2015

A River of Memory:

Landscape, Narrative, and Identity in the Lee Valley,

Co. Cork, Ireland

 

Kieran McCarthy, B.A., M.Phil.

Department of Geography, National University of Ireland, Cork

Thesis submitted to the National University of Ireland for the degree of PhD.

 

Abstract:

   In moments of rapid social changes, as has been witnessed in Ireland in the last decade, the conditions through which people engage with their localities though memory, individually and collectively, remains an important cultural issue with key implications for questions of heritage, preservation and civic identity. In recent decades, cultural geographers have argued that landscape is more than just a view or a static text of something symbolic. The emphasis seems to be on landscape as a dynamic cultural process – an ever-evolving process being constructed and re-constructed. Hence, landscape seems to be a highly complex term that carries many different meanings. Material, form, relationships or actions have different meanings in different settings.

   Drawing upon recent and continuing scholarly debates in cultural landscapes and collective memory, this thesis sets out to examine the generation of collective memory and how it is employed as a cultural tool in the production of memory in the landscape. More specifically, the research considers the relationships between landscape and memory, investigating the ways in which places are produced, appropriated, experienced, sensed, acknowledged, imagined, yearned for, appropriated, re-appropriated, contested and identified with. A polyvocal-bricoleur approach aims to get below the surface of a cultural landscape, inject historical research and temporal depth into cultural landscape studies and instil a genuine sense of inclusivity of a wide variety of voices (role of monuments and rituals and voices of people) from the past and present.

    The polyvocal-bricoleur approach inspires a mixed method methodology approach to fieldsites through archival research, fieldwork and filmed interviews. Using a mixture of mini-vignettes of place narratives in the River Lee valley in the south of Ireland, the thesis explores a number of questions on the fluid nature of narrative in representing the story and role of the landscape in memory-making. The case studies in the Lee Valley are harnessed to investigate the role of the above questions/ themes/ debates in the act of memory making at sites ranging from an Irish War of Independence memorial to the River Lee’s hydroelectric scheme to the valley’s key religious pilgrimage site.

    The thesis investigates the idea that that the process of landscape extends not only across space but also across time – that the concept of historical continuity and the individual and collective human engagement and experience of this continuity are central to the processes of remembering on the landscape. In addition the thesis debates the idea that the production of landscape is conditioned by several social frames of memory – that individuals remember according to several social frames that give emphasis to different aspects of the reality of human experience. The thesis also reflects on how the process of landscape is represented by those who re-produce its narratives in various media.

Cllr Kieran McCarthy calls for fair geographical distribution in the Investment Plan and focus on small scale projects

International, Kieran's Council Work, National, Uncategorized

Cllr Kieran McCarthy speaking at Committee of the Regions, Plenary 16 April 2015

Cllr Kieran McCarthy calls for fair geographical distribution in the Investment Plan and focus on small scale projects
 
   Local and regional politicians from across Europe last week presented their proposals to improve the € 315bn EU Investment Plan launched by the European Commission. The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) adopted its position on the EU regulation of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), established by the Plan.
 
   Independent Cork City Councillor Cllr Kieran McCarthy participated in the lively debate and highlighted the importance of reaching out all regions and ensure the funds are also directed to small regions and small scale projects.  In this respect he calls for the CoR to be involved in the governance process of the Fund to ensure fair distribution of investments.
 
   Finally he urges the European Commission to clarify how the investment plan will impact on local communities given that the investors control most of the funds and the success of the Juncker Plan heavily dependent on their finance. There needs to be a mechanism to ensure real delivery of clear added value projects for citizens.
 
The Committee of the Regions
 
   The European Committee of the Regions is the EU’s assembly of regional and local representatives from all 28 Member States. Created in 1994 following the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, its mission is to involve regional and local authorities in the EU’s decision-making process and to inform them about EU policies. The European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission consult the Committee in policy areas affecting regions and cities.  There are 9 Irish members in the Committee of the Regions

McCarthy at EU Committee of the Regions

International, Kieran's Council Work, Uncategorized

    Cllr Kieran McCarthy speaking at the EU's Committee of the Regions, Brussels, February 2015Cllr Kieran McCarthy has been appointed by the Minister of the Environment to the EU’s Committee of the Regions in Brussels, which represents local authorities across Europe and gives opinions to the European Parliament on local and regional issues. The committee meets several times a year over two days. Responding from the floor of the European Parlimaent to a keynote address by the parliamentary secretary for Latvia, a country which currently holds the EU Presidency, Cllr McCarthy’s maiden speech highlighted the economic crisis and the importance of the EU structural funds to small cities:

 

A Uachtarán

A Rúnaí Stáit

Baill do Choiste na Réigiún

    Ba mhaith fáilte mor a chur romhat anseo inniu. Is o thír beag domhsa leis agus is doigh liom gur féidir le tiortha beaga mórán spriocanna a aimsiú taobh istigh den tréimhse gearr atá ar fail.

     Europe is in a crossroads which is worrying people in cities such as my own in Cork but also across the length and breadth of the EU. The unstable situation in Ukraine, the terrible terrorist killings in Paris – have people wondering where Europe as the great peace project we have known it to be. On the other hand the economic crisis still hits people very hard, with many families with not a penny or indeed a cent to spare at the end of a week. People are looking for leadership, they are looking for vision and they are looking for clear action and this is what we hope that you can guide Europe towards in your presidency.

    I will just go into a few specifics of your programme – you say you will will endeavour to ensure timely implementation of European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). As you are emphasising the role of small and middle size cities, the EA group hopes to have in the Latvian presidency an ally in ensuring accessibility to small scale projects. While we acknowledge that higher return of investments could be higher in metropolitan areas, we don’t want to see middle size, small cities and rural areas left behind; we want the EISF to contribute creating real jobs at local level.

    On energy security, we look forward to the new Energy Union policy to be unveiled shortly and we hope the EU and its member states really progress towards the completion of the energy markets which are still too fragmented.

    We want the EU to exploit all the existing energy mix in the member states (from clean coal to renewable energies) and avoid EU dependence on few sources and providers.

    The EU should seize the opportunity of the oil prices bonanza to invest savings into cleaner energy sources and new promising technologies which could ensure self-sufficient and decentralised energy production systems in the next decades, notably by exploiting the untapped potential of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, tidal, etc.

   As the Covenant of Mayors witnesses, the commitment of local and regional authorities in voluntarily reducing emissions and adopting sustainable energy planes far exceeds the ambition of member states and the EU as a whole. And we expect the Latvian Presidency to reinforce the Covenant and that more resources are granted to cities and municipalities .

    Finally, I come to my third and final point which I mentioned in my opening remarks: the EU should not forget it was born to bring peace in the continent. While there are for sure a number of other important challenges, we must not take this for granted. Tensions are flaring at the EU’s borders. Stability and prosperity at the EU’s border is reflected in the EU. We are happy to see your Presidency put the Neighbourhood policy and in particular Eastern partnership at the core of the agenda and we hope the recommendation of the assembly of local and regional authorities in the Eastern partnership will be taken on board at the next Riga summit.

   Go n-eirí go geal libh den uachtarántacht agus na dein dearmad go bhfuil baill do Choiste na Réigiún, baill do comhairlí contae, cathracha, réigiún anseo le obair leat do chuid spriocanna a aimsiú.