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Irish Times
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Academic questions: Frank McNally on Titanic terriers, epic expense accounts and the rise of the ‘full professor'
At the prestigious annual Theatrical Cavaliers table quiz in Dublin last weekend, held this year in aid of the My Lovely Horse animal rescue charity, they had a round on the theme of dogs. A typical question asked us to identify the Pekinese terrier, named after a famous revolutionary, which was one of only three canine passengers to escape the sinking of the Titanic. This is the sort of utterly useless information that we veteran quizzers pride ourselves on knowing. And I'm half-embarrassed to admit that I did indeed have the answer on the tip of my tongue. Or nearly. I knew the name had three words, all monosyllables. I knew it was Chinese. And I could have written a short (if vague) essay about the revolutionary in question, including the fact that he admired and wrote letters to Michael Davitt – a detail retained from a visit to the Davitt museum in Mayo a few years ago. READ MORE But after rifling through various dusty files in a back office of my brain, I came out with the wrong one. Chiang Kai-shek, I pronounced with confidence, wrongly. Doh! It was of course Sun Yat-sen. Oh well. We won the quiz anyway, the generous prizes for which, as usual, included a potted plant. I have one from last year too, now overgrown. If this run continues, I'll end up with a garden. The journalist Emile Joseph Dillon (1854 – 1933) would have known the right answer that question. He probably knew Sun Yat-sen personally. As the foremost foreign correspondent of his day, the Dubliner befriended many famous statesmen, and as well as writing about them for the Daily Telegraph, became in some cases their confidante and adviser. He was, as we would say today, a player, helping to end the Russo-Japanese war (1905) and the Balkan wars of 1912-13. In recognition of his influence, three of the resulting peace treaties – Portsmouth (1905), London (1913), and Bucharest (also 1913) were signed with his own gold-cased fountain pen. Forgotten for decades after his death, Dillon is now the subject a first-ever biography, the launch of which I attended on Thursday night The book is by Kevin Rafter , professor of political communication at DCU, who drew envy from some of those assembled in Hodges Figgis by describing the glory that was journalism in the early years of last century. Much as some of us today might envy EJ Dillon's influence, more would prefer his expense account. Not only did it allow him to stay in the best of hotels and dine in the finest restaurants, it also covered such essential purchases as silk top hats and Cuban cigars. Even after a 60 per cent cut as part of a Daily Telegraph austerity drive in 1917, which caused him much indignation, he was still allowed expenses of £1,000 a year, the equivalent of £110,000 today. He also at times had the services of two secretaries, one of whom he liked to have play piano for him while he wrote dispatches. Sigh. Try claiming for a piano-playing secretary today and see what happens. To quote Mark Antony: 'O, what a fall was there ...' Rafter was introduced at the launch (by DCU President Daire Keogh) as a 'full professor', a description also used on the book. You hear this curious phrase more and more these days. And for me, at least, it always evokes the image of an academic who has eaten too much. [ The spirit of 1965 – Kevin Rafter on Ireland's first television election Opens in new window ] I suppose the point is to distinguish from the mere assistant and associate professors that proliferate these days, and whose titles can be rounded up in casual usage, to the detriment of their seniors. Even so, there must be versions of that problem in many careers. And yet I can't think of another that uses this construction. You never hear of full doctors, for example, or full plumbers, or full chefs (full-Irish chefs, maybe). Come to think of it, you also don't hear of full columnists, which could be useful to distinguish those of us who write daily from the part-timers and dilettantes who do it once a week and think they're great. In support of my impending expense claim for a piano-playing secretary, I may have to start using the term myself. Somehow it seems to go against native Irish genius to describe people as a full or complete anything. Our preference is drawing attention to inadequacy. Hence the countless diminutives in Hiberno-English, describing people who fall short of something: girleen, maneen, squireen, priesteen, etc, etc. Strange to say, you never hear the junior grades of professor described as professoreens. Maybe that's the problem. Speaking of Irish-English, or vice versa, my thanks to several readers who sent me the picture of a sign over a door in Beaumont Hospital, on which 'Please Knock Before Entry' is translated as 'Le Do Thoil Cnoc Mhuire Roimh Iontrail'. The translator appears to have mistaken the verb 'Knock' ( cnag in Irish) for the Mayo village of the same name. Unless the intended suggestion was that those seeking hospital treatment should first consider a visit to the Marian shrine. That would be a reversal of the usual order of things, certainly, but also one way to cut waiting lists.
Irish Independent
01-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Letters: New office aimed at boosting house-building needs additional primary legislation to achieve its aims
'This office will help secure the enabling infrastructure needed for public and private housing development and unblock infrastructure delays on the ground, maximising the number of homes delivered from the supply pipeline already in place,' he said in response to Dáil questions. The house construction target is 300,000 units from now to 2030. In 1975, just under 27,000 new homes were built; in that year we had a population of 3.19 million. The estimated 2024 population, based on the Census 2022 figure of 5.149 million, is 5.394 million. There were 30,330 new dwelling completions in the whole of 2024. Acknowledging the large number of completions in the 'housing boom' era, the historical fact remains that last year just over 6,000 more homes were completed than 1975, despite a population increase of over 2,200,000 (59pc) in that period. The SHAO faces enormous challenges: unblocking infrastructural delays; facilitating a climate whereby builders can access finance to engage in major developments; increasing the number of houses built directly by housing authorities; minimising the effects of the Nimby culture and judicial reviews; and somehow providing a proper supply of affordable homes for purchase, rather than renting. We are facing a tenure crisis that would have Michael Davitt spinning in his grave, with hundreds of thousands of citizens living in accommodation in which they have not a bathroom tile of equity. Unfortunately, as I cannot see how the provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2024 address any of these issues, or the crippling complexity of our planning process, without empowering additional primary legislation I fear the SHAO mission is doomed. Larry Dunne, Rosslare Harbour, Co Wexford Why appoint a housing tsar when we already have somebody to do the job? It is the job of the Housing Minister to be the 'housing tsar'. Bill O'Rourke, Crumlin, Dublin 12 Hefty salary of €430,000 would be better spent on providing family homes The €430,000 salary flagged for the next housing tsar would be better spent on renting homes for up to 20 families currently living in emergency accommodation. ADVERTISEMENT Of course, it would also mean not introducing just another bureaucratic layer in attempts to actually solve the housing crisis. Peter Declan O'Halloran, Belturbet, Co Cavan Minister could easily field a couple of football teams with all those assistants Jim O'Sullivan ('Government should stop building empires and start building homes instead' Irish Independent, Letters, April 30) points out that the Housing Minister is supported by three junior ministers, a general secretary and nine assistant secretaries (I would assume several 'advisers' also). Does the appointment of a so-called housing tsar mean the Government does not have confidence in the minister to carry out his duties? Michael Moriarty, Rochestown, Cork Chasm growing between Roman Catholicism and Christianity this century Following the death of Pope Francis, public deliberation on the tenets and beliefs of his successor is widespread. Currently, a group from the US is lobbying cardinals in Rome to appoint a man they wish will undo the great Christian work of Francis. The chasm between Roman Catholicism and actual Christianity is sadly becoming larger in the 21st century. In Robert Harris's excellent fictional novel Conclave, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, disturbed after a dialogue with Cardinal Benitez, thought to himself (page 279): 'Was it really possible that he had spent the last 30 years worshipping the church rather than God?' This sentence, and ignorance of the tradition that cardinals appeal to the Holy Spirit for guidance in electing a pope, illustrates a clear refusal by some to trust God, while ignoring the importance of the Trinity, both as individuals and one God. That they opt to put labels on any who are not of their ilk is totally unchristian. Declan Foley, Melbourne, Australia Trump got dressing-down for dressing up – in a blue suit – at Francis's funeral Some sections of the media will stoop to any low to have a go at Donald Trump, probably resulting from a fit of childish pique, having got the US election result so disastrously wrong. The latest, almost farcical weapon of choice, is what one might call 'Blue Suit-Gate'. Apparently, some of these hard-bitten hacks have gone all sensitive over Mr Trump wearing a blue suit at Pope Francis's funeral. The facts undermine this bout of pseudo-fashion sensitivity. First, funeral etiquette dictates that it is perfectly acceptable to wear a blue suit at a funeral, particularly if one is not a chief mourner. I have to confess to the media fashion police that I have comm- itted this 'crime' myself. Guilty as charged. Second, and more importantly, if one looks at the rows of dignitaries seated behind Mr Trump, a substantial number were also wearing, you've guessed it, blue suits. One suspects that had Mr Trump worn a dark suit, it would have been judged as the wrong shade of dark. Eric Conway, Navan, Co Meath Policies have ruffled a few feathers, but president's pace of change impressive Much of what has been written about Donald Trump's first 100 days has been negative – and perhaps justifiably so ('In a mere 100 days, Trump has created a more volatile world', Editorial, April 30). His policies have strained international alliances, unsettled economies and divided public opinion at home and abroad. Yet one cannot ignore the sheer pace at which his administration has moved. In an era when political processes often crawl forward, his ability to implement change – for better or worse – is remarkable. There is an uncomfortable lesson here: energy and initiative, even when misguided, can leave more deliberate democracies wrong-footed. Those who value steadiness and principle must now match that urgency not with haste, but with conviction and a clarity of purpose that resonates across borders.
