Archive for the Maynooth Category

« Older Entries

Strikes Suspended

Posted in Maynooth, Politics with tags , , , on October 17, 2026 by telescoper

Following Wednesday’s successful one-day stoppage, there were meetings of union members yesterday (Friday) to set up roster’s and make other preparations for similar industrial action on Wednesday 21st October. On Friday evening, however, a message was sent round indicating that next week’s strike action had been suspended on the grounds that a process had been agreed to construct a process for formal pay talks. That announcement made it onto the news last night.

It is of course a good thing that the Government that has decided to move, but it is important to realize that this is not a victory. Nothing has been agreed, and the mandate achieved via balloting is still in place, so the industrial action is suspended rather than cancelled. Unions that were previously working to rule will continue to do so.

Given the antics of the Government over the last few weeks, there isn’t much trust or goodwill going around so they will have to work to restore what they have damaged. There’s more than a suspicion that the Government might just be trying to kick this issue into the long grass (again). Let’s hope that’s not the case, and the negotiators can quickly come up with a deal that is acceptable to union members. If they can’t, we’ll go back to industrial action. One thing the strikes definitely did achieve was to encourage more employees to join a union and build common cause with those who were already members.

We should have been at this point more than six months ago, and I doubt the reason it didn’t was simply sloth (although there’s a lot of that about in Government circles these days). It’s more likely that the Minister for Public Expenditure was posing as a strong man to further his own political ambitions. The Taoiseach himself intervened to set up the process now in place. I don’t know what persuaded him to get involved. The strikes on Wednesday were solid, for one thing, but I suspect of greater importance was the high-level of public support for the strikers. Jack Chambers seemed to be trying to deploy the usual divide-and-conquer approach favoured by his ilk by setting the public against the strikers, but that didn’t work, and without a Plan B he was floundering.

It is uncertain what will happen in the longer term, but next Wednesday’s lectures will go ahead.

Leave a comment »

A Good Strike Day

Posted in Maynooth, Politics with tags , , , , on October 14, 2026 by telescoper

I was a little apprehensive when I made my way early this morning to Maynooth University Campus because I wasn’t sure how strong the turnout would be on the picket line for today’s one-day strike. I needn’t have worried, actually, because the attendance was very good at all the locations where pickets were stationed and everyone was in good spirits.

It was a bit breezy, which made for some difficulties with flags and placards, but it was a very enjoyable day all round, with a real sense of camaraderie among the pickets as well as a very positive reaction from the general public. I lost count of the number of vehicles whose drivers honked their support as they passed the picket line! I was happy too that the whole day passed off without any significant incidents.

Here are a few random pictures I took, including a rare selfie.

Pickets and Me
South Campus Gate
South Campus
TSI Building
Kilcock Road Entrance
Abacus

I’ll leave it to you, dear reader, to figure out why the abacus was there!

I’d like to thank all the members of IFUT, SIPTU and Unite who turned out today and an extra thank-you goes to the members of Maynooth Students’ Union who brought us hot drinks and snacks.

As well as showing solidarity with the other public sector workers striking today, this was a very good day for building connections among people working at Maynooth. I think these will prove very important in the future, including next Wednesday when, unless the Government changes its position, we will have another 24-hour stoppage.

All in all, it was a very good day. I am, however, not to put too fine a point on it, somewhat knackered. I think an early night beckons.

1 Comment »

Ready to Strike

Posted in Education, Maynooth, Politics with tags , , on October 13, 2026 by telescoper

Tuesdays are my busiest teaching days this Semester, but today I’ve also been preparing for tomorrow’s strike. This has largely revolved around figuring out arrangements for the picket lines. It seems that we have good numbers for tomorrow’s action, with crews assigned to all the main entrances to Maynooth Uninversity campus. I’m involved as a member of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) but there will also be pickets from other campus trade unions, Unite and SIPTU.

As it happens I have been nominated IFUT “picket captain” for the historic entrance to the South Campus. I’m on duty there from 8am, so I’ll have an early start tomorrow morning getting things set up. After that shift I’ll be taking a short break and then returning to campus for another stint (not as Captain) at another entrance in the afternoon. It’s a responsibility of union members to undertake picketing duty.

The role of picket captain is to

  • Brief members about what to do and maintain discipline
  • Keep everyone calm, visible, organized and safe
  • Coordinate rosters and sign in attendance
  • Act as a point of contact with Head Office
  • Record incidents or concerns
  • Ensure the picket remains lawful and proportionate.

I attended a briefing last week about some of the legal constraints, but we’re not anticipating any incidents or trouble. None will come from us anyway. I see the main job as being to make sure all the pickets are kept in good spirits, and to make sure we are as visible as possible within the provisions of the law. We will have plenty of flags and placards, and the intention is to keep people moving around the area of the entrance – a moving picket line attracts more attention than a static one.

Although this picket is focussed on Maynooth University, the dispute is not directly with our employer but, in conjuction with all the unions representing over 300,000 public sector workers, with the Government. This means that staff at schools and hospitals will also be among those striking tomorrow, as will civil servants and others. I expect tomorrow’s action to be very solid. The Minister responsible, Jack Chambers, has taken to the media with a campaign of misrepresentation. Every dishonest word he has uttered has stiffened the resolve of union members to see this dispute through to a proper pay deal to replace the one that expired in June. The Government knows very well that it could end this industrial action very quickly if it wanted to. Instead all we’re getting is posturing.

P.S. Fortunately, the weather forecast for tomorrow is not bad: mild and with no rain, although it may be a bit windy.

Leave a comment »

That Was The Space Week That Was

Posted in Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , , on October 9, 2026 by telescoper

Last night, as advertised, we held our Space Week Event at Maynooth University. This has been running for a few years now but last night was the first time we have included planetarium shows in our inflatable dome shows alongside the usual short lectures.

That resulted in much greater organizational challenges, as the space in the dome is quite limited so we had to split those wanting to attend a show into manageable groups, and that in turn meant quite a few people moving in and out of the lecture theatre to and from the dome, which were in different locations. It all went off well, though.

The weather last night was inclement, cold and with heavy rain, but despite that we had about 250 in the lectures. There were lots of young children, some perhaps as young as five years old, and I was very impressed by the quality of the questions they asked at the end of the talks and in the coffee break.

We had a last-minute change of order of lectures because one of our speakers was stuck in traffic on the way to campus. I was promoted to No. 2 in the running order instead of No. 4, which I was quite happy about because it meant I finished earlier. After it was all over we adjourned to O’Neill’s for a pint or two.

Thanks to everyone from the Department of Physics who participated in the preparations for, and running of, the event, and to all the people who came long and made it such fun!

P.S. The resemblance between the title of the event at the title of this blog is purely coincidental.

Leave a comment »

Striking Thoughts

Posted in Maynooth, Politics with tags , , , on October 8, 2026 by telescoper

Preparations for next week’s 24-hour strike by members of the Irish Federation of University Teachers are well under way at Maynooth University. Hi-vis jackets, armbands and megaphones arranged, legal briefings delivered, and a picket roster being organized. The one thing not under control is the weather, and my memories of past experiences on picket duty are strongly linked with cold and rainy weather. I’ll be leading the morning shift on Wednesday so will just have to see how it goes.

Meanwhile, staff at Nottingham University are on strike until December 11th. Despite protests, the Management there has decided to carry on with a programme of course closures and redundancies that will cost over 500 people their jobs and lead to the closure of, for example, courses in Modern Languages and Music.

All this is because incompetent managers bankrupted the University with the hare-brained purchase of an unusable new campus.

I’m not sure the Management has thought its plan to deal with the situation through. They may save money in the short term, but in the medium to longer term they will not so much tarnish the University’s reputation but destroy it. Does the Management think that recruitment to other courses will remain buoyant after these cuts? Why should any student now study any course at Nottingham University given the risk it might be closed on a Management whim? I fear that a death spiral is now inevitable. And I don’t think Nottingham will be the last UK University we’re going to have to watch going down the drain…

3 Comments »

The Walkout

Posted in Biographical, Maynooth, Politics with tags , , , , on October 5, 2026 by telescoper

As it was foretold, members of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) held a one-hour stoppage on Maynooth University campus today to mark World Teachers’ Day. The turnout was very good, helped by the reasonably nice weather. As well as speeches from members of IFUT, there were also contributions from the other Unions, Unite and Siptu as well as the Postgraduate Workers’ Organisation; the latter is not an officially-recognised trade union, but supports the dispute.

The next action will be a 24-hour stoppage on Wednesday 14th October. It was good to have the chance to discuss plans for picketing, etc, during today’s walkout.

Leave a comment »

Into the Third Week…

Posted in Biographical, Education, Maynooth with tags , , , , on October 4, 2026 by telescoper

The first two weeks of Semester 1 have been extremely busy. I always find it hard to adjust to teaching after the summer break even when I’m teaching familiar material, but this year we had quite a lot of timetabling issues which required swapping and juggling classes. I think it has now settled down, though, and at least I’m not behind on covering the material in lectures.

Next week will be busy for different reasons. For a start, tomorrow sees the first day of industrial action by the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT). This is relatively gentle introduction, being in the form of a one-hour walk-out from 12-1 to mark World Teachers’ Day. I actually don’t have any teaching then so it won’t be very disruptive for me, but I will be attending the demonstration that will take place during the action. I hope it doesn’t rain. I have a lecture at 2pm and a telecon at 4pm both of which will go ahead as planned.

The strikes proper start with 24-hour stoppages on Wednesday 14th October and Wednesday 21st October, on which days we expect other campus trade unions, SIPTU and UNITE to strike. I expect most staff – especially those who have a long commute to and from work – will stay at home on those days, but since I live in Maynooth I am planning to a short walk to campus stand on the picket lines on both days.

Tuesday sees the announcement of the 2026 Nobel Prize for Physics. I really have no idea who will win it this year, but perhaps there’s still an outside chance for Michael Berry and Yakir Aharonov for their work on the geometric phase, although if they were going to win they probably would have done so by now.

Wednesday will be a normal teaching day, as will Thursday but it will be followed by our Space Week event, at which I will be speaking:

Register on Eventbrite

I think some tickets are still available, so if you’re in Maynooth feel free to register.

And then on Friday, after teaching is done, I’ll be heading off to the NCH again.

Leave a comment »

IFUT Strike Days

Posted in Politics, Maynooth with tags , , , on September 24, 2026 by telescoper

A few weeks ago, I posted the following item about a strike ballot of members of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT):

The Strike Ballot

The IFUT ballot has now closed, with the result an overwhelming majority (92.5%) in favour of industrial action, up to and including strike action. For more details see here. The planned strikes have already generated some press reaction:

Unless the Government changes its position and starts negotiating very soon, the next steps will be as follows:

  • Monday, 5 October: one-hour work stoppage from 12 noon – 1pm
  • Wednesday, 14 October: 24-hour strike action and full withdrawal of labour;
  • Wednesday, 21 October: 24-hour strike action and full withdrawal of labour.

The first of these dates, 5th October, is World Teachers’ Day. I will be on strike on the following two days. That means the lectures I would have had on these days will not happen. I am sorry for the disruption this will cause to students’ education, but current situation is intolerable. The ball is in the Government’s court.

Other campus unions (Unite, SIPTU and TEEU) will be striking too, and over the next couple of weeks or so plans will be made as to how to coordinate picket lines, etc, with them. This dispute involves all the public services in Ireland, including schools and hospitals.

P.S. UCU members at Nottingham University are taking industrial action. You can support them by contributing to their hardship fund here.

2 Comments »

A Time for Toadstools

Posted in Maynooth with tags , , on September 24, 2026 by telescoper

Every September I find large toadstools growing in my front garden, but this year there are many more than usual. I don’t know what type(s) they are but I’m fairly sure they are associated with the root system of a birch tree which stands on the other side of the path you can see in some of the pictures. I’m not sure why I have so many this year but it might be related to the very dry summer followed more recently by very heavy rain.

One of my neighbours seems to think they’re a sign of some sort of disease, but they’re not. They’re just part of the ecosystem; they have a symbiotic relationship with trees. I find them quite interesting actually, and don’t remove them until they start to decay at which point they are very slimy and unpleasant so I lift them and chuck them in the bin. I think some of them may be edible, but I’m not prepared to take the chance. Various other critters seem to like them though, especially snails. You can see some of them have been nibbled at. The one at the bottom left is definitely poisonous: it’s a kind of Amanita.

I’m not sure what the correct collective noun for a collection of fungi is – a web search suggests “colony” or “troop”. Anyone who knows, and/or anyone who can identify the varieties in the pictures please let me know. The flat ones, incidentally, are quite large: about the size of a side plate.

Leave a comment »

Autumnal Equinox 2026

Posted in Biographical, Education, Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff with tags on September 22, 2026 by telescoper

Today is a very busy teaching day, so I just have time to post a quick note to say that the Autumnal Equinox (in the Northern Hemisphere) takes place in the early hours of tomorrow morning, Wednesday 23rd September 2026, at 01:05 Irish Time (00:05 UTC). I don’t intend to be awake then, so I’m posting this now. Of course the Equinox will be later today rather than tomorrow for some of you, depending on your time zone. Of course for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere it will be the Spring (or Vernal) Equinox.

Although  the term `equinox’  refers to a situation in which day and night are of equal length, which implies that it’s a day rather than a specific time, the astronomical equinox is more accurately defined by a specific event, i.e. when the plane defined by Earth’s equator passes through the centre of the Sun’s disk (or, if you prefer, when the centre of the Sun passes through the plane defined by Earth’s equator). Day and night are not necessarily exactly equal on the equinox, but they’re the closest they get. From now on days in the Northern hemisphere will be shorter than nights and they’ll get shorter still until the Winter Solstice on Monday 21st December 2026 at 11.50 pm Irish Time.

Many people take the autumnal equinox to be the end of summer. There is a saying in some quarters, however, that `Summer is Summer to Michaelmas Day’ (September 29th), which is not until next week. The weather has indeed been very nice in Maynooth for the first couple of days of term. The temperature reached 23°C yesterday!

5 Comments »

« Older Entries