Social Science & Social Studies

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    Irish agriculture nationalised : the Dairy Disposal Company and the making of the modern Irish dairy industry
    (Institute of Public Administrations, 2014) O'Fathartaigh, Micheal
    Irish Agriculture Nationalised tells the remarkable story of the Dairy Disposal Company (DDC), one of the first Irish state-sponsored bodies, established in 1927 to acquire private creameries and other agri-businesses and transfer them to co-operative societies. It evolved into an agency that developed creameries and other agri-businesses, particularly in the south, and stimulated economic growth. By the time it dissolved in 1978 it had laid the foundations for, for instance, the Kerry Group and Golden Vale. At its height, the DDC operated 191 creameries and 86 other agri-businesses, employed 1,400 people and was an industrial outlet for 25,000 farmers. In developing businesses in peripheral places, the DDC shaped the Irish dairy industry and redressed its east–west economic imbalance. Irish Agriculture Nationalised – the first comprehensive academic study of an Irish state-sponsored body – examines the development, functioning, governance, performance, dissolution and legacy of the DDC, as well as clientalism and political patronage. It offers a fascinating account of aspects of the Irish state’s narrative, and will be of interest to academics, students and all those seeking an insight into the history of semi-state bodies and/or the dairy industry. Mícheál Ó Fathartaigh’s main research interest is Irish economic and social history in the twentieth century. In this area he has looked at the ongoing land issue and the failure of the fishing industry in the west; rural and regional development and national state intervention; the semi-state sector; the private sector; and the establishment and evolution of the IDA. Mícheál is originally from County Galway and lectures in modern history at Dublin Business School; he is also a visiting researcher in the School of Business at Trinity College Dublin.
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    Masculinities, care and equality : identity and nurture in men's lives
    (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) Hanlon, Niall
    Masculinities, Care and Equality explores men's ambiguous relationship with intimate caring work within a context where carefree and nurturing expectations for men are competing for influence. For men, the desire to be more involved carers often clashes with the commonly valued expectations of them as men and this book provides an in-depth, qualitative exploration of a diverse range of male perspectives on the role of love and care in their lives, examining how different men position themselves when confronted by this contradictory expectation.
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    Power, knowledge and tour-guiding : the construction of Irish identity on Board County Wicklow tour buses
    (Channel View Publications, 2003) Jorgensen, Annette
    Tourism industries construct and communicate images of the cultural, ethnic and national identities of host populations, images which are reproduced in brochures, guidebooks and in the language of tour guides. Such representations are attempts at attracting foreign visitors to holiday destinations by portraying these as exotic, mysterious or in other ways different from the every-day lives of potential travellers. In doing this, however, tourism imagery may also creates a sense of 'othemess', of difference between the intended audience, the tourists and the people and culture of the destination country (see, for example, O'Barr, 1994). Irish tourism imagery can be seen as a discourse on Ireland and Irish identity, which it constructs by selectively representing certain features of Irish culture, while dismissing others. Whereas media researchers have long acknowledged the need to examine audience readings of messages found in mass media, no attention has so far been paid to how Irishness is understood by foreign visitors during their holiday in the country. This chapter seeks to address the lack of attention to tourist interpretations by offering a preliminary exploration of how Irish identity is constructed on one-day tours to Glendalough in County Wicklow, not only by the tour guides, but also by the tourists themselves. Author keywords: Glendalough, Ireland, identity, otherness
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    Fields of knowledge
    (Institute of Public Administration (IPA), 2006) Jorgensen, Annette
    Organic food is becoming increasingly popular in Ireland, as it is elsewhere. In September 2004, the Minister for Horticulture and Food, Noel Treacy, launched a Guide to Organic Food and Farming at the farmers’ market in Galway city. Speaking at the launch, Minister Treacy commented that ‘while consumers have a generally positive view of organic food and what it represents, they often find it difficult to make an informed decision on what to buy because they don’t feel they have enough information’. The new guide was developed to address this information deficit by informing consumers about organic food and farming, how to recognise it and where they can get it. Organic food is now sold, not only in specialised outlets such as health food stores, but also by all the major food chains in the country. However, while consumption of organic food is increasing, there has been no corresponding shift to organic production by conventional Irish farmers. Organic farming in Ireland still accounts for less than 2 per cent of total agricultural land. As a result, most of the organic food on sale in Ireland is actually imported. This chapter focuses on the theme of knowledge, and how it is produced and disseminated among Irish organic food producers and consumers. The diffusion of knowledge about organic production has been hampered by the dominance of scientific knowledge associated with conventional food production, which has acted as a major barrier to conversion from conventional farming methods. Author keywords: Organic farming, farming practices, conventional farming