Law Course

On Monday and Tuesday the 8th and 9th of May we had a Law Course with John.T.Fahy. John T Fahy he is a barrister from Galway and he has been a barrister for the last 30 years.

On Monday we were in the Mercy Hall for the day, we covered a variety of different things here:

The Irish Legal System
Civil law
Criminal Law
Courts System
Terminology of Law
I really enjoyed today as I got to learn the different parts of the civil Law and the different courts and what each are for in terms of the civil law.

John went through different cases that has happened in his life time, ones that have been on the news and ones that he had been involved in himself, I really enjoyed listening to his side of things.

On Tuesday we were in the Mercy Hall until 11. For these 2 hours we learned about the Criminal Law. He told us the maximum amount of years each court can give you. In Ireland there are 2 types of life sentences:

Mandatory – The judge has no choice
Maximum – The judge has a choice
He told us about the different criminal trials he had been involved in as a barrister. After our 11 O’clock break, we had to walk to the Court House for 11:30. We were in the court-house until 3:15. John was going to do a mock trial with us. People were given parts to act. I was in the jury. I found it very interesting to watching how court is sort of like. In the end Ciaran was found not guilty of murder!!

I really enjoyed taking part in the Law course and I learned about the countries law. The most interesting part f the course was the court trial.

Work Experience ~ South West College Enniskillen Week Two

For my second week of work experience I was in the Image centre of the college working with Paul McGovern. The task I was given for the week was I had to design banners for a independent game developers Twitch Page. He wanted an avatar and logos of the software he uses in a hand drawn style.

On Monday I began work on the design of each of the logos and a geeky looking avatar which would be shown next to the About Me banner on his page.

On Tuesday I finalised the designs and spent the day choosing which colours and textures i would use.

On Wednesday and Thursday I used the Photoshop software to draw and colour my designs.This took both of the days as the process is quite long.I made sure to give the designs a hand drawn aspect as this is what the game developer wanted.

When each design was finished I saved them all onto my USB stick and sent them to Paul and he sent them off to the game developer who is based in Dublin.

Fire Safety Talk

On Monday the 10th of October we had a fire safety talk in the Mercy Hall as it was Fire Safety Week.

When we went into the hall we met two firemen who would be giving us the talk. First we learned about fire prevention. Safety precautions must be taken in our homes, schools and businesses in order to prevent fires. Steps can be taken in order to prevent fires such as: not overloading plug sockets, not leaving matches lying around for small children to get their hands on, and not leaving phones charging overnight.

If the fire safety precautions don’t work you need to have a plan that everyone in the building is aware of incase of emergency. Everyone should try and get out of the building as quickly as possible so all exits should have a clear path to them that aren’t obstructed by objects such as bags. Doors and windows should be kept closed so that the fire can be contained in a smaller area. You should agree on a place to meet and as soon as up get out of the house you should call 999 or 112. When on the phone ask for the fire brigade and the gardaí, also give your details and try to remain calm as this will help things to run smooth and make it more likely the building and any people inside can be saved.

If you are trapped inside a building during a fire you should find a room with a window. You should close the door and cover up the bottom with something such as a towel to prevent smoke getting in. You should try and be visible at the window so when the fire crew come they know where you are.

I found the fire safety talk very beneficial as I learned a lot and I will know what to do and how to behave if I am ever in a building that goes on fire.

Ice skating

On Thursday the 15th of December , my TY year and I went ice skating in Dundrum shopping centre in Dublin. Three teachers came with us ; Mr. Doherty , Ms. McKinley and Mr. C. Doherty. We departed from the school at approximately 9:00 am and headed for Dublin. We travelled through the north and Cavan. We stopped off in Cavan on the way over to get something to eat , we then proceeded on to Dundrum.

We arrived in Dundrum at roughly 1:00 PM . We were given an hour to do a bit of shopping.At 2 o’clock we had to meet up with our teachers outside the ice skating rink. We went in and were given ice skates in our sizes, all that was left to do was to hit the ice ! I was reluctant to get on the ice initially , as I have only ever been a few times before and I am not that confident at it. At first I needed the assistance of the penguin frame to get myself going, but after a while I tried it on my own . I was actually not bad at it and sped up near the end. I was disappointed as we only had 40 minutes on the ice , when we were promised an hour. It was great fun and can’t wait to ice skating againNow it was time for more shopping and food . We headed to Eddie Rockets  for something to eat , as did many other people in my year.

We had to back out at the front of the shopping centre by 5 o,clock in order for us to get home at a reasonable time. It took us a good while to get out of Dublin due to traffic congestion. We stopped off at a garage in Cavan on the way home and we arrived home at roughly 9:30 pm.
It was a brilliant day and I really enjoyed it

Sean nÓs Dancing

On Tuesday evening the 7th of March, all TYs had an hour of Sean nÓs Dancing with Tommy Stenson. TY 1 and 2 were on from 1:45 – 2:45 and then TY 3 and 4 were on from 2:45 – 3:45.

Sean nÓs Dancing is kind of like Irish Dancing a part from that you are allowed to move your arms. Tommy went through different steps with us, after we did each step we did it to music. We then did some dancing in pairs and then we did a jive.

It was a very interesting hour trying to do the dancing.

The Peoples Temple

Introduction

The Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ commonly shortened to Peoples Temple, was a new religious movement founded in 1955 by Jim Jones  in Indianapolis, Indiana. Jones used the Peoples Temple to spread a message which combined elements of Christianity with socialist politics, with an emphasis on racial equality. The group moved to California in the 1970s and established several locations throughout the state, including its headquarters in San Francisco. At its peak, the Temple boasted 20,000 members and connections with left-wing political figures.

Beliefs

Although a variety of beliefs existed in Peoples Temple, two main systems of thought can be identified. The first system, which tended to be concentrated in Jim Jones and a small leadership corps, comprised a belief in the salvific power of socialism. Somewhat atheistic, or at best agnostic, in nature, this belief resembled humanism in its understanding of the power of human beings to re-create and re-shape reality for the benefit of all. In this view, religion could be used to attract people into the organization so that the real message of Christianity — radical sharing and mutual support — could actually be lived. The second belief system in the Temple, and by far the largest, was a traditional Christianity which emphasized the prophetic call to social justice and a belief that the kingdom of God could be established on earth by living in an apostolic community. This system resembled the Social Gospel movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in its commitment to solving social problems; at the same time, however, the group had utopianist ideals which could only be lived out through the establishment of a community separate from the evil and injustice of the rest of the world, especially America.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Aid Course

On Friday the 10th of March our T.Y year attended a first aid course in the Mercy Hall. The first half of the course was set up into four stations. Each station had a different aspect of first aid to cover. Patient assessment, How to deal with broken bones, Different levels of consciousness and how to deal with large cuts.

After lunch we learned CPR and how to use a AED. After this course we are now qualified basic first aiders and are trained in CPR and AED use. This is useful for a C.V and in jobs like lifeguarding and surf instructing.

Work Experience-Surfworld Bundoran Week One

Two weeks ago I did my first week of work experience at the Surf Shop “Surfworld Bundoran” owned by my dads friend. I worked three days of the week Monday, Thursday and Friday. I was under supervision of Patrick Timoney or “Paki” as he is known in the surfing community in Bundoran. I did all sorts of jobs and work while I was there.

Monday

On Monday I arrived at the shop at around half nine and had got a lift with Paki as he is my neighbor. After opening the shutters and turning all the lights and putting the flags and signs outside I was given my first job to do.

My first job was to sort out the bubble wrap and fold it neatly into a large box in the back store room  of the shop. After this I flattened out all the boxes and put them into a pile. I then had to put every second wetsuit on each rack inside out so the customer would know what the inside of each suit was like. After this I went to the post office to post some of the orders from the online store.

I was then given an early lunch at half twelve and was given until two for lunch. After lunch I went upstairs to sort out the board bag room as the different brands needed to be sorted and put into the height order of the different bags. After this I went down stairs and organized the rental boots, gloves and hoods into size. I also washed out rental wetsuits and hung them up to dry. I then hoovered the shop right before closing which was earlier than normal as it was a Monday and they are usually quite quiet.

Thursday

On Thursday the first job I did was stock taking so Paki would know how many of each surf item there was so he could take the right amount off the online store. I did this for all brands of boots, gloves, hoods, wetsuits and surf accessories. This took up most of the morning. Just before lunch I did another post office run because I wetsuit needed to be posted as someone had ordered it from the online store. After lunch I had to sort out the store room which had all the spare changing robes, leashes, and other accessories. After doing this I had to stock the shelf with children’s swimming goggles on the shelf’s to refill it.

Friday

On Friday my first job was to go through the board room and write down all the boards without prices and the size and make of each board. I then had to go through all the clothes and find which sizes were missing on each rack and was to put the missing size of clothing on the rack.

 

Death, Aging, Fear: What They Mean To Me.

1).Death:

To many people death means the ending of life. But to others like Christians, Buddhists and Hindus it means the start of a new life in some sort of heaven or new world or reincarnation. But to others it just simply means the ending of life with no new lives, second chances and no reincarnations.

But to me death is scary. To me death means that the lights go out and then nothing for the rest of eternity. I would rather die of old age and have time to prepare myself for my eventual death instead of it being unexpected and my life cut short.

 

2). Aging:

Age is an opportunity to develop Character, narrow down our preferences, and try out the things in life which we enjoy. Once we have done enough we have the opportunity to pass on what we have learnt and aim to leave a legacy behind in some way. As T S Eliot once said, it is about going back to where we first started and seeing it for the first time.

 

3). Fear:

Fear is not the absence of courage. Actually, it is most often a deliberate attempt by the brain to avoid a situation that it is not comfortable with. Imagine this. If you were asked to sing aloud on the road at gunpoint or get shot, I am sure you will not hesitate to sing. That is your brain prioritizing and picking an option that is more comfortable than the other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RSA Presentation,Letterkenny

On Tuesday 11th of October our whole T.Y year went to the Aura leisure and sports center in Letterkenny to attend a RSA(road safety authority) presentation.

We left school after 1st class and we arrived at the center  at around 11 o’clock. Many other schools like Bundoran, Buncrana, and Strabane were there.The presentation was based around a car accident which took place around 9 years ago on a back round to Letterkenny. Members from the Gardai, Ambulance,Fire services who were on the scene of the accident talked about what they saw and had to do that night. In-between each speaker a car safety advert would be shown about the dangers of showing off and speeding while driving.

The talk went on for about an hour.It was quite a hard hitting experience but one I took something important from.