Derry’s year as UK City of Culture holds great promise but its success should not be measured in narrow economic ways

The programme for UK City of Culture (UKCoC) in Derry was launched at the end of October with the usual narrative of culturally led urban renewal. Dave O’Brien argues that while it is unlikely that Derry will replicate the economic success of previous UKCoC’s, it is possible that other less easily quantifiable gains will be accrued by the city

Sheepdrove Organic Farm Breed and Feed 1a Interim Report

• This interim report summarises the results of the first part of the breed and feed 1 trial, a final report will follow the completion of the second half of the trial. • The trial was undertaken to investigate the impact of removing the Soil Association derogation for 20 per cent non-organic component in organic table bird feed ration. • The trial was also investigating the suitability of the ISA 257 breed currently used in the SOF system, as it has been questioned as to whether it is the most appropriate genotype to use. • The objectives of the trial were to ascertain if there are differences between the performance of two genotypes of organic free-range table birds (ISA 257 and colourpac) and two ration types (80 per cent and 100 per cent organic) and establish if there is an interaction between the two. • 2000 birds were grown in 2 identical houses divided into sections in mixed flocks of approximately 500, under organic free-range conditions conforming to Soil Association standards. • Weekly weights were obtained for 50-bird samples of each genotype and ration combination in each flock/house. As were behavioural observations after week 6. • Gait scoring was undertaken one week prior to depletion for a sample of birds of each genotype and ration combination in each flock/house

Selling soccer

In July 2002, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) announced that it had sold the live television rights to all of the Republic of Ireland’s home international fixtures during the period 2002 to 2006 to British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) for €7.5 million. In addition, the rights to delayed coverage of the internationals and coverage of the association’s domestic league were sold to the independent commercial station TV3. The state’s public service broadcaster, RTÉ, was left out in the cold thereby ending a forty-year relationship. Only one fifth of Irish homes had access to Sky Sports and although the announcement was greeted with dismay in almost every quarter the FAI described the deal as ‘too good to turn down’. If the deal had gone ahead fans would have had to subscribe to Sky Sports to watch live coverage of their national team playing in the qualifiers for the 2004 European Championship and the 2006 World Cup

The Borrowers: Researching the cognitive aspects of translation

The paper considers the interdisciplinary interaction of research on the cognitive aspects of translation. Examples of influence from linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, reading and writing research and language technology are given, with examples from specific sub-disciplines within each one. The breadth of borrowing by researchers in cognitive translatology is made apparent, but the minimal influence of cognitive translatology on the respective disciplines themselves is also highlighted. Suggestions for future developments are made, including ways in which the domain of cognitive translatology might exert greater influence on other disciplines

Producers versus Profiteers: The Politics of Class in Newfoundland during the First World War

During the First World War a widespread public impression that merchants were taking advantage of the conflict to extract excessive profits became a major issue in Newfoundland politics, and a cause of widespread public discontent. The Fishermen's Protective Union and other labour organizations were able to use the profiteering issue as a catalyst for political mobilization, and by 1917 had succeeded in forcing the state to take a greater role in regulating the economy. While their gains turned out to be short-lived, the episode marked a significant moment in the history of collective action by Newfoundland's labouring classes

Controlled language and readability

Controlled Language (CL) rules specify constraints on lexicon, grammar and style with the objective of improving text translatability, comprehensibility, readability and usability. A significant body of research exists demonstrating the positive effects CL rules can have on machine translation quality (e.g. Mitamura and Nyberg 1995; Kamprath et al 1998; Bernth 1999; Nyberg et al 2003), acceptability (Roturier 2006), and post-editing effort (O’Brien 2006). Since CL rules aim to reduce complexity and ambiguity, claims have been made that they consequently improve the readability of text (e.g., Spaggiari, Beaujard and Cannesson 2003; Reuther 2003). Little work, however, has been done on the effects of CL on readability. This paper represents an attempt to investigate the relationship in an empirical manner using both qualitative and quantitative methods