TY Update Spring 2018 | Page 5

RESEARCH- LED CRITIQUE ON TY Rigorous, research-led academic discourse on the subject of TY is scarce, which is not unexpected. TY is after all unique to the Ireland. More should however be done to not only engage critically with TY, but also to showcase this uniquely Irish innovation on an international stage. Enter Aidan Clerkin who, despite having written a doctorate on the topic, feels that he’s barely begun to scratch the surface. He has a whole range of TY related topics he wants to delve into and wh at’s more, he wants to draw more international attention to TY. He believes there is a story worth telling, and we agree with him wholeheartedly. Transition Year is eyed with envy by foreign academics who know about it and dismissed as a pipe-dream by those who don’t. Unfortunately the latter are by far the majority. We asked Aidan to commit to a series of articles in which he can share some of his research with us. We look forward to this exciting addition to TY Update. ! ! ! THINKING ABOUT TRANSITION YEAR AT A TIME OF SYSTEMIC CHANGE This piece is partly adapted from an ar3cle published in the May 2017 newsle