Kenneth Henry – thanks for being a great supervisor and a good sport. Andrew ‘brain the size of a planet’ Lloyd, my mentor – Thank You For Sharing. None of it would have been the same if I wasn’t in such a positive, encouraging environment with the rest of the Wolfe Cubs. Karsten working side-by-side with you for the stuff of Chapter 4 was a great experience. I hope all my future collaborations are as fruitful and good-natured. Cathal and Lucy, the predecessors, thanks for showing me that it can be done (and how to do it!). Avril, thanks for always being willing to direct your insightful intellect towards my problems. Simon thanks for your willingness to help with anything. All of you, and the new folks, Antoinette, Kevin, and Sean, thanks for being so understanding and helpful while I’ve been writing up. Thanks also to Denis Shields for the suggestion of the block overlap simulations in Chapter 4, and all the members of the Tuesday lunchtime group for helpful comments over the years.
My family and friends deserve special thanks for supporting me in various ways. Mum – thanks for Friday lunchtimes in Dunnes & Crescenzi’s and ‘Friday Presents’. Dad – the running total is 2135 Brownie Points, a few more and you’ll have enough for a toaster. Emer – those cinema outings helped me stay relaxed, thanks. Wendy, my adopted Scottish sister and bestest friend – thanks for always dropping everything at a moment’s notice and making everything so much fun. Thanks to Gianluca for lots of emotional support and for help with footnotes and other LATEX oddities. Thanks to my ‘roomies’, Lisa and Emma Jane, for being great pals. Princess Nisa, you really are a little princess (and now it’s written in the Trinity College Library, so it must be true!). The girls on the rugby team definitely helped me keep my sanity by allowing me to vent my frustrations by tipping them upside-down in the mud of College Park … thanks!
Contributor: @aoifemcl
Source: PhD, Trinity College Dublin – for more on Aoife’s work
Time for some acknowledgement 