On November 6th, the Cluster for Understanding Emotions in Society hosted a conversation, 'Reflections on the Recession' with Donal Ryan, author of The Spinning Heart. Donal is a graduate of the Evening Law degree programme run by the School of Law.  The Spinning Heart was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2013 and won both the Guardian First Book Award (2013) and the Irish Book of the Year Award (2012).  He joined Una Woods (School of Law), Dr Elaine Doyle (Kemmy Business School) and Dr Ronni Greenwood (Department of Psychology) to discuss the impact of the recession on certain aspects of Irish life. Donal discussed how the emotional reaction to the recession inspired him to write The Spinning Heart, Una considered the impact of the legislative ban on upwards only rent review clauses in commercial leases, Ronni examined the impact of the mortgage crisis on homelessness and Elaine reviewed how taxation policy contributed to the financial crisis.