By Catríona Hughes
A high number of students were refused entry to Toxic Tuesday recently to prevent overcrowding in the Hub.
DCU Events Manager, Shea McNeils, told The College View that an estimated 500 students were turned away from the NuBar for the first Toxic Tuesday of the semester.
The popular student night has attracted huge crowds lately and many students are left disappointed when they’re turned away after spending a long time in the queue.
Contemporary Culture and Society student, Jade Whelan said: “Toxic Tuesdays are great and really popular amongst the students. A lot of people, including myself, didn’t actually make it into the first one this semester because so many people turned up.”
“It was ridiculous, after queuing for ages in the cold, I was refused entry,” claimed Grainne Smith, an Arts student at St Pats.
The issue of queues outside the Hub prior to the event appears to be a factor of annoyance for students, many of whom dislike the formality of separate queues for male and female students.
“We must do what is best for the safety of the students. It is up to the students how they behave, that’s the bottom line,” said Shea McNeils.
The event, newly named Tuesday’s @ The Hub, has been at the centre of recent controversy.
Students’ Union President, Ed Leamy, said: “Tuesday nights are raising some serious concerns amongst local residents, the Gardaí, the SU and university management. Local residents have had damage done to their cars and bins have been overturned regularly.”
After the events of the first Toxic Tuesday of the semester, there was an increased security presence put in place, particularly to monitor students as they left the Hub.
The Garda Press Office confirmed to The College View that no public order issues or formal resident complaints were made to Whitehall Garda Station on the night of February 7th.
One student posted on Boards.ie saying: “The Old Bar needs to be opened. It’d extract extra revenue for the bar, create more jobs and avoid the nonsensical queues at 10 o clock every week.”
The Old Bar was forced to close following the discovery of 23 problems, including a lock and chain around the exit door beside the ladies toilets and lack of smoke detectors.
The ladies toilets in the Old Bar were formerly used during the busy Toxic Tuesday night in the NuBar but the lock and chain around exit doors would be removed.
The results of a survey on the safety of the Old Bar will determine whether or not the building can be reopened. The results of the survey are due to be announced soon.
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