By Róisín Treacy
UCC saw arrests treble during their annual Raise and Give week this year.
Gardaí made 50 arrests for public order offences in the first four days of the week-long event.
The arrests, made in the city centre and college area, amount to three times the normal rates during RAG Week. Almost half the arrests involved students and seven involved students of UCC.
Offences included public drunkenness, people being a danger to themselves or others and damage to property and cars. Gardaí also issued on-the-spot fines for drinking alcohol in public places.
Dozens of complaints were made to Gardaí over the week about parties going on into the early hours of the morning.
An estimated €15,000 worth of damage was caused to one student occupied house on College Road during the course of the week.
UCC Accommodation Officer Maura O’ Neill told the student website ‘Studenty’ that there was a large party in the house when the damage was caused. Somebody went up into the attic and adjusted the ballcock position, causing the tank to overflow and flood the house.
One UCC student explained that many people held house parties because the clubs and bars in the city were too busy during RAG week.
She said: “The bouncers at the nightclubs were quite strict about letting people in, but that made it worse because people who were refused entry just went home and had house parties instead. Some people didn’t bother trying to go into town at all because they felt it would be too packed so they just had huge parties at home instead.”
A spokesperson for UCC’s Students’ Union said they recognised there were some issues late at night among a small amount of students.
The spokesperson said: “It’s a minority who are involved in antisocial behaviour and many aren’t even UCC students.”
However, UCC student, Rosie Dunphy told The College View that she felt the college encouraged the disorderly behaviour.
She said: “They had people in the student bar doing piercings. A lot of people were just getting piercings because they were drunk. There’s a lot of peer pressure surrounding RAG week because it’s like if you don’t drink, you’re completely left out of it.”
The annual RAG week is organised by UCC Students’ Union. All money raised at official UCC events goes to charities.
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