Hundreds of students queued outside a Galway city pub on Tuesday morning ahead of an annual Donegal themed event.
Donegal Tuesday, held on the second day of the unofficial rag week, was one of the annual events set up after students at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) voted to abolish rag week in 2011.
Queues began to form outside the Hole in the Wall pub from as early as 8am with the line of students extended to two nearby streets.
An estimated 500 people had arrived by 11am attempting to gain entrance to the 200 capacity venue. Security staff were on hand to limit the numbers entering the pub.
Many wore Donegal jerseys for the event which has been the largest event of the unofficial Rag Week over the past number of years.
Students’ unions in Galway have distanced themselves from this week’s unofficial rag week celebrations, which, they stress, are being organised independently of either NUIG or GMIT.
“We have no involvement in this whatsoever. It’s not supported by us, it’s not endorsed by us,” said NUIG Students’ Union president Declan Higgins.
“Members of the student body voted in 2011 to discontinue rag week,” said Mr Higgins, adding that many of the former rag week events badly affected the welfare of students in NUIG.
He said an agreement was signed between the university and the student body which put an end to annual rag week events in return for a series of concessions from the college.
These concessions included a increase of the university’s contribution to the student assistance fund from €33,000 to €93,000, and a guarantee that the campus health unit would not introduce charges.
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