I R I S H S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R
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OLD-FASHIONED FRESHERS’ WEEK? THE WEEK DISSECTED P10
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RUNNING FREE TRINITY STUDENT AOIFE DINEEN BEARS ALL IN ROSKILDE P3 www.trinitynews.ie
Michaelmas term, Week 4
Gormley backs ban on cars in College Green
Issue 1, Volume 54
Housing crisis: Foreign students forced to stay in hostels
DAIRE HICKEY & MICHAEL RONSON
Plan will see nearly all traffice removed from College Green and the creation of “one of Europe’s great public spaces”
STAFF WRITERS
CONOR SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER The Minister for the Environment, John Gormley TD, has backed calls for the pedestrianisation of College Green. The comments were made in an interview with Trinity News while the Minister was attending a conference on urban planning held in Trinity last Friday. In his keynote speech, Professor James Wickham of Trinity College said that College Green could be transformed into “one of the great public spaces of Europe.” Speaking to Trinity News at the conference, Mr. Gormley said he “shares this vision” and that once the “political will” was there, nothing but a few buses and the Luas would be allowed pass through. The Minister said that once people could “realise the potential” of a car-free College Green, it could become a reality. He added that there was huge opposition to the pedestrianisaton of Grafton Street when it was first proposed in the 1980’s and he would be working with Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey TD to push his party’s proposal for a Mayor of Dublin in order to bring this about. John Henry of the Dublin Transportation Office, also speaking at the conference, said that once a new bridge was built connecting Marlborough Street and Hawkins Street, College Green could be cleared of cars and a new public space created before the planned Luas extensions and the Metro are in place. There is also a working group comprising transport companies and government authorities looking at this. Eventually College Green would only be accessible by pedestrians, the Luas and, perhaps, a handful of buses. When a Quality Bus Corridor was proposed for the Kingswood-Adamstown dual carriageway in 2004, the Automobile
Minister John Gormley TD pictured at the Trinity conference last week. Photo Martin McKenna Association criticised the DTO for its approach, which emphasised reducing car numbers rather than improving public transport. “It seems that in the DTO analysis it is more important to block private traffic than to provide new public transport”, they said. Earlier on, the conference was told that the lack of public transport itself worsens inequality in car-dependent cities such as Dublin. “If the only way people can travel to work is by car, then those who do not own their own car have less access to jobs”, Professor Wickham said. The conference was shown research showing that poor public transport acts as a barrier to employment for the disadvantaged. Part-time jobs in the lower pay bracket tend to have higher travel costs and people working shifts are disadvantaged in cities with poor public transport. Representatives from the think tank tasc told Trinity News that Dublin not having a good quality public transport is “an issue of failure by the state to invest”.
Accomodation Advisor Sinead Lonergan assists students in the search for housing in the lead up to the start of the College term. Rent prices in Dublin have increased by 8-12% while availbility has plummeted. See pages 6 and 9. Photo: Martin McKenna
MCD get contract to run Trinity Ball until 2012 DAVID MOLLOY COLLEGE NEWS EDITOR The contract for the Trinity Ball has been extended with concert promoters MCD for a further five years. The contract, worth an estimated €2.3 million in ticket sales, was brought before a meeting of the Capitations Committee at the end of last year. The Capitations Committee has assumed the power of the now-redundant ball committee which has not met in years. Copies of the four page contract
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were distributed at the meeting itself rather than in advance. What followed has been described by an eyewitness as “a three minute discussion about how good MCD was” that was quickly followed by a vote to extend the contract. The vote was passed by a majority of those present. However, the contracts, which many had not had time to read fully, were collected by Students’ Union Administration Officer Simon Evans, who claimed they were “confidential to MCD.” Last year’s Ents Officer, Barry Murphy, told Trinity News “I talked about the extension unofficially with both MCD
Freshers’ marquee blocked by College
and Simon Evans. Simon then looked after the details.” He also added “POD/Aiken have not been offered the contract, but it is my understanding that they have no inertest in it as the benefits to a big promotional company aren’t that big.” Neither POD Concerts nor Aiken Promotions were made aware of any opportunity to put forward offers for the contract. A spokesperson for POD said “POD Concerts were not made aware of the contract expiring and indeed would definitely have been interested in making a bid for the contract when it did expire.”
Students’ Union Ents Officer Ed O’Riordan said “I’m very happy with the way MCD has run the ball to date”. He added “The decision to extend the contract with MCD was the previous Ents Officer’s, and I trust that it was a correct decision.” Murphy told Trinity News, “The Ball as we know it would not happen without MCD and that is the simple truth of the matter. Without MCD we would not have the pulling power for acts or the financial backing to cover the huge losses if it didn’t sell out. I welcome the contract extension and
as long as relations between MCD and Trinity Students’ Union stay healthy, we will still have an excellent Ball to look forward to every May.” The Dublin University Central Societies Committee, which handles the ticket sales for the ball, were pleased with the decision. Commenting on behalf of the CSC, Honourary Treasurer Joseph O’Gorman said they were operating on an “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach. Mr. O’Gorman described the experience of working with MCD as “Nice, clean, no messing- they speak to college and college speaks to them.”
Students’ Union Ents Officer Ed O’ Riordan and Students’ Union President Andrew Byrne have both hit out at the College authorities in two interviews with Trinity News. O’Riordan said that the College “just haven’t been helpful in organising Freshers’ Week”, while Byrne said “bureaucracy in some departments can be tricky to deal with, especially coming from school.” In a previous interview with The Irish Times, Byrne gave the College a rating of six out of ten for the ways in which it deals with students. Although Byrne believes departments are not acting in a malicious way, he says “there is no reason why students have these problems”. Despite these comments, relations between Byrne and the College are said to be “cordial.” O’Riordan feels that, with the exception of certain officials such as College Safety Officer Tom Merriman, the College is not doing enough to provide students with an enjoyable college experience. Talking to Trinity News about the preparations for Freshers’ Week, he expressed his concern that the social aspects of students’ lives are not being considered in policy decisions. A marquee that was planned to be the centrepiece of the Freshers’ Week calendar has recently been blocked by College authorities in a move O’Riordan calls “damaging to students”. “I had got quotes for the marquee, bands, staff and had sponsors lined up for the Freshers’ Week marquee, but College won’t be allowing it to go ahead”, he told Trinity News. The marquee was to be placed behind the Campanile and was to be similar to those used during the Trinity Ball each year. The “pouring rights”, which allow a beer company to run the bar contained within the marquee, would also have provided a lucrative income for an Ents Officer who feels his budget is too small when compared to that granted his counterpart in University College Dublin. O’Riordan, in a frank appraisal of the way in which the College operates, criticised the slow moving, committeebased decision making process. As a previously successful club night promoter he explained how he has “organised events outside College for years, but it is impossible to get things done in college, having to go through so many committees.” O’Riordan hopes that his plans for a Marquee can be implemented for RAG Week and feels that, given the extra time, he can work with College committees to provide a memorable event. He said the “people are sound but the whole committee set-up doesn’t allow for much flexibility.” He was also surprised that essential college personnel such as the Junior Dean had chosen this time to be out of the country.
The Future Kings of Spain, The Flaws, The Irish Film Archive, Handsome Furs, The Devil wears Lacroix, Brideshead Revisited, Riverdance, Martin Creed, Jack B. Yeats, Sebastian Faulkes, Streetwise Opera Company, Red Machine, Mrs Fixit and lots more.
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Future King Catriona s of Spain talk to Gray abo ut their return
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The dev il now wears Lac roix