Volume XX Issue 3 FREE
6th October 2011
Page 6 - Eric Johansson asks, “Are we living in a nation of Christ?”
Turn to page 8 to find out why you should be having sex right now!
Clubs and Societies fight for self-sufficiency Jason Kennedy
FOLLOWING on from an Extraordinary General Meeting of C&S Council, clubs and societies have begun to fight to make themselves less vulnerable in terms of funding.
ULSU President Derek Daly
Currently, the Students’ Union receives one third of the Student Capitation Fund, with clubs and societies receiving two thirds. The meeting, which was held in the Jonathan Swift Theatre, was dogged by controversy both on and offline, with rumours being passed around the university. At the start of the meeting, SU President, Derek Daly made it clear that there was a lot of misinformation on the issue of union finances after it was revealed that €60,000 of clubs and societies’ money was used by the Students’ Union to bail out the struggling on-campus shops. Mr Daly stated that €31,000 of the €60,000 has already been repaid, with the remaining €29,000 to be repaid this week. Mr Daly also apologised for his behaviour during a previous clubs and societies meeting, where he was told he had an offensive tone and fingerpointed at two members of C&S Council. He also pointed out that there was a lot of misinformation on the subject. “There was a lot of stuff written and a lot of hysteria. Not all of it is true. I don’t want this to end up an ‘us’ and ‘them’ situation.” Auditor of the Debating Union, David Hugh Hartery, asked how dependent the Students’ Union was on the shops and how likely they are to turning a profit. Mr Daly replied that the shops are expected to break even. Poker Society member, Colin Clarke asked what is to stop similar activities happening again. Mr Daly replied saying that there’s nothing in place to stop similar activities. “We saved the reserves for a rainy day. It was a rainy day. We used the reserves. If I screwed up, I apologise.” He went on to say he was “not happy” with the budgeting process. “I don’t think it’s adequate. The problems stemmed from one person doing the job of three people.
Now we have three people doing the work of three people and they are all fully trained up in their respective fields.” Drama Soc committee member Hugh O’Brien asked how much more the new employees in the SU are costing, which was answered by the General Manager, Philip Mudge, who said that the extra cost amounts to €2,000. Kayaker Tony Canning expressed his concerns, saying: “Nobody would care about this if the matter was more transparent. If ULSU fails, we don’t have clubs and societies. It’s a concern that needs to be addressed.” When asked if there was a mandate for the shops to be open during the Summer, which is traditionally the time of poor trading for on-campus shops, Mr Daly said that shop hours are curtailed during the Summer. “Cappavilla and Dromroe shops are closed for the Summer months, but we feel we have a duty to service students who are here over the Summer [by keeping the main shop open].” Mr Daly added that there are councils, AGMs, UGMs, Refendas and structures put in place to protect clubs and societies. At the end of the meeting, OPC committee member and former Clubs Officer Keith Young thanked Mr Daly for answering the people’s questions. “A lot has been made clear after tonight, but there is potential that in a year [SU] Exec could cut the twothirds. We want to legally secure that two-thirds for clubs and societies.” After the meeting, Mr Young told An Focal that there was a number of things left to do. “We need to create a working group for Clubs and Societies and eliminate current clubs and societies vulnerability. It’s not over yet.”