An Focal
Floods cause chaos on campus 1st December 2009 Tuesday
Official Paper of the University of Limerick Students’ Union
Volume XVIII, Issue 7 FREE
By Jason Kennedy – Chief News Correspondent
FLOODING in Limerick caused road closures and water cuts in the University last week. Throughout Week 12, sandbags were left around at risk areas, including Thomond Village and the Health Science Building. In Thomond Village water services were cut following the flooding. Students living in Thomond were provided with shuttle bus services to and from the Arena every 30 minutes in order to shower. Each apartment was also given a five litre bottle of water that is refillable in reception.John O’Rourke, Manager of Plassey Campus Services LTD said that a number of water fonts were installed in Thomond reception, so students could refill their bottles. “The villages weren’t flooded, they never have been and they won’t either. The villages have been designed to handle increasing water levels from the river Shannon.” Mr O’Rourke also praised Thomond Village Management for dealing well with the situation. “Village management have worked around to clock to ensure that the situation is dealt with
well.” Some students showed their anger at the situation on the ULSU Facebook page. Ciaran O’Connell said: “Seriously lads, you might want to consider bunking with people in other villages.” Adrian Stanley claims that the whole thing was blown out of proportion. “For crying out loud. People need to relax. We don’t have water, but that’s the only thing we don’t have. Stop acting like we’re living in poverty.” Wood Technology Student, Chris Doughan claims that it’s annoying to have to keep going down to the arena for showers. “It’s an inconvenience more than anything. It’s pretty bad as well that we can’t even flush the toilets and have to keep going down to reception to get water.” ESB had released a level of water to ease pressure from Ardnacrusha Dam. Following this, all areas downstream of the River Shannon were on flood alert. During Week 12, Dromroe roundabout became flooded which ended with the closure of the road for a night. Water levels also reached the top of Plassey Bridge, also known as the Black Bridge, leading to its closure.
Flooding at the Health Sciences Building
Parking fines issued off campus By Aoife Ní Raghallaigh – Editor
STUDENTS may have been repeatedly incurring fines after charges for illegal parking were introduced in College Court and Elm Park last month. The Students’ Union had previously been informed that double yellow lines would be painted on the roads in the estates during the next dry spell but the SU has since learned that fines have been issued to any car parked on the roadside during the last month despite the absence of double yellow lines in some areas. Previously a parking ticket would be placed on a car parked illegally to notify the owner
that they have received a fine but a change to a computer based system means the car owner will not know that they have incurred a fine until it is received in the post. The fine will be issued to the address at which the car is registered and is set at €75. If this fine is not paid within 28 days it will increase to €112.50. If the fine is still not paid within an extra 28 days court proceedings will begin. The practice of issuing parking fines began due to increased congestion in both College Court and Elm Park. The increase in cars causing an obstruction came from cars parking
illegally due to a number of students driving from nearby estates, such as Courtyard, Brookfield or Briarfield, and parking in Elm Park and College Court before walking the rest of the way into college. This issue is only exasperated by the fact that student households sometimes have three of fours parked outside. The Students’ Union has noted that students who are resident in the estates have nowhere else to park but they are urged to park their car on campus and avail of the free Nitelink to get home. Students living in Courtyard and Brookfield are also urged to get the free
shuttle bus in to college in the morning rather than drive. Students on a whole are asked to consider carpooling, cycling or walking to college to ease obstructions in and around the University. As the fines were being issued throughout November it is feared that students may have incurred a number of fines without realising. Anyone who has parked illegally in College Court or Elm Park during November is urged to contact the address at which their car is registered to ensure they have not received a fine. They are also asked to refrain from parking in the estates in future.