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12 1 ISSUE VOL XV 13.04.10
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Observer The University
VOLUME XVI ISSUE 12 13th April 2010
NE QUID FALSE DICERE AUDEAT NE QUID VERI NON AUDEAT
IRELAND’S AWARD-WINNING STUDENT NEWSPAPER
UCD Law Masters not accepted by King’s Inn BRIDGET FITZSIMONS
FEATURES Enter the Dragon Dragons’ Den star Gavin Duffy talks business PAGE 12
UCDSVP win €5000 Better Ireland prize HUGH MCLAUGHLIN UCD’s branch of the St Vincent de Paul have claimed the €5,000 first prize in the AIB Better Ireland Awards. UCDSVP auditor Kevin Conlon has said that the prize came at the right time for the group, and will be distributed among their youth initiatives. The AIB Better Ireland Programme is run with the purpose of promoting and supporting local children’s projects throughout the country. Each of AIB’s 182 main branches were each given €10,000 to disperse among the causes deemed to be most worthy in their community. The winners were determined by a public vote that was conducted online and by text among the members of the community. UCDSVP run six local youth projects that comprise of three youth clubs, two homework clubs and a small group that organises parties for local children. The prize money will be split between these groups. Conlon credited UCDSVP members, saying that the success of the organisation during the recession has been “purely down to the volunteers,” who have kept the club running.
Continued on P2>> 13th April 2010 ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY...
1970 An oxygen tank explodes aboard Apollo 13, risking the lives of its three astronauts
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Students say they were assured of accreditation in December
T
he University Observer has learned that UCD’s Masters in Common Law course may not be recognised as a proper law conversion course by the Bar Council of Ireland. The course, which aims to give graduates the same knowledge as those who have taken an undergraduate law degree, is a two-year masters and is currently in its first year of operation. One student on the course told The University Observer that they had been told at the start of the year that “King’s Inn accreditation hadn’t been given yet, but we were told it wasn’t going to be a problem and that it would be brushed through.” However, despite being told that accreditation was assured, students are now being told that they must take extra exams in order to meet King’s Inn standards. The student said that “apparently they’ve [the UCD School of Law] known since December, but they thought that they could basically talk themselves out of it.” The students were first told in a meeting two weeks ago that they may now have to take extra exams, which would not be counted towards their degree grade but which would be sufficient for Bar Council recognition. According to the student, “What they came back to us to say was that we knew what we were getting into and that it was never guaranteed and that we knew that it didn’t have accreditation, but we never would have been made
Second year Law student Jane Mc Cann fulfills her Lenten forfeit outside the library last week Photo Gavan Reilly aware if we hadn’t asked.” The proposed remedy to the accreditation problem is a major stumbling block for many students on the course who have already made plans for the summer, as the exams will have to take place before September. The student stated that students are “being given extra exams to bring us up to par with King’s Inn, given a pass or fail grade, and it’ll just be a
routine that they have down. It’s going to be personal choice,” and that they “don’t know when it’s going to be, how long they’re going to be, what the layout is going to be.” Students on the course are “frustrated and annoyed” that this error has happened, especially as they “had a meeting in December at which we were told that it [accreditation] was given.” The student
said that their class now feels “cheated,” and “there are some people in the class who have given up their previous careers to study for this and they’re wondering what the point was especially when so many people are here just to study for King’s Inn.” A spokesperson for the university had not returned contact at the time of going to press.
KBC accused of intimidation in elections BRIDGET FITZSIMONS A member of UCD Students’ Union Council has accused a committee member of the Kevin Barry Cumann (KBC) of trying to intimidate him into not running for an SU Executive position. The member of Council, who did not wish to be named, said that he received threatening text messages after having spoken against SU Education Vice-President Donnacha Ó Súilleabháin at a meeting of the Council. The student showed The University Observer the text message, which stated that any effort he made to run for an
Executive position would be blocked and actively campaigned against by the KBC, the UCD branch of the Fianna Fáil party. The text message also stated that this was due to his urging SU Council to vote to re-open nominations in the election of Union of Students in Ireland (USI) Education Officer, in which Ó Súilleabháin was a candidate. The individual said that “the text basically said that a political organisation didn’t like how I acted as an elected official – and even though it was voted through by a huge margin, they told me that if I ever ran for this position that themselves and friends of Donnacha Ó Súilleabháin would come out and campaign against me.” He added that he had “inferred
from it that they would run someone against me. I know that in the past there have been situations in which people have found people running against them due to disagreements.” In addition, the individual felt victimised, given that he had not meant his speech as a personal attack, explaining that “I wasn’t making a personal attack. I was saying that he needs a year to clear his name” following an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of Science Day funds. The individual had decided not to run for any Executive position in the days running up to USI Hustings, but received the message before the KBC member had become aware of this. Chairperson of the KBC, Patrick Conroy,
categorically denied any knowledge of the threats, saying that “it’s an absolute disgrace and I wouldn’t condone it.” He also told The University Observer that “as far as I’m aware, it didn’t happen.” Vice-President for Students Dr Martin Butler spoke out against the action, saying “dignity and respect underpins everything that we do in a university,” and “any behaviour that makes other students uncomfortable will not be tolerated by the university and shouldn’t be tolerated by fellow students.” Conroy, who himself ran in the Executive elections, lost out in the
11/04/2010 22:08