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NEWS: Chuckle Bros back Bot in RAG-GAA event clash
RAG and GAA go head to head tonight in a battle for student cash, causing another split in SU Exec opinion.
BY BRENDAN HUGHES
As part of RAG Week, students are encouraged to take part in their pub crawl tonight in aide of RAG-supported charities. The pub crawl is expected to reach its final destination in the Students’ Union. Meanwhile, Queen’s GAA have been heavily publicising their “Pre-St. Paddy’s Maddness” fundraising party, which will be held in SU’s rival venue, the Bot.
With falling revenue from SU bars in recent months, the event clash has caused some tension over where student Executive allegiances should lie.
VP Lilly’s Facebook status yesterday urged students to take advantage of having no classes on RAG day (Wednesday) by spending the night in the Bot. This update has since been removed in favour of the GAA’s generic message:
“Tomorrow Night – QUEEN’S GAA PRE-PADDY’S MADNESS – the perfect way to warm-up to the real thing!!”
VP Barry Duffy was spotted yesterday afternoon away from SU and behind the GAA stall in the PFC promoting the event.
It is expected that the other Sabbatical officers will be attending the RAG event.
Last week the Students’ Union slashed the working hours of part-time bars staff as the result of a significant downturn in profits. At a previous EMC meeting last semester, VPs were encouraged to refrain from socialising in rival student clubs and pubs.
Duffy maintains that the GAA’s event was planned “ages ago”, but refused to be drawn on which event students should support. Paul Lilly refused to comment.
Tags: brendan hughes, Gown, newspaper, qub, Queen's, queen's university, student, The Gown
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 1:28 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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“NEWS: Chuckle Bros back Bot in RAG-GAA event clash”
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This is yet another example of the ‘Executive’ double standards and plain ignorance. If you’re placed in a position of power and *ahem* respect within organisation A, you shouldn’t be able to feck off and support organisation B over A. I have no problem with people socialising all across the city, but when it comes to major events, such as RAG, the full support of the Executive should fall behind those events.
Son, I am disappoint.
As far as I’m aware the night out has been booked in the Bot since before Christmas when all GAA fixtures were consulted and this was an appropriate gap in the fixture schedule in which to facilitate a night out. There was no mention of RAG week at that time and whilst it is unfortunate that both events are clashing, people will just have to grin and bear it.
Anyway, if RAG are running a ‘pub crawl’ surely they’re not spending all night in the Union and consequently, any sabbatical officer that supports it is affecting Union income. Students will therefore only arrive at the Union when they’re already drunk and completely incapacitated to spend any more money.
Double standards if you ask me!!
bad boys lilly and bazza. see yous in the bot
xxxx
Another biased story Brendan I am disappointed, never mind the fact the chuckle brothers were two of the only sabs that helped lead on the first RAG pub crawl,
Eh, Paul this story isn’t that biased. It’s a fact that yesterday your Facebook status was advertising the Bot as the venue for this GAA event and have been for several weeks.
As an officer of the Union you really should have encouraged the organisers of the event to hold it in the Union, especially since you have known for many months about the decrease in income of the SU bars.
The Bot? RAG? I’m going nowhere!
There isn’t any day off classes tomorrow anyway, an email was sent round arch. and geog students saying classes are as normal?
Surely student officers should use what influence they have to try to promote the SU???
Paul lilly needs to understand tht there’s more to life than just GAA and acting the big lad around campus. He does more to ruin the reputation of vp’s than increase it at a time when all respect for them had gone out the window due to the anitcs of susan kearney.
What I wonder, is why are the GAA holding a “pre-paddy’s” drink-fest. It’s Saint Patrick , not Paddy ye heathens. It is blatently promoting getting drunk on Saint Patricks Day, did students not get bad enough press last year?
Its a disgrace that the GAA considers itself more important than the charities that RAG supports. Also I am glad that RAG decided to finish in the union, many student bar staff have lost their job due to lack of business in the union and the exec knows it. This is why it is a disgrace that Paul Courtney has an advertisement supporting an event in the Bot, taking business away from the union, copounding the lack of shifts for the student staff he is supposed to be supporting… Once again GAA orientated sabs who dont care about the union…
Didn’t have RAG day off so didn’t even consider going to a RAG event.
However I did consider the GAA thing as it was better and earlier advertised. And because the GAA boys did a good job of grabbing our attention at the SWOT fashion show
. I think their participation at SWOT shows that the GAA are prepared to back charitable student organisations.
I don’t think who the exec backed matters at all. They are obviously going to back the event they have the highest stake in. It just seems to me that the whole thing should have been arranged better. Whoever booked last, shouldn’t have.
What I’d like to know is why RAG day had to be moved?
Great night in the Bot lads-well organised and everyone had a vintage night. Bazza and Paul keep up the good work at the stalls. + Rag day?? As a German/History student I wasnt off so maybe Rag day could be better run next year?!