Christmas is cancelled at UCC

NEXT YEAR’S UCC ‘Christmas Day’ college celebrations have been cancelled following a flood of complaints from residents near the college.

A meeting of the city’s Joint Policing Committee heard that the student event caused havoc in the residential area around University College Cork on November 23 and as a result, the UCC Students’ Union have promised the event will not return next year.

Anti-social behaviour, noise, drunkenness and littering were associated with the event.

UCC Student Union President Martin Scally said he was very upset by what unfolded at the ‘Christmas Day’ event.

“It is an event that had been running for the past two to three years, in conjunction with the turning on of our Christmas lights,” he said.

“It was supposed to be a fun event. We had the new UCC president turn on the lights, we had carol singers, mince pies and mulled wine.”

Mr Scally said they followed the protocol of their predecessors and even organised a third pub just in case they needed overflow space.

Despite this, Mr Scally said they were inundated with people. “The level of students that turned up to the event was unprecedented. We were not happy with what happened. We don’t condone it and we are very upset by it.”

Mr Scally said a similar Christmas Day event was running at CIT until recent years and it is possible that some CIT students attended the UCC festivities as their own Christmas Day was cancelled.

Following on from the chaos, Senator Jerry Buttimer said he knew of two residents who have actually sold their houses and moved out of the area to get away from the anti-social behaviour.

Senator Buttimer said the level of dissatisfaction among residents in and around the area has been quadrupled, due to the lack of coordination and response to the organised activities.

“Some residents are at their wit’s end,” Senator Buttimer said.

Superintendent John Deasy said the event is under review by the college and the gardaí have been in contact with UCC and the local residents association.