Running riot in Galway: the Rag week antics that led to 42 arrests

An overturned car, intimidated citizens and 42 students arrested.

These are some of the reasons that have led NUI Galway to pull their support for the university’s Rag week following this year’s set of events.

In a statement, the university said that the event will “no longer form part of the university calendar,” since the “week of charitable events has been overshadowed by a minority of students using this time as an opportunity for excessive drinking leading ultimately to unsafe, unruly and anti-social behaviour.”

While the event will continue to be held in future years, it will be organised solely by the Students’ Union.

However, the university has said that they would support a replacement ‘charity week’ or fortnight but would not allow the Rag week title to be attached to this.

At one point during the event, which took place from February 23 to 27, Gardai considered assembling a riot squad to deal with the large amount of rowdy students.

During the course of the week, the wing mirrors of a Garda car were broken and Galway pedestrians spoke of being “terrified” and intimidated by students. 31 drunken students were admitted to University College Hospital Galway’s A&E department with varying injuries.

Dr. Jim Browne, NUIG president, even went so far as to brand one student who took their clothes off in front of children in Eyre Square as a “sex offender” during a debate on Galway’s Flirt FM.

Muireann O’Dwyer, NUIG Students’ Union president, said that while she understands that the university wants to distance itself from the event she feels that there are “better ways to deal with troublemakers.”

While many are lamenting the loss of traditional Rag week values of charity and giving at NUI Galway, O’Dwyer said: “The level of student involvement in non-alcoholic events has grown massively. This year we raised over €25,000.”

Others have spoken out about other action that could the university could take.

Sinn Féin Galway City West candidate Tom Hanly suggested training stewards for the event and leaving students responsible for litter management in the city.
It’s unclear whether next year’s event will be much different without the support of the college.

While O’Dwyer acknowledged that it would be more difficult to run non-alcoholic events, “the Students’ Union has always been the sole organizer of Rag week and will continue to run a full timetable of fun events in order to raise money for charity.”

One student, posting on Irish forum site boards.ie felt that an unsupported Rag week would cause even more mayhem in the city of Galway, and would be “messier than an official one”.

However, NUI Galway wasn’t the only college to find itself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons when it comes to Rag Week.

In Sligo, residents complained to the local Sligo Champion newspaper about unruly student behavour during Rag week.

One local resident’s oil tank was overturned, and other residents had their frontdoors vandalised, leading to a debate on the Gerry Ryan show about the week’s problems.

And in Dundalk, unwieldy students were also the talk of the town with one resident complaining to the Irish Independent of waking up and seeing “a whole group of [students] smashing microwaves” on the street.

Other residents also said their houses were egged and that students were urinating outside their homes when young children were visiting.

Meanwhile, UCC’s Rag week was cancelled after a final year student from the university died when a car he was pushing rolled forward and crushed him against a wall.