Stephen Darcy’s manifesto contains many good ideas and promises of great events. Unfortunately, capsule most are still in the planning phase. There have been some successes in getting bands to UCD (and some hitches along the way). Several of his ideas have turned out to be unfeasible, hospital but he has many promising ideas for this semester.
One of his main pledges last year was regarding the student bar. He successfully implemented his student bar deals such as the ‘Hangover Cure’. There are also deals such as all drinks 3 euro on Thursdays. He has introduced a combo-ticket for the student bar and nightclubs, as well as an Ents discount card. When asked what he felt his main achievements of last semester were, he spoke about the Fresher’s Ball and getting “world renowned” such acts as LMFAO and Lil John.
His plan to allow students to pay with their laser cards turned out not to be viable, as did the plan to have an online facility to allow students to book half price tickets to Ents nightclub events. Also gone is Darcy’s plan to have an all-Dublin Rag Week with the other colleges, culminating in a massive Rag Ball. Instead, it will be compressed into one day along the lines of Black Monday, to be held on the first Monday after the mid-term break.
Similarly his plan for a calendar detailing all Ents events of the semester was abandoned for cost reasons. Another promise was to have a monthly comedy night with the biggest names in Irish comedy like Tommy Tiernan, Dara O’Brien and others. While this has not yet happened, there are plans for David Doherty to come to UCD in the near future.
While his plans for a massive mystery tour will go ahead, it will not be with colleges from the west (NUIG, GMIT, etc) as originally proposed. Darcy had promised to have the Freshers’ Ball on UCD campus, “it’s rightful home”, but this proved not to be possible and it was held off campus in the Wright Venue. He expressed great disappointment at this, especially as the plan fell apart “at the last hurdle.”
Darcy has brought several acts to UCD such as Ryan Sheridan, Saw Doctors, LMFAO and DJ Rankin. However, there has been criticism of the sometimes chaotic handling of the acts in the student bar. There was outrage at the cancellation of Cheesefest at the last minute, though they have since returned to UCD. However, Mord Fustang also pulled out of the planned gig on Thursday, also at the last moment. Students have complained that a pattern is emerging.
It would be unfair to expect Darcy to have fulfilled all of his promises thus far. He has many great plans and promises for this semester. Time will judge how he fares.
Robert Nielson
