Mayor: Rag Week makes Galway students ‘a laughing stock’

Galway City Tribune – The Mayor of Galway City has hit out at a number of publicans and nightclub owners who exploit students during Rag Week.

The Mayor, Cllr Niall McNelis (Lab) said both NUI Galway and GMIT Students’ Unions have no involvement  in Rag Week – and claimed that it had become nothing more than a business-driven initiative that makes Galway students “a laughing stock”.

“When Rag Week was set up, it was done to raise funds for local charities, but that has stopped now,” said Cllr McNelis, referencing how the official Rag Week was banned by both GMIT and NUIG in 2012 following repeated instances of anti-social behaviour and out of control drinking.

The unofficial celebrations ended in the early hours of this morning, with Gardaí revealing that on the week’s busiest night, Donegal Tuesday, 10 arrests were made for Public Order offences.

A spokesperson for an Garda Síochána told the Galway City Tribune that this year had been relatively quiet, with far less damage and disruption than had occurred in previous years.

At the time of going to press, the Garda spokesperson said there had been no major incidents – and that a strong Garda presence had been maintained throughout the week.

However, the Mayor Cllr McNelis said it was unacceptable that the actions of a handful of people was putting additional strain on Garda and hospital resources.
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