RAG Week 2014

Brendan Flowers

zarquon wrote: »

There are conflicting posts above. Nox is honest enough to admit that it was primarily always about drinking as someone who lived through it and i can at least respect his honesty rather than the PR spin that others perpetuate

Where did I say drinking wasn't always a big part of RAG week? I was merely pointing out to you that charity part of RAG week is gone and hence it is all about going out and drinking now.

zarquon

zarquon wrote: »

This is reflective of age though. Once you are married with kids, wife mortgage etc, the opportunities to continue to live the student life as an adult diminish. Certainly i have many peers with a decent job but cannot go drinking regularly as they are still financially restricted due to family and life commitments.

Eventually life will catch up on you unless you choose to remain single and carefree your entire life, which is a valid choice. Some people choose to remain living with their parents into their late twenties and thirties and continue to party away their income - which in essense is essentially an example of adults who have never learned to fully grow up and increase responisbility for their own lives due to the parental crutch.

I think people settle down gradually, well going out a bit less etc and having more responsibilities. Some people settle sooner than others some choose to live a quieter life. I think a lot of the time people choose to live a quieter life though than actually be forced into it as there are plenty of people out there with houses and kids that still go out regularly at weekends for instance.

I think as people get older they just aren't as up for the big nights etc though I think this age is getting older now than it was. When I was younger I would have seen people who were 30 as being quite settled and over the whole madness of their 20's but I'm 29 now and have no desire (nor do I see it in my peers) to be sitting in every Saturday night and going out on a Thursday night is still seen as pretty normal.

zarquon wrote: »

There are conflicting posts above. Nox is honest enough to admit that it was primarily always about drinking as someone who lived through it and i can at least respect his honesty rather than the PR spin that others perpetuate

We were aware that the background to the event was about charity and there were events organised but apart from throwing some money in a bucket or attending a live show or two in the college bar we (my friends anyway) looked on it as a week to go on the tear.

elefant

zarquon wrote: »

In my experience a lot of the irish are very repressed compared to other cultures where people can socialise and have great fun without drinking to lose inhibitions. I can just imagine some clubs this week if everyone sat around drinking mi-wadi only - it would probably be the most boring place on earth and that only testifies to the personalities of the people in question where they cannot have fun or be fun unless they are under the influence of alcohol.

Well that's nonsense anyway. How many cities have you been in where even anything close to a majority are drinking water or soft drinks in clubs? I'm sure the nightlife in these cities would be crap too if that was the case.

We might have a concerning binge-drinking culture in Ireland, but Ireland is hardly unusual with regards to people drinking on nights out to lose inhibitions. I wouldn't go as far as to call us 'repressed'!

zarquon

elefant wrote: »

Well that's nonsense anyway. How many cities have you been in where even anything close to a majority are drinking water or soft drinks in clubs? I'm sure the nightlife in these cities would be crap too if that was the case.

We might have a concerning binge-drinking culture in Ireland, but Ireland is hardly unusual with regards to people drinking on nights out to lose inhibitions. I wouldn't go as far as to call us 'repressed'!

I never said clubs existed where the majority were not drinking alcohol, i proposed a hypothetical scenario to provoke some thought on the point i a was making.

Regarding your ascertain that the Irish are not repressed, why can the majority of Irish people not socialise without alcohol. If people are inhibited enough that they cannot let their hair down without alcohol would you not say that is a form of repression.

Anyone who would struggle to socialise on a regular basis with alcohol consumption is certainly repressed in some form. For those than have fun regularly without inhibition or alcohol - such an individual probably has a little more natural personality in the first place.

my point is to provoke thought, if you took away alcohol from the Irish, what would the social life look like - if you think it would come across boring and repressed then their is your answer. If you think that Ireland socially would not look any different without alcohol with the same level of "craic" then fair enough although i would dispute.

Remember what is craic to some people is immature nonsense to others. Times like this week should be a rite of passage for most but a lot never get beyond the passage and are still living like students into their twenties, thirties and sometimes forties.

elefant

zarquon wrote: »

I never said clubs existed where the majority were not drinking alcohol, i proposed a hypothetical scenario to provoke some thought on the point i a was making.

Regarding your ascertain that the Irish are not repressed, why can the majority of Irish people not socialise without alcohol. If people are inhibited enough that they cannot let their hair down without alcohol would you not say that is a form of repression.

Anyone who would struggle to socialise on a regular basis with alcohol consumption is certainly repressed in some form. For those than have fun regularly without inhibition or alcohol - such an individual probably has a little more natural personality in the first place.

my point is to provoke thought, if you took away alcohol from the Irish, what would the social life look like - if you think it would come across boring and repressed then their is your answer. If you think that Ireland socially would not look any different without alcohol with the same level of "craic" then fair enough although i would dispute.

Remember what is craic to some people is immature nonsense to others. Times like this week should be a rite of passage for most but a lot never get beyond the passage and are still living like students into their twenties, thirties and sometimes forties.

People socialise all the time without drinking in Ireland. Meeting their friends, playing sports, going to the cinema and so on ad nauseum.

Without alcohol nightlife would be different, and more tame, in Ireland for sure. Are the Irish repressed? Are the citizens of Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Copenhagen, Barcelona and hundreds of others across Europe and the world repressed? Because their nightlife would be a hell of a lot different without drink too.

This is a bit off topic from the issue of RAG week, but it seems a mighty leap to move onto casting aspersions on how liberated a populace are from a discussion on the topic of a week of students blowing off steam!

zarquon

zarquon wrote: »

I never said clubs existed where the majority were not drinking alcohol, i proposed a hypothetical scenario to provoke some thought on the point i a was making.

Regarding your ascertain that the Irish are not repressed, why can the majority of Irish people not socialise without alcohol. If people are inhibited enough that they cannot let their hair down without alcohol would you not say that is a form of repression.

Anyone who would struggle to socialise on a regular basis with alcohol consumption is certainly repressed in some form. For those than have fun regularly without inhibition or alcohol - such an individual probably has a little more natural personality in the first place.

my point is to provoke thought, if you took away alcohol from the Irish, what would the social life look like - if you think it would come across boring and repressed then their is your answer. If you think that Ireland socially would not look any different without alcohol with the same level of "craic" then fair enough although i would dispute.

Remember what is craic to some people is immature nonsense to others. Times like this week should be a rite of passage for most but a lot never get beyond the passage and are still living like students into their twenties, thirties and sometimes forties.

I think the mistake you are making is that people are going out drinking in order to lose inhibition. People go out drinking because they enjoy drinking and being drunk. People might have drank sometimes when you want that extra bit of courage to go chatting someone up etc but in general I go out drinking because I enjoy the taste and feeling of it.

Of course if you remove the drink then its going to be different as you don't have the desirable effects and feelings you get from it and therefore things are boring because its not the same as the great night you had the previous week and you just can't get in on the craic that the people drinking are having.

zarquon

elefant wrote: »

This is a bit off topic from the issue of RAG week, but it seems a mighty leap to move onto casting aspersions on how liberated a populace are from a discussion on the topic of a week of students blowing off steam!

The whole point about this is that the proponents of RAG week drinking are perpetuating the argument that the students need this week of drinking to "blow off steam" so i ask why can studentville not blow off steam without drinking by engaging in various other activities that are aforementioned.

The fact is that RAG week was originally a week of such various activity that was enjoyable and productive to society for the most part but yet it did not satisfy the student need to unwind which required a more alcohol centric festival.

Some students can enjoy themselves regularly without alcohol but i still insist there is a cohort that are inhibited enough that they are not able to function properly socially without alcohol being involved, the same type of cohort that skewed Rag week into what it has become.

I know i'm probably in a minority here because this is Ireland and the Irish are the only ones who will state that the Irish do not have a drinking problem.

You mentioned our European neighbours but even they say that the Irish drink excessively.

Edward Creamy Paw wrote: »

I think the mistake you are making is that people are going out drinking in order to lose inhibition. People go out drinking because they enjoy drinking and being drunk. People might have drank sometimes when you want that extra bit of courage to go chatting someone up etc but in general I go out drinking because I enjoy the taste and feeling of it.

Of course if you remove the drink then its going to be different as you don't have the desirable effects and feelings you get from it and therefore things are boring because its not the same as the great night you had the previous week and you just can't get in on the craic that the people drinking are having.

Without realising it, you have concretely validated my point

El_Dangeroso

Yawwwwn, getting students to stop drinking will never happen.

I vote for an actual effective measure. The university reserves the right to hold a test worth 40% of the grade for a module at a 9am lecture during any week where a RAG week is planned.

That's what my university used to do in RAG week, and it was very effective at keeping the worst of the madness at bay.

zarquon

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Yawwwwn, getting students to stop drinking will never happen.

I vote for an actual effective measure. The university reserves the right to hold a test worth 40% of the grade for a module at a 9am lecture during any week where a RAG week is planned.

That's what my university used to do in RAG week, and it was very effective at keeping the worst of the madness at bay.

Now that would be an incredibly effective suggestion. A little bit of logic and the college could easily resolve the Rag Week issues.

What college implemented this clever exam scheme?

El_Dangeroso

zarquon wrote: »

Now that would be an incredibly effective suggestion. A little bit of logic and the college could easily resolve the Rag Week issues.

What college implemented this clever exam scheme?

It was UL.

ciano1

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Yawwwwn, getting students to stop drinking will never happen.

I vote for an actual effective measure. The university reserves the right to hold a test worth 40% of the grade for a module at a 9am lecture during any week where a RAG week is planned.

That's what my university used to do in RAG week, and it was very effective at keeping the worst of the madness at bay.

RAG week would be held a week earlier or later.. simples!

El_Dangeroso

ciano1 wrote: »

RAG week would be held a week earlier or later.. simples!

That's when you change it. It's not like it's a big secret when it's on.

zarquon

zarquon wrote: »

Without realising it, you have concretely validated my point

Explain please because my aim was certainly not to validate your point.

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Yawwwwn, getting students to stop drinking will never happen.

I vote for an actual effective measure. The university reserves the right to hold a test worth 40% of the grade for a module at a 9am lecture during any week where a RAG week is planned.

That's what my university used to do in RAG week, and it was very effective at keeping the worst of the madness at bay.

Or the University could just let them enjoy the week rather then being a bollocks about it.

There are some people that just aren't happy when other people are enjoying themselves and a few of them are lurking around these parts. Why not punish the ones that do things out of the way rather than punish the vast majority who behave themselves by ruining one of the best bits of the college year.

One thing some people forget is college is supposed to be about the craic as well as the education.

El_Dangeroso

Edward Creamy Paw wrote: »

Explain please because my aim was certainly not to validate your point.



Or the University could just let them enjoy the week rather then being a bollocks about it.

There are some people that just aren't happy when other people are enjoying themselves and a few of them are lurking around these parts. Why not punish the ones that do things out of the way rather than punish the vast majority who behave themselves by ruining one of the best bits of the college year.

One thing some people forget is college is supposed to be about the craic as well as the education.

I have no problem with people having craic, I had my time in college and I don't begrudge anyone the same.

I do have a problem with anti-social behaviour when it affects other people just trying to live their lives though.

So presumably you are not affected adversely at all by this?

zarquon

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I have no problem with people having craic, I had my time in college and I don't begrudge anyone the same.

I do have a problem with anti-social behaviour when it affects other people just trying to live their lives though.

So presumably you are not affected adversely at all by this?

I think nox lives out of town so is not bothered by anti-social behaviour on his door step - although i am open to correction on this point.

I also agree with his point, how dare colleges act the b0ll0cks by inconveniently scheduling exams during excessive drinking festivals - don't they understand that a degree is only part of the reason why people go to college

Timmyctc

Oh and I heard they're setting children on fire and beating up OAPs Joe. Not much is said about the messes be about the city during each and every weekend of the year. And believe you me I have seen the remnant of someone's stomach contents more mornings than I care to admit as I Cycle to work Sunday mornings. But theyre locals sure tis grand.

Say nothing either about race week. Where we her the louts from every county in zireland ( Not just the Donegal folk) but tis grand cause theyre older and wearing suits and caked in make up . As someone working in retail in the city I can honestly tell you the race week crowd are by a country mile the more irritating disrespectful group than the students. If they want to drink from the early hours of the morning so be it. I guarantee you half of the people on this thread set out to be offended.

If students want to act like students then so effing be it. But i guarantee none of ye paid half as much attention to positive things college students organised themselves like the teddy bears hospital or things like the conventions in aras an mac leinn because there's less to be offended about there

zarquon

Timmyctc wrote: »

Oh and I heard they're setting children on fire and beating up OAPs Joe. Not much is said about the messes be about the city during each and every weekend of the year. And believe you me I have seen the remnant of someone's stomach contents more mornings than I care to admit as I Cycle to work Sunday mornings. But theyre locals sure tis grand.

Say nothing either about race week. Where we her the louts from every county in zireland ( Not just the Donegal folk) but tis grand cause theyre older and wearing suits and caked in make up . As someone working in retail in the city I can honestly tell you the race week crowd are by a country mile the more irritating disrespectful group than the students. If they want to drink from the early hours of the morning so be it. I guarantee you half of the people on this thread set out to be offended.

If students want to act like students then so effing be it. But i guarantee none of ye paid half as much attention to positive things college students organised themselves like the teddy bears hospital or things like the conventions in aras an mac leinn because there's less to be offended about there

Race week is worse but what you conveniently overlook is that the rag week crowd eventually grow up and become the race week crowd with even more money and obnoxiousness to boot. If you want to change race week behaviour start by affecting change in youth so that they do not develop the ignorant obnoxiousness we see during race week.

Timmyctc

I didn't conveniently overlook anything. What you've done is conveniently make an assumption to fit your argument.

Complete bs assumption might I add.

zarquon

zarquon wrote: »

I think nox lives out of town so is not bothered by anti-social behaviour on his door step - although i am open to correction on this point.

Yes my home place is in co. Galway.

zarquon wrote: »

I also agree with his point, how dare colleges act the b0ll0cks by inconveniently scheduling exams during excessive drinking festivals - don't they understand that a degree is only part of the reason why people go to college

But it is acting the bollocks, its not a normal time for exams, its not having any affect on students getting their degrees. Its basically an insignificant week in the middle term that has no reason to have exams fixed other than to try and in-act some sort of nanny state influence over grown adults.

zarquon wrote: »

Race week is worse but what you conveniently overlook is that the rag week crowd eventually grow up and become the race week crowd with even more money and obnoxiousness to boot. If you want to change race week behaviour start by affecting change in youth so that they do not develop the ignorant obnoxiousness we see during race week.

Whatever about rag week and attempting to stop it there is nothing you can do to stop race week thankfully . I'll take my week of work for it every year and there isn't any exams that can be set or other unwanted control that can exerted to prevent it.

zarquon

Timmyctc wrote: »

I didn't conveniently overlook anything. What you've done is conveniently make an assumption to fit your argument.

Complete bs assumption might I add.

So do you support both race week and Rag week behaviour because they are very much connected. The students of today will be the race week goers of tomorrow except with more money and therefore more obnoxiousness.

I personally dislike both and cannot comprehend how anyone can support rag week shenanigans but speak out against race week unless you happen to be in either group of attendees with a superiority complex over the other.

El_Dangeroso

Timmyctc wrote: »

Say nothing either about race week. Where we her the louts from every county in zireland ( Not just the Donegal folk) but tis grand cause theyre older and wearing suits and caked in make up . As someone working in retail in the city I can honestly tell you the race week crowd are by a country mile the more irritating disrespectful group than the students. If they want to drink from the early hours of the morning so be it. I guarantee you half of the people on this thread set out to be offended.

So because people's anti-social behaviour exists in July it's fine for it to exist in February? Flawless logic you've got there.

El_Dangeroso

Edward Creamy Paw wrote: »

Yes my home place is in co. Galway.

Imposter! No wonder you don't mind RAG week, you don't have to deal with it.

Edward Creamy Paw wrote: »

But it is acting the bollocks, its not a normal time for exams, its not having any affect on students getting their degrees. Its basically an insignificant week in the middle term that has no reason to have exams fixed other than to try and in-act some sort of nanny state influence over grown adults.

There are mid-semester exams in any college in the country.

zarquon

Edward Creamy Paw wrote: »

Yes my home place is in co. Galway.

Do you live independently or still with your family?

El_Dangeroso

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Imposter! No wonder you don't mind RAG week, you don't have to deal with it.

Well I'm living in Cork city at the moment and none of the rag weeks here have had any effect on me whatsoever. It's rag week here also this week and I was out on Tuesday night myself and walked home at 2am through the busiest part of town and everyone was behaved from what I could see.

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

There are mid-semester exams in any college in the country.

I never had a mid-semester exam in nuig (Physics). I had exams at christmas and exams in April and that was it. I had labs which took place during rag week and never missed one any year but they were in the afternoon and didn't require you to study in advance so you could do them after having a few pints earlier in the day.

zarquon wrote: »

Do you live independently or still with your family?

See above. I return home regularly at weekends, holidays etc.

inisboffin

Just on the Irish people and how we drink thing...
A few years ago I was at a gig in Aras Na Gael - wasn't drinking that night so observation skills were better

The place was packed. Judging by accents etc, I'd say 40-50% 'Irish born and bred here' and the rest from other countries.
The band were hopping, and most people were up dancing. Unusually, the bar started to close before the band finished. Once no more drink was to be had, *immediately* at least half the people legged it out to another bar for last drink. The rest of the people stayed dancing to the band, some had been drinking booze, some not. I kid you not, I was one of maybe 3 Irish people left. Everyone left dancing was non-Irish. The band were more important than last pint. I would put money on it that this would happen in most places, given such a mix.

We *are* more reliant on booze to let loose than many many nations. That's a fact. Wish it weren't.

zarquon

inisboffin wrote: »

Just on the Irish people and how we drink thing...
A few years ago I was at a gig in Aras Na Gael - wasn't drinking that night so observation skills were better

The place was packed. Judging by accents etc, I'd say 40-50% 'Irish born and bred here' and the rest from other countries.
The band were hopping, and most people were up dancing. Unusually, the bar started to close before the band finished. Once no more drink was to be had, *immediately* at least half the people legged it out to another bar for last drink. The rest of the people stayed dancing to the band, some had been drinking booze, some not. I kid you not, I was one of maybe 3 Irish people left. Everyone left dancing was non-Irish. The band were more important than last pint. I would put money on it that this would happen in most places, given such a mix.

We *are* more reliant on booze to let loose than many many nations. That's a fact. Wish it weren't.

Fair play for your honesty. There are many in that group who would instantly leave when the bar closes who would refuse to accept that they need drink to let loose. The fact is that many are more inhibited than they would like to believe.

it is also my experience that non irish need little or no alcohol to dance the night away but very little chance of a large group of Irish people being able to do the same without alcohol

Utopia Parkway

Live in a part of town with quite a few student houses/apartments around us and it definitely seemed quieter this year. I didn't even hear any parties going on around us at night. I'm sure it was fairly mental in some of the clubs at night and places like the Hole in the Wall during the day but compared to 3 or 4 years ago it was way quieter. Honestly think a lot of the problems a few years ago were caused by gangs coming down to Galway from other universities and going stone mad knowing that they didn't have to live in the place and would be gone again the following day or at the end of the week.

mrkiscool2

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

So because people's anti-social behaviour exists in July it's fine for it to exist in February? Flawless logic you've got there.

No, his point is that people only complain when it is students going out drinking for some reason. When everyone does it for Race Week it's seen as a fine thing even though those people cause a lot more hassle.

Hypocrisy is fcuking huge on these boards. Most of the people on here have either a. been part of a Rag week and not complained about it when they were drinking and having the craic or b. Are a part of race week and don't complain despite the problems and fights that happen in the city during it.

Also, without the students here from September to April Galway would be fcuking empty and half the jobs here would be gone now. Something else people fail to notice. Galway would have the exact same problems as Westport is facing now if it weren't for the students spending money on rent, food, books, other things and nights out so don't be chastising them for keeping the local economy afloat.

zarquon

mrkiscool2 wrote: »

No, his point is that people only complain when it is students going out drinking for some reason. When everyone does it for Race Week it's seen as a fine thing even though those people cause a lot more hassle.

Hypocrisy is fcuking huge on these boards. Most of the people on here have either a. been part of a Rag week and not complained about it when they were drinking and having the craic or b. Are a part of race week and don't complain despite the problems and fights that happen in the city during it.

Also, without the students here from September to April Galway would be fcuking empty and half the jobs here would be gone now. Something else people fail to notice. Galway would have the exact same problems as Westport is facing now if it weren't for the students spending money on rent, food, books, other things and nights out so don't be chastising them for keeping the local economy afloat.

I think you'll find that plenty complain about the idiotic race week behaviour that goes on, both in real life and on boards. If you deny this you are either living in a bubble or too busy revelling in race week to notice.

Also LMAO on the students keeping the city afloat therefore lets excuse any antisocial behaviour. Yes, it's the penniless students looking for beer specials injecting the primary funds into the local economy - it's absolutely nothing to do with all of the major multinationals in the city. Pubs and clubs would suffer in addition to opportunistic landlords selling substandard accommodation at heavily inflated prices. I wouldn't shed too many tears for the pub/club owners or these landlords.

Does westport have these big multinationals? Keep cherry picking facts to support your theory. The city would survive without students but take the multinationals out of the city and the economy would be destroyed and then Galway might begin to look like westport :rolleyes:

Utopia Parkway

mrkiscool2 wrote: »

No, his point is that people only complain when it is students going out drinking for some reason. When everyone does it for Race Week it's seen as a fine thing even though those people cause a lot more hassle.

Hypocrisy is fcuking huge on these boards. Most of the people on here have either a. been part of a Rag week and not complained about it when they were drinking and having the craic or b. Are a part of race week and don't complain despite the problems and fights that happen in the city during it.

Also, without the students here from September to April Galway would be fcuking empty and half the jobs here would be gone now. Something else people fail to notice. Galway would have the exact same problems as Westport is facing now if it weren't for the students spending money on rent, food, books, other things and nights out so don't be chastising them for keeping the local economy afloat.

I used to go on the rip myself during rag week myself when I was in college so I wouldn't get on any current students backs for doing the same now. The only thing that bothers me is public disturbance and vandalism and there was definitely a bit too much of that going on a few years ago. Thankfully that seems to have calmed down a lot last year and this year even though you'll never get rid of it entirely.