Editorial: Stopping RAG, The Ironic Contradiction

RAG week- sorry Eolann/Bea/The SU - Raise and Give week is upon us and every year, this year of course being no exception, there are calls for Raise and Give week to be cancelled, stopped, ended, etc. We know the drill at this stage. Every year the Students Union will highlight the fact the week is about raising money for charity and is not simply an excuse for students to go on a week of drinking partying etc. And every year local residents and others will complain of the noise, rubbish disturbance caused by it. And while I can to some extent sympathise with them, yes students can go overboard and cause a lot of noise and disturbances and so forth and it can be at the very least annoying to residents if not worse. But at the end of the day I never understood why people continually call to have Raise and Give week stopped. Of course, they could stop the official R&G week, but that wouldn’t resolve any of the issues associated with it. It wouldn’t stop students from drinking and partying, it wouldn’t reduce the noise or disturbances caused. If anything, it would only make them worse. One only needs to look at what happened in Galway, even without the official R&G week, it still continues and is now uncontrolled, unorganised and there are no support services such as the SCS we have here in UCC, to help students and to reduce some of the issues associated with R&G week. To add to this, there wouldn’t be any money made for charity, which is what the whole week is about. In short stopping Raise and Give week would not only make the whole situation for residents and others worse, it would take away its one redeeming element raising money to help charities. And finally, it’s worth noting: not all students engage in RAG Week as it’s portrayed in the media and elsewhere, don’t let the actions of a minority colour your perception of the many.