Union Council met again last night, the main items on the agenda were;

1) The car parking. Some of you may have seen the flyer that was handed out in the Canteen last week. This put the University POV, and explained the reasons for their decision. I would like to emphasise that the decision was not made in consultation with the SU. We are very unhappy with the current situation, although in fairness to the college the new car park has improved since we were first forced into it. However, we do not think this is acceptable, and the VP is seeking a meeting with the relavent authorities to push for a 'first come first served' parking system. we feel that this is the fairest, and indeed simplest, possible parking scheme.

2) Executive Elections. The SU consists of the Union Council, ie. the reps, and the directly elected officers, two of which, the pres. and vice pres are full time paid positions. Nominations for all the exec positions have closed and the candidates line out as follows.

Womens' Rights Officer, - No Nominations. Welfare Officer, - No Nominations. Services Officer, - No Nominations.

Right's Officer, just one nomination. Ciaran MOR Mac Annraoi. Don't know much about the lad except that he's a MS1. Soc's wise he's 'cma' on Redbrick, and he's also a member of Sinn Fein.

Clubs & Socs Officer, just one nomination. Eoin O Ceallachain. (sp). He's the guy who got the most votes at the recent inquorate c&s election. He's in there at the minute in a temporary capacity. And oh yes, he's an AR2.

Public Relations Officer, two nominations. Enda Cahill CA3, and 'Darkstar' on Redbrick. Tara Caffrey LM1. don't know squat 'bout her.

Vice President, two nominations. Barry Balfe, about whom I know nothing. Eugene Cunningham, 'fonzie' on Redbrick.

President, three nominations. Colum Donoghue BE3 Dave Flynn AS4 Ronan Quirke BS1

I've spelt most of the names incorrectly no doubt, but if you'd like to meet the candidates the hustings will take place next Monday / Tuesday - look for the posters.

3) Election Business. This was merely technical, involving the election of reps onto the electoral committee, which runs the voting and the count, and the election of reps to the Commission of Arbitration which decides if an election is held validly or not. eg. two years ago they declared that the whole thing was invalid and that the election was to be reheld.

4) Bar Situation. As I reported a short while ago, the plan was to get a temp in to open the bar for ragweek, and to keep it open until the bar committee decide to franchise the bar or to hire another manager. That was the plan. However, the guy we had in during Rag Week saw how bad a position we were in and upped his price to an unacceptably high level, so we dropped him, and now the bar is closed again. The Bar Management Committee have decided to hire a new manager, and they have some applications in, but the bar will remain closed until they actuall hire someone. This is because we can't find anyone who would want to keep the bar open on a temporary, short-term basis. Obviously any delay in opening the bar is regrettable, but by way of a gesture of compensation, anyone who is now a member of the bar, will be entitled to free membership next year.

5) Womens' Congress. The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) host this event which discussed aspects of college life which are of especial interest to the fairer sex. We've five motions in for this congress which takes place in Carlow. You don't have to be a rep to attend, and anyone wishing to do so should contact the WRO.

Just in passing, I'd also let you know that the Welfare Loan system should be up and running in the next few wks. and also that Dermot Lohan the current SU pres is running for the position of USI pres this year.

That's it for now. The next meeting of Union Council would have falled on St. Patrick's Day, so I'm not entirely sure when it'll be on. However, posters will be up announcing it, so if you'd like to attend please feel free to do so.

Missing you already,

Jonathan Walsh.