The Scholars - What's the story???

RoryOBrien_85

I'm on co-op at the moment and was just wondering what's the story with the scholars? Will it be opened for the first or second semester? Is it going to open at all even?

Peteee

/me cries about scholars....oh how I miss thee!

I possibly saw something about it in the Limerick Leader/Metro (Whatever rag it was) about the SU president talking about the scholars. But cant remember if "St. John" (If that is his real name) mentioned 1st or second semester.

Well, either that or it was a dream about it.

440Hz

Ahhh the million dollar question raises its ugly head yet again!!

zilog_jones

There's a site notice up on the door for plans of redevelopment into a retail area, or something along those lines.

Basically what seemed to be the agreement last semester in the SU was that they wanted to move the SU shop into were the Scholars is, and possibly keep the on-license for function room (the part at the end).

There was debate about making an off-license there, but the Residents Association (Ursula Stokes et al) would most certainly have a collective hernia (a hernia of RAGE).

RoryOBrien_85

A SHOP!!! Are they for real??? That place would be wasted as a shop... The scholars was a class pub. Granted it had it's off days, but it was always great craic especially with the all events they going on there. And we didn't have all this golden ticket crap to get into the stables for xmas daze and rag week because there was another pub there to take the overflow of people, you mosey on over from one to the other freely...

Ahh, many a night of good drinkin' was done there. And does everyone remember the full irish for breakfast you could get there??? Many a lecture missed just for that too... Ahh, the memories...

Something seriously has to be done though.... I mean 1 pub on campus for over 10,000 students (i'm not even counting the sports bar, cos it's ONLY good for the matches or after the gym)... This is UL people, not buckin' trinity like... I feel sorry for incoming 1st years as they will probably never experience UL in it's glory days...

cooperguy

Ya i miss the Scholars. It shouldnt have to close because some tool couldnt manage to run it. There are villages around the country with alot less than 10,000 people in them and they can have alot more than one pub there is no reason why the scholars couldnt be a success.

cornbb

I guess it was a failure cos it was fairly quiet there most of the time, but thats why I loved the place. There was usually somewhat decent music, not like the Free Beer/Wolfe Tones tripe they always play in the Stables. Plus it had the high ceiling, the couches, the finger food, the gigs in the function room...

Sigh. I hate the Stables. I miss the Scholars.

RoryOBrien_85

What about that St.John(SU Pres.) guy? I thought said in his election campaign that he was going to re-open the place...

Any news on what his plans are?

zilog_jones

Dunno about his plans in particular, but what I said above was the general consensus in the SU before he became prez, and I saw the site notice on the door last Saturday.

*Sigh*, ye all complain about the Scholars being closed now, but did any of you go to the SU AGM last year, or the Scholars EGM the year before? NO! Turnover was appaling at both despite this serious issue, and most of ye just sat on your árses and moaned!

The Scholars was a failure because it was not making a profit - you can speculate all you want about Mick Dolan and whoever, but that's the main reason why it was closed, and the SU just did not think it is viable to open it again as it was.

However, one interesting thing I did notice that profits from the food sold there was taken totally separately from the actual pub, i.e. it was the pub part that wasn't making money, not necessarily what came from the kitchen.

RoryOBrien_85 wrote:

A SHOP!!! Are they for real??? That place would be wasted as a shop

They want to move the SU shop there, because in its current location there's feck all space. That place is absolutely jammers every lunch, the store room is miniscule (stuff would be cheaper if they were able to store more stock) and they have been denied planning permission to expand the current shop.

Peteee

cooperguy wrote:

Ya i miss the Scholars. It shouldnt have to close because some tool couldnt manage to run it. There are villages around the country with alot less than 10,000 people in them and they can have alot more than one pub there is no reason why the scholars couldnt be a success.

Quoted For Truth.

Well theres always groody (Our new local tbh) and I was in the stables last night, and they've done the place up a bit.

IceHawk

Well, what the SU was talking about at the end of last semester was putting the shop into the main part of the scholars and opening a sort of casual cafe-bar area in An Phluais. Mostly only bottles and maybe cans, because it wouldn't have much room for storage. Plans looked good, but I think the room is to small.

Incidentally, don't forget the sports bar. That is a bar of sorts, if you like bars that for some reason manage to be completely full, yet contain not one woman.

sceptre

zilog_jones wrote:

*Sigh*, ye all complain about the Scholars being closed now, but did any of you go to the SU AGM last year, or the Scholars EGM the year before? NO! Turnover was appaling at both despite this serious issue, and most of ye just sat on your árses and moaned!

I went. Had a few comments to make and made them. And realistically it wouldn't have mattered all that much if another few hundred students had turned up to either meeting to be honest.

5uspect

TBH the scholars has being going down the toilet for the past few years. I remember my undergrad years there at the turn of the century...

As bad as the Stables may be its well run unlike the pathetic way the Scholars sank.
I've heard a rumour on the grapevine that the SU shop project is going ahead, whatever about serving drink in the function room I hope they may actually serve some decent food.

bluedolphin

ah the ol' mystery of the scholars rears its pretty head again. don't you love the return to UL, reigniting all the old rumours.

The last I heard was that it was becoming the new premises for the SU shop...but then again, I was off-campus on co-op all last semester so not 100% up on the scéal.

Tbh, the stables sucks. It's a joke that on popular nights out (e.g. orientation week, week 1-2, thursday nights, xmas daze, rag week), the majority of students cannot get into the student bar on campus. Sure no wonder there's no campus atmosphere. Why would anyone bother coming on campus to drink in the stables - to get pushed and shoved around, and then queue for 20mins to get a pint in a plastic cup that you end up spilling most of on your way back to your patch of ground? It's a joke.

Down with this sort of thing.:mad:

5uspect

Well thats my impression of a night out anywhere! Stables is no different, apart from the plastic cups (which they had plenty of in Scholars too)
Sadly I've joined the academic ranks of postgradism and now I generally only frequent the stables for a cup of tea in the mornings as my nights are spent in the lab, sobbing, in the corner.

I remember once going in one evening with the lads and being stared out of it by a group of second years we were "TAing" in various modules. Yes folks TAs and lecturers go to the pub and not always for tea...

bluedolphin

5uspect wrote:

...Yes folks TAs and lecturers go to the pub and not always for tea...

:eek: No! :eek:

zilog_jones

sceptre wrote:

I went. Had a few comments to make and made them. And realistically it wouldn't have mattered all that much if another few hundred students had turned up to either meeting to be honest.

My point was that because no one went to the meetings, it kinda gave the SU the impression that no one really cared about the Scholars - most the people who went to the AGM were "the regulars" from clubs & socs (like me) and class reps, so would have gone anyway - this apparent complete lack of interest didn't really give them much incentive to attempt bringing it back from the dead.