College Bar Discussion

22moomoo

I'm interested in hearing peoples views on the college bar and ways it could be improved.
For example what do people think of the price of drink in it or its opening hours?
Should it be the venue before college balls.
Should it be extended in some way or a new bar/venue be built altogether?

Let me know what you think!!

Atomic Pineapple

22moomoo wrote: »

I'm interested in hearing peoples views on the college bar and ways it could be improved.
For example what do people think of the price of drink in it or its opening hours?
Should it be the venue before college balls.
Should it be extended in some way or a new bar/venue be built altogether?

Let me know what you think!!

Price for a "student bar" is ridiculous! opening hours are a bit of a joke too.

For the college to have a proper bar it has to be bigger in a better location and have student friendly prices and offers.

In maynooth the su own the bar there and its also used to host some events including proper music gigs.

In I was in charge of the dkit bar and had the money I would do the following:

-Scrap the current location, its terrible

-Build a new purpose built building somewhere on the campus, although where is the problem the only areas that there are space would not be suitable, the area where the old canteen was would have been perfect with its own entrance

-It would have to be at least 3 times bigger than the current bar with a purpose built stage, no pool tables! a jukebox that works

-Keep it student friendly, open late and €3 a drink on nights there are balls on and have the buses going from the bar to the college ball venue (if the su would ever stop putting college balls in the town, if the venue is in the town no one would bother with the student bar)

-have proper gigs in it with proper bands not the repetitive cover bands you see there week in week out, have it tickets to cover the cost of the proper band

you would have to deal with the fact that a lot of dkit students live in the surrounding estates and it's cheaper and just as much craic to sit at home drinking with a group of friends, the only way to deal with this is to provide a venue with good live music, not too loud though, good atmosphere and relatively cheap.

just my 2 cents (the bar is one of the biggest let downs at dkit)

22moomoo

I agree with a lot of your points however some of them would take longer to implement than others. It should be possible to reduce the price of drink immediately. Some would argue that this would not be possible due to running costs etc. But this leads to another point.

The college bar is supposed to be a not for profit entity but talk around the college indicates that there is a hefty profit being made. I have also heard that the facility is being rented in the evenings by local groups (dance troupes etc) who must pay to use it. I would be interested in finding out where this extra revenue goes. The accounts of the College bar should be made available to every student in the college.

Atomic Pineapple

I agree some of my points are for the long term.

As far as i am aware the college bar is privately owned so its definitely going to be making a profit while keeping costs down. The drink is as expensive if not more expensive than anywhere else in the town. So I'd assume the extra revenue goes straight to whoever is privately running it.

I was at college in dkit in 2002 for awhile, dropped out and went back 4 years ago but back in 2002 I remember there being drinks promotions on in there the whole time. You never see that anymore.

Surprised no one gives out about it, If I was SU president or Vice president it would be one of the first things I'd look into

horseydevine

Just to let yous know that the bar isn't rented out to groups at night because I lock it up after normal closing time..
The coronas were meant to be in the college bar however the student union had other ideas..
the bar is open on the morning of the "wedding" in rag week and there is a possibility it will be open late on Monday and Tuesday of rag week.

They are good points brought up and we did have a bud promotion for a number of weeks, however if drinks were cheaper the downside is we would be refusing drink to more people as there are some who just cannot handle too much of the good stuff..

also not too many of the college students would be interested in the account books for the bar

for us coming from dublin, 4.30 for a pint and 3.50 for a measure is a fine good price and i dont hear too many complain about it.

FunkZ

In the TCD bar you can buy cans of Bavaria for 2 euro, they're ice cold and taste great.

If feckin' TCD students can get that, we should be able to get the same to.

I also think we should get a fcukin' massive projector screen in there and show all the matches on it, at least the Liver pool ones anyway

Atomic Pineapple

horseydevine wrote: »

Just to let yous know that the bar isn't rented out to groups at night because I lock it up after normal closing time..
The coronas were meant to be in the college bar however the student union had other ideas..
the bar is open on the morning of the "wedding" in rag week and there is a possibility it will be open late on Monday and Tuesday of rag week.

They are good points brought up and we did have a bud promotion for a number of weeks, however if drinks were cheaper the downside is we would be refusing drink to more people as there are some who just cannot handle too much of the good stuff..

also not too many of the college students would be interested in the account books for the bar

for us coming from dublin, 4.30 for a pint and 3.50 for a measure is a fine good price and i dont hear too many complain about it.

The bar is too small at the minute to hold any decent bands in it.

Didn't think it was rented out alright, its not exactly suitable for groups of any kind to use.

I've seen plenty of people in it that were way too drunk to be there alright, I've had my head wrecked plenty of times by some drunken randomer, so it happens whether the drink is cheap or not.

The price isn't bad compared to normal pubs, however as students were used to having discounts on stuff cos were poor

22moomoo

Ok that eases my mind to know someone isn't milking a student amenity for their own personal funds!!

But in all seriousness the college bar isn't a normal pub, so prices should not be the same. Nobody is asking for drink to be subsidised, just remove the huge profit margins. Another examle is 1 euro for a dash of blackcurrant and tap water - it cant be justified.
Just like the college restaurant, its not a normal restaurant, it is there for the students yet we are forced to pay over the odds for sub-standard food (and this feeling is backed up ny most of the students in the college).

Another good point is football matches, surely the bar could open for big games or "The Game Of The Week"!! Plenty of students looking for a break on a wednesday night.

Also horseydevine coulld you point me in the direction of the accounts of the bar or evenlet me know who or what organisation runs it?

Atomic Pineapple

22moomoo, if you have the time I'd suggest you put together a clear and concise survey with questions about the bar and maybe the canteen too.

Make sure its a thought out survey and not just banged together though, then get the SU president to send it to all students, If you get 200 - 300 + students to do it then its a good representative of the college as a whole.

I'd then suggest putting together a mini report and send your findings on to the SU, college heads and if possible the people that run the bar and canteen.

I agree with you on the restaurant too, the old one wasn't any better in the food stakes but at least it was cheaper!I rarely eat there as its too far away to walk, its over priced and its below par food.

you can make the survey here - http://ww.surveymonkey.com and if you want any input or help send me a pm (if you decide to do it)

horseydevine

22moomoo, the bar is run by campbell catering. there head office is at clarehall in dublin. they won't be willing to give them out though. There are plans for pro evo on the wide screen but they are still in the pipeline. also let me clarify that i dont charge for a dash in a pint class and we dont charge for a dash with any spirits..

Also i understand about the TCD bar and it is a good point and plans are in the pipeline.

Also we have been throwing people out over rag week for acting the B***x and i enjoyed it!!!!

we are also open for Champo league and Irish matchees

20 Times 20 Times

horseydevine wrote: »

22moomoo, the bar is run by campbell catering. there head office is at clarehall in dublin. they won't be willing to give them out though. There are plans for pro evo on the wide screen but they are still in the pipeline. also let me clarify that i dont charge for a dash in a pint class and we dont charge for a dash with any spirits..

Also i understand about the TCD bar and it is a good point and plans are in the pipeline.

Also we have been throwing people out over rag week for acting the B***x and i enjoyed it!!!!

we are also open for Champo league and Irish matchees

Hello Al

horseydevine

whats da story pal haha

Ramiriquez

The only problem I have with the place are the prices. Don't particularly care about the location, enjoy most of the bands and the staff are sound both inside and out of the bar.

Last week was great craic (except for the lack of ice for my Bulmers lol), plan on tearing it up there for my birthday monday followed by a session in The Malthouse and a drunken night in Amber.

p.s. Glad Howlers shaved the beard, he was starting to resemble a hobo

Atomic Pineapple

horseydevine wrote: »

Also we have been throwing people out over rag week for acting the B***x and i enjoyed it!!!!

There is some awful ejits about during Rag week!

22moomoo

horseydevine wrote: »

also let me clarify that i dont charge for a dash in a pint class and we dont charge for a dash with any spirits..

I'm always charged for my blackcurrant so i'll have to co to you in future!

You obviously work in the bar horsey so cheers for the heads up about the accounts. I will be looking into getting them as a part of a big push to get some more transparency in the way things are done around the college.

I didn't know the bar is opened for irish games, maybe it needs to be promoted a bit more, after all the bar should be the centre of the social scene in the college!

Atomic Pineapple

22moomoo wrote: »

I didn't know the bar is opened for irish games, maybe it needs to be promoted a bit more, after all the bar should be the centre of the social scene in the college!

Agreed, flyers through the letterboxes of the houses in Rockfield, college manor, college heights would greatly increase people attending games at the bar and in the evenings

focus_mad

22moomoo wrote: »

I'm always charged for my blackcurrant so i'll have to co to you in future!

You obviously work in the bar horsey so cheers for the heads up about the accounts. I will be looking into getting them as a part of a big push to get some more transparency in the way things are done around the college.

I didn't know the bar is opened for irish games, maybe it needs to be promoted a bit more, after all the bar should be the centre of the social scene in the college!

yeah i work in the bar i'm the fella that can carry 5 pint glasses in each hand haha. Changed the aul profile so new name!!! the flyers for the matches will be taken on board by the way.. asked a reliable source (me aul fella) and he said because campbell catering is a plc the accounts should be available or at least someone should tell you where to find them.. any other suggestions for the bar?? Did everyone enjoy the Family Guy night? Do you drink in the bar reguarly?

Atomic Pineapple

In 1st and 2nd yer I had a house in Dundalk and drank maybe once or twice a week in the bar, in 3rd year I had to drive up and down and now the same for 4th year so with that an the increased work load I've only seen the bar once in the last teo years!

As for more suggestions, it seriously needs at least a makeover, the place looks garish and terrible, and for some reason it feels wierd when your in there, it has a wierd open feeling that lacks atmosphere or something.

Ramiriquez

In all honesty, do you think finding the accounts for the bar and seeing that they (may) make a nice profit on the drinks will do anything to drive down the prices?? You may as well try and get your hands on the Malt House accounts while you're at it! Both try to cater to students and both have, in essence, nothing to do with the college itself.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see cheaper prices. I spend enough time and money there and that is really the only gripe I have with the place. Although at times the having to have a DkIT student ID can be a little annoying. Sean has explained his reasoning for this but I think at times a 'sign in' book system could be implemented.

We hear enough of 'this bar isn't run by or affiliated with the college in any way' when asking about prices. Surely the same argument could be used in asking why you must be a DkIT student in order to drink there?

Rant over :pac: