Sports Bar closes today.

Syth

Found out recently that the sports bar will be closing for good today at 4pm.

larryone

='0(

kittenkiller

Any reason why?
It's looked pretty busy whenever i've been passing by recently.

Bri

That sucks. It's always been quiet but packed out when there's a match on or events in the sports centre.

Booo.

larryone

the burser decided one of the bars had to go. pretty much because money was being lost... but not in the sports bar. the sports bar makes plenty of money. the forum bar is the one that's loosing it. someone said 50 euro per hour but i have no idea how much it's really loosing. probably due to crookedness.
so if they close the sports bar, crunch fitness can purchase that space and move more gyn stuff in there. whereas if the forum bar was closed, then what can they do with that space?? so the sports bar was chosen for closure.

alot of poeple are very unhappy about it. the sports bar staff only found out last week, everything was kept as quiet as possible, etc.


grr
arg

Red Alert

The sports bar is the only one that remotely looked like a pub at all. The forum bar is a horrid place full of hacks etc.

blondie83

Ah no, spent the past three years in the sports bar every Tuesday evening after training, now where will we go They should have closed the forum - that place has all the atmosphere of a mortuary...

Blondie86Star

I HATE the forum bar, I havent been in UCD all summer. Is the Student Bar still open

Red Alert

Yeah but after lunchtime you'll only have the jukebox, sky news and the barman for company.

Blondie86Star

Wow, that sounds exciting :rolleyes:
I'd say it'll get busy come repeats?...

larryone

there's been a bit of life in the sports bar during evenings this week. last night was good fun. i saw a few familiar faces. and i drank. alot. 6 pints is alot for me. been hungover today. i hate the thought of going to the forum bar after climbing at the wall. it just doesnt fit... grrr

Jonny Arson

Oh please tell me this is not true. The Sports Bar raawwks! As someone else said it's the only bar that actually looks like a bar and it's the only bar on campus that has that traditional Irish bar feel to it. This is a terrible decision. We all know which bar should be getting the chop if any and its that dull, lifeless F**um Bar.

Boooooo to this decision!

larryone

unfortunately theres nothing that can be said to change it. kinda sneaky thet they did it out of term. if it was during term there'd be a big noise about this...

Jonny Arson

larryone wrote:

unfortunately theres nothing that can be said to change it. kinda sneaky thet they did it out of term. if it was during term there'd be a big noise about this...

Noise has to be made. Anyone know who could I get in contact with to voice my disapproval towards this bad decision?

Mr.Nice Guy

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Noise has to be made. Anyone know who could I get in contact with to voice my disapproval towards this bad decision?

Forget about it. Unless it concerns 'Bush', 'war' or 'oil' no one will want to know.

Damn lefties!

arbeitsscheuer

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Damn lefties!

HEY!!! :mad:
Lay off! We have more important things to worry about than pubs... Well... Ok, that's not ENTIRELY true, a lot of us spend most of our time in pubs, but STILL... Uh... What was I saying... Oh Yeah, Stop pickin on the Lefties!

S'not fair: We're all too passive to fight back...

rainbow kirby

*sigh*
So many good TKD/booze-related memories up there...
Stressing over the result of gradings over the best pint of Bulmers on campus...
The start of so many nights out...
Pretty much falling out of training into the bar...

*sheds a tear*

kasintahan

I was there twice this year.
Once to help a mate with a survey for a masters and once for a boards meet-up that went horribly wrong.

Used to go there back in '99 when all my mates were in first year.
Woah, that was soooo long ago...

arbeitsscheuer

Ah, the first Boards booze-up I was ever at was in the Sports bar.
Wicked.

Never been in the Forum, but I only hear bad things. Damn CrunchFitness, why couldn't they have just moved into the Forum Bar and left the (profitable) Sports Bar alone?!?

I wish I'd gone there more.

kasintahan

I was in the forum once too, alone. Met my sisters friends there and promptly left.

Mr.Nice Guy

SebtheBum wrote:

HEY!!! :mad:
Oh Yeah, Stop pickin on the Lefties!

S'not fair: We're all too passive to fight back...

You're very up front though when you want me to support your wacky ideas!

SU member: Hi there's a rally coming up in opposition to the Iraq war.

Me: I support the Iraq war actually. God bless America! Bringing democracy to the Iraqis.

Su member: :eek:

Me: And this concerns the SU how?

Right is right!

Mr.Nice Guy

kasintahan wrote:

I was in the forum once too, alone. Met my sisters friends there and promptly left.

That must've been a fun night!

larryone

Dear Sir,

As one of the few students who have remained in Dublin for the summer I was appalled to see a notice appear in the UCD Sports Centre on Monday the 11th of July 2005 stating that the UCD Sports Bar would be shut as of Friday the 15th. This has come as much of a surprise and to the upset of the students, post graduates & sports players, who are aware of the situation, who use the UCD Sports Facilities as well as the Sports Bar as a Clubhouse.

The UCD Sports Bar was established in 1991 and not only does it serve as a Clubhouse for over 40 UCD Sports Clubs but it also serves the hockey & soccer players who rent the pitches from the UCD Sports Centre (e.g. Genesis Hockey Club, RTE). The walls of the Sports Bar are decked with photographs and newspaper clippings about various UCD sports victories and it has become a time capsule for the history of UCD sport.

The most disgraceful aspect of this turn of events is the fact that the decision to close the Sports Club has been rushed through by the authorities, out of university term time, when there are hardly any students in Dublin never mind a presence on campus to contest the decision. The formal meeting where the Sports Bar’s fate was decided only took place on the 30th of June 2005 and the bar is being shut on the 15th of July. The Sports Committee, who run the Sports Bar and who strongly object to its closure, have received minimal communication in relation to the issue from the UCD Authorities. The justification for the Sports Bar’s closure has been that there is not sufficient trade to warrant two bars at one end of campus. The next question that comes to mind is why then was the Forum Bar built in 2001 when the Sports Bar had been successfully trading, making a substantial profit for ten years? It is important to note that all the profits that the Sports Bar make go back to the Sports Committee and are reinvested in the UCD Sports Clubs.

Present at the afore mentioned meeting were the UCD Authorities, one member of the Sports Bar Committee versus three Forum Bar Committee members. This hardly sounds like a fair and democratic process to me especially considering that numerous rumours have circulated that the Forum Bar has been struggling since its establishment. Sources that have seen the accounts have confirmed that The Forum Bar hasn’t made a profit since it was opened and has actually been operating at a loss. Thus no one can blame them for backing the closure of the Sports Bar because it would mean that they might be able to break even at the end of the next financial year as a result of the additional trade.

I would also like to express my disappointment with the Student President who is a member of the Forum Bar Committee and has been involved in the discussion with the UCD Authorities with regards to the closure of the Sports Bar. As Student President his first and foremost responsibility is to ensure that the students whose views he represents are upheld. So why has the Student Union not instigated a vote to be held to decide which bar should be closed (The Forum Bar or the Sports Bar) as soon as students return to college in the autumn? The process to reach this decision should have been democratic. There is still time for the situation to be rectified, the decision could be reversed and reassessed in the autumn. If we can’t attain democracy at university level how can you expect the current generation in UCD to believe in democracy at a state level?

Yours sincerely,
Geraldine Brennan





#################################
this letter was posted on the mountaineering club notice board.

email president@ucd.ie and supresident@ucd.ie if you want to stick it to the man

i think we should all make as big a noise about this as possible. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF MANY VOICES SPEAKING AS ONE!

blondie83

emails sent - here's hoping they'll do some good, at least I finally got to stick letters after my name

HEY!!! Lay off! We have more important things to worry about than pubs... Well... Ok, that's not ENTIRELY true, a lot of us spend most of our time in pubs, but STILL... Uh... What was I saying... Oh Yeah, Stop pickin on the Lefties!

S'not fair: We're all too passive to fight back...

Seb you're a leftie?! Oh dear oh dear /*shakes head*/ how did I not see this coming...

boneless

Hey Seb!! Us lefties will have to watch our backs here... a united front will have to be formed.

And the Forum Bar sucks... I was never in the Sportsbar so I can't comment on it's demise.

arbeitsscheuer

blondie83 wrote:

Seb you're a leftie?! Oh dear oh dear /*shakes head*/ how did I not see this coming...

*Sulks*

We'll show you, oh yes, we'll show you! :mad:

(If we can stop bickering amongst ourselves for five bloody minutes that is)

Jonny Arson

Ok I'm in the middle of left/right..... what does that make me then??? Am I the only one or do I to conform to one of your sh!tty sides?

Anyway emails to be sent ASAP. Won't make a difference anyway as the Students union is only for the hacks and normal everyday students don't have a voice.

So when does everyone else think they will be shutting down the F**um Bar? We all know it's sh!t and they will shut that down in a year or two when it continues to lse money.

Oh building a bar in the Arts block would be such a great idea..... seriously.

uberwolf

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Am I the only one or do I to conform to one of your sh!tty sides?

could you work on the not being such an angry young man thing?

:rolleyes:

tribulus

uberwolf wrote:

could you work on the not being such an angry young man thing?

:rolleyes:

lol

zane you're the hulk not me

funny that the sports bar closed yesterday and today there's signs up all over campus saying that the forum is reopening on the 16th i.e today - was that closed too for a period???

Young Siward

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Oh building a bar in the Arts block would be such a great idea..... seriously.

Sure it already exists!
Hmmmmm take over of the staff only members club....there's an idea.

kasintahan

SebtheBum wrote:

We'll show you, oh yes, we'll show you! :mad:

*cough* you need someone 'taken care of'? - kas, the non-aligned merc.

Glowingmind

larryone wrote:

I would also like to express my disappointment with the Student President who is a member of the Forum Bar Committee and has been involved in the discussion with the UCD Authorities with regards to the closure of the Sports Bar. As Student President his first and foremost responsibility is to ensure that the students whose views he represents are upheld. So why has the Student Union not instigated a vote to be held to decide which bar should be closed (The Forum Bar or the Sports Bar) as soon as students return to college in the autumn? The process to reach this decision should have been democratic. There is still time for the situation to be rectified, the decision could be reversed and reassessed in the autumn. If we can’t attain democracy at university level how can you expect the current generation in UCD to believe in democracy at a state level?

Conveniently the president isn't in the country - he's decided to go on holiday. He also decided no to get his holiday time authorized by the su executive which is what he's supposed to do according to the SU constitution. He's also managed to screw over a bunch of students(albeit hacks) during the holidays by appointing his mates to paid positions withing the union.
Not that any of this is actually a surprise - you get the union you vote for.

Sarn

I was in there on Friday for a couple of pints just before it closed (watching the golf). It is sneaky closing it while there is no one to object. Apparently the Forum re-opened on Saturday (it closes every year for the Summer) to make up for the closure.

I have to say though the bars are dead at this time of year, the student bar the previous Friday when we went in had one customer and the barman. Good for getting a game of pool though.

larryone

Geraldine, who wrote the letter in my last post has gotten a reply, which was also posted on the moutaineering club message board. it's there for anyone to read, but please dont go ranting about stuff there unless you're a ucd mountaineering member. their message board is linked to frum their site www.ucd.ie/mountain

makes for interesting reading.

Vainglory

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Ok I'm in the middle of left/right..... what does that make me then??? Am I the only one or do I to conform to one of your sh!tty sides?

Anyway emails to be sent ASAP. Won't make a difference anyway as the Students union is only for the hacks and normal everyday students don't have a voice.

So when does everyone else think they will be shutting down the F**um Bar? We all know it's sh!t and they will shut that down in a year or two when it continues to lse money.

Oh building a bar in the Arts block would be such a great idea..... seriously.

Apparently it wasn't actually a straight choice between the forum bar and the sports bar, the guy who had the lease for the sports bar didn't want to renew it so their decision was kind of made for them there.

Jonny Arson

Vainglory wrote:

Apparently it wasn't actually a straight choice between the forum bar and the sports bar, the guy who had the lease for the sports bar didn't want to renew it so their decision was kind of made for them there.

Well you can't do much about that. Now I don't know much about running of bars etc. but surely could they have not found somone else to lease the Sports Bar? The Forum bar will not last that much longer unless something massive is done to change it.

Vainglory

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Well you can't do much about that. Now I don't know much about running of bars etc. but surely could they have not found somone else to lease the Sports Bar? The Forum bar will not last that much longer unless something massive is done to change it.

Yeah I agree, the place is dead...I know I only ever go to the Student Bar..

But I think there are plans afoot to revamp the forum bar anyway, even to continue a sort of sports themed area upstairs to make up for the closure of the sports bar. Best guy to ask about that would be Anthony Kelly the Ents officer, he'd be happy to fill you in about it I'm sure.

Red Alert

It's just terrible - but now's the time to push for the Forum to be re-done properly, because now that there's no choice at that end of campus the forum will be able to coast along and still have zero atmosphere:

* Get rid of those TV's - they are in ridiculuous locations.

* Get some good music on the PA, also get one of those Sound Surfer jukeboxes like the big bar instead of the crappy one. (See next point:)

* Do something about the lighting - it's very deadening. Even some disco-type lights might be good in the inner area to set the mood at night. As well as giving a bit of mood lighting for gigs.

* Get a projector and big screen.

blondie83

We had to go to the forum last night after training - now I don't mean to alarm you in any way, but I have to report that shutters went down over all but a very small bit of the bar at 10:15 :eek: If they insist on doing that every Tuesday night there's gonna be problems! I agree about sorting out the sound and getting rid of the tv's, hopefully upstairs will be nice if they ever get it sorted (not holding my breath on this one )

larryone

even more interesting stuff on the mountaineering club notice board......
this time it deserves a posting here:

Ger: Interesting Development - See below for Anthony Corballis response to my letter to Fergal Scully & his reply.........
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
To those involved in this communication:

To Quote Fergul Scully:

The college authorities have no say in the running of the Forum Bar other than its nominees on the committee.

Secondly we were informed that the licensee of the sports bar did not wish to take up a renewal of his license. This coupled with the fact that sports wished for more space lead to the decision to close the sports bar.



Firstly the college authorities have no say in the running of the Sports Club (Bar), they to not even have nominees on the committee. The only act they have is in signing the liscence renewal form.

Secondly the bar space is next to useless for Club activities. The licensee did not apply to renew the liscense as he was under the impression that there was a desire for new blood to take over the running.

Lastly

"..lead to the decision to close the sports bar"

Now Fergul who exactly made that decision and why wasn't the Sports Club (Bar) committee consulted PRIOR to the decision to close the Sports Bar. There seems to be some considerable misinformation about exactly how this all came to pass. Why was the Forum Bar Committee party to the decision to close the Sports Bar whilst the Sports Bar Committee left in the dark.

I hope you can set the record straight on this matter. You could understand the anger of both the Sports Club's and Sports Club (Bar) Committee as I assume that if the roles had been reversed and a meeting of the Forum Bar Committee was called at which is was anounced that a decision had been made to close the Forum Bar without you having been consulted would cause you some concern.

Yours in sport,

Anthony Corballis.

Chariman Sports Club






his number was also attached to the post, i just decided not to put it on boards.ie, but it's there on the mountaineering clubs website if ye're really desperate....
Larry

larryone

the plot is getting thicker.
there's another post on the mountaineering club message board...

<QUOTE>The Sports Centre requested the liscensee to continue operating the bar on a tempory basis up until July 15th. During that extension period, a consultative group was set up to consider the options arising as a result of the termination of the current license arrangement. The group included myself (Eamonn Ceannt), the Vice President for Students, the current president of the student's union, the incoming president, the student entertainment's officer, the director of sport, the director of buildings and the student's union financial manager....

The unanimous view of the group was that the students and other users would be best served by operating one well-managed facility rather than two adjacent competing facilities.

For a number of reasons, not least that the Forum bar was a purpose built facility with the potiential for future expansion if required, it was agreed that the Forum bar could readily encompass the service previously provided by the Sports bar

....

Whilst it is the postion of the college that the Sports Bar must close I will work with the Forum Bar to further a better facility for all. However I will also continue to seek for the decision to be reversed. As you can see from the Bursar's letter he considers, you, James and the Ent's officer to have been central to the decision to close the Sports Bar. Rest assured that I will be in further communication with him on the matter. You may wish to clarify matters with him directly.

Yours in sport,

Anthony.

</QUOTE>

at least there's people high in the chain of organisation that are fighting to get the sports bar re-opened!!

larryone

sorry - that quote might not make a huge ammount of sense out of context. the bit above those 4 dots is itself a quote from a letter aparantly from the Bursar, whereas the paragraph at the end was written by the guy who actually signed it...

Jonny Arson

larryone wrote:

The unanimous view of the group was that the students and other users would be best served by operating one well-managed facility rather than two adjacent competing facilities.

The view of the group may be right there but sadly they haven't had the intelligence to shut down the right bar.

Red Alert

Anyone on for threatening a boycott of the forum to the incoming SU president?

Red Alert

Here's an email I sent - I held back on any mention of boycott, but check it out:

James,

In your new capacity as S.U. President, I'd like you to clarify please
exactly what your role regarding the sports bar closure. Is it true that
this was done as a result of there being an out-vote by representatives
of the student's union & forum bar commitee at a decision-making meeting?

Many of your union members such as myself follow sport passively and
actively participate in UCD's sports clubs. It is a downright shame that
what was a great showcase of some of UCD's best sporting moments, as
well as a warm and welcoming meeting place for users of the sports
centre, is being removed in this fashion. Also note that the sports
clubs which badly need it will no longer get any of the operating profit
from it.

The cloak-and-dagger approach used leads myself and others to suspect
that the S.U. were complicit in all of this. If this is what we voted
in, then it bodes very badly indeed for the coming year. The approach
that the S.U. appear to be taking is that the unpopular Forum Bar's
revenue can be increased by closing what was a very popular facility for
both sports participants and spectators.

To either conspire to do this, or alternatively to let it be done
without any opposition is an unacceptable failure on your part as
president of the Students' Union. I hope you will clarify your position
and take appropriate action immediately.

BlackDot

As Chairman of the Sports Bar Committee I would like to thank people here for their support.

However while the actions of the previous SU President and current SU President should probably be well questioned in relation to this matter, and asked if they were truely acting in the interested of the students a more profitable use of peoples time would be to express your views to the people who have the power to reverse the decision:

President Dr. Hugh Brady president@ucd.ie

Vice President for Student Affairs Prof. Mary Clayton mary.clayton@ucd.ie
Bursar Mr. Eamonn Ceannt eamonn.ceannt@ucd.ie

I would be happy to answer questions in relation to the matter and can be contacted at: anto_corb_2@o2.ie

Anthony

NeilJ

One of the main reasons for the lack of success running the forum bar is the refusal by the college, in particular the students union to allow the bar more freedom of how it's run. The two managers who ran that bar both left within a year of each other because they were sick of how they were treated. They were both lovely guys particularly Jim and really loved the student clientele they worked amongst. Whilst I don't agree with the Sports Bar being closed maybe now this will help with the forum bar. That and the health sciences moving next door. Up until now the main bulk of people using the forum bar have been science students who when they do go out know how to have a good time, but who are usually busy until five most evenings. Unlike the student bar which is besides the arts block, whose students are finish they're day about . . . . actually when do arts students start their day??? Still Forum bar is cool IMHO but sad to see Sports Bar go, evil college, bah, stupid money decision makers, cutting off alcohol supply, bah :mad:

Neil

larryone

I've always found the forum bar ok. It can be great if I'm there with a good crowd. I think the forum bar really lost something when Jim left. But the sports bar has always been my favourite by far.

I seem to recall something about the forum bar being limited as to how much stock they were allowed have on the premises (by who i'm not sure) and that led very often to the taps running dry. Literally.
"pint of miller please"
"we've none left"
"ok, got carlsberg?"
"nope, all out of miller, heiniken and carlsberg. only larger left is bud"
*shudder*
- This used to happen with monotonous regularity. And usually about ten thirty.

joejoem

The forum bar is nasty, its like a GAA hall. I had wondered why it was closed the other night. On Monday evening I was in by the Eng block and there was a good bit of party noise travelling around, was there something on?

Jonny Arson

joejoem wrote:

The forum bar is nasty, its like a GAA hall.

Anything connected to GAA is nasty.

What a sh!t sport and organisation......... blah

John_C

I don't know any more than anyone else but I don't buy that the SU wasn't involved in this. Whenever a decision is made by the college without the SU being consulted they kick up a stink and organise some kind of protest. They reacted much too calmly to this for me to believe that they were meerly informed of the decision. Added to this is the fact that two SU representatives are on the university's governing authority I don't see how they could back up their claim that they knew nothing of this untill after the decision had been made.

They are very protective of their independance and of their ownership of the new student centre, I don't believe for a second that they allowed the college to nominate four more people to the bar's management committee out of a spirit of goodwill, that was clearly part of a deal which they struck.