UCD students' union and many societies at Belfield have bitterly criticised the college authorities for the way in which they implemented a new exclusive multi-million pound banking contract with AIB. The University Observer reported that students distributing flyers for the Drama Society, which had been sponsored by Bank of Ireland, were told to cease doing so.
The instruction came because, by handing out the Bank of Ireland-sponsored leaflets, the students were apparently in violation of the terms of the contract which provided that no promotion on the campus by any bank other than AIB was allowed.
No one, it seems, had communicated the information about this restriction to any of the societies on campus. And even now there is much uncertainty as to what is allowed. There have been no problems with Bank of Ireland sponsoring freshers' week events.
The trouble is that no one seems to know exactly where the line is drawn and there are fears this could affect later sponsorship deals.
"No one has been properly informed about the ramifications of the deal," says UCD students' union president Carol Fahy. "The union and clubs and societies are still asking: `what can we do?' "
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