IN CRAWFORD College of Art and Design, part of Cork RTC, the woodworking department has been a consistent cause of concern. Although plans are now in train to replace the facilities, the safety of students is believed to have been put at risk because of the poor state of repair of the woodwork shed.

According to an internal college memorandum seen by Campus Times, the workshop is a "health hazard", with mould growing on the walls due to constant damp. Part of the room floods when it rains and the water then comes into contact with the wiring in the room. The power to the room then has to be cut off, in order to prevent any nasty incidents of electrocution.

The memo explicitly states that "the safety of the students is put at risk" by the current facilities. The workshop is to be replaced this summer.

"Slowly things are improving but there are still huge areas that need to be developed," says Nickie Dowd, president of the students' union in Crawford College. She believes that multimedia education has been neglected, the library is under resourced and an additional full time technician should be appointed but, as she points out, art and design students have learned to grit their teeth and keep going.

"We can survive," she says. "We could do with better washing facilities and other improvements but we can survive. That's one of the things that happens with art colleges. We say we can survive with these conditions, but other colleges wouldn't put up with it."