THE students' union in the National College of Art and Design in Dublin has described as "very distressing" the decision by the college's aboard to move education students to Carysfort College in Blackrock for the next academic year.

The proposed move, which has been unanimously opposed by the NCAD students involved, follows the decision by the Office of Public Works to take over the Leinster Lane premises, which have been used by the NCAD since the 1830s, for use as a creche for the children of staff in Leinster House.

"The students are concerned that they will lose their identity as NCAD students and they feel that the lack of association with the college will be detrimental to their advancement as art teachers and artists," said Leonie Prendergast, president of NCAD students' union.

"These students will not have access to any of the facilities offered by the campus on Thomas Street, including the library which is an integral part of the academic course in the NCAD. They will also not be able to avail of the doctor the college counsellor and the services of the students' union."

Final year fine art students, who are also currently located in Leinster Lane, will be moved to the priory in Thomas Street at the end of this year. Phase III of the NCAD's building programme at its main campus on Thomas Street, which will house the former Leinster Lane students, will not be completed until 1997.

Ken Langan, assistant director of the NCAD, said the college had "looked genuinely at a huge range of options" but that there was no other live option. He said that the college had a strategy proposal which it hoped would deal with the students' concerns about library facilities and access to doctors and counsellors.