UCG STUDENTS have rejected a proposed £30 increase in capitation, in a recent referendum in the college - a vote marred by a poor turnout.

It had been proposed that £10 of the increase should be used for a new college bar, £10 for societies and clubs and £10 for a student development fund. The referendum apparently had the backing of college president Dr Pat Fottrell, as well as the students' union, which urged a "Yes" vote, but those students who bothered to vote were unimpressed by the proposal.

Of the 8,000 plus students in the university entitled to vote, fewer than 500 did so; some 60 percent of them voted "No".

The result leaves UCG's clubs and societies in the unenviable position of being the most underfunded in the State at university level. Traditionally, UCG's clubs and societies run out of money - well, just around now, as it happens.

"It would have increased the clubs' and societies' funding by 15 to 20 per cent," says a clearly disappointed Joanne Murphy, UCG students union president. The student development fund, which would have given the union scope to develop additional student facilities, has also bitten the dust and the union has also been forced to examine cost differentials in relation to the fitting out of the new college bar.

Work on the bar, which has turned into UCG's own version of the Sistine Chapel given the amount of time it has taken to furnish and equip it, appears to be almost complete. The long anticipated openings is set for next month, a year or so behind schedule - after the college authorities decided that there wasn't enough money available to fit and decorate it.

Since so many union officers have sweated blood to ensure its completion, a crucifixion motif might be appropriate.