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Petition launched over students’ union redevelopment that could threaten “iconic” Belfast venues

By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 22 January 2016

Over 7500 people have signed a petition against plans at Queen’s University in Belfast to redevelop its students’ union complex into a new ‘student centre’, which would impact on the venues in the building, including Mandela Hall, Speakeasy and Bar Sub.

Campaigners say that the venues are not only important to the student body at Queen’s, but to the music and clubbing scene in Belfast in general. The petition claims that the student centre plans could result in the demolition of “some of Northern Ireland’s most iconic music venues and student entertainment hubs”, and that the proposed development – the design for which the university has now put out to tender – has been pursued to date “without prior consultation with the student body”.

Though the President of the SU, Caoímhe McNeill, says that the conversation about redeveloping the building has been ongoing since 2011 and plans are based on student feedback. She said in a statement: “The feedback highlighted that our students want to see investment and improvements to the students’ union building. Based on this the university embarked on a feasibility project in partnership with the students’ union and I have been involved in the project”.

She added: “It’s a project very much in the early stages but my priority is, of course, to ensure that if the redevelopment goes ahead that it serves the needs of Queen’s students and provides them with a full range of support, advice, representational, developmental and commercial services that will significantly enhance their experience at the university”.

You can read up on the full petition here.