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margaret
I am sick of hearing reports were students are being made a poor example of. It is true these young people can be guilty of disorderly and drunken behaviour but it is exaggerated when it is in the midst of sectarian violence which many of the students know little about or even care. Unfortunately a large majority of students were caught out at the wrong time "enjoying " themselves during a festival which can only be seen in a distorted light because of the disordered political views in this land. Those who were arrested were mainly not students. I am a student myself and it baffles me that many people still hold sectarian tensions as I have yet to witness it in student circles I have been in of mixed religion and race. However there is a strong sense of bigotry reigning in some parts and it is kept alive not by young students but grown adults who are already educated. Everyone makes mistakes when they're young give students a break and stop making them a scapegoat for the failings of the adults in society!You'd think people living in belfast had never witnessed a riot!!!!!This was a riot based on stupidity and inexperience not years of grudges and a desire to murder. I certainly do not condone the actions of the students but the negative response they are receiving is unfounded and shows a severe lack of understanding.

james,lower ormo
dats a loada bals,day wer just havn bita crak nd d peelers broke it all up, wat do yez xpect from kids dat r drunk, far enuf, sum dem wer getn on lyk hoods bu it jst shuda bin dem getn der tym spoilt n nat evry budy lyk, cmon man

Joe Holylands
Grow up the lot of you. "Police brutality", "heavy handedness"...Police are accused of that in every country all the time, this isn't a forum for your boring same old anti-PSNI attitude. Be quiet and let them do their jobs the way they've been trained to, and stop armchair criticising them and their decisions. It's frustrating to see people actually think police drive about intimidating people!

lesley
I think that any students seen rioting (there are plenty of videos on u-tube)should be automatically expelled from the universities. Who supplies them with the money to become blocked enough this. I am a pensioner but still have to pay tax and I would hate to have my money going to these thugs especiall as they are the professionals of the future who I may depend on

a Wee Student
I think this remark about a republican ghetto is totally unfounded. St paddys day is just a celebration day like those that happen throughout the year. It is worth noting that the majority of those arrested were not students however we always seem to get the brunt of the blame. Also the reports shown on the television and those coming from the holy lands itself are not supporting

Ryan (Student)
By describing the Holy lands as a Republican Ghetto this whole incident is made a political issue. It was not secterian violence in any way, in fact it was far from a riot. The majority of students broke the law by drinking on the street, but the minority threw bottles and attacked police. It was interesting that the BBC refused to interview students, sober students as to what had happened.Surely there is two sides to every coin. It may also be noted that in towns such as Bandbridge and Rathfriland, public drinking openely occurs in view of police during the 12th celebrations. Where is Robocop then?

joseph
i cannot wait to move out of the holylands, inhabitants of the area show very little respect for others and their property. when the drink is in, the wit is definitely out - but how much fun can it be to get drunk, cause trouble and shame your family by appearing on the evening news? get a life

Pearse holyland student
Last year on Jerusalem street a resident unprovoked burned out five cars and damaged 2 more 3 police cars and two fire engines attended.. culpret was asked to come with the police for questioning. compare that to paddys day five cops throwing a girl into a police van because she was aggrovated by police and semi drunk hardly a proportionate action.police tolerate students in the holylands with horrible contempt and as a nuisence(bad spelling). so why do they seem so concerned and eager to get involved in the holylands when they can blame the students...

Richard Holylands
This is getting ridiculous the amount of hearsay and conjecture I have seen and read over the past two days anyone with a tongue in their head feels they know all about a situation i saw with my own eyes i live on carmel st and firstly can i say that there were no cars burned and that most of the bottle throwing occured on agincourt avenue and the people who threw the bottles then ran out of the student area and down the ormeau road and just one last thing a friend of mine was threatened with a knife in his own living room on carmel st by a belfast girl of 15 or 16 years but yet the police who were situated outside the door let her walk out the door and through their cordon while they persecuted students.Also if the comment wants to talk about the bbc being politically correct i was present when a certain interview was given to the bbc from a holylands resident later when watching the news i was shocked to see how much the interview had changed as the bbc had removed the resident criticisms of police brutality against young woman perhaps the bbc would like to offer an explaination of this?

Eoin, Holyland Student
The way the news have dealt with this story is a joke! Portraying students as the trouble makers even though only 1 of the 5 people who appeared in court today was a student. Also the heavy handed and intimidating tactics that the police used seemed to be overlooked by the media throughout this whole story.

pat
i thought the representative from queens university was ridiculous, he spoke a lot but actually said nothing. he kept going on about drinking and young people, but didnt condemn their actions and certainly didnt mention anything about expelling the students responsible. On the other hand i was very impressed with the representative from UUJ, maybe Queens should take a leaf out of their book and be seen to take action.

Adam, Holylands
Students were only enjoying themselves. The cops were driving about all day intimidating people, and looking for trouble!! They started the violence, it would be better suited taking these extreme actions on the 12th of July when real hooligans are causing sectarian trouble, and drinking on the streets!

Kev, Palestine
The Police are too heavy handed in the Holy Lands area, driving around in armoured vehicles when there is no need for this. The trouble is always started by non students living in the vicinity and the Police target the students thus sparking a reaction.

Angela Lynch
It has nothing to do with Republicanism, its to do with the drink. These people are teenagers and you are as bad as the hooligans if you say its to do with republicans!!

Jerusalem street student
Nationalist and republican minded the majority of holylands students may be... But after witnessing what happened the bbc failed to mention who was actually throwing bottles etc. Indeed there were drunken idiotic students who did not help the reputation of the student population however it was indeed youths and yobs from the ormeau that were involved in the throwing of missiles. Another indiction of misinformation was from the interview of an elderly lady in yesterdays news. From her own mouth she stated to the cameras that the police in her view assaulted two women only the Irish news picked this up. Also where was the car burned at???? yes i feel sorry for the owner rediculous activity and it cant be condoned but there was also supposed to be fireworks thrown.... no there was not and to cap it all the police i must stress a select few were acting in a most unprofessional manner antagonising female students with disrespectful winks and blowing kisses... In this case this only inflamed a situation that the police clearly over reacted to. Let me be clear i am not condoning the actions of a few idiotic students and fellow cohorts but the rediculous campaign to smear students names so badly is purely politcal and the media in many cases has made a circus of the hole thing

Barbara, Dundonald
Those hooligans don't deserve to be in Higher Education. They should be expelled.

Kate Lavery
I think the students who where involved in the riots should be expelled from the universities. It was only a small number that where involved in the trouble but many looked on, I think the police make it worse by provoking a reaction from the students. If the police just left them be, there would be nothing to riot about. Thank you.

Eric Beckett
The five students who have been charged following trouble in Holyland area of Belfast should be expelled from all Universities

julie maguire
there would have been no trouble if the cops had have stayed away from the holylands on tuesday,its well known that students will always make a big deal out of st patricks day, and putting police in the middle of the holylands in riot gear was done specifically to provoke violence!!a union jack was burned....no different to what members of the loyalist community do on their 12th of july celebrations, burning effigies of the late pope. riot gear is safely tucked away on that day.....moral of the story...cops in riot gear no doubt getting paid overtime aggrevated the students, so of course there will be resistance!!well, thats what common sense would tell you!!however the riot police and UTV cameras having arrived at the same time just in time to get some recording and editing before the news at 6 was just priceless, and bringing dogs too??made great TV and nothing else.as usual the media blew EVERYTHING out of proportion to give students a bad reputation....i am not a student, nor did i have anyone belonging to me arrested, however, i was at a friends house on Fitzroy Avenue, and seen the riot police standing in a line facing the party crowd for a long time before they did anything....only because nothing was happening for them to sort out!!PSNI presence provokes violence....thats what they wanted, and thats what they got.If anyone syhould be ashamed of themselves it should be the PSNI. They caused their own riot.

Walter Berry
Whilst the violent and disgraceful behaviour was, and will continue to be,totally unacceptable I feel that every disciciplinary action should be imposed on those resonsible but falling short of expulsion.The of expulsion threat should be discussed and brought right up to the wire.The proper authority for dealing with this criminal activity is the legal system and appropriate sentences should be passed.

J McCabe
yesterday's trouble by students was a disgrace They should be expelled by the universities

Lindsay
I hope these students get thrown out of university for what they did. It was unacceptable and if that is how you behave you are obviously a waste of education. As a student myself I'm mortified.

george
yes i do they should just expell all of them just boot them all out and dont let them back until they learn

Ann McCrea
Our universities are too soft - My daughter went ot Uni in Scotland and a guy there was expelled for letting off a fire extinguisher. All those involved in the trouble should be expelled and there would be no trouble next year. No other University would allow thier students to behave in this manner. Behaving like this in public is only for thugs and not people who are going to become professionals and leaders in this community.

Fiona
Im a queens student who chose not to live in the holylands for obvious reasons. Your report has failed to adress Belfast tech students who also live in the holylands clearly the Belfast metropolition college should be made accountable how will it punish offenders?

Hugh Cox
The Universities are doing all that they legally can do. It is very difficult for the Universities to prove who actually caused trouble and who was just an observer - the Universities are not in-loco-parentis and have no control over what students do when not on university property. This problem is partly caused by the city council and the planners allowing too many developers to cram too many people into a small area (despite warnings from many years ago) and by the failure of the Universities to provide sufficient dedicated student accomodation in Belfast.A more immediate amd practicable solution might be to hold the landlords who have profited significantly from the presence of so many students) accountable/liable for the actions of their tenants and for the City Council to insist that landlords hold their tenants to the terms of their tenacy agreements; most of which will include clauses about behaviour and or damages on penalty of eviction.

Elizabeth Dunn
Need to stop this being acceptable behaviour for students.Can't hide behind the excuse of 'alcohol made me do it' and 'just letting hair down'. Breaking the law should have consequences. Community service,curfew, fines and or grant severance.Have a signed code of behavior to follow as a 'contract' between the erring student and Uni body. Three strikes and your out of Uni. It is not 'an impossible task' as the Queen's spokesman said, it's a problem that needs to be faced and dealt with.Surely students have sufficient brain cells to keep themselves in Uni by behaving within the law and with consideration to others and still have a 'good time'.

B Beattie
The Universities should expel those who caused the trouble as they will bring our educational establishments into disrepute.

tasha
i dont think the university is held responsible because is the students fault what get up to but the behaviour was disgraceful

Gordon
Pure and simple - any student identified as having thrown items at the police or displayed any other violent act should be expelled and made an example of. Those identified as having taken part in the "SS RUC" chanting and or generally being rowdy should be fined or put on final warnings. It is long past the time to start thinking of the residents who are under siege in their own community.But what is the problem? Personally I feel that the students are taking more of the criticism than they should be the St Paddy's day escapades. As rowdy as the normal students are the problem is heightened at this time by their drunken friends coming up from home, who are off work or school for the day. They come to Belfast for a day of wrecking and dont care what effect this had on local residents.Another issue that must be considered is why so many Uni of Ulster students are living in the area in the first place? Their campus is approx 10miles away, what need do they have for being in the area at all?Being from the countryside I can see another problem. Alot of these students causing problems are more than 40 miles away from their parents and feel they can get away with this bad behaviour. More must be done to educate these students from their first day on how to act more civilised when living in Belfast. Its time for the Universities to act, and to act decisively. Too long have they hid behind their hollow disciplinary procedures and ignored their community responsibilty. The residents need actions now.

jason lester
the universities need to make an example of these four students and expel them. a clear message needs to be sent out to students living in the holylands area, that the universities will not tolerate their disgraceful behaviour

Jap Sigh
No universities should not be held responsible...give the bad students a slap on the wrists and tell then not to be at it again...to expell a student would be a bit harsh...it may happen tho so the universities can make an example of them... if the police wernt there there would have been no agro...alot of hype over a few drunks.... i was there...a huge over reaction

Sean Smith
Why should q.u.b be held responsiable for the actions of students,will be watching to see if the r.u.c take the same action against drunken loyalists before and after the 12th.

Robert Adams
the governing body of Queens should show the same courage as the U.Ulster and start by exspeling ALL offenders charged by the P.S.N.I

Scott Gibson
The universities need to hold all those students responsible for their actions. Expulsion for the rioting students has to be must, and the universities cannot just blame alcohol for this situation as these students took the drink themselves knowing that this situation could arise. They must be dealt with and not swept under the carpet.

NORMAN
They say that the students are the future of tomorrow if last night repsents the future heaven help us

Aine
Its important to remember that only a handfull of people were taking part in the disturbances; most of the people shown on the news report were just on-lookers. I think when reporting the news you should stop emphasising that it was "the students" causing the bother and stop tarnishing all our names.

Gerard Grogan
In your report it was cited that the problem was that the student density was larger than the area in which they were being housed. However, if you look at decent cities across the UK with large student populations in small areas such as Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester and I especially cite Liverpool from experience; the size of the area that students are housed is not the problem, it is the students themselves, I believe the problem is at the feet of the morons of this country that attend university

Ormeau Road Resident
These students should no doubt be expelled. The police however must take some blame as they allow the local bar to open for service at 9am and serve alcohol until after 3am. This bar allows students to drink untill they can no longer stand then throws them onto the streets to cause havoc.

Barry Crawford
these people give decent students a bad name.if universites expelled them ,then it would stop.universites must accept they are too soft.

Michael Mc Gleenan
Load of balls, cops and the media blew it out of proportion

Seamus O'Hearcaig
Those identified as riotersshould be sent down. SH

louise
The students that are found guilty should automatically be rusticated

Bob Donnelly
This disgusting behaviour should be met with resolute action by the Universities. Anyone charged or identified, as having participated in this drunken riot should be expelled. only then will the students take notice.

Trevor from co Tyrone.
The Police officers injured in the holylands riot and local councils should take civil legal action against the arrested students for damages re injury and the price of the clean up. Hit them in the pocket.

Nicci
Universities need to provide more housing for students-many are living in rat infested, crumbling, over occupied houses so it is little wonder that some students dont respect these areas. In addition, it is my understanding that people have started to travel to the Holylands area for the now traditionally annual riot/party- give this issue less media attention, let the police respond as necessary but also consider how would individuals respond on the 12th of July if they were not allowed to drink alcohol or party on the streets.

Joanne Ballentine
The trouble in the Holyland area of Belfast yesterday is totally unacceptable and the universities should be held accountable. We should encourage learning and knowledge to help improve life in our world,but what have the students involved on the 17th March learned, and what will they learn if the universities do not take strong action against them. What hope does N.Ireland have for the future if our students behave only like thugs and idiots. I thought you needed some amount of intelligence to gain a place at Uni. Obviously not.

Harry from Portadown
Expell any students arrested

Josie
A lot of these students come from families who live elsewhere, their families should be made to pay compensation to the people who live in the holy land area and whose cars were destroyed. These students should also be kicked out of University and made to do Community Service cleaning the streets of Belfast. They should be told that if they wish to continue in study then it should be done from home by correspondence course. I feel sorry for the people who have to live in that area and the business owners who are trying to make a living in that area.

Holylands student
I got robbed a few months ago and it took the police 50 minutes to get there, which is a joke. When there are some drunk students making noise they have riot police who provoke them if the police didnt turn up there wouldn't have been any riots. Also homeless people drink on a daily basis in the holylands/Botanic area and i have seen the police on numerous ocassions walk past them. The police have got there priorities wrong! When you need them they will do nothing for you.

Jen
All those arrested and up in court should be expelled. Its a disgrace. I am a student myself and I'm embarassed to say that after whats happened. The Uni's cant be held responsible as they cant control what their students get up to. If you applied to their Uni with a conviction - you more than likely wouldn't be accepted so why should they let them continue their course if they are convicted?

Mr Ferguson
The students that were arrested or caught on news camera causing disturbances should be expelled or fined as an example to others in the area.

C Holmes
Any student who is charged should be expelled by the university

Sambo Dinger
oi like wa they should be alright it there students like wa