Students in the Merville apartments have condenmed the response of campus security and Residential Assistants to the ‘Black Monday’ riots in Merville apartments.

An altercation between two students that began in an apartment on Finlay Square in the Merville complex at about 10pm Monday 18th January led to a large-scale drunken brawl breaking out on the pavement outside.

One student involved in the altercation described the RAs as being “completely unable to control the crowds”, commenting that the riot was only brought under control after members of An Garda Síochána were called in to disperse the crowds.

Several other students approached The University Observer to express their anger at the late arrival emergency services and the delay in dispersing the crowd.

Another nearby resident questioned the slow response of the campus security services, noting that it was only “after the Gardaí arrived that that the security vans showed up.” A unit of Dublin Fire Brigade and an ambulance were also present at the scene.

One man was injured and required treatment by the ambulance team for a head injury, and witnesses confess they were surprised more people weren’t injured.

Gardaí at the scene took the names of some of the students involved in the brawl, but it is unclear whether the students in question will face legal proceedings, or any disciplinary action by residential management or by the university itself.

The argument reportedly started with the refusal of one occupant of the apartment to allow entry to another group of students who wished to joing the party ongoing inside. The group then set off the fire alarm, which attracted the attention of the on-duty Residential Assisant (RA), who arrived on the scene as the altercation was breaking out. As the residents evacuated the building, the altercation between the two men that had begun upstairs, escalated to involve thirty to fifty people.

The University Observer could not contact the management of the campus residences for comment at the time of going to press.