LAST week's conferring of qualifications on 835 students from Dundalk RTC was a muted affair, after college lecturers were directed not to attend the ceremony following a decision by the college authorities to change the date of the conferrals to November 1st.

Under existing work practices, November 1st (All Saints Day) has traditionally been a free day in RTCs, which means that lecturing staff are absent from the college.

Despite representations from the local branch of the Teachers' Union of Ireland, which represents lecturing staff in the college, the college authorities insisted on the change of date, leading the TUI to issue a directive to members not to attend the conferring ceremony.

"It's traditionally a day when a lot of the lecturers see their students for the last time," says Mark McKenna, president of Dundalk RTC students' union. "There has always been a party atmosphere surrounding the day but this year there was no party atmosphere at all."

Dr Tom Dooley, the chairman of the college's TUI branch, says that the decision to direct members not to attend had been taken "with regret and accused the college authorities of intransigence on the issue.

"College management should respect existing work practices and operate within existing agreements," he said.

"They should not attempt to unilaterally after work practices on a whim."

According to college sources, the conferring ceremony has always been held on the Friday before or after the Bank Holiday weekend. It was decided to hold it on All Saints to avoid students missing two Fridays in a row but there was no demand on staff to be there if they didn't wish to attend.