REPRESENTATIVES of three political parties visited UCD last week at the invitation of the students' union to see for themselves the problems of overcrowding and the pressure on student facilities in the college.

The representatives were the Progressive Democrats' education spokesperson, Helen Keogh TD, Fianna Fail TD Tony Killeen and Lorraine Glendenning, representing Eric Byrne TD of Democratic Left.

They were told of student concerns about inadequate grant support and capital investment, the continuing burden of fees on post graduate and evening students and the lack of automatic student representation on the college's governing body.

"We spent the year lobbying a large number of back bench TDs from all parties, just explaining to them in a non confrontational way what the issues affecting students are, such as grant reform, libraries and inadequate lecture facilities," said UCD students' union president Loughlin Deegan.

UCD's library facilities are of particular concern to students. There are 3,000 library seats in total in the various college locations, yet since 1986, the date of the building of the last extension to the UCD library, student numbers have increased from 12,000 to over 16,000.

Computer and photocopying facilities are similarly overburdened, while cuts in library funding and the introduction of a £2 inter library loan charge have placed additional pressure on students seeking study materials.

Professor Fergus D'Arcy, Dean of Arts in UCD, who met the delegation, was highly critical of the Government's failure to extend grants to evening students and said that if there was one gift he could have from Government it would be "fully funded support for evening students".