Irish students occupy politicians office as Budget Day nears

Posted on Saturday, December 03, 2011 at 04:53 PM

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Budget Day is Tuesday 6th December

Eight Irish students have refused to leave a local politician's office as the occupy phenomenon hears an echo in the student movement and Budget day fast approaches.

The students told Ireland's national broadcaster RTÉ that they have chemical toilets and food to last a week – and they aren't going anywhere unless they are forcibly removed or the poltician in question (Anthony Lawlor, FG) commits to voting against any grant cuts or fee rises in parliament.

The student occupation, led by protesters from Maynooth SU, is just one such incident in the past few days.

Nine students who took part in an occupation and roof climbing of Galway TD Brian Walsh's constituency office were released without charge on Thursday, while earlier in the week the Union of Students in Ireland led a brief sit-in protest at the Department of Social Protection, after having earlier attempted similar protests at the Labour Headquarters.
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The hotly anticipated and feared Budget 2012 is to be published this coming Tuesday, December 6^th, at 4:30pm, and is widely expected to include the first of several measures aimed at increasing the cost of third level education, which many fear will force students out of college.

Ireland currently charges students €2,000 (~$2,600) per year for college education, but political leaders have made clear that the figure will have to increase in the face of ever-rising student numbers and ever-falling resources.

As Ireland's economy continues to weather stormy waters, a surge in students seeking out a haven in higher education has placed an unprecedented strain on government resources not equipped to deal with the surge in demand.

Labour Party TD Ruairí Quinn has also come under heavy criticism after effectively reneging on a pre-election pledge not to increase or stand over a rise in college fees should he come to power.

That pledge has already been broken and students have no reason to believe that the same thing won't happen again this Tuesday.

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7 comments

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merefalow | Dec 05, 2011, 12:45 PM EST

higher education to university should be determined by grey matter not wealth,as it was in the past only for the sons of the rich,or the army etc where commissions were bought,some things dont change and its still like that,but we should fight like hell to make sure we make it as fair as possible,the conservatives in uk have remained true to their elitist past by putting up uni fees to 9,000 pound a year disenfranchising a generation of working class kids,9.ooo to a professional man is nothing,to a working man its everest,looks like we are going backwards,least the uk students mounted a decent protest about it even though they paid a heavy price for it.in my opinion the working classes are under serious threat,this crisis was not of their making,non of those whose making it was, have been held to account but the working classes are supposed to pay for their greed,warmongering and profligacy..WAKE UP.

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greensod | Dec 04, 2011, 04:22 PM EST

jacersagain:How right you are,Berlin in where they need to be making a little noise. The politicians in Ireland have sold their souls.

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eiriamach | Dec 04, 2011, 02:20 PM EST

Irish third-level education was set up on the belief that anyone capable of and willing to learn should not be held back from advanced education by lack of money. That hope seems to be crumbling now. rpmschevy asks, "Of course you have no problem with someone else paying your way, right?" Right, because the benefit of that education goes to both the graduate and the people whose taxes finance it. Education is a public as well as a private good! It serves the nation in better laws, better traffic engineering, better care of the environment, better technology and industries, better health care, etc. ... better quality of life for all, as well as better income for the graduate. In the USA we are getting closer and closer to a system in which only the wealthy can afford any quality third-level education. As the Occupy Wall Street protestors point out, the lives and fortunes of the 99% are more and more controlled by the interests of the 1%. Ireland learned the sweet side of capitalism from the American experience. Will it see the mean-spirited side in time enough to avoid putting education under its control?

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newnation | Dec 04, 2011, 10:14 AM EST

well done on counting past 2 Murph, there is high schools in Ireland that charge that much too, they are called private schools! people who have money send there children there, the point of the article is that every third level institute will raise there fees significantly therefore meaning people from less privileged back-rounds will not be able to afford to get educated, which is unfair. do you get it????????? what the hell is wrong with you?

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Murph46 | Dec 04, 2011, 10:00 AM EST

$2,600 a tear for college? There are High Schools here (U.S.)who charge twice that much!

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jacersagain | Dec 04, 2011, 09:37 AM EST

Sorry.. that shouldbe Katla volcano.

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jacersagain | Dec 04, 2011, 09:35 AM EST

All the protestors are barking up the wrong tree... they need to go to Merkel’s and Sarkozy’s offices and to those of the ‘Troika’ to forcibly make their point. I’ll tell yez something for nothing... something’s going to blow very big soon... and it won’t just be Iceland’s Kukla or Grimsvotn volcanoes.

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