Students have said that drastic measures are needed to reform third level education in Ireland following a nationwide protest.
Third level students across the country walked out of their lectures today at 11:11 to protest the cost of living crisis. Students at Trinity College Dublin gathered en masse at the university’s dining hall steps to call for long term supports.
Jenny Maguire, the gender equality officer of Trinity's Student Union, was the first person in her family to attend Trinity College. She explained that issues such as the student accommodation crisis are locking out generation from experiencing a normal education.
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She told Dublin Live: “Students are starving and going without accommodation when they enter college. Today’s walkout was about showing people we don’t live in normal times and we cannot continue business as usual. We have simply had enough.”
Several groups spoke at the protest about how they had been impacted by the cost of living crisis, including the PhD Workers Union. Meanwhile, the USI’s President Beth O’ Reilly told the lively crowds that today’s action was “just the beginning” for students struggling with rising costs.
The government recently granted a €1,000 reduction in students fees in response to the crisis. However, students like Jenny believe that this is not enough to ensure people remain in third level education.
She added: “The USI President said that a once off measure isn’t going to help. We need a drastic and radical change in how we operate third level education in this country. We are a country that prides itself on third level education but I don’t see anything to be proud of as a student."
Trinity College lecturer Niall Kennedy previously told Dublin Live that students but also academic staff are disproportionately affected by the housing crisis. He claimed he knew students who were left with no alternative but to couch surf during the academic year. One student who had no fixed accommodation in Dublin failed the academic year as a result, he claimed.
Trinity’s Student Union are also encouraging students to email their local TDs asking for student supports in response to the growing crisis. They are asking for an immediate ban on evictions, a measure which People Before Profit have recommended to government for this winter.
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