Fionn Rogan | Deputy Opinion Editor
In six days time, we, Irish students, will be shafted by the government once again, this time in the form of the Budget for 2013. It will include hikes in the Student Contribution fee and, most likely, severe cuts to the Student Maintenance Grant. The Education budget will be severely reduced and this will have ferocious and drastic consequences for thousands of students across Ireland; and, ultimately, we will have invited it all upon ourselves. Some may argue that students get unfairly treated in the budget and bear a larger brunt of the cuts when compared to other sectors. I say we invited the savage cuts because we have allowed ourselves to become a flaccid and impotent force in Irish politics. In recent years, we have demonstrated to the government that we are, essentially, a lucrative cash cow that doesn’t complain too loudly when we’re bent over and taken from behind. Our whimpering protest has become all too welcoming for a cash-strapped government.
In recent years we have demonstrated to the government that we are essentially a lucrative cash cow that doesn’t complain too loudly when we’re bent over and taken from behind.
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The fact of the matter is that the Irish Nation is €130 billion in debt, and that debt is increasing by €1000 every three seconds. Cuts simply have to be made – that’s the nature of the situation. The reason why we are targeted in particular is because the Irish student body has lost not only its bite, but its bark, too. While workers in other sectors, such as Health and Agriculture, can go on strike and have a tangible effect upon the country, we students are not so well equipped. If we strike, ultimately we are the sole victims, as we lose out on an education. Therefore, we must consider our options and examine what is available to us as part of the average student activist’s arsenal. The USI, our sole representative body in national matters, has opted in recent years for a lobbying approach. However, this approach to highlighting student issues for the government has been relatively ineffectual, as there is a fatal flaw to the tactic. In order to successfully lobby, the individual or group must possess some sort of significant influence. The USI unfortunately does not, as it represents students who are currently educating themselves so as to one day procure an influential position in power but remain relatively powerless till then. The fallout from this miscalculation is the unceremonious shafting of the Irish students, as we remain an easy target.
Attending the USI Pre-Budget Submission in Buswells Hotel this morning one could not help but realize the severity of this problem. The glossy event attended by prominent members of the Irish media and political class quickly descended into a cacophony of political white noise interspersed by tragic sob stories. The USI President, Joe O’Connor, wished to highlight the importance of the Maintenance Grant to Irish students, emphasizing the drastic consequences that any cuts to it would have for its beneficiaries. Denise McCarthy, Vice President for Welfare, pleaded with the Government to keep ‘names not numbers, stories not statistics’ in mind when thinking of cutting the Maintenance Grant in the budget. Two beneficiaries of the grant drafted in to share their stories and provide a face to the grant, bolstered their pleas for benevolence. A great deal of rhetoric surrounding the notion of ‘dreams being fulfilled by third level education’ was employed, but served to be ultimately useless, as the fact of the matter is that the government is not in the business of fulfilling hopes and dreams, and rightly so. Our education is an investment in us by the state in the hope that they will be able to make a sizable return on us in the future in the form of taxes, which will be subsequently used to educate the next generation. I have no problem with this set up, but when people, especially the USI, start to believe that the State will be prepared to preserve a grant for fear of upsetting someone and quashing their dreams, we, as students, have a serious problem! Even if they think this is a valid reason to protect the grant, they still failed to offer the government an ultimatum. I asked Joe O’Connor what will we, as students, do if they cut the grant. I wanted to know what possible consequence for the government could there be if they touched the grant. I was informed that a Student Electorate Database had been set up and USI hoped to attract 50’000 students to submit their name to it. It’s an admirable project, but once again, it would be completely ineffectual. Whilst highly politicized, students remain one of the most inactive demography in the voting public! This should not always be mistaken for apathy though, as the sheer impracticality and expense of returning home from college to vote proves too much for many, and thus results in low turnouts for students in elections and referendums.
Ultimately, what the morning in Buswells confirmed for me was that the Irish student is shagged with the upcoming budget unless something drastic is done. The lobbying approach has failed to produce any results and needs to be scrapped. Irish students need to reconsider their options and take another look in their arsenal, and find that the greatest tool we have to provoke public discourse and reaction is the spectacular protest. A campaign of serious and far-reaching civil disobedience is required to revitalize the student’s position in Irish politics. We have laid down and submitted for too long, and now we need to actively defend ourselves with the only means available to us.
I appreciate that cuts need to be made, and I don’t wish to preserve the Education budget at the expense of Health, or other equally important departments, but perhaps a possible suggestion could be no cuts should be made to any of these sectors until the endemic culture of corruption within the government has been tackled. There are several TDs within the 31st Dáil that are party to a variety of dodgy practices involving abuse of expenses, bribery and tax evasion. This could be a cause that many people could place their weight behind. I approach the issue from an Education standpoint, but I’m sure members of the public service and other citizens could approach it from a broad spectrum of positions.
I appreciate that cuts need to be made, and I don’t wish to preserve the Education budget at the expense of Health, or other equally important departments, but perhaps a possible suggestion could be no cuts should be made to any of these sectors until the endemic culture of corruption within the government has been tackled.
Organized properly, with a particularly strong emphasis on discipline and built upon the nature of fairness and respect, such a campaign could gain real momentum and would ultimately wield huge influence within Irish politics. With its message of anti-corruption it possesses the moral high ground. With an emphasis on discipline and respect, where no abusive or violent behavior would be tolerated, the campaign could garner itself the image of a rational and right-thinking force, which is always very difficult to argue with. With no affiliation to any political party or political ideology, it becomes a uniting force that everyone could support. The general reasonableness of its simple claim, that there will be no cuts to vital or important services till corruption and wastage within government are ousted, should be universally accepted. And, ideally, it would begin with the students, because we have so much to lose, and so much to gain from doing it.
