As rain set in over Dublin this morning, the group of students occupying the Dining Hall, as part of the Take Back Trinity campaign, have settled in for their second day of occupation.
Having slept in the building overnight, the cohort of over 50 students intend to remain tenanted in the historical building in protest against Trinity’s decision to introduce a €450 flat fee for supplemental exams. They have been in occupation since 10am yesterday morning, when they peaceably took over the building.
In an email statement to The University Times, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) President Kevin Keane said: “The occupation will continue overnight tonight. The Dining Hall has become the nerve centre of this campaign over the last couple of days, and we are here to show that we are extremely serious. This is not a flash in the pan, this is the beginning of a movement. We are not going to stop until our demands are met, and by extending the occupation, we demonstrate our commitment to change.”
The group has also identified accommodation costs and increases in fees for postgraduate and international students as areas of concern and a general contempt at what many see as the increasing commercialisation of third-level education.
“Personally, last night was an intense but incredibly uplifting experience. We had a three hour long meeting but achieved robust consensus and remain determined. About 50 of us stayed and we had no problems, morale is high!”, campaign member Conchúir Ó Raidaigh said, in an email statement to The University Times.
“I think this represents a transformational moment in student politics, things can never and will never be the same. I’m confident we’re closer to being a real union now, one that engages it’s members from the ground up and operates in a more active, democratic way. We need to conceive of ourselves as a real union, not partners of college but a fighting body with strong allies in the GSU, staff unions, other colleges and society at large”, he added.
The group have a series of lectures planned today with figures including Prof Kieran Allen from University College Dublin (UCD), who will discuss neoliberalism and universities, as well as Gary Daly, a human rights lawyer. Abortion rights campaigner Anna Cosgrave will also offer support at a teach-in, alongside TD Bríd Smith.
Outside the Dining Hall, the group is planning mass lecture addresses, leaflet drops and potentially more action.
As a result of the action, commons – a free evening meal served for Scholars and Fellows nearly every evening at 6pm in the main Dining Hall – had to be cancelled. Indeed, the Dining Hall has been effectively shut off since the occupation began.
Today marks the fourth day of action against fees. Last week students protested outside House One in Front Square, during a meeting of Finance Committee. And, on Friday, students blocked off Front Arch and the entrance to the Book of Kells exhibition for several hours. Yesterday too, after a rally attended by hundreds of students, the group managed to shut off access to the Book of Kells, as well Front Gate and the Nassau St entrance for significant periods of time. The act was one of symbolic as well as literal defiance: students have constantly attacked Trinity as caring more about tourists than students themselves.
Last week, students trolled Trinity online by posting one-star ratings on the Trinity College Dublin Global Facebook page, causing College to delete all reviews and disable the review function altogether.
Yesterday’s action, including the occupation, made national headlines including being featured on RTÉ news. Speaking on that programme, Vice-Provost Chris Morash defended the fees. Reiterating what has been College’s constant position on the measure, he tied them to the need to recoup costs for the introduction of modular billing – which allows students to pay to repeat single modules instead of the whole year – and called the protests “frustrating”.
Correction: 16:49, March 14th, 2018
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that commons is served for Scholars and Fellows every evening at 6pm. In fact, it takes place during the day on Fridays.
