Officers from Technological University Dublin Students’ Union (TUDSU) have launched a blistering attack on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s “ignorance of the struggles” faced by third-level students, after a meeting held with Varadkar in Merrion St today.
Officers from TUDSU, along with Michelle Byrne, the deputy president of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), met the Taoiseach to discuss a number of issues that affect students, including LGBT rights, student accommodation, investment in third-level and climate action.
In a press statement released after the meeting, TUDSU officers expressed “grave concerns” about ongoing inaction from the government on these issues.
The statement summarised the meeting: “It was clear that no commitments would be made on any of these issues as well as demonstrating a chronic lack of understanding of what is happening to students on the ground.”
“The comments made by An Taoiseach show his ignorance of the struggles students go through trying to make it to college with the high cost of living, exuberant accommodation prices and lack of investment in SUSI”, said TUDSU President Pierre Yimbog.
The statement called Varadkar a “Government Minister with a highly privileged background” and said he showed a “glaringly obvious lack of understanding and out of touch perception”.
TUDSU said it is “concerned over certain comments” made by Varadkar about hate crime legislation, LGBT healthcare and education, climate action and investment in third-level education and student accommodation.
Luke Daly, the deputy president of TUDSU’s Blanchardstown campus, condemned Varadkar’s comments on HIV diagnosis and hate crime legislation. “This”, he wrote, “is an attack not only on students, but a dangerous attack on the community from which the Taoiseach inadvertently represents as one of the most influential LGBTQ+ figures in the world of politics”.
By the time of publication, the Taoiseach’s office had not responded to a request for comment.
TUDSU called on students to engage with Break The Barriers, the USI campaign calling on the government to provide fairer access routes to higher education in the form of grant increases, affordable accommodation and improved transport routes for students.
Earlier this month, USI called off its Break the Barriers march due to adverse weather conditions caused by Hurricane Lorenzo.
