Several thousand students walked out of classes yesterday at noon to protest rising student fees, lack of student accommodation, and lack of state funding for TU schools across the country. The walkout, organised with the help of Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (AMLÉ), demanded an implementation of a “full TU borrowing framework” to allow access to funding from the Irish government not otherwise available: other demands included an increase on postgraduate stipend funding, TU Professorship funding, and increased core funding for courses taught in Irish.
“We have been left with no choice but to take direct action once again to highlight these issues to the Government”, said a statement from Gearóid Folan, TUS Deputy Present and AMLÉ representative. “This strike is being taken as a last resort to show the Government that we will no longer stand by while they continue their complacency in undervaluing the TU sector and abandoning their electoral promises.”
Folan referred to his asks on behalf of students who participated in the protest as “simple” and “grounded in a demand for fairness in funding, equality in teaching, equity in learning, and an end to the inequalities that plague higher education.”
One of the primary causes of frustration for the protestors was the lack of “fully develop[ed]” university programs that are entirely self-sufficient “without rubber stamping or collaboration for legacy universities” such as the nearby University of Limerick. Several other students made explicit reference to the promised full €25,000 research stipend, which, as Folan says, was “previously promised and announced by central Government.”
“These asks are simple. TUs are universities — and should be treated as such. We refuse to accept a two-tier education system where Technological Universities are left to the wayside”, said Folan.
“When Technological Universities were proposed, students and teaching staff were promised new opportunities, broadening of the university experience and a revival of the student experience”, said TUS SU President Dara Lenihan. “Instead, students and staff alike are experiencing the mergers as petty cost-cutting measures. We’re not prepared to accept that our TUs and our members are destined for a second class, and this walk-out is intended to signal students’ support for a vision of a better future for Technological Universities”.
AMLÉ President Bryan O’Mahony also spoke in favour of the protest: “As a student who went through the merger process from IT to TU, it’s clear to me that the government had no intention of delivering what they promised. It sometimes seems they’ve spent more money on the new signs on the buildings than progression for staff or the student experience and we’re barely any further on with student accommodation. Technological Universities should mean more than a cost cutting exercise. I commend TU Students’ Union leaders for taking action – every student who can should walk out next Wednesday.”
MTU Kerry, ATU Sligo, ATU Galway Mayo, ATU Donegal, SETU and TUS Midlands Midwest were also said to have participated in the protest, according to Folan’s statement.
