Today, roughly 1000 students marched in a “Fuck the Fees” protest, demanding the abolition of the student contribution fee (which currently stands at €2,500), the closing of the higher education funding gap, and investment in student housing.
Delegates from all corners of the island attended, including the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU/AMLCT) and unions in Galway and Cork.
TCDSU/AMLCT said, in a statement, “The protest calls for the government to properly fund third level education. Currently, Irish students pay some of the highest education rates in Europe.”
Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éireann (AMLÉ), the national students union in Ireland that also had a delegation, said the current cost of living crisis is “destroying” the higher education sector.
In a statement, AMLÉ said “The Government cannot claim to be securing Ireland’s future whilst making it impossible for young people to build one here. Students today face an affordability crisis, where rising rents and chronic under-investment make it increasingly difficult to access education. Meanwhile, our Higher Education Institutions are being asked to do more, with less, as this government continually fails to meaningfully address the core funding gap identified within its own reports.”
AMLÉ specifically called on the government to scrap the current Student Accommodation Strategy given the current 50,000 bed shortfall for students and invest in student-specific housing. As far as the abolition of the student contribution charge, AMLÉ called on the government to reduce fees by €500 in Budget 2027 and to commit to “a multi-annual funding plan to abolish the student contribution charge within the lifetime of this Government”.
The protest began in the Garden of Remembrance at 1pm, and moved to Molesworth Street outside the Dáil by 1:30pm. They were greeted by a stage with a student band playing Fontaines DC, and the protest turned into a concert.
The Irish Universities Association (IUA), which represents eight universities including DCU, Maynooth University, Trinity, TUD, UCC, UCD, UL and the University of Galway, have expressed their support for the protests. In a statement from their Director-General, Paul Johnston, the IUA endorsed the calls for closing the funding gap, calling for the removal of the student contribution charge to alleviate the financial pressures. The IUA highlighted that the state provision of money per student in university is “Less in real terms now” in comparison to 2008. They also expressed hope that this protest will be a “Decisive moment” ahead of the release of the 2027 Budget on Tuesday.
The Postgraduate Workers Organisation contacted the University Times regarding their support of the protest against the “Rising cost of living, poor working conditions and increasing precarity”.
College also allowed students to be absent from classes and labs to walk out for the fees protest. Earlier this week, Provost Linda Doyle called on the government to invest €190 million in higher education.
