Officers of the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), alongside other organisers, held a protest outside the Department of Justice, chaining themselves to the railings of the steps. Demanding a reversal of visa refusals issued to Gazan students by the department.
The University Times reported that the Department has refused 103 visas for Palestinian students, approving 39.
The sit-in began at around 4:30 pm and involved all of the Sabbatical Officers except Finn Halwood. Former TCDSU Presidents and activists László Molnárfi and Jenny Maguire were present, alongside Trinity BDS chair Sean Radcliffe, and Trinity Ability Co_op Chair Chi Iloduba.
Around 20 people attended the protest. At the onset of the protest, Garda presence was reportedly high but eventually reduced to two officers, who remained at the scene for the remainder of the evening.
The Student Union had not issued advance notice of the protest, barring a press release from President Amy Kennedy condemning the department at 4:05pm. The protest featured signs like “Save our Scholars” and remained relatively quiet throughout the evening, though Kennedy, Postgraduate Officer Ava Tuohy, and Trinity BDS Chair Seán Radcliffe and others remained chained to the steps of the department all evening.
At around midnight, Kennedy released a statement on Instagram, explaining the rationale of the protest: the deadline for the acceptance of the visas is the 17th of September. According to the statement, the SU had been working tirelessly for months to ensure these students’ acceptances, and for the past few weeks, working on appealing to the Department of Justice. Kennedy described the rejections and actions of Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan as “blatantly unfair, discriminatory, and racist,” and “void of any humanity, empathy, compassion, or understanding […].” The statement ended with a call for the Department to approve the visas by the deadline.
At 3:55am, TCDSU Communications Officer Matthew Kurt released a statement explaining that protesters have “no plans of leaving until the visa rejections are reversed”.
The members gathered lasted through the night, with numbers growing to about 30. The protest is expected to continue until either the visas are approved or protestors are forcibly removed from the site.
