Watch Sky news tomorrow night and you'll see what 50,000 Irish university students would have been up to during the day.
Press
Release
Massive
student protests in Ireland against dramatic budget
cuts
DUBLIN – An estimated 50,000 Irish students will hit the streets of Dublin on 16 November in an attempt to avert a dramatic increase of their tuition fees. The Irish government is expected to announce an increase in their budget plans, on 7 December. Tuition fees in Ireland currently stand at 2,000 euro. Chairperson of the European Students’ Union (ESU) Allan Päll said: “We strongly oppose this development which runs across students all over the European continent. Reduced public financing will lead to extra financial burdens for students. Eventually this will lead to less people being able to study. Is this really what the Irish government wants?"
Aengus Ó Maoláin, Education
Officer from the Union of Students (USI) in Ireland –ESU
member - said: “Before the general elections, the Labour
Party and Fine Gael promised not to increase fees or cut grants. Thousands of
students voted for these parties for that reason. And now, when the students are
most in need, those same parties are turning their back on us”.
Dublin looks also set reduce the
already inadequate funding for disadvantaged students by a measure of several
percent. This happens in response to the European Central Bank’s extreme cost
cutting measures imposed on Ireland after a hostile bailout by
the EU-ECB-IMF troika in 2010. The campaign website from USI can be found here:
www.stopfees.ie.
-- END
---
Published: 16 November
2011
For more information, please
contact:Allan Päll, ESU
Chairperson: +32/479.591.499 or allan@esu-online.org
Aengus Ó Maoláin, Education
Officer from the Union of Students (USI),
+353833723161
Marianne Slegers, ESU
Communications Manager: +32/473.669.894 or marianne@esu-online.org
9 comments:
I thought the grievances of the lady in the caption were related to the bus service rather than budget cuts
... and one student in Malta had the cheek to complain on TOM that his stipend had not been increased to cover the cost of living increase! Do we really understand what's going on out there?
I see the point of your post, or at least I do hope that I do. However, I do find it rather pointless to refer it directly to a person who simply protested over what is acknowledged by most to be a very poor public transport service. Students in other EU countries have to face spiralling costs and they protest. A student in Malta protested over insane commutes. Was it such a faux pas?
Dear Lou,
I'm writing anonymously as I fear that your style of journalism/political activism has degenerated into the terroristic Facebook witchunts that have become the order of the day in Malta.
Even if I may concur with some of your views and analysis, I think it's unfair to target Nicole Abela Garrett, who may have expressed her views in a very unorthodox manner, but with the undeniable frequently misguided passion of youth. I'd rather have a thousand of her than a bunch of crisp-suited automatons.
She might even rue her outburst one day, but leave that to her, and stop hounding an anonymous dissenter. There are many other people who could be hounded for graver misdemeanours.
If it's because Minister Gatt is somewhat related to you, I feel you, but now stop itm as you've recently advised re. potentially malicious/spurious news items about JPO's divorce.
You may not agree with my view, but I trust that you'll appreciate the spirit of my comment.
@ Anonymous - You are obviously not reading this blog carefully. This is what I had written on Garrett: "As a 20-year old, Nicola' Abela Garrett might be excused for calling minister Austin Gatt a 'fucking wanker' and writing 'f'oxx ommu' (her spelling) on her facebook wall. Her feistiness is rather refreshing."
Oh how labour wished it had this situation in Malta
An unrecognisable Lou Bondi indeed.
Picking on a 20-year-old girl won't get any prizes, Mr. Bondi.
But what's the alternative? Stay put, say nothing and thank our lucky stars that we live in a near perfect country?
At least by stamping her feet it eventually led to a great improvement in service. (which Dr Gonzi will personally take the credit for, being chairman of the TUSK force)
@ jb - read my comment above.
Post a Comment