“It’s time to stop pretending you care about the students”. Harsh words from a harsh reality, that of student life. It’s an oxymoron in of itself, whereby it’s the ‘best time in your life’, but we’re also forced to protest in Dublin City Centre? On Thursday, 1st October, that necessity flourished into reality when an estimated 1,500 students joined forces at the Garden of Remembrance and marched to Leinster House. Their plea? Fund Our Future.
The aims of the protest, in conjunction with the Aontas na Mac Lé inn in Éirinn (AMLÉ) and all third-level student unions across the country, were three demands for change. These core aims include the abolition of the student contribution charge, the delivery of state – backed and purpose – built student accommodation, and the final aim being to close the funding gap, whilstproviding support for commuters.
This protest marked over a decade of frustration building up amongst students, one sense with one student’s view that , “The idea of student life I was promised is already dying”. This false promise of the grass being greener in the paddock of third-level education, was the spark that lit the flame under a melting pot of varying emotions. Many students felt happy; happy because action is being taken to make their voices and struggles heard. Amongst this, some felt nervous whilst many felt angry due to the continuing ignorance and blind eye being turned to the plight of students. The air was filled with defiance, and a desire to revolt against what many revered as, ‘false promises’ from the Government.
Looking to the Constitution of the AMLÉ, we can find a core belief of the Union, being that “AMLÉ believes that students have a right to a decent standard of living including the rights to financial support, proper housing and future prospects of employment in Ireland”. This represents their role in third-level education. To support those living the day-to-day in their journey through third-level education, and to defend their fair and just interests and rights.
This reflects the strong need and desire for change amongst thousands of students. This was demonstrated in the scenes and energy that reverberated through the mass of students. Raucous chants of, ‘When student rights are under attack, stand up, fight back!’ echoed the streets of the City Centre, whilst signs held by protesters stated, “We are not cash cows”, whilst other signs pleaded that, “This is not okay”.
As the roars, signs and students inched their way through the City Centre, many passersby cheered as the protest moved by. It’s easy to forget that those looking on may have children in third-level education and are well familiar with the struggles enveloped within it, or having been students themselves. Nonetheless, the support was greatly appreciated as the march continued.
On approach to Leinster House, music blared from a stage setup to platform countless speeches, demanding action and recognition for student struggles. Presidents of Unions such as UCD and TUD took to the stage, to angrily proclaim the demands of the masses below them, towards Leinster House. The energy of the crowd soared as the speeches progressed, with the President of AMLÉ, Daniel Walsh proclaiming, “This is the dawn of a new day for the student action movement”.
In a quieter sense, many stories and feelings of heartache, hardship and desperation seeped through the cracks of the crowd. Many that I spoke to had stories or knowledge of the struggles that themselves or those around them endured. Stories recalled the unreliable bus services, in the early hours of the morning which marked hours long commutes to college and back. Others furnished me with the failures of SUSI in all regards.
Speaking of failures, members spoke of the hardships they faced within TU colleges across the country. A lack of funding in their colleges, alongside a rising difficulty in being able to support their students in financial hardship, has driven them to the streets.
A depressing energy arose in many of the conversations, as students told me how their social lives were sacrificed to the jaws of reality, alongside their bleak outlook on the future. That was a common theme amongst the students; there is no future for them now and into the far future in this country, unless something changes.
I was graced by the real and difficult words of the students out there, with one student declaring that the Government are, “forgetting an entire generation”. It’s not lost upon me, the effects of student life and the rising negative associated with it. It struck me to the core, seeing so many students band together in hopes of change, in hope of a better future. Ending on the irony and truth from one student to another, “Remember, we are your future”.
