http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1103/education.html Violence has broken out between gardaà and students in Merrion Row after riot gardaà forcibly ejected students who had occupied the lobby of the Department of Finance in Dublin city centre. Violent scenes are continuing between a large number of riot police, gardaà and students. Some students have bloody noses and one student has been carried away, possibly unconscious. Some students have expressed deep upset at the outbreak of violence. Mounted gardaà and armoured vehicles are also at the scene. Earlier, a number of protestors occupied the Department of Finance and several hundred students staged a sit-down protest outside the building. The unrest follows a student protest in Dublin city centre against plans to increase registration fees by third level students has ended. Thousands of students earlier marched to Merrion Square, where they were addressed by student leaders, among them Union of Students in Ireland President Gary Redmond. The march was organised by the USI, which has said any attempt to impose cuts on students will meet with strong opposition. It said earlier it expected up to 25,000 students to attend. USI says thousands of students will be forced to drop-out of college if the registration fee rises again.
It's definitely terrible times we are in but we need more than students out in protest because what our current government have allowed to happen to our economy is disgraceful and it's horrific that they are still in power and still making critical decisions on our future, kids futures and their kids futures. I don't think we have an alternative to the current government but a change is as good as a rest as they say. The gards are a disgrace aswell . I'd imagine any violence that erupted today was provoked by them , they like a bit of aggro from time to time and what's funny is that the government are taking them for a ride with the rest of us with their pay cuts etc so they should leave people be when they want to voice their anger and frustration.
Certain groups seem to hijack every single protest in this country(if the tweets I've seen are accurate), then a perfectly legitimate protest gets headlines for the wrong reasons.
My da was telling me 52 coaches left Wexford Campus today to go up..**** i didnt think there was 52 bus in Wexford !!!
That's a bloody ridiculous thing to say mate, bit of a huge jump to conclusion there. Could just as easily be a bunch of toerags who feel that society "owes" them a free ride through college, with the few who are working paying for the cost of their education when we can't even afford to pay all the people on the dole. Where the hell is the money going to come from? I had massive student loans to pay off after college, because I paid my own way. The fcuking guards have a job to do without getting tarred with the disgrace brush.
Fair play to the students..there should be more protests againts this corrupt and farcical excuse of a government.
was at the protest today, some amount of people there and was just a bit of craic for me and a few lads, but lads were drinking and stuff so there was bound to be a small bit of trouble in a crowd of 40k 'FIANNA FAILURE' and other such banners were hung up on the happenny bridge
Seen them earlier too, few bucks there just to act the bollo* which is fair enough cos they are young and i know for a fact that's what i was like way back when. .
I heard there were 50 West Ham there, and some students from the past came out of retirement for the day.
Could see more of this happening after the budget..when everyone will be affected by tax increases and cuts etc....yes all this needs to be done..but i cant see this govt doing it in a fair manner..
Don't think anyone feels this, and the numbers on the dole will only rise if people have to drop out of college because they can't afford to pay fees. Paying a students fees for college costs less than putting them on the dole for a year and it puts them in a better position to pay back the taxes spent on them through income tax and educated students are usually the higher earners. I was at the protest today and it was massive, was told that by the time the front reached Merrion Square the back was still at O' Connell Street. Just hope the government get the message and the idiots who started rioting haven't ruined it.
I was part of it as well today, over 30,000 students and am just a bit pissed that the 50 or so who caused trouble get the headlines. Hoped that the message we all came together for would get priority over a small bit of trouble...
You could be right and I could be wrong but it's not a ridiculous thing to say . The gards have a reputation. Have you been paying attention to the news lately ? There are 4 gards on trial for breaking into a teenagers home , holding his mother in hostage in their bathroom while they carried out an assualt on the teenager and I know you may say that's just 4 out of the whole force but it's just an example of the type of behaviour and attitude they have. I didn't see the news footage of the student march but the OP says some students had bloody faces and one was carried away on a stretcher. The students could have ended up with bloody faces from hitting each other but I doubt it , they could have attacked the gards first and ended up with bloody faces because the gards defended themselves but I doubt it. The gards are peace keepers and if they have to resort to violence to contain a peaceful protest march then they should not be in the job because that's not keeping the peace.
I feel for the students but also feel there is far bigger issues.Mate of mine goes to a university,pays the regestration fee,his da owns 3 shops in the town,all flying,no money issues.Is it not a bit unfair that certain elements of society dont pay much for college? 9k is what they are talking a year in England.Mate of mine goes to college in the US and by god do they pay. Do higher fee's not mean better services,better lecturers,better equipment and no more dependence on the government to pay these type of things. I dont what i said is right or wrong but i really feel that the majority of joe public arent too bothered and more worried about jobs mortages etc. 18,000 dollars for USC,now thats expensive