More than 20,000 students took to Dublin’s streets on 16 November to demonstrate against proposals to increase third level fees.
The protest also highlighted inequalities among students in Ireland, with many migrants having to pay full ‘international fees’ despite living here for a number of years.
One student protestor, Serena Li, explained her position. “I am studying social science in UCC. I have to work 37 1/2 hours a week to go to college,” she said. “I am working in a supermarket. If the cost increases, I clearly can’t pay for it. My only free time is only when I sleep, so how could I work more?
“I decided to show up today on the street because if we don’t, nothing will happen.”
International student Beatrice Akinfolarin is disappointed about how expensive education has become. “Ireland has always promoted free education,” she said, “people used to come in Ireland for our education, but now they wouldn’t.
“I am Nigerian but I’ve lived in Ireland for 12 years. The first time [I enrolled] they asked me to pay €17,000 because I was Nigerian.”
Mayowa Soyingbe was student union president at the National College of Ireland, and says she was confronted everyday on the fees issue.
“I wanted to hear all student voices, to create equality between people and help them,” she said. “The main question was ‘Do I qualify for fees?’ I had an example of an Irish student who couldn’t get free fees because he’d lived in Australia for a couple of years.”
Soyingbe remembers one classmate who was working through the night as a security man yet still attending class several days a week. “My job was to make sure that they didn’t give up,” she said, “so I tried to find solutions for them.”
Now studying for a Master’s at Trinity College, Soyingbe is still concerned by the topic.
“Some people think that increasing fees could result in a better level of education. I personally believe that it is taking away students from education who can’t afford it. School is a way to create opportunities for people. We can’t stop that.”
