Fees Protest on Wednesday

Browney7

Well, Many here going?

P_1

Depends on how the weather is. If this supposed weather warning for blizzards actually comes to pass tonight I doubt you'll be getting many out protesting on Wednesday.

rainbow kirby

Nay. Home to work on my final year project. Busy kirby is busy.

chrissor

Protesting in a blizzard, now that'll show the government that we are serious.
I'll be there hopefully.

shanegj

i have labs that can't be missed

Chakar

No.

TDOie

Wouldnt we be taken more seriously if we proposed an Alternative?

FockRoysh

I'll be goin if the weather isnt horrific. Got the tshirt ready to go!

passive

FIGHT THE BEES!

Dave!

No I shalln't as I am not arsed.

Larianne

What time is it on at?

Waltons

Not even if I were paid.

Dave!

Waltons wrote: »

Not even if I were paid.

I'll pay you with snowmen

Bubs101

The last one seemed funny but I really don't see the point of going. I couldn't give a **** what my dad spends his money on

Eoin Macollamh

How tone deaf are students these days? All of their lecturers are facing a pay cut, the whole economy is going in the tank and all they care about is that nobody make them pay some fraction of what their education actually costs.

Sorry, but this battle has been lost. We need fees. In fact, we needed them during the boom years when they would've been used to make the universities better. Student protests put a stop to that then with the result that now we'll have fees and they'll just go into general government coffers and be used to bail out banks and the like and the universities will be starved of resources even more than they are presently. Well done.

Browney7

National Demonstration Against Fees:
1:30, Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, Dublin

Breezer

Yes, I'm going.

Eoin Macollamh wrote: »

Student protests put a stop to that then with the result that now we'll have fees and they'll just go into general government coffers and be used to bail out banks and the like and the universities will be starved of resources even more than they are presently. Well done.

This is what I've been saying will happen all along, and half the reason I'm protesting. But you can't seriously be blaming students because the government, the Financial Regulator, and the banking executives collectively fecked up the banking system and now need to desperately plug up all the holes? Even if you do see students purely as an interest group (as opposed to the future of the country), who is at fault when a government caves in: the interest group or the government?

The_Minister

I'd say that you will have rain, that should give excuse for the low turnout.:)

kev_s88

i'll be there weather permitting

ardmacha

This is what I've been saying will happen all along, and half the reason I'm protesting. But you can't seriously be blaming students because the government, the Financial Regulator, and the banking executives collectively fecked up the banking system and now need to desperately plug up all the holes?

It is not a question of blame it is a question of raising money. People who aren't to blame are having pay cuts and paying more taxes, so should these people pay more to pay for students, many of whom are quite well off. If the government has to borrow money to pay for students then perhaps the students should just borrow it themselves.

the evil lime

Honestly I think the loss of free fees is inevitable and pretty logical too. I have no objection to it and won't be protesting it in the slightest.

Overall, I think it'll be good for education in this country.

RandolphEsq

I hope they don't just bring in 5,000euro fees straight away. They will need some sort of warning so we can save up for the fees!

But then I will be finished college so will use the money to emigrate!

anonymous_joe

BrightEyes wrote: »

I hope they don't just bring in 5,000euro fees straight away. They will need some sort of warning so we can save up for the fees!

But then I will be finished college so will use the money to emigrate!

Where to?

It's not our government that's led us into Recession (shower of tits that they are), the world's economy as a whole is in severe financial crisis.

RandolphEsq

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Where to?

It's not our government that's led us into Recession (shower of tits that they are), the world's economy as a whole is in severe financial crisis.

Yeah but if the world's economy is in recession and we are all equal in poverty than I would rather live in a country with hot, sunny weather and perma tanned sexy girls. It would be worth sacrificing 40% of what I could earn here
It's not all about having a job!

Eoin Macollamh

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Where to?

It's not our government that's led us into Recession (shower of tits that they are), the world's economy as a whole is in severe financial crisis.

We are worse off than just about any other country bar Iceland and that has been the direct result of idiotic policies during the boom years here that pumped up the property bubble and made no preparation for its inevitable bursting. The governing parties over the past few years, primarily Fianna Fail, imprudently relied on stamp duty as if the bubble could never collapse.

Make no mistake: even if the government had nothing to do with the worldwide credit crisis, they pursued policies that made it impossible for us to meaningfully and effectively respond to it. We are all paying the price now.

In this context, today's protest just seemed utterly frivolous. Students demonstrated that they have no grasp whatever of the serious situation the country finds itself in.

delta_bravo

I didnt attend but saw it on the six one news there, seems like a decent turnout. A few strange posters in the crowd like 'less fees, more gees' and 'free joseph fritzl'. I dont think the student body can convey their message as well the elderly did and fees are absolutely inevitable

Alyosha

I wonder who many of the "protestors" that were in Dublin today went to private/grind schools?!

I'm all for fees being reintroduced, and not just because I'm finishing this year. Your degree should add a lot of value to your earning potential in the long term and I don't see any reason why you should get it for nothing. Maybe if a Govt loan scheme was brought in alongside fees? Something like they have in the UK - can get around 5k per annum, interest rate equal to inflation and you start paying back when you're earning £15k+

bnt

If fees come in, it won't - can't - simply be a case of "here's a bill for €5,000". That would basically "crash" the system, with thousands of students simply unable to go to university. Political and economic suicide = not gonna happen that way.

More likely is a system like the UK's Student Loans Company, as Alyosha hinted at: where students are guaranteed loans at low interest, and the option of deferring payment if they are on a low income. And - if the speculation is correct - fees will only be levied on households making more than €100,000 p.a.

I don't think that's likely to happen by the start of 2009/10: too much consultation to do, facilities to set up, and politics to argue over.

dajaffa

I won't get into a rant, but it costs less to have 1,000 people in college than on the dole queue, and I don't think being on the dole is an investment in our economic future...

There's lots of jobs where you're not paid a crazy amount, but need a degree (teaching nursing etc) and it infuritates me that fees will be a blanket introduction if they happen, whereas in the uk teaching and health science courses are exempt from fees. We have progressive taxation, if you're earning well by virtue of a free 3rd level education, or a childcare allowance that allowed you to work or whatever, you're going to pay more tax than those earning less.

Anyway if fees come in our fourth level sector will deteriorate and our school leavers will go to the UK as fees there are quite low, barely more than our "reg fee".

anonymous_joe

BrightEyes wrote: »

Yeah but if the world's economy is in recession and we are all equal in poverty than I would rather live in a country with hot, sunny weather and perma tanned sexy girls. It would be worth sacrificing 40% of what I could earn here
It's not all about having a job!

Heh, an interesting point.

Too Australia!

Eoin Macollamh wrote: »

We are worse off than just about any other country bar Iceland and that has been the direct result of idiotic policies during the boom years here that pumped up the property bubble and made no preparation for its inevitable bursting. The governing parties over the past few years, primarily Fianna Fail, imprudently relied on stamp duty as if the bubble could never collapse.

Make no mistake: even if the government had nothing to do with the worldwide credit crisis, they pursued policies that made it impossible for us to meaningfully and effectively respond to it. We are all paying the price now.

In this context, today's protest just seemed utterly frivolous. Students demonstrated that they have no grasp whatever of the serious situation the country finds itself in.

Well I know we're in a fairly bad spot, but our economy rocketed up over a decade to catch up on the growth we'd never had, then artifically continued onwards. We were always due economic recession.

Alyosha wrote: »

I wonder who many of the "protestors" that were in Dublin today went to private/grind schools?!

I'm all for fees being reintroduced, and not just because I'm finishing this year. Your degree should add a lot of value to your earning potential in the long term and I don't see any reason why you should get it for nothing. Maybe if a Govt loan scheme was brought in alongside fees? Something like they have in the UK - can get around 5k per annum, interest rate equal to inflation and you start paying back when you're earning £15k+

Ooooh, oooh, I went to a private school and protested! Then again, I don't need to give a flying fúck about fees, but I do, because not everyone in this country was as lucky as me.

IndigoStarr

I think all of the people on here who are in favour of fees need to realise that some people, like myself, would simply have to drop out of college with the reintroduction of fees. My sister won't be able to go to college if fees are introduced, and she's incredibly bright. I can't afford to be saddled with 5k per year of debt either.
Education should not be something that is solely the preserve of the wealthy. Its just not fair.