USI Student March in Dublin

PomBear

Squeeonline wrote: »

I would be angry if lectures were cancelled for the day. That's presuming that everyone agrees that fees/hikes should not be introduced.

Despite not having the money, I have no problem investing in my education and future like people do in England and the States. Free 3rd level education was a Celtic Tiger dream and now it's time to wake up.

Well i'd love to be in your position to afford it

PomBear

Ficheall wrote: »

Apathy mightn't be the only reason. Just as miserliness and selfishness mightn't be the only reasons to oppose student fees.

Not really, the main source of the anti FEE sentiments is fear IMO

Ficheall

I thought you said it was apathy?

Jordonvito

m

brianthebard

Jordonvito wrote: »

yes there is, between 16 and 17 k

Can you provide a source for this? Universities regularly claim unrealistic student numbers but this is the highest I've ever heard for Galway. Maynooth used to claim about 8k when there was closer to 5,500. Mary I claimed 4k when there was barely 2k. Galway had approximately 12k last time I checked.

PomBear

Ficheall wrote: »

I thought you said it was apathy?

apathy stems from fear;)

christina_x

Would love to go (only i am on placement - student nurse), as every person counts, and i know that if Fees are introduced i will not be in college next year . I really hope that those who go to dublin stay for the march, its marching for YOU and helping you get back to your course, your friends and your life in Galway.

niamhocxox

brianthebard wrote: »

Can you provide a source for this? Universities regularly claim unrealistic student numbers but this is the highest I've ever heard for Galway. Maynooth used to claim about 8k when there was closer to 5,500. Mary I claimed 4k when there was barely 2k. Galway had approximately 12k last time I checked.

According to my education lecturer, NUI has over 9,000 students alone in the Arts faculty, its only 26 students off UCD who has the biggest arts faculty in the country and there is over 15,000 students in total in NUI.

Ficheall

Aye, 17000 is a fair estimate of the NUIG population.

PomBear wrote: »

apathy stems from fear;)

As "concern" stems from selfishness?

PomBear

Ficheall wrote: »

Aye, 17000 is a fair estimate of the NUIG population.




As "concern" stems from selfishness?

No, it doesn't. Not one person would agree with you there, I know recent grduates as an example going to the march, even though it doesn't effect them going because they believe the cuts are a load of sh1te

Ficheall

Aye, but apathy doesn't stem from fear either.

I'm not marching because I've yet to hear a convincing argument as to why students shouldn't have to pay for their education.
"Because we can't afford it but we want to go" is not a convincing argument.

PomBear

Ficheall wrote: »

Aye, but apathy doesn't stem from fear either.

I'm not marching because I've yet to hear a convincing argument as to why students shouldn't have to pay for their education.
"Because we can't afford it but we want to go" is not a convincing argument.

em it kind of is because it effects such a huge percentage of the college population who will no longer be able to afford it

Ficheall

I like Jaffa cakes, k? Supposing tomorrow the powers that be decided to raise the price of Jaffa cakes so much that I could no longer afford to buy them - would I be justified in protesting then? In trying to rally other people to join me? Aye.
And when someone I'm trying to recruit asks me "Eh... why?!" - ought I not to be able to give them a better answer than "Because I can't afford them now!"? Or should I expect them to join me on the strength of that alone?

PomBear

Ficheall wrote: »

I like Jaffa cakes, k? Supposing tomorrow the powers that be decided to raise the price of Jaffa cakes so much that I could no longer afford to buy them - would I be justified in protesting then? In trying to rally other people to join me? Aye.
And when someone I'm trying to recruit asks me "Eh... why?!" - ought I not to be able to give them a better answer than "Because I can't afford them now!"? Or should I expect them to join me on the strength of that alone?

Education is a bit more vital to your life than Jaffa cakes, there's plenty of examples and clear reasoning as to why fees should not be increased, you're choosing to ignore them, nothing I can do about that

brianthebard

Ficheall wrote: »

I like Jaffa cakes, k? Supposing tomorrow the powers that be decided to raise the price of Jaffa cakes so much that I could no longer afford to buy them - would I be justified in protesting then? In trying to rally other people to join me? Aye.
And when someone I'm trying to recruit asks me "Eh... why?!" - ought I not to be able to give them a better answer than "Because I can't afford them now!"? Or should I expect them to join me on the strength of that alone?

Very poor analogy.

Ficheall

I'm not ignoring them. There is also plenty of evidence and clear reasoning as to why fees should be increased.

It'd be nice to see some nice intelligent debate between the USI representatives, FEE etc, and someone from the state body/finance minister/whatever. But no - just march.
And there are no posters appealing to the students' intellect to make them appreciate the value of our so-called "knowledge economy" or whatever, it's simply - "they want to steal your money! rarrr!"

Ficheall

brianthebard wrote: »

Very poor analogy.

What would you have gone for?

congress3

brianthebard wrote: »

There's nowhere near 17k students in NUIG. That's close to UCD numbers and Galway does not compete at that level. And although that is the supposed argument against increased reg fees its pretty obvious that the amount of students will not halve if the price doubles, so a profit will still be made.

Wikipedia has it listed at 17,000
Nuigalway.ie has it listed at over 15,000
Rte has an article from february which has it listed at 16,000

brianthebard

Ficheall wrote: »

What would you have gone for?

Discussing the issue without metaphor and allusion.

congress3 wrote: »

Wikipedia has it listed at 17,000
Nuigalway.ie has it listed at over 15,000
Rte has an article from february which has it listed at 16,000

Ok well wiki's always wrong, and the nuig site probably lists the max number right after registration including night students so I'm going to say that realistically we're looking at 12-13k after drop outs and non attendings.

I'm not giving out I was just surprised by the initial 17k figure that was suggested. 15 is more realistic but still probably well off actual figures.

Ficheall

brianthebard wrote: »

Discussing the issue without metaphor and allusion.

That didn't appear to be working.

The hope was that the daftness of the Jaffa issue would highlight the fact that a lot of people don't really care about students, and see their complaining as groundless and done purely for selfish reasons. While people's views might be "coloured" on the fees issue, the Jaffa cake stand might at least seem a little illogical to all. Reductio ad absurdum.

brianthebard

Ficheall wrote: »

That didn't appear to be working.

The hope was that the daftness of the Jaffa issue would highlight the fact that a lot of people don't really care about students, and see their complaining as groundless and done purely for selfish reasons. While people's views might be "coloured" on the fees issue, the Jaffa cake stand might at least seem a little illogical to all. Reductio ad absurdum.

You can say that people don't care about any other section of the population that isn't themselves, its not really meaningful. There are obvious reasons to educate the workforce as much possible, and the government claimed that it was their policy to create a knowledge economy. We know what a FF promise is worth but at the same time when you are told that such a thing is policy the government should not then take it away. Plus even if free fees has benefited the middle and upper classes more than intended it still allowed more working class people to go to college than had previously been the case, which was the goal of the legislation in the first place.

Squeeonline

PomBear wrote: »

Well i'd love to be in your position to afford it

Did you not read my post? I said, "despite not having the money"

I probably wouldnt be accepted for a loan which is why I'd like to see a government loan scheme put in place.

No doubt they'd manage to fsck that up too though

PomBear

1,200 heading from NUIG to the march tomorrow!

Ficheall

Well that protest went perfectly predictably...

ValJester

Ficheall wrote: »

Well that protest went perfectly predictably...

It got attention for the anti-fees movement, which was pretty much the point.The ends will probably outweigh the means.

jaycee13

The so-called 'protests' today in Dublin where an absolute shocker and discredited the entire student body.

Firstly, where is the legitimacy in protesting against measures that have/may not be introduced?

Why cause disruption and traffic divertions in Dublin city centre - students are supposed to be intelligent. There are other ways to register (effectively) a protest than assualting gardai, "storming" buildings and inconveniencing ordinary folk, tourists etc

It amounts to a load of rednecks, who are not short of a few bob in the first place, with their silly yellow t-shirts taking a day of college to go drinking and then walk around in the rain. Silly t"rts who open their legs at the drop of a hat and thick mullah blokes who are only in college in the first place cos daddy paid for all them grinds and then probably bribed the college. Is this supposed to be the future, what we saw today? If so god help us your worse than all the current crowd of bankers, politicians etc

J

DoireNod

jaycee13 wrote: »

The so-called 'protests' today in Dublin where an absolute shocker and discredited the entire student body.

So it's true, a few bad apples do spoil the bunch? The main thing is, that the discontent was expressed. Even though the student protest may have been hijacked by political groups (to be expected, really), the issue gained national coverage.

jaycee13 wrote: »

Firstly, where is the legitimacy in protesting against measures that have/may not be introduced?

People can protest against prospective changes. Should they not?

jaycee13 wrote: »

Why cause disruption and traffic divertions in Dublin city centre - students are supposed to be intelligent. There are other ways to register (effectively) a protest than assualting gardai, "storming" buildings and inconveniencing ordinary folk, tourists etc

Temporary disruption is to be expected during marches and in most public gatherings. I don't think that causing disruption is an indication of intelligence either. What other ways of protest do you suggest?

jaycee13 wrote: »

It amounts to a load of rednecks, who are not short of a few bob in the first place, with their silly yellow t-shirts taking a day of college to go drinking and then walk around in the rain. Silly t"rts who open their legs at the drop of a hat and thick mullah blokes who are only in college in the first place cos daddy paid for all them grinds and then probably bribed the college. Is this supposed to be the future, what we saw today? If so god help us your worse than all the current crowd of bankers, politicians etc

I share your disdain of the typical idiotic student*, but I wouldn't say that they're worse than scheming, greedy banksters.

*Leave the tarts alone!

challengemaster

Well, considering that the riots started after NUIG were all on busses home..:rolleyes:

randylonghorn

brianthebard wrote: »

Maynooth used to claim about 8k when there was closer to 5,500.

No, they didn't. They "claimed" 8,000 when they had ~ 5,500 day / full-time / FFI students and ~ 2,500 part-time students. Approx. 2,000 of those were through the Dept. of Adult & Community Education, and included part-time students on-campus in Maynooth and on their campus in Kilkenny for adult / part-time students (NUI Certs, Diplomas, 2 x part-time BAs, and some postgraduate) and at various outreach centres around the country (for NUI Certs. and Diplomas only, in the latter case).

The part-time students ARE real students too, you know!

jaycee13 wrote: »

The so-called 'protests' today in Dublin where an absolute shocker and discredited the entire student body.

No, they didn't.

What was unfortunate was that a small number of individuals with an extreme political agenda hijacked the occasion, and a few lugs seem to have followed along. THAT small minority did themselves no credit, certainly.

Unfortunately, it's happened before and is one of the reasons why I am less than enthusiastic about the efficacy of mass student protests, but in the eyes of any reasonable and intelligent person it doesn't discredit "the entire student body".

jaycee13 wrote: »

It amounts to a load of rednecks, who are not short of a few bob in the first place, with their silly yellow t-shirts taking a day of college to go drinking and then walk around in the rain. Silly t"rts who open their legs at the drop of a hat and thick mullah blokes who are only in college in the first place cos daddy paid for all them grinds and then probably bribed the college. Is this supposed to be the future, what we saw today? If so god help us your worse than all the current crowd of bankers, politicians etc

J

0_o

Boards has a Ranting & Raving forum, you should apply for access. I suspect such vitriol requires regular drainage lest it cause you internal damage!

StupidLikeAFox

jaycee13 wrote: »

The so-called 'protests' today in Dublin where an absolute shocker and discredited the entire student body.

**** it man your right, why bother making a stand when you can just lie back and take it like a bitch?

Also you seem to have pegged student in two minor stereotypes, dont know where you got them from but it prob says a bit more about you if you take that sort of blinkered view? Fact is the majority of students there are feeling the pain, will continue to feel the pain even without education cutbacks, and those who aren't are at least standing up for those who are.

There was some minor trouble today, if you get 25,000 people in one place there is bound to be. About 30 "stormed" the Dept of Finance, thats **** all people in the grand scheme of things

Its ironic, that for a man who is giving out about "tarts" you seem to be more than willing to lie back and get rode

Zillah

jaycee13 wrote: »

Silly t"rts who open their legs at the drop of a hat and thick mullah blokes who are only in college in the first place cos daddy paid for all them grinds and then probably bribed the college.

You are hilariously bitter about life. As ridiculously small minded and offensive as your comments are, I must admit to taking a small measure of solace in the fact that you are unhappy enough to write something like this.

Or you're trolling, in which case I hope you realise the mods can connect your IP to your main account. You'd have known that if you had a college education.

qazwsx

I wonder why the protest was not held on a Saturday or a Sunday? It would have been far more convincing !!!!!!!

mink_man

waste of time. Protesting does nothing, do ye really think the giverment take any notice of it.

I'm in favour of the british system where you get a loan to pay the fees and you pay it back in small amounts once you're working. Pay for your own education, there's nothing for free anymore, the good times are gone. you can't expect it for free, if you don't want to pay, don't go to college!

not in favour of the 3k fees though, just the loan system.

I'm a second year,getting the grant btw.

sillybird

mink_man wrote: »

waste of time. Protesting does nothing, do ye really think the giverment take any notice of it.

I'm in favour of the british system where you get a loan to pay the fees and you pay it back in small amounts once you're working. Pay for your own education, there's nothing for free anymore, the good times are gone. you can't expect it for free, if you don't want to pay, don't go to college!

not in favour of the 3k fees though, just the loan system.

I'm a second year,getting the grant btw.

Protesting does work take for example the medical card decision that was reversed because of pressure from OAP's and others last year. They went out on the streets and made noise! That worked! In all fairness we can't just sit back.

I think we all know there is nothing for for free anymore. Do you not think we are already paying enough for registeration? Thats not free. Education was never "free" in this Country. It certainly maybe easier to access in this country but when we the students start working we pay it back 10 fold.

The British system sounds like a good idea. I'd be more concerned how much it would cost to set this system up. In the long run the government would be far better off to stick to the current system beside wasting more money in setting up a different system.

SNAKEDOC

why did the student union of ireland allow this farse go ahead. they should have known there would have been trouble. 5,000 students all in close proximity to the garda public order unit. kinda like shaking a can and putting it back in the fridge in a shop. a peaceful protest country wide outside every college would have got more support from the general public than rioting with the gardai. i know it wasn't all students but it went a long way to changing peoples minds.
just look at the idiots on rte news last night making a complete arse of themselves. student union reps should have called rte to have their reps been interviewed. instead of the idiots that were. what were the students at posting videos on you tube titled police brutality. i mean come on if you have the time to go and riot and get arrested then you should have to pay college fees, it might keep them out of trouble. students cop yourselves on as they said yesterday "we're the future of the country" GOD HELP US

Zillah

mink_man wrote: »

waste of time. Protesting does nothing, do ye really think the giverment take any notice of it.

This is just absolutely wrong. Politicians start loosening their ties when a protest occurs, especially one this large, and especially ones with embarassing incidents like having to deploy riot police, or buildings being stormed. They have elections, media reports, allies and various other stakeholders breathing down their necks. A protest as large as this is going to be the elephant in the room for everyone involved.

Protests in Venezuela were instrumental in overturning a military coup against Chavez a couple of years ago. Feet on the street makes stuff happen.

I'm not saying the protests guarantees that they'll get what they want in regard to fees (I bet they do though), but your claim that protesting does nothing is way off.

brianthebard

mink_man wrote: »

waste of time. Protesting does nothing, do ye really think the giverment take any notice of it.
[...]

I'm a second year,getting the grant btw.

Wow the hypocrisy is strong in this one. Hand back the grant if you truly believe everyone should pay their own way through college.

challengemaster

qazwsx wrote: »

I wonder why the protest was not held on a Saturday or a Sunday? It would have been far more convincing !!!!!!!

What's the point of protesting outside an empty dail? The reason wednesday was chosen for it was tuesday-thursday are the days where the most TD's are in the dail.

mink_man wrote: »

waste of time. Protesting does nothing, do ye really think the giverment take any notice of it.

I'm in favour of the british system where you get a loan to pay the fees and you pay it back in small amounts once you're working. Pay for your own education, there's nothing for free anymore, the good times are gone. you can't expect it for free, if you don't want to pay, don't go to college!

not in favour of the 3k fees though, just the loan system.

I'm a second year,getting the grant btw.

Yeah, that's nice. Apart from the fact this isn't the UK. Any loan system they do put in will not actually be beneficial to students as it should be.

Also a very highly hypocritical stance seeing as you're getting the grant, and wouldn't have to pay fees anyway. I get the full NA1 grant, but I was still up there yesterday, because there's a hell of a lot of people who don't get the grant and will have to pay.

TBH the 3k reg fee isn't going to have an effect on lower income or high income groups, it's the middle income famalies that are screwed. Low income = grant = no fees. High income can afford the fees.

SNAKEDOC wrote: »

why did the student union of ireland allow this farse go ahead. they should have known there would have been trouble. 5,000 students all in close proximity to the garda public order unit. kinda like shaking a can and putting it back in the fridge in a shop. a peaceful protest country wide outside every college would have got more support from the general public than rioting with the gardai. i know it wasn't all students but it went a long way to changing peoples minds.
just look at the idiots on rte news last night making a complete arse of themselves. student union reps should have called rte to have their reps been interviewed. instead of the idiots that were. what were the students at posting videos on you tube titled police brutality. i mean come on if you have the time to go and riot and get arrested then you should have to pay college fees, it might keep them out of trouble. students cop yourselves on as they said yesterday "we're the future of the country" GOD HELP US

I'd say there was maybe 500 - 800 people involved in the riots, a lot of which weren't actually students, and that's out of a crowd somewhere around 30k people. Everyone else, went, did the march they went to do and left in a peaceful manner. All of NUIG crowd was on busses home once we heard on the radio about the riots breaking out.

As far as I'm aware, what happened was this: A group of students were having a peaceful sit in at the dept. of finance building. Another group of trouble makers (SWP & others) started throwing projectiles at Gardai. The gardai couldn't get the people who were doing this, riot squad came in and they all started beating the peaceful protesters, and using very excessive force.

As for RTE and any other media source which is government owned, of course they're going to only focus on the negative points of the day. The USI protest was peaceful and a success. The riot was separate, and unfortunate, but it's the only thing the media focused in on. Also, there were possibly hundreds of students injured in the riot, yet only 3 gardai. I see no mention of all the injured students though. They interviewed people and aired what they saw fit to portray what they wanted.

sillybird

SNAKEDOC wrote: »

why did the student union of Ireland allow this far go ahead. they should have known there would have been trouble. 5,000 students all in close proximity to the garda public order unit. kinda like shaking a can and putting it back in the fridge in a shop. a peaceful protest country wide outside every college would have got more support from the general public than rioting with the gardai. i know it wasn't all students but it went a long way to changing peoples minds.
just look at the idiots on rte news last night making a complete arse of themselves. student union reps should have called rte to have their reps been interviewed. instead of the idiots that were. what were the students at posting videos on you tube titled police brutality. i mean come on if you have the time to go and riot and get arrested then you should have to pay college fees, it might keep them out of trouble. students cop yourselves on as they said yesterday "we're the future of the country" GOD HELP US

There was a peaceful student protest in Dublin last year so this was not expected to happen. A country-wide regional protest wouldn't have had the same impact. Its getting you and others talking about it!! Those "idiots" are taking a stand. We may not be all as well polished as the Politicians when we speak. If you listened to Newstalk/Today Fm you would have heard the president and the education offer speaking from USI after the protests yesterday evening.
I'm not happy that there were arrests/riots but hey it happened and we need to move on and try to prevent the Government raising the registration fees/cutting grants. Thankfully no one was seriously injured. I don't know if there were students involved as there were other parties tagging along as a disguise. Who it was well that's up to the Gardai to investigate and those will suffer the consequence. Would like if people would stop branding/blaming students.

A lot of the "general public" have sons/daughters attending college of whom many pay for registration fees etc.


So we just sit back and do nothing?

randylonghorn

Hmmm ... this report from the Irish Independent (a well-known students' mouthpiece, of course!! :rolleyes:)

Between 20 and 50 "political protesters" (identified by the Gardaí in the second article from the Irish Times as "supporters of Sinn Féin, the Socialist Workers Party and republican socialist group Éirígí") out of 25,000 ... kids of 14 and 15 merging with the crowd and throwing stuff ... hardly the "farce" which "discredits all students".

One student was bloodied with injuries and another was trampled by a horse

THE flare-up of tension was as frightening as it was fast.

Just as they were saddling up to go home, out of the blue came trouble.

It seemed that even as the last of the speeches were taking place on Merrion Square in Dublin, a small number of political protesters -- 20 according to students, 50 according to the gardai -- had decided to engage in a "peaceful sit-in" within the walls of the new Department of Finance buildings around the corner on Merrion Row.

Within minutes, chaos had descended with riot squad, garda vans and the mounted unit converging on the crowd.

Onlookers claimed they watched as two female protesters were pulled out "by their ankles" from the door of the Department of Finance while another girl was grabbed by the hair.

Bricks, eggs and bottles were thrown at the building -- with many onlookers claiming that this had been instigated by "young lads" of about 14 to 15 years of age who merged with the student protest.

Marching unsuspectingly on the scene were a crowd of students who became sandwiched in the narrow confines of Merrion Row, unable to turn back or press forward.

All the while, gardai on horseback were reversing back, while white garda vans were moving forward.

The students panicked and in a instant the scene had become a hotbed of confusion and fear. Over the bonnets of the white vans could be seen a rapid flash of black as gardai in riot gear drew their batons, lashing out at the crowd.

"They're beating every last one of them," shouted one male student, aghast at the frenzied scene.

At least one male student protester was left bloodied with facial injuries. Another male student in glasses pulled himself to his feet after being trampled by a horse.

One student, who did not want to be named, said she was engaged in a peaceful protest and said a garda had shouted at her to "get the f*** off the street". She had then been struck by a baton, she claimed.

"I just want to go home," she said, too white and shaken to be able to give any further details of the incident.

Student Mark Lambert told how he had watched in horror as a girl was kicked by a horse. She fell to the ground and was dazed. An ambulance had arrived but she did not wish to be treated and said she was fine, he said.

Another bystander said he saw "a lad being rammed by four garda horses". "He was sitting on the ground and was holding his hands out saying 'please don't, this is a peaceful protest'," he said.

Almost as quickly as it had flared up, the situation was calm and, as the students cleared the scene, the debris strewn around told the tale: a blood-sodden tissue; the abandoned cardboard signs; and clumps of flattened horse manure.

As all this transpired, businesses on Merrion Row had battened down the hatches. Some students, however, had managed to seek sanctuary at the Il Segreto restaurant. Manager Gerardo Iacolino said they had allowed some people in but then had to shut the door for safety reasons.

Trouble

Nobody amongst the crowd of students had foreseen trouble -- or if they had, it was a tiny cohort who had kept their intentions to themselves and who did not represent the 25,000 that had gathered from all corners of yesterday.

The students were passionately against a rise in registration fees and further cuts in grants.

The mood amid the relentless drizzle was light-hearted, the speeches earnest and well-meaning and the crowd well-behaved. If they did anything "anti-social", it was merely to scream "f*** you, Fianna Fail" from their stage on Merrion Square.

And even then, it is unlikely that they could be heard within the secure walls of Leinster House.

"We didn't want this," said one female student, upset at the turn the protest had taken. "I spent half an hour making this sign yesterday and now it's all wasted. I feel like the whole day was a complete waste.

"All the media is going to focus on is the riot and not the peaceful protest that we made. They hijacked the whole thing. Nobody will listen to us now."

After the Merrion Street debacle, events moved back around to outside the Dail on Kildare Street, with a smattering of students engaging in a sit-down protest but gardai were taking a softly, softly approach and trouble did not recur.

Wilm Abrook, vice president of the Students Union from the National College of Art and Design, thanked the gardai for their patience.

Cian O'Sullivan, an NCAD student from Kilkenny, one of the last three students engaging in the sit-down protest, said he was disgusted that others had not remained longer. "I wanted action. We just had words. We've done nothing," he said.

Earlier, during the peaceful rally on Merrion Square, student Leanne Dunne from DIT said that if fees were introduced, "half of DIT" would not be able to return to college.

- Nicola Anderson

Irish Independent

From the Irish Times, that other well-known student mouthpiece:

THE LARGEST student protest in a generation was marred yesterday by violent clashes in which bricks, beer cans, eggs and placards were hurled at gardaí.

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI), which mobilised over 25,000 for the protest, distanced itself from a group of breakaway protesters involved in clashes outside the Department of Finance on Merrion Street, Dublin.

The USI blamed “left-wing” groups for the “destructive and anti-social violence” which it said would only divert attention from its campaign against higher student fees.

Supporters of Sinn Féin, the Socialist Workers Party and republican socialist group Éirígí were prominent among about 50 protesters who made it inside the Finance building, only to be swiftly ejected by gardaí.

Gardaí in riot gear drew their batons and mounted officers were deployed during clashes with several youths that lasted about 45 minutes.

Some protesters suffered cuts to the head and bloody noses during the scuffles.

One garda was admitted to hospital with a broken nose, while two others were treated at the scene for minor injuries.

There were three arrests. The suspects were taken to Pearse Street Garda station, and one had been released without charge last night. The other two were charged with criminal damage and breach of the peace offences and released.

Gardaí believe a core of “militant and aggressive” protesters not connected with the USI had hijacked the event.

Ficheall

Well, was this Nicola Anderson college-educated?
She certainly can't write for ****.

PomBear

I was at n eye witness to the riots, there was nothing to blame students in this occasion, the gardaí acted like thugs

Ficheall

Play it again, Sam!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11728270

Dan_Solo

randylonghorn wrote: »

Between 20 and 50 "political protesters" (identified by the Gardaí in the second article from the Irish Times as "supporters of Sinn Féin, the Socialist Workers Party and republican socialist group Éirígí") out of 25,000 ... kids of 14 and 15 merging with the crowd and throwing stuff ... hardly the "farce" which "discredits all students".

The article you report is absolute bo11ocks.
If even the riot (causing) squad Gardai admit the the (civilian) trouble makers weren't part of the student protest at all, how are students discredited in any way?
Funny how the Gardai are never "discredited" isn't it, no matter how many immobile sitting peaceful protesters they batter with clubs and drag away...

randylonghorn

Try re-reading (and understanding) what you just quoted.

Given that I was contesting the point that it was a "farce" which "discredited all students" (quotes taken from earlier posts by others), what exactly is your point?

dapto1

Dan_Solo

randylonghorn wrote: »

Try re-reading (and understanding) what you just quoted.

Given that I was contesting the point that it was a "farce" which "discredited all students" (quotes taken from earlier posts by others), what exactly is your point?

Jeez, some people don't take yes for an answer. I'd hate to think what you do to people who aren't agreeing with you.
(yes, try reading and understanding what I posted...)

randylonghorn

Well, given that both articles were pretty clear about differentiating those causing trouble from the main student protest, it was difficult to see where you were coming from!