Students hold protest over higher education funding

More than 1,500 students have marched in the centre of Dublin to protest over student fees, the effect the cost of living is having on their education and a lack of accommodation choices.

Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (AMLÉ), formerly the Union of Students in Ireland organised today's protest which started at the Garden of Remembrance and has continued on to Molesworth Street where a large crowd has gathered.

AMLÉ said 3,000 students took part in today's protests by either marching through the streets of Dublin or engaging in planned walk-outs.

Eleanor McCahill, the President of University College Cork Students' Union, said: "There's three key main asks. We need the funding gap to be reduced. We need purpose-built, publicly owned student accommodation. We need help for our students in terms of commuting students."

She added: "Quite frankly, we need help. We're at this point right now, that it has to be a turning point. Something has to be done because things can go the way they're going right now."

Speakers on the stage from universities and colleges across the country say that their generation has been failed and student life is being badly affected.

"Sleeping on the floors, sleeping in bad accommodation standards, and it's because we don't have that money. We're spending that money on fees and on bad accommodation and on commuting all the time.

Nicole McFadden who is studying at UCD said a lot of students were now sleeping on floors and in bad accommodation affected by problems like mould.

Alannah Ní Chuanacháin said that whilst they could stay with grandparents whilst studying, others were not so lucky and had long commutes beginning as early as 5am.

Students' Union President at the University of Galway Seán de Búrca called for the expansion of student services and for the abolition of fees.

He described fees as a massive burden that students or their parents are expected to pay each year.

Speaking to RTÉ's Liveline, he said that getting rid of student fees should be looked by the Government as it would lead to a cash injection for local economies as students would go out and spend.

Also speaking on Liveline, Daniel Walsh of AMLÉ said that there should be a €500 reduction in the student contribution fee, with a multi-annual plan to abolish the charge.

He said that the cost of going to college is impacting so many students, particularly in relation to the cost of living and student accommodation, and called for State investment in purpose-built student accommodation.