Yeah but he got the pizzas in

It is ashame that any should find themselves forced to ‘sit-in’ to highlight unfairness.

And that is more than likely paid for by the public.

This is getting more like North Korea every day. Do not be critical of the Great Leader.

No, they have implied right of entry (as does the postman etc) as you have to enter your driveway to ring the doorbell, deliver post etc. If you inform them that your have withdrawn their implied right of entry then they must leave immediately or they are trespassing.

K so I can put a sign up saying no tresspassing and at the bottom state representatives of FG/FF/labour..in small writing and then get them charged if they knock?

Sounds good Derek…. Although I’m just going to burst the first one with a golf club. The serious blood loss will be enough to get the word will get around quick. After that I can see many more members of the Fianna Gaelabour Party knocking my door again.

Plenty of Gardai though Charlie, one assumes

comment of the week!

Why should he care? The tax payer pays that for him.

It is a shame but Ireland has become a nation of Sheep unfortunately. Talking will get us no where and surely its time people woke up and realized that we are being stripped bare by Kenny and his useless cronies. The politicians who take home 3 grand a week can Never identify with a poor mother trying to feed her hungry children and buy clothes to send them to school , when her allowance has been slashed, and they certainly can not identify with a carer who works 24/7 , looking after a loved one who has Alzheimers or senile dementia or is in a wheelchair etc. But, when the nursing homes and hospitals are jammed next year with these patients because the carers cannot afford to look after them in their homes then Kenny will have the smirk on the other side of his face,. And , Labour are finished after this anyway so no need to mention them !!

very much doubt it

It was his constituency office which deals with his role as a TD rather than as Taoiseach. Although he is paid an allowance for it by the exchequer, it is his property.

one rule for them and onn for them

It is still the then campaign against Household and water taxes. There has been no official name change, some areas have changes but not the national campaign

Very well said, ;)
The ‘fighting Irish’ is not a valid description nor is it warranted by the majority of today’s Irish population..
Fearful,, cowardly and damn lazy would be more accurate!

what are you waiting for? all it takes is 3 or 4 boys to sit-in anywhere, why are you waiting for someone else to start it again before you’ll join in?? do you not know 3 or 4 people yourself?

If by one of the lowest in Europe you mean the second highest rate of fees then yes, you’re right.

Were

We’re what?

Students are neglecting their spelling and grammar with all these protests.

I didn’t know we were being “corrected” on grammar here, “was” is what I wrote, if I wanted to I would have said “were” but low & behold I didn’t , so, “Was there any cans if Lilt in the office” End of!

fair play to the lads…knowing our justice system they will get 6months..
ps…what’s with the grammar police attacking every little flaw on here lately nobody cares

Fair play to ya folks! It’s something, if anything!
I was astounded with seeing the worship like way Enda Kenny was treated by customers at a bar on Merrion row last Friday evening. Posing with him as if he was Jack Charlton or Paul McGrath. It was a horrible thing to witness a few hours after a harsh budget. I thought; only in Ireland!

Sure shouldn’t these students be in class or studying for exams?

Yes they should but they chose to forsake a day’s work to make a stand against a budget measure which will drive many of their fellow students out of the education system. It’s called democracy in case you were wondering. Fair play to them for standing up for themselves.

To be honest, it’d be more a measure of democracy if they just accepted the hardship, and understood that to get the country back on track and to ensure that they will have the possibility of being employed in this country in the future.
If the education system stays the same, I’m sure the same people will be arrested for a protesting that their are no jobs in the country in a few years time when they leave university.
What then?

Exactly, enough said.

I don’t know what course you’re doing but the fees for mine are €7500 a year.

That was before the budget….

And how much will a years social welfare be for those who will no longer be able to afford college??

@ john

Yes john presently it’s €3,000.00 but after the next budget one can presume that it will further increase even though we were told its been capped and who can remember the famous pledge signed by the now minister for education promising not to increase fees Ireland is heading towards the uk system where only the elite can afford third level education

80% of a HEI budget is tied up in staff wages. Dr. Michael Murphy in UCC complained about his €232,000 a year salary..the man could pay the SCC with a weeks wages, but his wages are intact while low income FAMILIES are being hit with grant cuts and rises in fees because they want the best for there children

That is retarded!

What else would the budget be spent on?!?!?!?!? Without the staff (lecturers) how would the education system work???

wow….. Honestly like.

@ Tom

I’m a student I have gone back to college to retrain cause I lost my job wasn’t that what we were told do I paid my taxes I contributed to the state so I feel that I’m been hit twice in the face first been told retrain no problem gladly do it cause I feel a change of sector is good at this time for me but then to increase fees and cut the threshold for the grant so I’m struggling to stay in college and complete my degree while majority of the country brand all students as lazy caring only to go out well I can assure you that only a small population of students live like this n most don’t make it past first year in times like these the country needs to back one another and speak as one against the government as we all have our grievances so we should be united as one together we are stronger

I agree to an extent with what you’re saying, but that poses many more problems that you haven’t addressed. Increasing fees and cuts to grants mean that education will become elitist – this has already started to happen, where people from disadvantaged backgrounds can’t get a third level education. And with regards to working part time, that’s a lot easier said than done for a bunch of eighteen or nineteen year olds with no work experience and unfriendly college timetables. I personally think that this kind of protesting is all that we have left to make a stand, and I applaud them for making a stand; they put the rest of the country to shame.

Education is a fundamental human right not a privilege. It is also a sound investment by the state as graduates earn on average a 70% higher income than non graduates therefore pay a proportionately larger amount of tax, therefore over the period of their working life they pay for the cost of their education many, many times over. Furthermore it is our wealth of graduates that has consistently made Ireland a hub for foreign investment from the likes of Pfizer, Intel, Google, Facebook etc who pump billions into our economy and provide employment for thousands.

Finland would disagree. All education including 3rd level is paid by the state as they deem education should be a basic human right for everyone, not just the rich.

Basic education is a human right, but people expect to get handed free 3rd level education, its not viable when the country is in so much debt.

I’m not saying that third level education should be only for the rich, I’m also not saying that fees should be paid up front. There has to be a system where students pay back the fees when they are in a position that they are earning the 70% higher income that they quote so often. The fact that graduates can earn such a higher income is a privilege that people in this country are now turning their noses up at, and that is caused by being handed free college degrees.

If everybody has to payback their college fees once they are employed then it is not discriminating anybody. In fact its the opposite of discriminating…

I’ve just graduated this year, I had no grant, I come from a big family so my parents couldn’t support me through college, I worked hard and had a part time job. I have come out of college and after 6 months I was lucky enough to find work, if I was asked to contribute to the fees that were paid for me during my working life I would accept it, don’t get me wrong I’d gave to make cuts elsewhere in my life to accommodate it.

As for Finland, they are not in recession. If we were in their position maybe we could do the same, but I’m dirty we are not.

If you want free education then you’ll have to bed content with living in a recession stuck country for longer and these 70% higher income jobs that you soak of won’t exist in this country.

Change has to happen in this country, whether you are a big shot in the business world or a student change had to happen to get us out if the hole we have found ourselves in.

If you see any alternative solution I’m all ears

I’m not engaging further as I made the point in my previous reply, the amount of tax paid by graduates due to their higher incomes pay for the cost of their education many times over and draws in billions of euro of foreign investment.

Ok Ruaidhri, you can continue to leech of the country that is not in a position to fund the education system. You can keep repeating your rehearsed off replies but at some stage you’ll have to learn how to have a conversation about these topics instead of running away.

Dónal, I’m not a student. I am in full time employment. Education is a sound investment by the state, which part of that statement do you not understand?

This has got nothing to do with investing in audio supplies…

Your hilarity knows no bounds.

Your solution to a country that has been crippled by bank loans and bad debt is student loans? That doesn’t sound like “change”

No its the neocons solution. Debt = slavery. 1 trillion plus student debt in the US is a great example.

Third Level Education is not a right, it is a complete privilege, a privilege some students in Ireland abuse. As a new graduate working full time in a college I witness this abuse every day. Those in receipt of grants should be expected to maintain an honours average at the end of each semester or risk loosing the next instalment.
In addition, NUIG are in the middle of their End of Semester Exams, Surely the SU is setting a bad example by wasting their time sitting in an office in Co Mayo achieving nothing except for highlighting their blatant ignorance of the political issues of the day.
As for the point regarding free education in Sweden and other Scandinavian Countries, it would be impossible to compare them fairly to Ireland. first of all, their tax system is entirely different. Second of all the standard of education and the conduct of Universities is of a higher standard than here. Transport the students of any Irish Universityy to a Swedish University and the vast majority would fail miserably.
Ireland still has low fees in comparison to the United Kingdom and other European countries. By all means, use your right to protest, but sitting in an office in miserable Castlebar, is that really the way to go? Really?

It actually is change because then we would be paying for our education when we are in a position to afford it, ie when we have our achieved our degrees and obtained the necessary skills that can enable us to earn the higher income that is a privilege. Rather than taking it for free, and not respecting and appreciating the value of the service that we do get.

We’ve all seen and know people or of people that are in university and are more interested on having the craic and getting the shift until the few days before the end of semester exams. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not painting every student with the same brush, I know that there are people that go to college and work their assess off, but lets not pretend that there is not another side to the coin. How do you feel about people that are not interested in working as hard as they should and just want to go out as much as they can? Is that value for your money? Is that worth the investment? I’m pretty its not.

All I’m saying is that if people know that they have to pay back their fees when they leave college then they will work harder as it’ll be their money that will be paying for it, not the governments, not their parents them. This will make students work harder and benefit the education system that you are all bent on investing in, rather than hinder it.
I may have used the term “loan” earlier” and in hind sight that was probably not the correct term, but more of an education tax that is paid by people in the years after they graduated would work better.
It would be technically a loan… As the state would pay for the education (loaning the money to pay the fees), then the student would re-pay it in tax (Re-paying the loan), but it would remain that there would be no fees for the student to pay… Win, Win situation if you ask me… What is the problem with this? It does not favor the “rich” or the “poor”, as after college everybody would end up paying, regardless of the back ground they come from. Actually, I think this would work out better for poorer people, but that’s just me.

A person can really only appreciate the true value of money when it is coming out of their own pocket, it’s very easy to spend it when it belongs to someone else.

and dont just give me a thumbs down, at least put you argument across.

I gave it a thumbs up!

Mattie McGrath is a TD. That’s the difference.

They won’t get a criminal record for this cop on

What is criminal about trespass? Pretty sure it’s a civil offence.

It is a criminal offence under the Public Order Act, Section 11 or 13

Maybe we should get the multinationals to pay a tax rate in excess of 0.14% or get the government to close loopholes that let the rich pay less taxes. Its about time we start taxing the people that have it and not the people that don’t.

Starbucks paid €35,000 in tax last year to the Irish state. That is less than many individual people. Sort that out and I’m pretty sure you’ll come up with a few extra quids to spend on education.

A better educated populace raises the overall economic output of any area. Society is not necessarily being taken advantage of by students, nor is the act of education a gift given by the state purely out of charity to young people. We need more education in the country, not less.

People like yourself need the education Daivd, college is an education, a self investment, not a lifestyle.

In that case, if €3000 is too much for you to pay, then get a job like they do in other countries. It may be below your dignity to wash dishes or floors, but if that’s what it takes then do it. Don’t ask the tax-payer to do it for you.

Take responsibility for your own lives. If you won’t do it then you don’t deserve an education. It’s time to grow up and face the big bad world!

I washed cars to get through college, and now I’m out and lucky enough to be employed within 6 months.

But that is because I wanted it more than being in the SU.