To benefit from any systemic fee reform students should really start protesting against them from the age of about 10.

Labour youth & Young Fine Gael student members can leave their party banners at home in fact it would be hypocritical for any of them to match thanks to their political association parties

Who is the TD standing with the students in the photo?

@Louise Teggart what a defeatist attitude. People need to get up off their arses, stop moaning and start fighting. Pensioners are the most radical group in this country so far in terms of their reaction to abolishing medical cards for the over 70s, which was about the only succesful protest since this crisis began and succeeded because they really went for it and refused to back down to austerity arguments.

Silly rumours going around about fees of €5,000. This is exactly what happened last year. A huge figure is leaked to scare students, then when the rise is much less, students breath a sigh of relief. Can’t believe the USI are being fooled by the same old tricks.

As usual, today will be a day out for students where they can drink with cans and naggins on the streets. Everyone will have a great day out and maybe, just maybe they’ll say a few things about education (meanwhile their lectures go on without them…) and of course you’ll have the usual breakaway group of Shinners and looney lefties who will try and occupy or smash up (maybe both) some public building like the Department of Finance.

Have fun people but I’ll be in my lectures doing what students are supposed to be doing on a weekday, learning!

@David if you ever had had to pay university fees you would know that ?5,000 p.a. is an accurate figure.

David the only people smashing up last year was the cops smashing people heads and limbs. Some of us will be there as legal obsevers. Unlike the leadership of the USI, the next generation of sell out politician wannabes who refuses to condemn police brutality last year but condemn a non violent occupation of the department of finance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZvj09s0BRk Check it out young woman battered unconscious and dumped in the street

@Louise Teggart I agree the method of protest chosen by the students will not work. What they should be doing is occupying universities along the lines of the ’60s students movements and refusing to leave until they get promises on fees. The annual march has become more of a ritual than anything else at this stage, but the solution is not to simply give up but to take more radical action.

Unfortunately the current student union leadership are all FF/Lab/FG hacks – much like the sell out trade union leadeership who organised a few token marches to let off steam but other than that has done nothing about massive pay cuts, job losses and attacks on working conditions in the public and private sector. The student union leaders actually want to ensure the protest is not disruptive which means it won’t be effective. Students need to cop on to thia and start electing fighting leaders & taking grassroots action themselves if the current leadership won’t.

Otherwise the government will see ye as a soft target and come back for more over and over again.

And io hear they are going to camp out tonight, weather permitting. the poor little dotes