Victory in fees battle

posted 12th Oct

THE University of Limerick Students’ Union welcomes and commends the decision by Green Party members to stay in Government with Fianna Fáil on condition that the new Programme for Government, which stated that there will be no return to third level fees, is guaranteed.

Acting Students’ Union President Derek Daly stated: “This is a great moral victory for all students and is a landmark in lobbying the Government regarding the best interests of students. I firmly believe that this shows that there was no political will to follow through on the threat of the reintroduction of fees.”

Just last week ULSU met with Minister of State for Overseas Development at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Peter Power TD, to lobby him against the reintroduction of third level fees. Officers from ULSU also met with officers from the other three Limerick colleges to form a Limerick Association of Students’ Unions (LASU) plan of action against fees. As a result of this a city wide protest had been planned for early November and preparations will still underway on Friday.

The decision secures free third level education for at least another three years but the issue of backdoor fees remains. ULSU has vowed to ensure that no essential student services are curtailed in the coming months and that the registration fee remains at a manageable level.

This now paves the way for the student movement to focus on the everyday issues affecting students such as inadequate grants and financial hardship, as well as general under funding in the Higher Education sector.

Mr Daly concluded: “This marks the end of this particular battle against fees but the war on under funding is far from over.”