At the USI conference, outgoing president Garry Redmond claimed that “a lecturer starting in Ireland would earn many multiples of what a lecturer starting in the UK would”.

Scuffles broke out at the end of a mass student demonstration over Government plans to hike registration fees.

A RETURN to mass student protests cannot be ruled out as long as uncertainty remains about efficient grant payments, Union of Students in Ireland (USI) president Tony McDonnell warned last night.