Students protest extra conferring charge

THOUSANDS of students voiced their opposition to being hit with extra charges on top of higher registration fees when they took to the streets of Cork opposing any return of college fees.

University College Cork had proposed a €80 charge to cover the cost of conferring ceremonies for graduates from next year, which UCC Students Union (UCCSU) president Eoin Hayes said is ridiculous.

“We all had to put up with a €600 increase in the registration fee to €1,500 already this year, and now they want €80 just to walk down a hall and collect a piece of paper,” he told a city centre protest organised by UCCSU and Cork Institute of Technology Students Union (CITSU).

A UCC spokesperson said last night that the conferring charge was proposed to defray some of the annual €200,000 cost of ceremonies for around 3,000 graduates, and that following student representations to reduce the catering element, the proposed fee is now being reduced to €65.

Having marched from their campuses to the city centre, around 3,500 assembled to listen to Mr Hayes and other student leaders

“This Government wants to give us fees of at least €8,000 a year, cut the grants by a third and the number of students who are eligible by a third. They want the students of Cork and the students of Ireland, to pay for the bankers, developers, builders and their lavish expense accounts,” said CITSU president Gearóid Buckley.

Jono Clifford, University of Students in Ireland southern area officer, said that it is time the Green Party makes up its mind if it is with or against students in relation to college fees.

The continuation of free, third-level education is believed to be a key demand of Green negotiators in their talks with Fianna Fáil on a revised Programme for Government, which is due to go before Green Party members at the weekend.

The Teachers’ Union ofIreland said yesterday it has been assured by the Green Party that opposition to fees, as well as protecting education services at primary and second level, remain key to the ongoing discussions with their coalition partners.