Students angry at call for college fee hike

STUDENTS have reacted angrily to the call by University College Cork’s president for a hike in the €1,500 registration fee in the upcoming budget.

Dr Michael Murphy said the extra funding was needed to guarantee the quality of education for the university’s 19,000 students following the recent decision that the Fianna Fáil-Green Party coalition will not reintroduce tuition fees.

But UCC Students’ Union president Eoin Hayes said Dr Murphy was out of touch with his students, whose families are struggling with financial difficulty and for whom the cost of education is growing aside from the fee which went up 66% this year.