Trinity students plan to escalate Book of Kells protests

Trinity student Louis Clarke from Ballsbridge outside the Old Library at Trinity College, Dublin, last week. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins 

Trinity College students have said they plan to escalate their protests after last week’s demonstration where they stopped people viewing the Book of Kells.

In a meeting held on Thursday, the demonstrators said the blockade on campus was “successful”.

A series of further planned actions were proposed at the meeting, including a rent strike within the campus accommodation in the second semester of the college year, and the continuation of occupying more buildings.

The row developed when the college imposed the 2% maximum rental increase as students face a cost-of-living crisis.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, László Molnárfi, president of Trinity College Dublin’s Students Union and chairperson of Students4Change, a socialist collective, said the reversal of the rent hike “was a very small demand” that the college “would not commit to”.

“We are being priced out of the accommodation sector everywhere as it is” he said. “We want a seat at the table, we have no voice, no one is listening.

“So, we plan to escalate our actions, we will be carrying out more demonstrations and we have had a lot of support.” 

Up to 30 students stood in front of the doorway of the Old Library, which prevented tourists from viewing the Book of Kells. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins

Meanwhile Trinity College said the students involved did not notify them of their planned demonstration last Wednesday.

Up to 30 students stood in front of the doorway of the Old Library, which prevented tourists from viewing the manuscript for the day.

A spokesperson for Trinity told the Irish Examiner the demonstration was peaceful and there were no incidents of public order offences, and they received no complaints.

“The usual way when a protest takes place is to notify the other side, but on this occasion, the students did not tell the college what was happening” said the university's spokesperson Catherine O'Mahony.

“Nor did they engage with the relevant college authorities — they never raised the issue.

“The Old Library was not accessible to the public throughout the day on Wednesday.

“All visitors with prebooked tickets were contacted and refunded in full. There were no official complaints and no incidents of violence.”

We don’t run our student housing for profit. We have 924 units in Trinity Hall in Dartry, a separate campus, and over 900 on campus," Ms O'Mahony said.

“We opened another 250 beds last year. It is a 2% increase in rents and the maximum allowable and we would say it comes at a time of very high inflation.

“Most universities are increasing rents.”