'All my money goes on fees and rent': Frustrated students take to the streets of Cork

Students protesting college fees in Cork. Some of them are in a situation where they have to decide whether to pay their rent, or buy food. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Students took their fight against college fees, rising living costs and the housing crisis to the streets of Cork on Monday, to show their frustration at what they describe as a crisis in education.

It marked the first of three days of regional protests organised by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) under its ‘Cost of College’ campaign.  The protest at the Library on Grand Parade included representatives of the 60,000 students from Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Limerick, and Carlow that make up the USI Southern Region.

Underinvestment in the sector is leading to situations where students are forced to commute for hours a day or take out massive loans to attend third level, the protest heard. Among those attending was Molly Vreijling from Ballintemple, a child care student at the Munster Technological University (MTU).

“I went to the College of Commerce two years ago and the fees were nowhere near this amount," she said. “Even with SUSI, I'm still paying way too much. Half of my savings are gone. All my money is going to the fees and rent.”  

USI President USI, Clare Austrick, at today's protest in Cork. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

She worries about what happens after she graduates in two years “because I’m going to get paid so little and the rent is still so high.” She’d like to see the student contribution fee abolished before her younger siblings start college.

As welfare officer of UCC, Caoimhe Walsh said she meets with students on a daily basis who have financial problems. “Even students who are receiving SUSI. Your fees are paid for, and you're getting the grant, but it's still not enough. There are students working two or three part-time jobs, I know a few students who are working in Cork during the week and then go back to where they're from on the weekends and work there.” 

Student Denis Holton at the protest in Cork. “I’m seeing students every day, living on the poverty line." Picture: Eddie O'Hare

"The Government says we have a free fees initiative, but I mean where, when you are paying all this money? It’s not just €3,000, there is so much more to the costs.” Even in November, there are still students coming to her office with accommodation issues, she added. 

There’s still students sleeping in their cars, living in hostels, sleeping on couches.

One student is commuting four hours a day from Kilkenny to study in Cork. The re-launch of the UCCSU food bank attracted national attention in September when it ran out of food within an hour of opening. It now operates every Monday evening, helping to feed about 60 students a week.

“It’s a situation where they have to pay their rent, or buy food. It all falls under the same thing: financial hardship." It’s a situation echoed by Denis Holton, the vice-president and education officer with the students' union in MTU-Kerry.

“I’m seeing students every day, living on the poverty line, struggling to get accommodation,” he said. “I’ve had many students coming in, applying for college funding grants, saying if they don’t get it they don’t have any choice but to drop out of college. 

Students protesting in Cork came from Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Limerick, and Carlow. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

"That’s the sad reality of the situation for lots of students at the moment, and Kerry isn’t immune to it. We see students struggling, and we just want to see that change and end today.”

Ahead of the protest, the UCCSU condemned recent comments by their university president, Professor John O’Halloran, about the student contribution fee. At Cork Chamber's Business Breakfast, Prof. O’Halloran said the current €3,000 annual student contribution is lower than some of the fees charged by private secondary schools. 

“One of the messages people have said to me, and this won't be popular, but why is education so cheap? Why is it only €3,000 a year? It is a difficult subject but some people will be paying more than that for second-level schools today and when they come to university they are paying less.”  

Amadeusz from WIT protesting in Cork about college fees today. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Addressing the crowd at Grand Parade, Asha Woodhouse, the president of UCCSU, said students are the biggest stakeholders in higher education institutions. “Yet often we have the least say when it comes to fees, charges or what this money gets spent on. Some people would have you think that college is 'cheap' and that you should be paying higher fees than you already are.  

"In reality, we need to be breaking down the barriers to higher education, not increasing them. The housing market exists for profit, and our education system is heading in the same direction,” she said.