Austerity means emigration is my only option

The job market is non-existent for graduates, and my job prospects are very thin, writes Cian Power

THE fear I have leaving college next year is that I won’t be able to continue to study. The funding for postgraduate courses are nil.

With no grant, and with no money, I won’t be able to get the qualifications which are vital in such a competitive employment sector.

With no postgraduate funding, I won’t be able to find a job linked to my political studies degree.

With the end of my college term looming, emigration is becoming an increasingly likely option. The job market is non-existent for graduates, and my job prospects are very thin.

When starting college, the promise of employment and a future were sold to me and every student in Ireland, but currently the austerity measures have mutilated my future and my dreams have been dampened.

Emigrating to Europe seems my best option. There is nothing for graduates here. We have been neglected and are continuing to be. We are burdened with previous generations’ mistakes and left to pay the price.

Being an independent student with no third party support, life in college was always going to be tough.

To fund college, I have two part-time jobs. Luckily I get a grant, but it isn’t enough.

I get a basic maintenance grant but, because I’m an independent student, I do not qualify for the special rate, which I desperately need. It is unjust as I earn far below the cut-off point.

I have to ration my money and often go hungry just to keep my head above water. With paying rent, food, bills, and then my studies, college is extremely tiring and costly, and with the current austerity measures and lack of job prospects, I ask myself “what is the point?”

Too many graduates are stuck in a cul de sac with only one option — emigration.

College is a struggle. My studies have been affected, but I will always be proud of surviving college and I am so grateful for the chance to better myself.