On Thursday 17 October, hundreds of UCD students walked out of their classes at 11:30am in order to protest Budget 2025 and the lack of provisions for Third-Level Students. The walkout was organised by the Unions for Students in Ireland (USI) and was embraced by UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU), who promoted the walkout on their social media accounts over the past week.
As the clock struck 11:30am on Thursday 17 October, hundreds of students across the UCD campus rose from their classes and ‘walked out’ in order to protest the current Government’s failure to adequately address student needs in Budget 2025.
Students then made their way to The O’Reilly Hall where UCDSU were stationed with megaphones, flags and pickets. Campaigns and Engagement Officer, Saskia McCormack-Eiffe, led the crowd of students in a chant of “We’re walking out before we drop out” before introducing the first speaker of the afternoon, UCDSU President Miranda Bauer.
Bauer opened by expressing how “excited” and “happy” she was “to see how many people showed up today to say to the government, to send a strong message that we're not happy with the budget, that we believe that it is completely insufficient.”
“I do want to thank everyone who walked out of their classes, I know sometimes it's something intimidating, but we also know that the budget 2025 is intimidating for the students, it failed to deliver on the key asks of the student movement, and also about the current state of higher education, and more broadly in defence of both of our students' experience and our futures”, she continued.
Bauer cited the fact that there was no mention of student accommodation in Budget 2025 when it was released on Tuesday October 1. She said she was proud of the size of the gathering “to send this message to the current Irish government.”
“We continue to be disappointed and angry at the lack of attention that our sector continues to get. [...] We can't believe that student accommodation wasn't mentioned in the budget even once.”
Also on housing, Bauer referenced the growing number of students who spend hours commuting daily, those who resort to sleeping in their cars, and those who rely on friends’ couches as a place to sleep. She put the rhetorical question to the floor, “Do you think that it's right that the development of student housing is carried out with investors in mind and not for students who continue to commute from Carlow, Offaly and other places further away?”
Bauer then spoke about the financial barriers to participate in third-level education in Ireland. She asked, “Why does Ireland, a country that prides itself in education, continue to put barriers for the people who wish to get educated?” She cited the increasing cost of “graduate-entry medicine fees, graduate entry radiography and veterinary fees”, arguing that this “sends a message that education is a privilege and not a right.”
“It creates a standard that affluent people can get educated if they wish, but all others have to fight to get an education, and afterwards face all of the hidden costs that come with taxable, mandatory field trips, mandatory clinical training with no financial support.”
To close, Bauer mentioned the impending General Election, and issued a rallying call to students to register to vote and to send a message to the current government. “Students need a new deal, but the last number of years have shown us that it's not going to just be presented to us, so we need to take action.”
Following Bauer's speech, lecturer in UCD School of Mathematics and Statistics Garrett Greene addressed the crowd. Greene spoke as a member of both the academic staff in UCD, and of Trade Union SIPTU. He said, “I'm standing here because what you're fighting for is the same thing that we're fighting for,” adding that “we care about our university as something which is more than just a machine for churning out degrees and taking in money from students.”
Greene stated “we have staff here in UCD, and in every third level education, on hourly paid contracts not knowing from one term to another if they will have a job, not able to pay their rent. We have jobs that we can't fill because the wages for people starting out and lecturing are so low that people cannot afford to live in this city or teach here.”
Greene also commended the work of UCDSU and students across the country over the past year for their activism and Palestinian solidarity, calling it an “inspiration” to the trade union movement.
The Campaigns and Engagement Officer then quickly addressed the crowd and urged them to register to vote before the looming General Election. She proclaimed, “You need to get out and vote. With a general election on the horizon, I'm telling you now, you need to register to vote.” Dotted around the gathering were a number of pickets with QR codes that direct you to checktheregister.ie. McCormack-Eiffe closed by saying, “We need change, we need change now and we are the people to do so.”
UCD student and Deputy-Chair of UCDSU Council Cillian Murphy was the final speaker, drawing focus to government inaction on the cost of living crisis, housing crisis, and education costs. As Murphy shared a story on recently paying €7.40 for a pint, shouts of “Shame” came from the crowd. “We are being squeezed and pushed from every angle”.
Murphy said,
“We keep getting told that our economy is strong, that GDP is booming [...] If this country is so rich, why are my friends becoming homeless? Why are they struggling and often failing to get from one end of the week to the other? [...] Why is emigrating on all of our minds?”
He further called on students to remember their “power”, recalling a turnout of 20,000 students to a protest in 2010 over government plans to increase registration fees, which culminated in over 50 students occupying the Department of Finance Office.
Murphy concluded by echoing McCormack-Eiffe’s plea for students to use their vote in the upcoming general election, saying “There's 250,000 of us. So get registered to vote. [...] If they work up the courage to knock on your apartment door, begging for a vote, ask them why after 10 years in government, more of our friends are homeless than ever before.”
Saskia McCormack-Eiffe thanked the crowd for walking out of class and showing the government that students will not be quiet. She ended the 30 minute long walk out with an exclamation of “Up The Students!”
All UCD staff were made aware of Thursday’s protest after receiving an email from Registrar and UCD Deputy President Colin Scott, who urged colleagues to “demonstrate understanding and make adjustments as appropriate.” Scott informed his colleagues that the organised walkout was to “highlight well-being, financial and accommodation challenges faced by students” before stating that the “student voice on these matters is vital.”