Students occupy QUB in fees protest

Published Tuesday, 30 November 2010

Students have occupied the main building at Queen's University as part of a protest against tuition fees.

The group, led by Free Education for Everyone (FEE), filled the Belfast university's Lanyon Building on Tuesday afternoon.

Organisers say they want to align themselves with similar demonstrations which are being staged across the UK and in the Republic of Ireland.

Chris Loughlin, one of the students taking part in the rally, says university fees are already too high.

"I'm already paying £3,000 in tuition fees studying at Queen's at the moment, so I think fees of £9,000 would be an absolute disgrace," he told UTV.

"Like people in the south who occupied university buildings down there, we're protesting and standing in solidarity with them, and with students in England, Scotland and Wales."

Earlier this month, students from Northern Ireland took part in a massive protest in central London.

The demonstrations follow a report by Lord Browne, which recommended lifting the current cap on fees in England, leaving the prospect that some institutions could charge as much as £12,000 a year.

A Stormont-led task force is currently examining the report's implications for Northern Ireland.

Comments

4 Comments

Eamonn in Tyrone wrote (540 days ago):

Actually Dan, I'm a mature student of 32 with a mortage, job and two children. I can't afford to pay back an extra couple of grand, as is the situation with the majority of mature students.

Dan in An Dún wrote (541 days ago):

Eamon, do you have a single clue what you're on about? First off, "fat cats offspring"? EVERYONE gets TWICE the cost of the fees in a no-questions-asked loan, with additional grants for low incomes ONLY. If you want to go, you avail yourself of your loan, and if you actually bother to apply yourself over the 4 years you should be earning back more than enough to pay it back. Just because you want to go do an "Arts & Humanities" faux-degree for 3 years while spending all of the loan money on alcohol doesn't mean everyone does. I haven't been able to get anywhere near Queen's because of the weather, yet you'd rather sit on your arse all day being a nuisance to fellow students, staff, and probably most importantly tourists, then go do some real work? I say jack the fees right up, then only the people who TRUELY want to go will go, rather than the mass of wasters there currently are.

Eamonn in Tyrone wrote (541 days ago):

Education is one of the major influences of health inequalities in the UK. If the average person is separated from a good education, it renders the work of the Black Report useless. The mortality rate between the upper and lower classes will once again increase after years of research and work to narrow and eventually abolish this gap. These fees will hurt the health of our nation in the long-run, but who cares as long as the "fat cat's" offspring can afford a QUB degree? Right??? NO!

T J McClean in Belfast wrote (541 days ago):

'Students occupy QUB in fees protest.' Wow far out radical man!