GMIT Students’ Union and the Union of Students in Ireland (USI ) have placed a full page advertisement in a number of national and regional newspapers branding Government TDs, including Galway’s Derek Nolan, Brian Walsh, Sean Kyne, Paul Connaughton Jnr, Ciaran Cannon and Colm Keaveney, as ’liars’. The advertisements were designed to ensure the Government honours its pre-election promises on third level fees.
The debate dates back to February 21, during the final week of campaigning in Election 2011, when the then Labour Party spokesperson on education and current Education Minister Ruairí Quinn publicly signed a pledge on behalf of Labour stating they would ” oppose and campaign against any new form of third level fees including student loans, graduate taxes and any further increase in the Student Contribution”.
The following day party leader and current Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore also signed the pledge while Fine Gael also made a strong commitment on education in its election manifesto.
Following sustained media speculation surrounding another increase in fees, USI contacted every Government TD in the last two months asking them to stand by their pre-election promises, but no one was willing to do so.
The newspaper advertisement forms part of a major campaign launched by the USI which will also feature a large-scale student protest outside Government Buildings on November 16.
GMIT Students’ Union President Joe O’Connor says he has noticed “an unprecedented surge of students in extreme financial difficulty” in the college this year, and called on local TDs to honour their promises: “It is without question that a significant portion of the electoral success of our first-time Labour Party TDs here in Galway, Derek Nolan and Colm Keaveney, could be attributed to the strong support of many of the more than 20,000 students based in this county, on the basis of the pledge committed to by their party.
“I would call on them, along with Brian Walsh TD, Sean Kyne TD, Paul Connaughton Jnr TD and Ciaran Cannon TD, to clarify their position on the electoral promises made by the Labour Party and Fine Gael a mere eight months ago, as a matter of urgency,” he said.
