Irish students furious after politician backtracks on key election promise

Irish students are up in arms after education minister Ruairi Quinn yesterday backtracked on a promiseto campaign against any increase in college fees by refusing to rule out such an increase, and confirming that the registration fee would rise by €500 ($720).

The pre-election pledge, prepared by national students' union the Union of Students in Ireland and signed before the Minister was elected to power, stated that “If elected, I will oppose and campaign against any new form of third level fees including student loans, graduate taxes and any further increase in the Student Contribution”.

Yet just yesterday, delivering a key education policy address to the Royal Irish Academy, Quinn indicated that the registration fee would increase by €500 and refused to rule out an introduction of tuition fees, leaving the door wide open for the sort of increase that's been seen in England and would almost undoubtedly make college unaffordable for many Irish students barely managing to foot the price of college education as it stands, and who continue to drop out in large number and seek jobs abroad.

The USI were quick to pounce on the Minister's policy u-turn, issuing a stern warning picked up by the media not to 'renege' on the vow, but as an Irish Times opinion writer pointed out today, with the rhetorical question 'how much are pre-election promises worth?', it really shouldn't come as a shock, albeit a bitter one, that politicians no matter what their stripe or party cannot be expected to keep to their word, especially one issued before election-time, but it is nevertheless disappointing.

Ireland's third level system currently finds itself in an unsustainable financial situation, with low funding, rock-bottom tuition fees, and record high student numbers combining to force universities into debt, and even the most optimistic of commentators would have to acknowledge that with the government's hands tied to servicing a massive IMF debt, the only way to solve the funding shortage is for student fees to go up.

Key voices in Irish higher education, including president of UCC Prof Michael Murphy, incoming TCD Provost Patrick Prendergast, and popular academic-cum-blogger Ferdinand von Prondzynski, have also been forecasting an introduction of tuition fees for months, and despite the reluctance to make it any harder for cash-strapped Irish students to pursue a college education, it seems fairly reasonable that if the system is going to need more money to stay afloat, let alone to return to solvency, it's the beneficiaries of that system, the students, that should be expected to foot the bill.

It was a bit short-sighted to say the least, then, that Quinn should have even entered into such an obviously untenable pledge which the country could so obviously not afford to keep, not to mention the naivete of doing so with an influential students' union and media breathing down your neck, but a cold reminder that whatever wonders and fireworks politicians promise to offer before voting day comes rarely if ever come to surface once the new political order comes to power.

Despite all the understandable anger, though, it would equally be a pity if the anger currently being justifiably directed at Quinn would overshadow the hard work he's putting in for third level and education at the moment.

In just the last week alone the Minister has called for a revision of the antiquated college points admissions system (the CAO), granted a key non-denominational educator permission to run secondary schools (for the first time in the history of the State), launched a comprehensive reform of the Leaving Certificate including some clever ideas to incentivize entry into the courses industry are most eagerly seeking skills in, and commissioned a new report into the 'funding crisis' currently besetting the sector to look at a variety of possible ways of getting third level back on its financial feet.

Just today in Dublin he's launching the world's first ever third level degree in 'cloud computing', to begin this year at Cork Institute of Technology, which may provide Ireland with over 8,000 jobs in the sector over the coming years.

In a country used to languishing under the effects of Fianna Fail's 'laissez faire' approach to education policy-setting for far too long, it would be a pity to overlook reforms that could have a real benefit on Irish third level in the course of -- even if a promise, even a pledge, was broken.

Crazed airport rampage ends when stolen jeep 'breaks down'

It's been a busy few days here in Cork.

Just fourty-eight hours after the Queen and Duke headed back to England after their final stop-off here, Cork and its little airport are back in the headline news again, this time after a crazed man hijacked a police jeep, broke through the airport perimeter fence, and almost managed to drive the vehicle into a departing Aer Lingus passenger jet, before tragedy was averted when the fire service vehicle he changed into broke down after striking a luggage truck.

It's a fairly dramatic news story in its own right (the policeman in charge of the jeep was slashed in the face with a knife prior to the hijacking), but even more dramatic I think are the questions that need to be asked of the Gardai in light of this incident, which is a real rarity in Ireland.

Just days after what was by all accounts an extraordinarily well prepared policing and security arrangement for the five day visit of the royals, which against all expectations went off without hitch, it seems as if a major security let-up potentially endangered the lives of dozens of Corkonians, not to mention whoever was aboard the departing Aer Lingus jet, which was boarding at the time of the incident.

For those of you not from this lovely part of the world, or who haven't had the delight of visiting here, Cork Airport is situated a couple of miles from the city center, depending on where you're measuring from, atop a steep incline approached by two gently steeping roads.

It almost beggars belief that the police were unable to intercept, shoot the tires of, or otherwise stop the vehicle during the course of the long and sloping incline from the city center to the airport, especially after its occupant had just slashed a member of the force in the face with a knife.

With all the impressive policing on show over the last few days, with Garda helicopters, plain-clothes detectives, armed police, and special units patrolling the streets over the past few days, it seems almost beyond belief that only a flukey mechanical failure and sheer luck were able to prevent a crazed hijacker from driving his vehicle into an aircraft full of pilgrims heading for Lourdes, sitting helplessly on the tarmac as the situation unfolded.

Also seemingly incredible is how Cork Airport's police seemed unable to set up a roadblock in the time between when the jeep was hijacked and its arrival at the airport, or how it managed to drive around the airport for a full 10 minutes before coming to an abrupt stop upon contact with a luggage truck.

Perhaps time-frames were short, but a narrow one-lane roundabout intervenes between the city center's approach road and the airport itself, while a slanting but equally narrow road leaves to the airport from the other side (news reports haven't yet indicated from which side he approached the airport). Either would have been potential intercept points as the stolen vehicle careered towards, and broke through, the airport's perimeter fence.

The most important question to ask, though, is how during the course of the ensuing dramatic cat-and-mouse chase between the man on the rampage and armed Gardai (police) ( amazing footage of which has already appeared on the national broadcaster's website, link below) it took a mechanical failure of the police vehicle rather than forcible intervention from any of the armed police present to bring the jeep to a stop -- not after, of course, it had already rammed three other vehicles -- and had this stroke of luck not occurred it seems as if the jeep was on course to crash directly into an Aer Lingus jet, passengers and all?

The attacker, now being psychiatrically evaluated by the Gardaí also managed to change out of the Garda vehicle into a fire service SUV after brandishing a knife. Again how this could have happened while at the airport and being chased by Gardai seems strange.


One of the later news reports about the incident has hinted that the delay in stopping the man was due to the fact that the Gardaí in question had to wait for authorization before even being able to discharge a taser gun on the man. If so this seems like a situation that Ireland may need to address if attacks like these become more frequent.

(The video's here: http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0522/cork.html#video . Only 45 seconds and definitely worth watching. Credit: Jim Anderson)

Queen's visit a milestone for Ireland

The five day state visit of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh to Ireland was a true coming-of-age moment for Ireland, and the undoubted beginnings of a new era of cooperation between the independent state and its closest neighbour.

That may sound like a variation on an endlessly repeated theme that's been coming out of the Irish media for the past three weeks, but the surprising thing is that it actually seems to be true.

The Queen's reception in Cork today was for me (disclaimer: a Corkman) the culmination of her five day visit here.

As I mentioned in a blog earlier this week, just after her arrival and first engagements in Dublin, the Queen's first moments on Irish soil were marked by a near total and highly conspicuous absence of the Irish public, a sad and stark reminder of the dissident threat which had threatened this visit since it was first announced.

Thankfully the end of the royal visit, the Queen's two engagements in Cork this afternoon, provided a nice counterpoint to that threat, with the Queen freely mingling with the people of Cork and even wandering off on an impromptu walkabout of the city centre.

The city's streets were thronged with people this afternoon, and the Queen, visiting the city's historic English Market, got up close and personal with market traders and locals alike.

At the Tyndall Research Institute, the hi-tech spin-off of the local university developing such amazing and varied technologies as painless needless and microelectronics, the Queen met local sporting and civic figures, and had a hands on demonstration of the technologies currently under production.

These niceties aside, though, the real legacy of the Queen's visit for Ireland is of course a political one.

The visit -- which went even better than the optimists could have predicted -- seems to have dealt a strong blow to the more virulently anti-British movements in Irish politics.

Opposing the Queen's visit, especially among the youth, was perceived as starkly old-fashioned. A friend laughingly recounted how he heard one protest organizer call a colleague to ask if he could procure more 'tin whistles' for the protest, while the Sinn Fein party's move today to strongly criticize a party mayor who shook hands with the Queen also seems incredibly stuck in the past. The puny protest that was held across the river from the Grand Parade was dwarfed by those who had just come out to enjoy the day and was largely ignored.

It's not, of course, that many don't still cling to '32 county' aspirations, but there seems to be a stronger feeling than ever before that by-gones should be by-gones and that a new era of cooperation between Ireland and Britain promises far more than one of lingering rancour and resentment.

My Facebook feed was an aggregation of young Irish out to enjoy the day. Dozens snapped pictures of the Queen supposedly waving directly 'at them'; others captured glimpses of the car as it sped off for the next stop on the trip. The mood was one of happiness, one of pride for Cork and for Ireland, and a feeling that this was the beginning of a bright new era.

There were certainly a lot of cynics before the Queen's visit who said that it wouldn't really change anything on the ground. But unless I'm badly mistake there has been a noticeable warming in Irish perceptions of Britain and the monarchy since the Queen landed here five days ago.

And that, I join most of the country in thinking, can only be a good thing.

Is Ireland heading for a higher education bubble?

One of the issues I've heard discussed a lot recently in the Irish media is the issue of Irish students' record-breaking enrollment in higher education courses, and the possibility that this constitutes a bubble in the making. We all know what happened the Irish property market, but could Ireland's third level sector also be facing an implosion from over-enrollment and under-funding?

Apparently some think so. Whether referred to as the 'higher education bubble', the third level 'funding crisis', or some other way of denoting imminent financial meltdown at Ireland's universities and institutes of technology, there seems to be a rising crescendo of voices in the Irish media and academia claiming that Ireland's third level sector can't be sustained if current enrollment figures and minimal funding continue.

A large part of the reason for the rapid increase in student third level enrollments has to do with the rise of the 'weather-it-out' students, clinging steadfastly to a doctrine of recessionary survival which advocates staying in college as long as possible in order to ride out Ireland's currently economic woes. Masters are good, Doctorates are better, this strategy goes, bur either way postgraduate enrollments are on the rise.

It may seem like a somewhat cynical and insincere reason for staying in third level education, but as an idea for delaying the inevitable (- going out into the 'real world' and looking for a job -), this tactic has a lot to commend itself to, but it's undoubtedly also putting a large strain on Ireland's fairly meager economic resources, nowhere more meager, perhaps, than in Ireland's third level sector, where minimal tuition fees and low external investment together create an environment that's bound to struggle under the weight of huge student numbers and dwindling staff levels.

Students weathering out the recession by staying in college is far from the only reason for the very buoyant third level attendance figures, of course. Ireland's rise and and establishment as a knowledge-based economy means that third level education will continue to be a necessity for many, if not most, jobs but the combination of the various factors pushing college numbers up could together place more of a strain on the system than its thin resources and low student-derived income were ever designed to handle.

Whether Ireland's third level sector will buckle under the strain of student numbers and underfunding as some predict remains to be seen, but it's certainly an issue that will be crucial to Ireland's economic future over the coming years.

Queen's visit begins amid ultra-tight security

Today's historical visit of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh began with a monumental wreath-laying ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance this afternoon, but those watching the state broadcaster's day-long coverage of the State trip could be forgiven that Ireland was a country comprised almost solely of army personnel, plain-clothes detectives, and a press corps.

The trip has necessitated the largest security operation that the Irish State has ever seen, with even elite former SAS soldiers also being drafted into to protect the Queen's safety during her five day trip, but the precautions taken have even gone so far as to ensure that no member of the public not officially involved with the itinerary get within fourty feet of the monarch -- at all times.

The dramatic arrangements may be an unfortunate by-product of the various threats leveled by dissident Republican hard-liners at the monarch since the visit was announced, but there's something about the conspicuous absence of the Irish general public at the visit's various stop-offs that goes entirely against the grain of a trip that's been hailed as a historical moment of reconciliation.

Her arrival to the Garden of Remembrance this afternoon involved the mile-long motorcade travelling through a literal steel cage, erected on either side of the road, while uniformed police officers were posted at every five metres' of the route, and police snipers specked the nearby roofs.

The ultra-tight security may not be over-the-top given the seriousness of the threats that have been made in the lead-up to the much publicized trip (just two days ago a threat in London necessitated the evacuation of the courtyard of Buckingham Palace, while the recent murder of a police officer in Northern Ireland did anything but allay authorities' concerns that the threats were not to be taken seriously), but it seems a terrible irony that a visit meant to bring about a historical reconciliation between two neighbouring but often warring states has included a total lack of the Irish people, or at least those ones not involved with the events, at the various stop-offs.

Despite the great unwashed's inability to come within touching distant of the Queen, though, there has been a genuine sense that the visit had fostered the sort of mutual togetherness that it had set out to achieve.

Although the Irish public cannot honestly be said to have been unequivocally in favour of the visit, the few who opposed it on historical grounds seem to have numbered in the underwhelming minority, while even among those indifferent to the trip (which, according to a BBC report includes most of Ireland's youth), there's a sense that this is indeed a beginning of something 'new', a relinquishing of old grudges, and a time to let go of whatever has happened in the past that has had a long-lasting strain on the countries' bilateral relationship.

It's just a pity that those people can't get past the barricades.

Irish third level chief blows €100,000 on taxis while students drop out of college

(Note: 'Danny Boy' hasn't been updated a while as I'm currently finishing my final university exams in UCC, but I intend to get back to updating it regularly from now on.)

An interesting fracas going on in Irish academia at the moment involves the embattled president of Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT), a small Irish higher education provider, and a bunch of incredibly ridiculous expenses which he has incurred while furnishing his presidential office, and hosting guests.

The spectacular expenses - which include a massive €100,000 spend on taxis between Waterford and Dublin alone - have shocked a country used to politicians, bankers, and other members of the elite wasting taxpayers' money in the most imaginative and lavish ways, with the Irish Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn TD, forcing the Higher Education Authority, the body that administers Irish third levels, to mount an immediate investigation into the overheads.

The reason for the uproar, besides the sheer size and ridiculousness of the expenses Professor Byrne is claiming, is that Irish third level is currently facing into its darkest hour yet: student numbers are up, staff numbers are down, and third levels are fighting for their very financial survival. Grant cuts are being forced across the system, and it's a challenge for many students to afford to stay in college long enough to finish out their degrees. Amidst all this financial mayhem, where cutbacks and pay cuts are the order of the day, Byrne's expenses stick out like a sore and ugly thumb.

Perhaps more incredible than the expenses themselves, though, has been Professor Byrne's reaction to the widespread public uproar caused by them (today, the day of his possible re-election to the position, four newspapers have run with the story). Byrne has claimed that the expenses represented 'good value', saying that the taxi costs worked out less expense than had he billed the IT for a private driver. Yet that doesn't really excuse the other massive blow-outs the Freedom of Information requests uncovered: €300,000 worth of hospitality expenses, a €150,000 renovation of the office, and a further €100,000 on fine art.

The reason I'm repeating this little vignette from Irish public life on Irish Central, is to point out that despite all the belt-tightening and cutbacks that have been the hallmarks of Irish society in the not-so-rosey post-Celtic Tiger era, there are still staggering examples of public wastefulness out there; people who genuinely think that billing a tiny learning institute €100,000 for taxi fares is 'value for money'.

The Celtic Tiger may be dead and buried, but little echoes of its roar still live on.