About 25,000 students took to the streets of Dublin on November 3 in protest at plans to increase college registration fees, MorningStarOnline.co.uk said. Many protesters wore T-shirts calling for “Education, not emigration”, referring to a recent surge of young people leaving Ireland with its double-digit unemployment for opportunities abroad, from Canada to Australia.
The protest by the Union of Students in Ireland was generally peaceful, but many were confronted by riot police on foot and horseback afterwards. Police charged about 2000 people gathered near the Department of Finance after the main march on Leinster House. Police admitted that several protesters had been injured and three had been arrested.