President of Technological University Dublin (TUD) Students’ Union Union Brian Jordan, has condemned “racially charged” attacks which have occurred near the TUD Grangegorman campus recently.
In a statement yesterday, Jordan described an altercation which occurred on Wednesday evening, in which a group of several TUD students were physically and verbally abused.
The students, who were waiting at Broadstone Luas stop outside the Grangegorman campus, were “told to ‘go back to their own country’, had eggs thrown at them, and some were physically assaulted”.
The incident came to public attention following a video of the attack being posted to social media by one of the students.
Jordan described how many students “have come forward with countless other stories of also being attacked [outside the Grangegorman campus]” in the wake of Wednesday’s incident.
He expressed shock and disgust at these recent attacks and noted the importance of student safety on campus: “It sickens me to think that students are facing this sort of abuse while they’re just trying to live their lives. And it’s scary to think that our students, our classmates, our friends, could be next.”
“Students deserve to feel safe on our campuses. Students should be able to trust that the Guards will show up when they’re called. Students should not have to leave in fear when all they’re trying to do is get an education.”
Jordan also called for a review of local policing strategy to ensure the safety of students, saying: “We’ve already been in talks with senior university management, and we’ve made contact with the local Garda, and we are demanding a better policing strategy. Because what’s in place at the moment obviously isn’t working.”
He continued: “We want an urgent review of their policing strategy for this campus and the surrounding transport links, and we want them to address the fact that there have been racially charged attacks beside our largest campus.”
“We want it to be known that we will support the victims of these attacks, and will do everything we can to advocate for their safety,” the statement concluded.
TUD is linked with Trinity through the BSc in human nutrition and dietetics which is administered and awarded jointly by the two institutions.
