Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe will speak in Trinity tomorrow, one week after Minister Eamon Ryan was forced to leave through an emergency exit following multiple protests against his attendance on campus.
Student groups have called for the minister’s visit to be protested in protest against government’s “continual failures on housing policy”, calling the event a “sham”.
Trinity People Before Profit have called on protestors to gather outside Trinity Business School at 12.15pm on their Instagram story, which has been reshared by Students4Change.
Similar to Ryan’s address last week, questions from the public are being screened prior to the event. This process drew criticism for offering no chance for “critical” or “tough” questions following the event.
Last week’s protest focused significantly on government’s decision to end an eviction ban the previous day, as well criticisms of Ryan’s unsatisfactory climate action policies.
Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) President-elect László Molnárfi told Ryan that “blood is on your hands” due to the eviction ban, a criticism which made national headlines.
According to the Irish Universities Association (IUA), who have organised the event, Donohoe “will share his views on how universities, as generators of the high skills talent pipeline and centres of research and innovation, can contribute to the development of the economy and the country in the face of the challenges ahead”.
The event will also feature a panel discussion including Provost Linda Doyle and Chair of the IUA and President of the University of Limerick Professor Kerstin Mey, among other speakers.
