Considering that little to no change followed the Union of Student’s in Ireland’s (USI) national walkout in 2022, today’s planned repeat of the move has much to prove.
With a general election on the horizon, the upcoming walkout offers another moment of punctuation for the issues facing students – however, in order for meaningful change to come from the act, USI must exploit the attention that the act will hopefully receive, and instigate a strategic and effective follow up campaign, to ensure that the symbolic gesture does not go to waste.
In 2022, USI staged a walk-out as part of their Cost of College campaign. Alongside encouraging students to lobby their local politicians to improve the general quality of living for students, USI sought to incite change.
As many made a wish as 11.11am struck on October 13th of 2022, USI proclaimed their wish for change as thousands of students walked out of lectures and labs.
It set forth six main demands: the construction of affordable student accommodation; reduced rent prices; increased protection for renters; the abolition of the student contribution charge; adequate state funding for higher education; and a minimum wage matching the living wage for all age groups.
Despite ambitious aims and thousands of students participating in the walkout, many, if not all, of these aims, remain unfulfilled.
Should the 2024 walkout follow the same procedure as its predecessor, the act will prove symbolic at best.
As outlined in a college-wide email sent to students by Vice-Provost Prof. Orla Sheils, the 2024 walkout seeks to “highlight the urgent concerns facing students today, including rising costs of living, tuition fees, and mental health support within our educational system.”
These aims echo those of two years ago; something of a stark reminder as to the consistent struggles which students have faced in the past few years.
However, the fact that these aims run almost parallel to those of two years ago does not speak well as to the efficiency of a walkout as a means of significant protest.
Aside from acting as a blatantly clear display of student solidarity, the recreation of the 2022 walkout begs the question of how effective this mechanism of protest is.
Announcing the walk-out on the official USI instagram page, the post notes: “as the next general election approaches, let’s remind TDs and candidates of the power of the students’ voice.”
Though offering both a visual representation of student dissatisfaction, and providing an avenue to put further pressure on government, the effectiveness of another walkout in achieving the desired results may leave students with much to be desired.
Undoubtedly offering a powerful symbolic gesture of student solidarity, what students should take from the walkout gesture is more motivation to lobby representatives and to use their voting power, rather than relying on the walkout alone to achieve their aims.
USI must learn from the inefficiency of the walkout two years ago, in order to allow for today’s action to hold meaningful change.
Though hope is a powerful tool when seeking better treatment, better services, and improved quality of life, students must draw hope from the act of solidarity, and perhaps view it as a source of motivation in the face of political change – rather than allowing the walkout to speak for itself.
In 2022, the walkout held a real excitement and a genuine, if naive, feeling that strength through mere numbers could achieve change. After a year of bold direct action both locally and globally, when student encampments the world over became symbols of the measures necessary to force change, such a move is likely to feel like a significant step back. The act may appear to students as a retreat from the meaningful tactics of the past year, if USI do not have a strategy to follow up on the event.
The decision to stage a walkout may therefore appear to many symbolic at most – if USI really seeks meaningful change, it must change the strategy of two years ago, rather than leave the action at the walkout itself.
