GREAT EXPECTATIONS: DUBLIN’S BOOKSHOPS FEATURES 15
MARY MCALEESE THE INTERVIEW PAUL MCAUFIELD TRAVEL SPECIAL
Incredible India
TRINITY NEWS Est 1953
Animal testing is probed
Graduate grant cuts imminent
Vivisection practice subject to EU changes Ethical committee to approve projects Animal rights groups condemn research
Staff Reporter
Fionnuala Horrocks-Burns
Daniel Collum Contributing Reporter
ANIMAL testing in College will have to undergo changes due to EU regulations being introduced in January. New legislation will require college to reduce the number of animals used in experimentation, and ultimately replace the use of vivisection with alternative methods. The practice, which involves the live dissection of both vertebrate and non-vertebrate animals, is one openly engaged in by the BioResources Unit within Trinity College. Peter Nowlan, Director of the BioResources Unit, says College has already taken significant measures to conform to the new legislation. An Animal Welfare Committee has been established and has been part of the ethical review process for several years. However, he says the elimination of vivisection is a distant prospect: “[It] certainly won’t happen in my lifetime.” Nowlan says the new legislation is a matter of “catching up with best practices.” The directive prescribes a more stringent review process for research involving vivisection. Institutions must establish an ethical review committee composed of non-scientists and “The elimination of vivisection certainly won’t happen in my lifetime” Peter Nowlan scientists. Proposed research projects must be justified to the committee “on ethical grounds”, and the number of animals used must be stated. However, criticism has been levelled at both Trinity College and the European Council by various antivivisectionist groups. The Council has come under fire for further bureaucratising the licensing process without curtailing scientific autonomy. One group, the National Animal Rights Association, advocates more direct means of ensuring transparency. It is calling on the college to “set up live webcams in their laboratories, so that anyone may tune in and watch what they are doing, at any given time.” The Association said: “The secrecy that surrounds these experiments indicates that the atrocities involved would be unacceptable to most people.” College has refuted allegations of Continued on page 2
p Dead-angry to dead-broke? Passion and anger marked the USI “Stop the fees, save the grant” protest march. Photo: Sam Heavey
Government cuts challenged by 20,000 in student protest Stop fees, save the grant campaign march Low turnout for Trinity students in protest USI stages publicity funeral procession John Porter Staff Reporter
UP TO 20,000 students from across Ireland took to the streets of Dublin in protest on 16 November at the proposed increase to third level fees and the cuts to the student maintenance grant. The protest, organised by the Union of Students Ireland, was part of a larger “Stop Fees, Save the Grant” campaign. The campaign demands Labour and Fine Gael TDs who pledged prior to the election not to preside over any further fee increases keep their promises. Before the protest the USI took out full-page ads in national newspapers, at a cost of €17,000, listing the contact details of every Government TD. The ad calls all TDs who signed the pledge “liars”, which as Ronan Costello, the Students’ Union communications officer, noted was “strongly worded in a deliberate effort to generate publicity.” In August, Education Minister Ruairí Quinn ruled out the proposed student loan scheme, claiming that it would merely act as an incentive to emigrate. This was widely taken as a signal that up-front fees would have to increase in order to meet the €500m short-fall in the government budget. At the time of going to print it is
unknown exactly what increase is likely, but the figure of €5,000 has been mentioned on a few occasions, though never by Government spokespeople. The Government has raised alarm, however, by refusing to rule out that figure. The reassurance offered by officials was to state that fees in Ireland would remain lower than the £9,000 burden placed on UK students last year. A number of students on the protest “There are a few things in particular that I did not feel represented Trinity students” Ryan Bartlett suggested that if fees did increase to the suggested €5,000 figure, they would no longer be able to attend college. Lorcan Brennan, a second-year Engineering student at DCU, said he would be forced to drop out of college and take up full time employment to fund any further third-level education. Attendance at the protest was down from last year’s turnout of 30,000. Trinity protestors were down significantly with only half of last year’s numbers gathering in Front Square. A number of students were disappointed
by the lower turnout. Justin Murphy, a junior sophister Film and English student, said: “It is inconceivable why students are not here, they are allowing their futures to be attacked without even a fight.” This occured after comments by the Students’ Union president, Ryan Bartlett, questioned the increasingly politicised nature of the Union. Bartlett commented that times have changed: “The primary purpose of the Students’ Union is to provide services for and represent the interests of students.” Bartlett expressed his desire that: “There is less need for the SU to act politically within college.” The USI has attempted to keep pressure on the government with follow-up protests. On 24 November, dressed in funeral attire, USI committee members delivered a coffin to Leinster House. The blunt imagery was joined by a large banner declaring “RIP The Death of Education 1922 to 2011.” The USI continued its sustained campaign five days later, engaging in what it described as a “small-scale” occupation. The USI set out initially to occupy Labour Party Headquarters, but were blocked by locked doors. Subsequently, the occupation party moved on to the Department of Jobs and finally after another re-route to the Department of Social Enterprise. The aim of the occupation was to Continued on page 2
THE Graduate Students’ Union has condemned plans to abolish grants for postgraduate students, saying they would have a detrimental impact on current and future postgraduates. The proposal would see all postgraduate grants and maintenance support cut from next year. This academic year around 9,000 students in Ireland are receiving financial support for postgraduate courses. This figure accounts for 40% of the country’s total postgraduate students. The cut is expected to save the government €50m per year. In a joint statement the GSU and UL’s postgraduate union noted “with considerable alarm” the lack of official response from the Department of Education and Skills at the proposals as reported in the Sunday Business Post on 14 November. They argue that the proposed cuts would have “direct consequences for the universities’ international “A butcher’s cleaver appears to have been taken to student supports such as the maintenance grant” reputation” as their world rankings rely heavily on the output of postgraduate research and citation. Cutting grants would also have implications for foreign direct investment, attraction of international students, employability and competitiveness, it was argued. The statement pointed out that cuts would mean that postgraduate education would “no longer be a realistic option” for the majority of Irish citizens. The Union of Students in Ireland also criticised the proposal, arguing that such a drastic cut would have a considerable impact on the numbers emigrating in order to pursue postgraduate education elsewhere. USI president Gary Redmond said “a butcher’s cleaver appears to have been taken to student supports such as the maintenance grant.” GSU president Mary O’Connor met with finance advisors from the Department of Education and Skills last week to discuss concerns over the proposals to cut the grants. She explained that members of the current GSU who receive grants would not have been able to embark upon their postgraduate education without the grant. The proposal to cut grants, she said, would not just have a detrimental impact on prospective students looking to begin postgraduate courses but also on existing students who are hoping to enter a new level of study. O’Connor said the GSU was currently working with College to discuss the possibility of future lobbying against these proposals.
Vol 58 Issue 4 06 December, 2011