Maynooth SU president debates FG TD Anthony Lawlor outside his occupied constituency office

[DuffmanIRL]

Lets see some more occupations from our students and well done to these fellahs.

[ciaran036]

The student speaking in the video is very well spoken.

[r2v429]

It's hard to take Anthony Lawlor seriously when he looks that much like Will Ferrell...

[ColossalCollapse]

fair dews.

[Aido101]

dat bald bearded weirdos gay i bet he smels 2

[DustyAndPistolPete]

I'd like to know who the lads protesting voted for in the election and whether any of them are members of another political party(which I'm sure they are).I graduated from NUI Maynooth this year and I remember the amount of Fine Gael and Labour members handing out leaflets on the run up to the General Election this year in the college,it was revolting.The problem with college protests is so many dickheads from SWP,FF and others pretending they care about the issue rather than party supremacy.

[DustyAndPistolPete]

They should reform the grant so that more people who ACTUALLY deserve it get to avail of it.So many people who don't deserve it financially get it and so do many people who never go to class or have no intention of passing the year.It's still very difficult if not impossible for most people from working class areas to go to college so I don't think that the changes to the grant will make a whole lot of difference.The lads here are doing good work but the system is unfair regardless of more fees.

[pshmain]

I'm very proud to be a student of NUI Maynooth. Thank god some of the students unions are trying to do something about maintaining the grant. Our families can barley afford college accomodation, let alone fees. Hopefully the government will see sense and maintain the student grant in order for the country to have any chance of a bright future in terms economic recovery......

[xxeirinxx]

@lombardb23 and @tiger1770 if you were listening properly he said they iintimidated the staff for ten seconds and then the staff were friendly towards them and gave them tea and biscuits and they had a conversation. If you ask anyone in the SU or staff they will tell you that t . AAnthony Lawlor okept repeating that because that was the only thing that could make them look bad.

[lombardb23]

bunch of looser's looking to tie themselves to a 'cause' any cause in an attempt to validate themselves or possibly appear on tv. They deservedly lost all credibility the minute they intimidated the innocent staff. Any point they hoped to convey is now lost as a result.

[zetagrace93]

@lombardb23 Clearly you're not a third level student. All the people occupying the office are students themselves whose families have to pay their way through college - that's why they're protesting, because this is an issue that directly affects them and their ability to finish their degrees. It's not about validation or attention seeking, if you were a student in a difficult financial situation yourself you'd understand that.

[tiger1770]

This is unbelievable. The poor TD's staff.

[LostSoulsForever2011]

@tiger1770

the colleges poor students !

[deathsitck]

Well done Maynooth SU, keep up the good work.

[xomaryyyy]

While I'm all for non violent protesting and support USI, the individual Student Union's and other groups lobbying throughout the country for education.. I'm just wondering are NUIMSU (and this goes for any other party occupying buildings for a long period of time) going to pay for the electricity, internet, and heat etc that they are using during their occupation?

[mimiscuel]

@xomaryyyy Why should the Union pay for utilities when we're working hard enough to pay for our 'free' education? Most of my friends in Maynooth (including myself), and indeed in other colleges, can't even afford heating in their rented homes, let alone worry about a rise in the fees. And just to clarify, the Union is now going by MSU, not NUIMSU.

[xomaryyyy]

@mimiscuel I totally agree, but I am simply just wondering, that's all. I don't know if they were/will be asked to pay, or even who does pay the utilities for constituency offices.

[Pipsnips17]

@xomaryyyy nope they will not be, Anthony Lawlor said he had no problem with them staying there, Rob did say that they had spare phone batteries and chemical toilets if He does cut the electricity, heat or water.

[xomaryyyy]

@Pipsnips17 Ah right, it just popped into my mind and I thought I'd ask. Thank you very much! :)

[BnagC]

debated with, presumably.

[WhatKizzyDid]

Jeez, this Lawlor guy isn't answering any questions is he...

Can someone say 'Avoiding the question'????

[Pipsnips17]

@WhatKizzyDid the interview was 4 min in before Rob stepped out of the office to talk

[SeanOBriain]

@DictatorOfTheFree Nice rebuttal. You must be the brains of your family.

[SeanOBriain]

@DictatorOfTheFree How exactly does the tone of his voice change the key points of his message? So no, it's not relevant. Your posts are more annoying than his voice in fairness.

[SeanOBriain]

@DictatorOfTheFree That's hardly relevant. 

[SeanOBriain]

That lad from the student Union was very well spoken, and Anthony Lawlor was polite. However, all that aside - Fine Gael and Labour are taking the country further into a death-trap of insurmountable debt. Our sovereignty is very important to me, and they are losing it day by day. The austerity measures being implemented are simply unfair. The Irish public might be slightly more empathetic to austerity if it was shared with the bondholders - but Fine Gael lacked the spine to do it and lied to us.