A 10,000 strong mass of students heaved through the city centre on October 22 in protest against the possibility of a reintroduction of third level fees.

Several groups from separate third level institutes met at the Garden of Remembrance near Parnell Square at 1PM. The majority of protesters came from the various Dublin universities, DIT and NUI Maynooth.

The march began at 2PM, by which time the combined masses covered the area stretching from the Garden of Remembrance around Parnell Sq and down Parnell St. The drummers from NCAD’s Samba Society headed the protest as it began down O’Connell Street, destined for Leinster House.

Several left-wing political groups were present and actively recruiting. Flyers from Labour Youth, Sinn Fein and the Socialist Party were handed out amongst the crowd.

The garda presence was noticeable but remained discreet with the mounted unit patrolling the front and rear while individual gardai diverted traffic along the route. Protesters were good natured and well-behaved throughout, no arrests were reported.

Humour prevailed at all times, several signs referenced cult comedy Father Ted, stating, “down with this sort of thing” and “careful now”. Various other placards were dotted around proclaiming “I don’t know what a tracker mortgage is”.

The mood changed momentarily as the march moved onto Nassau St where chants of “Shell to sea” put some garda visibly on edge.

The buoyant mood returned as protesters turned onto Kildare Street. There they were addressed by the President of the Union of Students of Ireland, Shane Kelly. In an interview with The Ballyfermot Press after his address Kelly accused the government of “using third-level students as scapegoats following years of underinvestment in the education system”.

He called on Minister for Education, Bat O’Keefe to re-examine the 67% hike in administration costs for all third level courses, claiming any further increases could spell “disaster for students and their families nationwide”.

Several speakers from the opposition benches including Fine Gael spokesman on education, Brian Hayes, addressed the crowd, but no government representatives were invited.

The majority of protesters dispersed around 4.30PM. A group of approximately 100 individuals continued their march through the city’s main streets afterwards.

Over the course of the next hour this group gradually moved back through the city centre, seemingly directionless. They briefly stopped traffic along Dame Street before finally settling outside the Central Bank. A small group of gardai arrived to observe but no intervention was required, the last of the Samba wrapped up around 6PM.