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23 Oct 2025

ATU Donegal students walk out of classes as part of nationwide protest

Students from the Letterkenny and Killybegs campuses walked out of classes at midday as part of a coordinated protest which took place across all technological universities (TUs) in Ireland

ATU Donegal students walk out of classes as part of nationwide protest

ATU Donegal students who attended the walk-out protest at the Letterkenny campus today

ATU Donegal students held a protest today calling for parity for technological universities.

Students from the Letterkenny and Killybegs campuses walked out of classes at midday as part of a coordinated protest which took place across all technological universities (TUs) in Ireland.

The protests were organised as a response to the recent Budget and highlighted issues faced across the TU sector.

Organisers called for the implementation of a full TU borrowing framework, which would allow all technological universities access to capital funding for purpose-built student accommodation. They are also seeking an increase in postgraduate stipend funding, ensuring payment of the full €25,000 research stipend to postgraduate research students, as previously announced by the government. 

They also called for full implementation of funding in resourcing professorships within the TU sector, and an increase in core funding for courses taught through Irish, along with amendments to the Technological Universities Act to include explicit references to Irish-medium education, which is already in the Universities Act.

Watch: ATU Donegal students protest calling for equality and ‘parity now’

At the Letterkenny campus, Joseph Sweeney, ATU Student Union President, addressed students gathered outside the main building.

“Our asks are simple,” said Joseph. “They are grounded in a demand for fairness in funding, equality in teaching, equity in learning and to finally bring an end to the inequalities that plague our higher education system.

“As a union, we have been left with no choice but to take direct action to highlight these issues and direct it at those who we must force to listen to us. This strike is a last resort to show the government that we will no longer stand by in silence, but let it be known that if they continue in their complacency, in undervaluing the TU sector, and if they continue to abandon their electoral promises, we will not stop.

“TUs are universities and we should be treated as such. We refuse to accept a two-tier education system in this country. We refuse to allow technological universities to be left to the wayside. The time for words has passed. The time for parity is now.”

Also speaking at the protest was Amelia Lown, Vice President for the Border Midlands Western Region for Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éireann.

“When the government announced the creation of technological universities, we were told they would be a new start,” she said. “More opportunities for students, better resources and a real investment in our future. But for a lot of us, that’s not what it feels like.

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“Time and time again, this government has failed to treat TU students as university students, and we cannot allow that to continue. This budget boasts capital for student accommodation to be built, student accommodation that TUs do not have access to due to a lack of TU borrowing framework. What good is a fund for accommodation if you’re locking half of the country out of it?

“Here in Donegal we still do not have proper student accommodation. Every week, students spend hours just to make it to class. People are tired, stressed and paying more than ever just to get an education.”

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