Minister heckled by angry students at UCD

A government  minister was heckled by angry students at University College Dublin yesterday.

The protest coincided with confirmation that the Minister for Education was considering reintroduce third-level fees for those who can afford them.

The Minister of State for Health and Children, Mr Brian Lenihan, was greeted by shouts of "Raise the grant higher" when he arrived to officially open the new €3.5 million Institute for the Study of Social Change building at Belfield.

The building was to have been opened by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, but Mr Lenihan denied there was any last-minute plan to replace his colleague.

Mr McCreevy is at the centre of a storm over claims he deceived voters before the general election over the nature and extent of cutbacks. Mr Lenihan said he was asked last week to come to UCD and added: "Well, before the Late Late Show." Mr McCreevy had received a frosty reception when appeared on last Friday's Late Late Show on RTÉ.

The group of 40 students staged a sit-down protest at the doors of the Institute and delayed Mr Lenihan's entry for some minutes. They were forcibly removed by gardaí and stewards.

Earlier, also in UCD, Mr Lenihan announced the completion of the Fianna Fáil archives project, a comprehensive record of the history of the party from its anti-Treaty antecedents to its position as the largest political organisation in Ireland.

He was presented with a copy of the collection by the UCD President, Dr Art Cosgrove. A partnership between Fianna Fáil and UCD, the archives project was established to ensure the preservation of the party's archives and their availability to the research community.

The collection was moved from Fianna Fáil headquarters to be professionally archived and stored on microfilm. It includes photographs, minute books, posters and cumann registers.