Welcome to this week’s Student Hub digest. In this edition we report on comments by Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris who has pledged that cuts to the cost of going to college in this year’s Budget are “just the start”.
‘Zan, Zendegi, Azadi’: Iranian-American student Parisa Zangeneh writes for Student Hub about the continuing unrest in Iran over the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini.
Rowing across the Atlantic: ‘The first capsize came quickly… the cabin was breached by water’: Back on dry land after 112 days and 4,450 nautical miles, Damian Browne talks about the epic physical and mental ordeal of rowing alone from New York to Galway.
Reader callout: Share your student accommodation experience: For many years, students have struggled to secure suitable accommodation, but the problem seems to be only getting more difficult. If you’re a student, we would like you to contact us and share your experience: Did you find somewhere to live, what’s it like? Are you stuck doing a crazy commute every morning, sleeping on someone’s couch or sharing a bed?
It’s ‘Generation Rent’ who will be paying for pensions: Much has been said in recent weeks about the impact of the looming pensions crisis on “Generation Rent”. These deficits will be driven by the growing cohort drawing a State pension. Future taxpayers will pay for these deficits. And those future taxpayers are Generation Rent.
Fintan O’Toole: Ireland is excruciatingly slow to use public money to help ordinary people. Last week, in the budget, the Government introduced two changes that were hailed in media reports as “landmark” decisions. It promised €30 million to pay for IVF treatments in the public health system. It also found €47 million to fund free books for primary school pupils.
Ireland is worst in OECD for education spending as percentage of GDP, report finds: Ireland spends less than 36 other developed countries on its education system, when spending is measured as a portion of countries’ gross domestic product (GDP), according to a new report from the OECD.
Diarmaid Ferriter: It is in unionism’s interest to engage in dialogue on Irish unity: It was clever of the organisers of the Ireland’s Future conference to secure a keynote speech from the actor James Nesbitt in the 3Arena last week. His presence went some way to countering accusations that too much of the discussion of possible Irish unity is confined to an elite nationalist echo chamber.
