THIRD level colleges have been disrupted by a wave of unrest, with thousands of students participating in regional walkouts, demonstrations and protests.
Nine colleges were affected by the protests yesterday, following student action in four other colleges earlier in the week.
The USI, which co ordinated the protests by individual students' unions, said it would escalate the action if the Government made no attempt to respond to its demands.
The student action has been held to highlight four demands: for improved financial support; better student housing; greater representation for students on Government and college bodies; and improved funding for student activities.
A group from the Dublin Institute of Technology played rugby, hurling and soccer outside the Dail yesterday, in a protest designed to highlight the lack of sports facilities for the 25,000 full time and part time students in the college.
Walkouts took places in Tallaght RTC and Waterford RTC, while students in Letterkenny RTC staged a silent protest by refusing to answer questions in class and not bringing in paper, pens and books.
In Galway, several hundred students from the university college and the RTC combined to stage a protest in the city centre. Lightning strikes took place this week in Athlone RTC, Tralee RTC and Cork RTC. Other colleges affected by the unrest were St Patrick's, Drumcondra, Dundalk RTC and the National College of Industrial Relations.
The action follows a poll of students in most colleges, which produced majorities of over 80 per cent in favour of the protests. USI says the turnouts in the ballots held in the colleges were "very high".
USI president Mr Colman Byrne said: "We're being realistic in our demands - we're not looking for a doubling of grants or the nationalisation of the banks. A 10-15 per cent increase in grant levels and threshold would be entirely reasonable".
The union submitted a copy of its demands to all the political parties, but only Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats and Democratic Left replied.
Mr Byrne said the Department of the Environment had indicated that it would consider setting up a student housing authority in response to the increasing difficulties faced by many students in finding cheap accommodation.
Student militancy tends to peak at this time each year, before fading away as the exams approach in the new year. This year, the union has tried to avoid this pattern by organising actions regionally, instead of opting for one big national demonstration.
However, Mr Byrne warned that USI retained the capacity to organise large scale actions at short notice.
