Students in the South are facing a worsening education system, deteriorating living conditions, and a decline in every aspect of student life. From soaring rents, to a crumbling health-care system, students have been left without meaningful support – financial or otherwise. Even with grants such as SUSI, the limits of the marketisation of higher education have become clear.
The average cost of going to college per year has hit an extortionate 15,632 euro in 2024, and it is set to rise again following this year’s budget, which increases students fees by another 500 euro. And that’s before the eye-watering inflation on student accommodation prices is even accounted for.
This all comes after Simon Harris, during his election campaign, lied through his teeth by claiming he would abolish college fees altogether. To survive, students are being pushed to extreme measures. One in five students are skipping meals to save money, others turn to couch-surfing or spend weeks in hostels.
A lack of affordable student accommodation has become the single biggest barrier in the country for students completing education.
All of this is quite unsurprisingly leading to an explosion of mental health issues among the youth where it feels like there is no way to crawl out of the grave that capitalism has dug for you.
Waiting lists for primary-care psychology have more than doubled under the current government, with many reporting their mental health has worsened while waiting. A report by the Irish Student Health Association showed that 58 percent of third-level students fall “outside the normal range for anxiety and depression.”
The main stressors named are college pressures, financial stress and anxiety about the future. But don’t worry, you’ll receive a monthly email from your university wellbeing office telling you to take a bath in your mouldy student apartment (provided you are lucky enough to have one), or go take a ‘health’ walk.
And what do students even have to look forward to when their studies finally end? A weakening job market? One zero-hour contract after the other? Youth unemployment has risen from 11.9 percent to 14 percent over the last 12 months.
Any feeling of stability has been sacrificed for the profits of landlords and to line the pockets of a few parasites. Capitalism offers young people no future. But this is not just despair.
It is quickly turning into anger. If properly channelled it could burn the entire capitalist system to the ground.
It is time we fight against this rotten capitalist system. It’s time we put an end to the system of rent, interests and profit – and put workers and young people at the forefront. It’s time we fight for a united, socialist Ireland!
