The first of three students involved with an egg attack on Taoiseach Enda Kenny will face a disciplinary committee today in UCD.
Enda Kenny was visiting the UCD campus on November 29th to open a new building when three students staged an egg attack, narrowly missing the Taoiseach but reportedly hitting UCD Vice-President, Martin Butler. The three students were subsequently removed from the new student centre.
Suzanne Lee, one of the students responsible for the attack, faces the disciplinary committee today. According to the Irish Examiner, she is aware she might be expelled but doesn’t regret her actions. “I’m not from a background that most students in this university are. I worked before I came here…I would rather defend people like me and their access to education and if that requires me getting expelled, (so be it).”
The students claimed they were protesting cuts to student grants and student fees. Lee commented “If we had stood outside and chanted things and had banners, there would never have been as much media coverage as there was of what we wanted to get across, which is that people should not be stopped from obtaining third-level education.”
One the day of the attack, a spokesperson for the college commented that that it is “likely the three students will receive sanctions under the university’s code of conduct.” The Free Education for Ireland group took responsibility for the attack on twitter “#FEE members have egged Enda Kenny in #UCD. No cutbacks! No fees! No Fine Gael TDs! #stopfees”.
