Latest news with #AontasnaMacLéinninÉirinn
The Journal
30-06-2025
- Business
- The Journal
Decision to reverse €1,000 reduction in third-level fees will 'really hurt' students
THIRD-LEVEL STUDENTS and those preparing to go to college are going to be 'really hurt' by the Government's decision not to repeat last year's €1,000 reduction in undergraduate fees. The deputy president of Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (AMLÉ), the national union of students in Ireland, said the move will lead to an increase in students deferring their degrees or leaving the country to study elsewhere in Europe. Higher Education Minister James Lawless said over the weekend that 'as it stands', the universal cut to college fees for all undergraduate students in Ireland will not be replicated in this year's budget . This means that many third-level undergraduate students whose fees have been cut from €3,000 to €2,000 will see the fees revert to what they were previously. Lawless said the previous fee cuts were linked to a cost-of-living package that was included within the budget, with no similar package being made available this year. The programme for government commits to reducing the Student Contribution Fee over the lifetime of the coalition 'to ease the financial burden on students and families at the start of each academic year, in a financially sustainable manner'. Lawless said he still intends to do this. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, AMLÉ deputy president Bryan O'Mahony said that their understanding was that the once-off measure 'would eventually become a permanent reduction'. 'They said that they were looking towards the total abolishment of it over the lifetime of the government. For us, we don't see it as a great start for the long-term reduction of it, if the first year of the government's plan is to raise it back up to its original fee,' he said. Advertisement While he acknowledged that the union was never explicitly told that the reduction would be repeated this year, O'Mahony said he had been involved in talks since Simon Harris was Higher Education Minister and 'the understanding was that this was what the push was for, to reduce it'. He said the union had held some meetings with Lawless. 'We weren't aware that this was going to be a full return to €3,000 fees. That was never made clear to us at all.' O'Mahony said there are 'so many students', including those who don't receive financial support from their families or those already struggling to find accommodation or afford rising rents 'are being blocked out and are going to be really hurt by this'. 'What we'll see is students deferring. Students looking at options in Europe. Chances where they can actually attend their degree and actually study to their full extent. 'So many students are working full-time jobs just to be able to afford to go to college, but they're not able to actually be in the classroom because they have to pay for it.' Sinn Féin's finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty has described the decision to reverse the reduction in fees as 'a scandalous slap in the face for families during an escalating cost-of-living crisis'. 'Households are being crippled by the cost of groceries, rent, electricity and gas bills, and now the government is turning to students and their families and demanding an extra €1,000 more for them to go to college or university.' Doherty said the party is calling for a cost-of-living package to be included in Budget 2026, with a proposal that student fees are reduced by €1,500 in September as a first step to ending student fees. Labour's Higher Education spokesperson, Senator Laura Harmon, said the decision was 'completely out of touch' and would be a further burden on students and their families. 'At a time when the cost of living remains sky-high and when rents in college areas are completely unaffordable this move would hit families where it hurts,' Harmon said, calling on the Minister to reconsider the move. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Journal
24-06-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
We asked students queuing outside the US embassy what they make of new visa social media checks
JUST OVER A dozen people were queuing for visa applications when the US Embassy opened at 9am this morning. It was a mixed group – a family of three, several middle-aged workers and a handful of students awaiting interviews for J1 visas. The smaller crowd was not surprising. There has recently been a 25% drop in young people travelling from Ireland to the US on student visas, according to US authorities. Processing of new visas for students was also suspended last month, as Donald Trump's administration ramps up vetting. New protocols now require international students, including Irish students travelling on a J1 visa, to adjust the privacy settings on all their social media profiles to 'public' . Yesterday, the Dublin embassy said yesterday that all future visa applicants will also be required to divulge 'all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last five years' on their visa application form . Among the students outside the embassy this morning was Éamon, who is heading to study in the US as part of an Erasmus programme. He's currently applying for a J visa, the most common visa used by Irish students heading to the US. 'It is a small bit invasive that you have to go public with your social media accounts,' Éamon said. 'I had decided last year that I was going to study in the States. It would definitely be different if you're going on a J1 working holiday.' Éamon outside the US Embassy. Andrew Walsh / The Journal Andrew Walsh / The Journal / The Journal He later conceded that he 'did not have a problem' with the recent changes to US visa application checks, adding: 'They're just trying to protect their country'. This sentiment was echoed by Jack, another student in the queue waiting on an interview for a J1 application to head to Pennsylvania. 'There shouldn't be too much of an issue, because I think a lot of people don't really have their whole lives on social media,' he said. 'America has the right to deny anyone who comes in, but I suppose it's a wee bit dodgy'. Ailbhe, another J1 visa hopeful, told The Journal that the application process was 'straightforward', but added that recent restrictions were 'a little worrying'. 'I suppose I'd be worried if I had private accounts, or if I was posting more,' Ailbhe said. 'It will definitely affect some people that I follow that would post more activist content'. 'An absurd situation' National students' union Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (AMLÉ) urged caution yesterday, advising those applying for J1 or other US student visas to stay informed and to be mindful of their online presence. The union criticised new visa measures as an overreach into students' private lives, warning they threaten free expression and represent an increase in online surveillance. Advertisement 'Students shouldn't face invasive scrutiny just for pursuing education abroad,' said AMLÉ deputy president Bryan O'Mahony, adding that the changes foster fear and self-censorship, and may disproportionately impact marginalised or politically active students. CCTV cameras at the US embassy in Dublin. Andrew Walsh / The Journal Andrew Walsh / The Journal / The Journal Trinity Students' Union President Jenny Maguire said the new visa social media checks were a 'fundamentally undemocratic move' by the US. 'I still think that the J1 visa is held in high regard here, but it's just not an option for so many people,' Maguire said. She said that the new stricter vetting process posed a risk of activists in Ireland censoring their content, adding: 'This is an attempt to curb and suppress political opposition.' It is an absolutely absurd situation and it cannot be normalised. 'I personally would not risk going on a J1, and I think that's awful,' Maguire said, adding that activists, academics, minority groups and LGBTQ+ people in Ireland now face an uphill battle entering the US to work. Boston-bassed immigration lawyer John Foley told RTÉ Radio 1′s Claire Byrne show this morning that students 'should be worried'. 'They're going back five years, so these students would have been young teenagers at the time. There's no telling what they're looking for, and there's no telling how they'll be treated once they get to the embassy,' Foley said. Foley explained that J1 hopefuls now have to hand over all of their social media usernames and passwords going back five years, and said: 'If you don't list them, and they catch you, you'll be denied, and you'll possibly be banned from coming to the US.' 'It doesn't solve a problem that exists,' Foley said. 'It's Trump doing what Trump does. He creates a problem and then he solves it with some ridiculous administrative move that is not going to work. 'It's simply going to slow things up. Gum things up, spread fear, and then he'll come to the rescue by getting rid of it somewhere down the road,' Foley added. US embassy delays It's understood that fewer than 100 J1 visa applications were going through the system when changes to vetting procedures were first announced last week. According to US embassy staff, the focus is now on applications from students who have applied to study in America in September for the next academic year. As a hiring freeze came into place at embassies when Trump was elected, and there are now additional vetting procedures, it's expected that the processing of appointments will be slower. In the statement yesterday, the US Embassy said that a visa 'is a privilege, not a right' for travellers and that every visa decision was a 'national security decision'. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said yesterday that the new social media checks are 'excessive', adding that 'there is an issue around freedom of speech'. 'It's more the atmosphere that's created by these measures, the fear and the anxiety that young people will now experience travelling,' Martin said. The embassy said it will resume scheduling F, M, and J non-immigrant visa applications soon. Additional reporting by Eimer McAuley Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Extra.ie
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Extra.ie
Taoiseach: I don't approve of ‘excessive' US visa vetting
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that he doesn't agree with 'excessive' social media vetting announced by the US Embassy in Dublin as a requirement for Irish students seeking J1 visas to travel and work in the US. Applicants will be asked to list all their social media profiles going back five years and to make their accounts publicly accessible or their visa could be rejected, the embassy said in a statement yesterday. It also announced that the measures were aimed to identify applicants who pose a threat to American national security and that a US visa 'is a privilege, not a right'. The announcement was criticised by the Taoiseach as well as student groups. Micheál Martin. Pic: Michael Chester Mr Martin said: 'I believe those measures by the United States are excessive. I don't approve of them. I don't agree with them. 'One of the great things in the world, in the modern world, has been the capacity for young people to travel and mobility is important.' 'There is an issue around freedom of speech, but it's more the atmosphere that's created by these measures, the fear and the anxiety that young people will now experience travelling.' The changes also apply for other exchange visitor applicants in the F and M non-immigrant classifications. The F visa allows people to enter the US as a full-time student, while the M visa is a US student visa for vocational and non-academic programmes. The US Embassy said appointments for J1 applications will resume soon after they were paused at the end of May. Pic: Shutterstock The president of the University of Galway's student union, Faye Ní Dhomhnaill, called the announcement 'disappointing' and said she's certain J1 applications will fall as a result. She added: 'Most people who would have considered going to America will probably end up inter-railing instead. Already I've seen people that were on the fence about a J1 this year just decide that it wasn't worth the hassle, so they would instead go to Europe. It's incredibly disappointing that this is supposed to be 'the land of the free', and champions of free speech. 'Five years of your social media history is a long time, especially for young people going on J1s, you could be 20. Five years ago you were 15. I wasn't the smartest person in the world at 15.' Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn, the representative group for student unions in Ireland, voiced concern over what it called a 'significant and disproportionate intrusion into students' personal lives'. Tánaiste Simon Harris also said he was 'very concerned' by the updated advice.
Irish Examiner
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Students concerned after US officials order those travelling on JI visa to set social media profiles to public
New US visa screening protocols now require international students, including Irish students travelling on a J1 visa, to adjust the privacy settings on all their social media profiles to public. Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (Amlé), formerly the Union of Students in Ireland, has raised serious concern over the new screening protocols introduced this week. The US State Department announced it would now 'conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, including online presence, of all student and exchange visitor applicants' under the new guidance. Amlé president Chris Clifford said the measures 'send a damaging signal to young people globally and undermine the principles of openness and educational exchange'. These restrictions are likely to deter students who wish to pursue academic opportunities in the United States, particularly those who may already face systemic barriers to international mobility, he added. The new screening protocols applies to those on F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas. Irish students tend to travel to the US on J1 visas, with many understood to have already arrived in the States after travelling earlier in the summer. However, the new screening process will apply if students travel outside of, and return to, the States while on their visa, and to those who have yet to embark on their travels to the States. Amlé is now calling on the Irish Government to engage directly with US counterparts 'to advocate for student rights and ensure Irish students are not subject to excessive or discriminatory vetting practices". The union said it was continuing to monitor developments closely, and urged affected students to seek support from their institutions or student unions. 'We also advise all students travelling to the US this summer on a J1 visa to stay informed, stay safe, and be aware of their rights throughout their trip.' The update from the US State Department said: 'To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas will be instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to 'public'.' 'Our overseas posts will resume scheduling F, M, and J nonimmigrant visa applications soon. Applicants should check the relevant embassy or consulate website for appointment availability.' 'Every visa adjudication is a national security decision,' it added. Updated information from the Department of Foreign Affairs said the majority of visits to the United States pass 'without difficulty'. 'The US authorities may ask to search your electronic devices, such as your phones, computers or tablets, when you are entering the United States.' 'They may request your passwords and they are not required to provide a reason for doing so. If you refuse, they may deny you entry to the United States.' "Furthermore, the US authorities have indicated they may consider activity on social media when making decisions about your immigration status,' it added. 'The US authorities have indicated this includes applicants for lawful permanent residence status and student visa holders.' As an Irish citizen, if you are detained, you have the right to contact the Embassy of Ireland or the nearest Consulate General of Ireland, according to the advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs. "To do so, you must request that the Embassy of Ireland or the nearest Consulate General of Ireland be informed of your detention."
