Students protest and Train Drivers strike

Back in the dim and distant, it was a rite of passage for third-level students to take to the streets and protest over some fundamental right that was being denied to them by the powers that be.

It might have been over grants, the cost of college, the difficulty in acquiring accommodation or even less pressing matters like access to the library or to course material.

The important thing was to show your rebel side, your passion – and to hold up traffic in the process.

So our turn came in 1981 and we took off with fire in our bellies towards O’Connell Street from the College of Commerce in Rathmines, determined to undo this terrible wrong that had been foisted upon us.

Our reason to rage against the machine? As history now shows, 1981 was the year of sub-standard toilet paper in the college jacks.

So we marched with gusto and without irony responding to the Students’ Union leader with the megaphone when he asked: “What do we want?”

“Two-ply toilet paper.”

“When do we want it?”

“Now.”

All of which might have suggested an emergency situation – indeed desperation – in the downstairs department, which wasn’t actually the case at all.

But, protest made, we returned to the college having joined the ranks of the heroes who’d fought for Ireland.

And the authorities turned a blind eye to our plea for two-ply, leaving us to do the paperwork as best we could with sub-standard equipment.

Our excuse was that we were young, idealistic and innocent – and we were only looking for an excuse to take a bit of time out and disrupt traffic in our army surplus coats.

And perhaps in a rare moment of reality, at least we didn’t have placards demand better tissues.

Age is not an excuse for the Eurostar rail workers who are threatening strike action at the busiest time of the year on the Channel Tunnel.

To find out more about protesting students and Eurostar drivers see Dave O’Connell’s column here.