Trinity College withdraws €214,000 fine against Student's Union

Trinity College Dublin has confirmed that it has withdrawn a €214,000 fine issued against its Students’ Union over a series of pro Palestine protests on its campus.

It’s the latest climbdown by Trinity in its dispute with its Students' Union, after it dropped disciplinary proceedings against the students who took part in five day encampment in the university to call on Trinity to divest from Israeli institutions.

Trinity had invoiced the SU for €214,285 after a series of demonstrations about fees and rent, as well as pro-Palestinian solidarity protests.

The University said that the fee was due to losses incurred by the students blocking access to the Book of Kells tourist attraction on the campus- a major source of revenue for the college.

However, the union rejected this and instructed Trinity that it does not intend to pay the fine.

It said that such a process “would have trapped the TCDSU in a permanently institutionalised form of engagement” in which the union would be liable for future protests.

Responding to the decision to rescind the invoice, Trinity's SU president László Molnárfi said on social media that dropping the fine was a “win for the right to protest”.

The €214,000 invoice to @tcdsu has been withdrawn by @tcddublin. This is a win for the right to protest!

— László Molnárfi (SU) (@TCDSU_President) May 20, 2024

Shortly after the college said it would complete a divestment from investments in Israeli companies that have activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and appear on the UN Blacklist, the students dismantled their five day encampment.

The divestment process is expected to be completed by June however, the College's supplier list contains one Israeli company which will remain until March 2025 for contractual reasons.