Following a successful motion at Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union’s (TCDSU) council this evening, €6,000 from the Higher Education Authority (HEA) fund is being given to journalist and MPhil in International Peace Studies student in Trinity, Rohitha Bashana Abeywardane, who is an exiled Sri Lankan.
The emergency motion will see the money going towards Abeywardane’s outstanding fees, accommodation, which McNulty said the union were hoping to secure for him in Trinity Hall.
Abeywardane was born in Sri Lanka in 1972 and is a founder and former editor-in-chief of the alternative Sri Lankan weekly newspaper Hiru. As a result of his critical newspaper pieces, he had to leave the country after receiving threats.
He is published in several online journals and is the co-ordinator of the group Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka. This organisation was founded by journalists who have been exiled from Sri Lanka for their work.
McNulty said that Trinity had offered to lower his fees to the EU level, rather than the usual international fees he would normally be charged.
President of TCDSU, Kieran McNulty, implored council to vote in favour of the motion saying, that though “this goes beyond council, this goes beyond just Trinity” and that the union should should “stand up for our scholars at risk for knowledge, and knowledge at risk”.
The HEA fund can be used by TCDSU for one-off payments, or projects with no recurring costs. The fund arose from a fine Trinity incurred in 2012 for paying improper stipends to tutors.
