Niall Kennedy @NiallDKennedy Twitter profile

Pinned Tweet

Niall Kennedy

2 years

My appearance, representing @IrishPrecarity , at the @OireachtasNews Roundtable on Higher Education Funding. My contribution starts at 46:10, followed by a Q+A.

Oireachtas committees video archive

Topic: Roundtable Discussion on the Future Funding of Higher Education (resumed)

www.oireachtas.ie

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

So, how is this precariously employed academic at @tcddublin coping with Ireland's devastating housing and cost of living crises? Buckle up, this isn't pretty. (A thread) 1/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Please show us you are listening and you have a plan to help. ENDS 20/20.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

A typical early career post from @UniofOxford . 1 academic year, teaching cover, requires doctorate, teaching experience + research record + ability to provide research led teaching. Salary: £14-16k. And Christ Church is one of the richer colleges!

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

Today students blockaded the Book of Kells at @tcddublin to protest another rent increase in one of the most expensive cities in Europe. I'm told it could cost college €50,000 in lost ticket revenue for the day, or slightly more than what 6 hourly-paid staff earn in a year.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@DarraghOBrienTD is there some reason why you haven't resigned in embarrassment yet? 18/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Finally and in all seriousness @LindaDoyle so many of your staff in Trinity's community are in a desperate, desperate situation right now. The current crisis has made the situation for already vulnerable teachers and researchers dramatically worse. 19/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

A number of colleagues are in the same position, making a disrupted term even more disrupted. Have you tried sounding coherent in front of a class after spending the night in the same dormitory as a stag party from Leeds? It's not easy. Kitchen/laundry facilities minimal. 8/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

What has happened to me has happened because of the intersection of precarious short-term employment with a housing crisis. I am in my 5th year at @tcddublin and I can't believe I am living like this. Most people I tell this story to, even colleagues, can't believe it. 15/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

Just found this article now. 490 staff members at @tcddublin earn six figure sums, while at the other end of the scale, hourly-paid lecturers can earn less than €7000/year for what the university considers a full teaching load. Make it make sense.

Higher staff costs push Trinity College Dublin into annual loss

Statements show 490 staff members earning more than €100,000

www.irishtimes.com

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

If things are bad for us, its even worse for students, especially internationals with no-one to stay with in Ireland. Some are commuting from Belfast or Galway. Others are moving from couch to couch in friends' places, or thinking about living in tents 14/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@SimonHarrisTD promised to end precarity and the Joint Ctte. on education called for an urgent review into HE employment. When will this be happening? Can you help @conwaywalsh @OCallaghanJim @Love1solidarity @paulinegalway @campaign4kehoe @AodhanORiordain ? 17/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Hey ma, I made the Irish Times! Let's hope @SimonHarrisTD follows the Joint Committee recommendation and launches a full and urgent review of academic precarity, contracts and employment conditions.

Dr Mary McAuliffe

@MaryMcAuliffe4

2 years

New qualified teachers cannot afford rent in Dublin,it’s bleaker for early career academics most of whom are on precarious contracts.Great points from Dr Niall Kennedy.Precarity & the neoliberal university, ruining academic careers & the standards of student learning & experience

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Right now I have a nagging cough I can't shake. But as a silver lining, yesterday's collapse of Sterling has at least made the weekends in Antrim marginally cheaper 16/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

I am seeing very small studios for €1800+ or one-bedroom apartments for €2000+. This money would have gotten a very comfortable flat a few years ago. Over 95% of the places I inquire about don't respond at all. Teaching starts and I still haven't found anywhere to live 6/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

6 months

@_amroali With the cherry on top being the two old men driven to frothing, impotent rage.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

One night, one really drunk lad ended up sleepwalking to reception and pissing everywhere. At least he didn't piss all over me. This was at 3AM of course. In the morning I step over people passed out in the bathroom so I can shower. I wish I was exaggerating about this 9/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Some colleagues have it even worse, because their contracts are not even 9-months. Some are hourly-paid, earning less than €10,000 in an academic year. One such person is looking desperately for a 2nd job so she can stay in Dublin. If not she will leave mid-term 13/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

11 months

I have five and a half years of employment at the same institution @tcddublin and I've been told I face redundancy at the end of January due to a refusal to hire me on a proper regular contract. Is there any other sector where this happens? @LindaDoyle @tcdsllcs

The Irish Times

@IrishTimes

11 months

Staff complain of not being paid out of term and being employed on temporary or part-time contracts

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

What to do? I decide to commute from rural Antrim in the meantime. There is also a temporary accom. crisis. I'm spending 4-5 nights/week in a hostel dormitory, going back North for the weekend. Dormitory beds are €40-60/night, total spend with transport approx €1000/month 7/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Back in March I spoke at the @OireachtasNews Joint Ctte. on Higher Education funding, representing @IrishPrecarity . I told TDs and Senators my own 9-month contract would end in June, leaving me unemployed over the summer even IF I was rehired in September (see pinned thread)2/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@tcddublin Well, this has blown up nicely and is by some distance my most viewed thread. Thanks everyone! I don't have a Patreon or a Soundcloud, but please join your union. I've been doing some media interviews, details to follow.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

Let's do some maths! TCD fined @tcdsu €214,000, around 20% of its annual budget. This is slightly more than what college spends on the annual salary of 30 hourly-paid, PhD-qualified lecturers doing what it considers to be a full teaching load. Who is damaging whose reputation?

RTÉ News

@rtenews

4 months

Trinity College has fined its Students' Union €214,000 for financial losses incurred as a result of disruptive protests held by the union throughout this academic year

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Sidenote: do I even have representation in the @OireachtasNews right now? Do hostels even count? I am half in, half out of the state. Can any constitutional scholars weigh in? 11/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Overwhelmed by the response to my twitter thread a couple of days ago, including multiple press interviews and dozens of offers of accommodation! Thanks to everyone who took the time to get in touch, I will do my best to get back to you as soon as I can.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Fortunately, thanks to a personal connection, I *might* get into a houseshare from mid-October. However, like every other house in Dublin, leases are now 12month, and my contract is again only 9months. I have to make a financial commitment beyond the end date of my job. 12/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

September comes and I am rehired. Now I have to find another place to stay in Dublin. Big problem. Later I would be told by an agent that they receive 1000+ requests for every room or apartment free. It's also too late to become an assistant warden at Trinity College 5/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Normally I like hostelling culture - when on holiday. I move to another hostel further away from Temple Bar. This one has a bar in the common room. Not so convenient when you have to write references and try to arrange a conference. I try to make do. 10/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

June came, so did unemployment. I decided to give up my Dublin flat, it was simply too expensive for me to keep. To make ends meet I leave the ROI altogether, going to stay with family in Co. Antrim. This means I can't even access social welfare. 3/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@MaIickDoucoure Publisher's 'forward'?

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Don't forget! At UK and Irish universities (including my own, @tcddublin ), what are often wrongly called 'hourly-paid' lecturers are actually paid *per class*. That fee includes all prep and marking time. I did it for two years, and got less than €7000 a year.

Beth Pyner

@bethpyner

2 years

I will be losing £0 for striking today as I don't get paid to (but am expected to) attend the lecture which I then teach seminars on. I attend the lectures for free. Or I get paid less than minimum wage for the work I *have* to do in order to provide quality teaching. #ucuRISING

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

@eoinmauricedaly Look how upset you are getting because other people don't love your kids as much as you do.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

I explain all this to @BarryLenihan on @drivetimerte on July 13th. See link from 15m30 4/20

Drivetime Wednesday 13 July 2022

Sarah McInerney and Cormac Ó hEadhra bring you all the latest news and stories of the day from around the country and beyond.

www.rte.ie

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

Looks like I'm going to be on @morningireland tomorrow (sometime between 7 and 9) talking about my contract situation, good timing as unemployment hits next week. Academic precarity: suddenly everyone's talking about it.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@ProfTomkins No, illiberalism is making state-sanctioned institutions like marriage open only to certain types of people. Freedom of speech and belief =/= freedom from criticism.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@pyjamas_black My first Dublin landlord always came around every month to pick up the rent, which had to be in cash for...some reason. He would remark to me over tea that the six houses he let were a constant stress and had ruined his marriage. Then he picked up his big pile of notes and left.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

3 months

@keewa On one of the Lucy Letby FB groups they would regularly fantasise about her violent death in prison. Lots of people who had experienced child loss doing a lot of projecting.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

@tcddublin Sidenote: I had no idea college made this much from the Book of Kells alone. Really puts the starvation wages they offer precarious staff into perspective.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@piercepenniless Note Linehan's bullying of bi man @20thcenturymarc for his female partner, calling him 'straight tourist'. For GL, you can't be too gay, or not gay enough: be a 'gay Goldilocks' and stand out just the right amount. This is obviously a pathological need to control others.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@EnricaFerrara @tcddublin I just feel like we should all be telling our stories at every opportunity. I've lost count of the number of people who say they can't believe the real story about what it's like to work in HE.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

It's worth saying three things in response to this email from @LindaDoyle : Firstly, claiming that Book of Kells protests threaten services provided to students is disingenuous. The most important service provided to students is teaching, and for a large cohort of teachers 1/

PWO TCD

@PWO_TCD

4 months

@tcddublin @tcdsu . @tcdsu represents the collective student voice; their advocacy for fairness is constructive, not a threat. Doyle's dismissal of their concerns disregards their democratic mandate and the genuine support they have from the student body.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@mariekillhy @tcddublin I hope not unemployable! But I couldn't live with myself if I just suffered this and didn't even say a thing. You are right that there are many, many similar stories out there.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

It is frankly amazing that an institution which relies as heavily as @tcddublin on viciously exploitative short-term contracts and hourly-paid teaching arrangements should receive anything from the Athena Swan. Women are consistently the most disadvantaged by these policies!

Prof Lorraine Leeson, PhD

@leesonl

1 year

What a momentous day for us here @tcddublin - we are delighted with news that we have been conferred with an #AthenaSwanSilver Institutional Award.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

@tcddublin In personal experience: I've had students commute to my classes from as far away as Galway: literally across the entire country.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Would love to have attended this. Sadly as I can't find accom in Dublin I have to stay in hostels and commute to a relatives home in Antrim at the weekend.

Rob O'Hanrahan

@RobOHanrahan

2 years

"I can't afford it as it is, to attend university... I can't afford food, or anything like that" Report from #CostOfLivingProtest in Dublin. Really struck by the range of people there, and just how desperate it is for so many people. @VirginMediaNews

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

Say we concede a university is a business and must be run as such. The core functions of its business are teaching and research. So why does its business model not prioritise secure and high-quality performance of these functions? (Genuine question.)

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

In case you missed it I was on @drivetimerte today for an interview with @BarryLenihan about the devastating impact of precarity, cost of living and high rents on Irish Higher Education. Segment starts at 15m30, check it out!

Drivetime

Sarah McInerney and Cormac Ó hEadhra bring you the day's top news, current affairs and sports stories.

www.rte.ie

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@PeteGDunne Sounds like a very rigorous data gathering access you were on there.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

3 months

@Alan__Shatter Honestly @Alan__Shatter , just say you don't believe the Palestinians have the right to be citizens of a state. This is clearly what you believe, so why not be honest and say it openly?

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Yup. Irish students - exactly the same employment practices are widespread in our universities too. Please listen, share, and discuss with others.

UCU

@ucu

2 years

Lots of people don't realise how difficult it is to work in higher education UCU member Chris explains what it's really like👇 Watch, RT, back our members #ucuRISING

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@femmesforchrist Cinephiles will know him for his small speaking roles in films by Jacques Tati, Agnès Varda, and, latterly, Jerry Bruckheimer.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

It should be an immediate demand for universities to publish, school by school, the numbers of precarious staff in each category (9 month, 3 month, paid per class etc) plus amount of compensation next to their pay scales and in annual financial reports.

Dr Roxanne Douglas

@Rox_Douglas_

2 years

You know, I wonder if the @ucu with the @nusuk insisted on a column for proportion of staff on insecure contracts on, say, the @timeshighered and other rankings if it might go some way to hold universities to account over use of a precarious workforce…

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

11 months

Good news. See what can be done as a small country when you preserve an independent foreign policy?

Samuel Ramani

@SamRamani2

11 months

BREAKING: Ireland rejects a suspension of EU aid to Palestine

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@TypeForVictory Try looking at it with an objective eye. It is a joke she was told she had to curtsey. Its a bigger joke that the Queens own family had to bow and curtsey to her every day. Literally hilariously obscene.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Insecurity brings constant anxiety, stress and worry about the future. Real consequences for both physical and mental health. To be insecure in housing is bad, and in employment is bad:in both is a nightmare. How many other stories like these in Ireland?

Renting in Ireland: ‘I’m 35 at home with my mother. That’s ridiculous’

Hard-to-find, expensive accommodation makes life hard for tenants in southeast

www.irishtimes.com

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

Racist, anti-black UK comic @Baddiel has been invited by @TCDsllcs to speak to students as an authority on 'hierarchies' of racism. The promotional material for this event does not mention Baddiel's notorious career on UK including many incidents of 'blacking up' and mocking 1/2

Languages, Literatures & Cultural Studies at TCD

@TCDsllcs

1 year

The Herzog Centre at @TCDsllcs with @Holocaust_Irl are delighted to welcome David Baddiel in conversation with Oliver Sears, moderated by Dr Zuleika Rodgers to @tcddublin ,Tuesday 28th March, 6:30pm. Booking essential - tickets here: @TCLCTdublin

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

This was exactly my point at last week's meeting on the future @tcddublin student with VP @orla_sheils and Assoc. VP @leesonl . Low/no PhD stipends, then avg 5-7 yrs of precarious contracts (sometimes for under 10k/yr) mean a lost decade of earnings for early career academics 1/3

Eve Hayes

@EveHayes123

2 years

I survived on a £350/month stipend during my PhD, sinking into debt even tho I was teaching. As a postdoc, I endured years of 6-month contracts only to be made redundant when I’d just had a baby & was a single mum. The “uni experience” is far from what staff had imagined either.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

UCD enjoyed a 340% increase in profits during the year of lockdown. This was driven by growth in student numbers bringing more fees. How much of this surplus will the precarious staff teaching these students get? How many UCD academics are precarious?

UCD profits jump to €34.9m, driven by strong growth in student fees

University College Dublin (UCD) recorded a pre-tax surplus of €34.9m last year.

www.independent.ie

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@lorna_oh @tcddublin haha. Maybe digital nomadism is the future! All classes online forever. Not sure the students would be thrilled.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

Your regular reminder that 490 individuals at @tcddublin earn six figure salaries - some earn over €300,000.

Rory O'Sullivan

@roryosul

4 months

Bizarre and possibly defamatory email from TCD provost Linda Doyle to the entire student cohort. Clearly designed to produce a chilling effect - hopefully it leads to backlash instead. Students and staff must speak up and ensure TCD does not bring Columbia’s tactics to Ireland.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@dublincomments @tcddublin Those people aren't responsible for my precarious contract and exploitative working conditions, nor are they responsible for the government's failure to plan or provide adequately for housing needs in my city for the past decade.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

3 years

@AaronBastani So, the solution for most industrial disputes is for them to end... Not even lip service paid to the idea that workers deserve a fair deal and to make a living sustainably.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

10 months

@EHayesdeKalaf OK but what are your plans for your second book and your third book and why aren't they written already? /s.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

(that is, those on short-term or precarious contracts) college offers rock-bottom wages and insecure conditions of employment. For an hourly-paid lecturer delivering what college considers a full teaching load, pay can be less than €7000/year. In some cases below min. wage 2/

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

This extremely strong response is very concerning, particularly since the SU protests were against the Provost's broken election pledge on fee increases. I'm curious to know the university senators' opinions: @SenDavidNorris @TomClonan @aliceeire @SenatorMcDowell @RonanMullen

Trinity News

@Trinity_News

4 months

College hits students’ union with €214k fine for disruptive protests

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Tonight, Thursday, I'm going to be on @bbctheview , BBC1NI at 1030PM speaking about the housing crisis and academic precarity in Ireland. It will likely be short and sweet so make sure you don't go to make a cup of tea midway through.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

Back from briefing TDs and Senators incl. @Farrell_Mairead on HE precarity. Many present commented on shock that reliance on hourly pay to fill core teaching requirements is norm, spoke of need to build safeguards into funding mechanisms. Now onto @aliceeire 's debate tonight!

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

@eoinmauricedaly You could ask the barman to stop serving them. Many pubs won't serve an obviously drunk person.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

@UniofOxford Average rent of a room in Oxford right now: £846. At least you get three free meals a week during term.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

@eoinmauricedaly Children being noisy is not the only reason not to want them in a pub For example, some people complain when adult words and topics are discussed around their children even though such conversations often happen in pubs.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@EHayesdeKalaf You're so right about the cumulative effects of precarity. You're looking at a decade of lost earnings to get to the stage you are at, with no guarantee for most of progressing further.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

Lastly, to make veiled reference to allegations of a 'toxic workplace environment' in @tcdsu is a remarkable thing to do given the conditions college creates for its own staff. Read all about it in @ifut 's report into precarious employment: ENDS

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

@eoinmauricedaly Equally wanting a space which excludes some people (eg by virtue of age or sex) doesn't mean you hate or can't tolerate the person excluded. It is instead a recognition that different spaces are appropriate for different people and different activities at different times.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@ItsDylanNorth @shoe0nhead @thisisfoster I once attended a childrens' First Holy Communion service at which the kids were encouraged to write a paragraph describing their feelings about the experience. One of them opened with "Dear Lord, thank you for helping me get your body".

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Solidarity with all the students walking out of lectures and classes today in protest at the housing and cost of living crises in Ireland.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Utterly delusional from Varadkar. I've had the good fortune to live on three different continents - with spells in London, Paris, and Caracas, among others - and I have never, ever, ever seen a housing shortage, or overpriced accommodation to the level of Dublin today.

Seanfranco

@Sean_OConghaile

2 years

My rent in Brussels was 800 euro for the entire place. I had a guest room, a garden, and could walk to work in 15 minutes. Does the Tánaiste even know what you get in Dublin for 800 euro

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

8 months

Colleagues and I wrote this for @Trinity_News to inform and involve our students - and their families, if they pay the fees - in the conversation about systemic precarity, which has a huge impact on them and their education. I urge colleagues at other Irish unis to do the same!

IFUT

@ifut

8 months

To quote Dr Howard Stevenson, "precarity is the dirty little secret of the Higher Education sector". Excellent article by @NiallDKennedy @EnricaFerrara @lindapkiernan @JohnWalshDWest and colleagues.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Good news for @tcddublin but general picture in Irish HE is of ongoing pronounced decline in teaching and research quality due to long-term underfunding. Staff recruitment and precarity at heart of this question.. (1/2)

Trinity climbs into top 100 universities worldwide as others slip down rankings

Most Irish universities lose ground in the latest QS World University Rankings for 2023

www.irishtimes.com

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Listen to my interview with @andreagilligan on @LunchtimeLiveNT on the combined crisis of the housing shortage and precarious contracts in Irish Higher Education. Thanks to Andrea and the team!

NewstalkFM

@NewstalkFM

2 years

"I've stepped over people passed out on the floor." A Trinity College languages teacher says he has no choice but to live in a mixed-bed dormitory with backpackers and stag parties. #LunchtimeLiveNT #RentCrisis

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

11 months

While the Israeli flag is projected onto EU buildings, the Palestinian flag is banned in France. Vicious racism.

French police break up pro-Palestinian demo after ban

Tear gas is used after pro-Palestinian rallies are banned as a possible threat to public order.

www.bbc.com

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

@adina_s @UniofOxford Yup, our own middle management have admitted as much to me, we need to recruit 'people who don't need the money'.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Many thanks to @RoisinButler00 for this great article on @DublinLive

Trinity College lecturer forced to live in hostels due to housing crisis

Niall Kennedy was forced to give up his Dublin apartment over the summer due to colossal rents

www.dublinlive.ie

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

Next, regarding the reputation that 'all our futures draw from' (I assume that excludes precarious members of staff who do not have futures) college more than damages its own reputation by the employment conditions to which it subjects its staff, which are now gaining 3/

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@Sweetburlingame I sense that you get a lot of research sabbatical leave during which insecure, hourly-paid colleagues are paid a pittance to teach your classes and look after your students for you, and this tweet is an attempt to keep that very comfortable (for you) arrangement going.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

increasing attention in the media as the precariously employed become unable to find appropriate housing or pay day to day living expenses. Just in my own dept. colleagues have commuted from Belfast + Laois while I spent 6 weeks living in a hostel in 2022 4/

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

@DrTamaraWDias She should make a complaint to the journal/publishers now. There's no statute of limitations on these things. Copy the letter to the university he is provost of.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

@eoinmauricedaly Depends on the context and what I'm doing at the time. If I'm watching an 18+movie at the cinema I wouldn't want kids there either.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

This is absolutely appalling. It needs to be shared widely. I cannot see how QMUL's governing council can have confidence in Colin Bailey if this email is genuine.

Queen Mary UCU

@qm_ucu

2 years

📣📣 BREAKING NEWS: This is @QMUL Principal Colin Bailey's idea of good management. Threats to close down flourishing courses if staff don't end their democratically agreed and lawful industrial action. Staff in Film have responded clearly - hands off our department!

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

#IrishPrecarityFacts Over 50% of all lecturing staff in Ireland are on temporary or part-time contracts. PLEASE RT @IrishPrecarity #Precarity #IrishHigherEducation

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

Given average rent in Dublin is now over €2100/month, perhaps @LindaDoyle could explain how those precarious lecturers earning a fraction of that figure are equal and included?

Linda Doyle

@LindaDoyle

1 year

Today, @TCDInclusion are hosting their #InclusiveTrinity Symposium 2023! The Trinity Inclusive Curriculum Project is an amazing programme that is working to embed principles of diversity, equality and inclusion across Trinity.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

Thank you all for your interest in this thread detailing my personal housing crisis. Luckily I got into the house share I mentioned. Many of you emailed or tweeted me or called and wrote to Trinity College to offer a room: I have tried to answer you all individually.... 1/2

Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

So, how is this precariously employed academic at @tcddublin coping with Ireland's devastating housing and cost of living crises? Buckle up, this isn't pretty. (A thread) 1/20

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

Great to be back in UCC. Ready to rock!

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@eggspostfacto @UjuAnya Exactly. Actually, relying on romantic partners for your only source of emotional support is a huge part of the problem (and of course not fair on the partner!).

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

This Wednesday 8PM an important debate in the Seanad led by @aliceeire on precarity in Irish HE. Let's go to fill the public gallery and show how seriously we take the issue! I'm also briefing TDs and Sens at 1PM Wed in AV Room Leinster House for @IrishPrecarity , public welcome.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

@analdank @wesstreeting @stellacreasy Is that where we hear about the pet shop thing?

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

4 months

Every lecturer eventually will have a smart and informed student point out a factual/logical error, as humans are imperfect. When they do it's best to respond with humility, thank the student & acknowledge the error, making it a teaching moment for all. Just a thought @DavQuinn

Jenny Maguire (SU)

@TCDSU_President

4 months

. @tcddublin divested from the arms-industry in 2021 following the @tcdsu and @TrinityBDS campaign.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

@CatharineHoey NI Unionists had better thank their lucky stars that the rest of the UK doesn't get a vote on their continued membership of the Union, believe me.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

Well, here's myself and @FrankJonesDGS on @morningireland talking about precarity. Time for meaningful engagement from the leadership of universities on the contract situation, with the 'if and when' lecturers given a proper path forward to permanence.

Concerns raised over lecturers and teachers being on short term contracts

Frank Jones, General Secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers, on calls for more support for university lecturers on temporary or casual contracts.

www.rte.ie

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

@Helenreflects The Paris Climate accords are worth something, as well as the pro-clean energy measures in the Inflation Reduction Act.

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

1 year

@UniofOxford One of the two senior staff members at Christ Church for whom this post is to provide cover is Professor @Yee_Jenn (Dr Belinda Jack not on Twitter): could she possibly shed any light on why the salary is so shockingly low?

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Niall Kennedy

@NiallDKennedy

2 years

To permanently-employed colleagues in Irish HEIs: do you know how many precariously employed staff in your dept/school? In light of rankings gloom, have you asked Heads of School/Faculty what they intend to do to address this problem? Students, have you raised it with your reps?

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