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Students staged a protest outside the constituency office of Minister for Enterprise Batt O'Keeffe in Co Cork today to highlight what they described as his "inaction" in tackling graduate unemployment.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office for June show almost 92,000 people under the age of 25 are unemployed, while data from the Higher Education Authority show fewer than of undergraduates who completed degrees in 2009 are employed.
 
The Union of Students of Ireland (USI) claims more and more skilled graduates are emigrating and many will never return to Ireland.

About 20 students dressed as teachers and doctors gathered outside Mr O’Keeffe's office in Ballincollig this morning.

The students claimed that playing fancy dress was their only option as jobs are not plentiful in any of the professions in recessionary times.