Sir, – Irish Rail’s new student reductions have been advertised all over Dublin Bus vehicles with a picture of a young, out-of-sorts male pouring hot water into a shoe and looking decrepit and miserable. Underneath this picture, the slogan says, “Go home students! You need a bit of looking after”.
As a student, I am fed up with this patronising and condescending attitude. The assumption that students are incapable of looking after themselves is a baseless stereotype that shouldn’t be aired on Dublin Bus, one of the most sought-after advertising platforms in our capital! It points to this country’s lack of real respect for education, and the view that college is just about getting a degree, and until it is finished you needn’t act like an adult. Altogether infuriating. – Yours, etc,
LUKE FITZHERBERT,
Dublin 6W.