Art Students at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology staged a sit-in at offices in the college yesterday to protest at a lack of facilities in the art department.
Up to 100 students took part in the protest, which was intended to highlight the fact that some students are attending lectures in corridors while 40 people studying third-year sculpture have to share one camera between them.
Staff at the art department have also had their hours cut since last year, according to art student and students' union spokesman Mr Paddy Growney, who said that the college management did not understand the art students' requirements. "We've had meetings with them, but they've told us that the Government has said there's no more funding for facilities. We then asked them to invite a Government representative to see our plight, but that didn't happen, so now we want to bring our complaint directly to the Government's attention."
GMIT's art department is based in a former Redemptorist retreat house on the outskirts of Galway city. The building was purchased by the institute to provide extra space for students. It houses some 200 art students as well as over 50 people studying film and video. "GMIT invested £4 million in upgrading the building", Mr Growney admitted. "However, they designed an aesthetic rather than a practical building."
According to Mr Growney, several students and lecturers have become ill as a result of damp in the building.
The students will continue their protest tomorrow. It will then be suspended to allow for conferring in the college on Thursday. However, Mr Growney said that the students would take further action if the protest did not yield results.
The head of GMIT, Mr Gay Corr, was unavailable for comment yesterday.