Eighteen students were arrested for public order offences yesterday as thousands of pupils walked out of classrooms to protest about the ASTI dispute. Seven students were detained in Dublin, six in Sligo, three in Waterford and two in Bray but all were later released.
Protests outside the Dail escalated into angry scenes as bottles were thrown at gardai and scuffles broke out.
The main flashpoint came as 400 students gathered in Molesworth Street, opposite Leinster House, at about 12.50 p.m.
A fight broke out among pupils near the junction with South Frederick Street and as gardai moved in to break it up, a large section of the crowd rushed to surround them and threw plastic bottles and other missiles.
Earlier some students tried to charge the main gate at Leinster House. Following a small scuffle, a Dail usher was slightly injured. The gardai then erected a barrier across the top of Molesworth Street.
At a protest at the Artane roundabout two students were arrested for public order offences. A student was also arrested in Ballyfermot.
Three students were arrested in Waterford city during a mass protest. The action began at around 9 a.m., with picketing outside schools, but escalated quickly when hundreds of students descended on John Roberts Square in the city centre.
The disturbances began when missiles were hurled into the crowd. Gardai were summoned following reports that some youths were throwing eggs at the public. On arrival the Garda patrol car was also pelted with eggs and two 16-year-old youths were arrested.
Six students were arrested for public order offences in Sligo town after about 1,000 pupils from schools in the town left their classes to protest, writes Theresa Judge.
The protest started at 9.30 a.m. and continued until 4.30 p.m. Traffic was disrupted.
In Cork more than 4,000 students from the city's secondary schools protested from early yesterday, writes Dick Hogan. Gardai said the protest passed off peacefully and without arrests.
In Fermoy 1,400 students from the Loreto Convent and St Colman's secondary college took to the streets.
In Clonmel hundreds of students marched on the Town Hall. A petition with 2,000 names, calling on the Taoiseach to intervene in the ASTI dispute, was presented to South Tipperary Independent TD, Mr Seamus Healy.