Updated 18:03
Protesters at Trinity College in Dublin have said they are within touching distance of victory after the college announced it would reconsider the introduction of a €450 fees for repeat exams.
Demonstrators have ended their occupation of the university's historic dining hall - but they have insisted this is not the end of their fight.
The group of students have been staging a sit-in since Tuesday over the introduction of the blanket charge for repeat exams.
EArlier today, Students Union President Kevin Keane laid out the students' demands:
“First is the complete removal of the supplemental exam fee; second is no increase to post-graduate or non-EU undergraduate fees and the third is that accommodation on campus be frozen at the rent that currently exists,” he said.
“So those three things are within grasp.
“Today, particularly on the supplementary exam fees, we made huge progress and are within touching distance of a complete victory.”
Students were in a celebratory mood earlier, with a rally and concert being held in the front square of the campus this lunchtime.
These students say they’ll fight until all their demands are met:
Last night, TCD President Patrick Prendergast tweeted that the university's board will seriously consider alternative proposals for the fees at its next meeting.
Agreed with @tcdsu & @trinityGSU that”‹ we will seriously consider alternative proposals on supplemental exam fees, modular billing & PG/Non-EU fees at the next Board meeting, and that Trinity is a university that belongs to all of us who study and work here #TakeBackTrinity
— Patrick Prendergast (@pjprendergast) March 14, 2018
Sarah Meehan from the Take Back Trinity Campaign insisted this is not the end of their campaign.
She argued: "We feel it's enough to end the occupation, as we've been here two days and people are getting tired.
"We're going to trust Patrick Prendergast on this, and if this doesn't go through at the board meeting at the end of the month then more direction action is planned."
She added: "This is absolutely not the end of our direct action - it's just the end of our occupation."
As well as their call for the repeat exam fee to be scrapped, campaigners are also calling for affordable rental accommodation options for all students.
They are also demanding no more increases to any student fees 'in any form'.
I wanna be a student again #TakeBackTrinity pic.twitter.com/7v1RTp1Ays
— Juliette Gash (@JulietteGash) March 15, 2018
