Students react angrily to British army recruitment at Queens University

Students have reacted angrily to members of the Royal Irish Regiment recruiting outside Queens University once again. The regiment of the British Army opened a recruitment stall today accompanied by two British soldiers in full military regalia trying to recruit students.


These recruitment drives have been ongoing with the British Army having a stall at the fresher’s fair in September and recruitment posters advertised within the Queens Students union etc.

The British army are an illegal force of occupation and should not be permitted to recruit on campus. A university should be a neutral environment free from offensive literature and posters that only serve to promote an atmosphere of exclusion and segregation.

Student and QUB Sinn Féin activist Megan Fearon said:

“I was appalled at the presence of the British Army at the university today. The British war machine is an occupying force in Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, and should not be allowed to recruit young Irish students.

"It is a disgrace that following the outrage and controversy the RIR ‘victory parade’ caused, that they would choose to target vulnerable students, who in the current economic climate are faced with unemployment issues, this is taken advantage of.

"They promise students adventure, excitement and a good career prospect when in reality all they will be doing is giving their lives to an imperialist power that will use them to invade and occupy other countries. The British army have no right to be in Ireland never mind our universities.

"I call on all Queens’s students to reject the presence of this war force on our campus and for the University to no longer permit them to recruit”.