Up to 1,000 students marched to City Hall in Limerick yesterday in protest at a proposed doubling of college registration fees.
Student union officers have claimed that the planned increase from €670 to €1,300 was leaked to them by a leading civil servant and has been confirmed by others in the Department of Education.
Students from University of Limerick, Mary Immaculate College, the Limerick School of Art and Design and the Limerick Institute of Technology took part in the march which was also in protest at the recent cuts in the education allowances for mature students.
The president of the Union of Students in Ireland, Mr Will Priestley, said: "Today we are sending out a message to Minister Dempsey that every time he says cutback, we'll say fight back. Third-level education is not for sale."
Students in Cork, Galway and Sligo are expected to march over the coming weeks with a major event planned for Dublin in early December.