NicLochlainn calls for reduction in levy as NUIG goes online for rest of semester

Confessions fundraiser smashes target in two hours

Paddy Henry

NUI Galway Twitter legends NUIG Confessions have received widespread acclaim after setting up a GoFundMe for local mental health charity Helplink.

The account, run by anonymous duo, NUIG Gossip Girl and The Other Admin announced their charitable intentions last Saturday to coincide with World Mental Health Day.

The fundraiser smashed its initial goal of raising €500 for the local charity within just two hours and has since gone on to raise over €1,000 for the cause

The account’s admins spoke to SIN about the charitable endeavour, which they had only devised the night prior

“The idea Genuinely came to us on Friday, no word of a lie we thought of it Friday night as something to do for world mental health day, and from there we looked into mental health services and charities around Galway and the west of Ireland and from there the SU told us about Helplink and how they were on of the charities the SU were working on fundraising for this year.” they said.

By Paddy Henry and Oisín Bradley

NUI Galway is ceasing most on-campus lectures for the duration of Semester One.

The information, circulated by the University via an email on Tuesday afternoon, detailed that all lectures

One half of the mysterious double act found that as the page grew in popularity students began to open up to them anonymously about their feelings of loneliness and general struggles with college life.

When we set up this page we admittedly set it up as a place for people to confess love for their class mates, send in stories about embarrassing one night stands and the library romances students dream of, but pretty quickly we had students opening up to us about how lonely they felt in college, how hard things were for them and we couldn’t ignore it.

The Other Admin himself opened up about his own experiences with the mental health services available on campus and the important role Helplink played in his own life. “ When everything shut down in March, even myself (TOA), my mental health was in the gutter, I tried accessing the mental health supports the college have in place but we all know that NUIG has room for improvement there. So, it was services like HelpLink that helped me get through a rough few month.” scheduled to take place in the University before Christmas with the exception of Research facilities and practical labbased tutorials are to cease.

“Considering that current national restrictions (at Level 3 at least) will be now in place until (at least) week 5 in the

The uncertainty that comes with the current health crisis has taken its toll on students and the accounts’ admins said that being able to make a difference through Their twitter account has been “incredible” to them.

“With so much uncertainty around what’s happening with the year ahead for everyone, there’s so much unnecessary stress on student’s lives, but apart from that, we’re just missing out on so many opportunities to do anything, societies, Sports clubs, SU events all having to cancel or go all online has made it so hard for people to have meaningful experiences and make meaningful connections and friendships.”, they said

We’ve realised that there is sort of a little community around this page, we’ve had people tell us how much it helps them in keeping track of what’s going on around NUIG, Galway and even Ireland when it comes to the world we live in at the moment so the fact the we can change even one person’s mood is enough, but being able to actually have major impacts on student life and do semester and sensing the need for as much certainty and stability as possible in this regard, for the remainder of this semester, all other teaching and learning will remain online,” the college revealed.

The announcement also detailed that only essential on-site activities would things like this fundraiser is incredible to us. they continued.

Helplink expressed their gratitude towards all those who donated, telling SIN they were “bowled over” by the support.

“Helplink Mental Health, Galway’s only mental health charity that provides counselling and other mental health services 7 day a week are absolutely bowled over by the generosity of students from NUIG that have been donating to a GoFundMe page set up by @NUIGConfessions.”

“NUIG Confessions set up the fund on World Mental Health Day and it has been exceeding targets ever since! Helplink is one of three charities chosen this year by NUIG SU for support on charity events throughout the academic year. They provide accessible free or low-cost mental health services to children, young people and adults alike.”

Helplink CEO Lochlann Scott also spoke of his appreciation for the generosity of students who donated; “we are very humbled and appreciative of the be taking place for the remainder of the Semester, including research facilities and lab-based practical tuition for which it is essential to have an on-campus setting.

The news comes on the back of the announcement from the Government on Monday evening that the entire country would be moving to Level Three regulations in the country’s plan for living with Covid-19.

The University had been operating under these restrictions for the duration of Week One and Week Two of the academic year. However, with cases in the region, as well as the nation as a whole rising sharply, the University has decided to make this decision in order to keep its staff and students safe.

The James Hardiman library is to remain open under the restrictions outlined at present, while the University are also said to be exploring the idea of safe spaces where students can congregate in a risk-free setting.

On campus accommodation facilities will remain open, and the University has announced that it will refund the cost of campus accommodation, less facilities charges, for the remainder of the semester, should students choose to leave.

Speaking to SIN, Students’ Union Welfare and Equality Officer Róisín Nic Lochlainn welcomed this announcement, but encouraged other off-campus complexes to follow in their footsteps

“Campus Living are offering refunds for Semester One, and we welcome that from the on-campus accommodation, but we need other residences around the city to follow suit on that.” students that are supporting our work. Helplink has strong ties with NUIG and we are delighted that we are receiving such support”.

As far as other charitable endeavours go in the future the admins of the 6,000-follower strong account haven’t ruled out further good work, and have committed to supporting future support work by the SU over the course of the year.

“We haven’t talked about doing anything concrete in the future yet but we know the SU have big plans coking for fundraising and we’ll obviously be supporting them there in their efforts but after the success of this fundraiser, we’d be kind of insane to not try and do

NicLochlainn calls for reduction in levy as NUIG goes online for rest of semester

more.” they said.

“What we really need to see now is accommodation providers around the city show a bit of human compassion and empathy around the situation that students have been put in, beyond their own control and refund students in full for the accommodation this semester.” she said.

Nic Lochlainn slammed the University for what she described as a ‘last-minute’ response, highlighting the problems this has brought for International Students in particular.

“I have been bombarded with queries, International students especially are very angry, and rightly so. They have been asking me why they have been called from halfway around the world to come here for NUIG to finally say at the last minute that it’s all online.”

She also called into question how the University can justifiably charge the student levy in its entirety given the lack of services available on campus, owing to the pandemic, calling for a reduction in the cost of the levy.

“I would call into question how charging the student levy could be justified,” she said.

“I can’t see how the university can now justify charging for services such as the student levy when all of the services within the levy either won’t be of use or will be online which will obviously be of reduced quality.”

“If it is online and the least the University can do is reduce the fees for things like clubs and societies and the kingfisher, they’re not going to be of use now and should at the very least be reduced,” she continued.