SIN Vol. 18 Election Special

NUI GALWAY STUDENTS' UNION

ELECTION SPECIAL

with CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS e m i t l l u for f : s n o i t i s o p Eoghan FINN STUDENTS' Niall GAFFNEY Cillian MORAN UNION Diarmuid Ó CURRAOIN RYAN PRESIDENT Catherine Lorcán Ó MAOILEANNAIGH VICE PRESIDENT Andrew FORDE EDUCATION Ciarán MAC CHONCARRAIGE OFFICER VICE PRESIDENT Sharon MURRAY REILLY WELFARE Megan Rebecca TIERNEY OFFICER : e t a b e d Plus will be asked to vote on the motion: REFERENDUM You “NUI Galway Students’ Union

Election: THURSDAY 2 MARCH Where to vote

Remote vote

AN BHIALANN (10am-7pm) ON THE SU WEBSITE 10am-8pm ÁRAS NA MAC LÉINN Pre-registration required before (11am-8pm) ENGINEERING BUILDING midnight Wednesday 1 March.

(12pm-4pm)

supports the reunification of the island of Ireland and calls on the State to hold a national referendum on the question of such reunification.”

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Eoghan FINN

STUDENTS' UNION PRESIDENT

Why are you running for election?

I’m running for election because I want to help. I want to reclaim the Students' Union for students essentially; I think it’s gotten distracted from its purpose over the past few years. That’s not a reflection on the people in it, they’re doing a great job, but it’s simply that I want to change the discussion around the Students’ Union. I want to play my part as best I can.

What are the key skills/personality traits that an SU President should have?

That’s quite a question! An ability to step back and represent people based on the mandate you’re given, step back no matter what your personal opinions are and do what the students want, because that’s essentially your job, to separate the personal from the professional.

As well, to be able to manage the team, to be able to facilitate all the other people on the executive and to be savvy with the finances. You’re going to be dealing with a lot of that, a lot of committees, a lot of people and meeting people one on one.

So, I think you need a passion for people and an ability to be reasonable and number and figures and everything.

Niall GAFFNEY Interviewed by Sorcha O’Connor

Why are you running for election?

I think the role of Students' Union President is an absolutely essential one and I think the person who fills that role has to be confident, experienced and passionate about the role – and I think I fit that category.

What key skills/personality traits should an SU President have?

In my opinion an absolutely essential set of skills that a president has to have is negotiation. You have to be a mediator between students and the university management and staff. I think from my undergrad in Law and I think from my experience in the Students Union as convenor that I have acquired that set of skills.

Describe what you think being SU President is about.

I think the Students’ Union President is the physical embodiment of the student voice. You’re put there by students with a very strong mandate to stand up for people who haven’t the time or can’t stand up to university staff, or to be the voice for the many student services that are at risk.

Outline your main objectives if elected.

I’ve categorised everything into four areas: campaigns, student services, engagement and representation.

Describe what you think being SU President is about.

It’s about representation, it’s about managing the team, it’s about you standing up for students and never giving up. It’s about making sure that even if it’s hard, even if you want to get on with everyone in the university, be it with the authorities or whoever, that you stand up for what students want and keep fighting for it and that you motivate people to get out. Because the most important thing about the Student’s Union is having numbers behind it, having people voting, having people turn out so that you can go up to the University President and say that “these people are behind me, I stand for these people” and get the job done.

Outline your main objectives if elected.

Okay so my main objectives, I have three: First of all, to stop spending money from the SU, stop spending our money, because we all put money into it, stop spending our money on national political issues and prioritise standing up against University authorities when we need to, and working with them to make sure that issues that matter are dealt with and that things change.

Secondly, to stop the wasteful spending of money. I mean that by stopping spending our money on alcohol for class reps, on networking events that aren’t necessary and on awareness campaigns that aren’t reaching students. The Students’ Union needs to get outside of Arás Na MacLeinn and get into the actual Engineering building, the Moyola, go out there and talk to people and make them aware in a way that isn’t happening now. That’s what I want to change.

And thirdly, to fight forcefully, like I said, to make sure that you never give up and that includes issues like demanding a repeal of the repeat fee hike that happened

For campaigns, we run some fantastic weeks during the year here from SHAG week to Mental Health Week to Destress Week but I truly think we need to ground more of our campaigns. I think we need to get them back to really prioritising student issues, many things that effect every student rather than just closed groups.

With student services, we’ve seen so many services cut in the last couple of years and in the last couple of years we’ve just been dealt blow after blow. We’ve seen repeat fees skyrocket, we’ve seen the cloakroom closed down to almost unworkable hours, we’ve seen shops, services, cut altogether and coffee stations disappear. I think it’s important we focus back on these, these were utilities that were used by students nearly every day.

Enagement: Engagement is a very difficult thing and at the moment, it is unfortunate thing to say, it’s at an all-time low. I think to boost engagement and to get everyone involved and passionate about the Union in some capacity is to have a bigger presence and we need to run more campaigns, especially on North Campus. We have a station up there, we really need to push it.

Finally, representation. A lot of people wouldn’t know the role the president plays at a national level as well as at university, meeting with USI on the president’s board and debating policy on a national level, which will ultimately be submitted to TDs or many bodies like the Higher Education Authority.

last year, with very little action to change it. To try and get exams to be anonymised, it’s something that a lot of students have asked me to do. To get free buses to exam centres off campus. To improve and demand the investment in educational and health-care facilities on campus. And if we’re going to be handing out free condoms, we need to be handing out free tampons as much as possible as well, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t.

As well, respect for the Irish language is something I care very passionately about and I think it’s something we as a Students’ Union need to stand up for. And, reducing the cost of living for students because it’s something that everyone deals with especially people who are coming here who aren’t from Galway who need help. That’s what I want to change and I want to be here for them.

What are the key points of your manifesto?

I’ll keep it simple. My manifesto is about cutting funding for national campaigns and prioritising on-campus campaigns, cutting wasteful spending on things like alcohol, junket networking trips and awareness campaigns that aren’t working and replacing them with things that actually improve turnout and motivation and finally, bringing in things that students have been demanding for years, for example ending the repeat fee hike that came in a few years ago, anonymising exams, free buses to exam centres, educational and healthcare investment, especially in the student health centre, free tampons, it’s just plain and simple. And, absolute respect for the Irish language; the Students’ Union should be doing it as much as any University President, and as President I will speak in Irish to whoever is elected.

Vote 1 Eoghan Finn for President in #NUIGSU on March 2 to bring the SU back to on-campus issues and fight for you #ReclaimtheSU #WinWithFinn

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Yeah, I just want to add, no matter who you’re going to vote for, turn out. Because even if I don’t get the position - and I really would love the position to be able to do these things – no matter who gets the position, they need a mandate, they need as many of you as possible to be there behind them so that they can approach the University President, be it Jim Browne, be it whoever comes in next year, that is very important, so that they can say we have these people behind us, we are a voice for these people and we will, as one, fight against you if you do not help us, but we will happily work with you if you do. That’s very important, turn out to vote, no matter who you’re voting for.

Cillian MORAN

A vote for me as President is a vote against treating students like cash cows. It's time students got the respect they deserve! #NUIGAFFNEY

we really are going to ground the Students’ Union, we’re going to bring it back to every student.

What are the key points of your manifesto?

Anything else you’d like to add?

So hopefully when people look at my manifesto, people will see that I am students first, number one priority, everything. Student services are absolutely essential – when I say services, I mean the likes of cloakroom, or free services and very, very cheap services that students can use and I really hope they capture the essence of the manifesto,

I’d just like to stress that at this time of turnover of Students' Union President that it is extremely important that students have their voices heard at maximum capacity and I really do feel with my experience, passion and the support of the Students’ Union behind me, we can put students at number one.

Cillian Moran, candidate for the role of Students' Union President, was not available for comment at the time of going to print.

STUDENTS' UNION PRESIDENT

Diarmuid Ó CURRAOIN

The SU President should have very good communication skills. So being able to get the students’ voice across is a very important skill when you’re approaching the university on things such as the cloakroom or water fountains. And even approaching politicians – we had a march for free education back in October and that had a very, very big impact in terms of national decision making. That wouldn’t have been able to be done unless the students got behind it and feel like the President Jimmy McGovern did a brilliant job communicating it across to students and how important it is to have free education so that would be one key skill a president should have.

A personality trait is to be approachable. If you’re not, people are going to be reluctant to say anything. If you are, you’re going to get way more done and students are more comfortable about the Union and the President is going to listen to them and get their point across.

Being SU President is quite an important job, you’re representing 18,000 students on campus and it’s a big role and responsibility. You’re trying to get students’ opinion, students’ voices, and students’ issues and needs across to the university and across to locals – and society in general.

I’d like to make stronger ties with our satellite colleges. So for one example Shannon School for Hotel Management don’t have any Union reresentaion so they can feel they can come up here with any issues – or even send a Students’ Union down there.

I hope everyone comes out and votes on 2 March. If you vote for me or vote for someone else, it’s important to be an active citizen. If you vote you are getting your voice across – and I highly advise you give me your No 1 on Thursday!

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Gaeilge is a big one. So working with staff to make modules more interesting, to have a weekly podcast as Gaeilge for students who love speaking Irish but maybe don’t feel comfortable enough doing it. It lets them talk about the issues they want to speak about through Irish and it will be published on the SU website.

I’d like to have a bilingual Blackboard and bilingual mail – something that can be easily done. And just making Gaeilge and the Irish culture stronger on campus.

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Nominations Nominations Open: Open: 10am 10am Thursday Thursday 23rd 23rd February February 2017 2017 Nominations Nominations Close: Close: 5pm 5pm Wednesday Wednesday 1st1st March March 2017 2017

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Engagement is the main one. As we know last year a tenth of the student population came out to vote. I think that is an unreasonable reflection on the Union itself as nine tenths of the students didn’t vote, didn’t know it was on, or were annoyed by canvassers. I think more engagement and intuition from the Union to know exactly what students want, to know exactly what kind of campaigns we want to run. Although we have great campaigns at the moment, I’m sure there are more issues in terms of accommodation for example.

Another one is Gaeilge. Is Gaeilgoir líofa mé as Cathair na Gaillimhe. My parents, both from Connemara, brought me up with Irish. I think the recent decision from the university to take away the requirement for the new university president to not have Irish is a step in the wrong direction. Irish needs to be promoted more – I always hear people saying they wish they had Irish or that they didn’t learn it properly in secondary school. I think the Union should promote Irish more as an accessible way of learning and if I was elected I would be

What do you think being SU president is about?

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Outline your main objectives if elected.

I propose to address a range of issues currently facing students while also introducing new initiatives to simply make your lives that little bit easier #VoteDiarmuid

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What are the key skills/personality traits an SU President should have?

Campaigns – so free education is a big one. Education is a public good. I’ll always say it: education is a right not a privilege.

Postgraduate grants to be reinstated to 2011 levels which will make education more accessible.

Fixing the grant system: 51.4% of students in NUI Galway are on the grant on some level. The system at the moment is flawed. It doesn’t fit the requirements of modern society.

As we know, rent has gone up, the price of food is gone up.

We need to lobby the government.

We have a big shortage of accommodation. There’s going to be more accommodation by 2018 just on the outskirts of campus and I want to keep the pressure on the university to make sure it’ll be in for September 2018. We saw the SU and the Accommodation Office invite landlords from around the county last summer to take in students. 100 students were given accommodation on that day during the conference, but that wasn’t enough to ease the pressure. Demand keeps rising, especially for international students. More information needs to be given.

Work closely with the Welfare Officer to keep putting pressure on the Government to keep increasing the budget on mental health. Mental Health is just as important as Physical Health. A lot of resources are being stretched and you can even see it in the university; the counselling services are stretched. We need to keep going – the stigma is broken down – but this is what we need.

Online elections on Blackboard to elect class reps instead of someone having to put up their hand and talk for five minutes. In Queens, Belfast they managed to elect 300 class reps in one day so it takes pressure off, people will be voting for who they actually want.

A book rental scheme would allow students to get their recommended reading done. I’d like to extend the library opening hours too. Students are crying out for more hours, especially during study week. It would ease the pressure on the Reading Room as well; that becomes a bit tense to say the least!

STUDENTS' UNION PRESIDENT

I’m running for election because I would like to make a positive contribution to the student body and indeed the university.

I’ve been an executive officer for the past year, I’ve been the convenor for business, law and public policy and in my time there I’ve noticed there’s a few things that need to be adjusted – and I know students feel they are a bit disconnected from the Union itself. I think this is something that needs to be addressed more. Although there is six candidates this year, student engagement needs to be implemented upon even more.

What are the key points of your manifesto?

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Why are you running for election?

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The president should be able to tackle issues about accommodation, education, anything within the university at all, between parking, the bus service – such as the Dangan bus service.

The President should be a very outgoing person. Rather than being cooked up in the office in Áras na Mac Léinn, you have to be outgoing, you have to know what students want and more importantly, need. I’ve heard many things from students – we need more microwaves at Smokey’s is a big one. You can see during lunchtime there’s a big queue and it’s quite irritating – and a bit of a health hazard; if there’s people rushing through and others have hot food in their hands for example. There needs to be more microwaves around campus. The Engineers are saying it as well, they can’t trek over to Smokey’s on their break and have a class in 15 minutes.

I hope the SU president, whoever gets it – hopefully me – can be an outgoing person and be able to deal with all these issues, no matter how big or small.

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Interviewed by Sorcha O’Connor

working with university staff to come up with plans to tackle this issue and keep the bilingual status that we have, as the only bilingual university in the country.

The role of class reps is very important and I would hope to provide even more effective training to class reps so more voices can be heard and engagement will be at an all-time high. I’d like to market the SU, to promote the services that we have and advertise these facilities within the university.

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16 STUDENTS' UNION PRESIDENT

Catherine RYAN Interviewed by Heather Robinson

STUDENTS' UNION PRESIDENT

Why are you running for election?

There is probably a lot I could definitely say here but I honestly do feel like I’m the best and most experienced person for the job. I suppose running for Student Union President is not something you do consider lightly and although I did only decide a week ago, it’s not something that came out of the blue for me, and anyone who knows me can definitely testify to that. They can definitely testify to the level of dedication I do have for the Union and ethic for everything I do get involved with. I pride myself on being approachable and that’s one of the main factors of a president I feel, so that’s something I want to bring back to the forefront of the Union.

What key skills/personality traits should an SU president have?

I think definitely, as I said there, approachability is a massive one as well as motivation and passion – but it’s important to be really cool-headed, especially in the likes of University management meetings and everything like that, you have to take everything with a pinch of salt and get the best you can for the students that are around you.

Describe what you think being SU President is about.

That’s a really interesting question. I could spend all day listing off the duties of an SU President. I think the most important one would be to lead the team around them,

you know, from being the mediator to making the actual hard decisions that will upset, let’s say, your education officer but you’re giving the welfare officer what they want and kind of being able to manage expectations in your group as well. Other than that you’re managing the student finances to being the leader of campaigns and lobbying for change among the national Union as well as that. Then again, we could never fully understand that till we are in the role ourselves and things often change throughout the year and can change during your term as president so that is definitely one you’d have to see as you go along.

Outline your main objectives if you are elected.

My main objectives other than to lead the team of the exec, would be to publish the exam centre seat numbers online beforehand. I think it is very important as students have enough to worry about when going into their exams other than where they’re sitting or they can’t get to the board, or maybe it is not accessible to them; they may have fallen the week before that and they’re limping or don’t even see their number on the board because it is miniscule writing.

My second point would be to lobby the University management to investigate all the current academic committees to make sure there is appropriate student membership as well as gender balance – and that would be something I have raised already in academic council as the undergraduate representative and is something I’d like to push forward in the next year, regardless of whether I’m elected or not.

I’d also like to enact an entertainment and campaign crew, focusing on the charity fundraising events to how to actually get the students to engage with the Students’ Union. Not many students vote for us or turn out to vote, or know about us, know where the office is it’s so far

Lorcán Ó MAOILEANNAIGH Interviewed by Sorcha O’Connor

Why are you running for election?

Over the past four years in college I’ve been heavily involved in class rep duties, student union duties, being involved in societies and I believe that this role is perfect, that I can completely fulfil it. I think it’s something I can hugely contribute in and people can rely on me.

What key skills/personality traits should an SU President have?

I think the number one thing is approachable. We’re in a college where there is huge diversity, over 120 nationalities I think in the college, and especially coming from a course like Medicine, I think there is over 40 nationalities represented in the course alone. Being approachable regardless of your views, of your political views, of your sexuality, whatever it may be, that you are able to talk to the President if you see them in Smokeys, or if you see them in their office. That is the number one trait to have.

Describe what you think being SU president is about.

Again being approachable but also being able to lead and take initiative. The SU President has a wide range of responsibilities, be it sitting on boards, speaking to students one on one, being able to come up with something new or maybe bold, and bringing something new to the table that students haven’t seen before and I think that I will definitely be able to do that.

Outline your main objectives if you are elected.

My main objectives – the first one is increase community engagement. I’ve been heavily involved in charitable work with organisations and over the past four years I’ve raised over €120,000 from new charity

events that I started myself. I identify an issue, see what I can do about it, and then I follow through with it. To give an example, my family had a brief experience with cancer. I was like, “Right, what can I do about this?”

I started a shave or dye myself and I brought it to the college, and to date it has made over €8,000.

Last year I was availing of the counselling service and I thought how can I help other people in this situation? I identified Jigsaw as being a brilliant charity and ran an event and raised €12,000 for them. So year upon year, I’m building upon charitable events and it feels like the Students’ Union can definitely have a greater impact on the local community in Galway. These are the initiatives that the Students’ Union should be taking – definitely not going back to the days of RAG week, but definitely having a better impact on the community as a whole through charitable events.

Another part of my objectives is the student meal planning service. We all know it can be hard living away from home and you’re out alone. I’m advocating a student meal planning service where basically you subscribe to it with a wide range in cost, between €25 to 55 depending what meal plan you chose. The food will be delivered to you on a Sunday night and in it will be all the ingredients that will last you from Monday till the Friday with recipe tutorials and you’ll also have access to online tutorials.

Firstly it eliminates food wastage; we’ve all been there when we buy the five chicken fillets and we say I’m definitely going to eat these but then by the end of the week they’re not cooked. You’re eating healthily and learning basic life skills, it ties in with the college’s sustainability initiative. I think it will be a valuable service and I think it will impact students more – the Students’ Union do a lot of work behind the scenes and people might not appreciate that. By having a service that would be used on a weekly basis, I think the students would really appreciate that and it is something they we are doing to help students in their day to day lives.

away from the likes of the Concourse, the Engineering Building, the Nursing Building… So it is important to get those social events back on campus and more so events that are particularly accessible to students who are parents, students who are part-time, and students who have disabilities. You know, it’s a different story if part-time students are coming in here at 6pm and that is when everything is starting in the likes of SULT, everything is kind of on society-wise. They don’t really have access to that and they’re so tired then by the end of the day, they could’ve worked all day and then to go home and just study what they’ve previously learned.

And then as well as that – I’ve two more, I’ll try keep it short – it is to work with the international office to make sure international students are made aware of the housing crisis before they come over. They often don’t understand their rights and responsibilities as a tenant and I think there definitely needs to be that push that they’re kind of told straight off the bat that they actually have rights here as a tenant in Ireland and not to get blown over with a rent of 500/600 euro because landlords see they don’t understand the current crisis.

My last one then would be to communicate with the local businesses in Galway and ask them when they are promoting jobs are they student friendly, are they 20 hours or less or more, and kind of point that out from the beginning because even this year a lot of friends of mine and a lot of other students have come to me being like, ‘It said it was 20 hours’ and now they’re working full-time and they’ve no time for the college really, no time for societies outside of that, and they can often feel overwhelmed and not know where to go to. There are kind of my main objectives but what I will be doing each day of the campaign is uploading a detailed manifesto point on my Facebook and that will be detailing what I’ve done for this so far and what I am intending to do in the next year.

My last main point is the Green Star Campaign. It relates back to the mental health initiative that I came up with, basically reducing the stigma around mental health. When I had to go see a counselling service, I think I walked past the counselling service four or five times, I didn’t exactly know what I was looking for or where it was on campus.

My initiative was initially to put up signs pointing to counselling services or the health unit. But at the same time you want to give people their privacy, as they are availing of a health service. My plan would be that people would become accustomed to what is the green star. A green star would indicate that there is a mental health service close by, so there’d be green stars and signals left and right to point you in the direction so at the same time, somebody seeing someone going into a building with a green star beside it won’t initially think it’s a mental health service but at the same time it makes people aware of that’s where they are.

What are the key points of your manifesto?

I’m also promoting the Irish language. That part of NUI Galway needs to be nourished. All my posters, all my brochures are all in Irish and all my social media presence is all through Irish and I will always work with Oifigeach na Gaeilge to really pushed that.

Also to reduce the burden on students repeating.

Repeating exams is a huge burden mentally and I don’t think there should be a financial burden along with that, especially at the time. I am calling firstly for a fee back to the €195 that it was and also to promote that fees can be paid after the exams; people could focus on their exams first and then move on.

Also I’ll be working with the USI to oppose the student loan scheme. One thing that I did was house to house calls or ‘student residence runs’. On that point, it’s one thing for the Students’ Union to be above the hub working like a well-oiled machine but lecture shout outs are really important when you’re trying to get campaigns off the ground and get people interested. I’d be doing those things at least once a month because you might bypass an issue until you’re talking to someone and they say, “That needs to be done”.

Cat Ryan - Approachable, Dedicated and Passionate. Vote Cat Ryan #1 this Thursday for a President you can rely on. #Cat4Prez #BackCat

What are the key points of your manifesto?

So the basis of my objectives would be to increase student engagement with the Union. I suppose access for students who might not be able to go to the social events, as well as student engagement with the university committees. As much as our lecturers can helps us in any way they want to, they have been out of college awhile, even the new online systems and everything like that they mightn’t be as up to date as us, so we should definitely have our voice at the table heard when we are saying, ‘This is working for us and this isn’t’. So stuff like that would be my main objectives.

#CountOnLorcán for an engaging and approachable SU #VoteLorcánforPresident Also the bus service for nursing and health sciences students. If you’re in nursing or some of the other health sciences courses, you’re on placement from November of First Year onwards. You’re a first year and these aren’t placements when you go in at ten and leave at five – you’re in at seven in the morning during the winter months. Most of these, primarily girls, are going across town and Quincentenary bridge at half six in the morning and I don’t think that is right. A bus service wouldn’t be much to ask and I think it would make a huge difference.

More microwaves and water fountains will help reduce waste. If the college really wants to push this NUI Galway sustainability initiative then I’m hoping that they’d work with us. Make sure these are all available, especially on the north campus – in Aras Moyola there’s no microwaves and I think one water fountain.

Postgraduates, they are making the biggest sacrifices and taking the biggest financial hit. I would abolish the repeat fee. If exams don’t go their way, chances are it isn’t their own fault.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Best of luck to all the other candidates – they’re all great and have their own unique style, so I wish them all the best of luck.

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Lá an Toghcháin: Déardaoin, an 2 Márta 2017

Election Poster.indd 2

07/12/2016 13:00

VICE PRESIDENT: EDUCATION OFFICER

18 VICE PRESIDENT: EDUCATION OFFICER

Andrew FORDE

Why are you running for election?

I’m running for election so that I can lobby for policies that will bring practical change for the students of NUI, Galway.

I’m someone who’s been through the ups and downs of college – I know what it’s like to have your grant taken away, I know what it’s like to hold down a job to pay off student fees, and I know what it’s like to deal with an exam system that’s all over the place. These are all areas where sensible policies would have made my time in university easier, and since I know that there are students who face the same challenges I have, I’m running for Education Officer to give them a better chance of making the most of their time in college.

What key skills/personality traits should an Education Officer have?

I think, most importantly, an Education Officer needs to really know their stuff. When a student comes to the SU about their grant application or about their fees, they’re relying on the Education Officer to understand the issue, to know how everything works, and to be able to advise on the best course of action to take. That’s a big responsibility, and when you remember that these are mostly academic and financial issues that are being dealt with, it really highlights the importance of having an Education Officer who knows what they’re talking about. Now as I’ve said before, I have had plenty of experience of how this university works in relation to fees and exams and so on, so I think I’m in a good position to be an advocate for students there.

But I think there’s also a broader issue to keep in mind.

The Education Officer, like everyone in the SU, needs to know how to best work with the university itself. Any candidate can come along and promise the world, but without knowing how to lobby the university, nothing gets done.

For instance, in my manifesto I’m pledging to bring about significant reforms to our examination system. I know that can be done, because at the end of the day a fairer examination system for students means better academic results, and that’s good PR for the university. But without thinking about how I’d go about selling it to the university, examination reform would just be an empty promise. So I think being savvy about how you bring about change is a key skill for the Education Officer to have, and I think I have it.

What are they main Education issues affecting students in NUI Galway?

Well as I’ve been saying, the exam system is in dire need of reform. Exams are the most stressful and difficult period during the college year for students, and every single student that passes through this university will have to go through them, so it’s ridiculous that our exams system has the shortcomings that it has. In terms of academic issues, exam reform is a huge priority, which is why I’ve made a firm commitment to it in my manifesto.

On the financial side of things, fees and grants are obviously massively important too. Now, I’m committed to making sure fees don’t rise and grants aren’t cut, because ultimately those things hurt the most disadvantaged students hardest. But it’s not just about lobbying for the student body as a whole, it’s about making sure that each individual student who comes to me is best able to deal with the Fees Office, or SUSI, and knows theirs rights. It’s important that university is made accessible to students who struggle to afford it, and often those same students aren’t aware of the resources and workarounds that are

Ciarán

MAC CHONCARRAIGE Interviewed by Heather Robinson

Why are you running for election?

An event that really swayed me was the National Demonstration that the Union did with the USI back in October. I was really involved with rallying students to get involved in that, I even organised a session to make posters upstairs in the art room. I really realised at that rally how important your education is and how important it is to have good representation. That was when I made the decision.

I have two years of experience representing students on the Students’ Union and I’ve enjoyed every second of it. When I first stood up in first year to volunteer to be a class rep, Students’ Union has been really central to my life as a student.

Since the first day I have gone on to be a class rep in every subject that I study, I currently represent the College of Arts in the Students’ Union and I know what it means to represent a body of people. I think that the role I have at the moment as Convenor of Arts and even my role as Class Rep are kind of mini Education Officer roles in themselves; a lot of the case work I had to deal with would’ve been to do with academic affairs and problems students had with their education so I think I have the right experience.

What key skills/personality traits should an Education Officer have?

I think an Education Officer needs to be driven. Hard work and organisation are key. Long story short, an Education Officer should be strong voice for students, somebody who has the backbone to stand up for the students for the betterment of the quality of their education.

Organisation is essential because not only does an education officer represent students on college boards and committees, but one of their main responsibilities is actually the co-ordination of Class Rep Council, and the general informing of the student body about what the Union are doing at any given time.

I think all officers at the Students’ Union not just the Education Officer need to be approachable. I can’t emphasise that enough; general friendliness and enthusiasm are extremely important and I would encourage any student to approach me about issues that are affecting them now in my role.

What are they main Education issues affecting students in NUI Galway?

Two of the main student issues would be financial hardship and the lack of adequate peer to peer academic support.

As I mentioned earlier, we participated in the National Demonstration with USI back in October because we recognised that one of the biggest barriers for students in their education is a financial one. Over 38% of students nationwide avail of a SUSI grant – and that includes people in their thousands in this University. An Education Officer has a direct line with SUSI, the fees office, all relevant committees and organisations, and they deal with that case work daily. It’s extremely important to me that a student’s potential in their education isn’t hindered by a lack of financial stability.

The second point then would be academic support. It is extremely important to support sudents throughout their academic careers. We have a lack of adequate support system there in terms of peer to peer mentorship.

We have Céim which is excellent. It’s a Students’ Union lead initiative but it only currently applies to a select group of students; engineering students, and legal studies and geography in Arts. I believe if we expanded this programme college-wide you would see two things: there’d be a decline in drop-out rates and repeats, and there’d be an increase in students’ ability to tackle the challenges third level education presents to them. One statistic about Céim for instance is, on average, students who participated have achieved 7% higher in their marks in comparison with those who haven’t.

there, so I think making all the information available and being a reliable source of information myself is an important role that I’d play as Education Officer.

Outline your main objectives if elected.

If you look at my manifesto, you’ll see that my main objective is simply to find ways of making the university work better for students. I don’t believe in promising eye-catching policies that can’t be made a reality. So when I say that I want lecturers to be mandated to use Blackboard, or that I want more subject modules to be given tutorials and better training for tutorial teachers, it’s because I believe that those things can be delivered and should be delivered. My primary objective, ultimately, is to be an Education Officer who doesn’t grandstand, but who finds useful policies he can put in place, and then makes it happen.

And then the other side of that is being accountable. My number one priority is to the individual student who comes to me looking for help and support with their academic or financial issues. Protest and being a part of the student movement is of course important, my objective is to be the best advocate for the students who need my help as I can be.

What are the key points of your manifesto?

In terms of exam reform, I want to see the timetabling system updated so students will no longer have three exams in a twenty-four hour period; I want to see the library and computer suites open for longer on weekends during exams; and I want to see the exam repeat fee brought back down to its old level since the increase a year ago was deeply unfair.

I also think the appeals process is a shambles, since at the moment students have to wait until the summer before they can appeal the results they got for their Christmas exams.

I think leaving students in the dark about their academic situation is ridiculous and needs to be reformed.

In terms of grants, students need to receive their grants quicker from SUSI and more information needs to be made available to students through the SU in terms of dealing with SUSI. I also think the postgrad grant should return in full. But a big thing I would like to see is increased participation directly by students of NUIG in protecting their interests. It’s of course the SU’s job to advocate as best it can, but I think sometimes the only way to get the university to stand up and take notice is for students themselves to take action through strikes and sit-ins. I want to coordinate and facilitate that, and help students advocate better on their own behalf.

Just to finish, I think not nearly enough is done to help students face challenges that aren’t related to their studies. I’d like to set up exam preparation and exam stress workshops, as well as workshops on skills needed after college like job interviews and presentation skills. This information is around, but it should all be in one place and coordinated through the SU, and I think that would be a very useful addition to the SU’s role.

I conducted a survey on students in Arts with 350 people who have participated in it and there seems to be a general higher satisfaction rate with Céim than opposed to the alternate student mentorship that’s in place at the moment. I think if we provided that support we’d improve the entire student experience.

Outline your main objectives if elected.

As I said before Céim needs to be funded and expanded more throughout the college. I remember back in First Year when I first heard of Céim I really wanted to participate in it. Then of course I found out it was only available for engineering and legal studies students so I couldn’t participate as I’m not a student in either of those programmes.

Expansion would lead to the betterment of education for a large group of people.

I want the Students’ Union to engage better with students on a base level. For my nominations – I think when people are running they go to their friends – I set myself a challenge and I said I would approach random students instead because you’ll find there’s a large amount of students in this college who have never had some sort of engagement with the Students’ Union at all. And why would you run for a position representing students if you’re not going to talk to them?

In terms of engagement, trying to make Class Rep Council and activities of SU being more accessible and visible to students as a whole. One thing would be a campaign in First Semester called Represent! I’d involve the National Student Engagement Programme. They provide class rep training but it would be great to have them in as key note speakers and make a real event of it.

Livestreaming class rep council: the amount of people scrolling through Facebook, even if they were a little bit curious they’d watch for five minutes and it’d make a huge difference.

I’m trying to achieve empowerment. A lot of my manifesto points are around that. This year we have seen a huge surge in the number of students who are participating in elections, there’s a lot more nominations and candidate. A lot of the points I touch on in my manifesto would aim to give students the best possible opportunities in their education to develop themselves. Education isn’t limited to what people learn in the classroom either. I’ve developed a lot of my

own skills through extra-curricular activities and working as Education officer my work would emphasise that.

Key points of your manifesto.

They fall under four main headings. That’d be: mentorship, so Céim, and an alumni mentorship scheme. We have an excellent alumni in this college and we need to engage with them more. The idea is that alumni come in and take second year students an hour every month, alumni who are working in the sectors these students would like to work in with two results: a tangible link for alumni with the alma mater but also a tangible link with the work place.

A general improvement on the timetable and the website. There is a lack of standardisation across the college in terms of timetabling. There are several colleges who have a system in which is called CIMS Go which is an automatic timetabling system.

Looking at the website itself, come registration time, traffic is getting to a criminal level. Students are applying for competitive modules and the website crashes and they don’t get their place. That’s affecting the opportunities students have within their courses and that is wrong.

The skills workshops idea that I had circulates around the idea of your education as a whole, expanding the lifeskills courses; languages, graphic design, and digital literacy using basic programmes. If we had somewhere below a diploma, it’d cost less and give students the opportunity to develop for example language skills, and increase their employability.

VICE PRESIDENT: WELFARE OFFICER

20 VICE PRESIDENT: EDUCATION OFFICER

Sharon MURRAY Interviewed by Sorcha O’Connor

Why are you running for election?

Personally comes from my own background, I’ve had to use the services and I felt it wasn’t until someone had notified me about them that I really understood their uses. They were fantastic! I ended up in first semester of second year, I was homeless and literally had nowhere, packed my bags and went home to Mayo. I didn’t know what was going to happen and straight in there, Jimmy was brilliant. He got me into the accommodation office and got me immediate funding and got me a roof over my head. It was fantastic.

I feel like I am a new voice, I have an open approach.

I have people who feel like they can come to me and confide in me. I literally love helping people, it’s my thing, I just love it. I’m highly motivated, like getting a result when I know that someone is in need is what really, really drives me. I will neglect all avenues until I get that result. I have years of experience dealing with students, I am the current auditor of the Law Society and I’ve been in that since I was in first year. In secondary school I was the class rep and I’ve continued that role in college. I’m a current class rep for corporate law students and I feel like, I want to listen to the students of NUI and get their real issues and get them out there and heard and try to promote different aspects of the services and try to really get their best use out of them.

What are the key skills/personality traits a Welfare Officer should have?

Definitely compassionate and a good listener because you never know what’s going to come through your

Megan REILLY

Interviewed by Heather Robinson Why are you running for the election?

Well, the simple reason is because I feel ready. I’ve basically been involved with the Student’s Union for a few years and this job that I’m doing right now has just given me so much experience to run so many campaigns and I’ve met incredible people and I’m kind of at that point where I want to take it further. I mean, in terms of from a personal point of view, I’ve been that person who takes someone to Health Unit for mental health issues or finds someone having a panic attack outside of a lecture you know? While it’s a horrendous situation to be in, being able to point someone in the right direction, or even just help them in some way, or kind of be there as a friend, there’s just no putting words to it and I kind of feel like I’ve been doing this for years for people who might not even know me that well, so it’s something I’ve always been passionate about anyway, and like I said, I feel completely ready to take the next step.

What key skills/personality traits should a Welfare Officer have?

Yes. I think empathy and compassion are the two main ones for me. Not to be like absolutely drowning in it to the point where you can’t see past someone else’s problems, but to be able to empathise with a student, or anybody, on a human level. To say ‘God I know’, even if you’ve never been in that situation before. To be nonjudgemental and just kind of like ‘that must be hard’ and of course, compassion, it’s just vital to be able to

door. It could be a multitude of personal problems or it could be literally the turning point of someone staying in college and having to leave. So I definitely think if you can engage with students and have that open, friendly approach, be very relatable. Obviously be very compassionate, but not to take everything on your shoulders. You can’t bring everyone’s personal problems home with you but while you’re in the office definitely. Give your all and help and there are so many service I feel people just don’t know about and that’s really important that this gets out there. Be chatty and out-going and of course, available.

What are the main welfare issues affecting students in NUI Galway?

From a personal level, I think the disability services in a sense of room availability in the library, I myself am a user of that service – I’m dyslexic – and I feel, so come exam times, it’s nearly a march run to get a seat in that and it’s impossible for it facilitate the demand.

It’s not being met at the moment.

Obviously the lack of housing has been an issue but there has been addressed. There’s an absolutely brilliant seeing progress being made on that, new student accommodation coming on board!

Financial pressures is a massive fact. I have students, some of them friends of mine, coming to me at the moment, still no grant got. We’re in second semester, one lad he’s dropping out of college because he literally cannot continue. So, I know there’s only so much the college can do but if it can help send students through the year and it’s fantastic in that sense.

Quicker or more efficient access to counselling services is definitely [a main issue]. I have two friends that were at a very unstable time and they were turned away, they weren’t getting the help they needed because they weren’t at the threshold that was evaluated as immediate help. But like, that was the difference in them not being heard and they felt like their voice wasn’t being heard. So I feel like that’s very important. see all these issues. I think there’s other elements to it as well, I could probably talk a lot on this, but I think organisational skills are very important because the Welfare Officer co-ordinates the Welfare crew and the SU Volunteers, so there’s a lot of organisation involved in terms of like getting campaigns run on time like SHAG Week and Mental Health Week. The third tier of it, I would say, is advocacy because you have to sit on these intimidating university committees and basically be the voice for students, when students are being forgotten about at the table. I think I’ve sat at one of those scary university committees this year, so I think I have experience in the advocacy section as well and I’ve run a lot of campaigns this year like I said.

What are the main welfare issues affecting students in NUI Galway?

I mean, there’s so many because sometimes something like an accommodation crisis is very much a welfare issue. At the risk of sounding clichéd, mental health is still one of the biggest issues facing Ireland today and I think it’s a cliché for a reason. I think that all other aspects of people’s health, just like not knowing how to look after your physical health or your sexual health is going to impact on your mental health and I do worry about students not being able to look after themselves properly or going through a rough time. Then, I mean, you worry about drug and alcohol abuse or gambling addictions and things like that, but I think all of this feeds into mental health. We live in very precarious times as well so I think we could do a lot more on that, just encouraging, not even encouraging dialogue around it, but letting people know about all the different options that are out there outside of counselling, like medication is an option as well.

Outline your main objectives if you were elected The whole premise of my manifesto is that I want to make things simple. As in a lot of people don’t under-

Could you outline your main objectives if elected?

Definitely more student involvement. I know myself from previous experience and in societies, when you open the platform for students to be heard, they love it! They absolutely love it. They won’t come to you and give you ideas unless you go out and engage with them. And I’ve gotten some wonderful ideas from students, just ask them, take the time, it doesn’t have to be a formal meeting. It could be just like a little chat. They’ll give you fantastic feedback. So definitely, more student engagement. More outlets to let students give their views, if it’s a survey, like open up an area, call in and have a cup tea. Just completely casual.

I also think to educate on the side effects of drugs. There’s no dismissing the fact that there are issues there. It’s used, we have to accept that fact, it’s a thing. So I think rather than, ‘oh no banish them, they’re never going to happen we’ll get rid of them’, basically that’s not working. So I think to educate students, mainly first year students. If you tackle that on, give them a workshop and educate them on side effects. The safe use I think, is an important issue.

What are the key points of your manifesto?

One act of kindness per month across the campus.

So, one day where I will go out and just a random act of kindness. I’ve seen it done and it uplifts people.

You can see the expression on their face, they’re absolutely delighted. Might be having a crap day but a bar of chocolate literally uplifts them.

Drugs awareness; workshops, understanding the use of them and the safe use of them.

I know there might be something like this going on, a student out of hours running a console-like helpline, but ran by students who have participated in the assist workshop. I myself have completed stand what welfare is and if you started talking about all the different sections of it, they’d start getting very bogged down in it. So, I want to say that I think there are some very tangible things that the Students Union could do to put in place on campus. So, basically, I took a tangible kind of view of it and I said let’s get more microwaves and water coolers on campus and let’s do out maps of those, because people don’t know where the water coolers are. And the microwave thing is a big issue for me, because currently, there aren’t really microwaves on north campus and they’ve removed some in the engineering building as well and up here around Aras na Mac Leinn. There used to be one near where the Hub is, but there isn’t anymore. So, I just think this is an issue that feeds into mental health because if you’re bringing lunch to college, or you’re trying to stay hydrated during the day, just not having a place to eat a warm meal, or be able to heat it. I think we need more nap spaces on campus as well; as in like relaxation spaces, instead of people trying to slump on the cold concourse floor. There’s comfy couches in the engineering building.

Just creating somewhere if people need to flake out, or say for students with disabilities, some of them might need, even invisible disabilities, might need to take a rest somewhere throughout the day. There aren’t a lot of places on campus that just the average student could go and relax in, that isn’t a restaurant, or a very packed area, so that was another one of my points.

Self-care workshops was something I wanted to do, and I think this would be particularly important for first years coming in on orientation, and also for people who are about to go on Erasmus. That, once again, is the all-encompassing thing about your health. As in, knowing what to do when things get tough. Not even, who to turn to, but what to do for yourself. Self-care can be something as simple as taking out an adult colouring book, or for other people it might be taking your medication on time, or knowing when you need to step back and take a rest you know? Some people use

I want to be the voice of all NUIG students and I will not stop till I get the results that are needed! Remember if Shazza can't no one can! assist and I find that it’s absolutely fantastic. You never know what situation you’re going to find yourself in. If it’s run by students, you’re on a more even playing field and students are more open to other students. So once out of hours, I think that’s a more vulnerable time during the week. It’s definitely something.

Then from just like a more academic point of view, I’m a final year doing law and there are no tutorials. Absolutely nothing. That’s definitely something I’d like to see be pushed. It’s due to say, funding, but I think if they’re doing it for first years and I think definitely in your final year if you’re not grasping something in a lecture, it puts more pressure and stress on students who can’t get it. And then again it’s only a small thing that might go a long way.

Final year student.

Equality Officer. Wants more microwaves and comfy couches on campus. Frequently asks 'have you had breakfast today?' physical exercise and things like that, so I would love to roll out those workshops for people. I think as part of that, Trinity do a body and soul week, which is kind of about self-esteem and self-confidence and I would love to bring something like that here, which would kind of come into the whole self-care thing as well.

Themed weeks are great and all that and let’s have more of them. Often, people only hear about the Student’s Union when they’re on. The more themed weeks the better because if you could pull off something big, like photo and video campaigns can be very effective, it’s not always about going out and talking to people, which is also very effective but it’s about creating something that sends a very strong message. (Key points of manifesto covered in this answer.)

Rebecca TIERNEY Interviewed by Sorcha O’Connor

Why are you running for election?

The main reason I’m running, I feel there’s been a disconnect between the SU and the student body itself. I feel like they’re a little bit unapproachable, that’s it’s become an ‘us versus them’ thing and it’s become a little bit exclusive. I want it to be inclusive for everybody, that if I got elected I could walk down a corridor and nobody feels worried or apprehensive about coming over to say hello to me or if they have a problem. If I’m walking down the concourse for example and somebody’s got an issue that they need to talk about that they could stop me in the middle of the corridor. And I’ll stop with them and I’ll have a conversation with them. I think that’s the main thing.

That’s one of the big reasons why I’m running.

On my flyers you’ll see #r4wr which is Rebecca for Welfare Representative. I changed it from officer to representative because I feel like if you’re going to do this job you need to represent the student body of the college so I think officer is a bit like elitism, a bit unapproachable. If I become a representative, I’m representing you for a reason.

What are the key skills and personality traits you think a Welfare Representative should have?

They need to be approachable! People need to feel comfortable with you enough that they can come over and tell you their problems. You need to be patient with them, you need to have the time to help them. Sometimes with delicate issues, that they don’t want to talk about, for example money; I think it’s a very Irish thing that you don’t talk about money at all! I think certain things like that you need to be able to talk about with somebody if there’s issues, especially if you

can’t pay your rent or if you are living on a minimal budget.

I think also you need to have leadership. I have to be honest with you all, I am bad with technology. I don’t do technology, I don’t get it, I don’t like it. I feel important if I can open Facebook and it actually works. So I have somebody on my team who does that for me. I think that’s one thing you’re going to need if you have a team: you’re going to need to trust your team. You need to be able to trust in their skills and their personalities. I’m really good at talking. I like talking to people, I like having conversations and finding out about them and their story and that’s important.

I think you need to be able to work as part of a team.

You need to be able to get on with people and maybe have a difficult conversation.

What are the main welfare issues affecting students in NUI Galway?

I think Condom Wednesdays; it needs to be more visible. A few years ago, every Wednesday, it didn’t matter what was going on, you always knew the Welfare Officer and his Welfare team would be there at a certain time. That they would always be there for two or three hours and they could hand them out.

And people could approach them and not feel uncomfortable.

I also have to praise Megan Reilly for her equality campaign that she did last week for tampons because she’s raising such an important issue that needs to be highlighted, that a lot of people don’t know about. Imagine only having €10 for your week and knowing your period is coming and knowing you can’t afford sanitary towels and tampons. I think that needs to be expanded a little bit more.

I’m running on a mental health platform. I want to make a Mental Health week per semester, so one run in October with Mental Health week nationally but also another one coming in January, say after our provisional results are released. So this semester they were released on a Friday, waiting an entire week to get your results and then you’ve got the weekend to be thinking about it, over and over in your head. The week after there needs to be an event to make people realise that these results are only provisional and that they’re not the end of the world. I saw people who were very upset about it

and I just wanted to remind them that no matter what, there’s always supports there.

I want to do sessions for students, later on in the semester when they have got a risk of stress or anxiety. There are fantastic workshops going on for students on anxiety, like not able to do your work and stuff like that but it’s all in early January, early February. I think I very much want to move that to late February or early March, nearer deadlines.

Could you outline your main objectives?

I want to be approachable. I also want to make everybody aware of their financial rights and their accommodation rights. Accommodation is such a huge issue. I can inform students of their rights, help them and direct them to the right people who would be able to answer their questions. I could have a basic overview of it if I looked into it and studied what your question is or whatever your problem is I could probably come up with it, because I’m a law student – it does come in handy for something!

SUSI is such a huge issue and you have to be on them, on them, on them. I want to help somebody, if they come in and they’re at that point where they are between can’t afford to go to college and they know that SUSI is coming, they just haven’t gotten it yet. The welfare officer has a direct line to SUSI. So they can raise problems or specific queries with SUSI related to a particular person’s account. If you are in any sort of difficulty, that’s what we are here for.

What are the key points of your manifesto?

I want to make more mental health workshops and events throughout the year to give you the support that you need. I want to bring in counselling sessions, especially for people who have suffered a loss through suicide or cancer because it’s such a huge issue that not a lot of people are talking about or they’re going through this and feel like they’re going through it by themselves. I want to make a support group, a safe environment where they can talk and they don’t have to pussyfoot about it. They can just say what they’re thinking and get it out. You need to be able to say it to somebody

#Rebecca4Welfare a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, a crusader for mental health awareness. Creating a college where people can #R4WR that you trust where you know that there’s not going to be backlash from that.

Another thing I want to raise awareness on is drink spiking – show people how to help their friends, how to prevent it.

Another thing I want to bring in is confidence workshops.

I was looking at the counselling website and they do a report for 2015/2016 and I was taking a wee glance at it and the majority of people are going in – 36% I hope I’m not wrong – are going in for anxiety. I can’t speak to the reason why they’re going in for anxiety, but I can guess the reasons around it, and maybe it’s due to people being afraid they can’t speak in large groups. So I want to help people with that because it’s a skill you’re going to need for the rest of your life. It’s a skill you’ll need for presentations or even just to go up and talk to somebody at a job interview. You need to be able to have that confidence in yourself.

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DEBATE: STUDENTS' UNION REFERENDUM 23 When you cast your vote on Thursday 2nd March you will also be asked to vote Yes or No to the motion: “NUI Galway Students’ Union supports the reunification of the island of Ireland and calls on the State to hold a national referendum on the question of such reunification.”

VOTE YES: An argument in favour of reunification

By Aileen O’Leary On 2 March students have the opportunity to vote for the reunification of the island of Ireland and call upon the state to hold a referendum on this topic.

Reunification would be beneficial for Northern Ireland, as well as the South, for a number of reasons.

In a 2016 Journal.ie article, an extract from Northern Ireland Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir was published. He argued that ‘uniting Ireland north and south would be to everyone’s economic benefit.’ He went on to highlight how Ireland could no longer afford the cost of partition.

Another reason is the wage gap between the north and south; ‘The North now lags behind the south on all growth indices: average wages south of the Border are €37,000, but just €25,500 in the North.

Economic growth rates in the South are estimated at 3.6% for 2017 but at just over 1% in the North’.

He went on to discuss the difficulty in having two separate entities on one island: ‘Marketing the island as a business destination is also difficult

with two economies and tax systems. A reunited Ireland would be easier to promote on the global stage and, as a result, would act as a lever to attract inward investment’.

In the wake of one of the worst recessions that Ireland has ever seen, it would make sense to reunite with the North to grow our economy again, to build industry, to provide jobs north and south of the country.

In the years that have elapsed since the divide, there have been two separate identities on this emerald isle, Ireland and Northern Ireland. The mistake of our predecessors all those years ago has left a divide that has been felt by generations since then.

There are those who would say that reuniting Ireland would lead to violence and destroy the peace keeping efforts that were made in the Good Friday Agreement. And there is no denying violence is the strength of emotion, that there is a bloodied past between the North and South, a past that has shaped both sides of the border since then.

We are not the generation of the Troubles though. We have grown up in an era of peace and it is that peace that will sustain us as we reunite both parts of the country. It is in good faith that we should treat reunification. This was an island of 32 counties once upon a time, and the day it became 26 was a dark day for all of us.

For those who have grown up in Northern Ireland I can’t imagine how difficult this topic must be, and I admit that the SU bringing it up is quite awkward for some - but these conversations have to happen. We can’t go on living our lives separated by this border, separated by location, by religion, by politics. It is our issue, maybe we aren’t the decision makers or policies enforcers - but we can make a hell of a lot of noise.

Not only would a United Ireland be good for the economy of Northern Ireland but it would also help revive the Irish language in the North. More funding could be put into Ghaeltacht areas. The Irish language needs to be revived in the North and by joining with the South there are resources

there to make that happen. This will also make the language stronger as a whole – ní neart go cur le chéile.

The transition will be complicated and stressful for all parties involved but ultimately we have a chance to correct the mistakes that were made in the past by our predecessors. We have the ability to build bridges and move forward as one unit, as one country and stand in solidarity together.

I grew up in the South, in a new Ireland that was accepting of all people regardless of gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or status. We need to say no to partition and say yes to reunification. We can make history, we can be the voices of the new Ireland, we can usher in an era of peace and growth.

I implore you to please go vote on 2 March, vote for unity and for progress. We have lost too much to stay divided, it’s time to leave the past in the past and embrace a brighter future - one where we are no longer divided by borders, where we can all stand together forever.

VOTE NO: This proposition will alienate current/potential students, and do little else

By Tomás M. Creamer Let us clarify what this vote means - this referendum will oblige our Students’ Union (SU) to intervene on a serious geopolitical issue, that affects nearly two million people in Northern Ireland – people who are owed the right, after 30 years of conflict, to deliberate on what they want their national future to be, without being talked over or lectured by people or Unions in the South (or by those from Britain, for that matter).

This proposal would politicise the very act of attending this college for anyone who comes from a non-Nationalist background in Northern Ireland, further reducing the opportunities for cross-sectional discourse relating to the North, and narrowing horizons across the island as a result.

Given that those from a Unionist background have plenty of choice, both in the North and in the UK, for places to study, it’s hard to see this proposal having a positive effect on applications from that group to NUI Galway if studying here requires mandatory payments towards an actively and overtly Nationalist SU. The proposal states that our SU should lobby “the State” i.e. the Republic of Ireland (the ROI), to hold a poll on reunification. However, the ROI does not have power to initiate an actionable “Border Poll”.

Under the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), that power belongs to the Northern Irish Secretary of State and, only “if…it appears likely to him that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland.”

Therefore, the premise of lobbying the government of the ROI regarding a border poll completely ignores the provisions of the GFA. Even if the ROI did some sneaky backroom stuff to encourage one, that would do nothing but hurt the cause of a border poll among the “swing” voters within the (majority) Unionist community.

Similar to the backlash from many Scottish people, whenever any English institutions or individuals published arguments against Scottish Independence during their 2014 Independence Referendum, it is likely that similar backlash would result from many non-Nationalist Northern Irish people, if the ROI Government, or our SU, decided to jump the gun on reunification without considering their concerns, which is what is being proposed.

While Northern Ireland, unlike the UK as a whole, opposed Brexit, there is no evidence that this disharmony has resulted in a demand for a border poll.

A recent poll (LucidTalk, September 2016) indicates that 57.6% of people in the North would say no to

having a border poll, and that if there was one, 68% would vote to remain in the UK (excluding the ‘don’t knows’). So, why should we in the South lobby for a poll for which there is no demand in the North?

Even with an apathetic Tory government, people in the North still enjoy public services that are in some ways superior to those in the South, and are ran at a deficit equal to around €6-12 billion, depending on who you ask.

One could quibble with the exact extent of that deficit, or argue that reunification will pay in the long-run (it might), but it would be unwise to deny that transitioning to a fiscally viable all-Ireland state will be challenging for both the North and the South, in the short term, during a very volatile global period.

Beyond the financial concerns, it is still the case that most people in the North grew up in a religious and cultural community that sees the foundation of their identity tied up with the Union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. For many, the Union is about more than economic specifics, and they would be no more convinced of any of the “obvious” benefits to themselves of a United Ireland, than Nationalists at the turn of the 20th Century would have been on the “obvious” economic benefits of staying within the UK.

Some argue that a United Ireland would benefit Northern Irish students, because a hard border (post-Brexit) would impact heavily on them should they wish to pursue opportunities south of the border – therefore, the SU has an obligation to support a United Ireland.

That has the same logical premise as a British Students’ Union lobbying for the South to re-join the UK, because of a post-Brexit hard border would also impact heavily on students from the ROI who wish to study in the UK. We’d find that patronising, as would many Northerners from a non-Nationalist background.

Overall, this proposal would decrease trust among the “swing voters” within the Unionist community, who would be vital for obtaining a majority in favour of Reunification. It obliges our SU to lobby a Government body that cannot formally initiate a border poll, and overlooks the fact that most people in the North do not wish to hold one at present.

It’s also unclear, given that the vast majority of the members of our SU neither came from, live in or work in Northern Ireland, why our SU’s lobbying would have any influence upon decision-makers in the North, and why they would care about said lobbying.

This proposal will not do anything to increase the likelihood of Reunification, but would only serve to divide this island even further. Please vote “No”.

SUSEU E

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1717 2020

O I T N C S E L CTIONS E L #NUIGSU17

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Nominations Day: Open: 10am Thursday 2nd 16th February Election Thursday March2017 2017 www.su.nuigalway.ie

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Election Day: Thursday 2nd March 2017

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07/12/2016 13:00

Coiste Gnó Executive Committee

2016 - 2017 17

Vice President/Education Officer Leas Uachtarán/Oifigeach Oideachais

President Uachtarán

Vice President/Welfare Officer Leas Uachtarán/Oifigeach Leasa

su.education@nuigalway.ie 086 385 3658

su.president@nuigalway.ie 086 385 5502

su.welfare@nuigalway.ie 086 385 3659

Cathal Sherlock

Oifigeach na Gaeilge

Clíodhna Nic Giolla Chomháill

su.gaeilge@nuigalway.ie 0044 7534 459 894

Societies Chairperson Cathaoirleach na gCumann

Patrick O’Flaherty su.socs@nuigalway.ie 086 852 3417

Convenor of the College of Science Tionólaí Choláiste na hEolaíochta

Christopher Mc Brearty

su.science@nuigalway.ie 087 656 5387

Jimmy McGovern

Equality Officer Oifigeach Comhionnais

Daniel Khan

Mature Students’ Officer Oifigeach Mic Léinn Lánfhásta

Postgraduate Officer An tOifigeach Iarchéime

Megan Reilly

Damian Duddy

Colm Duffy

Clubs Captain Captaen na gClubanna

SU Council Chairperson | Cathaoirleach na Comhairle do Chomhaltas na Mac Léinn

Convenor of the College of Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies | Tionólaí Choláiste na nDán, na nEolaíochtaí Sóisialta & an Léinn Cheiltigh

su.clubs@nuigalway.ie 089 975 4741

su.council@nuigalway.ie 087 269 7232

su.equality@nuigalway.ie 086 228 3856

Caitlin Jansen

su.maturestudents@nuigalway.ie 091 524 810

Aaron Reeves

su.postgrad@nuigalway.ie 086 275 8527

Ciarán MacChoncarraige su.arts@nuigalway.ie 087 054 4499

Convenor of the College of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences | Tionólaí Choláiste an Leighis, an Altranais & na nEolaíochtaí Sláinte

Convenor of the College of Business, Public Policy & Law | Tionólaí Choláiste an Ghnó, an Bhearais Phoiblí agus an Dlí

Convenor of the College of Engineering & Informatics | Tionólaí Choláiste na hInnealtóireachtaagus na Faisnéisíochta

su.medicine@nuigalway.ie 087 768 7892

su.business@nuigalway.ie 087 065 5357

su.engineering@nuigalway.ie 086 026 0500

Lorcán Ó Maoileannaigh

Diarmuid Ó Curraoin

Tim Murphy