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THE NEXT GENERATION of student leaders steps into the limelight this month as power changes hands at student unions (SUs) across the country.
Accommodation, third-level fees and maintenance grants will be among the key student issues of the next academic year. But unions will also likely hold sway over young voters in the upcoming general election, having mobilised thousands of students ahead of the recent same-sex marriage referendum.
Here, in alphabetical order, are the SU presidents you can expect to hear from over the coming months.
Jason Aughney, IT Blanchardstown
A veteran of student politics at this stage, Aughney has just started a third term as president of Blanchardstown IT SU. The 25-year-old sports management and coaching graduate is a dab hand at event management, having organised everything from a Valentine’s Day chocolate party for singletons to a reptile petting zoo on campus in the past year.
Matthew Duke, St Angela’s College
This 28-year-old graduate of health and disability studies is a vocal advocate for disability rights. Duke was a well-known student activist on campus prior to his election, having been a class rep, union development officer and deputy president of St Angela’s SU.
Colin Clarke, University of Limerick
Clarke climbed his way up the ladder of Limerick student politics through a number of committee and council positions. The 23-year-old politics and economics student said he had his eye on the top SU job at UL from first year. His election campaign, #ULWantSum, generated considerable excitement on campus after securing the endorsement of internet celebrity Gordon Hill, the Wealdstone Raider.
Aidan Coffey, University College Cork
This medicine student beat two other candidates for the position of UCC SU president, gaining campus-wide support as a long-time class rep and the former auditor of a student charity. The 22-year-old West Cork native has faced his own share of criticism in the past, however, having proposed a student council motion last year that invalidated all mandates secured by the union in the past five years.
Kevin Donoghue, Union of Students in Ireland
Donoghue won a heated race earlier this year for the most senior position in Irish student politics. The new USI president made headlines soon after starting the job when he slammed Minister Leo Varadkar for drawing an unfavourable comparison between student unions and Syriza.
The NUI Galway graduate has identified grant reform and fully exchequer-funded education among his key priorities for the coming academic year. He was previously the USI’s vice president for academic affairs.
Falvey, a 24-year-old business graduate, was vice president of CIT SU, overseeing its education policy, during the last academic year. He has four years of class rep experience and founded a campus charity in aid of cancer research.
Folan, another former SU vice president, is a 24-year-old business graduate from Oranmore. He helped to register nearly 1,000 IT Sligo students to vote ahead of the same-sex marriage referendum and ran for president unopposed.
As vice president of DIT SU last year, this 27-year-old engineering graduate led 555 class reps and represented students in discussions for the TU4Dublin bid, a proposed merger of DIT, IT Blanchardstown and IT Tallaght. He describes himself as “self-motivated, charismatic and extremely passionate about safeguarding education.”
Long-standing IADT SU activist Jade Hogan was also recently promoted by her fellow students, winning a two-way race to lead the union after a term as vice president. The Galway native, a production design graduate, has committed to improving college facilities and student feedback systems.
Kelly, from Donegal, won a good deal of praise earlier this year for his “Failure Week” campaign aimed at reassuring first-year students disappointed with their exam results. The 23-year-old science student was education officer of NUIG SU at the time and beat four other candidates for the position of president.
Michael Kerrigan, Galway-Mayo IT
This 24-year-old marketing graduate had two years of experience with GMIT SU – first as vice president for welfare and then as deputy president for education – before he was elected president. The Kilconly native was a prominent mental health activist during the last academic year and co-authored the USI’s current three-year mental health strategy, “More Talk, More Action”.
Lawless, another marketing graduate, was a class rep before getting elected to the position of SU president. The 24-year-old Louth native used to play for Ireland’s under-18 basketball team and is a former captain of Dundalk IT’s basketball squad.
This 23-year-old Leitrim native is a qualified personal trainer and former spokesperson for the Letterkenny IT LGBT society. He recently helped to organise a world record-breaking hula hoop workout to promote exercise among local schoolkids.
O’Boyle is a 21-year-old graduate of Irish and geography. The Meath native is a fluent Gaeilgeoir and served as president of NUI Maynooth’s Irish society, Cuallacht na Gaeilge. Some may recognise him as the ukulele player whose musical tribute at a brother’s wedding became a viral video last month.
This Tipperary man is a former auditor of one of UCD’s largest student societies, AgSoc. He sold that managerial experience throughout his election campaign, telling The University Observer that he rebuilt the society by cutting budgets and running it like a business. The agricultural science student overcame criticism of his involvement in a controversial male-only Facebook group to win a four-way presidential race with 40% of the vote.
Roche was elected president of Waterford IT SU after a year as its deputy president. The Wexford native has a degree in health promotion, and won awards for both student of the year and class rep of the year during her time in college. She is currently interning in Washington, having been accepted onto the Washington Ireland Programme, which provides six-week placements to emerging young Irish leaders.
Robert Rodrigues, National College of Ireland
This 23-year-old Dubliner was a trooper with the Irish Defence Forces for a year and a half before he enrolled on a computing degree at NCI. Rodrigues told TheJournal.ie his army experience gave him the confidence to go back to education after he dropped out of college at 18. He says he wants NCI SU “to be the first step for students to becoming the next Bill Gates or Michael O’Leary.”
Ronan, also 23, is a long-time student activist and was deputy president of Athlone IT during the last academic year. From Westmeath, he has just graduated with a degree in tourism and sport management, and is currently a part-time postgraduate business student.
Lynn Ruane, Trinity College Dublin
This anti-austerity activist and former drugs addiction worker galvanised support from her fellow students when she vowed to fight college cutbacks during her successful election campaign earlier this year. From Tallaght, Ruane came to Trinity through its access programme after having left school when she became pregnant at the age of 15. She is studying for a degree in politics, philosophy, economics and sociology.
Slimm, a 26-year-old media graduate, has eight years of experience in student politics. He was equality officer and then communications officer with IT Tralee SU before being elected to serve a second term as union president. He grew up in Kerry and won his first student election in 2007, when he was voted onto the USI’s LGBT working group.
This 23-year-old Wicklow woman is another veteran of student activism, having been a senior school convenor and class rep before she was elected president of DCU SU. Sweeney is a graduate of analytical science and well-known face in DCU society circles as the former head of the campus branch of the Global Brigades, a global health and sustainable development organisation.
Ruairí Tubrid, St Patrick’s College
The new president of St Pat’s SU is a 22-year-old primary school teaching student who was previously the union’s equality officer. The Wexford native told TheJournal.ie that he is “in no way politically minded” and ran for the position because of the friends and experiences he has had in college.
Wall is the first female president of IT Tallaght SU in 12 years and will lead an all-female team this year. The 22-year-old business graduate captained the ITT ladies’ GAA team to an All-Ireland final a few months ago. She plans to organise more campus events and launch a monthly online magazine for students.
This Clare native has a good few years of SU experience under his belt, having served two previous terms as president of Limerick IT SU. The 23-year-old business student runs a sound and lighting production company, and was previously the union’s entertainment officer.
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I don’t know them, but I’m sure I’ll learn to hate them in good time.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
Don’t hate me Michael. I love you and I probably know what’s best for you! ;p
Haha.Thanks Ben.
1) What parties are they a member of?
2) Re: Third level fees, the USI used to always complain and protest about grants being late for the country cousins to spend on booze and takeaways, but left the non-grant recieving to pay fees. Increased fees!
In fact, where are all the previous Labour student politicians, whose party broke their promise on fees and laughed in our faces?! Laura Harmon anyone?
3) Re: fighting cutbacks in colleges, student politicians have no power to do so, if they tell you they do, they’re lieing.
“Activists”? Is that a full tyime job now.
Yours sincerely, bitter graduate.
“Country cousins”? Are you another one of those clowns who believe all farmers kids get the grant automatically?
*Lying. Only because you tried acting the know it all.
They say Youth is wasted on the young.
1) Not all SU officers are necessarily affiliated with a party – in DIT you expressly forbidden from being an active member of a political party whilst serving.
2) USI has always campaigned against fee increases, as well as the deficiencies in the grant system.
3) Part of being an SU officer generally involves being on a lot of college committees, so they can have voting power on some aspects of policy/funding etc. There is also the power of the protest, which sometimes still works.
Are you just bitter, or did you engage with student politics at all? Just like the general populous, the amount of students who would complain bitterly about their representation, yet never voted in an SU election was always staggering to me.
@Jimmy Jim-Jim
The country cousins are 3 times more likely to go to third level than urban/Dubliners, possibly unheard of in the rest of the world :
@Sean McMahon
Try venting your anger at student hacks on your phone and see how many spelling mistakes you make.
@Rebecca O’Neil
That actually sounds like a good idea at DIT.
However, the party members always get their fellow members to campaign and vote for them.
What’s your point re the grant?
Simply because the children of farmers are more likely to get a third level education than the urban population does not suggest that farmers somehow have a way to get a grant without being within the thresholds of the system for income. There is however more of an emphasis across the farming community towards education, which is not as widespread across all the economic backgrounds in urban centres.
Their parents told them.to get a job with a good pension for life, be a good liar, be friends with any crooked character with money and try not bankrupt the country. And love brown paper bags. Oh and lick the ass of the Germans
So out of the 23 only 5 are female? Looks like the males may be “fresh young faces” but I suspect they could be joining the same old stale parties in this state……
Was thinking the same thing!!! But that’s the way the students voted I suppose!!!
Tell me that’s a sarcastic statement Seosamh B
You’re right Seosamh, women tend to get voted into the welfare officer positions (or vice president). I think the last woman to be a president of the DIT SU went on the be a Miss Ireland!
Not many mots in that list.
I’m more than a little disappointed I was overlooked for election again this year
https://causes-prod.caudn.com/photos/FX/NW/Ft/G5/Ve/vt/FK/WmC.jpg
Yawn
For the love of God, Don’t be wasting the best years of yeer youth on nonsense
Puts to bed the argument for gender quotas doesn’t it? I mean if fresh faced students can’t be bothered running for or electing women then what hope has a jaded electorate? At least the women here who went for election did so on merit and more power to them. If you are gong to get anything near gender equality in elections then surely to God it’s going to be in our centers of higher learning. Anybody who can’t be bothered fighting an election on their own merits but on the basis of their gender is not even worth contemplating to my mind.
It puts the argument that politics is too adversarial to bed too. Students unions are the most sanitised, pressure free political environments someone can find themself in.
How many of them are committed to free speech and against no platforming? Limerick in particular banned a pro-life group and said it wasn’t censorship.
How many will champion the idea that university students are adults and don’t need the paternalistic protection of safe spaces and trigger warnings?
How many will stand up for provocative, controversial and offensive ideas?
Who will speak up for the rights of students to be allowed to be exposed to challenging ideologies, music books and speakers?
Who amongst these are Red, Amber or Green on allowing students to hear and judge, behave and misbehave, learn and grow for themselves?
Not many, I’ll guess.
If I know “right on” student union types, they likely support open borders to the world because anything else would be racist and want to give everyone endless free money from the magic money tree.
So these are the young people who took the ‘rule over others’ course in college. I’m sure they’re all doing it to ‘make a difference’ yeah
They will be just like the rest of the bloodsuckers get brain washed
Where’s the SU Presidents from IT Carlow SU, St. Angela’s College, Sligo & Carlow College SU?
Why aren’t our Northern colleges include? UU, QUB, St. Mary’s & Stranmillis to name a few.
Eamonn Gilmore was president of the SU and a political activist. There’s a marker for these guys to aspire to and a reason for us to avoid them in the future.
Don’t do it guys!!
None of them will get any further. Unless they grow up to be publicans or local characters/offspring of local characters. I can’t think of any difference the SU made in UCC in the late 90s. And all we wanted was more pool tables.
Very surprised Laura Harmon isn’t on that list. Especially for being the voice of the yes vote of young people in marriage ref??
Laura Harmon left office on the 30th of June.
Fcuk.
My life has just flashed before my eyes.
And believe me….it wasn’t pleasant.
Sure isn’t it all just an embarrassing popularity contest consisting of childish posters and the supplying of lollipops and sweets on the day of elections to “win” the student’s votes?
They’re all weirdos.
This list is a farce. Catherine Healy you should be ashamed to put your name on a list that proposed only 5 women out of 24 people as potential future leaders. Journal.ie you should remove this article completely. This biased list invalidates the great qualities of the men presented. It may be unconscious bias, but look again at it-only 5 women? it is truly ridiculous!!
Try harder!
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/selectatest.html
http://googleblog.blogspot.ie/2014/09/you-dont-know-what-you-dont-know-how.html?m=1
What you are asking is for the author to indulge in identity politics.
Not only that.. only present a list with equal number of male / female candidates, regardless of future potential, in the interests of satisfying so called gender equality.
Nevermind that this, apparently is a list of current student union presidents.
Surely the one who’d done a reptile petting zoo will be right at home in Dail Eireann… the rest, well… colour me sceptical…
They all look scary/deranged and possible borderline sociopaths. Based on this visual evidence, our political heritage is secure for decades to come.
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