Izzy Tiernan
What made you apply for the role?
During my year as Welfare officer, I was working everyday with students facing issues that were far greater than any one person could solve. I was seeing, face to face, the stresses and problems that students in our University were facing, and how the institution, processes, procedures and government continually let them down. I’m running for president as there is so much more I want to do, and president is the platform I need to be able to it. From getting new, student focused policies over the line, to lobbying the government and University on accommodation issues, to the seemingly benign headache of the on campus accommodation overnight guest policy, I am on the ground, seeing and hearing what students need but, more importantly, what they want. I also have three years left in my own undergraduate degree, and do not want to go back into education until I feel that I have done all I can do to make college life at least a little bit easier for myself, my peers and my friends. I also believe that, in recent years, the union has shied away from visible and genuinely radical student action. I believe that I am the person to bring the union into a new phase of meaning business, and making students excited to get involved in our Union.
Talk us through your manifesto, and the main thing you’ll work on if elected.
There are so many issues I’m passionate about and could talk for hours on, but in this campaign I’m focusing on practical and believable change that students will see with their own eyes. This year, we have worked as a team to continue the fight on abolishing the repeat exam fees. This is something I wish to continue, and have formed strong working relationships with members of University staff, such the newly appointed Dean of Students. These relationships are crucial to move forward in this fight. I also have nearly a decade of event management and festival organisation experience, and want to reinvent the way we do events, making them bigger, better and catering for more diverse cohorts of students. One way I want to do this is by refurbishing one of our commercial services, Sult. Getting a good PA system with mics, speakers and a decent mixing desk will mean that student bands and artists could perform at any time, and I want to ensure that they get paid for this experience.
What do you think the greatest obstacle will be in your term, if elected?
The accommodation crisis is a leviathan of a problem that no one Union is going to solve anytime soon. That being said, I have been working on the ground with students experiencing homelessness and displacement all year, along with educating myself on the whys and hows of this dire situation. I believe the biggest problem I could face is the one that could mean a solution to these type of issues; and that is, mobilising students. The Union isn’t exciting anymore, it’s become a place of similar minds and the same ideas, year after year. I want to change that, and through genuine effort at engaging students, such as hosting town halls, open forums and incentivising students, then believe we could get University of Galway Students Union back on the national platform as a Union that makes change, and should be, has to be, listened to by those in charge.
What is something you would hope to carry on from the previous officer, if elected?
Dean Kenny proved something that needed proving. He proved that even someone who has never been involved in student union politics, someone that many may have considered an ‘outsider’, can be great at leading a Union. I want to continue that ethos, that this Union is for YOU, not just the Wanna-Be politicians. There is a place for everyone here, and I want to be the physical embodiment of that, because, if I do become elected, I would be the first transgender president this union has ever had. As someone who has not always gotten the chance to sit at the big table or be in the rooms where the decisions are made, often about my own future, I understand what it feels like to not be heard, to not feel part of something bigger. Dean has made great strives in changing this, and I want to push the boundaries even more, and bring the student voice and experiences back into the centre of everything this institution does.
Finally, why do you think people should vote for you?
I think people should vote for me for the same reason they voted for me last year. I care, truly, deeply care. I care about every person who walks through the office door, every person who smiles or says hi as we walk through campus. I care about the students who fall through the cracks, the students who won’t ask for help until the last second. I care about the students engaged in sports for doing something they’re passionate about, for representing our college all over the world; I care about the international students for their unique experiences and culture they bring to this campus; I care about the students who go through their entire college experience and never need or engage with the Union, so long as they know that we’re here if shit does hit the fan. I think people should vote for me because, even after a year of helping students in some of the most horrific and upsetting situations imaginable, I’m still ready for more. The fire inside me is still burning, and I’m ready to share that passion with those around me, with the students, university staff, and with you, the voter. Unionize, radicalize, revolutionize.