The Students’ Union Welfare and Equality Officer for University of Galway has said he wants to make campus safer through education.
Despite raising concerns about sexual violence, he believes it is a mostly safe campus.
Paddy Marnane, Students’ Union Vice President as well as Welfare and Equality Officer for the University of Galway, has expressed his views in relation to safety and equality on campus.
“I think the university is mostly safe, 90% of the time it is, there’s a few small issues but I think generally it’s a safe campus.”
“The one thing that is concerning for so many people is sexual violence and that type of thing, I do sometimes wonder about that in university culture among our students.”
Despite this culture, he is determined to change the narrative, and ensure the university is a safe space for victims of sexual violence.
“I’m a big believer in education and awareness, making victims feel safe and listened to on the university campus.”
“Our sexual violence code of conduct has been completely rewritten and is one of the strongest in Ireland now, which I feel is very important for us going forward as a university aswell.”
“There’s massive work put into Active Consent, every student that comes through this university has to do consent training before you start anything else.”
University of Galway hosts nearly 4,000 international students from over 110 countries, making it Ireland’s most international university.
Mr Marnane expressed his passion for creating a welcoming and equal environment on the university campus.
“It’s so important that everyone feels welcome here, I’m doing a lot of work regarding social inclusion and ensuring that there are events in adequate venues, as well as having a close relationship with the city to collaborate for events and discounts for different student experiences.”
He also acknowledged the presence of divisive opinions on campus, especially regarding transphobia.
Even though there is still issues to resolve in relation to safety and equality, Mr Marnane is confident in the work being done to strive for a better culture on campus.
“We do our best to lobby the university with various things, but there’s a fine line between pushing them to do more and trying to keep them on side with us.”
“It’s definitely been busy, to be honest it’s probably the most interesting job I have done and ever will have, there are of course challenges and issues, but it’s enjoyable.”
