Interview by Sonny McGreevy
What, in your view, is the single biggest issue facing students right now, and how would you tackle it in practical terms?
“I feel the student experience is under threat, tying into many issues. The cost-of-living crisis affects it – we can’t afford to go out. I’ve been told by lecturers that if you can’t afford to study then you shouldn’t be here. I work 40 hours a week and so many other students are the same, it’s genuinely an epidemic.
“One of my biggest selling points is the Student Pantry, I set this up in 2021 in my shed, it’s come a long way! Through that, I can prove I’m here to make real change, sustainably and economically. The goal is making the pantry five days and to set up a breakfast club, some commuters are faced with missing the most important meal of the day by arriving late and nowhere is cheap in town.”
How would you describe your leadership style, and how will you ensure the SU genuinely represents students who feel disengaged or unheard?
“That’s what I’m using to sum up my campaign. It’s so easy to say I’m for the students, but to make them feel heard is different. I want regular polling of students, at least bi-weekly, to find out what their issues are, and whether those issues are actionable. It could be brief reels explaining to them why an issue isn’t possible to fix – and here’s why. Because what you’ll hear from students in every year is the students’ union don’t seem to be doing much.
“And I love to see it, because nobody really holds them accountable. What I’m trying to push with my campaign is that I’ve done more for students, as a student, than most SUs have done. I’ve destroyed my grades because I’ve poured so much into the pantry. If I’ve done this much as a student, I promise I can do so much more with your vote.”
What concrete changes should students expect to see by the end of your term if you are elected?
“I’m being as careful as possible with this, as you’ll see every year how people phrase their campaigns as ‘I will do this,’ but then can’t confirm it. I’ve been working towards compostable bins across campus, and there’s actual ways of it happening. For a 5-days-a-week pantry, I’ve already confirmed with FoodCloud that it’s possible supply-wise. Beforehand the pantry was 3 days a week, I have the option to do that, just the funding wasn’t available, but as SU President I can greenlight it. 100 percent the pantry will be 5 days a week and employing students to run it, just like the SU Cloakroom.
“Another thing I’m really passionate about is parking – every single candidate runs on getting more parking and then don’t do it. I don’t know are they trying, but I know from being in meetings with the university they can’t, it’s impossible. When I first started the pantry the President of the university promised me he’d get me a staff parking permit so I couldn’t get clamped, he left then and the UMT refused. Every day staff come in early and park in student parking. I can guarantee I will fight to ensure staff can only park in staff parking, and that’s something I’m dead set on doing from day dot.
“It’s very easy for anyone to say they’ll do this or that. There are people running for the SU now who have been in the SU before. They are making promises on things that they didn’t complete before, and now they’re claiming they’re going to do it next time. They love to pass the torch and say they ‘set it up’ – I set up the pantry on my own as a 19-year-old student in my shed. This isn’t a career step for me, this is me wanting to make a change.”
How will you hold the university to account on issues like housing, cost of living, and student supports?
“I’ve done it time and time again with the Pantry, I spent thousands of my own money before funding came in. I met with the university President at the time and told him you have two options: find a way of getting me funding or the pantry stops tomorrow, I go straight to RTÉ and you have the worst media storm of your life. A union is supposed to fight for its students, we’re supposed to walk out of a meeting when they’re not listening to us. The wage is good to be a students’ union President, so I don’t see how any president can take that office and not fight tooth and nail.
“The University says they can’t break the deal with Technion – I’ll need a pretty good explanation as to why. If not something has to be done, all across the world so many universities have done so much more than we have. We can have officers saying they’ll bring the Technion deal up in every meeting, but if you’ve done that and nothing has happened, let’s change it up. If they know that for the last year all the SU has done is minorly cause them hassle, they’re fine with that. They need warned that it’s ramping up, I will fight tooth and nail. I fought with lecturers as class rep, I don’t see how I won’t fight more as SU President.”
If you had to choose one promise in your manifesto to be judged on a year from now, what would it be?
“I can guarantee, for a fact, I will have the most tangible results that any SU President has ever had, bar maybe Michael D Higgins! I will have tangible products, whether that’s stopping staff using student parking, a 5 day a week pantry and breakfast club, mindfulness sessions weekly, I will have real results. I’m not here because I want to be a politician, I’m here as a hard-working student here to fight for students.”
