Interview by Finnian Cox
What is, in your view, the single biggest interview facing students right now, and what will you do to tackle it?
“The cost of living. One thing that kept coming up in my time as Education Officer is that whenever the university is trying to figure out how to improve the academic outcome for students, they keep falling into the trap of trying to solve the problem inside the classroom instead of outside it.
“No one’s going to be listening to a lecturer if they’re wondering where they’re sleeping tonight. As well as that, we have plenty of students who’d be lucky just getting into their lectures because they’re working a full-time job, while also trying to be a full-time student. I know one person who was working a 36-hour week last year – she dropped out, needless to say.
“We can even see from the Department of Education’s own report that in 2021 (so it’s worsened since) students were paying a grand more for the same – So someone living like a student that isn’t attending a college was able to live off €1000 less per year.
“We see that the cost-of-living increase for a student is something like 8 times that of the general population, while at the same time, we’re seeing that supports like SUSI and the student assistance funds aren’t keeping up – rents are getting higher and higher. It’s pretty desperate.”
How would you describe your leadership style, and how will you ensure the SU genuinely represents students who feel disengaged or misrepresented?
“I try to go with that collaborative style – when it comes to people who are feeling disengaged with the Student’s Union, I understand that our current structures aren’t the best way to remediate that. What you have to do there is meet people where they’re at – going around talking to them, while at the same time trying to show what the SU can actually do for them: Being there, being present, being active.
“As for leadership style, the President in the office is nominally the boss, but at the same time each of the officers are elected in their own right, with their own mandate – I wouldn’t go in with an authoritarian style. For me it would be very important to see how I can support people there, especially because I would be someone who knows the structures.”
What concrete changes should students expect to see by the end of your term if you were elected?
“One thing I am currently working on, that I don’t think I will get done in my current role but hope to continue if elected, is a reading week. I want to bring it back and have it as a blanket across the whole college – not just the specific ones chosen for the pilot. We have done a survey and found that that’s what students want as well – over 99% of people who had a reading week want it back, and over 90% who haven’t had it before want one too. I think it’s pretty close to being over the line for the academic year starting in 2027 and as President I would hope to bring it back by another year.”
How will you hold University of Galway accountable on cost of living, and student supports?
“There’s a few different ways. We have our regular meetings with the university’s President where we get to outline these things. He seems to like us, so I think therefore he’s inclined to listen to us. We also have three seats on Údarás, which is the governing authority of the university, so we can highlight issues there too. However, the problem is that a lot of the decisions are made by UMT (the University Management Team), and that’s somewhere we don’t have a seat. We really should, even if it’s not a voting seat.
“That’s one thing I am really hoping to push for, because if we aren’t at the table we can’t input. The best way of representing our interests is by doing it ourselves. Beyond that, what we are doing outside those committee rooms is being active, being seen, and letting people know what you’re doing, because if students are engaged, and they know what’s happening – that’s when the University starts to worry.
“More importantly, if we can get the media engaged on issues, then when University management are off playing golf their friends who read the Irish Times will ask them, ‘what’s up with this?’ If they’re getting difficult questions from their friends, that’s when things often happen.”
If you had to choose one promise in your manifesto to be judged on in a year, what would it be?
“Good lord. That’s a tough one, there’s so many really important things. I think cutting the Technion deal would be major. It’s not something students would necessarily feel on the ground, but it’s so important to have that unwavering solidarity with Palestine. If we could get that over the line, I would be very happy at that stage. There are days I have come back from meetings and thought, if I died the next day, I’d be dying happy – I would be able to say I did good.
“It’s our only connection to Israel, bar some not-ideal contracts with companies on the boycott list. Our upcoming referendum is designed to be a step-up in escalation. It isn’t exactly the be-all and end-all. We don’t expect that. However, it comes back to the idea that the media will report on it, and the President will have some tricky questions while playing golf. It’s about continuously putting that pressure on the management.”
