Five candidates are running to be the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) president, the body announced today.
Three of the candidates for the presidency of the national student union are presidents of their college’s students union. Áine Daly is president of the TU Shannon Students’ Union, Dáire Martin is president of IT Sligo Students’ Union and Conor O’Reilly is president of the National College of Ireland Students’ Union.
The other two candidates are current members of the USI’s executive team. Beth O’Reilly is the USI’s Vice President for Campaigns and Victor Fleming-O’Loughlin is the USI’s Vice President for the Border, Midlands and Western Region.
The USI is the national representative body for students in Ireland and acts on behalf of 374,000 students, according to its website.
The election of the USI’s president and executive team will take place in April at its annual congress. Students’ unions send delegates to vote for the USI’s executive positions. The USI’s policies are also decided at its congress.
Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) welfare officer Sierra Müller-Owens is the sole candidate for Vice President for the Dublin Region. Last year, she was elected to this position on the first count with 54 per cent of the votes.
Throughout the campaign, she emphasised her experience in the union and as a Student2Student mentor and ran on expanding online sexual consent workshops, advocating for online learning to remain as an option for immuno-compromised students for when after in-person learning resumed and allowing students to attend office hours with friends for moral support.
The executive positions for academic affairs, equality and citizenship, the border, midlands and western region, the southern region and the Irish language are also uncontested.
No candidates were nominated for Vice President for Postgraduate Affairs.
This academic year, the USI has run campaigns aimed at securing a reduction in the student contribution charge and combatting spiking.
As part of its “Fuck the Fees” campaign, the USI led a protest of around 250 students to the Dáil last November.
Last December, it launched its anti-spiking campaign alongside Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris.
