Nearly a decade after quitting the Union of Students in Ireland, University College Dublin Students’ Union (UCDSU) has tentatively opened the door to a vote on rejoining. The return of Ireland’s largest student union to the national movement would be a boon to USI, but UCDSU is right to be apprehensive.
Having 32,000 new members overnight would certainly bolster USI’s lobbying power and strengthen its credibility, but the debate of UCDSU re-entering begs the question of why they left in the first instance. Clearly, the €5 yearly fee is a bone of contention, but if UCDSU is to debate the pros and cons of USI membership, it must go deeper than finances. The national union is regularly criticised for being too Dublin-centric, for one – something that likely wouldn’t change if an additional 32,000 Dublin-based students became USI members. This Editorial Board has also criticised USI’s approach to protesting in recent times.
But for all its faults, USI membership is ultimately a good thing for students. While it may feel like the union is never listened to by the powers that be, USI executive officers still have a working relationship with the likes of the Minister for Higher Education. This is something UCDSU cannot achieve independently.
USI and UCDSU share common values – tomorrow, for instance, UCDSU is having a catch-all protest, calling for action on“sky high” rents and protecting student support services, among other things. These are all issues USI has spoken out on.
UCDSU would do well to vote to regain its seat at the table. And if it does, the USI needs to take a good hard look at itself and ask itself why a union would leave in the first instance – twice – and how it can ensure that if UCDSU does come back, it’s back for good this time.
UCD students clearly have mixed feelings about USI, but now, they have a chance to debate what a well-functioning union would actually look like, and what exactly is keeping them out of the national student movement. They ought to rejoin USI, but USI will have to make the effort to keep them.
