Why you should vote.

On the third of November, 40,000 students from every corner of the country marched from the Garden of Remembrance to Government buildings, and if you’re reading this, there is a very good chance you were one of them. I was one of a lucky handful who stood onstage overseeing the massed crowd as they chanted in unison “I am a vote.” We never thought that day how important that phrase would become so soon. We marched that day because we are sick of constantly being targeted, constantly being hit up for spare change by a government that is too afraid to ask anyone else. We have been bled dry, and we marched in the hope that someone in power would listen and for once value the societal impact students and the educated have for society.

 

Ultimately, students are a soft target, and young people’s concerns are routinely cast aside by TDs and Ministers. That is realpolitik. Students and young people don’t vote in large enough numbers to make us important to people whose single foremost preoccupation is re-election. On Monday afternoon last, an extraordinary sight met anyone walking through the Arts block. A queue of 400 young people waiting for the Garda to sign the form and register to vote. Finally, it seems the sleeping giant of youth political interest has awoken.

 

Step one was to register to vote, and that having been achieved, there is now an imperative to use that vote, and wisely. When I say vote wisely, I don’t mean don’t be hung-over when you’re in the polling station, I mean learn who is asking you to vote for them. In some ways putting your name on a ballot paper is the single greatest act of arrogance any person can commit – make them prove they deserve your vote.

 

If a candidate calls to your door, ask them about education, poverty, unemployment, foreign aid, gay marriage, whatever it is you care about. If their answer is unsatisfactory don’t vote for them – regardless of them coming from the family party. That is not a good enough reason to vote for someone. If their answer sounds good, make sure they aren’t just trying to get out of an awkward corner. These people’s job is to represent your interests, so it is very important to make sure they actually believe what they are saying.

 

Read manifestos and election literature. Watch TV debates. Listen to local radio and attend local debates. At the end of this process you might be shocked to realise that you actually support “X” party rather than “Y” party. That’s ok. That’s the process.

 

Most importantly of all. On the 25^th of February, go home and VOTE. We have received a concession from the University that you will be allowed to go after 12 noon. Everyone realises this is an epoch-changing election. Make sure you are part of it and VOTE!

State of the Union Report – Five

On new year’s day we passed the half-way point of our terms of office and over the Christmas break some time was afforded to us to reflect on what has been a highly successful first semester overall. A great deal of the fruits of our labour in that six-month period will now begin to be noticeable during this semester. Particularly urgent successes on-campus include some major changes to the proposed parking scheme, a concrete plan to replace the blue chairs in the arts block and the opening (finally) of Chill, the SU’s new on-campus café.

 

Off-campus, we have seen the Student Support Bill finally enacted as one of the last acts of the Seanad before its dissolution on the 1^st of February. From 2012 the grants system in Ireland will finally begin to be repaired. Four years of student campaigning made this possible, and the Presidents’ signature on the Student Support Act 2011 is a huge victory, and proof conclusive that when the student movement concentrates on something, it will be achieved. Our concern that the collapse of the Government would kill the act has been proved unfounded, and we now have the luxury, if that is the right term, to start negotiations with the new Government with a fairly clear slate.

 

The imminent general election focuses the mind somewhat. I will never forget the power of standing on stage on the 3^rd of November watching 40,000 students chanting in unison “I am a vote.” The sad reality is that many of that crowd are not registered to vote, and our primary effort was to register as many as possible. Thanks to both the Trojan effort of a handful of hardy volunteers and USI’s voter registration road show, something in the region of 800 Maynooth Students have registered to vote before the deadline last week. Thanks must be paid to Dennis and Gavin of Maynooth Garda Síochána for their generous gift of time to sign and stamp about 500 forms in three hours on the 7^th of February.

 

The next step is to ensure as many students as can actually go home and vote. The election being on a Friday is helpful, and thanks to Professor Chris Morash, Academic Council has agreed to end all non-essential academic activity on the 25^th at midday to facilitate the mass exodus this will require. Every other SU in the country is engaged in a similar process, and the help of Academic and Support staff organisations has been of great assistance.

 

The final element of the General Election campaign has been the General Election Candidates Debate, co-presented with the Bizz Society. By the time you read this it will have happened, but I am looking forward to our five candidates introducing themselves to our members and getting people more informed about the issues at the ballot box.

 

After six months work, my last meeting of 2010 finally broke the back of a major non-visible problem we’ve had for years. The student levy has expired and the Union will now begin negotiations for the next ten years of student facilities in NUI Maynoooth which must be completed by June of this year at the latest. Other facilities issues include the continued expansion of recycling facilities and the chronic delays being suffered by the canteen construction team. There is little enough we can do about snow, but we are doing our best to have it open its doors no later than mid-April 2011.

 

While you were all doing exams I was working on our commercial services. At the beginning of my term of office the Union was operating one shop and one bar. Already we have doubled that to two shops, a café and a bar. By the end of the year, I am aiming to have doubled that again. This is excellent news as the more we offer, the cheaper we can make it all. My one-liner during my election campaign was “better cheaper services for you” and we are definitely getting there.

 

Controlling such a large portfolio of commercial services however is a delicate balance for an organisation that changes its management every year. To that end, I am delighted that the new Constitution is going to referendum this week, and I encourage you all to vote yes. The old (2008) constitution was a good document in many ways, but poor in very many others. Our new constitution, as well as fundamentally changing the Union’s representative structures also dramatically increases our capacity to handle large-scale corporate services. It is a modern constitution for a modern Union, and ultimately will make the union better at doing what it does, and more responsive and capable of change in the future.

 

I would like to finally thank the Exec, the Constitutional Review Committee and all who contributed to the collation of the 2011 draft Constitution. It is an excellent document, and I believe it will stand as one of MSU’s core strengths in the years to come.

 

Now, on the 25^th of February, go home and VOTE!

 

Much Love,
Aengus

Your Union President

A New Better Union

On Wednesday the 9^th of February, Union Council approved a referendum to adopt a brand new Constitution for Maynooth Students’ Union. A constitution is a complex but vitally important document. It essentially defines the Union, and this new document will make the Union better at doing its job. More representative, more competent, better equipped to deal with the 21^st Century demands our members have from a students’ union.

The referendum is happening this Wednesday, the 16^th of February in the Arts Block between 9.30 and 6.

What was wrong with the old one?

The 2008 Constitution (the current one) was a minor revision of a document from much earlier. Some problems people had with the Union then were fixed, but the structures were effectively left unchanged. I have a copy of the constitution from 1982 on my desk, and things haven’t changed all that much since then!

Specifically there were serious issues around the legalities of the document, and problems with staffing and employment. We also have to complete the re-branding from NUIMSU to Maynooth Students’ Union, officially including our members in St Patrick’s College, as well as students who are studying for NUIM or SPCM degrees, but not on Maynooth campus (including Kilkenny and Froebel).

There were also some very careless typographical errors which exposed the Union to some serious problems. For example: Article 10.3 and 12.1 aren’t there at all, and article 12.5 appears twice. Technically this means neither the Executive nor Clubs and Societies Council are valid constitutional organs of the Union. There was also the impenetrable numbering system, i.e. Article 17.6 (b) (iii) [which has to do with RON appearing on election papers].

Aside from just fixing these problems, we had an opportunity to re-imagine the Union, as a modern organisation – a blank slate. To that end there are some major changes to our methods and organisation in the new document.

A New Better Union

For ease of reference I’m going to work through the document in order, highlighting the changes from the 2008 document and explaining why they are there. Sometimes the changes will be minor re-phrasings or spelling corrections, these will be ignored so this doesn’t turn into a thesis. At other times the changes are major, and I will go into some depth discussing them.

In all, there are 17 articles and eight schedules of the proposed constitution.

Article One – Name “The name of the Organisation shall be Maynooth Students’ Union. The name of the Union in the Irish Language shall be Aontas na Mac Léinn, Má Nuad.”

I think that pretty much says it all. Under the 2008 constitution we are still called NUI Maynooth Students’ Union, implying an exclusion of SPCM members.

Article 2: Aims and Objectives.

This is a list of what it is the Union is for. While the list hasn’t changed much we have merged some objectives which overlapped, and added a few principles which are common in other unions worldwide (such as the democratisation of higher education).

Article 3: Membership.

Under the 2008 constitution, only full time students were members of the Union, meaning about 2,000 students in Maynooth were not members. Including these students in our membership strengthens the Union’s negotiating abilities and increases the scope of our ability to represent the full campus (and off-campus) student community.

We have also created something called honorary membership, which is a facility for honouring people who have done good things. Separate from the University’s honorary doctorate scheme, students can now celebrate people we feel are deserving of an honour.

Article 4: Rights and Obligations of Members.

This article has not been significantly altered.

Article 5: Government of the Union.

Two changes here. The Executive, through the President have been empowered to function without Union Council during the period between the 1^st of July and Union Council’s first meeting in October. There is also a new caveat on intellectual property, meaning that anything created by an officer or staff member of the Union while carrying out their duties remains the property of the Union, not of the individual.

Article 6: Referendum.

Article 7: Union General Meeting.

These articles have changed only very insignificantly.

Article 8: Union Council.

The structure of Union Council has changed a good bit. The members of Union Council now have the right to elect their own Chairperson and Secretary. Up until now the Returning Officer has filled this role, but his / her job is to run elections. We have been blessed with dedicated and excellent ROs in the past, but it is now time to split the job into two separate posts.

The subcommittees of Union Council have changed slightly to get into line with the new officer structure.

Article 9: The Executive.

The current executive has three sabbatical officers, five topical officer and three special representatives. The new exec will have four sabbatical officers, one topical officer (Oifigeach na Gaeilge), four faculty representatives and two special representatives.

These are as follows:

President

Vice President for Clubs, Societies and Union Development

Vice President for Services, Events and Communications

Vice President for Welfare and Equality

Irish Language and Cultural Affairs Officer

Arts, Celtic Studies and Philosophy Representative

Science and Engineering Representative

Social Sciences Representative

Theology Representative

First Year Representative

Postgraduate Representative

Functionality of the exec has changed slightly also, the exec now must meet occasionally during the summer months, allowing the exec begin its work in July, rather than waiting until late September.

Article 10: Officers of the Union

I don’t want to get into too much detail on the officers of the Union – that’s for another day, and these articles can be read by those interested without me boring everyone else in this article with them.

However, the faculty reps require some explanation. These allow a new means of representative accountability, and allow a cleaner pathway for concerns of individual students to reach the sabbaticals. Also these four officers are without specific additional portfolio, allowing them engage more fully in the Union’s broader campaigns.

Article 11: Impeachment and Discipline

This article is now a legal means of dealing with serious breaches of discipline by elected officers. I sincerely hope it is never needed, but it is important that it exists.

Article 12: Clubs and Societies Council

This article has been significantly strengthened, allowing clubs and socs have more of a say in how their money is spent, and making the whole capitation procedure more transparent.

Article 13: Board of Trustees

Due to the complex nature of the SU’s evolution it has been extremely difficult in the past to ensure our legal independence. This new Board of Trustees replaces the existing trustees of the Union, who are employees of the University (Bursar and Registrar), and insists that the Union is self-determining.

The Board has been designed to ensure oversight and is based on elements of DITSU Ltd. and NUI Galway’s board of directors. The Board is now theoretically capable of incorporating to safeguard Union services. The duties of the former Guardianship of the Constitution have been merged with the Board.

Article 14: Elections and Resignations.

Article 15: Policy.

Article 16: Interpretation and Amendment of the constitution.

Article 17: Revocation and Enactment.

These articles have not changed significantly.

VOTE

Over the next few days there will be many people available to discuss the changes to the constitution with you if you have any questions. Ask your class rep, a member of the exec, a club or society president or read the new constitution online and make up your own mind.

There will be a public meeting at a time to be confirmed where the President will give a full presentation on the new constitution and answer all your questions.

Get a copy of the constitution: Online, In the SU, at the Stands around campus.