NUIG Graduate Kevin Donoghue elected USI President
Kevin Donoghue, the current Union of Students in Ireland (USI) Vice President for Academic Affairs and Quality Assurance, has been confirmed as the group’s new president following a vote by member organisations at the USI Congress.At the annual USI meeting, the NUIG Law and Philosophy graduate beat off competition from Glenn Fitzpatrick, the current USI Vice President for Campaigns, to win the position, after receiving the backing of 120 of the 211 delegates.Donoghue expressed his joy at winning the position, before acknowledging that the year ahead will be a challenging one for the USI.
I am delighted with the result. It was a close race and UCC played a huge role. There is a lot of work to do next year with a budget and a general election.
The President Elect added that the debates surrounding how to fund higher education will be a “central issue” during his term. The USI recently held a seminar on publically-funded higher education, where current President Laura Harmon highlighted that “education is a public good and the bedrock of the development of a sustainable economy.”Upon taking over the position on June 1st, Donoghue will lead a team which will include three UCC graduates after Cian Power, Annie Hoey and Daniel Waugh were all successfully elected to the USI Officer Board. Hoey, the USI’s current Vice-President for Equality and Citizenship, was re-elected in the uncontested race for the same position after receiving the backing of 177 delegates. Meanwhile, Waugh, who was unopposed on the ballot to succeed Fitzpatrick, was supported by 182 voters, easily exceeding the quota of 106.Power, the current UCCSU Welfare Officer, was successful in his bid to become the new USI Vice-President for the Southern Region, replacing Martin Lynch, after being backed by 50 of the 60 eligible delegates. However Lynch was unsuccessful in his effort to win Donoghue’s current position, losing out to Trinity College’s Jack Leahy by a margin of 144 votes to 66.The remainder of the Officer Board will consist of Aoife Ní Shúilleabháin, Feidhlim Seoighe and Aedrean O’Dubhghaill who were elected to the positions of Welfare Officer, Border, Midlands and West Region Representative and Vice-President for the Irish Language respectively.