Officer Blog: Secretary - Luke Casserly

In the lead up to Annual Assembly and the closing of nominations for the NSE on the 1st of April, our current NSE want to give our members and potential candidates an insight into their roles. Starting off with our Secretary, Luke Casserly, from Longford.

Over the past year, I've been delighted to be serving as the ISSU NSE Secretary. It's been my second year in a row to fill this role! I ran for the position because I love organization and I'm mad about typing in Google Docs. I also feel it's a flexible role that allows you to work on a variety of topics. This year, I've been delighted to help bring organization to the work of the NSE, whether it be by making an agenda and minutes for each meeting or helping to organize events. My personal highlight of the year was co-ordinating the ISSU's work on Senator Paul Gavan's tipping bill which aimed to protect tips earned by workers. Being on the NSE has been the experience of a lifetime. I've met so many amazing activists who fill me with hope for the future! 

If I had a piece of advice for the incoming Secretary it'd be to stay on top of your emails and cherish every moment of your time in office! 

For more info on how to run for the NSE click here. Remember deadline to nominate yourself is the 26th of April!

Spreading Seeds-Evaluation Seminar in Spain

From the 15th to the 22nd of September, our president, Ciara and Seeds For Integration Working Group members, Matthew and Matas attended the 20th edition of the University on Youth Development (UYD) in Mollina, Spain, as part of an evaluation seminar of our working group’s progress.

OBESSU are running a 3 pillar grass root project called Seeds for Integration. ‘Seeds’ promotes and advocates the inclusion and integration of migrant, refugee and asylum seeker students in 2nd and 3rd level education across Europe.

ISSU became involved with the project in late 2018, with our working group focusing on the injustices that refugee and asylum seekers face when accessing 3rd level education in Ireland. We successfully ran our ‘Prospects not Provision’ project, with a collaborated conference with MASI due in October in Trinity College.

This year the Evaluation Seminar for our project was held in CEULAJ, Mollina, Spain as part of the UYD. The UYD gathers representatives from different youth organisations and youth movements to discuss, train and be trained around the main issues on the global agenda.

The week consisted of workshops learning how to make communities more intercultural and how asylum seekers, reugees and migrants can become included in society, rather than segregated. We had plentiful representation from student unions across Europe presenting on the ‘Seeds’ project for the project cycle evaluation.

ISSU also propposed an lead a Fridays for Futures Global Strike in Mollina!

Overall, a very productive week for our working group and the three of them came back with an even better motivation to destroy barriers in education for the young people of Ireland.

Meet our New Sustainability Officer!

At our AGM back in March, congress voted to add a new officer role onto our NSE — Sustainability Officer. After going through various candidates, it is our great pleasure to introduce Saoi O’Connor as our Sustainability Officer for this NSE term;

“Hi, i’M Saoi O’Connor and I’m a 16 year old climate activist from Skibbereen, Co Cork. I have been climate striking in Cork City for 37 weeks now. I am passionate about justice in all its forms, especially climate justice & sustainability. My work protesting the climate crisis has brought me into a network of like-minded friendships all over the world from Sweden to Uganda to Palestine. I first became involved with ISSU at the Regional Council last year and I’m incredibly excited for the coming year to work with the National Student Executive.”

Saoi will be liaising with Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Action orgs to promote equality and climate justice. They will run environmental campaigns throughout their term and promote the student voice in the midst of climate action.

The role of sustainability officer is one of great importance in this time of extreme lack of understanding of how severe the climate crisis is. It is evident through the strikes and many more campaigns coming through that young people are the only people taking this climate emergency seriously. Hopefully with Saoi and sustainability officers for years to come more of our leaders will step up and do what is necessary to save our future.

You can keep up to Saoi’s work on their twitter here.

S.A.M.E Summer Academy and GA in Lübeck!

S.A.M.E is the Solidarity Action Day Movement in Europe.

It is a network of youth organisations from across Europe that organise a Solidarity Action Day. This is a day in which students trade school for a workplace for one day to raise money to benefit a chosen youth organisation.

This year as ISSU is getting more involved with SAME our International Officer Nadine Toye & Equality Officer Eric Ehigie attended the SAME Summer School and General Assembly in Lübeck, Germany for 10 days.

They learned a lot of substantial information relating to how other student unions operate in Europe. They took part in informative activities and workshops and were given the chance to explore the beautiful city.

At the Summer School & GA they got the chance to see how the Solidarity Action Day (SAD) positively impacts the countries that hold it. They got to ask hundreds of questions to representatives from Belgium, Italy, Germany, Serbia and even more!

Nadine and Eric came back from the trip more inspired than ever and are sure this is something the ISSU can implement into Ireland and make it as big as it is across Europe, so you’ll definitely be hearing the name again!

National Student Executive (NSE) Takes Office

The National Student Executive (NSE) of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union has taken their seat for the upcoming year. Elected at the Annual Assembly on April 23rd, the incoming officers have been cooperating with the outgoing NSE over the past weeks to ensure a strong transition and handover. 

ISSU President Ciara Fanning stated “We are delighted to welcome our new NSE officer and to start the year with the new Executive. We were incredibly impressed by the incredible ideas and projects presented at the Annual Assembly and are looking forward to a productive year on behalf of all second-level students of Ireland”.

Pictured (l-r): Sarah Harte (Honorary President), Eiman Elsir (Communications Officer), Caoilfhinn Ní Choiligh (Student Council Support Officer), Gearoid O’Donovan (Education Officer), Chloe Griffin (Deputy President), Eric Ehigie (Equality Officer), Caoimhe Ní Mhaolaí (Oifigeach na Gaeilge), Ciara Fanning (President), Luke Casserly (Secretary), Seán Carey (Welfare Officer), Nadine Toye (International Officer). 

The National Student Executive (NSE) 2019-2020 are;

President: Ciara Fanning 

Deputy President: Chloe Griffin

Secretary:  Luke Casserly

Education Officer: Gearoid O'Donovan

Welfare Officer: Sean Carey

Equality Officer: Eric Ehigie

Student Council Support Officer: Caoilfhinn Ní Choilligh

Communications Officer: Eiman Elsir

Oifigeach na Gaeilge: Caoimhe Ní Mhaolaí

International Officer: Nadine Toye

Honorary President: Sarah Harte

ISSU meets An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar

ISSU Welfare Officer Eric Ehigie meets An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the Future Jobs Summit at the Aviva Stadium

Member's of the ISSU National Student Executive were delighted to have participated in the Future Jobs Summit at the Aviva Stadium which brought together over 160 stakeholders from all aspects of society to discuss what jobs and careers will look like in the future. Over 65% of professionals surveyed believed that their skills will be inapt or out of date within 4 years. We need to ensure that students are adaquately equipped with the relevant skills to adapt and diversify as they will have to in the future. This means reforming the leaving cert to ensure that creativity, critical thinking and analytical skills are promoted and part of the curriculum. 

Members of our NSE quizzed An Taoiseach and the Minister for Education on LC reform and insisted that the student voice must always be heard.