USI to Launch General Election Manifesto
By Eithne Dodd | Nov 18 2015
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) will be launching its General Election Manifesto on Wednesday 18th November. The launch is being hosted by the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin’s Temple Bar. It will begin at 6.30pm and the launch is open to anyone who is interested in attending.For those that attend, there will also be an opportunity to discuss how the USI might work on the images presented in its manifesto or similar campaigns in the future. The document of their manifesto will be produced at this launch. It will include the core areas that the USI is hoping to address in the manifestos of individuals and political parties in the upcoming general election, which will be held in spring of 2016.Fiona O’Malley, the communications executive for USI said of the launch: “The objective is to get people with similar objectives in the same room with political parties who are putting manifestos together. To that end I think it will be successful. Most parties have committed to coming already and we will confirm the remainder soon enough.”O’Malley also said that “It is crucial students engage in the next and all subsequent elections.” To this end, the USI launched a massive campaign to get more Irish students registered to vote. “We have been plagued for years by a perception that young people don't vote,” said O’Malley. “We have an opportunity to address that in the coming election.”The recent drive by the USI has been a very successful one. 10,000 students were registered to vote by USI over just two days last month. USI are not finished trying to get students to put themselves on the voting register, however. “We are now going into lecture halls where every single student in the room has been registered. Students are now a registered group that will engage with the general election and USI will do everything it can to facilitate that engagement,” says O’Malley. “Students will vote for parties that they feel put forward the best plan for the future. They won't necessarily vote for the same party their parents and grandparents did.”Tickets are free of charge through www.eventbrite.com. More information is available through the USI’s Facebook event page “Education is Networking.”