The freshman cometh

A forthright interview with the new Union of Students in Ireland president Richard Morrisroe.

Craig Fitzsimons, 10 Sep 2007

The post of President of the Union of Students of Ireland is an increasingly prestigious one; invariably, occupants of the post go on to occupy prominent positions in Irish politics and public life generally. Previous USI Presidents have included recently retired Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte, his likely successor Eamon Gilmore, and Liveline presenter Joe Duffy. Other notables such as Maxine Brady, Ivana Bacik and SDLP leader Mark Durkan have also established their reputations through involvement in USI.

The current incumbent Richard Morrisroe, was elected in May and commenced his one-year term on July 1st. A Cork native, he went to UCC in 1999, but dropped out because "there weren’t enough girls on the course". Following stints working for a security company and in the construction industry, he returned to UCC to study Psychology, thrived, and became increasingly involved in student politics, culminating in his recent election as USI President. Intense, articulate and affable, Morrisroe explains his manifesto to Hot Press and emerges as a committed libertarian with a keen social conscience. Read on...

CRAIG FITZSIMONS: As per usual, there’s a huge accommodation crisis looming as the college year starts, with thousands of students stuck for a place to live…

RICHARD MORRISROE: There is, of course. It’s not quite so bad outside Dublin. It’s mostly a Dublin issue. You have the usual rush for accommodation, which always happens at this time of year and has come to be seen as inevitable. It’s indicative of a wider problem with housing – this doesn’t just affect first-year students. I’ve been talking to a mate who’s just graduated, and all his mates have another year to go in UCD. They can’t find a room anywhere for less than E550 to E600 a month. How many students can realistically hope to afford that?

Which is one reason why a lot of students get part-time jobs...

In order to even put food on the table, they’re going to have to get part-time jobs and put some serious hours in, or beg from their parents. It’s a huge issue and it needs to be looked at long-term. The tax (on building apartments) breaks will start running out soon, from 2009. This is going to get much worse. I must emphasise that it’s mostly a Dublin problem. Cork and Galway are okay, and Belfast’s not too bad. Rents in Limerick have gone up by 10%, but not from as high a base, so students there wouldn’t be as badly off. But in Dublin, it’s shocking.

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