The highlight to date has to be the beautiful sunny evening in May when we packed out the Long Gallery at Stormont to rejoice and reminisce, creating an inextricable bond between the past and present. The event was hosted by Basil McCrea MLA who was introduced by NUS-USI President, Adrianne Peltz. Other speakers included Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore, Martin McGuinness Deputy First Minister and Lynn Carvill, who spoke with passion of her involvement with NUS-USI as a student union sabbatical at QUB.
It was inspiring also to have so many of our former elected officers congregated together in one amazing space, all sharing memories of how involvement with NUS-USI impacted on their lives.
Marty Magee, first ever sabbatical NUS-USI Convenor 1987-88 said, ‘Student politics was in many respects a new and refreshing backdrop away from what we were all used to in Northern Ireland.’
Richy Carrothers 1991-92 observed, ’There are some stark similarities today to what was going on in the North in my year - recession was taking a grip once again with unemployment at unprecedented levels since the 80s, the Tories were in power and hammering working class communities and the NHS.’
Paul McMenamin 1992-93 ‘As an organisation NUS-USI straddles divides, builds bridges, promotes understanding and provokes thought and dialogue…. I will always be extremely proud of the time I got to spend there and thankful for the lessons I learned.
Dennis Carson 1995-97 ‘The training I was given was really grounding and has helped me immensely in my current position.’
Ciaran Hanna remembered ‘I found what I could and couldn’t do, what I should and shouldn’t have done, how to work individually and within a team, to think under pressure and make the right decisions.
Ben Archibald 2002-04 shared that he was ‘the first elected Conservative Party member to visit Sinn Fein in their own offices since Douglas Hurd in the 1980s’.
Colleen Dowdall 2006-07 ‘It was great to work with such inspiring and strong people.’
Katie Morgan 2007-2009 recalled ‘ One of my favourite achievements was on 19 November 2007 when I led students to the steps of Stormont where we protested against the proposed increase in tuition fees, as part of NUS-USI’s Access to Education campaign.