20,000 new voters registered by Students’ Unions
Massive voter drive ahead of Equal Marriage referendum.
The Union of Students in Ireland has announced the registration of thousands of students on electoral registers around the country, as the student movement gears up for an historic campaign to secure marriage equality in the state.
Laura Harmon, USI President, said:
“Students have historically been a potent force for equality – many of those registered in the last few weeks have never cast a ballot, but have decided to convert their voices to votes for the issues they believe in.
We had set a goal of ten thousand students registered – but Students’ Unions should be proud of their work to get so many students primed and ready for the polling booth – they have put in enormous effort and long hours to secure registrations. When the referendum is eventually called, this work will pay off with a huge student effort to secure equal marriage for everyone.”
Harmon paid tribute to the work of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Marriage Equality for driving a general voter registration campaign, and to Spun Out for National Voter Registration Day, held in campuses on 30 October.
Notes:
Registrations recorded during the registration drive do not take into account students who were already registered. Of those registered in the drive, the amounts attributable to each Students’ Union are as follows:
IT Carlow SU 600
Cork IT SU 600
University College Cork SU 3500
IT Tralee SU 250
Limerick IT SU 264
Waterford IT SU 450
NUI, Galway SU: 3000
Maynooth Students’ Union: 2500
Galway Mayo IT SU: 1080
IT Sligo SU: 950
St Angela’s College, Sligo SU: 47
Athlone IT SU: 450
Letterkenny IT SU: 220
Dundalk IT SU: 100
St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra SU – 468
IT Tallaght SU – 700
Dublin City University SU – 800
Trinity College Dublin SU – 3150
IT Blanchardstown – 156
Dublin IT – 750
National College of Ireland SU – 175
Total – 20,210