Saturday vote ensure students have their say

The first General Election on a Saturday since 1918 will make it easier for students to cast their vote – and that propels the accommodation crisis to centre stage for the third-level sector…which boasts 20,000 votes in Galway alone.

And while many of those votes are for constituencies outside Galway’s three, in nonetheless means that NUIG and GMIT’s cohort can prove decisive – particularly along the western seaboard.

GMIT Students Union President Aaron Burke acknowledged that accommodation was key for any candidate looking to capture the student vote.

“Accommodation is a massive issue. We’re surviving on digs in GMIT and we’d be lost if it wasn’t for the local community giving up their homes, that’s a long-term issue. We need student accommodation built at a reasonable price,” he said.

But it’s not the only issue; increases in grant payments and the rising cost of living will also be crucial, according to Aaron who called on the next government to increase SUSi Grant funding.

“SUSi hasn’t increased since 2012; that’s huge. The cost of living has increased, wages have gone up and we have a situation where students who are in the grant need to work on top of it to just about cover costs,” he said.

With a high number of younger candidates running in Galway West, Aaron believes that younger candidates may have any advantage over their older opponents in taking the student vote.

“Politics has traditionally been an older person’s game but I think younger voter will know exactly what they want and I think younger candidates will be more aware of what they want,” he said.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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