Union takes a stand on vote

USI has called on members to vote Yes in the referendum on the Belfast Agreement. The decision was taken at a recent meeting of the union's national council, where doubters were swayed by the arguments of Northern students.

One of those campaigning for the agreement will be union president Colman Byrne - who, at USI's national congress in March, sponsored a motion "noting with concern" the proposed changes to Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution.

Byrne admits to having been impressed by the arguments of his Northern colleagues. "I still hold Articles 2 and 3 fairly dearly, but I don't think the changes in the articles envisaged in the Agreement are all that drastic.

"We don't feel calling for a Yes on the Agreement would be nearly as divisive as campaigning on an issue like divorce or abortion. This was an issue we felt we should take a lead on. We might have more credibility in campaigning than some of the political parties because there's no political benefit in it for us." However, officers of USI and local unions fear a low student turnout in the Republic.

"Although we know students are taking the Agreement very seriously, we're very afraid what the turnout is going to be like in a referendum held during exams," Byrne says.

During general elections, some local branches of political parties organise buses to their constituencies from university towns to bring students home to vote, but that's unlikely for a referendum. Emmet Spring, students' union president in Galway-Mayo IT, says he'll vote Yes to the Agreement, but will not call on his union's members to do so. The union distributed hundreds of copies of the agreement in the campus canteen, but also facilitated Republican Sinn Fein, by allowing them to put up posters for their "No, No" campaign. "We feel it's pointless trying to tell 4,000 students how they should vote, but we have a duty to make sure those students make an informed choice," Spring says.

Spring feels there's "huge support" for the agreement among the IT's students, even though many "mightn't have a huge amount of knowledge on the Northern issue".

However, he too fears that when it comes to deciding whether to go home to vote or stay to get in some extra study for exams, study will inevitably win out. In fact on the very day of the Agreement referendum, many students in Galway-Mayo IT will face exams in the morning and the afternoon.

"Student turnout is going to be pretty low. If students can get home they will, but realistically, it's very difficult to turn students' attention during exam time."

The National Youth Council of Ireland enlisted the help of Minister for Foreign Affairs David Andrews yesterday as it launched a campaign to encourage what they estimate as 630,000 young people under 25, North and South, who are entitled to vote on the Agreement.