Hi everyone,

My name is Isobel O' Connor and I am your USI Equality Officer for the year 2010/2011.  I have just finished a Masters in Public Health in UCD, and I originally trained as a physiotherapist.

My job as Equality Officer is to ensure that students in Ireland are not subjected to any form of discrimination, and ensuring that all students get any specific supports that they need whilst pursuing third or fourth level education.

This year will see some new additions to the equality campaign with regional equality academies, hopefully, taking place before Christmas.  These seminars will act as training days for student union officers from colleges nationwide, as well as ordinary students who are interested in campaigning on equality issues. The seminars will aim to teach participants how to run campaigns in their own colleges.  

The equality campaign will also be re-running regional seminars for international students, mature students, students with disabilities, and those interested in gender equality.

The main campaigns for the year will be to call for Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) recipients to be eligible for the grant again. This provision was removed in the last budget.

We will also campaign to secure funding for the National Access Office, so that students with disabilities will be able to access any supports they may require whilst pursuing their education.

If you would like to find out more information on the Equality Campaign, you can email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call me on 086 1738455.  

Also, if you’ve any ideas about what you’d like to see in the campaign please do not hesitate to contact me with them.

Please click here to find out more about the Equality Campaign.