SU21 - Our Questions to Presidential Candidates

Questions to Katie Ní Chléire and Callum Dann from The Scoop.

What’s your number one priority?

Katie: Tackling the student mental health crisis. Students' mental health was already on the verge of crisis before Covid-19 hit and now more students are struggling than ever before. If I'm elected, we will radically transform the way we approach mental health and tackle the problems at the source!

Callum: Mental wellbeing. This year has just made the mental health crisis facing students worse. We need to upgrade accessibility to mental wellbeing services, which I will achieve through my pop-up Welfare Van. Let’s really get to terms with addressing the issue, instead of painting over it.

Six months into your term, what real differences will Queen’s Students see in their mental health services?

Katie: Six months into my term, every student will have access to Mental Health First Aid training. We will have identified and tackled the financial and academic pressures on your course, including by successfully lobbying to scrap significant course costs and ending bunched deadlines. We will have secured a commitment for consistent, long-term investment in University support services. Students will also recognize that their Students’ Union tackles the problems that impact mental health at the source!

Callum: All my policies are realistic, doable and achievable. So, I know I will be able to deliver change quickly and efficiently. Six months in, the Queen’s Welfare Van will have been established and will have begun “touring” around campus, accommodation, Holy Lands and city centre. You will find accessibility to wellbeing services has improved, allowing you to gain access in person – not just over email or the phone. Your courses will also have their Student Welfare Champions either in training or available, to again give you the easiest and quickest accessibility to help.

How will you get private landlords to respond to your demands?

Katie: This year has shown just how far corrupt landlords will go for profits. Students have found themselves trapped paying for accommodation they’re not using and private landlords will only respond to our demands through the impact of our campaigning through direct action. We’ll take your voices to the politicians by lobbying for action from Belfast City Council to hold landlords to account. I will also work with grassroots housing activists like CATU for the abolishment of letting fees. We’re not going to wait for dodgy private landlords to come on our side — students need help now.

Callum: My unique Queen’s Certified Landlord Scheme will really change the dynamic of private landlords. With Queen’s endorsing and promoting landlords who are ethical and student friendly, students will be given a real chance to steer clear of landlords who are exploitative and unfair. Landlords love money and will be more inclined to improve services to get onto the Landlord Scheme. I will also stand with CATU Belfast to protest and fight slum landlords, ensuring that students are not treated like animals! The scheme will boost competition and raise standards – guaranteeing they do listen to us.

You will not be able to achieve all your manifesto commitments single-handedly. How will you delegate to and work with your SU Officer Team, all of who have their own manifesto promises?

Katie: No-one achieves change single-handedly. Change only happens through a collective movement. Achieving the aims in my manifesto will not be just my job or the job of six officers. I am going to mobilise and organise students to demand the education they deserve and achieve the aims in this manifesto. I’ll also build our relationships with external bodies, civic society organisations and our national unions. If I am elected as President, my priority will also be on supporting my Officer team to deliver on their manifesto promises. Through a strong team, I am confident we can change the university.

Callum: This is a beautiful question because teamwork really does make the dream work. I am a social butterfly and hate being alone – I live for others and I can’t be kept away from other people for long. So, working in a team is the environment I work best in. With the other student officers, I will, at the start of my term, set a strategical plan to ensure we are all working towards the same aim: the best for students. We will all agree a way forward and be united in representing students.

How have your personal experiences shaped your manifesto?

Katie: I was on my final social work placement in the same hospital that had the first case of Covid-19 on the island. I was doing 40 hours a week on unpaid placement, spending my evenings doing the academic and assignment work, and then would work upwards of 20 hours in a children’s home at the weekend to pay rent, while also lacking access to a maintenance loan. That’s partly why I feel so strongly about supporting our students on placement, because I know what they are going through. It’s also why I feel so strongly about eliminating financial barriers to education and creating an education system that works. I also have experience of having mental health conditions while studying, and received next to no support. I understand the flaws and the gaps in our support systems, and why we need to radically transform how we approach mental health.

Callum: Oh lord, yes! The past year I have been studying (the only candidate who has) and experienced the exact same struggles as those voting. Not only that, being a Residential Assistant in Elms this past year has seen me live with other students in halls and help them with their problems. I have seen first hand how QUB are failing students. Being stuck studying at home and outside NI has been a real struggle for me, as well, and I know what its like to be an outsider. But I am dead-set on this election not being about me, but rather about bringing change to the Student Union. It is you, my fellow student, who deserve better. I know the problems and I know the solutions.

Should Queen’s University Belfast be proud of its history?

Katie: Many students and staff from Queen’s have made a contribution to society throughout history that we can be proud of. However, we can only assess our history by facing it. Queen’s University Belfast needs to listen to its students and finally act on their calls to decolonise the University. We need to work with our marginalized communities, and our part-time officers who represent those communities, to ensure that we break down the barriers to education. We also need to make sure we understand the difference between taking account of our history and getting stuck in it. Queen’s is, in so many ways, still inaccessible to far too many students but the University hides behind the perceived prestige of being in the Russell Group to claim they are delivering high-quality education. I would change that to put the priority where it belongs - on students and their wellbeing.

Callum: Of course Queen’s should. Anyone who applies and attends Queens does so because, regardless of how things are at the moment, they know is a great establishment with a proud tradition. Without Queen’s, there would be no portable defibrillator, with the incredible work of Frank Pantridge. Without Queen’s, the world of literature would be very boring, with thanks to Seamus Heaney. Without Queen’s, the Supreme Court would’ve been an Oxbridgian club, but the late Brian Kerr put that to rest. I could go on and on and on, but I do also realise that Queen’s need to have an honest and open conversation about their past. A lot has gone wrong and as a student body, we should be aware of those wrongdoings. This can be achieved through steps such as decolonising the curriculum and ensuring that Queen’s do not promote one-sided history or research.

And finally… What is your most embarrassing experience?

Katie: I was in the Law building at Queen’s one day, and I saw a senior university staff member drinking coffee. I waved at her to be friendly, and then walked straight into a pillar. I was mortified!

Callum: Okay, right, so. Story time! Obviously my surname Dann can also be a first name. Welp. In High School I was being given an award by England Rugby Captain, Nick Easter, and on three occasions he referred to me as Dann Callum and I just stood there… blushing.

To see all the candidates running for this position, visit the QUBSU Website.