Two Westmeath students elected to Second-Level Students Union
Sam Brooks, a 6th year from Athlone Community College, and Gearoid McCarthy, a TY student from Marist College, have been elected as Longford-Westmeath Regional Officers of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union, the national representative body for second-level student councils in the Republic of Ireland.
The pair along with 35 other students from around Ireland will serve throughout the 2023 term.
Sam has been a Regional Officer for Longford-Westmeath for over a year now, first being elected in 2021. On taking up the role Sam said he was proud to serve the students in the region.
“It is an honour to be re-elected in 2022 with such a large mandate. Over 50% of schools in Longford-Westmeath showed up to our annual event last November and I hope to expand on that this year.
"Some of my main aims for the coming term include closer cooperation with representatives from Roscommon as over a third of Athlone students come from Roscommon, expanded public transport and cheaper fares for young people and students, better student mental health and SEN supports particularly for exam year students and those with hidden disabilities, and of course better student representation across Longford and Westmeath.”
Gearoid was elected as a Regional Officer for Longford-Westmeath in November of last year and has since hit the ground running. He says one of his main aims this year is to increase interaction between Longford and Westmeath schools.
“One of my main aims this year is to increase the interaction with Longford schools in the Longford-Westmeath region, and this could be done by hosting more in-person events nearer Longford.
"The introduction of new bus routes are something that I hope the students in Longford could avail of to reach the events that may be held in Athlone and vice versa.”
The Regional Officers plan to work alongside local politicians and local organisations throughout their term, and also to represent the over 13,000 second-level students from Longford and Westmeath on a national level.
The pair highly encourage any local students, politicians, or organisations to reach out in order to advance the cause of student representation in Longford and Westmeath. They can be reached at longfordwestmeath@issu.ie