UCC Young Fine Gael Society

Newsletter Date Issue 1, Summer 2010

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Issue 1, Summer 2010

Last April, UCC YFG led a large on

campus campaign against the col-

lege’s proposed move to charge

every student €65 to attend their

own graduation ceremony. The

campaign allowed students to vent

their anger at the seemingly end-

less line of surcharges which have

been placed on UCC Students in

recent years.

The 50% increase in registration

fees in 2009, the introduction of

printing charges, delays and reduc-

tions in the grant scheme as well as

additional obstacles being faced by

Medical students and mature students

led to the debate on this €65 levy taking

new heights given the manner in which

the college went about introducing the

charge.

The college’s actions motivated by a

severe lack of national funding high-

lighted the tough financial circumstances

which forces colleges to consider intro-

ducing such unfair levies. It is clear that

new thinking is required to deal with the

funding crisis in our third level institu-

tions.

Continued on page 3 >

No More Back Door Fees -

Enough is Enough

Fine Gael Jobs Plan Gives Hope To Students

www.ucc.ie/yfg

www.facebook.com/uccyoungfinegael

Autumn Newsletter

Issue 1, September 2010

Ireland is in crisis. Our economy

has collapsed, unemployment is at

an all-time high, and the beast of

emigration has returned to stalk

our young people, and in particular

our young graduates. With unem-

ployment at a 20 year high of 13.4%

and a record 452,882 people

on the Live Register, one in five of whom

are under the age of 25, a considered,

coherent approach to job creation is re-

quired.

Continued on page 3 >

Whether you’re a fresher

starting in UCC for the

first time or if you’re

returning to college from

an enjoyable summer

break, there is no better

time to get involved with

UCC YFG.

Joining UCC YFG allows

you to get more out of

your time in UCC and this

year our events will en-

sure that it will be a year

to remember for the soci-

ety and its members.

Our plans for the year

will allow members to air

their views on Fine Gael

policy, engage with re-

nowned guest speakers

and attend memorable

socials across the year.

YFG National Conference

will take place in Novem-

ber as well as a visit to

Dáil Eireann before

Christmas. Closer to

home, plans include a

mystery tour and an EGM

to allow new members to

get even more involved

with UCC YFG on cam-

pus. Check out our web-

site and facebook for full

details of all our events.

UCC YFG will be holding

our first meeting & social

on Wednesday Sep-

tember 22nd at 7.30pm

in a central location on

campus followed by a

night out in Cork City in

the middle of fresher’s

week. Sign up on Socie-

ties Day or visit

www.ucc.ie/yfg for full

details on the venue and

our exciting plans for the

evening.

Dublin City before return-

ing to our accommoda-

tion in Paddys Palace.

February took us to Bel-

fast and Stormont. We

availed of the direct Cork

– Belfast flight to arrive

in style on a lovely spring

evening. When we ar-

rived we began to ex-

plore all that Belfast City

had to offer on a mid

week night and its repu-

tation certainly didn’t

disappoint. The next

morning we were Stor-

Last year saw UCC YFG

packing our bags to visit

Ireland’s houses of par-

liaments. First up in De-

cember was a journey to

Lenister House. We

toured the sights and

sounds of the Dáil and

Seanad before retiring to

the Dáil bar where we

were visited by various

TDs and Senators who

joined us throughout the

evening. The trip was

completed by sampling

the college night life of

mont bound, where we

were greeted by repre-

sentatives from the

SDLP. Although the

weather was against us,

we had a very enjoyable

day at the Northern Ire-

land Parliament; in what

is a beautiful building

surrounded by wonderful

scenery. Before taking

our flight home we went

for a stroll around

Queens University and

found their Kane Build-

ing!

UCC YFG - Get Involved this September

Trip to Stormount & Dáil Eireann

YFG Summer School, Tramore July 2010

Leader Enda Kenny held

a question and answer

session with delegates.

Tensions rose after lunch

with the ensuing motions

which led to lively discus-

sion on topics as diverse

as giving powers to dis-

miss underperforming

teachers to directly

elected Taoiseach.

The remainder of the

afternoon was assigned

to either Surfing or La-

serblast in Tramore. On

the Saturday night,

members were treated to

a BBQ in the Jack Meades

Pub in Waterford City.

The national assembly

met on Sunday morning

to discuss the progress

made by all branches

across the country before

the close of the week-

end’s activities. Sunday

afternoon saw YFGers

depart for their respec-

tive parts of the country

after YFGs biggest sum-

mer school to date.

On the second weekend

in July, the Sunny South

East played host to the

annual YFG Summer

School with over a hun-

dred YFG Members in

attendance over the

three days. The packed

agenda for the weekend

kicked off on Friday eve-

ning with a social in the

Grand Hotel Tramore.

The policy sessions for

the weekend were

opened by YFG President

Barry Walsh on Saturday

Morning before Party

Check out ucc.ie/yfg for all our

latest events... Get Involved with

UCC YFG Today!

Page 2 UCC Young Fine Gael Society

UCC YFG attended

the Fine Gael Senior

Party conference in

March. The Friday eve-

ning events were held in

the Malton Hotel with

YFG branches from

across the country in

attendance. The night

was spent meeting

& greeting YFG mem-

bers and friends before

being addressed by Barry

Walsh YFG President and

Party Leader Enda Kenny.

Saturday morning kicked

off with lively policy de-

bates on the economy,

job creation and banking

reform. Delegates heard

from Deputies Richard

Bruton, Simon Coveney,

James Reilly and guest

speaker Eddie Hobbs.

The evening sessions

debated Fine Gael's New

Politics reform plans as

well as judicatory reform

with Deputy Charles

Flanagan. The Political

Sessions was capped off

with the Live Tele-

vised leader’s speech by

Enda Kenny

The conference came to

an end that night with a

social event to match any

seen in YFG for many

years. Many new friend-

ships were forged, many

politicians were can-

vassed and naturally

everyone danced till the

ear l y h our s w i t h

the simply unique Baker

Boys! Hopefully YFG Con-

ference in November will

live up to the high stan-

dard set in Killarney!

Cont from page 1..With both

student numbers and college

debt on the rise, government

can no longer shy away from

addressing 3rd Level funding by

increasing direct funding to the

OECD level as well as address-

ing serious efficiency and qual-

ity problems which exist in Irish

colleges.

When deciding on third level

funding, student welfare must

come to the fore. Fine Gael

proposes to abolish the

€1500 registration fee to

allow our young people to

once again enrol in third level

education without the impact

of a €1500 plus charge dis-

couraging them from further-

ing their education in an in-

creasingly competitive global

jobs market. For full details

on Fine Gael’s Education Poli-

cies visit www.finegael.ie

Fine Gael National Conference — Killarney

Conferring fee Campaign (Cont..)

Why Fine Gael? Continued...

Guarantees, Community

Employment Schemes and

Government supported

workshare, a Fine Gael led

Government will remove a

third of those under 25 on

the Live Register within 12

months while stemming the

rising tide of youth emigra-

tion.

Central to the issue of job

creation is ―NewERA‖, Fine

Gael’s strategic economic

stimulus plan for investment

of €18.2 billion into Commu-

nications, Energy and Water

infrastructure over four

years. This ambitious project

will not only create 105,000

jobs for skilled workers, but

will also serve to boost

long term competiveness

by improving this vital

infrastructure, without

increasing Government

expenditure or contribut-

ing to the budget deficit.

For more information on

these policies, and others

including ―FairCare‖, Fine

Gael’s plan to transform

and streamline our health

service and ―New Politics‖,

a policy designed to make

politicians accountable for

their actions and answer-

able to the public visit

www.finegael.ie

Cont from page 1.. Of

particular importance is

putting an end to the

scourge of youth emi-

gration and reducing the

number of young people

in the dole queues.

―Hope for a Lost Gen-

eration‖ is Fine Gael’s

policy in relation to the

issue of our jobless

youth. It will see over

30,000 young people

removed from the live

register. Through the

introduction of a Na-

tional Internship pro-

gramme, Second

Chance Education

scheme, Apprenticeship

YFG is not about

condemning the

Government. It’s

about Finding

Solutions to the

Problems this country

faces, debating the

alternatives and

advocating a change

for the better.

BE PART OF THIS

MOVEMENT…

JOIN YFG

Page 3 Issue 1, Summer 2010

UCC YFG is the largest and most active political

society on campus. We always welcome new

members.

Joining UCC YFG gives you an opportunity to get

more out of your time in UCC. You get to meet new peo-

ple from various faculties across UCC as well as attend-

ing our regular social nights, branch debate nights and

visits to locations such as Dáil Eireann and Stormount.

You can meet first hand many senior Fine Gael politicians

through attending conferences as well as contributing

towards YFG Policy Development.

Sign up on www.ucc.ie/yfg today or just come along to

any of our events on campus and you will see why we

continue to attract large numbers each and every year

on campus.

Get Involved!

―We do not govern to rule, we govern to serve.‖ - Gen Michael Collins

UCC YFG 2009/2010...

See you in September..