University of Ulster Fails Degree in Communication

national | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Wednesday March 12, 2008 13:32 by SDLP - SDLP Youth

SDLP Youth are angry that the University of Ulster Students’ Union cancelled a cross-party meeting minutes before the meeting was due to take place without notifying political parties.

SDLP Youth Vice Chair Peter Armstrong said: “The University of Ulster Students Union today cancelled the review meeting of the Political Protocol minutes before it was due to take place. They failed to communicate this to political parties involved, and despite several requests they have been unable to explain why it was cancelled.

“SDLP Youth were joined by three other political parties in sending student representatives to UU Coleraine to meet with the Students Union. We had to find out from other sources that the Students Union had cancelled the meeting at the last minute and have since failed to return any of our calls to inform us why it was cancelled.

“This was a vital meeting regarding the Political Protocol - a University of Ulster policy document that discriminates against student societies. The Protocol censors student activities by banning societies from recruiting or campaigning. The University of Ulster has refused to put the Political Protocol through Equality Impact Assessments, realising that the legalities of the Protocol are highly questionable and arguably breaching several Human Rights laws.

SDLP University and Colleges Officer, Malachy Quinn continued:
“The SDLP have organised and chaired a series of cross-party meetings at the University which included two meetings in the past fortnight. Last month we took the campaign online and launched www.AbolishProtocol.com , and our campaign to Abolish the Political Protocol has majority support from all the political parties active at the University.

“A Political Protocol does not exist at any other University in the UK or Ireland. We just want a normal situation where groups of students can set up student societies. We want the Protocol abolished so we can have the same freedoms that societies at Queens University enjoy. We want an open, democratic and transparent Students Union that communicates and consults with all of the student groups. We have been protesting and petitioning for three years now. It’s time the UU Students Union listened to the students they supposedly represent!”