University Of Ulster DUP Freshers Day A Major Success

Ulster DUP association was recently on hand at the various campuses of the University of Ulster for each Freshers Fayre, with the result being a great success. We have had a presence at Magee campus, and had DUP association stalls at Belfast, Coleraine and Jordanstown this week. We are now firmly established in Belfast and in Coleraine but Jordanstown in particular saw an excellent response, and many more Unionists now see the benefit of being associated with the most active Unionist party in local Universities. The minister for finance Sammy Wilson MP, Alastair Ross MLA, Peter Weir MLA, Trevor Clarke MLA and Jonathan Craig MLA were on hand during the UUJ event to support the association, and Commenting on the success if the day, Mr Ross said; "For too long Unionism did not have a strong voice at UUJ, but since the DUP formed an association there last year things are starting to change. I was very encouraged to see dozens of young people take an interest in the Party and sign up to become members during the Freshers event"

Alastair Ross MLA encouraged by Uni of Ulster DUP success

East Antrim MLA Alastair Ross today attended the University of Ulster Freshers event at the Jordanstown campus in his constituency. Mr Ross said that the DUP had received a fantastic reception and was encouraged by dozens of young people joining the DUP association. Commenting, Mr Ross said; "For too long Unionism did not have a strong voice at UUJ, but since the DUP formed an association there last year things are starting to change. I was very encouraged to see dozens of young people take an interest in the Party and sign up to become members during the Freshers event this afternoon.

Northern Ireland is changing, and it is important that young people use their voice to help shape the future of our country. It is not only student fees that is an important issue, but also ensuring that the types of graduate jobs that these young people are studying for come to Northern Ireland.

The DUP has long been regarded as being the Party of choice for the younger generation, and from what I saw today this would seem to continue to be the case. It is my hope that many of the young people whom I and my colleagues spoke to today will take an active role not only in University life, but also within political life."

http://dup.org.uk/consultationvictims.asp

DUP CONSULTATION ON DEFINITION OF A VICTIM

The DUP believes that the perpetrator of an act of terrorism should not be equated with the innocent victims of terrorism. Through a Private Members Bill at Stormont the DUP are seeking to amend the current definition set out in the Victims and Survivors (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 article 3


This link is a consultation which provides the opportunity for anyone to offer their views on the need for legislation and the detail of such legislation. A number of questions are listed to explore some of the issues involved.

UPDATE/ FRESHERS FAYRE'S

This coming academic year, the Uni of Ulster DUP will use our first few months as the basis from which to grow further. We will now be available in each different campus of the University of Ulster, and so will have an active presence at each of the campus freshers days this coming year.

We will be present with a stall at the Freshers Fayre for the Jordanstown campus on Thursday 24th September. We also hope to be present at Magee(22nd September TBC) , Coleraine (23rd September ) and Belfast Central Campus (28th September.)

Various DUP Mp's and MLA's will be our guests on the day of each Fayre. Our aim is to start to promote and grow the association during these days.

If you are a new student at the University of Ulster this September, and have an interest in enhancing Unionist representation at your campus, please feel free to email us - info@ulsterdup.org . Otherwise, we will see you at the various "Freshers Days".

Ulster DUP delivering already. New Student Assembly/Forum now on the agenda.

As i have mentioned before, we hope, along with other societies to use the next academic year to encourage much more political participation at the University. We hope to make the University hierarchy aware that a university full of political debate and interaction on behalf of students, is a healthy one, unlike the current setup at UUJ which is virtually non-existent.

With this in mind, i emailed and got in touch with the UUSU and the University itself with a suggestion for some form of student assembly/council to be formally introduced during the new academic year. The idea was to gradually introduce a model similar to most politically active university environments, and offer a place to discuss issues that matter to students. The main aim of this request was to have a forum that has the scope for more active political activity, as the University lacks it.

We recently received an email back from those i contacted with this information;

"Thanks for the email . I agree with your views a Student's Union should be a place full of open discusion and debate- a place where students can express themselves politically.

We will be operating an official student assembly this year ,where we hope to use it as a forum for discussion and also action.

This will be a debating forum open to students and members of the political associations- the idea is to recreate an atmosphere of healthy discussion and debate"

Thus, we have already literally changed the student political system at UU within our first six months of existence, and delivered upon one of our main goals for next year, to lift students out of apathy, and into having a legitimate say in the day to day running of their place of education. Thus, young Unionist students now have an active place next year to have a say at a place where before, they have not.