College recruitment campaign kicks off

The McDonagh/Farrell Cumann Ógra Shinn Féin UCD kicked off the Ógra freshers' recruitment campaign this week. As An Phoblacht goes to print, the cumann has already recruited over 120 people, over 50 of whom are women, with two more days still to go.

Ógra's campaign in UCD has been well-supported by party leadership figures, with Caitríona Ruane MLA, Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD and Mary Lou McDonald MEP all dropping out to the Belfield campus to lend a hand.

The Ógra stall and recruitment material stands out well among the crass offers of gifts and promises of free alcohol from many of the other youth political parties, who are merely seeking to get names on paper.

Many of Ógra's new recruits are eager to start working on political campaigns. Cumann member Sinéad Ní Chaoláin said: "We are having a highly successful freshers' week this year. Already we have beaten last year's figures and look likely to increase that further in the coming days. We are looking forward to a very successful and active year, campaigning on important issues on and off campus. We already have a number of activities planned for the coming weeks and hope to pull off some big events during the year."

Dundalk IT, GMIT Castlebar, Cork IT, Athlone IT and NUI Galway have also begun their freshers' campaign this week and are expecting hundreds more activists to be recruited.

Anyone wishing to join their college cumann or to lend a hand in the campaign should contact their local Ógra representative or the national colleges co-ordinator, Eugene Garvey, on 00353860705262.