UCC Young Fine Gael Society

Newsletter Date Issue 2, January 2011

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Issue 2, January 2011

"Give us the future; we've had enough

of your past. Give us back our country,

to live in, to grow in, to love"

This was the quote from Michael Collins

which Fine Gael’s Finance Spokesperson

Michael Noonan used to sum up Fine Gael’s

views on last December’s budget and the

historic political events which occurred in

the last quarter of 2010.

In the spring, the Irish people will be given

the opportunity to express their opinion on

recent events and vote for the government

which will lead Ireland over the coming

challenging years. The next election will be

hugely important in deciding the direction

which Ireland takes when facing this un-

precedented economic challenge for our

nation. The Irish people require new hope

that we as a country can work to restore

our economic independence as well as a

hope that real reform will take place in our

political process to ensure that the same

mistakes are never made again.

For young people in particular the next

election represents an opportunity to start

a reversal in the trend of youth emigration

Continued on Page 3 >>

The Most Important Election

In A Generation

UCC YFG, Get Involved this January!

www.ucc.ie/yfg

www.facebook.com/uccyoungfinegael

Winter/Spring Newsletter

Issue 2, January 2011

With so much happening in Irish poli-

tics there has never been a better time

to get involved in UCC YFG. Over the

course of this term we have many

great debates, socials, guest speak-

ers & trips planned which will ensure

that you will make the most of your

time in UCC. Our first meeting of the

New Year will take place on

Wednesday January 5th with a

debate on the consequences of

the recent ruling on Irish Abortion

Continued on Page 2 >>

Continued from

Page 1— from the

European Court of

Human rights. Lots

of other topical

issues will be de-

bated as part of

our weekly meet-

ings.

We will take part

in several interpar-

ty debates on

campus as well as

continuing with

our Speaker Development

sessions early in the New

Year to help you improve

your public speaking and

debating skills.

A Mystery Tour will take

place in mid January as

well as a fresh recruit-

ment drive as part of the

UCC Societies Guild se-

cond societies day

With a general election

currently expected early

in the New Year, lots of

activities are planned to

ensure that members can

play a role. Senior Fine

Gael politicians will visit

campus and members will

be given the opportunity

to canvass in Cork and

throughout the country by

attending regionally or-

ganised canvassing week-

ends & socials.

YFG will have an unrivalled

line up of social events

over the term so be sure

to come along and learn

more!

For full details on our

events follow us on face-

book or visit us online at

www.ucc.ie/yfg

visited the Dáil Bar where

they got the chance to

meet several senior Fine

Gael politicians before

attending a social with

some Dublin YFG mem-

bers that night.

In late January a group

of ten UCC members plan

to travel to Brussels with

Sean Kelly MEP to visit

the European Parliament

& Commission to gain a

understanding of the

work of these European

institutions. A full itiner-

At the start of December,

UCC YFG members

braved artic conditions to

go on the society’s annu-

al Dáil Trip just days be-

fore the announcement

of the budget.

A tour of the building was

given including the Dáil &

Seanad Chamber and

then members had an

opportunity to listen to

some debates from the

public gallery.

Later in the day members

ary is planned over this

three day trip with cultur-

al visits to Brussels City

and the medieval city of

Bruges also planned as

part of the trip.

This trip follows a visit to

the Northern Ireland par-

liament in Stormount last

January with more similar

trips been planned in the

future.

Best of luck to all those

travelling!

UCC YFG - Get Involved this January Cont ..

UCC YFG Dáil & European Parliament Trip

Young Fine Gael National Conference, Charleville on both economic and

non-economic motions

with the economic mo-

tions been discussed with

an independent panel

which included Eddie

Hobbs, Sarah Carey &

Jim Power.

The primetime session

was the political highlight

of the weekend with Par-

ty Leader giving an in-

spiring speech to dele-

gates which were pro-

ceeded by warm up re-

marks from Deputy Si-

mon Coveney & Outgoing

YFG President Barry Walsh.

The weekend was capped

off by the Gala Dinner

hosted by Enda Kenny on

Saturday evening.

National Exec Elections also

took place over the week-

end. Current & former UCC

Members Bríd Murphy,

Graham Dullaghan & Conor

Crean were elected onto

the Executive for the next

18 months. Eric Keane was

elected the new YFG Presi-

dent and we wish all the

new Exec the very best in

the coming term.

Fifty members of UCC

YFG travelled to YFG Na-

tional Conference in

Charleville last November

in what was one of the

highlights of the first

term.

The Great Debate took

place on Friday evening

just before Political X-

Factor with the UCC

Alumni coming out as

winners in the debating

but unfortunately UCC

weren’t so successful in

the latter event! Satur-

day started with debates

Check out ucc.ie/yfg for all our

latest events... Get Involved with

UCC YFG Today!

Page 2 UCC Young Fine Gael Society

From Page 1— which has

become far too prevalent

among even our young

graduates.

Fine Gael believes that for

Ireland to recover we must

firstly start getting our peo-

ple back to work through a

targeted jobs stimulus pro-

gram, we must restore

order to our public financ-

es, we must reform our

public service as well as

completely overhauling our

health service. Fine Gael,

unique to all political par-

ties and individuals has fully

costed and detailed plans on

how to solve each of these

four areas.

Fine Gael has the ideas and

the team that can and will

turn this country around.

When the next election

comes, we must ensure that

a clear message of hope and

renewal is sent to all Irish

people at home and aboard

that although the future is

challenging it is not without

great opportunity if we work

to change our direction now.

It’s important to ensure that

you and your family and friends

are correctly entered on the

electoral register in order to

vote in the general election.

Remember that currently no-

body is automatically placed on

the register when they turn 18!

You can check the register

online by going to

www.checktheregister.ie. If you

are currently not on the regis-

ter, you can apply to join the

supplementary register up to

15 days before polls open in

either your home constituency

or your college constituency if

you will be unable to travel

home and vote. Forms are

available from the relevant

local authority. We will also be

running a campus campaign in

the January where forms will

be available. If you have any

questions on voting registra-

tion please contact us at

yfg@uccsocieties.ie

The Most Important Election Cont...

Make Sure Your Voice is heard, Check the Register!

West Wing Comes to UCC

courage viewers to get in-

volved in the society’s activi-

ties during the year. Overall

the reaction was hugely

positive and helped the soci-

ety to gain media publicity

from our annual fresher’s

recruitment

campaign.

The Scenes

were shot in

the O’Ra-

hilly Build-

ing & the

West Wing

and the

images are

accompa-

nied by the show’s famous

theme music. The video

can still be viewed on our

website at www.ucc.ie/yfg

via the YouTube channel

section.

As part of Septembers

Fresher’s Recruitment

drive, UCC YFG devel-

oped a unique recruit-

ment video tapping in to

the success of the re-

nowned political drama,

the West Wing. The

purpose of this video

was to provide an in-

sight into the light

hearted side of UCC

YFG. The video showed

members of the society

mimicking the actions of

West Wing stars along

with text statements

and an address to en-

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 2, January 2011

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 people

from various faculties across UCC as well as attending

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. With the upcoming

General Election due to be held during Term 2, there has

never been a better time to get involved!

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.

See you in January!

Get Involved!

“We do not govern to rule, we govern to serve.” - Gen Michael Collins

UCC YFG 2010/2011...