The Union of Students in Ireland has flown under the radar for many years, but the third-level fees controversy has given it a new impetus and put its president, Shane Kelly, at the centre of national debate, writes GRÁINNE FULLER.

Depending on your point of view, Shane Kelly is the luckiest or unluckiest student leader in the past five years. As president of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) he is spearheading the student backlash against the possible reintroduction of third-level fees. High profile and hugely important, the campaign is a student politician’s dream. But there is another side to it. “I’m sure Kelly is immensely stressed right now,” says one commentator. “There’s every chance that fees will return, and that they will return on his watch.”

USI has struggled in recent years, shaken by internal bickering, resignations and weakened by an apathetic student population. Now, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary, the union has gathered its composure and is mounting a defence of the fees status quo. Students have finally been jolted into action and have taken to the streets in their thousands with regional protests right around the State culminating in a 15,000-strong national rally in early February.

Kelly himself has made a decent fist of encouraging cooperation within the union. “The main thing that prevents USI from working effectively from year to year is simply that you have SU presidents from all the different colleges – each of whom is used to being top dog – sitting in a room and being expected to work together. It’s a monumental clash of the egos,” says one observer. “Kelly has been pretty good at controlling that and getting people to work together this year.”

Of course having an important issue on the agenda helps. “It forces people to work hard,” commented one source. In other years, an officer could roll in at 11 o’clock in the morning and still be golden. You can’t do that when something like fees is on the agenda.”

USI is the only voice that students have on a national level. It fills student representative seats on bodies such as the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) and represents some 250,000 students from more than 40 different colleges.

But there are some significant groups not represented by USI, such as the students of DCU, NUI Maynooth, CIT and UL, all of whom disaffiliated from the union. Low voter turnout in student elections has also raised questions about the validity of USI’s mandate. This year, however, the fees issue has shown that students can and will call on the national union to act on their behalf. USI, flawed though it might be, is not obsolete quite yet.

Overall, Kelly has impressed. Credited by colleagues and college officials with overhauling the faltering students’ union in WIT over a two-year term, he was quick to stamp his leadership upon the USI office.

Critics say that he is too controlling. Nobody in the union talks to the press without his go ahead, for example, as he is adamant that the union’s message to the media in relation to fees and other issues should be simple, and not confused by different points of view.

By all accounts he’s a good listener and will take in different points of view within an argument, but once a decision is made, he wants a united front. In his office people can say what they like, but outside they are expected to toe the line.

Not everybody likes this way of operating. “Kelly’s need for total control has done a lot of damage to campaigns that have taken years to build up,” says one source. “I can understand the need for a clear message, but he just takes it too far.”

Now the 2009 fees campaign is fully underway and much is happening, but it still seems somewhat quieter than it was in 2002-2003, the last time this issue raised its head. Kelly is not as recognisable as the ubiquitous USI president Colm Jordan was at that time, for example.

“I think that has more to do with the economic landscape now than the campaign,” argues one insider. “There are a lot of issues on the agenda because of the cutbacks as well as fees so it’s not as easy to grab a headline as it was.”

Kelly’s response to this is not to speak out on every issue everyday, but rather to be more selective about when he speaks. There has been a big drop in the number of press releases that USI issues, for example. When talking to journalists, Kelly stays on message and reiterates the same few points in an effort to drive USI’s argument – that education is essentially an excellent investment and pays for itself by producing higher earners who pay higher taxes – over and over again to the national and local press.

Some are less than pleased with the more understated media approach. “Kelly thinks that if you say less in the media, people will listen to you more when you do say something. I just completely disagree with that strategy,” says one source.

Right or wrong, Kelly can always justify his decisions. Bluster is not his bag. His upbringing on a council estate in Stranorlar, Co Donegal seems to have had a major influence on the way he operates. An only child, raised by a single mother, he displays a maturity of thought and a pragmatism that is said to be uncommon in student politics. On completing his Leaving Cert he didn’t go straight to college but rather worked in a bank for two-and-a-half years before leaving to do a degree in business studies and recreation management in WIT. Even his harshest critics admit that he has improved the professionalism and efficiency of USI this year.

Theories abound about his political leanings, with some speculating about Fianna Fáil sympathies and others reckoning Labour. In truth, nobody knows. He has never been a member of a political party and remains outwardly neutral.

“He certainly is very different from what you would usually expect of a student leader,” muses one commentator. “He is entirely uninterested in the cult of hero leadership. He’s quite a formidable character who understands that results can be achieved through reasonable discussion and he recognises the potential but also the limitation of noise.”

Some see him as being less comfortable giving the rabble-rousing addresses than in other areas. “He is very impressive in meetings,” observes one source. “I would think that commanding the attention of 15,000 students on Kildare Street doesn’t come as naturally to him as the other responsibilities of his job.”

Most agree that Kelly has had a good year, but he will not be seeking a second term. Three years, first at the helm of WIT and then of USI have taken their toll. Unfortunately for him, there is a real sense of inevitability about the re-introduction of fees this time around.

“When [former minister for education Noel] Dempsey talked about reintroducing fees in 2002, he had no real intention of doing so,” comments one source. “This time it’s a different story. You get the sense that minds have been made up. Kelly is fighting the fight, but it’s a battle that he could ultimately lose.”

Third-level fees:  the word on the net

The big problem with the fees protest is that: 1) Students (in general) are not as militant as they once were – compare a 1969 student radical to a 2009 student 'radical'. 2) The anti-fees campaign has been overshadowed by really (really super) left- wing types (the usual Sinn Féin, Labour Youth etc ...) – Boards.ie

How tone deaf are students these days? All of their lecturers are facing a pay cut, the whole economy is going in the tank and all they care about is that nobody makes them pay some fraction of what their education actually costs. Sorry, but this battle has been lost. We need fees. – Boards.ie

I think all of the people who are in favour of fees need to realise that some people, like myself, would simply have to drop out of college with the reintroduction of fees. My sister won't be able to go to college if fees are introduced, and she's incredibly bright. I can't afford to be saddled with 5k per year of debt either. Education should not be something that is solely the preserve of the wealthy. It's just not fair. – Boards.ie

USI has engaged in a defunct PR and lobbying strategy from the outset and seems to be quietly resigned to the fact that tuition fees are a given and are simply going through the motions. – Tallyman.ie