![\"Ciara](\"http:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Ciara-Corcoran-Campaign-Poster-570x738.jpg\")
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Ciara Corcoran aka \u201cWelfare Woman\u201d is set to replace our current Students Union Welfare Officer Shane McCormack this coming June following her success in the 2015 sabbatical elections.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the night of the election results Ciara said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI genuinely can\u2019t believe it; the two girls ran such a strong campaign. It still hasn\u2019t sunk in; I don\u2019t think it will sink in until June when my face goes on that door.\u00a0I\u2019d just like to say thanks to my campaign team they were fantastic I really don\u2019t know what I would have done without them.\u00a0I don\u2019t want to sound clich\u00e9 but I love UL, I never want to leave it!\u00a0The first thing I\u2019ll have to start working on is the grant guide because that needs to be up and running as soon as possible for people applying, that will have to be the start and then onwards and upwards\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ciara\u2019s manifesto promises to raise suicide awareness and work on suicide prevention for UL students, a \u2018Love Your Body\u2019 week, and the creation of a \u2018How-To\u2019 guide for grant applications.<\/p>\n
A huge issue that was discussed for all candidates is the task of incorporating the North campus in the events, welfare and academic sectors.<\/p>\n
Speaking on ULFM Ciara said: \u201cI think it\u2019s so beautiful over there and we definitely don\u2019t utilise it enough. I know it\u2019s much smaller over there and maybe the majority of people are here but I think we definitely need to utilise it more. I know Vanessa had a fantastic idea of having some office hours for the Welfare Officer over there so I\u2019m definitely going to try to work with Vanessa on that.\u00a0You don\u2019t really know what\u2019s going on over there, I spoke to some dance students during the week and they said that they only have an hour off during the whole day so they don\u2019t have time to come over here to talk to any of us.”<\/p>\n
A campaign that Ciara is passionate about running is a \u2018Love Your Body\u2019 Week where issues surrounding body image and pressure put on young people will be targeted:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that I think is a real issue that needs to be addressed, it\u2019s something that is on Facebook all the time, and it is everywhere.\u00a0I find especially when you\u2019re going out, you\u2019re in your room and you have your make up done and you\u2019re in your dress and you\u2019re like \u201cI am fab, I am great\u201d and then you walk out into the kitchen and there\u2019s loads of other people and you\u2019re like \u201coh\u2026okay\u201d.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not going to be one week and we all magically love ourselves but it is something we can raise awareness about, it can be a starting point and we can build from that.\u00a0I think it\u2019s something that is so important and it\u2019s just not talked about. It\u2019s kind of like mental health stigma that\u2019s just not talked about either.\u00a0With mental health it is slowly but surely coming along, so I just hope that this will start it off at a week and see how things go.\u00a0It\u2019s something I really believe in and I find it really interesting and it\u2019s really important to me.\u00a0I don\u2019t think one week is going to solve the world of problems but if it is a start and if this campaign helps even one person I think it will definitely be worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ciara\u2019s term as ULSU Welfare Officer will begin on June 1, 2015.<\/p>\n
By Michelle Hogan<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n