Student Independent News (SIN)

(An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, and US President, Donald Trump, at the White House on St. Patrick’s Day. Credit: Sky News.) US President Donald Trump is set to visit his golf club in Doonbeg, Co. Clare, this weekend. The 47th President of America will be touching down in Dublin in the early hours of Saturday, 12 September, before making his way to Phoenix Park and meeting with the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, and President Catherine Connolly.

(Months of consultation with Citizen Groups took place before the new announcement. Credit: RTÉ) A newly proposed bill outlines the Government’s plans to overhaul Irish citizenship rules in what would be the most significant reform of citizenship law in a generation. The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Amendment Bill 2026 is due to be brought before Cabinet on Wednesday, the 9th of September. If approved, following further drafting, the legislation will be introduced to the Oireachtas.

(Creators and collaborators involved with The SU with their award. Credit: Emilijia Jefremova) By Marcela Villagómez Sometimes, it takes seeing someone else’s reality to understand something beyond our own. That empathy can come from listening and learning what happens outside our immediate lives.

The year is young, and the tone is set. Throughout its existence, the University of Galway Students’ Union, or CMLONG, has been synonymous with distinctive protests, campaigns and publicity. And Tuesday was no different, as members of the union embarked on one of their most ambitious protests to date. Inspired by the distinct sleep-out campaign of 2023, the officers of the union led an accommodation protest on Tuesday evening, September 1.

(Members of the Students’ Union Protest at Eyre Square. 1 September 2026. Credit: Eamon Chin) On the first night of September, students pitched tents in the heart of Galway city. It wasn’t a festival. It was a warning. Across the tents in Eyre Square, handwritten signs read “Affordable Housing Now” and “Housing is a Human Right“.

Students’ Union President Seán de Búrca (Image: Izzy Bland) Research from Switcher.ie shows that the average cost of a year in third-level education in Ireland has risen to over €16,000. In Galway, the average cost is estimated to be €16,064. This is up five percent from 2025, which clocked in at €15,367.

Standing in a slowly-filling Monroe’s of a Friday evening in July, the recurring discourse I hear around me is largely “Christ, it’s hot” and similar equally astute observations. You could be forgiven for thinking (under the influence of heatstroke) that the crowd of people filtering into one of the West End’s most-loved venues are here for the air conditioning. However, the emergence of Bricknasty and the roar that greets them are quick to dispel such naïveté.

“Mohammed went through seven heavens; big deal! I wanna see the eighth heaven, tenth heaven, thousandth heaven… One door isn’t enough. A million doors aren’t enough.” Long before seeing Patti Smith perform live, I had already heard her voice. Not through one of her records, but sampled at the end of Rosalía’s 2025 song La Yugular, where the Spanish artist uses a fragment from a 1976 radio interview Smith gave in Stockholm.

A bouquet of flowers and a balloon waiting to congratulate someone on appearing on the big screen for the first time. Around 40 people gathered in Screen 5 of the EYE Cinema on the afternoon of 16 May for the screening of Circus is for Every Body; a documentary that carries that same warmth and sense of celebration throughout its 30-minute runtime.

We invited every candidate, in the local byelection for Gaillimh Thiar/Galway West, to sit down and discuss some issues that are important to students. We asked each candidate the same questions and gave them the chance to share their views. The questions we asked were; Do they support a fully publicly funded free third level education? What would they do to house students What would they do to improve Nightlife? What would they do to improve public transport, especially for commuting students?