This year’s very special Youth Issue of GCN pays tribute to vital role of Irish students in the fight for marriage equality.

Interviewed for the seventh annual GCN Youth Issue, Laura Harmon, who was President of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) during the referendum, said: “I never thought I’d get the privilege to be part of a campaign that was so positive and all about love.”

“Getting students to sign up to register to vote wasn’t a problem – people were so eager to have their say.”

USI Vice-President for Equality and Citizenship. Annie Hooey, added: “Because of all the work that had been done on campuses around marriage equality in the previous years, the momentum was already there. We just needed to facilitate students in having their say.”

Among the USI initiatives in the lead-up the marriage referendum, Laura and Annie were key organisers of an event in Dublin called Big Love, where a record was set for the largest human heart.

“It was one of the highlights as my term as USI President,” said Laura.

According to Annie, “My proudest achievement was on May 22, when pictures and tweets and texts were flying in from all over the country of students going to the polls with their friends and families, so proud of their being on the right side of history.”

Annie and Laura were photographed for the cover of GCN’s Youth Issue in a special shoot by Paul McCarthy.

Read the full feature in the current issue of GCN. Download the GCN app now and get GCN for free on your iOS device every month!