Best New Society Neurodiversity

Chairperson: Charlie O' Reardon

UCC Neurodiversity Society (ND Soc) was founded in December 2021 and have been active on campus since January 2022. Getting the society started was a long process and we faced many challenges (including being denied on our first try). We kept pushing to justify the need for our presence on campus and the society was formed.

We have since gone from strength to strength amassing a membership of 300+ and hosting 30+ events throughout the 22/23 academic year. This was the first full academic year we were up and running and it has been a roaring success. Most importantly, we have had the most fun doing what we do and formed friendships to last a lifetime. In addition to this we have enacted change by mandating the Student’s Union and societies to facilitate the presence of quiet zones at all large scale events.

Most recently, we have seen local and national success being awarded ‘Best New Society’ at UCC STARS Awards and the Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) Awards along with being recognised with the Accessibility Awareness Award at STARS and being nominated for Society of the Year at USI’s Student Achievement Awards. Receiving nominations for and winning these awards have meant the absolute world to us, we have worked very hard to ensure that every student has a safe place on campus and to be recognised for our work was an honour.

We are excited to see what the society does going forward and our outgoing committee wishes the 23/24 committee all the best in continuing our work of fighting for every student to be seen and accepted exactly as they are.

Best Society: Government and Politics

Chairperson: Reuban Murray

It has been an incredible 12 months for the UCC Government and Politics Society. With thousands of members, across 40 different events, including Roberta Mestola, Bertie Ahern, Ministers and Cllrs, to leading campaigners for repeal or titan political journalists. We've had an actionpacked year that has kept us all very, very stressed.

At the end of all this, we were honoured to have been awarded UCC best society and best society in Ireland at BICs. It was the first time GovPol had won either award and if we are honest…we didn’t expect it at all. To have our work recognised at that level was so special to all of us in the society.

We are so proud of the team that was able to make so many amazing events happen; we would have failed miserably without the pure enthusiasm and dedication of the committee; who worked so tirelessly to give students the opportunity to engage with and better understand the confusing world of politics. Thank you so much to all those that made this year possible, the exec, the office staff, the Hub desk, and the dozens of individuals we had the pleasure to work with across all the societies.

Politics is the tool through which we can empower ourselves and our peers to bring about change in society, it permeates every part of our lives and it has been our pleasure to try and highlight its importance on campus this year.

Warmly, Your UCC Government and Politics Society