UCC students and residents come together for street clean 

UCC Students' Union and the Magazine Road Residents Association joined forces for the first time to spruce up their shared neighbourhood

Local residents and UCC students and staff members taking part in the neighbourhood street clean organised by the UCC Students' Union and Environmental Society. Picture: David Keane

Students, staff and local residents joined forces to clean the streets around UCC on Thursday.

Although both the UCC student body and the Magazine Road Residents Association have organised separate events in the past, this is the first time the two groups have come together – armed with bin bags and litter pickers – for a street clean to spruce up their shared neighbourhood.

Maeve Richardson, communications and engagement officer for UCC Students' Union, said it was an opportunity for both groups to bond.

Maeve Richardson, Communications and Engagement officer for UCC Students' Union: 'We wanted to utilise this opportunity to invite local residents because we want to bond with them.' Picture: David Keane

“We wanted to utilise this opportunity to invite local residents because we want to bond with them. After all, students are residents too. We’re in a world where we don't get to know our neighbours anymore and that's something that we really want to push, that this is all of our neighbourhood,” she said.

I don’t think there's a lot of opportunity for dialogue between students and residents, so providing these opportunities is so important. The minority sadly gets most of the PR and that's something that we're trying to make up for. 

"Most students are working hard, they're researchers, they are activists, they're volunteers, they care about social issues, and we want the residents to see that as well,” she added.

Catherine Clancy, chairperson of the Magazine Road Residents Association, said she and other local residents were excited to join forces with students. Picture: David Keane

Catherine Clancy, chairperson of the Magazine Road Residents Association, said she and other local residents were excited to join forces with students. 

“We very much get the feel from the Students' Union this year that they are very much into the environment, and a lot of our residents are as well. We hope that we can work with the SU and UCC to extend their green campus out into the community,” she said.

We always say, there are 22,000 students in UCC, and of the 22,000 there are probably a cohort of about 200 or 300 that actually make life difficult for us. 

"It’s one community at the end of the day, and I think we're turning a corner back into that. It’s been a difficult time for everybody, a difficult time for students and a difficult time for us, but I do think we can both benefit from building up a relationship and coming up with positive initiatives that we can work together on,” she added.

Student Tadhg Quill-Manley and local resident Mairead Harrington taking part in the neighbourhood street clean. Picture: David Keane

Mark Falvey, a member of UCC’s Environmental Society, said events like the street clean make people more conscious of how they treat their environment.

“A big thing for us is trying to just make people aware of their surroundings. If you’re out litter picking and then you're out on a Thursday night, you're probably more conscious of what you're dropping on the ground, making sure you put things into the bin,” he said.

“Events like this make people more conscious of their own actions. In terms of climate change, it’s all about how we can act now, to save ourselves later,” he added.

The litter pick was just one of some 50 events organised as part of UCC’s Community Week, where staff and students and the public came together to celebrate community engagement with UCC.