Griffith's International Women's Day Celebrations – Meet Níamh Murtagh

Meet Níamh, Griffith’s new Quality Assurance and Enhancement Officer.

Níamh was previously elected as Students’ Union Communications Officer and Vice-President for Welfare in IT Tralee for two consecutive years.  She was also awarded IT Tralee’s outstanding contribution to student life.

Níamh followed her experience in IT Tralee with roles as Vice-President of the Union of Students in Ireland, as Regional Manager for Ireland’s Southern Colleges and as Welfare Officer.  This involved her setting and implementing national policies relating to third level students. Most recently, Níamh gained experience with the National Forum for Teaching and Learning researching the governance structure of Ireland’s higher education institutions.

Níamh was kind enough to talk us through her journey from then to now.

When I ran for a position In the Students’ Union, I remember feeling so inadequate running against these confident men who seemed to have it all together, but I wanted to make a change so I eventually got the courage to put myself forward.

“I had much more to give than I thought”

After I was successfully elected, I found myself on boards and committees, often overlooked to see what my male counterpart had to say. I met other women in leadership positions or who wanted to run for election, and it was then I realised I had much more to give than I thought. Sharing our stories and experiences helped all of us realise we were just as worthy as anyone else. We had very similar experiences, and sharing of that was really powerful in being able to see ourselves as valuable in our workspaces.

The support of those women helped me run for positions I never thought attainable. They gave me the strength to run for national office at the Union of Students in Ireland, which represents over 374,000 students.

Without those women who became my driving force I would never have been able to achieve half as much. They not only were and still are inspirations, but they encouraged others and supported other women in running for positions in the student movement, jobs and even government.

Two female colleagues in particular were champions for women. They encouraged me to believe in myself, and you need women like that in your life. I will forever be grateful to them for making a little trouble out there on behalf of women.

“Whatever you choose, however many roads you travel, I hope that you choose not to be a lady. I hope you will find some way to break the rules and make a little trouble out there. And I also hope that you will choose to make some of that trouble on behalf of women." –Nora Ephron​

Níamh, we’re delighted to have you on board to champion QAE development, implementation and policy improvements, and we wish you every success here!