Comhdháil and What’s included?

Congress fees are generally paid by the Students’ Union and there is no charge from USI to any delegate or accredited observer directly.

This is a fully catered event which will include:

• 3 nights’ B&B accommodation
• Lunch on each day
• Dinner on Monday, Tuesday evenings
• Congress Dinner on Wednesday evening
• Access to the leisure facilities of the hotel
• Entertainment

Food

The Congress Director has been assured by the hotel that all notified allergies & intolerances will be catered for at the event, and Gluten Free, Vegetarian and Vegan options will all be available. Delegates will be asked by their delegation leader to provide details of any food intolerances or requests.

Bring your Student Card and Proof of Age.

Bring your Student Card or some form of ID which proves you are a student at the college attached to your Students’ Union and an adult.  No ID, no checkin. Comhdháil is an adults-only event.

Clothes

Best to bring some. It’s best to have comfortable clothes for debate sessions, because these last all day.   By all means have an evening change of clothes for the social events if you wish.  Wednesday evening is a Gala dinner, so if you wish to be all fancy for that, that’s fine too. No pressure.

If you’re going to use the leisure facilities, bring togs. Please.

Questions

If you have queries about Comhdháil, please feel free to ask the Congress Director:  congress@usi.ie 

Check-in

It’s a busy time of year for hotels. Not all rooms will be available to check in on Monday 14 April.

If you’re arriving on Sunday night, you can check in after 3pm on Sunday. If you are checking in on Sunday night, note that this is a separate deal which your SU will be making with the hotel, and we are not responsible for. It may be that the hotel needs you to move rooms on the Monday morning.

If you’re arriving on Monday morning, there will be a bag-drop area and rooms will be available to check in, in the afternoon.

Accommodation

USI Comhdháil accommodation, as in all previous years, is on the basis of shared rooms. In the vast majority of cases, rooms will be shared between members of their own delegation.

Single rooms are not available on an elective or medical basis for this event. Your delegation leader will be ultimately responsible for sharing arrangements within your delegation, subject to USI’s responsibility to ensure full occupancy of available beds. 

Neither your own delegation leader nor anyone at USI is able to guarantee you a single room. 

Rooming lists will not be available until check-in.

Accessibility

A limited number of fully accessible (roll-in) rooms are available at the hotel and will be reserved for delegates with a certified medical requirement.

Delegates with mobility disabilities will be facilitated as far as possible to be accommodated in accessible rooms close to elevators. The Congress Director may need to communicate with delegates with such conditions personally and confidentially to assess the requirements of delegates.

Observers

Each delegation is entitled to bring up to 2 student observers to Comhdháil. An observer must be a student who would be otherwise eligible to be a delegate. They must be registered in a course of study at the Member Organisation’s institution and possess a valid, current student card.

Press observers

Accredited members of the press may attend open sessions of Comhdháil between 10am and 7pm.  Make arrangements for accreditation with Sumyrah Khan, our PR & Communications Manager on pr@usi.ie 

Public observers

The Congress Director has determined that, for reasons of available space, there will be no public uninvited observers for USI Comhdháil 2025.

Questions

If you have queries about Comhdháil, please feel free to ask the Congress Director:  congress@usi.ie 

Registration for Comhdháil 2025 will close at 13.00 on 31 March 2025. Names of all delegates and observers (or TBCs in the case of officers to be elected) must be registered by this time.

No delegation registration or changes will be permitted after this time.

The delegation fee for Comhdháil this year is €430 per delegate and includes accommodation, meals and entertainment.

Note that any accommodation on Sunday night is not included in your fee and should be arranged directly with the hotel, who will be pleased to offer you a discounted rate for the night. Mention that you’re a delegate for the Comhdháil.

• You won’t be immediately checking in to your rooms.
• Your Delegation Leader should go to Comhdháil Check-In with the student cards and photo IDs of all delegates and observers, and a note of any substitutions to the delegation list.
• The Delegation leader will be given Delegate Credentials for each registered delegate and Observer Credentials for each registered observer, where they were registered by the close of Registrations.
• Any substitutions to the delegation list will be noted by USI Staff and credentials for the substitutes will be ordered.  Credentials for substituted delegates will be issued by the opening of Congress at 14.00.
• Members with a large number of substitutions should explain to their delegates that their check-in will be delayed as a result.