The National Institute for Higher Education was founded in Limerick in 1972. The 113 students who started in NIHEL, that year, founded the Students' Union, which was later to become the University of Limerick Students' Union. In its early years, all officers served in a voluntary capacity. The first officers elected included John Redington, John Kerr, Fionnuala Lyddy and Eric Duhan. Pat Carroll was elected in 1975 as the first full-time President. The National College of Physical Eductation, subsequently Thomond College of Education, had a separate students' union also founded in 1972 until its amalgamation with the University of Limerick. Its first President was Brendan Lillis. From its inception in 1972, the union had been involved with the Union of Students in Ireland. ULSU withdrew in 1991 from USI after it decided that the national union was no longer doing what it should be doing for ordinary students on the ground. ULSU has never reaffiliated to USI, although an inquorate referendum held in 2001 on the issue indicated some support among students for such a move. The votes cast in this referendum were counted and showed that just under 55 percent of students who voted were in favour of rejoining. 66 percent in favour would have been needed to pass the referendum. The referendum did not have enough votes.
Re-brand
In July 2018 the union underwent a re-brand to "UL Student Life". This re-brand was spearheaded by the 2017/2018 executive with a view to increase student participation with the organisation. However this re-brand has faced criticism from both past and present students and has raised questions about the democratic process within the union. Under the union's constitution name changes must be approved by a college-wide referendum or an AGM where quorum is 100 students. 25 members were in attendance when the name change was proposed with only 3 voting against the proposed re-brand. The re-brand has also attracted controversy due to the high costs involved. A former Vice-President of the Postgraduate Students’ Union Declan Mills cited costs of between €20,000 and €25,000 for development of the brand by an outside company alone. Additional costs associated with the re-brand are not yet known.
The Students' Union produces a newspaper, An Focal. The production of An Focal was formerly the responsibility of the Vice-President/Communications Officer. Following the abolition of this office in 2012, a full-time student was appointed Editor. The Editor is assisted by an editorial team of student volunteers as well as student contributors. The paper's print schedule was up until December 2017 fortnightly before the union decided to change it to monthly without consulting the editor of An Focal. A spokesperson for the union cited that the paper had "deteriorated considerably in terms of layout, spelling, grammar, use of colour and overall design".
Organisation and services
The Union also provides other services to students - graphics, Nitelink bus service, education advice, welfare advice, second-hand bookshop, and phone repairs. The Students' Union in UL has two main differences from some other Students' Unions:
There is a separate Postgraduate Students Union - to represent all Postgraduate Students on postgraduate issues only. The Postgraduate students elect a full-time sabbatical President and a part-time Vice-President/Treasurer for the PSU.
It runs its own clubs and societies through the UL Wolves brand and administrative superstructure, with its own Executive and two elected reps to the Union Executive - these are administered through the union by and for the students. As of 2018, ULSU supports 37 active clubs and 45 societies.
