Queen's University Belfast Students' Union

Currently, the Union is governed by an Executive Committee who are aided by a number of full-time staff, and answerable to the Students' Union Council (SUC). In the past, the SU had gained a reputation for being highly politicised and sectarian through the nature of debates and motions before the SRC, and through official policies. In recent years, sectarianism has become less of an issue as Northern Ireland society becomes progressively more normalised.

Elections for the SUC take place in October and seats are filled through proportional representation (PR), with constituencies representing each faculty. The elections in 2007, saw the use of online voting for the first time, resulting in a substantial rise in the number of people who both sought election and voted.[10] Following the changes made to the constitution and constitutional rules in 2007, the number of Councillors was reduced to one hundred from around 160; the move is an attempt to streamline the process and increase competition for seats. The SUC also elects the membership of several committees which oversee the work of the relevant elected officers and formulate Union policy. The Union Speaker chairs meetings of the SUC and is elected at the inaugural meeting of the SUC each year in late October/early November.

The Executive Management Committee (EMC) of the Union comprises the six sabbatical (full-time) officers, which was reduced from seven from the 2016/17 academic year, and the Director and Deputy Director. In addition to this, there are 16 non-sabbatical (part-time) officers, including the Union Speaker, who also sit on the EMC. The EMC is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day work of the Union and works with the Management Board in setting strategy and measuring outputs, with the Management Board also having a number of external 'trustees' and representatives from the University.

The sabbatical officers are elected in March every year, take office from 1 July and represent the students in dealings with the University and other groups.[11][12]

In November 2018, the Students' Union Council voted to create two new non-sabbatical officer positions: the Trans Students' Officer and the Irish Language Officer.

The Union provides an 'Advice Centre' that offers guidance to students in the areas of accommodation, academic affairs, student finance, counselling and welfare. These services are provided by the executive officers in addition to a permanent team of advisors.

There are more than 50 sporting clubs, including Football (QUB AFC), hockey (QUB Hockey), boating (QUB Boat Club) and Gaelic games. As well as this there are more than one hundred non-sporting societies, including cultural groups like An Cumann Gaelach and the Ulster-Scots Society, gaming societies such as the Dragonslayers, activism societies like the Belfast chapter of oikos International, Amnesty International and debating groups such as the Literary and Scientific Society (Literific) and QUB Model UN, while most of the University's schools and departments also have a corresponding society such as the Law Society and the Belfast Medical Students Association (BMSA). There are also multiple societies serving international students, such as the International Students Society (QISS) and the Malaysian Students Society (MSSNI). Clubs and societies receive annual grants from the University via the VP Student Activities to carry out their educational roles; however, although political clubs and religious societies (such as the Christian Union and the Humanist Society) receive official recognition from the SU Council, they do not receive money from the Union. Most of the main political groups on the island are present at Queen's including: Labour Students (the student wing of the British Labour Party), Northern Ireland Conservative Future (the youth movement of the British Conservative Party), the Young Greens, Queens's Alliance (part of Alliance Youth), Ógra Fianna Fáil (the first branch in Northern Ireland), the Democratic Unionist Association, the Young Unionists, SDLP Youth, Sinn Féin Republican Youth, the Socialist Party and the Socialist Workers Party.[13]

Queen's Students' Union is the long term venue of Q-Con, one of the largest gaming conventions in the UK and the largest in Ireland. It is an event critically acclaimed[14][15] by members of the gaming industry, in particular because it is organised exclusively by the members of the Queen's University Dragonslayers society.

The Union also provides facilities for these societies within the Union, including several club rooms and a resource centre, while the former Snack Bar is used by the larger societies. The Space (formerly the Beech Room) can be partitioned to allow clubs and societies to use parts of it.

The commercial services of the Union have changed since it first opened, and once included a laundrette and even baths. There are several different businesses based in the actual building, space is rented to a coffee chain franchise, a pharmacy, a Santander branch and a used bookshop.

However, the main bulk of commercial activity is carried out by the Union itself, including at BarSub, Bunatee Bar, Mandela Hall, the Snooker Rooms, the Speakeasy Bar and SU Shop (including Ticketmaster).

The Students' Union has four licensed entertainment venues; Mandela Hall, Speakeasy Bar, Bunatee Bar & Bar Sub. The combined capacity of the building's entertainment venues is over 2000, dwarfing that of its nearby private competitors. The Students' Union's Freshers Ball, Halloween Ball and St Paddy's Party are the biggest student nights in Belfast with all these venues sold out.

The Mandela Hall is ones of Belfast's most popular live music venues. In the 2009–10 academic year, it hosted Slash, Feeder, Mumford & Sons, Ocean Colour Scene, Little Boots and Airbourne. The Union promotes live music under the "RADAR" brand. Thursday nights in the Speakeasy are home to "RADAR LIVE", the Union's local music night.

The Union provides a year long entertainment calendar, focusing on the two Queen's University semesters. Entertainment includes multi-venue club nights, traditional music, quizzes, Queen's Comedy Club and theme nights. The Students' Union provides a value offering for its members, with drink prices and promotions remaining consistently cheaper than local competitors. It has, however, come under criticism for being more expensive than Unions in Great Britain. It is one of the cheapest Union's in Ireland.

The past several years have seen the growth of student media within the Union, which now includes print, web and broadcast. The Gown is seen as the paper of record of the Union although it is entirely independent and relies solely on advertising revenues. The Union has also funded its own publication for several decades, but following the failure of several different papers in previous years, the SU Mag was launched in September 2007 by former Deputy President Sarah McCaffrey. The SU Magazine went on to win the Best Student Magazine of the Year and Best Design and Layout at the annual Student Media Awards in Dublin. Plans were also announced by Sarah McCaffrey in November 2007 to launch a Union television station called 'SU TV' which would initially be broadcast in the Union and on a re-launched 'SU Website', it is expected to be up and running in early 2008 and will use the studio in the Union building built by the University's Film Studies Department. The Union is also home to the student station, Queen's Radio (QR) who broadcast on 1134MW in a 12-mile radius from a transmitter based in the Students' Union, as well as online via their website. Unlike SU TV, Queen's Radio is an official society and independent of the Union. The station is the only one of its kind in Northern Ireland and has one of the largest membership of any QUB society. All four media outlets, regardless of their status, are, or will be based, primarily in the Union building.

RAG (Raise and Give) is the official charitable fundraising group of the SU, although it is operated in a similar way to societies, it is monitored by the SUC and the constitution states that the Vice-President Student Activities is the group's treasurer. RAG chooses four local charities on an annual basis and raises money through a variety of fund raising events and coordinates 'RAG Week'. The group also raises money through the publication of its annual joke book, 'PTQ'. This year, RAG's President is Paul Loughran.