Irish Second-Level Students' Union

What Irish Second-Level Students' Union does

The Irish Second-Level Students' Union (ISSU) is the national representative body for second-level (secondary school) students in the Republic of Ireland, founded in 2008 and operated as a registered charity (Charity No. 20141868 / CHY22315) and Company Limited by Guarantee (CRO No. 511901). Headquartered at Liberty Hall, Dublin 1, ISSU runs a free membership programme for democratically elected student councils, reaching 622 registered schools representing 86% of all secondary schools in Ireland and 376,705 students nationwide. Members receive access to events, free student council training, national and regional representation, voting rights at Regional Councils and An Chomhdháil Bhliantúil, and resources, campaigns, surveys, and consultations. The organisation is governed by elected student officers (Coiste Gnó na nDaltaí) with day-to-day operations managed by an Executive Director and a small secretariat including National and Regional Student Voice Organisers.

ISSU's core product surface includes free ISSU Membership, Exam Blogs (a peer-content platform where Leaving Cert and Junior Cert students publish exam experiences, with selected posts published by RTÉ), a password-protected ISSU Portal for elected officers, the Skills Academy (a three-day leadership and activism training event), the ISSU Documents resource library, and Student Council Support services. The underlying technology stack is modest: the public website is hosted on Squarespace with first-party cookies for functionality, security, and analytics, and the organisation maintains dedicated email channels for member schools and liaison teachers plus active social media accounts on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter/X, and Facebook. No proprietary software, mobile applications, APIs, or AI/ML capabilities are evident in the data.

ISSU's revenue model is a freemium/donation hybrid: membership is provided at no cost to student councils, while the organisation accepts donations through its website checkout and presumably receives grants and institutional support. Distribution is direct via school-level sign-ups, and go-to-market is community-led through events, surveys, campaigns, and an Annual Assembly. The customer base is highly distributed across 622 member schools, with named partnership relationships spanning state institutions (Office of the President, IHREC, Department of Education-adjacent TDs) and NGOs (Plan International Ireland, European Youth Forum, UN Youth Delegate programme).

Name

Irish Second-Level Students' Union

Legal name

Irish Second-Level Students' Union CLG

Website

https://issu.ie

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Irish Second-Level Students' Union (ISSU), founded in 2008, is a registered Irish charity and the national representative body for second-level students, serving 622 member schools and 376,705 students through free membership, training events, advocacy, and peer-content programmes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Dublin 1

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Membership is free for student councils - schools join through democratically elected student councils that agree with the ISSU ethos and aims.
2. Donations: The organization accepts donations through its website checkout system.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ISSU is the national representative body for second-level (secondary school) students in the Republic of Ireland, founded in 2008 and run by students for students. It offers free membership to over 600 schools, providing national and regional representation, leadership training (Skills Academy), advocacy on education policy, and an Exam Blogs platform. The union operates through democratic structures including elected student officers (Coiste Gnó), Regional Councils, and an annual assembly (An Chomhdháil Bhliantúil).

Product overview

The Irish Second-Level Students' Union (ISSU) operates as a national representative body for second-level students in the Republic of Ireland, founded in 2008 and run by students, for students. The organisation's core offerings include a free membership network of over 600 schools, an Exam Blogs platform where students share exam experiences, a password-protected ISSU Portal for elected officers, Skills Academy leadership training events, and a comprehensive ISSU Documents resource library. The membership provides access to events, training, national/regional representation, voting rights, and opportunities to participate in working groups and nominate candidates for leadership positions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ISSU Membership Free membership program connecting over 600 member schools and their Student Councils, providing guaranteed access to ISSU events, free student council training, support, national/regional representation, voting rights at Regional Councils and An Chomhdháil Bhliantúil, and access to resources, campaigns, surveys, and consultations.
• Skills Academy Three-day leadership and activism training event offering students opportunity to develop skills in change-making, negotiation, and the role of trade unions, with guest speakers and facilitators covering important activism topics. Free lunch provided, with optional free accommodation for students travelling from outside Dublin.
• Exam Blogs Platform where Leaving Cert and Junior Cert students share their exam experiences through written blog posts, providing peer-to-peer insights into exam performance and subject reviews.
• ISSU Portal Password-protected internal portal available exclusively for ISSU elected officers and staff for internal organisational purposes.

Quantifiable outcome

• 622 schools representing 376,705 students nationwide (86% of secondary schools)

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 December 2025ISSU hosted a Peer Education event in the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) in Dublin by the Official Irish Delegation (International Officer). The event brought together students to take part in workshops and discussions focused on global issues including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as broader themes around wellbeing and active participation.
• Oifig an Uachtaráin (Office of the President)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 March 2025The Mansion House hosted ISSU's Debate Your Decision Makers event. Students from across the country gathered in Dublin's Mansion House for this event, focusing on engaging students with public representatives on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), providing a platform for discussion and idea-sharing.
• Cuir amach anseo (Too Into You)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 March 2025Women's Conference featured workshops delivered by Too Into You raising awareness around important issues including relationships.
• Plan International IrelandminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 March 2025Women's Conference featured workshops delivered by Plan International Ireland raising awareness around important issues including period justice.
• European Youth ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerISSU references evidence from the European Youth Forum supporting that allowing younger people the opportunity to vote increases civic engagement. The organization advocates for lowering the voting age to 16.
• UN Youth DelegateminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWomen's Conference included a keynote address from the UN Youth Delegate, alongside two panel discussions focused on health advocacy and breaking barriers.
• Sandy Mount/TCD Second-Level Teachers' AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Coiste Gnó Meeting Minutes can be found on the Coiste Gnó Updates page. ISSU works with teacher representatives such as those from the Second-Level Teachers' Association.
• Oifig an TD (TD Ciarán Cannon)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerISSU collaborates with elected officials including TD Ciarán Cannon for the Committee on Education, working on education policy.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• National Union of Students (NUS) UK: National students' union for further and higher education in the UK. Comparable in mission (national student representation, campaigns, training) and structure (membership-based, elected leadership).
• Union of Students in Ireland (USI): National representative body for higher education students in Ireland. Direct analog to ISSU at the third-level, sharing the same membership-union model, advocacy focus, and Irish policy context.
• NUS-USI: Students' union covering Northern Ireland, affiliated with NUS UK. Closely comparable to ISSU as a national student representative body operating alongside the Irish higher-education USI.

Regional players

• Young Social Innovators: Irish charity supporting secondary school students to tackle social issues through innovation projects. Overlaps with ISSU's secondary-school member base and youth-empowerment mission.
• Foróige: Ireland's leading youth organisation operating volunteer-led clubs for 10–18 year olds. Comparable in leadership development and youth-voice mission, though explicitly programmes-based rather than advocacy-based.
• Comhairle na nÓg: Ireland's national network of youth councils for 12–17 year olds, established by the Department of Children. Overlaps with ISSU's mission of giving young people a voice in decisions that affect them, and competes for the same volunteer time.

Broad incumbents

• European Youth Forum: Platform of European youth organisations influencing EU policy. ISSU cites its research in voting-age advocacy; it represents the same supranational youth-representation space at a broader, EU-wide level.
• National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI): Umbrella body representing voluntary youth organisations in Ireland. Comparable in representing youth-sector interests to government, but at a sector-wide level rather than a single student constituency.
• Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU): European umbrella for pre-tertiary school student unions across Europe. ISSU engages with this body at the international level; it is a broader, supranational platform activating the same constituency.

Emerging players

• Spunout: Irish youth information platform run by Young Social Innovators. Provides digital content (mental health, education, rights) to a similar 16–24 cohort, with a stronger digital product orientation than ISSU.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/issu_ie
• TikToktiktok.com/@issu_ie
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/irish-second-level-students'-union

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Irish Second-Level Students' Union