USI PRESIDENT Colman Byrne will be breathing a quiet sigh of relief that education officer Malcolm Byrne has opted not to run against him for the USI presidency this year.

Malcolm has decided instead to seek a second term as education officer; both the presidency and the education position are likely to be uncontested this year though there had been rumours that a semi-serious candidate might have emerged from Queen's University Belfast to seek the presidency.

In fact USI Inc (1997) is likely to bear more than a passing resemblance to USI Inc (1996), a possibility which may not be entirely welcomed around the country. As one students' union president put it, "people thought it was going to be different this year, but they've been disappointed".

Another was even more succinct about USI: "It's a retirement home for old hacks and I'm not an old hack yet."

Among the serving officers, Dermot Quain, union development officer, has put any ambitions for higher office on the backburner and appears content to go for a second term. Mark McKenna, president of Dundalk RTC students' union, is also a possible candidate, while Fiona Hannon, UCD's welfare officer, has decided not to run for the position.

USI's current welfare officer, Helen Ryan, may be challenged by Noel Clarke, respected president of St Patrick's students' union, if she seeks re-election; she may opt instead to seek the deputy presidency. Both Mattie O'Callaghan, whose profile as president of Cork RTC students' union has risen considerably since that little misunderstanding with the Department of Education over Waterford RTC, and USI's western area convenor, Ray Lehane, had both been suggested as possible candidates. Neither appears interested.

The position of women's rights officer is likely to be contested by Kerry O'Mahony - a student in Tralee RTC who has taken on much of the women's rights work in the southern area - and a challenger from Queen's - the university's current SU women's rights officer, Maeve Mulroe.

In the south, former Tralee RTC students' union president Eugene Lyons and Mark Kelly, chairman of Waterford RTC students' union, may compete for the post of southern area convenor, while Alan Kelly, president of Galway RTC students' union, appears to be the only contender, so far, for the position of western area convenor.

In Northern Ireland, USI/NUS is engaged in updating its constitution and voting practices, but no candidate for convenor appears to have emerged yet.