When I sit down for coffee with Jenny Maguire, she arrives with that unmistakable mix of calm composure and quiet fire that defines a true activist. She listens as intently as she speaks, weighing her words carefully, but never without humour. Having made history as Trinity College’s first trans SU president and a name now synonymous with student activism, Jenny is the sort of person who makes change sound both necessary and entirely possible. At the time of our chat, she had just been nominated for The GALAS Person of the Year and the Joe Drennan LGBTQ+ Young Trailblazer awards. She spoke about it with typical humility. “It’s lovely to be recognised,” she said, “but none of this work happens alone. I’ve just been lucky to have incredible people alongside me.”
That collective spirit runs through everything she does. During her presidency at Trinity, Jenny led the charge for the university to become the first in the West to cut ties with the Israeli state due to the genocide in Gaza, a bold and principled move that made international headlines. She also used her platform to champion trans rights and LGBTQ+ representation, ensuring that the most marginalised voices were not only heard but amplified.
“Representation isn’t just symbolic,” she told me. “It can literally change lives, influence policy, and reshape how society understands belonging.”
Jenny’s activism is as much about connection as conviction. She talks about social justice in layered terms, a web of struggles that overlap and intersect.
“You can’t fight for one form of equality without addressing the rest,” she says. “It’s all linked from queer liberation to economic justice to anti-racism. It’s about building solidarity that lasts.”
Her background in musical theatre and performance may not seem like the obvious route into activism, but Jenny insists it shaped her politics.
“Theatre was my first political education,” she laughs. Jenny explains that theatre teaches empathy, community, and imagination, the things that keep movements alive. She credits much of her strength to her upbringing and early experiences. Her mother’s influence, she says, taught her compassion and perseverance; her time in student politics taught her courage and accountability. Through it all, she’s been candid about the pressure that comes with visibility and the importance of resilience and self-care. “You have to look after yourself to look after others,” she says simply.
Jenny is the kind of leader who resists pedestal building. Every time the spotlight turns her way, she redirects it toward the people and communities around her.
“Change isn’t made by one person,” she reminds me. “It’s built through collective effort, through friends, allies, and the people who show up when no one’s watching.”
Since our conversation, Jenny went on to receive the Joe Drennan LGBTQ+ Young Trailblazer award at this year’s GALAS. Unfortunately, she couldn’t be there in person to accept the trophy after an accident with a kettle left her with second-degree burns. A close friend accepted the award on her behalf, reading a speech Jenny had written that opened with the words “Dear gay people”, a perfectly fitting and funny introduction. True to her spirit, Jenny’s words reflected her lifelong commitment to community, solidarity, and love in action.
In her speech, she wrote, “It is vital that our movement becomes truly inclusive if it wishes to succeed once more, and it can only do so by pursuing a relentless mission of economic justice for all. Our world does not have to be this way; it is actively being made so by landlords, the rich, and our government. Saoirse don Phalaistín, go raibh míle maith agaibh gach duine.”
Jenny Maguire’s story isn’t about accolades or attention. It’s about the steady, creative and deeply human effort to make the world fairer for everyone.