Jack Leahy
Deputy News Editor
January
The year started off on somewhat of a sour note, with then JCR Halls president Plunkett McCullagh disqualified from running for TDCSU Ents officer after doubts emerged regarding his eligibility for the position. Terry Pratchett was among a number of high-profile figures from the arts world appointed by College as adjunct lecturers, and €16,000 of funds were raised by RAG Week events which included a lengthy swim, the week-long companionship of a sex toy, and the unlikely combination of speed dating and sponsored silence.
The biggest story of the month referred to the actions of a number of Trinity and UCD students who wrecked havoc on the ski resort at which the Dublin University Snow Sports Club trip was staying in early January. A female skier was sexually assaulted and a ‘spend-off’ took place before the matter was brought to the Junior Dean.
February
TCDSU’s annual sabbatical officer elections took place and grabbed the headlines throughout two weeks of campaigning and voting. Ryan Bartlett, Rachel Barry, Louisa Miller, Ronan Costello, and Chris O’Connor topped the polls amid an allegedly targetted attack outside of Halls, the resignation of presidential candidates Seb LeCoq and Aaron Heffernan, and some creative stunts. Students also voted no on the student centre levy referendum and gave their backing to Colm Kearney in the provostial race.
Elsewhere, The Piranha editor John Engle was forced to apologise to LeCoq after a controversial candidate profile appeared in the satire’s election special referring to the History student as ‘douchebag from the moment of conception’ and made mocking reference to a medical condition. A number of student leaders condemned the manner in which LeCoq’s character and appearance were delineated in the issue. Engle dedicated the entirety of the following edition’s editorial to the apology.
Outside of the world of student elections, former TCDSU President Conan Ó Broin resigned his position as USI Deputy President to take up a prominent role in a national election campaign, a nation-wide survey of campuses named Fine Gael as the preference of students, and large numbers of students who registered to vote during the SU’s voter registration drive fail to make the electoral register in time to vote in the general election. Labour Education spokesman Ruarí Quinn signed a USI pledge guaranteeing that the Labour party would not increase upfront College fees or make cuts to the grant if elected to government, a promise he would later regret.
March
Gary Redmond was re-elected as USI president at the representative body’s national congress, while TCDSU education officer Jen Fox’s candidacy for the position of USI education officer was rejected. A bizarre usurpation of a Junior Freshman French tutorial saw students warned by their de facto TA that the Irish were destined to become ‘the new Jews’, Brian Dobson chaired a debate between four of the five remaining candidates for the role of Provost, and The Streets, Bell XI, and Jessie J were announced as the headline acts of the 2011 Trinity Ball.
April
Patrick Prendergast, the former Vice-provost and a professor of biomechanical engineering, was elected as Provost of Trinity College Dublin. At 44, he became the youngest provost for over 250 years and took up his position when John Hegarty’s tenure ended on August 1st. Dublin University Football Club defeat UCD 31-22 in the annual Colours rugby match, while a loophole in the College’s mailing lists allowed a still unidentified perpetrator to email all students under the guise of ‘Trinity Cat’.
May
Queen Elizabeth II visited Trinity College Dublin’s Long Room Library as part of an official visit to Ireland. The visit was preceded by a stand-off between the Students’ Union and College with regards the rearrangement of exams scheduled for the day of her visit, with College eventually agreeing to honour the original timetable subject to all exams scheduled for campus locations being moved elsewhere. Miriam O’Callaghan, another queen of sorts, launched DU Players’ annual Shakespeare festival.
June
A typically slow month for College news was alleviated by the news that Scott LaValla, Trinity’s rugby captain in the 2010/11 season, had been awarded a developmental contract with French giants Stade Francais ahead of a role in Eddie O’Sullivan’s US Eagles squad in the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
July
The USI announced that it was taking a case against the government to the High Court with regards cuts to the student grant. The USI had previously declare that students should expect ‘massive delays’ in the delivery of the 2011/12 Higher Education Grants. Trinity Senator David Norris saw his presidential campaign come to a thundering halt as a few naughty letters came to light in the Sunday papers. Outgoing Provost John Hegarty took the chance to remind Trinity students to ‘stay classy’ after his reign.
August
Ruairí Quinn, now Minister for Education, ruled out a loan scheme and signalled that the coalition government would introduce an increase in upfront third level fees. USI officers scaled the railings of Custom House to perform a sleep-out protest against ‘crooked’ landlords who withheld deposits from tenants, and Trinity bid farewell to well-loved former Associate Professor of History R. B. McDowell, who passed away at the age of 98.
September
Trinity Orchestra performed their immensely popular Daft Punk arrangement at the Electric Picnic festival, where Provost Patrick Prendergast also made a presentation based on photographs.
Calvin Harris played a Trinity Ents gig at the packed Academy during Freshers week, during which the newly-formed Horse Racing Society captured the imagination of incoming Freshers. David Norris re-entered the presidential race and visited Trinity on his campaign trail, and The University Times revealed details of a huge data leak on the College network on the same weekend that Trinity FM’s website, on a separate server, was hacked by notorious ‘TIGER M@TE’.
National media and left-wing activists alike quickly picked up on the news that The University Philosophical Society had invited BNP leader Nick Griffin to speak in the GMB on October 20th in a debate on immigration. The invitation swiftly gave rise to a number of student groups opposing the visit of the British MEP.
October
Trinity’s main façade was adorned by an image belonging to the Dublin Contemporary festival, prompting a number of puzzled inquiries as to the identity of the individual whose face was featured in the piece. Trinity fell out of the top 100 universities in the world according to the THE World University Rankings, prompting calls for an increased student contribution to fund third-level education in Ireland.
The Phil withdrew Nick Griffin’s invitation to the October 20th debate after safety concerns arose in the weeks leading up to the event. Their decision was affirmed by the invasion of the GMB by a group of individuals at their weekly debate on the 13th. The event was replaced in their calendar by a debate between GMB society members and Trinity Against Fascism – accused by the Phil of ‘sabotage’ in their efforts to have the invitation withdrawn – regarding a no platform policy for extremist activists.
The USI launched its national ‘Stop Fees, Save the Grant’ campaign, which was to include a march in Dublin City Centre on November 16th. Bollywood film ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ was filmed on campus, starring controversial Bollywood superstar Salman Kahn, the government reconsidered its plans to cease payment to undergraduate nurses for compulsory placement hours, and TCDSU and partners broke a world record for the most people to contribute a line to a story, with over 900 students and mental health activists taking part in the Mental Health Week centrepiece.
November
The USI took put a full-page advertisement in a number of national media outlets branding the government ‘liars’ for considering reneging on pre-election pleas to oppose increased third-level fees. The ‘Stop Fees, Save the Grant’ campaign was deemed a success by the USI, despite a lower turnout than previous years with an estimated 18,000 students marching from Parnell Street. The day of protest ended with a Free Education for Everyone (FEE) group ejected from College having attempted to hold a meeting in the Arts Block.
Towards the end of November, sabbatical officers from a number of students’ unions attempted to occupy several government buildings. Attempts to enter the Labour Party HQ were foiled by a locked door before the group, led by USI President Gary Redmond, arrived at the Department of Social Protection via the Department of Jobs. The group were eventually evicted that evening and a file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
In response to the campaign, TCDSU announced its intention to undergo an extensive process of consultation with the student body with the view to forming a new policy on third level fees. The process began with a Town Hall Meeting on November 30th in the Joly Theatre.
In other news, a theft was reported to have occurred in House 6 as the Sci-Fi society’s room on the top floor was plundered of €1,000.
December
Budget day on December 5th saw an increase of €250 in the student contribution and a scrapping of the postgraduate maintenance grant. It also saw another FEE-led occupation, with the new target being Fine Gael TD Eoghan Murphy’s office in Ranelagh.
TCDSU Council voted to temporarily discontinue sales of the Irish Daily Mail in SU shops following the publication of an article wrongly claiming that the body of missing UCC student Caolan Mulrooney had been found. SU President Ryan Bartlett wrote to the newspaper seeking an apology that was received soon after and a review of which should bring about the end of the boycott.
Bartlett made headlines again in December by calling for a referendum on Trinity’s continued membership of the USI. In response to disillusionment among the student body with regards the manner in which recent campaigns have been waged, Bartlett posited that a formal discourse should occur before members of TCDSU were balloted.
In other news, a complaint was sent to the Junior Dean after a member of Phil council allegedly encouraged an inebriated first year student to strip naked and enter the bed of a female member of the Hist contingent at the Cork IV debating competition.
