USI President Gary Redmond being real real.
Jack Leahy
It’s been somewhat of a mixed day today; while the introduction of campaign stalls in the Arts block and Hamilton intensified the canvassing efforts of most teams, the uncontested races failed to provide spark. Ill education candidate Dan Ferrick reluctantly went home in the early afternoon on the advice of his campaign team, while Team Whelan’s promised onslaught of non-internet campaigning failed to materialise.
Since there are no official poll results on which to comment, today’s sections will be ranked in order of the interest that they generated. In addition to the daily campaign material, this edition of the blog will also contain details of the SU Town Hall Meeting that saw the Phil’s David Byrne take on Union of Students in Ireland President Gary Redmond on the motion ‘TTHW disaffiliate from USI’.
The Phil's Dave Byrne givin' it loads.
Welfare
Nothing particularly scandalous ever happens during welfare campaigns, and today was no exception. However, having been derided for waging personal niceness campaigns as opposed to political campaigns, today saw the candidates step up their efforts to identify themselves as best suited for the role.
Almost everyone that I spoke to today had an opinion on the welfare race, underlining the welfare officer’s critical role in student life. Individually, all three candidates will have reason to believe that they had a good day on the campaign trail. Emma Walker rolled out well-received business cards with her name on the front and the contact details of welfare services on the reverse, and packed the arts block and Hamilton with campaigners. Aisling Ní Chonaire stepped up her rhetoric, challenging her opponents’ proposals and making an active attempt to demonstrate that vast experience informs her proposals. In particular, she was concerned that Walker’s proposed ‘Identity Week’ campaign would lead to pigeon-holing and undue pressure on students to understand themselves. Haughey proved increasingly popular with students and his approachability once again stood out among the electorate.
The candidates met in the Trinity FM studio for yet another discussion, with moderator Rebecca O’Keeffe setting the tone for the next half hour by asking candidates to actively differentiate themselves in their opening remarks. When asked to briefly make their case, Ní Chonaire propounded her manifesto headings of service awareness and expansion, Haughey cited his positive demeanour (‘radiating sunshine, to use his words’) and Walker reminding the other candidates that she is currently employed as a special needs assistant and, as such, has already been deemed suitable for a pastoral role.
In response to a question at the Town Hall debate later that evening, USI President Redmond confirmed that USI sabbatical officer training would not be available to non-affiliates as USI policy forbids working with external Unions. Retrospectively, this placed an added emphasis on O’Keeffe’s question as to how the candidates would source the essential and unique welfare officer training if elected to office in a disaffiliated union. Ní Chonaire detailed the range of service providers with which she would interact so as to ensure she was as adequately trained as possible, while Andy Haughey and Emma Walker agreed that it would be their responsibility if elected to source this training somehow. Haughey proposed lengthening the crossover period and having the outgoing welfare officer offer their expertise by way of training.
As for feedback, the two frontrunners are once again Walker and Ní Chonaire. There was, however, a notable rise in the number of those who indicated Haughey-directed voting intentions, with one student describing him as ‘the only candidate who made an impression on me’. It appears that Haughey’s one-to-one campaining style, indefatiguable positivity and lack of political veneer (bantz and lolz are frequently advocated) have really hit home with some students. Told you he wasn’t finished!
Lastly for welfare, we have two more official items of business.
First, on Monday’s blog we mentioned that Andy Huaghey’s manifesto did not comply with Union disability policy in that certain elements of its text formatting may render it illegible to students with sight issues. When this was brought up on TFM, Huaghey’s response was ‘nobody told me’ – and he’s right, no one did. Schedule 4 of the SU constitution, which contains all matters of policy, is currently unavailable on the new SU website. He could hardly have known he was in the wrong, Apologies, Andy.
Second, team Walker wishes to make a clarification: a miscommunication between herself and USI LGBT Rights Oifficer Siobhán Maguire led to the assertion at LGBT hustings that Pink Training would be available to non-affiliates. This is not the case. Walker released the following statement:
“In the context of Pink Training, and the LGBT Hustings, there was a miscommunication. I however, feel that this would be a detriment to the LGBT Students if we disaffiliated and would put this as an important priority of mine.”
It was an honest error. Anyway, still three candidates in this one. I would hope that, disregarding popularity and campaign politics, the next welfare officer will be elected because they are the person that students would feel most comfortable confiding in. As long as that’s how the votes are cast, then I’m happy.
President
In the continued absence of James Kelly due to a family bereavement, this was once again a quiet day. Rory Dunne was visible throughout campus from early in the morning to late in the afternoon, buoyed by positive poll results released last night. I didn’t see John Tighe around much, but there was certainly a greater number of orange ‘Tigher’ t-shirts around campus than there has been throughout the week. Overall, feedback matched yesterday’s poll results with no notable divergences.
However, as it was identified to me that Kelly and Dunne’s internship policies were a major point of interest for potential voters, The University Times contacted both candidates asking for more information on their plans, how feasible their promises were, and what correspondence they could produce to back it up.
Dunne produced a number of emails from KMPG, third-level institutions, and academics with research links indicating degrees of interest varying in interest from the very enthusiastic to the distinctly possible. Specifically on his point about Trinity-exclusive internships, at least one major company indicated a willingess to allocate a quota of its internship places to Trinity students.
In response to questions as to the viability of course-integrated internships schemes within Trinity’s unique and complex academic structure and a request to view any correspondences that might affirm feasibility, Kelly said the following:
”I feel that name-dropping is all well and good, but I think it is unrealistic to get MNCs and US universities to come on board right away. I want to work on a more local level, and I have an example from within our own college. In Ancient History & Archeology (AHA) second and third year students have the option to get hands on experience in internships that are accredited for their course through on site reports and diaries. These take place during summer months and are organised through the department but sought after independently by students. I want to work on a department by department basis by establishing liaisons between departments and potential intern employers. It’s a realistic goal and one that doesn’t rely on fickle promises.
It appears that both candidates are willing to fight this race on policies, which is exactly how it should be done. It remains to be seen which internship proposal best appeals to students, or whether it matters at all in relation to Tighe’s appeal to re-politicise student politics.
As a final point, The University Times was told by one student of their distaste that Kelly ‘didn’t bother showing up for hustings’. We would like to clarify that a family bereavement meant that James could not attend and that Darren O’Gorman stepped in for him out of necessity.
Communications
Today, though not as hectic as yesterday, was a crucial day for all three candidates as they dealt with student reaction to the first external poll, yesterday’s hustings, and the UT’s video debate going online.
James Hagan said that his third day of campaigning was going well and claimed that his plan is to “keep doing what [he’s] doing and hope it resonates.” On the progress of the campaign, he said that being “in the midst of it, it’s difficult to see how it’s going.” The results of yesterdays UT poll will have given him some indication of his performance though he insists that the online poll may not be too strong an indication of how students feel. At nine points behind leader Owen Bennett, Hagan insisted today that there’s only one poll he cares about. He said that the poll would not change anything about how he’s running his campaign and that he is currently “utterly focused on talking to people.” “I can’t be telling you that” he said when asked about stunts he has planned before saying “I’ll let you know!” with a wry smile as Lobby Lobstar hovered by.
Despite the disappointment of he UT poll which places her a distant third, Hannah Cogan claimed that she was having her best day yet, with positive reactions to the UT debate and last night’s LGBT hustings. Cogan said that supporters have been coming up to her and telling her that yesterday’s poll is not truly representative of students’ opinions. In the wake of the poll, however, she claims that she would like to make her campaign more visible and to “really start bothering people.” With regard to the debate, Cogan said that though each candidate made valid points, she was proud of her own performance. She will be releasing the first of her own campaign videos soon with an event scheduled for Monday.
Owen ‘Cabbage’ Bennett, the outright leader according to yesterday’s poll, today said that his campaign was gaining momentum and that there has been good reaction to his Arts Block stand, neatly adorned with a pyramid of cabbage. While admitting that he is pleased with the poll results, he noted that “it is important to take them with a pinch of salt”, and that he’s not getting carried away. Bennett doesn’t plan to alter his campaign in the wake of the poll, saying that he’s going to continue to try and give his campaign the right mix of seriousness and fun. Yesterday evening was spent canvassing from door to door in Halls, the reaction to which Bennett claims was very good. He insists that the response to the UT debate has been equally positive. Reflecting on the debate, Bennett said that he was happy to have had “a good, policy-based discussion.”
What is worth noting, however, is that feedback received today differed greatly from that of yesterday’s poll. Over 150 students in the arts block, nursing school, and Hamilton were consulted and the majority preference seemed to lie with Hagan, with Cogan faring much, much better than the ufair 12% indicated by yesterday’s poll. Given that all of eleven hours elapsed between the conclusion of the poll and the beginning of my canvassing of opinion, I have to conclude that either opinions have massively shifted overnight or the poll didn’t reach a representative portion of students. That said, most of the other race results seemed to be reflected by voces populi today. Purely on voter feedback, the race currently stands Hagan-Cogan-Bennett with much to play for.
Ents
After the major setback of the ‘Whelan for Ents’ Facebook page being taken down until Thursday evening an impressive on campus campaigning presence was expected by all today. The penalty, imposed by the EC, was a result of a campaign team member inviting guests to Whelan’s campaign party last night through an alternative Facebook page. Considering the dent in the most effective campaigning tool, not only was his campaign team lacking this morning as the first navy t-shirt was spotted at about 11.30a.m in the arts block, but Whelan himself failed to show until early afternoon.
The flash mob of ‘Rock the Boat’ at 2pm seemed to improve the buzz in the arts block with many other election candidates also joining in. However, Whelan’s team unfortunately did not continue to rock the boat today as the members quickly abandoned ship and dispersed leaving Whelan and campaign manager, Jack Cantillon, the only men left standing to hold the fort in the arts block.
Many candidates for the elections set up stands in both the arts block and the Hamilton buildings early this morning and remained there until 5pm today with every field of the elections represented – bar Ents, who were believe were meant to have a stand in the Hamilton. However, support for Whelan still remains strong despite the poor campaigning presence as those who turned out for hustings yesterday still seem impressed.
With little flyering, a flash mob and another human ‘W’ symbol completed for Day 3, hopefully Whelan’s team will kick the campaigning presence and the battle against RON up a notch tomorrow as we get into the final days of the core campaigning week.
Education
Not much to be said for today’s education campaign as its only candidate – Dan Ferrick – was forced back home to bed by an illness.
Before that, Ferrick managed to squeeze in a few lecture address that went down well with potential voters. Lia Brazil, whose history lecture was addressed by Ferrick, told The University Times that ‘despite the lecturer only giving him one minute, by the end of his address he had everyone clapping. I’m happy to vote for Dan’.
Elsewhere, Ferrick reacted to a lack of knowledge as to the job of the education officer by unveiling a campaign-branded whiteboard on which students were encouraged to write what they wanted their education officer to do before posing for a photo.
Feedback places Ferrick miles clear of the option to re-open nominations. As I said on Monday, it’d take an unholy mess to derail team Ferrick right now.
