10. Jack Leahy and Joel Loll McKeever
The panel has decided to include Jack Leahy and Joel McKeever, two promising second year students, in the Trinity Ten due to the “bright futures” they are sure to enjoy within Trinity. They haven’t reached the same level of influence as the rest of the names on this list yet but they are well on their way. Indeed, some might say that their level of involvement is impressive to the point that they are bewilderingly omnipresent. Leahy is sports editor of this very publication, sits on the Oversight Committee of the SU and is currently trying to start a “Random Acts of Kindness” society. McKeever, heavily involved in Players, Lit Soc and Q Soc, was awarded “Fresher of the Year” at the last CSC Awards ceremony. They are two of a slew of second years who made names for themselves in their first year, including Aidan Bond-James, Ian Curran, Ellen Hanly, and Fíodhna Horan-Murphy – all of them very likely to make appearances on future editions of this list.
9. Anna Cosgrave
Anna Cosgrave places ninth on this year’s list, managing to keep a spot on the Trinity Ten after placing in the teens of last year’s Trinity Twenty. Cosgrave’s climb on the list reflects her continued involvement in extra curricular activities. She was likened to Karl Rove in last year’s list due to her continued electoral success in the highly fraught political environment of The Phil. This year, after resigning her hard won position of Secretary and further broadening her focus, her other talents outside of electoral acumen have become more apparent. Anna holds the position of Speaker Convenor for Trinity Entrepreneurial Society, is the events coordinator for the Trinity Arts Festival and is on the committee of the CSC Executive. This level of involvement resulted in the Irish Feminist Network naming her a “young female leader in Irish society” and creating a peppy video about her with a “Florence and the Machine” backing track. How very inspirational.
8. Plunkett McCullagh
Plunkett McCullagh has been described unanimously across the panel as one of “the soundest lads ever”. As a man with fingers in many pies Plunkett has been at the forefront of plenty campaigns and causes, but his soundness has never wavered and for this the panel thinks he must be commended. Elected as the JCR Music Officer in his second year with a budget of €20,000 he organised and oversaw the construction of the new Trinity Hall Music Room and founded the Trinity Hall Music Society. Following on from his success as JCR Music Officer Plunkett was elected the JCR President. As President, Plunkett decided to take a year off books, and with the extra time on his hands the JCR had one of their most successful years in recent memory. With Colm Moore as his Vice President, the pair organised an trip to Barcelona and a ski trip to Les Arcs in France, as well as numerous “class” nights out and balls. Last year, there were rumors that Plunkett would run for SU Ents Officer but due to his off books status he was deemed ineligible. When Chris O’Connor threw his hat in the ring it was Plunkett who would go on to manage one of the best guerilla Ents campaigns Trinity has seen in a while. In just three weeks the team went from the underdogs to the top dogs. For the coming year Plunkett is now sitting comfortably as Chris O’Connor’s Ents Secretary as well as being event manager for the Trinity Student Management Fund. It would seem appropriate to suggest that Plunkett will run for Ents officer this year. Having been very much at the forefront of the JCR, he will now work behind the scenes for the year in preparation for the Ents race.
7. Aaron Heffernan
Aaron Heffernan is the “character” of this list. He doesn’t hold any major position in a society or the SU, nor does he sit on the CSC executive. Aaron’s influence is generated by his charisma and talent. His joke run at SU President last year, in his Obama character, drew attention not just from Trinity’s student population but from colleges all over the country. Heffernan’s daily videos and staged appearances drew attention to the SU elections that they would never have otherwise received. During Obama’s visit Heffernan received national exposure, appearing on the Saturday Night Show, TV3 news and getting mentions in the national newspapers. He is also in “A Betrayal Of the Penguins”, a comedy sketch trio that has performed sold out shows two years in a row at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. As well as being an accomplished comedic performer, he also is a talented stage actor and has appeared in numerous productions, both in and outside of college. He received an ISDA award for his puppetry in “The Happy Prince” and has an acclaimed painting hanging in the Players Theatre. The panel thinks it would be mean-spirited to level any criticism against Heffernan. He has no official obligations to the student body – all we are asked to do is sit back and be entertained.
6. Marc Atkinson
The enigmatic cover star of this issue’s magazine is none other than Marc Atkinson, chair of DU Players, Trinity’s highly accomplished drama society. As the new chair of one of Trinity’s biggest and most well-known societies, Atkinson has some big shoes to fill – last year’s chair, Matt Smyth, placed second on the 2010 Trinity Twenty. Smyth certainly lived up to this placement by helping to ensure a successful year for Players with a number of high profile shows (including the sublimely ridiculous musical adaptation of Jurassic Park, Jurasstastic) and the much publicised week long Oscar Wilde and Shakespeare festivals. Despite the panel’s best efforts, we didn’t manage to find any rumblings of discontent around Atkinson’s upcoming reign as chair. Universally regarded as a likable character with a strong background in theatre, an air of excitement surrounds his taking on of the top job. However, big differences are expected between his chairmanship and Smyth’s. One of the main sources of tension within Players is disagreement over what exactly they should be doing with their time and resources. Although Smyth did a great job promoting the society many felt that recently there has been too much focus on humorous and campily entertaining events like the aforementioned “Jurasstastic” and the Players take on the dating show “Take Me Out”, resulting in the feeling that the society has been straying from its roots in serious drama. Atkinson’s priorities definitely lie within this sphere of “serious drama” – a scholar of the college in drama and theatre studies, he certainly has the strong theoretical background as well as the long history of involvement in stage productions necessary to make sure Players is producing impressive theatre. Indeed, the panel has even been told that he has an exciting “artistic vision” for the future of Players and while we’re not quite sure what that entails, we look forward to finding out.
5. Max McQuillan
DUBES (Dublin University Business and Economics Society) is one of Trinity’s largest and most notorious societies. It attracts mostly BESS students and its culture is therefore reflective of the population of that course – it’s filled with people who love to party and are also very good at making money. While DUBES has a reputation as a party society, it is also perhaps the society that has the most tangible direct career benefits for its members. In this context, current auditor Max McQuillan is perfect for the job. McQuillan is well organised and enterprising and is known for never getting sidetracked or giving up on a goal. He recently summered in San Francisco where he interned at an internet start-up company but still found time to make money on the side – he reportedly bought a bike there that he resold for twice as much upon returning to Dublin. The panel has also been reliably informed that he was the main motivating force in making sure that his group of friends consistently got up at a respectable time of day and spent time sightseeing. Despite all that, he was still very much engaged in stereotypical J1 summer beer legend behavior, earning himself the title “Mad Max” (used at least semi-ironically, the panel hopes). An optimistic, motivated and fun person, his position as DUBES auditor should result in great things for both him and the society. Under his leadership it should go a long way towards strengthening its culture of excess, indulgence and engaging very successfully with the dark nature of capitalism.
4. Eoin O’Liatháin and Liam Ó’Néill
Eoin O’Liatháin and Liam O’Néill, president of The Philosophical Society and Auditor of The Historical Society respectively, find themselves sharing a spot in fourth place due to the hugely significant presence their societies hold on campus. Some of the activities these large debating societies participate in are greatly appreciated by college administration: their successes in international debating competitions and their ability to attract high profile guest speakers are extremely beneficial to the reputation and social life of Trinity. Evidence of their importance to college is seen in the fact that both O’Liatháin and O’Néill were included in a very small greeting party for the Queen of England’s visit to Trinity at the end of last year. Leadership of the debating societies is a difficult and stressful job – the logistical hardship of overseeing the many activities of such a large society is added to by the notorious infighting and faction forming which both societies experience every year. Both O’Liatháin and Ó’Néill have taken somewhat unusual paths to the top, seemingly avoiding much of the political warfare many go through as they attempt to climb up the ranks of the GMB. This time last year not many people would have predicted either of them would hold the position they do now. The stable and affable O’Liatháin has always managed to stay out of petty arguments (no mean feat in a society full of ambitious and competitive students) and suddenly became a presidential contender early last year when he took on the important position of Secretary after Anna Cosgrave resigned. O’Néill begins his auditorship having just finished second year, a rare occurrence. He took on the role of Librarian, a job that not many want due to its heavy workload, in his second year despite the time constraints that come with being a medicine student. These two atypical and intelligent GMB leaders take up their positions at a time when both societies are rumored to be facing debt problems due to overextending themselves – the panel hopes that their sober maturity will enable them to make improvements whilst maintaining a high level of activity.
3. Ryan Bartlett
Ryan Bartlett has planned on running for SU President since he was first elected class rep. He’s a decent and genuine guy and his belief in what the SU does or can do is unshakable. His work ethic has always been unquestionable. The panel has learned that he woke up one night during the summer with an idea for a national campaign on access to education, went to his office and didn’t leave until 6am. While his competence is in little doubt, his route to the top job wasn’t as comfortable as he might have anticipated. The joke campaign run by Aaron Heffernan gathered such momentum that it appeared for all the world that Heffernan may well have beaten Batlett had he stayed in the race. That Heffernan chose to drop out and endorse Bartlett spoke more about Heffernan’s self-awareness than it did Bartlett’s clout with the general college electorate. But win he did and now he begins his year as President of the Student’s Union facing a number of challenges. The biggest of which is how he can best influence college policy to spare students feeling the ill effects of college cutbacks. With ominous hints coming from the government and a college administration openly calling for the re-introduction of fees, this will almost certainly be the hardest year yet in terms of staving off cuts in services and increased fees. Previous SU presidents and their colleagues have done an impressive job of keeping fees down – the registration fee did rise last year, but not by as much as many anticipated. However, as pressure continues to mount it may turn out that they were just delaying the inevitable. Yet if anyone can achieve the impossible, Bartlett’s extremely strong work rate and passion may make him that person. However, Bartlett has been criticised by some who say that he can lose sight of the big picture. In the panel’s opinion, his election campaign focused too much on smaller issues of frustration for students. Another criticism leveled at Bartlett is that his status as an SU insider (from his first year in college he has been intensely involved in the organisation) means that he may be out of touch with students who feel disconnected from the SU and not understand their concerns. However, overall, the panel agree that the year starts optimistically for the SU with Bartlett at its helm and that he is well placed to make the most out of his powerful position.
Omitted from this list, but no less important to the SU than Bartlett, are Education Officer Rachel Barry and Welfare Officer Louisa Miller. The panel decided to include only two SU sabbats on the list for the sake of diversity, but the influence of Barry and Miller must be noted if the list is to be at all reflective of the group of students who strive to improve college life.
2. Chris O’Connor
Chris O’Connor is a hard man to define, despite the perception some have of him. On one hand he’s a law nerd whose grades are up there with the best in his class. He could also be defined as a classic rugby jock, with broad shoulders and SCT credentials from his days in Limerick’s prestigious Glenstal Abbey. But when he wasn’t upending opponents on the rugby field, he was doing vocal exercises to hone his classically trained baritone singing voice. Crucial to his performance this year, he also has the business acumen required to excel in the Ents position. He stormed into the Ents race as the underdog. His campaign was thrown together in just three weeks but gathered momentum quickly, winning over the student body with his Fatboy Slim flash mob and charismatic campaign team. CO’C secured the affection of the masses with promises of €4 naggins and €5 club nights. Whether he’ll deliver on the latter is still to be seen, but he has struck a deal with an off licence near campus to sell the aforementioned naggins. Not only that, he has struck a similar deal with a well known off licence in Rathmines, near Trinity Halls.
O’Connor’s campaign demonstrated that he has a keen understanding of how to promote both himself and his events via new media. While other candidates placed large emphasis on printed materials like posters and manifestos, CO’C took to making almost daily videos which featured The Hardy Bucks, Brian Dobson, Irish rugby international Rob Kearney, Miss Universe Ireland Roz Purcell and comedian Tommy Tiernan. More impressive again were his “Old Spice” and “Never say no to Panda” remakes, done shot for shot by the same videographers who filmed Trinity Orchestra’s Daft Punk concert.
The ents race also proved to be something of a perfect storm for O’Connor, as the presumed candidate to beat, Elaine McDaid, lost some support after her Glee-inspired flashmob, and CO’C was able to carry home the victory.
He has been active as ents officer-elect, having secured Calvin Harris to play on Monday of Freshers’ Week, and CO’C is confident that it will be a strong launch to his officership. If he and his entourage of “rayl lads” can pull it all off, then those who jumped to stereotype him will be forced to reconsider.
1. Rob Farhat
Rob Farhat is number one on this list for two reasons. First, he did more last year than any single person to increase the profile of Trinity College when he composed, conducted and organised the Daft Punk concerts in the Exam Hall. Whether the attention they received or the final encore performance at Electric Picnic were of Farhat’s original design is open to question, but there’s no denying that his efforts resulted in a PR golden egg for the college. Not just a musical prodigy, Farhat showed he had a talent for promotion by joining up with then Ents officer Darragh Genockey to build hype for the event. Rob enlisted the help of Tom Speers, Callum Swift and Tiernan Kennedy to record the event, the result of which is a video that now has close to 500,000 views on YouTube. That the Orchestra were asked to open the Electric Picnic mainstage on the Saturday is testament to the effort Farhat put into the concerts’ promotion. This event showed how collaboration can benefit societies, and that collaboration between societies and the SU improve the perception of all parties. Farhat’s commitment to collaboration was one of his main policies when running for Chair of the Central Societies Committee, the administrative and overseeing body for all societies. That Farhat now holds this position is the second reason why he has earned the top spot on our list. While the Chair of CSC has historically been an administrative position, mainly involving processing grant applications at the start of the year and then helping societies out with any problems or queries they may have, Farhat wants to bring societies and the SU together to cross-promote events. Farhat has ensured that a number of dates for society events will appear in the SU Diary, that both college newspapers will feature society notices about upcoming events and that a first ever CSC yearbook will be published, with Farhat enlisting the help of those involved in college publications to produce it.
Indeed, it’s hard to find fault with Farhat. Liked by all and easy to work with, Farhat seems to have no natural enemies. That he plagiarised some French band and didn’t actually come up with the Daft Punk moniker, not to mention music, was of little interest to those held rapt in his thrall. And rumours that his legendary modesty and uncomfortable acceptance of compliments belie an ego on par with the most diva-like of Ents Officers have been nipped in the bud by Farhat, who insists that he does it all “because he cares”. That he referred to himself in the third person was once again ignored by his devotees.
For all of the above, Farhat is number one. Nice one.
