Edmund Heaphy | Deputy Editor
The Electoral Commission of Trinity College Dublin Student’s Union (TCDSU) has ruled that Timmy Guiney, a final year BESS student, is ineligible to run in the upcoming sabbatical officer elections due to a constitutional prohibition.
Guiney is a member of TCDSU’s four-person Oversight Commission, which prohibits him from running for any position or officership during his term of office, even if he were to resign or be removed from the commission. It is understood that Guiney, who intended to run for Communications and Marketing Officer, made an appeal to the Electoral Commission on the grounds that he has not been actively involved in the running of the Oversight Commission, although that was contested.
In a statement, Kieran McNulty, the Chair of the Electoral Commission, said that the constitutional prohibition in section 5.2.6 was “very clear”. He said that they ruled that the prohibition, which prevents members of the Oversight Commission from running for any other position or officership during their term of office, “included a sabbatical position”.
The Oversight Commission has specific functions relating to managing and interpreting the union’s policy, and in relation to holding officers and committees of the union to account.
Speaking to The University Times, Dan Ferrick, a former TCDSU Education Officer and returning officer for last year’s sabbatical officer elections, agreed with the Electoral Commission’s ruling, saying that the prohibition is “written in an easy-to-understand manner that is clear cut.” Commenting on the prohibition itself, he said that the Oversight Commission is “meant to be somewhat separate from the union to provide some oversight for those in elected positions”, pointing out that such oversight “should be separated from the politics and be unbiased in its working.”
Ferrick also pointed out that the Electoral Commission, which deals with elections as well as being the body responsible for interpreting the constitution, cannot decide to “ignore or change something in the constitution, even if it seems unfair or stupid in the moment” saying that “only the students of Trinity as a whole should have the power to change these rules.”
Guiney is expected to appeal the decision at next Tuesday’s meeting of TCDSU Council, where he can propose an alternative ruling in a motion. Such a motion would have to receive the support of the majority of council members present.
Guiney did not respond to a request for a comment by the time of publication.
