Paul Glynn | Senior Staff Writer
The proposed referendum to give Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) an official stance on the introduction of national water charges was announced by the Electoral Commission yesterday via the weekly Students’ Union e-mail.
The referendum is going to take place alongside voting for the union’s sabbatical officers in February. Last December, Trinity Sinn Féin submitted with petition of 250 signatures to the union’s Electoral Commission (EC), enough to call a long-term policy referendum on the union taking a stance on water charges.
According to the TCDSU constitution, a referendum must strictly be held between two and five teaching weeks after the submission of a valid petition.
Kieran McNulty, Chair of the EC, told The University Times that the commission “have been in active contact with Trinity Sinn Féin about the proposed referendum since they handed in the required amount of signatures”. McNulty added that the group are expected to release more information on the matter within the next few days.
Thomas Hanlon, auditor of Trinity Sinn Féin, confirmed that talks had been ongoing with the Electoral Commission about the referendum. Hanlon told The University Times that “the negotiations with the Students’ Union have been pleasant indeed” and that they “have been really supportive of holding a referendum on the issue”.
He also praised the fact that the union realised “the importance and relevance it has to students”. Speaking to The University Times, Katie Byrne, the Union’s Education Officer, suggested that the EC would hold voting on the referendum alongside the upcoming sabbatical officer elections, beginning February 2nd, which Hanlon affirmed.
Byrne added, however, that “some details still need to be ironed out before [the union] can proceed”.
The proposal by Trinity Sinn Féin for a referendum on adopting a stance on water charges comes after months of heated discussion about the nationwide introduction of a utility charge for water.
The debate has extended into the Trinity College community, most recently with the University Philosophical Society hosting a debate entitled “This House Would Refuse to Pay the Water Charges”, where students voted to not refuse water charge payment.
