Sarah Ledden | Senior Staff Writer
The role of Communications and Marketing Officer will be contested by Jemma O’Leary and Aifric Ní Chriodain.
Jemma O’Leary
Jemma O’Leary, a JS History and French student, is seeking to make real and achievable change in the relationship between students and the Students Union in the role of Communications and Marketing Officer. O’Leary is the current librarian and research archivist for DU History, founder and editor of DU History publication, Historian, and 3rd year rep for Trinity Cancer Soc. The 20-year old, who spent much of her childhood in London before moving to Cork, is a vicarious reader and writer with a self-confessed passion for history, cat videos, and to a lesser extent, soap. O’Leary hopes to pursue a career in PR and Communications after college.
O’Leary aims to address the disconnect that she feels exists between the SU and the student body and the alienation off-campus students often feel from SU activities. She hopes to tackle the distance felt by many students toward the SU and create a new relationship, based on two-way communication, between the SU and students. “I want to hear the opinion of every student, from the Arts Block all the way to Tallaght, and feed that back into the SU so it can become a more representative body that knows what students truly want”, O’Leary says. An issue which has emerged in recent years, with increased salience, is decision-making by the College with little, or no, student consultation. O’Leary outlines the need for increased communication between the College authorities and the students. “Students have become disenchanted with Trinity as an institution, due to the Provost’s wishes to run it as a business rather than a university”, states O’Leary, who expresses a desire to push for student representation on the College Planning Group. O’Leary believes the current SU website is in need of an overhaul, due to its poor lay out and lack of information. She is interested in the use of social media and branding and will utilize this in her role if elected as Communication and Marketing Officer.
O’Leary believes she can make an impact if elected to the position of Communications and Marketing Officer, saying “as the role of Communications and Marketing Officer is a new one, I like the idea of achieving some positive change in college life, that hopefully remains after I’ve left”.
Aifric Ní Chriodain
21-year old French & Film Studies student, Aifric Ní Chriodain, is hoping to bring her experience from various PR roles to the position of SU Communications and Marketing Officer. Ní Chriodain describes herself as “someone who’s been involved in college life” since first year having served on the Central Societies Committee and Trinity Arts Festival committee, as well as Librarian (Publicity Officer) for the Phil, Senior Design Editor for The Piranha and volunteering with ShoutOut. The Dubliner’s interests include photography and design, listening to Westlife and collecting rubber ducks.
Ní Chriodain believes that change needs to occur in the Students’ Union image both within college and in the surrounding community. Ní Chriodain feels that, despite the passion and energy of the Students’ Union, it should be much more accessible. She agrees that an overhaul of the SU website is needed to “provide useful information beyond officers’ basic contact details, in a clear and informative manner”. Furthermore, she believes that a dramatic increase in the quality of SU branding and digital content, in general, is needed through the increased use of videos, photography and graphic design. Ní Chriodain claims that it is too easy for students to slip “through the cracks” in their time in Trinity and hopes to reduce this by encouraging increased SU collaboration with college services, such as SCS, to aid students find the help they need, and the CSC and DUCAC to further encourage extracurricular involvement.
Ní Chriodain would like to bring new energy from the Union into devoted weeks, such as Mental Health Week and Rainbow week, with intentions to seek corporate sponsorship to improve the quality and publicity of events. Ní Chriodain sees the symbiotic relationship between local businesses and Trinity students as a vital one and hopes to utilize this dependence to secure deals for students, citing her experience in marketing and communication roles with PrHomo, GBK, YO!Sushi Ireland and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as advantageous to achieving this goal and many others in the SU position.
Ní Chriodáin is excited about the upcoming elections, saying “the new role of Communication and Marketing Officer offers the first blank slate the SU has seen in a long time. To efficiently operate in a new role you need an experienced candidate. I am passionate about the work and passionate about Trinity. For a long time now I have been brimming over with excitement and plans for the job and I can’t wait to share them”.
