Paul Glynn | Senior Staff Writer
Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Council tonight appointed the union’s first-ever board of trustees.
Eight individuals were appointed. The trustees appointed were Ivana Bacik, Áine Hyland, John Mannion, Gareth Williams, Daithí MacSíthigh, Órlaith Foley, Jack Cantillon and Brighid Breathnach.
The appointments were proposed as part of a motion on the TCDSU Strategic Plan and Board of Trustees. The motion to appoint was initially proposed by TCDSU President, Domhnall McGlacken-Byrne, and seconded by Lynn Ruane, Student Parents Officer and President-Elect. The motion also saw the official adoption of the TCDSU Strategic Plan, which aims to set an “effective” and “forward-thinking” direction for the union between now and 2018.
“You want political experience, union experience, legal experience, and business experience”, McGlacken-Byrne said.
Among those appointed was Trinity Senator Ivana Bacik, the Reid Professor of Criminal Law in the Law School, and previously President of TCDSU from 1989 to 1990. Áine Hyland, the former Vice President of University College Cork, known for leading wide-ranging working groups on higher education, was also appointed. She previously chaired the panel of the 2013 external review of TCDSU.John Mannion was a former TCDSU President, serving from 2005 to 2006. Órlaith Foley was a former Welfare Officer of TCDSU, serving from 2008-2009 and was the Communications and Fundraising Officer for Headstrong, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health, for four years. Jack Cantillon is a 2014 Trinity Graduate and Jailbreak 2014 organiser. Daithí MacSíthigh is a current Reader in Law at Newcastle University.
The creation of a Board of Trustees for TCDSU was given clearance following a referendum to amend the TCDSU Constitution in 2014, which involved the addition of Article 4.10. This article stipulated that a Board of Trustees was to be created for the union as part of a broader plan to improve on its organisation and sense of direction. The Board of Trustees will be regularly informed of the progress of the union’s strategic plan.
The series of motions also proposed a referendum which would demote the President from a voting member of the board to a non-voting observer, freeing up a ninth voting member place, and proposes to increase the number of required meetings of the Board from once a year, to twice a year. Bacik and the union solicitor, Richard Hammond, advised that it was “not a good idea” to have the President as a voting member, McGlacken-Byrne said.
McGlacken-Byrne also suggested that Colm O’Gorman, Director of Amnesty International Ireland, could become another voting member, although O’Gorman has not confirmed yet. Given the current constitution currently includes the President as a voting member, his appointment would be at odds with the constitution unless it the proposed amendment passes, simply because O’Gorman would become a tenth voting member.
Edmund Heaphy also contributed reporting.
