Eighteen students are due to run for six positions in the 2016 Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) elections, with Stephen Carty, Jason Leonard, Kieran McNulty and Daniel O’Brien running for president.
Carty is a third-year sociology student and Sports Officer of TCDSU. Last year, he held the position of Vice-President and Treasurer of the JCR. McNulty, a fourth-year Law student, is the current Citizenship Officer for TCDSU. He previously served as Chair of the Electoral Commission and chair of TCDSU Council. Jason Leonard is a fifth-year computer science student and currently TCDSU’s Deputy Convenor for the Faculty of Engineering, Maths, and Science. Last year, he served as Secretary of TCDSU Council and chair of the Oversight Commission. Daniel O’Brien, a final-year BESS student, is currently the Assistant Editor of The University Times, having previously been Opinion Editor.
After last year’s elections, Leonard, then Chair of the Oversight Commission (OC), was censured by TCDSU Council in a motion brought forward by then-President, Domhnall McGlacken-Byrne, for having involvement in rumours spread about a candidate in last year’s elections. A motion to censure is described by the union’s constitution as the “strongest reprimand that Council may give an officer without calling for [their] impeachment”.
Speaking to The University Times about last year’s election race, Leonard said: “What I did was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. It was thoughtless. It hurt a lot of people. I struggled to deal with the magnitude of that for a long time.”
Acknowledging that his censuring last year may cause issues during the campaign, Leonard said: “I’d say that I know that some people will hold this against me and count me out of the race and I can’t blame them for that at all. I just hope that people will give my ideas an honest listen and fair consideration.”
The Education race, which has a history of being uncontested, has three candidates this year. Dale Whelehan is a third-year physiotherapy student and is TCDSU’s Convenor for the Faculty of Health Science. He also served as JCR Sports Officer last year. Nick Spare, a final-year law and German student from the US, is a staff writer for The Piranha and was a class rep in his second-year. Patrick Higgins, is a third-year history and political science student and is involved with the “Students Against Fees” campaign. He has written for Trinity News as a staff writer and was later promoted to Online News Editor.
The Welfare race, which saw five students contest the position last year, has three candidates. Tom McHugh, a final-year English and Film student and current secretary of TCD Sign Soc, Aoibhinn Ní Lochlainn, a third-year medicine student and a the S2S Head Mentor for Health Science and is the Welfare volunteer coordinator for the Welfare Committee, and Eamonn Redmond, an SS Social Work student. Andrew Wafer, a third-year PPES student, is the final candidate, and was a TCDSU class rep last year.
The Communications & Marketing race sees two contenders this year, with Glen Byrne, a final-year law student and Public Relations Officer of Law Soc and DUPA, as well as former Librarian of the Phil, and Emmet Broaders, who was last year’s Tech Officer for the JCR. Broaders is in his third year of computer science.
Sinéad Baker, the current Deputy Editor of The University Times, is an uncontested candidate for the position of Editor of The University Times. She previously served as both Assistant Editor and Editor-at-Large of the newspaper, and as both a staff writer and Deputy Online Editor.
The candidates for the position of Entertainments Officer are Katie Browne, a third-year psychology student who is Auditor Psych Soc and Entertainments Officer for Trinity GAA, Caolan Maher, a second-year Earth Science student with experience working in the Twisted Pepper and the Grand Social, Grace O’Boyle, a third-year art history and architecture student with previous involvement with DU Players’, and Padraic Rowley, the current Entertainments Officer for S2S, and a final-year computer science student. Rowley is the co-founder of “Wednesdays at Chaplains” and has been a class rep for three years.
Campaigning begins with the poster run on the 7th February and concludes on the Thursday 18th.
