Dale Ó’Faoilleacháin has been elected Education Officer of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union on the first count with 59.4 per cent of the vote.
Patrick Higgins, his opponent received 35.5 per cent of the vote. Traditionally uncontested, this year’s education race saw three candidates put their names forward with, one, Nick Spare, dropping out later on in the race.
Ó’Faoilleacháin, current Health Science Convener and a third-year physiotherapy student, ran on a platform of accountability within the union, student partnership and development of support services.
In a poll of 1007 students undertaken by The University Times, it was predicted that Ó’Faoilleacháin would win over opponent Higgins, with 65 per cent of the vote.
This year’s race saw candidates agree on most of the main issues, with the only main clash being over the importance of having previous union experience to be education officer.
Last year Molly Kenny ran uncontested to be education officer and received 4567 votes, with re-open nominations (RON) only receiving 534 votes.
