Last night’s meeting of Trinity’s Graduate Students’ Union’s (GSU) council voted in favour of a motion supporting Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union’s (TCDSU) campaign for a student centre, which is calling for a centre to be built within five years.
TCDSU’s council voted in favour of the campaign in October. Speaking at that meeting of council, TCDSU President, Kieran McNulty, stated that not having a designated student space in college is “not good enough”, adding that students should say “loudly to the Provost and the university, that we want our student space”.
The motion committed the GSU to providing “assistance where appropriate to this campaign”.
Speaking at the meeting of GSU council, GSU President, Shane Collins, said it was “disastrous that we don’t have the facilities that a world class university should have”, highlighting that “Trinity remains the only Irish university without a designated student centre”.
Collins also referenced the strengthening of relations between both constituent unions, stating that “the two teams are getting on very well this year”. He also stressed the importance of this relationship for student solidarity within college: “By working together, we can definitely achieve more.”
The University Times reported in September that TCDSU has submitted a proposal for a new student centre to be included in College’s Estates Strategy, which is due for finalisation by June 2017.
Various different locations, complete with cost projections, have been considered by the College, with students to be asked for a referendum first. Speaking to The University Times, McNulty expressed the union’s desire to put the matter to the student body via a referendum.
The College’s Estates Strategy emerged as a response to a report by Turnberry Consulting that stated Trinity lags behind other universities when it comes to student spaces and that Trinity’s infrastructure has not been optimised.
Sinéad Baker contributed reporting to this piece.
