Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) tonight voted to remove the position of off-campus officer.
The vote, which was closely contested, followed an emergency motion raised by TCDSU Education Officer, Dale Whelehan, following the failure of an candidate to put themselves forward for election for the position.
The motion noted that “there has been difficulties in the past in filling the role of off-campus officer”.
Speaking at council this evening, Whelehan, who is himself an off-campus student, noted that the two previous off-campus officers had struggled with the demands of the role. He also noted that various roles within the union, including the various faculty convenors and committees, also deal with off-campus issues already.
“The pressures of being on campus officer puts you under a lot of strain”, Whelehan noted.
The issue, he said, should not simply be down solely to a single part-time officer “to tackle”.
The Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Convenor, Alice MacPherson, spoke in support of the motion: “I think that the position of off-campus officer assumes that the needs of all off-campus students are the same”
A number of speakers spoke against the motion, including TCDSU Oifigeach na Gaelige, Una Ní Artaigh and TCDSU LGBT Officer, Sean O’Caroll.
Speaking against the motion, Ní Artaigh said it was “nice to have a nice overarching position” to connect the work of the various officers working on off-campus issues.
The issue of support to off-campus students has been consistent problem for the union over the last number of years. The position of off-campus officer, however, has often been difficult to fill.
Correction: December 14th, 2016
An earlier version of this article incorrectly spelled the name of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Convenor. She is Alice MacPherson, not Alice McPherson.
Niamh Egleston contributed reporting to this piece.
