As the head of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), the President plays an integral role in campus life and the operations of Trinity by working on behalf of Trinity’s students. Somewhat less defined than some of the union’s other officer positions, the role of TCDSU President has differed greatly depending on the holder of the office: TCDSU President for 2015/16 Lynn Ruane ran on a platform of “access, inclusion and equality” and used this as a launchpad to address national higher education issues. She has since been elected to Seanad Éireann, while current president Kieran McNulty ran a campaign under the slogan of “#UnlocktheSU”, focusing on “empowerment”, “equality”, “efficient services” and “eliminating the accommodation crisis”.
In a repeat of last year’s presidential election, three male candidates enter this year’s race, each with their own particular view on the purpose of the union and how the role of president can shape it.
Thomas Emmet is a fourth-year history student who is the current TCDSU Environmental Officer and has been Treasurer of DU History for the last two years. Speaking to The University Times, Emmet states that such experience in the organisation of a society’s finances has given him “a sense of how things are balanced out”, which he believes would be beneficial as TCDSU President acts as “co-treasurer” of the union. Similarly, he states that his running of TCDSU’s Green Week as Environmental Officer has given him important organisational experience. Emmet’s union experience began as a class representative and has continued as he sits on one of the union’s decision-making bodies, Union Forum, in his capacity as Environmental Officer.
Kevin Keane, a fourth-year law student, has also held various positions inside and outside of the SU. He is the current president of SUAS Trinity, the College’s branch of a non-profit organisation dedicated to children’s education in Dublin and around the world. Keane believes this experience is directly translatable to the work done by TCDSU as “everything SUAS does is about empowerment and everything the SU is doing should be about empowerment and giving the people the tools to do what they want to do”. Keane also serves as the Deputy Chair of the TCDSU lobby groups, which has “empowered several groups of people to develop policies that reflect the SU’s mandate”. Keane also sat on the TCDSU Welfare Committee last year as an OCM and is the current Safety Officer of Trinity Basketball.
With the news that TCDSU recorded a loss of over €30,000 last year, all of the candidates believe there is a need to address this problem as the union’s Chief Financial Officer
The third and final candidate for TCDSU President is fourth-year Irish studies student Bryan Mallon. As the current Chairperson of Dublin University Gaelic Football Club, Mallon values the experience this role has given him and how it can translate to the role of TCDSU President from organisational duties to “inclusivity”, “representation” and “engagement”, particularly for women, international students and students with disabilities. Mallon also holds the position of Vice-Chairperson of the Fianna Fáil Wolfe Tone Cumann, which has helped him in “knowing what is realistic and what isn’t realistic” in the political realm. Mallon was also a TCDSU class representative last year.
In last year’s race for TCDSU President, the three candidates focused the debate on the balance of the Trinity-specific duties of the role as well as national student issues. This debate peaked during Lynn Ruane’s term the year before as she noticeably focused on national student issues, particularly accessibility to education, over Trinity-specific affairs. This year, the union appears to be working on issues at either end of this ideological spectrum, most apparent in McNulty’s endeavors towards the building of a dedicated student centre on campus whilst maintaining concerted efforts to highlight the effect of rising fees on students.
This year’s candidates all highlighted this balancing of what Keane referred to as the “two very necessary wings” of the role of president and, indeed, the union as a whole. Keane believes that reaching this balance reverts back to the “fundamental job” of the union “to make life a little bit better for the people who are here”. Emmet stated that for many students coming in and leaving college “Trinity-centric issues are really important”, but stressed that it was important “not to lose focus on the national issues” at the same time. Mallon, however, noted that McNulty “has actually balanced that out really well”, but emphasised the significance of getting the “basic things” right in the first place, “because I believe that if you can’t get them right, you can’t get everything else right … you don’t want step too far out of your reach”.
For Emmet, the key theme of his presidency would be representation. This is evident in his views on many of the key areas of union policy and how to bring them into effect. Regarding the core question of higher education funding, Emmet noted that due to his own beliefs that higher education “should be taxpayer funded” in tandem with the recent union mandate to formally support a publicly funded system, he would pursue “more higher education funding”. However, he also points to the “large number of voices” on campus who believe in alternative higher education funding sources and that, as their representative, he would “have to be able to listen to their views”.
Regarding the complex topic of the eighth amendment, Emmet draws comparisons with the marriage equality campaign of 2015, pointing out that it was “a campaign that recognised people had different views and that there was a complexity to it”. Emmet also highlights the need for the union to look at opening the repeal the eighth campaign to those who “sometimes feel like they can’t engage with it without stepping too far into it”, drawing particular attention to men. Tying the subject back to his emphasis on representation, Emmet stresses the necessity of debate as there are many aspects of his campaign’s aftermath, should it be successful, that have not been worked out yet.
At the core of Keane’s union presidency, coming from his work as SUAS President, will be empowerment and the “huge issue” of inclusivity. In relation to expanding the work done by the union’s various campaigns, Keane underscores the importance of including those who would not “traditionally be involved in the SU”.
Talking about a perceived disconnect between TCDSU and the rest of the student population, Keane describes how there is “kind of an atmosphere” around the union “of nearly all or nothing” and a perception “that you’re either of the SU or you’re not”. Keane believes that this is not an attitude that’s “pushed from the people within the SU, but it’s just something that’s been building for the last while”.
Keane believes that the union should provide the empowerment in parallel to this inclusivity for Trinity students “to support what it is they want to do”. Furthermore, Keane notes the need to build a sense of community of Trinity students in and outside of College. Keane also speaks of building this sense of community as another motivation to deal with the accommodation crisis, stating that it is “impossible” to be a part of the wider college community without the “base of a solid, livable, enjoyable place to lay your head and eat your dinner, to have people over if you want to”.
According to Keane, more work must be put into building this sense of community as the work “doesn’t stop once someone has a place to lay their head”. Keane believes that the job is only done once “people feel comfortable and happy in where they are” and that the union can fill this rift “very easily, but [it] needs to be focused on”.
Mallon also touches upon the importance of representation and engagement with the entire student body, but stressed how accessibility to higher education would be a key concern of his, should be become TCDSU President. While complimenting McNulty on the work he has done on accessibility, and asserting that McNulty “really cares about that a lot”, Mallon maintained that it is something “we still need to work on”. Pointing to the hard work done by Ruane during her term of office, Mallon highlighted the need to continue the push by the union for greater accessibility to higher education, stating: “I don’t think it’s good enough to just highlight that for one year.”
Mallon also draws on the personal significance of accessibility to him, stating: “I was the first from my family to go to college”. Mallon wants to break down the perceived barriers for some people coming to Trinity for their education, in the same vein as Ruane: “Now, I don’t think I’m doing it to the same extent as her, but I still think I would be doing it.” Speaking of an apparent belief held by many that “some socio-economic backgrounds cannot make it to Trinity” Mallon explains that he wants to “ensure that as many people get into here as possible”.
With the news that TCDSU recorded a loss of over €30,000 last year, all of the candidates believe there is a need to address this problem as the union’s Chief Financial Officer, one of the key duties of the TCDSU President. Keane places an emphasis on reducing waste, while Emmet looks towards new potential sponsorship and Mallon suggests putting in place, in conjunction with McNulty, a contingency plan to prepare for the future.
Speaking to The University Times about the future of the union’s finances, McNulty believes that there “probably will come a point where [the student body will] have to pick and choose” what they want the union to fund.
“It may come between ‘do you want to keep funding these campaign weeks? Do we have our shops? Do we want our café?’ I think those decisions will come and I think what we did this year was kind of, quell the bleeding as much as possible, and we tried to get a lot of sponsorship. It may be that those decisions never have to come.”
When asked about how the president of TCDSU can balance national student issues and those specific to Trinity, McNulty states that “you can’t focus on one to the exclusion of the other”. McNulty pointed out that striking such a balance is “particularly tricky in this job” as it is not feasible, in his opinion, to have a 50/50 balance as “different issues crop up during the year”.
You should be invested in wanting to work for students and wanting to improve their lives and the lives of people on this campus
“There’s obviously a level of balance with the outside stuff, but while I think students’ unions have been historically very strong on political movements, I think it just has to be so core to students’ interests that justifies you being involved in these things”.
When asked why he wanted to run for the highest position in TCDSU, Emmet believes that he has “seen two very good and very different presidents” and that “there’s a middle ground between what they both do”. Emmet restates that he wants “the students’ union to become more representative” and that he has “strong ideas on how that representation can be implemented”.
In his response, Keane explains how Trinity had given him so much and that he felt very lucky to be “part of this community”. He believes that the “feeling of being part of a place and being taken into a community has been incredibly powerful for me”. Wishing to give back what he has received, Keane wants “to empower people to take their place in the Trinity community because if the SU is failing to do that, we’re failing as an SU”.
Mallon again spoke of the importance of accessibility, wanting people from all backgrounds to know that “not only can you come to third-level, you can actually make it to Trinity College Dublin – the best college in Ireland”. Mallon also brought up issues he had in the past with how he spoke to and about women, admitting that “some things I might have said in the past were ridiculous”, but explaining that “Trinity has changed that for me”. Mallon wants to “continue that process so that in a few years women will be treated equally in every sense of the word”.
Finally, what does it take to be TCDSU President? McNulty believes administrative and leadership experience are two necessary qualities to be able to perform effectively in the role, but ultimately: “You should be invested in wanting to work for students and wanting to improve their lives and the lives of people on this campus.”
Ciaran Molloy and Arianna Schardt contributed reporting to this piece.
John Conway is Assistant News Editor, and will edit the presidential race for The University Times. Ciaran Molloy and Arianna Schardt are Junior Editors and will act as presidential campaign correspondents.
