The University College Dublin Students’ Union (UCDSU) Board of Directors has denied that President Katie Ascough sought its advice with regards to removing information about abortion from the union’s handbook, Winging It.
The statement comes after Ascough released an open letter to all University College Dublin (UCD) students five days ago, saying that she had consulted the Board of Directors on the issue and that it supported her decision to follow legal advice. “As CEO of the company, I decided to follow the advice of the Union’s lawyer with the Union Board’s agreement”, she said.
In a statement to the “UCD Referendum Fact Checker” Facebook page, the union’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Fiona Hammond released the following statement:
“As COO, I am not a Board Member, but report to the UCD SU Board therefore, with agreement of the Board, I respond as follows: At a meeting on 18th September the UCD SU Board were informed, by way of a management update, of the Presidents actions to seek and follow legal advice to remove items from the Winging It handbook. The Board does not have a role in political decisions of the Students’ Union, the Board were never presented with legal advice and therefore did not have any part in the decision.”
In an email to The University Times, Hammond confirmed that the statement did come from her “with the full agreement of UCD Students’ Union Board”.
The Board of Directors was created during the last constitutional review in a bid to support the president as Chief Executive Officer of the company. The president is the only sabbatical officer to sit on the Board. The Board could not release a statement to contradict Ascough’s claims. It could only respond to a question by a UCD student. At UCDSU Student Council on October 9th, it was revealed that two members of the Board had stepped down. UCDSU council is responsible for voting in new members of the Board of Directors.
The statement comes on the same day that Boojum refuted claims made by the “#Fight4Katie – No to Impeachment of UCDSU President” Facebook page that they had dealt with her in getting a franchise set up on the UCD campus. The comment, which appeared under a post saying a Boojmobile would be arriving on campus, stated that the company were “not comfortable with our business being used in such a manipulative way”. Boojum commented that they had only dealt with the Hospitality Services Manager directly and that they “in no way endorse the views of Katie”.
Calls for Ascough’s impeachment began after she removed a page containing information regarding abortions from the UCDSU Freshers’ guide, Wingin’ It. After an initial petition failed due to a constitutional infringement, a second petition gathered the required signatures and was submitted to the returning officer last Monday.
As is stipulated in the UCDSU constitution, Ascough then went on annual leave until the referendum. Campaigns and Communications Officer, Barry Murphy, is acting President while Ascough is on leave. The referendum on whether she should be impeached is due to take place at the end of October.
