The annual Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) elections are upon us once again. Though almost customarily bemoaned, the two weeks of campaigning – by and large – arouse near-prurient curiosities in Trinity students.
While of course it would be nobler if voters exhibited an interest with more civic origins, it is nonetheless hard to ridicule the impulses of a student cohort that is routinely the most engaged in Ireland. When apathy prevails for whatever reason, exasperating things tend to happen in elections. Let’s not forget that, just last year, students in University College Dublin nonchalantly elected a pro-life president to represent them – even as the country was obviously gearing up for a vote on the repeal of the eighth amendment.
That said, it is always worth noting that honourable reasons for engaging in students’ union politics abound. There is the matter of money, in the sense that TCDSU spends an awful lot of it. A great deal of that money comes from the pockets of students. If you want your money spent well, then it is best that you get informed and make your way to a polling station. Then there is the matter of influence. Though that cynical friend who tells you that these elections don’t matter may sound wise and learned, students’ unions have long been at the forefront of social change in Ireland. Just three years ago, they played a pivotal role in the passing of marriage equality. Go back nearly three decades, and you’ll find the forerunners of today’s repeal generation.
At a local level, the student representatives you elect will be able to alter the course of the top-to-bottom reimagination of Trinity’s undergraduate curriculum and stand up against sloven attempts to introduce fees for repeating exams.
While there is no doubt that candidates will wish that student media outlets were more pliant in their coverage, it is too worth noting that no democracy can function without a free press. That, more than anything else, calls for criticism. And that in turn means that newspapers end up being less than loved in the citadels of power. But we can live with that.
