University College Dublin Students’ Union (UCDSU) has spent the last five months rebuilding itself. The impeachment of Katie Ascough, which caught international attention, was pitched as a pre-referendum skirmish, an early electoral clash between pro-choice and pro-life factions.
Since her impeachment, Ascough has become a key voice in the pro-life campaign. A much-cherished youth representative in a campaign that has tried to distance itself from many of the more fogeyish voices, many drawn from the Catholic Church, she’s been giving talks and interviews since the referendum in October.
Ascough recently attracted scorn from pro-choice activists for claiming that it wasn’t easy to be pro-life in an interview with the Irish Independent.
Yet, if Ascough’s impeachment managed to reinvigorate the pro-life side, there’s also a sign that her contentious, protracted impeachment injected some energy into a students’ union best known for flagging engagement levels and wider student ambivalence.
With six candidates for president, the race is likely to come down to a handful of votes. Turnout for the impeachment was huge. Over 6,600 students came out in droves, some to defend Ascough, more to impeach her. The final tally today was lower, but it still represented an upsurge in interest in UCD student politics.
Students are more cautious about who they’re electing this time
Speaking to The University Times before the result, incumbent Barry Murphy, who won a by-election following Ascough’s impeachment, said he thought “students are more cautious about who they’re electing this time”.
“Over 62 working days as president, I’ve tried to rebuild the reputation of the union”, he said.
Several months on from the historic vote, this year’s elections were devoid of the high-stakes drama of last year’s election. While one candidate, Breifne O’Brien, was accused of making homophobic comments (he declined to speak to The University Times for this piece), while Amy Crean, a key figure in the impeachment campaign against Ascough, defied convention by missing the elections for a tour of the US following her victory in the Irish Times debating competition, there was little of the state-of-the-union soul-searching that followed Ascough’s victory.
Instead, on a quiet Friday before Easter, a clutch of students sat on couches outside the count centre, wandering in and out as building after building returned results for the 3,844 students. More than one candidate for a college officer position even missed their own election and couldn’t be found when the result was called.
But this is how UCD runs their elections. It must be remembered that Ascough’s victory played out in the same way – in a small room in UCD with minimal fanfare. Whoever is elected tonight will need to ensure the union keeps learning lessons from one of the more painful chapters of its history.
Dominic McGrath was reporting from University College Dublin.
