Damien McClean has been elected Vice-President for Welfare of the Union of Students of Ireland (USI) at the union’s national congress today, receiving 56 per cent of the vote after two counts.
Síona Cahill, who ran uncontested, was elected President of USI. Cahill wants to fight for publicly funding education and bring the discussion back to politicians. “Education should never be the barrier – it should always be the equaliser”, Cahill said last night at a hustings held at the national congress.
McClean ran on a platform of nationalising and standardising welfare services across Ireland. He defeated incumbent Niamh Murtagh and University College Cork (UCC) student Rachael Sherlock.
Murtagh ran on a platform of continuing her work on relaunching and rebranding USI’s welfare campaigns, while Sherlock pushed for a better understanding issues students face today, sexual health and sexual positivity.
In an email to The University Times, President of TCDSU Kevin Keane said that McClean “has been an excellent Welfare Officer for the students of Trinity, and will now be a fantastic Welfare Officer for students across the country. I cannot wait to witness what Damien will achieve in his new role”.
Aisling Cusack was elected Vice-President for Equality and Citizenship, beating Anna Heverin. Cusack is currently the Vice-President for the Dublin Region and emphasised fighting for student issues using student power throughout her campaign. “We cannot underestimate the power of the student movement and the impact that we have…we are a force to be reckoned with”, she told congress at hustings last night.
Running uncontested, Oisín Hassan was re-elected Vice-President for Academic Affairs. At congress hustings last night, Hassan raised his concerns of the marketisation of higher education institutions, calling it “a threat”. He also said that he wanted to improve student partnership on a national level, while continuing to represent students.
Michelle Byrne, who ran uncontested, was elected Vice-President for Campaigns. She ran on a campaign to continue and encourage students to fight, telling congress last night that “we have many things to work on together”.
The position of Leas-Uachtarán don Gaeilge (Vice-President for Irish) will be a full-time role from this year. Previously, it was only a part-time role in USI. Elected to the position was Aoife Deasy, who ran uncontested. The St Angela’s College student said, at hustings last night, that the Vice-President for Irish “should be contributing” to anything that USI is doing and also wants to address the issues surrounding Gaeltacht placements for students.
Colm O’Halloran, a former chair of TCDSU, won the election for Vice-President of the Dublin Region, beating Dublin City University (DCU) student Kayla Gaffney. “I’ve done so much without being a sabbatical officer”, O’Halloran said last night at hustings, responding to a question about the candidates’ experience.
Keane said he was “extremely proud”.
O’Halloran, Keane said, “is going to make huge strides in relation to accommodation and engagement from [member organisations], and he will do TCDSU proud”.
“This is the first time in years that TCDSU has been represented on USI officerboard. The fact that not one, but two of our officers have been elected is fantastic. It shows a historic peak in relations between TCDSU and USI, and I am very excited to see what Damien and Colm do in their roles.”
The last Trinity student to go on to hold a position on the USI officer board was former TCDSU Education Officer Jack Leahy, who held the role of Vice-President for Academic Affairs in 2015/16 and 2016/17.
Barry Clohessy was elected Vice-President for the Border, Midlands and Western Region, while Lorna Fitzpatrick was elected Vice-President for the Southern Region.
