College will create another student space in the Hamilton, The University Times has learned, as part of a campus-wide network of student spaces launched by Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) and the Student Life Committee.
In an email statement to The University Times, Prof Kevin O’Kelly, the Dean of Students, said that the idea for a student space emerged after the proposal for a 24-hour library in the Hamilton was mooted.
The proposal, O’Kelly said, raised concerns “about the welfare of students studying overnight so that there should be opportunities for them to take breaks”.
O’Kelly confirmed that permission to use space near the entrance of the Hamilton’s library is being sought from the Space Planning Group. An application for funding has also been made to the Capitations Working Group on the Space Levy.
O’Kelly said that “the project is not explicitly linked to the proposed development of the 24-hour library, so the hope is that this space can be created sooner”.
The construction of a 24-hour library in the Hamilton was a key manifesto point of former President Kevin Keane, who told The University Times that the introduction of the library is “excellent news for everyone in college, and particularly for students in the Hamilton, who have suffered massively from a lack of support and infrastructure in the past”.
Student space has been a key issue for TCDSU for several years now, with new spaces in buildings such as the Arts Block and the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI) being announced in months gone by.
Students voted overwhelmingly in favour of the construction of a €7 million purpose-built student centre last March. 88 per cent voted to pay a €30 annual levy to fund the initiative.
Students last year were not charged the fee by the Academic Registry as systems were not yet in place to process the payments in a timely fashion.
However, sweeping changes to the way Trinity charges these levies will be introduced from 2019/20 onwards, meaning student charges will be bundled into one annual levy of €191.75. Speaking to The University Times in July, TCDSU President Shane De Rís said the restructuring of the levy “makes it more manageable than it previously has been”.
