Both Sally Anne McCarthy and Muireann Kane have been issued with minor strikes this evening for breaches of the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) election rules.
As a result of the breach, McCarthy – who is running against Niamh McCay in the race to be the union’s next Education Officer – has been banned from online activity between 8pm to 10pm tonight.
In an email statement to The University Times, McCarthy said that “we received a minor strike because of a lovely poem that was written on Trinder. It’s annoying to get a strike over something we can’t control, but we understand that EC have to be strict in their enforcement of the rules”.
Kane, the sole candidate for the role of Communications and Marketing Officer, was sanctioned after some of her campaign posters were put on the back of a door in the men’s bathrooms.
In an email statement to The University Times, Kane explained that “it wasn’t anyone on my team and seems to have been rather malicious”.
“Only one member of my campaign team would use the men’s toilets and he was either with me or in labs”, she said.
Kane didn’t receive any punishment for this breach and said she “will try my best to ensure nothing like this happens again as I recognize the importance of the rules in place”.
Schedule 3 of the TCDSU Constitution outlines all sabbatical election regulations. The Electoral Commission then decides to issue a strike based on the breach in regulation.
The sanctions come following minor strikes for several candidates yesterday evening, with Donal MacNamee, Niamh McCay and Luke Rynne Cullen all being sanctioned by the Electoral Commission. Presidential candidate Laura Beston also received a strike prior to the start of the elections. As a result, she was forbidden from launching her online campaign until two hours after other candidates on Monday.
