Two Trinity PhD students, Ryan Alberto Ó Giobúin and Ursula Quill, have joined the list of candidates for the upcoming Seanad bye-election for the University of Dublin panel.
Ó Giobúin is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology. His research concerns inequalities in education. Quill is a PhD candidate in the School of Law, focusing on the Citizens Assembly and deliberative democracy.
Ó Giobúin’s campaign, Bridging the Education Gap, will focus on the development and consolidation of inequalities in all stages of the Irish education system. His research has largely drawn on longitudinal data from the Growing Up in Ireland study.
In a press statement, Ó Giobúin said: “My underlying motivation, in research and in this campaign, is to strive for a society where every person has the opportunity to reach their full potential. I am looking forward to using this campaign to highlight the issues related to inequalities in Irish education.”
He continued: “The pandemic has severely impacted our education, and some students have fallen behind. Even as in-person teaching starts to tentatively resume, the inequalities that have grown over the pandemic will not simply disappear unless a concerted effort is made to close them.”
“We are in a situation where a student requires €14,000 to afford one year’s study in Dublin, yet the maximum SUSI grant is €5,915. These sorts of facts are extremely concerning, and I want to make sure that people are not priced out of learning.”
Quill told The University Times in an email: “I’m running as an independent candidate in this election to bring creativity, and long-term vision into the Seanad on issues such as climate change, the future of the island, and the arts.”
“If elected, I will bring my experience from working in the Seanad for many years, as a PhD student at Trinity, and as an activist in recent referendums to bear on these issues and many more, to effect meaningful and positive change in society.”
Quill was a secretarial assistant to Ivana Bacik for four years while Bacik was a senator.
During her undergraduate degree in English and Irish, Quill was auditor of the College Historical Society (the Hist). She spearheaded the celebrations for the society’s 250th anniversary.
The Seanad bye election, which is expected to take place before the end of the year, was triggered after former Trinity Senator Ivana Bacik was elected to the Dáil in the Dublin Bay South bye election in July.
Other contenders for the seat include former rugby international Hugo MacNeill, Social Democrats councillor Carly Bailey, former army captain Tom Clonan and President of the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) Gisèle Scanlon.
Clonan has run for the Seanad elections twice – in 2016 and 2020 – but never managed to secure a seat. MacNeill ran unsuccessfully in 2020.
The Green Party’s Hazel Chu is also considering a run.
Chu, who is the current chair of the Green Party and the former Lord Mayor of Dublin, is not a Trinity graduate, but candidates are not required to be Trinity graduates.
Fine Gael has confirmed the party will not have run a candidate, but is expected to support MacNeill’s campaign.
Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin have said they will discuss the issue of a candidate in the coming months.
Update: 02:38PM, September 21st, 2021
This article was updated to include the fact that Ursula Quill is also contesting the election.
