Months of lobbying by a small group of people came to fruition this week with a solution which will benefit everyone. With the news that College Park will be spared, and New Square and Printing House Square will house the new Book of Kells exhibition, sports clubs’ fears have been averted, Trinity will retain its precious income from the tourist attraction and students can rest assured that the Provost will listen to them.
It was a classic Trinity controversy: stakeholders were “consulted” when it appeared the deal was already done. Provost Linda Doyle and Chair of Dublin University Central Athletic Club (DUCAC) Matthew Simons emailed sports clubs “hopefully” looking for their support of the proposed pavilion which would render the Park unusable for the clubs which train and play matches there.
Instead, and rightfully so, the proposal was met with widespread outrage from sports clubs and students.
The Graduate Students’ Union’s leading hand in this opposition, in particular, should be commended. Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) and DUCAC (after its chair co-signed the email) were slower out the gate, eventually indicating their dismay at the proposal.
The temporary exhibition space will breathe some life into New Square, which, before the pandemic, was little more than a manicured lawn for passers by to ignore. As we’ve seen over the pandemic, perfectly manicured untouchable lawns in College are better off open to the College community. Coupled with the soon-to-be-renovated Printing House, the new plans represent a practical, sensible use of College’s precious space.
And while this is terrific news, it begs the question as to why this option was not explored before now? It was, remember, Dublin City Council who suggested College Park be used, not Trinity.
Doyle said this week that student engagement was what allowed College to conduct the “feasibility studies” and not “make any knee-jerk decisions”. While this is a testament to student engagement, it should not have gotten to the point where sports clubs were told in October that this was essentially the only option moving forward.
Now that this spat has been resolved, all eyes will be on the Science Gallery. The Provost ought to try find a universally agreeable solution without the preceding arguments we’ve come to expect.
