The bye election for Editor of The University Times is to be a three-horse race, with the paper’s Deputy Editor Mairead Maguire and Deputy Radius Editor Ailbhe Noonan contesting the election against outsider Neal Manning.
Noonan is a third-year English student and is the paper’s Deputy Radius Editor. She previously held the position of Theatre Editor. She is also chair of the Robinson Committee in the College Historical Society (the Hist) and was a pro-correspondence secretary in the Hist last year. She is a member of Trinity Singers.
Maguire is a third-year history and politics student. She is the current deputy editor of The University Times, having previously served as news editor and societies editor. She also sat on the TCDSU welfare committee last year. She was an intern with the Trinity Disability Service last year.
Manning is a fourth-year engineering student. He’s been a member of the Engineering Society and the Card and Bridge Society.
Maguire ran uncontested in the recent election for editor but was defeated by an organised campaign to re-open nominations (RON). Maguire won 40 per cent of the vote against RON’s 60 per cent.
The bye election will be held from April 4th to 7th.
As with previous elections and referenda this year, voting will take place online. Students can register to vote here.
Maguire, the paper’s current deputy editor, ran on a platform of maintaining the professionalism of The University Times, but promised to make it more accessible and approachable. However, the race was dominated by accusations of journalistic misconduct on her part. She strenuously denied the allegations, calling them “wholly false and defamatory”.
Towards the end of the campaign, Trinity’s Junior Dean instructed the organisers of the RON campaign to remove a number of Instagram posts from its page on the grounds that criticisms of Maguire in the posts were excessively personal.
In a statement to The University Times at the time, Maguire said: “I am glad that the posts have been taken down. They contained misinformation and were deeply personal. As a student, they were hurtful to read.”
“Speaking to students and having the support of my campaign team are what kept me going during this difficult time. I look forward to what’s left of election season and I am really grateful for the support thus far”, she added.
In a statement to this newspaper, the RON campaign said: “We archived posts on the JD’s request, and will comply with any investigation necessary.”
“We have all been personally detrimentally affected by the Deputy Editor’s reporting but are still willing to work with others and hear out alternative perspectives”, the statement said.
The option to vote to re-open nominations is available in all union leadership races. The last time a formal campaign to re-open nominations for a sabbatical race was in 2019.
Muireann Kane, a final-year history of art and architecture and Italian student, was running uncontested for the position. Students behind the campaign said they launched the campaign due to the lack of competition in this race.
Kane was narrowly elected to the role, with 51 per cent of the vote against RON’s 49 per cent.
