Presidential candidate in the Trinity College Dublin Students Union (TCDSU) 2023/24 sabbatical elections Tilly Schaaf has received a minor strike.
The Electoral Commission (EC) confirmed that the candidate had been given a minor strike as a result of campaigning outside hours, and that her campaign would be given a one-hour ban and would start at 11am the next day.
This is the first strike to be given to any candidate in the election period, with campaigning having begun mere hours before the strike was given.
In a statement to The University Times, Schaaf said: Instagram is a quick moving platform, reposting of the general public is hard to control”.
“As for campaign team internal, we tried our best to inform everyone of the allowed campaign hours. It appears this is the least obvious rule to the general public, and therefore probably the strictest.”
Schaaf is running on a platform of practical points highlighting quick changes that can be made to improve the student experience. She has stated that while she is “a normal student representing normal students”, she has also taken radical action in line with the more political side of the role including making “speeches and posters for manifestos and plans to block bridges” as well as making “some politicians uncomfortable”.
Schaaf is also the only candidate running to not have active TCDSU experience during her time in college.
The Dining Hall Hustings saw the beginning of the campaign period, with candidates introducing themselves and their manifestos from the Dining Hall steps.
In a break from tradition, candidates were not asked questions on the day, instead questions were pushed to the Council and Equality Hustings hosted by the Welfare and Equality Officer Chloe Staunton along with the Gender Equality Officer Jenny Maguire and the Oifigeach na Gaeilge Caoimhe Molloy.
