14 people will contest this year’s Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) sabbatical elections, with two presidential candidates among those announced this evening.
President
Ralph Balfe, a Psychoanalytic Studies masters student, and Jenny Maguire, a second-year English student, will compete for the role of TCDSU President.
In previous years, Maguire has served as the Union’s LGBTQ+ Rights Officer and Gender Equality Officer. She is a co-organiser of Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin. She has also served as the secretary for DU Players and is a member of Improv She Wrote.
Balfe served as the Environment & Ethics Officer of the Balliol JCR while completing his undergraduate degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University.
Education
Eoghan Gilroy, a final-year Law and Political Science student, and Sé Ó hEidhin, a final-year Chemistry with Molecular Modelling student, will contest the race for Education Officer.
Gilroy is the current Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) Convenor for the Union, a role he has held since June 2022. He has previously served as the Union’s Access Officer.
Ó hEidhin is the current Deputy STEM Convenor for the Union, having previously served as the Ethnic Minorities Officer and Health Sciences Convenor.
Welfare
Three candidates will compete for the position of Welfare Officer: Hamza Bana, Nathan Harrington and Hannah McAuley.
Bana is a third-year Computer Science and Business Student and the current Ethnic Minorities Officer for the Union. Harrington is a third-year Geography and Sociology student while McAuley is a final-year Radiation Therapy student and the Union’s current Off Campus Officer.
Comms and Marketing
Connor Dempsey, Michael McInerney, Sarah Murnane and Beth Strahan are running in the race for Communications (Comms) and Marketing Officer.
Dempsey is a final-year Philosophy, Political Science, Economics and Sociology (PPES) student and the current TCDSU Engagement Officer, a role he proposed and enabled the creation of.
McInerney is a final-year English Studies student and the class representative for his course.
Murnane is a final-year History and Political Science student and the current Film & TV Editor for The University Times. She is also the Culture Editor at Misc. magazine.
Strahan is a final-year Drama and Theatre studies student who has previously served as the director of Trinity Musical Theatre.
Ents
This year’s race for Entertainments (Ents) Officer will be uncontested, with Peadar Walsh serving as the sole candidate.
Walsh is a second-year Computer Science and French student. He currently serves as the Ents Officer for the JCR and as the Tutorials Officer for the Digital Arts (DUDJ) society.
Editor of The University Times
Charles Hastings and Brídín Ní Fhearraigh-Joyce will contest the race for Editor of The University Times. This is the fifth time the race for Editor has been contested since 2014, when students voted to make the position of Editor separate from that of the Comms Officer.
Hastings, a third-year English and Italian student, is the current Chair of the Editorial board of The University Times, having previously worked as the Music Editor and an Assistant Editor. While studying abroad at the University of Southern California (USC), he served as a staff writer for the LA School Report and USC Annenberg Media. He is a co-founder of the campus publication Get A Grip magazine.
Ní Fhearraigh-Joyce is a final-year English Studies student and scholar. She has served as the Deputy News Editor of The University Times since September, having previously served as the Editor-in-Chief of TN2 magazine. She is also a contributing writer for Gay Community News (GCN) and a Campus Ambassador for Hot Press magazine.
