Derek Byrne is one of sixteen hopefuls contesting the Trinity Seanad election and came to The University Times’ office to tell me about his candidacy. As a journalist you are meant to be neutral and unbiased – unfortunately I could not help but warm to my subject. His energy, authenticity, and critical thinking made him one of my favourite interviewees of my short career.
Derek has spent his years – and he will tell you, many of them – as a journalist and activist. He is hugely passionate about advocating for male survivors of domestic violence and has worked extensively with charities to promote refuges and accessibility to domestic violence services for all genders. Byrne also has worked with HIV Ireland and is an advocate for LGBTQ+ issues.
While doing all this, Byrne has also been a lecturer for the Addiction Studies programme in Maynooth for a number of years. To add to his impressive CV, Byrne has also worked with Men’s Aid, and is currently helping Trinity navigate consent classes for freshers.
He also spent time working for former TD Frances Fitzgerald and has received support for his campaign from retired Senator David Norris. He has received encouragement in his career from his friend – former minister Pat Carey. Despite this, Byrne affirms “I stand independently. I would never be able to maintain a party whip. I think it’s important that Trinity Senators are independent and I do have issues with some candidates who’ve got the financial and political backing of some parties. I think that’s wrong, quite honestly. It shouldn’t be allowed.” Ostensibly, this comment could be directed towards the two Green Party candidates – Hazel Chu and Ossian Smyth – as well as the Social Democrats’ Paul Mulville and Labour’s Sadhbh O’Neill.
Byrne also had a lot to say about more pressing issues – on the topic of the student housing crisis he stated “I don’t like putting Ireland down, because I think this is the best place in the world. I think we have to look at this accommodation issue for students as being something that is part of someone’s education. We’ve got such a well-educated population. If that’s to continue, we need to do something about accommodation.”
Running for the Seanad in 2025 is an interesting move for any would-be politician. The Trinity seats (three in total) will be defunct by the next Seanad election. Byrne had this to say: “76,000 ballots have gone out. Only about 15,000 or 16,000 will come back. That’s a problem. Why are alumni not engaging? Why is this not important to you? And if it’s not important to them, let’s do something about it. So I do think reform is needed.”
When pressed on the answer to increasing engagement in the Seanad, Byrne said the application process for would-be Senators could be more stringent, based off his own experience and the feedback he has heard on the ground. He further elaborated: “the people that are running – people don’t know who they are”.
Speaking about the candidates more specifically, Byrne stated that there is rhetoric being advanced by at least one senator that is “less than kind and compassionate”. When asked about the current ongoing culture wars that takes aim at transgender people he said “They’re talking about human beings. They’re talking about people’s lives. If you’re in public office, you have a responsibility. We’re not statistics, we’re not numbers, we’re people.” For Byrne leadership “involves empathy and compassion. That’s the way I’ve always worked. For me, that’s nothing new.”
When asked why Trinity graduates should vote for him, Derek Byrne had this to say: “I will get my hands dirty. I have a fantastic track record and I can stand over everything I’ve done.”
The Trinity Seanad election count will begin on Wednesday.
Answers in this interview have been condensed for clarity.
