Last night’s Students’ Union Council saw the approval of the allocation of €5,000 from the HEA (Higher Education Authority) Fund to support the further development of a new JCR Café in Trinity Halls and another €35,000 to the SU Café for the next five years.
Ten people from the Junior Common Room (JCR) attended the Council to present the motion to secure investment to support the development of a new café in Trinity Hall. JCR president Aibhe McBride introduced the motion, pointing out the lack of welcoming student spaces available in Trinity Hall. She further explained how the founding of the café would create opportunities for student employment. The motion was passed amid loud applause and cheers.
Speaking to The University Times, McBride explains how she and her flatmates “saw a gap in the market” for “an accessible, welcoming and comfortable student space” living in Trinity Hall last year. They decided to enter a Dragon’s Den event organised by the JCR and TES (Trinity Entrepreneurial Society) among others, with their idea to found a café, winning the competition and receiving €500. Currently, students in Trinity Hall have access to Oldham House. However, McBride notes how “it’s completely inaccessible” and that there is “rarely any initiative for people to even come and just hang out there.”
This year, the JCR brought the idea to the Trinity Hall Warden and the Director of Student Services to make it a reality. Having worked to set up the café for the past few weeks, they are ready to open, having “Halls employees hired and ready to go.” The JCR plans to add couches and a pool table to make it a welcoming place. The additional €5,000 allocated to the café “will obviously elevate the whole space and kind of give it that longer lasting infrastructure”. McBride notes how, in creating more student spaces, the JCR is working “in parallel” with the Students’ Union, who have “done a fantastic job of securing an actual student centre in Trinity”, referring to the planned refurbishment of the Science Gallery announced late last year. “Hopefully it will make a big difference”.
In addition to the new JCR Café, the HEA allocated another €35,000 to the SU Café. President Jenny Maguire noted the need for affordable food options on campus amid the rising cost of living and that the money will go to training staff, upkeep of the café, and reducing prices.
