The following article discusses sexual violence.
Following a heated extraordinary council meeting, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) President Jenny Maguire and Welfare and Equality Officer Hamza Bana have been censured by the Union.
The extraordinary meeting of council was triggered by Bana’s and Maguire’s involvement in and promotion of last week’s actions, which saw effigies hung and beaten as stand-ins for rapists, as well as the the collection of students’ thoughts on rapists that were put on the Junior Dean’s Officer door without students’ explicit knowledge.
According to schedule 6.3 (d) of the TCDSU constitution: “Motions of Censure are the strongest reprimand that Council may give an officer without calling for the impeachment of that officer or removal of the member from the relevant Union Body”.
After the censure vote, a new motion was created in favour of discarding the prepared motion to form a task force to tackle gender-based and sexual violence. The scrapping of the motion was due to the original motion’s lack of explicit provisions for oversight. Engagement Officer Chaya Nicole Smyth pointed out due to the proposed wording there could be “no minutes”, “no oversight” provided, and that the exact membership for the group would be uncertain, other than the President and the Gender Equality Officer. The potential exclusion of the former Gender Equality Officer Amy Kennedy from the task force – who was not consulted about the effigy action – was also mentioned as a concern.
Maguire proposed a new motion to bring a plan for a strategy taskforce on sexual violence to be brought by the President-elect for the next academic term’s council. This motion passed.
Bailey Armstrong – the newly elected Chair of Council – kicked off the evening by asking students to treat one another with respect and grace. Voices were raised during the meeting, however attacks of a personal nature were not made during council.
The newly elected Commuting Students’ Officer Pól Ó hÍomhair introduced the motion to censure Hamza, saying: “I hope that these censures show that these actions were not taken in the name of the student body”, continuing “it is our duty now to show that these actions were not carried out with the Union’s consent”.
Former Chair of Council Daniel Walsh – who is running for Union of Students of Ireland’s Vice President of the Dublin Region – spoke in opposition of the motions to censure Bana and Maguire, claiming that an investigation should be “objective” and carried out by the Oversight Commission (OC) of TCDSU, rather than occurring in the press.
Education Officer Eoghan Gilroy countered that the OC could have launched an investigation independently. 2023/2024 Chair of Council Conchúr Ó Cathasaigh argued that censure is about showing no confidence in the union.
Walsh further said: “Why are rapists afforded due process but the pitchforks come out for Jenny”.
Speaking against the motion, a member of President Jenny Maguire’s 2024 Campaign team said the “Oversight Commission is there for a reason”. They continued: “This campaign was made by survivors of sexual assault. This was made for survivors by survivors.” They also said that the former Gender Equality Officer did not attend the Union Forum where the action was discussed.
In response to the former student’s point, a student who said they were invited to come to council by their class rep challenged: “I’m a survivor, I don’t want to see a goddamn body”. They further stated that the action should not have been made without consultation from the Gender Equality Officer.
The point of the proposers of the motions for censure not being present at the town hall was brought up by the newly elected BDS Chair Harry Johnston, despite the short notice given for the town hall and it being the last teaching week of the academic term for many undergraduate students.
TCDSU President-elect Seán Thim O’Leary then introduced the motion of censure for Maguire. They said that the actions of last week “endeavoured to exclude the dissenting student body” and that the repurposing of anonymous confessions about rapists “retraumatised survivors”. They further said: “our President has caused untold harm to our members”.
Multiple students opposing Maguire’s censure reaffirmed that Maguire was sick during the proceedings of last week’s campaign group. A student sought to clarify whether the President, as leader of campaigns, should be aware of what campaigns are taking place. Maguire’s answer referenced the fast-paced nature of campaigns, and alluded that this is sometimes not the case. Maguire also said that a campaign addressing sexual violence had been in the works for four months.
Those opposing the censure also urged students to accept the apology that had already been issued by TCDSU.
Newly elected LGBT Rights Officer and former Gender Equality Officer Amy Kennedy spoke in favour of censure. She said: “in a private meeting it was admitted that it [the action] should have been brought to me”. To this, Maguire nodded.
Few questions or speeches were addressed towards the Welfare Officer Bana, despite their active participation in the effigy action. Bana did not speak at the council meeting and declined to comment on his censure to The University Times.
Smyth said, despite challenging circumstances bringing ordinary students who aren’t officers to council, they said they wanted to “reiterate to everyone that you can do this at any Comhairle throughout the year […] when stakes are much smaller and implications not as traumatic”.
The Electoral Commission declined to give the numbers for the votes for or against the motions, stating: “Generally the breakdown of secret ballots aren’t shared.”
If you have been effected by the matters brought up in this article you may contact: Dublin Rape Crisis Helpline: 1800 77 8888
www.drcc.ie
(24-hour freephone)
