On November 26th, the final hustings of the bye-election, the media hustings, took place in the Thomas Davis theatre. Led by Trinity News and The University Times, the four candidates were questioned on their stance on the Vote of no confidence in the Irish government referendum, and whether the Trinity College Dublin Student’s Union (TCDSU/AMLCT) should be opt-in.
After a welcome by the editors-in-chief, and a brief introduction of the four candidates, hustings commenced with the general questions directed to all candidates. Candidates were also instructed to share their pronouns, which all candidates did except Jacob Barron.
The first general question was asked by the Editor-in-Chief of Trinity News, Aoibhínn Clancy, on what the candidates thought of an opt-in or voluntary membership of the Union. Callum O’Kelly believed that it is a “very careful balancing act” even though he believes that membership should be mandatory because it benefits “each and every one of us” and “defends our rights nationally”. Reflecting on her first week of college, Grace McNally said that she probably would have ignored a sign up for the Student’s Union as a first year because there was too much going on. She stated that making membership voluntary would cause the Union to lose a lot of its members, and argued for mandatory membership, emphasising that “the Union is the student body”. Lorenzo Cheasty answered that implementing an optional union is unrealistic, calling it “an impossible, infeasible option” due to the delegation of funds and resources. He further elaborated that making membership voluntary would undermine the Union’s welfare supports and campaigns, highlighting how “some students won’t know they need critical supports until they need the critical supports.” Jacob Barron answered last, and as the only one of the candidates who believed in a voluntary Union, cited that “the fact that people want to dissociate from the Union, means that it should not exist.” He argued that the union being forced to represent 20,000 students diluted its campaigns and that many people don’t care about what the student Union is advocating for. He concluded: “I hate being told what to do and I hate being a part of a Union that I do not agree with.”
The second question was asked by The University Times Editor-in-Chief Charlie Hastings, specifically on whether candidates believed that a continued affiliation with the national student union body Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (AMLÉ), would benefit Trinity students and what role would Trinity play in nationwide student activism. Jacob Barron responded by saying that, similarly to the conversation regarding the TCDSU, AMLÉ didn’t actually represent students, emphasising that it was a left-wing organisation and “not everyone in Ireland is left-wing”. While admitting some internal flaws, Cheasty highlighted the importance of AMLÈ as a way to make the work of Irish Students’ Unions “less fractured”, further outlining that the TCDSU should work directly with other students’ Unions to make students’ lives easier and rights and resources more accessible. McNally similarly underlined the importance of AMLÉ , saying that: “Most people don’t know what AMLÉ is, but for the Union it is important.” She highlighted that it was important to work together in a larger way, while discussing its role in training Unions and its structure. O’Kelly said that AMLÉ “gives us a forum of collaboration between Unions in the country”.
The first candidate-specific question was asked to O’Kelly on his proposal to implement specific “cost rental pilot with dedicated spaces for HEAR, DARE, and TAP students” and how he would ensure that these schemes would not make students in these programs feel alienated from their peers. O’Kelly answered by saying that funding for HEAR, DARE, and TAP students “will be a priority”.
McNally was asked about her goal to introduce “cost of living packs to reflect degree-specific expenses” and what she envisioned these packs containing, how she would formulate these packs to accommodate students from each facility, and what made her choose packs that would be degree-related over cost of living expenses. She answered that the cost of living varied between individuals, as “every single degree is different, every student has a different experience.” The packs would be evaluated in terms of degrees, “because not everyone needs the same amount of money”. The packs are intended to cater to individuals and the Union would work with students “to determine what is needed for them.”
When asked about his attempt, but ultimate failure to prevent the effigies campaign earlier this year, Cheasty recounted that he was unaware that it would be realised. He said that after having voiced his concerns about the campaign, he “was told in a text by Jenny [Maguire] that there would be an alternative campaign going on, and when I asked if this would include the effigies, [he] received no response”. He emphasised that he was not aware that the campaign was happening until he saw it on campus, having just returned from abroad. When asked how he would prevent similar mishaps from happening during his presidency, he underlined the importance of democratically organised campaigns, claiming that he “didn’t know fully how undemocratic [it] was”.
Barron’s question asked what criteria he would use to determine when a health service is worth investing Union resources in, seeing as he called the expansion of abortion access on campus “virtue signaling” and “unrealistic.” Barron said that there were issues that “generally get voted on in council without much thought.” He said he didn’t “have anything against abortion rights”, yet also highlighted how there were many students “who are against abortion access”. Regarding the latter, he said that these students had a right to express that they “don’t want this on campus”. He emphasised that it had to be “doable and completely possible” but was voted on “without much thought”, claiming that people were unaware of how much they were going to cost.
The second round of individual questions began with a question directed at Barron, asking about his comments calling the Trinity Boycott, Divest, Sanction movement (BDS) “toxic” and a divestment from Israel unfair. As support for BDS was mandated for the President as Chief Campaigns Officer, he was asked whether he supported a free Palestine and what he would do to advance the mission of BDS as President. He stated that he “obviously support[ed] a free Palestine” but he wouldn’t actively “support the group that is BDS” as it didn’t represent a majority of students on campus as a “very extreme, very radical” group.
The second question to Cheasty asked about a response he gave during the hustings on Monday, where he mentioned that lack of a framework of accountability for “violations of behaviour, for Union officers who commit disgusting acts outside of work” and that “a code of conduct would be quite helpful for those who don’t know how to behave”. When asked to specify which “disgusting” actions he meant and to what extent a President can dictate how people should “behave outside of work”, he answered that the input on the code of conduct would be an independent committee and not just a President’s subjective thoughts. He also added that he hopes that the code of conduct would make the Union a comfortable working environment. Further, Cheasty emphasised that “anything that is not campaign-related” would not apply to the code. Cheasty cited “sexual assault” and “violence” as examples of things to include in the code of conduct, as they are not currently against the Constitution and therefore would not technically prevent anyone from running for or holding office.
In light of McNally’s manifesto, which mentions reforming the Dignity, Respect, and Consent Service (DRC), she was asked how she would carry this reform out. Concerns were raised that “overhauling” the DRC would endanger due process and infringe on respect for survivors. McNally answered that first and foremost, the DRC is there to “protect students”. However, when considering the DRC, “everyone automatically brings up the effigies”. McNally said that she seeks to make the service more beneficial to students by changing policy. She added that “the point is to protect students, not to scare them into thinking that the Union fucked up and did something bad last year”. Additionally, she emphasised her intention to extend these policies to Trinity students studying abroad.
Next, O’Kelly’s question addressed his desire to be an “activist president” and asked how he would view his activism for students in relation to broader political issues. O’Kelly said that he believed that the Union had a duty to be activists because “the system deems our demands radical.” He had a strong belief in student movements and hoped the Union would continue to be at the front of political issues as it had been during the divorce referendum, as well as when pushing for policy change regarding abortion rights and contraception.
Concluding the event, one final question was asked to the candidates concerning their stance on the current referendum condemning the government. O’Kelly answered first, saying that he has “no faith in the current government” and it is “the SU’s job to reaffirm that”. He urged everyone to vote yes in the referendum. McNally agreed, adding that “people are out of food, and out of homes, and our government does not care”. She emphasised the Union’s representative function, concluding that “I voted yes in the referendum and I think you all should as well”. Cheasty contending, illustrating the direct impact government policies have on student welfare. He specifically focused on the housing crisis, calling it a “consequence of decades of awful neoliberal policies”. He outlined more ways in which government policy affects student welfare, citing the criminalisation of drugs, public transport and access to health and welfare services. Barron had a similar outlook, saying that “the government has obviously failed us” and emphasised that “the students create student movements, not the Union”. Concluding his answer, he said that the referendum campaign was a “complete waste of time”, expressing his belief that everyone would vote yes anyway.
Concluding the event, Hastings reminded everyone that voting for the election closes on Friday, November 28th at 4pm.
with additional reporting by Charlie Hastings
