In the half-hour before I was scheduled to meet with Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU/AMLCT) Presidential candidate Amy Kennedy, I couldn’t, for the life of me, find a place for us to sit. Working from the top floor of the Arts Block to the bottom, not a single table sat unoccupied. In a series of email exchanges, I explained the situation, and we agreed to meet out front and figure it out from there. Laughing off the wild goose chase I’d sent her on, and undeterred by the rain, she suggested a couple of cafes as we headed down Dawson Street. Grabbing the last table at Caffé Nero, we sat down to chat.
Kennedy had a calm, earnest demeanour most interviewers would appreciate. The Wicklow native and Junior Sophister English student explained to me that in the two years she has spent in the Students’ Union, she’d witnessed both the good and the bad, but she still believes in its potential.
“I believe that it’s a really strong organisation. It can do a lot when it’s functioning well.”
In the last year, however, numerous problems have been exposed to her, which she intends to tackle through her campaign.
“There’s a real issue with cronyism”, she expressed, “people just doing things in their friend group”.
She also called out the “careerism” she perceives in the union: students undertaking roles as resume-boosters rather than to fight for students. Kennedy, however, says she’s not in it for career purposes.
“I know I don’t want to go into politics”, she remarked, “this is something that is cause-driven for me”.
In addition to being the current LGBT+ rights officer, English class representative, and the Gender Equality officer last year, Kennedy’s manifesto states that she has been involved in feminist, LGBTQ+, environmental, and anti-colonial activism over the last nine years. Recently, she compiled a list of all gender-neutral bathroom facilities on campus, and over the course of six months, she has been in communication with Estates and Facilities to add them to the Sense Map. Her union experience, she said, has shown her “perseverance” and ability to handle college communication and bureaucracy.
Despite a recent spike in what she dubbed “touchy” Union Forums containing “interpersonal issues”, Kennedy said it’s an environment she is comfortable navigating. When asked how she would solve disputes and interpersonal issues within the Union, Kennedy highlighted the necessity of strong communication, facilitating feedback, and accountability. She noted later that her manifesto includes “concrete and tangible” plans, with a “specificity” that will allow voters to hold her accountable.
Kennedy’s manifesto outlines a campaign platform centred strongly around student body needs. In terms of accommodation, she is calling for a reallocation of funding from the budget surplus to subsidise university accommodation as well as a rent freeze. She plans to work with the Junior Common Room (JCR) to establish accommodation advisory sessions for students leaving first-year housing, and renew the accommodation scams information campaign. She is proposing a campaign to repurpose vacant housing units for accommodation and flat-rate public transportation for students. For working students, Kennedy plans to reinstate activity on the TCDSU job board, ensure pay equality across college employment, and introduce barista and bar training in collaboration with Trinity Catering and Careers Service.
Her manifesto also emphasises keeping College accountable for disability, gender equality and queer rights, as well as divestment through various campaigns. These include consent training, anti-racist active bystander training, access to blood tests, supplementing the Transition Fund, transitioning out of the Coca-Cola contract, and making non-boycott drinks available across campus.
When questioned on how she would facilitate outreach for students outside Trinity’s political circles, Kennedy cited her campaign team, made primarily of non-union officers, as an example. Speaking to students on various college-related issues, Kennedy built a team based on community input. This outreach-rooted student support is a facet of her campaign that she stressed. She wants all students to be aware of SU services, not just those who already follow them on Instagram, through posters, resource lists, and union information stands to get students involved and knowledgeable of its resources (of which she mentioned the laptop loan scheme, Student Hardship Fund, and T-Fund for transitioning students). She highlighted the need for in-person events outside of the Freshers’ Fair, which she said can be an “uncomfortable social environment” for neurodivergent students. In terms of online engagement, she suggested collaboration with various school Instagrams to get a broader reach across subjects.
On engaging the STEM demographic of the student body, who have historically seen less union representation, Kennedy cited the inaccessibility of union events to many students with long contact hours, rather than a lack of interest.
“We often aren’t reaching them on their own ground, so we’re not campaigning on their issues. We’re not listening to what they’re actually saying, [which] is a problem.”
Working on her campaign and manifesto with students in various STEM subjects, Kennedy said she was able to listen to the needs and issues they are facing. Such issues, she said, include a lack of resource provision in St James and Tallaght Hospitals, a lack of union presence in STEM spaces, and underfacilitated student spaces. Additionally, her manifesto notes that she would lobby College to push for courses, such as Medicine, which have early starts to the semester, to have a “specific [exam] resit period”, allowing students to receive results before returning to full time studies. She cited professors “not paying enough attention to students’ LENS reports” as an additional issue she aims to address. Although this is a broad issue across College, she said, it is not often addressed within STEM subjects because they either don’t have class reps or “ghost reps”, causing a lack of communication between them and the union.
“If I did become President, I’d be able to actually campaign on those issues”, she said.
According to Kennedy’s manifesto, she plans to work with School Convenors to take action against departments “found to be in frequent violation of LENS reports”.
When asked what sets her apart from other candidates who may have similar ideas, she stressed a lack of careerism in her run for President.
“If I could, I would run on policies alone, and I would have my face detached from it”.
She emphasised that she’s been able to maintain a level of “professionalism” through not getting involved in the “insular” and “clique-y” elements of the union. Additionally, she expressed her enthusiasm to integrate students with no union experience, expressing that engagement is lost when students “don’t feel like it’s their organisation”. Thus, her vision for the future of the Students’ Union is one that is “more welcoming”.
“I would like an environment where you don’t have to know someone in the union to come in.”
Kennedy’s undeterred nature is apparent, whether that be her flexibility in relocating, trudging through rain, or lobbying for student demands. At the end of our interview, she shared that in addition to her work in activism, she is the Treasurer of the Circus Society, remarking: “If anyone needs to be able to handle a circus… the Students’ Union is certainly a circus”.
