The seventh and final Comhairle of the year opened at 18.38 pm in the Edmund Burke Theatre.
Comhairle opened, and was immediately interrupted with a procedural motion by Hugh Ó Ríordáin to start the evening with his motion to introduce a Long-Term Policy on Gael-Ollscolaíoch, Ó Ríordáin justified his motion by saying it’s “urgent” and “affects students right now”. “Gael-Ollscolaíocht” is a campaign run by Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (AMLÉ) that aims to increase the availability of Irish-language education in third-level institutions, particularly Irish-medium education which does not have to do with the acquisition of the language itself. A long-term policy on Gael-Ollscolaíocht would mandate that the Union lobby and campaign for support of Irish-medium education. After Ó Ríordáin introduced the motion, Oifigeach na Gaeilge, Aoife Ní Bhriain spoke in favour, summing up: “it’s great to formalize it […] so it’s taken more seriously on a college level”. The motion passed unanimously.
After the minutes were approved, the sabbatical officers gave their reports. Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU/AMLCT) President Grace McNally McNally decided to dedicate her report to “the hard work of those who supported the SU, like the electoral commissions”.
All the other sabbatical officers took their reports as read, in honour of the electoral commission, who were all given gifts by the sabbatical team. Whaley then thanked the Electoral Commission (EC), for their “incredible work” during the “ridiculous number of elections” and presented the EC with a gift. He also thanked the Chair, Bailey Armstrong, and Secretary, Aaron Groome stating, “I personally could not have picked better people to lead us through these trying times.” Armstrong also thanked the Sabbatical Officers.
Then the Comhairle moved onto elections. Multiple positions were open as is usual for the last Comhairle of the year. First the elections for the Electoral Commissions took place. The EC is responsible for organizing, running, and overseeing all TCDSU elections and referenda, including sabbatical and class rep elections. Bailey Armstrong was then reelected as the
Chair of the EC, who also serves as the Chair of Comhairle, as she was the only person nominated. Then Abigail Donohue was elected as the Biennial Member of the EC, and Liv Mohan, Maureen Loftus and Abi O’Brien Murray were elected for the four Annual Member positions.
The standing order was suspended again when a motion to to amend the terms of reference of Rannóg an Aistriúcháín (proposed to council by Aoife Ní Bhriain, Oifigeach na Gaeilge). Rannóg an Aistriúcháín is responsible for the translation of all TCDSU/AMLCT materials into Irish. As it stands, there are multiple translators within Rannóg an Aistriúcháín. However, during the Summer, the Rannóg an Aistriúcháín for the next academic year has not been selected, meaning that all translation duties fall to the Oifigeach na Gaeilge. This motion would allow for members of Rannóg an Aistriúcháín to continue translation work over the Summer until a new Rannóg an Aistriúcháín is selected. The motion passed.
Another procedural motion brought the motion advocating for an amendment to the constitution to ensure the highest-standard of Irish translations to Comhairle. It was proposed by class rep Pól Ó hÍomhair. The amendment would introduce a new clause to Article 3 of the constitution that would ensure that Irish translations have the same level of intelligibility, clarity and terminological precision as their English versions. This amendment, as proposed by the motion, would have to be passed through a referendum. The motion passed. The referendum is going to be held along with class representatives elections next year.
Then Buster Whaley proposed his motion on the creation of a Student Worker Part Time Officer. This motion calls for the creation of a part time officer for student workers. The part time officer would be responsible for advocating on behalf of employed students as well collaborating with Trade Union partners to help students find their trade union representatives. Harry Johnston underlined the growing number of student workers, stating that with the new position “we can help student workers get union representation”. The motion passed, with the election to be now held tonight.
Finally, the following elections were allowed to take place. Cordelia Nelson was elected as the Ordinary Committee Member of the Campaigns Committee for this year, with her term lasting till July. Next Aaron Groome, the current secretary of Comharile, was elected as the Undergraduate Studies Committee Representative.
Then the many elections for Part Time Officers opened. Part Time Officers assist and support the Sabbatical Officers by representing specific groups of students or focusing on particular campaigns or issues. Rose Sevim was reelected for the role of the Citizenship Officer. Bryn Butler was elected as the International Student’s Officer without contest. Sophie Coonan was elected as the LGBTQ+ Rights Officer and James Rochford was elected as the Mature Students Officer. Anna Moore, the current PTO for Students with Disabilities, was reelected. Ellen Considine was chosen as the next Gender Equality Officer and Aisling Deegan was elected as the Student Parents’ Officer. Regan Oladipofaniyi was elected as the Ethnic Minorities Officer. Finn O’Hanlon was elected the Environmental Officer and Sam Murray was elected the Access Officer. Laurie Redmond became the new Off-Campus Officer, while Chaya Nicole Smyth was elected the Volunteer Coordinator. Fintan Crean, a Junior Fresh Medicine class representative, was elected the Engagement Officer and Seán Radcliffe, the incoming Chair of Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Implementation Committee was elected the Housing Rights Officer, Natalia Byrne was reelected the Student Carer Officer and Alex McArdle was elected as the Commuters’ Officer. Harry Johnson, current BDS Chair, was elected as the first ever Student Worker officer.
Then the elections for the Oversight Commission (OC) began. The OC is responsible for maintaining, enforcing, and managing Union policy and compliance with mandates. It supervises the work of full time officers, ensuring they follow Union rules, and manages the union between Comhairles, acting as an accountability body for the TCDSU. Amy Cawley was elected as the Chair of OC, who also acts as the Secretary to Comhairle. Noone ran for the Biennial Member, and Fiona Connor, Abigail O Brien and Louise Kenny were chosen as three of the five Annual Members of the OC.
The elections for the Archival Committee took place next. Jade Hadjerioua (current member) was elected as the Chair/Archivist, Matthew Mannion (current union archivist) as the Secretary and Pól Ó hÍomhair and Alexandra Schefter were chosen as the two Ordinary Members of the Committee.
After the elections were over, the Comhairle moved on to the remaining motions. The motion to renew the Off Campus and Clinical Placement Committee, which is due to expire this year, was brought to Comharile first. This committee advocates on behalf of students with off-campus classes and placements. The motion mandates that this committee be renewed for the next two years so they continue to support Health Science Student Representatives. The motion passed.
The next motion presented to Comhairle was proposed by the Access Officer, Aimee Cloake. This motion similarly demanded the Omnibus renewal of Ad Hoc Committees who help promote diversity and inclusion in the TCDSU/AMLCT. The motion passed.
A motion to hold a referendum on leaving the Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (AMLÉ) was then proposed to Comhairle by Seán Radcliffe. AMLÉ is the national union of students in Ireland which the TCDSU has been affiliated with since 1959. Radcliffe argued that there are longstanding structural and procedural faults within AMLÉ and that if these faults are not reformed, a referendum to leave AMLÉ should be held. He brought particular attention to their failure to prevent the student contribution from being raised. Introducing the motion, Radcliffe also said: “We need to ensure their accountability” and stated that the SU has a list of demands for AMLÉ, and if these are not met, a referendum should be held to leave AMLÉ.
Hugh Ó Ríordáin then proposed an amendment to the motion, stating that in case of disaffiliation, Trinity Sabbats would be mandated to liaise with other SU’s in the country to establish “a structure of some sort” in its place. A debate ensued as the floor opened for speakers. Grace McNally argued that AMLÉ “Absolutely Sucks” but that the costs and time necessary for the creation of another union are too big. The amendment failed to pass.
A debate then followed about whether the motion should be passed or not. Grace McNally took the floor to argue that the debate was not about leaving AMLÉ but “not about leaving AMLÉ, but giving AMLÉ the power to listen to students”. The Comhairle’s attention was also brought to the fact that not all SU’s in the country are members of AMLÉ. Other speakers argued that in spite of AMLÉ’s faults, a referendum should not be held unless there was an existing plan in place as to what would replace it. Natalia Byrne spoke in favour of the motion underlining “there is no oversight in AMLÉ […] what we are proposing here is oversight, and if we do not get it we leave”. Radcliffe summed up mentioning “abuse”, and the motion passed.
The following motion was then brought to Comhairle by Environmental Officer, Amelia Flanagan. It proposed to make the JCR Environmental Officer an ex-officio member of the Environmental Action Committee. The JCR Environmental Officer is a new role, starting next academic year and the motion mandates that the TOR of the Environmental Action Committee be changed to reflect this. The motion passed.
The following three motions were proposed by Citizenship Officer, Rose Sevim. The motions sought the approval of three separate selections for the BDS Implementation Committee. The three appointed persons seeking approval were Grace McNally, for Secretary, Alex MacAardle, for Vice Chair and Seán Radcliffe, for Chair. All three members were approved by Comhairle.
The next motion, proposed by Ruaidhrí Campion, aimed to align the college’s preferred supplier list with the BDS boycott. As it stands, Dell Computers, who are a priority target of the BDS movement, are the sole preferred supplier of laptops and PCs for Trinity College. The motion mandates that the TCDSU President and Trinity BDS Chair conduct a review of the college’s preferred supplier list. The motion passed.
The Comhairle then moved on to Discussion Items. The first item was brought up by Eamon Tang, Senior Fresh Mental Health Nursing Representative, and concerned the Wi-Fi connections on campus, which have “gotten extremely worse as of late”. The proposer was not at Comhairle.
The second Discussion Item was brought up by Amelia Flanagan, current Environmental Officer, about the single-use promotional t-shirts used for election campaigns. She called the use of such shirts “a bit hypocritical”, mentioning the amount of waste the clothes generate, as well as the disregard for the workers who produce them. Amy Kennedy spoke for the point, underlining the opportunities for lino-printing workshops or other such initiatives. Matthew Mannion (Secretary to the Archival Committee) spoke about the “archival value” of the t-shirts “which makes them not single use”. Chaya Smyth proposed for the discussion to be brought up again next year, when the time comes for allocating a budget for the t-shirts.
Finally, Hugh Ó Ríordáin brought up the issues with the Erasmus system, highlighting how the college has suspended new Erasmus partnerships until 2027 because of funding, and the plans to decentralise “a lot of the administrative work” on to the schools. The Discussion Item was also brought to the previous Comhairle, however no one spoke on it then, and the proposer was not present. Sam Brooks mentioned a survey he ran on this topic earlier this year, underlining “it’s a massive issue [..] I think we need to highlight, that needs to be on the agenda for next year”.
With that, Armstrong brought the final Comhairle of the year came to an end at 8:56pm, and called on the Comhairle members to donate to Mnárta, led a round of applause to the graduating students in the room, and encouraged the rest of the students to run for class rep.
