As the summer months progress, newly elected Sabbatical Officers initiate agenda-setting for the upcoming academic year. Priorities are set, timelines drafted, and the groundwork for another year of Students’ Union politics is laid.
The University Times caught up with new Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) President, Amy Kennedy, to gain insight into her short-and long-term priorities while in office, check on the progress of her manifesto items, and hear how the Students’ Union, under her leadership, may look.
The past few weeks have entailed handover and training, Kennedy shared, further remarking: “we’ve kind of been able to hit the ground running”, meeting with Part-Time Officers (PTOs) to “[figure] out how we’re going forward with the year and what’s the best way that we can support everyone”.
What Kennedy Would Resign Over
Following the October 2025 resignation of former TCDSU President, Seán Thim, the question of reasonable expectations for Sabbatical Officers has been a hot-button topic.
Questioned over what terms she would resign, Kennedy stated she would step down “if I was no longer able to support the other people in the Union and if I was failing to help them achieve their goals and failing to help them do their jobs”.
When pressed on an item of precedence that would lead to her resignation if unfulfilled, Kennedy stated: “There’s not an item on my agenda that if I did not achieve it, I would resign”. All Sabbatical Officers were asked this when interviewed.
“There are things that I will work to the very end to try to achieve, and some of them are definitely not going to be single-year campaigns”, Kennedy continued. Items on a national level – fixed student Leap Card rates, for example – she said, are unlikely to be single-year campaigns.
Kennedy did not directly address what level of progress she believes is fair to expect of Sabbatical Officers, and at what stage it is an Officer’s responsibility to resign, instead remarking: “We are operating within a very archaic institution, and because of that, change is always really slow to happen”.
She continued by noting: “you can be working tirelessly at something all year…and you might still not get an outcome within the time that you were in the job”.
Kennedy shifted focus to items “within our control”, such as election publicity, noticeboards, and workshops, and emphasised implementing a solid groundwork for future Officers to work upon.
“Even if it doesn’t happen this year, I want to make sure that whoever comes in next year has a really strong basis to work off.”
Discussing campaign escalation and when it is necessary, Kennedy noted that ultimately, “there are some things where we will be able to go through the established systems and work it out through college committees…but there will also definitely be times this year where we’re going to have to escalate beyond that”.
Ending College’s Pouring Rights Contract with Coca-Cola is a Priority
Kennedy stated that an item high on her agenda, due to its time sensitivity, is the Pouring Rights contract that the College has with Coca-Cola, which she said is set to be renewed in August. Pouring Rights contracts are agreements between institutions and companies, in this case Coca-Cola, for exclusive on-site selling rights at the institutions they are under contract with.
Due to the Student Union’s “ethical procurement policy”, all sponsorships must be in line with guidelines set by TCDSU and Trinity College Dublin Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). Coca-Cola is classified by the BDS movement as “implicated in Israeli war crimes” and thus not in line with these guidelines.
Currently, Kennedy said the Union has been “in communication with…some of the departments that are involved with the commercial procurement at the college”, and when questioned on the project’s feasibility, stated: “it’s looking very good at the moment”.
According to Kennedy, an announcement can be anticipated as soon as August. Drinks that could be made available, she said, are Pepsi, Club Orange, Palestine Cola, and other non-boycott options.
“If we do manage to get something done on that, students will see it straight away when they come in in September.”
Creating Community
In the University Times’ Sabbatical Election interview with Kennedy, she shared a vision for a “more welcoming” Students’ Union where “you don’t have to know someone in the union to come in”.
Touching on how she plans to facilitate community-building and expand outreach, Kennedy said that she is “encouraging all of the officers for Comhairle” – the Union’s primary decision-making council – “to sit with people who they do not already know”.
Kennedy further expressed: “we are coming in at a strong point”, with a “mixture of people” with diverse Union experience.
In terms of engagement, Kennedy listed holding meetings in “accessible locations”, advertising TCDSU activities outside of Union platforms, and Freshers’ Week as strategies.
Previously discussing Freshers’ Week with the University Times, Kennedy called it an “uncomfortable social environment” for neurodiverse students. Following up on this, Kennedy said that she aims to book the indoor Orientation Hub – where students pick up their T-Cards – for “less of an overstimulating environment for students with additional sensory needs”. This would be in addition to the traditional Freshers’ Fair stand in Front Square.
Furthermore, a “new mandate” will bring Freshers’ Fair to St James’s Hospital Campus for Health Sciences and Medicine students, “that historically [have] struggled more with engagement”.
Consent training will be implemented during Freshers’ Week or within the first month of term in addition to active bystander training throughout the year in small group environments for a “more effective atmosphere”.
Another priority item on her agenda is improving Part-Time Officer (PTO) training and increasing visibility for PTO and Committee elections. Kennedy listed Class Representative info sessions and digital resources, like scannable QR codes, as additional outreach methods during Freshers’ Week.
“I want PTOs to be really engaged and Class Reps to be really engaged, and that really starts with letting them know and training them in how best they can do their jobs and what responsibilities will fall on them and how we can support them.”
In the event of “ghost reps” – Class Representatives who are not in communication with the Union – Kennedy intends to work with Faculty Convenors to employ their departmental contacts to reach Representatives, add them to their respective mailing lists, and ensure they receive relevant information and training.
Kennedy also plans on increasing the physical presence of TCDSU in academic spaces. This would be achieved through engagement stands available “at least once a semester” in each of the buildings on campus, giving students insight into the resources and role of the Students’ Union. Additionally, there will be a weekly Union presence on campus via rotating office hours that Sabbatical Officers are required to complete, Kennedy explained.
If there is a high demand for the engagement stalls, they would increase in frequency, said Kennedy, but as it stands, they are in a “trial period” to gauge student engagement.
Time Off in Lieu and Sabbatical Officer Financial Transparency
Sabbatical Officers, who are salaried, receive Time Off in Lieu (TOIL), allowing them to claim paid time off for overtime work.
When asked if she has plans to reform the process of claiming TOIL and increasing financial transparency, Kennedy noted that she has “been very clear to all of the other Sabbatical Officers what the expectations are, what things can be claimed as TOIL and what things cannot be claimed as TOIL”.
She also stated that she plans to release her own TOIL figures at the end of the year “for transparency”, and would “encourage any other Sabbatical Officers who are willing to do so [to] do that as well”.
Kennedy further noted that students will be able to access information about Sabbatical Officers’ TOIL claims via quarterly reports.
“I believe that financial transparency is very important with the Union, as we receive a lot of money through capitations”, Kennedy said.
Housing and the College Budget Surplus
An email shared with the University Times recently revealed that contributions to College life – after being included in the College’s accommodation application for years – were not considered in the 2025 housing allocation process despite being asked for, prompting uncertainty in an already all-time-high accommodation crisis.
Asked how she plans to quell the anxieties this information poses for many students, Kennedy stated that an investigation is underway on how housing allocations were made this year. Additionally, Kennedy shared that conversations with the College – to initiate “transparency and clarity” and ensure “all of the people who are impacted by the decisions on housing allocation are in the room” – are in the works.
Highlighting an interest in housing co-ops, Kennedy mentioned she has met with the Dublin Housing Co-op to “hear about what their plans are, what their ideas are, and then see what we can do to help them…try to set a co-op [up] here”. Housing co-ops offer a decentralised housing solution, owned and managed by students without the constraints of the private market.
In the previous interview, Kennedy additionally mentioned repurposing vacant housing units for student accommodation. Questioned on the feasibility of this project, she noted that it is “definitely a longer-term one”, with first steps including “lobbying government for increased funding for refurbishment”.
In March, the Irish Times reported that Trinity College Dublin recorded a net surplus of €17.3 million and an overall surplus of $33.7 million. Kennedy previously mentioned to the University Times a plan to allocate the College surplus toward subsidised accommodation and enact a rent freeze. Following up on this, Kennedy shared that a “subsidised accommodation plan” is in the works with Welfare Officer, Lorenzo Cheasty.
“It’s something I anticipate we will experience quite a lot of pushback on”, she acknowledged, noting that some of the College surplus comes from asset appreciation, and “often they will use that line to basically try to shut us down”. However, she plans “at the very least” to start conversations about it during the academic year, aiming to have some subsidised housing units for ACCESS students and students with financial difficulties.
When asked what Kennedy’s thoughts were regarding financial transparency, and other ways the surplus could be utilised in favour of student needs, Kennedy proposed Trinity Catering as an area the budget surplus could be used to subsidise on-campus dining.
“I think that that could also be a really good, tangible way for surplus funds from the College to actually benefit students, rather than just sitting in the College reserve”.
Election night, Photo by Isabella Walsh for The University Times
Flat-rate Leap Card Fees
Kennedy’s manifesto lists offering flat-rate student Leap Card fees, rather than the current discounted rates given on Student or Young Adult Leap Cards. While she conceded that it will be “quite a complicated process”, she considers the issue “really important to me personally because I was a commuter”. She further deemed flat rates as “doable within the infrastructure that we have.”
Despite the scale of such a project, Kennedy stated that she will “be emailing Iarnród Éireann all year and basically being a pain in their ass.”
Reimplementing Activity on the TCDSU Job Board
A 2025 survey suggests that more than two in three university students undertake part-time work during term time, according to The Irish News. One of Kennedy’s manifesto items is to reimplement activity on the TCDSU job board, which currently sits empty at the time of writing this article.
Collaborating with Communications Officer Matthew Kurt, this would entail reaching out to local businesses and encouraging them to advertise on the job board. Kennedy also mentioned working with the Trinity Careers Service to cross-post part-time and casual work opportunities.
Resource Provisioning in STEM Academic Spaces
Kennedy is working “quite actively”, she said, on implementing an SU Cafe in St James’s Hospital, offering food, drink, and a social space for students between classes. In Tallaght University Hospital, her team are working on providing more kettles, microwaves, and seating in student spaces.
Early Exam Resits for Students with Early Semester Starts
Students who have early semester starts take resit exams during the same period as all other students. Kennedy’s manifesto reads that she would lobby College for a “specific [exam] resit period” for these students, allowing them to receive results before returning to full-time studies. Kennedy stated that this policy would hopefully be implemented by the following academic year, as exam dates for this year were already announced at the time they got into office.
Increasing Learning Educational Needs (LENS) Report Transparency
Kennedy and her team are currently working with the disAbility Service to implement faculty training at the beginning of the year to increase understanding of the legal requirements academic staff are held to concerning LENS reports.
This is following protests last February by the Students’ Union, who claimed the Department of History fulfilled “0% of LENS reports” following a student survey.
If departments are “still failing” to adhere to LENS reports during the academic year, “that’s when we’re going to start basically being outside classrooms reminding lecturers on their way in that they need to do it”, said Kennedy.
The disAbility service is “currently developing a refreshed LENS training program for the 2026/27 academic year”, said the Director of the disAbility hub, Declan Treanor.
“The programme will include a recorded core training session, concise written guidance and scheduled live sessions for relevant School, programme and module-level staff. In addition we are proposing to add guidance for module academics in Blackboard Ultra on how to gain access to LENS reasonable accommodations via Power Bi reports.”
Treanor further noted that training will commence during the new academic year and continue throughout the first semester with “further sessions available during the year where required”, concluding by stating that LENS training is a “permanent annual programme” that will “help ensure that new and existing staff understand how to access and interpret LENS reports and implement the reasonable accommodations recorded in them.”
When asked, Kennedy stated she hasn’t strayed from any of her original manifesto points. However, she concedes that there inevitably will be “pivoting” on items that will take more than a year to achieve. Nonetheless, she reaffirmed, “I firmly believe in my manifesto points”.
“Thus far, I am still emailing every person I can possibly email and getting in touch with every person I can possibly find…Until I’ve exhausted every route for these things, I’m not going to be ditching them”, she proclaimed.
“We are the ones who have to live this experience…I’m fighting for it so that we can all have a better time, and so that we can all actually experience college the way that I think it should be experienced…I’m going to be continuing on with everything I can until it is visibly actually impossible. And then I’m going to be like, actually, no, fuck you, it’s not impossible. I’m gonna try something out anyway.”
