Ivana Bacik is a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Bay South constituency and has been the leader of the Labour Party since 2022. Bacik graduated from Trinity in 1989 and served as Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) President from 1989-1990. During her presidency, the union distributed abortion information and was taken to court by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), which garnered national attention when she nearly went to prison. Bacik sat down with the University Times to reminisce on her time at Trinity and give some advice to incoming first years.
Parts of this interview have been edited and condensed for clarity.
What was the highlight of your time at Trinity?
“I was lucky enough to study law in the late ’80s with incredible lecturers, like Mary McAleese, Mary Robinson, and Kader Asmal. But the real highlight was being elected president of the Students’ Union in my final year. That was an amazing feeling: to get that endorsement from my peers and colleagues.”
What would you say to your Fresher self?
“I would say three things. One is enjoy the studies. You’re in an incredible university, and you’ve got great lecturers in every discipline, whatever your course. So enjoy the studies. Second, enjoy the student life and the politics. I got very involved, obviously, in the Students’ Union, but I was also involved in lots of societies. I was very involved, you may be surprised to know, in the croquet club. We were sponsored by Mitchell’s Off Licence, which had something to do with our love of croquet. We also set up a Decadent Society, which was short-lived. But we had great fun with societies, including the debating society. So I always say get involved in debating, get involved in politics and all the different societies you’re interested in. And then the final thing is the friends you make in college. I’m what, gosh, over 30 years out of Trinity, and I still have a close group of friends that I made in Trinity, and some of them I actually met in Freshers’ Week or in first term. So, you know, the advice I’d give my fresher self is look around you because the people you’re meeting now, you are gonna be remaining in touch with for many decades to come.”
What have you taken from your Trinity experience that you still use today?
“Well, apart from the studies and the degree and the, and the friends, I mean, the other thing that I’m immensely proud of is that as Student Union president, along with my co-officers, we stood up to SPUC and the forces of the right. SPUC took us to court in 1989, threatened us with prison, and we stood up to them and faced them down, and said we were not going to back down. It was because we were giving information on abortion to women in crisis pregnancy at a time when even providing the phone number of a clinic in Britain was illegal. Mary Robinson, who was then a lecturer of mine, of course, stepped in to represent us in court, and thanks to her brilliant legal arguments, we were never sent to prison.
“I’m really proud of that very intense and dramatic time and of our courage actually, as, you know, I was just 21. Everyone else was maybe 19, 20 in the office. And we were brave. It was a national story at the time. The case went on for many years, and we were declared bankrupt as part of it. But I think it taught me resilience and the need to stand up for your principles.”
Do you have any advice for incoming first years?
“Freshers’ Week is crucial. Look all around you. Keep open to every experience ’cause Freshers’ Week has that amazing buzz about it on campus, and it really is unlike any other week in the college calendar. And when it’s very new, it can be a bit overwhelming. But just make sure, go in every day, look all around, engage in loads of conversations because you never know who you’ll meet or what societies you might end up joining. Like I say, unexpectedly I was involved in croquet, but I also joined the karate club in my first year and got really involved in that. Now these are the sorts of experiences you should just try out and go with, and join as many things as you can.”
Is there anything else you would like to add?
“The bottom line is make the most of this. This is an incredible place to study. I mean, Trinity genuinely has an international reputation, but it’s also an extremely special place, just the location being right in the centre of a capital city, being in such a centuries-old complex of buildings. So just make the most of it because it’s really a time out from everyday life. Even still when I come into the campus, I just still feel that lovely thrill of just being in a very, very special and unique place.”
