Cathal Horgan is running for President of the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU/AMLCT) on a platform that emphasises day-to-day student issues and “tangible” outcomes. In his manifesto, he argues that TCDSU “should not serve as a think tank” and should focus on “pragmatically improving the lives of all Trinity students”, presenting himself as a candidate prioritising “practical solutions” over “moral victories”.
Horgan, wearing his campaign-coloured red scarf, said he decided to run in the first week of December after becoming frustrated that recurring campus problems were not being addressed. He said he previously did stand-up comedy and used campus annoyances like broken sockets and queues for microwaves as material before deciding he wanted to work on solutions rather than commentary.
“I realised that like, I’m just joking about everything”, he said, “I’m not actually fixing anything”.
Speaking to the University Times, Horgan argued that the union should focus on what he called the “boring, mundane” issues that affect students daily, such as awareness of TCDSU’s services, college facilities, and food prices. He cited examples, including students not knowing about the SU laptop repair service, sockets in the Library that he said have been broken for long periods, and rising prices in campus food outlets.
“Not every issue has to be blown up all the time”, he said, describing an approach he summarised as working with the College where possible but being willing to protest where progress stalls. This aligns with his manifesto commitment to balancing “discussion and compromise” with a willingness to protest.
Horgan also framed part of his critique as a question of incentives: he argued that practical measures receive less attention because they are less likely to generate media coverage. He returned to this point later in the interview while discussing food initiatives, stating: “It’s not sexy at all to talk about low-cost food”.
Horgan’s manifesto contains a series of cost-of-living proposals, including an “Affordable Breakfast in SU Café”, “Reliable Access to Period Products”, “Cheaper Laundry Costs”, and a “Lab Coat Rental Scheme”, alongside changes intended to lower barriers to participation in campus life.
The breakfast proposal aims to provide cereal “at €0,50”, according to the manifesto. Horgan said to the University Times that the price includes “dry cereal [and] milk”, adding that bowls may not be provided initially and suggesting a return-cup or rental-style scheme. He said he would aim to implement the breakfast plan within the first semester.
On funding, Horgan alleged the SU spent €20,000 last year on class representative training in a four-star hotel with a spa, and said he would cut that expenditure and redirect the money to subsidise the breakfast initiative. According to former Education Officer, Eoghan Gilroy, TCDSU did indeed spend €28,002 on Class Rep Training in 2024 at the Mount Wolseley Hotel in County Carlow.
Horgan also prioritised period products in the interview. His manifesto pledges “reliable access” across all of Trinity’s campuses and highlights gaps outside the main campus, including St James’s Hospital and Tallaght. When asked, he claimed dispensers are frequently empty and proposed maintaining a reserve supply and working with the College so cleaners can top up dispensers when they notice they are empty, rather than waiting for scheduled restocking by the outsourced company, Riley. He said he believes this could be achieved within the first semester and suggested union officers could assist with restocking as a stopgap if needed while discussing logistics with the College.
Other cost-of-living proposals in the manifesto include revitalising the SU job listings page and introducing a lab coat rental scheme, arguing that purchasing coats and goggles can be costly and wasteful for students who only need them for limited lab work.
The interview then moved to talk about TCDSU itself. Horgan framed disengagement from SU structures as a persistent issue. Speaking to the University Times, Horgan claimed election turnout is consistently between “4,000 and 5,000” students and that Comhairle attendance can be “around 50 people”, while many class rep positions go unfilled. In fact, 3,588 votes, in the most bye-election, is the highest recorded vote tally in TCDSU election history. Horgan argued the SU can appear “sealed off” and said participation would increase if students saw concrete outcomes and if barriers to involvement were reduced.
A central governance proposal in his manifesto is “Comhairle Online Voting”, which he argues would increase engagement, particularly for commuters, by allowing students to join and vote through a video conferencing platform. He described this as a basic modernisation: “It’s 2026… you can’t Zoom in and vote”. In fact, voting members are already able to join via Zoom and vote in Comhairle if they fill out the Zoom request form sent on the day.
Horgan also criticised what he described as limited transparency, claiming recent financial reporting has not been easily available, and argued that publishing clearer information on spending would improve trust. His manifesto includes proposals to actively update the TCDSU website, including fixing broken links and improving information on services.
On Palestine solidarity, Horgan’s manifesto says he would continue pressure on divestment and follow taskforce recommendations. In conversation with the University Times, he said he would support existing activist structures within the TCDSU, including the Trinity Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) committee, and argued that students with greater expertise on the issue should be given a more prominent platform. He said he would be willing to “happily hand them the megaphone”, contrasting this with what he described as a model where the President is routinely the public face at the front of protests.
Horgan described a distinction between long-term goals, particularly accommodation, and measures he views as deliverable quickly. He said he could not deliver student accommodation within 100 days but argued that initiatives such as improving the reliability of period products, rolling out a low-cost breakfast option, and pursuing discounted coffee during exam periods could be implemented within a semester.
Overall, Horgan’s campaign combines a manifesto argument that the TCDSU should prioritise everyday student needs with a stated commitment in the interview that some of his proposed changes are low-cost and operationally straightforward. If elected, the progress of several proposals would depend on internal SU budgeting decisions and, in some cases, cooperation from the College and external contractors where services are not directly controlled by the union.
