On Monday, the 2nd of November at 18:21, the secretary of the CSC, Homesh Rajesh opened the EGM for the Workers Party after a previous election was deemed unconstitutional. The evening’s elections – which featured allegations of Russian influence and parent party overreach within the Workers’ Party and a walk-out against the “Ultra-left wing” faction of the party – culminated in the election of Bryn Butler to Chair, James McCullen as Secretary, Eoin Brady to Treasurer, Simon Lewis for Public Relations Officer, and finally three Ordinary Committee Members: Amelia Kluczyska, Ruben Guinan and Sarah Alessi.
According to Chair of the Central Societies Committee, Henry James, while university societies generally organise and conduct their General Meetings, representatives from the Central Societies Committee may “attend to observe or provide support, either at the request of a Society or where additional assistance is considered appropriate”.
In lieu of the CSC decision to dissolve the previously elected committee on the grounds that it was unconstitutionally formed, four members of the CSC – the Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Amenities Officer – were present at the EGM. In a statement to the University Times, James commented that the representatives were “attending and overseeing tonight’s EGM following procedural concerns relating to previous general meetings that were brought to the CSC’s attention. The CSC is providing assistance to ensure that the meeting is conducted in accordance with relevant procedures and the society’s constitution.”
The elections opened for auditor with two candidates, James Rochford, former auditor of the Workers Party, and Bryn Butler, nominated themselves. Rochford’s speech was short citing his longstanding left wing beliefs, membership of the party since his first year and stating the party had a lot of potential for the future.
Bryn Butler started her speech stating “I know a thing or two about leadership” continuing to say that “I am beholden to no one, the same cannot be said about previous leadership of this party,” specifically mentioning the “failures of auditors past.” Butler additionally stated that “it is unbecoming, and has been done by previous leaders by subterfuge to undermine other committee members.” Butler also accused the society of endorsing Russia’s imperialist war in Ukraine and hoped to bring the society back on track, claiming that it has “great potential.”
The next position for which speeches were given were secretary. The nominees were James McCullen, the former secretary, and Ewan Maclaoud, a mature history student from the TAP program in his first year. Maclaoud went first in his speech, introducing himself and his engagement in left-wing activism and trade unionism. He said he was “committed to leftwing values and leftwing goals.” He viewed it as “an important and great society.”
McCullen spoke next, echoing a line similar to Butler. He believed in standing in opposition to Russian imperialism and made the claim that “the Workers’ Party is under the tutelage of Russian imperialism”. He went on to allude that in the Workers’ Party split, “both sides might state that they are opposed” to Russian imperialism but that it wasn’t necessarily true. He spoke of the Party’s “sister parties” which included four MAGA parties and a Nazbol party in Russia which had endorsed its special invasions. He accused members of the Workers’ Party of attending Putin’s talks in Russia and said the evidence could be found on the Anti Imperialism website. He then said that other former Workers’ committee members attempted to purge him and two other members from the party. He finished with a quote from Connolly: “We serve neither king nor kaiser, but Ireland,” and someone in the crowd was heard saying “not even Irish” as he left the stage.
Following these speeches, voting began for the two positions. After a few minutes, the results for the auditor were announced: Rochford was eliminated in the first round of voting and Butler won in the second round with twelve votes. For secretary, Maclaoud was eliminated in the first round and McCullen won with thirteen votes in the second.
Two candidates, Eoin Brady, the former treasurer, and Joel Mackey, were nominated to run for treasurer. Brady began by saying “A critical moment is upon us,” differentiating between his ‘side’ and the “other side: the forces of capital, reaction, hatred, and death.” He asked the members to choose between keeping “Workers where it is now,” with pro-Putin actors and choosing “truth”, “socialism”, and “love.” He called his opponent “an agent of the pro-Putin Workers’ party.” He too referenced allegations of Party members going to an address by Putin and how the Workers’ Party was used as an “recruitment center for pro-Putin activists.” He appealed to the crowd’s “sense of reason, sense of justice.” He finished by saying “I’m not a leader, I’m a servant. I act in service of the people.”
Mackey began by thanking the crowd and introducing himself as a mature student who came in through a PLC course. He said he had been a “committed communist for years” and garnered relevant experience as treasurer of societies in high school. Following voting, Mackey was eliminated in the first round and Brady won by seven votes.
At the announcement of these results, former TCDSU President Laszlo Molnarfi, who was in attendance, interrupted the proceeding stating, “this is a complete and utter joke”. Molnarfi accused the newly elected committee members, Butler, Brady, McCullen, and Lewis, of being “ultra left deviationists,” “propagandists,” and “NATO anarchists.” Approximately ten Members left the lecture hall alongside Molnarfi, including previous nominees who had lost their elections.
Following the walkout elections for Public Relations Officer (PRO) began, with only one candidate, Simon Lewis, who ran unopposed. He claimed in his speech that he was not only returning to take back his position but to “redeem the society from the totally nefarious society” from imperialism and Putinism. He said the party had “strangled” the society and sent members to pro-Russian events. They “ran this society completely top down” and rejected notions of republicanism and Ireland. He then alleged that the “party removed my access to Instagram while I was still PRO.” A vote for him would be a “vote for a new society.” If elected, he wanted to “remove [the society] as a vehicle for Russian imperialism.” He finished by urging people to “join the struggle” and said “all reactionaries are the same. If you do not hit them, they will not fall. Lewis won with 23 votes.
The final election was for three OCM positions for which five people ran. The first to go was
Amelia Kluczyska who spoke on her three years of experience on various committees as OCM and Events Officer. She said that OCMs were “the cogs of a society” and said she believed she would do a good job of it. Stella D’aignault, who was OCM prior to the dissolution, spoke next. She said she was “passionate about making the world a better place.” She wanted to use the Workers’ Party to educate people on capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism. Sarah Alessi, another former OCM introduced herself as a first year film student who “always had an interest in philosophy and Marxist theory.” She outlined her previous experience in student political movements and “experienced first hand the revolutionary force” that could be unleashed. Her vision for the society was one where it operated as “a community of people that could bridge the gap between theory and practice.”
Ruben Guinan introduced himself and was “passionate about participating and further the goal of socialist republicanism.” He wanted to work towards a “trend that has been missing in the Workers’ Party: republicanism.” Finally, first year Christian Dooley spoke: “I have a fire in my heart and a gleam in my eye.” He hoped to further the cause of the students movement by changing the current state of the Workers’ Party as a “talking chamber” to a revolutionary body that could lead a similar revolutionary movement in Ireland as in France, Serbia, India, if the moment must arise.
Guinan and Kluczyska were elected in a first past the post system while Alessi and Dooley tied. In a tie breaker vote, Alessi was elected.
To close off the EGM, a motion was proposed by McCullen, newly elected Secretary, and seconded by the new PRO Lewis to remove subsection G of the society’s constitution which necessitated that anyone running for auditor had to be either a third or fourth year. Brady spoke in favour of this motion, saying that it “caused a lot of problems in the past few years.” Lewis used the opportunity to speak against by “very gently suggesting” that members vote against and used the time to encourage members to attend their upcoming EGM where they would vote on “many more motions to amend faults in the constitution” such as the first-past-the-post election system. He ended by saying “the struggle is not finished, we continue to restore the Workers’ Party society and adapt it into a better form.” The motion passed by a raise of hands.
In accordance with section 6a of the Society’s constitution, 20 members or 10 per cent of the society membership, whichever is higher, is needed to meet Quorum. During the elections, this count was kept, even as the members dropped during the walkout and due to the event running until 7.28pm. The CSC counted a total of 47 members on commencing the elections. This number had dropped to 29 at the conclusion of the EGM.
