The last three days of electioneering on campus have seen the usual diverse mix of campaign methods, with campaign teams covering various parts of campus, keen to spread the good word of their candidates. Admittedly, the perspective of a former candidate looking on is quite a unique one, with memories of last year unfolding in front of my eyes. Still, this year’s campaign is, in all essences, another unique one.
First online impressions left me with a slanted view on the race – showing the difference between campaigning online and on the ground. Indeed this is reflected in the structure of campaigns, with a number of campaign teams opting for a very structured online approach. While others go for a more ground-based “surround and drown” methodology with well-versed campaigners flooding the foyers of buildings across campus and the contrast between the two campaigning methods is very obvious.
The presidential race got off to a rather fast start, with this year’s field being markedly different to last year. There’s no Lynn Ruane-esque nationally permeating waves being made by candidates in the race, which has been more traditional in its overall makeup – reflecting races from years gone by. All three candidates started off with a strong online presence – with slick branding being to the forefront. In terms of sustained activity, Kieran McNulty is racing ahead with 663 likes as of now. Stephen Carty comes in behind on 425 and Daniel O’Brien is on 358. The likes are by no means a strict ordering of candidates, however – with the realms of online presence and ground presence being a rather different ball game on the whole.
Indeed, this is where Carty has excelled in recent days, particularly on Tuesday and Wednesday of the campaign, where his team had a very deliberately dominant presence across campus – with orange t-shirts being seen across campus for significant portions of the day, and Carty himself ever prominent, capped off with a composed hustings performance on Tuesday night at one jointly organised by The University Times and An Cumann Gaelach. Indeed this hustings was meant to be one of the first opportunities for candidates to debate key issues. It turned out to be a rather tame affair in this regard – with candidates mostly using it as a way to put forward their manifesto points, rather than clash on key issues.
McNulty maintained a strong presence both on the ground and online, with an impressively run campaign by JCR President Shane Rice. The experience at running successful campaigns oozes out of the team, and Kieran is bringing a degree of energy to the race, highlighting his previous TCDSU experience in a rather emphatic fashion. Competent performances in hustings and lecture addresses to date highlighted his pragmatism, and led to a great degree of attention to the former Chair of Council.
O’Brien and his campaign manager Matthew Nuding have gone for a more ground-based approach – addressing a wide range of sites from St James’s to Trinity Hall on a busy Wednesday for the team. Indeed, the online presence isn’t as strong as his competition, but that is more than made up for by a generally active ground presence.
Education saw the second drop-out of the campaign on Wednesday morning with Nick Spare dropping out due to mental health concerns and academic pressure – indeed the second candidate to do so for such reasons – following Tom McHugh in the welfare race. Indeed, this shows the degree of stress on candidates – but both should be commended for putting their names forward, and acquitting themselves superbly over their time spent in the campaign – two gentlemen whom very little on the trail have a negative word to say about. The campaign stresses are rather tough – but just putting your name forward is something to be commended.
The two remaining candidates in education are Patrick Higgins and Dale Ó’Faoilléacháin – two candidates with very contrasting approaches to the race. Higgins has continued to exceed expectations, putting in a rather charming performance which has won him many admirers across campus. His approach is different to that of the other candidates in that lecture addresses do not seem to be to the fore of his approach – instead using his campaign team to connect personally with people on the ground as opposed to large-scale addresses. Higgins could well achieve prominence across campus – bringing an energy and desire to meet as many people as possible.
Dale Ó’Faoilléacháin, who has a wealth of TCDSU and JCR experience behind him, entered the race as the general frontrunner – and has proved this with a sustained strong performances across the board. His interest in the role has fueled the rumour mill for quite some time, and the preparation put into the campaign thus far is plain to see. Credit has to be given to his campaign manager Jenna Clarke-Molloy, who has overseen a campaign which doesn’t undersell Dale in the slightest.
Welfare has become a three-horse race after seeing Tom McHugh drop out. Aoibhinn Ní Lochlainn has impressed greatly throughout the campaign, with a particularly impressive online presence, capped off by an eye-catching campaign video directed by Bogdan Hrechka, the current Communications Officer of the JCR. The campaign has been perhaps the most active numbers wise, with popular welfare committee member Aoibhinn impressing greatly on all fronts – particularly online with a Facebook page nearing 1000 likes. This is coupled with an impressive on-the-ground presence, with balloons being present in all dimensions of campus.
The competition comes from Surf Club’s Andrew Wafer and VDP’s Éamonn Redmond, who have both admittedly acquitted themselves rather well in a competitive but amicable race. Wafer gave a strong showing at hustings on Monday to get off to a rather impressive start, distinguishing himself from the get go, while Redmond has brought a very personal, on-the-ground approach to the campaign.
Communications & marketing almost mirrors last year to an extent – with two competent and evenly matched candidates coming up against each other – albeit with less disagreement this time on their approach to commercial backing of the union. Rather fittingly for two communications candidates, their leaflets and brand image have been on point – with Byrne’s campaign mirroring that of the approach of Aifric Ní Chríodáin last year in a number of ways, with indeed a vast amount of their support coming from former Ní Chriodain supporters. Broaders comes from a more TCDSU-based background – a contrast with Byrne’s experience visually with a wide range of societies. This has been an interesting cause for debate – with a role as unique as communications & marketing needing a mix of these to be truly effective.
Perhaps the tightest race this year on the ground has been ents, with all four candidates performing well in terms of their combination of manifesto points with unique events. The events, as usual were to the forefront of the election week schedule. Firstly, we had the magnificently named “O’Boyler Room” on Tuesday night in Hangar, with a wide array of visual instalments from Grace O’Boyle’s campaign team. Wednesday night saw two competing nights – Padraic Rowley’s “Technicolour in Hangar” – with an impress unique graphic display interface, marrying his computer science background with a creative event management side, while Caolan Maher took to the Grand Social, with a night rich in variety, echoing his campaign promises of a varied ents position. Thursday night will see Katie Browne’s combination of two ideas: a comedy gig in a community space, followed by a 90s/noughties night in Whelan’s. All four have acquitted themselves superbly to date.
Finally in the Editor of The University Times race, Sinéad Baker stands unopposed and has thus far had a rather solid presence around campus and Trinity Hall, with herself and campaign manager Charlie Collins in high spirits. The team should easily see themselves elected next Thursday in a race that is effectively a formality against re-open nominations.
The next few days are essential to the race as fatigue begins to set in overall. The key now is for campaigners to keep themselves and their teams motivated in what is the toughest part of the week. Nonetheless, all candidates can hold their head high thus far in what has been a widely good natured campaign.
Conor Parle ran for Entertainments Officer in last year’s TCDSU elections. As the Polling Editor of The University Times, he will be conducting an analysis of data collected over three days, results of which will be published next week.
