Newly elected Senator and President of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), Lynn Ruane, is to work in a voluntary capacity for the rest of her term as president. Ruane will continue to sit on university committees such as the College Board.
Speaking to The University Times in an interview on Saturday, Ruane, who officially finishes her term as President in July, confirmed that she would not be taking a salary and is “still in the process of moving out” of her on-campus accommodation. While Ruane will still sit in on certain College meetings, TCDSU Education Officer, Molly Kenny, will take up some of the aspects of the presidential role in Ruane’s absence. Ruane said she intends to complete much of her administrative work before the end of her term.
At the end of April, Ruane was elected on the 15th count, with 3,343 votes, to the Seanad on the TCD panel, taking the third seat.
Ruane said she hopes to continue much of her work in the rest of the term, and beyond, including in providing crossover to her successor, Kieran McNulty. “I’m continuing hopefully to work on the likes of fees and divestment, which I feel can kind of blend with my work as a Senator anyway – just trying to merge those two together”, she said.
The news that Ruane will work in a voluntary capacity and pass some responsibility to Kenny is expected to be communicated by the union in its weekly email, due to be sent this evening.
In the interview, Ruane also spoke about her hopes to create an education campaign as a Senator, with which she said she will be “looking to students”: “There’ll need to be a full national campaign, but I would hope, because of my close relationship with Trinity, and with the students’ union, that we can work closely together at addressing the likes of third-level funding and access to education.”
