Benn Ó hÓgáin has been elected as the new Chair of the Central Societies Committee (CSC), after Ludivine Rebet was forced to step down in April after her election was declared invalid.
Ó hÓgáin, who is Treasurer of the Trinity An Cumann Gaelach, ran unopposed for the position, after voting took place at an AGM this evening.
Rebet, who was President of the University Philosophical Society (the Phil) last year, decided not to re-run after being deemed ineligible following her election in March under the rules of the CSC, which specify that someone must not be an “intermittent” student when running for election. As part of her presidency of the Phil, Rebet took a sabbatical year, making her an “intermittent” student, and according to CSC rules could not run for a position on the committee.
Speaking to The University Times over email, following his election, Ó hÓgáin said: “It is important that the CSC remains a strong voice in College to protect the interests of Trinity societies, which are run voluntarily but contribute so much to the Trinity experience.”
Commenting on his plans for the year ahead, he said: “I hope to help foster the growth of our new societies, as well as assisting all societies to host innovative and exciting new events for their members.”
The CSC is the body responsible for supporting and regulating student societies, and is one of the five capitated bodies in College.
The election this evening also saw a new treasurer, Michael Scholz, elected, after the only other candidate, Olly Donnelly, withdrew from the race over the weekend. The election for treasurer comes after Ronan Mac Giolla Rua, who is now Auditor of the College Historical Society (the Hist), recently resigned from the position. Scholz attempted to run at the last AGM in March, but was declared an invalid candidate as a result of being off-books for the year.
Speaking to The University Times , Mac Giolla Rua, who is taking a “year out” to be auditor of the Hist, said: “When I decided to take a year out to be auditor I was then essentially forced to step down, as per the CSC constitution.”
“I did really want to serve on CSC. I also really wanted to be auditor of the Hist so it was unfortunate that I couldn’t do both”, Mac Giolla Rua said.
Speaking to The University Times over email, Scholz, who was one of the co-founders of the Society for International Affairs (Sofia) in Trinity, said: “I want to be of the greatest help to all societies on campus, and to make sure societies can do what they set out in their mission, without being hindered by any financial aspects.”
Fiona Cunningham, a third-year pharmacy student, was also elected to as an ordinary committee member.
In March, then-president of the Computer Science Society (DUCSS), Patrick O’Boyle, was also voted in as secretary of the CSC, alongside a number of ordinary committee members.
Correction: September 28th, 2016
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Michael Scholz defeated Olly Donnelly to be elected treasurer. In fact, Donnelly had withdrawn from the election ahead of the AGM.
Niamh Egleston also contributed reporting to this piece.
