A survey by Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) has found that 80 per cent of student respondents want to see a repeal of the eighth amendment.
The survey also found that 73 per cent of respondents urgently want to see more 24-hour student spaces. Conducted by SamePage, an online feedback platform, the survey was created to find out what the most important issues are to students. Questions focused on general TCDSU campaigns, student spaces on campus and the eighth amendment. It was also noted that the three most important campaigns for students are the repeal of the eighth amendment, higher education fees and funding, and mental health.
The majority of the students that want to see a repeal of the eighth amendment, however, believe that there should be some restrictions on abortion. Students also believed that the union should continue campaigning for repeal, with 75 per cent voting in favour of the union continuing the campaign for abortion rights. In September, hundreds of Trinity students joined over 30,000 people calling for a repeal referendum.
The union has also been active in the campaign for publicly funded education. In early October, TCDSU joined thousands of students from across the country in the Union of Students in Ireland’s (USI) March for Education.
As part of its campaign advocating for mental health, the union ran Mental Health Week in late October, which saw events throughout the week such as meditation and the ever-famous puppy room.
“It’s extremely important to hear what the students are saying to us, and the results are clear – Repeal, Higher Education Funding and Mental Health provision are central issues for students. These are issues that the Union has worked extensively on in recent years, and we look forward to continuing those campaigns”, said the President of TCDSU, Kevin Keane, in a press statement.
Ending direct provision, however, was ranked relatively low in importance to students. Westland Eats, which runs several food outlets in the Hamilton, is owned by Aramark, a company that provides food for three direct provision centres in Ireland. The union is mandated to campaign for the end of direct provision, yet union representatives were not present at the national rally to end the practice in November. Direct provision, however, was discussed during the union’s Refugee Week.
When asked about student spaces, 73 per cent of student said they wanted to see an increase in 24-hour study spaces as a matter of urgency, with 57 per cent of students reporting to be studying outside of library hours. “I look forward to engaging with the Librarian service in the New Year to advance the project, and provide this service that students clearly need”, Keane said. The survey also found that the majority of students do not use student spaces on campus and would prefer to see more couches in the corridors as opposed to readings rooms and campus cafes.
Keane announced in the most recent meeting of TCDSU council that the School of Medicine has agreed in principle to provide €250,000 to create a new student space in Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI). In his officer report, Keane states that the new space will “transform that whole end of college” and hopes that more progress will be made in the next year.
Conducted between November 20th and December 1st, the first week of the survey was done through physical polling and face-to-face interactions with students. Students were incentivised to fill out the survey with SamePage offering everything from free notebooks to a holiday to Munich with Ryanair. The second week was conducted online through SamePage, an interactive platform where students can fill out surveys and allow the union to engage with students. The survey has not yet closed and is still available on SamePage.
