The Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) presidential candidates enjoyed a more relaxing lunchtime chat with Trinity FM today, as the first week of campaigning draws to a close.
The interview saw the candidates break little new ground, with less focus on substantive policy points as host Jake O’Donnell focused on broad questions, ranging from the candidates’ positions on feminism, to more familiar points such as the cost of class representative training.
Having missed last night’s Trinity News hustings due to illness, Michael McDermott produced another strong performance. As the week has progressed he has emerged as a more conventional candidate, reflected in the words of his campaign manager, who now refers to his campaign as “a campaign with jokes”, rather than a joke campaign.
For his part, Seán Ryan performed strongly, thriving in the less formal radio atmosphere. Identifying as a feminist, Ryan made a poignant observation when reflecting on “toxic lad culture” as a barrier to equality. He strongly rebuffed pointed questioning by O’Donnell on the deletion of his Facebook. He emphasised that he was in the process of applying for jobs and joked that “I’m not fond of the idea of employers seeing me after 10 pints in Diceys”.
Having performed well at last night’s hustings, De Rís struggled slightly under the less formal spotlight, failing to differentiate himself from the other candidates when questioned on whether he is a feminist, while also seeming unsure of himself when asked whether his extensive union involvement is a negative, rebuffing the comment stating: “This year I came back and I was essentially like a first year going into the union.”
Paul Molloy again produced an assured performance, but was once more hampered by long meandering answers. Positioning himself as a fresh voice within the union he noted that he has “experience with dealing with college” while lacking a “students’ union background”. Noting the importance of a president that “can empower students”, Molloy stated that he hoped that his non-traditional Trinity Access Programme background can help inspire the student population.
As the interview drew to a close, the tension that had emerged at Tuesday night’s hustings between De Rís and Molloy, appeared to come to the surface again, with O’Donnell noting that De Rís appeared to be smirking during Molloy’s response to a question on whether he sees himself as an inspirational candidate, with De Rís pointing to the fact he’s the first in his family to go to university.
