Third year Engineering with Management student Nikolai Trigoub-Rotnem believes that he can bring experience from all realms of college life to the role of president. He says he has “done the college thing” and points to his participation in the judo, snow sports and surf clubs as well as his work within the Union as the former Chair of Council and as the current Assistant Campaigns officer. His interest in the campaigns aspect of the presidency role is obvious and he praises the work of this year’s team. “This year I think the Union has really taken a step up. Now the question isn’t ‘can we get microwaves in the Hamilton or couches in the Arts block.’ The question now is ‘Can we beat fees? Can we improve the grants system? Can we work on a national level?’ I think that’s amazing and it really gives students belief in the Union, belief that the Union doesn’t just sit on committees and moan. Students are saying ‘Wait a second, the Union actually does do something for me.’ I want to make sure the Union stays at that level and that we keep the bar high.”
Trigoub-Rotnem is keen to stress that political lobbying is the way forward for Trinity SU. “The Union can no longer go back to thinking inside Trinity college. Those days are over. We need to think outside the box. We need to think down the street, at the Dáil. The big decisions on grants, on fees, the big decisions are all made there. It’s important to work inside Trinity college but we need to think outside of Trinity as well.” Pointing out the political lobbying done by this years President Cónán Ó Broin, Trigoub-Rotnem says that “it would be a shame to see the Union take a step back from that level. We’ve done so much good work for ourselves in the Dáil with TDs and with the media. If we leave that behind now we’re really going to damage our reputation.” No doubt Trigoub-Rotnem would use this political lobbying to fight grant cuts and the proposed increase in the registration fee, both of which are his key policies for his year as President.
If elected, he also aims to increase the Union’s visibility and relevance on campus. “Students want visibility”, he says. “They want to see that the Union is working. They want to see that the Union is doing something for them.” He thinks that the perception of the Union as a big clique needs to be changed by running big campaigns, “like the library campaign, for example. I want to make sure that students see the campaigns. I want students to know that we’re doing this work.”
With regard to the library campaign, Trigoub-Rotnem underlined the importance of direct action on the part of the students. “I think there’s a general wave of ‘we need to do something’ – there is a recession going on at the moment. We need to get value for money in everything we do because otherwise we’re not going to get out of this…Students are demanding more and direct action is necessary.” He goes on to say that if elected as president he will campaign for the introduction of automated book lending and automated access to the library which would allow the library to open for longer hours without requiring extra staff.
As well as this, Trigoub-Rotnem plans on working alongside sports clubs to ensure that they are properly consulted on matters of planning and funding in the sports centre.
