Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union’s (TCDSU) council today voted to extend by six months the deadline for recommendations from a review group that is considering sweeping changes to the union’s constitution.
The motion also introduced another ordinary member of the group, to be selected by TCDSU President Eoin Hand.
The group was originally meant to produce a report and propose a new constitution by January 31st, and must now produce it by July 1st.
The motion to amend the terms of reference for the group was proposed by Hand and seconded by Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths Convenor Daniel O’Reilly.
Speaking in favour of the motion, Hand said: “If the deliverables are not met by then, then the group will cease to exist and the deliverables will be never delivered.”
The group must deliver a written review of the current constitution and submit it to Union Forum and council. Hand also confirmed to this newspaper that it will produce a new constitution to be considered at Union Forum.
The constitutional review working group has been tasked with reviewing the current TCDSU constitution. Its terms of reference state that the review is being carried out in line with the 2019 to 2023 strategic plan.
One of the goals of the plan is to “review the SU’s Constitution and structures to ensure proper distribution of responsibilities and alignment with the SU’s resourcing model”.
The group was originally tasked with producing a review and, “should it see fit”, propose a new constitution to be voted on alongside the 2021 TCDSU sabbatical officer elections.
Minutes of the first meeting indicate that the review group is considering the creation of a “totally new document”.
“Should treat as starting as scratch. Nothing is holdover until we decide it is, and nothing at all should be directly copied – improvements can be made everywhere”, Cian Walsh, secretary to council, said at the meeting, according to the minutes.
The TCDSU president chairs the group and the secretary to council is its secretary.
The TCDSU education officer and chair of council sit on the group, as well as three ordinary members selected by application, three ordinary members selected by council and one ordinary member selected by the chair.
Currently the ordinary members selected by appointment are Eoin Forde, Isabelle O’Connor and Leon Caroll. The ordinary members selected by council are Daniel O’Reilly, Mia Brzakovic and Liam Kavanagh.
The administrative officer of the union and the remaining sabbatical officers also attend the meetings.
A majority of those on the last constitutional review working group, which led to 2014 changes to the constitution, were external or non-members of the union. They included then-President of the Union of Students in Ireland, Joe O’Connor, and former TCDSU officers, including 2010/11 president Nikolai Trigoub-Rotnem and 2011/12 welfare officer Luisa Miller.
This year’s group, however, has no external members.
Applications from students for ordinary member positions were assessed by the president and education officer.
The group’s minutes are submitted to council and the president gives a verbal report to the minutes as a discussion item.
Meetings are held on an ad-hoc basis and the president can invite members or employees of the union to “participate in a specific agenda item”.
The group must also “invite written testimony from any member of the union who wishes to contribute” and “individually engage, in whatever form they deem appropriate, with every member of the Union Forum to gather detailed testimony”.
In September 2017, TCDSU announced plans to review its constitution, with hopes of bringing any proposed changes to a referendum that February. However, the referendum never took place.
Speaking to The University Times in 2017, then-TCDSU President Kevin Keane said that the process would not be a “sabbat-led project”. The union, he said, would advertise the opportunity to the wider student body, allowing people to get involved in the future of the union.
Speaking to The University Times at the time, former TCDSU Education Officer Jack Leahy spoke about the importance of getting input from multiple sources including past officers, current students and the current sabbatical officers themselves.
Leahy carried out the most recent review of the union’s constitution in late 2013, which included an amendment that led to the separation of the roles of editor of The University Times and TCDSU communications officer.
Pointing out that the constitution is particularly “robust and well thought through”, Leahy praised the proposed 2018 review, citing the union’s evolution over the past number of years.
Leahy added that it was a “real struggle” to get students involved in the process, but that it was vital to do so. This was also one of the main issues that he had with his own review, he said in 2018.
