Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) has adopted a formal stance opposing a no-deal Brexit following a vote at Council this evening.
TCDSU President Laura Beston introduced an emergency motion at Council this evening for Council to vote on a stance against a no-deal Brexit.
Beston proposed that TCDSU sign up to a statement from the National Union Students – Union of Students’ in Ireland (NUS-USI) opposing a no deal Brexit.
Beston explained that the stance would involve “supporting students that are from the North of Ireland” as well as students travelling to the United Kingdom, and would outline “our support of saying no to a no-deal Brexit”.
“With a no-deal it means that a lot of our students are put at risk,” Beston outlined, citing disruptions to agreements regarding research, Erasmus, and international students.
Members of Council voted in favour of passing the motion, making TCDSU the first students’ union in the Republic of Ireland to adopt the statement.
At a meeting with Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor in August, TCDSU sabbatical officers asked the Minister to support Northern Irish students during Britain’s departure from EU.
Applications to Trinity from Northern Irish students dropped 20% this year, which Provost Patrick Prendergast attributed to uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
TCDSU Council took place this evening in the Stanley Quek theatre of the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI).
