Ryan Grunwell has been elected chair of the Central Societies Committee (CSC) at the committee’s annual general meeting this evening, which took place six months later than in a usual year.
Grunwell takes over from outgoing CSC chair Lee Campbell, who was elected at the committee’s last AGM in March 2019.
An economics and philosophy student, Grunwell was formerly the president of the Philosophical society (the Phil) for the 2019/2020 academic year.
He was the society’s debates convenor in the previous year, and has also been involved with the Trinity Student Managed Fund, the Student Economic Review, and the Social and Political Review.
The chair of the CSC oversees the overall operations of the committee, chairs meetings of the CSC, and appoints chairpersons to any subcommittees which are formed.
The chair sits on several other committees in College to represent societies, including the Captations Committee and Student Life Committee.
Speaking to Trinity News, Grunwell said that he was “surprised and honoured” to have been elected chair.
“Societies have played a huge role in my college experience, and I look forward to working with all of Trinity’s societies to help them get the most out of what will be a challenging year for the entire College community,” he said.
Grunwell ran for the role of chair against Ben McConkey, outgoing CSC secretary, and James Spillane.
Ronan Hodson has been re-elected the CSC’s honorary treasurer, a position that runs for a three-year term. Hodson has already served as honorary treasurer for most of the 2010s. He ran for the position unopposed.
Ultan Pringle, who is the chair of DU Players, was elected as CSC secretary.
Riochnach Hyland, who has served as an ordinary member of the CSC for the last year, had also been nominated for the position, but was later re-elected as an ordinary member.
The CSC’s secretary is responsible for preparing agendas and taking minutes at meetings of the CSC, archiving the committee’s records, and other administrative duties, including affairs related to the CSC’s and societies’ constitution.
There were no nominations received ahead of the AGM for the positions of secretary or amenities, and more nominations were needed for ordinary members. Nominations for the roles were taken from the floor.
Nathan O’Regan was elected as Treasurer, taking over for Senior Sophister Law and Business student Eada Hogan.
O’Regan is a Senior Sophister law and political science student. He has served as the honorary treasurer and pro-treasurer of the Phil over the last two years, and the general manager of the Social and Political Review.
The treasurer of the CSC oversees the committee’s finances, the finances of most societies, and rules on the adherence of societies’ financial records to criteria laid out in their grants policy document.
The committee’s amenities officer for the next year will be James Spillane, a Senior Sophister law and political science student.
Spillane was a senior member of council in the Phil in 2019/2020, and previously served as the vice-president. He has also been involved with Amnesty International TCD, Law Soc, and Trinity’s Free Legal Aid Centre (FLAC).
Spillane takes over from outgoing amenities officer Katie Holmes, who was a Senior Sophister Business, Economics and Social Studies (BESS) student.
Society treasurers also elected ordinary members to the CSC, including Rioghnach Hyland, Aoife Daly, Claire Stafford, Alice Lennon, Megan Ní Mhathúna, Laura Fitzpatrick, Christiana Popoola, and Seamus Small.
The ordinary members for the 2019/2020 academic year were Rioghnach Hyland, Rua Barron, Cormac Henry, Jack Farrell, Katie O’Brien, Donal Sheehan, Ben Steacy, Alessia Vecchio.
The CSC’s officers and ordinary members are elected annually by the Treasurers of currently recognised societies.
The CSC is one of College’s five capitated bodies that receives funding from the Capitations Committee, alongside Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU), Trinity Publications, and Dublin University Central Athletic Club (DUCAC).
A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to Caoimhín Hamill as the outgoing secretary of CSC. In fact, the outgoing secretary is Benjamin McConkey.
