The first Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) took place this evening in the Stanley Quek theatre in the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI).
The meeting opened with the election of the Constitutional Review group. The election saw current Communications and Marketing Officer, Paraic McLean, Engineering, Maths, and Science (EMS) Convenor, Sally Anne McCarthy, and Gender Equality Officer, Aoife Grimes, elected to the committee as Ordinary Committee Members.
Six people contested the five positions available for the Communications Committee. Mary Hartnett, Yannick Gloster, Shreya Pattar, Hiram Harrington, and Christiana Diyaolu were all elected.
The Education Committee saw four students elected this evening. The position of first year rep was taken by Trinity Access Programme (TAP) student Megan O’Shea, with Sé Ó Éidhin elected as Senior Fresh representative. Niamh McCay and Alex Hackett were elected to the positions of third and fourth year representatives respectively, both having been uncontested.
Nine positions were filled on the Welfare Committee. Zoe Cummins successfully ran for the position of Secretary, with Daniel Tuohy joining the committee as Public Relations Officer. The position of volunteer coordinator will be held by Aisling Leen, with Charlotte Brosnan acting as Research Officer. Maeve Carew will work as Off-Campus Officer, with Jodie Millen elected as first year representative. Leah Freeman, Cúnla Morris, and Casper Kurpan were all elected as OCMs.
This followed a motion by Welfare Officer James Cunningham, which moved to expand the welfare committee, adding three new positions. He added that this “bigger committee will make bigger campaigns”.
Following a motion put forward by Welfare Officer, James Cunningham, the welfare team was expanded to include a social liaison officer and two other OCMs. He noted that “bigger committees make better campaigns”.
Laura Beston, current Officer for Students with Disabilities, and Niamh McCay, Citizenship Officer, were elected as representatives for the Modular Billing Working Group.
Council also renewed motions that TCDSU should oppose fee increases, support consent workshops for future students, and that sabbatical officers schedule two hours of office hours per week during term time. The renewed motion to establish a working group to work alongside the Trinity Scholars at Risk committee fell at Council, and was lapsed until the next meeting.
Council also saw various motions put forward for renewal with adjustments. Those successfully passed at Council were the motions to ensure a “rigorous and transparent” structure of claiming expenses, that the Vice-Chair of Academic Senate should sit on the Education Committee, and that an international student committee should be established.
The motion to collect gender data within the SU fell at Council, after a speaker alleged that the data collected would be in breach of data protection laws.
Additional reporting by Eliza Meller, Finn Purdy, Victoria Mitchell, Maximilian Henning, and Lauren Boland.
