A poll conducted by Trinity News has predicted that Sean Ryan will be the new Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union President, while Niall Harty comes out on top in a closely contested Communications and Marketing race. The poll of 670 students was carried out out from Wednesday, February 14, to Friday, February 16.
In the race for President, fourth year Law student Sean Ryan receives almost 37% of the first preference votes, whilst his nearest competitor Shane De Rís, a third year Irish and German student received 27% of the vote. The other candidates in the race, Michael McDermott and Paul Molloy received 20.6% and 12.5% of the vote respectively. Following the redistribution of the “re-open nomination” (RON) votes, in the second count, and Molloy’s elimination on the third, Ryan is on 41.5% of the vote, with 30.5% going to De Rís, and nearly 25% going to McDermott. The poll predicts Ryan to win with 44.4% of the vote on the fourth count, with De Rís on 34.3%.
For the Communications and Marketing role, Trinity News’ poll predicts Niall Harty winning in a very close race. On the first count, Harty received 36% of the vote, with Paraic McLean coming in with 34.5% of the votes. Trinity College Doggos admin Cian Rynne, is third with 18.3% of the vote. The votes remain much the same after the distribution of RON votes on the second count, after which Rynne is eliminated. Harty looks set to win on the third count with 41.7% of the vote, in comparison to McLean’s 34.8% share.
David Flood looks set to be the clear winner in the Ents race, winning on the first count with 64.5% of the vote. Midnight Disco co-founder Matt Dundon polled 28.5%.
Meanwhile, the race for University Times Editor, which is contested for the first time, is predicted to enter a second count. Current Deputy Editor Eleanor O’Mahony is predicted to gain 48.5% of the vote, with Michael McDermott, who is also running in the Presidential race polling 34.7%. RON gained 10% of the vote. O’Mahony looks set to win with 50% of the vote on the second count, with McDermott finishing on 34.9%.
In the uncontested races, Junior Sophister PPES student James Cunningham looks set to win with nearly 76% of votes, with RON recording 16%. The sole Education candidate Aimee Connolly is predicted to win her race with 72% of the vote, while RON gained 27% of the vote.
The poll asked students to fill in a sample ballot for each race, and also gave the option of selecting “Undecided”. Factors such as gender, faculty, and year were also noted.
For a full breakdown of polling results, see the latest issue of Trinity News available on campus later today.
Additional reporting by Joel Coussins and Rory O’Neill
