Shane De Rís elected TCDSU President on third count

Michael McDermott, RON and Paul Molloy came second, third and fourth

TCDSU President-elect Shane De Ris with his mother before the count started.

Shane De Rís, a Junior Sophister Irish and German student and former Trinity Hall JCR President, has been elected President of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) on the third count.

The quota of 1,630 was not reached on the first count, with De Rís leading on 42%, or 1,365 votes, with Michael McDermott following behind at 23%, with 752 votes. 533 votes, or 16.4% of first preference votes, went to current Hist Auditor Paul Molloy, who gained less first preferences than the option to re-open nominations (RON) with 607 votes, or 18.6%, were then redistributed.

On the second count, De Ris was on 1,511 votes, 46.4%, with McDermott on 1,007, 31% of first preference votes. Meanwhile, RON increased its percentage to 19%, on 646 votes.

On the third count, De Ris was deemed elected after receiving 1,694 votes, 52%, in contrast to McDermott’s 1,165, or 26%.

Sean Ryan, who pulled out of the race this evening after polls closed amid allegations of sexual harassment had previously been the favourite in the race with 37% of the first preference vote.

McDermott, who also entered the race of University Times Editor, was viewed by many as a “joke candidate” mainly due to the comical nature of his campaign and his history of satirising issues within College on the “Trinity Collidge” Facebook page which has just shy of 5,000 likes.

De Rís campaigned to “re-focus the SU” and focused heavily on his experience for the role as former JCR President and current Two Subject Moderatorship (TSM) convenor. He has stated that higher education funding will be the focus of his presidency.

Among his campaign promises were a desire to expand Trinity’s Accommodation Advisory Service, run workshops throughout the year and lobby the the government to provide more cost-effective student housing. He also stated that SU finances require re-examination and  mentioned class rep training as an example of an area which could undergo cuts.

A poll conducted by Trinity News last week predicted that Shane De Rís would receive 27% of the first preference vote with McDermott and Molloy receiving 20.6% and 12.5% of the vote respectively.

Additional reporting by Niamh Lynch, Aisling Grace, Shane Hughes and Rory O’Neill.

Michael Gilna

Michael Gilna is a former Investigations Editor of Trinity News.