Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Presidential candidate Sean Ryan has been issued a major strike by the Electoral Commission.
In an email statement, Chair of the EC Gillian Kiely, said a meeting was called with the candidate “to discuss a breach in Schedule 3”. Ryan will not be allowed to campaign online from 9pm tonight till 9pm tomorrow night. 15 campaign t-shirts have also been confiscated for tonight’s hustings in Trinity Hall.
The strike is in relation to a member of Ryan’s campaign team, Chair of Trinity GAA Eoin O’Neill, appearing to offer members of the Freshers GAA football team a €300 bar tab in Dicey’s Garden Club on Harcourt Street in exchange for votes for Ryan. Ryan denies promising any bar tab.
Ryan, a fourth year Law student, has previously been sanctioned twice by the EC but had not received any strikes. Last year, he was on the campaign team of the then-Chairperson of Trinity GAA Bryan Mallon, who came second in the Presidential race.
Schedule 3 of TCDSU’s Constitution outlines election regulations and dates. Breaches of EC rules usually result in a strike against a candidate, with the candidate removed from the ballot after their third rule break.
