Committee members for the Welfare, Education, and Communications committees as well as two representatives for the Modular Billing Working Group and three members for the Constitutional Review Group were elected tonight at the first Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Council of the year.
Paraic McLean, Sally Anne McCarthy, and Aoife Grimes were elected as Ordinary Committee Members (OCMs) to the Constitutional Review group. Aimee Connolly, Education Officer of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), described the Student Union (SU) Constitution as the “most important document that governs the SU” and that “it dictates everything that we do.”
Four students were elected to the Education Committee. Jared Miller and Megan O’Shea contested the position for first-year rep, with O’Shea elected to the role. O’Shea drew on her experience as a Trinity Access Programme (TAP) graduate and her hopes to encourage students from disadvantaged backgrounds to attend Trinity. Sé Ó hEidhin, who promised to “make sure that everybody’s view is taken into account”, was elected as the Senior Fresh representative, having been contested by Hannah Keating. Niamh McCay and Alex Hackett were uncontestedly elected as third and fourth year representatives respectively.
The 5 available positions on the Communications committee were contested by six people. Those elected were Yannick Gloster, Shreya Pattar, Hiram Harrington, Christiana Diyaolu, and Mary Hartnett.
Speaking to Trinity News ahead of Council, Paraic McLean, Communications and Marketing Officer, noted that the committee was “created to assist the Communications and Marketing Officer in their duties” and that the “workload of the committee has changed annually depending on the skill set of the committee elected.” He noted his plans to make the committee “fun and creative”.
TCDSU Welfare Officer James Cunningham proposed a motion to expand the Welfare committee to include a Society Liaison Officer and two additional OCMs, one who will act as a representative for the Hamilton Building and another to assist the Volunteer Coordinator. He noted that “a bigger committee will make better campaigns”.
Speaking to Trinity News, James Cunningham, Welfare Officer, explained that “the committee will meet regularly to brainstorm the best ways to reach out to students. We have a range of positions which all aim to cover different areas of campaigning.”
Zoe Cummins, Daniel Touhy, Aisling Leen and Charlotte Brosnan were elected uncontested as Secretary, Public Relations Officer, Volunteer Coordinator and Research Officer respectively of the Welfare committee. Contested by two others, Maeve Carew was elected Off-Campus Officer, noting that she “knows the problems that arise in the nursing building” and off-campus in St James’ Hospital. Jodie Millen was elected as first year representative, explaining that she is “passionate” about Welfare. Leah Freeman, Cúnla Morris and Casper Kurpan were elected as OCMs.
Cunningham stated that he was hoping that the introduction of these new positions “will lead to more effective events and stands taking place around the entire campus.”
Laura Beston, Officer for Students with Disabilities, and Niamh McCay, Citizenship Officer, were elected as representatives for the Modular Billing Working Group. The working group, which was created following the Take Back Trinity Campaign in March, includes the Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) President, three student representatives nominated by the TCDSU President, the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) President, and members of Trinity staff, including the Vice-Provost.
Speaking to Trinity News, President of TCDSU Shane De Rís, explained that the group is “a result of the protests and negotiations which happened last year. Its purpose is to explore other routes of introducing the modular resit structure without introducing supplemental exam fees. It is important that we find a student friendly way of introducing such a model in line with the Trinity Education Project and we hope student input can help find creative solutions to this issue.”
Council took place in the Stanley Quek theatre in the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute (TBSI) building this evening.
Additional reporting by Eliza Meller, Finn Purdy, Victoria Mitchell, Maximilian Henning, Peter Kelly, and Lauren Boland.
