Hugh McInerney, a final year history student, has been elected Entertainments Officer of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) for the 2020/2021 academic year. Running in an uncontested race, there was little doubt that McInerney would not secure the position, considering the results of the recent Trinity News poll that revealed 82.8% support for his campaign.
Out of 2356 total valid votes for the Ents race, McInerney secured 1950 votes, with only 406 demanding to re-open nominations (RON). With a quota of 1179 , McInerney won the position of Ents Officer for the 2020/2021 academic year. This shows 82.8% support for his campaign, directly aligning with the predicted poll by Trinity News last week.
Speaking to Trinity News, McInerney said he was “so, so happy”, thanking his campaign team and his friends. He expressed his thanks for “the people of Trinity, who actually believed in me.”
“Thank you, and hopefully I won’t let you down. I will do my best to make sure you will not regret backing Hugh Mac.”
Throughout his campaign, McInerney promoted his idea for introducing Sober October, a two-week, school-wide period of restraint from alcohol, in addition to increasing accessibility for event venues and producing a weekly “Trinity This Week” video outlining the upcoming events.
Additionally, McInerney, in addressing Trinity Ball during the campaign, told Trinity News that he fully supports the idea of making the vent plastic free. In speaking about last year’s Trinity Ball, McInerney denounced the actions of the Gardaí searching for drugs at Trinity Ball and he has also defended the rising price of tickets, now over €90, stating that it would not be easy to lower this cost next year.
Last April, Trinity students voted in a referendum to shorten the term of the Ents Officer. The decision to shorten the Ents Officer’s term passed by a margin of 65% to 29%, with 6% of ballots spoilt. Following the referendum, the Ents term will begin at the same time as the other sabbatical positions, but will conclude after the summer exam period.
The solution to shorten Ents’ term followed a motion at TCDSU Council to holld a referendum on merging the TCDSU Ents Officer and Communications and Marketing Officer roles into one position, which was voted down by Council.
