A referendum to amend the constitution of the students’ union will be held following a vote by the union’s Council yesterday evening.
Members of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Council backed a motion to hold a referendum on the wording of section 1.5 of the constitution regarding the “political status” of the union.
The referendum will likely take place sometime within the first three weeks of the next semester.
The current wording mandates that the union pursue its objectives “independent of any political, racial or religious ideology”.
If passed, the referendum would see the wording changed to: “The Union shall pursue these objectives independent of any political party or religious organisation.”
This rewording would effectively remove what is often referred to as the “apolitical mandate” from the union’s constitution.
Speaking in favour of the motion TCDSU President Jenny Maguire called the current wording “racist and confusing” adding that it “doesn’t serve any purpose but to create unnecessary confusion, division and strife”.
She said that the proposed rewording would bring the TCDSU in line with other unions “up and down the country”.
A number of speakers in favour of the rewording highlighted the inherent political nature of unions and pointed to the politicisation of marginal identities with Welfare Officer Hamza Bana saying for him “being alive as a black person is a political statement”.
“Us even being here is a political statement,” he added.
Speaking against the motion, second year class representative Luke Hand expressed concern about the politicalization of the union.
“By taking any side we are inherently alienating some students,” he said.
Another class representative called this argument “ridiculous”, adding that the union would “also alienate people by refusing to take a political stance”.
The vote to bring the matter to referendum was conducted via secret ballot and passed with a landslide 80% of the vote.
The passing of the referendum would also add that “the union may only adopt a position of no confidence in a government as a matter of long-term policy” into chapter 8 of the constitution.
Previous attempts to change section 1.5 (then 1.4) were made last year, with Council voting in November to hold a referendum proposing that the mandate be replaced with “the union shall pursue these objectives in a radical, egalitarian and autonomous way, and shall not affiliate with far-right groups, including, but not limited to, white supremacists and Christian extremists.”
However the referendum was called off in January following legal advice that the “isolation and identification of Christian extremism” could violate Irish anti-discrimination law.
In April, Council voted to mandate this year’s sabbatical team to bring a motion to Council on the holding of a referendum “no later than the end of Michaelmas Term”.
The motion passed in April mandated that the proposed rewording of section 1.5 “should allow the union to criticise political ideologies and political parties, but will have the necessary safeguards in place to prevent abuse of power”.
Additional reporting by Annabelle Wadeson and David Wolfe.
