The College Historical Society (the Hist) have announced an impromptu debate for this evening on the motion “This house would vote RON” [re-open nominations].
It follows unprecedented momentum from a campaign encouraging students to vote RON in the election for Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) president.
In a post on Instagram this afternoon, the society said: “This evening, given the sudden and unprecedented rise in the RON campaign for the [TCDSU] presidential race we believe it is important to have a free discussion about the merits of this campaign while it is ongoing.”
“The RON for President campaign has been gaining increasing traction, and we want to give students a forum to discuss this ahead of [students’ union] elections.”
It added that the debate is not directly associated with the RON campaign, but invited its representatives as well as all presidential candidates to attend.
“As a neutral party on campus and especially as one which is devoted to holding important conversations, we hope to create a productive discussion.”
“We want to give all candidates an equal chance to contribute, especially given the unprecedented nature of this event and election cycle.”
The union’s electoral commission (EC) has banned presidential candidates from attending the debate, as it would count as campaigning outside of approved campaigning hours which is banned under election rules.
Both Seán Thim O’Leary and Patrick Keegan have confirmed to Trinity News that they would not be in attendance as a result.
In a statement this evening, the EC highlighted that while “any recognized internal organization within College can apply to host a hustings,” it had received no such application from The Hist for the debate.
“Indeed, the electoral commission received no communication from The Hist prior to the announcement of this event.”
“Candidates and campaign teams are therefore not permitted to participate in the ‘This House Would Vote RON’ debate, as to do so would constitute campaigning outside of designated campaign hours.”
