[dropcap]Only[/dropcap] one student is running for President in the DCU Students’ Union elections, leaving the race uncontested.
There are currently 6 candidates running for the 5 paid sabbatical positions in the Students’ Union, with no candidates for the position of Vice President for Education and Placement.
The positions of VP for Welfare and Equality and VP for Engagement and Development both have two candidates and the Vice President for Academic Affairs is also going uncontested.
Vito Moloney Burke will run for President alone, compared to the five candidates who ran for the position last year.
A total of 30 candidates were nominated for the 14 available positions compared to 25 in 2017 and 40 in 2016.
This rise is due in part to an unprecedented eleven candidates in the running for the unpaid position of Postgraduate Officer.
“For the presidential race it is extremely unusual for no one to run,” said current SU President Niall Behan.
“In the past we had people who perhaps were a long shot but they didn’t even consider running this year.”
Behan attributed the lack of candidates to less society events on campus and the lack of a purpose built venue in the Hub.
“All that came together to bring a vibe of a lack of engagement, across the board,” he said.
Behan’s manifesto for the year promised to ensure no uncontested race in this year’s elections.
He said: “Perhaps that was a little but foolish. I thought that by us being a lot more open, by sharing our stories on social media every day, by constantly looking to improve student life on campus that that would correlate with more people running. I’m a little but let down by that.”
Eleven candidates are running for Postgraduate Officer this year compared to one last year.
“The postgrad community in the recent year has become extremely unpredictable. The way they operate is in a way that I haven’t really seen before,” Behan said.
“The more candidates, the best candidate you get. I can only encourage that kind of result even if it looks strange from the outside.”
Aaron Harper and Karl McGovern will compete for Vice President for Engagement and Development.
Jason Nesbitt and Aisling Fagan will campaign for the position of VP for Welfare and Equality.
Callaghan Commons will run uncontested for VP of Academic Affairs, which also only had one candidate last year.
Fionnuala Walsh