First Year Officer Bryan Mulry will chair an expanded nine-person Constitutional Review Committee, as he was elected to the position at CRC last Tuesday night.
The review committee was established at the previous CRC following the Executive’s decision to call a referendum on adopting the proposed new constitution was overturned as they failed to gain CRC approval first.
A motion proposed by former CRC chair Sean Cassidy noted that there was a large interest in joining the committee and called for committee membership to be expanded from six to nine. This motion was passed by a majority.
Elections for the committee positions took place on the night, despite concerns raised by Andy Dunne, primary author of the proposed constitution. He believed that the change in terms in reference should’ve been communicated to the wider student body first.
Mulry was elected as chairperson following his speech, of which he stated that first years will be “most affected” by a new constitution and that “I’ll be here for four years”.
He also noted that first years are least affected by the incorporation process. “St. Pat’s’ campus is not the new DCU to us – it has always been DCU,” he said.
Read more on Class Rep Council:
Emergency CRC puts referendums on hold
Referendum cancelled as Executive is over-ruled
All running for positions on the committee expressed a desire to address the issue of CRC representation for Joint Honours and Bachelor of Education students, with B. Ed class rep Farrell noting that she currently represents over 500 students across all 3 campuses. Most also expressed concerns about postgrad representation in the proposed constitution.
President Dylan Kehoe and three Executive members of his choosing will also sit on the review committee as non-voting members.
The review committee will present its findings at the first CRC of semester two.
CRC also mandated Kehoe to represent DCUSU in expressing solidarity with WITSU in their ongoing dispute with TUI.
“Students’ unions should stick together,” said Sean Cassidy while introducing the motion.
Kehoe indicated that he was “absolutely” in favour of expressing solidarity.
Stephen Keegan
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