The second round of the Group One hustings for the 2017 Students’ Union elections took place on the Glasnevin campus today at 1pm.
The sabbatical positions covered at the Group One hustings were VP for Academic Affairs, VP for Engagement & Development, VP for Welfare & Equality and Oifigeach na Gaeilge.
Candidates running SU positions gave a quick introduction of themselves, discussed their manifestos and took questions from the floor.
VP for Academic Affairs
First to take the stand was the sole candidate for Academic Affairs, Brendan Power.
Power told the audience that he “values the substance of this role over other roles”.
He went on to outline that he wishes to focus on grinds and tutoring programmes, look into refining library issues, bring back Careers Week.
First up for AA is Brendan Power: Wants to improve grinds&tutoring services, library issues, exam timetables and results problems pic.twitter.com/1IWqB1l4DY
— The College View (@thecollegeview) March 9, 2017
The current DCUSU VP for Academic Affairs, James Donoghue, asked Power how he plans to remain enthusiastic throughout the year to come.
“It’s a place where you can give back to people that need help. I wouldnt like to be in a suit and tie every day. I want to speak to students on a peer to peer level,” he replied.
VP for Engagement & Development
Up next were the candidates running for Engagement & Development.
Running for this position are Shaun Kerrs and Siobhan Mc Tague.
St. Patrick’s College BEd student Shaun Kerrs is currently on teaching practice and had a representative speak on his behalf. His rep outlined Kerrs manifesto points. Kerrs plans to bring in extra counsellors to work on both the Glasnevin and Drumcondra campuses, expand the intercampus bike scheme and complete engagement surveys and campaigns.
Shaun Kearns next with a video apologising for his absence. He offers an open door policy for his office, regular updates on events…
— The College View (@thecollegeview) March 9, 2017
Siobhan McTague stated that if elected, she would continue to work with the NStep programme, run a Careers Expo and continue the work of the current VP for Engagement & Development, Eimear Maguire, with the open badge system for extracurricular activities on LinkedIn.
Similar to Kerrs, McTague wants to ensure funding for the bike scheme and work with what’s already there. McTague stated that she wants to “empower the body of the SU so that people know where to go.”
Q) How will you improve CRC attendance? Siobhan – Better training on role of CR and make CRC more informal Shaun – not here to answer
— The College View (@thecollegeview) March 9, 2017
Oifigeach na Gaeilge
Caoimhe Ní Chonghaile is the only candidate running for the position of Oifigeach na Gaeilge.
She wants to campaign to get rid of the Gaeltacht fees, which BEd students are currently obliged to pay.
Irish Officer next! Caoimhe Ni Chongaile- Hopes to make Irish more inclusive in SU campaigns, improve diversity of Irish across all campuses
— The College View (@thecollegeview) March 9, 2017
“I’d like to use the position to make sure Irish plays a more integral role in SU campaigns,” she said.
Ní Chonghaile also plans to develop a Gaelcharta, host a Ball Gaelach and work alongside societies to make an Irish language calendar for charity.
VP for Welfare & Equality
The final VP position to take the stand and to round off the hustings were the candidates for Welfare & Equality.
Running for this position are Jason Bolton, Padraig Henry, Maria Lawlor and Olivia Nwachukwu.
Focusing on mental health, Bolton stated that it is “something I really want to focus on”. If elected, he plans to begin an online platform for counsellors to engage with their patients with outside of consultation hours.
Cody Byrne asks how can candidates improve on his time as VP, Bolton and Henry want to enhance 1 on 1 time.
— The College View (@thecollegeview) March 9, 2017
He also discussed plans to make DCU’s accommodation website accessible to DCU students only, whereas anyone can currently view it.
Padraig Henry believes that the “relationship with students is the most important part of the role.”
Following with the theme of accommodation, Henry wants to create more lenient rules around overnight guests for on campus residents and create a dedicated accommodation website for DCU students studying abroad.
Padraig Henry next. He wants to see an online platform for students seeking housing abroad on placement, extention for on-campus guest…
— The College View (@thecollegeview) March 9, 2017
He also wants to alleviate library fines during non-exam periods as he believes that short term loans can be too expensive for students living off campus.
BEd student Maria Lawlor is currently on teaching practice and had a representative speak on her behalf. He outlined the points of her manifesto including; an open door policy, always have tea and coffee in the office to encourage students to visit, begin a “Humans of DCU” social media campaign and focus on all aspects of student health.
Maria Lawlor next who has someone to speak on her behalf. She wants to implement an open-door policy, anonymous forum for counselling…
— The College View (@thecollegeview) March 9, 2017
Finally, Olivia Nwachukwu took to the stage.
“Representation is a big thing for me thing year. As a minority student, I have seen how hard it can be to access things,” she said.
Welfare&Equality next with Olivia Nwachukwu- Wants to bring in a culture week. Big on women's&LGBT rights and sexual health awareness…
— The College View (@thecollegeview) March 9, 2017
Unlike her competitors, Nwachukwu plans to run a Culture Week on campus. If elected, she also wants to bring in healthy eating and sleeping classes, along with sexual empowerment classes. She suggested monthly seminars with experts in the mental health field.
The final round of husting take place this evening at 6pm on the Glasnevin campus.
Campaigning for all positions will begin on Wednesday March 15th and end on March 22nd. Voting will take place between March 21st at 9am and March 23rd at 5pm. Results will be announced on the evening of March 24th.
Hayley Halpin
Image & Tweets: Brein McGinn