USI President John Logue briefing delegates at this week’s USI National Congress. Photo: USI Press office
Owen Bennett | Editor
The political class of the student movement was rocked last night with news that DCU Students’ Union had declared the results of its recent referendum on USI membership null and void. The affiliation referendum, passed last month by a margin of 768 votes to 642 votes, had been hailed as a major coup for USI.
In a statement released last night, DCU President Paul Doherty informed students that ‘as protector of the Constitution I must now declare the USI affiliation referendum null and void’. Doherty argued that the referendum result is unconstitutional on the grounds that article 9.1.6 of the DCUSU constitution was not satisfied. The article, which obliges DCUSU to manage the ‘wording of the proposed constitutional changes and the promotion of each referendum’ was, according to Doherty, not adhered to by the students’ union as the SU ‘did not hold an information campaign or promote the referendum’.
Doherty’s decision has drawn strong criticism from USI, with the organisation’s president John Logue claiming that ‘a small cohort in DCU is intent on subverting the students’ decision by any means necessary’. Logue went on to say that his organisation ‘will now take any measures necessary to ensure that the constitutional right of DCU students to join and form a union is vindicated.’ A source close to the matter confirmed this evening that there was a possibility of legal proceeding being issued on behalf of USI to see the referendum result adhered to.
The University Times has seen an email sent by the DCUSU returning officer to all undergraduate and postgraduate students outlining the nature of the referendum and details of polling times. This email, along with others sent to students by DCUSU school convenors would appear to contradict Doherty’s assertions.
The affiliation referendum, which took place last month, caused a significant degree of contention within the DCU student body, with the freedom of USI officers and sabbatical officers from other institutions to campaign on the DCU campus widely criticised. Following the referendum, members of the DCUSU Executive attempted to have the affiliation referendum declared null and void on the grounds that the affiliation fee for USI membership would have to be paid by the students’ union, a reality which could ‘cause severe financial strain on the SU next year [and that] current services offered may have to be cut’. DCUSU had originally believed that the university’s administration would collect the USI levy on their behalf, a process which was categorically rejected by the DCU administration on the grounds that the levy liable by each student for affiliation was not printed on the referendum ballet papers. A source on the YES campaign team which supported DCUSU’s affiliation to USI have labelled the attempts by DCUSU to scuttle the referendum result as a ‘cynical move by our student representatives, who have opposed reaffiliation from the outset’.
The decision by DCUSU to declare the referendum null and void came as a surprise to many within USI, with observers from DCUSU having been expected to attend last week’s USI National Congress in Ballinasloe. The move further complicates matters for USI, with last month’s decision by UCDSU to cut ties with it constituting a significant funding loss for the national students’ union.
