Voting in a referendum on the planned introduction of a €7 million student centre will take place from March 22nd to March 24th, with campaigning taking place on March 20th and 21st.
The referendum also calls for the “enhancement of currently available space, and for the development of further spaces within current College space, for the use of the students of the College”.
At approximately 1,000 square metres, the centre would include offices, a large common hub for students and multipurpose event spaces as well as kitchenettes and breakout rooms.
The referendum has been called by the Capitations Committee, which is made up of representatives from Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU), the Central Societies Committee (CSC), the Dublin University Central Athletics Club (DUCAC) and Trinity Publications.
The new student centre has been included in the Trinity’s new estates strategy unveiled late last year, and will see students paying a student levy. The levy will be set at 22 annual instalments of €30. Students currently in their second, third, fourth and final years would not pay the levy and students that are deemed to be in financial hardship, as decided by the Office of the Senior Tutor, will be exempt from paying of the levy.
Funds collected in the first two years are to be used for the enhancement of spaces that are currently available, and for the development of further spaces within spaces owned by the College.
Speaking to The University Times in February, President of Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), Kieran McNulty, stressed that only students who “will get benefit or usage out of” the centre will pay for the centre. McNulty envisions the centre being built within the next five years.
The new estates strategy has been developed in conjunction with Turnberry Consulting. The University Times revealed in April 2016 that a Turnberry Consulting report claimed that Trinity’s use of campus space has failed to reach its “maximum potential”. As it stands, Trinity remains one of the only Irish universities without a purpose-built student centre.
Róisín Power also contributed reporting to this piece.
