The embattled University College Dublin Students’ Union (UCDSU) President Katie Ascough will join students on the March for Education today. The march comes just a day after a petition to trigger an impeachment referendum was rejected.
Ascough’s appearance at the march today will be her first prominent public appearance since the ongoing controversy around her decision to remove abortion access information from the UCDSU freshers’ guide.
While Ascough is mandated to attend the march, after UCDSU voted to support publicly funded education, her attendance comes as suggestions of an impeachment vote continue, despite yesterday’s failed petition. On Tuesday, a petition to impeach Ascough was rejected by the union’s returning officer. Despite gathering over 1,000 names, the petition was not signed correctly by each student according to UCDSU’s constitution.
Ascough didn’t attend the March for Choice on Saturday along with 100 other UCD students, but made the point that it did not break the union’s mandate as Saturday is outside a sabbatical officer’s working week.
Opposition to Ascough began after she decided unilaterally to remove information on abortion from the freshers’ guide called Winging It, triggering condemnation in UCD and beyond. About 20 students formed the group Impeach UCDSU President last week, and decided to run a petition to call a referendum to impeach Ascough, claiming she has broken the union’s pro-choice mandate. Speaking to The University Times, Amy Crean, spokesperson for the group said that Ascough had “actively gone against what she’s mandated to do and prioritised personal views over student welfare”.
However, according to the University Observer, had the petition been successful, Ascough would have had to step down as president until the referendum took place, meaning she would not be able to lead UCDSU today in the march.
In March, UCDSU asked students to vote on a mandate in relation to student contributions to higher education funding. Given three options – the current fee level, an income-contingent loan scheme or a significantly lower student contribution charge – 62.5 per cent of students voted to significantly reduce third-level fees.
