News
Apr 1, 2020

TCDSU Council to Vote on New Transparency Measures

The union's council will vote online on a motion that could mandate it to publish its agenda and meeting minutes online.

Sárán FogartyAssistant News Editor
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Anna Moran for The University Times

Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) is to vote on a motion that could see the agenda and minutes of its council made publicly available online.

The union’s council is to vote online this Thursday on the motion, which would mandate its communications and marketing officer to publish minutes of council no more than a week after the meetings take place.

It would also require the publication of the agenda online at least 24 hours before the meeting.

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The motion, proposed by Engineering, Maths and Science (EMS) Convenor Daniel O’Reilly and seconded by Communications and Marketing Officer Muireann Kane, says “key parts” of the union’s governance “have been hidden from the rest of the student body”.

The motion gives the communications and marketing officer the power to redact documents, “if they believe such redaction is in the interest of the Union and its members”.

The union’s final council of the year will take place online, after the closure of the College as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Council last week elected 15 officers uncontested to part-time positions in the union, with elections scheduled to take place this week for 10 contested positions.

Tídgh Maguire, one of two candidates for the position of Health Science faculty convenor, has since pulled out of the race, meaning Joseph Noctor has been elected to the role.

Elsewhere, Keane Ryan and Jacqui Whelan will contest the position of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences faculty convenor. The position of Engineering, Maths and Science (EMS) faculty convenor is being contested by Zoe Cummins, Daniel O’Reilly and Julia Piaskowy. O’Reilly is the current EMS convenor.

Ciaran Butler, Brian Hastings, Darren Seán May, Sé Ó hEidhin and Jamie Shields have been nominated for the position of LGBT rights officer. Ó hEidhin is the current ethnic minorities officer.

The position of officer for students with disabilities will be contested by Niamh Herbert and Harry O’Brien. Access officer will be contested by Laren-Ellen Dunne and Megan O’Shea.

Tídgh Maguire and Darren Seán May will compete for the role of off-campus officer – currently held by education officer-elect Megan O’Connor – while the position of environmental officer pits Aine Hennessy against Sean Gordon Dalton.

The role of citizenship officer will be contested by Matthew Henry and Jodie Milne. Henry is seeking re-election, while Milne is the union’s outgoing access officer.

Sé Ó hEidhin, Megan O’Shea, Sameer Shaikh will compete to sit on the Undergraduate Studies Committee.

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