Burkean Journal to Expand to UCD

The Burkean Journal, a conservative publication run by students in Trinity College Dublin, is expanding to UCD and DCU.The Burkean Journal is currently online-only, and the expansion will consist of having "ambassadors in the other campuses" while the publication "will still be... predominantly Trinity based. Additionally, the publication is "looking at the possibility of expanding into UCC, UL, and NUIG." The expansion is taking place "to give a voice to students who feel voiceless, and to offer an alternative view to the existing student publications. There are a large number of centrist and conservative students in UCD and elsewhere that feel that their beliefs are not represented, and we want to make them heard."The editorial team of the Burkean Journal were approached by "passionate and committed" students who wish for the publication to reach  their campuses. As "students naturally lean to the Left politically, conservative students are a minority" but the team behind the Burkean Journal believe "that does not have to mean that they go unheard in the public arena."The Burkean Journal is privately-funded, and the team have no plans to seek funding from official University bodies. "We could have applied to Trinity Publications at the start of the academic year which would have given us certain monetary benefits, but we decided against it in the interests of maintaining our independence."A spokesperson for the Burkean Journal says their publication in Trinity has received "a wide range of reactions to the publication from Trinity students, as one would expect from such a diverse group of people. The fact that we are growing and expanding is testament to the support we have received, and the whole team feels confident and optimistic for the coming year.""That said, we have also caused a degree of controversy amongst the student body. There have been a very small number of people who seem to be personally affronted by our existence and our success. That comes with the territory, and we give them little thought."Regarding the student publications currently available in Irish universities, a spokesperson for the Burkean Journal said: "I do think you can confidently call all the majornewspapers operating on Irish campuses as having a Left-wing bias. This is not the result of a conspiracy or some type of Left-wing coup. Rather it is the result of a left wing tilt amongst the population itself, and in particular in the type of students that get involved in student publications.""Any editor who is committed to maintaining a balanced and ideologically diverse publication has my sympathy."Ultimately conservative students are "underrepresented in campus media. That said, one of the key tenets of conservatism is personal responsibility, so it’s time to stop complaining and actually do our best to make a positive contribution. And that is where the Burkean comes in."The individual in charge of the UCD section of the Burkean Journal will be announced at the beginning of semester 2.