Campaigns and Communications Officer Barry Murphy to run for UCDSU President in the Upcoming Presidential By-Election
By Aoife Hardesty | Nov 7 2017
Barry Murphy, Campaigns and Communications Officer, and current acting SU President, has announced that he will be running for the position of SU president in the upcoming presidential by-election.In a Facebook post, Murphy has said that he is running for president "for the betterment of our union."Traditionally sabbatical officers undergo a two-week period of crossover training at the beginning of June each year as per the constitution and then spend the remainder of the summer preparing for the upcoming academic year. Such extensive training and planning will not be possible for the new UCDSU President.Murphy believes he is "prepared to lead the largest SU in the country" thanks to learning "so much in my role as Campaigns and Communications Officer.""My experience and recent events have thought me the importance of our SU mandates and the direction they give us in fighting for what students want. I have learned that the only people we answer to are our student membership. UCDSU has to be a bottom up organisation and this, now more than ever, has to be reaffirmed."During the impeachment campaign, Murphy was vocally in favour of impeachment of then-president Katie Ascough, and even campaigned in favour of impeachment. He believed impeachment was in "the best interests of UCDSU."Murphy addresses this issue in his post. "Myself and my fellow sabbats campaigned for the impeachment of our former president. I want to be completely open and honest here. I never wanted an impeachment at the the beginning, voicing my support to the Yes vote was an incredibly difficult decision to make. I stood up for what I felt was right and I stand by that decision.""We have now found ourselves in this unprecedented position where I have been Interim President since the impeachment referendum. The easiest thing for me would be to sit out and wait to be done with the SU in June 2018 but I have to step forward. I'm not running for power or for control but instead to do what's best for the union and our students."Murphy requested to take leave to campaign for the presidential by-election at an executive meeting this evening. As acting president he is required to apply to the executive for permission to take leave one week in advance of taking leave. Welfare Officer Eoghan Mac Domhnaill becomes acting president for the duration of Murphy's leave.To run for president, interested persons must return a nominations form with 150 signatures to the SU Returning Officer by Thursday November 9th at 6pm. Murphy will be obtaining signatures for his nomination to run for president in his own free time after 5pm.Students can vote in the presidential by-election on Wednesday and Thursday November 22nd and 23rd.