The final meeting of council for the 2024/25 Academic Year came and went, here's everything you need to know!
On Monday 7 April, students convened in the Fitzgerald Chamber for the final regular meeting of UCD Students’ Union Council for the 2024/2025 Academic Year. The council meeting is hot off the back of the UCDSU Executive Elections, in which quorum was hit for the first time in six years. An entirely new sabbatical team will walk into the SU offices in July, whilst the students have also voted to rejoin USI. A period of change is upon us.
Incoming SU President Michael Roche addressed the floor at the start of council in an effort to “settle a lot of people’s nerves” regarding his upcoming presidency. He claimed there exists a series of ‘misconceptions’ about himself, and so sought to address the council. “My door is always open,” he said before closing, “I can’t wait to work with you all next year, and work for the students.”
Campaign Coordinators
Nominations were open for members of Council to be a Campaigns Coordinator for the next academic year. Brian Wadsworth was the sole candidate and therefore elected International Students Coordinator, meanwhile for Disability Rights, Eimear Timmons was elected over Emmet Murphy after it was put to a vote for the council.
For Mental Health Coordinator, current Welfare Officer Ciara Donohoe was chosen over Ailbhe Finn and Jessica Cullinan, whilst the position of Gender Equality coordinator was unopposed and thus Maeve Farragher was elected.
Outgoing Architecture College Officer Stephen Mullen was elected Environmental Coordinator over Lara Gallagher. Outgoing International Student coordinator Aashna Khurana was elected LGBTQ+ Coordinator over Ben Bonner, whilst Niamh Andrews Fraher was the sole candidate, and therefore elected, Mature Student Coordinator.
ENTs Forum Elections
In the ENTs forum, all candidates were deemed elected without going to a vote, as they were the only candidates who put themselves forward. Wedge Egan was elected Production Officer, John Ryan was elected Promotion Officer, Matthew Murphy was elected RAG Coordinator, and Alexandra Bennet was elected Ents Rep Coordinator. The position of Non-Alcoholic Events Officer had no nominations, and will re-open.
New UCDSU Climate Action Policy
The council passed a motion on accepting the new UCDSU Climate Action Policy. Environmental Campaign Coordinator Erin Hoare brought the motion to the floor and told council that the policy has been in her Google Drive “for almost a year and a half”.
Hoare said the objectives of the policy are to hold the union itself accountable and to “advocate for the university to do better” when fighting the climate crisis. The policy itself names five objectives which include promoting sustainable practices within the student body and ensuring that UCD is doing “all it can to foster sustainable development”.
Hoare also spoke of how the policy aims to set up a section of the UCDSU website dedicated to climate action and to begin working with sustainable brands. As part of the implementation of the policy, a new climate action committee will be set up within UCDSU.
One focus of the policy is on creating a circular economy within UCD. Hoare says the committee and her successor will seek to continue The Great Donate, with the policy also mentioning a “student food bank”.
Finishing her speech, Hoare said “This policy is a baseline”, and spoke on how the union should strive to do more to fight the climate crisis. The motion had no speakers against and passed overwhelmingly.
Officer Reports
All Campaigns and ENTs forum reports were passed. ENTs Rep Coordinator Wedge Egan took the time to “address some rumours” about him. He confirmed he was indeed homeless for a week on Erasmus, and was indeed approached to join a cult, which although he became surrounded by, he claims they never officially succeeded in recruiting him. He then shared a harrowing image of an experience on a trip to Cologne with UCD German Society, in which the group became stranded at a train station.
All College Officer reports were also passed, with each officer taking the time to thank their class reps, and share their highlights from the year through photo collages. The Engineering College Officer Siobhán Black said that despite losing a vote with lecturers to introduce a reading week for engineering students, they now know the lecturers who voted against it, and will work toward lobbying for their vote in the future. Black also shared that she had succeeded in securing a workload review for all schools in Engineering. Architecture College Officer Stephen Mullen agreed with a leading question put to him regarding whether he was the best Architecture College Officer in recent history. Mullen is the first and only Architecture College Officer.
All Sabbatical Officer reports were clearly passed, with each officer again using their time to thank their teams, council, and each other for the work done this year. ENTs Officer Neo O’Herlihy gave an update on UCD Ball, which he confirmed will take place off campus in Flannery’s on April 15, and will include a ticket giveaway for Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary. Education Officer Tia Cullen also used her time to highlight the upcoming TACO (Take Active Care of Ourselves) Week, the opening of module feedback, the opening of SUSI applications for the 2025/26 academic year, and finished by crediting the Union for helping her ‘find a voice’.
President Miranda Bauer reflected on the Students’ Union Action Group for Housing (SUAGH) rally last week, which she states attracted the attention of the Bursar David Kelly; she is optimistic that dialogue on UCD accommodation costs can continue between the bursar and the SU. She then thanked council members for their dedication this year, and concluded by thanking former SU Education Officer Sarah McGrath for guiding her into the Union. Bauer’s final report as President was met by a standing ovation from council.
Questions Not On Notice
As Council was gearing towards a close, Class Rep Niall Daly asked the current sabbatical team about what method will be used to collect the extra levy that now must be paid by UCD students, having recently voted to rejoin USI. President Miranda Bauer said in response that the union were currently exploring their options with the University and were awaiting a response from the bursar. Whether or not the levy is decided during the term of the current sabbatical team, or falls at the feet of next year's team is still unknown, and council were not given assurances that they would be consulted before a decision is made.
Chair Niall Torris Departs UCDSU Council After Decade of Service
To close, Chair Niall Torris issued a speech to council, as this is likely his last year as Chair after ten years of involvement with UCDSU. Torris served as Graduate Officer of UCDSU for two terms in 2017/18 and 2018/19, and has served as Chair since. Torris is venturing into pastures new, but left the room with some inspirational words, “I would really kick a lot of ass while you’re here, because when you die, you’re dead, and you’re fucked.” He continued, “We stand on the flawed wisdoms of democracy [...] we get it wrong sometimes, and we learn [...] Do it because it’s the right thing to do, weed out bad actors and trust your gut.”
“I only ever broke the law, never morals or democracy.”
Unless there is an emergency triggering of council, this draws to a close this year’s council meetings. To be continued in September 2025...
Reporting by Oisín Gaffey, Lucy Warmington, and Adam Schmitz