Volume XXI - 2015 Students' Union Election Edition

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The University Observer Students’ Union ELECTION edition march 2nd 2015 - Volume XXI - UNIVERSITYOBSERVER.IE

welfare candidates louise keogh and clare o’connor address the fitzgerald chamber at hustings Photo: james brady

cian byrne and paul dockery face off in the C&C Officer elections

we examine the four candidates running for president

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Pages 6 & 7

election polls page 2 vox pops page 3 talleyrand page 10

Survey reveals low student awareness of elections Polls conducted by the University Observer of prospective voters in this week’s UCD Students’ Union elections show that a large proportion of voters were, at the end of last week, still unaware of the dates on which the election was to be held. The poll, which was carried out on campus on Thursday, February 26th, and Friday, February 27th, revealed that 42% of students planning to vote were not aware of the date the elections were to be held on or gave inaccurate dates when asked. For students with no intention to vote, 81% were unaware of the election dates. The poll, which was launched at the official hustings debate last Wednesday evening, took place after the postering run which is seen as

the traditional start of the canvassing season. Turnout for UCDSU elections has been low the last two years. The 2013 elections which saw Michael Gallagher elected as President, had a total valid poll of 2,410, while last year’s elections had a lower total, at 2,256. A sense of disengagement between the Union and students has been an important topic of discussion for all candidates in this year’s race. All four Presidential candidates are calling for increased communication by the Union, and there is a hope among many candidates that the re-instatement of the Campaigns and Communications (C&C) Officer role will go some distance to bridg-

ing the gap between students and the Union. The race for C&C Officer is being contested by Cian Byrne, stage three Engineering and current Engineering & Architecture Convenor, and Paul Dockery, second year Economics and Politics, class rep, and speakers’ officer for the Economics’ Society. In interviews with the University Observer, both candidates expressed discontent with the Union’s engagement with students. Byrne, while defending the relevance and importance of Union services, has said that he thinks “it’s an absolute shame on behalf of the Union that everybody doesn’t know what’s going on there.” Dockery, his opponent, is of the same mindset. “The SU do a

watch interviews with the candidates on our facebook page follow the election on twitter: #execelect15 voting takes place across campus on March 3rd and 4th

lot, but the students on the ground don’t really notice it.” The Campaigns and Communications position, which is set up with the goal of informing students of Union activities and organising students for political campaigns, was reinstated following the passage of the SU constitutional referendum last month. Run alongside the policy referendum on marriage equality, both passed with turnout over 3,000, a positive improvement compared to last year’s sabbatical elections. Many are hoping that with all five sabbatical races contested, and four candidates competing for President, turnout may rise in this year’s elections. A full list of polling locations is available at ucdsu.ie/elections.


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