Trinity News Powerlist 2009

The

Trinity News

Power List 2009

You may call them hacks. You may question their motives.

You may not even give a damn about them. But they don’t care. The twenty students we list inside are the ones who can get things done in Trinity.

From the conspicuous attention-seekers to the silent stringpullers, our anonymous panel of sage old heads knows them all: here they mercilessly rate their influence.

The Trinity News Power List 2009 Dan Bowman Entrepreneur

Conor Sullivan Treasurer, Publications

D a n i e l P h i l b i n Bowman, to give him his full name, is an enigma.

The founder and brain behind Spark, his “social branding consultancy” company, he is a true, old-fashioned businessman. If you’ve noticed companies setting up stands around college trying to hawk their wares to you, there’s a good chance that he’s the man behind it.

There’s no doubting the man’s ambition.

Indeed, the panel hears that Bowman is planning a power grab in DUBES, one of the wealthiest societies in college, and one close

Conor is the man who signs the cheques around here, and as such, the panel felt it was best to soothe his ego with a spot on the list.

As the Treasurer of Pubs, he has access to a budget of €50,000 which supports Trinity News, TCD Miscellany, Icarus, Piranha! and Trinity Film Review. He’s managed to sort out the almighty mess he inherited from previous Pubs Treasurer Brian Henry; a herculean task.

Further in his position, he’s been the one representing Pubs at the Capitations

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to his heart as a BESS student.

He has the ears of most people on this list, and knows full well how to use them. The question the panel asked when compiling this list was “if I wanted to do something expensive and difficult in Trinity, who would I call?” Bowman is the man with the contacts and the drive to get things done, if only when it suits him.

Eoin O Braoin Secretary, ComedySoc

Darragh Genockey Campaign Manager

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An imposing figure, Eoin O Braoin gets on this list by virtue of his profile and achievements with ComedySoc. O Braoin, along with his perennial friend and ComedySoc co-exec, Rob Kearns, shepherded the society from a membership of 190 to having the largest paying membership on campus, culminating in their recent Society of the Year win.

But this is not why most people know Eoin O Braoin. One of our sources described him as “the ultimate hack”; he’s the man to ask if you want to know about constitutions,

17 committees or Council.

A conservative person might describe him as “argumentative.” A more apt descriptor is “bellicose”: the man simply loves to argue.

Some people don’t like Eoin’s style, but that’s just because they can’t handle the truth. For fighting in every battle College has seen over the course of his four years here, Eoin O Braoin is one of our twenty.

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this is an admitted naivete which harmed him in dealings with the sharks of the events management world, of which there are many. Complaints have also surfaced regarding his cosy relationship with ALT, the club having benefited from his tenure.

Longworth’s year is a justification of the ruthlessness of some of his forerunners - he may be a nice guy but he’s swimming with sharks and seems to be simply out of his depth.

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respected committee member of DUBES, he knows what he wants and has gotten it, so far.

As a member of EdCorp, the group of young Trinity club promoters with Ed O’Riordan at its head, he also has a line to many more influential people around college. The Ents year ahead will see Genockey in a central role. Should he run for election, as Trinity News hears he will, he will be the candidate to beat.

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The extremelywell dressed Ronan Hodson is another Power List member who has simply been in Trinity for ages.

Hodson, who sits on the CSC Executive, has been quietly efficient this year in the running of the Graduate Students’ Union, which, while hardly as glamourous as his outfits, is just as well after the controversy from previous years. Multiple resignations dogged the organisation, and they lost standing after complaining about funding shortages after giving thousands to charity.

Researching Hodson, our panel finds itself unable to do anything but to point

helplessly to his blog, ronanhodson. blogspot.com and this quote: “With a few deft strokes upon its obsidian obverse, he pulled up a full florilegium of my bloggic endeavours, crisp and bright and full of my own ridiculous words – at once inflaming my need to possess this daedal device”. What’s he on about? Answer: the iPhone.

Nick Kenny President, CancerSoc

Orlaith Foley SU Welfare Officer O r l a i t h foley is a lovely woman. Anyone interviewed by the panel in the preparation of this list spoke effusively of her friendly and caring nature, which translated well into excellent work as Welfare Officer this year.

Excellent work does not necessarily translate to power however, especially in the post of Welfare Officer. Despite this, Foley’s work has brought her acclaim and support from across the college community. Couple this support with Foley’s seat on a variety of important college committees, and you have a powerful woman.

D a r r ag h Genockey is a very popular man.

Even those who don’t care about Ents find his uniquely raucous charm hard to resist, and it was even harder to resist his canvassing during this year’s SU elections, when he was runningMick Birmingham’sEnts campaign. Birmingham’s huge vote was testament to Genockey’s hard work: you couldn’t move in college without seeing the trademark diagonal green stripes of the “Mick For Ents” campaign. Genockey’s influence is narrow but pointed. A trusted adviser of Birmingham, class rep for SF BESS, and a

Ronan Hodson President, GSU

Nick Longworth SU Ents Officer Ents Officer Nick Longworth’s mental strength is to be admired. He has had a rough time of it ever since he beat the Ents-anointed front-runner Dave Byrne. By now, the furore over the Ball lineup must seem like another day at the office. His campaign manifesto was filled with ludicrous, unfeasible promises, most of which he tried to implement anyway, some with more success than others. Despite his chaotic reign, Longworth is popular - the lovable shaggy guy that he is, the panel were informed that he is particularly favoured by female freshers. The major flipside of

Committee – that’s the body that funds the CSC, SU, DUCAC and GSU as well – notably at meetings where Publications where fined as a result of the article How to leave Trinity in style in Piranha!. All these machinations have made Sullivan a dab hand at navigating the murky committee structures of College; and that earns him a spot on our list.

13 Foley’s profile also rose significantly as she coordinated many of college’s myriad “awareness weeks”, most notably the very successful SHAG week. Some have complained about random-cause-week overload however.

It’s a rare occasion that someone so nice gets such power, and the panel was glad to be able to list her here.

As President of CancerSoc, Nick Kenny has, on paper, had a great year: the society’s nude calendar made bags of money, as did their other fundraising efforts. Doublejobbing as Treasurer of DUBES, he also holds the cheque book of one of the wealthier societies in college.

However, pockets of antipathy will haunt the handsome Englishman’s final year. Leaving the top job in Cancer Soc for Auditor of DUBES, the panel hears rumours of a hostile incoming committee and has made more than a few enemies this year. Idle chatter seems to abound about a

possible takeover bid.

Kenny has also had his fair share of luck in getting things done cheap. Much of the calendar’s success is rarely attributed to Ed O’Riordan, as it ought to, who arranged to have the calendar printed free; and the rental cost of the Burlington for the massive BESS Ball was halved as compensation for a timetabling error. This guy’s luck might well run out next year.

Trinity News April 21, 2009

The Trinity News Power List 2009 Rob Donohoe SU Comm. Officer-Elect

John O’Reilly Auditor, DUBES

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Gosh, Rob Donohoe has been around for an awfully long time now hasn’t he?

Six years in the place puts his reign well beyond the memory of any of this panel’s whippersnapper members. The Senior Sophister Law student finally got into office this year, elected on a promise of editorial independence for The Record.

Up until now, Donohoe’s been lending the JCR in Goldsmith Hall his leading hand, though their finances haven’t been too healthy as of late, posting substantial losses.

Donohoe hasn’t been afraid of putting his Law education into practice in the past, securing in the courts a sizeable dose of compensation from an employer. The panel hopes that this legal wherewithal could be put to good use next year against anyone rubbed up the wrong way by Donohoe’s policy of editorial independence.

All told, Donohoe’s long, long time in

Trinity means that his profile is significant among the student body with everyone from final year students to Junior Freshman somehow having encountered the man one panelist described as “King of the Pav”. The panel hopes this might tease out some juicy gossip for The Record’s pages.

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public life.

The Hist had a good year with Kinsella at the helm: although the guests were not as high-profile or numerous as the Phil’s, their debates were well-attended, even house debates without notable guests. Their finances held up well in the recession, with ever-reliable and wealthy law firms helping to fund well-stocked receptions.

The panel was disappointed by the seeming lack of gossip about Kinsella. Either he inspires such loyalty in his cadre that all his sordid behaviour has been hushed up, or else he’s just a bit dull. A good, solid year; but nothing special.

Cathal Reilly SU President

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Cathal REilly followed in Andrew Byrne’s nice-guy footsteps to the Students’ Union President’s Office on a ticket of microwaves. Reilly however got the biggest story in third-level education in ten years landed on his desk this summer when the re-introduction of fees roared onto the agenda.

Since then, the SU under Reilly has struggled to keep up with the developing story.

Things started reasonably strongly in October with a lively march to the Dáil, but it happened to be on the same day pensioners protested the budget as well and news reports referred to the day’s events as the “Over 70s” protest exclusively, it became clear that the student agenda was not top of news rooms’ priorities.

Things didn’t get much better as the year progressed, with a decently-sized but unimaginative second march on the Dáil.

Things took a turn for the absurd when Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe came

Trinity News April 21, 2009

an ice sculpture, see right.

O’Reilly also had success in Trinity Entrepreneurial Society’s Dragon’s Den event: he was part of a team whose excellent winning idea was... a burrito van. Of course!

As the head of one of the most inexplicably powerful societies in college and the chief organiser of some of the biggest events, O’Reilly’s place on this list is assured.

Seamus Conboy SU Deputy President

Thomas Kinsella Auditor, The Hist Creeping into the top ten we find Hist head Thomas Kinsella.

The MSISS student took his responsibilities so seriously that he spent the year off books to ensure success.

However, Kinsella’s soft-spoken demeanour means that he doesn’t reach the lofty heights of his predecessor, the controversial Tim Smyth, who, despite his vocal hatred of Trinity News, managed to swing a place at number five last year.

The contrast between the two is obvious.

Kinsella has avoided drama, while Smyth seemed to thrive on it. The life of a Hist committee member was probably easier this year, if undoubtedly less interesting, without the glut of resignations which harmed the society last year.

Despite his quiescence, chess magnifico Kinsella certainly drew some high-quality guests: Patrick Stewart wowed the crowds with his class, while Archbishop Desmond Tutu held forth on the role of religion in

Dubes is a strange society, isn’t it?

Its committee is composed almost entirely of BESS students, it has a mid-size membership of approximately 700, and yet it is one of the wealthiest, most successful societies on campus. One supposes that it’s due to the business acumen of its committee, headed this year by the inscrutable John O’Reilly.

He’s had a great year as the society head, facing none of the committee bitching and infighting that ruined his predecessor’s tenure, and held her back to a mere 18 on the Power List.

The BESS Ball, the biggest society ball of the year, was an unmitigated success, drawing attendees from every corner of College and outside it as well. Held in the Burlington, it was a swanky affair, ice sculptures, roses and delicious chicken abounded. We also got to see some of the best and brightest in Trinity at their worst: number 20 on this list, Mr Daniel Bowman, had a brief dalliance with

Editor of The Record, and the last Communications Officer to hold the position of Deputy President, Seamus Conboy was swept to office on the same wave of GAA support as Conan O’Broin enjoyed in the last round of SU elections. His credentials from An Cumann Gaelach further lent an air of Erse culture to his election.

Conboy’s main claim to fame is of course the newspaper he edits during term. It is fair to say it has improved on previous years, though Conboy – and the Record’s readers – must never have been happy with predeccesor Claire Tighe’s switch to the fiddly Berliner format (that of The Guardian) and the accompanying reduction in print quality. That problem was solved in the middle of the year with the switch to tabloid dimensions.

Like it or not, The Record was at its most newsworthy this year when SU Presidential candidate Daniel Curry vowed to scrap it if elected. There followed an intense debate on the financials of the Students’ Union,

the editorial values of the Record, the point of student publishing at all – notably contributed to by Eoin O Braoin (number 18 on our list) – who pursued Curry over his figure of €40,000 for the total cost of The Record.

It all came to a head at a fiery hustings in Trinity Hall and Curry was ultimately heartily defeated at the polls by the fiery anti-fees Conan O Broin. Conboy presumably didn’t feel that closure had been achieved by this however and couldn’t resist a final editorial defending his paper’s honour in the edition reporting the election results.

Barry Devlin President, The Phil

to Trinity for a launch. An odd hybrid of an SU “silent protest” and FEE’s use of a megaphone all ended with Reilly shaking O’Keeffe’s hand on the steps of the Dining Hall beside the Provost.

The long-awaited Student Centre has been in the news this year as well, with Reilly being in many discussions with the newly-appointed Chief Operating Officer Christopher Lyons shipping him off to Queen’s in Belfast to see what should be in a Student Centre at all.

Plans for the Centre went back to the drawing board this year under Lyons, all of which is apparently really positive according to Reilly. The Panel is less impressed. No 24-hour study space yet, no student centre anywhere in sight, and no microwaves; this guy has been running to stand still.

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Quiet and reserved, Phil president Barry Devlin has had a successful year, raking in many high profile guests.

Regardless of anything else, this is what Phil presidents are judged on and something his predecessor forgot.

The scholar (as he will be quick to remind you, he frequently signs his name with the suffix ‘Sch.’) and former Secretary of the Phil didn’t promise the earth as usual in Philander instead opting for ones that would show up: John McGinley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Naomi Campbell, John Negroponte, Dolores O’Riordan and the Cranberries, Neil Strauss, Valery Giscard D’Estaing; the list goes on...

Aloof is a word commonly used to describe the man, and he seemed to beaver away on what was important in his office in the GMB attic - steady stream of guests, recover funding from CSC. Some sources told us of his hands-off management style, with rumblings of a desire for more leadership among his committee. He’s got

what he wants it seems, and has focused on what he wants to.

This year Devlin also managed to fend off the ever-vigilant Accommodation Office in their threats to evict him from the rooms in Pearse St. his scholarship entitles him to on the flimsy grounds that his sabbatical year as President precluded him from accommodation on Trinity’s dime. (The two years former Phil President and Power List topper Daire Hickey spent on campus were presumably forgotten).

His year over, the Phil is set for its first election for President in years with Secretary Brendan Curran (pensive, reserved, competent hard worker) and Debates Convenor Jonathan Wyse (charismatic, outspoken, competent hard worker) set to be judged by their peers.

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The Trinity News Power List 2009 Cormac Cashman SU Welfare Officer-elect

Ed O’Riordan Former Ents Officer

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The man who will be looking after our welfare next year comes in at number 6. The “King of Queens”, as he was described by one of our sources, has huge support from the gay community. Smart and confident, he ran a solid campaign for SU Welfare officer, making the most of his support from Trinity LGBT, of which he was head this year.

Insofar as the (substantial) gay community in Trinity has a leader, it is Cashman. Almost universally popular, Cashman is well-known around campus, especially since his campaign began.

Cashman made a name for himself taking the EdCorp model of cheap-drink student nights to the overpriced gay scene. He started with a night in gay hotspot pantibar and has just started another, PrHomo, on Wicklow Street’s BaseBar which has started to pack out since its recent launch.

As Welfare Officer next year, Cashman will have a less visible role than he does

right now with as a nightclub promoter. The majority of the work of the Welfare Officer is of such a personal yet vital nature that rarely does the Welfare Officer get the profile and recognition that they deserve. Cashman is a professional and resourceful individual however and the Panel is confident that he can translate this into a successful year as Welfare Officer.

Sophie Davies Chair, CSC

measure of influence, from first year to final year, and O’Riordan is consequently very well-known and respected.

You might think it nightclub promoting easy? Just whack up a few posters? Not against Ed, it isn’t. Come in early and you’ll see him finishing his postering. He’s also smart, and he has succeeded in outwitting and screwing over many opponents to the point where he is now established as a top dog in the Dublin student scene.

O’Riordan’s year was a lot quieter than his last, but his profile and influence have hardly diminished. Despite not holding any formal position, O’Riordan’s skill at what he does, and dominance in the nightlife market will see him guaranteed a position in the power list until he gets his degree. Then, who knows?

Hugh Sullivan SU Education Officer

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After coming in at number three in last year’s list, CSC Chair Sophie Davies has slipped down to four this year. This year Davies has consolidated her position as head of the body that funds the scores of student societies in Trinity. Her position gives her control over their non-trivial funding of some €360,000. The lady has won respect for being generally fair and likeable - though no pushover, the Vincent de Paul society found themselves with a sharp rebuke after (arguably) flaunting postering guidelines.

Similarly last year she delivered a swift kick to the Phil last year when they tried to push their luck more than a bit too much when asking for money. Barry Devlin (this year’s Phil President) smoothed things over and the Phil are back in the fold once more.

Despite being ostensibly student-run, many of these organisations employ full time staff which can hold a lot of power given that they do all of the actual work, while the students just go to meetings (and

Last year’s number one, O’Riordan slides to five as he readjusts to student life following his hugely successful stint as Ents Officer. “CitiBar Tuesdays”, celebrating its third birthday this year, (unexpected longevity for a student night) has become a Trinity institution and is a huge moneyspinner for the JS BESS student. Indeed, the panel hears that his parents bought him the services of an accountant for Christmas (no joke).

His close friendship and professional association with Ents officer-elect Mick Birmingham ensure that his influence remains as strong as ever. There is a notable group of savvy types clustering around him, like intelligent, hardworking moths to a very well-connected flame: EdCorp. Members include Darragh Genockey, Birmingham’s campaign manager; Justin Tallon, EngSoc Ents Officer and owner of a mailing list 22,000 emails long, and Birmingham himself. Running a raft of Dublin’s more popular student nights wins him a large

3 argue about the little things - like who can poster where etc.) and eat dinner (the free ones - a perk of the job). Davies however, by virtue of competence, experience and good relations with everyone, definitively rules the roost. Joe O’Gorman (CSC Honorary Treasurer), in particular, no longer has the ridiculous amount of influence that he once had (though he remains very influential in College, in general, however). Her slip in the rankings this year is mainly due to her keeping a lower profile than her peers.

It’s left to Rob Kearns (her successor) to continue the good work following two relatively smooth and trouble-free years in the CSC.

This year’s SU Education Officer tops the list of all five SU Sabbats despite having probably the dullest, committee-ridden job of them

all.

The SU’s formerly-mustachioed manabout-town has nonetheless had a very strong year indeed: his consistency and work ethic are legend in SU circles. It is rumoured that following a technological failure the day before the new draft of the Students’ Union constitution was due to be presented to Council, he stayed up all night rewriting whole sections that had been lost. Despite former Education Officers’ quiescence, Sullivan has a rather high profile, primarily due to his logo. A yellow smiley face with Hugh’s trademark moustache, it is now used on SU posters, most recently announcing that Trinity Ball tickets had sold out. One of the panel’s sources described it as the “best gimmick [he’d] ever seen in an election”.

Any other Education Officer who, in his own constitutional rewrite made

himself Deputy President instead of the Communications Officer might cynically be accused of a power grab but Sullivan earned voters’ trust when it all went to a referendum last week and passed.

Occasionally ferocious at SU Council, there’s no denying that Sullivan has strong beliefs, but our sources tell us that this ferocity sometimes alienates support. He has all the influence of any Education Officer, but his obvious competence and industry lend him a greater level of support and influence than his organisation’s President.

Rob Kearns Chair, Comedy Soc

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Rob Kearns is a man with many strings to his bow. SU Education Officer in 2006; Comedy Soc Secretary in 2007; CSC Secretary and Comedy Soc Chair this year; and unopposed candidate for CSC Chair next year (that’ll be his postgrad year for those of you counting along at home).

All this leads to the inescapable conclusion that this is a man with fingers in many pies. He has, with Eoin O Broin, lead Comedy Soc on its remarkable growth in numbers, strength and influence (even if their own estimates of those metrics are pretty inflated according to those who’ve been around longer than Comedy Soc have).

With Kearns without a position on the Comedy Soc committee next year and instead holding the top spot in the CSC, it is worth reflecting on the extraordinary degree to which Comedy Soc has installed its own members in various College bodies.

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Ben Clifford, this year’s treasurer and next year’s chair of Comedy Soc is running for CSC treasurer (albeit against Orna Nicholls who is strong competition), and of course, this year’s Comedy Soc Ents officer Mick Birmingham will be plying his trade to the entire college next year as SU Ents officer.

Even permanent House 6 fixture Conor Smith has worn his Comedy Soc hoodie in The Record office on the second floor, notably reporting in his Societies section of that paper that Comedy Soc was the most popular society in College, according to a survey of sixty people.

Only time will tell, then, to what degree Kearns will be able to divorce the society clearly close to his heart from the organisation which should fairly and equally manage all his former competitors.

Kearns places so highly on our list this year due to his long experience in Trinity.

Observing College’s myriad structures and committee levels from so many different angles – society, CSC, SU – means he has a unique understanding of how things work

around here. That means he scores highly on our metric of how likely a Power List member would be of achieving something logistically difficult in Trinity (and with Trinity’s notorious bureaucracy, this is more relevant than it sounds).

Kearns is widely regarded as a competent individual, which translates into a respectable influence score. His spending power this year

as chair of Comedy Soc is not to be sniffed at either, even if the society’s large turnover means money goes out of the coffers as soon as it enters.

All told, Kearns earns his number two spot on a combination of power exerted this year and potential power to be exerted next year. Clearly, Kearns just can’t get enough of House 6.

Trinity News April 21, 2009

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The Trinity News Powerlist 2009

Mick Birmingham Club promoter & Ents Officer-elect

So he finally made it. After years of watching, working and waiting, Mick Birmingham has got himself elected Ents Officer. It must feel great. And it would be hard to claim that he doesn’t deserve it: his work over his time in Trinity has earned his a solid reputation, from ComedySoc to Ents.

He tops this list less on the grounds of influence or profile (although he certainly has those) than the fact that this has been a relatively dismal year for hackery (we use the term advisedly) and he is the only one to really stand out and impress the panel to any great extent.

It’s hard to argue with the objective show of support he received in the SU elections: even with three opponents, he received 2,451 votes, more than any other candidate - testament to a very well run campaign which took the fight right to his opponents’ own powerbase in Halls.

Such was the quasi-cult status he gained during the election, that a group of BESS Freshers started their own Facebook group to promote him, without any campaign involvement. One hopes that with all this adulation, Birmingham will be able to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground. We shall have to wait and see.

He will seek to distance himself in the coming months from this year’s Ents: although he would never say it to a newsman, Birmingham retains a great deal of antipathy towards Longworth, whose year has been fairly disastrous: from the bizarre Kalaschnikov energy drink sponsorship at the start of the year which one of our panelists speculated was actually Russian mafiosos laundering money, down to the furore over his close ties with Andrew’s Lane. Just look at the ads for the Ents Crew 09/10, which run a headline: UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT. Birmingham wants a clean break.

He doesn’t have what you’d call institutional power: the type of power which makes decisions that affect people; that will come next year. No, Birmingham’s power is derived from the weight of expectation on his shoulders. He spent two years under the tutelage of Ed O’Riordan, and following his incredibly strong campaign (judged by the panel to be the best they’d ever seen), everyone in this college is fully expecting the same standard of professionalism and success as O’Riordan’s year. If you’re planning

Trinity News April 21, 2009

anything big in college over the next year, you’ll want Birmingham to lend you a hand. He’s the man with the support, the friends and the organisational skills to really make things happen.

Birmingham’s campaign was a teaser of things to come. It was incredibly well-run, with the work ethic and organisational flair that have become his trademarks.

You couldn’t move in Trinity without seeing the Mick For Ents stripes. Even in the real world, they were impossible to escape. One panelist saw a barman in Doyle’s wearing a wristband, another met two lovely bathroom attendants in the Palace wearing his t-shirts. Many did speculate that he might have bent the SU’s election spending rules however. All those wristbands? Apparently they only cost

€90, as far as the SU is concerned.

With advertising like that - the panel is also reliably informed that one night in Tripod there was a 50-foot projection of the 5’6” man displayed on stage - who needs policies? Fortunately, Birmingham seems to have his fairly well figured out.

If all goes to plan next year, we should have Nitelinks home from Ents club

also knows how to party. Following his election victory and an all-night party in his apartment, our sources tell us that a groggy Birmingham was woken by his landlord demanding apologies for twelve of his neighbours. So around the complex went Birmingham. Apparently the first eleven weren’t too bad, but number twelve asked him “do you realise that you’ve a cock drawn on your face?”

Birmingham has stepped out of the shadow of O’Riordan, his sensei, and seems all the better for it.

We hope that he’ll be able to fulfil his potential - many people are expecting a lot from this guy, we wish him the best of luck.

“Birmingham is the only one to really stand out and impress the panel to any great extent” nights, a functioning Ents website where we can buy tickets, and more “creative events”. Let’s hope that doesn’t mean more Crystal Maze recreations in Front Square.

Like any good Ents Officer, Birmingham

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