An Focal
Education Officer re-elected Official Paper of the University of Limerick Students’ Union
9th March 2010 Tuesday
Volume XVIII, Issue 11 FREE
By Aoife Ní Raghallaigh – Editor
THE current Students’ Union Education Officer, Aoife Finnerty, is set to spend another year in office after she was elected unopposed at close of nominations last Friday. 11 students will contest the other four positions with an unprecedented five candidates vying for the position of President. In addition to Ms Finnerty, two more of the current officers are seeking another term with the current President and Welfare Officer both seeking re-election. The position of President will be contested by Louise Clohessy, Nicholas Ryan, Paddy Rockett, Ruán Dillon McLoughlin and Sharon Brosnan while the position of Deputy President/ Welfare Officer will be contended by Daniel Reid and Derek Daly. The campaign for Vice President/ Campaigns and Services Officer will see Lorcan O’Neill and Vivion Grisewood running. Finallya Eoghan O’Brien and Finn McDuffie will run for the position of Vice President/ Communications Officer.
This year the Electoral and Referenda Board (ERB), who oversee the election to ensure fairness amongst all candidates, have decided to change the time of location of the hustings. The hustings is a public debate held between the candidates and is normally held in the Stables Courtyard at mid-afternoon. The hustings has now been moved to 6pm on Wednesday in the Jonathon Swift to spare the students and candidates from the cold. All students are invited to attend the hustings and pose questions to the potential officers. The ERB have also informed that any complaints will be published on the ULSU website. This means that the result of any complaint made to the ERB, and the ruling of the Board, will be published online for all students to see. The candidates have also been informed that they may not use chalk drawings or stickers in this year’s election. Polling will take place on Thursday of Week 7 (March 11) in five locations across campus. Student
will be able to cast their vote in the Students’ Union Photocopying Room, the Library, Red Raising Canteen, the Kemmy Business School and the Health Sciences Building. All polling stations will remain open from 9am – 5pm except for the station in the Students’ Union which will open at 7.30am and close at 6.30pm. All registered students are eligible to vote on production of a valid University of Limerick student ID. At the polling booths students will be presented with a ballot paper listing the candidates in alphabetical order. Election procedures are the same as for Dáil Éireann elections, i.e., a system of single transferable votes will be in place. The election count will take in the Students’ Union after close of polling on Thursday and the results will be revealed later that evening. More information about all the candidates can be found in the election pullout at the centre of the newspaper.
Counting the ballots
Union Executive welcomes new arrivals By Finn McDuffie – Chief News Correspondent
FOUR new members have joined the Students’ Union Executive this semester. The Executive, or SU ‘cabinet’, whose primary responsibilities involve policy initiation and the day-to-day running of the SU, now includes Equality Officer, Mr Jason Kennedy; Community Relations Officer (CRO), Mr Vivion Grisewood; Funding Officer, Mr Paddy Rockett and Chair of Class Reps’ council, Ms Triona O’Sullivan. Mr Kennedy and Mr Grisewood were elected
to their positions, uncontested, at the start of this semester. Mr Rockett took up his position at the first Class Reps council meeting of the year. The second council meeting saw Ms Triona O’Sullivan take the chair. Mr Kennedy commented on the new stability of this Executive. “Everyone seems to work well together” he said, adding “we’ve already been very productive and students can expect a lot for the rest of the semester.” Ms O’Sullivan
said she was “excited” about and “looking forward” to engaging with Class Reps council. The Executive normally consists of eleven members including sabbatical and non-sabbatical officers, the Union Secretary General and the First Year Rep. It meets weekly. “We meet every Thursday to discuss issues that arise, to see what’s been done lately and to discuss what the student body want done and what they’re not happy with,” commented Mr Kennedy. Only Executive
members may attend these meetings. The new members come in the wake of two resignations. Last year, CROs Ms Larissa Mirtshink and her successor, Mr Daniel Reid, were each deemed resigned; Ms Mirtshink following her absence at the Union AGM last semester and Mr Reid after he did not attend two consecutive Executive meetings. Another new face at Class Reps council is that of Mr Barry Kennedy, who was elected to the position of Deputy Chair of Class Reps council.