Barry Murphy has been elected as President of UCD Students’ Union (UCDSU).
The former Acting President and Campaigns and Communications Officer (C&C) overcame the challenge of Rebecca Hart in a by-election. Hart, a final year nursing student, previously finished in third position in the Presidential race back in March, and served as the College Officer for Health Sciences in recent years.
There were 2610 votes cast, including 36 spoiled votes, leaving a total valid poll of 2,574. Murphy exceed the 1,288 quota by several hundred votes. Hart received 587 votes, with 100 votes for Re-Open Nominations (RON).
Earlier today, Murphy formally quit as C&C Officer with immediate effect. He expressed his ‘particular thanks to [his] fellow Sabbats, Students’ Union Staff, friends, family and the UCD student body’ who ‘encouraged and supported’ him over the last few months. Murphy had been balancing the C&C role with that of Acting President.
The election passed with less controversy than the recent Impeachment Referendum. The UCDSU Returning Office confirmed to the Tribune that Hart’s campaign team received a 3 hour suspension from campaigning ‘at, near or in any buildings or concourse in the main UCD campus and Carysfort’ on the 22nd of November due to a ‘breach of election rules.’
Following the announcement of the final result, Hart thanked her campaign team, friends and family for ‘such great support’ over the campaign. Murphy gave a slightly longer speech. He thanked his team, and singled out his ‘friend and campaign manager’ Matthew. He thanked his parents for ‘all their advice in recent weeks’, and said he ‘looked forward to getting down to work tomorrow morning.’
A by-election was also held for the vacant position of the Engineering and Architecture College Officer. Connor Flannery was the only candidate to run for the position, and was deemed elected after easily defeating RON.
—————————————————————————————————————————————-
Cian Carton, Editor & Aaron Bowman, Politics Editor
