Education Officer Rob Sweeney has tonight publicly backed the impeachment of UCDSU President Katie Ascough. It was announced last night during Union Council that he along with Barry Murphy and Niall Torris would be taking annual leave in order to campaign for the impeachment of Katie Ascough. Both Torris’ and Murphy’s statements can be read here.
The strongly worded statement begins “It has not come lightly that I ask the Students of UCD to vote for the impeachment of the current Students Union President of UCDSU.” Mr Sweeney goes on to say that Ms Ascough’s claim of sexism shows her “desperation” adding “On a personal level, it was hurtful and deeply disappointing. I don’t think it even needs to be said but anyone who knows myself and the other sabbatical officers would know this to be untrue, and I hope how we have led our lives thus far speaks for itself.”
Mr Sweeney added that he was campaigning for Ms Ascough’s impeachment as a result of both her actions since taking office and the way she has conducted her campaign. “Katie in leading this campaign, in my opinion, has shown the answer to what should be the central question of this campaign. Does the current SU President hold the best interests of the Students of UCD at heart, as their current President? The answer is clear in my mind, No; today’s hustings further reinforced this.”
He also referenced today’s Hustings where Ms Ascough claimed that both sabbatical officers and students were bullying her. “To paint some students of UCD as bullies as a campaign tactic infers that she does not hold the interest of the students at heart. It seems she is more interested in creating a public profile in the national media to further her personal cause.”
In a strong conclusion Mr Sweeney claimed Ms Ascough had run a campaign of “dishonesty” adding “This was shown today in the hustings when she either did not answer the questions put to her or simply said she did not recall key conversations. Furthermore, she falsely stated that the boards of directors backed her decisions forcing them to publicly state they had no involvement in the decision.”
The full statement can be read here.
Voting on the impeachment referendum will begin tomorrow and continue on Thursday with a result expected on Thursday evening.
Rachel O’Neill – Editor
