With nominations for the 2022/23 UCDSU sabbatical officers closing tomorrow, Friday the 11th of March at 5 pm, attention is turning to the upcoming elections. In the running for the position of Entertainment Officer is class rep for her stage 4 pharmacology class and co-auditor of UCD FoodSoc, Ciara Moroney.
Moroney’s candidacy is contingent upon her securing nominations from students. This year, nominations for the sabbatical positions require candidates to collect 150 signatures from any registered students of UCD.
The College Tribune spoke to Moroney about the launch of her campaign,
Why are you running for the position of Ents officer? As a student, I know how important a fun college experience is, and how it feels to miss out on that, so I’m eager to make UCDSU events bigger, better, and more inclusive now that restrictions have been lifted. I have a passion for organising events and I’d love to follow on the great work that’s been done so far by current and previous Ents Officers if elected.
What approach do you intend to take to planning events as we look to move out of covid times? One thing is for certain: the Ents Officer position is for student life, meaning my priority is the students! I aim to take an active approach to fulfil students’ wishes in the types of events they’d like to see on campus. A key point of my manifesto is an Ents for All, and I want to increase inclusivity in events on campus. I’d love to boost capacities at events and be able to appeal to more students, but as always public health will be a priority and so I’ll make contingency plans for events if guidelines were to change. Otherwise, the only way is up from here!
What are your plans for campaigning? Do you intend to take an in-person approach if it is allowed by the returning office? I’d love to take an on-the-ground approach to campaigning on campus if it’s permitted by the returning officer. I’ve started a social media campaign to try and get the word out to the broader UCD community, and hope to engage with people in this way. Furthermore, I’d like to chat with students one-on-one on campus to get a feel of their expectations from an Ents Officer and what they’d like to see going forward. Hopefully, it will be a case of the best of both worlds.
You are currently the auditor of FoodSoc, do you think this will be an advantage in planning events if elected? Over the last 2 years, I’ve been lucky enough to organise events for students, both online and in-person with FoodSoc, and now that I’ve gotten a taste for it (excuse the pun)- I don’t want to stop! I do think my experience is an advantage. I’m lucky to say that as a big society on campus, FoodSoc has had a great turnout and great diversity at events, and I’ve had a hands-on approach to developing creative ideas for events, and dealing with students. I’m familiar with the ins and out’s of how events work, what’s required for each, and have built a decent working relationship with UCD staff, and aim to use the skills I’ve gained as Auditor in the position of Ents Officer if elected.
Could you please provide a short, roughly 75-word bio and summary of the main parts of your manifesto? Count On Ciara For Ents For All! Students should have events where they are excited to go to, comfortable to be themselves and to relax. My goal for next year is to strengthen the community feel on campus and to hold inclusive events to do so. I aim to work with UCD bodies to create greater, safer, and more enjoyable college events, and make a better community in UCD for all. Some of my key manifesto points include; increased accessibility, Ents for all, the revival of social shenanigans, making use of the UCD campus, safe alcohol and drug use (harm reduction campaign), rag week, student connections and active engagement and finally sustainability/sustainENTS.
Conor Paterson – Co-Editor
Hugh Dooley – News Editor
