Micheál Gallagher, medicine final year Social Science student, was yesterday evening elected as UCDSU Welfare Vice-President for the coming year. He defeated opponent Enda Conway by 136 votes.
When the results of the first boxes were announced, Conway led with 57% of the vote, Gallagher trailing at 38%. Strong showings in Science and Arts led to Gallagher over taking Conway. After the first count, Gallagher stood at 2,187 votes to Conway’s 2,051. Neither of them reached the quota of 2213 and RON was eliminated with a total of 186 votes.
Following transfers, Conway’s votes rose to 2,060 while Gallagher received 22, bringing his total to 2,209. As neither of the candidates surpassed the quota, Gallagher was elected incoming Welfare Officer by default.
Conway thanked his team in his speech and congratulated Gallagher. He stated that he would “watch [Gallagher] every step of the way” to ensure that he fulfilled his promises and obligations to the students of UCD. During the campaign, Conway received criticism for his lack of involvement in Welfare Crew and in his speech, he addressed that joking that “I will be involved in next year’s Welfare Crew and then you’ll have nothing against me”.
Following this, newly elected incoming Welfare Officer, Micheál Gallagher spoke of his gratitude towards both the students of UCD and his own campaign team, in particular his campaign manager Conor Roe. He noted the work of each candidate in every race and thanked former Welfare Officer Scott Ahern and current SU President de Brún.
After his speech, Gallagher told the College Tribune that “this morning when the odds were against me, [I was] so nervous. I didn’t think Science would come out so strong for me”.
On July 1st, Micheál Gallagher will fill the seat vacated by current Welfare Vice-President Rachel Breslin.
Conor Fox
