Rebecca Hart, former Health Science Officer is to contest the Presidential By Election against Barry Murphy. Ms Hart also contested last year’s Presidential Election against Katie Ascough and came third overall. Ms Hart has obtained 215 signatures on her nomination form. Nominations closed at 6pm on Thursday evening.
In a statement on her Facebook page Ms Hart said ‘There is no hiding from the past few weeks where UCDSU has faced huge challenges but also saw record levels of engagement. We need to capitalise on this and I feel I am the best person to unite students and to maintain those engagement levels.”
Ms Hart highlighted how much UCDSU means to her saying ‘Since 2013 UCD and UCDSU given me so much and I have put everything back into them as I am incredibly passionate about this university being a welcoming and inclusive places I want to make sure every single student has that same feeling.’
She concluded by saying ‘I will fulfil my promises to you, I will work tirelessly, with staff and for students to ensure our university is the best it can be. I believe I am the best person for this job. A president you can trust, a president you can rely on. I hope you believe the same and I look forward to discussing my ideas with you all over the next two weeks.’
Barry Murphy has also handed in his nomination form with approximately 200 signatures. It’s expected that the Returning Officer Stephen Devine will accept the nominations and the campaigns for each candidate will begin next week.
Rachel O’Neill – Editor
