UCD Students’ Union has rescheduled its annual elections. This announcement comes after the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar declared that all schools and universities will shut until March 29th.
The Returning Officer for the upcoming elections said this evening in a statement: “The Returning Office, with the approval of the Independent Appeals and Disciplinary Board, have postponed the Executive Elections by one week in light of the current COVID-19 outbreak.”
The SU elections were originally scheduled to happen on April 1st & 2nd, with the count to happen on April 3rd. The voting will now happen on April 7th and 8th, with the count on April 9th. This six-day postponement is understood to give candidates adequate time for campaigning, whilst not overlapping with Good Friday on April 10th.
The election hustings, which is currently scheduled for March 26th, is also likely to be rescheduled after the period of university closures.
UCD Students’ Union have also announced that “in light of the announcement made by the Taoiseach […] the offices of the Students’ Union and the Students’ Union Shops will be closed from 6pm Thursday 12th March 2020 until further notice.” A statement on social media informed students that “Students’ Union Officers and Staff are all available online during normal working hours.”
UCD Students’ Union represents 33,000 students and has six annually elected full-time Sabbatical Officer positions. The SU also has College Officers in each UCD College as well as Class Reps in each stage across all schools and faculties.
The Candidates who are currently running for SU Sabbatical Officer Elections are as follows:
President:
Conor Anderson
Welfare:
Rebecca O’Connor
Ruairí Power
Campaigns & Engagement:
Leighton Gray
Rebecca Leeson
Rekha Vishnu Nagargoje
Katie O’Dea
Entertainments:
Sarah Michalek
Education:
Hannah Bryson
Darryl Horan
Brian Treacy
Graduate:
Vacant
UCD President Andrew Deeks announced yesterday that from “23rd March, (end of fieldwork/study period) through to the end of the academic year, we will be adopting an at-distance teaching and learning model for all undergraduate and taught masters students.”
We have contacted the SU for a statement but have not received a comment by the time of publishing.
More to follow…
Conor Capplis – Editor
