So, here we are, it’s already March. Can you believe it? The penultimate student council. This one began with a presentation by Paul Horan, from Campus Planning for Grangegorman. This was at request of student council, so that there could be a more detailed update on the campus as well as a chance to answer some questions.
His presentation included telling council about Grangegorman area, and debunk that it is not as dead and desolate as so many people tend to think that it is. There are many cafes and shops in the area, for example.
Paul broke down how the move would work, divided up over the next few years, with a view to the campus being fully completed by 2023. The main focuses for GDA are currently the move of the library and the redevelopment of Lower House, as the temporary space for Student Union activity. There were diagrams and floor plans in abundance. Overall, TU Dublin will always remain as three separate campuses; Tallaght campus and Blanchardstown campus will not be moving to Grangegorman. Only the City Campus (currently the old DIT campuses) will be moving to Grangegorman.
After this presentation, Dublin Region Officier for USI came along once more to give an update on everything USI has been doing since last time:
- On the 7th of March, there was an Ending Sexual Violence conference which was very successful
- On the 8th of March was International Women’s Day and he commends DITSU for their part in the march on O’Connell Bridge on the day.
- The National Danish SU came for an educational visit with their own SU.
- Registration opened for the first annual Disability Conference, held by USI, on the 10th of April.
Clubs and Societies gave a quick update, and I do mean quick:
- Rainbow Week took place and it was a big success
- At the Intervarsities, DITSU won in Hip-Hp
- The Sustainable Fashion Show would be taking place in the Courtyard in Aungier St. on the 26th of March
There were questions around how the multicultural festival went that also took place in Aungier St. as well as someone asking if there would be a ball this year. The multicultural festival went well and it was great to see people turn up and take part. As for a ball, it won’t be possible this year due to everything else going on (such as the referendum and the SU elections). However there is a possibility of doing an end-of-year event this year instead. More on that when available.
There were three short and quick motions as well as two policies at this meeting.
The first one was around the feasibility of free STI Screenings. The argument was that this might not be very feasible but it was extremely important to at least try. In the ended, it was voted for.
The second one was around the Give Us the Night Campaign. Those who were for it stressed that it was an important issue and it was good for musicians and music students. However there were those against it who felt that this only had to do with legislation which would take ages to even have anything done about and it would certainly not pass. Another felt that although the spirit of the motion was good, the motion should not target licensing laws and should instead look to create more anti-alcohol spaces. Despite these concerns, the motion was vote for.
The third motion was around solidarity with Northern Ireland in the fight for abortion rights. Those for the motion argued that there was a clear mandate from a plebiscite from last year, therefore councillors had to support this motion. There was a procedural motion to move the decision, and subsequent vote, of the motion to the first council of the next academic year however this fell through and in the end, the motion itself was voted for.
The first policy was around the annual RAG Charity. The policy was around how the RAG Charities would work with TUDSU. Instead of having just one charity for the whole of TU Dublin, each campus would nominate their own choice of charities and then TU Dublin would support all three of them at once. This would mean that whatever the end amount of funds raised for RAG by the end of the year, it would be split among the three charities.
And that brings us to the end of important things from March’s council. The final one is in April and that one will be the last ever DITSU student council!
Visual Artist, student at DIT, and writer for DITSU.tv
I've been writing for DITSU.tv for 2+ years now, still ongoing
I mainly cover events but also like to write a few helpful, lifestyle pieces and here and there
