The unlucky 20

Nominations have closed:

President
Peter Alexander Joyce
Seamus McGoldrick
Harman Murtagh
John McGuirk
Shane O’Brien
David Quinn
John Treacy


Deputy President
Andrew Flaherty
Simon Hall
Adam Lewis
Stephen Mallon
Shane O’Brien


Education
Malcolm Bennison
Alex Gilliland - withdrawn.
Robert Kearns
Shane O’Brien


Welfare
Peter Alexander Joyce
Denise Keogh
Shane O’Brien


Ents
Patrick Bodenham
Jane Cassidy
Peter Alexander Joyce
Ross Mulcahy
Barry Murphy
Shane O’Brien
Fergal O’Neill


And of course R.O.N. (Re-Open Nominations)!

Stargal

Just Googled Peter Alexander Joyce and got a link to a porn site. Interesting.

wayfarer

EduMyth wrote:

Shane O’Brien... Shane O’Brien... Shane O’Brien... Shane O’Brien... Shane O’Brien

lol I bet he was hoping to be up against just RON in one of them!

pffffh, like he'd even win that :rolleyes:


any boardsies?

Nietzschean

Alex Gilliland has posted on here before.....

snorlax

does Alex do history? tanned skin? i think i may have worked with someone called Alex in freshers week.

Crash

Dave_Chair and kearnsr are both in there

Nietzschean

snorlax wrote:

does Alex do history? tanned skin? i think i may have worked with someone called Alex in freshers week.

nope he's an engineer

foxybrowne

quite a few for president, the vote will be fairly split. who will get the advantage?

Nietzschean

Nietzschean wrote:

Alex Gilliland has posted on here before.....

Really? He said he was just a lurker to myself.

Stargal

Think Deputy Pres and Ents were the big surprises, lot of names there that hadn't been expected. It's good there's such a big field, but will make it very competitive for things like getting good positions for posters, making class addresses etc. Plus there's more likelihood of dirty tricks in the more competitive elections.

foxybrowne

Yeah, dirty tricks will defo be on the menu this time round. Is anyone running openly "against the union" this time (like Gambino)? Or even secretly agin it?

wayfarer

Is Seamus McGoldrick that guy Shambles from last year? If it is, with so many cantidates running, he might just scrape it if the vote ends up being split like foxy says.

Stargal

I don't know of anyone yet but as I said, there's a few names there I didn't recognise so you never know...

Agent Smith

wasn't he the Whole hog Last year?

xeduCat

Game on! It's going to be interesting. I will be EduMyth's flunky on election night (returning officer), so I get to keep my mouth shut about the candidates, but it's fair to say that the field is less predictable than in previous years....

Crash

actually, a bit of controversy would be damn good for my documentary. Donal gave me the finger on camera tonight

Agent Smith

is it True tom Dillion is Going for Miss July?

Crash

Actually, just looking at this, its time like these i really miss peoplefinder.

wheresthebeef

lots of faces from exec on the old nominee's list. its good to see experienced people taking an interest.

Andrew 83

xeduCat wrote:

Game on! It's going to be interesting. I will be EduMyth's flunky on election night (returning officer), so I get to keep my mouth shut about the candidates, but it's fair to say that the field is less predictable than in previous years....

Last year was predictable results eh?

Crash

Thats such a vapid statement.

Andrew 83

As I'm not sure what that means I'll smile and nod! Last time there was a field this big for President Rory got elected.

Anyone know the bacgrounds etc of each candidate? It's good to see so much interest.

little miss

anyone else noticed the male centric nature of the list yet again this year? Why has the union not made more of effort to ensure more of an equal union, rather than keep it as the old boy's club it has become? and seriously, do you honestly think all those people are going to run? always loads of names in for president, but its usually the crap, dillusioned ones that stay in the race... Very disappointed with some of the names for president - thank god there's good people in the other categories. 4 good officers could well make up for a bad president!

Andrew 83

I know the past couple of years have been very male dominated in terms of who's run (myself included) and obviously this is in many ways negative but it's important not to forget that a couple of years ago the union was majority female with Annie, Katie, and Helledd.

Last year also had Denise and Lorna running for Education which was 2/3 of the candidates for that position.

little miss

Still not good enough though is it in a college that's majority female! The Union really does need to get more women involved. Just because there was a female majority a few years ago doesn't make it ok... Presidency seems especially to scare women off which is a shame... Think its true around the country not just TCD though... Well, even USI hasn't had a female president in a decade. Maybe they should lead by example?! hmmm...

John

In fairness it's hardly the SU's fault if no women put themselves forward for the positions.

Andrew 83

Maybe many men are more inclined towards and more comfortable with electioneering? If this is the case it's tricky to deal with as you can't really remain democratic if you abolish elections in favour of another method. It probably isn't the case though.

little miss

to be honest, it is.... And not just this year's SU - its a general problem. Women tend to be recruited for welfare campaigns, or to look pretty in ents t-shirts. Education officer is ok too, but dep pres and president usually need a man. That's the typical feeling. Just think to this year's pres starting his officer report with 'how are ye lads?' all the time...

I'm far from being a raging feminist, but I do see a trend in the fact that women are put off going for the top jobs by the fact its always seen as a boy's club.

I'll always vote on the basis of whose the best person for the job not their sex - I'd just like to see more of a balanced race every year. Something is stopping this - no harm in thinking about ways to make it more equal...

Andrew 83

I'm a feminist myself. I have to say though while President does tend to be male dominated, Tom is the first male Deputy Pres for three years.

It's a problem with politics more generally in this country though. I think the problem is partially in the country at large where men tend to be in positions of power thus putting forward a picture to people that male characteristics are those that are most necessary in a leader. The fact that teachers and nurses etc are the main stereotypical female dominated positions, jobs which emphasise stereotypical female characteristics is likewise probably no coincidence.

If electioneering is one of the main barriers to female candidates it's a serious problem as it's difficult to counteract off hand.

Thirdfox

*cough* president of Ireland is female! And she got back into power unopposed! ...now what was my point again?

Oh, and most of the class reps are female... we can throw around statistics all day (and night).

Thirdfox

little miss wrote:

...Something is stopping this - no harm in thinking about ways to make it more equal...

There can be harm if in the interest of promoting equality we get positive discrimination... then we'll have the situation whereby people are not chosen because of whether they are most qualified for the job etc. but due to their sex/race/religion etc.

p.s. I am not a neo conservative (far from it! )

Andrew 83

Thirdfox wrote:

*cough* president of Ireland is female! And she got back into power unopposed! ...now what was my point again?

Oh, and most of the class reps are female... we can throw around statistics all day (and night).

Most class reps are unopposed. It's a different electoral procedure to running for sabbatical office most of the time.

xeduCat

I meant unpredicted, sorry ... i.e. that there were many names that weren't mentioned in TN or in general gossip, as opposed to previous years where most candidates were spoken or written about!

little miss

I'm surprised people only picked up on my gender comment, and not the most fundamental of there being a lack of good presidential candidates! oh wel...

And as for dep pres, katie was first ever deputy president, ruth the second and then there was tom. so only two not three as someone said.

Also, thirdfox, surely it strengthens the argument that there should be more female candidates if there are more female class reps?! hmm.... And if you are going to quote me, quote an argument in full. I said explicitly that I'd never vote based on gender, just for the best candidate. lawyers eh?!

Andrew 83

xeduCat wrote:

I meant unpredicted, sorry ... i.e. that there were many names that weren't mentioned in TN or in general gossip, as opposed to previous years where most candidates were spoken or written about!

I was only messing anyway!

Little Miss I said first in 3 years, not that the previous 3 were female.

little miss

my apologies!

NewOxfordReview

"little miss", first of all can I point out that you're talking about sex not gender. No need to dodge the word "sex" because it's also used to refer to boning.

I don't think a non-fifty-fifty balance between the sexes is necessarily a "problem". Men and women are inclined to be interested in different things. Now you might believe that that is cultural conditioning (gender types might come in here) but you can't really blame it on the structures or people in College.

Also, I cannot believe you used "lead" and "USI" in the same sentence.

Ideo

are there any nominees you see as shoe ins for positions? and why is that shane byrne running for so many, the man froze at last years hustings. does he really think he's gonna get a position? and has he got like 4 different manifestoes, has he got any!?

Andrew 83

I don't know what approach Shane is taking but hypothetically he could just push for one position, make all his posters and manifestos out for that position and then have 5 times the posters, 5 times the manifestos, five times the fine limit, and five times the spending limit of his opponents in that chosen category. No idea what he's planning though.

Andrew 83

Andrew 83 wrote:

I don't know what approach Shane is taking but hypothetically he could just push for one position, make all his posters and manifestos out for that position and then have 5 times the posters, 5 times the manifestos, five times the fine limit, and five times the spending limit of his opponents in that chosen category. No idea what he's planning though.

Nope. Election regulations clearly state "candidate" - so he has one deposit, one manifesto, one poster etc...

Andrew 83

Fair enough, in that case he's got a 1/5 of the resources of his opponents in each category!

ilovemybrick

oh no now maybe he wont win.

foxybrowne

Who'll get the Irish language vote this year? It helped John last year.

ApeXaviour

wayfarer wrote:

Is Seamus McGoldrick that guy Shambles from last year? If it is, with so many cantidates running, he might just scrape it if the vote ends up being split like foxy says.

Yes

agent smith wrote:

wasn't he the Whole hog Last year?

and yes.

Like totally maaaan.. surfing maaaan. Ever see the stoner out of dazed and confused? That's shambles

He ran for a laugh last year, but near the end of it decided he really actually wanted to be pres and it got a bit more serious. Too little too late at that stage though. Hence the running this year. Hope he gets it! I'll be voting for him

Crash

little miss wrote:

Still not good enough though is it in a college that's majority female! The Union really does need to get more women involved. Just because there was a female majority a few years ago doesn't make it ok... Presidency seems especially to scare women off which is a shame... Think its true around the country not just TCD though... Well, even USI hasn't had a female president in a decade. Maybe they should lead by example?! hmmm...

Either go burn your bra, or run for a position.


i.e. either put up or shut up :P

Andrew 83

Are any of the candidates left wing?

Crash

Andrew 83 wrote:

Are any of the candidates left wing?

A fair majority of them would be left of centre, but not ultra liberal. have we only got the one right winger this time?

Thirdfox

little miss wrote:

I'm surprised people only picked up on my gender comment, and not the most fundamental of there being a lack of good presidential candidates! oh wel...

And as for dep pres, katie was first ever deputy president, ruth the second and then there was tom. so only two not three as someone said.

Also, thirdfox, surely it strengthens the argument that there should be more female candidates if there are more female class reps?! hmm.... And if you are going to quote me, quote an argument in full. I said explicitly that I'd never vote based on gender, just for the best candidate. lawyers eh?!

This time I am quoting in full... but it just lengthens the post unnecessarily (in my opinion). Generally people don't quote in full, just the key point they want to highlight.

My point was that even though you did state that you wanted to vote for the best candidate you then qualified that statement by saying "Something is stopping this - no harm in thinking about ways to make it more equal" seems almost to be a nod in the way of positive discrimination, or at least trying to get an "equal" spread of candidates (what is equality anyway?). In my post I tried to explain the dangers of trying too hard to get a 50/50 mix in everything.

Maybe it is a social thing? Female class reps because they want to be in touch with the grassroot students, male presidents because (perhaps) they like managerial positions?

Finally most people only commented on your gender remark because we agreed with your other remarks .

Crash

to clarify my slightly abusive post above -....^^what he said.

Edwardius

Andrew 83 wrote:

Are any of the candidates left wing?

NEIN, Schweinhund. I voted for shambles last year because I didn't want to vote for Ed "perennial loser" reilly (who wants a baggy trouser wearing ali-G soundalike to be anywhere near the (highly localised/not very public) public eye). I am willing to sell my vote though because it's worth that little to me, and the first son of a whore that even mentions an off license on campus is getting bile, fire and brimstone (I'll overboil some eggs for the brimstone and drink carpet cleaner to muster up some bile. Fire should be easy after that). I'll also call up one of the four horsemen (bastard owes me a drink so I'm callin up a favour) as I share the same surname as the good man.

Education down to three.

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