The deal has been for a few years that nominations close, candidates are declared and everyone goes off and has an election. People who don’t know what or who they’re voting for are dragged to the polls or cheaply bribed for their vote and democracy carries on just as the greeks intended.
But not on Friday. In one of those cockups you only hear about from Zimbabwe or somewhere like that, Damian Cahill declared the nomination period over as chair of the grandly-styled Electoral and Referenda board. Then he went into the office of the returning officer, aka Union Secretary General Tomas Costello, who told him that nominations would be closed in two minutes. Cue announcement reversal from Damian. The last candidate arrives, going by the pseudonym of David Dolphin, or at least he would be if Dolphin wasn’t his real name. Where do we get these names? Returning officer accepted his form and then declared the nomination period closed. Listing all candidates, he included two for Communications: Aoife Ni Raghaillaigh and Dolphin, cutting it close to the wire but still deemed on time.
Ni Raghaillaigh objected. Saying it was after 5pm, she maintained his form shouldn’t be accepted and that she should be installed as New Overlord of All Things Communication. Costello as returning officer said he had accepted the form and that his word was final. Then the chair of the Electoral and Referenda board decided it wasn’t, that he was really the master of the universe and that the complaint was valid. Result: Dolphin out, Ni Raghaillaigh new Overlord. The fannying about between board chair and returning officer would make an Albanian government proud.
Word is that the objection didn’t originate with Ni Raghaillaigh. She made the objection as the one who had to but the quiet word is that the push to make the objection came from Aoife Breen, our current resident communicator and Damian Cahill, our current resident campaigner. That’s something we find more than a bit ironic with his requirement to stay neutral as a current Sabbat, requirement to stay neutral as chair of the Electoral and Referenda board and with all the campaigns that have been loudly run in term 2. Oh. Campaigns that might have been run in term 2.
But make the objection she did. And defended it in public. Like this on Boards.ie:
I can understand why you would think it was petty but the reason I objected was because I believe that if the rules are bent at the start of the election then they will be bent throughout the election and this is not fair on any candidate. As other posters have said, the nominations opened last Friday so there was plenty of time to get the form in, and everyone knew when nominations closed. I feel terrible for the trouble this has caused, but I still stand by my objection.
While all this is going on, nosey people stick their heads up out of the mire and let it slip that the deadline is 6pm, not 5. Seems the constitution has something to say about it after all. While we think it was the same nosey people, some of them are quite precise about how the deadline is 6pm. Nosey parkers. Did no-one involved in running the election bother to read the rules? Maybe they were too busy writing new ones.
It all blew over on Monday before the Electoral and Referenda board bothered to meet up the objection was withdrawn. Probably because by the looks of things the Electoral and Referenda board would have overruled the objection. Better to withdraw it than have it blow up in the face.
In the background, we learned of people running for other things that were not communications officer. Clubs king Ruan McLoughlin Dillon for president against twice a bridesmaid once a bride for Education Eamon Gardiner. And someone called Mark Conway as the dark horse. Three candidates for Campaigns and Services including two we had never heard of. Four for education. The recession must be kicking in for people as education is the most boring job in the entire student union.
And no-one wanted to take care of the weaker bunnies and run for welfare. We’re not too sure why, after all the pay is the same.
The final list is:
President
- Mark Conway
- Ruán Dillon McLoughlin
- Eamonn Gardiner
DP/Welfare
- No nominations. Nominations will open again on Monday at 9am. Forms can be picked up from the reception.
Education
- David James Collison Ryan
- Aoife Finnerty
- Emma Kerins
- Huw Thomas
Campaigns & Services
- Darragh Bourke
- Fergal Dempsey
- Michelle Lawlor
Communications
- David Dolphin
- Aoife Ni Raghallaigh
If you don't know who some of these people are, that's alright. We don't either. We're sure they'll tell us how great they are though.
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