No autonomy for UCD women

UCD's student council has voted to withdraw its support for USI's women's autonomy policy. At the last student council meeting of the year, held last week councillors voted by a 2:1 margin that the policy was discriminatory and that the union could no longer support women only events.

An attempt to make the meeting inquorate by encouraging supporters of autonomy to leave proved unsuccessful.

The motion in favour of withdrawing support was tabled by two student councillors, incoming UCD education officer Cormac Moore and Henry Conlon, but the main movers behind the motion were outgoing education officer Garrett Tubridy and USI's incoming education officer Malcolm Byrne, who is currently UCD's union development officer.

Earlier this year, Tubridy and Byrne made an unsuccessful submission to the union's Independent Appeals Board seeking to have the union's support for USI's women's autonomy policy declared unconstitutional.

"I am glad that class reps have decided that it is discriminatory," said Tubridy. Referring to the earlier appeal to the Independent Appeals Board, Tubridy said it had "voiced the concerns, not only of a lot of class reps, but a lot of students." He described women's autonomy as a long standing "bone of contention" for many students.

"It's sad to see students union representatives dealing with a serious issue in such a farcical way", said USI welfare officer and incoming deputy president Noeleen Hartigan. "Unfortunately, yet again, an unrepresentative group of people have forced through a policy decision on an issue which both students and the IAB have already upheld."

Hartigan and incoming USI welfare officer Helen Ryan, another supporter of autonomy, were at the council meeting. By contrast, Malcolm Byrne and incoming USI president Colman Byrne, who is currently president of DIT students union, have both been vocal in their criticisms of women's autonomy, leaving the incoming USI executive effectively split on the autonomy issue.

The council decision is now likely to be appealed to the Independent Appeals Board amid claims that it was inquorate and the autonomy motion was not a valid emergency motion.

. Meanwhile, the referendum on the possible impeachment of UCD students' union president Loughlin Deegan, scheduled to go ahead today, was cancelled by the chief returning officer for student elections, Professor Tom Brasil, late last week.

The referendum, called over largely unspecified allegations of "conduct unbecoming" by the president, was withdrawn on the grounds that the wording of the referendum included a finding of guilt which was considered inappropriate for a referendum and implied a quasi judicial function.

Deegan had earlier described the attempt to hold a referendum as "a waste of time and money".