Report: Last Student Council

The final student council of the year was held on Wednesday, the 15th of March, usually the longest council of the year as in addition to the normal business, a new council team had to be elected along with the USI hustings and subsequent USI elections. Five motions were up for discussion and debate, following a statement from SU president Eolann Sheehan regarding the elections and following the elections of the Council team.The first motion related to current Pharmacy students not receiving payment for placement when previous years have received paid placement. The motion mandated the current and incoming SU exec to continue the work already being done to resolve this issue. The motion was passed without much debate. The second motion was regarding the recording of class councils. The recording of Student Council had initially been tried this year by the SU, but there were problems and complications, as some students were uncomfortable with the idea of being recorded. The motion wanted to mandate the SU to record and stream all class councils, but was suspended following a procedural motion, with the issue being examined again by the SU. The third motion was in relation to the publication of officer reports and manifesto updates by the sabbatical officers. The motion was amended multiple times on various points before being voted on, and was passed. The fourth motion of the night regarded the deposits paid for running for SU election, and that they should be on a sliding scale similar to that of the signatures needed to get on the ballot. In particular, the €40 deposit for part time positions was singled out for being too expensive. After some discussion and clarification on the issue, the motion was passed. The final motion of the night was in relation to the organisation of events by the entertainments officer and class entertainments reps, in particular the organisation of non-alcoholic events for students. This motion was also passed. The motions in full can be found on the UCC Students’ Union facebook page, and running commentary of the Council can be found on @UCCExpress on Twitter.For updates on the Council Team elections, and the voting on USI Congress mandates, read this article by Robert O'Sullivan now.