SOCIALSIT YOUTH member and jailed anti bin tax protester, David Murphy, was elected on to UCD’s Academic Council on Wednesday. He received 478 votes (38%) and was elected on the first count. 77% of votes and 2 of the 3 seats in the constituency went to anti bin tax candidates. The details are below.

David was sent to Mountjoy prison for 3 weeks and fined €1,500 for participating in anti bin tax protests in his own community. David and the other Anti Bin Tax candidates stood for these elections in order to bring attention to David’s case and the repression that the state has dealt the anti bin tax campaign.

David made history, as he was the first person in the history of UCD to get a seat on Academic Council while in prison. He is also the first member of Academic Council to be in prison since Professor Eoin MacNeill MP, who was imprisoned during the War of Independence.

The election result was an endorsement of the position taken by the SU Council and the SU Executive. Both these bodies backed David, condemned the jailings and set up a ‘Free David Murphy’ Campaign. David is an elected Class Rep for 2nd Year Arts. The Jailing of David was an attack on the student movement. The same laws that were used to jail the bin tax protesters can be used to intimidate the student movement when we take action against fees and cutbacks.

Despite the SU Council unanimously calling for USI to take action, the USI leadership have repeatedly refused to do so instead they hid behind bureaucracy. This further highlights the need for USI to be transformed into a fighting organisation that will act in the interests of its members instead of its’ ‘social partners’.

A fundraising social took place in the UCD Student Bar last night to raise funds for David’s fines and legal fees. All overheads were paid by the Student Union. Four bands played, including The Eccentrics, who sang The Bin Tax Ballad. In total a little over €430 was raised.

UCD ACADEMIC COUNCIL - ARTS, PHILOSOPHY & SOCIOLOGY AND CELTIC STUDIES UNDERGRADUATE CONSTITUENCY

Total Valid Poll - 1236
Seats - 3
Quota - 309

1st Count
David Murphy (Anti Bin Tax) 478 38.67% Elected
Olivia O'Neill (Anti Bin Tax) 318 25.73% Elected
Richard Waghorne (Ind) 284 22.98%
Paul Ennis (Anti Bin Tax) 156 12.62%

2nd Count (Transfer of David Murphy's Surplus)
Richard Waghorne (Ind) (+50) 337 Elected
Paul Ennis (Anti Bin Tax) (+114) 270