By Editor in Chief Jack Brady.
When VP for Academic Life, Seán Greene stepped up to present his officer’s report at last week’s Class Representative Council (CRC) meeting, no one in the room expected what happened next.
As VP for Community and Citizenship, Emily Cathcart virtually struck out at Greene in front of a room full of class representatives, it begged the question: what’s going on with Cathcart and Greene?
The Bulletin has been in correspondence with both VPs on a now public feud that sees complete disagreement over the running of the Students’ Union since July of last year.
The VP for Community and Citizenship claims that her fellow VP Seán Greene has been “unreliable” helping out his fellow sabbatical officers on their organised events. The VP also claims that Greene “disappeared” without explanation during a busy Christmas week event for a photoshoot for DCU.
The VP for Academic Life responded, stating that his focus should be set on academic matters, helping his fellow officers when he can, and “this is the case”. As for his alleged disappearance, Greene claims that he stepped away for less than twenty minutes to record a short clip for a student recruitment video. He did this at the request of another student at the “last-minute”, after reassuring the other member of the sabbatical team.
Cathcart next took issue with the claim that Greene had “repeatedly” promised to promote CRC l on social media, something that was not achieved “despite repeated pleas by his colleagues”.
“I will acknowledge that I could have been doing more, specifically on social media, this year to promote CRC,” Greene admitted. He adds that any claims about a lack of engagement can be easily dismissed by the work listed under Class Reps and Union Democracy in the VP’s officer reports, alongside his work on the constitutional review of the Student Union.
In regards to exam supports, both sabbatical officers disagree over a Musgraves order that Greene “at no point” claimed to make in his officer report. Cathcart finally took issue with the VP for Academic Life’s mention of a meeting with Minister for Further and Higher Education, James Lawless in a recent interview with The Bulletin, noting that Greene was not in attendance.
In response to the matter, the presidential candidate reaffirmed that his comments were made “in defence of alleged failings of this year’s union, and claims that members of the Sabbatical team had not delivered on promises we had made when campaigning for election”.
“I was defending the work of the sabbatical team as a whole, including the VP for Community and Citizenship, and would never have made the claim that I was personally present for these meetings,” Greene added.
Cathcart reflected on the issues raised, stating that her comments “should not come as a surprise to Seán as they certainly have not come as a shock to any other sabbatical officers”.
“I would like to highlight as a matter of utmost importance that none of my concerns are new, these are issues that have been ongoing, recurrent, and worsening since we took office in July,” she explained.
The public strife between the officers comes to light amid an election period in which Seán Greene vies for the office of SU President.
Image Credits: DCU SU