Gown Issue due out...finally!
The Gown is aware there has been a lull in reporting on the blogspot lately. We apologise to all of the contributers who have not been able to comment, whether it be postively or negatively on issues which arise. The lack of activity on the site has not been as a result of laziness or even due to the impending exams or ever-nearing coursework deadlines though.
We have been wary of typing the following words for some time for fear they may inflict a further jinx on what has seemed a cursed year for the paper...but the time has finally come.
The Gown will release a hardcopy issue on Thursday 3rd May, denying some the pleasure of seeing a full academic year pass by without a publication. It has taken nine months to sort out an issue which, if people had been willing to take responsibility initially, could have been resolved long ago.
Despite the setbacks our perseverance has paid off and we hope to have played some small part in the continued success of The Gown for many years to come. Look out for the issue which will be available free of charge at various locations around the University and Union.
We have been wary of typing the following words for some time for fear they may inflict a further jinx on what has seemed a cursed year for the paper...but the time has finally come.
The Gown will release a hardcopy issue on Thursday 3rd May, denying some the pleasure of seeing a full academic year pass by without a publication. It has taken nine months to sort out an issue which, if people had been willing to take responsibility initially, could have been resolved long ago.
Despite the setbacks our perseverance has paid off and we hope to have played some small part in the continued success of The Gown for many years to come. Look out for the issue which will be available free of charge at various locations around the University and Union.
posted by Gown Team at
9:30 pm
33 Comments:
An interesting election poster from David Mc Keown for postgraduate officer.
Seems remarkably similar to the one which he used when running for VP Education.
And seeing as he got an almighty rejection then, it would look like Mr McKeown is in for yet another unsuccessful election.
On a more positive note it is good to see that there is a postgraduate student running for the post and I am sure Andrew Charles will do very well.
How about an election post from the gown?
Ah at least my poster for education is remembered and I wouldnt call over 500 first preference votes an almighty rejection given how close that election was.
As far as unsuccessful elections go, yeah I am well used to them at this stage but if over 500 people share my views and want to vote for me then I will give them that option, even if it is not a large enough number to win.
In relation to it being good to see a postgraduate running, I completely agree, however if I were to be elected I would be doing the job as a postgraduate student at Queens, so either way we will have a postgradute in the job next year.
One final thing to note about my new posters, in response to criticism I received in March the picture on my poster is now wider however I can confirm that yes my face is still wider in real life than it is on a a4 page
I do Wonder who that 'MA Student' could be???
David McKeown who polled 510 votes (23.1%); Student Council Speaker and 'Better Union' candidate, Graham Barton, got 386 (17.5%) (source QUEENS RADIO) (who got almightly rejected here then?)
And the other BETTER UNION candidates:
Clubs and services-Steffan Rafferty, 948 (43.4%) 300 votes ahead of his nearest rival, the 'Better Union' candidate David Cather, who polled 654
Welfare: Ciarnan Helferty 995 (46.3%) -Emma Reilly, who ran in co-operation with the 'Better Union' campaign, was over 330 votes behind him on 660 (30.7%)
...so to be honest the 'almighty rejection' was of the 'Better union' campaign not of anyone else
Just thought i should mention that... a wee bit of perspective never hurts anyone.
Ciarnan,
I am not part off or associated with the campaign for a better union.
Also, I am not Andrew Charles if that is what you are suggesting. From reading his manifesto I believe he is a PhD student.
Why is this tripe on this post?
Tis a pity, them being the only cross-community group, and one with actual achievable policies.
That is a fair point anon made. The Campaign For A Better Union IS the only cross community group trying to improve things for all students and yet they're being victimised and critised?? Where's the logic in that????
i would bet money that the last four posts are by the same person... i will let the informed readers guess who... not mentioning any dua's, i mean names
How many protestants are running as part of the "mc cook, mc larnon, mc keown, saar and magrian" group?
I have no idea what the religion of any of those candidates (myself excluded) and nor do I care. This is not and should not be an election about anyone's religion.
Ciarnan why don't you go and revolutionise something and stop your slabbering for once!!!!
Ciarnan that's one mighty big chip on your shoulder!!!
ciarnan,
How many protestants ran as part of your sabbatical election campaign?
50/50 representation and all that....
... Ammm... I'm not sure how many protestants ran, nor do i care (you see we don't vet people- or have to) Unlike some other campaigns, it was unnecessary for us consider religion as a dimension... We just ran on the basis of our policies - you should try it some time (you might then actually win)
Perhaps when people like yourself finally move away from what religion a person is to how a person performs, or how they represent students or how they do their job, then perhaps, just perhaps progress is being made
As regards 50/50 representation (I'm guessing that is a reference to the PSNI)the difference there is that our small collection of students weren't dammed by two independent reports as institutionally sectarian, involved in collusion, murder and the like... so i don't think 50-50 is required of us. But i suppose, if random blogger suggests it, i mean, we will take it
right up- top of the agenda (after all the other stuff that people actually care about)
(just on that point, how did the other campaigns do- i suppose that would be good to consider as terms of reference... how many better union people won their post???)
Strange how 'Peter' 'Aine' and 'anon' have the same I.P. Address.... don't you think????
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
helferty has a policy on the PSNI now?
How's that related to students politics?
As far as i understand theres no policing officer
'Speaking from the back benches' Offensive comments of that sort are not welcome on this site - no wonder you didn't reveal your identity.
"The Campaign For A Better Union IS the only cross community group"
Indeed.
Sean-
Yeah that last comment i made really does indicate that i have a policy on the PSNI... that's so clear (it wasn't as if i was responding to a comment about 50/50 representation of anything.. but no, you just read it whatever way you can)
And as regards ""The Campaign For A Better Union IS the only cross community group"- a quick glance at the policies would quickly discredit this... Never mind that, just have a quick glance at the candidates.
Ciarnan (or anybody else) - how can you find out people's IP addresses by looking at a blog? Used to run one myself and am interested ....
It is so unfortunate that the majority of the elections revolve around religion and who they represent, its a pity as it means the best person for the job isnt bein elected but the person with correct religious stance
Its certainly most disappointing that Mr Helferty wishes to bring 'politics' and 'religion' into Union politics - something that has dogged Student politics for generations.
His comments clearly indictate his affiliations and view point.
I think his view is sad and outdated.
I thought he ran as an independent for Education?
The sooner that people such as him move away from such sectarianism the sooner more students will vote.
Observer 'Its certainly most disappointing that Mr Helferty wishes to bring 'politics' and 'religion' into Union politics'
... Now i know that it may be difficult for you to read the entire discussion, but you really should try for you would then have seen that i was simply responding to the post:
"Anonymous said...
ciarnan,
How many protestants ran as part of your sabbatical election campaign?
50/50 representation and all that...."
(to which i replied ; "Perhaps when people like yourself finally move away from what religion a person is to how a person performs, or how they represent students or how they do their job, then perhaps, just perhaps progress is being made")
"His comments clearly indicate his affiliations and view point"
-what comments would these be and what view points are you referring to. (Unlike others you see i actually mean to say something when i post... i though that was the actual point... but what do i know)
"I think his view is sad and outdated."
What view point is this??? Was it when i said 'Unlike some other campaigns, it was unnecessary for us consider religion as a dimension... We just ran on the basis of our policies'- because i know just how outdated that sounds... i mean, not caring what religion someone is...how silly am i?
'I thought he ran as an independent for Education?'
-Unfortunately there, you thought wrong... I actually ran for Welfare. (I ran with 3 others none of whom were or are aligned to any party... we ran on the basis of our manifesto and policies... not religion, despite some tripe reactionary attempts to suggest otherwise)
"The sooner that people such as him move away from such sectarianism the sooner more students will vote"
- Just in case you didn't realise but in the last election we managed to double turnout... so to be honest the facts alone disprove you spurious aspersions... Most of the candidates form all the groups ran a good clean campaign which was reflected in the great atmosphere and voter turnout and the last thing we need is vultures like yourself making sly unfounded comments about issues with which you have a 'limited' understanding.
Do us all a favour and try and substantiate what you say the next time you post... it will make what you say seem less foolish.
'Gown Team' Tsk tsk clearly another case of political correctness gone mad. Can I have the Hood's job next year?
It's funny how, when asked a simple question, Ciarnan manages to go completely off topic to such things as collusion and murder. LMAO
Clearly he has a problem giving a straight answer. How about this for an answer Ciarnan? "I ran as part of a campaign that was made up solely of Roman Catholics and nationalists". Is that too hard to admit?
Off course religion or political opinion should never come into student elections. However, it is ciarnan and his ‘lets change the world’ ilk who continually lambasted the 'campaign for a better union' as being some how politically biased, even though it is the only cross-religious, cross-political campaign.
How hypocritical of you ciarnan. SHAME, SHAME, SHAME.
The "Better Union" campaign has been very successful, having had members in 8 executive posts, and I believe successfully dragging the Union away from narrow sectarian politics. We've moved from an executive almost entirely Irish Republican, to one *slightly* more balanced. It has not been as successful in the Sabb elections, but this is to be expected when your fighting against the most lucrative posts in an established order, but I've no doubt we will have a "Better Union" in the next few years, and the bigoted past shall be set aside. Unfortunate that it wasn't this year!
OH dear Oh Dear, usually I would refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed person, but for yourself...
...Student voter said:
“Clearly he has a problem giving a straight answer. How about this for an answer Ciarnán? "I ran as part of a campaign that was made up solely of Roman Catholics and nationalists". Is that too hard to admit?”
(Just like other posts above, it is others and not myself who has introduced and reintroduced the religious dimension into this blog)
There would only be one problem with what you have just claimed: in our campaign one of the group was an atheist and once was an alliance supporter. We didn't know this, or care about this when we decided to run: We ran on the basis of policies and manifesto... not on religion, or politics or tripe reactionary agenda's.
You claim that because of the religious make up of our group that we couldn't possibly be 'cross community'... can I ask you one thing??? Have a look at the polices we ran on (you see that’s what we actually care about) and point me to one... just one, which you think is weighted towards one community... Would it be Our Commitment to recycling? Or maybe our student safety agenda? No no no... You must have been talking about our value for money commitment...because everyone knows that only one section wants that. (GET BACK TO ME ON THIS)
I thought the price of an education was expensive at Queen’s, but the reading some of the pats few posts… I see the cost of ignorance.
So...the “campaign that was made up solely of Roman Catholics and nationalists. Is that too hard to admit?”
Yes, it is, because it’s false. (You really should research these things before you go making a fool of yourself... but then again, your not really interested in a proper debate or discussion, are you? Just trying to score some cheap political point…)
What on earth is Alex Hobson doing getting nominated by Ciarnan Helferty??
Is she not supposed to be a CU type/group hugs-fair trade type candidate/???
Why is she associating with this communist?
Just lost my vote.
Come on Ulla Saar!
Ciarnan Helferty said: "Most of the candidates form all the groups ran a good clean campaign which was reflected in the great atmosphere and voter turnout"
Clean? Does this include your running mates who were caught tearing down my posters? Or your running mate who described myself and Graham Barton as "Tribal politics R us" ???
David...
'Tribal politics are us?'
... I suppose its best to let the people who know you (or of you) decide that...
I'm sure that their rational judgement will prevail.
"Clean? Does this include your running mates who were caught tearing down my posters?"
-That was an act of mercy, an exercise in humanity...
Only Kidding- Yeah I know, they were very wrong and very foolish to do such a thing; you won't catch me defending that type or behaviour. ( However it’s no where near as bad as assaulting a union presidential candidate... wouldn't you agree?)
Can I ask you one thing though? Do you think that the posters they took down (all 3 or 4 of them)... do you think that this lost you the election? Or maybe it was because people just didn't want you as Clubs and Services VP?
glfnsuf( However it’s no where near as bad as assaulting a union presidential candidate... wouldn't you agree?)
I'm sure Ciaren you want it made clear that you were not directing this comment at myself.
David...
'Tribal politics are us?'
... I suppose its best to let the people who know you (or of you) decide that...
I'm sure that their rational judgement will prevail.
I actually think most people who "know me" would agree that "tribal politics are us" is an unfair statement to make of me. You of course are entitled to your own opinion.
I don't think the issue at stake is whether or not the poster vandalism affected the result. Given that it probably didn't and that the people who did it were not actually running against me it only makes their act all the more petty.
Well thats the elections over once more and I would just like to thank all those who took part. It was once again a fun election to be part of. Congratulations to all those who were successfull, the hard work starts now.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home