DCU Sinn Féin forces referendum on €10k for ‘Money Maze’

SINN FÉIN students in Dublin City University are campaigning to overturn a Student Council decision to donate €10,000 from Student Union funds towards the building of a labyrinth that students have dubbed ‘The Money Maze’.

The labyrinth was proposed by the university's chaplaincy service, the Inter Faith Centre, as “a place of quiet reflection” and is estimated to cost almost €50,000 to complete.

The decision to donate Student Union funds towards the project was taken by the Class Representative Council during their March meeting with 24 reps voting in favour and 14 against the proposal. In response, DCU Sinn Féin launched a petition calling on the donation to be blocked and for the money to be spent on other projects that would be of more direct benefit to students. Under the Students’ Union constitution, a referendum may be called once a petition secures 200 signatures and is submitted to the union. The petition secured more than 230 signatures.

This has resulted in major confusion within the ranks of the Students’ Union, with SU President Ed Leamy claiming that the referendum would be held within the next three semesters. However, according to the SU Constitution, a referendum must be held between two and four weeks from the date of the submission. After this was pointed out to Leamy he refused to confirm whether or not the referendum would take place this semester.

Speaking to the DCU newspaper, The College View, DCU Sinn Féin spokesperson Dave Clougher said that many students were completely unaware of the proposed donation of SU funds until after the decision had been made by the council. He added that the consensus seems to be that students are “dead set against the notion of donating this sum towards the building of a labyrinth”.