QMU president ousted by union

The president of Queen Margaret University Students’ Union (QMUSU), Blain Murphy, has been unexpectedly dismissed by that union’s Student Parliament, following a successful vote of no-confidence for “non-fulfilment of responsibilities” last week.

QMUSU’s Student Parliament met on Thursday 17 February to debate the no-confidence motion, which it later passed. Under union by-laws, presidential recall requires a two-thirds vote in the Parliament.

On Monday vice-president Christie McMonagle, who is understood to be leading the union while the presidency lies vacant, attempted to allay concerns about the absence of a student president at QMUSU. She told The Journal: “I am completely confident that that the Students’ Union will continue to continue to function as normal and provide the best service for the students.”

Ms McMonagle would not elaborate on the reasons for Mr Murphy’s sudden departure.

Little is publicly known about the exact circumstances of Mr Murphy’s removal from office. Students who spoke to The Journal reported only unsubstantiated rumours, and Mr Murphy himself could not be reached for comment over the weekend.

A statement from the union emailed to all students and staff by QMUSU general manager Neil Rolland on Friday said only that “following the procedures of the Students’ Union constitution, Student President, Blain Murphy has been removed from office.

“The Student Parliament met this morning and gave a vote of no-confidence for non-fulfilment of responsibilities.”

In an embarrassing gaffe, however, Mr Rolland included with the union’s public statement an earlier email, marked ‘Confidential’, that was sent to a university vice-principal by QMU spokesperson Lynne Russell.

In a message to Professor Alan Gilloran, Ms Russell wrote: “We are aware that a student has already started commenting on his personal Facebook site, so we would wish to get a statement out... as soon as possible. We take it that our lawyer will need to cast her eye over this first.”

The leak has sparked anger among some students, who feel that university and union administrators bungled the announcement of Mr Murphy’s sacking. In a comment on the union’s public Facebook page, one student wrote: “I don’t think the way the email was worded was fair or professional, as there are now rumours going around the uni that are just unnecessary and unfair.”

Students also called for an apology from the union and university, amid claims that administrators have not been forthcoming about the reasons for the president’s dismissal.

QMUSU are due to hold student elections on 14-15 March. According to Schedule 6 of the union’s constitution, an election must now be held for a new sabbatical officer to serve out Mr Murphy’s term. However, the winner of this by-election will serve for little more than two months before the president for the academic year 2011/12 takes office on 10 June.

Recent elections have been plagued by low turnout: last year’s contest saw only 16 per cent of QMU’s 4,500 students voting. Mr Murphy and Ms McMonagle won comfortably, however, with a majority of over 200 votes.

The Journal is currently seeking clarification from QMUSU officials regarding the timing of the constitutionally-mandated by-election.