Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley

As members of Enoch Burke’s family were abroad making a holy show of themselves in America last week, his younger brother Elijah was flat out here, canvassing in the election to become president of the Students’ Union at the University of Galway.

While mother Martina Burke and siblings Ammi and Isaac, attempted to gatecrash the Saint Patrick’s Day Ireland Funds dinner in Washington – to highlight the case of Enoch, who refuses to obey court orders to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School in Mullingar – Elijah was learning his fate among the university’s student electorate.

Neither of the Burkes, here or Stateside, achieved their goals, but Elijah had more success in the SU election than the trio in the US eviction.

The touring Burkes were swiftly escorted to the door of the National Building Museum by burly American security, after they interrupted the fundraising event being attended by Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Elijah, meanwhile, finished second in a three-horse race to become SU President of the University of Galway.

With a campaign slogan, ‘Back Burke for Better’, and championing the family’s cause célèbre – opposition to transgenderism – the final-year Arts student polled reasonably well, ahead of Sonny McGreevy but well short of eventual winner, Maisie Hall.

The result was as follows: Burke won 617 first preference votes (13%); Hall took a whopping 3,464 or 75% of all votes cast, exceeding the quota on the first count; and McGreevy won 543 votes (12%).

Aside from Hall, democracy and student politics were the big winners.

SU elections at the University of Galway have become minority, niche events in recent years, attracting little interest from the 20,000 strong electorate.

But Elijah Burke, from a controversial and high-profile family, clearly sparked an interest among Galway’s student voters who turned out in far greater numbers in this election than in recent years.

Even if they came out to vote to keep Burke out, the presence of the final-year economics and law student on the ballot paper helped boost turnout.

The turnout in last Thursday’s SU President election was just over 22%, with 4,460 students casting their vote. That was more than double the 2,174 students who cast a vote for the SU president in 2024, when turnout was less than 11%; and more than treble the 7% turnout of 2022.

Burke got the vote out – but just not for himself!

Pictured:  Burke, a member of a high-profile, controversial family, failed to be elected president of the University of Galway Students’ Union last week. But he sparked interest in the election among the voters.