The first thing to know about László is his unflinching principles. The second thing is that he learnt English from Indiana Jones. The third, and perhaps most important of all, is that he is a Britney Spears fan. 

I had a flowing conversation with László over two pints of Guinness and two small tubes of red Pringles (both for me). I wanted to avoid politics. I wanted to make clear that László, despite being the figure who will steer the direction of our students union for the next year, remains first and foremost a student himself. Someone with interests far outside the classroom, and hobbies aside from ‘tackling the man’.

Back to Indiana Jones, briefly. László grew up in Brussels, but is Hungarian. He speaks English, French, Hungarian and a bit of German. He noted that Hungarian (a bit like Irish) has no roots connected to the romantic languages. His father had an extensive movie collection, and László recalled learning English from Indiana Jones movies – before dissecting that they are, of course, colonial propaganda. 

“They literally stole artefacts from native people to put in the British museum, the only way to make this look good was to make the Nazis their opposition.” This insight, although accurate, slightly burst my over-romanticised view of Harrison Ford’s super-cool character. I followed up with the only appropriate question. 

“Yes, I have played the Lego Indiana Jones games, in fact I have played all the “lego” games, star wars etc.” Massive green flag. 

I moved on to less intellectual interests, novels and poetry. László chose Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken as his favourite poem, and unlike your English teacher in school – interpreted it correctly. “At the end of the poem there’s a nice sense of ambiguity, were the two roads the same all along?” He also recommended The Listeners by Walter de La Mere. I read this poem upon returning from the pub and it struck me that both his choices related to long, undefined journeys. No doubt someone much more intelligent than I could read into this. I chose to follow up by asking him about how much he likes travelling. 

“I went interrailing across Europe with my girlfriend this summer, it was a great holiday – I found the people in Paris surprisingly nice.” As mentioned previously, László speaks French, so perhaps this aided his integration into Parisian life. Or perhaps it is his fashion sense. During the interview, László wore an intricately detailed floral shirt with an estimated four buttons undone. He also mentioned that he met his girlfriend when she liked a meme he had put up of Lenin on his instagram story – truly a modern love story. 

Perhaps his least controversial opinion is that food is one of the best things about travel. “When I go to someplace new, I love trying the new food there.” He admits to not being able to cook particularly well but assured me that he makes a “mean pancake” – learning specifically how to do so “for dating”. Take notes guys; it’s not enough just to be a marxist anymore. Chicken Paprikash is his favourite dish, a traditional Hungarian meal made from chicken (obviously) and a lot of paprika. I promised him I would try it – and fully intend to. 

On the topic of music, I was taken aback by some of László’s opinions – but what did I really expect? Frank sinatra? George Ezra? Two door cinema club? What do you think Laszlso enjoys listening to? 

He revealed that after a long day of ‘tackling the man’; he listens to “epic” music. Describing his love for Hans Zimmer and, more broadly, instrumental anthems. However, he emphasised his music taste is “eclectic”; taking me through his playlist it went from Britney Spears to intense EDM. He singled out Britney Spears, he’s a big Britney guy – as evidenced by his blaring Toxic at the recent blockade of the Book of Kells in light of Trinity’s rent increases.

A shocking detail emerged around halfway through the interview. Upon asking László how he relaxes – he gave a bang average response: “Netflix and a takeaway.” Dear reader, I did not prepare for what came next. Naturally I enquired as to his favourite show: “The Big Bang Theory, or The IT Crowd – I am a big sit-com fan”. Perhaps the world’s most politically motivated big bang theory fan to ever exist, László is paving the way for those who enjoy laugh tracks. Consider the glass ceiling for big bang theory fans everywhere shattered. You can all climb out from your caves now. Yell “Bazinga!” or something. 

László answered all these questions honestly. Towards the start of the interview something struck me. I asked about theatre, and acting. He told me how he wasn’t the biggest fan of musicals, but that he’d been to a few players’ events last year and loved them. I have seen László speak a number of times in front of crowds thousands-strong, so I asked if he was ever interested in acting – surely a brazen, self-assured megaphone wielder would do well centre-stage in a production. He candidly replied that he would get too nervous, I pushed again: “But you can speak in front of large audiences? Why not translate this – try it out?.” After a short exchange it struck me that László can’t pretend. The idea of giving an impassioned speech in front of tens of thousands is fine – it’s him. But even the suggestion of acting in the abstract would make him incredibly nervous. 

I’ll end with this. László is now the President of the TCDSU. He will, like those before him, strive to both represent and fight for your rights – whether you appreciate it or not. He will do things you may disagree with and certainly may approach things in ways you will not like. There is, however, a brazen authenticity with László that should be appreciated. Whatever voice you hear from László this year, be assured that it’s his own.