Mary Roche - 'Foul play, something rotten is going on' at WIT

Trotter

Mary Roche on the front of the Munster Express showing up how we're getting screwed by Bertie's gang on the University. At last we get the truth of this University mess! I dont see FF signing off on this at all. Theres unseen interests blocking the application.

Independent general election candidate, Councillor Mary Roche, claimed this week that 'foul play and something rotten' was going on in relation to WIT's bid for university status.


"by John O'Connor

Independent general election candidate, Councillor Mary Roche, claimed this week that 'foul play and something rotten' was going on in relation to WIT's bid for university status.

A member of the Board of Governors at the college, Councillor Roche said she believed the British expert appointed to evaluate Waterford's case was being 'gagged' because he was being prevented from submitting his report that was favourable to WIT's case.

It is my information that Dr. Jim Port has been told 'not to report' on the WIT application until after the general election. If this is the case, it smacks of interference in the process and calls into question the bona fides of the entire application process and the Government's position on it , said Councillor Roche.

She said she wanted to know who was dictating to Dr. Port and for what reason. It could well be academic forces who do not want to see a university in Waterford at any cost but it could also be political interference that would allow government candidates to speak favourably about a university in Waterford before the election and then shelving the plans afterwards , she continued.

I am extremely worried that the university application, which was submitted in February of 2006, will never see an Independent Panel of Experts set up to examine it, as is prescribed in Section 9 of the Universities Act 1997. We all know that asking Dr Port to report was not part of the process at all and was merely an extra hurdle placed in Waterford's way. But now, when it looks likely that Dr. Port's report will be favourable, he is being prevented, or at the very least, delayed in submitting that report until after the General Election. If I am correct, and I have every reason to be confident of my sources, this is interference and is something we should not stand for.

Councillor Roche said the matter was too important for the development of Waterford city and county, and the wider South East region, to allow it to become a mere election promise that was kicked around in a positive way prior to the Election but never to see the light of day afterwards.

If An Taoiseach and the Tanaiste, and everyone else in Fianna Fail, are so supportive of this application, as we are being told, then why do they not simply trigger Section 9 of the '97 Act and set up a panel to move the application forward. They are still in government but, as usual, we in Waterford are being fed a whole lot of false promises , declared Councillor Roche.

As far as I am concerned, we are just being fobbed off and someone is not playing straight with us on this vital issue. Fianna Fail is still in Government and can initiate this process right now. Why won't they? And who is preventing Dr. Jim Port from reporting? We need answers to these questions. We need movement, not just words and we need it now , she said.

Calling on the Government to establish an Independent Panel without delay and before the election, Councillor Roche said if they were genuinely serious about upgrading WIT to University Status, then they should do so immediately."

merlante

Fair deuce to her, but we all know that it is being delayed because there's an election in the offing and talk of it may do FF more harm than good. To be honest, it might not do our case any good to have it become a political football before the election.

I can just imagine sentences such, "the government are always funding white elephants: e-voting, the M9, and now a brand new university in the Transport minister's constituency," etc. Still, I'm glad there is some independent noise being made about it!