Waterford University discussion

i believe construction is already starting on that big shared services building in carlow.

it is huge - prob bigger then WIT library.

imacman wrote: »

And yet not a word about the new engineering / general teaching building in WIT even going to tender . It was meant to happen in the the 1st quarter 2021 , we are nearly into quarter 3 and there hasn't been a peep about it.

I have searched e-tenders and its not up there and even if it went to tender today it would still be 9 months to a year till construction would start.So with an estimated 2- 3 year build we are looking at 2025 completion that's best case scenario

They'll be no tender till TUSE application is approved and it will be sold as how great the TUSE is, and here we are backing it and commiting the funded needed for it to be a success.

The showman ship and political photos will be off the wall.

azimuth17 wrote: »

Massive ads in Irish Times today for jobs and staff in Carlow. Waterford is being shat on by the system aided and abetted by our reps in SInn Fein, Green Party, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. Words could not describe what is happening. WIT and Waterford are being eviscerated. And nota peep from anyone. David Cullinane, Waterford's hope for the future? Really? 80 years and more of aspirations gone up in smoke.

Anyone actually surprised by all this ? We are plagued by party centric politicians who dont give a toss about Waterford city, only the party and route back to re-election or some Mickey mouse jnr jnr minister.
The lost of a dedicated university for the city will be felt for generations!
whats the next protest vote ? just not bother, I'm at a loss & the light at the end of the tunnel is a train !

imacman wrote: »

David Cullinane will have no problem getting elected in the next election and may even bring home a running mate so there is no need for him to push back on the TU. Sinn Fein have a low base in Carlow/Kilkenny and Wexford that they want to grow and the TU idea is plays well in both constituencies so supporting it makes political sense for them.

That's the politics of the situation and David Cullinane is in such a strong position he doesn't have to fight for Waterford on issues like the TU as it wont effect his reelection.

I don't know there is barely a mention of TU in Kilkenny. The locals don't utter a word of it and there is very little political talk of it.

Maybe when TU is established SF might promise a campus in KK, that is the only way it would help them. Your right about DC though he'll skate in next election so he doesn't need to push back.

Which in my book makes SF no better then the rest and if they do promise a campus in KK then they might even be worse then the worst and I didn't think that was possible.

spaceCreated wrote: »

Its so weird that we're getting no investment in to our "campus" and the tds are just happy to see Waterford fkd over. Where do they think jobs are going to come from? Where do they think the jobs have come from in the last decade? Theres not many companies willing to locate a manufacturing base in Ireland nevermind Waterford or the South East. I've never seen such a laissez fair attitude, like we literally have nothing down here without the college...

Edit: maybe its a reflection of what our RDs occupation was before being TDs, did any of them have to actually get a job in the real world? Out of probably 20-30 people I know who got 500+ points plus in the leaving cert I think one of them came back to the region, shes a teacher... thats it, place is going down a drain and the idiots leading us there are telling us were being fools and cant see the bigger picture.

Unfortunately this ship has sailed there will never be a stand alone university in Waterford.
I personally would have preferred WIT to stand alone and leave CW,WX & KK off to see what they come up with.
Waterford is like a colony to be mined with anything of value to be removed and shared out ! Remember big Phil !
Not much left now, just remember all this when they come knocking for votes !

imacman wrote: »

The ITcarlow Wexford campus isnt financially viable and hasn't been for years . They have avoided investing there for the last 5 years in the face of a lot of political pressure .

 

If you look at CAO points most of the Wexford campus courses are AQA or really low points ( AQA means any qualified application were the student gets in if they hit the min requirements , point don't matter). A college only does that are really desperate for numbers .

 

That's why investing any money never mind 50 million in Wexford is a terrible idea when the demand to study in Wexford is not there. Also no Wexford  politician seems to understand that students may want to leave Wexford and go to Dublin and elsewhere for life experience and to get out of their hometown.


Wexford but its a small county town with no much in it , if I was 18 I would want to get out of there and go to college somewhere bigger with more going on . Building a campus for a few home birds who don't want to leave Wexford town is folly .

The new TU shouldn't indulge the delusions of grandeur of local Wexford politicians

 

A bit of reality needed, Wexford is the biggest population base in the South East. It outstrips Waterford’s population by about 40 thousand people according to the last census. So why shouldn’t the biggest population base have a campus in TUSE? Wexford town serves 80 thousand people even though within the town boundaries on last count it has merely 20k, probably greater now since 2016. Kilkenny has about 23k within its boundary and probably serves close to the same as Wexford. Waterford has about 50k within its boundary and probably serves about 80k. So basically, the three towns are all the same and one cannot really live without the other. The people of Dungarvan spill into Cork for shopping etc rather than Waterford.

Waterford is a small town. It isn't a city. I would say the same for Derry and Galway. The only decent cities in Ireland are Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Belfast and even at that they are all small.

The population of Wexford and Kilkenny have been propping up Waterford's 'density' for decades now so I feel Waterford should be very grateful for whatever it has going for it at the moment (which isn't much).



You all seem so worried about the South East, as is continually mentioned, but I think behind it all, what is really meant is that Waterford would like a University for itself so it can forge forward with investment and leave everyone else behind. If you got that status, I don’t think the South East would be a concern and it'd be all about Waterford. At least tell the truth.

We seen how the North Quays have gone and I'm not surprised. When I started to live in Dublin and the South East came up in conversation, one of the first things mentioned was that Waterford has a reputation for losing jobs. This is what was said within the first 3 minutes of conversation. That’s the view of people outside of the Waterford Bubble. Looks like that’s still the case, even with Government funding secured. Who's to blame now?

Basically, you're all trying to satisfy your insecurities and live in the hope that Waterford is a real city, when the rest of Ireland know you're just a town with a small population and that's why you’re not getting the level of investment needed for a proper city. I used to like Waterford but the place is planned very badly the past few decades, has no shops of note that would attract anyone into it and basically, the place is not very inviting for visitors. Whats stopping the shop/home owners and residents in the centre of having a bit of pride and giving their premises a lick of paint?

Kilkenny has a brilliant shopping experience as does Wexford and both have better shops than Waterford and decent amenities close by the centre i.e. Kilkenny Castle, Wexford Quays.

Wexford has the National Opera house and has international acts throughout the year. Rosslare Europort connects direct to Europe with 38 sailings a week and another 30 to the UK. It’s also a port of national importance and is due for major expansion and also marked for Ireland’s Free Port which will bring Thousands of new jobs. What does Waterford Airport do? Trinity Wharf will also bring over a thousand jobs to Wexford town. The Quays in Wexford are class with events hosted all year round, whereas Waterford’s Quays are an Ugly Car Park overshadowed by a graffitied dilapidated building on a hill.

There is major money being pumped into Wexford with the Neville Group who are opening a new Hotel and Concert venue, The promoter of Spiegeltent is also in planning for a new concert venue and Harry Crosbie who is opening Vicar Street South in Gorey and is responsible for the Dublin Docklands, 3 Arena and the Boird Gais Energy Theatre is investing in Wexford Town. All people who have proven track records and put their money where their mouth is. South Main is being redeveloped and there are lots of other exciting plans shovel ready for Urban regeneration within Wexford Town, Trinity wharf being the stand out but there are more plans for the quays, Art Centre, adventure centre just outside town, new skatepark with MUGA, Johnstown castle etc.

Kk are doing their new quarter and it's an inviting town to walk around and looks and is great! New skatepark and already has a two good shopping centres which compliment its town alongside the Castle which is central.


You can get to Dublin from KK or Wex now in one hour 15 mins. You can get to Dundrum town centre in an hour, no hassle with proper Universities and shopping and amenities/services in abundance.


Waterford should concentrate on their 'haves' and not so much on their 'have nots'. Always looking to what someone else is getting. Maybe enjoy your town for what it is and make the best of it, like Wexford and Kilkenny are doing, rather than always cribbing about what someone else got and what you didnt get and being forever negative? Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny will be small towns but there is nothing wrong with being a great small town. That has lots of advantages in itself, rather than pretending to be the 'big city' which Waterford will never be. Neither three of them will ever be big cities, let's get real and Waterford isn't somewhere where an 18 year old student dreams of and attains "life experience". What was it about delusions of grandeur again? You may need to look in the mirror I think.

For now, the TUSE will be great for the region as a whole and not just Waterford. Who knows further down the line what will happen. Waterford could eventually go it alone at some stage. It isn't beyond the realms of comprehension that future governments have a rethink and break everything up again, giving Waterford University Status as a single entity. For now itd be better to concentrate on the positives(if possible) for ALL the South East.

SeanDoyle2021 wrote: »

 

A bit of reality needed, Wexford is the biggest population base in the South East. It outstrips Waterford’s population by about 40 thousand people according to the last census. So why shouldn’t the biggest population base have a campus in TUSE? Wexford town serves 80 thousand people even though within the town boundaries on last count it has merely 20k, probably greater now since 2016. Kilkenny has about 23k within its boundary and probably serves close to the same as Wexford. Waterford has about 50k within its boundary and probably serves about 80k. So basically, the three towns are all the same and one cannot really live without the other. The people of Dungarvan spill into Cork for shopping etc rather than Waterford.

Waterford is a small town. It isn't a city. I would say the same for Derry and Galway. The only decent cities in Ireland are Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Belfast and even at that they are all small.

The population of Wexford and Kilkenny have been propping up Waterford's 'density' for decades now so I feel Waterford should be very grateful for whatever it has going for it at the moment (which isn't much).



You all seem so worried about the South East, as is continually mentioned, but I think behind it all, what is really meant is that Waterford would like a University for itself so it can forge forward with investment and leave everyone else behind. If you got that status, I don’t think the South East would be a concern and it'd be all about Waterford. At least tell the truth.

We seen how the North Quays have gone and I'm not surprised. When I started to live in Dublin and the South East came up in conversation, one of the first things mentioned was that Waterford has a reputation for losing jobs. This is what was said within the first 3 minutes of conversation. That’s the view of people outside of the Waterford Bubble. Looks like that’s still the case, even with Government funding secured. Who's to blame now?

Basically, you're all trying to satisfy your insecurities and live in the hope that Waterford is a real city, when the rest of Ireland know you're just a town with a small population and that's why you’re not getting the level of investment needed for a proper city. I used to like Waterford but the place is planned very badly the past few decades, has no shops of note that would attract anyone into it and basically, the place is not very inviting for visitors. Whats stopping the shop/home owners and residents in the centre of having a bit of pride and giving their premises a lick of paint?

Kilkenny has a brilliant shopping experience as does Wexford and both have better shops than Waterford and decent amenities close by the centre i.e. Kilkenny Castle, Wexford Quays.

Wexford has the National Opera house and has international acts throughout the year. Rosslare Europort connects direct to Europe with 38 sailings a week and another 30 to the UK. It’s also a port of national importance and is due for major expansion and also marked for Ireland’s Free Port which will bring Thousands of new jobs. What does Waterford Airport do? Trinity Wharf will also bring over a thousand jobs to Wexford town. The Quays in Wexford are class with events hosted all year round, whereas Waterford’s Quays are an Ugly Car Park overshadowed by a graffitied dilapidated building on a hill.

There is major money being pumped into Wexford with the Neville Group who are opening a new Hotel and Concert venue, The promoter of Spiegeltent is also in planning for a new concert venue and Harry Crosbie who is opening Vicar Street South in Gorey and is responsible for the Dublin Docklands, 3 Arena and the Boird Gais Energy Theatre is investing in Wexford Town. All people who have proven track records and put their money where their mouth is. South Main is being redeveloped and there are lots of other exciting plans shovel ready for Urban regeneration within Wexford Town, Trinity wharf being the stand out but there are more plans for the quays, Art Centre, adventure centre just outside town, new skatepark with MUGA, Johnstown castle etc.

Kk are doing their new quarter and it's an inviting town to walk around and looks and is great! New skatepark and already has a two good shopping centres which compliment its town alongside the Castle which is central.


You can get to Dublin from KK or Wex now in one hour 15 mins. You can get to Dundrum town centre in an hour, no hassle with proper Universities and shopping and amenities/services in abundance.


Waterford should concentrate on their 'haves' and not so much on their 'have nots'. Always looking to what someone else is getting. Maybe enjoy your town for what it is and make the best of it, like Wexford and Kilkenny are doing, rather than always cribbing about what someone else got and what you didnt get and being forever negative? Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny will be small towns but there is nothing wrong with being a great small town. That has lots of advantages in itself, rather than pretending to be the 'big city' which Waterford will never be. Neither three of them will ever be big cities, let's get real and Waterford isn't somewhere where an 18 year old student dreams of and attains "life experience". What was it about delusions of grandeur again? You may need to look in the mirror I think.

For now, the TUSE will be great for the region as a whole and not just Waterford. Who knows further down the line what will happen. Waterford could eventually go it alone at some stage. It isn't beyond the realms of comprehension that future governments have a rethink and break everything up again, giving Waterford University Status as a single entity. For now itd be better to concentrate on the positives(if possible) for ALL the South East.

I cant be bothered going through all the "me county is better that's yours" childish rant .But in all that spiel you never addressed my main point , the current Wexford campus is financially unviable with very small student numbers . Why would Waterford and Carlow take funding away from developing their own large scale campuses to develop a small one in Wexford .

Its well established that Students want a big campus experience and we have seen small campuses fail already like the Maynooth one in Kilkenny , GMIT in Castlebar , LKIT in Castlebar , LIT in Clonmel LIT in Ennis. Maynooth closed their Kilkenny campus and the others would be closed too but local political pressure keeps them open. And political pressure will be the only reason any new campus gets built in Wexford which will take funding away from new buildings and developments on the real TUSE campuses in Waterford and Carlow. But maybe you cant see that through your purple and gold bubble.

And you really should check out the National Planning Framework and Project Ireland 2040 , under the section called "cities" you will see big sections on Waterford and Galway but strangely Wexford wasn't mentioned.

.

SeanDoyle2021 wrote: »

 
For now, the TUSE will be great for the region as a whole and not just Waterford. Who knows further down the line what will happen. Waterford could eventually go it alone at some stage. It isn't beyond the realms of comprehension that future governments have a rethink and break everything up again, giving Waterford University Status as a single entity. For now itd be better to concentrate on the positives(if possible) for ALL the South East.

This is utter BS. WIT could have gone alone now but Brendan Howlin could not stand the thought of Waterford getting a university. Wexford people will not support a university in Waterford unless Wexford gets something, his words not mine. Same way Ivan Yates fought to have the regional director of the IDA moved out of Waterford as he thought Waterford was getting too much investment. If in time to come it looks like a full university will happen in Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny politicians will do all they can to block it and the south east region will fall further behind, same old story, same old outcome. Hope you are proud of your politicians great “achievements”. In a few years when you are reading articles about the southeasts even poorer performance compared to other regions go look at your lovely TUSE Wexford campus and think of what could have been if south east had a full university which is completely achievable in Waterford but unacceptable outside of it.

I detect the influence of a certain North Wexford politician in the post by SeanDoyle2021. That would not surprise me, as in general teh unioversity issue has little traction in Wexford. Those that want to get uni/degree education go to UCD or WIT. I think however, that Imacman should remove the anti Wexford comment in his last post. I can understand the depth of feeling but it doesn't help.

Waterford may be small city and has had many economic knocks, but the truth is that there has been some form of popular, publicly supported move for university designation in Waterford for decades. This is to be expected from the largest urban area in the region. Its called leadership. The same leadership delivered radiotherapy facilities to the southeast in 2006 when the political system, did not want them. The same leadership has delivered a second cardiac cath lab to UHW when the system did not want it . These facilities serve the people of Waterford and the south east just as a uni at WIT would. No such similar movement for uni designation has existed in Wexford , Carlow or Kilkenny where any move for such designation has been almost solely inspired by senior local politicians. The result of Waterford's long campaign and leadership on the uni issue is a TUSE political fix it. The TUSE is a horse designed by a committee, a camel, which is very far from proper uni designation and which will not solve the brain drain or economic issues in the south east.

Mr Howlin has always asked "What's in it for Wexford?" The answer of course was simple, "better education for Wexford kids, thousands of whom have already got excellent degree level education from WIT". But that has never been enough for Wexford and Kilkenny, neither of which, to their eternal shame, have ever supported investment in WIT. The irrefutable facts are there about small campuses in Ireland. They do not work and students don't like them. It may well be that a Wexford campus of scale will emerge in time, but it will be a very long time and the central point that has been continually made, that a designation of WIT as a stand alone university for the south east would have delivered what Waterford city and the south east region needs, is still valid.

TUSE multi campus on a whole new level here

https://www.rte.ie/news/education/2021/0628/1231844-it-carlow-to-establish-new-college-in-china/

914 wrote: »

TUSE multi campus on a whole new level here

https://www.rte.ie/news/education/2021/0628/1231844-it-carlow-to-establish-new-college-in-china/

This is just a PR story , lots of colleges including TCD, UCD and even WIT have had a big presence in China over the last twenty years . ITcarlow hiring some rooms in an existing college and getting Chinese lecturers to teach courses that they accredit is hardly a campus. Its just a spin story that they have made a big deal of .

any update on goings on re TUSE?

When will the Crystal site and a 30-40 mill be handed over to WIT to add a few new schools?

Isnt that what John Cummins on WLR and Leo in the Dail were saying?

Its all gone fairly quiet since.

As the old adage goes - silence is acceptance.

Or is it we are just getting a new sign over the door.

Will probably be built in time for TUSE 10th anniversary.