Waterford University discussion

No Minister was in attendance as he was predisposed opening the MTU arena, a €22m sports hall in Cork. Meanwhile SETU are still repaying the Ruairi Quinn loan after dept insisted on halting construction and destroyed the funding model of our Arena- how the other half live.

We bought a field, one that might be hit with a vacant site levy. Business plan is the line govt use at the airport to say no, a process going on since the €25m grant was pulled for the runway extension in 2008. Where is the PPP?

We even have to have a business plan for how those KK/Car/Wx dreams are to be destroyed! Fine Gael has been toxic for Waterford city since 2011.

The only announcement we will get in Waterford from Minister Harris will be "Happy Christmas'!

Espionage, subterfuge, propaganda and smoke n mirrors !

Big Phil got the lecturer gig in KK.

Little B got the WX gig.

Now if we actually had a uni in Waterford imagine the amount of lecturers we could supply from our local representatives for those courses !!!

Happy Christmas from the Deise......

Major boost for all TUs and IoTs as they all received this R&D funding.

A breakdown of funding is as follows

ATU €19.6

MTU €14.6

DTU €13.6

SETU €13.6

TUS €12

DKIT €5

IADT €3.6

ATU is getting some serious funding this year, anytime funding is announced they always appear near the top end. Probably to enhance 3rd level education in the North West a region similar to the South East.

It would be great to see a breakdown in funding on a campus level in order to see where money is going and what it is being spent on

Thanks to 914 for constantly banging this drum. I don't have the time or energy but I don't believe Waterford has a university now despite the name over the door. It's window dressing. There's no funding evident for an institution justifying that name. It's important to make people aware of that fact.

The political legacy of Howlin and Hogan should include a recognition that they have prevented young people of Kilkenny and Wexford a chance of attending a university close to home at much lower cost than going to Dublin or Cork.

914 "So when I have enough of this topic and decide not to let it bother me anymore, I see some politician smirking about a great day for SETU with X funding announcement and all the above rage comes flooding back!"

A lot of people feel the same. Your point about the IoTs still in the funding stream is particularly important.

FG,FF and Green reps have failed us and the SF opposition rep is silent. I believe that Fine Gael bear the biggest responsibility for this charade and yet people will vote for John Cummins. It may not be his fault, but he is of the party and selling their s##t like snake oil . When they had two TDs they still were ubable to make a Waterford decision.

Here's the problem they now tell us that we have a "university" in the region.

The region needed a stand alone Uni and a TU, it was the only thing that was needed and made sense

They have had access to degree level education up to doctorate in many disciplines for over 20 years in WIT. Hundreds if not thousands of kids from across the south east. It is the failure to build on something that was deemed ready for university status by independent analysis, but was instead royally shagged by the system and silly politicians in Wexford and Kilkenny, that really rankles. They used the proximity argument to convince people that a half hour journey into Waterford city was way too much. so we have ended up with something that is now trying to put a campus in Rathhnew in Co Wicklow. Amazing that TCD never felt the need to decentralise!

Politicians from the region hurt the region in an terrible example of self harm.

No argument there, however lost opportunity stinks.

Record numbers, proximity important, but sure lets not do anything except allow the traditional universities expand courses and student accommodation at an unprecedented rate in order to undermine the obvious need for a university in Waterford. The policies being pursued by Harris, the Higher Education Authority and the traditional universities are seriously undermining the Tech Uni sector. But thats the plan I presume. As 914 said above TUs of this generation are IoTs of the previous generation and RTCs the generation before that

Went on hols through Limerick and Galway to Mayo last summer. Stopped off to see both unis. Very chastening stuff. Its extremely hard to understand what south east politicians are thinking. Then again, maybe its not. ABW?

Fine Gael and parish pump politics caused this SETU mess.

Traditional universities. Apparently because of fear of signing up for a TU course and not knowing where the course is on? Just imagine darling Peregrine or Jemima being sent to Tallaght IOT instead of Grangegorman or, heaven forbid, to Blanchardstown IOT etc. Or signing up for WIT and ending up in Wexford or Rathnew where there are hardly campuses at all? is this where its at? At least with MTU its Cork or Tralee. Kids and their parents want certainty at a challenging time.

The TU structure, unthoughtout, unfunded, with the unforeseen consequences of politically and departmentally driven mergers and problematic expansion, is a disaster for the south east which has no traditional university to fall back on. The worst Minister for Further Education or indeed any education ever. A Fine Gaeler implementing rotten Fine Gael policies for his own ends.

A General Election is coming and he will move on leaving a mountainous crock behind him, just as he did in the Dept of Health.

Imacman: We have lost 50 years of name recognition for a merged entity that is difficult to understand for the school leaver and they are voting with their CAO choices, sad to say but Waterford was a better place before the merger.

Forgive me for being brusque if you are not a troll, but this statement is offensive nonsense.

Orangerhyme: In terms of economies of scale, it's probably much easier to increase capacity at the universities than start a new university in Waterford.

The case history is too long to repeat again, suffice it to say WIT was assessed and deemed at university status. It met the requirements. Nothing but rotten politics prevented it happening,

It was assessed independently and brought to cabinet. When it was assessed during the noughties it was within touching distance in size terms of UL , Maynooth and DCU. Each had circa 10,000 students. I dont have the exact figures to hand, you can research them yourself and the wider issue if you are that interested in the case and are not a troll from university zone. Since then WIT has been officially neutered, its top management eviscerated and not a single new building in 15 years while the three universities have been on a building, development and student recruiting spree.

From the research I have seen there has been an increase in places in university funded by the government and more courses like arts and commerce have had a drop in points which pick up student numbers.On the lower end of the scale the FE colleges have had a significant increase in numbers over the last few years and are picking up students with lower points. Also, apprenticeships are getting lots of funding and rolling out in areas like IT and accountancy again picking up students would normally have gone to an IT. Either way the whole TU sector is struggling for numbers and the idea pushed by the government of a TU bounce and students seeing the TUs as equivalent to the established universities is not playing out. And let's not forget that student numbers determine the bulk of the funding all the TU's/old IT's get

Imacman: We have lost 50 years of name recognition for a merged entity that is difficult to understand for the school leaver and they are voting with their CAO choices, sad to say but Waterford was a better place before the merger.

I should have added as well as name recognition we have lost 50 years of reputation too. What are we left with a very confusing organisation with courses with the same name and award, different points, different campuses, and various levels of teaching. It's a mess and millions have been spent on rebranding and change management consultants to put Waterford and Carlow in a worse position that they were in as ITs.

Is there a plan in future to streamline the courses? i.e. amalgamate courses into just one campus. Maybe have different faculties in different campuses.

https://www.wlrfm.com/news/donohoe-waterford-visit-349561

Government 'understands frustrations' on the ground in Waterford .....

Having told us everything will have to wait for the SETU strategic plan, Harris refused to endorse it in the Dáil this week, saying everything on a case-by-case basis. Compare that to senior Ministers who launch university strategic plans.

For example, Minister Harris launched MTU's https://www.mtu.ie/news/mtu-launches-strategic-plan/ .... currently investing €150m in campus developments at MTU, and university management is moving on to the next set of capital requests. Government has spent over €1/2bn on CIT since 2005, around the time Government turned on WIT (we have spent around €17m in same time and were hauled through PAC for this), FF/Greens slow-walking the university application (section 9 review), trying to manage the Port report (they failed) then the Hunt report, FG promised full university, then destroyed WIT management over eight years to force the TU merger. We were promised our history would restart after the nastiness of the forced TU, and then nothing. Cork walks into the TU with their €150m capital promise which are now almost fully delivered.

Honest question. Should we say the TU is a busted proposition and ask for a full university, or focus on the Government not delivering anything from their own TU agenda (borrowing, €350m capital, PPPs, Wexford promises, new lecturing contracts incl professorate, new courses in pharmacy, teacher training and veterinary, new management structure).

That’s why always remember Fine Gael & Labour were their party’s.

SETU is a political football now. Funding and future developments within it will go to where the minister is from within the South East. It’s not a good way to develop a university. Hopefully one day the breaks will be put on this mess. WIT for standalone university. SETU was done to please Wexford and Kilkenny initially. Still can’t see what Kilkenny got from it only promises.