Ninth Level Ireland

“The entrance to Trinity will be returned to its original glory over the next four weeks, with work beginning soon to turn the Front Gate entrance into the cobblestone style of 100 years ago. In an email sent to staff and students today by Estates and Facilities, it was confirmed that work would begin this week …” (more)

[Dominic McGrath, University Times, 29 September]

“Yet again UCU at Ulster hears of potential cuts to the university from the media. In Monday’s interview with the Irish News, VC Paddy Nixon says UU is ‘planning for budget cuts’ of between 2% and 12%. He has not said a word to UCU representatives about this …” (more)

[UCU, 29 September]

“French research funding is set for a heartening increase in the country’s first budget under President Emmanuel Macron, if draft 2018 plans released on 27 September are voted into law. The research portfolio of France’s ministry of higher education, research and innovation would rise by more than 6%, to €8.4 billion (US$9.9 billion) in 2018 …” (more)

[Barbara Casassus, Nature, 29 September]

“Paul Hannigan has been reappointed as President of Letterkenny Institute of Technology. A native of Ballyshannon, he has been President of LYIT since January 1998, and he will continue as President for a further five-year term from January 2018 …” (more)

[Donegal Democrat, 28 September]

“Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of reducing the student conution rate by €250, €500 or €1,000; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 27 September]

“Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of decreasing the non-adjacent rate of third level grants from 45 to 24 kilometres; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 27 September]

“A petition calling for a referendum on the impeachment of embattled University College Dublin Students’ Union (UCDSU) President Katie Ascough has gained enough signatures in just one day to trigger a vote on her future …” (more)

[Róisín Power, University Times, 28 September]

“The College Tribune has learnt that The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) will be on campus operating under the UCD Chaplaincy for the next two years. FOCUS who are based in the United States are a volunteer organisation whose stated mission is to ‘share the hope and joy of the gospel with college and university students’. The group have been the subject of some controversy in the last number of years due to the hard-line fundamentalist approach to the Churches teaching …” (more)

[College Tribune, 27 September]

“With construction possibly beginning as early as January 2018, Trinity has expressed a number of concerns regarding the development of the new College Green plaza, including stress on Trinity’s facilities and the risk of flooding to the college …” (more)

[Kathleen McNamee, University Times, 28 September]

“A WIT economist says it’s not certain what, if any, benefit that Technological University designation would bring to the South East. Waterford and Carlow ITs have committed to merging in a bid to secure TU status, however it’s believed there are still hurdles to clear before a formal application can be made …” (more)

[Anthony McFeely, WLR FM, 26 September]
[Interview with Ray Griffin is available on Soundcloud]

“Lecturers at the Institutes of Technology in Sligo and Letterkenny are staging protests this lunchtime over funding. The demonstrations are being held at ITs right around the country at the same time as a similar protest outside the Higher Education Authority offices in Dublin where members of the TUI will march to the Dail …” (more)

[Ocean FM, 27 September]

“Limerick Institute of Technology lecturers today staged a lunchtime protest outside their place of work over the funding crisis facing their sector. The protests were organised by the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI), which represents over 4,000 lecturing and research staff in Institutes of Technology …” (more)

[BreakingNews.ie, 27 September]

“Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated first and full year costs of reducing student contributions to third level fees by €100 …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 26 September]

“Taoiseach Leo Varadkar shot down a British or US-style student loan scheme that would leave graduates being ‘saddled with enormous debts’. The future funding of the university system is under scrutiny with the Cassells Report putting student loans forward as an option of boosting cash-flow. But there remains a lack of clarity on how the soaring cost of third-level education will be funded …” (more)

[Alan O’Keeffe and Katherine Donnolly, Independent, 27 September]

“The University of Limerick announced that it is becoming a smoke-free campus with the purpose of protecting ’employees, students and visitors from exposure to secondhand smoke’. With UCD and Trinity College looking into doing the same, this seems to be a popular path many Irish campuses are taking …” (more)

[Emily Sheehan, College View, 27 September]

“According Carl O’Brien, writing in last Friday’s Irish Times, Irish workers are most ‘overqualified’ in Europe. This is based on ‘research carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) between 2000 and 2011’. About 60% of our school leavers progress onto third level education, and this is projected to rise to about 70% over the next decade …” (more)

[Careful With That Axe, Eugene, 27 September]

“Lecturers are holding demonstrations today at Institutes of Technology nationwide to demand a major funding increase in the Budget. The Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) is proposing a 1% levy on the corporate tax rate, ring fenced for third-level education …” (more)

[BreakingNews.ie, 27 September]

“Sir, – As a lecturer happily retired from the University of Limerick, I can verify from painful experience everything noted by Sarah Alyn Stacey (September 16th). Let me press the argument further. Why should the ordinary citizen care about this? …” (more)

[Peter Labanyi, Irish Times, 27 September]

“Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said while third level students should make a contribution toward their education, he could not support a system that left them repaying substantial debts …” (more)

[Mark Hilliard, Irish Times, 27 September]

“Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor has said she is happy to forgo a salary increase for her new role as a super junior Minister after a report found she is ineligible for the payment. Ms Mitchell O’Connor has been informed she is not entitled to an extra €16,288-a-year allowance, which is given to Ministers of State who attend Cabinet meetings …” (more)

[Sarah Bardon, Irish Times, 26 September]