“Madam, – In relation to the future of Irish universities, Prof. John Kelly (Opinion, April 16th) presents a horrific prospect in calling for the Government to ‘reassert its authority and introduce the changes necessary to meet the needs of the current and future generations’. I can think of few things more likely to degrade the quality of our universities than direct government intervention. Firstly, the Government’s track record in reform of areas such as healthcare is little short of disastrous. Political vulnerability, leading to excessive deference to vested interests, means that Government is rarely in a position to come up with clear, realistic, targeted planning …” (more)
[Norman Stewart, Irish Times, 20 April]