“All schools, pre-schools and further and higher education settings will remain closed to students until 19 April 2020. The decision has been taken following advice from the NPHET (National Public Health Emergency Team) as part of efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 …” (more)
[Department of Education and Skills, 24 March]
“This year’s Trinity Ball has been cancelled, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Ents Officer Judith Robinson has confirmed. Speaking to The University Times, Robinson said: ‘Following the announcement today that was made the Taoiseach that colleges will close, and the extension will be made until the 19th of April, obviously that means that Trinity Ball will be unable to go ahead’ …” (more)
[Donal MacNamee, University Times, 24 March]
“Colleges are to remain closed until at least April 19th, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said, among a number of new lockdown measures implemented as Ireland battles to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic …” (more)
[Donal MacNamee, University Times, 24 March]
“Taoiseach Leo Vardakar said the government will do ‘everything possible’ so that the Leaving Certificate and college exams will go ahead. It comes as Education Minister Joe McHugh confirmed on Tuesday that although schools are closed up to March 29, they will not be opening immediately after that …” (more)
[Aine McMahon, Belfast Telegraph, 24 March]
“The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has called for ‘urgent clarity’ on the situation for student nurses and midwives on placement in hospitals, arguing they need clarification on whether they’ll have to repay hours they miss as a result of the coronavirus pandemic …” (more)
[Emer Moreau and Jordan Nann, University Times, 24 March]
“Thousands of students are stranded in universities across the UK as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, prompting calls for support from vice-chancellors. Among them are international students from all over the world who have been unable to get flights home, and UK students who are stuck because they have no other home to go to, either because they are care leavers or are estranged from their families …” (more)
[Sally Weale, Guardian, 24 March]
“Students have been urged to ignore speculation about the exams, particularly on social media, and stay focused on their studies as schools look set to remain closed. Joe McHugh, the Minister for Education, confirmed this Tuesday that although schools are closed up to March 29, they will not be opening immediately after that …” (more)
[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 24 March]
“To nobody’s great surprise today we received official confirmation that there will be no face-to-face teaching for the rest of the semester at Maynooth University; teaching had been due to end in early May. There will also be no in situ examinations, with all assessments being switched either to homework or remote assessments …” (more)
[In the Dark, 24 March]
“Maynooth University (MU) will not be re-opening for face-to-face lectures for the rest of the academic year, it has announced. The university made the announcement today amid the uncertainty over how long the Covid-19 crisis will last …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 24 March]
“UCD President Andrew Deeks has said that the potential long-term impacts of COVID-19 for UCD could be ‘very serious’ and have a severe impact on the university’s commercial activities. The President has appealed to recruitment staff to ensure international students, who make up over 20% of UCD’s annual income, attend the university next year …” (more)
[Conor Capplis, College Tribune, 24 March]
“Ireland’s colleges are set to remain closed beyond next Monday, Minister for Education Joe McHugh confirmed today, with schools and creches also staying shut …” (more)
[Sárán Fogarty, University Times, 24 March]
“Schools across Ireland will not reopen after Friday. Education Minister Joe McHugh says that although schools are closed up to March 29, they will not be opening immediately after that. He added he hoped to have confirmation today or tomorrow of the extension of the school closures …” (more)
[BreakingNews.ie, 24 March]
“Sinn Féin Senator Máire Devine has called on the government to ensure that any student nurse who is working in the health service during this crisis be paid for their vital work. Speaking this morning, Seanadóir Devine said …” (more)
[Sinn Féin, 24 March]
“I was asked once to write a piece on Academic Freedom. It struck me then, as now, that it’s more about ‘Responsibility’ or ‘Duty’ than about ‘Freedom’. It’s a sort of ‘Hippocratic Oath’ for truth-tellers. So how can it happen that a group of people, probably a lot younger than I am and so a lot less cognitively impaired, certainly no dumber than I was myself in previous decades, would suggest sabotaging an Irish university’s policy on ‘Academic Responsibility’? …” (more)
[In a Strange Land, 24 March]
“The Higher Education Authority (HEA) welcomes The Future of Athena SWAN, the report of the Athena SWAN Charter (UK) Independent Review Steering Group published this week. The report is the result of an independent review of the Athena SWAN Charter in the United Kingdom, led by Professor Julia Buckingham CBE, Vice-Chancellor and President of Brunel University London …” (more)
[Maura O’Shea, HEA, 24 March]
“Queen’s University Belfast has been awarded a €315,000 grant in a bid to find a vaccine for coronavirus. The funding grant has been awarded as one of several projects that will receive part of a €21.5 million fund bankrolled by the UK Research and Innovation, and by the Department of Health and Social Care …” (more)
[TheJournal.ie, 24 March]
“Student nurses working in hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic must be paid for their work, the Labour Party Health spokesman has urged. As previously reported by the Irish Examiner, the head of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has called for student nurses and midwives on unpaid placements during the Covid-19 pandemic to be treated as paid employees …” (more)
[Jess Casey, Irish Examiner, 24 March]
“Waterford Institute in Technology (WIT) in partnership with UPMC under the direction of the HSE have commenced preparations to set up a testing facility for the Covid-19 coronavirus at the WIT Arena …” (more)
[Dylan White, Waterford Live, 23 March]
