“The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) has called for a review of Trinity’s running of this year’s Provost elections, describing the disqualification of Prof Sarah Alyn Stacey’s as ‘undemocratic’ …” (more)
[Mairead Maguire, University Times, 28 February]
“Reprioritisation of the government’s Provisional Vaccine Allocation Groups could see Trinity return to face to face learning by the start of the next academic year, College officials announced yesterday evening. According to the government’s latest vaccination plan, members of third level institutions could see earlier vaccination than the general public, after those aged 55 to 60 years …” (more)
[Shannon Connolly, Trinity News, 27 February]
“Universities, and the role they play in society, are under threat from the impact of the ongoing pandemic. While rarely a sector in financial crisis, university leaders in seven of the higher education systems in Europe now predict a fall in core national funding as a result of COVID-19, compounding the huge hits universities have taken on rental and commercial services and contractual research …” (more)
[Dave Sherwood, University World News, 27 February]
“On February 22nd, University College Dublin (UCD) President, Andrew Deeks issued a Bulletin following the announcement of the Level 5 Lockdown extension. Deeks outlined the importance of limiting campus activities to those ‘that can only be carried out on campus and are both essential and time critical’ …” (more)
[Medb McBrearty, College Tribune, 26 February]
“Sir, – The Irish Times reported on the potential penalisation of some students due to the removal of historical school data from the grade calculation process (‘Leaving Cert – removing school data risked penalising some students’, News, February 22nd) …” (more)
[Reamonn O’Luan, Irish Times, 27 February]
“College Registrar Brendan Tangney today said that ‘the professional expertise of HR was used to assist’ in the interview process for the Provost elections, but that ‘HR had no vote on the committee’, amid claims that HR played a central role in disqualification of Prof Sarah Alyn-Stacey from the race …” (more)
[Cormac Watson, University Times, 26 February]
“Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the public expenditure on research and development and as a percentage in each year since 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)
[Dáil written answers, 25 February]
“This week marked the one year anniversary since Mary Naughton, founder of the UCD Post-Graduate Workers Alliance (PGWA) marched on a meeting of University management to present their demands, along with the backing of an emboldened Students’ Union …” (more)
[Rosie Kuntz, College Tribune, 26 February]
“Developers have applied for fast-tracked permission to build a new student accommodation facility near UCD. If approved, the facility would consist of eight 7 storey apartment blocks, with space for nearly 700 beds. The proposed onsite facilities for Colbeam residences would include communal kitchens, living and dining rooms along with a gym, library, yoga studio, a film room, study space, common room, and prayer room. A final decision on the application is expected by early June …” (more)
[Jack McGee, College Tribune, 26 February]
“The College Tribune can reveal that University College Dublin has spent over €1.8 million on private security costs since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Following an FOI request by this newspaper, accounts show security expenditure has increased by 10% since 2018/19 with UCD officials citing the ‘unprecedented circumstances’ of COVID-19, ‘a locked-down campus requiring much greater levels of security provision’ and ‘pay rate uplifts’ across the security industry as chief causes of the inflated budget …” (more)
[Rowan Kelleher, College Tribune, 26 February]
“Sir, – I refer to the article ‘Leaving Cert – removing school data risked penalising some students’ (News, February 22nd). In light of the contents of this article and having reviewed the arrangements for the upcoming Leaving Cert, I am extremely concerned about the fairness of the Leaving Cert accredited grade process for 2021 …” (more)
[Harry Deacon, Irish Times, 26 February]
“Prof Sarah Alyn-Stacey has called on the Fellows to back the removal of the interview process for the Provost elections from the statutes. In a statement – seen by The University Times, Alyn-Stacey said that ‘we must leave the election fairly and plainly in the hands of the electorate as befit a university of our ancient standing and liberal traditions …'” (more)
[Cormac Watson, University Times, 25 February]
“The Students Union at NUI Galway is voicing its support for a new bill aimed at protecting student renters during the pandemic. The proposed bill is supported by Sinn Fein, Social Democrats, Labour Party, Solidarity-People Before Profit and Independents for Change …” (more)
[Galway Bay FM, 25 February]
“The president of the University of Limerick has expressed her ‘huge disappointment’ at some of the comments made by students on national radio earlier this week. Professor Kerstin Mey was reacting to a report on RTÉ’s Drivetime during which several UL students, living in off-campus accommodation, openly admitted attending house parties and social gatherings in breach of the current Level 5 restrictions …” (more)
[David Hurley, Limerick Leader, 25 February]
“The Union of Students (USI) in Ireland has called on the Oireachtas to pass a Bill being tabled on Thursday that would force landlords to return prepaid rents to students who cannot live in the accommodation due to public health restrictions. The Residential Tenancies (Student Rents and Other Protections) (Covid-19) Bill 2021 would also enable students to terminate contracts on accommodation they no longer need because of Covid-19 …” (more)
[Colin Gleeson, Irish Times, 25 February]
“Gardaí will be conducting high visibility patrols every evening around the University of Limerick (UL) due to concerns about student gatherings, according to the President of the university. The move comes after the university began mass testing their students, to manage an outbreak of Covid-19 among the student population earlier this week …” (more)
[Tadgh McNally, TheJournal.ie, 25 February]
“Speculation on whether or not the UK would remain within the EU and EEA’s student mobility programme, Erasmus+, has ensued since the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016. A last-minute decision resulting in the United Kingdom resolving to stop participation in all aspects of Erasmus+ will have the potential to damage the UK and Ireland’s relations on top of Brexit alone …” (more)
[Laura Galvin, Trinity News, 25 February]
“Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing Eoin Ó Broin TD and spokesperson on Higher Education Rose Conway-Walsh TD have commented on the launch of the Residential Tenancies (Student Rents and Other Protections) (Covid-19) Bill 2021. The Bill has been signed by 56 opposition TDs and was launched with the USI today …” (more)
[Sinn Féin, 25 February]
“Gardaí had to be called to the sports pitches at University College Dublin on six occasions during lockdown after members of the public flouted Covid-19 rules by meeting up in groups to play sport and refusing to stop the activity …” (more)
[Eilish O’Regan, Independent, 24 February]
“Correction: A previous version of this article was entitled ‘UCD Auditors refusing to back down on misleading Ennis claims’ which in and of itself was misleading, as the article expressed that some clarifications were made, while the sentiment of the original claims remained …” (more)
[Lucy Mackarel, College Tribune, 24 February]
