Ninth Level Ireland

“The Law Society of Ireland has said there were no references to female trainees in a messaging group that is being investigated by the solicitors’ training body. It comes after a number of messaging apps were blocked as it was reported that inappropriate content was posted onto a WhatsApp group entitled ‘tits and filth’ …” (more)

[Cate McCurry, Belfast Telegraph, 14 October]

“On the day of the budget, student politicians and third-level officials were geared up to 11. The Provost had made bold statements about reducing student numbers in the face of insufficient funding on the Sean O’Rourke show earlier in the week. The interview had been a scading attack on the government’s inaction on third-level funding …” (more)

[University Times, 14 October]

“Students in Dublin City University (DCUSU) must have felt a sense of deja vu last week when they launched a petition against the deportation of Mehwish Saqib. Just last year, Dublin City University Students’ Union (DCUSU) launched a similar petition to fight the deportation of Shepherd Machaya, who was attending the college under the University of Sanctuary scheme and was under threat of torture if he returned to his native Zimbabwe …” (more)

[University Times, 14 October]

“A new European initiative to support hundreds of academics whose lives or careers are at risk due to discrimination, persecution or violence is to be based out of Maynooth University. A record number of academics are seeking support, such as teaching temporary posts, due threats against their lives or careers in countries such as Turkey, Syria, Iran and Yemen …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 14 October]

“Students in both UCC and CIT are still trying to find a place to live for the college year. It is believed that tens of students are still looking for accommodation, amid record-high rents and lack of available rooms …” (more)

[Áine Kenny, EchoLive, 13 October]

“For anyone interested in the sustained funding of third level education in Ireland, Budget Day has become more like Groundhog Day. 1,183 days before last week’s Budget, the Cassells Report identified the funding challenges facing our higher education system and set out the scale of the investment required to deliver on our national ambition …” (more)

[Jim Miley, Trinity News, 13 October]

“Smoking in Trinity’s tobacco free zones reduced by 83% between July 2016 and March 2019, the College has announced. The zones were situated around the Day Nursery, around Fellow’s Square and around the Sports Centre …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 13 October]

“The Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh TD will attend the canonisation ceremony of Cardinal John Henry Newman, founder of University College Dublin, in Rome on Sunday October 13th. Minister McHugh will represent An Taoiseach and the Government at the canonisation of Cardinal Newman who was UCD’s first rector and president when it was founded as the Catholic University of Ireland …” (more)

[Department of Education and Skills, 12 October]

“A trainee solicitor has said she feels disgusted that female students are being objectified by their male counterparts. The Law Society has launched an investigation after ‘highly offensive’ messages were found to be circulating in a Whatsapp group among some first-year law trainees at Dublin’s Blackhall Place …” (more)

[Irish Examiner, 12 October]

“Irish universities have ‘lost the dream’ which Cardinal John Henry Newman had of ‘liberal education and of a liberal education for Catholics’, the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has said. Speaking in Rome as preparations were under way for the canonisation of the founder of the Catholic University, the precursor of University College Dublin (UCD), the archbishop said …” (more)

[Patsy McGarry, Irish Times, 11 October]

“Sir, – The Government is to be commended for its last-minute decision to send Minister for Education Joe McHugh to represent Ireland at the canonisation of John Henry Newman (News, October 9th). Cardinal Newman will be only the third person with a direct connection to Ireland to have been canonised since the State was founded, after St Oliver Plunkett in 1975 and St Charles of Mount Argus in 2007 …” (more)

[Letters, Irish Times, 12 October]

“The National College of Ireland is in ongoing discussions with Dublin City Council regarding the former Magdalene Laundry on Sean McDermott Street, TheJournal.ie understands. The council said it is consulting stakeholders and ‘interested parties’, including NCI, at the moment over the future of the site, the last such laundry to close in the State …” (more)

[TheJournal.ie, 12 October]

“The canonisation of John Henry Newman this weekend will attract thousands of pilgrims to Rome and, belatedly, an official representative from UCD and the Irish Government. Originally, a UCD spokesperson said that there would be no official representation. The reason given was that UCD has been a secular university since 1908 because the Catholic university Newman was invited to found never came to fruition …” (more)

[Breda O’Brien, Irish Times, 12 October]

“Student protests are taking place at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT) after a decision was made by the college to hold their graduation ceremony in the local arts centre and not on campus as in previous years …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 11 October]

“The bill for public sector pay and pensions is set to rise by more than €1bn to a new peak next year. Wages for State workers and payments to pensioners will hit a combined total of €23bn. The pay bill is expected to increase by just under 5%, or €925m, to €19.6bn. Pension costs will jump 5.2%, or €166m, to €3.3bn …” (more)

[Anne-Marie Walsh, Independent, 12 October]

“John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has advised Waterford and Carlow Institutes of Technology of the way in which the projected combined deficit, debt and payroll costs of the planned technological university of the south east, reportedly estimated at €26 million by 2024-2025, will be addressed …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 10 October]

“Tenants in a student complex in the capital are facing rent increases of more than 10% due to what the management company is calling an ‘administrative incident’. Some 53 students in the LIV Student accommodation block on Church Street in Dublin signed contracts at the beginning of September that states rooms cost €270 per week …” (more)

[Shauna Bowers, Irish Times, 11 October]

“The Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) has agreed a €40 million loan with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to part-fund the development of its city centre campus. The €90 million redevelopment of a block in the Ardilaun Centre on St Stephen’s Green, which is subject to planning permission, will provide enhanced research, teaching, learning, faculty and student facilities …” (more)

[Ciara O’Brien, Irish Times, 11 October]

“After a week of pressure from students, alumni, the public, its former registrar and a former taoiseach, UCD has flip-flopped on its decision to not send a representative to the canonisation of its founder Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman in Rome this weekend. Earlier in the week the college cited its ‘secular’ nature as the reason for why it was not going to send a representative …” (more)

[Katie Ascough, Irish Times, 11 October]

“Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) members have voted overwhelmingly to renew their mandate for industrial action over two-tier pay rates. The ballot was passed by a margin of 92% to 8% to endorse the union’s mandate for industrial action, up to and including strike action, as part of its campaign for equal pay …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 10 October]