Ninth Level Ireland

“Going out is a central part of the College experience – particularly when you’re in first year. Trinity Hall allows freshers an unprecedented amount of freedom, and they normally take full advantage of that. Unfortunately for residents around Halls, this means plenty of drunken students making a lot of noise and generally disturbing the peace most nights of the week …” (more)

[University Times, 2 August]

“Earlier this week, Simon Harris – quite rightly – referred to the prevalence of sexual violence on third-level campuses as an ‘epidemic’, and announced a number of initiatives to tackle the issue. Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Welfare Officer Leah Keogh and the National Women’s Council of Ireland praised Harris on the initiatives he announced …” (more)

[University Times, 2 August]

“35 complaints of sexual assault and harassment have been reported to third level institutes in the last 3 years. According to the Sunday Times, IT Sligo has received 20 reports, UCD had 12 complaints while Trinity College picked up just one report …” (more)

[Ocean FM, 2 August]

“The Government may have to consider introducing a fresh staff recruitment ban and freezing promotions in the public sector because of the recession caused by Covid-19, it can be revealed. In briefing documents prepared for new Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath, obtained by the Irish Examiner, it is made clear some of the stark choices facing him as he grapples with the €30bn deficit …” (more)

[Daniel McConnell, Irish Examiner, 2 August]

“International English language students have made headlines in recent weeks due to doubts about their visas and the quality of online classes. Their teachers are also facing unclear futures due to the continuing pandemic; some are teaching online for six hours a day, while others are facing permanent unemployment …” (more)

[Jessica Doyle, Irish Examiner, 1 August]

“The manicured lawns at the front entrance at Trinity College Dublin have been removed and are about to be transformed into a wildflower meadow in response to Ireland’s ‘biodiversity crisis’ …” (more)

[Kevin O’Sullivan, Irish Times, 31 July]

“NUI Galway has challenged a finding in an interim report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation that its medical school had received and paid for 35 infant remains from the Tuam mother and baby home. In its fifth interim report, published in April of last year, the commission found that between 1949 and 1964, Galway Medical School ‘received and paid for 35 infant anatomical subjects’ …” (more)

[Patsy McGarry, Irish Times, 30 July]

“On 14 June the Department of Education and Skills published a Request for Information (RFI) to identify PPE, Consumables and Equipment Suppliers to support the education sector. This procurement has been managed as a negotiated procedure …” (more)

[Department of Education and Skills, 30 July]

“It has emerged that UCD has paid over €80 million to JJ Rhatigan & Co contractors so far to finance the ongoing construction of student residences on campus. The €82,032,228.39 sum has been disclosed following a Freedom of Information request by Ken Foxe, Director of Right To Know, for the University’s accounts of invoices over €20,000 between November 2016 and March of this year …” (more)

[Rowan Kelleher, College Tribune, 30 July]

“Planning permission is being sought to build a new 254 bed student accommodation development on the Headford Road. Cleverson Limited have submitted plans to the city council for the construction of a seven storeys building, which will contain 74 student accommodation apartments ranging between one and seven bed units …” (more)

[Briain Kelly, Galway Daily, 30 July]

“University College Dublin (UCD) is still working under the expectation of 1-metre physical distance measures on campus in the upcoming Trimester, despite recent guidance from government suggesting a 2-metre distance. Sources have told The College Tribune that the University expects an announcement from the government shortly which would allow a reduction in physical distancing from 2-metres to 1-metre, in cases where students wear face masks, which will be mandatory for students on UCD campus …” (more)

[Nessa Collins, College Tribune, 30 July]

“Personal information of NUI Galway alumni was breached in a recent cyber-attack targeting a company linked to the university’s fundraising foundation. In an email on Wednesday, Galway University Foundation notified individuals on its mailing list their data had been subject to a cyber-attack. Credit card and bank account details were not compromised …” (more)

[Jack Power, Irish Times, 30 July]

“Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union President (TCDSU) Eoin Hand today condemned objections that Temple Rd residents have expressed to a proposed extension to Trinity Hall. The Journal today reported that residents living around Halls had said ‘no’ to the extension which would increase the number of beds in Halls to 1,283 …” (more)

[Cormac Watson, University Times, 29 July]

“Deputy John McGuinness has called on Simon Harris, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, to progress a university for the South East and has pointed to Kilkenny for its location for a campus. He joins all of the elected representatives from the region in a campaign to deliver a regional university …” (more)

[Mary Cody, Kilkenny People, 28 July]

“Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris is to establish a new forum to engage with staff, students and institutions on key policy areas for the third-level sector. The announcement was made following a meeting between the Minister and trade unions representing staff in the sector on Wednesday …” (more)

[Martin Wall, Irish Times, 30 July]

“Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of reducing the student contribution charge for higher education by €100, €200, €500, €1,000 and €3,000, respectively; and if she will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 28 July]

“Hardly a day passes in these times of Plague without the publication of news or views on the internationalisation of Irish Higher Education. In Ireland – as elsewhere – the main issues bringing the question of student mobility into the headlines are the huge costs charged to incoming students and the huge associated revenue for their hosts …” (more)

[In a Strange Land, 29 July]

“More than 600 academics from 36 Australian universities and members of the academic community have signed an open letter to federal and state education ministers calling for a return to a more democratic, cost-effective and functional structure for Australia’s universities …” (more)

[Alessandro Pelizzon, Martin Young and Renaud Joannes-Boyau, The Conversation, 29 July]

“University teachers have said that certainty is required urgently on the re-opening process for higher education institutions. The Irish Federation of University Teachers (Ifut) said an official guidance document issued last week said that the response to Covid-19 involved ‘a rapid move to emergency remote teaching and assessment of programmes, without impacting on the integrity of qualifications’ …” (more)

[Martin Wall, Irish Times, 29 July]

“The President of Waterford Institute of Technology says there’s a huge sense of optimism over the future of the Technological University for the South East following the appointment of former HEA CEO Tom Boland to oversee the process …” (more)

[Anthony McFeely, WLR FM, 28 July]