Ninth Level Ireland

“A local councillor has called for the establishment of a code of conduct for students who live away from the University of Limerick (UL) campus. Green member Sean Hartigan has held meetings with residents of the Magazine Road in Cork, where a protocol was put in place, and, he says, has seen anti-social behaviour there decrease …” (more)

[Nick Rabbitts, Limerick Leader, 17 July]

“Works have started on the new University of Limerick campus in the city centre. UL President, Professor Kerstin Mey, has announced that works began this morning at the former Dunnes Store building at Sarsfield Street …” (more)

[Limerick Leader, 12 July]

“The body with responsibility for governance at third-level institutions will tell the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that it aims to be ‘respectful of institutional autonomy’. The Higher Education Authority (HEA) is set to appear before the PAC this morning in what is set to be a seismic hearing with regard to specific examples of questionable governance among Ireland’s universities …” (more)

[Cianan Brennan, Irish Examiner, 1 July]

“Professor Kerstin Mey (Interim President, University of Limerick) called and examined. Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein): Apologies have been received from Deputies Carthy, Hourigan and Sherlock. I welcome all of our witnesses to the meeting. Due to the current situation in respect of Covid-19, only the clerk, support staff and I are in the committee room. Members of the committee are attending remotely from within the precincts of Leinster House …” (more)

[Public Accounts Committee, 17 June]

“The President of the University of Limerick has accepted that ‘best practice’ wasn’t adhered to regarding the purchase of the former Dunnes Stores building in Limerick city centre. UL has asked consultants KPMG to investigate its purchase of the former store at Sarsfield Street for around €8m in 2019 …” (more)

[David Hurley, Limerick Leader, 17 June]

“The University of Limerick has asked consultants KPMG to investigate the purchase by the university of land in Limerick city centre known as the Dunnes Stores site, the Public Accounts Committee has been told …” (more)

[Emma O Kelly, RTÉ News, 17 June]

“The University of Limerick has announced they are ‘working on measures to facilitate a more normal return to campus’. ‘As a result of the close ties between UL and Public Health Mid-West we were in a position to act swiftly at the first signs of an increase of cases among students living off-campus’, UL President Professor Kerstin Mey said …” (more)

[Ciara Mannion, Limerick Voice, 12 April]

“It’s good journalistic practice, as a general rule, to ask a person for comment before you write about them. But before sitting down to write this piece, last night, the only question that this writer could think to ask acting President of the University of Limerick, Kerstin May, was this: Have you lost your mind? …” (more)

[John McGuirk, Gript, 4 March]

“Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris has described a party held by students in the University of Limerick (UL) as ‘completely unacceptable’ and a ‘slap in the face to everyone sacrificing so much’. Over 50 fines have been issued to students of the University of Limerick (UL) after coronavirus restrictions were breached during a street party in Castletroy yesterday, according to RTÉ News …” (more)

[Mairead Maguire, University Times, 3 March]

“The University of Limerick says it will take action with strong disciplinary measures against any student who is found to have breached public health guidelines following last night’s street party in Castletroy. Three people were arrested and around 30 fines were issued after gardai attended the public order incident at Carysfort Avenue, College Court …” (more)

[David Hurley, Limerick Leader, 3 March]

“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]

“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]

“The President of the University of Limerick has directly appealed to students to stay apart from each other and not to visit any other households. In a video message posted on social media this Saturday evening, Professor Kerstin Mey said there is concern about the number of cases of Covid-19 associated with students …” (more)

[David Hurley, Limerick Leader, 20 February]

“Earlier this year Prof Kerstin Mey shattered one of the highest and hardest glass ceilings there is in Ireland. Her appointment as president of University of Limerick in July ended a 428-year tradition of men only running Irish universities. By her own admission, the full significance of it only sank in later …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 24 November]

“Labour Party councillor for Limerick City East, Elena Secas is making a strong plea to people for respectful behaviour in residential areas around UL ‘Residents in housing estates adjacent to UL have big concerns about quite large groups of people socializing in their area …'” (more)

[Donal O’Regan, Limerick Leader, 18 October]

“The president of the University of Limerick has said there may not be places at the university for all of the students affected by errors in Leaving Certificate results. Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week, Professor Kerstin Mey said while every effort will be made to accommodate additional students on their programmes, ‘it may not be possible to accommodate everyone’ …” (more)

[Justin McCarthy, RTÉ News, 4 October]

“Gardaí have shut down 35 student house parties and arrested five people as part of a policing plan around Freshers Week at the University of Limerick. A Limerick joint policing committee meeting heard that 35 off-campus house parties have been shut down in the Castletroy area since last Sunday over coronavirus concerns …” (more)

[David Raleigh, Irish Times, 2 October]

“The President of the University of Limerick has gone ‘on the beat’ in conjunction with local garda patrols in the Castletroy area to hammer home the public health guidelines for students in the locality. President Kerstin Mey says it is an effort to be more visible and engage with students in off-campus accommodation to remind them of their personal responsibility for their own health and the health of the wider university community and their neighbours …” (more)

[Cathy Halloran, RTÉ News, 30 September]

“University of Limerick has today welcomed the announcement by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD of a €168 million funding package for the Higher and Further Education Sector and a roadmap for the return to colleges in September …” (more)

[Limerick Post, 22 July]

“Prof Kerstin Mey’s appointment as interim president of the University of Limerick (UL) earlier this week has – rightly – been lauded as historic. She is the first woman to lead one of Ireland’s universities in the 400 year-long history of third-level education in Ireland …” (more)

[University Times, 12 July]