“The president of the University of Limerick, Dr Des Fitzgerald, is expected to face questions from TDs this Thursday about concerns over whether potentially thousands of students were given incorrect exam records over many years …” (more)
[Alan English and Jess Casey, Limerick Leader, 24 January]
“The future of Mayo GMIT Campus is looking much brighter, according to the interim head of the college Dr Richard Thorn. Speaking to the local media today, he confirmed a number of recommendations in the Working Group Report …” (more)
[Connaught Telegraph, 13 November]
“Scepticism about whether or not Technological University (TU) status will prove a meaningful upgrade for any existing Institute of Technology (IoT) is natural in these parts when one considers the history of Waterford IT (WIT). And it’s worth recalling that this couplet of words is not entirely new within the Irish educational context …” (more)
[Dermot Keyes, Munster Express, 18 July]
“Two whistleblowers have criticised an independent report commissioned by the Higher Education Authority into concerns they had raised about financial expenses and other HR issues at the University of Limerick. The two women said they were ‘absolutely stunned’ that the report by Richard Thorn, a former president of the Institute of Technology Sligo, contained no negative findings about how their cases were handled …” (more)
[Seán McCárthaigh, Irish Examiner, 24 March]
“No further action is being taken in relation to University of Limerick’s use of severance packages for former staff. The decision by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) follows receipt of a second report into matters at UL concerned with finances, governance, and HR practices …” (more)
[Niall Murray, Irish Examiner, 13 February]
“In November 2017 the HEA published Dr Richard Thorn’s report on his independent review of certain matters and allegations relating to the University of Limerick. On the basis of Dr Thorn’s report and its findings, the HEA announced it would establish a further review arising from the recommendation made in Section 6.2.9 in Dr Thorn’s report …” (more)
[Deborah Walsh, Higher Education Authority, 12 February]
“One of the people named in the recent Higher Education Authority report into controversies at the University of Limerick is ‘awaiting legal advice’ following the report’s release this November 8. Person E is receiving legal counsel, after the former lecturer’s case was raised and UL’s HR conduct heavily criticised by Dr Richard Thorn in the report …” (more)
[Maria Flannery, Limerick Leader, 2 December]
“The University of Limerick has lifted its suspension of two whistleblowers who had been suspended with pay for almost two and a half years. The move follows a fortnight on from the publication of the HEA’s Thorn report, a wide-ranging document on the controversies into the governance and HR of the university …” (more)
[Maria Flannery, Limerick Leader, 23 November]
“The University of Limerick has lifted the suspensions imposed on two whistleblowers who raised issues about irregular practices at the university. The suspensions have been lifted on staff known only as B and C by UL President Dr Des Fitzgerald …” (more)
[RTÉ News, 23 November]
“The Thorn report into management failures at the University of Limerick makes for sobering reading. A catalogue of management and governance issues was identified over a period of years that led to a corrosive culture at the heart of the institution. …” (more)
[Tom Felle, Limerick Leader, 19 November]
“A change in the law which would give the Minister for Education and Skills the power to appoint an investigator to any publicly-funded third level institution is progressing through the Oireachtas in the wake of the Thorn report into controversies at University of Limerick …” (more)
[Maria Flannery, Limerick Leader, 18 November]
“The president of University of Limerick has moved to assure the college community that he plans to act immediately on the findings of a HEA report into UL’s controversies. The report, by former Sligo IT president Dr Richard Thorn, delves into issues surrounding finance, HR and governance at UL, and is strongly critical …” (more)
[Maria Flannery, Limerick Leader, 14 November]
“The recently appointed president of the University of Limerick (UL) has expressed concern about the way the university ‘treated some of its people in the past’. Dr Des Fitzgerald said a new report into a string of controversies at the college cast light on occasions in the past where UL fell short in its duty of care as an employer …” (more)
[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 9 November]
“The University of Limerick faces possible sanctions for misleading the Department of Education and others over severance payments to former staff who were then rehired. A damning report showed two of the payments totalling around €650,000 were among eight severance or compromise deals totalling €1.7m …” (more)
[Niall Murray, Irish Examiner, 9 November]
“A second investigation is to take place into the manner in which University of Limerick paid generous severances to senior staff and then re-hired them, writes Niall Murray. It is one of the recommendations in the report of Richard Thorn into a range of issues at UL that he was asked by Education Minister Richard Bruton to investigate last May …” (more)
[Irish Examiner, 8 November]
“The Higher Education Authority has published the report of Dr Richard Thorn into Certain Matters and Allegations Relating to the University of Limerick. The report was commissioned by the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education and Skills in May this year. It makes 36 findings and 10 recommendations to be implemented by the University of Limerick …” (more, download)
[Higher Education Authority, 8 November]
“Shortcomings in human resources and management practices at the University of Limerick are sharply criticised in a soon-to-be-published review into alleged misconduct at the institution, it is understood. The investigation was triggered after concerns were raised over the way the university handled a series of disciplinary proceedings against staff and severance packages as well as its use of confidentiality agreements …” (more)
[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 31 October]
“The long-awaited report into a series of allegations of misconduct at the University of Limerick is now in the hands of the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education and Science. Dr Graham Love, chief executive of the HEA, confirmed that the report was received this week from Dr Richard Thorn, following months of investigations, interviews and analysis …” (more)
[Anne Sheridan, Limerick Leader, 27 October]
“The report which will examine controversies around finance, human resources and governance at the University of Limerick is now ‘substantially complete’ and is expected to be submitted to the Higher Education Authority next Friday, October 13 …” (more)
[Alan English, Limerick Leader, 7 October]
“The independent review of certain matters and allegations relating to the University of Limerick by Dr Richard Thorn is currently being finalised …” (more)
[Malcolm Byrne, Higher Education Authority, 3 October]
