Ninth Level Ireland

“Sinn Féin MP Elisha McCallion has said the Department of Health needs to complete its business case for the medical school in Derry as soon as possible. The Foyle MP said: ‘I met today with the permanent secretary of the Department of Health, Richard Pengelly, and discussed progress on delivering a medical school for Derry …'” (more)

[Sinn Féin, 14 August]

“Northern Ireland’s universities generated more than £400,000 in student library fines over the last five years, the BBC has learned. Figures show that Ulster University and Queen’s University in Belfast amassed a total of £423,000 since 2013 …” (more)

[BBC News, 12 August]

“Once again, there is a drive to establish a new university in the Northern Irish city of Derry – a city, because of its integral role in Ireland’s peace process, that has become regarded as an exemplar of real-world conflict resolution and a haven for free discussion …” (more)

[Garbhan Downey, Wonkhe, 9 August]

“A former Stormont minister who had responsibility for higher education has said he supports the expansion of university provision in Derry. Lord Reg Empey said the sense that Derry had ‘lost out’ when Coleraine was selected as the location for the University of Ulster needed to be remedied through an ‘incremental increase’ in the number of higher education courses in the city …” (more)

[Irish News, 17 July]

“We have started a Petition in relation to the Review of the Industrial Tribunal which ruled that Ulster University had breached the Employment Rights Order (NI) by failing to consult the University and College Union (UCU) over staff cuts …” (more)

[UCU, 4 July]

“Here is a link to the ‘Independent Review of the Circumstances Leading up to the Employment Tribunal Judgement in the Case of University and College Union v Ulster University‘ …” (more)

[UCU, 2 July]

“The Vice-Chancellor of Ulster University has apologised to staff following an independent review into a botched redundancy process. The 2016 process resulted in the exit of 143 employees – and has already cost the university £1.6m. In an email to all staff sent yesterday, Professor Paddy Nixon said he wanted to offer a full and wholehearted apology …” (more)

[Belfast Telegraph, 29 June]

“Senior leaders at Ulster University (UU) were guilty of a ‘disturbing lack of governance’ during a staff redundancy process in 2016. Refusing to accept a redundancy settlement offer from a staff union also cost UU an extra £1.4m. Those are among a litany of failings identified by a UU commissioned independent review into the process …” (more)

[Robbie Meredith, BBC News NI, 28 June]

“Sir, – Trinity College Dublin deserves credit for its long-running access programme’s foundation course for higher education (‘Trinity access graduates celebrate second chance at education’, News, June 15th). Courses like these provide a lifeline to adults who, for whatever reasons, failed to complete their secondary education …” (more)

[Peter Pyne, Irish Times, 24 June]

“Mayor of Derry and Strabane Colr. Michaela Boyle, has called on party leaders in Northern Ireland to pledge their strong support to the campaign to get Derry’s medical school over the line. Mayor Boyle was speaking following last week’s cross-party meeting in the Guildhall to discuss growing concern over the fact that the doctor training facility Ulster University plans to open in Derry has not yet been signed off …” (more)

[Brendan McDaid, Derry Journal, 21 June]

“Sinead O’Shea’s documentary, A Mother Brings Her Son to Be Shot, released in cinemas last September, provides a harrowing vision of Creggan, a working-class area in Derry city. Filmed over the course of five years, the documentary is a longitudinal observation of a family, the O’Donnells, who live in an area that is alarmingly disaffected by the post-Troubles political reality in Northern Ireland …” (more)

[Maurice Fitzpatrick, Irish Times, 2 June]

“Scholars voice outrage at Ulster University’s plans to confine ‘impartial’ records of conflict to history. It is one of the most important sources of information about the Troubles in Northern Ireland, a historical memory bank of data, stories and images used by scholars around the world. The Conflict Archive on the Internet (Cain) website, based in Derry, has taken two decades to build up an unrivalled encyclopaedic digital record of the conflict …” (more)

[Rory Carroll, Guardian, 30 April]

“Ulster University spent £226k on settlements to staff that included ‘gagging clauses’ in the past two years, it has been revealed. The BBC has reported the figure was made up of six separate payments to staff, which included non-disclosure agreements (NDA) …” (more)

[Belfast Telegraph, 18 April]

“Sinn Féin MP Elisha McCallion has said there is an urgent need for approval for a medical school to be established at Magee. The Foyle MP said: ‘The latest report from the Auditor General details the amount spent on locum doctors highlights the shortage of doctors and the need for more to be trained …'” (more)

[Sinn Féin, 9 April]

“Sinn Féin has called for the Irish government to commit funding for City of Derry Airport, the A5 and Magee University under its contingency planning for a ‘no deal’ Brexit …” (more)

[Kevin Mullan, Derry Journal, 13 February]

“Northern Irish universities made only 10 unconditional offers to prospective undergraduates in 2018. That is far lower than most universities in England or Wales. An unconditional offer guarantees a pupil a university place regardless of their A-Level results …” (more)

[Robbie Meredith, BBC News, 31 January]

“Ulster University has finally sealed the deal on the purchase of the former Foyle College site in Londonderry, allowing expansion plans to proceed. A year after it was expected, the university (UU) confirmed it now owns the Duncreggan Road site …” (more)

[Donna Deeney, Belfast Telegraph, 29 January]

“Plans to expand Ulster University’s Magee Campus are said to be progressing well following the acquisition of the former Foyle College site. The Magee Medical School will be at the core of the expansion …” (more, audio)

[Highland Radio, 25 January]

“Sinn Féin MP Elisha McCallion has welcomed the acquisition of additional land by the Ulster University’s Magee campus which will allow for further expansion. The Foyle MP said …” (more)

[Sinn Féin, 25 January]

“A move by University of Ulster to erect Irish language signs across campus has been labelled as a ‘political stunt’ by the Ulster Young Unionists. A University of Ulster Students’ Union (UUSU) council meeting was held in mid-November where a new bilingual signage policy was agreed. This would see Irish language signs replacing existing signage over time across the university’s four campuses in Belfast, Coleraine, Jordanstown and Derry …” (more)

[Catherine Gallagher, The College View, 12 December]