Ninth Level Ireland

“Fears are growing that St Patrick’s Day celebrations will rage through Belfast’s student area after ‘alarming’ reports of multiple house parties on Monday night. Residents in the Holyland area said young people have been gathering ‘from far and wide’ for drunken festivities, and blatantly disregarding current lockdown restrictions …” (more)

[Claire McNeilly, Belfast Telegraph, 23 February]

“Almost 40,000 students at university or in full time education in Northern Ireland will receive a one off £500 payment to mitigate against the disruption caused by Covid-19. The scheme will cost £22 million and students have been told they can expect payment before the end of March …” (more)

[Mark Bain, Belfast Telegraph, 4 February]

“The Vice Chancellor at Ulster University (UU) has told Derry councillors that under the current funding model it will not be possible to deliver the long-promised target of 10,000 students at the Magee campus. This week UU confirmed that the School of Health Sciences undergraduate programmes will relocate to its Magee campus in Derry from September 2022 …” (more)

[Garrett Hargan, Derry Now, 3 February]

“Mayor of Derry and Strabane has questioned whether NI’s Economy Minister is committed to the expansion of Ulster University’s Magee campus. The university announced on Tuesday it was relocating undergraduate healthcare degrees to the campus in Londonderry …” (more)

[BBC News, 3 February]

“It’s been a debate rumbling on since the 1960s and has been subject to many slugger posts over the years. Including the lack of strategic thinking over the long-term viability for our health service. The post graduate entry medical school at Magee is set to take students in September this year (according to UU’s website at time of posting) but it has been blighted by delays and began as a project in the early noughties …” (more)

[Jay Burbank, Slugger O’Toole, 2 February]

“Ulster University has confirmed that the School of Health Sciences undergraduate programmes will relocate to its Magee campus in Derry from September 2022. The relocation will bring over 800 undergraduate students to the Magee campus …” (more)

[Derry Now, 2 February]

“Ulster University will create 800 new student positions at its Magee Campus in Londonderry by re-locating the Health Sciences undergraduate programmes from Jordanstown in 2022 when this campus will close. These places will boost the number of students at Magee, which currently stands at approximately 4,300, but it will still fall short of the 10,000 student places promised in the New Decade, New Approach deal of 2020 …” (more)

[Donna Deeney, Belfast Telegraph, 2 February]

“Northern Ireland’s two main universities have been urged to follow the lead of their counterparts in Great Britain and introduce a ‘no detriment’ policy to protect student grades against the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Alliance MLA Stewart Dickson said he has written to both academic institutions, asking them to follow the policy …” (more)

[Mark Bain, Belfast Telegraph, 13 January]

“The two local universities are considering taking advantage of a new UK student foreign exchange programme while also being able to avail of the EU’s Erasmus scheme. The UK’s withdrawal from Erasmus has been described as a huge blow by the other devolved nations, which will no longer be able to participate …” (more)

[Mark Bain, Belfast Telegraph, 29 December]

“Belfast is soon to be transformed further with a number of exciting multi-million pound developments. The coronavirus pandemic has put a hold on all aspects of life, and that includes construction work which has held up some of the plans for new buildings in the city centre …” (more)

[Orlaith Clinton, Belfast Live, 23 December]

“Universities in Northern Ireland are to move all teaching online by 9 December to allow students to return home for Christmas. Students have also been advised to take a Covid-19 test before they return to their family home. Rapid testing is being offered to students at Queen’s and Ulster Universities …” (more)

[Robbie Meredith, BBC News, 4 December]

“A group of student nurses at Queen’s University have challenged Health Minister Robin Swann after payments for placements in Covid-19 environments were not re-instated. During the first lockdown student nurses and midwives studying at Queen’s and Ulster universities were heavily relied upon to help alleviate pressure on qualified nurses, and their efforts were recognised by the Department of Health financially …” (more)

[Donna Deeney, Belfast Telegraph, 4 December]

“Hundreds of Northern Irish students have been suspended and hit with fines totalling over €14,000 for breaking lockdown restrictions. Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) has imposed sanctions on 109 students for coronavirus-related offences, while Ulster University (UU) said it has dealt with 146 transgressions …” (more)

[Claire McNeilly, Independent, 19 November]

“Ulster University’s Vice Chancellor has insisted that an overspend of £125m at its new Belfast campus will not impact upon plans to expand Magee under questioning from MLAs. VC Professor Bartholomew would not be drawn on specific goals for the Derry campus but said there are a ‘myriad of factors’ that will determine the level of growth and it will be ‘demand-led’ …” (more)

[Garrett Hargan, Derry Now, 11 November]

“Speaking about a shared island today the Taoiseach Micheál Martin committed to ‘coordinated investment’ at Ulster University’s Magee campus in Derry. For around 60 years the people of Derry have campaigned for a full-sized university in the city …” (more)

[Garrett Hargan, Derry Now, 22 October]

“The Executive Office will meet representatives of Northern Ireland’s universities on Tuesday to discuss their response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It comes after a number of students in Queen’s University halls of residence in Belfast have been told to self-isolate after testing positive for the virus …” (more)

[Belfast Telegraph, 28 September]

“When Brid Ruddy first moved to the Holyland area of Belfast in the mid-1970s, it was to escape the sectarian confines around the Oldpark Road in the north of the city …” (more)

[Michael Sheils McNamee, BBC News, 27 September]

“A number of students from Ulster University have received a precautionary suspension for breaching coronavirus guidelines. A spokesperson for the university said ten students have received precautionary suspensions, with a further three cases pending since a new disciplinary policy was introduced on Monday …” (more)

[Eimear McGovern, Belfast Telegraph, 23 September]

“A number of students have been suspended from Queen’s University following disorder in the Holyland area of south Belfast in recent days. It’s after the university received notifications of coronavirus regulation breaches from the PSNI, which led to the suspension of the students for two weeks …” (more)

[Eimear McGovern, Belfast Telegraph, 22 September]

“Police have issued 55 Covid notices, including 31 at one house alone, and eight prohibition notices after another night of disruption in the Holyland area of south Belfast. Two arrests were made for drug possession and assault, while a passing police patrol gave first aid to a 20-year-old man who was drunk and unconscious …” (more)

[Belfast Telegraph, 21 September]