Give Dundalk IT “a bit of room but not too long” to flesh out TU discussions -Harris
DkIT and its president Dr. Diarmuid O’Callaghan should be given “a bit of room but not too long” to explore its options to become a Technical University, according to Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris.
Minister Harris was responding to a parliamentary question from Louth Fine Gael TD Fergus O’Dowd, who sought an update on the progress the college had made in moving towards TU status.
Deputy O’Dowd stated:
“The Minister has been doing a lot of extra work in County Louth. I very much appreciate it in all capacities. I ask the Minister to outline the progress made to date on Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT, becoming a technological university under the Technological Universities Act 2018 and if he will make a statement on the matter.
“It is hugely important. It has not happened up to now, despite all the excellent efforts the Minister and other people in the education field are putting into it.”
In response, Minister Harris said that every application that had come to him for a technological university had now been delivered on, but that there had been challenges.
“We do not need a history lesson on how we get over that DkIT issue and how we deliver a university of scale for the northeast and all the good opportunities that will come from that.
“I need to say at the outset that DkIT is an autonomous higher education institution. Of course, that means the strategic direction of the institution is rightly a question for its governing body.
“This includes how it wishes to position itself in the higher education landscape. I know from my own recent discussions, and indeed a meeting I had with the newly appointed president of the institution, Dr. Diarmuid O’Callaghan, whom I congratulate on his appointment, that he has been holding a series of exploratory discussions with a number of higher education institutions, including Maynooth University.
“He has been very proactive in advancing discussions. Some of them are at quite an exciting moment. In the latter case, in relation to Maynooth University, both presidents have now informed their respective staff that these contacts are under way.”
Minister Harris went on to say that he would need to take a step back as discussions were at an early stage, but that if any substantive developments came into view, the college would be required to put it to staff, students and relevant stakeholders.
He concluded: “As such, I am satisfied that we now need to allow the new president, Dr. O’Callaghan the room - a bit of room but not too long - to flesh out all the discussions to the fullest extent possible. I stand fully ready to support the institute in continuing its own strategic inclusions in due course.”