Shock as ATU goes ahead with exam schedule despite treacherous travel conditions

There is much concern and discontent at the decision of Atlantic Technical University (ATU) to go ahead with exams despite the dangerous travelling conditions caused by snow and ice. 

Many ATU students in Donegal are due to sit exams on Monday and Tuesday, and ATU announced on Sunday that exams would be taking place as planned, including those due to start at 9.30am on Monday. On Monday morning ATU Donegal then announced that exams would be taking place at 11am instead. 

In a post on Facebook, a spokesperson for ATU Donegal said: “Update: exams at ATU Donegal Letterkenny campus are now taking place at 11 am and 3 pm today.

“All exams on our other campuses will continue as scheduled.

“Please allow extra time for safe travel and take care on the roads.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for ATU Sligo and St Angela’s said: “Met Éireann has issued a Status Yellow Warning including areas around some ATU campuses. Icy and sleety conditions may lead to difficult traveling conditions - please take extra care on the roads and pathways.

“All ATU campuses remain fully operational and exams will continue as planned. 

“ATU will monitor the situation and will update students via email and social media if situations should change.”

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For students who had already made the decision not to travel on safety grounds, this announcement came too late for them to change their plans. Others had undertaken the treacherous journey on Sunday or early on Monday. For many, they will simply miss the exam. 

One student told Donegal Live: “My bus wasn’t running yesterday [Sunday] so there is just no way for me to get to Letterkenny. It looks like the only option is to apply for a deferral which means I have to sit the exam in August instead.”

A student from near Laghey who was due to travel to ATU Sligo said: “Cars are not able to get up and down my road safely. I can’t get to the main road, never mind to Sligo.”

Others have taken to social media to express their shock at ATU’s decision to continue with the exam schedule with no regard for travelling conditions. Most students were home on their Christmas break and not in their student accommodation, therefore being in the position of travelling often significant distances just to sit the exam. 

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One parent commenting on ATU’s social media post summed up the thoughts of many, saying: “The date for the exams can always be changed, a person's life once taken in an accident can’t be changed.”

Met Éireann has also come in for criticism for not upgrading the weather warning given the dangerous travelling conditions. Snow and ice black spots such as Barnesmore Gap - on one of the busiest roads in the county - have been reported as being impassable by motorists. And many people in Donegal’s hills and mountains have been unable to leave their homes.