O'Keeffe to dissolve National University of Ireland

[Ed Dantes]

Minister for Education and Science Batt O’Keeffe is to dissolve the National University of Ireland (NUI), it was announced today
O'Keeffe to dissolve National University of Ireland | Irish Examiner

The FFers seem to hate NUI and the graduate vote but how can they dissolve the NUI when that body is named in the Consitution's Article 18?

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]The elected members of Seanad Éireann shall be elected as follows:—
i Three shall be elected by the National University of Ireland.[/FONT]

http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Yout...andNov2004.pdf

[seabhcan]

Interesting...

[seanad voter]

One less "National" institution that isn't national.

[seabhcan]

Time for some Dublin wide university federation, similar to that in London. It could present a single face internationally for the dublin universities for recruiting students, researchers and grants.

[Rebel_Yell]

I think we are due a referendum on the Seanad voting anyway so maybe it's timely. The current situation with a small number of universities in the NUI and 2 outside not to mention the situation of the ITs was crazy anyway. I can't see a downside apart from redoing all that stationary.

[ergo2]

If NUI is dissolved I hope the college in Galway can go back to being called UCG rather than NUIG. Find it hard to identify with NUIG.

[PrinceMax]

Will this have an effect the senate votes? I'm not an NUI graduate, but I hope this isn't a first step to take away the privileged status of certain graduates. I've just graduated, so I'd be gutted. Haven't had an opportunity to use it yet.

[David Cochrane]

It's been announced in the past hour that Minister Batt O'Keefe has announced the abolition of the National University of Ireland.

Minister O'Keeffe moves to dissolve the National University of Ireland

The Minister for Education and Science, Batt O’Keeffe TD, is to dissolve the National University of Ireland (NUI).

Minister O’Keeffe acknowledged the important role the NUI has played in Irish education for more than a century.

‘However, the central role of the NUI was significantly reduced in the Universities Act, 1997, and the need to have a separate body undertaking what is now a limited set of functions has been outlived.

‘The NUI’s four constituent universities - University College Dublin, University College Cork, NUI Galway and NUI Maynooth - have the same statutory status as the State’s three other universities but a small number of administrative and academic functions are still carried out on their behalf by the NUI.

‘Work will now be carried out on redistributing the remaining functions of the NUI and it is envisaged that many of them will be undertaken by the constituent universities,’ said Minister O’Keeffe.

In the October 2008 Budget, the Government announced that the NUI’s functions would be considered in the context of the establishment of an amalgamated qualifications and quality assurance agency.

The McCarthy Report recommended the dissolution of the NUI.

A Bill to establish a new qualifications and quality assurance agency for the further and higher education sectors is now being drafted.

‘I am simplifying the qualifications and quality assurance landscape by amalgamating existing agencies in that area.

‘That pursuit of institutional coherence has led me to conclude that the NUI’s role in higher education is no longer sustainable.

‘This is consistent with the Government’s public sector reform agenda,’ said Minister O’Keeffe.

NUI has awarding relationships with a small number of recognised colleges.

Most of these colleges have already been exploring possible future options for award-making and when the dissolution is completed these colleges will need to enter new awarding arrangements.

One option for them will be to link with one of the former constituent universities.

The NUI has a role in the election of three members of Seanad Éireann.

Minister O’Keeffe will address this issue by working closely with his colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, in the context of wider plans for Seanad reform.

The decision has already been criticised by Fine Gael's Education spokesperson Brian Hayes

Decision to abolish NUI taken without consultation on ‘back of envelope’ calculations - Hayes

Fine Gael Education Spokesman, Brian Hayes TD, has said that Minister O’Keeffe’s decision to abolish the NUI was taken without consultation with the universities and graduates, pre-empts the Government’s own strategy and is not based on any firm calculations.

“The decision of Minister O’Keeffe to unilaterally abolish the National University of Ireland has been taken without consultation with the universities concerned and is totally pre-emptive of the Government’s own strategy on higher education which Colin Hunt has been asked to identify.

“The abolition of the National University of Ireland was proposed in the McCarthy Report. That Report suggested that €3 million could be saved. The truth of the matter is that the NUI does not receive €3 million from the taxpayer and is an important academic alliance for those universities that are members of the NUI.

“Minister O’Keeffe also needs to spell out whether those graduates of the National University of Ireland actually want the NUI to be abolished now? This is yet another example of Fianna Fáil’s disjointed views on higher education.

“Taking piecemeal decisions like this, based on ‘back of the enveloper’ presumptions, before the expert group has been allowed to publish its views on higher education, highlights the incoherent decision making which is now going on in Marlborough Street.”

[Earnest]

Minister for Education and Science Batt O’Keeffe is to dissolve the National University of Ireland (NUI), it was announced today
O'Keeffe to dissolve National University of Ireland | Irish Examiner

The FFers seem to hate NUI and the graduate vote but how can they dissolve the NUI when that body is named in the Consitution's Article 18?

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]The elected members of Seanad Éireann shall be elected as follows:—
i Three shall be elected by the National University of Ireland.[/FONT]

http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Yout...andNov2004.pdf

If you'd read just a few more lines you'd have come across:

3° Nothing in this Article shall be invoked to prohibit the dissolution by law of a university mentioned in subsection 1° of this section.

[KingKane]

Minister for Education and Science Batt O’Keeffe is to dissolve the National University of Ireland (NUI), it was announced today
O'Keeffe to dissolve National University of Ireland | Irish Examiner

The FFers seem to hate NUI and the graduate vote but how can they dissolve the NUI when that body is named in the Consitution's Article 18?

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]The elected members of Seanad Éireann shall be elected as follows:—
i Three shall be elected by the National University of Ireland.[/FONT]

http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/eng/Yout...andNov2004.pdf

You might find we had one on that topic in 1979! Seriously, am I just talking to myself on this issue? Ok don't answer that.

"Minister O’Keeffe will address this issue "by working closely with his colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, in the context of wider plans for Seanad reform", said a statement."

I presume from this last statement that the legislation at a minimum to transfer the maintenance of the register to the department of the environment will be introduced in parallel and possibly just possibly the wider reform of the 3rd level seats. Otherwise there will be no body to manage the register.