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Nick Rabbitts, 27 Sep
CAMPAIGNERS pushing for a new veterinary school have called for the
process to be paused after University of Limerick (UL) withdrew its
plans.
One vet, Dr James Quinn, says the decision by UL not to proceed with
its project for a school in Limerick is a “catastrophic” loss.
He said the school would have brought a capital spend of €50m and an
annual payroll of €20m attached to a vet school of 500 students at UL.
In a letter to the college community, its acting president Prof Shane
Kilcommins wrote the decision came about given the estimated cost of
the proposal, the current pause on capital expenditure, and “the
circumstances the university finds itself in”.
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The announcement was made the day before a new report by the
Comptroller and Auditor General confirmed significant losses were
incurred by the university’s acquisition of the former Dunnes Stores at
Honan’s Quay in the city centre, and homes purchased in Rhebogue for
student accommodation.
It’s reportedly led to a decision by college bosses to pause short and
medium term investment while a new way forward is charted.
The Vet Working Group, who held meetings on campus as recently as last
month says “conflating” the governance issues with the university’s
ability to open a veterinary school has “serious consequences.”
“While recognising the serious governance issues relating to the lack
of oversight in the spending of public money on property purchases in
the Limerick area, UL’s academic record and research programmes are not
in question,” the group said.
They believe this loss will “resonate for the next century”.
“It removes all possibility of a second hub being founded, for Ireland
to excel in the vital research required,” the group said.
Instead of in Limerick, new third-level vet schools will be hosted on
campuses at other colleges - the Atlantic Technological University in
Donegal and Galway, plus South East Technological University in
Kilkenny.
The Vet Working Group has said: “The prospect of two small scale low
ranking vet schools in Ireland and the duplication of staff, facilities
and a curriculum represents a major overspend of scarce resources. The
graduate supply problem first identified to the government by the Vet
Working Group in 2022 required a single, ranked large intake site such
as UL to deliver a meaningful solution.”
Calling a pause, the group believes, will allow the Higher Education
Authority to involve independent international veterinary educational
experts in the decision making around where a new school can be
located.
“The loss of the potential that a new vet school in UL can deliver has
serious consequences for the farming and urban communities of the whole
island. In the same week that UL withdrew from the process, we hear
that 83 Irish students will be starting their first year in Warsaw at
the start of October,” they concluded.