Dr Maria Hinfelaar, President of LIT, expressed a cautious welcome of the most recent publication by the HEA: “in the past couple of years since the publication of the Hunt Report, which aimed to reform the higher education sector, we have seen a range of consultation documents and policy proposals that have not always been clear and in some cases contradictory.” She referred specifically to international review panel reports recommending mergers between universities and institutes of technology, which have definitely been ruled out by the Minister and the HEA. Also, criteria for technological universities now appear unachievable since they set the bar for the number of postgraduate research student numbers at a level that the system will not be able to fund. For this reason, last December LIT decided to park the proposal for creating the Munster Technological University together with CIT and IT Tralee, and instead to prioritise the regional cluster which includes the University of Limerick and Mary Immaculate College.

“It is clear that the HEA endorses LIT’s decision to remain as a stand-alone institute of technology with a strong and distinct focus on enterprise. LIT itself is already the result of a consolidation process through the incorporation of the former Tipperary Institute, with campuses in Thurles and Clonmel that now complement our strong presence in Limerick City where we have our main campus adjacent to Thomond Park and the state-of-the-art LSAD campus on Clare Street. We are a proud institution with roots going back to 1852, we are the IOT of the Year, we are financially strong - and why should we give up that identity.” The HEA document, however, also makes clear that there will be challenging objectives set for the new regional clusters. Dr Hinfelaar commented: “we will need to take the Shannon Consortium to the next level and really begin to collaborate at the programme level. Staying autonomous does not mean avoiding change and reform. We are ready for that challenge.”

Completing the Landscape process (PDF)