Irish leaders urged to back new uni

Political leaders in the Republic have been urged to get behind the establishment of a Derry-Donegal university to help the wider economy, as committed to the ‘New Deal ,New Approach’ blueprint.

The Derry University Group’s Conal McFeely and Garbhan Downey have now written to Leo Varadkar; Mary Lou McDonald, Micheál Martin, Eamon Ryan, Alan Kelly, Catherine Murphy & Róisín Shortall and the Collective Leadership of Solidarity-PBP urging that the “North West needs its own university to drive recovery and deliver equality”.

In the letter the local lobby group state: “Three months ago, as part of ‘New Decade, New Approach’, the Irish government guaranteed it would help deliver 10,000 full-time students at Magee in Derry as part of a cross-border university in northwest Ireland.

“We call on all parties to recognise the immediate need for the development of the North West and border regions, and to commit publicly to the establishment of the Derry-Donegal university as a priority in the next programme for government. This will end the North West’s 60-year wait for an independent university, reverse the higher education deficit and deliver equality. Crucially, it will provide the engine room for the region’s economic recovery.

“A new NW university will help ensure that citizens from the North will have the same rights to education and training as students of other EU states. It will also provide a working model that will lead to the development of all-island education policy on: the curriculum, academic standards, vocational skills, accessibility, student housing costs and welfare/safety. This is one commitment that you cannot afford to leave off the agenda.”