Archibald insists Magee growth a priority as McLaughlin raises potential 108 Derry redundancies and warns of ‘major crisis’

The universities minister acknowledged staff concerns after Ulster University announced last week it was seeking up to 450 voluntary lay-offs.

Foyle MLA Sinéad McLaughlin raised the issue directly with the minister at Stormont on Tuesday warning jobs potentially at risk included 221 in Belfast, 114 in Coleraine, 108 in Magee, and seven in Jordanstown.

“Would you agree that this is a major crisis in higher education and what are you doing to urgently rescue this sector?” asked the SDLP MLA.

Dr. Archibald replied: “It will be a very worrying time for staff and my thoughts are with them and their families as they face that uncertainty, which is why I'm working to secure a budget settlement that can deliver a prosperous economy with a sustainable further and higher education sector.”

She said 'the financial position facing my own department is extremely challenging and the Executive has been very clear about that'.

"We have repeatedly warned that our finances are unsustainable. We need to ensure that we have a proper sustainable funding model for the Executive that allows us to invest in our public services,” said the minister.

Ms. McLaughlin replied: "With the greatest respect the sector is collapsing. I have engaged with UU. I have spoken with Queen's University. I've spoken to the unions this morning and there is a real, genuine shock at the announcement.”

The SDLP Economy Spokesperson said she was ‘particularly concerned at the 108 jobs at risk at Magee’.

"How can you stand over your Executive and your commitment to expand Magee?” she asked.

Dr. Archibald said the further and higher education sector was underfunded by the British Government in Britain and the North.

The minister insisted that was why ‘we need to continue as an Executive with a united voice with all parties in this house to demand better for the people that we represent’.

“Magee, and the expansion of Magee, is an Executive priority. It is a Programme for Government commitment. It is a New Decade, New Approach commitment and since the Executive was restored in 2024 my department has prioritised investment of £35m and we have seen the impact of that by the increase in student numbers by 22 per cent.

“We have the Magee Taskforce which is working alongside other partners to help us deliver on that 10,000 student target,” said Dr. Archibald.

The exchange took place at Stormont on Tuesday.

The potential redundancies were also raised by MLAs as Matter of the Day business on Monday, when Ms. McLaughlin, said: "We continue to hear about the commitment to expand Magee to 10,000 students, alongside the other ambitions set out in the City Deal for Derry City and Strabane.

"It is vital that we deliver on its ambitions, but, at the moment, it is difficult to see how that can be done if the workforce that we need in order to expand — additional workforce is needed, be that administrators or those looking after the faculties and new builds — is reduced on the scale that has been suggested. Growth and expansion depend on people, and to say otherwise is simply incorrect.”

Ms. McLaughlin was speaking in the Assembly on Monday after Ulster University staff were told up to 450 staff could be made redundant across the organisation.

DUP MLA for North Belfast Philip Brett, who is chair of the Stormont Economy Committee, said: “Let us be clear: the impact will not be felt just by those 450 members of staff. Students will feel the impact through reduced services not just in my constituency of North Belfast but in East Londonderry, Coleraine and Foyle, with the Magee expansion now clearly at risk. Those are not my words; they were the words of the Permanent Secretary of the Department for the Economy just three weeks ago.”

Last month Ian Snowden, Permanent Secretary at DfE told the Economy Committee £40m in recurrent funding would be needed to support 10,000 students at Magee as well as extra undergraduates at Coleraine from 2032.

Sinn Féin MLA Pádraig Delargy said there needed to be an overall review of the funding model for third level education in the North.

“We need to look at the review of higher education funding to try to alleviate some of the pressures that universities face. Under the leadership of Caoimhe Archibald, DfE has invested significantly in UU over the past number of years and in the past two years in particular.

"The difficult financial situation that that university and all other third-level education institutions are experiencing has been experienced for many years prior to this. The North cannot be a mudguard for cuts made by the British Government,” he declared.

Mr. Snowden said the money would have to come from additional allocations from the Executive or increased tuition fees.

DUP MLA Maurice Bradley said: “UU's accounts show a 2025 operating deficit of £20.2m. It says that there has been no inflationary growth in the teaching grant for almost two decades and that the funding model has not properly reflected the added cost of operating a multi-campus university. Will the Minister level with the House? Where is the fully funded plan for Magee?”

Matthew O’Toole, the SDLP leader in Stormont, said: “Everything about the announcement from UU goes against those priorities and what the Minister and her predecessor have said about the priority being placed on higher education here in NI, both in relation to the expansion of Magee and, more generally, when it comes to building a high-skill economy here in the North.”

TUV MLA Timothy Gaston claimed that ‘for years, nationalist politicians have campaigned for the focus of attention to be on Magee, resulting in Coleraine being neglected’.

"Even in the aftermath of the devastating news for Coleraine's Ulster University, a spokesperson for the Department said that the expansion of the Londonderry campus remained ‘a clear ministerial priority’,” he remarked.