Bradley claims three campuses put Ulster University on unequal footing and calls for more funds for Coleraine
East Derry MLA Maurice Bradley has claimed the multi-campus model has cost Ulster University £15m in the past five years putting it on an ‘unequal footing compared with other universities’.
The DUP MLA called for more funding for UU’s Coleraine campus.
Mr. Bradley was speaking during an adjournment debate on the Riverside Theatre at Stormont on Tuesday.
“The principle of a rural university for Northern Ireland was established in the 1960s, when Coleraine was chosen ahead of Armagh and Londonderry, in that order,” he declared.
He added: "The multi-campus model has cost the Ulster University almost £15 million over the past five years. That is an unequal footing compared with other universities.
"Over the past five years, Ulster University has spent almost £231 million on its Belfast/Jordanstown campus, over £14 million at Magee and just over £4·5 million in Coleraine.
"At the same time, Ulster University spent £7·5 million on Studio Ulster in one year — 2023-24. Some members of the Executive need to take heed of that spend.
"While millions have been allocated to the expansion of Magee Coleraine received a modest spend under the guise of regional imbalance. I question the imbalance in university funding.”
Mr. Bradley urged MLAs to ‘ensure that the Riverside Theatre and the Coleraine campus of Ulster University thrive’ asking them to ‘pay particular heed to that when they laud the expansion at Magee and forget about the Coleraine campus’.
Independent MLA Claire Sugden also raised concerns about the three campus model.
“I am entirely sympathetic to Ulster University and the predicament that it finds itself in. It is struggling to fund a three-campus model in Northern Ireland.
"Realistically, if we are going to build up the Magee campus — I have no difficulty with that; it is in the second city in Northern Ireland, which should surely be given consideration — we will have to take courses from elsewhere. That is exactly what has been happening at Coleraine.
"That is what we are doing in order to build up Magee. Maybe we have to have an honest conversation about tuition fees and how we fund our universities in Northern Ireland.”