Colum Eastwood attacks Executive PfG over ‘up to 10,000’ Magee places pledge calling to ‘shocking row back’

The Foyle MP strongly criticised the Executive’s ‘Our Plan: Doing What Matters Most Draft Programme for Government 2024-2027’ document that was published on Monday over its commitment to the Derry campus of the Ulster University.

The ‘Our Plan’ programme set out nine immediate priorities for the remainder of the current Stormont mandate.

Under the first – to grow a globally competitive and sustainable economy – the document states: “As outlined in New Decade New Approach, the Executive will continue to implement the commitment to expand Ulster University’s Magee Campus so that it can accommodate up to 10,000 students.”

Mr. Eastwood has criticised the wording of ‘up to 10,000’, saying it differs from the commitments in NDNA.

NDNA pledged that the Executive would ‘expand university provision at Magee in line with commitments made by the previous Executive, including through the establishment of a Graduate Entry Medical School’.

An appendix to the 2020 NDNA outlining a possible PfG that was ultimately never agreed further stated that ‘the Executive will bring forward proposals for the development and expansion of the UU campus at Magee College, including the necessary increase in maximum student numbers to realise the 10,000 student campus target and a Graduate Entry Medical School’.”

Following the publication of the ‘Our Plan’ document Mr. Eastwood said: “It is genuinely outrageous that Ministers have actively and blatantly rowed back on the clear commitment to achieving a minimum of 10,000 student places in Derry.

"The overdue and overhyped PfG instead seeks to ‘accommodate up to 10,000 students’ - a commitment so devoid of ambition that the paltry number of student places we have right now could be considered to have met it. They have no mandate to downgrade the promise to people in Derry.

"Setting 10,000 students as a minimum requirement was about putting down a marker and creating a clear ambition for Derry as a hub for medical sciences, new skills and well paid jobs.

"Watering down the commitment that I secured from the British Government is a terrible political decision by an Executive that has deprioritised Derry.

“This document is called ‘Doing what matters most’ - which says it all about how little Derry matters to them. We need political leaders to champion this city and the potential we have - that’s why I’ll continue to make the case for sustained investment and 10,000 student places here at an absolute minimum to allow us achieve our potential.”

In March of this year the Economy Minister Conor Murphy launched a Magee taskforce to develop and oversee an action plan for expanding the campus to 10,000. The final report is due to be published before the end of this year..

The target of delivering 10,000 students at Magee College, however, dates as far back to Ilex’s One Plan of 2011.

The regeneration plan proposed a university campus in Derry ‘serving 9,400 full-time-equivalent (FTE) students (including 6,000 full-time undergraduate students)’.

This was to be ‘supported by enhanced provision of 750 full-time undergraduate students at the NWRC (bringing the total full-time undergraduate students there to 1,500) over the 10 year period to 2020’.

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