IT Carlow to investigate site as war of words continues
MANAGEMENT at IT Carlow once again fired shots at certain elected representatives this week in a discussion with delegates of Wexford Sinn Féin who attended a meeting at the college.
In a letter circulated to staff and students in recent weeks, the IT branded commentary from local representatives on the subject of a long awaited new Wexford campus as ‘unhelpful’, something which was elaborated on further in a meeting with Sinn Féin TD Johnny Mythen and councillors Tom Forde and Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin. The trio arranged the meeting with the President of the College Patricia Mulcahy in a bid to progress the provision of the new campus and seek clarity on the situation with the mooted Technological University of the South East.
‘I was very alarmed to learn in the meeting that it appears some of the local representatives who have been the most critical and vocal about the delays of this project had themselves failed to engage directly with the college to try and fix any of these issues, rather than simply highlighting them to the public,’ Cllr Forde said. ‘ The reps from IT Carlow made it clear that this commentary from public representatives has been very unhelpful on such an important and complex project.’
Concerns were also raised around the commercial sensitivity of discussing potential sites and it was confirmed that the college were investigating a Wexford site, believed to be Killeens, in the coming weeks.
‘ This type of information when leaked to the public can escalate site prices beyond the budget of the college,’ said Cllr Ó Súilleabháin. ‘We were glad to learn that IT Carlow are actively investigating a site in Wexford in the coming weeks and we hope that this site will be suitable for the new campus. If not, it will be up to all public representatives and the colleges to work together to suggest alternative locations.
For their part, the college has conceded that the campus at St Peter’s College, on which they say they’ve invested over €6m, is ‘no longer fit for purpose’.
Deputy Mythen said that the college should be commended for their work to date.
‘It’s clear that Wexford is their top choice for this project. In turn we also made it clear that we will work with them in any way we can to help further this project. It’s not as simple as finding a site and building an empty building. This modern Wexford campus must be accessible by public transport, have adequate and affordable accommodation in the area, as well as having suitable curricula and staff numbers.’
‘I would call for cross party support on this project, all public reps need to work together, and actively seek solutions to these obstacles. We need to get it built and we need to get it staffed and fully functioning so that the County can begin to reap the benefits.’
As one of the most outspoken critics of IT Carlow in relation to delays, Labour councillor George Lawlor welcomed progress being made, but was unhappy at apparently being singled out by Sinn Féin and the college.
‘I completely welcome IT Carlow moving on with investigating a site that I brought to their attention via the
County Manager last August,’ he said. ‘I also welcome Sinn Féin at long last coming to the table on the issue of a third level campus for Wexford. It’s an issue that has always had unanimous cross-party and non-party support and the notion that Sinn Féin would use it to attack colleagues who have sought progress on the issue on countless occasions is despicable.’
On the IT branding the input of local representatives as ‘unhelpful’, Cllr Lawlor said: ‘I make no apology for highlighting a lack of movement, progress and an apparent lack of interest in this project for the past nine years. But now is the time to look forward and I welcome that the IT have sat down to the table to discuss sites.’
Cllr Lawlor conceded that he had not personally sought out a meeting with Dr Mulcahy or the management of the college, but said he opted to go via the county manager.
‘On every occasions I raised this issue or had information to provide, I went via the County Manager Tom Enright,’ he said. ‘I felt the information coming directly from him would carry more weight than if brought to the college by an individual councillor. However, now we must look forward and I look forward to seeing progress at pace on the new campus. It’s something that’s far too important to be used as a point scoring exercise.’