Dingle to see influx of students as work starts on CBS site
DINGLE is set to experience the continuing impact of the development of the Sacred Heart University campus in the town with between 350 and 400 students due to attend courses in Dingle in 2019.
The Connecticut university was granted planning permission at the beginning of December for a major redevelopment of the former CBS secondary school site in Dingle, subject to conservation conditions. In the absence of any appeals to an Bord Pleanala, SHU can now proceed with its plans to develop a large educational facility in the former school, which dates back to 1873.
Meanwhile, SHU is continuing to provide courses for students in Dingle using local facilities including rooms at An Diseart. The university provides a combination of two-week programmes and 14-week semesters in subjects including Nursing, Tourism and Marketing, Exercise Science, Marine Studies, and Liberal Arts. SHU students attending these courses earn credits towards their undergraduate studies.
A group of 54 SHU students arrived in Dingle just before the New Year for a fortnight of tuition. On their departure a new group of 37 students will start a 14-week term of study. This group include 23 students of Nursing whose course is provided as a joint venture between SHU and the Bons Secours Hospital in Tralee. A nursing tutor from Killarney who holds both American and Irish qualifications, has been recruited by SHU to comply with the requirements for gaining credits in the US education system.
Another group of students will arrive for short courses in May as well as through the summer and into the autumn. The expansion of SHU’s activities in Dingle includes the establishment of the John Moriarty Institute - an organisation with charitable status which will promote the work and teachings of the North Kerry philosopher. Bernie Phaid Ní Mhuircheartaigh from Baile ‘n Lochaigh, a relation of John Moriarty has joined the SHU Dingle campus staff as an adjunct instructor in music
Bernie is one of seven people employed locally to provide tuition and expertise to the project and over 40 people in total are involved in providing courses in Dingle. The accredited courses provided will be available to students registered with SHU in America.
Meanwhile, initial construction work has already started at the former CBS building and in the old CBS woodwork room on the Mall. According to Prof. John Roney, Co-Chair of SHU in Dingle, the building on the Mall will be ready for use within months and it is hoped construction work on the former CBS secondary school site should be completed within two years.
Outside of the university’s teaching programme, Prof Roney is planning to continue on the success of the ‘Sea, Land and Spirit’ conference that was held in the Skellig Hotel last year. In tandem with that project Prof Roney had a research paper entitled [Mis]managing Fisheries on the West Coast of Ireland in the Nineteenth Century published this week in the Humanities Online Academic Journal.