The prospect of a University of the South East materialising appear more utopian than ever if the latest leaks from the Hunt Report offer any indication. Or, as one supporter of the bid for WIT’s upgrade put it on Wednesday: “the whole idea has been buried.”
The details of the Government-commissioned Hunt Report, which examines the future of third level education in Ireland, could leave Fianna Fáil on even dicier electoral ground throughout Waterford and the region.
The report’s recommendations will also test the mettle of Fine Gael’s commitment to trigger the process which could lead to WIT’s long-anticipated upgrade to a regional university.
Will this Hunt Report even matter now? Fine Gael and/or Labour will be in Government in a few months, and both party leaders have stated many times that they support giving university status for WIT, as part of their education policy.
I’m glad this report is out before the General Election, so that both parties can be asked “If your party gets into Government, will it take on the recommendations of the Hunt Report, or is it still committed to giving university status to WIT”. Of course, they could (and probably will) say yes and then when turn around and make excuse and trigger more useless time wasting reports that delay any decision for years, just like Fianna Fail did to us.
Labour Party leader Eamonn Gilmore has re-stated his support for university status for WIT but is also has some pre-empted excuses (from WLR): “Speaking on Deise AM Eamon Gilmore says Labour continue to support university designation forWIT. However the labour leader said the current economic situation will have to be taken into account when deciding the future of the third level sector.”
The Hunt report does not mention the word Waterford in its 127 pages on the future of higher education. It mentions Cork and Galway 3 times each, Dublin 8 times, and Limerick 5 times. That says everything you need to know about the Hunt report.
Buried, I think the politicians who have failed to deliver for Waterford will have there careers buried in the coming months. One of the early acts of this FF government, back in 1998 was to give all the other RTCs IoT status- thus removing the separate development track that WIT was on. This is the third report that they have commissioned since the WIT application for a section 9 review in 2006/7. Both labour and FG have promised to upgrade WIT, lets see if these guys stick to their word. Roll on the election.
Where is Brendan Keneally on this, does this man deserve a single vote, as he doesn’t seem to have done a single thing for the City of Waterford?
No-one outside of this county cares about Waterford anymore.