Waterford University discussion

Excellent analysis. The SEEM report is frightening.

Government TDs across the region promised a gamechanger. SETU needs to double in size to halt the brain drain. The new PPP building stabilises the existing operation but what is needed is transformative investment to grow. They did it in Maynooth between 2007-2015; so the model is pretty simple.

Absent is the political will from Government TDs and electoral consequences of saying 'gamechanger' and doing nothing; and then going 'aw shucks it is really hard and people in Dublin are mean to them'. Same as 24/7, same as the airport.

All Wexford needs to do is look at how Waterford has struggled to get developments in 3rd level despite being the top ranked IoT at the time, couple that with TUs not being able to borrow and they might just realise that the whole TU thing was a shambles.

The fact SETU has the crystal site now and Waterford is the capital of the southeast with private industry developing next door, one would hope that any major develops would and should occur in Waterford, as you say it's hard to see a Wexford campus being justified.

Night time courses, etc, I'm all for it but the cost of developing such for a handful of courses could be Bananas.

No need for a campus for part-time courses as 90 precent are online now .

The right thing would have been full university in Waterford and SETU in Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford.

Yes, that was never really a runner with people like Phil Hogan and Brendan Howlin in positions of power when the TU structure was being developed. There’s also been strong opposition from the existing university sector to any full-scale university in Waterford and unfortunately, Waterford hasn’t had a politician with enough influence to counter that narrative over the past 20 years.

But it’s encouraging to finally see building work on the Cork Road campus and the new Veterinary and Pharmaceutical building approved for the Crystal site. Locating the new Pharmacy, Veterinary, and Home Economics courses in Waterford is the right decision and a long-overdue acknowledgment of the city’s potential.

What’s deeply frustrating, however, is the continued political pandering to Wexford, a county town that simply doesn’t have the population base or infrastructure to sustain a viable full-time university campus. Pouring scarce public funds into a project that’s destined to struggle makes no sense when Carlow and Waterford both have established campuses that need and deserve further investment.

For years, Waterford has been held back by short-sighted political compromises designed to appease local interests rather than strengthen the university as a whole. It’s time to prioritise what’s sustainable and strategic, not what’s politically convenient and stop indulging the delusions of grandeur of the Wexford politicians.

No. Funding secured to bring project to planning stage

Yes still a few years away but that new building is going to happen

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless’ TD announcement today allows SETU and ATU to appoint design teams and to progress plans for their facilities to the planning stage. It marks an important step forward in expanding Ireland’s veterinary education capacity. 

The announcement paves the way for the first major development by the University on the Glassworks site in Waterford City. This facility will house state-of-the-art laboratories, teaching spaces and specialist resources to support delivery of SETU’s new Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine (MVB) programme and other One Health related disciplines. 

https://www.setu.ie/news/setu-welcomes-government-approval-of-new-veterinary-schools

And the existing crystal site carparks are to be opened for SETU staff and student use with a new pedestrian entrance to the campus across the road.

Also planning has been approved to refurbish and redevelop the third floor of the main building with construction starting in 2026

https://www.eplanning.ie/WaterfordCCC/AppFileRefDetails/2460778/0

Phase 2 of that project is to build a similar third floor on the back part of that building as new staff offices to cater for the staff that move up from College street when the new building is finished .College street will be taken over by WCFE and all SETU courses moved to the main campus with the granary also closing an architecture going to a specialist floor in the new building

And the main building is also set to receive an insulation wrap and full window replacement as part of an energy-saving project. They completed the same work on the Business Building last year, and now it’s the main building’s turn. After a decade of little to no development on the Waterford campus, it’s great to see it will be a hive of building activity over the coming years

https://www.rte.ie/news/leinster/2025/1119/1544600-dundalk-institute-of-technology/?fbclid=IwdGRleAOKqPRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeUFAjng-Eye6tS7_qjCsTt4K6DUfWHsxHWvo0qTTvFIMI9PKWbeQNhU2t304_aem_CbXD3bHwI1FzQcCj8rR6jw

Another fly in the ointment of the TU farce.

The question now is, as DKIT will come under Queens does it come under the same funding pact as NUI's or will it fall into the TU funding bracket?

I completely agree. From what I read about it this looks like one of those affiliate-style arrangements you often see between universities here and partner colleges in China or India. In those setups, the parent university essentially provides academic oversight and ratifies the awards, but has limited involvement beyond quality assurance and branding.

It seems likely that Dundalk will simply be rebranded as “University College Queen’s Dundalk” or more likely Queens University College Dundalk ( the existing universities will never let them use University College Dundalk and we already have a UCD and DCU ) while continuing to operate much as it does now. The day-to-day teaching, management, and local operations probably won’t change dramatically , it’s more about alignment with Queen’s University Belfast than a full integration.

Given the disparity in size and scale this is very much a parent - child relationship. In some ways it makes sense for DKIT - 'University' status with minimal investment and costs - certainly much cheaper than trying to shoehorn themselves into an ill fitting merger.

Neither institution is in a great place financially. QUB has been rolling out voluntary redundancies and DKIT in their last published accounts made only a small surplus.

It will be interesting to see the response when QUB start to audit academic governance and quality in DKIT and find issues (not saying they will, but if they're putting their brand on parchment they will need to show appropriate oversight).