Music college claims rejected by department

CLAIMS by staff at the Cork School of Music last night that work on a long-promised new college building will begin soon have been rejected by the Department of Education.

The Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) representatives at the college said that announcement on how the Government plans to proceed with the project will be made within weeks.

The TUI made the comments after meeting with senior officials from the Departments of Education and Finance yesterday.

However, a Department of Education spokesperson said the Government had given no indication as to when the building project will commence.

“The Government remains committed to the Cork School of Music. That’s all that was said,” a department spokesperson said. The meeting came as a result of industrial action by the 80 teaching staff at the school, a constituent college of Cork Institute of Technology, last week.

Staff reported for work to the main campus of CIT eight days ago instead of to their temporary classrooms, which have been in use since work on the €60 million project was due to begin in late 2001.

However, that action was suspended on foot of a promise that the Department of Education would meet with their representatives.

At that meeting in Dublin yesterday, TUI officials were told that the issue was the subject of ongoing discussions between Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy; Education Minister Noel Dempsey, and Health Minister Micheal Martin, who first announced the project in 1999.