College authorities fought opposition to UCC status

ATTEMPTS by the Government to thwart University College Cork’s ambitions to be a full university in more than just name led to a vigorous campaign of opposition by the college authorities.

In particular, they took exception to remarks in the Dáil by Garret FitzGerald in February 1975 in which he backed plans for the merger of Cork with University College Galway and dismissed opinion to the contrary as the views of interest groups.

In a strongly worded response to Dr FitzGerald, a co-ordinating committee at the college pointed out the merger plan was a direct reversal of a 1968 Government decision that there would be full universities in both Cork and Galway.

This decision had come on foot of the recommendation by the Commission on Higher Education.

The committee pointed out that in its 1972 report on university reorganisation, the Higher Education Authority recommended a full university in Cork.

Trinity College, University College Dublin and University College Galway were all in favour of Cork becoming a full university.

“Dr FitzGerald’s attempt to dismiss the strong view of all these bodies regarding the future of UCC as coming from ‘interest groups’ is indicative of a lack of genuine argument in favour of the position he is trying to justify,” the committee wrote.

They attacked the basis of Dr FitzGerald’s argument - a Europe wide comparison of university numbers - by showing that the term ‘university’ had different connotations in different countries and could not be accurately compared.

But their piece de resistance was recalling Dr FitzGerald’s own remarks on the matter seven years earlier when he said colleges needed a minimum student body before attaining full university status and he suggested a figure of 4,000. “Need we add more than merely to state that University College Cork now has over 4,500 students?”