Professor calls for inquiry into UCC affairs
Professor Desmond Clarke — who is also a member of the governing body — alleged the governing authority “has failed to manage the university properly” during Prof Gerry Wrixon’s presidency.
A spokesperson for UCC rejected Prof Clarke’s claims as being without substance and challenged him to back any such allegations “with full details”.
Prof Clarke, who heads the philosophy department, said he alerted Education Minister Mary Hanafin about the situation three months ago.
“I’m aware that the things I am saying are almost incredible,” Prof Clarke told a news conference in Dublin yesterday. “From our point of view it’s almost surreal to work and live in UCC.”
Prof Wrixon has been college president since 1999. In May 2005 he was given an extension of nearly four years, but within a year announced his resignation.
Prof Clarke claimed UCC academics had been excluded from nominating anyone to the selection committee for the new president.
Among his allegations, Prof Clarke claimed:
* Corruption in making appointments.
* Breaches of the law, of university statutes and regulations.
* Intimidation and bullying of staff.
* Concerns about the use of public monies and the university’s “unsustainable” debts.
* A general failure of governance.
Prof Clarke also alleged Ms Hanafin was allowing the university to rush through the appointment of the new president “without dealing with the issues raised about corrupt appointments”.
A newspaper advertisement seeking the new UCC president, published in recent days, set October 9 for latest date for receipt of applications.
Asked why he was the only UCC person at the news conference, Prof Clarke said people who spoke out would “suffer the consequences”.
In February 2005 Prof Clarke proposed a motion that UCC’s academic council not give Prof Wrixon an extension of office. This, he said, was carried by a 2:1 majority.
UCC had debts totalling at least e60 million — all incurred since 1999, he claimed.
“The result of the debts is that we have no money for lecture rooms, for staff, for almost anything a university would normally do. Our whole focus is on trying to service the debt.”
He said UCC’s capital debt was larger than that of all the other universities combined.
A spokesperson for UCC said Prof Clarke was a long-term critic of the current administration. He was a member of the governing body and if there was corruption, he was a member of that governing body.
“There isn’t a single instance where any of the allegations he has made have found the university has acted wrongly in any way.”
The spokesperson said if there was corruption Prof Clarke should provide full details to the authorities.
PROFESSOR Des Clarke is head of UCC’s philosophy department and an elected member of its governing body.
He has been one of the strongest critics of Prof Gerry Wrixon’s presidency of the university and was among a group of governors who sought to challenge the extension of his tenure beyond his 65th birthday on the grounds that it breached UCC statutes. However, the statutes were successfully amended and the move approved by the Government in May last year.
In December 2004, the governing body passed a motion dissociating itself from statements made by Prof Clarke in a circular letter to fellow governors about a student accommodation development in which UCC was involved. The professor argued it was his right to raise questions about the administration of the university.
A motion to expel him from the governing body was proposed by another governor, businessman Humphrey Murphy, but was deferred.
When it appeared on the agenda of the governing body’s February 2005 meeting, Prof Wrixon proposed that such matters be dealt with by an ethics committee and the motion was withdrawn.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
