Merger of two Munster third level colleges to proceed

THE merger of two Munster third-level colleges is to proceed under proposals brought to Cabinet by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan this week.

The amalgamation of Tipperary Rural and Business Development Institute (TRBDI) and Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) is likely to be formalised by the start of the academic term starting in just over a year. But the move goes against a recommendation of An Bord Snip Nua last summer that the much smaller 338-student Tipperary college should be abolished and students re-assigned to nearby institutes of technology.

However, that proposal was strongly opposed locally and independent Tipperary North TD Michael Lowry threatened to withdraw his support from the Government in the Dáil if they implemented it.

The Irish Examiner understands that the merger proposals from Ms Coughlan, who took over at the Department of Education in March, were discussed by ministers at their meeting on Wednesday and the move is likely to be concluded by September 2011.

The move goes against third-level college rationalisation proposals by An Bord Snip Nua, chaired by economist Colm McCarthy, that could have saved around €9 million a year. Its report last July also suggested amalgamating two Dublin-based institutes of technology in Blanchardstown and Tallaght into the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), merging the National College of Art & Design with the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, and amalgamating the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies with Trinity College Dublin or University College Dublin.

The group made a separate proposal that the Government abandon its long-held plans to move all activities of DIT, currently operating from almost 40 locations around the capital, to a €1.5 billion campus at Grangegorman near the north inner city. However, the Department of Education has allocated €2 million for its work on the project this year.