Tributes paid to administrator central to CIT development

Tributes have been paid on the retirement of a respected academic administrator who helped deliver two of the State’s most critical pieces of educational infrastructure.

Cork Institute of Technology president Dr Brendan Murphy led tributes over the weekend following the retirement of Michael Delaney as vice president for development at CIT.

He said Mr Delaney was one of a founding group of five who made CIT what it is today, delivering world- class facilities across all of its campuses.

But he singled him out for particular praise for the role he played in delivering two multi-million public private partnership projects — CIT Cork School of Music and the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) in Ringaskiddy, both constituent colleges of CIT.

Each facility is the only one of its kind in the country, and both have developed a worldwide reputation for educational excellence.

“Not only was Michael instrumental in the delivery of the CIT Cork School of Music and the NMCI but he was also crucially involved in the development of the Nimbus Centre, which supports research, learning and industry, CREATE, CIT’s Centre for Research in Advanced Therapeutic Engineering, and CIT’s on-campus business incubation centre, Rubicon,” Dr Murphy said.

Mr Delaney, originally from Galway, was department head in CIT’s biochemistry department before moving to an administrative position at a time when CIT was beginning a period of rapid expansion.

He played a key role in the campaign to secure the replacement of the former Cork School of Music, which was deemed no longer “fit for purpose”.

Despite stumbling blocks and lengthy delays, Mr Delaney doggedly pursued the project, until the Government signed off on the investment.

The NMCI is now a European Centre of Excellence and attracts students from as far away as Mauritius.

Meanwhile, UCC’s director of spoken Irish Pól Ruiséal, has retired after 40 years’ service.

Appointed director of the Ionad na Gaeilge Labhartha and secretary to Bord na Gaeilge in 1995, he helped raise the profile and standing of the ionad in language teaching and promotion at home and abroad and drafted the university’s bilingual policy.

He helped develop a Gaeltacht scholarship scheme, family scheme, schools liaison programme, and founded the first Irish Language Residential Centre or mini-Irish language community on campus.