South-east university proposal in rough seas

Efforts to establish a university in the south-east appear to be floundering after Waterford Institute of Technology halted work on the required merger with Institute of Technology Carlow.

The larger college’s governing body decided on Tuesday to “suspend all activities related to merger” and its request for an urgent meeting with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and Department of Education has been granted.

It is understood WIT wants to apply instead for technological university status on its own to speed up the process, or to seek approval to apply independently instead and bring in IT Carlow when it also achieves necessary standards.