Backlash as Maynooth University terminates new student centre plan due to spiralling costs

Students at Maynooth University. Current students and alumni are outraged after paying a levy fee since 2015 which was to fund the construction of the student centre.

Students at Maynooth University say they are angry about the decision to abandon the construction of a new students centre due to the spiralling costs associated with it. 

The construction was terminated due to rapidly escalating costs linked to technical construction issues as well as hyperinflation, according to the university.

Current students and alumni are outraged after paying a levy fee since 2015 which was to fund the construction of the student centre.

In 2015, the students of Maynooth voted on a referendum to increase the levy, which would rise incrementally by €12.50 each year from €112 in 2015 to €150 in 2018.

President of the Students’ Union Niall Daly said the levy was to fund the development of the Student Centre among other projects.

“This project was the flagship project to be funded by the student levy. Students have been paying this levy, in addition to the student contribution, since 2015 and disappointingly none of the student levy funded projects have been delivered in that time,” he said.

A spokesperson for the university said: “While we understand and share the students’ disappointment, the Students’ Union has been involved in this process throughout, as they have seats on the Governing Authority and Project Board, which require a commitment to good governance.” 

'Disdain' for students

Former vice president for student life Anna Travers said that the termination shows a “disdain” for students at the university.

“Having nine years of students forking out money to pay for their space to exist on campus, pushing it down the road each year and now terminating it with no answers to where that money is going now or whether a refund will be offered,” she said.

Ms Travers said she feels for the current students who just want a place to exist on campus when they are already struggling with accommodation.

“They can give out about students’ attendance and engagement but they are pushing students away with decisions like this,” she said.

A spokesperson from Maynooth University said that when the students endorsed the levy rising to the current rate of €150, it was not contingent upon this specific student centre project.

“We are reassuring students and alumni that the student levy fund will not be affected by this decision, and that monies from the fund will not be lost because of the termination of the contract,” they said.

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The spokesperson said that as the university is a public sector institution and is a steward of public monies, they are obligated to abide by public sector spending code rules and legislation for procurement.

“Among these is a requirement that any increase in price shall not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract.

“The fact that the latest project costs already exceed 50% of the original contract was a key consideration for the Governing Authority decision,” they said.