Waterford IT staff reject terms for proposed technological university merger

Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT). File Picture: Denis Minihane.

The proposed Technological University of the South East has been dealt another setback.

Staff at Waterford Institute of Technology have rejected terms for the proposed amalgamation between it and IT Carlow.

The Teachers Union of Ireland branch at the college has cited “treatment of members” serving on the amalgamation’s working groups as well as concerns regarding funding and governance.

The Technological University has been on course to be founded for next January.

It’s a major reversal from when the memorandum of understanding (MOU) was put to WIT staff in 2019 - on that occasion, it was overwhelmingly accepted by 93 percent of TUI members. However, the opposition came from Carlow staff for that vote.

Now, in a short statement released Friday evening, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland branch at WIT confirmed the MOU’s defeat.

Concerns have been repeatedly aired in Waterford about how the university will take shape post-merger, amid concerns WIT will be sidelined by Carlow and a planned large-scale campus for Wexford.

Speaking earlier this week, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the new technological university will be “centred” on Waterford.

The secretary of the branch, which represents 500 lecturers and researchers, Dr Kathleen Moore Walsh, announced the news.

“Since June 2019 we have sought to progress issues of concern for our members in WIT regarding the MOU, but no progress was made," she said.

“The lack of progress, the difficult industrial relations, recent treatment of members serving on TU working groups, and concerns regarding funding and governance, has caused the previous overwhelming support of our members to decline significantly. 

"We look forward to progressing the concerns of our members to get the support for the proposed TU project back on track.” 

The branch’s statement said the memorandum was “essentially the same” terms which it had approved previously.

A spokeswoman for the Minister for Higher Education did not immediately respond when contacted.

The final tally is not yet known but Dr Moore Walsh described the result as a “sound” defeat for the terms proposed.

Reacting to the news, local TD and Minster of State Mary Butler said it was “disappointing” and could “jeopardise not only Waterford being a university city, but also a university of international scale in the South East”.