'Inequalities' prevent TUs and ITs from building student accommodation, says new president

Professor Vincent Cunnane spoke ahead of the launch of the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest (TUS)

Professor Vincent Cunnane, the incoming president of Ireland’s third technological university, which is the result of the merger of Limerick IT and Athlone IT, and has campuses in Clonmel, Thurles and Ennis, as well as Limerick and Athlone. Photo: Brian Arthur

Distinct “inequalities” that limit the borrowing capacity of institutes of technologies (IOTs), and technological universities (TUs) and stop them from building their own student accommodation like ‘traditional’ universities must be addressed.

That’s according to Professor Vincent Cunnane, the incoming president of Ireland’s third technological university, the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest (TUS).

Giving IOTs and TUs this borrowing capacity would go some way towards alleviating pressures on the rental market, according to Prof. Cunnane.

“Imagine where we would be if those traditional universities hadn't had the capacity to build student accommodation,” he said.

But imagine where we would be in four or five years' time if the technological sector was allowed, and given the opportunity to build its own student accommodation?

Prof. Cunnane was speaking to the Irish Examiner ahead of the official launch of the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest this afternoon. The move will see a merger between Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) and Athlone Institute of Technology.

Professor Cunnane is the outgoing president of LIT, where he was appointed in 2016.

“On a personal level, it's a huge honour to have been chosen to be the founding president of the technology university here,” he said.

“I'm really excited by the prospect. It’ll be a huge challenge, there's no doubt about it. But I'm up for that challenge and really looking forward to the next couple of years as we establish this new institution, this new technological university.

“It’s something that represents quality, its transformative nature, and it will have a huge impact.” 

“This is a big departure, a big change, you know, merging two very successful organizations,” he added.

He admitted that merging two very successful IOTs to become Ireland’s third technological university "in and of itself is a big job".

“But we have [also] changed a lot over the lifetime of our consortium, meeting onerous legislative requirements in order to get to an international panel and get through that and get a lot of praise for how we've done it in the short time that we've done it.” 

The new TU will see an emphasis on applied research, as well as new degree programmes.

“There's an awful lot that will go on and that will evolve as well over the next couple of years, but the goal is to become established and well known as a technology university.

“We would hope to become the leading technology university in Ireland, that is a clear ambition.” 

There is a major funding issue around the sustainability of higher education, according to Prof. Cunnane.

President of the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest, Professor Vincent Cunnane: “Our expansion in numbers is manifesting itself in an accommodation crisis." Photo: Brian Arthur

“Within that though, there are complexities and vagaries that need to be addressed. I'm getting no extra money because I'm becoming a Technological University [today], as opposed to when I was president of LIT,” he explained.

“As well as finding a sustainable model based on Cassells report, which I believe is now on the desk of the Minister for Higher Education which he is currently contemplating, we need to remove these inequities within the higher education funding system.

“One that is just patently obvious at the moment is the absence of a borrowing capacity for the IOTs, and indeed the new TUs and that doesn’t change [today] either.

“We need to have a borrowing capacity, which allows at least the commercially driven activity such as purpose-built student accommodation to be taken on board.” 

The new TU would be building if it had the capacity to borrow, he explained.

“We have the space, we have the desire, we have the numbers, and that would help to alleviate the student accommodation crisis, obviously, but also would take students out of the general community and allow those homes to be opened up for young families and professionals.

“So I'm not just looking for an outcome from the Cassells report, I'm also looking for the erosion of distinct inequities between traditional and technological institutions.” 

The availability of student accommodation is a national issue but it has been exasperated this year, with students protesting at the Dáil last week to highlight the issue of enormous waiting lists for campus accommodation nationally and soaring rents for students living in private rented accommodation. Some have elected to commute, while other have been forced to sleep on couches as they are unable to secure accommodation.

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“There has been an increase in the numbers coming through the CAO system, and Ireland has become a very attractive place for European students to come to now post-Brexit.

“Our expansion in numbers is manifesting itself in an accommodation crisis."

Allowing TUs and IOTs to build their own student accommodation, as traditional universities have done, is one solution, although not an immediate one, he added.

TUS will comprise a student population of more than 14,000 and a staff of approximately 1,200 people across six campuses in Athlone, Limerick (Moylish and Limerick School of Art and Design), Clonmel, Ennis, and Thurles.

Niall Collins, the Minister of State for Skills and Further Education, will be among the keynote speakers who will make an address during the ceremony.