Carlow College president had believed it would become part of SETU

Instead, Carlow College is set to close with the loss of almost 90 jobs and its land and buildings set to be transferred to SETU

Fr Conn Ó Maoldhomhnaigh told the Oireachtas further and higher education committee that 'we understood it to be staff, students, and courses that could transfer' to South East Technological University. File picture

Wed, 15 Jul, 2026 - 16:37

Jess Casey

The president of Carlow College, which is set to close with the loss of almost 90 jobs, has told TDs he believed the private college would be integrated into the South East Technological University (SETU).

In May, it was announced the college, which is almost 250 years old, is to wind down its operations over the next two years. Its land and buildings are to be transferred to SETU.

Carlow College president Fr Conn Ó Maoldhomhnaigh told the Oireachtas committee on further and higher education that the college had “worked night and day” towards a merger with SETU.

He said he was told last December that a memo had been brought to Cabinet and the move had been approved. He went on to include this in his Christmas message to staff, he said.

“We took great hope from that, and staff took great hope from that.

At that stage, we understood it to be staff, students, and courses that could transfer.

Fr Ó Maoldhomhnaigh also told the committee news about the closure did not become clear until the end of April. A decision was made to delay the announcement until after students had completed their exams.

'Working towards integration'

Sinn Féin TD Donna McGettigan said staff were actively encouraged to continue working towards the integration. “Then, suddenly in February there seemed to be an almost a turnaround in that, and in May then there was the announcement that there would be no integration, that staff would be let go and students would be affected.”

Yvonne McGrath of Siptu, which represents staff at the college, said: “It hadn’t been flagged to us that there were problems. We were aware to some degree that that there were financial concerns but at no point had that been flagged to any of the staff or their representatives that there would be a problem for integration.”

Professor Veronica Campbell, the president of SETU, told the committee it had committed to carrying out a “due diligence exercise” into a proposal put forward by Carlow College to absorb it into SETU. A final report to the SETU governing board was presented in February, she said.

Staff expected integration into SETU

TD Richard Boyd Barrett said he was struggling to understand how one of the oldest education institutions in the country could be shut down when staff were under the impression it would be integrated into SETU.

“Why were the staff treated so badly that they are told at the last minute when they were led to believe previously that they were going to be integrated into SETU and the ethos of the college and their jobs would be retained?”

Fr Ó Maoldhomhnaigh said a decision was made to delay the announcement of the closure to staff and students until after they had completed their exams.

Keith Moynes, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Further and Higher Education, said it had “always been open” about the opportunity for Carlow College.

“We have seen other parts of the higher education sector integration of private institutions into public institutions.” However, its always been clear it must be a “financially sustainable proposition”, he added.