Kenny criticises ‘negative’ coverage’ of ‘vibrant’ Castlebar GMIT campus

ON CAMPUS An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, TD, and Richard Bruton, TD, Minister for Education and Skills, pictured at the Regional Action Plan for Education Forum Focus on Apprenticeships and Traineeships at GMIT Mayo Campus, Castlebar, with Bernardine McGlade, HR Manager, Baxter Health Care, last month.  Pic: Keith Heneghan/Phocus

Anton McNulty

AN Taoiseach, Enda Kenny has criticised calls for the GMIT campus in Castlebar to be a stand-alone entity as well as the ‘negative image’ of the campus in the local media.
The long-term future of the Castlebar campus came under the microscope earlier this year when plans to scrap four courses currently on offer at GMIT Castlebar were revealed. Local politicians were enraged by the decision, and councillors passed a special motion at the March meeting of Mayo County Council to retain all existing courses.
The political pressure resulting from GMIT’s decision resulted in Enda Kenny and Minister for Education Richard Bruton making a visit to the the campus, where they announced the establishment of a working group with the ‘objective of developing a plan for a sustainable future and growth options’ for the Castlebar campus.  
There have been calls in some quarters for the Castlebar campus to be separate from GMIT in Galway. Responding, Kenny said such a venture would not benefit the Castlebar campus, arguing that ‘partnership and collaboration is the future of higher education’.
“I have noted calls in recent commentary for a stand-alone entity which would then place the campus outside the proposed Connacht-Ulster Alliance. This alliance involves western and north-western Institutes of Technology working together in partnership with each other to form a Technological University.
“It is unclear how a stand-alone entity would benefit Castlebar,” he said before going further still, arguing that ‘it would in fact place it at a disadvantage in terms of the collaboration that is often required by researchers in higher education to access competitive funding opportunities, such as the EU Horizon 2020 programme’.
“For instance, researchers and companies in Ireland have won a total of €386 million in EU funding from the Horizon 2020 programme from 2014 to February 2017. Of this €386 million in funding, higher-education institutions accounted for €221 million, or 57 percent of the total. Partnership and collaboration is the future of higher education and requires the need to work together, as demonstrated by the strategic alliances developed between NUI Galway and UL [University of Limerick],” he stated.
Mr Kenny, who last week became the longest serving Fine Gael Taoiseach, described the Castlebar campus as a ‘vibrant campus’ and criticised what he saw as negative coverage in the local media.
“I also wish to point out that some of the recent commentary in local media is portraying a negative image of GMIT Mayo Campus, in particular to prospective students, current students, and staff of the Institute. There are positive developments happening at the Mayo Campus, such as the Outdoor Pursuits Centre, which should be finished by the end of this year. We must remember that Castlebar is a vibrant campus and remains a part of Mayo’s social and cultural identity,” he said.
Mr Kenny said the working group’s full report should be presented to the Higher Education Authority’s Finance Committee in the third quarter of this year.