GMIT Castlebar applications up 43 percent

Anton McNulty

A FORMER Castlebar town councillor has welcomed a marked increased in applications for degree courses in GMIT Castlebar. However, he feels the revelation could eclipse the reality that five courses have been cut at the institution.
GMIT announced that there has been a 43 percent rise in applications for degree courses in its Castlebar campus, with Applied Social Care, Early Childhood Care and Accounting among the popular choices for the CAO applicants.
The news was welcomed by former Labour councillor Harry Barrett, who is part of the Mayo GMIT Action Group that has campaigned against the cuts to courses at the Castlebar campus.
He said the rise in applications proves that courses at the campus could be a popular choice among students.
“Let’s face it, the college had 1,200 students at one point, and there is a long way to go before it ever reaches that number again. Cutting five courses does not help that,” he said, adding: “Those five courses were viable if they had been marketed properly.”
He continued: “This is welcome news … but the community outrage [over the course cuts] probably helped to add to that figure [the 43 percent rise]. There is still an underlining issue of poor management from Galway, and local management [are] not fighting their corner to push to secure the future of the college.”
Michael Hannon, GMIT Vice President for Academic Affairs and Registrar, expects the first-year intake to be up by 10 percent in September.
“Overall, GMIT has made 10 percent more offers at honour degree level this year compared to last (2016). There is evidence of confidence returning in the construction sector, with increased offers being made on all of our construction-related programmes in the School of Engineering, including Mechanical Engineering.
“Demand also remains strong for science-related programmes, despite the national trend, and also for Computing and Business programmes,” he said.

Difficult times
The Mayo GMIT Action Group was formed after cuts were made to courses in the Castlebar campus and they have led campaigns against the cuts. They organised a protest march in Castlebar last May where they called on the public to fight to save the campus.
At the beginning of the year, former Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister of Education, Richard Bruton announced the establishment of a working group to develop ‘a plan for a sustainable future and growth options’ for GMIT Castlebar.  
The working group’s report is expected to be released in a matter of weeks. Mr Barrett said the action group is planning to meet shortly to prepare for the report. He said he hoped the working group took into account the action group’s recommendations to secure the long-term future of the campus.