Without warning, Batt kills off delicate, 102-year-old NUI

PRESIDENT'S LOG:I THINK I should confess something: I have never really understood what the National University of Ireland is all about. Well, I am not a graduate of the NUI and have never worked for it or its constituent colleges, so I suppose it's been easy to see it as one of those mysteries that surround us and which is more attractive when you don't try too hard to understand or explain it, writes FERDINAND VON PRONDZYNSKI

But going by the very sensible maxim that if something owns property, then it exists, the NUI has a very definite existence on Merrion Square. In fact, its premises reflect the aura of mystery, since they are full of little corridors and stairs that take you around corners and past series of doors until you have no idea where you are.

Still, the NUI has been one of those things that, even if not fully understood, are part of the essence of Ireland. Its list of past chancellors is a roll call of the great and good of modern Ireland, and its graduates elect three members to the national parliament. And yet, in my mind at least, it is curiously distinct from the colleges that make up its constituent parts, like some ethereal body with delicate features that never quite has to enter the rough and tumble of daily life.

Anyway, all of that is about to end. Last week, Batt O’Keeffe seemed to come out of absolutely nowhere to announce, in a press release, that he was intending “to dissolve the National University of Ireland (NUI)”. That was really rather a grand statement, as the NUI is a statutory body, established by the Irish Universities Act 1908, as amended by the Universities Act 1997. In that sense, the Minister cannot “dissolve” the NUI any more than I can, though I was quite attracted to the image of the NUI being some sort of giant Alka-Seltzer tablet that would dissolve in a torrent of fizz as the minister chucked it into the water, as some kind of succour for a country struggling with its Noughties hangover.

However, what the minister can do is introduce legislation to wind up the NUI. In fact, the press release implied that what would happen would be an additional element in the legislation to establish a new national quality body for higher and further education, closing down the NUI and transferring its functions as appropriate.

So for those of us outside the NUI, does any of this really matter? Isn’t it just an issue for UCD, UCC, NUI Galway, NUI Maynooth and the various recognised colleges? I gather the minister (rather late in my view) is going to meet the presidents of the four colleges to talk through the implications. So shouldn’t the rest of just stay out of it? Well no, not entirely. There may be broader issues of relevance to the entire sector, and it may be worth saying what they are.

First, there is a general issue of principle. As we now know, the minister made his statement without any consultation whatsoever with anyone in the NUI or its colleges. I understand that they did get a warning phone call a couple of hours before the announcement, but that was it.

Of course, An Bord Snip Nua has recommended this move, and to that extent, it might be argued that it should have been anticipated, but I still think that there are enough consequent issues to have required fairly detailed consultations. Indeed, there is a little bit of me that now wonders whether I might get a phone call next week telling me DCU was being closed down in 10 minutes. Consultation, if properly managed, is not a sign of weakness and indecisiveness, but helps to ensure that the issues are properly recognised and problems in implementation identified in a timely manner. In addition, it would have been right to alert and consult the NUI’s alumni.

Secondly, there is a big need right now for what is called “joined-up government”. Last year, the minister established a strategic review of higher education, and the steering group charged with producing that review is due to report within the next couple of months. The major objective of that review is to set out a strategic context and structure for the future of the sector. So how can it make sense to come up with this decision just at this point, before the report has been issued?

Finally, I am wondering what will happen to the NUI Seanad seats. More than 30 years ago, the people decided, in a constitutional referendum, that the franchise for the six university seats should be extended beyond the graduates of TCD and the NUI. Since then, successive governments of all shades have done absolutely nothing about this, showing what can only be described as contempt for the electorate. Maybe the dissolution of the NUI will now provide the prompt for action on this point, though I’m not holding my breath.

Actually – and recognising that I am not a primary stakeholder in all this – I am not opposed to the winding up of the NUI. It was, I suspect, an inevitable decision and was bound to come sooner or later. The Minister, who I think has courage and some considerable political skills, is almost certainly doing the right thing. But maybe not entirely in the right way.

Ferdinand von Prondzynski is president of Dublin City University