PRIVATE third level colleges have blamed the Department of Education for a decision by the Northern Ireland education minister, Mr Michael Ancram, to phase out grant support for Northern students attending private colleges in the Republic.
Northern students starting courses in private colleges in the Republic next autumn will no longer be eligible for grants, Mr Ancram said yesterday. The decision, which does not apply to Northern students already studying here, will save the Northern Ireland authorities up to £4 million a year.
The colleges blame the Department of Education, which they said did not appreciate the effort the colleges were making to provide third level places.
"After all, why should the North pay the fees of their students in our colleges, when the Department of Education here won't," said Mr Ray Kearns, president of Portobello College in Dublin. "Naturally Mr Ancram availed of a loophole to save himself some money. Im surprised he didn't do it sooner.
Mr Ancram yesterday said the abolition of fees in the Republic made his announcement timely. "Our current practice is an anomaly and one which we can no longer afford," he said.
The abolition of undergraduate fees announced last year does not apply to the private colleges, which have threatened legal action for what they allege is discrimination against their students.
The Minister for Education, Ms Breathnach, plans to introduce tax relief for students in these colleges next autumn ironically, yesterday was the closing date for submissions to a working party planning this measure.
The number of Northern students studying in the Republic has grown from 1,100 in 1993/94 to 1,700 in 1994/95, while attending private colleges has risen from 250 to 900. In some Dublin colleges up to 80 per cent of students are from the North.
The students' union in Griffith College, Dublin, described the policy change as "an absolute disaster for young people". Ifs president, Mr Declan Breen, said "The main reason Northern students come here is that they're closer to home than they ever could be in Britain. For a tenner they could take the bus home to Belfast and work there at the weekends.
"Northern students brought a lot to this college we'll be devastated to be deprived of them. And what does this say about the talk of bridge building, cross Border links. Not a lot," he continued. A "significant minority" of Northern students in the college belonged to the unionist community, he said.
The president of LSB college, Ms Jean Kilcullen, said the decision was very disappointing. She called on the Department to begin a dialogue with the private colleges on the issue of student support.
