Trinity College Dublin has refused to say whether it is willing to revisit its controversial decision to cancel its renowned three-year undergraduate acting degree course.
However, it said the purpose of a proposed forum to review the needs of undergraduate actor training in Ireland was to have "discussions on all of the issues and TCD will participate fully in these discussions".
"It would be premature to even speculate as to what decisions will need to be considered in light of the forum's deliberations," it said in a statement issued in response to questions from The Irish Times.
The university is proposing that the forum, which it has revealed will be convened at the end of this month, should include a discussion of the potential role of a national institute for dramatic arts.
Such an institute would "draw on the best experience and expertise from both the third-level sector and the theatre profession", it said. But the college also declined to say if it would be willing to incorporate any such institute within TCD.
Announcing that Prof Nicholas Grene of the university's school of English would chair the forum, which will also examine how undergraduate actor training can best be delivered at a national level, the college provided some suggested topics for possible discussion.
These include the role of academic institutions, including TCD, in the training of actors and the suitability of a three-year course to train actors.
The decision to discontinue the course, revealed in The Irish Times last month, has prompted significant criticism in recent weeks.
However, the college has strongly defended its decision.
One well-placed source within TCD told The Irish Times that staff at the university had been shown "contempt" and had not been properly consulted in advance of the decision to discontinue the course.
"Given the absolute lack of consultation among its own staff, it seems somewhat disingenuous to be going around asking the rest of the world [ about this]," the source said.
However, TCD said the forum would include key stakeholders in the theatre profession.
"Trinity College continues its commitment to drama education in Ireland as evidenced in its existing drama courses which produce some of country's finest actors and theatre practitioners," it said.