Sir, - I write about Sean D. Barrett's letter on TCD and the Irish Universities Bill 1996 (August 6th). He seems to suggest that TCD should be excluded from the larger family of Irish universities (one of whose members, UCC, already has more students than TCD).
The presence of outside members on governing bodies has been the norm for a long time, with no obvious detrimental effects. indeed, the larger family of universities (Trinity College included) are all heavily grant aided by the State, yet they still enjoy a considerable degree of autonomy within the overall system of higher education.
Autonomy should not be confused with autocracy. Rather than complain about outside representation on governing bodies, attention should be drawn to other more dangerous provisions proposed in the Universities Bill. One of these would allow the Government to suspend or even dismiss governing bodies and "chief executives". - Yours, etc.,
Mount Carmel Road, Newbridge,