Waterford has been campaigning for a university for more than 20 years, citing the high rate of unemployment in the southeast as a reason for special designation.
The issue has been raised at the highest level in successive governments, and legislation is currently before the Oireachtas designed at finally making the dream a reality.
Has Waterford IT, then, shot itself in the foot by pulling out of a planned merger with IT Carlow, a necessary step before it can be designated a technological university?
Certainly, WIT is adopting a high-risk strategy. It has looked at how the merger will impact on its performance targets, and believes IT Carlow will drag it down, thereby delaying approval for its application.
Diluted
Cllr
Mary Roche
, a member of the WIT governing body, pointed out that 90 per cent of staff were qualified to PhD or masters level but this would be diluted under the merger.
There is also some bitterness locally that WIT has been leap-frogged by other institutes in a process that was set up primarily to benefit the southeast.
Two bids for technological university status have already been submitted to the Higher Education Authority, and have got an initial stamp of approval from an external committee. These are bids by DIT, Tallaght IT and Blanchardstown IT in the greater Dublin area and a southern bid by Cork IT and IT Tralee.
The HEA and Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan had been growing increasingly concerned at the failure of WIT and IT Carlow to produce a joint bid this year.
WIT must now persuade the Minister to change the rules so it can make a stand-alone application. Or it must find a new strategic partner, though that looks unlikely. Cork IT, its closest suitor, stressed yesterday it was pushing ahead with its joint bid with Tralee and has no appetite to resubmit a new application to accommodate Waterford.
