Reforming Law Reform

One of the recommendations made in the report of the  Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes (‘An Bord Snip Nua’) concerns the Law Reform Commission, and it runs as follows: The Law Reform Commission’s mandate is to keep the law under review and make recommendations for reform. The Law Reform Commission was [...]

Engaging the politicians

On this blog I have now conducted two interviews with senior politicians about higher education and other matters. Both politicians – Brian Hayes TD of the Fine Gael Party, and Ruairi Quinn TD of the Labour Party – expressed similar thoughts and concerns on certain issues, and it will be important for the higher education [...]

Guest blog: A festival of ideas

A Festival of Ideas by Dr Iain Mac Labhrainn, Director of the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at NUI Galway It was nice to see TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) receive such coverage in much of the press last week although one suspects that it is perhaps the celebrity attendees (via the “entertainment” [...]

Operatic ambitions

It is sometimes said that one of the key characteristics of a of a world class city is the existence of a well-maintained opera house. I believe I am right in saying that Dublin is one of the very few capitals in Europe – maybe the only one if you except Liechtenstein and San Marino – [...]

Interview with Ruairi Quinn TD

The following interview with Ruairi Quinn TD, Labour Party front bench spokesperson on education and science, was conducted on July 27, 2009, by Ferdinand von Prondzynski FvP: Can I ask you first about your general perspective on education at this point? What are your priorities right now, and the priorities of your party? RQ: Well, [...]

Guest blog: Cut and paste?

Cut and Paste? by Dr Perry Share, Head of Department of Humanities at the Institute of Technology, Sligo I was looking back at two earlier posts in this blog in April and July of this year, and was reflecting on how they relate relate to a topic that I have had a passing interest in (both [...]

Blog update

The next post on this blog will be by Dr Perry Share, who is Head of Department of Humanities at the Institute of Technology, Sligo and is a sociologist. Prior to returning to Ireland in the late 1990s he taught at a regional university in New South Wales, Australia, for a decade. He has written and [...]

Re-starting the brain drain?

In 1978 I finished my studies in Trinity College Dublin and went off to Cambridge to do a PhD. By the early 1980s I had returned to Ireland and began my academic career as Lecturer in Industrial Relations in TCD. In the mid-1980s, together with a former fellow-student, I briefly contemplated organising a class reunion [...]

Universities: finding a third mission

When in March of this year Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin launched their joint initiative, which they branded an ‘Innovation Alliance,’ the following comment appeared in the announcement: The new 4th level TCD / UCD Innovation Academy will begin the process of defining and mainstreaming innovation as the 3rd arm of the university [...]

Through space and time

Earlier today I was driving along a major road when I saw an advance warning that told me there was a ‘dual carriageway ahead’. Fair enough. I drove another 200 yards or so, and at this point another sign suggested: ‘dual carriageway now.’ And indeed, right there the dual carriageway (divided road, for an North [...]