The Department of Education has accepted that the National College of Ireland needs to move from its present campus in the Dublin suburb of Ranelagh, the NCI said last night in a statement.
An NCI spokesman admitted that there were some points of disagreement between the Department and the college about proposals to move to a site in the Dublin docklands.
The NCI said it would consider the points made by Department officials and discuss them next month with the Minister for Education, Mr Martin. A spokesman for the Department could not be reached last night.
The Dublin Docklands Development Authority last October endorsed a plan by the NCI's president, Prof Joyce O'Connor, to move from the restricted site in Ranelagh to the 1,300-acre docklands area. Part of Prof O`Connor's idea was to improve access to education for local people of all ages in a part of Dublin that has been marked traditionally by low educational attainment and high unemployment.
Originally known as the National College of Industrial Relations, the NCI had planning problems on its four-acre Sandford Road site, which was recently sold for £12.6 million. The proceeds from the sale were expected to make a major contribution towards the development of a docklands campus.
Both the Docklands Authority and the NCI see the proposed college as an educational link between local people and the business community operating from the International Financial Services Centre. However, it is understood that the Department of Education is sceptical about the project.
The NCI said last night it had had a "constructive" meeting with the Department officials.