Sir, – Further to (”Groundbreaking Irish psychiatrist Ivor Browne dies at 94″, News, January 24th), I met the late Ivor Browne only once in my life. In the late 1970s, he asked to meet me as I was the Labour councillor for the Grangegorman area and a member of the City of Dublin VEC which then managed six colleges that later became the Dublin Institute of Technology (now Technological University Dublin).
He explained to me how he was anxious to accelerate the closure of the Grangegorman hospital and he wondered if it could be developed for a higher education institution such as the VEC Dublin colleges.
It turned out ultimately to be a prophetic proposal but at that time the education authorities were focused on the creation of two new national institutes in Glasnevin (now Dublin City University) and Limerick (now the University of Limerick). The proposal was put on the long finger but in due course it came back on the policy agenda. Today Grangegorman is a hive of activity as TUD is developed on the site.
I believe it would be appropriate to commemorate the achievements of Ivor Browne on the new campus.
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It could be done by naming one of the refurbished or new buildings, a street or a square in his honour.
He certainly left a remarkable legacy in Grangegorman and it ought to get a permanent memorial. – Yours, etc,
PAT CARROLL,
Dublin 7.