Sir, - it was with interest that I read the report of November 28th, and the letter from T. Quinlan (Galway), on the subject of university status for the Dublin institute of Technology (DIT). While DIT may reply to Mr Quinlan, I urge caution in comparisons between his phrase "country cousins" and Dublin. Country versus city, rural versus urban, is not a basis for this debate.
I would like to add two private views to the debate. First, the DIT and its forerunners, the City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee/Mechanics Institute, have served the community, both urban and rural, for over a century as a multi-level institute. As such, DIT has pioneered much of the educational riches and options now available to the youth of the state.
Secondly, the DIT and its forerunners were driven by commercial. industrial and social needs identified by governing bodies, advisers and staff. These needs became structured programmes, and from them the DIT developed into the largest educational institute in the state.
These developments were well funded by the Department of Education, but were never planned by the department officials in the same way as they planned the developments of the RTCs, UL and DCU. Yet the evolution of the DIT has produced an institute very close to the Maastricht Treaty aspirations for education and continuous training, Articles 126 and 127. DIT should in fact be seen as a model for a modern, multi-level, responsive university.
I am urging all Meath TDs to support university status for DIT. - Yours, etc.,
(Faculty of Engineering Technology, DIT), Ashbourne, Co. Meath.