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Irish Daily Mail Report: A Fianna Fail Professor Who Helped Bertie Land His Role

Gaz — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:50:15 +0000

A MAYNOOTH professor helped get Bertie Ahern appointed as an honorary professor – just weeks after he attended the Fianna Fail Ard Fheis.

The former taoiseach was named as an ‘Honorary Adjunct Professor’ of NUI Maynooth’s new Mediation and Conflict Intervention programme on April 7. He was proposed for the post by the head of the university’s business and law school, Dr Robert Galavan.

The appointment has provoked outrage from a large number of students and academic staff.

On Thursday, a petition signed by more 1,200 students against the move was handed over to university president Professor John Hughes, after a protest march by 250 students.

The Irish Daily Mail has learned that Dr Galavan is a Fianna Fail member who attended the party’s Ard Fheis in the City West hotel in February.

Dr Galavan said he thought the appointment of Mr Ahern was a brilliant move. ‘I think it’s a fantastic idea,’ he said. ‘It’s got nothing to do with what I’m a member of or what I’m not a member of.’ The student petition said it condemned the appointment of Mr Ahern as it contradicted the views of large numbers of students and staff at the University.

n ray burke

NUIM defends Ahern appointment

Gaz — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:41:16 +0000

NUI Maynooth has defended its decision to appoint former taoiseach Bertie Ahern as a visiting professor to the college, after more than 1,200 students and a number of academics signed a petition to protest at the appointment.

Mr Ahern was appointed an honorary adjunct professor by the School of Business and Law and is expected to give his inaugural lecture soon. No date has yet been set, however, and the students organising the petition said it appeared the matter was now “the best-kept secret on campus”.

For images from the protest, see here

Irish Times: The petition organised by Free Education for Everyone, a lobby group set up to oppose education cuts, and Labour Youth, was presented to president of the college Prof John Hughes today. The organisers said it was separate to a a letter of protest sent to Prof Hughes last week by 36 members of academic staff.

The organisers claim the petition was signed by over 1,200 students and by a number of academics. They said about 200 people turned out today to witness the hand-over of the petition.

The college said in a statement it was “entirely appropriate” for it to acknowledge the former taoiseach’s mediation skills “and benefit from his unique experience in the context of the work he did, in particular on the Nice treaty and in bringing peace to Northern Ireland”.

Representatives of Free Education for Everyone said, however, Mr Ahern’s appointment to the role was “completely inappropriate”.

Spokesman Garret Fitzpatrick said those who signed the petition were opposing Mr Ahern’s appointment on three grounds: that he had led the governments which had put in place policies responsible for the current crisis, that he was a sitting TD who had voted for education cuts, and that he still had “questions to answer” in relation to his personal finances.

Mr Fitzpatrick said there had been a good response to the petition, with students volunteering to circulate it amongst their classmates. A number of academics at the college had also signed it, he said.

The petition delivered to college president Prof John Hughes today was separate to the letter of protest sent to the president last week by 36 members of the academic staff, yet it shared many of its concerns, the group said.

“We would agree completely with the staff letter of complaint for example in its argument that ‘the political track record of Mr Ahern is one that, on balance, renders him unworthy of the prestigious position that he has been afforded’,” FEE said in a statement.

The group also objected to Prof Hughes’s statement as reported in The Irish Times last week that the arguments against Mr Ahern’s appointment were “irrelevant and prejudicial”.

It said such a statement was “an insult to members of the student body who have highlighted their concern in such numbers”.

“We feel history will view Ahern in the same light as other Fianna Fáil figures like Ray Burke and Charles Haughey, and such an ‘honouring’ can, in the long term, only have a negative effect on the reputation of this fine institution.

“These are not merely guest lectures, this is the awarding of a honorary position to a man with not alone a hugely questionable political track record, but a seat in the Dáil with a party which is pursuing a hugely damaging programme of cuts to make the most vulnerable in society pay for the crisis of a wealthy minority,” the statement said.

In a statement, the college said: “Among the courses offered by the School of Business and Law are the Diploma and the Masters programmes in Mediation and Conflict Intervention.

“The former taoiseach is one of a number of individuals including the chief of staff of the Defence Forces and chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission who have been invited to work with the department, for the benefit of students, in the development of a Centre for Mediation and Conflict Intervention because of their personal experience in this area.

“This appointment, which is unpaid, was approved by both the University’s professorial board, and academic council which contains over 60 senior academics of the university. It is entirely appropriate for NUI Maynooth to acknowledge the former Taoiseach’s mediation skills and [to] benefit from his unique experience in the context of the work he did, in particular on the Nice treaty and in bringing peace to Northern Ireland.”

Free Education for Everyone (FEE) is a student campaign group established at UCD during the last academic year, but it now claims a presence in all seven Irish universities. Its original objective was “to build a mass movement to combat the potential re-introduction of third level fees”.

Last year, it staged a number of sit-in protests to highlight opposition to the proposed reintroduction of third level fees, including protests at the Department of Finance and the office of Green Party TD Paul Gogarty.

NUIM ‘Professor’ Ahern Petition Delivered To University President

Gaz — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:10:31 +0000

On December 2nd 2009, over 250 students and staff marched together to the office of John Hughes, the President of the University, to deliver a petition signed by over 1100 students, demonstrating their opposition to the appointment of Bertie Ahern as an Honorary ‘Adjunct’ Professor.

originally published on indymedia

Protest over Ahern's professorship

Edufactory — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:31:14 +0000

Angry students have protested in NUI Maynooth over former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s appointment as visiting professor in mediation and conflict studies.

About 1,200 people, including lecturers, signed a petition opposing the university’s decision to invite Mr Ahern to take up the honorary, unpaid role.

“This demonstration cannot be ignored,” a spokesman for the Free Education for Everyone (FEE) campaign said.

for photos freom the protest, see here

From the irish Independent

“Students and staff have made it perfectly clear they do not want Bertie Ahern awarded an Honorary Adjunct Professorship on our campus.”

But NUI Maynooth defended the appointment insisting it was a reflection of the work Mr Ahern did in Northern Ireland and on the European Union’s Nice Treaty.

“It is entirely appropriate for NUI Maynooth to acknowledge the former Taoiseach’s mediation skills and benefit from his unique experience in the context of the work he did, in particular on the Nice Treaty and in bringing peace to Northern Ireland,” the university said.

FEE spokesman Donal Fallon spearheaded the NUI Maynooth campaign and attacked the appointment of Mr Ahern over his stewardship of the economy and investigation by the planning tribunal.

He said 250 people marched on President Professor John Hughes’ office to deliver the petition.

“If hundreds of students will show up merely to hand in a petition, how many will protest Bertie’s physical presence here?” he said.

Mr Fallon added: “Our campus is not a place for Fianna Fail photoshoots, it is an academic institution. Bertie Ahern being awarded an Honorary Adjunct Professorship would be an insult to all those who have been awarded such positions in the past from third level institutions.”

NUIM Opposition To Bertie Ahern On Campus

Gaz — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:20:42 +0000

Irish Times Front Page Piece (26/11/2009)

A GROUP of academics and students at NUI Maynooth has called on the university to suspend its appointment of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern as a visiting professor pending the outcome of the Mahon tribunal.

Campaigners said up to 1,000 signatures opposing the appointment had been collected among the student body and a public meeting on the issue took place last week.

Some 36 academics, including professors and senior lecturers, have written to NUIM president, Prof John Hughes, expressing “profound opposition” to Mr Ahern’s presence on campus, in light of the tribunal evidence over his finances.

Prof Hughes described these arguments as “irrelevant and prejudicial”, adding that, “in Ireland as elsewhere, people are innocent until proven guilty”.

Mr Ahern is expected to give his inaugural lecture shortly but the university said no date had been set. The appointment, which is unpaid, was originally announced in March.

A spokeswoman for NUIM said last night it was “entirely appropriate” to appoint Mr Ahern as honorary adjunct professor of mediation and conflict intervention in the school of business and law, whose courses include a diploma and master’s degree in mediation and conflict intervention. She said the professorship acknowledged the former taoiseach’s “mediation skills” and his “unique experience” in the context of the Nice Treaty and the Northern Ireland peace process.

In a letter dated June 12th, prior to the summer break, the group of academics from a range of faculties wrote to Prof Hughes expressing “profound opposition” to the appointment. Their main objection arose from the “continuing ambiguity surrounding Mr Ahern’s financial affairs, and the implications of these financial affairs for his conduct while in public office”.

In a reply marked “Strictly Private Confidential” on June 17th, Prof Hughes wrote: “A strong case was put to me by the head of business and law based on the extensive experience and reputation of this individual in conflict resolution and mediation, and his potential contribution to the new diploma and master’s programmes in this area.”

A further letter from the objectors states that “the political track record of Mr Ahern is one that, on balance, renders him unworthy of the prestigious position that he has been afforded”. In addition, the letter states that, “given the pivotal role of Mr Ahern in squandering the unanticipated riches of the Celtic Tiger era, the decision of NUI Maynooth [to appoint him] as an honorary professor simply beggars belief”.

Efforts to contact Mr Ahern for comment last night were unsuccessful.

(Article by DEAGLÁN de BRÉADÚN, Irish Times Political Correspondent)

A Report From The Picket Lines: NUI Maynooth

Gaz — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:58:27 +0000

At universities across Ireland (such as NUIM, UCD and NUIG) students took time today to offer solidarity to education workers in a real,practical way- by joining them on picket lines.

The failure of the NUI Maynooth Student Union to support the one day strike did not deter a group of over 60 students from joining workers on various pickets at the University over the course of the day. Marchin

g together, a mix of students from various political organisations and campaigns, along with individual students, first took up residence at the en

trance to the North Campus. Here, they joined members of Unite, IFUT and Siptu who were picketing. The reception from staff to the presence of students was fantastic.

The Labour Youth NUI Maynooth branch produced a great showing on the day, and these student activists moved to the South Campus entrance. At 2PM many students who had picketed the North Campus entrance moved to join them, in a showing of solidarity with workers on that campus.

The University was dead during the strike, with very few academic staff crossing the picket. The vast majority of students did not attend the University, and respected the decision of NUIM staff to strike. In the build up to the strike, activists from Free Education for Everyone and the Social Solidarity Network had attempted to push the fact that job losses on campus will have a hugely negative effect on the standard of education on offer to students at the University. The fact so few students ‘crossed the picket’ is an indication that message got through.

A sincere thank you to all students who attended pickets today.

An Injury To One Is An Injury To All.

A letter from trade unionists on campus regarding November24th

FEE Maynooth — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:00:31 +0000

STRIKE ACTION BY CAMPUS TRADE UNIONISTS, 24 NOVEMBER 2009

All of the trade unions representing staff working on the Maynooth campus are taking part in a one-day strike on Tuesday November 24th. The strike is protesting against the threat of further government-imposed cuts in the pay of university employees. Action is being taken following ballots in which the majority of members of the unions that are taking part voted in favour of coming out on strike.

Pickets will be placed at the entrances to the North and South campuses throughout the day on Tuesday. Students are asked not to pass these pickets and not to enter the campus while the strike is in progress. (A distinction is, of course, recognised here between students residing on campus and those who would normally be coming in to attend lectures etc. There is no intention to interfere with anyone’s access to their home. The aim is to bring the ordinary working parts of the university – its lecture theatres, labs, library etc. – to a halt for the period of the strike).

Hopefully you will have been informed of the cancellation of your classes by your lecturers in advance of Tuesday. If you are in any doubt, please contact the lecturer concerned to confirm that cancellation. With official pickets in place, the only people who will be conducting or attending classes will be those who have deliberately chosen to break the strike. Given the wide range of Maynooth employees stopping work on the day, it is quite likely that the campus will close down completely. University management intend to try and keep it open but health and safety considerations may lead them to reconsider this position once the strike is in progress. If you do not wish to actively express support for the strike, your wisest course of action may be to stay away from Maynooth on November 24th. Public transport services are likely to be disrupted on that day because workers right across the public sector are going to be involved in the strike.

It must be emphasised that trade union members on the campus are seeking and will warmly welcome student support for their action. Pay cuts are part of a wider package of measures that will progressively reduce the resourcing and the quality of the education provided to students in our schools and universities. The return to charging students tuition fees forms part of the same political agenda. Students and staff have a common interest in the protection of our education system against the kind of destructive changes with which it is currently threatened.

NUI Maynooth News: Bertie Ahern Meeting/ November 24th Strike

Gaz — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:46:00 +0000

In the last two weeks, activists (both staff and students) from the Social Solidarity Network and Free Education for Everyone have been attempting to organise against the honorary professorship awarded to Bertie Ahern T.D by the National University of Ireland Maynooth.

On the 16th of November, a meeting called to plan future actions attracted a large mix of students, including many from outside the FEE/SSN activist groupings on campus. It was decided that targetting the University administration was the best tactic from here, with Berties own day in the sun still the most tightly guarded secret on campus.

Free Education for Everyone NUI Maynooth appeal to anyone with information on Bertie Ahern in NUI Maynooth to email us, with full confidentiality promised, at feemaynooth@gmail.com

Students on campus have decided to aim to collect hundreds of signatures to deliver to the University administration, to highlight the anger students feel towards the appointment of Bertie Ahern T.D, at a time cutbacks are crippling our University. If you’d like a copy of the petition, feel free to email us and get in touch.

ALSO, various left wing groups on campus, including Free Education for Everyone, will be mobilising to support Maynooth staff on the picket lines next Tuesday. Further details will be posted here following planned consultation with University staff.

Defend Public Services – National Day of Action, Nov 6th @ 2:30pm

Gaz — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:36:24 +0000

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is today holding a national day of protest against pay cuts in the public and private sectors, as well as cuts in public services.

The move marks the beginning of an ICTU campaign to fight any move to cut workers’ pay and pensions or to slash funding for public services. Several trade unions in the education sector are calling on workers to join a protest, starting at Parnell Square at 2:30pm.

Staff and students in UCD are assembling outside the Arts Block today at 1pm before heading into Trinity College to join up with other members of the Siptu education branch at 2:15pm.

1pm UCD Arts Block: students & students and staff meet up to head into Trinity College
2:15pm Trinity College: SIPTU Education Branch meets before heading to Parnell Square for the march.
2:30pm Parnell Square: The march kicks-off

FEE Maynooth will also be joining the demonstration.

The Neoliberal Restructuring of Education

Growth in the Irish economy during the Celtic Tiger was fueled by a manufacturing industry dominated by foreign direct investment up until 2001. Subsequent growth was largely the result of a property/construction boom up until the recent crash. The government now plans to move to a ‘knowledge economy’ based on indigenous innovators and entrepreneurs. As a part of this shift to a ‘knowedge economy’ – or a ‘smart economy ‘ as the government has renamed it - is an intensification of the restructuring of higher education and the creation of a quasi-market across Europe for credentialised knowledge.

This process is not being driven by either students or staff; it’s driven by priorities shaped by the needs of the business sector in order to provide themselves with the academic research and skilled workers that they need to increase their profit margins. Making education subordinate to the market will lead to a reduction in funding for courses in arts, humanities and social sciences, as business involvement in education will result in the scrapping of subjects that aren’t seen as “profitable”. Research in areas such as science and medicine run the risk of becoming distorted due to the source of funding. In 2006, UCDs Greary Institute recieved a grant of €1.5 million from the alcoholic beverage company Diageo. The grant was intended to fund a 3-year study of health risk behavior in relation to hazardous drinking among young adults (aged 18-25 years) in Ireland. The obvious conflict of interests was immaterial to the UCD authorities. According to the The Irish Times, “Mr Walsh [Diageos chief executive] said the issue was, for Diageo, a simple one. He said the company did not want problems with binge drinking to lead governments to place higher taxes on its products and thus eat into revenues. The UCD research funding is thus the perfect example of “enlightened self- interest,” particularly in light of the taxes placed on alcopops over recent years” (The Irish Times, April 8, 2006).

The commericalisation of education been occurring across Europe under the guise of the ‘Bologna Process‘. The government aims to ‘position Ireland as a location of choice in the International Education market’. As a result, a marketing process has seen universities spend millions on improving the quality of their image and branding, rather than improving the quality of the education they provide, and the working conditions of their employees.

This restructuring of higher education can only be analysed as part of the broader economic and political process of neoliberalism. As a result of neoliberal policies, a common pattern has emerged in how public services as a whole are treated:

there is a systematic public underinvestment (relative to growth)
a shift to introduce/increase user charges
opening up of the public services to the involvement of private capital
attempts to undermine the pay & employment conditions of workers
new public managerialism – the importation of corporate governance structures into the public sector to create greater ‘efficencies’ by implementing work practices that border on Taylorism

Lack of Public investment

Although plans for the reintroduction of tuition fees have been temporarily shelved, the government still plans to continue its policy of shifting the burden of funding away from general taxation, and on to direct student contributions. The recent 67% hike in the registration fee now means that, despite a rhetorical commitment to ‘free’ education, Irish students pay more than students in several other European countries which have implemented tuition fees. If newspaper reports are to be believed, the government plans to introduce another hike in the registration fee, while imposing a cut of up to 10% in the maintenance grant. Of the €1500 ‘registration fee’, €600 already goes directly back into the state coffers.

Colleges themselves have begun to impose new service charges on students to help plug the gap in funding - UCD has introduced charges for the student health service while UCC has introduced an extra conferring charge.

Since many local authorities currently lack adequate funding to make grant payments, a significant number of students have yet to receive any funding since the beginning of the college year. USI estimates that an average of 50 students per week are dropping out of education as a result. Many students are forced to enter into debt to cover the cost, while those who can manage to find work often end up in the low-paid, non-unionised service sector. Several studies have shown that there is a direct link between educational performance and the amount of part-time work students engage in, with those working longer hours being negatively affected. Suggestions that the minimum wage could be lowered would only add to the increasing immiserisation of student life.

The Levy & Embargo

A public sector embargo on recruitment and promotion has meant that classes, lectures, tutorials, library hours and science laboratories have been cut across the higher education sector to the detriment of both students and staff. The embargo is being used to facilitate a permanent, structural reduction in the numbers of staff serving in the public sector as a whole.

Government policy documents have outlined plans for rationalisation (job losses) of the education sector in conjunction with a process of casualisation of academic labour. A series of Public-Private Partnerships for the building of educational facilities have also been approved, and will be used to undermine the pay and working conditions of ancillary staff. Already staff have been subjected to the pension levy which, according to the government, will generate as estimated €1 billion by the end of the year. As SIPTU and IFUT ballot for industrial action, university presidents such as Hugh Brady at UCD and John Hegarty, the provost of Trinity College Dublin, have recently been awarded a pay rise of 19%.

A motion of opposition to the introduction of tuition fees was adopted by ICTU at their last conference – it’s now up to students to join with staff. The root cause of the problems faced by students are the same as those being faced by staff in the education sector, the public sector as a whole, and the users of public services. Students don’t exist in an bubble.

It’s time for students and their representative organisations to go beyond the myopic issue of tuition fees, and to develop a holistic analysis of the role of education in a post-industrial society; why education is being restructured, in whose interests it is being restructured, what the effects of that restructuring are, and what an alternative could look like? There are recent examples of students tackling the underlying dynamics negatively affecting the education system across Europe, such as the recent student occupations in Austria and the Italian ‘Anomalous Wave’.

Public services such as education have to be funded; the most equitable way of doing this is by making those who can afford to pay, pay the most – through the tax system. Free Education for Everyone has always offered its solidarity to education workers unions on campus, and we recognise that building links between education workers and students is essential if we are to combat the cutbacks destroying education at all levels. Educational disadvantage is the result of interrelated economic and political policies, operating both inside and outside of the education system – it can only be tackled by challenging the fundamental driving forces behind it.

Todays rally can only be the start. On March 30th, we saw a day of action cancelled only days in advance by the ICTU executive in order to re-enter fruitless talks, despite strike balloting suggesting massive levels of anger amongst the membership of the unions. It is time for a serious show of strength from workers, and students must support this by also helping to build support for a national strike on November 24th.

‘Get Up, Stand Up’ on November 6th – but remember – the campaign against cutbacks in education and the commercialisation of Irish education is not a one day affair.

‘Universities or Knowledge Factories‘ (2006) produced by Siptu Education Branch

Univerisites in a Neoliberal World (2006) by Alex Callinicos – A critical analysis of the restructuring of the British education system. Outlines a similar road which the government will attempt to force Irish education to travel.

Mercator report for UCD on brand image and visual identity (power point)

UCD Academic Staff Asscoiation newsletter – contains Freedom of Information replies on UCDs spending on consultants

University challenged: students and staff ‘demoralised’ by changes at UCD – Sunday Tribune article

Solidarity Appeal – Protesters threatened with cautions for anti-fees occupation

Gaz — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 02:30:04 +0000

FEE (Free Education for Everyone) activists in Ireland involved in an occupation of Paul Gogarty TD’s offices (Green Party Education Spokesperson) in December 2008 have now been threatened almost a year later with “adult cautions” by the Gardai. This is an appeal for solidarity emails and phone calls to remove that threat.

—————————–

Update from November 5th -

Morbeg: As things stand, the Gardai have now backed down from their attempts to have us sign legal “adult cautions”, now asking individuals to accept “informal cautions” which are not legally binding and appear to be something made up in the hope of keeping face.

On behalf of the FEE members threatened with these cautions I would like to thank everyone who supported us in our conviction that peaceful direct action is a legitimate form of protest and doesn’t warrant arrests or legal proceedings. The threatened cautions, like our original arrests were merely a method of intimidating protesters and stifling any potential anti fees movements from growing, in much the same way as many of us have witnessed the legal mechanisms being manipulated to crush workers’ and students struggles across the globe in the last year, and so must be resisted in every instance where they are applied. Your correspondence with Paul Gogarty and the Lucan Garda station undoubtedly contributed to their backing down in our case. I would like to express my personal gratitude to all of you as well as my solidarity with the similar struggles many of you are facing.

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Back to the original post:

The occupation was a peaceful protest (1, 2, 3) against the threat to re-introduce full third level fees. The threat of “adult cautions” under the Public Order Act is an attempt to intimidate these students to prevent them protesting again in the future, as well as to deter others from engaging in protest.

Adult cautions are something that is usually applied within days of the offence. The fact that this is now happening almost a year late is, we think, a result of pressure from Paul Gogarty TD to ensure that some punishment is given.

We are calling for emails and phone-calls of protest from people who are outraged at this assault on the right to protest, to demand that this matter is dropped. A model email of protest is below. Emails should be sent to: lucan_DS@garda.ie , paul.gogarty@oireachtas.ie and copied to defendrighttoprotest@gmail.com . Emails should be marked “FAO: Inspector Pat O’Sullivan, Sgt. Paul Curtis & Paul Gogarty TD”.

Phone calls are much more effective than emails so we encourage people to ring these numbers (including Paul Gogarty’s mobile number!):

Lucan Garda station: +353 1 6667300
Paul Gogarty TD: +353 87 2752489

The time is short on this as the first students are meant to report to receive their cautions on Tuesday – so please do anything you can over the weekend, on Monday and on Tuesday morning.

—————————–

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to you regarding the student occupation of Paul Gogarty’s Office in December 2008 by the FEE (Free Education for Everyone) campaign for which the students involved are now being threatened with “adult cautions”. This protest at the Green Party Education Spokesperson to try to stop the re-introduction of third level fees was an entirely peaceful protest.

The threat to caution these students is an outrageous attack on their right to protest and an attempt to intimidate others considering protest.

I demand the removal of the threat of these cautions. All of the students in question simply exercised their right to protest and should suffer no consequences for this. The matter should simply be dropped by the Gardaí.

Yours faithfully,