Edufactory Ireland » Bertie Ahern

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)

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.

FEE Maynooth Students Say No To Bertie On Campus!

Gaz — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:50:43 +0000

Why Bertie Ahern is not welcome or wanted in NUI Maynooth, why we will oppose him, and why there is a great onus on the Students Union to do likewise.

It seems almost surreal any Irish University would want to wine and dine Bertie Ahern at the minute. “One of the last socialists in Irish politics” (We all remember that statement!) finds himself among the main figureheads of the Fianna Fail party, a party currently wallowing at 17% support in the Dublin area. He is, for many working people, the perfect embodiment of Fianna Fail gombeenism and greed.

The humiliating defeat of Maurice Ahern in the recent Dublin Central by-election showed that the Drumcondra Mafia, quite simply, ain’t what they used to be. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite. Only a brief few years ago Fianna Fail covered Dublin city (and even rural areas) with pictures of the great leader encouraging people to ‘VOTE FOR BERTIES TEAM’. Bertie was the ‘Ordinary Man’, a pint of Bass IN hand and a tough job AT hand. How much can change so quickly….

Bertie Aherns personal finances remain the subject of much speculation. The sight of ordinary people, many of them Dubliners from the inner city, jeering Bertie each day as he left the Mahon Tribunal said much more than any newspaper editioral ever could. The man of the people had fallen from his high horse. Now, the €4.20 he might have spent on a pint for you in Fagans now seemed insignificant to the €5,000 here and the £10,000 there that even he seemed unable to account for. Questions of the mans tax affairs remain unanswered, and Bertie somehow managed to, well, dig himself out of a mess when the issue of ‘dig outs’ emerged.

If the Bertie scandal, and the Mahon Tribunal, were to begin today or tomorrow there is no doubt the public reaction would be very, very different. John O’ Donoghues greed and gombeenism for example is at worse on par with Berties. It is at this moment in time however, when even the top-tables of certain trade unions call on us all to ‘pay a bit’ that we must remind people just who is responsible for the current economic crisis in this country, and how unjust it is to expect students (primary, secondary OR third level) to pay for the greed of others at a time many of us, like Bertie himself, did not have a bank account of our own!

If we take Dr. Robert Galavan, from the Department of Business and Laws response to irishelection.com on the matter, it is interesting to note the use of the plural in relation to Berties lecturing on campus. “In addition to the lectures that Bertie Ahern will provide, he will take part in a high level working group” he notes.

Any and every occasion Bertie Ahern is on campus, we will exercise our democratic right to protest against his presence. While his position is an unpaid one, we are not stupid enough to not know that Bertie will undoubtedly be treated to a lavish reception by the University, and seize the publicity his days out offer him. At a time when we face cutbacks ourselves, and a time when tutorials and the like are being slashed across the board, this is a mockery.

There is a great onus on the Student Union in NUI Maynooth to take a position on this matter. Student Unions must play their part in organising student resistance to events like this one. Members of IFUT, the largest university lecturers union on campus, have already made their feelings clear to the President of the University on the matter, and as individual students all of us in FEE have done our best to raise the issue with as many students as possible.

If Fianna Fail and the Green Party wish to block students access to this wonderful university, it is up to us to block theirs. Bertie Ahern is the poster-boy of Fianna Fail greed, a man who played no small part in bringing Ireland to the economic situation in which it now finds itself. When he arrives on our campus, it is up to us to ensure he knows we are opposed to his very presence on the grounds of an Irish educational facility.

We call on students, IFUT and Siptu members and alumni of the University to make their feelings on the issue known to the University, by writing to John Hughes, the President.

W.Carney
FEE NUI Maynooth.
feemaynooth@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/nuimfightfees

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdvnzQE1a8Q[/youtube]
YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdvnzQE1a8Q&feature=channel_page

Press Release: UCD students plan Bertie Blockade

Gaz — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:29:48 +0000

29th September 2009

Student campaign group, Free Education for Everyone (FEE) is planning to planning to stage a blockade of Bertie Aherns appearance at a debate on the Lisbon Treaty, tonight at 7pm in UCD’s O’Reilly Hall. Following a blockade of Brian Lenihan by the group last September, Martin Mansergh, Mary Hannafin and Conor Lenihan were forced to pull out of other scheduled appearances at the college.

Ben McCormick, second year History student stated, “Bertie Ahern and the government constructed our economy like a house of cards. Now that’s it’s fallen apart, students are left to pick up the pieces for a lack of public investment in education. The reintroduction of fees or a loan system will negatively impact on students from lower socio-economic backgrounds entering third level education”.

Paul Stewart, second year arts student stressed, “Education shouldn’t be a debt sentence. The scarcity of part-time work and the lack of an adequate grant system means that many students are already in debt as they try to cover the costs of education. Heaping more debt on students in the form of fees will only make the situation worse. If the government are going to block our access to education, we’re going to block their access to our campus.

FEE is a grassroots campaign group which was started by students and staff in UCD in September 2008 to fight against the the reintroduction of third level fees, increases in the registration fee, cutbacks and the commercialisation of education. Branches have spread to Trinity, NUI Maynooth, Galway, Limerick and Cork. Last year the group organised numerous protests, blockades and occupations.

ENDS

Irish Times : College to investigate Ahern protest

Sam — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:08:31 +0000

NUI GALWAY (NUIG) has initiated an internal investigation into protests on campus which led to the abandonment of a public interview with former taoiseach Bertie Ahern on Monday night.

The university says it may take disciplinary action against any students involved. Both it and the college’s students’ union have also “strongly condemned” the actions of the participants.

However, the students’ union said the actions of both the Garda and a small number of protesters were “unnecessary”.

Mr Ahern, who has been relying on a crutch due to a leg injury, was visibly shaken after he was jostled en route to a lecture hall in the college concourse shortly before 8pm on Monday. He had been due to take part in a public interview and to receive the president’s medal from the college Literary and Debating Society, but a decision was taken by auditor Dan Colley to cancel the event.

However, Mr Ahern did not leave the lecture hall until gardaí and college authorities could organise his exit.

An 18-year-old man who had been arrested during the protest against the re-introduction of college fees was released without charge from Mill Street Garda station early yesterday. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The students, who support the Free Education for Everyone campaign, said their actions aimed to be peaceful, and claimed gardaí had been rough with them during their initial demonstration at the college entrance. NUIG said in a statement it respected the right of all students to freedom of speech and to peaceful protest, but did not condone “protests that result in disorderly behaviour”.

“If protesters who behaved in a disorderly manner can be identified, and are indeed university students, disciplinary action will be taken in line with the code,” the college said.

NUIG students’ union said it believed “violent protest” was “never appropriate” and said it strongly condemned attempts to “stifle the activities of any student society on campus”.

NUIG students’ union president Muireann O’Dwyer said in a statement that the actions of both the Garda and a small number of protesters “were unnecessary”.

The incident was the third such demonstration on campus in recent months. Last December, scuffles occurred when Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe announced construction of a €50 million engineering building.

In mid-December Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív was caught in the middle of a protest and was accused of “manhandling” a protester. Mr Ó Cuív has been invited to participate in an NUIG Literary and Debating Society debate tomorrow on whether student protests have gone too far.

However, the society and the students’ union were meeting on the issue yesterday.

A spokeswoman for the Minister said that he was still very happy to attend the debate, and felt it was the appropriate forum to debate the issue peacefully. However, the Minister would await the outcome of that meeting, the spokeswoman said.

Irish Times : Anti-fees demonstration forces Ahern to abandon public interview

Sam — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:06:49 +0000

FORMER TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern had to abandon a public discussion in NUI Galway (NUIG) last night when he was jostled by students protesting over the planned reintroduction of college fees.

Several dozen gardaí were involved in trying to break up the protest, which began at the entrance to the campus shortly before 8pm and continued outside a lecture theatre for another 45 minutes. Gardaí made one arrest.

Mr Ahern, who was still on crutches due to his recent leg injury, had been invited to a reception in the college quadrangle before taking part in the public interview.

The interview, hosted by the NUIG Literary and Debating Society, was to have been conducted by Connacht Tribune editor Dave O’Connell.

As Mr Ahern’s approached the venue from Newcastle road, his car was held up by 30 students who sat on the ground and linked arms to prevent access to the campus. The students are supporters of the Free Education for Everyone (Free) campaign.

Gardaí following in three squad cars removed the protesters, some of whom claimed that they were “roughed up” by officers.

Mr Ahern attended the reception in the quadrangle, and was then escorted to the college concourse.

The former taoiseach was shaking hands with students en route to the O’Flaherty lecture theatre when he was then jostled. Up to 15 gardaí surrounded Mr Ahern and locked arms to escort him into the theatre. The demonstration continued outside, and a decision was then taken to cancel the function. Mr Ahern, who was visibly shaken, was unable to leave the theatre for about 20 minutes until arrangements were made for his safe exit. Protesters had blocked one lift, and the exit was limited to the main concourse door.

Several hundred students had been waiting for up to an hour to attend the discussion, and some expressed disappointment that the event had to be cancelled.

Literary and Debating Society auditor Dan Colley, a grandson of the late Fianna Fáil politician George Colley, said he was “disappointed” at the turn of events. “I think they were probably picking the wrong target in picking Bertie Ahern,” he said. “This was a failure of freedom of speech.”

He invited students to participate in a debate on Thursday on the college fees issue, which Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív has been invited to address.

The society was due to present a president’s medal to Mr Ahern; Mr Colley said that this would be presented to him at a later date. Mr Ahern was driven from the college to the G Hotel in Galway. Richard Manton of Free said the students had taken a decision to block any Fianna Fáil politician from entering the college by peaceful means.

“They want to block our right to an education by re-introducing college fees,” he said.