Irish Federation of University Teachers » NUI

IFUT mourns the death of Founder Member, Dr Garret FitzGerald

admin — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:16:11 +0000

The death of Dr Garret FitzGerald will be mourned by his fellow members of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT), the union of which he remained a full and committed member up to the time of his death.

Dr FitzGerald was the only Taoiseach in Ireland’s history who was concurrently a full member of a Congress-affiliated trade union. He was always proud of that fact as were, and are, all of his many friends in IFUT.

Dr FitzGerald was the Principal Guest Speaker at the IFUT Annual Delegate Conference in recent years. He also took an active part in the campaign in defence of the principle of academic freedom.

Speaking of Dr FitzGerald, the General Secretary of IFUT, Mike Jennings, said “The amazing thing about Garret was that, despite his monumental status as an Academic and Statesman, he was the easiest person in the world to talk to. Was there ever such a great man who was on first name terms with literally everyone he met? IFUT is proud to say that he was one of our own. He will be sadly missed”.

The Irish Federation of University Teachers extends its deepest sympathy to all of Dr FitzGerald’s family and his many friends.

The IFUT Media Release is available here.

NUI abolition a case of ‘decisions without policy’, says IFUT

admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:03:53 +0000

The sudden announcement by the Minister for Education, Mr Batt O’Keefe, TD, of the abolition of the National University of Ireland (NUI) has been described as the latest example of ‘decisions without policy’ by the Minister, Mr Mike Jennings, IFUT General Secretary has said.

“The announcement occurred without due consultation and with a total lack of regard for the concerns of NUI staff, graduates and current students”, Mr Jennings said. “No assessment has been carried out on the impact the proposed abolition will have on the national and international status of NUI degrees and courses. This is all the more unacceptable given that the Minister has pre-empted the work of the Higher Education Strategy Group.”

Mr Jennings has called on the Minister, at a minimum, to enter into consultations with all stakeholders to clarify and resolve the issues outlined above before proceeding further with his proposal.

The IFUT Press Release is available here.

IFUT proposes unprecedented joint management-union response to education cuts

admin — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:18:32 +0000

The General Secretary of IFUT, Mike Jennings, has called on university managements to work with IFUT and other employee representative bodies in the sector to present a strong and comprehensive response and resistance to the cuts proposed in last week’s McCarthy/An Bord Snip Nua Report.

“In view of the crisis now facing our sector, I am proposing that the Heads of Irish Universities and all those in senior management in education unite with IFUT and other employee bodies in education, to work together to defend the entire sector,” Mr Jennings said.

The IFUT Press Release is available in full here.

IFUT reponse to “An Bord Snip Nua” report

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:49:43 +0000

IFUT has issued a Press Release in initial response to the report by “An Bord Snip Nua”.

“This report, and, in particular, the parts of it which relate to education, will come to be regarded as one of the most short-sighted documents in Irish education history. At a time when more and more people are turning to education as an intelligent, self-enhancing alternative to unemployment, how could any group of consultants recommend a total reduction of almost seven thousand jobs in education, two thousand of them in higher education alone?”

The IFUT Press Release is available is full here.

“An Bord Snip Nua” Report released

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:01:48 +0000

The Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, has today (16 July 2009) released the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes. The Group, popularly known as An Bord Snip Nua, which has sat for the last six months, was chaired by UCD Economist, Colm McCarthy.

The Press Statement announcing the release of the report is available here.

The report itself is in two volumes, Volume I and Volume II.

Access to the report on the IFUT Website is restricted to IFUT members only.

IFUT Lobbies Oireachtas Members on Universities Pensions Legislation

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:34:21 +0000

IFUT has written a briefing on the recently-published legislation on university pension funds. It has been sent to various members of the Oireachtas. The briefing is available here (Members only).

Pension fund legislation published

admin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:16:33 +0000

The legislation facilitating the transfer of the pension funds of the TCD, UCD, UCC, NUIG and NUIM pension schemes and the NUI General Scheme to the National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF) was published on Friday last, 12 June. The legislation is part of the Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, 2009 (Number 37 of 2009) and is available here (Members only). Part 3 (Sections 3 to 14) and Schedule 1 are the pieces of the Bill pertinent to the university (and other) pension funds.

The transfer of these pension funds has been under discussion for a number of years and legislation was promised in the last mini-Budget. It is IFUT’s understanding that the Government wishes to “fast-track” the bill and have it passed by the Oireachtas and signed into law before the end of June.