Councillors voice ongoing 'frustrations' over stalled Magee expansion

An Ulster University chief has been warned that the institution is “under the microscope” in Derry and has to deliver for the Magee campus.
Vice Chancellor Paddy Nixon gave a presentation to the Governance and Strategic Planning Committee of the Derry & Strabane Council during which he spoke of the funding challenges facing higher education in Northern Ireland.
Figures published by the Department for the Economy (DfE) show 17,440 NI students were in higher education in England, Scotland or Wales in 2018 – which is a ten-year high.
Speaking at the meeting, Prof. Nixon said it is a “travesty” that the country is exporting talent to such an extent and is in effect “losing a generation”.
Magee ranks highest in terms of student satisfaction across all NI universities, he declared.
Outlining UU’s commitment to the Derry campus he said it has invested £20m in recent years.
Mr Nixon spoke of ambitions for the medical school and exciting plans for innovative City Deal projects such as centres of excellence in data analytics (CARL) and robotics and automation (CIDRA).
The medical school business case is ready to proceed as far as he’s concerned – “it’s at the green for go stage”. It is subject to available government funds and he anticipates it will be approved.
He highlighted increased numbers in courses such as Computer Science and made a point of saying a local paper had wrongly identified that course as being closed at Magee.
In a story about course closures spanning a decade, the university itself provided the Derry News with information following a FOI request which outlined that a Computer Science course closed in 2011/12, and several more in 2012/13 including Computer Science (Intelligent Systems) and Computer Science (Robotics).
This paper indicated that Computer Science courses were amongst the 122 to close at the campus in the past decade and also recognised that 110 opened in the same period.
UU yesterday confirmed there has been a 19% increase in Computer Science and Software Systems between 2015/16 and 2018/19 but didn't say what that translates to in student numbers.
Mr Nixon defended the decision to relocate the Jordanstown campus to Belfast City centre at a cost of approximately £300m because the buildings were “literally falling apart”.
No commitment could be provided in terms of relocating Health Sciences to Derry. A decision to base these courses at Coleraine was paused in January 2018 and assessments have to be carried out to determine whether they will go to Magee or Coleraine with a decision expected in January 2020.
Prof. Nixon also revealed that he had been challenged by Coleraine representatives about the possibility of these courses now going to Derry. Any decisions will be made on a Northern Ireland basis taking into account “industrial relations”, he stated.

Political Football

Responding to Prof. Nixon, People Before Profit Councillor Shaun Harkin said that when it comes to promised Magee University expansion – “we'll believe when we see it”.
During his presentation, Prof. Nixon said Magee expansion should not be used as a “political football”. Cllr Harkin said: “Magee has been a political football for the last sixty years, and Derry has been getting a kicking.”
He added: “The Medical School is off the table. The Derry University Group said it would be reckless and careless to blindly continue with dependence on Ulster University. Derry has been failed and alienated for six decades.
“The City Deal will put up buildings that won't have students in them. There’s a suspicion that projects being developed here could be moved elsewhere. Irish History was moved from Derry to Coleraine. We're nowhere near the agreed upon 10,000 students by 2020.
“That's why all options, including with Derry University Group, have been put on the table by the Derry and Strabane Council.”
He referred to a Day of Action on October 5 to demand Magee expansion to which Prof. Nixon said he’d be amongst those “feet on the streets, I genuinely mean it.”
“The medical school here will not be moving anywhere. This institution will not be found wanting,” Mr Nixon added.
Aontú Councillor Anne McCloskey said Derry is the only city of its size in Europe that doesn’t have its own standalone university. “Magee is the fourth campus of the North’s second university.”
She invited Prof. Nixon to convince her and the people of Derry and Strabane of UU’s commitment and why alternative options such as an independent university shouldn’t be explored.
“£10m was spent on a teaching block here. £300m spent moving Jordanstown to Belfast City centre. I’m not convinced UU is the vehicle we need to get justice.”
Since moving to NI, Mr Nixon explained, he’s got the sense that people feel money spent in one place is to the detriment of another place. He said Magee is not the fourth campus but a “critical” part of UU and at the forefront of their thinking.
But he conceded that he can’t convince people “until we deliver something…I don’t know what else to say,” he added.

Hope

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin Councillor Mickey Cooper said he shares the frustration of others and has been arguing for expansion for many years.
He believes there is “proper commitment” from UU but understands there are “resource issues”.
The telescope is on Magee, Cllr Cooper said, and if it moves a foot in the wrong direction it will be scrutinised - but the “City Deal money gives us hope”.
He took note of the “arguments with political reps from Coleraine” about the prospect of courses being moved from there and recalled Prof. Nixon’s endorsement of a city centre campus in Belfast.
“Magee is in the city and needs better provision. Coleraine shouldn’t be there, the argument about regionality doesn’t stand up.”
DUP Alderman Hilary McClintock said she understood investment in Belfast was necessary but shares the frustration about the need for “investment here”.
“It can’t become a political football, this is bigger than politics, we need a functioning government to deliver.”
SDLP Councillor Martin Reilly pointed to the absence of an Executive and the need for ministerial sign off for the medical school. “The lack of an Assembly is holding the region back.”
He accepted that is out of Prof. Nixon’s control but was conscious that other assurances could be provided such as moving healthcare courses to Magee to complement the medical school.
Councillor Eamonn McCann of People Before Profit finished up by saying there are fundamental differences in people’s visions of how third level education can be accomplished in Derry.
An independent university might sound “pie in the sky” but it could link up with Trinity College in Dublin and other third level institutions across the border.
It would involve Magee gifting lands to a new university, therefore Cllr McCann asked if Prof. Nixon had any “radical ideas” and if there is no progress in five years time would UU cooperate. “Is it UU or nothing?”
In response Prof. Nixon said, “I’m gobsmacked”, and described it as a “pointless endeavour”. He went on to say that if funding isn’t given to UU it wouldn’t be given to any other institution and reiterated the university’s intention of securing funding for expansion.
“No, you mean then,” Cllr McCann concluded.