Letterkenny Institute of Technology lecturers protest over funding and educational concerns

A lunchtime protest has been organised for today in Institutes of Technology around the country to draw attention to lecturers’ grave concerns over a number of issues within their sector.
Regular service to students will not be affected by the protest.
Speaking today, Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) Vice-President Joanne Irwin, said:
“On a daily basis, lecturers see first-hand the damage that an era of austerity cuts has wreaked on the education system. We are gravely concerned by the severe effects that these cutbacks are having on the quality of experience for students in Letterkenny Institute of Technology.
Lecturers and researchers will be balloted by TUI in the coming weeks on engagement in a campaign of industrial action, up to and including strike action, in order to secure a resolution to key issues (outlined at end of statement).
Institutes of technology are regional generators of innovation and entrepreneurship and need to be appropriately funded in order to kick-start jobs growth and build high level knowledge capacity to meet the future needs of the economy. The local economy would also be greatly boosted by such investment.
TUI is advocating more substantial and strategic budgets to support the regional mission of the Institutes and boost economic recovery at a local level.
We are urging that lecturers, students and all concerned in the locality make this an election issue in the coming months.’