The north-west region of Ireland has suffered from historic underinvestment spanning both jurisdictions within the island.
This is reflected in the quality of transport and other infrastructure relative to other parts of the island.
The European Commission recently downgraded the north and west of the Republic to a “lagging region” due to its relative fall in GDP per capita as compared to the country and Europe overall (from 82 per cent of the EU average to 71 per cent in the past five years).
The infrastructural deficit in the north-west and west of Northern Ireland is less quantifiably measured but obvious to behold.
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The reasons for the infrastructural deficit relate to political and geographic peripherality in both jurisdictions. This has been compounded by the recognised disadvantage associated with border regions throughout Europe and across the world.
While there is undoubted goodwill towards the north-west in both Belfast and Dublin, the concentration of political, governmental and financial structures within these capital cities, along with the associated lobbying power of vested interests, has tended inevitably to treat planning for the more remote areas as a subsidiary of capital city development plans.
Nowhere has this capital city focus been more obvious than in the distribution of higher education places within Northern Ireland. More than 70 per cent of university students are concentrated in Belfast.
This contrasts sharply with figures for other capital cities in the UK (London, 21 per cent; Edinburgh, 25 per cent; Cardiff, 33 per cent) and the Republic (Dublin, 40 per cent).
While the distribution of student places within Northern Ireland may, to some extent, reflect student preferences, it is clear that other regions have taken greater due account of the long-term economic, social, and cultural impact of higher education provision in spatial planning and economic development.
This is exemplified by the growth in regional civic universities in Great Britain and the establishment of technological universities in the South including the Atlantic Technological University.
Capital investment in further and higher education in Northern Ireland has not yet benefited the north-west to the extent that is required. Furthermore, Northern Ireland is the only region within these islands that does not have a tertiary education oversight body to provide independent advice to government.
The Royal Irish Academy and the John and Pat Hume Foundation are hosting a conference on ‘The Future Development of Higher Education in the Greater Northwest of the Island of Ireland’ in Derry-Londonderry on October 11th.
A big spur for the conference was the publication in November 2021 of a series of reports by the RIA Taskforce on Higher Education Futures, following an extensive all-island consultation process spanning the public, private and third sectors.
The taskforce report made a number of recommendations relating to the greater north-west region, which it defined as an Atlantic rim stretching from Galway through Derry-Londonderry to Coleraine, including the associated hinterlands. The recommendations include the need for:
· A co-ordinated and independent planning body supported by development funds and a big joint UK-EU-Ireland-NI initiative to plan future tertiary education and research provision, including cross-Border provision, in the north-west of the island of Ireland. Such a body is necessary to oversee the development of the collaborative, institutional structures, governance and funding necessary to redress the effects of historic under-resourcing and achieve the essential upscaling of economic, social and cultural development in the north-west.
· A separate tertiary education oversight body for Northern Ireland to advise the Department for the Economy NI, help define sectoral mission and ensure greater co-ordination, regional distribution and efficiency within the university and further education (FE) sectors.
· Joint collaborative programmes between the further education (FE) sectors in the Border regions of Ireland and Northern Ireland to be actively developed to meet local needs and reduce the disadvantages associated with peripherality.
· A smart focus applied to lead regional HEIs and FEIs working in concert to specialise and provide a more comprehensive offering that reflects the strengths and needs of their regions.
The Taskforce did not specify an optimal longer-term structure for the tertiary education sector in the greater north-west, but envisaged that the 15-plus campuses currently operating should be co-ordinated to ensure maximum synergy and efficiency. A cross-Border federal structure is one obvious long-term potential outcome.
Tackling the long-standing underinvestment in the greater north-west is overdue. There is a real opportunity for cross-Border planning and operational development to deliver a specific tertiary education planning model for the region.
This should be designed for and focused on the region’s unique needs, opportunities and strengths, unfettered by jurisdictional constraints or centrally-derived priorities.
It will require the UK and Irish governments and a future Northern Ireland executive to work together to enable the entire north-west region to develop to its full potential for the benefit of both jurisdictions and the island as a whole.
Relatively recent history in Ireland and elsewhere bears ample testimony to the need to ensure that no region is left behind.
Prof Gerry McKenna is senior vice-president of the Royal Irish Academy and Prof Seán Farren is chair of the John & Pat Hume Foundation.
The Academy and Foundation are jointly organising a conference on ‘The Future Development of Higher Education in the Greater North-west of the Island of Ireland’ in the Playhouse Theatre, Derry-Londonderry on October 11th.
