Sir, – The proposed changes to university governance by the Higher Education Authority Bill will severely damage the academic authority of the Irish universities.
The proposed modifications to the Universities Act of 1997 are particularly to be deplored, notably those which will impact upon the composition of the governing authorities of each university.
The reduction of academic representation (and specifically of the already diminished role of Fellows in Trinity College) can only bode ill.
These proposed changes strike at the heart of academic freedom and raise crucial questions about the place and identity of third-level education in Irish society.
I would urge the Government to rethink its strategy. – Yours, etc,
Dr SARAH ALYN
STACEY, FTCD,
Director of the Trinity
Centre for Medieval
and Renaissance Studies,
Trinity College Dublin,
Dublin 2.