12:29 Thursday, 06 October 2022

Posted on by wrote in News & Sports.

Students at Maynooth University are staging a walk-out of lectures this morning.

It’s in protest to the halting of plans to build a new student-centre.

The university made the call to stop the project, blaming spiralling construction costs, despite students saying they have been paying an increased levy since 2015 to fund the project.

The University said in a statement that it shared the disappointment of students, and moved reassure them that the fund will not be lost because of the termination of the contract.

Students have also been expressing their anger at a lack of facilities for them on campus:

The statement

Maynooth University has this week regretfully announced that construction on a new Student Centre project has been terminated, following a decision by the University’s Governing Authority.

The Students’ Centre project has been adversely impacted by rapidly escalating costs, linked to technical construction issues as well as hyperinflation.

The University shares the disappointment of our students, and we are reassuring students and alumni that the student levy fund will not be affected by this decision, and that monies from the fund will not be lost because of the termination of the contract.

The student levy has been in place since 1992, with student classes each year contributing to a fund for the development of student facilities from which future students will benefit. The levy is, and will remain, ring-fenced for student facilities projects.

In recent years, the levy has funded projects including sports, student facilities and an extension to Maynooth Students’ Union (MSU) building, and will continue to do so as a long-term solution to the Student Centre project is reviewed and addressed.

As a public sector institution, Maynooth University is a steward of public monies and we are obligated to abide by public sector spending code rules and legislation for procurement, under the Public Spending Code, the Capital Works Management Framework and the European Union (Award of Public Authority Contracts) Regulations 2016. Among these is a requirement that ‘any increase in price shall not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract.’ Due to the reasons stated above, the fact that the latest project costs already exceed 50% of the original contract was a key consideration for the Governing Authority decision.

Maynooth University, working in partnership with Maynooth Students’ Union, remains committed to providing students with additional spaces for informal learning and gathering that are so important for a vibrant campus experience. In the weeks and months ahead, the University will be funding significant additional social spaces, meeting pods, and seating, furniture and other infrastructure in buildings across the Maynooth University campus.

 

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