SETU Strategic Plan ‘very disappointing’ from a Kilkenny perspective

There is no clear objective to deliver a South East Technological University (SETU) student campus in Kilkenny City contained within the newly published SETU Strategic Plan 2023-2028.

This is despite plans contained within the same document to develop a new campus building in Wexford, a University-Enterprise Quarter in Waterford and new buildings at the Carlow campus.

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Mayor of Kilkenny, David Fitzgerald, described the SETU Strategic Plan as ‘very disappointing’ from a Kilkenny perspective.

“The failure to identify the need for a dedicated Kilkenny campus with full faculty support ignores Kilkenny’s role as a key stakeholder in the South-East region,” he told the Kilkenny People.

Fears
“The plan talks in generalities about the region while failing to address the specific needs of students in Kilkenny. If implemented, this plan confirms my worst fears that SETU is simply a rebranding exercise for Waterford and Carlow IT.”

The plan was formally launched earlier this week in the Tirlán building in the Abbey Quarter, an area that was, ironically, previously mooted as a potential site for a SETU student campus in Kilkenny City.

Just last year, former Kilkenny County Council Chief Executive Colette Byrne stated that the Abbey Quarter Partnership would be engaging with SETU to understand how Kilkenny could assist in delivering its own student campus.

Despite the promising signs back then, there have been no further indications since of any progress in establishing a student campus in the Abbey Quarter, or at any other site in the city.

This lack of progress has been echoed by the reluctance in this latest SETU Strategic Plan to commit to even exploring the possibility of a new student campus in Kilkenny City.

Instead, SETU’s objective is to establish a working group ‘to explore how SETU can support specific activity based in Kilkenny’.

SETU President, Professor Veronica Campbell, stated prior to the plan’s launch that SETU ‘already have a strong presence in Kilkenny’ through the ArcLabs facility in St Kieran’s and Teagasc in Kildalton.

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“We have commenced detailed scoping discussions with Kilkenny County Council to identify future opportunities that can add value to the new university and to the city and county,” she said.

“We look forward to working with our partners in Kilkenny County Council and across other sectors to expand Kilkenny-based SETU activity.”