Ronan Costello
Editor
In his address to USI Congress, President Michael D Higgins said that quality of teaching should be the paramount concern for Irish universities in maintaining standards in third level education.
In an off the cuff remark, President Higgins wryly noted that ‘very serious people’ in universities have agreed with his comments on this topic and that their agreement led him to question what they had been doing in recent years if teaching was a significant priority for them.
Speaking about the priorities held by the management of Irish universities, President Higgins said that in his various tenures on College boards, teaching quality had never been the the deciding criterion in a staff appointment. He said that universities should address this issue as an immediate concern before pursuing higher positions on rankings tables. He admonished academics who marginalise teaching in favour of research and the advancement of their own careers.
President Higgins’ wide ranging address to Congress also touched on some familiar themes of his campaign and his inauguration speech. He urged delegates to abandon the consumerist ideology of the Celtic Tiger and heavily criticised the rationale that informs free market economic theory.
In praising USI, President Higgins said that in its 53 years the organisation had made an indelible mark on higher education. He reserved particular praise for its campaigns on mental health, specifically referring to the braking of the Guinness World record for the ‘Most people to contribute to a written story,’ an event which was co-organised by SU Welfare Officer Louisa Miller as part of TCDSU’s Mental Health Week.
President Higgins closed by saying the following: “The inspiration is in yourselves and the only thing I can offer with humility is to suggest to you that you come to know that between each other, with each other, working together you will be able to acquire the divine and the ethical and the spiritual and it will empower you for all of your lives.
I wish you all every success with the Annual Congress and thank you for giving me the opportunity to address you here this morning. There is opportunity here to realise our boundless possibilities – ‘ár feidireachtaí gan teorainn.’ I invite the students of Ireland and, in particular, the Union of Students in Ireland, to rise to the challenge of building and shaping our shared future: with an inclusive citizenship, in a creative society, bringing into existence an Irishness to be proud of home and abroad – in other words a real republic. “
