UL stalemate as president battles to remain in post

A TENSE stalemate has taken hold at the University of Limerick this week with its under-pressure president fighting to remain in her role amid growing calls for her resignation.

“It seems as though she isn’t prepared to go,” a well-placed source at the college told the Leader on Tuesday afternoon, referring to Professor Kerstin Mey.

“Obviously many different groups in the institution are saying they have no confidence in her, but it seems there is a stand-off,” they added.

Pressure has been mounting on Prof Mey after it emerged the institution lost €5.2m after paying inflated prices for 20 homes in Rhebogue last year.

The chancellor of the college, Prof Brigid Laffan will be on campus this Thursday to face students and staff in a meeting in University Concert Hall slated for 1.30pm. Sources say depending on what is said, it could make for a fractious meeting.

Following this meeting, a crunch meeting of UL’s governing authority is set to take place to consider a review into the overspend, which has seen single homes in the suburb bought for almost three times their value.

UL paid approximately €630,000 per home, with comparable properties on the market at €250,000.

Prof Mey would normally attend these governing body meetings, but it's unclear if she will be in attendance this Thursday.

“I can only imagine it will be tense. I just can’t see things continuing as normal at this stage,” stated another UL source.

The latest controversy has seen UL once again make national headlines in relation to its spending. It follows reports earlier this year that UL bosses paid more than €1.5m over the market value for the former Dunnes Stores site in the city centre.

“Regardless of who’s right and who’s wrong, it doesn’t look great that this is the image we are portraying,” added the source in relation to the latest developments this week regarding the Rhebogue houses.

There has been a huge backlash across the college community to news of the overspend which was confirmed in an email from Prof Mey to staff and students last Friday.

READ MORE: University of Limerick chancellor calls special meeting of all students and staff

There have been calls for an investigation to take place into who is responsible for the overspend.

The sole trade union on campus, UL Unite, which represents almost 900 workers, says it no longer has any confidence in Prof Mey.

They expressed “despair and sadness” as to the direction UL is taking, as well as “outrage” at the spend on the homes, which are occupied by post-graduate students.

In an unprecedented move, a group of 73 professors have called for the president to resign with immediate effect.

In a letter seen by the Limerick Leader they have cited a “crisis in leadership” at the college. Signed by the academics acting in a personal capacity, the letter was sent to university chancellor Prof Brigid Laffan, as well as the president, members of the governing authority and its university executive.

At the weekend, the Leader revealed that 10 members of this 13-strong executive committee signed a letter calling on Prof Mey to effectively resign her post.

On top of this, the Postgraduate Students Union which represents some 4,000 students at the college also voted overwhelmingly for her to resign.

UL Student Life, which represents undergraduates on campus, meanwhile, did not return two requests for comment from this newspaper.

The Limerick Leader contacted Dr Ed Walsh, the founding president of the university, for his opinion on the week's developments but he respectfully declined to comment.

In her email to staff and students, Prof Mey - the first woman to lead a university in Ireland - said the overspend “is a matter of regret”.

“I am aware that there is frustration and anger among staff members that this has happened so soon after the issues that arose in relation to the City Centre Campus,” she said in relation to the purchase of the former Dunnes Stores building.

“I am engaging with our stakeholders to chart the best way forward and there will be action taken as a result of the review that has been commissioned in the transaction,” she added.

UL has declined to comment further.