Dáil Debate March 14th

The issue of the University for the South East was debated in the Dáil today with contributions from many members of the house including Deputy Tom Hayes and Deputy Martin Mansergh. The discussion was incredibly favourable of a university being established in the South East, with emphasis being placed on the economic benefits and the past examples of such success in the other university regions of Ireland. The discussion went on to state that the South East is the only region not served by a university facility and that providing one for the region is an unassailable argument. It was outlined that the development of our country and the South East region was not something that other universities should control. Emphasis was also placed on how Ireland would match up to its competitors, such as the UK if it did not do everything possible to ensure that all regions had a university serving its needs and business development potential. Read the entire debate here.

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Letters to Politicians

A number of people have sent their support to the website but have also said that they are unsure about what they should write in a letter to the Minister or to their local TD. We have created a set of sample letters that you can use as a starting point to write your letter - add your points or change ours as you see necessary. Above all, make sure that you send your e-mails and letters to the government representatives - we need your letters to reach them. Also in the getting involved section (point 6) and the homepage of the site (points in blue on the right side of the page), you will see a link that allows you to e-mail all the relevant cabinet ministers and regional TDs without having to copy or type their addresses. Click here (Outlook users click here) to do start the same e-mail and copy one of our sample letters as a starting point for your content.

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Fine Gael Position

This Sunday Fine Gael TD, Brian Hayes, unveiled the Fine Gael position on the re-designation of WIT to be the university for the South East. FUSE welcome this statement of support by Fine Gael, that the South East region is ready for a university. It is the kind of political party support that everybody needs to hear and we hope that more parties will follow with similar statements in the near future.  

The Fine Gael statement is available here

Also an Irish Times article on the subject is available here (note will require Irish Times account to view) 

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IBEC Support

This morning, a letter from IBEC went out to all the regional companies asking them to support the FUSE campaign and support the drive for the university in the South East. So far we have received a great response from this with many company directors and management sending in e-mails of their support for this campaign and the need for a university within the South East. Thank you all for your support so far and please keep those letters and e-mails of support coming in.

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Support from hurlers

Last Saturday members of the FUSE group personally distributed over 3000 flyers to the majority of retail businesses in Waterford City in an attempt to raise awareness of campaign. On Sunday members of the FUSE group attended the National Hurling League game between Wexford and Kilkenny in Wexford Park. It was a great day with many supporters of the game, stopping to offer words of support to the campaign also. Many more flyers were distributed and the campaign was mentioned on both South East Radio and also Radio 1. After the match some high profile people came to show their support for the campaign. Those who posed for pictures to support the campaign included members of both the Wexford and Kilkenny hurling teams. In addition, Brian Cody, Kilkenny manager, posed for a photo and offered words of support. Also, legendary GAA commentator, Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh posed for a photo and offered his support for the campaign. Check out the photos below.

Kilkenny Hurlers show their support. 

Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh shows support for FUSE 

Wexford hurlers show their support.

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Thank you for your support!

Since the campaign started, just a week ago, the level of support received has been fantastic. Every letter of support, every e-mail and every kind word that we have received, has given the campaign so much encouragement. Whether it’s a letter sent to us or people in the street and the shops that we speak to, everyone is fully onboard with their support for this need of a university for our region. Thank you all so far, for all your encouragement but keep it coming too, it’s your voices that matter to this campaign, we can’t do it without you!

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Essay Competition!

Next Tuesday FUSE will launch an essay competition for schools right across the South East region. All children will be encouraged to enter and to get ideas from their parents and family as to “What a university for the South East means to me”. For the winner, there will be the fabulous prize of a new computer for the student’s school and the fantastic prize of a €500 voucher for the student who writes the best essay. So, make sure that your kids get their thinking hats on and be in with a chance to win this excellent prize. The competition will be formally announced next Tuesday the 11th of March and the end date for entries will be May 1st. Good luck to everyone!

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The Flyer

Some people have been contacting the site, asking about the flyer that was distributed in the Irish Independent on Saturday. Some didn’t get the flyer or didn’t happen to buy a copy of the paper on that day. So, here is the flyer available for download for anyone who may be interested Click Here. Keep your support coming in and stay tuned for further news over the coming days!

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Official Launch

Today marks the official launch of the FUSE campaign. In today’s Irish Independent newspaper there are 120,000 flyers being distributed around the region, informing people of what a university means to the South East and helping to create awareness of the campaign. Get involved, be active, show your support, and for anyone who is not sure why a university is important to the South East, don’t hesitate to contact us.

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Port Report Published

The report on the re-designation of WIT to university status, by Dr. Jim Port has been published by the Department of Education. The report is a highly supportive thesis which, unambiguously states that WIT is performing at university level and that there is a real case for re-designation that would not similarly apply to other Institutes of Technology. A full breakdown of the Port report will soon appear here, please check back or subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking the link at the bottom of this page. In the meantime you can download the report from this link.

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