No Athlone IT outreach in Mullingar - for now

Athlone IT has ruled out the possibility of opening an outreach campus in Mullingar for the foreseeable future.President Ciarán Ó Catháin told members of Westmeath VEC at their December meeting that the funding was simply not there and their figures would not support the opening of a Mullingar campus.He said that of 495 students who completed their Leaving Cert in the county town this year 73% went on to study at third-level, and just 13% - 47 students - went to study in Athlone.One hundred and sixty seven students from Mullingar went to higher education institutions in the Dublin area, he added, suggesting that road and rail had a significant part in that figure, as it also did in the case of Maynooth, with 39 students, and Sligo with 19.He explained that in terms of capital development an outreach centre in Mullingar is unlikely to be examined at this stage. Prior to this, the project had been examined in relation to the Gateway Innovation Fund but that funding is now gone, he said."The key message is that Mullingar students are well serviced by the current arrangements," the AIT chief outlined to members in response to a letter from Cllr Denis Leonard asking about the possibility of locating some courses in Mullingar.The Labour councillor suggested Columb Barracks could house a "centre of educational excellence" for AIT outreach courses and training in other areas like foreign languages, enterprise and FETAC courses.Mr Ó Catháin said while it would be nice to have a outreach centre, the figures don't support the idea and their view is that Mullingar is well served by the existing arrangements.Having already spent €100m on the Athlone campus, he stressed it was unlikely that any further funding would be forthcoming for an outreach campus in Mullingar over the next five to 10 years.Pinpointing the subject of nursing, Cllr Mick Dollard said there was an opportunity for courses to be given in Mullingar, as the hospital and psychiatric facilities are both there. He accepted though that the road network and public transport between both towns is a "huge negative" and a "big, big problem".Cllr Leonard observed that the figures speak for themselves and the problem is clearly transport as people from Mullingar take the train to Sligo or Maynooth easily.He still believes an outreach model like Galway Mayo IT in Castlebar or IT Carlow with its Wexford campus would be ideal for Mullingar and north Westmeath as well as the region.Mr Ó Catháin said it depended on government money and it would be difficult to convince ministers as market research shows no demand for outreach in Mullingar.He accepted the road network between the towns needed to improve as it played a part in the low numbers from Mullingar, although some students want to venture further afield or go to a larger campus.Fianna Fáil's Ken Glynn couldn't accept that students from Mullingar don't want to go to AIT, given his own brother did just that and did well. He conceded that parents may have to take children to Athlone by road where the rail or bus option was more available from Mullingar to other areas.He suggested that if there was better transport between Athlone and Mullingar, as has already been mentioned in terms of Longford and Tullamore, there is potential for the future."There should be a link with Mullingar," he stressed.Speaking in the context of a 28% cut in his budgets and a 30% increase in students, Mr Ó Catháin replied that he would love to see more students from Mullingar but they can't get the train, the bus service is not great and the back road is poor. Added to this, the funding is not there, he concluded, adding that he expects 2012 to be the tightest year for college to date in terms of budgets.