'A loss' - Rally calls for Carlow College to be saved

A public demonstration has taken place at Carlow College, with staff and students calling for the future of the institution to be saved.

Last month, Carlow College announced it is to wind down its operations over the course of the next two years, with its land and buildings to be transferred to South East Technological University (SETU).

The college said all currently enrolled students will be able to complete their studies and to achieve their intended qualification with Carlow College, St Patrick's.

However, no new student intakes will be offered from September 2026 and beyond.

Meanwhile, over the next two years, there will be a phased redundancy process for the 87 staff currently employed by the college.

The third-level liberal arts college in Carlow town centre offers undergraduate, postgraduate and part-time courses to around 600 students.

Founded in 1782, Carlow College, St Patrick's website states it is the second oldest third-level institution in Ireland.

Several members of the college's academic staff addressed those who gathered for the public demonstration on the grounds of the college this afternoon.

They called for engagement with both Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless and SETU.

They said they want the decision to close the college to be reversed, its academic ethos and programmes to be saved, and for the college to instead be merged with SETU.

Dr Sarah Otten, who is the SIPTU shop steward at the college and a lecturer in philosophy, said the college's closure will leave a gap in the provision of education in the southeast region.

Dr Otten said: "Carlow College is not just a building, it is not just grounds, it is the people who make it, it is the programmes that give people a new way of looking at life.

"What Carlow has lost is 87 jobs, 87 specialised jobs with people committed to creating a space to provide education in the southeast and that is the loss.

"It is the loss to the southeast of the possibility of doing social care, of doing arts and humanities, English and history, psychology for students who could not go to Dublin, who have family nearby, who have family responsibilities, who might not have had a good experience in their secondary school. "

She said the college "provided that space and support for people to do things that they might not have otherwise been able to do, or felt that they could not do".

"That is the loss," she added.

Dr Otten said the loss does not just concern the southeast, "but it is also [a loss] for all those students who came here and who would have wanted to come here, but it is a loss for the nation".

"We have a shortage of social care workers, we have a shortage of psychologists within the health system, we have a shortage of teachers, we have a shortage of citizens who are thoughtful, critical and ready to meet a changing future," she said.

"That is what Ireland needs and that is what we provided," she added.

She called on Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless "to come and engage with us".

"They need us. We need to be here in the southeast and Ireland needs this form of education," Dr Otten added.

The public demonstration also heard testimonials from several past students who had attended Carlow College.

Adam Clarke said: "In this modern era of artificial intelligence taking jobs and calling the validity of anything anyone sees on a screen into question, it is more important than ever that institutions like Carlow College, St. Patrick's be protected.

"[This is] to give people the necessary skills and perspective to critique everything they encounter ... to become people that can approach problems with a critical process that simply cannot be taught.

"That unique knowledge is born of a curiosity that must be nurtured and developed in environments like Carlow College."

Another past student, Phoebe McNaught, in her testimonial said she was grateful for what Carlow College had given her but that she was also angry.

"I'm angry that something so special could be allowed to disappear because the powers that be don't understand the value of the arts," she said.

She added: "I am angry for the lecturers who devoted so much of themselves to the place, who made Carlow College what it was.

"I'm angry that future students won't get the chance to experience the community that meant so much to so many of us.

"Carlow College deserves better."

Music was provided at the public demonstration by the band Transmitter, whose frontman Stewart Quinn is also a past pupil of the college.

A spokesperson for the college said it would not be commenting further at this time.

Carlow College previously said an agreed framework had been put in place, in consultation with SETU, to support a structured programme completion period for current students and to enable an orderly and managed "teach out" for the college.

The statement by the college last month announcing its closure added that a formal consultation process had commenced in line with statutory obligations and best practices, and that it is committed to "engaging openly and respectfully with staff and union representatives".