WIT WIT WIT

I listened with interest as Mr John Herlihy of Google Ireland (left above I think) spoke to Mary Wilson on Mondays 5-7 Live on RTE Radio 1. He was lamenting the fact that first class degrees in Ireland are being devalued (in his opinion) because too many of them are being handed out by Universities.

When Mary asked him where Google recruit from he said, more or less, that they pretty much stop after the seven Universities! I nearly crashed the car!! Now aside from the fact that computing degrees from WIT are MOST sought after in the workplace and that WIT is the top college in the Country (including the Universities) for graduate employment I found Mr Herlihys words both disingenuous and dangerous - giving, as they seemed to do, the impression that degrees which were not received at University were not as valuable as those that were. What a load of old cobblers! Did I hear him right? Surely I was dreaming??

But it does bring into sharp focus the need - as if we need to be reminded - for WIT to be designated as a University. If the rumours about Martin Cullen handing over his Ministerial portfolio are true - and if we revert back to type, whereby places in Ireland that do not have a voice at the Cabinet table regardless of the veracity of their case, get nothing - then that indeed will have made the fight all the more difficult.

On the Martin Cullen issue - if he is to resign for health reasons I for one wish him all the very best. He has been a good servant to Waterford and has delivered for this constituency. We would like to have gotten more and I am quite sure he would like to have delivered more. Party politics aside, on a personal note, Martin Cullen, in my opinion was always a decent man and a very very able politician - who was given the wrong end of the stick by a Dublin-centric and biased media who seemed to hate him without either knowing him, knowing why, or caring too much either way.

But back to the University issue - perhaps as a parting gift the Government might reward Martin if he is to go in a honourable fashion - and not in the usual cloud of ignominia that has become the trend of late - with that University designation tucked under his arm? After all, it would tick many boxes for the Government, underlining as it would their commitment to building a better Ireland an allowing us in the South East and our children to help them in that process. Is it too much to hope for? Probably. But it's not going away and is needed now more than ever.