Papers of James Meenan – Move of UCD to Belfield

16 U.C.D. and the Future

to the Commission's Report going to press, with St. Laurence's Hospital (c. 350 beds). Each of these hospitals is to have both a Professor of Medicine and a Professor of Surgery. Hence there will be approximately 800 beds and four associated professors on the north side of the city (some five miles from the Stillorgan site by way of the most dense traffic arteries in the city centre) and only 190 beds and their two associated professors on the south side. Even when the new Elm Park Hospital has been built there will be only 450 beds available in it (replacing St. Vincent's with its 190). With regard to this proposed hospital, the Department of Health has already officially indicated that it is not responsible for providing space for clinical teaching and has altered the proposed plans so as to reduce the space that could be devoted to this purpose. Consequently the Board of St. Vincent's Hospital declares that as the plans now stand (and remember that the foundations have been laid) 'the new hospital would be merely a larger edition of a County hospital.' (See Appendix VIII to Chapter I of the Report).

In this regard we consider that the plan to move U.C.D. to Stillorgan Road was unduly influenced by the prior decision to build a new hospital at Elm Park. In the ultimate conditions envisaged by the Report there will still be twice as many affiliated general teaching beds and associated teaching staff on the north side of the city as there will be on the south side. Consequently, only about one-third of the medical students would not be inconvenienced by the new arrangements, whilst about two-thirds would be put to considerably greater inconvenience in regard to their general hospital work.

It must be remembered that not all U.C.D. students take their clinical courses at the above-mentioned three hospitals. A further seven general hospitals are also recognised by the College and are listed in its calendar, viz:

The Meath The Adelaide Mercer's Sir Patrick Dun's Jervis Street Royal City of Dublin Dr. Steevens'

All of these are far nearer to Earlsfort Terrace than to the Stillorgan Road site.

Still further, the College Calendar lists eleven recognised specialist hospitals which students attend for parts of their course, and these hospitals are also nearer to Earlsfort Terrace than to Stillorgan Road.

Grangegorman Mental Hospital The Vergemount Fever Hospital, Clonskeagh The National Children's Hospital, Harcourt Street Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital The Coombe Lying-in Hospital The National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street The Rotunda Hospital The Fever Hospital, Clondalkin The Children's Hospital, Temple Street The Dental Hospital of Ireland (which all dental students must attend).

Problems in the Proposed Move 17

Despite what the Commission says, the inconvenience would obviously be very great. It is abundantly clear that there is a very strong case for retaining the Medical school in the city centre even if the Elm Park Hospital is completed and St. Vincent's closed to students.

It is worthy of mention that by far the largest single concentration of general hospital beds in Dublin lies in St. Kevin's Hospital (approx. 1,600 beds) in the south city. From time to time it has been suggested - and some medical professors in U.C.D. have supported the idea - that this vast hospital be affiliated to the College as a teaching unit. The fact that it has not been so affiliated would appear to be a major instance of what the Commission has called 'lack of co-ordination amongst the several authorities' involved, which is having such a bad effect on clinical teaching facilities. Many years ago a plan was prepared to utilise St. Kevin's as a post-graduate medical education centre, but that plan came to nothing. However, sooner or later we believe some agreement on having this hospital available for the teaching of students is bound to be reached, and it would be a great pity if by then the U.C.D. Medical school were inconveniently far away.

The Commission did not permit itself to discuss the problem raised by the existence in the city of three medical schools and four medical examining bodies (when the Apothecaries Hall is included), nor yet did they comment on the necessity or otherwise of having two further medical schools within the State at Cork and Galway. In all there are six medical schools in this island with its population of 4 1/2 millions and three of these are in Dublin with its population of little over half a million. Could no economies be effected, and medical education improved, by some form of amalgamation or at the very least coordination and sharing of facilities instead of the present wasteful multiplication?

In regard to the Royal College of Surgeons it is to be noted that a suggestion has been made that it would be an ideal centre for the post-graduate study of surgery and related branches of medicine.

C. THE COLLEGE AND THE COMMUNITY

It is generally accepted to-day that universities should serve the community in other ways than merely educating their whole-time students. The universities have a special obligation to disseminate as widely as possible their heritage of learning. Further, the public purse provides most of the income of U.C.D., and will provide the whole of the cost of the proposed extension, and hence the community is entitled to any services the College can provide which do not interfere with its primary function of educating its whole-time students. We deal with some of these services below.

Evening Degree Students

U.C.D. provides degree courses for evening students, and we believe that such students deserve every facility. If U.C.D. moves to the Stillorgan Road site, and provides its facilities for evening students there, then most of these students will have their already arduous day lengthened still further by the travelling involved.

The Report suggests that this difficulty has been foreseen, for it indicates (p.35) that Newman House, St. Stephen's Green, could be used for evening