Pages 18 & 19

18 U.C.D. and the Future

classes. This, however, would involve very obvious duplication. Evening students
would have special space provided, where otherwise they would use space
occupied (and heated) during the day. Further, such a scheme would deliberately
make evening students second-class students. They would be removed all the
time from the atmosphere of the university, deprived of proper library facilities,
and would not have the opportunity of meeting other students and of partici-
pating in student activities without considerable difficulty. The Commission was
at great pains to integrate all students with the main body of the College, and
surely this should be done for evening students also as far as possible.

Adult Education
The College authorities say (Report, p.5): 'There is need also for a great
extension of the work it has been successfully doing in the field of adult educa-
tion.' Here again, however, if the courses are run on the Stillorgan Road site,
the inconvenience will greatly reduce their availability and popularity. If they
are run in the city, this will again involve duplication of facilities and the
removal of these students from contact with the atmosphere of the university.

Various British government reports on unversities have considered that
extra-mural work of this kind is no mere appendage to the normal work of
universities but is an integral part of it.

Other Special Courses
The College provides courses leading to Diplomas in Education, Social
Science, Library Training, Public Administration. The College also provides
facilities for other students such as those of Radiography and Physiotherapy.
From time to time it provides part-time courses and short, concentrated courses
particularly at post-graduate level, e.g. atomic energy for graduate engineers.
There is need for an expansion of such courses, particularly in technical subjects,
and also they lead to more efficient utilisation of space and equipment as they
take place during the evening and vacation periods. The institutes of technology
provide many such courses at present, but the universities are better equipped
and staffed for the purpose in a number of subjects.

In general, the running of such courses at the Stillorgan site would make
attendance at them more difficult. Diploma courses, for example, involve work
in other parts of the city.

Other Educational Facilities
During the year many public and semi-public meetings and lectures are held
in the College: College society inaugurals, talks by visiting lecturers, etc.
Further the College provides facilities, such as lecture-rooms, to educational and
cultural organisations, e.g. the Agricultural Association, the Military History Society,
the Management Institute, the Institute of Chemistry, etc. During term
scarcely a night passes without something of public interest taking place in the
College. These facilities will be more inaccessible at Stillorgan Road.

Special Services
The main function of the universities in the expansion of our economy is,
of course, the training of graduates. But we believe that they will need to do

Problems in the Proposed Move 19

more - we have been producing a large excess of graduates in almost every
faculty for many years past, and yet the problem of creating a virile economy
still remains with us.

We believe that the universities may have to play a more direct part in
the development of industry through departments which could undertake funda-
mental research related to its needs. The staff could assist in the solution of
industrial problems and be available for advice. For this purpose the more
centrally located U.C.D. is, the more accessible it will be and the better it will
be able to assist.

There are many important types of scientific equipment not possessed by
any institution in the country because of their cost, e.g. large electronic com-
puters, mass spectrographs, etc. The list is growing every day and we are already
far behind. There is need for a co-ordinated programme of purchase. It would
be wasteful if each piece were at the disposal only of the institution for which
it was purchased and worse, if several bodies were each to buy the same
expensive apparatus. The more closely grouped such institutions are, the more
effecively can such apparatus be used by all.

The same applies to technical journals. There are now many hundreds of
these that scientists and technologists need to consult frequently in the course
of their daily work. Many are not obtainable in Dublin at all, and the remainder
are scattered through a dozen libraries in the city, with the main concentrations
in the universities. The situation is already bad enough - must we make it worse
by moving the U.C.D library to Stillorgan Road?

International Conferences
It is desirable that international conferences and congresses be held in
Dublin. They enhance the reputation of our institutions, and increase the stand-
ing of Dublin as a centre of learning. The Government has realised the
potentialities of such congresses as an economic asset, and Bord Failte has been
successful in promoting them. For such meetings U.C.D. is an obvious place,
and the advantages of having it sited near the city centre, convenient to hotels
and theatres, and in the middle of the cultural and educational complex are
considerable.

Conclusions
The obvious result is that, if U.C.D. moves to the Stillorgan Road site,
large numbers of people will have to travel back and forward from the city
every day, with a great waste of time and energy that could be put to better
uses. It may be only some three miles further out than Earlsfort Terrace, but
if thousands of people are to be forced to travel there and back daily, then the
necessity for any extra distance must be proved incontrovertibly before the
College is encouraged to move.

Another result is possible, however. People may not be prepared to make
the journey, and may find the facilities they want in other institutions in the
city. U.C.D. may thus become progressively more divorced from the community,
and in failing to serve the country as it should, may become sterile and inward-
looking.