Pages 72 & 73

72 U.C.D. and the Future

Part of the accommodation trouble at U.C.D. is that students who take a
course that involves the study of science have not touched the subject previously.
These students should not be accepted by the university authorities until they
have undergone a satisfactory course. It would hardly be fair to require from
Irish students the high standard in scientific subjects that is necessary to gain
admission to an English or Scottish university. To get the best results from
university education involves a much higher standard of technical and secondary
education, a considerable increase in scholarships to attend these schools, and far
more generous provision in the matter of university scholarships than is at
present available.

More technological institutes, such as those provided at Bolton Street and
Kevin Street (Dublin) will have to be erected. The provision of such a college in
Limerick where a demand exists for the establishment of a constituent college of
the N.U.I may be an acceptable solution. The writer would suggest that any
institute established at Limerick should provide for the needs of the higher
management in the building industry and for the large numbers who engage in
estate dealings and management without any technical qualification (at present
not more than a dozen or so of the firms in the Republic who engage in this
work possess staff who hold professional qualifications). The recognition of
course outside the college as acceptable to it would, of course, require an
alteration in the College statutes.

One proposal in the Commission's report that interests the present writer
particularly is that to establish a school of geography at U.C.D. It is hoped that
the proposed school will include a course in advanced land surveying similar to
that at Bristol and other universities. U.C.D. also requires, as a matter of
urgency, better facilities for hydraulic research, and this should be met regardless
of what decision is come to on the Commission's report.

The Commission consider that, for the proposed buildings at Stillorgan Road,
an open architectural competition is desirable and that the scheme
should include a great hall to serve, as required, as a concert hall. It is
estimated that the college would take up to ten years to build, and in the view
of one member of the Commission the proposal would cost nearly £10,000,000
to build.

Appendix J

SOME OTHER VIEWS

(i) An Article from 'The Tablet' (4th July, 1958)

"To Dublin to Study" -- by Dermot F. T. Engelfield

There were moments of peacefulness, a solitary figure brushing leaves in the
College Park at Trinity or the gardens of University College, quietness set in the
middle of the city's bustle. The tensions of life then were lowered as they
should be in a university city, and having reached this new equilibrium, mind
and feeling started to work. No one could truly reveal this personality of
Dublin, important as it is when assessing it as a university centre, but I was
soon to find there were more tangible riches to be found there.

Very little has been written about the most satisfactory urban setting for

Appendices 73

universities, but if some budding Ph.D. is at this moment discussing it with his
tutor he might seriously consider making a start with Dublin. What first struck
me was the almost ideal balance there was between City and Universities. Beyond
academic walls the busy life of an industrial centre, a port, a capital with an
active parliamentary government, all linked to the world through an international
airport, dealt with the ever passing problems of balancing supply and demand--
the essence of practical living. It treated the universities with quiet approval,
it seldom strayed through their gates. I was reminded how unbalanced in one way
are Oxford and Cambridge, where the many university buildings predominate, or
how unbalanced in the other way are Manchester or London where the university
is an intellectual island set in a sea of commerce. But in Dublin, if at Trinity, one
led a fully residential life, and even if living in hostels or rooms students
were accepted as part of the life of the city without being allowed to push the
citizens off the pavements. There were no self-conscious students' quarters;
the whole city was there to enrich one's background. Let me turn then to the
more practical advantages of Dublin a university city.

There were the theatres which enlivened the study of drama, especially that
of the eighteenth century. The tradition of the 'little theatres' kept one abreast
of modern movements in a way that only London could surpass in Britain.
Musical life too was rich, above all for those who enjoyed choral music, and there
were visiting groups, such as the Hamburg State Opera, whose performance of
Mozart were, at the time, superior to anything heard in Britain since before the
war. The resident symphony orchestra could be visited twice a week with the
smallest of formalities, and there were a dozen or more first-rate chamber
recitals and song recitals during the winter months. There was a National Gallery
which was a very good introduction to the history of painting, being one of the
best balanced of the smaller European collections and unusually strong in the
Dutch and English schools. Public lectures by eminent speakers were promoted by
the Royal Dublin Society and other bodies, and these were advertised in the
Press and were open to the public. This cross-fertilisation was carried to a high
degree. If one ideal for a university setting is to have a small society of
students living in beneficial contact with a large urban society, then Dublin
went a long way towards succeeding. Finally, though this does not apply to Dublin
alone, for anyone from Britain to live outside England for a few years and to
look at her from a bastion of independence was really quite an education in itself.

As a small capital with a relatively large number of students, Dublin offers
a wholeness in its university life that few centres can rival.

(ii) Professor Stanford's Views

In the course of a eulogy of Trinity College which appears in the 'Trinity
Handbook--1959' Senator Professor Stanford wrote the following:--

'No other ancient, residential university in Ireland or Great Britain
lies in the heart of a sovereign metropolis, within a few minutes' walk
of the parliament, the government departments, the courts of justice, and
all the main nerve-centres of an independent state. Inside the walls of
the College we have a precinct dedicated to learning and teaching; but
even the most dedicated learner and even the most absorbed teacher must