College staff left in limbo over closure

Emergency discussions are continuing between the Attorney General"s office, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Finance over the future of Warrenstown College staff who could be left with no payment and no jobs following next week"s closure of the college. The Department of Finance is refusing to allow 19 members of staff of the Salesian College in Drumree to be transferred to other roles in Teagasc due to the public service recruitment ban introduced in the budget. While the teaching and administration staff are paid by the Salesian Order, the salaries are reimbursed to the Salesians by the State through Teagasc. Teagasc has described the situation as very unsatisfactory, and leaves the staff, as well as the horticulture students of the college in limbo. The students have been transferring to the Botanic Gardens and Teagasc facility at Kinsealy, Co Dublin, but a question mark hangs over their situation in September if their lecturers and tutors are not able to move along with them. In October 2008, less than six months after selling the lands of the former agricultural college at Warrenstown, the Salesian Order and Teagasc announced that the horticultural college at Warrenstown was to close this month. In May of last year, the Salesian Order, which has been running the educational facility at Drumree since 1922, sold the 460 acres of farmland for €13.5 million. The order received the lands as a result of the will of local woman, Mrs Elizabeth Lynch, a descendant of the Warren family. The decision to close the college was taken following lengthy discussions and consultations between the trustees of the college and Teagasc. 'Recognising that Teagasc policy is to concentrate future capital investments in fewer colleges, and that the college trustees themselves are in no position to provide the enormous capital investment and on-going maintenance needed to run Warrenstown as a private enterprise, the college trustees were led to the decision to close the college,' a statement issued at the time said. It is understood that staff and students were initially made aware of the impending closure in the same week as an open day for next year"s academic year was going ahead. While the closure has been anticipated for many years, it still came as a blow as it was thought that Warrenstown would be wound down on a more phased basis. There were over 230 students, a combination of part-time and full-time, attending the horticulture college. Teagasc spokesperson Eric Donald said that the closure of some of the Teagasc colleges was flagged about a year previously when consultants recommended that the agricultural organisation concentrate on the four colleges that were in their ownership, out of the eight running in the country. Four of the colleges being funded by Teagasc were privately owned, including Warrenstown. Teagasc says that it will continue paying the staff until it is instructed not to do so by the Department of Finance. The issue has become embroiled in legalities as any decision on it could create a precedent for similar situations elsewhere. Recently, the graduating students of Warrenstown issued an appeal to keep the college open. The Hetac 3 students, who are finishing their four-year course this summer, said that Warrenstown has a strong tradition of excellent training, initially in agriculture and now in horticulture, creating leaders in both these sectors. 'However, it is more than a training college as it offers specialised teaching and expert knowledge in a small intimate rural setting, thus creating a supportive community to all students,' the students said. The potential to keep Warrenstown open as a viable business was very real when one assesses the resources of this institute and its very location near Dublin, which will be linked by rail soon, they added. They said that while the college was small it was also very dynamic and capable of adapting to the changes that face it today. There is a demand for greener and more organic approaches to horticulture. Warrenstown has the resources to be a leader in organic training and create opportunities locally and nationally. 'In this time of dire change, the college can offer hope to those who wish to retrain as a result of recent redundancies and succeed in this industry. With proper funding and support, it has the ability to diversify and encourage a broader spectrum of learning with emphasis on sustainability and research that will pre-empt an oil-free future. This college can be a leader in organic studies,' the departing group of students said.