More 3rd level institutions needed in Dublin 15, says Walsh

Labour Councillor John Walsh says that there is a need for a third-level institution in Blanchardstown.

Walsh, himself a Higher Education lecturer at Trinity College, told the most recent meeting of Fingal County Council that Blanchardstown should follow in the footsteps of places like Dún Laoghaire in creating a third-level education facility in West Dublin.

The meeting discussed Fingal’s long-term draft economic strategy plan, and Walsh said that the Council should take advantage of the plan by putting the regions educational facilities on a par with what is offered in the rest of Dublin.

The meeting heard that there was potential for further education facilities to be developed in the area.

“Further education has traditionally been quite poorly developed in Fingal and the wider Blanchardstown/Dublin 15 area, and those areas have been particularly neglected,” Walsh said.

“If you look at the dense network of further educational colleges in Dún Laoghaire and South Dublin, there is a real opportunity there to develop a PLC and other further education courses across Fingal.”

Noting the success of TUD and their Blanchardstown campus, the Castleknock Councillor stated that education participation rates “vary widely” across electoral areas and that more needs to be done to level the playing field.

A 2020 breakdown of the demographics of Dublin West found that 36.3% of people living in the constituency have completed third level education, which is above the national average of 28.5%.

However, only 29.2% of those in Dublin West have completed second level education which is below the national average of 33%.

The Institute of Technology in Blanchardstown was absorbed into the wider TUD family in 2019, with the Blanchardstown campus sharing resources and educational facilities with the base in Grangegorman.

Walsh cited research by Empower that shows significant demand for further education in the area, and while there have been efforts by Education and Training Board organisations, attempts to establish further education institutions in the area have been unsuccessful.

“There is an opportunity to further develop education in the wider Blanchardstown area; I would like to see greater focus and attention given to this issue by Fingal County Council.”