IRELAND: Lecturers protest bid to scrap tenure

Over 200 university and institute of technology lecturers met in Dublin last Saturday to protest against the implementation of the Croke Park agreement in tertiary institutions. The group is seeking to protect the right of academics to permanency and tenure until retirement age. They said this "bedrock on which academic freedom rests" was under threat, reports The Irish Times.

The Croke Park deal, along with the Hunt report on higher education, proposes longer working hours and shorter holidays, tighter management control and performance-related pay. They also open up the possibility that academics deemed to be sub-standard by management could be sacked.

Addressing the meeting, the organiser of the event, former president of the Teachers' Union of Ireland and physics lecturer Paddy Healy, said academic freedom and tenure were essential to ensuring that lecturers "cannot be dismissed for the expression of unpopular ideas".
Full report on The Irish Times site