madam president academics are by nature an argumentative group so as a former university lecturer and course director it has been with great interest that i followed a very public debate in ireland between academics over the future direction of irish universities
where these academics converge is in the agreement that universities remain one of europe's great innovations and that their continued success is essential to the future social political and economic success of the european union
however economic success must not be confused with social development in society as in university and so this crossroads we have come to in third-level education with traditional student-based learning in one direction and the demands of modern business-driven economies in the other must be navigated with the greatest of care
profit growth and modern development are integral elements of today's universities but with many faculties unrelated to business and profit-driven professions and i am thinking of arts and the humanities in particular it is important that in order to retain a balance between both economic and intellectual success modern universities retain some essential academic links with their more financially naive past
