A FORMER Kilkenny mayor has maintained that we should keep inter-county rivalry for Croke Park - and not let it "divide" the region when it comes to the location of a headquarters for the new Technical University of the South East (TUSEI).
Paul Cuddihy, who was a FG councillor for Kilkenny , said Waterford sometimes portrays itself as "Cinderella" in terms of not getting what it wants but the narrative of "always the bridesmaid and never the bride" is not helpful.
Speaking to Damien Tiernan on Deise Today this morning, he said this doesn't encourage others in the region to support Waterford. It also does "nothing for investment," he said, and then "we all lose out".
Paul Cuddihy said the region, not just Waterford and Carlow, needs a university and it was his belief that a headquarters in Kilkenny might be a good option.
It would avoid, he said, the internal politics of Carlow and Waterford, and also it is geographically half-way between the two places.
"We all need to work together. There are some people in Waterford who feel every regional thing should go to Waterford. I remember people from the regional airport came to Kilkenny looking for funding. We asked to put 'south east' in the title. But they didn't. They took the money and went," he said on Deise Today.
Also on the show this morning, sitting FF Kilkenny councillor Peter 'Chap' Cleere said what is about to come on-stream is a brand new facility for the region, not just Waterford and Carlow, and there is no point just putting "a new sign over the door".
"We need to build on the strengths of the two facilities and we need to get the benefits for the region," he said.
"Once the region has secured this university, we will have to look at all options regarding existing campuses and new structures."
Independent TD for Waterford Matt Shanahan said it was not right that all the major decisions on the new technological university- including the headquarters' location - will only be made at the very end of the process which is now underway, when really these "hard issues" should be dealt with at the start.
He said there was no doubt in his mind that the headquarters should be in Waterford and what was happening at the moment was "kite-flying" in terms of what may have to be done to satisfy different political regions.
He also maintained Kilkenny had not been supportive of WIT in the past when it came to linking for third level education.
Minister of State, Mary Butler, told Damien that huge work is being done on the TUSEI at the moment in terms of engagement with unions, advisory groups and politicians with a "shared objective of having a university of international standing in the South East".
She said an application had to be submitted before or on April 28 and then an international panel will be appointed. Designation day would be 11 months away and on this day, WIT and Carlow IT would cease to exist in place of a new university and new governance.
She said earlier this morning, she had been speaking to Minister Simon Harris and the suggestions regarding Kilkenny as a base, he had said, were "mischievous" and "kite-flying" as no such decision had been taken as yet.
While she accepted this meant a Kilkenny HQ proposal had not been dismissed, she believed Waterford "ticked all the boxes" when it came to merit as a new headquarters and WIT was one of the best performing institutes in the country.
You can listen back to the debate and discussion on this morning's Deise Today by clicking below here...
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