22.10.2010
At a ceremony held yesterday in Milltown Institute, the Chancellor of the National University of Ireland, Dr Maurice Manning conferred diplomas and degrees on one hundred and forty-eight students.
Noting that among the Institutions of the National University of Ireland, Milltown Institute is unique in its disciplinary focus, the Chancellor remarked that ‘across the entire spectrum of Irish higher education, there is relatively little provision for theology and related disciplines’. Referring to the comment made last August in Italy by Dr Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin and Patron of the Institute, that the Irish were ‘theologically illiterate’; Dr Manning said that ‘against the background of the very limited provision for theological studies, it is hard to argue that he didn’t have a point’. Acknowledging Milltown’s contribution to theological studies for over forty years, the Chancellor said that ‘It is a matter of no little regret that what has been achieved here academically has proved to be unsustainable in the longer term and that the Institute, as currently constituted, is no longer recruiting students. Small institutions face considerable challenges in present circumstances and the whole thrust of development in higher education is towards creating larger units and generating economies of scale.’
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