Rats, mould and rotting benches rife in SETU says staff
Protestors at the College Street Campus.
Approximately 80 staff members protested over their working conditions on Thursday, February 26. The Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) organised the protest due to a wide variety of issues, such as: ceiling tiles falling from ceilings due to water damage, mould visible around door frames and spreading up internal walls, and broken, rotting benches, a piano and discarded building materials and debris left in courtyards and car parks rather than being removed and replaced.
Cara Daly, secretary of the SETU Waterford Branch of TUI, told the Waterford News & Star: “Despite sustained and constructive engagement with university management, an agreed staff accommodation plan and associated timeline have not been delivered.
"As a result, members continue to work in conditions that raise genuine health and safety concerns. This is not a step we have taken lightly. The wellbeing of our colleagues across all campuses is paramount, and we believe safe, properly maintained workplaces are a basic standard.
“I also want to make it clear that this protest is not about privilege or pay. It is about basic infrastructure, health, safety, and the kind of environment we believe both staff and students should expect in a modern university.”
Dr Sinéad Connelly has been a law lecturer in SETU for the past 25 years. She told the Waterford News & Star that she is protesting because, “we have mould, we have fungus growing, we have equipment that’s not working.”
She said: “The teaching here is second to absolutely none in the country and the education people get, the support the students receive is absolutely fantastic, and the university is a great place to work.”
“We’re asking for a costed plan so that we know into the future these serious issues will be resolved and that we’re not going to see a deterioration in the physical infrastructure of the university.”
Ann Graham Cagney, a senior lecturer in Education, said, “We give way above any other university in terms of our students. We’re there for them beyond anything I’ve experienced elsewhere. But the conditions are dreadful.
"Some places still don’t have working WIFI, we’re using our phones as hotspots. We buy our own heaters to bring in because the classrooms are so cold.”
According to the TUI, one office recorded a temperature of 5°C during working hours.
In a statement to the Waterford News & Star, SETU said: "South East Technological University (SETU) recognises challenges posed by legacy infrastructure across our campuses and acknowledges concerns raised by staff.
"SETU is advancing an ambitious and strategically aligned capital development programme, including the construction of a 13,000 m² Engineering, Computing and General Teaching Building on the Cork Road Campus in Waterford.
"When completed in 2028, this new facility will enable the planned relocation of activity currently based on the College Street Campus.
"SETU remains committed to ongoing and active engagement with staff and their representative unions in relation to both current and future developments, as well as continuous maintenance and improvement of university infrastructure.”
