Following the government’s announcement last evening of increased restrictions to protect against the further spread of Covid-19, students and staff of our institutes of technology and technological university will want clarity on the implications for education and research in the coming second semester.
Our institutions have worked closely with government and the health authorities to put in place a safe and altered mode of delivery that is calibrated to afford certainty to the close of the current academic year. These plans have been carefully constructed with resilience to accommodate the predicted variation in the course of the virus. The announcement yesterday doesn’t propose any change in those plans but it does remind all of the importance of our personal actions over the coming period.
Dr Joseph Ryan, CEO of the Technologocal Higher Education Association (THEA) stated: “with heightened transmission rates and a virus that is proving itself resilient and dynamic, everyone will be encouraging the exercise of personal awareness and responsibility on the part of all to ensure we negotiate these coming weeks safely. In the statement of 30 December, an Taoiseach pointed the promise inherent in the vaccine. All will take heart from this while acknowledging that the rollout of the vaccine will take time. The task is to get safely from here to there and our institutions will play their part in managing that path safely.”
The plans for the coming semester are as communicated by your institution. The advice to all is to keep in touch with your institution and check the website regularly. Your health and well-being is central and informs all decisions.
We wish you a safe and Happy New Year.
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For further information please contact:
Róisín O'Connell, Head of Communications, THEA: (087) 9193333
