Lecturers protest over Croke Park deal

 Former taoiseach Garret FitzGerald at a meeting of academics in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin on Saturday to discuss the proposed implementation of the Croke Park agreement in third-level institutions.Photograph: Alan Betson

JOANNE HUNT

MORE THAN 200 university and institute of technology lecturers met in Dublin on Saturday to protest against the implementation of the Croke Park agreement in third-level institutions.

The group, which met in the Gresham Hotel, is seeking to protect the right of academics to permanency and tenure until retirement age. They said this “bedrock on which academic freedom rests” was under threat.

The Croke Park deal, along with the Hunt report on higher education, proposes longer working hours and shorter holidays, tighter management control and performance-related pay.

They also open up the possibility that academics deemed to be substandard by management could be sacked.