You may recall that I recently posted about the terrible decision by the Management of Maynooth University to scrap the John and Pat Hume Doctoral Scholarships and followed this up with another post suggesting the decision might be reversed.
As it turns out, the decision has not been reversed but, in a truly bizarre step, the scheme is to be paused for a “review” with the possibility that applications would be opened in June 2025 for PhDs starting in October 2025. The vast majority of qualified students intending to do PhDs will have accepted offers elsewhere by then so effectively the scheme is cancelled for 2025. Only students not able to secure a place elsewhere will be around to apply in June. A sensible decision would be to keep the scheme going until the review is complete, but clearly the University bosses want to divert the funds elsewhere. Perhaps the money saved will go towards the €500k luxury limousine service for self-defined VIP managers currently out to tender. Who knows?
Anyway, the decision and the manner in which it has been imposed by the University Executive is highly objectionable (though I’m afraid typical of the regime at Maynooth). Along with the union to which I belong, IFUT, I am therefore happy to support the Postgraduate Workers’ Organization (PWO) in their campaign on this issue. Please consider signing the petition either using the QR code or by following the link here.
