Remarks at a Celebration of 100 years of Excellence in Education
DIT’s Bolton Street Campus, 29th March 2012
Tá an-áthas orm bheith i bhur láthair ar an ocáid speisialta seo. Tá mé thar a bheith buíoch daoibh as an cuireadh agus an fáilte forchaoin a chur sibh romham.
President, (Prof. Brian Norton) staff of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), members of the Governing Body, students, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be here with you this evening as you celebrate the centenary of Dublin Institute of Technology’s Bolton Street Campus. I would particularly like to thank Professor Norton for his kind invitation and for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today.
I must say I am really impressed by the exhibition of photographs I have just seen, which illustrate the history of both this magnificent building and the institution it has housed for the last one hundred years. The exhibition of Bolton Street’s current activities also highlights for us the key role that the campus continues to play in technological education in the present day.
The Bolton Street campus is one of DIT’s most historic buildings. It was specifically designed and built for technical and technological education on the site of what was once the European Hotel – an interesting indication of Ireland’s long-standing self-perception of being at the heart of Europe. Completed in 1911, the verdict of the Irish Times at the time was that “the new edifice will prove a great improvement to this portion of the city”. A century later, the College’s impressive façade remains a familiar landmark to Dubliners today.
Since its establishment the College has been at the cutting edge of technological education. The courses offered in the early years included mechanical engineering, marine and motor engineering, building construction and aeroplane construction. Indeed it is very interesting to note that courses in aeroplane construction were introduced in Bolton Street just shortly after Bleriot first flew a heavier-than-air machine across the English Channel. Then, as now, the ambition of the College authorities reflected their determination to be in the vanguard of new technological development.
I was so pleased to be told that book-binding once formed an important part of the Bolton Street prospectus. We all know that generations of architects and engineers who were educated at Bolton Street made a major contribution to the development of this country’s built environment. While less acknowledged, the contribution of Bolton Street’s master printers and book-binders to the formation of the intellectual and educational capital of the new Irish State was also very profound.
The specialised technical skills that were required by printers and book-binders may, alas, have been largely overtaken by technological developments. However, the primacy the College attaches to good design, innovation and the transformational importance of ideas remains a constant and I am very pleased that the Department of Print and Digital maintains the College’s link with its former master printers and book-binders.
The college first opened its doors for students in the autumn of 1911, with the official opening taking place in early 1912. It experienced instant success in attracting students and its inclusive ethos welcomed students of all religious and social backgrounds. In its early years, the College had to navigate its way through turbulent times and did not escape disruption by external events beyond its control. In 1915 the military commandeered machinery from the College’s workshops to support the production of munitions for the war and a year later the College was occupied by the military during the Easter Rebellion – there was even a machine gun placed on the roof. No doubt, some students of the College ended up being casualties either in the Great War or became participants in the 1916 Rising and the subsequent War for Independence, and perhaps chose different sides in the Civil War.
The College has continued to expand down through the years. With every generation, the programmes offered have grown to include programmes relevant to the most up to date developments in engineering and the built environment - keeping pace with the demands of students, society and industry. The College has also expanded physically with the addition of extensions to either side of the main façade and an award-winning extension to the rear of the building was opened in 1987, with its entrance on Kings Inns Street.
In 1992 Bolton Street was formally joined with its sister technical Colleges to form the Dublin Institute of Technology. Six years later, DIT was granted its own degree awarding powers and has become one of the largest higher education institutions in the State. Today the Bolton Street campus remains a flagship for technological education in DIT. It has enrolments of almost 5,000 students, from apprentice to postgraduate levels, and is home to much of DIT’s provision in Engineering and the Built Environment.
While the programmes delivered in Bolton Street have evolved and kept pace with technological developments, it strikes me as truly remarkable that after 100 years the College continues to deliver the most up-to-date technological education in similar fields to when it was first established. The College has very successfully managed to be adaptable and progressively evolve while remaining faithful to its core educational mission – a commendable corporate achievement.
When we think of Ireland in 1912 we can see how the environment in which Bolton Street’s first students studied was quite different from today. One of the most compelling differences is how access to higher education has opened up. Participation in higher education in the early 20th century was very much an elite pursuit for those with money and position, compared to today, when more than 70% of school leavers now progress from second level into higher education.
Third level education has become the norm for large numbers of young people creating a new diversity and enrichment in our higher education institutions. Bolton Street and DIT have played key roles in facilitating this transition through providing technological training over the range of higher education qualification levels and responding flexibly to the changing needs of students and society.
In one respect, the students of 1912 and 2012 share a common experience. Both then and now, students are living through a period of immense social and political change. In 1912, an exciting cultural ferment in language, literature and games was incubating a more assertive nationalism that would soon eclipse the Home Rule movement and lead to the struggle for total independence. The Irish trade union and labour movement was mobilising itself in defiant opposition to the worker exploitation and endemic poverty of the day. Across Europe, the old empires were fraying at the edges, under pressure from popular nationalism and socialist movements and the calamity of the Great War was only two years away.
The students in Bolton Street today are living through a similar period of great turbulence and transformation. The models of the recent past have failed to deliver a sustainable economy that offers those who are studying here the certainty of stable employment; and they have failed to deliver a society in which all our citizens can actively participate on the basis of equality.
We need new models to transcend those failures – new versions of an economy and a society that will be built around the values of citizen participation, social justice, economic sustainability, community cohesion and inter-generational solidarity. Young people have a huge role to play in this work of transformation. Idealism and creativity are the resources that are needed now (not in the future) to achieve the fullness of our Republic and make Ireland a country of which we can all be very proud.
Since its establishment, the Bolton Street campus has built a well deserved reputation for excellence and its graduates have gone on to successful careers in Ireland and internationally.
During this centenary year I am sure that many graduates will return to visit and to share their experiences with colleagues and students alike. Indeed, I understand there are graduates here this evening spanning five decades. I am sure the exhibition will bring back very happy memories of your time spent studying in Bolton Street and I am sure you will be delighted with this opportunity to catch up with your fellow graduates and compare life stories.
Once again, thank you for your very warm welcome this evening. To the students following programmes here in Bolton Street, I am confident that the skills, education and qualifications you receive from DIT will help to open doors into rewarding careers in a wide range of industries and organisations, even if prising open the initial door requires you to be resourceful and resilient. I wish you every success with your studies and in the careers that await you. For those of you who feel compelled to consider going abroad after graduation, I wish you well in your life journey and truly hope that you will in the future return to Ireland to be part of the next and brighter chapter in the history of our country.
Finally, I would like to thank the staff of DIT; you make a vital contribution to education, to society and to the economy. Your hard work and commitment will help this country return to economic prosperity in the coming years. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.