No third level education for West Belfast

national | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday December 10, 2002 17:00 by Sean Smyth - none

UU pull out of Springvale Campus

The plan for a much needed and wanted university campus at Springvale “West Belfast” is not to be built after the Ulster University withdrew their support for the project.

The plan for a much needed and wanted university campus at Springvale “West Belfast” is not to be built after the Ulster University withdrew their support for the project.
For the last ten years the only progress made was when Bill Clinton cut a sod of turf.
Now all the plans are no more than a pipedream, all the promises made under the Good Friday Agreement” to the long-suffering people nationalist and loyalist of West Belfast”, three hundred plus jobs, three thousand extra third level education places, and the rejuvenation for a part of Belfast which has been neglected for far to long are never to be realized.
The repercussions are going to be far reaching to the community’s of the area, Whiterock F.E.C is in danger of closing, for the last ten years the old “St Thomas school” building on the Whiterock Rd as been neglected while people waited for the promises made to them to become a reality.
When the education board close St Thomas’s over two thousand learners will be faced with the prospect of their classes being cancelled and with having to travel into the city centre were they will have to pay up to £130.00 per week for child care in the new Millfield F.E.C. They only pay one third of that at Whiterock because Millfield is not subsidised nor should it be, as it is part of the ppp/pfi plan used to build the new collage, the workers at St Thomas’s face a bleak New Year with possible job loses.
As a student of BIFHE at Whiterock I am calling on all the elected representatives “ SF.SDLP.PUP” Ect, to state publicly (1) if they are supporting the closure of BIFHE at Whiterock, (2) and why wasn’t a task force similar to the one set-up of lagan side not established for West Belfast.
The Director of BIFHE, Brian Turtle will be at St Thomas’s Whiterock on Wednesday the 18th December, pupils passed and present should be there with a clear message for Brian and the education board “DON’T CLOSE ST THOMAS’S”.

Sean Smyth
Student St Thomsa’s