By Peter Gleeson
     The future of Tipperary’s third level college, which had been under threat of closure, now looks secure, The Guardian learned this week.
   Minister for Education Mary Coughlan is expected to make a statement on this Wednesday on a new alliance between the Tipperary Institute and the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT).
   The so-called Bord Snip report compiled by economist Colm McCarthy last year recommended that the campuses of Tipperary Institute in Thurles and Clonmel be closed down and sold off as part of a package of national cost saving measures.  
   But Independent TD Michael Lowry told The Guardian this week that a new alliance of the Tipperary Institute with LIT was expected to be announced by the Minister following a Cabinet meeting this Wednesday.
   Mr Lowry revealed that he held a meeting with Ms Coughlan on the issue on Wednesday of last week at which she informed him that she was happy to proceed with the new alliance arrangement worked out by a special committee set up to form a working relationship between the two colleges.
   “This development is a huge relief. We have come a long way since the publication of the McCarthy report recommended the closure of the Tipperary Institute,” said Mr Lowry.
   He added: “I used my   influence with the Government to ensure that the recommendation in the McCarthy Report was rescinded and I got an agreement on that.” Mr Lowry said the alliance with LIT and Tipperary Institute had been welcomed by management and staff of the county’s third level institution.
   He said there were significant synergies between the two colleges. The plan would safeguard exiting jobs and lead to the expansion of services in the campuses in Thurles and Clonmel. A redeployment arrangement worked out would enable staff to work between both colleges and pension entitlements had been guaranteed.  
   The Independent TD said a business plan worked out under the new alliance envisaged an additional one thousand students in the two campuses in Co Tipperary over the next two to three years.
   Mr Lowry said he made successful representations to Finance Minister Brian Lenihan in regard to funding of the campuses in Tipperary and underlined their key role in creating jobs in the county. He said Mr Lenihan had agreed to maintain the necessary funding for the next five years.
   Mr Lowry said the only matter outstanding at present was a name for the merged colleges. He said one suggestion had been “LIT Thurles Clonmel” but he said he had personally suggested to the Education Minister that it be LIT Tipperary.  
   Welcoming the positive news that the future of the Tipperary Institute is secure, Fine Gael’s Deputy Noel Coonan said his party was a vigorous and firm supporter of third level education in Tipperary and has a strong record in relation to the Thurles campus.
   Deputy Coonan said: “It was Fine Gael in Government who purchased this site under the leadership of Garret Fitzgerald and the Institute was made a reality under John Bruton as Taoiseach of a Fine Gael led Government.”
   “I warmly welcome the news that the TI is safe and jobs will be maintained. It is especially important for Thurles town where unemployment reached 2,847 by the end of May, a 300% increase since May 2007 when 944 people were signing on.”