Debate contribution: Ulster University: Potential Job Losses

Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Carroll on 20 April 2026.

MLA

Mr Gerry Carroll

Party at the time

People Before Profit Alliance

Date

20 April 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Matter of the Day

Heading

Ulster University: Potential Job Losses

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5493137

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I declare that I am a past pupil of Ulster University — there may be some of its students in the Gallery today — and a former sabbatical officer of its students' union. We have to say unequivocally that Ulster University management's proposal to sack 450 workers is a mistaken, ill-thought-out and regressive move. I hope that others will support my call for Ulster University's management body to reverse that disgraceful decision, which will cause untold harm to students and communities across the North. As has been said, they are already facing a cost-of-living crisis, with the price of fuel going through the roof and food prices skyrocketing. What are those 450 workers expected to do? Where are they expected to go for work? Unfortunately, the decision is predictable. It is what happens when universities and other institutions become more wedded to marketisation than to educating. Universities are being treated as factory lines rather than being about lifting up communities and educating people about history and the world around them more generally. The management of Ulster University seems to be more concerned about shiny new buildings, international flights, celebrities and balancing budgets than about students and workers on campus. It says a lot about the type of society in which we live that Ulster University, or any other institution, can, with Stormont's acquiescence, overspend on a building until it ends up costing £350 million but, at the same time, issue hundreds of P45s to the people who will work in that building: those who make education possible for people across our constituencies. What is the point of having shiny new buildings if hundreds of staff are to be laid off and those left, who will be forced to do the jobs of two, three or four people, are overworked and stressed to the max?

I am concerned. Like the Member for South Belfast, I have been contacted in recent days by people who are appalled at the decision. I have also been contacted by staff who are scared to speak out. That says a lot about the culture that is in place not just at Ulster but at many places across the North. They are scared of speaking out and of what the ramifications will be if they raise their heads above the parapet. Our assessment is that the blame for the debacle lies with Ulster University's management as well as with the Executive, who have taken a head-in-the-sand approach to properly funding higher education. They have failed to invest in higher education and have forced students to pay more for education year-on-year when it should be free. I extend my solidarity to the University and College Union and to the students who will be fighting the decision and pushing back against it. This situation may have been predictable, but it certainly was not inevitable. With the coming together of the will of students, workers and people in the House, we can defeat the decision.

495 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:21 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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