In her first interview with UCD media since 2023, the University Observer chats to UCD’s President Orla Feely about everything from housing and Palestine, to satellites and UCD Christmas day.
In May 2023, Orla Feely was appointed President of UCD. Since then, Professor Feely has had a lot said about her, good and bad. Most students are unsure what the job of President even entails, and Professor Feely herself admits that she perhaps wasn’t entirely sure either before she took on the role. In her first interview with UCD media since 2023, UCD’s President discusses some of the key topics concerning students today - from housing, to UCD’s academic ties with Israel, to loneliness on campus, and, of course, UCD Christmas Day.
Talk us through an average day in your role - does such a thing exist?
Feely: “A lot of students wouldn't realise all the component parts of the job of the President – I possibly didn't when I took on the role. UCD is a very big and complex institution, we’re heading for a turnover of about a billion euro. So there’s all the obligations that come with management, with governance, with compliance, with running an institution of that scale as CEO - which is what the president is.
“You’re also the leader of an academic community of faculty and students... things like conferring and the welcomes, attending events, conferences and so on. Also attending student events, which I absolutely love and they are a real highlight of the job for me. And then there’s also the fact that as president you’re carrying the presence of the university.”
Professor Feely told the UO that a highlight of her time in the role so far was the launch of EIR-SAT1, Ireland’s first satellite, a project that was heavily backed by UCD students. She also shared her enthusiasm about the opening of the O’Connor Centre for Learning, stating that the entire building is set to enhance collaboration between students, with, “learning common spaces where students can sit in groups and work together and learn as they see fit, either together or individually.” She also took a moment to point out the other successful infrastructural improvements to UCD including the ongoing science development, the works on James Joyce library and the new Sports Centre being developed. “I’m proud of our campus . . . We've put an awful lot of work into making it a really great environment for our students.”
Our conversation then moved to UCD Strategy to 2030, the college’s ongoing strategy programme.
One goal in the strategy is to be firmly established in the top 20 universities in the EU. Could you discuss this goal a little? Do these rankings mean a lot to you personally?
Feely: “They have to. Even though those of us who work in universities feel that they are a very narrow and restricted lens to view all the wonderful things we do in a university. But others use that lens - faculty who are looking to come to UCD or collaborate with us, students who might be looking to come to UCD . . . The fact that you are graduating from a very highly ranked university is something that you will be able to use to your advantage. So it is important. When I started off as President two and a half years ago we were ranked number 181 in the QS ranking – we’re now 118.”
In relation to the cost of living crisis, what concrete steps are UCD taking to make life more liveable, given campus is becoming more expensive?
Feely: “We do what we can. So for example food prices. When we were renewing the food outlets on campus we made sure not only that the quality of food is what it needed to be but also the prices.” President Feely spoke on a system on campus that food providers must provide meal options that are €5, €7 and €9. She also mentioned the important role the University places in providing jobs for students. “Where we have the possibility for student employment on campus, we favour students for that.”
“In our accommodation on campus, students who are in most need of financial support, we give them financial support towards the cost of accommodation. We increased that amount last year – I think it was €650, we brought it up to €1000 . . . We work with public transport authorities to improve the offerings for students because that can make life a little bit easier if the transportation to get you to campus is improved.
“With the student partnership forum, where we work in collaboration with our students to identify needs. And then there's everything that we do around our campus to make it a more enjoyable and positive experience for students. But we fully understand the difficulties faced by students in terms of cost of living pressures at this time. It's a real pressure. It's a pressure for Dublin, for Ireland and for UCD. But where there are ideas coming from our student body as to how we can help and make things better, we love to hear those.”
The conversation turned to UCD Christmas Day. We asked Professor Feely what we can expect this year.
Feely: “Number one, of course we want students to have fun coming up to Christmas. What happened in some past years was an example of a tiny minority ruining it for everyone else, and that tiny minority, I’ve been told, many of those were not even UCD students . . . We're working with the Students' Union this year, [who are] taking the lead on bringing ideas to us about how this can be, yes, a fun event for our students, which we would want it to be, but also a carefully managed event that makes sure that we steer clear of the kind of behaviours that nobody, nobody would want to see on our campus. So let's keep our fingers crossed. Because, look, we'd love to have a great sociable Christmas atmosphere on our campus.”
UCD is a massive campus, and people often feel isolated. Is that something on your radar? And is it something that UCD are trying to tackle?
Feely: “I think it is an issue for society more broadly. Breakdown of community experiences, atomisation of cultural experiences – I think it's a real problem for society. At its best, a university experience should seek to counteract that. Because at its best, a university experience is where you make connections . . . For me, it’s one of the most important aspects of a university experience. That you connect: that you connect with other people, that you connect with the world, that you connect with new ideas, you connect with your disciplines. Now, we know that that can be challenging for people, like I say, because of the broader challenge around this, just culturally and societally at the moment. We are a very big university. You know, a student comes here at the age of 18. It can be challenging for them to find their place and their people in our university.”
“So what are we doing to support that? . . . Our clubs and societies are such an important part, such a valuable part of the UCD experience. And we know that engagement with those is growing and we really want to support that. Volunteering is another very important part of what students can do. In our classes, we are always working, that's part of the philosophy behind the O'Connor Centre for Learning. It's about getting people talking in small groups, not about sitting in huge rooms together. Areas like the library, you know, we want to make sure that this is an open and welcoming space . . . There's loads that we're trying to do physically on our campus. We want to have physical spaces where people can latch onto and feel at home.”
I’m sure you’re aware UCD was in the press over the last few weeks for having the most expensive student accommodation in the country. How can you reflect on that and how does UCD intend to address the housing crisis?
Feely: “I mean of course the headlines were about our most expensive accommodation, it's not all at that level. I suppose what can we do? Well, more supply, obviously, so we’re building that,” referring to the new housing development on campus, set to deliver 493 beds, supported by €67 million in state funding. “30% of the beds will be offered at a significant discount to students most in need, and that was an essential part of the agreement we reached with the government.”
Professor Feely says that housing and the cost of living are the two issues facing students the most, and says they’re both, “two sides of the same coin”. She says UCD supports the UCDSU Digs Drive and that improving public transport and bus links to campus will help the issue of accommodation. She acknowledges that it's a massive issue for people in UCD, Dublin and Ireland and tells us that the university is open to suggestions from students on what more it can do to address the housing crisis.
Our conversation moved to the topic of Palestine, and the 2024 Palestine Solidarity Encampment on campus, which resulted in the signing of the Encampment Agreement.
Feely: “The university is committed to delivering every part of the agreement. Students were very much involved in policies around responsible investments, around sustainable procurement, around university awards. We confirmed way back at the start of last summer that we have no investments in Israel, we have no bilateral partnerships with Israel, and that is still the case.”
“Another thing that we did, and I’m not sure if we have ever said this publicly, is that we donated €100,000 to an international campaign for medical supplies for Gaza. A number of UCD medics were very much involved in this campaign and asked us for support so I’m delighted that, reflecting the huge concern of our campus community around this area and what we see about the humanitarian crisis that has been unfolding for so longer, that we were able to commit a significant amount of funding to that activity.”
“The student scholarships are fantastic and we are delighted that we were able to support [the evacuation of Palestinian students] . . . The people I want to commend particularly for this are the individual UCD staff members who just put enormous effort into making this happen, so it was a really, really complex undertaking. The university had to provide support in various ways, including financial support and so on, but it was those individuals on our staff who really went the extra mile, and I really, really want to compliment them on that.”
It has come to light that UCD is involved in an EU project with Israel’s Technion university, via Horizon Europe. Horizon Europe is the EU’s major funding model for research, and has a budget of more than €93.5 billion. The EU contribution for this most recent project is €4.5 million in funding. This marks the second project that UCD has entered with Israeli universities following the signing of the encampment agreement.
Feely: “First of all, this is entirely in keeping with our agreement. Our agreement explicitly recognised our commitment to academic freedom. We explicitly did not include any commitment to breaking links with Israeli institutions and we explicitly said that the decision to participate in research programmes is up to the academics involved. This was very important to us as part of our commitment to academic freedom. These projects, you know, the second project that people are talking about, it's in the area of medical research, and the other one's in the area of sustainable chemistry.”
“With Horizon Europe, these are big European funded research projects that are so important in addressing global challenges. It's not just two universities together, it's lots and lots and lots of universities working together to address major challenges. But it is entirely in keeping with the agreement that we reached as a community.”
Could you comment on UCD’s attitude towards protests, especially in light of the ongoing encampment at the N11 entrance?
Feely: As a general point, I would say that I am so strongly committed to open and respectful dialogue, particularly on contentious issues, particularly at times of difficulty. I think it is absolutely essential, and we're seeing this again, it's not a UCD issue, it's a worldwide issue, where people seem less willing to engage constructively with those with whom they may have differences of opinion. I think it is absolutely essential in a university, more than anywhere else, that people be able to talk to one another, hear other points of view, and reach reasonable accommodations.”
“Our agreement is a great example of that, of course UCD BDS are signatories to the agreement, so it is a great example of that, where we, as a community, came together and said, this is what we are committing to, as a university community, and the university has delivered on every aspect of that, as have the other signatories. We had a very positive experience last year, and all the great things that you talked about in the earlier question, that is what we now see flowing out of this for our university. So I really don't want to lose all that we've achieved, I really don't want to lose that spirit of constructive collaboration, because the importance of it goes well beyond this one particular issue, it goes to the heart of who we are, even as a society.”
“We recognise the right to peaceful protests for students - not people who are not associated with the university - for students, to protest peacefully on campus. But that should only be arrived at after significant discussion has taken place.”
Professor Feely concluded the interview by saying that the most important thing to her in UCD is students.
Feely: “I was 22 years in engineering as a lecturer and professor. So even when I finish up as president, that will still be the largest block of my time in UCD. And when I think back to what I'm proud of there, it's not research grants or prizes or membership to that. Even though they felt really important at the time, it's the students that I lectured . . . I hope it's clear just how committed we are, and our strategy is, to students in our university. Students are the lifeblood of our university. Students are the reason why we do what we do . . . I want the strategy to deliver a fantastic learning experience. We want our students to be as well equipped as anybody possibly could be to navigate the world.”