No clarity on future of College of Science as minister defends closure as military necessity

Dublin, 22 October 1922 – The Minister for Agriculture in the provisional government, Patrick Hogan, has defended the decision to close the College of Science buildings in Dublin, insisting that the action was taken based solely on military advice.

The minister’s statements were made in the Dáil on 19 October amid mounting concerns from college authorities and students at the structural alterations that are already underway and fears that the building will not be returned to its original educational purpose.

A statement issued by the Students’ Union says that it is the clear intention of the government to use the building for its own purpose when the military necessity for its current closure passes.

‘The result of this’, the students’ statement reads, ‘would be the loss of scientific equipment to the value of, at least, £250,000…’

‘In addition there is a large quantity of massive up-to-date machinery, which is absolutely irremovable, having been placed in position before the roof was completed… If the proposed structural alterations are carried out, all this equipment will be rendered useless, and, with it, the finest technical institution in the country. If the authorities can be made to realise that this will be the consequence of their action, it is certain that they will refrain from taking this irrevocable step.’

The concerns of the students regarding the college’s future were raised in the Dáil by T.J. O’Connell in the hope that the minister might clarify some of the issues around the closure. Mr O’Connell, Labour Party TD for Galway, added that if the government was now looking for accommodation for itself, it ‘could be got otherwise than by commandeering this splendidly equipped building... They might have gone and commandeered some of the hotels, although they are pretty scarce now, but we have a large number of picture houses that they might have commandeered for this purpose.’

Responding, Minister Hogan said that the college had been closed for reasons over which none in the government had any control. It had been closed because the military advice had determined it to be a necessity as it was ‘being used for purposes for which it was never intended. Our military advisers informed us that they had certain information in regard to the activities that were going on in the College of Science which made it absolutely necessary to close the College of Science if they were to be answerable for the adjoining buildings. That is the clear simple position.’

The minister added that Dr Denis Coffey, President of University College Dublin, had generously offered the facilities of his university to the college and that ‘practically in every subject all the students of the College of Science can get the same facilities in the University College as they could have got in the College of Science.’

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[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]