THE PRESIDENT of the University of Limerick (UL) is reported to have gone on sick leave as calls emerge for her resignation over the scandal that saw the university pay over €5million above market price for a housing development.
Professor Kerstin Mey is reported to have taken sick leave on Wednesday (March 27) following widespread calls for her to consider her position as head of the university.
The controversy erupted last Friday (March 22) when a letter from Professor Mey admitted to UL staff that an independent review found that the university overpaid €5.2million for a student housing development in Rhebogue.
RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme this morning (Thursday March 28) reported that Professor Mey had taken sick leave as UL Unite, the union that represents over 900 staff at the university, passed a vote of no confidence in the president, as well as the UL Postgraduate Students Union passing a no confidence vote, calling for Professor Mey’s resignation.
UL paid a total of €12.58million for 20 houses in Rhebogue, which would mean each house cost the university almost €630,000, almost twice the market price for the area.
This comes just months after Professor Mey appeared before a Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting stating that the university had turned a corner in terms of financial irregularities, after widespread controversy over UL’s purchase of the former Dunnes Stores building on Sarsfield Street, which the university purchased for €8.3million in 2019, without having gotten any formal valuations.
Executive members from UL have faced calls to re-appear before the PAC in April, but when asked about this, a spokesperson for UL said: “UL has no comment to make at this time”.
The University of Limerick were contacted for comment about Professor Mey’s sick leave, but no response has been received at time of publication.
