There was unanimous support for the retention of Mayo VEC as a standalone organisation rather than it being merged with Sligo, as was proposed by the Government earlier this year, at the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council this week.
The councillors were discussing a letter from the Department of Education asking the council to make submissions on the proposals to change and merge a number of VECs in the county. “As chairperson of the VEC I and the committee have always been against the merging of the Mayo and Sligo VECs into one unit,” said Cllr Jarlath Munnelly, chairperson of Mayo VEC. “We have pushed for the retention of Mayo as a solitary unit. There is room for modernisation all right, even in the name of the organisation which no longer just caters for vocational training, but a broad range of educational skills and training across the country. In my view the VEC can become an education authority right from primary education through to third level with PLC courses that are offered.”
Cllr Patsy O'Brien said people might not see the invaluable work that is done by the VEC throughout the county, especially in the area of adult education. But added: “We have to resist the call to merge us with Sligo.”
Independent councillor Richard Finn said reforms were needed elsewhere in the country, but not in Mayo. “If the people in Dublin want to see changes, let them start with themselves. In Dublin alone you have a number of different VECs with numerous people doing the same job in different VECs. In Mayo there has been great work done by the people involved in the VEC and over the history of the VEC in Mayo by lots of people.” Independent councillor Gerry Ginty had a simple message: “Enough things have been taken out of this county already and it's time we said stop, and I'm sure the people in Sligo would not like to this happen either.” Fianna Fáil councillor Micheal McNamara dubbed the proposal a disgrace. “Mayo is a huge geographic area that the VEC serves, you only have to look at the wide breadth of services that it provides, from primary education, secondary education, back to education schemes for adults who left school early, VTOS schemes, PLC courses and grant aid for third level students,” he said.
The members agreed to make a submission to the Department to voice their support to retain the VEC in Mayo as a single organisation.
