A CATHOLIC institute of theology may be established at the once Protestant bastion of Trinity College Dublin (TCD) if negotiations, currently in train with the Jesuit-controlled Milltown Institute in Dublin, are successful.
The Milltown Institute had discussed setting up a programme along similar lines with UCD but the university founded by Cardinal John Henry Newman rejected its advances.
A UCD spokesperson has dismissed suggestions from informed sources that this was because senior academics there were anxious lest it would once again be tagged as "the Catholic University". It is intended that the institute would focus on teaching and research in areas currently addressed by the civil degree section of the Milltown Institute.
Approximately 17 Catholic religious congregations are trustees of the institute at present.
UCD, which was engaged in talks on the issue last year, grew out of the Catholic University of Ireland founded in Dublin in 1851.
A spokeswoman for the university said it had moved on "to a more mature place where religion and the past are concerned". She added it was "concoction to suggest there had been an anti-Catholic recoil" there during the discussions with the Milltown Institute.
"Contrary to popular mythology, UCD's overriding concern had been about academic quality" in the discussions with Milltown which took place through the summer of last year.
Also of concern was student numbers, the spokeswoman said.
The Milltown Institute comprises two entities: a recognised college of the NUI (National University of Ireland) which awards civil degrees; and a pontifical faculty which awards degrees accredited by the Vatican.
Its courses are in theology, philosophy and spirituality. It is one of the main centres for the study of these disciplines in Ireland and attracts international students from an estimated 40 countries.
A statement from the institute said, where the negotiations with TCD were concerned, its trustees wanted "to see Catholic theology in a major university in dialogue with the surrounding culture, in ecumenical dialogue and in dialogue with other religious traditions. This vision is shared by TCD. The preservation of the ethos and identity of the respective partners forms a cornerstone of this alliance." Talks were "at an advanced stage", it said.
