A chara, – Now that the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland is to be given the status of a university, it is an ideal occasion to change the name to better reflect Ireland’s political status as an independent republic with no royal connections (Home News, December 11th). Why not call it the Medical University of Ireland? The maintenance of the word royal could make people believe Ireland has a royal family or is still connected to the British royalty. The RCSI has four international campuses and I would not be surprised if foreign students asked why the college has a royal title.
In case someone argues that it is a long-established name and tradition should prevail over change, my alma mater is the University of Limerick. Until 1989, that institute was known as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick. Recently, the Dublin Institute of Technology became the Technological University of Dublin. The National University of Ireland Maynooth was rebranded as Maynooth University a few years ago. A member of staff who works in Maynooth University told me that it was a much better name and it was easier to explain to people abroad which university he worked for rather than having to explain the structure of NUI and how Maynooth fitted into it.
The Medical University of Ireland needs no explanations. – Is mise,
SEANÁN Ó COISTÍN,
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Trier,
Deutschland.