2 Dec 2020
Grassroots campaign hoping to build support from the veterinary community and the people of Northern Ireland behind the idea of setting up a degree course in the province.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Image: © Siam / Adobe Stock
Hopes the UK’s 10th vet school could soon be set up in Northern Ireland have been boosted, with fresh discussions taking place to inject new impetus into the idea.
A grassroots campaign is now hoping to build support from the veterinary community and the people of Northern Ireland behind the idea of setting up a degree course in the province.
Campaigners behind the idea say establishing a vet school in Northern Ireland would make entry to courses easier for more potential students, end the brain drain of many staying on the British mainland and provide fresh recruits to meet the need of Northern Ireland’s veterinary businesses. According to RCVS figures cited by those looking to take the idea forward, Northern Ireland needs a supply of more than 50 vets per year to meet its demands.
In 2014, Ulster University professor John Callan outlined the university’s aspirations for creating a school of veterinary medicine before the Northern Ireland Assembly’s committee for employment and learning, but Stormont stalemates and other priorities have meant little movement since.
However, local assembly members have met council chiefs and Ulster University, and Edwin Poots – Northern Ireland’s minister for agriculture, environment and rural affairs – has been urged to task an independent organisation to “consider if the creation of a veterinary school for Northern Ireland is a viable proposal”.
On the latest developments, an Ulster University spokesman said: “The current and increasing undersupply of vets has been well‑documented, and in the context of impending EU exit presents a significant challenge to the critical agri-food sector in Northern Ireland and to wider economic growth across the region.
“Ulster University stands ready to support the wide range of partners and professional bodies working to further develop the concept through a more detailed assessment of that need for a veterinary college here.
“Indeed, we are well‑positioned to lead such an initiative on our Coleraine campus, aligned with our existing expertise there in biomedical sciences and pharmacy.”
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, the local council Coleraine falls into, proposed several projects in 2019, in partnership with Ulster University, for consideration for funding within the UK Government’s £163 million Growth Deal for Northern Ireland. The establishment of a vet school was one such project.
A letter from the council to Mr Poots outlines that establishing a vet school could cost an estimated £25 million to £40 million, and ideally based on a “distributed model” where no referral hospital would be built, but teaching could be distributed among “identified partner organisations, both public and private”.
Campaigners are now hoping to build support behind a vet school. Vet Joleen Little works for Zaman Recruitment, which sees first‑hand the difficulties province practices face recruiting vets. She has researched previous proposals, talked to potential stakeholders and local assembly members, and Zaman has set up a Facebook page to garner support.
Mrs Little, who studied at the University of Liverpool for her veterinary degree, said: “We’ve had great support. The campaign is not ours, as such, but what we are doing is raising awareness. We are letting it become like a grassroots from the ground up.
“The more vets coming through home‑grown, they are more likely to meet and marry, and stay in the province. If you tend to study abroad, you are going to meet friends, and it is a real pull to come back to Northern Ireland.
“So, then you stay where you’ve trained; where your support network is, so definitely having a locally sourced talent, people who understand the people, people who understand the farmers, the local economy, what it means to be from Northern Ireland and how we work [is important].”
On the campaign and latest moves, BVA Northern Ireland branch president Susan Cunningham said: “We welcome any approaches to widen access to veterinary education, foster greater inclusivity and address workforce shortages. Plans for a potential degree course in Northern Ireland would offer students here a more local route to getting a veterinary degree, meaning they wouldn’t have to travel to Great Britain or Dublin to complete their studies.
“It’s important that by the end of their course, these students have a similar graduate outcome to those taking courses at any of the other 10 established schools.
“Any steps to widen access to veterinary education can, of course, present questions around funding, infrastructure and EMS provision, so we will be interested to find out more about the course and see how it develops over time.”
