Ferdinand Von Prondzynski - Public Profile

Public Profile

Von Prondzynski is the author of a widely read and quoted blog and has a presence on Twitter. He also has a weekly column in the Irish Times newspaper. In his blog and elsewhere he has made statements about various issues, including the benefits of immigration, the risks to universities caused by the failure of the Irish Department of Education and Science to prioritise higher education, and the need to recover civility and courtesy in society. He has also been one of the advocates for a re-think on the 'free fees' scheme in Ireland, under which Irish and EU students pay only "registration" fees – he has argued that too much of the money spent on this goes to wealthier people who do not need it, while poorer students are neglected. He has also criticised the so-called 'points system' in Ireland which determines student entry into university courses. He has argued for a 're-think' on the numbers of lawyers educated and trained at Irish universities contending that there are too many, although during his time DCU approved the establishment of a new BCL law degree. He made similar comments about the number of law graduates in Scotland when giving evidence in March 2012 before the Scottish Parliament's Education and Culture Committee. More recently he has argued for higher levels of entrepreneurship and interaction between universities and industry in Scotland.