The Meaning(s) of Academic Tenure in Ireland

Abstract

This article discusses the concept of academic tenure. Even though the Universities Act 1997 and the Technological Universities Act 2018 have provided regulations that significantly impact on academic life, the meaning of the term is still somewhat ambiguous. To that end, this article discusses the provisions of each of the Irish universities’ regulations/statutes, as well as relevant case law, by way of seeking to provide a definition of the concept. The article also discusses other relevant issues such as compulsory redundancy, probation, academic freedom and the tenure of fixed-term/part-time employees before concluding that the concept of tenure, as previously understood, is a relic of the past.