Professor Maggie Cusack:

It was this incredibly exciting opportunity, to which I referred earlier, that attracted me to the role. There is so much that I see that is integrated and part of the fabric of the technological universities about which I am really passionate.

I am very much from what one might describe as a rough-and-tumble secondary school in Glasgow and my view is that education is genuinely transformative. This is a passion I have that everyone is committed to delivering.

I grew up in an academic system where I would be required to teach, carry out research and do administrative work. All these things would all be valued and one would be expected to have that broad portfolio. A lot of things that come through the TURN report that really speak to the highest ambitions of the technological universities are to enable our staff. The greatest benefit we can achieve is when our staff are self-motivated and driven, not by the hours they work but by what they can achieve and having that possibility to research, develop new knowledge, innovate and make a difference. The more we can follow the recommendations of the TURN report and get ourselves to a position where we are really delivering on the full potential of the technological universities, the more it will be a really exciting situation for Ireland to find itself in. I feel very privileged to make my contribution to those endeavours.