Upstart: Friends, Foes & Founding a University - Hardcover

Structurally brave and successful, and its use of the language is consistently impressive. It has an immensely detailed and important story to tell. Is biggest achievement almost a contradiction, (given the tendency towards unreadable dross in certain academic quarters) is its sheer readability. --Limerick Leader

Ed Walsh returned to Ireland in 1970 to blunder into setting up an institute of education. He found a decaying mansion on a riverside site, gathered talented young people and secured funding from the World Bank and European Investment Bank to build what became the University of Limerick. Along the way, Ed made powerful enemies as he challenged official cant, traditional academics and clerical humbug. This is an inspiring, frank and often funny memoir by a passionate educational leader.