Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris has announced the establishment of a multi-campus technological university in the south east.
It will be the first university of its kind in the region, with new campuses in Wexford and Waterford.
In a press statement, Harris said: “After years of debate, the establishment of this new technological university will become a reality next year, and the South East can look forward to it increasing higher education access, driving enhanced regional development and increasing opportunities for students, staff, business and enterprise, and local communities across Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Waterford”.
Currently, it is the only region in the country without a university.
“We will continue to invest in this new university with new campuses in Wexford and Waterford. The footprint of this TU will be felt right across the region”, Harris said.
The class of 2021 will be the first cohort of students to graduate with the “locally sourced qualifications”.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the new technological university “will make it easier for the IDA to secure foreign direct investment for the region and is sure to become an incubator for new Irish businesses which will become major employers in their own right”.
“University of Limerick had a transformative effect on the city and Mid-West region. I believe the same can happen now in Waterford and the South-east.”
Originally, the application for designation was made in agreement jointly on behalf of the Institute of Technology Carlow and the Waterford Institute of Technology under the Technological Universities Act 2018.
Niall Collins, Minister of State for Further Education, said in a press statement: “This is the culmination of decades of work by Waterford and Carlow and it will finally become a reality next year. TUs have the power to transform regions and a TU serving the South East will be a game changer for Waterford and Carlow and the wider region.”
The Department of Further and Higher Education will soon be seeking candidates for chairperson and two external members for the first governing body of the new TU.
Another new technological university for the west and north west is to open next year, following a merger of Galway-Mayo IT, Letterkenny IT and Sligo IT.
The creation of technological universities to replace institutes of technology has been a priority of Harris and his predecessor Mary Mitchell O’Connor.
The first such university, TU Dublin, was formed in 2019 following a merger of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), IT Tallaght and IT Blanchardstown.
