Athlone Institute of Technology is to receive a cash injection of over €1 million which will be used to upgrade science and business facilities at the institute. The funding of €1,100,180 was announced on Wednesday by Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills, Mary Coughlan.
The devolved grant scheme enables third level institutions to undertake small-scale building works and high-tech equipment upgrades, with a total of €42 million in funding announced this week.
At AIT the money will be utilised to upgrade facilities in the schools of business and science. Several new business lecture theatres were installed already this year, and this money will in part be used to complete this work.
A substantial upgrade is also underway in science, with state-of-the-art new laboratories being developed. This investment will support expansion in the number of people studying science programmes in Athlone, and enhance the reputation of the institute as a centre of scientific excellence.
Welcoming the announcement, AIT president, Professor Ciarán Ó Catháin, said: “This funding is very welcome in enabling us to improve our educational facilities. We have invested €100 million over the past decade at AIT, and our students and the wider community are experiencing the benefits of that investment. If we want to have a world-class higher education system, we have to invest in our facilities. This money helps with that process.”
A total of 15 institutes of technology and seven universities are to benefit from the funding. Each institution receives a basic allocation of €68,500 per campus plus €320 per full-time student.
While AIT currently has a total student population of approximately 6,000, this year’s grant has been calculated based on 3,224 full-time students.
Tánaiste Mary Coughlan said the higher education sector had stretched itself significantly to accommodate the recent unprecedented increase in the student population, which had been achieved largely on the strength of highly efficient space utilisation.
“By devolving the funding, the institutions can manage their own projects and target funding where it is needed most. Feedback from the third level sector has been hugely positive about this scheme,” said the Tánaiste.
Last week AIT announced details of a €10.5 million indoor sports arena at the institute, to include a six-lane athletics arena, a multi-sport arena, and an outdoor stand to serve the existing athletics track.
Preliminary site works, including the evacuation of prefabs and relocation of offices, has commenced on site, with construction work to start in the new year.
