At its monthly Board meeting held last week, Connemara West wished Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT ) every success in its recent application as part of the Connacht Ulster Alliance (CUA ) to establish a technological university in Connacht/Ulster. The application was made to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, TD. In addition to GMIT, the Alliance comprises the Institute of Technology Sligo, and Letterkenny Institute of Technology.
The proposed Technological University will have 20,000 students across eight campuses in Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal. One of those campuses will be in Letterfrack where for the past 34 years, Connemara West has collaborated with GMIT in its delivery of a suite of furniture technology, design, manufacturing and teaching degree programmes at its campus in Letterfrack.
‘It will be huge boost to this area to be the location for a Technological University campus’ said Dr Kevin Heanue, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Connemara West.
‘We look forward to continuing to work with GMIT and the new Technological University and supporting it to have a greater impact on our region and our locality by taking the opportunity to innovatively engage with local communities and become an engine of growth and development”, continued Mr Heanue.
Connemara West, a locally owned and managed development company based in Letterfrack will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2022 and views the Technological University designation of the campus in Letterfrack, which is envisaged to happen in early 2022, as an additional reason to celebrate.
North West Connemara is already earning a reputation as a ‘learning region’ with a variety of educational opportunities in a small geographic area, in addition to GMIT’s campus.
These include Connemara West’s Global Learning Hub servicing colleges from the United States among other learners; Galway Roscommon Education and Training Board’s adult education and Youthreach programmes and Kylemore Abbey’s Global Centre. There are also early childhood education facilities and learning opportunities in Connemara National Park.
