Galway’s reputation as a educational location par excellence received a €110m boost this week when funding commitments for the creation of a College of the Future and an expansion of ATU Galway were both announced.
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD visted the city on Monday and announced that the green light has been given to Galway Roscommon Education and Training Board to proceed to the next stage in developing a College of The Future (COTF ) replacing the Galway Technical Institute and built on a new site at Wellpark
The project envisages the building of a state-of-the-art further education campus built which will increase capacity in Galway city.
Separately, Minister Harris has confirmed Atlantic Technological University has been given the go ahead to proceed to the next phase for a multidisciplinary teaching and learning facility on the Galway City Campus.
Speaking to the Advertiser Minister Harris said: “This is a brilliant day for Galway. Galway has been chosen as one of ten locations to proceed to develop a further education College of the Future.
“Galway has become a hub for third level education and it needs a state-of-the art facility to meet the demands of the entire county.
“The College of the Future Major Projects Fund will support the implementation of the vision set out in the Further Education Strategy. This Fund, and the proposed for development in Galway has the potential to deliver on a range of strategic objectives. It is great that the proposal will now proceed to Preliminary Business Case Stage.”
Minister Harris also confirmed ATU has been successful under the Technological Sector Strategic Projects (TSSPF ) Fund to proceed to develop the preliminary business case for a multi-disciplinary teaching and learning facility in Galway. It is envisaged that the new building will serve students in the areas of Engineering, Business, Science and Computing.
“At the beginning of the year I set out my vision for a new phase of capital investment in the higher education sector, and specifically the technological sector, that would act as an enabler to achieve and meet the ambitions and needs of this sector.“
“This is a key milestone as we see ATU emerge from the first part of a robust strategic assessment process, and move to the next phase of the project life cycle development, which will see the development of preliminary business case.“Investment will play an important role in supporting the technological sector as drivers of regional development by allowing them to better meet the needs of learners in their region, to deepen existing and forge new relationships with business and enterprise and to respond in an agile fashion to future developments.
“Advancing these capital proposals is key to ensuring a pipeline of key strategic projects delivers for our learner, economic and societal needs, and we need to keep these objectives at the heart of all our decision making. The outcomes of the preliminary business case stage will inform the development of a pipeline of projects and future capital investment decisions.
“The proposal developments to be advanced under the Technological Strategic Projects Fund and Further Education and Training College of the Future Major Projects fund will complement significant investment right across the technological sector and further education and training sector.”
GRETB’s Chief Executive David Leahy said they are delighted to have been successful in their application for funding to build a state-of-the-art Further Education and Training College in the heart of Galway City.
GRETB boost
“This will allow us to develop and expand both our full and part-time courses and to offer the very latest in technology-enabled facilities in the continued delivery of top class education for the West of Ireland.”
Andrew Brownlee, CEO of SOLAS, said: “Today’s announcement marks an important step forward for learners and communities in the Galway area, but also an important milestone in the evolution of FET facilities and provision nationwide. This College of the Future is part of a larger shift towards distinct, integrated colleges of FET around the country, which will serve as a beacons of community-based learning excellence.
“This is a brilliant and brave proposal from GRETB because it brings together the fantastic provision in GTI & training centre onto one single integrated FET college campus. As we continue to deliver cutting edge campuses that showcase the very best of FET, we will start to change the hearts and minds of Irish society with regard to school-leaver and lifelong education options.
“A warm congratulations to my colleagues in Galway Roscommon Education & Training Board and all of the potential learners in the Galway area on what is an inspiring day for both the region and the sector.”
ATU President Dr Orla Flynn welcomed the announcement, saying the proposed development of this Learner Centre will benefit students and staff across the region, but especially those based at the ATU Galway City campus.
“ATU has ambitions to become a truly great multi-campus technological university, serving the needs of our unique region, and beyond. To do this, we will require continuing capital investment and this announcement is a very welcome step in that process. We can now look forward to ATU growing as a great place to study and work for generations to come,” she added.
The announcements were welcomed by Minister Hildegarde Naughton, who said she is delighted that Galway is being recognised as a location for one of Ireland’s “Colleges of the Future”.
“People in Galway will be familiar with the ageing and outdated building presently occupied by GTI on Fr Griffin Road. The site is small at just over 1 hectare, with 12 prefabricated classrooms in use. Given the pressure of numbers, other property is also rented further along Fr Griffin Road,” the Galway Minister noted.
“Permission has now been granted to the GRETB to build a replacement, new, multi-million euro state of the art Further Education and Training Campus of circa 20,000 square metres. There are three hectares of land available on the existing GRETB site in Wellpark which is capable of accommodating a new and purpose-built facility. It will provide a modern, future-proofed building and will be located on a site which has the capacity for further expansion. This project is one I spoke to Minister Harris about recently and I am very pleased to see this announcement,” Minister Naughton said.
“With the Atlantic Technological University now entrenched in the region, I am also delighted to note that Minister Harris has confirmed that ATU has been successful under the Technological Sector Strategic Projects (TSSPF ) Fund to proceed to develop the business case for a significant development in Galway. This new multi-disciplinary building will serve students in the areas of Engineering, Business, Science and Computing,” the local TD said.
