Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD has today (5 May 2021) granted Technological University (TU) status to Athlone Institute of Technology and Limerick Institute of Technology.
This is the third TU to be created since 2019 and is a milestone for the Midlands and the Mid-West.Minister Harris said: “This is another hugely important day for higher education in Ireland and in particular for the Midlands and Mid-West regions.The higher education landscape is rapidly evolving and the people of the Midlands and Mid-West will be at the heart both geographically and practically of that evolution.”
The process to designate a new TU is enshrined in the Technological Universities Act 2018. The next steps in the legislative process require the Minister to bring forward a draft order establishing the appointed day on which the new technological university will be legally established and Athlone and Limerick ITs consequentially dissolved for approval by the Houses of the Oireachtas. Students graduating in the 2021-2022 academic year will do so with university qualifications.