THE decision to include Limerick Institute of Technology’s €20 million Applied Science and Information Technology facility in the Government’s Public Private Partnership programme has been described by LIT President Professor Vincent Cunnane as “a real win for the Mid-West”.
The construction of a 5,000 square metre state-of-the-art building with specialist facilities for 900 students at LIT’s Moylish campus is scheduled for completion in 2021.
It is the single biggest investment ever made in LIT’s Moylish campus and the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) will oversee procurement and planning.
The Moylish project is additional to the €14 million investment by the Department of Education in phase one of LIT’s new engineering-focussed campus at Coonagh, which is expected to take its first cohort of students during the 2018/19 academic year.
Professor Cunnane said the Moylish facility represented a major enhancement and expansion of LIT’s ability to deliver more highly skilled graduates in areas that are critical to sustain the continued economic expansion of the region.
“Our programmes are designed and developed to meet the critical skills needs of industry and the economy. What this decision means is that we will be able to educate more people in exactly the areas employers are going to need in the coming years. It is a real win for the Mid-West.
“In addition, the facility will enable LIT to expand its range of training programmes for industry. This is critical in ensuring that industry in the region is constantly at the cutting edge,” he added.
“The impact we can achieve for Limerick and the Mid-West is very significant, and we will be working with the Department of Education, the Higher Education Authority and the NDFA to ensure the prompt delivery of the project.
“The students who will be educated in our new facilities, and the research that will be carried out there, will reap major dividends across the region. This investment in LIT’s physical capital will be central in underpinning the investment that the region has been able to attract, and will indeed lead to further investment and growth.
“This project is a key element in LIT’s Capital Development Master Plan. Its development will fundamentally change the face of Moylish, and mean that as we decant students and activity to our Coonagh campus, we are bringing a whole new set of standards to support excellent teaching, learning and research onto our main campus. This in turn will bring very real benefits to staff and students right across all of LIT’s campuses,” Prof Cunnane concluded.
