Type of university, formed from merger of institutes of technology in Ireland
A Technological University is a designation of a type of third-level institution in Ireland. The potential for such universities was established through legislation in 2018.[1] Since then, various groups of institutes of technology began a merger process to create five technological universities:
- Technological University Dublin was established in January 2019 as the result of a merger of the three Institutes of Technology in the County Dublin area.[2][3] Its foundation was announced in July 2018.[2]
- Munster Technological University was established in January 2021 following the merger of IT Tralee and Cork IT.[4][5] A formal application for the TU for the south west, comprising Cork IT and IT Tralee, was lodged in February 2019,[6] but it was initially unsuccessful.[7] A second, successful, application was made in 2020.[8]
- The Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest[9] was formed from a merger of Athlone IT and Limerick IT. It was announced in October 2019 forming a TU for the mid-west and midlands regions, centred on the River Shannon.[10][11] Athlone IT had investigated the possibility of becoming a university in its own right.[12] A formal application for TU status was made by the consortium in November 2020, with approval granted in May 2021.[13][14] It opened in October 2021, with campuses distributed amongst Limerick City, Athlone, Clonmel, Ennis, and Thurles.[15]
- Atlantic Technological University was formed following the merger of Galway-Mayo IT (GMIT) and IT Sligo, both in Connacht in the west of Ireland, with Letterkenny IT (LYIT), located in the north of Ireland.[16][17] The Connacht-Ulster Alliance (CUA) submitted a formal application to the Department of Further and Higher Education in May 2021.[18] Formal approval was granted by Simon Harris, Minister for Further and Higher Education, in October 2021,[19] with a launch date in early 2022.
- South East Technological University is the merger of IT Carlow and Waterford IT.[20][21] A vision document was published in 2015, and a memorandum of understanding was signed in 2017.[22] At the launch of TU Dublin in July 2018, the Taoiseach expressed regret that this TUSE bid had not progressed sufficiently following the "Technological Universities Act 2018".[2][23] Staff of IT Carlow, rejected the current plan for the TU in June 2019.[24] A formal application was made in May 2021,[25][26] and it was formally established in May 2022.[27]
In May 2021[update], Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) announced plans to join an existing TU.[28] It had previously investigated the possibility of becoming a TU in its own right.[29] By May 2022[update], DkIT was looking at a merger with an existing TU.[30][31]