Ireland’s first tech university gets official backing

THE first of the country’s newstyle technological universities is expected to be up and running in Dublin by next year.

It will be created through a merger of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Institute of Technology Blanchardstown and Institute of Technology Tallaght.

The three institutes’ bid for university status, known as the TU4Dublin project, has passed a crucial milestone after receiving official backing from the Higher Education Authority (HEA).

The HEA made its recommendation to Education Minister Richard Bruton, after a panel of international experts agreed it met the standards laid down in legislation.

The final decision rests with Mr Bruton, who is expected to rubber-stamp the recommendation.

He said yesterday he would make his decision known before the end of this month.

If he approves it, the country’s first technological university could be established by the end of this year, or early next, paving the way for 2019 graduates from the three institutes of technology to leave college with a university qualification.

The new-style university will offer a range of programmes, from apprenticeships to PhDs, from Grangegorman, where the new DIT campus is un- der development, Blanchardstown and Tallaght. Three other consortiums are also seeking designation as a TU: Munster Technological University (Cork IT and IT Tralee); Connacht Ulster Alliance (Galway-Mayo IT, IT Sligo and Letterkenny IT) and the Technological University for the South-East (Waterford IT and IT Carlow).

It’s 14 years since the concept of technological universities was mooted in the Hunt report on higher education in Ireland.