Technical University accreditation for GMIT ‘a game changer’

WORKING TOGETHER Pictured are three CUA presidents and Executive Project Lead at last week’s annoucement, from left: Paul Hannigan, President of Letterkenny IT; Dr Orla Flynn, President of GMIT; Dr SeΡn Duffy, CUA Executive Project Lead, and Dr Brendan McCormack, President of IT Sligo.

Anton McNulty

The new Technological University for the North West will become a game-changer for the development of the region both in terms of education and attracting investment.
That is the opinion of Dr Orla Flynn, the President of GMIT, which along with Sligo IT and Letterkenny IT were successful in their application to become a Technological University.
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, TD announced the new Technological University for the North West on Thursday, which will be established early next year. The Minister also confirmed that the multi-campus university will encompass locations in Castlebar, Galway, City, Sligo, Letterkenny, Killybegs, Letterfrack and Mountbellew.
Speaking to The Mayo News, Dr Flynn said the establishment of a technological university for the north west is hugely important and believes it will be a game changer regarding the development of the region.
“It is hugely important because when you look at the map of the Republic of Ireland, even now, if you draw a line from Maynooth to Galway, north of that there is no real university presence. There are many indicators that would show that having a university presence as an anchor tenant will help to attract talent in and retain talent.
“Our young people can receive a university education in the region and our presence and engagement with industry will grow the employment opportunities in the region. In turn the growth and research activities will allow us to be net importers of talent to the region. Certainly if we look back in 20 years time we will point to our designation as a technological university as a real game changer for the region in that regard,” she explained.
The new Technological University for the North West will become the fourth technological university in Ireland since 2019. The merger between the three Institutes of Technology is known as the Connacht/Ulster Alliance (CUA) and the new technological university will offer almost 600 academic programmes from pre-degree to doctoral level to a student population of 20,000 students supported by over 2,200 staff.
The CUA met with an International Advisory Panel in June to make their case for a technological university for the region. The panel’s report contained a number of positive findings in respect of the CUA’s application, in particular the depth of evidence of strong links with business, enterprise, the professions, the community, local interests and other stakeholders in the region; the strength of the response to local and regional needs through programme development and lifelong learning activity; and the inclusive nature of internal engagement structures with effective consultation with staff and student unions.

Sophisticated needs
Dr Flynn said the three Institutes of Technology have been working on the project for the last decade and a new technological university is required to meet the demand of modern industry.
“The new technological university will still exist to serve the needs of the region but the needs of the region have become more sophisticated. There are companies now who still want technicians but they also want higher order employees and graduates who will go on and engage in more research and innovation in the companies themselves. The big focus is on research and innovation in collaboration with industry and that is how we are evolving as the needs of our region are evolving.
“The merging together is ensuring we harness all the different strengths that we have. There are particular strengths in Sligo which we don’t have in GMIT but now with the technological university if a company is interested in setting you in those areas we can say we have strengths in Sligo in those areas or indeed Letterkenny or Galway. We will be able to harness all the strengths of the university and support any companies being based anywhere in the region,” she explained.
The news that the Castlebar campus of GMIT will continue to encompass the new multi-campus university was broadly welcomed in Mayo and Dr Flynn said she is confident that Castlebar will benefit from the new set-up.
“We expect the programmes will be attractive and the opportunity to attend a university in Castlebar will make Castlebar a more attractive destination to come and study. We also expect the stakeholders around the Castlebar region to access the full strengths of the whole university, not just the strengths which exist on the Castlebar campus.”
The news was also welcomed by the student unions of the three ITs who in a joint statement described the news as a ‘momentous occasion’ for all current and future students of the new Technological University.