Atlantic Technological University

The establishment of Atlantic Technological University (or Ollscoil Teicneolaíochta an Atlantaigh) took place after the following steps were taken:

• submission of an application by Galway-Mayo, Sligo and Letterkenny institutes of technology in May 2021
• assessment by an international advisory panel of the application
• designation by the minister of the new TU, following the panel’s report

Students of the 3 predecessor institutes who graduate in this academic year of 2021/2022 will do so with university qualifications.

The new name was chosen by the applicant institutes of technology, and follows a survey of staff, students and industry. The multi-campus technological university will involve thousands of students spread across locations in Castlebar, Galway city, Killybegs, Letterfrack, Letterkenny, Mountbellew and Sligo.

The first president is Dr Orla Flynn, current president of Galway-Mayo IT. Minister Harris has designated Dr Flynn, but she will be formally appointed by the first governing body of the new TU upon its establishment.

The new TU will span the West and North West region via 8 campuses initially offering almost 600 academic courses for over 20,200 students, supported by 2,215 staff.

The new TU has 8 campuses in:

Providing higher educational programmes across all levels of the National Framework of Qualifications from apprenticeships to doctoral level qualifications, the new TU will play a pivotal role in the strategic development of the West and North West and in so doing, would ensure a global outlook and a civic centric value system.

The new TU aims to ensure growth in education provision and enhanced research opportunities, as well as dynamic community and industry engagement across the region. Through its support for industry and communities, the new TU would make its region more attractive for indigenous small and medium enterprises and foreign direct investment (FDI) investment by linking to opportunities in knowledge creation and innovation. This in turn would contribute to the development of viable and vibrant communities that can offer an economically and socially-desirable regional counterbalance to the development of Dublin.

The new TU in the West and North West presents an opportunity to enhance, accelerate and amplify the ambition to contribute to the sustainable development of the region it serves reflected through teaching and learning excellence, research, development, innovation and engagement activities including in a cross-border collaborative context.

Article source and further details at Gov.ie