University status for Clonmel to become a reality this September

Clonmel is set to play a ‘pivotal role’ in transforming higher level education as it becomes a university town next month.
The Minister for Further and Higher Education Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris visited Kickham Barracks to view the current renovations that will turn the site into a third level campus in the town centre.
The development is part of a greater plan to join the Limerick Institute of Technology and Athlone Institute of Technology, becoming the third merged higher education institution in Ireland.
Minister Harris said: “It has been great to be in a county where there are so many exciting plans to expand and do more. We need to move away from this model that all roads must lead to the big city to access University education. Technological Universities can be transformational to a region.”
The Minister was met with a detailed briefing from Director of Services for Clonmel Sinead Carr and it was agreed to follow up with all stakeholders in the coming week.
The plan to move the LIT campus from the by-pass to Kickham Barracks will make it the country’s first shared campus between a third level and further education college, as the ETB is already on that site.
This proposed Technological University will facilitate 14,000 students within the Shannon Midlands Mid-West region.
Phase one of transforming Kickham Barracks is currently in place and it is aimed that extra funding will be secured later this year to complete all phases of the development.
After the Defence Forces of Ireland left Kickham Barracks in 2012, the landmark site will now accommodate the Technological University’s campus that is aimed to benefit the town in terms of regional development, access and scale.
The development will mean students will be able to live, learn and work in Tipperary while providing valuable footfall to businesses in Clonmel.
Minister Harris said: “It won’t work if it is just the turn of a letterhead. This can’t be just about a new name or a branding exercise. This is about dissolving what is there and creating a new entity.”
While Minister Harris has outlined his priority to get students back on site, the pandemic also highlighted how the online learning model played in some students’ favour.
Working remotely has enticed a new demographic to embrace higher education, providing a more agile schedule that can adapt to work or family commitments to suit a student’s needs.
Minister Harris said: “I’ve heard from a lot of students, particularly mature students that being able to access education remotely has worked for them.”
“I’m very eager to work with the sector on how we retrain those benefits of remote learning just like we are looking to do around remote working.”
The Minister also expressed he is hopeful third level students will return on campus this upcoming semester, due to the success of the vaccine rollout.
Minister Harris said: “We have to get our students and our staff safely back to college campuses as college was never meant to be about looking down a Zoom lens.”
The government has currently allocated €65 million to transition Institutes of Technology to Technological Universities.
The current renovations to the Kickham Barracks site is hoped to entice students with impressive infrastructure and resources to opt to study in Clonmel rather than moving to the traditional University institutions.
The project’s aim is to facilitate up to 600 students compared to the current population of 200.
LIT was first established in Tipperary in 1998. As of this year, students can now attain a University level accreditation while attending the Tipperary based campus.
Senator Garret Ahern said: “This is a milestone for Tipperary, particularly in the towns of Clonmel and Thurles as they are now to become university towns.”
“Times are changing drastically, with remote working becoming something of a norm, the initial decision by students to move to the big cities to study and find jobs has been altered. We can now study and ultimately live closer to home. Clonmel can play a pivotal role in that change.”