Transfer of lands for the College of the Future development in Clonmel will take place by the autumn
The Clonmel development will become the first co-located and fully integrated FET and Higher Education campus in Ireland
On a visit to the Kickham Barracks site in Clonmel this week the Minister for Further and Higher Education told all stakeholders in the development of the College of the Future that he expected to see significant progress by this autumn.
Minister James Lawless, on his first visit to the huge Kickham Barracks site, said he expected a major step to be taken this autumn and he wanted to see the transfer of land from Tipperary County Council to the ETB to take place.
He wanted that transfer of land associated with the site earmarked for the College for the Future at the former Kickham Barracks site to coincide with a finalisation of the outline design for the development, so that it can be handed over to a newly formed central design team being established to speed up major projects on a national level.
The Clonmel development will become the first co-located and fully integrated FET and Higher Education campus in Ireland.
“I am very impressed with the site. It is unique to have such a site in the middle of the town in public ownership,” said Minister Lawless.
Minister Lawless said the boundaries for the College of the Future site were now being finalised and should be completed by the summer.
"The legal transfer of land will more than likely take place at the September meeting of Tipperary County Council, and I will be happy to consent to that when everything is in order,” he said.
"The ETB knows best what they want from the design, and that outline design will be ready over the summer, and then I will pair that with the central team to move on to the formal design stage, which should be up and running in early autumn,” said Minister Lawless.
Clodagh Kelly, CEO of Tipperary ETB, said the visit of Minister Lawless marked a significant milestone for the ETB and all the partners involved in the connected campus development.
She said the transformational project would reshape the education landscape of Clonmel, Tipperary, and the south-east.
In another development in the massive regeneration project for Kickham Barracks, Tipperary County Council is set to appoint a multi-disciplinary consultancy service to undertake a project to develop a Café in the former Barracks.
The future use of the Guard House building located at the front of the plaza will be developed in conjunction with the Tipperary Museum.
A planning report states that by working with the Museum as a knowledge partner, the Guard House café becomes more than a hospitality venue.
“It becomes a socially rooted space of informal learning, cultural encounter, and intergenerational dialogue. In its final form, the café will function as an accessible, affordable, and welcoming social anchor for the entire Kickham Barracks redevelopment. Whether experienced as a daily coffee stop, a storytelling venue, or an incubator for community-led events, the Guard House will model how even small-scale heritage buildings can serve expansive civic purposes,” stated the planning report.
The following must be included in the delivery of the project: Rotating micro-exhibitions in the café, co-curated with the Tipperary Museum and a variety of engaged community groups in their outreach and education programme, exploring topics such as food traditions, traditional craft skills, family life in the garrison, or untold local stories of resistance, migration, and creativity. It should also include historical audio installations or soundscapes within the café, using oral histories collected by the Museum and new interviews with veterans and local residents.