Ireland introduces tech universities in massive shake-up of higher education

The government has given its approval for three groups of higher education institutions to apply to become Ireland's first technological universities, as part of the biggest reorganisation of universities and technical institutes in the country.

Ruairi Quinn, minister for education, set out a new configuration for higher education in Ireland on 30 May, following a report commissioned by the Higher Education Authority that called for at least 25 per cent growth in the higher education system. University status has long been sought by many of Ireland’s technology institutes and the creation of technological universities opens the way towards this.

The first three applications for technological university status come from groups of institutes in three areas—Dublin, the south-west and the south-east of Ireland. The Dublin group includes the Dublin, Tallaght and Blanchardstown Institutes of Technology. The south-west group includes Cork and Tralee institutes and the south-east group includes Waterford and Carlow institutes. While the institutes will be formally linked to form universities, their individual campuses will not merge.