Jordan Norris
An application for the Technological University of the South East (TUSE) is set to be formally lodged on April 28th.
The proposed merger of Waterford Institute of Technology and IT Carlow is set to have a significant campus in Wexford, according to Senator Malcolm Byrne. The project has been interrupted by COVID-19 as well as significant political tensions in recent weeks regarding the location of its headquarters.
There was confirmation on Wednesday last, at a meeting of Oireachtas members that April 28th will be the date for the submission of the formal applications, with hopes that this will make a January opening potentially feasible. The application process involves multiple stages as well as a review by a panel of
international experts, and that report will then go to Minister for Higher Education, Simon Harris TD for final approval.
The project is set to involve a ‘bigger footprint’ for WIT as well as a purpose-built campus on a new site in Wexford. The government are also monitoring the old Waterford Crystal site in Kilbarry as a potential site for further development of the Waterford IT campus. Wednesday’s Oireachtas meeting was attended by Minister Simon Harris TD, the chairs and presidents of both Waterford and Carlow IT, and former Higher Education Authority (HEA) chief executive Tom Boland, who has been appointed to help accelerate the project. Mr. Harris told the meeting there was no alternative to the current plan for the TUSE, and
confirmed in the Dail later that day that ‘the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, everybody in government and I believe everybody in the Oireachtas, is committed to expanding the size of the footprint in Waterford in the new technological university.’