Laois/Offaly Fine Gael TD, Charlie Flanagan, has today welcomed the establishment of a new Technological University in the Midlands following confirmation from his colleague Minister for Further and Higher Education, Simon Harris, that Athlone Institute of Technology will be dissolved and a new TU will be established.
Speaking this morning Deputy Flanagan said: “This is a great day for the Laois/Offaly and the Midlands area and this morning’s announcement will not only benefit students and staff but also businesses and communities.
“A large number of students across the Laois/Offaly constituency attend AIT and they will now be able to study in a university closer to their home. This will not only help address the regional imbalance but it will also increase opportunities for students, enterprise and regional stakeholders.
“I am very much looking forward to this new TU bringing these benefits across the Laois, Offaly and beyond.
Minister Harris said: “This is another hugely important day for higher education in Ireland and in particular for the Midlands and Mid-West regions.
“The higher education landscape is rapidly evolving and the people of the Midlands and Mid-West will be at the heart both geographically and practically of that evolution.
“This new TU – our third since 2019 – will now take its rightful place in the higher education landscape in the country’s heartlands. The new higher education institution of increased scale and reach will benefit the students and communities of Westmeath, Limerick, Tipperary, Clare and Offaly to name but some of the counties which will be served by the new university.”
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