Fórsa has welcomed announcements that new technological universities (TU) are be established in the north-west and south east. The north-west TU will be the fourth TU to be created since 2019, and it follows an application from Galway-Mayo, Sligo and Letterkenny institutes of technology.

It is expected that the new body will start operations early next year, with a multi-campus university presence encompassing eight locations in Castlebar, Galway City, Killybegs, Letterfrack, Letterkenny, Mountbellew and Sligo.

The new university will have over 2,200 staff and will offer around 600 academic programmes to over 20,000 students.

Meanwhile, in a welcome announcement for the south-east, it has also been announced that Waterford and Carlow institutes of technology are to merge to become Ireland’s fifth technological university.

Fórsa’s head of education Andy Pike welcomed the two announcements.

“The establishment of these two institutions means significant regional advances towards higher education access and skills progression. This will not only contribute greatly to the future and restructuring of the higher education landscape, but also to the regions’ economic and social development,” he said.

Andy said that consultation, agreement and communication throughout the amalgamation process would be key to the success of these ambitious plans.

The first TU in the history of the state, TU Dublin, was established on 1^st January 2019, followed by Munster technological university two years later.