Fórsa has welcomed the Government’s decision to grant technological university status to the consortium made up of Cork Institute of Technology and the Institute of Technology, Tralee.

The new university will be known as Munster Technological University.

Gina O’Brien, a member of Fórsa’s Education divisional executive, and a former cathaoirleach of the division who has advocated tirelessly for a technological university in the region said: “This is very welcome news and represents the culmination of a great deal of work carried out by staff in Cork and Tralee.

“The new university represents a very significant step in the development of third level education in the Munster region. It has the potential to deliver significant economic benefits and will help to increase the student population, giving more people in the region an opportunity for advanced learning.”

Gina works in the Cork Institute of Technology.

Siobhan O'Callaghan, secretary of Fórsa’s Higher Education branch, works at the Institute of Technology at Tralee. A member of its institute’s governing body, she welcomed the development for the South West region.

“Staff in both campuses have co-operated closely and worked very productively to meet the criteria and achieve technological university status. Tralee will become the first provincial town in Ireland to have a university campus, which will be key to driving progress and economic development throughout the region," she said.

Fórsa’s head of education Andy Pike said the new university marked an important development following the creation of the Technological University Dublin (TUD) last year.

“We will eventually see similar developments in the South East with Carlow and Waterford institutes of technology, also Athlone and Limerick and the possibility of a Connacht/Ulster alliance of Letterkenny, Sligo and Galway/Mayo institutes to follow.

“These will be crucial to cohesive development in these regions, both by means of job creation and longer term development of knowledge and skills capacity, with the potential for a closer level of engagement between our education system and enterprise, and significant potential in terms of research, development and innovation, to benefit the entire Irish economy.

“It also enables the sector to argue for a greater share of state funding for the higher education sector, in addition to creating very attractive options for both school leavers and those pursuing lifelong learning,” he said.

The employer’s body Ibec echoed Andy’s call for state investment: “MTU will require significant public investment if it is to reach the scale needed to attract top academic talent and compete in the challenging international research environment.

“It is therefore vital that Government maintains its commitment to the €90m TU Transformation Fund, to ensure they become embedded in the education system to support economic and social growth,” it said.

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