“We all want to see LYIT grow and expand into a university. And we all see the benefit in deeper ties across the border, including in education,” Minister McHugh said.
Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh, TD, today announced €2.5 million Government funding to drive LYIT’s ambition to become a university and intensify cross-border links. This funding will be shared with LYIT’s partners in two consortia, namely the Connacht Ulster Alliance and the Cross-border Further and High Education Alliance.
Paul Hannigan, President, said, “LYIT is delighted with the funding announcement today from Minister McHugh. Two weeks ago the Minister launched our Strategic Plan 2019-23 which clearly articulates our ambitions to achieve technological university status with our partners in IT Sligo and GMIT and also shows our commitment to cross-border collaboration within the North West City Region with Donegal ETB, North West Regional College and Ulster University.
This funding is a strong endorsement of the Institute’s strategic direction and will help us continue the significant momentum evident in both initiatives at this time.
The €2m for the Connacht Ulster Alliance will allow the Institutes to continue their drive towards achieving the criteria for technological university. The announcement in Budget 2020 that €90m will be committed to technological universities over the next three years has shown the Government’s commitment to the development of this sector and LYIT will be at the heart of these developments.
As the BREXIT negotiations continue, the necessity to support successful cross-border initiatives has never been more important. The Cross-border Further and Higher Education Alliance comprises LYIT, Donegal ETB, North West Regional College and Ulster University and has worked to ensure a seamless cooperation among these four bodies in the North West City Region. This allocation of €500k is a really important statement in supporting this strategy and will support the social and economic development of this region.”