Is Limerick the best-kept secret in Dublin?

The University of Limerick has quietly developed to the highest standards, making it a force to be reckoned with in the third-level sector, writes Seán Flynn,  Education Editor

The most striking aspect of the University of Limerick is its campus. With the obvious exception of Trinity College in Dublin, there can hardly be a more charming campus or better facilities.

On the day of my visit, members of the Munster rugby team were being treated at the university's sports complex, by some distance the best in the State.

There was also great excitement in the air about the just-opened €12 million bridge across the Shannon, leading to stunning new student accommodation and a new health-science building (a performing-arts village is also planned). It is the first bridge to link Co Clare and Co Limerick in 300 years.

The enthusiasm among staff for their university is infectious. Hundreds of millions have been spent on developing a state-of-the-art facility. The university owes a huge debt to former president Ed Walsh, whose vision is widely acknowledged.

Much of this has been bankrolled by the Irish-American philanthropist Chuck Feeney. The story goes that Feeney fell in love with the 120-acre campus when, on a routine business trip, he did some fishing on the banks of the river and walked the ground. The benefits of his philanthropy can be seen all around the campus.

Everywhere you walk people want to spread the good news about UL: about the high standards of its students, about its strong research record and about its lively student life.

Most of all, they want you to shed any prejudices you might have about Limerick. They want you to understand that UL is a fun place despite the negative publicity that has clung to its host city.

Two years ago, at the height of the violence in Limerick, UL's president, Prof Roger Downer, went on RTE's Six One News with a straightforward message. As Leaving Cert students prepared to fill in their CAO forms, he told them bluntly to ignore the negative publicity about the city and to focus on the quality of the university.

Students have been taking his advice. CAO applications to UL increased by 10 per cent last year, bucking the trend for third-level colleges. Most of its degree courses require more than 400 CAO points.

The University of Limerick, formerly the National Institute of Higher Education (NIHE), is set among 325 acres about three miles from Limerick city. Its student population, now about 10,500, is expected to reach 13,000 by 2008. There are six faculties: three in arts and humanities and three in science and technology.

The university had a slow start in the competitive tendering with other third-level colleges under the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI) process. But it has upped its game. A strategy introduced five years ago has seen research income increase by 350 per cent, doubled the number of primary-research publications and attracted distinguished researchers to the campus.

"The PRTLI was a wake-up call, but now we are right up there with best. The challenge is to widen and deepen our research," explains Vincent Cunnane, the university's vice-president of research.

Helped by funding from Science Foundation Ireland, UL has lured researchers from all over the world, including one in software engineering. and one in membrane protein research. More than 42 faculty, 19 post-doctoral researchers and 61 postgraduate researchers are involved in SFI-funded research on campus.

The fresh impetus in research can be dated back to Downer's appointment, six years ago. The president, who had spent two decades in Toronto before returning to Munster, has a background in scientific research.

The university is rightly proud of other achievements. Its innovative office of teaching and learning has helped to raise standards for both students and teachers. It has also pioneered a successful Access Campus, for disadvantaged communities, in the former Krups factory.

Downer is particularly proud of the structures he has managed to put in place without "the rancour and bitterness which appear to accompany such developments in other campuses". UL is proud of what one academic calls its "silent revolution".

Downer now wants to build on the work he has done at UL. There are ambitious plans for two new courses. The first is a postgraduate medical school, with 80 places. Based on a Canadian model, it is designed to provide general practitioners. Entry would be based on interviews and aptitude testing, and the course would stress practical and interpersonal skills. The proposal has been submitted for approval to the Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, and the Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney. The second plan is an architecture course, which would be the first in the Republic outside Dublin. Pending approval, UL hopes to begin the course in September next year.

Reflecting on the changes at UL, Downer says: "We have changed our approach to teaching and learning, introduced new academic programmes, restructured academic departments, embraced the internationalisation of our campus, expanded substantially our research programmes, established new research institutes, recruited world-class scholars, introduced major proactive initiatives in access and undergone a substantial land-acquisition and building programme."

He says they have done it all with scarcely a mention in the media and with no internal strife. "We just get on with things, do it, and in so doing we are building a great university, even if it is one of the best-kept secrets in Dublin."