‘The vision has become a reality’: Ireland’s newest university officially launched

The South East Technological University (SETU) was officially launched by the Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris on Monday.

SETU has campuses across counties Carlow, Waterford and Wexford as well as a presence in Kilkenny and Wicklow and serves more than 18,000 students.

The country’s newest technological university was formally established last May following the merger of Waterford Institute of Technology and IT Carlow.

The southeast Technological University is the first university in the region and followed a decade-long campaign.

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Mr Harris said while the SETU was a university for the south east region, “it can have a national and global reach”.

“The vision has become a reality. I look forward to supporting Ireland’s newest university become a central part of our higher education landscape,” he said.

Prof Veronica Campbell, president of SETU, said it had the potential to be the “single-most transformative initiative in the region in several generations”.

“SETU will put knowledge creation and learning at the heart of the region, which will facilitate regional development — economically, socially and culturally,” she said.

“Today, not only do we launch our new university, we also officially launch the development of our first strategic plan, which will reflect our ambitions to be a leading European technological university, embedded in the south east and committed to working with, and delivering for, our partners and communities across the region, Ireland and the world.”