A new third-level institution which will be located on the north side of Cork city has been granted Government approval, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has announced. It will combine elements of UCC and the Cork Institute of Technology (CIT).
During a visit to Cork yesterday, Mr Ahern said an implementation task force would be appointed by the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, and would include representatives of his Department, the Higher Education Authority, UCC, CIT and the Cork City Vocational Educational Committee.
For some years, UCC has promoted the idea of establishing a third-level presence on Cork's north side in an effort to redress the infrastructural imbalance which has led to most of the available resources in Cork going south of the River Lee.
UCC joined CIT in putting forward a proposal which would see both institutions combining to give a third-level campus with its own identity to one of the most deprived areas of the city. When the Cabinet met in Cork last January the proposal was accepted in principle and the former Cork city manager, Mr Joe McHugh, was appointed to develop it further.
The Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin, formerly the minister for education, and a Cork North Central TD, Mr Billy Kelleher, said the institution would provide greater local educational opportunities. It is understood that up to 600 places could be offered. The task force will be expected to report within months.
Mr McHugh said his report was aimed at "providing higher education for the north side of Cork city and the sub-region, to increase the participation of students from disadvantaged areas, to provide for mature students, to have regard to the employment needs in the economy and to be a centre of excellence in all its endeavours".
The Taoiseach also launched a diploma course in applied business computing, a joint initiative by UCC and CIT. The two-year course will be based at the Ballyvolane industrial estate and will be aimed at students who might not otherwise be given the opportunity to acquire an IT qualification at this level.