The Government has opened the new €27.5 million Coonagh Campus at TUS in Limerick which will increase the number of engineering apprenticeships at the university.

This 5,819 sq/m engineering building will accommodate an additional 800 students, with an emphasis on increasing the number of apprenticeships at the university.

The Coonagh Campus will drive the expansion of engineering education and research, and includes new workshops and laboratories that will deliver space for manufacturing engineering and other engineering activities, particularly in apprenticeship programmes.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Patrick O'Donovan TD, said:

"The official opening of this new campus is a really important development for higher education in the region. The refurbishment works have delivered a modern, fit for purpose building for the education and development of the region’s engineering and apprenticeship students, one which will serve staff and students for many decades to come.

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"This state-of-the-art campus represents a key phase of TUS’s development and demonstrates the Government’s commitment to supporting excellence in higher education and to delivering on the ambitions of Project Ireland 2040."

Ciarán McCaffrey, Head of Capital Programmes at the HEA, said the opening of the campus "marks a significant step forward in apprenticeship provision that can be transformative for the region". He added:

"This new 5,819 sq/m development, funded through the HEA, offers new state-of-the-art facilities and will greatly enhance the learning experience for students at TUS."

Speaking at the official opening, Professor Vincent Cunnane, President of TUS, said: "We have shown that we can bring a vision to fruition with the opening of this building today, and that vision and the impact that we can make is about far more than this building. It is about people, communities and ultimately creating a virtuous cycle where our graduates have the skills and attributes needed to propel the next phase of the economic development of the region.

"At TUS, we work hard to maintain our educational ethos and our laser focus on employability for our graduates, plugged into the needs of industry. We have an ambition to grow, but not to dilute what we do and how we do it, and Coonagh Campus embodies this ambition."

Chair of the TUS Governing Body, Josephine Feehily, added: "This project is likely to prove a catalyst for growth, development and employment, and it will do so by building on the TUS ethic of practical learning and of being connected to industry connected to the jobs market connected to the local economy and connected to the communities in which we are located."

Delivered under Project Ireland 2040 this programme which recognises that investment in education is central to achieving a strong, future-proofed economy, balanced across the regions.