Bid to bring university status to WIT

A TOP entrepreneur has vowed to leave no stone unturned in his campaign to develop Waterford Institute of Technology.

Such a move is critical as the southeast bids to promote itself as a hub for the world’s top pharmaceutical and research and development firms, Waterford Wedgwood chief executive Redmond O’Donoghue said.

Speaking as he was appointed chairman of the Governing Body of WIT, he said: “I want to secure university status for this fine institute of technology. We also need to secure more funding and envisage in the not too distant future the establishment of a foundation to finance works at WIT.

“I also want to develop the 175 acres at Carrig an Or and turn it into a major research, development and innovation centre.

“They are my three key goals. University status is the one which tends to get everyone excited.”

He said the upgrade of the institute will probably take place within the next five years, as student numbers continue to grow. The campus caters for 6,000 full-time and a further 6,000 part-time students.

“Nobody has the right to fix a boundary to the march of an institution,” Mr O’Donoghue said. “We believe WIT is the most successful institute of technology around. And it is right that we should aspire to greater things. There is a very, very strong argument for university status.

“The IT status at this stage of WIT’s development results in some unnecessary boundaries and impediments. Secondly, there is not a doubt in my mind but that a university is a key economic engine for any region. It enhances employment, provides research and development and is a vehicle for lifelong learning.

“A university would also provide a different, more effective and more appropriate funding structure.

“If and when a university comes, it will unquestionably uplift the whole region, instil pride in it. It will underpin our economic development, it will enhance the cultural fabric of the region.”