McManus to fund scholarships with €30m scheme

BILLIONAIRE JP McManus is to fund the college education of more than 100 students a year in an all-Ireland scholarship scheme worth €30 million.

The initiative, unveiled by Education Minister Mary Hanafin, will benefit about 1,300 school leavers, some from the country’s most deprived communities, with at least two students to qualify from each county in the Republic. It will run over the next 11 years.

The seed for the scheme was sown when the two met at a scholarship ceremony for the billionaire’s former second-level school in Limerick. Over the past decade, Mr McManus has paid more than €1m for graduates of Coláiste Mhichíl to go on to higher education, and he suggested extending his generosity nationally when Ms Hanafin presented last year’s awards.