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.

The gambling supremo made much of his fortune from currency trading, as well as his previous investment in Manchester United, and has been living primarily in Geneva, Switzerland, as a tax exile for a number of years.

He will contribute €24m to fund 100 scholarships here and another €6m for a similar scheme in the north. The Department of Education will fund a further 20 places annually in the south, at a cost of almost €5m.

The top two Leaving Certificate students from a disadvantaged background in each county will be selected for the awards.

All students from families with medical cards will be eligible, which is estimated to be about one in three of the more than 50,000 school leavers.

Additional scholarships will be provided in areas with greater numbers of eligible students, with the focus likely to be on poorer areas of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and other cities and large towns.

The scholarships will be worth €6,750 a year during each recipient’s undergraduate studies, but they will also be allowed to receive the state-funded student grant.