UL €6m centre focal point for language

A €6 million language centre, opened yesterday at the University of Limerick, is being aimed at attracting more students from abroad as well as helping undergraduates who plan to embark on business careers in the export market.

UL president Professor Don Barry said: “As members of Europe, with a total of 500 million citizens and 23 official languages, we must recognise the importance of learning languages.”

He said a study carried out by the EU Commission estimated that up to 11% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) involved in exports were losing business due to language barriers.