University project - Investing in the future

The Taoiseach officially launched “the Bernal Project” at the University of Limerick yesterday.

The €52m project is designed to boost research in pharmaceutical, biomedical and energy sciences at the university. It should have long-term implications for both business and education in this country.

The immediate impact will be the 150 construction jobs to build the laboratories, which will then be filled with 75 people in long-term research and teaching positions. The overall project involves the international recruitment of 10 leading professors. Half of those have already been appointed.

The University of Limerick, which initially began as the National Institute of Higher Education in 1972, was accorded university status in 1989, thus becoming the first new university to be established in this country since the foundation of the state. Over the years it has demonstrated a keen interest in the development of technology, and it pioneered close co-operation between university education and independent business companies and corporations.

Most of the €52m to fund the project will come from Atlantic Philanthropies, which has provided major funding to the University of Limerick in the past. This should further enhance the status of the university, because the initiative is attracting leading international researchers to Limerick.

The university, which has long modelled itself on the American university system, has already been internationally recognised for the “employability” of its graduates. The latest initiative should help not only to bolster the employability of future graduates but also to attract further investment in this country and, thereby, support our economic recovery.