Cianan Brennan: Delays spur PAC on to get to the bottom of University of Limerick's dealings 

The withheld KPMG report and the difficulty finding a date that suits both the UL president and chancellor will only whet the PAC's appetite to learn more about the university's finances

Then UL president Des Fitzgerald, chancellor Mary Harney, and then student president Jack Scanlan on Sarsfield St in 2019. The university approved the purchase of Dunnes just three days after it submitted a totally different development plan to the HEA. Picture: Diarmuid Greene/True Media

On May 25, 2019 the University of Limerick (UL) sent a press release celebrating a “major leap forward” in its provision of educational amenities to the city.

Its then president, Des Fitzgerald, announced that the university had formally signed contracts to acquire the 5,500 sq m former Dunnes Stores shopping centre at Sarsfield Bridge in the city, setting the scene for the construction of a new UL city centre campus.