Limerick Institute of Technology

The Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) can trace its roots back to the School of Ornamental Art on Leamy Street, Limerick, on 3 July 1852. This re-opened in 1855 on Cecil Street under the auspices of the Limerick Athenaeum, founded by William Lane Joynt. The Limerick Athenaeum was part of an international movement for the promotion of artistic and scientific learning, started by John Wilson Croker at the Athenaeum Club in London in 1823.

For much of the history of the school, it was constituted as the Municipal Technical Institute (known locally as The Red Tech) which was opened in 1910.^[1] By the 1970s, it had grown to such a degree that a new campus had to be acquired in Moylish for technical education, with artistic education continuing in a number of locations in the city centre.

The Limerick City Vocational Education Committee (VEC) founded the college in 1975 as the Limerick Technical College. The institute was constituted as the Limerick College of Art, Commerce and Technology (Limerick CoACT) in 1980, became a regional technical college in 1993, and finally an institute of technology in 1997.

In 2012, LIT merged with the Tipperary Institute, which had been founded in 1998. This merger brought two new campus locations in Thurles and Clonmel, as well as increasing the institution's footprint across the region. This footprint was further extended in Clare when the institute introduced degree-level education at its Ennis Learning Centre in 2016. In 2017, the institute was granted planning permission for a new campus at Coonagh in Limerick, to be focused on teaching and research in engineering.

Pat MacDonagh served as head of the college from 1978 through its evolution. He resigned as director in 2003. Dr. Maria Hinfelaar joined in 2004 as president, serving for 11 years.^[2] In 2016, Vincent Cunnane was appointed president of the institute.^[3]

Athlone Institute of Technology

The Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) was established by the Irish Government in 1970 as the Athlone Regional Technical College, under control of the local Vocational Education Committee. The college gained more autonomy with the enactment of the Regional Technical Colleges Act 1992. In late 1997, as with the other RTC's, it was renamed as the Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT). In 1999, AIT became a validation authority with the power to award HETAC degrees.

In 2000, Ciarán Ó Catháin was appointed as the institute's president. Dr. David Fenton and James Coyle were previous holders of the post, having been called director and principal.

The AIT had a campus size of 44 acres, and new, purpose-built facilities that included the Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Studies building, built in 2003; the Nursing and Health Science building and the Midlands Innovation and Research Centre, built in 2005; as well as the Engineering and Informatics building and the Postgraduate Research Hub, built in 2010.^[4]

Formation of the AIT-LIT Consortium

In 2018, the Athlone IT investigated the possibility of becoming a university in its own right. However, the Technological Universities Bill passed by the Oireachtas earlier that year ruled out that possibility as it declared that two or more institutes must apply together for university status.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

A consortium between the Athlone IT and the Limerick IT (ALTU) was formed^[10] and announced in October 2019,^[11] with the intention of forming a technological university for the mid-west and midlands regions, centred on the River Shannon,^{[12][13][14][15][16]} with Athlone and Limerick both sitting on it.^[17] The objective was to establish a new technical university for central and midwestern Ireland, with a targeted opening date of 1 September 2021.

Application and approval

On 23 November 2020, the AIT-LIT Consortium announced that the joint Limerick-Athlone IT application for technological university (TU) status had been submitted for approval.^[18][19][20]

The government approval was officially announced by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris in May 2021, making it the third technological university to be established in Ireland.^[21] On 31 August 2021, it was announced that outgoing LIT president Vincent Cunnane would be appointed as the new technological university's first president.^[22]