Ministers Lawless and Harkin approve next phase for College of the Future projects in Galway and Dublin
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From: Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
- Published on: 21 May 2025
- Last updated on: 22 May 2025
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science James Lawless and Minister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Marian Harkin today announced the approval of two further projects to advance to the next phase of their development of a College of the Future in Galway and Dublin.
Government funding worth tens of millions of euros will drive the development of these projects which will act as a focal point for FET services in these regions.
These projects are in addition to six projects that advanced late last year to the Pre-Tender stage of development - Project Design, Planning and Procurement Strategy.
The FET College of the Future Major Projects Fund was launched in February 2022, with the objective of addressing deficits in current FET infrastructure.
Minister Lawless said:
“I am thrilled to make this announcement following two years of dedicated work by both Galway & Roscommon ETB and City of Dublin ETB. Both have developed comprehensive proposals, detailing their FET infrastructure needs and particularly their proposals around the FET College of the Future.
“These projects are essential for advancing skills, learning pathways, and inclusion as they will allow the development of FET facilities and provision into a distinct, integrated College of FET.
“It is intended that these colleges will become the beacon for FET programmes and services in both Galway and Dublin, providing high-quality facilities for learners and staff that reflect the high standard and quality of Further Education and Training provision across both ETBs.”
Minister Harkin said:
“Today’s announcement is a key next step in delivering state-of-the-art facilities for our FET learners and staff for these regions. These projects are much more than bricks and mortar, they will facilitate pathways and inclusion, creating spaces that will inspire learning and ignite ambition for our FET learners.”
The Galway proposal includes the construction of a new state-of-the-art further education and training campus at the Galway Campus in Mervue. This will increase capacity in key areas such as Creative Arts, MedTech, Engineering and Culinary & Hospitality Skills.
City of Dublin ETB’s proposal outlines specific plans and projections for FET delivery in Cathal Brugha Street which will form a focal point for the broader vision of developing a flagship FET College in the heart of the nation’s capital city.
David Leahy, Chief Executive of Galway and Roscommon ETB said:
“Galway and Roscommon ETB are delighted to see this project progress to the next stage. It represents an important step forward in realising our ambition to expand FET provision in the Galway City area, ensuring that we have a state of the art learning environment and that we can meet the current and growing future needs of learners in the region.”
Dr Christy Duffy, Chief Executive, City of Dublin ETB said:
“City of Dublin ETB would like to thank Minister Lawless and Minister Harkin for this most welcome announcement. We look forward to working with SOLAS and the department to progress these plans to the next stage. It represents an exciting development for the City of Dublin FET College and will ensure a state-of-the-art landmark presence for FET in the heart of Dublin’s city centre.”
SOLAS CEO Andrew Brownlee said:
"SOLAS welcomes today’s capital infrastructure announcement for City of Dublin ETB and for Galway and Roscommon ETB.
"The Galway project is an exciting development and brings us another step closer to providing high quality learning environments for people in their local community.
"The Cathal Brugha Street project breathes new life into a historic building central to education in Dublin's North-East Inner City for over a century. We're especially pleased to see its reuse, reflecting SOLAS's leadership in climate action and our commitment to Ireland’s climate goals.
"We have seen significant growth across the FET sector with the learner base growing by a quarter since the end of 2022. This vital capital infrastructure will support the continued expansion and reach of FET, ensuring that it is at the forefront of a thriving Irish economy; is a pivotal driver of equality, inclusion, and social cohesion, and that everyone in Ireland has access to education with clear pathways supporting them to achieve their goals.”
NOTES
The FET College of the Future Major Projects Fund was launched in February 2022, with the objective of addressing existing deficits in current FET infrastructure, supporting projects that drive reform of the FET sector, including consolidation of provision in high quality facilities, integration of further education and training, realisation of specialist centres of national and regional skills development, unified tertiary planning and forging new links with regional industries.
A total of twelve projects were successful at the first stage of the assessment process and these moved to the next stage of the development process – The development of a Preliminary Business Case.
In September 2024 following an evaluation process, 6 proposals met the relevant criteria and were approved to move to the next stage of development, the Pre-tender – Project Design, Planning and Procurement Strategy Stage. These were proposals from Cork ETB (Bishopstown), Cavan Monaghan ETB (Cavan Town), Kilkenny Carlow ETB (Kilkenny City), Kildare Wicklow ETB (Bray), Limerick Clare ETB (Newcastle West) & Tipperary ETB (Clonmel).
The approval of GRETB and City of Dublin ETB preliminary business case proposals brings to eight the number of projects which have now progressed to the Pre-tender – Project Design, Planning and Procurement Strategy Stage. It is expected that the remaining projects under this programme call will be assessed this year, those that meet the relevant criteria will also progress to the Pre-tender – Project Design, Planning and Procurement Strategy Stage.