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The University of Limerick (UL) was established in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick and became a university by statute in 1989 in accordance with the University of Limerick Act 1989.The university was the first university established since the foundation of the State in 1922.

The university is located along the River Shannon, on a 200 acre (0.8 km²) site in the 600 acre (2.4 km²) National Technological Park at Plassey, 5 km from Limerick city centre. The university has currently in excess of 9,000 full-time undergraduate students and 1,000 part-time students. There are also over 800 research postgraduates and 1,300 taught postgraduate students at the university. Each year over 2,000 students are allocated work placement, the Cooperative Education programme, one of the first such programmes in the State. It is by far the fastest-expanding university in Ireland.

History

According to Dr Edward M Walsh, first President of the University of Limerick, the Mayor of Limerick applied to have a Queen's CollegeTemplate:Fn located in the city in 1845, losing out to Cork and Galway instead.

The Limerick University Project Committee was founded in September 1959Template:Fn as a project of the 1957 Mayor of Limerick, Ted Russell. Another supporter, The Hon Mr Justice Dermot P Kinlen, was a High Court judge and later the first State Inspector General of Prisons and Places of Detention. Both Mr Russell and Mr Justice Kinlen were awarded honorary degrees by the university in 2002.

The State was reluctant to found more university-level institutions, and in the late-1960s developed a policy of creating second-tier colleges which led to the foundation of the National Institute for Higher Education (NIHE) at Limerick, with Dr Walsh appointed as Director of the Institute on January 1, 1972. The first students were enrolled in 1972 when the institute was opened by then Taoiseach, Jack Lynch. The Shannon Development Company was an early supporter of the project and its influence led to the creation of the National Technological ParkTemplate:Fn beside the Institute after its foundation.

The College of Education was created in 1991 from the dissolved Thomond College of Education, Limerick that shared a common campus with the university. Thomond College of Education was founded in 1973 as the National College of Physical Education, and now forms the Department of Educational and Professional Studies focuses on secondary education programmes. Mary Immaculate College, Limerick currently functions under the College of Education and focuses on primary education programmes.

The university, and previously as an institute, is unique in Ireland in that it has synthesized many American ideas in education and introduced them into Ireland; for instance the university introduced a cooperative education programme and grade point average marking, whilst the presidential style of its founding director and previous president until 1998, Dr Edward M Walsh, is regarded as very effective and greatly assisted its raising to university status. During the 1980s the limited state of Government finances led Dr Walsh and his team to attract European Investment Bank and World Bank funding in addition to private and alumni donors at a time when Irish universities depended heavily on the State for funds and did not aggressively seek other avenues of finance.

In 1989 before becoming a university, the name ' Technological University of Limerick' was seriously considered as a title for the new university, this been probably considered as a complement to the strength of the institutes courses in technology, or a derivative name of the proposed federal National Technological University which instead lead to the University of Limerick in its own right. Until the mid-1990s it operated a trimesterised academic term, then changed to US-style semesterisation.

In 2005 the university introduced a new corporate logo.

Organisation

Faculty

The university refers to its six faculties as "colleges", these are:

• Kemmy Business School
• College of Education
• College of Engineering
• College of Humanities
• College of Informatics and Electronics
• College of Science

The one linked college of the university is:

• Mary Immaculate College, Limerick

Student

The university has a Students' Union representing the student body. Many societies and sporting clubs exist for social activities and inter-varsity competition. The university also has a Postgraduate Students' Association, with a full-time sabbatical postgraduate president which represents the postgraduate student body. It is one of only two Irish universities with such a position.

Accommodation

Many of the housing districts in close proximity to the University are in the majority populated by students, especially in the adjacent Castletroy area. In recent years, several large student apartment complexes have been built (about 15-20 mins walk from the University) under Section 50 tax incentives. The university is notable compared to other Irish universities in that a significant amount of accommodation is on-campus. At present there are four on-campus student villages, with a fifth currently under construction.

The oldest is Plassey Village, situated opposite the university's main gate. This accommodates 424 students in terraced houses consisting of either four or eight bedrooms and a kitchen/living area and was built between 1989 and 1992.

Kilmurry Village is the second oldest student village and is located in the east of the campus. It accommodates 540 students in six or eight bedroomed, terraced houses.

Dromroe Village was completed in 2001 and is located on the south bank of the River Shannon. It houses 456 students in six, four or two bedroomed ensuite apartments.

Thomond Village was opened for the Autumn 2004 semester and comprised the first university buildings to be located on the north bank of the River Shannon, in County Clare. It has accommodation for 504 students in six, four, two or one bedroom apartments.

Cappavilla Village is a new student village due to open in September 2006 on the North Bank, in close proximity to the Health Sciences Building.

Expansion

Over the past decade or more, the campus has expanded greatly and is widely regarded as the finest in Ireland. The Foundation Building, including the University Concert Hall (now home to the Irish Chamber Orchestra) and the Glucksman Library & Information Services Building were built in the early 1990s. The years 2000–2004 saw the addition of the Computer Science & Information Services (CSIS) building, Materials & Surface Science Institute (MSSI) building, Students Union Building, Dromroe Student Village, a large sports arena and, alongside that, Ireland's first Olympic-standard 50 metre swimming pool. In 2005 the Engineering Research Building and Millstream Courtyard buildings opened in a complex near the Foundation Building.

The university is constantly expanding, with a planned new Kemmy Business School building alongside the Schuman Building, and several new buildings opening on the north bank of the River Shannon. The "University Bridge", officially opened in late 2004, provides road and pedestrian access to what is planned as a complete second "North Bank" campus. Thomond Village was the first facility on the North Bank, opening in 2004, and was followed by the Health Sciences Building in 2005. A second bridge, this one pedestrian only, is under construction between the North and South Banks from the Millstream Courtyard to the Health Sciences Building. As of 2006, Cappavilla Village is under construction on the North Bank, and a building for the Irish World Music Centre (currently located in the Foundation Building basement) is due to be built. The university owns more land on the north bank of the Shannon and it hopes to expand the North Bank campus to the size of the original campus.

Much of this work is due to the contributions of the UL Foundation - a group of corporate, graduate and individual patrons to the university. The remaining funds are usually from the Irish Government or the European Union.

The university is also actively expanding its academic expertise. In the 2005-2006 academic year, the university is debuting a five year Bachelor of Architecture course Template:Fn. The head of the school will be Merritt Bucholz. The university is also lobbying hard with regard to the potential establishment of a Graduate Studies medical programme for science graduates, and recently signed an agreement with St George's, University of London with this in mind.

Footnotes

• Template:Fnb The Early Years, Dr Edward M Walsh, President Emeritus
• Template:Fnb UL25 - Origins
• Template:Fnb Detached and Attached Universities: Developing the Dublin and Shannon Regions
• Template:Fnb LM099 - Bachelor of Architecture

See also

• Education in the Republic of Ireland
• List of universities in the Republic of Ireland

External links

• Official site
• Google Maps hybrid view (low resolution)

• Universities and colleges in Ireland
• University of Limerick