2010 press releases
Posted 15 December 2010
AIT Receives €1.1 Million in Devolved Grant
The Department of Education and Skills today (Wednesday) announced that it is giving Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) €1.1 million in funding for small-scale building works and high-tech equipment upgrades.
The devolved grant scheme enables third level institutions to undertake improvements to their infrastructure, with the total amount announced today coming to €42 million.
At AIT the money will be utilised to upgrade facilities in the Schools of Business and Science. Several new business lecture theatres were installed already this year and this money will in part be used to complete this work.
A substantial upgrade is also underway in science, with state-of-the-art new laboratories being developed. This investment will support expansion in the number of people studying science programmes in Athlone and enhance the reputation of the institute as a centre of scientific excellence.
Welcoming the announcement, AIT President, Professor Ciarán Ó Catháin, said: “This funding is very welcome in enabling us to improve our educational facilities. We have invested €100 million over the past decade at AIT, and our students and the wider community are experiencing the benefits of that investment. If we want to have a world-class higher education system, we have to invest in our facilities. This money helps with that process.”
The Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan, said: “The higher education sector has stretched itself significantly to accommodate the recent unprecedented increase in the student population. This has been achieved largely on the strength of highly efficient space utilisation.”
