Over €3.5m. allocated to support rural third-level campuses across western region

ATU is set to receive over €2.6 million, while TUS and University of Galway will receive €690,000 and €230,000, respectively, as part of a new fund announced today, according to Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh.

The news comes as part of an announcement by Minister Simon Harris of a new Distributed Campus Support Fund to support higher education institutions that have multiple campuses in remote regional locations.

Welcoming the funding, MEP Maria Walsh said: “It’s brilliant to see third-level institutions across Midlands-North-West receiving well over 50% of the total funding.

"This will guarantee that regardless of where students attend university, they will receive the highest possible quality of education.

“The reality is that the cost of delivering education in regional campuses can often be higher, but our young people should not have to pay the price.

"This funding ensures that regional higher education campuses across Midlands North-West, from Killybegs to Letterfrack, are supported in recognition of the fact they are regionally dispersed.”

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD said: “This new funding strengthens and supports regional campuses dispersed in our regions. This ensures that HEIs that have multiple campuses can boost and maximise the impact of their campuses in the regions.

“Crucially this new funding delivers more balanced regional development, with high quality and state of the art campuses. It shouldn’t be that all roads lead to the big city when it comes to education.”