By Dan Walsh
The long-awaited Technological University of the South East (TUSE) will see a merger of IT Carlow and Waterford Institute of Technology on May 1st 2022. It will be the fifth of its kind in the country and will include a campus in Wexford.
Minister for Higher Education, Simon Harris T.D. made the announcement on Tuesday, however, there were no details as to where the main Headquarters of TUSE will be; expressions of interest for the roles of chairperson and two external members of the first governing body has yet to come; and no site for a campus has so far been acquired for Wexford.
Speaking on social media in the company of Deputy Paul Kehoe, Chairman of the Higher Education Committee, Minister Harris said; “I am delighted today to be joining with colleagues across the South East that after years of debate, years of discussion, years of hard work, the South East is finally getting what it needs and what it deserves – a new technological university -I believe it is going to make a real difference to higher education in Wexford and across the South East and I also think it is going to make a difference in investment and jobs. It will open its doors in 2022 and it is going to be a game changer for the region.”
Deputy Kehoe confirmed that has been working on this project for the last eleven years since he came into government in 2011 and he was aware that Minister Harris’s department had been working with Wexford County Council on the Wexford site.
In reply, Minister Harris stated; “I want to thank Wexford County Council for their commitment to this project. Let me be very clear and let there be no misunderstanding or misrepresentation in relation to this we will secure a site in Wexford for this Third Level Campus. It is absolutely essential and a core part of a Technological University of the South East and I want to thank, particularly, Mr Tom Enright the Chief Executive of Wexford County Council for working with us. We are going to use every leverage in our power to have a site fit for purpose in Wexford and I expect some progress in the coming months.”
Deputy Kehoe thanked Minister Harris and his hard working officials in the Department of Higher Education for the hard work over the past number of months in getting this over the line and stated it is fantastic news for the South East and Co. Wexford.
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