By Dan Walsh
The former Provost of Trinity College Dublin and native of Oulart, Co. Wexford, Dr Patrick Prendergast has been appointed as the first Chairperson of the new Technological University of the South East.
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Science and Innovation, Simon Harris, made the announcement this morning on a visit to Waterford Institute of Technology.
Minister Harris confirmed the new university will open its doors on May 1st.
Speaking today, Minister Harris said: “After decades of debate, the technological university for the South East is finally a reality. Today, I have formally granted designation status to the fifth technological university in the state.”
Dr Prendergast will be joined on the new Governing Board by Mr Jim Bergin, CEO of Glanbia, and Ms Ruth Beadle, who holds a key leadership role at Sanofi, which has a manufacturing facility in Waterford.
Welcoming these appointments, Deputy Paul Kehoe stated; “these appointments show both the overall ambition of this project and indicated the direction that the new Technical University will take.
“This is the first university presence in the region and marks a truly historic moment in higher education for staff, students, regional stakeholders and local communities in the South East.
“This announcement follows the news last week that Wexford County Council has been given the green light to proceed with a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) on a site which will house a state-of-the-art campus as part of the new Technological University of the South East,” concluded Deputy Kehoe.
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