Dr. Brendan McCormack, President, Institute of Technology, Sligo, today described as a ‘special moment’ the arrival of An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD and his Cabinet on campus this morning.
This is the first time a Cabinet meeting has been held at an Institute of Technology and it will be followed by the much-anticipated launch of Project Ireland 2040, which includes the National Planning Framework and National Development Plan.
The launch will take place in the Knocknarea Arena, IT Sligo at 2pm today, before an audience of staff and students of IT Sligo, government ministers and invited guests.
Commenting, Dr. McCormack said this morning’s Cabinet meeting in IT Sligo’s boardroom was ‘historic’ and of great symbolic importance to students and staff at the Institute as it proceeded the launch of Project Ireland 2040.
He added: “It was a great pleasure this morning to welcome An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his Cabinet to IT Sligo in what represents a special moment for the Institute. Their selection of the Institute as the venue for meeting to launch Project Ireland 2040 sends a strong signal that the Cabinet considers the Institute as a leader of higher education in Ireland.
“We are proud on this historic occasion to be able to showcase the diverse range of quality courses being delivered on campus and also our world-class online programmes, and to communicate our vision for the future of the Institute to the leaders of the country.
“This Institute works together with other stakeholders to offer a quality education, it educates the current and the future workforce of the north-west, and it has the educational resources and infrastructure to ensure our young people are well prepared to build sustainable futures in the North West, and prosper here.”
IT Sligo currently has circa 6,000 students from more than 20 different countries undertaking programmes across a range of STEM areas in science, engineering and design and in business and the social sciences. The Institute has also won national recognition as Ireland’s leading innovator in the use of technology and flexible online learning, delivering programmes to over 2,500 off-campus and part-time students.