The DCU Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship is a unit of

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its f ...

(DCU) in Ireland. Originally based at the Citywest business park between

Saggart Saggart ( ga, Teach Sagard) is a village in South Dublin, Ireland, south west of Dublin city. It lies between the N7 (Naas Road), Rathcoole, Citywest and Tallaght. It is one of the fastest-growing settlements in Ireland, showing a populat ...

and

Rathcoole Rathcoole may refer to: * Rathcoole, County Dublin, a village in County Dublin, Ireland * Rathcoole (Newtownabbey), a large housing estate in Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland * Rathcoole, County Cork, a village in north west Cork * Rat ...

on the southwestern edge of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, and later at DCU's Innovation Campus at the DCU Alpha facility in

Glasnevin Glasnevin (, also known as ''Glas Naedhe'', meaning "stream of O'Naeidhe" after a local stream and an ancient chieftain) is a neighbourhood of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the River Tolka. While primarily residential, Glasnevin is also home t ...

, it operates a range of academic and entrepreneurial programmes.

History

eEolas Institute

The academy was the sole initiative of the ''eEolas Institute'', a joint venture between DCU, the family of Tony Ryan, and Davy Hickey Properties, intended to develop the relationship between academic institutions and enterprise in Ireland. It opened in October 2005, and was home to the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation in Ireland, and also hosted the Irish arm of the US-based National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), which helps young people from less well-off backgrounds to build skills. The sponsors invested 10 million euro. The academy appointed 174 leading professionals as ''Fellows'' in 2007.

Closure

The Institute, campus and Ryan Academy were closed during 2008, after the initial investment was followed by 1.3 million euro of losses. The holding company, Eeolas Institute Ltd., was dissolved, and the website, and current references on DCU's website, were deleted.

Ryan Academy relaunch

The Ryan Academy was re-opened in February 2009. A new director was appointed and a website launched. There was no further news on the eEolas Institute.News of reopening of DCU Ryan Academy from Academy's official site within DCU's site, retrieved 17 July 2009
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Facilities

The academy began in a "landmark" building at the Brownsbarn end of the Citywest business park between Saggart and Rathcoole, on the southwestern edge of Dublin. The Citywest building consists of a single structure in a landscaped area, and includes teaching and collaboration spaces, offices and a café. As of 2019 the academy is based at DCU's Innovation Campus at the DCU Alpha building in Glasnevin.

Activities

The academy works on education and networking, promoting programmes relevant to the needs of existing and future entrepreneurs and supportive of the Government’s "Smart Economy" and social policies, as well as research related to entrepreneurship and innovation. It also pursues collaboration initiatives, forming and coordinating national and international partnerships with universities, state agencies, social bodies, companies including multinationals and small and medium enterprises. The Academy also works in collaboration with others in innovation, for example working on the ''Your Country Your Call'' project that was launched by President Mary McAleese in February 2010. The academy also delivers short courses in subjects such as ''social enterprise development'', ''business foresight'', ''entrepreneurship for engineers'' and ''new product development'', and longer term courses for post-doctoral students in DCU (originally under the academy's Director of Programmes, Gordon McConnell).

References and notes

{{Dublin City University Dublin City University Educational institutions established in 2005 2005 establishments in Ireland