The Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Phort Láirge) was an
institute of technology
An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...
, located in
Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
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, Ireland. The institute had six constituent schools and offered programmes in business, engineering, science, health sciences, as well as education & humanities.
The institute opened in 1970 as a
Regional Technical College
An Institute of Technology (IT) is a type of higher education college found in Ireland. There are a total of fourteen colleges that use the title of Institute of Technology, which were created from the late 1960s and were formerly known as Region ...
and adopted its name on 7 May 1997. Along with the
Institute of Technology, Carlow
The Institute of Technology, Carlow (IT Carlow; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Cheatharlach) was an institute of technology, located in Carlow, Ireland. The institute had campuses in Carlow, Wexford, and Wicklow, as well as a part-time pr ...
, the institute was dissolved on 1 May 2022 and was succeeded by the
South East Technological University
South East Technological University (SETU; ga, Ollscoil Teicneolaíochta an Oirdheiscirt) is a public technological university located in the South East region of Ireland. It was formed from the amalgamation of two existing institutes of tec ...
.
History
At the time of the founding of the RTC, there were two other third-level institutions in the city,
St John's Seminary Waterford News and Star which notes the closing of the St John's Seminary in 1999 and De La Salle Brothers teacher training college, but both had been closed.
Waterford politicians made strenuous but unsuccessful efforts to locate a university in Waterford at the time of the formation of the
Queen's University of Ireland
The Queen's University of Ireland was established formally by Royal Charter on 3 September 1850, as the degree-awarding university of the ''Queen's Colleges'' of Belfast, Cork, and Galway that were established in 1845 "to afford a university e ...
in the 1840s. The cause was led by
Thomas Wyse
Sir Thomas Wyse (24 December 1791 – 16 April 1862), an Irish politician and diplomat, belonged to a family claiming descent from a Devon squire, Andrew Wyse, who is said to have crossed over to Ireland during the reign of Henry II and obt ...
,
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Waterford City
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
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, pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe
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, who was not influential in the House of Commons, having strong Napoleonic links (he married a niece of
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
of France), being a Catholic and leaning towards an independent Ireland.
Galway
Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...
, a much smaller city at the time, won out over Waterford, perhaps because of the necessity for geographical dispersion or to bolster the
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
. Wyse wrote in the round on the matter in his text "Education reform or the necessity of a national system of education" (London, 1836).
The institute was founded in 1970 as the Regional Technical College, Waterford. Once founded, the regional technical college grew very quickly as a result of the obviously strong regional need for tertiary education. In 1997 the college adopted its present name by order of the
Minister for Education Niamh Bhreathnach
Niamh Síle Bhreathnach (; born 1 June 1945) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Education from 1993 to 1994 and 1994 to 1997. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dún Laoghaire constituency from 1992 to ...
, with
Dublin Institute of Technology
Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT, ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Bhaile Átha Cliath) was a major third-level institution in Dublin, Ireland. On 1 January 2019 DIT was dissolved and its functions were transferred to the Technological Un ...
being the only other institution with the "institute of technology" title at the time in Ireland. Following a change of government and enormous political pressure on behalf of other regional technical colleges, especially
Cork Regional Technical College
Cork Institute of Technology (CIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Chorcaí) was an institute of technology, located in Cork, Ireland. Upon its dissolution, the institute had 17,000 students studying in art, business, engineering, music, dr ...
, all other regional technical colleges were renamed similarly by Minister for Education
Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin (; born 1 August 1960) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who is serving as Tánaiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland), Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence since Decembe ...
.
Since 2001, the institute had conferred its own awards at all levels from Higher Certificate to PhD, subject to standards set and monitored by the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (
HETAC
The Higher Education and Training Awards Council ( ga, Comhairle na nDámhachtainí Ardoideachais agus Oiliúna) (HETAC), the legal successor to the ''National Council for Educational Awards'' (NCEA), granted higher education awards in Ireland b ...
) which was established by the Government in June 2001, under the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act, 1999.
In October 2005 the institute was selected by ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' newspaper as the "Institute of Technology of the Year" in Ireland.
The institute now has a student population of approximately 6,000 full-time students and 1,000 part-time students. The Staff currently consists of approximately 470 Full-time academic, 300 part-time and 300 support staff.
The institute formally applied in 2006 for university status in accordance with the Universities Act, 1997, and the process of examining the case for redesignation has commenced. In January 2007 Dr Jim Port was engaged by the government to carry out a "preliminary assessment" of the institute's case.
Ranking
In 2018, Webometrics placed WIT as the 7th best higher education body in Ireland (out of 32). The institute is also ranked at 10th place by Unirank, and the leading Irish institute of technology (with the exception of DIT, which is now classified as a Technology University).
Campuses
![Waterford Institute of Technology, 2021-06-01, 03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Waterford_Institute_of_Technology%2C_2021-06-01%2C_03.jpg)
The institute has 5 campuses: Cork Road, College Street, Carriganore, the Applied Technology Building and the Granary.
Organisation
The institute is divided into 6 schools and their various departments.
Research at WIT
Research Centres
* Walton Institute
Pharmaceutical and Molecular Biotechnology Research Centre (PMBRC)Eco-Innovation Research Centre
Nutrition Research Centre Ireland (formerly MPRG)South Eastern Applied Material Research (SEAM)
Research Groups
Technological University for the South East
The institute has been planning a joint application with
IT Carlow
The Institute of Technology, Carlow (IT Carlow; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Cheatharlach) was an institute of technology, located in Carlow, Ireland. The institute had campuses in Carlow, Wexford, and Wicklow, as well as a part-time pr ...
for the formation of a
technological university
An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...
for the
south east region since the mid-2010's.
A vision document, "Technological University for the South East" (TUSE) was published in 2015, and a
memorandum of understanding was signed in 2017.
At the launch of TU Dublin in July 2018, the Taoiseach expressed regret that this TUSE bid had not progressed sufficiently following the Technological Universities Act 2018.
Approval was announced in November 2021, and the TU will be formally established in .
Notable alumni
Arts
*
Gráinne Mulvey
Gráinne Mulvey (born 10 March 1966) is an Irish composer.
Biography
Mulvey was born in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland, and studied with Eric Sweeney at Waterford Regional Technical College, Hormoz Farhat at Trinity College Dublin an ...
– Irish composer, currently Professor and Head of Composition at the Technological University of Dublin
*
Máiréad Nesbitt
Máiréad Nesbitt ( , ) is an Irish musician. She is known for performing Celtic and classical music and being the former fiddler for '' Celtic Woman''. She was also one of the two original fiddlers in Michael Flatley’s '' Lord of the Dance'' ...
– Irish fiddler, former member of the ensemble
Celtic Woman
Celtic Woman is an all-female Irish musical ensemble conceived and created by David Kavanagh, Sharon Browne and David Downes, a former musical director of the Irish stage show ''Riverdance.'' In 2004, Downes recruited five Irish female music ...
Politics
*
Ciara Conway –
TD
*
Martin Cullen
Martin Cullen (born 2 November 1954) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism from 2008 to 2010, Minister for Social and Family Affairs from 2007 to 2008, Minister for Transport from 2004 to ...
– Teachta Dála & Government Minister
*
Grace O'Sullivan
Grace O'Sullivan (born 8 March 1962) is an Irish politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Ireland for the South constituency since July 2019. She is a member of the Green Party, part of the European Green Party. Sh ...
–
MEP
*
John Paul Phelan
John Paul Phelan (born 27 September 1978) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Carlow–Kilkenny (Dáil constituency), Carlow–Kilkenny constituency since the 2011 Irish general election, 2011 general elect ...
–
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...
Sport
*
Niamh Briggs
Niamh (; from Old Irish ) is an Irish language, Irish feminine given name (meaning "bright" or "radiant"), Anglicisation, anglicised as Neve, Nieve, Neave, Neavh or Neeve.
In Irish mythology, Niamh (mythology), Niamh is the daughter of the god ...
– Irish Rugby Player
Niamh Briggs
rbs6nations.com, accessed 23 March 2013
*Setanta Ó hAilpín
Setanta Ó hAilpín (born 18 March 1983) is a Fijian-Irish sportsman. He played hurling at senior level for the Cork county team before becoming a professional Australian rules footballer. Ó hAilpín is of mixed Irish and Rotuman backgroun ...
– GAA & Australian Football League player
*Geordan Murphy
Geordan Edward Andrew Murphy (born 19 April 1978) is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. He played as fullback or wing both for the Irish international team and the English club Leicester Tigers.
Youth
Murphy was born in Dublin, Ire ...
– Irish Rugby Player
*Henry Shefflin
Henry Shefflin (born 11 January 1979) is an Irish hurling manager and former player who is the current manager of the Galway senior hurling team. In his playing career he was nicknamed "King Henry" because of his directive style, dominance, com ...
– GAA player
*Ayo Williams – GAA player
Business
*Philip Lynch
Philip Lynch (born 1946) is an Irish businessman who has held the position of chief executive at two Irish public limited companies and multiple senior directorships including chairman of the board of An Post. In October 2010, he was forced by t ...
– businessman, CEO of IAWS Group
*Kerrie Power – businesswoman, CEO of HEAnet
HEAnet is the national education and research network of Ireland.
HEAnet's e-infrastructure services support approximately 210,000 students and staff (third-level) in Ireland, and approximately 800,000 students and staff (first and second-level ...
See also
*Education in Ireland The term Education in Ireland may refer to either of two education systems in Ireland:
*Education in the Republic of Ireland
*Education in Northern Ireland
Education in Northern Ireland differs from education systems elsewhere in the United ...
* List of higher education institutions in Ireland
References
External links
Official WIT website
Research Groups within WIT
WIT Strategic Plan
WIT Institutional Repository
{{coord missing, County Waterford
South East Technological University
Buildings and structures in Waterford (city)
Education in Waterford (city)
Educational institutions established in 1970
Waterford Institute of Technology