Search
05 Sept 2025
Search
05 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
An existing SETU campus building (File Photo)
Green Party councillor for Kilkenny, Maria Dollard, has welcomed news of funding for higher education institutions to make their facilities more accessible and energy efficient. South East Technological University (SETU), which has campuses in Waterford, Wexford, Carlow, and Wicklow, has received over €3.5 million under this new grant scheme which has made €40 million available nationally for higher education institutions.
Cllr Dollard commented;
“I am really pleased to see the funding that has been made available to support universal access and for energy efficiency and decarbonisation upgrades in SETU and other colleges across Ireland. Last year I called for a SETU university campus in Kilkenny, one that is innovative and futuristic, and with this funding I believe SETU will be able to make significant progress in achieving ambitions of universal access, decarbonisation and sustainability.
“ Kilkenny is ideally placed to be a significant campus, located as we are between the large campuses of Waterford and Carlow. The recent welcome investment by Abbott demonstrates the faith a large investor has in Kilkenny and I believe a campus for SETU in Kilkenny is the next big step for us.
“As a former lecturer in UCC, I am also delighted that they have received such a significant allocation of this funding. It is clear to see that higher education facilities in Ireland are moving with the times in terms of accessibility and sustainability.”
A total of €40m has been allocated to third level institutions across the country and can be used for building works to support universal access, energy efficiency upgrades, ICT upgrades, health and safety works and building upgrades.
SETU first opened its doors as the region’s first technological university in May this year, and serves over 18,000 students with over 1,500 staff. SETU has ambitions to grow student numbers to 25,000 with almost 2,000 staff in the next 10 years.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
