Waterford Institute of Technology

In the 1840s, at the time of the formation of the Queen's University of Ireland, Waterford politicians made strenuous, but unsuccessful, efforts to locate a university in Waterford. The cause was led by Thomas Wyse, Waterford's then Member of Parliament. He was perhaps unwisely chosen as he was not influential in Parliament due to strong Napoleonic links, having married a niece of Napoleon I of France, being Catholic and leaning towards an independent Ireland. Galway, a much smaller city at the time, won out over Waterford, perhaps for geographical dispersion or to bolster the Irish language. Wyse wrote on the matter in his text "Education reform or the necessity of a national system of education" (London, 1836).

The Regional Technical College, Waterford was founded in 1970 and grew quickly as a result of the strong regional need for tertiary education. At the time of the RTC's founding, there were two other third-level institutions in the city, St John's Seminary.[4] Waterford News and Star notes the closing of the St John's Seminary in 1999 and De La Salle Brothers teacher training college.

In 1997 the college adopted its present name, Waterford Institute of Technology, by order of the Minister for Education Niamh Bhreathnach. At the time the Dublin Institute of Technology was the only other Irish state third level educational college with "institute of technology" in its name. Following a change of government and political pressure on behalf of other regional technical colleges, especially Cork Regional Technical College, all other regional technical colleges were similarly renamed by then Minister for Education Micheál Martin.

Since 2001 WIT has 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) which was established by the Government in June 2001, under the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act, 1999.[5] In October 2005 the institute was selected by The Sunday Times newspaper as the "Institute of Technology of the Year" in Ireland.

WIT now has a student population of approximately 6000 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.[6]

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.[7][8]

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 Technological University).[9]

The institute has 5 campuses: Cork Road, College Street, Carriganore, the Applied Technology Building and the Granary.

The institute is divided into 6 schools and their various departments.

WIT has secured €200 million in research funding since 2000 and has collaborated with 350 academic and industry partners over that period. It is the only institution to have three Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateways.[10] These are TSSG, PMBRC, and SEAM.

The institute has over 30 sports clubs and upwards of 25 societies registered each year. The WIT GAA Club is the best known and most successful with its hurlers having won the Fitzgibbon Cup on nine occasions and the Camogie team Ashbourne Cup winners eight times. Many other sports such as basketball, rugby, soccer, kayaking and horse riding are supported at the institute also.

A significant portion of the institute's students live in WIT Campus Accommodation i.e. Manor Village, College Fields and Roncalli house, which adds to the levels of participation in the social and cultural life of the college.

Like many other Irish universities and institutes, the institute has an increasingly international student body. The institute has had strong links with many European universities for many years and has more recently grown its links with American and Asian universities. There is a large Brazilian contingent of students each year also.

There is an active Students' Union in WIT. Every full-time registered student in the college is a member of the Students' Union. They are also affiliated to the Union of Students in Ireland.[11]

The institute has been planning a joint application with IT Carlow for the formation of a technological university for the south east region since the mid-2010s.[12][13] A vision document, "Technological University for the South East" (TUSE) was published in 2015, and a memorandum of understanding was signed in 2017.[14] 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".[15][16] Potential names for the future institution include Waterford-Carlow Technological University, Southeastern Ireland Technological University and Technological University of Southeastern Ireland.

A formal application for TU status is expected in April 2021.[17]

Arts

• Gráinne Mulvey – Irish composer, currently professor and head of composition at the Technological University of Dublin
• Máiréad Nesbitt – Irish fiddler, former member of the ensemble Celtic Woman

Politics

• Martin Cullen – Teachta Dála and government minister
• Patrick McKee – County Councillor
• John Paul Phelan – Teachta Dála

Sport

• Niamh Briggs – Irish Rugby Player[18]
• Setanta Ó hAilpín – GAA & Australian Football League player
• Joe Pierce – Notable WDF dart player
• Geordan Murphy – Irish rugby player
• Henry Shefflin – GAA player
• Sam Bennett - Irish cyclist, 2020 Tour de France green shirt winner.[19][20]

Business

• Philip Lynch – businessman, CEO of IAWS Group
• Kerrie Power – businesswoman, CEO of HEAnet
• Martin Dunphy – businessman, CEO of Poleberry Scholarships

The head of the college was originally titled principal, this post was renamed director and then from 2006 president. The founding principal was Richard Langford (Langford recently chaired the governing board of WIT from 2014 to 2017).[21] Dr. Danny O'Hare was the second head of the college serving from 1974 until 1977. Other heads of the college include Ray Griffin, Prof. Kieran R. Byrne from 2001 until 2011 and Dr. Ruaidhrí Neavyn who served as president from 2012 until 2015. Prof. William Donnelly was appointed president in 2015.[22]

• Education in Ireland
• List of higher education institutions in Ireland

• Official WIT website
• Research Groups within WIT
• WIT Strategic Plan
• WIT Institutional Repository