An
Institute of Technology or
IT is a type of
further educationFurther education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
collegeCollege is a term most often used today to denote degree awarding tertiary educational institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of colleagues, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals...
found in
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
. 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
Regional Technical Colleges. The exception to this was
Dublin Institute of TechnologyDublin Institute of Technology was established officially in 1992 under the but had been previously set up in 1978 on an ad-hoc basis. The institution can trace its origins back to 1887 with the establishment of various technical institutions in Dublin, Ireland...
which emerged independently of the Regional College system.
The idea of the institutions was first announced by
Patrick HilleryPatrick John "Paddy" Hillery was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and the sixth President of Ireland from 1976 until 1990. First elected at the 1951 general election as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Clare, he remained in Dáil Éireann until 1973...
in 1963.
An
Institute of Technology or
IT is a type of
further educationFurther education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
collegeCollege is a term most often used today to denote degree awarding tertiary educational institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of colleagues, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals...
found in
IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
. 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
Regional Technical Colleges. The exception to this was
Dublin Institute of TechnologyDublin Institute of Technology was established officially in 1992 under the but had been previously set up in 1978 on an ad-hoc basis. The institution can trace its origins back to 1887 with the establishment of various technical institutions in Dublin, Ireland...
which emerged independently of the Regional College system.
Creation
The idea of the institutions was first announced by
Patrick HilleryPatrick John "Paddy" Hillery was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and the sixth President of Ireland from 1976 until 1990. First elected at the 1951 general election as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for Clare, he remained in Dáil Éireann until 1973...
in 1963. A year later, a site for an institution in
CarlowCarlow is an inland town in the south-east of Ireland in County Carlow, 84 km from Dublin. The town numbers about 20,000 people, 3,000 of whom are students. The River Barrow flows through the town, and forms the historic boundary between counties Laois and Carlow: the Local Government Act...
was identified. The
Investment in Education (1962) and
Training of Technicians in Ireland (1964) reports greatly accelerated the trend in Ireland for education reform and development particularly in technical education, similar to that in other Western Countries at the time.
The
Steering Committee on Technical Education, also called
The Mulcahy Report (1967), was an important milestone in framing the institutional structures and functions calling 'for trade and industry over a broad spectrum of occupations ranging from craft to professional level, notably in engineering and science, but also in commercial, linguistic and other specialities.'
The first institutions formally opened their doors in 1970, and other colleges were added during the following decade. Some colleges developed from earlier institutions and colleges, involving amalgamation, but most were completely new institutions. A Regional Technical College for Limerick was cancelled after a
National Institute for Higher EducationA National Institute for Higher Education was a category of higher education institution established in the Republic of Ireland to provide higher level technical education above the standard of the then established Regional Technical College system but at university level...
was announced for the city. Finally, in 1993, an institution was created for Limerick. Two additional institutions have been created since, bringing the total to thirteen.
| Name |
Abbreviation |
Opened |
| Athlone Institute of Technology Athlone Institute of Technology formerly Regional Technical College, Athlone is one of the original network of Regional Technical Colleges; it was built in Athlone, Ireland...
|
AIT |
1970 |
| Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown The Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown , established in 1999, is , the last-founded Institute of Technology in Ireland. It is located in Blanchardstown, about 15 km from Dublin City and close to the N3 . As of 2006, it had around 1,500 students, with a target of 2,000 by 2011. It has a...
|
ITB |
2000 |
Institute of Technology, CarlowInstitute of Technology, Carlow , originally Regional Technical College, Carlow, is one of the original Regional Technical Colleges, it is located to the south of Carlow, Ireland on Kilkenny Road, it was the first such college announced and located in 1964.The institute was renamed Austin Waldron...
|
ITC |
1970 |
Cork Institute of TechnologyCork Institute of Technology , formerly Regional Technical College, Cork, is a college located in Cork, Ireland opened in 1973. The institute has 17,000 students in art, business, engineering, music and science disciplines...
|
CIT |
1974 |
Dublin Institute of TechnologyDublin Institute of Technology was established officially in 1992 under the but had been previously set up in 1978 on an ad-hoc basis. The institution can trace its origins back to 1887 with the establishment of various technical institutions in Dublin, Ireland...
† |
DIT |
1992 |
Dundalk Institute of TechnologyDundalk Institute of Technology formerly Regional Technical College, Dundalk is a 90 acre campus situated in Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland, halfway between Dublin and Belfast . The campus is 1/2 mile from the main Dublin Belfast road and 3 minutes drive from the M1 motorway to Dublin. Dublin...
|
DkIT |
1970 |
| Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology is located at Dún Laoghaire, Ireland was established in 1997 and incorporated the former Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design as its School of Creative Arts.-Campus:...
|
IADT |
1997 |
| Institute of Technology, Sligo Institute of Technology, Sligo formerly Regional Technical College, Sligo is a higher education institution located in Sligo, County Sligo in Ireland....
|
ITS |
1970 |
| Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology formerly known as Regional Technical College, Galway or Galway RTC is an Institute of Technology based in Galway, Ireland with centres throughout County Galway and County Mayo...
|
GMIT |
1972 |
Letterkenny Institute of TechnologyLetterkenny Institute of Technology , formerly Regional Technical College, Letterkenny, is located in Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. It is a third level institution serving County Donegal and the North West of Ireland. The institute is usually known locally as the Regional. Today, it is one...
|
LYIT |
1971 |
Limerick Institute of TechnologyLimerick Institute of Technology is an institution of higher education in Limerick, Ireland and is one of 13 institutes that are members of the Institutes of Technology Ireland . The Institute has three campuses in Limerick City...
|
LIT |
1993 |
Institute of Technology, TallaghtInstitute of Technology, Tallaght formerly Regional Technical College, Tallaght, located in Tallaght, County Dublin, Ireland.-History:...
|
ITT Dublin |
1992 |
Institute of Technology, TraleeInstitute of Technology, Tralee is a third-level educational institution located in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. It was established in 1977 as the Regional Technical College, Tralee.-General Information:...
|
IT Tralee |
1977 |
| Waterford Institute of Technology Waterford Institute of Technology is a state funded third-level educational institution situated in the city of Waterford, Ireland. The Institute has six Schools and 16 Departments....
|
WIT |
1970 |
†Dublin Institute of Technology was the first third level college to be called an IT and was created under separate legislation with different powers than the other thirteen colleges, being a university in everything but name.
Legislation
The institutions were run under the
Vocational Education Acts from 1970 until 1992 as special subcommittees of the
Vocational Education CommitteeA Vocational Education Committee is a statutory local education body in the Republic of Ireland that administers some secondary education and most adult education in the state...
s, and placed on an independent basis thereafter by the
Regional Technical Colleges Acts in 1993. In the late 1990s, all of the institutions were upgraded to
Institute of Technology status. This was in recognition of the high standards, including
universityA university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
level
researchResearch can be defined to be search for knowledge or any systematic investigation to establish facts. The primary purpose for applied research is discovering, interpreting, and the development of methods and systems for the advancement of human knowledge on a wide variety of scientific matters of...
, which takes place at them. Additionally institutions have been given
delegated authority to confer their own awards in some cases up to Doctoral level. The
Regional Technical Colleges Acts still apply to all the institutions, with
Dublin Institute of TechnologyDublin Institute of Technology was established officially in 1992 under the but had been previously set up in 1978 on an ad-hoc basis. The institution can trace its origins back to 1887 with the establishment of various technical institutions in Dublin, Ireland...
set up under previous legislation and been quite distinct.
The Institutes of Technology Act 2006 will further amend the law with respect to the institutions.
Management
The individual institutions are structured similar to other universities, particularly Irish ones. Each institution has a Director, who is the chief operational officer of the institution, usually assisted by an
ad-hoc senior management team; a Registrar, who is the chief academic officer of the institution; a Governing Council, which oversees operational affairs; an Academic Council, which oversees academic affairs. Each academic school has a Head of School and each academic department of a school has a Head of Department.
Programmes
The institutions traditional courses were
National CertificateNational Certificate is the name of an educational award in a number of countries, although the actual merit of award is not always the same.-Ireland:...
and
National DiplomaThe National Diploma is a three year ab initio specialised higher education qualification in a technology discipline offered by an Institute of Technology or other HETAC designated institution in Ireland....
type courses particularly in
businessA business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners and grow the business itself...
,
engineeringEngineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or inventions.The American Engineers' Council...
and
scienceScience is in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome...
, this was very much the founding principle. During the late 1970s degrees at
Bachelor'sA bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for four years, but can range from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
level were introduced, later
Master'sA master's degree is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
and Doctoral levels were also allowed. In recent years there has been a rapid expansion in
apprenticeshipApprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
and
nursingNursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from birth to the end of life....
type courses.
Validation
Traditionally awards were conferred by the
National Council for Educational Awards, this statutory authority became the
Higher Education and Training Awards CouncilThe Higher Education and Training Awards Council , the legal successor to the National Council for Educational Awards , grants higher education awards in Ireland in the extra-university system...
, and other awards are conferred by the
Further Education and Training Awards CouncilThe Further Education and Training Awards Council is the statutory awarding body for further education in Ireland...
. Some specialised courses, such as
accountancyAccountancy or accounting is the art of communicating financial information about a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers...
, are validated by professional bodies but these are nearly always the exception.
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...
- Institute of technology
Institute of technology, and polytechnic, are designations employed in a wide range of learning institutions awarding different types of degrees and operating often at variable levels of the educational system...
- ITnet
ITnet is an PoS based multi Mbit/s network created for the Institutes of Technology in the Republic of Ireland...
- List of Irish third-level educational institutions
- List of universities in the Republic of Ireland
External links