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The University of Limerick seeking to build a new university town

The Clare side of the University of Limerick campus where the proposed ‘new university town’ will be located nearby

The University of Limerick seeking to build a new university town

The University of Limerick looks to create a new university town on the Clare side of the campus, the first of its kind in Ireland.

The proposal seeks to create up to 3,500 jobs in the Castletroy region.


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The exciting project has now been backed by the Clare County Council and they are requesting permission to build on a 300-hectare site north of the university campus.

Dr. Des Fitzgerald, UL president, said the university was “delighted to support Clare County Council’s application to Government for the establishment of this Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) adjacent to the north campus of the university.

The prestigious project seeks to include a hotel that would allow students to reside in during the semester and become a fully functional hotel for guest lectures on the off-term months.

This idea for the new university town is inspired by a town in the University of Bologna in Italy which has a full-scale residential town for the students and the University of Limerick is at an advantage in Ireland for the amount of green space surrounding the university, unseen in any other university in Ireland.

This town will accompany the university in a great way, making it easier for college students to access the university’s facilities, bringing a fresh burst of life to the often forgotten about north campus.

The project, however, is a long time away from starting construction, but Clare County Council hopes to have all preparations made in the coming year.

For years the Student’s Union in UL have been campaigning to make the north campus a more accessible area for students in the University of Limerick and if this new project gets the go-ahead from the government that it needs, then this might be the boost this side of campus needs.

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