Clonmel army barracks land transferred for College of the Future project
Tipperary County Council has disposed of the property to Tipperary Education & Training Board
The transformation of part of Clonmel's former Kickham Army Barracks into a further education and third-level College of the Future has moved a step closer to starting following the transfer of 3.5 acres of the barracks site to Tipperary Education & Training Board.
Tipperary County Council's elected members unanimously approved the Council's proposal to dispose of the property under Section 183 of the 2001 Local Government Act to Tipperary ETB by way of a deed of transfer at their July meeting in Nenagh.
Tipperary ETB now proposes in collaboration with the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) to develop the College of the Future on the site.
It will be the country's first fully integrated further education and higher education campus where students can obtain Level 1 to Level 10 in National Framework of Qualifications in one place.
Tipperary ETB intends to consolidate its various Clonmel facilities into a single unified campus in Clonmel town centre with shared entrances, canteens and classrooms.
An ETB run high-support special education school called Coláiste Shliabh na mBan has already successfully relocated to the Kickham Barracks site.
The transfer of the site follows Minister for Further & Higher Education James Lawless' visit to Kickham Barracks last month.
During the visit, he indicated a major step will be taken in the project this autumn and he wanted to see the transfer of the land to Tipperary ETB to take place.
Mayor of Clonmel Cllr Siobhán Ambrose said it was a long-awaited deed of transfer as she proposed the disposal of the site be approved at last week's council meeting.
The Fianna Fáil councillor thanked Minister Lawless for visiting Kickham Barracks and getting the project to this stage.
She acknowledged the work of council and ETB staff members and thanked them for the huge amount of time and effort that they have invested in this project over many years.
“This is a great day for Clonmel in moving a very large section of this site forward and it's also a great day for further education.”
In a statement issued after the meeting, the Mayor outlined that in time it's envisaged the TUS courses based at the college's campus on Clonmel's Inner Relief Road will relocate to Kickham Barracks.
Once the College of the Future project is finished, up to 1,000 students could be accessing the campus, she pointed out.
Cllr Ambrose added that she has asked Minister Lawless to return to Clonmel in the autumn to announce the design phase for the College of the Future project.