The investment is backed by new support from the European Investment Bank (EIB), which will provide €76 million for the scheme, alongside financing from university resources.
The long-term loan from the EIB will fund projects including the construction of new information and communications technology (ICT) and education hubs, accommodation for 300 students, academic and student services buildings and sports facilities. The projects represent the first phase of a campus masterplan that is being developed to facilitate growth to 13,000 students, from 10,500, by 2020.
Professor Philip Nolan, president of Maynooth University, said: “As Ireland’s fastest growing university, we are developing our campus to facilitate the rapid increase in student enrolment we’ve experienced in recent years.
“Students have realised that not only is the quality of our teaching and research second to none, but that we also offer the kind of rounded student experience that students, as well as employers, recognise as increasingly valuable. It’s essential that our campus is able to accommodate our continued plans for growth and excellence in education. We are tremendously grateful to the EIB for enabling the university’s vision to progress forward.”
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