Bank of Ireland commits €94m to help fund new STEM facilities at third-level campuses

Artist’s impression of new South-East Technological University (SETU) building planned for Waterford campus.

Bank of Ireland today, (3 July 2025) announced that it is providing €94 million in finance for the construction of five new state-of-the-art facilities at higher education campuses in the south-east, west and north-west of Ireland.

The Bank is part of the lending consortium financing a c.€380 million Public Private Partnership (PPP) for which contracts were recently signed. Construction will begin imminently, with all buildings expected to be completed by mid-2028.

The new facilities will be primarily focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) with a combined total floor area of almost 35,000 square metres. They will be located at the following campuses:

Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Letterkenny
Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Galway
South-East Technological University (SETU), Carlow
South-East Technological University (SETU), Waterford
Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), Moylish

John Feeney, Chief Executive of Bank of Ireland’s Corporate and Commercial Banking division, said: “This project will deliver cutting-edge educational infrastructure and expand access to higher education, particularly in high-demand areas such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics. By supporting its financing, Bank of Ireland is helping to equip the next generation with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving economy.”

The project, known as Higher Education PPP Bundle 2, is being procured by the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science as Approving Authority. The Higher Education Authority is the Sponsoring Agency.