Carlow MEP backs SETU for Ireland's newest Vet School

Ní Mhurchú backs SETU as the location for Ireland’s newest Vet School.

Following a visit to their campus at Kildalton College, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú has endorsed the South East Technological University (SETU) to become the location for Ireland’s newest Veterinary School, the first outside Dublin. The SETU is currently bidding to host the new school.

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In 2022, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) established a process to identify opportunities in the higher education system to build capacity in dentistry, pharmacy, medicine, nursing, and veterinary medicine.

Ní Mhurchú has described the SETU bid for the veterinary school as exemplary. She described the University’s strengths in pharmaceutical science and agricultural sciences, and the significant added value of their 50-year collaboration with Teagasc and Kildalton College as reasons the university should be home to our new veterinary school.

According to Ní Mhurchú, the decision should be made on the merits of each proposal, not on political considerations,

“If we are serious about the future of higher education in Ireland, then we must make decisions based on merit, not upon political posturing. The SETU has built a vibrant innovation ecosystem that promotes high-quality job creation and long-term employment opportunities in the South East. The University has developed world class proposals around providing veterinary medicine and pharmacy courses in the region. Their strengths in science and land sciences together with a 50- year history of collaborative provision with Teagasc, and Kildalton Agricultural College make them the obvious choice for Ireland’s first veterinary school outside Dublin”

Currently, University College Dublin is the only third level collage offering veterinary medicine. The matter is currently being assessed by the HEA, who will make a decision shortly. Cynthia Ní Mhurchú visited the SETU in August and was briefed on their proposals.

Ní Mhurchú described the potential Veterinary school coming to SETU as something that would bolster the local economies of Waterford, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny and set the South East apart as a centre of excellence for veterinary medicine.