Huge Dublin Technical College Planned

Plans for a €486 million development of a new urban quarter and campus for the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) at Grangegorman will be submitted to Dublin City Council within weeks.

Some 450 full-time construction jobs will be created for a 10-year period during the development of the site.

In addition, more than 1,100 full-time jobs are promised on completion of the works.

The planning scheme will act as a framework for all future applications for development on the 70-acre former psychiatric hospital site between the north-city neighbourhoods of Phibsboro, Stoneybatter and Cabra.

Once approved, the scheme could allow for the construction of buildings of up to 50m in height.

Applications, which adhere to the scheme, can be granted directly by the council, and cannot be subject to objections or appeals.

According to the Irish Times, the linchpin of the site is a consolidated campus for 22 of the 27 DIT schools currently housed in 39 locations around the city.

With a 20,000-strong student body the new campus will cater for about 10 per cent of all students in higher education in Ireland.

The site would also accommodate purpose-built mental health facilities and a primary school run by Educate Together for 400 pupils, as well as a high proportion of open amenity and recreational space accessible to the local community.

Plans for the site were first announced almost a decade ago.

Government approval for the scheme was granted last September, and the new programme for government supports its development 'as resources permit'.

(BMcC/GK)