The National University of Galway Ireland (NUIG) has received a loan of €60 million to fund further development on campus in an agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB). The loan will fund the construction of new student accommodation along with a new building for the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.
The agreement marks the completion of a €675m EIB Irish university lending program. The program has supported capital investment at the universities through low-cost, long-term financing.
NUIG President Dr. Jim Browne said the campus was at the end of a ten-year capital development plan and the construction of residences for 430 students was already well under way.
Browne said the loan would allow the university to complete its new human biology building, which he believes “will transform the learning environment for health science students”.
The announcement coincides with a EIB briefing today for the heads of Ireland’s seven universities, which will outline new opportunities for EIB support. The EIB said it was expecting to provide loans of €110m to support work at the Dublin Institute Technology (DIT) campus at Grangegorman in the coming months.
Trinity’s new business school, which is still under construction on campus, was also financed by a loan from the EIB.
Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton said new schools and universities in Cork, Limerick, Maynooth, and Dublin had been transformed as a direct result of the EIB’s commitment to Ireland in recent years.
