Kerry College announces plans for NEW Killarney Campus!
Kerry Education and Training Board (Kerry ETB) welcomes the announcement today by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD giving the green light for Kerry ETB to proceed to the next stage in developing a College of The Future (COTF) Campus in Killarney.
The proposed campus when developed will include, a National Centre of Excellence for Hospitality training, a National Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Green training, a Regional Centre of Excellence for Apprenticeship training and a Regional Centre of Excellence for Lifelong Learning, providing training opportunities with capacity for over 3000 learners per year.
The project proposal involves the re purposing of the existing buildings of the former Sara Lee and Pretty Polly factories in Killarney.
Speaking today, Minister Harris said: “This is a brilliant day for Kerry. Killarney has been chosen as one of ten locations to proceed to develop a further education College of the Future.’’
In welcoming this announcement, Cllr. Jim Finucane, an Cathaoirleach Kerry ETB stated “This is a very good day for Kerry ETB. The Board of the ETB at the October 26th 2021 Board meeting approved ETB executive to complete the high-level proposal for the development of Kerry College Campus in Killarney. Following on from the recent announcements of significant funding for FET Campus development works in Tralee and Listowel, I would like to thank Minister Harris for his continued support of further education and training in Kerry”.
The CEO of Kerry ETB, Colm McEvoy added, “We welcome today’s announcement by Minister Harris TD following the assessment of our Strategic Assessment Report for this proposal. Kerry ETB is delighted to get approval to proceed to the next phase in this process and develop a formal business case. I wish to thank the Department for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and SOLAS for their continued support of our vision for the future of further education and training across County Kerry.”
Courses on offer in the developed campus will include courses such as Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management and Operations, Bar Skills, Barista Skills, Passive House Retrofitting, Smart Meter Installation, Wind Turbine Blade Repair, Electric Vehicle Motor Maintenance, Fibre Installation, Welding, various Apprenticeships, Pre-apprenticeships, Software Development and a full range of evening/part time course provision.