Galway Bay fm newsroom - €4.2 million has been awarded to the Connacht Ulster Alliance, to support their bid to become a new technological university for the west and north-west.
The group - which includes GMIT, Sligo IT and Letterkenny IT - submitted a formal application for TU designation to Minister Simon Harris in May.
The vision for the new technological university is to create a regional leader in the provision of access to higher education, by offering programmes from pre-degree to doctoral level on campus, online or as remote learning.
The partnership says the multi-campus TU will have the capacity to attract, educate and retain significant talent locally - and will strengthen the social, economic and cultural fabric of the region.