AN AMBITIOUS plan to house a state of the art third level education facility and multi-purpose campus on the grounds of St Senan’s Hospital is rapidly gathering momentum. The plan would aim to attract a partner, ideally IT Carlow who already operate in Wexford, with a bid to eventually obtaining university status.

While IT Carlow are already said to be locked into a deal for a 30 acre site in Wexford town, those behind this ambitious plan are hopeful that they can be persuaded to move their Wexford operations 12 miles up the road to Enniscorthy to a site they say is much larger and more suitable.

Under the plan, the university would be situated adjacent to the technology park, for which Wexford County Council has already purchased 26 acres, and the presence of the third level institution would be of significant benefit in terms of attracting multi national corporations to the town.

The plan also solves the million dollar question of what to do with St Senan’s Hospital building, which has protected status. Private investment would be sought to convert the building into state of the art student accommodation and apartments and Tommy Kelly, one of those behind the plan, says that a couple of private investors have already shown interest in the project and one has even costed it at around €25 million.

The establishment of the third level institution at St Senan’s would cost somewhere in the region of €120million and take in the region of five years and those behind the project are pushing for public support on the matter, along with the support of elected representatives.

For more on this story, including a more detailed look at the proposal and reactions, pick up a copy of this week’s Echo.

Ambitious plans have been unveiled to house a state of the art multi-purpose third level campus at St Senan’s complete with student accommodation and a range of facilities.