NEW ULSTER UNIVERSITY CAMPUS IN BELFAST

WAS VERY MUCH A WORK IN PROGRESS IN MARCH 2019

I was somewhat surprised to learn that on 20 June 2023, the Government of Ireland announced that it was providing approximately €45 million in funding to Ulster University. As well as funds for the new campus, the government also announced financial supports for the construction of two new all-island bioeconomy demonstrator facilities for the agriculture and marine sectors (€7 million), a new respite and therapeutic centre for children diagnosed with cancer and their families from across the island of Ireland (€2.5 million) and completion this year of the tender process for the Narrow Water Bridge project (€2 million).

Additionally, a new Youth Forum will also be set up under the Shared Island initiative, in which 80 young people from communities across the island of Ireland can set out their vision and values for a shared future.

Back in March construction work ongoing at the new Belfast campus and it was there for all to see and it dominated the Belfast skyline. At the time the new campus is scheduled to start welcoming students from September 2021.

The Ulster University at Belfast is in the city’s Cathedral Quarter, its artistic and cultural centre. Although traditionally associated with art and home to the university’s School of Art, originally inaugurated as the Belfast School of Art and Design in 1849, the campus has a range of subjects including architecture, hospitality, event management, photography and digital animation. The award-winning[citation needed] Law Clinic is based at the Belfast campus, offering free legal advice on social security and employment law.

Ulster University has been expanding and developing the Belfast campus since 2009 as part of one of Northern Ireland’s largest-ever urban developments, and nearly 15,000 students and staff will soon be based in the city centre. The first phase of this development opened in 2015 and completion of the project was due in 2019. The campus redevelopment was largely complete by 2021 however finalisation of construction is ongoing.