University of Limerick is considering moving its school of medicine to a controversial site it bought in Limerick city centre which it later admitted “significantly overpaying” for.
The university bought the former Dunnes Stores property at Honan’s Quay for more than €8 million in 2019. It later wrote down the value of the site by €3 million in its financial accounts.
In a message to staff on Tuesday, acting president Prof Shane Kilcommins said a “concept proposal” for the possible redevelopment of the Honan’s Quay site was discussed with UL’s governing body.
It involves relocating UL’s existing school of medicine to a “fully redeveloped, high-quality facility” to the city-centre site.
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He said the site had the potential to expand its school of medicine and help with the future growth of the city. The university would also explore the potential for State support.
The circumstances of the purchase in 2019 sparked controversy at the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee in 2023 amid claims that college staff were unable to provide written records of a valuation for the site.
It, along with another botched property deal involving student accommodation and the ensuing controversy, prompted the resignation of its then president and close scrutiny of its financial affairs by the Higher Education Authority.
The university has since announced sweeping changes to the culture, corporate governance and property acquisition rules, aimed at restoring trust in the institution after a series of damaging scandals.
In a message to staff on Tuesday evening, Prof Kilcommins said its proposals for the possible redevelopment of the Honan’s Quay site involve relocating UL’s existing school of medicine to a “fully redeveloped, high-quality facility” to the city centre site.
He said that given the “understandable and acknowledged concerns over the acquisition of this site in 2019″, the university’s governing authority had been clear that it did not “expect to see proposals for large scale investments presented for the first time when they are being asked to approve them”.
Limited investment has been made in the city centre property which has brought about 20 per cent of the building back into use.
Prof Kilcommins said it was an “inescapable fact that any progress made falls short of UL’s initial ambitions for the site”.
“It must also be recognised that the significant redevelopment potential of the site both as a city campus and as a driver of socio-economic regeneration will never be realised by maintaining the status quo,” he said, in his staff message.
“Despite the financial impairment, there is no doubt that Honan’s Quay is one of the most strategically located sites in the city and it is incumbent on the university to seriously consider its intentions for the site.”
The university, he said, will engage with Limerick City and County Council, the Higher Education Authority and other stakeholders to “determine the feasibility of securing funding in the context of this proposal or any alternative opportunities for the site.”
The university has been tasked by Government with delivering direct entry undergraduate medicine, with the first cohort of these students scheduled to commence in September 2026.
Prof Kilcommins said the university has already committed to part funding the capital costs associated with the expansion of the school of medicine on campus.
“The relocation of the entire school of medicine to the city campus is a larger project however, and for it to be financially feasible a funding application, plus other borrowings, will be required,” he said.
“We are very much at the exploratory stage, and we will take the appropriate steps regarding due diligence and comprehensive stakeholder engagement.”
