Everything you need to know about the University of Limerick by Anne Byrne

Origins: the moves to establish a university in Limerick can be traced back to 1845 when the mayor led a delegation to London to make the case for a Queen's College Limerick. He was unsuccessful. A determined campaign was launched in the 1960s and UL was born as NIHE Limerick in 1972. Granted university status in 1989. Founding president Dr Ed Walsh was the college's guiding spirit until his retirement in 1998.

Constituent schools: business, education, engineering, humanities, informatics and electronics, science. Some interdisciplinary programmes.

Study body: 10,031 full-time students (1,109 postgraduate and 8,922 post-graduate); 2,130 part-time students including 814 postgraduates.

Campus: 203 landscaped acres on the Limerick side of the Shannon. The college has bought 130 acres on the Clare side and hopes to link both sides by a bridge over the river.

Research: subject of ongoing review; minimal success in the last two rounds of PRTLI funding and no success with SFI; thriving applied research, with industry linkage.

Sports facilities: best in Ireland with a 50-metre Olympic swimming pool, outstanding indoor facilities including a three-lane suspended running track; 50 acres of playing fields.

Clubs and societies: more than 70 ranging from American football to debating to aeronautics.