Ireland will get a new university in April.
Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, IT Sligo and Letterkenny Institute of Technology will merge together to form the Atlantic Technological University (ATU) from April 1.
On Tuesday, the Dail approved a ministerial order, signalling the change.
An initial application was put forward in May of 2021, but plans for the university status go back as far as 2013.
It was then that the trio of Institutes formed a strategic partnership, the Connacht-Ulster Alliance.
The three Institutes have a combined population of around 24,000 students and offer a wide range of programmes from Level 6 to 10 of the National Framework of Qualifications.
The new TU will bring together almost 600 academic programmes.
A statement from the CUA in May explained: "In addition to undergraduate and postgraduate courses, it will offer upskilling and employee education and support enterprises, especially SMEs, through collaborative research and enabling technology transfer. It will also build economic, cultural and social prosperity across a unique geographical region which has dispersed rural population and significant urban centres"
In terms of background to the name, the CUA say: "“Atlantic” conveys power, strength, inspiration, creation, vast horizons – a distinctive geography, rich history and shared heritage. This is a hugely ambitious name for a TU with an international reach without borders on the edge of Europe, spanning thousands of kilometers of coastline including the Wild Atlantic Way, a gateway to the rest of the world."
