€41m veterinary college plan marks 'major milestone' for ATU Donegal

Atlantic Technological University (ATU) has lodged a planning application with Donegal County Council to develop a new €41 million Veterinary Teaching Facility in Letterkenny.

The veterinary college, which will be located on a 42-acre site at Knocknamona, will feature small and large animal hospitals, an equine MRI unit, and associated research buildings.

The project also includes extensive outdoor facilities, 69 car parking spaces, a new vehicular access road connecting to the ATU Regional Sports Campus, and active travel access from the N56, alongside comprehensive landscaping and sustainability works.

Welcoming the development, Donegal Minister of State, Charlie McConalogue, said: “It’s fitting that planning application has been submitted at a time when Donegal ATU is preparing to welcome the first intake of 40 students for the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery programme who will start their studies in September.”

“Securing the five-year, full-time Level 9-degree next month represents a major milestone for Donegal ATU, for the North-West and for Ireland’s veterinary education system. It will create no end of new and exciting opportunities for the students and the region,” the Minister of State for Sport and Postal Policy added.

“I’m delighted that Donegal ATU is preparing to accept the first cohort of students for the veterinary course. These students will spend the first two years at the Port Road Campus before relocating to the new state-of-the-art college at Knocknamona for the start of the 2028-2029 academic year. When fully operational, the new campus will accommodate 200 students,” he said.

“This is an important time for all those who sat the Leaving Cert this year. I wish them well as they weigh up their options and prepare to take their next steps in life. There are so many pathways in place now to suit everyone’s talents,” the Minister of State for Sport and Postal Policy commented.

“The new Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery programme at Donegal ATU will help retain young talent locally instead of them having to travel abroad to pursue their veterinary medicine studies. It will also directly support regional economic, agricultural and research development. At full rollout, ATU and SETU together will provide 80 additional veterinary graduates per year.”

“I commend the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless and his officials and ATU President, Orla Flynn, and her team, for all their work in progressing this major project. Having worked closely with Minister Lawless and Orla Flynn, it’s great to see the college getting ready for its first cohort of veterinary students,” he added.

“Delivering this new college for Donegal ATU was something I pushed hard for when I was Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in the last government and I’m extremely happy with the way things have progressed.”

“These are exciting and progressive times for Donegal ATU. The new library and an IT and education building at ATU’s Letterkenny campus are currently under construction. This is a project which will cost in the region of €25 million,” the Donegal Minister of State said.

“The first phase of Donegal ATU’s Regional Activity Hub at the 42-acre site at Knocknamona was given approval to proceed to the tender stage earlier this year and I look forward to this project moving to construction,” Minister McConalogue added.