Inside Story

Groundhog day: University of Limerick staff demand answers on €5.2m housing overspend

Staff at the University of Limerick are angry about the decision to spend €12m on student houses, while the Higher Education Authority has ordered a review of the episode

The future of UL president Kerstin Mey (left) looks increasingly uncertain. Chancellor Brigid Laffan (right) is determined to ensure this ‘never happens again’. Picture: True Media/ Rollingnews

The first time officials at the University of Limerick (UL) publicly told TDs about their decision to buy a 20-house student accommodation “village”, it went almost totally unnoticed.

It was May 2023, and the university was being grilled by members of the Public Accounts Committee over its notorious acquisition of the Dunnes Stores site in Limerick city centre.

Shane Kilcommins, the deputy president of UL, told Fianna Fáil TD James O’Connor that the university had ...