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The new Library/Learning Centre at MIC Limerick has taken a key step forward with the appointment of two eminent firms to lead the architecture, design and project and cost management elements of the development. Scott Tallon Walker Architects and AECOM Ireland Ltd. will work on the new, 5,000 square metre Library/Learning Centre —a cutting edge, 21st century facility for teaching, learning and research—which will be situated at the heart of the Limerick campus. It will provide the latest in facilities for students and staff and the growing academic requirements of a student population at MIC now in excess of 5,000 students overall.

The Department of Psychology in Mary Immaculate College (MIC)—in partnership with parents, the HSE, Tusla and Clarecare—has launched new findings from funded research which examined the experiences of parents living with mental health challenges. Over 200 parents from around Ireland completed the anonymous online survey when it opened on World Mental Day last October. Entitled Building Connections: The experience of parenting while living with mental health challenges, the study aimed to find out more about the difficulties parents face, and the supports and barriers that are in place in terms of seeking help. The publication was launched in Ennis on Friday 11 April.

A new initiative from Mary Immaculate College (MIC) aims to support and share knowledge with educators to encourage opportunities to support an ethos and practice of diversity, inclusion and integration in learning settings. The MIC Teaching for Inclusion Seminar Series commences this month (September) and is free and open to the primary teaching community. The series will be delivered online meaning it will be available to teachers nationwide.

New research into the relationship between Irish adolescent students and religion suggests that religion has the potential to positively or negatively influence students’ mental wellbeing, depending on how it is used by the adolescent. The new findings come from Mary Immaculate College (MIC) Lecturer and Educational and Child Psychologist, Dr Lydia Mannion, who has conducted research with over a hundred students in Transition Year, Fifth Year and Leaving Certificate classes across ten post-primary schools in Ireland.

Newly published research by Mary Immaculate College (MIC) reveals a critical need for increased onsite multidisciplinary support in DEIS schools across Limerick City, where school staff are often left to make difficult decisions due to a lack of available services. The Oscailt Needs Analysis on Multidisciplinary Support in DEIS Schools in Limerick City report—launched on Monday, 16 June by Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion, Michael Moynihan TD— finds that children in DEIS Band 1 and post-primary schools are languishing for years on waiting lists for essential services, including mental health supports, because their families cannot afford to access them privately.

A new set of educational guidelines for learners with Williams syndrome (WS), a rare genetic condition that occurs randomly and affects roughly one in 20,000 people, has been developed by MIC lecturer Dr Fionnuala Tynan. My Own Williams Learning, co-written by Dr Fionnuala Tynan and Dr Jo Van Herwegen (University College London), is the product of a collaboration with learners with Williams syndrome and is supported and funded by the Williams Syndrome Foundation, based in the UK. The book is based on research from focus-group discussions and interviews with learners with WS aged 5 to 16 years, whose stories formed the basis for the educational guidelines.

A new study from Mary Immaculate College (MIC) has found that current classes of junior infants may not be faring as well as children born before the pandemic, according to their teachers. The research, ‘Infants of the Pandemic: Teacher Perspectives on the Early Development and School Readiness of Children Starting School in September 2024’, conducted by MIC academics, Dr Suzanne Egan and Dr Jennifer Pope, revealed that the 81% of teachers surveyed said they have more pupils now with emotional and behavioural issues compared to pre-pandemic times. The online survey was completed by 107 junior infant class teachers from around Ireland (teaching over 2,000 pupils overall) during December 2024. The survey aimed to find out if experiencing the pandemic during infancy might have influenced later development when starting school. The teachers were asked questions how their current class of junior infants (aged 4-6 years) were faring, and how they compared with previous classes they taught before the pandemic. These children spent the early months of their lives in the COVID-19 pandemic, with the resulting lockdowns and social restrictions.