Tuesday, February 19, 2008 : Official Opening of UCC's Postgraduate Research Library by Minister for Education & Science

UCC's new €25 million Postgraduate Research Library was officially opened on January 24th 2008 by the Minister for Education and Science, Ms Mary Hanafin.

The new building involved the construction of almost 6,000 square metres of additional space adjacent to the 12,000 square metre Boole Library. The refurbishment of the basement and ground floor of the existing library was also completed as part of the project.

Speaking at the opening, Minister Hanafin said: "This new state of the art library will enormously enrich the learning and research experience for the thousands of students who will study here on a daily basis. Providing modern facilities such as this, through funding of our research programme, is a very tangible demonstration of the Government's clear intention to enable our research community to compete and lead on the global stage".

The design and construction of the new five-storey building was overseen by UCC's Buildings & Estates Office and included local architects, Wilson Architecture in association with Boston based architects, Shepley Bulfinch (SBRA). Other team members included civil and structural engineers, Horgan Lynch, mechanical and electrical engineers, Arup, quantity surveyors, Davis Langdon PKS, fire safety engineers, Cantwell Keogh and acoustic engineering consultants AWN Consulting.

Pictured above (front row, left-right): John Fitzgerald (UCC), Michael Healy (Michael McNamaras), Minister Mary Hanafin, Dr Michael Murphy (UCC), Sandy Howe (SBRA-Wilsons), Mark Poland (UCC). Second row:Joe Carey, Niall McAuliffe (UCC), Seamus MacMahon (UCC), John Ring (UCC), Tim O'Riordan (UCC), John O'Sullivan (Arups). Back row: Charles McCarthy (McNamaras), Niall Fitzgerald (Horgan Lynch), Eoin Curham (McNamaras), Susan Brennan (SBRA Wilsons), Frank O'Mahoney (SBRA Wilsons), Peter Anthony (Hogran Lynch), John Burgess (VMRA), Billy Wilson (SBRA Wilsons)