'Meaningful opportunities': Milestone celebration for long-running educational programme in Limerick
Community partnership has helped broaden horizons for local students
THE Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) has marked 20 years of the Go4IT! educational initiative, a programme credited with transforming access to higher education opportunities for young people across Limerick.
The Go4IT! programme is a six-year educational programme in Limerick, established in 2006 to support young people from 6th class through 6th year in reaching their full academic potential.
The event brought together two decades of past programme participants, families, and community partners to honour an initiative that has redefined educational access in the Mid-West.
Delivered in partnership with the Northside Family Resource Centre and local schools—including Corpus Christi Primary, Thomond Primary, and Thomond Community College—the programme has provided 1,463 student-years of engagement to date.
Sinéad Toomey, Principal at Thomond Primary School, said: “As a DEIS Plus school, we are proud to work in partnership with the Go4IT! programme and TUS to create meaningful opportunities for our pupils. This partnership helps our children to believe in themselves, broaden their horizons, and see that further and higher education can be part of their future.
Luke Hogan, a former Go4IT participant who graduated from the initiative in 2017 later earned his degree in Law and Taxation from TUS in 2021. A former pupil of Thomond Community College, Luke successfully completed his professional exams with the Irish Tax Institute to qualify as a tax advisor in July 2024.
Speaking about the impact of the programme, Luke shared: “I was selected to partake in the Go4IT! programme back in 6th class in 2011, the programme has since played a significant role in helping me to recognise and reach my potential all the way up to 6th year as I prepared for progression to third-level education.
“Through a variety of activities such as college taster sessions, study skills workshops, creative projects such as producing a short film and participating in radio sessions, I gained a clearer understanding of my future academic goals and the fantastic opportunities available to me. These experiences made the idea of higher education more accessible and achievable.”