New joint BA (Hons) in Business and Irish from ATU and St. Angela’s to meet demand of Official Languages Bill

Friday, April 28, 2023 Press Office
Press Releases
Business and Irish.PNG

Atlantic Technological University and St. Angela’s College have developed a new joint CAO programme in Business and Irish, which will be offered for September 2023. The programme responds to the recent Official Languages Bill amendment which requires 20% of public sector employees be proficient in the Irish language by 2030.

The new programme was officially launched at ATU Sligo campus on Wednesday, 26 April. This three-year honours degree programme focuses on both traditional as well as innovative module content in the areas of business and Irish and will equip graduates to pursue a range of career opportunities from arts and culture, public sector organisations, ICT, financial services, and marketing.



For those interested in post-primary teaching careers, BA graduates can also progress to a Professional Master of Education (PME) as the degree has been aligned with the requirements for the Teaching Council of Ireland. There are also a variety of roles in communication and media, where the Irish language is core.



Speaking at the programme launch, Dr Valerie McTaggart, Head of Department of Social Sciences, ATU Sligo describes the degree “This exciting new joint-BA is a wonderful example of our teams working together from both ATU campuses here in Sligo, combining our individual strengths but as one unified awarding body”. Dr McTaggart continues “The first of its kind, this programme will allow students to experience both campuses, covering business at ATU Sligo and Irish at St. Angela’s”.



Dr Fiona Crowe, Head of School of Education, St. Angela’s College describes the welcome addition of the programme “students now have another university opportunity to focus on key subjects that not only complement one another but offer exciting employment opportunities on graduation - we eagerly look forward to our first group of students this September”.



In addition, both ATU and St. Angela’s are proudly sponsoring student scholarships to the Gaeltacht through Feis Shligigh 2023.



Applications for the BA (Hons) in Business and Irish are open through the CAO change of mind facility (5 May-1 July) using the code AU906.