TWICE THE SIZE - DIT Update - Dublin Institute of Technology

egion, facilitated by the REPS Organic Grant Aid scheme. This was followed by what was hailed
as the one of the boldest ecological regeneration programmes ever to hit Ireland: the mass
planting of forests in the north-West. Once renowned for having the least amount of native
woods in the EU, by 2027 almost 15% of Irish land was now covered by privately managed
woodlands.
By 2030 Sligo is renowned as a European leader in eco tourism. The integration of county and
city has established strong cultural centres relative to the heritage strength in each area. Sligo
boasts a superior quality of living compared to the East, connections to the sea, rivers, and
lakes, and a highly developed educational system generating research and development, SME
and major indigenous industry opportunities. The future of Sligo is to be built on a well
developed knowledge-based bio-economy, with foundations in the comparative advantage of
Ireland’s natural resources. The redevelopment of Sligo hospital and the opening of a centre of
medical excellence for the North West Region, specialising in breast cancer, has earned Sligo its
title as ‘healthy, wealthy and wise’. While Sligo’s dark days of emigration, high unemployment
and general economic depression have not long passed, Sligo today is a cultural gateway, a
region of relaxation and recreation. Quality of life is the ‘quintessential crusade’. As WB Yeats
was compelled to write ‘It is a land of hearts desire’.
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