The University of Limerick is in celebratory mood after securing the Republic's first graduate medical school. Now, its new president, Prof Don Barry, wants to build on this success, reports Seán Flynn, Education Editor, from Limerick

Three months ago, an international assessment panel made a decision which was to have a profound impact right across the third-level sector. After weighing up the competing tenders, the panel opted to give the lion's share of new graduate places in medicine to the University of Limerick (UL), a university with no existing medical school.

For the new UL president, Prof Don Barry, the university's success in securing the medical school is "just the latest example of our proven capacity to respond to national and regional needs in a bold, innovative way".

But the decision provoked a furious response from the existing medical schools in Trinity, UCD, UCC and NUI Galway who had made a joint bid. In the run-up to the decision, the other universities scarcely imagined that UL could steal a march in this way. They assumed, in the nature of things, that the apple would fall into their lap.

It did not work out that way for two reasons. Firstly, the international panel tapped into the view in some government and education circles that medical education needed a good shake-up.

Secondly, the panel was hugely impressed by the UL submission, driven by Prof Paul Finucane, Don Barry and former president John O'Connor. Finucane, the head of medicine, is a genial and unpretentious character. He reportedly electrified the assessment panel with his energy and his enthusiasm. It helped that he had an outstanding track record; he played a key role in the establishment of Australia's first graduate entry programme in 1995.

Finucane relishes his task in building the first new medical school in the State for some 150 years.

"It has been desperately difficult to provide some real innovation in medical education in Ireland," he says. "The fact that we do not have an existing medical school is a huge advantage in many respects; it means we can configure a modern medical school to modern needs. And, just as important, we can recruit people who are comfortable with our new approach to medical education."

This new approach will see a new stress on problem-based learning, mostly in small tutorial groups, during the new four-year course. It will also see early exposure to the work of the general practitioner.Students will work alongside 60 general practitioners across the region. From year three, they will also be working in a network of 10 hospitals, six in the mid-west, two in the south-east and two in the midlands.

Finucane also plans to give a new priority to communications skills, the need for doctors to communicate effectively and sensitively with those in their care. Poor communication skills are a major problem across the profession, he acknowledges.

UL is now in the process of building the new medical school in a spectacular setting on the Clare side of the campus. In September, the first group of 30 postgraduate students will arrive. Within three years, there will be 120 students taking medicine at UL.

Finucane has few fears about UL's capacity to deliver and points to its success in establishing new courses in nursing, midwifery, occupational therapy and physiotherapy in the past seven years.

"The Minister was right to describe the decision on the medical school as a historic day for UL. But this is just the beginning of a process. This university will keep growing and improving."

This is a theme which resurfaces in conversation with Barry, who took office earlier this month.

"When I came here from UCC in 1997, I couldn't believe the huge sense of community here at UL," says Barry. "At that time, we were the new kid on the block. But to this day, people here have a great pride in what has been achieved and there is a great sense of ownership among staff and students. My plan is to build on this during the next 10 years."

There is already much to admire about UL, not least its spectacular setting on a 324-acre site on the Shannon. The US philanthropist Chuck Feeney donated €100 million to the college in the past decade and the fruits of this investment are clear in the shiny new buildings all across the campus. With the obvious exception of Trinity, there is no college in Ireland which can match UL's setting. And none can match its range of facilities for students. The sports facilities include a 50-metre pool, used by a posse of Olympic gold medal winners, and outstanding coaching facilities.

UL hopes to build on this success this week when leading sports physical therapist Gerard Hartmann - who works with Paula Radcliffe and a host of other top international athletes - opens a clinic on the campus.

Despite all of this, there is a palpable sense of frustration around UL that the college does not always get the wider recognition it deserves. Negative publicity about Limerick does not help. Three years ago - in the run-up to the CAO deadline - the former president, Roger Downer, went on RTE's Six One News at a time when gang warfare in the city was front page news. His message: ignore this negative stuff and focus on the quality of education and the student experience at UL.

Don Barry acknowledges how "negative publicity for Limerick can have a negative impact on the perception of UL". UL still struggles, for example, to attract many students from the greater Dublin region. Its student cohort is largely drawn from the mid-west and the midlands. Barry says there is no sensible reason for this: "If they see UL, they will will want to study here."

Aged 49, Barry, formerly held the positions of chair of statistics, vice-president and registrar at UL. A modest, self-effacing figure, he has also spent two semesters as a visiting professor at Yale university. In an era where university presidents increasingly operate as CEOs , Barry sees himself as a chief executive but also the key driver of educational standards and the educational experience in the college. He talks repeatedly about the need to give priority to the student and the student experience. Too often, he says, the successful academic is seen as the one who moves away from the student into research. "Yes, research is key. But we also need to return to a situation as in Yale where the best academics, the best teachers want to lecture first-year students," he says.

Barry has three main priorities for his presidency. He wants UL to offer an outstanding student experience. He wants to establish the college as a world class research centre in key areas, doubling the number of PhD students in the process. And he wants the university to make a significant contribution to regional and national priorities.

The regional priority is clear in the new Shannon Consortium, where UL is co-operating with other third-level colleges in the region: Mary Immaculate teacher training college, Limerick IT and Tralee IT. The plan is to work collaboratively on a range of measures which will, among other things, help widen third-level access and increase the level of postgraduate activity in the region.

Barry could hardly have come to the job at a better time, when UL is buoyed by its success in securing the medical school.

"We have much of which we can be proud. Outstanding teaching, learning and research, a great student experience, world-class sports facilities and one of the most beautiful settings for any campus in Europe. Now, we have to do better in getting wider national and international recognition."

University of Limerick: star attractions

Location:

Three miles from the city on a stunning 324-acre site, with a bridge link to Clare under construction.US billionaire Chuck Feeney donated €100 million to the university - and it shows.

The new medical school: The first 30 places will be allocated shortly for September, but you will need a 2:1 degree or better and first-year university standard in science subjects. Students undergo an aptitude test in March. The plan is for them to mix with the regular student body and not to be "cut off". All students, for example, will share the same library facilities.

Student facilities:

More than 2,000 students live on campus in five student villages with their own pizzerias and bars - so the college never feels overcrowded. There are 11,000 students in total.

High academic standards:

UL has a strong reputation in key areas including bio-sciences, material and surface sciences, software engineering and humanities.

Sports facilities:

UL has the best sporting infrastructure of any college in the State, including a 50-metre pool and several high-performance gyms, used by the Munster rugby team and other elite athletes.