Economic Development \ Statistics \ Education

Schools

State Education is available free to all children between the ages of 5 and 16.

Foreign Languages

Thirty one percent of Newry and Mourne population state they have knowledge of a foreign language. French is the most popular foreign language with twenty-three percent having some knowledge, although only one percent claim to be fluent.

Newry & Kilkeel Institute of Further and Higher Education

Newry and Kilkeel College of Further and Higher Education serves an immediate area in excess of 80,000. However the College attracts students from all parts of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and increasingly from overseas, as a result of the range and quality of education and training opportunities provided in surroundings and with facilities which equal or surpass the best European standards.

The courses and learning facilities available are continuously updated to enable the College to meet its stated aim of "providing quality education and training" in a flexible manner to suit the needs of all its customers and students. Classes and learning opportunities are offered on full-time, part-time day and day-release and evening bases and these can extend for two years or for only one day or one evening per week depending on the nature of the programme.

Rooney Fellowship

Newry & Kilkeel Institute of Further and Higher Education is the first Further Education Institute in Northern Ireland to forge a unique relationship with the Universities of Duquesne and Pittsburgh in the United States of America. The Rooney Fellowship (S250k endowment) is sponsored by the American Ireland Fund which enables a student following a Higher Education Course in Business and Management at Newry and Kilkeel Institute to study at these prestigious Pittsburgh Universities.

The Fellowship emerged from the growing links between Newry and Pittsburgh which have been fostered in recent years by the Newry/Pittsburgh Partnership co-directed by Mr Seamus Mallon MP and Mr Dan Rooney President of the Pittsburgh Steelers Sport Inc whose family originated from Newry. The Rooney Fellowship is co-ordinated by Enterprise Newry Ltd and The Ireland Institute of Pittsburgh.

The Fellowship is an excellent example of the successful integration of education/training with business and successful partnership between Ireland and America.

Technology Capability

Considerable local technological expertise is based in the Newry area. In addition to quality graduates and Information Technology students and trainees, pharmaceutical manufacturer Norbrook Laboratories has its own research station based at Ballyedmond Castle where field studies are carried out. Norbrook provides a total service which can research, develop and register a product for both contract customers and Norbrook's own product range.

An IT partnership is currently being developed with Ennis, the Information Age Town in the Republic of Ireland.

Universities

There are approximately 26,000 undergraduates at Northern Ireland's two Universities, The Queen's University of Belfast and Ulster University. Both these universities have an international reputation in the fields of science and engineering, with companies such as Yamaha, ICL and Dupont involved in research projects.