Universities and ITs announce closures for Hurricane Ophelia

Hurricane Ophelia will have a major affect on the country tomorrow.

Already a major airline and Irish Ferries have announced they are cancelling all routes on Monday, and the National Emergency Coordination Group on Hurricane Ophelia has published a full list of "Key Public Safety & Information Messages." Meanwhile, all schools within the "red alert zone" have been told to stay closed on Monday. Third level education does not have a universal communication with their students within the region, so we have attempted to corral as much information on the individual outlets as we could, and their statements at the time of writing are as follows: NUIG are currently having a meeting regarding whether or not the college should remain open. Similarly, UCC will be making an announcement some time after 5pm on Sunday. We contacted the student union at Sligo IT, and no decision had yet been made. The GMIT stated that the following four campuses will be closed on Monday:

• GMIT Mayo campus
• GMIT Letterfrack campus
• GMIT Galway School of Design and Creative Arts (CCAM)
• GMIT Mountbellew campus

The main GMIT Galway campus on the Dublin Road is to remain open for now, but this decision is being kept under review. The University of Limerick made the following announcement on Twitter on Sunday:

The University of Limerick will be CLOSED tomorrow as a result of a red status storm warning

— UniversityofLimerick (@UL) October 15, 2017

Decision has now been taken to CLOSE UL tomorrow - no access for public - residents will be supported by security teams

— UniversityofLimerick (@UL) October 15, 2017

The Institute of Technology in Tralee also took to Twitter to make their announcement:

Please stay safe over the coming days. #ITTralee @MetEireann pic.twitter.com/E6ZLojX0Pi

— IT Tralee (@ittralee) October 14, 2017

Cork Institute Of Technology have also announced they will be closed on Monday.

CIT will be closed tomorrow Monday 16th October 2017 due to storm. More information: https://t.co/aadb3yDeYX

— CIT (@CIT_ie) October 15, 2017

We attempted to get in contact with the Letterkenny Institute Of Technology, the Waterford Institute of Technology, and the Institute of Technology in Carlow, but as of yet, we have no received any official word on whether or not they will close or remain open. More updates to follow.