The Academy for Children was created by University of Limerick's Access Office to enhance community engagement, to inspire future graduates and to widen the participation of underrepresented groups at third level.
Cork City Ballet is one of only two professional ballet companies in Ireland. It was formed in 1991 by Alan Foley to address the void left by the closure of the Cork-based Irish National Ballet in 1989 due to a lack of funding. Cork City Ballet presented its first public performance at the Everyman Palace Theatre on 27 March 1992 and continues to operate under the artistic directorship of Alan Foley, who also acted as the ballet’s principal male dancer until his retirement in that capacity in 2007.
Ranks Flour Mill was established in 1931 by Joseph Rank (1854-1943), founder of one of Britain's largest flour milling and bakery companies. It was a significant industrial driver in Limerick, providing employment for 500 permanent staff and up to 1000 seasonal workers. The company ceased operations in 1983, following severe financial losses caused by increasing competition from cheap flour imports and a decline in bread consumption.
Michael Meehan is a retired academic and former member of the ruling body of An Coimisiún.
Thomas G. (Tom) Nestor was born in 1936 in Coolcappa, Rathkeale, County Limerick as a farmer’s son and one of ten children. He was educated in St Flannan’s College, Ennis, in 1950-1954, and began his working career in 1955, first with Shannon Sales and Catering Service, and then with an American company in Ennis, where he lived from 1981 to 1990. Nestor later became self-employed and ran a training and consultancy programme for middle managers until his retirement in 2004. He married in 1964 and settled in Birr, County Offaly.
Nestor began his writing career in 1964 with two articles about rural Ireland, which were published in the Manchester Guardian. These were followed by Twilight in Suburbia, written for Donacha O’Dulaing for his radio programme A Munster Journal. The work was however rejected. His published works include three radio plays broadcast by BBC and RTÉ, some thirty short stories published in Scotland, USA and Australia, and three novels: The Keeper of Absalom’s Island (1999), The Blue Pool (2002) and Talking to Kate (2009). From 1964 to 1998 Nestor also contributed to The Limerick Leader with his column My Life and Times.
Thomas Nestor died on 22 December 2023 at the age of 87.