ATU students are working with Donegal County Council on the concept of a modern visitor centre at the Old Courthouse in Letterkenny.
The ‘Discover Donegal Centre’ is part of a revival project at the former Courthouse, which will include a tourist/visitor attraction, an integrated Tourist Information Point, exhibitions, conferences, education, civic and cultural use, a café, and a retail/gift shop.
Donegal County Council recently welcomed the presentation of a graphic design pilot project by the second-year students from the Design & Creative Media Department at ATU Letterkenny, coordinated by Lecturer Mr. Joe Coll, which explored interpretative themes and styles for the proposed tourism centre concept at the Courthouse.
Over the last year, the Council has worked with Dr. Chris O’Malley, Vice President, Regional Development & Engagement, Eve-Anne McCarron, ATU’s External Engagement Manager, Dr. Lorna Ross, Head of Department for Design and Creative Media and the wider ATU team to explore opportunities in how ATU can become more active partners in emerging regeneration projects across the Council.
ATU’s 2nd year Graphic Design Students presenting Pilot Projects to the Letterkenny-Milford Elected Members on 13th May 2025 exploring concepts for the Revival of the Courthouse Project
Following the recent approval of a Part 8 Planning Consent by Council Members on 26th May, the Regeneration & Development Team submitted a funding application to the Northern & Western Regional Assembly on 30th May.
The outcome of this competitive funding bid is likely to be announced in September 2025. As part of this process, the Regeneration Team tapped into the academic modules of the students in the Design & Creative Media School, to explore illustrative and interpretative ideas for the Discover Donegal Centre concept, where they developed digital themes and presented these to the Elected Members for the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District.
Whilst this regeneration project will require further stages of detailed design and interpretive planning through the appointment of a multi-disciplinary consultancy team, the student’s creative contributions illustrated how ATU could contribute towards the exploration of interpretation and design mediums and how they could digitally showcase the rich cultural heritage of Donegal in this significant regeneration project and enable their students to showcase their work.
The collaborative approach has been spearheaded by the Elected Members of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District.
Cllr. Gerry McMonagle, Mayor of Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District said, ‘This partnership approach with ATU Letterkenny is a fantastic example of how local government and education can work together to inspire creative solutions for regeneration and tourism projects. The students’ work brought a dynamic and forward-thinking approach to the storytelling of the Discover Donegal Centre, and we’re excited to see these ideas evolve as this project develops.”
In supporting the collaboration, Dr. Chris O’Malley, Vice President, Regional Development & Engagement at ATU said “We in ATU are delighted that work from our students has been helpful in providing ideas and assessments to help the planning for the new Discover Donegal Centre. In modern visitor centres, technology is playing an increasingly central role and the insights from this User Experience course can help with this critical dimension. As a stakeholder in the development of Donegal’s tourist industry, ATU is delighted to have its expertise in disciplines such as technology, design and tourism drawn on by the project team in helping achieve the best possible plan for the Centre. This is a win-win from our perspective, as our expertise can help developments in the region and contribute to projects such as this, and in tandem it keeps the knowledge of our staff and students sharp and fresh”.
Liam Ward, Director of Service for Community Development & Planning Services welcomed the workshops and presentations to date and noted that “… this pilot project presented by the design students illustrated the potential for real collaboration in the end-use experience for the Discover Donegal Centre.”
Mr. Ward went on to say that “… we will continue to work on this collaborative approach beyond this regeneration project, enabling future pilot projects with students in other Departments but also this collaborative relationship could also explore a partnership approach with ATU to target funding opportunities to support other developments across the county and within the region.”
The Old Courthouse, a protected structure built between 1828 and 1831, has been vacant since 2018.
The Revival of the Courthouse Project seeks to bring new meaning to an old building through the development of a tourism-led and community-based project. This exciting project has been funded in stages by the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF), a flagship initiative of Project Ireland 2040, and ‘THRIVE’ – a funding initiative aimed at revitalizing town centers by renovating and re-using publicly owned heritage buildings, funded by the Northern and Western Regional Assembly through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Northern and Western Regional Program 2021-2027.
The Regeneration Team is currently outlining the project’s next stage of development in conjunction with key community stakeholders and all updates shall be communicated through our Thrive Website www.bit.ly/4hsCO9i
