the Institute during the Irish War of Independence in 1921 and considerable damage was caused to the building and its contents. Limerick MTI eventually re-opened in October 1923 and such was the impact of the closure that it was effectively a new start-up. The Vocational Education Committee was established in July 1930 and took over the running of the MTI, with its main focus on providing full-time education to students between the ages of fourteen and sixteen. This continued in much the same format until 1967, when the Limerick VEC was suspended for three years over irregularities in appointing staff. The School of Art had relocated to the former County Infirmary and Nurses' Home in Mulgrave Street in 1962, now Limerick College of Further Education. Limerick missed out on a new technical college in 1966 with the establishment of the Regional Technical Colleges, as the Department of Education decided to establish a National Institute for Higher Education instead (later to become the University of Limerick). The reconvened Limerick City VEC planned to build Limerick Technical College and acquired land at Moylish Park to do this. The college was opened in 1975 and has since developed into the main campus of Limerick Institute of Technology. The School of Art continued to grow at its Mulgrave Street location and by the mid 1970s, the lack of space was becoming a concern. In 1980, the school took shape as what is now the Limerick School of Art and Design under the reconstituted LTC, which had become the College of Art, Commerce and Technology (CoACT), and this coincided with a move to a VEC property on George’s Quay, formerly St. Anne’s Vocational School, which had been opened in 1939 but vacated in 1978. However, the move to George’s Quay proved to be a short-term solution as the school quickly outgrew this site also. CoACT rented rooms in Bruce House on Rutland Street and in the Granary on Michael Street to accommodate the extra courses and students but this quickly got out of control with the school renting a further five properties during this period. When CoACT finally achieved RTC status in 1992, work began on finding a suitable location for the school. The Good Shepherd Convent on Clare Street was purchased from the Good Shepherd Sisters in October 1994 and some emergency refurbishment allowed occupancy as early as January 1995. Further refurbishment and development