Published on: Sunday, 27 June 2010

Catherine Murphy, Ann Geraghty, Collette O'Connor and Deirdre Donovan, with Dr Angela Wright, Damien Courtney, John Meyler and Ger O'Donovan; at Fota Wildlife Park to celebrate the CIT MBS Taught Master's Programme's visitor experience research.

Two of Cork’s most prestigious institutions have come together to enhance the visitor experience at one of Ireland’s most popular tourist and leisure attractions. The research was carried out on all aspects of Fota Wildlife Park and the findings, which have already been presented to the Board of Governors at Fota Wildlife Park, are being regarded as extremely valuable in the on-going development of this superb amenity which is currently undergoing a €4 million re-structuring of its entrance plaza and educational centre, with several new exhibits being prepared including an exciting Macaque experience. Paul Mahony, Head, Department of Continuing Education, CIT, states “The research at Fota Wildlife Park was an enriching challenge which will pay dividends for both management and visitor alike”.

This extensive research is only one of a whole range of research projects being conducted each year as part of the Masters Programme at the Department of Continuing Education at CIT. Dr Angela Wright, research supervisor, states that the contribution of such comprehensive research is the life blood of current market activity and should not be under estimated, providing local industries and interest groups as diverse as the GAA and the Hotel industry with valuable research material from some of the best young marketing brains in the country, many of whom have returned to education while holding down top-level positions in a wide variety of commercial enterprises. All of this research has been made available to the public since the inception of this successful taught Masters Programme three years ago and has been attracting attention at conferences throughout the world, in Government Departments, and some research has already been published in book form by leading publishing houses. Paul Mahony, says he is quietly proud of the amount and quality of the research being produced and he is especially conscious of the need for educational institutions like CIT to actively engage with Ireland’s business communities, particularly in the difficult trading conditions at present times. “While being academic and intellectually skilled and challenging, our taught Masters Programme aims to be practical and extremely ‘real’ – we relish opportunities where the theory is tested so that we can refine the science of education to meet the needs of the day.”