The new £3m Academy of Irish Cultural Heritages to be created by University of Ulster will be the first Irish cultural research centre of its kind in the world.

The Academy brings together the University's scholarship and research expertise in History, Celtic Studies and English, and will add an exciting new dimension to the study of Ireland's rich and diverse cultural heritages across these disciplines.

The Academy, headquartered at Magee College, and with an important presence at Coleraine and Jordanstown, will provide a dedicated, research-focused environment which will enable the University of Ulster to help transform the way in which heritage and tradition are perceived in Ireland and further afield.

This unprecedented investment will provide 11 new academic appointments, including three new professorships and four new lecturers. There will also be four research officers and one support post. The majority of these staff will be based at the University's Magee College campus, representing a significant boost to the University's presence in the north-west.

The critical mass of research and scholarship of the Academy will considerably enhance the University's reputation worldwide and will attract world-class visiting scholars to the University.

Recruitment of the new academics will begin in January 2001.

The Academy will also attract a high number of postgraduate research students each year, as well as forty students on taught postgraduate courses.

Professor Bob Welch, Dean of the University's Faculty of Arts said:

"The Academy will become a laboratory for the interrogation of identity and enhancement of diversity. It will also address the economic ramifications of cultural heritage.

"There is an ongoing debate over exactly what is Irish culture and heritage, particularly our understanding in the light of political and economic developments on this island. The reality is that there are a number of views - people have different allegiances and different ideas of places, and language. Too often our cultural heritages are described simplistically as nationalist and unionist, or gaelic and anglo. The situation is more complex than this, covering language, history, literature, folklore.

"Ireland has traditionally had a certain image worldwide. However, there is a need to understand what that image is. Our cultural heritages have an impact on our economy through the way we address issues such as cultural tourism, urban and rural development, agriculture and traditional industries. The new Academy will examine relationships with Britain, and between Ulster and North America. The role of the Irish Diaspora world-wide is much commented upon, and the new Academy will bring the different threads of interrelated research and teaching together. This has never been done on this scale before.

"Cultural heritages are important elements in the regeneration of the Irish economy at all levels. They are central to way Ireland is viewed and promoted abroad, as well as to regional development at home. Understanding them is also important in helping to maintain tourism in rural areas where traditional industries are declining."

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