For example, unless you come from the northeast of the country, it is unlikely that Dundalk Institute of Technology will be first on your list by virtue of the location itself. But even a quick look at what is on offer at DKIT could be enough to persuade many prospective third level students that Dundalk could be their home for the duration of their college careers - after all, how many colleges in Ireland (indeed, in the world) have their own windmill?

The academic offering at Dundalk has been growing and developing in tandem with the campus itself, creating a truly leading-edge Institute for its students and faculty. For example, DKIT is now home to more than 4,000 full-time students, with a further 1,900 students completing apprenticeships and lifelong learning programmes.

But no institution should be judged on numbers alone - it is the quality of the educational programmes that are on offer that should dictate a person's choice.

To this end, people can now choose from a wide range of new degree programmes, including Music Technology, Social Care, Community Sports Leadership, Creative Media, Nursing and Health Studies - quite apart from the traditional courses that have been on offer for years, in areas ranging from humanities and business to engineering, computing and sciences.

Throughout its relatively short history as a fullyfledged third-level institute, DKIT has always shown an ability to innovate and to create. For example, the Dr TK Whitaker Building, incorporating a state-of-theart library and information resource centre, now provides an ever-expanding range of learning resources and supports to the Institute's student body. Similarly, The Pádraig Faulkner Building offers a wide range of student services, including a gymnasium, sports hall, shop, health centre, counselling services and chaplaincy. And to cater for its growing status as a leading provider of nursing and midwifery studies, a stateof-the-art Nursing and Health Studies building has opened and comes equipped with high-tech simulated hospital wards, an interactive accident and emergency unit and a unique sensory garden.

However, it is looking slightly towards the future, in the area of post-graduate studies, that the real innovation at Dundalk becomes obvious - and no more so that through CREDIT, the Centre for Renewable Energy as Dundalk IT.

Established in June 2002, the mission at CREDIT is to assist with Ireland's transition to a renewable energy-based economy through research and academic programming. In August 2005, DKIT installed the world's first large commercial turbine to be located on a college campus, which will be used in the MSc in Renewable Energy programme.

But, in addition to acting as a learning aid, the windmill will also generate half of Dundalk IT's electricity needs.

But will attract many people to DKIT is the quality of life at the college. Only 40 minutes from Dublin Airport and one hour from Belfast, and with direct routes by bus and train to most towns across the North, East and Midlands, travel to DKIT has never been easier. New purposebuilt student apartments have just opened on campus in the college's new Student Village, and the town of Dundalk itself continues to develop apace. Indeed, life at DKIT is just what people should expect from a forward thinking Institute situated in a growing college town.