There certainly used to be a gap between people's perceptions of private colleges and people's perceptions of traditional third-level colleges. Does that gap still exist?

It has all but disappeared.

Why do you say that?

You can see it in terms of how our graduates are judged by employers, and in how many of our students progress to postgraduate study. Graduates of Griffith College now has an equal, if not better, chance of progressing to postgraduate level, and this is particularly true in terms of professional examinations.

For example?

Our students do very well at the Law Society, at Kings Inns and in the field of accountancy. In fact, last year, eight out of nine Law Society Prizes went to Griffith College students.

Is this proof that the quality of teaching in private colleges (at least in Griffith College) is of a suitably high standard?

It has to be good. If you were selling ice cream on Dun Laoghaire pier, and the guy beside you was giving it away for free, your ice cream has to be better if you are to survive. This is not to trivialise third level education to the status of ice cream, but the point remains . . . the quality of our teaching has to be right, otherwise people wouldn't come.

But isn't it more difficult for private colleges to attract quality lecturers?

15 years ago, we just provided lectures for people preparing for professional exams. Now we are providing Masters programmes. We made our reputation in accountancy, then in law, now in design, etc. We have tried to replicate our standards across a number of different areas, and this has led to our growth, which has, in turn, led to a greater profile. We now have a greater standing in the academic world, which has allowed us to attract a better quality in lecturer.

Of course, the third-level experience is about more than lectures. . .We have significantly improved our overall offering. We have student accommodation on-site, we have a whole range of student supports and we have social and sporting societies. In fact, we are now providing much better quality in terms of overall services than we were 18 years ago.

In the past, private third-level education might have been seen as something of a safety net for those who didn't get into their preferred courses in university. Can Griffith College reach a level where it is on an equal footing in the CAO with traditional third-level institutions?

I would hope that people already put Griffith College on their CAO forms as their first preference.People choose us because of the reputation which we have built up over the years.

Obviously Griffith College has been a success. But can this success be replicated across the private education sector?

It is less easy for start-ups now, but it is potentially a huge growth sector, and not just in Ireland - for example, six months ago, Griffith College began training all of KPMG's students in Russia. I believe that there is huge potential for Irish education.