Why choose to study at the Technological University of the Shannon? TUS is Ireland's newest Technological University with campuses in Athlone, Limerick, Clonmel, Ennis, and Thurles. TUS is one of the fastest-growing colleges in Ireland, offering an inclusive student experience, a supportive community, & an accessible approach to education. IT is an open, diverse, and contemporary Higher Education Institution (HEI).The university was the result of a merger between two institutes of technology; the Athlone Institute of Technology and the Limerick Institute of Technology. The AIT-LIT Consortium had been formed due to the passing of the Technological Universities Bill, which required at least two institutes to apply together for university status.

The university officially opened on 1 October 2021 to serve both the midlands and the mid-west regions of the country. It currently has six campuses situated in four counties and three provinces within Ireland. They are located in Limerick, Athlone, Thurles, Clonmel, and Ennis.

In 2018, the Athlone IT investigated the possibility of becoming a university in its own right. However, the Technological Universities Bill passed by the Oireachtas earlier that year ruled out that possibility as it declared that two or more institutes must apply together for university status.

A consortium between the Athlone IT and the Limerick IT (ALTU) was formedand announced in October 2019, with the intention of forming a technological university for the mid-west and midlands regions, centered on the River Shannon, with Athlone and Limerick both sitting on it. The objective was to establish a new technical university for central and midwestern Ireland / Technological University of Central & Midwestern Ireland, with a targeted opening date of 1 September 2021.

On 23 November 2020, the AIT-LIT Consortium announced that the joint Limerick-Athlone IT application for technological university (TU) status had been submitted for approval.

The government approval was officially announced by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris in May 2021, making it the third technological university to be established within the Republic of Ireland