If location is everything, then NUI Galway has it all. Bounded by the river Corrib, with many buildings facing the water, the 160-acre campus is, in the words of its president, "one of the finest sites for any university in Ireland".

With the lowest dropout rate of any of the universities and entry-level points rising this year, the declining school-leaver quotient is not an imminent threat, according to college president Iognaid ╙ Muircheartaigh. The fit-looking president, known as Iggy to students and staff alike, has plans to take NUI Galway from being the finest site to the finest campus in Ireland.

A major building programme is needed, he says. There are 12,000 students buzzing around the campus, which is insufficiently provided for with buildings to cope with them. "There are huge space problems. We have plans for a new engineering building, a law school, a business school and a pre-clinical sciences building, among others.

"The student centre is totally inadequate. We need a new sports halls, a swimming pool (50 metre, he says with a wide smile) a rowing centre, and more facilities for general student activities." The provision of non-alcohol-centred student activities is something he admits to obsessing about. This is hardly surprising as there were six student suicides in the two years he was registrar, and alcohol was a factor in five of them, he says.

He sets an example by using the college gym three or four times a week. He also eats in the canteen and keeps in touch with students by teaching a first-year statistics course. "It would be possible to work hard in this job, 10 hours a day, and never see a student," he says.

Students' union president Pβdraig ╙ Duinn∅n says: "We're lucky in that we have a president who is willing and co-operates with us. He's a very student-focused person." ╙ Duinn∅n is an enthusiast about the college, saying the campus is a lovely place to study. He also identifies space as a problem but says the college is addressing this, with its five-year building programme.

There are more than 60 societies and 30 clubs in NUI Galway, so there's an active social life. However, accommodation is becoming a serious problem.

"Campus accommodation only provides 1,100 spaces. This year, we took in 2,800 first-years. The price of private rented accommodation has risen. This is the first year NUI Galway has really experienced the accommodation crises," according to the SU president.

╙ Duinn∅n would like the college to expand its health and psychological services. There are only two counsellors for 12,000 students, he says. The health centre has one full-time doctor, three part-time doctors, two full-time nurses, as well as part-time physiotherapist, sports injury therapist and psychiatrist.

On the academic side, the college has seven faculties, offering a wide range of courses in arts, Celtic studies, commerce, engineering, law, medicine and health sciences and science.

"Dia dhuit, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe," is the college's telephonic greeting, mirroring the special place Irish has in NUI Galway. In 1929, the college was given a statutory responsibility in respect of the use of the Irish language as a working language in the college. ╙ Muircheartaigh, a native Irish speaker, reckons he transacts about 20 per cent of his business through Irish. "No other college president does that," he says.

At present, the college offers a small number of courses, mainly in the arts faculty, through Irish. ┴ras na Gaeilge provides a focus for Irish on campus while the college has outreach centres in Carna and An Cheathr· Rua (both Gaeltacht areas), with the latter centre having been opened on November 1st. These centres provide programmes in information technology, college access, and Irish language.

The president's other major enthusiasm is research. Soon after his appointment he announced his dire to "enhance the university's standing in research and scholarship". His first year in office was a "settling-in year. My top priority now is raising funds from various sources - the State, the EU, private bodies - to fund research and other projects."

The college has an annual research income of £9 million and secured £25.5 million to date under the PRTLI. This will fund three new centres. The Biomedical Engineering Science Centre will use the combined expertise of engineers, medical graduates and scientists to research aspects of major human disorders such as cancer, heart disease, bone diseases, kidney disease and stroke.

The Environmental Change Institute will carry out research into biodiversity, climate change, marine environment, waste research, social and economic impact, human impact and modelling systems. The Centre for the Study of Human Settlement and Historical Change will be located within the faculty of arts. ╙ Muircheartaigh is confident the college will also fare well in the third round of PRTLI funding, to be announced shortly.

In September, this year, the school of information technology opened the doors to its new 4,100 square metre building. More than one-third of the space is allocated the research.

And, if ╙ Muircheartaigh's most exotic dream for the college comes through, it will be home to a concert hall, to be shared with Galway city.