President Mary McAleese opened the new Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) Medical University of Bahrain campus today.
The President is on a five-day official visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
The new campus will provide healthcare education and training to world class standards for students from Bahrain and the Gulf region. It will also provide undergraduate courses in medicine, nursing and midwifery as well as postgraduate courses in nursing, healthcare ethics and law.
Speaking at the opening, Mrs McAleese said it marked an important milestone in the 30-year relationship between Ireland's Royal College of Surgeons and the government of Bahrain.
"The RCSI has an outstanding global reputation which has created demand for its services far from Ireland's shores. Not only has it moulded great medical graduates, it has also created a body of ambassadors both for the Royal College and for Ireland, putting us on the map as a global leader in the delivery of healthcare education," she said.
The campus currently has 540 full and part-time students drawn from 30 different countries across the globe. In 2004, the university was launched by former taoiseach Bertie Ahern and prime minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa at a temporary premises in Bahrain with just 27 students.