The University of Galway has spent €480,000 on its rebranding over a two year period with an expected additional outlay this year.
That is according to the 2022 annual report for the university which shows that the third level institution recorded a surplus of €1.36 million for the 12 months to the end of September last.
In her report, College Bursar, Sharon Bailey records that on September 1, the university changed its trading name to the University of Galway.
"This was the result of a major university wide project involving expert lead market analysis and extensive stakeholder engagement."
Ms Bailey said that the costs of re-branding in 2021/22 were €362,000 and this followed a spend of €118,000 in 2021/20.
"Further costs are also expected to be incurred during the 2022/23 financial year."
In a 'commendable performance', the university recorded the surplus after revenues increased by 2.6% from €350.7m to €360 million with academic fees making up the largest proportion at €132.9 million followed by research grants and contracts at €72.36 million with €65.02 million received in state grants.
In her report, Ms Bailey documents the impact a cyber incident had on the operation of the university in September 2021.
She said that the cyber incident "tested the resilience and agility of the university".
Ms Bailey stated that the cyber incident presented challenges in collecting academic fees while "research activity at the start of the year was significantly impacted by the cyber incident which resulted in delays in recruitment and procurement".
She said that "the positive and engaging response of the University to the challenges of the pandemic and the cyber incident have been remarkable and have contributed in no small way to the positive set of financial results and strong statement of financial position".
In a separate report attached to the accounts, University President, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh and Chairperson, Dr Máire Geoghegan-Quinn outline a suite of 10 measures completed or underway taken in response to the cyber incident.
The two state the measures involve 'enhanced perimeter defence systems' deployed to protect against external threats to internal systems.
The two also state that two security posts, Head of IT Security and IT Security Officer have been approved with recruitment close to completion for the Head of IT Security Post.
Separately, the two also document "a significant overpayment to one employee" in their statement on Internal Control.
The consolidated accounts also disclose that college income from student accommodation rebounded by 80% from €5.05 million to €9.07 million after the Covid impact of the prior year.
Numbers employed increased from 2,525 to 2,650 as the university staff costs increased from €182.61 million to €190.98 million.
Nine staff received salaries in excess of €200,000 and the number included the President whose salary totalled €209,104.
The spend on 'hospitality and catering' also rebounded last year as Covid restrictions eased rising from €214,000 to €669,000.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
