Belfast Technical School opened its doors on 11 February 1884 by the Belfast Corporation on Hastings Street (now the site of Millfield Campus). It was chiefly funded by the
Worshipful Company of Drapers. The
Technical Instruction Act 1889 empowered the corporation to aid technical instruction out of the rates. However, there was still a shortfall and with the creation of the City Council of Belfast in 1898 and the
Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act 1899, the Belfast Technical School Committee was dissolved in November 1900 and responsibility was devolved upon the city council and the Department of Agricultural and Technical Instruction, thus plans began for a new technical college beside RBAI. Construction for Belfast Municipal Technical Institute began in 1902 and was officially opened in 1906. It was in a grand building in College Square East. College Square East survived the Belfast blitz with students often having to hide in its air-raid shelters during the
Second World War. College Square East was known colloquially as the 'Black Man
Tech'. The official name of the college was the Municipal Technical College however it was also known as 'The Tech' and the 'Black Man Tech'. It is often incorrectly perceived that the title ‘Black Man’ comes from the statue of
Dr Henry Cooke which currently stands outside the building. However, interestingly, the name 'Black Man' dates back further than Dr Cooke (leader of Belfast's Evangelical Presbyterians). The original statue on the site and the first public statue in Belfast, was erected in 1855 to commemorate Fredrick Richard, Earl of Belfast (his courtesy title as heir to the 3rd Marquis of Donegall). The statue was dark bronze and some say that it was later painted black due to weathering making it look rather mottled. Soon it was known as ‘THE BLACK MAN’ and became one of Belfast's best loved rendezvous spots and noted landmarks in the City. Twenty years later the statue was removed and replaced by that of Dr Henry Cooke. It was taken to the Town Hall Victoria Street and in 1906 removed to the City Hall where it still stands inside the building. It is very common to acquire an affectionate name and in Belfast the 'Black Man' would have been perceived as a place, not a person, where people met and not after the ‘green statue’ of Dr Cooke. Other specialist colleges were subsequently established in the city including Stanhope Street, Rupert Stanley, and the College of Business Studies in Brunswick Street. In the early 1990s, these colleges amalgamated as the
Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education which in turn merged with
Castlereagh College to form the current
Belfast Metropolitan College in 2007. In September 2011, Belfast Met opened a new £211 million campus in
Titanic Quarter. It was officially opened by
Princess Anne on 10 November 2011.
Michael D Higgins visited several months later. ==Campuses==