The National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA) was established as a University Institute at NUI Maynooth in January 2001. NIRSA was initially funded under Cycle 2 of the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI2) as part of the National Development Plan, 2000-2006. The Institute recently received further funding under Cycle 4 of that fund.

NIRSA's remit is to undertake fundamental, applied and comparative research on spatial processes and their effects on social and economic development in Ireland

The Institute, centred in NUI Maynooth, is a collaborative project between scholars from a number of social science disciplines, located in four partner institutions:

• NUI Maynooth
• Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick
• Institute of Technology, Sligo
• Queen's University, Belfast

• NIRSA website