Sullivan Bluth Studios was also instrumental in setting up education programmes in Dublin to train new artists and animators. At the Ballyfermot Senior College an animation department was set up, modelled on the school of Art and Design at Sheridan College, Ontario, Canada. Many of Ballyfermot's graduates went on to work at Sullivan Bluth and the city's other animation studios. In 1989, around 75% of the 350 staff employed at the Dublin studio were Irish, and by late 1990, most of the original American crew had returned to the United States to be replaced by Irish artists and animators. Some senior staff at the studio became part-time instructors at the college. The success of the animation course at Ballyfermot spurred the creation of an animation programme at Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, focused more on experimental and arthouse techniques compared to Ballyfermot's traditional animation approach.
