Ninth Level Ireland

“We would like to thank the Chair, Senator Neale Richmond, and the Committee members for inviting the Irish Universities Association to address the Committee. We would like to start by highlighting the importance of higher education and research to the Irish economy and the role it plays in protecting Ireland from global crises before discussing Brexit specifically in terms of higher education and research …” (more)

[IUA, 9 October]

“Pressure on the Government to boost third-level funding has ramped up after former UCD Professor Hugh Brady, now head of a leading UK university, warned how Ireland’s higher education sector was lagging behind. Prof Brady didn’t hold back as he warned ‘the state of Ireland’s higher education and research system should be viewed as a national crisis’ …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 5 October]

“Jim Miley Director General of the Irish Universities Association today responded to comments made by Hugh Brady, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, at the British Irish Chamber event this morning, Jim Miley said …” (more)

[IUA, 4 October]

“Thank you for the invitation to address you this morning: I had the honour of taking up the role as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol in 2015. For those of you not familiar with the UK system, most universities are run by a Vice-Chancellor who is both the Chief Academic Officer and Chief Executive …” (more)

[IUA, 4 October]

“Former UCD President Professor Hugh Brady, now head of a leading UK university, has delivered a hard-hitting rebuke to the Irish Government over its failure to tackle the funding issue in higher education. Prof Brady said the ‘ducking and diving has got to stop’ and action was needed ‘fast’ to make up the ground lost to higher education since the economic crash and to prepare for the Brexit aftermath …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 4 October]

“The former president of University College Dublin has called for immediate action to address a ‘national crisis’ ahead of Brexit. Now the Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Bristol, Hugh Brady spoke at the British Irish Chamber of Commerce earlier today, insisting that the ‘state of Ireland’s higher education and research system should be viewed as a national crisis’ …” (more)

[Rebecca Stiffe, Irish Examiner, 4 October]

“The most common query Ireland’s Higher Education Authority is receiving in relation to Brexit comes from school students who hope to study in the UK after their Leaving Certificate exams. These students want to know will this still be possible …” (more)

[Emma O Kelly, RTÉ News, 1 October]

“A repeated theme of mainstream media reporting on university rankings (nearly always QS or THE) is that Brexit has inflicted, is inflicting, or is surely going to inflict great damage on British education and the universities because they will not get any research grants from the European Union or be able to network with their continental peers …” (more)

[University Ranking Watch, 14 September]

“Sir, – I read the report by Carl O’Brien on the 2020 QS World University Rankings with interest. I note particularly that institutes of technology are performing very well (‘Irish universities stay outside top 100 in world rankings’, News, June 19th) …” (more)

[Letters, Irish Times, 20 June]

“European Union (EU) students starting university in Northern Ireland in 2020 will pay the same tuition fees as local students. The Department for the Economy (DE) confirmed they will be guaranteed ‘home fee’ during their courses. It follows similar announcements in England and Scotland …” (more)

[Robbie Meredith, BBC News NI, 8 June]

“Students ‘priced out’ of EU universities by higher fees after Brexit should stay in Britain and enjoy higher-quality courses, Theresa May says. The prime minister dismissed a protest that only rich children will be able to afford to study abroad in future by insisting no EU country could match the standards on offer at home …” (more)

[Rob Merrick, Independent, 1 May]

“Applications to Trinity from Northern Ireland have dropped by around 20% this year as a result of uncertainty surrounding Brexit, according to Provost Patrick Prendergast. This drop is on top of a 20% decrease in applications from Northern Irish students last year …” (more)

[Emer Moreau, University Times, 30 April]

“Sinn Féin MLA Caoimhe Archibald has expressed deep concern at reports that the British Government intends to remove home status fees for EU students to study in Britain from 2021. The party’s further and higher education spokesperson said …” (more)

[Sinn Féin, 30 April]

“The European Union ‘will never accept’ a move by Theresa May to raise tuition fees for EU students after Brexit, the European Parliament’s Brexit chief has said. Guy Verhofstadt said he would write to the prime minister following reports that EU students would be charged full international fees, instead of benefiting from the same rates as UK students as now …” (more)

[Jon Stone, Independent, 29 April]

“Charging EU citizens full international student fees to study in England risks ‘pulling up the drawbridge’ after Brexit, higher education leaders and opposition parties have warned, calling on the government to clarify its policy …” (more)

[Richard Adams, Guardian, 28 April]

“Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to ensure that Irish students domiciled in Northern Ireland will have access to Erasmus programmes here and elsewhere after 2021; if Irish students can study in the UK after 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 26 March]

“Staff at Queen’s University in Belfast are to be paid their salaries three days early this month due to ‘ongoing uncertainty relating to Brexit’. QUB staff are usually paid on the final working day of every month. However, because of fears about the potential impact of the UK leaving the EU without a deal, this month’s payment date was brought forward to Wednesday, 27 March …” (more)

[Laura McDaid, BBC News, 24 March]

“It was perhaps unclear, on June 23rd, 2016, just how destabilising Britain’s Brexit vote would be to the European economy as a whole. Ireland, as the UK’s nearest neighbour and one of its closest trading partners, is particularly exposed to these destabilising forces. It quickly became clear that myriad sectors of the Irish economy would come under significant strain, especially in the event of a no-deal Brexit …” (more)

[Matthew Murphy, University Times, 20 March]

“For Alice Watkins, a Manchester University student, a year in Paris, then Madrid, as part of her degree was a dream. Now, with the turmoil of Brexit, she is preparing to arrive in France this summer with nowhere to live and no idea whether the money will still be there to support her …” (more)

[Anna Fazackerley, Guardian, 19 March]

“Academics could lose hundreds of millions of pounds in European Union (EU) research funding if the UK crashes out of the bloc without a deal, Universities UK (UUK) has said. Those who applied for the latest round of grants from the European Research Council (ERC) will find out if they were successful on 8 April …” (more)

[Zamira Rahim, Independent, 19 March]