Ninth Level Ireland

“Greater cross-border collaboration on higher education will be fundamental to ‘peace and prosperity’ in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, academics say. A taskforce set up by a pan-Irish learned society, the Royal Irish Academy, calls on the Irish government and the Northern Ireland executive to use closer ties on research and education as a way of overcoming historic political and regional challenges, as well as the problems caused by Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic …” (more)

[Anna McKie, Inside Higher Ed, 24 November]

“Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if students from universities in Northern Ireland were able to register for Erasmus for the winter semester of the 2021-2022 academic year; if they will be able to register in the summer semester; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 17 November]

“Lobby groups for over 1,000 universities have urged the European Commission to finalize the UK’s association to the EU’s research and innovation program, as Britain remains frozen out over Brexit disputes …” (more)

[Cristina Gallardo, Politico, 4 November]

“Northern Ireland’s universities, schools and colleges can continue to spend money from the EU Erasmus scheme until 2023. However, they can only continue to use money they have already been awarded rather than make fresh funding bids …” (more)

[Robbie Meredith, BBC News, 4 November]

“UK universities are reaping a reverse ‘Brexit dividend’ with a sharp drop in the number of applications from EU students. The news leaves higher education in the U.K. bracing itself for a financial hit from the loss of international students, on top of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic …” (more)

[Nick Morrison, Forbes, 27 October]

“UK scientists are being ‘frozen out’ of the £80bn EU research programme Horizon Europe because of the ongoing dispute over the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol, a House of Lords committee has claimed …” (more)

[Lisa O’Carroll, Guardian, 24 October]

“Five years since the Brexit referendum and more than six months since the final deal between the European Union and the United Kingdom was agreed, the final pieces are falling into place when it comes to cooperation between universities on both sides of the Channel …” (more)

[Thomas Jorgensen, University World News, 15 July]

“‘There is no threat to the Erasmus scheme’, Boris Johnson told a crowded House of Commons in January 2020. Students across the UK breathed a collective sigh of relief but the sceptics among them warned them not to hold their breath. By the time December rolled around, however, things had taken a turn for the worse as Johnson told the British public that a ‘tough’ decision had been made: Erasmus was off the cards …” (more)

[Naoise D’Arcy, University Times, 29 June]

“Brexit has forced the University of Cambridge – one of the world’s leading third-level institutions – to establish a unit in Ireland so that it can continue to engage in clinical trials research across the EU, the Irish Independent has learned …” (more)

[John Mulligan, Independent, 25 June]

“Cian O’Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Irish students are being charged additional fees for the Scottish graduate-entry medicine programme based in the University of St Andrews and the University of Dundee which contradicts the memorandum of understanding on the common travel area; the steps he will take to address the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 17 June]

“The European Commission has dropped plans for a blanket ban on UK involvement in EU research on space projects and supercomputers after a backlash from member states and leading scientists. Thierry Breton, the former French finance minister who is now the EU internal market commissioner, had claimed the EU needed to keep control of intellectual property and that the UK’s involvement was an unacceptable security risk …” (more)

[Daniel Boffey, Guardian, 7 June]

“Third level institutions will find it difficult to cater to the demand from Erasmus students who are opting to study in Ireland instead of the UK due to Brexit, the Seanad Special Select Committee on the Withdrawal of the UK from the EU has heard …” (more)

[Aine Kenny, Irish Times, 31 May]

“The ‘lion’s share’ of this year’s 7,000 additional CAO applicants are coming from the EU, according to Prof Pól Ó Dochartaigh, the chair of the CAO. Approximately 5,000 of the additional applications have come from the EU. The increases may be related to Brexit, as the UK, in comparison, has seen a major drop in EU applicants …” (more)

[Cormac Watson, University Times, 31 May]

“Applications from the United Kingdom’s number one overseas student market have plummeted by 40% for undergraduate courses starting in 2021-22, but it is Brexit and not COVID-19 that is to blame for the fall …” (more)

[Nic Mitchell, University World News, 14 April]

“Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the post-Brexit treatment of Irish students attending UK universities in terms of funding and State support; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 31 March]

“German and United Kingdom representatives of universities and higher education organisations have discussed the post-Brexit future of UK-German academic relations, including how to plug the glaring gap in the UK’s Turing Scheme, the replacement for participation in the European Union’s mobility and exchange scheme Erasmus+ …” (more)

[Michael Gardner and Brendan O’Malley, University World News, 1 April]

“A new international study programme for students at Welsh universities will start next year, ministers have said. It will be developed by Cardiff University in collaboration with education and youth sector partners ahead of its launch in 2022 …” (more)

[BBC News, 21 March]

“With recent polls in the North showing near-equal support for reunification and for union with Britain, it is important for those of us studying in the Republic to consider the effects a united Ireland might have on third-level education here …” (more)

[Fionnán Uibh Eochach, University Times, 16 March]

“Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if Irish students who have been accepted onto master’s degree courses in the UK pre-Brexit and deferred their place for an academic year due to Covid-19 will be exempt from international student fees and will be expected to pay the usual EU fees and qualify for student loans on the basis of same due to the CTA; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 10 March]

“The replacement for the Erasmus study exchange scheme will not fund tuition or travel costs, it has emerged – and the living allowance has been slashed. The reality of the new project has triggered fresh accusations that ministers are crushing the hopes of huge numbers of students who want to live, study and travel abroad …” (more)

[Rob Merrick, Independent, 9 March]