Ninth Level Ireland

“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]

“NUI Galway Students’ Union has joined students across the country in calling for an end to the extortionate €3,000 Student Contribution Fee. The fee means students in the Republic of Ireland pay the highest undergraduate fees in the European Union …” (more)

[Michael Malone, Galway Daily, 3 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]

“Sinn Féin spokesperson on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Rose Conway-Walsh TD, has said there is a ‘window of opportunity’ to use the powerful lever of Horizon funding to pressurise Israel to end its apartheid regime. Teachta Conway-Walsh said …” (more)

[Sinn Féin, 26 May]

“Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of progress of the Cassells report with input from the European Commission; when the report will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 20 May]

“Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris has today (Wednesday, 19 May 2021) met with European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel. The meeting focused on Ireland’s plans for a new national Strategy for Research and Innovation, and an expansion of the European Universities Initiative …” (more)

[gov.ie, 19 May]

“The annual jamboree-cum-auction around third-level places is underway and a combination of the pandemic and Brexit has moved the goalposts spectacularly. A 31% increase in overseas applications, most of them from the EU means an extra 4,500 suitors for a place at an Irish college. That may not translate into students, as EU applicants’ final enrolment rate is generally below 50% …” (more)

[Irish Examiner, 16 May]

“A new international student exchange scheme will provide more opportunities for US students and be more inclusive than its predecessor, according to the UK’s universities minister. The EU’s long-running Erasmus program gave students the chance to study abroad, as well as running an exchange scheme for staff …” (more)

[Nick Morrison, Forbes, 7 May]

“On Thursday 6 May, Minister of State for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne TD launches ‘A Career for EU’, Ireland’s Strategy to increase Irish representation in the European Union’s Institutions and Agencies. The new strategy aims to significantly increase the numbers of Irish officials in both permanent and temporary positions within the EU Institutions, to increase the number of Irish people applying for jobs in the EU institutions, while improving awareness of EU careers in Ireland across all sectors …” (more)

[MerrionStreet.ie, 6 May]

“The Irish Government is set to launch plans to increase the number of Irish people being hired into the European Unions institutions amid concerns of a waning Irish influence and presence in powerful roles. The Government has drawn up the strategy in response to what is described as an impending ‘huge demographic cliff’, with many senior Irish figures in EU institutions about to retire …” (more)

[Naomi O’Leary, Irish Times, 3 May]

“Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider amending the Student Support Act 2011 to support Irish students studying within the EU who would qualify for SUSI support if they were studying in Ireland; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that third-level education fees are lower in most other EU states than they are in Ireland; the estimated cost of such a change; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 28 April]

“Research-intensive university groups representing 77 universities across Europe have signed a joint statement urging the European Union not to restrict access for associated countries, such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Israel, to parts of its multi-billion-euro Horizon Europe research programme, including those covering space and quantum projects …” (more)

[Brendan O’Malley, University World News, 23 April]

“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]

“About 500 Irish college students studying in EU countries which have been added to the mandatory hotel quarantine list are set to have their accommodation paid for by the State under new plans. The move to add five EU member states – Austria, Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg – to the quarantine list has sparked alarm within higher education due to the costs facing returning Irish students …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 12 April]

“With the exception of the second World War, there has always been free movement for people between Ireland and Great Britain. This has also included the right for Irish and British people to work in either jurisdiction. Despite Brexit, this situation remains unchanged …” (more)

[John FitzGerald, Irish Times, 9 April]

“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]

“Horizon Europe, the European Union’s new research and investment programme – the biggest programme ever undertaken in Europe – has been launched today. The new multidisciplinary programme will run until 2027 and will be backed by a budget of over €95 billion …” (more)

[RTÉ News, 25 March]

“Speculation on whether or not the UK would remain within the EU and EEA’s student mobility programme, Erasmus+, has ensued since the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016. A last-minute decision resulting in the United Kingdom resolving to stop participation in all aspects of Erasmus+ will have the potential to damage the UK and Ireland’s relations on top of Brexit alone …” (more)

[Laura Galvin, Trinity News, 25 February]

“Modeling kept under wraps by the British government for nearly two years estimates that Brexit could cost the nation’s universities nearly two-thirds of their European Union student enrollment and £63m ($87m) in one year, but that the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge will boost their income …” (more)

[John Morgan, Inside Higher Education, 12 February]