Ninth Level Ireland

“The average Trinity student will work a part time job during the college year and, when hitting a bout of bad mental health, might run into lengthy waiting periods to see a counsellor or psychiatrist with College mental health services. If they’re from outside Dublin, they are paying on average €12,495 per year (including rent) to attend college in the single most expensive city in the eurozone …” (more)

[Adam McQuillan, Trinity News, 8 October]

“In the public sector, there is only ever one solution to problems, and that is to call for more funding. Sadly, Irish universities are no different. Two stories last week illustrate the tendency. The first revealed that Trinity College in Dublin is considering reducing the number of Irish students who can attend in future unless the Government provides more resources …” (more)

[Eilis O’Hanlon, Independent, 6 October]

“Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether education is key to maintaining competitiveness here; and his further views on the continuing falling in the rankings by universities here in the university league …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 1 October]

“Provost Patrick Prendergast has warned that Trinity may need to reduce the number of students it admits in the next five years, arguing that reducing the staff–student ratio is crucial if the College is to arrest slides in university rankings. Speaking today on the Seán O’Rourke show on RTÉ Radio 1, Prendergast said …” (more)

[Donal MacNamee, University News, 2 October]

“The Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has defended his government’s record on investment in third-level institutions in response to a question about Trinity’s fall in global rankings. The Taoiseach made his comments yesterday whilst on a visit to the United Nations in New York. When asked about Trinity’s falling position in the rankings, he claimed there has been a ‘substantial injection of cash into our universities’ …” (more)

[Shannon Connolly, Trinity News, 27 September]

“Global rankings, especially THE‘s, have been very useful to British universities, at least to those sitting at the apex of the system. If a Russell Group university falls in the rankings then it is the fault of impending Brexit and/or the terrible austerity inflicted on the nation’s research prowess. If it rises then this is cause for congratulation but with a hint of foreboding …” (more)

[University Ranking Watch, 26 September]

“There are many complaints that we might make about university rankings. Mostly these fall into two categories. The first is that they simply reinforce existing power structures, privileging western, english-speaking universities and maintaining an exclusive club, which is impossible to break into and self-perpetuating …” (more)

[Cameron Neylon, Wonkhe, 25 September]

“Students are being used as pawns in a university’s row with the Government over the effect of insufficient funding on international rankings, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has claimed. USI president Lorna Fitzpatrick said third-level education is underfunded and colleges are forced to compete with each other for project-based funding …” (more)

[Marie O’Halloran, Irish Times, 23 September]

“Hundreds of people here and overseas have been asking me about Trinity College Dublin’s fall this month in the Times Higher Education world university rankings. Students and staff, potential students, alumni, employers, industry, politicians and overseas universities. Everybody wants to know how Trinity, of all places, could have suffered the worst fall among any of the world’s individually ranked universities …” (more)

[Patrick Prendergast, Irish Times, 23 September]

“The provost, Patrick Prendergast, has said that he is now in favour of an ‘income-contingent student loan scheme’ as his preferred option proposed in the Cassells report to plug the gap in third-level education funding. The provost made this announcement in an interview with the Sunday Business Post where he also warned that Trinity may have to cut student numbers to improve its position in the global rankings …” (more)

[Finn Purdy, Trinity News, 22 September]

“Queen’s University remains the best university in Northern Ireland, according to an influential list. It has climbed three places to stay within the top 40 in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020. Ulster University has also climbed in the national rankings to joint 58th place …” (more)

[Gillian Halliday, Belfast Telegraph, 20 September]

“Trinity has risen into the top 100 in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings, sitting at 92nd place for 2020. The rankings mean College remains the second-best Irish university for employability, after sitting in the 101st-110th bracket last year. University College Dublin was the best college in Ireland for employability both this year and last, now sitting at 78th …” (more)

[Orla Murnaghan, University Times, 19 September]

“Last week saw the publication of the Times Higher World University Rankings which have once again predictably generated a great deal of sound and fury while signifying nothing very important. I can’t be bothered to repeat my previous criticisms of these league tables (though I will point you to a very good rant here) but I will make a couple of comments on the reaction to them here in Ireland …” (more)

[In the Dark, 18 September]

“There have been calls to increase Government funding to third-level institutions after the latest figures show UL’s position in the Times Higher Education rankings has remained static. In a post on Twitter after the latest rankings were published, University of Limerick President Dr. Des Fitzgerald said, ‘A decade ago, Ireland had two universities in the top 100, but no more …'” (more)

[Mike Finnerty, Limerick Leader, 17 September]

“If it’s fair to say this week has been pretty dismal for higher education in Ireland, then it’s hard to imagine what the mood must have been like in the Provost’s House. On Wednesday we discovered that the College, Ireland’s top-ranked university, had tumbled 44 places in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, to an all-time low of 164th …” (more)

[University Times, 15 September]

“So the THES rankings are out and as has become the norm the fall in rankings of Irish universities has caused an outpouring of angst, breast beating, and general melancholia. It is described as a ‘Crisis’, a ‘disaster’ and such other apocalyptic monikers. But what is the truth? …” (more)

[Brian M Lucey, 14 September]

“Yesterday at the end of a busy week I finally got round to booking a ticket for next Friday’s Culture Night performance at the National Concert Hall in Dublin. That will be my first concert of the new season and I’m looking forward to it. Among other things, it gives me the chance to persevere with Brahms …” (more)

[In the Dark, 14 September]

“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, – Carl O’Brien reports (News, September 12th) on the continuing decline of our universities in international rankings. Fine Gael politicians have been forming an orderly queue to tell us that university registration fees will not be increased and that a student loan scheme will not be introduced (News, August 12th) …” (more)

[Letters, Irish Times, 14 September]

“Yesterday it was announced that Trinity has fallen 44 places in the Times Higher Education World University rankings. Although a steady decline over the past number of years means that the further drop certainly wasn’t a surprise, 44 places is a significant amount that cannot be merely attributed to a flawed ranking system …” (more)

[Aoife Kearins, University Times, 12 September]