Ninth Level Ireland

“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]

“Universities, lecturers and students have criticised British government proposals to deny funding to institutions that fail to ‘actively promote free speech’, warning that they could impinge on academic freedom and university autonomy. The proposals would allow speakers whose invitations are withdrawn because of student objections to sue universities and student unions for compensation and mandate the appointment of a ‘free speech champion’ to investigate complaints …” (more)

[Denis Staunton, Irish Times, 16 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]

“Verona Murphy (Wexford, Fine Gael): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of tuition fees; if these fees have been finalised for Irish students considering their options to take up third level education in a UK university for the 2021-22 academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 3 February]

“Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he is taking to protect the access of Northern Ireland applicants to the Erasmus programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 3 February]

“Economy Minister Diane Dodds is to meet the Republic’s Higher Education Minister to discuss NI students taking part in the Erasmus scheme for European study. UK students can no longer participate in the Erasmus programme, which funds third-level academic study in the EU and other projects …” (more)

[Margaret Canning, Belfast Telegraph, 4 February]

“The EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement, commonly known as the ‘Brexit deal’, has been welcomed by the UK and EU research communities, as it states the political will to continue close scientific cooperation under Horizon Europe, the 9th European research programme. The terms and conditions to join the programme as an associated member still need to be negotiated and agreed. However, the Brexit deal puts an end to a climate of uncertainty for UK-based researchers that started in June 2016 with the Brexit vote in the middle of Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe’s predecessor …” (more)

[Marco Cavallaro, LSE, 26 January]

“Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail): To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a UK citizen living in Ireland for the past 20 years can still participate in a course in Sweden under the reciprocal agreement between EU countries …” (more)

[Dáil written answers, 21 January]

“Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly says Ireland could attract up to 16,000 more Erasmus students following the UK’s decision to leave the programme. He’s calling on Irish third level institutions to seize the opportunity of now being the biggest English-speaking destination in the EU …” (more)

[James Cox, BreakingNews.ie, 20 January]

“Applications to the CAO for college entry in the autumn are up more than 5,000 on this time last year. While February 1 is the standard deadline, January 20 is the cut off for applicants who want to benefit from a reduced fee of €30, rather than €45. At 5pm, 66,457 had applied, up from 61,387 – an increase of 5,070 – at the same time in 2020 …” (more)

[Katherine Donnelly, Independent, 20 January]

“I’m thinking of studying an undergraduate course in a UK university in September 2021. Following Brexit, I’m having difficulty establishing what fees I’ll have to pay. Could you clarify what the situation is for Irish students? … (more)

[Brian Mooney, Irish Times, 19 January]

“Irish colleges can get an unexpected boost this year, thanks to Brexit. Ireland South MEP Sean Kelly says over 100,000 EU students came to Britain last year to study under the Erasmus programme …” (more)

[Radio Kerry, 18 January]

“The pandemic has exposed the impact of 20 years of turning higher education into a marketplace and students into increasingly dissatisfied customers …” (more)

[Rowan Moore, Observer, 17 January]

“Amazon has removed hundreds of Durham University students’ theses after they were listed for sale without the authors’ knowledge. A third-party seller put them on the platform’s website to download as e-books despite being free to access …” (more)

[BBC News, 14 January]

“The loss of UK access to the Erasmus+ programme post-Brexit has inspired widespread sadness and anger in the UK. The reactions have run the gamut of ‘Erasmus changed my life’ to ‘it will blow a hole in the UK economy’, ‘many employers deeply value the kind of international experience the Erasmus scheme helps foster’ and regret for losing out on the chance of ‘ensuring that we are viewed as an open, tolerant and welcoming country to the rest of the world’ …” (more)

[Anne Corbett, University World News, 1 January]

“Sir, – The proposal to spend €2.1 million of tax money to fund Northern Irish students on the Erasmus scheme is unacceptable. The idea that our Government could contemplate funding students in the UK …” (more)

[Letters, Irish Times, 31 December]

“The two local universities are considering taking advantage of a new UK student foreign exchange programme while also being able to avail of the EU’s Erasmus scheme. The UK’s withdrawal from Erasmus has been described as a huge blow by the other devolved nations, which will no longer be able to participate …” (more)

[Mark Bain, Belfast Telegraph, 29 December]

“The decision for the UK to withdraw from the Erasmus student exchange programme has been described as ‘a huge blow’ by the Scottish Government’s Universities Minister. Richard Lochhead lamented the decision to leave the scheme as part of the UK leaving the European Union …” (more)

[Douglas Barrie, Belfast Telegraph, 28 December]

“The news that the UK is to leave the Erasmus+ scheme for student exchanges shouldn’t have come as a surprise. After all, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson explicitly promised in the House of Commons that it wouldn’t happen and what he says is virtually guaranteed to be the opposite of the truth …” (more)

[In the Dark, 27 December]

“Its loss would have little material effect on the lives of most British citizens and the talks on its future were understandably overshadowed by the larger stand-off over the long-term trading relationship between the European Union and the UK. Yet there was something profoundly sad about the news, announced last week and barely noted in parts of the British media, that the UK was unlikely to remain in the Erasmus study abroad scheme …” (more)

[Ruadhán Mac Cormaic, Irish Times, 26 December]