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Universities Ireland was founded in 2003 by the nine university presidents on the island of Ireland to promote and develop cooperation between their institutions.
The Open University in Ireland became its tenth member in 2011, with Technological University Dublin joining in 2020.
Since its founding, Universities Ireland has engaged in a wide range of activities of mutual interest and benefit including work on the promotion of Irish universities abroad; awarding of joint degrees and transfer arrangements between universities; and higher education policy.
Universities Ireland brings together, at the highest level, the academic and administrative leaders of all the universities on the island. They have themselves identified the need for an all-island structure through which they can cooperate on issues of higher education policy and also to act together to influence change such as supporting peace and reconciliation, or by collectively supporting placements in Ireland for international scholars at risk.
The Universities Ireland scholarships and bursaries programmes support post-graduate mobility and shared academic exchange on an all-island basis.
In addition, the activities of the Universities Ireland Historians Group, have made a significant impact in recent years through the all-island conferences on the theme of “Reflecting on a Decade of War and Revolution in Ireland 1912-1923”, the PhD bursary programme, and support for the digitalisation and ‘repatriation’ of military records to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) and the National Archives of Ireland.
Universities Ireland is managed by a Council comprised of the 10 Presidents/Vice Chancellors. Other work is undertaken by academic and other staff and students as appropriate – e.g. conference presentations and planning. The Centre for Cross Border Cooperation provides the Secretariat for Universities Ireland.
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