The Irish Times and the Irish Independent reported that on Tuesday, June 2nd the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Eibhlin Bryne and the Dublin City Council came to an agreement to allow Dublin universities and Institutes of Technology to change the name of their international scholarships to “The Lord Mayor of Dublin International Scholarships.” In an effort to grab Dublin’s share of the international student market, Lord Mayor Eibhlin Bryne states that “International students from countries outside of the EU contribute over €500 million annually to the Irish economy.” Additional quotes of interest in the articles from Bryne include: “It’s a growing and important market and Dublin needs to get its share. Melbourne, a similar sized city to Dublin, earns over €2 billion annually from the same market. It’s all about branding. It makes sense for the city to promote Dublin and support the marketing initiatives of the third level colleges.”
“The decline in student visa applications for Ireland reflects the reality that the Irish Visa system is not perceived to be efficient and transparent...If one compares the 2007 success rates for study visa applicants to the UK and Ireland one finds that Ireland refused almost 4 in 10 applicants from China while the UK refused only 1 in 20."
"Ireland is one of only two native English speaking countries in the EU yet France, Germany and Holland are all attracting more students to programmes taught through English. The action taken today by the city and its Universities must be matched by Government aligning better national policies around visas and entry.”
Peter Finnegan, Director of International Relations & Research with Dublin City Council, provides additional insight into Dublin’s recent decision and states:
“While Dublin’s third-level institutions have excellent teaching and research reputations, we must market ourselves better internationally. Research shows that students often pick the country and city of destination before deciding on the institution or programme of study or research they wish to undertake. The Lord Mayor of Dublin International Scholarships will provide the branding identification of international education with the city of Dublin and we are confident it will have a positive effect on our marketing efforts” and that Dublin is aiming for a “realistic target of gaining 3%, as New Zealand has, of the global market which could bring €1.5 billion annually into our economy. Such a target for Dublin is achievable if the international branding is clear, the national entry policies transparent, and the population sentiment among Dubliners remains open and welcoming.”
You can read the Irish Times article here and the Irish Independent article here.
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