Northern Ireland

Dublin pledges funding to ensure northern students' continued participation in Erasmus+

Northern Ireland students can continue to study in Europe after Brexit under the Erasmus+ scheme. Picture by Chris Radburn/PA Wire
Northern Ireland students can continue to study in Europe after Brexit under the Erasmus+ scheme. Picture by Chris Radburn/PA Wire Northern Ireland students can continue to study in Europe after Brexit under the Erasmus+ scheme. Picture by Chris Radburn/PA Wire

DUBLIN has pledged funding that will enable Northern Ireland students to study in Europe after Brexit under the Erasmus+ scheme.

Around 650 third level students from the north last year availed of the scheme, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has opted to leave.

The British government's alternative Turing scheme – named after Bletchley Park codebreaker Alan Turing – will provide funding for around 35,000 students to go on placements around the world from September, at a cost of £100m.

The Republic's government is expected to foot the €2.1m (£1.93m) a year bill that will enable northern students to continue participation in Erasmus, which usually take place during the second or third year of a university course and can last up to 12 months.

The scheme will be open to all full-time students in third level education and will be available to both Irish and British passport holders.

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris said the Dublin government had made a commitment to Northern Ireland that after Brexit it would ensure "there were still ways for us to cooperate and collaborate in relation to higher education".

"Almost every day I talk about the importance of collaborating on a north-south basis and the importance of working together with the higher education institutions in the north," he told RTÉ.

"I think it would have been a real missed opportunity if Brexit had happened and we didn't have this ability to collaborate across the European Union, it's really important that students in Northern Ireland can continue to access Erasmus+."

Northern students hoping to take part in the scheme will need to temporarily register with higher education institutions in the south.

"It's a permanent commitment, that as long as students in Northern Ireland wish to avail of this option we will put that option in place," Mr Harris said.

He described the cost to Dublin as "relatively low" and said it was an "investment in relationships between institutions north and south".

Over the past 33 years, more than 9m students from across Europe have availed of the Erasmus programme for study or training.