Irish Education Minister looks for collaboration and strengthening ties with Indian institutions

James Lawless, Ireland’s Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science in an interview with The Hindu in Chennai on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: AKHILA EASWARAN

“We have €16 billion worth of trade exchange between India and Ireland. We have a significant number of Indian students studying in Ireland, typically postgraduates. But we are looking at the undergraduate options as well,” said James Lawless, Ireland’s Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, who is currently in India on an official visit. In an interview with The Hindu, he spoke on plans to collaborate with educational institutions.

Chennai was his third stop on the trip, which included New Delhi and Mumbai. He is in the country “to promote training and educational links between the two countries.”

Indians are the single largest group of students in Ireland outside the European Union member states’ citizens. “They make very valued contributions. Indian nationals have made the most impact over the last 20 years in information and communication technology and in healthcare,” he said. Of late, Ireland has seen more students specialising in disciplines such as big data, AI, renewable energy, and data analytics, besides traditional engineering, STEM, business, and law.

In Chennai, he met with the Chief Minister, while his delegation visited the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and IIT Madras Research Park. “They are very innovative. They are doing groundbreaking research. And we are definitely trying to grow collaborations there,” he said.

Some of the plans for collaboration include joint degree programmes at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. “One option might be spending two years in an Indian university and then travelling to Ireland, spending two years in a European university, or the other way around,” he explained. “Students would complete half the programme in India and the other half in Ireland. The postgraduate programmes are for a year, but intense. We find most postgraduates get work very quickly,” he remarked. “There is a very strong economy. Indian students tend to work in areas of high demand, like engineering, STEM, and healthcare. So, very few students end up looking for work for very long,” he explained.

Large companies such as LinkedIn, Amazon, Intel, Pfizer, and Carrier, besides major firms in the food sector, science, and semiconductors, have a strong presence in Ireland, he added.

Candidates who take up undergraduate or postgraduate programmes also enjoy a ‘stay back’ visa that allows them to work in Ireland. Talented candidates could get permanent residency if companies are interested. Research collaborations could be in niche areas, including interdisciplinary programmes, he suggested, citing IIT Madras’ collaboration with Zanzibar.

The institute’s oceanography programme is of interest to Ireland. “Ireland is on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. We have a lot of research projects around renewable energy and offshore wind in particular,” he said. It is one area where Irish universities could collaborate for research, he stated.

With a common time zone with GMT, access to the European Union, and strong ties to the U.K. and the U.S., Ireland is an attractive option, he pointed out. “We are also English-speaking, a very large economy. There is a lot in common within the European Union. We are next door to the U.K., with a common travel agreement, and we are one more stop across the Atlantic to the United States. So, we are in a good place for anybody who wants to be based in Europe,” he said.

Already institutions such as Trinity College, University College Galway, University of Limerick and University College, Cork, have a good number of Indian students.

Already, institutions such as Trinity College Dublin, University College Galway, University of Limerick, and University College Cork have a strong presence of Indian students.