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Fall of Irish universities in world rankings 'disappointing but not a surprise'

Trinity College Dublin has lost its place in the top 100 universities.

Long Room 375_90513835 The Long Room of the Old Library at Trinity College Dublin. Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

IRISH UNIVERSITIES HAVE fallen down in the global rankings, according to a report released tonight.

Six of the eight top-ranked Irish universities have lost ground in the QS World University Rankings 2019.

The rankings are based on a number of factors including academic and employer reputation.

Trinity College Dublin has lost its place in the top 100 universities, falling from 88th to 104th.

dublni How the Dublin universities fare QS World University Rankings 2019 QS World University Rankings 2019

University College Dublin fell from 168th place to 193rd, NUI Galway dropped from 243rd to 260th, University College Cork fell from 283rd to 338th, Dublin City University dropped from 391st to 422nd, while Dublin Institute of Technology fell from the 651-700 category to the 751-800 category.

The University of Limerick, which remained in the 501-550 category, and Maynooth University, which remained in the 701-750 category, are the only two Irish institutions which didn’t drop in the rankings.

The top three universities are Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and Harvard University (all in the US).

top six The top six universities QS World University Rankings 2019 QS World University Rankings 2019

‘Disappointing but not a surprise’

Reacting to the news, the Irish Universities Association (IUA) said the fall by most Irish universities in the rankings is “disappointing but not a surprise”.

Irish universities have endured a decade of under-investment. The impact of the funding cuts over the years, while invisible in the short-term, are now being seen directly as our universities are out-performed by better funded international competitors.

“The ongoing capping of staff levels by government under the Employment Control Framework, while student numbers have grown by a third, is now having a direct impact on our quality rankings,” the organisation said in a statement.

Jim Miley, Director General of the IUA, said the fall in rankings should be “a warning light to government that the quality talent pipeline will be jeopardised unless the funding deficit is addressed”.

“There are serious concerns that a continued failure to address the third-level funding crisis will directly damage the Irish economy in future years,” he added.

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    Mute cr
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    Jun 6th 2018, 9:57 PM

    Im not one bit surprised. More needs to be invested in 3rd level.

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    Mute Ciarán Ó Fallúin
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    Jun 6th 2018, 10:54 PM

    @cr: very true. Current govt efforts to invest in 3rd level have been woefully uninspiring. Interestingly, just a friendly reminder to check out SFs alternative budget 2018 where they increase their tax spend by 3bn and yet somehow set aside almost zero for 3rd level and none of it from 3rd level supports.

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    Mute Austin Rock
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    Jun 6th 2018, 10:59 PM

    @cr: I’m not surprised that is the excuse – for the last decade – yet DCU gobbles up more land and buildings than NAMA. Go pull another one

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    Mute Helen Thornbury
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    Jun 6th 2018, 11:11 PM

    @Austin Rock: The money thats used for land and buildings is normally given/donated/fundraised only for that purpose – its not usable for other expenses within the university. So a uni can now be very land and buildings rich and yet be seriously underfunded for teaching staff etc.
    Thats where the exchequer funding is needed and the universities aren’t getting enough of that.

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    Mute Before its too late
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    Jun 6th 2018, 11:25 PM

    @Helen Thornbury: A bit like the church so .

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    Mute Martin Lintzgy
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    Jun 8th 2018, 10:13 AM

    @cr:
    More HAS been invested !!
    Irish Teachers are already among the highest paid in the world.
    http://www.thejournal.ie/poll-teachers-pay-2465356-Nov2015/
    Could it be that paying teachers more money does not ensure quality teachers?

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    Mute Jack McGready
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    Jun 6th 2018, 10:14 PM

    Not surprised. Irish universities are full of snowflakes brainwashed by cultural Marxists who spend more time in consent classes than lectures these days.

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    Mute Tweety McTweeter
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    Jun 6th 2018, 10:17 PM

    @Jack McGready: Lol

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    Mute Jack McGready
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    Jun 6th 2018, 10:35 PM

    @Tweety McTweeter:
    True tho innit.

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    Mute Chucky Arlaw
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    Jun 6th 2018, 10:36 PM

    @Jack McGready: best part of that is you’re serious

    The QS rankings take no notice of the academic performance of undergraduates. I’m not surprised that’s your opinion though, having seen the output of your sock puppet accounts changing every week, it’s clear you’ve never set foot in a university

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    Mute Jack McGready
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    Jun 6th 2018, 10:44 PM

    @Chucky Arlaw:
    No, never had a chance to go to college Chuck, from the wrong side of the tracks I guess, them’s the breaks, I ain’t gonna whinge about it though.

    48
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    Mute Chucky Arlaw
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    Jun 6th 2018, 10:47 PM

    @Jack McGready: all you do is whinge

    83
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    Mute Jack McGready
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    Jun 6th 2018, 11:00 PM

    @Chucky Arlaw:
    ‘When in Rome’…
    Julius Caesar was it?

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    Mute SC
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    Jun 7th 2018, 5:50 AM

    @Jack McGready: amazing that someone who has never been to university or read any Marx thinks that strangers might be interested in his opinions on both. Marx was an economist, and Marxists are not liberals.

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    Mute Nick Caffrey
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    Jun 7th 2018, 9:56 AM

    @Jack McGready: Wow! The originality of your comment and the precision of your vocabulary leave no doubt as to your educational street cred!

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    Mute 6ljJQRRU
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    Jun 6th 2018, 10:10 PM

    Ireland has too many colleges. UCC for example just spends money on new buildings and there’s no consistency or structure to exams or investment in teaching etc. Too many disciplines also.

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    Mute Austin Rock
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    Jun 6th 2018, 11:00 PM

    @6ljJQRRU: DITTO for DCU its like an Israeli land grab

    56
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    Mute SC
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    Jun 7th 2018, 6:23 AM

    @6ljJQRRU: I also wonder if a lot of these new disciplines are academic enough to justify giving them space in university. I saw some of a friend’s business lecture slides and they were childish, and from his development I could tell he wasn’t being challenged intellectually. I also did a few modules of business management and while it was very boring, there was no intellectual or academic content.

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    Mute Before its too late
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    Jun 6th 2018, 11:30 PM

    We don’t need universities here , our navy is bringing all the doctors ,engineers , IT specialists and scientists we need .
    The money would be better spent on social housing , just in case those guys don’t pan out .

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    Mute E
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    Jun 6th 2018, 11:42 PM

    DCU is barely a university, more an expanded technical college that has an unhealthy fascination with the colour red. TCD and UCD are probably our most well regarded third level institutions, especially the former. A nations future is built upon the quality of it’s tertiary education, this doesn’t bode well assuming these rankings are based upon useful metrics.

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    Mute Nick Caffrey
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    Jun 7th 2018, 9:58 AM

    @neilo: Get a life!

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    Mute Daffy the Bear
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    Jun 6th 2018, 11:31 PM

    Consent classes. That is all.

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    Mute Before its too late
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    Jun 7th 2018, 12:13 AM
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    Mute Patrick James Walsh
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    Jun 7th 2018, 12:28 AM

    It`s always someone else`s fault, the dog eat my homework excuse. Fact is this is due to dumbing down, grade inflation and rote learning. Meanwhile we have the highest paid educationalists in the world. Irish universities are not highly regarded internationally and with good reason

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    Mute Greg Blake
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    Jun 7th 2018, 10:53 AM

    @Patrick James Walsh: when they start pumping out ‘yellow pack’ courses just to put bums on seats, what do they expect. Quality or quantity they make their choices.

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    Mute Margate
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    Jun 7th 2018, 12:22 AM

    @E: That is a very elitist comment..yes, those 2 colleges have done better and always have traditionally. But the reality is their population is largely drawn from comfortable, middle class clientele. DCU has/is growing hugely and i know –based on my own work ( not in DCU!) – that it is pulling numbers away from Ucd and Nuim for example, and yes, it has some issues that need addressing, but i foresee its reputation, standards and population growing substantially in next few years.

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    Mute JMac
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    Jun 7th 2018, 2:07 AM

    With Same sex marriage and abortion now out of the way, all the trotsky students unions are probably hatching another referendum to satisfy another of their agenda items. But they are shooting themselves and their universities in the foot, because more abortion = less students in the future.

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    Mute Ron O'Keefe
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    Jun 7th 2018, 6:47 AM

    @JMac: fewer students, not less students

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    Mute Prince Ozymandias
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    Jun 7th 2018, 1:35 AM

    Look, whether we like or believe it, the SU acolytes of the 90′s are now running the show, and a mighty fine job they’re doing – in sticking to their agenda…

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    Mute Dave Malon
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    Jun 6th 2018, 10:49 PM

    Need more unions

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    Mute Brian Murphy
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    Jun 7th 2018, 3:04 AM

    America top 4…….weird.

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    Mute Patrick J. O'Rourke
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    Jun 7th 2018, 8:22 AM

    @Brian Murphy: that is strange.

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    Mute Nick Caffrey
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    Jun 7th 2018, 9:59 AM

    @Patrick J. O’Rourke: Nope. Money!

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    Mute Todd
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    Jun 7th 2018, 11:13 AM

    I’d imagine the salaries are in the top ten though!!

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    Mute Adrian
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    Jun 7th 2018, 12:30 PM

    Our universities are closely aligned to our gov so it’s no surprise they’re both in similar poor state. The Senate has quite a few academics in it, along with the election failures. Our dail is full of gombeen TDs, incompetent and underqualified teachers and publicans, etc. If that’s the type we put in the dail, then why bother with colleges and qualifications at all!

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    Mute Derry Buckley
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    Jun 7th 2018, 9:45 AM

    Let’s get that top spot next year. And charge everyone a hundred grand a year. And only let in the kids of the rich.

    Now zippy it.

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    Mute Sidharth Budhiraja
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    Jun 7th 2018, 7:54 PM

    Irish people should be proud of what their universities have achieved with such a low funding. According to me, people working in Irish universities are most hard working. I seriously don’t understand why Irish people are not ready to fund their universities, but are ready to pay higher fees to universities in US, UK, Australia and Canada. If you want your universities to perform well in rankings you should be ready to pay higher fees for high quality education. I believe that if Irish universities are still able to rank in top 500 even with such a low funding, then you can’t imagine what they can do if they are provided woth proper funding .They may actually outperform the so called top universities like Harvard or Oxford.

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    Mute Dave O'Hanlon
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    Jun 7th 2018, 3:31 PM

    Maybe they’ll start, you know, teaching now and stop expecting their students to be cute hoors that already know everything but just need the parchment

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