The Irish Universities Association (IUA) today (25.06.26) published its new 5-year strategy. As the voice of Ireland’s seven research-intensive universities, the IUA will advocate forcefully for the conditions, resources and wider support our universities need to be the engine of Ireland’s future success.
At the centre of this work is the IUA’s role as the key link between universities, government, business and wider society, to shape policy and support coordinated action.
Our universities are being asked to — and want to – do more, including by continuing to expand lifelong learning, growing research and innovation capacity and responding to major economic and social change. The strategy places a renewed emphasis on advocacy, with the IUA tasked with securing the policy, funding and regulatory conditions universities need to thrive.
The IUA Strategy 2026-2030 centres on five priority areas of focus: Advocacy, Alignment, Agility, Access and Accountability. The five-year strategy lays out clear objectives and specific actions under each of these priority areas for the sector which currently educates 155,500 students, including 36,000 lifelong learners, employs over 20,000 people and contributes over €9 billion annually to the Irish economy.
James Lawless TD, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science said:
“I would like to congratulate the IUA on the launch of its new five-year strategy. At a time of significant change and opportunity, the strategy provides an important framework for strengthening Ireland’s higher education system and for ensuring that our universities continue to deliver excellence in teaching, research and innovation.
I look forward to continuing to work closely with the IUA and its member universities to advance our shared priorities and ambitions.”
Paul Johnston, Director General of the IUA launching the Strategy said:
“Our universities are firmly focused on the future – one defined by significant challenges and transformative opportunities.
Given geopolitical, economic and digital change, demographic trends and the downsides of globalisation, we must, more than ever before, ensure that our universities continue to evolve and adapt, equipping people with the knowledge, skills and capabilities needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world, while delivering world-class research and innovation.
There is a limit to what Ireland can influence in the world, but what we can control is how much we choose to invest in our nation’s key resource – our people and their education. This five-year strategy is focused on enabling a dynamic, reforming and well-resourced higher education sector which, in turn, is integral to a resilient and prosperous society and economy.”
The IUA Strategy 2026-2030 strategic areas of focus are as follows:
Advocacy: Strengthening understanding and appreciation of the crucial importance of universities as a strategic national asset to ensure that universities have the necessary funding and conditions they need to thrive.
Alignment: Developing stronger partnerships and co-ordination within the sector and with aligned sectors in support of wider regional and national priorities.
Agility: Evolving structures and practices to respond most effectively to changing demands, changing learner profiles and to technological, scientific and geo-political shifts.
Access: Strengthening the role of universities as agents of social mobility.
Accountability: Securing the essential autonomy of the sector through best practice governance and pursuit of a balanced and effective regulatory environment which optimises performance and delivery.
Ends
Download the strategy:
IUA_Strategy 2026-2030 Digital Report
For media queries contact Lia O’Sullivan, Head of Communications, IUA lia.osullivan@iua.ie 085 7141414
Additional Notes:
https://www.iua.ie/about/strategy_2026-2030/
The Irish Universities Association is the voice of Ireland’s seven research-intensive universities: Dublin City University, Maynooth University, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, University College Dublin, University of Galway and University of Limerick.
In total, these universities have over 155,000 students across under-graduate and post-graduate courses, including almost 10,000 PhD candidates.
Our universities contribute €9 billion to the Irish economy annually, representing circa 3% of Gross National Income. By comparison, Ireland spends less than 1% of Gross National Income on funding third level education.
The IUA universities accounts for 45,000 graduates annually. In addition to students who enter universities from school, there are 36,000 part time and flexible adult learners enrolling each year.
Research investment across the IUA universities in 2024 totalled €670 million, 75% of total investment across the higher education sector.