Ireland’s leader – the Taioseach – has brought together a group of government officials to offer a “joined up package” on international education as part of the country’s global strategy, said a member of Ireland’s international cooperation unit at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

“The advantage of a centrally driven global brand is that all government departments play a part. We can go back to our Department of Justice, which is equivalent to the the Home Office here[ in the UK], And we can say, look, you need to look at your visa policy. You need to look at this. They will take that on board,” Ian McKenna told delegates on July 10.

“Being a small country and being quite centrally driven in some respects, has given us an advantage in terms of international education,” he added.

But the launch of Ireland’s Global Citizens 2030 strategy – which kickstarted at the beginning of 2024 – is helping to promote the benefits of internationalisation, he explained. The strategy aims to cement Ireland as an international hub for education, research and policy.

“How do we equip our students to become global citizens? And it’s a very deliberate choice that we have made in all of that,” McKenna said of the plan.

“Again, this is rooted in the notion that we want Irish people…[to be] working in multi ethnic, cultural, multinational type environments. We need our students to be prepared to work in those contexts. And they get that experience by going abroad, but also by attracting international students onto our campuses.

How do we equip our students to become global citizens?

Ian McKenna, Irish government

“It’s in a diversity within our campus, within each of the institutions and the environment in which our students are. So we see it as absolutely critical,” he said.

But while the country is hoping to attract more international talent, it needs to invest in the right infrastructure, McKenna conceded.

“We have to make sure that that can be accommodated. We have to make sure that there’s housing, that there’s accommodation available for international students and and also visa arrangements – all of these thorny issues,” he said.